China's Huawei opens Southern Pacific OpenLab in Singapore Updated: 2016-08-18 09:11 (Xinhua)

Visitors at the booth of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd at the Mobile World Congress Shanghai, June 30, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

SINGAPORE - Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei on Wednesday opened its Southern Pacific OpenLab here to foster information, communications and technology (ICT) innovation.

The Southern Pacific OpenLab, an end-to-end one-stop ICT infrastructure platform, is Huawei's commitment to building an open and sustainable ICT ecosystem through joint collaboration with leading software and industry partners.

The newly-launched lab will be connected to a network of Huawei OpenLabs across the globe to facilitate the international exchange of ideas about new business models, market needs, and technical solutions.

Tung Meng Fai, Singapore Economic Development Board's deputy director of infocomms and media, said that the establishment of Huawei's Southern Pacific OpenLab will catalyze partnerships with leading enterprises, start-ups and research institutions for the development of digital enterprise solutions, with Singapore as a reference market.

"This will support Singapore's Smart Nation vision and ensure our industries are at the forefront of the digital transformation wave," added Tung.

At the opening ceremony, Huawei unveiled its Safe City Solutions which can strengthen incident prevention capabilities and shorten emergency response time.

The global ICT provider also inked Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with NCS, a subsidiary of Singtel Group, and global security systems leader Tyco to jointly create safe city solutions for smart nation projects.
Rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, who has been held on questionable charges since May 2014, in an undated file photo.

Three prominent critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party have been prevented from leaving their homes by state security police in recent days, indicating that they are still living under considerable restriction on their freedom.

Bao Tong, former political aide to the late ousted premier Zhao Ziyang, veteran political journalist Gao Yu and top rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang were all prevented from leaving home in recent days, they said.

Bao said he was issued with a "counter-invitation" by state security police after being invited to a gathering of prominent intellectuals in the city.

"They told me I got an invitation from some people today, but that I wasn't to go, and that they would take me to dinner instead," Bao told RFA on Thursday.

"It wasn't until I saw what Gao Yu wrote that I released," Bao said. "It was people visiting town from a long way away who wanted to meet and chat for a while; a perfectly normal social interaction."

"I don't know why security has to be so tight ... there are also good reasons for relaxing it," he said. "My feeling is that they are seeing enemies behind every bush and tree."

Among those invited to the dinner were Shandong-based writer Liu Yafei, Gao Yu, who is currently on medical parole from a five-year jail term, and prominent rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, who is under restrictions linked to a three-year suspended jail term handed down by a Beijing court last December.

Pu's detention was linked to his marking of the 25th anniversary of a 1989 massacre of civilians that ended weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations on Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Sensitive topics

An unnamed source in Beijing said the authorities appeared to fear that the assembled group would be discussing the demise of the political magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu, whose reform-minded editors were recently ousted and replaced by a politically compliant team from its parent organization.

Mass antinuclear protests in the eastern port city of Lianyungang were also a likely "sensitive" topic, the source said.

But Du Guang, a former professor in the Chinese Communist Party School, said he had attended the dinner.

"It was just a few friends who were in town, and they wanted to get together," the source said. "There was no ulterior motive here, and no conspiracy."

"The state security police stopped Bao Tong from coming by taking him out to dinner," Du said.

Du confirmed that the fate of Yanhuang Chunqiu was hotly debated at the dinner.

"Yanhuang Chunqiu is a pretty hot topic right now, so of course it was the main topic of conversation," he said.

Supporters and editors of the Yanhuang Chunqiu have said they will continue to fight back in the face of the purge.

However, a court in the Chinese capital refused earlier this month to accept a lawsuit alleging breach of contract filed by the former editors of the cutting-edge political magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu against the National Academy of Arts that owns it.

Now, the magazines former editorial team are garnering widespread support for the publication from its editorial board, advisers and readership, while warning readers not to accept a sanitized version put out by the new editorial team.

Curbs on liberty

A number of dissidents, including those detained in a nationwide crackdown on human rights lawyers that began on July 9, 2015, have recently faced police curbs on their liberty despite of being "released" from jail or detention, rights groups say.

Earlier this week, authorities in the central city of Zhenzhou released veteran activist Yu Shiwen following a jail term handed down after he also tried to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen military crackdown along with a group of fellow activists.

Yu was detained on suspicion of "gathering a crowd to disrupt public order," prompting calls for his release from rights groups, U.N. officials and U.S. lawmakers.

But he was released on Tuesday on parole and his status changed to "residential surveillance at home," rather than being released unconditionally, the overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders

(CHRD) group said in a statement on its website.

Yu's wife Chen Wei, who was briefly held around the same time, said the case against Yu hasn't been dropped.

"He won't be giving any media interviews, and there are restrictions on which friends he can see," Chen told RFA shortly after his return home. "There are people standing guard outside the door."

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Hai Nan for the Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang have banned all forms of religious activity in hospitals in an ongoing crackdown targeting the region's burgeoning Protestant Christian community.



A public notice posted at the Central Hospital in Zhejiang's Wenzhou, a city that has been dubbed "China's Jerusalem" because of its high concentration of Christians, made patients and their visitors unequivocally aware of the new rules this week.



"Religious activities are banned in this hospital," the notice said. The Wenzhou Central Hospital was originally set up as a Protestant hospital.



An employee who answered the phone at the same hospital on Thursday confirmed the new measures.



"Religious activities in hospitals have never been encouraged ... but some people have been doing it on the quiet, which is understandable, seeing that we are all here to support patients," the employee said.



The new rules don't just ban patients from carrying out religious activities like prayer or preaching; they also prevent ministers or pastors from holding prayer meetings for patients in hospital.



"Some people were really giving it their all, praying aloud and reading out the Bible," the employee said. "That's not allowed."



"The order is shown to patients when they are admitted to hospital telling them that no religious activities are permitted in the hospital," the employee said. "If they do that here, then the nurses and doctors will have a word with them."



Further interference



Guangzhou-based pastor Ma Ke, of the southern city's Guangfu Church, said the rules represent further state interference with freedom of religious belief in China.



"They are interfering with people's religious beliefs, which is against the constitution ... because Chinese citizens should have the freedom to choose their religion, or to have no religion," Ma told RFA.



"I think it's perfectly normal ... people depend psychologically on their religious beliefs to a certain extent," Ma said. "If they are dying, for example, they know that they have nothing to fear."



"Religion empowers people ... to be more optimistic and accepting of their treatment program," he said. "It helps them face up to times of illness, and also to face up to their own mortality."



An employee who answered the phone at the Zhejiang provincial religious affairs bureau declined to comment, saying they didn't know much about the issue.



The ban comes after a province-wide crackdown on churches and an urban "improvement" campaign which has seen crosses removed from dozens of buildings.



Earlier this year, Zhejiang Protestant pastors and married couple Bao Guohua and Xing Wenxiang of the Holy Love Christian church were sentenced to 14 and 12 years' imprisonment respectively by the Wucheng District People's Court in Zhejiang's Jinhua city after they opposed the removal of crosses.



Police-run detention centers in the province have also denied family members requests to deliver Bibles and food to the detained, according to the U.S. State Department's 2015 religious freedom report.



'Hostile forces'



Meanwhile, the authorities view many forms of religion as dangerous foreign imports, with Zhejiang officials warning last year against the "infiltration of Western hostile forces" in the form of religion.



And the crackdown looks set to intensify and widen to other regions of China.



Zhejiang has been lauded by the ruling Chinese Communist Party's ideological arm, the United Front Work Department, for "tackling ... the difficult-to-tackle problems, grasping norms, strong management and promoting harmony and stability," according to a report on the official website of the State Administration for Religious Affairs.



Furthermore, this "new situation in religious work" will require an even stronger policy response, the article said, adding that responses will be "problem-oriented, targeted, and pay attention to guidance."



Bob Fu, founder of the U.S.-based Christian rights group ChinaAid, said the Zhejiang crackdown is now being extended into other provinces, including Anhui and the northern region of Inner Mongolia.



"The Chinese government is taking its persecution of religious believers to another level," Fu said.



"They are doing it in the name of the rule of law, but actually it's very clear that there is an element of wanting all religion to be Chinese in character," Fu told RFA in an interview on Tuesday.



"The international community should be aware that are stepping up the pressure on religious practice, so that there is gradually less and less freedom," he said.



The State Department appears to agree with Fu, saying in its latest report that Beijing continues to exercise state control over religion, restricting the personal freedom of religious believers.



It cited a 2012 Pew Research Center report estimating that China is now home to some 68 million Protestants, of whom 23 million worship in state-affiliated churches, and some nine million Catholics, 5.7 million of whom are in state-sponsored organizations.



Reported by Lee Lai for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.




The Yalu River Railway Bridge, seen from the Chinese border town of Dandong, Feb. 8, 2016.

Despite U.N.-imposed financial sanctions, many North Koreans are benefiting from an injection of Chinese cash that sources say is helping underwrite business in Sinuiju city that range from a taxi service to high-rise apartment complexes.

There are many businesses in which Chinese people invest in Sinuiju, which are not widely known to the outside world, explained a Chinese businessman who manages a sewing factory in the city.

Chinese investment in North Korean businesses are made regardless of U.N. sanctions against the country, he told RFAs Korean Service.

Sinuiju lies across the Yalu River from Dandong, China, and is the epicenter of North Korea's international trade, both legal and illegal. China is North Korea's only formal major ally, and accounts for more than two-thirds of the country's trade.

The reports of Chinese investment come after the U.N. imposed new sanctions against North Korea following a nuclear test and a rocket launch in January and February, respectively.

China agreed to the sanctions, but there have always been serious questions about its willingness to enforce the measures or take other steps to pressure Pyongyang.

While the sanctions included restrictions on financial dealings with North Korea, Chinese investment in individual businesses appears to skirt the U.N. resolution, which allows transactions with North Korea for livelihood purposes.

To find evidence of Chinese investment in Sinuiju, one needs only to hail a cab, the source explained to RFA.

Unlike the taxis in Pyongyang, taxis in Sinuiju are dressed in red and are neatly designed, the businessman said. A Chinese-invested taxi business opened in Sinuiju not too long ago. It is the second time that Chinese BYD [a Chinese automobile manufacturer] vehicles will be used as taxis.

BYD taxis are also used in Pyongyang, but they are not as nice, the source told RFA.

Benefits for the wealthy

A wealthy North Korean customer could take one of the red-liveried cabs to the Chung Ryun [Youth] Store in Sinuiju and buy some fancy clothes, in what the source says is another Chinese-backed business.

A large-scale luxury clothing store with the sign Chung Ryun Store, which is a Chinese-invested business, opened in Sinuiju not too long ago, the source said, adding: The store manager is the wife of Sinuijus transportation director.

That same wealthy Koreans new clothes could have been stitched up from material produced in a sewing factory that was also built with Chinese financing, another source in China told RFA.

There are also several large and small roll-to-roll processing sewing factories and wig factories that Chinese people have invested in, that source said.

Once the wealthy North Korean customer has outfitted themselves with stylish new clothes, he could head home to an apartment in a high-rise that was built with a healthy injection of Chinese cash.

High-rise apartments that were built last year in Sinuiju were reported to have been backed by rich North Koreans, the source told RFA. However, this is false information. These apartment buildings were built from investments made by the Chinese.

After unpacking the stylish new clothes, the same wealthy North Korean could step around the corner and pick up a quart of milk and some tea at a convenience store that was built with Chinese investments.

Most convenience stores that have opened in North Koreas border cities, including Hyesan City and Sinuiju City, are also stores invested in by the Chinese, the source said.

If that wealthy Korean was taking the taxi because his car was broken, he might soon be able take it to a Chinese-backed repair shop.

Recently, a Chinese private business and Sinuiju authorities have been consulting on the establishment of an auto repair shop in Sinuiju, the source explained. That investment will be made soon.

Reported by Joonho Kim for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Jackie Yoo. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.
Ta'ang National Liberation Army soldiers march to mark the 51st anniversary of Ta'ang National Resistance Day in Homain, Nansan township, in northern Myanmar's Shan state, Jan. 12, 2014.

Three of Myanmars armed ethnic groups issued a statement on Thursday saying that they are prepared to join in the governments Panglong Peace Conference at the end of this month if they receive an invitation, a leader from one of the armies said.

The Arakan Army (AA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) are all non-signatories to the nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) that eight other armed ethnic groups signed with the previous Myanmar government last October.

I want to tell them we are ready to participate at the Aug. 31 conference if we are invited, said Colonel Ta Phone Kyaw, general secretary of the TNLA.

The Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC), headed by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi who is spearheading the Panglong Conference, decided earlier this week that all armed ethnic groups could attend the event in the capital Naypyidaw.

The UPDJC, composed of armed ethnic groups that signed the NCA, political party representatives, and government representatives, is overseeing the drafting process of the framework for political dialogue. They had met to determine the agenda for the conference.

Based on the decision of the UPDJC  to accept all armed ethnic groups at the conference, we understand that all [armies] including our three-member alliance will have the opportunity to attend, Ta Phone Kyaw said.

So far, the AA, MNDAA and TNLA have not received an invitation, but they are hopeful that one will arrive in time for the peace negotiations, he said.

At an Aug. 9 meeting between the AA, MNDAA, TNLA and the governments Peace Commission in the Mongla area in Shan state, retired General Khin Zaw Oo, who is a commission member, told the three groups they had to release a statement pledging to lay down their arms in order to attend the Panglong Conference.

But all three armies, which have been involved in recent skirmishes with the Myanmar military, refused to disarm.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmars de facto national leader, has made peace and national reconciliation between Myanmars armed ethnic groups and the government military a priority of the countrys National League for Democracy (NLD) government.

Panglong Conference organizers are inviting about 700 delegates from the Myanmar government, national military, and armed ethnic groups to the negotiations.

UNFC to meet Peace Commission

In the meantime, the Delegation for Political Negotiation (DPN) of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) will head to the commercial city Yangon on Friday for a meeting with Tin Myo Win, head of the governments Peace Commission.

The UNFC, an alliance of nine ethnic armed groups that did not sign the NCA, is advocating for the formation of a federal union in Myanmar.

Our main mission is to meet with Tin Myo Win as a follow-up to recent meetings concerning the peace process, said Major General Gwan Maw, the DPN's deputy leader and a high-ranking officer in the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

During their three-day meeting which begins Saturday, the DPN will discuss whether and how it should participate in the peace talks, he said.

UNFC leaders also held a two-day meeting in Chiang Mai to discuss whether they should attend the Panglong Conference.

In a related development, more than 3,000 people, including local politicians and national lawmakers, attended a rally on Thursday in Myitkyina, capital city of northern Myanmars Kachin state, to show their support for the Panglong Conference.

Ongoing clashes between armed ethnic soldiers and national army troops have occurred there as well as in northern Shan state.

The civil war will end only if we can build a democratic federal union accepted by all, Ko Ko, the emcee of the rally, told those who had gathered.

We believe a democratic federal union can provide us real justice, the rule of law, and peaceful coexistence, so lets give our full support to the conference, he said.

Reported by Thiha Tun, Aung Moe Myint and Kyaw Myo Min for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
A traditional Tibetan horse-race festival was held this week in northwestern Chinas Gansu province with official approval but under heavy guard, with large numbers of armed paramilitary police on hand to discourage anti-China protests by the crowd, according to a local source.



The tenth annual Machu Grassland Festival and Gesar Horse Race, named after a legendary warrior-king and Tibetan national hero, ran from Aug. 13 to 17 in the Kanlho (in Chinese, Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures Machu (Maqu) county, an area resident told RFAs Tibetan Service.



Hundreds of people from many Tibetan-populated areas gathered together for the festival, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



But the authorities deployed armed paramilitary police and a number of plainclothes security officers to watch the Tibetans activities, he said, adding, With such a heavy security presence, the festival grounds looked like a war zone.



Announcements were also made forbidding protests and banning the possession of weapons or fire-making materials, with festival-goers warned of serious consequences for breaking the rules, the source said.



Additional events including polo matches and the exhibiting of animals such as Tibetan mastiff dogs were also organized during the festival, he added.



Traditional gatherings in Tibetan-populated regions of China have greatly increased in size in recent years, as thousands of Tibetans gather to assert their national identity in the face of Beijings cultural and political domination.



Though China in recent years has frequently allowed the holding of Tibetan festivals as a sign of stability and progress in Tibetan areas, security forces often monitor and sometimes close down events involving large crowds, fearing spontaneous protests against Chinese rule.



Reported by Lhuboom for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.




Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (2L) looks at one of the victims of a shooting at a local hospital in the northern province of Yen Bai, August 18, 2016.

Two top provincial officials of Vietnams ruling Communist Party were shot to death by a forest ranger who later killed himself in a rare firearms-related killing in the Southeast Asian country, according to state media accounts.

The officials were killed Thursday in the northern province of Yen Bai, just before a meeting of the local Peoples Council, the official Vietnam News Agency said. It identified the gunman as Do Cuong Minh, the leader of Yen Bais forest ranger unit.

The victims were identified as Pham Duy Cuong, the provinces Communist Party secretary, and Ngo Ngoc Tuan, the chairman of the Peoples Council, the news agency said. Police officials said the men were shot multiple times with Minhs service revolver.

Gun ownership is tightly controlled in Vietnam, but Minh was allowed to carry a weapon in his official capacity, the news service reported.

While a motive for the shooting was not given, police told Thanhnien News they have no plans to launch a criminal investigation into the shooting since the suspect killed himself.

Police were searching the 53-year-old forest rangers house and office but had yet to find a suicide note, according to state media reports.

Maj. Gen. Dang Tran Chieu, Director of the Public Security Department of Yen Bai, told reporters in a press conference that the decision on the criminal investigation follows Vietnamese law.

Speculation on motive

Local officials at the press conference said they would still work to discover the shooter's motive. They rejected speculation that the shooting had to do with the ongoing reshuffling of local government staff.

The government plans to merge Minh's Forest Ranger Office and the Agriculture Office of Yen Bai, but Pham Thi Thanh Tra, chairman of the local People's Committee, denied there was a link to the shooting, state media said.

According to a report by state television outlet VTV, Vietnams Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc went to Yen Bai to direct government investigations, calling the incident extremely serious.

Local police and military have been instructed to maintain public order and stability in Yen Bai, a mountainous province northwest of the capital Hanoi, VTV reported.

Tra also told reporters that there was no link between the killing and recent reports of illegal logging in province.

This incident is not related to illegal logging in Yen Bai. In illegal logging cases, district authorities are responsible, there is no mention of the forest protection agency, so that has nothing to do with Minhs actions, Tra told reporters, according to a Channel New Asia report.

The shooting and official statements failed to quell speculation about the killings.

I think this shooting has a personal motivation, not a political one, former National Assembly deputy Le Van Cuong told RFAs Vietnamese Service. Maybe there was a personal plot that [the shooter] got into, and then he could not control himself.

'Nobody is crazy enough to shoot others like that'

Others werent so sure, as some government critics saw the shooting as another sign of anger over a corrupt regime.

Nobody is crazy enough to shoot others like that, said Nguyen Khac Mai, a former chief of the research board of the partys central public relations committee.

This is a conflict of power and interests, he told RFA. Nowadays the problem is that the leaders are corrupt and choose someone else as a scapegoat. We need to review the whole system and the people in the system.

While its difficult to tell if the killings were politically motivated or came from a personal dispute, Vietnamese freelance journalist Pham Chi Dung called the killings a visible manifestation of the problems that are boiling under the surface in the party.

At the moment we dont know if it is because of personal conflict or a professional one, but because it involved such high-ranking officials, it must be very big and very dangerous for the party, pushing the party to the edge of a cliff, he said.

I think this case is very special because the tension in the party is so high it exploded into homicide.

Reported by RFA's Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.
Tajikistan's government has quietly asserted the right of authorities to control the content of both state-run and privately owned broadcasters in a move that appears aimed at tightening officials' already firm grip on news and mass media.

A five-year decree made public this week on "guidelines for the preparation of television and radio programs" stipulates that the government -- through a state broadcast committee -- has the right to "regulate and control the content of all television and radio networks regardless of their type of ownership."

The decree, which urges Tajik journalists to promote national interests, describes its aim as providing the post-Soviet Central Asian nation of more than 8 million with "impartial information."



But it has prompted criticism that it provides the authoritarian government in Dushanbe with more power to censor independent media.

Its a negative development in terms of freedom of speech, in terms of political development of the country, says Edward Lemon, a researcher at the University of Exeter in Britain.

Lemon, who specializes in Tajik affairs, says the new regulation gives the government a greater right to monopolize information and make sure everything fits with it representation of political, economic, and social reality.



National culture, education, and healthy lifestyles are among topics that should be covered regularly, under the decree.

But such obligatory content also includes the "propagation...of government policies in the socioeconomic and culture spheres, as well as in the fields of art, education, science, and sports."

The decree cites the need for the regular monitoring and review of TV and radio programs by a special commission -- the so-called Arts Council -- within the TV and radio committee.

Some Tajik journalists have likened the Arts Council to the Soviet-era Glavlit, the infamous General Directorate for the Protection of State Secrets in the Press that controlled content among media outlets.

Saymuddin Dustov, a founder of an online publication and a news website, condemned the decree as more censorship by the state.



Dustov called on authorities to cancel the regulation, saying it contradicts laws on media freedoms.

Zafar Abdulloev, a Dushanbe-based independent media analyst, speculated that the decree won't change much because censorship and self-censorship are already widespread among Tajik media.

The Tajik government has been widely criticized for restricting media freedoms and stifling independent media outlets.

Tajikistan has consistently been rated Not Free by Freedom House, including in that U.S.-based watchdog's 2016 annual report.



The Freedom House report noted that Tajikistans authorities continued to arbitrarily limit free speech, access to information, and the right to civic organization in 2015.



Tajikistan was recently ranked 150th out of 180 states in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) annual index, slipping 34 places from the previous year.



RSF said that Tajikistan has eliminated political opposition and is stepping pressure on the remaining independent media on the pretext of combating terrorism.

Surveillance of communications is now routine, while the blocking of the main news websites and social networks is virtually permanent, RSF said in April 2016, referring to frequent blocking of Facebook, YouTube, and independent news websites.



Researcher Lemon called the latest regulation another symbolic move to say that no one can oppose the government and media cant criticize the government.
On August 17, the Turkish prime minister issued a "special decree" announcing the release of 38,000 prisoners, not including any sentenced for murder, sexual abuse, or rape. This includes financial crimes.

Tukey's overcrowded prisons and slow court processes have forced all governments to issue some sort of amnesty every year to make room for new prisoners. But the unprecedented scope of the clampdown on suspected supporters of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused of masterminding the July 15 coup attempt, seems to have played a major part in inducing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government to move quickly and include as many inmates as possible in the amnesty.

Thousands of prisoners suspected of actively or verbally supporting Gulen are awaiting court in big detention halls across the country. They need places in a regular prison.

"Are we releasing thieves and criminals to make room for coup plotters?" is a question widely discussed in Turkish media these days.

There's no question -- the answer is yes.

Today I took a look, as usual, at top news from Turkey. Let me give you a summary of the detentions, arrests, and suspensions of the last 24 hours related to the coup attempt. I will also include separate terrorist attacks related to the Kurdish insurgency:

-- 24 detained journalists of the newspaper Ozgur Gundem sent to prosecutor's office;

-- In a terrorist attack in a village close to the southeastern city of Bitlis, four security officers were killed;

-- No trace of detained teacher Demirtas;

-- Per "special decree," 187 businessmen to be detained;

-- Bomb attack on the police center in Van, eastern Turkey: three dead, 73 wounded;

-- Anti-Gulen operation against Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas's son-in-law;

-- National Radio and TV Committee bans reporting on the bomb attack on the police center in Elazig, eastern Turkey;

-- Colonel detained in Gulen-related case tries to defend himself;

-- Governor of Elazig in eastern Turkey says three policemen killed, 146 people wounded, 14 of them seriously;

-- A "special decree" on the dismissal of 2,360 people from police department and 112 people from armed forces personnel;

-- Detention of 86 judges and prosecutors planned.

All that in just one day.

To be sure, "special decrees" by the president or the prime minister play the role of laws in the current state of emergency.

I think the list is not complete. Let's for one moment forget about the terrible terror attacks mostly related to the Kurdish insurgency.

How can you follow the daily detentions and dismissals that have been continuing since July 15 without any break? You can't. Nobody but the security agencies can. Journalists try to keep up, though, with statistics.

According to some estimates, since the coup attempt 77,000 public servants have been suspended, 5,000 fired, 19,000 detained, and more than 11,000 people arrested.

The same sources estimate that the number of 77,000 suspensions will soon rise to 100,000.

The president has warned that the "viruses," as he calls Gulen supporters, "are everywhere." He has called on everyone to report them to prosecutors and security agencies "even if they are your friends."

With the "special decree" issued on August 17, 2,360 police staff and 112 employees of the Turkish armed forces were fired.

Obviously, it is virtually impossible that 77,000, let alone 100,000, people were armed or active supporters of the abortive coup.

Anybody suspected of having even talked positively about Gulen in the past is being reported and eventually suspended or detained. Some have reported that occasionally even friends of Gulen supporters were detained. There are also claims that some people spy on others and report them as "Gulenists" to the security services just to take their jobs or businesses.

A clarification of these tens of thousands of allegations and cases in open and fair trials may take years -- if it comes to a transparent court process at all.

Meanwhile, the accused have lost their jobs and financial security. Together with their families, they will probably amount to around half a million people - or more.
Ukraine has protested to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) over the organizations plans to send monitors to the Russian State Duma elections in the region of Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Ukraines Foreign Ministry on August 18 published a statement saying the CIS has been formally notified about the Ukrainian stance regarding the Russian intention to spread [the elections] into the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and the Crimean city of Sevastopol.

It noted that the elections will not have any legal consequence and added that any monitoring of the farce election will be seen as an unfriendly move.

The CIS is an organization of some former Soviet republics. Nine of them -- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan -- are full members, while Turkmenistan and Ukraine are associate states.

Georgia withdrew from the CIS after the war against Russia in 2008.

Based on reporting by Interfax and RIA Novosti
Russia appears to be doing everything possible to make us all believe an all-out invasion of Ukraine is imminent.

Troops and heavy weapons have been moved to the north of occupied Crimea, near the Ukrainian mainland.

Moscow has also positioned troops in Bryansk, to Ukraine's north and near Rostov, to Ukraine's east.

Additionally, Russian troops are reportedly holding military exercises with pro-Moscow separatist forces in Moldova's breakaway Transdniester, on Ukraine's western border.

So don't look now, but Russia has basically surrounded Ukraine with battle-ready forces.

And the Kremlin has also ratcheted up its bellicose rhetoric.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this week vowed that Russia would take "exhaustive measures" in retaliation for an alleged plot by Ukraine to carry out terror attacks in occupied Crimea.

It should be added that few outside of Russia believe such a terror plot ever existed.

So what's going on here? Is Russia preparing an all-out invasion of Ukraine?

Or is all this just another psy-op?

Who knows? To answer that question we would need to get inside Putin's head.

And as we all know, that is a very dark place where it is difficult to see anything.

But Putin can't be happy with how things have gone in Ukraine.

Despite the annexation and occupation of Crimea, despite more than two years of war in the east, and despite constant pressure and intimidation from Moscow, Kyiv has remained defiant.

So Putin has apparently decided to up the ante. He's apparently decided to reset the conflict.

So we shouldn't rule anything out.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.




Australia warned over grid deal block Updated: 2016-08-18 10:57 (CRI)

China's Ministry of Commerce says the move by Australia to block the sale of AusGrid to Chinese firms is another sign of growing trade protectionism in that country.

On August 11, the Australian government announced it was not going to allow the State Grid Corporation of China and Hong Kong-listed Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings from buying AusGrid.

The joint bid was worth $7.7 billion.

Unspecified national security concerns were cited, but the companies were given one week to amend their bids to mitigate risks.

Shen Danyang with China's Ministry of Commerce notes State Grid had been allowed to enter the binding bidding stage before the decision was made.

"The MOC also notices that this is the second time this year the Australian government has made decisions to block Chinese applications to conduct business investments in Australia. This decision clearly shows a trend toward trade protectionism, which will severely hurt Chinese enterprises' enthusiasm in investing in Australia."

Shen Danyang also says Australian officials need to back up their promises with action.

"The Australian side has said many times that it welcomes investment from Chinese companies, but then reverses their decisions. The Commerce Ministry hopes Australia's government works to create a fairer, better and more transparent trade and investment environment for Chinese enterprises."

This is the second time this year that Australian authorities have rejected bids by Chinese companies for the purchase of major Australian assets.

An offer by a China-led consortium to purchase the country's largest agricultural land owner, cattle company Kidman & Company, was rejected by Australia's government over national security concerns.

For his part, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been critical of what he views as a growing protectionist mood among Australian lawmakers.

"Protectionism and inward-looking policies are starting to gain a foothold. Political divisions in advanced economies, particularly where there is high unemployment or a high risk of unemployment, are feeding on a sense of disenfranchisement among many people who feel the rapid economic changes of our time have left them behind. Political responses to this mood of disaffection can have the potential to destabilize global growth, perhaps even reversing some of the spectacular gains we have made over recent decades through open markets and free trade."

China is a critical trade and investment destination for Australia, with much of the country's mineral wealth being sold to China.

China has also become a major investor in Australia in recent years.

The overall relationship has been reflected through the upgrading of their official ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership at the end of 2014.

A free trade agreement signed by the two countries officially took effect last year.
A member of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush's administration says that until the attempted coup against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991, nobody in the U.S. government imagined the Soviet Union would collapse by the end of 1991.

Nicholas Burns -- who was the White House's director for Soviet affairs at the time and attended all seven U.S.-Soviet summits between Bush and Gorbachev from 1989 through 1991 -- had an insider's view of how the U.S. administration formed policies in reaction to the fall of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989 and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, which culminated in late December 1991.

"The coup against Gorbachev on the 18th and 19th of August 1991 -- when [Gorbachev] was caught in Crimea and the coup plotters in Moscow took over -- was a shock to the rest of the world," Burns, who also was a member of Bush's National Security Council before later becoming the undersecretary of state for political affairs, told RFE/RL in an interview marking the 25th anniversary of the August coup.

Burns said Washington was caught by surprise by the attempted coup because of "the history of the psychology of the Cold War."

He said the coup plot by hard-line members of the Soviet Communist Party revealed what no Western powers had understood just a month earlier: The Soviet Union was on its last legs.

"It was only after the coup, the attempted coup, that it became apparent that it was a possibility," Burns said. "In August and September of 1991, we began to realize it was possible that the Soviet Union might break up -- might cease to exist. It was unimaginable before that."

"It was only after the coup against Gorbachev when we saw how weak [Gorbachev] was politically, when we saw that [Boris] Yeltsin was rising [in power as] the Russian republic president; that [future Ukrainian President Leonid] Kravchuk was rising; that [future Belarusian leader Stanislau] Shushkevich in Belarus was rising. [It was] when they became power centers unto themselves."

Burns said that before the August coup, the big emphasis of White House policy from 1989 had been how to deal with the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe -- in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, and East Germany.

"We knew, obviously, because we had embassies in all of these countries, we knew about the democracy movements in these countries," Burns explained.

"We supported the democracy movements. We wanted them to succeed. We wanted to see an end of communism," he said. "But because of the psychology of what happens when you are in a Cold War dynamic, it was really barely believable for a long time to think that the Warsaw Pact could die, cease to exist; that communism could end in a series of countries in Eastern Europe and then ultimately in the Soviet Union. It took time to believe that this was possible."

Fears Of 'Loose Nukes'

However, Burns said once it became apparent that Soviet power was weakening significantly, the policy of the Bush administration was driven by concerns of a violent breakup of the Soviet Union and the "fear of loose nukes" -- that "nuclear weapons might end up in the hands of violent people."

"The Soviet Union, of course, was a great nuclear-weapons power," Burns said. "It had nuclear weapons on the territory of the Ukrainian republic inside the Soviet Union, the Belarusian republic, the Kazakh republic."

"That was a danger to all of us around the world if the nuclear weapons were not held securely by responsible authorities," he continued. "We worried about who might have custody over nuclear weapons. We worried about whether warlords would emerge. Would there be a long-running civil war?"

Burns said that is why the August coup brought about a new diplomatic approach from Washington of dealing with both "a rising Yeltsin and a sinking Gorbachev."

"You could see Gorbachev was losing power and authority," he said. "Yeltsin was gaining it. So when President Bush was dealing with the leadership in Moscow between mid-August 1991 and December 1991, when he called Gorbachev he would normally call Yeltsin the same day just to inform Yeltsin what was happening."

"If he called Yeltsin, he would call Gorbachev to say, 'I've had this conversation.'"

"We didn't want to divide them," Burns said. "We didn't want to choose. We weren't trying to interfere. We had to deal with both of them -- and the staffs of both of them. It was a balancing act."

Burns also said President Bush worked hard "behind the scenes" in the weeks after the failed coup to try to "pressure" Gorbachev to allow and recognize the independence of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

That recognition by the Soviet Union came on September 6, 1991.

"As I look back at 1990s and 1991, I think President George H.W. Bush achieved a balance between the Soviet leadership and the Russian leadership that was just about right," Burns said.

"Now we know how the story ended, 25 years later. We can look back. We understand. We can see how the entire story ended. [But at the time], we didn't know how that story was going to end," he added.

"We were hoping that communism would collapse. But we were also hoping and praying that it would not collapse in a violent way when thousands, or hundreds of thousands of people, might be killed."

Written by Ron Synovitz and Nicholas Burns interviewed by RFE/RL's Russian Service correspondent Yury Zhigalkin
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."
Officials in Iran have acknowledged that Russian warplanes are using an Iranian air base but only for refueling purposes and insist that no Russian troops are stationed on Iranian soil.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on August 17 that Russian warplanes are using the remote Shahid Nojeh air base, which is about 50 kilometers away from the city of Hamadan in northwestern Iran.

He said Iran's Supreme National Security Council had given permission for Russia to use the air base.

"There is no stationing of Russian forces in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Boroujerdi added.

Reports the past two days have said Russian aircraft were taking off from Iran's air base at Hamadan to make bombing raids on Islamist militant targets in Syria, making it unclear exactly which air bases Russia is utilizing.

Russias Defense Ministry said several Su-34 strike fighters left the Hamadan air field in northwestern Iran to strike targets in Syrias Deir al-Zor Province on August 17, and that all aircraft had returned safely.

The ministrys statement claimed more than 150 militants, including foreign mercenaries, were killed.

Reports from Syria say Russian or Syrian government air strikes on the rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib had killed 17 people and wounded at least 30 others on August 17, the Civil Defense branch for the region reported, as did the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said dozens of civilians had been killed or wounded in the attacks.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov defended the use of the military base in Iran for the air strikes in Syria and rejected allegations by the United States that it could be a violation of UN resolutions.

"In the case we're discussing there has been no supply, sale, or transfer of fighter jets to Iran," Lavrov said. "The Russian air force uses these fighter jets with Iran's approval in order to take part in the counterterrorism operation" in Syria.

The speaker of Irans parliament, Ali Larijani, said on August 17 that Russia does not have a permanent military base in Iran, but stressed that Iran has good cooperation with Russia and we say that loud and clear.

Larijani added that the Iranian Constitution bans any foreign forces from having a military base in the country.

Hossein Kanani Moghadam, a former commander in Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, told the AP that Russia's use of the Iranian air base "doesn't mean that Nojeh is a Russian air base. Iran just lets them land there and refuel their aircraft, and everything is under the control of Iranians there."

Many Iranians don't look favorably upon Russia due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1970s and even for Moscow's invasion and occupation of Iran along with Britian during World War II to secure oil fields.

The Soviets refusal to leave Iran after the war -- even after the British had left -- resulted in soured relations.

With reporting by Interfax, TASS, and AP


Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has prolonged a moratorium on land privatization and land leasing to foreigners until December 2021.

The presidential press service said the decision was made on August 18, five days after a land-reform commission recommended the prolongation of the moratorium for five years.

In May, Nazarbaev postponed the controversial plan to privatize state-owned farmland by 2017 and ordered to establish the land-reform commission.

Nazarbaev's announcement in early May followed nearly two weeks of mass demonstrations across the country.

Many participants expressed concern that the plan would allow foreigners to own Kazakh agricultural land.

Demonstrators have also expressed concern that the land auctions would not be done in a transparent way and that the country's elite, rather than farmers, would end up owning the land.

Based on reporting by Tengrinews and Kazinform
OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- Kyrgyz officials in the southern region of Osh have detained a group of religious followers for illegally propagating Islamic teaching.

Osh regional police department spokesman Zhenish Ashirbaev said on August 18 that seven members of the Yaqyn Inkar Islamic movement, including teenagers, were detained for propagating their ideas without legal permission.

The activities of the movement are not banned in Kyrgyzstan, but religious organizations have to obtain permission from local authorities to promote their views.

The group's members live as people did in the seventh century when the Prophet Muhammad was alive. They do not use modern technical devices, travel by foot, do not cut their hair regularly, and wear only traditional white Arabic clothes.

Religious experts consider the group an offshoot of the Tablighi Jamaat Islamic group, which is legal in Kyrgyzstan but officially banned in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Russia.
The Moldovan Foreign Ministry has complained to Russian diplomats over a recent military exercise involving Russian troops on the territory of Transdniester, a region of Moldova de facto controlled by Russia-backed separatists.

The ministry issued a statement on August 18 saying that the exercise was illegal, "provocative, and inadmissible." It aimed to "undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Moldova, the statement added.

The ministry repeated Chisinau's demand that Russia withdraw its forces and heavy weaponry from the country and that the peacekeeping operation be handed over to international organizations.

It was the second time that exercises involving separatists and Russian forces have been held in Transdniester this month.

Russia has maintained a force of some 1,000 troops in Moldova since a cease-fire was brokered in 1992 after a brief, bloody conflict between the separatists and the Moldovan state.

Some 1,500 people died in that conflict.

In 1999, Moscow agreed to a complete withdrawal of its forces by 2002, but has failed to implement that agreement despite repeated appeals by the Moldovan government for it to do so.

Based on reporting by AP and Interfax


Russian President Vladimir Putin says the world faces the most dangerous decade since World War II and predicted that the historical period of the West's "undivided dominance over world affairs" is coming to an end.

Speaking on October 27 at a conference of international policy experts in Moscow, Putin said the decade ahead is "probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and, at the same time, important...since the end of World War II."

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.

Putin laid the blame for the situation at the feet of Western countries, which he said have cast aside the norms of international affairs in order to maintain dominance and hold down countries they see as "second-class civilizations."

The Russian leader also said he had no regrets about sending troops into Ukraine and sought to explain the conflict as part of the efforts by Western countries to secure their global domination.

Putin claimed in his speech to the Valdai Discussion Club, a think tank, that the West had helped incite the conflict and also seeks to stoke a crisis over Taiwan in an attempt to enforce global dominance.

Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, triggering the biggest military conflict in Europe since World War II and driving relations with Western countries that back Ukraine and its drive to be part of the European Union and NATO to their lowest depths since the Cold War.

Putin cast the conflict in Ukraine as a battle between the West and Russia for the fate of the second-largest Eastern Slav country. It is partly a "civil war," he said, as Russians and Ukrainians are one people. Kyiv has flatly rejected both of those ideas.

The goal of what Russia refers to as a "special military operation" is to take the eastern Donbas region, Putin said, adding that in his view the region would "not have survived" on its own had Russia not intervened militarily in Ukraine.

WATCH: A local official told Russian conscripts "You are not cannon fodder" in a video published online recently. The men responded by angrily shouting that, actually, that's exactly what they are.

But the war has gone far beyond the Donbas region, with Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, and other nonmilitary structures, killing tens of thousands of Ukrainians across the country.

Putin used the speech largely to rail against the West, saying it has nothing to offer to the world "except its own domination," and the goal of globalization "is neocolonialism to dominate the world." He said Russia is only trying to defend its right to exist in the face these Western efforts.

Putin also asserted that more and more nations refuse to follow Washington's demands and Russia will never accept the West's attempts to dominate the world.

Citing gay pride parades and the acceptance of transgender people in Western countries, Putin also defended "traditional values" and said "nobody can dictate to our people how to develop and what society we should build."

He also said Russia has never considered the West an enemy and has many things in common with it but will continue to oppose the diktat of Western neoliberal elites.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Putin's speech presented no new ideas.

"We don't believe that Mr. Putin's strategic goals have changed here. He doesn't want Ukraine to exist as a sovereign, independent nation state," Kirby said.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Putin's speech can be described as "for Freud," referring to psychoanalysis founder Sigmund Freud.



"The person who invaded a foreign country, annexed its land, and committed genocide accuses others of violating international law and the sovereignty of other countries? One truth: The person who started a wind will get a storm. The storm is coming," he said on Twitter.

Answering questions from journalists after his speech, Putin reiterated the Kremlin's assertion that Ukraine plans to use a so-called dirty bomb on its own territory. The claim has been dismissed as false by Ukraine and its allies, who say Russia may have raised the matter because it plans to use such a bomb in Ukraine as a pretext for escalation.

"It was me who ordered [Defense Minister Sergei] Shoigu to inform by phone all his colleagues about it," Putin said, adding that Russia does not need to use dirty bombs in Ukraine.

Putin also said he supported plans by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit Ukraine's nuclear power plants for inspections.

"It must be done as soon and as openly as possible because we know that Kyiv authorities are now working to cover up such [dirty-bomb attack] preparations," Putin said, without giving any exact information proving the claim.

Ukraine invited IAEA inspectors to visit its nuclear facilities after the Kremlin made its unsubstantiated claim about the preparation of a dirty bomb -- which would use the explosion of a conventional warhead to spread radioactive material or chemicals over a wide area.

Ukraine said it would welcome inspections because it had "nothing to hide."

According to Putin, Russia has never talked about the use of nuclear weapons in the war with Ukraine despite his own promise to defend Russian territory with any means at our disposal" and saying his words were "not a bluff."

"We see no need for [using nuclear weapons in Ukraine]," Putin told reporters. "There is no sense for that, neither political, nor military."
Prominent Russian human rights lawyer Mark Feygin has been barred from leaving Russia in a move he says is aimed at preventing him from defending Crimean Tatars at an Organization for Security and Cooperation event in Warsaw.

Feygin posted a photograph of the order barring him from leaving on Twitter on August 18 and said it also is intended to block my visits to Ukraine."

Feygin was one of the main defense lawyers for Ukrainian military aviator Nadia Savchenko, who spent nearly two years in Russian custody after being captured in Ukraine.

The document that Feygin posted indicates that Russian court bailiffs ordered the travel ban because he is a debtor from the Russian Federation.

Feygin did not comment on the nature of the purported debt.
Russia has a glaring vulnerability and it's rooted in childhood, according to celebrated film director Nikita Mikhalkov.

The country's children are faced with a "never-ending current of patchy, often false information" about Russia's history, cultural values, and its overall place in the world, he says.

And with that in mind, the chairman of the Russian Union of Cinematographers has proposed the establishment of a Ministry of Children and Adolescents to "deal with issues of childhood, our young generation, their upbringing and education."

During an August 17 interview at the Tavrida youth forum in occupied Crimea, Mikhalkov claimed that young Russians interpret news on their own, leading them to do "whatever they please" with Russia in the future.

"What did we leave and where did we arrive, having exchanged the Soviet education system -- which had proved its efficiency for decades -- for the Western analogue?" asked the widely celebrated winner of the 1995 Academy Award for best foreign-language film. "If we put aside all the embellishments and illusions, what is left? The following -- our education system was deprived of its main function -- upbringing. Upbringing has been erased and removed from the entire system."

Mikhalkov, an ardent supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the upbringing of Russian children should "be reflected in a governmental program."

Russia's (frequently embattled) children's rights commissioner, Pavel Astakhov, criticized the idea of such a ministry on Twitter, claiming that "everyone and everything" must be concerned with how children are raised.

"To create a wholesome system of upbringing, we don't need a ministry or simply a strategy and a concept, we need IDEOLOGY," he tweeted.

Mikhalkov's claim comes a day after Vitaly Milonov, a controversial lawmaker from St. Petersburg and a vocal proponent of laws punishing gay "propaganda," addressed the Education Ministry with a request to include a chapter on traitors against Russian national interests in history books.

"We owe it to Russia's future generations not only to preserve a dry historical canvas," he told the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper on August 16. "We must pass on to our children a correct evaluation of all historical processes and personalities that had influence on our present day."

Milonov says he considers anyone who rejects Russia's "unification" with Crimea, which the country forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014, to be traitors.
The Russian Prosecutor-General's Office has deemed two U.S.-based NGOs as being "undesirable" in Russia and of threatening the country's national security.

The prosecutor's office said in a statement on August 18 that it will recognize the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) as "undesirable" and as posing "a threat to the foundations of the Russian constitutional system and the state's security."

It added that its decisions had been sent to the Justice Ministry and that the IRI and MDIF will be placed on a list of "undesirable" organizations.

The IRI, which is chaired by U.S. Senator John McCain (Republican-Arizona), said in response that "this move really says more about [Russian President] Vladimir Putin than it does about IRI" and is "further proof that he fears democracy and allowing his people to have an opportunity to shape their own future."

The IRI was founded in 1983 and says it is committed to "advancing freedom and democracy worldwide," operating in dozens of countries.

IRI closed its Russia office in 2012 and runs its Russia program through various programs in Europe.

The MDIF has provided financial and technical help to independent news and information businesses in 39 countries around the world since 1996.

In March, Russia's Justice Ministry added another U.S. organization -- the National Democratic Institute -- to the list of "undesirable" organizations.

Also in March, the NTV television channel broadcast a report alleging that Russian independent media that had worked with the MDIF were "indebted" to the U.S. State Department.

The fund has no relationship with the U.S. government.

The three organizations recently listed by Russia as undesirable have been supporting the development of democratic institutions in Russia and other former Soviet republics for many years.

Critics say the Russian law on foreign NGOs, adopted in May 2015, stifles civil society.

With reporting by Interfax




Anti-globalization sentiment likely to feed into G20 discussions: Italian expert Updated: 2016-08-18 13:29 (Xinhua)

ROME - Brexit and the rising anti-globalization sentiment are among global uncertain factors that are likely to feed into the discussions at the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) summit early next month in China, an Italian expert said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Giuseppe Sacco, a professor of political science and international relations at LUISS University in Rome, said the fact that US President Barack Obama will leave the White House in a few months may also have an impact.

"Some pressing political events are taking place at the global level, and they might divert the G20 agenda or, at least, impact it," said the former division director at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Specifically, Sacco said that the rising anti-globalization sentiment in the heart of the Anglo-Saxon world is a new and interesting phenomenon.

"Most intriguingly, this trend is not revealing itself in a country like Greece, for example, which was hit most badly by the global financial crisis and by consequent austerity measures easily ascribable to the globalized economy," he said.

"Anti-globalization feelings have instead grown in Britain, and the Brexit referendum is much proof of that, and within the campaign of (Republican presidential nominee) Donald Trump in the United States," he added.

China, the rotating chair of G20 this year, has outlined the key points expected to be unveiled at the summit with the theme of building an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive global economy. Innovative and inclusive growth is at the heart of the agenda.

Experts have said that it is necessary for the world leaders to make globalization work in the interest of all. Multinational firms from the developed economies have benefited the most, whereas even the white collars and middle class in many countries feel that they have not benefited so much from globalization, leading to a rise in anti-globalization.

The global challenges and issues have been mentioned in statements of G20 meetings that have been taking place at various levels throughout 2016, showing that world leaders are aware of the urgency.

Development will be a key word at the G20 summit this year. It is one of the key words for the summit as China tries to facilitate the transition of the G20 from crisis response to a mechanism focusing on long-term global economic governance.

Nevertheless, Sacco expects the G20 leaders to address both the short-term economic issues and those related to development.

"Compared to other G20 summits addressing only the ongoing political and economic situation, however difficult it was, the summit in Hangzhou cannot avoid facing structural problems of the global economy," he said.

The sluggish growth pace of global gross domestic product, the depressed market demand, the international trade slowdown, and the excess capacities of some industries are among the structural priorities that are expected to be at the core of the G20 agenda.

Sacco also said world leaders at the forthcoming summit should pay much attention to the worrying rise of protectionism.

"I think Italy will have a keen eye on this, because it is a major exporting economy and risks paying a higher price compared with others for the increasing trade restricting measures," he said, citing the G20 commitment to have consultations aimed at resisting protectionism.

The G20 groups the world's 19 economically important countries as well as the European Union (EU). The upcoming G20 Summit is scheduled to be held in China's eastern city of Hangzhou on Sept 4-5.

Representatives of international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and the International Labor Organization, the OECD and some guest countries have been invited to attend the summit.

The Italian scholar also said the possible impact of the "still fresh" Brexit referendum is likely to feed into discussions at the summit.

"Its impact on Britain and EU's future is still unclear," he said.
A Russian boxer was taken out of the arena in a wheelchair amid agony and tears after she injured her arm in a Rio Olympic semi-final fight on August 17.

With one minute left of the first round against France's Estelle Mossely, Anastasiia Beliakova, 23, threw a punch at an awkward angle with her left hand and then immediately cried out in pain and stopped.

A doctor climbed through the ropes and rushed to her aid, as she stood grimacing in pain and unable to move.

She was coaxed gingerly out of the ring and into a wheelchair, and spirited out of the arena as she cried in distress.

It was not immediately clear what the injury was, but Mossely said she thought the Russian had dislocated her elbow.

Meanwhile,Russian boxer Vladimir Nikitin, whose win over Irish bantamweight world champion Michael Conlan in a quarterfinal round provoked complaints, was eliminated from the Rio Games on August 17 due to an injury.

Based on reporting by AFP and TASS


ON MY MIND

It's quite telling that there are no official events planned in Russia to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the failed hardline coup in August 1991.

It's telling that Moscow authorities have denied permission for a human rights group to hold a march in the center of the city to commemorate this historic event and to lay wreaths at a monument to the three men who were killed.

It's telling that, as Masha Gessen notes in a piece featured below, this out-of sight-out-of-mind monument to these three men is in disrepair while the famous statue of Soviet secret police founder Feliks Dzerzhinsky has been restored and is displayed in a park near the Kremlin.

It's all very telling, of course.

But it's not at all surprising at all.

IN THE NEWS

Municipal authorities in Moscow have denied permission for a commemoration march to mark the 25th anniversary of the failed hard-line coup attempt against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Russian officials say four suspected members of an illegal armed group were killed by security forces in an operation at an apartment building in St. Petersburg.

A court in St. Petersburg has jailed three members of the banned Islamic organization, Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Authorities in Moscow say two unidentified men armed with guns and axes attacked a police post outside of Moscow.

Authorities in Ukraine say they have detained an Uzbek citizen believed to have been fighting alongside Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk.

Two Interior Ministry officials from Chechnya have been detained in Moscow on suspicion of extortion.

Russia's media watchdog has blocked five websites calling for boycotting Russia's September 18 State Duma elections.

The Conflict Intelligence Team open-source research organization is reporting that two Russian officers have been killed in Syria.

WHAT I'M READING

Sanctions? What Sanctions?

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project has a new piece out looking at how, despite sanctions, international trade continues with Russian-annexed Crimea.

The Crimea Psy-Op

Writing on his blog, Anton Shekhovtsov looks at Russia's allegations of a terrorist plot in Crimea as being a psy-op.

Does Propaganda Work?

Theodore P. Gerber, director of the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Jane Zavisca, a professor of sociology at the University of Arizona, have a scholarly article in The Washington Quarterly that asks: "Does Russian Propaganda Work?"

The Fall of the Cronies

Writing on his blog, In Moscow's Shadows, Mark Galeotti looks at the different ways three Putin cronies -- Vladimir Yakunin, Viktor Ivanov, and Sergei Ivanov -- were treated as they were dismissed.

The State Of Nord Stream

In a piece for EUobserver, Sijbren de Jong of The Hague Center for Strategic Studies asks: "Is Nord Stream 2 Dead?"

The Internet And The Coup

Historian and journalist Natalia Konradova has a piece in openDemocracy on how an infant version of the Internet helped avert the Soviet hard-line coup of August 1991.

A $240-Billion Boondoggle

Writing on Mikhail Khodorkovsky's Open Wall web portal, Ilya Klishin looks at Russia's proposed $240 billion transport proposal using dirigibles.

August 1991

In an op-ed in The New York Times, journalist Masha Gessen, author of The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin, asks if the Soviet Union ever really ended.

Putin's Useful Sympathizers

Andrey Makarychev, a visiting professor at the University of Tartu's Skytte Institute of Political Studies and Stefano Braghiroli, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Tartu's Institute of Government and Politics, have a scholarly article in the journal PONARS Eurasia looking at anti-status-quo groups on the far left and far right that have been courted by the Kremlin.
Two men armed with axes were killed after attacking a traffic police station outside of Moscow.

Officials said two police officers at the station were seriously wounded in the August 17 incident.

The two attackers -- one of whom managed to get a pistol from a policeman -- were killed.

One was killed at the scene while the second attacker escaped but was later killed by security forces in a shoot-out.

The attack occurred in the Balashikha township 20 kilometers east of Moscow.

Police said the armed men were natives of Central Asia but refused to identify them or say which countries they were from.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax


Ukraines president has said the likelihood of an escalation of the conflict with Russia and Russia-back separatists in eastern Ukraine remains significant and said he cannot rule out a full-scale Russian invasion.

Speaking in the Lviv region on August 18, Poroshenko said that if the situation in eastern Ukraine and the region of Crimea, which Russia forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014, continues to deteriorate, we will have to impose martial law and order mobilization.

Poroshenko accused the enemy of trying to undermine the Minsk peace process aimed at settling the conflict and of making absolutely irresponsible statements about possibly withdrawing from the so-called Normandy format of talks.

Earlier, the military said three Ukrainian soldiers were killed in fighting against the Russia-backed separatists.

Military spokesman Oleksanr Motuzyank said separatists fired more than 500 mortar shells and over 300 artillery shells in the last 24 hours in what he said was a similar level of intensity of fire to what the country experienced a year ago.

According to the UN, more than 9,500 people have been killed in the conflict since it began in early 2014.

Based on reporting by Interfax and AFP


TASHKENT -- Uzbek state television has edited a statement by weightlifter Ruslan Nurudinov in a report covering his victory at the Rio Olympics, cutting out a traditional phrase praising God.

Nurudinov earn a gold medal for Uzbekistan on August 15 in the 105-kilogram event at Rio Olympics. Talking to journalists after the award ceremony, Nurudinov said, "Thank the Lord (Allahka shukur) I have won this medal for my Uzbekistan."

Meanwhile, RFE/RL's correspondents report from Tashkent that Uzbek state TV cut out the first part of Nurudinov's statement in their report. But unedited video of his full statement is circulating on the Internet.

The Uzbek government has for years enforced its support for secular society by hunting down men with beards and organizing show trials of alleged Islamists.

Media reports say hundreds of Uzbek citizens have joined the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria and Iraq in recent years.
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China's outbound tourism spending tops $226b, half on shopping Updated: 2016-08-18 13:56 (chinadaily.com.cn)

A chinese tourist takes a selfie in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, May 5, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Chinese outbound consumption reached 1.5 trillion yuan ($226.15 billion) in 2015, of which about half was spent on shopping, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

However, during the same period, international travelers spent 384.6 billion yuan in China, a mere 2.94 percent increase from a year earlier, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.

On one hand, some foreign tourists are reluctant to come to China as a result of problems such as overcharging and cheating in services. On the other hand, some countries have relaxed their visa policies and have improved their services to attract more Chinese travelers, Economic Information Daily reported.

Gao Hucheng, minister of commerce, said earlier that Chinese outbound consumption reached 1.5 trillion yuan in 2015. Of which, at least 700 billion yuan to 800 billion yuan were spent on shopping.

Middle- and high-income groups accounted for a considerable proportion of the Chinese shoppers abroad, with their shopping preference shifting from the luxury brands and high-end products to high-quality, cost-effective goods suitable for daily consumption.

Easing travel restrictions, good services and attractive prices remain the key drivers underpinning the Chinese outbound tourism growth story, the newspaper said.

Visa-free policy offers more convenience, an official at Ctrip, one of China's leading online travel service providers, told the newspaper.

For example, Jeju Island in South Korea and Indonesian holiday resort island of Bali offer visa-free travel for Chinese travelers. Thailand also introduced a six month multiple entry tourist visa for Chinese tourists.

According to Ctrip's latest data, Thailand recorded most visa applications in the first half of this year. Singapore and South Korea ranked second and third respectively.

In addition, adding new flights also bring down tickets prices and stimulate outbound tourism.

Take the United States as an example, 75 new direct flights were opened between China and America last year, up more than 30 percent from previous year, according to Chinese online travel agency Qunar.

The number of travelers in China's international aviation market rose to 50.07 million in 2014 from 31.92 million in 2010, according to data released by Industrial Securities. Among them, the number of Chinese travelers registered a 131 percent increase.

In the future, Chinese outbound tourism is likely to continue to see positive trends.

Most of Chinese have never been abroad, with only less than 10 percent of them holding passports, Shi Yuduan, Chief Marketing Officer of Ctrip's Tourism Business told the newspaper. This market still has big potential and will retain its growth trend in long term.
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Violence against Chinese in the UK widespread and under-reported Updated: 2016-08-18 10:12 By Angus McNeice in London(chinadaily.com.cn)

A series of muggings of Chinese students in the UK may be part of what one social justice expert calls the "deteriorating situation" of violent attacks, discrimination and hate crimes against Chinese people living in Britain.

Anecdotal reports of as many as eight break-ins and muggings of Chinese students since early July at the University of Birmingham have led to suspicions they are being targeted for their perceived wealth and are seen as easy marks. One confirmed attack of a male student in the Selly Oak district resulted in severe facial injuries.

A Birmingham student told China Daily that she and her roommate are scared to venture out by themselves after an attempted break-in of their room and having been followed home at night by strangers on a different occasion.

"My roommate was at home, she heard violent knocking before someone outside started to pick the lock. She waited until I came back to call the police. It took about 20 to 30 minutes before the police came," Yang Zidan, 21, said. "Now I'm afraid to go out alone."

The University of Birmingham issued a statement after the attack on the male student warning students to remain on their guard against violent robbery.

The incident in England occurred days after textile-designer Zhang Chaolin was violently mugged in the Parisian suburb of Aubervilliers. Zhang went into a coma after his head struck the pavement and he died five days later.

The Mayor of Aubervilliers, Meriem Derkaoui described the attack as a murder "with a racist targeting." Members of the Chinese community in Paris gathered to mourn Zhang last Sunday. A student told media outlet Le Parisien the attack was "based on prejudices that the Chinese are weak, docile and rich."

Aubervilliers, northeast of the centre of Paris, is home to a sizeable Chinese community, many of whom work in the cut price fashion outlets in the area.

Reported cases of violence against Chinese people are just the tip of the iceberg, according to Gary Craig, Professor of Social Justice at the University of Hull. Craig says that working-class Chinese  often from the service industry  across the UK are frequently subject to violent crime and racist abuse that goes unreported as the Chinese community has a documented lack of confidence in the police.

"The two projects I've worked on both showed very high levels of racism against Chinese people in the UK," Craig said. "If they are subject to racist attacks or abuse, Chinese people tend to be very wary of the police, either because they have had a bad experience in the past or because they don't trust the police will take it seriously. So they don't report it. The whole issue of racism against Chinese people tends to be somewhat hidden."

Craig contributed to a 2016 study by Zhifeng Tong of the Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou, into the social and economic issues faced by the Chinese population in the UK's North East. Seventy percent of those interviewed said that reports to the police were not followed up.

He also worked on a 2009 study conducted by anti-racist charity The Monitoring Group which concluded that the Chinese community suffers from levels of racial harassment that are perhaps even higher than those experienced by any other minority group. A 2012 survey of over 9,000 students across the UK conducted by the National Union of Students delivered similar findings. Thirty percent of the Chinese students surveyed said they had been victims of hate crimes or incidents, more than any other ethnic group.

Addressing crime is made harder due to severe under-reporting of incidents. A 2013 report by the British Chinese Project and the All Party Parliamentary China Group found a "lack of confidence" in the police within the Chinese community. Half of the 520 surveyed said they did not trust the police to "deal effectively with their cases."

Manchester's Chinese Community Centre (MCCC) set up a hate crime reporting center in 2005 in response to rising levels of bigotry toward Chinese and the murder of restaurant owner Mi Gao Huang Chen. In April that year, Chen was beaten to death by a large group of youths outside his takeaway in Wigan, Greater Manchester.

An MCCC report states that Chinese people are verbally or physically harassed on a daily basis in the northern city. The center found that while 61 percent of Chinese in Manchester had been victims of hate crimes, three quarters said they chose not to report incidents to authorities.

This year, hate crimes across the UK surged by 42 percent on the same period in 2015 in the fortnight following the Brexit vote, fuelled by anti-immigrant sentiment.

"Hate crimes have come under greater scrutiny in recent times," Craig says. "One structural problem is in the data collection of hate crimes. When you look at the way data is collected in terms of ethnic origin, you get black African, Afro-Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, but Chinese fall under other.' So the Chinese are invisibilized' by public policy. The police collect the data but don't disaggregate it to show the impact on Chinese people."
Chesterfield County police are searching for a man who robbed a Dollar General store this week.

About 10 p.m. Monday, the man entered the store in the 6700 block of Jefferson Davis Highway, passed a note implying he had a gun to an employee, and demanded money, police said.

The man left with an undisclosed amount of money, police said.

The man is black and about 5-foot-5, with short black hair and a mustache. He was wearing a blue shirt and black jeans.
A man arrested in Richmond in connection with the killing of a mother and three children in North Carolina will return to that state to face trial.

Dobin Toone, 39, of Greenville, N.C., waived his right to an extradition hearing Thursday in Richmond General District Court. The order gives North Carolina authorities 10 days to pick up Toone.

Richmond police and members of the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force arrested Toone Tuesday night in the parking lot of a store in the 1400 block of Hopkins Road near McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Toone is accused of killing Garlette Howard, 32, and her three daughters, ages 6, 7 and 11. Their bodies were found about 8 p.m. Tuesday after out-of-state relatives told Greenville police that Toone had made disturbing comments about their welfare.

At 10:41 p.m., Greenville police alerted Richmond officers that Toone may have been in the area, said Richmond police detective Sandy Ledbetter, who is assigned to the fugitive task force.

Within 90 minutes, Toone was taken into custody.

During his arrest, Toone, who was found with Howards company-issued Chevrolet Equinox, ignored officers commands to get on the ground until a K-9 unit was deployed, she said.

We eventually had to release the dog, and he then complied with our commands, Ledbetter said.

Toone suffered minor bites on his leg during the arrest, Ledbetter said. He was treated at VCU Medical Center and transferred to the Richmond jail.

On July 22, officers were called to the home after Toone threatened to kill himself. Toone was involuntarily committed at a Greenville medical facility and underwent a psychiatric evaluation, police said.
Police are asking the public for help to identify a man suspected in a robbery at South Richmond convenience store last month.

According to police, about 2 a.m. July 29 the suspect entered the FasMart store at 5200 Hull Street and asked to use the restroom. After being told the restroom was not available, the suspect walked outside, smoked a cigarette and re-entered the store under the guise he was shopping.

Shortly after the last customer left the store, the suspect approached the counter and asked for a carton of cigarettes. As the clerk retrieved the carton, the suspect said he had a gun in his bag and demanded money. The clerk gave him the money and items the suspect had brought to the counter, police said.

Before leaving the store, the suspect ordered the clerk to go into the back room and lock the door. The clerk complied, and the suspect ran away on Warwick Road.

The suspect is described as a black male, about 23 to 28 years old, about 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-9 and weighing 150 to 160 pounds. He was wearing a white shirt, dark green or camouflage pants and black shoes. When the suspect first entered the store he was wearing a tan fishing hat.
This surveillance video from Harshad Patels convenience store at 6811 Walmsley Boulevard shows a teen suspect approach the counter before gunman Trayvon Wilhite rushes forward with a pistol on Jan. 11. Wilhite then leans over the counter and fires a single shot that mortally wounds Patel. Two other teens can be seen moving in the background. Wilhite pleaded guilty Thursday to killing Patel during an attempted robbery.

PREVIOUS: "Teen gunman pleads guilty to fatally shooting, attempting to rob Chesterfield store owner, father of twin toddlers"

A teen gunman who said he was on LSD and didnt intend to kill a Chesterfield County convenience store owner when he attempted to rob the victim at gunpoint pleaded guilty Thursday to murder and three other felonies.

Just more than seven months after Harshad Patel was gunned down inside his Walmsley Boulevard business, his assailant, Trayvon Malik Wilhite, 19, entered guilty pleas to a crime that shocked, angered and distressed many of the victims regular customers and residents who lived near his store.

In a 30-minute hearing, Judge David E. Johnson of Chesterfield Circuit Court accepted Wilhites pleas and convicted him of first-degree murder, attempted robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and felonious use of firearm.

He faces up to life in prison plus 23 years when he is sentenced Nov. 15.

After initially pleading guilty to the murder, Wilhite  at the direction of defense attorney Denis Englisby  changed it to an Alford plea after the judge rejected Englisbys interpretation of the first-degree murder statute.

Englisby said his client had pleaded guilty under a provision of the law that Wilhites act was not premeditated and is punishable by sentence of between five and 40 years, rather than 20 years to life.

There was an intent to rob without a specific intent to kill, Englisby argued, referring to Wilhites confession to police.

In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit to the crime but acknowledges the prosecutions evidence is sufficient for a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. However, the plea is tantamount to pleading guilty.

Wilhite is one of three teens charged in the Jan. 11 botched robbery attempt and murder of Patel, 55, a native of India who had purchased The Marketplace #21 at 6811 Walmsley Boulevard about 3 years ago with his wife, Sarla.

Police said Wilhite, who confessed to detectives that he was the sole shooter, was accompanied by two other teens, Thomas L. Jennings III, 18, and Wilhites younger brother, Tyqise, 14. Police believe a fourth person was also involved, but he was never identified.

The trio was captured on Patels in-house surveillance video as the crime unfolded; it was instrumental in aiding detectives in quickly identifying the perpetrators, combined with Jennings admission to police that the Wilhite brothers were involved in the crime.

In the video  a portion of which was played in court Thursday  Jennings can be seen entering the store first, followed by Trayvon Wilhite, who runs into the store armed with a pistol and leaning over the front counter with his weapon before firing a shot.

The round struck Patel, who moments earlier can be seen crouching or ducking behind the counter.

A single round entered Patels right arm and cut through his chest, fracturing a rib and penetrating the upper lobe of his lung before slicing a major artery that supplies blood to the right arm.

A store customer who entered to buy lottery tickets discovered Patel on the floor and called police, said Assistant Chesterfield Commonwealths Attorney Shawn Gobble.

Patels wife was en route to pick up her husband that evening when she encountered heavy police presence at the store and learned that he had been shot. Patel later died at a hospital.

Patel and his wife had twin girls, who were only 2 at the time.

Sarla Patel attended the hearing but declined to comment afterward.

In interviews with police after his arrest, Wilhite admitted to pulling the trigger but indicated he was on acid and could not remember many of the details. He told detectives he went into the store, pointed a gun at Patel and told him to empty the register.

As Patel began to back up, it appeared the store owner was reaching for something, and thats when Wilhites gun went off, the teen said. Wilhite said he didnt remember pulling the trigger.

Wilhite said that after seeing Patel hold his arm where the bullet entered, he ran from the store, according to a transcript of his interview with police.

Wilhite suggested the robbery went awry and that the only objective that night was to get money. I did not mean to kill that man, the teen told detectives at one point.

The teen, who lived with his grandmother in Chesterfield at the time of the shooting, also told police that he had mental problems and twice had attempted suicide.

Everybody trying to keep me out of trouble ... but ... I got mental problems, yo, Wilhite told the detectives. Eventually I was gonna kill somebody.

Wilhite added that he used to go to Patels store often but didnt know why it ended up being targeted the night of the attempted robbery. The teen said he was too high on drugs.

Patel was shot with a .25-caliber round, but the gun that fired it was never recovered. Wilhite told detectives the gun wasnt his and he gave it to another person he wouldnt identify after the shooting.

Wilhites alleged accomplices have trials or hearings scheduled over the next two weeks.

Tyqise Wilhite is set to appear Aug. 25 for a motions hearing. His attorney will ask the court to suppress the teens statement to police, arguing the 14-year-old did not have an attorney, parent or guardian present after he was arrested and taken to police headquarters for questioning, and wasnt fully informed of his rights.

Jennings is scheduled to be tried Aug. 30.
Recalling his lean years after law school as a homeless business entrepreneur before he made millions by getting in on the ground floor of the cellular phone industry, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., likes to say that he was a worker in the gig economy before it was cool to be gig.

So it made sense that the two-term senator and former governor would feel right at home Wednesday at the headquarters of Snagajob  the western Henrico County -based national leader in hourly work staffing.

But Warner, on a tour through the state while Congress is on summer recess, did not simply snag, or pay, compliments in his time at the online workplace innovator.

Instead, he relaunched some ideas on what he thinks needs to be done to protect American workers in a changing global economy, and, in somewhat critical terms, said American business needs to change its approach.

Im not running for anything at this point so I can tell you the absolute truth, he told the receptive audience in an employee town hall Wednesday morning.

Warner wagered that less than 10 percent of the millennial workforce is likely to work for a single company for more than 20 years, so the new economy will necessitate a new approach to how workers receive benefits such as health insurance, retirement and disability that were traditionally paid by employers.

While only about 2 percent to 3 percent of the American workforce are employed by the gig economy, Warner said roughly a third of Americans work on a freelance or contingency basis without a social insurance safety net. He cited a statistic that 47 percent of Americans could not absorb an unexpected $400 bill.

We need to design a benefit system that works for the way people are going to work, he said, discussing the need for portable benefits derived from employee wages that follow a worker from job to job.

Warner said American corporations also need to change the way they do business.

The senator said a shift that began in the 1990s of outsourcing lower-tier corporate jobs  not just to overseas but to subcontractors who reclassified employees and independent contractors without benefits, was not the gig economy, but bad behavior.

He noted that 45 years ago, the average share of stock was held for eight years; last year the average time held was four months.

Twenty-five years ago, Warner said companies invested 50 percent of their profits back into their businesses, but last fiscal quarter 95 percent of corporate profits in America was spent on stock buybacks and dividend purchases.

Warner said the practices are driven by people who are not trying to create long-term value, but people saying, Give me the money, tomorrow.

And where does that money go? the senator asked rhetorically. Disproportionately, to the investors, disproportionately to the management team. Sure as heck not to the workers.

What worries me ... and I am the poster child for American free enterprise  I believe strongly in capitalism, Warner said. But Ive got to tell you, in 2016 modern American capitalism, with its focus on short term-ism, is not working for enough Americans.

Warner said government incentives such as tax credits for worker training and reforms to capital gains rules could reduce the outsourcing of jobs, and encourage companies to forgo short-term gains to reinvest profits into their businesses and training for middle to lower-tier employees.

The senator said that increasingly millennials are starting to demand more responsible business practices and corporate governance from the businesses they work for and buy from. And he said that the message resonates, whether delivered in the friendly, innovative environs of Snagajob or in more traditional blue-collar enclaves throughout the state, where even obtaining broadband internet access is a challenge.
When Danville police tried to arrest Christopher Tyrone Bennett, 40, on an outstanding domestic violence warrant, Bennett had one member of the force he wanted to deal with.

Over the course of approximately two hours, Danville police tried to arrest Bennett while also reaching out to an off-duty officer that Bennett had a rapport with.

But it wasnt enough; Bennett shot himself in the head. He was taken to Danville Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:43 p.m.

At the end of the day, we dont want anyone to die, Danville Police Lt. Mike Wallace said at a news conference.

On a hot and humid August afternoon, a patrol officer was at the intersection of Church and Keen streets when he observed Bennett. He told Bennett he had an outstanding warrant on him for domestic assault and battery.

Bennett turned away from the officer, a news release stated, and pulled out a handgun, saying, Im going to kill you to the officer. That first encounter took place at 2:24 p.m.

The officer pulled out his duty weapon and backed away, telling Bennett to drop the gun before Bennett fled on foot across North Main Street, the news release stated.

Neither the officer nor Bennett fired at one another, Capt. Dennis Haley with the Danville Police Department said at the scene Wednesday afternoon.

The officer called for backup and additional units responded. Bennett, still holding the gun, was later seen on Sunnyside Street, the release stated. Police continued to try to negotiate with Bennett, but he would not put the gun down.

Bennett agreed to drop the weapon and surrender if a specific officer he knew personally would speak with him, police wrote in the news release. Wallace said Bennett had previous encounters with the requested officer.

They had developed a rapport, Wallace said.

Officers established and secured the perimeter and continued speaking with Bennett. We took steps to make sure people in the neighborhood were safe, Wallace said.

Off duty at the time, the requested officer responded to the scene while negotiating with Bennett by phone, the news release continued. The officer arrived on scene and began speaking directly with Bennett, to convince him to drop the weapon.

After refusing to drop the gun, Bennett put the weapon to his head and fired.

Direct negotiation with Bennett lasted for 48 minutes, the news release stated.

The Danville Life Saving Crew and emergency medical workers were on standby at the scene  and rushed Bennett to the hospital, where he later died.

The warrant for domestic assault and battery on Bennett was a recent one, Wallace said.

Police do not have any intention to release the officers name who was called in for the negotiation, Wallace said at the news conference.
Growing up, I watched a lot of Westerns. In addition to the cowboy hero, the town sheriff was almost always a model of integrity. He stood for law and order against bank robbers, cattle rustlers and horse thieves all trying to disrupt the peace.

A contemporary and real-life version of those fictional good guys is Sheriff David Clarke of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.

Clarke has been trying to restore law and order after several nights of rioting following the shooting death of 23-year-old Sylville Smith by a Milwaukee police officer. Smith had a lengthy criminal record, longer than some peoples resumes. He should have been in prison.

Clarke has appeared numerous times on the Fox News Channel, but not so much in other media. On Monday, The Washington Post carried a story about the riots and ignored Clarke, choosing instead to quote Milwaukees chief of police, Edward Flynn. I suspect thats because Clarke speaks some hard truths, which many liberals do not want to hear.

In an appearance Monday on Fox, Sheriff Clarke, who is African-American, offered his explanation for the major cause of riots in Milwaukee and other cities: You know what encourages this? The growth of the welfare state. These are underclass behaviors. Seventy percent of the kids born in Milwaukee ... are born without an engaged father in their life. So I look at the progressive policies that have marginalized black dads. They push them to the side and say youre not needed. Uncle Sam is going to be the dad, hes going to provide for the kids, hes going to feed the kids ... Uncle Sam has been a horrible father. Uncle Sam does not love these kids. He might keep a little food in their mouths and that is about it. But we all know the importance of an intact family, what it can do to shape the behavior of kids.

Clarke called progressive policies a total disaster, not only in Milwaukee, but in Chicago, Baltimore, New York and elsewhere. These progressive policies have hit the black community like a nuclear blast and until we reverse this government dependency, thats what creates all of this  and it encourages it, by the way  along with some questionable lifestyle choices.

His answer? Until the black community does a self-evaluation and until they begin to self-criticize about some of the lifestyle choices they are making, this stuff is going to continue to fester.

A young African-American man found by a TV camera during the weekend riot said: The rich people, they got all this money, and they not ... trying to give us none. Really? All of that tax money spent on anti-poverty programs for the past 50 years never trickled down to him? This poisonous attitude has been promoted by progressives and has not helped the poor rise above their circumstances.

This young man should talk to Sheriff Clarke about changing his attitude. Some self-evaluation and an internal re-adjustment would do more for him than any anti-poverty program the Democrats could dream up.

Why do African-Americans continue to vote for liberal Democrats who have done little to help them and, in fact, often cause more harm than good?

Again, Clarke gets it right: Until we push back against this progressive ideology, this dangerous ideology that has been very destructive to the black community ... and thats what Im trying to do ... its job one right now in terms of messaging  this thing is only going to get worse.
Now that the candidate field for mayor is set, voters will have the chance to interview eight people to be Richmonds next chief executive officer. So, lets get real.

To be clear, Richmond no longer has a ceremonial mayor. The mayor serves full-time, overseeing the executive management of the citys departments and agencies. That person charts the citys direction and holds the hope of continuing progress in his or her hands.

At a minimum, the person elected mayor must exhibit critical executive leadership skills, exude confidence and competency and have a passion for our city. Having legislative experience does not automatically qualify one to be our next CEO. Running a small business is not the same as overseeing a $700 million budget with roughly 5,000 employees, numerous governmental departments and agencies. At this tipping point, Richmond does not need a novice at the helm. Having a mayor with little or no executive experience can create the appearance of a leadership vacuum and trigger an unwillingness for the City Council, the School Board or citizens to follow. This will do little to restore voters faith that the citys future is in capable hands.

Having a clear understanding of how our local government should work is a must. Our next CEO must know how to create strong functioning teams among the citys personnel he or she is able to hire. People hired by the mayor must be hired on the basis of their skills, not on cronyism. Cronyism creates cynicism, and cynicism prevents progress.

Prioritizing sound fiscal management as a performance standard is critical. Having the know-how to manage the budget to support the delivery of critical city services should be expected. The citys budget should provide sufficient school funding and should fund necessary infrastructure improvements, without neglecting funding for public safety or other core government services. Our next CEO must be a proven leader to accomplish these tasks because Richmond deserves excellence, nothing less.

As a public servant, the mayor is not only the head of government but is the chief steward of the peoples trust and treasure. The next mayor must be able to strategically direct the use of limited fiscal resources. Knowing how to negotiate agreements involving the peoples treasure and making sure those agreements net solid returns on the investment of taxpayers dollars are hallmarks of sound stewardship and strong leadership. We cannot afford less. Our next mayor must be acutely equipped to navigate these challenges.

Believing in transparency and exhibiting it are critical. This restores confidence and trust in government. Our next mayor must not fear audits, but be willing to take responsibility for any revealed shortcomings and eager to work collaboratively with city management, the City Council and/or the School Board to address them. Voters will not expect our CEO to be perfect, but they will expect openness and trustworthiness.

Our next mayor must be willing to talk to the surrounding counties on issues impacting the entire region, such as poverty, affordable housing and transportation. Addressing mutual regional challenges requires effective, mutually beneficial communication. We need a strong and capable listener and problem-solver because the future of the region will be impacted by the health and continued progress of the city. A mayor who is a fighter will not necessarily get us solutions to the challenges we face.

Lastly  and most importantly  Richmonds next mayor must articulate a shared vision for the city that continues to speak to our unique, complex and challenging history, our natural resources, our increasing racial and ethnic diversity, our tapped and untapped human capital, our unique cultural and artistic diversity, our assets and our future.

During the next three months, there will be several opportunities for voters to interview those vying to be our next CEO. Richmond, lets ask the candidates the hard questions in those interviews. Lets move beyond basing the choice for mayor on dollars raised, on popularity, or on the number of yard signs we see displayed. When we cast our votes for mayor this fall, lets not succumb to politics as usual. Richmond deserves more. Richmond deserves a professional with the real skills to be our next CEO!
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It's the kind of wound the Maine doctors expected to be treating when they signed up for this weeklong mid-November trip, organized by Roanoke County-based Angel Missions Haiti .

The surgery will take place tomorrow, after which the team is scheduled to care for the wounded and sick in the city's tent cities and slums. Three of the five are residents, young doctors about to learn what it's like to treat scabies, worms and a spate of respiratory infections triggered by the ubiquitous earthquake rubble and the scattered, sour-smelling fires.

That's the schedule anyway.

Meanwhile, a cholera epidemic  the first in Haiti's history  is seeping south toward Port-au-Prince . At the moment, one death has been reported in the capital, but 724 Haitians have died nationwide from the water-borne bacteria, most of them in the north.

Angel Missions Director Vanessa Carpenter , 49, is busy preparing for its arrival and doing what she usually does on her monthly mission trips: lining up medical supplies, networking with other humanitarian groups, bossing people around.

As her husband, Tom Carpenter , put it a week earlier: "When she's in Haiti, she's Mach 3 with her hair on fire."

That afternoon, one of her three cellphones rings, as they always do, and the plans shift abruptly, as they usually do.

"It's Haiti," Vanessa says, by way of explanation.

The U.S. military has called on her before during times of crisis, but, this time, it's the United Nations on the phone. Cholera is slamming the city of St. Louis du Nord , and a U.N. helicopter is on standby waiting to transport the Maine medical team north.

A hospital there is inundated. A hundred new patients stagger in daily. Staffers are overwhelmed. Supplies are drying up.

Dr. Chiedza Jokonya of the Maine-Dartmouth Family Medical Residency program gathers her team to warn them: What they witnessed in the clinic today will be a stroll in the suburbs compared with what's awaiting them up north.

"You'll be in cramped rooms full of people who could be dead by the end of the day," she explains. "People will die because there won't be enough of you to get all the work done."

Jokonya, Zimbabwean-born and British-educated, is known as "Chi" (pronounced chee ) to friends and colleagues, a name that fits her no-drama even keel. The 40-year-old pediatrician tells her charges they'll have to be hyper-vigilant to prevent needle sticks.

She's brought along plenty of antibiotics but didn't think to pack HIV prophylaxis , so everyone will have to double-glove. More than 120,000 Haitians, or 2.2 percent, are infected with HIV.

The choice is theirs, she tells them. If someone doesn't want to go, he or she should speak up now, and the entire group will stay in Port-au-Prince, no questions asked.

For a few seconds, no one says a word. Then third-year resident Dr. Lalaine Llanto breaks the silence.

"That's why we came here," she says. Meaning, to help.

The rest say they're in, too  as long as they're able to return to the capital by Tuesday, in time for Wednesday's flight home. Presidential elections are scheduled for Nov. 28, and no one wants to be stuck in Haiti at a probable time of political unrest.

No problem, Carpenter says.

But Chi has volunteered enough times before to know that things can change here on a Haitian dime. It's Haiti.

She wonders: Will they really make it back on time? And what shape will they be in when they do?

* * *

Three months earlier, Vanessa was at home, working her Haiti contacts  only this time from the comforts of her suburban two-story, in the shadow of Fort Lewis Mountain . It's been her Christian calling for 12 years now, ever since a church friend in Illinois invited her on a mission trip to an orphanage and Vanessa responded: "Haiti? What state is that in?"

She was a well-known foster parent at the time  "the baby whisperer," the social workers in Chicago called her. She was often the only foster mom willing to take on certain high-needs children, including abused kids and crack babies . Though she has a high school education and no medical training, Vanessa has managed to distinguish herself as a child-welfare advocate wherever she goes.

Some say it's through sheer force of personality. Vanessa calls it faith.

Sometimes, she watches the video from that first Haiti trip just to relive the initial shock: Pulling up to the orphanage, they meet two machete-wielding guards, at which point Vanessa turns to her friend and says, "Donna, we're not in Kansas anymore, are we?"

She's run the nonprofit from her Glenvar garage-turned-office since 2003, when the family moved to the Roanoke Valley. It's filled with medical supplies, Maltese puppies (she breeds them as a mission fundraiser) and frequent interruptions from her kids. She has 17, most of them adopted, but most are grown, with "only seven" still living at home.

Before the earthquake struck Port-au-Prince Jan. 12, Angel Missions focused solely on children, but the needs are so great now that Vanessa's Haiti staff serves entire families. Entire neighborhoods, actually.

"You think it can't get any worse in Haiti, and then it does," she says.

Everyone who works in Haiti has a tally of earthquake losses, and this is Vanessa's: her mission's Jeep, the top story of a surgery center that was just about to open, her next-door neighbors in Port-au-Prince and many other friends and former patients.

She was in Virginia the day of the quake but flew to Haiti the next week to run triage for the USNS Comfort , the Navy hospital ship where the worst of the injured were sent.

She's spent more than half her time in Haiti this year connecting American medical teams with sick Haitians and getting the severest cases to the United States. "Her super power is: She gets people out," says Roanoke County's Sondra Masten-Daroshefski, a nurse who pulled post-earthquake duty with several Roanoke colleagues in February  and ended up fostering an injured 10-year-old orphan boy.

Vanessa's husband Tom, a laid-off project manager, runs the household and Angel Missions paperwork. Eventually, they'll move full time to Haiti, where they plan to build two schools and an orphanage. But they're trying to get their teenagers through high school first.

For now, they're living frugally, mostly off their savings. According to tax returns, neither earns an Angel Missions salary, and all donations go directly toward the mission.

Tom describes his wife's work in Haiti as a spider web. It looks chaotic from the exterior, but, from the inside, the connections she's forged among other missions, non governmental organizations and the U.S. military are beautiful and complex.

At the center of the web is Vanessa's main weapon in her battle to boost wellness in Haiti: a 25-year-old registered nurse named Keziah Furth  aka, Kez  from Brookline, Mass . She's a blond-haired, blue-eyed powerhouse who speaks perfect Creole, and she's now the primary care provider for more than 300 tent city and ravine dwellers.

Vanessa's only full-time medical employee in Haiti, Kez was visiting friends on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince when the earthquake struck. She rushed home to retrieve her medical supplies and found her own house still standing  but many of her neighbors' homes collapsed, some with friends buried inside. "I remember thinking as I climbed over the rubble: 'I'm probably walking over the bodies of the women who sell me fruit and vegetables.' "

"The big NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] were able to provide a lot of the tents," Vanessa recalls. "But Kez was there, literally patching people up."

And she's still out there most days, asking them how they are and seeing what they need, whether it's a case of clean drinking water or a lesson in cholera prevention.

Kez refuses to be paid by Vanessa, but Angel Missions picks up her rent and most of her expenses. Friends and relatives send donations, and, every summer, she works as a camp nurse in Maine; it helps her cover the school fees she pays for 14 neighborhood kids, many of whom she also feeds.

Vanessa relies on Kez to run the mission when she's home in Virginia. "Kez is me  only younger and skinnier," she says.

At the end of the Maine team's first day, Kez begs her boss to let her fly to the northern city of Gonaives to help friends who are inundated with cholera patients in two of that city's slums. "These are good people who have flown down here at a moment's notice when I needed them most," she says.

Earlier in the day, Vanessa told her she had to stay with the doctors. But suddenly, everything's changed.

As the doctors prep for their flight north, Kez gets ready for Gonaives. Everyone's on cholera duty now, rushing to mix oral rehydration supplies and pack antibiotics.

Timing is key, they know  the difference between life and death. Most cholera patients have mild symptoms. But among the 20 percent who get very ill, those who can't access treatment to replace the fluids lost to vomiting and diarrhea can die within four hours.

When the body is dehydrated, it compensates by rerouting blood from nonessential organs to the brain, heart and kidneys. But in severe cases (especially among malnourished Haitians), the compensation isn't enough, and poor circulation to the brain causes confusion, then loss of consciousness. The kidneys shut down, and, eventually, the heart fails.

That's what the residents remember from their textbooks anyway. They've never seen it in person.

* * *

By the time the team arrives via helicopter in Cap-Haitien, the plans have shifted, again. The group has been redirected to a hospital in Limbe called Hopital Bon Samaritain, which is treating upward of 100 cholera patients a day. So far, 13 have died. Supplies are running low, and the staff doctors there are overwhelmed and exhausted.

Earlier that day, Vanessa spent $4,000 on IV fluids for cholera patients. But when she checked in for the flight, the helicopter was already filled with supplies bound for another city, and she couldn't bring hers aboard. It's Haiti.

It's Thursday, day two of the trip, and the routine planned for the week has vanished, replaced by a blur of daily, sometimes hourly, problems.

By dusk, they land at the airport in Cap-Haitien. A city of 200,000 that flooded in the wake of Hurricane Tomas a few weeks earlier, it's now especially prone to cholera, a bacterial disease spread through contaminated food and drinking water.

Rioting is about to break out, a response to rumors that United Nations peacekeepers from Nepal have imported cholera to Haiti.

But right now, the team has no idea it may be in danger.

"Blan ! Blan!" people shout  Haitian Creole for white person or foreigner  as the hired driver navigates a pickup through the city's muddy roads, most of which are reduced to a single lane and riddled with mattress-sized potholes. Drivers honk like New York cabbies, and motorcycles roar around blind curves with three people to a seat.

Most of the city's population appears to be standing on the streets, as if waiting for a parade. Back in Glenvar, Vanessa had said, "Machetes are tools, not weapons!" But the people clutching them now are grimacing and seem not to have farming in mind.

Nina Miller , a residency faculty member, sits in the back of the truck, which is half-filled with hospital cots that have been lashed down with rope. Nina clutches the rope with one hand and offers friendly waves with the other.

A few people wave back. Uniformed schoolgirls rub their stomachs  to indicate hunger  and a few bystanders flip her off and shout, "Blan! Go away!"

The roads are so bad that it takes 90 minutes to drive the mountainous 16 miles to Limbe, a small city of subsistence living and roadside enterprise. Old men dry cacao beans on blankets, and children carry river water in plastic containers balanced on top of their heads.

By the time they arrive at the American-run hospital , the doctors are cold, bruised and hugely relieved. They laugh when they read what some jokester has carved into an entranceway wall: "KANSAS."

The last light moment of the trip has just occurred.

* * *

By dusk Thursday, there are so many cholera patients that the hospital can no longer contain them to a single indoor ward. A picnic shelter has been converted into an overflow wing, and so has a UNICEF tent.

Patients lie on soiled cots in outdoor walkways, some retching and others barely able to move. Bags of IV fluids hang from strips of ripped bed sheets, which dangle from the rafters.

"Last night, we went through 120 serums in a 12-hour period," says the hospital manager, Shawn Hodges , whose physician-grandfather built the sprawling compound of white stucco buildings in 1953. It's a Colonial-looking enterprise, part-Californian in design and part-African outpost, and it definitely has seen better days.

Brookline, Mass., native now living in Port-au-Prince and working as the Angel Missions nurse. Kez persuaded the doctors to defy United Nations orders to stay put when the cholera riots broke out.

Founder William Hodges started it with several missionary friends but ended up going it alone when his colleagues turned out to be more interested in saving souls than treating the sick, Shawn says. Vanessa, whose work in Haiti has been similarly viewed by some missionary colleagues, nods her head.

"You cannot go in and preach to people with sick children and tell them God loves them without also helping them with their sick children," she says.

The team throws on scrubs and gloves (already abandoning the double-glove rule), and all modern-day practices are out: Thermometers are the backs of hands. Medical charts  what medical charts?

Tape used to secure IVs onto arms becomes a bandage once the IV is removed. Splints are torn pieces of an old cardboard box.

By the end of the night, the doctors are recycling gauze, IV tubing, even needles.

Some patients are so dehydrated that it's hard to start an IV. It's nighttime, and Vanessa walks around, holding the ward's rusty desk lamp so the doctors can see better to find a vein.

Electrolyte-rich hydration fluids are passed out to the patients who aren't vomiting, with instructions to take "bwe I piti a piti"  small sips . But the hospital's also short on plastic cups, and patients begin hoarding them for family members who might get sick later.

Some parents drink the sugary-salty drink that's meant for their children, thinking it will protect them from sickness. In a country where 60 percent of the population doesn't have clean water to drink, they know that this serum, at least, is safe.

Second-year resident Dr. Suhas Pinnaka , the youngest of the team at 34, stands in the middle of the tent, turning circles and wondering what to do. He's never seen anything like this, not even in his native India: Here, patients have to bring their own bedding and even their own bowls to capture vomit and waste.

Here, entire families come to the hospital, as if they're camping out, which, in fact, they are. When he catches a teammate accidentally giving a cup to a patient who already has one (but has hidden it away), he goes back to retrieve it. "At least that's something I can do," he says, shrugging.

Chi has already identified several patients on the brink of death, including a year-old baby who's in the cramped, stuffy cholera tent  but has severe pneumonia, not cholera. The Haitian doctors were so busy, they missed it.

On top of that, with his glazed eyes and distended belly, the baby seems to be starving. There's no time to move him to the pediatrics ward now, so Chi goes to work draining the sepsis from his stomach. First, though, she needs a nasal gastric tube, and there's none to be found. (At Haitian hospitals, patients have to buy most of their supplies before they use them. The tube is secured later, from the hospital pharmacy.)

"Let's save this baby," she tells a resident, who fishes supplies from their backpacks on command.

Back in the hospital office, Vanessa is Mach 3 as predicted  calling and e-mailing everyone she can think of to recruit more volunteers, more supplies, more translators. (The only team member able to communicate verbally with the patients is Chi, and she's fluent in French, which is similar to Creole but more formal.)

"I'm calling Kez. I'm calling the military. I'm calling everybody!" Vanessa says.

That night, two men lie back to back on the concrete walkway, their heads perched on makeshift pillows and their bodies clad in ill-fitting suits. Flies buzz on their unflinching bodies. Cholera corpses.

When a team member walks by and does a double take  this is where they lay the dead people?  a relative of another patient laughs and shakes his head.

As Vanessa put it before the trip: "Haiti's so bad, so crazy. . . If you really tell the truth, no one will believe you."

* * *

By Saturday morning, the baby is hanging on, barely. His name is Saintilus Duval , and he has refused food for a week. Chi outlines her plans to find oxygen for the boy while Lalaine , one of the third-year residents, slumps into a chair and recaps her night.

"We had one mortality," she tells her boss. There were 20-some new admissions, and all the other patients needed their IV lines changed at the same time. "It was just me and Suhas, and all the IV lines were dry," she says.

"I'm very stressed out. I'm yelling at Suhas, 'You knew it was dry. Why didn't you replace it?' But we were both just overwhelmed." It was an elderly person who died  a feather of a woman, no more than 90 pounds. Neither doctor knew her name.

Miller, a nurse practitioner, worries that Chi is spending too much time on the baby. "With this many patients, we all need to be triaging," she says.

The baby's father is pleased but equally surprised so much attention has been heaped on his son, the youngest of his three children. The family arrived at the hospital on foot, two days before the Maine team did.

Many of his neighbors weren't so lucky. "They died so fast, they didn't have time to get here," Chago Duval says, through an English-speaking hospital visitor.

The night before, a mother and two children staggered into the cholera ward on the verge of death, having left the husband and grandmother along the side of the road. They had died during the walk to the hospital, and the mother had no choice but to continue on with her sick kids.

Asked what he does for work and how he feeds his family, Chago and the translator both laugh. Silly American. "There are no jobs in Haiti," Chago says. "When God wants to give us food, we have food." He does have a garden, and, sometimes, he gets construction work in the Dominican Republic, three hours away.

Third-year resident Dr. Prativa Basnet has worked in Third World conditions in her native Nepal before  but never anything this bad. The people here are so desperate for comfort that many refuse to leave when she tells them  via emphatic gestures and with the help of Haitian nurses  that the worst has passed. For the sake of their health, it's time to get away from these germs .

Saturday night, a man shows up carrying his dehydrated 7-year-old son. The boy's pupils are dilated, and his breathing has slowed to five breaths per minute. (Normal is 20.) Lalaine tries to revive him by starting an IV in each of his arms. But before the fluid can do its magic, the death rattle begins.

"In the U.S., I could have intubated him to make him breathe," Lalaine says. "I could've given him meds to get his heart rate up. I could've drilled a hole into the bone for quicker rehydration."

It's the first child death of her career, the first that could have been prevented with better technology and quicker care.

When she tells the team about it, Lalaine is most disturbed by this fact: When she pronounced the boy dead, his father didn't even cry.

It's self-protection, in a country where 50 percent of children die before they turn 15. The World Health Organization projects the cholera epidemic will last six months to a year in Haiti, infecting as many as 650,000 people.

"The cholera will go on even longer than the earthquake crisis," Vanessa explains. "It will probably affect more people."

But on Monday, it's not cholera that ends up killing Saintilus Duval , the infant the team came to refer to as "our baby."

It's pneumonia. Hastened by hunger. And poverty.

The morning after his son's death, Chago Duval returns to ask the Americans for money to bury his boy. He's not crying, either, but he is rubbing his stomach.

Hospital workers advise the team not to give Chago money. The man still owes the hospital from a prior hospitalization, and, besides, if they give money to one family, then others will swarm them demanding money, too.

But later, Vanessa dispatches two people from the team to discreetly deliver 250 Haitian dollars  the American equivalent of almost $7  and some granola bars.

"Merci," he says, and heads immediately for the gate.

* * *

It's Monday, the team's last day in Limbe, and the doctors are so tired, they're punchy. "I picked up my dirty clothes after my cold shower this morning and said, 'Hmm. Which smells less?' " Chi says, trying to lighten the mood.

Within the hour, they learn that, in fact, it's not their last day here: The U.N. has canceled their flight back to Port-au-Prince because of rioting in nearby Cap-Haitien. Protesters are angry at the U.N. for allegedly introducing cholera to the region, a detail later confirmed by epidemiologists across the globe. That morning, there were 900 reported cholera cases in six of the country's 10 provinces.

U.N. soldiers have killed two protesters in Cap-Haitien, and local gangsters have set up roadblocks where they're burning tires, hurling rocks at foreigners' vehicles and siphoning gas from their cars. "They're blaming the Nepalese, and politicians are using that to denigrate the U.N., especially with the elections coming up," Chi tells the group.

She knew about the Nov. 28 elections when she confirmed the trip but thought the group's Nov. 17 departure date would give them plenty of time to leave Haiti ahead of any political unrest. She hadn't planned on cholera, though.

The team is on edge. It's a classic instance of hurry-up-and-wait: Their bags are packed, but they've been told it's not safe to leave the hospital compound.

That afternoon, rocks slam against the hospital gate. The protests have hit Limbe.

"Where are the police?" Suhas asks the hospital manager.

"At the police station," he says.

Monday night, protesters torch the Limbe police station.

At 3 a.m. Tuesday, Chi and the others awaken to more rocks  closer rocks. Protesters are now hurling them at the fence outside their bedroom windows. Rumors have circulated that the Americans are sending patients home to die.

That morning, Chi re-packs her bags. This time, she gathers emergency medical supplies  all the last bits of gauze, tape and needles she can get her hands on  stuffing them into her backpack.

They're in real danger now; there's no denying it  trapped by the very people they've been called upon to help.

Instead of leaving the supplies behind for the Haitians, as she'd planned, she's taking them with her.

For her team.

* * *

At 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, the team is scheduled to rendezvous with the U.N. helicopter on a nearby soccer field. It's too dangerous to drive to the airport in Cap-Haitien, so coordinates have been gathered for the field a half-mile away.

"How do you make a five-minute journey safely? That's the question," Chi says.

"Could we walk?" Nina asks.

"No, you guys are too blan," Chi says.

By midmorning, the U.N. deems the flight into Limbe unsafe. A no-fly order has been issued across the region, and the group is told to remain on lockdown and sit tight.

Kez is a three-hour drive away in Gonaives and wants to come rescue the group, Vanessa explains. "But I've ordered her to go back to Port-au-Prince. It's too dangerous up north."

Vanessa is crippled by a migraine, so Chi makes the executive decision: "We're stuck here, waiting for the U.N., but face it, we're a low priority. With the elections coming up, the longer we stay, the worse it's going to get."

She issues an SOS to the group: "Call anyone with connections you know."

She calls her boss in Maine, who contacts the office of U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine . Staffers in the office of U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., contact the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince to see about retrieving the group.

It's 2 p.m. The team is distracted by the flurry of phone calls and e-mails when in bursts Kez and three of her Christian missionary friends from Gonaives. They were expressly told not to come, but even Vanessa concedes: She's glad they did.

On their way to rescue the team, they picked up three local men to help them find the hospital  and provide muscle  as they negotiated passage through six roadblocks.

The doctors are initially reluctant to hop into the industrial-sized Kia pickup they've brought to haul everyone back. They've been told by everyone  including the U.S. Embassy  that the safest route is to stay put and wait it out.

"After the flood in '08, the embassy was supposed to come get us, too  and we waited and waited and waited," says the driver, Emory Wilson , who runs a school mission in Gonaives. It was 12 days before the embassy persuaded the U.N. to bring in water and food for the missionaries and the 49 children they'd rescued, says Wilson, a former chemical-plant supervisor from Waynesville, Ga.

Finally, Kez and the missionaries persuade the doctors to load their things into the truck. "It looks scary, but it's not," Kez says. "You just get out at each stop, and you talk, and you get the locals to help you."

They're facing a three-hour drive to Gonaives. The roads are mountainous and bumpy, lined with banana trees and shacks, and the uncertainty of even more protests erupting as nightfall beckons worries everyone.

As the truck pulls up to the first roadblock, a mob of machete-wielding protesters approaches the group. Someone lobs a stone at the truck, hitting rescuer Brian Smith in the hand.

"Chi, let's go back! Let's go back!" Lalaine says.

Tucked into the back seat , the medical residents are wearing do-rags and sunglasses, trying to mask their south Asian skin. Even though Prativa is the only Nepali in the group, no one wants to be mistaken as a friend of the U.N. peacekeepers. For the first time all week, it's better to be white here than it is brown.

Smith, 46, a former Navy man who does construction work in Haiti and Pakistan, leaps off the truck like a high school track hurdler, rushing toward the protesters with his chest out and his Creole at full volume. He slaps the back of one hand against the palm of the other, Haitian-style, for emphasis.

The recruited townies help him convince the protesters that the team came here to help Haitians, and harming them will only make the epidemic worse: If you hurt the people who help you, no one else will come.

The crowd rolls back the boulders and tamps down the tire fires and lets the truck pass. So it goes through the next two roadblocks, although the passage of time is slippery now. It seems to stand still as the team fears what it will find lurking around each new curve.

The fourth roadblock is different. A dump truck is parked diagonally across a bridge, blocking it. As Smith leaps out to negotiate, a man in a Jimmy Buffett T-shirt bashes out the window of the dump truck with a bat, then charges toward the Kia.

At that moment, Chi wishes the protesters had guns instead of machetes. At least with guns death might come swiftly. Lalaine thinks only of her kids, ages 6 and 8. Vanessa prays silently; if anything happens to this team, fewer people will want to travel to help the Haitian people.

The doctors scream as Smith and his recruits try to corral the man before he reaches the truck. But another protester gets to him first and distracts him  by pulling down his pants.

"He's just lost someone in his family to cholera," Smith explains later. "By the time we got to him, he was collapsed in tears."

The team waits for 10 excruciating minutes before the key to the dump truck is finally located and the bridge unblocked.

Forty minutes into the journey, the sixth and final roadblock is broached . The cost of passage: Smith gives the locals he'd recruited the equivalent of $6. He throws out packets of oral-rehydration mix to the protesters standing below.

The mountainous three-hour ride to safety is finally, gloriously under way.

* * *

It's Nov. 30, two weeks since the harrowing hospital rescue. The return from Limbe culminated in a U.S. Embassy escort from Gonaives to the airport in Port-au-Prince the day after the escape.

The team has reassembled in Portland, Maine, to honor Chi, who's receiving a humanitarian award for her work in Haiti and Zimbabwe.

After the ceremony, Vanessa and the team regroup in Chi's townhouse to rehash the week. Viewed from a distance, the events in Haiti feel surreal, like the folk-art landscapes hawked on the streets of Port-au-Prince.

Some residents have had trouble sleeping, thinking about the baby and others who died on their watch. Lalaine found herself on call at the hospital one week after their return, delivering five babies back to back.

"I like staying busy," she says. "I don't want to think about the boy I saw die in front of me. I don't want to think about how I could have saved him if we had been here."

Prativa can't shake the image of a woman who arrived just as the team was evacuating Limbe. "She died on a stool; she didn't even make it to a bed.

"People are dying for no other reason than they live in Haiti."

As the team leader, Chi feels responsible for having placed the team in danger, but she also knows there's no such thing as security in Haiti; there's only the illusion of control.

When Vanessa explains that the next two Angel Missions teams have already canceled their 2011 trips to Haiti  fearing the cholera  Chi shakes her head. "You don't get cholera from caring for people," she says.

All five members of the team say they're determined to go back, likely next May. As of this week, more than 2,000 Haitians have died of cholera.

Back in Port-au-Prince, Kez has returned to business as usual, walking the ravines and tent cities. When she's not on cholera duty, she's treating people for scabies, worms and a growing number of vaginal infections, which she blames squarely on the government's slow response to the earthquake: When women have to urinate outdoors amid rocks, dust and untended rubble, it's hard to stay clean.

To prevent cholera, she reminds everyone she passes, please, wash your hands.
Expect more muggy, stagnant and potentially dangerous hot weather over the coming years as the planet continues to warm, a report released Wednesday by the New Jersey-based nonprofit research and journalism group Climate Central warns.

About 66 percent of the country has seen an increase in days with stagnant summer air conditions since the early 1970s, according to the report, part of the groups States at Risk project.

This increase is consistent with what we expect in a warming world and climate models project that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate, stagnant air events will continue to increase, the report says.

Stagnant air occurs when ground level wind is minimum or nonexistent, wind higher in the atmosphere is weak and precipitation is absent, said Alyson Kenward, senior scientist with the nonprofit, which says its mission is to communicate factual information to help the public and policymakers make sound choices about climate change.

When stagnant air is up, ozone is up, Kenward said. Its true that were lucky in the U.S. The number of days that ozone hits the hazardous level are very rare.

Ground level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, is created when nitrogen oxides combine with volatile organic compounds, including pollution from automobiles, power plants, industry and other sources, in the presence of sunlight, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Breathing it can trigger a variety of health problems, including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation and airway inflammation, the EPA says. Such days are relatively uncommon in Virginia and locally, with EPA data showing just a handful each year in Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover counties that threaten the general population. Elevated ozone levels can reduce lung function, damage lung tissue and worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma, with children, the elderly and outdoor workers most at risk.

Hotter days and stagnant air can also negate what have been major gains in reducing air pollution over the past few decades, Kenward said.

Even if pollutants in general are down, when theyre there they can hang around because of the still, stagnant air and then the heat and the sunlight convert them to ozone, she said.

Richmond, for example, averaged 13 days between 1990 and 2010 in which the heat index exceeded 105 degrees, the threshold at which the National Weather Service issues an excessive heat warning, Climate Centrals report says. Between 2010 and 2030, the report projects that number will increase to 41, based on the groups analysis of global climate model and assuming current levels of emissions.

Richmond had nearly six more days in 2015 that were above 95 degrees than it did in 1970. And mosquito season is also growing, the report contends, with an average of about 131 days of bug bites in the Richmond area now as opposed to 109 between 1980 and 1989.

Virginias average annual temperature has risen nearly 2 degrees since 1970, according to the report, which also predicts that by 2100, if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, Richmonds summers will resemble those of present-day Pharr, Texas, on the Mexican border at the states southern tip. In Pharr, the current average summer high temperature is nearly 96.7 degrees. Richmonds average summer high is about 87 degrees, the report says.

However, Wayne Albright, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wakefield, hasnt seen anything unusual in this summers temperatures.

This certainly isnt the worst summer weve ever had, Albright said. 2010, 2011 and 2012 were worse than this.

The service uses averages going back to 1981 to establish normal average temperatures.

At this point last summer, the average temperature was about 78.2 degrees, Albright said. This summer so far, its been 78.3 degrees.

June was a little below normal, July was a hair above normal and so far August is running a little over 2 or 3 degrees above normal, he said. Maybe if you put it all together, we may average for the summer slightly above normal.

Albright would not comment on whether climate change is producing more dangerous hot weather and said the service does not track the number of heat warnings and advisories it issues in a given year.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality also operates an air-quality monitoring network and issues air-quality alerts.

Ozone exceedance days, when daily maximum eight-hour average ozone concentrations are greater than the air-quality standard of 70 parts per billion, have fallen dramatically over the past decade in the Richmond region, according to data from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations National Centers for Environmental Information, 2015 was the hottest year since record-keeping began in 1880.

It broke the record set only the year before and 2016 could top it. The National Aeronautic and Space Administration says each of the first six months of 2016 set a record as the warmest respective month globally in the modern temperature record.

The six-month period from January to June was also the planets warmest half-year on record, with an average temperature 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.4 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the late 19th century, NASA said last month.

July was the hottest month in recorded history, according to NASA and NOAA, marking what NOAA called 15 consecutive months of record-breaking heat.

Maybe some people still need convincing, Kenward said. But most people identify that things are changing. And increasingly people are accepting the scientific consensus, which is that we are contributing to these changes.  Its not just about acknowledging that the change is happening, its then coming to terms with what we have to do to address it. Its a hard thing to address.  If there was one easy solution maybe we would have already taken care of it.
The UN has at last accepted its role in the deadly cholera outbreak in Haiti. Roanoke Times reporter Beth Macy, now a best-selling author, visited Haiti during the outbreak in 2010.
HUNDREDS of pupils across Rotherham have today scooped record A Level results  as schools top last year's performances.



Students across Rotherham have received their A-Level exam results and overall results show a 98.6 per cent pass rate for the borough - the same as last year.



The overall national pass rate has stayed the same  at 98.1 per cent, meaning the borough is well above the national average.



And some schools have had a record breaking year - including some with 100 per cent pass rates.



At Brinsworth the equivalent pass rate is at 100 per cent - an increase of 0.8 per cent from last year.



One pupil, Jodie Coburn, has been so successful she is now set to join Yale University, in America.



Brinsworth Academy achieved excellent results across all subjects, with a record breaking 50 per cent of student achieving grades A*, As or Bs, and the school is reporting the highest ever number of students achieving A* grades.



Joint head teachers Andy Riches and Wayne Barsby said: These fantastic results are the product of tremendous teaching and excellent student attitudes.



Our students have achieved excellence and we are hugely proud of their achievements.



Wickersley School saw a record number of pupils taking A Levels this year - 226 - but still maintained high levels with more A*s and As this year than ever before - with 22 per cent of pupils gaining one of these grades this year



Astons equivalent pass rate is also 100 per cent - an increase by 0.4 per cent from last year.



One pupil - Keaton Askew - even achieved a record five A* grades.



Wales has increased by 0.2 per cent to an equivalent pass rate of 99.9 per cent while Wath has increased by 0.6 per cent to 99.7 per cent.

The overall pass rate at Thomas Rotherham College was 97.5 per cent and principal Dr Richard Williams said: These were the most pleasing results and there are some excellent destinations throughout the class of 2016.

Deputy leader of Rotherham Council, Cllr Gordon Watson, said: It is great to see so many young people celebrating and achieving some phenomenal results this year.



Rotherham's young people are really making us very proud.



Thanks must go to the teachers, staff, governors and families who have helped these young people do so well, but ultimately congratulations must be given to the young people themselves who have really excelled.



Clearly these results are the culmination of years of hard work, dedication, outstanding teaching and students who are keen to succeed.



I wish all pupils well in the next stage in their lives and careers, whether this is to go into the world of work or onto higher education.



For a comprehensive round-up of the results and details of how schools across the borough fared, see this weeks Advertiser.




Diamcor more than doubles Q2 revenue Diamcor generated gross revenues of about $3 million from its operations in the interim period ended September 30, 2022, compared to $1,4 million for the same period in the previous year. The company is still conducting trial mining exercises at its...

IBJA commits to Declaration of Responsibility & Sustainability Principles The Indian gold industry has signed a Declaration of Responsibility and Sustainability Principles, convened by the LBMA and the World Gold Council, which expresses a commitment to operate responsibly and sustainably, based on a clear set of shared goals...

De Beers boosts Q3 output, maintains production guidance De Beers rough diamond production rose 4% to 9.6 million carats, mainly due to the treatment of higher grade ore at both Orapa in Botswana and South Africa as well as continued strong performance in Namibia, according to its parent company, Anglo...

Hong Kongs major jewellery fairs are set to return in 2023 An announcement from Informa Markets Jewellery indicates that the industrys two biggest B2B sourcing events will be back in action in Hong Kong in 2023 following a three-year forced pandemic break.
The Israeli Diamond Industry will once again be one of the largest national exhibitors at the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair this year. The Israel Diamond Pavilion, organized by the Israel Diamond Institute Group of Companies (IDI), will feature 84 companies and will extend over more than 1150 square meters. There will also be about 15 additional Israeli companies exhibiting at different locations throughout the show.

IDI Chairman Shmuel Schnitzer said that he was cautiously optimistic about the show. I am pleased that the Israeli industry will have a strong presence at the show. I am hopeful about the outcome of the show despite the challenging conditions the entire industry is facing. We believe in Asian markets and we are there for the long haul, he said.

IDI Managing Director Eli Avidar said Hong Kong is a very important part of our marketing strategy and we participate in four shows during the year. The September show is always the most important since it sets the tone for the upcoming holiday season. This show attracts buyers from all over Asia  Hong Kong, China, India, Singapore and even the U.S. and Australia. As usual our exhibitors will work hard at the show and I believe they will be rewarded.

Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished






According to data collected and analyzed by the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF), fancy color diamond prices edged up in the period between April and June 2016, after a relatively soft first quarter.

Overall, price performance during Q2 was broadly in line with long-term trends in which continued demand-driven price increases for pink and blue fancy color diamonds are partially offset by continued price declines for lower-cost, commercial yellow fancy color diamonds.

Blue and pink fancy color diamonds saw a 1.1% and 0.7% price increase, respectively, in the second quarter. Yellow fancy color diamonds saw price declines of 0.5%, less than during the first quarter. Overall, prices in the fancy color diamond category rose by 0.4% for the period. In sharp contrast, according to RAPI, white diamond prices declined across the board during Q2 2016, declining between 0.7-5.6% with the 3-carat category again being the worst performer.

In terms of specific color and size categories, the strongest performers during Q2 2016 were fancy intense and vivid blues and fancy vivid pinks across all carat sizes. Most notably, the fancy vivid blue category saw an 8.6% price leap during the period, driven by the 1ct and 5ct size brackets. In contrast, the fancy yellow grade category declined by 3.7%, mainly driven by sluggish demand for the 3ct and 5ct sizes.

On an annual basis, when compared to Q2 2015, the Fancy Color Diamond Index was up 0.5%, with blue and pink fancy color diamonds up 4.1% and 1.7%, respectively, and fancy yellow diamonds down 3.5%.

The Fancy Color Diamond Index is calculated based on live pricing inputs from a large sample of the worlds leading traders of fancy color diamonds in Asia, the United States and the Middle East. FCRF Advisory Board chairman Eden Rachminov commented that unsurprisingly, fancy intense and fancy vivid color diamonds of all colors enjoy robust demand in the market, driven mainly by supply scarcity that is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. He added that the situation is different with commercial fancy yellow goods, which is being adversely affected by sluggish U.S. demand.

Alex Shishlo, Editor in Chief of the European Bureau, Rough&Polished




ALROSA has lodged no appeal to government regarding Sukhoi Log

18 august 2016 News

(Interfax.ru)  Russia-based diamond miner ALROSA is not so far mulling to take part in the auction for the Sukhoi Log gold field and has lodged no appeal to the government regarding this issue, reporters were told by Yury Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District overseeing the company.

ALROSA has not submitted such matters to the government for consideration. If they come out with such a proposal, it will be discussed by the board of directors. Then we will form an opinion at the government and the board of directors. So far, this kind of proposal has not been discussed, he said.

Asked about his personal position on the participation of ALROSA in the Sukhoi Log deal and the companys diversification into gold mining business, Yury Trutnev said: There are two very different ways [for the development of companies  IF]. There are single-business companies and they have a number of advantages. (There is also the way of diversification). In my opinion, both are possible. I dont know which is the right one, as I am not occupied with the company in such a detail.

Sukhoi Log is one of the world's largest gold deposits. According to Russias State Balance of Mineral Reserves, Sukhoi Log contains 1,953,000 tonnes of prospective gold reserves in the B+C1+C2 categories and 1,541,000 tonnes of prospective silver reserves, as well as 799 tonnes of off-balance gold reserves. This gold field has a potential to increase its resource base, as its projected gold resources belonging to the P1+P2 categories reach 1,015,000 tonnes.

The Russian authorities have been discussing an auction for Sukhoi Log for many years. The process intensified last year.






Another source mentioned however that one woman on board was hospitalized after suffering a fainting spell. The air company had to send a replacement aircraft to Istanbul to ferry waiting passengers onward to its hub in the vast new Hamad International Airport in Doha. State-backed Qatar Airways is one of the Mideasts three biggest carriers. The airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, linking over 150 international destinations across Africa, Central Asia, Europe, Far East, South Asia, Middle East, North America, South America and Oceania, using a fleet of more than 180 aircraft. As of April 2016, the Qatar Airways Group employs more than 40,000 people; 24,000 of them work directly for the airline
Hello,

I have four days holiday and I want my family visit to Vietnam. Am I wondering what should my family spend for North of Vietnam or south?

We heard about Halong bay and other sites but most of them based in northern central and southern. How I manage to visit this places.

Im getting consult from Go Indochina Tours travel agent that we going to use their service but still need more experience on your support
Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 513.510 billion yen in July, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.

That beat expectations for a surplus of 273.2 billion yen following the upwardly revised 693.1 billion yen surplus in June (originally 692.835 billion yen).

Exports were down 14.0 percent on year, missing forecasts for a decline of 13.8 percent after sliding 7.4 percent in the previous month.

Exports to all of Asia fell 13.9 percent on year to 3,043.816 billion yen, while exports to China alone were down 12.7 percent to 1,029.906 billion yen.

Exports to the United States slipped an annual 11.8 percent to 1,182.479 billion yen, while exports to the European Union eased 6.5 percent to 665.517 billion yen.

Imports tumbled an annual 24.7 percent versus forecasts for a decline of 20.0 percent after slipping 18.8 percent a month earlier.

Imports from all of Asia fell 23.0 percent on year to 2,556.832 billion yen, while imports from just China alone skidded 21.7 percent to 1,295.867 billion yen.

Imports from the United States tumbled an annual 15.2 percent to 588.466 billion yen, while imports from the European Union fell an annual 15.7 percent to 666.651 billion yen.

The adjusted trade surplus was 317.6 billion yen - beating expectations for 167.7 billion yen and down from 335.0 billion in June.

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.
House prices in majority of the Chinese cities increased in June, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.

On a monthly basis, house prices rose 51 cities out of 70 surveyed by the government. It fell in 16 cities and remained flat in 3 cities.

The highest rise in house prices were noted in Xiamen, by 4.6 percent and the steepest decline was seen in Shaoguan, by 1.1 percent.

Compared with the same month of last year, house prices grew in 58 cities out of the 70 cities in July, while it dropped in 16 cities.

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.
Tyco (TYC) said that it agreed to sell its security in South Africa, which operates locally under the ADT brand, to Fidelity Security Group for approximately ZAR 1.9 billion or $140 million. The business provides security monitoring services, including dispatch of armed response guards, as well as fire detection and protection, access control and other security-related services, to residential and commercial customers.

The financial impact of this planned sale was previously disclosed as part of Tyco's fiscal third quarter earnings report on July 29, 2016.

After the transaction is completed, Tyco will continue to provide its fire, security and life safety products in South Africa. ADT will serve as a local distributor for Tyco's residential and commercial security products and solutions, as well as Tyco's specialized performance solutions for retail businesses.

The transaction is expected to close in late fiscal first quarter of 2017 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

The financial results of this business are reported within the Rest of World Integrated Solutions & Services segment. In fiscal year 2016, the business is expected to generate revenue of approximately $160 million.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Gold futures were slightly higher Thursday morning amid lingering uncertainty about the broader .

Gold for December was up 7 dollars at $1355 an ounce, after policymakers of the European Central Bank said more time was needed to assess the impact of the Brexit vote.

They said it was premature to discuss possible monetary policy reaction at this stage, the minutes of the rate-setting meeting showed Thursday.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
The United States has agreed to pass on its power to govern the Internet domain name system (DNS) fully to ICANN - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

This is an important milestone in a nearly 20-year effort by the US Government and Internet multi-stakeholder community to privatize the Internet domain name system.

DNS, one of the Internet's most important components, pairs the easy-to-remember web addresses with their relevant servers. Without DNS, websites can be accessed only by typing in its IP address.

The United States' National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), part of the Department of Commerce, informed ICANN Tuesday that it intends to hand over the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions on October 1.

Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling said the IANA stewardship transition represents the final step in the U.S. government's long-standing commitment to privatize the Internet's domain name system.

For the last 18 years, the United States has been working with the global Internet multistakeholder community to establish a stable and secure multistakeholder model of Internet governance that ensures that the private sector, not governments, takes the lead in setting the future direction of the DNS. To help achieve this goal, NTIA in 1998 partnered with ICANN, a California-based nonprofit organization, to transition technical DNS coordination and management functions to the private sector.

NTIA's current stewardship role was intended to be temporary.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Editors Pick

Oil major Exxon Mobil Corp. reported Friday a profit for the third quarter that soared from last year, reflecting sharply higher upstream and energy product earnings. Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter topped analysts' expectations, while quarterly revenues missed them.

Seattle, Washington-based Amazon.com Services LLC is recalling Amazon Basics Executive Desk Chairs, citing fall and injury risks, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said. The recall involves about 11,400 units of the Amazon Basics Executive Desk Chair.

Shares of Swiss Re AG were losing around 3 percent in the morning trading in Switzerland after the reinsurer reported Friday a net loss in its third quarter and the first nine months of fiscal 2022. The results were hurt mainly by weakness in Property & Casualty Reinsurance or P&C Re segment. Going ahead, the company still expects it is unlikely to reach its Group ROE target of 10 percent in 2022.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are locked in a statistical dead heat in Nevada, according to the results of a new Suffolk University poll.

The poll showed Clinton with a 44 percent to 42 percent lead over Trump among likely Nevada voters, with the two-point gap within the margin of error.

Libertarian Gary Johnson was the choice of 5 percent of voters, while Independent American Party candidate Darrell Castle and unaffiliated candidate Rocky De La Fuente each received 1 percent.

The slim lead for Clinton partly reflects strength in Clark Country, which includes Las Vegas and accounts for nearly 70 percent of the statewide vote.

"Clinton's lead there is the reason she is winning the state," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. "In this instance, what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegasit affects the whole state."

The poll also showed the gender gap that has been evident in many other states, with Clinton leading among women and Trump leading among men.

Suffolk University also looked at the race to replace Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and found Republican Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., and Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto tied at 37 percent.

The survey of 500 likely Nevada voters was conducted August 15th through 17th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

(Photo: Gage Skidmore)

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
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 ...
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Aug-18-2016 15:43 TweetFollow @OregonNews Local Red Cross Sends Eight Responders to Help With California Wildfires Eight Red Cross disaster responders from Oregon and Southwest Washington deploy to California to help people affected by massive wildfires; Eighteen others still on the ground in Louisiana helping flood relief effort.

Photo: www.wlox.com

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - The American Red Cross Cascades Region (Oregon and Southwest Washington) is responding to the massive wildfires in California by deploying eight volunteers to help with relief efforts. Responders from Nehalem, Beaverton, Portland, Keizer, Gresham and John Day, Oregon as well as Battle Ground, Washington are assisting affected communities by managing shelters, providing emergency financial assistance, health and mental health services, transportation services, and coordinating with local government entities to help deliver assistance. Two of the responders include Cascades Region CEO, Amy Shlossman and Regional Disaster Officer, Cara Sloman. "Communities across Louisiana and California have been devastated by fires and floods and many families have lost everything," said Amy Shlossman, CEO of the Red Cross Cascades Region. "Our ability to respond and help people when they need it most depends upon the generosity of our donors. Please help support our disaster response efforts across the country by visiting redcross.org." THE SITUATION IN CALIFORNIA: Explosive brush fires have ripped through more than 30,000 acres in San Bernardino County. More than 86,000 people have been forced to leave their homes. An unknown number of homes could be destroyed, and there is no containment in sight. Two Red Cross shelters provided refuge to 173 individuals affected by the Blue Cut Fire. In Lake County, three additional shelters are open to support families in need of lodging and support services. And in Kern County, the Red Cross is ready to open an evacuation center should it be needed. For all these wildfires, Red Cross shelters are providing for the immediate needs of those affected. Services include a safe and clean place to stay, food, hydration, emotional support and health services. All facilities will remain open for as long as there is a need. THE SITUATION IN LOUISIANA: The Red Cross continues to help thousands of people impacted by the flooding in Louisiana where the situation remains dire. On Wednesday night, more than 4,100 people were still seeking refuge in 30 Red Cross and community shelters. At the peak of the floods, more than 50 shelters provided safety for more than 10,000 people. The Red Cross and partners have served nearly 138,000 meals and snacks since the onset of the flooding. Mental health disaster workers are visiting shelters to offer comfort. Health services volunteers are helping with things like lost eyeglasses and medications. The flooding danger is not over. More rain is falling in Louisiana and flood waters are moving down-river, which could cause damage in new areas. The Red Cross is closely monitoring the situation to be ready to mount an additional response if necessary. According to meteorologists, more than 6.9 trillion gallons of rain -- enough water to fill 10.4 million Olympic pools -- deluged Louisiana this week. HOW TO HELP: Donations are urgently needed. To help people affected by the Louisiana Floods or the California Wildfires visit redcross.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS. These donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Source: Red Cross news release> _________________________________________

Oregon | Wildfire | Business | Health | Most Commented on





Articles for August 17, 2016 | Articles for August 18, 2016 |
Kelly campaign deletes tweets without disclaimers on military endorsements

The re-election campaign for Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly deleted social media photos of uniformed military members after leaving out a DOD disclaimer.
These are interesting times in paradise  in as far as the relationship between law enforcement agencies goes.

Judging from the front page of your newspaper on Wednesday 17 August 2016, one can be easily forgiven for asking what on earth is going on in peaceful Samoa. More to the point, is there a war between our law enforcement agencies we were not aware about until now?

First there was the story titled Director of Prosecutions arrested and charged. It detailed the very public arrest of the Director of the National Prosecution Office (N.P.O), Mauga Precious Chang, who was escorted from her Office at the Tofilau Eti Alesana Building by Police officers  including members of the Tactical Operation Squad (T.O.S.).

Now they say a picture is worth a thousand words and seeing images of members of the T.O.S. and multiple police officers present to arrest a woman who posed no physical danger to anyone was certainly chilling. One has to ask whether that was necessary at all? What has Samoa come to?

In any case, the Police Commissioner, Fuiavailiili Lincoln Keil, confirmed the charges against Mauga.

Police can confirm that they have charged the Director of the National Prosecution Office, Ms Mauga Precious Chang with negligent driving causing injury and dangerous driving, he said in a statement.

The decision to charge is the result of a police investigation where the file was then reviewed by an independent prosecutor.

Police informed the Director in May shortly after the incident involving three damaged vehicles, that an investigation had commenced and charges were possible.

It was further confirmed to her a few weeks ago that charges were now likely.

However the matter was then referred for an independent review of the evidence, which is now complete.

The Police Commissioners statement added that the decision to charge Mauga followed an independent legal opinion sought by the Attorney Generals Office.

The independent prosecutor, Auckland based Barrister, Satiu Simativa Perese, was engaged on advice of the Attorney General to ensure independence, and he will work directly with Police, the statement said.

Fair enough then. It will be interesting to follow the proceedings to see where this ends up.

But it gets interesting of course.

On the very same day, we also learned that Commissioner Fuiava himself had been charged. In his case, he is facing charges in relation to the alleged wrongful arrest of member of the public, Suitupe Misa, at the Fugalei market last year.

From what weve been told, the Commissioner is due to appear in the Supreme Court on 29 August to answer to charges including unlawful detention, perjury, providing false statements and disorderly conduct.

The Samoa Observer was later told that the Police Commissioner, who has just returned from his holiday, was only informed about the charges on Tuesday.

Later, Police Media Officer, Maotaoalii Kaioneta Kitiona, said the Commissioners case was handled by the National Prosecution Office and it was them who decided to file the charges.

In the midst of all this kerfuffle of course is the Office of the Ombudsman. Earlier this year, Ombudsman Maiava Iulai Toma blasted the Police in relation to Mr. Misas arrest.

For the uninitiated, Mr. Misa was arrested at gunpoint by a contingent of armed plain clothed officers in front of a shocked and distressed Fugalei marketplace. It transpired that Mr. Misa had committed no crime and the arrest was carried out based on insubstantial and second-hand evidence.

Mr. Misa then lodged a complaint against the Police, which was investigated by the Ombudsmans Office. The findings of the investigation raised serious questions about the actions of the Police and the Commissioner.

The Commissioner of Police failed to meet basic investigation principles and placed undue consideration on second hand evidence, leading directly to the wrongful and unlawful arrest of Suitupe, the reports findings reads.

The Commissioners decision to arm and allow the use of firearms by his officers contravened the Use of Force policy, was irresponsible, and could negatively impact the overall safety and security within Samoa.

The Commissioner failed to take appropriate steps to identify the actions of his officers as being part of a police operation, leading to widespread distress and in one case serious health issues.

There is a lot more to this case but we will stop here.

Suffice to say these are very interesting times in paradise. We will follow these developments very closely. You have to wonder though what is the man who is lording over all these agencies thinking.

Whats going on in his head? Is there method in thy madness or is he starting to lose control of these people?

Stay tuned!
Dear Editor,

We are British tourists on a British registered yacht currently undertaking our second circumnavigation. We have visited over 80 countries and have been full time cruising for over 20 years. We contribute articles for European sailing magazines and cruisers internet forums. We thought you may be interested in our recent negative experience while in Samoa.

As background, we arrived in Pago Pago American Samoa a month ago knowing that the harbour has a bad reputation for poor holding, dirty water, smelly fumes from tuna cannery and we only planned to spend a few days there while we collected our post. Despite the many drawbacks of Pago Pago harbour, the people of American Samoa were a delight to be with. They were helpful, friendly, courteous and we ended up staying for three weeks. During our stay the American Samoan people constantly warned us about visiting Samoa as there had been high crime, a recent brutal rape of an Australian tourist, and theft there. As well seasoned travellers we had heard all these tales about neighbours before and so were not unduly concerned and were looking forward to spending at least a month in Samoa to see the sights of Upolu and Savaii. We knew from articles on line there was a marina that had received negative reports on Noonsite and other online forums. We phoned the Apia Marina before leaving American Samoa to check on current rates.

When we arrived we were instructed by Apia Port Captain to anchor in the bay as it was Sunday and the marina was closed. We were instructed to fly the yellow quarantine flag and stay aboard the vessel. We had prior to anchoring gone close to the marina entrance and saw that it was crowded and very tight to manoeuvre and was also disappointingly close to a busy road with noisy restaurant bars. We do have a portable depth sounder that we planned to use in the dinghy to sound out the marina depths on the entry and berth so that we could check that our yacht could safely get into the berth as we ideally would have liked to spend some time on the marina to wash the boat down and have a secure place to leave the boat while we hired a car and travelled to Savaii. In marinas where the berths are shallow we would not just blindly go into a berth without personally scoping out the depths as it is our decision on whether our vessel can get into a marina safely with sufficient depth and whether we choose to go onto a marina or not.

After we cleared the health inspection, the marina boat came out and the official asserted that it was now mandatory under Samoan law for all visiting yachts to use the private marina to berth.

He issued all anchored yachts an Apia Marina Services Ltd charge sheet with Apia Harbour rules on it which should have been headed up the Managers law. For yachts anchoring out in the bay the marina dinghy dock fee was $200 ST per week and not the ST$50 we had been quoted. A 400% increase. We attach the old marina fee sheet and then the  REVISED marina fee sheet so that you can see that different yachts in Apia at the same time were given different rates.

The Manager did finally agree after much unpleasant arguing that in our case as he had quoted the ST$50 by phone that he would honor that so we only paid like the other 3 yachts already anchored in the bay the old fee of ST$50.

As a private business who is leasing the marina from the Samoa Port Authority then we agree that the Manager can charge what he likes for using the marina dinghy dock but this charge must be applied fairly and consistently.

He insisted that the American yacht anchored in the bay should pull into the marina berth but the yacht was not able to use reverse gear so was unable to safely manoeuvre into the marina. We knew the American had engine problems as in Pago Pago as we had gone over with our dinghy along with another dinghy so that the Americans could re-anchor using dinghies to power and push the yacht to another anchoring space.

We had sailed over from American Samoa with them so that if they had problems entering Apia Harbour we would be able to tow them in. Despite telling the Manager this he had what we can only describe as a psychotic rage where he ran down the marina dock and started swearing at the American yacht captain who had pulled into the dinghy dock at the same time as ourselves.

The American offered to pay ST$50 landing fee which was what the other anchored yachts were paying but he continued to be aggressive and told the American that unless he paid the NEW ST$200 fee, then he would cut or confiscate the dinghy if it was left there.

The argument was so loud and abusive that other yacht crews on the marina came out to see what was happening. The Americans used the dinghy dock at the marina only that one-day as after Psycho episode we would use our dinghy to drop the Americans off and collect them at the Aggie Grey Beach so they could avoid any further hassle.

During the 9 days that we stayed in Apia Harbour we saw the marina boat come out and hassle the American yacht several times and we were astounded to discover that the Manager on behalf of the Samoa Port Authority issued legal proceedings against the Americans and even more surprised that the Samoa Supreme Court placed a Departure Prevention Order (D.P.O) preventing the Americans from leaving the country.

All over a dinghy dock fee of the ST$50 which he refused to accept from the Americans.

The lawyer who issued the D.P.O writ should be investigated by the Samoa Law Society and Supreme Court for misconduct in issuing proceedings against a tourist over such a trivial amount without ascertaining the full facts of the matter and for wasting valuable Supreme court time and the firm should send a written apology to the Americans for treating them so badly. The American Consulate had to be involved, the C.E.O of the Samoa Tourism Authority was involved as was the C.E.O of the Samoa Ports Authority, and the Supreme Court .the whole unpleasant incident was a total farce and waste of everyones time over several days.

We do not know what local connections this man has but he obviously has a connection very high up in the Samoan government as it would appear that he can make up whatever rules and charges for visiting yachts that he likes.

There was a mysterious US$100 (US DOLLARS not Tala) one off payment they were trying to charge on the new revised sheet. When we arrived we met another yacht clearing out of Apia at the port authority office and they could not find anyone at S.P.A to pay this mysterious fee to.

Once the Americans had been issued the D.P.O, we sent emails to the Samoa Ports Authority to ask them for the tariff charge and written regulation as we did not believe that the US$100 was a genuine fee nor did we believe that it is Mandatory for yachts to go into a private marina when there is an approved small craft anchorage available in the harbour that does not impede commercial vessels.

We spent three hours at the Samoa Port Authority and went around from department to department and no one was able to show us the written regulation and tariff sheet. The next day we went again and this time met with the new C.E.O of Samoa Port Authority who eventually confirmed that due to an oversight when the Apia Marina asset was leased out to Apia Marina Services Ltd, that the port regulations were not amended by the Samoan Legal Team and were currently with the attorney general office for revision.

The new C.E.O confirmed there is no official regulation under the 1998 Samoan shipping Act or subsequent revisions that states it is mandatory for ALL visiting yachts to use the marina services and we were entitled to anchor in the bay if we wished. The same oversight meant that there is no USD$100 fee payable under the published Port Authority Dues and Rates Notice 2016.

The new C.E.O of Samoa Port Authority assured us that he is keen for this to be resolved by the correct government minister and legal team and once the new regulation and fee has been passed then he will update the S.P.A website so that future visiting yachts can see there is a genuine and transparent fee structure.

In the meantime, both the C.E.O of S.P.A and the C.E.O of S.T.A will meet with the Manager of Marina about the recent incident and we would hope that the Manager would issue a written apology to the Americans.

Talking to the other visiting yachts that were staying on the marina we discovered that the marina showers were a cold water weak trickle and one yacht actually had to repair the toilet. Another yacht complained about the cleanliness of the facilities and they were apparently told so what do you expect for ST$60 per day. On Friday night late there was a drunken fight between two local Samoans on the marina dock and a bottle was thrown and smashed in a yacht cockpit. Most professionally run marinas have a security gate so that only yacht crews and invited guests can access the dock but Apia Marina has no security whatsoever.

When we paid our dinghy dock fee we tried to point out to the Manager that his aggressive strong arm approach, and lack of transparent fees and regulations was not the best way to encourage yachts to stay in Samoa and that we ourselves were now going to clear out and go to Wallis and Futuna instead of staying for our planned month. To which he replied I dont give a **** I can do what I like when dealing with scamsters. The marina staff were polite and pleasant but their boss is a raving lunatic who should not be allowed anywhere near tourists.

The Samoan Tourist Board put on such a fabulous cultural show that explained the faaa samoa ways and are obviously working hard to promote Samoa. The enjoyable days out seeing the local sights and eating out at many of the wonderful restaurants in Samoa were no compensation for the downside of dealing with the Marina officials and we will be reporting on the forums about our negative experience accordingly.

The Managers parting comment to us was that he looked forward to reading our articleswell we hope he and his mysterious business partner read this and start to invest in the marina facilities and treat visiting tourists with respect and not just see them as cash cows to be abused and milked dry.

Paul Liz Stuart

14/8/16
The New Zealand/Samoa Friendship Week Restaurant Challenge ended last night with the Saletoga Sand Resort winning the competition their slow roasted Kiwi duck served with breadfruit hash dish.

A prize giving ceremony held at the New Zealand High Commission residence at Letava saw the winners being announced and congratulated.

The Minister of Tourism, Sala Fata Pinati, Samoa Tourism Authority C.E.O, Papalii Sonja Hunter joined the Samoa Culinary Association, Samoa Hotels Association, restaurant owners and chefs to celebrate.

Between the 5th and the 15th of August, participating restaurants put up new dishes for judging; the dishes had to fuse both New Zealand and Samoan ingredients.

This event is all about the growth of tourism, said New Zealand High Commissioner, Jackie Frizelle.

The story of the friendship restaurant week goes back a fair way; you could say it goes back 55 years because the friendship that were talking about is the treaty of friendship that was signed by New Zealand and Samoa 55 years ago.

According to Mrs. Frizelle, the Challenge has grown over the years.

The first year that we had the Restaurant challenge was during the 50th year of celebration of the treaty; now when it was first started it was a one off idea, she said.

It was something to celebrate that particular year; but there was so much interest and enthusiasm around it that we thought we would give it another go. And so it grew and it grew and it grew and now after five year I think it has developed a huge life on its own.

Its come into its own; the quality of the food, the number of participating restaurants the experience the people are gaining; it has really turned into a huge event its fantastic.

Along with the growth of the competition, the quality of the dishes have improved vastly.

I do think the quality of food, the fabulous innovatively interesting ideas that has been put on the plates has changed over time, Mrs. Frizelle said.

Weve seen Samoa turning into a foodies destination; this year is special because it marks the first year that weve included a few cafes and the first year that weve had a restaurant from Savaii.

Mrs. Frizelle also shared her appreciation for everyone who helped keep the restaurant challenge running.

I would like to thank everyone who took place in this, she said.

I managed to taste only a few dishes and I was really blown away by how creative they were and the incredible taste sensations.

I would also like to acknowledge the waiting staff who did a great job; often in explaining the dish and presenting it.

I would like to thank the sponsors of this event who have so readily supported this yet again; most of them also supported us last year.

We appreciate the help from Lucky Foodtown, Farmer Joe, Samoa Meat Supplies, Niu Sina, Digicel, Air New Zealand, Toa Gas, Samoa Tourism Authority and of course the Samoa Culinary Association.

I would also like to give a huge thank you to the judges; I had a little chat with them just before and they were literally misty eyed with the experience so it must have been an amazing experience for all of them.

And with the curtains closing on this years challenge, all eyes are eager to see what next year has in stall for everyone.

So we are looking forward to next years challenge and were open to ideas, Mrs. Frizelle said.

I have heard one already which is a healthy choice award for next year; we will again challenge chefs to create more wonderful and tasty dishes so we can turn this into a fabulous tourism destination for Samoa.

But for the happy owners of the Saletoga Sand Resort, Gavin and Lou Brightwell; winning the overall award came as a major shock.

We are feeling pretty shocked and happy, Mr. Brightwell told Samoa Observer. We have entered this competition three times now; the first year when we were only open for a few months and we won the best service award which was amazing.

Last year we entered and won the most Innovative and skill award and now for us to win the overall award this is just amazing.

We know it was a very hard competition with these new resorts now here with their top overseas chef and we are happy that we won with a local chef with a little bit of help with our other chef from Fiji.

I have to give a lot of this to Lou who comes from a culinary background and she put a lot into it too; we are also proud of our staff; our chefs and our service staff.

Awards:

Overall Winner: Saletoga Sand Resort

Best New Entrants: Legends Cafe and Amoa Resort

Best Service: Seabreeze Resort

Best Innovative and Skill: Rokos Restaurant
The dead body of a young girl was discovered by five fishermen from Utualii floating in the open sea on Wednesday.

Suspected to be between 16 and 18 years of age, her identity remains unknown.

Yesterday, Sam Taufao, 25, from Utualii told the Samoa Observer the girl was already dead when they found her.

We were out fishing and we saw something floating on the sea, said Taufao.

When got closer, we discovered it was a body of a young girl already dead.

Taufao said when they found the body, they were scared.

I have been fishing for more than ten years but this is the first time I have discovered something like this at sea, he said.

Taufao and his three brothers were accompanied by their uncle on Wednesday evening when they found the body.

It was lucky we went with my uncle because we would never put her on the boat. Instead, we would have tied her leg to a rope and towed her back to the shore.

But my uncle insisted we carry her on the boat because we found her close to the reef and it was far from shore.

Taufao said he continues to have nightmares about seeing the dead body.

On our way back, her nose started bleeding and it was smelly as well, he said.

I couldnt sleep last night and I couldnt get her face off my mind. The smell remains in my nostrils.

She must have died the night before we found her.

When the body was brought to shore, police was contacted right away.

I heard one of the officers taking her photo saying that she is the one who took off in a boat from Matautu, said Taufao.

Taufao said he didnt understand what he meant but from what he found our later, a girl had taken off on a boat from the Matautu wharf earlier on Wednesday.

It was not possible to get a comment from the Ministry of Police yesterday.

In the meantime, the womans body is now at the morgue and the Police are investigating.
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Not all relief programs during the Great Depression were as successful as the CCC. One Post reporter believed that Hoovers FERA program was taking the U.S. down the same road that led to Nazi Germany.

Not all relief programs during the Great Depression were as successful as the CCC. One Post reporter believed that Hoovers FERA program was taking the U.S. down the same road that led to Nazi Germany. (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library)

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The crisis created by the Great Depression was like nothing the United States had ever seen, and the federal government had to scramble to create programs that addressed the nations problems. FDRs Civilian Conservation Corps, for instance, put young men across the U.S. to work on important, useful, long-lasting projects. But many programs of the time were both more controversial and less successful.

With an unemployment rate that reached as high as 25 percent, state and local welfare systems that had been established primarily to deal with the unemployable  the blind, the deaf, orphans, the aged  were faced with a growing population of educated, experienced, but unemployed adults. In 1932, President Hoover established the Federal Emergency Relief Administration to help states create new unskilled jobs in local and state government and get people back to work.

But by 1935, FERA had grown into something that looked more permanent, was a drain on taxes, and simply wasnt improving the situation. Whats more, as Dorothy Thompson argued in Our Ghostly Commonwealth, FERA was leading to a new class struggle  not the class struggle according to Marx  not the workers against the capitalists, but the working against the workless, the haves against the people they support. And it was creating the same type of social and economic environment that had allowed Adolf Hitler to seize power in Germany.

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Our Ghostly Commonwealth

By Dorothy Thompson

Excerpted from the article originally published July 27, 1935

There exists in the United States, alongside our so-called normal social and economic life, another commonwealth, a ghostly one  ghostly because it is largely invisible to those who are not its members, and ghostly in the vague uneasiness which its haunting presence provokes. It is a commonwealth of people who live in a separate world of their own.

They are not isolated in some distant state, on some reservation set aside for them, but they live in the midst of us, in our cities and villages, in our very streets. They can vote  although it is suggested in some states that they should not  they look like the rest of us; they have the same desires, the same needs, the same urges. But not exactly, and always decreasingly, the same hopes. They belong to the same trades, professions, crafts, and skills as the rest of us, and, on the whole, to the same races, although there is a larger proportion of Negroes amongst them than in the other society, our own society, and a slightly larger proportion of Mexicans and Filipinos. There are mechanics and farmers, engineers and executives, lawyers and journalists, artists and teachers, laborers and musicians, dancers and actors, miners, carpenters, stonemasons, clerks, stenographers. They are, indeed, a pretty fair cross section of the United States. There are stockbrokers amongst them, and former $50,000-a-year men, and sharecroppers who never in their lives have handled more than $100 a year in cash money. And lots and lots of children. Curiously, there are, proportionately, rather more children amongst them than the rest of us have. They constitute between one-sixth and one-seventh of our population, because, all together, their number is around 20 million, and the experts tell us there are an additional 25 million potential members of their society.

They are the people on relief.

But the people on relief are not usually referred to as people. The society in which they live has a nomenclature of its own, as well as a social and economic organization of its own. They are usually referred to as clients or as cases, and, in groups, as a case load. Thousands of them live in barracks, under the supervision of Army officers, but they are not soldiers. They and many of the others work, and at all sorts of tasks: construction, manufacturing, transportation, education, building, mechanics, drafting, moving pictures. They play instruments, sew clothes, manufacture mattresses, till farms, but they do not work at jobs, but on projects. They work, but most of them do not receive wages, but budgets, and the amount which they earn is not decided according to their merits, but according to their minimum needs  as determined for them by careful investigation. They produce all manner of things, from iron cots and refrigerators to pictures and plays, but they may not sell anything they produce.

Their lives for 10 years back are investigated, recorded, catalogued, and cross-catalogued. More is known about them than about any other part of the population  about their race, and skills, work histories, diseases, even about their personalities  but the knowledge is in the files of state and federal government agencies, and is not part of the public awareness. In so far as the rest of our society is conscious of them, the attitude is a combination of bad conscience and hostility, and of this attitude they are also aware  and repay it, on their part, with a feeling of frustration and hostility.

Limitations of Local Relief

The poor have long been the charges of state, county, and township governments. But possible taxation for such purposes was severely limited. And the whole mentality of local poor administrators was awry. To them, the destitute were so because they were simply misfits. It was, in essence, their own fault. The attitude was embodied in some New England states by laws which disfranchised recipients of public relief. The local poor-law authorities were trained by tradition and experience to take care of the neer-do-wells, the village idiots, the aged, the infirm, the orphaned. But they were not prepared for a program of relief for Thomas Smith, able-bodied, aged 35, six years ago receiving a salary of $25 a week and a so-to-speak house owner, meaning that he had a house worth $5000 on which he had a $4000 mortgage; four years ago cut to $20; three years ago cut to $12, and unable to pay the mortgage; two years ago dismissed because of lack of business, and today totally without resources.

President Hoover, with the experiences of the war, the Belgian relief, the all-European campaign against typhus, the 1930 drought, and the Mississippi flood behind him as justification, believed that there was sufficient goodwill, energy, and organization power in the American people to deal with the administration of this problem on a local and largely voluntary basis.

But the analogy with the war and with President Hoovers previous great relief administrations was fallacious in one important particular. The war, the postwar starvation, the drought, and the Mississippi flood were catastrophes which affected all parts of the population. People starved in postwar Belgium because there was actually no food. Everybody starved. The good and the bad, the poor and the rich, the deserving and the undeserving. In the war, the bankers son needed bandages as well as the truck mans. And the Mississippi rose upon the just as well as upon the unjust, upon the efficient as well as the unlucky. There was solidarity of action because there was solidarity of distress.

No such solidarity of experience exists between the employed and the unemployed. But one thing which President Hoover foresaw has come to pass. Many of the fortunate, being isolated from any participation in the troubles of the unfortunate, except to pay for them, are developing a callousness and hostility toward them which aggravate the whole social situation, and which no amount of press releases from the publicity bureaus of the various relief administrations can dissipate. This country is dividing into two classes  the employed and the people on relief. A genuine class struggle is emerging, but it is not the class struggle according to Marx  not the workers against the capitalists, but the working against the workless, the haves against the people they support.

The Working and the Workless

This is reflected in almost every conversation which one may have with people whom the depression has not touched severely. The Long Island ladies who are indignant that they cannot get a handy man to help lay a carpet; the newspaperman who has kept his job securely all through these last five years; the employers of cheap labor who cant find men at prices they can afford to pay. Being cut off from the problem, which is isolated behind a bureaucracy, they generalize from their own experience, and there are plenty of experiences to bear them out. They see the relief problem in its bulk and implications only in the un-quieting growth of the extraordinary budget.

In the great cities, in the winter of 1932, the attempts at local relief had certainly broken down. The local charities were bankrupt. Milkmen could not deliver milk, because their cars were overturned and the milk looted. Grocery windows were smashed. There were riots. Gangsters joined the ranks of the unfortunate, and racketeering was coupled with destitution. There was a clamor from all quarters that something should be done.

And President Roosevelt came in, surrounded by youth and social indignation, pledged to action, and a lot of it. And gallantly flinging back their locks from their foreheads, and with a smile cheery and brave, this administration gathered the whole kit and caboodle of the destitute to its bosom.

Since then it has been exceedingly busy trying to bounce many of them off again.

The federal government had no more experience than anyone else in being an eleemosynary institution. It had vast quantities of goodwill, optimism, and idealism. It was manned with as attractive a crowd of people as ever were got together in Washington; for eagerness and earnestness, youth and enthusiasm are extremely attractive qualities. It is probably the most literate administration that this country has ever had since the early days when politics was believed to be a gentlemans profession, and it is certainly the most talkative. It is also probably one of the most truly representative of administrations, for it shares practically all the illusions of the typical American intellectual. It believes that any action is better than none; that the scientific attitude is synonymous with being willing to try anything once; that economic reform can be interpreted in terms of social uplift; and that the lion and the lamb can be brought to lie down together by persuasion.

This is preeminently the administration of goodwill  on all sides. But the good, says the proverb, die young. It is the wise who die of old age.

A Sympathy All-Embracing

This administration has been truly encyclopedic in its sympathies. It has tried, in the midst of depression, to raise wages and preserve profits. It has encouraged monopolies and sought to protect labor. It has advocated high prices and the protection of the consumer; [Secretary of State] Mr. [Cordell] Hull wants to restore international trade, and so does [Secretary of Agriculture] Mr. [Henry] Wallace, but meanwhile Mr. Wallace scales down production to domestic consumption. It believes in inspiration and in the expert.

Now, the same ambivalence of feeling dominates the relief program. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration is accurately described by one word in the title, and somewhat accurately by another. It is almost Federal, and it is certainly Administration. But no one whom I have been able to find in the whole organization, whether in Washington or in the field, believes that it is Emergency. On the contrary, its members are convinced that we are settling down to deal with a permanent problem, and they are directing policy with this in view. It is not relief. It is  or intends to become  a system of employment and, as such, should be no more relief than the check I hope to get for this article.

The destitute, in the mind of this government, have a right to support. But there is something humiliating about the exercise of this special right. Therefore, work must be provided for them. But the work must not interfere with private industry. The relief worker must be free, but in order to live on his budget, he must be controlled. The relief worker must not be insulted, but the public must be scrupulously protected. The problems of the immediate present must be met. The problems of a distant future must be met. The chief aim must be to provide immediate projects to meet the needs of the individual unemployed; the chief aim must be to construct lasting works of public importance. Every destitute person in the country must be relieved, but the taxpayer must not be overburdened.

Benevolent Serfdom

I am amazed that some people consider that the work-relief system is a form of socialism. Go out and look at it, and you see that it is actually a new form of benevolent serfdom. I say benevolent because almost all the people in administrative positions from top to bottom are full of human kindness, full of sympathy. They are not well-paid themselves. They work extremely hard. They are, for the most part, vigorously honest. And most of them know that this system will not work in the long run. Some of them foresee its extension into a universal program of production for use, a sort of nationwide EPIC. Others believe that the government must openly compete with private industry and gradually expropriate it. They should observe that no country yet has managed to edge its way into socialism. Others believe that such a system can only be integrated with the rest of society by political means.

Now, the political means of integrating such a society with the rest is fascism. It is, as far as I know, the only political means which has been pragmatically successful.

Germany, from 1925 onward, built up a system of work relief very similar to this one. In fact, it is the only parallel which I can find in a study of social service in European countries. It had the same sort of projects  subsistence farms, unemployed production for unemployed, and in the Voluntary Works Corps, an organization not unlike CCC. It did not, under this system, stabilize the social order. The resentment of the unemployed against the state was prodigious.

According to the classes from which they came, the younger elements flocked to the extreme right or the extreme left. They furnished strong support for Hitler. And when he came into power, he took over the whole system. It was literally ready-made for him. He reorganized it along military lines. He put the workers in camps into uniforms, and the social workers, to a large extent, as well. He kept the system and changed the psychology.

Now the subsistence workers are not pariahs of the social order but are hailed as its pillars. They are the builders of the New Germany. They have parades. They are drilled, exercised, trained. Arrangements are made to keep many of them permanently in this status. And a vast propaganda machine with the whole field to itself is busy persuading them that they like it.

Well, perhaps they do. But would we?

President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 7034 less than three months before this article was printed, establishing the more ambitious and unconventional Works Progress Administration. Like FERA, the WPA was accused of promoting communism, socialism, fascism, corruption, and political favoritism. But its results are difficult to argue against: 651,000 miles of roads, 124,000 public buildings, 800 airports, and 124,000 bridges built or improved; 225,000 public concerts presented; 475,000 works of art and 276 full-length books created; plus public swimming and wading pools, utility improvements, and over a billion school lunches.

FERA was dissolved in December of the same year.

Read Dorothy Thompsons Our Ghostly Commonwealth in its entirety.


Phoenix, AZ -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/18/2016 -- New York Times best-selling author Lisa Kueng will be joining "Making Money Fun with Shanna Tingom" Friday August 19th at 3 PM Pacific on the VoiceAmerica Business Channel. Lisa is a national speaker and the developer of many of Invesco's practice-building programs including the "Your Prosperity Picture" workshop for women investors. She is co-author of the book, Picture Your Prosperity: Smart Money Moves to Turn Your Vision into Reality. This best-selling book walks readers through figuring out exactly what you need and want and then showing you how to make the smart money decisions that can help turn your vision into reality. Lisa's extensive experience as a national speaker and developer of education programs for investors makes her the perfect guest for Shanna's upcoming episode "Planning for a Fulfilling Retirement- What Successful Women are Doing Now".



Making Money Fun with Shanna Tingom is broadcast live every Friday at 3 PM Pacific on the VoiceAmerica Business Channel. Archives of Making Money Fun with Shanna Tingom can be found at: http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2574/making-money-fun



About Shanna Tingom, AAMS

Shanna Tingom is an independent financial professional and the founder of Heritage Financial Strategies. Her specialty is working with female entrepreneurs, business leaders, and individuals experiencing life transitions. Shanna keeps active as a member of the Gilbert Small Business Alliance and Gilbert Chamber of Commerce. She also enjoys traveling with her husband, Eric, and spending time with her two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Oliver and Princess.



For more information, please visit http://heritagefinancialaz.com/ or call 480-379-1184



About Making Money Fun with Shanna Tingom

Making Money FUN with Shanna Tingom is a live broadcast that demystifies money, investing and personal finance topics with lively discussions, relevant guests and great resources. Learn about how the markets work, how your financial professional can help you achieve your financial goals, tips for talking to your kids and spouse about money and much more. Since FUN is a core value for Shanna's company, Heritage Financial Strategies, you can expect to laugh along with her and her guests and enjoy the conversation! Tune in every Friday at 3 PM Pacific on the VoiceAmerica Business Channel.



Archives of Making Money Fun with Shanna Tingom can be found at: http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2574/making-money-fun



Listeners can download the current versions of the VoiceAmerica Talk Radio App at:



Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.airkast.VA_MASTER&hl=en

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/voiceamerica-talk-radio-network/id412135954?mt=8#

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/AirKast-Inc-Voice-America/dp/B00IGH8WPO
Burlington, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/18/2016 -- Those who own beaten up blacktop driveways, parking lots, or private lanes and roads are encouraged to look into driveway paving companies to sealcoat their pavement as soon as possible. With the cold weather encroaching, it is important to keep in mind how much more damage will be inflicted by rock salt and snow plows. Stanley Paving wants local residents and business owners to stay conscious of wear and tear on their pavement by sealcoating their Philadelphia homes and businesses.



Sealcoating is a beneficial, bituminous liquid mixture that can be applied to asphalt. Its smooth, non-porous surface acts as a preventative against the vicious Northeastern weather as well as the sun's harmful UV rays. Not only that, but it also guards against gasoline, rock salt, oil, and other harmful chemicals that have the ability to slowly wear down pavement. Sealcoating protects against minute cracks becoming larger and out of hand by filling the imperfections in. And the best part: it is entirely non-toxic, non-flammable, non-tracking, and slip resistant.



It is very important to Sealcoat pavement as soon as possible, because if left untreated, any and all cracks will continue to grow, allowing water to get into the base of the asphalt and create even larger cracks. Weather will continue to beat down driveways, parking lots, private lanes or roads until it will have to be repeatedly repaved. With Sealcoating, it will not allow the oxidation or natural erosion to occur, protecting its smooth surface. Contact Stanley Paving with questions or comments by going to their website and using their simplistic message box located on the right-hand side or send them an email at: atstanleyjr@aol.com . You can also call them at their New Jersey number: 609-386-9814 or toll free number at: 866-We-Top-Em. They usually answer within 24 hours with the owner and operator on site 99% of the time.



About Stanley Paving

With three generations of pavers, Stanley Paving has assisted the Delaware Valley for over 57 years, valuing their commitment to service and expertise. To the Stanley Paving crew, no job is ever too small or too big, whether it be commercial, residential, or municipal, they get it done promptly. Their equipment and experienced paving crew provides the best service in the area.



Learn more by visiting: http://www.stanleypaving.com/
Pittsburgh, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/18/2016 -- Seegrid, the pioneer and leader in vision-based autonomous industrial vehicles, announced that the Pittsburgh Technology Council has named it a Tech 50 Awards Finalist for Manufacturing Innovator of the Year.



Since 1997, the Pittsburgh Technology Council's annual Tech 50 Awards recognize southwestern Pennsylvania's most successful, innovative, and thought-leading technology companies, which have become the backbone of Pittsburgh's new economy. The awards represent transformative technology centers of excellence with tech companies at all stages of growth. Tech 50 also recognizes the region's top tech executive.



"Each year, the Council canvasses the region for the most distinguished public and private technology-oriented companies, and the Tech 50 awards honor those companies that demonstrated the strongest growth and advancement in product or sales success, financial strength, corporate citizenship, job growth and retention and innovative product or technology," said Audrey Russo, President and CEO, Pittsburgh Technology Council. "We are especially excited to announce the category winners at the awards gala this fall. This is the Pittsburgh Technology Council's 20th year celebrating the industry with Tech 50. It is truly a night to honor our region's technology companies and the contributions they have made to our economic vitality."



Tech 50 winners will be announced on November 3, 2016 at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh.



About Seegrid

Seegrid (http://www.seegrid.com), the pioneer and leader in three-dimensional vision navigation, provides unique and revolutionary automation technology for materials handling. Engineered with state-of-the-art Seegrid Vision, industrial trucks are transformed into the next generation of AGVs: vision guided vehicles (VGVs). VGVs navigate without wires, lasers, magnets, or tape, and deliver unmatched flexibility. Designed for simplicity and reliability, the Seegrid flexible automation solution is offered in a line of pallet trucks and tow tractors.



Experience the maximum benefits of VGVs with Seegrid Supervisor to manage, monitor, and control a fleet of vehicles in context of your operation. Generating economic advantages and operational efficiencies, VGVs optimize workflow processes, increase productivity and throughput, labor optimization and operating costs. An award-winning organization, Seegrid is experiencing significant growth both in employees and clients. Multi-billion dollar organizations focused on lean manufacturing best-practices are turning to the Pittsburgh-based robotics leader. From large automotive operations to retail distribution centers, Seegrid VGVs are advancing the reality of a Fork Truck Free approach. VGVs improve workplace safety, reduce equipment and product damage, and deliver a rapid return on investment. Seegrid customers include: Whirlpool, Kohler, Walgreens, Volvo, Aisin, and Denso.



Follow Seegrid on Twitter at @Seegrid.
Berlin, Germany -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/18/2016 -- In the world of today, finding a perfect match often seems a challenging process that takes much time and effort. While many people lack this time being busy in their offices, they often face problems when looking for their lifetime partners. No wonder, such agencies as ThaiKisses are just indispensible, because they help people get along with each other and build relationships that may result in the creation of strong families.



ThaiKisses is a trusted international matchmaking agency, the services of which are oriented on helping people find their lifetime partners. The company was created in 2006 and can boast over 10 years of excellent service and great reputation with single men and women from Thailand and abroad. Western men are looking for Thai wives here, while girls from Thailand dream of finding strong and reliable men at the website as well. With this purpose, they publish their profiles, describing their preferences and traits of character. Each profile comes with a photo of a girl to attract the attention of users and simplify their choice.



The experts working for the agency underline that they see their mission in helping their clients meet and communicate with Thai girls. They are sure that "Thai wives are faithful, devoted, caring and loyal and their world revolves around their families". That is why they are sure that each client, who will be fortunate to meet a lady from Thailand at ThaiKisses, will have high chances to build long-lasting relationships and even create strong families. Actually, they already have several romantic stories of people, who have got acquainted at the website to get married later.



ThaiKisses experts work round-the-clock to deliver high quality and valuable services to each and every client, who is interested in finding their second halves. The agency does not only offer free registration and website browsing experience, but also ensures maximum safety protection and confidentiality. If there is anything a client would like to find out, the customer support team of the agency will be eager to solve all the problems in the shortest time possible.



For more information, please, take your time to visit https://www.thaikisses.com/thai-wife.html



About ThaiKisses

ThaiKisses is a popular and credible online dating agency, which has been offering professional matchmaking services for over 10 years already. Since the year of their creation (2006), they have won reputation and loyalty of hundreds of people from across the globe. The majority of profiles is added to the website by Thai girls and men from the country and abroad are eager to get along with these ladies on the web. The agency works round-the-clock and makes it possible to register and browse the website without paying any fees for these services.



Contact Info:

Contact Person: Stefan Frohling

Address: Bredtschneiderstr. 12A, 14057 Berlin, Germany

Tel.: +49 2761 752 39 40

Fax: +49 911 308 44 77 844

E-mail: info@thaikisses.com

Website: https://www.thaikisses.com/thai-wife.html
New research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports has statistically proven that the earliest standing stone monuments of Britain were constructed specifically in line with the movements of the Sun and Moon, around 3000 BC.

Nobody before this has ever statistically determined that a single stone circle was constructed with astronomical phenomena in mind  it was all supposition, said lead author Dr. Gail Higginbottom, of the Australian National University.

Examining two of the earliest dated British great circles: Callanish on the Isle of Lewis and Stenness on the Isle of Orkney (both predating Stonehenges standing stones by about 500 years), Dr. Higginbottom and his colleague, Prof. Roger Clay from the University of Adelaide, found a great concentration of alignments towards the Sun and Moon at different times of their cycles.

And 2,000 years later in Scotland, much simpler monuments were still being built that had at least one of the same astronomical alignments found at the great circles.

The stones, however, are not just connected with the Sun and the Moon. The team discovered a complex relationship between the alignment of the stones, the surrounding landscape and horizon, and the movements of the Sun and the Moon across that landscape.

This research is finally proof that the ancient Britons connected the Earth to the sky with their earliest standing stones, and that this practice continued in the same way for 2,000 years, Dr. Higginbottom said.

Examining sites in detail, it was found that about half the sites were surrounded by one landscape pattern and the other half by the complete reverse.

These chosen surroundings would have influenced the way the Sun and Moon were seen, particularly in the timing of their rising and setting at special times, like when the Moon appears at its most northerly position on the horizon, which only happens every 18.6 years, Dr. Higginbottom said.

For example, at 50% of the sites, the northern horizon is relatively higher and closer than the southern and the summer solstice Sun rises out of the highest peak in the north.

At the other 50% of sites, the southern horizon is higher and closer than the northern, with the winter solstice Sun rising out of these highest horizons.

These people chose to erect these great stones very precisely within the landscape and in relation to the astronomy they knew, he said.

They invested a tremendous amount of effort and work to do so. It tells us about their strong connection with their environment, and how important it must have been to them, for their culture and for their cultures survival.

_____

Gail Higginbottom & Roger Clay. 2016. Origins of Standing Stone Astronomy in Britain: New quantitative techniques for the study of archaeoastronomy. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 9: 249-258; doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.025
[JAKARTA] Rapid conversion of natural forests in mainland South-East Asia have put more animals at risk of extinction but are not making it to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species.



A remote sensing study led by the United States-based Duke University found that 79 mammals, 49 birds and 184 amphibians in the region now live within less than 20,000 square kilometres, a habitat range which the IUCN defines as an endangered zone.

We argue that some species in the region are much more threatened with extinction than IUCN is saying. Stuart Pimm, Duke University

The study analysed vast areas in mainland South-East Asia which include Chinas Yunnan province, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and eastern India. The region is said to have the worst deforestation in the world. In 2000-2010, countries in the region cleared around 480,000 hectares of natural forests each year, leading to habitat destruction and fragmentation. This destruction has become a factor in the regions 56 per cent share of the worlds rubber production and 39 per cent of that of oil palm.



The study, published in PLOS One (3 August), notes that this rapid rate of deforestation is threatening 122 kinds of mammals, 183 birds and 214 amphibians that are endemic to the region. A traditional species-by-species assessment as done by the IUCN is deemed too slow to deal with this rising threat.



Stuart Pimm, one of the studys authors and a conservation professor at Duke University, says the team used remote sensing technology to analyse the changing landscape in mainland South-East Asia and how it has affected the distribution of animals living in the region.



The result surprised the researchers who said they found many animals not listed as threatened but were actually in danger.



We argue that some species in the region are much more threatened with extinction than IUCN is saying. An example is the red-throated squirrel (Dremomys gularis). It appears to have a large range, but much of it is not at the right elevation, which isnt forested. Its probably in a lot more danger than the IUCN thinks, says Pimm.



Four mammals, nine birds and seven amphibians, which the IUCN had listed as species of least concern, are now living within a habitat of less than 5,000-square kilometre. Other endangered animals include the Assam mole shrew, Millets leopoldamys rodent, chestnut-headed partridge, Malayan laughing thrust and Vietnamese green finch.



Achmad Farajallah, a zoologist from Bogor Agricultural University, reports the same pattern in Indonesia. In 2014, he published a study in Nature Communications which found that land conversion from natural forests to oil palm plantation has contributed to at least 45 per cent of the biodiversity loss.

Regarding the use of remote sensing in evaluating risks of animal extinction, Farajalla stresses that it should not be used as the main indicator. He says that aside from analysing shrinking habitat, risks of extinction can be influenced by other factors.To analyse a species risk of extinction, we need information regarding its generation time, strategy of reproduction, feeding preference and its environmental support, including space and shelter, he says.This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk.
[DURBAN] South Africa is on track to produce the worlds first licensed HIV/AIDS vaccine, a conference has heard.



During the t the 21st International AIDS Conference in South Africa last month (18-22 July ), Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council, said that they are undertaking a large-scale trial to assess whether HVTN 702 vaccine could South African adults from getting HIV.



Carl Dieffenbach, director of the US National Institute of Healths Division of AIDS, explained that it has taken seven years to reach this stage.

We hope to have results in five years. Were looking for efficacy of 50 per cent. Glenda Gray, South African Medical Research Council

Dieffenbach added that he US-based HIV Vaccine Trials Network, in collaboration with South African researchers, relied on the findings of the RV144 trial, which had an efficacy of 31 per cent in Thailand, to conduct HVTN 100, a smaller initial trial.



HVTN 100 used the same vaccines that RV144 tested, but made them specific to the subtype of HIV found in southern Africa, said Linda-Gail Bekker, deputy director of the South Africa-based Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, in a statement. We also added a booster injection to prolong the period of protection.



Bekker added: All the criteria were met unequivocally and, in many instances, the HVTN 100 outcomes exceeded both our own criteria and the immune responses seen in RV144.



HVTN 702 will seek to confirm findings from HVTN 100 that the modified RV144 regimen is safe, and is being hailed as an important step towards a preventive cure.



The placebo-controlled study will enrol 5,400 HIV-negative men and women at 15 research sites across South Africa, and is to begin in November this year after regulatory approval. Participants will receive five injections over the course of a year.



After 24 months well look at potency, and at 36 months well assess durability. We hope to have results in five years. Were looking for efficacy of 50 per cent, Gray added.



According to Gray, if the HVTN 702 trial is viable, the target will be to provide the vaccine to young girls in schools before they are sexually active.



Another trial addressing whether broadly-acting neutralising antibodies could protect against HIV is underway in Sub-Saharan Africa, the conference noted.



The HVTN 703/HPTN 081 has enrolled 1,500 heterosexual women from Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.



Researchers are studying the safety and tolerability of a broadly-acting neutralising antibody called VRC01, given by infusion, and what concentration is required for effective prevention.

Bekker says these trials could have an impact on reaching the 2030 goal of zero new HIV infections.Nyarodzo Mavis Mgodi, director of the Microbicide Trial Networks collaborative project between the University of Zimbabwe and the US-based University of California-San Francisco, tells SciDev.Net: If we establish that broadly neutralizing antibodies are potent and will prevent HIV acquisition, then a whole set of scientific breakthroughs could well follow.According to Mgodi, the findings of the trials could help researchers develop an HIV vaccine faster and more efficiently.This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.
Huawei is taking the very nice looking Honor 8 smartphone to the U.S. It is one of the top-of-the-line of the Honor series of phones.

The Honor 8 features a glass-backed smartphone with a 5.2 inch 1080p full HD display and a dual camera system. It has an 8-megapixel front camera and 12-megapixel rear cameras with flash and a USB-C charging port.

Huaweis First U.S. Phone Might Just Be a Flagship Killer at an Affordable Price #Huawei #Honor8 https://t.co/6TXcY1E9Pu  iDrop News (@iDropNews) August 18, 2016

There is also an octa-core Kirin 950 processor running at 2,3 GHz and a 4GB RAM under its hood. You have a choice of either 32 GB or 64GB of internal storage. To add up to about 128 GB more space, it is provided with microSD card slot. A 3,000mAh battery with support for fast charging is also provided, according to The Next Web.

Honor 8 is a glass-backed smartphone. Huawei stated that it is the result of 15 various steps in the manufacturing process, from coating to adding optical films to polishing and that "no two devices look alike" because the reflective layer on top of the glass produces various light patterns on each phone.

The Verge reported that the US model of the Honor 8 has Huawei's own Kirin 950 chipset. This makes it the first Huawei phone to arrive in the U.S. with a Kirin processor. Meanwhile, the Huawei P9 has the more powerful Kirin 955 chipset.

The Huawei executives put emphasis that this smartphone aimed at millennials. They said that millennials like to hold their phones in one hand. You may use the voice command and say "Cheese!" when you take a photo or use the 17 different shooting modes of the camera. You can explore the smartphone just as you want it to be and make an experiment of it. You can also build custom commands when you tap your knuckle on the screen. Meanwhile, the light refractions on the glass back suit the needs of millennials, which they said made their phones stand out in a crowd.

It is announced at an event in San Francisco that Honor 8 costs about $400 for the 32GB model. On the other hand, the 64GM model has the price tag of $450. In China, its cost starts at $300 up to $370. This falls still Huawei as in the "affordable" mode for Android phones.
The latest wildfire in Southern California has ravaged several structures and thousands of homes as it expanded to over 25,000 acres since Wednesday. The flames were said to have still been climbing the flanks of the San Gabriel Mountains in San Bernadino County, making its way toward the town of Wrightwood, where authorities claim that only half of the residents have complied with communication orders.

Battalion Chief Mark Peebles of the San Bernardino County Fire Department cautioned, "This is not the time to mess around. If you are asked to evacuate, please evacuate." He's right - Fox News noted that officials now estimate over 34,000 homes and some 82,000 already under evacuation warnings, and although no deaths have been reported as of press time, cadaver dogs have been searching the ruins, in case they find people overrun by flames.

So far, authorities don't have the exact number of homes destroyed in the wildfire, but they have warned communities of possible bad news ahead. "There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing," said San Bernadino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig. "It hit hard. It hit fast. It hit with an intensity that we hadn't seen before."

However, according to The New York Times, officials already warned that these explosive fires are fast becoming common. Glenn Barley, the San Bernardino unit chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) noted, "It's to the point where explosive fire growth is the new normal this year, and that's a challenge for all of us to take on."

Among the recent wildfires in California included the Chimney Fire that started on Saturday and burned 7.300 acres in San Louis Obispo. The Clayton Fire in Lower Lake near Northern California started the same day and ravaged 4,000 acres. Finaslly, the Soberanes Fire in Monterey County burned almost 80,000 acres in nearly two months.
FLORENCE, S.C. -- Within Florence-Darlington Technical Colleges Pipe Welding Academy, 15 pipe welders, eight valve technicians and six pipe fitters are learning advanced techniques to prepare themselves for high-paying jobs.

Because of a gift from the Duke Energy Foundation, those numbers will swell.

A check for $70,000 was presented Wednesday to Ben Dillard, president of the school, who was joined by Jill Lewis, vice president of the schools foundation, and Jamie King, the director of the Advanced Welding and Cutting Center.

Mindy Taylor, Duke Energys government and community relations manager, said Duke has been a longtime supporter of the welding programs at the school.

So it was just a natural extension to continue to support it, said Taylor, who presented the check. Florence-Darlington Tech has one of the premier programs in the country so its always good to partner with them to expand and see that it continues to offer a feeder system to support utility companies in the future.

Skilled welders are highly sought after in the power industry, she said, and school officials point to an aging workforce that will see a shortage of welders, fitters and valve technicians in the coming years.

Dillard is proud of the 98 percent job-placement rate the welding program has seen, with over 87 percent of the students able to stay in South Carolina.

According to May 2015 statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor, welders, cutters, solderers and brazers had a median hourly wage of $18.34 with a median annual salary of $38,150.

These jobs are now paying $20 to $30 an hour, with a per diem, King said. So thats good money.

Dukes gift is aimed at funding partial scholarships for pipe fitters, welders and valve technicians as the school also seeks to train a nuclear-capable workforce. Demand is expected to increase in the nuclear field in the coming years.

It is partners like Duke that are willing to step up to the plate and help us provide the education for these high paying jobs, Dillard said.

Lewis said the school cant thank Duke enough for this gift.

Thanks to them, a lot of welding students will be able to attend our college and get these great jobs, she added.

According to the schools request from Duke, the school can attract more diverse and talented students and produce workers for constructing and maintaining the infrastructure that is crucial to the operations of nuclear facilities.

Welders have been trained at the school since 1963, and as part of the states Technical College System, supporting economic development in South Carolina is part of the schools mission. Welding jobs that require classroom and on-the-job experience are expected to grow by 15 percent in the next four years, the request shows. Two nuclear reactors under construction at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville already engage about 1,000 workers at each site, school officials noted in the request. They estimate that 3,000 construction craft workers will be in demand over the next three to four years.

The two new reactors and one existing reactor in South Carolina will add up to 800 permanent jobs, the request states.

King said students work with the same materials -- carbon steel and stainless steel pipes -- that they will work with on job sites. He also said instructors like Herman Smith bring valuable real-world experience to the equation.

Smith said he spent 28 years working for Progress Energy and was hired to upgrade turbines before landing a permanent job as a mechanic/welder.

Its all Ive ever done. I started in 69 when I was 18 years old, he said.

King said Smith lost his right leg to a circulation problem and still came in to teach even in a wheelchair.

I taught a whole semester just about with one leg, he said. Thats just the way I am. I could either dry up on the couch or teach welding.
FLORENCE, S.C.  A quick hop and a skip took Gabe Smallwood from Florence to Furman University. Now a plane will take him on his next adventure: studying music in Europe.

Originally, Smallwood graduated from The South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities planning to double major at Furman, studying two disciplines he was passionate about. A year later he realizes that he only loved one of those fields.

I was on a track at Furman to double major in composition and piano and I just realized that composition wasnt what I wanted to do anymore, Smallwood said. I didnt have the love for it that I thought I did and it wasnt where my passion laid. When I realized that piano was primarily what I wanted to do with my music life, I figured that I needed to go to a conservatory or a place I can get more attention specific training.

That somewhere ended up being Europe, more specifically, Germany.

I thought it might be the time to go to Europe and see if this is possible right now, Smallwood said. I knew I would end up there someday but I didnt know when.

After deciding to leave Furman was the process of deciding where he would go next. Smallwood decided against applying to conservatories in the United States and international ones at the same time.

The audition seasons are so different, Smallwood said. In America, typically the application season is in the fall and ends in December or January, then you go and have your auditions; By May 1, you typically will have heard if youre accepted to the school and you have to let the schools know if youre coming. In Europe, at least for the schools I applied to, it was different. The application season for the winter semester, which begins in October, began at the beginning of March and ended at the end of March; there is much more of a time crunch. So, by the time I would have had to let my American schools know, I wouldnt have heard back from my European school.

Dipping into his savings, Smallwood ventured abroad after being invited to audition for three different schools. Having studied German since the seventh grade, Smallwood said, traveling and living in Germany for a month wasnt as much of a challenge as it could have been.

I had to go to the school and audition in person, Smallwood. I spent a week in Leipzig, then I went to Dresden for a while and then I went to Hamburg and Berlin. It was the first time traveling completely by myself and it was also the longest time I had ever spent traveling, not only that but it was in a different country too. It was a great experience because I was able to solidify my German skills and I get more exposure to the language.

Ultimately, Smallwood was accepted to, and decided to attend, the University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (Hochschule fur Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Leipzig).

Smallwood said that he expects living in Germany to be a rich experience because of the relationship that Europeans have with classical music.

The attitude they have toward classical music is completely different from what they have over here, Smallwood said. There are concerts happening all the time and the quality of the concerts is absolutely fantastic; it is just the place to be for classical musicians I think. I consider myself very fortunate to have this opportunity, especially for being so young.

Before he leaves, Smallwood wants to put on one last performance in Florence.

I heard that Lighthouse got broken into a couple of week ago and they stole diapers, baby wipes and other stuff like that, Smallwood said. Initially what I wanted to do was replenish what was taken from them. We got in contact with them and they had already received an overwhelming amount of support from the community in terms of those specific items. I asked if there was anything else that they needed and they said nonperishable items, specifically things that are rich in protein like peanut butter, canned meats and tuna.

The benefit concert will take place at St. Luke Lutheran Church and attendees are asked to take nonperishable items that will be donated to Lighthouse.

I had done a benefit concert for them before and I figured it would be a good thing to do before I head off to Germany, Smallwood said. One of my proudest accomplishments is that I have been able to do all of these benefit concerts for all of these different organizations; I just wanted to do one more before I leave.
I consider myself a conservative.

Now before you start calling me names, remember my blood and your blood is red. We breathe the same air. We also have a heart and a brain.

That being said, I am usually optimistic, but now I am a little nervous.

As I look around and see the distrust, hate and animosity that are smothering all involved in this year's elections, I see we share many similarities.

Most of us are somewhat confused, being hardheaded, not looking at the big picture and a little frightened.

We have two people who are scratching the bottom of the cesspool as they try to convince us to let them move into the White House.

We also have men and women either wanting to become or remain members of Congress.

Each of us has our preferences. Each of us believes we are right with our choices.

I believe the presidency is a very important position. The president is the first person who people around the world look at and by which they judge all Americans  for better or worse.

As American citizens, we need to focus more on Congress.

We need a Congress that will stop playing games and be a constitutional body not afraid to stand tall and do their constitutional duties. A group of men and women who will not play games or look the other way because of fear, greed, selfishness or power.

We need a Congress that understands the actions of the president are controlled by the will of congressmen who answer to the people as dictated by the Constitution of the United States.

We need a Congress that will look at recommendations and requests from the president for content, credibility and legality rather than solely at the president's party affiliation.

We need to remember whoever holds an office is human and, like us, not perfect in any way.

"We the people" also need to face the reality that we do not know everything.

We also need to be willing to make smart election choices based on truth, education and common sense.

Although always vigilant, "we the people" must allow our elected representatives do their job. We must accept the fact they have access to information, aka intelligence, that we will never see. Again, we must have trust and faith they will use this knowledge properly.

You and I cannot continue letting emotions, fear, hate and distrust guide our every move.

As we face the end of this election season, please think about the above comments.

If you agree, let them guide you in your choices regardless of party affiliation or fears.

If you disagree, that is your right and act accordingly.

BILL PICKLE

Florence
We who are or were in the military do not consider ourselves heroes just because we did our jobs. Heroes go way beyond the call of duty whether they lose their life or not.

Does a medal make you a hero? Not always. Some branches hand out awards or medals for just being at a place. And some people are given awards or medals just because of the people they know.

Now to reply to someone who called Donald Trump all sorts of names. I do not agree on some of the things that he called Trump. But Trump did not say anything bad about Captain Khan. But he did counterattack the father when he became an attacker for the Democratic campaign while he used his son's death as a shield to do so. Its hard to understand the attack on the mother, but I also wonder why she did not say anything. But her not speaking was OK with me. The father should not have dragged Trump into a time period where President Obama and Hillary Clinton were in the political leadership.

But we all can blame Clinton for her many bad deeds and plenty of lies that she has espoused.

Now for Trump saying I like people who weren't captured, that was a cut on John McCain. I feel that POWs are not really heroes but are people who surrendered or were wounded and not able to fight back. As an American fighting man, you must not surrender while you have the means to resist. My rule while in Vietnam was not to be taken alive because of what the enemy would do to you. We were advised to kill ourselves with a gun, a knife, a grenade or a poison pill (or a pilot's pill) rather than to be taken alive.

To be fair to Trump for saying that soldiers stole money in Iraq, we all really do not know the truth about this, because it disappeared from the news. I also have always been against NATO, for it is a group of countries that seems to want to rule the world and limits what its members can do within their own countries.

Did Trump get a deferment during the Vietnam War? Sure. Many rich people like Bill Clinton and others got deferments. Many others like President George W. Bush enlisted in the National Guard. When a war was on and the draft was in effect, most colleges were full with guys who needed a legal place to hide.

I do not know why this writer said that Trump was not eligible to get a security clearance, but there are plenty of reasons and proof that someone like Hillary Clinton should never have a security clearance.

We must have a strong leader as our next president who must first do away with our idiotic rules of engagement. If even a private gets fired upon, he should be able to return fire without calling papa first. If an enemy shoots at them then drops their weapon and then tries to walk away, they should not be allowed to get away. If an area is shooting at our troops, that area should be leveled and not searched door by door. Why endanger our troops unnecessarily? War is hell and should be fought as such.

JOHN H. BETHEA

Marion
Why does the NRA have so much power that even the politicians are afraid to stand up against them?

In our political arena, the NRA has more power than any group that I can think of, even the Angelic Christian Organization. I am not against guns in general. Hunters can use a rifle and others that want to feel they can protect themselves can own a pistol. I see absolutely no reason for anyone to own an assault weapon unless in a war situation. If a hunter uses an assault weapon to bring down his prey, he will only fill his prey with metal.

Our children are being shot and killed in their homes, on our streets, in schools and in churches. The police men and women who are trained to protect us are being killed weekly with these assault weapons. It is getting to where it is not safe to go shopping in a mall for fear of a mass shooting. The number of mass shootings over the years is increasing. More people are killed each year with guns than all other weapons put together.

This has got to stop!

What is it going to take and how many more killings before we get these assault weapons off our streets? I realize it would be nearly impossible to get all of them off our streets, but there must be a way of making it illegal to own such a weapon. Why not make it illegal to sell and purchase these weapons and ammunition? A good suggestion to help slow down the ownership of these weapons and their ammunition is to raise the tax to an extreme high percentage. We raise the tax on gasoline and cigarettes, therefore why not raise the tax on assault weapons and their ammunition? There should also be a double check on background history and a long waiting period for anyone wanting to purchase these weapons or ammunition.

It should be illegal for knife and gun shows to sell these weapons as well as any store. The reason nothing is being done is the power of the NRA and the fear of our politicians losing votes if they go against the NRA. Well, then, put the vote to the American people if assault weapons and ammunition should be legal. We have got to put a stop to all the killings in America with these deadly weapons.

Maybe it is time to put our National Guards on some streets that seem to have the most crimes. If a neighborhood does not like this idea, then what are they wanting to keep from the police? If you are not guilty of anything, why fear the policemen and women or even the eyes in the sky with cameras around our town? We need to build a better relationship between the police and our neighborhoods. Until then, put our National Guards out to help keep the peace where needed.

I remember the days as a child that no one locked their windows and doors at night or when leaving the home. We knew our neighbors and we trusted them. We could walk down the streets day or night and not be afraid. We also knew the local policemen and women who patrolled our neighborhoods. Today many of us do not even know our neighbors, and no one trusts anyone, and we keep everything locked up tighter than Fort Knox for fear someone will break in and kill us or take whatever we have worked so hard to get.

When and where did America go so wrong? Americans must pull together to save our precious country.

JANE HARTWELL

Florence
By Alwyn Scott

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) is not experiencing any slippage in demand for jetliners in China, despite the country's sluggish pace of economic growth, a senior Boeing executive said on Wednesday.

"We're not seeing any softness yet," Ihssane Mounir, Boeing's senior vice president of sales for Northeast Asia, said at a briefing marking the 50th 787 Dreamliner delivered to ANA Holdings Inc , Japan's largest airline.

"We're watching it close," Mounir added, since global economic conditions could shift. "But if I just look at the Chinese market as it stands today, I'm not seeing any signs of weakness whatsoever."

The comments came after other U.S. industrial companies recently reported weak sales growth in China and suggested the weakness could extend through the end of 2016.

Global demand for widebody aircraft has also slowed, raising concerns about sales growth at Boeing and rival Airbus (AIR.PA). Boeing said last week it may further cut production of widebody 777 jetliners and not increase output of 787s unless sales improve.

A strong exchange rate for Japan's currency has slowed some of China's tourism to Japan, said Hideki Kunugi, ANA's senior vice president for the Americas. But he said ANA's decision to expand its capacity and its network in China is supported by demand.

ANA took delivery on Wednesday of a new 787-9, the mid-sized version of Boeing's high-tech, long-haul Dreamliner aircraft. The jet seats 290 passengers in a two-class configuration and carries a list price of $264.6 million, though airlines typically negotiate discounts.

ANA is experiencing robust growth in business travel from Japan to Latin America, Kunugi said, adding that it plans to launch a route from Tokyo to Mexico City in February 2017 using the 787 as part of its LatAm strategy.

"Our current main target will be Tokyo and Mexico and onward," he said.

More than 900 Japanese companies have investments in Mexico and the number is expected to grow to over 1,000 this year, he said. ANA plans to capture more of the travel market using the Mexico City route, its current Tokyo-to-Houston flight and connecting services, Kunugi said.

Story continues

The 787 used on the new route will be equipped with specially configured engines that are able to provide extra thrust needed for takeoff from the high-altitude Mexico City airport in hot weather, he said.

Engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (RR.L) is working on the modifications, which should be ready in time for the launch of service in February, Kunugi added.

(Reporting by Alwyn Scott, editing by G Crosse and Diane Craft)
SAO PAULO, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Brazil's federal auditing court TCU ordered on Wednesday the seizure of about 2.1 billion reais ($655 million) worth of assets from engineering firms Odebrecht SA and OAS SA and some of their executives, to recoup losses from contracts related to the country's biggest ever corruption scandal.

Brasilia-based TCU said in a ruling that the decision aims to recover some of the money that state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro overpaid for services rendered by Odebrecht and OAS in two works at the Abreu e Lima refinery. The scheme drove up the cost of those works by 25 percent, TCU said.

The former chief executive and scion of Odebrecht SA, Marcelo Bahia Odebrecht, and his former counterpart at OAS, Jose Adelmario "Leo" Pinheiro, had some of their assets seized, as well as those for four more executives at both firms. The decision also affected Jose Sergio Gabrielli, the former CEO of Petrobras, the state oil company.

According to the ruling, councilors at the TCU argued that Bahia Odebrecht and Pinheiro practiced and directed "illicit acts to defraud through auctioning processes at Petrobras in order to maximize illegally the profit of their companies." The lawyers representing both businessmen, who are also major shareholders in their respective companies, could not be reached for comment.

The decision highlights the way Brazil's engineering groups and their owners are coping with legal and economic punishment in the aftermath of "Operation Car Wash," which laid bare a system of illegal favors between politicians and business elites.

Odebrecht, Latin America's largest engineering group, and OAS are among the 31 builders that allegedly colluded to rig contracts at Petrobras, the target of the corruption probe. The probe also accelerated the downfall of President Dilma Rousseff, who is expected to face an impeachment trial in the Senate next week for allegedly doctoring budget accounts.

More than 100 people, including Marcelo Bahia Odebrecht and Pinheiro, have been sentenced on corruption charges linked to kickback schemes, racketeering and money-laundering. Prosecutors say about $1.8 billion worth of bribe money has been recovered from offshore accounts in 36 countries.

($1 = 3.2039 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Additional reporting by Aluisio Alves in Sao Paulo; Editing by David Gregorio)
Although the ship's owner is reportedly suffering economic difficulties, and is unable to pay the crew or re-provision the ship, the Hong Kong Shipowners Association (HKSOA) is extremely concerned about the welfare of the seafarers on the vessel, the association said in a press release.

While recognising that Hong Kong has not yet had ratification of MLC extended to it by China, HKSOA urges the Hong Kong government through the Hong Kong Marine Department to provide all necessary assistance to the seafarers, who have effectively been abandoned by the owner of the ship, including the immediate supply of provisions and fuel, as well as the repatriation of the seafarers to their homes if so requested.

HKSOA managing director Arthur Bowring said: There might not be a legal obligation for Hong Kong to provide such facilities, but there is an extremely strong moral and ethical obligation to do so.

"These seafarers must not be left abandoned without flag state support, especially from the worlds fourth largest flag state, one that has repeatedly promoted the quality of the ships flying its twin flags," he reiterated.
The AP Moller-Maersk Group subsidiary also plans to reduce its fleet by up to 20 vessels within 18 months, the first 10 of which are expected to scrapped or sold for conversion by the end of the year.



We are facing unprecedented market conditions and regrettably we have to further adjust our crew pool. It is an unfortunate but necessary step to safeguard the future of our company, Maersk Supply Service ceo Jrn Madsen said of the decision to cull 27% of the companys offshore workforce.

Madsen said the divestment plan was a response to vessels in lay-up, limited trading opportunities and the global over-supply of offshore supply vessels in the industry.



One of Maersk Supply Services prime objectives is to attempt to restore the supply demand balance in the offshore supply market. This is why the vast majority of the divested vessels will be recycled or modified by their new owners to compete outside their present segments, he said.

In todays statement, Maersk Supply Service said it would flag its four Stingray Subsea Support Vessel new-buildings to the Isle of Man registry.



A commercial hub will be established in the UK consolidating ownership and operation of the companys project vessels. This includes the Stingray vessels and five existing project vessels that will also be flagged to the Isle of Man registry.

Maersk Supply Service provides marine services to the oil and gas industry worldwide, including anchor handling in ultra-deep water, mooring installations, rig moves and transport of equipment to drilling rigs and production units.

Its workforce before todays announcement numbered around 1450 offshore and 260 onshore staff. The 400 redundancies covering all nationalities are expected to be finalised by the end of September.



Headquartered in Lyngby, Denmark, Maersk Supply Service is represented globally with offices in Aberdeen, St. John's, Rio de Janeiro, Lagos, Luanda and Perth. It belongs to the Maersk Group's fifth core business, APM Shipping Services, which apart from Maersk Supply Service consists of Damco, Maersk Tankers and Svitzer.

In 2015, Maersk Supply Service delivered a profit (NOPAT) of $147m.



However, it reported a net loss of $106m in Q2 and the lay up of 13 vessels after flagging a $2m loss in the first quarter of 2016.



In its Q2 statement Maersk Supply Service said the global oversupply of OSVs and a margins below what is sustainable for the industry in the long run showed no signs of improvement in the near future.



It noted the disposal of one vessel, the Finder (pictured), as part of its on-going fleet renewal programme and said its total new-build order book stood at 10 vessels with six Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessels (AHTS) and four Subsea Support Vessels (SSV) due for delivery in January 2017 and January 2018.



Maersk Supply Service has installed and in depth industry study in co-operation with customers and suppliers to define an operating model that accommodates the new oil reality. Simultaneously the company is exploring new revenue streams, investigating ways to take advantage of the distressed markets and actively preparing for new buildings entering the fleet, the Q2 report said.
RS has signed a five-year contract with the Turkish ship owner to provide a range of classification services and statutory surveys of ships on 49 vessels - oil tankers, chemical carriers and dry bulkers among them - to a total deadweight of 380,000 tonnes. The average fleet age is nine years.

Oil tankers capable of river-sea navigation have been built for Palmali under previous RS survey. With no flash point limit and the maintenance of the cargo temperature at 50 degree Celsius, this allows the simultaneous transportation of three types of cargo including crude and diesel oil and gasoline, RS says.



This event is significant as [a] demonstration of confidence in the Register from one of the worlds leading operators. Signing of the agreements is considered by RS as an extension of our strategic co-operation, RS director general Kostantin Palnikov said.

The Palmali Group of Companies was established in Turkey in 1998, starting out providing agency services for vessels passing through the Bosphorus and Dardanelle Straits. It soon spotted a gap in the market and today operates a fleet in excess of 100 vessels with capacity from 2,000 to 165,000 dwt.



Palmali Shipping Company has now shifted its strategic goal to participating in the global transportation market after establishing itself within Russian inner ports, the Black, Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic Seas.

Operations are controlled from Palmali Shipping Companys corporate HQ in Istanbul. The company also operates satellite offices in Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Astrakhan, Moscow, Odessa, Piraeus, Thessaloniki, Baku, Bourgas, Constanta, Malta, Novorosiysk, St Petersburg, Ceyhan, Poti, Geneva, Singapore and Izmir.
A promised fix to a Harrison Township road has paved the way for major business and jobs investment by a Chinese automotive firm. That path, Executive Drive, runs parallel to I-94 between the Interstate and Selfridge Air National Guard Base and services over a dozen businesses in an adjacent industrial park.One of those businesses is Yanfeng Automotive Interiors, a Chinese automotive interiors supplier. Once local officials confirmed plans to rebuild Executive Drive for the first time in its 43-year existence, Yanfeng committed a $56.6 million investment in renovating a vacant building along the roadway; officials expect the investment could generate up to 519 jobs for the Macomb County site.Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel and a host of area business leaders and local and state officials gathered Wednesday, Aug. 10 for a ribbon-cutting, celebrating the official re-opening of the road."Executive Drive is a prime example of how the growth of private industry can spur strategic investment in our infrastructure," says Hackel. "Working alongside Yanfeng (Automotive Interiors), our transportation service providers, economic developers and our community partners, we were able to modernize this key industrial roadway."Built in 1973, Executive Drive has seen few improvements over its 43-year-long lifespan. The resulting deterioration had construction crews tearing up the road and starting over. Beginning April 4, 2016, crews removed the road to its base and installed new infrastructure before rebuilding Executive Drive. An enhanced drainage system replaced the old one and nearby fire hydrants and the municipal fire suppression system received upgrades. A continuous sidewalk was also installed.The Executive Drive reconstruction received funding from both the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Macomb County Department of Roads. MDOT awarded a $1,634,640 Transportation Economic Development Fund grant while Macomb County committed an additional $700,560 to the project.Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith
Are some ingredients in sunscreens just hiding burns rather than blocking UV? That's the question the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research organization, wants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to explore.

If ingredients in sunscreen are being used to boost SPF values while masking the harm from the sun's rays rather than protecting against UV, "[s]uch products may encourage people to remain in the sun, where, though they don't see or sense burning, they may in fact sustain subtle or profound damage to the skin, potentially leading to cancer," reads the group's letter to commissioner Robert Califf.

In order to boost SPF values, over the last decade or so, sunscreen manufacturers increasingly turn to ingredients with anti-inflammatory or antioxidant properties, but the range of effective active compounds available to them has stayed the same over that period, the EWG asserts. Today, some sunscreen products boast an SPF of 70 or greater. The EWG wants the FDA to cap SPF values at 50+ and update its methodology for testing ingredient efficacy.

RELATED: The Psychedlic Anatomy of a Solar Flare: Photos

Consumers often use the SPF value as a shorthand for the product's strength or effectiveness. But according to a study published last year in JAMA Dermatology, only 43% of people surveyed knew what the SPF stood for (sun protection factor) and what the number after the acronym represents.

SPF does not measure how well a sunscreen can protect, but instead suggests how long an individual could be out in the sun without getting burned with product versus without. So a person who normally burns in 15 minutes without sunscreen should be able to stay outside 225 minutes with an effective SPF 15 product. The number is just an estimate, however. Variables can include skin, weather conditions, the amount of sunscreen applied and more.

The EWG publishes an annual guide to sunscreen protection, and the latest version is available here. The group isn't alone in taking a closer look at sunscreen effectiveness lately.

RELATED: How to Choose a Sunscreen That Products You

Last month, a study published in JAMA Dermatology took a look at the 65 most popular sunscreen products on Amazon.com. Around 40% of them didn't adhere to the American Academy of Dermatology's guidelines for sunscreens, mostly due to a lack of water resistance. The Northwestern Medicine researchers behind the study also found that prices in sunscreen can vary 3000%, with the higher-end options offering no additional protection over the lower-cost alternatives.

Industry advocates stand by their products, however. In response to the issuance of the EWG's guide this past spring, Beth Lange of the Personal Care Products Council notes in a statement that "the FDA regulates sunscreens as over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and requires rigorous testing for sunscreen effectiveness (both SPF and 'broad spectrum')."

The trade association also pushed back against the July JAMA Dermatology study, stating that "not all effective sunscreens must be water-resistant."

WATCH VIDEO: What Exactly Does the Sun Do to Your Skin?

Both health research organizations and industry advocates agree on the need for consumers to apply effective, broad spectrum sunscreen regularly in order to prevent skin damage. Seeking shade and wearing protective clothing is also advised. Sun exposure is known to contribute to skin cancer and aging.

According to the American Cancer Society, around 76,380 new melanomas will be diagnosed over the course of 2016, and some 10,130 people are expected to die of skin cancer. Skin cancer is the most common form of the disease and rates have been going up over the last 30 years.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the largest atom smasher in the world. Located 300 feet below France and Switzerland, it's a 27-kilometer-long particle accelerator that collides protons and heavy lead ions. The LHC is currently conducting some of the most important high-energy physics experiments in the world.

To figure out how the LHC works and why it's such an important piece of technology, Trace Dominguez traveled to CERN (European Center for Nuclear Research) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. At CERN, Trace spoke to Mike Lamont, the Operations Group Leader working on the LHC, who broke down the internal processes of the largest particle accelerator in the world.

RELATED: Meet The Guy Who Runs The Large Hadron Collider

Basically, the LHC is an enormous ring containing two beams that go in opposite directions. Inside these beams are bunches of protons.

"Each bunch has about 100 billion protons each." Mike told Trace. "These bunches are about 30 centimeters long, typically about a millimeter wide, dimensions as they're going around the ring. Think about a long, thin, tapered, piece of spaghetti."

"We pass these thin hairs through each other, and we get about 30 collisions," Mike continued. "Most of the protons just miss each other and they carry on around the ring; they come back one turn later and they can do it again."

Getting the particles to hit each other is extremely difficult. According to CERN's website, "The particles are so tiny that the task of making them collide is akin to firing two needles 10 kilometers apart with such precision that they meet halfway."

RELATED: The LHC's New Physics 'Bump' Has Disappeared

That's why the LHC needs to attempt these particle collisions constantly. This year their goal is to get to an almost unfathomable 800 million collisions per second.

The point of all these collisions is to discover new particles, but the trick is that scientists have to monitor these collisions very closely in order to have the slightest chance at a new discovery. They currently have several experiments set up that actually sit right on top of the LHC ring at certain collision points.

But what exactly will these new particle discoveries prove?

One thing scientists are hoping to learn from the LHC collisions is what happened during the initial seconds after the Big Bang, the theory of how the universe was created precisely 13.82 billion years ago. They're also hoping to gain a better understanding of dark matter, which scientists believe comprises nearly 85% of the mass of the universe. In other words, the matter that we experience and see through the universe makes up only 15% of the universe.

RELATED: LHC Opens the Quantum Physics Floodgates

Trace also spoke with Tulika Bose, who runs an LHC experiment called CMS, Compact Muon Solenoid. "Every twenty-five nanoseconds... you have a bunch [100 billion protons] colliding with another bunch. You may have a proton here and a proton there, which has a heart. What we call 'shattering a heart event,' and out of that comes a whole mess of particles," she told Trace.

Bose's experiment is kind of like tiny car crashes happening over and over again. Just like glass, metal and plastic explode from a car in a collision, kaons, pions and muons explode from proton collisions. By measuring the curve of the particles in the explosion, Bose is able to calculate their velocity and momentum.

While the practical benefits from current LHC experiments are as of yet unknown, research in high-energy physics at the LHC and beyond have yielded some amazing pieces of modern technology. Past research and experiments have helped develop more advanced cancer therapies, cleaner manufacturing processes, advancements in medical imaging like MRIs and CAT scans, and even the thing you're reading this on right now: a web page. The web page was first developed at CERN in order to more easily share large data sets between internationally located physicists. Well done, guys.

By creating millions of particle collisions every second, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider all have a common goal in mind. They want to break down the world into its simplest form in order to better understand life as we know it.

-- Molly Fosco

Read More:

CERN: CERN Overview Animation

NBC News: After The Higgs, LHC Rounds Up The Unusual Suspects In Particle Physics

The Guardian: Excitement Grows As Large Hadron Collider Hints At New Particle
A few weeks back, officials in China released an official but curiously defensive white paper asserting that the country supports religious freedom. The statement followed a wave of criticism from human rights groups regarding China's treatment of its Muslim minority.

In today's Seeker Daily report, we ask the conspicuous question: How exactly does religion work these days in China, an ostensibly communist nation with increasingly capitalist tendencies and a history of banning religious groups altogether?

As you might expect, it gets complicated. In the middle of the 20th century, religion was completely banned in China by communist party leader Mao Zedong, a notorious opponent of half-measures. But the ban was lifted after Mao's death in 1976, and six years later lawmakers amended China's constitution to protect freedom of religious belief.

However, the law only recognizes five "patriotic religious associations" -- Buddhism, Catholicism, Taoism, Islam and Protestantism -- and does not guarantee citizens the right to practice or worship. As a practical matter, religious organizations in China have historically faced official discrimination and religious prosecution.

RELATED: China Planning Underwater Great Wall of Robots

For a good portion of the Chinese population, it's not a problem -- according to the Chinese government, anyway. Government-issued statistics suggest that most Chinese citizens aren't religious at all. The Chinese government itself is, of course, officially atheist.

But according to other sources, 85 percent of Chinese people hold some religious beliefs or actively practice a particular faith.

In fact, a 2010 Pew Research study estimated that China's fast-growing Christian population to be around 65 million. Chinese government officials are particularly wary of Christian groups, who they perceive to be influenced by Western values. As such, the state has increased harassment in recent years, jailing pastors and removing crosses from more than 1,200 churches in the name of maintaining "peace and beauty."

Chinese officials have also gone after Muslim communities, putting schools under surveillance, regulating services and shutting down mosques.

It's clear that, despite what its constitution says, China still views organized religion as a threat to the state -- and reacts accordingly.

-- Glenn McDonald



Learn More:

Al Jazeera: China must uphold religious freedom in new year



New York Times: China Sentences Uighur Scholar to Life



The Guardian: China's crusade to remove crosses from churches 'is for safety concerns'



BBC: Why many Christians in China have turned to underground churches
Photo: Paleontologists work to excavate a Tyrannosaurus rex skull from a fossil dig site in northern Montana and transport it to the Burke Museum. Credit: Dave DeMar/Burke Museum There's a new Tyrannosaurus rex fossil on the block, with a cute nickname and about 20% of its former body intact, including a well-preserved skull.

The T. rex was found by paleontologists from Burke Museum and the University of Washington (UW) in Montana's famous dinosaur-fossil haven, the Hell Creek Formation. It has been dubbed the "Tufts-Love Rex," in honor of the volunteer paleontologists who first noticed bones jutting out of a hillside: Burke Museum's Jason Love and Luke Tufts.

RELATED: Pregnant T-Rex Might Have DNA

The Burke and UW researchers say they were able to unearth roughly a fifth of the animal, including ribs, hips, jaw bones and vertebrae. (They'll search for more pieces of the iconic beast next summer.)

But the centerpiece of the find is the skull, which is about 4 feet long. So far, the scientists can see the right side of the skull -- from base to snout, including teeth -- and they think it's likely the left side, now trapped in rock, is intact too. (They'll begin the painstaking process of removing the remaining rock in October.)

The researchers estimate Tufts-Love lived about 66.3 million years ago, making its living toward the end of the Cretaceous Period, not geologically long before a mass extinction wiped out the dinosaurs. They also reckon, due to skull size, that the T. rex was 15 years old when it died, putting it about halfway through a typical T. rex lifespan.

RELATED: New Dino Reveals How T. Rex Became Top Predator

The fearsome meat-eaters, with enormous jaws and razor-sharp teeth, were around 40 feet long and stood up to 20 feet tall. This find, the researchers say, would have been the height of a city bus at its hips and as long as one from head to tail-tip.

Tyrannosaurus rex fossils are uncommon finds, and even more so are well-preserved skulls. The UW and Burke team said their find marks just the 15th fairly complete skull in the world.

RELATED: T. Rex Was Likely an Invasive Species

The skull is currently encased in a plaster jacket, the whole package weighing about 2,500 pounds. The plaster cover kept the Tufts-Love Rex intact during a move from its longtime home on a Montana hillside to its new digs at the Burke Museum in Seattle. (See video below for its arrival at the museum.) There it will go on display, still in the plaster casing, for a quick look by the public before going into long-term study by scientists beginning in October.

Just separating the skull from the rock that surrounds it could take more than a year, the researchers said.
When Lauren and Andrew Russell traveled to Alaska on their honeymoon, they didn't know what to expect. They dreamed of being able to see the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, a 12-mile long sheet of ice that you can walk across. For the even more adventurous, you can hike into an ice cave created by water runoff from the glacier. But there's a catch. There's no guarantee you'll get to see any of this, because getting to the caves can be extremely dangerous depending on the time of year.

Nonetheless, the couple wanted to try their luck. They hired a guide to take them across the glacier, dodging falling rocks and debris and attempting to avoid the occasional massive hole. Actually, these massive holes are known as moulans and they did happen to come across a few. In fact, Andrew climbed down inside one to get some stunning photos.

The risky trek paid off. Lauren and Andrew got to go inside one of the glacial ice caves, a site more stunning than anything they've seen on this earth. They spent half an hour in the cave, staring, photographing, and reflecting. "To get to see those ice caves is something that everyone should get the opportunity to do at some point in their life," Lauren said. The experience left a lasting impression on both of them.

In recent years, these glaciers have been greatly affected by climate change, but ironically it's the rising temperatures that allow the majestic caves to form in the first place. Looking at the photos is bittersweet knowing that such a beautiful thing can come from the harmful effects of global warming. To add insult to injury, the entire cave collapsed this past July. For Lauren and Andrew, the biggest takeaway they got from their cave visit was the lesson of impermanence.
MISSOULA  Montana Community Foundation (MCF) recently received $1,000 as part of a gift from Thrivent Financial. The funds will be used to support MCF's mission to create a culture of giving so Montana communities can flourish.

Western Montana Thrivent Financial representatives voted to gift $1,000, which was provided by the Northwest Thrivent Member Network. Thrivent Financial provides financial support and other resources for its members to come together to help their communities and congregations through fundraisers and service activities.

"Thrivent Financial provides its members and other interested volunteers the opportunity to join in service and use the financial resources of Thrivent Financial to serve people and organizations here in our local area," said Mike Darrington, Financial Associate in Missoula. "Through our mission of helping our members be wise with money and live generously, we connect congregations, institutions and volunteers to make a difference in people's lives."

"We are grateful for this generous donation from Thrivent Financial. They understand the important philanthropic work MCF is accomplishing in communities throughout the state and their support of that work is commendable," said Mary Rutherford, MCF President and CEO.

All Thrivent Financial members have the opportunity to give back to their communities, congregations and causes they care about through Thrivent Action Teams, Thrivent Choice Dollars and other charitable activities, as well as connect with one another through social and educational events.

Anyone can join in volunteer and educational activities hosted by Thrivent Financial. For more information, call 406-541-4665 or visit http://www.thrivent.com/making-a-difference.
Press Release

August 18, 2016 ANGARA WANTS TO BEEF UP LGUS IN WAR VS DRUGS Amidst the current administration's vigorous campaign against illegal drugs, Senator Sonny Angara has challenged local government units (LGUs) to take a more active role in eradicating the drug problem in the localities. "Gusto nating malaman kung may sapat ba na kapasidad ang ating mga LGU sa pagsugpo ng krisis sa droga. LGU officials, local police, barangay officials serve as the country's first line of defense against drug menace," said Angara, chairman of the Senate local government committee. "Sila kasi ang nakakaalam kung mayroong pusher na umiikot sa kanilang lokalidad. Sila rin ang nakakaalam kung sino ang mga adik na hindi nabibigyan ng kaukulang pagkalinga at rehabilitasyon," he added. Under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, LGUs should appropriate a substantial portion of their respective annual budgets to assist in or enhance the enforcement of anti-drug policies, giving priority to preventive or educational programs and the rehabilitation or treatment of drug dependents. Likewise, the Local Government Code gives sangguniang bayan, sangguniang panlungsod and sangguniang panlalawigan the power to enact ordinances intended to prevent, suppress and impose appropriate penalties for drug pushing and addiction, and maintenance of drug dens. "We must ensure that LGUs will not put aside their crucial role in the enforcement of our drug laws, maintenance of peace and order, rehabilitation of drug dependents, and initiation of preventive and educational programs against drug abuse up to the barangay level," the senator said. Based on the latest data to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), from June 30 to July 29 of this year, more than half a million or a total of 531,621 drug personalities (503,422 users and 28,199 pushers) have voluntarily surrendered throughout the country. According to the Dangerous Drugs Board, the Department of Health (DOH) has accredited 15 government-owned and 27 non-government owned treatment and rehabilitation enters as of December 2015 with a capacity to treat approximately 5,000 patients only. Of the nearly 600,000 drug surrenderees, the PDEA said nine percent of roughly 54,000 require confined rehab while the rest can go to program by the DOH. Angara has filed Senate Resolution 104 to assess the existing anti-drug abuse policies, practices, programs and projects of LGUs, particularly the availability of funds and facilities; and the capability of local officials in planning, implementing, and enforcing these policies. "The Congress should also look into the capacity of LGUs to implement long-term solutions, such as providing the drug users and dealers with livelihood opportunities," the lawmaker stressed.
Press Release

August 18, 2016 Senator Gatchalian Challenges Big Business to Embrace Competitive Business Practices On Thursday, Senator Win Gatchalian challenged corporate heavyweights of the Philippine market to respect and comply with the robust anti-trust measures of the Philippine Competition Act, explaining that building a free and competitive Philippine business environment would be critical to sustaining innovation and equitable economic growth across all sectors, particularly among micro-small-medium enterprises (MSMEs). "The elite firms of our economy should take the lead in fostering a new era of competition and fair play in the market. This means that Big Business should respect the authority of the Philippine Competition Commission," said Gatchalian, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs. Gatchalian said that the full implementation of Philippine Competition Act (Republic Act No. 10667), which created the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) in 2015, would help protect consumers from economic sabotage and anti-competitive behavior by big firms with the capacity to corner certain sectors of the market. As such, Gatchalian urged powerful market players to go beyond pro forma compliance with the directives of PCC in order to build consumer confidence and improve the fundamentals of our developing economy. In particular, Gatchalian urged Globe and PLDT, the two prominent players currently engaged in a heated legal dispute with PCC over the latter's power to review the former's P69.1 billion telcomm buyout deal, to submit to PCC's jurisdiction. As the first big test of the Commission's powers since its creation, Gatchalian said it would be important for PCC to send a strong message as the public's guardian against monopolies and unfair restraints of trade. "Globe and PLDT should cooperate fully with PCC's review of their buyout deal. If this is truly a clean deal beneficial to both the investors and the general public as a whole, then there should be nothing to hide. I am confident that all parties to the dispute will be willing to work together for the common good," said Gatchalian.
Press Release

August 18, 2016 Legarda Bats for Creation of Fisheries Department Senator Loren Legarda has proposed the creation of a Department of Fisheries to ensure adequate supply of fish for the country in a sustainable manner. Legarda said that as an island nation, the Philippines necessarily depends on its fishery resources for its food. Fish used to be among the cheapest sources of protein for Filipinos but now, some fish products are even more expensive than pork or chicken. The Senator noted that constituting the country's territorial waters is a 220-million hectare fishing ground, of which 193.4 million hectares are oceanic waters and 26.6 million hectares are in the Exclusive Economic Zone. Within it are 38,000 hectares of lush mangrove cover and 810,000 square kilometers of coral reefs, home to mangroves, coral reefs, and fish species. "The utilization and development of these marine and fishery resources had been constrained by inadequate laws and the government's lack of focused attention," said Legarda. She explained that in 1975, all laws and decrees affecting fisheries were revised and consolidated under Presidential Decree No. 704. However, the country's fishery resources have been degraded, if not completely destroyed, by pollution, illegal fishing, and by the use of fishing methods which irreversibly harm natural marine and fresh water habitats. "Among the major causes of degradation, overfishing deserves the most attention. This overexploitation of traditional fishing grounds inevitably resulted to a decline in their productivity," Legarda said. It is in this light that Legarda filed Senate Bill No. 242, An Act Creating the Department of Fisheries, which seeks to protect and conserve the country's fishery and aquatic resources within sustainable limits for the exclusive enjoyment of Filipino citizens, to accelerate the integrated development of the fishery industry, and to protect the rights of small and subsistence fisherfolks and fish workers to preferential use of such resources. "Increasing national productivity is an urgent matter if we are to industrialize by the turn of the century. But development should not be at the expense of rapidly depleting our marine resources. Through this proposed measure, we want to ensure sufficient food supply to millions of Filipinos through the development of the vast potentials of Philippine fisheries," Legarda concluded. Copy of Senate Bill No. 242
Koko and Bato team up to fight drugs and crime

PNP Chief Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa and Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III affirmed their commitment to the war on drugs and discussed ways on how the Senate can assist the PNP in its mission. Together with PDEA Director-General Isidro Lapena, dela Rosa briefed Koko on the status of President Duterte's war on drugs in a courtesy call in the Office of the Senate President.

Koko was very pleased with the 49% reduction in crime rate that dela Rosa reported, as the war on drugs and crime is part of his 11-point legislative agenda. He assured dela Rosa and Lapena of his continued support from the legislative branch to the two law enforcement agencies.

The conversation of the three stalwart anticrime advocates expanded their discussion to include campaigns against other illegal activities that continue to victimize the Filipino people.
Press Release

August 18, 2016 'BATO' HEEDS POE'S CALL ON CIVILIAN IAS Sen. Grace Poe today lauded Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa for his responsiveness to comply with the law by ensuring the appointment of a qualified civilian to head the Internal Affairs Service (IAS). "Iyan nga ang maganda sa inyong liderato. Mabilis talaga kayong gumalaw. At aaasahan po namin iyan. Kasi kami naman, ang trabaho namin hindi lamang magbalangkas ng batas kung hindi siguraduhin na may oversight," Poe told a Senate hearing after Dela Rosa assured senators that appointment of a competent civilian IAS chief is being considered. The PNP Chief, in his earlier statements, stood his ground that appointment of a civilian IAS head may not work in effectively conducting investigation of high-ranking police officers being linked to illegal drugs, and added that senior police officers may "threaten" the civilian IAS chief. But Dela Rosa may have softened his stance, as Poe repeatedly urged that the PNP leadership shall abide by what is indicated in the law. "We would like to acknowledge that the campaign against drugs is very important. On the other hand, we also have to maintain the rule of law and make sure that the rights of every individual are protected," Poe said. "The appointment of General [Leo Angelo] Leuterio as acting head of IAS is temporary. Kapag medyo nag-settle na po kami, kapag na-address na po namin itong problema namin sa bulok sa aming hanay ay ipapasok na po namin yung sibilyan kapag medyo ito'y nawala na. But if you really want that to happen, right away ito ma'am, I can appoint a new IAS," Dela Rosa assured the senator. Poe said, "I have no question about the credibility of the person who's heading the IAS now because I don't really know him yet. Ang punto po dito ay nasa batas po na talagang nakalagay, civilian ang dapat...Marami pong matatapang na sibilyan...May mga taong may kredibilidad, may tapang, mayroong malasakit sa inyong hanay na maiintindihan ang inyong mga gagawin." Under Sections 40 and 41 of Republic Act (RA) No. 8551 or the PNP Reform and Reorganization Act of 1998, the head of the IAS "shall be a civilian" to ensure impartial, independent and objective inspection and audit of personnel, and investigation of cases involving police officers; and shall be appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the Director General and duly endorsed by the National Police Commission. During her stint as former chairperson of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs in the 16th Congress, Poe repeatedly called on the PNP leadership to abide by the law and appoint a civilian head of the IAS. She had filed Senate Bill No. 868 or the proposed PNP-IAS Reform Act of 2016 that seeks to form an independent institutional watchdog for the police service and Senate Resolution No. 70 to look into the continued non-implementation of RA 8551 as regards the PNP-IAS.
Laying off thousands of workers normally suggests a company is facing serious trouble. But its a little more complicated at Cisco Systems.

The San Jose network equipment maker said Thursday that it intends to cut up to 5,500 positions, about 7 percent of its global workforce. The company did not specify which locations or divisions will bear the layoffs.

But Cisco has been performing relatively well of late, an impressive feat given the turmoil roiling the industry as companies continue to move toward cloud software and services instead of purchasing expensive hardware like servers and routers. Since February, Cisco stock has jumped 36 percent to over $30 per share.

We believe that any headcount reduction at Cisco would be driven by their natural reorganization of the business, George Notter, an analyst with investment bank Jefferies, wrote in a recent research note. The layoffs arent necessarily a negative for Ciscos share-price performance.

However, the layoffs show that Cisco still has a long way to go if it wants to stay ahead. Sales of routers and switches, which together account for nearly 60 percent of its annual revenue, are slowing down. In response, Cisco has been focusing on expanding into higher-growth areas like security and data centers.

Weve been very smart in where we are putting our money, Chief Financial Officer Kelly Kramer told analysts during a conference call Thursday.

Cisco has cut 17,800 jobs since 2011, according to Bloomberg Intelligence (whose figures do not include Wednesdays announcement). At the same time, it has been on a buying spree, acquiring 15 companies over the past 20 months. The company spent $293 million for cloud security firm CloudLock and $1.4 billion on Jasper Technologies, which manages machine-to-machine communications in areas like agriculture and health care. By comparison, Cisco purchased just one company in 2010.

Ciscos strategy shows that the company is not seeing adequate results from its own research and development efforts, said Basheer Janjua, founder and president of the CTO Forum, a group of chief technology officers in Silicon Valley.

When that happens, companies purchase technology from outside firms and then lay off workers that are not contributing to productive innovation, Janjua said.

Last year, Cisco spent $6.2 billion on research and development, a slight decrease from 2014, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Employees have to engage in future creation at all times or head toward the exit, Janjua said. This is the new normal.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Cisco is hardly the only company facing such struggles. In April, Intel in Santa Clara said it would lay off 12,000 workers, 11 percent of its workforce. A month later, Microsoft said it would cut 1,850 positions from its smartphone unit.

Trip Chowdhry, an analyst with Global Equities Research, has predicted that information technology firms will shed a total 333,000 workers this year. Among the companies Chowdhry anticipated handing out pink slips: Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., IBM and Oracle.

In the conference call with analysts, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said the company is not abandoning its core business of routers and switches. But Cisco needs to focus its firepower on promising areas like security and data centers, he said.

Weve experienced a challenging environment with significant volatility, Robbins said. At the same, Were aggressively investing in key growth areas regardless of our environment.

Thomas Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: tlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByTomLee
Millions of people have climbed Telegraph Hill to visit San Francisco's Coit Tower, but few know the secrets, quirks and misadventures connected to the structure, including those of its benefactor, Lillie Hitchock Coit.

Lillie Hitchcock Coit was born August 23, 1843 in West Point, New York and died July 22, 1929 in San Francisco. Lillie's father was a successful physician. When he passed away, he left a substantial inheritance.

Lillie was a San Francisco eccentric, dubbed the "mascot" fire-fighter with the Knickerbocker Engine Company No. 5. To show her love and devotion for the company, she wore a no. 5 pendant for years after she stopped chasing fires. Per Coit Tower Tours, Lillie smoked cigars, gambled in the men-only storefronts in the North Beach section of the city and wore men's clothing as a way to gain entrance. In her youth, she was referred to as a tomboy.

When she died in 1929, she left one-third of her estate to the City of San Francisco to "for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved." The city used the inheritance to build Coit Tower on top of Telegraph Hill. Contrary to popular belief, the tower was not built to look like a fire hose nozzle.

The structure was designed by architect Arthur Brown Jr. The tower is constructed of unpainted concrete and was completed in 1933. Brown was also the architect for San Francisco's City Hall. In addition to building Coit Tower, some of the Coit inheritance was also used to build a monument to firemen in Washington Square Park.

Coit Tower opened on October 8, 1933, making today its 86th anniversary as one of the city's most romantic skyline attractions.

According to the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, the tower houses one of the best collections of fresco murals that were created by local artists and their assistants as part of Roosevelt's Federal Art Project. This was a precursor to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and depict life in California during the Great Depression. When violence broke out during the 1934 longshoremen strike, controversy over the radical content in some of the panels became quite heated. Some parts were painted over. The tower was padlocked for several months before the frescoes were finally opened to the public in the fall of 1934. But that was hardly the only conflict tied to Coit or the tower itself. The stories below and photos above capture some of the history unique to the San Francisco landmark.

Lillie Hitchcock Coit witness to murder in her Palace Hotel rooms

In 1903, Alexander Garrett, a distant cousin of Mrs. Coit, entered her apartment in the Palace Hotel armed with a loaded gun. A close friend of Mrs. Coit, Major McClung, was there to deliver a message for his wife. Garrett, was said to be upset over some business dealings with Mrs. Coit, but it was McClung who ended up with a gunshot wound.

"All the accounts obtainable last night - and there was much effort to keep the affair from becoming public - agreed on the point that Major McClung was wounded - perhaps mortally - in a gallant endeavor to protect the life of a woman. This woman is none other than Mrs. Lillie Hitchcock Coit, who was, in her day, the idol of San Francisco," The Chronicle wrote on November 26th, 1903. "Both the shooter and the victim were Civil War Veterans, who fought for the Confederacy. The motive for the shooting, exacerbated by alcohol, was said to be related business differences. Mr. Garnett had been Mrs. Coit's business agent. He was concerned that Mrs. Coit, who was fairly well off, was planning to remove Mr. Garnett from his position. The two men had been friends, which further supported that Mrs. Coit was the intended victim."

Despite what appeared to be a fighting chance, Mr. McClung died from his wound. Mrs. Coit was 60 years old at the time. Due to health issues, Mrs. Coit gave her deposition from her bed in her apartment in the Palace Hotel. Alexander Garrett tried for an insanity plea, but was found guilty of murder and sentenced in October 1904, to fifteen years in San Quentin. Here are a few of our favorite tales.

Coit Tower caretaker - SF man lives round life

Very few people know that there was a resident couple who lived in a small, round apartment on the premises in the 1930s.

"A roundsman of a memorial you might call William J. Brady, who, with his wife, Marie, makes constant rounds in a round tower, rounds of round rounds, and rounds out his day by retiring to a round apartment, where doubtless they now have an appropriate round steak," The Chronicle's wrote on August 6, 1935.

In the article, Colonel Brady rued that the building's famous frescoes required constant vigil, and wished that there were woodsheds and strops for those who damaged the artworks. At that time, there were two men in prison for defacing murals.

Daughter of noble shoots hail of lead at Coit Tower, misses

"Mrs. Honore Gledhill, the daughter of British nobility, owner of the Dead Fish Cafe, 398 Union Street, took shots at Coit Tower from her place of business. She was protesting that it "invaded the sanctity of her Telegraph Hill Bohemia." She was arrested for being intoxicated and discharging a firearm within city limits."

The drunken charge was ultimately dismissed, and she was given a 30 day suspended sentence on the gun charge.

Man going through divorce dies in Coit Tower plunge

Henry Geck, distraught over his divorce, hid in Coit Tower, then jumped to his death after it closed. He hid behind one of the concrete balcony pillars. When the tower closed for the day, he used a dime to unfasten one of the unbreakable windows, designed to prevent such tragedies, and jumped 187 feet to his death. He was identified by his fingerprints. He had previous arrests for arson and for threats against his ex-wife.

Shortly after the suicide, someone wrote a letter to the editor saying that the next thing you know, people will be jumping off bridges. Both the Golden Gate and the Oakland Bay Bridges were under construction at that time.
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A beloved Italian restaurant will stay in its white-shingled home in Richmonds Marina Bay neighborhood  for now.

Salute e Vita, which is known both for its cuisine and for the philanthropy of its owner, Menbere Aklilu, was handed a 30-day eviction notice on Aug. 5, in what some activists and city leaders claim was an act of political retaliation by a landowner who for years has jousted with the city.

But on Thursday, the restaurants landlord had a change of heart. Jacqueline Poe, whose firm Penterra Company owns the building, withdrew the notice, saying she would give Salute one more chance to fix what she said were severe plumbing leaks that threatened the health and safety of customers. Such repairs are the tenants responsibility according to the lease, Poe says.

Penterras decision to give the restaurant one more chance stems from the corrective actions that are believed to have taken place since the Aug. 5 termination notice, Poe said in a statement. She said the restaurant had recently steam-cleaned the ceramic tile in its bathrooms and kitchen, a measure that her hired environmental consultant had recommended to prevent the spread of harmful bacteria.

Contra Costa Health Services officials inspected the building in August and dismissed Poes claims of a sewage leak.

Richmond Mayor Tom Butt says that Poes son, Richard Poe, is behind the eviction and that it is payback to voters for rejecting two ballot measures he pushed in June. One measure would have granted approvals for a town house project Poe wanted to build along the waterfront; the other would have limited the city managers salary.

Butt spoke up for the restaurant shortly after it got notice to vacate.

Richard Poe vehemently denied those claims and accused Butt of trying to distract the public from what he said was a landlord-tenant dispute over maintenance issues.

The mayor, rather than appropriately dealing with the serious health issue at hand and directing city code enforcement to investigate, chose instead to mislead the public and the press by stating the failure of ballot Measure N as the reason for the landlord-tenant dispute, Richard Poe said in his own statement.

Aklilu, who found out about her last chance through news reports rather than from her landlord, called the move a temporary relief.

But then what? she asked. Whats going to happen a month from now?

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
More than 70 percent of California residents who were uninsured before the Affordable Care Act went into effect now have coverage, even though some worries about costs and access to medical care persist, according to a study released Thursday.

The study, the fourth in a series of surveys of Californians who did not have health insurance in 2013, found that 72 percent have since obtained coverage, either through their employer, the state exchange created by the federal health law or through Medi-Cal, the states Medicaid program for the poor. This number is slightly higher than the 68 percent reported last year, a gain that represents hundreds of thousands of newly insured Californians. The state had the largest number of uninsured in the country, with about 6 million residents lacking coverage in 2013.

People are largely getting their coverage, and they are keeping their coverage, said Bianca DiJulio, associate director of public opinion and survey research for the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit health policy research organization in Menlo Park.

The foundation has been following more than 1,000 Californians who lacked health insurance in September 2013, before the exchange and the major reforms in the health care act went into effect, through the past three open enrollment periods, the latest of which ended Jan. 31.

The survey found that the largest share of the previously uninsured study participants  about a third  received coverage through Medi-Cal, which was expanded to include more people under the federal law. About 21 percent obtained coverage through an employer and 11 percent bought coverage through the state exchange, called Covered California, which has about 1.6 million members.

While those recently insured Californians were more likely to say their health needs are being met and that they are less worried about paying their medical bills, more than half reported that they still worry about paying bills in the event of a medical crisis. One in 5 respondents said they did not get medical care at some point during the past year because of the cost.

The pain of high costs is only expected to get worse next year with sharp increases in premiums projected for plans sold through the Affordable Care Act for coverage starting in 2017.

Covered Californias premiums are expected to rise by an average of more than 13 percent, a jump that follows two years of modest 4 percent increases. That rise is largely due to projected hikes averaging 17.2 percent for Anthem, which sells Blue Cross plans in the state, and 19.9 percent for Blue Shield of California. Other insurers are planning more modest increases.

The two largest plans sold through Californias exchange have blamed higher-than-expected use of medical services by members and rising drug costs for forcing them to bump their rates. Similar claims have sparked disruption in plans offered in the exchanges nationwide and prompted even higher premium increases  as high as 40 to 60 percent  by some plans in other states.

Aetna, which never participated in Covered California, announced earlier this week it would drop out of selling coverage in the exchanges in all but four states because it was losing money on that part of the business. This follows decisions by other plans, including UnitedHealthcare and Humana, to scale back their offerings in the exchanges.

While thats clearly not good news for the central health policy reform of the Obama administration, the Kaiser Family Foundations DiJulio noted that Covered California accounts for about 1 in 10 newly insured residents.

While theyre a very important piece, the exchanges are really only one piece of the insurance picture, she said. At least in California, the Covered California piece is a relatively small share of those who are new to coverage.

Under the Affordable Care Act, employers with more than 50 full-time employees have to offer health benefits or pay a tax penalty. On top of that, since the passage of the act, Californias unemployment rate declined from 8.5 percent to 5.4 percent.

San Francisco resident Liza Brown, who has participated in the Kaiser Family Foundation survey for the past four years, was relieved to finally obtain employer-backed coverage this spring when she got a new full-time job.

Brown, 54, had been uninsured, but said she was able to get medical care through the San Francisco Free Clinic, where she described the services, which included screenings and some preventive care, as top notch.

While she was self-employed, Brown opted not to buy insurance through Covered California and acknowledges that she was taking a risk. Still, she said, she supports the expanded options made possible by the federal health law. People I know who wouldnt have gotten covered were able to get coverage, she said. I would have been one of them if I didnt have that great free clinic nearby.

Once people get coverage, they are likely to keep it, the survey found. Among the 70 percent of previously uninsured Californians who had gone without coverage for at least two years prior to 2013, two-thirds had coverage for at least a year and nearly half of that group kept it longer.

Still, about 27 percent of those in the survey remained uninsured, a figure that includes about 10 percent of participants whom researchers believe are probably not residing in the state legally. They are ineligible for standard Med-Cal and are barred from buying insurance in the exchange.

That leaves about 17 percent who are potentially eligible for some form of coverage. When asked why they remain uninsured, 47 percent of the uninsured said insurance is too expensive and 19 percent cited eligibility concerns.

The latest and final round of interviews for the survey, which has been supported by a grant from the California Endowment, was conducted between Feb. 10 and June 20 with about half the participants in the original 2013 survey. The surveys margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points for the newly insured raises to nine points for those who remain uninsured.

Victoria Colliver is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vcolliver@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @vcolliver
Robin Williams died just over two years ago. His daughter, 27-year-old Zelda, has remained largely out of the public eye since, rarely speaking to reporters or talking about her father, but recently made an exception to discuss with Chelsea Handler her life after losing her comedian and actor father.

In an episode airing on Thursday at 12:01 PST (to be clear, late Wednesday night), Zelda will talk about her relationship with her dad, living in San Francisco, and her new projects.
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As the flood waters recede, Louisiana residents are slowly heading out of shelters and will take stock of the damage to their homes. For some, there is another task is at hand: figuring out whether dead loved ones will need to be reburied.

Over the weekend, photos of coffins floating in the floodwaters were shared by law enforcement and photographers documenting what is being called a historic flood in the Louisiana area.

On Friday, the Walker Police Department in Louisiana shared a photo of caskets that had floated up at a local cemetery due to the rising water.

Other areas have reported the chilling sight of coffins floating down streets, such as Livingston Parish, the New York Times reported.

A tweet showed a casket floating down a street in Denham Springs.

Lashell Barker shared the video below with KTVU, showing the disarray of coffins in a cemetery in her town. In the video, coffins can be seen partially unearthed or even fully outside of its grave and in other areas of the cemetery. Barker told the news station, "I want people to see what's going on in our town of Greensburg, Louisiana."

"This is like New Orleans in the Ninth Ward, when Katrina came," Barker can be heard saying in the video.

By Wednesday night, the death toll had risen to 13, according to the Associated Press. At its height, more than 11,000 people were being housed in shelters, and at least 30,000 people and 1,400 pets were rescued from the storm. More than 40,000 homes were damaged and a state of emergency for Louisiana was declared on Friday.

More for you As Louisiana flood recedes, cleanup, housing challenges begin

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is expected to be in Louisiana on Thursday to survey the federal response to the flooding.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK, Hawaii  For the first time in three years, lava from a volcano on Hawaiis Big Island has crept down miles of mountainside and is dripping into the Pacific Ocean, where its creating new land and putting on a crackling, hissing, fire-spitting show.

Thousands of visitors from around the world have swarmed Volcanoes National Park by land, sea and air to take in the spectacle.

The billowy, bright-orange lava pops and sizzles, and reeks of sulfur and scorched earth, as it oozes across rugged terrain and eventually off a steep seaside cliff. When the hot rocks hit the water, they expel plumes of steam and gas  and sometimes explode, hurling chunks of searing debris.

The 2,000-degree molten rock is from Kilauea, one of the worlds most active volcanoes. Its Puu Oo vent began erupting in the 1980s and periodically pushes enough lava seaward that people can access it.

Reaching the latest flow requires a boat, a helicopter or strong legs  the hike to the entry point, where the lava meets the sea, is 10 miles round trip on a gravel road surrounded by miles of treacherous, hard lava rock.

Pablo Aguayo of Santiago, Chile, took a sunrise boat tour of the flow earlier this month.

Its pretty amazing, he said. You start in the middle of the ocean in the darkness, and you end up in this beautiful lava falls.

Aguayo said he could feel the lavas heat, and it smelled super funny.

Its like welding something, he said. We have many volcanoes back home in Chile. We have plenty. But nothing like this.

His tour boat was a 42-foot aluminum catamaran operated by Lava Ocean Tours owner Shane Turpin, who said he navigates to within a few yards of the entry point for the best view.

On Aug. 9, a second branch of lava started to spill into the sea, giving Turpins passengers a look at two lava flows about 200 yards apart.

Just to have one drip (of lava) touching the ocean is awesome, Turpin said as people snapped photos of the dual flows. But to get a show like youre getting this morning, well, it sets the bar pretty high for a second trip.

Volcanoes National Park has seen an increase of about 1,000 to 1,500 visitors per day since the current lava flow reached the sea in late July, boosting attendance to about 6,000 people daily, officials said.
DENHAM SPRINGS, La.  Keisha Taylor, a 37-year-old mother of four, has spent three nights in two different shelters since her family fled the flooding at their Baton Rouge apartment complex. She doesnt know how much longer they will be sleeping on cots inside the downtown arena where hundreds sought shelter.

Taylor probably could stay with relatives in White Castle, a town about 30 miles west of Louisianas capital city, but three of her children are enrolled in Baton Rouge schools that could reopen next week.

This is where I live. I need to be home, she said.

Taylor is among thousands of people across southern Louisiana displaced by catastrophic flooding and now struggling with where to live.

With an estimated 40,000 homes damaged by deadly flooding, Louisiana could be looking at its biggest housing crunch since the miserable, bumbling aftermath of Hurricane Katrina a decade ago.

Victims are staying in shelters, bunking with friends or relatives or sleeping in trailers on their front lawns. Others unable or unwilling to leave their homes are living amid mud and the ever-present risk of mold in the steamy August heat.

Many will need extended places to stay while they rebuild. Countless others had no flood insurance and may lack the means to repair their homes.

I got nowhere else to go, said Thomas Lee, 56, who ekes out a living as a drywall hanger  a skill that will come in handy. His sodden furniture is piled curbside and the drywall in his rented house is puckering, but Thomas still plans to stay there, sleeping on an air mattress.

Exactly how many will need temporary housing is unclear, but state officials are already urging landlords to allow short-term leases and encouraging people to rent out any empty space available.

Terri Ricks, deputy secretary for the Department of Children and Family Services, which helps organize local sheltering efforts, said the state is talking with parishes about running a long-term shelter in the region if needed.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose very name became a punch line during Katrina, said it will look into lining up rental properties for those left homeless and will consider using temporary housing units.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson visited Louisiana on Thursday to review the federal governments response to the flooding. But the White House says President Obama is unlikely to break from a New England vacation to survey Louisiana flood damage, despite calls for him to visit.
Connor Radnovich/The Chronicle

A Lyft driver was robbed and assaulted in San Francisco Thursday morning by three armed bandits who order him to go to an ATM machine and withdraw cash, police said.

The holdup occurred about 3:30 a.m. at Fifth and Mission streets in the South of Market neighborhood.
At first, Kenneth Walton thought the Arizona state trooper following him and his 7-year-old daughter wanted to warn him of a broken taillight.

They were in a rental car, on a stretch of Interstate 40 between Las Vegas and Flagstaff, Ariz., on what was supposed to be a fun Grand Canyon vacation. It was dark, and Walton knew he hadn't been speeding, so - not thinking much of it - he pulled over on an off-ramp, rolled down his driver's side window and waited.

That's when things went "terribly awry," according to the San Francisco man's account of what happened last Thursday.

"Tonight, I was arrested at gunpoint by an Arizona highway patrol officer who threatened to shoot me in the back (twice) in front of my 7-year-old daughter," Walton wrote on Facebook, hours after the incident. "For a moment, I was certain he was going to kill me for no reason. I'm alive, and I need to share the story."

His post, published early Friday morning and updated throughout the weekend, went viral, serving as a lightning rod for discussions about what is appropriate during interactions with law enforcement.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety confirmed that the traffic stop took place but disputed the tone and some of the details in Walton's Facebook post, calling it "inflammatory" and "irresponsible." The department is standing by the trooper's actions, including his threat to shoot Walton during the traffic stop, said Capt. Damon Cecil of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

"We sympathize with them; I don't think there's any law enforcement official who would not be just as angry, just as fearful and terrorized if [they were in a similar situation and] officers had guns pointed out," Cecil told The Washington Post. "It's a scary situation. But in light of that, this is a positive story. . . . This case is a prime example of how things should be done."

According to the DPS, the traffic stop occurred around 7:43 p.m. on Aug. 11, after the license plate on Walton's rental car came up as stolen. The trooper requested backup and followed the rental car on the Interstate 40 until it exited the highway.

The trooper then approached the car with his gun drawn - actions the department said are appropriate for anything considered a "high-risk traffic stop . . . when serious crimes or hazardous conditions may exist."

"Initially the driver, identified as Kenneth Walton, was not responding to officer's commands while seated in his vehicle so the trooper moved up the passenger-side window and got the occupant's attention by tapping on the window with his hand," DPS said in a short statement. "It was at this time the trooper realized there was a child in the car as she sat up into view. Mr. Walton was ordered out of the car and detained in handcuffs while the trooper conducted his investigation."

The trooper, identified as Oton Villegas, has been with DPS since 2009, the department said. Villegas has not had major disciplinary actions. In 2013, he was named along with several other officers in a civil rights lawsuit that was settled and dismissed without prejudice, Cecil said.

According to Walton, however, the department's account is inaccurate: He says the first command came when the trooper tapped on the front passenger window, gun in hand, not before. In addition, Walton said his daughter was sitting in a booster seat in the rear passenger side of the vehicle, not in the front, and was in view - not crouched or reclined - the entire time.

Walton said the DPS statement omitted or downplayed details about how the incident unfolded, including how the trooper (referred to by Walton as an "officer") interacted with his young daughter.

In his paragraphs-long Facebook post, Walton recounted trying to stay calm while the trooper reportedly escalated the situation.

"Suddenly, the officer rapped on the rear passenger side window with his pistol. My daughter, who was sitting inches from the barrel of his gun, jumped with fear as the officer yelled at me to roll down the front passenger window, his service weapon pointed directly at me. I knew something was terribly awry and I tried to remain calm, keeping my hands visible as I slowly fumbled for the window controls in an unfamiliar car.

"My daughter rolled down her window and I explained that we were in a rental car, that we had no weapons, and I was having trouble figuring out how to roll down the front passenger window from my driver's side door. The officer didn't listen, and kept yelling louder and more insistently, ordering me to comply with his request as he leered at me down the barrel of his pistol. My daughter panicked and tried to get out of her booster seat to reach forward to roll down the front window, and the officer screamed her at her not to move as he pointed his pistol at her."

Walton said he was somehow able to roll the passenger window down, at which point the trooper ordered him to exit the car with his hands up. As he did so, Walton said the trooper came over to the driver's side of the car and screamed at him to face the other direction.

"Then, as I had my hands in the air, he yelled, at the top of his lungs, in a voice I will never forget, as my daughter looked on in terror, 'Get your hands away from your waist or I'll blow two holes through your back right now!' My hands were high in the air as he said this, and I was not in any way reaching for my waist. I was utterly terrified. I've heard stories of police yelling out false things like this before they unjustifiably attack someone as a way to justify the attack, and I thought this was what was happening to me. I braced for bullets to hit me and all I could think of was my daughter having to watch it happen and being left alone on the side of the highway with an insane, violent cop."

Walton said he got down to his knees and backed gradually toward the trooper, following every order 'as slowly and deliberately' as possible. He was handcuffed and placed in the back of the trooper's car, while more law enforcement arrived soon afterward. His daughter remained in the rental vehicle, frightened and still strapped to her booster seat, he said.

Cecil said it was appropriate for Villegas to have escalated the traffic stop, given the circumstances.

"Our trooper had a set of facts in front of him and responded the way he was trained, the way that was safest for him and his public," Cecil said. "Putting yourself in the trooper's position: He's giving commands, he's yelling, he's not getting a response. Should he de-escalate the yelling? Or should he escalate? . . . You weren't there. And I wasn't there."

Cecil confirmed that Villegas pointed a gun at the 7-year-old, but did so unintentionally, and that he threatened to shoot Walton because he "perceived a threat."

"We're not disputing that our trooper said those things," Cecil said. "He absolutely did."

Walton initially said on Facebook that dashboard camera footage would bear out his account of the traffic stop because he was under the impression all Arizona law enforcement officers had dashboard or body cameras. DPS told The Post there is no dashboard or body camera footage available from the incident, nor is the agency aware of any amateur video taken at the scene - only audio from the trooper's vehicle before he walked to Walton's car and after he returned with Walton in custody.

According to DPS, an investigation ultimately found the rental car company had not replaced the license plates when the front plate was reported stolen, which is why it had been flagged in the system.

To complicate matters, Fox Rent a Car said the license plate number in question should have never been placed in the stolen-plates database in the first place.

The rental car, a 2015 Nissan Altima, was registered in Arizona, which only issues rear license plates, according to Fox Rent a Car chief operating officer Sean Busking. Last November, the car was reported stolen in California, Busking said. Five days later, the Oakland Police Department recovered the vehicle - along with its one and only rear license plate - and cleared it to return to the rental fleet, he said.

"Oakland's police department must have been unaware that Arizona does not issue front license plates when they issued their 'stolen plate' report," Busking told The Post. "However, we are surprised that the Arizona Department of Public Safety would suggest that Fox is somehow responsible for replacing a front Arizona plate [that] never existed."

Regardless, Walton and his daughter were released that night without a citation.

"Fortunately, the subject in this case was compliant with the trooper and the situation ended peacefully with no one being harmed," Flagstaff District Commander Captain Ezekiel Zesiger said in a statement.

Walton disagreed, saying the trooper's aggressive arrest had left both of them physically unharmed but emotionally shaken.

"In the process of scaring me, he basically traumatized my daughter," Walton told The Post. "That's sad because we've taught her that [a police officer is] who you go to, that's who you always trust. That's something we would still like to instill in her but I don't know how we do that now."

In his Facebook post, Walton said he believed the traffic stop might have ended differently had he not been a "scrawny, 48-year-old white guy" wearing a Mickey Mouse T-shirt, cargo shorts and hiking boots, as he was at the time.

"If you are a person who has ever looked skeptically at the claims of Black Lives Matter, or others who talk about police violence, I urge you to consider what happened to me and put yourselves in the shoes of others. I just survived a bizarre gunpoint situation in which I was as innocent as Philando Castile, who was not as lucky as I was. We live in a society where anywhere and everyone can have a gun at any time, and police are responding with fear in dangerous ways. I got lucky tonight. My daughter and I made it to the Grand Canyon and I'm going to try to salvage what's left of our vacation. Many others - because of the color of their skin or the way they look or because of simple bad luck - did not meet the same fate."

DPS took umbrage to the post, in particular the insinuation that race played a part, Cecil said.

"[Walton] has an opportunity as a parent to use this as a learning experience. A teachable moment for his daughter - a valuable lesson about the community and interactions with law enforcement," Cecil said. "But instead he chose to make it a negative in a very irresponsible way."

Walton said he has no intention of inciting anyone, he said, or of being representative of any movement.

"It was the first time in my life when I had been approached by an officer with a presumption of guilt and . . . I guess I got a taste for what it's like," Walton told The Post. "I had a realization as a middle-aged white male for what it may be like out there. If this is the sort of aggression people face out there, I can understand why there are problems."

Reached by phone on Tuesday, while he was on the way back from vacation, Walton said he was still shaken but considering taking his Facebook post down because of all the attention it had received. Some commenters were sympathetic, while others attacked his credibility, calling out his involvement in a 1999 eBay art forgery scandal - something Walton said he has never tried to hide.

"I cooperated with the authorities, plead guilty, served 9 months of probation and took responsibility for my actions," he wrote in an update to his Facebook post over the weekend. "I make no excuses for it. If you think that has anything to do with this, there is nothing I can do to change your mind."

This latest incident comes following nationwide unrest after deadly shootings by police officers in Milwaukee, Falcon Heights, Minn., and Baton Rouge, that resulted in fatal encounters.

So far, more than 250 people have been shot and killed by police officers in the first three months of 2016, according to The Washington Post database on police shootings.

Walton and his daughter eventually made their way the next day to the Grand Canyon - the first time for both of them - and tried in vain to shake what had occurred on the highway.

"I was pretty distracted over the next couple of days at the Grand Canyon, thinking about what had happened," Walton told The Post. "Things will get back to normal eventually."

Cecil said DPS has not received a formal complaint from Walton. The department, he added, has not been in direct contact with Walton since the traffic stop.

"Absolutely not. Absolutely not," Cecil said. "This is not a situation where we feel that we need to reach out to him. He's the one who started this negative relationship and negative communication."
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug 17, 2016) - Forsys Metals Corp. (FSY.TO)(F2T.F)(FSY.TO) ("Forsys" or the "Company") in a press release issued on August 15, 2016 announced that it has received commitments to raise $540,000 at a Unit subscription price of $0.05 per Unit. The Company subsequently received additional interest from existing and new suscribers and has increased the placement to raise $660,000 at a revised Unit subscription price of $0.06 per Unit. Further, the warrant price of $0.07 has been increased to $0.075. The size of the private placement financing has been increased from 10.8 million Units to 11.0 million Units.

The commitment from Leonardo Global Trading Ltd has been amended to $530,000 (8.83 million Units), up from $440,000 (8.80 million Units).

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.

About Forsys Metals Corp.

Forsys Metals Corp. is an emerging uranium producer with 100% ownership of the Norasa project that comprises the fully permitted Valencia uranium project and the Namibplaas uranium project in Namibia, Africa, a politically stable and mining friendly jurisdiction. Information regarding current National Instrument 43-101 compliant Resource and Reserves at Valencia and Namibplaas are available on the Company website. The Ondundu Gold project is 70% owned by Forsys.

Shares outstanding: 134.9m

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Forsys Metals Corp.

Marcel Hilmer, Chief Executive Officer

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains projections and forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. The following are important factors that could cause Forsys actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements: fluctuations in uranium prices and currency exchange rates; 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; general market conditions; the uncertainty of future profitability; and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. Full description of these risks can be found in Forsys Annual Information Form available on the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information. Actual results and future events could differ materially from anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressed qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstance or management's estimates or opinions change. The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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With surveys showing declining public support for capital punishment, opponents of the death penalty in California have expressed confidence in repealing it at the ballot box in November, after narrowly falling short four years ago. But a new poll released Thursday suggests voters may not go along.

The poll by the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley, conducted online among a statewide sampling of more than 1,500 registered voters, found Proposition 62, which would replace the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison without parole, trailing 54.9 percent to 49.1 percent. The measure was opposed by majorities of both women and men, by all age levels except those between 25 and 34, and by all racial and ethnic groups except black voters, who were 60 percent in favor of the proposition.

The poll listed the margin of error at four percentage points.

The same poll found overwhelming support  75.7 percent  for a rival measure, Prop. 66, that would seek to speed up executions by setting tight deadlines for court rulings, placing some limits on appeals and requiring many more defense lawyers to take capital cases.

That finding may have been influenced, however, by the vague wording of the survey question, which asked voters only whether they would want to streamline procedures in death-penalty cases to speed up resolution of those cases, and did not mention further details of the measure. The poll said strong majorities of both Democrats and Republicans favored the proposal.

A statewide Field Poll in January which asked respondents whether they would prefer to take steps to speed up the execution process or to repeal the death penalty found 48 percent in favor of a speedup, 47 percent for a repeal and the rest undecided.

The UC Berkeley pollsters tried to write brief and fair summaries of the two measures but didnt yet have access to state elections officials ballot descriptions of the initiatives when the poll was conducted between June 29 and July 18, said Ethan Rarick, associate director of the Institute of Governmental Studies.

Still, the latest poll raises some doubt about whether Californians are ready to abolish capital punishment. A proponent of the prosecutor-backed measure to speed up executions expressed satisfaction with the results.

Voters have made it clear time and time again that they want the death penalty in California for the most vicious of killers, said Jeff Flint, campaign manager for No on 62 and Yes on 66. They know the current system needs to be fixed to end the decades of appeals that bog down the system.

Jacob Hay, spokesman for the pro-Prop. 62 campaign, said the polling numbers were totally unreliable because the questions left out details that voters will see on their ballots, including a state estimate of $150 million in annual savings from abolition of the death penalty.

Ana Zamora, campaign manager for No on 66, said the pollsters misstated the contents of that initiative.

Californians are deeply concerned about the possibility of executing an innocent person, Zamora said. Prop. 66 will greatly increase this risk by removing fundamental legal safeguards.

Voters approved the current death penalty law in 1978, expanding a measure that had been enacted a year earlier, over Gov. Jerry Browns veto. A measure to repeal it was defeated in 2012 by a 52 to 48 percent ratio. Most polls since then, in California and nationwide, have shown declines in support for capital punishment.

California has the nations largest Death Row, with nearly 750 prisoners. The states last execution was in January 2006, and the law has been on hold since then because of court rulings finding flaws in the lethal injection process and staff training.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
KALISPELL, MT / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2016 / Gilla Inc. (GLLA), the fast-growing designer, manufacturer and marketer of E-liquid for vaporizers, recently announced their Q2 2016 results. In the filing, significant improvements were made in gross margins, as they jumped from 37% in Q1 2016 to 62% this quarter. This is partly attributable to a higher percentage of sales being from their own product portfolio of premium E-liquid products.

The Company also announced yet another award for their Coil Glaze E-liquid brand, which has been honored at recent industry trade shows in Oklahoma City and Las Vegas. Coil Glaze's flavor Whipped Dreamz took "Best All-Around Flavor" and "Best Custard Flavor", while Coil Glaze's flavor Them Applez took top honor as the "Best Bakery Flavor" at the Oklahoma VapeJam 2016, held August 12th - 14th. Whipped Dreamz was also awarded "Best Cream/Custard Flavor" at the Las Vegas Vape Nights contest held on July 31st - August 3rd.

This is the fifth award received by the Coil Glaze brand, which was produced by Gilla's own team of mixologists based out of Florida. By having the ability to create their own award winning product line, the company is able to sell more of their own higher margin products, which directly leads to being able to increase gross margins by 25% in a single quarter. Graham Simmonds, Chairman and CEO of Gilla, had this to say in the release, "We are pleased that consumers across the country are enjoying these great E-liquids and it further demonstrates the strength of the Gilla product development and design team."

Company Focus

Gilla's attention has been on international markets, where in the last year they have inked deals in Hungary, China, and the UK. The international portion of sales now accounts for 43% of total sales, reflecting positive results from the company's focus on said markets. With some 400 million combustible cigarette smokers in Asia alone, the international market for vaping is orders of magnitude larger then the US market.

During Q2, Gilla also introduced four new proprietary brands and additional flavors to existing brands "in order to have marketed and sold such new products in the market prior to the regulatory grandfather dates in both Europe and U.S." While many see the regulatory date as a hindrance to the industry, Gilla instead welcomes the regulations and realizes that with their existing product portfolio already in place, they have a first mover advantage as the industry becomes increasingly regulated and barriers to entry stiffen.

Looking Ahead To The Second Half of 2016

While net loss was larger in Q2 than it was in Q1, this was primarily attributable to the increased administrative expenses from handling the multiple acquisitions already completed in 2015. As time goes forward, it is "anticipated that the Company will see significant cost savings from the consolidation of certain operating activities now that the acquisitions have been fully integrated."

In the release, the company does give a key piece of guidance for investors, "The Company is reiterating its expectation for cash flow breakeven from operations in the second half of 2016." Additionally, guidance on corporate strategy is given by Graham Simmonds, who is CEO and Chairman of the Company, "The Company's strategic plan is coming to fruition very quickly and it's exciting to see our broad brand portfolio now enjoying success across multiple markets, from Asia to North America and from Europe to Africa. Our growth in international sales demonstrates Gilla's significant progress in becoming a leading player in the global vape market. The higher margin business has been our primary focus and our numbers demonstrate major growth in the second quarter for that segment of our operations. This will be our continued focus into the second half of the year as we continue to grow sales domestically while also exploring the opportunities to expand our global footprint."

Summary:

With increased gross margins to 62%, Gilla is executing on their long-term plan to have their own product portfolio be a higher percentage of overall sales. With Gilla's highest margin products being in the 80-85% range, it would appear that Gilla still has room to make these gross margins even higher in the future. To put the 62% gross margins into perspective, let's look at other companies in the same industry; Electronic Cigarettes International (OTCQB:ECIG) for example had gross margins of 56% in their latest filing, mCig, Inc. (OTCQB:MCIG) most recently had 21% gross margins, and 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE:XXII) actually had gross margins of negative 5% in their latest filing.

Looking beyond just the OTC space, Gilla's gross margins are ahead of combustible cigarette giants such as the Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO), who had 45% gross margins or Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE:PM) who reported 23% gross margins in their latest quarterly report.

Gilla's ability to markedly increase their gross margins by 25% in a single quarter shows that the company's long-term plans and goals are being executed on. With guidance being given that the company expects to be cash flow breakeven by the end of 2016, investors may want to take a closer loo at Gilla Inc. going forward.

For additional information on Gilla Inc. please visit http://gilla.com/?page_id=4124.

Disclaimer:

Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Tamarack Advisors is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice.

SOURCE: Tamarack Advisors
ANKARA, Turkey  A string of bombings, blamed on Kurdish rebels and targeting Turkeys security forces, killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 220 others, officials said Thursday.

Two of the attacks were car bombings that hit police stations in eastern Turkey, while a third  a roadside blast  targeted a military vehicle carrying soldiers in the southeast of the country.

Authorities say the assaults were carried out by the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has started a campaign of car bombings targeting police stations or roadside bomb attacks against security force vehicles. Last week, PKK commander Cemil Bayik threatened increased attacks against police in Turkish cities.

The wave of attacks come as Turkey is focused on a clampdown on suspected followers of a movement led by U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, which the government accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup last month, that killed at least 270 people.

The first car bombing hit a police station in the eastern province of Van late Wednesday, killing a police officer and two civilians. At least 73 other people  53 civilians and 20 police officers  were wounded, officials said.

Another car bombing hit police headquarters in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig early Thursday, killing at least five people, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Officials said earlier 146 people were wounded and 14 of them were in serious condition.

Video footage showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area. Cars were overturned and the windows of the four-story building and its wings were blown out.

In the southeastern province of Bitlis, meanwhile, five soldiers were killed after rebels detonated a roadside improvised explosive device as an armored military vehicle was passing by, officials said. Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack. A government-paid village guard, helping the security forces battle the PKK was also killed in a clash with rebels in the province, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim traveled to Elazig to visit the site of the bombing as well as those wounded in the attack.

He told reporters there that both the PKK and the Gulen movement were directed by the same intelligence intent on causing Turkey harm, without elaborating.

The (Gulen movement) has lost its assertiveness and has handed over the duty to the (PKK), Yildirim said. The intelligence that directs them is the same. When ones duty ends, the other takes up the duty.

Yildirim pledged to fight the PKK until it is eliminated.

No terror organization will force this nation to cow in submission, Yildirim said.

Speaking in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkey was jointly attacked by various organizations who he said were in close contact with each other and were acting under the same motivations even if they have different names.

He said the Turkish security forces have killed at least 182 Kurdish rebels in the weeks after the July 15 failed military coup, insisting that there has been no slackening in the fight against the PKK.

Fighting between the PKK and Turkeys security forces resumed last year after a fragile peace process collapsed. Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed, according to Anadolu. Human rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also died in the clashes.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict since the PKK took up arms for autonomy in southeast Turkey in 1984. Turkey and its allies consider the PKK a terrorist organization.

On Thursday, authorities imposed a temporary blackout on media coverage of the bombing in Elazig, citing public order and national security concerns.
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria  It had been more than a month, and Dije Ali was still locked in a military prison with her seven children.

She had thought they were being taken to safety. Her family and other villagers had been low on food and feared that Boko Haram was closing in. They ran to Nigerian soldiers for protection.

Get in the vehicle, Ali recalled the soldiers telling them.

But instead of being whisked to freedom, she said, her family wound up in a military detention center with 130 other women and their children, uncertain when they would be released  and why they were there.

I didnt know what Id done wrong, she said. I was just praying God would get us out.

Here in northeastern Nigeria, soldiers are fighting a brutal battle with Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist group that has terrorized the region for years with its campaign of murder, kidnapping, rape and thievery.

But in its aggressive hunt for Boko Haram fighters, the Nigerian military has ensnared and detained scores of civilians, including toddlers and infants, for weeks or months. And sometimes, activists say, innocent people are never heard from again.

Nearly 150 people have died this year in just one of the detention centers, Giwa barracks, where Ali was held with her family, according to Amnesty International.

Eleven of the dead were children younger than 6, including four babies, it said. The prison this spring held 1,200 people, at least 120 of them children, Amnesty found.

Many were arbitrarily rounded up during mass arrests, the group said, often with no evidence against them.

Nigeria, which denies the claims, is not the only country in the region criticized as going too far in the fight against Boko Haram. Cameroon has been accused of detaining 1,000 people suspected of supporting Boko Haram, many arrested arbitrarily, in horrific conditions that have caused some to die from disease and malnutrition.

The Nigerian military says it detains people it suspects of being Boko Haram sympathizers  including people who have been kidnapped  to weed out anyone who might be dangerous.

Officials have reason to be suspicious: Boko Haram has managed to turn captives into suicide bombers, including children as young as 8. Mothers, boys, girls and other suicide bombers have killed hundreds of people, striking crowds at markets, schools and even camps for people who fled their homes to escape Boko Harams violence.

Questioning suspects is a lengthy process, said Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman, an army spokesman, explaining the detentions. It is better to take time to screen them out than to allow a single terrorist to go free and carry out a suicide bombing.

Usman said the military follows international best practices and has sniffed out Boko Haram terrorists during screenings.

There is nobody, no army in the world that is respecting the rule of law the way we are doing, Usman said.

But legal experts accuse the Nigerian military of breaking domestic and international laws in the process. The military has no authority to detain civilians under Nigerian law, argued Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer in Lagos. Other critics cited a long pattern of abuse by the military.
JUBA, South Sudan  The South Sudanese opposition leader Riek Machar has fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo after being targeted by government troops, his spokesmen said Thursday, as a fragile peace deal to end more than two years of civil war unravels in the worlds youngest country.

In accordance with the 2015 peace deal, which received international backing, Machar returned to Juba, the capital, in April to resume his post as deputy to his rival, President Salva Kiir. But clashes between factions loyal to the men erupted months later. Machars residence was destroyed, and he and his troops were driven from the capital.

He was being pursued constantly since he withdrew from Juba, said an opposition spokesman, Mabior Garang de Mabior, adding that Machar would soon travel to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Peter Biar Ajak, a co-director for South Sudan at the International Growth Center, said Machar had no choice but to flee before his forces were decimated.

Aside from avoiding capture, getting out of the country was the only way he could attempt to rebuild support within his constituency and remind the international community that he is still relevant to the peace process, Ajak said from Cambridge, England.

A spokesman for the United Nations added a layer of intrigue Thursday, asserting that the organizations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, known by its acronym MONUSCO, had assisted Machar, his wife and 10 others in safe travel once they had crossed into the country from South Sudan, which happened Wednesday. The spokesman, Farhan Haq, also hinted that Machar had received medical attention from MONUSCO.

Haq told a regular briefing at the U.N. headquarters in New York that Machar was now at an unspecified location in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but declined to elaborate on why Machar had needed medical attention.

We took him from one part of the DRC to another, Haq said. Right now hes in the hands of the authorities of the DRC.

Tens of thousands of people died in a civil war that began in December 2013 and pitted troops loyal to Machar, a former vice president, against the forces of Kiir. Both sides are accused of committing atrocities against civilians.

Supporters of Machar cried foul when Kiir accepted the nomination last month of a new vice president to replace Machar in the transitional government.
ResMed has filed a patent infringement complaint in the Southern District of California, as well as lawsuits in Germany and New Zealand, and to the US International Trade Commission against Fisher & Paykel Healthcare just days after the Auckland-based company filed its own lawsuit against its US rival in the market for breathing masks and air flow products.

F&P Healthcare says it will "vigorously defend the recent allegations of patent infringement and declaratory judgment claims made by ResMed". The US company has also filed claims against F&P Healthcare in Germany and New Zealand.

We believe we have good and valid defenses to the claims filed by ResMed and we will vigorously contest these claims," said chief executive Lewis Gradon. "We are also confident in our infringement and validity positions with respect to our own patents."

ResMed's legal action comes just two days after F&P Healthcare announced that it was "seeking all available remedies, including damages and injunctive relief" in its proceedings in the US District Court for the Central District of California. The lawsuit says ResMed's "AirSense 10 and AirCurve 10 range of flow generator products, ClimateLineAir heated air tubing for use with such flow generator products and Swift LT and Swift FX masks, infringe patents held by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare".

ResMed's suits relate to F&P Healthcare's Simplus full face mask, Eson nasal mask and Eson 2 nasal mask and has also asked the San Diego court "to invalidate patents that Fisher & Paykel recently asserted against ResMed, to declare that ResMed does not infringe those patents, or both."

"We remain steadfast in our commitment to defend our intellectual property wherever necessary to ensure patients receive the high-quality care they deserve," said ResMed global general counsel David Pendarvis. "We are confident that when the courts hear all the evidence, ResMed will prevail on its case and defeat any claims asserted by Fisher & Paykel."

F&P Healthcare shares fell 0.6 percent to $10.42 on the NZX and have gained 18 percent this year. ResMed shares fell 0.9 percent to US$68.48 and are up 28 percent this year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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Duncan Saville is to retire as a director of Infratil at the company's annual meeting later this month after 22 years in the role.

Saville's departure from the board comes after the Utilico investment vehicle he manages reduced its stake in Infratil to just 2.5 percent in May, having been one of the infrastructure investor's biggest shareholders with a 20 percent stake before it started selling in 2010.

He was appointed as a director of Wellington-based Infratil in March 1994, when the company listed on the NZX. Saville has also served on the boards of several water, airport and utility investment companies.

In a statement, Infratil said Saville had been, "an endless source of support, insight, and encouragement".

Anthony Muh, Morrison & Co's chief executive for Asia will also leave his post as alternate director, a role that saw him attend board meetings when Saville was unavailable.

Saville will remain a director of HRL Morrison & Co, Infratil's manager.

Infratil shares fell 0.6 percent to $3.38.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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Kiwi food and beverage company Little Island Coconut Creamery is moving into exports of coconut milk, kicking off in Australia and then expanding into the US state of California early next year to take advantage of a global trend to plant-based food.

Tommy Holden and James Crow started up the Auckland-based company in 2010 making dairy-free, coconut cream-based NiceBlocks and ice-cream, and added coconut milk stored in the supermarket chiller with other dairy alternatives last year. It has partnered with Samoan coconut cream producer Ah Liki for the supply of the base ingredient.

Coconut milk now comprises half of the startups $3.2 million in annual revenue and Crow said its focusing first on long-life milk exports as an everyday consumer staple rather than the ice-creams, which are more seasonal and attract lower margins offshore. Hes forecasting revenue to rise to $5.2 million in the 2017 financial year from Australian exports while US revenues should kick in the following year.

Tasting panels the startup has just completed showed American consumers preferred Little Island over existing coconut milk products, giving it the confidence to move into the market early next year as a premium product following a few, minor tasting and packaging tweaks.

Although Little Island faces a handful of coconut milk competitors already in the US, the number one thing is taste, Crowe said, and he believes that, along with its Kiwi story, will win consumers over. Well have a founder-driven sales pitch in the US, he said.

Theyre also hoping to get their products into Australian supermarkets shortly and are about to sign an Australian national distribution deal for the milk range which includes 1 litre and 360 ml bottles in flavours ranging from original, chocolate, strawberry, banana and coffee.

Plant-based food globally is undergoing what Crow calls a startup boom. Earlier this year Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google parent Alphabet, picked plant-based protein as one of six hot global trends.

Plant-based alternatives to milk and yoghurt are growing at an 11 percent compound annual growth rate in the US and while almond milk has dominated that space until now, the Californian drought is affecting almond production.

Crow said the rise in non-dairy alternatives hasnt escaped the eye of the traditional dairy industry. French dairy giant Danone made a US$10.4 billion deal in July, its largest acquisition in a decade, to buy US organic foods producer White Wave Foods. White Wave is the fastest-growing company in the US food and beverage industry with its range including organic, soy, coconut, cashew and almond milks.

Little Island was co-founded by the two entrepreneurs with backing from Phoenix Organics co-founder Chris Morrison and another former Phoenix staffer, John Evans, who are both on the board. Marmont Capital, a private capital fund set up to invest in Kiwi food and beverage start-ups, has become its largest shareholder, one of only two investments it has made in the past two years.

A further fundraising round of $2-to-$3 million is planned for later this year to fund the US export drive, a leap up from the $700,000-odd raised to date.

Marmont Capital co-founder Matt McKendry, who is also on the board, said the coconut brand was a small business facing a big global food trend. There are not too many similar opportunities in New Zealand with such a core value proposition, he said.

McKendry reckons any New Zealand food and beverage business should consider exporting to Australia first because of its more competitive retail scene which means theyll gain a lot of fitness in this space, before advancing to other countries like the US or Asia.

In New Zealand, Little Islands enemy was dairy and trying to convert people from cow milk to plant-based food, but that shift was already well-established in the US and its enemy will become almond, McKendry said.

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New Zealand is seeking a place at the negotiating table by ratifying by the end of November the global climate change accord agreed in Paris last year, fearing loss of influence over crucial rule-making if it doesnt do so.

New Zealand needs international credibility to influence rules that relate to the agreement but are yet to be negotiated, says a National Interest Analysis tabled in Parliament following Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett's announcement of the intended ratification timetable.

Prepared by the Ministry for the Environment and destined for select committee scrutiny along with legislation required to ratify the agreement, the NIA says: Some of these rules may have economic impacts on New Zealand. New Zealands ratification of the agreement will provide certainty that New Zealands interests can be protected in the negotiations.

Key among these are accounting rules governing plantation forestry carbon sinks, one of the biggest ways New Zealand intends to meet its commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

Opposition parties say that level is unambitious, but the government continues to insist it will be difficult to meet because New Zealand has a high proportion of agricultural GHG emissions, whereas most developed economies main source of emissions is from fossil fuels for transport, energy and industrial processing.

The government also announced the establishment in coming weeks of three technical consulting groups to work on what contribution agriculture can make to reducing emissions by 2030, the role of forestry in reducing GHG emissions, and New Zealands exposure to the infrastructural and economic impacts of climate change.

The ratification timing is earlier than was originally intended, reflecting leadership from major signatories to the Paris agreement, including the US and China, which will see complex negotiations on the rules governing the new regime get under way sooner rather than later.

New Zealand also wants to regain access to international carbon markets, from which it has been excluded since deciding not to enter the so-called Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol, the global climate change deal that the Paris agreement will replace.

New Zealands selected forestry and other land use sector accounting approaches are also important in the context of domestic policy, particularly forestrys role and implementation in the New Zealand emissions trading scheme, the NIA says, noting also that New Zealand needs to take an interest in the fact that there will not be a single global carbon market in the future.

The Paris agreement does not limit international carbon markets to a single top-down market, although a centralised market is expected at some stage, the NIA says.

When and how the centralised market mechanism will be operationalised is unclear, and it may not provide a timely and sufficient supply of emission reductions to be economically practical for New Zealands use. This means that New Zealand will likely need to build future international markets from the bottom up in cooperation with other willing participants. 

The NIAs publication coincides with the revival of a campaign by the Morgan Foundation, a philanthropic think tank, accusing the government and major industrial emitters of carbon cheating under the Kyoto Protocol by allowing the heavy use of low quality, low-cost carbon credits sourced from the former Soviet Union.

Some of the main determinants of New Zealands ability to purchase sufficient international emission reductions include the strength of guidance governing environmental integrity, other countries willingness to participate in international carbon markets, and the level of demand created by other countries and emitters within those countries, the NIA says.

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Spark New Zealand is backing a plan to run different brands at the budget and premium ends of the market and offer extra service sweeteners to deliver increased revenue in the coming year.

The country's biggest telecommunications company is targeting sales growth of zero to 3 percent in the year ending June 30, 2017 on top of the $1.5 billion it reported today and a slightly smaller increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of zero to 2 percent on $986 million.

The Auckland-based company has completed a three-year plan tilting its business to mobile and data-based services in the face of an increasingly obsolete landline operation, with traditional revenue now accounting for just 20 percent of Spark's sales compared to mobile which accounts for a third.

Chief executive Simon Moutter told analysts today that he expects recent gains in the mobile market - which Spark now claims to be the biggest by revenue - will be more muted in 2017, and is targeting 5 percent growth after generating an 11 percent gain this year.

"We're still in a tough industry - we do have a better business but we're realistic about some of the drivers of growth," Moutter said. "We're unlikely to be able to continue at that rate with mobile feeling a bit more pressured: we've still got all the usual decliners to manage, we've got a potential new competitor emerging in Voda-Sky and likely to make some plays around how they position themselves for launch."

Spark plans to chase price-sensitive clients on its Skinny mobile and Big Pipe ISP brands, which came out of the company's ventures division, while reserving its own brand to pursue premium customers with a view to upselling them to fibre products or unlimited plans with greater data demands from included services such as video-streaming Lightbox and Morepork home security.

The company sees wireless broadband as an opportunity to grow the budget end of the market while reducing its reliance on network operator Chorus's copper network. Moutter said Spark is in the process of launching the service and he hopes to have 50,000 customers signed up by the end of the year.

Spark's also targeting a 20 percent increase in revenue from platform IT services, such as its data centre and cloud-based offerings, which it sees as a high growth segment. Those products form part of Spark's $658 million of IT services revenue, which rose at an 11 percent pace in 2016.

Moutter said the ventures division, which Spark used to nurture the likes of Skinny, Big Pipe and Lightbox, is entering a new phase with some of the bigger units moved into the core Spark business and is setting up for the next round of growth in big data and the Internet of Things under the new leadership of Ed Hyde.

The company expects to see more consolidation in the telecommunications sector as thin broadband margins push out marginal players, leaving Spark, a merged Sky Network Television-Vodafone New Zealand, Vocus, and Two Degrees Mobile possibly only firms standing next year.

Moutter is backing the multi-brand strategy and "digital service inclusions" to maintain market share and grow revenue.

"We do see an increasing trend to these full-service offerings including media," he said.

Spark shares rose 2.8 percent to $3.86.

(BusinessDesk)

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Alumna Celeste Beatty Brews Beer, Breaks Barriers

Its like making soup. Thats how Shaw University Class of 84 alumna Celeste Beatty describes the essence of the recipe and sentiment of the craft beer she began brewing at home 17 years ago. These days, two stars of Beattys Harlem Brewing Company, Sugar Hill Golden Ale and Harlem Renaissance, stand label-to-label with big-merchandise spirits sold at Wal-Mart.

Harlem Brewing Companys Sugar Hill Golden Ale harkens the era of uptown Harlem during Prohibition, when a special beer could be found in Speakeasies - and in the hands of musics great artists. Beattys Harlem Renaissance brew is wheat-based cider with barley, coriander, cumin, a West African spice and orange peel.

Those are the things I love cooking with, Beatty said. Its like making my grandmothers homemade soup. You use the same pot, said Beatty, the product of a family of cooks known to showcase signature dishes, and experiment cooking with beer and wine. Beatty compares the water-and barley-based wort, the body of the beer, to the water-based broth of homemade soups waiting for lentils or tomatoes. There is a lot of similarity; putting those ingredients into the pot and adding signature flavors, Beatty said. And in the darkness of science and nature, they are converted to alcohol through fermentation.

Its a really exciting experience for anyone who likes cooking and loves being creative with things. Craft beer offers a lot of creativity; more layers of flavor, she said. Credit the universal appeal of craft beers, at least in part, also to changes in foreign policy making it most reasonable to produce goods closer to where consumers buy. Beattys six-packs cost anywhere from $10-$12. The Wal-Mart deal could boost the companys sales as much as 20 percent.

Beatty started Harlem Brewing Company in 2001 and it currently is headquartered in Harlem. She runs the company with her son and business partner, Khouri Beatty. Shes also working through challenges of scarce space and high real estate costs to open a brewery in Harlem, home to a robust brewing history dating back to 1905. A campaign is underway for Harlem Brewing to land its chosen spot, and its led by Harlem native and Beatty family friend, actor Antonio Huggy Bear Fargas.

Beatty, who grows her own hops for Harlem Brewing, also is working on a cookbook of recipes borrowed from family files, and her own. Think beer-battered fish, and sweet and savory sauces infused with beer or wine.

The brewing experience aligns with Beattys International Relations degree from Shaw, and her interests and work in international relations, conflict mediation and cross-cultural understanding. Instead of bringing people to the mediation table, we bring them to the bar, said Beatty, applauding Shaw President Dr. Tashni-Ann Dubroys EPIC mandate that champions entrepreneurship. As weve seen the business grow, weve also seen, interestingly enough, it can be a great unifier; to have a conversation about whats going on over good beer, Beatty said.

As an African-American woman, Beatty is a rare breed in the beer brewing industry. But the Harlem Brewing Company brand carries nuances of brewing history steeped in the story of the African Diaspora people Beatty discovered through research and travel. Africa has a rich and interesting culture around how beer evolved in the United States and around the world, she said. Its exciting to see we do actually have a very rich brewing history in Africa and America.

On a recent visit to Shaw, Beatty talked to Shaws Director of Alumni Relations, Valentino Bryant, about ways to reconnect with Shaw and share my experience, and invite students and alumni to be a part of what were doing, Beatty said. Id be pleased, she added, to expand to Shaw The Art of Brewing: From Africa to America, a class on brewing Beatty will teach this fall at City College of Harlem.

Already, Beatty shares her story and lifes passion to celebrate and preserve memories of family, community, institutions and culture. She has hosted a tasting, for instance, in Idlewild, Michigan, which boasts the first black resort; and Sugar Hill Golden Ale, Beattys signature brew, remains on the menu at Sylvias, the legendary soul food restaurant where Sugar Hill made its Harlem debut.

When Beatty thinks of even wider distribution and impact, she also has the example of Madame C.J. Walker in mind. Id like to expand the footprint of Harlem Brewing Company beyond brewing beer to create opportunities for people who want to tap into this industry, she said, describing her vision as an advocacy company.

It gives us an opportunity to go into markets we havent previously been able to go, Beatty said. The brand has been an interesting way to become aligned with many of these communities, the Harlems of the world.
CHARLOTTE, NC and LUXEMBOURG--(Marketwired - Aug 18, 2016) - BSN medical, the global integrated medical therapy solutions provider, announced an ongoing collaboration with NASA to develop a specialized gradient compression garment for protection against post-spaceflight orthostatic intolerance -- the inability to stand upright without experiencing a rapid heart rate, low blood pressure (hypotension), lightheadedness or feeling faint upon return to Earth's gravity.

Astronauts who live in space, even for short periods of time, experience physiological adaptations that have noticeable consequences once they return to Earth's gravity. These include changes to balance, coordination, muscle strength, blood volume, and blood pressure regulation, and may impact an astronaut's ability to perform basic tasks such as standing and walking1. According to a study of veteran astronauts, up to 83 percent returning from long duration ( > 1 mo.) spaceflight experienced these physiological changes during postflight evaluation2.

Since 2009, Michael B. Stenger, Ph.D., Cardiovascular and Vision Laboratory Lead, and Stuart M. C. Lee, Ph.D., Lead Scientist in the Cardiovascular and Vision Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center have been examining the usefulness of different configurations of BSN's JOBST lower body compression garments as a countermeasure to post-spaceflight orthostatic intolerance. This work has led to the development of a custom-fitted, three-piece, abdomen-high, elastic gradient compression garment designed by BSN engineers. The efficacy of the three-piece compression garments first was demonstrated in healthy subjects following a 14-day bed rest study, an analog of space flight, and in astronauts after two-week Space Shuttle missions. The positive results from these studies were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, including the report by M.B. Stenger, et al., published in Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine3.

Story continues

Currently, the JOBST three-piece garments are being tested in astronauts returning from four-to-six month stays on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the joint NASA-Russian Field Test Study. Upon landing in Kazakhstan, crewmembers are taken into a medical tent where they remove their space suits, put on the JOBST gradient compression garments, and participate in the Field Test study protocols. Testing at the landing site includes quickly standing from a seated position, standing quietly for 3.5 minutes after rising from a prone position, walking a straight line, walking over a small obstacle, and posture testing. To date, only a few astronauts have worn the JOBST gradient compression garments during the Field Test, but preliminary observations are promising. Conclusive evidence will not be available until the study is completed.

Scientists plan to test a total of 15 crewmembers before deciding whether to transition the JOBST three-piece compression garments from research to normal usage. In the future, the garments might be used for crews traveling to and from the ISS, as well as to Mars and other destinations. Prior to launch, the patented JOBST garments are custom-fitted to each astronaut taking part in the Field Test investigation, and they are designed to accommodate for moderate changes in body weight and size, all of which may occur as a result of prolonged stays in space.

"Our team is extremely pleased to be working so closely with NASA," said Felix Dahm, M.D., executive vice president of Innovation and Strategic Development for BSN medical. "The demands of space flight place significant physiological stress on astronauts. Our gradient compression garments have been shown to alleviate post-spaceflight orthostatic intolerance in ongoing studies. We have a world-class team of engineers who are committed to improving compression therapies -- an expertise that also helps prevent certain adverse effects of space flight."

"Additionally, NASA's research with the JOBST garments may also help the general population overcome issues such as orthostatic intolerance, as these garments designed for astronauts may hold promise for people who suffer from sudden drops in blood pressure on a regular basis here on earth," continued Dr. Dahm.

Effects of Space Travel and Landing on Human Body

Upon entering the weightless environment of space, an astronaut's blood moves upwards from their legs to the upper body and head, and blood volume decreases in the first 24 hours of space flight. When they re-enter Earth's gravity and land, blood moves back towards their lower body and the body's mechanisms to return blood back to the heart are not as effective. Consequently, 20 percent of Space Shuttle astronauts did and more than 60 percent of International Space astronauts may experience hypotension, causing them to feel lightheaded and dizzy4. Recovery from the effects of space flight can take several days to weeks depending on the length of the mission and the individual astronaut. As a result, orthostatic intolerance can persist for several days after landing5.

About BSN medical

BSN medical is a global leader in wound care & related vascular diseases, lymphology and non-invasive orthopaedic products. Founded in 2001, the company currently employs approximately 6,100 members of staff and generated revenues of EUR 861 m in 2015. The company aims to provide an integrated therapy-driven approach -- grounded in a broad portfolio of products, enhanced by insights into current therapeutic areas and complemented by a progressive approach to partnerships. Its well-known brands such as Leukoplast, Cutimed, JOBST, Delta Cast, Delta Lite and Actimove are among the most trusted in healthcare. With its comprehensive product portfolio, BSN medical addresses patients' needs in the most prevalent conditions in wound care and vascular diseases, and orthopaedic treatments.

More information: www.bsnmedical.com and www.bsnmedical.us.

1 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1768.html

2 Meck JV, et al., Psychosom Med 2001; 63:865-73

3 Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 84, No. 5, May 2013

4,5 Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance Vol. 86, No. 12, Section II Dec. 2015

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3046238


UNITED NATIONS: India has been ranked 66th in a list of most innovative economies, jumping 15 places from last year, according to a new UN report which calls for more transparent policies if the country aspires to become a global driver of innovation.

In the report by the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), India moved up 15 spots from 81st last year to 66th this year in the overall global rankings.

The Global Innovation Index 2016, released by the WIPO, Cornell University, and the multi-nation business graduate school INSEAD, said India ranks among the top 50 economies overall in two pillars: Market sophistication, 33, and Knowledge and technology out-puts, 43.

The country maintains stable or improved rankings across all pillars, with the most significant improvements in Human capital and research, up 40 spots and Business sophistication, up 59 spots.

Within Human capital and research, India data coverage increased, specifically in graduates in sciences and engineering, ranked eighth overall this year while this was a missing value last year, affecting the jump in its ranking.

India's ranking in the Business sophistication pillar is affected most by a substantial improvement in Knowledge workers, up 46 spots and Knowledge absorption, up 33 spots.

India also improves in the ranking of firms offering formal training by 56 spots to reach 42nd place.

"Furthermore, India improves across all indicators within the Knowledge absorption sub-pillar and it turns in a solid performance in the GII (Global Innovation Index) model's newly incorporated research talent in business enterprise, where it ranks 31st," the report said.

However, India shows weakness in two sub-pillars of business environment, 117th, and education, 118th and within this has potential to improve in the the ease of starting a business and pupil-teacher ratio.

"India has all the ingredients needed to become a global driver of innovation: A strong market potential, an excellent talent pool and an underlying culture of frugal innovation. Innovative countries have demonstrated the leverage of their cultural advantage to capture markets," the report said.

Similarly, India can build on its cultural bias of frugality and sustainability to capture markets not only within its shores but globally.

"For this to happen India's industries need to have the hunger to be at the top of the value chain, its customers have to be more demanding, its policies have to be more transparent, and its talent pool has to get more hands-on experience while simultaneously growing to leverage the global talent pool," the report said.

The report showed that for the first time, China, a middle-income country, has joined highly developed economies among global leaders in innovation.

"China's progression reflects the country's improved innovation performance as well as methodological considerations such as improved innovation metrics in the GII," WIPO said.

However, despite China's rise, an "innovation divide" persists between developed and developing countries, it said.

Switzerland emerged as the global leader among innovative economies followed by Sweden, the UK, the US and Finland. Switzerland ranked first in the 2015 index as well.

WIPO also noted that the 2016 findings point to an increasing awareness among policymakers that fostering innovation is crucial to a vibrant, competitive economy.

"Investing in innovation is critical to raising long-term economic growth. In this current economic climate, uncovering new sources of growth and leveraging the opportunities raised by global innovation are priorities for all stakeholders," WIPO Director-General Francis Gurry said.

According to WIPO, among the GII 2016 leaders, four economies - Japan, the US, the UK, andGermany - stand out in "innovation quality", a top-level indicator that looks at the calibre of universities, number of scientific publications and international patent filings.

China ranked 17th in innovation quality, making it the leader among middle-income economies for this indicator, followed by India, which has overtaken Brazil. However, Sub- Saharan Africa continued to lag behind.

Mauritius took the top spot among all economies in the region, 53rd, followed by South Africa, 54th, Kenya, 80th, Rwanda, 83, Mozambique, 84, Botswana, 90th, Namibia, 93th and Malawi, 98th.

Average regional performance shows strengths in the ease of starting a business, information and communication technologies, business-model creation and relative expenditure on education, with weaknesses in firms conducting global research and development, high-tech exports, the quality of local universities and number of scientific publications.

Co-editor Soumitra Dutta, Dean at the Cornell College of Business, highlighted the importance of investment in improving innovation quality as essential for closing the "innovation divide".

Dutta said, "While institutions create an essential supportive framework for doing so, economies need to focus on reforming education and growing their research capabilities to compete successfully in a rapidly changing globalised world".

The Global Innovation Index 2016 ranked nations according to their innovation capabilities and results using approximately 80 indicators that include measures of human capital development and research, development funding, university performance and international dimensions of patent applications, among a host of other important parameters.

Read Also: Kerala IT Firm SunTec Strengthens Dubai R&D Centre

Digital Guardian Opens 1st India Centre In Hyderabad
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kozhikode-based financial technology solutions provider Sesame Software today said it has received funding from Speridian Technologies, a US based global IT firm, in lieu of majority stake.



The investment will strengthen Sesame's industry leadership while ensuring success for the group, a press release said.



It will further boost Speridian's ambitious growth plans for the coming years, by enabling their foray into additional service verticals.



"This acquisition adds to our capacity and geographic presence and enables us to deliver exceptional service to our customers and prospects," said Vinod VC, Founder and Managing Director, Sesame.



Founded in 1993, Sesame is an ISO certified company with rich experience in the banking vertical, having successfully delivered Core Banking Solutions to hundreds of customers including Co-operative banks with more than 950 branches.



Speridian Technologies is into CRM solutions and IT services with a significant presence in the U.S., the UAE, Canada and India.

Read Also: Digital Guardian Opens 1st India Centre In Hyderabad

Companies that Put India High on the Global Platform
BENGALURU: U.S.-based global supplier of semiconductor chips and electronic components Mouser Electronics opened its customer service centre and back office in this tech hub on Wednesday.

"The new full-service centre underscores our dedication to serving the world's top design engineers and buyers with customer service and technical support," said Mark Burr-Lonnon, Vice-President of Mouser's business in the Asia-Pacific region.

A subsidiary of TTI Inc., Mouser is part of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway family of companies, focused on distributing new products and technologies to electronic design engineers and buyers the world over.

With 20 per cent sales growth and new customers, Burr-Lonnon said the company had emerged as a major player in the Indian market.

"Our sales success in India means that we need to increase the local support to our customers with more team members. With the number of engineers growing, the centre will be a new hub of design," noted Burr-Lonnon.

As a leading distributor of about 600 manufacturers, Mouser has 22 service centres worldwide to meet the semiconductor and electronic component needs of 500,000 customers globally.

To strengthen its ties with the local industry, Mouser has joined the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association, the city-based apex body for electronic system design and manufacturing in the country.

"With its unique business proposition and focus on startups and engineering/ research students, we are hopeful that Mouser will remove complexities in procuring electronics components required for research and development, especially by small units," said IESA President M.N. Vidyashankar on the occasion.

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Huawei To Start Mobile Manufacturing In India

Zippo Ties Up With William Penn For Distribution In India
HYDERABAD: FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), Hyderabad andTelangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) today announced to jointly set up a Women Entrepreneur's Industrial Park at Patancheru here.



Spread over 50 acres, this flagship project, in collaboration with TSIIC, is a first for both FLO and its parent body FICCI and this park will house women-owned and women-run businesses, in industry verticals, primarily in the green and orange categories, a FLO release said.



"The park will be ready in two months. We will commission the park in next two years. Now applications process is underway. The land is allotted at a cost of Rs 45 lakh per acre," Padma Rajgopal, Chairperson of FLO Hyderabad said.



The Park will house women-owned and women-run businesses, representing varied industry verticals primarily in the green and orange category, she said.



Jyotsna Angara, Governing Body Member FLO, who leads the initiative at Hyderabad said, "Green energy norms and green infrastructure will be a big aspect of the Park. It is a multi-industry vertical park. Priority for allotment of land will be given to FLO members. Presently 50 acres land is allotted and may be extended as the demand increases".



"Approximately Rs 200 crore will be invested over a span of three to five years. A cumulative employment of 3,000 will be generated in next five years," Jyotsna added.

Read Also: India Claims 66th Rank in this Year's Global Innovation Index

Indian Navy's First International Educational Program Starts
BENGALURU: As India celebrates its 70th Birthday along with billions of Indians, Google added to the zeal of celebration by offering its users some interesting features. Googles doodle dedicated to the historic "Tryst with Destiny" speech, delivered by Nehru Ji in the Parliament House before the Indian Constituent Assembly.

"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now that time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom," he had said in the speech.

As a matter of fact, India also shares its Independence Day with South Korea, which marks the end of Japanese colonial rule in 1945yet another doodle was dedicated for this.

Below were some attractive features offered by Google to mark the occasion for Google users in India:



Google Search - It allowed Indians users to travel back into the time of India's freedom struggle in their local languagesby entering voice commands, typing questions related to I-Day.

Google Translate  There were signs on Googles page in some local languages to assist people in translating anything they want. They could use Google Translate and scanned printed texts and app could translate those for them in their own language.

Google Maps - Independence Day, that too on a Monday, doubled the joy of Indians as it was a much-awaited long weekend for many. They could breeze through unknown roads, ensure wonderful travel experience with Google Maps, along with real-time traffic alert and voice commands.

Google Cultural Institute  Google took care of those at home by featuring a virtual tour of the monumentsvia the Google Cultural Institutewhich were closely associated with India's freedom struggleenlisting more than 45,000 artworks in high resolution.

Google Now - Google Now enabled users to check news updates, weather forecasts and suggested nearby sightseeing options.

If you missed on any of these features this year, keep in mind, there is always something new and exciting coming up with time, just Google it!

Read Also: Ranjan Shackles Government; Asks To Free PSU Banks!

India's Internet Users To Grow Over 2-Fold To 730 Mn By 2020: Report
Noble Corporation NE released its latest fleet status update that included information about a new contract as well as an early termination of another.



Noble Corp. has contracted its drillship Noble Bob Douglas with Apache Corp. (APA) at an undisclosed dayrate. The contract is for the period AprJun 2017. The drillship will operate in Suriname.



On the other hand, Noble Corp. announced that it has reached an agreement with its customer  Quadrant Energy  for the early termination of the drilling contracts for one of its jackup rig. The contract is now expected to conclude during the second half of Sep 2016. As part of the contract, Noble Corp. will receive a demobilization fee as well as 50% of the operating dayrate through the original contract expiration date from the customer.



Noble Corp. provides diversified services for the oil and gas industry. The company offers contract drilling services with a fleet of 30 offshore drilling units (consisting of 16 semisubmersibles and drillships and 14 jackups). The company renders contract drilling services along with provision of labor contract drilling, engineering and consulting, and project management services. The company offers its services in the United States, the Middle East, India, Mexico, the North Sea, Brazil, and West Africa.



In addition, Noble Corp. is a leading offshore drilling firm with a robust portfolio of assets. Though the industry has witnessed a setback in the past few months, the company is likely to be less impacted by it than its peers. This is because it enjoys a strong backlog position ($8.1 billion).

NOBLE CORP PLC Price

NOBLE CORP PLC Price | NOBLE CORP PLC Quote

Noble Corp. remains on track to upgrade its fleet through acquisitions and newbuild projects. Moreover, it continues to benefit from its robust position in the ultra-deepwater market.



Noble Corp. carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked players from the energy sector are Sasol Ltd. SSL, Enbridge, Inc. ENB and Total SA TOT. All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).



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Some college radio stations broadcast commercial playlists and major record labels, others are known for obscure artists and basement jam sessions, and some air an eclectic mix. Whatever their vibe, college radio stations have become newly popular with music junkies and music makers alike.

Skidmores WSPN-FM, might look like any other college radio station on the surface -- but when you dig deeper, you find the creative undercurrent that sets it apart.

The history

WSPN originated as a carrier station of Union Colleges WRUC and then became its own operation in 1972. When the station was WRUC-Skidmore prior to 1972, its studio was on the top floor of the Little Theater. "Entering and exiting, and going to the record library, meant going through a classroom space, which annoyed some of the professors. We sometimes used the fire escape instead," recalls Fred Goldstein '75, chief engineer of WSPN during his time on campus and the person resposbile for installing the oringal FM station and new campus studio.

The transmitter has always been located in Jonsson Tower, but the studio was once in Case Center. In 1978, the studio moved to the Jonsson basement, and over the years DJs and music fans have decorated the door with stickers of thousands of musical groups.

Lots of memories on the door to WSPN, the campus radio station. #Skidmore #collegeradio A photo posted by Skidmore College (@skidmorecollege) on Aug 5, 2015 at 5:26pm PDT

WSPN is a 24-hour, 365-day, full-service, noncommercial station. Using a freeform radio format -- where the DJ is given complete control over what music to play regardless of genres or commercial interests -- its one of the few college radio stations run entirely by a student board. The station hit its stride under the leadership of Steven Rosenbaum 83, who enlisted local community members as well as students as program hosts -- a tradition that continues today.

#TBT to 1978 when everyone was invited to the opening of @wspnradio #Skidmore  A photo posted by Skidmore College (@skidmorecollege) on Feb 18, 2016 at 8:49am PST

The people

WSPN just exuded this vibe of independence and creativity, a space for students to express their passions and feel free to experiment with sound. - Ariel Plotnick 15

WSPN reflects the personalities and tastes of its DJs. For Skidmore students, this ranges from music to audio documentaries to live jam sessions.

When I was new at Skidmore I remember turning on WSPN and being blown away at the variety, says current general manager Logan Sweezy 17. You could hear everything from a DJ obsessed with the 90s Memphis underground tape scene to Appalachian bluegrass to Tame Impala. WSPN was different, and I wanted to be a part of that.

Zac Transport 17, majoring in the physics of acoustics, plays the blues -- everything from the 1920s to now. I love the blues because I was raised on CDs my father played for me, such as Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Blind Lemon Johnson, John Lee Hooker, and so on, he says. I DJ because I love opening up people in my generation to old music theyve probably never heard before. Playing music that I love makes me happy, and I hope to make others happy with me.

Behind the DJs, the student board, composed of about 15 members, manages everything from programming to publicity to audio engineering.
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goldfish lake

If you've ever dumped a pet goldfish in a nearby body of water and thought your act was harmless, think again.

The seemingly innocent creatures are wreaking havoc on ecosystems around the globe.

In April 2015, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials faced an infestation of 4,000 goldfish in a lake in Boulder County a few years after someone was believed to have dumped a handful of pet goldfish into a nearby lake.

In 2013, wildlife officials in California reported that the fish had begun taking over Lake Tahoe, likely after pet owners had tossed them there.

And for the past 12 years, goldfish populations have been surging in the Vasse River in southwestern Australia, where researchers say the public's well-intentioned disposal practice is a big part of the problem.

goldfish lake!

The problem is not just that tons of tiny goldfish are in streams where there previously were none  the fish are also growing to massive sizes, in some cases getting as big as 4 pounds, according to Dr. Stephen Beatty, a professor at Murdoch University who has been leading research on how best to address the problem in southwest Australia.

He and his team members regularly found goldfish weighing about 2 pounds, they told Australian radio station 720 ABC Perth.

In Lake Tahoe, US Forest Service fish biologists reported being well acquainted with the supersized fish, which often weighed several pounds and measured between 4 and 8 inches.

giant fish 2

In each case, local dumping appears to play a serious role.

"Perhaps they were kids' pets where the family have been moving house and their parents, not wanting to take the aquarium, have dumped them in the local wetlands," Beatty told 720 ABC Perth.

Story continues

Since the goldfish are a nonnative species in these area, wildlife officials are concerned that they are threatening the natural aquatic ecosystem.

"It's a bad thing  it's a really bad thing," Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Jennifer Churchill told Fox 31 News last year. "They'll start eating up everything that the native fish and the amphibians and the birds are here to eat, and so that can have a really negative effect down the road  and this can kill this fishery in a few years."

teller lake skitch

But questions about how the populations grew to such massive proportions were still boggling scientists.

A paper that Beatty and his team published August 12 in the journal Ecology of Freshwater Fish found that goldfish, who were assumed to be pretty limited in terms of how far they could travel, can actually travel long distances to feed and forage, Mashable reported.

The researchers also found evidence that the fish are migrating to nearby wetlands and reproducing, which further fuels their population growth.

"Just letting go of a pet, no matter how innocuous you think it is in your aquarium or how pretty it is, can potentially cause a lot of damage," Beatty told Mashable.

Amanda Macias contributed reporting.

NOW WATCH: Forget the gross factor: There are serious health reasons for why you shouldn't pick your nose





More From Business Insider


WARSAW, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Net profit at Europe's No.2 copper producer, Polish KGHM, fell 75 percent year on year in the first half of this year, as lower copper prices continued to weigh on results, especially at its overseas assets, it said on Wednesday.

The state-run firm posted a consolidated net result of 296 million zlotys ($77.65 million) compared to 1.19 billion zlotys a year earlier and 406 million zlotys expected by analysts.

The company did not publish a net profit for the second quarter, but according to Reuters calculations it stood at 135 million zlotys and came in below analysts' expectations at 245 million zlotys.

At a stand-alone level, on which KGHM's dividends are based, the miner booked a 49 percent fall in net profit to 668 million zlotys, compared to 704 million zlotys seen in Reuters poll. ($1 = 3.8120 zlotys) (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko, editing by David Evans)
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A 15 year-old pedestrian has been rushed to hospital this morning, after the boy was involved in an accident in Chisholm.

An ACT policing spokeswoman said the crash involved the boy and one car.



The ACT Ambulance Service was alerted to the incident on Isabella Drive at 10.45am.



The patient was stabilised at the scene by intensive care paramedics and was transported to The Canberra Hospital in a stable condition.

An ESA spokesman said he believed crash happened about 200 metres west of the Chisholm Fire Station.

Police said traffic is blocked on Isabella Drive from the roundabout with Kellett Street, heading towards Monaro Highway, and are urging motorists to avoid the area.

They could not yet provide further details about the crash.
The rising and falling fortunes of Detroit have inspired a music collaboration between an American poet and an ANU composer. Hum is a collection of five poems enfolded in music and will premiere in the former Motor City in September. The piece was created by award winning poet Jamaal May and Australian National University PhD student Andrew Harrison. Australian National University PhD student and composer Andrew Harrison who is creating a musical work with American poet Jamaal May to premiere in Detroit. Harrison says he first met May about 10 years ago and had always wanted to work with him but hadn't found the right opportunity until he embarked on a PhD on history and music at the ANU in Canberra. Hum includes poems from Jamaal May's 2014 book, also called Hum, which dealt with the dramatic crash of his hometown in the wake of the devastating global financial crisis.

Harrison says May's poetry is inspiring. "It's quite amazing poetry, it's really emotional and passionate and his use of language is second to none," he says. "Jamaal's poetry addresses the big issues in what he describes as an interior way. He talks about the everyday life of people living in Detroit and also the wider American community. He's also addressing the social stuff that's happened." Harrison has seen first hand the decline in the former American manufacturing powerhouse. He first visited in 2004 and went over again last year while he was working with May. "Jamaal took me through his neighbourhood last year and it was very sad. [The] neighbourhood where he was raised - there are no street lights, and the houses are basically relics, there was no one living in them," he says. "But the city's still carrying on. It's not some kind of ghost town with tumbleweed. There's a grassroots revival and it's an opportunity."
One of Canberra's leading advocacy groups for young women has called on the ACT Government to continue its support of school-based prevention programs to prevent violence against women in light of the most recent pornography ring scandal.

While YWCA Canberra welcomed the government's 2015 election announcement of $615,000 to support learning programs in the ACT, Executive Director Frances Crimmins said the one-off funding was spread thinly over two years and across a range of prevention, early intervention and tertiary activities.

Frances Crimmins, executive director of YWCA Canberra.

"Unfortunately, this is consistent with the fact that many programs in Australia have been one-off, ad hoc and lacking the gendered perspective and quality curriculum needed." Ms Crimmins said.

"The fact is that early intervention and tertiary responses must have an ongoing and secure funding base."
"I lost my temper and punched him, but he was still breathing." Murdered: Neal Keith Wilkinson. Credit:ACT Policing His mother said she wanted to phone police but Lee disconnected the phone and said she wasn't allowed to ring anybody for 15 minutes. Lee then stole the cash, which was stuffed in a pillowcase, and left. His mother struggled from her bedroom and saw Mr Wilkinson lying in the entry hall. A neighbour heard her cries for help and called police.

In an interview soon after his arrest, Lee told police he had gone to the house intent on forcing his way inside and got mad. "It got out of hand quickly," he said. "It's actually a relief to be caught. I just ran and ran after it happened, I didn't know what to do." He told police he had taken ice and heroin in the two days before the killing. He was charged and later pleaded guilty to murder and theft. Chief Justice Helen Murrell on Thursday sentenced Lee to a maximum 12 years imprisonment for the killing and two years and six months' jail for stealing the cash.

She described the fatal bashing as objectively less serious than most murders. Chief Justice Murrell took into account Mr Wilkinson had been murdered in his own home, but said the fatal attack was not premeditated. An autopsy report stated Mr Wilkinson's head injuries were less severe than typical fatal head injuries and there may have been another contributing factor. "The accused intended to cause serious harm, he did not intend to cause death and was not recklessly indifferent to that prospect." She described the theft of the couple's savings as "callous in the extreme" and said the serious crime was a breach of trust.

Lee, a former public servant and business owner, had started using drugs when his marriage broke down a decade ago and was socially isolated and struggling financially due to a gambling habit in the months before the killing. His escalating use of illicit substances and increasingly chaotic lifestyle caused his relationships with his children to deteriorate dramatically and contact with them had been infrequent and strained in recent years. Chief Justice Murrell noted the emotional impact of the offences on Lee's mother, who had not been in contact with him since the murder, would have been profound. "In addition to losing her life partner, with the loss of the deceased she must have lost the capacity to live with relative independence." She noted Lee had expressed immediate remorse, accepted responsibility for his actions and had good prospects for rehabilitation.
Colonel Adrian Roberts, the commander of the Armoured Personnel Carrier force that went to the aid of Lieutenant Colonel Harry Smith's beleaguered D Company during the Battle of Long Tan fears the bravery of his men will never be recognised.

The retired regular army officer, who said his largely conscript force had fought just as well as professional soldiers, has welcomed the belated recognition of the heroism of many of the soldiers caught up in the Vietnamese ambush ahead of Thursday's 50th anniversary commemoration.

Adrian Roberts was the young officer who led the APC relief force that went to the aid of D Company during the Battle of Long Tan. This week marks the 50th anniversary of the battle. Credit:Jay Cronan

He, like many others, can't understand why the issue of awards and honours wasn't resolved decades ago.

"The politics of these things is disappointing; it does not reflect well on the system," he said.
Chinese airlines need to hire almost 100 pilots a week for the next 20 years to meet skyrocketing travel demand. Facing a shortage of candidates at home, carriers are dangling lucrative pay packages at foreigners with cockpit experience.

Giacomo Palombo, a former United Airlines pilot, said he's being bombarded every week with offers to fly Airbus A320s in China. Regional carrier Qingdao Airlines promises as much as $US318,000 ($415,000) a year. Sichuan Airlines, which flies to Canada and Australia, is pitching $US302,000. Both airlines say they'll also cover his income tax bill in China.

With demand for aviation surging, Chinese airlines need to hire almost 100 pilots a week for the next 20 years to keep up.

"When the time to go back to flying comes, I'll definitely have the Chinese airlines on my radar," said Palombo, 32, now an Atlanta-based consultant for McKinsey & Co. "The financials are attractive."

Air traffic over China is set to almost quadruple in the next two decades, making it the world's busiest market, according to Airbus Group SE. Startup carriers barely known abroad are paying about 50 per cent more than what some senior captains earn at Delta Air Lines, and they're giving recruiters from the US to New Zealand free rein to fill their captains' chairs.
Origin Energy has signalled it wants energy ministers not to interfere in energy markets after recent wobbles in South Australia and ahead of likely further rises in electricity prices.

State and federal energy ministers are to meet on Friday and Grant King, the boss of Origin Energy, one of the country's largest power utilities, has a message for the meeting after South Australia's woes in mid-July: "Markets work".

Origin Energy's gas export arm is a drag on earnings. Credit:Louie Douvis

"Don't be spooked by pricing spikes," he said, referring to the surge in the wholesale price there which topped $10,000 a number of times amid concerns over the supply of electricity.

Fears of a shortage prompted the South Australian government to intervene by calling for an idled generator to be restarted to avoid blackouts because electricity could not be sourced from Victoria at a time when the wind wasn't blowing in South Australia, limiting output from its extensive suite of wind farms.
Treasury Wine Estates, the owner of Penfolds and Wolf Blass, is sitting on an $800 million pot of gold of luxury wines in its cellars, which should lift profit margins even higher in a buoyant business which is now making more profits from Asia than from its home base of Australasia.

Treasury shares jumped more than 11 per cent on Thursday to climb above $10.60 after the wine group reported a net profit after tax of $179.4 million for the year ended June 30, up from $77.6 million a year earlier. The shares have doubled in the past year.

Treasury Wine Estates is the owner of Penfolds and Wolf Blass.

The company outlined a big rise in the amount of high-end wines it has sitting in storage ready for bottling and sale in years to come, which will underpin continued profit growth and an increase in profit margins. That luxury wine inventory jumped by $255 million to $798 million at the end of June. It will be bolstered further by a high-quality 2016 grape harvest, particularly in the Barossa Valley in South Australia, where high-end shiraz is grown.

Treasury chief executive Mike Clarke said the company had exited lower-margin categories in preparation for an even bigger tilt towards higher-margin sales under brands such as Penfolds and its newly-acquired California premium brand. He is trying to source even more higher-end grape supply.
Treasury Wine Estates, the owner of Penfolds and Wolf Blass, is now making more profits from Asia than from its home base of Australasia and has lifted its dividend payout sharply higher after a buoyant 2015-16 where bottomline profits more than doubled.

Treasury reported a net profit after tax of $179.4 million for the 12 months ended June 30, 2016, up from $77.6 million a year ago, and outdid its own upgraded profit forecast handed down just six weeks ago by generating earnings before interest, tax, and the SGARA accounting standard of $342 million.

Treasury shares have been one of the best performers on the ASX in the past year, jumping from around $5.40 this time a year ago to as high as $10.43 this morning. Credit:Cole Bennetts

Treasury had previously outlined on July 4 to investors that it expected to produce EBITS of between $330 million to $340 million for 2015-16. Earnings from Asia were up 40 per cent to $102 million, while Australasia found the going tougher, lifting earnings by 4 per cent to $92.3 million. The Americas region, where Treasury acquired the Diageo wine business from the British alcoholic drinks giant for $754 million from January 1, lifted earnings by 64 per cent to $136.3 million.

Treasury chief executive Mike Clarke has also brought forward by two years his own target of lifting profit margins to the "high teens". He now expects to reach that mark by 2017-18, and not 2020 as had previously been flagged. Treasury shareholders will be paid a final dividend of 12? per share on October 7. Mr Clarke said on Thursday that "momentum across our business is accelerating". He also emphasised that Treasury was now a much more sustainable and consistent business, in marked contrast to the severe fluctuations of several years ago.
At Delta, a group of women pilots have banded together. Credit:AP One reason for the lack of rules is that women make up only about 4 per cent of the United States' 159,000 certified airline pilots - a number that has been slow to rise over the past decade or so. There were no female pilots at the biggest airlines until 1973, when American Airlines hired the first, Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo. In a reminder of how times have changed, that news was reported in The Los Angeles Times under the headline, "Airline Pilot to Fly by Seat of Panties." Captain Deborah Lawrie was the first female commercial pilot in Australia. Credit:Janie Barrett "Airline jobs were really reserved for men," said Caputo, 67, who became something of a minor celebrity when American hired her. She has been retired from the airline for about 18 years.

"When we started, there were no maternity leaves, because there were no female pilots." First Officer Brandy Beck, a pilot for Frontier Airlines, at home with her children in Denver. Credit:Credit Theo Stroomer for The New York Times More than 40 years later, the major carriers still haven't resolved this issue. They set their policies for pilots based on the collective bargaining agreements negotiated by the unions. But women of childbearing age account for just a sliver of union membership, so maternity leave and breast-feeding policies have not been at the top of union agendas. Plus, some members oppose the proposals, citing the costs. One local union leader told several women in an email: "Having a child is a personal choice and asking the rest of us to fund your choice will be a difficult sell to the pilot group." The leader declined to be interviewed for this article; the union said he was not an authorised spokesman. Delta's female pilots still hope to win over a majority of their colleagues. They argue that without paid leave, they're faced with a choice to either stay home to breast-feed their babies or earn income for their families.

Female pilots can begin to lose wages months before a baby is born. Most contracts at major airlines force pregnant pilots to stop flying eight to 14 weeks before a baby's due date. After the push by Delta's pilots this summer, the airline changed its policy this month. Delta now allows them to fly, with their doctor's approval, until the end of pregnancy if they so choose. Morgan Durrant, a spokesman for Delta, pointed out that once they stop flying, women can use accrued sick days or apply for disability benefits to partially cover their lost wages. Otherwise, the leave is unpaid. Once a baby is born, the major airlines typically don't offer paid maternity leave or alternative ground assignments for breast-feeding mothers. Some carriers, including United Airlines and Alaska Airlines, do offer female pilots up to one year of unpaid leave. Until recently, Delta did not offer such a policy, but the airline has added one year of unpaid leave to the pilot contract. Temporary ground assignments, which were proposed by the pilots at Frontier, could work as an alternative for some who live near company headquarters. But as many as one in five pilots resides at least 1200 kilometres from work.

Breast pumping in the plane lavatory Consider what it took for First Officer Brandy Beck, a 41-year-old Frontier Airlines pilot, to pump breast milk. Once the plane was at cruising altitude and in autopilot mode, she would seek the agreement of her captain to take a break. In keeping with Frontier policy, the remaining pilot was required to put on an oxygen mask. Next a flight attendant - to prevent passengers from approaching the lavatory - would barricade the aisle with a beverage cart. Then the attendant would join the captain in the cockpit, in keeping with rules that require at least two people in an airline cockpit at all times. Only then could Ms Beck slip into the lavatory for a 20-minute pumping session. "It's by far not my favourite place to make my child's next meal," Ms Beck said. "But it's a sacrifice I knew I would have to accept because I came back to work."

Ms Beck said that after nearly 20 years in the aviation industry, she assumed she could keep her job and nurse her baby. "I guess it never came to light in my mind that I couldn't do both," she said. Frontier's management has argued that extended breaks from the cockpit raise safety issues. The company has not offered an in-flight alternative for breast pumping, however, or made available temporary jobs on the ground. "While there are many workplaces that might allow for nursing mothers to express breast milk during a break from work activities, the duties of a commercial airline pilot present unique circumstances," a Frontier spokesman, Jim Faulkner, said in a statement. Seeking maternity leave The Federal Aviation Administration has issued no official rules for pilots who pump in-flight. But Alison Duquette, a spokeswoman for the agency, said that "leaving the flight deck for 20 minutes would not be acceptable" under most circumstances.

A lactating mother often needs to pump breast milk every three to four hours. When she cannot do so, painful pressure can build up in her chest, accompanied by a risk of infection. "It's incredibly distracting and painful," said Ms Beck, "like when you need to go to the bathroom and can't." In a few instances at Delta, according to several of the airline's women pilots, their colleagues had to pump breast milk in the cockpit. The pumps need electricity, and in some older planes, the only plugs available are on the flight deck. The Delta female pilots are seeking a leave policy that would let mothers stay home for six months with pay to breast-feed newborns, and up to two years of unpaid leave. Pilots can earn a base salary of $US200,000 ($259,900) and more in later years. But young pilots often start at low wages as flight instructors, crop dusters, or flying charter or tourism flights, and don't reach the major carriers until their early 30s, a time when they may be planning families. As a result, one Delta pilot said, it is not uncommon for several women in a class of new pilots to be pregnant after a standard yearlong period of probation flying.

Ten female Delta pilots agreed to speak to The New York Times on the condition of anonymity, for fear of alienating their employer or the male union members they hope will take up their cause. The union, through a spokeswoman, Kelly Regus, declined to comment on "the substance of internal union discussions." Durrant, the Delta spokesman, noted that the airline had updated some of its policies, and he said it would continue to examine its maternity and paternity leave programs. "Balancing the demands of a career and raising a family present challenges for all working parents, but we recognise there are unique challenges presented for our female pilots as their children are born," Durrant said in an emailed statement. 'The glass ceiling' It has been difficult for the women to compare notes about workplace issues. There are so few of them, they rarely see or fly with one another. That changed with a private Facebook group known as FAST  Female Aviators Sticking Together  that has grown quickly over the past year. It now has nearly 6000 members.

There are also spinoffs like DAMP, or Delta Air Lines Mommy Pilots. The woman who delivered the breast pump demonstration in June did so on behalf of about 100 pilots in that Facebook group. And the Delta and Frontier pilots know they are pressing an issue that still plagues a group long dominated by women: flight attendants. This year, a flight attendant for Endeavor Air, a regional airline owned by Delta, filed a discrimination complaint with the New York City Commission on Human Rights, claiming the airline failed to provide reasonable breaks or private places to pump breast milk in her workplace. The commission is investigating. Mr Durrant, the Delta spokesman, said Endeavor had worked to accommodate the employee and "has gone to great lengths to provide reasonable accommodations for breast-feeding employees." Joanna L. Grossman, an expert on labour law and gender issues, said the pilots are fighting a complex battle.
Last month it was announced that the 2016 Boyer lecture series would be delivered by Sir Michael Marmot, a leading researcher on health inequality. He will explore how health is not simply a matter of genetics and access to healthcare but is intrinsically linked to economic and social factors. This lecture series comes at a time of growing recognition of the increasing inequalities in income and wealth and the subsequent impacts on health.

The social determinants of health include the obvious physical things such as clean water and air, healthy workplaces, adequate housing, transportation services and safe communities. Education and employment provide income and make housing, food and healthcare affordable. Equally important are less tangible factors such as social support networks, culture and beliefs, stress and exposure to violence, discrimination and racism.

Australia's life expectancy figure does not reflect outcomes for different groups. Credit:Peter Braig

The strong associations between these factors and health outcomes mean that providing for the health and wellbeing of the population requires more than hospitals, doctors and prescription pads and tackling the wicked issues such as obesity, ageing, mental health reforms and Closing the Gap on Indigenous disadvantage requires government involvement beyond the Department of Health. There can be no question that government involvement is essential for two reasons: many of the determining factors for health lie beyond the ability of individuals and communities to influence and population health contributes to national productivity and prosperity.

Life expectancy is the traditional way we measure population health, the effectiveness of our healthcare system and the value we get for the healthcare dollars we spend. By international comparisons Australia, with an average life expectancy of about 83 years, rates well. But this statistic hides many different stories for many different groups. On average: men die five years earlier than women; Indigenous Australians die up to 17 years earlier than non-Indigenous Australians; people living in rural areas die up to seven years earlier than those in urban areas; and people with mental illness die up to 20 years earlier. Between one-third and one-half of these life expectancy gaps are explained by differences in the social determinants of health.
On the afternoon of Friday, August 12, I came home early from my office at the Australian Catholic University. Once settled, I turned on ABC News 24 and saw crawling on their bottom line this piece of news: "Pauline Hanson secures six-year Senate term under major parties deal".

Funny that, I thought. Two nights earlier I had been on Sky Business News television saying to interviewer Peter Switzer quite dogmatically: "Pauline Hanson's One Nation party has been resurrected by the collaboration of Malcolm Turnbull, Nick Xenophon and The Greens in their new Senate electoral system. Hanson herself has been ELECTED to a six-year term."

It seems the two main parties want to cheat Derryn Hinch out of the six-year terms to which he was elected on July 2. Credit:Scott Barbour, Getty Images

So, was Hanson ELECTED to a six-year term or was she to be given it by grace and favour of the generosity of the Labor and Liberal parties in their deal?

Later that Friday evening I watched The Drum program on ABC News 24. Panel members were mainly talking about indigenous affairs, but eventually came to this subject. The two politicians from the Liberal Party (Mathias Cormann and Ken Wyatt) spouted their well-rehearsed party line. The others indicated to the audience that they did not have a clue what this was all about.
I remember my first ever Gay Pride march. I was in my mid-20s at the time. Trying to get into the after party on the streets of Adelaide, I had to negotiate my way through angry preachers waving placards linking homosexuality with murder and rape. Even though I'd been out of the closet for a few years, the experience left me feeling shocked, angry and scared. Fast-forward nearly a decade and I shudder to think what would happen if this kind of hate was amplified by a national plebiscite on marriage equality. If these preachers weren't just waving placards but were armed with the powerful megaphone that a plebiscite would provide. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the plebiscite might not be held until early next year. Credit:Jean Chung Any LGBTI person who has experienced homophobic or transphobic bullying or abuse knows the impact this can have. For someone struggling on their journey with sexuality or gender identity - a young person feeling scared and alone - this can be catastrophic. A plebiscite on marriage equality would unleash a tidal wave of homophobia and transphobia and put lives at risk. It's for this reason that I oppose it and believe that the Senate should vote against any enabling legislation. Some supporters of marriage equality may well argue that defeating the plebiscite plan puts that reform in jeopardy. They are wrong about this. Ethically, I believe it is irresponsible to support a measure that will cause great harm and damage lives in order to potentially achieve a desired policy outcome.

I support marriage equality and I want to see it achieved but I don't want to jeopardise the health and wellbeing of my community to get us there. The lives of LGBTI people are simply too important to gamble with. Senate backing for a plebiscite would also represent poor politics. Despite strong support in the community for marriage equality, there is no guarantee that the "yes" case would win. While a plebiscite might appear an attractive strategy for resolving parliamentary deadlock and finally repudiating the homophobic minority, plebiscites (particular optional ones) produce unpredictable outcomes. And if you doubt this, consider the Brexit fiasco. We know that the Christian Right would do everything they can to marshal their troops in any national vote in Australia. If the "no" campaign wins the day, triumphant conservatives would ensure marriage equality is kicked down the road indefinitely. And the nation would pay a very high price, legitimising ugly homophobia. If the "yes" campaign succeeds this may not necessarily lead to a victory on the floor of the Parliament and conservative senators such as Cory Bernadi and Eric Abetz have already indicated they would flout public opinion and vote according to their own consciences anyway. Voting down the plebiscite's enabling legislation would open up a more certain pathway for marriage equality. Far from being game-over, the Senate's rejection of the plebiscite plan would intensify pressure for a vote in the Parliament. And in such a finely balanced Parliament, there is an opportunity to finally get this passed. The marriage equality campaign has been dragging on for what feels like an eternity in Australia.
There is no such thing as a "victory" in war. Any battle has an aftermath which includes shattered lives, bodies and minds. Ask any veteran who has returned from conflict. It is quite easy to see how these conflicts and so called victories in battle are then glorified and how they then continue to add to a national mythology about nationhood. It is this national mythology which is then the basis upon which young and impressionable minds are preyed upon by politicians for whom war is an option. Long Tan was not a victory. It was yet another conflict that impacted upon thousands of Vietnamese and one that was brought home in the disturbed minds of veterans and that was to awaken within them the horrors of what they had endured for many years to come. Andy Busuttil Hazelbrook As a participant of the battle  I was the platoon sergeant of 11 Platoon D Company 6RAR, 11 Platoon went out with 29 soldiers that day and had eight left on the next day  and who visited The Cross in 2006, I have this view of the restrictions. Regarding visiting The Cross as I understand the situation: the restriction to the wearing of uniforms and medals when visiting The Cross has been a condition since about 1996, the 30th anniversary. There was never any restriction placed on visitors when it was a rubber plantation. There has been with crops. The 40th anniversary in 2006 for the Vietnamese would have been a shock, when a group of Vietnam veterans from South Australia behaved in a disgraceful manner at The Cross. I believe this would have influenced the Vietnamese decision regarding visits to The Cross this year. Robert Buick Mountain Creek (Qld)

I cannot be the only one who recalls the large mobs of people on the streets screaming their abuse at our soldiers who fought in Vietnam. And filling our media  print and sound  with similar abuse. It was clear that they were not only against our fighting in Vietnam, but also totally anti all our soldiers who were doing nothing more or less than their duty. But what do we hear/read today regarding the initial banning of our ceremonies to remember those soldiers who died in that campaign (fortunately the ban is now cancelled)? Not a word! It makes one wonder what those who were so loud in their abuse of our soldiers, think today. Geoff Cass Tewantin (Qld) Had the gutless gormless Coalition Government remained in power beyond 1972 I may have been conscripted to fight in Vietnam. Vietnam haunts all of us, not just the Vietnam vets. The vast majority of Australians who, by 1972, strongly opposed the war, bear no malice nor ill will towards the vets. But let's stop trying to paper over the problem, for otherwise the national wound will continue to fester and not heal. Make this Long Tan commemoration the last. Let the vets and their families reflect privately. And to console them, let's as a nation phase out commemorating the Boer War, WWI and the Iraq debacle, as we had no business being in any of them. Howard Charles Glebe

The Vietnam war was virtually a huge and horrible war crime, filled with atrocities against the whole population of Vietnam. Australia was dragged into it as an ally of the US. Our forces, many of them conscripted , also became victims, and the lives of many survivors were damaged forever. It's not surprising that the Vietnamese government has no enthusiasm for a commemoration at Long Tan. We are lucky that our visitors to Vietnam are still treated well. Our servicemen deserve all of our support and help. A commemoration might be more appropriate on the steps of Parliament house. David Garrett Narraweena Deep pockets for sport but science feels the pinch

I am a sports "tragic" but cannot help but wonder about the $340 million which has been injected into summer Olympic sports in the four-year cycle leading up to Rio ("Heavy price for the winning edge," August 18). During the same time frame, more than $400 million was cut from five key science and research agencies in 2014 (including CSIRO, which lost one in five jobs because of funding cuts). The $37 million for science climate jobs, recently announced by Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Greg Hunt is smoke and mirrors - the money is coming from funds already announced, not from additional funding. Both numbers, however, are small in comparison with Defence spending, which continues to rise - by more than $2.5 billion in 2015, to a total of more than $32 billion for that year alone. One wonders what the troubled F-35 program will eventually suck out of the public purse, compared with the original estimates. Paul Parramore Sawtell It would be more appropriate if, instead of "PBs", Australian athletes achieved "VBs" ... very bests, that is.

Michael Deeth Como West Lindt inquest straying from its focus on important issues The Lindt Cafe siege inquest is as much a witch-hunt as legal theatre, as suggested by former detective Michael Kennedy (Letters, August 18). Experienced, well-trained, but inevitably fallible police officers were dealing with an incident with which they had little experience and so much was unknown  the mental state of Monis, the contents of the suspicious backpack, and more. Perhaps wrong decisions were made  we can never know. Surely the aim of the inquest is to ascertain how the police can do better next time, not provide a forum for barristers to carry on as if they were in a TV crime show? Ian Falconer Turramurra Seems the only choices the authorities were willing to consider in the Lindt hostage crisis were DA or EA. ("Key question that remains unanswered", August 18)

This translates to "kill him now" or "kill him later". If a negotiated settlement was not an option the hostages really were on their own. At least future hostages (and hostage-takers) now know where they stand. Peter Greenland Katoomba During the Lindt coronial inquiry nothing was mentioned about the lack of appeasement towards the gunman. As I recall, a leading imam offered to perform this function but was rejected. Surely this must be a predominant thought in this and similar situations by having relatives, close friends or other contacts attempting to appease the perpetrator prior to physical force applied by the police. Brian Henderson Randwick

WA in spotlight Peter Martin castigated WA for indulgent expenditure during the boom times although it proclaimed the prescience that they would end ("Let's say no to Western Australia, the prodigal state", August 18). That is a political judgment on WA's claim for a greater slice of the GST cake masquerading as moral rectitude. He mentioned the state's GST revenue and revenue is the issue he failed to address. We should remember that the whole of Australia benefited from the minerals boom centred in WA and the whole of Australia is in the red, too. The critical issue is the state's per capita revenue during the boom and currently, indexed for special needs such as the largest area of any state, compared with the other states and territories. Anything less is an unbecoming and parochial knee-jerk to what is, very possibly, a valid claim. Gary Wilson MacGregor (ACT) Give WA a greater share of GST than the formula because it might change governments? The Liberal Party is moving more towards the US Republican tea party where losers are rewarded; a tax deduction for corporations plus a nonsensical slogan was not enough. Malcolm deserved to lose the last election. But hey! Give WA 100 per cent of the GST it collects. Give states their own autonomy and embrace the mouthed Liberal principles of small government. State premiers (except WA) are already doing better than Malcolm, even if he is the smartest man in Australia.

Charles Jaggers Castlecrag Haberfield under threat Transport analyst Chris Standen poses a couple of interesting questions ("Why Lucy Turnbull needs to know what's happening in Haberfield", August 18). Is the best criterion for planning a city livability or volume of traffic? If the former, then why do traffic engineers and motorway builders have such an overwhelming influence in planning Sydney? Paul Fitzgerald Earlwood As the crow flies Haberfield is not far from where I live but in the minds of many it is a world away from their image of Canterbury. Though my area too has heritage buildings, extensive parks, cycle ways and community facilities it is for most Sydney residents simply a congested roadway beside a stinking river. Canterbury and its adjoining suburbs are as much under threat from development as Haberfield, with little sympathy from government planners to do much to protect the features that locals see of value. I do not expect that we can stop the juggernaut that is the urban consolidation of the Sydenham to Bankstown rail corridor but, I do expect people like Lucy Turnbull to advocate on behalf of residents for adequate design features and height limits, community infrastructure, open space and public amenity. If the chair of the Greater Sydney Commission didn't know about the destruction of housing in Haberfield, what hope do the rest of us have?

John Bailey Canterbury "Let them eat Haberfield. l shall nibble on my Point Piper. (Antoinette; cake). Luke Whitington Elizabeth Bay Dragging the chain on Manus We have to hand it to the Turnbull CLP/L&NP/LNP coalition government, the hits just keep on coming since the July 2 election. ("Manus plays down early closure of Manus," August 18.) The census debacle was quickly followed by the Manus Island debacle, they have found themselves with their mistakes catching up on them to the point one wonders what is next?

The appointed ministers simply have not done their homework, and have poorly managed their portfolios. These "affairs" were predictable, one due to the "paranoia" of budget cuts and the other, the government was warned months ago of the decision of the PNG High Court, but again failed to act. The refugees on Manus have been there for far too long, the minister should have found a third country to accept these people in the time that they have been detained. Shaun Newman Deeragun School milk memories a sharp reminder When I was a kid in school the best thing ever was being able to drink as much bottled milk at recess as you possibly could. ("Cold Reception for Warm School Milk", August 18). Sometimes we even got these really oily straws. Green milk (or lime) with an inch of cream on the top has never been surpassed as an energy booster. Many years later as a young teacher out west I asked the NSW Department of Education if I could get some milk for my students from what was one of the largest dairy farms in Australia, just down the road. Absolutely not. Imagine my students' elation when some weeks later 200 cans of condensed milk arrived at the school. Watching 14 kids in age from 5 to 12 years sucking condensed milk through a straw in the shade of a peppercorn tree in the middle of summer in the far west of NSW remains, after 50 years, one of my most memorable experiences as a teacher. Brian McKeown Long Jetty
Richard Capuano received a letter from Roads and Maritime Services this week. It purported to be some good news  finally  for the long-suffering St Peters resident.

Capuano has been locked in combat with the state government agency over its plans to build the $16.8 billion WestConnex motorway.

Just like Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Capuano's house is in the way and is being compulsorily acquired to make way for the Sydney version of Douglas Adams' intergalactic bypass.

As Capuano will tell you, he understands the need for the acquisition in the name of infrastructure provision.
Fairfax Media then published an article by chief political correspondent Mark Kenny, which described the two men in harsh terms, including that they had "angry white male certitude". Kenny's point? That consistent with their public repudiation of 18C, the men could choose not to take offence. Senator Leyonhjelm responded by saying he would lodge a complaint with the Human Rights Commission under section 18C, on the basis that the comments were likely to offend some white males. He reportedly said his action was to highlight the absurdity of the legislation to change people's minds, to win Labor and the Coalition over so he can get it repealed.

The Human Rights Commission must decide the case on its merits. It is likely to become a cause celebre for angry white males content to wear the cloak of victimhood when it suits them, even as they dismiss the right of others to seek redress for injustices.

This to and fro between politics and the media, bastions of white, largely male privilege, must seem semantic to people whose daily lives are tainted by discrimination. Meanwhile a far right nationalist group calling itself the Party for Freedom invaded the Gosford Anglican Church during a service on the weekend. They used a loud speaker to vilify Muslims and multiculturalism. The church and its Father Rod Bower is known for its advocacy for refugees and asylum seekers.

It was offensive and intimidatory and it was intended to be. We don't know whether members of the Muslim community will lodge a complaint under Section 18C. We do know that many Muslims are afraid to participate in public discourse about race because of the hate and intimidation that rains down upon them when they dare to raise any concerns, let alone criticisms, about Australian society or their experiences within it.

The Muslim community, the Jewish community and other minorities who fear any weakening of the laws grants licence to offend will rightly wonder just whose free speech this latest campaign is defending.
Nick (Frank Dillane) is being quite the edgy, surly teen. He's obsessed with death, he enjoys walking around slathered in zombie blood, and when we saw him last he was abandoning his distraught mum and sister to go wandering off into the zombie-filled Mexican night. As the series returns he's decided to walk the 100 baking kilometres to Tijuana in the middle of the day without so much as a hat. This being a solo journey there's relatively little dialogue, though director Daniel Sackheim (a veteran of The Walking Dead and The X-Files) highlights the stark beauty of the landscape and the stark stupidity of Nick's decision-making. It's a suitably moody return for a series that, despite its generally appealing cast, still hasn't sunk hooks into the viewer in the way The Walking Dead did. The episode at least moves the story along and solves one gnawing mystery about the post-apocalyptic ecosystem.

Zumbo's Just Desserts

Seven, 7.30pm

When I think of Adriano Zumbo, I think of colour  in particular, I think of those macarons for which he is most famous, created in myriad vibrant hues. On Zumbo's Just Desserts, his colourful macarons are reflected in the rainbow decor of the Dessert Factory, where 12 contestants are competing for the title of Australia's best amateur dessert maker. It's a Willy Wonka-esque world well suited to Zumbo's elaborate, sweet creations but it can't disguise the fact this is a poor man's MasterChef  its focus might be more narrow, but the format is almost exactly the same. Every week the contestants must cook to a theme (tonight it's to make something "that is a reflection of yourself and what you bring to this competition"  cue multiple declarations of "this is me on a plate") and the two poorest-performing contestants will then face an elimination cook-off in which they must attempt to replicate one of Zumbo's own desserts. But the MasterChef contestants could outcook these guys with their eyes closed, and Zumbo himself is not half as colourful as one of his macarons and not nearly as comfortable in front of the camera as George, Gary or Matt. Better are no-nonsense British co-host Rachel Khoo and delightfully accented Brazilian assistant Gigi Falanga.

Annabel Ross

The Block
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has conceded fewer than 20 of the 850 asylum seekers held on Manus Island have voluntarily resettled in Papua New Guinea, as the government struggles to deal with the closure of the controversial detention centre.

Speaking a day after the PNG government confirmed it would end detention on Manus following an April court ruling finding the centre was in breach on the country's constitution, Mr Dutton lashed out at media reports about conditions in offshore processing and said detainees held by Australia received appropriate mental health care.

Asked if it was true that some men who had resettled voluntarily in PNG had later sought to return to the detention centre, Mr Dutton said refugee advocates in Australia were to blame for sending social media messages to detainees telling them not to agree to resettlement offers.

Speaking on ABC radio on Thursday, Mr Dutton said Australia was supporting hundreds of asylum seekers and refugees who had returned to their countries of origin.
Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove issued a plea on Thursday for Vietnam veterans to ensure that future servicemen and women are not treated as shabbily as they were when they returned from service.

In a commemoration service in Canberra to mark Vietnam Veterans' Day and the 50th anniversary of the battle of Long Tan, Sir Peter said it had "rankled" many Vietnam veterans that they were shunned not just by the community but even by many members of the Returned and Services League.

The service, which was attended by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, his predecessor Tony Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, was dominated by speeches tackling the persistent issue of veterans' mental health, with many speakers calling for the lessons of the past to be learnt.

"Not too many returned veterans in wars before or since were sometimes booed or occasionally even reviled by their own countrymen or women," Sir Peter told the crowd of several thousand, including many Vietnam veterans. "That will make you feel a little unloved and fragile."
Nauru's highest court could be forced to decide whether the indefinite detention of asylum seekers breaches the island nation's constitution after legal action was launched in Australia's High Court.



Lawyers representing a Pakistani asylum seeker, who is still on Nauru, say his detention there has denied him "the most basic human right" and resulted in an unfair hearing on his refugee status.



If the action succeeds, Nauru's Supreme Court would be forced to abandon its refusal to hear his constitutional challenge and decide if more than 450 asylum seekers can remain in the Nauru centre.

The case could also pave the way for hundreds of refugees now living outside the centre to claim compensation from the Australian government for false imprisonment.

Papua New Guinea has announced it will close its centre on Manus Island after a similar constitutional challenge succeeded in PNG's highest court in April.

The Nauruan government maintains that it no longer detains asylum seekers, after it last year declared its offshore processing centre an "open centre" and said they were allowed to move freely around the island.
The son of one of Australia's most notorious underworld figures is facing 20 years in jail after he pleaded guilty to supplying more than half a kilogram of ice.

Adam Henry, 34, appeared in Newcastle Local Court via audio visual link from jail on Wednesday.

Adam Henry captured in a surveillance photograph in Newcastle.

He pleaded guilty to supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Henry is the son Graham "Abo" Henry, a notorious figure during the Sydney underworld days of the 1970s and 1980s and a close associate of convicted killer and armed robber Arthur "Neddy" Smith.
A man sat wearing a blue forensic suit as he explained to police where and why he stabbed his estranged wife, Leila Alavi, 56 times with a pair of scissors in a suburban Sydney car park.

"In her heart and in her neck because she did not obey the rule of marriage," he said in an interview shortly after he had murdered his wife.

Leila Alavi made 12 unsuccessful attempts to get into a refuge before she was murdered by her estranged husband.

When an officer asked why he killed her, Mokhtar Hosseiniamraei, 34, said that Ms Alavi had left him.

"Because we were married and before divorce she broke the contract. I could not tolerate it. I could not forget it.
The judge who will decide whether Eddie Obeid should be jailed for misconduct in public office has given the former Labor minister's lawyers more time to assemble evidence about his medical condition.

But NSW Supreme Court Justice Robert Beech-Jones said on Thursday the administration of justice required Obeid, 72, to be sentenced within a "reasonable time" after conviction.

Eddie Obeid leaves Darlinghurst Court in June. Credit:Ben Rushton

A sentencing hearing in October was "getting towards the outer limits" of what was acceptable, Justice Beech-Jones said.

Obeid was found guilty on June 28 of misconduct in public office for concealing his family's business interest in two Circular Quay cafes when lobbying a senior bureaucrat about the rights of waterfront retailers.
Kenny Baker

1934-206

Kenny Baker, the actor, who has died aged 81, starred alongside Alec Guinness and Harrison Ford yet remained forever out of sight, as the diminutive robot R2-D2 in the Star Wars films.

Standing at just 1.12 metres, Baker was short enough to fit inside the metal costume and sturdy enough to operate the system of levers that propelled it. It was arduous work, with temperatures approaching 40C on location in North Africa. Cut off from the outside world, Baker had no way of knowing whether a take was over. A crew member had to alert him by banging on the suit with a hammer. Even worse than RD-D2 for physical comfort was the furry, bear-like suit that Baker donned to play an Ewok in the third film, Return of the Jedi, an experience he compared to "being poached".

But it was as the mischievous but touchingly loyal R2-D2, who communicated using rather endearing electronic squeaks, that Baker found fame. His on-screen double act with the uptight humanoid robot C3PO was comic and occasionally poignant, although it later transpired that Baker's relationship with Anthony Daniels, who played C3PO, was often strained. Baker thought that Daniels was rude and standoffish. "He really degraded me and made me feel small  for want of a better expression," Baker later recalled.
After being bullied at his new Sydney school because he couldn't speak English, 16-year old refugee Awkar Ruel had a choice: succumb or survive.

His family, Assyrian Christians, were driven out of Iraq into Syria because of religious persecution. The family of five arrived in Australia in 2012, where the former top student was frustrated at his inability to understand anything in class beyond "hi" and "how are you".

Awkar Ruel visited the Opera House the day after he arrived in Australia as a refugee. He has now won an exchange scholarship to further his architecture studies in Denmark, where the Opera House's architect Jrn Utzon was born and worked. Credit:Janie Barrett

A handful of haters called him an "import" and, worse, told him to get out because he couldn't speak the language."I went home, lay down on my bed, and teared up, and I couldn't understand it. I was one of the good students there [in Syria and Iraq], and now I can't understand anything. What can I do about it? Stay here and cry or do something about it."

With near accentless English, Mr Ruel, now 21, said he chose the latter.
Last October, Sydney biochemistry student Madeline Christine Sawyer sent a text message that would eventually help police expose her secret double life.

"How did the rack go?" the 19-year-old asked in the message to an unidentified man.

Madeline Sawyer has avoided jail time. Credit:Peter Rae

"Yeah, it was good," he replied, adding: "What are you doing the bags at?"

Sawyer responded: "Generally $300 a bag."
Ipswich MP Jo-Ann Miller comes from a coal-mining family. Credit:Chris Hyde

"As I said, they both died because they were coalminers. That is the real price of mining coal. I thought black lung was gone. I really did. I thought it was over. I thought black lung, or pneumoconiosis, was eradicated in Queensland and Australia and so did the coalminers and their families, so did the CFMEU and so did successive governments. Now we know that the disease is back. Who is responsible? What failures have occurred and why? There obviously has been maladministration in the Department of Mines.

"Let us talk about black lung. It is a terrible, terrible disease. The miners tell me that it is like having a ton of bricks on their chest every day. They cannot breathe properly. They are walking around with oxygen bottles. It is a terrible, terrible way to die. Patients have symptoms of shortness of breath and chronic cough. They have more exposure to coal than anyone knows. They are down the mines, they breath it in and they cannot get the coal out so the coal stays in their lungs and it forms fibrosis. It is just dreadful.

"There has been a cover-up way back to the Bjelke-Petersen government. There has been a systemic failure, there is no doubt about that, and we need to get to the bottom of it. Earlier this week the black lung victims group wrote to the Premier of Queensland. I table that for the parliament.

"I want a royal commission, and I still do, but I also understand that we can get a parliamentary committee up and running quickly. Because of that and my involvement in the industry I really want to get to the bottom of this. So, colleagues, I offer my services as the chair of this committee because I have worked in the mining industry, I am trusted by the industry, I am trusted by coalminers and I am trusted by their families. If this inquiry does not work I will come back in here and I will move for a royal commission myself. "
The Queensland Government is understood to be seeking to meet with UNESCO representatives, as it deals with the fall-out from its first major legislative defeat in the hung parliament, over laws it had promised the world heritage governing body would be in place to protect the Great Barrier Reef.

The Queensland Government's submission to the UNESCO committee looking at whether to list the reef, which is worth billions of dollars to the Queensland economy, as 'in danger' included a commitment to crack down on land clearing within the reef catchment, in an attempt to limit sediment run off.

Jackie Trad, Deputy Premier of Queensland, right, and Cameron Dick, Queensland Minister for Health at a protest this week of about 150 people who support reforming tree clearing laws. Credit:Andree Withey/ABC

But the legislation, which had been an election promise, to reinstate the laws the LNP had loosened to give landholders more control when it came to clearing native vegetation, faced strong opposition from farmers, agricultural lobby groups, the LNP, indigenous groups and in the end, the independents which the government needed to pass it.

After first believing it had Billy Gordon's vote, having made a commitment to explore the development and sustainability future of the Cape York, the Cook MP announced during the debate he would not be supporting the laws. The loss of his vote instantly lost the minority government the fight, with the LNP having already secured the Katter Party vote, bringing their numbers to the magic number of 45.
A media campaign to catch highly sought after fugitives is having success after the second arrest in Queensland in three days.

Nicholas Byrne, 46, handed himself in at Townsville police station about 3pm on Thursday, police say.

Operation Roam: Nicholas Paul BYRNE Credit:Queensland Police Service

Byrne was charged for offences against a child in 2010 and pleaded guilty, however he failed to appear for sentencing in Bowen.

It comes after police launched Operation Roam, a campaign on Monday aimed at tracking down Australia's 19 most wanted fugitives, including Byrne.
A man who set up a tanning bed business out of his Adelaide garage has become the first person in Australia to be convicted of operating an illegal solarium.

He has been fined $2100 and ordered to pay $900 in court fees.

An advertised image of the "sharelarium".

Jake Martin-Herde, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of offering and providing cosmetic tanning for a fee to the public following an investigation by SA's Environmental Protection Authority.

The 28-year-old had faced a maximum fine of $10,000 for each of his two charges but Chief Magistrate Mary-Louise Hribal set a lighter penalty, including a discount for an early guilty plea.
(New throughout, adds details on Hunt's planned new bid for Oncor)

By Jessica DiNapoli and Tom Hals

WILMINGTON, Del., Aug 17 (Reuters) - Energy Future Holdings Corp , Texas' biggest power company, urged a U.S. bankruptcy court on Wednesday to allow the bulk of its operations to exit Chapter 11, in the largest U.S. bankruptcy since the financial crisis.

In the company's latest bid to reorganize after two years of battling creditors, "The time has come to ... confirm a plan and actually emerge from Chapter 11," said Chad Husnick of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

"The evidence is going to show that this is the best available alternative," he said at the start of a trial in Wilmington, Delaware, to decide on a plan Energy Future had proposed in May.

Energy Future filed for Chapter 11 in April 2014 with $42 billion in debt, the largest bankruptcy since General Motors Corp's in 2009. Much of the debt had been taken on in 2007 when the Dallas-based company was formed through the $45 billion leveraged buyout of TXU Corp, led by KKR & Co, TPG Capital Management and the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs.

Energy Future and its creditors have been engaged in expensive legal fights over a wide range of disputes. Other reorganization plans had failed to get support.

Under the latest plan, the company would be renamed TCEH and own TXU Energy, the state's largest retail electric utility, and Luminant, Texas's largest power plant operator and largest coal miner.

Leading the fight against the proposal are holders of about $650 million of notes issued by Energy Future. They say the plan would not fairly compensate creditors for tax benefits and back office operations that would be transferred to the new company. The noteholders estimated that the transfers would add more than $1 billion to the TCEH operations.

"We believe these are a fraudulent transfer," said Richard Pedone of Nixon Peabody LLP, an attorney for the EFH Indenture Trustee, which represents the noteholders. "There's no monetary compensation."

Story continues

The company has said the transfers would be necessary to avoid triggering large tax liabilities.

Energy Future's Oncor power distribution business would remain in Chapter 11. It had agreed in July to sell Oncor to NextEra Energy Inc in a deal valued at $18.4 billion, but is still accepting other bids for the business.

Privately held Hunt Consolidated Inc. of Texas had proposed to acquire Energy Future's stake in Oncor in an earlier plan that hit regulatory hurdles. On Wednesday, the Dallas Morning News reported that Hunt was preparing another bid.

The latest trial is scheduled to last through the middle of next week. It is the second of its kind for Energy Future, which had confirmed another plan of reorganization last year.

That plan never became effective because regulators blocked the sale of Oncor to a group of creditors and investors led by Hunt Consolidated.

However, many of the settlements with creditors under that plan have been finalized.

(Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli and Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Richard Chang and David Gregorio)
Lawyers for a man charged with shooting dead an alleged kidnapper say that another man was wrongly acquitted of the crime.

Ali Chaouk, who has been charged with murdering Mohammed Haddara in 2009, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday, via video link from custody.

Police allege that Ali Chaouk shot Mohammed Haddara up to five times in the back.

Mr Chaouk's lawyer, Mark Gumbleton, told the court that Ahmed Hablas  cleared by a jury in 2011 of murdering Mr Haddara  was the "correct shooter".

Mr Gumbleton said Mr Hablas would be cross-examined extensively at a committal hearing next year.
While the couple remains legally married, their marriage exists in a legal grey area. Dr Whetton has been unable to change her birth certificate to reflect her affirmed gender - despite holding an Australian passport that identifies her as a woman - or risk being forced to divorce Senator Rice, in a so-called "trans-forced divorce".

More than a decade ago, Victorian Senator Janet Rice's husband Peter Whetton became Penny, and the pair's marriage transformed into a same-sex relationship between two women.

Now, new Victorian laws mean they could be legally recognised as wife and wife.

When Janet married Penny 30 years ago, their marriage was a heterosexual union between Janet and Peter.

On Thursday, the Victorian government introduced legislation that removes legal barriers faced by trans and gender diverse people who want to change their birth certificates.

The changes will create a small number of legally-married same-sex couples in Victoria for the first time, although marriage equality activists will have to wait until federal laws change to see true equality.

Under the proposed changes, couples who enter into a heterosexual marriage before one partner transitions will no longer be forced to divorce if that partner seeks a new birth certificate.

While the federal Marriage Act still stipulates that marriage is between a man and a woman, it's understood this legal definition will not affect marriages that have already been entered into, but which change over time.

The laws would also change the complicated and onerous requirements imposed on people wanting to change the gender on their birth certificate: currently they must be unmarried, 18 years of age or over, and to have already undergone sex reassignment surgery.
Magistrate Rodney Crisp had seen enough.

He'd just watched video footage of a rabbit well and truly alive as Stuart Mills tethered it to a lure for a race-ready greyhound.

It was still alive moments later, despite being locked in the dog's jaws.

After the second lap, there was no movement.
Police are searching for a 13-year-old girl who has been missing for more than a week.

Chloe Smith was last seen at her family home in Mulgrave, in Melbourne's south-east, on August 11.

Chloe Smith has been missing for more than a week. Credit:Victoria Police

Police say the teen often visits the Carnegie, Frankston South, Chadstone and Patterson Lakes areas.

They would not say what time Chloe was last seen. A spokesman said she may be staying with friends.
Linda Dessau will repay the cost of two lavish meals paid for with taxpayer funds during a visit to London as Governor of Victoria.

The costs were incurred when Ms Dessau travelled to London on official business last year to deliver a speech at the World Chinese Economic Forum.

Victorian Governor Linda Dessau.

The total cost of the meals reportedly reached about $1100. In a statement, Ms Dessau insists she only became aware of the full cost of one of the lunches this week. She says an official secretary arranged payment for the meal, which she attended with her spouse.

The Governor also subsequently became aware of another meal, attended by two staff members. Ms Dessau and her spouse were not present at the second meal.
A Perth family was left reeling when their pet dog was discovered shot on their doorstep yesterday afternoon.

Wandi woman Michelle Radis said her two sons, aged 13 and 15, returned home from school to find five-year-old Hunter lying in a pool of blood.

Hunter suffered from bullet fragments in his front leg. Credit:Michelle Radis

"They called me straight away, and at first I thought they may be exaggerating," Ms Radis said.

"I told them to get a tea towel and hold it on his face, and called my girlfriend, who lives nearby, to come and get him.
WA Premier Colin Barnett says Western Australia is open to accepting asylum-seeker families, if the federal government allows people to resettle in Australia.

The offer comes ahead of the closure of the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea.

Colin Barnett is open to resettling Manus Island asylum seekers in WA. Credit:Philip Gostelow

"We would certainly accommodate a number of (asylum seekers) in Western Australia and we'd certainly support them as a state government," Mr Barnett said.

The federal government is under pressure over what to do with the more than 800 asylum seekers on Manus Island.
Bangkok: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has declared he wants closer ties with regional allies as the Turnbull government negotiates reviving a people-swap agreement with his country.

In a key foreign policy speech Mr Najib, facing a loss of international standing over one of the world's largest financial scandals, referred to Malaysia's role in ending Asia's boat people crisis last year.

Scandal-ridden: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Credit:AP

"Over the years we have taken in hundreds of thousands seeking refuge from war and persecution," he said.

British-educated Mr Najib, a close ally of successive Australian governments, said Malaysia has agreed to accept 3000 Syrian migrants "and we remain committed to playing a responsible role in assisting in the alleviation of humanitarian crises near and far".
It is very disconcerting when blatant untruth is published to instill fear into the community in order to get political mileage. It is one thing to make empty promises of grandeur and bling to the people during election time in order to try to get votes but fear mongering is going too far. Case in point is the article regarding the new St. Maarten General Hospital published recently by some media, coming from the Vice President of the UPP. When reading the article it is clear that whoever drafted this article did not know the facts or purposely chose to misconstrue and misinform the general public. The true and correct facts will dispel what is being claimed. I leave it up to you the reader to discern the truth from myth and come to your own conclusion.

It is true that SMMC has been losing money mainly because the tariffs the SMMC charges have not been adjusted to keep pace with the cost of providing the medical services and the unpaid services to undocumented at the health care institution. Notwithstanding this situation, the SMMC has not received the subsidy from the government for over 10 years. This has put the SMMC in a difficult financial position that was resolved partly by adjusting the budget and tariffs but also by expanding the services being provided. To be specific services that have to be provided are those for which thousands of patients are being sent abroad to receive treatment. An average of 26 -30 million guilders is spent each year on medical referrals abroad by the SZV, this does not include medical referral by private insurers. Expanding the hospital and its services will result in fewer patients being sent abroad and being treated closer to home, at least 40-50% of what is spent abroad will be redirected to the local economy. Ultimately this will result in an improved quality of health care for the citizen of St. Maarten and a better management of the health care cost in general.

In order to make this a reality, the Tripartite Committee has been established where Government, SMMC, and the SZV take part and work together to find balanced solutions to the issues of the SMMC. Based on the concerted effort by the Tripartite participants we have tackled the prevailing issues such as new tariff structure, care demand, proposed partnership with regional medical care facilities abroad, telemedicine solutions, cooperation with the French side hospital, new general hospital and the transparent bidding process for the build, finance and maintenance solution for the new hospital.

In coming up with solutions not only did we look at what has to be done from the health care perspective but also what has to be done on the income side of both the hospital as well as the SZV. Instead of going for the easy solution of increasing premiums it was chosen to work on the compliance side regarding the registration of businesses and collection of premiums. The SZV has taken steps to increase compliance by delinquent businesses and we already are seeing the fruits of the steps taken with an increase of contributions collected in comparison to the previous years of at least 20%. In this way, we prevent having to increase premiums.

Work is also being done to make and implement health reform policies in order to expand the insurance coverage to those uninsured groups and measures to manage health care expenses better by eliminating waste.

As to medical tourism solutions that others imply that they had or have to increase the client base for health care in St. Maarten, the following. Why would St. Maarten entertain groups that profess they can bring medical tourism to St. Maarten while expecting that St. Maarten has to put up all the financing to build facilities for these groups to rent for a limited time while not bringing any equity to the table. So they will reap the profits but St. Maarten has to make all investments.

In a report based on a research of a team of British researchers led by the University of York of 2013, Dr. Neil Lunt says Our message is: be wary of being dazzled by the lure of global health markets, and of chasing markets that do not exist.

By having a larger modern hospital locally owned and managed we can attract qualified specialist as well as other specialism that presently are not being offered, but are highly necessary, in such way making it possible that our population of St. Maarten/St. Martin as well to our neighboring islands can get improved health care service.

You are urged not be fooled by fairy tales and too good to be true stories. Solutions to solve our problems have to be pragmatic and do not have to take into consideration self-interest and nefarious agendas.

Reginald Willemsberg,

Democratic Party Candidate # 7
PHILIPSBURG:--- Starting in November 2016, the K1 Britannia Foundation will begin its new 6 month program that will provide 16 foster teenagers and 5 teenagers under probationary measures aged 16 to 18 with work experience placements, educational and practical training courses, work-ready workshops and volunteer placements with social development organizations.The program aims to increase the employability of foster teenagers and teenagers on probationary measures on St. Maarten.

K1 Program Manager Tony Dunkerley explained, Finding employment is a major problem for foster teenagers and teenagers on probationary measures on St. Maarten - particularly for those with limited higher education, relevant training, work experience, or those with a criminal history. In addition, as they approach 18 years of age and leave the foster care system/join the adult probationary system, there is no further support and they often find themselves unemployed and with limited options.

The K1 Britannia Foundation is committed to assisting these youths in a variety of forms, but this relies entirely on the involvement and generosity of the community. The K1 Britannia Foundation are now looking for employers who can offer a 2-month work placement with their respective businesses.

Businesses interested in offering a placement or discuss the program further can email Project Manager Mr. Anthony Dunkerly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

For information about the foundation, visit www.k1britanniafoundation.org and K1 Britannia Foundation on Facebook.
After two-year absence, paralyzed children in Nigeria

Millions of doses of vaccine will be given to children in the region.

After two years with no reported cases, experts had hoped that the disease was gone from the African continent forever. Now, Nigeria joins Afghanistan and Pakistan on the short list of countries where polio is still actively infecting children.

Despite difficult and dangerous social and geographic circumstances, the World Health Organization and other involved groups say efforts to contain the virus will be swift and aggressive. Millions of doses of vaccine, thousands of vaccinators, and the health ministries and militaries of five different countries will be involved in the process.

Vaccinations will begin as soon as next week, starting in the two Borno state villages where paralyzed children have been found, and spreading in ever widening circles to include Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic.

Authorities believe that the virus may have been circulating in the area for some time. Only about one in 200 cases produces paralysis. Sick and disabled children may have been overlooked or lost in the panicky political climate. Until very recently, threats by Boko Haram have made Borno too dangerous for the vaccination teams to travel. The vicious Islamic fundamentalist militia has murdered and kidnapped hundreds. Due to the violence, thousands of Kunari people have been displaced and living in refugee camps.

A mobile population is hard to reach, and this particular vaccine requires at least three doses over three or more weeks to be effective.

Now, after a prolonged effort by the Nigerian Army in cooperation with neighboring militaries, most villages in the area can be reached, at lest intermittently, and the population is returning home. It is believed that there are at least 200,000 unvaccinated children under 5 in the areas that have been altogether off limits for several years, and countless more in the surrounding areas that may not have been vaccinated.

The region is also regularly crossed by the nomadic Fulani people and their cattle. The Fulani rarely visit health clinics, so medic teams try to reach them by travelling to cattle markets or tribal festivals, or by accompanying the veterinarians who tend to the care of the herds.

In addition to the polio vaccinations, the medical teams encourage visits to temporary "health camps" by offering prenatal care, vitamins, food, and shots for other diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, and measles.

Containment of this outbreak is expected to be easier than the last big outbreak which was in the conservative northwest part of the country, and much easier than the ongoing struggles for containment in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In those places rumors persist, some spread by religious leaders, that the vaccination will sterilize girls, or that it contains pork or the AIDS virus.

Polio often leads to paralysis in the legs.

This distrust of western medicine has hindered the decades-long effort to eradicate the disease. Since 1988, the world incidence of polio has been reduced by 99%, but holdout areas in the Middle East and Africa have prevented its complete disappearance.

Rotary International has led the eradication charge, along with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and, more recently, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Nigeria's Rotary International polio committee is helping to coordinate the current campaign. They report that in Borno both religious leaders and average residents accept the vaccine.

The new cases were discovered after the virus was detected in sewage samples. This strain was last seen in Chad, where many of the Nigerian families traveled as refugees, so it likely came to Borno with a returning family.
Corey Lequieu will serve 2.5 years in prison on Federal Conspiracy charges

Corey Lequieu on guard duty with an assault rifle at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside of Burns, according to federal prosecutors.

Corey Lequieu has become the first defendant sentenced for the armed takeover the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown sentenced Lequieu to 2  years in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release in the federal conspiracy case. He must also pay restitution, in an amount to be determined later.

Lequieu, 46, was the first of the 26 defendants to plead guilty. He admitted to impeding federal employees through intimidation, threats, or force.

A conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of six years, but federal prosecutors recommended that Lequieu serve less time as part of a plea agreement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel said the government took under considered the fact that Lequieu was the first in the case to take responsibility for his illegal actions.

Gabriel dismissed Lequieu's remaining count of possessing a firearm in a federal facility. Lequieu, of Fallon, Nevada, had ties to the 2014 Cliven Bundy standoff near Bunkerville, Nevada. The government also agreed not to file felon in possession of a firearm charges against Lequieu in either state.

Lequieu's defense attorney, Ramon Pagan, told the court that his client was grateful that they reached an agreement without Lequieu agreeing to testify against other defendants in the case.

The government had asked that Lequieu's sentencing be pushed back until December, when other defendants in the case will be scheduled for sentencing, so that the victims could make just one trip to Portland to speak about the fear they felt and continue to feel because of the occupation. The workers, employees of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management, couldn't make Lequieu's hearing on Tuesday.

Brown decided to move ahead because Lequieu wished to do so. The judge noted that Pagan will no longer be available to represent Lequieu in December because he was recently appointed as a Circuit Court Judge in Washington County.

Ten other defendants charged in the case have also pleaded guilty.

Gabriel told the court that Lequieu was among a group of protesters, including Jon Ritzheimer and Ryan Bundy, who were first to arrive at the refuge and enter the buildings with weapons on Jan. 2. He jad traveled to Harney County from Nevada in December in preparation for the occupation.

Lequieu was clearly seen holding an assault rifle in a video calling for militia members to support the occupation, Gabriel said. He also worked as security for the occupiers and was armed with an assault rifle in that capacity, the government has said.

Lequieu has claimed ties to the Nevada and 3 percent militia groups and prosecutors have said that he has made violent threats against the Bureau of Land Management and the FBI.

While the government has characterized Lequieu as one of the planners of the takeover, Pagan has said his client didn't play a leadership role.

Multnomah County Sheriff Booking mugshot of Corey Lequieu

Lequieu left the refuge on January 26 after the FBI and state police arrested Ammon Bundy and other leaders during a stop outside the refuge. He was arrested in Nevada on February 11 and returned to Oregon.

In April, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones declined to release Lequieu from custody pending trial. "You're just too dangerous to let out at this time,'' Jones said at the time.

Pagan told the court that before the takeover, his client hadn't recently engaged in criminal behavior and his life was moving in a better direction.

Lequieu then asked if the judge could recommend that he serve his time at the federal prison in Sheridan, which is the closest to his Nevada home, making the trip easier for his family and supporters.

Brown agreed to make the recommendation, but ultimately, she said, the Federal Bureau of Prisons will decide where he goes.
A plausible scenario of Libertarian success, puts the 2016 election into the House of Representatives

Is former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johsnon, the Moses who will lead us out of the wilderness of Trump or Clinton in 2016?

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have duked it out for so long in the national consciousness, that they have entered our subconscious. It's an open secret that no one is excited with our choices, except perhaps fans of The Apprentice ("You're fired.")

The Great Excommunicator will probably continue stumbling along, saying stuff that outrages the press and offends the groups that compose the Democratic party. Meanwhile, Clinton will continue to stumble along, with questions about her role in the Obama administration (not everybody loves you, Barry). She will also stumble while walking up stairs, causing legitimate questions about her health.

The former First Lady is probably just too frail to be President, but that's the subject of another article. The point is, the American public are by and large really, really tired of both candidates and looking for alternatives. That's why polls show record unpopularity rankings for both candidates.

In order to put the election into the House of Representatives, we have to assume that the Libertarians will win at least some entire states. This is because the US Presidential Election is really 50 separate elections, with the winner taking all the Electors for the ... wait for it ... Electoral College.

The United States Electoral College is the only current example of a system in which an executive president is indirectly elected, with electors representing the 50 states and the federal district.

Each state has a number of electors equal to its Congressional representation (in both houses), with the non-state District of Columbia receiving three electors and other non-state territories having no electors. The electors generally cast their votes for the winner of the popular vote in their respective states. However, there are several states where this is not required by law. In the United States, 270 electoral votes are currently required to win the presidential election.

What happens if no presidential candidate gets 270 Electoral votes?

If no candidate receives a majority of Electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the President from the 3 Presidential candidates who received the most Electoral votes. Each state delegation has one vote. The Senate would elect the Vice President from the 2 Vice Presidential candidates with the most Electoral votes. Each Senator would cast one vote for Vice President. If the House of Representatives fails to elect a President by Inauguration Day, the Vice-President Elect serves as acting President until the deadlock is resolved in the House. This from a US Government website, http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#no270

So can Gary Johnson win entire states? Many election watchers think so. Politico thinks so: The rise of Gary Johnson is the latest plot twist in the most unpredictable presidential election in decades. Almost accidentally, the candidate has become 2016's last bearer of a whole set of modern conservative ideals, from free trade to entitlement reform; some top Republicans wary of Trump have already declared for him and many more are leaning toward doing so.

At the same time, Johnson's anti-war foreign policy and liberal stances on social issues have resonated among Bernie Sanders stragglers. And lastly, his message of bipartisanship-or, rather, tripartisanship-is attracting independents frustrated with an increasingly dysfunctional two-party system. To capitalize on this perfect storm, Johnson's campaign has a game plan, a clearly targeted set of states to nail down that-if all the chips fall their way-could upend the election and, in their vision, land Johnson and Weld in the White House.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/08/gary-johnson-profile-2016-libertarian-third-party-214162#ixzz4HB5xlojO

So Gary Johnson's plan is to poll 15% and take part in the debates against Clinton and Trump. Ok then. Which states could he turn? Johnson claims to be polling 12 to 16% in some states. Johnson, and his campaign manager Ron Neilson, figure the Libertarian cannot outspend the major party candidates in large states such as Ohio, California, Texas, New York; nor in swing states like Florida Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Instead, Johnson could outspend Trump and Clinton in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and the Dakotas; states considered firmly Republican. As for blue States, the Libertarians could outspend Clinton and Trump in New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and possibly Oregon. Need we remind you that Marijuana is legal in these states, and Johnson has actually run a pot distribution company? That should play in Peoria, Denver, Little Rock, Portland, and other pot capitols. But I digress.

"Their battleground states," Nielson says of Clinton and Trump, "are not our battleground states."

So there you have it. Johnson polls his way into the debates with Trump and Clinton. The public increasingly turns to the former Republican governor of New Mexico and his running mate, the former Republican Gov. of Mass, Bill Weld. He wins entire states. Don't they have to vote for one of the top 3 candidates as president?

Yes, on the first few ballots. The constitution frees them to vote for anyone on subsequent ballots, and "Mr. Clean" Paul Ryan, has managed to have himself elected Speaker of the House. Ryan will represent a more palatable alternative than Clinton, Trump or Johnson as they try to break the impasse.

How many times has the Vice President been chosen by the U.S. Senate?

Red and blue states in 2012. In 2016, Libertarians will focus on small states mostly in the West, such asUtah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, North Dakota, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Oregon

Once. In the Presidential election of 1836, the election for Vice President was decided in the Senate. Martin Van Buren's running mate, Richard M. Johnson, fell one vote short of a majority in the Electoral College. Vice Presidential candidates Francis Granger and Johnson had a "run-off" in the Senate under the 12th Amendment, where Johnson was elected 33 votes to 17. http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#no270

Update: Kirk Hilliard writes: "You appear to be conflating our Constitution's Twelfth Amendment with the RNC delegate binding rules. Per the 12th Amendment, the house chooses only from the three top delegate winners (Ms. Clinton, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Trump in your scenario). The selection does not open up after a certain number of ballots, but if the House fails to elect a President, then the Vice President-elect becomes acting President. (Here, the 12th Amendment is modified slightly by the 20th Amendment.)

The Vice President-elect in your scenario would be chosen by the Senate from the top two candidates, and only if they fail to chose a Vice President would the Speaker of the House (newly chosen or reaffirmed, as you pointed out) become the President."
BigRentz Ranks 48th on 2016 Inc. 5000 With Three-Year Sales Growth of 5,093 Percent

IRVINE, CA  (Marketwired)  08/18/16  BigRentz, the worlds largest online network, today announced that it has made Inc. magazines 35th annual Inc. 5000 list, ranked 48th. This is the first time BigRentz has been on the list, which is the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. From 2012-2015, BigRentz achieved a three-year sales growth of 5,093 percent. In that same three-year period, the company grew from two employees to 95. Companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Dominos Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known brands gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000.

As the 48th ranked company on the Inc. 5000, is the top ranked construction company, the 10th fastest growing company in California and the sixth in Los Angeles.

This type of recognition is a compliment to our growing team of professionals who work hard every day to provide a great customer experience, said Dallas Imbimbo, CEO of BigRentz. Its also a direct result of our tremendous supplier network and customers across the country that rely on us every day to help them get things done by providing the right equipment, software and services for all their needs. We couldnt be more excited to see our companys name among the top 50 companies in this years Inc. 5000.

The 2016 Inc. 5000 is the most competitive crop in the lists history. The average company on the list achieved three-year growth of 433 percent. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue is $200 billion, and the companies on the list collectively generated 640,000 jobs over the past three years, or about 8 percent of all jobs created in the entire economy during that period. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at .

The Inc. 5000 list stands out where it really counts, says Inc. President and Editor-In-Chief Eric Schurenberg. It honors real achievement by a founder or a team of them. No one makes the Inc. 5000 without building something great  usually from scratch. Thats one of the hardest things to do in business, as every company founder knows. But without it, free enterprise fails.

With connections to over 7,500 rental locations, BigRentz is the worlds largest network, providing customers with the right tools for all their needs. The company balances traditional services and innovative to deliver a quality rental experience for customers while extending the reach of equipment providers and empowering them with smart solutions to help them be more successful. For more information, visit .

Kevin Wilson

513-898-1008
Hard lessons.

This post has been updated.

Ugandan education officials have called for the closure of 63 nurseries and primary schools operated by Bridge International Academies (BIA), a controversial for-profit school chain that offers standardized, internet-based education in developing countries.

Janet Museveni, minister of education and wife of Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, told lawmakers on Tuesday (Aug 17) that inspections of Bridge International schools revealed poor infrastructure, hygiene, and sanitation that put the life and safety of the school children in danger.

Museveni called for the schools in Uganda to be closed at the end of term in September and to remain shuttered until ministry guidelines are met.

Ugandas high court previously issued an interim court ruling that the schools should not be closed, in response to similar calls made by Museveni earlier this month. Bridge said that its schools are still operating and that it expects the court to uphold its ruling at its next hearing. The company called claims of safety issues at its schools false allegations.

Bridge Internationala startup founded in Kenya in 2008 that now has funding from Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg, Pierre Omidyar, the World Bank, the education company Pearson, as well as the United States and the United Kingdom offers schooling to poor families for as little as $6 a month, delivering lessons to classrooms via tablets, smartphones, and other tools.

A promotional photo for BIA.

A promotional photo for BIA.

Its mission, to bring education to poor communities in Asia and Africa, has been lauded as one of the most audacious solutions yet to the lack of education resources around the world. Uganda, Kenya, and Liberia host hundreds of Bridge International schools.

But lately Bridge International has been accused of hiring cheap teachers and using shoddy school buildings to keep costs low. Critics says its scripted teaching plans require the least amount of interaction between students and teachers possible. Others say the company encourages the privatization and outsourcing of education. Last year, more than 100 organizations in Kenya and Uganda signed a statement criticizing the World Banks support of Bridge International.

Story continues

Bridge said in a statement that it is sincerely concerned over Uganda threatening to force 12,000 Bridge children out of school and 800 Ugandans out of work.

In the meantime, our academies are running as usual as we continue to work with the relevant educational authorities to uphold our commitment to our parents and communities to provide a world-class education to their children, said Michael Kaddu, head of public affairs for Bridge International in Uganda.

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NASA's OSIRIS-REx is an ongoing mission at asteroid 101955 Bennu, a carbon-rich rock hosting traces of the early solar system. The spacecraft arrived at Bennu on Dec. 3, 2018, and successfully went into orbit around the asteroid on Dec. 31, 2018.

In 2023, OSIRIS-REx's sample return capsule is scheduled to bring a piece of Bennu back to Earth. But first, the spacecraft will conduct an in-depth study of the rocky body and help scientists learn more about how sunlight can shift an asteroid's position.

Visiting an asteroid

The $800-million OSIRIS-REx (Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer) mission was named a finalist for NASA's New Frontiers mission class in 2009, along with missions to study Venus (Surface and Atmosphere Geochemical Explorer, or SAGE) and the moon (MoonRise). In 2011, OSIRIS-REx was chosen as the winning proposal.

The New Frontiers program consists of a series of medium-class spacecraft missions intended to help us better understand the solar system. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission chosen for that program; the previous selectees were New Horizons, which flew by dwarf planet Pluto in 2015 and by an object called 2014 MU69 in 2019, and the Juno mission, which arrived in orbit around Jupiter in 2016.

OSIRIS-REx launched on Sept. 8, 2016. It briefly returned home in September 2017 to complete a speed-boosting flyby of Earth. The probe arrived at Bennu on Dec. 3, 2018. In the month after its arrival, OSIRIS-REx took detailed measurements of Bennu's shape and mass before precisely slipping into orbit.

OSIRIS-REx achieved its orbit on Dec. 31, 2018, just hours before New Horizons flew by 2014 MU69. The asteroid probe set two records: Bennu is the smallest body a spacecraft has ever orbited (the space rock has a diameter of 1,640 feet, or 500 meters), and OSIRIS-REx performed the closest orbit ever of a small body, at just 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from the surface.

Part of the spacecraft's next job is to look for a safe place to land; mission managers will pick two semifinalist locations by July 2020, and OSIRIS-REx will touch down at one of those spots on the surface shortly after that.

OSIRIS-REx will follow in the footsteps of Japan's Hayabusa, which, in 2010, became the first spacecraft to bring a bit of an asteroid back to Earth. A successor Japanese sample-return mission, called Hayabusa2, is on its way to asteroid Ryugu (also known as 1999 JU3), with an arrival set for 2020. OSIRIS-REx, however, is the first U.S.-led asteroid sample-return mission.

An artists illustration of NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft approaching the asteroid Bennu. (Image credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona)

Sampling an asteroid

Asteroids are the bits and pieces left over from the formation of the planets, and as such, they serve as rudimentary blueprints of the early solar system. Studying them allows scientists to see what the early solar system was like and to get a handle on how planets formed.

NASA's Dawn mission visited the asteroid Vesta before moving on to the dwarf planet Ceres. In contrast to the Dawn mission, OSIRIS-REx will bring home a piece of Bennu for in-depth laboratory studies that aren't possible from orbit. The OSIRIS-REx team hopes to collect at least 2 ounces (60 grams) of material to achieve their scientific goals.

Understanding how asteroids form will not only provide insight about the early solar system, but also help scientists better understand the space rocks' makeup today. That could be helpful should any such object threaten to collide with Earth. The research could also assist in future efforts to mine asteroids.

"The mission will develop important technologies for space exploration that will benefit anyone interested in exploring or mining asteroids, whether it's NASA or a private company," Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx, said in a statement. (Lauretta was previously the mission's co-principal investigator, along with fellow planetary scientist Michael Drake, who died in 2011 at age 65.)

OSIRIS-REx will also help astronomers study the Yarkovsky effect on asteroids. This phenomenon occurs when heat from the sun provides a tiny push that alters the movement of an asteroid or other object. Although the push is minimal, it can build up over time, helping to change the path a space rock travels. But it can be challenging to study this effect, as it varies based on the shape of each asteroid.

"The knowledge from the mission will help us to develop methods to better track the orbits of asteroids," Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, said in a statement.

Now that OSIRIS-REx has reached Bennu, five instruments onboard the spacecraft are working to study, map and analyze the asteroid in unprecedented detail:

OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS)  By measuring visible and near-infrared light, OVIRS will hunt for organics and other minerals.

OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES)  Using the thermal infrared, OTES will take Bennu's temperature and map mineral and chemical abundances. Together, OVIRS and OTES will map Bennu over a wave of interesting wavelengths to help select the best site to sample the asteroid.

OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS)  A three-camera suite will help map Bennu. PolyCam, the largest, will acquire the first images of Bennu, taking them from 1.2 million miles (2 million kilometers) out, and capture high-resolution images of the sample site. MapCam will hunt for satellites and dust plumes around the asteroid, map it in color, and take the photographs to create topographic maps. SamCam will document the collection of the sample and its capture.

OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA)  By scanning the entire surface of Bennu, OLA will send back data to create highly accurate 3D models of the asteroid surface.

Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (RExIS)  Studying X-ray emissions of Bennu will help in the creation of a map showing the abundance of different elements on the surface. Unlike other imaging instruments, RExIS will examine the composition of the asteroid at the level of individual atomic elements.

Mission timeline

Since its launch, the spacecraft has made two deep-space maneuvers. The first took place on Dec. 28, 2016, and set the spacecraft up for its gravity assist with Earth. Almost a year later, OSIRIS-REx made a flyby of the planet, on Sept. 22, 2017, to pick up speed for its journey to Bennu.

At its closest approach, over Antarctica, the spacecraft was roughly 10,700 miles (17,200 km) from the surface. The flyby increased OSIRIS-REx's speed by about 8,500 mph (13,000 km/h) and was executed flawlessly. The spacecraft then continued on its journey to Bennu.

Along the way, the OSIRIS-REx snapped some stunning images of Earth and its moon from a distance of a little more than 3 million miles (5 million km).

On June 28, 2018, the spacecraft aced its second and final major deep-space maneuver before making a series of successful asteroid-approach maneuvers to put it close to Bennu.

Once the asteroid has been studied in significant detail, scientists will identify a region to sample. That's where the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) will come into play. As OSIRIS-REx draws closer to the asteroid, TAGSAM will blast a sample of pure nitrogen gas at the rock's surface. Regolith (dust and broken rock) blasted from the surface will be pushed into the chamber of the sampler. To complete all of the planned science, OSIRIS-REx needs to collect at least 2 ounces (60 g) of asteroid material, but the goal is to collect 5 ounces (150 g) to account for any errors in measurement. The spacecraft will carry three bottles of nitrogen gas to allow for multiple collection attempts, and TAGSAM can carry as much as 70 ounces (2,000 g). To weigh the sample in the low-gravity environment, scientists will measure the angular acceleration of the spacecraft before and after the sample is collected.

Although OSIRIS-REx will sample Bennu, the spacecraft won't fully land on the space rock's surface. Contact during the collection process will be brief, lasting only a few seconds. "We kiss the surface," Drake told reporters in 2011.

OSIRIS-REx's brief contact with the surface of Bennu is scheduled for July 2020.

The spacecraft will depart Bennu in March 2021 for the journey back to Earth. OSIRIS-REx will arrive back home in September 2023 and will drop a return capsule, which will parachute into the Utah desert. The spacecraft will then move into a stable orbit around the sun.

The near-Earth asteroid Bennu, as seen by NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe on Dec. 2, 2018. (Image credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona)

Meet Bennu

Originally known as 1999 RQ36, the rock OSIRIS-Rex will visit was renamed Bennu by 9-year-old Mike Puzio in a 2013 contest. Bennu is an Egyptian god usually depicted as a gray heron. Puzio chose the name because he thought TAGSAM and the solar panels resembled the bird god's neck and wings.

Bennu is one of several thousand near-Earth objects orbiting within 120 million miles (190 million km) of Earth. Among those, Bennu was one of less than 200 objects whose orbit was well-known and sufficiently similar to Earth's orbit. This asteroid orbits the sun every 436 days and comes very close to Earth every six years.

Bennu's also relatively large, at about 1,650 feet (500 m) wide. Rocks smaller than 650 feet (200 m) spin too rapidly for a spacecraft to safely land on them. Only a handful of the asteroids in appropriate orbits were large enough to allow a visit.

Among those deemed appropriate, Bennu has a more-attractive composition. The asteroid is relatively rich in carbon-based material; the asteroids that may have brought water and organic material to Earth and helped kick off life would have looked like Bennu.

"We're going for something rich in organics, which might have had something to do with life getting started," Drake said.

Bennu's close orbit also makes it a potentially hazardous object for Earth, but contrary to what some media reports have said, this space rock isn't a definite threat. NASA scientists calculated that there is a 0.037 percent (or 1-in-2,700) chance that it will strike Earth in the last quarter of the 22nd century. For that to happen, the asteroid would need to have its orbit altered in its 2,135th flyby of Earth.

If the asteroid does collide with Earth, the impact won't destroy the planet, though it will wreak havoc wherever it touches down. Experts say that an asteroid of this size would likely devastate the local area around the impact, but it wouldn't cause mass extinctions.

Still, the advanced warning provided by OSIRIS-REx could help scientists take preventative measures long before an impact.

Further reading:

This article was updated on Jan. 25, 2019 by Space.com contributor Elizabeth Howell.
The Airlander 10, the world's largest aircraft, made its first flight on Aug. 17, 2016.

The world's largest aircraft, a helium-filled, blimp-like airship, has taken to the skies for the first time, successfully landing after its maiden voyage from Cardington Sheds in Bedfordshire, England, today (Aug. 17).

The company that designed and manufactured the Airlander 10 airship, Hybrid Air Vehicles, was bursting with excitement on their Twitter page.

"Airlander takes off on historic first flight. #airlandet #firsts #flight," Hybrid Air Vehicles tweeted today.

"How brilliant is this? Testament to a GREAT British innovation and an amazing small company," read another of their tweets.

A hybrid that borrows technology from airplanes, helicopters and airships, the Airlander 10 is a whopping 302 feet (92 meters) long  that's longer than the largest passenger airliner, the Airbus A380 (also called the Superjumbo). [Huge Airship: See Photos of the Building of the Airlander 10]

Though the Airlander 10 is designed to stay aloft  at altitudes of up to 20,000 feet (6,100 m)  for five days when manned and up to two weeks without humans onboard, tonight's flight was just a quick test, according to Hybrid Air Vehicles.

"Landed. Just a quick flight tonight to prove the concept and needed to land before dark," the company tweeted.

The company sees plenty of potential for the giant aircraft. "It can stay in the air for days and even weeks carrying a lot of weight on an ultra-stable platform," Chris Daniels, head of partnerships and communication at Hybrid Air Vehicles, told Live Science in March. "And it also has the versatility to land and take off from pretty much any surface, including water, carrying up to 10 tonnes [about 22,000 lbs.] of cargo."

With those qualities, Daniels says the Airlander 10 could be used for search and rescue, patrol and surveying, as well as a Wi-Fi platform for rock festivals. Another use? "Passenger flight (think safaris and luxury tourism) or for cargo to remote regions where there aren't good roads or railways, or perhaps an airport doesn't exist," he told Live Science.

Original article on Live Science.
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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  August 17, 2016  Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses the Oil & Gas, part 1, including like Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), BP plc (BP), Cimarex Energy Co. (XEC), Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) and Range Resources Corp. ( RRC).

Industry: Oil & Gas, part 1

Link: https://www.zacks.com/commentary/88457/oil-gas-industry-outlook---aug-2016

Crude Oil

U.S. oil futures have been very volatile in 2016 with prices recovering from a 12-year low of $26.21 a barrel in February to $50/barrel mark in early June and then slipping again to under $40.

While factors like Canadian wildfires, Nigerian outages/disruptions, production issues in Venezuela and a strike by Kuwaiti oil workers contributed to jump in prices earlier this year that saw the benchmark recover significantly, these issues have largely vanished from the market. As of now, overproduction of crude and a glut of refined products keep the commodity under pressure.

At over 520 million barrels, current crude supplies are up 15% from the year-ago period and are at the highest level during this time of the year. As it is, improvement in oil fundamentals remain fragile with the existing stocks of refined product inventories  gasoline and distillate  remaining at their maximum seasonal levels in at least 20 years despite healthy demand. Piling on the misery is the Baker Hughes report revealing a steady rise in the U.S. oil rig count and pointing to the resurgence in shale drilling activities.

A number of major industry players, including Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and BP plc (BP) have reported sub-standard second-quarter numbers as lower energy prices take a toll.

Over the past few trading days, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures have surged around 10% to around $45-a-barrel on renewed expectations of a production freeze from the 14-member OPEC bloc and Russia. However, several analysts have expressed skepticism over this mini-rally, pointing to the last such attempt made in April that failed spectacularly.

Story continues

Oil is facing the heat on several other fronts as well. Perhaps most important pertains to the mounting worries about Chinas crude demand. In particular, the Asian giants currency devaluation has stoked speculation about soft economic growth in the worlds No. 2 energy consumer.

Whats more, in the absence of production cuts from OPEC, the resilience of North American shale suppliers to keep pumping despite crashing prices, and concerns over the effects of Brexit on crude demand., not much upside is expected in oil prices in the near term. Moreover, a stronger dollar has made the greenback-priced crude more expensive for investors holding foreign currency.

As it is, with inventories at the highest level during this time of the year, crude is very well stocked. On top of that, the top producers of Middle East  pumping at full throttle  have indicated time and again that they are more intent on preserving market share rather than attempting to arrest the price decline through production cuts. Therefore, the commodity is likely to maintain its low trajectory throughout 2016.

In our view, crude prices in the next few months are likely to exhibit a sideways-to-bearish trend, mostly trading in the $35-$45 per barrel range. As North American supply remains strong and demand looks underwhelming, we are likely to experience pressure to the price of a barrel of oil.

Natural Gas

"It's cleaner, it's cheaper and it's domestic."

- Legendary energy entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens, in reference to natural gas.

Over the last few years, a quiet revolution has been reshaping the energy business in the U.S. The success of shale gas  natural gas trapped within dense sedimentary rock formations or shale formations  has transformed domestic energy supply, with a potentially inexpensive and abundant new source of fuel for the worlds largest energy consumer.

With the advent of hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking")  a method used to extract natural gas by blasting underground rock formations with a mixture of water, sand and chemicals  shale gas production is now booming in the U.S. Coupled with sophisticated horizontal drilling equipment that can drill and extract gas from shale formations, the new technology is being hailed as a breakthrough in U.S. energy supplies, playing a key role in boosting domestic natural gas reserves. As a result, once faced with a looming deficit, natural gas is now available in abundance.

Statistically speaking, the current storage level  at 3.317 trillion cubic feet (Tcf)  is up 361 Bcf (12%) from last year and is 440 Bcf (15%) above the five-year average. Expectedly, this has taken a toll on prices. Natural gas peaked at about $13.50 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2008 but dropped to its lowest level in almost 17 years  at $1.611 per million Btu (MMBtu)  in the first quarter. Apart from plentiful stocks, which hit an all-time high in November, the selloff was spurred by tepid demand for the fuel due to mild weather spurred by the El Nino phenomenon.

In response to continued weak natural gas prices, major U.S. producers like Cimarex Energy Co. (XEC), Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) and Range Resources Corp. ( RRC) have all taken significant cost-cutting measures, including a reduction in their capital expenditure budgets.

With production from the major shale plays remaining strong and the commoditys demand failing to keep pace with this supply surge, natural gas prices have been held back. Industrial requirement has been lackluster over the past few years with demand barely rising. In fact, EIA estimates natural gas inventories will reach 4.042 Tcf by the end of October  a record level for that time of the year.

In the past, winter weather has played a factor in boosting prices with demand for domestic natural gas exceeding available supply. But with no dearth of new supply, even this association is becoming more and more obsolete. Finally, with improved drilling productivity offsetting the historic decline in rig count, we do not expect gas prices to rally anytime soon.

ZACKS INDUSTRY RANK

Oil/Energy is one the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. We rank all of the more than 260 industries in the 16 Zacks sectors based on the earnings outlook for the constituent companies in each industry. (To learn more visit: About Zacks Industry Rank.)

The way to look at the complete list of 260+ industries is that the outlook for the top one-third of the list (Zacks Industry Rank of #88 and lower) is positive, the middle 1/3rd or industries with Zacks Industry Rank between #89 and #176 is neutral while the outlook for the bottom one-third (Zacks Industry Rank #177 and higher) is negative.

The oil/energy industry is further sub-divided into the following industries at the expanded level: Oil  U.S. Integrated, Oil and Gas Drilling, Oil  U.S. Exploration and Production, Oil/Gas Production Pipeline MLP, Oilfield Services, Oil  International Integrated, Oil  Production/Pipeline, Oilfield Machineries and Equipment, OilC$ Integrated, and Oil Refining and Marketing.

The Oil  U.S. Exploration and Production is the best placed among them with its Zacks Industry Rank #41, comfortably placing it into the top 1/3rd of the 260+ industry groups, where it is joined by the Oil/Gas Production Pipeline MLP with a Zacks Industry Rank of #65 and Oil  International Integrated with a Zacks Industry Rank of #72.

The Oil and Gas Drilling  with a Zacks Industry Rank #97  moves just out of the top 1/3rd and into the middle 1/3rd. There, it is accompanied by the OilC$ Integrated, Oil  Production/Pipeline, Oil  U.S. Integrated and Oilfield Services  carrying respective Zacks Industry Ranks of #105, #105, #105 and #170.

The remaining sub-sectors  Oilfield Machineries and Equipment and Oil Refining and Marketing  are featuring in the bottom one-third of all Zacks industries with Zacks Industry Ranks of #208 and #240, respectively.

The location of these industries suggests that the general outlook for the oil/energy space as a whole is Neutral-to-Negative.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.



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EXXON MOBIL CRP (XOM): Free Stock Analysis Report



BP PLC (BP): Free Stock Analysis Report



CIMAREX ENERGY (XEC): Free Stock Analysis Report



CABOT OIL & GAS (COG): Free Stock Analysis Report



RANGE RESOURCES (RRC): Free Stock Analysis Report



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Vacations for the Privileged

Sam Gregory, program director at the human rights organization Witness.org, emphasizes the importance of adopting a conscious approach that aligns with the host community's interests -- and an awareness of a voluntourist's privilege that "only those with the money, the access to a visa and the time to (volunteer)" have access to.

There's a danger, he warns, that you "get close enough to feel like you've been exposed to another reality, but you're still able to step away."

Beyond these ideological dangers that come with voluntourism, there are also real dangers -- economic, physical and cultural -- that have taken root as an unintended result of these interventions. The first is a direct corollary of supply and demand: As more tourists seek authentic experiences through local organizations on the ground in far-flung countries, a sub-economy is springing up to cater to this niche.
How to help Louisiana flood victims, should you donate money or send nonperishable goods to those affected by the disaster? Alternatively, should you become a volunteer and give your time and energy?

Many people in America, well, all over the world are asking themselves those questions after watching the news or reading an article online about how hard Louisiana has been hit again.

Thus far the torrential rains of the 2016 Louisiana Flood have killed 12 innocent people, according to The Louisiana Fire Marshal.

Since the rain started on August 12 in South Louisiana, more than 20,000 people, have lost their homes and have been forced to seek refuge in shelters. Over 40,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed.

Governor John Bel Edwards called the disaster a historic, unprecedented flooding event that is comparable to Hurricane Katrina, and declared a state of emergency. President Barack Obama, who has been staying up to date on the flooding situation, has offered his prayers to the people of Louisiana.

POTUS moved quickly to grant the emergency declaration to four of the parishes that have been hit hardest by the flooding. FEMA is rapidly responding to emergency needs of residents. According to the White House:

The presidents disaster declaration means that federal funding will become available to affected individuals in the four parishes, and possibly more if the declaration is expanded as damage is assessed and storms continue across the state. That assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, as well as low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses. The disaster declaration also makes federal funding available for state and local government emergency and recovery efforts.

Many famous names such as Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift have donated millions to the state and if you are wondering how can you help the thousands of Louisiana flood victims, here is a great list of organizations that are working around the clock.

If you live in the state, dropping off items is the way to go.

 Things like diapers, clothing, gift cards, canned goods, and pet food are always welcomed.

Another way to help is to volunteer via The Red Cross.

It is also possible to donate money to the Red Cross online or over the phone by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS or by texting LAFLOODS to 90999.

The Salvation Army is also accepting funds to help those made homeless by the disaster.

Via the United Way of Southeast Louisianas website, you can either get an application form to become a volunteer or make donations specifically for relief in Louisiana.

Money donations can be given to Harvest Food Bank, which provides food and water to victims.

The Gulf Coast Floods Childrens Relief Fund, which helps children and families, is accepting monetary donations.
STAMFORD  A familiar face will headline the Stamford Chamber of Commerces annual meeting and awards ceremony next month.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a city native and former mayor, will appear as the keynote speaker at the event, which is scheduled for Sept. 8 at a to-be-determined location.

Weve had a tradition of having the governor come to our annual meeting, said Jack Condlin, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. The governor gets an opportunity to hear whats going on and hear from the business people. And people are interested in hearing what he says.

About 1,200 businesses belong to the Chamber, which is headquartered at 733 Summer St.

In June, Malloy appeared as the keynote speaker at the Downtown Special Services Districts annual meeting. At the time, he said the states inadequate infrastructure has impeded Connecticut from attracting businesses that are moving to other parts of the tri-state area from New York City.

Malloys long-term plans include widening Interstate 95, reducing commuting time on Metro-North rail between Connecticut towns and cities and Grand Central Terminal and expanding the states bus networks.

In that speech, the former Stamford mayor also touted the states support of the citys economic development through programs like the Small Business Express initiative.

More Information To register for the Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting and awards ceremony, use the following link: http://www.stamfordchamber.com/register.asp?id=1368 See More Collapse

These are not operations that are going to grow and have 200 or 300 people overnight, Malloy said. But every time we made one of those investments, particularly in (20)11, (20)12 and (20)13, when many of those businesses were facing challenges about their own survival, we kept them in business.

The Chamber of Commerce has made a number of major changes in recent months, including the hiring of two new staffers, Antoinette Leal, director of events and marketing, and Constance Newton, office manager and member relations coordinator.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
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STAMFORD  A 28-year-old city man was on the phone when his minivan collided with a bicyclist who died of head injuries following the Tresser Boulevard accident this spring, a police investigation has revealed.

Jerry Bastien, 28, was cited for distracted driving on Thursday for the May 9 accident that killed Abdul Aziz, a 72-year-old city resident who was not wearing a helmet when his bike struck the side of the minivan, according to police.

Bastien does not face criminal charges because Aziz was outside the crosswalk in the intersection of Tresser Boulevard and Edith Sherman Drive, according to the results of a police investigation released Thursday by Sgt. Andrew Gallagher, head of the departments Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit.

The bicyclists actions played a very significant factor in the occurrence of the crash, Gallagher said.

According to police, Bastien was driving his 2004 Toyota Sienna minivan eastbound on Tresser Boulevard when the accident occurred shortly after 9:30 a.m. on May 9, according to police.

Aziz entered into the path of traffic outside the crosswalk, heading from the south to north side of Tresser, Gallagher said. After his bike hit the side of the minivan, Aziz was thrown and suffered a serious head injury, Gallagher said. Aziz later died at Stamford Hospital.

Matthew Maddox, an attorney for Bastien, declined to comment about the citation. He said Bastien and his relatives are deeply sympathetic to the Aziz family.

Jerry and his family feel a huge compassion and mourned the death of Mr. Aziz and still feel that way, Maddox said. The circumstances and mechanics of how the accident happened are really not relevant to the tragic loss of life.

Aziz was a native of Bangladesh and father of seven who immigrated to the United States 30 years ago. The accident happened as he was running errands. He worked as a parking lot attendant at Landmark Square and also at a Strawberry Hill Avenue condominium complex where he was a doorman on the graveyard shift.

Aziz moved to the city in 1999 after living in New Jersey, where he worked 72 hours a week at a Greek diner, his family said.

Bastien is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Aug. 31.
A sda owner Walmart today laid bare the scale of the challenge facing the supermarket's new boss Sean Clarke, revealing an eighth straight quarter of falling sales at the grocer.

Walmart boss Doug McMillon once again blamed fierce competition for the 7.5% sales decline in the three months to June 30. That compared to a 5.7% slump in the first quarter, then its largest ever recorded, and the 4.7% drop former boss Andy Clarke described as a "nadir" a year ago.

"In the UK, the competitive environment and food deflation continued to challenge the market, significantly impacting traffic and comp sales," McMillon said.

Asda's position as Britain's cheapest supermarket has been eroded by discounters Aldi and Lidl, which now have a combined 10% market share.

The Leeds-based retailer has attempted to fight back, investing 1.5 billion in lowering prices, but the efforts are yet to bear fruit.

McMillon said the revivial still has a way to go but management were moving quickly to spur it on.

"While our turn-around will take time, Im confident in the new leadership team there and want to assure you were addressing this with urgency."

Walmart replaced Andy Clarke with Sean Clarke in June. Sean Clarke first joined Asda in 1996 before abroad to work for the parent company. Most recently he ran Walmart China.
A mazon has announced it will create 1,500 jobs by opening a major new warehouse in Essex.

Located in the dock area of Thurrock town Tilbury, the "fulfilment centre" will become the retailers 13th in the UK.

It will be fitted with robotic arms which carry products to and fro staff.

The announcement comes after a spike in online shopping, with UK shoppers spending 16.7 per cent more online this July compared to last year and 1.2 per cent more than this June.

Ian Geddes, UK head of retail at Deloitte, said: "The online market now accounts for 14.2 per cent of all retail sales, 1.6 percentage points more than 12 months ago.

"Not only does this indicate a step up in online spending, but retailers also appear to be on the right path when it comes to engaging with the online consumer."

Tilbury, due to open in 2017, will require operations managers, engineers, HR and IT workers and Amazon said it is currently scouting for the positions.

This year alone, the online giant will create 3,500 positions.
O il companies can be as slow as tankers when it comes to changing their ways, but two debt-laden oil firms finally showed signs of adapting to cheaper oil prices.

Tullow, 3.45p richer today at 237.55p, has begun producing oil from its Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme (TEN) fields off the coast of Ghana, three years after the project was given the go-ahead.

It will come as a relief for investors, who last year had feared the project would come on stream later than planned given that it lay in disputed waters. Production, which will help slim its $4.7 billion (3.6 billion) debt pile, will ramp up gradually up to 80,000 barrels per day.

Tullow is the operator of TEN and has a 47% stake.

Premier Oil improved 0.65p to 77.15p as it informed shareholders that progress was being made in renegotiating its refinancing with lenders, even though that appeared to contradict reports it had managed to seal a deal.

Net debt, perhaps the most important figure in the companys first-half report, stood at $2.6 billion, which is lower than at the end of March.

Premier, which this year bought E.Ons UK North Sea assets for $135 million to top up its production amid the oil crisis, said underlying earnings slumped to $182 million from $447 million last year, but after tax it swung to a $167 million profit. The FTSE 100 was back to winning ways, up 13.70 points at 6872.85, hoisted higher by mining stocks, including Antofagasta, 19p better off at 561.5p.

A bullish write-up from analysts at Exane BNP Paribas lifted Michael Spencers interdealer broker Icap 14.1p to 473p, becoming the latest to back the FTSE 250 firm ahead of its deal with Tullett Prebon.

Laird, off 8.7p at 299.3p, continued to reel from the departure of its chief executive, who is taking the reins at Cobham. Boutique investment bank Berenberg slapped a Sell rating on the wireless technology company, convinced it will fall short of profit targets this year after a weak first half, which it saw as a profit warning.

To deliver on consensus numbers Laird must deliver an exceptional second half, which we struggle to see happening given headwinds facing the industry and business, Berenberg said.

Premier Farnell, the struggling electronic parts distributor, slipped 8.22p to 183.78p as its suitor Datwyler warned it would not be raising its bid, leaving Americas Avnet in the hot seat.
T his year has been a game of two quarters rather than halves for Roman Abramovichs steelmaker Evraz, whose improvement since March was not enough to stop profits plunging.

The FTSE 250 firm, in which the billionaire Chelsea FC owner has a 31% stake, revealed consolidated revenues slumped 28% to $3.5 billion (2.7 billion) in the first six months of 2016 and pre-tax profits dived 60% to $48 million.

Evraz, which is headquartered in London but operates mainly in Russia, said the performance was dependent on steel prices. Shares fell 11p to 161.9p, knocking 48 million off the value of Abramovichs stake.

Evraz said it will continue to work with lenders to refinance its net debt of $5.3 billion.

The global steel industry has been crippled by oversupply as Chinas industrial revolution continues apace.

Chief executive Alexander Frolov said the company was still trying to cut costs to deal with structural overcapacity. Given the higher prices and stronger domestic demand in the second quarter, Evrazs outlook for the rest of the year is cautiously optimistic, he added.

Closer to home, the Tata Steel stalemate is yet to be resolved with 11,000 jobs at risk as the Indian firm bids to pull out of the Port Talbot steelworks amid the global crisis.
T here's a breed of colleague that often infuriates. A friend of mine calls them swaggerers.

They are the self-promotion supremos, who somehow get their pick of projects or assignments. They apply for  and win  awards youd never heard of before. And they actually use LinkedIn, rather than seeing its incessant emailing as evidence that humanity doesnt deserve to be the dominant species any more, and that we should just hand over to the dolphins.

I sometimes envy the swaggerers. Because Im the opposite: a plodder in that same friends vernacular. We plodders work hard yet cringe at the idea of shouting about it  misguidedly expecting someone to notice our diligence and achievements. We are Boxer the cart-horse to the swaggerers Squealer; Hillary to their Bill or Barack.

Both sexes can fall into either camp. But my experiences suggest a majority of swaggerers are men. And women are more likely to be the most put-upon plodders: the office doormats, incapable of saying no yet still overlooked. This chimes with the way many of us were socialised too: girls to be bashful; their brothers allowed to boast.

Is this still an obstacle for women in the workplace, then? I fear so. A recent survey of US women for the careers site Fairygodboss found the biggest issue for them was being passed over for promotion. There will be many factors at play there, including conscious and unconscious bias from bosses. But its plausible too that many organisations systems of promotion favour showier staff. Sometimes it is hard not to buy what the swaggerers are selling.

Is the solution, then, that we ape this behaviour? That we all learn to market ourselves more? Certainly, were often told that both women and girls need more confidence. Ive lost track of the number of times  during interviews, dinners, debates and panels  that Ive heard a female business leader hail the magic c as a panacea. Studies have shown that men tend to over-estimate their abilities and women under-estimate theirs when applying for jobs.

I dont disagree. Its just that I feel theres a yin to the yang here. Sure, many of the XX-chromosomed could benefit from having more faith in themselves, just as some Y-chromosome owners could. But there are also those who could do with a little less confidence. Some swaggerers possess a surfeit of self-belief thats wholly unjustified. Like the intern who  two days after arriving at this paper  told me how to do a job Id done for four years. Or the BBCs John Inverdale.

The swaggerer is rarely a good colleague either. When one I know was asked to do a job he considered beneath him, he would employ the childrens chore trick: do it so badly that no one asks again. They can breed resentment in other staff, especially if they freeload. A doctor friend once worked on a ward with the ultimate swaggerer medic. The latter was always off lecturing and making a name for himself, and thus never there. My friend had to fill in to ensure patient care didnt suffer.

Some self-doubt can also be a motivator. It means you check everything. And Id rather be treated by a surgeon who asks for help than one who soldiers on unsure. In my industry, many of the best writers  male and female  are painfully insecure (it keeps you improving) while the worst are usually the over-confident.

Addressing this, then, really lies with employers who should scrutinise the way they hire and promote staff. They should check that the industrious plodder isnt being over-shadowed by the swaggerers inflated ego. But then, as a plodder myself, I would say that.

Why was Amber cast as a villainess?

Split: Amber Heard and Johnny Depp (Jonathan Brady/PA Wire ) / Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

The words seem so carefully chosen, so expensive-lawyerly. There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm, the joint statement from Johnny Depp and Amber Heard read yesterday. Not, then, that there was no harm, but that whatever happened was accidental, unwitting. A whiff of the gaslighter there.

When Heard first accused Depp of domestic violence many inexplicably cast her as the villain. She must be lying! A gold-digger! Captain Jack Sparrow is a hero! Its telling that some always want to make a defendant of a female plaintiff and assume a woman must just be after a rich mans money.

Weve since seen evidence of abuse: photos, text messages, a leaked video. Despite this, Heard has dropped the abuse claims. One might guess why. Depps career will survive  Hollywood has form at forgiving men accused of violence  but her future was always more vulnerable. Its unfair. Cruel.

Incidentally, Heard is a hopeless gold-digger. Shes giving proceeds from her settlement to charity.

Swimmer Jack Burnell justified to make waves

Jack Burnell is the open-water swimmer who was demoted from third to fifth place before being disqualified from his race in Rio on Tuesday. Afterwards, he criticised the referees who didnt have a clue, and claimed a rival, Oussama Mellouli, had grabbed his legs.

Burnells statement was later described as a furious and extraordinary rant. I thought he was remarkably measured considering that hed spent four years working towards that day, only to see his dreams evaporate into farce. And he hardly went full Giles Coren about it. Londoners have thrown bigger strops at tourists who stand on the wrong side of the escalator.

Customers are 24-hour Tubes main concern

Tomorrow the Night Tube arrives. Which means we no longer have the perfect excuse to escape a party when some bore starts pontificating on property prices or Jeremy Corbyn: I must just catch the last train home.

Still, Im thrilled. Well done, Sadiq, and Mike Brown of Transport for London, who implemented the plan. TfLs risk log, which I obtained with a Freedom of Information request, shows quite how complicated creating a 24-hour Tube has been. It catalogues potential obstacles from overheating and fleet management to a difficulty changing the clocks biannually.

But what it also shows is that we customers are the real worry. The alcohol ban being flouted. A resultant rise in violent offences. Intoxicated passengers depositing bodily fluids on trains. So were the ones who could make the Night Tube a nightmare.

@RosamundUrwin
E dinburgh Festival is in full swing, with audiences enjoying  and sometimes enduring  hundreds of different shows a day. London is decidedly quieter, with comedians and theatre companies heading up to the annual jolly jamboree of performance. But you dont need to feel left out.

Its no joke to be missing out on the best comedy shows in the country, but for those who cant be at the Fringe this year, weve rounded up the best jokes of the festival for you. Now youre fully equipped to pretend you just got back from a cultured jaunt to the Fringe.

Dont you hate it when people assume youre rich because you sound posh and went to a private school and have loads of money? Annie McGrath

Ill tell you whats unnatural in the eyes of God. Contact lenses. Zoe Lyons

Edinburgh Fringe Fest 2016 by the numbers

I dont run ever  even when I was a kid at school in PE, cross country for me was literally a walk in the park. Sarah Callaghan

Its tough being ginger. But I know there are far more important social justice movements and next to them we are pale by comparison. James Wilson Taylor

I think the worst thing about driving a time machine is your kids are always in the back moaning Are we THEN yet? Paul F Taylor

I hate double standards. Why is it that if I have sex with loads of women Im a playa, but if a woman does it, shes a lesbian? Jack Barry

My motto in life is always give 100%. Which makes blood donation quite tricky. Tony Cowards

Edinburgh Festiv-LOL: There's side splitting galore at the Edinburgh Fringe

Sunday morning TV in this country might as well be called White People Eating. Fin Taylor

Neil Diamond is the perfect romantic troubadour. Even his name is a brief set of instructions for a successful proposal. Simon Evans

I think if you were hardcore anti-feminism, surely you wouldnt call yourself anti-feminism would you? Youd call yourself Uncle feminism. Jenny Collier

I was the prettiest, cleverest girl in my class. I was homeschooled. Lou Sanders

To give you an idea of the way my dad thinks, we were watching a documentary about Arthur Shawcross, a serial killer who got sentences to over 400 years in prison. He turned to me and said: These days hell do half of that. Adam Rowe

Im afraid of walking past construction sites for a couple of reasons. One, that Ill get cat called, or worse, ignored completely. Felicity Ward

My father had five children with my mother and five with someone else, because he believed in equality. Njambi McGrath

Im not sure about legalizing marijuana. No conversation about someone who smokes weed ends in and they got the promotion. Rory OHanlon

I have the confidence to text a man first. And second. And third. And fourth. And fifth. And sixth. And seventh. Basically, till he answers. Sofie Hagen

Before I started on my food journey I wasnt healthy at all. I never thought about what I was putting in my body. Which is why I got chlamydia. Bella Younger

Theres a common misconception that women try and change men when we marry them  thats just not true. We just want you to be the people you pretended to be to get us in the sack. Wendy Wason

Apparently one in three Europeans are conceived on an IKEA bed, which is crazy because those stores are really well lit. Mark Smith

My show was going to be called Oh no  my Mum was right about everything but she didnt like the title. Pippa Evans

Im voting for Donald Trump. Heres why: I believe a violent revolution is coming to America. And I want a President whos not going to be able to handle it. Ari Shaffir

You have two choices in life. 1) Raise a family so that when youre on your deathbed, youre surrounded by the people you love. 2) Dont raise a family, and use the money youve saved to buy a really amazing deathbed. Henry Paker

I saw an article which said 16 year olds in Britain drink twice as much as they did 10 years ago. Of course they do, they were only 6 at the time. Mark Nelson

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout
Review at a glance









T he National Youth Theatre certainly isnt resting on its considerable laurels in this its 60th anniversary year. Prior to an autumn season in the West End, the NYT pitches camp at the Finborough for three summer weeks of new writing which include this two-hander from the notable Bola Agbaje.

Unfortunately, Agbaje has come up with a 75-minute piece that is tiresome, repetitive and, frankly, credibility-straining.

Funke (Tara Tijani) and Cleo (Katherine Humphrey) are teenage vloggers, broadcasting their Sons of Bitches bulletins from Funkes bedroom. But Funkes increasing engagement with the Black Lives Matter campaign means that thorny issues of race have started to flare between the pair to infuse everything they say and do.

The trouble is, Agbaje doesnt convince us of a previously halcyon period in the girls relationship, which leads to the inevitable interlinked questions: if the pair disagree so fundamentally about seemingly everything, how were they friends in the first place? And why on earth are they doing a vlog together?

Tijani looks to be a find, but there was little to cheer elsewhere in the preview performance I saw as the piece chases its tail in ever-decreasing circles.

Valentina Ceschis production is lumpen and cant hide the fact that Funke, feisty, and Cleo, naive and provocative by turns, are mouthpieces rather than characters.

Until Aug 20, Finborough Theatre; finboroughtheatre.co.uk

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout
T he Germans, who have a word for everything, say Indianthusiam. Its a word that conjures up that nations romantic obsession with all things Native American, from pow-wows to teepees. There is no corresponding word in English but the sentiment remains, buoyed up by a century of cowboys-and-injuns films and pulp novels depicting Native Americans as both noble savages and victims. From a eurocentric perspective the Native American story is still one of feathers and failure.

In this encyclopedic survey of Native North America, J C H King, who was for 30 years keeper of anthropology at the British Museums Department of the Americas, paints a different picture. A century after no one expected Native North Americans to do anything other than assimilate and die away there remain more than 1,000 Native nations in Canada and the US, with 5.2 million people claiming American Indian and Native Alaskan heritage.

Today, as in the past, American Indians count among their number world-class athletes, politicians, business leaders and artists. More than half a million people make their living in Indian-run casinos in an industry worth $91.1 billion. In the face of historical genocide and continuing discrimination and deprivation it seems Native American resilience and ingenuity has won through.

In a panoramic portrait, King divides the first half of the book into broad thematic sections, on Art, Language, Land, and Native spirituality, notably forefronting chapters on Recovery and Success. Each larger section is broken down into smaller mini-essays on a breathtaking range of topics, from the labelling of aboriginal art, through the building of snow houses, to the keeping of Seminole slaves, high-stakes gambling and the hunting of beaver.

The second half of the book is more chronological, focusing on the broad geographical areas of East, West, North and Pacific North-West but with the same magpie sensibility. There are ample illustrations too, of everything from Inuit sled dogs sniffing out the wreckage of a crashed nuclear-armed B-52 bomber in Greenland in 1968 to the Queen Mother being presented with a totem pole.

Kings curatorial approach, with its kaleidoscope structure, may not satisfy readers looking for a more traditional historical treatment, but its a delight for the browsers and sifters among us who may be more engaged by the stories of early 20th-century Kikapoo travelling snake-oil salesmen than by the minutiae of constitutional haggling and treaty-making. Or vice versa.

Either way, what comes through is the extraordinary diversity and persistence of Native cultures and histories. No feather and failure sideshow but a vital and integral part of the American story.

More book reviews 1 /24 More book reviews Recovery by Russell Brand Will Russells brand of self-help prove quite so addictive? By Nicholas Lezard. Read review A Life in Questions by Jeremy Paxman Paxo refuses to answer all the really good questions, says David Sexton. Read review Politics: Between: The Extremes by Nick Clegg The basis of this book makes it impossible not to warm to Clegg, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review Serious Sweet by A L Kennedy Thank heavens for London in this tale of self-obsessed lovers. Read review The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth by Anna Keay Born a kings b****** and destined for a traitors death. Read review Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules by Rebecca Asher Getting to the bottom of why boys will be boys. Read review The Course of Love by Alain de Botton A philosophical novel that does run smooth, says Johanna Thomas-Corr. Read review The Tree Climbers Guide: Adventures in the Urban Canopy by Jack Cooke How I gave this book a proper test and ended up with a broken ankle. Read review Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre Brontes classic tale in the imaginations of other writers, says Claire Harman. Read review Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran Caitlin comes clean about politics  the world according to our funniest feminist. By Rosamund Urwin. Read review Spark Joy An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo Theres no messing wih Marie, says Katie Law. Read review Cockfosters Stories by Helen Simpson After 50, a womans life gets better not worse. By Katie Law. Read review Stalins Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie Joker in the spying pack. By Richard Bassett. Read review Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin The darkness that lies at the heart of the novel is offset by a lightness of touch, says Mark Sanderson. Read review Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Elvis proves not quite so lyrical on the page, says Nick Curtis. Read review The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkins Photographs by Richard Bradford His poetry paints better pictures than any camera, says David Sexton. Read review Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith Morality wins out over macabre murders, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review The Grownup by Gillian Flynn Calling all Flynnies: the con girl whos like gone girl. Read review

King makes a subtler political point here too, arguing that the relationship between the American government and its Native peoples in the frontier period established the template for later US international relations.

Following its independence from the British in 1776, America defined its Indian territories as sovereign dependent nations and its through this contradictory and condescending lens, argues King, that US foreign policy has been conducted ever since.

Far from the special relationship between the US and the UK defining us as American poodles, as some would have it, we are, at least so far as US foreign policy is concerned, a species of Cherokee or Navajo abroad. Which might explain why, at some unspoken level, the Germans still set such store by their Indianthusiam.
W ho could ever forget Julie Christie as Lara in David Leans 1965 film adaption of Boris Pasternaks epic romantic weepie, Doctor Zhivago? Or, for that matter, Omar Sharif as the handsome, brooding doctor, torn between his wife  dull, dutiful Tonya  and his mistress Lara, passionate and full of life? The real-life story that inspired it is every bit as vivid, as Anna Pasternak, a great grand-niece of the writer, discovered while researching the life of Olga Ivinskaya, who became Boris Pasternaks mistress for the last 15 years of his life.

Its a gripping if sad chapter in history and she tells it well. Pasternak was already a famous poet and translator of Shakespeare when he first met Olga at the offices of the literary journal Novy Mir in 1946, where she was an editor. He was 56, she was 34. He was married to his second wife, Zinaida Neuhaus, who had left her husband, one of Pasternaks best friends, pianist Heinrich Neuhaus, for him. Olga had also been married  and widowed  twice, and already had two children.

Pasternak, whose elongated face was often likened to an Arabs horses  hardly flattering  partly because he had long yellowish teeth and Olga soon became lovers but Pasternak felt so guilty about his second marriage that he refused to leave Zinaida. Nor could he give Olga up, so he vacillated between the two women, just as Doctor Zhivago was to vacillate between Tonya and Lara, in a state of perpetual torment.

When Zinaida discovered her husbands affair  Pasternak had left a love letter from Olga out on his desk, the author thinks on purpose  Olga attempted suicide and was sent to an asylum. After she returned, Pasternak dispatched Zinaida to tell Olga the affair must finish. But it didnt.

Soon after, Olga was arrested by the secret police and sentenced to five years in a gulag in Potma. This was as close as the authorities dared come to attacking Pasternak himself, who while known as an opponent of the regime had Stalins protection, thanks to having translated into Russian some of Stalins favourite Georgian poetry a decade earlier. Stalin is reputed to have said of Pasternak, Leave him in peace, hes a cloud dweller, which was later stamped on Pasternaks KGB file.

While Olga toiled in the labour camp  suffering a miscarriage early on  Pasternak was writing the second half of Doctor Zhivago. By the time she was released nearly four years later, Pasternak, who had had a heart attack, had moved out of Moscow to his dacha at Peredelkino, where Zinaida could keep a watchful eye over him.

Olga left Moscow too and set up home nearby. So began a big house, little house arrangement, with Pasternak able to visit Olga several times a day.

More book reviews 1 /24 More book reviews Recovery by Russell Brand Will Russells brand of self-help prove quite so addictive? By Nicholas Lezard. Read review A Life in Questions by Jeremy Paxman Paxo refuses to answer all the really good questions, says David Sexton. Read review Politics: Between: The Extremes by Nick Clegg The basis of this book makes it impossible not to warm to Clegg, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review Serious Sweet by A L Kennedy Thank heavens for London in this tale of self-obsessed lovers. Read review The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth by Anna Keay Born a kings b****** and destined for a traitors death. Read review Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules by Rebecca Asher Getting to the bottom of why boys will be boys. Read review The Course of Love by Alain de Botton A philosophical novel that does run smooth, says Johanna Thomas-Corr. Read review The Tree Climbers Guide: Adventures in the Urban Canopy by Jack Cooke How I gave this book a proper test and ended up with a broken ankle. Read review Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre Brontes classic tale in the imaginations of other writers, says Claire Harman. Read review Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran Caitlin comes clean about politics  the world according to our funniest feminist. By Rosamund Urwin. Read review Spark Joy An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo Theres no messing wih Marie, says Katie Law. Read review Cockfosters Stories by Helen Simpson After 50, a womans life gets better not worse. By Katie Law. Read review Stalins Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie Joker in the spying pack. By Richard Bassett. Read review Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin The darkness that lies at the heart of the novel is offset by a lightness of touch, says Mark Sanderson. Read review Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Elvis proves not quite so lyrical on the page, says Nick Curtis. Read review The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkins Photographs by Richard Bradford His poetry paints better pictures than any camera, says David Sexton. Read review Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith Morality wins out over macabre murders, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review The Grownup by Gillian Flynn Calling all Flynnies: the con girl whos like gone girl. Read review

In 1955 he finished Doctor Zhivago and the following May agreed for it to be smuggled to Italy and published by Feltrinelli, as the Soviet authorities refused to publish it uncensored. Pasternak told the courier, as he handed over the original 433-page manuscript, You are hereby invited to take part in my own execution.

The subsequent facts  the novels publication and the worldwide response to it, the announcement that Pasternak was to be awarded the Nobel Prize, his acceptance and later his enforced repudiation of the prize  are of course all history. But what of Olga after Pasternaks death in 1960? She and her daughter Irina were sent to another gulag, eventually released, and Olga lived the rest of her life in Moscow, dying at the age of 83. Anna Pasternak not only challenges the accepted family view that Olga played little part in Pasternaks life and literary achievements, she also lays bare his self-absorbed soliloquies, his false modesty, his vanity and his addiction to high drama. Yet in the end, like Olga, she forgives him everything.
L ast summer, my mother died. This would be challenging enough, but ours had been a turbulent relationship. For almost a decade, she had refused any contact. This continued until my early 40s, after which communication resumed. There was no apology and no discussion. That first Christmas back in her company was the Christmas of her cancer diagnosis. Six months later, she was dead.

Despite having close siblings, the greatest of friends, and a loving partner, only Tom, the ex-boyfriend who had been by my side during the cold shoulder years, could fully understand my agonies. I could try to explain it to other people, but I didnt need to explain it to him, and the relief of being understood without saying a word was seismic. I love the man and always will.

And its not just me. Ex-love is a new, tribal phenomenon, especially in London, that great single stalking ground in which exes never disappear. In an Office for National Statistics survey, seven of the countrys top 10 most single areas were discovered to be in the capital. London boasts legions of single people, who tend not to settle down until later, if at all, giving our ex potential more scope.

Meanwhile, celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom, and long-time exes Kate Moss and Jefferson Hack, and Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant prove that ex affection can be pulled off even in the heightened realms of slebville.

Before I go any further, allow me to say how hotly I adore my current partner. A BBC type whom I met 18 months ago at a Christmas party, he is 42 to my 45, meaning that, ex-wise, we have both covered a fair bit of ground. In the seven years between the ex mentioned above and my present beau, I was a fast-living, epic-drinking lone ranger with a single column in The Times  ideologically and professionally single.

Today, I am a sober, rather more restrained half of a couple, no longer dancing on tables or getting myself into scrapes. However, the major men in my life from my early 30s onwards  and a handful of friendly flings  have become non-negotiable allies, blood, kin. Flirtation has expired, in its place an intimate camaraderie.

I have their backs and they have mine. We are active friends: emailing, texting, seeing each other all the time, just as I am active friends with their new partners, as and when they arise. They are the best of men, and I would take a bullet for every one them. Which means that my sainted boyfriend is forced to accept that my affection for him is in no way diminished by the love that I harbour for my exes.

Hannah Betts

Tom, a researcher, and the only man I have ever lived with, was the first of these beloved beings, and the individual who taught me how to be adult in a relationship. I still rely on his opinion in matters of taste: be it writing or behaviour. The sadness when we agreed to part at the age of 37 was lacerating, but both of us worked bloody hard to stay friends. Generously, he even built my new bed when we went our separate ways, causing colleagues to shriek that by doing so I was cursing it with ex-boyfriend voodoo and would never have intercourse again (spoiler alert: I did).

I remain extremely fond of his family. When his father died, I wept copiously at his funeral and brought cakes to the wake. I also love his girlfriend  she and I email each other constantly  and I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that he has found the love of his life.

Anna Bu Kliewer

Dan, a dishevelled lawyer and the next man I fell in love with, similarly put his back into behaving in a civilised fashion after our time was up, as did I. Sure, I had a couple of years of feeling a tad heartbroken, and the time I overheard him having sex with his next lover wasnt a barrel of laughs (actually, it was hilarious). However, there is no hurt one cannot rise above.

It would have been easier to drop each other, become phobic, embarrass our friends. However, we chose to be grown-ups, and the joy of this is that he, like the two loves who came after him, transformed into one of my closest allies.

During the 2011 riots, a couple of more casual exes texted to see if I was OK  an extremely reassuring gesture. Others have offered Christmas hook-ups, rather a fun prospect when one is single, or have served as platonic plus-ones.

Anna Bu Kliewer

We have taken each other to hospital, as we have taken each other for break-up pints; we have holidayed with each other, as we have introduced each other to our hot single friends. Having slept together, there is an extra dimension to our friendship, a hinterland that makes allegiance stronger, loyalty more unquestioning.

A gay designer friend in his 30s argues: This is merely straights catching up with the gay community, and he may have a point. After a while you come to realise that everyones slept with everyone, and you just have to be relaxed about it. None of us is Doris Day. By a certain age, weve all got a past and our friendship groups are likely to be built on it. Think of it as a ready-made urban family.

And, if you think my ex-love is impressive as a 45-year-old serial monogamist, it is nothing compared with that of my twenty-something colleagues. Almost all of my friends are exes, explains 27-year-old tech wizard, Kate, in that I have hook-ups rather than boy- or girlfriends, so everythings more low-key. Theres no big drama when you stop sleeping with someone because there was no big drama to start with. I wasnt in love with any of them while we were having sex, but I definitely love some of them now.

Similarly, my fifty- and sixty-something friends have been through so many break-ups that everyone is compelled to be cucumber cool, or dinner parties would be intolerable. (Ill never forget a Notting Hill supper that ended in a baby-boomer bitch fight.) As Max, a silver-fox barrister, jokes: Theres also the fact that one simply cant remember enough to merit bad vibes. Ive probably slept with all my female friends, but, frankly, such things are lost in the mists of time.

I should make it abundantly clear that, unlike Max, I havent slept with anything approaching all my friends; which will doubtless come as a relief to their wives and girlfriends. However, enough of my pals are exes of some sort for me to empathise with his post-coital bonhomie.

My social life  and my sex life  have been all the more coruscating for taking a more amicable approach. Incompatibility as lovers does not prevent compatibility as friends. After all, these are the men and women who made us into the functional human beings we are today. The least we can do is love and respect them for it.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: @EsMagOfficial
#

Ive been cooking Caribbean food since the age of 12; growing up in Barbados my evenings were spent in the kitchen assisting my mum or grandma. Theyre both amazing cooks and taught me all the traditional dishes.

Ever since I moved to London 17 years ago Ive craved the taste of home-cooked Caribbean food and found myself rooting around in the markets for ingredients.

I used to invite friends over to show them what authentic Caribbean food tastes like, and they would always be amazed by the delicious flavour combinations. Word spread and the invite list kept growing, and now I regularly run my supper club, Pop Up Barbados. I mostly cook Caribbean dishes but Im also inspired by my travels around Europe; its really fun to sample plenty of dishes in one evening.

Ive been going to the Notting Hill Carnival since I came to London. Its the one event that offers a massive slice of Caribbean culture and it brings people together, wherever theyre from.

Im proud of my Bajan roots and would like to see a few more options on offer at Carnival. Sometimes I think the rest of the worlds understanding of Caribbean food is all jerk chicken, curried goat, and salt fish and ackee with rice and peas.

Those dishes are delicious but every island has its own cuisine. My souse recipes offer something a bit different, but confident Caribbean cooks will love the way the flavours combine.

Barrie Gunning runs regular supper clubs in London, for dates visit popupbarbados.com

Fancy creating a carnival atmosphere in your own home? Try out one of Barrie's souse recipes for yourself

Bajan pork souse

Ingredients (serves eight)

 1kg pork shoulder, chopped into manageable pieces

 1 cucumber

 half a bunch of parsley

 6 large limes

 1 onion

 2 scotch bonnet peppers

 salt

Method

1. Place the pork shoulder in a large pot of water with a teaspoon of salt; boil for around two hours until tender.

2. Finely chop vegetables and herbs. Squeeze limes; setting aside for later.

3. Once the pork is cooked, strain and rinse in freshly-boiled water.

4. Place the pork in a large mixing bowl. Stir in vegetables, lime juice, herbs and salt.

5. Set aside for 30 minutes before serving.

Bajan octopus souse

Ingredients (serves 8)

 1.5kg octopus

 1 cucumber

 half a bunch of parsley

 4 medium multicolour tomatoes

 4 large limes

 2 scotch bonnet peppers

 salt

Method

1. Place the octopus in a large pot of water with a teaspoon of salt; boil for around one hour.

2. Finely chop vegetables and herbs, and squeeze limes; setting aside for later.

3. Once the octopus is cooked, strain, rinse under cold water and chop into bite-size cubes.

4. Place in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the vegetables, lime juice, herbs and salt.

5. Set aside for 30 minutes before serving.

For your chance to win a 100 Sainsbury's voucher, send us a picture of your carnival inspired dish.

Enter here

Visit sainsburys.co.uk/worldfoods and enter your postcode to see the full range of African and Caribbean products
W hen it comes to party islands, you probably wouldnt think to look at Malta ahead of heavyweight party destinations Ibiza, Aiya Napa and Ios.

But the Maltese archipelago - consisting of Malta, Gozo and Comino - has plenty to offer curious Londoners who like to hit the beach as hard as they hit the bar.

Just a three-hour flight from London, it's already a favourite holiday destination for the likes of Brad and Angelina, but a younger crowd is now flocking to its shores thanks to a guaranteed 300 days of sunshine per year, a swathe of stylish hangouts and a burgeoning festival scene.

But the Maltese islands will soon be known for much more; the historic Valetta is set to be crowned the capital of culture in 2018 - so really, theres no better time to plan a visit.

If the promise of pearly beaches, turquoise seas and endless nights hasnt already sold this Mediterranean Island to you, take a look through our gallery above and discover why Malta should be at the top of your bucket list this year.

Follow us on Twitter: @eslifeandstyle
R ecord numbers of teenagers were today celebrating getting a university place after a surge in the number of offers.

Ucas figures showed 424,000 pupils have been accepted to UK institutions  up three per cent on last year  the highest ever on A-level results day.

Thousands more places, including at leading universities, were expected to be made available through clearing as hundreds of extra staff were drafted in to cope with the scramble.

Universities admitted that this year could be a buyers market for applications, following the fall in the number of 18-year-olds and the removal of the cap on the numbers they can recruit.

London students get their A Level results

It has led to claims that universities have reduced their entry criteria in a bid to attract students. Middlesex University said it would be a buyers market and London South Bank University is running a 36-hour non-stop clearing service.

This years results showed students from disadvantaged backgrounds are also seven per cent more likely to go to university, following a drive in social mobility.

Around 27,400 more girls were offered places than boys, with three per cent more boys getting a place this year. Girls continue to dominate in many degrees. The gap between the brightest girls and boys at A-level has narrowed for the first time in five years. Boys achieved more A* grades  8.5 per cent compared with girls 7.7 per cent  meaning the difference in results between the two sexes was just 0.8 per cent. After A grades were included, girls narrowly outperformed their male counterparts by 0.3 per cent, the smallest gap in 10 years.

A-level students in the South-East performed the best in England, with London pupils a close second. More than 27 per cent of results in the capital were A* or A.

Overall, the proportion of A* and A grades awarded to students in the UK dropped slightly, from 25.9 per cent in 2015 to 25.8 per cent this year. Exam board chiefs claimed the drop  which represent just 836 grades  was so small as to not be statistically significant.

Andrew Hall, chief executive of exam board AQA, said: Its a fairly clear and stable set of results. We dont really see any great surprises.

A-Level students react to results using emojis

Overall, the pass rate remained at 98.1 per cent, exactly the same as last year, although fewer students sat exams.

Maths remained the most popular subject, accounting for 11 per cent of all entries, with almost 20,000 more boys than girls taking the exam.

Sharon Hague, senior vice-president of Pearson Qualification Services, said: Thats a long established pattern for maths but there are some encouraging signs. Theres a growth in girls doing economics. Perhaps thats a sign that young people are aware of the skills that businesses are looking for.

Mr Hall added that the difference could be down to subjects where students felt more comfortable. Almost four times as many boys as girls took physics.

Computing, which was also dominated by boys, saw the biggest jump in entrants, rising by 16 per cent on last year.

In London, the state-funded Kings Maths School, which recruits the brightest mathematicians from across the capital, announced that 100 per cent of their pupils received A* or A grades in maths, with 83 per cent getting the higher grade.

The fall in students taking modern languages continued with entries in French, German and Spanish all down, although more students received top A* grades, according to the Joint Council for Qualifications.

It comes after heads of both private and state schools said that students appealing exam results face the most chaotic and unfair year in a generation.

In May, Ofqual, the exam boards regulator, said it would only allow remarking if there were clear errors.
T he family of a teenager hacked to death after reportedly being chased by youths armed with machetes have pleaded for an end to the cycle of violence on the capitals streets.

More than 100 friends and relatives of Andre Aderemi, 19, last night gathered for a memorial church service on the Croydon estate where he was murdered on Tuesday.

His mother Yemi Hughes told the congregation: Ive lost my baby. Hes my everything, my rock... my other two boys are broken.

Andre, an ex-pupil at John Ruskin College in Croydon, was an amateur rapper said to be friends with two other young musicians stabbed to death in south London in the past three months.

He is the eighth teenage victim of knife crime in the capital this year.

Peacemaker: Tributes have poured in for 19-year-old Andre who was stabbed to death in Selsdon

Andre was becoming well known in south Londons grime scene, and was friends with Myron Isaac Yarde, a 17-year-old rapper known as MDot, fatally stabbed in New Cross in April.

He is also said to have performed with 16-year-old Leoandro Osemeke, known as Showkey, stabbed to death outside a party in Peckham on August 5.

The police presence in the Monks Hill estate where he was attacked was stepped up overnight as the investigation into his death continued.

Inside St Francis Church, Ms Hughes told his friends: I want you guys to know I dont blame any of you. Andre would not want me to sit here today with hatred in my heart, he loved you all. I want you to grieve, be together, support each other, be among us. Im going to miss him so much. I just dont know how Im going to carry on.

Mandy Davis, Andres aunt, said: Please say a prayer for the young people to stop this war thats going on, so another mother or another family arent grieving like we are today.

Andres sister Sheniqua has set up an online fundraising page to raise 4,000 to pay for her brothers funeral, which has so far raised more than 1,000. She wrote: He was a passionate for his loved ones and had a priceless heart.

Rev Peter Wyatt, who led last nights service, praised the familys dignity saying: His mum was incredibly brave and talked about her son.

Its a huge shock, the last time anything like this happened here was 20 years ago. Its a very quiet area.

To donate to Andres funeral, visit gofundme.com/2k5yakba

Two 19-year-olds have been arrested on suspicion of murder and are being questioned in custody.
S cotland Yards ability to respond to a terror attack is being threatened by sky-high property prices forcing thousands of officers to become commuter cops living outside London, a new report warned today.

It raised the alarm over police officers giving up hope of being able to afford a home in the capital.

The Policy Exchange study called for the Met to offer a range of financial support for housing and to encourage 3,000 more officers to live in inner-London over the next five years.

The think tank found that of the 18,179 officers assigned to borough policing, only 8,896  just under half  lived in Greater London as of last September. In Islington, out of 572 officers assigned to police the borough only two lived there.

Report author Glyn Gaskarth said: Having a police force that lives outside London affects the ability of the Met to mobilise sufficient numbers of officers to deal with terrorist incidents or civil disturbances.

Officers resident in London were more likely to pick up intelligence, the study added. They were also more use off-duty in the capital than in surrounding counties.

The Met has sought to encourage more officers to have homes in London, including the introduction of a rule in 2014 that they must have lived in the city for three out of the past six years before joining the force. Concessionary rail travel that allows officers to commute greater distances has also been cut for new recruits. Scotland Yard said the residency rule had been successful in ensuring new constables better understood and reflected modern London.

And the force denied counter-terrorism operations could be undermined by having so many officers living outside the capital.

Challenges: London's police officers / Steve Parsons/PA

Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey said: We have tried and tested plans to allow us to respond at pace and effectively to a range of critical incidents and do not believe that these are in any way jeopardised by the places officers currently live.

But the think tank, which interviewed 74 officers, found strong reasons to believe the exodus from London could increase, given how property prices have soared. At the beginning of the year, the average London house price  of 530,000  was almost 18 times a new police officers salary of just under 30,000, so many share flats or still live at home with their parents.

One officer who did not live in the part of London where he worked told of feeling like a migrant worker, adding: I come into work, I do my work there, I go home. Others said that when they were getting towards the end of a police shift, they would be wary of going out on a call that might delay them and cause them to miss their train home. Officers have even commuted in from Cornwall and the South of France, while others have joined other forces or quit the service altogether rather having long commutes, often at antisocial times.

During major events such as the London Olympics, the 2011 riots and the Queens Jubilee, officers slept in police stations, vans and even station cupboards because back-to-back shifts meant they could not go home, according to the report called Commuter Cops.

Scotland Yard recruited about 5,000 new officers between 2013 and last year. The report proposed a series of measures to offer financial support so more could afford a home in communities where they work.

These include working with housing associations to convert old police stations and other Met properties into new flats which could be offered at discounted sale. The force should also provide low-interest loans and top up officers savings being put aside to buy a home.

Police choosing to live in areas with higher crime rates could be offered the most help.

Mr Mackey accepted the forced faced a challenge over the affordability of homes but added: Having cut 600 million off our spending in the past five years and needing to find another 400 million in the years ahead, our financial and operational future depends on us realising the capital of our under-used estate and re-investing that money in frontline policing.
A n elite armed officer for the Metropolitan Police is facing charges of fraud after allegedly lying about his training.

PC Ryan McGowan is part of the Specialist Firearms Command team tasked with responding to any armed attacks in London.

He was suspended after being accused of falsifying his training record" and now faces fraud and misconduct charges.

McGowan, 35, has been summoned to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on August 24 after Scotland Yard launched an internal investigation into the allegations.

A Met spokesman said: The officer was suspended from duty in January 2015 as part of a misconduct investigation examining allegations that the officer had falsified his training record.

He has been issued with a summons to appear at court to answer to one count of misconduct in public office and one count of fraud by misrepresentation.
A Met constable who assaulted two police officers called to reports of domestic violence has been sentenced to community service.

PC Martin Wright, who serves in Hammersmith and Fulham, was found guilty of assault on police, ordered to do a 12-month Community Order and fined 900.

The police officers were called to reports of domestic assault in Surrey on March 27.

When they arrived at the scene PC Wright assaulted them, leaving them with neck and wrist injuries.

PC Wright, 39, was arrested and charged with one count of domestic assault and two counts of assault on police.

He pleaded guilty to one count of assault on police and was found guilty of the second at Guildford Magistrates' Court on Friday.

No evidence was offered in relation to the domestic assault charge.

Detective chief superintendent Matt Gardner, Commander of the Directorate of Professional Standards, said: "It is the duty of police to protect from harm, not to seek to cause it.

It is deeply saddening that PC Wright behaved as he did - especially as someone who knows better than most of the challenges officers face when dealing with suspects."

The officer has been suspended from duty as a misconduct review takes place.
A straight-A student today said he was more nervous meeting Star Wars actor John Boyega than waiting for his clean sweep of results.

Jacob Howe, from Hackney, was among thousands of London teenagers celebrating as their exam results were revealed.

The gifted maths whizz is facing a bright future after securing one A* and two A grades to land a place studying maths at the University of Bristol.

Jacob has spent seven years at Westminster City School, where he also met former pupil and Star Wars actor John Boyega.

He was awarded the Robert Lobb Bequest for Mathematics and School Colours and took to the stage for a selfie with the Peckham-born Hollywood star.

I got a selfie with him but didnt get much time to chat because hes so busy.

Star student: Jacob Howe, 18, who got an A* and two A's / Matt Writtle

I think I was more excited meeting him than getting the results but I think that will change when I go to university in September, when I will be ecstatic.

He added: Im not sure what I want to do after university. I have been inspired by teachers from this school, especially a maths teacher whos leaving this year.

He was outstanding and maybe teaching could be the job I do.

Westminster City School was celebrating strong results for the 80 pupils in its sixth form near Victoria.

Head teacher James Wilson said he was delighted with the 97 per cent pass mark for students.

Almost a third of pupils achieved A* or A grades, with seven out of 10 pupils securing grades in the A* to C range.Half of the pupils achieved A to B grades in their chosen subjects.

Success: Westminster City pupils Michael Chi, Jacob Howe, Steven Philips, Iman Benazho, Shadia Aboelhiga and Montel Murrayfield Smith / Matt Writtle

Aspiring musician James Cruz, 18, secured a D in psychology but his future could be on stage rather than university after getting through to The Voice live shows next year.

James, who performs around Camden, said he will juggle history, psychology and government politics with his TV commitments.

He said: I think 2017 will be a big year for me, its going to shape my future. I want to finish my exams so I have something to fall back on.

Seventeen-year-old Derick Ofori, from Camberwell, is set to study civil engineering at the University of Surrey after scooping A grades in maths and physics, and a B in economics.

He said: I called my parents and they were really proud. Im planning on going out today with the lads to celebrate.

Another London teenager celebrating today was Harrison Iloh, 18, who landed his university place after fighting off serious illness while studying for his A-levels.

Harrison, from East Ham, was diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease  which causes fever, mouth ulcers and severe stomach pain  twice in the past 12 months. Due to various family issues, he also moved house four times during his studies.

Harrison, who studied at the London Academy of Excellence (LAE), got an A* in economics and As in English and maths and will study economics at Warwick University.

Im very pleased, especially as I was ill this year and moved around a lot. It was hard to keep going when I was really sick, especially as my friends were all getting ahead in maths in particular. It was hard not to panic. But I knew those grades were not going to make themselves. So I forced myself to get up and carry on.

Theodora Adeniyi, 18, was heading to Birmingham to study psychology after getting an A* in psychology, an A in English and a B in economics. She was inspired to study by her single mother, who graduated from the University of East London after achieving a degree in events management while raising Theodora and her two younger siblings.

She is my inspiration, the student from Barking said. I just wanted to make her proud and inspire my younger siblings to work hard and do the same.

Sinem Oyzoyn, 18, is from Edgware RoadShe studied at King Solomon Academy and will study Politics and International Relations at WarwickShe gained A-levels in: Politics (A), English (B), History (B) Sinem is a first-generation Greek Muslim. Her mother, who is a housewife, and her father, who is a restaurateur, came to the UK 30 years ago. She is the first person in her family to win a place at university, and she will begin her studies at Warwick in September. She said: I am the first person from my family to go to university. My family just didnt have the opportunities to do further study before, they just had to work. Everyone in Greece has been told I got in to university and they have been going mad all morning. They are so proud, it is a massive, massive deal for us and the community. I am so pleased I was brought up in England and so grateful to have this opportunity. I am Muslim and I am Greek, so politics is important to me. I want to get a good degree to help others, particularly Muslims around the world who are in need. I cant wait to study in September.

Teofil Aleksandrov is from Streatham School and attends Harris Academy in BatterseaHe will be going to Churchill College, Cambridge to study maths and physicsA-level results: further maths (A*) and physics (B). He already has an A* in maths Teofil will be going to Cambridge to start studying maths and physics next year [2017]  one academic year early. Having relocated from Bulgaria aged 12, he took his maths GCSE and A-level last year  getting A*s in both. This summer, he took the rest of his GCSE and A-level qualifications and is also awaiting GCSE results next week. He said: It is a dream to study at Cambridge. It is so well regarded for maths, so I have always wanted to study there. When I get my degree, I will then do a masters and then a PhD in physics. It is such an important subject. It can change the world. Teofils mother Mariya said: He struggled with language at primary school in Bulgaria, which was isolating, but always had maths. He just worked and worked and worked. We are so proud of him for going to university this year. Dr David Moody, head of Battersea Harris Academy, said: He is one of the most exceptional students I have ever worked with.
C hildren as young as four have been able to undergo MRI scans without general anaesthetic after scanning their toys in a miniature replica machine.

The innovation at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, in Stanmore, has led to two staff being shortlisted for a compassionate care award in memory of campaigning doctor Kate Granger.

Normally, child patients are unable to stay still while in the scanner and have to be anaesthetised. But play specialist Zoe Keates and clinical engineer Yoryd Khatri created a 3D-printed toy MRI, complete with movable table, remote control and sound effects.

The play scanner helps explain what will happen and how it is part of treating their condition. One eight-year-old patient said: Its good for children who are scared about having an MRI scan, and its a good size for dolls.

Encouraging children to have scans while awake avoids the risks associated with an anaesthetic, reduces anxiety and means the patient can go straight home afterwards.

Award nominees: Zoe Keates and Yoryd Khatri with the scanner at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore

Matthew Shaw, medical director at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, said: Zoe and Yoryd demonstrated innovation and leadership by developing this MRI model.

"They have worked extremely hard over the last two years to produce a quite excellent and professionally developed clinical tool.

Other nominees include the Pathway service, which organises integrated healthcare for homeless people. It was established at University College Hospital in 2008 after a homeless man died outside a London hospital, and has spread to 10 other centres.

Also shortlisted for the awards is North Kensington and Chelsea home treatment team, run by Central and North West London NHS trust, which helps mental health patients avoid hospital admission at times of crisis.

Dr Kate Granger, an activist for better patient care, set up the #hellomynameis campaign to encourage NHS staff to introduce themselves to those they are caring for, following her experience as a terminally ill patient.

She founded the Kate Granger Compassionate Care Awards three years ago. Before she died from cancer last month, aged 34, she helped shortlist the entries. The awards will be presented at the Health and Care Innovation Expo in Manchester next month.
P lanes coming in to Heathrow are to change the way they land to cut noise for west London residents.

Pilots have been told to delay the point when they lower the wheels beneath the planes - which causes wind noise which can be heard by residents  until they are nearer the runway.

The changes will not alter the safety of the landings, an airport spokesman said. Heathrow has told airlines the wheels could be lowered 4.6 miles from the runway, rather than the current average of eight miles, without any risk.

The change is part of a plan to appease residents living near to the airport and reduce opposition to a third runway, The Times reported.

According to Heathrows most recent league table of the noisiest airlines, El Al is the worst followed by Kuwait Airways. British Airways short-haul planes were the quietest.

It is expected a new runway for either Heathrow or Gatwick will be approved within weeks by Prime Minister Theresa May.

Other measures in the ten-point plan to cut noise include encouraging more modern planes by introducing cuts in landing charges for newer aircraft, and bringing in 50 monitors to measure the noise.

Matt Gorman, the airports director of sustainability and environment, said there was no single solution but small changes can make a big difference.
A motorcyclist was today fighting for his life after a serious crash at an accident blackspot in west London.

The 47-year-old man was rushed to hospital following the smash in Lime Grove, Ruislip yesterday afternoon.

A white Lexus is reported to have hit the biker at the junction with Elm Avenue shortly after 4pm.

He was treated by medics from London Ambulance Service and Londons Air Ambulance for life-threatening injuries.

Metropolitan Police officers were also called to the scene.

A police spokesman said: A 47-year-old man was taken to hospital for treatment to injuries which are described as life threatening. Next of kin have been informed.

The car stopped at the scene.

No arrests have been made and police are investigating.

Horrified residents took to social media to discuss the crash close to the scene of a fatal smash which killed teenager Jack King six years ago.

Jackie-Lynn Bowden wrote on Facebook: Something needs doing about that road.. How many more accidents.

Kate Smith added: It's a very bad junction hate even walking the dogs by it.

Witnesses are asked to call the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 020 8991 9555.
A disused church in south east London has been transformed by volunteers to create a community space for young people.

St Katharine with St Bartholomews Church in Bermondsey is now a multi-purpose space for local young people, after undergoing weeks of refurbishment.

Replastering, painting and woodwork were carried out by over 40 volunteers from London charity XLP, Southwark council and Thameslink, who joined forces over July and August to transform the space into a hub for community events.

More than 50 basement rooms that had been used as storage space have been refurbished to create spaces for young people to carry out art and writing projects.

Egerton Gbonda, who is the Priest at the refurbished church, told London Live: Its community-relevant, a space for young people to develop life skills.

Were working with XLP, a charity that supports young people, and were going to use this space to continue their good work theyre doing with young people in the community.
B uddhist groups have issued warnings after fake monks were spotted hassling London tourists for cash donations in exchange for peace.

The men, dressed in orange robes have been reportedly approaching people at the citys tourist hotspots to ask for money in exchange for prayers.

The Sun reported four of the monks were approaching holiday-makers stationed between Tower Bridge and Southwark Bridge on Monday evening.

They were demanding money in exchange for tokens and reportedly became aggressive if people refused or did not pay enough.

Warning: The Buddhist Society said monks are not allowed to touch money / Shutterstock / Noi1990

American tourist Aaron Wagle, 18, told the newspaper he was approached by one of them near City Hall and asked to write down an amount he would like to donate.

Mr Wagle said the man did not tell him what his donations would go towards, adding: He didnt really say much. He said he wanted to talk about peace and said he would pray for me.

He then asked me to write down how much money I was going to give him.

I gave 1 but then he got annoyed and demanded more so I gave him a load of change.

I dont think I gave him more than about 1.50.

He said it was a donation for something, but he wouldnt say what.

Jan, another tourist on holiday with his four children, was also reportedly approached by one of the monks.

He told The Sun: He asked me for 10 and I said no, but I still paid 5.

It seemed quite aggressive, I felt quite pressured but I still wanted to help him and I said good luck.'

The Buddhist Society said it had been receiving calls from members of the public complaining about the Monks behaviour in London.

A spokesman said: We had a call from a concerned member of the public about this just yesterday and we have heard of it before.

People feel it is demeaning to the image of Buddhism.

He explained that the men were likely to be fake because genuine monks are forbidden from handling money.

Genuine monks would never ask for money - Buddhist monks cant handle money, he explained.

Traditionally though monks are beggars. In places like Thailand they beg and are given gifts of food such as rice which they are allowed to eat but not take money. They wouldnt be able to touch it.
B ritain First campaigners have been banned from all mosques across England and Wales for the next three years following a High Court ruling.

The order prohibits the far-right groups leaders Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen from entering mosques or Islamic cultural centres without prior invitiation.

The pair were also banned from encouraging others to enter such premises.

The leaders are also barred from entering parts of Luton after an injunction was granted to Bedfordshire Police last week.

Police argued the groups activists were causing community tensions in Luton. The no-go spots include exclusion zones in the Bury Park area and town centre.

Demonstration: Far-right protesters outside a London mosque.

The injunction also means the pair are not allowed to publish, broadcast, distribute or display any films or images in those areas.

Golding and Fransen face arrest if they breach any of the listed terms.

Assistant Chief Constable Mike Colbourne of Bedfordshire Police said the injunction was not a decision we take lightly.

He said: Luton is an incredibly diverse and vibrant town and we will not tolerate any individual who seeks to cause disharmony or provoke tensions within our communities.

I would like to be clear that we would never seek to ban demonstrations or peaceful protest, however we have a duty to protect our communities and will always act in their best interests.

Speaking to the International Business Times, Golding hit out at the ban.

He said: People who care about democracy should be screaming from the rooftops about this, because a legal political party has been banned from a town center.

When has a British police force been this aggressive? In a way, we are flattered that the state is spending so much time and money to ban us, they consider us to be worrying.

Golding originally said his party would fight the injunction but a High Court hearing due to take place in September was cancelled after Britain Firsts legal team agreed not to contest the order.
S terling has plummeted to a new low, with holidaymakers receiving less than 1 to the pound when exchanging currency at airports.

Bureaux de Change at two London airports are selling Euros at a rate of 99 cents to 1, according to the foreign currency specialist Caxton FX.

At Stansted, Moneycorp is offering 0.9915, while at Luton, International Currency Exchange (ICE) is selling Euros at 0.990.

The Pound has taken a nosedive since the UK voted to leave the European Union in June, falling 12 per cent against the Euro , and about 10 per cent against the US dollar since the Brexit vote.

On Monday, it hit its lowest level in three years.

However, the airport rates being offered are significantly below the market exchange rate, which was 1.15 this morning.

Airport currency exchanges often put a huge mark up on the currency when selling to tourists.

Alexandra Russell-Oliver, an analyst with Caxton FX said: "An already weak pound has faced additional woes recently, due to increased stimulus measures and disappointing data from the UK."
A British woman was killed with two fellow mountaineers when huge slabs of ice landed on top of them as they scaled a notorious peak in the Alps.

The climbers were tackling 14,649ft Mont Maudit  which means the Cursed Mountain in French  in Frances Mont Blanc range.

Stephane Bozon, of Chamonix gendarmerie, said they had not stood a chance: The three victims died instantly due to head injuries caused by a mixture of snow and ice. Some slabs of ice were four metres by three metres.

The victims, who have not been named, were a 33-year-old British woman with a Slovak background, a Slovakian national aged 32, and a German mountain guide aged 50.

The bodies of the Briton and the Slovak were found in a gully last night. Emergency workers discovered the body of the German at dawn today.

The group had set off from Cosmiques refuge, which can be reached by cable car, at about 1.45am on Tuesday.

In 2012 nine climbers, including three Britons, were killed by an avalanche on Mont Maudit. Last month former Marine Duncan Potts, 28, from Devon, died in a accident in another part of the Mont Blanc range.
D onald Trump has been blasted for peddling deranged conspiracy theories questioning White House rival Hillary Clintons health.

The outspoken Republican candidate has mocked the 68-year-old former First Ladys fitness for Americas top job even though he is two years older than her at 70.

In a speech on Monday, Mr Trump alleged that Mrs Clinton lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on Islamic State and other adversaries.

He has also suggested she gets easily tired, takes a lot of weekends off and slammed her short speeches.

Theyre like 10 minutes and lets get out of here, go back home and go to sleep, he said.

She doesnt really do that much, Mr Trump said in a speech last night in Milwaukee. Shell give a speech on teleprompter and then shell disappear. I dont know if she goes home  she goes home and goes to sleep. I think she sleeps.

Hitting back: Hillary Clinton's campaign reacted angrily to the rumours / Getty

The allegation was the final straw for the Clinton campaign, which hit back last night, claiming Mr Trump was simply parroting lies.

While it is dismaying to see the Republican nominee for president push deranged conspiracy theories in a foreign policy speech, its no longer surprising, said Mrs Clintons communications director Jennifer Palmieri in a statement.

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Hillary Clinton has released a detailed medical record showing her to be in excellent health plus her personal tax returns since 1977, while Trump has failed to provide the public with the most basic financial information disclosed by every major candidate in the last 40 years, she continued.

Its time for him to stop using shameful distractions to hide his own record.

Doubts over Mrs Clintons health have swirled online since she suffered a concussion in 2012 while serving as Secretary of State. Right wing websites have pushed unsubstantiated claims that she is suffering from dementia and has seizures.

But Mrs Clintons personal doctor, Dr. Lisa Bardack, released a statement last year saying she is in excellent physical condition and fit to serve as president of the United States.

She issued a new statement last night saying: As Secretary Clintons long time physician, I released a medical statement during the campaign indicating that she is in excellent health.

I have recently been made aware of allegedly leaked medical documents regarding Secretary Clinton with my name on them. These documents are false, were not written by me and are not based on any medical facts.

To reiterate what I said in my previous statement, Secretary Clinton is in excellent health and fit to serve as President of the United States, she added.
A four-year-old girl found beaten and abused told police she thought her name was Idiot.

Her mother and boyfriend have been arrested after the little girl was reportedly discovered zip-tied to furniture, covered in scars and with dried blood on her mouth.

Jennifer Denen, 30, and Clarence Reed, 47, were detained by cops in Hot Springs, Arkansas, US, on charges of first-degree domestic battery, permitting abuse of a minor and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor.

The police report said she was found with "deep purple bruising on her bottom, lower back and legs; a black eye; swollen right cheek; a bruise on her forehead; healing scars across her back; and dried blood in the corner of her mouth."

When police asked the girl for her name, she apparently replied Idiot.

Reed, who admitted tying her to the bed as a punishment, regularly used Idiot instead of her real name, police said. He defended himself, saying it was meant as a joke.

Denen, who has six children, admitted she had seen her live-in partner hitting her daughter with a plastic bat.

She also revealed she had never taken her to get medical attention.

The couple could face 32 years in prison.

A spokesman for the Hot Springs Police Department said Denens 11-month-old baby, her only child with Reed, had been taken into the custody for the Department of Human Services. The other four children are with their biological father.
A four-year-old boy has allegedly been raped by an Afghan man in toilets at a shelter for asylum seekers in Germany.

The Iraqi refugee was living with his family alongside 600 other migrants at the centre in Boostedt, north of Hamburg, when he was reportedly assaulted.

The youngsters father is said to have found his son and a man with their trousers round their ankles, the Schleswig-Holsteinische Zeitungsverlag newspaper reported.

The man had been searching for his child after the boys eight-year-old brother spotted his younger sibling in the toilet with a stranger, Kiel District Court heard.

Their father told the court he asked the man what he was doing with the boy, and was told he had been helping him go to the toilet.

The four-year-old later told his parents he had been forced to perform oral sex on the man  a claim allegedly backed-up by DNA evidence.

The 22-year-old suspect denies carrying out the attack.

A second Afghan man, 29, denies threatening the victims brother with a knife when he tried to stop the assault.

The trial continues.
T his heartbreaking image of an injured Syrian boy, sitting in the back of an ambulance and covered in dust and blood, has highlighted the plight of children living in the war-torn country.

The child, named in reports as five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, apparently survived an airstrike in the town of Aleppo, which has been the worst-hit city in the bloody civil war.

Omran was said to be one of five children injured in a military strike on the city late last night.

Tragic footage shows the little boy being pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building and lifted into an ambulance.

Child pulled alive from rubble in Aleppo

The haunting image of a dazed Omran sitting in the vehicle, covered in a layer or dust and with an open wound on his forehead, has drawn attention to the devastating impact the ongoing war has had on children growing up in the Middle Eastern country.

The video was filmed and circulated by anti-government activist group the Aleppo Media Center, which captured the footage from inside the Syrian province before posting it to YouTube.

The little boy was taken to hospital for treatment after he was rescued, alongside four other children, one woman and two young men, who were also hurt in the attack on the Qaterji neighbourhood.

The city of Aleppo has been a key battleground in the fight between rebel groups and the forces of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, since 2011.

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Citizens have been subjected to repeated devastating airstrikes, including an attack on the M10 hospital earlier this month.

Omran's picture has been shared tens of thousands of times on social media, after first being tweeted by Telegraph reporter Raf Sanchez.

Many Twitter users have commented saying that Omran is just one of many children in Aleppo caught up in the Syrian conflict.

Petra Stienen wrote: "His name is Omran. The boy from #Aleppo. What to say to him & the millions of other Syrian children? #nowords #Syria."

Another Twitter user said: "We are losing a whole generation of children.

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"This needs to stop."
A North Korean diplomat who vanished from the countrys London embassy to defect to South Korea said financial woes led to fears about paying the congestion charge.

Thae Yong-Ho became one of the highest ranking officials ever to defect to the South when he suddenly left the embassy in Ealing with his wife and family.

South Korean officials said Thae defected to Seoul after he became dissatisfied with Kim Jong-uns secretive regime and wanted life in a democracy.

And the newspaper revealed that during a talk he gave at a book shop in Kings Cross in 2014 that the diplomat held financial concerns in London which including stumping up the congestion charge.

He said: When I drive out from my embassy I have to think - what about congestion charges?

Fears: Thae Yong-Ho said he was worried about driving in central London

He added friends in North Korea had little knowledge of how expensive London is and assumed his 1,200-a-month rented flat in west London came complete with a pool and sauna.

South Korea government spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said Thae and his family were under government protection after their arrival in the country.

"Defection": The diplomat reportedly vanished from North Korea's embassy in Gunnersbury Avenue, Ealing / Rex Features

He said: We know that deputy ambassador Thae is saying that his distaste for the Kim Jong-un regime and yearning for the Republic of Korea's free democratic system and the future of his child are motives for the defection.

Thae's 19-year-old son, Thae Kum Hyok, who was known as "Kum Thae", was a pupil at Acton High School.

Friends told the Guardian he had a place at Imperial College to study maths and computer science.

Thaes duties while in London included keeping track of North Korean defectors and rebutting criticism of the countrys human rights record.

He moved to London with his family in 2004.
A decade after Kidulthood hit screens, Noel Clarke is back with the final instalment of his London crime trilogy.

Brotherhood, which co-stars Ashley Thomas, Olivia Chenery, Fady Elsayed and Arnold Oceng, sees ex-con Sam finally attempting to break away from his criminal life in the capital.

In a brand new, exclusive clip, Clarks Sam confronts a rival gang member while Ocengs Henry attempts to lie to his wife about where he is, pretending to be a traffic warden.

The clip gives fans a glimpse of Clarkes trademark combination of humour paired with gritty gangland realism.

Brotherhood, is due for initial release in the UK on August 29, eight years after Kidulthood follow-up Adulthood was released.

Following Sams release from prison in Adulthood, he tries to settle into a changed London and is forced to recruit old friends to help with new problems.

New additions to the cast include London grime artist Stormzy, who stars in his first major role as Yardz.

The third film in the trilogy is written and directed by Clarke and also features appearances by Steven Cree, Tonia Sotiropoulou, Nick Nevern and Adjoa Andoh.

We have a pair of tickets to the BrOTHERHOOD premiere taking place in London on 23rd August 2016 to give away to FIVE lucky readers.

To enter this great competition, simply head to @StandardEnts Twitter and follow and retweet the competition tweet for a chance to win.

Full terms and conditions here.
T heres less than a week to go until the Great British Bake Off returns  and the first trailer has now been unveiled.

Following the reveal of the 12 amateur contestants earlier this week, the BBC have released a first look at the bakers in action.

They look like another loveable line-up , from Val, who claims she can tell her cakes are done by listening to them, to Jane, who  just like all of us  sneaks a bit of icing from her piping bag.

Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood also seem on friendly form, with Berry praising one bake as very nice, and Hollywood telling a baker that their creation is lovely.

The 30-second clip doesnt give us very much to go off for now  but with the series beginning on Wednesday, August 24, were about to get to know all the hopefuls a bit better very shortly.

This will be the seventh series of The Great British Bake Off, which gave us the most-viewed TV episode of 2015 when Nadiya Hussain won Series 6.

Great British Bake Off 2016 - contestants in pictures 1 /17 Great British Bake Off 2016 - contestants in pictures Full tent The bakers taking part in the Great British Bake Off 2016 have been revealed BBC/Love Productions Rav Age: 28

From: Kent

Bio: After studying Criminology at university, Rav went on to support students at City University, London. Hes experimental with his baking and is inspired by vegan baking and eastern cuisine

Speciality: Flavour combinations BBC/Love Productions Andrew Age: 25

From: Derby

Bio: Northern Irish-born aerospace engineer Andrew was taught to bake by his mum and gran. Hes a straight-A student who went to Cambridge University

Speciality: Structurally ambitious bakes BBC/Love Productions Louise Age: 46

From: Cardiff

Bio: Hairdresser Louise progressed her skills by making cakes for charity sales at work. She adventurous in her designs and in her hobbies  having completed a trek around the Andes and various other mountains

Speciality: Elaborate cakes BBC/Love Productions Lee Age: 67

From: Bolton

Bio: Builder-turned-theologist-turned-Pastor Lee used baking as a way to fill his days in the Eighties when an injury stopped him from playing cricket.

Speciality: Traditional flavours, including cherry, hazelnut, vanilla and chocolate BBC/Love Productions Kate Age: 37

From: Norfolk

Bio: Qualified nurse Kate is a Brownie leader and uses seasonal fruits which she gathers with her kids in her baking

Speciality: Sugar craft BBC/Love Productions Val Age: 66

From: Yeovil

Bio: Semi-retired substitute teacher Val incorporates her baking into her teaching. She does aerobics in her kitchen  but she might not do so in the Bake Off tent

Speciality: Traditional classics BBC/Love Productions Benjamina Age: 23

From: South London

Bio: Teaching assistant Benjamina takes inspiration from the likes of Instagram and Pinterest for modern takes on classic bakes. She takes feedback from her family to improve her creations

Speciality: Fresh and modern versions of traditional cakes BBC/Love Productions Michael Age: 20

From: London

Bio: Currently studying Politics and Economics in Durham, Michael has Cypriot heritage grew up making Greek pastries with his nan

Speciality: Big grand cakes BBC/Love Productions Selasi Age: 30

From: London

Bio: Ghanaian-born Selasi works in finance, and his hobbies include motorbikes, basketball, and travelling. He recently ran a 10k, half marathon, and trekked through Malawi for charity

Speciality: Delicate cupcakes BBC/Love Productions Jane Age: 61

From: Beckenham

Bio: Garden designer Jane wakes up at 5am to bake her bread. Her grandfather owned a bakery, and she s passionate about the classics

Speciality: Classic cakes, biscuits and pastry BBC/Love Productions Tom Age: 26

From: London

Bio: Rochdale-born Tom works for the Royal Society of Arts and is creative with his flavours and ingredients. He lost 30 kilos, and has a have your cake and eat it mentality

Speciality: Surprising twists BBC/Love Productions Candice Age: 31

From: Bedfordshire

Bio: Secondary school PE teacher Candice was taught to bake by her nan, and loves everything vintage. She lives with her boyfriend Liam and pug Dennis

Speciality: Baking the classics like her nan BBC/Love Productions

The contestants range from 25 year-old Northern Irish aerospace engineer Andrew, to 46 year-old Welsh hairdresser Louise, and 67 year-old builder-turned-pastor Lee from Bolton.

As usual, they will be hoping to impress Paul and Mary with their showstoppers and signature bakes in order to collect the all-import Bake Off trophy.

BBC One, Wednesday, 8pm
U sually a documentary surrounding a person who has taken several lives will feature their subject behind bars.

But for Tony Long, it was part of his job  he was a firearms officer in the Metropolitan Police for 25 years.

During that time, he shot five people, and killed three of them in the line of duty.

Hes the subject of Channel 4s documentary Secrets of a Police Marksman, in which he talks about his career and the things hes had to do to for the public good.

If they pose an immediate threat to you, they cease to be a human being, Long says of his victims.

They are a target. Your brain has said, they have to be shot, and you shoot them.

Some people might find the taking of a human life absolutely abhorrent. But there are circumstances where that has to happen, and somebody has to do it. That somebody happens to be people like me.

One case in particular that Long opens up about is the 2005 killing of Azelle Rodney in North London.

At the time, intelligence suggested that Rodney had collected fully-automatic machine guns, set to be used against a gang of Colombian drug dealers.

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

Ive seen him duck down and spring back up again, and at that point Im convinced hes got a MAC-10 in his hand, and hes about to open fire, he explains. At that point Ive got not option.

However, after Rodney was killed in the back seat by Long, a search of the vehicle revealed that none of the three weapons in the car were automatic, and only one was loaded.

Long found himself accused of murder  with a not guilty verdict only reached in 2015.

The one-off film offers an uncompromising insight into those who have to make these split-section decisions with lives at stake  and the effects and consequence that ripple from those actions.

Channel 4, 10pm
Missionary Medic Training Guatemalan Firefighters

Contact: Paul Heier, 239-243-9714LEHIGH ACRES, Fla., Aug. 18, 2016 / Standard Newswire / -- Missionary medic Paul Heier has partnered his organization Mision Hispana with Guatemalan firefighters to provide CPR, First Aid, Wilderness First Responder, and Trauma classes across the country. Heier attended paramedic school with the desire to help people in remote areas and teach these critical subjects to short-term missionaries and national firefighters.The medical mission work started when Heier offered to help a Guatemalan fire chief bring his crew up-to-date in CPR. He couldn't imagine the response that followed. Heier has been asked to teach classes to dozens of firefighters and police officers across the country. He was recently honored with a television interview on a Guatemalan news channel to explain why he's willing to help. Heier says this work is his way of loving his neighbor."This work has been incredibly rewarding for us and impactful for those who are accessing this much needed training," says Heier. "Right now we have more requests than we can handle and desperately need volunteers to come and help teach. We encourage all those who truly want to serve people in need to connect with us and learn more about our mission work and trips."Guatemala and many Latin American countries face severe poverty and the needs of the people are great. Poverty hasn't changed much in Guatemala during the last 20 years, according to the World Bank. Close to 75 percent of the population is estimated to live below the poverty line and almost 58 percent live below the extreme poverty line which the World Bank defines as struggling to afford even a basic basket of food. The services provided by Mision Hispana meet a critical need that is not being met in the country.Mision Hispana recently celebrated 11 years of helping to reach the forgotten in Latin America. The organization relies heavily on volunteers and donor funding to meet its mission. Over the years, Mision Hispana has hosted groups from the U.S. and Canada on mission trips in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala. For more information about their work, to donate or to inquire about volunteer opportunities, visit ReachingtheAmericas.com
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Recently, I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a post about the state of the education system in our country. The post included a video clip from a documentary which demonstrated how different schools are in Finland (and other countries) versus the United States. The documentary also pointed out that Finlands students are ranked number one in the world, while the United States comes in around 29th.

Our education system is not the point of this column, so I wont go into the name of the documentary, and who directed the documentary, nor will I get caught up in the politics of it all, as so many people are doing this election year.

What this column is about, is our right, our duty, to question... Why?

A comment left on that Facebook post noted that the video was by a director they thought to be less than credible. OK, that I can understand, but the facts are still facts, regardless of how we came upon them.

The commentor stated that anything this director puts out is American-hating propaganda and that for any of us that believe it, You are the problem.

The idea that we cant point out when our country is flawed, is a dangerous one. To go along, idly watching, as the foundation of this country deteriorates and our principles are trampled on by our so-called leaders, sets us up for eventual disaster.

While we have had a great many successes in our comparatively short history, we have also failed a good deal. We are not good at taking care of our poor, our aged, our disabled, or even our vets, and no, we do not have a good public education system.

Many people will argue with me. Some will be offended. This is not meant to be an attack on the country, or any one person. It is simply a wake-up call to the citizens of this country that we have a lot of work that needs to be done.

We can no longer sit back and watch this country slip deeper into mediocrity. It is possible to change. It is possible to thrive. But, not if we just keep going, redecorating the same rut and calling it change.

I do love my country. I do not wish to live anywhere else. However, I want to leave my kids a better world than how it is today. I want them to have it better than I have had it. Just as my parents wanted better for me.

Right now, I choose to be hopeful for the future, which is extremely hard considering how divided we are as a nation.

If we all took a step back, we would all recognize that essentially, we all want the same thing. We want to live safe, happy and productive lives. We want to provide for our families and watch our children grow up and do the same.

This election year has made me weary, the options are not good. As long as we can find a way to survive the next few years, I do believe the country will come together.

Because, thats what it will take. Enough people coming together and asking why do we keep doing the same thing? Why are we allowing this? Then deciding that we will no longer allow it, we no longer can allow it.

As an American, I have a right and a duty to stand up and question my government  To demand answers and expect more.

I would encourage everyone reading this to think about your kids, your grandkids, your nieces and nephews. Is this the world you want to leave them? Broken, dysfunctional, divided and angry? I sure dont. I dont think any of us do.

We need to come together as a nation and demand answers, demand solutions and demand a better future for America. It is only by coming together that we can achieve this. A country can only be as strong as its people.
Interim Health Director Paulette Schnell is no longer interim as the Scotts Bluff County commissioners approved a contract with Regional West Health Services to make Schnell the county health director on Monday, Aug. 15.

When Bill Wineman retired in June of this year, he recommended Schnell as his interim replacement. Since that time, a transition committee met to review the options and decided to pursue a contract with Regional West to have Schnell continue serving as the county health director in a permanent manner.

The contract is effective as of immediately and will be ongoing unless one of the parties decides to end it, which would require 90 days notice.

One of the first things Schnell said she plans to take on is partnering with Panhandle Public Health District (PPHD).

Were looking at being a health department, within a health district, said Schnell. Things have come up where you are looking at population base and also being accredited, Its very hard now to be a single county department to get the grants and other things that are out there.

PPHD recently received national accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board. This will help open the door to making it easier to get funding. Also, the partnership will benefit the entire community, Schnell said.

They (PPHD) receive money from the Tobacco Program that was established back when the health districts were established in early 2000s. They will receive so much per person and by adding our population to theirs, were actually bringing more money into the Panhandle by doing that.
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Turkish specialty steel producer Asil Celik A.S. ( Asil Celik ) has announced its financial results for the second quarter and the first half of the current year.

In the first half of the current year, Asil Celik 's net profit decreased to TRY 4.65 million ($1.59 million), compared to a net profit of TRY 13.09 million in the same period of 2015, while the sales revenues of the company decreased by 20.3 percent year on year to TRY 282.3 million ($96.39 million). Asil Celik 's operating profit in the first six months amounted to TRY 8.66 million ($2.95 million), declining from TRY 25.59 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Thursday, 18 August 2016 11:26:45 (GMT+3) | Istanbul

According to the data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), in June this year Turkey 's pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) exports amounted to 8,893 mt, increasing by 59 percent compared to the previous month and down 7.5 percent year on year, while the revenue from these exports totaled $8.53 million, up 70.9 percent month on month and falling 2.4 percent compared to the same month of 2015.

During the first half of the current year, Turkey s PPGI exports decreased by 35.6 percent to 37,636 mt, while the revenue from these exports amounted to $32.44 million, down 39.1 percent, both year on year.

Bulgaria was Turkey 's leading PPGI export destination in the January-June period, with imports of 5,792 mt of PPGI from Turkey . In the given period, Bulgaria was followed by Libya and Algeria, with Libyas PPGI imports from Turkey amounting to 3,110 mt, while Algeria received 2,716 mt of PPGI from Turkey in this period.

Turkey 's main PPGI export destinations in the January-June period:
Thursday, 18 August 2016 13:47:38 (GMT+3) | Istanbul

During the past two weeks, demand for Turkish merchant bar in the export markets has remained weak. Due to the rises seen in scrap prices in July, Turkish merchant bar export quotations moved up in the middle of the same month. However, the higher levels of Turkish merchant bar export prices failed to gain acceptance from buyers and have declined to the previous levels of two weeks ago also since import scrap quotations have softened slightly, with demand for Turkish merchant bar exports remaining at low levels.



Turkish merchant bar export prices have decreased by $25/mt in the period in question to the following levels:

Product Price ($/mt) Angle 410-430 IPN-UPN 420-440 Flat bar 430-450 IPE 420-440

All prices are on FOB basis and for September shipment.
A handful of advocacy groups say they are concerned that clinics at Walgreens in Missouri and Illinois may limit patients access to certain types of care and referrals because of the drugstore chains relationship with a religiously affiliated health system.

Walgreens announced this year that SSM Health, the Creve Coeur-based Catholic health system, would take over the operations of 27 in-store clinics in Missouri and Illinois.

The advocacy groups say they want some assurance from Walgreens that the care provided at the clinics is free from religious influence. SSM Health officials said Thursday in a statement that it would continue to offer the same services that Walgreens had offered.

Walgreens said in a statement that the Walgreens-managed clinics were able to prescribe refills for contraceptives.

Jason Merrill, a spokesman for SSM, said the health system and its doctors did prescribe contraceptives.

Susan Berke Fogel, director of reproductive health for National Health Law Program, said they had not received any reports that care was restricted at these clinics. But her organization is concerned about the presence of Catholic-affiliated health care that may not be obvious to the average Walgreens consumer.

The growth of the Catholic health care system has been tremendous over the past 20-30 years, Fogel said.

In some instances, she said, that care is governed by religious beliefs at Catholic institutions. For example, its typical for a Catholic hospital not to perform tubal ligation, also known as tying a womans fallopian tubes after birth to stop future pregnancies. Religious restrictions do not allow Catholic hospitals to perform these procedures because they are in conflict with Catholic teachings.

The groups pressing Walgreens for answers include the ACLU of Illinois and Missouri, MergerWatch and National Health Law Program.
GENEVA  Swiss food and beverage giant Nestle says first-half profit dipped due to a one-time tax expense even as revenues edged up behind growth in its key North American food business and despite a slowdown in the Chinese market.

Nestle said Thursday that its net income was 4.10 billion Swiss francs ($4.27 billion), down from 4.52 billion francs a year earlier, due to a 400-million franc deferred tax adjustment. The company, which makes Kit Kat chocolate bars, Lean Cuisine meals, Maggi noodles and Gerber baby foods, also is the parent of St. Louis-based Nestle Purina PetCare Co.

Sales rose under 1 percent to 43.16 billion francs.

Food companies like Nestle, which is based in Vevey, Switzerland, have sought to burnish their reputations on health and nutrition amid concerns about growing obesity rates and pressure they have faced for marketing foods full of fat, salt and sugar. Nestle in June announced it is bringing in health care executive Ulf Mark Schneider as its next CEO starting Jan. 1.

Unveiling the latest results, Nestle decried "historically low levels" of pricing in the first half of 2016, but chief financial officer Francois-Xavier Roger said in a conference call that the company was "confident that pricing is going to improve" in the coming months.

Nestle affirmed its outlook for the remainder of this year.

Innovations and marketing investment helped underpin growth in its North American frozen meals business, particularly at Lean Cuisine and Stouffer's, Nestle said. But growth in the Chinese food and beverage market slowed significantly, with its Yinlu food unit dragging on performance.

Roger said demand is "clearly slowing" in China, where Nestle faces "much more price competition." He said the company is nevertheless gaining market share in the world's most populous country.

Nestle is working to overcome a setback to its Asian operations last year after pulling Maggi noodles from store shelves in India for five months after the popular snack was found to contain lead above permissible limits.
Taylor Sheridan is perhaps best known for his role as deputy chief of police David Hale on the TV series Sons of Anarchy. But its as a screenwriter that hes achieved his greatest success. Sicario (2015), a tale of federal agents determined to bring down a drug cartel, earned critical praise  and provided a riveting showcase for stars Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro.

Hell or High Water, Sheridans latest film, traces the trajectory of two bank-robbing brothers (played by Chris Pine and Ben Foster) against the backdrop of the modern West.

Sheridan, who grew up in Texas, recently spoke with Go! Magazine about the brilliant crime drama that opens Friday and was directed by David Mackenzie (Starred Up). The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Pine and Foster portray characters who commit crimes yet engage our sympathies. What goes into creating such nuanced characters? I dont know how many people are truly evil  or truly good. Thankfully, there are very few Hitlers. And sadly, there are very few Gandhis. The rest of us live somewhere in the middle. I just try to have consequences to my characters actions that feel real.

Hell or High Water has a lot of atmosphere and a palpable sense of place. Is the film in any way based in fact? In the 80s, when I was a kid, I remember hearing about these guys who were robbing all these little banks west of Waco, Texas. But I never heard of them getting caught. Maybe they didnt get caught. So thats kind of where the idea came from.

Youre set to make your debut as a director with the thriller Wind River, which stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen and is scheduled for release next year. You also wrote the film. Is it intended as the third in a trilogy that also includes Sicario and Hell or High Water? Its a thematic trilogy  my exploration into the modern American frontier. How much has it changed, and how much hasnt it changed?
David Packouz (Miles Teller) is 20-something and struggling. His work as a masseur is unfulfilling, and his plan to sell luxury bedsheets to nursing homes turns out to be disastrous and leaves him in financial straits. But David believes his luck has changed when he runs into a childhood friend: Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill), a foul-mouthed but successful entrepreneur.

Efraim has hit on a way to make tons of money by bidding on U.S. military contracts during the Bush/Cheney years. As he explains to David, hes content to settle for the crumbs  small jobs that major contractors dont bother with  rather than go for the whole pie. But the strategy changes when, incredibly, the guys land a $300 million deal to supply arms to the Afghan military.

At first, things seem to be going smoothly. But as complications ensue, David and Efraim gradually cross the line from business practices that are not illegal to those that are unambiguously criminal. One of their partners, Henry Girard (Bradley Cooper), may even be a terrorist.

David remembers Efraim as always having his back, but also as constantly being a bad influence. Can he trust his old pal with his life?

The fact-based War Dogs is a much darker and far more political film than its ads would suggest  and a change of pace for director Todd Phillips, who is best known for the Hangover comedies. Working from a screenplay that he co-wrote with Stephen Chin and Jason Smilovic, Phillips delivers a film that raises provocative questions about the economic imperatives of war while masquerading as a buddy comedy.

Teller, who was terrific in Whiplash, makes a sympathetic hero. Hill lends nuance to the morally dubious Efraim. And Cooper makes the most of his role as a man for whom shadiness is a way of life.

War Dogs is a good movie, but perhaps not the one you signed up for.
Severe weather events (extreme heat, extreme cold, storms and floods) are nothing new to St. Louis, but their duration, frequency and intensity are all increasing.

In the summer of 2012, there were 21 days of record-breaking, triple-digit temperatures. The city recorded 18 deaths due to the heat. As average temperatures rise, the number of deaths is also expected to increase, said Shontae Fluelen-Hays, severe weather program manager at the St. Louis Health Department.

Fluelen-Hays and other experts warned of the health impacts from climate change, at a forum Thursday sponsored by the Sierra Club at Washington Universitys Institute for Public Health.

There are three main threats from extreme temperatures: exposure, air quality and food access, she said. Those who are most at risk of hypothermia and hyperthermia are the youngest and oldest in the population, plus people who work outside, are homeless or live alone.

Extreme weather can bring a longer pollen season and more allergies. Poor air quality leads to other respiratory illnesses. When droughts or floods occur, crops become scarce and fresh fruit and vegetables are more expensive.

The city is particularly vulnerable because of the heat island effect  fewer green spaces to absorb heat, Fluelen-Hays said.

Climate change is also expected to bring more mosquito-borne disease. Warmer temperatures mean an earlier spring, a longer mosquito season and an expansion of mosquitoes range beyond tropical climates.

There have been no reports of mosquito-borne illness contracted in Missouri in 2016, although 21 residents who traveled abroad have caught the Zika virus.

The main carrier of Zika, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, has not been found in Missouri, although the less common carrier, the Aedes albopictus, probably has circulated in every county, according to a state vector control expert.

There have been 33 cases of Zika spread by mosquitoes in Florida.

Dr. Steven Lawrence, an infectious disease specialist at Washington University, said the likelihood of Zika outbreaks throughout the U.S. was low because the Aedes mosquitoes are not predominant in the country.

The most common mosquito in Missouri, the Culex, can carry West Nile virus. The virus has been detected this summer in mosquitoes in Jefferson and St. Louis counties.

The city of St. Louis recently restarted its mosquito surveillance program but does not yet have data on any diseases the insects may be carrying.
JEFFERSON CITY  Do justice!

Those two words blasted off the marble columns of the Senate gallery on May 6, 2014, when the preachers and clergy from around Missouri who make up the Medicaid 23 raised their voices in righteous frustration. They were there to advocate that the state Legislature expand Medicaid to thousands of poor people who need it.

Cole County jurors this week heard the chant while watching a video of the protest. They heard the gavel come down and saw the preachers  all but three of them black  remain in the gallery and continue their protest. They decided that evidence was enough for a trespassing conviction in the peoples house, a building that is practically a monument to the First Amendment rights of free speech and peaceable assembly.

When presented with the decision as to how they would punish the preachers, attorney Jay Barnes asked the jurors to turn to the book at the center of his clients faith.

Have mercy.

That was part of the protesters message in 2014, and Thursday, it was part of Barnes plea.

He read the eighth verse in the sixth chapter of the Old Testament book of Micah:

And what does the Lord require of you? the passage reads. To act justly and to love mercy ...

A jury of 10 whites and 2 blacks took less than six minutes to reach their decision.

It was less than half the time those preachers originally spent singing, praying and chanting in the gallery that overlooks the Senate chambers.

There would be no jail time, jurors decreed. A judge will determine a fine, if any, at a later date.

One juror told me her version of mercy. She wishes the jury could have decided the fine instead of the judge.

I was really kind of hoping we could have recommended $1, she said.

In reality, the defendants have spent much more than that from their own pockets over the past two and a half years as Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Richardson waged what Barnes termed a caped crusader effort to punish 23 men and women of faith for exercising their constitutional rights in the building dedicated to protecting them.

Wednesday night, after the verdict and before the sentencing, two of the defendants, the Rev. Tony Johnson of the First Baptist Church of Liberty, and Bishop Steve Houpe of Harvest Church in Kansas City, were at JCPenney, refreshing their wardrobe as the trial dragged on to its fourth day.

As they checked out, the clerk asked them their story.

Im a Marine, Houpe told her. I fought for the very rights they are trying to take away from me.

That doesnt seem fair, the clerk said.

Be fair, the preachers told the Senate on that May day in 2014.

What they wanted was for a Medicaid expansion vote to actually come to the floor of the Senate, but in the six years since the Affordable Care Act became the law of the land and states have had the opportunity to use billions of federal dollars to expand health care for the poor, the issue has never received a meaningful airing in the full Missouri Senate.

That would seem a fair thing to do. The reason the issue never comes to anything but symbolic votes, however, is because it just might pass. Privately, enough Republicans in the Legislature admit they would vote for Medicaid expansion if ever given the chance. With their votes combined with Democratic votes, it would become law. But Senate leaders block such action year after year because they would rather protect their members from tough votes than provide health care to the poor.

Next January, the issue will be back.

So will the Medicaid 23.

Its not over, said Rod Chapel, one of the attorneys for the pastors, and also the president of the Missouri NAACP.

Richardson, in an attempt to portray himself as the protector of law and order in the state Capitol, has instead energized a movement that will descend on the building in droves from January to May.

If theres a conviction, the next time it wont just be the Medicaid 23, the Rev. Cassandra Gould of Quinn Chapel in Jefferson City told me before the trial. It will be 23 times 23 times 23.

They will knock on the door of the peoples house and ask to be let in.

Do justice, they will demand of the elected officials who walk the Capitols marble halls.

Have mercy, they will ask of those who spend the states limited resources.

Be fair, they will plead to men and women whose decisions affect a poor womans ability to feed her children.

With a unified, righteous voice, they will appeal to a higher power, because they live in a country that says that is their right, even if an overbearing prosecuting attorney seeks to silence them.

The Medicaid 23 will not be silenced.

They will be vindicated.
UPDATED with schools where elevated levels of lead were detected in water.

ST. LOUIS  Preliminary results from tests conducted this summer reveal that 30 school buildings in St. Louis Public Schools have elevated lead levels in water.

Students in about half the districts schools started the year this week to find at least one drinking fountain or one sink shut off because of lead. At Meramec Elementary, one drinking fountain and one sink is turned off. At Patrick Henry Downtown Academy, yellow tape and out of order tags are attached to the first-floor drinking fountain.

In June, the governing board of St. Louis Public Schools moved forward with voluntary testing of every consumable water source in all buildings that serve children. The $328,000 contract with Environmental Consultants LLC pays for asbestos abatement as well as the water testing.

Consultants collected water samples over the summer from 744 drinking fountains and sinks in each of the districts 74 buildings where children receive any level of service. Of the water sources tested, 82 had elevated lead levels, according to preliminary data.

On Wednesday, parents at the 30 affected schools received letters notifying them of the elevated lead levels and the number of sinks and drinking fountains that are now out of commission.

They will remain closed until we are able to remediate the lead level concern, wrote Karessa Morrow, principal of Meramec Elementary.

The district is providing bottled water at 12 schools where drinking fountains outside the cafeteria are shut off, or where multiple drinking fountains are no longer operating.

At Patrick Henry Downtown Academy, near downtown, cases of bottled water were stacked in the main office on Thursday. Bottled water is also being distributed due to lead-contaminated water at Carver Elementary, Northwest Academy of Law, Sumner High, Mann Elementary, Sigel Elementary, Peabody Elementary, Shenandoah Elementary, Nahed Chapman New American Academy, Fanning Middle, Clay Elementary, and the old Beaumont High School, where teenagers take career and technical education courses.

Another 18 schools had elevated levels of lead in their water, but most of their drinking fountains had low or non-existant levels of lead. Those schools are: AESM Middle, Busch Middle, Carr Lane VPA Middle, Clyde C. Miller Career Academy, Compton-Drew Middle, Cote Brilliante Elementary, Galludet, Gateway STEM High, Gateway Middle, Herzog Elementary, Hickey Elementary, Laclede Elementary, Langston Middle, Long Middle, Meramec Elementary, Oak Hill Elementary, Roosevelt High and Vashon High schools.

Over the years, crews have removed and remediated lead-based paint at all schools that enroll children under the age of 7. District officials believe its the first time water in buildings have been tested for lead. The tap water in St. Louis is regularly tested for lead and other contaminants. There is no concern about lead in the municipal water, but older pipes in homes and buildings could be a source of lead.

Where its found historically is inside the buildings plumbing or in the service line, said Curt Skouby, director of public utilities for St. Louis. So you might have a lead service line or a lead solder, and some drinking fountains have components that leach lead.

In the district, concern arose after reports of lead contamination in the water supply in Flint, Mich. The districts Special Administrative Board requested that Environmental Consultants do the testing, at a cost of about $900 per school.

Skouby said he had not received findings from the districts tests.

District officials are awaiting final test results and plan to release them on Thursday. The districts report will indicate where high lead levels were found. District officials are already discussing plans to replace drinking fountains, faucets and pipes. After repairs are made, the water will be retested to ensure elevated lead levels are no longer present, district spokesman Patrick Wallace said.

St. Louis Public Schools isnt the only district with aging buildings where lead-contaminated water is possible. A number of districts in St. Louis County and the St. Louis Archdiocese have schools built before World War II.

The Environmental Protection Agency requires action to be taken if lead levels in water reach 15 parts per billion. The district lowered the threshold to 10 parts per billion to remove any risk to students, Wallace said.

In our district, any source that comes back higher than 10 per billion were shutting down, Wallace said. There is no way a student or staff member will be able to access water from that source until it is fixed.

No amount of lead  a neurotoxin  is considered safe in the human body. Research has indicated that even low-level lead exposure can contribute to subtle changes in intellect and behavior, which can mean a drop in IQ or the development of learning disabilities.

In 2014, 9.2 percent of young children in St. Louis  or a total of 1,123 who were tested  had a lead level above 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood, the federal threshold for intervention. An additional 2,189 children in the city have lead levels between 3 and 5 micrograms, which can cause developmental delays and a permanent drop in IQ.

Young children are most at risk from negative effects of lead because their brains and bodies are still developing. The main source of lead contamination in Missouri is lead paint in older homes. State law requires annual blood tests for lead for all children under age 6 in St. Louis and six ZIP codes in St. Louis County with older housing stock, including areas of Ladue, Clayton, Richmond Heights, Maplewood, Brentwood and Kinloch.

The 63118 ZIP code, where Meramec Elementary is situated, has the most children with lead poisoning in the city. In 2013, 226 children in the area had blood lead levels above 5 micrograms and 54 had levels above 10.

EDITORS NOTE: An earlier version of this story gave incorrect information about the number of drinking fountains and sinks at Meramec Elementary that tested positive for lead. The district has since clarified it is one drinking fountain and one sink at the school, correcting erroneous information in letters sent to parents

Blythe Bernhard of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this story.
Chef Jeff Henderson, a former drug dealer turned Food Network star and role model for underprivileged youth, will be in St. Louis on Thursday to talk about improving the lives of black men in north St. Louis County.

He'll be part of a roundtable talk on prison re-entry, workforce training for African-American men and other topics at the Salvation Army's new Midtown Service and Treatment Center at 2900 Washington Boulevard, according to a Salvation Army news release. The talk will be at 1:30 p.m. The center, which will provide drug and alcohol treatment, is expected to open this fall.

Henderson, a former drug dealer from South Central Los Angeles, spent his years in prison honing his cooking talents. He eventually became the first African-American "chef de cuisine" at the Caesars Palace hotel casino in Las Vegas and created the Food Network reality show, The Chef Jeff Project, which gives cooking opportunities to at-risk youth.

On Friday, Henderson will also be the keynote speaker for the Salvation Army's Doing The Most Good Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. at Chase Park Plaza. The event honors people and organizations "that have made a difference in improving the quality of life throughout the Bi-State Region."
ST. LOUIS  The owner of a St. Charles tactical gear and gun parts store claims Facebook and Instagram are targeting him over his political views.

TJ Kirgin, the owner of gear store Tactical Sh*t, said his company's Instagram account was shut down without notice some time Wednesday. When attempting to log onto the account, he said he saw a vague message that said the account was in violation of the platform's policies.

Kirgin said he thinks the reason for the deletion has to do with his business' pro-Second Amendment and conservative viewpoints.

"Honestly, I think we're being targeted at this point," he said.

Representatives for Facebook and Instagram, which Facebook purchased in 2012, could not immediately be reached.

Kirgin said Instagram's move could hurt the business financially. The Instagram account had garnered more than 217,000 followers in the business' more than three years of operation. Kirgin estimates the business gets 20 percent of its revenue from posts to Instagram . He said the store generated $2.5 million last year.

The store's Facebook page was shut down earlier this month without notice or an explanation, Kirgin said. He said the page was restored a little more than a day later. Kirgin said he's not sure whether to attribute the return of the page to his emails to Facebook or to the coverage of the incident by conservative media.

He said he questions why some groups are allowed to make posts to social media, naming ISIS and Black Lives Matter, "but if you post a picture of a girl (fully clothed) holding a gun, or a conservative viewpoint or a humorous picture of someone holding an AR-15, you get targeted."

Selling and advertising the sale of guns are against Facebook's policies. The company notes on its Facebook page that it only sells gear and gun parts.

"We don't sell guns and we don't sell ammunition," Kirgin said.

Facebook also prohibits advertisements that express "hatred or intent of violence against any individual or group, particularly surrounding the race, sex, creed, national origin, religious affiliation, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or language of that individual or group."

The company is directing its supporters to another Instagram page it operates. Kirgin said the company may create a method for fans to subscribe directly to company's content from its website to bypass run-ins with social media platforms.
LONDON MARKET CLOSE: FTSE makes weekly gain but banks weigh on Friday

Friday, October 28, 2022 - 17:08

The FTSE 100 managed a weekly gain, despite underperforming peers on Friday, while strong results from oil majors lifted the mood in New York, shaking off poor numbers from Amazon.

Central banks move into focus again next week. The Federal Reserve announces its rate decision on Wednesday, with the Bank of England following on Thursday.

The FTSE 100 index closed down 26.02 points, or 0.4% at 7,047.67 on Friday, but finished the week 1.1% higher.

The FTSE 250 ended down 165.25 points, or 0.9%, at 17,916.67 - closing the week up 4.1%. The AIM All-Share closed down 4.09 points, or 0.5%, at 805.37, finishing 2.7% higher over the past five days

The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.5% at 703.81, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 1.0% at 15,378.84, and the Cboe Small Companies ended down 0.5% at 12,320.39.

The pound was quoted at $1.1595 at the London equities close Friday, up slightly from $1.1573 at the close on Thursday. Though sterling's marked rise tempered slightly on Friday, the currency has gained 3.2% over the past week.

Markets have so far taken confidence from the new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

In the FTSE 100, Centrica added 5.2% after it announced the reopening of the Rough natural gas storage facility off the east coast of England.

Centrica, which owns British Gas, said the facility is operational for winter. The facility increases the UK's storage capacity by 50% despite it operating at just 20% of its previous capacity.

GSK closed up 2.3% after it said its majority owned ViiV Healthcare venture has received the European Medicines Agency's validation for its marketing authorisation application for HIV prevention, and said its MAA for respiratory syncytial virus adult vaccine has also been accepted.

NatWest was the worst performer. It plunged 8.3% as it reported strong income growth in the third quarter, boosted by both increased lending and higher interest rates, but the bank warned it is keeping a close on eye on any change in behaviour from its customers.

In the three months to September 30, operating profit before tax rose to 1.09 billion from 976 million a year before.

Putting a cap on the bank's profit, NatWest set aside 247 million in the quarter to cover an expected increase in bad loans, which is reversed from a 221 million gain the year prior.

Lloyds fell 3.3% in negative read across.

Glencore fell 1.0% as it trimmed annual guidance for some of its commodities after a disappointing third-quarter performance dominated by supply chain disruptions in Kazakhstan, extreme weather in Australia, and strikes in Canada and Norway.

In the FTSE 250, ASOS tumbled 11%.

The stock was rocked by a Telegraph report which stated some hedge funds have shorted the stock, just days after retailer Frasers bought a stake.

Elsewhere in London, China-focused investment trusts fell.

JPMorgan China Growth & Income fell 2.9% and abrdn China Investment dropped 3.5%.

Investor sentiment turned sour as Chinese cities doubled down on Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Stocks in New York were firmly in the green at the London equities close, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 2.0%, the S&P 500 index up 1.7% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.8%.

After disappointment from tech stocks, oil majors put some shine on this week's US corporate earnings calendar.

Exxon Mobil revenue in the third quarter of 2022 jumped 52% to $112.07 billion from $73.79 billion a year prior. Attributable net income soared to $19.66 billion from $6.75 billion. The oil major's bottom line rose 10% from $17.85 billion in the second quarter.

Chevron posted pretax earnings of $14.80 billion, up from $8.06 billion the year before. Revenue increased to $66.64 billion from $44.71 billion the year before.

Exxon shares rose 1.8%, while Chevron was up 0.3%. Amazon slid 10%, after its poor numbers overnight.

Wall Street also shook off a higher inflation reading for the US on Friday.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Fed's preferred inflationary measure, the core personal consumption expenditures index, which excludes food and energy, shot up 5.1% year-on-year in September, quickening from a 4.9% hike in August.

"The Fed's favoured measure of inflation is heading higher, rather than lower, while employment costs continue to rise at double the rate experienced over the past 15 years. The market is probably right to expect the Fed to slow the pace of rate hikes from December, but this is by no means guaranteed," analysts at ING commented.

On Thursday, the European Central Bank on Thursday lifted its benchmark interest rates by 75 basis points, as expected.

In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.5%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended up 0.2%.

The euro stood at $0.9943 at the European equities close Friday, lower against $0.9984 at the same time on Thursday.

Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP147.54 late Friday, higher compared to JP145.90 late Thursday.

Gold was quoted at $1,640.91 an ounce at the London equities close Friday, down sharply against $1,662.60 at the close on Thursday. The precious metal has an inverse relationship with the greenback, weakening as the dollar strengthens.

Brent oil was quoted at $93.34 a barrel at the London equities close Friday, down from $94.75 late Thursday.

In Monday's UK corporate calendar, there are full year results from self storage company Lok'n Store and kidney disease-focused diagnostics firm Renalytix.

In the economic calendar, the EU will publish its latest GDP and CPI readings.

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Kineton High School students celebrate their success this morning.

STUDENTS will be opening their A-Level results today, Thursday, after an anxious summer of waiting.

The Heralds team are out and about throughout the morning to find out how our schools performed, and sharing some of the students success stories.

Results are posted here as we get them:

11.30

Clive Sentence, principal at Alcester Grammar School said: Its been the best ever year again. Im very happy with the top grades weve achieved. Its down to the ethos we have here at Alcester; the hard work of the students and the outstanding teaching of the staff.

11.20

Stratford School:

Neil Wallace, head teacher at Stratford School said: Were really pleased and its lovely to see so many smiling faces. Its been a very strong performance and weve tripled the number of A* passes this year.

Students celebrate their A-level results at Stratford-upon-Avon School, left to right: Ailsa Gavan McHarg, Gurrashpal Khakh, Oliver Beaven, Emma-Jo Ashfield, Kane Knight and Chloe Bramble.

11.00

There are many happy faces at Chipping Campden School this year, with principal John Sanderson declaring the results as good as last year. (Full result report is pending.)

Meanwhile the Herald spoke to two of the schools star students who both gained Oxbridge places.

Anastasia Unitt and Arthur Griffiths from Chipping Campden School

Anastasia Unitt gained A* biology, A maths, A art, B chemistry, and an EPQ distinction [Extended Project Qualification, which is equivalent to half an A Level] and is going to study biological sciences at Oxford.

Anastasia said: I am really relieved. I thought I might have done badly, but I think I just worked so hard it made me ill and worried!

My ideal job after university would be to be a field researcher; working on a tropical island to save the turtles!

Arthur Griffiths gained A*s in EPQ and geography, and As in English literature and history, which has won him a place to study geography at Cambridge.

Arthur said: Im very happy and surprised  in a good way. Im really grateful for all the support Ive had from the teachers and the school.

Im not sure what I will do after university, Im just going to enjoy the experience and see where it takes me."

10.40:

Kineton High School: Students at Kineton High School recorded a pass rate of more than 99% at A Level, a result that ensures that 100% of students were successful in accessing their chosen route for next year. All those applying to go to university were also celebrating after all their offers of places were confirmed.

At AS almost 30% of entries resulted in A or B grades which will act as a fantastic springboard for students as they return to start their Year 13 course September.

Siona Robson, headteacher at Kineton High School, said: "We are immensely proud of all our Sixth Form students who through their hard work and commitment, high quality teaching and support, achieved their personal best."

10.10:

King's High, Warwick: The school is celebrating an overall pass rate of 99 per cent, with 60 per cent of girls who sat exams getting one or more A* or A grades.

The highest possible grades - four A*s - was achieved by Emma Loveridge, who is women's World 29er Sailing Champion. She was also voted Youth Sailor of the Year during her A Level studies.

All King's Oxbridge candidates secured their places.

Headmaster, Richard Nicholson, said: "Congratulations to our girls whose results reflect the level of their hard work and dedication."

Rebecca Ritchie, Kate Hammond and Harriet Green at King's High in Warwick

9.55am:

Alcester Grammar School: The school is celebrating its best ever A Level results, with over 67 per cent of entries graded A* to B - the figure is even higher (over 75 per cent) for those students who have been at the school for the whole of their secondary education.

Clive Sentance, principal, said: Were so proud of our wonderful sixth formers who yet again have achieved excellent results and made so much of their time here.

"These results are thoroughly deserved  our students have put in a great deal of effort to make the most of their talents and our skilled and dedicated staff team have worked tirelessly to support them. The sixth form team, ably led by Viceprincipal Ian Young, have once again shown why AGS is one of the best places to study for A levels.

This year, 51 students achieved at least three A grades and over a third achieved at least AAB. There are numerous other personal successes across the A Level ability range and virtually all students are set for a destination of their choice.

Results at AS level are also very strong, said Mr Sentance, who added: Many commentators have been really concerned about the potential detrimental effect on schools of significant reforms to A and AS Levels. But our results show that the AGS ethos, along with hard work and great teaching, means that our sixth form students can be confident that they are getting a superb deal and the best preparation possible.

"This years results confirm that AGS remains one of the countrys most vibrant and successful sixth forms."

9.51am:

Warwick School: The pass rate at A* to B was 84.6 per cent with over 54 per cent of students gaining A* or A grades, which exceeded last years results.

Some 49 students achieved three or more A*/A grades with a remarkable 112 boys in a cohort of 143 students achieving at least one A or A* grade. Mathematics results were particularly notable with 76% of candidates securing A* or A grades.

AS Level results were the best ever with A* to A at 61.9 per cent - up on the 48.9 per cent in 2015), and A to B at 83.8 per cent - compared to 72.4 per cent in 2015.

Head Master, Gus Lock, said: Congratulations to all our Upper Sixth students for an excellent set of A levels results. Once again, I am delighted that our boys have performed so well, improving on last years results and securing places at a host of elite universities in the UK and beyond.

"Warwick School boys have, once again, attained these super results through sustained hard work, unfaltering support from their parents and the expertise and commitment of our teachers, and I am equally pleased that they have done this whilst also enjoying a fully rounded education with school sport, music, drama and other activities all as strong as ever.

"We will miss this group of young men immensely  they have been a real credit to the school and enormous fun  and we wish them every success and enjoyment in their continuing education.

9.28am:

Sibford School, near Shipston: 18 per cent of the 38 students who sat exams got A* and A grades, half got A* and B grades, with an overall pass rates of 98 per cent.

Cate Mallalieu-Needle, head of Sibford Sixth Form, said: The overall results reflect some significant personal achievements and I am absolutely delighted.

I would also like to give special commendation to those students who have shown tremendous resilience in the face of challenging personal circumstances.

Finally, the school would like to mention the posthumous achievement of B grades in History and Design & Technology awarded to Angus Oakey who tragically died on 23 March this year. I know his family will be extremely proud of his achievement.

Twins Alex and Daniel Bullard-James, who go to Sibford School near Shipston. They achieved A*, AB and ABB respectively

9.26am

Cllr Colin Hayfield, Warwickshire County Council's cabinet member for education and learning, said: "Once again Warwickshire's young people have worked very hard for their exams and deserve these great results, we are extremely proud of their successes.

"The good set of results we are expecting is a testament to each individual and also to the first class teaching, support and encouragement provided by school and college staff, parents and carers."

9.20am

King Edward VI School (KES):For the fourth time in five years, KES has recorded record results, with 86 per cent of papers were graded A* to B and 54 students obtaining three A grades or better.

Ten students who will be taking up their places at Oxbridge colleges.

Bennet Carr, headmaster, said These are truly outstanding results and I am particularly delighted for this year group. They really are a most impressive group of young people who deserve our congratulations for their hard work and commitment.

"I have no doubt that they would also be the first to recognise that they could not have achieved such success without the dedication of their teachers or the support of their families, so I think we can all be rightly proud of their wonderful achievements."

There will be a full round-up with reactions of headteachers and pictures in next Thursdays Herald. GCSE results are published the following Thursday, 25th August. You can also contact us with your exams stories by calling the newsdesk on 01789 412819 or e-mailing news@stratford-herald.com
Piper Jaffray reiterated its Overweight rating on shares of CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX) after hosting investor meetings with Frank Martell, Chief Operating Officer, and Dan Smith, SVP Investor Relations.

CLGXs Valuation Solutions Group (VSG  home appraisal business) offers mortgage originators a compelling value proposition via higher quality appraisals and faster appraisal cycle times. VSG seems well-positioned to win new originator clients and drive faster organic revenue growth and expanding margins in 2017 and 2018.

The analyst believes CLGX can begin marketing its VSG business to new mortgage originators later this year, and will target large and mid-tier originators that use outsourced appraisal solutions. Most originators currently use multiple outsourced appraisal providers, though some key players use their in-house solution.

No change to the price target of $48.00 based on a sum-of-the-parts valuation using '17 segment EBITDA estimates.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on CoreLogic click here. For more ratings news on CoreLogic click here.

Shares of CoreLogic closed at $39.43 yesterday.
To focus on those products with the greatest growth potential, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) announced today it intends to pursue strategic alternatives, including a possible divestiture, for its room and pillar products, which serve a segment of underground soft rock mining customers. The company will also discontinue production of track drills within its Resource Industries portfolio.

The company and its dealers remain committed to existing customers and will support those room and pillar and track drill fleets currently in operation.

"These moves, which align with Caterpillar's ongoing restructuring, will allow us to focus resources on those areas of the business that provide the highest, sustainable growth and best long-term returns," said Denise Johnson, group president with responsibility for Resource Industries.

Room and Pillar and Track DrillsThe room and pillar underground mining products under strategic review include continuous miners, feeder breakers, coal haulage systems, highwall miners, roof bolters, utility vehicles and diesel vehicles. While under review, Caterpillar will stop taking new orders.

Production of track drills will be discontinued, and no new orders will be taken.

"Caterpillar remains committed to an extensive mining product portfolio. We firmly believe mining is an attractive long-term industry, and we continue to invest in a broad range of products, both surface and underground. We are targeting our investments within the mining product portfolio to concentrate on those areas with the highest profitability potential," said Johnson. "At the same time, we continue to manage through the longest down-cycle in our history. We know these ongoing restructuring actions are not easy on our workforce; I'm grateful for our team's ongoing dedication."

Workforce ImpactIn conjunction with the announcement, Caterpillar expects to take actions to reduce the workforce in Houston, Pennsylvania, where the room and pillar products are manufactured. While the company intends to sell the room and pillar products, it will also assess other options, including a possible closure of the Houston facility.

Total workforce reductions of up to 155 positions associated with the room and pillar business are expected, with some occurring immediately. These actions will more closely align employment levels with current end-market demand.

In Denison, Texas, where track drills are produced, approximately 40 positions will be eliminated as a result of the track drill exit and other facility restructuring.

Repurposing of Winston-Salem FacilityIn addition to these moves, the company also continues to evaluate the most efficient and effective use of its manufacturing footprint. The company announced today it will repurpose its Winston-Salem, North Carolina, facility, transitioning it from a mining to a rail facility beginning later this year. Operations will transfer to Progress Rail, a wholly owned Caterpillar subsidiary.

As a result, the company will relocate the manufacturing of some components used in large mining trucks from its facility in Winston-Salem to its existing facility in Decatur, Illinois.
Emerson (NYSE: EMR) announced it has signed an agreement to purchase the Valves & Controls business of Pentair (NYSE: PNR) for $3.15 billion. The complementary acquisition establishes Emerson's global presence in control, isolation, pressure relief valves and actuation as part of a larger strategy to build a broader automation portfolio.

This acquisition delivers on our strategic plan of investing in Automation Solutions and in markets where we have a global leadership position and see significant long-term growth opportunities, said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David N. Farr. By adding Pentairs Valves & Controls leading technologies and services to our already broad portfolio, we have positioned our businesses to grow while continuing to provide our customers around the world with more complete solutions to their toughest challenges.

This transaction follows Emersons recently announced divestitures of Network Power, Leroy-Somer and Control Techniques for a total of $5.2 billion as part of the Companys overall strategic portfolio repositioning that was initiated in June 2015.

Headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, the Pentair Valves & Controls business has nearly 7,500 employees around the world. The business has a large global installed base in chemical, petrochemical, oil and gas, power, mining and other process industries. With product brands like Anderson-Greenwood, Crosby, Vanessa, Keystone and Biffi, Pentair Valves & Controls has been a global leader in providing valve solutions for customers.

The Pentair Valves & Controls business is a strong fit for us as they share many of the same management principles that have defined success for Emerson over the years such as global customer support, service, best cost sourcing and manufacturing, said Mike Train, Executive Vice President and Business Leader for Emerson Automation Solutions. In addition to adding great people and brands to our business, it will allow us to expand our market position and create new opportunities for growth, while also being able to offer our customers the most complete valve solutions portfolio and most extensive service network in the world.

The acquisition is expected to close in the next four to six months, subject to various regulatory approvals.

Greenhill & Co., LLC served as financial advisor to Emerson and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP served as legal advisor.

Investor Conference Call

Emerson will host a conference call for investors today at 5:00 p.m. ET to review the acquisition and answer questions. Access to the live webcast of the discussion will be available at http://www.emerson.com/financial at the time of the call. A replay of the conference call will remain available for approximately three months.

About Emerson

Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial and consumer markets around the world. The company is comprised of five business segments: Process Management, Industrial Automation, Network Power, Climate Technologies and Commercial & Residential Solutions. Sales in fiscal 2015 were $22.3 billion. For more information, visit Emerson.com.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical may be forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, and Emerson undertakes no obligation to update any such statements to reflect later developments. These risks and uncertainties include the Companys ability to successfully complete on the terms and conditions contemplated, and the financial impact of, the proposed acquisition of Valves & Controls and Emersons other strategic portfolio repositioning actions, as well as economic and currency conditions, market demand, pricing, protection of intellectual property, and competitive and technological factors, among others, as set forth in Emersons most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports filed with the SEC.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818006228/en/

For Emerson



Mark Polzin, 314-982-1758

Source: Emerson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) has reached a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the sale of one aftermarket tuning product used to calibrate motorcycles intended for off-road and closed-course competition. As part of the settlement agreement, the company will no longer sell its competition-only tuner in the U.S. The company will continue to sell a performance tuner designed to ensure Harley-Davidson motorcycles retain 50-state and EPA on-road emissions compliance. The settlement has no impact on the company's other performance product offerings.

The EPA alleged that by selling its Pro Super Tuner through its U.S. dealer network, Harley-Davidson enabled dealers and customers to tamper with motorcycles used on public roads. Harley-Davidson disagrees with the EPA's position, noting that the tuner was designed and sold as an after-market, competition-only product used to adapt engine parameters for use with Harley-Davidson after-market equipment.

"This settlement is not an admission of liability but instead represents a good faith compromise with the EPA on areas of law we interpret differently, particularly EPA's assertion that it is illegal for anyone to modify a certified vehicle even if it will be used solely for off-road/closed-course competition," said Ed Moreland, Harley-Davidson's Government Affairs Director. "For more than two decades, we have sold this product under an accepted regulatory approach that permitted the sale of competition-only parts. In our view, it is and was legal to use in race conditions in the U.S."

Harley-Davidson, one of many suppliers in the aftermarket performance parts industry, has safeguards in place to educate dealers and customers on the implications of installing Harley-Davidson performance products on their Harley-Davidson motorcycles. This includes clear product labeling of competition-only products and detail on what performance enhancements are considered street legal and for competition-use only, the legal consequences of tampering with emission controls and components, and what enhancements would void the vehicle warranty.

"Concern for our U.S. customers and dealers weighed heavily in reaching this compromise with the EPA," said Moreland. "By settling this matter, we can focus our future attention and resources on product innovation rather than a prolonged legal battle with the EPA."

Harley-Davidson is and has been committed to meeting or exceeding all emissions requirements for its motorcycles in every market it serves. It will continue to offer a broad range of industry-leading, compliant performance products that enable customization and performance enhancements that meet all emissions requirements and maintain the company's vehicle warranty.
MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (NYSE: MGT), announced that John McAfee, the Company's proposed Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, delivered an important and well-received keynote address at the Fourth Internet Security Conference (ISC 2016) in Beijing on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at the China National Convention Center. He was joined by more than 100 presenters representing over 70 global networks of security-related institutions and enterprises.

In his keynote address, McAfee discussed the history of computing and cybersecurity, highlighting how many things have changed. Noting the decreasing relevance of reactive solutions like anti-virus, McAfee described the present and future landscapes of cybersecurity and how professionals will need to adapt their techniques and tools to become proactive. He also expressed a hope for increased cooperation and understanding between China and America.

To listen to John McAfee's keynote address at ISC 2016, please click here.

"I would like to thank the ISC and the Chinese government for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts with industry and government leaders within the largest country in the world. I am hoping that my words will inspire cooperation in the field of security between China and the U.S., and indeed between and among all countries."

ISC is widely recognized as the largest-scale, most influential and professional cyber security conference in Asia Pacific. Attendance for ISC 2016 is expected to exceed 6,000 cybersecurity professionals from across China and all over the world. This audience includes decision makers representing Chinese business - the largest and most rapidly growing marketplace for cybersecurity solutions.
The U.S. Department of Justice posted the following to its news blog on Thursday:

When most people think of the Justice Department, they are likely to imagine the most visible parts of our job  the law enforcement agents who investigate crimes or the lawyers who prosecute them. But the departments core responsibilities go beyond investigation and prosecution. Unlike most states, the federal government puts its law enforcement agents, criminal prosecutors, and correctional officers all in a single department. We handle every step from the start of an investigation to the end of a prison sentence. Our work to house and rehabilitate individuals incarcerated in the Federal Bureau of Prisons is an important part of our responsibility and operations, accounting for 25 percent of the departments budget every year.

The federal prison population increased by almost 800 percent between 1980 and 2013, often at a far faster rate than the Bureau of Prisons could accommodate in their own facilities. In an effort to manage the rising prison population, about a decade ago, the bureau began contracting with privately operated correctional institutions to confine some federal inmates. By 2013, as both the federal prison population and the proportion of federal prisoners in private facilities reached their peak, the bureau was housing approximately 15 percent of its population, or nearly 30,000 inmates, in privately operated prisons.

2013 was also the year that the Department of Justice launched its Smart on Crime Initiative after identifying reforms that would ensure more proportional sentences and effective use of federal resources. Today, in part as a result of that initiative, we are experiencing declining numbers in our prison population. We now have approximately 195,000 inmates in bureau or private contract facilities down from a high in 2013 of approximately 220,000. This decline in the prison population means that we can better allocate our resources to ensure that inmates are in the safest facilities and receiving the best rehabilitative services  services that increase their chances of becoming contributing members of their communities when they return from prison.

Today, I sent a memo to the Acting Director of the Bureau of Prisons directing that, as each private prison contract reaches the end of its term, the bureau should either decline to renew that contract or substantially reduce its scope in a manner consistent with law and the overall decline of the bureaus inmate population. This is the first step in the process of reducingand ultimately endingour use of privately operated prisons. While an unexpected need may arise in the future, the goal of the Justice Department is to ensure consistency in safety, security and rehabilitation services by operating its own prison facilities.

Todays memo reflects important steps that the bureau has already taken to reduce our reliance on private prisons, including a decision three weeks ago to end a private prison contract for approximately 1,200 beds. Taken together, these steps will reduce the private prison population by more than half from its peak in 2013 and puts the Department of Justice on a path to ensure that all federal inmates are ultimately housed at bureau facilities.
Molecular-level filter could revolutionize energy-intense chemical process

Significantly reduces amount of energy used in polyester and plastic manufacturing

Research published in nations leading peer-reviewed journal, Science

IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Scientists from ExxonMobil and the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a potentially revolutionary new technology that could significantly reduce the amount of energy and emissions associated with manufacturing plastics. Results of the research were published today in the peer-reviewed journal Science.

If brought to industrial scale, this breakthrough could reduce industrys global annual carbon dioxide emissions by up to 45 million tons, which is equivalent to the annual energy-related carbon dioxide emissions of about five million U.S. homes. It could also reduce global energy costs used to make plastics by up to $2 billion a year.

Using a molecular-level filter, the new process employs a form of reverse osmosis to separate para-xylene, a chemical building block for polyester and plastics, from complex hydrocarbon mixtures. The current commercial-scale process used around the world relies on energy and heat to separate those molecules.

Through collaboration with strong academic institutions like Georgia Tech, we are constantly exploring new, more efficient ways to produce the energy, chemicals, and other products consumers around the world rely on every day," said Vijay Swarup, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. If advanced to commercial-scale application, this technology could significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with chemical manufacturing.

The research successfully demonstrated that para-xylene can be separated from like chemical compounds known as aromatics by pressing them through a membrane that acts as a high-tech sieve, similar to a filter with microscopic holes. Commercially practiced separations involve energy-intensive crystallization or adsorption with distillation. Globally, the amount of energy used in conventional separation processes for aromatics is equal to about 20 average-sized power plants.

The ExxonMobil and Georgia Tech team first developed a new carbon-based membrane that can separate molecules as small as a nanometer. The membrane was then incorporated into a new organic solvent reverse osmosis process, during which aromatics were pressed through the membrane, separating out para-xylene.

"In effect, wed be using a filter with microscopic holes to do what an enormous amount of heat and energy currently do in a chemical process similar to that found in oil refining, said Mike Kerby, corporate strategic research manager at ExxonMobil.

The carbon-based membrane developed by the ExxonMobil-Georgia Tech team is about 50 times more energy efficient than the current state-of-the-art membrane separation technology. Because the new membrane is made from a commercially available polymer, ExxonMobil believes it has potential for commercialization and integration into industrial chemical separation processes.

Reverse-osmosis membranes are already widely used to desalinate seawater, consuming a fraction of the energy required by thermally driven processes. The new organic solvent reverse osmosis process is believed to be the first use of reverse osmosis with carbon membranes to separate liquid hydrocarbons.

By applying pressure at room temperature, the membrane is able to concentrate para-xylene from a mixture at high rates and low energy consumption relative to state-of-the-art membranes, said Ryan Lively, an assistant professor in Georgia Techs School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and the lead researcher. This mixture could then be fed into a conventional thermal process for finishing, which would dramatically reduce total energy input.

The technology still faces challenges before it can be considered for commercialization and use at an industrial scale. The membranes used in the process will need to be tested under more challenging conditions, as industrial mixtures normally contain multiple organic compounds and may include materials that can foul membrane systems. The researchers must also learn to make the material consistently and demonstrate that it can withstand long-term industrial use.

The implications could be enormous in terms of the amount of energy that could be saved and the emissions reduced in chemical and product manufacturing, said Benjamin McCool, an advanced research associate at ExxonMobil and co-author of the research. Our next steps are to further the fundamental understanding in the lab to help develop a plan for pilot plant-scale demonstration and, if successful, proceed to larger scale. We continue to work the fundamental science underlying this technology for broader applications in hydrocarbon separations.

Chemical plants account for about eight percent of global energy demand and about 15 percent of the projected growth in demand to 2040. As global populations and living standards continue to rise, demand for auto parts, housing materials, electronics and other products made from plastics and other petrochemicals will continue to grow. Improving industrial efficiency is part of ExxonMobils mission to meet the worlds growing need for energy while minimizing environmental impacts.

The researchers on the technology as written in Science include Lively and Dong-Yeun Koh from Georgia Institute of Technology and McCool and Harry Deckman from ExxonMobil.

About ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, uses technology and innovation to help meet the worlds growing energy needs. We hold an industry-leading inventory of resources and are one of the largest integrated refiners, marketers of petroleum products and chemical manufacturers. For more information, visit www.exxonmobil.com or follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/exxonmobil.

Cautionary Statement: Statements of future events or conditions in this release are forward-looking statements. Actual future results, including project plans and timing and the impact and results of new technologies, could vary depending on the outcome of further research and testing; the development and competitiveness of alternative technologies; the ability to scale pilot projects on a cost-effective basis; political and regulatory developments; and other factors discussed in this release and under the heading Factors Affecting Future Results on the Investors page of ExxonMobils website at exxonmobil.com.

About Georgia Tech

The Georgia Institute of Technology, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is a leading research university committed to improving the human condition through advanced science and technology. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech has more than 100 centers focused on interdisciplinary research that consistently contribute vital research and innovation to American government, industry, and business. For more information, visit www.gatech.edu.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005307/en/

ExxonMobil

Media Relations, 972-444-1107

Source: Exxon Mobil Corporation
LIVINGSTON, Calif., Aug. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Foster Farms, the West Coast's leading poultry producer, today announced that its board of directors has appointed Laura Flanagan president and chief executive officer effective August 29, 2016.

Flanagan, 48, most recently served as president of the ConAgra Foods Snacks Division, one of North America's leading suppliers of packaged foods. She will succeed Ron Foster, grandson of company founders Max and Verda Foster, as Foster Farms' president and CEO. Foster previously announced his plans to step down. He will remain a Foster Farms owner and member of the board of directors.

"The board unanimously selected Laura Flanagan as the ideal executive to guide Foster Farms during a time of significant growth," said Foster. "She has an impressive record of transforming and growing household consumer brands across an ever-shifting landscape. We are confident that her strategic approach will lead Foster Farms to new heights within the U.S. meat and poultry industry."

Before taking leadership of the Snacks Division, Flanagan served as president of ConAgra's Convenient Meals Division from 2008 to 2011, revitalizing and expanding key brands. She also led initiatives to promote diversity, develop internal talent, and build skills and capabilities throughout ConAgra.

"Foster Farms is a strong competitor in the national poultry landscape in large part because of its family-owned roots and its steadfast commitment to truly locally grown, fresh poultry," said Flanagan. "I intend to honor the Foster family's legacy for excellence while growing the business, guiding our dedicated employees and maintaining the trust of a new generation of consumers who care deeply about the food they feed their families, especially organic and antibiotic-free poultry choices."

Before joining ConAgra, Flanagan served as vice president and chief marketing officer of Tropicana Shelf Stable Juices at PepsiCo and, from 1996 to 2005, held brand-management positions at General Mills and PepsiCo. Earlier, she was a manufacturing engineer at Saturn Corporation. She earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1996.

Flanagan currently serves on the board of directors at Core-Mark International, one of North America's largest marketers of fresh and broad-line supply solutions to the convenience retail industry.

Under Ron Foster's leadership, the company grew by 70 percent and became the nation's first major poultry producer to be certified by the American Humane Association. In June, Foster Farms was selected as the 2016 Processor of the Year by The National Provisioner for industry-leading achievements in food safety, water conservation and product diversity. While Ron Foster led the company, it raised the National Thanksgiving Turkey for the White House on two occasions, became the No. 1 brand of frozen cooked chicken in the western U.S., and became the largest producer of organic and antibiotic-free fresh chicken on the West Coast.

About Foster FarmsCalifornia-based Foster Farms employs more than 12,000 with facilities throughout California, Oregon and Washington as well as Farmerville, Louisiana, and Demopolis, Alabama. Since 1939, West Coast families have depended on Foster Farms for premium-quality chicken and turkey products. Family-owned and operated, the company continues its legacy of excellence and commitment to quality established by its founders, Max and Verda Foster. Foster Farms specializes in fresh, all-natural chicken and turkey products free of preservatives, additives or injected sodium enhancers. Based in California's Central Valley, with ranches in the Pacific Northwest, the company's fresh chicken and turkey are produced in or near each region served. Foster Farms also produces delicious pre-marinated, ready-to-cook and fully cooked products that meet the quality and convenience needs of today's home cooks, retailers, warehouse clubs and foodservice customers. The company's commitment to excellence, honesty, quality, service and people is a source of great pride and a longtime family tradition. Visit www.fosterfarms.com to learn more.

MEDIA CONTACT: Amy Scarlett 415-326-3199 [email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399220

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/foster-farms-names-laura-flanagan-president-and-ceo-300315193.html

SOURCE Foster Farms
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Each year, the Asian Business Association (ABA) honors leaders in the Asian American business community. As a leading Asian business organization serving the business community, ABA also recognizes corporations who consistently support the Asian business community and provide opportunities for Asian American entrepreneurs to flourish.This year, the Asian Business Association will be celebrating their 40th Annual Awards Banquet presented by U.S. Bank will be held at the Globe Theatre in Universal Studios Hollywood on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at 6:30 pm. Ms. Hetty Cheng, an Emmy Award-winning reporter for NBC4 Southern California. "ABA's eight founding members transformed a "wish list" into a 40-year milestone of historic accomplishments." said Lynne Choy Uyeda, ABA Founder. "This is a testament to ABA's leadership and benefactors." Hundreds will gather to pay tribute to the significant and often unheralded contributions that Asian Americans are making in business and the Southern California economy.

Honoring:

"The Asian Business Association has a strong commitment to helping diverse Asian-Americans. Not only are they making a difference in business locally but also impacting the community and our great economy," said awards banquet co-chairs Amanda Ma of Innovate Marketing Group and Jay J. Chung of Lee Anav Chung White Kim Ruger & Richter LLP.

"We selected these individuals and organizations because of their business success and their contributions to our economy." said Dennis J. Huang, ABA Executive Director and CEO. "We're grateful also to our sponsors this year for supporting the important work we're doing in the community."

Sponsors include: Toyota, Union Bank, Southern California Edison, AEG, U.S. Bank, Northrop Grumman, Southern California Gas Co., Herman Miller, and The Walt Disney Company, to name a few.

About the Asian Business Association:The Asian Business Association (ABA) was founded in 1976 to proactively help Asian Americans gain access to economic opportunities and advancement. With more than 700 members, ABA promotes economic development through its educational conferences, seminars, and workshops. These interactive programs are designed to present entrepreneurs with the information, resources, skill-sets, and networking opportunities that they will need to help grow their businesses and successfully compete in the global marketplace.

For more information, please contact:Asian Business Association, [email protected] (213) 628-1222

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/honoring-business-leaders-in-the-asian-community-300315362.html

SOURCE Asian Business Association of Los Angeles (ABA)
Beth Kurth and Benjamin Navon hired to lead IR and PR functions, respectively

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- LaVoieHealthScience (LHS), a strategic communications agency focused on the health science industry, announced the appointments of Beth Kurth as vice president, investor relations, and Benjamin Navon as assistant vice president, public relations. Beth and Ben are based at the agencys Boston, Mass. headquarters and will report into President and Chief Executive Officer Donna L. LaVoie.

The addition of Beth and Ben represents LHS commitment to providing our clients with high-touch, senior-level counsel to lead their strategic communications programs, said Donna L. LaVoie. Our deep experience in both investor and public relations gives LHS clients an unparalleled 360-degree perspective of the healthcare communications landscape to help them build credibility, extend visibility and amplify their business successes.

Beth brings 15 years of investor relations expertise including in-house and agency work, across market caps and industries. She has worked with start-ups and established companies in the biotech, medtech and digital health sectors. In her role, Beth provides strategic insight to LHS clients, including an assessment of how best to align scientific developments, market positioning and financial metrics. She earned her Master of Business Administration from Boston University Questrom School of Business, after completing a Bachelor of Arts in English from Tulane University.

In todays financial markets, it is critical for health and science companies to differentiate their story to secure the attention of financial decision-makers, said Beth. I look forward to leveraging my expertise on behalf of LHS cutting-edge clients.

Ben brings nearly a decade of healthcare communications experience to the agency. Throughout his career, he has worked with a diverse portfolio of publicly-traded and privately-held clients across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and diagnostics sectors. He represented brands at all phases of the company/product lifecyclefrom early-stage scientific and pre-commercial communications to regulatory approvals and new drug launches, as well as programs to bolster established medicines. Ben earned a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Salem State University.

This is a bit of a homecoming for me as I began my career at LHS before moving on to roles of increasing responsibility at other healthcare-focused public relations agencies in the Boston area, said Ben. It is an exciting time to be back with the firm, and I look forward to working with Donna, Beth, and the agencys other seasoned professionals to build on LHS already sterling reputation.

With the expansion of the senior leadership team, LHS also promoted Ella Deych to the role of assistant vice president, finance and operations, and Lisa DeScenza to senior director, special projects. In her role, Ella will leverage her previous agency-based financial background to manage all accounting and operational functions for LHS. Similarly, Lisa is taking on an expanded role to lead LHS recruiting and inbound marketing efforts in addition to other responsibilities.

Furthermore, LHS promoted Alison Chen to account executive and hired Vivian Ni, who first joined LHS as an intern, as a full-time assistant account executive. Both Alison and Vivian work across investor and public relations accounts to ensure flawless execution of client deliverables.

Editors notePhotos available upon request.

About LaVoieHealthScienceLaVoieHealthScience partners with leading life science brands to build value for their companies, attract capital, and reach key stakeholders through integrated communications and marketing. The firm provides strategic communications, investor relations and public relations to build recognition and increase sales and value for health science innovations. The agency has received 28 awards over the past seven years in recognition of the work it has done for its health and science industry-leading clients. The agency ranks among the 2016 Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005893/en/

LaVoieHealthScience

Donna L. LaVoie, 617-374-8800 ext. 107

President and CEO

[email protected]

www.lavoiehealthscience.com

Source: LaVoieHealthScience
Renewal marks continuation of key relationship in Europe

COLUMBUS, Ga. & HORGEN, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- TSYS (NYSE: TSS) today announced it has extended its payments agreement with Swisscard AECS GmbH to continue processing the companys consumer credit and commercial card portfolios on the TS2 platform, as well as to provide other payment services.

Swisscard AECS GmbH is a joint venture between Credit Suisse AG and American Express. Swisscard AECS GmbH is the only company in Switzerland to offer the worlds leading credit card brands  American Express, MasterCard and Visa  from a single source. Customers managed by Swisscard AECS GmbH have the largest choice of credit card products on the Swiss market.

Swisscard is a leader in Switzerland, and an important client for TSYS as we continue to grow across Europe, said Rob Hudson, group executive of TSYS International. We look forward to delivering innovative new products and services to help them continue providing excellent service for their cardholders.

The stability and availability that TSYS systems have provided us throughout our relationship have been important for our business performance, said Boris Kraus, head of IT Service Management and Control of Swisscard AECS GmbH. They understand where we are today and where we want to go, and we look forward to continue working with TSYS to provide our cardholders excellent card processing services.

No terms of the long-term agreement were announced.

About Swisscard AECS GmbH

Swisscard AECS GmbH was established as a joint venture between Credit Suisse AG and American Express in 1998. The company handles product development, sales and marketing, customer service and card processing in Switzerland. As a merchant acquirer, Swisscard AECS GmbH is also responsible for expanding and handling the American Express network of points of acceptance in Switzerland.

Swisscard AECS GmbH combines the strengths of its two parent companies in the credit card business, with American Express being the global leader as far as card management is concerned and Credit Suisse AG owning strong national sales channels. As a market leader in Switzerland, Swisscard manages over 30 card products, tailored to the needs of private individuals and corporate clients, and has leading positions in frequent flyer and business traveler cards, corporate client business as well as co-branding card business (Miles & More)

For additional information about Swisscard please refer to www.swisscard.ch.

About TSYS

TSYS (NYSE: TSS) unlocks opportunities in payments for payment providers, businesses and consumers. Our headquarters are in Columbus, Georgia, USA, and we operate in more than 80 countries with local offices across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific.

We provide seamless, secure and innovative solutions across the payments spectrum  from issuer processing and merchant acquiring to prepaid program management  delivered through partnership and expertise. We succeed because we put people, and their needs, at the heart of every decision. Its an approach we call People-Centered Payments.

Our industry is changing every day  and were leading the way toward the payments of tomorrow. We routinely post all important information on our website. For more, visit us at tsys.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005148/en/

TSYS Media Relations

Cyle Mims, +1.706.644.3110

[email protected]

or

TSYS Investor Relations

Shawn Roberts, +1.706.644.6081

[email protected]

Source: TSYS
A woman walks past a panel displaying stock indices of Hong Kong, U.S. and China markets, outside a bank in Hong Kong June 7, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo

By Michelle Price

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Connecting the giant stock markets of Hong Kong and Shenzhen is unlikely to fast-track the inclusion of Chinese shares in a major investment benchmark index as foreign access to China's markets is still restricted.

Approval this week for the long-awaited extension of the Shanghai-Hong Kong stock trading link to Shenzhen's $3 trillion market - and the scrapping of overall investment caps - advanced China's cause to have yuan-denominated Chinese A shares included in MSCI's Emerging Markets Index, but hurdles remain.

China wants its stocks included in the MSCI index as this is tracked by $1.5 trillion in global assets and could draw up to $400 billion into China's stocks over a decade. It has said that any global benchmark that doesn't include China A shares is incomplete.

Eighteen months after the Shanghai-Hong Kong Connect was launched, many foreign fund managers still can't invest through the link due to operational hurdles and legal issues with the way assets are safeguarded under its custody arrangements. China shares have to be held onshore by the Hong Kong exchange on behalf of beneficial owners.

Tuesday's approval for the Shenzhen link reaffirms China's commitment to reform, but is unlikely to be a deal-maker for MSCI, a New York-based index provider, investors and analysts said.

"It's getting China A shares one step closer, but there are other issues that MSCI needs to look at," said Arthur Kwong, head of Asia-Pacific equities at BNP Paribas Investment Partners. "The stock link market mechanism is not yet working perfectly, and there could be challenges launching products."

MORE WORK

For a third year running, MSCI declined in June to add Chinese A shares to its emerging markets benchmark, saying China had more to do to open up its market.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing CEO Charles Li said this week the approval for the Shenzhen link put A shares "on the right track" for inclusion, but acknowledged it did not solve all MSCI's issues. He said additional features and products may have to be added.

MSCI said in June it would not include China A shares in its benchmark index until China allows foreign investors to freely repatriate capital under its cross-border Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) investment scheme.

It also wants China to scrap a rule requiring foreigners to seek Chinese regulatory approval before launching investment products that include yuan-denominated shares.

And MSCI is watching to see if recent rule changes to share trading suspensions in China and the granting of investment quotas are actually effective.

The launch of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Connect doesn't immediately fix any of these issues. China's regulators have met several of MSCI's demands over the past two years, but have not indicated if or when they may address the index company's outstanding concerns.

"Concerns over capital mobility, share suspensions and restricted availability of A-share products are still being addressed," said Wilfred Son Keng Po, a Hong Kong-based portfolio manager at global asset manager PineBridge Investments.

A spokeswoman for MSCI in New York did not respond to requests for comment, while representatives in Hong Kong could not be reached.

OPERATIONAL ISSUES

MSCI has been in discussions with Chinese regulators and the Hong Kong exchange over the past year and knew of the deal being negotiated on Connect quotas prior to June, said a person with knowledge of those talks.

While daily trading quotas for participants buying Shanghai and Shenzhen shares in the scheme are capped at 13 billion yuan ($1.96 billion) for each market, Hong Kong and China have agreed to scrap an aggregate quota, meaning investors could have unlimited access to Chinese shares over time.

Many U.S. and European investors can't benefit though because the scheme's operational and custody arrangements breach their legal mandates.

"Hong Kong-Shenzhen Connect is an add-on factor for MSCI, rather than a pre-requisite," said Ivan Shi, head of research at Shanghai investment consultancy Z-Ben Advisors. "No mention on Tuesday of any potential change to the beneficial ownership structure probably won't help big managers and institutional investors to use Connect."

Asked by Reuters in June if extending the Connect scheme to Shenzhen and removing the quotas would see MSCI move to include A shares, Remy Briand, global head of research at MSCI, said it would be positive, but added that many investors did not want to use the scheme due to these problems. "Hence it's not something that at this stage would be resolving the accessibility issues," he said then.

MSCI operates an annual review for A share inclusion, but has said it could hold an ad hoc review if the situation changes.

"The launch of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Connect would have little impact, if any, on MSCI's consideration to include A-shares, since accessibility is no longer its top concern," said Qi Wang, CEO of asset manager MegaTrust Investment Hong Kong, and a former head of MSCI China research.

"My suggestion to global investors is to avoid relying on an index provider alone to resolve their China investment issues."

(Reporting by Michelle Price; Editing by Lisa Jucca and Ian Geoghegan)
By Serajul Quadir and Jonathan Spicer

DHAKA/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bangladesh's central bank said it has reversed its plans to sue the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the SWIFT money transfer network, and instead intends to seek their help recovering $81 million stolen by cyber thieves in February.

"At the moment we have no plan to go for any legal action against the Fed bank or SWIFT; rather we will seek their assistance," said Subhankar Saha, the spokesman for Bangladesh Bank. He declined to provide reasons for the turnabout.

A source close to the Asian central bank last month said it was preparing litigation to seek compensation, claiming errors by the New York Fed and SWIFT had made Bangladesh Bank vulnerable. In the February heist, hackers issued false transfer orders on the SWIFT network to move funds out of Bangladesh Bank's account at the Fed.

Bangladesh's finance minister had also said in March he was weighing legal action.

"We only assessed different options, including the legal (option)," Saha said on Tuesday. "We look forward to cooperation both from the Fed and SWIFT."

Officials from the Fed and Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith were not immediately available for comment.

The shift came as meetings were to begin in New York on Tuesday between officials from Bangladesh Bank, the New York Fed and SWIFT. It also comes after the New York Fed last week published its standard contract with correspondent banks, which spells out that the burden of preventing and reporting breaches lies largely with the correspondent bank, in this case Bangladesh Bank.

Saha said there was no link between the decision not to pursue a lawsuit and the contract. "We were assessing options, and we prefer cooperation," he said.

Deputy Governor Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hassan, who is heading the Bangladesh Bank team in the New York meetings, said the bank operates under the standard Fed contract. He did not comment on any possible lawsuit.

The standard contract includes a requirement for the correspondent bank to "immediately" notify the U.S. central bank when it learned it was hacked, and to give the Fed "a reasonable opportunity to act" on cancellation requests. The Fed was bound to then "make reasonable efforts" to halt any fraudulent payments it had made.

The New York Fed is liable for acting on unauthorized payments only if it does not comply with agreed authentication messages, or fails to exercise good faith when filling a payment request, according to the contract.

The published contract notes litigation must be heard in a U.S. court.

In the Feb. 4 heist, the hackers peppered the Fed with payment requests, four of which were filled. Much of the money disappeared into casinos in the Philippines.

Reuters reported last month that Bangladesh Bank did not realize it had been hacked and d id not attempt to alert the New York Fed until two days after the money had been sent. By that time, a weekend in New York, the Fed took two more days to respond.

Reuters also reported that the New York Fed attempted and failed to cancel the payments and did not immediately inform Bangladesh Bank of its efforts.

(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and David Greising)
By Chris Mfula

LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia will control spending and act to boost economic growth, President Edgar Lungu said on Thursday, dismissing criticism by the main opposition leader who is challenging his re-election at the helm of Africa's second-largest copper producer.

The southern African nation is in the throes of an economic slump due to depressed commodity prices with mine closures, rising unemployment, power shortages and soaring food prices that his rival, Hakainde Hichilema, blames on mismanagement by Lungu.

"I have five years now which is sufficient time to take more decisive action. I will take measures to grow the economy and control expenditure," Lungu, a lawyer, said in a statement after meeting business leaders.

Hichilema, an economist and businessman and an old rival of Lungu, heads the United Party for National Development (UPND)which plans to file a court petition against Lungu's re-election on the grounds that the ballot in the Aug. 11 vote was rigged.

Lungu said on Thursday that Lusaka and the International Monetary Fund had reached broad consensus on the key areas of an aid program for Zambia, though he did not elaborate on this. Zambia has been in talks with the global lender over a possible financing deal.

The meetings come against the background of a yawning budget deficit and rising spending on fuel subsidies and power imports.

Lungu said Zambia would gradually introduce new tariffs to reflect the cost of production in the electricity and fuel sectors, while an agriculture support program under which the government provides subsidies for farming would be restructured.

In February, Zambia scrapped a nearly 73 percent hike in electricity tariffs for industrial and commercial users after Lungu reversed plans to nearly double electricity costs for home users, saying they would hurt the poor.

Lungu, who narrowly beat Hichilema in a vote last year to replace late president Michael Sata, won 50.35 percent of the vote against 47.63 for his opponent in the Aug. 11 vote.

His inauguration had initially been set for Aug. 23. But a winning candidate cannot be sworn in if the vote is contested in the Constitutional Court, which has two weeks to decide on such a petition.

Hichilema's party, which had earlier said it would file a court petition against Lungu's re-election on Friday, said it would lodge it on Monday. The ruling party and the electoral commission have rejected the charge that they deliberately falsified the size of Hichilema's vote.

"We are targeting Monday because the volume of work for our lawyers is overwhelming. Evidence (of fraud) is still coming in from all over the country and we don't want to miss any of it," UPND spokesman Charles Kakoma told Reuters.

(Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): August 18, 2016

ARC LOGISTICS PARTNERS LP

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)

001-36168 36-4767846 (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.) 725 Fifth Avenue, 19 th Floor New York, New York 10022 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

(212) 993-1290

(Registrants telephone number, including area code)

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure.

On August 18, 2016, management of Arc Logistics Partners LP (the Partnership) will participate in the 2016 Citi MLP/Midstream Infrastructure Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada and will conduct investor meetings throughout the conference. On August 18, 2016, the Partnership posted the investor presentation associated with this event on the Investors page of its website, www.arcxlp.com . A copy of this presentation is furnished and attached as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and is incorporated by reference into this Item 7.01.

The information provided in this Item 7.01 (including the presentation furnished as Exhibit 99.1) shall not be deemed to be filed for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, nor shall it be incorporated by reference in any filing made by the Partnership pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, except to the extent that such filing incorporates by reference any or all of such information by express reference thereto.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

99.1 Investor Presentation dated August 2016

2

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

ARC LOGISTICS PARTNERS LP By: ARC LOGISTICS GP LLC, its General Partner Date: August 18, 2016 By: /s/ Vincent T. Cubbage Name: Vincent T. Cubbage Title: Chief Executive Officer

3

Investor Presentation August 2016 Exhibit 99.1

Cautionary Note Forward Looking Statements Certain statements and information in this presentation constitute "forward-looking statements." Certain expressions including "believe," "expect," "intends," or other similar expressions are intended to identify Arc Logistics Partners LPs (the Partnership or Arc Logistics) current expectations, opinions, views or beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effect on the Partnership. While management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable when made, there can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Partnership will be those that it anticipates. The forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond the Partnership's control) and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Partnership's historical experience and its present expectations or projections. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: (i) adverse economic, capital markets and political conditions; (ii) changes in the market place for the Partnership's services; (iii) changes in supply and demand of crude oil and petroleum products; (iv) actions and performance of the Partnership's customers, vendors or competitors; (v) changes in the cost of or availability of capital; (vi) unanticipated capital expenditures in connection with the construction, repair or replacement of the Partnership's assets; (vii) operating hazards, unforeseen weather events or matters beyond the Partnership's control; (viii) inability to consummate acquisitions, pending or otherwise, on acceptable terms and successfully integrate acquired businesses into the Partnership's operations; (ix) effects of existing and future laws or governmental regulations; and (x) litigation. Additional information concerning these and other factors that could cause the Partnership's actual results to differ from projected results can be found in the Partnership's public periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including the Partnership's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, as filed with the SEC on March 11, 2016 and any updates thereto in the Partnership's subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. These factors are not necessarily all of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any of the forward-looking statements contained herein. Other unknown or unpredictable factors could also have material adverse effects on the Partnerships future results. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. The Partnership undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The Partnership does not, as a matter of course, disclose projections as to future operations, earnings or other results. However, the Partnership may include herein certain prospective financial information, including estimated EBITDA. To the extent prospective financial information is included herein, such information was not prepared with a view toward disclosure, but, in the view of the Partnerships management, was prepared on a reasonable basis, reflects the best currently available estimates and judgments and presents, to the best of the Partnerships knowledge and belief, the expected course of action and expected future financial performance of the Partnerships assets. However, this information is not fact and should not be relied upon as being indicative of future results, and readers of this presentation are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the prospective financial information.

Arc Logistics Overview Arc Logistics is a fee-based, independent logistics service provider formed by Lightfoot Capital Partners, LP (Lightfoot Capital or Sponsor) to acquire, operate and grow energy logistics assets Exchange NYSE: ARCX Common Units Outstanding 13,181,409 Subordinated Units Outstanding 6,081,081 Current Annual Distribution $1.76 Common Unit Price (as of 08.15.16) $15.18 Implied Distribution Yield 11.6% Market Capitalization(1) $292 million 52-Week High / Low $18.25 / $8.66 Partnership Structure Lightfoot Capital (our Sponsor) Common / Subordinated Units Common / Subordinated Units GP Interest 27.1% LP Interest 72.9% LP Interest Corporate Offices: 725 Fifth Avenue, 19th Floor New York, NY 10022 3000 Research Forest Drive, Suite 250 The Woodlands, TX 77381 More information can be found at Arc Logistics website. http://www.arcxlp.com/ Includes all outstanding common and subordinated limited partner units. The Partnership is principally engaged in the terminalling, storage, throughput and transloading of crude oil and petroleum products Arc Logistics utilizes its strategically located assets across the United States to provide its customers with multiple supply and delivery modes and a diverse slate of petroleum products 21 terminals in 12 states providing critical services to 76 customers The Partnership is focused on developing existing assets and/or acquiring new assets to serve current and future customers Strong track record of growth through expanding existing customer base, completing attractive internal projects, and successfully integrating third party acquisitions.

Recent Developments and Quarterly Results Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure. Please see the reconciliation pages in the appendix to this presentation. Recent Developments Acquired four refined products terminals located in Pennsylvania with added aggregate shell capacity of approximately 816,000 barrels Awarded the International Liquid Terminals Association Safety Excellence Award for its 2015 Safety Performance, for the second year in a row Experienced record throughput volume of approximately 162,500 barrels per day, a year-over-year increase of 154% Second Quarter Results  2016 Paid a second quarter cash distribution of $0.44 per unit, which represents an increase of 3.5% from the quarter ending June 30, 2015 Revenues increased 37% to $26.2 million for the second quarter of 2016 compared to $19.1 million for the same period in 2015 Revenue generated from investment grade counterparties or counterparties with investment grade parents was in-line with the full year 2015 metric of 64% Adjusted EBITDA (1) increased 36% to $14.5 million for the second quarter of 2016 as compared to $10.6 million for the same period in 2015

Investment Highlights A fee-based, growth-oriented, independent logistics service provider Diversified and well positioned asset portfolio Stable and predictable cash flow profile Customer driven, attractive and visible growth opportunities Experienced management team with a proven track record Financial flexibility to achieve growth opportunities Supportive sponsor group with energy industry expertise Commitment to managing to the highest EH&S standards

Growth-Oriented Partnership Growth from incremental utilization of existing terminal capacity, organic growth projects and third-party acquisitions Organic Growth Opportunities Potential Contracted Growth Acquisitions from Third Parties Acquisition Opportunities from our Sponsor Customer focused projects to enhance existing asset platform In excess of 250 acres to develop new infrastructure Upgrading receipt/delivery modes (where applicable) for maximum flexibility Many commercial agreements include the following provision to drive growth: CPI escalators Increasing take-or-pay volume commitments Evaluating third party acquisitions to complement the Partnerships existing platform Successful track record of completing third party acquisitions Evaluating opportunities for new business lines and geographic expansion Partners of our Sponsor include some of the largest energy investors in North America Right of First Offer on the remaining 40% interest in Arc Terminals Joliet Holdings Call option to buy out the Portland terminal lease 9.7% interest in Gulf LNG Holdings Group LLC (Gulf LNG) Incentive rate structures

Diversified Portfolio of Logistics Assets The Partnership has acquired logistics assets that serve as critical links between supply and demand locations LNG Facility 6 4 Note: For more information on the Partnerships asset portfolio, see appendix to this presentation. Pipeline connections are illustrated on a general level and for presentation purposes only. 6 6 15 13 Barge/Ship access Truck access Pipeline access Rail access 5 2 Supply and Delivery Modes: Transloading Facility Light Products Terminal Heavy Oil / Crude Oil Terminal

Service-Oriented Business Model Built a customer base of major oil companies, marketers and retail outlets, and independent refiners by supporting their strategic objectives and by aligning our assets with their commercial opportunities Arc Independent Refiners Major Oil Companies Traders and Marketers The Partnership has the capability to support a wide range of customers who enter into varying contract lengths and volume commitments Major oil companies generally require proprietary infrastructure to support operations and provide long-term ratable volumes Retail outlets buy directly from refineries or marketers and require ratable and long term volumes Producers enter into long-term agreements in support of their downstream supply agreements Marketers and independent refiners activity is driven by underlying third-party agreements and market dynamics

Contracted, Stable Cash Flow Profile The Partnerships contract portfolio generates cash flows through committed activity levels, while providing for upside exposure to throughput and ancillary services fees Historical Revenue Composition (in millions) Quarterly Cash Distributions to Arc Logistics from Gulf LNG(1) (in millions) Contribution of cash distributions represents the Partnerships 10.3% limited liability company interest in Gulf LNG. As of December 31, 2015, the remaining term was approximately 16 years. One of the terminal use agreement parties has filed an arbitration proceeding seeking to terminate its terminal use agreement. See the Partnerships disclosures regarding this arbitration matter and its investment in Gulf LNG in its annual report for the period ended December 31, 2015 and its quarterly reports for the periods ended March 31, 2016 and June 30, 2016. Storage & Throughput Services Fees The Partnership seeks to enter into contracts for the receipt, storage, throughput and transloading of crude oil and petroleum products Ancillary Services Fees Heating, blending and mixing services associated with customers activity at the terminal Seek to create stable cash flow and to mitigate exposure to supply and demand volatility and other market factors Typical contract terms include the following provisions: Term between 1 to 10 years Per barrel throughput fee, storage fee or a combination of both, with additional fees based on specific activities Take-or-pay revenue commitments Gulf LNG Distributions The Partnership receives quarterly cash distributions from Gulf LNG Distributions are supported by two 20-year (2) terminal use agreements (3)

Proven Track Record of Expansion 2008 Today The Partnership has grown and diversified significantly over the past eight years The Partnerships assets included eight light products terminals The Partnerships assets include 21 terminals with capabilities to receive, store and deliver light products, heavy products and crude oil Majority of the Partnerships customer base consisted of marketers The Partnerships customer base has significantly diversified over the past eight years to include a more balanced portfolio of major oil companies, marketers and industrial manufacturers Customers: 13 Customers: 76 (as of June 30, 2016) Revenue Composition by Customer Type Revenue Composition by Customer Type

Growth Opportunities The Partnership is currently undertaking and / or pursuing several organic growth opportunities Marine facility upgrades and expansion projects Installing bio-blending systems in multiple terminals Tank expansion projects in multiple terminals Rail expansion projects in multiple terminals Available land for expansion

Financial Flexibility The Partnership continues to position itself to achieve its long-term growth objectives Capitalizing on Financial Flexibility Creatively Structured Acquisitions Maintaining Stable Cash Flows $300 million amended and restated credit facility Ability to access capital markets in future offerings Maintaining a balanced capital structure Joint venture transactions to acquire large assets Lease transactions to acquire operational rights in new geographic locations Issuance of common units to sellers Seek to enter into long-term fee-based growth opportunities Stable customer profile with contracted revenues Focus on counterparty concentration and on reducing identifiable credit risks Independent Strategy Maximizing flexibility to fund growth Competitively positioned to acquire certain assets Aligning interests with potential sellers to grow volumes and capabilities The Partnership does not compete with the potential sellers on the supply side Achieving long-term growth objectives  Diversified and well positioned asset portfolio  Stable distributions with possibility for growth

Proven and Resilient Business Model The Partnership has achieved a track record of successful organic and acquisition growth in a volatile commodity market Shell Capacity (mmbbls) Throughput (mbbls/d) Revenue ($mm) Adjusted EBITDA(1) ($mm) Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure. Please see the reconciliation pages in the appendix to this presentation.

Appendix

Non-GAAP Financial Measures Non-GAAP Financial Measures The Partnership defines Adjusted EBITDA as net income before interest expense, income taxes and depreciation and amortization expense, as further adjusted for other non-cash charges and other charges that are not reflective of our ongoing operations. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure that management and external users of the Partnership's consolidated financial statements, such as industry analysts, investors, lenders and rating agencies, may use to assess (i) the performance of the Partnership's assets without regard to the impact of financing methods, capital structure or historical cost basis of the Partnership's assets; (ii) the viability of capital expenditure projects and the overall rates of return on alternative investment opportunities; (iii) the Partnership's ability to make distributions; (iv) the Partnership's ability to incur and service debt and fund capital expenditures; and (v) the Partnership's ability to incur additional expenses. The Partnership believes that the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors in assessing its financial condition and results of operations. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to Adjusted EBITDA is net income. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to net income. Adjusted EBITDA has important limitations as an analytical tool because it excludes some but not all items that affect net income. Readers should not consider Adjusted EBITDA in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of the Partnership's results as reported under GAAP. Additionally, because Adjusted EBITDA may be defined differently by other companies in the Partnership's industry, its definitions of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies, thereby diminishing their utility. Please see the reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA in the accompanying table. A-1

Reconciliation to Adjusted EBITDA (In thousands, except per unit data) Year Ended December 31, Six Months Ended, LTM 2013 2014 2015 6/30/2015 6/30/2016 6/30/2016 Net Income $12,831 $1,275 $6,429 $2,494 $7,572 $11,507 Income taxes 20 58 119 69 51 101 Interest expense 8,639 3,706 6,873 2,469 4,753 9,157 Gain on bargain purchase of business (11,777) - - - - - Depreciation(1) 5,836 7,261 10,486 4,164 6,466 12,788 Amortization(1) 4,756 5,427 9,175 2,965 6,136 12,346 Long-lived asset impairment(2) - 6,114 - - - - One-time non-recurring expenses(3) 3,673 451 5,044 2,732 601 2,913 Non-cash charges(4) - 5,885 5,950 3,154 2,425 5,221 Adjusted EBITDA (5) $23,978 $30,177 $44,076 $18,047 $28,004 $54,033 Total LP Units Outstanding 12,949 19,255 17,470 19,262 Declared LP Distribution $1.610 $1.730 $0.425 $0.440 $1.760 The depreciation and amortization have been adjusted to remove the non-controlling interest portion related to the Partnerships co-investors ownership interest in Arc Joliet. The long-lived asset impairment relates to the Chillicothe, IL Terminal. The Partnership re-evaluated the Chillicothe Terminal and based upon the inability to enter into a service agreement with a new or existing customer, the Partnership recognized a non-cash impairment loss of approximately $6.1 million at December 31, 2014. The one-time non-recurring expenses relate to amounts incurred as due diligence expenses from acquisitions and other infrequent or unusual expenses incurred. The non-cash charges relate to deferred rent expense associated with the Portland, OR terminal lease transaction and non-cash compensation associated with the Partnerships long-term incentive plan. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as a non-GAAP measure. A-2
Cautionary Statement 2 This presentation contains certain forward-looking statements and information, including "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements and information expressed, as at the date of this presentaiton, McEwen Mining Inc.'s (the "Company") estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations or beliefs as to future events and results. Forward-looking statements and information are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties, risks and contingencies, and there can be no assurance that such statements and information will prove to be accurate. Therefore, actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements and information. Risks and uncertainties that could cause results or future events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to, factors associated with fluctuations in the market price of precious metals, mining industry risks, political, economic, social and security risks associated with foreign operations, the ability of the corporation to receive or receive in a timely manner permits or other approvals required in connection with operations, risks associated with the construction of mining operations and commencement of production and the projected costs thereof, risks related to litigation, the state of the capital markets, environmental risks and hazards, uncertainty as to calculation of mineral resources and reserves, risk of delisting from a public exchange, and other risks. The Company's dividend policy will be reviewed periodically by the Board of Directors and is subject to change based on certain factors such as the capital needs of the Company and its future operating results. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information included herein, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to reissue or update forward-looking statements or information as a result of new information or events after the date hereof except as may be required by law. See McEwen Mining's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, under the caption "Risk Factors", for additional information on risks, uncertainties and other factors relating to the forward-looking statements and information regarding the Company. All forward-looking statements and information made in this presentation are qualified by this cautionary statement. All currency information quoted in U.S. dollars. To see end notes, technical disclosure and cautionary guidance, and cautionary note regarding NON-GAAP measures, go to www.mcewenmining.com/files/presentation_disclosure.pdf
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed formulation of a mechanism for continuously reviewing the progress and speedy implementation of all the projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor. He was addressing the federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad on Thursday.

The prime Minister expressed satisfaction over the pace of ongoing energy and infrastructure projects under the CPEC and directed that the timelines of all the projects must be met.

Nawaz Sharif said our future planning in terms of energy and infrastructure requirement must be the top priority if we want to reap the benefits of the ongoing projects.

The Cabinet was briefed on progress on different projects being implemented under China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The Prime Minister directed for fast tracking all the energy, infrastructure projects. He also directed for expediting work on the development of Gwadar Port and socio-economic uplift projects in the region.

Nawaz Sharif said he is the biggest supporter of exploiting the potential of Thar Coal Reserves.

The Cabinet decided to formulate a comprehensive policy for the families of victims of terrorism.

The Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed that a comprehensive policy to cater for the sustenance and well-being of the families of Shuhada as well as education and employment of their children be formulated.

He also directed that feasibility of establishment of a National Endowment Fund for the victims of terrorism be examined at the earliest.

The cabinet formed a four-member committee comprising Minister for Housing and Works, Minister for Interior, Minister for Law and Chairman CDA for fine-tuning the proposed housing policy.

The Cabinet approved MoU between Pakistan and the Turkmenistan on Defence Cooperation. It also approved signing of Negotiated Treaty on Extradition between Pakistan and Kazakhstan.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif arrived in Malaysia on a two-day visit on Wednesday. He said on this occasion that Pakistan and Malaysia had same stance on terrorism and it was necessary for eradicating terrorism completely.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department, General Raheel Sharif was presented with guard of honour upon his arrival at the Malaysian army headquarters. He also met Malaysian Chief of Defence Staff General Zulkifeli Mohummed Zin and Chief of Malaysian Army General Raja Muhammad Afandi in separate meetings.

Military ties, joint exercises and defence cooperation were discussed in these meetings. The Malaysian military leaders praised Pakistans achievements against terrorism and efforts for peace in the region.

Army chief General Raheel Sharif said on the occasion that Pakistan and Malaysia has same stance on regional security and terrorism and it was necessary to weed out terrorism completely.

Terms of Reference were signed between the two armies for long term military cooperation.

General Raheel Sharif also met Malaysian Defence Minister Hishamuddin as well. ISPR told that the Malaysian Defence Minister expressed willingness to improve military cooperation and benefit from Pakistan armys professional expertise.
Prime Minister John Key has today announced the establishment of a new ministerial portfolio, Minister for Vulnerable Children.

The new portfolio will come into effect in April 2017 with the establishment of the new Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki.

The care and protection of vulnerable children and young people is a priority for this Government and the establishment of a new stand-alone, child-centred ministry is a reflection of that, says John.

The new ministry will put the needs of children first so that they have the best possible chance of living happy and successful lives.

Anne Tolley will be appointed as Minister for Vulnerable Children effective April 2017.

Source: Office of John Key.
The Mercury Bay 250 Trust launched a new website this week as part of its campaign to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cooks arrival in Te Whanganui a Hei in 1769.

A number of events and major projects to take place around Mercury Bay are currently in the works to commemorate Cooks arrival on the Coromandel when the sestercentennial anniversary rolls around in November 2019.
Bay residents should expect a relatively cloud-free weekend in what the MetService says will be the last good weekend for winter.

There are just two weekends left this winter, and this looks like the one to head outdoors, says a statement from the weather organisation.
Superyacht Cacos V found her way to the water in 2013. Since then, she has been cruising the waters of the world, offering the best in on board experience.

From the shores, the Admiral Tecnomar Impero 40S superyacht Cacos V is immediately distinctive thanks to the Luca Dini styled rugged, sharp and modern look which paints a picture of a vessel ready for anything.

Stepping off the dock, onto the tender and making your way on board, it soon becomes apparent that the visual distinction isnt just on the surface. Her interiors, designed by Admiral Centro Stile are a reflection of modern luxury, combining expert lighting, dark colours and rich textures to provide a sense of both comfort and remarkable Italian style.

The interior works with the engineering, to create an overall lifestyle; with a spacious layout throughout, a 50sqm Master Suite and an atmosphere which benefits from extremely low noise with very little vibration underway.

The 11 guests on board are comfortably accommodated in a 5 suite layout, with breakfast served on the al-fresco dining table, lunch by the water and dinner in the sophisticated dining area on board before cocktails on the sky lounge as the sun goes down over your chosen backdrop.

This is one of the best superyachts in her 40m class, awarded and acclaimed as a charter yacht with distinctive style, vast volumes and a lifestyle par excellence.

Available for charter across the East Mediterranean this summer and listed for sale with IYC, find out more about Cacos V by following the links.
The European Medicines Agency, currently based in London, may be seeking a new headquarters following Brexit

Medical professionals meeting with mayor De la Torre on Wednesday. :: Daniel Perez

Leaders and representatives of local doctors and pharmacists, top professionals, academics and representatives from the University of Malaga all joined forces with Malaga city hall on Wednesday in a bid for Malaga to be the new headquarters of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which may move from London in the wake of the Brexit vote.

The EMA is a European Union agency for the evaluation of medicinal products. Set up in 1995 with funding from the EU and the pharmaceutical industry, it attempts to harmonise (but not replace) the work of existing national medicine regulatory bodies.

Malaga mayor, Francisco de la Torre, believes that Malaga can offer everything that its national competitors, Barcelona and Granada, as well as international competitors, Milan and Stockholm, can put forward. Among the key draws, he says, is the airport which, with 140 different connections can unite all businesses who need the European agency.

As well as that, he added the extraordinary quality of life that the city can offer, the lower cost, as well as the citys cultural offering. It is the only Spanish city in Europes top ten for quality of life.

Whats more, he outlined the large selection of international schools which could host the children of the EU employees and the citys links to the biomedical and health sectors.

As for Granadas bid, De la Torre showed his respect for the decision but again stressed that Malaga has Andalucias international airport. We serve cities like Granada, Seville and Cordoba, he continued, adding that Granadas air connections are not comparable.

On the news that acting deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria favoured Barcelonas bid, the mayor urged the state not to give its backing to any bid, but also conceded that the Catalan capital had an edge thanks to backing from the Generalitat from minute one.

This is a sentiment echoed by Federico Soriguer, member of the Malaga Science Academy, who says:An autonomous community cannot put forward two candidates so the Junta de Andalucia has to decide who it will support. Coherence is key, so in this respect, the project has already been weakened.
Agreement clears the way for the investiture debate in Congreso on 30 August; but he may still be short of votes to win

Rajoy faces the media in Madrids Congreso on Thursday. :: EFE

Spain edged closer towards a new government on Thursday when Mariano Rajoy, leader of the Partido Popular (PP), accepted the six anti-corruption demands of Albert Riveras Ciudadanos (Cs) party.

Rivera had tabled his wish list last week. In return for PPsupport for his suggested measures, Rivera offered to have his MPs vote for Rajoy in an investiture debate in the Congreso.

Rajoy is leader of the biggest party in the parliament but needs other parties votes to secure majority support to become prime minister.

In their list, Cs called for, among other measures, steps against politicians being investigated for corruption, an end to special legal protection for some politicians and changes to the voting system.

Rajoy met with his PP executive committee on Wednesday to decide whether to support Cs measures.

Talk among Spains political commentators turned swiftly to further general elections, the third in a year, if the current deadlock could not be broken.

However, Thursdays announcement by Rivera and Rajoy that they would go ahead with their anti-corruption pact lightened the mood. Rivera, however, will still not form part of any future PP government.

Rajoy also promised to finally ask the president (speaker) of the Congreso, Ana Pastor, to set a date for an MPs debate and vote on a new government. The date was formally set later on Thursday for 30 August, with a first vote on PM expected on 31 August.

Despite the Cs deal, the PP leader still wont have enough votes to be sworn in as PM. Socialist PSOEsupport, or at least a partial abstention, would still be needed for a Rajoy majority.

With Pedro Sanchez of the PSOEstill promising to vote no to Rajoy, it was clear some more negotiation remained to be done.

If Rajoy doesnt win a first vote with an outright majority, there will be a second vote two days later, where a tally of more yes votes than no would suffice.

If he cannot achieve this, the king may look to ask another leader to try to form a government or the third general election in a year could be held around Christmas.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A Georgia company has withdrawn plans to build a 17-story student apartment tower that Syracuse University criticized as being way too tall for the university neighborhood.

John Langey, an attorney for LCD Acquisitions, told the Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals in a letter that the company was withdrawing its application for a use variance for the project, which was to be named The Standard at Syracuse.

The letter is dated June 29, just a few days after Syracuse University sent a letter to the board opposing the project. SU Associate Vice President Eric Persons said the 17-story structure would "not fit with the existing design, feel and character of the university neighborhood, and would create a barrier between the university and surrounding streets."

The Athens, Ga., company, an affiliate of Landmark Properties, sought permission in May to build the high-rise at 610-614 University Ave., the northwest corner of East Adams Street and University Avenue.

The proposed building would have contained 8,450 square feet of commercial, retail or restaurant space on the first floor; a parking garage for 384 vehicles on floors 2 through 5; and 256 apartments with a total of 650 bedrooms on floors 6 through 17. It would have been one of the tallest buildings in Syracuse.

It's not clear whether the company will submit new plans, perhaps proposing a smaller building that the university would not object to. Langey's letter said the company was withdrawing its "present application" and was doing so "without prejudice," a legal term indicating the company was reserving the right to re-file its application.

Langey did not reply to phone calls and an email from syracuse.com seeking comment.

The company needed variances from the zoning board because, among other things, the property's Class C Residential District zoning does not permit building heights of more than two stories.

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
IMG_1681.JPG

Syracuse police investigate a homicide at McCarthy Manor Tuesday in Syracuse. Homicide victim Sarah Brantley's brother said she was worried about her son, Jamar S. Brown, who is accused of killing her inside her apartment.

(Samantha House | shouse@syracuse)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- When Ned Cooper spoke to his sister, Sarah Brantley, on the telephone last week they talked about what they usually talk about: their kids.

Cooper remembers that Brantley expressed concern for Jamar Brown, one of her four sons. Brantley told him that her son "wasn't all there," Cooper said.

"She knew he wasn't together," Cooper said Wednesday when reached by phone at his home in Racine, Wisconsin. "His mind, he lost his mind."

Days after that phone call Cooper learned his sister was dead.

Brown, 22, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Police said he killed Brantley, 60, at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in her apartment at McCarthy Manor, 501 S. Crouse Ave., Syracuse.

Brantley died from "massive traumatic injury" after being hit in the head several times with a blunt object, according to court documents. Police did not identify the weapon used in the attack, though Dollar General workers told syracuse.com they spotted Brown and found a hammer covered in blood that the police collected.

Cooper said he had warned his sister not to trust Brown, who he said had been in a mental hospital recently. She was also letting Brown stay with her, Cooper said.

"I told her to find him a place of his own," he said.

But Brantley demurred, saying she did not want Brown sleeping out on the streets, Cooper said.

Jamar S. Brown

At Brown's arraignment Wednesday morning a prosecutor with the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office asked Judge Kate Rosenthal for a mental health examination for Brown. Rosenthal noted a previous exam conducted for a separate trespassing case "would suggest he's fine."

At the time he was arrested for his mother's murder, Brown was wanted on a warrant for trespassing.

Brantley grew up in Tennessee. She had four brothers and an older sister. Her sister, Pollie C. Campbell, of Syracuse, died in 1997. Brantley was disabled and had lived in Syracuse for about 30 years, Cooper said.

In addition to her four sons, Brantley also had several nieces and nephews in Central New York.

Cooper said Brantley called him about once a month. She loved to talk and they would routinely spend a couple hours on the phone.

"I'm going to miss that," he said.
Maple Street homicide.JPG

Police tape covers the door to 322 Maple St. in July after A'Nickalus Hill was fatally shot.

(Jacob Pucci)

Left to right: Jashua J. Williams and Harry E. Shelton

Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse man who felt his roommate was using an inappropriate slang term was shot to death after complaining, a prosecutor said today.

Jashua Williams, 32, was found guilty today of murder in the July 2015 shooting of his housemate, A'Nickalus Hill, at 320 Maple St. Another man, Harry Shelton, is also accused of participating in the killing.

Williams, the murderer, had been repeatedly using the phrase "deez nuts" in the days before the fatal shooting, Senior Assistant District Attorney Melinda McGunnigle said.

In a police interview, Williams said he heard the term on the Internet or Facebook, and a trial witness said the term was all over the Internet, the prosecutor said.

A'Nickalus G. Hill was fatally shot on July 29, 2015.

Around that time, Internet meme "Deez Nuts" was making headlines as an independent presidential candidate. Deez Nuts, the would-be candidate, was in fact a 15-year-old Iowa farm boy, according to media accounts. But the name made noises in a voter poll, the Washington Post reported.

Hill, the victim, didn't think it was appropriate for Williams to use the phrase repeatedly, McGunnigle said. The 3-year-old child of the killer's girlfriend had picked it up.

Hill complained to someone else that the child's father wouldn't want the child using that term. That person told Williams of Hill's gripe, McGunnigle said.

Williams became increasingly angry at Hill for complaining about "deez nuts," the prosecutor said. After driving around for awhile, he returned to the house and got Hill out of his bedroom.

After a confrontation in the living room, Hill was shot to death, McGunnigle said. The victim's three children were in another room when their father was shot to death.

Williams was found guilty today after a three-day trial. The other man with him, Shelton, is facing trial next month on a murder charge. It's not clear who fired the fatal shot, but McGunnigle said both can be charged with murder under law.

Williams had opted for a non-jury trial, so County Court Judge Anthony Aloi read the verdict this morning. Williams faces 25 years to life in prison when sentenced.
Putting together a "Killer College Application" is just one of the workshops aimed at young people offered by the Laura Riding Jackson Foundation. (AP FILE PHOTO)

Willi Miller Columnist SHARE Author and columnist Carl Hiaasen will lead a workshop Feb. 26 as part of a series aimed at young people by the Laura Riding Jackson Foundation. (FILE PHOTO)

If you didn't sign up for the Aug. 20 session of Teen Writers Workshop, fret not. There are more in the series local students will find interesting, educational and even fun.

The workshop is offered by the Laura Riding Jackson Foundation. It's free for students who want to know how to put together a "Killer College Application." The instructor is Michael Finnegan, a professor at FIT. Students will get tips not only on filling in the blanks but on writing an attention-grabbing essay to accompany an application.

The next session is Feb. 26 with Carl Hiaasen. With no admission charge and limited seating, space will fill up fast. The author/journalist lives in Vero Beach but still writes his award-winning column for The Miami Herald, posted regularly on Facebook and writes guest columns for Treasure Coast Newspapers on a variety of topics, including the ongoing algae crisis. For adult fans of his novels  my favorites still are "Native Tongue" and "Tourist Season"  who haven't discovered his young adult series, you're missing out. The stories are the same Florida-loving, polluter-hating plots but without the swearing. Hiaasen has a new title about ready to hit the shelves, "Razor Girl." I just finished "Trap Line" and will move to "Bad Monkey" next. What's your favorite?

Other workshops this season include acting and writing with the visiting Cambridge University American Stage Tour, Spoken Word Poetry, Speculative Fiction and Humor Writing.

Sessions are at the Environmental Learning Center, 255 Live Oak Drive, off the Wabasso Causeway. They're free and vary in their requirements for registration. For more information, call 772-569-6718, send an email to LRJFoundation@gmail.com or visit www.lauraridingjackson.com.

TIDBITS

Judy Burgarella, one of the artists who painted the room-size mural at the Community Center in Vero Beach a little while back, is opening a solo show at the Indian River County Courthouse on Aug. 18. She's taking a break from nature and focusing on portraiture these days. She expects to have 40 or more pieces on display through Oct. 7.

It's Howl at the Moon weekend Aug. 19 and 20 at Riverside Theatre. Get the schedule for the weekend experiences at www.riversidetheatre.com. Live concerts are included every weekend.

Willi Miller writes about Indian River County. Contact her at caribsea@bellsouth.net.
When Bundchen was at the top of supermodel fame, in Miami Beach

When Gisele Bundchen was at the height of her supermodel fame, she visited the Victoria's Secret store in Miami Beach with other supermodels.
SHARE Rebecca Negron

By George Andreassi of TCPalm

Rebecca Negron's congressional campaign talks tough about cracking down on federal spending.

The Martin County School Board member has a mixed record on taxes and spending, however, during her four-year tenure, a Treasure Coast Newspapers analysis found.

"Rebecca Negron sends a message to Washington: 'We must reign in irresponsible spending,' " says one of her campaign statements. "We must correct years of overspending and bad budget decisions by the current administration and work toward helping our economy recover through spending and tax reform. I am prepared to do just that."

Negron, a Republican, has voted with her colleagues to increase the school district's discretionary property tax revenue by more than $2.4 million, or about 18 percent, since she joined the board in November 2012. That added about $112 to the school tax bill of the owner of a home with a taxable value of $150,000.

Yet she also voted against 16 expenditures totaling nearly $6 million, mostly on computer equipment purchases, in the past two years  far more than any of her colleagues. She was the lone dissenter in nine of those votes and one of two in the minority in seven of those votes.

Negron declined to be interviewed on her fiscal conservatism, but her campaign emailed a statement in response to specific questions about her school board votes on taxing and spending.

"In the area of technology, I believe there are more sustainable ways to achieve our goal of one-to-one (computer) devices for students," it said. "I voted against special raises for top administrators and voted against unnecessary technology that does not align with our core mission."

OPPONENTS SKEPTICAL

The state government largely determines how much school boards can raise annually in property tax revenue, so members have little control.

The Martin County School Board has increased its budget by $20.3 million or nearly 9 percent in the past four years. That includes a proposed reduction of $4.3 million, or nearly 2 percent, for the current school year compared to the last school year. The final board vote on the proposed $249 million budget for the 2016-17 school year is set for a public hearing on Sept. 9.

The schools' property tax revenue has increased by nearly $22 million, or about 18 percent in the past four years. That was after the tax revenue plummeted by $30 million or about 20 percent between 2007-08 and 2011-12 as a result of the economic downturn.

Still, Negron voted for the bigger budgets and the tax increases.

She shouldn't have, said Brian Mast, one of her five opponents in the Aug. 30 GOP primary, "even if it would have only been a symbolic dissent."

"I recognize that the school board has a difficult job, and that a lot of funding and tax decisions are made above their pay grade at the state level," Mast said. "However, the voters in this primary are concerned with issues of taxation, runaway spending, and the growing debt of the federal government. Rebecca is promising the voters that she will fight spending and make Congress live within their means. I believe that she owes the voters of the 18th district an explanation as to why spending was not reduced."

Negron, the wife of Florida Senate President-Elect Joe Negron, won an unexpired term on the school board in 2012 and a four-year term in 2014, both times without opposition. In April 2015, she kicked off her campaign to replace U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter, as the District 18 representative for Martin, St. Lucie and northern Palm Beach counties.

Another primary opponent scoffed at the idea of Negron being a champion of spending and tax reform.

"All she said is, 'We're going to cut government spending,' " said former state Rep. Carl Domino of Jupiter. "It's sort of like fighting a ghost. What kind of items she would reign in?"
2016 political mailers

By Isadora Rangel of TCPalm

Outsiders are helping Treasure Coast elections turn nasty.

There are political ads linking Republicans to Hillary Clinton. A lawmaker is dubbed a "career politician." And a GOP candidate is called a "liberal."

It's unclear in many cases who's behind these attacks. The mailers, websites and TV ads are paid for by political committees and third-party groups with inconspicuous names such as "Truth in Politics."

Treasure Coast Newspapers tracked eight such groups, based as far away as Virginia, involved in county, state and congressional races in the three-county region.

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE ON THE GROUPS

Unlike campaigns, these groups have no donation caps and don't always have to disclose their donors' identities. If they twist facts or get them wrong, they don't face the same scrutiny as a candidate would.

"(Political committees) are a necessity because campaign accounts are limited to $1,000 contributions," said state Rep. Ritch Workman, who's running for a state Senate seat representing Indian River and Brevard counties.

Workman is behind a committee that launched ads and a website attacking his District 17 Republican primary opponent, state Rep. Debbie Mayfield of Vero Beach. Workman also has been the target of attacks by an outside group he said is connected to Mayfield, an allegation she denies.

These committees are the only way candidates who aren't wealthy can run against those who can fund their own campaigns, Workman said. Mayfield, said she had to put $500,000 of her own money into the race to compete with the money Workman has raised for his committee. There's no limit on how much of their own money candidates can use.

Critics of outside money say political committees and other groups keep voters in the dark and allow outsiders to sway an election simply by injecting large amounts of cash into it.

Political action committees can transfer money between each other, making it virtually impossible to know which company or individual is the original donor.

Treasure Coast Newspapers looked at these groups involved in local races.
The Rivers Coalition hosts a meeting June 29 in the City of Stuart Commission Chambers at Stuart City Hall. (JEREMIAH WILSON/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS)

SHARE

By Bill Dean

"Residents, fishermen and environmentalists express increasing frustration as they watch the paradise that drew them to Florida being drowned," reported The New York Times on March 14, 1998. That was 18 years ago.

The business community also was deeply affected by that El Nino cycle that delivered downpours, triggering a familiar pattern of toxic discharges from Lake Okeechobee, algae blooms and fish kills.

So in May 1998, the Realtor Association of Martin County's "El Nino Task Force" brought together concerned business and environmental groups to form what is known today as the Rivers Coalition. Along with the Realtor Association of Martin County, the founding members included the Stuart-Martin County Chamber of Commerce, the Treasure Coast Builders Association, the Economic Council and the Farm Bureau  all working side-by-side with the Martin County Conservation Alliance, Audubon Florida, Florida Oceanographic Society, the St. Lucie River Initiative, as well as fishing captains, biologists, environmentalists and conservationists.

The Rivers Coalition continues to be a diverse group with a common goal: to restore the health of the St. Lucie River. This group continues to educate the public and urge our leaders at the local, state and federal levels to take action that will "send the water south." This is a complicated and expensive 80-year-old problem; and unfortunately, for all of us who must endure these costly cycles of environmental degradation, it is not as simple as "closing the dike."

We're extremely encouraged by Sen. Joe Negron's recently unveiled plan to purchase land to redirect Lake Okeechobee discharges through existing stormwater treatment areas to Everglades National Park.

We must continue to advocate for and support funding to:

Restore the Kissimmee River Basin

Expedite completion of repairs of the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee

Support water farming endeavors

Complete existing water-quality projects, particularly the Indian River Lagoon South project

Transition off septic tanks and onto sewer, particularly in areas on the river

Complete the elevation of the Tamiami Trail

Support acquisition of lands south of Lake Okeechobee to store, clean and convey much needed water to the Everglades

Each step is part of the solution. However, no single step is the solution. The Rivers Coalition remains steadfastly united in its determination to restore and protect our waterways, our livelihoods, our property values and our way of life. And so it is deja vu all over again as we witness some of the worst algae blooms our area has ever seen.

The economic impact to our property values could equal or exceed the Lost Summer of 2013, when our state association Florida Realtors conducted a study and found "an estimated $488 million reduction in Martin County's aggregate property value."

Recent weeks have been difficult on homeowners and small businesses. This current event has fueled the collective emotions of our citizens, and cast a national spotlight on a problem that we must solve together. There is strength in numbers, and the collective voice of the Rivers Coalition and its 85 member organizations representing 300,000 individuals is being heard loud and clear. I am sure that those who began this call for change 50 years ago would be disappointed that we have not made more progress; but I am also sure they would be proud that their message is still strong.

But as difficult as this has been, I remain optimistic and determined that we will work toward a permanent solution. I am reminded daily as I make my way along Old St. Lucie Boulevard and over the bridges to Hutchinson Island that we live and work and play in one of the most beautiful places on earth. The "residents, fishermen and environmentalists" set the table many years ago, and that table today is, thankfully, larger and full of committed and caring people who will ensure that Martin County continues to be the paradise we all know and love for our future generations of residents and visitors alike.

Bill Dean is the and owner/broker with Century 21 IRP Realty and president of the Realtors Association of Martin County, which is a member of the Rivers Coalition.
SHARE PROVIDED PHOTO/Courtesy of Good Samaritan Medical Center/Dr. John Rimmer Dr. John Rimmer PROVIDED PHOTO Dr. John Rimmer PROVIDED PHOTO/Good Samaritan Medical Center

By Ryan Lieber, Provided to The Courier Newsweekly

Good Samaritan Medical Center offers a new treatment option that is designed to save time and reduce radiation exposure for breast cancer patients.

Through intraoperative radiation therapy, patients can receive radiation directly to a small area all at once, as opposed to the usual method, in which a larger part of the body receives radiation for a longer period of time.

The standard radiation therapy schedule for a breast cancer patient is five days a week for up to six weeks, whereas IORT delivers all of the needed radiation at one time.

This is not only more convenient for patients, but may result in less radiation exposure to nearby organs and tissues. IORT also uses a much smaller radiation dose than external beam radiotherapy.

"We are pleased to implement intraoperative radiation therapy at The Breast Institute as part of our commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes," CEO Mark Nosacka said.

"Many of our patients lead busy, active lives. By expanding our services to include this technology, we can provide a one-time treatment option, eliminating the need to make multiple trips to the hospital."

early stage breast cancer

Patients who may benefit the most from IORT are over the age of 60 and have early stage breast cancer that has not spread.

IORT is used in patients who have had a lumpectomy (removal of a tumor from the breast), rather than a mastectomy (removal of the entire breast). This method of radiation therapy, provided by Sordina IORT Technologies, offers high-dose radiation directly to the tumor bed during surgery, after the tumor has been removed.

The Breast Institute at Good Samaritan Medical Center offers comprehensive care, including breast ultrasounds and diagnostic, digital and 3-D mammograms. The hospital also offers a free breast cancer support group on the second Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m.

MORE INSIGHT

BY Dr. John Rimmer:

"The SIT linear accelerator is a mobile machine that generates electron radiation energy.

"Using techniques that I learned at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan Italy, I am able to perform a lumpectomy and deliver a therapeutic dose of radiation to the breast to treat early breast cancer.

"This is innovative technology that can shorten the time for surgery and radiation in breast cancer from three months to one day. I have treated fifty patients with this technique and all my patients have been extremely satisfied with their breast cancer care," Rimmer stated in prepared comments.

"This is an example of our approach to breast cancer encompassed in the motto "where breast health technology and compassion meet."

For more information, please visit www.goodsamaritanmc.com/our-services/cancer/breast-institute.

Good Samaritan Medical Center

Good Samaritan Medical Center is a 333-bed acute care hospital, which has been providing sophisticated, personalized medical care to Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast for more than 90 years.

As one of the area's leading cancer centers, The Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan Medical Center provides general and highly specialized cancer services with a patient navigator program. Good Samaritan Medical Center also offers technologically advanced surgical treatment options through its Surgical Institute, which boasts minimally invasive surgical techniques through advanced robotic and computer-assisted surgical technology.

The MyNewSelf Surgical Weight Loss Program specializes in multi-disciplinary care, and its experienced team offers some of the most effective procedures available for surgical weight loss in South Florida.

The hospital also cares for patients with known or suspected cardiovascular diseases through its Cardiac and Vascular Institute. The Institute now offers electrophysiology services, which includes highly advanced equipment designed to diagnose and treat abnormal heart rhythms. Good Samaritan Medical Center is an accredited Chest Pain Center with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) through the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care.

To learn more about Good Samaritan Medical Center, or for a free physician referral, visit www.goodsamaritanmc.com or call 561-655-5511.

Ryan Lieber is at ryan.lieber@tenethealth.com.
Crystal Apicella /SUBMITTED TO YOURNEWS Joe Apicella is pictured with his five trophies from this year's 21st annual South Florida Tattoo Expo.

SHARE Joe Apicella /SUBMITTED TO YOURNEWS Award-winning 'Weeping Liberty' by Joe Apicella Joe Apicella /SUBMITTED TO YOURNEWS Award-winning 'Arlington Memorial' (cover up tattoo) by Joe Apicella

By Crystal Apicella, YourNews contributor

FORT PIERCE  Joe Apicella, owner and operator of Southern Samurai Tattoo Studio/80-Grit Productions, was in attendance at the 21st annual South Florida Tattoo Expo in Coral Springs recently. Each year this charitable event raises tens of thousands of dollars for Joe Dimaggio's Children's Hospital.

"This was my 15th year attending this awesome event. I am honored to be part of helping the less fortunate. No child should have to suffer in such a way," he said.

Apicella is no stranger to helping others. He has been feeding and ministering to the homeless for the past six years and is part of Compassion in Action, a homeless outreach ministry here on the Treasure Coast. He was honored this year by receiving five awards in the annual tattoo competition including top tier artists both national and international.

"I didn't expect to win this year. If you saw the amount of stellar tattoos competing, you would understand my pessimism. There was skin art from the top artists in the world, including competitors from the TV series Ink Master," he said.

But win he did  three first place trophies, one second place trophy and one third place trophy. The name of Apicella's tattoo studio, Southern Samurai, was chosen because the word Samurai means to serve.

"To serve others before ourselves is what life should truly be about. Don't get me wrong, trophies of recognition are great, but someday they will end up in a thrift store or garbage heap. The love for others will echo through eternity," he said.

That's a win/win situation by any standard.
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Intel on Tuesday presented its virtual reality vision  a vision that mixes virtual and real worlds into a kind of merged reality  to developers attending a conference in San Francisco.

Mixing reality and unreality sometimes can be a recipe for disaster, but Intel thinks it will be a formula for success. At the center of Intels vision is its Project Alloy mobile headset and its cutting edge RealSense software.

The Alloy head-mounted device departs from other VR devices in that the headset housese all sensors and computing power. Other headsets either have cords that tether them to a computer or are wirelessly connected to a smartphone.

This all-in-one form factor is something new for the VR industry, said Brian Blau, a research director at Gartner.

Its exciting, because you can get everything you need in one place and take it with you, he told TechNewsWorld.

Power Concerns

All-in-one headsets can have disadvantages, though.

All-in-one devices may not be as powerful as devices that plug into a desktop, Blau said.

Intels Alloy meets the needs for 90 percent of what people do with virtual reality, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich maintained in an interview with Fast Company.

There might be a tethered version of Alloy for high-end gamers at some point in the future, he also said.

Another issue with a standalone headsets is battery life, as is often the case with mobile devices.

Nevertheless, with Alloy, Intel is taking advantage of virtual and augmented reality trends.

Over the next few years, VR and AR are going to start to merge functionality, said Gartners Blau. These all-in-one VR headsets are going to be important for that.

Open Source Platform

Alloy is an open source platform. That means other companies can use the technology to create their own modified-reality products.

Intel intends to work with some manufacturers to produce its Alloy headsets. Whats more, Alloy supports Windows Holographic, a version of Microsofts ubiquitous operating system that supports VR and AR.

Project Alloy, an All-in-One Virtual Reality Solution

Going open source is a really good move, said Eric Abbruzzese, a senior analyst at ABI Research.

There is one other open source initiative in the market, but its very small, he noted.

Intel, because theyre a massive company  they have a lot of reach. When you combine that with Windows, you have a really massive market, he told TechNewsWorld.

That enables tons of developers, tons of content to flood in, he said, and thats going to solve the content starvation problem weve seen in VR.

Growing Ecosystem

Attracting developers to an Alloy ecosystem is important to Intel, said Barbara Kraus, director of research at Parks Associates.

It will broaden the content available to the platform. Intel doesnt have its own content as Sony does, she told TechNewsWorld.

Intel doesnt have a lot of choice but to go in the open source direction because theyre not a consumer products company, Gartners Blau observed.

Going open source at this point in the development of the market makes sense for Intel, said Michael Goodman, director for digital media at Strategy Analytics.

This is a nascent marketplace, he told TechNewsWorld. Picking winners and losers is difficult, at best, so having an open approach allows you to work with everybody in the marketplace and pick the best solutions.

Merged Reality

Unlike VR headsets that offer a totally immersive experience, the Alloy headset uses Intels RealSense software to provide you with a combination of a virtual and real experience. For example, with RealSense you not only can see objects around you but also bring them into your virtual world.

It takes away the need for sensors in a room to know where you are, and to use controllers to manipulate the environment that youre in, said Strategy Analytics Goodman.

I havent seen anyone else doing that. Everyone is using some form of controller, he pointed out.

Intels entrance may boost the VR marketplace, but its impact on the company may be negligible.

While its exciting to talk about, VR is still and will likely remain a niche market for the next several years at least, said Roger L. Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates.

Intel wants to be associated with a cool trend that techies seem to care about right now, but VR, because of its total immersion, is something that only enthusiasts will pay for, he told TechNewsWorld.

Enthusiasts represent a limited market opportunity, particularly for a company like Intel that depends on selling hundreds of millions of chips, Kay explained. Intel can get it right in VR technically, but still not manage to develop a sustainable market.
Millions of customers using Amazons Alexa voice assistant technology now can add locks that can be controlled remotely to the growing ecosystem of smart home capabilities.

August Home last week announced that Amazons line of voice-assisted products, including the best-selling Echo, now support its smart products, allowing users to lock and unlock their front doors and other points of access using simple voice commands.

August product line includes the August Smart Lock, the August Smart Keypad and the August Smart Doorbell Cam, which allow customers to secure and keep track of home security using a smartphone app.

Connected home devices are gaining wider acceptance due to the increased use of smartphones, Internet availability, and connected devices that solve real consumer problems and needs, said Lisa Auslen, spokesperson for August.

Consumers are definitely adopting voice-enabled devices, often because voice commands bring added convenience to the products they may already have at home, she told TechNewsWorld.

August Smart Lock customers using the first- or second-generation locks can use the service by enabling the August Smart Lock skill located in the Alexa app. The service also requires the August Connection WiFi bridge to connect the Bluetooth lock.

August officials said the companys product work with a number of different partners, including Airbnb, Apple, Nest, Logitech and Xfinity Home.

Growing Ecosystem

The ability to remotely control home security marks the latest series of capabilities for Alexa voice-command products, which now have about 1,900 third-party skills from a range of companies, including Kayak, Lyft, Honeywell and others.

Customers are using Alexa-enabled devices to listen to music, set alarms, get news, shop online, order pizza, and perform a variety of household talks including controlling lights and window blinds.

One of the biggest issues for accelerating adoption of smart home products is the ability to integrate all the various capabilities that communicate seamlessly with each other.

The smart home market has been and will continue to be hobbled by a lack of comprehensive and simple methods to integrate the various smart home devices from different manufacturers, said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

Amazon Alexa integration is one step towards making the integration easy for users, but it still competes with Apple HomeKit, Nest and other home automation solutions, he told TechNewsWorld.

Security Concerns

Voice command is the most compelling feature of home automation systems using the Alexa platform, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. However, controlling automated locks presents a unique set of challenges.

The concern is that someone either accidentally issues an unlock command or someone outside the house gets heard by Alexa, which then opens the lock, Enderle said. The problem with scripts is they too can include locks, and up until now this capability was disabled.

The demand for smart home lock devices took off several years ago, when August and rival Weiss announced early versions of smartphone-controlled door locks, observed Konkana Khaund, principal consultant at Frost & Sullivan.

While demand clearly is growing, there are still concerns about the security of connected home devices from hacker intrusions.

Most of these systems have confirmed threat potential, Khaund told TechNewsWorld.

Securing them will require commitments to device hardening on the part of solution providers, she said, as well as more vigilance in terms of device protection and authentication on the part of the consumer.
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Partys presumptive presidential candidate, this week unveiled a technology and innovation agenda that calls for a broader commitment to improving computer science and STEM education, expansion of broadband Internet to the entire United States, and deployment of 5G wireless networks.

Clintons plan calls for advancing high-tech training in American schools through collaboration with nonprofits and the private sector to train up to 50,000 computer science teachers in the next decade. It would double the investment in federal training grants to provide computer science education for students. It would provide access to capital for entrepreneurs, and institute measures to promote diversification of the tech workforce.

Clinton called for changes to the immigration system to remove barriers to high-skilled workers and entrepreneurs who want to come to the U.S., where technology companies are in dire need of talented engineers and other staff. The plan would create start-up visas for entrepreneurs, and attach green cards to STEM masters and PhDs from accredited colleges and universities.

Wider Access

Clinton said the digital divide, which has left low income and rural communities without affordable high-speed Internet, should be closed by 2020, and that 5G wireless should be made available to support the Internet of Things, smart factories, autonomous vehicles and other innovative technologies.

She also came out in support of Net neutrality, and called for greater competition, backed up by enforcement from government agencies. She said states and localities should reduce barriers to entry.

Clintons technology agenda, including her support for STEM education and her plans to expand the new technology workforce, maintain a free and open Internet, and increase emphasis on cybersecurity training, drew praise from Todd Thibodeaux, CEO of the Computing Technology Industry Association.

CTIA, which includes more than 2,000 member companies in the information security sector, is based in Washington.

The need for high-speed, reliable digital infrastructure is critical to the expansion of innovation and commerce, Thibodeaux added.

Strong encryption, favorable trade deals to allow U.S. companies to remain competitive, and high-skilled immigration reform must be part of the conversation, he said.

CompTIA is one of more than a dozen technology associations that released a technology sector presidential platform in May.

Another is the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which likewise applauded the Clinton plan, noting its emphasis on cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, diversifying the STEM pipeline and increasing fundamental research funding.

Clintons proposal conveys a vested interest in the digital economy and understands the importance of open access to information and a fast Internet, as well as how the issues bolster the growth of our economy and quality of life for consumers and businesses in the Bay area, said Peter Luroe-Munoz, the groups vice president of technology and innovation policy.

Staying on Course

The Clinton proposals appear to be an extension of existing federal policies, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

Its easy to see why some have suggested that Clintons technology-related policies would qualify as an extension of Barack Obamas strategy, he told the E-Commerce Times. Her support for Net neutrality is particularly clear in that respect, and also sets her apart from the presumptive GOP candidate, Donald Trump, who steadfastly opposes it.

Clintons likely appointments of pro Net neutrality commissioners to the FCC and other agencies could have a lasting impact even if she were to serve only one term, King suggested.

The goal of expanding high-speed broadband to the entire population is praiseworthy, according to broadband technology analyst Craig Settles, but without a commitment to increase the speed and lower the cost, the impact would be limited.

If she does not address the issue of lack of competition, its hard to see the U.S. getting an increase in coverage speeds, let alone affordability, he told the E-Commerce Times.

The U.S. is woefully unprepared for expanding broadband access, Settles said, because building the infrastructure required to make those services available, including the installation of poles, laying fiber-optic cables, etc., would require thousands of trained workers.

Most politicians  and most technology executives, for that matter  lack a full understanding of these issues, technology analyst Jeff Kagan told the E-Commerce Times. They decide which way will give the government the kind of power it needs, without much concern for marketplace realities.
When Google announced earlier this year that it would be removing the backspace navigation shortcut in Chrome, two camps quickly developed - those in favor of the move and those vehemently against it. Nevertheless, Google pressed forward and made good on its plans last month with the release of Chrome 52 to the stable channel.

The chatter never died down, however, which forced the search giant to reevaluate its decision. Should the company backtrack, reintroduce the functionality and tick off the rest of the user base or leave things how they were?

Fortunately, a third option emerged that should hopefully satisfy all parties involved.

Google recently released an extension for Chrome called Go Back With Backspace that restores the backspace key as a back navigation button... that is, unless you're typing text. The description notes that it doesn't restore the functionality on special pages like in the settings or extensions sections but should otherwise do the trick.

Google's decision to remove the functionality in the first place stemmed from users that accidentally pressed the backspace key while working on a project or typing data into a form, thus losing their progress. Essentially, by removing it, Google was trying to protect users from themselves.

Image credit: aviemil, Shutterstock
T-Mobile CEO John Legere on Thursday announced a new "Un-carrier" move that'll likely once again shake up the wireless industry - the end of data plans. As you may have come to expect from wireless carriers at this point, the devil is in the details.

T-Mobile's new plan, dubbed T-Mobile One, offers customers unlimited high speed data plus unlimited talk and text for $70 per month for the first line, $50 for the second line and $20 per additional line after that for up to eight lines total. You can add additional lines past eight but they'll cost $30 each.

The plan includes unlimited standard definition video streaming - if you want HD streams (up to 4K quality), it'll cost you an additional $25 per month, per line. Earlier carrier perks like Simple Global, Mobile Without Borders, Carrier Freedom, Wi-Fi Unleashed, Stock Up and T-Mobile Tuesdays are all included with T-Mobile One.

That sounds like a decent deal at first but it completely undermines its Binge On service which provides unlimited music and video streaming (480p quality) when using select content providers (the list is quite long as this point and includes almost all of the big names).

And let's be honest with ourselves - streaming music and video are the main culprits contributing to data overages these days. So really, if these things were already free, what's the attraction here?

Furthermore, tethering will be limited to 2G speeds under T-Mobile One, which at this point is more or less unusable in all but emergency situations. You can add 5GB of high speed tethering but it'll cost you $15 per bucket.

Also, in the fine print under the "network management" section, you'll see that T-Mobile reserves the right to "prioritize" traffic among its highest-consuming users (currently those that use more than 26GB of high speed data per month). In other words, if you use more than 26GB in a given month (which is incredibly easy to do if you're streaming high-resolution video) then you may see your speeds throttled during times of high network use or congestion.

It's worth noting that existing T-Mobile subscribers will be able to hang on to their current plans and aren't being forced into the new plan. T-Mobile's strategy, however, is to eventually phase out all data plans and offer T-Mobile One only.

The new approach isn't necessarily a bad deal but it's far less attractive once you unpack the details. As always, do your research and evaluate which carrier and plan is the best for you and your family before making a decision.

T-Mobile One will be available beginning September 6 for postpaid customers. Those with prepaid accounts will get the option sometime in the future, we're told.

Image courtesy solarseven, Shutterstock
With the success of NASA's space missions to other planets, the American space agency now plans to move forward with its "Journey to Mars" program by constructing a space station in Mars' orbit that will serve as a base camp for future explorations.

Lockheed Martin, one of NASA's private partners, recently proposed for the space agency and its affiliates in the private sector to work on a planned Martian space station. The aerospace company said this so-called "Mars Base Camp" could provide housing for astronauts who would be working on collecting data on the red planet.

"Before we send people to the surface of Mars, we owe it to that crew, to ourselves, to understand if there's life on the planet and if there's anything that's toxic to humans," Deep Space Systems president and chief engineer Steve Bailey said. "This mission will do those two very fundamental things."

Bailey and Lockheed chief engineer Steve Jolly were the ones who discussed the details of the Martian space station during a meeting with NASA planners in July.

A Base Of Operations On Mars

As part of its proposed manned Mars explorations, NASA has begun developing technologies that could be used to send astronauts to the red planet. These include a crew capsule known as Orion and a massive rocket known as the Space Launch System (SLS).

While the Orion capsule has already been flown once during an unmanned flight in 2014, the SLS rocket has yet to see some action. NASA engineers intend to have the SLS power Orion on a week-long journey to the moon and back in 2018.

Once both technologies become fully operational, Lockheed plans to use them to deliver the necessary supplies to construct the Mars space station. Two Orion capsules will be used as the orbital facility's core component along with two habitat modules or science laboratories.

Program developers expect the space station to weigh about 132 tons, making it significantly lighter compared to the International Space Station, which currently weighs 440 tons.

The Mars Base Camp's design makes it possible for it to sustain a crew of up to six astronauts, who would live and work on the orbital facility for a year.

According to Jolly, they plan to choose career scientists to man the space station instead of test pilots who were trained to do a little bit of geology work. He likened the Base Camp's ideal crew to geologist Jack Schmitt, who was a member of the 1972 Apollo 17 mission.

Aside from collecting and analyzing dirt and rock samples from Mars, the scientists will also operate various robotic assets, such as wheeled rovers and winged vehicles, designed to explore the surface of the red planet from the safety of the space station.

This will provide them with near-real-time control of the robots, something that is currently not possible given the vast distance between Mars and Earth. Jolly said this could give researchers an opportunity to make major discoveries regarding the red planet.

Feasibility Of The Mars Base Camp

As far as the feasibility of building the Mars space station goes, Jolly pointed out that it doesn't require any technological leaps in order to make it possible. He added that their plan is also relatively affordable, given NASA's budget for its proposed manned space missions to Mars.

Jolly said between the $4 billion to $9 billion NASA is expected to spend on space explorations every year, the space agency will have spent about $50 billion to $80 billion in total expenditures over a 10-, 15- or 20-year period for its manned Mars missions.

He added that the Mars Base Camp program would also make it possible to stretch NASA's budget by reusing the same architecture for a series of missions.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
To the delight of customers, AT&T is finally dropping overage fees, as the carrier unveiled a revised lineup of mobile data plans known as the Mobile Share Advantage plans.

Under the new data plans, instead of customers paying overage charges of $15 per 1 GB of data upon exceeding their monthly allotment, data speed will instead be slowed down to 128 Kbps for the remainder of the customer's billing cycle.

Customers will still be able to use their data for basic uses, such as checking email and accessing web pages. The data speed slowdown, however, will impact functions such as video and audio streaming, video and picture messaging and other apps that heavily utilize a data connection.

With this scheme, AT&T subscribers will no longer experience unexpected bill shocks. Customers still have the option to pay additional fees for their monthly plans in order to access more high-speed data, but AT&T will no longer assume that this is what subscribers want to do each month that they exceed their allocations.

AT&T's dropping of overages shows the creeping influence of T-Mobile, which removed overage fees from its data plans back in 2014. Verizon also recently introduced Safety Mode, which is a feature that safeguarded subscribers from overages.

However, AT&T noted that is it not going to charge customers with an additional fee in order for them to gain access to the data speed slowdown instead of being charged overages. This is different from Verizon's Safety Mode, which charges subscribers who would like to gain access to the feature if they are signed up for the lower-tier plans of the carrier.

The new Mobile Share Advantage plans, according to AT&T, include more data at a lower per-MB cost compared with some of the data plans that the company is currently offering.

Under the new plans, a 1 GB monthly data plan will cost $30 per month, a 3 GB plan will cost $40 per month, a 6 GB plan will cost $60 per month, a 10 GB plan will cost $80 per month, a 16 GB plan will cost $90 per month, a 25 GB plan will cost $110 per month and a 30 GB plan will cost $135 per month.

Subscribers can also choose to sign up for a 25 GB plan for four lines for $190 per month, which previously cost $235 per month, or a 30 GB plan for four lines for $215 per month, which previously cost $285 per month.

AT&T is also offering plans that come with monthly data allocations of up to 100 GB. Businesses can also take advantage of the Mobile Share Advantage for Business plans, which have data allocations of up to 200 GB per month and can accommodate up to 25 lines.

The Mobile Share Advantage plans will be available to customers beginning on Aug. 21. They will all come with the same perks of the old Mobile Share Value plans of AT&T, including unlimited domestic text and calls, shareable data and rollover data, while plans with data of at least 10 GB will also be able to enjoy unlimited text and calls to Mexico and Canada.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Google is making life easier for students, teachers and parents this back-to-school season with a few updates to Google Classroom and Expeditions  updates that deserve an A+.

In June, Tech Times reported some new Google for Education tools to help empower educators and inspire learning in students. This month, Google is taking education "beyond classroom walls" and going mobile, allowing everyone to access (and doodle on!) learning materials, go on exciting adventures, and stay on top of class requirements through email notifications.

Here are the nifty updates to Google Classroom and the exciting new adventures on Google Expeditions.

1. Google Classroom Email Summaries

A new feature in Google Classroom will now enable parents or guardians to keep track of a child's homework and other class activities through online summaries. Teachers can invite the parent or guardian to receive weekly or daily updates on what is going on in school, turning each class into its own online community where parents can participate actively.

From posting test results to announcing homework and other school projects, the email summaries will not only keep students in the loop but will also involve parents in the overall monitoring of their child's performance.

These Google Classroom summaries go hand in hand with the most recent update to Inbox by Gmail, which now groups together important notifications into smart clusters for easy tracking.

2. Google Classroom Whiteboard And Annotation Tool

Students sometimes learn better, and express themselves more clearly, when writing things down in longhand or scribbling down diagrams and formulae in freehand. One study shows that writing ideas down with a pen and paper allows students to process information in their own words.

Today, students and teachers can make good use of this age-old learning technique of jotting down ideas fast (instead of simply typing up notes) thanks to Google Classroom's new annotation tool. This doodle functionality lets students answer questions in freehand, and highlight important text in different colors.

"Using annotations, students can complete assignments, sketch out math problems or even create visuals of creative ideas directly on their devices," write Dina Kachintseva and Felix Wang of Google. Kachintseva is a software engineer for Classroom while Wang is a user experience designer. With their teams, they have given students a "portable classroom whiteboard" to sketch and write notes on, whether the students are at home, in class or even on the school bus.

3. Beyond The Classroom: Google Expeditions

Apart from refreshing the Google Classroom app, Google is making sure classroom learning is deeply immersive, vivid and memorable with Google Expeditions.

Equipped with the Google Cardboard, students can now go on field trips to almost any corner of the planet through the virtual reality / augmented reality-based Google Expeditions program.

With more than 200 adventures on offer, a class simply dons the Cardboard headset and embarks on these VR/AR field trips "from Machu Picchu to Antarctica to the International Space Station" and even inside the human body.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Verizon Wireless has rolled out a much-welcomed software update for two flagship phones: the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge.

According to the largest national carrier in the United States, the update targets some pretty particular points, improvements to Wi-Fi and HD voice calling.

Keep in mind that both are Voice Over IP (VoIP) systems. This means that every time a user makes a call over Wi-Fi or taps into HD voice call, they are consuming internet data instead of relying on 2G or 3G connectivity.

The immediate effect of the update includes dropped Wi-Fi calls becoming less frequent.

What is more, Verizon revamped its systems so that clients are able to sign in for Voice over Wi-Fi calling when roaming. This can be activated even when their smartphone is not connected to the Verizon Wireless network.

As the HD Voice Call technology goes, a slew of enhancements are in store.

First off, Samsung upped the earpiece volume of calls, meaning that the technology will be increasingly easy to use. Second, the update will let Verizon Galaxy S6 or S6 edge owners to tap into HD Voice Calls only when they are linked to the 4G LTE network. This means that when you are connected to an older and slower route, HD Voice Calls will be unavailable.

Last but not least, the handset will notify customers who make video calls over cellular data that they are using their own data. This should help clients be more aware of their data allowance and consequently cut the overage costs.

Despite the new features not being revolutionary, they will prove useful to the North American customers. Those who want to make or receive calls using a Wi-Fi network and those who want to make video calls without topping their data allowance will find the new feature a godsend.

The recent update takes the software version on the phones to MMB29K.G920VVRU4CPH1, with no other significant new features landing on the devices.

Verizon recommends that its customers get the software update by connecting to a Wi-Fi network or over mobile data once they secure a strong Verizon Wireless signal. Additionally, the carrier instructs its clients to make sure that the battery of Galaxy S6 and S6 edge is fully charged, as the update could prove lengthy.

The update should land over the air to most devices, but it can be downloaded manually by going into Settings, About Device, Download Updates Manually.

The previous Verizon update targeted at Galaxy S6 and S6 edge devices came out in late May and fixed a series of issues. If you like, you can read all about it in our coverage.

To give you a general idea, that past update fixed a problem where the handsets encountered download errors within the Google Play Store app. Also, this previous update resolved the accessing of Visual Voice Mail.

Samsung's notorious bloatware was trimmed down in the update back in May, and the Amazon Music app has been discarded. One positive change includes making Google "Search" available in the Settings menu.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
T-Mobile is killing off its service plans with tiered data, instead making all plans unlimited under "T-Mobile One."

The news comes just one day after AT&T announced its Mobile Share Advantage plans, which drop overages and revamp data allotments. That's a pretty big shakeup and an attractive offer to beat, but leave it to T-Mobile to heat up the competition.

The Un-carrier is constantly trying to offer game-changing deals and services and, on some occasions, it actually manages to do so. Bringing back unlimited plans may just be its new game changer, and the T-Mobile One is shaping up as an offer hard to refuse - unlimited talk, unlimited text and unlimited 4G LTE data.

"With its 12th iconic Un-carrier move, the renegade wireless company today smashed the biggest wireless barrier yet - the data plan," notes the press release.

When it comes to pricing, the T-Mobile One plan will cost $70 per month for the first line, the second line will cost $50, while other additional lines, up to eight, will cost $20 each with auto pay. It's also worth noting that without auto pay, it will cost $5 more per month per line. Users will also be able to add tablets to their T-Mobile One plans for $20 per device.

"The era of the data plan is over," boasts T-Mobile CEO John Legere. "After Un-carrier 12, the wireless industry will never be the same again."

In typical T-Mobile fashion, Legere goes on to mock rival carriers AT&T and Verizon for not keeping up with the times.

"Only T-Mobile's network can handle something as huge as destroying data limits," Legere says. "Dumb and Dumber can't do this. They've been running away from unlimited data for years now, because they built their networks for phone calls, not for how people use smartphones today. I hope AT&T and Verizon try to follow us. In fact, I challenge them to try."

However, while the "unlimited" T-Mobile is touting actually means unlimited, customers will not be able to get maximum speed for all that unlimited 4G LTE data. As the Un-carrier points out, accounts that exceed more than 26 GB of data in a billing month may get slower 4G LTE speeds, as T-Mobile will prioritize those who haven't crossed the threshold. However, this situation should only affect roughly 3 percent of customers.

The new T-Mobile One unlimited plans will go live for new and existing T-Mobile customers on Sept. 6. Current customers will be able to keep their plans if they prefer not to switch to the new T-Mobile One. To get a better idea of the offer, check out the video below.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Due to the ever-increasing usage of mobile phones throughout the day, consumers frequently complain over short battery life of mobile devices. As power is lost just when really needed, easy to carry and compact battery boosters are the ultimate solution providers. To bring about a solution to this, there has been a growing demand for Powerbanks - an on the go charger for your phone. We bring you a list of top five Powerbanks that strike a perfect balance between price, portability and capacity.

PTron Gusto Powerbank | INR 599

If you are looking for a slim power bank that you can slip into your pocket or carry with you in your wallet, look no further, LatestOne.com, brings you PTron Gusto, the slimmest pocket sized power bank with a capacity of 3000mAh. PTron Gusto can be used to charge mobile phones, tablets, Bluetooth headsets MP3 players and cameras. It can fully charge an iPhone 6s within 1.5 hours and Galaxy S5 within 3 hours. This power bank also comes with a built-in micro USB cable and embedded connector for all android & iOS smartphones and tablets.

Ambrane P-1111 Powerbank | INR 699

The Ambrane power bank comes with a good battery capacity of close to 10,000 mAh, which is more than enough to charge at least two devices fully. The battery type is APB Li-Ion cells. The power bank weighs a mere 300 grams and can be carried around easily. The bank has an efficiency rate of up to 75% and can be a very useful and functional purchase. The Ambrane P-1111 power bank charger has a dual output option of 2.1A and 5V and a single input option of 5V and 1A. It also has a charging time of 12-13 hours and is rechargeable. One can plug in their devices and let it charge. There is also a 1 year warranty that is available and a user manual for one to use.

PowerXcel Rapid Charge Power Bank | INR 899

Ergonomically designed, the PowerXcel 11000 mAh is a portable device with a stylish and sleek body. The Power button, indicator lights and flashlight are placed conveniently. It charges all smartphones and tablets from Apple, HTC, Google, Android, Microsoft, Blackberry as well as Digital Cameras and handheld gaming devices. Powerank can charge 2 devices at the same time. It has an Output of 3.1 A max; with 2.1A, 1A outputs respectively. The 2.1A can charge your Tabs and gives your mobile devices a really quick charge. It also comes with a very handy built-in LED flashlight. Double click the power button to switch on / Off the LED flashlight.

Lappymaster 11000mAh Power Bank | INR 799

Lappymaster 11000mAh Power Bank is a high quality product manufactured by using best quality components and parts including high capacity original A grade Lithium  Ion Cell. This Power Bank supports various models of smart phones manufactured by various companies including Samsung, Sony, Microsoft etc. Some of the important features of this power bank are: Works for longer hours and can charge mobile multiple times faster. Lappymaster Powerbank has three USB output port, can charge three phones together at the same time. Lappymaster Powerbank comes with Top Quality Cell, Electricity Saving Function. It also has a battery indication feature with Four LED lights for battery level indication (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%).

Intex IT-PB11K 11000 mAh Power Bank | INR 949

Intex IT Powerbank is a smart choice for your Powerbank purchase. A power packed 11000 mAh Powerbank to back you up just right. It comes with three USB 2.0 ports to charge multiple devices and charges your smartphone, tablets and devices on the go. Intex IT PB11K 11000 mAh Powerbank comes with a torch and is just a perfect combination for your tours.

Powerbanks, PTron Gusto, Intex Power Bank, Lappy Master, Ambrane Power Bank
PicsArt Now Available For 4.5 Mn Users Of Indus OS | TechTree.com

Indus OS, one of the first regional operating systems (OS) in the world, will now have PicsArt free to download from the App Bazaar, thus giving 4.5 million users of the OS creativity at their fingertips.

This partnership between the OS and PicsArt will ensure that Indus OS users will be able to edit, draw, make collages, and use the interface in 12 different Indian languages that the OS is capable of working with. Looking at the move strategically, being the 2nd most popular OS in the country, PicsArt will reach out to a large potential user base, thus making it viable from a marketing standpoint.

Our vision is to create a localized smartphone ecosystem of choice for the next 1 billion smartphone users. It is imperative that we make the best of apps available to our users in their preferred languages. We are excited to have PicsArt on board with us. Indus OS users can now edit their photos to truly express their personal style, said Rakesh Deshmukh, the CEO of Indus OS while speaking of the mission of the company in line with the partnership.

Also Read: 5 Best Free Photo Editing Apps On Android

PicsArt has more than 300 million downloads and 75 million monthly active users, who use the app to make awesome images and share them with the world. PicsArt just raised USD 20 million funding to expand their reach across Asia and the partnership with Indus OS will help them achieve that goal. Additionally, PicsArt will introduce localized content for App Baazar such as fun clip art, fonts and other creative tools specifically catering to the Asia market.

Localization of our product and partnerships are key to expand our reach in the Asian markets. We are very happy to be on board with App Bazaar and to make PicsArt available to people in their preferred language and smartphone ecosystem, said Wilson Kriegel, the CBDO of PicsArt.

In an effort to encourage localized apps and increase discoverability, the latest version of App Bazaar comes with a strong recommendation engine for providing personalized app suggestions in regional languages. It will also have a superior user interface to aid search & discovery of apps while maintaining its simple and intuitive user experience.

Also Read: FotoJet.Com: The Answer To Keep Your Creative Juices Flowing

The next 300 million smartphone users in India who will use a smartphone for the first time in the next 3 years will be native language users. This coupled with the fact that Indias regional language internet users are growing at an enormous rate of 47 per cent year-on-year bodes well for the Indus OS  PicsArt partnership. Indias email ID and credit card penetration is amongst the lowest in the world. Unlike other popular app stores, App Bazaar does not require email ID or credit card information to download apps.

TAGS: Indus OS, PicsArt, App Bazaar
Uber Now Allows You To Book A Cab Without The App | TechTree.com

We have, most of the time, come across this situation where we need to book a cab urgently... and we don't have the app installed on our smartphones! That's very annoying, especially when we have to go to Google Play Store, search for the app, download it, and then install, login, and then book the cab! This might be a bit worrisome for most of you!

But, those worries now seem to fly far away as cab aggregator Uber has recently announced that users can book a cab without the need of the app. Now, this is interesting!

This facility allows users to book cabs by directly visiting the company's mobile website dial.uber.com, especially if you are in Nagpur, Kochi, Guwahati, and Jodhpur.

Also Read: Now Book An Uber Ride Using Snapdeal App

All you have to do is login through your phone number and immediately, the mobile website will connect you with the nearest driver, thus helping you in the pickup. Interestingly, if you are in any of the four cities mentioned before, you can even pay for a ride using cash.

However, we still do not know whether this feature will roll out in other cities or not, but it definitely looks like very much optimized for a country like India, which has a lot of emerging markets with people using a 2G data connection with low storage budget phones.

Also Read: UberMoto, Rapido To Provide Women Safe Commuting

TAGS: Uber, Uber Mobile Site
On Friday, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took advantage of the last debate between candidates before Sunday's presidential elections to accuse the current president,... | Read More
A shovel is placed over coal briquettes during a protest in front of the chancellery in Berlin December 3, 2014.

Less than a year after the coal industry was declared to be in terminal decline, the fossil fuel has staged its steepest price rally in over half a decade, making it one of the hottest major commodities.

Cargo prices for Australian thermal coal from its Newcastle terminal, seen as the Asian benchmark, have soared over 35 percent since mid-June to more than one-year highs of almost $70 a tonne, pushed by surprise increases in Chinese imports.

"Coal markets, after five years of declining prices, appear to have found a bottom in the first quarter," Australia's Whitehaven Coal said on Thursday, as its shares hit a three-year high on the release of its annual results.

"Reasons for the increase in prices include mine closures in Indonesia, United States and Australia and policy change by Chinese authorities," Whitehaven said, adding it was confident that coal prices will rise.

Goldman Sachs, reversing a gloomy outlook it issued last September, said this week restrictions on domestic production by Chinese regulators had turned coal "into one of the best performing commodities so far this year."

Global mining majors like Glencore and Anglo American, but also regional Asian players like Whitehaven and Thailand's Banpu, are reaping the benefits.

All four have seen their shares rise sharply, particularly since China in April cut mine operating days by 16 percent in a bid to help meet its target of reducing capacity by 250 million tonnes this year.

Banpu, which operates several export mines across Asia-Pacific, said this week that it expects to sell its 2016 coal supplies at an average price of over $50 a tonne, up from a previous target of $47 to $48 per tonne.

The price recovery is an unexpected boon for miners, who were hit hard by a years-long downturn, and stands in sharp contrast to previous calls by Goldman and the International Energy Agency (IEA), who said last year that coal was in terminal decline.

As a result of China's surprise move, Goldman said there was now "support (for) global prices for the foreseeable future."

The bank raised its three, six and 12 month price forecasts to $65/$62/$60 per tonne for Newcastle coal, up as much as 38 percent from its previous outlook.

Winners and losers

Coal has also been garnering support from Asian industrial powerhouses Japan and South Korea, while demand remains firm in India, Vietnam and the Philippines.

A worker speaks as he loads coal on a truck at a depot near a coal mine from the state-owned Longmay Group on the outskirts of Jixi, in Heilongjiang province, China, October 24, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo.

Japan and South Korea have both said they want to expand future coal imports while reducing more expensive imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

China's power consumption has also risen against expectations, jumping 8.2 percent from a year ago in July to reach 552.3 billion kilowatt hours.

While almost all thermal coal miners were hit by the previous price decline, and most shut or sold assets, those left with the best assets now stand to benefit from the rebound.

The biggest winners are those with mines in Australia, thanks to the high average quality of its coal.

Whitehaven said it was confident its high quality coals will continue to attract a premium price.

Shares of Anglo American, a major thermal coal miner in Australia, have also recovered from record lows earlier this year of around 2.2 pounds to around 8.7 pounds.

Glencore, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter with huge Australian operations, has also seen its shares soar from around 70 pence early this year to nearly 2 pounds.

Glencore was not available for comment ahead of reporting its half-year results on Aug. 24.

Other miners have not been able to benefit from coal's 2016 boom.

Indonesia, the world's biggest exporter of thermal coal, has seen its output fall during the lull, and its miners are unable to raise production due to debt constraints.
Japanese air conditioner maker Daikin Industries will spend about US$50 million to set up new offices in Vietnam in 2018 as its business here is growing at a strong pace, the Nikkei Asian Review reported Wednesday.

These offices, which will be located in Ho Chi Minh City, will serve as a call center and a place for local employees to receive sales training, the newspaper said. It also said Daikin will relocate its local sales headquarters to the new facility its growing business.

The manufacturer expects to have 1,000 employees in the new facility eventually.

Earlier this month, Daikin Vietnam signed a land lease agreement with Thang Long Industrial Zone 2 to start construction of a $93.6 million air conditioner factory in the northern province of Hung Yen. The factory is scheduled to operate in April 2018 with an estimated output of about 500,000 air conditioners in 2018, and up to 1 million units in 2020.

It is expected to provide jobs for approximately 500 local workers in the first years and up to 1,500 people

Vietnams residential air conditioner market is one of the Southeast Asian region's biggest, totaling roughly 2 million units a year, and is growing at an annual pace of more than 10 percent.

Daikin holds a quarter of that market, vying with Panasonic for the lead.
A mother breastfeeds her baby at an event to promote breastfeeding in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Minh Hung

The World Health Organization Tuesday launched the First Embrace campaign with simple steps to save newborns and prevent complications arising from unsafe and outdated neonatal practices in Vietnam.

The campaign highlights early essential newborn care, including actions and interventions to address the most common causes of newborn death and disease, such as prematurity, low birth weight and severe illnesses like pneumonia and diarrhea.

We lose far too many newborn infants to preventable factors, such as disease, Shin Young-soo, WHOs regional director for the Western Pacific, said.

First Embrace addresses this challenge by urging women and healthcare providers across Vietnam to take simple steps to protect babies during the crucial time immediately after birth.

According to WHO, Vietnam has made great strides in the last two decades in reducing the number of children under five dying within the first month of life, reaching the UN Millennium Development Goals target of reducing child mortality.

However, in 2012 over 17,000 newborns still died within the first month of life.

WHOs early essential newborn care stresses the importance of skin-to-skin contact between the mother and child shortly after birth.

This simple act transfers warmth, placental blood and protective bacteria, and encourages exclusive breastfeeding.

Skin-to-skin contact should be followed by proper clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord with sterile instruments.

Breastfeeding is then initiated naturally by feeding cues like drooling, tonguing, and biting the hand.

Early initiation of breastfeeding is especially important because colostrum, or first milk, contains essential nutrients, antibodies and immune cells.

Other routine steps like providing vitamin K, eye prophylaxis, and immunization; weighing; and a complete examination of the babys health, should be performed after the first breastfeeding, according to WHO.

WHO, with support from the Ministry of Health, is launching the First Embrace campaign in Vietnam at three hospitals this week: Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, The Obstetrics and Paediatrics Hospital in Da Nang, and the National Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital in Hanoi.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc talks with a foreign tourist in Hoi An on August 8. Photo credit: Quang Hieu/VnExpress

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has apologized after cars in his delegation drove into Hoi An, where motorized vehicles are banned, even as he walked into the ancient town while on a recent trip.

On August 8 he was in the town for a tourism conference, walking to the venue without realizing many cars that had accompanied his delegation were driving behind him.

Though I was not aware, its my responsibility for failing to manage the incident, he said.

Thus, I need to apologize.

He said this at another conference held in Hanoi Wednesday to review the progress of administrative reform.

He mentioned his Hoi An experience as a lesson for government leaders.

People are well aware of what government leaders do. Their credibility is based on peoples evaluation.

The administrative system must measure itself based on the public and corporate perception of it, he said.

He also made it clear that Vietnam would not have red-light districts or open casinos.
Police officers stand guard in front of the office building of the Party's committee of Yen Bai Province, where two provincial leaders were shot to death on Aug. 18

Police have said they will not launch a criminal investigation into the shooting death of two provincial leaders in Yen Bai Province this morning since the main suspect, another senior official, killed himself.

Maj Gen Dang Tran Chieu, Director of the Public Security Department of Yen Bai, said at a press conference this afternoon that the decision has been made based on the Penal Code.

Local officials at the conference said they would still work to find out the shooter's motives. However, they rejected speculations that the shooting had to do with the ongoing reshuffling of the local government staff.

Maj Gen Chieu confirmed that Do Cuong Minh, head of the Forest Ranger Office of Yen Bai, shot Pham Duy Cuong, Secretary of the provincial Party's committee, and Ngo Ngoc Tuan, chairman of the legislative People's Council, in their offices before shooting himself in the head at around 7 a.m.Thursday morning.

All three succumbed to fatal gunshot wounds.

Minh, 53, had used a duty pistol to carry out the shooting, Chieu said. He had emptied his gun, firing four shots in Cuong's office and four other shots in Tuan's office.

Pham Duy Cuong, Secretary of Yen Bai Province Party's committee (L), and Ngo Ngoc Tuan, Chairman of the province's People's Council, were shot dead on Aug. 18 .

Chieu said the police were searching Minh's house and office but had not found any suicide note.

Minh was a "good-nature person who always fulfilled his task," Pham Thi Thanh Tra, Chairman of the People's Committee of Yen Bai, said at the conference.

She said Minh might have undergone a certain "extreme psychological development" and "could not control himself."

When asked by reporters if the shooting was related to the planned merger of Minh's Forest Ranger Office and the Agriculture Office of Yen Bai, Tra rejected the link.

"While the merger has been agreed, we have not begun [planning] on personnel work," she said.
A business-class passenger who slapped a Vietnam Airlines cabin crew has been given a six-month flight ban, according to aviation authorities.

The man, identified as Mai Thanh B., 46, will not be transported by any carrier in the next six months, Dinh Viet Son, Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Authority, told Thanh Nien Thursday.

B. was also imposed a fine of VND15 million (US$700) by the Southern Airports Authority after the incident onboard a Vietnam Airlines flight from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City on Aug. 13.

After landing in HCMC's Tan Son Nhat Airport, the plane was taxiing when B. told the cabin crew he could not find his iPhone 6 Plus.

He said he had left the phone on the table before dozing off, and asked the flight attendant who folded the table before landing if she took it.

When she said she didn't see it, B. slapped her in the face.

The phone was later found under the seat in front of B.'s

B., a businessman who lives in Ho Chi Minh City, told Thanh Nien he knew slapping the attendant was wrong and would pay the fine.

He said, however, that he was not convinced by the possibility that the phone had fallen to the floor.

He claimed to have searched under the seats carefully but had not found the phone.
Pham Duy Cuong, Secretary of Yen Bai Province Party's committee (L), and Ngo Ngoc Tuan, Chairman of the province's People's Council, were shot dead this morning.

The party chief and top lawmaker of a province in northern Vietnam were shot to death this morning allegedly by the local chief forest ranger, who then shot himself.

According to witnesses, the shooting took place in the office building of the Party's committee of Yen Bai Province at around 7 a.m.

Pham Duy Cuong, 58, Secretary of the provincial Party's committee, and Ngo Ngoc Tuan, 52, chairman of the legislative People's Council, were in their offices in the building, preparing for a council meeting scheduled at 8 a.m.

Do Cuong Minh, head of the Forest Ranger Office of Yen Bai Province.

Do Cuong Minh, 53, head of the Forest Ranger Office of Yen Bai Province, went to Cuong's and Tuan's offices, respectively, and shot them multiple times with a handgun. He then shot himself in the head in Tuan's office.

The three officials were rushed to Yen Bai General Hospital where doctors strived to save their lives but in vain. Cuong and Tuan were pronounced dead at noon, while Minh succumbed to a fatal head wound at 1.30 p.m.

Doctors said Cuong and Tuan suffered gunshot wounds to the head and chest.

A government working group headed by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc arrived in Yen Bai this morning following the shooting, according to the Government Office.

The scheduled council meeting was canceled, an official said.
There has been a rush for tickets to explore Son Doong Cave, the largest in the world, next year.

Chua Me Dat (Oxalis) Adventure Tours, the exclusive tour organizer, said Quang Binh Province authorities have decided to allow only 640 visitors next year.

Depending on weather conditions, Oxalis may organize tours for 500-600 tourists, the company said in a statement August 15 when it opened the sale of tickets.

Thousands of people have sought tickets, which would be sold on and a first come, first served basis to those who satisfy health requirements, the company said.

Oxalis has been organizing five-day tours to the cave with 10 people at most.

The cave opens from January to August every year to avoid bad weather.

This year 442 people have visited so far, including a group of diplomats from several countries like Argentina, Sweden, Italy, and the Czech Republic.

Oxalis, headquartered in the Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park in Quang Binh, has been organizing tours to Son Dong Cave since 2013.

A tour party usually comprises around 25 people, including porters, a cook, a tour guide, two cave experts and two park rangers.

Tickets for 2017 cost VND66 million (US$3,000) per person.

Tourists are required to be fit enough since the tour involves a trek of 50 km (31 miles) in a jungle and mountain; elevation of up to 400m (between road and valleys); 40 river crossings (10-50m wide river, knee deep); 10 km caving including rope climbing, rocky terrain and scrambling; 80m descent with rope and harness; crossing underground rivers with strong currents and five days inside.

Son Doong, which is 150 meters high and 200 meters wide, became known worldwide in 2009 when it was explored by members of the British Cave Research Association together with local man Ho Khanh.

Oxalis often sells out its tours well before it starts.

In July the company obtained a license to organize tours to the Tien 2 Cave, which discovered earlier this year.
A cross with a sign that reads 'To the memory of Franco era victims' is seen at the cemetery of Valdenoceda, near Burgos, northern Spain, April 16, 2016.

An Argentine judge has started an investigation into the death of Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, who is believed to have been executed in 1936 by forces loyal to General Francisco Franco.

Garcia Lorca's fate remains a mystery after the site near the Spanish city of Granada where he was believed to have been buried was excavated in 2009 without finding human remains.

With efforts by the Spanish justice system stalled, a Spanish human rights group called the Association for the Recuperation of Historic Memory asked Argentine federal judge Maria Servini to take up the case. She has accepted, said a statement by the group on Facebook.

"The case has been incorporated into an ongoing investigation by Judge Maria Servini into crimes against humanity," it said.

Servini was already looking into Franco-era crimes ranging from torture to extra-judicial killings. Franco ruled for almost four decades after his Nationalist forces won Spain's 1936-1939 civil war.

Spain's most famous human rights judge, Baltasar Garzon,

opened an inquiry into Franco-era crimes in 2008 but later dropped the case - an example of the issue's political sensitivity.

Members of the Andalusian Geophysics Institut work in the site where it is believed that the remains of Spanish writer Federico Garcia Lorca are buried, in Alfacar, Spanish southern province of Granada, September 23, 2009.

The Spanish group first requested that Servini, who could not be reached for comment, take up the Garcia Lorca case in April.

"The judge has requested that the courts in Madrid release the case file to the association," an Argentine court source with knowledge of the case told Reuters. Unauthorized to speak to the press, the source asked not to be identified.

Spain's civil war became a curtain-raiser for World War Two when Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy provided arms and funding for Franco's forces. Soviet leader Josef Stalin backed communists fighting against them and Franco saw himself as a "sentinel" against communism.

Volunteers from various countries, known as the International Brigades, traveled to Spain to join the fight against Franco after he launched his revolt against Spain's Republican government in 1936.

Historians estimate as many as 500,000 combatants and civilians were killed on the Republican and Nationalist sides in the war. After it ended, tens of thousands of Franco's enemies were killed or imprisoned in a campaign to wipe out dissent.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a news conference after talks with Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, April 6, 2016.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday refugees had not brought terrorism to Germany, adding that Islam belonged in the country as long as it was practiced in a way that respected the constitution.

More than a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere arrived in Germany last year. The mood towards them has soured after a spate of attacks on civilians last month, including three carried out by migrants.

Two of those attacks were claimed by the Islamic State militant group.

"The phenomenon of Islamist terrorism, of IS, is not a phenomenon that came to us with the refugees," Merkel said at an election campaign event for her Christian Democrats in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ahead of a regional vote on Sept. 4.

Merkel said many people had traveled from Germany to Syria for training with Islamist militants. In June Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said a total of more than 800 were believed to have gone to Syria and Iraq.

"This group has worried us for several years," she said at the event in Neustrelitz, a town 100 km (60 miles) north of Berlin.

Merkel's popularity has suffered in the wake of the attacks and 52 percent of Germans think her migrant policy is bad, a poll published last week showed.

The influx of migrants, many of whom are Muslim, has boosted support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is expected to perform well in elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin.

"We have said clearly that an Islam that works and lives on the basis of the constitution ... belongs to Germany," Merkel said.

She added that a type of Islam that did not stick to the constitution or accept equal rights for women had no place in the country.
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Yes, the farmers market has plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables that are grown in Louisiana. But, because we rarely see the process, its hard to imagine the southern staple of yellow corn grits was ever a plant tended by a farmer.

Milled grains can be found in farmers markets and online from central to southern Louisiana.

When passing through the farmers market each week, I make sure I stock up on any grits or oatmeal to keep on hand for breakfast, and the occasional batch of oatmeal cookies.

There are several local grain mills and companies that sell fresh milled products right here in Louisiana. Some are located in central Louisiana and others in south Louisiana. One such resource is Stacys Stone Ground Meal of Bonnecaze farms based in Baton Rouge. I used their yellow corn grits and organic oatmeal along with some other locally sourced ingredients for our breakfast recipes this week.

These grits are not for the faint of heart. Theyre rich and creamy and nearly a one-dish meal. The local poblano peppers may be smaller than what you find at grocery stores and produce stands, but they have that same wonderful mild, smoky chili flavor. These peppers match perfectly with the smoky bacon and rich, smoked cheddar cheese.

Adding cushaw is a perfect way to sneak in a vegetable with this breakfast oatmeal dish. Cushaws are popping up at the markets, along with butternut squash and other almost-fall squashes. Cushaw is a mildly sweet squash that makes it easy to slip into oatmeal, breads, cakes and other basically sweet dishes.

Locally milled grains are fresher than those you buy in boxes at the store. This means they are the best bases for our Louisiana-raised fruits, vegetables and proteins.

Teresa B. Day is a local food writer and author of the I Eat BR blog. You can reach her at ieatbrla@gmail.com.
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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO -- Summer Scholars Class of 2016, a program administered by LSU University College and coordinated by Annette L. Yancy, academic counselor with the Center for Freshman Year, gather during the recent program.
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Zachary schools will return to class Aug. 23, the school district has announced. But a return date for Central schools is still unclear.

Central Superintendent Michael Faulk said schools will reopen no earlier than Sept. 6, the day after Labor day. But that date is subject to change, he said. One school there, Tanglewood Elementary, was badly flooded.

+4 Devastation, close calls fuel resolve to reopen flooded Baton Rouge-area schools The once flat gym floor at the former Redemptorist High School, home to decades of basketbal

Livingston schools are closed indefinitely.

Half of Livingston Parishs 46 school sites are believed to have flood damage, some minor, some major. Ascension Parish has identified six schools so far with water intrusion, on Wednesday adding St. Amant Primary to its flooded school list.

In a change, Baker public school district announced that Baker High wont reopen when its other schools reopen on Monday.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says he's not concerned that President Barack Obama has not yet visited Louisiana to see the flood crisis first-hand.

"I'm not complaining in any way about our federal partnership," Edwards said during a news conference on Thursday.

+2 President Barack Obama to get regular updates on Louisiana flooding President Barack Obama has requested regular briefings from the Federal Emergency Management

Obama, who is on a family vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts this week, has not commented publicly on the flooding that has sparked disaster declarations for 20 parishes, nor has he announced plans to travel to Louisiana.

At least 13 people have died in the flood, and at least 40,000 homes have sustained damage.

Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross, said the Louisiana flood is the worst national disaster since Superstorm Sandy struck the east coast in 2012.

"It's really devastating," she said.

On Thursday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson traveled to Louisiana to meet with Edwards, visit shelters and view flood-affected areas.

"The federal government is here, we've been here and we'll be here as long as it takes for this community to recover," he said.

Federal Emergency Management Agency head Craig Fugate came to Louisiana earlier this week.

Edwards, a Democrat, said that those trips, plus near daily communication with the White House, has shown that the flooding is a priority for the federal government. He said a visit from Obama, which would require heightened security and road closures, would be a drain on resources as the state still works to respond to the flood.

"Quite frankly, that's not something I want to go through right now," Edwards said. "I would just as soon he wait a week or two."

Edwards praised the local response to the flood.

"In Louisiana, taking care of one another is a way of life and we're on our way from response to recovery," he said.

A budget hearing at the State Capitol on Thursday shifted to lawmakers' concerns about the flood. Obama's absence to date was a point of contention for several.

"Where is the president?" Sen. Conrad Appel, R-Metairie. "We need the president on the ground here, not playing golf."

But leaders also praised the work of the federal government as a much-welcomed departure from the difficulties experienced during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"This is not your 2005 FEMA, said Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne. They have been much more responsive.

Senate President John Alario, a Westwego Republican who traveled with Edwards and FEMA leaders earlier this week to flood-struck areas, agreed.

FEMA has been around since the first drop of rain hit the ground, he said. Whether the president is here or not, were getting a lot more help from the federal government."

FEMA already has started inspecting structures, which is a legally required accountability standard since the federal agency is giving out taxpayer dollars, Dardenne said. Up to 600 FEMA inspectors will be at work in the next couple days as flood waters recede.

They want to do everything possible to keep people in their houses, where possible and quick repairs can be made, he said.

Johnson, who met with Edwards and surveyed the flood zone before the Thursday afternoon press conference, said he expected to brief Obama on his trip and he said the president has been getting daily updates on the flood.

"The president can't be everywhere," Johnson said. "He's very much on top of the situation."
EDGARTOWN, Mass. -- President Barack Obama is unlikely to break from a New England vacation to survey flood damage in Louisiana, despite calls for him to visit and meet with responders and victims.

The White House insists Obama is not indifferent to the suffering of thousands who were washed out of their homes in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas of the state. At least 13 people have died as a result of the flooding, and at one point 11,000 were in shelters. That number has dropped as water levels have receded.

In an editorial published Wednesday, The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge called on Obama to visit "the most anguished state in the union." The newspaper noted that Obama interrupted his two-week vacation on Martha's Vineyard earlier this week to attend a fundraiser for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on the Massachusetts island.

The newspaper said Obama can and should visit now that the once-raging floodwaters are receding.

"The president's vacation is scheduled to wrap up on Sunday. But he should pack his bags now, and pay a call on communities who need to know that in a national catastrophe, they are not alone," the editorial said. "The president's presence is already late to this crisis, but it's better later than never."

In 2005, then-President George W. Bush was faulted for flying over but not touching down in Louisiana in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The federal government's response to that natural disaster, in which more than 1,830 people were killed and millions more along the Gulf Coast and New Orleans were left homeless, haunted Bush for the remainder of his presidency.

Obama has issued no public or written statements about the flooding. The White House said he has been receiving regular updates and briefings on the situation throughout the vacation, including from Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards. Obama also approved a federal disaster declaration for affected areas of the state.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate visited Louisiana on Tuesday; Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson visited Thursday.

"As the president told Gov. Edwards over the weekend, the community of Baton Rouge has faced a difficult, even tragic, summer but can count on the ongoing prayers and unwavering support of the president and their fellow Americans in their time of need," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman said.

Edwards, defending the administration's response Thursday, said he has spoken daily with the White House and has received quick responses to each request he's lodged with the administration.

He said he'd prefer Obama hold off on visiting because such stops pull local police and first responders into providing security.

"Quite frankly that is not something that I want to go through right now. And so while the president is welcome to visit, I would just as soon he give us another a week or two, get back to a greater sense of normalcy here," Edwards said in Baton Rouge while accompanying Johnson.

The White House also noted that Louisiana's top elected Republican, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, on Thursday also praised the federal government's response during an interview with NPR.

___

Associated Press writer Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report.
The deadly flood that has swamped south Louisiana this week will likely mean more mosquitoes this summer as the floodwaters start to recede.

State health leaders say that also could mean an increase in West Nile cases and even potentially a bigger threat of Zika virus.

"We're going to have standing water all over south Louisiana," Gov. John Bel Edwards said this week, warning about the additional pitfalls that lie ahead as the flood-affected areas transition to recovery mode. "We're going to have more than our share of mosquitoes."

The historic flooding, which is the result of what experts are calling a one-in-1,000-year rain, has prompted federal disaster declarations in 20 parishes. Edwards has said he expects that declaration will grow to cover even more as the flood waters shift southward and local officials tally up the damage their areas have sustained.

No human cases of West Nile have been reported in Louisiana this year, but the virus has been detected in non-humans, meaning mosquitoes, birds or other creatures here have tested positive in 2016. But that could quickly change with a spike in mosquito activity.

"Standing water is mosquito heaven," State Health Secretary Dr. Rebekah Gee said. "Given this is the height of mosquito season, we have to be really cautious."

Typically, officials warn people to empty containers and other receptacles for standing water to eliminate places where mosquitoes can breed. Those rules will still apply, there will just be more opportunities for standing water when as the flooding goes down, said Dr. Frank Welch, the medical director for community preparedness for the Louisiana Department of Health.

+2 20 parishes now covered by federal disaster declaration Twenty parishes are now covered under a federal disaster declaration in response to severe f

Welch said that many larvae may have been washed away by moving water from the storm, creating a lull in the mosquito population, but it won't last long.

"We tend to see an increase two-to-four weeks after a flooding event," he said.

Leaders say that will put the state at risk for mosquito-borne illnesses, including West Nile.

A report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that there was a sharp increase in West Nile cases in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina that was likely attributable to the storm.

It could also potentially have an impact on the spread of Zika here, though less so than West Nile because of the specific types of mosquitoes that carry the virus. Those are more likely to be found near Lake Pontchartrain, but Welch warned that increased rain in the area could also cause a spike there. Louisiana, to date, has recorded no cases of mosquito-borne Zika cases.

The federal disaster declaration will provide additional assistance for those parishes covered.

One of the points Edwards repeatedly stressed to local leaders during a trip to Lafayette, Iberia and Vermilion parishes earlier this week was that federal assistance would be available for mosquito control and abatement through the federal declaration. He urged them to seek additional protection because of the additional threat.

FEMA will cover up to 70-90 percent of the costs of additional abatement measures  meaning any additional efforts to curb the mosquito population on top of normal control measures will mostly be covered by federal dollars.

"That will be instrumental in lowering our risk," Gee said.

Gee said that federal assistance will also help cover LDH's additional lab costs for testing for the viruses, as well as community outreach efforts to inform the public about the increased risks.

Some local officials said they are already bracing for an increase in non-disease carrying mosquitoes, commonly called nuisance mosquitoes. Those are the mosquitoes that bite and leave itchy welts but are unable to infect people with viruses like West Nile or Zika.

Tangipahoa Parish mosquito abatement director Dennis L. Wallette Jr. said mosquito control in Tangipahoa was closed for a couple of days during the flooding, and lots of road closures meant that trucks couldnt get everywhere.

He said his biggest concern will be floodwater mosquitoes, which lay their eggs on damp soil. Any egg thats out there will have been flooded, and we do expect a sizeable hatch-off, Wallette said.

But he noted that the floodwater may actually end up carrying some larvae further downstream, so its possible that it will not be as bad as theyve seen after other events.

Vickie Taylor, director of St. Tammany Parish mosquito abatement, said she also expects an infestation of woodland and marsh mosquitoes.

There are going to be a lot of floodwater mosquitoes," she said.

East Baton Rouge Parish mosquito abatement director Todd Walker said about a third of his staff has been affected by the flooding, creating some manpower issues.

He estimated that the area has had a smaller mosquito population this summer, compared to past years, based on the number of calls for service.

Aside from standing water left behind in homes, swimming pools and containers, Walker said that pastures could become a breeding ground for mosquitoes  even an indentation from a hoof can create a place for mosquitoes to breed.

Walker said that East Baton Rouge has the chemicals and equipment it needs. The plan will be to treat the area by plane, which can cover larger areas more quickly, he said.
Add storage space to the list of shortages in the Baton Rouge area.

Record flooding rolled a foot of water into Jefferson Storage's 85 self-storage units, but that hasn't stopped flood victims from leasing the handful of spaces still available.

"I just have a few left so once they're gone, they're gone," said Scott Soulant, one of the owners of the facility on Jefferson Highway.

Soulant said he expects some of his tenants will move their things because of the flooding.

But other customers will replace them. Just about every storage facility is full or close to it. And there are fewer units available now because a number of them, like thousands of houses, cars and hotel rooms, also flooded.

"There's lots of activity. That's all I can say. I haven't seen it like this in years," Soulant said. "But what do you expect? We all know what happened. It is what it is. You've got to deal with it."

Self-storage facilities throughout the Baton Rouge area have seen a stampede of flood victims in the past few days.

"It's unbelievable. We had over 100 people on Tuesday and Wednesday," said Michael Ransow, manager of Climate Control of Louisiana Self Storage on College Drive.

The 10-by-25 units went first so the facility began bundling smaller units, which gave customers a break on the price. Climate Control also waived the rent for the rest of August.

"I'll tell you what I can say. These people are amazing," Ransow said. "They were grateful. They helped each other. They kept their spirits up. They were smiling and joking. It was the true spirit of Louisiana.... There were a lot of hugs and a lot of prayers."

The flood victims were also patient while Ransow and assistant Max Hatcher directed traffic. At one point, 50 people showed up at the same time to try and move in, Ransow said.

Thousands in shelters face an uncertain future with flooded homes and nowhere to go After riding a boat away from his home in Glen Oaks after dark on Saturday, Williams Cokes a

Jamie Edwards, who works for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was among the people who rented space at Climate Control.

Edwards lives at the St. Jean Apartments in Baton Rouge. Her second-floor apartment didn't flood, but those on the first floor did. "So we got the mold, the mildew, the spoilage," Edwards said. "I lost all my vehicles and a rental car."

Edwards found the storage facility online and thought she would have to lease a couple of smaller units. But she got lucky because there was one large unit available. She was scrambling to move everything in she could Thursday because she had to catch a 5 p.m. flight to man a FEMA call center in Denton, Texas.

It's unclear how many area storage facilities flooded. Ransow said he was told there's no space left in Lafayette and that people are starting to try New Orleans.

Jameson Olsen, a spokeswoman for All My Sons Moving & Storage, said the company has seen a 50 percent increase in moves in the Baton Rouge area since Saturday. The company is moving around 10 more families a day, but instead of new residences their things are going to storage facilities.

"So not only have we seen the increase, the storage facilities are going crazy," Olsen said.

So far the moves have been to facilities within 30 miles of Baton Rouge, she said.

Mass of evacuees, relief workers leave Baton Rouge hotel rooms in short supply Hotel rooms in metro Baton Rouge are currently in short supply, because of people displaced 

Al Gardes, director of operations at Elmwood Self Storage and secretary of the Louisiana Self Storage Association, said a number of older facilities  one-story, cinder block buildings with roll-up doors, were swamped by the record floods.

What lots of people don't realize is the things they place in self-storage are not insured by the facilities, he said. So some people may have lost twice: when their homes flooded and when the storage facilities flooded.

The customer has to buy coverage from the storage facility unless the goods are covered by their homeowner's policy, Gardes said.
Some flooded-out Crowley residents started returning to their homes Wednesday, and city police concentrated manpower on nighttime patrols to guard against possible looters.

Police Chief Jimmy Broussard said water that flooded a third or more of the Acadia Parish city wasn't getting deeper, but had started to shift to south and southwest Crowley.

Acadiana region hit with more downpours as waterways continue rising CROWLEY  Parts of Acadia Parish, known for its flooded fields of rice and crawfish, braced 

Meanwhile, water that spilled out from the Mermentau River still covers part of Interstate 10 near Crowley. All lanes for a 68-mile stretch from the U.S. 165 exit in Iowa to Interstate 49 in Lafayette remain closed, and traffic is detouring on U.S. 190.

+19 Rising waters cause I-10 closure, Vermilion River tops levee in Lafayette neighborhood Residents of a neighborhood off of Surrey Street in Lafayette were able to declare a rare vi

Fourteen miles to Crowley's southwest, officials in the Vermilion Parish town of Gueydan decided to evacuate a nursing home after watching water rise and pose a potential threat.

Gueydan Mayor Chris Theriot said medics with Acadian Ambulance transported elderly residents of Gueydan Memorial Guest Home to a facility in Church Point. He said it was a precautionary measure.

"We evacuated the nursing home mainly because you have ambulatory people living there" who would have been hard to move quickly, Theriot said.

Water in Gueydan rose because of a breach in the earthen structure that allowed water from Bayou Queue de Tortue  turtle-tail bayou  to seep into town.

The bayou is linked to the Mermentau River, which is causing problems to the north of Gueydan.

"It's all interconnected," Theriot said.

Extremely heavy and continuous rainfall across south Louisiana has destroyed homes and businesses, forced thousands of people into shelters or other lodgings, and prompted President Obama to declare 20 parishes disaster areas.

All of the state's flooding problems are linked to unprecedented amounts of rain and the inability of the state's rivers, bayous and canals to drain fast enough.

Flooding in Acadia Parish is linked to the Mermentau River, which was still rising slowly on Wednesday and expected to crest Friday morning at 11.5. feet where the river passes through the village of Mermentau east of Jennings.

The river on Wednesday afternoon was at 10.6 feet, about an inch higher than during flooding along the river in 2013, according to the National Weather Service.

The river has not topped 11 feet at Mermentau since 1955, according to NWS records.

The river is expected to keep inching up to a crest over the next two days regardless of whether the area sees more heavy rain, said Jonathan Brazzell, a hydrologist with NWS.

He said the Mermentau River draws from a sprawling watershed that includes portions of Acadia, Jefferson Davis, Evangeline, St. Landry, Vermilion and Lafayette parishes.

Lafayette city-parish officials warned Wednesday that while much of the parish is drying as the Vermilion River lowers, southwestern portions of Lafayette Parish could still see flooding linked to the Mermentau system.

Weekend storms prompt flood warnings Residents in south Louisiana still reeling from last weeks deluge received no respite over 

Broussard, the Crowley police chief, said that although there had been no incidents of looting, police did receive a report about men checking out evacuated homes.

"We're bringing in more forces at night," Broussard said. "That's the time you have to worry about."

The number of Crowley evacuees who stayed at a Red Cross-opened shelter at the International Rice Festival building on Mill street climbed to about 80 earlier this week before it dwindled to around 40 Wednesday afternoon, Broussard said.

Public schools in Acadiana, which had just begun or were about to begin classes when the rain started falling late last week, have been closed.

That includes the school systems in Vermilion, Acadia and Lafayette parishes. All three systems have canceled classes until Monday.
This historic Louisiana flood inundated areas that never before have seen waters rise. That has left many without flood insurance -- or experience with flooding -- searching for help. Click the arrows below for helpful tips on a variety of topics.

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About 1500 Vietnam veterans from across Australia saw B-52 bombers in the air for the first time since the end of the war.

The planes, both from the United States Air Force's 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, flew an 18-hour, 11,000 km mission from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam to take part in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan at the Australian War Memorial.

Vietnam era USAF B-52 Bombers fly over Canberra to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. Credit:Rohan Thomson

Two of the squadron's pilots flew to Canberra to act as liaison officers.

"It was a privilege to take part in the ceremony," said one, who cannot be named for security reasons, but goes by the call sign "Slam", told Fairfax Media.
A Gungahlin man has been charged with online child sex offences after he allegedly sent indecent material to a teenage girl.

Federal police launched an investigation into the internet activities of David Peter Conway, 28, after a tip-off from NSW Police in April this year.

Gungahlin's David Peter Conway, 28, was granted bail. Credit:Louie Douvis

They searched properties at Gungahlin and Macquarie on Wednesday, seizing electronic devices for digital forensic analysis.

Conway was arrested and charged with two counts of using a carriage service to send indecent material to a person under 16.
Gillon McLachlan has withdrawn from this year's Carbine Club grand final week lunch after the club failed to meet an AFL-imposed deadline to introduce women into its membership ranks.

Breaking a tradition that has lasted for 52 years, the league CEO has told the club he cannot speak at the post Brownlow Medal luncheon. The AFL is also considering withdrawing the Carbine Club lunch from its Grand Final week calendar of events.

The 2014 Carbine Club grand final lunch.

Mr McLachlan, who is a Male Champion of Change, delivered the message to Carbine Club chairman Graham Halbish last week shortly before travelling to the Rio Olympics. Having threatened to pull out of last year's function, McLachlan attended on the condition the all-male luncheon and sporting club would introduce women members before the 2017 grand final.

However some long-standing club members resisted the move on the basis the AFL was forcing their hand and and imposing a deadline upon them.
The PNG government has conceded that the Manus facility must close. But while tearing down the fences would be a significant step, the real issue is not the future of the facility itself but of the 854 men trapped inside it.

I was on Manus Island last week. I saw firsthand what is  and what always has been  a dead-end arrangement destined to produce nothing but human suffering. These are innocent people in our care. They are our responsibility, and successive governments have forced them down an unsafe and painful road to nowhere for more than three years.

Whatever the policy challenge, continuing to harm these men is not the solution. The only viable and humane way forward is to bring them here.

And frankly, we would be lucky to have them. There are some truly incredible people in that group.
Just in case you've been trapped down a coalmine for the past couple of days (or kidnapped by space aliens, or otherwise cut off from the global information flow), the most widely shared news story all over the world for the past 48 hours has been about the magic wand shop in the beautiful village of Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield. It won't sell wands to Muggles.

In J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books and the accompanying movies, the most important cultural phenomenon of the early 21st century, Muggles are people who just don't have the magic. They are not witches or wizards; they're not even house elves. And Slaithwaite, although it is one of the jewels in West Yorkshire's crown, is not widely known outside the British Isles even in magic circles.

What brought Slaithwaite's magic wands to the world's attention was Richard Carter, the proprietor of the aforesaid magic wand shop (called Mystical Moments). He declared to an inquiring journalist that he would not sell any of his lovingly hand-made wands to Harry Potter fans, because they don't really believe in magic.

Wands are "spiritual tools", Carter said. "If I had someone come in wanting a wand just because they liked Harry Potter I would not sell them one, no matter how much money they were offering. I can tell what people are like when they walk in by their aura.
The US-led coalition in Iraq is preparing for an exodus of jihadist foreign fighters from the Islamic State's teetering capital Mosul to elsewhere in the region and the globe, Defence Minister Marise Payne has said.

In remarks that underscore the difficulty of tackling a constantly metamorphosing enemy, Senator Payne said the operation to retake Mosul could still happen this year but military planners were also having to prepare for the knock-on effects of any success.

"We know that there will be a reasonable number of foreign fighters who are said to be part of the Daesh numbers in Mosul," Senator Payne said, using an alternative name for the Islamic State or ISIL.

"We and many of our partners in the coalition are very conscious of that and what happens to them. They may be victims of the operation. They may try to escape the operation. They may survive the operation and try and go elsewhere.
An election-driven burst of part-time employment has pushed the unemployment rate down to 5.7 per cent, disguising a continuing slide in the number of Australians employed full-time.

Employment climbed 26,200 in July, according to figures released by the Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, but the jump was the net result of a 45,400 slide in full-time employment offset by an unusually large 71,600 jump in part-time employment.

Full-time employment has slid 64,500 since December while part-time employment has surged 136,600. The net result of 72,300 extra Australians in work reflects a hollowing out of employment rather than a boost in hours. There were scarcely any more hours worked in July than in December.

The international definition used by the Bureau of Statistics requires it to count someone as "employed" even if they work only one hour per week.
Tensions are rising in the government after Treasurer Scott Morrison distanced himself from the Coalition's most aggressive political act against Julia Gillard's minority government in 2011: the decision of the Abbott opposition to block the Malaysian "people-swap" solution.

In surprisingly frank comments set to deepen antipathy between Mr Morrison and the Liberal Party's conservative right faction now led by Mr Abbott, Mr Morrison, who had been shadow immigration minister, said the rejection in the Senate of the Labor government plan to stop the boats, was down to Mr Abbott alone.

"I acted in accordance with my leader's instructions," Mr Morrison told Sky News when pressed on the reason the opposition had refused point-blank to legislate the scheme at the time.

After the High Court ruled its first incarnation was invalid, the Labor government had sought opposition or Greens support to pass enabling legislation in the Senate.
Treasurer Scott Morrison has shed more light on which "life events" leading to large financial windfalls will be exempt from a proposed $500,000 lifetime cap on non-concessional superannuation contributions.

Following continued tensions over superannuation reforms announced in the May budget, concessions have been flagged and the Treasurer has all but confirmed that divorce settlements will be exempted from the controversial $500,000 cap in addition to accident compensation claims.

Treasurer Scott Morrison will not wish to be seen as anti-Chinese investment. Credit:Bradley Kanaris

But Mr Morrison poured cold water on suggestions that inheritance windfalls and lottery wins would receive favourable treatment.

"We said before the election . . . that one of those events was a settlement that might have come from a compensation claim or something of that nature. Other issues in relation to Family Court matters and things like that, the details of that is being worked through," he told Sky News.
Victoria Beckham, former Spice Girl turned fashion designer, is set to launch a limited-edition make-up collection with Estee Lauder in the coming weeks.

At this point in time, she can do no wrong, after making the successful leap from pop music to pattern making, her latest foray into the cosmetic arena is no exception.

Victoria Beckham has morphed from Spice Girl to fashion icon to emerging beauty doyenne. Credit:Getty Images

The limited edition make-up collection for Estee Lauder will land in Australia on October 1 and as a sneak peek she filmed her morning beauty routine to preview her product. The result was very Kate Middleton  think perfectly rimmed eyes and nude lips.

"I'm just going to spice up my eye," she said, grinning at her well timed pun.
Amy Schumer landed between US$8 million (AU$10.4 million) and US$10 million for her new collection of essays, The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo, released on Tuesday. Any pricey book deal comes with high expectations - and the comedian-turned-actress revealed all, from her dysfunctional childhood to some deeply personal, traumatic experiences.

On the lighter side, she also answered some questions that you may have wondered (or read about) as she has rocketed from an unknown stand-up comic to movie star in only a few short years. Here are just a few:

Amy Schumer was paid more than $10.4 million for her new book, The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo - so what does she reveal in its pages? Credit:AP

Is she anything like the "sex comic" persona she portrays onstage?

Not at all. "I'm so sorry to disappoint anyone who thinks I walk around at all times with a margarita in one hand and a dildo in the other," Schumer writes at the beginning of the book. "Maybe the misunderstanding comes from the fact that onstage, I group together all my wildest, worst sexual memories - which is a grand total of about five experiences over the course of thirty-five years."
The release of the Nauru Files last week, detailing some 2,000 incidents of human rights abuses against asylum seekers, has stepped up pressure on the government over its offshore processing facilities, amplifying the calls to shut them down.

While the reaction of immigration minister Peter Dutton was sadly predictable  he called the files "hype"  Labor Senator Sam Dastyari summed up what many of us were feeling when he called them "horrific" and "just disgusting," before asking: "Who are we as a nation?"

The Nauruan government, which rarely allows Australian journalists to visit the island, described the program as an "embarrassment to journalism". Credit:Angela Wylie

A good question, and one Dastyari would probably have been better to leave rhetorical, since his own answer  "We, as a nation, as a society, are not a people who turn around and turn a blind eye to human rights violations and abuses," is simply not borne out by historical fact.

The Guardian's Nauru Files, coming as they do on the heels of the Four Corners investigation into abuse of Indigenous teenagers in juvenile detention centres, should be a cause for soul searching, for asking ourselves why this keeps happening on our watch, in a country that prides itself a human-rights supporting democracy.
Christian McCann, Melbourne auctioneer and occasional TV star  that was him in a cameo role in the series Winners and Losers  is not a noted harp player. But he now appears to be the go-to-man if you want to buy or sell one.

"I've only seen two for sale in the previous 20 years," he says. "Now I've had four through my place in the last couple of years."

The manufacturer's label on the Erard harp, made circa 1840.

Once it would have been difficult to give them away, partly because you'll need two muscular removalists with a van to shift it.

Now he says he could have easily sold the fourth of those harps five times already, such has been the response from potential buyers. It's for sale at McCann's next auction this Sunday in Melbourne, with bidding expected to be lively, as it has been for the previous three sold since November 2014.
Canberra is mourning the loss of one of its giants of public administration: Bill Harris, the unsung hero of the transition to self-government.

Tributes are pouring in for the former public service chief, who died suddenly on Wednesday aged 76.

Bill Harris, in his Civic office, was ''absolutely crucial in getting the whole process of government underway and his contribution was invaluable''. He is pictured here in 1987. Credit:Martin Jones

The ACT's first chief minister, Rosemary Follett, said Mr Harris's contribution to developing the territory was critical and he was owed "an enormous debt of gratitude".

Mr Harris headed the then ACT Administration during its formative years and put in place the structure of government that has endured for the territory's almost three decades of self-government.
A young Sydney police officer has broken down while giving evidence about a colleague who pulled out a knife after stopping to question two men about an alleged street brawl.

Constable Juan Congdon left the witness box in tears after describing how his colleague had pulled out the blade as they spoke to the men in Marrickville in the early hours of January 18.

Constable Darin Christopher Martin leaves court. Credit:Melanie Kembrey

"I didn't want to have seen what I saw. It really upset me," an emotional Constable Congdon said during the hearing at the Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday.

"I suppose I was naive ... I didn't think that ... we're police ... I feel like we shouldn't even need professional standards. I didn't think these things happened."
Several powerbrokers in the NSW Liberal party have been asked to resign from its state council, in the latest push to remove professional lobbyists from positions of influence.

Michael Photios, the AHA's lobbyist, is the leader of the dominant moderate faction of the NSW Liberal Party. Credit:Daniel Munoz

NSW Liberal state director Chris Stone wrote to representatives of Liberal-aligned firms who are also state council delegates shortly after former prime minister Tony Abbott complained about conflicts of interest during an interview with ABC TV's Four Corners.

The request has been sent to left faction powerbroker Michael Photios and centre right faction boss Nick Campbell, who jointly own lobbying firms PremierState and CapitalHill Advisory.
Five staff members appear to hold the teenager down. The human rights organisation outlined several incidents from the documents relating to the Townsville centre, including an instance in January 2013 in which a 17-year-old boy, identified as being a high suicide risk, was held down on the floor by staff members after refusing to return to his room. The staff allegedly took the boy into an isolation cell where they "cut his clothing and underpants off with a knife", an Amnesty International statement read. The 17-year-old was held in an isolated cell after allegedly refusing to return to his room. "The boy was left naked in the cell for over an hour, before being given a gown to wear."

The Queensland inspectorate recommended an internal review, Amnesty International said, however there was no reference in the documents to one having been done. Images also show an un-muzzled dog approach girl as she is trying to get out of a pool. CCTV images also show the use of a dog at the Townsville facility in August 2015 where a guard lets a dog with a muzzle approach an Indigenous girl in "an aggressive manner" as she is trying to get out of a pool. The documents also outline frequent attempts at self-harm or suicide at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre, with 31 incidents reported last year, up from 20 in 2014. The human rights group is calling for an independent body, separate from the Queensland government, to investigate allegations of abuse in detention.

Professor Gracelyn Smallwood, who worked at the centre on and off for two decades, said it was "traumatic" watching the footage, shown to her by 7.30. "I worked on and off for 20 years as a casual nurse but I had never seen that ever  not to say that it is not happening, but the nurse is not involved in any of the take-downs, we come after the fact," she said. "I was very traumatised. It looked like something out of Mississippi Burning, the little boy chained reminded me of Don Dale (Youth Detention Centre). "It traumatised quite a number of people in the room." She said the Townsville centre needed to be included in the royal commission into youth detention in the Northern Territory.

"It is really quite scary. I don't know why it is not happening. The government don't like inquiries, especially if they get the blame," she said. Graham Pattel worked at the facility for eight years and said he was sacked in 2015 under the Public Service Act for speaking out about the situation on social media. Mr Pattel said the centre was a "toxic" environment and alleged that kids were often "bashed" and "humiliated". "There was a boy in there, they brought his son in, they had him in handcuffs when they brought his kid in for visits, what did they think the kid was going to do?" he said. "They had him handcuffed while he was holding his son. That is humiliation, you don't do that to people, you are talking about 16-year-old kids."

Mr Pattel said the staff didn't understand who their clientele were and said tailored training was needed for workers at the facility. "There is a 98 per cent Indigenous incarceration rate in Cleveland, these kids come from very remote areas, english is their second, third language," he said. "The training up here should be a lot different for workers because they don't understand who they are working with, they don't understand the clientele, if you can't communicate or understand where these kids come from, how are you going to assist them? "We are supposed to be their role model to these kids, we are supposed to be helping to turn their lives around, not bashing them." Former Cleveland Youth Detention Centre inmate Russell Johnson, 17, told ABC's Lateline how a guard spat in his food and he was the victim of regular "take-downs" during his time at the centre.

"They used to call me black dog, caged monkey, Abo, all sorts of filthy names, mother f---er. It used to hurt me," he said. "I'd have bruising, swelling to my face and back. There was some days I couldn't walk because my back was so sore." Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said allegations put to the department have been "thoroughly investigated". "In Queensland all the allegations that have been put to the department over a number of years have been thoroughly investigated and referred to police or other investigative bodies where appropriate," she said. "Incidents have been detailed in reports, and recommendations have been made for reform and been put into action.

"When problems have been identified over the years, those problems have been addressed through changes to policies and procedures. "This has also seen dismissal of staff where inappropriate behaviour was identified." Ms D'Ath said she cannot respond to the details of each and every individual matter but welcomed the public to make a complaint that she said would be addressed in a "transparent and appropriate" manner. "If permission is given by individuals to discuss their particular matters, I would be in a position to discuss details of a particular matter in more detail," she said. "Unless that occurs, I am restricted from discussing details by the Youth Justice Act  restrictions that are in place to protect the privacy and interests of the young people themselves."
A Queensland scam defrauding money from Queensland councils and other semi-government agencies could already be operating interstate, an experienced local government finance specialist believes.

"This is not just a one-off thing, this is a highly organised, highly sophisticated crime," David Spearritt, an advisor to Queensland's Local Government Finance Officers said.

"There is nothing unique to Queensland's local government here. It could be operating anywhere there are large public tender contracts.

"I just think the alarm bells need to be raised," he said.
The Queensland government has been forced to step in and stop a "death row dingo plan" in which a council set loose sterilised dingoes implanted with time-delayed poison pellets in an attempt to control feral goats on a north Queensland island.

In what has been dubbed the "kamikaze canines" solution by some of the more miffed members of the Queensland Parliament, at least two dingoes, with a poison pellet set to take effect in two years, were released on Pelorus Island, which has been overrun with hundreds of wild goats.

The dingo suicide squad is not a new idea  it was first used in the 1990s on Townshend Island in Queensland.

The dingo suicide squad is not a new idea  it was first used in the 1990s on Townshend Island, where it had some impact on goat populations, but caused more problems for the native shorebirds, a dingo's natural prey, along with small mammals.

Pelorus Island is unique in that it is home to the beach stone curlew, a threatened species found only in Australia that lays only one egg a year, is slow to fly and has a defence mechanism which involves adults luring predators to themselves to keep them away from the young - but no "significant predators". Currently.
A Victorian man has been charged with a string of offences after allegedly punching another passenger in a drawn-out mid-air disturbance over far north Queensland.

The Ballarat man, 27, is due in Townsville Magistrates Court on Thursday morning following the Wednesday night incident.

A man allegedly struggled with police after punching a man on a Jetstar flight.

About 7.45pm, a passenger told crew members on the Jetstar flight from from Melbourne that he'd been assaulted.

The plane was just half an hour out from Townsville and had already begun its descent.
On utes, trucks and giant semi-trailers, they have been transported to the vast fields of north-west Victoria in mind-boggling numbers

From as far afield as Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales and across Victoria, the move to the Sunraysia is the biggest transportation of livestock in Australia.

But this livestock doesn't go "moo".

Instead, they buzz, from tree to tree and from flower to flower. European honeybees have been trucked to the vast almond plantations of the Sunraysia by the billions, where it is their job to pollinate the flowers, so the trees produce almonds.
Shoppers have fled in fear through the aisles of a Big W in Melbourne's CBD and a man has been left brutally bashed after a terrifying double-hammer attack in the centre.

Police say a man armed with two hammers attacked a 43-year-old Chinese national about 4.15 this afternoon.

An injured man outside the Big W. Credit:Channel Nine

The attacker was waving the hammers about and yelling abuse as he walked through the aisles of the Big W store at the QV Shopping Centre. Shoppers fled in his wake, Channel Nine is reporting.

The man suffered head injuries and was taken by paramedics to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he remains in a stable condition.
Recap: The weather bureau says that cold front is on the way and will likely hit Melbourne between 10am and 2pm today.

Senior forecaster Rod Dickson says there is already some patchy rain in Melbourne but we should expect five to 15 millimetres of rainfall within the next few hours.

That cold front has already announced its arrival west of Geelong, where 0.6 millimetres has fallen already.

He said there was a "very slight" chance of hail and thunderstorms later this afternoon.

But Mr Dickson said the good news is that the wild winds are easing.

"We've seen the worst of the wind in the Melbourne area," he says.

The temperature in Melbourne has been slowly falling since this morning and we have already reached out maximum temperature for the day.

It was about 18 degrees when I caught the cab to The Age building about 5am this morning. By 6am it was 17.3 degrees and it is currently sitting on 16.5 degrees.
Former federal ALP Member for Perth Alannah MacTiernan has been backed to return to state politics after veteran Labor MP Ken Travers announced he was quitting WA parliament.

Ms MacTiernan confirmed to AAP on Thursday she had been approached about next year's state election and was considering it.

Alanna MacTiernan has not ruled out returning to WA politics. Credit:Megan Powell

"I'm not ruling it out," she said.

Mr Travers, who stepped down as the Opposition's transport spokesman last year citing health concerns, said he expected to formally tender his resignation at the end of next week.
Ahead of their grand opening this Saturday, the Height's Bar & Bistro was under pressure to perform, and someone who knows pressure all too well is ex-Eagle turned pub judge Karl Langdon.

Langdon stopped by the Heights this week as a part of his quest to find Radio 6PR's Pub of the Year.

The chicken parmigiana was 'lovely and moist, and at $15, it's really good value'. Credit:Karl Langdon

Located in Alexander Heights Shopping Centre, punters may recognise the Heights' location as being home to old haunts Sherlock, Paddy Malones or Danny Murphies.

Open for two months, the Heights has already attracted a loyal clientele in the local Irish community.
Up to 9000 homes were left without power in Perth's north yesterday evening, following one of the strongest cold fronts of the year.

Winds up to 95km/h caused network outages in Duncraig, Brabham, Greenwood and Beechboro, and fallen tree branches and flying debris affected a number of power supplies.

Fallen tree branches cut power to thousands of homes. Credit:Cr Julie Matheson

Western Power said it had restored electricity to around 8800 homes by 7pm Wednesday, although 200 homes were still without power on Thursday morning.

"Most of the outages from Wednesday were due to trees and debris being blown into powerlines, and in several instances brought down lines," a spokesperson said.
WorkSafe WA Commissioner Lex McCulloch has warned against "horseplay" in the workplace, following the conviction of a Perth employee for causing a co-worker serious chemical burns.

Senior plant mechanic Chad Gordon Browning was fined $6000 for spraying his co-worker with a highly flammable brake-cleaning chemical in 2014.

When the worker began welding his clothing caught fire. Credit:Rohan Thomson

His co-worker was unaware of his action, and later began welding.

The mechanic reported hearing a "woof sound" and saw flames come up from under his welding mask.
Byron Bay woman Sara Connor and British man David Taylor have been detained in connection with the alleged murder of a Balinese police officer on Kuta Beach.

The two were brought to Denpasar police station on Friday afternoon accompanied by staff from the Australian consulate in Bali.

They were handcuffed when they were taken from the car and into the police office.

Police had previously said they wished to question Ms Connor and another man, Tomas Schon, in relation to the deaths. However it has emerged the police had the wrong name. Mr Schon told Fairfax Media he was in Europe and "had never been to Bali in his life".
Two general elections in quick succession had failed to deliver the required mandate for such change, and resistance from Mr Erdogan's longtime party ally Ahmet Davutoglu saw him pushed out of the prime minister's job in favour of the more pliant Binali Yildirim. Before the coup attempt, Mr Erdogan had declared that MPs of the opposition HDP - a party which stands in the way of his plans for the presidency - should be stripped of their immunity and charged with terrorism offences. He has now also declared the Gulen Movement - whose US-based leader Fethullah Gulen he accuses of masterminding the coup - to be a terrorist organisation. Mr Gulen has in turn accused Mr Erdogan of pursuing "one-man rule", a problem that has a very long history in the Middle East. A man prays at the Sultan Suleyman Mosque in Istanbul. Credit:AP Photo 2. The problem of religion - and of secularism

As his sobriquet "Ataturk" (father of the Turks) suggests, the modern Turkish republic's first leader, Mustafa Kemal, was seen not only as a political leader but as a national parent, who set about moulding his "children" by changing what men and women were allowed to wear, how they wrote their language and the way their society was organised, all in the name of secular modernity and progress. A man could be charged for wearing a hat without a brim, women were discouraged from wearing headscarves and men from growing beards. To this day there is a taboo against any public criticism or ridicule of Ataturk, and Mr Erdogan has also sought to punish those who tell jokes about him. A century before Ataturk's time, the Ottoman emperor Mahmoud II also changed dress codes and installed portraits of himself in Western uniform in government offices, even though this violated Sunni Islam's teachings on icons. It is a practise that has been enthusiastically adopted by leaders of post-Ottoman secular republics seeking to present themselves as the "crown of the nation", from Saddam Hussein and Hosni Mubarak to Bashar al-Assad. Then prime minister Tony Abbott meets Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in New York in September 2014. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Ataturk oppressed his people in the name of secularism; Mr Erdogan has been accused of Islamising Turkey by stealth. The Gulen Movement were once considered his allies in this endeavour, but now the movement's extensive network of schools is being targeted by the government.

The question of what belongs to Caesar and what to God has dogged all the successor states of the Ottoman Empire. It is a question that becomes more pressing if societies try to abandon Caesars altogether and move towards democracy. When Egyptian general and defence minister Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi led a coup against elected Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi, one of the chief charges was that Dr Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood was not a "patriotic" and "nationalist" organisation but one with a religious agenda. Mr Sisi has since sought to portray himself as someone who can propose religious reform, winning effusive praise from then prime minister Tony Abbott among others. Yet this is a path other military dictators dressed in civilian clothes have tried to walk, including Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf, who wrote for foreign newspapers about "enlightened moderation" in Islam while suppressing political opposition at home. Leyla Zana, right, and fellow MP Selim Sadak are greeted by supporters in Ankara in 2004 after a decade in jail. Credit:AP 3. The problem of nationalism and minorities The crackdown in recent months on schools, businesses and media outlets associated with the Gulen Movement has been troubling. But since the founding of the republic in the 1920s, the canaries in the coalmine of Turkish civil rights have been the country's Kurdish minority, long regarded as a nation within the nation.
Vietnamese officials say the country's communist rulers decided to cancel the 50th anniversary ceremony of the Long Tan battle because of the large numbers of Australians who have travelled to Vietnam for the event.

Over decades Vietnam has insisted that groups of only 30 to 40 people attend commemorations and visits to the Long Tan Cross site.

But up to 3000 visitors have arrived this week in the nearby town of Vung Tau for a series of events, including a gala dinner Thursday evening at the five-star Pullman Hotel, according to Australian businessmen in the town.

They have packed the town's bars and restaurants.
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This story has been published on: 2022-10-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.

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Monday 05 September, 2016 Reliable information reaching Biafra writers desk has it that the life of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indi...
Captain Steven Hansen has begun his ministry at Fremonts Salvation Army. He comes to Fremont from posts at Albert Lea, Minnesota where he served as Assistant Corps Officer for one and a half years and Ishpeming, Michigan, where he was in charge of the mission for the last five and one half years. He loved that post.

The way it works in the Salvation Army is that in Chicago, our territorial headquarters, leaders look at the retiring officers and those serving and begin moving people around. I hadnt asked to be moved. I didnt choose. God sent me here.

Hansen grew up in the Salvation Army. His parents were officers stationed in Escanaba Michigan. They had become officers the year before I was born. Growing up, I took on a lot of roles in the Corps. I taught Sunday School at twelve.

But then, the secular world called. Hansen really wanted to be in broadcasting. He went to community college, majored in broadcasting, but it didnt quite work out until...I was working at a Corps in Illinois during Christmas Season, the craziest time of year for the Salvation Army. I was offered a job in video recording. It was a dream job, four ten hour days a week. I had to turn it down. I said, O.K., God. Ill follow the path you want not the one I want. It was a choice Hansen does not regret.

I will graduate on Monday with a bachelors degree in Practical Ministry from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois. I took classes on line, in class and through the Salvation Army College for Officer Training.

Hansen comes to Fremont a single man. The Salvation Army requires that an officer must be married to an officer. Its challenging to find a spouse serving in ministry, Hansen admits. There will be contacts with other singles serving throughout the world, but its not the usual dating protocol for young singles.

He has hopes for the church is serving. He hopes for growth in church attendance. I want to see new people. Id rather see ten people dedicated to the Lord than one hundred lukewarm people. The Salvation Army is well-known for its groups of talented musicians. Thats not where Hansens talents lay. Im not proficient on any instrument. Practice is the easiest thing to drop.

The big thing this summer has been the summer lunch food program at the Presbyterian Church. We have volunteers from many churches, but our name is on the paperwork. The cook for the program is a member here. She cooks for the Fremont Public Schools and she knows how to budget, how to do the paperwork and shes a great cook. Hormels and other local companies have stepped up to help. Hardees, though new to Fremont, gave $1,000 to the program. Part of my dream for this place is to be able to remodel our kitchen so that we could host the meal here. We are using household appliances for cooking meals here and thats inadequate for the number of children we are feeding.

The Salvation Army in Fremont does the normal social ministry stuff. There are agencies we work with to whom we can connect people who come to us for help. We cant help everyone with everything. There is just not enough money to do that. Most of what we get goes for utilities and food boxes. What we do know how to do well is refer people to where they can get the help they need. We dont send people out the door without helping them find a way or a place to receive what they need. We have contacts with other agencies to make certain that there is no duplication of services.

People who ask for help without needing it make it harder on those who really need it. Salvation Army helps weed out those who do not need help. A program called Pathway to Hope takes a holistic approach to Salvation Army social work. Its more deliberate with more contact with clients. Its aim is for them to be sustaining themselves rather than living from paycheck to paycheck. We want to get them past whatever got them into poverty. We want to see people succeed. The long term goal is to help clients become successful and then, in turn, help others. Sometimes its just as simple as keeping after a client to look for work, to help with budgeting and getting the pieces together. We ask not where do you need help, but how do we get to where you dont need this assistance next year.

Hansen is joined in his ministry by Kaitlyn Cole, who has been the caseworker there for five years. She knows the community and has created and maintained contacts within Fremont.

Im excited to see what God has in store for us here. None of us could accomplish what we want to do here by ourselves. Its the whole organization. Every community has different needs and we want to meet the needs of that community with help and the programs they need.
For Dogs, its Trick and Treat Its almost Halloween, a great time to teach your dog a trick and give him a treat. Most trainers are fans of trick training. Its not as silly as it...

Muzzle is not a bad word If you see a dog in a muzzle, you immediately think the dog is aggressive. Right? Well, this is not always true. Unfortunately, seeing a dog in a muzzle carries...
Honey badger dont give a shitand Donald Trump dont give a shit now, either.

Breitbarts honey badger mottocreated by the fringe websites patriarch Steve Bannonmay well be the guiding principle for Trumps general election campaign, because on Wednesday, Trump lured Bannon away from the propaganda-as-news business and to the propaganda proper business when he announced Bannon would be the CEO of his White House bid.

Whether this is a sign of the campaigns internal disarray or an indication that Trump is getting smart is a matter of dispute among those inside and on the periphery of Trumps operation. But one thing is clear: Trump, with his polls sinking and his strategy of chaos backfiring with only 82 days until Election Day, needed to make a changeand fast.

Until 5:37 a.m. on Wednesday, Bannon was primarily known as the executive chairman of Breitbart News , the deranged, far-right publication founded by the late Andrew Breitbart that, in recent months, seemed to function as an unofficial arm of the Trump campaign. Breitbart frequently parrots his talking points and publishes articles with headlines like Politicos Army of Democrats Driving Anti-Trump Narrative and Exclusive: Donald J. Trump: Hillary Clintons Plans for More Illegal Immigration Into America a Disaster for Our Country.

But amid what is reportedly his intense dissatisfaction with the state of his sputtering campaign, Trump decided a cheerleader was exactly what he needed.

In a press release sent to reporters early Wednesday, Trump introduced Bannon as the CEO of his presidential campaign, a new position designed to bolster the business-like approach of the operation. Trump jointly announced that he had promoted strategist Kellyanne Conway, a longtime Trump confidante who worked in support of and donated to Ted Cruz during the primary, to serve as campaign manager, filling the role vacated with the firing of Corey Lewandowski in late June.

The wisdom of hiring the mastermind behind Trumps Russia Today, a site that caters to people who already agree with and plan to vote for him, was not immediately clear on Wednesday. At this stage in the election, Trump should be making appeals to voters outside of his core constituency of white working- and middle-class voters who fear the country will slip away from them. He cant win with his base, which is narrower than Mitt Romneys was, alone.

Never mind that Bannon is not an experienced presidential campaign operative. A cargo-shorts enthusiast who looks like the spawn of The Dude and late-era Jack Nicholson, hes hopscotched among investment banking, TV production (earning some Seinfeld royalties in the process), and the far-right blogosphere with a penchant for conspiracy entrepreneurs.

These traits make him an obvious Trump hire, but not an obvious hire for someone who wants to win the general election.

But Bannon has a reputation for being what Michael Caputo, a former Trump aide, called an ideas guy. Another source with knowledge of the campaign machinations said Bannon was valuable because of his understanding of new media. In Trump Tower, the hope is that Bannon will help the campaign devise a more focused message that stays true to Trumps character, which the American public is intensely familiar with.

Trump won the Republican primary by following his gut, aided by a staff of amateurs who served only to act as yes-men and abided by the rule of Let Trump Be Trump. But it seemed obvious that strategy wouldnt work for the broader electorate. Thats partly why, in March, he brought on some experienced political operatives, like Paul Manafort, an establishment Republican whod worked for George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, to help Trump professionalize his operation and soften the hard edges of his message.

In the new structuring, Manafort retains his title of campaign chairman, but the matter of his clout with the boss is uncertain. The decision to hire new strategists seemed to be an admission that Manafort had failed to change Trump, who at 70 is stuck in his ways.

Trump never really gave pivoting a shot. There were days when his output of outrageous statements was tempered somewhat, or when he dutifully recited words from a TelePrompterphenomenons. This reliably resulted in speculation that perhaps we were about to see a whole new Trump. But the statesman-ish act could only last as long as Trump could stand to exist without the sound of cheering from the fringe right and the cheap seats, which turned out to be not long at all. And when Trumps small compromises didnt result in improved numbers, it seemed he began to question the wisdom of the people advocating for them.

Caputo said he didnt buy the notion that Trumps decision to add more staff members reflected negatively on Manafort, with whom he is close. Caputo blamed that narrative on Lewandowski, who now works as a commentator for CNN.

This is Coreys spin, on the record, Caputo said. Corey Lewandowski is working overtime to try to promote this buildup as Manafort on his way out. Corey Lewandowski is out, not Paul Manafort.

Reached for comment, Lewandowski denied the accusation that he had done anything to influence opinion on the subject.

I havent spoken to the media, and Caputo was fired, Lewandowski, who was also fired, said in a text message. I cant respond to something that is so patently false it shouldnt be reported because it can not be verified.

Caputo wasnt alone in blaming Manaforts obvious misfortunes on the former campaign manager, however.

Its not the demotion that Corey is spinning furiously, another source, who asked not to be named, said. The source admitted that Manafort might be disappointed on Wednesday, but only because of the media. Maybe hes disappointed that the mainstream media has taken the bait with Coreys spin, the source said.

Breitbart had neither independence nor integrity. Thats why its writers were told to take the word of Lewandowski over one of its own reporters when she alleged that she had been manhandled by the man.

Whatever the reason for Bannons hiring, in many ways it blows away the last remaining illusion that hyper-partisan media and hyper-partisan politics arent an explicit reinforcing extension of each other.
Donald Trump is bleeding women voters out of his wherever, hemorrhaging support from this crucial piece of the electorate as fast as he can find new ways to frighten and offend them.

He is losing women nationally and in key battleground states. Hes losing older women and younger women. Minority and white women. In Florida, Trump is trailing Clinton by a massive 30-point deficit. Hes losing Virginia women 56% to 31%. Nationally, his disapproval rating among all women has hovered around the 70% mark since April.

Enter into this abyss GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trumps newly tapped campaign manager who, along with Breitbart News Steve Bannon, was brought on board full time this week to helm the struggling Trump campaign. Conway is well known in Washington, D.C., and New York political circles as everything Trump The Candidate is nota level-headed, professional, responsive, conservative with an expertise in winning over women voters. Her roster of clients includes conservative heavyweights like Mike Pence, Newt Gingrich, the late Jack Kemp and Fred Thompson.

Earlier this year, Conway ran Keep the Promise PAC, the multimillion-dollar effort to elect Sen. Ted Cruz president and, in the process, defeat Donald Trump in the GOP primary. Through that super PAC, Conway gained what might be her most valuable asset in Republicans goal to beat Hillary Clintonexperience in the best ways to attack Trump, especially among female voters.

In an interview with The Daily Beast in January, Conway said shed found the most powerful ammunition in an attack against Trump among GOP women were the mans own oscillating words, gleaned from decades of loud-mouthery and laid against his new political persona. The result was a series of blistering attack ads featuring Trump in his own words and taking him to task for flip-flopping over the years on the core issues of abortion and single payer health care.

For women seeing is believing and when they hear Donald Trump in his own words, they can make a clear-headed decision about, Will the real Donald Trump please stand up? Conway said at the time.

In her efforts to promote Cruz, said she also found that Trump had dangerously mixed results with women voters with his combative tone.

For every woman who is attracted to Trump as the non-political outsider, there are two or three women who say, I dont like bullies or gratuitous attacks that are more personal than philosophical, Conway said.

Trump won the GOP primary, of course, but Cruz and the KTP PACs efforts came closest to stopping him.

Fast-forward to August and Conway now sits at the top of Trumps campaign, better positioned than anyone in the country to anticipate the attacks that will come against Trump in the fall and how to at least stop the bleeding now, especially among women voters.

But even among Republicans who know and like Conway, the consensus seems to be that even she may be powerless to rescue Trump's campaign and rehab his toxic relationship with women, the very group Conway has built a career understanding and reaching.

Look, Kellyanne is great, but shes not a miracle worker, said a Republican who worked with several GOP campaigns in 2012.That was the year another one of Conways clients, former Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), blew up many of his colleagues re-election chances when he offered his mind-boggling concept of legitimate rape.

Amber Marchand, the former spokeswoman for the National Senatorial Campaign Committee who was working in Missouri GOP politics during the Akin catastrophe, said a staff shakeup does nothing to change the real problem, which is Trump himself.

Even the best staffers can't convince voters to support an out of touch candidate who has alienated broad swaths of the electorate with insulting and intolerant rhetoric, Marchand said.

Katie Packer Gage, Mitt Romneys deputy campaign manager in 2012 who also works with Republicans to reach women voters, said that just having a woman in charge of Trumps campaign wont change his limited appeal, even to women.

It's important to have a candidate that is interested in appealing to women voters and to have women at the table who can deliver the candidates message to the women the GOP needs to attract, Gage said. Trump is and does neither.

Gage called Conway a nice, smart, good person, but added, Her active defense of Todd Akin in 2012 showed a tin ear with regard to the kind of general election voters, especially women, that the GOP needs to appeal to in order to win a general election.

According to a Washington Post profile, Conway and Trump first met when Conway sat on the condo board of Trump World Tower in 2006. They remained in touch through the years when Trump would call Conway after seeing her on cable news. Although she led a Ted Cruz-aligned super PAC in 2016 that aggressively opposed Trump, she joined a super PAC supporting Trump shortly after Cruz suspended his campaign.

While Steve Bannon will bring an aggressive ideological voice to the new regime at Trump Tower, Conway is expected to play the Voice of Reason at the top of campaign leadership. She will reportedly travel with Trump and offer assurances to movement conservatives and Hill Republicans alike that Team Trump may actually be professionalizing operations, even with a bomb-thrower like Bannon inside the tent, too.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the influential pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, said shes known and respected Conway her entire professional life. No one is better at understanding what real people are thinking and how to connect with them than Kellyanne, she said.

Newt Gingrich told Fox News Radio that the Trump hires of Bannon and Conway would strengthen Trumps effort. She will bring a, I think again, a very aggressive tough-minded approach, fact-based policy approach to it.

Like Trump, Gingrich brought Conway aboard his presidential campaign in 2011 after a campaign near-death spiral and staff shake-up. Although the Gingrich campaign fared far better with Conway than without her, as Republicans warned of her chances with Trump, she wasnt a miracle worker. Gingrich dropped out of the race more than $4 million in debt, including a debt to Conway that he still hasnt repaid.
ROME  You are forgiven if the spooky details of the mysterious death of a priest in a monastery in northern Italy call to mind Umberto Ecos famous thriller The Name of the Rose. But this story is not a fictional tale of historical intrigue; it is an all-too-true story about larceny and murder.

On April 25, 2014, Monsignor Giuseppe Rocco, 92 years old, was found dead on the floor of his cell-like room in Clerics House in Trieste, where he was still active in ministry in the local diocese. Two years later, the priest who gave him his last rites is being charged with his murder.

On the morning Rocco died, his housekeeper, Eleanora Dibitonto, whose job it was to wake the aging prelate every morning around 7:30 for mass, screamed when she saw his body prostrate on the floor beside his bed. She called an ambulance and the resident priest, Father Paolo Piccoli, to give the dead man his last rites.

When the paramedics arrived, they immediately called the police. Despite Father Roccos advanced age, it was clear that the old man did not die of natural causes, according to court documents reported in the Italian media. The autopsy would later prove the cause of death to be suffocation by strangulation. The paramedics noticed some pretty obvious signs of foul play, including a broken bone protruding from the dead priests neck.

Ms. Dibitonto also noticed two spots of blood under the corpse of Monsignor Rocco and pointed them out to police. She was concerned that he may have some underlying condition that made him bleed. Instead, those drops of blood would later be tied directly to Father Piccoli.

For the last two years, Roccos death has been the stuff of conspiracy theories in Trieste.

It seems that the week before Rocco was murdered, he reported that a holy statuette of great religious value had disappeared from his room. The statue was returned a few days later, but not before Rocco alerted his superiors that he suspected Piccoli was up to his old habit of stealing relics.

Father Piccoli had been accused of stealing sacred relics when he worked at a parish in LAquila, where he ministered until a deadly earthquake in 2009 destroyed much of the town and surrounding area. He had never been convicted of any thefts, but, then again, the Catholic Church rarely sends its sinners to a secular court for judgment. Instead, he was apparently made to return a stash of stolen treasures and repent for his sins.

According to investigative documents, Piccoli spent much of his youth dressing as a priest long before he joined the priesthood, charging expensive vestments he procured from expensive shops in Rome to his father. While in LAquila, parishioners reportedly told police, he also suffered from paranoia and often led demonstrations against the communists who he said wanted to kick him out of town.

Other people who knew him said he often argued publicly with his altar boys, embarrassing and intimidating them, which led to a number of complaints against him.

Piccolis allegedly troubled history makes the accusations of theft that Rocco leveled against him all the more important, putting the younger cleric at risk for disciplinary action by the church, according to the court dossier of the investigation into Roccos murder.

That was motive enough to kill the old priest, according to the charges against him for Roccos murder, and the drops of blood were damning.

Father Piccoli maintains his innocence.

Days after the murder, and before he moved on from Trieste to be near his ailing parents in Verona, he told reporters that there were many other people in the Trieste House of the Clerics the night Rocco was killed. I wasnt the only one there, he said, despite the fact that Roccos housekeeper said it was just the three of them in the house that night.

People were coming and going all the time in that house, said Piccoli. We were never alone. There was a center for volunteers, a journalist, and a professor who often stayed at the house.

When Piccoli was interrogated about Roccos murder, he told Nicola Tripani, the prosecutor in charge of the murder inquiry, that his blood may have ended up on the dead priests body because of a skin condition he had that caused bleeding open sores. He said he might have left the blood during the administration of last rites, though the court documents contradict that theory since the body of the priest was not lifted during the last rite ceremony and the blood was found under the dead mans corpse.

The prosecutor says that he has a copy of a letter from the diocese warning Piccoli about the theft of Roccos religious statuette and further disciplinary action. He believes the younger priest woke early on the morning of April 25 and went to Roccos room to confront him about the accusation. He says the two then argued and Piccoli strangled Monsignor Rocco and left him on the floor. He now faces aggravated murder charges because his victim was elderly and weak.

In December, a secular court will determine whether to put the prelate on trial.
Many is the parent who has decried expensive school fees as a waste of cash upon hearing of their childrens lackluster exam results.

However, one father is taking things a little further than merely chastising his child for lack of effort, and suing the private school for the 125,000 he paid in school fees for his sons education after the child left the institution with just one lowly qualification, a grade C in science GCSE, the most basic U.K. school-leaving exam.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, Scott Craddock, 57, is now suing Abbotsholme School in Staffordshire, England, and demanding a refund, claiming it did not deliver on its promises with regard to his 17-year-old son, David.

The headmaster has admitted the school could do better, telling the paper: In regard to last years results, we recognized at the time that our results were not as good as in previous years, and have taken a number of steps this yearand for future yearsto reverse this situation.

However, a furious Craddock told the Telegraph: The teachers said he would come away with at least five GCSEsbut he has got one. He wasnt the only one to underachieve, so the standard of teaching there is way below what one would expect from a public school education.

No word on whether or not the boys homework and school reports will form part of the evidence.

There have been previous efforts in the U.K. to sue schools for poor exam results.

In 2011, Roger Webster sued 11,000-a-year Silcoates school after his son did poorly in exams.

In 2013, a book, Heads Up, about the challenges facing head teachers, claimed that headmasters were increasingly facing litigation over teaching standards, pupils grades, and the attempted expulsion of troublemakers. It detailed the case of two unnamed parents who sued a prestigious London school for 50,000, claiming teachers backtracked on a deal to give their children good references after they were withdrawn from the institution.

In another case, Kate Norfolk, who attended 4,000-per-term independent school Hurstpierpoint College, West Sussex, sued the school after she was predicted a grade A in Latin but came away with an E, after an inexperienced teacher failed to teach the correct syllabus.

Norfolk, who got excellent marks in her other A-levelsan A in history and a B in Frenchclaimed the poor result in her third A-level affected her chances of working as a corporate lawyer.

The result of the legal action was never disclosed; however, the headmaster, Stephen Meek, admitted in a letter to a university that the teacher had not prepared the students properly.

The headmaster subsequently moved to Australia, and took up a role at Geelong Grammar school.
The internet asked for the voice actor behind Futuramas Zapp Brannigan to recite a bunch of Donald Trump quotes in the voice of Captain Brannigan, and thats exactly what the internet got during this chaotic election.

In recent months, politically astute fans of the animated sci-fi sitcom started noticing similarities between the 2016 Republican presidential candidate and one of their favorite Futurama characters.

For the uninitiated, Zapp Brannigan has been described by Futurama executive producer David X. Cohen as half-Captain Kirk, half-actual William Shatner. Zapp is selfish, vain, misogynistic, often clueless, and wages war recklessly.

And so, the Trump-Brannigan memes were enthusiastically generated.

Quickly enough, people began asking voice actor and comedian Billy West (who voiced multiple characters on the TV series, including Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, and Zapp) on Twitter if he could record himself, in character, reading various Trump one-liners.

West heard their calls, and obliged them: He has been tweeting out his newly recorded sound clips over the past few days to his 40,000-plus Twitter followers, and has no plans to stop yet. The designated hashtag is, of course, #MakeAmericaBrannigan.

Here are some of the most recent examples, which feature actual Trump quotes from sources such as Larry Kings show and a deposition.

We got a lot of requests on my Twitter to pair Trump with Zapp, sort of, like, super-collide them [because] people noticed that many things Trump said are almost as absurd as things Zapp Brannigan said on the Futurama show, West told The Daily Beast this week, calling in from Los Angeles. I have a partner, Jim Gomez, [and] he's been putting up the selected pictures of Futurama with the selected Trump quotes It was a great idea and it sort of formulated on the internet and we sort of just ran with it.

West says he plans to keep this going for a while, and could potentially continue posting these past Election Day in November. He has been picking which Trump sound bites to read based on which are the silliest and most superficial quotes. (I think the issues are for everybody else to think about, he conceded. Im not going to use a character to start getting into that.)

People were saying Zapp and Trump are almost alike: the blond hair, the bragging, the posturing, West continued. Having Brannigan do [Trump quotes], this is a way for some people to process him, I think. Theyre dying to get their arms around what this election is about. And nobody seems to know.

Westwho emphasizes that he, as an actor and comic, is not endorsing any candidate, by the waysays that he has watched the rise of Trumpism in 2016 with the same level of understanding that hed have if he were an alien from another planet, just watching this, studying how to be silly or absurd. In its own small, goofy way, his Trumpified revival of the Zapp Brannigan character is his means to cope with this years great national melodrama.

My thoughts from Day 1 were that he doesnt want to do thishes a businessman, what does he think a president makes a year? West said. I thought hed just take it as far as he could, and have a hoot  Im like everybody else, I think: I cant process itthe ideology, the [offensive] remarks, its very hard to figure out what is going on [with him]. I mean, hes not very presidential. I cant figure out what the end game is, its very hard to process  Maybe were getting into Italian territoryor something. Where its like, Look, everythings a joke!

West isnt particularly excited about either major-party candidate running for president this cycle. He thinks Hillary Clinton seems to have a lot of baggage and was very interested in what Bernie Sanders had to say before the self-described democratic socialist dropped out of the race.

But the biggest kick that the 64-year-old actor is getting out of the presidential election is the new onrush of laudatory tweets and messages regarding the Trump/Brannigan mash-ups.

There were people who said they were really depressed [over the election, and other things], saying this was the best thing they had ever heard, and that they were listening to it over and over again, he recalled. Ive always been in the business of making people laugh. And hopefully they do  Thats what I love doing more than anything.
Donald Trumps suddenly demoted campaign chief Paul Manafort, it has been revealed, was investigated a year ago in Ukraine for conspiring with a criminal organization and inciting ethnic hatred and separatism to promote a pro-Russian government in Kiev at the expense of a pro-American one. A year-old legal memo leaked to The Times of London cites a senior Ukrainian prosecutor who found that Manafort was identified as organizing a series of anti-NATO and anti-Kiev demonstrations in Crimea in 2006demonstrations that forced the cancellation of scheduled "Sea Breeze" NATO exercises on that strategic Ukrainian peninsula, which now is occupied and annexed by Russia.

This was apparently done at the service of Viktor Yanukovych, who had been denied the presidency and whose political comeback six years later was largely masterminded by Manafort.

Yanukovych, a thuggish kleptocrat, regained power by campaigning, at Manaforts suggestion, on a platform that supported an association agreement with the European Union, which Moscow vehemently opposed. Then Yanukovych reneged on the agreement, which led to another Ukrainian revolution, which led to Yanukovychs violent suppression of it, culminating in his ignominious night flight from Kiev to Russia with stolen public funds. (The defector-presidents Party of Regions has since been outlawed in Ukraine and is now characterized by the prosecutor as a criminal organization.)

It was [Manaforts] political effort, the document reads, to raise the prestige of Yanukovych and his partythe confrontation and division of society on ethnic and linguistic grounds is his trick from the time of the elections in Angola and the Philippines, where Manafort had advised, respectively, guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi and Ferdinand Marcos.

The Ukrainian prosecutor goes on to say in the document that he constantly saw evidence suggesting that Paul Manafort considered Crimean autonomy from Ukraine as a tool to enhance the reputation of Yanukovych with Crimean voters.

Manafort was not charged with any crime related to the above allegations, although, as initially reported by The New York Times, he is currently under investigation by Ukrainian anti-graft authorities owing to his names appearance in a black-book ledger kept by Yanukovychs cronies.

The ledger contains a list of recipients for seemingly illicit cash disbursements; in Manaforts case, for $12.7 million between 2007 to 2012. Manafort denies taking any such money. He did not reply to the British broadsheet, however, about whether or not he helped sow ethnolinguistic turmoil and secessionist sentiments in Crimea.

The Associated Press has also found that Manafort helped route at least $2.2 million in payments from the Party of Regions to two prominent Washington lobbying firms in 2012 and did so in possible violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

According to a leaked document that was brought to Vladimir Putins presidential administration, the takeover of Crimea may have mooted in mid-February 2014, as independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported. Likely prepared in part by Russian Orthodox businessman and future separatist-financier Konstantin Malofeyev, the text envisioned a launching of the process of the pro-Russian drift of the Crimea and eastern Ukrainian territories along with a PR strategy in advance of referendums raising the question of self-determination and further possibilities of annexation to the Russian Federation. Which is more or less what happened. But that an American political Svengali may have been an early proponent cleaving Crimea away from Ukraine, even if for mercenary or opportunistic reasons, puts him squarely side of a rather unsavory history.

As Arkady Ostrovsky shows in his superb history, The Invention of Russia: The Journey from Gorbachevs Freedom to Putins War, some of the loudest and earliest proponents of Crimean revanchism were Russian nationalists and Communists who aligned red-brown common cause against the government of Boris Yeltsin.

One was the anti-Semitic mathematician Igor Shafarevich who, in 1993, wrote in the reactionary newspaper Den (Day) that the port city of Sebastopol is a key to the resurgence of the country (meaning Russia). First of all, it is one of the historic shrines of Russia. Khersones is where Saint Vladimir was baptized, where admirals Kornilov and Nakhmiov were buried Second, Sebastopol is key to the Black Sea Fleet. Third, Sebastopol is a key to Crimea, which has been torn from the body of Russia by the unconstitutional and voluntaristic decision of Nikita Khrushchev [who assigned it to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic when all the republics were part of Moscows dominion]. People in Crimea have an acute sense of belonging to Russia and have the will to fight for this belonging.

As Ostrovsky notes, this was almost the word-perfect recapitulation of the chauvinism and jingoism used 21 years later by Putin when he announced the annexation of Crimea, three weeks after the near-bloodless military coup led by his regular and irregular forces in February 2014.

It was what Donald Trump, in his semi-literate fashion, echoed when he told ABC Newss George Stephanopolous that the people of Crimea, from what Ive heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. (They wouldnt, as it turns out.)

Supposing that Manafort has now been marginalized in Trumpland because of these revelations about his dirty work for overseas dictators, we are faced with the rather tragic irony that a long-peddled Kremlin accusationthat Americans interfere in the sovereignty and politics of post-Soviet states in Russias near abroadturns out to be true, but with unintended consequences.

Manaforts skullduggery in Ukraine helped lead to a popular uprising against his former client; now the authorities of a democratically elected government of Ukraine may have helped determine the election for Americas next president by scandalizing one of its gray cardinals into submission.

It is historical irony that the Putins and Yanukovyches of the world might appreciate, if not quite celebrate.
A month after Republicans tried to unify in Cleveland, that effort appears to be canceled.

Because Donald Trumps new campaign boss hatesreally, really, really hatesthe Republican establishment.

Stephen Bannon, who is the Trump campaigns new chief executive, has spent the past few years as the chairman of Breitbart News and, more recently, the host of its daily morning radio show on SiriusXM.

Hes used his perch there to make the case that House Speaker Paul Ryan is a liberal globalist trying to sell out the American worker to foreign Islamist shills.

Under his tenure, Breitbart turned its guns on establishment Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. John McCain. Bannon himself took aim at former Republican House Speaker John Boehner, alleging he was involved in a scheme for political contributions.

We dont really believe there is a functional conservative party in this country, and we certainly dont think the Republican Party is that, he said at a National Press Club conference in 2013, in a video first noticed by The Wall Street Journal.

The campaign hire raises the question of whether Trump will wage a campaign against Hillary Clinton, given that he hired a campaign boss whose specialty is raging against other Republicans.

McConnell and McCain arent the only leading Republicans he loathes. Bannon prides himself on going after The Establishment, and veteran Washington hands share a similar animus toward him.

Are Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, and Reince Priebus fine with supporting a campaign run by Paul Manafort and Stephen Bannon? Bill Kristol, the anti-Trump editor of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine, asked The Daily Beast.

Bannons pugilistic attitude toward many Republican insiders led Jason Johnson, a chief strategist for Ted Cruzs presidential campaign, to speculate openly on Twitter about whether the hire didnt mean Trump was declaring open war on Republican incumbents he had previously endorsed.

After months of stressing unity, Trump has apparently decided to let Trump be TrumpI dont want to pivot, he said Tuesdaywith all the fluctuating decision-making and Republican friendly fire that entails.

All this shows is that he is somebody who is erratic, impulsive, thin-skinned, and responds to whatever pushback he is getting, said Kendal Unruh, a Colorado Republican who led anti-Trump efforts as a delegate at the Republican convention.

With less than three months to go until Election Day, Trump has made a third change at the top of his campaign structure: swapping out political novice Corey Lewandowski for lobbyist Paul Manafort in hopes of calming nervous Republicans and getting the moguls message under control.

Now thats over, and it appears going back to Trumps original bombastic campaign style is again the plan. This return doesnt exactly inspire the GOP faithful.

The first wave of soldiers on D-Day had better odds of survival than a Trump senior staffer, quipped John Noonan, a national-security expert who previously worked for Jeb Bush. Trump is unaware, uncertain, unable, under attack, and underwater. Swapping out captains on a sinking ship isnt going to do a damn thing.

This latest captain doesnt have a great winning record. Take his most recent crusade against GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan, who Trump would need to work with if elected. Over the past year, Bannon frequently hosted Ryans primary challenger, Paul Nehlen, on the show.

He was raised in a petri dish there at the Heritage Institution, Bannon sneered about Paul Ryan on the April 21 show.

Then he essentially endorsed Nehlen.

He is the David to Paul Ryans Goliath out there in the first district in Wisconsin, he said.

He referred to it as a David versus Goliath campaign again on June 27 when Nehlen came back on the program. But in this case, Goliath won. By 68 percentage points.

Ryans spokesman had no comment on Bannons hire.

Trumps move will leave the Republican Party more divided than ever. RNC Chairman Reince Priebusa loyal if bedraggled defender of Trumpis extremely close with Ryan, as both are from Wisconsin. An RNC spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

Trumps belated endorsement of Ryan and McCainwhich he read off a TelePrompter just a few days before the primarygave the impression that the partys disparate factions might be, at long last, unifying.

But the fact that Trumps campaign is now helmed by a man who built his reputation on attacking Republicansand whom establishment Republicans loathe in turnmeans those hopes of unity are probably toast.

with additional reporting by Alexa Corse
With a big bowl of booze on the table, courtesy of Stephen Colbert, Larry Wilmore hosted his second-to-last roundtable segment Wednesday night with a man who is never at a loss for words when it comes to politics. Making his seventh and final appearance on the show, Lewis Black held nothing back on this uniquely insane election.

Even though I have zero fucks to give at this point, I have plenty of booze to give, Wilmore said, before teeing Black up with a generic question about the state of the presidential race.

Fortunately, it doesnt take much to rile up Black, who took the bait. At some point, it has toit has to stop! he shouted. Its over and over and over and over, every day! Black said America would be better off if the media showed a quacking duck instead of Donald Trump, and a barking dog instead of Hillary Clinton. Its senseless!

Furthermore, he said that if the election is going to go on this long, they have to take a break between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Just shut up! Black exclaimed. Its the fucking summer!

Asked if Trump destroyed the Republican Party, a momentarily calmer Black said, I think the Republican Party let itself be destroyed by him, because they wanted, as the media did, eyeballs. We want to get as many people watching as possible.

As soon as Trump started talking about Mexican immigrants raping and pillaging their way across the border, Black said, any party with any moral compass whatsoever would go, You know what? You can run. You just cant run as a Republican. But that was the moment in time when people began to watch and went, Wow! Boy! This is great! This will be fun to fucking watch!

It may not have been the most substantive conversation in the shows short history, but at least it made Wilmore laugh.
This child did not die but hes become a tocsin for the tens of thousands who have and will continue to do so.

Five-year-old Omran Daqneesh sits in the seat of a volunteer ambulance, covered in a paste of gray ash, soot, and his own blood, his left eye nearly swollen shut. He stares listlessly at the camera as if unaware that he has just been pulled alive from the rubble of a building that was hit by a Syrian or Russian airstrike.

The video and photograph of Daqneeshs narrow survival have gone viral, to use a rather obscene neologism of our hyper-mediated age, and even given way to a variety of memes, all meant to shame the United Nations, Barack Obama, and Vladimir Putin, much as Aylan Kurdi, the toddler who washed up a corpse on the shores of Antalya last year, was meant to shame them.

As one Syrian journalist wrote today, Obama has said most of his gray hair came from his Syria meetings. Lets hope Omrans gray hair doesnt add to the problem.

Mustafa al-Sarout, a videographer for the Aleppo Media Center, an activist group which has been documenting the Syrian conflict since its earliest stages, filmed Daqneesh, then his three siblings, ages 1, 6, and 11. Ive seen so many children rescued out of the rubble, but this child, with his innocence, he had no clue what was going on, al-Sarout told the Guardian today. He put his hand on his face and saw blood. He didnt know even what happened to him.

Omrans mother and father were also saved by local residents and the White Helmets, also known as the Syrian Civil Defense Forces, a local team of medical volunteers who have just been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Minutes after Daqneeshs rescue the building he was in collapsed entirely, according to Raslan, who was interviewed by the Associated Press.

This is in the center of rebel-held territory in Aleppo, just southeast of its famous citadel and west of the Assads regimes air base at the Aleppo International Airport; in other words, nowhere near the front lines of fighting.

The so-called Islamic State is not present here, nor is this area populated with large numbers of anti-Assad insurgents.

According to the AP, the bomb or bombs fell on Daqneeshs house at 7:20 p.m., exactly one minute after sunset on Wednesday, when locals were inside their homes for evening prayers. Since sunrise and sunset are important data points for any pilot who is filing a flight plan, this attack was likely designed to maximize civilian casualties.

Al-Sarout, who filmed Omran for the Aleppo Media Center, notes Daqneesh is only unique for the iconography he now represents. According to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC), a network of activists who have attempted to record the history of the Syrian crisis since peaceful protests began in March 2011, 83 people were killed across the country on Aug. 17, 21 of them children. According to the LCC, 38 people were killed yesterday in Aleppo alone.

The hospital where the Daqneesh children were all taken, which identifies itself only by code name because so many hospitals have been targeted by Russian and Syrian warplanespurposefully, according to human-rights monitorsreported that eight people were killed, including five children in additional airstrikes in the Karm al-Qaterji neighborhood of Aleppo.

News anchors have teared up at the sight of a small child, battered like a rag doll, sitting in an oddly pristine orange chair.

Opposition and human-rights activists and journalists have done the customary handwringing of grief and frustration, coincidentally on the same day the Amnesty International has released a report about Assads torture-dungeons and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof lamented that a tweet about his dead dog got more sympathetic responses than his column about the death of nearly 500,000 in the Levant.

Like The Falling Soldier or the Burning Monk, this could become the face of the Syrian war. In the end, though, this image is unlikely do much to ameliorate the suffering of Aleppo, as world powers continue to wrangle in Switzerland over nonexistent cease-fires and shambolic aid corridors.
Police Officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown seemed the embodiment of social progress as he rode with his partner through the simmering North Side of Milwaukee early Saturday afternoon.

Heaggan-Brown is a 24-year-old African American who grew up in that very neighborhood and rapped under the name KB Domo before joining the Milwaukee police department three years ago. His grammar school buddies had included the local rising star Dae Flywalker, who had gone into rap at Heaggan-Browns urging. Flywalker had acknowledged the debt last year by inviting Heaggan-Brown to join him in making a video for his first big project, #DIVOMDS.

Hes the one who got me rapping in the first place, Flywalker later told a reporter. It was only right that he be featured seeing that he was the one who introduced me to all of this and had retired from pursuing music himself in favor of his new career.

For a few hours at Trio Records Studio in downtown Milwaukee, Heaggan-Brown again became KB Domo, rapping in a blue and gold floppy hat about the tribulations of growing up black in a city of struggling schools and stunted futures and cops who too often seemed more like enemies than protectors.

Imma start a riot like its Baltimore, he rapped.

Then Heaggan-Brown returned to his new career as a rapper turned copper, a hip-hop cop, seemingly just the person to convince the people of the neighborhood that the police are in fact protectors and not enemies. He had been on the job for just six months on the bitterly cold February night in 2014 when he and another cop brought a homeless woman into the warmth of the Copper Kettle diner. The cops handed a waitress $20, telling her to give the woman whatever she wanted and to let her stay until closing at 9 p.m. The cops returned at that hour and took the woman to a shelter.

Now how about this kind of caring by our Police Department? wrote the citizen whose letter to the Milwaukee Post brought the good deed to public attention.

Heaggan-Brown did have some unspecified difficulties that caused the department to place him on limited duty in the midst of his 16-month probationary period, but he was reinstated after 97 days. At least one citizen would later grumble that Heaggan-Brown was too eager as he patrolled streets where he now sought to bring reason if no longer rhyme. He does not appear to have received any official complaints.

A supervisor, Capt. Shunta Boston-Smith, did her part by taking what were called goodwill walks and paused last April to jump rope with a 9-year-old named Zalayia Jenkins. The youngster asked a question that was only reasonable in a city where 15 children had been shot in the previous two years.

Will you keep me safe?

On May 5, Zalayia became the 16th shot child when she was struck by a stray bullet as she sat in a house while visiting family. The doctors fought to save her, but she was pronounced brain dead on May 16, one day before her 10th birthday.

This little girl slipped the bonds of earth and touched the face of God, Capt. Aaron Raap was moved to say.

The violence continued, claiming grown-ups as well as children. Five adults were shot to death in nine hours leading from last Friday night into Saturday morning. The police department would later note to the Milwaukee Sentinel that three of those killings were in the immediate area of where Heaggan-Brown and his partner were patrolling on Saturday afternoon.

As everyone knows, this was a very, very violent 24 hours in the city of Milwaukee, Assistant Police Chief Jessup later said. Our officers are out here taking risks on behalf of the community and making split-second decisions.

Around 3:30 p.m., Heaggan-Brown and his partner pulled over a car after seeing what the police department would describe as suspicious activity. The two occupants scattered, and Heaggan-Brown chased after 23-year-old Sylville Smith. The cop and Smith are said to have known each other in their days at Casimir Pulaski High School.

The department would subsequently report that Heaggan-Brown was wearing a body camera and that the footage shows that Smith turned toward the cop with a handgun in his right hand.

But Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn reported that the footage does not establish precisely when Heaggan-Brown fired.

I cant tell when the officer discharges his firearm because with many body-worn cameras, certainly all of ours, theres a 30-second delay before the audio kicks on, Flynn told the press on Sunday. I dont know when the shots were fired.

The manual for the Axon Flex cameras that the Milwaukee Police Department employs in fact reports that both video and audio will be recorded the moment the camera is fully activated.

But Heaggan-Brown may not have switched his camera from the STANDBY mode to the EVENT mode until the instants immediately after the shooting. The STANDBY mode includes a pre-event feature that perpetually captures the 30 seconds prior to full activation and then automatically adds it to the recording in EVENT mode.

In Saturdays shooting, these pre-activation 30 seconds were apparently enough to capture the entire incident, but there is a hitch: The buffer only records video, not audio.

As a resultin what can been seen as either a delay in the device or a delay in the copthe body cam not only failed to record the shots, but it also cannot confirm a report that Heaggan-Brown ordered Smith to drop the gun before firing.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett saw only a still from the silent video, but he seemed more than convinced that Heaggan-Brown had acted properly.

There were 23 rounds in that gun that that officer was staring at. I want to make sure we dont lose any police officers in this community, either, Barrett later told the press.

As word of the shooting spread, the North Side of Milwaukee erupted in a riot very much like it was Baltimore for three nights. Gov. Scott Walker activated the National Guard.

The police reported that the gun had been stolen along with 500 rounds of ammunition during a burglary in June. Smiths family said he had recently obtained a concealed carry license and that he felt in need of a gun because he had been shot twice and robbed four times, once stripped of all his clothing.

Whether Smith had such a permit could not be immediately confirmed, though he seems to have been eligible for one, as he had never been convicted of a felony. Smith had been arrested in connection with a shooting and then charged with witness tampering related to that shooting, but all charges had been dropped when the victim said he was no longer sure who had shot him. Smiths family noted that his only conviction was a misdemeanor weapons charge and added that he had a 2-year-old son.

A young man identified as Smiths brother angrily showed a TV news crew what he said was the concealed carry license. The brother offered a twist on the usual discussion of gun rights.

You give us the right to carry a gun, he said. We got the same rights as yall do, the right to bear arms. Where [are] our constitutional rights then?

There remained the issue of Smith fleeing the traffic stop. He almost certainly would not have been shot if he had not bolted. A pistol loaded with 23 rounds necessarily had an extended magazine such as is presently fashionable in the street. Smith may have been holding the gun because the extended magazine would have made it difficult if not impossible to run with it in his waistband. But that would have made the gun appear no less a deadly threat to a pursuing officer.

As required by state law, the investigation has been turned over to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which has promised transparency within the constraints of its duties, but declines to suggest when it might authorize the release of the body cam footage that presumably shows the silent video of the shooting from Heaggan-Browns point of view.

If the footage is as exonerating as the police department and the mayor have indicated, the former rapper who once sought fame and fortune with hours of mix tapes will no doubt wish for just 30 seconds of audio that could have established exactly what happened in that critical moment that sparked a riot like Baltimore.

In the meantime, Heaggan-Brown got a lesson in what it can mean to be a copper when people who passed judgment without the facts posted his home address online and called for vengeance.

A photo of him in uniform standing by a patrol car had originally been posted at the time of his good deed.

Now yall see his face if hes seen anywhere in the city drop him, read one post.

No tape which KB Domo ever dropped with dreams of future glory could have been as urgently anticipated as the silent 30 seconds that Officer Heaggan-Browns body cam preserved from the immediate past when the cop who seemed the embodiment of social progress double-clicked EVENT.
Part-way through my Skype interview with Adrian Jjuuko, executive director of the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF), in Kampala, Uganda, a dogs loud, insistent barking began. Startled, Jjuuko looked away from the camera.

He was not, however, at home and it was not a family pet. Jjuuko was at work, and what my camera could not see were, he told me, the three rows of barbed wire atop the high fences outside his office, the two security guards, the CCTV cameras, the alarm system, the reinforced metal bars on all the windows and doors and the dog. Every day you get used to your prison: we know this is what it is, said Jjuuko.

Campaigning for LGBT equality in Uganda is a brave, dangerous profession, and one done dedicatedly by Jjuuko, his HRAPF colleagues, and figures like Frank Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), and organizations like Pride Uganda and Chapter Four.

Our guard was killed right here in May, said Jjuuko, explaining the security procedures. They [the attackers] left a huge iron bar behind. They spread my documents everywhere and took nothing else. That was very chilling. We saw them [the attackers]. There were four of them. The police are doing absolutely nothing to investigate that case. They have fingerprints, blood samples, pictures, CCTV footage. I have to be strong for my staff. I have been working on LGBT rights for more than eight years now. We have to speak out and engage, because we believe it is right thing to do.

Uganda is one of 33 African countries with anti-homosexuality laws. Jjuuko insists that positive change will come in time, and said that before the recent raid on a Uganda Pride-related party, which Frank Mugisha wrote powerfully about in The Guardian, he was optimistic that the fight for LGBTI rights in Uganda was on an upward curve since the successful quashing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) of 2014.

Isaac Mugisha of Pride Uganda told The Daily Beast that the group still planned to hold a Pride event later this year, having had to cancel its planned rally after the police brutally raided a party earlier this summer.

We are in negotiations with police and ministers about when it will be. It might be very soon, in October. That is what we are thinking for now. We are very hopeful, he said. The event, he told The Daily Beast, would be a parade incorporating a march, a holy communion service, and festival as well.

The party targeted by the authorities took place on Aug. 4, three days into Uganda Pride week, a Mr/Ms/Mx Pride beauty pageant event at Venom nightclub in the Kampala suburb of Kabalagala. Sixteen people were arrested after police, armed to the teeth as Mugisha put it, walked into the event.

Campaigning group Chapter 4 said the police claimed that they had been told a gay wedding was taking place and that the celebration was unlawful because police had not been informed (police had been duly informed, and the prior two Pride events were conducted without incident on Tuesday and Wednesday nights).

There had been around 200 people there, who were locked inside, and detained for an hour. Some had photographs taken of themselves by officers without their consent, according to a statement by the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CSCHRCL), with officers taunting them their identities could be revealed.

In Frank Mugishas account, he writes about seeing transgender people being beaten and touched inappropriately by police officers to establish their real gender. He was insulted, abused, and with other arrestees taken to a police station where they were humiliated and intimidated.

One man, trying to escape the beatings by police at the venue, hurled himself from the fourth floor, breaking two vertebrae; his treatment will cost $5,000.

At the police station, according to CSCHRCL, two transgender men and one transgender woman were subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment when they were groped and strip-searched by policemen. They were also beaten by the police and other inmates.

Another attendee of the party, who requested anonymity, related to The Daily Beast that they, too, had been beaten by police until blood was coming from all parts of my body.

In the aftermath of the raid has come an understandable nervousness, as well as a determination on the part of activists to continue their work.

The situation is calm, Isaac Mugisha said of the LGBT communitys response to the raid. Of course, the police raid left a lot of problems for people and a lot of community members scared. People are vigilant, looking around, and some are still in hiding. It was quite a scary moment for them.

For a long time, the police had not done anything like this to the LGBT community, so it was shock for us when they actually appeared. We have achieved a lot for the movement, so whatever happened was a wake-up call to us, about dealing with police and political leaders are still very homophobic.

The international outcry over the polices actions had had a positive effect, he added.

***

Before the party raid, LGBTI life had been more settled, said Jjuuko. After the abolition of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, there was a rest period where police were not harassing people. The harassment was from private individuals mostly. It was more relaxed. Now there is tension, members of organizations are in hiding.

The Anti-Homosexuality Act had sought to enshrine in law a number of homophobic measures around what it bizarrely termed aggravated homosexuality, aiding and abetting homosexuality, attempt to commit homosexuality, and conspiracy to engage in homosexuality, and promotion of homosexuality.

The proposed law became known as the Kill the Gays bill, as one of the proposed penalties for homosexuality was execution (as well as life imprisonment).

Quite beyond all those proposed new measures, homosexuality itself remains against the law in Uganda (a penal hangover from British colonial rule), and punishable by up to a seven-year prison sentence.

Jjuuko said LGBTI life is an interesting mix in Uganda: There have been four Pride parades (annually, since 2012), until this years was canceled after the party raid. Police will sometimes guard LGBTI parties, said Jjuuko, but they have also broken up meetings, citing the Public Order Management Act of 2013.

After breaking up the Aug. 4 party the police cited the same actalthough parties do not come under the acts strictures as it was a private event.

The fiercely homophobic Simon Lokodo, the Minister for Ethics and Integrity, in a condemnatory statement published on Aug. 8, decried the promotion of homosexuality, while claiming there was no violence against LGBTI people committed in Uganda, and that the Pride party had been disbanded without any injuries sustained.

Lokodo claimed that young people were being offered money to promote homosexuality in Uganda, that children and young people were vulnerable to sexual abuse and deviation, and the government was determined to stop the criminal and illegal activities of the gay community.

Lokodo made his anti-gay mission even more brutally clear in an interview last weekend with the Sunday edition of the Ugandan tabloid Red Pepper, under the headline: Homos Want To Rape Me. (Red Pepper had been previously notorious for publishing a list of 200 top gays in 2014, under the headline Exposed.)

Lokodo called the people at the club shameless idiots planning to sin. He added, My brother, we seem to wake up when the fire has almost burnt down the entire house. These homos are everywhere; in schools, churches, families, government institutions, villages ooh they are everywhere. Now my commitment is to fight them; even if I remain alone, I will not give up this fight.

Lokodo vowed to remove homosexual materials from schools, and said, Every morning I say a prayer asking God to be my shield. The homos have been sending me messages threatening my life. Most of them even say they want to rape me but I dont fear anything. This is a job and I will execute it to the maximum.

Lokodo also claimed the son of one of the richest Ugandans had confessed to being gay, and described him in lurid terms, thus: The boy is wearing three Pampers (diapers). His anus was shattered beyond repair. He cannot sit with ease. He is suffering and wallowing in pain. When the boy undressed before me pus was oozing from his rear.

The minister concluded his feverish interview by claiming he wanted the Ugandan government to invest in a censor gadget made by the South Koreans which will detect homos and porn actors

Lokodos statements are misguided and lies, but unfortunately many Ugandans believe them and they are causing so much harm towards the LGBT community, Frank Mugisha told The Daily Beast.

Isaac Mugisha added, His [Lokodos] opinion is not the governments opinion. He doesnt represent the government of Uganda. Weve known him as an enemy from way back. The government is bigger than him: There are a lot of people above him who are progressive and supportive.

Is the Ugandan government supportive of LGBTI rights? I asked. I would not say to a high extent, said Isaac Mugisha. But there has been progress, like in the health and justice sectors. The raid cannot make us forget about the successes we have had as a movement. We have to keep pushing and pushing. We have already achieved a lot, and we dont want it to lose it now.

Caroline Kouassiaman, senior program officer of Sexual Health and Rights at the American Jewish World Service, a supporter of LGBTI rights in nine countries of the developing world, said the latest wave of homophobia in Uganda, with Lokodo its figurehead, had come on the heels of periodic threats by politicians that the defunct Anti-Homosexuality Act could be revived.

Its being used as political leverage to gain votes, sometimes to gain votes or populist support, or to draw attention from other concerns or critiques of the government, she said. In Uganda, she added, there are challenges around stigma, discrimination, and violence. The LGBTI community has been strong, resistant, creative, and resourceful. There is less mob violence than there has been in the past, but people may be kicked out of their jobs, kicked out of their homes and communities, and have landlords evicting them, or be threatened, or be victims of extortion.

There are a variety of violences, and part of the work of organizations has been to provide an emergency and secure response to fight harassment.

Kouassiaman also accentuated the positive: After the party raid LGBTI people were among those out on the streets of Kampala conducting safer-sex education, she said. She also pointed to LGBTI media operating in Uganda, including a magazine, Bombastic, and news website, the Kuchu Times.

In the magazine the focus is on the violence people face, families, love and identities, rather than political issues, said Kouassiaman. They pushed it under all members of parliaments doors, and I think will have really engaged people on a human level.

For Jjuuko, while the present time offers grave challenges, he believes that in his lifetime homosexuality will be legalized in Uganda. There is no reason why it shouldnt. Sooner or later Uganda is going to change. Every other country has had its journey. Uganda is having its journey and something will give. Yes, it will happenits just a matter of time.

Ignorance was the first and most fundamental block to equality, Jjuuko said, followed by evangelical Christianity. Economic development affects social development, he noted: People in poor areas live in such close quarters in Ugandatheres no privacy if your bedroom is my sitting roomand communities are so tightly knit, there is no privacy for LGBTI people to pursue their lives.

After the Anti-Homosexuality Act was passed (and before it was quashed), the number of cases of violence against LGBTI people increased, Jjuuko said. Trans people are at particular risk of violence: they are the most visible.

Beatings had been becoming more infrequent, he said. HRAPF met with police on a local level and institutions, but then raids and crackdowns such as the Aug. 4 incident happen and Jjuuko realizes that, for example, police officers will not speak against police officers, and so the arduous task of forming effective alliances continues.

Things are getting better, he said. What happened on Aug. 4 will bring visibility to the LGBTI movement, and to what it does. It may bring more of a backlash, but more things will happen. More people will come to the table. Uganda is one of the few countries in Africa where you can talk about homosexuality. Were not doing badly at all. In future we shall change. It has to get worse before it gets better.

LGBTI people here are both scared and optimistic. People are being called to police stations, others are hiding away, but we have to remain optimistic. Lose that and we lose our soul. Everything is lost.

***

There are some parts of Kampalathe leafy suburbs, Jjuuko saidwhere you can live the life of a New Yorker, and just as there are some parts of New York where you may get beaten up, its the same here. The difference is, in New York the police will protect you.

Jjuuko is heterosexual, married, with three children aged 6, 5, and 3 months. In my view, it doesnt matter what sexual orientation you are. I dont believe there is a distinction between me and an LGBTI person. My wife, who helped start the organization, is always supportive. She is practically worried. She is afraid: What is going to happen, are we going to be killed? Are we safe? What if something happens to you, to us? Is this worth it? But she understands why we need to do this work and why it is so important. Thats amazing.

We are fighting for a much more inclusive future, for our children. If they turn out to be gay, whats wrong with that? I want them to be gay in an environment which actually supports them to live meaningful lives.

Im not worried about them being gay. Im worried about them growing up in a country that doesnt respect the rights of people who are different. Thats the fear I have for the future. Gay or not, we should have a country which respects peoples rights, and values them as human beings regardless of what their sexual orientation is.

To that end, Jjuuko is leading a number of test cases through the courts around the registration of groups, the organization of public meetings, violence specifically aimed at LGBTI people, and the arrest of LGBTI people without grounds. We are winning some battles, losing some, but we are pushing legal boundaries and that makes me proud, he said.

He is particularly proud of being part of bringing Sexual Minorities Uganda and the Center For Constitutional Rightss case against the evangelical preacher Scott Lively, accusing him of violating international law by stirring up anti-gay hatred in Uganda, starting in 2002.

The case is being heard in Massachusetts District Court; a summary judgment hearing is scheduled for Oct. 5.

Should the LGBTI activists arguments prevail, it will put an end, said Jjuuko, to evangelicals coming here and importing homophobia. You cant promote hate in other countries. You cant export hate.

Jjuuko is most proud, and galvanized, by the successful quashing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act. We fought so hard against that bill: the strategizing, research, fundraising the fight in court, organizing people. It was amazing, I look back, and think Yes, we did it.

And yet, Jjuuko said, in HRAPFs office surrounded by fencing and barbed wire, we are prisoners in our own space for fear of the people coming to attack us, and police invasions for all kinds of things. But I believe this is the right thing and we are making progress. We have to suffer the current challenges to be able to get something more or better.

People have to stand up and fight, and fight on the frontline. That is the trajectory of human rights everywhere, so Im just doing what everyone has done before. And we need optimism to fight on. They can fight us, but eventually we will win this. We may lose some of the battles, but we will win the war.

I asked Isaac Mugisha that, if Pride goes ahead as he hopes in October, would that send a message to the wider world. Yeah, sure. We are still resilient about what we want. We want Pride to happen. People must have freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, and human rights. We must make sure as a minority group we achieve that, and there is no reason why we shouldnt.

He was optimistic about the future, then? Very much, he said, and repeated the phrase twice more.

Tim Teeman has been honored in the 2016 NLGJA (Association of LGBTQ Journalists) Excellence in Journalism awards, in both the Journalist of the Year category and Interviewer of the Year category for his Daily Beast interview with Jane Clementi.
With less than 100 days until the general election, some #NeverTrump Republicans are stuck in a political limbo: They wont support Trump, but they also wont endorse Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Heres a list of the top Republicans who are planning to cast a write-in vote, vote for a third-party candidate, or abstainanything to avoid voting for either major partys presidential nominee.

August 2016

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said on Aug. 15 that he was not currently supporting Trump. Im not supporting him at this time, and Ill be watching to see what he has to say and do, Sandoval told a local Fox News affiliate. Sandovals comment signals a reversal, since in May he wrote on Facebook that he planned to vote for Trump.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins refused to back Trump in an op-ed for The Washington Post. Collins added that she does not support Clinton, writing, As we have seen with the dissatisfaction with both major-party nomineesneither of whom I supportthese passions are real and the public will demand action.

Fifty senior Republican national security officials signed an open letter opposing Trump, although the letter notes that many of the signatories have doubts about Hillary Clinton. Signatories include Michael V. Hayden, a former director of the CIA and NSA; Robert B. Zoellick, a former deputy secretary of state and later president of the World Bank; and Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, both former secretaries of Homeland Security.

GOP consultant Rick Wilson warned that Trump would be far worse than Clinton as president. I want to be clear here, Wilson added in an op-ed. As a principled conservative, I loathe the high likelihood that Hillary Clinton willbarring a bear attack or some other unforeseen externalitywin this election.

Rep. Scott Rigell (R-VA), who is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, declared himself #NeverTrump in March. Rigell openly endorsed Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson in early August.

The Harvard Republicans Club announced that the group will not endorse the GOP presidential nominee for the first time in 128 years. The clubs statement did not state if its members planned to support another candidate.

Former Minnesota Congressman Vin Weber told CNBC, I wont vote for Trump. Weber, who played a key role in helping Newt Gingrich put House Republicans in the majority, added he wasnt sure if he would support Clinton.

Rep. Charlie Dent told CNNs Jake Tapper, Im not planning to vote for either of the two major-party nominees and Im not ready to say Im going to vote for the libertarians either. Dent is a moderate Republican representing a key district in the battleground state Pennsylvania.

July 2016

Former RNC chairman Marc Racicot disavowed Trump in a Washington Post op-ed published July 1. I dont know what Im going to do, the former governor of Montana later told Bloomberg. But I do know that Im not going to be casting a ballot for the presently existing Republican nominee.

June 2016

Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk pledged to cast a write-in vote, possibly for former CIA director David Petraeus or former Secretary of State Colin Powell. I do not support Hillary Clinton and I told the public that I did not support Donald Trump either, Kirk told a Chicago radio station. I think hes too bigoted and racist for the Land of Lincoln.

May 2016

Mitt Romney was one of Trumps harshest critics during the primaries. In May, the former Republican presidential nominee confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that he would support neither Trump nor Clinton. Hopefully, I will find a name I can support, Romney said. If not, I will write in a name.

Michael Vlock, a Connecticut investor who has given nearly $5 million to Republicans since 2014, refused to back Trump. Vlock told The New York Times that he was still considering whether to back Clinton.

Jeb Bush, former Florida governor and presidential candidate, wrote in an open letter posted on Facebook: In November, I will not vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, but I will support principled conservatives at the state and federal levels.

Sen. Lindsey Graham said in a pair of tweets, I cannot in good conscience support Donald Trump because I do not believe he is a reliable Republican conservative nor has he displayed the judgment and temperament to serve as Commander in Chief. The South Carolina senator has also said he wont support any independent or third-party candidates.

Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado (a Republican, although the Miami mayoral post is nonpartisan) said, Im not going to vote for one or the other, referring to Trump and Clinton.

Former Congressman Bob Inglis told MSNBC that he will under no circumstances vote for Trump. When asked whom he plans to support, the former South Carolina lawmaker replied, I dont know yet. Its really difficult.

Floridas most senior member of Congress, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, announced in May that she does not support Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. I think Ill write in the name Jeb Bush, Ros-Lehtinen told the Miami Herald in August. A candidate should espouse optimism.

Rep. Bob Dold told a local Chicago radio station that he is opposed to Trump. I want to make that Im clear about this, Im not going to support Hillary Clinton either, Dold added. I would write someone in. The Chicago-area congressman is in a highly competitive re-election race against former Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said its disappointing that he does not feel confident in either major partys presidential candidate. The things he said about women and Muslims and religious freedom, I just cant support, Baker said of Trump. At the same time, I do believe Secretary Clinton has a huge believability problem.

Eliot A. Cohen, who served in the George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush administrations, called for a third-party candidate in an op-ed for The Washington Post. To vote for Clinton is to sacrifice standards and endorse policies and conduct no conservative should; not to vote at all is an escape, not a civic deed, wrote Cohen, who also signed an open letter opposing Trump due to the moguls foreign policy proposals.

March 2016

Florida Rep. Carlos Curbeloalso in a close re-election racewas an early critic of Trump and has said he might reluctantly vote for Clinton. What Ive said publicly over and over again to the media is I will not support Mr. Trump under any circumstances, Curbelo told CBS Miami. That does not mean automatically supporting Hillary Clinton.

The first secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, wrote in an op-ed: Every four years since my 18th birthday, I have pulled the lever in support of the Republican nominee for President of the United States. That streak will end this November. Ridge, also a former governor of Pennsylvania, added, Similarly, I cannot support Hillary Clinton, a divisive and untrustworthy candidate who will advance and extend failed Obama policies that have greatly weakened our nations economy and security.

Former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman wrote in an op-ed: Who my choice may be if Donald Trump is the standard-bearer under the rules of the Republican Party, I do not know. I know it wont be Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. And I know it will never be Donald Trump.

Rep. Justin Amash has said that Trump cares about power, he doesnt really care about things like the Constitution, and Im concerned that he could push us in a very dangerous direction. The Michigan congressman first endorsed Rand Paul and later Ted Cruz in the Republican presidential primary, and has since floated the idea of casting a write-in vote.

Former Jeb Bush spokesman Tim Miller has regularly criticized Trump on social media, first using the hashtag #NeverTrump on Super Tuesday (March 1). Miller has worked with the anti-Trump PAC Our Principles, but told Politico in early August that he has yet to decide which down-ballot Republican candidates he will support.

February 2016

Former RNC Chairman Mel Martinez told The Wall Street Journal that he would not vote for Trump. However, the former Florida senator did not clearly say who he plans to support. Martinez said he would not vote for Clintonbut he also said regarding Trump: If there is any, any, any other choice, a living, breathing person with a pulse, I would be there.

Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse wrote in an open letter posted on Facebook: My current answer for who I would support in a hypothetical matchup between Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton is: Neither of them. The first-term lawmaker added, If Donald Trump ends up as the GOP nominee, conservatives will need to find a third option.

January 2016

Conservative radio host Glenn Beck has long shown his disgust at Trumps presidential bid. Beck supported and campaigned with Ted Cruz during the primaries.

December 2015

Wisconsin Rep. Reid Ribblewho is retiring at the end of his termdeclared, I wouldnt support Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.
The news that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had received his first intelligence briefing Wednesday was met with a shudder inside the national security community.

Many braced for what they fear is inevitable, namely that the often shoot-from-the-hip Trump will say something from those briefings publicly. And yet, in the 64 years that presidential candidates have received such briefings, there is no precedent of a candidate publicly revealing classified information, explained David Priess, who wrote The President's Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings to America's Presidents from Kennedy to Obama.

So what happens if Washingtons biggest fear bears true and Trump spills a national secret?

No one knows.

We have never had someone say something explicit from these briefings, Priess told The Daily Beast.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which is responsible for presidential candidate briefings, declined to comment or explain when asked by The Daily Beast, only adding to the mystery of what would happen in such a scenario.

Priess said that while there technically is a legal option of criminally charging Trump with revealing classified information, proving such a charge would be difficult. A presidential candidate could claim that he was repeating something he discussed with his advisers, not repeating a classified briefing.

Even if Trump doesnt reveal top secrets, there already is animosity between him and the intelligence community. In the hours before receiving his first briefing, Trump told Fox News that he doesnt trust the intelligence community, broadly citing their past failing.

Not so much from the people that have been doing it for our country. Look whats happened over the last 10 years. Look whats happened over the years. Its been catastrophic, Trump said. And in fact, I wont use some of the people that are sort of your standards, you know, just use them, use them, use them. Very easy to use them, but I wont use them because theyve made such bad decisions.

The decision to open the briefings to presidential candidates has been met with unprecedented controversy this election cycle. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid last month reportedly suggested the intelligence community Fake it, pretend youre doing a briefing, but you cant give the guy any information.

That same month, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan urged James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence, to deny Hillary Clinton the candidates briefings, citing her mishandling of emails while Secretary of State. Clapper denied the request.

If the information released was relatively innocuous, a presidential candidate could get a strict admonishment. Worst case, the intelligence community could to cut off such briefings. And that would have a political cost, especially when, some argue, Trump has an advantage this election cycle when it comes to how the candidates handle classified information.

Earlier this summer, FBI Director James Comey described Clinton as being extremely careless with handling of classified information during her tenure as Secretary of State. Should Trump prove too careless himself by revealing classified information from such briefings, he would arguably make it hard for himself to exploit Comeys assessment.

There are natural safeguards in place to stop dangerous information slipping out of a candidates mouth. Where the president receives what is known as a presidential daily brief, which includes sources and methods behind the intelligence, the candidates briefing does not include such details. So at least if a candidate reveals whats in his/her brief, it would not allow the candidate to reveal the name and position of someone providing the CIA information, Priess explained.

Because the president receives such briefings daily, sometimes the presidents brief will have tactical details about an operation, allowing the commander in chief to follow day-to-day developments. The candidates briefing lacks such details as it only happens occasionallyand inconsistently.

Mitt Romney only received two such briefings in 2012. Jimmy Carter so enjoyed his classified briefings in 1976 that sometimes he sat through six-hour sessions, Priess said. Usually such briefings last no more than two hours.

The briefings are often more summations of the major security issues around the worldthe war on ISIS, the situation in Syria, and North Korea and its nuclear weapons aspirations, for example. This election cycle the candidates are not expected to receive more than three briefings.

President Harry Truman first introduced classified briefings in 1952, after bearing the scar of suddenly ascending to the presidency upon the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt only to discover he had been in the dark as vice president. There was no formal structure then for sharing intelligence with the president, so Truman introduced the briefings as a courtesy, not a legal requirement.

He became president and had no idea about the Manhattan Project, Priess explained. Since the start of the PDB in the 1960s, such briefings are not as needed for an incoming president to do his job.

Rather, such briefings allow the candidates to be more informed about the implications of what they say on the campaign trail.

The main motivation now is that it helps the presidential candidates from saying something that complicates things for the current president or for themselves should they become president, Priess said.

Often advisers accompany a presidential candidate to the briefings, even though it usually takes months for citizens to receive a security clearance. On Wednesday, Trump, accompanied by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ret Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, received his first classified briefing. As a retired general and a governor, both advisers likely already had some level of security clearance.

Priess said that the officials will often conduct an expedited clearance process for presidential advisers who dont have such clearance.

So far, Trump has only made one reference to receiving access to top secret information, when he told a Florida crowd that he had seen secret video of pallets carrying $400 million in cash being delivered to Iran in January as part of Iran deal.

He later conceded it was old video that was airing on Fox News.
FRENCH SETTLEMENT, La.  The little blond girl in striped rubber rain boots and a bright pink shirt knew things could be bad at the house she shared with her grandparents. Floodwaters had consumed much of their Baton Rouge suburb, and some of her classmates homes had water to the roofs.

If my house has water in it, Im pretty sure my room has water, said 11-year-old London Guidry as she clambered aboard a small motorboat to check the family ranch house with her grandfather and his friend and fellow riverboat pilot, Josh Boogaerts.

The sun was high, the air sultry as they set off Wednesday afternoon into the storm-swollen Amite River beneath a canopy of cypress and oak. Muddy eddies swirled around them.

How bad is the current? London asked, wide-eyed.

Yall are all gonna see firsthand in just a second, Boogaerts said as the aluminum boat cruised past a submerged street sign and thudded against something as he muttered, unfazed, mailbox.

Similar scenes are playing out across the states eight Florida Parishes, part of a former Spanish colony clustered to the east of the Mississippi River. Residents are returning to waterlogged neighborhoods wondering whether their house survived. London and her grandfather, Dugan Phillips, would get their answer after traveling three miles downriver.

Fatal flooding unleashed by record rains crept this week from Baton Rouge to suburbs like French Settlement in Livingston Parish. A dank tide of murky swamp water destroyed up to 80 percent of the homes of the parishs 140,000 residents and left others gutted, smelling of dead fish.

So far, 13 people have died. Two feet of rain fell in a 24-hour stretch, swelling the Amite beyond its banks and breaking a rainfall record set in 1962. More than 70,000 people have registered for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance; more than 9,000 have filed flood insurance claims.

This is biblical, Boogaerts said as he steered the boat, gesturing to the submerged home of a friend.

Hes burnt out. Hes done. He just put in a new game room, Boogaerts said of the friend, whose Camaro also was flooded.

They passed two men in another small boat, and Phillips, recognizing a neighbor, waved and shouted, Good luck to you guys!

They soon floated toward Boogaerts own house, two stories tall and pale pink. Water had swamped the first floor and a shed packed with equipment.

The bottom of my floor joists are gone. Its unsellable, the 43-year-old father of two said, haggard and unshaven after days of these trips. He said he plans to leave: His wife cant stand the risk on the river.

All she has to do is hear French Settlement and flooding in the same sentence, and shes gone. Last time, she left the dog on the chain, he said. I just cant keep dumping money into it. But its breaking my heart to leave here.

Floodwaters washed out nearby interstates, closed more than a dozen parish schools indefinitely, opened graves and cut off this and other bayou communities for days. Gas and other staples were scarce in the village that claims to be the regions capital for sauce patate, Cajun potato stew. The governor deployed the National Guard, but sometimes even the guards heavy equipment became mired in bayou muck.

Stranded locals summoned their own Cajun navy (T-shirts now available online)  hundreds of volunteer boaters like Boogaerts who aided law enforcement in rescuing more than 15,000, many from attics and rooftops. They also delivered donated sausage to a shelter at St. Joseph Catholic Church.

The makeshift donation center, soup kitchen and shelter refused to close its doors even when the electricity and air conditioning failed, with volunteers still serving up pastalaya (jambalaya with pasta), gumbo, red beans and rice. Father Jason Palermo, a police chaplain who carries his gun in an ankle holster, coordinated shipments of water and other supplies.

Town hall is waist-deep, Mayor Toni Guitrau said as she stopped by the church to check on relief efforts after cleaning her own home, which flooded. She said her daughter, a sheriffs deputy, was on looter patrol.

The village was settled in 1809 as part of a Spanish land grant, and sawmills soon sprouted to process local cypress. A descendant of those pioneers, 64-year-old Dale Aydell, was among those waiting to get back to his house on Goodtimes Road, once home to Goodtimes Sawmill. The water in his home was waist-deep  not much of a good time, he added. There once was a Hardtimes Sawmill here too.

FEMA is a concern here, where many feel the agency bungled the Hurricane Katrina response. So many resettled here after Katrina, a subdivision was nicknamed St. Bernard after their New Orleans-area parish, Ricks said.

Out on the river, London, Phillips and Boogaerts had almost ended their journey. London covered her eyes. She couldnt look.

Then, as the boat neared a white house with dark green shutters, the girl squealed.

Our trampoline is still there!

Phillips heart also leaped. The water had reached only their porch.

Its completely dry. Yes! London shouted as she scaled the front railing.
1

Bulger Takes Appeal to Supreme Court

Try, Try Again
According to official Guidance, the Sustainable Biomass Partnership (SBP) is the only certification scheme which can 'prove' 100% that the sustainability standards are being met.

Note that the sustainability standards, or 'land requirements', are separate from the greenhouse gas standards. However, meeting the greenhouse gas standards is easy for companies because they are allowed to ignore that vast majority of carbon emissions associated with bioenergy.

Drax pays for sustainability certification from the Sustainable Biomass Partnership

SBP certification for Drax's own pellet production in the US exposes just how meaningless the sustainability standards are, and shows why Drax has had no reason to worry about them.

Two SBP certificates were granted on the first of August and applies to two pellet mills built by Drax in Louisiana and Mississippi. Drax has also applied for a more far-reaching 'chain of custody' SBP certificate which could result in all of its biomass electricity being automatically deemed sustainable in the UK, however the latter is still pending.

NGO evidence showing that pellets are being made from clearcut wetland forests relates to Enviva, Drax's main supplier, rather than Drax's own pellet mills, where Drax claims to be mainly using wood from pine plantations.

This may well be true, at least for now, though it doesn't make the pellets sustainable. Across the southern US, industrial pine plantations continue to be expanded at the expense of biodiverse forests. Forest campaigners from the Dogwood Alliance in the US described the plantations that Drax is relying on for its wood:

"Orderly rows as far as they eye can see like a cornfield, regular spraying of fertilizers and herbicides, and plantations are so quiet because they're almost devoid of wildlife. Before they can grow into majestic trees, the heavy machinery chops them down like mowing a lawn."

Cutting down and burning a plantation tree still results in high carbon emissions, although the SBP does not even look at climate impacts when assessing 'sustainability'. SBP certification sheds little light on Drax's practices and cannot ensure that the company won't use wood from biodiverse forests in future.

An initiative made up entirely of energy companies

The SBP was established in 2013 as a successor to the Initiative Wood Pellet Buyers, which had helped drive the emergence and expansion of the global wood pellet trade. It is made up entirely of energy companies.

Like other voluntary certification schemes, the SBP relies on external 'certifiers'. These are firms which offer their services to a variety of companies seeking different types of certification under different schemes and standards. This allows Drax to claim: "The SBP Board has no involvement in the certification decision process and has no opportunity to influence its outcome."

In fact, there is no need for the SBP Board (chaired by Drax's CEO) to intervene in a particular certification decision: they were able to ensure their desired outcomes by setting the standards, determining what type and level of investigations and verification are required, and devised the appeals procedure.

The appeals procedure is only open to pellet producers, energy companies and prospective certifiers who have had an adverse decision against them, but not to civil society groups. Although NGOs could use a separate complaints procedure, that is far weaker and such complaints can be dealt with SBP staff members only.

Companies applying for a certificate choose their own certifiers amongst the list of SBP-approved companies and pay them for their services. This creates a strong incentive for certifiers to provide the desired service to their clients, and to be biased in favour of granting certificates. This is a generic problem of voluntary certification schemes.

Drax's SBP certifiers: A company with a track-record of granting controversial certificates

The certification company chosen by Drax is SCS Global Services ('SCS'), and it is no stranger to controversy. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certificates awarded as a result of SCS assessments include:

Certification of the Jari forestry project in Brazil from 2004. In 2015, the certificate was suspended after government authorities raided the company's offices on suspicion of massive fraud and illegal timber laundering. SCS had noted problems with the company's documentation but had chosen to certify them regardless;

Certification of Green Diamond Resource Company in California, despite what the Environmental Protection Information Center described as "Green Diamond's aggressive clearcut logging, their legacy of toxic pollution, their decades long history of antagonistic relationships with local communities and civil society organizations, and their corporate culture of greenwash, impunity, and lack of accountability".

SBP certification is even less onerous than FSC certification. SCS spent a total of just seven hours inspecting logging operations across two overlapping areas from which Drax's pellet mills source wood, each with 3.9 million hectares of forest. The SCS reports largely summarise 'supply base' reports written by a Drax director.

A simple web search casts doubt on some of the claims accepted by SCS: For example, the certification report states that there are no IUCN Red List species (i.e. endangered or threatened species) in the wider sourcing region. In fact, there are 10 Red List species in Louisiana alone, including the Louisiana Pine Snake which depends on Longleaf pine forests.

Drax's own report shows that Longleaf pine forms part of the wood mix used by both pellet mills. According to IUCN, "intensive pine silviculture" (pine plantations) is one of two key threats to the species.

The best 'sustainability' certificates money can buy

The fact that such a questionable SBP certificate has ensured that all of the pellets produced by Drax will be classed as 'sustainable' and thus worthy of subsidies in the UK illustrates the true nature of the Government's sustainability standards.

Far from holding any companies to account, 'sustainability' standards simply allow them to greenwash their activities. Standards themselves are of little importance as long as companies can so easily pay another company for providing them with certificates to 'prove' compliance with those standards.

This is yet more evidence to back up the argument made in a declaration by 132 civil society groups that biomass sustainability standards cannot protect forests, and that biomass must be excluded from renewable electricity subsidies.

Almuth Ernsting is co-Director of Biofuelwatch.

Editor's note: Following representations from Drax and SCS Global Services this article was edited on 25th August 2016 to clarify certain contentious issues and provide links to information sources which had been lost from the original owing to a technical error.
USDA Rural Development offers more than 40 programs for families, businesses, farmers and communities. Each month, a different program will be highlighted in our guest editorial.

Todays column will focus on the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), a program that helps agricultural producers and rural small businesses create energy independence by reducing their energy usage and improve their profitability.

REAP is available to agricultural producers (51 percent or more of gross income comes from agriculture production) and rural (any area that has a population of 50,000 or less and is not adjacent to or is not a contiguous part of an urbanized area) small businesses (as classified by the Small Business Administration). The goal of the program is to reduce energy use and cost, and to help meet the Nations energy needs. REAP has two types of funding assistance available: grants and/or guaranteed loans. Assistance is available for energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy systems.

The REAP grant has funding available for up to 25 percent of total eligible project costs. Minimum total project costs are $6,000 (grant of $1,500) for energy efficiency projects and $10,000 (grant of $2,500) for renewable energy systems. Maximum total project costs are $1 million (grant of $250,000) for energy efficiency projects and $2 million (grant of $500,000) for renewable energy systems.

The REAP guaranteed loan can cover up to 75 percent of the total project costs. The guaranteed loan can guarantee up to 85 percent of a loan through an eligible lending institution. REAP guaranteed loans have a minimum loan amount of $5,000 and a maximum amount of $25 million. An applicant may also be able to get a loan/grant combination where 50 percent of the total project costs could be covered by a guaranteed loan and 25 percent could be covered by a grant. REAP guaranteed loans have a significant amount of funding available with quicker turnaround time than a grant.

Energy projects that will help save energy dollars for the business or farm operation may be eligible. Projects funded in Nebraska include: converting diesel/natural gas/propane irrigation engines to electric irrigation motors, installing variable frequency drives on electric motors, replacing grain dryers, replacing heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, replacing refrigeration units in grocery stores, replacing lighting to LED, adding insulation, replacing windows, and replacing doors. An energy audit is required for all energy efficiency improvement projects.

Michael Ortmeier in North Bend, NE switched from a diesel irrigation motor to a more efficient electric motor with a variable frequency drive. This project proposes to save 155,192 kWh annually which is enough energy for 14 homes. An annual dollar of produced energy of $1,170 is expected.

Renewable energy can be used for energy replacement or energy generated and sold to the power grid. Projects funded in Nebraska include: wind turbines to power center pivots, solar panels for stock wells, solar panels for businesses, geothermal heating and cooling, biodiesel plant that converted waste vegetable oil into biodiesel.

Ron Keogh in Oakland installed a 25 kW Dakota wind turbine on a 100 foot monopole tower which generated an estimated 112,200 kWh of electricity annually, enough energy to power 10 homes. An annual dollar of generated energy of $14,197 is expected.

Please note: Personal residences are not eligible.

Applications must be on file with Rural Development prior to incurring any expenses or beginning any work on the project. The application process for both energy efficiency and renewable energy projects include: REAP template application, energy audit (energy efficiency) or energy resource assessment (renewable energy), bids for project components, tax returns for the previous three years and an environmental review.

For energy efficiency projects, energy audits will document current usage (based on historical use) and also project usage and savings after improvements are complete. The audits are completed with the assistance of power utilities and UNLs Manufacturers Extension Partnership.

For renewable energy projects, energy resource assessments are completed by the applicant with the assistance of the vendor.

The upcoming deadline for REAP grants is October 31. REAP guaranteed loans compete on a monthly basis for funding. Inquire about REAP and see if your project qualifies.
Iowa high school football playoffs: All the state quarterfinal games

The winners of this week's Round-of-16 games advanced to next week's state quarterfinal round of the playoffs.
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Connecticut has a high prevalence of Medicare beneficiaries living with Alzheimers disease or other dementias, often placing an enormous financial strain on caregivers who are spending thousands of dollars a year on care, reports show.

Alzheimers is the most expensive disease in America, said Jennifer Walker, vice president of communications and advocacy for the Connecticut chapter of the Alzheimers Association. The cost of care is very high.

Medicare covers most fees for doctor visits, and some hospitalization, if needed; but other costs associated with careincluding home health services, transportation, diapers for incontinenceare not covered. People with Alzheimers often suffer from other chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart and hypertension, which add to the out-of-pocket costs for care.

The financial burden is forcing families who rely on Medicare to tap into retirement savings, cutback on food and medical care for themselves, reduce work hours or quit work altogether to be caregivers, according to the Alzheimers Association report Alzheimers Disease Facts and Figures. A recent association survey of 3,500 people nationwide found 28 percent of caregivers lost an average of more than $15,000 in annual income from reducing or quitting work to provide care.

In Connecticut, the prevalence of Alzheimers or another form of dementia among Medicare beneficiaries is 11.9 percent, according to 2014 data recently released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Only Texas, with 12 percent, topped Connecticut. The national average is 10.3 percent.

About 74,000 people in Connecticut have Alzheimers and that number is projected to grow to 80,000 by 2020.

In 2015, there were about 177,000 people in Connecticut caring for loved ones with Alzheimers and other dementias, providing 202 million hours of unpaid care valued at $2.5 billion, according to the associations report.

Patricia Lowe of Ridgefield worries that caring for her 80-year-old husband, Frank, who was diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2010, will push her into financial ruin. She is his sole caregiver.

Its a tsunami, she said of the financial strain. With Social Security as the couples only source of income and Medicare covering a fraction of her husbands medical costs, she worries about expenses she foresees coming down the pipeline.

The only thing keeping their costs under control now, she said, is that her husband can still live at home. The couple decided two years ago to forego his medications and frequent doctors appointments instead relying on more natural and holistic remedies.

The Medicare system, is a mess, and its a mess on a number of levels, said Angela Mattie, professor and chair of healthcare management and organizational leadership at Quinnipiac Universitys School of Business.

We dont have our long-term care financing the way we should have our long-term care financing in this country, Mattie said. Theres no simple solution; these things are politically fought and fought.

Medicaid, not Medicare, typically reimburses some of the cost of custodial care for those who cant afford long-term care insurance, she said, and someone must basically become a pauper to get on Medicaid. Is that how we want to treat people in this country?

This year total payments for health care, long-term care and hospice care are expected to be $236 billion for those with Alzheimers and other dementias, and nearly half of those costs will be paid by Medicare, according to the association. Nearly one in every five Medicare dollars is spent on Alzheimers and dementia expenses, and it is on track to rise to one in every three dollars by 2050, according to the association.

According to the association, costs for long-term care services nationwide on average include: $220 per day ($80,300 per year) for a semi-private room in a nursing home, $250 per day ($91,250 per year) for a private room in a nursing home, $3,600 per month for basic services in an assisted living facility, $20 an hour for a home health aide and $59 a day for adult day services.

Lowe, who attends a support group for Alzheimers caregivers, foresees massive expenses looming.

I know what the future holds, she said. I have seen people who have had to sell their houses.

Lowe said, What nest egg we have right now probably wouldnt cover three years. Having to live this way is very difficult. There is no way I could afford to put him in a nursing home, certainly not in this area [Fairfield County], without completely bankrupting us.

She said, This disease is a journey, and Lowe tries to see silver linings wherever she can. We live. We dont dwell. Were not victims.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team ( www.c-hit.org ).
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NORWALK  Pulling up to the house at 170 Silvermine Ave.  or speeding past it as most visitors to this sleepy neighborhood tend to do  the home looks like so many others, a well-kept antique reminiscent of another time.

What isnt visible from the road, and what makes the property unlike any other, is the backyard. The Silvermine River meanders behind the home, attracting wildlife and offering a serene setting for owner Leah Hartman, who has lived there since 2012.

What Im really pulled toward is the water and the sanctuary and the tranquillity of the property, Hartman said. Thats what did it. I was looking at all sorts of properties, and that water view is something that draws me.

That little part across the river that I own, no one can build over there. You have that whole expanse beyond the river. It really is like having your own nature park. I found that very tranquil in a busy Fairfield County.

Now on the market for $699,000, the property is listed through Cyd Hamer of William Pitt Sothebys International Realty in Westport.

Experts who examined the house say it is post and beam construction on the first floor, a combination of post and beam on the second floor and entirely balloon construction on the third floor. The original portion of the house was built in the 1700s, and was expanded in the middle of the 19th century.

Low ceilings, wide plank floors and a lumpy  but incredibly sturdy  foundation are all hallmarks of the antique home.

Although not much is known about the house itself, the Silvermine area is rich in history and local legends. When a group of artists settled there in the early 1900s, the area became known as a haven for the arts and the Silvermine Arts Center and Silvermine Artists Guild were born.

A commemorative plaque was put on the house by the Norwalk Historical Society in 2003, but at the time, the society did little research into the homes they put plaques on beyond ownership and land transfers.

The house is officially dubbed the Rufus Ryder house via the plaque out front, although the man who owned the house most likely spelled it Rufus Rider, according to Norwalk public records.

Rider, described in the 1850 Connecticut Census as a 30-year-old white male, was a sawyer, probably at the Buttery or Gutherie saw mill. At one time, the Silvermine River is estimated to have powered at least 12 mills because the water fell steeply enough to make water power profitable.

Rider lived at the home with his wife, Elizabeth, and their two children after he purchased the house in 1844. He sold it in 1858. Its estimated that Rider was responsible for the renovations and expansions to the home that occurred during that time. Other than updates to the kitchen and bathrooms, the home has not been expanded since Rider owned the home.

Through the years, the house has also been known as The 1789 House and The Civil War Families House, because, according to local legend, the house acted as a sort of commune during the Civil War when it housed families of men who were away fighting the war in the 1860s.

Finding a buyer for an antique is finding someone who loves the history, Hamer said. This would be a magical place to grow up. Theres so many places to explore and so much history.

Hartman said she is sad to sell the property, which she fell in love with for the Silvermine River that cuts the property in half. Hartmans job causes her to split time between Boston and New York City, so she was forced to give up the home for something halfway between the two cities.

Although the house hasnt been expanded since the 1800s, Hartman set to work renovating the property. She opened up the kitchen and installed all new appliances, turned the basement into a large master suite with an accent wall exposing the original foundation and enclosed one of the porches.

Im proud of what Ive done, Hartman said. Every time I see it Im, like I really love this house, and I dont want to leave.

KKrasselt@scni.com; 203-354-1021; @kaitlynkrasselt
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CAIRO  The public is welcome to the dedication of the Solon Borglum historical marker at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The ceremony will take place five miles west of Cairo on Highway 2. The historical marker cost $5,500. Donors to the Borglum project have been invited to the dedication, including Centura Public Schools students, who helped raise $400.

Others attending the ceremony will be members of the Hall County Historical Society, including Jo Riedy, who, Ken Harder said, has wanted a marker placed for years. Harder, along with others, helped to bring the project to conclusion.

After the dedication, Harder said, there will be a reception with refreshments at the Cairo Roots Museum in Cairo.

Members of the Hall County Historical Society and the Cairo Roots have worked a number of years to honor and recognize Solon Borglum, an early Hall County pioneer who went on to become a noted sculptor depicting frontier life in the American West.

Last October, members of the Hall County Historical Society and Cairo Roots journeyed northwest of Cairo, where Borglum had his dugout in the late 1880s and where he got his start as an artist, carving the likeness of Native Americans on the soft clay bluffs overlooking Sweet Creek.

Harder of the Cairo Roots said the historical marker has been approved by Nebraska State Historical Society, and the Nebraska Department of Roads approved the pullout to be made along Highway 2 where the marker will be located.

There has never been a marker in this part of Hall County, and I think that is important, Harder said. With Highway 2 being a gateway to the Black Hills, I think it is important, too, with that tie with Borglum.

Borglum is the younger brother of Gutzon Borglum and uncle of Lincoln Borglum, the two men most responsible for the creation of the carvings at Mount Rushmore.

We just love history and want to promote it, said Walt Sorensen of Cairo, who was on the committee of members of the Cairo Roots who worked on the project. Up to a couple of years ago, people didnt realize that the Borglum family actually lived around here. We are just trying to enhance history.

The historical marker is near where Borglum had his dugout and the nearby bluffs. One of the speakers at the dedication, Jean Lukesh, recently wrote a book about Borglum, Secret Brother, The Story of Solon Borglum, Sculptor of the Prairie. Lukesh is from Grand Island.

Secret Brother is a biography. Borglum was a cowboy, rancher, sheriff and early Boy Scout leader before becoming a world-famous artist who earned the title Sculptor of the Prairie.

According to Lukesh, the Plains Indians sculptures he carved into the Sandhills bluffs inspired his brother, Gutzon, to carve his own sculptures of American presidents on Mount Rushmore.

Solon Hannibal de la Mothe Borglum was born Dec. 22, 1868, and died Jan. 31, 1922. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre by France for his work with Les Foyers du Soldat service clubs during World War I.

Lukesh said Borglums father bought the land for the homestead in 1883. Borglum homesteaded the area from 1885 to 1893.

Last October, when Lukesh and others toured the site of the Borglum homestead, she said that Borglum always wanted to be a cowboy.

But when he was out here, he found banks of natural clay here, and he started molding clay and doing things like that, she said.

That was when he was inspired to start carving into the bluffs overlooking Sweet Creek.

In 1893, when Gutzon Borglum returned from a visit to Paris, he visited his younger brother and was impressed with his development of his artistic skills and asked him to move to California with him so he could teach him to be an artist.

Solon Borglum went on to artistic acclaim and worldwide recognition for his art and sculptures, winning many major awards and commissions and earning a reputation of being among the best American sculptors of the West, alongside Frederic Remington and Charles Russell.

And it all got its start here in Hall County, Lukesh said.
Despite all the rhetoric coming out of both presidential campaigns, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and free trade in general, are more important than ever to Nebraska.

And Nebraska officials and agriculture leaders are in Taiwan right now doing everything they can to ensure that Nebraska ag trade with its Asian partners continues to grow.

On Wednesday, a Nebraska trade delegation, led by Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach, signed letters of intent with Taiwan officials for that country to buy more than $405 million in Nebraska ag products.

Included in this agreement are:

n 20.2 million to 23.9 million bushels of hard red winter wheat ($115 million to $135 million)

n 19.7 million to 23.6 million bushels of corn ($100 million to $120 million)

n 77.2 million to 86.7 million bushels of soybeans ($101 million to $113 million)

n 77,000 tons of distillers grains ($14 million)

n 1,100 to 2,200 tons of pork and pork products ($2.3 million to $4.6 million)

n 2,100 to 2,550 tons of beef and beef products ($15.2 million to $18.6 million)

The letters were signed by Ibach, representing the state, Nebraska Farm Bureau president Steve Nelson, representing Nebraska commodity boards, and representatives of various Taiwanese meat, grain and export/import associations.

It is especially significant that beef and pork are included in this deal, as they have not been part of previous deals with Taiwan. Ibach has emphasized that this deal is a boost for opening up more trade opportunities in the future.

Representing Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nelson has said these agreements with Taiwan are of critical importance.

The international marketplace is vital to grow demand for the commodities produced on our farms and ranches, especially in the current environment of depressed prices for almost all of the products we produce, he said. These agreements are a step in the right direction to help boost profitability for Nebraskas farm and ranch families.

With a record high harvest forecast for both corn and soybeans in Nebraska this year, it is especially important to find international trade partners who need and are willing to buy what our producers are growing.

Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have emphasized their opposition to the TPP trade deal, with Clinton saying that changes have to be made before it is approved to ensure it will not cost the U.S. jobs.

But the Bloomberg View has reported that the U.S. will actually be the largest economic beneficiary of TPP if it is signed. Its provisions have the potential to advance long-standing progressive goals on labor and the environment, dismantle a thicket of protectionist regulations, and reignite global trade liberalization largely on U.S. terms. The deal will also reinforce U.S. strategic interests in the worlds most dynamic region, it said.

Last week, Singapores visiting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called the TPP a test of U.S. credibility and seriousness of purpose. The Asian countries the U.S. has been negotiating with are looking to us to help them stand up in the face of Chinas growing assertiveness.

Its also important to note that during the Nebraska trade mission to Taiwan, officials will meet with the director of the Biotechnology Industry Study Centre there.

Almost all of the corn and soybeans being grown in Nebraska are biotechnology varieties. The U.S. has been struggling with opposition overseas to GMOs, trying to show that they pose no health risks to human beings.
After having worked for the Edwardsville Fire Department for a little over 22 years, office assistant Kathy Leitner will be retiring come Sept. 9.

After being hired in May of 1994, Leitner said shell miss the department, but also feels that now is the right time to retire.

The main reason is that my husband and I, along with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, own and operate a small winery in Salem, Mo. We do that on weekends and Im just ready to broaden the business down there and make it grow and decided this was a good time to leave, Leitner said.

Prior to the job at the fire department, Leitner was a full-time mom.

It wasnt until after her kids were raised that she started to look for work, and Leitner said thats when her husband came across the job listing.

My husband saw the ad in the paper 22 years ago and it was part-time at the time. I had stayed home to raise my boys until they got into kindergarten so I was a full-time mom at the time, and then once my youngest son went into kindergarten, (my husband) started looking for a job for me. So I applied and Im thankful that he saw that. Its been great and I like it a lot, Leitner said.

Having been an Edwardsville resident all her life, Leitner said she never really gave much consideration to working at the fire department.

It wasnt until she applied and got the job that she realized the fire department does more than fight fires.

Before I came to work here, I really never gave the fire department a thought. I lived in Edwardsville all my life and I never really gave it any thought. They were there and I never thought about what the fire department did. Now that Ive worked here, I just had no clue that they are so busy with so many different activities other than firefighting, with their ambulance services, their inspections and everything they did. Its just real comforting to know that we have that quality of employees here in the fire department for the people of the city, Leitner said.

With the new SIUE fire station in construction and the new public safety facility in the works, Leitner said she believes the future of the fire department is very promising even after she retires.

Its wonderful that they are finally getting new stations. Theyve talked about that ever since I started working here and its finally happening and its very exciting for them. The growth and getting the new employees that they desperately needed will be a big, giant help for them. Theyll take advantage of that and work it to the benefit of the citizens, thats for sure, Leitner said.

When asked about what shell miss the most, Leitner said the people, and that they have grown alongside her every step of the way.

Everybody here is like family. You see people coming in, watch their kids grow up for 22 years and you just get to meet and know so many people because (the staff) is here for 24 hours. You come out and bring things to them, their kids coming through to see that, and its really nice. Its different than a normal office experience in a very good way, Leitner said. Theyre all great and Ill miss them a lot.

Going forward, Leitner said her perception of the EFD changed overall and hopes the citizens of Edwardsville can erase common misconceptions as well.

I didnt realize everything the fire department did and I didnt even realize they worked 24-hour shifts. Im sure theres lots of people that have no idea how much they do. They just think they come up here, work and sleep and sit around and do nothing, but they are very busy people, Leitner said.
Rare footage of the first televised presidential debate in U.S. history has been put online by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, giving voters a chance to see the dramatic change in debate tone and style since 1956.

The video captures a debate between Adlai Stevenson II and Estes Kefauver during the 1956 Democratic primary campaign. ABC broadcast it May 21 from Miami just before Florida voters went to the polls. It was moderated by journalist Quincy Howe.

Only two copies of the debate are known to exist, and neither has been generally available to the public until now. The ALPLM has made a digital version of its 16mm film copy of the hour-long debate.

It can be seen on YouTube at bit.ly/1956debate.

"This video captures two politicians from an earlier era experimenting with a powerful new force - television. The Lincoln Presidential Library is proud to dig into its huge collection and make this video available to the world," said Nadine O'Leary, the ALPLM's acting executive director.

In contrast to todays frequently negative and personal political debates, the Stevenson-Kefauver debate shows candidates stressing their common views and staying polite when disagreeing. Each got three minutes for an opening statement and five minutes - an eternity in modern debates - to close.

Stevenson, the former Illinois governor, won the Democratic nomination over Kefauver, a Tennessee senator. He went on to lose the general election to Dwight Eisenhower.

Stevensons son, former U.S. Sen. Adlai Stevenson III, speaks Thursday at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum about his familys 150-year legacy in state and national politics. Information is available at www.PresidentLincoln.illinois.gov under special event reservations.

Debate topics included school desegregation, small business, nuclear energy and the news that America had detonated a hydrogen bomb.

"The future is either going to be a future of creativity and great abundance or its going to be a future of total incineration, death and destruction," Stevenson said, advocating American leadership in controlling atomic weapons.

Both men promised support for the Supreme Courts ruling that schools could no longer be segregated by race.

This is something where you cant use military coercion. Weve got to appeal to the hearts and minds and to the fairness of people, Kefauver said, 16 months before President Eisenhower used troops to enforce desegregation of an Arkansas high school.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, a division of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is dedicated to telling the story of Americas 16th president through old-fashioned scholarship and modern technology.

The library holds an unparalleled collection of Lincoln books, documents, photographs, artifacts and art, as well as some 12 million items pertaining to all aspects of Illinois history. The museum uses traditional exhibits, eye-catching special effects and innovative story-telling techniques to educate visitors.
With his usual magnetic style and grace, Dr. Eugene B. Redmond, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville emeritus professor of English, demonstrated his poetic prowess during a celebration marking his 40th year as East St. Louis Poet Laureate.

SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook welcomed Redmond supporters, who turned out Wednesday, Aug. 17 at the Elijah P. Lovejoy Librarys EBR Learning Center on the SIUE campus. Poet Darlene Roy, a retired social services administrator and president of the Eugene B. Redmond (EBR) Writers Club, hosted the event.

It is wonderful to have a special collections in a library, because it attracts people, said Pembrook. I supervised the Kansas Methodist Archives housed at Baker University, and I saw the same enthusiasm there as I see here regarding the importance of collections.

I want to thank you, Dr. Redmond, for how your work has changed the dialogue at SIUE, and how it has added to the rich culture for our University, region and country.

Redmond received written acknowledgments from poets and writers across the country. He also received an award from Michael McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. Redmonds longtime friend and media consultant Charlotte Ottley, an East St. Louis native presented the award.

He has never tired in telling the East St. Louis story all over the world, Ottley said. He has made it his lifes mission. There is none better. There is none whos stayed the course. There is none who is so important to us all - as Dr. Eugene B. Redmond. He has made us a legend in what he has written, photographed and chronicled.

As one of the sons of the City of East St. Louis, the appointment as poet laureate has made me feel like I have a place among the suns of the city, Redmond said.

East St. Louis is extremely lucky to have my father, said Treasure Shields Redmond, an assistant professor of English at Southwestern Illinois College. He is not a situational activist, but has been an incredible standard bearer. He will always be in East St. Louis, even after he transcends from this life.

Redmond noted the most exciting thing about his years as a poet, historian, cultural activist and archivist: To pass on my mission and vision as a cultural ambassador.

Redmond was appointed as poet laureate in August 1976 by then East St. Louis Mayor, Dr. William Mason. Redmonds poet laureateship was among the earliest known to have been conferred by a U.S. municipality. It was also in 1976 that Doubleday published Redmonds critical history, Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry.

Redmond is an award-winning author and editor of several dozen books, journals and anthologies. As literary executor of the estate of Henry Dumas (1934-1968), and in collaboration with writers such as Amiri Baraka and Toni Morrison, he has edited several volumes of Dumas works. Redmond won a Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses (1976). In 1986, after he returned home to East St. Louis, a group of local writers, scholars and artists established the EBR Writers Club in his honor.

Further examples of Redmonds accomplishments include his winning a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Pan-African Movement USA, a Sterling Brown Award from the African American Section of the American Literature Association (ALA), two American Book Awards (1993/2012) and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from SIUE (2008), his alma mater. He retired from SIUE in 2007.
DES MOINES --- The polls seem to agree on Chuck Grassleys lead in his re-election bid.

A new Quinnipiac University poll published Thursday shows Grassley, Iowas longtime Republican U.S. Senator, with a lead of 9 percentage points over Democratic challenger Patty Judge.

In a survey of 846 likely Iowa voters conducted Aug. 8 through Tuesday, 51 percent said they plan to vote for Grassley and 42 percent said they plan to vote for Judge. The margin of error was 3.4 percentage points.

That lead is consistent with what other polls have shown on the Senate race in Iowa.

In five of the six most recent polls tracked by Real Clear Politics, Grassleys leads over Judge were between 7 and 10 percentage points.

The lone outlier is a Loras College poll from late June that showed Grassley leading by just 1 percentage point.

Iowans have known, liked and voted for Sen. Chuck Grassley for decades. Thats why he appears in strong position to avoid the kind of down-ballot bloodletting that may hurt some Republicans in other states who are not as well attuned to the views and values of their home base, Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a news release.

Brown said Grassley is faring better than some other Republican candidates because Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president, is faring better in Iowa than other states.

In Quinnipiac poll results published Wednesday, Trump trailed Democrat Hillary Clinton by just 3 percentage points. That is much closer than in some other election battleground states; for example, Clinton leads Trump by double digits in Colorado and Virginia, according to recent Quinnipiac polls there.

Sen. Grassleys chances for re-election also are helped by the fact that Donald Trump is running better in Iowa against Hillary Clinton than Trump is in many other states, Brown said.

In Quinnipiacs poll on Iowa, Grassley and Judge both have strong support from within their respective parties, but Grassley leads by 20 percentage points among no-party voters, 57 percent to 37 percent.
WALLINGFORD  A northern Iowa teens joke presidential bid as Deez Nuts recently outpolled a Green Party candidate in Texas.

Three percent of the 944 likely Texas voters told Public Policy Polling last week that they would vote for Deez Nuts  the campaign moniker for Wallingford teen Brady Olson  in a race that also involved Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.

Trump garnered most support of the group, 47 percent, with 38 percent saying they would vote for Clinton.

Two percent said theyd rather vote for Harambe, a gorilla shot to death in May after a boy fell in his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Olson, 16, filed for the presidency at the urging of his younger brother, Tyson, who was 12 at the time.

Another question in the poll released this week asked who voters would support in a race involving Trump, Clinton, Libertarian Gary Johnson, Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Independent Evan McMullin.

Trump earned 44 percent support, Clinton 38 percent and Gary Johnson had 6 percent. The final two candidates, Stein and McMullin, a former CIA agent, each got less support than Deez Nuts.

Two percent of respondents said theyd vote for Stein. McMullin had zero percent.

At the height of the Deez Nuts campaigns popularity, 9 percent of North Carolina residents questioned by Public Policy Polling said theyd vote for Deez Nuts rather than Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Olson could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday on the Texas poll numbers.
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Linkedin Ati Nurbaiti Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

China continues its checkbook diplomacy, boosted by no-strings-attached commitments to business. Thus the nation of some 1.36 billion has gained enough clout to continually dismiss the international arbitration court, which ruled last month that Chinas territorial claim in the South China Sea was baseless.

However, although its charms lie beyond money, unfortunately China is dampening its own soft power when acting brazenly against neighbors, like bumping into our fishing boats, declaring traditional fishing grounds, while anyones ancestral claims in the seas could overlap those of others, as well as stating that it is continuing to build facilities and conduct military exercises to secure peace in the South China Sea.

The US may stand accused of double standards for bashing China over The Hagues ruling, since it hasnt even ratified the UN Convention of the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).

But smaller nations, like Indonesia, look to UNCLOS and the international court to assert globally recognized rights over their surrounding waters.

Chinas actions and rhetoric are provoking its neighbors resentful patriotism, leading to what they fear  the potential obstruction of Chinas vast New Silk Road project; its one belt one road plan to cover highways, railways and industrial belts from northwest China to the rest of Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Russia.

This 21st century Maritime Silk Road will link Chinese ports with Europe via the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific Ocean. The project map, covering some 40 nations, including Indonesia and much tense territory, shows why China is courting just about everyone possible.

China might be waging that its money and charms will win over allies while resisting US-led bullies  mainly to appease the domestic nationalistic audience, many of whom protested the July 12 ruling.

As the Chinese dont act like pushy American and Western donors, their appeal indeed includes non-interference. But Chinas soft power has also been its increasing credibility.

The Chinese deliver, said an editor during a media cooperation forum held just a few weeks after The Hague ruling by the Peoples Daily, the mouthpiece of Chinas Communist Party. Another said that, to the Nepalese, China was more reliable in realizing the long-awaited hydropower plants for Nepals energy than India.

Second, the Chinese showed they were learning.

Embarrassing reports, like the Chinese restaurateur in New York who tried to bribe a health inspector, were declining, researchers said, as the Chinese seemed to try to adhere to the standards of the countries where they do business.

Third, China is shedding its copycat image  not only producing better fakes, as the tycoon Jack Ma boasted  but also becoming innovative. In Beijing we enjoyed heavily subsidized Uber fares, just until the local ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing took over.

The top social media app, WeChat, where the Chinese chat, shop, hail rides and conduct many other activities, recorded a phenomenal purchase of 32.1 billion virtual angpao, or red cash envelopes, during Februarys Chinese New Year, reports said.

Chinese companies investing from west to east and winning over local consumers from foreign rivals, who rightly or wrongly complain of discrimination, are only part of Chinas attraction.

Yet soft power needs sustained credibility. The Donald, for instance, has Trumped Uncle Sams preaching of democracy and human rights.

To stop ruining our own image and credibility, we first need to realize the problem. The Peoples Daily editors invited input from Asian colleagues in a bid to forge consensus, apparently to better smoothen the New Silk Road.

Learning from Indonesia, the Chinese media can avoid repeating our mistakes in forging harmony under the New Order  so much so that we shocked ourselves when communal conflicts broke out. Thousands were killed; belatedly we realized simmering discontent in those harmonious lands, which might not have been exposed for fear of job losses and media shutdowns.

The media in many nations, including Indonesia, still face the challenge of honest reporting and the ability of sources speaking up without fear.

Beijings media gathering took place not long after the authorities reportedly blocked a news website that was often critical of the government. Even the Peoples Daily editors said they often coaxed the government to understand that publishing bad news was inevitable; how long could one ignore angry parents with kids suffering from pollution?

The forum closed with agreements between the Peoples Daily and media organizations from Egypt, Portugal, Spain, Kenya, as well as Reuters and others, particularly on content sharing on the New Silk Road. Sharing the projects coverage could make more people aware of the potential, affordable access to new travel destinations and business opportunities, among other things.

But uncensored coverage should also help anticipate problems. The earlier controversy around the Jakarta-Bandung express railway, just a few hours drive with no need for the costly project awarded to China after Japan was sure it would get the job, was just one example of the issue of trust, of Indonesians toward their government and toward China.

But if China can better abide by regional sensitivities, Indonesia might be a more willing business partner  at least to gain better connectivity through part of Admiral Cheng Hos voyage around the archipelago.

_____________________________________

The writer, a journalist with The Jakarta Post, was among speakers at the Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road in Beijing from July 25 to 27, following an invitation from the Peoples Daily.
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Linkedin Teguh Wijaya Mulya (The Jakarta Post) Auckland  Thu, August 18, 2016

After a series of symposiums in 2010-2014, 160 young, reputable doctoral graduates affiliated with the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) published a document called SAINS45: Indonesian Scientific Agenda. Outlining 45 scientific questions within eight problem areas, the document provides guidelines for Indonesian researchers and policymakers, particularly toward commemorating Indonesias centennial in 2045.

The first question within the first area (identity, diversity and culture) asks: What makes Indonesia Indonesia? Based on a premise that the meaning of being Indonesian is always in flux, this question invites researchers to explore various narratives of Indonesian-ness.

Prior to 1945, Indonesian-ness was associated with political mobilization against foreign colonizers. After independence, the identity became a political-ideological project directed toward economic prosperity and the stability of the ruling regime.

Considering its new context (post-reformation democracy, regional decentralization and global mobility and interconnectedness), SAINS45 endorses research with a focus on Indonesian identity in terms of the characters and behaviors of Indonesian people, not political and economic projects (p. 34). Specifically, it urges Indonesian researchers to understand and build a comprehensive collection of the beliefs, values, thoughts, characters and behaviors of Indonesian people.

While this call for defining Indonesian-ness in contemporary contexts is timely and important, there might be some issues worth considering in relation to this agenda.

First, such an agenda might not be completely apolitical, as SAINS45 expects, but still underpinned by political and economic motives, that is, identity and culture as a commodity and resource for enhancing political-economic control.

What is different now is the nature and operation of power. It is akin to what postmodern philosopher Michel Foucault called the disciplinary or modern power. Modern power does not control or dominate people as opposed to premodern rulers use of violence to conquer and control the people. Instead, the people are managed, regulated and normalized in ways that support existing power relations.

Through institutions like schools, churches, hospitals, factories and families, the people are transformed into and kept in healthy and happy family units, ready to work productively and serve the interests of capitalist society. To this end, understanding the people becomes a means of political control. We need to know them before we can effectively manage, plan for and regulate them.

SAINS45 itself indicates this political deployment of identity. It states: understanding Indonesian identity would make planning the future of Indonesia easier to do, while failure to do so might impede national development, and result in social conflicts and disintegration (p. 34). These efforts are aimed to develop harmonious lives and bring happiness to Indonesian individuals, it adds (p. 35).

Second, we might need to examine closely ideas that have given rise to SAINS45s call to define Indonesian-ness.

Besides the 17 members of its committee, eight problem areas and 45 questions, which represent Indonesias date of independence (Aug. 17, 1945), the very question of what makes Indonesia itself demonstrates an explicit focus on national identity building. Concerns around disintegration, decentralization, ideological conflict based on identity, national development, collective identity and the essence of Indonesian-ness are salient in this SAINS45 document.

While a discourse of nationalism enables an appearance of closure or unity, which is politically crucial for maintaining Indonesia as a nation state, it also constrains other ways of seeing, thinking and doing. For instance, it (re)produces an us and them attitude with regards to globalization, resulting in an unquestionable policymaking priority on national prosperity instead of a fair and just global world.

In times of crisis, rather than finding alternatives to the zero-sum nature of the global economic game, the focus is lets save ourselves. Care and compassion are then limited to fellow Indonesians, which to a certain degree, might less-humanize others. A dominant discourse of nationalism could reduce our humanness into Indonesian-ness.

The third concern regarding this attempt to define our Indonesian-ness surrounds the mechanisms of identity politics operating underneath it.

In order to recognize and protect the rights of diverse groups of people, their identities must first be understood, defined and specified  this is the logic of identity politics. The problem with this mechanism is that there are always people who do not feel related to and thus are left out by those definitions and specifications, however complex and comprehensive those descriptions of identities are.

While SAINS45 notes that articulating Indonesian identity must be conducted with respect to the extraordinary diversity of Indonesia (p. 34), it also seeks to identify core beliefs, moral foundation and collective wisdom which unify us (p. 35). There is a possibility that in our attempts to define Indonesian-ness we might purport to acknowledge differences, while at the same time pinpoint what it means to be Indonesian only to some limited representations of our diverse ways of being.

To describe what it means to be Papuan as a part of Indonesia, for instance, might not always be relevant to all Papuans considering the diversity and complexity of the relationship between Papua and Indonesia. Our project of inclusion could become a means of exclusion.

To conclude, defining our Indonesian-ness might enable the recognition of the diversity of our identities and cultures to a certain degree. At the same time, such ambition inevitably simplifies the irreducible complexities of our ways of being Indonesian. Understanding the diversity of our identities might improve national strategic planning and policymaking, but simultaneously, it enhances powers grip upon our lives.

Perhaps a more important project toward more democratic, humane and diverse Indonesian lives is to continuously resist, rework and recreate whatever theorizations those researchers came up with to articulate our identities, in ways that address inequalities, oppression and injustices. In so doing we would encourage radical diversity, that is, a proliferation of new ways of being Indonesians, and being humans.

***

The writer is a lecturer at the University of Surabaya and a PhD student at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

---------------

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Julia Suryakusuma (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

Dont you love birthday celebrations? Well, in mid-August there are two very special birthdays. One falls on the 15th and the other on the 17th, one was born in 1947, the other in 1945, so, 69 and 71 respectively.



Spring chickens  for countries that is, because of course Im talking about India and Indonesia. One happens to be my country of birth, and the other my country of citizenship.



Yup, I was born in India, as my parents happened to be posted at the Indonesian Embassy in Delhi two weeks before I popped out into the world. But its not for that reason that I am intrigued by the two amazing countries and the enduring engagement they have with each other.



Would you believe that they had a connection before they were born? If you mark their declaration of independence as a kind of birth that is. But in fact they are both old civilizations that have existed as entities for millennia, engaging in maritime trade, cultural and intellectual exchange. For example, during the Sriwijaya Kingdom period (between the seventh and 13th centuries) many Indonesians studied at Nalanda University in India. Well, I never!



Lets face it: India is our mother culture: we got the Ramayana, Hinduism, Buddhism from India, Islam through Gujarati traders, and even our name. Yessiree!



The name Indonesia (which dates to the 18th century) is derived from the LatinIndus (India) and the Greek nesos (island) due to the similarity in the two nations culture. The Indonesian language has so many loanwords derived from Sanskrit. I owe not just my birth, but also my family name  which means sunflower  to the Indians. Secretly, Im a proud Indian, but ssshh dont tell anyone!



India and Indonesia are like siblings who grew up separately, but under similar circumstances. Both had to endure a long struggle against a foreign occupation, which was often vicious and brutal, which took centuries to overcome.



In a way colonialism interrupted the relationship, but on the other hand it also strengthened it because of the common fate they had to endure. Freedom fighters of both countries were in touch and got inspiration from each other.



A fascinating anthology Me Sambal, You Chutney, written by Amol Titus, an Indian expat who has lived in Indonesia since 1998, includes a play entitled Air Visioner (see Me Sambal, You Chutney: discovering Indonesia, India connections through literature, The Jakarta Post, June 6, 2016).



Titus starts with an inspiring prologue about how the founding fathers of the two countries egged each other on to sow the seeds not just of independence, but also democracy.



In 1955, Indonesia hosted the Bandung Conference, which spearheaded the non-aligned movement, of which India was a strong supporter. Well, at least until the late 1950s. Then the Cold War evolved and India went into a more socialistic closed-economy framework during which time the Indian economy performed badly.



Then in 1992, a lot of things happened: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War, the oil crisis and the disintegration of the USSR, which was a partner to India. They had what was called a ruble-rupee trade, which like the USSR, disintegrated, and the Indian economy went into a tailspin. They had no choice but to open up the economy and were forced into the global market. It took 10 years before India saw any returns, but when things started improving, Indians who had left, causing a brain drain, began to return.



The Sukarno regime also closed its doors to foreign investment and aid, but that changed when Soeharto came into power in 1966. While authoritarian politically, the Soeharto regime opened its doors wide open to foreign investment, making its Western-assisted, capital-intensive, growth oriented economic achievements a principal foundation of their legitimacy.



But hey, thats in the past. Whatever its ups and downs, now India and Indonesia are recognized as the first-and fourth-largest democracies in the world, albeit still very much works in progress.



They face the same challenges of infrastructure, poor logistics, corruption, poverty and class disparities, energy problems, ethnic and religious tensions, and the need to greatly develop their health and education sectors.



What can the two countries learn from each other? There are three areas where India has a clear advantage.



The first is software and technology. Indians have a knack for mechanical, technical and mathematical stuff so when the software revolution happened 20 years ago, suddenly Indians found their niche. A striking achievement: from 1976 to 2016, India has launched 84 satellites. Approaching 2000 and the Millennium bug scare, Indians were able to cash in.



Indian software engineers were at the forefront of solving the problem. These things helped in building up their reputation.



It took a while but they never looked back and now India can compete internationally in the high-tech sector.



The second is education. Nehru placed a big emphasis on education and set up the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), which is heavily subsidized. In this way India was never short of engineers. Graduates end up on Wall Street in the Silicon Valley, the UN, etc. India also has global level scholars and created an entire academic literature on subaltern studies. But the pro-education mentality is across the board: parents would give an arm-and-a-leg so that their kids could attain a good education.



The third is democracy. Sure, its pretty chaotic, messy and full of scandals in both countries, but the difference is that the moderates in India have a loud voice. There is a level of debate that doesnt exist in Indonesia. In Indonesia, with some exceptions, the moderates usually fall into the category of the silent majority.



Indonesia has nothing close to what India has achieved in terms of gaining a global reputation. So is there anything that India can learn from Indonesia?



Yes, according to Titus. They can learn social skills from Indonesians. In the realm of politics in Indonesia, there are fewer personal attacks against politicians. Indonesians are more respectful and restrained, and are better at consensus building.



Perhaps Indians could learn more from Indonesians if the latter made its presence felt more in India. The Indian Embassy has a Festival of India on a regular basis, but I dont think Indonesia has an equivalent in India.



So how about it, Ambassador Rizali Indrakesuma? Maybe you could pioneer a Festival of Indonesia in India someday? And while youre at it, get Indonesians to invest in India and take advantage of their growing economy, the way Indian companies are doing here?



***

The writer is the author of Julias Jihad.

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Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Fri, August 19, 2016

Manpower Minister M. Hanif Dhakiri has asserted that illegal foreign workers and foreign workers who violate labor rules will be immediately deported from Indonesian territory.

Hanif asked people to report to the local manpower offices should they find illegal foreign workers or those who are violating the rules. Further action includes sending copies of the reports to provincial-level manpower offices and the Manpower Ministry so that the ministry can directly take firm action.

"If people see [illegal foreign workers or those violating the rules], please report it, and well have them deported immediately. If we ourselves in the government find illegal foreign workers, well also promptly have them sent home," said Hanif prior to a meeting with House of Representatives Commission IX in Jakarta on July 19.

Hanif said the government could not stop foreign workers coming into the country as many countries around the world employed foreign workers. What is important is how the government reacts to the issue.

We dont question the fact that they are coming into Indonesia; we are concerned about their being illegal or violating our rules. If they are here illegally or have violated our rules, we wont hesitate to send them home immediately Its that simple, he said.

The minister dismissed the notion that an influx of foreign workers, particularly as has been rumored from China, was a prerequisite for foreign investment. He said that for each business cooperation agreement each country had its own regulations.

Hanif believes that the public shouldn't be too worried, as foreign employee regulations in Indonesia are quite strict. All the rules involving foreign workers have been outlined in Manpower Ministry Ministerial Decree No. 16/2015.

"In Indonesia we have strict rules related to foreign workers. There are competency requirements, and technology transfers, for example. Basically, only those with skills can come and work here, he said.

As long as foreign workers are here legally and are not in violation of the law, then there are no problems. If their presence is illegal and violates regulations, then there is no need to mince words. We will take action. We will kick them out!, the minister said.



Data on Foreign Workers

The minister said in the period of 2011-2016, there had been only a minor fluctuation. Data from the ministry reveals there were 77,307 expatriate workers in 2011, 72,427 in 2012, 68,957 in 2013, 68,762 in 2014, 69,025 workers in 2015. And until the end of the first half of 2016 there were 43,816 foreign workers in the country.

Hanif asserted that the data the ministry had were valid and accountable and the foreign workers met the requirements, including entry and work permits.

"We have complete data, along with their names. So, it is not true that 10 million Chinese workers are ready to enter the country. Even on social media, the rumors said it was only hearsay. I cannot respond to hearsay, he said.

Hanif explained further that foreign workers could only occupy certain limited posts with specific skills, the lowest being an engineer or a technician. Unskilled workers have no place here and having them here is a violation. And we will take action against any violation, including deportation, he said.



Foreign workers wanting to work in Indonesia have to meet all requirements including having work and stay permits, and they must already have obtained all permits before entering the country. Besides, none of the permits can be obtained individually; the companies that hire them must take care of obtaining these permits.

So, it is not true that there are 10 million Chinese workers entering Indonesia. Maybe the number comes from Tourism Ministry data, he said



Based on the collected data, the Manpower Ministry reported that the total target of international tourists visiting Indonesia in 2016 was around 12 million people. The target will increase every year, with the target for 2017 being 15 million tourists, 17 million in 2018, and 20 million tourists in 2019. Of the total target, tourist numbers from Greater China (China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) are expected to amount to 10.7 million people, with 2.1 million in 2016, 2.5 million in 2017, 2.8 million in 2018 and 3.3 million in 2019.



So, its clear that the number [10 million Chinese workers] is an insinuation or a provocative figure. Even the number of expected tourists from Greater China doesnt reach that figure, Hanif stated.
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Linkedin Masajeng Rahmiasri (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

Fans of Ada Apa Dengan Cinta 2 (AADC 2) can rejoice as a special DVD box set for the film is set to be released on Friday.

Created by Miles Films and Navirindo, the box set will be sold exclusively through online marketplace Elevenia with 3,000 copies available in the first batch, according to a report by Antara news agency.

I'm very excited to share this box set with fans of the movie who want to collect these items, as well as people who haven't been able to watch AADC 2 because there are no movie theaters in their city, producer Mira Lesmana said in an official statement.

(Read also: 'Ada Apa Dengan Cinta?': 14 years later)

The box set will include signed photos of the actors, a polo shirt, a notebook and a booklet. A shawl worn by Cinta (Dian Sastro) is also available as special merchandise for ten lucky winners.

With this special edition and its added value, hopefully we'll be able to minimize DVD piracy in Indonesia, said Elevenia's GM partnership and promotion, Anggita Vela Lydia. (kes)

(Read also: Ada Apa dengan Cinta 2: Long-awaited sequel doesnt disappoint)
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Linkedin (Associated Press) Nashville, Tennessee, United States  Thu, August 18, 2016

Country star Blake Shelton apologized on Twitter for offending people with his language, but denied being hateful after several old tweets referencing gays and non-English speakers surfaced online.

Screenshots of years-old tweets posted on his Twitter account, which he controls, prompted criticism online that "The Voice" judge was sexist to women and stereotyped gay people and non-English speakers.

(Read also: Leslie Jones, under hateful barrage on Twitter, fights back)

Shelton posted a note Wednesday saying he has no tolerance for hate of any kind, but said that his humor could be at times "inappropriate and immature." A representative for Shelton did not immediately return an email seeking clarification and a Twitter spokesperson said they don't comment about individual accounts.

Gay rights organization GLAAD asked him in 2011 to apologize for a tweet they called a joke about anti-gay violence.
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Linkedin Andi Hajramurni (The Jakarta Post) Makassar  Thu, August 18, 2016

As many as 3,344 adult and child prisoners in South Sulawesi received sentence remissions on Indonesias 71st Independence Day. They are currently serving sentences in nine penitentiaries, 15 state detention houses and one military correctional facility across the province.

Of the total, 150 inmates were released immediately after receiving their sentence remissions on Wednesday. They were all convicted of general crimes.

An inmate identified as Efendi, 36, said he was happy and grateful for receiving a sentence remission. Todays Independence Day celebration means a lot to me because I received a one-month remission. Im free now. I thank God because I can reunite with my family and go back to work, he told The Jakarta Post at the Class I Gunungsari prison in Makassar on Wednesday. The construction worker was sentenced to eight months in prison for attacking people.

Sahabuddin Kilkodo, the head of the Law and Human Rights Ministry in South Sulawesi, explained that the 3,344 inmates had received sentence remissions of between one and six months.

Sahabuddin said his office had also submitted sentence remission requests for special crime convicts, such as those serving time for corruption, terrorism, human trafficking and money laundering. Most of them were sentenced to more than five years in prison. However, he said the requests had not yet been approved by the Law and Human Rights Ministry in Jakarta.

We have proposed sentence remissions for 237 inmates convicted of special crimes but until today, there has been no decree from the law and human rights minister [Yasonna Laoly], said Sahabuddin. (ebf)
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan  Thu, August 18 2016

Activists and journalists are preparing to file lawsuits against the Air Force for violence against residents and two journalists during a protest in Sari Rejo, Medan, North Sumatra.

Hundreds of Air Force personnel were caught on camera using violence against Sari Rejo residents who had blocked the road and set tires on fire in front of state high school SMA No. 2 on Jl. Adi Sucipto on Monday.

The violence was captured by CCTV camera belonging to Al-Hasanah Mosque on Jl. Teratai.

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Linkedin Ina Parlina, Tama Salim and Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18 2016

ASEAN and China are on track to expedite the drafting and implementation of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) as a senior officials meeting (SOM) on Tuesday approved a guideline for temporary measures of engagement in the disputed waters.

ASEAN and China have agreed on a draft joint statement to enforce the Code of Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) in the hotly contested South China Sea (SCS), Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi revealed, ahead of further talks to speed up the drafting of the code.

The meeting, held in Chinas Inner Mongolia region and cochaired by China and Singapore, also approved a guideline for an emergency communications hotline for senior foreign ministry officials from China and ASEAN. The guideline is set to be launched at this years ASEAN Summit and related meetings in Laos.

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Linkedin Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18 2016

A number of children lined up impatiently in front of crackers hung with cotton rope while an organizer called their names one by one during a competition to celebrate Indonesias 71st Independence Day in the Bukit Duri subdistrict of South Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon.

The road was turned into a field and became noisy as friends, parents, siblings and neighbors shouted, giving support to the children competing in the makan kerupuk (eating crackers) game.

The celebration of this years Independence Day was tainted by the fact that it could be the last one for Bukit Duri residents, who are set to be evicted and relocated next month.

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LISBON  Representatives of Iowa railroads pressed U.S. Rep. Rod Blum for a permanent extension of a tax credit they said short lines use for maintenance and safety enhancements.

Class I railroads  the larger lines, spend tens of millions dollars each year on rail line maintenance, Phil Meraz of the Iowa Department of Transportation told Blum during his visit to HiRAILs plant in Lisbon on Thursday.

We have a variety of sources not available to short line railroads, Jim Kvedaras, government affairs director for CN said in support of the credit.

Short lines use the tax credit for maintaining rail, ties and bridges, said Cory Hoffmann of Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway (CRANDIC). Short lines, which are defined by their revenue, not miles of track or tons of freight, connect local shippers, ag suppliers, food processors and manufacturers to main lines.

They hook us up in a global economy, said Sean Winkler of the Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association.

Blum heard similar reports from the Iowa Interstate and Iowa Northern, which operate some of the 3,850 miles of rail line in Iowa. Much of the freight they haul, Onna Houck of Iowa Interstate said, is ethanol. She told Blum that 10 years ago corn and beans accounted for 70 percent of its freight. With growth in the production of ethanol and its by-products, corn and beans amount to 17 percent of Iowa Interstates freight.

More specific to HiRAIL, Blum was told more funding is needed to improve safety at the nations 250,000 rail crossings, including about 4,300 in Iowa.

The state gets about $1.1 million a year in Section 130 Fixing Americas Surface Transportation (FAST) Act funds for the elimination of hazards at railway-highway crossings on state roads, Meraz said. The state has been putting in between $4 million and $5 million a year into a state program that supports similar improvements on local roads. Still, he said, the DOT has applications for $35 million in assistance.

Blum then toured HiRAIL, which was founded in 1983. It manufactures 100 percent rubber railroad grade crossing systems. For over 25 years, HiRAIL has used recycled rubber truck tires as the base material for its products. HiRAIL has seven employees at its Lisbon plant and staffs sales offices from Canada to Mexico.
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Linkedin Bambang Nurbianto (The Jakarta Post) Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia  Thu, August 18, 2016

The International Peat Society (IPS) has said that the 15th International Peat Congress in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia at which many results of new research were presented, may change the perception of environmentalists about the negative impact of cultivation on peatland areas.

A member of the IPS executive board Moritz Bocking said much of the new research showed that the agricultural development of peatland areas, such as by oil palm plantations, did not necessarily have a negative impact on the environment.

We hope that more scientists from this region will be more active in conducting research on this issue. We will have a roundtable with NGOs. The IPS will arrange it, Bocking told a press conference on the sidelines of the congress on Thursday.

Environmental activists have long criticized the development of oil palm plantations in peatland areas, arguing that it negatively affects the environment causing land subsidence and the significant release of carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warning.

But palm oil companies argue that such claims are only made to prevent the development of palm oil, which is tough a competitor to other oils like soya bean and sunflower oil that are developed in the US and European countries.

In response to the environmentalists view, Basuki Sumawinata, an expert on land science from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), said experience of Sarawak oil palm plantations in peatland areas where the peatland was compacted before being planted showed that land subsidence did not happen.

At the same time the fear of significant carbon release during the cultivation process on the peatland is not proven because the peatland remains intact. Meanwhile, the oil palm trees even help to absorb CO2 from the air, Busuki said.

The three-day peat congress attended by nearly 1,000 participants from 30 countries closed on Thursday. (bbn)
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

Education experts and practitioners have urged Culture and Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy to take a firm stance in promoting a policy of zero tolerance of violence at school.

University of Indonesia professor of sociology, Kamanto Sunarto, said on Thursday Muhadjir's controversial statement that harsh punishment could be applied at school "to some extent" in order to discipline students, could serve as a bad precedent especially since the minister had a crucial role as a senior figure in the education sector.

"We don't want teachers to feel that they are backed by the minister when they inflict corporal punishment. The minister should uphold the law [on childrens protection] without any compromise or tolerance," Kamanto said.

He asserted that the Culture and Education Ministry should guide teachers to seek a better approach to encouraging students to be disciplined without having to resort to violence. It was also a way to teach students not to bully their classmates.

Fidella Anandhita of the Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar (Indonesia Teaching Movement) concurred, saying the minister should instruct teachers to apply a positive disciplinary approach that did not teach children to obey by force, but instead through the consequences and consistency that were needed in their everyday lives, for example, telling them that they simply could not attend the class if they were late.
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Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Badung, Bali  Thu, August 18, 2016

Foreign inmates at Kerobokan Penitentiary looked enthusiastic as they attended a flag- raising ceremony to commemorate the 71st anniversary of Indonesias independence on Wednesday. They did not seem to mind standing for around 50 minutes in sweltering heat.

I have been living in Bali for 10 years. Im half Balinese. Im happy to participate in Independence Day celebrations, said Australian inmate Eric Bevan Gillet, who was sentenced to two years in prison for fraud.

Having lived in Bali for several years, Gillet said it was not his first time taking part in an Independence Day celebration. I have attended such events many times, said the Australian, who received one-month remission on Independence Day.

Two Bangladeshis, Rashedul Islam and Habibur Rahman, were among foreign inmates attending the flag-raising ceremony at Kerobokan. Sentenced to eight months in prison for using fake passports, Islam and Rahman had been given one-and-a-half months remission each, with Independence Day marking their release.

"I am so happy. I will go back to my country and run my cell phone business there," Habibur said after the ceremony.

Kerobokan warden Slamet Prihantara said it was not compulsory for foreign inmates to attend the ceremony. "We never force them to attend this event," he said.

Fourteen foreign inmates in penitentiaries across Bali received sentence remissions of between one month and six months on Independence Day. (ebf)
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

A controversial plan by Culture and Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy to extend elementary and high school hours had the possibility of worsening the cycle of violence at schools, a teacher association warned on Thursday.

"With violence, such as bullying and harsh punishment, at school not being addressed properly, a full-day school day would only exacerbate the problem," the Federation of Indonesian Teachers Associations (FSGI) secretary-general Retno Listyarti said on Thursday.

A study by childrens rights organization Plan International reveals that seven out of 10 students experience violence at school, while 84 percent of the bullied do not report the incidents to parents or teachers because of pressure from their peers, Retno said, adding that the cycle was completed when the victims turned into attackers once they became seniors at school.

She went on to criticize Muhadjir, who said he had used European state schools as a benchmark for his plan, saying that Indonesian state schools could not be compared to those overseas that had comprehensive curricula, complete facilities and supervision mechanisms to support their education systems.

Muhadjir was of the opinion that the full-day school system would stop students from spending their days engaged in wasteful activities.
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Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

The government launched on Thursday a pilot project in Jakarta to distribute social assistance via electronic banking facilities at four state-owned banks. In this project, the government will no longer use cash transactions in distributing the benefits of the Prosperous Family Card (KKS) to its holders.

The Social Affairs Ministry launched the e-delivery pilot project in Kampung Rawa, Johar Baru, Central Jakarta.

Jakarta is the seventh city to try out this pilot project. Earlier, the ministry launched similar pilot projects in three cities in East Java, namely Malang, Sidoarjo, and Mojokerto, Makassar in South Sulawesi, Padang in West Sumatra and Surakarta in Central Java.

On Thursday, the government also launched e-Warong, an official grocery store designed to serve social assistance beneficiaries. All commodities offered by the shop will be supplied by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Agus Martowodojo said the non-cash social assistance delivery was in line with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's instruction, in which he wanted benefits for all social assistance card programs to be distributed in non-cash form so they could be directly received by the beneficiaries.

"All local administrations should also implement the non-cash distribution system," he said.

Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa said the ministry would expand the pilot project to several others cities, including Boyolali and Semarang in Central Java and Palembang in South Sumatra.

"The response to this pilot project has been incredible. Many regents and mayors have requested that this pilot project be implemented in their regions," she said. (ebf)
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

The government has signaled that it may allow dual citizenship in the future, considering the growing role of the Indonesian diaspora, which could benefit the country, a top minister says.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said the country should pay more attention and provide better opportunities to its citizens abroad, those who had settled overseas, to return to Indonesia and fulfill their ambitions to develop Indonesia from within.

"Don't argue over regulations that we can still amend. What's more important is that we have the best Indonesians working with future generations to make our country better," Luhut said on Wednesday.

The statement follows the controversy surrounding former energy and mineral resources minister Arcandra Tahar, who was recently dismissed by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo from his position for allegedly holding dual US-Indonesian citizenship.

There are many Indonesians living abroad in the US, European countries, as well as Australia, who would like to come back to contribute for the benefit of the country, Luhut said, adding that 24 Indonesian professors had settled down in the US, but had expressed interest in returning to the country.

Earlier in 2015, Jokowi promised that his administration would seek ways to allow Indonesian citizens and their families living abroad to hold dual citizenship. The President was urged to immediately amend Law No. 12/2006 on citizenship, which currently does not allow citizens to hold dual citizenship. (dmr)
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Linkedin Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

The government has promised slightly higher economic growth in 2017 amid a challenging global situation and slow economic recovery.



Realistic, credible and sustainable were three words that President Joko Jokowi Widodo highlighted when he spoke in front of lawmakers at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.



The annual event saw Jokowi deliver the 2017 state budget, which he said would become a fiscal instrument to support poverty eradication, disparity reduction and job creation.



To support them, the upcoming APBN [state budget] needs to be realistic, able to uphold priority programs, credible, resilient and sustainable, whether in a short or medium period, he said.



He went on to explain three key policies contained in the budget, namely a taxation policy that will support economic movement, a spending policy that will put an emphasis on productive and priority spending and a financial policy to improve resilience and risk management by maintaining deficit and debt ratio.



The speech seemed to be designed to regain peoples trust and confidence about the future on the back of the slow realization of the 2016 state budget, low tax revenue collection, public disputes among the Presidents aides and Cabinet reshuffles due to the unsatisfactory performance of ministers.



The cash-strapped administration has so far failed to achieve its economic targets since 2014. Last year the economy only expanded by an annual 4.8 percent, the lowest in the past six years.



For 2017, it promises 5.3 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP), slightly higher than the 5.2 percent growth forecast for 2016.



It believes global economic improvement and effects from this years implementation of economic packages will help achieve the growth target, despite smaller revenue and spending outlooks.



In taxation, the government claims ongoing tax amnesty and law enforcement programs can help widen the tax base, and at the same time, it plans to offer more consumer- and investor-friendly taxation policies.



Meanwhile, in terms of spending, Jokowi laid out six priorities, including infrastructure development and interregional connectivity, improvement in goods expenditure and more accurate subsidy disbursements.



The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry  which deals with most infrastructure projects  is slated to obtain the largest spending allocation again with Rp 105.6 trillion (US$8.1 billion), higher than the Rp 97.1 trillion earmarked this year.



Some of the infrastructure projects targeted in the 2017 state budget include the construction of 815 kilometers of roads, 9,399 kilometers of bridges and 14 new airports.



At the end of his speech, the President acknowledged that his administration was still taking a guided expansive fiscal policy to increase production capacity with a 2.41 percent budget deficit of GDP.



After the event, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati reaffirmed the governments plans. The government will continue to improve tax collection without shrinking economic activities, she told journalists at a press briefing at the Taxation Directorate General.



Meanwhile, Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, who was present at the briefing, said the government wanted to convey a message that it was optimistic the economy would not slow down even though the global economy was experiencing a decline.



Kenta Institute economist Eric Sugandi and Bank Mandiri chief economist Anton Gunawan welcomed the governments efforts to maintain an expansive fiscal policy to boost economic growth. The multiplier effect of government spending wont be big, but it will be in line with next years growth assumption, Anton said.



Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairman Hariyadi B. Sukamdani said the proposed 2017 state budget was positive as the government had realized that this years budget was overly optimistic.

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Linkedin Veeramalla Anjaiah (The Jakarta Post)  Thu, August 18 2016

From Aceh to Papua and Malang to Manado, millions of people on Wednesday were soaked in patriotic fervor to celebrate the 71st anniversary of Indonesias independence.



Across the country, even at sea, children, adults and the elderly attended flag-hoisting ceremonies in the morning and later participated in various traditional games, which were filled with fun more than competition.



Kites were flown and richly decorated boats set sail in many places of the archipelago.



There were enthralling dance performances by students and professional dancers in villages, towns and cities.



Children were joyful for the whole day, participating in numerous activities.



Indonesia proclaimed its independence on Aug. 17, 1945 and fiercely defended its freedom from the Dutch colonial masters.



We may have differences in terms of race, religion, ethnicity and language, but when it comes to national unity, we all are one nation.





Even after 71 years of independence, millions of people still face problems of poverty, unemployment, poor health or education and a lack of infrastructure.



Putting aside their differences and difficulties, both poor and rich came together to celebrate Independence Day.



Every one of us loves our country and is ready to defend it and give our best for the motherland. That spirit was clearly reflected in this years Independence Day celebrations.



Long live Indonesia!

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Linkedin Adam Rizky Nugroho (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini is considered a possible rival to incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahja Purnama in the 2017 gubernatorial election.

Many consider the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) member the only possible candidate to compete face-to-face with Ahok.

Reigning over Indonesia's second-largest city for six years, Risma has transformed the formally drab city of Surabaya into a well-managed green metropolis. The capital of East Java has become more prosperous in terms of economic growth. How did Risma make it possible?

Risma became the mayor of Surabaya on Sept. 28, 2010, succeeding Bambang Dwi Hartono who is now her deputy. The 54-year-old leader is the first directly elected mayor of Surabaya.

Trade, hotels and restaurants are major contributors to the city's coffers, contributing 45 percent to total regional revenue. Processing companies and other sources contribute 20 to 25 percent to the capital's income.

Risma has managed to increase the city's revenue despite there being no significant changes in economic sources. In 2014, the local government booked Rp 3.3 trillion in revenue, triple 2010's income of Rp 893 billion. The tax policy and Surabaya's significant economic growth have supported the capital's financial performance.

Chart: Surabaya Local Internal Revenue (Rp billion)

source:(BPS/Bareksa)

Economic growth in Surabaya reached more than 7 percent per year from 2010 to 2014, beating Indonesia's overall average economic growth of 6 percent. High economic growth showed a sharp increase in business, which translated into higher revenue.

Risma issued mayor regulations No. 56 and No. 57 in 2010. The two regulations became legal bases to increase billboard tax to 25 percent and to levy additional taxes on particular products, such as cigarettes.

The regulations increased advertising tax in Surabaya to reach more than that in Jakarta. The policy threatened Risma's position as mayor. The legislative council exercised its right of inquiry to depose of the mayor because of her failure to include regional figures in discussing and preparing the regulations.

Although causing controversy, the policy increased city revenue by 7.13 percent in 2011. Regardless of her achievement in supporting economy growth, many have questioned her ability to govern the more complex Jakarta, as the capital city.

"She performed well, but Surabaya is a small city the size of South Jakarta," Ahok said. (dan)

Source: Bareksa
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18 2016

An Indonesian sailor taken hostage by the Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippines is already in the hands of the police after escaping from the militants.

Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, the Foreign Ministrys director for Indonesian nationals and entities abroad, said Muhammad Sofyan, 28, was currently being taken care of by the Sulu Police.

Currently, representatives from the Indonesian Embassy in Manila and the Indonesian Consulate General in Davao are on their way to Zamboanga City to handle the next process and to check on Sofyans condition, Iqbal said in a statement.

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Editors note: This story contains content some readers may find objectionable.HAMPTON  Mark Retterath of Osage testified Thursday that he never molested the man accusing him of sexual abuse and he never planned to kill him.

Retterath, 52, who is on trial for attempted murder, solicitation to commit murder and third-degree sexual abuse, said he did order castor beans online and printed online instructions for extracting the deadly toxin ricin from them.

However, he said he never planned to extract the ricin and mix it with drugs to put on the accusers property as the state alleges.

Retterath said he wanted to grow castor plants for their ornamental value and to kill varmints on his land.

The state claims Retterath got the idea for extracting ricin from castor beans and mixing it with drugs to kill his accuser from a friend who told him about an episode of the TV series Breaking Bad in which a character used this method to kill another character.

Retterath said his friend was at his house one day while he was ordering castor beans online. He said they were being advertised as a deterrent for moles, deer and gophers.

The friend looked over his shoulder and saw what he was ordering, and said, You will be able to make ricin, Retterath said.

When he asked the other man what he meant, he said he saw it on Breaking Bad.

Retterath said he friend started to explain, but then said, Hell, just Google it.

Retterath did a search using the term how to extract ricin from castor beans. He printed the instructions.

He said he read them but never extracted the ricin. He claimed he opened a file cabinet and tossed the instructions into a folder at random.

The instructions were found by law enforcement in a file labeled Roth IRA during a search warrant in June 2015 after the two men Retterath allegedly spoke to about killing his accuser talked to the police about those conversations and the castor beans.

Officers also found a small plastic bag containing some catsor beans in a pocket of Retteraths jeans in his bedroom.

Retterath denied asking two other men to help him carry out plans to kill his accuser.

He said he was angry with the young man and cussed him out plenty.

Retterath said he may have said he wanted to kill him while the was venting to others, but actually doing it wasnt even a thought.

Retterath said he knew if his accuser was murdered, he would be the primary suspect.

The state alleges the accuser, the son of friends of the family, was 13 when Retterath first began acting inappropriately with him while they were alone together in a truck on the property near Stacyville by showing him pornography and encouraging him to masturbate.

The prosecution also claims the accuser went over to Retteraths house several times beginning when he was 16 and the defendant molested him there.

Deb Rolland, Retteraths long-time girlfriend, said the young man never went with Retterath to plant trees on his land until he was 18.

Rolland said Retterath could not have been alone in the house when the accuser came over during high school and as a young adult, even when she was at work.

The couples young child, who Retterath cared for while she worked, and some of Rollands older children would have been in the house, she said.

Rolland said although Retterath was upset after he was charged with sexual abuse in February 2015 and angry with his accuser, he didnt want him dead.

He wanted to clear his name, she said.

The accuser testified earlier this week that Retterath had a sword tattoo on his penis. The state showed the jury a photograph of the tattoo, as well as a drawing the accuser made for law enforcement.

On Thursday Retteraths attorney, Angela Campbell, showed the jury a photo of another sword tattoo her client has on his arm.

Rolland also testified that Retteraths tattoo on his penis is not a family secret.

I think pretty much everybody knows it, she said.

The trial was moved to the Franklin County Courthouse in Hampton due to pre-trial publicity and all the people involved being from Mitchell County, according to presiding Judge Gregg Rosenbladt.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Palu  Thu, August 18 2016

Security personnel shot dead the last Uighur in the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terrorist group during a gunfight in Padopi forest, Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. local time.

Operation Tinombala chief Brig. Gen. Rudy Sufahriadi confirmed the shooting of a foreigner identified as Ibrohim, who was shot and killed not far from a village. At the time, Ibrohim was reportedly heading to the village with another MIT member in search of food.

Rudy, who is also Central Sulawesi Police chief, said security personnel at the site had called out the operation code, but the suspects responded by tossing a grenade at security personnel, and were subsequently shot.

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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani and Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has consolidated power so well that his blunder in appointing American national Arcandra Tahar a minister  a move some analysts say could lead to impeachment proceedings at the House of Representatives  is unlikely to disrupt his presidency.

With the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) being the only party initiating an inquiry into the fiasco, Jokowi will go unscathed through what many consider to be his worst blunder unscathed.

There will be no legal implications for Jokowi. Instead, it will be a moment for the President to fix the recruitment system, Dave Laksono of the Golkar Party said.

Golkar was once the largest opposition party before it changed its position earlier this year and secured a ministerial post in the latest Cabinet reshuffle.

Even the Gerindra Party, which is now the largest opposition party, has refused to politicize the issue.

House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon, a Gerindra legislator, said it was possible for legislators to launch an inquiry but added that he preferred a friendlier approach.If the government can explain briefly the reason behind its mistake, then its enough. Well see later if an inquiry is needed or not, he said.

Without support, it will be hard for the PKS to launch an inquiry.

The 2014 Legislative Institutions Law (MD3) stipulates that a House inquiry must be proposed by at least 25 legislative members from more than one faction.

However, the Islamist party insisted on pushing for an inquiry into the scandal, saying what Jokowi did constituted a disgrace to the country.

We have to use our right to inquire into the reason behind Arcandras appointment and dismissal. I really urge all fellow legislators to exercise this right, said PKS politician Nasir Djamil, a member of House Commission III overseeing human rights, security and legal affairs.

Constitutional law expert Irman Putra Sidin from Hasanuddin University has claimed Jokowi might have violated the Constitution and said the House should not so quickly forgive the President without a formal procedure asking him to explain the reasons for his actions.

The political parties should forgive though an inquiry, or this could damage our constitutional system, he said, adding that excusing the President for his mistake would set a bad precedent.

But with a majority of political factions in the House now supporting the government, the President has little to worry about.

Of 580 legislators, Jokowi has secured the support of 386 legislators from seven political parties: 109 from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), 91 from Golkar, 48 from the National Mandate Party (PAN), 47 from the National Awakening Party (PKB), 39 from the United Development Party (PPP), 36 from the NasDem Party and 16 from the Hanura Party.

Arcandra was seen at the State Palace on Wednesday participating in Independence Day celebrations.

Amid the hustle-bustle of the ceremony, he was spotted entering State Palace at noon, two hours before the main flag-lowering ceremony took place. The former minister left the scene shortly after Jokowi moved on from State Palace. Arcandra did not immediately leave the palace compound. He made a short detour to the palace mosque to pray.

Arcandra said his visit was only a silaturahmi (a friendly meeting).
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Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has dismissed public criticism of the possibility of Indonesia allowing dual citizenship, saying the measure may be needed to support national development.

"We must appreciate people who have achieved great things. We must begin to accustom ourselves to rewarding people who want to work hard. We should not make a fuss about something that should not be argued about, Jokowi said in Jakarta on Thursday.

Many people have made a fuss about dual citizenship, especially on social media. They have attacked each other. I am adamant that this is not in line with the way of doing things in Asia, he went on.

The issue of dual citizenship is in the spotlight after the President honorably dismissed Arcandra Tahar as energy and mineral resources minister on Monday after questions emerged over his citizenship status.

Jokowi reiterated that Indonesia was currently facing tighter global competition, and that the country should therefore make the most of its human resources and not allow them to be exploited by other countries.

I dont want to see any Indonesian people with excellent achievements leaving this country because of an unfavorable situation in this country or because they feel they cannot use their achievements to contribute to development here, he went on.

Citing an example, Jokowi said hundreds of Indonesian people worked in Silicon Valley, a technology and creative industry hub in the US. He further said the government was currently striving to bring back talented members of the Indonesian diaspora.

Why dont we let them work in Indonesia? This is what we are now trying to do, encourage them to be willing to work in this country because we really need them, he said. (ebf)
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Linkedin Ruslan Sangadji (The Jakarta Post) Palu, Central Sulawesi  Thu, August 18, 2016

peration Tinombala personnel shot dead a Chinese Uighur who was a member of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terrorist group on Wednesday, further reducing the groups numbers following the death of its leader Santoso.

Task force personnel shot the man, identified as Ibrohim, in Padopi forest in North Poso Pesisir subdistrict, Poso, Central Sulawesi, around 8:30 a.m., Operation Tinombala chief Brig. Gen. Rudy Sufahriadi said on Wednesday.

The terrorist was said to be visiting a nearby village with another MIT member to look for food.

Operation Tinombala members warned the two unknown men, asking them to use a code word for the operation. However, the men instead threw small homemade bombs at the security personnel, which prompted them to open fire.

"The dead man was Ibrohim while the other one escaped carrying a rifle. All Chinese Uighurs have been shot dead by security personnel," said Rudy, who is also Central Sulawesi Police chief.

Ibrohim was the last Uighur in the group. Ten Uighurs initially joined MIT leader Santoso, aka Abu Wardah, as guerillas hiding in the mountainous forests of Poso, according to police records. The foreigners traveled via Cambodia to Thailand, where they obtained fake passports. They then went to Kuala Lumpur before flying on to Makassar, South Sulawesi. From Makassar, the Chinese Uighurs traveled overland to Poso, Rusi explained.

Operation Tinombala personnel killed Santoso on July 18 after an intensive search operation. Fourteen members of the group are believed to be still hiding in the forest. Rudy urged the remaining members to give themselves up to the authorities. (rin)
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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani and Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

Interim energy and mineral resources minister Luhut Pandjaitan has vowed to pick up the pieces following the abrupt dismissal of offshore oil and gas expert Arcandra Tahar as the minister, especially on the governments priority projects.

Arcandra was chosen in the hope of revitalizing the countrys much maligned oil and gas industry, but those hopes were dashed after 20 days when allegations emerged that he possessed dual US-Indonesian citizenship, which is illegal in the country.

Despite the speed bump, Luhut  who was recently rotated to become coordinating maritime affairs minister from coordinating legal, security and political affairs minister  praised Arcandras work and said he would continue to monitor all priority projects during his stint as interim minister.

Priority projects include the 35,000 megawatt (MW) electricity procurement plan and the Mahakam and Masela gas projects. The government is also negotiating with copper and gold mining company PT Freeport Indonesia over a divestment offer worth US$1.7 billion.

What Pak Candra [Arcandra] has done is very good as he was able to cut many costs. He also asked for more transparency in structural costs. I understand these things because Im also a businessman, he told reporters at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

Prior to his dismissal, Arcandra announced that it was possible for the cost of the $16 billion Masela gas block project to be reduced even further to $15 billion. The onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) project is set to be the countrys largest deepwater development, with a projected processing capacity of 7.5 million tons per annum.

Furthermore, Arcandra also issued a recommendation for PT Freeport Indonesia to obtain an extension on its mineral concentrate export permit, which currently allows the subsidiary of US-based Freeport McMoRan to continue exporting until Jan. 11 next year. The permit gives Freeport an export quota of 1.4 million tons during the six-month period.

The company would not be able to export after the deadline as a nationwide ban on mineral concentrate exports will be implemented the next day.

However, Luhut said the ministry would discuss the possibility of extending Freeports permit. The secretary-general spoke about [Freeport]. I will wait for a report from the director general, he added.

Freeport Indonesia is also obliged to meet the governments request to divest up to 30 percent of its shares to Indonesian shareholders in the renegotiation of its operating contract, which will end in 2021.

It must offer the Indonesian government a 10.46 percent stake in the Grasberg mining site in Papua, the largest gold mine and third-largest copper mine in the world, this year, while the remaining shares must be offered up by 2019.

The $1.7 billion price offered, however, was calculated with the assumption that the company would immediately obtain a contract extension.

Meanwhile, Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Thomas Lembong assured that the change of minister would not disrupt any future investments in the energy sector.

Golkar Party legislator Satya W. Yudha also expressed confidence that the change would not affect the governments energy targets as all priority projects were stipulated in the National Energy Policy (KEN).

There are several priorities that must be continued, including the Freeport divestment plan and the 35,000 MW program. Other priorities include the development of new and renewable energy and how to increase our oil and gas production, he said.

This is what the President and the House have discussed all this time.

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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

Psychiatrist Natalia Widiasih Raharjanti said that defendant Jessica Kumala Wongso had expressed regret at returning to Indonesia, saying that her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin would not have died if she had stayed away.

The psychiatrist was testifying at the Central Jakarta District Court Thursday, reporting the result of her examination of Jessica, the defendant in the murder case of Mirna, who died in January this year after drinking coffee in a restaurant in Central Jakarta.

"When the psychiatric team examined her, we asked her what made her feel guilty. She said, 'If I had not come to Indonesia, Mirna wouldn't have died," Natalia recalled her conversation with Jessica during her examination at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) in February.

When she asked Jessica to elaborate, she only said the incident would not happen if she did not leave Australia and return to Indonesia in December last year, Natalia said.

Meanwhile, Natalia said a lie detector test was not done during Jessicas examination because such tests were not always accurate, explaining that a person who was innately calm would easily pass a lie detector test. The team instead conducted psychological tests and consultations.

Natalia said Jessica was not always calm. When Jessica faced an unexpected situation, for example when she was given a math test, Jessica seemed very upset. When her detention period was extended a couple of times, she seemed depressed by the situation, Natalia said. (evi)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang, Banten  Thu, August 18 2016

New players in the premium motorcycle business are optimistic that they can tap into the Indonesia market despite the sluggish sales the country has been experiencing.



Garansindo Euro Sports, the sole distributor of Italian luxury motorcycle maker Ducati and French Peugeot Scooters, lined up several new models at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) in Serpong, Banten, in an attempt to entice people in the middle- and upper-income brackets.



Garansindo became Ducatis sole distributor in the country in January, taking over from PT Supermoto Indonesia, while Peugeot Scooters made its Indonesian debut in 2015.



People tend to buy new vehicles in August, plus economic conditions seem better now, Garansindo managing director Dhani Yahya told The Jakarta Post on Monday.



Indonesias economy rose to 5.18 percent on an annual basis in June from a yearly rate of 4.91 percent in March, fueling optimism that recovery is under way. However, the countrys motorcycle sales dropped 27.6 percent year-on-year in July, with 305,153 units sold, a more than 40 percent slump from the previous month.



Astra Honda Motor (AHM), the countrys leading motorcycle manufacturer, said, however, that the domestic market for premium bikes was still promising and expected its marketing of its big bike model BR250RR to strengthen its grip in that segment.



At the countrys biggest auto expo, Ducati rolled out four new motorcycles in the 959 Panigale, Hyperstrada, Hypermotard 939 and Xdiavel S models, priced at Rp 658 million (US$50,008), Rp 570 million, Rp 515 million and Rp 988 million, respectively.



Apart from the new models, Dhani said that it was banking on the Ducati Scrambler Sixty2, which made its Indonesian debut in April, to meet demand for entry-level premium motorcycles.



The Scrambler Sixty2, named after the year when Ducati first produced its Scrambler model, is equipped with a 400 cc air-cooled engine and is priced at Rp 219 million, discounted to Rp 199 million for GIIAS visitors.



We see the price as affordable for middle-income people between 30 and 40 years old, such as managers and entrepreneurs wanting to upgrade their style, Dhani said.



In May, Garansindo opened up its flagship store in the elite Kemang, South Jakarta, said to be Ducatis largest dealership after its outlet in New Delhi, India.



The 3,000 square-meter flagship store is also equipped with Ducatis one-stop service, spare parts provider and certified used-bike-reseller in the country.



Garansindo also relies on the Peugeot Django 150 model to tap into Indonesias growing premium scooter market. At the expo, Garansindo showcased three kinds of Django 150: the Django Sport, Django Evasion and Django Allure, priced at Rp 40 million, Rp 41 million and Rp 43 million, respectively.



Indian motorcycle manufacturer Royal Enfield, which entered Indonesia in January, used the GIIAS opening last week to introduce its new Himalayan motorcycle. The brand currently has four types of motorcycle sold in Indonesia  Bullet, Classic, Rumbler and Continental GT  with prices ranging from Rp 64 million to Rp 172 million.



We are currently focusing more on introducing the brand and encouraging people to try and feel the riding experience using our products, said Distributor Motor Indonesia managing director Ade Sulistioputra, whose company is the sole distributor of Royal Enfield in the country.



Meanwhile, Russian heavy sidecar motorcycle manufacturer IMZ-Ural, which made its Indonesian debut at the expo, is upbeat that it can expand its market in Indonesia after achieving overseas success in several regions such as the US, Australia, Europe and South America.



Ural Indonesia CEO Michael Sofyan said the company targeted premium motorcycle buyers in the country as its segment, hoping that Urals unique design, which was initially tailored for Russian military officers, would lure them into purchasing its products.



We are trying to reach big bike communities first, Michael told the Post.



Fifty-nine-year old Affandi Permana, a visitor at Urals booth at the expo, said that he was very eager to purchase the makers military-styled Gear-Up model, which is priced at Rp 405 million. The Gear-Up model represents masculinity, Affandi said. (mos/hwa)

--------------

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Linkedin Bambang Nurbianto (The Jakarta Post) Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia  Thu, August 18, 2016

Experts say with the current technology, Indonesia has no reason not to immediately extinguish forest fires that have started both in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

With the firebird technology, we can follow closely the spread of fires from one location to another, said Suwardi, deputy dean at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB)s School of Resources, Cooperation and Development, said on Thursday.

Speaking to the press on the sidelines of the International Peat Congress in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, Suwardi said the government needed to immediately utilize the technology to prevent the spread of hot spots, which have increased in number in recent days.

On Wednesday, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agencys (BMKG) station in Pekanbaru reported 365 hot spots, mostly were seen in Riau forests. Smoke in Sumatra and Kalimantan has posed health risks and disrupted air transportation.

The government needs to take quick action to stop the fires, he added.

Meanwhile, Basuki Sumawinata, an IPB expert on land science, added that the technology in place would also help the government enforce the law and immediately prosecute those responsible for the fires and other related parties before the fires spread further.

We do not need to play the blame game as everything is clear, Basuki said. (bbn)
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Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa has said the distribution of social assistance through an electronic system will speed up poverty alleviation in Indonesia.

She said with another program, namely e-Warong, poor people in the country could hopefully be more empowered. It was expected that E-Warong could boost the implementation the Family Hope Program (PKH), a social assistance program to build more prosperous Indonesian families, she added.

"Previously, we expected the PKH could be completed within five years. With e-Warong, we expect it can be completed in two years," Khofifah said in Jakarta on Thursday.

E-Warong is an official grocery store designed to serve social assistance beneficiaries, in which all commodities offered by the shop will be supplied by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

E-Warong is regarded as effective in empowering poor people because it will be supported by cooperatives, which will offer saving and loan facilities.

This is why the Social Affairs Ministry is optimistic the PKH can be completed sooner than its official schedule

In June, as many as 612,816 poor families across Indonesia received social assistance under the PKH. In total, there are 3 million PKH beneficiaries. The ministry said the number of PKH beneficiaries would increase to 6 million in November.

"We expect those 3 million PKH recipients can receive the benefits of the program through our non-cash delivery system next year," she said. (ebf)
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Linkedin Andi Hajramurni (The Jakarta Post) Makassar  Thu, August 18 2016

The water police directorate of the South Sulawesi Police foiled an attempt to smuggle 17 protected animals from Balikpapan in East Kalimantan to Makassar in South Sulawesi.

The animals included three black eagles, two wild cats, two weasels, two otters and six owls. They were all kept at Makassars Soekarno-Hatta seaport.

South Sulawesi water police director Sr. Comr. Purwoko Yudianto said on Tuesday that the animals had been smuggled through a cargo service aboard the ship KM Madani Nusantara.

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Linkedin (Associated Press) Seoul  Thu, August 18, 2016

South Korea's army says it has conducted its largest-ever artillery drills near the tense border with North Korea.

The army says 300 artillery systems deployed by dozens of military units along the border began firing shells at the same time on Thursday afternoon.

It says North Korea's military hasn't shown any signs of unusual activities in response.

The army says the drills marked what South Korea describes as an artillery exchange between the Koreas in August 2015 following land mine explosions that maimed two South Korean soldiers.

There were no reports of injuries in last year's artillery firing. Seoul said North Korea fired first, but Pyongyang denied firing.

Thursday's drills come a day after Seoul said a senior North Korean diplomat based in London defected to South Korea.
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Linkedin Simon Tay (The Jakarta Post) Singapore  Thu, August 18 2016

Controversies over the South China Sea have dominated headlines, especially after the recent decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, brought by the Philippines and denounced by China. But many businesses may look on more quizzically.

What is the impact on the bottom line? Will prospects for ASEAN countries diminish if tensions with China escalate?

Yes, political differences can spill over to economic engagement and bilateral development assistance can dry up when relations sour. Yes, an outright naval confrontation or incident at sea  especially between China and the USA or Japan  could be destabilizing. But negative outcomes are not inevitable.

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Linkedin Suzan Fraser (Associated Press) Ankara  Thu, August 18, 2016

Turkey began releasing inmates on Wednesday in an apparent move to reduce its prison population to make space for thousands of people who have been arrested as part of an investigation into last month's failed coup.

The discharges started just hours after the government issued a decree for the conditional release of some 38,000 prisoners under Turkey's three-month long state of emergency that was declared following the coup.

The decree allows the release of inmates who have two years or less to serve of their prison terms and makes convicts who have served half of their prison term eligible for parole. People convicted of murder, domestic violence, sexual abuse, terrorism and other crimes against the state are excluded from the measures.

Also, they would not apply for crimes committed after July 1, excluding any people later convicted of involvement in the failed July 15 coup.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on his Twitter account the measure would lead to the release of some 38,000 people. He insisted it was not a pardon or an amnesty but a conditional release of prisoners.

The government says the attempted coup, which led to at least 270 deaths, was carried out by followers of a movement led by US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who have infiltrated the military and other state institutions. Gulen has denied any prior knowledge or involvement in the coup but Turkey is demanding that the United States extradite him.

The Turkish government declared a state of emergency and launched a massive crackdown on Gulen's supporters in the aftermath of the coup. Some 35,000 people have been detained for questioning and more than 17,000 of them have been formally arrested to face trial, including soldiers, police, judges and journalists.

Tens of thousands more people with suspected links to Gulen have been suspended or dismissed from their jobs in the judiciary, media, education, health care, military and local government.

In a separate decree, also issued Wednesday, the government dismissed 2,300 more officers from the police force, in addition to another 136 military officers and 196 employees from its information technology authority.

Wednesday's decrees also allow the air force to hire new pilots or take back pilots who had resigned or were discharged before the coup to replace pilots who have been arrested or dismissed for alleged participation in the coup or links to Gulen.

The government crackdown has raised concerns among European nations and human rights organizations, who have urged the Turkish government to show restraint.

Soon after the decree was announced, families began arriving at prison gates to wait for loved ones who were set to be released.

Among those released from Silivri prison, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Istanbul, was Emrah Pasa Alissoy, 27, who was sentenced to two years in prison for fraud and was set free four days earlier than scheduled.

"We are very happy. We get back to our family. It was our families who were punished," Alissoy said.

Turkey's 180,000-person prisons were already filled to capacity before the crackdown on Gulen's movement, with some rights groups claiming that inmates were forced to take turns to sleep on beds. Turkey has issued several prison amnesties over the past decades to ease conditions in its prisons, but the measures proved unpopular with the public.

Bozdag insisted Wednesday that those being released would still be supervised.

"I hope that the arrangement is beneficial to the prisoners, their loved ones, our people and our country," the minister wrote on Twitter.

___

Bram Janssen in Istanbul contributed to this report.
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Linkedin Hipolitus Yolisandry Ringgi Wangge (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18 2016

Trust is the most crucial factor for a state dealing with regional dissatisfactions that turn to conflict. And the absence of this vital prerequisite for constructive engagement is clear to see when there have been no truly genuine and consistent efforts to build it.

Trust, or the lack thereof, is a significant challenge faced by the newly appointed coordinating political,

legal and security affairs minister, Wiranto.

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Linkedin (Associated Press) Manila  Thu, August 18, 2016

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he will not raise long-simmering maritime disputes with China at a meeting of Southeast Asian nations in Laos next month, preferring to talk quietly with Chinese officials.

"I will only bring the issue when we are together face to face," he told reporters late Wednesday night. "Because if you quarrel with them now and you claim sovereignty, make noise here and there, they might not just even want to talk."

In July, a Hague-based arbitration tribunal ruled heavily in the Philippines' favor in a case challenging China's claims and aggressive actions in the South China Sea. China ignored the decision and continued to block Filipino fishermen from a disputed shoal and build new islands.

The arbitration case was filed by Duterte's predecessor. Duterte has been lukewarm in his support for the action and has said he was adopting "a softer approach" to resolving the disputes.

He said Wednesday that his special envoy to China, former President Fidel Ramos, is paving the way for possible talks with China.

"Let us create an environment where we can sit down, talk directly, and that is the time when I would say, we proceed from here," he said.

Ramos flew to Hong Kong last week to meet the Chinese legislature's foreign affairs chief, Fu Ying, and a leading government-backed scholar on the dispute, and they agreed on the need to reduce tensions through talks.

China welcomed him to visit Beijing for discussions, but the tribunal ruling was not directly discussed, Ramos told reporters. He gave no indication of when any talks might be held.
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Linkedin Nomaan Merchant (Associated Press) Beijing  Thu, August 18, 2016

Efforts by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week to bolster ties with her country's dominant northern neighbor China may hinge on whether she can resolve the fate of a massive, Chinese-funded dam project blocked by overwhelming local opposition.

Suu Kyi was to be greeted with a formal welcome ceremony on Thursday as part of a visit ending Sunday that will include talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. It's her first trip to China since her party won a historic majority last year.

Now leading Myanmar with the title of state counselor, Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who spent 15 years in house arrest under Myanmar's former military junta, which was supported for years by the authoritarian Communist Party-led government in Beijing. But analysts say Suu Kyi has shown pragmatism and a desire to re-order Myanmar's relationship with China, its top trading partner and a major investor, while also reaching out to the United States, Europe and Japan.

Key to both sides is the US$3.6 billion Myitsone dam project in northern Myanmar, funded by Chinese power interests but suspended in 2011 by Myanmar's former military-backed president, Thein Sein. A spokesman for Myanmar's foreign affairs department said China was expected to raise the dam dispute this week.

China sees the dam as an important part of a national strategy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and meet its targets to cut pollution. It has pursued a charm offensive in Myanmar partly to push for construction to resume.

But opponents in Myanmar, also known as Burma, say the reservoir created by the Myitsone dam would create massive flooding on the Irrawaddy River, endangering ecologically sensitive areas and displacing thousands of people. They also question the previous arrangement of China taking 90 percent of the dam's power, while nearly 70 percent of Myanmar has no access to electricity, according to the World Bank.

The dam is one of several Chinese-backed projects stalled due to protests from Myanmar citizens newly emboldened to speak out following democratic reforms, part of a larger backlash against China's economic domination of its poor southern neighbor.

Suu Kyi's government recently announced a commission to review all hydroelectric projects along the Irrawaddy. Zhao Gancheng, director of the Asia-Pacific Center at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said that announcement might be a signal that a compromise was possible.

"To handle it well will help create a favorable condition for future trade and economic development between the two countries," Zhao said. "Otherwise, obstacles will emerge in attracting investment from China in the future and that is not what the new Burmese government and Aung San Suu Kyi want to see."

Aaron Connelly, a research fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, said Suu Kyi could offer an alternative plan that mollifies China and at least some of the opposition in Myanmar.

"That would be the question on the Myanmar side," Connelly said. "Is there something that can be offered that meets the expectations, but does not create a lake the size of Singapore on the Irrawaddy?"

Suu Kyi remains an icon to many of the people of Myanmar, and that may give her the standing to seek a deal that allows the dam to go forward under different circumstances, Connelly said.

She is also likely to seek more cooperation from China as her government begins a peace conference at the end of August with ethnic minorities from the region where the dam is planned, and may tie the two issues together, Connelly said. China has been involved previously in negotiations between the government and Kachin rebels, who have fought for decades in regions near the Chinese border.

"She constantly surprises in what she's willing to do in terms of political agreements that she's willing to strike, and because she's such a singularly popular figure," he said. "She can potentially make a deal here that would be very unpopular and bounce back from that."

Beijing supports the peace process because "a politically stable and economically prosperous Myanmar is in China's best interests," China's official Xinhua News Agency said in an editorial Wednesday.

"Given the fact that a strong China-Myanmar partnership is important for both sides, it is welcome that Suu Kyi, a key figure in the Myanmar government and the leader of the ruling party, plays a greater role in helping secure a healthy Myanmar-China relationship," Xinhua said.

China considers Myanmar strategically important as a gateway to the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, and wants to secure oil and gas pipelines running across the country to the Chinese border.

Along with stalled projects, friction between the countries has erupted over fighting between Myanmar's military and ethnic minority rebels along the border that has killed Chinese farmers and sent a flow of refugees into China.

___

Associated Press writer Esther Htusan in Yangon, Myanmar, and researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is set to meet with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Aug. 24-26 for a leaders' retreat in Semarang, Central Java, in a bid to boost investment opportunities in Indonesia.

The Foreign Ministrys East Asia and Pacific director Edi Yusup said the visit would focus on strengthening economic ties and would be marked by an opening ceremony for an industrial area in Kendal in Semarang.

"The industrial area is the result of collaboration between [Indonesian company] PT Jababeka and [Singaporean company] Sembcorp. It is the first industrial area in Semarang," Edi told reporters during a press briefing on Thursday.

The Prime Minister will be accompanied by his deputy, nine ministers and 14 CEOs from Singaporean companies, Edi said.

Singapore is Indonesia's biggest investor and it is hoped the upcoming visit will inspire more investment.

According to Edi, there are already 16 companies from Singapore, Malaysia and Japan that have expressed interest in investing in the area. The combined investment portfolio amounts to roughly 3.2 trillion (US$244 million).

The companies range from garment, textile, leather, wood processing, beauty treatment products and processed food companies to automotive spare-parts manufacturers, he added.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, August 18, 2016

After stealing the attention of Popcon Asia 2016 visitors last week, animated film Pasoa dan Sang Pemberani (Pasoa, the Brave) made by students from RUS Animation Studio has attracted the attention of many production houses.

The animated film tells the story of Pasoa, a mythical creature that is a combination of several Indonesian animals, which becomes the protector of various living entities in Indonesia. The animated film aims to introduce local wisdom in preserving the environment as well as share the art of making fairytales.

(Read also: Creators own it at pop culture festival)

Supported by Djarum Foundation and its partners, RUS Animation Studio is a vocational animation program at the Raden Umar Said (RUS) vocational high school.

The making of Pasoa dan Sang Pemberani by RUS vocational school took a long time and was not easy, technical advisor of RUS vocational high school Daniel Harjanto told antaranews.com in Jakarta on Monday.

Djarum Foundation collaborated with professional storyteller and illustrator Woody Woodman from Walt Disney Animation Studios to mentor the students. They are currently in the process of completing a 3D animated version of Pasoa dan Sang Pemberani.

Pasoa dan Sang Pemberani is set to be released in November. (asw)
MASON CITY | A man accused of stealing copper wire from an Alliant Energy construction site faces criminal charges.

Jacob Ganseveld, 24, of Klemme, was charged with felony second-degree theft.

Ganseveld took barrels of copper wire stolen from an Alliant Energy work to a Mason City scrap yard, according to court documents.

Investigators believe the wire, worth $2,037, was taken May 31 from the 300 block of First Street in Meservey.

One of two people reportedly with Ganseveld at the scrap yard told investigators the suspect told them "Alliant has paid good on this one," according to court documents.

2 North Iowans accused of pawning stolen rifle CLEAR LAKE | Two North Iowa residents are accused of pawning a rifle stolen in rural Cerro G

Ganseveld is also currently facing charges for allegedly trying to pawn a rifle stolen from rural Clear Lake at a Rochester pawn shop.

He remained jailed Thursday in lieu of $10,000 bond.
The Wall Street Journal today is taking a closer look at a powerful labor unions role in persuading the de Blasio administration to lift deed restrictions at Rivington House.

1199SEIU (United Healthcare Workers East) lobbied the city on behalf of the Allure Group. The property owner led people to believe that changing a not-for-profit restriction would allow the home to remain open. Instead, the Rivington Street building was sold to luxury condo developers for $116 million.

According to the Journal, recently released documents show just how much power the union wielded:

The emails and other documents, which were produced as part of the city comptrollers investigation into the Rivington House deed change, underscored the outsize influence 1199 has in Mr. de Blasios administration and the degree to which city officials assess the unions interests when making policy decisions.

At the time Rivington House was being discussed, administration officials were asking whether the deed issue was of critical importance. In one email referencing the union, an aide to First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris, responded, Very critical b/c it involves 1199 jobs and they want this done.

As the Journal noted:

The union was one of the two largest contributors to the Campaign for One New York, a now-disbanded political nonprofit supporting the mayor. The nonprofit received $500,000 from 1199, records show. Federal investigators are looking at whether the mayor traded government action for donations to the nonprofit, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. de Blasio has denied any wrongdoing.

Documents show that Allure Group executive Joel Landau was in regular contact with Kevin Finnegan, former political director of 1199.

In late 2014, mayoral aide Emma Wolfe (a former 1199 employee) wrote an email indicating that union officials were unhappy about the Rivington House situation. She urgently requested the administrations help in getting Landau what he needed, reported the Journal.

As we have previously reported, it was apparent to Community Board 3 from the outset that 1199 was playing a key role in the Rivington House negotiations. In Sept. of 2014, executives with VillageCare (then operator of Rivington House) briefed board members about their predicament. Heres part of our story following that meeting:

This week representatives from VillageCare went before the human services committee of Community Board 3 to explain what will potentially happen to the converted school building at 45 Rivington St. that has served as Rivington House since 1995. Matthew Lesieur, director of public policy, said the organization sought, unsuccessfully, to turn the center into an assisted care facility for AIDS patients. Legislation making the conversion possible was approved by the State Legislature three years ago but vetoed by Governor Cuomo. The state also blocked a proposal to convert Rivington House to a nursing home for the general population. The governor has pledged to reduce Medicaid-supported nursing home beds by 5,000, creating an inhospitable environment for institutions in need of a lifeline. Its part of a strategy to support home-based care for more seniors, rather than relying on large nursing home facilities.

Just a month later, however, government officials (at both the city and state levels) had a remarkable change of heart. Our report from Oct. 8, 2014:

At last nights human services committee meeting, community board members suggested the states posture on the matter has now changed. The panels chairperson, Justin Carroll, indicated that about a half dozen companies responded to a request for proposals put out by VillageCare. It now appears an operator has been selected, although the deal has not been finalized. To navigate the restrictions, the operator would purchase the Rivington House building as a not-for-profit and then petition for a deed change. At that point, the new owner hopes to run the nursing home as a for-profit venture. One reason for the approach, said Carroll, is to avoid laying off the centers employees, who are represented by the powerful labor union, 1199SEIU. If the deal is approved, the union would lose some administrative fees but workers would retain their salaries and benefits. A closure of Rivington House would trigger $20 million in pension payments by VillageCare.

Union officials declined to comment for the Journals story.
MASON CITY | Officials are urging people to use caution after several people were diagnosed with a contagious intestinal parasite that causes diarrhea.

The Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health announced Thursday the cases involved the parasite Crypto, or Cryptosporidium.

People infected with the parasite develop Cryptosporidiosis, which typically involves watery diarrhea and stomach cramps. Symptoms also can include headache, nausea, vomiting and a low-grade fever.

Due to the cases, the Mason City Parks and Recreation Department has closed the city's aquatic center for 'superchlorination.'

The cleaning was ordered after officials learned some people with Cryptosporidiosis visited the pool after they began showing symptoms.

"Crypto is highly contagious and the parasite is hard to kill, Environmental Health Service Manager Brian Hanft said in a statement."We want to provide the public with helpful prevention tips to lessen the spread of the illness in our area."

Public health officials released the following tips to prevent the spread of the parasite:

* Always wash hands with soap and water before handling food, eating, after using the toilet, after changing diapers and after handling animals -- particularly cattle.

* Use 3 percent hydrogen peroxide to clean common surface areas within the home if someone in it has been diagnosed with Crypto. (Crypto is resistant to bleach).

* Do not send children with diarrhea to daycare until it has subsided.

* If you are showing symptoms, do not go to swimming pools or aquatic facilities while ill and for at least two weeks after symptoms subside.

* People should not prepare food while showing symptoms.
There are a lot of myths and rumours floating around about Clearing, and these will probably be causing some of you a bit of anxiety right now.

But don't worry, it's all a lot more positive than you might have been led to believe.

Take it from people who already lived and succeeded through Clearing - in many cases it is the best thing you could do!

More than 63,000 students found a course through Clearing in 2015, for various reasons differing from a simple change of heart, obtaining higher (or lower) results than expected, or a last minute decision to go to university.

These students share their own experiences of sailing through the Clearing process.

Tom Eastwood from the University of Brighton says he was initially stressed about Clearing, but soon became much more relaxed about it.

It was a stressful experience at first because I wasnt sure what to do, or if I would be going to uni. After I looked at what was available through Clearing it became less stressful, as there was a lot of availability.

He advises to not stress too much and look through whats available as soon as you get the results and suggests ringing the university as soon as you can to try and confirm a place.

Hannah Wilcock, who went through Clearing and recently graduated with first class honours from Buckinghamshire New University, says: Hannah Wilcock, who went through Clearing and recently graduated with first class honours from Buckinghamshire New University, says:

Look up the university you are interested in on social media. Every student is on social media nowadays so you can get a look from the students perspective as to what their university experience is like.

You will often find group pages on Facebook for different courses and societies offered at a particular university, which can always be very helpful to have a browse through.

One of the most common reasons for going through Clearing is not quite getting the grades to secure a place at a top choice university; but all hope is not lost, as Grace Seabrook found out:

I went through Clearing because I didnt get into any of my options, because I didnt make an impression at the interview or didnt get the grades. I found the process really clear, easy to understand and it was quick, too. I applied on the Thursday, had an interview on the Friday and had a confirmation email two hours later. Im now about to enter my third and final year. I think going through Clearing is the best thing to have happened; the course was something I had overlooked when originally applying but after two years I cant imagine being as happy anywhere else!

Bruno Russell, who works in the Clearing office for his university, advises to keep calm over the phone as universities, especially those in the Russell Group, will be getting a lot of calls. He says: Have written down what you want to ask. Dont make mistakes over the phone because youre rushing. If you speak to a Tutor, just try and put across your passion.

They already have your grades and personal statement in front of them, so try to tell them something they dont already know.

Clearing is a generally straight forward process and theres not too much to worry about, as the students above have described. The next step is to find accommodation, which may seem scary due to late application - however its still easy to find somewhere to stay, as Rehana Nurmahi from Southampton University explains:

Having many friends who also are at Southampton, I know that for many of them, they ended up going into private rented accommodation, which I also looked into. There will be plenty of people looking for housemates, and chances are, youll meet great people whilst doing so. Lots of unis do fairs for those looking into private rented accommodation too, which are really helpful. Stay calm, and dont be afraid to just put out on student housing websites that you need somewhere to stay. There are so many people in the same boat, so just find others and work through it together!
recently reported It wasthat an Indian Official made a statement during a public function that it is illegal to stare at a woman for 14 seconds.

Since Rishiraj Singh, excise commissioner in the southern Indian state of Kerala, made the statement, many people have taken to social media to mock the peculiar claim.

Singh said: There are sections in law to jail a man for staring annoyingly at a woman for 14 seconds. Please use it, if it is the case. The law is non-existent, but the very specific law is, quite frankly, hilarious and utterly ridiculous for the following reasons.

1) What if a man looks at a woman for 13 seconds? Or how about 13.9999 seconds? How do they even measure that kind of thing? Will police be forced to wear stopwatches?

What if someone stares for 13.9999999 seconds. Math wins. Rule to be followed #14secondrule #rishirajsingh  Gautham Reddy (@Gautham_rdy) August 16, 2016

2) What about men wearing sunglasses?

It's hard to know where anyone in dark sunnies is looking, let alone potentially predatory men hiding behind a desire to protect their eyes from the harmful rays of the sun.

What about men with sunglasses?Kerala cop Rishiraj Singhs 14-sec staring remark.

You know men will be men.#FreedomToLive#14seconds  Salman Tsf (@Im_tsf) August 16, 2016

3) How will teachers cope?

They have to constantly look at their class, and surely if they're constantly aware of how long they've been looking at their female pupils, they won't be able to teach?

4) What about men in relationships?

It's a little bit rude isn't it? If you've got to keep looking away from your significant other, or even wife, every 14 seconds. It would make it a little bit awkward at dinner, over morning coffee or even in the bedroom. It's a little bit rude isn't it? If you've got to keep looking away from your significant other, or even wife, every 14 seconds. It would make it a little bit awkward at dinner, over morning coffee or even in the bedroom.

5) Will everyone have to buy stopwatches?

All the police will certainly need stopwatches, as mentioned earlier. There will be a huge increase in the number of stopwatches women and men alike are buying. How else are they meant to make sure they avoid jail for 14.01 seconds of voyeurism?

Expect a rise in usage of stopwatches in Kerala. #14secondrule #rishirajsingh  Varun Nair (@varunnair) August 15, 2016

6) What if youre staring into space but also accidentally looking in the direction of a woman?

Everyone zones out from time to time, its hardly worth a stint in prison...

7) What about going to see a show or a concert?

Every 14 seconds male audience members will be forced to look away from *insert relevant female star here* on stage. Audiences will have to miss more than a few minutes of a concert to avoid getting arrested.

8) Does blinking count?

Surely, if you blink, the count starts again? Some people can't keep their eyes open for 14 seconds without blinking.

9) What difference is 14 seconds rather than 10 seconds?

14 is quite a specific number. What difference does 4 seconds make? What exactly happens in those 4 seconds to turn an innocent glance into a sinister eyeballing? 14 is quite a specific number. What difference does 4 seconds make? What exactly happens in those 4 seconds to turn an innocent glance into a sinister eyeballing?

10) What if the man is blind?

What if the woman accuses a man of staring at her for more than 14 seconds and it turns out he's blind? Just a tad unethical.

11) What if the woman is behind reflective glass?

Or maybe she's in one of those blacked out cars. Maybe you're checking yourself out in some reflective glass for a good minute and BOOM!  life imprisonment.

12) What if the man is an artist and hes using a woman as his focus?

"Paint me like one of your french girls" "Ok, but I have to look away all the time."

13) Imagine how many men will end up in jail after they forgot to count.

Not everyone will be fully conscious of how long they've been looking at someone all the time. What a palaver.

14) What are you in for? Murder, What about you? I forgot to count/blink/left my stopwatch at home.

Despite the social media gold this ludicrous claim has generated, Rishiraj Singh is trying to raise a serious point about womens safety, which is a big issue in India.

Public protests in cities such as New Dehli spurred the Indian government in 2013 to strengthen laws for punishing those convicted of sexual crimes, as well as for prosecuting authorities who fail to investigate complaints.

There is still a large stigma surrounding the idea that women can and should come forward if they have been the victims of a sexual crime, so despite the ludicrousness of the 14-second rule, at least Singh had his heart in the right place.
Thousands of students will collect their A-level results today, amid suggestions of a slight increase in the number of top grades being awarded and warnings of greater volatility in marks.

Analysis of the entry levels for the traditionally top-scoring subjects, such as maths, indicates the percentage of students achieving an A or A* will increase.

And the number of boys achieving the very top grade could pull further ahead of girls due to a rise in take-up of maths  typically a high-scoring subject  according to Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University.

(Philip Toscano/PA)

Last year, boys held a 0.9% lead over girls at A* grade, although girls had a 0.4% lead at A and A* grade combined  having out-performed boys every year since the millennium.

Entries to maths and further maths in England are up again, with the former now overtaking English as the subject with the highest intake.

Since they award by far the most A* grades, this could lead to an increase in A* grades overall.

Prof Smithers said that the gap between boys and girls had been narrowing since 2006, and that boys could go further ahead this year due to the increase in people taking maths and further maths.

Yet students are bracing themselves for greater volatility in this years results because of changes to the curriculum, a teachers union has said.

(Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT union, said that teachers and students had struggled to get to grips with new syllabuses which were brought in this year and could impact results.

The Government introduced changes to the subject content of all AS and A-levels last year. Mid-course exams were also scrapped, meaning that all exams are now taken at the end of the year.

Keates said the changes would particularly affect those receiving their AS-level results, as they are the first group to go through the new curriculum.

Students and teachers have had a very short timescale to get to grips with the new syllabuses, particularly at a time when they have been trying to prepare for the introduction of revised A-level courses from next month, Keates said.

(David Davies/PA)

Russell Hobby, general secretary of school leaders union NAHT, warned there could be significant variation in the results, with many students getting grades they had not expected.

He said that while the national picture may look stable, the changes to the curriculum and examinations meant there could be big differences at a school and student level.

For individual students, teachers and schools this is a real concern, Hobby warned.

We are also concerned about the possibility of a further dip in the number of students taking creative subjects at AS and A-level.
Ardys Marcella Koller

MASON CITY  Ardys Marcella Koller took her place in heaven on April 15, 2015, after a short, courageous battle with cancer. She passed away with family by her side.

Though her battle was short, not enough can be said about her courage and strength she showed during this unfortunate time. Her last wishes were to tell all of her family and friends that she loves them, something she said multiple times to make sure they all know. This was the way she lived her life.

Ardys was born to Norwegian parents, Arthur and Mabel Paulson. She was the fifth child of seven children. Ardys graduated from Mason City High School in 1948 in a class of 267 kids. She ranked 16th in academics. After high school, she applied and was accepted to a position with the Navy Department for a civilian clerical position in Washington DC the same year, a position she held for three years before returning home to Mason City in 1951.

Ardys soon after succumbed to the charms of Richard Koller and the two married Aug. 22, 1953, at St. James Lutheran Church. Richard and Ardys would go on to raise 4 children, Robert, Kraig, Susan, and Keith.

Ardyss career at Armour foods entailed being the transportation manager. She retired from Armour in 1990. Ardys moved to Roswell, New Mexico, in October of 1994 to help her mother. This is eventually where she decided to live full time. In 2008 Ardys was declared legally blind but she continued to live by herself for the rest of her years unencumbered. Nothing got in the way of her independence.

Ardys loved to travel, especially in the southwestern states. Bingo halls, slot machines, and cards with her friends were particular weaknesses of hers. She also spent many hours reading books. Her favorite authors were Grace Livingston Hill and Dorothy Garlock, her personal favorite.

Ardys also loved animals and had a special fondness for Chihuahuas. Any form of animal cruelty was absolutely detested by her.

Ardys was a devout Christian and was a member of St. Marks Lutheran Church in Roswell, NM, and St. James Lutheran Church in Mason City, IA. At St. Marks she was a volunteer secretary for ten years until her vision made it hard to continue.

Ardys also had a political side that was staunchly conservative. Ardys also respectfully requests that the Democratic Party, now that she has passed away, not use her name for voting purposes in the upcoming Presidential election.

Ardys was proceeded in death by her father Arthur Paulson, Her oldest son Robert, her husband Richard, her mother Mabel, her brother Robert Paulson, and her sister Inez.

Her funeral will be held on Aug. 20 at St. James Lutheran Church in Mason City at 2 p.m. A luncheon will be at noon at 911 S. Illinois prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers, Ardys would ask that you do an unsolicited act of kindness for a total stranger in her name.
Early-morning commuters on packed trains can finally feel justified in their aversion to their fellow passengers, after a new study found viruses are more dangerous in the morning.

A science paper (rivetingly) entitled Cell autonomous regulation of herpes and influenza virus infection by the circadian clock found viruses were 10 times more successful at breaking down their host if the infection began in the morning.

The study, by the University of Cambridge, involved infecting mice with either the influenza (the cause of flu) or the herpes virus. Tests showed mice infected in the morning had a viral level 10 times higher than those infected in the evening.

Scientists in Cambridge have done some pretty smart stuff over the years (Charles Krupa/AP)

Professor Akhilesh Reddy told the BBC: Its a big difference. The virus needs all the apparatus available at the right time, otherwise it might not ever get off the ground, but a tiny infection in the morning might perpetuate faster and take over the body.

Viruses hijack living cells in order to replicate and proliferate around the body. It is thought the body clock, or circadian clock as per the paper title, is what makes cells more susceptible to viruses at different times.

Bmal1 is the body clock gene scientists in this study identified as the key to this susceptibility and it peaks in the afternoon, increasing resistance to infection. Bmal1 activity is low in the morning however, so we have increased vulnerability.

Viruses such as Zika, pictured here, attack cells (Cynthia Goldsmith/PA)

So should we all be locking ourselves in quarantine in the mornings for fear of microscopic germ warfare? Well no, but the findings could be helpful in preventing the spread of disease during a viral pandemic.

In a pandemic, staying in during the daytime could be quite important and save peoples lives  it could have a big impact if trials bear it out, said Professor Reddy.

One thing is clear  weve all been given one more reason to hit that snooze button tomorrow

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Marleen Theesfeld

ALGONA  Marleen Theesfeld, 67, of Algona, died Monday at Kossuth Regional Health Center, Algona.

A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday at St. Cecelia Catholic Church in Algona.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday at St. Cecelia Catholic Church in Algona with a Catholic Daughters Rosary beginning at 4 p.m. and a Scripture Prayer Service beginning at 7 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in her memory, to Parish Families Against Hunger going toward food donations to St. Cecelias twin parish in Haiti.

Oakcrest Funeral Services of Algona in charge of arrangements.
DES MOINES  A proposed pork plant in Wright County, which originally was proposed to locate in Mason City, is getting a second opportunity for $11.5 million in state tax incentives.

Despite the opposition of dozens who showed up to a hearing Thursday, Iowas economic development board unanimously approved the tax breaks for North Carolina-based Prestage Farms, which seeks to build a $240 million pork plant in Wright County.

It is the same tax relief package the Iowa Economic Development Authority approved in March for Prestage when the company sought to build its pork slaughter and fabrication plant in Mason City. Local government officials nixed that proposal, leading the company to look for another site in Iowa.

Prestage settled on Wright County, and reapplied for the state tax breaks.

An opposition movement that started while the project was being considered for Mason City continued Thursday, as roughly 70 people filled a conference room for the public hearing, during which eight people spoke in support of the project and 23 spoke against.

Most of the concerns centered on opposition to taxpayer assistance for out-of-state companies  although Prestage has operated in Iowa since 2003 and can receive the incentives only if it pays state taxes  and environmental concerns. Opponents also suggested companies like Prestage would build or expand in Iowa regardless of tax incentives.

Why do we have to bribe somebody to come here, said Tom Willett, of Mason City, one of a half-dozen people from Mason City or Clear Lake who traveled to Des Moines to state their opposition to the incentives. Its to their advantage to be here. We dont have to pay them to come here.

Board member David Bernstein, of Sioux City, said the economic development board is not permitted to consider environmental issues, that those rulings are made by local officials and the state Department of Natural Resources.

Berstein said the proposal meets all the economic requirements the board has established for state incentives, and that the award is similar to others the board has given, including the previous award to Mason City.

I see no other way than for us to support this, Bernstein said.

Only one board member, Dawn Ainger, of Hiawatha, voted against the incentives.

The 675,000-square-foot plant will create 922 jobs, roughly a third of which must pay at least $15.54 per hour to qualify for the tax incentives, according to a board report.

The $11.5 million state incentive package includes an $8.6 million tax credit and a $2.9 million tax refund.
Bali in firing line as Indonesia considers nationwide alcohol ban

PHUKET: Indonesias hotel association has warned that the countrys tourism would implode if a draft alcohol bill becomes law.

tourismalcohol

By TTR Weekly

Thursday 18 August 2016, 09:35AM

An outright nationwide ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol in Indonesia would include Bali. Photo: Batle Group

According to the Jakarta Post, the association warned the government and the legislative body that Indonesian tourism would collapse if the House of Representatives votes in favour of the bill prohibiting alcohol sales and consumption across the nation.

The bill, introduced by the United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), both Islamist parties, fails to take into account the opinions of tourism stakeholders, the association claimed.

Despite strong opposition from the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), the House continues deliberations concerning the bill.

If the bill is passed, our business will be done. Tourists, who mostly come from Europe, drink alcohol all the time. It will be very inconvenient for them if they cant find alcohol, PHRI head Hariyadi Sukamdani told Jakarta Post last week.

If passed, the law will be the first of its kind to impose a nationwide ban on the production, distribution and consumption of drinks with an alcoholic content of just one per cent up to beverages containing 55% alcoholic content.

There are already regulations in place on the distribution of alcohol that hit the alcoholic beverages industry.

Foreign tourists complain about the difficulty of sourcing alcoholic drinks outside of hotels.

No matter how beautiful the country is, if they cant find alcohol, they wont want to come here, Hariyadi told the Jakarta Post.

Read original story here.
Police to seek arrest warrants for 17 in arson, bombings

BANGKOK: Police plan to ask a military court to issue arrest warrants for 17 people, of whom 10 of are already in military custody, suspected of being involved in last weeks multiple arson and bomb attacks in seven provinces, a police source said yesterday (Aug 17).

crimedeathmilitarypoliceviolence

By Bangkok Post

Thursday 18 August 2016, 09:08AM

Police inspect a fire-ravaged Taweeesin Plastic store in Surat Thani on Saturday (Aug 13) to find links to two blasts in the city. Police plan to issue arrest warrants for 17 more people in connection with last weeks arson and bombing incidents. Photo: Supapong Chaolan

The move came after Maj Gen Wijarn Jodtaeng, the legal chief of the National Council for Peace and Order, and Col Burin Thongprapai, a Judge Advocate-Generals Department officer, filed complaints against the 17 for operating a criminal association known as ang-yee. The charges relate to the attacks last week and were filed at the Crime Suppression Division on yesterday night. The petitions and other documents were presented as evidence.

The 17 were charged with violating Section 210 of Criminal Code which deals with offences relating to public peace. Ten of them are being detained at the 41st Military Circle in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. They will be taken to the CSD tomorrow (Aug 19) to answer the charges.

The source said CSD police expected to seek warrants for their arrests from the military court of the 11th Military Circle in Bangkok today (Aug 18).

More suspects have emerged after investigators found links between last weeks attacks and the May 26, 2013, bombing in Bangkoks Ramkhamhaeng area, based on the methods of attack and assembly of the bombs. Four men were sentenced to 50 years jail in that incident. Insurgent elements in the South have also been linked to the attacks.

They believe Ahama Leng-ha, a resident of Narathiwats Tak Bai district and a suspected separatist who is wanted in connection with several violent incidents in the deep South, was the person who assembled the bombs used in the new attacks. A DNA sample collected from the Phuket blast scene last Wednesday (Aug 10) matched that taken from Mr Ahama, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued.

His DNA samples were collected twice. Mr Ahama was detained previously in connection with the Tak Bai protest in 2004 and six years later he turned himself in to authorities in connection with an alleged violation of the emergency law.

Police officers were deployed to search Mr Ahamas house yesterday morning.

His relatives told officers Mr Ahama left the house many years ago. He told them he was going to work in Malaysia, according to Col Patcharapol Na nakon, chief of Tak Bai police.

Relatives have been unable to reach him since then, Col Patcharapol said.

Meanwhile, A Chiang Mai man allegedly implicated in the fire at a Tesco Lotus superstore in Nakhon Sri Thammarat last week is expected to face fresh charges of arson and bomb possession.

The warrant for his arrest one of those being sought with the Military Court.

Sakarin Karuehas, 32, was arrested on Saturday on an offshore oil platform off Nakhon Sri Thammarat where he worked. He was charged with committing arson at the store. .

The attack was one of 13 bombings and arsons, which killed four people and injured 35 others in seven provinces last Thursday (Aug 11) and Friday (Aug 12).

He is being held under an arrest warrant issued by the provincial court. His image was captured by closed-circuit surveillance cameras before the blaze began, a key piece of evidence that led to his being caught, police said.

Deputy national police chief Srivara Ransibramanakul said yesterday that the provincial court warrant would be withdrawn as an investigation by Explosive Ordnance Disposal officers had found explosive devices were involved in the attack.

Based on a National Council for Peace and Order directive, suspects in such offences must stand trial in the Military Court.

Gen Srivara, who leads the investigation into the case, said the new warrant against the suspect would be sought with the Military Circle 41 court based on counts on both arson and bomb possession.

The deputy police chief was speaking at Hua Hin police station, where he chaired a meeting to unravel the case yesterday.

Officers at the Military Circle 41, where Mr Sakarin was detained, took the suspect to Nakhon Sri Thammarat police headquarters for further questioning.

Gen Srivara said police have obtained solid evidence in connection with the bombings, which leads them to believe they have a greater than 50 per cent chance to apprehend more suspects.

Deputy police spokesman Piyapan Pingmuang said investigators have not found any link to political groups in the probe, but insisted they cannot be ruled out.

He said police are working with Malaysian authorities to check Malaysian SIM cards in the mobile phones used to detonate the bombs, adding that part of the probe is going well.

Progress of more than 70 per cent has been made in the investigation, Maj Gen Piyapan said.

Read original stories here and here.
HAMPTON  Two men testified Wednesday that Mark Retterath of Osage asked them to help him kill a man who had accused him of sexual abuse.

Retterath, 52, is being tried on charges of attempted murder, solicitation to commit murder and third-degree sexual abuse. The case was moved from Mitchell County to Franklin County.

A 20-year-old former Osage resident now living in Sioux City, who described himself as a recovering drug addict, said he has known Rettearth for several years.

The witness said Retterath began talking to him about killing his accuser in February 2015, not long after he bonded out of jail following his arrest.

The witness made his own accusations of sexual abuse against Retterath several months later, and a trial is pending. However, that information is barred from being mentioned to the jury during Retteraths current trial.

The witness said he told Rettearth about an episode of the TV series Breaking Bad in which a character killed someone by extracting the deadly toxin ricin from castor beans and mixing it with a drug.

Retterath allegedly later showed the witness instructions he got online for extracting ricin from castor beans.

He seemed pretty excited, the witness said.

The witness said he also saw the castor beans Retterath ordered.

The witness said he was supposed to get heroin so Rettearth could mix the ricin with it. Rettearth also allegedly asked the witness to take the ricin-laced heroin to the home of the man he wanted to kill  who also was a drug addict and leave it for him to find.

However, in June 2015, the witness told a deputy with the Mitchell County Sheriffs Office about the castor beans.

When questioned by Retteraths attorney, Angela Campbell, the witness admitted the man who accused Retterath, who was an acquaintance of the witness, gave him money so he could get drugs for him. The witness said he took the money but never gave him drugs.

The witness also admitted he thinks Retterath told his father about his involvement with drugs.

Another witness, Stacyville resident Aaron Sellers, said after Rettearth was arrested for sexual abuse in February 2015, he began talking to him about killing his accuser and asked for help.

Sellers said he told him, Ill think about it.

He said he didnt think Retterath was guilty at the time. Sellers also said he felt a sense of loyalty to Retterath, who had helped him out since he moved to Mitchell County after getting out of federal prison, where he served an 11-year sentence on drugs and weapons charges.

Sellers said one day he was talking to Retterath on the phone, Retterath told him to write down a list of items for him. He said he did so and later gave the list to Retterath.

The list, which was later found in Retteraths house, includes items such as duct tape, garbage bags, a power cord, five-gallon containers of gasoline and tarps.

When questioned by Campbell, Sellers denied the items on the list were things he wanted Retterath to pick up for him.

Officers also found castor beans and the instructions for extracting ricin from them during a search warrant. Those officers were among the other witnesses who testified Wednesday.
Slow down! Double whammy spurs Phuket speed warning

PHUKET: The director of the Phuket Highways Department has put out a warning to drivers living or visiting the island to strictly adhere to road laws and warnings following two identical road accidents being caught on CCTV and video camera just over an hour apart.

accidentstransport

By The Phuket News

Thursday 18 August 2016, 01:02PM

A screen grab from YouTube shows the second vehicle careering towards the already badly damaged Mazda. Photo: YouTube Got5275 screen grab

Footage of the accidents, which occurred on the northbound lanes of the notorious Maphrao bends on Thepkrasattri Rd in Mai Khao on Monday (Aug 15), has gone viral after being posted on various websites including YouTube and Facebook by a Kusoldhram rescue worker based in Thalang.

The recording, which started being taken at around 2:10pm on Monday, first showed the driver of a red Mazda 2 lose control of her vehicle on the first of two Maphrao bends before crashing into an electricity pylon.

Then, just over one hour later, at 3:25pm, and while passersby and rescue workers were helping the victim of the first accident, a Honda CRV also lost control on the very same bend, slamming into the back of the already badly damaged Mazda and quickly dispersing the many people who had gathered to help the first victim.

Luckily there were no reports of injuries from either of the accidents. However, Kusoldharm rescue workers had to stay at the scene to warn oncoming motorists to slow down and proceed with caution.

After being shown footage of the accidents, Phuket Highways Office Director Patiwetwuttisak Sukkhee pointed out that the road where the accidents occurred has two bends within a short distance.

About one kilometre before the first bend is a traffic sign warning drivers to reduce speed to 60km/h. At the bend is a second sign advising drivers to reduce speed to 30km/h.

At the Maphrao bends we have put up a lot of traffic signs to warn drivers about the road. The speed limit is set for 60km/h. New drivers must follow the traffic laws and pay attention to these traffic signs.

Those who already know this route well often go above the limit and drive through the curves at speeds of up to 80km/h, Mr Patiwetwuttisak said.

The two vehicles involved in the accidents on Aug 15 are clearly driving above 80km/h, which caused the drivers to lose control of their vehicles.

When we looked at more footage from this area we discovered there are many accidents; 85 per cent of drivers hit these bends while travelling faster the speed limit, he added.

He continued: We will put up more signs and put speed reducers in place so people cannot drive so fast. This should help reduce the numbers of accidents.

In future it is possible that we will increase the radius of the bend or make the road higher, but we have to study the environmental and community effects if we are going to change anything, he said.

For now, all drivers must strictly follow the laws for their own and the safety of others, concluded Mr Patiwetwuttisak.

Mai Khao resident Sulaiman Kaewngamdee, who lives close to the area where the accidents occurred said, Before you get to the bend the road is straight so most drivers go very fast, but when they reach the bend it is often too late to slow down.

Ive seen many vehicles lose control at this spot, he said.

Most people involved in these accidents are not from the area, they do not know this route and often care less about the traffic signs. In fact, sometimes accidents happened because vehicles try to take over each other in this very area, he added.
The trouble with teachers

I wont go into a big spiel about reincarnation, but the first time I was in the Gucci store in Chicago was the closest Ive ever felt to home. Nobody ever said that Kayne West was fit to teach, well, anything.

Thursday 18 August 2016, 02:21PM

Taktsang Palphug Monastery in Paro valley, Bhutan.

by Jason Jellison

However, if one were to think about the shopping malls in Bangkok, as well as the decline of Buddhism in the East, that statement would take on a new form of irony.

The biggest trouble with teachers is that it is very difficult to find one that wont lead you astray. Take, for instance, the televangelists in America. If ever one should beware of false prophets, these bloodhounds would take the cake.

Here are just a few notable pearls of wisdom from these learned men. Pat Robertson apparently forgot the whole turn the other cheek part of the Bible when he once said of Washington, D.C., Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up. In the same vein, (and apparently forgetting that pesky Thou shalt not kill commandment) television huckster Jimmy Swaggart once quipped, Im gonna be blunt and plain, if one ever looks at me like that Im gonna kill him and tell God that he died.

Money is, of course, also frequently a topic for teachers. Joel Olsteen is quoted as having said, God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us. Creflo Dollar (aptly named, I might add) got more efficiently to the point when he recently tweeted, Jesus bled and died for us so that we can lay claim to the promise of financial prosperity.

Throughout history, women have also been the subject of the most stupid of teachings, even by good teachers. Aristotle once said, The female is a female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities. Plutarch once said, A wife should have no feelings of her own Saint Thomas Aquinas once wrote that woman is made when the semen is weak, Cato the Elder lamented that, Woman is a violent and uncontrolled animal, Napoleon proclaimed, Nature intended women to be our slaves and even Sigmund Freud stated, The sexual life of women is a dark continent for psychology.

I imagine youre thinking that Buddhism would be immune from this chicanery; with all of its sophistication and everything? Not so! With the proliferation of the Internet, there are so many incorrect quotes attributed to Buddha that I could write another column. Sadly, all religions can be taught improperly and improper teaching is disastrous for a follower.

There has always been and always will be the crowd who wants to take your money, much like Americas infamous televangelists. There are also far too many teachers who simply learned incorrect knowledge and unwittingly pass it on. The question becomes how do I find an enlightened teacher? Its not easy. After all, in Thailand, you would need a team to translate for you. I do have some advice that can help.

First, a sincere Buddhist teacher will not be interested in your money or be hawking goods. Second, you need to know that Buddhist teachers do not perform miracles like Jesus. They cannot take away all of your sorrows and suffering. If youre looking for that, look elsewhere or youll be taken advantage of.

Finally, while Thailand is one of the best places for a Westerner to discover Buddhism, Thailand is not one of the best places for most Westerners to learn Buddhism. Yes, there are certainly a few services in English that you can find for yourself on the Internet. You need to understand that Thai culture and Western culture are polar opposites. Many foreign teachers will struggle to accommodate your learning style and translation will also be a serious issue.

If you really want to learn Buddhism you may need to make a commitment to return to the west. You may be surprised to learn that many of Thailands best monks actually live in the West now. There are many wonderful temples dotting Europe and America. There is even a Buddhist university in Boulder, Colorado.

Bear these things in mind when searching for a teacher. Remember, Buddha urges us to find the truth on our own, for Buddha said, By oneself is evil left undone; by oneself is one made pure Thats something Buddha actually said. Its in Dharmapadda XII, verse 165.
Updated at 9:50 a.m.

MASON CITY | Service has been restored to all but 40 of the Mason City homes and businesses that lost power on Thursday morning.

Approximately 1,500 Alliant customers on the east side of Mason City lost power about 8:30 a.m.

Officials said many had been restored as of 9:50 a.m.

Crews were still investigating the cause.

Check back at globegazette.com for more on this developing story.

Our previous story:

MASON CITY | Alliant Energy reports power has been out since about 8:30 a.m. for more than 1,500 customers in Cerro Gordo County, most on the east side of Mason City.

Officials did not have an estimated renewal time.

Several stop lights on Highway 122 east of Federal Avenue were out.

Stoplights in the center of town were still working in downtown Mason City and along Highway 122 west of Federal Avenue.

City officials have placed temporary stop signs at affected intersections.

Check back at globegazette.com for more on this developing story.
11AAA semis will be awesome and more from HS football quarterfinals

The Class 11AAA high school football playoffs should be awesome, and 11B and nine-man teams also offer plenty of excitement.
Losing in the polls by widening margins  his unhinged behavior and alarming campaign ties to Russia no longer acceptable across party lines  Donald Trump tried to regain momentum by, once more, stoking American paranoia.

No issue serves the purpose better than immigration. So out of his bag of crowd-rousing tricks, Trump pulled out a call for extreme, extreme vetting of immigrants seeking entry into the United States.

Those who do not believe in our Constitution, or support bigotry and hatred, will not be admitted for immigration into our country, Trump said Monday in Ohio. Only those who expect to flourish in our country and to embrace a tolerant American society should be issued visas.

By those standards, Trump wouldnt be fit to call himself an American.

He has banned media he doesnt like from campaign events, First Amendment be damned. He has singled out Muslims for exclusion, religious freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution not standing in his way. He has cast Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers, and inspired wholesale anti-immigrant hatred all over the land.

In fact, if voters hadnt catapulted him to the GOP nomination and the party sealed the deal, theres no other way the millionaire real estate magnate wouldve made it through the background and security-clearance checks required of a high-ranking federal employee or political appointee, says a former immigration chief.

Trump and his Slovenian wife, Melania, wouldnt pass the multi-level government screening in place now and even those if he were in charge, says Perry Rivkind, a Reagan appointee who was associate commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the 1980s and INS district director in Miami.

He would be rejected because of his statements, Rivkind said. Hed never be accepted into any other position. Im not sure he could get an appointment because he couldnt pass a security check. He could not get into a U.S. government job based on his statements on Russia, his attacks on people. He couldnt get any clearance. He couldnt have access to classified material.

Rivkind should know. He was an insider who vetted candidates at the Justice Department. People were turned down for character flaws less detrimental than Trumps.

He was sent to Miami by the Reagan administration and used his discretionary powers to grant refuge to immigrants he didnt want to send back to wars in Central America.

Many Hispanic Republicans voting for Trump can thank Rivkind for their citizenship. The INS director he replaced, whose tactics were despotically Trumpian, wouldve sent them packing.

Rivkind, now retired in Arizona, also questions how Melania was able to obtain a work visa and travel a speedy road to citizenship.

A fledgling modeling career doesnt qualify anyone as exceptional, the category under which her employer would have had to apply for Melania to obtain the necessary visa to legally work here, he said.

It raises questions as to what her status was when she came in, Rivkind said, adding that, as aspiring first lady, Melania Trump should open her immigration file to public scrutiny. The media has a right to know. Thats not top secret.

The vetting system for immigrants is so strict that the sexy photographs of Melania holding a gun, wearing a mask and posing in sadomasochistic poses shouldve been cause to put a review hold on her permanent status, Rivkind said. And the false college degree claimed on her now-removed website, if listed in her immigration applications, also would be grounds for visa revocation or residency denial.

But it was smooth sailing for Melania Trump through the immigration system her husband wants to overhaul for others.

Maybe Republicans ought to start extreme vetting their presidential candidates.
In 2008, we opposed the Legislatures decision to make a one-cent local-option school infrastructure sales tax, approved within counties across Iowa, a statewide tax.

One of our biggest concerns was the state one day would seek to divert money from the school infrastructure tax to other purposes. We believed making the local-option tax a statewide tax violated the trust of voters and eliminated local accountability.

Today, our concern about discussion of diverting money is reality.

During the last legislative session and again, in a somewhat different form, this summer, Gov. Terry Branstad advocated for using some of the money from the school infrastructure sales tax for water quality.

We absolutely support an extension of the school tax, which sunsets in 2029, but again today we advocate for using revenue from an extension only for school infrastructure, as was the original intent.

The benefits of this tax speak for themselves in the form of school improvements across the state ... We appreciate how invaluable a tool this tax is in meeting a spectrum of school infrastructure challenges.

You will get no argument from us about the importance of water quality to the future of Iowa, but we prefer Branstad and the Legislature discuss the issue separate from school infrastructure.

Begin the discussion, we suggest, by revisiting a plan proposed within the House during the last session to direct money for water quality from the states Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund, which is funded by gambling revenue, and the state sales tax Iowans pay on their water bill.

For purposes of planning and bonding for future infrastructure projects, school districts need an end to uncertainty about the future of the school infrastructure tax.

To this end, we urge the Legislature to make extension of the school infrastructure sales tax, with no strings attached, a priority in next years session.

 By the Sioux City Journal,

another Lee Enterprises newspaper.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a non-profit mental health watchdog dedicated to the eradication of abuses committed under the guise of mental health, and founded by Dr. Thomas Szasz and the Church of Scientology in 1969, launched a campaign to educate senior citizens and on their rights under the Baker Act in the hope of reducing unnecessary involuntary examinations of the elderly in Florida.



CLEARWATER, Fla., Aug. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In honor of National Senior Citizens Day, CCHR is launching a campaign to help protect the elderly from abuse under the mental health law in Florida with a workshop on Advanced Mental Health Directives on Sunday, August 21 at 2pm at the center located in downtown Clearwater. CCHR opened its Florida headquarters just over one year ago in downtown Clearwater.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/780945e6-cc48-4c99-9189-e8a1e005495a

An advance directive is a written document expressing a persons wishes for treatment, services and other assistance they want during a mental health crisis. This document is a clear statement of the persons medical treatment preferences and can also be used to grant legal decision-making authority to another person until the crisis is over.

When government insurance coverage for electroconvulsive therapy takes effect, 65-year-olds receive 360 percent more ECT treatment than 64-year-olds in the United States, stated Diane Stein, President of CCHR Florida. With studies showing that ECT shortens the lives of elderly people significantly it is our duty to educate and help senior citizens on their rights and help them to put in place advance directives that will ensure their treatment wishes are honored.

CCHR will be hosting a weeklong open house following the Advanced Mental Health Directive Workshop on August 21st and for more information on the workshop, the open house or the protection of elder rights under the mental health law please call 727-442-8820.

About Citizens Commission on Human Rights:

Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHRs mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections.

It was L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, who brought the terror of psychiatric imprisonment to the notice of the world. In March 1969, he said, Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the free world tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of mental health.

After discovering that 55 percent of foster children in Florida had been prescribed powerful mind-altering psychotropic drugs, CCHR documented the abuse to the health department which initiated changes that led to a 75 percent reduction in prescriptions for children under six.

Considered a potentially abusive, marketing tool for psychiatrists, CCHR Florida led the charge that got Teen Screen, mental health screening of school children, banned from Pinellas County schools in 2005. For more information visit, www.cchrflorida.org

SOURCES:

http://www.cchr.org/cchr-reports/elderly-abuse/introduction.html


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FILE - In this Aug.4 2016 file photo made from video, Nissrine Samali, 20, gets into the sea wearing a burkini, a wetsuit-like garment that also covers the head, in Marseille, southern France. France's Socialist prime minister Manuel Valls is expressing support for local bans of burkinis, saying the swimwear is based on the "enslavement of women" and therefore not compatible with French values. (AP Photo, File)
Relatives and friends of prisoners wait outside a high security prison complex in Silivri, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Istanbul, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. Turkey issued a decree Wednesday paving the way for the conditional release of some 38,000 prisoners, the justice minister said, an apparent move to reduce its prison population to make space for thousands of people who have been arrested as part of an investigation into last month's failed coup. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Organisation: United States

US Embassy, US Mission in Uganda

Duty Station: Kampala,

Uganda

Salary Grade: FSN-12 (Ugshs

191,547,014to 282,336,746 p.a Inclusive of allowances)

Vacancy Announcement Number:

2016-80

About US Embassy:

Welcome to the United States Embassy in Kampala, Uganda. The United States has enjoyed diplomatic

relations with Uganda for over 30 years.

Ambassador Deborah R. Malac currently heads the U.S Mission to

Uganda. The Mission is composed of

several offices and organizations all working under the auspices of the Embassy

and at the direction of the Ambassador.

Among the offices operating under the U.S Mission to Uganda are:



United States Agency for International

Development (USAID)



Centers for Disease Control (CDC)



Peace Corps

Job Summary: The Program

Management Specialist- (Deputy HIV/AIDS Team Leader) will work closely with these units on cross-cutting issues and

projects such as developing health systems, strengthening laboratories,

integrated service delivery, and private sector initiatives. The incumbent provides primary support to the

HSS Team Leader in in directing and guiding the strategic, programmatic,

technical, and financial directions of this technically complex and challenging

portfolio, as well as some project. The incumbent will also collaborate closely

with other team leaders and management positions within the mission during the

implementation of the country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) 2.0. The

incumbent of this positions services as a Senior Officer and Deputy of the HSS

Team within USAID/Uganda Development Objective 3: Improved Human

Capacity/Investing in People (DO3). The Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) Team

consists of one USDH PHN Officer, two expatriate staff (two TCNs), six foreign

service nationals, five of which are technical staff. The incumbent will work

closely with these units on cross-cutting issues and projects such as

developing health systems, strengthening laboratories, integrated service

delivery, and private sector initiatives.

The HH Office is headed by a US Foreign Service Officer who reports

directly to the Mission Director.

Managing a budget of over US$200 million in fiscal year 2015 (FY15), the

Health Systems Strengthening Division has a significant portfolio in the

Mission. The incumbent provides primary

support to the HSS Team Leader in in directing and guiding the strategic,

programmatic, technical, and financial directions of this technically complex

and challenging portfolio, as well as some project. The incumbent will also

collaborate closely with other team leaders and management positions within the

mission during the implementation of the country Development Cooperation

Strategy (CDCS) 2.0. This position also serves as acting Team Leader during the

absence of the HSS Team Leader; including attendance and participation in DO

and Mission meetings. The incumbent must have broad technical experience in the

areas of health mentioned above, and must demonstrate a comprehensive

understanding of the Ugandan health sector, including decentralization and the

Sector Wide approach (SWAp) in Uganda. The incumbent must have prior

supervisory experience. This senior position ensures that the Mission has the

necessary management and technical expertise to handle and successfully

implement health programs and activities in USAID/Ugandas portfolio. The ProgramManagement Specialist- (Deputy HIV/AIDS Team Leader)will work closely with these units on cross-cutting issues andprojects such as developing health systems, strengthening laboratories,integrated service delivery, and private sector initiatives. The incumbent provides primary support to theHSS Team Leader in in directing and guiding the strategic, programmatic,technical, and financial directions of this technically complex and challengingportfolio, as well as some project. The incumbent will also collaborate closelywith other team leaders and management positions within the mission during theimplementation of the country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) 2.0. Theincumbent of this positions services as a Senior Officer and Deputy of the HSSTeam within USAID/Uganda Development Objective 3: Improved HumanCapacity/Investing in People (DO3). The Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) Teamconsists of one USDH PHN Officer, two expatriate staff (two TCNs), six foreignservice nationals, five of which are technical staff. The incumbent will workclosely with these units on cross-cutting issues and projects such asdeveloping health systems, strengthening laboratories, integrated servicedelivery, and private sector initiatives.The HH Office is headed by a US Foreign Service Officer who reportsdirectly to the Mission Director.Managing a budget of over US$200 million in fiscal year 2015 (FY15), theHealth Systems Strengthening Division has a significant portfolio in theMission. The incumbent provides primarysupport to the HSS Team Leader in in directing and guiding the strategic,programmatic, technical, and financial directions of this technically complexand challenging portfolio, as well as some project. The incumbent will alsocollaborate closely with other team leaders and management positions within themission during the implementation of the country Development CooperationStrategy (CDCS) 2.0. This position also serves as acting Team Leader during theabsence of the HSS Team Leader; including attendance and participation in DOand Mission meetings. The incumbent must have broad technical experience in theareas of health mentioned above, and must demonstrate a comprehensiveunderstanding of the Ugandan health sector, including decentralization and theSector Wide approach (SWAp) in Uganda. The incumbent must have priorsupervisory experience. This senior position ensures that the Mission has thenecessary management and technical expertise to handle and successfullyimplement health programs and activities in USAID/Ugandas portfolio.



Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities:

1. Management and Supportive Supervision: 50% A key role of the

Deputy position will be to provide day to day management of a subunit,

including supervision of staff, within the HSS team. A key role of theDeputy position will be to provide day to day management of a subunit,including supervision of staff, within the HSS team.

Coaching/support supervision



approximately three (3) technical and administrative staff; which includes

development of work objectives, professional development and training

plans, complete ad hoc and annual performance reviews. Superviseapproximately three (3) technical and administrative staff; which includesdevelopment of work objectives, professional development and trainingplans, complete ad hoc and annual performance reviews.



and mentor all HSS team members, as needed, in effective project and

financial management; work in collaboration with PPD, FMA and A&A to

develop an orientation and training program for staff who have not yet

received C/AOR training or need a refresher; ensure effective coordination

and planning with supervisors of other HSS team members Coachand mentor all HSS team members, as needed, in effective project andfinancial management; work in collaboration with PPD, FMA and A&A todevelop an orientation and training program for staff who have not yetreceived C/AOR training or need a refresher; ensure effective coordinationand planning with supervisors of other HSS team members



and oversee project planning and monitoring schedule including work plans,

quarterly and annual reports, meetings with C/AORs and other staff,

integrated field visits. Developand oversee project planning and monitoring schedule including work plans,quarterly and annual reports, meetings with C/AORs and other staff,integrated field visits.

Undertake

quarterly integrated support supervision with technical and other Mission

staff i.e. FMO, A&A.

Financial Management:



the HSS budget; work in collaboration with the DO3 Financial Analyst to

ensure that budgets are up to date; reprogramming is completed; budgetary

changes are approved by HSS, DO Team Leaders and DO3 Office Director;

ensure working group members are informed of minimum and maximum budget

expectations for COP, MOPand OP planning; coordination with other teams

for projects with multiple funding sources Monitorthe HSS budget; work in collaboration with the DO3 Financial Analyst toensure that budgets are up to date; reprogramming is completed; budgetarychanges are approved by HSS, DO Team Leaders and DO3 Office Director;ensure working group members are informed of minimum and maximum budgetexpectations for COP, MOPand OP planning; coordination with other teamsfor projects with multiple funding sources

Provide

technical support to HSS team members in reviewing, understanding and

responding to quarterly accruals and pipeline analysis; ensuring that the

HSS team is prepared and on the same page for Mission reviews.

Planning and Reporting:



team participation in the portfolio review process and products. Facilitateteam participation in the portfolio review process and products.

Works

with PPD to ensure that HSS staff are informed of new developments and are

contributing to or participating as needed.

2. Strategic and Technical Guidance: 30%



collaboratively with other health/HIV management teams. Workcollaboratively with other health/HIV management teams.



leadership in USAID planning and review of HSS portfolio; refocusing, as

needed, current and future priorities. Provideleadership in USAID planning and review of HSS portfolio; refocusing, asneeded, current and future priorities.



incumbent provides strategic direction and technical input to key USAID

governmental and non-governmental partners on their strategies, work plans

and monitoring and evaluation as it relates to HSS Theincumbent provides strategic direction and technical input to key USAIDgovernmental and non-governmental partners on their strategies, work plansand monitoring and evaluation as it relates to HSS



and facilitate technical staff to identify and employ technical resources

in their day to day management. Supportand facilitate technical staff to identify and employ technical resourcesin their day to day management.



and strengthen USAIDs collaborative contribution to the USG HSS portfolio

and national response. Facilitateand strengthen USAIDs collaborative contribution to the USG HSS portfolioand national response.



with USAID HSS Advisors for Donor and Community relations to ensure that

activities are effectively integrated with other national initiatives such

as the Global Fund Coordinatewith USAID HSS Advisors for Donor and Community relations to ensure thatactivities are effectively integrated with other national initiatives suchas the Global Fund



opportunities and strengthen existing opportunities for integration within

the Health portfolio and across, other DOs including democracy and

governance, conflict and economic strengthening. Identifyopportunities and strengthen existing opportunities for integration withinthe Health portfolio and across, other DOs including democracy andgovernance, conflict and economic strengthening.



leadership and act as HSS Team Leader in absence of the Team Leader Provideleadership and act as HSS Team Leader in absence of the Team Leader



and help facilitate team building sessions and retreats. Organizeand help facilitate team building sessions and retreats.



participate in and contribute to Mission and team meetings as directed. Activelyparticipate in and contribute to Mission and team meetings as directed.

Actively

facilitate implementation of evaluations of program activities in

coordination with M&E Advisor and Health management team.

3. Technical and Project Management: 20% The Deputy will

maintain a small technical portfolio to ensure that s/he stays current with the

HSS response in Uganda, including new directions and trends, as well as issues

related to project management. In doing

so, the Deputy is responsible for: The Deputy willmaintain a small technical portfolio to ensure that s/he stays current with theHSS response in Uganda, including new directions and trends, as well as issuesrelated to project management. In doingso, the Deputy is responsible for:



substantial input, based on technical and managerial experience, into the

planning, design and oversight of USAID HSS activities at national,

district and sub-district levels; planning and reporting process include

but are not limited to PEPFAR Country Operational Plan, Mission

Operational Plan and Malaria Operational Plan. Providingsubstantial input, based on technical and managerial experience, into theplanning, design and oversight of USAID HSS activities at national,district and sub-district levels; planning and reporting process includebut are not limited to PEPFAR Country Operational Plan, MissionOperational Plan and Malaria Operational Plan.



strategic direction and technical oversight to key USAID governmental and

non-governmental partners to ensure that they develop strategies, work

plans and targets that are aligned with USAID goals and objectives. He/she is responsible for undertaking

sound project management and will serve as a role model for other HSS

staff. Providingstrategic direction and technical oversight to key USAID governmental andnon-governmental partners to ensure that they develop strategies, workplans and targets that are aligned with USAID goals and objectives. He/she is responsible for undertakingsound project management and will serve as a role model for other HSSstaff.



technical and programmatic synergy within USAID/Uganda supported HSS

activities and between those of government and other development partners

by facilitating exchange of technical information and identifying and

fostering opportunities for partnership on technical and programmatic

activities. Ensuringtechnical and programmatic synergy within USAID/Uganda supported HSSactivities and between those of government and other development partnersby facilitating exchange of technical information and identifying andfostering opportunities for partnership on technical and programmaticactivities.



as a senior USAID/Uganda representative in national level technical,

programmatic and policy meetings and consultations related to HSS with

other donors, government officials and implementing partners. Participatingas a senior USAID/Uganda representative in national level technical,programmatic and policy meetings and consultations related to HSS withother donors, government officials and implementing partners.

Drafting

talking points, assisting with high level visits (e.g. Congressional,

political appointees, senior representatives from USG),

developing/updating briefing materials as it relates to the HSS

team.



Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience:

NOTE: All applicants must

address each selection criterion detailed below with specific and comprehensive

information supporting each item.



Specialist- (Deputy HIV/AIDS Team Leader) career opportunity should hold a

Masters Degree in field relevant to development assistance such as social

sciences, social work, public health, organizational development, public

or business administration, international development, law or medicine or

related degree strongly required. The ideal candidate for the US Embassy Program ManagementSpecialist- (Deputy HIV/AIDS Team Leader) career opportunity should hold aMasters Degree in field relevant to development assistance such as socialsciences, social work, public health, organizational development, publicor business administration, international development, law or medicine orrelated degree strongly required.



least five years experience in development assistance, or related work

for USAID, other donor agencies, host government organizations or private

sector institutions. Atleast five years experience in development assistance, or related workfor USAID, other donor agencies, host government organizations or privatesector institutions.



minimum of three years experience of progressively responsible,

professional experience in the field of development. minimum of three years experience of progressively responsible,professional experience in the field of development.



knowledge of supporting a comprehensive approach to Health is required

including strategic planning, monitoring and reporting in the areas of

systems strengthening and service delivery. Broadknowledge of supporting a comprehensive approach to Health is requiredincluding strategic planning, monitoring and reporting in the areas ofsystems strengthening and service delivery.



knowledge and understanding of the concepts, principles, techniques and

practices of the multisectoral response to HSS. Broadknowledge and understanding of the concepts, principles, techniques andpractices of the multisectoral response to HSS.



knowledge of Ugandas economical, political, social and cultural

characteristics and the history of development assistance, in particular

the response to HSS in Uganda, including current trends and directions

(including health sector strategic planning, health financing, public

accounting systems, SWAps, and decentralization). Thoroughknowledge of Ugandas economical, political, social and culturalcharacteristics and the history of development assistance, in particularthe response to HSS in Uganda, including current trends and directions(including health sector strategic planning, health financing, publicaccounting systems, SWAps, and decentralization).



knowledge of Ugandas development prospects, priorities and HSS

resources. Thoroughknowledge of Ugandas development prospects, priorities and HSSresources.



and supervisory experience, including human resource management. Managementand supervisory experience, including human resource management.



knowledge and understanding of USAIDs business processes for acquisition

and assistance including planning, formation and administration; Broadknowledge and understanding of USAIDs business processes for acquisitionand assistance including planning, formation and administration;



knowledge of USAID and GOU/MOH monitoring and evaluation systems. Workingknowledge of USAID and GOU/MOH monitoring and evaluation systems.



knowledge of USAIDs businesses processes preferred. Solidknowledge of USAIDs businesses processes preferred.



to establish and maintain effective working relationships within the USG

Mission including USAID (Mission and Headquarters), State Department, the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The Department of Defense,

the National Institutes of Health, and Peace Corps. Abilityto establish and maintain effective working relationships within the USGMission including USAID (Mission and Headquarters), State Department, theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The Department of Defense,the National Institutes of Health, and Peace Corps.



to establish and maintain effective working relationships with

implementing partners, private sector partners, other donor partners, and

both central and district level Government of Uganda counterparts. Abilityto establish and maintain effective working relationships withimplementing partners, private sector partners, other donor partners, andboth central and district level Government of Uganda counterparts.



Analytical ability to: a) analyze ongoing public health interventions to

assess their efficacy and efficiency; and b) obtain, analyze, and evaluate

data and prepare precise and accurate reports for other decision-makers. StrongAnalytical ability to: a) analyze ongoing public health interventions toassess their efficacy and efficiency; and b) obtain, analyze, and evaluatedata and prepare precise and accurate reports for other decision-makers.



and exercise sound judgment and decision-making in a very fast paced,

dynamic environment. Multitaskand exercise sound judgment and decision-making in a very fast paced,dynamic environment.



and effectively plan, organize, manage and evaluate important, responsible

and complex projects for individual and team work. Independentlyand effectively plan, organize, manage and evaluate important, responsibleand complex projects for individual and team work.



demonstrate excellent technical and project management skills to review

and provide substantive feedback on documents including concept papers,

proposals, program descriptions/scopes of work, annual submissions for

various operational plan planning processes, oral and written feedback to

implementing partners, and other technical and programmatic documents. Consistentlydemonstrate excellent technical and project management skills to reviewand provide substantive feedback on documents including concept papers,proposals, program descriptions/scopes of work, annual submissions forvarious operational plan planning processes, oral and written feedback toimplementing partners, and other technical and programmatic documents.



significant economic, political and social trends in the host country and

assess their important and impact on USAID development assistance

objectives and programs. Identifysignificant economic, political and social trends in the host country andassess their important and impact on USAID development assistanceobjectives and programs.



factual and interpretive reports covering complex subject-matter. Draftfactual and interpretive reports covering complex subject-matter.



to work in and appreciate a culturally diverse office, and able to

translate local customs and culture to American counterparts and senior

staff as necessary. Abilityto work in and appreciate a culturally diverse office, and able totranslate local customs and culture to American counterparts and seniorstaff as necessary.



collaboratively, professionally, and positively with all other USAID staff

to achieve team objectives. Workcollaboratively, professionally, and positively with all other USAID staffto achieve team objectives.



interpersonal skills, including diplomacy and tact, to work effectively

with people at all levels, from senior officials to support staff, accepting

divergent points of view, able to set forth new ideas, and able to help

find consensus to achieve team goals. Excellentinterpersonal skills, including diplomacy and tact, to work effectivelywith people at all levels, from senior officials to support staff, acceptingdivergent points of view, able to set forth new ideas, and able to helpfind consensus to achieve team goals.



to lead a team when necessary, allowing for two-way communication,

bringing divergent views together to consensus, and exercising fair

judgment and decision-making. Abilityto lead a team when necessary, allowing for two-way communication,bringing divergent views together to consensus, and exercising fairjudgment and decision-making.



to positively appraise staff, write annual performance evaluations, and

set mutually agreed-upon and achievable work objectives for staff that

s/he supervises. Abilityto positively appraise staff, write annual performance evaluations, andset mutually agreed-upon and achievable work objectives for staff thats/he supervises.



ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing  and able

to help others do the same. Demonstratedability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing  and ableto help others do the same.

Excellent

computer skills including Microsoft Office, web-based databases, and

electronic filing, including the ability to help others, and the ability

to learn new programs quickly is required to adequately perform in

this position.

Language Proficiency: Minimum

of level 4  fluent in English (written and oral) language. Knowledge of

one or more Ugandan local languages preferred.

How to Apply:

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CLEARWATER, Fla., Aug. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Boy Scout Troop 313, chartered by the Church of Scientology in Clearwater, came back from their week-long summer camp at Camp Sand Hill, earning a series of awards and nearly 40 merit badges between the scouts.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/59d47eda-5ec6-4cbb-b0c7-59f76a81d02b.

Among the various awards the troop earned, Andrew Lumsden, Senior Patrol Leader and Life Scout, received 2nd place in the campwide archery competition with 24 bulls-eyes as well as the Golden Falcon Award, for troop leadership. Three adult leaders, Kevin Sorrells, Delphine Nasr and William Harris, received the Scoutmaster Meritorious Achievement recognition by the Camp Commissioner.

Boy Scout summer camp is a yearly activity for most troops, including Troop 313. Nine Scouts and three adult leaders from the troop continued this tradition. For 3 of the 9 scouts, it was their first time attending a summer camp.

L. Ron Hubbard, Founder of Scientology and Eagle Scout himself, felt that Scouting was very important. He mentioned that the training he received saw him safely through the Second World War, of which he was a U.S. Naval Officer.

L. Ron Hubbard said, Of all the various information which became important to me, such as photography, woodlore, signaling and many other subjects, the basis of it was laid in Scouting. I am very indebted to a great many, very fine men who gave their time and attention to a restless, boisterous and extremely active boy and teenager, and I must have tried their patience many times but I never heard of it from them.

Troop 313 is open to boys of any faith, as with any troop. Boys in the Scouting program are encouraged to be faithful and loyal, as laid out in the Scout Oath and Law.

About the Church of Scientology:



The Scientology religion was founded by humanitarian and philosopher, L. Ron Hubbard. The first Church of Scientology was formed in the United States in 1954 and has expanded to more than 11,000 churches, missions and affiliated groups, with millions of members in 165 nations. Scientologists are optimistic about life and believe there is hope for a saner world and better civilization, and actively do all they can to help achieve this. The Church of Scientology regularly engages in many humanitarian programs, such as anti-drug campaigns, human rights campaigns and global education programs. To learn more, visit www.scientology.org
But the tribe has a long way to go
With monsoon playing havoc in the Cauvery delta, fears of a distress year has gripped Karnataka. The state which has recorded six per cent less rainfall and a storage deficit of 54 per cent across its four reservoirs - KR Sagar, Hemavathy, Harangi and Kabini, wants the neighboring Tamil Nadu to share the distress.

According to sources, the state will convey the distress situation to the central water resources ministry seeking to apply the distress sharing formula this year. Given the current situation, the state will not be able to release the stipulated quota of 31 tmc to Tamil Nadu in the first quarter of the water year (June to August), as per the final verdict of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has appealed to its farmers to desist from sowing, water-intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane, this Kharif season. Rationing of water for irrigation and drinking water to Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mandya are proving to be a big challenge, with poor rainfall in the catchment areas.

Energy minister D.K.Shivakumar, said, "We had planned not to release water to the irrigation canals. But as the farmers have already started sowing, we are compelled to release water to the canals till August 30. The water release to the canals will be suspended from August 31 and September 10, when the storage level of reservoirs will be assessed to decide on further releases to the canals. We need 40 tmc of water for irrigation purpose over the next 80 days. But we have only 12.5 tmc. Moreover, Bengaluru alone needs 15 tmc drinking water."

The farmers in Karnataka are now protesting against the daily release of 4,000 cuses of water to Tamil Nadu, stating that they cannot afford to skip sowing this season, as the state has already suffered two consecutive droughts.

Karnataka has an obligation to deliver 192 tmc to Tamil Nadu in a normal water year (beginning June). But the discord between the two riparian states arises over water sharing during the distress (deficit rainfall) years as Karnataka cannot fulfill the monthly quota or even the total stipulated quota during a drought year.
Islamabad's tradition of meddling in Kashmir and fomenting terrorism has remained a sore point in the India-Pakistan relations since the partition in 1947 but Prime Minister Narendra Modi , speaking from the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15 changed this discourse. Digressing from New Delhi's traditional stand of demanding an end to cross-border terror in Kashmir, Modi chose to take the discourse forward to touch the Achilles Heel of Pakistan  Balochistan.

The people of Balochistan, the people of Gilgit, the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have thanked me in such a manner, from places that I have never been and never had a chance to meet, they have sent wishes to the people of India and thanked us, thundered Modi. I am grateful to them.

This was the second time in a week that Modi brought up Balochistan. In the All Parties Meeting on KashmirModi had ducked the issue at hand , of controlling the ongoing unrest in Kashmir, by raising the bogey.

Pakistan forgets that it bombs its own citizens using fighter planes. The time has come when Pakistan shall have to answer to the world for the atrocities committed by it against people in Balochistan and PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir).

It is a major policy shift in our relationship with Pakistan where so far we have been correct in not commenting on the internal affairs of Pakistan and accepting that Pakistan has a role in Kashmir, recognised in the Shimla agreement , and that is why we could talk Kashmir in our dialogue with Islamabad. But diplomatically, it is a bold move where we have given a message to Pakistan that it can be a game of ''reciprocity'' if you try to destabilise India. But it is my uneasy feeling, that it is just a tactical move and not a strategic shift , former foreign secretary Lalit Mansing told THE WEEK.

Call it a stick and carrot approach, a day later, New Delhi conveyed its willingness to engage Pakistan with foreign secretary S. Jaishankar accepting the invitation for FS level talks in Islamabad. At the Centre of this approach was a rider and a renewed attempt to de-link Pakistan's K-bogey from New Delhi's demand to reign in terror groups fomenting unrest in Kashmir. The message was clear, India was putting the ball in Pakistan's court.

Since aspects related to cross-border terrorism are central to the current situation in J&K, we have proposed that discussions between the Foreign Secretaries be focused on them. We have also conveyed that the government rejects in their entirety the self-serving allegations regarding the situation in JK, which is an integral part of India where Pakistan has no locus standi, said a foreign ministry source.

Those who are privy to the fast paced developments atop Raisina Hill, believe that the ''offensive strategy'' being played by India is a two pronged one to extend support to a domestically weakened Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who is looking to appoint a new army chief who could help settle the civil military tension in Pakistan. It is being speculated simultaneously that General Raheel Sharif may not get a second term but be elevated to the honorary position of a Field marshal.

Sharif's weakened position is frustrating Mr Modi. Sharif is talking of Kashmir because of his weak position. At this juncture he needs New Delhi's support and by accepting the offer for talks, we have taken a step in the right direction, A.S Dulat, former R&AW chief told THE WEEK.

That New Delhi is walking a tight rope is clear but the diplomatic card played by India could keep Pakistan off-balance for a while. It is unlikely that Pakistan will agree to restrict the dialogue to cross-border terror for the FS talks, says Mansingh.

If the dialogue breaks down or does not instil confidence, New Delhi has the option to ratchet up its offensive by taking up the Balochistan- Gilgit reference on the international forum- the United National General Assembly meet next month- highlighting the human rights violations by Pakistan in its southwestern province which was forcibly annexed by Pakistan a day after the partition of India.

The passionate campaign that Sharif has been carrying out has resulted in hardening of position on both sides. Pakistan has been needlessly provocative in the way the Burhan Wani (Jaish militant) killing issue has been raised. Some capital that the Pakistani prime minister had built with Mr Modi , which accounted for the latter stopping by at Islamabad, has got depleted. If Islamabad makes a vicious speech at the UNGA mentioning Kashmir, then yes, India has the option of raising the atrocities in Balochistan, former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal told THE WEEK.

History documents that fact that the British had annexed Balochistan to British India in 1884. The implications of an expanded Baloch insurgency that could spread to other provinces such as Sindh threatening Pakistan's territorial security is something Islamabad cannot afford today.

Mr Modi's Balochistan- Gilgit reference may have a historical link but it's not about territorial claim. Geographically we are away from Balochistan but we have conveyed to Islamabad that if you cannot do justice to your own people who are suffering from the worst human right abuses, why are you talking about Kashmir, Arun Choudhary, former Intelligence Bureau special director who handled Kashmir told THE WEEK.

Home Ministry officials pointed out that whenever Pakistani leaders visit India, they meet the separatists. The previous National Security Advisor level talks had to be called off because the Pakistani side wanted to meet Hurriyat leaders.

"We don't meet Baluch leaders when we go to Islamabad, said a top official outlining New Delhi's approach towards Balochistan and Gilgit hinting towards what a strategic shift could mean for Pakistan

What India has done so far, which unsettles Islamabad, is ''remaining in touch'' with Baloch leaders , which is a legitimate part of diplomacy worldwide. Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) officers who have met Baloch leaders and others who led the Track II dialogue under the previous UPA government told THE WEEK that the Baloch boys are very critical of Pakistan and openly talk of disappearances.

For these officers, spying and espionage is also an acknowledged part of states-craft globally but that's another story. Pakistan knows it better than us, they insist.

When Pakistani Brigadier Zahir ul Islam Abbasi, the military attache at the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi was caught spying 25 years ago, he was declared persona non-grata and sent back home. That was the most conspicuous case of a high profile Pakistani officer caught spying and declared persona non-grata. But with the arrest of Kulbhushan Jadhav, an alleged R&AW spy and naval officer from Balochistan early this year, Islamabad chose to use it as the biggest evidence so far of India's direct involvement in fueling unrest in Balochistan.

Pakistan's claim has fallen flat. Till date, there are no international dossiers against any R&AW spies operating clandestinely in Balochistan or Gilgit nor has Pakistan been able to gather international support to its claim, said another spy.

According to the Indian intelligence community, this is ample proof of what sets India and Pakistan apart on the international stage and the sole reason why India also stands tall as a ''responsible nation and a responsible neighbour''.

When the 26/11 terror attack happened, there was a chance of a possible confrontation. The provocation was huge. In one month, heads of four countries United states, UK, Japan, France visited India and the whole counseling was to exercise restraint, said a top security official. We can once again use international leverage to reign in Pakistan but we cannot afford to play the role of an 'aggressor', he said.

Modi's speech has been heard loud and clear by the intelligence agencies but they explain why such a move is far-off.

Our agencies do not move a step forward without political approval. No one will take any step till there is political approval for it. But Pakistan must remember, that the ISI may have been trained by the CIA, the R&AW has trained itself, a top intelligence official said appearing to soak in the aggression that emanated from the ramparts of the Red Fort as both India and Pakistan heard Modi speak.

Despite the adrenaline pumping aggressive stance, Indian agencies want to remain cautious. As of now we should keep quiet. Our Achilles Heel is Kashmir and their's is Balochistan. If they target us in J&K, do we have the capacity to handle it? We must understand that their capacity to damage us in JK is much more, cautions the officer recalling the 1999 Kargil withdrawal and the lessons learnt.

The past is littered with such lessons and chapters to be re-visited. There were times that the Indian governmentsympathetic as it washad failed the Baloch leadership.

In the 1970sthere might have been sections in the Indian government that wanted to toy with the idea, but Indira Gandhi stood firm. Baloch leaders were denied visas because the Indian government hoped that they would be able to strike a deal with Zia-ul-Haq. A prominent Baloch leaderwho lives in Londonstill carries the hurt of rejection even 25 years later. He is believed to have remarked that little can be expected from a country that refuses to even grant medical visas for treatment. This summer Naela Qadri Balocha leader in exilewas granted an Indian visa for two weeks. Qadriwas in India in Aprilat the same time when Uyghur leader Dokul Isa had his visa revoked. She travelled across India to universitiesincluding the anti national JNUto talk about the human rights violations in the hope that she could garner public support for her cause.

Indian people have been supportive, she said. The government has been silent. They dont hear us or see us....It is not a policy without political will.

Sher Mohammad BugtiCentral Spokesperson of Baloch Republican Partybelieves Modi's statement represents a ray of hope. In exile in Geneva, Bugti says: It shouldnt be seen as a reaction to Kashmir. We wanted to be rescued like the people in Bengal (Bangladesh). We are waiting in hope for that. India is a big democratic country and we hope that implement this and help us free us from the oppressive regime of Pakistan. Like Qadri, Bugti denies any convert involvement of India in the movement.

If India was to help, the whole map of Pakistan would be different, he quips.

But lobbying for Balochistan--internationally--won't be easy. It will bring India in confrontation with Iran--that shares a border with the Balochistan--and Afghanistan. "The Iranians are allergic to the idea,'' says Sushant Sareen, strategic analyst. The port of Gwadar is in the heart of Balochistan. It remains to be seen whether there has been a policy shift. It will unfold in the next week or days, says Sushant Sareen, strategic affairs analyst. What has Modi said? He has brought up human rights violations, like Pakistan has before like in Gujarat or post Babri Masjid. But will India speak on the behalf of Baloch people at international fora remains to be seen?

For Modis speech to be a warning shot firedit will also take more than mentioning Balochistan. It would takethe P word that doesnt always follow grand declarationspolitical will. It doesnt help that the average Indian politician may be willing to jump on the bandwagonespecially when it comes as tit for tat with Pakistan upping the ante on Kashmir but the Baloch cause is only a blimp on their horizon. Unlike Bangladeshpre 1971the Baloch cause hasnt caught the imagination of the Indian politician. An anecdote illustrates that. Post Sharmal Sheikh disasterwhere then PM Manmohan Singhagreed to bring up Balouchistan in the joint statementfor the first time, there was a debate in Parliament. Sharad Yadav made a passionate plea for Balochistan and then went on to speak about Khan Ghafar Khana very prominent leader and friend of Mahatma Gandhibut with no relation to Balouchistan or the Baloch people.
Mumbai police are probing a pan-nation network which facilitated supply of foot soldiers for the IS from across the country. The arrest of Mohammed Haneef, a young asatizah (religious teacher) from Peringathur in Kannur, last week put the police on the trail of at least a dozen youths who could have fled the country after being radicalised for IS-controlled territories in the Middle East.

Currently, Mumbai police's Crime Branch is investigating whether Haneef was a recruiter for IS and if he had programmed willing youths for embracing jihadi militancy. Also, the probe focuses on determining how many young boys Haneef succeeded in shaping for jihad.

In fact, the Mumbai police caught on to Haneef after a boy's father lodged a complaint against him with the Nagpada police in Mumbai. Police officials said the boy, Asfaque, disappeared without a trace after his brief tryst with Haneef. A senior Crime Branch official probing the matter said that Haneef was into "recruiting people for IS through a scattered network. Haneef, investigators said, told them that he was obeying a deeper plan and following a calling.

After the arrests of Rizwan Khan and Arshi Quereshi, members of controversial preacher Zakir Naik's Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) in Dongri, the Mumbai police stepped in on the activities of the Kannur-based Haneef .

Police are verifying the alleged meeting between Haneef, Khan and Quereshi, which took place in Mumbai and in at least two places in Kerala. Naik himself is in the eye of storm after the attackers of the July 2016 Dhaka siege claimed they were inspired and goaded to act by his teachings. He is also under the scanner over the sources of his funds. The fall-out of this investigation could have a bearing on the activities of the IRF which has been under spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri on Thursday said no one in the Pakistani province had supported Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that the Baloch people had thanked him for his support.

"We condemn Narendra Modi's statement on Balochistan. No one in Balochistan supported his statement. There is no comparison between the struggle for liberation in India-held Kashmir and the so-called Balochistan insurgency," Zehri asserted at a rally in Quetta, the provincial capital.

Modi in his speech on August 15, India's Independence Day, said "people of Balochistan, Gilgit and PoK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) have thanked me a lot in past few days, I am grateful to them".

According to media reports, Modi's comments sparked protests across Balochistan, with large numbers of tribesmen taking to the streets in protest in Dera Bugti, Khuzdar, Quetta, Chaman and other parts of the province. Angry protestors set ablaze the Indian flag and chanted slogans against the Indian Prime Minister at many places.

"We didn't ask the people to come out on the streets... They are on the streets themselves," the Pakistan Muslim League-N lawmaker said of the protests against Modi.

"The Kashmiris are agitating for their right to self-determination in accordance with UN resolutions, whereas in Balochistan there is only a small group working on the behest of the enemy country," Zehri said, referring to suspected Indian involvement.

"I swear on the blood of the dead, wherever these terrorists are, we will hunt them down."

"The Indian government fully supports the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan. It is deeply involved in sponsoring elements like Brahamdagh Bugti, Haerbyar Marri, Zamran Marri and Allah Nazar," he said.

"Balochistan is part of Pakistan and is run by a democratically elected government," he said. "The Pakistan Army is ours and we will not tolerate any Indian interference in our internal matters," he added.
South Korea said on Thursday that North Korea's deputy ambassador to Britain had defected to Seoul, in a rare and major loss of diplomatic face for Pyongyang.

The Unification Ministry said Thae Yong-Hothe number-two at the North's mission in Londonhad defected together with his family and they were now in the South Korean capital.

"They are under government protection and are going through necessary procedures with related institutions," ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee told reporters.

Jeong declined to reveal Thae's defection route, citing the diplomatic sensitivities involved for the concerned countries.

"On his reasons for defection, Minister Thae cited disgust with (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-Un's regime, admiration for South Korea's free, democratic system and the future of his family," Jeong said.

Increasingly isolated internationally because of its nuclear weapons programme, North Korea maintains relatively few overseas embassies, and defections by diplomats of Thae's stature are extremely rare.

The last such case was that of the North Korean ambassador to Egypt who defected to the United States in 1997.

South Korea' JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, which first reported Thae's defection yesterday, said he had been under pressure from Pyongyang to combat growing international criticism of North Korea's human rights record.

North Korean defectors have been making headlines recently, largely due to an unusual group defection in April by a dozen waitresses and their manager who were working at a North Korean-run restaurant in China.

A North Korean army colonel who had handled spying operations on South Korea was announced to have defected last year. And, in July, an 18-year-old student, who was in Hong Kong for an international maths contest, reportedly sought asylum in the South Korean consulate in the city.

The Unification Ministry said Thae's defection reflected the loss of faith among North Korea's elite in Kim Jong-Un's leadership.

"Awareness that the North Korean regime has reached its limit is spreading and the solidarity of its ruling class is weakening," Jeong said.

Thae was believed to have worked at the embassy in London for 10 years, with one of his main tasks being to counter the image of North Korea as a nuclear pariah state and notorious human rights abuser.

Over the years, nearly 30,000 North Koreans have fled poverty and repression in their country and settled in the South. But the number of defectorswho once numbered more than 2,000 a yearhas nearly halved since Kim Jong-Un took power after the death of his father and former leader Kim Jong-Il in December 2011.
English French

Q2 ConfirmMDx revenues up 79%; total revenues up 63%

Eight new and expanded ConfirmMDx  insurance agreements in Q2

Six new insurance agreements for SelectMDx in Q2

Mark Shaffar appointed as Chairman of the board

IRVINE, CA, and HERSTAL, BELGIUM - August 18, 2016 - MDxHealth SA (Euronext: MDXH.BR) today announced its financial results for the second quarter and first half year ended June 30, 2016.

Q2 Financial Highlights

Q2 total revenues increased 63% to $6.3 million (Q2 2015: $3.9 million)

ConfirmMDx  revenues up 79% to $5.6 million (Q2 2015: $3.1 million)

Q2 net loss of $4.2 million (Q2 2015: $3.0 million)

Basic and diluted net loss per share of $0.09

H1 Financial Highlights

H1 2016 total revenues increased 65% to $13 million (H1 2015: $7.9 million)

ConfirmMDx revenues up 56% to $10.8 million (H1 2015: $6.9 million)

H1 net loss of $7.6 million (H1 2015: $5.5 million)

Basic and diluted net loss per share of $0.17

Cash and cash equivalents at June 30, 2016 of $20.1 million

"Inclusion of our ConfirmMDx test in the US National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Clinical Guidelines in Q1 enabled us to effectively execute on key growth drivers, supporting further clinical adoption, facilitating contract negotiations with new payors and resulting in a sharp increase in revenues," commented Dr. Jan Groen, CEO of MDxHealth. "In the first half of 2016, we negotiated ten new or expanded payor agreements for ConfirmMDx, and as of today more than 57% of the male population considered at risk of prostate cancer in the US is covered. To date over 3,000 urologists have ordered ConfirmMDx in a clinical setting on more than 45,000 men at risk for prostate cancer.

"The successful launch of SelectMDx in the US and the publication of pivotal SelectMDx validation study results in the leading journal European Urology during H1 led to six new payor agreements for the test and growing clinical adoption by the urology community," continued Dr. Groen. "Since the introduction of SelectMDx, more than 1,000 people have already been tested."

H1 Business Highlights

ConfirmMDx for Prostate Cancer ConfirmMDx included in the US 2016 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines for Prostate Cancer Early Detection Clinical validation of ConfirmMDx Risk Profile for aggressive prostate cancer published in The Prostate New and expanded payor agreements signed for commercial and Medicare Advantage plans for coverage of ConfirmMDx with Gilsbar 360, USA MCO, Fortified Provider Network, Vanderbilt, JVHL, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska, Fallon Community Health Plan, Three Rivers, Prime Health Services and Equian

SelectMDx for Prostate Cancer Global commercial team appointed to drive adoption of SelectMDx internationally SelectMDx launched in the US in Q1 2016 Multicenter, prospective clinical validation study for SelectMDx published in European Urology Established coverage agreements for coverage of SelectMDx with US payors, including MultiPlan, Interwest Health, Midland's Choice, Intergroup Network Services, Fortified Provider Network, and Equian

Other business Analytical Validation Study on AssureMDx for Bladder Cancer Published in The Journal of Urology Worldwide, non-exclusive license granted to QIAGEN on MSP technology for use in cervical cancer



Post Q2 Events

In August MDxHealth announced that it had received a positive medical coverage policy decision for ConfirmMDx for Prostate Cancer test by Cigna, one of the top five largest health insurers in the US. Cigna's positive policy on ConfirmMDx will provide access to their 15 million global medical members.

In July, MDxHealth signed a collaboration agreement with Cerba HealthCare Belgium to commercialize SelectMDx in France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Cerba is a leading healthcare provider specializing in the delivery of advanced diagnostic assays through its 5,000 customers worldwide, serving 15,000 patients per day.

MDxHealth is also pleased to announce that the Board of Directors elected Shaffar LLC, represented by Mr. Mark Shaffar, as its Chairman. Mr. Shaffar, a former Abbott Diagnostics executive who joined MDxHealth's Board of Directors in June 2016, has nearly 40 years of experience in the biotechnology sector, having held numerous positions at Abbott Laboratories, including divisional vice-president of acquisition and licensing for 12 years, director of technology acquisition and licensing for seven years, and manager of licensing and acquisitions for five years. He holds a Master of Management with a major in management policy, finance, from the Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mr. Shaffar also serves, through Shaffar LLC, as an independent director on the boards of Biocartis Group NV and MyCartis NV.

"On behalf of the Company and our shareholders, we would like to welcome Mark to our Board as Chairman, and thank Edward Erickson (acting through Greenlands Consulting LLC), who retired as Director as well as Chairman of the Board on June 30, 2016, for his leadership, diligence, and hard work for the Company over the last six years," Dr. Jan Groen said.

Financial Review

Key figures for Q2 2016 and the first half of 2016 (thousands of US dollars, except number of shares and per share data):

As of June 30, 2016 Q2 2016 First half year 2016 Q2 2015 First half year 2015 Total revenues 6,278 12,945 3,851 7,860 Total operating expenses 8,042 15,985 5,435 10,499 EBITDA (Loss) -3,405 -6,699 -2,635 -5,277 Operating profit (EBIT) -4,112 -7,528 -2,717 -5,475 Net loss -4,195 -7,618 -2,976 -5,484 Earnings per share, basic ($) -0.09 -0.17 -0.07 -0.12 Number of outstanding shares 45,269,633 43,998,490 Cash and cash equivalents 20,114 40,444

Revenue and Income

Total company revenues for the first six months ended June 30, 2016, increased 65% to $12.9 million, compared to total revenues of $7.9 million for the prior year. ConfirmMDx for Prostate Cancer accounted for 83% of the Company's revenue in H1 2016, compared to 88% in H1 2015. Total revenues for Q2 2016 increased to $6.3 million compared to $3.9 million during the same period in 2015. Revenue from ConfirmMDx represented 88% of total Q2 revenues compared to 81% in the same quarter last year. The growth in Q2 2016 revenues compared to the prior period was principally driven by increased sales of ConfirmMDx as well as royalty and milestone payments from Exact Sciences. The SelectMDx for Prostate Cancer assay, still in the early stages of commercialization, contributed less than 1% of total revenue.

The Company's net loss for the first six months ended June 30, 2016, was $7.6 million, or ($0.17) a share, compared to a loss of $5.5 million loss, or ($0.12) a share, for the prior year. The $2.1 million increase in net loss compared to the same period last year is due to the anticipated initial losses of the newly acquired Dutch entity NovioGendix, laboratory investments related to the new SelectMDx for Prostate Cancer assay, and non-recurring corporate development spending in the first half.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses for the first six months ended June 30, 2016 increased by $5.5 million to $16.0 million from $10.5 million for the prior year. The year-over-year increase is attributed to increased material costs related to growing ConfirmMDx test volume, expanded laboratory operations, investment in capital equipment and infrastructure to augment increasing ConfirmMDx sales, EU operations, and spending related to the build-up for US and European commercialization of the SelectMDx test, as well as the manufacturing set-up for the SelectMDx CE-marked IVD kit and one-off corporate development projects. During H1, investment in the European and US commercial infrastructure, including laboratory equipment and operations, information technology and expansion of managed care, billing and collections staff, contributed to increased operating expenses. The investment in commercial operations was made to support anticipated volume growth and to support reimbursement efforts.

Cash Position

The Company's cash and cash equivalents were $20.1 million on June 30, 2016, compared to $40.4 million on June 30, 2015. Collections from ConfirmMDx reimbursements were $8.2 million in 2016 vs. $5.3 million in the first half of 2015. Average net cash burn in the first six months of 2016 was approximately $1.9 million per month.

Q3 and FY2016 Outlook

The Company maintains its guidance for the full year ending December 31, 2016, and expects continued revenue growth predominantly from product and service revenue in the US and international markets, driven by the inclusion of the ConfirmMDx test in the NCCN guidelines in the US, additional coverage agreements with major payors, for both ConfirmMDx and SelectMDx, and growing adoption of MDxHealth products among the urology community. The continued infrastructure investments over the last twelve months, particularly in the sales force, managed care, and billing and collections are expected to further improve volume, collections, EBITDA and revenue recognition in the second half.

2016 guidance:

Revenue growth between 30% to 50%

Improved EBITDA compared to 2015

Publication of US SelectMDx validation data

Launch of AssureMDx on the US market in H2

Reporting Calendar

Q3 results; November 3, 2016

Top-line 2016 results: January 9, 2017

About MDxHealth

MDxHealth is a multinational healthcare company that provides actionable epigenetic information to personalize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The company's tests are based on proprietary gene methylation (epigenetic) technology and assist physicians with the diagnosis of cancer, prognosis of recurrence risk, and prediction of response to a specific therapy. For more information visit mdxhealth.com and follow us on Twitter at: twitter.com/mdxhealth.

Statutory Auditor's Limited Review Report :

We have reviewed the accompanying interim consolidated statement of financial position of MDxHealth SA as of 30 June 2016 and the related interim consolidated statements of comprehensive income, cash flows and changes in equity for the six-month period then ended, as well as the explanatory notes. The Board of Directors is responsible for the preparation and presentation of this consolidated interim financial information in accordance with IAS 34 "Interim Financial Reporting", as adopted by the European Union. Our responsibility is to express a conclusion on this consolidated interim financial information based on our review.

We conducted our review in accordance with International Standard on Review Engagements 2410, "Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity". A review of interim financial information consists of making inquiries, primarily of persons responsible for financial and accounting matters, and applying analytical and other review procedures. A review is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing and consequently does not enable us to obtain assurance that we would become aware of all significant matters that might be identified in an audit. Accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion.

Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the accompanying consolidated interim financial information is not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with IAS 34 "Interim Financial Reporting", as adopted by the European Union.

Zaventem, August 17, 2016

BDO Bedrijfsrevisoren Burg. Ven. CBVA / BDO Reviseurs d'Entreprises Soc. Civ. SCRL

Statutory auditor

Represented by Gert Claes

Complete Financial Statements:To download the 2016 interim report, go to: http://www.mdxhealth.com/investors/financials

For more information:







Dr. Jan Groen, CEO

MDxHealth

US: +1 949 812 6979

BE: +32 4 364 20 70

info@mdxhealth.com















Jonathan Birt, Chris Welsh, Hendrik Thys (PR & IR)

Consilium Strategic Communications

UK: +44 20 3709 5701

US: +1 917 322 2571 (Rx Communications Group LLC)

mdxhealth@consilium-comms.com





This press release contains forward-looking statements and estimates with respect to the anticipated future performance of MDxHealth and the market in which it operates. Such statements and estimates are based on assumptions and assessments of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which were deemed reasonable but may not prove to be correct. Actual events are difficult to predict, may depend upon factors that are beyond the company's control, and may turn out to be materially different. MDxHealth expressly disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements in this release to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based unless required by law or regulation. This press release does not constitute an offer or invitation for the sale or purchase of securities or assets of MDxHealth in any jurisdiction. No securities of MDxHealth may be offered or sold within the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or in compliance with an exemption therefrom, and in accordance with any applicable U.S. securities laws.

NOTE: The MDxHealth logo, MDxHealth, ConfirmMDx, SelectMDx, AssureMDx and PredictMDx are trademarks or registered trademarks of MDxHealth SA. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.


[COMMUNICATED CONTENT]

For years Yisrael S., helped take care of his children, assisting them with simple, everyday tasks such as eating and getting dressed. Now he is the one who needs this kind of help.

__________

Yisrael S., 38, is completely dependent on other people to help him with day to day tasks, though it wasnt always this way. Yisrael happily lived with his wife Shikma, in Ofakim until a few years ago, when after the birth of their fifth child he was diagnosed with an uncommon type of cancer. Yisrael needed surgery to take out several non-malignant but dangerous tumors that were located in vital parts of his body. Yisrael underwent a complicated operation, and several vertebrae in his back were removed. As a result of this he became paralyzed. Yisrael is now confined to a wheelchair and needs assistance with every single thing he does- from eating & drinking to washing, getting dressed, using the bathroom- everything. As if this wasnt enough of an adjustment, there is intense pain that accompanies Yisraels condition. His doctors say that the level of pain he experiences on a daily basis is something an average person could never endure.

Despite all this, Yisrael continues living with incredible happiness. Something he is able to still do without assistance is learn Torah, which he does with great joy and enthusiasm.

Unfortunately though, the situation at home is not joyful. It is extremely hard for Yisraels family. With their father constantly in the hospital, the children dont have the luxury of spending time with him on a consistent basis. The upheaval in their day to day lives and seeing their father in this different state has caused them extreme emotional distress. Shikma is also suffering. She went from leading a normal, happy life with her family to being left on her own to take care of all her children and her husband who can no longer function as he used to. She is now under the care of a psychologist to help her work through this mental trauma.

CLICK HERE to help this family

The financial situation is dire. The monthly 5,000 shekel ($1300) Bituach Leumi payment that they receive is not nearly enough to cover their enormous expenses. Shikma does her best to take care of her family alone but the everyday costs of food, help with cleaning, and childcare are just too much to bear. Their small apartment is on the second floor, inaccessible to someone in a wheelchair. But there is no money to move down to a lower floor. There is not one extra shekel in the house for anything. When asked what she would like in her home, Shikma said that she would love a new mattress. Not for herself, but rather for her husband who would really benefit from a clean comfortable mattress.

Yisrael recently underwent an additional surgery and has been moved to Beit Levinstein (a rehabilitation facility in Raanana), where he is undergoing rehab for at least the next three months. He receives therapy once a day, but activities end at noon. This means that from 12:00 p.m. and on, there is nothing for him to do and no way for him to move. Luckily, two dedicated volunteers have been accompanying Yisrael every single day since his hospitalizations began. They travel from Ofakim and stay with him until 9:00 p.m. These men take care of all Yisraels physical needs and they are also there to take care of his spirit. They keep him company by talking with him, singing with him, learning with him, and just doing the regular activities that every person needs. The journey from Ofakim to Raanana is over an hour and a half in each direction but these men are dedicated to making Yisraels life as enjoyable as possible and they complete the trip with happiness. Without their help, who knows what Yisraels condition would be.

In this heartbreaking situation we would like to do whatever we can to help Yisrael and his family. We are aiming to raise $7,500 which can go a long way by helping to cover part of the transportation costs for Yisraels life-saving volunteers. It will also go toward the purchase of an orthopedic mattress for Yisrael and provide household and childcare help for Shikma, which will ease some of the pressure on her during this summer break. Please donate as generously as you can, spread Yisrael and Shikmas story and help us help them.

CLICK HERE to help this family
Russias use of an Iranian air base to bomb targets in Syria sends a message to Washington as it weighs a military partnership with Moscow: Join us or well look to your enemies.

Tuesdays missions were unprecedented. Iran allowed Russian warplanes to take off from its territory to strike opposition targets in Syria. The move came with little notice to the United States, which has watched helplessly the escalating bloodshed near Aleppo, the countrys biggest city, and even offered an alliance with Russia against Islamic State and other extremist fighters as a way to get Syrias government out of the fight.

The negotiations have dragged on for weeks. Russia has grown impatient, with top officials several times suggesting an imminent deal, only to have American officials counter that the sides werent close. The bombing runs from a base near the Iranian city of Hamedan, 175 miles southwest of Tehran, may have been a reminder to the Obama administration that Moscow could be cozying up to Iran if Washington doesnt come around.

The Russians are showing they have options in Syria while they have Washington over a barrel on Aleppo, said Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He said the operations also cement Russias alliance with Iran in the region.

Russia and Iran have strongly backed Syrian President Bashar Assads government throughout the five-and-a-half year civil war with rebel groups supported by the United States and allies such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

But the West has been pinning its hopes on Moscow.

When Russia intervened militarily in Syria last August, it claimed privately that its action would ultimately sideline Iran and its proxy Hezbollah force in Syria, making Assad more conciliatory in a peace process, according to U.S. and European diplomats.

The argument was one of several by Russia that the U.S. and others have clung to as a potential pathway to peace, and which they hope to test when the U.N. sets up a new round of peace talks in coming weeks, even if they accuse Russia of failing countless previous challenges by persisting in bombing Assads more moderate opponents.

The latest Russian-Iranian coordination would suggest Tehran isnt being sidelined. It is virtually unheard of in recent Iranian history for a foreign power to use an Iranian base to stage attacks. And Russia had only used its own territory and assets inside Syria for such operations previously. If Russia is moving closer to the Assad-Iran-Hezbollah alliance, it could spell doom for Syrias besieged opposition.

Secretary of State John Kerry called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday to discuss the operations. Underscoring the U.S. confusion, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters that Washington was still trying to assess what exactly theyre doing.

Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said the Russians activated a communications link with coalition officials just ahead of the bomber mission.

They informed us they were coming through airspace that could potentially put them in proximity to U.S. and coalition aircraft in Iraq or Syria, he said. Asked how much advance notice the Russians gave, Garver said: We did know in time to maintain safety of flight.

The setup at the Iranian air base occurred very quickly, perhaps overnight, said U.S. officials, who werent authorized to speak publicly on military matters and requested anonymity.

One U.S. military official said the Russians flew four Tu-22 Backfire bombers to the Iranian air base, along with a Russian cargo plane loaded with the munitions for the bombers, just hours before the missions. Another official said that all the aircraft were back in Russia later Tuesday, suggesting that the action was a test or gesture, not the start of any permanent Russian presence in Iran.

Flying missions out of Iran wouldnt appear to provide an advantage, though Russian officials said it enables heavier loads and lower costs. Russia maintains significant numbers of combat aircraft inside Syria, and it has flown long-range bomber missions from southern Russia.

Syrias civil war has killed as many as a half-million people since 2011. Millions have fled as refugees, contributing to a global migration crisis. And the Islamic State has seized on the instability to become a worldwide terror threat.

Syrian rebels and opposition activists reacted angrily to the news.

The Russians are taking advantage of the political vacuum that was left by America and Western countries that withdrew, said Paris-based Syrian opposition figure George Sabra.

The deployment in Iran comes a day after Russias defense minister said Washington and Moscow were near agreement on the proposed military partnership. U.S. officials said no agreement was close.

The State Departments Toner said the Russian cooperation with Iran doesnt preclude the possibility of a U.S.-Russian partnership in Syria. But such an arrangement would become more difficult if it essentially meant a U.S.-Russia-Iran partnership.

Toner also suggested Russia violated last years U.N. security Council resolution enshrining the Iran nuclear deal. The resolution prohibits the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran unless approved in advance by the U.N. Security Council, something he said hadnt occurred.

Russia said its planes targeted Islamic State militants and the al-Qaida-linked group formerly known as the Nusra Front in Aleppo, as well as in Deir el-Zour and Idlib, destroying five major ammunition depots, training camps and three command posts.

The Russian planes flew over Iraq, apparently without the permission of Iraqs government, a U.S. official said.

That by itself is hardly significant. Iran has flown supply and other missions over Iraq to Syria without permission. There is little Baghdad can do to stop those flights, and the U.S. has regularly turned its cheek.

(AP)
Turkey issued a decree Wednesday paving the way for the conditional release of some 38,000 prisoners, the justice minister said  an apparent move to reduce its prison population to make space for thousands of people who have been arrested as part of an investigation into last months failed coup.

The government decree, issued under Turkeys three-month long state of emergency that was declared following the coup, allows the release of inmates who have two years or less to serve of their prison terms and makes convicts who have served half of their prison term eligible for parole. Some prisoners are excluded from the measures: people convicted of murder, domestic violence, sexual abuse or terrorism and other crimes against the state.

The measures would not apply for crimes committed after July 1, excluding any people later convicted of involvement in the failed July 15 coup.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on his Twitter account the measure would lead to the release of some 38,000 people. He insisted it was not a pardon or an amnesty but a conditional release of prisoners.

The government says the attempted coup, which led to at least 270 deaths, was carried out by followers of the movement led by U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who have infiltrated the military and other state institutions. Gulen has denied any prior knowledge or involvement in the coup but Turkey is demanding that the United States extradite him.

The Turkish government declared a state of emergency and launched a massive crackdown on Gulens supporters in the aftermath of the coup. Some 35,000 people have been detained for questioning and more than 17,000 of them have been formally arrested to face trial, including soldiers, police, judges and journalists.

Tens of thousands more people with suspected links to Gulen have been suspended or dismissed from their jobs in the judiciary, media, education, health care, military and local government.

In separate decree, also issued Wednesday, the government dismissed 2,300 more officers from the police force, in addition to another 136 military officers and 196 employees from its information technology authority.

Wednesdays decrees also allow the air force to hire new pilots or take back pilots who had resigned or were discharged before the coup to replace pilots who have been arrested or dismissed for alleged participation in the coup or links to Gulen.

The government crackdown has raised concerns among European nations and human rights organizations, who have urged the Turkish government to show restraint.

Turkeys 180,000-person prisons were already filled to capacity before the crackdown on Gulens movement, with some rights groups claiming that inmates were forced to take turns to sleep on beds. Turkey has issued several prison amnesties over the past decades to ease conditions in its prisons, but the measures proved unpopular with the public.

Bozdag insisted Wednesday that those being released would still be supervised.

This measure is not an amnesty, Bozdag said on Twitter. The punishment will be served outside through supervised released.

I hope that the arrangement is beneficial to the prisoners, their loved ones, our people and our country, the minister wrote.

(AP)
The number of talmidei yeshivos and avreichim in Israel has increased by 8% in 2015, now reportedly holding at 108,390. The increase follows a decline in the number from 2012  2014.

According to the Haaretz report, the current number, 108,390, is almost equal to the number preceding the 2012  2014 decline. Haaretz has taken the numbers from the Jerusalem Institute for Israel and the Israel Democracy Institute, which quote the 108,390 figure, adding of that number, 67% are avreichim and the remainder talmidei yeshivos.

In 2012, the state cut funding for talmidei yeshivos and avreichim that did not serve in the IDF by 50%. Even more significant is the fact that there were fewer talmidim arriving from abroad who were learning in chareidi yeshivos in Israel, representing 89% of the cut as the government cut almost all funding for these talmidim.

The current government reports it has increased funding for yeshivos from NIS 564 million in 2014 to NIS 984 million at the start of 2016. That number reached an all-time high in June, NIS 1.1 billion not including supplementary monthly payments for avreichim.

According to the haaretz analysis, the increase in avreichim joins other data this year indicating the strengthening of the frum community and its clinging to the trends of old  led by demographics:

 Chareidim number over 900,000 people, representing over 11% of the states population and 18% of the young population (0-19)

 The average chareidi woman gives birth to 6.9 children as compared to the average secular woman, giving birth to 2.1 children

Dr. Malach, who is behind the study indicates the numbers speak for themselves and the chareidi kehilla framework remains unbroken, citing some come out to enter the IDF or academic studies but they still remain in the chareidi community by choice. The community by and large no longer distances such people.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Hospital infections is a worrisome matter. In fact, an estimated 6,000 Israelis die annually from infections they picked up in a hospital. That in mind, the order has been given to begin publicizing hospital infections on the Ministry of Health website to permit Israelis to decide which hospital places them at higher risk.

One of the main causes of in-hospital infections is poor hand-washing by hospital staff along with improper sterilization of equipment.

The decision to publicize the hospital infections is the result of the Movement for Freedom of Information battle demanding the ministry make the information known to the general public.

According to data released at the 10th Israel Medical Conference at the Jerusalem Convention Center on Tuesday, 12 Menachem Av, about one-third of patients contracted an in-hospital infection following colon surgery in some hospitals but in other hospitals in Israel that number is lower than 8%. This highlights the difference between hospitals in Israel, which might lead to a patient selecting one facility over another.

According to Chief of Infectious Diseases at Hadassah Hospital Dr. Shmuel Benenson, the problem in Israel is exacerbated by cleaning staff, often manpower agency workers earning a low salary.

He feels that as a result of their low salary and conditions, such a worker is often less than diligent regarding the required precautionary measures to avoid spreading infection. He explains that in England, the maintenance and sanitation staff of hospitals are hospital employees with benefits; not manpower agency employees as is often the case in Israel, often earning minimum wage. As a result, infection rates in hospitals in England are lower, explained Benenson.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

The controversy has been raging on for close to two decades now.

And it has appeared at various venues. There is an Exxon Station on Route 9 in Lakewood, New Jersey  at the corner of Route 9 and Countyline Road.

There is a Sunoco station right past exit 5 on the Palisades Parkway in New Jersey, as one heads toward the George Washington Bridge.

And now, there are ten Starbucks in which the controversy has hit. [For those that feel the list is not exhaustive, there is also a 7-11 on Route 9 in Lakewood, New Jersey too, and a Coffee Bean in Los Angeles, California on the corner of Beverly and Alta Vista. ]

NON- JEWISH ESTABLISHMENTS AND CHOLOV YISROEL

These gas stations and coffee shops are often visited by coffee lovers across the Charedi spectrum, and the non-Jewish owners are catering to them by making Cholov Yisroel available to add to their coffee. Generally speaking, these gentile establishments are providing their Cholov Yisroel consumers with both the lowfat milk variety (usually with a blue cap and blue label on a half-gallon plastic container) as well as the regular variety (usually with a red cap and red label).

THE WARNING

Last year, a number of Chassidish Poskim published a warning that an open bottle of Cholov Yisroel in a non-Jewish establishment renders the bottle no longer Cholov Yisroel and thus forbidden according to halacha. Yet numerous Cholov-Yisroel-only Jews continue to consume the milk, assuming that it is quite remote that any gentile worker or owner might switch out the Cholov Yisroel milk with regular milk just to provide religious Jewish customers with kosher milk for their coffee. And now, with the announcement that ten Starbucks are now exclusively stocking Pride of the Farm brand Cholov Yisroel milk  the controversy is once again raging. This is not to say, by the way that Starbucks are certified kosher  they are not. It is just that if someone wants to drink their brewed coffee  Cholov Yisroel is now available.

THE PSAKIM

This author posed the question to a number of well-respected Chassidish Poskim who stated unequivocally that the milk is not kosher. These Poskim included Dayan Hershel Ausch, the Av Bais Din of Karlsburg [headed by Dayan Yechezkel Roth shlita, the Posaik of the Satmar Rebbe Rav Yoel Teitelbaum ztl], Rav Yisroel Dovid Harpenes, a noted Posek in Williamsburg, and Poskim from Skver. Their rationale was that Cholov Yisroel requires a chosem  a seal, and that a] an umdanah (roughly translated as a compelling halachic assumption which can be used to form legal rulings) is not effective when a chosem is required and b] there is, in fact, no umdanah here because the gentile will always want to provide milk for his customers and will thus pour regular milk into these containers behind closed doors.

However, Rav Yisroel Belsky ztl, when asked about the Route 9 Exxon gas station in Lakewood, ruled that it was unquestionably permitted. He explained that everyone knows that when one bottle of milk is poured into another bottle of milk that is outside it causes spoilage and no one would do that. Some, however, questioned whether or not workers at a gas station would be aware of this point.

This author spoke to another highly regarded litvisha Posaik who expressed his opinion that the milk would still be considered Cholov Yisroel whenever there is no chashash chiluf  a concern of switching. He disagreed with the idea that an umdanah is ineffective when a seal is required.

ANALYZING THE SOURCES

The operative chapter behind this raging controversy is found in the 108th chapter of the Yore Deah section of Shulchan Aruch which contains thirteen sifin or sub-paragraphs.

NEED FOR A SEAL

The first sif (sub-paragraph) explains that meat or a piece of fish where the fins and scales were removed require two seals (chosmos) when sent through a non-Jewish intermediary or messenger. However, milk or cheese or other things that are only forbidden by Rabbinic law, require only one seal. This is the source in Shulchan Aruch that one seal is required to ensure that Cholov Yisroel is not replaced with regular store bought milk.

WHEN THE SEAL IS NO LONGER EXTANT

In sif two the Ramah tells us that if the Chosem, the seal, is no longer extant  it is still forbidden only if a] there is a concern that he may have switched it and b] he derives benefit from having switched it. The Poskim who forbid the milk would respond that indeed there is a concern that he switched it in order to provide for his customers, and that there is a benefit in the owner making money on the sale.

TWO HEBREW LETTERS COMPRISE TWO SEALS

In sif three, it is explained that the formation of two Hebrew letters is considered like two seals rather than one seal. In other words, we see that the idea of a seal is not a foolproof tamper-proof system of protection. A gentile who tries hard enough could feasibly forge two Hebrew letters. Yet the assumption is that he will not go through such extensive effort.

In sif four we learn that, according to the Ramah, if the item was sent in a bag and the bag had a seal  it is not considered a valid seal. The seal apparently must be on the item on not on the outer sack.

WHEN THE BETTER ONES HAVE A SEAL

In sif five we learn, in regard to a Rabbinically prohibited item, that if he recognizes that some of the products still retain their seal, and they are the higher quality ones  then the other ones are still considered kosher  since the gentile would have switched out the higher quality ones. We see from here strong evidence that an umdanah is, in fact, utilized even when there is a requirement for a seal.

Sif six tells us that the physical signs that an animal was slaughtered is not sufficient to be treated as a Chosem.

PUBLIC PLACE

Sif seven tells us that if the place in which the gentile was sent with the item is considered a place where the public passes  it is permitted. The reason is that the gentile will be concerned that he will be seen and he will be viewed as a thief. However, notes the Shulchan Aruch: Ideally, a person should not send food with a gentile without a seal.

This sub-paragraph is fascinating and is in all probability the most germane to the raging controversy under discussion. Some wish to permit the milk based upon the fact that if the owner or an employee switches out the Cholov Yisroel milk with other milk, it will be readily seen by passersby. Indeed the Taz and the Pri Chadash both write that even if the passersby are only gentiles  that gentile would be concerned that they would tell on him.

ARE THESE PLACES PUBLIC PLACES?

They also point out that, generally speaking, you can always look into these Starbucks because their construction is made of glass. The Palisades Sunoco Station is also open 24-7 as well as the Exxon Station on Route 9 in Lakewood.

NOT VIEWED AS A THIEF  BUT CAUGHT AS ONE

Those that forbid the milk could argue that there is a huge distinction between our case and that of the Shulchan Aruch. The Shulchan Aruchs wording is that the gentile would be afraid that he would be caught red-handed and called a thief and hence  pounced upon and or jailed as a thief. This is a far cry from switching milk containers which would carry very little repercussions.

LAWSUITS ARE JUST LIKE BEING POUNCED UPON AS A THIEF

Some Rabbis have pointed out that the fear of being caught red-handed is a real one  particularly after the famous 2001 McDonalds Corporation French Fry case  where McDonalds agreed to pay ten million dollars for misleading consumers about their French Fries for ten years. In 1990, after being pressured by the vegans, McDonalds announced that its restaurants would no longer use beef fat in cooking French Fries and that only pure vegetable oil would be used.

But on May 1st of 2001, a lawsuit was filed in Seattle on behalf of two Hindus who didnt eat meat and one non-Hindu vegetarian. The french-fry category of the official McDonalds ingredient list made no mention of beef tallow or beef extract. They only listed potatoes, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and natural flavor.

McDonalds tried doing damage control by issuing a statement at the time of the lawsuit that said: The natural flavoring consists of a minuscule amount of beef extract,  but it was too late. They paid out ten million dollars.

Some Rabbis wanted to claim that Starbucks Corporation and perhaps the owners of the Route Nine Exxon and the Exit Four Sunoco are aware of the lawsuit against McDonalds and would thus be very careful.

Others claim that they can still switch out the milk behind closed doors or behind the counter, and that most of the workers and managers are completely unaware of the lawsuit against McDonalds  and thus the distinction between contemporary times and the times of the Shulchan Aruch is still very valid.

ONLY AN EMPLOYEE?

There is also the opinion of the Isser vHeter (22:7-8) that we are only discussing a servant or employee of the Jewish owner and not just any gentile  where it would clearly be forbidden. Although the Shach and the Toras Chatas disagree with the Isser vHeter, it could be that they would agree with him in regard to this case where there is no Jewish neighborhood per se (Indeed, the Toras Chatas specifically limits the leniency to a Jewish neighborhood).

THE WAY STARBUCKS WORKS

Inquiries at a Starbucks reveals some interesting facts. The Starbucks are corporate owned  they are not franchises. The Starbucks that have Pride of the Farm Cholov Yisorel carry no other milk. If a Starbucks runs out of any product they are instructed to go to another Starbucks to get that product. They would not get that product from another locale, and there is no incentive for them to do so whatsoever. It would seem, however, that they may go the closest Starbucks in such an event and if that other Starbucks is not Cholov Yisroel  there may perhaps be a concern. However, rarely if ever would a Starbucks actually run out of milk.

CONCLUSIONS

It seems to this author that an Umdana certainly would work to permit the milk even if there was no Chosem  a seal.

Let us also go back to Rabbi Belsky zatzals point  that people do not pour milk from one container to another. It seems that this information is actually taught in state-mandated health courses in which one employee and or owner of any establishment that deals with food and refrigeration must attend.

It would seem also that if there is ample Cholov Yisroel in the refrigerator there would be an umdana that the milk was not, in fact, switched. The fact that the Ramah says in Sif two that it is only forbidden if there is a financial benefit and an incentive would make it hard to imagine that a gentile employee would care enough to risk spilling and spoilage and the extra effort for a mere sale of a few cups of coffee.

True, Sif zayin states that ideally one should not send milk without a Chosem, but it is this authors conclusion that the milk of exit 4 and of Exxon Route Nine still remains Cholov Yisroel  it is just not lchatchilah.

It also seems to this author that the Pride of the Farm Cholov Yisroel milk in the ten Starbucks would not be a lack of a lechatchila either. There are so many other umdanahs associated with the Starbucks operation that an open Cholov Yisroel container in one of these ten stores would be considered full Cholov Yisroel.

Of course each person should consult his or her own Rav, Posaik or Dayan and not rely on the conclusions found here.

One should also note that some of the Starbucks actually wash some of the pots with non-kosher. This is also not ideal and often forbidden. The brew baskets of the plain coffees are generally not washed in this manner, however and even if they are  it does not present a problem (see an extremely learned CRC document on Starbucks written in 2011 by Rabbi Sholem Fishbane and Rabbi Dovid Cohen).

The author can be reached at [email protected]

Attention Readers: The seventh volume of Not Your Usual Halacha has just been released. The authors books, including the Not Your Usual halacha Series, Hilchos Shabbos, Hilchos Meuzah, Hilchos Kashrus can be purchased at amazon.com
Agudath Israel of America, a longtime supporter of Floridas scholarship tax credit program, welcomed the Florida appeals court ruling on Tuesday which upheld the dismissal of a teachers union lawsuit. The First District Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the lower court which stated that the Florida Education Association and others failed to show legal standing to challenge Florida tax credit scholarships as they didnt prove how the scholarship programs would harm them.

Union officials said they would decide later if they would appeal, but in the past have said they were likely to push their lawsuit all the way to the state Supreme Court.

The appellate judges stated in their opinion that this is a quarrel with the Legislatures policy judgment regarding school choice and funding of Floridas public schools. They added, that this is not a matter for the court to wade into but rather it should be left for the ballot box.

Floridas students were once again vindicated by the courts said Agudath Israels Florida director, Rabbi Moshe Matz. Nearly 80,000 low-income students, including those in Jewish schools, benefit from the scholarship tax credit program. It is time for the unions to simply drop the lawsuit and allow these children to receive an education in the setting chosen by their parents.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Dublin, Aug. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Vertical Farming Market Analysis & Forecast, 2016-2022" report to their offering.



In spite of the lack of awareness about this technology, and high initial investment, the author has estimated that the industry will grow over $6.81 billion by 2022 at a double digit CAGR through 2015-2022, with APAC leading the market.

The global vertical farming market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 27.77% through 2015 to 2022.



The report is a compilation of the different segments of global vertical farming market, including market breakdown by the components, growth mechanisms, and different geographical areas. Herein the revenue generated from the growth mechanism, namely: Aeroponics, hydroponics & others; and components, namely: lighting, hydroponic, climate controls, and sensing components is tracked to calculate the overall market size. While highlighting the key driving and restraining forces for this market, the report also provides a detailed summary of the vertical farming systems. It also includes the key participants involved in the industry at the relevant sections.



Some of the key companies highlighted in the report are Aerofarms, Illumitex, Koninklijke Philips, Everlight Electronics, and FarmedHere.



The report answers the following questions about the global vertical farming market:



- What are the different factors driving the market and how will the impact change through the forecast period?

- What are the major factors challenging the growth of global vertical farming market and how can they be addressed through the forecast period?

- How will the market players leverage on key developments such as acquisitions, partnerships, and product launch among others?

- Which region will lead the global vertical farming market by the end of the forecast period?

- What are the prevalent components types and what is the market size for each of them?

- What are the prevalent growth mechanisms types and what is the market size for each of them?

- How will the competitive rivalry evolve through the forecast period?

- How are the regulatory bodies participating in the industry?



Key Topics Covered:



Executive Summary



1 Report Scope and Methodology



2 Industry Analysis



3 Market Dynamics



4 Competitive Insights



5 Vertical Farming Market by Components



6 Vertical Farming Market by Growth Mechanism



7 Vertical Farming Market by Geography



8 Company Profiles



- Aero Farms

- Agrilution

- American Hydroponics

- Everlight Electronics co. Ltd

- Hort Americas

- Illumitex Inc.

- Indoor Harvest Corporation

- Koninklijke Philips n.v

- Moflo Aeroponics



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/475hm6/global_vertical



Related Topics: Agriculture




Uber was at surge pricing, but it didnt matter. It had been a busy Thursday at my midtown office and I simply had to rush to the airport to catch my flight. My family was in Toronto; I had been working in New York City since Monday, and I really wanted to be with them for Shabbos.

Instead of an Uber X, I scored an Uber Black. Awesome. While trying to get to the Holland Tunnel, I witnessed road rage between the driver of a bus, an SUV, and a cop who had to come break it off before it turned physical. (Note: Trying to get out of Manhattan at rush hour is never ever a good idea!)

Thankfully, traffic cleared once we got to New Jersey and it was clear sailing to Newark Liberty International Airport, and I had just about an hour to go before my flight was scheduled to depart to Toronto. I had already checked in online and I only had carry-on luggage, so I whisked straight through to security and arrived shortly thereafter at my gate. Phew, I made it.

Apparently my rushing wasnt validated, because my flight to Toronto was slightly delayed. Shouldnt be that bad, I thought to myself. The weather seemed okay both in New York and Toronto, so it was probably just a traffic build-up at the terminal.

I opened my laptop and began to do some work for the office. But then, when tens of passengers flooded the waiting area, I knew something was wrong. Apparently, they had been on the 4:00 p.m. flight to Toronto (mine was scheduled for 7:25 p.m.), and they had been sitting on the runway for four hours. And after all that, they got turned back to the gate!

Voices were raised, cell phones rang off the hook, and hundreds of agitated passengers began to question their weekend plans.

What to do first, I wondered? Davening Maariv was clearly the best choice. There were other religious Jews waiting at the gate, so we tried to get a minyan. Someone was on his way back to yeshiva, another was from Lakewood was going to visit family, and a businessman was in and out for the day. In addition, several counselors and campers from Chai Lifeline (a nonprofit organization geared toward children with developmental disabilities and terminal illnesses) were there, waiting to get home after their summer experience at Camp Simcha.

We were nine people and we almost gave up. But just then, a passenger asked one of the guys: Which yeshiva did you go to? Yes, we got bageled, and it happened at the most opportune time. We had a minyan!

Then, unsure as to flight p lans (sorry, sir, everything is booked until Saturday), I started to think of alternatives. Do I try to fly standby on Fridays flights? Should I start making plans to stay in New York for Shabbos? My younger brother (who lives in Far Rockaway) generously offered me his car so that I could drive back to Toronto for the weekend. Should I take him up on that?

Just then, magic began to unfold.

The Chai Lifeline volunteers told us that they might have a plan. They had wheelchair-bound campers that simply couldnt stay at hotels and fly stand-by, so they were sure that Chai Lifeline would organize something for them, even if that meant chartering a bus to get them back to Toronto.

At the last second? Doubtful. But if anyone can do it, Chai Lifeline can.

One of the volunteers then told us that his cousin from Passaic feels terrible about our predicament. She offered to have us all stay at her house overnight, if wed like, but at the very least, she would be preparing dinner and sending it to the airport. Wow.

While waiting to find out if we would get that chartered bus (and if there would be room for all of us), our dinner arrived. And if that wasnt enough, another Chai Lifeline volunteer heard about the stranded campers and showed up at the airport with bags of snacks that she had just picked up from Wal Mart. (Did I mention that this was at about 11:30 on Thursday night?!)

Finally, the icing on the cake. Two guys  one from Lakewood and another from Monsey  volunteered to drive the group back to Toronto; they simply wanted the campers to be back with their families for Shabbos and Tisha BAv. They borrowed a wheelchair-accessible van from Bikur Cholim (in Lakewood) to drive everyone home to Toronto. (Yes, these guys were now going to be spending Shabbos and Tisha BAv in Toronto, just to make sure the campers would be back home!)

How many seats were there in the van? Exactly enough! There were ten of us altogether: two Camp Simcha campers, three Camp Simcha counselors; two drivers, and three other stranded passengers (myself included). At about 1:30 on Friday morning, we all boarded the wheelchair-accessible transport and began our trip to Toronto, as planned. It was surreal.

It was the day before Tisha BAv, which naturally meant that I was gearing into a more pensive and somber mode: mourning the loss of both Temples, every national tragedy throughout Jewish history, and personal struggles  all a result of our historic sinas chinam, baseless hatred.

Yet, as I my thoughts wandered throughout my nine-hour road trip to Toronto, with wheelchair-bound youth being beyond taken care of, and random strangers (including myself) being offered a free trip back to Toronto and fed by people we didnt know, I couldnt help but smile. I couldnt help but recognize how proud Hashem must have been of our ahav as chinam (baseless love), and I couldnt help but realize that we are well on our way to rebuilding the third Bais HaMikdash.

Combining both of his passions, education and entrepreneurship, Moe Mernick runs business development for an early-stage start-up, mentors budding entrepreneurs at a technology accelerator, and has held numerous communal positions, including Regional Director for The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation (Hamburg, Germany), Senior Advisor at Counterpoint (Sydney, Australia) and City Director for NCSY (Vancouver, Canada).

Moe holds an International MBA and Rabbinical Ordination, and he is the author of the newly released book, The Gift of Stuttering (Mosaica Press, 2016).
Donald Trump has received his first classified intelligence briefing, meeting with national security officials for more than two hours on Wednesday.

The celebrity businessman became entitled to the briefings once he officially became the Republican nominee for president. The briefing was delivered by career staffers from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and was expected to cover major threats and emerging concerns around the world.

The afternoon briefing was held at an FBI field office at a federal building in New York City, a facility which has the secure rooms required for such sensitive briefings. Trump did not speak to reporters upon entering or exiting the building and a campaign spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the briefing.

But Trump, in an interview that aired just hours before the briefing, suggested he would be skeptical of its contents when he was asked if he trusted the nations intelligence materials.

Not so much from the people that have been doing it for our country, Trump told Fox News. I mean, look whats happened over the last 10 yearsits been catastrophic.

Trump brought along some top advisers, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, to the briefing. A U.S. intelligence official said that generally, advisers who attend the briefings must have appropriate security clearances. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to disclose information about the candidates intelligence briefings.

Defense Intelligence Agency says that the agency maintains security clearances for all its former directors, including Flynn, who served in the post from 2012-2014.

The briefing came two days after Trump delivered a speech on national security and just hours after he gathered several advisers for a security round table at Trump Tower.

The advisers, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, encouraged the GOP nominee to press for more surveillance and more information-sharing with local police departments to fight terror threats if hes elected president. The FBI does share with local police agencies through Joint Terrorism Task Forces.

It wasnt clear whether Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton has received an intelligence briefing.

(AP)
A Virginia man who scaled the all-glass face of Trump Tower last week using suction cups planned his climb, ordering equipment on Amazon, practicing ahead of time and waiting until his parents were away before traveling to New York City, according to prosecutors.

Stephen Rogata, 19, dressed in blue hospital garb, answered a judges questions but made no other comments during his court appearance Wednesday via video linkup from a Manhattan psychiatric hospital.

This was a well-thought-out, planned stunt, said Pierre Griffith, an assistant district attorney, noting Rogata waited until his parents went on vacation before driving from Great Falls, Virginia, to New York ahead of the Aug. 10 climb.

Rogatas hourslong climb of Donald Trumps 58-story namesake Manhattan skyscraper was streamed live by various news organizations and bystanders who watched gleefully as he slowly ascended floor after floor using a harness and climbing ropes.

At one point, a laptop he was carrying in his backpack fell out, crashing on the ground below as he plodded along from a fifth-floor atrium to the 21st floor, where he was hauled in through an open window by police detectives, Griffith said.

Rogata also politely rejected a police detectives efforts to persuade him to end his efforts, saying, No, thanks, I dont want the rope, when the investigator lowered a line down for Rogata to attach himself to, Griffith said.

Rogatas attorney, Tara Collins, said her client was receiving much-needed mental health treatment.

At best he was doing something profoundly stupid, she told the judge, noting he made no threats and was hoping to sit down with someone he could never meet.

Trump Tower is home the Republican presidential candidates campaign headquarters, his business empire and his personal residence. He was not in the tower on the day of Rogatas climb.

Rogata was held on $10,000 bail following an arraignment on four misdemeanor charges, including reckless endangerment and trespassing.

After he was arrested, Griffith said, Rogata told a police officer that he had practiced using the suction cups on a three-story building in Virginia, scoped out Trump Tower ahead of his climb and intended to get to the roof.

I want to get a message to Donald Trump, he told a Secret Service agent at the hospital, according to Griffith. The content of the message was unclear.

Rogata, whose birth name is Michael Joseph Ryan, ran away from home in 2014 after his internet privileges were revoked for spending too much time on a blog on government issues in the United States, according to a police report in Fairfax County, Virginia.

His father, a career Navy officer, and his mother, a New Jersey native, were with their son and coordinating his treatment back in Virginia, said Collins, noting there is concern of an ongoing or burgeoning mental health issue.

(AP)
Police are looking at possible ways to use New York Citys streetlights to fight crime.

Police Commissioner William Bratton said Wednesday that the NYPD is considering introducing high-tech streetlights that would double as security cameras.

He said the streetlights also could be outfitted with so-called ShotSpotter sensors that pinpoint the sound of gunfire. Last year, the NYPD began using the technology in neighborhoods in Brooklyn and the Bronx that had seen an uptick in violence.

According to a city Department of Transportation website, the agency maintains more than 250,000 streetlights throughout the city.

(AP)
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

Tu BAv, which occurs on Thursday night this year, is a special day in the Jewish calendar, and it is currently experiencing a resurgence. of sorts, in Eretz Yisroel.

Traditionally, it was a day when single young ladies would wear special gowns of white in order to woo a groom. The white indicated that they were free from sin. The Braisah in Taanis (31a) states that the custom was for everyone to borrow white clothing from others so that the poorer girls who, in truth, lacked the financial means to clothe themselves properly, would not be embarrassed that they did not have something to wear. Indeed, even the kings daughter and the Kohain Gadols daughter exchanged clothing.

WHY WAS IT ESTABLISHED?

So now we know what occurred on this day. But why was it established initially?

The Gemorah in Bava Basra (121a,b) provides a number of different reasons:

1. Rav Yehuda in the name of Shmuel: A law existed while we were in the desert after we had left Egypt. This law banned the Shvatim from marrying one another where it would cause changes in an inheritance. This law was rescinded in the 40th year on the 15th of Av. The joy inherent in rescinding this law caused the day to become very special and joyous.

2. Rabba Bar Bar Chana in the name of Rav Yochanan: The Tribe of Binyomin was allowed to marry into Khal Yisroel after the incident of Pilegesh BGivah (see Shoftim 19-21). This occurred on the 15th and signified once again the unity of Israel.

3. Rav Dimi Bar Yosef in the name of Rav Nachman: The people in the Midbar stopped dying on this day.

4. Ullah: It was the day that Hoshea Ben Ellah undid the orchards that Yeravam placed to block passage of those who wished to visit the Beis HaMikdash.

5. Rav Masna: It was the day that the Romans allowed the victims of Beitar to be buried and it was revealed that their bodies had miraculously shown no de-composure.

6. It was the day that the cutting of the wood for the main altar in the Bais HaMikdash was finished  so it celebrated that Mitzvah and allowed them to learn.

There is a serious historical question, however, with reason number five  proposed by Rav Masna. The sources quoted in the Gemorah indicate that Tu BAv was observed during the time of the Bais HaMikdash. This is borne out from the Braisah having mentioned above that the kings daughter and the Kohain Gadols daughter also partook in the exchange of clothing.

THE QUESTION

But Beitar only fell after the Hadrian came to power! This was many years after the Bais HaMikdash was destroyed! Hadrian was emperor from 117 CE to 138 CE. The Bais HaMikdash was destroyed in 70 CE. How could Rav Masna explain the reason for its establishment after it was observed?

TWO POSSIBLE ANSWERS

One possible answer may be that each of these opinions listed subscribes to a multiplicity of reasons why Tu BAv was actually observed. Perhaps they actually do not argue with each other, and all these reasons existed. Indeed, this is what the Rashbam on 121a (Yom Shehutar) seems to imply.

Another possible response to this problem is found in the Gvuras Ari (Taanis 31a). He seems to disagree with the aforementioned Rashbam and writes that the Braisah in Taanis only actually refers to Yom Kippur and not to Tu BAv [See statement of Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel in the Mishna in Taanis (26b): Israel never had grander days than Yom Kippur and Tu BAv.]

DIFFICULTIES WITH BOTH ANSWERS

There are difficulties, however, with both answers. Rav Masna seems to say that the reason it was established was because of his reason  while he may agree that the other things happened on that day  that was not the reason it was established in his view. The Rashbams answer would thus require some further understanding.

The Gvuras Aris response is difficult to say as well because the authorial intent of the Braisah in Taanis seems to be applying the idea to Tu BAv as well. While one could say that it is lav davka, that it does not mean what the words imply  this is difficult to propose. There is no symmetry that is generally associated with an answer of lav davka.

THE TWO STAGE ANSWER

Perhaps a different answer might be that the Simcha  the joy of Tu BAv was initiated in two separate stages. Stage one was prior to the destruction of Beitar. Tu BAv was instituted during the time of the Bais HaMikdash as a special day of Chesed for Shidduchim. It did not have a particularly joyous significance  rather  it was a propitious time to get people married. This Shidduch Day was replete with Chessed. But its primary purpose was not to commemorate any of the other incidents.

Much later, it also happened to be that on this day, the fallen of Beitar were allowed to be buried.

Coincidence?

No, not at all. There is no coincidence from the Torahs perspective. According to Rav Masna, the Rabbis re-evaluated the days mentioned in Megilas Taanis, and knew that something extraordinary happened here. The special Chessed of that day  allowed for and enabled another chessed  that the fallen of Beitar could be buried, and to the delight of their brethren  their bodies did not decompose. A recognition of this chessed caused a renewal in the 15th of Av.

It would be filled with renewed purpose.

This was stage two of Tu BAv.

When did this happen chronologically? The Yerushalmi (Taanis 4:5) states that 52 years after the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash, Beitar was destroyed. This would be in 122 CE.

THE TIME FRAME

The Gemorah in Gittin 57a gives us the background. The people of Beitar had the custom of planting a tree upon the birth of each child. Upon the engagement of two Beitar children, they would cut down the trees that were planted and would build a Chupah. One time the Roman emperors daughter passed by Beitar and her chariot broke down. Her servants cut down a tree that a Beitar resident had planted for his sons wedding.

The people of Beiter beat up the emperors daughters servants. The emperor was furious and commanded that they be wiped out. The Yerushalmi indicates that it ended when the next Emperor took over. It is not clear, however, whether the Bavli agrees to the dates of the Yerushalmi.

But getting back to this new approach in understanding Rav Masna  that Tu BAv had two stages: the first a Chessed Day during the time of the Bais HaMikdash and the second stage  a time when this day was enacted by later Chazal as a remarkable Yom Tov- is there a lesson that can be learned?

THE POWER OF CHESSED

It would seem that when Chessed is done on a particular day, it creates Kochos and forces within the day itself that will have positive repercussions on that day ever onward. We find this idea in the Michtav MEliyahu as well, that time travels in a circle and not straight down. The chessed and Mitzvos imbued on a particular day, change that day forever afterward. Let us keep this in mind for Yahrtzeits, Yomim Tovim, etc. The chessed done on that day has ramifications for that day forever onward.

THE LESSON

This, is a lesson that we can carry with us about this holiday of Tu BAv  throughout the year. Chessed is something that lasts forever. It is an idea that should inspire us in our Dveikus Bashem  and is a new insight into the holiday of Tu BAv.

The author can be reached at [email protected]

Attention Readers: The seventh volume of Not Your Usual Halacha has just been released. The authors books, including the Not Your Usual halacha Series, Hilchos Shabbos, Hilchos Meuzah, Hilchos Kashrus can be purchased at amazon.com
Attorneys for almost two dozen media groups are arguing in federal court in Florida that a lawsuit demanding the release of 911 calls involving the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando should be moved back to state court.

Attorneys for The Associated Press, CNN, The New York Times and other media groups are arguing Thursday that the case doesnt belong in federal court.

The case pits the City of Orlando against media companies seeking the release of recordings of dozens of 911 calls as well as communications between gunman Omar Mateen and the Orlando Police Department. Mateen was killed by police early June 12 after a lengthy standoff in the shooting that killed 49 people and wounded 53 others.

The media groups argue that the recordings will help the public evaluate the police response to the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

The city, which is the custodian of the recordings, claims the recordings are exempt under Florida public records law and that the FBI insists releasing them may disrupt the ongoing investigation.

The media groups filed a complaint in state court about 10 days after the shooting, seeking the release of the recordings. Less than hour later, the city filed a complaint in state court, asking that the recordings be declared exempt from public records law.

In a legal maneuver, the city filed an amended lawsuit, naming the U.S. Department of Justice as a defendant, and DOJ attorneys moved for the case to be transferred to federal court where Floridas Public Records Act isnt applicable.

In court papers, the Department of Justice argues the recordings are federal records and not subject to Floridas public records law.

The media companies argue that the Department of Justice is one of perhaps many parties standing on the sidelines and arent a proper party to the lawsuit.

This case is a dispute solely between the News Media and the City, the media groups said in court papers.

(AP)
Chancellor Angela Merkel has dismissed suggestions that the influx of refugees over the past year brought Islamic extremism to Germany.

Merkel said late Wednesday that the phenomenon of Islamist terrorism by IS isnt a phenomenon that came to us with the refugees, its one that we had before too.

She conceded, however, it can be seen that there are attempts to win over refugees (for terrorism), or we had the case of Paris, where refugees were deliberately smuggled in by IS.

Merkel was speaking at a campaign event in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where her Christian Democrats face strong competition from the nationalist, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party in state elections on Sept. 4.

The country was shaken by a string of attacks in July, two of which were the first in Germany claimed by the Islamic State group. In those, only the attackers  both asylum-seekers  were killed. In an unrelated attack, a German teenager killed nine people in Munich.

Last week, Germanys interior minister unveiled proposals to boost security  among them creating several thousand jobs with federal security services, making it easier to deport foreigners deemed dangerous and stripping dual nationals who fight for extremist groups of their German citizenship.

I can understand that security has very, very high significance for people at the moment, thats completely clear, Merkel said in a video released Thursday by her party. We are doing everything humanly possible to ensure security  and wherever gaps arise, we must readjust and consider new variations of security.

Merkel said its important to prevent people-smuggling and ensure that refugees can live in humane conditions near their homelands  for example, through arrangements such as the European Unions deal with Turkey to cut migrant flows.

There wont be another way if we want to reduce the number of people coming to us and if we consider the fate of people who can often live better near their homeland, their cultural homeland, than if they come over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to us, she said.

(AP)
For the second time in six months, the Mayor, Police Commissioner and top city officials called on Congress and the White House to swiftly give New York City counterterrorism funding  $180 million is at stake.

Flanked by three members of Congress, the Mayor and the citys top cop said Washington was letting an appropriations bill languish. It was time for it to move.

How many conferences have I had with you, the media, talking about this issue that they have to spend so much time urging that they do something, Bratton said. Its frustrating.

This rebuke came just three days after what some say was a chaotic response at JFK airport to a report of shots fired.

On Sunday night, police searched for a shooter. No one was found. The so-called gunshots were never substantiated.

Now city officials say they need to do a better job coordinating with the Port Authority, who handles security at our airports.

We all have to do better at the airports, the Mayor said. There is no question about it.

There will be a hot wash of this that we will participate in to look at what worked, said Bratton.

The whole incident is currently under review.

READ MORE: NY1
The proposal by Village of Kiryas Joel officials to split the Town of Monroe in half creating a new Town of North Monroe is being cautiously considered.

Monroe Town Supervisor Harley Doles said he would need assurances that KJs massive bloc vote would never influence Town of Monroe or Monroe-Woodbury school board elections in the future. He said he does not want to see Monroe become the next East Ramapo. That is the school district in the Spring Valley area with neighboring Hasidic communities. The Hasidic children attend classes in their own schools, but the public school board is controlled by Hasidic members.

If sufficient petition signatures are secured by residents of Kiryas Joel, the Orange County Legislature would have to approve the new town and its chairman, Stephen Brescia said they would have to take a good, hard look at it.

If there enough support in the entire town, I would vote affirmatively, but if there is a lot of opposition to it, I would vote negative, Brescia said.

County Executive Steven Neuhaus said he will have the countys Planning and Real Property offices conduct an analysis of the proposal compared to annexation of land. A number of property owners adjacent to Kiryas Joel have already petitions to annex their hundreds of acres into the village. That is in the courts right now.

Neuhaus expects the chance the county legislature would consider the North Monroe town proposal is slim to none.

(Source: MidHudsonNews)
Prisoner Yishai Schlisel, who was convicted or murder for the stabbing death of a young woman at a Jerusalem toeiva parade, was assaulted and beaten again in prison, this time requiring hospitalization. YWN-ISRAEL recently reported that Schlisel was beaten after removing photos from his cellmate, explaining they were immodest.

It is reported that Schlisel is not hospitalized in Assaf HaRofeh Hospital after two prisoners beat him in Ayalon Prison in Ramle. He arrived at the hospital under heavy guard and now remains in a prison unit in the hospital. There are no details regarding his condition.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
January to June 2016*:

Global flight traffic up 23%

Passenger numbers up 20%

Strong performance in America with flight traffic up 145% from first half 2015

Triple digit growth in flights from Europe and the US to Asia

Company sells largest single package of hours in its history

April to June 2016:

Second quarter of 2016 the business' biggest ever

Average number of new annual contractual flight hours up to 120 hours per customer

Over 3,000 new annual hours sold including multiple 400+ annual flight hour block deals

Fleet of over 65 aircraft now performs more than 100 flights per day



*Year-on-year

LONDON, Aug. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VistaJet, the global leader in business aviation, today announced that despite global economic uncertainty, it has delivered continued growth over the past six months, and had its biggest ever quarter in the three months to June 2016. Global flight traffic was up 23% in the first six months of the year, highlighting that corporations, business leaders and entrepreneurs are actively pursuing new opportunities to build and grow.

As VistaJet now regularly serves over 90% of the globe, its flight data provides a unique insight into both business sentiment in emerging markets, and that of businesses in the world's largest economies including the US, UK and Asia.

Despite concern about the strength of the US economy and uncertainty ahead of the Presidential elections in November, flights from the country almost doubled in the first half of 2016. VistaJet's performance illustrates the outward-looking nature of American industry, with flights to Europe and Asia experiencing triple digit growth, and traffic to Central and South America up three-fold. Domestic flights were up 187% compared to the same period last year, demonstrating the underlying strength of the US economy. The importance of America's West coast tech sector to its economy is clear, with flights from the area making up 20% of all traffic in the US.

While there has been much speculation about whether the recent Brexit vote will have a negative impact both on the UK economy and the country's relationships across the world, the UK's businesses and entrepreneurs have already started pursuing opportunities outside the EU. In particular, there were increasing signs that companies are seeking to enter new, emerging markets and attract a greater range of customers to protect their businesses from potential economic headwinds in the EU. Flights to China from the UK more than quadrupled, and flights to India were up 50%. North America is expected to continue to be a key market for UK businesses, and that was shown in stark relief in the first 6 months of the year, with flights to the US up 50% on popular routings into New York and the West Coast.

In the first half of the year, VistaJet sold its largest single package of hours in its history, a clear sign that corporations are increasingly viewing access to an entire fleet rather than ownership of one or two aircraft as a priority. With many developed markets experiencing economic headwinds, more and more businesses are taking a fiscally prudent approach to corporate travel.

The average number of annual contractual flight hours also rose in the second quarter to 120 hours per new customer. Clients increasingly compare VistaJet's unique subscription model to ownership rather than the charter market, acknowledging that the company can offer guaranteed availability and a consistently higher quality of service than charter operators, but without any of the asset risk that comes from actually owning an aircraft.

The multinational composition of VistaJet's customer base and business reaffirms the rationale behind its decision to move its global headquarters to Malta. With the company now flying customers all over the globe, it is more important than ever that it both has access to the EU, and is headquartered in a central, strategic location.

Chairman and Founder Thomas Flohr said:

"Our continued growth in the first half of this year demonstrates both the resilience of the VistaJet business model, and that our commitment to delivering the best possible service for our customers, in a way that makes sense in uncertain times, is clearly valued. It also shows that there is an ongoing need for business aviation, that companies will always seek to grow and pursue new opportunities and it's just a question of finding the right, financially prudent solution to access these. That is something that VistaJet is ideally positioned to provide.

"We are flying our customers to more places than ever before and had our biggest ever quarter in the three months to June 2016. We are particularly pleased to see the growth in flight traffic to India, Asia and the United States. From the trends we are seeing in the market, we expect Asia and India to play increasingly significant roles in global business going forward, particularly destinations like Shanghai, Mumbai, and Singapore, which have seen notable growth over the past 6 months.

"We remain as committed as ever to serving our customers, and are confident that the passion and drive that helped us achieve our current market-leading position will continue to fuel future growth. We are taking nothing for granted, and have several exciting new initiatives scheduled for the second half of 2016."

About VistaJet

Founded in 2004 by Thomas Flohr, VistaJet has established itself as the global leader in premium long-range private jet travel by consistently providing excellent service and unrivalled quality to its fast growing clientele, connecting them to every corner of the world with point-to-point coverage. VistaJet operates a young fleet - total fleet average age is under two years - of over 65 Global* and Challenger* business aircraft and offers the industry's largest service area, covering all major markets. The Company's unique and successful business model provides all the benefits of owning a personal jet without the responsibilities or asset risk of personal ownership. News and information are available at www.vistajet.com.

Information



Katie Read James Leviton

VistaJet International Finsbury

M: +44 (0) 7834 335505 +44 207 251 3851

katie.read@vistajet.com VistaJet@finsbury.com

VistaJet-Fleet http://hugin.info/172518/R/2035785/758334.jpg

FINAL VistaJet Press Release for 18.08.16 http://hugin.info/172518/R/2035785/758335.pdf

HUG#2035785
The community of Charish was originally planned as a new chareidi city but challenges to the plan were successful, resulting in Charish being a city for all, religious and secular alike.

However, what may be the final initiative is about to be launched in the hope of bring chareidim to the city. according to a Kikar News report, spearheading the initiative is HaGaon HaRav Shimon Baadani Shlita, a member of Shas Moetzas Gedolei Yisrael. Rav Baadani hopes to bring hundreds of chareidi families to Charish and they will life in inexpensive rentals in stage one, with the assistance of a special fund.

The fund established will pay for most of a couples rental, which today is NIS 2,500 for a three-bedroom apartment while the couple will only have to add NIS 1,000.

There is also the matter of establishing chareidi schools in the city. A special transportation service will be set up to bring children to and from nearby Pardes Chana, where there is a chareidi education infrastructure in place, which was established by HaGaon HaRav Refael Buvlil Shlita.

The report adds that after conferring with gedolim, it was decided to establish a fund and raise millions of dollars abroad to pay for bringing the families to Charish. Kikar adds that gedolim has signaled a willingness to speak with philanthropists on the phone and even travel abroad if there is a need.

A meeting was held on Thursday, 14 Menachem Av called  , in Charish, to lay the groundwork for the new operation. HaRav Baadani was present along with Moetzas Gedolei Hatorah member HaGaon HaRav Tzion Boaron Shlita. They also read a message sent to participants from HaAdmor Rav David Abuchatzera Shlita.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Israel Police has imported 20 dogs from the Czech Republic which will be integrated into operational and interrogative units. The dogs will assist investigators are they are trained to smell drugs, money, explosives, weapons and more.

A delegation of three senior canine handlers, veterinary personnel and animal activists from the Operations Division have been conducting tests to determine the abilities of the specially trained dogs; Czech shepherds and Labradors. This includes performance tests and mission performance as well as determining the limits of the dogs sniffing abilities to permit them to select the 20 most suited dogs for the departments needs.

The 20 one-year-old dogs selected to join Israel Police arrived on Thursday morning 14 Menachem Av, and in the coming days, they will begin a six-month training period to permit them to join the 220 police dogs already in the field carrying out various tasks in a number of units.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether a Massachusetts town violated the civil rights of an Islamic group when officials there rejected plans for a Muslim cemetery, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz announced Thursday.

Ortiz said the investigation will determine whether the town of Dudley violated the right to religious exercise by the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester. The Islamic group purchased 55 acres of farmland in Dudley for a Muslim cemetery, but town officials rejected the plan, citing traffic and environmental concerns.

Jay Talerman, a lawyer for the group, has suggested that anti-Muslim bias played a role in the towns decision to deny needed permits for the cemetery.

Ortiz said her investigation will look into whether the town placed unreasonable barriers to the groups cemetery proposal. Federal prosecutors are authorized to investigate allegations of discriminatory treatment under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits discrimination against any assembly or institution on the basis of religion.

All Americans have the right to worship and to bury their loved ones in accordance with their religious beliefs, free from discrimination, Ortiz said.

Talerman, who filed a lawsuit against the town in land court last month, said he has had discussions with the towns attorneys to try to come to an agreement about the cemetery.

We remain hopeful, but to date we dont have a commitment from the town that meets our expectations, Talerman said.

Dudley officials said their denial of a permit for the cemetery did not violate the religious rights of the group.

The Dudley Board of Selectmen welcomes this investigation as an opportunity to show that the Towns zoning and land use practices do not violate any religious rights of the Islamic Society, nor do such practices discriminate against any assembly or institution on the basis of religion or religious denomination, the town said in a statement.

The Islamic Society, which owns a mosque in Worcester, wants to build the cemetery on a long-idle dairy farm.

During town meetings on the proposal, residents of Dudley have said they are concerned that burial practices could contaminate groundwater because Muslims traditionally do not embalm bodies and bury their dead without coffins. They have also cited concerns about noise, vandalism and increased traffic on the narrow road where the cemetery would be built.

One resident said he worried he would have to listen to crazy music like the Islamic call to prayer.

Proposals for Muslim cemeteries in other states have been met with similar resistance, including in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Farmington, Minnesota; and Farmersville, Texas.

(AP)
MIDDLEBURY, Vt., Aug. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A virtual first period for high schoolers in the Piedmont City School District in Alabama is using technology to help students get much needed extra sleep  and become more independent learners  without altering the daily school schedule. The small, rural district started the program, which allows students to complete first period classwork on their own schedules, two years ago after positive results using Middlebury Interactive Languages' digital courses.



"The success of the Middlebury Interactive program was a real eye-opener for us on the potential for digital learning," said Piedmont Superintendent Matt Akin. "Expanding the virtual first period to include other subjects has allowed students to get more sleep, and our new self-paced and mastery-based learning approach has benefitted students and teachers."



Research has shown that students who get the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep per night are healthier and perform better academically than their sleep-deprived peers. On the flip side, too many students don't get enough sleep, leading to struggles in and out of school. These sleep-deprived students have been described as "zombies" and "brain dead" by researchers at the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Across the country, school districts are debating shifting school start times  which on average occur at 8:03 a.m.  to provide older students with more sleep. However, delaying the start time has proven challenging to many districts due to transportation concerns and conflicts with students' work schedules and extracurricular activities.



"Lack of sleep is a quiet crisis in American education, with effects that put students' futures at risk," said Middlebury Interactive CEO Jane Swift. "Piedmont took an innovative approach to helping students get more sleep but also become more self-directed, independent leaders. There are many lessons in the Piedmont approach for school districts across the country."



Piedmont turned to Middlebury Interactive after the district's only full-time Spanish teacher left and the district struggled to find a replacement. Through Middlebury Interactive's blended learning curriculum, Piedmont not only saved its Spanish program but also expanded its offerings to provide students access to Chinese, French, German and Latin for the first time. The students are developing a world view that they might not have not found otherwise in a rural school district.



"Middlebury Interactive is broadening the horizons of our students," said Superintendent Akin. "They have a stronger background now, not only in learning new languages, but in learning new cultures too."



Teachers have also noticed that the integration of technology in the classroom through Middlebury Interactive and the other new digital programs has helped students become more independent learners and has changed the learning culture of the school.



"The dynamics of my classroom have changed drastically," said Piedmont teacher Jennie Baer. "Students have a higher level of accountability when it comes to their progress. They also have the flexibility to work at their own pace and can focus on what is important on a particular day. This is an advantage that students in traditional high schools do not have."



The virtual first period program has been very popular for Piedmont students, who if they drop below a B-grade average must report to first period in person. Ninety-five percent of Piedmont's upperclassman students are expected to participate in the program this fall. The district reports that some students complete the digital assignments at home or using school computers during the first period block, while others finish their work in the afternoons or evenings.



"Through learning online, I am able to go at my own pace, which allows me to get a better understanding of more difficult lessons," said Piedmont High School student Chloe Mobley. "By learning a language this way, I feel I am becoming more self-disciplined."

About Middlebury Interactive Languages

Middlebury Interactive Languages is the academic leader in K-12 language instruction with engaging world language courses in Spanish, Chinese, German and French and an innovative online curriculum for English Language Learners. Middlebury Interactive provides access to superior language programs and prepares students with the skills and cultural understanding to compete in the 21st Century global marketplace. Middlebury Interactive has taken Middlebury College's renowned world language curriculum, developed and refined over the past 100 years, and translated it to the digital and K-12 setting. Middlebury Interactive also offers in-person language immersion summer academies for middle and high school students in the US and abroad.
My family and I were due to fly to Florida on the 27th August but following guidance issued by Public Health England about the risk of the Zika virus we decided we shouldn't go as I am 11 weeks pregnant.

I received a letter from my doctor and midwife stating that it was not safe for me to fly and then cancelled the flights which were booked last year with Virgin Atlantic, through the booking site Ebookers.

Then to my surprise and shock Virgin told me it would not refund the tickets, which for myself, my partner and my parents which came to 2,700.

Virgin won't refund my plane tickets even thought it's not safe for me to travel to Florida

It said it would only consider refunding flights to Miami, where cases of the virus had been detected, and that because we were flying to Orlando we were not eligible for a refund.

Since then we have spoken to Virgin many, many times and despite my midwife and doctor advising me not to travel, along with guidance from Public Health England and the World Health Organisation, it is still refusing to offer a refund.

Although the cases of the Zika virus have been in the Miami area, its not unfeasible to assume the risk could move to other regions in the state.

I cant quite believe Virgin is ignoring clear medical advice and this whole situation has become very stressful especially as our decision not to go was made from information issued by the government, Laura Knights, via email.

The Aedes mosquito is known to be a carrier of the Zika virus

Rebecca Rutt, of This is Money, replies: The Zika virus which is mainly spread by mosquitoes has been in the news for several months now and warnings have been issued to pregnant women travelling to affected areas.

The message given by Public Health England and the World Health Organisation is to seek medical advice before travelling and until recently the warning was largely limited to countries in South and Central America.

Pregnant women have been advised to postpone non-essential travel to areas with active Zika virus transmission and Florida has now been added to the list after cases were diagnosed in Miami.

As you had a family holiday booked to Orlando, which was organised last year, and you are pregnant, you saw this message and then took further action by contacting your doctor and midwife.

We cancelled our family holiday to Orlando because of the threat from the Zika virus but now Virgin is refusing to refund our ticket price

They agreed it was not safe for you to travel and issued a note to say this and you then cancelled the holiday, expecting to get a refund back from either Virgin or your travel insurance company for the tickets.

However, when you spoke to Virgin it said it would not issue a refund stating that because you were flying to Orlando and not Miami you were not eligible for a refund.

After several phone calls it refused to budge on this matter and you were left 2,700 out of pocket and with the prospect of not having a holiday this year.

When you got in contact with us, we spoke to Virgin to try and find out why it was refusing to issue a refund.

After an investigation, a spokesperson came back to us and said there had been a mistake and that you and all the members in your party were entitled to a full refund.

A spokesperson said: 'We always endeavour to do the right thing by our customers and anyone travelling to areas affected by the outbreak of Zika, who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant and do not wish to travel, should call our customer service teams for help and advice.

Cases of the Zika virus have been found in Miami and pregnant women, or those trying to get pregnant, are advised against non-urgent travel to the area

We will look at all options, including rebooking for a later date or alternative destination, or for pregnant customers who no longer wish to travel, a full refund.

We will continue to monitor the advice from the leading health organisations and adapt our policy should we need to do so in line with their recommendations.

Although a refund is now being issued to you, you were previously told repeatedly by Virgin that you werent eligible for one. In fact it wasnt until we intervened that Virgin reversed its decision and offered the refund.

However, in situations such as this it is actually your travel insurance provider, not the travel agent or airline who is usually responsible for giving you a refund, once you've first approached the travel company.

This is what travel insurance covers and it should also extend to those of you in the group because they are close family members.

This won't be the case with all insurers as the terms and conditions can vary but on the whole if something goes wrong and you have to cancel your holiday, the insurer should be the one to pay out.

We spoke to the Association of British Insurers and a spokesperson said in these cases the first port of call is asking the travel company for a refund and if it refuses to then go to your travel insurer.
The American owner of Asda has blamed fierce competition among supermarkets and falling food prices for the UK grocer's worst-ever quarterly performance.

Asda, which is Britains second biggest supermarket, saw a 7.5 per cent fall in like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, for the three months to the end of June compared to the same period last year, Walmart said.

That was the worst ever quarterly sales fall for the grocer and was an increase on a 5.7 per cent slide during the previous quarter - when Asda was already the worst performer among the Big Four supermarkets.

Falling sales: Asda's turnaround 'will take time', its US owner Walmart said today

The results will put pressure on Asdas newly appointed chief executive Sean Clarke, who was parachuted in last month to kick-start growth at the US business after running Walmarts Chinese business.

Walmart boss Doug McMillon said the group was still committed to investing 1.5billion in lowering prices at Asda over five years as previously announced, but that the turn-around of the ailing British supermarket will take time.

He said: 'In the UK, the competitive environment and food deflation continued to challenge the market, significantly impacting traffic and comp sales.'

And the Walmart boss added: We are simplifying and strengthening our offering through improved availability and assortment discipline, reducing costs and driving sales through strategic price investments.

While our turn-around will take time, Im confident in the new leadership team there and want to assure you were addressing this with urgency.

Mr Clarke was appointed as the new boss in a bid to bring Asda back into shape as it struggles, like most other big British supermarkets, with competition from German discounters Aldo and Lidl, which have eaten into its market share.

Competition: Asda has lost market share to German discounters Aldi and Lidl

Recent figures from Kantar Worldpanel showed that Asdas market share shrank to 15.5 per cent last month, down from 16.4 per cent, due to competition from Aldi and Lidl.

Paul Thomas, senior consultant at Retail Remedy, described the sales fall at Asda as apocalyptic.

He said: 'The limping Asda ship has a new captain and for Sean Clarkes first trading update, it could be no worse.

It is too soon for the new CEO to have had any significant impact but a 7.5 per cent decline in like for like sales is apocalyptic for Asda.

Mr Thomas said that Asda's unique selling point was that it was the cheapest grocer in the UK, but it has since lost that crown to the discounters.

He added: Price investment is inevitable, but Asda needs more. Quality, value for money also go without saying.

Walmart said that they had continued with their aggressive cost reduction programs in the UK as well as in Canada.
For British holidaymakers sunning themselves on the Amalfi coast, admiring the art in the Uffizi in Florence or idling over an espresso in a Roman cafe, Italy does not feel like a nation on the brink of a crisis.

But the country's banking system is swamped with debt and in a scenario that has uncanny echoes of David Cameron's downfall, Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi has called a referendum that could see him toppled from power.

If the vote goes against the centre-left premier, it could even lead to 'Quitaly'  an Italian exit from the European Union.

Analysts do not believe that is likely in the short term. But if it did happen it would be an outcome so cataclysmic for EU leaders it would leave Brexit in the shade.

Italy's banking system is swamped with debt and in a scenario that has uncanny echoes of David Cameron's downfall, Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi has called a referendum

Ostensibly, the referendum is about reforms that would reduce the power of the Senate, the Italian upper house. In reality it is turning into a vote of confidence in Renzi, who has said he will step down if he loses.

Although most observers do not expect Italy to start breaking bonds with Brussels any time soon, it could set the country on that road.

It would boost Luigi di Maio, leader of the Five Star movement, who is calling for a referendum on euro membership.

Five Star, a protest group founded by comedian Beppe Grillo, has been gaining popularity with the electorate. One of its leading lights, Virginia Raggi, was recently installed as Mayor of Rome.

Renzi's referendum is taking place amid a crippling banking crisis and an economy hamstrung by lack of growth. Increasingly  with unemployment for young people under 25 running at more than 36 per cent  it is also an economy dogged by lack of hope.

'How bad is it? It's bad. The banks have been denuded of their capital and cannot loan money to businesses,' says James Sproule, chief economist of the Institute of Directors in the UK.

'The Italian economy could go into permanent recession. It is not inconceivable that Italy could follow the UK out of the European Union.'

An Italian exit would be an enormous blow to European politicians, including German chancellor Angela Merkel. If it were to break away, it could set off a domino effect leading to the unravelling of the union.

Unlike the UK, Italy is a member of the single currency. And while in this country, many voted Brexit because they think the UK will do better out, a Quitaly vote would be a mark of despair.

'Voters believe the UK is leaving from a position of strength,' says Sproule. 'The Italians, however, would perceive themselves to be leaving from a position of weakness. The psyche would be very different.'

Italy's banks know all about being in a position of weakness. Shares in the largest, UniCredit, have fallen by around 67 per cent in the past 12 months.

'The second biggest, Intesa Sanpaolo, is down by 45 per cent and Monte dei Paschi di Siena, has seen nearly 90 per cent come off its stock market value.

It is a nightmare scenario for the country that invented the modern banking system. International banking as we know it dates back to medieval Italy  and so for that matter do bank failures.

When King Edward III of England defaulted on loans to fund the Hundred Years War, the Florentine banks that had lent him money went under.

Rome and Away: Theresa May with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi

The historians of tomorrow will look back at today's crisis as one of the worst ever. Monte dei Paschi, the world's oldest bank, has survived since 1472, but is hanging on by the skin of its teeth. It fared the worst out of 51 banks put through recent health checks by the regulators.

Italian banks overall have on their books more than 310billion of 'non-performing loans'. That is almost a fifth of total lending. Unfortunately for the Italian populace, bad debt on that scale is not just a problem for a few overpaid bankers, but for everyone.

Ignazio Visco, the Bank of Italy governor, says the situation is 'serious, but manageable'.

Others are less relaxed. 'The Italian banks did very badly in the recent stress tests,' says Oliver White, economist at Fathom Financial Consulting. 'We are very pessimistic about them.'

Mending the broken banks is made more difficult because under EU rules, they cannot be bailed out by the state unless bondholders  investors who have lent money to the banks  take a loss first.

In many countries, including the UK, that would not be a problem as virtually all bank bonds are held by big institutional investors who know the risks and can afford to take a hit.

Not so in Italy, where more than 170billion of bank bonds are held by individual savers. The lives of thousands of ordinary Italian investors, many of them elderly, could be ruined if their savings are wiped out.

One pensioner who lost more than 95,000 on Banca Etruria bonds last year committed suicide, sparking a national outcry.

In contrast to investors who bought bonds, individual depositors who have placed money into ordinary savings accounts are covered under a special scheme. Sums of up to 100,000  75,000 in the UK  are protected in full if a bank goes under.

The pressure is on to find a way to bolster Monti dei Paschi, hiving off its bad loans and injecting billions of pounds of capital, without penalising small bondholders.

'There is a real test here to find a way to structure the transaction that will get round the problem of pushing losses onto grannies and grandpas,' says Guy de Blonay, a fund manager at Jupiter Asset Management.

How will all this affect the UK? British banks have a very small direct exposure to their Italian counterparts, of only around 2billion, but it is impossible to quantify the indirect effects if Italy falls into a full-blown crisis.

If Renzi wins the referendum vote and Monte dei Paschi is successfully stabilised, de Blonay says there would be a 'sharp recovery'. If not, the result could be 'disarray'.
London has come a lowly 53rd in a quality of life league of the world's cities - faring worse than both Manchester and Dublin

According to the study, higher risk of terrorism and petty crime has made living conditions worse in the capital, which is stronger on cultural attractions and infrastructure than Manchester, which came 43rd.

Dublin fares better than both cities, ranking at number 40 of a total of 140 in the 'liveability' study carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

City buzz: Global business centres like London and New York tend to be victims of their own success as they suffer from high levels of crime, congestion and public transport problems

It is difficult to argue that one city is better than another but it can be argued that Manchester has marginally fewer obstacles to people's lifestyle because the threat of terrorism and petty crime is higher in London, said Jon Copestake, editor of the report.

However, it will be interesting to see if this changes following the recent Brexit vote which has created a sense of political and economic uncertainty and could see foreign investment suffer in both cities.

The report assesses cities liveability based on many different criteria, including crime, terrorism, healthcare, cultural aspects such as levels of censorship and food, education and infrastructure.

It has found that, overall in the world, liveability has deteriorated over the past five years, mostly because of a higher level of instability caused by wars and rising terrorist attacks and crime.

40th place: Dublin, the capital of Ireland, fares better than both Manchester and London

Paris, for example, has recorded one of the sharpest declines in liveability over the past five years due to a mounting number of terrorist attacks taking place in the city and in other parts of France over the past three years.

Unsurprisingly, civil war in Syria has seen its capital, Damascus, recording the sharpest deterioration, making the city the worst city where to live in the world.

It's more liveable up North: Manchester ranks 43rd, ten places higher than London

Kiev, in Ukraine, Detroit in the US and Tripoli in Libya have also seen some of the biggest declines, according to the report  again because of wars and increased criminality.

Meanwhile, Melbourne is still the most liveable city in the world and six of the top ten scoring cities are in Australia and Canada, both of which countries have a relatively low population density, according to the report.

Paris has recorded one of the sharpest declines in liveability over the past five years due to a mounting number of terrorist attacks

Vancouver and Toronto come in third and fourth place, following Austrias capital, Vienna, which again was crowned the second most liveable place in the world.

Adelaide and Perth, another two Australian cities, are the sixth and seventh best places to live.

Hamburg, in Germany, moved up to tenth place - previously held by Sidney but which instead dropped down four positions because of a heightened perceived threat of terrorism.

Top city: Melbourne is the most liveable city in the world, according to a new report

However, other German cities, such as Frankfurt and Berlin, have also experienced declines in stability.

The report claims that the cities scoring highest in the league tend to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density.

These can foster a range of recreational activities without leading to high crime levels or overburdened infrastructure, it says.

Hamburg in Germany moved up to tenth place, although other German cities, such as Frankfurt and Berlin, have experienced declines in stability

On the other hand, global business centres like London, New York, Paris and Tokyo tend to be victims of their own success, according to EIU.

These cities offer many cultural activities, but all suffer from higher levels of crime, congestion and public transport problems than are considered comfortable.
BATON ROUGE, La., Aug. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Associa, the industry's largest community management firm, is contributing $50,000 toward helping the victims of the recent flooding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and surrounding areas. The donation is being made by Associa Cares, Associa's nonprofit organization which assists families across the country in need due to natural and man-made disasters.



"Our hearts go out to the victims of the Louisiana floods," says Associa Cares President Andrew Fortin. "In an instant, thousands of families have found themselves facing devastating losses of home and property. We hope this assistance helps them with their immediate needs as they begin the recovery process."



The recent torrential rains are to blame for at least nine deaths and the displacement of tens of thousands of people from their homes. More than 30 parishes across southern Louisiana have been declared disaster areas.



Associa Cares' volunteers are already working directly with families to get assistance to them as quickly as possible. If you know of anyone impacted by the Louisiana floods, please email Associa Cares at info@associacares.com. If you want to support the relief efforts, monetary donations can be made to Associa Cares by visiting the website at www.associacares.com and clicking on the 'Donate Now' button.



Associa Cares is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization created to assist families and communities in crisis as a result of natural and man-made disasters. Through donations raised from Associa employees and at fundraising events across the country, Associa Cares is able to provide necessary goods and services to the families affected by these types of tragedies. If you know of a family that has been the victim of a natural or man-made disaster, go directly to www.associacares.com to submit a request.



Building and managing successful communities for more than 37 years, Associa is the worldwide leader in community management with over 10,000 employees operating more than 180 branch offices in the United States, Mexico, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa. Based in Dallas, Texas, our industry expertise, financial strength, and innovation meet the unique needs of clients across the world with customized services and solutions designed to help communities achieve their vision. To learn more about Associa and its charitable organization, Associa Cares, go to www.associaonline.com or www.associacares.com.



Stay Connected:



Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/associa

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KAPAA, Hawaii, Aug. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Courtyard by Marriott Kauai at Coconut Beach in Kapa'a is proud to announce an upcoming charity event for the "epicurious" appetite for the extraordinary, "A Passion for Performance," hosted by and featuring three of Hawaii's most creative artists: James Beard Foundation winner-legendary Chef Sam Choy, the classically French-trained Courtyard Marriott Executive Chef Lucas Sautter and Grammy-award winning musician, John Cruz.

On September 30, 2016, The Emerald Island's Courtyard Kauai at Coconut Beach, 650 Aleka Loop, Kapaa, Kauai provides the magical setting for "A Passion for Performance." Ten percent of all proceeds from this unique collaborative celebration of culinary fusion and musical excellence benefits the Kauai Concert Association. Reservations can be made at 808-320-3624.

Founded in 1974, the Kauai Concert Association (KCA) brings world-class music and performing arts to Kauai as well as providing musical education opportunities.

Your once-in-a-lifetime "epicurious" evening starts at 5:30 p.m. with an extraordinary reception showcasing the true aloha spirit with Hawaiian music, pupus and handcrafted Koloa Rum cocktails, created especially for this benefit. Immediately following, indulge in a specially curated five-course gourmet experience as you are entertained by one's of Hawaii's most celebrated and original musicians, John Cruz.

The intimate www.courtyardkauai.com in Kapa'a is operated by Davidson Hotels & Resorts under license from Marriott International, Inc. Davidson Hotels & Resorts is one of the most respected, successful and creative lodging companies in the industry, specializing in branded and lifestyle hotels in the full-service and premium urban select-service segments. For more information about Davidson Hotels & Resorts, visit www.davidsonhotels.com.

###

About Davidson Hotels & Resorts

Davidson Hotels & Resorts is an award-winning, full-service hotel management company providing management, development/renovation, acquisition, consulting and accounting expertise for the hospitality industry. Amassing one of the purest full-service hotel portfolios in the industry, Davidson's proficiency ranges from the upper-upscale to near-luxury segments with nearly 12,300 rooms and 1.4 million square feet of meeting space across the United States. A trusted partner and preferred operator of Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Starwood hotels, Davidson delivers hospitality and creates value for owners with every single hotel. More information can be found at www.davidsonhotels.com.

About Marriott Hotels

With 500 hotels and resorts in nearly 60 countries around the world, Marriott Hotels is evolving travel through every aspect of the guest's stay, enabling the next generation to Travel Brilliantly. Boldly transforming itself for mobile and global travelers who blend work and play, Marriott leads the industry with innovations, including the Great Room, Future of Meetings and Mobile Guest Services that elevates style & design and technology. All Marriott hotels participate in the award-winning Marriott Rewards frequent travel program that allows members to earn hotel points or airline miles for every dollar spent during each stay. For more information, visit www.MarriottHotels.com. To join the ongoing Marriott conversation, like us on Facebook (Facebook.com/Marriott, and follow us on Twitter (Twitter.com/Marriott, @Marriott).

About Sam Choy

Sam Choy is a chef, restaurateur, and television personality known as a founding contributor of "Pacific rim cuisine". Choy is an alumnus of the Kapiolani Community College Culinary Arts program. In 1991, Choy founded the Poke Festival and Recipe Contest. In 2004, Choy was awarded the James Beard Foundation Award America's Classics Award for Sam Choy's Kaloko in Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. The award recognizes "beloved regional restaurants" that reflect the character of their communities. Choy has appeared in several food TV programs, including Iron Chef America. In 2015, Choy broadcast a series on YouTube, Sam Choy in The Kitchen. Choy has designed special Hawaiian inspired dishes for American Airlines first class passengers to and from Hawaii.

About Lucas Sautter

Chef Lucas Sautter is a French-trained classic chef and a graduate of Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Arizona. Beginning his culinary career at 16 years old as a dishwasher, Sautter worked his way through America's kitchens before becoming Executive Chef at Courtyard by Marriott Kauai at Coconut Beach in Kapa'a. Sautter worked at the Classical French, AAA Five Diamond Award and Mobil Travel Guide Four Star Restaurant, The Tack Room in Tucson, Arizona as well as executive chef of Basilico Restaurante Italiano in Olympia, Washington. Sautter is a member of the American Culinary Federation.

About John Cruz

Winning the first Grammy ever for Hawaiian music, Cruz grew up in Palolo Valley on Oahu. After seeking a theatrical career in the Northeast, Cruz returned to Hawaii in 1995 to help his brother Ernie record his album. At the time, Ernie was in the immensely popular band, the Ka'au Crater Boys. He invited John to play bass with them as well as his own songs during their shows. The exposure to large crowds gave John's music a substantial fan base before it was even recorded. When his first album, "Acoustic Soul" was released in 1996, it made an artistic and commercial impact like few other recordings in Hawaiian musical history. "Acoustic Soul" won two Na Hoku Hanohano Awards in 1997 -- one for Contemporary Album of the Year and one for Most Promising Artist. In 2005, Cruz added a Grammy Award to his list of honors. His original song "Jo Bo's Night" was featured on the compilation CD Slack Key Guitar Volume 2, which won the first Grammy ever awarded for Hawaiian music. In October 2011, John's rendition of the traditional Hawaiian song "Hi'ilawe" was released on the official Hawaii Five-O soundtrack and featured on an episode of the hit show. In October 2006, a documentary film on his life, "Made of Music - The Story of John Cruz," debuted at the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival in Honolulu. A few weeks later, it was honored with the Aloha Visionary Filmmaker Award at the Molokai Film Festival.

About the Kauai Concert Association

The Kauai Concert Association (KCA) began in 1974 with a mission to bring world class music to Kauai. The organization presents between 3-10 concerts per season. In honor of our 40th birthday, we are returning to our classical roots. Our current mission is to provide quality classical and modern performing fine arts and to provide musical education opportunities. Each year, KCA awards scholarships to talented and worthy students of the musical arts. Past recipients have included students of piano, violin, sax, trumpet, drums, tap, ballet, and modern dance. Recipients are encouraged to participate in our events and are invited to attend concerts and receptions to witness and meet first-hand the outstanding artists that perform on Kauai under the auspices of the KCA. This coming season, we plan a total of five educational performances to be held at schools. Educational services provide an opportunity for students and adults on Kauai to interact personally with world class artists in various genres of the performing arts.

Kauai Concert Association has been administered for the past 30 years by an all-volunteer staff. Volunteers have selected performers, arranged transportation and hotels, hosted after concert dinners, advertised and sold tickets along with all other aspects of the performance. In the last two years, in order to maintain its planned growth, staff positions have been added to the organization. Volunteers remain integrally involved in the organization.

Photos accompanying this release are available at:

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=41149

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=41150
Addressing fire safety Living in San Diego County, the threat of fires is constant, that is why I have made fire safety one...

Supporting animals As a trained Project Wildlife Native Songbird Rehabilitator, my experience raising orphaned and injured songbirds and returning them to the...
souvik101990 wrote:

A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump into the Great Lakes.





(A) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump



(B) reduced the phosphate amount that municipalities had been dumping



(C) reduces the phosphate amount municipalities have been allowed to dump



(D) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are allowed to dump



(E) reduces the amount of phosphates allowed for dumping by municipalities





Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:

Concepts tested here: Tenses + Meaning

A:

B:

practically

permitted

C:

D:

Correct.

permitted

E:

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

Additional Note:

Dear Friends,Here is a detailed explanation to this question-Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of the sentence is that a 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are allowed to dump into the Great Lakes. The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. The simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past. The past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past". The past perfect continuous tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had/have been") is used when a sentence contains two actions in past and one action is in greater past as well as continuous in nature; the helping verb "had been" is used with the action that is in the greater past and continuous in nature. The present perfect continuous tense (marked by "has/have been") is the correct tense to refer to actions that started in past and continue into the present. For referring to the purpose or intent of an action, the infinitive verb form (to + base form of verb"- "to + dump" in this sentence) is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "dumping" in this sentence) construction.Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect tense verb had been allowed to refer to an action taking place in the current time frame; please remember, the simple present tense is used to refer to actions taking place in the current time frame, and the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect continuous tense verb had been dumping to refer to an action taking place in the current time frame; please remember, the simple present tense is used to refer to actions taking place in the current time frame, and the past perfect continuous tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had/have been") is only used when a sentence contains two actions in past and one action is in greater past as well as continuous in nature. Further, Option B alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase municipalities had been dumping; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the 1972 agreement reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities hadbeen dumping into the Great Lakes; the intended meaning is that the 1972 agreement reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities areto dump into the Great Lakes.This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb reduces to refer to an action that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past, and the simple present tense is only used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the present perfect continuous tense verb have been allowed to dump to refer to an action taking place in the current time frame; please remember, the simple present tense is used to refer to actions taking place in the current time frame, and the present perfect continuous tense (marked by "has/have been") is the correct tense to refer to actions that started in past and continue into the present.This answer choice correctly uses the simple past tense verb reduced to refer to an action that concluded in the past. Further, Option E correctly uses the simple present tense verb are allowed to refer to an action taking place in the current time frame. Moreover, Option D uses the phrase are allowed to dump, conveying the intended meaning  that the 1972 agreement reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities areto dump into the Great Lakes. Additionally, Option E uses the infinitive verb form (to + base form of verb"- "to + dump" in this sentence) to refer to the intent of the action allowed.This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb reduces to refer to an action that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past, and the simple present tense is only used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. Further, Option E uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "dumping" in this sentence) construction to refer to the intent of the action allowed; please remember, for referring to the purpose or intent of an action, the infinitive verb form (to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "dumping" in this sentence) construction.Please note that the verb construction "had been allowed", used in Option A, is the passive version of the past perfect tense construction "had allowed", not a past perfect continuous tense verb.To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):To understand the concept of "Perfect Continuous Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):All the best!Team_________________
Governor Cuomo is reportedly proposing new subsidy guidelines that he hopes will satisfy New York City's largest construction union and real estate organizations, and help New York reinstate the controversial 421-a tax abatement program. The '70s-era incentive, which expired in January, provided developers with multi-year freezes on their real estate taxes in exchange for building a portion of below-market rate apartments.

Thousands of NYC tenants and advocates marched over the Brooklyn Bridge last summer to voice their opposition for 421-a, which they argue doesn't require an adequate amount of truly affordable housing. The abatement was nevertheless renewed (with slightly higher affordability requirements of 25-30%) but conditionallyreal estate executives and union officials were tasked to come to an agreement by January 15th, 2016 as to whether construction workers on 421-a build projects would be guaranteed a union-level wage. They didn't.

The NY Times reports that a one-page memo was sent to Real Estate Board of New York members on Tuesday, outlining the new proposal.

Under this new iteration of 421-a, developers would not be required to pay union wages on their projects. However, the state would instate two separate minimum wages for certain new development projects with at least 300 units: $65 per hour plus benefits for Manhattan projects below 96th Street, and $50 per hour plus benefits for projects on the Brooklyn or Queens waterfront. For comparison, the developer trade association and lobbying group New York State Association for Affordable Housing [NYSAFAH] has said that non-union carpenters make about $31 per hour. (Real Affordability for All, an affordable housing coalition that includes many union locals, issued a controversial report concluding that wage-theft is rampant on non-union construction sites.)

In Brooklyn and Queens, $15 per hour, or 30% of the rate, would be reimbursed by the state. In exchange, any 421-a recipients would be required to build 25-30% of apartments below market rate.

It's still not clear how the amended version of 421-a would be funded. Cuomo spokeswoman Dani Lever did not confirm the proposal Thursday but stated that, "We continue to work to reach an agreement on a successor program to 421-a."

"We are working on and considering new and various proposals with all stakeholders but at this point there is no agreement on anything," she added.



(Mayor's Flickr)

Mayor de Blasio has long heralded 421-a as an important component of his affordable housing plan, which aims to construct 80,000 new units of affordable housing over the next ten years. When union reps started pushing for a prevailing wage on affordable housing construction sites, his administration warned that raising worker wages would deter developers from the program, jeopardizing an estimated 17,000 below-market rate apartments.

But housing advocates counter that the program lines the pockets of developers while failing to ensure adequate affordable housing for New Yorkers. 421-a sets its affordability requirements as a percentage of the median income across the metropolitan area, which is significantly higher than the median income in many of New York City neighborhoods.

Vicki Been, head of the city's Housing and Preservation Development (HPD), emphasized last month that 25% of affordable units produced under the plan to date, 12,970 of the total, are set aside for New Yorkers who make less than 50% of that median income, or $40,800 for a family of three. For context, a full third of the city's households have an annual income of less than $35,000.

Gary La Barbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told the NY Times that he endorsed the proposal. "We feel this is a viable resolution of the issue," he said. "It's now up to REBNY to agree, or not. The ball's clearly in their court."

REBNY President John Banks did not issue a formal endorsement on Thursday, but stated that 421-a is a necessary incentive for developers to construct affordable housing in New York City. "Such development simply is not possible without a tax abatement program like 421-a," he said. "We remain committed to engaging in a dialogue with stakeholders to enact a plan to create affordable rental housing."

A spokesman for the mayor's office withheld comment pending a press conference later this morning where de Blasio is expected to address this news.

Kerri White, a spokeswoman for the affordable housing nonprofit the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, told us during the January stalemate between unions and developers over 421-a that tenants were fed up with late-in-the-game squabbling over a tax abatement that is barely enforced as it is. She cited a recent investigation into Two Trees Management's property at 125 Court Street, where tenants were overcharged an estimated total of $368,000, despite 421-a tax abatements.

"This is a broken program and it's gone past the point of reform," she said. "It's always frustrating to see all of this political energy going towards making these subsidies work."

"This out-of-session energy around 421-a is unacceptable when they refuse to consider strengthening the rent laws," she added on Thursday. "Certain people push these arguments that you have to chose between good jobs and having an affordable place to live. We need to live in a city that offers both."
This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the Crown Heights Riots, three days of sporadic violence, protest, and destruction that placed Crown Heights in the international spotlight and laid bare deep, bitter divisions between the neighborhood's black and Lubavitch Jewish communities.

Gothamist spoke to people who were thereactivists, journalists, police, and politiciansabout their recollections of the events of August 19-21, 1991, which were sparked when a black child was killed and his cousin seriously injured by a driver in the motorcade of Lubavitcher Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. We also spoke about what happened before the riots, and where the neighborhood is today.

Each day this week, we'll be running edited excerpts of our conversations. (Read parts one, two and three of the series.)

This mini oral history is not an attempt to offer an authoritative or comprehensive account of what happened during those three days. That would require a book, or several books. (The Girgenti Report, commissioned by then-Governor Mario Cuomo to analyze what happened, clocks in at 616 pagesif you're interested in the chronology of events, the Daily News did a solid write-up.) Rather, these are a series of snapshots.

The people with whom we spoke offered different, at times conflicting, narratives of what happened. When their recollections about the chronology or nature of specific events significantly diverged from published accounts we've judged to be reliable, we've noted these discrepancies and linked to relevant accounts.

Gothamist: Looking back, how do you judge the response of the Dinkins Administration?

Errol Louis

Errol Louis is the host of Inside City Hall on NY1. He has written for the New York Sun, the Daily News, and Our Time Press. In 1991, he was living in Crown Heights, working for a nonprofit and freelancing as a journalist.

I've talked at considerable length with almost all of the relevant parties. My understanding of itin the end, there was some internal NYPD politics that got in the way of swift resolution of this, meaning Ray Kelly, who was then deputy commissioner, was on the outs with Commissioner Lee Brown, and for that reason alone he was sidelined. It wasn't until they had the 10-13 call for Car One, meaning the Commissioner's car was under attack. It was clear that the situation had spun out of control.

My understanding from subsequent reporting is that Kelly then leans over to Brown and says, "Do you want me to handle this?" At which point, Kelly reverted to being a combat marine from Vietnam, set up the right blockades and started doing sweeps and shutting the whole thing down within a day.

That was late in the process. Dinkins, true to form, he and his team did their best to settle the situation in a way that was consistent with not just their duties, but with their values. Their values were such that they weren't going to come in there and just slap a curfew on the neighborhood or just start rounding up people by the dozens.

They had campaigned on a different approach to inter-group relations, and they tried as best they could to settle it in a way that made sense to them, and that would keep the promises that they had made to the public.

The entire administration, and David Dinkins in particular, got a horribly, horribly raw deal both from the media, and frankly, from the Cuomo administration after that.

If you look at the handling of that report, including the timing of its release, there is no way to interpret it, in my opinion, other than as an act of extreme political hostility from the administration of Mario Cuomo. That's the story, and that's the gospel within the veterans of the Dinkins Administration. He waited until the opportune moment, and then he stabbed the mayor in the back.

The unfortunate part of it is that a really good guy, named David Dinkins, got slammed and slimed in a horribly unfair way. And it struck at the core of his political brand. Because if you remember, when he got elected, when he beat both Koch and Giuliani in that same yearin 1989it was because both of them were seen as divisive. Dinkins was supposed to be the answer.

The public, I think especially white liberal voters, were prepared to forgive Dinkins on a lot of things. A slumping economy. Crime that he made a valiant effort to actually contain and reverse, which he actually did. But they weren't going to forgive him on what was part of his core brand, which was that we were supposed to be able to get along better.

Crown Heights was manipulated politically to become a symbol that the core promise of the Dinkins Administration was not being met.

Philip Gourevitch

Philip Gourevitch is an author and journalist. At the time of the riots, he was New York bureau chief of the Forward. He is a staff writer for the New Yorker.

I remember very distinctly the impression that the press and the police and the city officials were very anxious to make everything seem like the explosion was coming equally from all sides. You'd read things or people would say things that more or less seemed to suggest that the blacks and the Jews were rioting, which wasn't in fact the case.

From the very beginning, the Lubavitchers, the Hasids, were complaining that the police were not doing enough to stop the rioters, that they were just standing around between them. They were making a human shield and trying to contain it, but they weren't really going after them to re-establish control.

The city was denying this completely. It was pretty obvious when you were there. I was there during one melee where rioters were throwing rocks and bottles across the streetover the heads of the policeat the Hasids. The police lined up there in the middle were simply ducking. The same thing happened at one point to Dinkins when he came out to the neighborhood. He was stoned and attacked with bottles. That's when he finally increased the police on the streets. [Ed note: On the second day of the riots, while Mayor Dinkins visited with community members at PS 167 on Eastern Parkway, protesters outside threw bricks and other projectiles at the building. The next day, he was met with a similar response.]

I had gone one day to the precinct house. I had noticed as I was wandering around the neighborhood, that among the young guys who were sort of milling around the streets there were people with little video cameras. It was something one hadn't seen before. I was talking to a police captain who'd just returned to the precincthe'd been pulled in from vacation timeto try to help out.

He was like, "My guys are really upset here. They're saying they're not being allowed to act with force. They're not being allowed to assert themselves here and get control." This was on day two or three. As we continued to talk, I mentioned the video cameras that I'd been seeing. He said, "Yes, I think we are paying the price for the Rodney King incident," which was very much on people's minds at that point. In other words what he was saying was: they're afraid that anything they do that might get caught on camera would look worse than letting this thing sort of run its course.

Later, that became one of the great conflicts or debates about Crown Heights. Had the city reacted enough and why did it wait three or four days to really put down what was in fact a relatively small rabble-roused crowd?

I think they reacted poorly. I don't think it's in doubt.

Mayor David Dinkins

David Dinkins served as mayor of New York City from 1990-1993. He is a professor in the practice of public policy at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

We wanted to keep the peace foremost. Under no circumstances were people permitted to do the things that we were accused of letting them do. That just was not true. We met with Jews and with blacks in the community. For me to be accused of holding back the police and permitting blacks to attack Jews is just plain inaccurate. It never happened. If somebody knew nothing about me and didn't know who I was or my history with Jews and Israel, then maybe one might have reached that conclusion. But given who I was and what I have done long beforethat seemed to me eminently unfair. Period.

News report on the fourth day of the riots.



Rabbi Shea Hecht

Rabbi Shea Hecht is the chairman of the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education. At the time of the riots, he was living in Crown Heights and working for the committee.

My understanding is the report basically says Dinkins told the police to, to use his words, "tie their hands." He held the police from doing their jobs. As it happens, in his defense, he was doing that because he was getting the wrong information. His people on the streets said, "Nah, it's a few young kids running around, not the whole neighborhood. You're talking about a neighborhood of 200,000 people and you have 300 people running down the streets, what's the big deal? And sometimes it was less than thatit was 50 or 60 kids running through the streetsOK, it's young kids, let them vent." [Ed note: The claim that the administration was not receiving thorough updates on the riots or the tactics being used by the police in Crown Heights is also made in the Girgenti Report.]

My understanding is it was well substantiated within the report that, if nothing else, the mayor did a big mistake that night. Based on the information he was gettingit's just just some wild youths, it'll peter out, and that's it. On Thursday evening, when they came and arrested 85 peopleguess what? The riots were over.

I don't attribute bad feelings to the mayor. Some of my colleagues have a very different opinion, and feel that I'm a sellout. I've been criticized both in the press and out of the press. I still hold my position: I think it was incompetent, but he wasn't the bad guy.

Ray Kelly

Ray Kelly served as commissioner of the New York Police Department from 1992-1994 and again from 2002-2013. At the time of the riots, he was first deputy commissioner of the NYPD. He had previously served as commander of the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights.

Lee Brown wanted to make certain that it wasn't perceived, as it had been in the past, that the first deputy commissioner was in charge of the chief of department. I was involved in administrative matters, the chief of department would be involved in operational matters. [Ed note: The chain of command in the NYPD at the time is described in contemporaneous reporting and in the Girgenti Report.]

So when the event took place, I didn't respond. I didn't have a role on Monday night, and on the next day, I was in my office. It wasn't until Wednesday that I did respond, because I heard the police commissioner's car being under attack in the afternoon.

So I went out there, and I went to a school, and in the school was Mayor Dinkins and Lee Brown. They were upset, the police had not taken any action that they thought they should've taken against what Lee Brown described as kids. And they werea lot of 13-, 14-, 15-year-olds in this instance, coming down Eastern Parkway.

There came a point in time that I went to Lee Brown and said, "Do you want me to get involved in this?" And he said yes.

On Thursday morning I had a meeting in my office with all the chiefs involved, and I said "What's going on here," and they gave me answers I was not satisfied with.

This department was too hesitant to take action. We can understand the delicacies of engaging a crowd or a mob, but clearly, they held back too long. I asked them why didn't they provide security to the Mayor when he went to Gavin Cato's house, put officers on the roof.

Someone said, "Well, too dangerous," which I thought was an absolutely ridiculous answer. And they hadn't closed streets, why? "Because people had to get to work." Those types of answers.

For me, I had some charts and things and went through an operational plan, and charted what I wanted done. We brought in mounted troops and extra police officers, and it ended that day, and we made arrests.

But it wasn't the department's finest hour. There was reluctance to take action when action should've been taken.

The hesitancy came from police commanders on the ground. I think Commissioner Brown assumed that normal police activities would address the issue of these mobs in the street. Don't forget, he had come from another department.

In my view, the commanders on the ground were hesitant because they were trying to read the political tea leaves. You had an African-American mayor, African-American police commissioner, African-American chief of department. So I think they weren't certain as to which way the administration wanted them to go. That resulted in hesitancy.

Mayor Lee Brown

Lee Brown is a former mayor of Houston and director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He served as the police commissioner of New York City from 1990-1992.

Our response was based on what was occurring at the time. It wasn't a continuous disturbance, it was something that would happen at night-time, except when you had the marchers during the daytime. We changed our tactic as a result of that. What was happening was, they were running from place to place and we were chasing them. We were able to come up with a new tactic where we had a two-fold approach, where you have police officers stationary and also police officers mobile, so we could put a stop to it. That's how we ended up stopping the disturbance.

I was in the field taking care of the problem. Mayor Dinkins was not there, so he relied on me to make the decisions about how we dealt with the problem.

We put plenty of police on the streets and we met with the community on a regular basis, updating them. There were a lot of rumors that were going around at the time, but we were able to keep the public aware of what was going on with regular news conferences.

In retrospect, if you compare what occurred there with other disturbances throughout the United States, the damage was nowhere near what you had in a place like Los Angeles. We contained it and didn't allow it to spread to other parts of the city and arrested those who were committing the crimes.

It was contained. It did not spread to other parts of the city. We were sued, the city and myself and Mayor Dinkins and the courts ruled that we acted appropriately under the circumstances. [Ed note: In 1997, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Dinkins and Brown, ruling that their conduct had met the "objectively reasonable" standard required for qualified immunity.]
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By Patrick Donachie

An East New York man was arraigned Tuesday in the murders of an Ozone Park imam and his associate in broad daylight while Muslim community members expressed fear and frustration about the safety of their families during a funeral ceremony Monday afternoon, blocks from where the killings occurred.

Oscar Morel, 35, was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the Saturday slayings of Maulana Akonjee, 55, the imam at the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque and his associate, Thata Uddin, 54, the Queens district attorney said. The mosque is located at 76-18 Glenmore Ave. in Ozone Park,

Still wearing his New School janitors uniform, Morel appeared in Queens Criminal Court Tuesday where he faced an additional first-degree murder charge during his arraignment as his family wept in the courtroom.

Murder one is a premeditated act. Morel was held without bail and faces in life in prison if found guilty.

Queens DA Richard Brown said the motive behind the murders was unclear but his office was still investigating the possibility of a hate crime.

Shortly after prayers, Morel, who is Hispanic, allegedly approached the two victims wearing traditional Muslim clothing from behind at the corner of Liberty Avenue and 79th Street and opened fire, shooting both men in the head, police said. The two Bangladeshi victims who lived in Ozone Park were taken to Jamaica Hospital and pronounced dead, according to police.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce detailed the progression of the investigation at a news conference Monday evening after Morel was brought in for questioning. Boyce said officers found a video of the murder scene that included a black GMC Trailblazer leaving quickly, while three miles away in Brooklyn, at the corner of Pine and Pitkin, there was a hit-and-run car accident shortly after the shootings. They canvassed the area and found a similar car.

After watching the car for several hours, officers approached Morel when he tried to enter the vehicle, according to Boyce. Morel allegedly rammed the officers car several times in a getaway attempt, but was placed under arrest, police said. During a search of Morels apartment, officers found a .38 caliber Taurus revolver, police said..

Funeral services were held for both the imam and his assistant at the Grant Avenue Municipal Parking Field at 581 Grant Ave. in Brooklyn. Thousands attended the services, and speakers included Mayor Bill de Blasio, City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Public Advocate Letitia James.

De Blasio said he came on behalf of all New Yorkers, and promised there would be a greater police presence to ensure that people of the Muslim faith would feel safe when walking to and from mosques and when they were practicing their religion.

For all those here who want justice, we want justice, too, and we will get it, de Blasio said, alluding to what he said was angry rhetoric in the national dialogue decrying Muslim Americans. I look around us and I see proud citizens. I will not let them tear us apart. We will not let them tear us apart.

Signs calling for justice were scattered throughout the crowd.

Speakers from the community and members of the audience also chanted demands for justice under the hot summer sun. The president of the Center for Islamic-American Relations asked the authorities to continue to pursue leads involving a hate crime and announced a $5,000 donation to the family of each murdered man. At the conclusion of the speakers remarks, a prayer was said for the two dead men, the crowd responding to the moment with silence and sadness. The two bodies were then removed for burial.

Laskar Faruq, a Jackson Heights resident, expressed anxiety about the safety of his two children, who often walk to and from school.

Always we pray that they will go and come home safely, but there is no safety now, he said. He also spoke about the negative impact he believed presidential candidate Donald Trumps rhetoric was having on some Americans perceptions of Muslims. When we walk, sometimes in their mind, theyre thinking all Muslims are troublemaking people, he observed.

Nearby one of four young Muslim men said he had prayed with the iman for years and he was well-respected in the community.

In our religion, he said, if you kill one person, its like killing everyone.
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By Tammy Scileppi

Folks who have met Marty Mayol of Martys Camera Repair call him a magician. He knows how to make all kinds of broken cameras work again. Even antique models that are over 100 years old.

Standing behind the counter of his cluttered second-floor workshop and camera museum, located at 71-25 Austin St. in Forest Hills, just a few blocks from his apartment, Marty reminisced about the old days of manual cameras and admitted that after 17 years, he still enjoys schmoozing with customers and photographers. He also mentioned that he has been working with schools in the metro area, teaching students how to use manual cameras.

There were vintage cameras, lenses and parts everywhere in the workshop. On the counter, in a showcase, in boxes, and on shelves. Marty is part of a generation of old-time craftsmen who offered specialized skills and took pride in their work. But guys like him are no longer in high demand.

The digital craze has transformed the entire photographic field, and its hard to keep up with state-of-the-art changes when they happen in the blink of an eye.

Since iPhones and Androids came on the scene, everybody has become a photographer and the average person doesnt even need a camera to take amazing, or even good, photos. No light, zoom or distance adjustments; no fussing with all that confusing stuff people had to worry about back in the day, in order to take a decent picture. You just point and shootinstant gratification.

But many photographers are bucking that trend. They like taking photos the old-school way and seem intrigued with the wide variety of vintage cameras out there. Plus, those cameras, in addition to taking great pictures, make great collectibles. Its no wonder. Before going digital, cameras were mechanical wonders. It took a while to figure them out and folks marveled at the new technology.

Pointing to a showcase filled with an array of vintage cameras, Marty said he preferred the older models to anything that new technology had to offer. Those cameras, you had to adjust the speed, the F stop, the light. Today, the camera will do everything, he said.

An avid photographer and history buff, Marty was excited to show off his collection of special models. There were just a few that he truly prized: The Nikon F1, F2, and F3 were his favorites. And all were in working condition.

Made of heavy metal, those models were considered top of the line for professionals during the 60s, 70s and 80s and are still used today. Marty demonstrated and explained the motor drive feature, which allowed photographers to take quick, consecutive shots for sports, etc.

Then he took out the creme de la creme of his collection: A beauty that was made over a century ago in Rochester, N.Y., and which Marty said still worked. Marty recalled that a woman brought it in two years ago. She found it while cleaning the attic and it had belonged to her grandmother, who was a photographer.

The older-is-cooler trend seems to go hand in hand with a yearning for a simpler time, especially among millennials who love to scour thrift shops and flea markets for vintage finds and have a passion for decorating with, collecting and gifting such items from the past as typewriters and record players.

That nostalgic yen is quite evident in the photographic world. Over the past several years there has been a resurgence in shooting film photos.

It turns out that film pics really do look different from digital images. Before high-resolution digital images, you had to choose the right film size, which would determine the resolution of your final image. Not too long ago, most people used 35mm cartridges. You can still get those, along with APS film, which is smaller than 35mm, as well as medium format; even sheet film is still available.

For those who really want to go retro, there are manual-focus cameras. Its an entirely different experience, like driving automatic vs. manual.

The stereo camera is another option. In the Fifties, stereo cameras were used every day by the average person. By taking two pictures simultaneously, the camera simulates the way we actually see and therefore creates the 3D effect when viewed.

Yet another fascinating gem was an actual James Bond-type miniature Russian spy camera, that was used during the Cold War. Marty said he had fixed it and amazingly, it still worked. He compared it to a miniature made-in-occupied-Japan spy camera, made between 1947 and 1952.

Its surprising that before compact pocket film cameras came on the scene, so many camera modelseven those manufactured in the 80swere made from heavy metal. Drop a digital camera today, and you can forget about it, its plastic, Marty noted.

As the interview drew to a close, it turned out that Marty was getting ready to move to another location, 60-18 Fresh Pond Rd. in Maspeth. He said he would be doing repairs at Cambridge World.

But his commitment to vintage cameras will remain, and the many examples of those cameras that he has collected will help keep an important part of photographys history alive.
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By Patrick Donachie

State Sen. James Sanders (D-Rochdale Village) is facing a challenge in the Democratic primary race to represent a large part of southeastern Queens stretching from Richmond Hill to parts of Far Rockaway. His opponent is Adrienne Adams, the chairwoman of Community Board 12, which includes downtown Jamaica.

Sanders was originally a city councilman for parts of southeastern Queens, including Rosedale and Far Rockaway. He served on that body for 12 years before being elected to the state Senate in 2012, when he defeated Shirley Huntley, who had been convicted of corruption. He graduated from Far Rockaway High School and served in the U.S. Marine Corps, according to Sanders site.

He framed the race as an opportunity to make more significant changes in Albany.

The reforms we started are not finished, he said. Now the Democratic Party is at the edge of taking power in Albany. Now he bills that we fought for can take place.

Adams became chairwoman of Community Board 12 in 2012 and headed the boards Education Committee for four years before that. She graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta and has also worked in the fields of educational and executive training, marketing and business management, consulting with several Fortune 500 companies, according to her campaign site.

Adams has been endorsed by the Queens County Democratic Committee, Borough President Melinda Katz, U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), and Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), among others. A spokesman for Adams campaign noted that she was the only person endorsed by the Democratic machine who was challenging an incumbent.

Michael Reich, the Queens Dems executive secretary, said Adams was a far superior candidate and pointed out that Sanders had never tried to make contact with the Queens Democratic Party or ask for their endorsement.

He chose not to have anything to do with us, he said.

Adams said the endorsements were a strong indication of the strength of her campaign in a statement to the TimesLedger.

Albany has failed our seniors, our schools and our community. That is why I am running for state Senate. Ill fight for more money for our schools and our seniors, and I will work to make our streets safe while helping to bring real jobs to our community. Our community deserves better, she said. We need a senator we can trust to deliver the jobs, housing and schools our families so desperately need.

Sanders noted that many of Adams endorsements came from elected officials outside of the district, and said the potential for significant progress in Albany was a reason for his re-election.

In December, Sanders filed paperwork to run in a primary against Meeks, who has been in the House since 1998, though he eventually opted against pursuing a challenge against the congressman.

Sanders said he was confident he would be victorious in the primary fight and said the results would send a message about the will of southeast Queens residents.

Southeast Queens does not like people imposing things on it, he said. This election will show that.

The Democratic primary will be held Sept. 13.
A good rule of thumb if you're driving a car with an arsenal stashed in it is that you should follow all the traffic rules to the letter. Otherwise you might wind up like a South Carolina man who police arrested in Washington Heights Tuesday night, after stopping him and finding an AK-47, a double barreled shotgun and numerous rounds of ammunition.

Police say that they saw Cleon Cortez, a 45-year-old man from Lorris, South Carolina, driving a 2000 Dodge Durango erratically near 174th Street and Broadway on Tuesday night at about 7:15 p.m. After pulling him over, officers found "an Inter Ordnance AK-47 assault rifle, a Stoeger Industries double-barreled shotgun, two 30-round magazines, 325 shotgun rounds, 86 7.62 rounds, and 2.5oz of marijuana."

Cortez was arrested and faces multiple charges including criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of marijuana.
Here's what to know as the annual dove hunting season approaches
Dr. Leroy Schaffner of Henrietta, Texas passed away on Monday, August 15, 2016 at the age of 82. Dr. Schaffner was born March 1, 1934 in Riverland, Texas to Gotfred and Pauline (Bitz) Schaffner. Dr. Schaffner attended Riverland Grade School until 8th grade when he started attending school in Henrietta; his class was among the first to attend this combined Henrietta school. He graduated high school from Henrietta as valedictorian of his class, which was composed of 18 students.

After high school he attended Midwestern State University for three years. He took the Medical Entry Exam after his third year of undergraduate studies and was accepted into Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas where graduated with his M.D. in 1959. After medical school, Dr. Schaffner interned at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin, Texas for one year before returning to Henrietta in the summer of 1960. He met his wife Joan (Besse) Schaffner that summer at a gathering for new teachers, and they were married November 18, 1961. Together they had three children: Annette, Randall, and Vicki.

Dr. Schaffner practiced medicine in Henrietta for 36 years and impacted many lives during his time as a physician. During his lifetime he served as Chief of Staff at the Clay County Memorial Hospital, County Health Officer, Physician for Burlington Northern Railroad, and Team Doctor for the Henrietta Bearcats. He was also involved with the Northwest Texas Council Boy Scouts of America as a Health and Safety advisor.

Throughout his life, Dr. Schaffner was also the owner and operator of J & L Barr Ranch. In addition to the many medical positions he held, Dr. Schaffner was an extremely active member in the community and was a board member for the Clay County Senior Citizens Center, a long- time member of Kiwanis, and was a proud supporter of the Henrietta Boy Scouts, FFA and the local 4-H. He also served on the school board for 18 years and was a long-time member of the Clay County Historical Society and contributed to the 1890 Jail Museum.

Dr. Schaffner was awarded Jaycees Citizen of the Year in 1968 and was elected a Henrietta FFA Honorary Chapter Farmer. He was a member and Deacon at Henrietta church of Christ.

Dr. Schaffner was a 'cow-chaser' at heart, but he also loved to fish, travel, and hunt. He was an avid reader and, to many, was a walking encyclopedia of fascinating information. He enjoyed playing cards and dominoes and was a constant watcher of the weather. Most of all, he loved being around his family, especially his 9 grandchildren, with whom he found great joy.

Dr. Schaffner had a passion for traveling that began when his children were young. He enjoyed sharing new places with his family and passed the gift of traveling on to his children and grandchildren.

Among his best qualities was his knack for telling captivating stories of all kinds. He could tell a mean joke and had a smile that could brighten anyone's day.

Dr. Schaffner loved helping people along the path of life and was truly a living example of what he preached. He loved well, lived joyously, and laughed heartily during his life. He will be missed by the Henrietta community and his family.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Friday, August 19, 2016 at Henrietta Church of Christ in Henrietta, Texas. A private burial will precede the services at Hope Cemetery in Henrietta, Texas under the direction of Davis Funeral Home.

The family will be at Davis Funeral Home on Thursday, August 18, 2016 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for visitation. Memorials may be made to the Dr. Leroy Schaffner Memorial Scholarship Fund at Wells Fargo Bank, 210 North Bridge Street, Henrietta, Texas 76365 or any of the Clay County Fire Departments.

Dr. Schaffner was preceded in death by his parents, 4 brothers and 1 sister.

Survivors include his wife Joan Schaffner of Henrietta, Texas; their children, Annette Cawyer and husband John of Plano, Randall Schaffner and wife Kathy of Vernon, and Vicki Yurcho and husband Brad of Henrietta; 9 grandchildren, Jeff Cawyer and wife Jaime, Jay Cawyer and wife Tannah, Allie Cawyer, Austin Schaffner, Audrey Schaffner, Alec Schaffner and wife Courtney, Trent Yurcho, Todd Yurcho, and Katie Yurcho; two sisters, Ella Mae Smith of Wichita Falls, Mary Lou Teague of Henrietta; and brother, Daniel and wife Kay Schaffner of Burkburnett.

Thoughts and memories may be shared in the online guestbook at davisfuneralhome.net
Lois Reilly, Wichita Falls

A recent letter writer wrote: 'Another four years of Hillary's hubby under whom we enjoyed a flourishing economy, a budget surplus, peace, plenty of jobs and probably the best eight years in American history.' How soon some low information citizens forget!

The next administration inherited the aftermath of those wonderful Clinton years. 9/11 followed all these wonderful years and then the housing bust. These things, 9/11 and the housing bust, did not just happen because President Bush was in office, they were all set up by President Clinton during this wonderful time in American history.

Our Islamic terrorist enemies found that the American public had lost its nerve and chose then to attack. I read about how President Clinton promised to find out who attacked our military more than 158 times during his time in office and yet he only threatened, he never did anything so of course we had peace. Peace is not always the absence of war.

Prosperity came when the government forced banks to help the poor buy housing they could not afford. Thousands, maybe even millions of homes were built. For the first few years, the payments would be within the buyer's reach, but then after a few years the payments would increase as incomes supposedly increased.

Guess what! Thousands were not able to make the increased payments. That was OK, though, President Clinton was not blamed, the next president who happened to be President Bush, got the blame. We cannot afford another four or eight years of this type of peace and prosperity.
In August 2008, Russian forces invaded the nation of Georgia, igniting the Russo-Georgia War. The Kremlin was testing Western will to defend the diplomatic agreements that stabilized post-Cold War Eastern Europe.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin's high-octane vitriol  directed at George W. Bush, of course  provided evidence of the effectiveness of the Bush Administration's response to Putin's 'creeping war of aggression' in 2008.

The Bush Administration met the Russian invasion with aggressive diplomatic action, seeking support from NATO allies and threatening Moscow with sanctions. It also backed diplomacy with military action. As Russian Army regular units approached the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, the Georgian government asked the U.S. to fly the Georgian Army brigade serving in Iraq home to Georgia. The U.S. complied. 2,500 well-trained and reasonably well-equipped Georgian reinforcements were on the battlefield.

The Bush Administration demonstrated that it was prepared to act on behalf of an ally, not just talk.

At the time, Putin was Russia's prime minister. He's now the president. Under either name, he's the Kremlin's authoritarian boss. In an interview with CNN (August 28, 2008) Putin accused the U.S. of 'orchestrating' the war to benefit a presidential candidate, implicitly suggesting Bush had started a war in Georgia to promote John McCain's candidacy. Outrageous propaganda, of course, but Putin is a master propagandist. He also claimed his forces had to intervene because Russian peacekeepers in the secessionist enclave of South Ossetia had been killed. Why, the U.S. had failed to stop Georgian aggression!

False. Moscow orchestrated the entire war. The so-called terrible U.S.-Russia relationship that the Obama administration's 'reset' claimed to correct was the result of aggressive Russian misbehavior and principled U.S. reaction.

Russia's 2008 invasion of Georgia eerily echoed the 'creeping war of aggression' Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic launched in 1991 when Serbia attacked Croatia. Serbia would launch an attack, take a small piece of territory, and then hunker down to absorb the political blowback from the U.N. and Western Europe. Then Serbia would attack again. Serbian Special Forces would cooperate with Serb agitators in ethnic Serbian area of Croatia. When firefights broke out regular Serbian military units would join the battle. Serbia used similar military-political tactics when it invaded Bosnia in 1992.

The Kremlin's February 2014 invasion of Crimea added two new wrinkles. The first was rapid follow-on action by conventional military forces to support 'threatened ethnic Russians.' The second was outright annexation of territory. In March 2014 Putin shredded the Budapest Accord (signed by the Clinton Administration) which guaranteed Ukrainian territorial integrity.

What did the Obama administration do? It complained  talk. It imposed economic sanctions. What did Russia do? The 'creeping war of aggression' entered eastern Ukraine, as Moscow accused Ukrainians, Poles and Americans of killing ethnic Russians.

Ukraine's slow war continues. Last month (July 2016), Ukrainian and other European media reported an increase in Russian military activity in eastern Ukraine.

That was a bad indicator. August is Europe's traditional month for launching a military campaign, with August 1914 being a particularly hideous example. The ground is usually dry enough for maneuvering large forces. If the invaded country fails to surrender, winter will stall the counteroffensive.

In 2008, the Bush Administration was heavily engaged in Iraq. Putin wondered if Bush would respond to a probe. He did. In 2016, Putin rattles sabers in Ukraine as the Obama administration seeks Russia's help in Syria.

In the next few weeks, Russian forces could seize another chunk of Ukrainian territory, and do so with very little political risk. The Kremlin may also be conducting a political probe. Will Russian war making in Eastern Europe become a presidential election issue? If it doesn't, in 2017 Eastern Europe can expect more war from Moscow.

Austin Bay is a commentator on National Public Radio's 'Morning Edition,' covering foreign affairs but often addressing issues in Texas that have a national interest.
A 33-year-old Amsterdam man fled in a boat after a bar fight and was arrested on domestic violence and DWI charges, according to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office.

Matthew S. Luzinas was arrested Saturday evening in the Town of Broadalbin at the Broadalbin Boat Launch. The Fulton County Sheriff's Office said Luzinas got into a fight at Vic's Tavern in the Town of Northampton with an ex-girlfriend and was choking her. He left by boat and went to the Broadalbin Boat Launch where a deputy located him driving his vehicle while he was intoxicated in the public parking lot.
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Albany

The Environmental Protection Agency says the company operating a crude oil terminal at the Port of Albany violated federal air pollution standards and under-reported the amount of ozone-producing compounds being emitted when it sought permission to handle more oil trains.

The notice of violation was sent to Global Companies LLC late last July. The Waltham, Mass.-based firm, also known as Global Partners, handles the transfer of crude oil. The oil, much of it from North Dakota's Bakken shale fields, is moved from massive trains to barges that carry the oil down the Hudson River and then to a refinery in New Brunswick, Canada.

Global has exceeded the 40 tons a year emission level above which it would need a new permit and likely larger and more complex pollution control measures, according to the EPA.

Spokeswoman Mary Mears stressed that the notice, dated July 29, is the first enforcement step, and $25,000-a-day fines and court action are possible if the violations aren't resolved.

The notice, dated July 29, was first reported Wednesday online in Politico NY.

"We're alleging there could be a violation,'' Mears said, "It starts discussions between us and the company and the state to home in and resolve these violations.''

Global operates under federal regulations with a state-issued permit for the discharges.

The jump in emissions would follow the increase in crude oil shipments through the Port of Albany since 2012 when development of oil shale from North Dakota came on the scene. In 2011 Global sought a permit to handle 1.8 billion gallons, up from 450 million gallons.

On Wednesday, spokesman Mark Horan said, "Global has been in compliance with the EPA and with the Department of Environmental Conservation permit since it was issued five years ago and we continue to make sure we meet the clean air standards stipulated in that permit. We plan to prove to the EPA and to our neighbors that our Albany facility remains in compliance with federal and state emission standards."

Neighbors of the port and environmental organizations are pursuing a federal lawsuit against Global regarding emissions. That case is in federal court.

County Executive Dan McCoy and the environmental groups hailed the EPA's notice, saying it backs up their claim about air pollution.

The port and oil terminal are in the city's South End and near the Ezra Prentice Homes with about 400 residents, including more than 200 children.

Residents of the public housing complex have complained about fumes from the truck traffic coming and going at the port as well as dangers of having oil-filled tanker cars nearby, concerns heightened since 2013 when a train carrying crude oil caught fire and caused an explosion that killed 47 people in Lac Megantic, Quebec.

Judith Enck, the administrator for the EPA Region 2 and a former environmental official under former governors Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson, met with Ezra Prentice residents on Wednesday evening.

The EPA notice appears to contradict prior state findings. Two years ago, representatives of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, in a meeting with Ezra Prentice residents, said pollution in the area was within safety guidelines.

"The bottom line is that we didn't find anything that would be considered a health concern with these concentrations that we measured," Randi Walker, a research scientist with DEC, told residents at an August 2014 meeting.

On Wednesday state officials said the 2014 testing focused on one compound, benzene, that tends to come from diesel trucks. That testing, they said, was concerned with-short term impacts.

On Tuesday night state DEC officials met with Ezra Prentice residents and told them $500,000 would be provided for an environmental program including an effort to monitor diesel truck pollution.

Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a prepared statement: "We are calling on EPA to improve air emission and fuel standards to better protect public health and the environment."

One unknown is the extent to which oil train traffic will continue at its current pace. With oil prices low, crude production in the Bakken fields has fallen sharply and with that so has the number of trains coming to Albany.

Rob Doolittle, a spokesman for the CSX rail line, said the number in New York is half of what it was in 2014, down to 15 from a maximum of 31 to 15 trains per week.

rkarlin@timesunion.com  518-454-5758  @RickKarlinTU
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Menands

The Mohawk Hudson Humane Society will hold its 10th annual Feline Fest on from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday

The event offers reduced adoption fees for cats and kittens at five locations: the Humane Society in Menands, Saratoga, and the society's satellites  PetSmart stores in Glenmont and Latham and Petco in Clifton Park.

"Throughout the summer and fall we have a steady influx of kittens, pregnant cats and strays," according to humane society President and CEO Brad Shear. "We are currently caring for more than 300 felines. These numbers put a tremendous strain on our resources. Feline Fest was first initiated to help cats find new homes with loving families. The goal is still to raise awareness and to find homes for as many homeless cats and kittens as we can."

During Feline Fest, the society will offer reduced adoption fees: kittens age six months and under will be half price and cats over six months will be free.

Every adoption-ready cat and kitten will be spayed or neutered, vaccinated for distemper and rabies, tested for feline leukemia, de-wormed, treated with flea and tick preventative and microchipped.

Times and locations:

Humane Society, 3 Oakland Ave., Menands, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

MHHS Saratoga, 4255 Route 50, Saratoga Springs, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

PetSmart  Latham Farms, 609 Troy Schenectady Road, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

PetSmart  Glenmont, 241 Route 9W, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Petco  Clifton Park, 6 Halfmoon Crossing, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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An Episcopal priest from Delmar was sentenced Wednesday to three years' probation for trying to film a woman as she changed in a Salvation Army store.

The Rev. Adam Egan pleaded guilty in Colonie Town Court in May to a misdemeanor charge of attempted unlawful surveillance. He was arrested Dec. 23 in the store on Troy-Schenectady Road in Latham.

At his sentencing, Egan was also ordered to pay $255 in fines and fees and given a host of restrictions on his behavior.

Colonie police said Egan tried to flee the building after the victim noticed a camera peeking over the top of a curtain and contacted police. Officers caught him nearby and said Egan tried to delete a video on a device he was carrying.

Egan's lawyer said his client regrets his actions and is getting professional help.

"He was wrong, and he admits he was wrong. He made a mistake," Stephen Coffey said. "There is no issue of violence. There is no child involvement. There is no claim by the Probation Department he is a risk to anyone. He is now rehabilitating himself."

Pastor of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church for six years, the married priest resigned from the post after his guilty plea. He was not allowed to function as a priest after his arrest.

Three priests, however, came to his sentencing to support him.

Coffey said he remains a priest in good standing with the church.

"The Episcopal Church has been very solidly behind him," Coffey said. "It's the old adage: Love the sinner, hate the sin."

While on probation, Egan faces a number of restrictions on his behavior that were the subject of discussion before his sentencing by Town Justice Norman Massry.

He is not to possess pornography, though Coffey questioned what constitutes pornography. Egan also faces restrictions on his use of social media and computers, and he is barred from encrypting photos on his computer.

In every other state, Egan would have to be a registered sex offender but not under the law in New York. There also were discussions of restrictions on who he could get into a car with and the Probation Department being able to require him to inform other tenants in an apartment complex where he will live of his guilty plea.

"There is a component of voyeurism" to what Egan did, Albany County Assistant District Attorney Michael Wetmore told the court.

Egan also was barred from any contact with the victim.

Coffey said that won't be difficult because the woman is a stranger to him.

"Oddly enough, he doesn't know who she is," the attorney said.

Afterward, Coffey acknowledged his client's action must have been terrifying for the victim.

"I feel very badly for her," he said.

tobrien@timesunion.com  518-454-5092  @timobrientu
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Bethlehem

Monolith Solar told town officials last week that it hopes to complete its $4.6 million headquarters project planned for the Vista Technology Campus in Slingerlands 12 months from now.

Monolith, a solar installation company based in Rensselaer, had told the Times Union two weeks ago that it had hoped to close on financing for the project this month and break ground at the Vista campus by next week.

However, in an Aug. 10 letter to the Bethlehem Industrial Development Agency, Monolith vice president Steven Erby said that Monolith doesn't expect to close on bank financing for the project until November, which would push back completion of the project to August of 2017.

Monolith, which first announced the Slingerlands headquarters project back in 2014, is facing an Aug. 25 deadline to begin construction at Vista to still remain eligible for $680,000 in state tax breaks through the IDA.

However, in his letter, Erby also asked the IDA if it would extend the deadline another year at the IDA's next meeting, which is Aug. 24.

"We are now ready to move forward and would like to be able to locate in the town of Bethlehem as originally planned," Erby wrote IDA chairman Frank Venezia. "We would appreciate this extension of time in order to complete our project."

Monolith has already been granted extensions by the IDA board, whose board members expressed anxiety over the status of the project at their last meeting.

However, Erby provided Venezia with a copy of a commitment letter from KeyBank for the project as part of his Aug. 10 correspondence that may ease some of the IDA's concerns.

Financing for the project, which will include new offices and space for light assembly projects, has been the biggest hurdle for Monolith, which builds large solar farms for schools and municipalities and also does residential work. The company plans to keep its current space in Rensselaer even after the Slingerlands headquarters is completed, with plans to double its workforce of 70 people.

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The company's original banker for the project at Kinderhook Bank left for Berkshire Bank, which caused delays.

However, earlier this year, KeyBank offered to finance the project through the U.S. Small Business Administration's 504 loan program.

The state had also offered up to $800,000 in grant money and tax breaks to Monolith to build at Vista, which is owned by Columbia Development of Albany.

lrulison@timesunion.com  518-454-5504  @larryrulison
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Any big-screen adaptation of the 19th century Lew Wallace novel "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ" must exist in the long shadow cast by William Wyler's 1959 epic, with its iconic chariot race, sensational Charlton Heston performance and 11 Oscar wins.

It's fair to wonder why anyone would compete with the memory of such a landmark. Judah Ben-Hur's story of revenge and forgiveness, inspired by his encounters with Jesus of Nazareth, depends on grandiose spectacle to resonate. With all of cinema's modern tools, there's still no topping what Wyler and company achieved.

Despite that massive obstacle, it would be unfair to dismiss this new "Ben-Hur" out of hand. The picture, directed by Timur Bekmambetov from a script by Keith Clarke and John Ridley, has its pleasures.

There's an intensely claustrophobic feel to the galley slave sequence, where the title character (Jack Huston), a Jewish prince living in Jerusalem during the lifetime of Jesus, is condemned after his adoptive brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), a Roman centurion, accuses him of treason.

More Information ** Review "Ben-Hur" Rated: PG-13 (for sequences of violence and disturbing images) Running time: 123 minutes **** Excellent *** Good ** Fair * Poor See More Collapse

The chariot scene, captured with practical effects, unfurls with an appropriate degree of frenetic drama. It's missing the rawness that set Wyler's vision apart from similar counterparts, but it stands up when compared with many other contemporary summer movie setpieces.

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Bekmambetov, whose past includes movies like "Wanted" and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," has never shied away from staging complicated action scenes.

The whole point of "Ben-Hur," though, is that the A plot doesn't matter. It's not really a story about a slave taking out his vengeance on the Roman Empire, a la "Gladiator." It is, instead, about how the better angels of our nature, in this case embodied by the example of Jesus (Rodrigo Santoro), prevail over our base desires. It's a story of faith and forgiveness shrouded in conventions.

To pull that off in an affecting way requires more than the dramatic ploy of Jesus popping up to offer teachings about peace and co-existence. It demands characters with substantial depth and performances that inspire the audience's investment, so that their eventual acquiescence to his message resonates emotionally. In that area, in finding that higher ground the material requires, the movie comes up woefully short.
Last February, when my sister-in-law, Katrina, was struggling to put together a six-person, three-generation family trip for spring break, she turned to a nontraditional travel agent: Leo Kugel of Silver Spring, Md.

Leo shelved the original Caribbean plan in favor of New Orleans, selected a hotel that had something for everyone, and found an inexpensive flight. But though at 5-foot-10, Leo is at least as tall as your average travel agent, he is actually my 12-year-old nephew.

"We were stalled out, planningwise," Katrina told me. "And he said 'I'll take it from here.' I was a little bit skeptical."

But aside from a tweak in the flight, everyone  Katrina; my brother, Jeremy; my younger nephew, Grady; my mom (aka Grammy); and my Aunt Nancy  agreed to his choices, including a five-night stay in Le Pavillon.

When I heard about this, I may have tilted my head like a dog when it hears a weird noise. When did kids suddenly acquire travel planning skills? I'm pretty sure the first time I picked a hotel was when I met up with my girlfriend in England at age 23. Actually, she probably picked it.

But times have changed. "The general concept of your children influencing your vacation," said Karen Cicero, travel editor at Parents magazine, "whether helping pick the destination or planning part of the trip, is a trend."

I'm skeptical when people use the t-word, but she pointed to a 2015 survey of 540 parents by YouGov for HomeAway, the vacation rental site, showing that millennial parents are more likely to let their children ages 6-18 pick a destination themselves, than children of older parents.

It makes sense. Trip planning, these days, takes place mostly online, and children know a thing or two about the internet. Considering that Leo shops for sneakers and jackets online, looking for deals to convince his parents, the jump to hotels doesn't seem drastic.

Cicero said that social media also played a role. "My daughter is 13, and if you scroll through her Instagram feed, you'll see pics of her friends' vacations  it gets kids excited and gives them ideas. If you think back to even 10 years ago, school ended and you didn't find out where your friends had gone until you went back."

Involving children has benefits beyond travel-planning experience. "What this highlights is the importance of getting buy-in," said Rainer Jenss, the president and founder of the Family Travel Association. "A lot of parents don't consider getting their kids involved in the planning process, dictate it to them and sometimes make assumptions about what would make the kids happy."

That can lead to risk-free choices like Disney World or child-friendly cruises. But "if kids are involved in the decision," he said, "they have ownership."

I reached Leo on his cellphone as his parents drove him and Grady to a Massachusetts summer camp. "Everyone wanted to go to the Dominican Republic," he said, "but it's pretty expensive, so I tried to find a place that was warm and not too expensive." That ended up being New Orleans. He checked a weather app to make sure it wouldn't be too cold.

The hotel was trickier. He knew his parents wanted to be "close to the center but not so close that it would be so loud I couldn't sleep," Leo said.

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He had a priority as well: a pool. A web search led to Groupon.com, where he spotted a photo of Le Pavillon's rooftop pool. He went to lepavillon.com, and noted that the hotel was "a short stroll to the French Quarter." And he didn't forget the older generation. "It had kind of a French name, so it sounded like Grammy might like it."

Curious if he was on target, I emailed my father, Peter Kugel, who confirmed that his wife might be swayed by a French moniker. He signed the email "Pierre," and cc'ed her.

Some experts caution that while involving children in planning is good, there are no precise guidelines. Parents should set limits appropriate to their own children. (Allow me to interpret: Not every 12-year-old is as awesome as my nephew.)

"Younger kids and some teens don't necessarily have all the tools to plan a trip in a way that would make everyone happy," said Mark Bertin, a developmental pediatrician in Pleasantville, Westchester County. "But as long as you're aware of what your child's really capable of, you could even involve a younger child a little bit."

Maintaining veto power is a no-brainer, but so is setting boundaries to avoid having to use it  perhaps by preselecting options for children to choose among. "If they make a choice that is not practical, it puts you at loggerheads," said Dr. Karl Neumann, the pediatrician behind kidstraveldoc.com.

But for children who can handle it, open planning encourages them to consider others' preferences.
Hudson

The Rocky Romano Bocce Tournament on Saturday promises some serious spinning and trash talk straight out of the old country.

Columbia County Sons & Daughters of Italy is hosting the tourney, which begins with court assignments at 9 a.m. Saturday, followed by the rolling and ricocheting of bocce balls at 10 a.m. The annual event at 27 Bridge St. is in memory of Romano, an Italian immigrant, longtime local barber and enthusiastic bocce player who was a member of the group's county chapter.

For charter member Phil Abitabile, like many Italian-Americans, bocce is a nostalgic reminder of days gone by and a way to continue celebrating his heritage.

More Information Bowl over the competition The Rocky Romano Bocce Tournament begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, at Columbia County Sons & Daughters of Italy, 27 Bridge St., Hudson. Call 828-3824. See More Collapse

"I'm Italian-American, and I live the ideals of family, food and religion, mostly in that order," said Abitabile, 67, who helped start the chapter in 1985. "We're facing the same kind of problems that many fraternal organizations are, mainly that young people aren't interested, but bocce is a part of our culture, which still reaches people."

Bocce, pronounced casually as bot-chi, can be traced to ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire. The word "bocce" is the plural of the Italian word boccia, which means "bowl" in the sporting sense.

The sport  related to British bowls and French petanque  developed into its current form in Italy and is played throughout the world, particularly where Italians have immigrated. It became popular in the United States at the turn of the 20th century and was played on homemade courts.

That was the case in Hudson, where a group of 50-plus Italian immigrants, including Abitabile's grandfathers, would gather on Sundays and play in the alley below the former Italian Heritage Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, between Warren and Union streets.

"It was very heated and they argued over a quarter of an inch, always in Italian," Abitabile said. "You could watch them, and as kids we were amazed at how good they were, but there wasn't even a question that on Sundays, you don't go down the alley during that time  everyone in the neighborhood knew it."

There can be from two to eight players on a team. Competitors pitch a pallino  a small, brightly colored ball  onto the court before the eight other regulation-sized boccia can be bowled. Players then throw those balls to get nearest to the pallino. The closer they are, the more points they potentially have  unless they're knocked out of contention with a fly (volo) or other balls.

Registration for the tournament is $20. Teams will consist of two people. Play will be double elimination, with each team competing in at least two games on six courts. The courts were rebuilt with donations after a landslide caved in a third of the lodge's property, including the original courts.

Trophies will be awarded and the winning team will have its name placed on a permanent plaque, donated by the Romano family, on display at the lodge.

Columbia County Sons & Daughters of Italy hosts events throughout the year and works with the Hudson City School Districts' Kindness Club, letting students practice on its courts and sponsoring a bocce team in regional and state Special Olympics games. In turn, team members have volunteered for the organization's cultural events, like the Rocky Romano Bocce Tournament.

"The best part for me personally was when my grandson and my father threw out the first bocce ball last year," said Abitabile, whose father, Antonio, died in May. "That's the thing with bocce, it's about families being together, getting spirited, having fun and promoting our culture."

jpatterson@timesunion.com  @JenSPatterson  518-454-5340
As Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has granted interviews to major media outlets in connection with his organization's release of Hillary Clinton's emails, his fugitive status has been virtually ignored.

He fled Sweden for England before authorities could interview him (Swedish law does not allow charges to be filed without such an interview). He fought extradition in England's court system, and, when he lost, he ran to the Ecuadorian embassy in London and sought political asylum. For four years, Assange has been hiding there, questioning the morality of others while simultaneously refusing to face those who have accused him of sexual assault.

For that reason, Assange is a hypocrite of the highest order, but Assange is not alone in his hypocrisy. Media coverage of his story is hypocritical, as well.

No major media outlet would write or broadcast a story about Bill Cosby without stating that he is facing rape charges. Yet Assange repeatedly is interviewed, featured, quoted and highlighted without a word about his alleged sex crimes.

Why the difference in treatment? Cosby is black, Assange is white, and, when it comes to handling such allegations, white privilege is still a thing.

Director Woody Allen continues to make movies, even after his stepdaughter Dylan Farrow said Allen sexually assaulted her when she was 7. Former "7th Heaven" star Stephen Collins' admission that he sexually abused underage girls for 20 years went away in a matter of months. And who can forget convicted child rapist Roman Polanski, the acclaimed director who was allowed to hide out in Europe rather than face extradition to the United States to pay for his crime?

Assange is seemingly following in the footsteps of those who've gone before him, but he is making an even bigger splash while doing so.

While Assange has hidden away in the Ecuadorian embassy, bemoaning the fact that the U.S. government is pursuing him for illegally exposing government secrets, a movie titled "The Fifth Estate" has been made about his life. He has been the subject of books and news stories. And now, although he is an Australian citizen, he has dipped his toe into the American presidential race, not only by releasing Clinton's emails, but also by promising to hack Donald Trump's tax returns.

But even as Assange shows up on our televisions and computer screens with accusations against everyone from presidential candidates to law-enforcement officials, Assange and those who cover him have managed to skip the most important fact about his exile.

Assange is not in hiding because big governments have victimized him. He is in hiding to avoid being extradited to Sweden on rape allegations.

Of course, that's not how Assange tells it.

"Our D.C. lawyers are delivering a letter tomorrow to Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking her to explain why it is that the now six-year-long national security and criminal investigation being run against WikiLeaks, the reason I have political asylum, has not been closed," Assange said on CNN's "The Lead" on Monday.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter.

Assange, who went on to compare the length of the WikiLeaks probe to the one-year Justice Department investigation of Clinton's emails, essentially was asking why he's still under investigation when Clinton is not.

Perhaps that's a legitimate question.

However, the bigger question is this: How can Assange be allowed to point the finger at anyone when he is hiding out to avoid extradition on rape allegations?

As a black man, I wouldn't receive the benefit of the doubt if I were facing those kinds of allegations.

Assange shouldn't get a pass, either.
Marilee (Weidner) Springer, formerly of Spartansburg, is shown staffing Indiana Gov. Michael Pence during a meeting with his public safety team, which includes the leaders of the Indiana National Guard, Indiana State Police and Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
[August 18, 2016] Choice Logistics Names Jordan Kaufman Chief Information Officer

Choice Logistics, the leading provider of enterprise-grade supply chain solutions, today announced that Jordan Kaufman has been hired as Chief Information Officer. Jordan Kaufman will replace Robert Bacchi, who previously held the position, and is stepping down to pursue other interests. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005880/en/ Jordan Kaufman (Photo: Business Wire) "Hiring Jordan is a pure investment in our future," said Michael Katz, CEO of Choice Logistics. "With the accelerating rate of change in our industry, Jordan is absolutely the right executive to ensure our technology remains a differentiator in the marketplace. Jordan will focus on leveraging technology to allow our clients to manage their supply chains with greater transparency and efficiency." Mr. Kaufman is responsible for software development, application integration, and business intelligence. Additionally, he is accountable or technology infrastructure, network security, and business continuity processes.



"I am excited about the opportunity to work with such a highly skilled and committed team. I've been tasked with developing new technology offerings designed to drive efficiencies within our organization and help our client's make better decisions," said Mr. Kaufman. "Jordan's role highlights the importance Choice places on innovation. We believe that a modern supply chain requires transparency, visibility, and creative solutions," said Katz. "Adding him to the executive team illustrates the commitment to our client base."

Mr. Kaufman has over 15 years of extensive experience as an information technology professional across a variety of industry verticals. He has managed global IT infrastructures and support services, devised strategic technology investments, and demonstrated success in directing business and technology transformation for both public and private organizations of varying sizes. He is a leader, collaborator, and consensus building change agent who leverages the power of technology to drive innovation and growth, automate process, improve service delivery, and reduce operating costs with measurable results. Mr. Kaufmann holds a Bachelor of Arts in communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has published five books relating to strategic technology solutions for modern business. About Choice Logistics For more than 50 years, Choice has helped the world's leading companies better manage their global supply-chains. We offer enterprise-grade warehouse, inventory, and transportation management solutions through our global footprint of over 400 stocking locations, regional distribution centers, and transportation hubs in more than 80 countries. Beyond 3PL solutions, Choice offers parts planning, field engineering, HW/SW configuration, depot repair, and asset recovery support. Companies turn to Choice to compress time-to-market, provide differentiation in the market place, and remove costs. For more information, please visit www.choicelogistics.com, or call (800) 861-6900, ext. 4107. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005880/en/

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DriveSavers Offers Data Recovery to Residents Impacted by Louisiana Flooding

DriveSavers, the worldwide leader in data recovery, eDiscovery and digital forensic services, announced today a $300 discount to victims of the recent flooding disaster in the state of Louisiana.

As many as 40,000 homes have been affected by devastating floods in Louisiana caused by torrential rain. According to Gov. John Bel Edwards, who spoke at a news conference alongside Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator Craig Fugate, well over 20,000 people have been rescued since the flooding began late last week. In Livingston Parish, one of the hardest-hit areas, officials estimate that 75 percent of homes were a total loss. On Sunday, President Obama declared a federal emergency in the state.

As some residents begin to return to their flood-damaged homes for the first time, DriveSavers, in coordination with its network of computer service providers in and around the area, look to help by recovering data from damaged devices. The company is offering $300 off data recovery services through September 30, 2016 for single drives, RAIDs, smartphones and tablets that may have been damaged by floodwaters, mud or impact.

"Driveavers has more than 30 years of experience recovering photos, videos, contact lists, financial records and other important data that may have been kept on devices damaged or even destroyed by natural disasters," explained DriveSavers President Scott Moyer. "As Louisiana residents begin the process of assessing damage, we hope to provide a resource for those impacted by this devastating event."







If your device has been damaged by floodwaters, do not attempt to dry out equipment or recover data using utility software. Keep the hard drive or media wet by placing it in a plastic bag with an airtight zip closure.

To start the recovery process, call DriveSavers Data Recovery (News - Alert) at 800.440.1904 or visit www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com for more information.

About DriveSavers

DriveSavers, the worldwide leader in data recovery, eDiscovery and digital forensics, provides the fastest, most reliable and only certified secure data recovery and eDiscovery service in the industry. All of the company's services meet security protocols for financial, legal, corporate and healthcare industries, and it is the only company that posts proof of its annual SOC 2 Type II audit and HIPAA data security and privacy compliance. DriveSavers adheres to U.S. government security protocols, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) Data Security Rule, the Data-At-Rest mandate (DAR) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). DriveSavers engineers are trained and certified in all leading encryption and forensic technologies and operate a Certified ISO Class 5 Cleanroom. Customers include: Bank of America, Google (News - Alert), Lucasfilm, NASA, Harvard University, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, U.S. Army and Sandia National Laboratories.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005834/en/
[August 18, 2016] ExxonMobil and Georgia Tech Innovation Could Lead to Significant Cuts in Chemical Manufacturing Energy Use and Emissions

Scientists from ExxonMobil and the Georgia Institute of Technology (News - Alert) have developed a potentially revolutionary new technology that could significantly reduce the amount of energy and emissions associated with manufacturing plastics. Results of the research were published today in the peer-reviewed journal Science. If brought to industrial scale, this breakthrough could reduce industry's global annual carbon dioxide emissions by up to 45 million tons, which is equivalent to the annual energy-related carbon dioxide emissions of about five million U.S. homes. It could also reduce global energy costs used to make plastics by up to $2 billion a year. Using a molecular-level filter, the new process employs a form of reverse osmosis to separate para-xylene, a chemical building block for polyester and plastics, from complex hydrocarbon mixtures. The current commercial-scale process used around the world relies on energy and heat to separate those molecules. "Through collaboration with strong academic institutions like Georgia Tech, we are constantly exploring new, more efficient ways to produce the energy, chemicals, and other products consumers around the world rely on every day," said Vijay Swarup, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. "If advanced to commercial-scale application, this technology could significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with chemical manufacturing." The research successfully demonstrated that para-xylene can be separated from like chemical compounds known as aromatics by pressing them through a membrane that acts as a high-tech sieve, similar to a filter with microscopic holes. Commercially practiced separations involve energy-intensive crystallization or adsorption with distillation. Globally, the amount of energy used in conventional separation processes for aromatics is equal to about 20 average-sized power plants. The ExxonMobil and Georgia Tech team first developed a new carbon-based membrane that can separate molecules as small as a nanometer. The membrane was then incorporated into a new organic solvent reverse osmosis process, during which aromatics were pressed through the membrane, separating out para-xylene. "In effect, we'd be using a filter with microscopic holes to do what an enormous amount of heat and energy currently do in a chemical process similar to that found in oil refining," said Mike Kerby, corporate strategic research manager at ExxonMobil. The carbon-based membrane developed by the ExxonMobil-Georgia Tech team isabout 50 times more energy efficient than the current state-of-the-art membrane separation technology. Because the new membrane is made from a commercially available polymer, ExxonMobil believes it has potential for commercialization and integration into industrial chemical separation processes.



Reverse-osmosis membranes are already widely used to desalinate seawater, consuming a fraction of the energy required by thermally driven processes. The new organic solvent reverse osmosis process is believed to be the first use of reverse osmosis with carbon membranes to separate liquid hydrocarbons. "By applying pressure at room temperature, the membrane is able to concentrate para-xylene from a mixture at high rates and low energy consumption relative to state-of-the-art membranes," said Ryan Lively, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech's School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and the lead researcher. "This mixture could then be fed into a conventional thermal process for finishing, which would dramatically reduce total energy input."

The technology still faces challenges before it can be considered for commercialization and use at an industrial scale. The membranes used in the process will need to be tested under more challenging conditions, as industrial mixtures normally contain multiple organic compounds and may include materials that can foul membrane systems. The researchers must also learn to make the material consistently and demonstrate that it can withstand long-term industrial use. "The implications could be enormous in terms of the amount of energy that could be saved and the emissions reduced in chemical and product manufacturing," said Benjamin McCool, an advanced research associate at ExxonMobil and co-author of the research. "Our next steps are to further the fundamental understanding in the lab to help develop a plan for pilot plant-scale demonstration and, if successful, proceed to larger scale. We continue to work the fundamental science underlying this technology for broader applications in hydrocarbon separations." Chemical plants account for about eight percent of global energy demand and about 15 percent of the projected growth in demand to 2040. As global populations and living standards continue to rise, demand for auto parts, housing materials, electronics and other products made from plastics and other petrochemicals will continue to grow. Improving industrial efficiency is part of ExxonMobil's mission to meet the world's growing need for energy while minimizing environmental impacts. The researchers on the technology as written in Science include Lively and Dong-Yeun Koh from Georgia Institute of Technology and McCool and Harry Deckman from ExxonMobil. About ExxonMobil ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, uses technology and innovation to help meet the world's growing energy needs. We hold an industry-leading inventory of resources and are one of the largest integrated refiners, marketers of petroleum products and chemical manufacturers. For more information, visit www.exxonmobil.com or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) www.twitter.com/exxonmobil. Cautionary Statement: Statements of future events or conditions in this release are forward-looking statements. Actual future results, including project plans and timing and the impact and results of new technologies, could vary depending on the outcome of further research and testing; the development and competitiveness of alternative technologies; the ability to scale pilot projects on a cost-effective basis; political and regulatory developments; and other factors discussed in this release and under the heading "Factors Affecting Future Results" on the Investors page of ExxonMobil's website at exxonmobil.com. About Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is a leading research university committed to improving the human condition through advanced science and technology. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech has more than 100 centers focused on interdisciplinary research that consistently contribute vital research and innovation to American government, industry, and business. For more information, visit www.gatech.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005307/en/

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[August 17, 2016] First Data Taps Ivo Distelbrink to Lead Asia Pacific Region

First Data, a global leader in commerce-enabling technology and solutions, announced today that Ivo Distelbrink will join the company to lead its business in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Reporting to Chairman and CEO Frank Bisignano, Distelbrink will be based in Singapore and will also serve on First Data's Management Committee. "I am delighted to welcome Ivo to the First Data team as he prepares to lead our business in APAC, where we see significant growth opportunities for First Data," said Bisignano. "With more than 20 years of global banking experience, coupled with extensive regional knowledge, Ivo is the right leader to take advantage of emerging industry trends in APAC, including the continued shift to eCommerce and mobile payments." First Data is a leading eCommerce and mobile technology provider, merchant acquirer, issuer processor, and ATM services provider to financial institutions and businesses across APAC, with operations in Australia, South Korea, India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and New Zealand. Since its entry into the region in 1992, First Data has expanded its footprint to serve clients in 19 APAC countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. Distelbrink will take over leadershipfor a region in which First Data has a more than 20 year history of offering innovative solutions catered to the APAC market. In 1995, First Data was one of the first non-Chinese companies to build a data center in mainland China. In India, First Data has a merchant acquiring and issuing relationship with one of the country's leading banks. To address the diverse needs of issuers in APAC, First Data operates a VisionPLUS center of excellence that provides custom development and professional services to financial institution clients within the region.



Distelbrink joins First Data from Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), where he most recently held the role of Managing Director and Regional Head of Global Transaction Services (News - Alert) (GTS) for APAC. Prior to joining BAML in 2010, Distelbrink spent 16 years with Citigroup holding various roles, including Managing Director and Regional Head of Treasury & Trade Solutions, GTS; Managing Director of GTS for China; CEO & Corporate Bank Head for New Zealand; and COO and Director of Strategic Planning for Global Corporate Banking in Brazil. "Having spent much of my career in APAC, I see enormous potential for First Data to further establish itself as a leading commerce enabler in the region, as well as expand its client base," said Distelbrink. "I am excited to join First Data and build upon the company's transformation that Frank and the Management Committee have driven in recent years."

Distelbrink holds a business degree from Erasmus University's Rotterdam School of Management and is fluent in Dutch, English, and Portuguese. He is married with three children. About First Data First Data (NYSE: FDC) is a global leader in commerce-enabling technology and solutions, serving approximately six million business locations and 4,000 financial institutions in 118 countries around the world. The company's 24,000 owner-associates are dedicated to helping companies, from start-ups to the world's largest corporations, conduct commerce every day by securing and processing more than 2,500 transactions per second and $1.9 trillion per year. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160817006198/en/

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[August 18, 2016] Kohl's Donates $100,000 to the American Red Cross for Louisiana Flood Relief Efforts

Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) announced a $100,000 cash donation toward flood relief efforts in Louisiana. Kohl's is providing this donation to the American Red Cross, which is delivering much-needed emergency supplies and services in the impacted areas. In addition to a financial contribution, Kohl's encourages its associates to volunteer in support of cleanup efforts through its Associates in Action volunteer program. In recognition of volunteer hours, Kohl's will donate additional corporate grants to the nonprofit organizations being supported by Kohl's associates. "We would like to express our deepest sympathies to those families, including many of our Associates, who are impacted by the devastating flooding in Louisiana. Our dedicated Kohl's Associates in Action volunteers are offering assistance and are committed to helping the area recover," said Jen Johnson, Kohl's vice president of corporate communications. "Our business is rooted in these communities which is why we partner with the American Red Cross to provide critical support when it is needed most." Kohl's Associates in Action volunteers help a range of youth-serving nonprofit organizations year-round. Through the Associates in Action volunteer program, more than 1 million associates have donated more than 3.7 million hours of their time since 2001, and Kohl's has donated more than $112 million to the nonprofit organizations served. This program is part of Kohl's overall philanthropic platform, Kohl's Cares, which is committed to supporting children's health initiatives nationwide. To inquire about coordinating a Kohl's Associates in Action volunteer event, contact your local Kohl's store and ask to speak with the store managerabout Associates in Action. Find your nearest Kohl's by visiting www.KohlsCorporation.com.



About Kohl's Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) is a leading specialty department store with more than 1,100 stores in 49 states. With a commitment to inspiring and empowering families to lead fulfilled lives, the company offers amazing national and exclusive brands, incredible savings and inspiring shopping experiences in-store, online at Kohls.com and via mobile devices. Committed to its communities, Kohl's has raised nearly $300 million for children's initiatives nationwide through its Kohl's Cares cause merchandise program, which operates under Kohl's Cares, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kohl's Department Stores, Inc. For additional information about Kohl's philanthropic and environmental initiatives, visit http://www.Kohls.com/Cares. For a list of store locations and information, or for the added convenience of shopping online, visit www.Kohls.com.

Connect with Kohl's: Facebook (News - Alert) (http://www.facebook.com/Kohls) Twitter (News - Alert) (http://twitter.com/Kohls) Google (News - Alert)+ (http://plus.google.com/+Kohls) Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/Kohls) Instagram (http://instagram.com/Kohls) YouTube (News - Alert) (http://www.youtube.com/kohls) View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005200/en/

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[August 18, 2016] Mobile TeleSystems Announces Financial Results for the Second Quarter Ended June 30, 2016

MOSCOW, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("MTS" NYSE: MBT; MOEX: MTSS), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, today announces its unaudited IFRS financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2016. Key Financial Highlights of Q2 2016 Consolidated group revenue increased by 5.3% y-o-y to RUB 108.1 bln

Total revenue in Russia rose by 3.3% y-o-y to RUB 97.4 bln

rose by 3.3% y-o-y to Mobile service revenue in Russia increased by 0.1% y-o-y to RUB 72.8 bln

increased by 0.1% y-o-y to Sales of goods in Russia increased by 38.7% y-o-y to RUB 10.6 bln

increased by 38.7% y-o-y to Active subscriber base increased by 3.5% for the Group to 109.0 mln

MTS's proprietary retail network in Russia increased to 5,838 stores

increased to 5,838 stores Revenue in Ukraine increased by 13.5% y-o-y to UAH 2.7 bln

increased by 13.5% y-o-y to UAH 2.7 bln YTD Free Cash Flow reached nearly RUB 24.0 bln

Total Group debt fell to RUB 274.5 [1] bln as Net Debt/LTM Adjusted OIBDA remained stable at 1.1x (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121115/AQ14468LOGO )



Key Corporate and Industry Highlights Paid out in dividends RUB 28.0 bln or RUB 14.01 per ordinary MTS share ( RUB 28.02 per ADR) based on FY2015 results

or per ordinary MTS share ( per ADR) based on FY2015 results The Board of Directors recommended that the Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders approve semi-annual dividends of RUB 11.99 per ordinary MTS share ( RUB 23.98 per ADR), or a total of RUB 24.0 bln , based on H1 2016 financial results

per ordinary MTS share ( per ADR), or a total of , based on H1 2016 financial results MTS through its subsidiary, Dega Retail Holding Limited, repurchased USD 267 mln of Loan Participation Notes due in 2020 (issued in 2010 in the amount of USD 750,000,000 at 8.625%) through a tender offer

of Loan Participation Notes due in 2020 (issued in 2010 in the amount of at 8.625%) through a tender offer Sold 50.01% stake in the telecommunications operator Universal Mobile Systems (UMS) to the State Unitary Enterprise Centre of Radio Communication, Radio Broadcasting and Television of The Ministry of Development of Information Technologies and Communications of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Commentary Mr. Andrei Dubovskov, President and CEO of MTS, commented, "For the period, we are pleased to report strong topline growth of 5.3% as total Group revenue increased to RUB 108.1 bln. Factors that have allowed us to build on our successful 3D strategy and set the pace for the market include: strong retail sales; stable service revenue despite on-going weaker usage in certain mobile market segments; growth in B2C home Internet and pay-tv markets; and growth in Ukraine through the steady adoption of 3G data services. -------------------------------------------------- [1] Net of financial leasing and unamortized debt issuance cost adjustment, as of June 30, 2016 Macroeconomic factors and competitive issues continue to impact our performance in many ways, in particular voice and messaging usage in roaming, but in sum, our group revenue performance currently out-paces the market." Mr. Dubovskov continued, "OIBDA performance was slightly weaker in Q2 than anticipated as we witnessed a 4.3% decline in OIBDA for an OIBDA margin of nearly 38%. Our guidance for the year was predicated on changes in the retail environment, but we continue to see strong competitor activity in this space. Retail competition impacts both the gross margin and OIBDA directly, but it also has a sustained impact on effective pricing. These factors, combined with the continued macroeconomic volatility throughout our markets, dampened our performance for the period." Mr. Vasyl Latsanych, Vice President, Strategy and Marketing, commented, "Total revenue in Russia increased by 3.3% to RUB 97.4 bln. Our mobile business revenue grew slightly during the period as we see a continuation of trends that had previously defined our growth: stronger data usage due to both the growth of customer usage and migration to data plans, as smartphone penetration reached over 51%; 3.2% growth in subscribers as we focus more on sales through our proprietary retail channels; and higher handset sales as we continue to implement our retail strategy of upgrading existing feature phone users, as well as attracting new active voice and data users." Mr. Latsanych continued, "In our fixed-line business, revenue decreased by 2.8% to RUB 15.3 bln. We see continuous growth from our B2C broadband and pay-TV markets, as market shares in Moscow in both home internet and pay-tv rose. However, overall B2B and B2G spending has fallen due to macroeconomic factors, which reduces overall voice calling. In Ukraine, revenue for the period increased by 13.5% to UAH 2.7 bln. Key drivers include an increase of subscribers and data consumption, which is rising as we have rolled out 3G to all major population centers throughout Ukraine. Among our foreign subsidiaries, revenue in Armenia declined 18.6% year-over-year, while in Turkmenistan, we saw a 7.5% decline. Both markets remain exposed to macroeconomic trends, which continue to weaken voice and data usage." Alexey Kornya, Vice President, Finance, Investments and M&A, added, "We witnessed a decline in year-over-year group OIBDA of 4.3% to RUB 40.9 bln. While the decline we have seen in the contribution from our foreign subsidiaries has stabilized, Russia witnessed OIBDA decline due to factors we have long identified as having a negative impact on our OIBDA, including higher retail expenses and also roaming costs in light of higher currency volatility. Overall, for the first half of 2016, we are only down 2.2% on OIBDA, which is close to our previous guidance of minus 2%." Mr. Kornya continued, "Group net profit for the period decreased year-over-year to RUB 9.1 bln. Primary this decline was attributable to a number of factors, including OIBDA trends; the accelerated realization of RUB 3.1 bln in interest expense due to our repurchase of USD 267 mln of our 2020 Eurobond notes; and a smaller non-cash FOREX gain compared to Q2 2015 of RUB 1.0 bln for the period, due to relative ruble weakness vis-a-vis our non-ruble denominated debt." "Free cash flow to date amounted to 24.0 billion rubles, an increase of 22% year-over-year for the period. CAPEX equaled nearly RUB 40.0 bln, lower than in H1 2015, but in line with our guidance of RUB 85 bln for the year. Spending is lower in each of our markets as we focus on incremental investments in our more developed data markets and have completed our launch of our core 3G network in Ukraine. "Recently, we paid out dividends of RUB 28.0 bln or RUB 14.01 per share. The Board of Directors also recommended that an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders approve a semi-annual dividend payment of close to RUB 24.0 bln or RUB 11.99 per share, which would satisfy our commitment to deliver RUB 25 - 26 per share in dividends over the course of calendar year 2016. "By the end of the period, total debt stood at RUB 274.5 bln[2], which is trending lower due to our on-going debt repayments as well as financial policies. Our net debt/LTM Adjusted OIBDA remained stable at a manageable 1.1x, a comfortable level for the Company and very low in relation to our peers. Virtually our entire non-ruble debt position is currently covered by a combination of hedges, short-term deposits and stable long-term investments, all of which are denominated in US dollar or Euro. Adding to this, we repurchased USD 267 mln of our 2020 Eurobonds in Q2 to take advantage of a strong market and our favorable liquidity position to provide hedges against currency volatility and balance sheet flexibility. We remain focused on sustaining a strong balance sheet and identifying further ways to optimize our debt portfolio." 2016 Outlook In accordance with IFRS 5 disclosure requirements, from Q3 2016 the Group shall present financial results in a manner that enables users of the financial statements to evaluate the effects of discontinued operations. Results of discontinued operations shall be excluded from the results of continuing operations and presented separately as a single amount in the statement of comprehensive income. Group Revenue: For 2016, MTS amends its Group revenue outlook to 2-3% growth, due to disposal of UMS LLC and expected full deconsolidation of UMS's financial results in Q3 2016 and other factors: Subscriber growth in Russia ;

; Rising data usage and sustained data adoption in Russia and Ukraine ;

and ; Increased sales of handsets in Russia ; and

; and Rising share in Moscow B2C broadband/pay-TV markets.

Group OIBDA: MTS is compelled to revise its outlook on adjusted Group OIBDA growth to -4% due primarily to the sale of UMS LLC as well as other factors: Sustained competitive pressures in the Russian distribution market and the Company's strategic efforts to sustain market share;

The build-out of 3G in Ukraine and non-market factors impacting our profitability;

and non-market factors impacting our profitability; Developments in foreign subsidiaries; and

Macroeconomic developments and currency volatility throughout our markets of operation.

Group CAPEX: MTS affirms its Group CAPEX guidance of RUB 85 bln Additional Information MTS continues to see sustained macroeconomic volatility in its markets of operations that may impact the financial and operational performance throughout the Group. Conference Call The conference call will start today at: -------------------------------------------------- [2] Net of financial leasing and unamortized debt issuance cost adjustment, as of June 30, 2016 18:00 hrs (Moscow time) 16:00 hrs (London time) 11:00 hrs (US Eastern time) To take part in the conference call, please dial one of the following telephone numbers and quote the confirmation code, 9935476 From Russia + 7 495 545 0588 From the UK: + 44(0)20 3427 1906 From the US: + 1 646 254 3361 The conference call will also be available at: http://www.mtsgsm.com/news/reports/ via audio webcast. A replay of the conference call will be available for seven days on the following telephone numbers: From the US: +1 347 366 9565 PIN 9935476



This press release provides a summary of some of the key financial and operating indicators for the period ended June 30, 2016. For full disclosure materials, please visit http://www.mtsgsm.com/resources/reports/. Financial Summary

RUB mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 108,136 102,691 5.3% 108,090 stable OIBDA 40,885 42,722 -4.3% 41,279 -1.0% - margin 37.8% 41.6% -3.8% 38.2% -0.4% Operating profit 20,053 22,501 -10.9% 21,031 -4.6% - margin 18.5% 21.9% -3.4% 19.5% -1.0% Net profit 9,056 17,074 -47.0% 14,507 -37.6% - margin 8.4% 16.6% -8.2% 13.4% -5.0%

Russia Highlights RUB mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues[3] 97,435 94,336 3.3% 96,302 1.2% - mobile 72,786 72,749 0.1% 71,132 2.3% - fixed 15,263 15,706 -2.8% 15,369 -0.7% - integrated services 1,258 - n/a 2,492 -49.5% - sales of goods 10,552 7,607 38.7% 10,700 -1.4% OIBDA 39,706 41,245 -3.7% 38,583 2.9% - margin 40.8% 43.7% -2.9% 40.1% 0.7% Net profit 10,788 18,746 -42.5% 15,000 -28.1% - margin 11.1% 19.9% -8.8% 15.6% -4.5%

Ukraine Highlights UAH mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 2,745 2,419 13.5% 2,761 -0.6% OIBDA 827 942 -12.2% 803 3.0% - margin 30.1% 38.9% -8.8% 29.1% 1.0% Net profit 222 214 3.7% 275 -19.3% - margin 8.1% 8,8% -0.7% 10.0% -1.9%

-------------------------------------------------- [3] Revenue, net of intercompany between mobile, fixed and integrated services Armenia Highlights AMD mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 15,040 18,479 -18.6% 14,151 6.3% OIBDA 5,944 8,491 -30.0% 5,618 5.8% - margin 39.5% 45.9% -6.4% 39.7% -0.2% Net profit/(loss) (1,991) 4,078 n/a 239 n/a - margin n/a 22.1% n/a 1.7% n/a

Turkmenistan Highlights TMT mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 66 71 -7.5% 67 -1.7% OIBDA 22 27 -17.2% 24 -7.5% - margin 33.4% 37.4% -4.0% 35.5% -2.1% Net profit 10 13 -29.1% 11 -15.8% - margin 14.4% 18.8% -4.4% 16.8% -2.4%

Uzbekistan Highlights UZS mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 92,372 37,398 147.0% 85,241 8.4% OIBDA 9,770 (22,235) n/a 5,731 70,5% - margin 10.6% n/a n/a 6.7% 3.9% Net loss (10,771) (28,123) n/a (12,507) n/a - margin n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Belarus Highlights BYR bln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 1,619 1,302 24.3% 1,489 8.7% OIBDA 757 673 12.4% 681 11.1% - margin 46.8% 51.7% -4.9% 45.7% 1.1% Net profit 466 368 26.6% 397 17.2% - margin 28.8% 28.2% 0.6% 26.7% 2.1%

CAPEX Highlights RUB mln FY 2015 6M 2016 Russia[4] 79,619 35,306 - as % of rev 20.4% 18.2% Ukraine[5] 12,427 3,155 - as % of rev 44.1% 20.8% Armenia 1,371 281 - as % of rev 15.2% 6.6% Turkmenistan 500 63 - as % of rev 9.8% 2.3% Uzbekistan 2,195 867 - as % of rev 47.6% 20.1% Group 96,111 39,671 - as % of rev 22.3% 18.3%

* * * For further information, please contact in Moscow:



Joshua B. Tulgan

Director, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations

Mobile TeleSystems PJSC

Tel: +7 495 223 2025

E-mail: [email protected]



Learn more about MTS. Visit the official blog of the Investor Relations Department at http://www.mtsgsm.com/blog/ and follow us on Twitter: JoshatMTS



* * *

Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("MTS" - NYSE:MBT; MOEX:MTSS) is the leading telecommunications group in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe. We provide wireless Internet access and fixed voice, broadband and pay-TV to over 100 million customers who value high quality of service at a competitive price. Our wireless and fixed-line networks deliver best-in-class speeds and coverage throughout Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Turkmenistan and Belarus. To keep pace with evolving customer demand, we continue to grow through innovative products, investments in our market-leading retail platform, mobile payment services, e-commerce and IT solutions. For more information, please visit: http://www.mtsgsm.com.



* * *

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "will," "could," "may" or "might," and the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not undertake or intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the Company's most recent Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors" that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the severity and duration of current economic and financial conditions, including volatility in interest and exchange rates, commodity and equity prices and the value of financial assets; the impact of Russian, U.S. and other foreign government programs to restore liquidity and stimulate national and global economies, our ability to maintain our current credit rating and the impact on our funding costs and competitive position if we do not do so, strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions and our success in integrating acquired businesses, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service development and tariff structures, rapid technological and market change, acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, governmental regulation of the telecommunications industries and other risks associated with operating in Russia and the CIS, volatility of stock price, financial risk management and future growth subject to risks.







Attachments to the Second Quarter 2016

Earnings Press Release

Attachment A

Non-IFRS financial measures. This presentation includes financial information prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, as well as other financial measures referred to as non-IFRS. The non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with IFRS. Due to the rounding and translation practices, Russian ruble and functional currency margins, as well as other non-IFRS financial measures, may differ.

Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) and OIBDA margin. OIBDA represents operating income before depreciation and amortization. OIBDA margin is defined as OIBDA as a percentage of our net revenues. OIBDA may not be similar to OIBDA measures of other companies, is not a measurement under IFRS and should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information contained in our consolidated statement of profit or loss. We believe that OIBDA provides useful information to investors because it is an indicator of the strength and performance of our ongoing business operations, including our ability to fund discretionary spending such as capital expenditures, acquisitions of mobile operators and other investments and our ability to incur and service debt. While depreciation and amortization are considered operating costs under IFRS, these expenses primarily represent the non-cash current period allocation of costs associated with long-lived assets acquired or constructed in prior periods. Our OIBDA calculation is commonly used as one of the bases for investors, analysts and credit rating agencies to evaluate and compare the periodic and future operating performance and value of companies within the wireless telecommunications industry. We use a term Adjusted for OIBDA and operating income when there were significant excluded one off effects. OIBDA can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of operations as follows: Group (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit 22,501 27,319 18,876 21,031 20,053 Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - - 3,516 - - Adjusted operating profit 22,501 27,319 22,392 21,031 20,053 Add: D&A 20,221 20,700 21,103 20,248 20,832 Adjusted OIBDA 42,722 48,019 43,495 41,279 40,885

-------------------------------------------------- [4] Excluding costs of RUB 3.4 bln related to the acquisition of a 4G license in Russia in 2015 and RUB 2.6 bln in 2016 [5] Excluding purchase of 3G license in Ukraine in the amount of RUB 7.0 bln in 2015 Russia (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit 23,728 27,275 23,481 21,599 21,954 Add: D&A 17,517 17,252 17,634 16,984 17,752 OIBDA 41,245 44,527 41,115 38,583 39,706

Ukraine (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit 1,190 1,675 1,158 795 627 Add: D&A 1,107 1,358 1,390 1,557 1,530 OIBDA 2,297 3,032 2,548 2,351 2,157

Armenia (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit/ (loss) 412 680 (3,122) 120 136 Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - - 3,516 - - Adjusted operating profit 412 680 394 120 136 Add: D&A 525 626 656 737 681 Adjusted OIBDA 937 1,306 1,050 857 817

Turkmenistan (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit 237 326 330 278 209 Add: D&A 165 203 209 232 207 OIBDA 402 529 538 510 416

Uzbekistan (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating loss (1,373) (1,404) (1,163) (607) (447) Add: D&A 917 1,275 1,228 760 667 OIBDA (455) (128) 65 154 220



OIBDA margin can be reconciled to our operating margin as follows: Group Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 21.9% 23.7% 16.7% 19.5% 18.5% Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - - 3.1% - - Adjusted operating margin 21.9% 23.7% 19.8% 19.5% 18.5% Add: D&A 19.7% 18.0% 18.6% 18.7% 19.3% Adjusted OIBDA margin 41.6% 41.7% 38.4% 38.2% 37.8%

Russia Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 25.2% 26.2% 22.9% 22.4% 22.5% Add: D&A 18.6% 16.6% 17.2% 17.6% 18.2% OIBDA margin 43.7% 42.8% 40.1% 40.1% 40.8%

Ukraine Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 20.2% 22.5% 16.7% 9.9% 8.8% Add: D&A 18.8% 18.2% 20.0% 19.5% 21.4% OIBDA margin 38.9% 40.7% 36.7% 29.4% 30.1%

Armenia Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 20.1% 26.9% n/a 5.6% 6.6% Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - - 155.0% - - Adjusted operating margin 20.1% 26.9% 17.4% 5.6% 6.6% Add: D&A 25.7% 24.8% 28.9% 34.2% 32.9% Adjusted OIBDA margin 45.8% 51.7% 46.3% 39.7% 39.5%

Turkmenistan Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 22.0% 24.3% 23.4% 19.4% 16.8% Add: D&A 15.4% 15.1% 14.8% 16.2% 16.6% OIBDA margin 37.4% 39.4% 38.1% 35.6% 33.4%

Uzbekistan Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin - - n/a n/a n/a Add: D&A - - 61.1% 34.1% 31.9% OIBDA margin - - 3.2% 6.9% 10.5%

***



Attachment B

Net debt represents total debt less cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments and long-term deposits. Our net debt calculation is commonly used as one of the bases for investors, analysts and credit rating agencies to evaluate and compare our periodic and future liquidity within the wireless telecommunications industry. The non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with IFRS.

Net debt can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of financial position as follows: As of Mar 31, As of June 30, RUB mln 2016 2016 Current portion of LT debt and of finance lease obligations 46,273 49,586 LT debt 259,968 225,569 Finance lease obligations 10,650 10,297 Total debt 316,891 285,452 Less: Cash and cash equivalents 44,389 24,956 ST investments 30,961 27,978 LT deposits 28,886 30,409 Effects of hedging of non-ruble denominated debt 14,636 12,369 Net debt 198,019 189,740

Free cash-flow can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of cash flow as follows: For the six For the six months ended months ended RUB mln June 30, 2015 June 30, 2016 Net cash provided by operating activities 72,016 63,674 Less: Purchases of property, plant and equipment (40,921) (25,545) Purchases of intangible assets[6] (12,720) (14,126) Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 1,326 1,300 Investments in associates - (1,326) Free cash flow 19,701 23,977







LTM Adjusted OIBDA can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of operations as follows: Six months Six months Twelve months ended ended June 30, ended RUB mln Dec 31, 2015 2016 June 30, 2016 A B C = A + B Net operating profit 46,195 41,084 87,279 Add: Impairment of goodwill in Armenia 3,516 - 3,516 Add: D&A 41,803 41,080 82,883 LTM ADJUSTED OIBDA 91,514 82,164 173,678

-------------------------------------------------- [6] Excluding costs of RUB 3.4 bln related to the acquisition of a 4G license in Russia in 2015 and RUB 2.6 bln in 2016 and purchase of 3G license in Ukraine in the amount of RUB 7.0 bln in 2015

***



Attachment C

Definitions

Subscriber. We define a "subscriber" as an organization or individual, whose SIM-card:

shows traffic-generating activity or

accrues a balance for services rendered or

is replenished or topped off

Over the course of any three-month period, inclusive within the reporting period, and was not blocked at the end of the period.

***







MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION (UNAUDITED) As of June 30,2016 AND As of December 31,2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB) As of June 30, As of December 31, 2016 2015 NON-CURRENT ASSETS: Property, plant and equipment 288 402 302 662 Investment property 359 364 Intangible assets 110 609 109 064 Investments in associates 8 545 9 299 Deferred tax assets 8 816 9 287 Other non-financial assets 682 480 Other investments 34 386 34 667 Accounts receivable (related parties) 3 513 3 335 Other financial assets 17 773 25 203 Total non-current assets 473 085 494 361 CURRENT ASSETS: Inventories 12 813 14 510 Trade and other receivables 37 252 34 542 Accounts receivable (related parties) 2 447 6 326 Short-term investments 27 978 49 840 VAT receivable 7 041 9 815 Income tax assets 3 655 5 190 Assets held for sale 461 549 Advances paid and prepaid expenses, other current assets 5 665 4 781 Cash and cash equivalents 24 956 33 464 Total current assets 122 268 159 017 Total assets 595 353 653 378 EQUITY: Equity attributable to equity holders 145 216 160 115 Non-controlling interests 6 218 8 256 Total equity 151 434 168 371 NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES: Borrowings 234 634 292 168 Deferred tax liabilities 29 094 27 346 Provisions 2 221 2 565 Other financial liabilities 554 676 Other non-financial liabilities 4 182 4 342 Total non-current liabilities 270 685 327 097 CURRENT LIABILITIES: Borrowings 49 009 53 701 Provisions 5 691 7 863 Trade and other payables 82 981 57 756 Accounts payable (related parties) 1 702 1 809 Income tax liabilities 1 045 831 Other financial liabilities 7 991 9 778 Other non-financial liabilities 24 815 26 172 Total current liabilities 173 234 157 910 Total equity and liabilities 595 353 653 378

MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (UNAUDITED) FOR THE THREE AND SIX MONTHS ENDED June 30, 2016 AND 2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB except per share amount) Three Three months months Six months ended Six months ended ended ended June 30, June 30, June 30, 2016 June 30, 2015 2016 2015 Net operating revenue Service revenue 195 007 188 831 97 680 95 021 Sales of goods 21 219 14 042 10 456 7 669 216 226 202 873 108 136 102 690 Operating expenses Cost of services (68 374) (63 400) (33 776) (31 028) Cost of goods (20 053) (11 729) (10 307) (7 043) Selling, general and administrative expenses (47 579) (44 745) (23 912) (22 449) Depreciation and amortization expense (41 080) (40 669) (20 832) (20 221) Other operating income/(expenses) 482 (611) (17) (94) Operating share of the profit of associates 1 462 1 643 761 646 Provision for cash balances deposited in distressed Ukrainian banks - (1 698) - - Operating profit 41 084 41 664 20 053 22 501 Currency exchange gain 3 270 107 997 3 616 Other (expenses)/income: Finance income 3 005 4 763 1 309 2 437 Finance costs (16 057) (12 609) (9 323) (6 561) Other expenses (1 294) (599) (608) (594) Total other expenses, net (14 346) (8 445) (8 622) (4 718) Profit before tax 30 008 33 326 12 428 21 399 Income tax expense (6 720) (6 649) (3 457) (4 711) Profit for the period 23 288 26 677 8 971 16 688 Loss for the period attributable to non-controlling interests 275 1 284 85 386 Profit for the period attributable to owners of the Company 23 563 27 961 9 056 17 074 Other comprehensive income/(loss) Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss Exchange differences on translating foreign operations (9 603) (12 042) (1 429) (3 085) Net fair value loss on financial instruments (1 736) (3 402) (131) (811) Other comprehensive loss (11 339) (15 444) (1 560) (3 896) Total comprehensive income for the period 11 949 11 233 7 411 12 792 Less comprehensive loss for the period attributable to the non-controlling interests 921 1 604 233 860 Comprehensive income for the period attributable to owners of the Company 12 870 12 837 7 644 13 652 Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, in 1 989 1 988 thousands - basic 1 989 067 1 988 730 424 730 Earnings per share attributable to the Group - basi?: 11,85 14,06 4,55 8,59 Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, in 1 990 1 989 thousands - diluted 1 989 510 1 989 951 174 951 Earnings per share attributable to the Group - diluted: 11,84 14,05 4,55 8,58

MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED June 30, 2016 AND 2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB) Six months ended Six months ended June 30, 2016 June 30, 2015 Profit for the period 23 288 26 677 Adjustments for: Depreciation and amortization 41 080 40 669 Finance income (3 005) (4 763) Finance costs 16 057 12 609 Income tax expense 6 720 6 649 Currency exchange gain (3 270) (107) Change in fair value of financial instruments 179 (91) Amortization of deferred connection fees (491) (569) Share of the profit of associates (442) (839) Inventory obsolescence expense 621 86 Allowance for doubtful accounts 1 131 1 483 Change in provisions 6 317 4 752 Other non cash items (793) (294) Movements in operating assets and liabilities: Increase in trade and other receivables (7 458) (4 824) Decrease/(increase) in inventory 950 (2 516) Decrease/(increase) in VAT receivable 461 (1 599) Decrease in advances paid and prepaid expenses 843 3 113 (Decrease)/Increase in trade and other payables and other current liabilities (3 337) 2 103 - Dividends received 1 181 1 471 Income taxes paid (2 960) (4 207) Interest received 2 081 2 062 Interest paid (net of interest capitalised) (15 479) (9 849) Net cash provided by operating activities 63 674 72 016 CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: Purchases of property, plant and equipment (25 545) (40 921) Purchases of intangible assets (net of purchases of 3G licences in Ukraine and 4G licenses in Russia) (14 126) (12 720) Purchases of 4G licenses in Russia/3G licences in Ukraine (2 598) (7 044) Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment and assets held for sale 1 300 1 326 Purchases of short-term investments (4 891) (28 790) Proceeds from sale of short-term investments 22 040 4 422 Purchase of other investments (2 591) (39 867) Proceeds from sale of other investments 2 97 Investments in associates (1 326) - Net cash used in investing activities (27 735) (123 497) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: Cash flows under capital transactions with related parties 3 063 4 252 Loan principal paid (26 035) (9 009) Proceeds from loans 1 036 43 818 Repayment of notes (17 904) (479) Notes and debt issuance cost paid - (1 213) Finance lease principal paid (168) (224) Dividends paid - (82) Cash outflow under credit guarantee agreement related to foreign-currency hedge (1 034) - Other financing activities - 5 Net cash (used in)/provided by financing activities (41 042) 37 068 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (3 405) (2 924) NET DECREASE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS: (8 508) (17 337) CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at beginning of the period, including cash and cash equivalents within assets held for sale of 156 as of January 1, 2015 33 464 61 566 CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at end of the period 24 956 44 229 Less cash and cash equivalents within assets held for sale - (109) CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at end of the period 24 956 44 120

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[August 18, 2016] PECO's Intern Program Helping to Prepare Workforce of the Future

While school was officially out this summer, PECO (News - Alert) continued its commitment to providing local students with opportunities to advance their education. Nearly 30 students from 13 area high schools completed summer internships at PECO, which culminated in presentations of innovative energy projects to their peers and employees. PECO's internship program introduces students to work experiences built on innovation and personal development. It teaches students how they can help build the future of the energy industry with an emphasis on social and environmental responsibility. This summer, the interns were exposed to more than 20 PECO different departments, gaining insight about the operation of the company's electric and natural gas systems, customer experience initiatives, and business support functions. "With the rising interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) studies in our schools, we're proud to offer internship programs that give students an opportunity to flex those skills while learning more about the role PECO plays in our communities," said Mary Krick, PECO vice president of Human Resources. Now in its 12th year, PECO's high school intern program has provided internships to more than 220 area students. It also supports the company's diversity and inclusion efforts by providing internship opportunities to female and minority students. "PECO has equipped me with the experience I need to be successful in any corporate setting," said Jonathan McCoy, a PECO summer intern who recently graduated from Cheltenham High School in Montgomery County, Pa. "I feel more confident and aware as a result of my time at PECO, and I'm very lucky to have received this opportunity." PECO also provides summer internships to college students, with more than 10 students participating in this year's program. This year's college interns came from seven schools, including Temple University, Penn State University, Ohio State University and Rutgers University. High school students can apply for summer internships at PECO through the Philadelphia Youth Network by visiting summerapp.workreadyphila.org. College students interested in PECO internships can get more information by visiting exeloncorp.com/careers/opportunities-for-students.



PECO's commitment to area students goes beyond internship programming. Through a partnership with Drexel University, PECO and its parent company, Exelon, hire about 100 students each year as part of a cooperative education program. In addition, PECO has provided scholarships to deserving Drexel students through the Exelon Endowed Scholarship Fund for Women and Minorities in Engineering. More than 120 students have received more than $830,000 in scholarships through the endowment since 2004. PECO also contributes more than $150,000 annually in scholarships for limited-income students at local college and universities - a great investment in our future workforce. Beginning in 2016, the company is providing $10,000 annually to support STEM programming at Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia Community Colleges.

And, in June 2016, the Collegiate Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development announced, in partnership with PECO, a new introductory training program to develop a local skilled natural gas workforce. The hands-on program is currently offered at Delaware County Community College and prepares students for entry-level employment in the natural gas industry. For more information about PECO's educational initiatives, visit peco.com/community. Based in Philadelphia, PECO is an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC). The company's 2,400 dedicated employees provide advanced, innovative energy solutions to 1.6 million electric and more than 511,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 2015 PECO delivered 86.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 38 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. The company also has an estimated annual economic impact of $4.5 billion in Pennsylvania, supporting more than 9,600 local jobs and producing $760 million in labor income. Founded in 1881, PECO is one of the Greater Philadelphia Region's most active corporate citizens, providing leadership, volunteer and financial support to numerous arts and culture, education, environmental, economic development and community programs and organizations. For more information visit PECO.com, and connect with the company on Facebook and Twitter. If you are a member of the media and would like to receive PECO news releases via email, please send your email address to [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818006121/en/

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[August 18, 2016] PetersenDean Roofing & Solar Selected to Join Premier Owens Corning Roofing Platinum Preferred Contractor Network

Fremont CA-based PetersenDean Roofing & Solar announced today that it has been hand-selected by Owens Corning (News - Alert) Roofing and Asphalt LLC to join their Platinum Preferred Contractor Network of top tier roofing professionals based upon its commitment to service, reliability and outstanding craftsmanship. Owens Corning Roofing Platinum Preferred Roofing Contractors is considered one of the most exclusive contractor networks in the industry; less than one percent of Owens Corning Contractors have Platinum Preferred status. To be accepted into the network, PetersenDean was required to meet the following eligibility requirements including passing an installation workmanship inspection, carry at least $1 million in general liability insurance, and be screened for financial stability and customer service. "As a roofing company with 33 years of industry experience serving Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, and Texas, PetersenDean is honored to become a member of the Owens Corning Roofing Platinum Preferred Contractor Program," said Tim Ramage, Vice President of Consumer Sales, PetersenDean Roofing & Solar Corporate Division. "We will launch our partnership with Owens Corning in California and then extend our services into other states." "Wherever we are consulting with prospective customers, we are very aware that purchasing a new roof is an extremely significant decision. We are proud to have Owens Corning Roofing supporting the commitment to excellence that we bring to every project," Ramage noted. "Additionally, we place great value in the fact the Owens Corning roofing products are made in the USA and have a reputation for superior material advancements leading to long term performance." Ramage said the Owens Corning roofing products that will be used by PetersenDen will be manufactured in the company's Compton, CA (News - Alert) plant and he estimates that PetersenDean will use about 6.5 million square feet of shingles and roofing accessories annually. "We will primarily be installing Owens Corning TruDefinition Duration and Owens Corning Woodcrest shingles," he added.



"Owens Corning Roofing Platinum Preferred Contractor Network members are chosen based on their proven market and industry leadership," said Bill Mabry, Owens Corning Roofing Contractor Network Leader. "This network underscores Owens Corning Roofing's commitment to providing value within the building materials industry and ensuring our roofing contractors have the tools and business solutions they need to grow their business." Through the Owens Corning Roofing Platinum Preferred Contractor Network, PetersenDean is able to provide exclusive benefits and peace of mind to its customers, including extended system limited warranties* that also offer a limited lifetime workmanship coverage.**

About Owens Corning: Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) develops, manufactures and markets insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composites. Global in scope and human in scale, the company's market-leading businesses use their deep expertise in materials, manufacturing and building science to develop products and systems that save energy and improve comfort in commercial and residential buildings. Through its glass reinforcements business, the company makes thousands of products lighter, stronger and more durable. Ultimately, Owens Corning people and products make the world a better place. Based in Toledo, Ohio, Owens Corning posted 2015 sales of $5.4 billion and employs about 16,000 people in 25 countries. It has been a Fortune 500 company for 61 consecutive years. For more information, please visit www.owenscorning.com. About PetersenDean Roofing & Solar: Founded in 1984 by Jim Petersen, PetersenDean is the largest, full-service, privately-held roofing and solar company in the United States. Specializing in new residential and commercial construction, PetersenDean works with some of the nation's largest builders and developers. With more than a million roofs under its belt, the Fremont, CA-based company employs 3,000 workers and operates in seven states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas. Please visit http://www.petersendean.com/ for more details. *See actual warranty for complete details, limitations and requirements. **Lifetime coverage is on laminate shingles only. See actual warranty for complete details, limitations and requirements. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005207/en/

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[August 18, 2016] Protective to Acquire United States Warranty Corp.

Protective Life Corporation ("Protective") has reached an agreement through its wholly owned subsidiary, Protective Life Insurance Company, to acquire the Pompano Beach, Florida-based USWC Holding Company and its affiliated operating subsidiaries ("USWC" or "Company") via a stock purchase agreement (the "Acquisition"). The Acquisition is subject to receipt of standard regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. USWC, whose primary operating subsidiary is United States Warranty Corp. currently markets vehicle service contracts, GAP coverage and a suite of ancillary automotive maintenance and protection products nationwide. The Company's marketing footprint and product suite complement Protective's Asset Protection line of business. The Acquisition is expected to provide the combined entities with expanded market reach, enhanced product and operational capabilities, and higher collective growth potential. USWC will continue to operate from its current Pompano Beach, Florida location and the existing Company leadership and employees will join Protective and continue to manage USWC as part of the transaction. Richard J. Bielen,Protective's President and Chief Operating Officer commented, "Under the leadership of Scott Karchunas, our Asset Protection line of business has been performing well and this transaction is a great way to grow the line of business. The two companies both have a history of quality and success, so putting them together creates the potential for the business to grow even stronger and serve more dealerships with these important products. We are pleased to have the USWC team become part of Protective."



Closing is anticipated to occur on or after November 1, 2016. Upon closing, the acquisition will be counted among a very long and successful track record of acquisitions by Protective that includes 48 life insurance acquisitions and six previous acquisitions in the Asset Protection business segment. Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C. acted as external legal counsel for Protective Life Corporation in this transaction. Sandler O'Neill + Partners, L.P. acted as financial advisor to USWC and Greenspoon Marder, P.A. provided external legal counsel.

ABOUT PROTECTIVE LIFE CORPORATION Protective Life Corporation provides financial services through the production, distribution and administration of insurance, investment, and asset protection products throughout the U.S. The flagship subsidiary, Protective Life Insurance Company, was founded in 1907. Protective's home office is located in Birmingham, Alabama. As of December 31, 2015 the Company had assets of approximately $68.5 billion. Protective Life Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited (TSE:8750). For more information on Protective Life Corporation, please visit www.protective.com. For more information about Asset Protection visit www.protectiveassetprotection.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005857/en/

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[August 18, 2016] Record-Setting School Supply Drive Kicks Off 8th Year of Main Street America's Partnership with Woodland Acres Elementary School

For the eighth consecutive year, The Main Street America Group is continuing its impactful private business-public school partnership with Jacksonville's Woodland Acres Elementary School, a Duval County (Fla.) Public School located in the city's Arlington neighborhood. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005523/en/ Teachers at Woodland Acres Elementary School, Jacksonville, Fla., display the school supplies they selected for their classrooms from amongst the thousands of supplies donated by employees of The Main Street America Group. (Photo: Business Wire) Main Street America's annual Back-to-School Supply Drive is one example of the Jacksonville-based property/casualty insurance carrier's year-round support of the elementary school. The company's Jacksonville-based employees recently donated thousands of much-needed items, including notebook paper, pencils, erasers, copy paper, washable markers, highlighters and other items. More than 50 large boxes of items, the most ever donated by the Southside company's employees, were packaged and delivered last week so teachers could select the items they needed to set up their classrooms for the first day of the new school year. "You are changing the lives of our children," said Woodland Acres first-grade teacher Brittany Villmow. "This year, I won't have to turn away any students who cannot afford school supplies. Thank you to Main Street America for all that they do for our school and helping to set our students up for success." "As a new teacher, I truly appreciate the resources Main Street America has provided us," added TJ Bartholomew, a third-grade teacher at Woodland Acres. "It certainly helps us start the school year off right!" In addition to the supply drive and a student book fair held last spring, which enabled every K-2 student to select a book to take home and keep for summer reading, a team of dedicated Main Street America employees tutors students onsite each month throughout the school year. Employees spend valuable one-on-one time with assigned students on campus, focusing on literacy learning. Main Street America's partnership with Woodland Acres began in 2009 through the University of North Florida's College of Education and Human Service' Professional Development Schools program. What started small has grown into impactful hands-on involvement with the elementary school, considered the "flagship" for the university's award-winning Professional Development School program.



"There are a lot of businesses in Jacksonville that work with schools, but through the years Main Street America has become part of the school," said Christie Stevenson, Woodland Acres' resident clinical faculty member from the University of North Florida. Fifth-Grade Field Trip

Main Street America's impactful partnership includes hosting an interactive field trip at its corporate headquarters. Each spring, Main Street America welcomes Woodland Acres' entire fifth grade class to its Southside offices. Nearly 100 students typically participate, learning the basics of the property/casualty insurance industry and what it's like to work at a locally based company. Activities include an office tour and brief presentations from members of the company's claims, underwriting, information technology and products teams. "The field trip is unique in that it gives the students an opportunity to see what a real local business looks like and how it operates. It's really eye-opening and gives them an idea of something that might be a possible career path for them in the future," stated Dr. Susan Syverud, UNF's professor-in-residence at Woodland Acres. "Main Street America has been involved with us for a long time, and with time, our partnership keeps getting better and more impactful." "Main Street America's employees treat our students like young adults and encourage them to ask questions and they become very engaged during the field trip," added Stevenson. "This level of interaction makes them feel very special and broadens their vision." Funding for Technology-Enhanced Instruction and Other Programs Main Street America has also funded the purchase of 25 tablet devices that are being used to tutor struggling readers at Woodland Acres. This use of technology-related instruction at Woodland Acres complements the efforts of our Main Street's employee tutors who work with struggling readers in grades 3-5. In addition, Main Street America has financed the launch of the school's Positive Student Behavior Rewards Program and spearheaded funding to create a community outreach initiative to get parents more involved in their children's education. About The Main Street America Group With roots dating back to 1923, The Main Street America Group is a mutual insurance holding company which writes business through its nine property/casualty insurance carriers: NGM Insurance Company, Old Dominion Insurance Company, Austin Mutual Insurance Company, Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Company, Main Street America Assurance Company, Great Lakes Casualty Insurance Company, MSA Insurance Company, Spring Valley Mutual Insurance Company and Main Street America Protection Insurance Company. Based in Jacksonville, Fla., Main Street America offers a wide range of commercial and personal insurance, as well as fidelity and surety bond products, to individuals, families and businesses throughout the United States. With nearly $1 billion in premium written exclusively by more than 2,500 independent insurance agents, the 93-year-old company insures 600,000 policyholders in 37 states and writes bonds in 47 states and the District of Columbia. A.M. Best Company rates The Main Street America Group with an "A" (Excellent) financial strength rating and "a+" issuer credit rating. The company has $1.1 billion in surplus (capital) and over $2.4 billion in total assets. Main Street America is the founding company partner of Trusted Choice, the global branding program of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America. Main Street America is also a founding company partner of the TrustedChoice.com consumer agent portal and the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) Research Center. For more information about Main Street America, please visit our newsroom at http://news.msagroup.com or connect with us on Facebook (News - Alert) at www.facebook.com/MainStreetAmerica. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005523/en/

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[August 18, 2016] RiskSense Shortlisted for Three CIR Risk Management Awards

RiskSense, Inc., the pioneer and market leader in pro-active cyber risk management, today announced that it is a finalist for three awards in the 2016 Risk Management Awards program by UK-based CIR Magazine. The company's cyber risk management software is a finalist for Risk Management Innovation of the Year, Best Cyber Security Product, and Cyber Security Initiative of the Year. The international CIR Risk Management Awards are judged by an independent panel of experts who are tasked with recognizing individuals, organizations, and teams that have significantly added to the understanding and practice of risk management. The CIR Risk Management Award winners will be announced at a gala dinner and ceremony on November 10, 2016 at the Millennium Hotel London Mayfair in the United Kingdom. "Being named a finalist in three categories of the CIR Risk Management Awards underscores the innovations we are bringing to cyber security management with the RiskSense Platform," said Torsten George, vice president of global marketing and products at RiskSense. "Our unique 360-degree view, assessment, and scoring of cyber threats enables organizations to pro-actively discover and address security gaps that pose the most severe risks to their operations." The RiskSense Platform uniquely extracts actionable intelligence from the massive volume of data generated by the patchwork of cyber security products, including vulnerabilityscanners, threat intelligence feeds, and other complex security systems. This allows organizations to quickly understand their particular cyber risk exposure across a growing attack surface, orchestrate remediation, and monitor the results. This next-gen approach takes them from detection to remediation in minutes versus months, by unifying and contextualizing internal security intelligence, external threat data, and business criticality.



The complete list of finalists is posted at: http://www.cirmagazine.com/riskmanagementawards/index.php. About the CIR Risk Management Awards

In its 7th year, the Risk Management Awards are organized by CIR Magazine (www.cirmagazine.com) and are designed to celebrate success within the practice of risk management. Judged by an independent panel of experts for exceptional performance, the awards provide an opportunity for organizations and individuals to showcase their best products, projects, and people. Follow the awards @CIRMagazine #RiskManagementAwards. About RiskSense RiskSense, Inc., is the pioneer and market leader in pro-active cyber risk management. The company enables enterprises and governments to reveal cyber risk, quickly orchestrate remediation, and monitor the results. This is done by unifying and contextualizing internal security intelligence, external threat data, and business criticality across a growing attack surface. The company's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS (News - Alert)) platform transforms cyber risk management into a more pro-active, collaborative, and real-time discipline. The RiskSense Platform embodies the expertise and intimate knowledge gained from real world experience in defending critical networks from the world's most dangerous cyber adversaries. By leveraging RiskSense cyber risk management solutions, organizations can significantly shorten time-to-remediation, increase operational efficiency, strengthen their security programs, heighten response readiness, reduce costs, and ultimately minimize cyber risks. For more information, please visit www.risksense.com or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at @RiskSense. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005150/en/

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[August 18, 2016] Robbins Arroyo LLP: Embraer S.A. (ERJ) Misled Shareholders According to a Recently Filed Class Action

Shareholder rights law firm Robbins Arroyo LLP announces that a class action complaint was filed against Embraer S.A. (NYSE: ERJ) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint is brought on behalf of all purchasers of Embraer securities between April 16, 2012 and July 28, 2016, for alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by Embraer's officers and directors. Embraer designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aircraft and systems in Brazil, North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and internationally. View this information on the law firm's Shareholder Rights Blog:

https://www.robbinsarroyo.com/shareholders-rights-blog/embraer/ Embraer Accused of Hiding Bribery Scheme From Investors According to the complaint, throughout the class period, Embraer submitted several filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision ("SEC (News - Alert)") certifying that the financial information was accurate and disclosed any material changes to the company's internal control over financial reporting. The complaint alleges, however, that Embraer officials failed to disclose that: (i) the company had paid bribes to officials in the Dominican Republic to secure contracts for the sale of aircraft; (ii) Embraer's President and Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") was aware of the bribery scheme; and (iii) the foreseeable consequences of the foregoing conduct would cost Embraer hundreds of millions of dollars.



On September 23, 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that Brazilian authorities filed bribery charges against eight Embraer employees, claiming that they had bribed officials in the Dominican Republic to secure a $92 million contract. On March 16, 2016, various media outlets reported that a sales consultant who purportedly paid bribes on behalf of Embraer told Brazilian prosecutors that he believed the company's top managers, including the CEO, knew of the illicit payments made in connection with the Dominican Republic sales. Embraer then announced on June 9, 2016, that its CEO was stepping down after 32 years with the company. On July 29, 2016, Embraer revealed that it was recognizing a $200 million loss contingency in the quarter ended June 30, 2016, reflecting the likely outcome of investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC. In addition, Embraer reported a net loss for the quarter of $99.4 million. Since news of Embraer's troubles became public, its stock declined over 38% to close at $18.27 per share on July 29, 2016. Embraer Shareholders Have Legal Options

Concerned shareholders who would like more information about their rights and potential remedies can contact attorney Darnell R. Donahue at (800) 350-6003, [email protected], or via the shareholder information form on the firm's website. Robbins Arroyo LLP is a nationally recognized leader in shareholder rights law. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits, and has helped its clients realize more than $1 billion of value for themselves and the companies in which they have invested. Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818006152/en/

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[August 17, 2016] Skyworth "Chinese Dream" Showcased On Huge Display Screen Overlooking New York's Times Square

NEW YORK and TOKYO, Aug. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- "Chinese Dream" was displayed on the huge display screens overlooking New York's Times Square and Tokyo's Ginza on the morning of August 15, in the respective local times of the two locations. A 30-second video clip promoting Chinese home appliance leader Skyworth displayed to visitors and passers-by in New York and Tokyo an impressive fiery red background color and landscapes, letting the corporate slogan "Skyworth's Chinese Dream Is Displayed Worldwide" become a household expression across Asia and the United States. The "Chinese Dream"-themed video clip conveyed the Chinese maker's confidence in China, in Chinese products and services and in what China can offer the world. Simple yet eye-catching, the video clip included images capturing the grandeur of Tiananmen Square, the magnificent thoroughfares for parades, a space rocket soaring into the sky and Skyworth's contribution to China, showing China in the midst of a burgeoning period during a long and arduous journey towards taking its rightful place among the leader nations of the world. The video clip is a reminder of the disgrace suffered by the people of China in recent history and, with the display on the huge screen overlooking the famous New York square, confirms the message that China does not accept or recognize the ruling of the South China Sea Arbitration and will not participate in or execute the demands ofthe ruling. Despite challenges, China is on its way to becoming a global economic powerhouse. Skyworth sees itself as highly representative of China's manufacturers today, and the release of the "Chinese Dream"-themed video clip at one of the world's most well-known destinations is a testament to the strength of leading companies in China today. China's rise in recent years has been accompanied by the pursuit of excellence on behalf of Chinese makers through continuous improvements in products and corporate competence. With the "Chinese Dream" in mind, the Chinese people have been unremitting in their efforts to support the country's successful rejuvenation.



Although it is already becoming a regular event for Chinese firms to make an appearance on world famous platforms such as New York's Times Square and Japan's Ginza, the corporate slogan "Skyworth's Chinese Dream Is Displayed Worldwide" is especially impressive due to its strong feelings for home and country. The "Chinese Dream" is a dream of the revitalization that is leading China to prosperity. With the manufacturing industry as the backbone of China's national economy in mind, Skyworth has actively responded to the guidance from national authorities and has speeded up its pace in research and development. As articulated in the video, "enhancing China's stature through industry and manufacturing with ingenuity is the dream of every person at Skyworth." Skyworth has integrated the goal of the "Chinese Dream" into enterprise development and product innovation. Looking carefully at the 30-second video clip, you may see one of Skyworth's products enduring the clip's closing seconds. The product that appeared in the video clip is "G7", a new flagship product which is a part of the Skyworth "Chinese Dream" series that incorporates the manufacturer's best resources in terms of research, production, supply, sales and services as well as the highest quality hardware quality and premium content. Skyworth G7, with top-of-the-line configurations including benchmarked 4-color HDR image quality, newly upgraded Dolby Advanced Audio v2, 25-core processors, is considered as one of the products with highest technology qualifications within the sector.

After 28 years of development, Skyworth has won many awards, including China's Advanced Enterprise on Service Quality, Top Ten Best Enterprises for After-sales Service in China, Top 50 Listed Companies in the Asia-Pacific Region and Contribution Award to China's Aerospace Industry. As an industry leader in the Chinese market in the process of expanding in the international market, Skyworth has now grown to be one of the top six color TV brands worldwide. The appearance of Skyworth's video clip in New York, U.S.A. and Tokyo, Japan showcases the strength of Chinese manufacturers and the strong patriotic feeling felt by every Skyworth employee and is expected to greatly boost the international image of Chinese enterprises. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160816/398776 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skyworth-chinese-dream-showcased-on-huge-display-screen-overlooking-new-yorks-times-square-300315248.html SOURCE Skyworth

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[August 17, 2016] Students Return to School Ready to Learn and Explore

Students at New Mexico Virtual Academy (NMVA) an accredited, tuition-free, online public school, began their 2016-2017 school year on August 10, excited for a place where they can learn in ways that work best for them. NMVA is a program of the Farmington Municipal School district and is open to New Mexico students statewide. At NMVA, an individualized approach gives students in grades 6 through 12 an exceptional learning experience. The online environment allows students to work at their own pace, giving them time to progress faster in subjects at which they excel, while spending more time on subjects and lessons where they need more help. Through a combination of online instruction, hands-on curriculum and the support of state-licensed teachers, NMVA gives each student the opportunity and support they need to reach graduation. "Helping students achieve their dreams is our goal," said Lynn Barr, director of operations at New Mexico Virtual Academy. "Everything we do at NMVA is about making sure our students are successful both inside and outside the classroom so that when they graduate, students are prepared to succeed." NMVA students are required to successfully complete credits in the areas of English, math, science, social studies, fine arts, physical education, career and technical education and general electives. To help students meet these requirements, teachers offer guidance and support, and interact with students and parents via email, web-based classrooms, online discussions, phone and face-to-facemeetings. This ensures that students and their families feel supported yet challenged in their education in a way that may be different for every student.



Earlier this summer, NMVA challenged enrolled families to prevent summer 'brain drain' by offering students free access to LearnBop, a self-paced solution that simulates a one-on-one, personalized math tutoring experience. The award-winning online program will continue to be available free of charge throughout the fall and can be used alongside the regular math curriculum to build math skills or prepare for high-level exams. NMVA has a wide variety of dual credit courses available to students starting as early as the summer after their 9th grade year, concurrently receiving college and high school credit.

NMVA is accepting student enrollments for a waitlist this fall. To learn more about enrollment requirements, visit http://nmva.k12.com/ and follow on Facebook. About New Mexico Virtual Academy New Mexico Virtual Academy is an accredited, full-time online public school program of the Farmington Municipal School District that serves students in grades 6 through 12. As part of the New Mexico public school system, NMVA is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the award-winning curriculum and tools provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's largest provider of proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about NMVA, visit http://nmva.k12.com/ and follow on Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160817006295/en/

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[August 18, 2016] TSYS Extends Payments Agreement with Swisscard

TSYS (NYSE: TSS) today announced it has extended its payments agreement with Swisscard AECS GmbH to continue processing the company's consumer credit and commercial card portfolios on the TS2 platform, as well as to provide other payment services. Swisscard AECS GmbH is a joint venture between Credit Suisse AG and American Express. Swisscard AECS GmbH is the only company in Switzerland to offer the world's leading credit card brands - American Express, MasterCard (News - Alert) and Visa - from a single source. Customers managed by Swisscard AECS GmbH have the largest choice of credit card products on the Swiss market. "Swisscard is a leader in Switzerland, and an important client for TSYS as we continue to grow across Europe," said Rob Hudson, group executive of TSYS International. "We look forward to delivering innovative new products and services to help them continue providing excellent service for their cardholders." "The stability and availability that TSYS' systems have provided us throughout our relationship have been important for our business performance," said Boris Kraus, head of IT Service Management and Control of Swisscard AECS GmbH. "They understand where we are today and where we want to go, and we look forward to continue working with TSYS to provide our cardholders excellent card processing services." No terms of the long-term agreement were announced. p> About Swisscard AECS GmbH



Swisscard AECS GmbH was established as a joint venture between Credit Suisse AG and American Express (News - Alert) in 1998. The company handles product development, sales and marketing, customer service and card processing in Switzerland. As a merchant acquirer, Swisscard AECS GmbH is also responsible for expanding and handling the American Express network of points of acceptance in Switzerland. Swisscard AECS GmbH combines the strengths of its two parent companies in the credit card business, with American Express being the global leader as far as card management is concerned and Credit Suisse AG owning strong national sales channels. As a market leader in Switzerland, Swisscard manages over 30 card products, tailored to the needs of private individuals and corporate clients, and has leading positions in frequent flyer and business traveler cards, corporate client business as well as co-branding card business (Miles & More)

For additional information about Swisscard please refer to www.swisscard.ch. About TSYS TSYS (NYSE: TSS) unlocks opportunities in payments for payment providers, businesses and consumers. Our headquarters are in Columbus, Georgia, USA, and we operate in more than 80 countries with local offices across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. We provide seamless, secure and innovative solutions across the payments spectrum - from issuer processing and merchant acquiring to prepaid program management - delivered through partnership and expertise. We succeed because we put people, and their needs, at the heart of every decision. It's an approach we call 'People-Centered Payments'. Our industry is changing every day - and we're leading the way toward the payments of tomorrow. We routinely post all important information on our website. For more, visit us at tsys.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005148/en/

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[August 18, 2016] Washington County, Oregon, Selects Tyler Technologies' Appraisal and Tax Solution

Tyler Technologies (News - Alert), Inc. (NYSE: TYL) has signed a contract with Washington County, Oregon, for Tyler's Orion appraisal and tax administration software solution. This agreement includes software licenses, project management, training, and professional services. Officials at Washington County recognized that the legacy assessment and taxation system had reached the end of its useful life, and they sought a new solution to meet today's needs and position the county for future trends. The solution would also need to accommodate Oregon's complex property tax system, in which voter initiatives and legislative actions commonly modify property tax statutes. The county's Department of Assessment and Taxation is responsible for appraising nearly $91 billion in real market value and collecting $963 million in property taxes from 192,000 separate accounts to fund public safety, education, parks and other local and regional government services. After thorough evaluation, Washington County leaders selected Orion based on its high degree of configurability with an integrated set of features and functionalitis to support abundant future growth. Orion incorporates intuitive, web-based tools to help users improve work process efficiencies, provide greater data access and better manage workflows.



The county will also benefit from Tyler's evergreen perpetual licensing approach that provides regular and significant, yet manageable, software enhancements without an additional relicensing or service fee, ensuring the county has continued access to evolving technology. Located west of Portland, Washington County has more than 1,900 employees and approximately 570,000 residents, making it Oregon's second most populated county.

About Tyler Technologies, Inc. Tyler Technologies (NYSE: TYL) is a leading provider of end-to-end information management solutions and services for local governments. Tyler partners with clients to empower the public sector - cities, counties, schools and other government entities - to become more efficient, more accessible and more responsive to the needs of their constituents. Tyler's client base includes more than 14,000 local government offices in all 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and other international locations. In 2016, Forbes ranked Tyler on their "Most Innovative Growth Companies" list, and it has also named Tyler one of "America's Best Small Companies" eight times. The company has been included six times on the Barron's 400 Index, a measure of the most promising companies in America. More information about Tyler Technologies, headquartered in Plano, Texas, can be found at www.tylertech.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005087/en/

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[August 17, 2016]

"Segway Day" Wrapped Up on August 12

BEIJING, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Launched by Segway & Ninebot, a world-class brand in innovative short-distance transport, the much-anticipated "Segway Day", which has become the most far-reaching brand campaign in the self-balancing vehicles and tech industries, was held on August 12. The campaign aimed to showcase intelligent, green and convenient products to promote environmentally-friendly short-distance travel and promote the concept of "creating infinite possibilities for human lifestyles".

Segway Day this year included the opening of the Segway Flagship Store, Segway Park, online and

offline promotions and a gathering of users across China.

Segway investor Yu Quan, representatives of salesagents and users, and Segway's CEO Gao Lufeng participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.







A large number of people visited, experienced and made purchases at the store, saying that they were keen not to miss out on the company's biggest annual promotion.

Segway Park

A large carnival atmosphere was created during the event held at The Place, drawing many young visitors to experience Segway products. High-tech and fashionable self-balanced vehicles enable everyone to enjoy the freedom of driving.

Expert users demonstrated their skills during various cool performances on the single-wheeled vehicles, causing many passers-by to stop and watch. The crowds were amazed by the performances and showed great enthusiasm in learning how to ride.

Online and Offline Promotions

Segway launched its biggest online and offline promotion on August 12 by cutting prices, holding presales for new products and offering chances to win a free Segway, attracting a large number of customers to visit, experience and purchase items at the store. Its online promotion also drew widespread attention.

A total of 50 users from across China gathered in Beijing to exchange riding skills and attend the opening ceremony of the Segway Flagship Store and Segway Park. The team of single-wheeled vehicles led many passers-by to stop and watch.

Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160817/0861608343-a

Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160817/0861608343-b
[August 17, 2016] Segway Flagship Store in Beijing Receives Large Crowds on Opening Day

BEIJING, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewsiwre/ -- Segway, a world-class brand in innovative short-distance transport, opened its flagship store in Beijing on August 12, 2016. Segway Group investors Yu Quan (Chen Yufan and Hu Haiquan) and representatives from its global sales agents, Segway company, users, and media attended the opening ceremony to witness the historical moment. Gao Lufeng, Segway's CEO, was the first to deliver a speech at the inauguration. He was followed by investor representatives Hu Haiquan and Chen Yufan, and Mr. Dai, Segway's agent in Japan. Zhao Zhongwei, Segway's COO, and Hang Chen, Vice President of Sales for Asia Pacific Region, issued licenses to eight dealers from across Greater China. All the guests celebrated the ribbon-cutting ceremony and took a group photo, formally marking the opening of the store. The store manager then showed the guests around.



The Segway flagship store integrates demonstration, experience, sales and after-sale services and adopts a minimalist interior design, with the black-and-white Segway VI setting the dominant tone. Various cambered elements and intelligent lighting systems create different colors and a time-space atmosphere of a fashionable future. Covering an area of 629 square meters, the store has five functional zones including demonstration, test drive, after-sale services, VIP reception, and an office. The demonstration zone displays Segway and Ninebot's latest offerings and futuristic products including the Segway Robot and PUMA so that customers can have access to its latest creations and experience the most cutting-edge technology products. Segway kicked off its biggest-ever promotion on the day, with customers flooding into the store for a look or to make a purchase.

Address of Segway Flagship Store: 1/F, Tower A, Beichen Century Center, Beijing (No. 8 Courtyard, Beichen West Road) Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160817/0861608344-a

Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160817/0861608344-b

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[August 17, 2016]

IDTechEx Research Director to Give Keynote at the Display Innovation Taiwan Conference 2016

BOSTON, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- IDTechEx Research, a leading provider of independent market research, business intelligence and events on emerging technology announces that Dr Khasha Ghaffarzadeh will be a keynote speaker at the Display Innovation Taiwan Conference 2016. Dr. Ghaffarzadeh is a leading expert on display technologies and printed electronics and will be presenting on the latest technology and market trends in the display industry. His talk will be part of the "Trends and Futures of Display" keynote session on Thursday 25 August, 10-10.30am. The Display Innovation Taiwan Conference is part of Touch Taiwan 2016.

In this presentation IDTechEx will be sharing insights into key technologies in the display industry, covering quantum dots, OLED displays, printing displays, AR/VR displays for smart eyewear and transparent conductive films. Dr. Ghaffarzadeh wil discuss the latest progress in the industry, applications, innovation strategies, regulations, challenges, market projections and more. For more IDTechEx research on all of these technologies see http://www.IDTechEx.com/research/PE.







IDTechEx will also be exhibiting at Touch Taiwan 2016 from 24-26 August 2016, booth N227. To arrange a meeting please contact Yasuo Yamamoto, Manager, Business Development Japan, at [email protected].

IDTechEx provides companies with tools that can assist them in making essential strategic decisions in emerging technologies. IDTechEx offers research reports, subscriptions, consultancy, introductory services and events. Learn more at http://www.IDTechEx.com.

Contact:

Alison Lewis

Marketing Manager, Reports

[email protected]

http://www.idtechex.com/

http://www.twitter.com/IDTechEx

UK: +44-1223-810290

US: +1-617-577-7890

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[August 18, 2016] Tyco Reaches Agreement to Sell its Security Business in South Africa

CORK, Ireland, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Tyco (NYSE: TYC) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its security business in South Africa, which operates locally under the ADT brand, to Fidelity Security Group for approximately ZAR 1.9 billion (USD 140 million). This business provides security monitoring services, including dispatch of armed response guards, as well as fire detection and protection, access control and other security-related services, to residential and commercial customers. The financial impact of this planned sale was previously disclosed as part of Tyco's fiscal third quarter earnings report on July 29, 2016. After the transaction is completed, Tyco will continue to provide its fire, security and life safety products in South Africa. ADT will serve as a local distributor for Tyco's residential and commercial security products and solutions, as well as Tyco's specialized performance solutions for retail businesses. The transaction is expected to close in late fiscal first quarter of 2017 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. The financial results of this business are reported within the Rest of World Integrated Solutions & Services segment. In fiscal year 2016, the business is expected to generate revenue of approximately USD 160 million. Deutsche Bank is acting as exclusive financial adviser and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Bowman Gilfillan are acting as legal advisors to Tyco. ABOUT TYCO

Tyco (NYSE: TYC) is the world's largest pure-play fire protection and security company. Tyco provides more than three million customers around the globe with the latest fire protection and security products and services. Tyco has ver 57,000 employees in more than 900 locations across 50 countries serving various end markets, including commercial, institutional, governmental, retail, industrial, energy, residential and small business. For more information, visit www.tyco.com.



ABOUT FIDELITY SECURITY GROUP

Fidelity Security Group (Fidelity) is Southern Africa's largest integrated security solutions provider and the industry leader in protection innovation. Fidelity offers a vast range of security services (Guarding, Cash Solutions and Integrated Armed Response) and related products and has around 47,000 employees across 142 integrated points of presence throughout Southern Africa. Fidelity remains well positioned to add value to all its customers, which includes many of the top listed companies, state owned companies and multinational conglomerates. For more information, visit www.fidelitysecurity.co.za. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains a number of forward-looking statements. In many cases forward-looking statements are identified by words, and variations of words, such as "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "commit", "confident", "continue", "could", "intend", "may", "plan", "potential", "predict", "positioned", "should", "will", "expect", "objective", "projection", "forecast", "goal", "guidance", "outlook", "effort", "target", and other similar words. However, the absence of these words does not mean the statements are not forward-looking. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, revenue, operating income, earnings per share and other financial projections, statements regarding the health and growth prospects of the industries and end markets in which Tyco operates, the leadership, resources, potential, priorities, and opportunities for Tyco in the future, Tyco's credit profile, capital allocation priorities and other capital market related activities, and statements regarding Tyco's acquisition, divestiture, restructuring and other productivity initiatives. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of our control, and could cause results to materially differ from expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: economic, business, competitive, technological or regulatory factors that adversely impact Tyco or the markets and industries in which it competes; unanticipated expenses such as litigation or legal settlement expenses; tax law changes; and industry specific events or conditions that may adversely impact revenue or other financial projections. Actual results could differ materially from anticipated results. Tyco is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any obligation) to update its forward-looking statements. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results is included from time to time in the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of the Company's public reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 25, 2015.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tyco-reaches-agreement-to-sell-its-security-business-in-south-africa-300315245.html SOURCE Tyco

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[August 18, 2016] Laboratory Information System Market to 2021 - 9% CAGR led by North America

PUNE, India, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The laboratory information system (LIS) market is set to reach $2.12 billion by 2021 from growing at a CAGR of 9.1% during the forecast period and driven by utilization of laboratory information system (LIS) for enhancing laboratory diagnosis while the standalone LIS segment is expected to account for the largest share. Complete report on global laboratory information system (LIS) market spread across 169 pages, profiling 10 companies and supported with 86 tables and 44 figures is now available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/307091-laboratory-information-system-lis-market-by-type-standalone-integrated-delivery-mode-on-premise-hosted-saas-end-user-labs-clinical-molecular-diagnostic-blood-bank-anatomic-pathology-by-component-software-services-global-forecast-to-2019.html . The growth of the overall laboratory information system (LIS) market can be contributed to the rising prevalence of chronic diseases, utilization of laboratory information system (LIS) for enhancing laboratory diagnosis, and growing initiatives by government and industry player's to enhance laboratory services. The standalone LIS segment is expected to account for the largest share of the laboratory information system market, by product, in 2016. Standalone LIS have data models tailored specifically to manage laboratory data and operations, useful to enhance the laboratory workflow. The on premise segment is expected to account for the largest share of the laboratory information system market, by delivery mode, in 2016. The large share of this segment is mainly due to data security feature by this system. The LIS services segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the LIS market, by component, in 2016. Ease of services by LIS providers along with high cost of LIS software attributes to large share of this segment. Hospital laboratories are expected to account for the largest share of the global laboratory information system market, by end user, in 2016. Affordability of LIS systems for hospitals is major factor contributing to the largest share of this market. North America is expected to account for the largest share of the global laboraory information system (LIS) market in 2016, followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World (RoW). The large share of the North American region can be attributed to the increasing incidence of chronic diseases, presence of top market players, and growing government initiatives in the region. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the highest growth rate in the forecast period, mainly due to the growing chronic diseases prevalence, entry of top players and less stringent regulations in field of diagnostics.



Prominent players in the global laboratory information system (LIS) market are Cerner Corporation (U.S.), McKesson Corporation (U.S.), Epic Corporation Inc. (U.S.), Medical Information Technology, Inc. (U.S.), SCC Soft Computer (U.S.), Sunquest Information Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Compu Group Medical AG (Germany), Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Merge Healthcare, Inc. (U.S.), and Orchard Software Corporation (U.S.). Order a copy of Laboratory Information System /LIS Market by Product (Standalone, Integrated), Component (Services, Software), End User (Hospital Labs, Independent Labs), Delivery Mode (On-premise, Web-based, Cloud-based) - Analysis & Forecasts to 2021 research report at http://www.reportsnreports.com/purchase.aspx?name=307091 . The laboratory information system (LIS) market witness's high competitive intensity, as there are several big and small firms with similar product offerings. These companies adopt various strategies (deployments, partnerships, expansions, new product launches, and acquisition) to increase their market shares and establish a stronger foothold in the global market.

On a related note, another research on Lab Informatics Market Forecasts to 2021 says, the market is expected to reach USD 2.97 billion by 2021 from an estimated value of USD 2.20 billion in 2016, growing at a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period. Cloud-based laboratory informatics solutions and emerging countries offer huge growth potential for the laboratory informatics market. This market is categorized on the basis of product type, deployment model, component, industry, and region. Companies like Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., LabWare, Inc., Core Informatics, LLC, Abbott Informatics, LabVantage Solutions, Inc., LabLynx, Inc., PerkinElmer, Inc., Waters Corporation, Agilent Technologies, Inc. and ID Business Solutions Ltd. have been profiled in this 225 pages research report available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/652478-lab-informatics-market-by-product-cds-edc-les-ecm-eln-lims-sdms-component-software-services-delivery-on-premise-hosted-cloud-industry-cros-pharma-biotechnology-chemical-petrochemical-fb-agriculture-oil-gas-forecasts-to-2021.html . Explore more reports related to healthcare market at http://www.reportsnreports.com/market-research/healthcare/ . About Us: ReportsnReports.com is an online market research reports library of 500,000+ in-depth studies of over 5000 micro markets. Not limited to any one industry, ReportsnReports.com offers research studies on agriculture, energy and power, chemicals, environment, medical devices, healthcare, food and beverages, water, advanced materials and much more. Contact:

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[August 18, 2016] Tata Consultancy Services and JetBlue Expand Strategic Relationship to Further Drive Airline Innovation

NEW YORK and MUMBAI, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, and JetBlue, one of the leading airlines in the U.S., are ramping up their relationship to strategically optimize and transform key business channels and enhance digital customer touchpoints. During a three-year relationship, JetBlue has leveraged TCS' airline industry expertise and global talent to develop new platforms, and for quality assurance and infrastructure services. As part of a recently signed strategic agreement, TCS will now manage several additional programs alongside JetBlue, including modernization of the airline's IT Foundation platform to enhance data analytics and operational agility, and developing innovative tools for customers and JetBlue crewmembers. Furthermore, TCS will expand its innovation center in Pune, India, over the next two years to support critical JetBlue Digital initiatives, complementing the U.S.-based JetBlue team, as well as TCS team members in the U.S. and Mexico. "This strategic agreement is a reflection of our confidence in TCS as the right partner for our global talent and technology transformational needs," said Eash Sundaram, EVP and CIO, JetBlue. "We love their culture, customer focus and see them as a valued extension of our teams." "To serve digital consumers, companies need to market to a 'segment of one' today instead of taking a more traditional mass market approach," added Surya Kant, President, North America, UK and Europe, TCS. "Organizations need to embrace digital as the default, and we deeply value our relationship with JeBlue as we collectively help to further transform their operations and competitive standing."



As part of the expanded relationship, JetBlue can benefit from TCS' COIN (Co-Innovation) Network. This specifically involves access to TCS' Airline and Digital Innovation Labs, which focus on identifying business challenges and opportunities (e.g., operational analytics and optimization) in the Travel and Hospitality sector, and how to leverage technology and airline expertise to more quickly develop solutions. TCS has emerged as a clear partner of choice for airline companies looking to reinvent themselves in this new digital age. The company was recently selected for similar transformational initiatives with leading airlines in North America, Asia Pacific and Europe.

About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS) Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPS,infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model, recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata group, India's largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 362,000 of the world's best-trained consultants in 45 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $16.5 billion for year ended March 31, 2016 and is listed on the BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and the NSE (National Stock Exchange) in India. For more information, visit us at http://www.tcs.com. To stay up-to-date on TCS news and events in North America, follow @TCS_NA. For global updates, follow @TCS_News. Media Contact:

Harsha Ramachandra

[email protected]

+91-22-67789078

Tata Consultancy Services





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[August 18, 2016] Nearly 10,000 IT Job Openings Posted in Illinois in July, CompTIA Analysis Reveals

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Employers across Illinois posted nearly 10,000 job openings for core information technology (IT) workers in July, according to an analysis of labor market data by CompTIA, the IT industry trade association. IT job postings statewide for the month totaled 9,961, with the large majority occurring in the Chicago metropolitan area (9,036). Software and application developers, computer systems analysts and informatics specialists, project managers, systems engineer and architects, computer user support specialists and information security analysts topped the list of IT positions Illinois companies were looking to fill last month. "These job categories are in step with the bigger trends we see in the marketplace, both locally and across the country" said Amy Carrado, senior director, research and market intellience. "Companies are becoming more mobile, more security-focused and more cloud oriented; and they need skilled personnel to build, manage and maintain these new systems and solutions."



While every job posting does not result in a new hire, and companies may have multiple job postings for a single position, the data is an indicator of where companies are focusing their technology efforts and investments. A range of Prairie State employers were seeking tech workers, including companies in technology, healthcare, management consulting, insurance, financial services and education.

"Technology and the tech workforce make up the engine that powers business and industry in Illinois and across the country," said Alexi Madon, director, state government affairs, Midwest, CompTIA. "That's why it's critical for the private and public sectors to work together to address the persistent shortage of IT workers which, if left unaddressed, has the potential to stall economic growth and stymie innovation." Madon noted that that 90 percent of the core IT job postings were in the greater Chicago area, indicating that downstate Illinois has a ways to go in terms of tech placement. But she also emphasized that the demand for tech workers spans the state. "Our research shows that even sectors that are often stereotypically viewed as 'old line, such as agriculture, mining, transportation, utilities, and construction report familiarity with emerging technologies, such as the Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, biometrics, robotics and drones," she said. According to CompTIA's Cyberstates 2016 report, Illinois is home to more than 25,400 tech businesses. The state's tech industry generated a total payroll of $22.3 billion in 2015 with an average industry wage of $95,062, significantly higher than the average private sector wage of $54,600. CompTIA IT publishes a number of research reports each year on technology employment, skills and workforce trends. To learn more, visit https://www.comptia.org/insight-tools/business?tags=it%20workforce. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130107/DC38135LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nearly-10000-it-job-openings-posted-in-illinois-in-july-comptia-analysis-reveals-300315320.html SOURCE CompTIA

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[August 18, 2016] IR Spectroscopy Market Worth 1.26 Billion USD by 2022

PUNE, India, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to new market research report "IR Spectroscopy Market by Spectrum Sensitivity (NIR, Mid IR, and Far IR), Product Type (Benchtop, Micro, Portable, and Hyphenated), Vertical (Biological, Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals, Food & Beverages, Environmental), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets, the overall market is expected to be valued at USD 1.26 Billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 6.5% between 2016 and 2022. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 38 market data Tables and 75 Figures spread through 135 Pages and in-depth TOC on "IR Spectroscopy Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ir-spectroscopy-market-42486905.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The major factors driving the growth of the IR spectroscopy market include regulatory framework for process analytical technology in the pharmaceuticals industry, increase in R&D investment in life science, and continuous technological advancements in IR spectroscopy. The pharmaceuticals sector to hold the largest market share during the forecast period The pharmaceuticals sector held the largest share of the IR spectroscopy market in 2015, while the market for the biological and chemicals sectors is expected to grow at a significant rate between 2016 and 2022. In the current scenario, IR spectroscopy plays a key role in the pharmaceutical excipient manufacturing process. Growing acceptance of new international cGMP & cGDP certification is expected to increase the usage of IR spectroscopy instruments, thereby driving the growth of the market. MID IR spectroscopy plays a key role in the IR spectroscopy market The IR Spectroscopy Market has been segmented on the basis of spectrum sensitivity into NIR, Mid IR, and Far IR; of all these, Mid IR is expected to hold the largest market share during the forcast period, owing to the wide range of applications of Mid IR spectroscopy for the research and industrial sector. Along with this, the market for NIR spectroscopy devices s expected to grow at a significant growth rate during the forecast period.



North America expected to hold the largest market share in the near future North America is expected to hold the largest market share and dominate the IR spectroscopy market in the near future because of the factors such as stringent drug development regulations and increase in government funding for R&D in North America. The market growth can also be attributed to the rise in proteomics research and various conferences that provide a platform for key players to showcase new products and technologies.

Inquiry Before Buying: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=42486905 The key players in the market include General Electric Company (U.S.), Olympus Corporation (Japan), Ashtead Technology Ltd. (U.K.), Mistras Group Inc. (U.S.), Eddyfi NDT Inc. (Canada), Ether NDE Limited (U.K.), Zetec Inc. (U.S.), TUV Rheinland AG (Germany), Ibg NDT System Corporation (U.S.), Fidgeon Limited (U.K.), Magnetic Analysis Corporation Inc. (USA) among others. Browse Related Reports Infrared Imaging Market by Component (IR Lens System, IR Sensor, IR Detector), Technology (Cooled, Uncooled), Type (Fixed, Portable), Wavelength (NIR, SWIR, LWIR, FIR), Application, & Geography - Analysis and Forecast to 2022

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/infrared-IR-sensing-imaging-market-593.html Infrared Detector Market by Type (MCT, INGAAS, Pyroelectric, Thermopile Microbolometer and Others), Technology (Cooled Infrared, and Uncooled Infrared), Wavelength (Short, Medium, and Long Infrared), Application, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ir-detector-market-161116561.html Know More About our Knowledge Store @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Knowledgestore.asp About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide 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 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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Markets and Markets

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Visit MarketsandMarkets [email protected] http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/electronics-and-semiconductors

LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets

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[August 18, 2016] Keeping College Safe: LiveSafe Helps Protect Students On College Campuses

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Named by The Huffington Post as one of "10 apps every college student should download today," LiveSafe, the world's leading mobile safety communications platform, is providing safety and security solutions for colleges and universities across the country. LiveSafe, which deputizes students, faculty and staff to contribute to campus safety by enabling quick, easy and discreet two-way communication with campus security officials, is used by colleges and universities like Arizona State, Duke, USC, Virginia Tech and many others. "With safety and security more important than ever, we encourage students at all LiveSafe enabled schools to download the LiveSafe app when they return to campus," LiveSafe CEO Carolyn Parent said. "We also encourage parents to make sure their college-bound children are downloading LiveSafe." The crowdsouced information gathered by LiveSafe allows security officials to quickly respond using valuable actionable intelligence. For Virginia Commonwealth University Chief of Police John Venuti, LiveSafe has become an important resource that has required no increase in workload and has opened up communication with students.



"LiveSafe is a great additional channel of communication and our students love it," Venuti said. "The system gives us an audible alert when a tip is received, and we often communicate back to the student for more information. Tips are also distributed to all of my supervisors via email simultaneously to being received in dispatch, meaning our people are often on scene even before it's dispatched." LiveSafe, which provides both education and corporate safety solutions, allows users to send text, photos, videos and precise location information to report incidents ranging from routine maintenance needs to suspicious activity to safety threats.

For a list of colleges and universities currently using the LiveSafe platform, click here. About LiveSafe, Inc.: LiveSafe is the world's leading mobile safety communications platform delivering actionable crowdsourced safety and security intelligence, preventing incidents before they occur and connecting people to the help they need. LiveSafe is used by Hearst, Cox Communications, the San Francisco 49ers and many other companies. Follow LiveSafe on Twitter @LiveSafe, and learn more at LiveSafeMobile.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/keeping-college-safe-livesafe-helps-protect-students-on-college-campuses-300315562.html SOURCE LiveSafe, Inc.

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[August 18, 2016] C&H Financial Services, Inc. Ranks No. 21 on the 2016 Inc. 5000 with Three-Year Sales Growth of 8,053% and $17.3M in revenue

Inc. Magazine has ranked C&H Financial Services, Inc. on its 35th annual Inc. 500 | 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. C&H Financial Services earned the positions of No. 21 overall, No. 3 Top Financial Services Firms, No. 1 Top Illinois and No. 1 Top Chicago Companies. "We are honored to be named 21st on the 2016 Inc. 500 list of the Fastest Growing Privately Held companies in America. Moving up the list this year by more than 200 positions is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our Executive Committee, Dedicated Staff and Sales Associates. Born and raised in Chicago, we are equally as proud to be named the No. 1 Fastest Growing Company in Illinois and No. 1 in the Chicago Metro Area. Our growth is highlighted by our continued development throughout the United States, Canada and beyond and we look forward to broadening our expansion throughout the remainder of 2016." The 2016 Inc. 5000, unveiled online at Inc.com and with the top 500 companies featured in the September issue of Inc. (available on newsstands August 23) is the most competitie crop in the list's history. The average company on the list achieved a mind-boggling three-year growth of 433%. The Inc. 5000's aggregate revenue is $200 billion, and the companies on the list collectively generated 640,000 jobs over the past three years, or about 8% of all jobs created in the entire economy during that period.



C&H Financial Services, Inc. joins companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Domino's Pizza, Pandora, LinkedIn, Yelp (News - Alert), Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000. More information can be found at http://www.inc.com/profile/ch-financial-services?cid=full500016-list-21. Complete results of the Inc. 5000 can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000 and more information

About C&H Financial Services, Inc. Established in Chicago, Illinois, C&H Financial Services, Inc. is an international finance company and a top 50 payment processor providing payment processing, small business loans, technology and POS systems, merchant cash advances, residual based lending, ecommerce and mobile payments to the retail, hospitality and medical space along with non-profits, municipalities and companies in niche markets. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818006140/en/

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[August 18, 2016] Workfront Ranked In Utah Fast 50 for 8th Year in a Row

SILICON SLOPES, Utah, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Workfront, the leading provider of cloud-based Enterprise Work Management solutions, today announced that its ongoing growth has landed it a spot in the Utah Business Fast 50 for the eighth year in a row. Utah Business magazine names the 50 fastest growing companies in the state of Utah every year. Companies are evaluated based on five years of compound annual growth and revenue generation. Workfront made the list at number 30 this year. "Workfront's continued year-over-year growth comes from the fact that we are addressing a huge business problem, but it is also the result of doing things right," said Alex Shootman, CEO of Workfront. "Workfront is a product company, but we constantly ask ourselves 'what if the company itself was the greatest product we build?' And that all starts with amazing people who are passionate about what they do. Culture eats strategy and we focus a ton of energy on building and sustaining a culture in which people have a maniacal focus on the customer and have the opportunity to be proud of their work. A ranking on the Utah Fast 50, highlighting our growth, reminds us of the appreciation we have for our customers and their cotinued confidence in us, but also to our employees for creating such an amazing culture that allows us to continue growing."



Workfront experienced steady growth in revenue and market share in 2015, achieving 40% growth in both year-over-year revenue and in global clients paying in excess of $100,000 in annual recurring revenue. Other 2016 Workfront accolades include:

Leader in the Gartner Inc., 2016 Magic Quadrant for Cloud-Based IT Project and Portfolio Management Services

in the Gartner Inc., 2016 Magic Quadrant for Cloud-Based IT Project and Portfolio Management Services Leader in the Gartner Inc., 2016 Magic Quadrant for Marketing Resource Management

in the Gartner Inc., 2016 Magic Quadrant for Marketing Resource Management Leader in the IDC Marketscape: Worldwide Cloud PPM and PPM SaaS 2015-2016 Vendor Assessment Workfront was also listed as one of Utah's Best Companies to Work For in 2015. Find out how you can join the award-winning Workfront team by visiting, www.workfront.com/open-positions. Follow us on social: Follow @Workfront_Inc on Twitter

Like Workfront on Facebook About Workfront Workfront is a cloud-based Enterprise Work Management solution that helps marketing, IT and other enterprise teams conquer the chaos of excessive email, redundant status meetings and disconnected tools. Unlike other tools, Workfront Enterprise Work Cloud is a centralized, easy-to-adopt solution for managing and collaborating on all types of work through the entire work lifecycle, which improves team productivity and executive visibility. Workfront is trusted by thousands of global enterprises, like Cars.com, Cisco Systems, Comcast, iProspect, Schneider Electric and Trek. To learn more, visit www.workfront.com or follow us on Twitter @Workfront_Inc. Contact: Shelbi Gomez

[email protected]

801-477-9813 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150121/170565LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/workfront-ranked-in-utah-fast-50-for-8th-year-in-a-row-300315657.html SOURCE Workfront

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JD England reflects on time as Mayor of Mitchell before stepping down

JD England reflects on his time on the Mitchell police force, his first term election by just four votes and his accomplishments in office.
Picnic area closed for renovation

Moose Lake Picnic area located approximately 22 miles southwest of Philipsburg will be closed through Aug. 30 while renovations conducted by the Anaconda Job Corps are being implemented.

The Moose Lake Picnic area will receive new gravel pathways and new picnic tables will be installed. The closure will expedite the reconstruction, and maintain worker and public safety while this work is conducted. This is the final phase of renovations that began in 2015 with the installation of a new dock, as well as reconstruction of trails, and shoreline stabilization that were completed by the Anaconda Job Corps and AmeriCorps St. Louis.

For more information, contact the Pintler Ranger District office in Philipsburg at 406-859-3211.

***

Bow hunters gear up for archery season

Montana's archery-only hunting season for deer, elk, antelope, wolf, mountain lion and black bear begins Sept. 3. The bighorn sheep archery season also begins Sept. 3.

A $10 bow and arrow license, plus the proper hunting license, is required during the deer, elk, antelope, black bear, wolf, mountain lion and bighorn sheep archery only season or to hunt in areas limited to only archery equipment. Depending on the species and hunting district, some licenses were available only by special drawing.

For details on legal archery equipment and the documentation necessary to purchase a Montana bow and arrow license, check the 2016 big game hunting regulations available at FWP offices, license providers and on the FWP website at fwp.mt.gov, click "Hunting."

***

Hunters must expect to see bears

With Montana's upland game bird season opening Sept. 1, remember that slow-moving, quiet and camouflaged hunters will soon be sharing the landscape with the state's even stealthier bears that may be stalking similar prey.

Grizzly bears are found throughout western and central Montana, from the Sweet Grass Hills to the Elkhorn Mountains, not just the Rocky Mountain Front, Bob Marshall Wilderness complex and the Yellowstone ecosystem. Hunters and recreationists should be prepared to encounter grizzly bears when theyre out hunting:

Carry bear spray and know how to use it

Hunt with a partner and let someone else know your plans

Get harvested big game out of the woods quickly

Upon returning to a site where harvested game is left unattended, study the site at a distance for any movement or changes and signal your approach by making plenty of noise

Never attempt to frighten or haze a bear from a carcass

Contact FWP if a bear has consumed a carcass or covered it with debris rendering it unsalvageable

For more on bears, visit FWP's website at fwp.mt.gov; then click "Be Bear Aware."

***

Antelope 900 series season underway

Many archery antelope hunters will be afield beginning Aug. 15 with a 900 series license to archery hunt antelope of either sex in any hunting district starting with a 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

Hunting in the 900 series archery hunt is restricted to archery equipment only and runs until Nov. 13. Applications for the 900 series archery hunt for antelope were due in June.

Archery antelope season will open Sept. 3 and close Oct. 7. The general rifle season for antelope is set for Oct. 8Nov. 13.

Most antelope hunting licenses, including those for the general rifle season, are available only through special drawing.

***

Black bear hunters must keep meat

Bear meat, or the meat from any other big game animal, cannot be wasted, or allowed in any way to become unfit for human consumption, unless it is infected with trichinella.

Bear meat can be tested for trichinella, a parasitic disease found in less than 15 percent of Montana's black bears. FWP does not offer trichinella testing. For further information call the FWP lab at 406-994-6357.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks reminds hunters that the black bear archery season is Sept. 3-14. The general fall black bear hunting season opens Sept. 15 and ends Nov. 27. Hunters should check the regulations carefully for exceptions. Hunters may purchase only one black bear license per year.

It is illegal to harvest black bear cubs. Cubs are defined as bears less than one year old. It is also illegal to harvest female black bears with young. Hunters are also prohibited from abandoning in the field the head or hide of a harvested black bear.

***

Medicine Springs pack bridge temporary closed

A temporary closure of the Medicine Springs pack bridge, located on the North Fork Sun River in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, will remain in place until Sept. 20 or until the bridge repair and reconstruction work is complete. Although the pack bridge is closed, the trail (Trail No. 202) remains open to the public.

While the bridge is closed, visitors can ford North Fork Sun River, downstream of the bridge, to continue their trip into the Wilderness along Trail No. 202.

For more information contact the Rocky Mountain Ranger District at 406-466-5341.

***

Standard Creek Road temporarily closed

Standard Creek Road (Forest road No. 237) in the Gravelly Mountains west of Lyons Bridge will be closed. The closure will start at the junction with road No. 237C and stretch west for 5.7 miles.

The road closure will be in effect 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays. The road will be open to public travel Saturdays and Sundays. This closure will remain in effect until logging activities to remove hazardous trees along the roadway has concluded in mid-October.

Access to the Wolverine Basin trailhead will be limited and visitors are asked to plan accordingly. For more information, contact the Madison Ranger District at 406-682-4253.
Eight years after the death of Dr. Richard Grossman, a legal fight over his $18-million estate is just now getting underway. His sons allege the burn treatment pioneer was duped into writing them out of the will by his wife and her attorney.



https://www.toacorn.com/articles/opening-statements-heard-in-grossman-estate-civil-litigation/
#1 The Whole Family

This family photo is from 2011. Quite a bunch, right?









#2 Maddox





Angelina adopted Maddox, from Cambodia, in 2002, when she was still married to Billy Bob Thornton, but they separated three months later, so she raised him as a single parent until she got serious with Brad.









#3 Zahara





Zahara was born in Ethiopia. Angelina adopted her in 2005. In 2006, She wanted to change her children's surname to Jolie-Pitt so she filed a petition to do so.When it was resolved, Brad adopted Maddox and Zahara.









#4 Shiloh





Shiloh is the couple's first biological child. She was born in 2006, in Namibia, and her picture was sold to People for $7.6 million. The proceeds were donated to UNICEF.









#5 Kung Fu Panda





Shiloh is now ten. She has said she wants to be called John. Angelina told Vanity Fair that she wants to be a boy Both Shiloh and Zahara have voiced characters in the movie Kung Fu Panda 3.









#6 Pax





Pax was adopted by Angelina in 2007. He was born in Vietnam, and his biological mother had abandoned him. Later, Brad adopted him. They couldn't adopt him together because laws in Vietnam dont allow a couple that isn't married to adopt.









#7 Knox Leon And Vivienne Marcheline





Then, came the twins. Theyre 8 now. When they were born, their picture was sold for $14 million.




MISSOULA -- The Missoula County Attorneys Office is in full compliance with an agreement made two years ago to improve the way sexual assault cases are handled by local prosecutors, Montana Attorney General Tim Fox announced Wednesday.

His office's oversight of the issue has ended, Fox said.

In June 2014, Foxs office entered into an agreement with then-County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg and the U.S. Department of Justice, ending a feud between the county prosecutor and the federal agency.

This is a big day for her and the team," Fox said of County Attorney Kirsten Pabst, elected after Van Valkenburg retired. "I think this is a big day for the community. This all began in a way that felt like the black cloud. We found the silver lining.

In 2012, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into the way the county attorneys office, as well as the Missoula Police Department and University of Montana, responded to sex assault reports.

On Wednesday, Fox said news stories about rape and sex assault cases originally drew the federal agencys attention to Missoula. The issue became the subject of a 2015 book by Jon Krakauer Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town.

In 2013, UM and the city police department entered into agreements with DOJ that listed a series of stipulations, trainings, procedure overhauls and audits they were required to undergo. Last year, the DOJ announced both agencies had fulfilled their obligations.

Since signing onto the agreement the county prosecutor's office, under Pabst, has developed better policies for handling sexual assault cases, participated in additional training for its attorneys, formed a special victims unit to prosecute sex crimes and hired additional staff to better communicate with victims.

With all of its changes and reforms, Fox said he believes the Missoula County Attorneys Office represents the model for the rest of the country, not just Montana.

Pabst said the special victims unit, which she formed after taking office at the start of 2015, will add a fifth attorney in October.

These cases take exponentially more time and preparation to handle, Pabst said. Its a skill set nobody is born with, you have to learn that.

Since starting the special victims unit, Pabsts office has located one of its attorneys at the Missoula Police Department, helping investigators in the early stages including meetings with victims and writing search warrants.

The police have gone out of their way to commit to doing things right, Pabst said.

One of the victims unit attorneys, Suzy Boylan, also compiled a guide for handling of sexual assault cases that Fox said has since been distributed to prosecutors offices across Montana. Attorneys in the victims unit are also taking part in training sessions for law enforcement and prosecutors in the state.

As part of the agreement, Pabst hired an investigator and a victim witness coordinator who connects victims of sex crimes with services and acts as a point of contact.

Jenny Daniel, coordinator of the multi-agency JUST Response program that focuses on sex assault, domestic violence and child abuse in Missoula, said Pabsts office has been a very active contributor.

Theyve been really involved, they are at all of our meetings and work on training and providing a prosecutor's perspective on these important issues, she said.

In a letter sent to Fox at the end of June, Anne Munch, hired to assess the progress made by the Missoula prosecutors office, congratulated Pabst and her staff on their efforts and accomplishments, in particular saying they have dramatically improved the way they treat victims.

In 2014, during the first quarter Munch monitored cases in Missoula, she found prosecutors took an average of 35 days to contact a victim after a case was referred to them. In her most recent quarterly report, issued in February, Munch said that time period had shrunk to less than a day.

Under the agreement, the county attorneys office was required to undergo an independent review by Foxs office, a process Pabst and the attorney general said they intend to continue.

Pabst said her office has also contracted with a trauma counselor both to help them better understand the behaviors of the victims of sexual violence and to work with attorneys on how to handle the stress of working on such cases.

While the attorney general and county attorney said Wednesdays announcement was a milestone they added there is still a lot of work to be done.

Today is truly a celebration but its also the starting line, Pabst said.

Fox said a continued focus on outreach and education, as well as reexamining sex crime laws in Montana, are paramount, points Munch also highlighted in her letter as areas Pabst's office should continue to work on.

Societal bias, misconceptions and victim blaming make these hard to prosecute, Fox said.

Pabst said the prosecutors in her office take every opportunity they get to go to schools and social organizations to discuss domestic violence and sex crimes.

Fox said his office will support bills in the next Legislature to reform criminal laws, including a better definition of consent in sexual assault and rape cases. Pabst said it would be helpful to change the law from having to prove a negative to simply having to show that affirmative consent was given.

She said her office also supports changes in what it means for a person to be incapacitated and therefore not able to provide consent. Under the current statute and how courts have interpreted it, Pabst said to show a person was incapacitated due to drugs or alcohol, We have to show essentially that they are passed out.
BILLINGS -- The 600 fake elk teeth sewn onto Kaitlin Hugs' traditional dress once would have represented great wealth in the Crow Nation.

"These were $150, for fake ones," Hugs said.

Hugs was one of over 125 kids who participated in this year's Crow Fair Youth Pow-wow. The first day of Crow Fair closed out Wednesday with the event, the first time the fair has had a noncompetitive event that included youth dancers.

Crow Fair Spokesperson Noel Two Leggins said the event was created as a chance to put the Crow youth front and center.

"In the past during Crow Fair we didn't acknowledge our children," Two Leggins said. "But they are the next generation. They are going to be the ones to enrich our culture in the future."

Crow Fair, called the "Tepee Capital of the World," and held in Crow Agency, is one of the largest Native American events in North America. Different entertainment is dispersed throughout the four-day event, including powwows, rodeo and horse racing. Food vendors circle the Apsaalooke Arbor where the powwow dancing was held. Tepees where families camp together also circle the dancing area.

Adult powwow events are competitive. The Youth powwow was meant to only encourage Crow children to participate in the culture. Those kids wearing traditional garb were able to sign up for a free backpack filled with school supplies. The supplies inside included tablets, rulers, and pencil boxes; things meant to give kids a little extra before the start of school. The backpacks and school supplies were donated by both Conoco-Phillips 66 and the Elk River Law Firm.

"Poverty is so prevalent in Native America," Two Leggins said. The backpacks are meant to also give parents an incentive to get their kids involved in the traditions of Crow Fair.

There are already teen events held in Crow Fair, but the noncompetitive format was supposed to give kids a chance to be celebrated, Two Leggins said.

Twelve Miss Crow Nations and Crow Princesses were selected this year, the eight princesses representing each of the different Crow Indian Reservation Districts. Hugs was given the title of Arrow Creek Princess and was one of several girls asked to travel to powwows across the country to encourage more people to visit the Crow Indian Reservation during the fair.

Now 18, Hugs will be too old next year to compete in the youth powwow, which was open to Crow youth aged 1 through 17. A recent graduate of Billings Senior High School, Hugs heads to Montana State University  Billings next year to start her first year of college. She plans to study history education and hopes to one day work in the Billings school district.

"I want to help kids going to school off-reservation," Hugs said. "Make it more comfortable for them, give them a teacher they can connect with."

Hugs joined and expanded the Native American after school group at Billings Senior High. She remembered starting with the group when there were only two other people in it and watching it grow to over 20 students. Giving students role models and friends who understand their culture is important to their education, Hugs said.

Fellow youth powwow participant Corrin Lamere, 14, shares Hugs' experience of going to schools where the majority of students are white. Traveling from Sheridan Wyoming, Lamere said she travels back to Crow as often as she can to visit her grandparents.

"After Joe Medicine Crow died, it just hit me how important learning about where I came from was," Lamere said. "Medicine Crow gave me my Indian name and was really important to me."

Two Leggins said the fair hoped to host over 100,000 visitors this year.

Crow Fair will run until next Monday, with traditional dancing beginning every evening at about 7 p.m., except Sunday when dancing is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Parades start at 10 a.m. Friday through Sunday. Visitors can come to the fair until next Monday. Tuesday will be devoted to Crow tribal members and their friends.
When is 5G coming to you? The definitive guide to the 5G network rollout

Carriers are building out their 5G coverage, but when is faster 5G coming to you? Here's everything you need to know about what 5G is and what to expect from it.
Sydney five-piece Lepers & Crooks today release Reflections, the newest single from their upcoming second EP The Heathen Circus.

Despite only having been together only a couple of years, the band have become a renowned live act, having played over 250 shows and having brought their unique brand of alternative funk-rock to numerous fans already.

Produced by honorary Australian and member of legendary rockers The Tea Party, Jeff Martin, Reflections comes as the second single from highly anticipated The Heathen Circus EP.

The tracks draws the listener in from the start, delivering an aural-assault of riffs and rhythm, fronted by the electrifying voice of Sam Baker, whose vocal chords would be perfectly suited for the sweatiest pub venue, or the largest stadium show imaginable.

The group are set to launch Reflections in Sydney next week with a national tour to follow in the coming months, dates below. Considering the rave reviews the band has been garnering both here and abroad, these shows are surely not to be missed.

Lepers & Crooks Tour Dates

Reflections Single Launch

Thursday 25th Aug  Leadbelly, Newtown

The Heathen Circus EP Tour

Friday 30th Sep  Small Ballroom, Newcastle

Saturday 1st Oct  Long Jetty, Central Coast

Friday 7th Oct  Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Saturday 8th Oct  The V Room, Villa Noosa, Noosa

Sunday 9th Oct  Sounds of Sunday, Gold Coast

Fri 14th Oct  Sonnys House of Blues, Brisbane

Friday 21st Oct  Pelly Bar, Frankston

Saturday 22nd Oct  Workers Club, Melbourne

Friday 28th Oct  Edinburgh Castle, Adelaide

Friday 18th Nov  Commercial Hotel, Milton

Saturday 19th Nov  The Phoenix, Canberra

Friday 25th Nov  The Chippendale, Sydney

Tickets on sale August 25th
Sydneys Twin Fires are set to release their debut EP This Time Im Fine on August 19th.

Having already captivated audiences through support slots with The Charlatans and Dune Rats, Twin Fires are getting ready to unleash their bluesy rock to a wide audience.

Produced by Tony Buchen (The Preatures, Tim Finn), the EP is an adrenaline-fuelled rockfest that manages to fully encapsulate the groups huge sound, and theyve given us a rundown on each of the tracks.

Boss

Our guitarist Jake started this one off just running a sweet A chord with heaps of 80s sounding gated reverb. I think we all just wanted a full ham rock and roll song, and we knew this was gonna be it. The intro came about by Tony Buchan getting out some of his more bizarre studio goodies and we daisy chained about 12 pedals together to make that sound.

As for the lyrics, we were drunk on red wine at Eds and were getting sick of writing about chicks so we decided to talk about the wingnut gumboot gronk who was in charge of the country at the time. We would never consider ourselves a political band but the lyrics were just too easy to write considering the subject. Plus, its also one of the funnest songs to sing and play live.

Two Hands

This song is about not being able to make up your mind and not having the guts to call it quits. Sometimes its just so easy to keep going back to something that feels so comfortable. The song came together using a straight drum loop on Garage Band at about half the tempo it is on the record, and building the layers over that into the wall of sound it is now.

It was the second last track we recorded with Tony Buchen. We came into the control room for a listen after a long day, he hit play, we all looked at each other and felt so stoked to finally put down a track we are so proud of. Its certainly a favourite for us not that we can choose favourites

Everything

When we did our first U.S. tour in 2013 (under a different name) we were playing shows almost every night. When we were in Austin we would book a rehearsal room during the day and just write, write, write.

Everything was the first song we wrote for this record. The opening guitar line was something Ed started playing and we all just joined in. Its virtually the exact same arrangement as we wrote back in 2013. Being in the U.S. was the first time we spent every single day together for 6 weeks and it gave us all a taste of the touring lifestyle and that is exactly what the song is about.

Be Just Fine

They say a good song either takes 5 minutes or 5 months to write. While a couple songs on this record took 5 minutes, Be Just Fine certainly didnt and just like writing the song, this one is hard to write about, but we all knew it was a song we had to persist with.

The lyrics were written during pre-production and its that old tale about being with someone you shouldnt be with. A special shout-out goes to Michel Rose who Tony Buchen had brought in for a session on this track and Your Face. We knew we had to have some pedal steel on the track but before we could give him any directions he just started playing exactly what was in our heads and then some. It completely took the track to a new place.

Let Me Be Your Man

This is one of the songs that took us 5 minutes to write. In the first run through it was pretty much complete. The buzz after writing this was something we hadnt had from songwriting before and we hope you can hear it in the song.

We recorded the back up vocals and claps in the garage of Rancom Studios, so most if the reverb on those parts is el natural. Its pretty straightforward  boy meets girl, boy wants girl to be his. The end.

Your Face

If were gonna get deep, this is where itll happen, but youll be stoked to know its not about a chick. The song is about some people very close and some very rough experiences that were had that will scar forever. Writing the song was a release for so many reasons and since recording and listening back, its really helped with the healing process.

We recorded this track almost completely live, all in the same room with the lights off, we reckon that exact vibes comes through on the recording.

Twin Fires Tour Dates

Sydney  September 22nd @ Brighton Up Bar  Tickets

Melbourne  October 7th @ PennyBlack  Free
Gretta Ray, the 18 year-old songstress from Melbournes Princes Hill Secondary College, has taken out the 9th edition of triple js Unearthed High.

Due to the strength of her track Drive, Gretta managed to beat out the other talented finalists Carl Renshaw, Lastlings, Ninajirachi, and Tia Gostelow.

Since releasing her debut EP Elsewhere earlier this year, the Year 12 student has gone from strength to strength, collaborating with producer Josh Barber (Gotye Archie Roach), and even joining the live band of 2014 Unearthed High winner, Japanese Wallpaper.

Now that Gretta has taken out Unearthed High, she is due to have her song recorded and produced by triple j, with an official release expected in coming months.

Additionally, shell be receiving some songwriting advice from one of triple js favourite artists, Meg Mac, so theres undoubtedly plenty more good things coming in the future from Gretta Ray.
Fresh from the release of their aptly-titled 4th album, IV, Canadas BadBadNotGood will be returning to Australia for an East Coast headline tour this December.

The four-piece had already announced plans to be in the country for the Meredith Music Festival, but now some extra dates are sure to appease countless fans.

Having worked with big names such as Frank Ocean, MF Doom, and Ghostface Killah, the group have gone from strength to strength in recent years with almost all their albums garnering critical praise around the globe.

With a reputation for putting on mesmerising, genre-defying performances, these shows are bound to be one of the hottest tickets in town.

BadBadNotGood Australian Tour Dates

Friday, 2nd December  Sunday, 4th December 2016

Disconnect Festival, Fairbridge Village, WA

Friday, 9th December  Sunday, 11th December 2016

Meredith Music Festival, Meredith, VIC

Saturday, 3rd December 2016

Fat Controller, Adelaide SA

Wednesday, 7th December 2016

Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane QLD

Thursday, 8th December 2016

Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW

Friday, 9th December 2016

Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC
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U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, Missouri, says he was overwhelmed by an avalanche of mean-spirited phone calls after a hacker posted the congressmans cellphone number, home address and other personal information online.



Dozens of callers attacked the former Kansas City mayor using profanity and the N word, the congressman said in an interview. Some accused him of being a baby killer or insulted his Methodist faith.



Cleaver also received obscene and racist emails, at least one of which appeared to come from a representative of the Ku Klux Klan, he said.



The intensity of the attacks prompted the former Kansas City mayor to change his phone numbers and request additional security around his home in Kansas City.

Following a somewhat recent fire bomb attempt on his office . . . Authorities claim a hacker connected to Russian intelligence posted the congressman's home address and personal phone number online . . . The aftermath of stalking and threats has caused him to ask for more security.Take a look:Deets:################Developing . . .
"It's a split decision in the trial of the so-called "Medicaid 23," a group of religious leaders who staged a protest in the Missouri Senate more than two years ago over lawmakers' refusal to expand Medicaid. Twenty-two members of the group were found guilty of trespassing for not leaving the Senate gallery when ordered to do so by Capitol police. But they were found not guilty of obstructing the operations of the Senate. The case of one other member will be decided later."
German travel agents saw their hopes of strong last-minute summer holiday bookings fizzle out last month despite rainy weather as weak demand for Turkey depressed overall sales, fvw reports.

Nevertheless, popular Greek destinations did much better as Heraklion grew by 25%, Rhodes was up by 31% and Kos by 16%.

Overall, leisure travel sales by German travel agents were 5% lower in July than last year even though poor weather traditionally drives consumers into making last-minute bookings for sunny Mediterranean destinations. This left cumulated sales for the summer 2016 season 8% lower than last year, according to the monthly GfK representative survey of some 1,200 travel agencies.

Above all, there was no surge of last-minute bookings, as many tour operators and travel agents had hoped for. The proportion of holiday bookings with departures in July or August was 27.1%, which was well behind last years figure of 31.3%.

In terms of departure months, July closed with stable sales revenues compared to last year but August currently has a heavy decline of 18.7% in revenue terms, while September and October also have high single-digit declines compared to last year.

The main factor, according to GfK, is the slump in bookings for Turkey. This is underlined by the latest figures from reservations provider Traveltainment for German package holiday bookings to leading destination airports. Bookings to Antalya plummeted by 46% in July compared to one year earlier, following on from heavy double-digit declines in recent months. Moreover, Hurghada was down by 35%.

In contrast, eight of the ten top airport destinations showed growth last month after varying trends in the last few months.

Palma confirmed its position as the major destination airport with a 16% rise in bookings last month, Heraklion grew by 25% and Rhodes was up by 31%. There was single-digit growth for Fuerteventura, Las Palmas and Tenerife South, and double-digit growth for Varna (+17%) and Kos (+16%).

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
Dubai-based DP World, a leading global shipping terminal operator, today announced strong financial results for the six months to June 30, delivering profit attributable to owners of $608 million, up 50.2 per cent.



On a reported basis, revenue grew 10.2 per cent to $2.094 billion compared to the same period last year.



Adjusted EBITDA increased by 27.2 per cent to $1.176 billion and adjusted EBITDA margin stood at 56.2 per cent.



Earnings per share for H1 was 73.2 US cents.



On a like-for-like basis, revenue grew 2.5 per cent and adjusted EBITDA increased by 6.6 per cent, adjusted EBITDA margin 51.8 per cent and attributable earnings were up 4.3 per cent, reflecting the challenging global trade environment, the company said.



The companys revenue growth was supported by the acquisitions of Jebel Ali Free Zone (UAE) and Prince Rupert (Canada). Containerised revenue per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) grew 5.4 per cent on a like-for-like basis. Non-container revenue decreased by 0.9 per cent on a like-for-like basis and increased by 17.9 per cent on a reported basis, it said.



Adjusted EBITDA margin reached a new high of 56.2 per cent reflecting the Jebel Ali Free Zone acquisition and increased contribution from other higher margin locations. Like-for-like adjusted EBITDA margin was at 51.8 per cent.



The company successfully raised $1.2 billion in a new seven-year sukuk transaction at significantly improved terms, refinancing $1.1 billion of the existing 2017 sukuk through a tender offer and extending the debt maturity profile.



DP World made a capital expenditure of $586 million, investing across the portfolio during the first half of the year. Capital expenditure guidance for 2016 remains unchanged at between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion with investments planned into Jebel Ali port (UAE), Jebel Ali Free Zone (UAE), London Gateway (UK), Prince Rupert (Canada), JNP Mumbai (India), and Yarimca (Turkey).



DP World Group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said: DP World is pleased to announce a strong set of first half results, with 50 per cent year-on-year earnings growth, and 56 per cent adjusted EBITDA margins. The more modest like-for-like earnings growth is a reflection of the challenging trade environment. This financial performance has been achieved despite uncertain market conditions, which once again demonstrates the resilient nature of our portfolio. In 2016, we have invested $586 million of capex in key growth markets, and this investment leaves us well placed to capitalise on the significant medium to long-term growth potential of this industry.



We will maintain the existing shape of our ports portfolio that has a 70% exposure to origin and destination cargo and 75 per cent exposure to faster growing markets. This positioning will enable us to deliver both earnings growth and shareholder value over the long term.



The outlook for trade growth remains uncertain, however, we believe our portfolio is well positioned to continue to outperform the market. We remain focused on delivering relevant new capacity in the right markets through disciplined investment, improving efficiencies and managing costs to drive profitability.



Looking ahead to the second half of the year, we expect throughput performance to improve, and like-for-like financial performance (excluding one-off items and foreign exchange movements) to be similar to the first half. Overall, the strong financial performance of the first six months leaves us well placed to meet full-year market expectations, Bin Sulayem said.  TradeArabia News Service


Japan-based Asahi Glass (AGC), a global glass manufacturing company, has revealed that AGC Automotive Europe will establish its first automotive glass factory in Africa in Kenitra, Morocco, said a report.



AGC Automotive Group recently reached an agreement with Induver, a leading glass processing company in Casablanca, in order to co-establish the first unit of the AGC Group in North Africa, added the Morocco World News report.



The factorys construction is underway and is expected to begin production in 2019, it said.



The AGC Group will create approximately 600 new jobs in Morocco and aims to be the hub of glass production in Africa.



The factory will become the 23rd global site producing for Asahi Glass, which provides automotive glass for around 1.1 million vehicles annually, added the report.


Ride-hailing service Uber is testing out a new cash payment option for rides in the UAE.



The pilot in Dubai and Abu Dhabi makes the UAE the seventh country to test cash payments, following the launches of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Qatar.



According to a statement released by Uber, the car ride company is exploring ways of making the service even more accessible and convenient. Under the testing phase, the cash option will only be available to a limited number of riders.



"If you do not see the cash option, dont worry. We will roll out this feature gradually as we continue testing it. Meanwhile if you are part of the cash pilot in the UAE, your feedback is essential so we can continue developing a cash option that works best for you," the company said.



The cash payment option will not replace the credit card option, said the firm and drivers will not allow fare payments to be split between cash and credit card. - TradeArabia News Service
Qatar Airways said that an aircraft that was forced to make an emergency landing at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on Thursday landed safely and that passengers had disembarked as normal.



"Today's QR240 from Istanbul Ataturk Airport to Doha has returned to Istanbul and has landed safely. The passengers have disembarked as normal. The pilot followed all QR safety procedures," said a statement by the Gulf carrier.

A Qatar Airways spokeswoman said the emergency landing was due to a suspected bird strike.



The spokeswoman could not confirm a report by broadcaster CNN Turk that one of the plane's engines caught fire.



The Airbus A330 had been headed for Doha but had to turn back to Ataturk airport less than 30 minutes into its journey, after its landing gear failed to retract on take-off, an airport official said.



The plane was carrying 298 passengers and 14 crew.  Reuters and other sources.
BUTTE -- A Montana Tech official has confirmed that 15 students enrolled in summer school have been expelled for cheating.

"There were students who participated in academic dishonesty practices that have been permanently dismissed from Montana Tech," Doug Abbott, vice chancellor for academic affairs, said on Wednesday.

Abbott declined to release further information about the incident and the dismissed students, including the specific classes in which the cheating occurred; the grade status, major or gender of the students; and whether they were international students.

"We don't release student information," Abbott said.

"Montana Tech has high academic standards and we take academic dishonesty very seriously. I think the permanent dismissal of these 15 students is evidence of the quality education that we give at Montana Tech," he added.

An email obtained by The Montana Standard detailed several alleged specific cheating strategies used including scanner pens, phones hidden in calculators, hand signals and diversion tactics.

Engineering calculators and other discipline-specific calculators are used in Tech's science-heavy classes. Most cellphones have general calculators as well.

Abbott would not confirm the use of electronic devices or any other specific cheating techniques used, but said that the students who were dismissed violated rules in the student handbook.

"If you go to our website, there's a list of five things that we consider academic dishonesty," he said. "It's one of those five things."

They include:

 Aiding another student

 Copying from the paper of another student while taking an exam

 Plagiarism

 Unauthorized signatures; that is, using a person's signature without permission

 Using unauthorized aids to pass an examination, including "crib notes, electronic devices (e.g. cellphones), books, or any other material to assist ... in passing the examination unless the instructor of the class has specifically given permission to use such materials."

It is up to individual professors to establish cell phone usage policies in their classes.

When asked if the cheating was a coordinated group effort, Abbott declined to comment.

Summer sessions are broken into three sections: from May through June, from July to August and from May through August.

Abbott did not say which section the cheating occurred in, or who reported the infractions to his office.

Student policy dictates that professors report cheating directly to Abbott's office:

"If it is determined that a student is deliberately cheating on an examination or a written or oral assignment, he or she should receive a grade of 'F' on that examination or assignment as a minimum penalty. The instructor may drop the student from the course with an 'F' grade."

Furthermore, the policy states:

"In reported cases of repeated cheating, the Academic Standards Committee may consider applying additional penalties beyond those imposed by the individual instructors, up to and including expulsion."

Abbott characterized the cheating and subsequent expulsions as a one-time incident.

"It's not an ongoing phenomenon," he said. "It is an isolated occurrence."
Ooredoo, a leading international telecommunications company in Oman, has teamed up with Qatar Airways to add to the numerous benefits already enjoyed by members of its popular Nojoom loyalty programme.



The innovative partnership allows Nojoom members to redeem their points for Qatar Airways Privilege Club Qmiles through the Ooredoo App, with 50 Qmiles credited for every 500 Nojoom points.



We are continually on the look-out for inspiring ways to enhance our customers Nojoom membership experience and today we are delighted to further extend the range of rewards available with this agreement with Qatar Airways. We are confident that the Qmiles exchange scheme will be well-received by our customers and promise even more exciting benefits and exclusive privileges in the future. Our Nojoom members certainly have a lot to look forward to, said Raed Dawood, Director of Government Relations and Corporate Affairs at Ooredoo.



Qatar Airways vice president, CRM, Loyalty and Customer Care Ian Di Tullio said: Qatar Airways is pleased to partner with Ooredoo and to offer more options to earn Privilege Club Qmiles. Qatar Airways Privilege Club is our way of saying thank you to our program members; this partnership extends our thanks for supporting our partner Ooredoo. Through partnerships with Ooredoo, our existing partners worldwide and oneworld member airlines, Privilege Club continues to be ever more rewarding and to enable members to enjoy an exclusive range of benefits when choosing to travel with Qatar Airways.



The Nojoom programme was developed to reward Ooredoos loyal customers and to thank them for their continued use of the leading telecommunications companys value-packed products and services. Easy to join through the Ooredoo App or by dialling *147*21#, membership of the programme is available to all Ooredoo pre and post paid customers. Points are awarded for every fixed line or mobile bill payment or recharge. Thanks to the impressive network of alliances that Ooredoo has established with leading brands across Oman, points can be exchanged for a fast-growing range of highly desirable benefits.

To find out more about the Nojoom programme, download the Ooredoo Oman app, go to www.ooredoo.om/app or visit any of the 41 Ooredoo stores located across Oman. - TradeArabia News Service
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Any time we travel, paying a visit to local food markets is always on the top of our list. And in a food-focused region like Emilia-Romagna, indulging in the Bologna markets was a necessity. The culinary reputation of this Northern Italian city is strong, and its easy to see why. Fresh produce, perfect cheeses, and handmade pastas are available just about everywhere you look. And then theres the meat. Oh, the meat.

The narrow streets in the center of Bologna are home to the Quadrilatero market

Food markets in Bologna, Italy, are utterly enticing. The local products are carefully grown, hand-crafted based on centuries of tradition, and passionately delivered to customers when theyre at their peak. A walk through the Bologna markets is a party for all the sensesbut mostly for the taste buds. Heres a look at the four markets we visited in Bologna.

Bologna Markets to Visit

Quadrilatero Market

Food stalls in the Quadrilatero market brim with the freshest Italian produce

Just off Piazza Maggiore in the heart of the old city is the Quadrilatero market. This bustling area has been home to all types of merchants since Roman times. The streets of the Quadrilatero reflect the areas heritage and are named for the shops that used line the streets  Via Pescherie Vecchie housed the fishmongers while Via degli Orefici was home to the goldsmiths and jewelers and Via Drapperie belonged to the upholsterers.

Today, the narrow streets of the Quadrilatero are packed with all the things that make Bologna such an amazing food destination. There are wine shops, cafes, and specialty food stores selling all types of cured meats, cheeses, pastas, and local delicacies. Throughout the day, food stalls sell the best fruits and vegetables youll find pretty much anywhere.

Fish shops have lined Via Pescherie Vecchie for centuries

Like many places in Italy, the market opens in the morning but closes mid-afternoon. In the evening, everything comes alive again when the stalls reopen. As shoppers arrive in search of dinner ingredients and friends meet for aperitivo (the glorious Italian happy hour) at the cafes that line the streets, you can truly feel the lively spirit of Bologna.

We stayed only a couple of blocks away and loved wandering through the colorful stalls and people watching. The Quadrilatero food market is worth a visit even if youre not hungry, but with the temptations of Bologna, thats probably unlikely.

Mercato di Mezzo

Fresh pasta options abound at Mercato di Mezzo

Our love of European food halls knows no bounds. From the Market Hall in Rotterdam to Torvehallerne in Copenhagen, we always try to prioritize visiting these dens of gluttony when we travel. And Bolognas Mercato di Mezzo was at the top of our list for our trip to Emilia-Romagna. In a lot of ways, this Bologna market echoes the best of whats available in the Quadrilatero, just in a more compact space.

The citys first indoor market, Mercato di Mezzo originally opened in the three-story building in the 1870s. Just before the outbreak of World War II, the historic market closed its doors temporarily before partially reopening in 1946. The renovated space reopened in its current incarnation in spring 2014.

Take your pick of pastries at the stalls on the ground floor

The idea behind Mercato di Mezzo is simplebring together the best local sellers all in one place. The ground floor hosts a variety of stalls where you can get food made to order or a few prepared options (along with wine and beer, of course) to enjoy at the tables nearby. There is also a traditional pizzeria and an artisan beer pub, so there is way more than enough to choose from. Our favorite experience was pulling up to one of the outdoor tables on an early summer night with fresh pasta and a glass of the local white sparkling pignoletto wine.

Mercato di Mezzo is open seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. until midnight, although we found some of the merchants close earlier, depending on demand.

Mercato delle Erbe

Lots of cured meat and cheese items are available at Mercato delle Erbe

About a 10-minute walk from Piazza Maggiore, Mercato delle Erbe offers a local alternative to the more touristy Quadrilatero and Mercato di Mezzo food markets. The indoor market occupies a space just set back from Via Ugo Bassi, which you would probably miss if you didnt know if was there (I did). Once inside, though, theres no mistaking the popularity of the place.

Samples!

Entering from the main street, we immediately found ourselves in a sea of fruit and vegetable stalls similar to what weve experienced in the indoor markets in Provence, France. As you would expect in Italy, the stalls boast some of the freshest fruits and vegetables around since so many of the products sold here are grown locally. As we continued exploring to the further reaches of the food market, we found pasta, cheeses, cured and fresh meats, and other Bolognese and Italian specialties. One piece of advice: dont try to do any shopping on an empty stomach. Its torture.

During the evening, part of Mercato delle Erbe becomes a series of food court spots for aperitivo or a heartier dinner. Everything from pizza to seafood is available. Check the hours before you head to the food market as it is generally open in the early morning and early evening and is closed Sundays, although the schedule seems to vary.

Mercato Ritrovato

Mercato della Terra has a fabulous selection of hyper-local wines and craft beer

Even further off the tourist track is Mercato Ritrovato. On Saturday mornings (or Monday evenings during the summer), the courtyard of Cinema Lumiere comes alive with dozens of farmers, winemakers, and brewers selling seasonal products from within about 25 miles of Bologna. Each stall has a sign explaining the origin of the products and the ways they were made or grown consistent with the Slow Food movement.

A fabulous band provided the soundtrack to the evening market

A 25-minute walk from the city center found us in the heart of this charming Bologna market on an otherwise quiet Monday night. But Mercato Ritrovato was full of lively music and friends gathering for a bite to eat from one (or more) of the vendors. As couples and groups met to enjoy a bottle of wine or fresh fish from the extremely popular seafood stand, we felt like we were likely the only tourists in attendance. And that is absolutely awesome.

The food market takes place every Saturday morning from 9am to 2pm. From May through August, the market is also open Monday evenings from 5:30-11:00pm.

Dinner was a made-to-order burger and a glass of sparkling Pignoletto wine

We were in Bologna as part of the Blogville project in coordination with the Emilia-Romagna Tourism Board and iambassador. All opinions of the completely delicious are our own.
Ceiba Intercontinental airline adds calls center and passenger rewards program, says Victor Mooney, Managing Director, Spirit of Malabo Group.



(TRAVPR.COM) USA - August 18th, 2016 - NEW YORK CITY - As part of the countries successful Horizonte 2020 Development Plan, tourism has been identified as an opportunity for growth with the creation of local employment. With that focus, Equatorial Guinea national airline new website - www.ceibaintercontinental.com creates greater client relations and accelerates future markets for air travel destinations.

The airline has a fleet of new airplanes and currently flys to Accra, Annobon, Bata, Brazaville, Contonou, Dakar, Doula, Liberville, Lome, Madrid, Malabo, Mengomeyen, Point Norte and Yamena.

Since 2013, The United States and Equatorial Guinea are parties to an Open Skies Agreement. The Open Skies Agreement establishes a liberalized aviation relationship between the United States and Equatorial Guinea. It creates opportunities for strengthening the economic partnership between the United States and Equatorial Guinea through closer links in transport and trade.



On the net: www.spiritofmalabo.net

###
In a world facing food scarcity, rising sea levels and looming natural disasters, hope may indeed float.

It may even look like this:

That's the concept for Oceanix City, a floating colony unveiled April 3 at a United Nations roundtable of builders, engineers and architects.

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Unlike similar ideas floated over the decades that have yet to see the light of day, this island, conceived by architect Bjarke Ingels in collaboration with Oceanix Inc, stands a good chance of becoming reality.

Especially with Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of the U.N.'s Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) backing the idea of floating cities,

"A thriving city has a symbiotic relationship with its water," he announced at the roundtable "And as our climate and water ecosystems are changing, the way our cities relate to water needs to change, too."

No building on the island will be higher than seven stories. Bjarke Ingels Group

And Oceanix City couldn't have a closer relationship to the water. Built as a series of hexagonal platforms, it would house about 10,000 people. No cars or trucks would be allowed on the island, although the designers have left the door open for driverless vehicles. Deliveries, via drones, may also be a future option.

"This doesn't look like Manhattan," Oceanix CEO Marc Collins reportedly told roundtable participants. "There are no cars."

Designers envision Oceanix City as a walker's paradise. Bjarke Ingels Group

Most importantly, the people who live in Oceanix City  with every hexagon supporting 300 residents who function as a village  would be self-sufficient.

The city would produce its own power, fresh water and heat.

Another key part of that autonomy would be the development of ocean farming  using cages beneath the platforms could harvest scallops, kelp and other seafood.

The city would grow all the food it needed, either on vertical farms or underwater. Bjarke Ingels Group

Fish waste would be used as crop fertilizer and year-round produce would be grown on vertical farms. Speaking of vertical, all buildings would be between four and seven stories tall in order to maintain a low center of gravity for the island.

Being able to withstand weather extremes is a key feature of the island's design. In addition to keeping a low center of gravity, an ultra-durable, self-repairing material called Biorock would cover the platforms, giving it the strength to hold fast under Category 5 hurricanes. And, since Oceanix City would always be anchored a mile off the coast of a major city, help isn't too far away.

In case of severe weather approaching, the entire city could be towed safely out of its path.

And being able to float, of course, gives Oceanix City a major advantage over its landlocked counterparts when it comes to the growing problem of rising sea levels.

Being able to float is a huge advantage for a city in times of rising sea levels. Bjarke Ingels Group

Naturally, no society can thrive if it hasn't figured out the fundamental question of what to do with its garbage. The answer, for Oceanix City, is to not make much of it all, but rather design everything so that it can be repaired and reused, What little waste residents produce would be sealed in reusable bags and shuttled down pneumatic tubes to a sorting center.

Floating habitats like Oceanix City might not be the future we expected, but they could be the one we need. Bjarke Ingels Group

Is this starting to sound like a pie-in-the-sea idea to you? Well, maybe it is.

But as Collins notes, there's growing will to make it happen. Especially as the world finds itself on increasingly uncertain footing.

"Everybody on the team actually wants to get this built," he tells Business Insider. "We're not just theorizing."
FORT BENTON -- A former employee has filed a lawsuit against the hospital in Fort Benton, claiming the facility didnt acknowledge or properly respond to a scabies outbreak and that the infestation spread while leadership at the hospital lied about it.

Shannon Walden, a former infection control coordinator, was fired Sept. 1, 2015, after she said she sent an email correcting the Missouri River Medical Centers director of nursing over what Walden said was incorrect information about the outbreak.

Scabies is an infestation of the skin by the human itch mite, which burrows into upper layer of skin where it lives and lays eggs. It is transferred by skin-to-skin contact or contact with contaminated surfaces. It causes rash, bumps and blisters and severe itching. Those infected can have no symptoms for the first two to six weeks, but can still spread scabies during that period.

Walden is suing for wrongful discharge, saying she was terminated in retaliation for reporting a violation of policy and her firing was without cause. She is asking for four years of lost wages, benefits and interest. She was earning $15,000 annually, including benefits, when she was let go.

Her job at the center was to oversee the prevention, spread and management of infectious disease among residents, patients and staff. Walden was supervised by director of nursing Janice Woodhouse and CEO Louie King. The center is a critical-access facility, with a hospital and emergency room. There are seven acute-care beds. It also houses a 45-bed nursing home.

Woodhouse, acting CEO at the center, didnt return a call for comment Tuesday. Waldens attorney, William P. Rideg, of Missoula, said he couldnt comment on the case, which was filed in the 12th Judicial District Court in Chouteau County.

In March 2015, according to the lawsuit, Walden learned residents and staff at the center had scabies. She recommended the center proactively treat all residents, patients and staff, as recommended by guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control, as well as dermatologists at Benefis Hospital in Great Falls.

Walden, in court documents, said the center ignored her recommendations and the outbreak grew to affect between eight and 10 residents and staff. People in the community complained about the outbreak to the state Department of Health and Human Services, according to court documents. Officials from that agency made a site visit May 11, 2015.

During that visit, Walden said she told the state investigator she was concerned about how the outbreak was being handled. According to documents, Walden told the investigator that the director of nursing was concerned about the cost of treating the outbreak and not following CDC guidelines.

On June 23, 2015, Walden contacted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over continued lack of response from the center. OSHA, a federal agency tasked with ensuring workers safety, visited the center a day later and had a meeting with the DPHHS inspector as well as Walden to review the scabies case log and discuss Waldens concerns, including using scabies medication to treat what the center called rashes, despite recommendations to label the rashes as scabies.

By July 16, 2015, Walden had contacted OSHA again and an investigator made another visit July 22. In the lawsuit, Walden cites these visits as the cause of friction with her employer. Ms. Waldens ongoing questioning of The Centers response, and her repeated engagement with DPHHS and OSHA was looked upon unfavorably by The Centers administration, court documents say.

Things had not improved a month later, when on Aug. 24, 2015, Walden sent an email correcting statements made by Woodhouse, the director of nursing, during a conference call with physicians and the infection control department at Benefis in Great Falls. According to court documents, Walden sent an email saying that Woodhouse had lied about the number of scabies cases at the center.

That same day, the centers Board of Directors held a meeting with several administrators and staff. According to documents, at that meeting the directors decided to fire Walden. Documents say the firing was because of a required reduction in workforce and budgetary shortfalls. Walden was not at the meeting, nor given immediate notice of the action.

Walden was told Sept. 1 that she had been fired and asked to leave the center immediately. According to documents, the centers policies call for two weeks notice prior to termination. The center has never given Walden written justification supporting her termination, she said.

Walden was hired by the center in March 2004 and was promoted to the position of infection control coordinator, a job she held for six years. Documents say she received positive performance reviews and bonuses.

A report from the DPHHS Certification bureau summarizing deficiencies at the center provides more information about the scabies outbreak.

Of six residents sampled, all six showed signs of scabies. Most of the residents infected had lived at the center for at least two years and one had been there nearly six.

Residents were treated with several creams, some of which are specifically for scabies and some meant to address general skin issues such as crustiness and scaling. Some residents treatment was designated as prophylactic.

The report notes that medical records were not detailed or well kept for some patients and often didn't note the progress of treatments or initial assessments of rashes.

For example, the report shows a resident who had lived at the center almost two years was ordered to be treated with a cream used to treat itching, crusting and scaling, though not specifically scabies. That was applied on May 10, 2015. On May 21, a doctor ordered a scabies screening, but it was canceled and the doctor instead completed a skin-scraping procedure to test the skin infection. After, the doctor ordered a cream used to treat scabies be applied to the residents skin. The doctor did not clarify in medical records what the skin test was for and a nurse documented the test was positive, but did not clarify what it was positive for.

The report shows a lack of isolation measures, including one resident who left the facility for a community function after being treated for a skin infection. A certified nursing assistant who was tested and treated for scabies thought she was infected while caring for a resident.

A housekeeper voiced concerns at a facility management meeting regarding lack of precaution signs posted in resident rooms, according to the state report. That person also said the housekeeping department had delays in communication regarding cleaning and sanitizing needs for residents with transmittable cases.

A nurses chart for one resident said the resident had a confirmed case of scabies, but documentation didnt show if steps were taken to ensure bedding, clothing and other items were cleaned and sanitized to avoid cross-contamination. The facility identified the resident had scabies in the morning but that person was not put into isolation until several hours later.

Records show the director of nursing and assistant director of nursing believed one resident was exposed to scabies from a bathroom she shared with another resident.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid designates the state Certification Bureau to serve as the state survey agency. The bureau conducts surveys at Montana facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid payments to make sure these facilities meet federal regulations.

The bureau conducts three types of surveys; the one at the Fort Benton facility was a complaint survey, which is done after the bureau receives a complaint.
Lewis and Clark County commissioners are accepting public comment until Sept. 9 on a request to tap the Open Lands program for the purchase of land along the Blackfoot River near Lincoln for a new park.

The request that came before the commission last week, when the 30-day comment period was opened, is for up to $113,300 for nearly 9.5 acres owned by Paul Roos.

The overall project cost would be $134,600, according to the level two funding application submitted by Five Valleys Land Trust of Missoula, which lists Prickly Pear Land Trust in Helena as a secondary sponsoring organization.

Five Valleys Land Trust would contribute $18,300 in in-kind services, and Prickly Pear Land Trust would contribute $3,000. There are also $28,300 in transaction costs for the project, including money for an appraisal and a fee to ensure future stewardship of the property.

An appraisal by Norman C. Wheeler & Associates, which has Montana offices in Missoula and Bozeman, set the value of the land that includes about 1,056 feet of Blackfoot River frontage at $85,000.

The property is generally located east of and adjacent to Stemple Pass Road and south of the river that, it was noted during the presentation to the commission, in late summer can be beneath the streambed.

The purchase agreement between Five Valleys Land Trust and Roos will expire in December, said Vickie Edwards, the land trusts conservation project manager.

The citizen advisory committee for the countys Open Lands program voted 9-0 in support of the project and recommended reimbursing Five Valleys Land Trust for the $28,300 in transaction fees, according to a county staff report.

The commission meets monthly in Augusta and Lincoln and is scheduled to next meet in Lincoln on Oct. 7, when a decision could be made on whether to provide funding that would allow Five Valleys Land Trust to purchase and become the owner of the property.

Of the $10 million approved by county voters in 2008 for protecting land, water and wildlife, $3 million was converted into cash to fund projects.

So far, about $1,975,000 of that has been spent on projects, said Nancy Everson, the countys finance director.

Kim Patterson, who made the citizen advisory committee motion to recommend the county fund the project, spoke at the commission meeting and said the committee saw the project as a great investment for the community.

While the commission did not disagree about the projects value to the community, Commissioner Andy Hunthausen said the commission was not trying to acquire land on behalf of the county.

Both he and commission Chairman Mike Murray expressed concern that, unlike other projects funded through the Open Lands program, this request for the Lincoln Community River Park has no entity other than Lewis and Clark County providing cash to make the acquisition possible.

The county is not normally asked to be the sole cash purveyor, Murray said.

After the meeting, he noted his support for the project but said he would prefer to see an Open Lands program applicant with between 40 percent and 60 percent of the money needed.

I think they need to come up with some cash, Murray said, though he reaffirmed his support for the proposal.

I think its still a great project, Hunthausen said, explaining it fits with why voters passed the open space bond.

If we had to fund it fully, Id probably still support it, he added.

Community interest in the park began more than three years ago, according to the funding application, with local residents gathering to discuss opportunities for a public park along the Blackfoot River.

According to the funding application, there are no homes on the land, and the property wouldnt be used by Five Valleys Land Trust for residential purposes.

The application noted that the park is within walking distance of the center of Lincoln and would provide a place for activities that include fishing, swimming, wildlife viewing and picnicking.

If Five Valleys transfers ownership in the future, Five Valleys would transfer ownership with restrictions in place that would maintain the open space values of the property and would allow for public access, the application stated.
Often, it is the charismatic and spectacular that draws people to nature. When wildlife is depicted onscreen, for example, well usually see images of large mammals and skillful predators -- bears, wolves, lions, bison, elk -- all doing their thing amidst some gorgeous and wild landscape. Birding is no different, with raptors garnering much of the publics awe and attention. This shouldnt be surprising -- hawks, owls and eagles are majestic predators that have been honored by human cultures for millennia, appearing in art, literature, oral histories. For many birders though, it is the falcons that hold a special place among birds of prey.

There are five falcon species regularly observed in Montana: Gyrfalcon (winter only), American Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine and the Prairie Falcon. These birds can be differentiated from hawks and others in flight by their strongly tapered wings that terminate in a point, an adaptation which serves a single evolutionary purpose: speed. The falcons are well-known as the fastest animals on earth, and one in particular, is uniquely tied the American West.

Prairie Falcons (Falco mexicanus) live solely in the Americas, ranging from northern Mexico to southern Canada, inhabiting huge swaths of the Great Plains. The bird is a medium-large raptor with dark underwing coverts, which when viewed from below, appear as very distinctive dark armpits and is their most reliable field mark. Its overall brownish appearance is an adaptation to the vast deserts, sage and grassland environments where it is most commonly found. They are also capable of using high alpine meadows and tundra habitat provided food resources are adequate.

Many of these raptors are year-round residents of their breeding ranges, but some will make short-distance migrations if food availability requires it. Male and female markings are virtually identical, but as with most birds of prey, the females are significantly larger. Rocky cliffs and outcrops are used as nest sites. Genetic analysis has shown that the Prairie Falcon is a fairly close relative to the better known Peregrine Falcon. A split began about 3-5 million years ago as evolutionary pressures honed an ancestral Peregrine to adapt to the open, dry landscapes of the West. The two species will occasionally interbreed where they overlap.

Arid ecosystems are unforgiving, difficult places to make a living for any creature and require special adaptations for survival. In these low prey-base environments, a smaller, lighter body enables the Prairie Falcon to get by on fewer calories more efficiently than raptors of similar size, while also allowing them to be more heat-tolerant than a bulkier bird. They use a variety of hunting styles including the well-known stoop (rapid diving attack) on airborne bird prey; a fast, low-altitude ground cruising tactic; or a line-of-sight ambush from high perches. The bird has evolved to become an especially aggressive and opportunistic hunter and will swiftly attack anything from grasshoppers and sparrows to an array of rodents, to creatures as large as a goose or Greater Sage Grouse. All have been taken by the nimble Prairie Falcon, which are also known to cache excess food as a hedge against lean times.

The hunting prowess of this raptor was impressed upon me while guiding a birding workshop in northcentral Montana several years ago. We arrived at an area of wetland and prairie midmorning, and began to scan the area for grassland species. A few nighthawks and Wilsons snipe immediately drew our attention but before long, a frantic, persistent calling from somewhere in the grass dominated the morning soundscape. After a few moments of listening and searching, members of the group were able to zero in on the culprits; about 50 yards from us was a pair of Marbled Godwits, both birds freaking out, alarm calling and trying to corral about four chicks which were difficult to see due to their tawny camouflage.

We scanned the area but saw nothing that should have set these birds into such a tizzy, so we slowly approached them for a better look. One adult flew to a nearby fencepost, and the other stayed close to the chicks and what may have been their nesting area. All of these godwits were on high-alert and it was clear that they werent reacting to our presence but something else. I began to look for the cause and glassed a low sandstone ridge a few hundred yards away. Bingo: A Prairie Falcon, nearly invisible, was perched on a small rocky outcrop and seemed barely interested in the whole affair. Scopes were set on the bird and our group studied it for a few minutes while the godwits continued their disturbing alarm calls.

After a time, this Prairie Falcon had had enough; it quickly focused its gaze toward the sound, raised its wings and shot from the ridge in the probably fastest movement I have ever witnessed in nature. Hitting the nest in the virtual blink of an eye, the falcon instantly removed one of the chicks while human birders stood in awe, eyes and mouths wide open. Some in the group were visibly disturbed by this unvarnished act of predation. Alas, it is what makes the world go around in nature, everywhere, all the time.

In this case, a bad morning for Marbled Godwits meant a good one for Prairie Falcons.

David Cronenwett writes this column on behalf of Montana Audubon, a statewide wildlife conservation organization (mtaudubon.org). Cronenwett is a writer, naturalist and Audubon staff member who can be reached at david@mtaudubon.org.
New Delhi, August 18

Moving a step closer to creation of a global-sized bank with assets worth over Rs 37 lakh crore, the SBI board today approved merger of its five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with itself. It also finalised the share swap ratio for three of the listed subsidiaries and BMB.

"The central board of directors today approved the merger of State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT) and BMB," the country's largest lender said in a regulatory filing.

As per the merger proposal, SBBJ shareholders will get 28 shares of SBI (Rs 1 each) for every 10 shares (Rs 10 each).

Similarly, SBM and SBT shareholders will get 22 shares each of SBI for every 10 shares they hold.

In the case of Bharatiya Mahila Bank, 4,42,31,510 shares of SBI will be swapped for every 100 crore of BMB shares having a face value of Rs 10. The two unlisted subsidiaries are fully owned by SBI.

The merger will create a banking behemoth of global scale with a balancesheet of Rs 37 trillion or over $555 billion, making it one of the top 50 global financial powerhouses. The merged entity will have 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs serving a customer base of over 50 crore.

SBI has close to 16,500 branches, including 191 foreign offices across 36 countries while the five subsidiaries have nearly 6,000 branches.

"The share swap ratio is favourable to minority shareholders. We are confident that the ratio would be largely acceptable to all shareholders," SBI Deputy Managing Director in charge of associates and subsidiaries Neeraj Vyas said.

The board also approved merger of two unlisted associate banks  State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Hyderabad  with the parent, Vyas said.

Abizer Diwanji, Partner and National Leader for financial services at EY, which advised the share swap deal for SBI, said, "The ratio will be acceptable to all shareholders."  PTI
Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 17

The Centres move to appoint Chandigarhs first independent Administrator  with a rank equivalent to that of Lieutenant Governor  was put on hold tonight following objection from Punjabs ruling Shiromani Akali Dal.

Since June 2, 1984, when Punjab was passing through the black days of terrorism, the Punjab Governor had been holding the additional charge of UT Administrator and the post of UT Chief Commissioner was re-designated as Adviser to UT Administrator.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

For the past over a year, Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki had been holding the additional charge of UT Administrator in his capacity of officiating Governor of Punjab, ever since Shivraj Patil demitted office in January 2015.

Today, the presidential warrants appointing VP Singh Badnore as the new Punjab Governor were without separate orders under Article 239(2) assigning him additional charge of UT Administrator.

KJ Alphons Kannanthanam, a bureaucrat-turned-politician from Kerala tipped to be the UT Administrator, initially told The Tribune over the phone that he will join office next week, reversing the UT Administrations 32-year-old setup. However, later, he said he got a call from BJP national chief Amit Shah informing him that the decision to appoint him had been put on hold considering reservations expressed by the Akalis.

Earlier, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal issued a strongly-worded statement, asking the Centre to restore the time-tested convention on Chandigarh. It was later withdrawn.

Kannanthanam is known as the Delhi demolition man for spearheading a massive demolition drive in 1990s.

He quit the IAS in 2006 and was elected as an Independent MLA, backed by CPM-led Left Front. After joining the BJP in 2011, he was inducted into the national executive.
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 18

A city-based Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies has released e-book titled Water energy and food security nexus to bring out grim reality of increasing world population and scarcity of drinking water in the coming years.

It contains 27 papers contributed by eminent scholars having expertise in different fields. These researchers from Nepal, Libya, Albania, Malaysia, Ethiopia and Bangladesh also contributed to the e-book.

The institute director, Dr Gursharan Singh Kainth, in his introduction to the e-book said the International Energy Agencys (IEA) warning that water demand would outstrip energy demands by two-fold highlighted the scale of water-energy nexus. He stressed that the reality was more complex.

The book states that a global population expansion to nine billion people by 2050, coupled with increased economic growth, will intensify competition for water, as well as increase the need for food and energy, thus creating a dilemma for the 21st century society.

It states that traditional water-energy nexus highlights the mutual importance of water and conventional energy. Energy is fundamental to collect, transport, distribute and treat water. Water is essential to extract process and refine fossil fuels. The onset of climate change further exacerbates the inter-connectivity of the energy-water nexus.

It advocates that a global water gap of 40 per cent between demand and accessible water by 2030 and water consumption is set to rise from 4,500 to 6,900 billion cubic metres with no change to business as usual practices and policies, posing a menacing threat to the bio-diversity.

The e-book states that agriculture accounts for 71 per cent of current total global water withdrawals. A 50 per cent population increase will exponentially raise agricultural output, requiring more water and energy through fertilizers, harvesting and processing.

Indias water consumption could double by 2030 to 1.5 trillion cubic metres. It will leave the country with a 50 per cent water gap.

Dr Kainth said a call was given for awareness of the nexus between water, food and energy security, as well as climate change.

A serious water crisis ahead has been realised as many groundwater resources are depleted, while demand for food and energy is increasing. By 2030, the worlds population and economic growth are expected to lead to a 40 per cent increase in energy and water demand. Demand for food will go up by 50 per cent. Meanwhile, climate change puts additional strain on agriculture, he added.

Buttressing his claims he said the increase in food prices in the recent past too had been closely linked to rising energy and oil prices. He said, The poor are particularly affected by high food prices as they spend a high proportion of income on food.
Harish Khare

The chilling news item was tucked away in an inside page. And not many newspapers had even bothered to publish the agency copy. But every honest, sincere and dedicated bureaucrat, serving or retired, must have felt a cold shudder down the spine as s/he read the news item: a former Coal Secretary, HC Gupta, who has found himself accused in the so-called coal scam, has told the court that he would rather face the trial from inside the jail than apply for bail. Mr Gupta told the CBI court that he was unable and unwilling to spare his limited financial resources on hiring legal counsel. For good measure, he declined the court's offer of legal aid.

Simply put, this fine bureaucrat, whom everyone unhesitatingly certifies to be the most honest officer of his generation, has refused to cooperate with the judiciary-monitored sham that bogus righteousness has inflicted on the nation. In very measured words, Mr Gupta told the court: Whatever I did as Chairperson of the Screening Committee or as Secretary Coal was done with a clear conscienceI also believe that the coal block allocation was no scam. The Screening Committee did its job sincerely and in good faith.

Yet, he finds himself arrayed as an accused in a number of cases, brought against him by the CBI. An honest man with the very limited means accruing to an honest official, he is pitted against the organisational resourcefulness of a premier investigating agency, infused with a misplaced missionary zeal and bureaucratic clumsiness. His reputation, character and record stand besmirched: perhaps, a minor collateral victim in a larger battle. But he refuses to give in to the sordid logic of let the law take its own course bogusness.

For me, one approach could be to remain on bail and deal with the case in a normal manner. However, my conscience tells me not to do so. I am an elderly man suffering from many diseases. It is quite possible that I may not survive the period of trial getting completed. I will not like anyone to think that I escaped punishment because of the time taken in trial.

Any person with sensitive nostrils can smell the stench of a Bleak House banality at work in the so-called investigation and trial in the so-called coal scam. While all the powerful businessmen and politicians have escaped the CBI dragnet, a man like HC Gupta has to go through the ordeal of a trial. By refusing to submit to this dehumanising charade and refusing to feel diminished, Gupta has shamed us all and made us feel small in our vindictive pursuit of partisan agendas.

Guptas ordeal would be worth it only if we are able to understand the conceit and conspiracies that were at work five years ago when the country was grandly summoned to the barricades by that great revolutionary, Anna Hazare. And, feeling noble, empowered and appropriately angry, we had all responded. The civil society had experienced its finest and its headiest moment. We were intoxicated with hope and optimism that we would flush the corrupt down the drain, once and for all. Nothing of the kind happened, though.

Five years later, the high priests of that movement are performing puja and aarti in different political temples. The gurus and the babas have become very, very rich entrepreneurs, the activists have become constitutional functionaries. But, the old man, Anna, himself has been made to retreat to his village in Maharashtra, having no voice, no influence, and no constituency.

Five years later, only the most impressionable would want to believe that India has become corruption-free. It would require considerable gullibility to accept that all the black money that was deemed to be stashed away in Swiss bank accounts has been brought back to Mother India. After all that trauma and tantrum five years ago, we have yet to have a Lokpal. Yet, no one feels agitated, leave alone cheated. Instead, we have the HC Guptas being subjected to rites of malevolent judicial processes.

Make no mistake: the HC Gupta episode is bound to have a deleterious impact on all those men and women who strive to serve the Indian State. As a matter of fact, it was 30 years ago that we injected into our polity and our bureaucratic system a virus named Bofors. Though we felt virtuous and vindicated about the whole affair, the bottom line is that our defence purchase processes have remained dangerously skewed. We may have settled a few scores against this or that political leader or party, but we have ended up inflicting debilitating damage on our defence forces. No one wants to take a decision; procrastination has become the first line of defence.

To make matters worse, we have developed a culture of accusation. It is now almost institutionalised and we have put in place a plethora of authorised regulators  the CVC, the CAG, the CBI  to ensure transparency and accountability. Yet, we continue to have accusations of this or that scandal in defence purchases, spread across all governments. While nameless middlemen and arms merchants thrive and remain beyond our reach, we happily accuse officers, in or out of uniform, of wrongdoing. The politicians remain unfazed, but we encourage timidity, caution, and indecision among our bureaucrats. There is a price to be paid for all this politics of indignation. If HC Gupta can be subjected to the indignities and humiliation of a criminal trial, which officer would stick his/her neck out?

As a nation, we remain hostage to peculiar fancies. Mobs bayed for a powerful Lokpal. The anti-corruption movement five years later should at least cure us of our infatuation for a foolproof vigilance arrangement. PC Parakh, also a former Coal Secretary and self-styled crusader against corruption, found himself subjected to a CBI raid. Parakh fancies himself as a kind of whistleblower and vigorously defends Vinod Rais bizarre calculations and conclusions. In a self-serving book, Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and Other Truths, he prattles: a team of dozen (CBI) officers landed at my door to search my flat eight years after I retired. I did not understand what they expected to find in my house. Neither did they. While I took it in my stride, my wife was shocked and traumatised at this reward for 36 years of honest, sincere and dedicated service. The policeman could care less for the Parakhs sensibilities, just as he did not give a fig for HC Guptas reputation.

The moral of the story: Mob-induced solutions are rarely anchored in wisdom. All societies have an awe and fear of the mob and a fascination for the leader who can work the mob. Mobs produce inherently anti-democratic and authoritarian solutions. As our democracy takes deeper root, we will need to watch against this danger.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)
The North Fork of the Flathead River is one of the worst places to visit in the entire United States.

Dont go there, ever.

Its remote. The dirt roads are bumpy and make dust. The trees are too close together. The place is thick with mosquitoes. Bears live nearby. Thunderstorms appear out of nowhere and dump rain on your tent and campfire. Its also really, really far from almost everywhere.

All of these are good reasons for not going. Yet we saw families and Boy Scouts, old guys and young folks, locals and tourists frolicking in and along the river. Why is this place that nearly falls off the edge of the northwestern Montana border so dang popular?

Acknowledgements

Ill admit there are stunning views of the Livingston Range, looming peaks with cool names like Thunderbird and Vulture that provide a pleasing blue-gray backdrop to the east. And, sure, the crystal-clear waters of the North Fork glide over red, green and yellow stones that appear worthy of display in a fine art gallery.

For anglers, those same waters somehow hide dazzlingly bright cutthroat trout that are greedy feeders. You cant keep them off a hook. Fishing folk spend all of their time releasing the feisty buggers.

Although the river flows fairly placidly, there are occasional rapids that descend into bottomless emerald green pools that provide perfect swimming holes  although the mountain water is teeth-chatteringly cold.

Surely these few benefits cant override the negatives.

Poor publicity

The place isnt even creatively named. The North Fork of the Flathead River is one of three rivers that combine to create  you guessed it  ta-da  the Flathead River. Bet you cant figure out what the other two forks are named? Yep, the Middle and South forks. Oooh!

The North Fork is the longest of the three forks. It measures about 150 miles compared to the South Forks 98 miles and the Middle Forks 92 miles. So why didnt they name it the Bigger Fork, the Immense Fork or how about the Enormous Fork? They need to get someone in marketing involved in the mapping business to spice things up a bit.

Since the river starts in Canada and borders the western edge of Glacier National Park, it does have a certain cachet that other Montana rivers cant rival. Its also one of only four streams in Montana designated a Wild and Scenic River by Congress, which is meant to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations. So the North Fork has that going for it, Ill admit.

Even though it doesnt have much whitewater, American Whitewaters website says, It offers paddlers some of the most spectacular vistas in the Northern Rockies, blue-green water, and the chance to see grizzlies from your boat. We didnt see any grizzlies, but we did see a cow elk and whitetail doe. The doe swam across the river for us before posing on the bank in all of her tawny finery.

Other points

We rafted the upper reach of the North Fork, launching just below the ill-guarded Canadian border. From there it is 58 miles before the North Fork meets the Middle Fork close to Blankenship Bridge.

It was 14 miles from the border boat launch to Ford Access, where we camped for two nights. It was then another 10 river miles from Ford to the Polebridge launch site. Because we car-camped at Ford we avoided the necessity of piling all of our camping gear into the rafts, although it did add car shuttling to the daily duties.

Since the west side of the river is the Flathead National Forest, there were no special permits required to pitch a tent, which is not the case if you want to camp on the Glacier side.

Because the area is so remote, the Polebridge Mercantile is one of the few sources of ice, basic essentials and homemade baked goods. Prices are at a premium; its a convenience tax for there actually being any store located in the middle of whats essentially a vast, isolated chunk of Montana forestland.

Given all of this I suggest once again: Stay away from the North Fork of the Flathead River. I know Im never going back. Not this year, anyway. Maybe next year. But Im not telling anyone about it. Neither should you.

Brett French is the outdoors editor for the Billings Gazette.
New Delhi, August 17

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments decision to hike minimum wages by 50 per cent has not gone down well with the partys trade wing which today threatened to call a strike claiming the step would lead to lay-offs and affect business.

Terming the decision as unjustified, the outfit said it would raise the issue with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung.

Following a meeting with trade associations here, Brijesh Goyal, the convenor of the body, said the upward revision in wages would not only lead to laying off of workers, but also result in complete industrial and trade shutdown in the national Capital.

Goyal met Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Labour Minister Gopal Rai yesterday and conveyed their objections.  PTI
The gloves have been off between India and Pakistan since the July killing of Burhan Wani. Pakistans latest offer of a dialogue on Kashmir has all been spurned by India which wishes to discuss only cross-border terrorism. Their self-serving approach reeks of point scoring. The Indian security forces continue suffering avoidable casualties, mostly at the hands of youngsters barely out of teens sent to certain death by their unfeeling controllers across the border. In the Kashmir Valley, bolstered by Pakistans moral support, leaderless youngsters  the body count as of today stands at 68  have lost their lives as they do not know how to put a stop to this vicious circle of violence.

Not to be left behind, leaders of both countries have forsaken dialogue and have instead sought to address their domestic constituencies with intemperate statements. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on a slippery political slope following allegations about his involvement in the Panama Papers, has found a convenient diversion in Kashmir. Publicly, he supports the indigenous struggle in Kashmir but turns a blind eye to the unending supply line of militants from Pakistan to stoke the embers of unrest. Indias energetic Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have found space in his itinerary to visit the Valley. Instead, he has opted for making none-too-subtle hints about upping the ante in Pakistans Achilles heel, Balochistan, while his Defence Minister describes visiting Pakistan as going to hell.

Both India and Pakistan need to realise that in the midst of global economic slowdown, they need to focus more on easing the life of the common man. The forthcoming SAARC summit offers an opportunity for a reset. If the two Prime Ministers can eschew the temptation of sounding more aggressive than the other, the spirit of Ufa can be revived. Pakistan needs tranquility on its borders with India to attend to a far graver challenge to its wellbeing from the fundamentalists. If the offer for talks on Kashmir isnt a ploy to ensure Modis attendance at the SAARC summit, it should broad-base the agenda for the talks to make it a workable proposition for both countries.
Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 18

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the Haryana Home Secretary, Litigation Branch and Administrative Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs, to intervene for streaming the disposal of old cases.

The Bench has asked them to tie up with the Advocate-General for making an advance effort to find out the status of oldest cases in the list of cases to be heard. They have also been asked to see whether the cases required determination by the court on merits.

State counsel also informed the Bench that the order passed by the court had been taken into consideration and appropriate instructions issued to the quarters concerned for implementation of the orders.

Taking note of the assertion, Justice Rajiv Narain Raina also directed that the orders copy be forwarded to the Advocate-General and the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association President in pious hope for their assistance to the court in the task of handling old cases for their successful conclusion .

Justice Raina added the order was aimed at preventing further delay in satisfactory disposal of cases on merits. The significant order came in the two-decade old case of Surat Ram and others petitioners against Haryana and other respondents.

The petitioners in the case filed way back in 1995 were seeking regularisation of their services. The court was told that their services were regularised in 1996 in terms of the then prevailing regularisation policy. This renders the petition infructuous when relief prayed for stands granted by the department, Justice Raina added.

In his detailed order, Justice Raina asserted that five of the oldest cases in the regular roster were being taken up for final disposal. Justice Raina added some of the cases might have become infructuous or the grant of relief impossible.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 18

The Vice-Chancellors of two state technical universities  State University of Performing and Visual Arts, Rohtak, and Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram of Sciences and Technology, Murthal (Sonepat)  have submitted their resignations to Haryana Governor-cum-Chancellor Kaptan Singh Solanki.

The Governor has accepted the resignation of Ashwani Sabharwal, Vice-Chancellor, State University of Performing and Visual Arts, Rohtak; and Raj Pal Dahiya, Vice-Chancellor, Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram of Sciences and Technology, Murthal, with effect from August 17, stated a press note issued here.

Murthal varsity VC was facing charges

Sonepat: Several complaints of nepotism, favouritism, violations of rules and other alleged wrongdoings had been made against Vice-Chancellor Raj Pal Dahiya of the DCR University of Science and Technology, Murthal by the teaching and non-teaching staff associations of the university to Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki .

The complaints were also sent to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and on CMs Window. The government had also taken a decision to order a CBI inquiry into the allegations.

Acting on the complaints, the Chancellor had sought Dahiyas explanation about a month back. The Chancellor was reportedly not satisfied with Dahiyas replies that led to his resignation.
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 17

Two Army jawans and a policeman were killed as militants ambushed an Army convoy on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway in North Kashmirs Baramulla district in the wee hours today. At least five soldiers were injured in the attack, the first on the highway since 2008 when 10 soldiers were killed in a blast.

The militants struck at 2.30 am at Khwajabagh, 50 km from here. The heavily-armed militants lobbed grenades and fired indiscriminately on the convoy, killing two Army jawans and Constable Pritpal Singh, an official said. A police party carrying teargas shells and other equipment was following the convoy. The militants fled amid retaliatory firing.

The Hizbul Mujahideen has owned responsibility for the attack. A local news agency in Srinagar, quoting operational spokesperson of the outfit, claimed that the attack was carried out by Hizb's special squad.

However, SSP Imtiyaz Hussain Mir said the attack might have been the handiwork of Pakistan-based cadres of Jaish-e-Mohammad which had been active in Baramulla for nearly a month. We have begun investigations.

A defence official said a road opening party (ROP) was on the job when the attack took place. This did not deter the militants from carrying out the attack, he said. Search operations are on to trace the assailants.

With the Valley on the boil since July 8, when Hizb commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter, Army convoys have been moving late in the night to prevent any confrontation with the locals. This is done only after security clearance from ROPs that operate on designated routes.

Police sources said the militants, taking advantage of the unrest, were consolidating themselves. A CRPF Commandant has been killed and 14 security personnel wounded in various attacks since Independence Day.
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 18

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has ordered a probe after a US citizen was allegedly issued a death threat by a CRPF man on Independence Day in Srinagar.

Irfan Malik of Forest Hills, New York, has formally lodged a complaint with Inspector General of the CRPF Atul Karwal over the alleged death threat and harassment. In his complaint, Malik has said he was driving around 3.40 pm on August 15 when he was stopped by a CRPF man and was abused and threatened.

My mother (71) and I were returning from Bohri Kadal and travelling towards Dalgate when I was pulled over by your jawan shortly after we passed the new Bohri Kadal Bridge. Your CRPF jawan exhibited a highly unprofessional, harassing, extremely intimidating and irrational behaviour. I offered him my documents which included my United States passport, an Indian visa and my New York drivers license for identification. The said jawan enquired what I did for a living and I told him that I am a civil servant and work for the government in the US. He further asked me where we were headed and enquired if I knew about an attack on the CRPF that same morning. I further told him that we were heading to our residence next to the IG, CRPF. Immediately, the Jawan ordered me to step out of my vehicle, which I promptly complied with, thinking that he might need to frisk me or perhaps search our vehicle, Malik wrote in his complaint to the IG.

Instead of frisking me or searching my vehicle, the said jawan immediately threatened to shoot me without any provocation while my mother was still seated in the front seat, unable to comprehend what was happening. He warned me that he could kill me without any consequences and made actions to demonstrate to me how and where my body would be lying on the street. The jawan lifted his cane above his head with both hands to strike me and just then another CRPF jawan intervened and stood between the agitated jawan and myself just like a wall and directed him to stop and desist, advising him that I was a foreigner and that they would get into deep trouble, he said.

I requested them to call their officer; the request was denied by the agitated jawan, stating that he was in charge on the street at that intersection. I was finally directed to leave the scene and further advised by the said jawan that the only reason he spared my life was because my mother would be a witness. I straightaway drove to the office of the IG, CRPF, at Kralsangri, and lodged a formal complaint, he said.

The IG confirmed that he had received a formal complaint. I have asked the Commandant, 115 Battalion, to hold an inquiry within seven days.
Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 18

As the situation in Kashmir valley continues to be volatile, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh reached the Capital on Wednesday to give feedback to the BJP high command about the role being played by the party ministers at this crucial juncture.

Highly placed sources in the BJP said the party high command was mulling over initiating some steps on Kashmir to break the ice so it was taking the opinion of the local leadership. The Deputy Chief Minister will be meeting senior party leaders, including some Central ministers, during his two-day visit.

As the BJPs representative in the coalition government, the Deputy Chief Minister has been called to give his opinion, a source said, adding that the high command was not happy with the worsening situation and it was seriously thinking about formulating a strategy to revive the morale of the nationalist forces.

The sources said after the grenade attack on Buddha Amarnath pilgrims on August 13, leaders of some Hindu organisations had lodged complaints before the BJP high command about the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. The Hindu organisations blamed the PDP-BJP coalition government for the terror attack on pilgrims in Poonch.

A senior BJP leader, who wished not to be quoted, said the party top brass was also unhappy about the growing dissent in the party as several leaders were openly speaking against the functioning of the government. The party high command was of the opinion that the party ministers in the coalition had failed to connect with the party workers and supporters at grass-roots level.

Recently, party veteran and Member of the Legislative Council Ashok Khajuria had hit out at the Deputy Chief Minister for his controversial remarks on the killing of militant Burhan Wani, saying that the BJP does not subscribe to the views of those who termed Burhans elimination as an accident.

He had also described the PDP and the BJP alliance for forming the government in the state as unholy and unhealthy and warned that any act of the ruling alliance damaging the interests of the country would be strongly opposed. Another party leader Ramesh Arora had also expressed his anguish over the style of functioning of party ministers.
Ehsan Fazili

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 18

A lecturer in English died and more than 25 persons were injured, some of them seriously, when they were allegedly beaten up by security forces in Khrew village of Pulwama district in the outskirts of Srinagar on Thursday night.

While the residents blamed the Army for death of college lecturer Shabir Ahmad Mongu (32), the Army said it had started an investigation.

Sources said Shabir was detained by the Army during a midnight raid along with many other residents. Shabir was dragged from his house and beaten up ruthlessly. He was later taken to an Army camp where he died, a local resident claimed over phone.

Eye witnesses said, men in groups of 15 to 60 persons were beaten up by Army personnel at two or three places. They included two brothers of the deceased college lecturer. One of his brothers, Zahoor Ahmad, undergoing treatment at a hospital here, said he had seen Shabir among those being beaten up.

The police said after stone-throwing, a clash took place between the Army and some locals of Khrew village resulting in death of one person Shabir Ahmed Monga and injuries to four others. The police had taken cognisance of the matter and investigation had been taken up, a police spokesman said.

It (incident) is regrettable. It was a joint patrol which had gone there, said Lt Gen Satish Dua, GOC of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps of the Army. Thereafter, one death has taken place and I am aware of that, he said while replying to questions from media persons on the sidelines of a function here today.

He said, We are looking into it. It is too soon for me to say anything. The GOC said the Army had due process of investigation which is kicked in whether or not anyone asks it to do so.

The Army, it is learnt, later informed the police and the body was handed over to them. Later, the body of Shabir, an ad hoc lecturer in English at Government Amar Singh College, Srinagar, was given to the family early on Thursday morning.

With Shabirs death, the toll in the ongoing violence in Kashmir has gone up to 66. The Valley has been facing trouble since the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani on July 8.

Elsewhere, a violent mob attacked the house of the Shopian MLA on Wednesday night, the police said. The mob set ablaze the belongings, including a motorcycle, of the guard posted for protection of the house.
Manpriya Singh

A click of a moment makes for a memory of a lifetime. A child swung up in the air, dew drops atop a mountain tree, or even a flower blooming in the backyard. They travel far and wide, places familiar and God forsaken, and return with stories galore. On World Photography Day, those from Chandigarh share some unusual tales, some interesting clicks and of course, their never ending affair with their lens. We listen.

Its all about instinct

Be it the Horse Galloping event at Ba Shang, Inner Mongolia, China or be it the mother and child shot of a Mongolian family, hobbyist photographer Vinod Chauhan has been in love with the camera for decades now. He has a shot for every spectacle and a story to go with every shot. At the event, hundreds of horses are first allowed to graze and the riders are attired in Mongolian dresses. The dust storm created by these horses and the entire spectacle is a photographers delight.

He explains yet another picture, Dressed in all colourful Mongolian dress, the mother and child were riding the camel. When the mother tried to kiss her, the naughty child opened her mouth to bite her mother. I captioned the picture A Million Dollars Kiss, and adds, Photography is all about instinct.

People, culture, traditions

City-based Simran Jagdev could have easily belonged to the happy snappy generation, and been smugly restricted to the selfie obsession. But the camera gave her a chance to be a part of peoples most important day of their lives. I have covered three Muslim weddings in the past two years. These are one of the unique and conservative weddings, you wish to experience as a photographer. It all helps you appreciate different cultural experiences. Even if the tradition doesnt encourage photography too openly and the brides arent comfortable with male photographers.

Anytime, anywhere

Love for photography need not get restricted by distant places or exorbitant gadgets. Deepika from Deep Clicks embraces all things challenging her craft. An under-water photo shoot was on the agenda for a long time. Till finally, it happened. The girl did not even know how to swim but the couple co-operated,  she shares an under-water photo shoot that happened recently in Ludhiana.
Dear current and former MDC employees,

Thank you for the outstanding service you have provided to Montana Developmental Center clients. Whether you live in Boulder, Basin, Helena, Butte, Whitehall or elsewhere, thank you for being an integral part of our Boulder community. Thank you for your outstanding work in taking such good care of people with disabilities.

The Legislatures decision to close MDC has been very difficult for you and your families; you have responded admirably. Despite the uncertainties and the stress this closure has created in your personal lives, you have continued to place the clients first. You have been unjustifiably berated by those who have not walked in your shoes, but you have persevered  putting quality service to MDC clients above politics and rhetoric.

If we could compensate you for your time, your commitment, your dedication, your caring attitude and for your perseverance, you would all be millionaires. But, unfortunately we cannot. But, we can sincerely say thank you, thank you, and thank you. We are proud that you are members of our Boulder area community. We hope that you will find a way to stay here. Our community is working hard to encourage other employment opportunities in the Boulder area.

Please let me know if you have suggestions for how the Boulder Transition Advisory Council (BTAC) can be helpful to you and your family.

With gratitude,

Drew Dawson, chair of the Boulder Transition Advisory Committee; Gary Craft, Boulder mayor; Bob Mullen, chair of the Jefferson County Commissioners; and Sarah Layng, president of the Boulder Chamber of Commerce
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 18

Badish K Jindal, president of the Federation of Punjab Small Industries Associations (FOPSIA), stated that China was making mockery of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) by boosting exports through Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

He said slogans like "Make in India and Skill India" were just an eyewash as the economy of the country had deteriorated sharply in the last two years. "A data of the Ministry of Commerce revealed that in the year 2012-13, China had recorded a sale of Rs 265 crore on the export of the bicycles to the country. However, in the year 2015-16, the imports decreased to Rs 69 crore due to the increase of import duty from China. But by taking undue

advantage of SAFTA, Chinese companies exported the bicycles through Bangladesh and Sri Lanka," said Jindal.

He said the exports of bicycle from these countries (Bangladesh and Sri Lanka ) to India was nil in the year 2011-12, while in 2015-16 these countries recorded a sale of over Rs 150 core through export of bicycles to India.

Jindal while referring to the data available with him said during the last two financial years, the imports from China to India surges up from Rs 3,09,234 crore to Rs 4,04,012 crore with an increase of around 29 per cent, whereas during the same period, the exports from India to China dipped down from Rs 90,561 crore to Rs 59,052 crore from 2014 to 2016.

He alleged that the wrong policies of Indian government further affected the small industries as the government increased the import duties on raw materials instead of finished goods. "The decision had a major fallout on the small scale industry of the state. The import of bicycle accessory from China increased from Rs 130 crore to Rs 227 crore from 2014-15 to 2015-16," said Jindal.

The data further shows that to please a few corporate houses, the government put restrictions on the imports of steel items, which resulted in the increase of 15 per cent in manufactured steel items.

Similarly, by imposing the duties on fiber to please a few big houses in 2016, the government put the small manufacturers in trouble. The data shows that in May, 2016, imports of yarn dropped to Rs 442 crore, while in May, 2015, the yarn import stood at Rs 597 crore.

However, on the other hand, in May, 2015, the garment import was Rs 200 crore which increased to Rs 388 crores in May, 2016. The policies benefitted a few yarn manufacturers but small scale garment manufacturers suffered a heavy loss.

"Due to WTO, SAFTA and ASEAN agreements, the Indian industry is suffering badly. Exports from small countries like Switzerland to India stands more than Rs 1,26,075 crore and exports from Indonesia to India is over Rs 91,845 crores, while the exports from India to Switzerland is merely Rs 6,466 crore and from India to Indonesia is Rs 24,674 crore. Due to the implementation of SAFTA, the imports from Bangladesh to India increased from Rs 2,900 crore to Rs 4,300 crore in the last two years.

He said FOPSIA had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the country's trade policy at the earliest.

Jindal did not rule out the involvement of some top officials from the Ministry of Commerce, who could be facilitating the Chinese companies to increase their exports to India for their alleged vested interests.
Manas Dasgupta

Ahmedabad, August 17

Aam Aadmi Partys Gujarat headquarters was ransacked here today allegedly by a group of people belonging to a newly formed outfit, Brahma Padkaar Sena, which claims to be protecting the interests of the Brahmins and other upper caste Hindus.

A Sena spokesman said they were protesting against a woman AAP activist, Sangeeta Chandpa, who allegedly used abusive language against Brahmins while condemning the flogging of Dalit youths in Una. He demanded that the AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal take action against her and issue an apology over contemptuous references. Otherwise, we will not allow AAP to keep any office in Gujarat, the spokesman said.

AAP state spokesman Harshil Nayak, however, blamed the BJP government in the state for the attack on the office, which was situated close to a police station. The police refused to initiate any action. The BJP is trying to scare away the AAP the way it was trying to create scare among the Patels and Dalits, but it will never succeed, he said.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 17

Former parliamentarian and Rajasthan minister Vijyendrapal Singh Badnore was today appointed as the Governor of Punjab.

Former Union minister Najma Heptulla, who was dropped from the Narendra Modi Cabinet last month, will be the new Governor of Manipur. Banwari Lal Purohit, a four-term MP from Nagpur and owner of English daily Hitvada, was appointed the Governor of Assam and former Delhi minister Jagdish Mukhi the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in place of Lt Gen AK Singh (retd).

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Badnore belongs to the royal Badnore family in Bhilwara. He served as Irrigation Minister in the 1999-2004 Vasundhara Raje government and was elected to the Assembly five times. He is also a three-term MP. This July, he retired from the Rajya Sabha.

There is ample scope for doing things and I will like to do my bit to promote good relations between the state and the Centre and will attach importance to transparency, the Governor-designate said.

Badnore, 68, is expected to take charge by Monday. Currently, Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki is holding additional charge since the last incumbent Shivraj Patil completed his tenure in January last year.

The Centre also appointed former IPS officer Farooq Khan, who was associated with J&K Police, as the Administrator of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.
Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, August 18

No museum, no private collector in the world has an emerald of that size, says Rudrajyoti Bhattacharjee as he talks about an idol of Buddha carved out from a huge emerald that was purportedly in the possession of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose while he was leading the INA to engage the imperial British army.

The emerald Buddha, reportedly measuring over 17,000 carats, is among the valuables belonging to the INA that went missing after the INA and its global backers lost the war to the allied forces.

Bhattacharjee, an advocate, has filed a PIL in the Calcutta High Court demanding the setting up of an inquiry commission to throw light on INAs missing wealth. A Division Bench of the high court headed by the Chief Justice has given the centre two months to reply to the PIL.

Thousands of crores in cash, gold and other valuables were donated by patriots for the INA. These were kept in Azad Hind Banks set up in Singapore, Malayasia, Bangkok, Burma and some other places in South East Asia, which were under Japanese control at that time.

The Governor of Singapore, in a letter written to a British official on September 6, 1946, mentions the issue of INAs wealth and says this, as well as cash and valuables belonging to the Indian Independence League (IIL), were handed over to a top leader of the then Indian Government.

Citing another document, the PIL also mentions that on October 20, 1951, KK Chettur of the Indian Liaison Mission in Tokyo wrote to Commonwealth Mission Secretary S Datta about valuables in the coffers of the INA weighing more than that of its chief, Bose.

In another letter (dated May 6, 1950) cited in the petition, the Governor of Singapore wrote to the Secretary of State in London about more than 5 kg of gold and over $10 million recovered from the INA and the IIL in Singapore. Following the recovery, these were kept in the personal account of a top Indian leader in the Indian Overseas Bank, it says.

Even in the 1980s, some money belonging to the INA was received by the Government of India. An Intelligence Bureau document prepared in 1987 mentions this.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 18

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legal head cell Himmat Singh Shergill on Thursday said the party would file a criminal and civil defamation case against its national council member Pavitar Singh and his wife Lakhwinder Kaur for alleging that party leaders Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak had demanded Rs 50 lakh donation to award ticket to Kaur from Phillaur Assembly constituency.

Shergill said the AAP would sue any party volunteer or leader who would level such allegations against the party leaders in future as such allegations defamed the party.

Reacting to the allegations, Sanjay Singh on Wednesday had said, Such baseless allegations dont deserve reaction. The person levelling these should first provide proof. Had he done so, I would have reacted.

Pathak had said, I will not comment as the one levelling the allegations has not provided any proof.

Pavitar claimed to have campaigned for Arvind Kejriwal in Varanasi during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

He, along with his wife Lakhwinder Kaur, had addressed a press conference here on Wednesday. Lakhwinder is joint secretary of the women wing of the party and sought a party ticket from Phillaur.

Pavitar claimed that since volunteers from Phillaur had supported Lakhwinders claim for candidature, both were asked to appear before Sanjay Singh and Pathak.

We met the leaders in Chandigarh on August 15. They categorically told us that the nomination for the party could be given only to those individuals who could pay Rs 2.5 crore in cash. They said we were being given a discount as I am member of the national council and we both have worked hard for the party in Punjab, so we were required to donate Rs 50 lakh, Pavitar alleged.

He claimed that after the meeting, he sent several SMSes to Kejriwal to sound him, but to no avail.
London, August 18

Delhi CM and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal will kick off a European election campaign as part of the party's "AAP Punjab 2017" agenda from next month.

Kejriwal will visit Italy in the first week of September along with party leaders Kumar Vishwas, Jarnail Singh and Adarsh Shashtri, it was announced by AAP's UK unit today.

The visit to engage with Italy's Punjabi-origin population will be followed by a visit to the UK by Vishwas to hold gatherings across the country's gurdwaras towards the end of September. AAP's team in the UK has been rallying support within the British Punjabi community with a series of events, including at the annual Leamington and Warwick Mela.  PTI
PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 18

The Special Task Force (STF) arrested gangsters Gaurav Sharma alias Goru Bachcha of Ludhiana and Manpreet Singh alias Mani Rayya of Amritsar following an ambush late last night in the Tarn Taran area.

With their arrest, the STF claimed to have averted a gang war to avenge the killing of Dilbagh Singh alias Lamma Patti.

Another criminal, Akul Khatri, had been critically injured in the gang war  between Davinder Shooter Bambiha and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gangs  that rocked Tarn Taran on the intervening night of August 9-10.

IG, STF, Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh said that Goru Bachcha and Mani Rayya  accompanied by Bobby Malhotra and his accomplices  were going for another gang war with the Bambiha gang.

The STF had a specific input about their movement, following which police teams headed by DSP Maninder Bedi, Ludhiana STF incharge, and DSP Ramandeep Singh, Patiala STF incharge, were formed, he said.

The gangs were moving on five vehicles. When the police teams started chasing them on the Nagoke-Khadoor Sahib road, the gangsters opened fire at them. The police retaliated which later led to the arrest of Goru Bachcha and Mani Rayya. Their accomplices managed to escape, he said. A case has been registered.

Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh said Goru Bachcha and Mani Rayya were involved in more than two dozen heinous crimes, including murder.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 18

Chief Minister Harish Rawat celebrated Raksha Bandhan with inmates of the Nari Niketan here today. The destitute women tied rakhis on his wrist.

The Chief Minister distributed sweets, fruits and gifts among them. He enquired about the facilities and services being provided to the differently abled and mentally ill women at the Nari Niketan.

The Chief Minister inspected the Nari Niketan complex and had an informal interaction with women. He said the government was committed to providing best facilities to the destitute women and differently abled persons.

He said various welfare schemes under the Social Welfare Department of the state government were being implemented for the weaker sections of society. The state government has made arrangements to impart skill development training to the destitute and differently abled women.

Later, the Chief Minister went to Government Childrens Home located at Kedarpuram. He took stock of the health and educational facilities being provided to the children. He distributed fruits and sweets among them.

Earlier, sisters of Prajapati Brahma Kumaris Ishwari University tied rakhis on the Chief Ministers wrist at the Bijapur guesthouse. Girls from the Valmiki community and Muslim women also tied rakhis on the Chief Ministers wrist.

It may be mentioned here that the Chief Minister visits the Kedarpuram Nari Niketan and other orphanages of the city on Divali and Raksha Bandhan every year.
I was offended by the editorial written by Lawrence K. Pettit about the Franklin Graham prayer rally and Pettits characterization of the audience. I am an evangelical Christian, one of those he chose to criticize. My attitude toward others outside my faith is one of love, kindness and genuine liking. I dont wish to control them. When I share my faith, it is done with openness to those who ask, and I listen to their viewpoints, too. Most evangelical Christians I know are equally kind. They are generous to those in need. If they lean toward the Republican political stance, it isnt usually because they equate it with their religion, but rather because it better reflects their values.

Many evangelicals do prefer Republican government because it supports the values of independence, working hard, being careful with finances, and guarding our nation from harm. There are some evangelicals who prefer Democratic government because they feel the government should help care for those in need. But none of us are happy about some aspects of the Democratic partys effects, such as the displays of civil disobedience and encouraging personal choices that result in problems that require other taxpayers to bail them out. We dont want a dependent, weak society! Its getting out of control, with approximately half the nation living off the other half. Hand-outs can enable negative behavior instead of being a kindness that helps people get back on their own feet. So even those of us who sometimes vote Democrat are not happy with these things. We want to see America grow stronger.

Most evangelicals do agree with Graham that prayer is the best answer to the problems we face in America today, just as it has always been. I respect and pray for our leaders, regardless of their political party, that they will make wise decisions that will benefit our community and nation. I am grateful for their service. I believe in participating in the legislative process by communicating with my congressman about concerns. I believe in friendly persuasion, not dominance, in contrast to what Pettit wrote. I think you will find that many Christians feel the same. Prayer is key to our lives.

There is a kindness in the evangelical Christian community toward others that exceeds the required kindness of government. When fires burned in Hamilton, it was the churches that organized help for those who lost their homes or who faced evacuation. The Christians gathered to pray for the protection of their community from the fire. They offered their trailers to those whose homes burned. They provided a place to sleep, with blankets and food. Their papers headlines said, The Power of Prayer, honoring the Christians. In Helena, Christians have organized to help those in need: Gods Love, Family Promise, Salvation Army, Good Samaritan, etc. Our people are generous to those in genuine need. When we have emergencies, the Christians organize to help. We are a strong asset to our communities.

It is disturbing that the educators in America have cast a negative light on those who disagree with them, and they teach our young people to despise Christians. These professors are far more aggressive and closed minded than they accuse Christians of being! They ridicule our childrens faith and teach them disrespect for our values. They insist that they, the political scientists and philosophers, are the all-wise ones who know what is best for America. They disrespect those whose taxes pay their salaries. It is a great disservice to America, and Lawrence Pettit should be ashamed of himself for speaking ill of those who love and live for Jesus, and for undermining the fabric that holds America together.

Sheri Schofield

Helena
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, August 18

Raksha Bandhan that was celebrated across the region today was a somber occasion for orphaned children of Bastari village. As many as 21 residents of the village were killed in a landslide disaster triggered by heavy rains on June 30.

Aman and Piyush, children of Chardrakala and Chanshekhar Bhatt, who died in the natural disaster on June 30, say dejectedly that they always celebrated Raksha Bandhan enthusiastically. Their mother used to prepare various delicacies on the festival till last year while his father used to buy rakhis from a nearby market. Without the presence of our parents, there is no meaning of celebrating rakhi, says Aman.

After the death of their parents, the children, who study in class IV and I, respectively, are now living with their grandfather Damodar Bhatt. Children keep weeping as miss their parents who died in the disaster. I feel helpless, says Damodar in a choked voice.

Another orphaned siblings Manoj and Mamta, children of Indu and Jagdish Bhatt of Bastari village, start sobbing when asked about how they celebrated rakhi till last year. Our parents used to prepare for Raksha Bandhan as it is the time to change Janeu (sacred thread worn by Hindus). We used to go to the nearby market at Singhali to buy rakhis and on return, our parents used to welcome us with specially prepared delicacies and prasad. But our family has been destroyed. The festival has no meaning for us now, says Manoj.

Villagers say that they are trying their best to console the orphaned children by ensuring them that the entire village was with them to share their pains. Not only these families of orphaned children but also of other 20 affected households, which lost one or two members, are in deep pain, says Shankar Datt, a social worker.
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, August 18

The rise in the cases of viral fever has alarmed the people and district authorities in Mussoorie. The prestigious St Georges College has been closed till September 4 as a large number of viral fever and typhoid cases have been reported from the school for the past few days. Typhoid is a water-borne disease that is known to spread during monsoon in hilly districts.

St Georges College senior co-coordinator John Nanda said the school had witnessed some cases of viral fever. Being predominantly a boarding school, the management has closed the institution for 20 days to curb the spread of the disease among students, he said.

Nanda said the half yearly exams of the students are scheduled to begin from September 5. The school has been closed from August 15. Parents have been asked to take their children back to their home so that the students can prepare for exams at their homes. The parents have agreed as this is in the interest of their children. The school has its own water cleaning system and the water supplied to the school is tested regularly. The school would clean its water storage tanks once again during the holidays, he said, adding that the students go on outing to the town and it is possible they might have come in contact with the disease.

Dr Sandeep Tandon, Medial Superintendent of the Civil Hospital, said, rise in the cases of viral fever and typhoid was witnessed every monsoon. People should ensure that the water they consume is clean and without any infectious bacteria content, he said.

Dr Tandon said the hospital had received no such information about the spread of typhoid at St Georges College. We cant carry out any preventive exercise in any school until we are informed, he added.

Social activist Dr Sunil Sanon, former doctor at St Marys Hospital in Mussoorie, said, Besides sanitising water, food handlers in the mess should also be monitored and vaccinated. Typhoid is a waterborne disease. The town in the past had an Infective Disease Hospital (IDH) where patients of communicable disease, such as Measles, used to be quarantined but the building has been converted into a housing society for poor, thus showing abysmal concern towards the disease that can easily turn into an epidemic, he said.

Dehradun Chief Medical Officer Dr YS Thapliyal said he had asked medical officials in Mussoorie to collect water samples from the school for lab test. He said that the Widal test for typhoid cases does not have 100 per cent authenticity. There is another test, known as S Typhi, which is not available in Mussoorie, he added.

Meanwhile, Jal Santhan Executive Engineer VK Saini said had there been something wrong with the water supply, the cases of water-borne disease would have surfaced in other schools too.

Residents of the town said health cards of every student should be deposited with the civil hospital so that the monitoring at the government level can be done on regular basis to avoid the spread of communicable diseases.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 18

Local residents were caught in prolonged bumper-to-bumper traffic jams in the city today as they came out in a large number to celebrate Raksha Bandhan. Police personnel deployed at busy inter-crossings and on arterial roads were unable to streamline traffic, leaving commuters harried.

Long queues of vehicles were seen witnessed at Survey Chowk, Haridwar road, Araghar, Haridwar bypass, Dilaram Chowk, Doon Hospital Chowk, Darshan Lal Chowk, Prince Chowk, Bindal, Clock Tower, Nehru Colony, Balliwala, Ballupur, Gandhi road, Chakrata road, Saharanpur Chowk, Prince Chowk, Patelnagar Chowk and the ISBT crossing.

TS Semwal, a resident of the Haridwar road, lamented that they regularly get caught in traffic jams. The problem increased manifold during festive occasions. The problem is persisting for the past couple of months due to poor traffic management in the city. Shortage of policemen, non-functional traffic lights and violation of traffic rules and regulations by residents are the reasons for regular traffic jams in the city, he added.

SP, Traffic, Dheerandra Gunjyal, said no new traffic management plan would be implemented in any part of the city. The traffic police were focusing on enforcement of the existing traffic plan. Additional policemen would be deployed to streamline traffic at busy inter-crossings. Traffic rule offenders were being challaned heavily. Policemen on duty had been directed to tow away vehicles parked at undesignated places, he added.

Traffic jams have become a regular feature in the city. The problem of traffic congestion increases manifold during office or school hours, on public holidays and festive seasons.
Beirut, August 18

Syrian opposition activists have released haunting footage showing a young boy rescued from the rubble in the aftermath of a devastating airstrike in Aleppo.

The image of the stunned and weary looking boy, sitting in an orange chair inside an ambulance covered in dust and with blood on his face, encapsulates the horrors inflicted on the war-ravaged northern city and is being widely shared on social media.

A doctor in Aleppo on Thursday identified the boy as 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh. Osama Abu al-Ezz confirmed he was brought to the hospital known as M10 Wednesday night following an air strike on the rebel-held neighborhood of Qaterji with head wounds, but no brain injury, and was later discharged.

Rescue workers and journalists arrived at Qaterji shortly after the strike and began pulling victims from the rubble.

We were passing them from one balcony to the other, said photojournalist Mahmoud Raslan, who took the iconic photo. He said he had passed along three lifeless bodies before receiving the wounded boy.

A doctor at M10 later reported eight dead, among them five children.

The strike occurred during the sunset call to prayer, around 7:20 pm, said Raslan, a correspondent for Al Jazeera Mubashir.

Omran was rescued along with his three siblings, ages 1, 6, and 11, and his mother and father from the rubble of their partially destroyed apartment building, according to Raslan.

None sustained major injuries, but the building collapsed shortly after the family was rescued.

We sent the younger children immediately to the ambulance, but the 11-year-old girl waited for her mother to be rescued. Her ankle was pinned beneath the rubble, Raslan said.

In the video posted late Wednesday by the Aleppo Media Center, a man is seen plucking the boy away from a chaotic nighttime scene and carrying him inside the ambulance, looking dazed and flat-eyed.

The boy then runs his hand over his blood-covered face, looks at his hands and wipes them on the ambulance chair.

Doctors in Aleppo use code names for hospitals, which they say have been systematically targeted by government airstrikes. Abu al-Ezz said they do that because we are afraid security forces will infiltrate their medical network and target ambulances as they transfer patients from one hospital to another.

Activists living in opposition areas rely on informers in the government-controlled Latakia province to warn residents of impending airstrikes.  AP
Kathmandu: Nepals Prime Minister Prachanda is likely to make India his first foreign trip destination after assuming office unlike in 2008 when he visited China first as his special envoy arrived in New Delhi today to prepare the ground for his visit. Prachanda's predecessor, KP Oli, too visited India as his first official foreign destination. But the run up to his visit was surrounded by intense speculation that the Communist leader might visit China ahead of India. PTI

North Korean defector arrives with family in South

SEOUL: Thae Yong Ho, the most senior North Korean diplomat to flee to the South, is likely to have round-the-clock protection and make a comfortable living at a think-tank run by Seoul's intelligence service, say elite defectors who followed a similar path. Thae defected with his family and arrived in the South Korea, Seoul said. Reuters

China gets first data from its hack-proof satellite

Beijing: China on Thursday said the first batch of data from the world's only quantum satellite, which can provide "hack-proof" communications at speeds faster than light, has been received by it. The 202 MB of data was in good quality and was transferred to China's National Space Science Centre, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. PTI
Istanbul, August 18

Turkish authorities ordered the detention of nearly 200 people, including leading businessmen, and seized their assets as an investigation into suspects in last month's failed military rebellion shifted to the private sector.

President Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to choke off businesses linked to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for the July 15 coup attempt, describing his schools, firms and charities as "nests of terrorism."

Tens of thousands of troops, civil servants, judges and officials have been detained or dismissed in a massive purge that Western allies worry Erdogan is using to crack down on broader dissent, risking stability in the NATO partner.

In dawn raids on Thursday, police from a financial-crimes unit entered some 200 homes and workplaces after a chief prosecutor issued 187 arrest warrants.  Reuters
Washington, August 18

The Obama Administration withheld $400 million ransom that was paid to Iran in a plane till the time its hostages were released by Tehran, a major US daily reported on Thursday in a potentially damaging report for the Democratic party campaign.

US officials wouldnt let Iranians take control of the money until a Swiss Air Force plane carrying three freed Americans departed from Tehran on January 17. Once that happened, an Iranian cargo plane was allowed to bring the cash home from a Geneva airport that day, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Obama Administration has insisted that the payment was part of its effort to sort out a long-pending dispute with Iran and was not a ransom. However, the opposition Republican party does not seem to be convinced.

$400 million was the first instalment of the $1.7 billion settlement reached by the Obama Administration with Iran.

Its time for the White House to drop the charade and admit it paid a $400 million ransom to the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism, the Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Reince Priebus has said in a statement.

President (Barack) Obama has foolishly put a price on the head of every American abroad and it should be no surprise that Iran has since detained more US citizens.

Hillary Clintons support for this dangerous blunder shows once again she does not have the judgement to be President, Priebus has said.

According to the report, executives from Irans flagship carrier Iran Air, organised the flight from Tehran to Geneva where the cash  euros and Swiss francs and other currencies  was loaded onto the aircraft.

Our top priority was getting the Americans home, a US official was quoted as saying.

Once the Americans were wheels up on the morning of January 17, Iranian officials in Geneva were allowed to take custody of the $400 million in currency, according to officials briefed on the exchange, the daily reported.  PTI
It is common practice for our government to threaten curtailment of federal funding if a state fails to comply with certain of its policies. The following example shows how the entire forestry industry has been destroyed basically through mandated and enforced federal restrictions and regulations. Montana is getting closer to 50 percent dependency upon federal funding with controls. Meanwhile, government is going after our land, water, natural resources and even our minds.

Some years ago Gary Callihan, well versed in the European proven technology of using forest fuels to produce electricity, attempted to introduce that concept to Montana. This common-sense operation would have helped solve the problem of overgrown and dying trees on mismanaged federal lands, while providing renewable energy production and ongoing productive mill operation.

Forests can pay their own expenses, support communities, stay healthy and protect the environment if given a chance. Gradually, government rules and regulations took over.

Curtailment of timber harvest led to overgrowth of trees. Ideal 15 to 20/acre became hundreds/acre. Insufficient water and nutrients resulted in beetle kill, disease and death of trees. Fuels reduction of dead and dying trees with timber harvest would have regained forest health and reduced forest fires.

Burning forest slash piles was wasteful. Mills do use forest waste for timber drying, but are not equipped to also generate electricity.

Biomass cogeneration of both energy and heat would have helped finance the fuels reduction projects in combination with careful thinning of useable timber for lumber.

As mills close due to federal restrictions, forest health declines, fires and fire-fighting costs at taxpayer expense increase, to say nothing of investment losses of proclaimed endangered species. Grants to communities compensating for lost timber revenues cannot be depended upon. Firewood collectors could help remove dead and dying timber if given access to gated forests.

Demolishing forest roads severely handicaps fire-fighting, endangers lives and smoke-damaged health.

When Gov. Judy Martz learned about biomass energy production she assured Gary Callihan that it all made sense to her. She endorsed its economic development but later indicated that the feds had threatened to cut her school funding if she pursued it further. Complications have now been ongoing to finally wipe put our entire timber industry. We must be concerned about such deliberate, knowledgeable, undermining of our system of government built upon the free enterprise system, while initiating governmental policies that increase federal dependency.

We need a businessman in the presidency who doesnt walk, talk and think like professional politicians we have known. So much the better! Donald Trump has proven himself a success in the business world and is highly motivated to save our country. He cannot move his many skyscrapers, buildings, tenants, and workers overseas like the factories and financial corporations have done. He wants to put dedicated, qualified, responsible people into positions where they can save America for the people including his own family. We all want to live happy and secure here in America, able to provide for our own needs.

Clarice Ryan

Bigfork
The worlds largest corporate power grab, also known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, is just waiting for Congress to sign it and say, Yes, take away Congress authority.

This deal gives an incredible amount of power to the largest corporations in the world over national governments. Yes, that includes the U.S. government. No individual American has the resources or right to ensure his or her economic and political interests are safeguarded within this vast global corporate structure.

The clearly desired result of the TPP is to give more power to those with the most money. Indeed, they were the ones who negotiated it, and now they are spending billions to convince you its a good idea.

Montanans are smarter than that. We can see beyond corporate profiteering, because we depend on our own communities for success. We care about the success of our local businesses.

The TPP contains endless pages with rules for labor, environment, immigration and every other aspect of global commerce -- and a new international regulatory structure to spread, implement, and enforce these rules under the WTO. This new structure will meet, appoint unelected bureaucrats, adopt rules and change the agreement after adoption.

If our Montana delegation wants to really represent Montanans, they will vote against this anti-American power giveaway to global corporations. But why havent Rep. Zinke or Sen. Daines come out against it?

They did vote to take Congress ability to amend the deal; how much more are they willing to concede?

Deborah Hanson, board member, Montana League of Rural Voters

Miles City
Correction

This story originally misidentified the campus where Richard Walter has been teaching. The story has been corrected.

A renowned cold-case investigator serving as a temporary professor in Tulsa is lending his skills to a high-profile killing from Tulsa Countys unsolved case files.

The expert offered a somewhat cryptic warning to Dena Deans potential killers during a news conference Thursday:

My advice to the perpetrators would be, Dont buy any green bananas,  said forensic psychologist Richard Walter.

Walters message may signal an imminent arrest  perhaps even before a bunch of bananas has time to ripen  but at minimum serves as a bold statement of progress in the nearly two-decades-old case. He expressed confidence but didnt want to dive into specifics.

The proverbial light bulb switched on while scouring reports and evidence, Walter said, and a devious pattern exposed itself. They did stumble with mistakes but think theyre more clever than the rest of us, which he said is fine because more errors will follow.

Did they make more errors? The answer is, Yes,  Walter said. Did they think maybe they were safe? Possibly.

The 16-year-old Dean was last reported alive at the Town West shopping center in 1998. The Webster High School student had just left a west Tulsa Arbys restaurant where she worked, near 5600 W. Skelly Drive.

Dean planned to meet a friend at a supermarket near the shopping center. Her car was found abandoned there.

Authorities located her body six days later, less than three miles from the store.

Walter, who is wrapping up a 13-month tenure teaching in the forensic science program at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, felt it was time to give back to the community what he called a temporary home.

Through local connections, Walter, who also trains investigators at Scotland Yard, offered his services free of charge to delve into the Dean case. Walter is a co-founder of the Vidocq Society, an organization of forensic professionals dedicated to cracking cold cases.

Walter said he doesnt need to have a chat with the Dean suspects because they have given me all the details I need anyway. The Tulsa County Sheriffs Office cold case team has made significant process that he wont divulge for fear of offering an unintended heads up.

They survived for 18 years; that reign is coming to a close, in my opinion, Walter said.

Walter also wondered what sort of reaction those who investigators are focusing on might have to the spotlight brought by media attention after the news conference.

Im curious to see how arrogant they are, Walter said. Or whether they think were talking about them.

Walter wasnt the only official expressing confidence Thursday.

Retired Tulsa police homicide Sgt. Mike Huff, who leads the Sheriffs Office cold case unit, said investigators have been able to really sink their teeth into the case in the past two to three weeks.

Fresh scrutiny of the eight to 10 boxes of information in the case has yielded that confidence.

Huff said Walters skills shine on the behavioral aspect of killers and circumstantial evidence to unravel and then reconstruct the story of a slaying. But Huff said his focus is presenting a prosecutable case to the District Attorneys Office, which is a lot more than theory.

Huff noted he has a pretty good understanding of what District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler requires to file charges in such a case.

It comes down to real, hard-core results, he said.
A landmark piece of playground equipment in Helena, the rocket slide began its journey to the future Wednesday.

Its been a fixture at Bill Carson Memorial Park at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds since perhaps 1968.

Eric Bryson, the countys chief administrative officer who grew up in Helena and played on the rocket as a child, said he believed it was manufactured by the Miracle Equipment Co. in Grinnell, Iowa.

A metal spiral staircase inside the rocket-shaped structure, fashioned of steel tubing, allowed children to race up to its nose cone. They could take the slide for the quick trip back to earth.

On Wednesday, a crane helped a county public works department crew remove the rocket and load it onto a semi-trucks flatbed trailer for the trip across town to Helena College, where it will be restored.

Just when the rocket will make its return isnt certain, county Commissioner Andy Hunthausen said.

We didnt put any parameters on that as we recognize its an educational project," he said.

Hunthausen asked Helena College to help save the rocket, said the colleges Dean Daniel Bingham.

People have played on it for generations, and Hunthausen didnt want to see it lost to history, he explained.

Were pretty excited about the opportunity to do this, Bingham said.

Restoration of the rocket could be completed by the end of the colleges fall semester that concludes in mid-December, Bingham said. Or it could continue into the schools spring semester that concludes in May.

Whats important, he explained, is to have the students prepared for the restoration work they will undertake on the rocket.

Theres interest in recreating the slide that was once part of it too, he said.

But before work begins, Helena College needs photos of the rocket as it stood in the park.

And the college would like to collect stories from those who once played on the rocket to use in compiling a history of it, he added.

This will be a great project for us, Bingham said.

Rockets were popular in playgrounds in the late 1950s and into the 1960s. A 1963 issue of Life magazine noted the arrival of Space Age playground equipment.

The new gear, some of it as colorful as modern art, is as different from the old-fashioned slide, seesaw and teeth-busting swing as Telstar is from a Conestoga wagon, it reported in a pictorial look at playgrounds.

The playground at the fairgrounds holds other vestiges of play structures that could also date from the 1960s. A slide for tots would appear to have them riding down the trunk of an elephant. Dull metal jungle gyms for younger children rose but a few feet from the grass.

Hunthausen would like to see the rocket, once its restored, returned to the playground and used as a centerpiece display when the fairgrounds playground is updated.

While the college is donating its labor and related supplies for welding and restoring the rocket, the county will be paying for materials. Anyone who remembers playing on it as a child and would like to make a donation is welcome to do so, Hunthausen said.

For the last 12 or 13 years, the rocket has been closed to use, a decision made after its slide had deteriorated and required removal, said Keith Hatch, the fairgrounds manager.

Rust competed with faded red and white paint on the rockets six legs. Small, black plastic signs with orange lettering warned against trespassing and said Keep Out.

Hatch watched as work began to prepare the rocket for its journey. He said the fair board talked about what to do with it for years. Within the last three or four months, the discussion became more focused and plans started to take shape.

With the crane extended above the rocket and connected to it with canvas straps, the county crew used a torch to cut the rockets six legs and the steel post that ran upward through the spiral staircase to the spaceships nose.

Hunthausen, 51, recalled what the rocket meant to him.

I played on this a lot, he said.

Going up in the nosecone, sliding down the slide, it was quite the deal. I played on it a lot as a kid anytime I could get my parents to bring me down here.

And as he watched, the rocket did rise. It was drawn skyward ever so slightly by the crane before it touched back down and was laid gently on the grass. Lifted again by the crane, the rocket was placed on the semi-trucks trailer.

When I was a kid, man, that was up there, he said of the rockets 30-foot height.

We felt like we were going to take off, he said. We were going to rocket to the stars.
Turkish economy has become more resilient after the July 15 coup attempt by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), head of the countrys top business organization said on Tuesday.

"We have continued hosting 3 million Syrian refugees, on the other hand we have been fighting with terrorist groups, PKK and Daesh," Rifat Hisarciklioglu, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), said at a regional economic corporation meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran.

"The July 15 coup attempt came on top of all this," he said.

Hisarciklioglu said despite fighting against terrorist groups and the coup bid, Turkey's economy did not suffer.

"Our economy has overcome the coup attempt and is even getting stronger," he said.

Hisarciklioglu was attending the 21st Executive Committee Meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization - Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ECO-CCI) in neighboring Iran.

ECO was established in 1985 by Turkey, Iran and Pakistan to stimulate regional development, build economic and technical relations and tighten cultural and historical ties.

Other member states such as Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan joined the organization after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

CCI, a regional institution within the ECO, says it aims "to contribute to enhance economic cooperation and relations in trade, industry, agriculture, tourism, contracting, engineering and banking sectors as well as to realize joint investments among the member states."

Hisarciklioglu said some 16 percent of the world's total oil reserves and 24 percent of the proven natural gas reserves are located in the ECO countries.

"We are also standing on the world energy corridors and trade routes. Half of the world population, almost 3.5 billion people, are living in the contiguous countries," said Hisarciklioglu.

But he claimed members do not benefit enough from the organization's potential.

"We have awesome fertile lands. We have a great history and human capital. Despite all these advantages, we receive only 2 percent share from the global trade," he said.

Hisarciklioglu called for removing visa requirements among ECO members.

"Although Turkey has no visa restrictions for almost all the ECO members, Turkish citizens have visa-free access to only a few ECO countries," he said. "We should put an end to these malpractices. A man does not need a visa to enter his brother's house."

Turkey's government has said the defeated coup, which left 240 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, was organized by followers of Fetullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, and his FETO network.

Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

Anadolu Agency
Turkey has demanded the extradition of eight soldiers who fled to Greece in a helicopter just after the July 15 defeated coup, judicial sources said Tuesday.

A file prepared by the Justice Ministry was sent to Greece Tuesday through the Foreign Ministry, the judicial sources said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The Justice Ministry's Directorate-General for Law and External Relations prepared the file under an extradition agreement between Turkey and Greece.

The extradition request, written by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, said that Turkey demands the return of the eight military personnel, who landed at Alexandroupoli airport on July 16 on board a Turkish Armed Forces Sikorsky S70 Hawk S/N helicopter, as they face charges of violating the constitution through using force and violence, trying to assassinate the president, and crimes against legislative organs and the government, among other charges.

The eight soldiers fled to Greece in a military helicopter when the July 15 coup attempt failed and sought asylum in this country.

On July 27 Greek authorities issued a months extension on the soldiers asylum request.

Turkey's government has said the July 15 coup attempt, which left 240 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, was organized by followers of preacher Fetullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, and his FETO network.

Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

Anadolu Agency
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday reiterated efforts to re-establish relations with Turkey.

Putin's remarks came during his meeting with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Russia's Sochi.

"We sincerely make an effort for re-establishing of our relations in all dimensions with Turkey, the one who is our friend and we have been establishing cooperation for many years," Putin said.

Putin said Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's latest visit to Russia showed the both sides' desire to carry on a comprehensive work to revive and improve the relations.

Putin thanked Nazarbayev for his effort for the mending of Turkey-Russia relations. Nazarbayev, in his turn, expressed his appreciation about the reviving of Turkey-Russia relations.

Erdogan met his Russian counterpart Putin on Aug. 9 in St. Petersburg, marking the first meeting between the two leaders since Turkeys downing of a Russian warplane last November.

Relations between the two countries soured after the downing of a Russian jet that violated Turkeys airspace on the Syrian border in November last year.

The issue seemed largely resolved on June 29 through a letter and subsequent telephone calls between the countries leaders.

On June 30, Russia lifted a ban on tourist flights to Turkey following a phone conversation between Putin and Erdogan.

Turkish and Russian foreign ministers later met in the Russian city of Sochi on July 1.

Putin gave his support to Turkey over the July 15 coup attempt and said he stood by the elected government, offering his condolences to the victims of what Erdogan called the most heinous armed coup attempt in modern Turkish history.

On July 22, Russia also lifted restrictions on flights to Turkey, which had been implemented temporarily following the coup attempt, after Turkish officials assured their Russian counterparts that additional security measures were being taken.

Anadolu Agency
Turkey will bring to account all the perpetrators of terror acts "not in revenge but with justice," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim vowed on Tuesday.

"Turkish justice will call [the terrorist organizations] to account for our martyrs," Yildirim told a party group meeting at parliament in the capital Ankara.

He referred to Monday's PKK car-bomb attack against a traffic police station in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakir, which martyred one child and five police officers.

"There is no Kurdish issue for PKK, but there is a PKK problem for our Kurdish citizens," Yildirim stressed. "Our duty is to eliminate this problem and remove that bloody-minded terror organization from our region."

Yildirim said PKK is serving for the same purpose as that of the U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen's terror organization, or FETO  accused of orchestrating the July 15 coup attempt.

"They [the two] made quite a lot of efforts to turn Turkey into a country like Iraq, Syria, or Egypt, both before July 15 and later," Yildirim said.

"They worked hard to quicken [a possible] civil war in Turkey. They would later appear as a savior and deepen the brotherhood fight in this country."

"However, the solidarity between the public and the state on the July 15 night ruined all such plans," Yildirim said.

The foiled putsch last month left 240 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured. Since then, many people in Turkey have been calling for "death penalty" for the coup attempters.

Responding to the participants in the group meeting who were also shouting that they wanted the "death penalty", Yildirim said: "Death penalty is death for once; however, there are greater deaths for them, which is objective and fair judgment."

About a possible reinstatement of the death penalty in Turkey for those involved in the defeated coup, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his stance that the decision would be left up to Turkish lawmakers in the parliament.

Erdogan repeatedly has said he would approve reinstating the death penalty if the parliament approves.

Such a penalty could be imposed on Gulen as well, who is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

Since the deadly coup attempt, Turkish government has been clearing the state institutions off FETO and parallel state members.

Yildirim assured citizens not to be anxious about such steps.

"Those Muslim people who have been doing charity work warm-heartedly have nothing to do with these [terror organizations]," he said.

"We need to settle a score with those who exploited such good feelings and who took money from our citizens [for charity work] but used it to attack on people with arms, tanks, and planes."

Yildirim said they would definitely differentiate between the innocent and the guilty, but admitted: "It will not be easy."

Turkish PM said once more that the terror attacks, including the deadly July 15 coup attempt, "did not hit Turkey's economy," adding that both the banking and finance sectors have been operating well.

Pointing out that Turkey is available for investments, he said an economic stimulus package was on the way to enliven the economy.

"Let's not permit that terror makes the agenda of Turkey any more. Let's focus on economy and development more," Yildirim said.

Anadolu Agency
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said Western countries would have reinstated the death penalty and declared an indefinite state of emergency if they faced the same terror threats and attacks as Turkey in the past months.

Receiving the President of Union of Turkish Bar Associations Metin Feyzioglu and 70 other bar heads in the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Erdogan said: "Set aside the coup attempt, even if terror attacks in the last months by the PKK and Daesh had happened in any European country, they would have brought in the death penalty and an indefinite state of emergency."

He also slammed U.K.-based Amnesty International over its reports of alleged torture against detained coup plotters.

"First they [Amnesty International] have to come here and see what happened in Turkey's parliament, how 53 of our security officers died after our security headquarters was bombed," Erdogan said, adding that numerous people were shot dead on Istanbuls Bosphorus Bridge and the presidential complex was fired upon on the night of the foiled coup.

"Come and see this, do your part. Then make your statement. Sorry to say, but nobody [will] show respect to you if you just make statements by what you hear," Erdogan said.

Turkish officials have both rejected and condemned claims that suspected coup plotters have been subjected to torture in detention.

The president also criticized Western leaders, without mentioning any names, of worrying more about the condition of putschists rather than the victims of the defeated coup.

"Nobody is asking [about] the situation of our 240 martyrs and 2,195 brothers and sisters who were injured," Erdogan said. "But they are very interested about detentions, arrests and suspensions."

Erdogan said Turkey was a country of law and "will continue to be so".

"On the night of July 15, our judges and prosecutors, along with the people and our security forces, took a stand against the putschists," Erdogan said. "The fight against the coup plotters was carried out within the range of law from the first moment."

FETO working group

Feyzioglu told reporters his association was ready to "participate actively" to explain FETO internationally.

"If a working group is be established with your [Erdogan's] order to explain the righteous struggle against FETO, the association is more than ready to actively participate in it," said Feyzioglu.

The president of the Turkish Bar Association also said FETO members "may try to gain international community support".

"Gathering 79 million people on common ground is possible under the roof of justice", Feyzioglu said.

"When trust in the justice system is provided, everybody will be proud of being a citizen of the Turkish Republic. Therefore, devious plans will come to nothing."

After talking to press, Erdogan and Feyzioglu -- with his delegation -- held a 90-minute meeting. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag and the Presidency's Secretary General Fahri Kasirga also present.

The deadly coup attempt began late July 15 when rogue elements of the Turkish military tried to overthrow the country's democratically elected government, martyring 240 people and injuring almost 2,200 others.

The government says the attempted coup was organized by followers of U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen.

Gulen is accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through infiltrating Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming a parallel state.

Anadolu Agency
The CEO of Ramps Logistics says he is "really really disappointed" with the Guyana Revenue A
Next week SBS premieres Great American Railway Journeys which, if Euro travel shows are any indication, will be a big drawcard for SBS.

UK host Michael Portillo follows Appletons General Guide to the US of 1879, published at a key moment in American history: the turning point from new world to the richest nation ever known.

The series will screen on Wednesday nights with Who Do You Think You Are? set to resume on Tuesdays shortly.

Michael sets out to rediscover a land built by the railroads. His journey covers two rail itineraries, and along the way he explores the colonial links between the United States and Britain, the role of the railways in the new nations rapid industrialisation, the great migrations of Europeans, the democratic institutions that define the nation today, which were moulded at the time of our guide, and the deep scars left by the recent Civil War.

Episode One: Manhattan Island

Starting at New Yorks Grand Central Terminal, Michael boards the Manhattan subway system, the busiest rail transit system in the US. In an urban oasis, Michael discovers how a swampy wasteland was turned into one of the largest and finest parks in the world: Central Park. In the Lower East Side, Michaels drawn into a scrap with one of the neighbourhoods infamous historic gangs; and then heads by ferry to Ellis Island, the gateway to America for many millions seeking a new life. He finishes this leg of the journey with a tour of the gleaming new transport hub under construction close to the site of Ground Zero.

Wednesday, 24 August at 7.30pm on SBS.
Seven West Media has announced an investment in UK-based scripted specialists, Slim Film + Television.

Slim, the company behind BBC drama Legacy and comedy series The Art of Foley, was founded by producer Simon Crawford Collins (Spooks, Ashes to Ashes, Hustle).

Slim is currently developing projects for UK and international networks such as AMC.

Simon Crawford Collins, said: Slim is embarking on an exciting new phase in its growth and, after considering a number of offers, we believe that Seven are the perfect creative partners to support us in our future ambitions. They are not only an exceptionally inspirational group, market leaders in their territory and have massive global aspirations; they also have boundless energy and a great sense of fun. Together we will be looking to further expand internationally and pursue a number of high-end international co-production opportunities that are already in development as well as fully exploit our incredibly exciting slate of programming to produce innovative and highly successful programming for global audiences.

Tim Worner, CEO of Seven West Media, said: Seven is committed to growing its international production footprint and we want to do that with the very best people. Simons track record speaks for itself, and audiences in Australia, and in fact all over the world, have loved the shows he has already been involved with. He is now attracting some brilliant writers to Slim, and together we believe we will create more outstanding work to take to audiences everywhere.

Seven is the leading content production company in Australia with some of the most successful brands and franchises. We are recognised as the leader in Australian produced television programming. Our success is built on our ability to create and own compelling content, and to deliver that content to the biggest audiences across our media platforms. We are delighted to be working with Simon and his talented team at Slim. Simons credentials speak for themselves and we are looking to create great drama and comedy series with Slim.

Seven also has 7 Wonder and 7 Beyond production arms.

As part of Sevens investment deal, BBC Worldwide, which held a 25% stake in Slim, is exiting the company.
Jarrad Bowe on set

They ferry actors to set, pick up local supplies, help out the crew, double as a PA, and whatever else it takes to keep a production running smoothly.

Life as a Runner is hectic, requires multitasking and great people skills.

In the latest of TV Tonights Spotlight series on craft roles, three Runners tell what it takes to get the job done:

Jarrad Bowe (Here Come the Habibs, Hyde + Seek, Seven Year Switch, Q&A, Reuben Guthrie),

Katherine Gillespie (Offspring)

Elle Reid (Doctor Doctor, Infini, Terminus)

How long have you been a Runner and how did you get into the job?

JB: Ive been a runner on and off for the last two and a half years now. I got into running, after I graduated from University and chased up some contacts I made and luckily they where needing some volunteer runners for Terminus, which I happily jumped on, following that production, I gained contacts and got chased up a few months later to work on Ruben Guthrie as the Production Runner. Since then I have been working ever since.

KG: I started working as a Production Runner in 2013, getting my first job as 2nd Unit Runner on Offspring series 4, which opened the door for me to continue working in television production in various roles, and over the years I returned to Offspring for series 5 and 6. I studied film and television at University and after graduating was looking for a Production Runner role as my entry to the industry, as it offers a solid grounding in most aspects of production and through the daily tasks gives first-hand understanding of the needs of various departments and how they interplay to get the show in the can. Working on short films and music videos after Uni was invaluable in expanding my on-set knowledge and building contacts, and it was through a friend who had already landed a job in production that I heard about a handful of upcoming shows and so knew where to direct my calls and emails, looking for that first job!

ER: Three years. I was in my final year at Uni finishing a Bachelor of Digital Media and happened across a callout on Screen Hub for a runner on a feature in Sydney. I tried my luck with shooting them through my resume and enthusiasm and somehow landed the job. They were the best crew and a really awesome introduction to the production world. Shameless plug: go check out Infini!

Whats a typical day on set for you involve?

JB: Sadly as a Runner, you dont get to spend that much time on set, you will spend more time driving in your car. Most the time you start your day picking up cast members. Once you arrive at unit you check in with the 2nd AD and see what paperwork needs to go back to the office. If youre lucky you have breakfast with the crew then head back to the production office. Before wrap you might have other casts to pick up or return, equipment pick up or return, lunch orders to grab for the production office, cleaning up the kitchen, grabbing coffees or help with paperwork or chasing up equipment orders. When you do spend time on set, you will help ferry cast between set and unit, run waters, and help the crew where you can. At the end of the day, you drop of call sheet and drive cast home, they might also have to handle the rushes and to make sure they are handed over to the editor. Handling the rushes are pretty much the most important job, if they lose or damage the rushes, Im pretty sure they wont be working the next day. But once they are safely in the edit suite, and you have informed the production office then your day has ended and you go home, to wake up and do it all over again.

KG: As a Runner, theres the sense of being constantly in motion; a conduit between the production office and the set, supporting the production by doing my part to facilitate whatever is needed to achieve the days work. Its early mornings, transporting cast members to set, collecting and delivering equipment to the crew on set, driving the camera cards (precious cargo as they contain the mornings footage!) to the production facility after lunch, assisting at the office, tidying the kitchen, emptying the bins, photocopying Call Sheets, driving them to the set for Wrap, then driving cast members home. Its countless hours in the car, with more visits to the airport, the supermarket, hardware and office supply stores than I can recall, but its also spending time with incredible people, having great conversations on the way and always learning a little bit more about what it takes to make a show!

ER: Depends on the job, but usually its picking up and driving cast to set in the morning. Being on standby with your car on set to travel anyone or anything that may suddenly come up. Making purchases and pickups of anything and everything required for any department. Organising lunches, helping out with paperwork, zipping around the city. Jumping in as a PA on set if they need a hand. Keeping smiles on and spirits high! And ending the day dropping home a cast member or two and traveling rushes to editorial. Theyre big days, but usually full of so many great interactions that you wouldnt get in many other jobs.

Elle Reid

Whats been the best and worst experience youve had and why?

JB: One of the best experiences was my first week on Hide and Seek. I had been a Runner for just under two years and worked on low budget productions. However, this was my first real TV drama and the sheer scope of the show was mind blowing. I felt like a kid in a candy store. I got to watch and learn from a variety of crew, from the production office, to the writers room, all the way to the Producers and how they worked from week to week. As a Runner you get to interact with every aspect of production. One of the most difficult experiences Ive had was on Seven Year Switch. Though the job was a fun and interesting there was one particular day that got a touch stressful. I was using my car, but the air con doesnt work and in my car it peaked to a mild 42 degrees then my phone overheated and died. I had half an hour to pick up some camera gear and I was stuck in peak hour traffic with no GPS. Im pretty sure I lost 5kgs in sweat and aged 5 years older that day.

KG: Best: Being part of a team, that sense of unity; each of us, in our own ways, working towards a common goal, and sharing pride in what were creating. Surrounded by amazing people, being immersed in the daily tasks of producing a television show is a rich environment, and though the Runner is a small cog in a big wheel, it plays a vital part. I get a thrill seeing the sunrises and sunsets on-set at some awesome locations  charmingly dilapidated buildings or stunning country vistas  hidden gems that I wouldnt otherwise know existed. Worst: The unexpected happens often, so its accounted for as much as possible within the schedule of my day, but sometimes something happens that pushes beyond what can be anticipated. Being stuck on a freeway in grid-lock traffic, resulting from some major traffic incident ahead, needing to get an actor to the set is a horrible situation. Staying calm is the key, but knowing how the ripple effect of every minute were delayed impacts on production, makes the gravity of the situation more acute, and when there is nothing to be done but to stick it out and keep going, its pretty awful.

ER: Worst: There arent many worsts in my experiences (touch wood) but this one would have to be when I lost my wallet with my petty cash ($600) in it. Id had a handful of stuff at Officeworks and in the confusion left my wallet in the trolley. I was midway back to the production office when I got this sick feeling in my stomach. Luckily, some gorgeous soul had found it and handed it in to the Officeworks team but for a good 10 minutes I thought Id lost a lot of important stuff plus $600 of the productions money. Best: Probably the introduction to the industry I got on Infini  my first ever runner gig. Everyone was just so friendly, keen to help me learn and not at all phased that I was such a greenie.

And the craziest thing youve ever had to do?

JB: I was once asked to collect toilet paper for one of the crew, as we were out in the country and they were on set and unable to get any. However, it had to be a certain kind of toilet paper, which I found very odd, but I didnt question it. Since we were out of the city and local shops dont seem to sell a variety of toilet paper, I drove an hour to the nearest grocery story on the hunt for toilet paper.

KG: Sometimes seeing my call time for the next morning seems crazy  but the early mornings are a normal part of being a Runner! The strangest task Ive had was when I was Running on a war drama series; I drove to the rural location wed been filming at, down a long and bumpy dirt road, to retrieve a dozen or so bloodied, dismembered prosthetic limbs from storage in a shipping container, putting them into black plastic bags and carrying them to my car. It wouldve been a crazy sight if anyone had seen me! I drove the 45 minutes back to Melbourne, having made sure I had enough fuel as there was no way I wanted to stop at a petrol station with that grotesque cargo in the boot of my car!

ER: Nothing overly crazy has happened. I mean, that time a lady ignored a stop sign and slammed into me sending my car into a 360 spin. Or when an actor went walk about without a phone and I had to run around Potts Point looking for him while everyone was frantic. Or when I suddenly found myself on set for the day rigging a big lighting wall with one of the elex cause everyone else was too busy. When I had to run a guy to the hospital who had slipped and hurt his back and every bump I drove over he cried out Yeah, that was pretty crazy.

Where will you be in 5 years time? Whats the dream?

JB: So I hope in 5 years, whether I am a 3rd AD working in Australia or overseas I want to be progressing in the industry and gaining experience that will help me to become a Director. Though If I got to be the head Producer of my own show, that would be pretty cool too.

KG: Im widely interested in the film, television and music industries as collaborative art forms, and as an exhilarating way to contribute my energy and abilities in collectively realising a shared vision. I love the energy and immediacy of the Set, and the big-picture magic that happens at the meetings between the Producers, Directors and Heads of Department. The dream is feeling inspired, engaged and challenged by the projects and the people I collaborate with in telling compelling, insightful and powerful stories that resonate with their audience.

ER: Hopefully ADing on something or maybe getting into some writing. Im still pretty new to the industry and still trying to figure out where I want to go with it, but I just love meeting all of these creative, passionate minds and getting to hang out with them five (sometimes six!) days a week for a solid block of time. Ive worked with a bunch of amazing people already and I think the dream at the moment is just getting the chance to keep meeting people like this and creating and collaborating.
Sacked Criminal Minds star Thomas Gibson has joined Twitter to thank fans for their support, after being dismissed from the US procedural.

I wish I could thank each of you for your friendship & support. I love "Criminal Minds," & I'm disappointed by what's happened #ThomasGibson  Thomas Gibson (@ImThomasGibson) August 16, 2016

I'm here on #Twitter so we can stay connected in the days to come, and talk directly with each other. #ThomasGibson  Thomas Gibson (@ImThomasGibson) August 16, 2016

The support you show means the world to me and my family. This is not an ending, but a beginning as well. Thank you all. #ThomasGibson  Thomas Gibson (@ImThomasGibson) August 17, 2016

CBS and ABC Studios fired him from the show after initially suspending him following an alleged altercation with a writer on set.

He has since hired a Los Angeles law firm to pursue possible legal claims against producers.
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 seventh wave of mobilization may be declared in Ukraine in case the sharp escalation in fighting in Donbas is observed.

Advisor to the President of Ukraine and Advisor to the Defence Minister of Ukraine Yuri Biriukov said this on the air of Channel 5.

"The seventh wave of mobilization will be declared if there is a real escalation on the frontline," he said.

Biriukov noted that those, who had already participated in the fighting in Donbas, would be primarily mobilized then.

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Russian-backed militants launched 96 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbas over the past day.

This is reported by the ATO Headquarters press center.

"The enemy opened artillery fire six times on the town of Avdiyivka, having launched more than 130 shells of 122mm caliber on our defenders. The same caliber was used during shelling of the villages of Pisky, Novoselivka Druha and Pershe Travnia. About 40 shells were launched on the village of Luhanske," the report says.

Despite the intensification of enemy actions, the ATO forces completely control the situation along the demarcation line, the headquarters said.

ish
Ukraine supports Moldova in its requirement on unconditional withdrawal of Russian arms and equipment from the country.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Moldova Ivan Hnatyshyn said this in an exclusive interview with Ukrinform.

"Ukraine supports Moldova in the requirement on unconditional fulfillment of the decision of the OSCE Istanbul Summit-1999 on the withdrawal of Russian arms and equipment from Moldova. We are concerned about the large number of "property" at the warehouses in Transnistria region (more than 20,000 tons according to some estimates)," the ambassador said.

ish
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko doesnt rule out introducing martial law and a new wave of military mobilization if the conflict with Russia worsens in eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president said this during an official visit to Lviv region, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Unfortunately, if the situation escalates in the east and in Crimea we don't rule out the possibilities that we will be forced to introduce martial law and announce a [new wave of] mobilization, Poroshenko said.

At the same time, according to the president, the number of contract servicemen in the Ukrainian Army allows him, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to refrain from announcing a new wave of mobilization.

President Poroshenko also noted that at present the principal position of Ukraine is to coordinate relations with international partners, to renew talks with the neighbor-aggressor, as well as to try to force Russia to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk agreements and return the Normandy format.

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Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Sergiy Kyslytsya met with Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to Ukraine Shorsh Khalid Said on the occasion of completion of his diplomatic mission.

This has been reported by the press service of the Governments portal.

During the meeting, the parties discussed a wide range of the bilateral issues as well as the ways to facilitate prospective directions of the cooperation.

The deputy minister expressed appreciation to Ambassador S. Said for his contribution in development of cooperation between Ukraine and Iraq.

ish
Prez greets Govt, people of Afghanistan on eve of their Independence Day

New Delhi, Aug 18 (UNI) President Pranab Mukherjee today extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, on the eve of their Independence Day.

In a message to Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Mr Mukherjee said, ''On behalf of the Government and the people of India, it is with great pleasure that I extend warm greetings and felicitations to your Excellency and to the people of Afghanistan on the occasion of Independence Day.

''Our traditional ties of friendship and cooperation have gained strength and substance in recent years. I am confident that our close relationship will continue to contribute to peace, stability and progress in Afghanistan and in our neighbourhood. India will stand by the people and Government of Afghanistan in their efforts to build a strong, united, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan.
No one to neither press the brake pedal nor steer the wheel.

It seems that Tesla's success in making autopilot project has inspired other established automakers including Ford.

Ford has been investing a huge amount of money to fund the research and development for self-driving cars. The bold claim says that the fully autonomous vehicles will be ready in 2021.

Ford self-driving car strategy

Ford will not sell the autonomous car for private use at first but it will be deployed as commercial mobility service. BBC spoke to Ford's president Mark Fields and obtained some answers on what to expect in 2021. The self-driving cars might work like a taxi or ride-hailing program like Uber instead of selling directly to the consumers.

In a separate statement, the CEO claimed that Ford is becoming a mobility company instead of just an automaker. Describing the self-driving car in one concise sentence, TechCrunch explained that this car will 'lack steering wheels, brake or gas pedals'. It will provide level 4 self-driving that no longer need a human to take control of, which simply means, all are passengers in the car and no driver.

Self-driving cars will bring huge benefits for the elderly and even for those who can't drive. This technology will also remove human error in the driving process - which means, less road accidents. According to researchers at Georgia Tech, who analyzed driverless vehicle performance, the advanced technology will make it possible for the car to be fully in control with less accident rate, as reported by University Herald.

However, according to Ford, these autonomous cars still give humans the control to drive and it only work 'to assist' drivers with the driving functions.

The company stressed that the cars will mostly be used in urban areas, for instance, for mass transit, and not for personal transportation replacement. At least not in five years time since it is worth to note that there will be thousands of regulatory changes before all passengers can get inside, eat burgers with their two hands and enjoy the ride.




UCLA recently took the second spot on the best public universities in the United States and sat in the 12th place among the public universities around the world.

The rank results were based on the August 15 released The Academic Ranking of World Universities as compiled by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Berkeley University claimed the third spot while San Diego University made it at the 14th spot.

The ranking results were based on the universities' compliance with the six criteria for excellence. The criteria include researchers who are highly cited, papers listed and cited in the major citation directories, Nature and Science published papers, faculties winning Nobel prizes and medals, the number of alumni gaining Fields Medals and per capita academic performance.

This is not the first time that the university has been recognized for its excellence. University of California Los Angeles was recognized in May as the second among all of US public universities in the London's Times Higher Education's World Reputation Rankings assessing the international prestige of higher learning institutions.

The university was ranked number eight at the 2016 Best Global Universities as recognized by the U.S. News and World Report. UCLA's service in public interest received recognition as number six in the Washington Monthly College Guide and Rankings.

The top 11 United States public universities are as follows. Harvard University at number one, Stanford University at number two, UC Berkeley at third, fourth is the University of Cambridge, fifth the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, sixth the Princeton University, seventh the University of Oxford, eighth the California Institute of Technology, ninth the Columbia University, tenth the University of Chicago and Yale University at the 11th spot, The UCLA News Room reported.

Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, a China-based independent research organization for higher education is responsible for publishing the annual rankings.

The ranking started being published and is conducted among 500 universities around the world, The Daily Bruin reported.

Take a quick trip to UCLA, the world's 12th best public university through this video.


Visiting a college in person is still the best way for a student to get a feel of the experience he or she will be having in a certain institution. However, there are cases when an individual's time and money are not enough for it. Here's where a virtual college tour can help.

U.S. News noted that a virtual college tour only offers a limited view of an institution. There are three ways to enhance the experience in order to maximize this feature to one's advantage.

1. Look for other alternatives.

Students who study or graduated at the same college or university usually create their own online communities. Those who want to have a virtual college tour of a certain institution can look for Facebook groups, Instagram pictures, Snapchat stories as well as other blogs that will give a sneak peek of how life is on that campus.

Some schools also have groups on different social media platforms like Reddit. This would also be a great way to learn how students at a specific educational institution feel about their campus and its environment.

2. Look for alumni.

Pair your virtual college tour with an interview from alumni of that university. Ask them for a short interview and they may be happy to share their story with you. This can give you a deeper understanding of your future experience at a certain college or university.

If there are a lot of alumni in your area, look for someone who has the same interests as you. A former fraternity or sorority member would be the best person to reach out to if you are hoping to join a Greek organization while a former science major would definitely know a lot about the school's science programs and undergraduate research opportunities.

3. Look for other virtual college tours of the same institution.

Aside from going through an official virtual college tour of the college or university you are planning to enroll in, you can also look for other tours created by private companies. This would provide you with different viewpoints of the same institution.
Published: August 18, 2016

UT Junior Analyzes Crime with French Gendarmerie

Claire-Marie Maillot 18 is used to traveling with her parents back to France each summer, the country where her father was born. But this year, she went without them and spent a month with the French military police.



Maillot had an internship with the Forensic and Criminal Intelligence Agency of the French Gendarmerie outside of Paris. She explored the many divisions within the agency and delved into closed and cold cases, studying the details and analyzing potential motives  learned from her criminology courses at UT  that shed debate with the officers familiar with the cases, who would reveal if she was right, providing further investigative insights.



Ever since I was 15, my passion in life has been to help people, said Maillot, a criminology major in the Honors program from Mandeville, LA. Im interested in solving problems. I love going into a crime scene and seeing how I can analyze all the clues and how they all come together to a single person or group of people.



Maillot toured the criminal intelligence central department (SCRC), which specifically concentrates on data processing and runs criminal databases for the French military police, and learned how intelligence for all types of crime that are committed in France is produced, said Cedric Michel, Maillots internship advisor at UT.



This internship was the perfect vehicle to determine whether such a career was a good fit for her, said Michel, assistant professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Criminology internships provide an exceptional opportunity for students to apply theoretical concepts that they have learned in the classroom to a more practical setting. They also become familiar with the workings of a criminal justice agency.



Maillot, who has a French minor, said the staff she worked with asked her just as much about the American legal system, eager to know more about the similarities and differences between the two countries and cultures. In addition to her research, Maillot was able to translate as needed, such as when Polish law enforcement made a visit to her office and she was called upon to assist in the translation of the English language of the meeting.



Claire-Marie had a chance to intern at a foreign criminal justice agency unlike most of our students, said Michel. This approach is in keeping with the criminology departments emphasis on comparative justice and, more broadly speaking, with The University of Tampas mission to expose its students to global issues.



In addition to affirming her career aspirations to become an investigator or profiler of violent crimes, Maillot said the internship gave her more confidence in working in a professional setting and being more assertive. It was a summer experience for which she is grateful.



Anyone who is really passionate about their work is happy to show you what they do, Maillot said. I would encourage students to look for internships in any major to determine that it's the right career choice for them."
NORMAL  Heartland Community College students who transfer to Millikin University in Decatur before completing their associate's degrees will be able to obtain those degrees later under an agreement signed Tuesday between the two schools.

Under the reverse transfer agreement, Millikin will send transcripts to Heartland indicating what courses the student has completed at Millikin. Once those courses fulfill the requirements for an associate's degree, Heartland will award the degree the student has earned at no charge to the student.

To be eligible, students must have completed at least 30 credit hours at Heartland.

Heartland already has a similar agreement with Eastern Illinois University and is working on others.

Heartland President Rob Widmer described such agreements as perhaps a continuing trend as we look at what's best for our students long term.

Widmer said, This is really a service for our students to have this opportunity.

Justin Tierney, Millikin's director of transfer admission, called it a win, win, win for students and both schools. There are no losers, he said.

Getting credit for an associate degree can be particularly important when unforeseen events  such as an illness, accident or birth of a child  interrupt a student's path to a bachelor's degree, Tierney explained.

Rick Pearce, Heartland's vice president for learning and student success, said, This agreement provides security so students know they have something to show when they go out into the workforce.

Millikin Provost Jeff Aper said, By collaborating,  we make it much easier for students to make the most of the resources that are available to them.

Millikin has similar agreements with about eight schools, according to Tierney.

Widmer and Aper signed the agreement on the Heartland campus before the monthly meeting of the Heartland board of trustees.

During the meeting, the board learned from Kelli Hill, vice president of continuing education and advancement, that the college's continuing education program experienced a 12.3 percent increase in total number of seats filled from fiscal year 2015 to FY 2016. The total enrollment of 19,357 in FY 2016, compared to 17,244 in FY 2015 includes people who took more than one class.

Continuing education includes community education, the Challenger Learning Center, customized training, and traffic safety school.
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UWyo Magazine

May 2016 | Vol. 17, No. 3

Student of the World - ASUW President Brian Schueler

Student of the World

ASUW President Brian Schueler made the most of his international studies.

By Jeff Tatay

Growing up in a family that often traveled, Associated Students of the University of Wyoming (ASUW) President Brian Schueler became interested in thinking beyond the horizons of his hometown in Buffalo, Wyo. It is this thinking that eventually led him to UW, where he is now a senior in international studies and economics. Although this didnt initially take him beyond Wyoming, it wasn't long before he was traveling the world and making international connections.

Within my first six months at UW, I got to go to this dinner and meet Mikhail Gorbachev, Alan Simpsona famous senator from Wyomingand a lot of other very important leaders, Schueler says. That was just the coolest thing to think that, as a freshman, I am able to get this opportunity to hobnob with people who will be in history books for a very long time.

Traveling the globe: In the years following, Schueler traveled to Seoul, South Korea, for a month with the UW Bahrom International Program in global and area studies and then to China on a faculty-led trip with the Chinese language program at UW. Most recently, Schueler was awarded the Chinese Ambassadors Wyoming Scholarship, which allowed him to stay in Beijing for a year and study the Chinese language.

I would say Ive had a rich diversity of experiences through UW International Programs and events happening on campus or around the world, Schueler says.

A new perspective on home: Schueler not only broadened his horizons beyond Wyoming and the United States, but he also gained a new appreciation for home: I think you come back to Wyoming and realize that this is such a special place. In the immediate future, I want to go abroad, but for the long term, Wyoming is home.

As Schueler prepares to graduate in spring 2016, he reflects on his education at UW and his plans for the future: My hope is to go into international business or diplomacy, and if my Chinese can be at a business level, then it becomes a strategic asset for my career in the future.
DECATUR -- As the need for help in the Decatur area rises, so too does the amount raised by the WSOY Community Food Drive.

One year after raising 1.27 million pounds/dollars during the annual event, news media outlets and other sponsors of the effort announced a planned goal of at least 1.3 million for the event, which is scheduled for Oct. 7 at the Airport Plaza Kroger on U.S. 36.

We all hope there is a day when we dont need to have a food drive and everybody will have their needs met and everyone is gainfully employed and back on their feet, said Brian Byers, Neuhoff Media vice president of development and host of the daylong radio broadcast. But until that day, we feel it is up to us and the community to give.

The 1.3 million goal would make for the highest amount ever raised, as the the food drive has set a new record each year since the first one brought in 35,000 pounds in 2002.

Byers was surrounded by a dozen members of Neuhoff Media and those representing sponsors of the event, which include Archer Daniels Midland Co., Decatur Back & Neck Center, Dales Southlake Pharmacy and Colee's Corner Drugs, DynaGraphics/Wood Printing, First Christian Church, Herald & Review, J.L Hubbard Insurance and Bonds, Jones & Thomas/JTnet, Kroger, Skeff Distributing, Soy Capital Bank, Ticket-N-Trips, United Way of Decatur and Mid-Illinois and WAND-TV.

Also among the group was Marie Rademacher of Catholic Charities and Wesley Dalberg of the Salvation Army, the two agencies that will benefit.

In the past year alone, Rademacher said Catholic Charities has served 5,000 households, 1,000 of which were first-time families. The Salvation Army food pantry served more than 28,000 individuals over the same time period, with Dalberg saying roughly a quarter of those were children.

It takes a community to help all those people, and were very thankful the community gets behind this great event, he said.

If extra food and money is collected, Byers said the plan is to repeat what occurred last year and give some funds to the Good Samaritan Inn, Northeast Community Fund, The Judy Mason Thanksgiving Basket Project, Reasonable Services, Gods Shelter of Love, Interchurch Council of Blue Mound, Boody and Stonington and the Mount Zion United Methodist Food Pantry.

The community food drive features a school contest, with cash prizes provided by sponsors. The event will also recognize the top small-, medium- and big-business donors with Good Neighbor Awards and give a Geoffrey Neuhoff Spirit Award.
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Church News  October 20, 2022 LIGHT OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH Needing Answers We want God to be like FedEx and deliver overnight. Things dont happen that way, but in...

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DECATUR  Over the years, Jeanelle Norman has been actively involved in efforts to improve the Decatur community.

One of her most recent focuses has been to improve communication between community members and the Decatur Police Department. She took a leading part last summer in forming the Area Leaders and Education Response Team, known as ALERT, which was put to the test in July during a high-profile incident when a man was shot by a Decatur police officer.

Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe recognized Norman as Citizen of the Year on Thursday during the Greater Decatur Chamber of Commerce Awards Luncheon in large part because the group was credited with keeping the situation from escalating like what has happened in other parts of the country.

It is because of that partnership Decatur was mentioned as a model response for how these incidents should be handled, Moore Wolfe said. The relationship was tested in the early morning hours of Monday, July 11, but the group was able to ensure calm.

Norman, who is president of the Decatur branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said she was humbled by the recognition in receiving the award. She credited Decatur Police Chief Jim Getz and the officers of the department for their willingness to work with the group.

Getz joined Moore Wolfe on stage inside Heartland Community Church's Grand Palace banquet facility to present the award to Norman along with officers Jon Jones and Lorne Sturdivant.

Despite the shooting occurring in the early morning hours, Getz said Norman answered his call right away and put the response plan into action. Getz said Norman has always been genuine in his interactions with her.

Norman was standing by Getz's side a few hours later during a news conference announcing the first details of the case, helping to ensure information was released in a timely, responsible manner. She was there again at an afternoon news conference.

If you don't put accurate information out, people will go ahead and make up the story anyway, Getz said. I couldn't be more proud of the citizens in Decatur and how they handled the situation to be patient so we could get the truth out there.

The state police investigation into the shooting of 40-year-old Lonnie D. Mitchell II was completed earlier this week. Macon County State's Attorney Jay Scott will review the case.

Mitchell, who was allegedly armed with a knife and a BB gun that looked like a semiautomatic handgun, is recovering from his wound, suffered when officer Andrew Wittmer shot him. Wittmer remains on administrative leave.

Norman said Decatur's ability to remain calm following the shooting highlights what kind of community it has become.

Decatur is generous and giving, making life a little easier for those less fortunate, Norman said. If we work together, we can ensure inclusion, equality and justice.

Other award recipients are part of efforts to create more opportunities for young people in the community. The Boys and Girls Club of Decatur was selected as the Non-Profit of the Year.

Decatur has some of the most phenomenal children as any community has, said Bruce Jeffery, the club's executive director. The club is a second home for many of them. They can come and feel safe. Most importantly, they can reach a level of success.

Jeffery said anyone visiting the club can meet some amazing young people.

Chamber President Mirinda Rothrock said all of the nominees and award recipients are well-deserving of recognition for their contributions to the community with quality service and by promoting economic growth.

It takes an extreme amount of character and tenacity to be a leader and run a business, Rothrock said.

We want to celebrate the contributions of our members.

Rothrock said the Chamber's Small Business Executive Council selected the recipients of awards in seven categories from which nominations were received. She said each of the nominees were asked to answer why they would be deserving of the award for which they were nominated.

The winners were Lockhart's Barber College for Micro Business of the Year, Brinkoetter & Associates for Small Business of the Year, Lockhart's Barber Shop for Business Expansion, Vieweg Real Estate for Outstanding Development, Decatur Magazine Publisher Beth Stringer as Entrepreneur of the Year, and Investment Planners, Inc. CEO/President David Koshinski with the Leadership Masters Award.

Awards for two additional categories did not require nominations. Jason Doyle of Tate & Lyle was picked as Decatur Leadership Institute Alumnus of the Year and Hank Norris of Vieweg Real Estate was named Chamber Ambassador of the Year.
SHARE Amy Schumer appeared at Germain Arena this weekend. (May 14)

THEATER

VENTURA COUNTY

"Avenue Q": Young Artists Ensemble Alumni & Friends present the Tony Award-winning comedy starring live actors and puppets in a story about a recent college graduate who moves into a shabby New York apartment and struggles to find a job, love and his purpose in life. Rated R for adult situations and language. 8 p.m. Aug. 19-20, Hillcrest Center for the Arts, 403 W. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks. $20 general admission, $15 seniors and students. 381-1246; yaeonline.com.

"Sugar": Backstage@Santa Paula Theater Center presents the new play by two-time Emmy Award-winning television writer Sindy McKay. The show, which tells the story of a downtrodden woman who is faced with a difficult decision, will be presented as a "work in development," with time allowed for audience feedback after each performance. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, through Aug. 21, 125 South 7th St., Santa Paula. Donations accepted. For reservations, call 525-4645 or visit santapaulatheatercenter.com.

"El Bracero - Mariachi Opera": The Moorpark College Foundation and Nueva Vista Media present the one-act opera highlighting the challenges that legal farmworkers faced on the U.S. bracero camps of the 1960s. A pre-show VIP reception, featuring appearances by producer Miguel Orozco and playwright Rosalinda Verde, will be held at 6 p.m. 7:30 p.m. Aug. 26, Moorpark College Performing Arts Center, 7075 Campus Road, Moorpark. 553-4760; moorparkcollege.edu/community/foundation/events.

"In the Midst of All That is Good": Elite Theatre Company presents Tom Eubanks' play about an evangelical pastor who tries to escape the struggles of his everyday life by taking a trip into the wilderness. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through Aug. 21, 2731 S. Victoria Ave., Oxnard. $18 general admission, $15 seniors and students. 483-5118; elitetheatre.org.

"Peter and the Starcatcher": Actors' Repertory Theatre of Simi presents this grown-up prequel to "Peter Pan" written by Rick Elice, with music by Wayne Barber. Based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, the musical features a dozen actors portraying more than 100 characters. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through Aug. 28, Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, 3050 Los Angeles Ave., Simi Valley. 583-7900; simi-arts.org.

"See How They Run": The 3 Masketeers Theater Group presents Phillip King's three-act farce. 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, through Aug. 28, Ojai Art Center Theater, 113 S. Montgomery St., Ojai. $15. To purchase tickets, visit threemasketeers.bpt.me.

"Don't Dress for Dinner": Camarillo Skyway Playhouse presents Marc Camoletti's farce set in a stylish French farmhouse where a man plots to entertain his Parisian mistress as soon as his wife leaves for her mother's. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through Sept. 18, 330 Skyway Drive, Camarillo. $20 general admission, $15 seniors, students and military. 388-5716; brownpapertickets.com/event/2584707.

"Farragut North": The political drama by the creator of HBO's "House of Cards" explores the behind-the-scenes political maneuvering that goes on in election campaigns. 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, Aug. 26 through Sept. 17, Conejo Players Theatre, 351 S. Moorpark Road, Westlake Village. $18 general admission, $16 seniors, students and military. 495-3715; conejoplayers.org.

"Footloose": High Street Arts Center presents the Tony Award-nominated musical based on the 1984 film about a rural town where dancing was banned. The play touches on themes of single parenthood, family loss and teenage rebellion and features hit songs of the '80s by artists like Sammy Hagar, Deneice Williams and Kenny Loggins. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, Aug. 19 through Sept. 18, 45 E. High St., Moorpark. $20 general admission, $18 seniors, students, teachers and military, $16 children 12 and under. 529-8700; highstreetartscenter.com.

"The Night Alive": Santa Paula Theater Center presents Irish playwright Conor McPherson's drama that examines the Dublin lives of a group of friends as they search for hope among the struggles of their everyday lives. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, Aug. 26 through Oct. 2, 125 South 7th St., Santa Paula. $20 general admission, $18 seniors and students. 525-4645; santapaulatheatercenter.org.

DOWN SOUTH

"One of the Nice Ones": Echo Theater Company presents this black comedy about body image and office politics. Through Aug. 28, Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles. $30. 310-307-3753; echotheatercompany.com.

"As Straw Before the Wind": As Straw Productions presents the world premiere of Filipino playwright Felix Racelis' new work about a Filipina nurse who survives the trauma of World War II, only to discover that her war is not yet over. Lesley Asistio directs and Tita Pambid leads a cast of seven actors in the central role of nurse Nene Santos. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, Aug. 13 through Sept. 4, Ruby Theatre at The Complex, 6476 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. $20 general admission, $12 seniors, students and groups of ten or more. 800-838-3006; strawbefore.brownpapertickets.com.

"Tom": Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum presents this world premiere stage adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The play offers a new look at the complicated title character and racial inequality through the years. Through Oct. 1, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. $15-$38.50. 310-455-3723; theatricum.com.

"Oktoberfest The Musical: An Almost True Story": The audience will enjoy this musical comedy and interactive theatrical experience in the setting of a lively German beer hall that features music, dance and traditional German costumes. The German beer hall setting offers Hofbrau-Munchen beer and seats at either long tables with benches or cabaret-style sofas and cocktail tables. 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays, Aug. 26 through Nov. 27, Westwood Crest Theatre, 1262 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles. $60-$75. 800-838-3006, ext. 2; oktoberfestthemusical.brownpapertickets.com.

CLASSES

VENTURA COUNTY

African drumming class: Malik Sow, an African master drummer from Senegal, and Solo Soro, from Ivory Coast, lead a weekly class in West African drumming from 7:30-9 p.m. Mondays at Lightning Ridge Screen Printing, 4435 McGrath St., Ventura. Cost is $20 per class, and a drum can be rented for $5. For information or to arrange a drum rental, call 650-7455.

COMEDY

VENTURA COUNTY

HashtagComedy: Age-18-and-over comedy shows featuring a different lineup every month. Sept. 17, Hillcrest Center for the Arts  Theatre on the Hill. 381-1246.

UP NORTH

Amy Schumer: Sept. 17, Santa Barbara Bowl.

Nick Offernan & Megan Mullally, "Summer of 69: No Apostrope," Sept. 25, Lobero Theatre.

DOWN SOUTH

Stephanie Miller's Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour: Nov. 5. The Saban, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. $45-$150. sabanconcerts.com.

Rickles & Regis: "Mr. Warmth" Don Rickles' 90th Birthday Laughfest, Classic stories, film clips, fun, hosted by Regis Philbin. Nov. 12. The Saban, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. $45-$150. sabanconcerts.com.

Rickles & Regis: "Mr. Warmth" Don Rickles' 90th Birthday Laughfest, Classic stories, film clips, fun, hosted by Regis Philbin. Nov. 18. The Canyon, 28912 Roadside Drive, Agoura Hills. $98-$168. www.canyonclub.net.

Rickles & Regis: "Mr. Warmth" Don Rickles' 90th Birthday Laughfest, Classic stories, film clips, fun, hosted by Regis Philbin. Nov. 20. The Rose, 245 E. Green St., Pasadena. $98-$168. roseconcerts.com.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/FOOD NETWORK "Jersey Shore" star Vinny Guadagnino, center, poses with his uncle Angelo Giaimo, mother Paola Guadagnino and the Carretto Siciliano food truck they used as competitors on the Food Network show "The Great Food Truck Race: Family Face-Off." The season debuts Aug. 28; one of the episodes was shot in Oxnard.

Lisa McKinnon Columnist SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/FOOD NETWORK Lei-Away Leidies team members Carey Ofahengaue, Autumn Prescott and Summer Prescott pose with the truck they used as competitors on the Food Network show "The Great Food Truck Race: Family Face-Off." CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/FOOD NETWORK Tyler Florence, host of "The Great Food Truck Race," poses with vehicles representing teams competing in the show's seventh season, which debuts Aug. 28. One of the five episodes was shot in Oxnard. LISA MCKINNON/THE STAR Penne pasta with strawberry-tomato sauce is served by the Carretto Siciliano team during a taping of the Food Network show "The Great Food Truck Race" in Oxnard. The episode will debut Sept. 4. LISA MCKINNON/THE STAR Struffoli with strawberry glaze and powdered sugar is served by the Carretto Siciliano team during a taping of the Food Network show "The Great Food Truck Race" in Oxnard.

By Lisa McKInnon

For two days last May, five new-to-the-area food trucks appeared at several spots in Oxnard with TV cameras in tow.

What looked like the taping of a new season of the Food Network show "The Great Food Truck Race" was exactly that: Working aboard each truck were three-member teams  one of them featuring "Jersey Shore" star Vinny Guadagnino  competing for the $50,000 grand prize in "The Great Food Truck Race: Family Face-Off."

The series will premiere at 9 p.m. Aug. 28. The Oxnard episode is scheduled to debut at 9 p.m. Sept. 4.

As in previous seasons, the show includes celebrity chef Tyler Florence as host and a road trip's-worth of food challenges as the trucks travel from one location to the next.

The itinerary this season starts with a funnel cake-eating contest at an amusement park in Los Angeles and ends with a mad dash to catch a ferry to Catalina Island.

Teams are made up of family members who had never before operated a food truck.

As chief order taker, Guadagnino wasn't shy about calling out to passers-by when he and his mother, Paola Guadagnino, and uncle, Angelo Giaimo, parked their Carretto Siciliano truck just outside the Sunday farmers market at Channel Islands Harbor.

"There's a new rule. If you look at the menu you have to order something," Guadagnino said as the cameras rolled.

The show's Oxnard visit coincided with the California Strawberry Festival, inspiring team Carretto Siciliano to offer penne pasta topped with strawberry-tomato sauce ($12) and struffoli ($7), which Guadagnino described as "a dessert we make around Christmas time," served in a strawberry glaze with powdered sugar on top.

Fellow competitors aboard the Lei-Away Leidies truck parked at various spots in downtown Oxnard, eventually settling in near a temporary car-washing operation at Lark Street and Saviers Road.

There, team members from Provo, Utah and Laie, Hawaii served teri-strawberry chicken on rice with crab-and-tuna poke ($10), and fried pani popo (coconut bread rolls, $10) with strawberry-guava sauce.

Also competing in Oxnard were Bigmista's Fatty Wagon, based in Long Beach; Grilled Cheese All-Stars, representing San Diego and San Francisco, and Sweet Southern Soul, whose members came from Chicago and Atlanta.

The quest for the grand prize continued as the non-eliminated teams motored to OstrichLand USA in Buellton and headed for the streets of Solvang to take part in what the show's producers describe as a challenge "steeped in local culture." Titled "An Eggcellent Adventure," the episode is slated to air on Sept. 11.

After a stop in Palm Springs (Sept. 18), the finale episode (Sept. 25) takes place in San Pedro and on Catalina Island.

For more about the show, click on http://bit.ly/1hKvOAi.

For a Star video about the trucks' visit to Ventura County, click on http://bit.ly/1TDqS2f.

Lisa McKinnon is a staff writer for The Star. Her Cafe Society column appears in the Sunday Life section and Fridays in the Time Out section. For between-column updates, follow 805foodie on Twitter and Instagram and "like" the Facebook page VCS Eats. Please send email to lisa.mckinnon@vcstar.com.
JOE LUMAYA/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Royal High School teachers Dean Borth (left) and Richard Letus throws T-shirts to students during a rally to kick off the school year on Wednesday.

SHARE JOE LUMAYA/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Royal High School students get into the spirit during a "welcome back" rally on Wednesday in Simi Valley. JOE LUMAYA/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Royal High School's Assistant Principal Mathew Guzzo competes in a game during a rally to welcome students back to school Wednesday. JOE LUMAYA/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Royal High School's cheer team performs at the rally to welcome students back to school Wednesday. JOE LUMAYA/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Royal High School history teachers Richard Letus (right) and Reid Furlong, who is dressed up as a tyrannosaurus rex, pump up students during a rally Wednesday, the first day of school.

By Jean Moore of the Ventura County Star

Simi Valley schools opened Wednesday, with Royal High School holding a surprise rally for students.

The Simi Valley Unified School District is starting the year with several new programs, including an academy where students in kindergarten through sixth grades will be learning Greek, Italian, French and Spanish.

The district also is bringing 14,000 more Chromebooks into schools, so that now there are nearly enough for every student, said Superintendent Jason Peplinski. And for the first time in years, Simi Valley has hired new teachers  35 so far, with possibly more to come.

Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges also opened Wednesday, with total enrollment up by 241 students over last fall. Schools in the Moorpark Unified School District opened, as well.
SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/VENTURA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE Luis Manuel Gonzalez, 62, of Los Angeles.

By Megan Diskin of the Ventura County Star

A Los Angeles man was sentenced this week to prison in connection with child molestation charges, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

Officials said they began investigating Luis Manuel Gonzalez, 62, on Nov. 29, 2013, after he sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl while he was visiting her family at a home on Derby Street in Camarillo. As detectives continued working on the case, they discovered two additional victims, authorities said. Gonzalez was arrested at his Los Angeles home on March 20, 2014, authorities said.

Two more victims eventually were located, authorities said. However, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office could not file charges against Gonzalez in those two cases due in part to the statute of limitations, Detective Frances Saleh said.

All five of Gonzalez's victims were girls between 7 and 12 years old at the time of the assaults, Saleh said. Three were related to him, Saleh said. Beyond the 7-year-old victim from the Camarillo area, the other victims were assaulted in Los Angeles County, Saleh said.

Gonzalez pleaded not guilty to the child molestation charges on April 30, 2014, but changed his plea to guilty during the trial's jury selection process June 16, officials said.

He was sentenced Monday to three consecutive terms of 25 years to life in prison, authorities said.
ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR Wilson Chouest, 64, leaves the courtroom during a break in Monday's preliminary hearing. Chouest is accused of killing two still-unidentified women in 1980. One of the victims was found in the parking lot of Westlake High School.

SHARE ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR Wilson Chouest listens to testimony during a preliminary hearing at Ventura County Superior Court in June.

By Marjorie Hernandez of the Ventura County Star

A Louisiana man pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with the death of a pregnant woman found at a Ventura County school parking lot and another woman found in Kern County 40 years ago.

William Chouest, 64, appeared Wednesday for arraignment before Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Young.

Prosecutors allege Chouest stabbed, raped and killed the two unidentified women in July 1980.

Senior Deputy District Attorney John Barrick said the body of a woman referred to as Kern County Jane Doe was found in an almond orchard in Delano on July 15, 1980, and the body of a woman referred to as Ventura County Jane Doe was found three days later in the upper parking lot of Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks. Ventura County Jane Doe was 20 weeks pregnant, according to Dr. C. Peter Speth, a former county assistant medical examiner who testified during a preliminary hearing.

The case remained unsolved until a 2012 check with the Combined DNA Index System, a database that contains DNA profiles of people arrested across the country. Tests and analysis linked Chouest's DNA to evidence collected on the victims and their clothing, Barrick said.

Chouest is facing three counts of murder in connection with the deaths of the two women and the fetus Ventura County Jane Doe was carrying.

Chouest also faces several special circumstances, including murder while engaged in rape, murder while engaged in robbery and the commission of more than one murder.

He also faces allegations of using a deadly weapon, a knife, and having prison prior offenses.

Chouest, a Louisiana native, already was serving a life sentence for an August 1980 robbery and the September 1980 rape, robbery and kidnapping of another woman at College of the Sequoias. Chouest was eligible for parole in 2017, but was arrested Sept. 23 on suspicion of the 1980 deaths.

He could face a maximum of three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murder charges and an additional four years for the weapons and prior-offense allegations, Barrick said.

Chouest remains in county jail and is not eligible for bail.

He is scheduled to appear back in court on Nov. 8 for a pretrial conference.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Manuel Apodaca uses the mock roof at Moorpark College to practice his solar power installation skills last semester. This fall, for the first time, students who earn a proficiency award in photovoltaics technology will be eligible to take the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners Entry Level Exam.

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By Robyn Flans, Special to The Star

Moorpark College students who complete an 11-unit photovoltaics program will now be eligible to take an entry-level board exam that school officials say will make them more marketable for the burgeoning job market in solar power.

The applied solar technology lecture course that starts Aug. 31 and the lab class that starts on Sept. 10 are the first steps to a proficiency award that will, for the first time, make students eligible to take the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners Entry Level Exam.

"This will make them even more marketable," said Howard Davis, Moorpark College's dean of student learning.

Photovoltaics is the process of converting solar power into electricity.

"Solar is a rapidly growing field, and companies complain that there are more job openings than there are qualified people to fill them," said Peter T. Parrish, who will teach the two lecture and laboratory courses in solar energy and photovoltaics. "What happens is they tend to hire people who have some of the skills, but not all of the skills, and they do a lot of on-the-job training."

Moorpark College first tried a solar energy program in 2010, but various attempts did not endure. About a year ago, Parrish discovered Moorpark College was having difficulty finding an instructor to fill what both parties believed to be an important need, so he approached administrators.

Parrish, who has degrees in physics, has been both a teacher and owner of a solar company. From 2002 until 2010, his company was a full-service company, but when Parrish realized there was a dearth of people with training in the field, he began to teach part-time and found he enjoyed it. His company changed to a consulting firm, and Parrish wrote the book, "Photovoltaic Laboratory."

In the lecture course, students will learn about the sales and design aspects of photovoltaics, and in the lab they will use tools and equipment to do mock installations and practice other parts of the job.

Davis said students are encouraged to take both the lecture and the lab.

"Even if they are aiming more toward a sales career in solar panels, knowing the application of the actual installation is helpful as well," Davis said. "It's a great hand-in-hand course combination."

A total of four courses over one or two semesters, including an optional internship at a local solar company, will earn the student the proficiency award in photovoltaic technology. The program is 11 units, and California residents pay $46 per unit, so earning the award costs $506.

The NABCEP Entry Level Exam is another $95.

Parrish said one of the challenges that community colleges face in offering solar programs is keeping up with the latest technology in the field.

"It takes a fair amount of effort to keep the program fresh and current to use the latest and greatest in technology," Parrish said.

Davis said Moorpark College is motivated to make this program succeed.

"The state and the federal government want community colleges to offer career technical programs that offer high-paying jobs to the students," Davis said. "And, of course, the environmental benefits make it a good match. That's why we're so persistent."

Davis said that three mock roofs are still in place from when Moorpark College first launched a solar power curriculum back in 2010.

"They provide a great model for the students to apply the solar panel, and they give them a way to practice that skill in a real-world setting without being on top of someone's roof," Davis explained. "They are maybe 2 feet off the ground, about 20 feet long."

Parrish said recent statistics indicate that solar photovoltaics continues to be a promising job market.

"There is 20 percent job growth, very competitive wages and a very diverse workforce," Parrish said. "You can't ask for more."
SHARE THE STAR

By Tom Kisken of the Ventura County Star

A new area code is coming to the 805 region because of math.

By June 2018, available telephone prefixes in the three-plus county region that currently uses 805 will run out.

A plan to add a new area code before that depletion date will be discussed in a public hearing at 2 p.m. Monday at Oxnard City Hall.

In the plan, people who currently have 805 phone numbers would keep the area code. But people who move to the region after the change is made or add phone lines could be assigned a new, still unknown area code.

Called an overlay, the plan is being proposed by telecommunication industry representatives. It has not yet been approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, which is holding public hearings in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Some locals said change is inevitable. Others see the 805 as almost a birthmark.

"It signifies where we live. It corresponds to Ventura County," said Damien Coffey, born and raised in Oxnard. He'd rather the change affect an isolated corner of the 805. "Some place far away."

Regardless of public opinion and the results of the upcoming hearings, a new area code will come, said Joe Cocke. He will be at the meetings as a representative of the North American Numbering Plan Administration. The group administers phone numbers in 20 countries.

"The area has a limited number of prefixes," said Cocke on Thursday, noting the region has already consumed about 95 percent of the available numbers. "Once we run out of prefixes, we have to add another area code. It's just a matter of fact."

Nine similar overlays are being planned or have been implemented across California over the past decade.

The other option would be to split off a sector of the 805 region and assign it a new area code. That appears very unlikely.

"We haven't had an area code split in nine years in California," Cocke said.

In an overlay, businesses that have incorporated the area code into their name, like Firestone Walker's 805 beer, don't have to worry about losing a brand or an area code, Cocke said.

"It's just that there is another code in use at the same time in the same geographic area," he said.

If an overlay is approved, people throughout the region will have to dial 10 digits including the area code to make a phone call.

The public hearing will include presentations by Cocke and by staff of the California Public Utilities Commission. People have a chance to ask questions and express opinions.

The change still has to be approved by the commission and the exact timing is unknown. Cocke said the transition will likely be timed so it happens at or before June 2018 when prefixes run out.

Some locals say the change will have no impact on them. To Marla DeSha of Camarillo, a new area code is a sign of change she would rather avoid.

She's lived in the county since her family moved to tiny Piru when she was 5. She would rather the area remain small enough so running out of telephone prefixes wasn't a concern.

"We don't need to enlarge our area code," she said.

The Oxnard meeting will be held at 2 p.m. at city council chambers at 300 W. Third St. For information on other meetings or on submitting concerns in writing, go to http://bit.ly/2bANljm.
STAR FILE PHOTO

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By Wendy Leung of the Ventura County Star

The city of Oxnard is in data gathering mode when it comes to the controversial topic of short-term rentals.

Although vacation rentals, particularly in beachside neighborhoods like Oxnard Shores, have been in place for years, the city doesn't have a specific ordinance regulating them.

The issue drew about 150 people on Tuesday to the Oxnard Performing Arts and Convention Center. Most were residents in the coastal community southwest of Harbor Boulevard and Fifth Street.

Officials are collecting information and input for a citywide ordinance that will require Planning Commission and City Council approval. Instead of taking public comment at the meeting, officials led a workshop activity that asked participants to place a sticker on poster boards representing which short-term rental regulation they support.

Some possible regulations include a minimum distance between short-term rental properties or a minimum stay for renters.

One poster board soliciting input on a possible ban on short-term rentals showed just how divided the community is on the issue. About half of the stickers represented people who want the city to ban all short-term rentals, the other half did not support such a ban.

The city considers a short-term rental as a dwelling unit that gets rented out to a tenant for less than 30 days. These types of vacation rentals have been treated as residential activity and the city collects a transit occupancy tax only on rental properties that self report.

Rick Conrad, a resident on Marlin Way who does not support a ban, said he thought the city-led activity was an open and democratic process.

"I am very much for the city taking the lead in doing this in a fair way versus going through the HOA," Conrad said.

The Mandalay Shores Community Association, the homeowners association that represents the Oxnard Shores neighborhood, recently approved regulations that would prohibit vacation rentals for less than 30 days.

Conrad said there had been large parties on his street from short-term rental properties, but he said many owners are becoming more responsible and leading cleanup efforts.

Late-night noise, parking, trash and other nuisance issues are what many residents cite when stating their case for a short-term rental ban.

Many supporters of such a ban wore T-shirts with the words "No STRs," or no short-term rentals. The shirt shows a picture of a neighborhood home with people hanging out on a roof.

David Laufer, a board member of the homeowners association, said the problem worsened about a year ago when investors started buying properties, adding bedrooms and turning residences into a full-time business.

Websites like Airbnb and VRBO have popularized vacation rentals, especially in coastal towns.

"Every weekend we have people who live in these houses who don't care," Laufer said. "These businesses are destroying our lives."

Stephanie Brown, who lives on Corbina Way, said that one night when her three grandchildren couldn't sleep because of a nearby party, she approached the renters and asked them to quiet down. Brown said she was berated by the renters, who thought they had the right to enjoy the property.

"We didn't buy or build our homes to have a hotel next to it," Brown said.

For more information on the city's consideration of the short-term rental issue, visit www.oxnard.org/str. To send comments to the city, email info.str@oxnard.org.
DECATUR  Bill and Betty Braun have been longtime supporters of the Decatur Legacy efforts to give back to the community.

Decatur Legacy is a group of financial advisers, institutions and other organizations supporting and encouraging the support of charities in the community. It held its annual Do Something Great awards luncheon Wednesday at the Beach House restaurant.

The Brauns were among the four honorees, as giving back is not only something they do but part of the advice Bill provides others in his work with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. over the past 67 years.

He's helped generations of families throughout his long career, said Wegi Stewart, president of the Community Foundation of Macon County, which provides the administrative work for the Decatur Legacy organization.

HSHS St. Mary's Hospital nominated the Brauns for their contributions to its behavioral health division in memory of their son Christopher who dealt with mental health issues before his death earlier this year.

St. Mary's and staff has always been there with kindness and expertise, Bill Braun said.

Stewart said Decatur Legacy is intended to raise awareness about charitable giving, particularly increasing the number of gifts left in wills.

As a nation, charitable giving remains high and relatively consistent, said guest speaker Bryan Clontz, founder and president of Charitable Solutions, a Florida-based financial planning firm.

It's in our culture, Clontz said. We're the most generous culture on the globe. It's amazing how many people continue to give back.

Other honorees included David and Norma Fathauer of Dalton City, who were nominated by Millikin University for their support of the college and Symphony Orchestra Guild of Decatur. Norma Fathauer said they were surprised to receive the recognition but honored by it.

The Community Foundation honored Leo and Anne Pondelick posthumously for their support of the Decatur Arts Council, Decatur Public Library, Scovill Zoo and Macon County Conservation District, Stewart said. Anne was a teacher at MacArthur High School and Leo a musician, Stewart said.

We know how much they loved Decatur, Stewart said. They continue to show their dedication to Decatur.

The honorees nominated by the Decatur Memorial Foundation have a legacy that dates back a century to mark the 100-year anniversary of Decatur Memorial Hospital. Stewart said the generosity of donors helps to support the legacy the hospital's founders William Barnes and Sue Hagaman started on Jan. 1, 1916 with the opening of what at the time was a 65-bed hospital.
SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Oxnard's Aurelio Agueyo caught a 36-pound yellowtail on a half-day trip aboard the Speed Twin.

SALTWATER REPORT

Surface fishing continues to be hot even as the summer starts to wind down. It's hard to tell just when these fish, such as yellowtail, barracuda, bonito and calico bass will decide to leave the Channel Islands, but for now they are still plentiful.

Channel Islands Sportfishing reported the following whoppers: Andy Huntley of Northridge caught a 25-pound white seabass. James Streeter of Mojave hooked a 22-pound sheephead. Gina Perez of Monrovia caught a 32-pound yellowtail. Mary Thompson of Oxnard caught a 15-pound lingcod. Aurelio Agueyo of Oxnard brought in a 36-pound yellowtail. Jesse Pruit of Los Angeles landed a 35-pound halibut.

Hook's Sportfishing had a pair of whoppers come in. A Camarillo angler named Stephen caught a 27-pound yellowtail using live squid and live sardine. An Oxnard fisherman named Gary landed a 40-pound halibut using live sardine.

FRESHWATER REPORT

Lake Casitas: High temperatures have had a major impact on fishing with anglers seeing most of their success either early in the morning or in the evening. There's been a lot of surface action in the mornings, with best baits being buzz baits, spinning baits and frogs, all cast very shallow. Once the sun gets high in the sky, the fish are retreating to deeper water, so anglers are having success anywhere from 15 to 30 feet in depth. Most effective baits are nightcrawlers, plastic worms and jigs. Most of the bass being caught have been anywhere from 2 to 4 pounds. There have been some spottings of redear, but no catfish nor trout.

Lake hours: 6 a.m.-7:30 p.m.

Cachuma Lake: Limits are being caught on catfish, overshadowing even a good bass bite and making up for a slowing trout take. The catfish are eager to bite on mackerel or nightcrawlers. The dam is a good place to find them, but anglers should be careful around E Point because the water is very shallow in that area. Cachuma reports a pair of fishermen Saturday came in with more than 70 pounds of catfish with individual fish weighing as much as 8 pounds.

Lake hours: 6 a.m.-7:30 p.m.

Castaic Lake: Fishing is good with striped bass boiling with bigger fish in the mix. The average size is 4-6 pounds with some as big as 13 pounds. Sardines and lugworms are starting to work well at the buoy line and around Kong Island. Largemouth bass are biting better, taking plastic worms at 15-25 feet deep. Some bass are hitting on shad in the morning in the back of coves. Catfish are starting to pick up. Bluegill have been caught in shallow bushes.

Lake hours: 6:15 a.m.-7:45 p.m.
STAR FILE PHOTO Highway 101 passes by farmland near Conejo Creek, property included in a SOAR renewal measure for Camarillo.

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By Kathleen Wilson of the Ventura County Star

A Ventura County judge ruled Wednesday that the SOAR extension measure for Camarillo can stay on the November ballot.

Superior Court Judge Vincent O'Neill denied Calleguas Land Co.'s request to block the measure. The company and Camarillo resident Wayne Davey sued city officials over alleged failures in the voter petition process that was used to qualify the initiative.

O'Neill found no procedural errors that were serious enough to merit removal of the measure from the ballot. He did suggest there could be litigation after the election over a substantive issue: whether hundreds of acres of agricultural land were incorrectly described as being within the city.

That would only occur if the measure passes, according to O'Neill's ruling that runs nearly three pages.

Chuck Cohen, an attorney for Calleguas Land Co., said a decision on an appeal would be made by late Thursday afternoon.

Elections officials say time is short. They have asked for a final court decision, including the results of an appeal, by Friday to meet ballot-printing deadlines.

"I'm disappointed," Cohen said of the ruling.

Richard Francis, an attorney for one of the signature-gatherers, said he was "generally gratified" with the decision.

"I think the judge had a very difficult case in front of him, and he did an admirable job of dealing with the arguments," Francis said.

The various Save Open-space and Agricultural Resources measures across the county, enacted in the 1990s to 2000s, require voter approval for development of protected farmland and open space.

Proponents are asking Camarillo residents to renew a growth boundary set for the city in 1998, plus add a "Conejo Creek Voter Participation Area" for hundreds of acres of agricultural land outside the city limits.

Voter approval would be required to rezone that property to a nonagricultural use if the city annexes the land.

Calleguas, which owns most of the acreage, argued that the description misled voters into thinking they had authority over unincorporated county land. The city attorney's summary shown to petition signers said the land was within the city but it is not.

The company had plans to develop 895 acres of agricultural land at the base of the Conejo Grade, but the project was rejected by the Camarillo City Council in the face of stiff community opposition.

Calleguas' attorneys cited the description of the voter participation area as one reason the initiative should not appear on the ballot. But O'Neill's ruling said that issue was beyond the realm of procedural matters properly brought before an election, especially given the short time for a decision.

Calleguas also claimed that the proponents failed to give required notice to the public and did not include the full text of the initiative in the petition that voters signed and that the measure lacked required language.

Proponents published a notice of their intent to circulate the petition in the Ventura County Star. Plaintiffs' attorney Sean Welch said they had to do more than that because the newspaper has not been adjudicated by a court to be a general-circulation newspaper for Camarillo.

Notices should have been posted in three public locations on top of that because The Star was adjudicated in Ventura County but not Camarillo, he said.

O'Neill, though, agreed with the defendants' claim that The Star acquired the adjudication of the Camarillo Daily News when its former owner purchased the local newspaper in 1992.

Plaintiffs said the initiative shown to voters omitted key portions of the original SOAR initiative passed in 1998 and a map. O'Neill said voters were not denied any relevant information.

"In sum, petitioners failed to show how the differing language or the different maps would render a voter incapable of understanding the full import of the 2016 measure," he wrote.

A missing heading and clause enacting the measure were not disqualifying, he said.

The 1998 initiative expires at the end of 2020, and renewal would extend it until 2050.
(Photo: Richard Lui/The Desert Sun)



SHARE (Photo: Richard Lui/The Desert Sun) (Photo: Richard Lui/The Desert Sun) (Photo: Richard Lui/The Desert Sun)

Colin Atagi and Gabby Ferreira, The Desert Sun

A wind-whipped, out-of-control wildfire in the San Bernardino Mountains grew to 31,689 acres, or 49 square miles, Thursday morning, after two days of destroying homes and businesses in its path and forcing an ongoing evacuation order of more than 82,000 residents.

Not everyone evacuated, though, and fire officials said Wednesday they were concerned about possible injuries or worse.

"People make adult decisions. One of the risks they make is deciding to stay," said U.S. Forest Service spokesman John Miller. "All of a sudden, your house could be compromised by fire and we may not be able to rescue you.

"We had some folks yesterday refuse to leave as the firefighters said 'Hey, we have to go.'"

The Blue Cut Fire also led to an ongoing closure of the heavily traveled Interstate 15 through the Cajon Pass. According to a tweet Wednesday night from the California Highway Patrol Inland Division, the I-215/15 northbound connector was reopened at about 10:15 p.m. Some lanes of I-15 northbound reopened shortly after. I-15 southbound will remain closed until further notice, according to a Caltrans press release.

Crews are working to repair damaged guardrails through the pass.

The wind-driven fire aggressively swept through the mountains' dry brush Wednesday, jumping the freeway at one point and leaving miles of scorched land on both sides of the interstate.

"It hit hard. It hit fast. It hit with intensity that we've never known before," San Bernardino County fire Chief Mark Hartwig said Wednesday at Glen Helen park. "We thought the (nearby) Pilot Fire (last week) burned fast."

"It was devastating. A lot of homes lost," he said.

The winds weren't always predictable and were expected to reach 25 mph, officials said. The fire mostly burned north Wednesday, scorching hillsides west of the freeway. Billowing smoke flew over the town of Hesperia just north of the Cajon Pass.

The Summit Inn, a historic Route 66 diner and landmark in the Cajon Pass, was destroyed. Inn managers Scott and Michelle Keeney lost their nearby home as well.

"I was angry last night, but I'm OK right now. This is just a sad reality of where we live," Michelle Keeney said Wednesday morning while walking through the remnants of their home.

As the fire threatened her restaurant on Tuesday, Keeney told her employees to give all the diners to-go boxes and to evacuate immediately, she said.

The blaze began at Old Cajon Boulevard near Blue Cut for which the wildfire is named. The cause of the wildfire burning about 85 miles northwest of Palm Springs is still unknown. Fire officials originally said Wednesday the blaze had grown to 30,000 acres, but that figure was downgraded by evening to nearly 26,000. It's about 4 percent contained.

The containment is near the fire's origin, but they're fighting the fire on three different fronts, Miller said.

"Normally, like when you have the Santa Ana winds, the fire's only on one front. This one is in different directions," he said. "We watched it jump the 15 (freeway) yesterday and go three different directions (north, east and south). "It's a challenge. Which piece do you go after? It depends on the resources we have and what's at risk."

The Blue Cut Fire is one of four major wildfires burning in drought-stricken California. Its rapid growth in about 18 hours was more typical of a Santa Ana wind-driven wildfire seen in the fall in Southern California, U.S. Forest Service officials noted on Wednesday.

Evacuations, including the mountain community of Wrightwood -- known for the Mountain High ski resort -- are still in place. About 4,500 people live there.

"It's such a wide area. You couldn't possibly put a fire engine at each house," Hartwig said of the destruction.

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries Tuesday after they and four others were trapped by Blue Cut Fire flames while assisting with evacuations and defending homes in the Swarthout Canyon.

The six took shelter in a nearby structure and were eventually able to escape the area. The two firefighters were treated and released from an area hospital to return to battling the blaze.

Some businesses, homes spared

The remains of the Summit Inn stood bare Wednesday, a skeleton of a 1952 building on the historic Route 66. Smoke still wafted from the rubble as beetles frantically climbed around the burnt-out trees framing the structure's shell.

Just down the hill is a Chevron gas station that looks ready to serve customers, but the only people in its parking lot were Southern California Edison workers and Katherine Hanoun's family. She and three uncles had just gone to check on the gas station, which one of her uncles owns.

Hanoun was working there Tuesday when the police came in and asked everyone to evacuate.

"There were about 60-70 people in there," Hanoun said. "We wanted to make sure everyone got out safely."

She said she doesn't remember what went through her mind as she thought about the advancing fire.

"When it comes down to it, you don't think," she said. "We had a lot of cars and we had to get them out because the fire is coming. I was the last to leave. I locked the doors. It was a nightmare. I'm glad everyone is safe."

Just across the highway from the Summit Inn stands a neighborhood of homes. Judging by the presence of some scorched earth, it appeared the fire danced right up to the neighborhood.

Maria Navarro was in the backyard with her three dogs Wednesday. She said her son took her to his home in the high desert city of Victorville to escape the fire and her other son came to stay in the house with the dogs until firemen told him to leave Tuesday evening.

"The firemen did such a great job saving my house," she said, pointing across the street to some burned vegetation.

"I was scared, very scared," Navarro said. "I thought, 'My house is gone. My house is gone.'

"I'm grateful to God it's still here," she added.

While the mandatory evacuation remained in effect, Navarro said she had no trouble getting back to her house.

Oak Hills resident Dale Van Camp was ready to evacuate Tuesday. Her SUV was filled with supplies and she was ready to hit the road with her cat and five dogs.

But then she wondered if she even had to go, since she was under a "suggested" evacuation, she said. The 68-year-old took a chance and opted to stay home.

The gamble paid off and her home was left unscathed. And like many area residents, Van Camp toured her community to check the damage.

"It just breaks my heart to see the devastation," Van Camp said. "It's horrible."

At least six homes along Highway 138 had been destroyed, including one where a school bus, tractor and other vehicles stood charred.

At one point, firefighters even doused a pile of manure that caught fire.

Jim Morrison was among people evacuated near the high desert town of Hesperia, but he was able to check on his home Wednesday.

"I'm just glad it's still standing. Everything else is burning too much," said Morrison, 58.

Erin Smith, 45, also was evacuated from her home near Hesperia. She was relieved to find her home in tact but was still visibly emotional.

"It was just a scary thing and we didn't know what would happen at all," she said. "I never want this to happen again. I hated it."

Evacuees wait, worry and wonder

Two evacuation centers have been set up. The Jessie Turner Community Center in Fontana is being used as a care and reception center for evacuees, while Sultana High School in Hesperia is an overnight shelter.

Larry Fortmuller, a Red Cross volunteer who is acting as a spokesman for the evacuation center, said the Jessie Turner center has about 146 people, but can accommodate as many as 500.

The shelter opened at about noon Tuesday. Its usually pretty empty during the day but fills up at night, he said.

On Wednesday, the Fontana Police Officers Association provided a barbecue dinner for the shelters residents.

The police association here did a barbecue for the residents. Its always good to have that working cooperation with the community and always good to have that community support, Fortmuller said. Were trying to provide the basics so people maintain their dignity.

Wrapped in a blanket, Lillian Gaffey, a Lytle Creek resident, sat in the lobby of the Jessie Turner Community Center Wednesday. On the couch next to her were strewn belongings -- a guitar and some blankets. Her grandson, Dustin, sat across from her.

I was laying down and Kathy (her daughter) says Mom, theyre saying everybodys evacuating. And I said No, come on! The police were coming door to door. We got my meds, which is the most important thing.

Ive been through fires before, but this one happened too fast, she said.

A short distance away from Gaffey, Kevin Foree had also wrapped himself in a blanket. Foree said he lives in Victorville but commutes to Orange County for work. On his way home from work Tuesday, along I-15, he found he couldnt get there.

I tried going on some back roads but CHP turned us around, he said. I tried going up a canyon road. I rounded one turn and there was just fire everywhere. I threw my car in reverse and floored it. The wind was going 30, 35 mph. It was like the scene from Backdraft.

Foree said he was unable to find a hotel or motel room for the night, so he went to the Jessie Turner center. Hes originally from the Bay Area, and said this fire reminds him of the Oakland firestorm of 1991.

I talked to my mom (who also lives in Victorville) to check on her, she said Victorville is covered in ash. It looks like its snowing. It is what it is. I doubt the fires going to go to Victorville, he added.

Elena Kellogg stood by a small gathering of cots Wednesday night, wrapping what looked like twine into a ball. Three of her five children were clustered around her. The family is from Wrightwood, which was evacuated in its entirety on Tuesday.

I was hesitant to leave. I took time to get things ready and we left about 6 (p.m.), she said, wrapping the string between her hands. We thought we would go to Phelan, but we failed to do that. We tried to go back to Wrightwood, but it was closed. So we came here.

Kellogg smiled when asked about her reaction to the fire.

I am very concerned about the fire, but I understand I can do nothing, so I choose to feel good instead of bad, she said.

Kelloggs eldest daughter was in Los Angeles for a college orientation and could not get back home when the fire started. Kelloggs husband was also not at home: he was in Pomona Tuesday. The family of seven reunited at the shelter about 3 a.m. Wednesday, Kellogg said.

Weve been watching the news, working on the computers, she said. Were trying to have a good time.

Kelloggs 12-year-old daughter, Vasilisa said shes worried about the familys pets. They have three cats and one rabbit.

The cats are at our home and the rabbit is with a friend, she said, wiping at one eye as she tugged a dark green blanket around her shoulders. We left extra food and water for them. I just hope it (the fire) doesnt reach Wrightwood.

Nancy Vargas and her father were spending their second night night at the center Wednesday.

Vargas, a Hesperia resident, was at Kaiser Permanente in Riverside Tuesday, working a shift as part of the Cope Health Scholars.

I first heard a patient talking about a fire in Devore, she said. As soon as my shift was over I saw all these messages on my phone.

Vargas wasnt able to get home because I-15 had been closed. Her father was also unable to get home. They found out about the shelter and decided to check it out.

I wasnt prepared, I wasnt expecting this to happen, Vargas said. It feels like a completely different experience than what I know. I feel hopeless.

Her mother and son are in Hesperia and their house is not affected. But Vargas said being without them is difficult.

To me, it was just a typical day doing typical things and now Im really trapped.

And once shes able to get back home, Vargas said shes sure it will affect her.

Its going to hit me hard. I drove up and down that pass for five years.

Wildfires have burned more than 112,950 acres across California this year, and the worst of the fire season is yet to come.

We are definitely entering a very hot and dry pattern, and drought conditions play a very large role, Cal Fire spokesman Dan Berlant said. We are nowhere near the end of this fire season. Were already seeing so many devastating fires in August, and unfortunately it will likely only get worse in September and October.

Mandatory evacuations are in place for:

The community of Wrightwood

Swarthout Canyon

West Cajon Valley

Lytle Creek Canyon

The area west of I-15, west of Highway 395 and west of Summit Valley

The area north of Bear Valley Road and east of Caughlin Road

The area north of Highway 138, east of Sheep Creek Road, south of Phelan Road and west of Caliente Road

Road closures: Interstate 15 is closed from Main Street in Hesperia to Interstate 215 in San Bernardino. The southbound connector to Highway 395 is closed and southbound 395 is also closed at Joshua Street. State Route 2 is closed from the Los Angeles County line to Highway 138, according to Caltrans. Highway 138 is closed from I-15 to Highway 2 and Highway 138 is also closed from the Los Angeles County line to Highway 173. Old Cajon Road is closed north of Devore Cutoff and Lytle Creek Road is closed at Glen Helen. Beekley Road from Phelan Road to Highway 128 and Highway 38 to Lone Pine Canyon are also closed.

Evacuation centers: There are two evacuation centers. One of them is the Jessie Turner Community Center at 15-556 Summit Ave. in Fontana and the other is Sultana High School, 17-311 Sultana St. in Hesperia.

Animals: Small animals can be taken to the Apple Valley Animal Shelter at 22-131 Powhatan Road in Apple Valley or the Devore Animal Shelter at 19-777 Shelter Way in San Bernardino. Large animals can be taken to the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds at 14-800 7th St. in Victorville.
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Technology changes and advances so much these days that government often struggles to play a constant game of catch-up. But in life-or-death matters such as 911 emergency calls, there is no wiggle room for error.

That's why we were pleased this week to see the state Senate approve a bill that aims to ensure that when you call 911 from your cellphone, the call gets routed directly to the proper police, fire or medical emergency agency. The bill is now awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown's signature, and after unanimous approvals in the Senate and Assembly, we encourage him to quickly sign it into law.

AB 1564 was authored by Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Carpinteria, who told The Star last year about a man who called 911 from his cellphone to report a family member having a medical emergency. The call was routed to a dispatch center 30 miles away, even though the man lived only a quarter-mile from a Santa Barbara fire station. Emergency personnel didn't make it there in time, and the relative died of an accidental drug overdose.

Williams said it was not an isolated incident; that many 911 calls from cellphones in this state are routed to the California Highway Patrol even though the callers are not on freeways. CHP dispatchers must then get more information from the caller, figure out which local police or fire agency should handle the call, and then reroute it.

It all adds up to unnecessary delays in potentially crucial situations.

Back in 1973, the Legislature passed the Warren-911 Act, which established our 911 system. Before that, the state had thousands of different phone numbers you could call in an emergency.

Most 911 calls were made via landline phones back then, allowing them to go directly to the correct local agency. When mobile phones were introduced, 911 calls made from them were all routed to the CHP, because most cellphones were only in cars and the emergencies were assumed to be happening on roads or highways.

Today, 80 percent of all 911 calls are coming from mobile devices, yet 49 percent of them still get routed to the CHP, according to the Legislature's analysis of AB 1564.

Thanks to a project in 2009 called "Routing on Empirical Data," Ventura County is at "the cutting edge" of 911 cellphone technology, officials said. Because of GPS and other improvements, when someone here reports an emergency via a cellphone, the call is routinely routed to the correct agency.

But other areas of the state are not so well-equipped. In downtown Santa Barbara, for example, a cellphone 911 call may be routed to Ventura CHP dispatchers, depending on the wireless carrier, Williams said.

His bill requires the state Office of Emergency Services to work with the CHP, local police and fire departments and the wireless industry to regularly review and improve the 911 routing system.

Current law allows such reviews, but the bill would require the state to conduct them every year and make any necessary changes to keep the routing system current with new facilities and new technology. Local police, fire or emergency medical agencies also could ask for a specific review of call routing in a certain area.

The bill has a long list of supporters, including the American Heart Association, American Medical Response, California Fire Chiefs Association, California Peace Officers' Association, Santa Barbara County and the League of California Cities. There is no listed opposition.

Our 911 system has saved countless lives since its inception, and government must do whatever it can to ensure its effectiveness, no matter how much technology changes.
URBANA -- The night his 5-year-old daughter died, Tony Galbo said to anyone who would listen: "No parent should ever have to do this. There should be Gabby's law."

Four years later, at Presence Covenant Medical Center in Urbana on Thursday, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into Illinois law "Gabby's Law," with Tony and Elizabeth Galbo, of Monticello standing nearby.

"We didn't want another family to go through what we went through," Tony Galbo said. "The state of Illinois needs to take care of its citizens, and today, with this law, it's doing that."

On May 11, 2012, Gabby Galbo died from sepsis, the bodys life-threatening response to an infection that can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death. Gabby developed sepsis from undiagnosed Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Five days earlier, Gabby was released from Carle Foundation Hospital, despite blood work that was later revealed to show she had significant signs of infection. The Galbos were told the night Gabby was released that the blood work was "unremarkable."

Gabby's Law, Senate Bill 2403, requires hospitals to "adopt evidence-based protocols for the early recognition and treatment of patients with sepsis, severe sepsis or septic shock that are based on generally accepted standards of care. It requires the protocols contain certain components, including those specific to identifying and treating adults and children."

The bill, championed by state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, passed unanimously in the state House and Senate.

This bill is an example of good public policy that will save lives, Rauner said. But we are saddened, because it was due to the loss of 5-year-old Gabby Galbo that this legislation was sent my desk. Gabbys Law will save lives while honoring this little girl's legacy. It will have a tremendous impact in Illinois for years to come.

Elizabeth Galbo was emotional, sobbing as she held her daughter Giada.

"When we first went to Rep. (Bill) Mitchell and Sen. Chapin (Rose), I wasn't sure where it was going to go, or how far it was going to go," Elizabeth Galbo said. "But Sen. Rose took his time. He told us, 'If we're going to do this, let's do it right.'"

When Carle Foundation Hospital in Champaign treated Gabby in 2012, it had a sepsis protocol, but not a pediatric sepsis protocol.

Every hospital needs to mandate this protocol," Tony Galbo said. "There are hospitals that have been doing this protocol for many years, but this is for the hospitals that have not."

Sepsis kills more than 258,000 people in the United States each year, making it the ninth-leading cause of disease-related deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It accounts for more deaths each year than prostate cancer, breast cancer and AIDS combined.

"There are over 1.6 million cases of sepsis per year in the United States, and over half of Americans don't know the early warning symptoms," said Kathy Johnson, an operations director and Telehealth team member for the Presence Health system. "We must raise awareness of it."

Early warning symptoms include fever, shivering, extreme pain, discolored skin, extreme sleepiness, confusion and shortness of breath. Anyone with two more of those symptoms should see a doctor. If sepsis is detected early, it can be treated.

"If your health care provider doesn't screen you for sepsis, tell them you want them to," Johnson said.
Earlier on June 27, Australian aluminium extrusion manufacturer Capral Limited lodged an application to the commission asking for the investigation, reported the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trades Competition Authority.



The application alleges that the goods have been exported to Australia at prices less than their normal value and were in receipt of countervailing subsidies from Malaysia and Vietnam, which has caused material injury to the Australian industry in the form of price suppression, loss of profits and increased stocks.



The investigation will examine exports of the goods to Australia from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, and losses from July 1, 2012.

The product is currently subject to a 5% tariff.

Parties concerned are invited to lodge submissions concerning the publication of a dumping or countervailing duty notice sought in the application to The Director Operations 3, GPO Box 1632, Melbourne VIC 3001, Australia or email to operations3@adcommission.gov.au , or fax to +61 3 85392499, no later than September 22.



The official information about the investigation can be found on the website: adcommission.gov.au
Eight people were seriously hurt in southern France when an express train crashed into a fallen tree uprooted by a massive hailstorm. (Photo: AFP/Jeff Pachoud)

The impact sparked panic, as some passengers feared a militant attack was underway, according to one witness.

The regional express was carrying 219 passengers on a service between Nimes and Montpellier when it hit the tree at 140 kilometres per hour, the state rail operator SNCF said.

The accident occurred near the town of Lunel, about 28 kilometres southwest of Nimes.

A critically-injured individual was airlifted to hospital, according to the head of local rescue services, Christophe Risdorfer. Fifty other passengers suffered minor injuries or shock.

"We were on the train when hailstones the size of ping-pong balls started falling, then we heard what sounded like an explosion," said a 24-year-old passenger from Luxembourg who gave her name as Justine.

"The train shook for a few seconds and then I saw some people whose heads were covered in blood."

Another passenger said some people on the train feared a militant attack was unfolding.

A string of terror assaults in Europe in recent months has left the continent on edge.

"There was panic, some at first thought it was an attack on the train," said the 35-year-old woman named Virginie.

SNCF said around 80 rescue workers, backed by helicopters, were deployed to the scene, where "access is very difficult."

The tree was a "very tall pine" located on private property next to the railway line, the company said.

Despite the impact, the train did not derail and traffic was expected to resume later Wednesday on one of the tracks of the line.
The forum, co-organised by VIR and AVM under the guardianship of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), has attracted 20 expert speakers and 500 attendees from governmental organisations, leading corporations, and investment funds from Vietnam and overseas.

Under the theme M&A in Wider Economic Boundaries, the forum will examine M&A potentials as Vietnam joins numerous bilateral and multi-lateral trade deals, notably the ASEAN Economic Community and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

This slew of trade agreements is expected to draw international M&A flows into the ASEAN, a diverse market with 600 million people, a growing middle class, and young workforce. As one of the fastest developing economies in the ASEAN, Vietnam is forecast to receive a great part of this increased inflow.

In fact, in 2015 the country already recorded $5.2 billion in M&A investments and this figure is expected to climb to $6 billion in 2016, according to the Institute of Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances in Switzerland.

As Vietnam has been integrating deeper and wider into the world economy, this years forum is thus held under the theme of M&A in Wider Economic Boundaries. Apart from exchanging information, evaluating the pros and cons, and sharing experience on M&A deals in Vietnam, the Forum will promote M&A as a vital channel to raise capital and restructure enterprises and the economy, said Le Trong Minh, editor-in-chief of VIR and head of the Organising Committee.

A wider economic zone allows Vietnamese firms in the consumer goods, retail, finance, and real estate sectors, among others, to attract foreign M&A flows. This is also a great opportunity for state divestments and the equitisation of state-owned enterprises.

The MPI expects that this years forum can deliver adequate assessments on M&A trends and help find wise responses to challenges. It should also promote investment and networking activities between businesses and investors from both Vietnam and overseas, noted Nguyen The Phuong, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment at the event.

The forum will include three discussion sessions on various issues of M&A, ranging from raising capital to drafting strategies. Experts from the MPI, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the State Securities Commission, and many more will share their experiences in these discussions.

In the morning, investors and 50 top firms have already joined MAF EXPO 2016 to discuss potential M&A deals. As one of the largest annual investment networking events, the EXPO also acts as a platform to introduce soon-to-be equitised firms to the investor community.

Following the Forum, the 50 best M&A deals in 2015 will be awarded at the Gala Dinner this evening.

>> 2016s largest IPO deals in Vietnam
According to newswire Bloomberg.com, through its subsidiary in Singapore, F&N is searching for an acquisition targets to bolster its market share in Southeast Asia after its war chest grew to nearly $745 million after the sales of beer assets. Accordingly, Vinamilk, where F&N owns an 11 per cent stake, is considered a potential target.

Lee Meng Tat, F&Ns chief executive officer for non-alcoholic beverages, said that Vietnams largest milk producer is an example of what F&N wants in an acquisition: a company with market presence, well-known brands, and a strong distribution network.

Lee stated that the ideal situation to increase F&Ns ownership rate in Vinamilk is an M&A deal. If successful, it will help the company to enhance its competitive capacity with the two largest US soft drink giants in Southeast Asia, PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co.

Lee added that if Vinamilk extends its foreign ownership ratio, F&N will follow developments and lay emphasis on the acquisition of sufficient shares.

Southeast Asia is considered a potential market with a total population of 600 million. In addition, it contains the economic group having the fastest development in Asia.

F&N is among the top three soft drinks players in its home country, Singapore, as well as in Thailand and Malaysia, according to Euromonitor International. However, it isnt ranked among the top five in Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, where the company is looking to grow.

Regarding Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, the Thai billionaire has expressed interest in Vietnam. In late 2015, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdis TCC Group, the main investor in Berli Jucker PCL (BJC), completed the purchase of Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam for 655 million ($879 million). The purchase is part of BJCs plans to become a leading regional player covering the entire value chain and to position itself for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

Earlier in 2013, BJC bought the Family Mart convenience store chain, then belonging to Phu Thai Group and Japanese company Family Mart, and changed its name to Bs Mart. BJC now has 123 Bs Marts in Vietnam.
Cook made the pledge during his trip to China , at least his second in four months, as demand for Apples iPhones has plummeted in the worlds second-largest economy and the government remains wary of foreign technology.

Official Chinese state broadcaster CCTV stated that Cook told Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, one of China s most senior officials, that Apples new R&D centre will be built by the end of this year.

Earlier in May, Zhang Gaoli said that he hoped Apple could deepen its R&D co-operation with the country and stressed the importance of information security.

Along with the $1 billion R&D centre, in May, Apple announced a $1 billion deal with ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing. The move was considered an attempt to curry favour with Beijing .

Previously, Huynh Duc Tho, Chairman of the Danang Peoples Committee stated that Apple visited Vietnam s Danang in March, along with other cities, namely Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City , to find investment opportunities. The investor was mulling over a suitable investment location and would make the final decision at a working session with Danangs leaders in August.

However, as of now, the city has yet to receive feedback from Apple.
A report of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Can Tho Branch showed that there were 78 IZs and export processing zones (EPZs) in Mekong River Delta as of June 2016, with total area of 14,787 hectares.



However, only 3,688 hectares are occupied, while the remaining 11,099 hectares are idle. Meanwhile, all the IZs and EPZs are designed to be located close to the Tien and Hau Rivers, while large areas of orchards and fertile soil for rice fields will be cleared to make room for the IZs and EPZs.

There are many IZs which have not been able to attract investors for many years. The 57.4 hectare Xuan To IZ in An Giang province, planned in 2004, for example, still has been struggling hard to call for investors. The 121 hectare Hung Phu 1 and 67 hectare Hung Phu 2B IZ in Can Tho City and 15 out of 43 IZs in Long An province have also been left idle. Can Tho City has 8 IZs with total area of 2,267 hectares, but has leased 567.2 hectares only to 220 projects, capitalized at nearly US$2 billion in total. These include only 21 foreign invested projects with total investment capital of US$198.4 million. The occupancy rate in some IZs is very modest, just 12%-13%.

According to Nguyen Van Hong, director of the Can Tho City Planning and Investment, the average land rent in the IZs in Can Tho City is high, at US$80 per square meter at least.

The level is higher than that offered by IZs in neighboring provinces, at US$40 per square metre.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Minh Toai, director of the Can Tho City Industry and Trade Department, attributes the lack of investors to poor infrastructure conditions. The city has waterways, road and air transport systems, but the items are not developed in an effective way. Foreign investors hesitate to invest in Can Tho because there is no air route from their home countries to the city.

Meanwhile, enterprises have to pay an additional sum of US$10 per ton to carry goods from Can Tho to Ho Chi Minh City before shipping goods abroad.

Deputy director of VCCI Can Tho Nguyen Phuong Lam pointed out that the IZ density in Mekong Delta is high with 78 IZs and EPZs in 13 cities and provinces. He believes that the existence of too many IZs is a big waste of the land fund.
The 23.5-km expressway will be built by a public-private-partnership in build-operate-transfer mode.



It will have four lanes and a width of 17m, and pass through two Mekong Delta provinces, Dong Thap and Vinh Long.

The expressway is expected to cost VND6.15 trillion (US$276 million) including land acquisition.

To recoup the investment, Thang Long is seeking the right to collect toll of VND1,500 (0.07 US cent) per kilometre on the expressway for 20 years and six months and on the HCM City-Trung Luong Expressway or four years and 11 months starting in 2030.

If approved, construction will begin this year and be finished by mid-2019.
TCC recently became the biggest shareholder in Big C Thailand with a 97.94 per cent stake, after acquiring Groupe Casinos 58.6 per cent majority stake in February and buying CP Groups 25 per cent in May. Big C is a major food retailer and trader of commercial real estate in Thailand, with a network of more than 700 sales points, 125 of which are hypermarkets.

On the other hand, Mega Market Vietnam (the official name of Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam starting from this July), where TCC holds 100 per cent, now has 19 wholesale supermarkets throughout the country, a vegetable and fruits distribution centre in Lam Dong, and a fish distribution centre in Can Tho, as well as two office supplies distribution centres in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

In July, TCC brought 100 tonnes of Vietnamese dragon fruit to sell at its Big C Thailand stores. The company said it would continue to export dragon fruit to Thailand at 100 tonnes per month. At the moment, TCC is looking for suppliers of other fruits, such as avocado, King orange, cainito, and sweet potato. Besides, Vietnamese frozen catfish and Da Lat flowers will also appear on Big C Thailands store shelves in the near future.

Speaking with VIR recently, TCC chairman Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi said that the company is excited to cooperate with Vietnamese producers to increase exports to Thailand through TCC.

He added that another TCC subsidiary, the Japanese restaurant chain Oishi, is looking for Vietnamese restaurants to bring to Thailand. Moreover, Mega Market is considering opening wholesale centres in Thailand.

Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi said that Vietnam is a special focus for the company. We went to Vietnam in 1995 and survived the 1997 crisis without giving up. As of now, with our expansion plans having ripened for the past few years, we believe in our decisions and the growth of the Vietnamese market, he said.

Earlier many Vietnamese suppliers have raised concerns that Vietnamese goods will have trouble penetrating a Thai-owned distribution channel such as Mega Market right in their home playfield. Regarding these concerns, the chairman said that sourcing locally is beneficial in terms of quality and price, while importing incurs high costs on preservation.

Moreover, Mega Market is a wholesale channel and has a low profit margin. If we import a lot, the logistics price is going to be high, pushing this profit margin further down. We are only going to import products that Vietnam does not already have, he said.
Two prominent Boeung Kak lake activists were charged with incitement on Wednesday and sent to the capitals notorious Prey Sar prison after the municipal court opted to forgo usual legal procedure and move directly to trial.

A Spanish national who had joined a protest led by the Boeung Kak activists the previous day was also detained and deported from the country.

The two activists, Tep Vanny and Bov Sophea, were charged with provocation to commit crimes for taking part in a demonstration as part of the civil society-backed Black Monday campaign, which began in May.

The demonstration saw the activists putting curses on four headless mannequins symbolizing issues such as corruption in the courts.

The Black Monday campaign was launched earlier this year to call for the release of four staff members of the local human rights group Adhoc and a senior election official, who were jailed on connection to the ongoing investigation of a sex scandal that has enveloped the oppositions deputy leader, Kem Sokha.

Since 2007, thousands of people have been evicted from Phnom Penhs Boeung Kak lake area to make way for a huge development project operated by tycoon and ruling party Senator Lao Meng Khins Shukaku company.

More than 20 people gathered outside the court on Wednesday to protest their trial.

Hout Chansovann, 46, Vannys elder sister, said outside the court that the two activists had not broken the law and were only seeking to advocate for justice for the detained rights workers and election official, and for an independent investigation into the murder of prominent political analyst and government critic Kem Ley on July 10.

I appeal to all communities and organizations, both local and overseas, to help them, because we are innocent people protesting for justice. Their arrests are so unfair, she said.

Officials have repeatedly expressed fears that the campaign could be an attempt to incite the overthrow of Prime Minister Hun Sens administration.

Speaking to VOA before her arrest, Vanny said the campaign was only aimed at using their freedom in the name of citizens who cannot accept rights abuses or oppression from todays government.

We do not violate any constitutional, state or international laws, she added.

Four other Cambodian Black Monday activists were arrested in separate incidents on Monday, however, they were released later that day.

Spanish national Marga Bujosa Segado was also arrested while observing the demonstration and reportedly deported by the authorities.

Sok Eysan, a ruling Cambodian Peoples Party spokesman, said the arrests were a good thing because they could prevent further unrest.

Before a big fire occurs, there are always little sparks, he said.

Better that this was prevented now than when it becomes on a big scale, because that can cost hundreds of lives.

Court spokesman Ly Sophanna could not be reached for comment.

Bo Chhorvy, 40, a Boeung Kak resident, said the case against the two activists was an attempt to smear them.

As you know, for seven years we have been beaten and taken to court one after the other, she said. Theres no justice for us.

Am Sam Ath, technical supervisor at Licadho, a local rights group, said he thought the decision to jail the activists was intended to provoke a reaction from the community, which could then be used as a justification for further action by the authorities.

He added that the human rights situation in Cambodia had plummeted to a critical point since the murder of Kem Ley.
The donation of two ambulances and a van by Prime Minister Hun Sen to a popular radio station has raised concerns among observers that the vehicles will be used for illegal activities.

The vehicles were given to the popular ABC Radio station by Hun Sen after one of ABCs unregistered ambulances was impounded by the Phnom Penh health department on Thursday.

Hun Sen ordered the removal of the departments director, Sok Sokun, from his post on Saturday  seemingly for enforcing a standing ministry directive  but he was on Monday given a new position as deputy secretary-general for technical affairs at the Health Ministry.

The impounded ambulance was found to be carrying ABC-branded fruit juice for distribution to customers, while the station argued it did not need a license because the vehicle was only used to transport corpses for poor families.

As ABC staff and callers to the airwaves to decry the action by the health department, Hun Sen personally called in, assuring listeners that the matter would be resolved. Three new vehicles were delivered to the station on Tuesday morning, carrying the label Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Political observers afterwards expressed concerns that the labeling of the vehicles would make it easy for ABC to use them for illegal activities.

Yong Kim Eng, president of the Peoples Center for Development and Peace, said putting the names of high-ranking government officials on the cars can scare the general public and others, even police, will not dare to stop them.

Drivers in the street are also scared when they see cars with a sign saying this was donated from this or that person, who is a high-ranking government official. So Im afraid that if the cars are used to commit other mistakes in the future, the police will not dare touch them.

San Chey, executive director of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability, said Hun Sen should make it clear to ABC that the vehicles should not be used for illegal activity.

If there are any problems or suspicions, the police should take action against those people, because we have seen similar cases; for example, some vehicles carry armed forces plates, national police ones, and even some ambulances have been caught carrying [protected] rosewood, he said.

Seng Bunveng, the media mogul who owns ABC Radio, as well as ABCs director, Ly Sovann, could not be reached to respond to the concerns.

However, at the handover ceremony, Bunveng said his ambulances were necessary to fill a gap in services left by the government.
Opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party Senator Thak Lany has missed two scheduled court appearances where she was to be questioned over comments she allegedly made that linked Prime Minister Hun Sen to the murder of prominent political analyst Kem Ley last month.

Her lawyer, Sam Sokong, said on Wednesday after she failed to show for the second court date that the senator would only appear in court if her parliamentary immunity was revoked.

A lawyer for Hun Sen filed a lawsuit against Lany on August 1.

The immunity [of my client] is a bulletproof power for senators that is guaranteed by the constitution  when we summon a senator who has immunity it affects the reputation of the [Senate] and affects other senators. Its an abuse of the constitution and lawyers would like to see the constitution respected and implemented, Sokong said.

Oum Sarith, a spokesman for Lany, said the Senates Permanent Commission had scheduled a meeting to discuss Lanys case and her immunity.

We have not yet received a permit from the judicial institution or Ministry of Justice. Well wait and see the letter first, he said.

Ly Sophanna, a spokesman for the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said in a text message that there was no formal legal mechanism for delaying the implementation of a court summons.

The suspect, Thak Lany, failed to appear at the court for a second time  we decided to continue the investigation into the case by examining the complaint, the evidence, and witnesses, he said.

CNRP president Sam Rainsy was also the subject of a similar defamation complaint, filed on the same day by Hun Sens lawyer, over comments he made on his Facebook page. He has since repeated the comments and said he stands by the claim that Hun Sen was behind Kem Leys murder.

Under article 104 of the constitution, senators are protected from prosecution, detention and arrest stemming from opinions expressed in the exercise of his/her duties. However, if two-thirds of sitting lawmakers vote for immunity to be revoked the rule becomes void.

Rainsy remains in self-imposed exile, but has said he is willing to attend a questioning session at the court via videophone.
Reginald Savage had an uneasy feeling when he last contacted his American son fighting alongside Kurdish forces against the Islamic State in Syria.

"I then knew that I wasn't going to see him again," the father said of his last email exchange in late July with William Savage, who was on the frontlines in northern Syria.

Kurdish forces announced late Wednesday that Savage, 27, a native of Maryland and North Carolina, was killed last week in Syria during clashes between U.S.-backed forces and IS fighters in the city of Manbij. He was the sixth foreign volunteer, and the second American, to die fighting with the Kurds against IS.

Volunteers like Savage normally receive only food and lodging in return for their service. He was helping civilians flee from the battle as a Kurdish-Arab alliance advanced on Islamic State fighters, the People's Protection Units (YPG) said in a statement.

'Targeted by IS'

Savage "was targeted by the gunfire of the thugs" from the Islamic State group, according to the Kurdish-language statement released Wednesday. It said the young American died "suffering from severe wounds."

The Kurdish YPG is a key element of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has U.S. backing in its fight against IS militants in northern Syria.

Manbij was cleared of IS fighters last week, two days after Savage's death. The 73-day-long battle left more than 4,000 IS fighters and 264 U.S.-backed fighters dead.

Joining the YPG in January of 2015, Savage was one of dozens of American citizens who have volunteered to serve with the Kurdish group. He was known by his Kurdish nom de guerre, Amed Kobani.

"He was fearless," said Savage's father, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. "He wanted to help the Kurds."

William Savage, born in Saint Mary's City, Maryland, in 1989, had said he was leaving the U.S. to study in Greece, his father said, "because he didn't want me to worry about him."

No military experience

"I couldn't object to his wish to help those people," Reginald Savage said. "But I didn't know he was going to Syria."

William Savage, the eldest of four children, worked as a cook at a hotel restaurant in Raleigh. His father said the young man had no prior military experience before joining the YPG.

"His dream was to join the U.S. military," the elder Savage said. "But he was denied admission because [of] a seizure he had when he was five years old."

Reginald Savage, who owns a chocolate company in Raleigh, said his son nonetheless wanted to participate in the war against IS.

A Kurdish commander who broke the news of William Savage's death to his father said the son was one of the fastest-learning recruits the YPG had seen.

The best of the U.S.'

Macer Gifford, a British volunteer who also fought in the battle for Manbij, said in a Facebook post that Savage was a good soldier.

"He represented the best of the foreign volunteers, but also of the United States," Gifford told VOA, praising his fallen colleague. "There is nobody that has a bad word to say about Will. He was universally loved and everyone has a wonderful story about him."

William Savage's father told VOA he has asked the U.S. Department of State to help retrieve his son's body from a hospital on the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Savage's mother, Nancy, died in 2000. She had volunteered as a young woman to help American troops in Vietnam, Reginald Savage said.

"William got his character of helping others from his mother," he said.
South Korea's army says it has conducted its largest-ever artillery drills near the tense border with North Korea.

The army says 300 artillery systems deployed by dozens of military units along the border began firing shells at the same time on Thursday afternoon.

It says North Korea's military hasn't shown any signs of unusual activities in response.

The army says the drills marked what South Korea describes as an artillery exchange between the Koreas in August 2015 following land mine explosions that maimed two South Korean soldiers.

There were no reports of injuries in last year's artillery firing. Seoul said North Korea fired first, but Pyongyang denied firing.

Thursday's drills come a day after Seoul said a senior North Korean diplomat based in London defected to South Korea.
More than 100,000 meals in Europe have been saved from the rubbish bin over the past 10 months thanks to an app that allows hungry diners to buy leftover food from restaurants at a fraction of the price, its founders said on Wednesday.

The app, Too Good To Go, was launched in Denmark in October last year and has since expanded to Germany, Switzerland, France, Norway and Britain on the back of a growing global effort to cut food waste.

Between 30 percent and 40 percent of food produced around the world is never eaten because it is spoiled after harvest and during transportation, or thrown away by shops and consumers.

Yet almost 800 million people worldwide go to bed hungry every night, according to U.N. figures.

The problem has become so serious that halving world food waste by 2030 was included as a target in global development goals adopted by world leaders in 2015.

Chris Wilson, co-founder of Too Good To Go UK, said his team hoped to play its part in ending food waste by "putting food into bellies instead of bins", while raising awareness over the issue.

App users can search for meals that restaurants would otherwise throw out and put in an order to collect before closing time.

"It's a win-win concept," Wilson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "From a user prospective it is extremely affordable. From a restaurant point of view ... they are attracting a new market."

In Britain, where the app features a variety of eateries ranging from bakeries to high end Japanese restaurants, prices vary from 2 pounds to 3.80 pounds ($4.95).

Wilson said since its launch, Too Good To Go, a social enterprise, has amassed more than 350,000 users across Europe and is planning to launch in the United States before the end of the year.



($1 = 0.7683 pounds)
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

A few clouds. Low 53F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 53F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
Next month, U.S. President Barack Obama will make what is expected to be his last official trip to Asia.

The White House announced Thursday that the president will travel to China on Sept. 2 to attend the G20 summit in Hangzhou.

He then will go on to Laos, making him the first U.S. president to visit that Southeast Asian nation.

In China, Obama will focus on the importance of a level playing field and broad-based economic opportunity, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.

He also will hold meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as tensions continue to rise in the region over the South China Sea and North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

In Laos, the president will attend the U.S.-ASEAN meeting, and hold talks with President Bounnhang Vorachith and other key officials to advance cooperation between the U.S. and Laos.

The trip also will be a chance for Obama to promote the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, a key part of his Asia strategy that he hopes Congress will approve before his term ends Jan. 20.

During his time in the White House, Obama has sought to "rebalance" America's defense and economic policy to counter China's rising influence in the region.
The killing of independent analyst Kem Ley and a broad crackdown on dissent in Cambodia has hardened attitudes against Prime Minister Hun Sen among the Khmer diaspora living in Australia and the United States.

However, prominent members of the communities warn disillusionment with the long-ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) would not automatically result in further support for opposition leader Sam Rainsy, currently living in self-imposed exile in France.

Opposition not benefitting

In Australia, Hong Lim, a prominent member of the Victoria state parliament and the Khmer expatriate community, has dropped his support for Sam Rainsy, head of the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP).

He said the opposition leader's performance, after losing four consecutive elections, and a lack of consultation with the diaspora in Australia had cost him.

People have lost faith in them because they have sold the community out, he said referring to Sam Rainsy. There is no consultation with him. Sam Rainsy just comes and carries on and it's not going to work anymore.

The Australian diaspora has historically provided lucrative support for the opposition, which was forged into the CNRP ahead of elections in 2013, through a merger of the Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Rights Party, run by Kem Sokha, who is currently the oppositions deputy leader.

Sam Rainsy refused to return to Cambodia earlier this year after he was threatened with jail from a defamation suit. Kem Sokha is also facing possible jail time over a similar issue and Hong Lim added the CNRP had failed to promote young talent from within it its own ranks.

There has never been a succession plan, he said. Adding new leaders, he said, was a major problem confronting the CNRP ahead of commune elections next year and general elections in July, 2018.

Crackdown on opposition

A further 18 CNRP members and supporters have been jailed while the public shooting of Kem Ley, a popular radio host and political analyst, had flabbergasted and angered the Khmer diaspora, Hong Lim said.

The government here in Phnom Penh has become increasingly wary of the diaspora, formed by hundreds of thousands of Cambodians who fled decades of war and found homes as refugees in the West.

Interests groups among the diaspora have also been accused of fueling opposition discontent  often descending into violent anti-government rallies  and that includes unfounded allegations of land grabbing by the neighboring Vietnamese.

Hong Lim has also been sharply criticized by the Cambodian government and declared persona non grata after he labeled the CPP-government a beast in regards to Kem Ley's death.

US diaspora alarmed and upset

In the U.S., Kem Leys murder has also sparked anger among many Cambodian Americans. But concerns are also growing about the ability of the opposition to compete in the current political landscape.

Sok Paul Pen, President of Youth and Students Relations for the CNRP in Lowell, Massachusetts indicated campaign finances were emerging as a major issue for the opposition ahead of elections.

"We will travel to Cambodia in 2017 and 2018 to encourage young people within our network and beyond to focus on the election and observe the election process, helping out with transportation, and also appeal to them to provide some financial support in preparation of the elections, he said.

His sentiments were echoed by Tung Yap, President of the Cambodian American for Human Rights and Democracy, which he said was focused on providing an equal playing field for all political parties in terms of media coverage.

As the matter of fact, reports or coverages such as the land grabbing issue in the country where people across the world are aware of is unheard on the state-controlled television and radio, he said.

However, Vibol Touch, President of the Cambodian-American Alliance, sounded a more conciliatory note by stressing his organization was in the process of organizing a public forum to enhance diplomatic relations between both countries. Hun Sen recently singled out the American diaspora as a potential base of future support.

We try to connect young people in the U.S. with young people in Cambodia to engage, he said. Some young people in Cambodia have engaged with us on the understanding of democratic principles and importantly on the rule of law.
A cloud war could be in the offing, with Chinese companies trying to take on giants like Google, Amazon and Apple in the crucial data management market. The moves come in the midst of an intensifying dispute between the United States and China over data hacking, network security and other issues.

The entry of Chinese vendors including Alibaba, Baidu and Huawei will give a new twist to the dispute over cybersecurity as they compete with international players for control over data.



China's homegrown firms are not only grabbing domestic businesses but also venturing to different countries across the world. But foreign players face regulatory walls that make it difficult to tap businesses in China.

Intensifying competition in the business of cloud computing has also raised serious questions about the security of operational data, analysts said. Civilian use of this technology spans data-driven machinery, telecommunications, banking and transport systems, including plans for driverless vehicles.

Data concerns

"Many multinationals have serious concerns about the protection of their intellectual property in China, on and off line, and there have been a number of recent cases of international firms coming to believe that valuable information has been stolen from them through cyber means," Lee Branstetter, an associate professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz School of Policy and Management told VOA.

"All of this would give non-Chinese multinationals pause before entrusting their critical data to Chinese cloud computing service providers," he said.

But foreign companies with limited technology budgets, and those operating in China, may not have the luxury of higher-priced services offered elsewhere, analysts said.

Chinese vendors are establishing data centers in different countries and trying to tap sensitive data management business across the globe. Alibaba has established data centers in the U.S., parts of Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

But Branstetter does not think Chinese cloud vendors would pose a major challenge to the likes of Google, Microsoft and Amazon in the data management business.

"Chinas efforts to keep out foreign digital players are actually a real global outlier  it is certainly the most digitally protectionist major economy. For this reason, I expect Chinese digital players to continue to be dominant at home, but I do not expect them to be very successful abroad," he said.

Growing behind the wall

Government restrictions on foreign data vendors have left the field more or less clear for homemade cloud computing firms, which are able to get major business opportunities without facing severe competition from international players. This is a massive chunk of business, considering that over one-fifth of the Fortune 500 companies are of Chinese origin.

Under the rules, foreign cloud vendors can operate in China only if they have local partners and use servers located in the country.

But the Chinese market is too big for foreign companies to ignore.

Sheila Jasanoff, director, program on science, technology and society at Harvard Kennedy School, calls for an internationally accepted set of rules on data security. Until then, she worries that rough competition in the cloud computing business may result in a major accident.

"Cloud computing is still an unruly territory. People [in the business] are making rules as they go along or taking advantage of the lack of rules. I would think a big tragedy might happen in a large airport or other facility, like a hospital system, and it would result in loss of life," she said.

Security safeguards promised to customers by cloud computing companies are "extremely opaque," Jasanoff said.

But she doesn't expect an international agreement anytime soon.
Zambia's ruling Patriotic Front has called on police to prevent thousands of opposition supporters from gathering Friday at the Constitutional Court to challenge the outcome of last week's presidential election.

The United Party for National Development urged its backers to go to the court and back its petition on the August 11 election, won by incumbent President Edgar Lungu.

Lungu's deputy campaign manager, Frank Bwalya, said a mass gathering of UPND supporters could create tension and possible violence.

The tone in the UPND calling upon their members to turn up in huge numbers to go to court where they intend to file an election petition, the tone is not that of peace," Bwalya said. "It is a tone of incitement to violence, it is a tone of bitterness and a lot of anger."

'Their plan ... is to riot'

If opposition party supporters are allowed to gather in large numbers at the court, Bwalya added, "their plan tomorrow is to riot.

UPND officials rejected Bwalyas accusation as unfounded. The party had previously asked its followers not to engage in any violence at the court.

Opposition supporters said the Patriotic Front's call for police action against them tramples on their constitutional right to assemble. They called this yet another attempt by the government to use dictatorial and draconian means to curtail their freedoms.

Bwalya dismissed those criticisms: "To file a petition, you require a lawyer and a few people," not a big group "descending on the court." He called the planned demonstration "unreasonable," an inconvenience to the public and "not the way things are done."

"The background is that of a party that is very bitter and angry, claiming that their vote was stolen," Bwalya said, adding that the ruling party was not trying to block the opposition from petitioning the court, even though that might delay the presidential installation ceremony scheduled for Tuesday.

Two weeks to decide

The Constitutional Court has 14 days to decide whether to accept the UPND's petition.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia declared Lungu winner of the presidential election with 50.35 percent of the vote, compared with 47.67 percent for the main opposition candidate, Hakainde Hichilema of the UPND.

Lungu's precise vote total is key, since a new constitutional provision requires a vote of more than 50 percent to certify an election winner.

UPND spokesman Charles Kakoma told VOA the opposition party has evidence to prove that last week's ballot was rigged in favor of Lungu and his Patriotic Front.

There are a lot of irregularities that were discovered in the electoral process, as well as deliberate mistakes by the Electoral Commission of Zambia," Kakoma said. "They manipulated a lot of figures, which they gave to the sitting president to make him win. ... That is doctoring results of an election, and that should not be allowed in a democratic society."
Doctors Without Borders said Thursday that it would evacuate staff from six hospitals in Yemen, following the deaths of more than a dozen people in the bombing of a hospital earlier this week.

The Saudi-led-coalition airstrike killed 19 people and wounded about 20 others Monday at a hospital in Yemen's northern Hajja province.

Doctors Without Borders, the humanitarian medical organization known by its French acronym MSF, said that it repeatedly gave coordinates of hospitals to military parties involved, but the Saudi-led coalition nevertheless conducted "indiscriminate" bombings and gave "unreliable reassurances."

MSF said it would withdraw staff from six hospitals in Yemen's northern governorates of Saada and Hajjah.

This latest incident shows that the current rules of engagement, military protocols and procedures are inadequate in avoiding attacks on hospitals and need revision and changes, said Joan Tubau, MSF general director. MSF asks the Saudi-led coalition and the governments supporting the coalition, particularly the U.S., U.K. and France, to ensure an immediate application of measures to substantially increase the protection of civilians.

Monday, MSF decried the "tragic consequences" of the attack on a "fully functional hospital full of patients," saying it was the fourth such attack against an MSF facility in the past 12 months.
Australian officials are trying to decide what to do with hundreds of asylum-seekers at a controversial detention center it has agreed to close in Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guineas Supreme Court ruled in April that the camp on Manus Island, one of two Australian-run immigration facilities in the South Pacific, was unconstitutional.

The closure of the Manus Island facility was announced Wednesday in a statement by PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, who said an agreement had been reached after meeting with Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton in Port Moresby.

The question now is what happens to the 850 men housed at the facility? Senior officials in Canberra say the detention center will not close immediately. And they say the migrants will not be resettled in Australia. Most are from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria, so voluntary repatriation is considered by rights groups to be unlikely.

They could be transferred to a second offshore processing camp sponsored by Australia on Nauru, a tiny island, where there have been recent allegations of widespread abuse of inmates, including children. In the past, Canberra has asked Cambodia and Malaysia to take in asylum seekers. New Zealand has also offered to resettle detainees held in Australias offshore camps.

Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton hopes that many of those housed on Manus Island will decide to go home voluntarily, as has been the case in the past.

We provide thousands of dollars of taxpayer's assistance to provide packages of support to help those people return back to their country of origin and many hundreds have done that. Now, in cases like Sri Lanka, Vietnam, other countries like India, we have arrangements where if people refuse to go home, if they have been found not to be refugees that they can be forcibly returned. With Iran, for example, that's not the case. They will take voluntary but not involuntary returns and many hundreds have returned voluntarily to Iran. But people are making a decision in Manus, on Nauru at the moment, to say that they don't want to return even if they have been found not to be a refugee, and we cannot accept that situation, said Dutton.

In April, judges in Papua New Guinea said holding detainees on Manus Island was illegal. At a senior ministers meeting Wednesday in the capital, Port Moresby, there was an acknowledgement by both Australia and Papua New Guinea that the courts decision was final and the camp would close, although no date has been set.

Asylum seekers who arrive in Australian waters by boat are sent to immigration facilities in the South Pacific where their refugee claims are assessed.

Canberra insists its policy of sending asylum seekers offshore is saving lives at sea by deterring other migrants. Refugee campaigners, though, say conditions in the centers are inhumane and that Australia is turning its back on the desperate and vulnerable.
Thae Yong Ho, the most senior North Korean diplomat to flee to the South, is likely to have round-the-clock protection and make a comfortable living at a think tank run by Seoul's intelligence service, say elite defectors who followed a similar path.

Thae, who was deputy ambassador at the North's embassy in London, defected with his family and arrived in the South, Seoul said late Wednesday. His departure is an embarrassing blow for leader Kim Jong Un's increasingly isolated Pyongyang leadership.

Many of the roughly 27,000 North Koreans who have fled the impoverished, repressive North for the wealthy and democratic South struggle to assimilate and are economically marginalized. But well-connected defectors such as Thae are treated as valuable resources who can shed light on a secretive neighbor.

Like many high-profile defectors, Kim Kwang-jin works for the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS), a think tank run by South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

"To live here, of course, everybody needs a job, and the South Korean government offers jobs to people. I was given the opportunity to work at INSS," Kim said. He defected with his family in 2003 while working in Singapore for a North Korean insurance firm that became notorious for involvement in scams.

Choi Ju-hwal was a colonel in the North Korean army when he fled to South Korea via Hong Kong during a business trip in China in 1995, making him the highest-level military defector at the time. He was an INSS researcher from 1997 to 2012 before leaving to head the Association of the North Korean Defectors.

The government "can't just pay [Thae] for nothing, so it is most likely that he would be given a job" at the INSS research institute, said Choi, now 67.

The NIS declined to comment on Thae.

Going undercover

Some defectors change their names for security purposes and to protect loved ones left behind, or to appear less obviously North Korean. Most keep a low public profile, although some, like Kim, become prominent through media appearances as experts on North Korea.

While Thae had a relatively high public profile as a representative of North Korea in London, Choi expects the ex-diplomat to try to live anonymously in South Korea.

"He won't pursue a public life, because he has to think about the safety of his family he brought here. Being quiet can hurt people around him less, so I don't think he will do public activities," Choi said.

Choi said that for two years, he had four armed policemen guarding him around the clock as a safety precaution. He now has a lower level of police protection.

Kim, the former insurance worker, said he used to have a 24-hour armed bodyguard.

Ordinary defectors arduous journey

Most ordinary defectors make a lengthy and often harrowing overland journey across North Korea's border with China to a third country before flying to South Korea. Upon arrival, they are held for up to 180 days alone in comfortable rooms, and screened to make sure that they are not spies or impostors.

After that, they are transferred to a resettlement complex, which they cannot leave, for another 12 weeks, to help them adjust to life in the South.

Many end up working in restaurants and other low-paid positions, earning 67 percent of the national average wage, data from the parliamentary budget office shows.

Once they finish the resettlement program, each defector receives 20 million won ($18,025) to help find housing and jobs. Some use part of their subsidy to pay private brokers who facilitated their escape.

"Ordinary defectors are having difficulties in getting jobs and education and making families here," said Seo Jae-pyoung, who left his homeland in 2001 and now works for Choi's group to support ordinary defectors in the South. "It is not so easy for them as people say."

For higher-ranking defectors, the process can be different.

Kim said he was in South Korea, where he underwent interrogation within 24 hours of walking into the South Korean embassy in Singapore. Choi was questioned alone at an intelligence agency safe house. The same could be true for Thae.

Overall, the number of North Korean defectors to the South has declined since leader Kim took power following his father's death in late 2011. But in the first seven months of 2016. it rose by about 15 percent year-on-year to 814, including a group of 13 workers from a North Korean restaurant in Ningbo, China.

Experts say the share of well-connected defectors is rising, an increase that ex-insurance company official Kim said began when the 2013 execution of Kim Jong Un's powerful uncle, Jang Song Thaek, rattled Pyongyang's elite.

"In the past, we couldn't have imagined that these kind of people are coming here  these kind of people from these kind of families," Kim said.
The Israeli military said Thursday it has disciplined three soldiers after a video emerged that seemed to show them hurling a stun grenade at Palestinian men smoking a water pipe in the northern West Bank.

In the video, captured by a surveillance camera, an Israeli military jeep pulls up to the four Palestinians, stops briefly, then drives away as a stun grenade explodes in the frame, sending the Palestinians fleeing. The military said a platoon sergeant was sent to jail for 10 days and two other soldiers were also disciplined for acting "contrary to military standards."

The video was the latest footage filmed during a recent wave of violence that has been widely circulated in both Israeli and Palestinian media.

Since mid-September, Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis and two visiting Americans in stabbing and shooting attacks, as well as attack in which cars were used to ram into Israeli troops and civilians. At least 206 Palestinians have died by Israeli fire in that period, most said by Israel to be attackers. The attacks have tapered off in recent weeks.

Palestinians have accused Israelis of using excessive force against assailants who have already been wounded or stopped, and quickly circulate videos which they say back up their claims.

In the most high-profile case, Sgt. Elor Azaria is facing charges of manslaughter after he was filmed fatally shooting a wounded Palestinian attacker in the West Bank city of Hebron in March.

Earlier this month, another video appeared to show border police officers seizing a bicycle from an 8-year-old Palestinian girl in Hebron. The video then cuts to an officer walking away from bushes, where the bike lies in the dirt. A Palestinian volunteer with the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem filmed the incident. The Justice Ministry said it was unprofessional but did not warrant criminal proceedings.

The two most recent videos highlight the daily frustrations of living under Israeli military rule in the West Bank.

B'Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli said that without the video, there was little chance the bicycle incident would have been investigated.

"No one would have known about it," she said. The military said soldiers are expected to report instances where troops fail to act in accordance with the army's "strict code of laws and values," regardless of whether the incident was caught on video.

The Israeli watchdog group Yesh Din said that between 2010 and 2013, only 1.4 percent of Palestinian complaints led to indictments against soldiers. The military insists its justice system works, saying the low indictment rate does not signal lack of effort. They say the system is independent and that proper measures are taken if there are legal grounds to try and punish a soldier.

Occasionally, video supports Israeli claims of Palestinian incitement.

In July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video to his Facebook page that showed a Palestinian man holding up a toddler and urging Israeli forces to shoot him in the West Bank village of Nilin. Netanyahu called on Palestinian leadership to stop encouraging parents "to call for the death of their own children." The man shown on film said he was demonstrating against Israel's seizure of his village's land when he saw Israeli forces pointing guns at children and held his son up in protest.

Earlier this month, Israel's Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced a $10.6 million project to equip police with body cameras.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson toured recovery efforts Thursday in the Southern state of Louisiana, where unprecedented flooding has left at least 13 people dead and thousands displaced.

The flooding around Baton Rouge came from record-breaking rains of more than 75 centimeters that began last week. An estimated 40,000 homes have been damaged.

After touring flood-ravaged areas, Johnson said the federal government "will be here as long as it takes to help this community recover," and was expected to brief President Barack Obama, who is vacationing in the eastern U.S. region of New England.

On Sunday, Obama signed a Louisiana disaster declaration and ordered federal aid to the region. Governor John Bel Edwards said Thursday that more than 85,000 people had filed for federal aid in the past few days.

"In Louisiana ... we are on our way from response to recovery," Edwards said during a news conference.

Devastation

Some residents are returning to flood-ravaged homes.

"I stayed through hurricanes. I stayed through other things. This has got to be the worst," resident Moosie Benoit said.

Another resident, James Lane, said the flooding destroyed his home in Baton Rouge, a place he moved to after losing everything in Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"I can't even think about what to do, just got to go with it as it comes, and when it's done, clean up and start all over," Lane said.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials and volunteers have been on the ground for a few days, as have American Red Cross volunteers.

The Red Cross has called the flooding the worst U.S. natural disaster since Superstorm Sandy in 2012, which caused nearly $62 billion in damage.

"It's safe to say that the state in general is very accustomed to hurricanes," Craig Cooper of the Red Cross told VOA. "But this was a massive rain incident and what we've learned is that in many, many areas these were communities that have either never been flooded or they have to remember back 30 years."

Cooper said the flooding damage in the region was expected to hit about $30 million.

More than 30,000 people have been rescued since Friday. The East Baton Rouge parish sheriff's office said it had shifted from search-and-rescue mode to "public assistance and crime prevention," while officials elsewhere said rescue operations were slowing.

In addition to the vast physical and emotional damage caused by the floods, the chaotic state of Baton Rouge has lent itself to looters and scams. A nighttime curfew has been imposed in some areas.

Criticism

While several top government officials have toured the damage, Louisiana's largest newspaper, the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, criticized Obama in an op-ed, saying the president "ought to make a trip to Louisiana himself."

The White House said Thursday it was unlikely Obama would travel to the state.

Edwards, who like Obama is a Democrat, defended the administration's response to the natural disaster, saying he had spoken with the White House daily and has received quick responses for aid and other requests.

The governor said Obama can visit the state whenever he likes, but Edwards said he'd prefer the U.S. leader wait "a week or two" because such visits require local police and first responders to help block roads and provide security, something that would stress the state at this point.
The U.S. Department of Justice has decided to phase out its use of private prisons, concluding they are not as safe and effective as federal facilities.

In a memo released Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates wrote that private prisons do not "provide the same level of correctional services, programs and resources," do not provide substantial cost savings and "do not maintain the same level of safety and security."

Yates said the goal is "reducing  and ultimately ending  our use of privately operated prisons."

The memo said about 15 percent of federal inmates were in private prisons in 2013.

The U.S. government began to use private prisons in the late 1990s because of an explosion in the prison population that began the previous decade. Since the government's War on Drugs began in the 1980s, the number of Americans imprisoned for drug offenses skyrocketed from 41,000 in 1980 to nearly 500,000 in 2014, according to the Sentencing Project, a Washington nonprofit organization that researches the U.S. criminal justice system.

Yates said the federal prison population has begun to decline for the first time in decades, thanks to efforts to "recalibrate federal sentencing policy." The decline, she wrote, is primarily due to retroactively applying new drug sentencing guidelines, implementing new policies for charging low-level and nonviolent drug offenders, and continuing the Obama administration's clemency program.

The news was not well-received by shareholders of two of the largest private prison companies. As of Thursday afternoon, the stock price of Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group had dropped more than 35 percent from the previous day's close.
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Nigeria and Saudi Arabia next week to discuss regional issues, the State Department announced Thursday.

Kerry will first go to Nigeria and meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss the threat of terror group Boko Haram, spokesman John Kirby said.

Boko Haram, the group responsible for the kidnapping of nearly 300 girls from a school in Chibok in 2014, has killed at least 20,000 people in its 7-year uprising against the Nigerian government. It surpassed Islamic State in 2014 to become the world's deadliest terrorist group, according to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index, published by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Kerry and Buhari also will discuss Nigeria's economy and human rights issues.
The capital of Somalia is one of the most dangerous cities in the world, but this week fear of blasts has been overcome by a love for books.

Organizers say about 2,000 people turned out on the first day of the Mogadishu Book Fair to meet authors and examine hundreds of titles on display. The three-day event runs through Friday.

The book fair shows a different side of a city trying to emerge from decades of unrest, destruction and waves of deadly attacks by al-Shabab militants.

Mohamed Dini, the founder of the book fair, said the goal of the event is to help rebuild the nation.

"Books and knowledge will be central pillars to the new Somalia we want to see," he told VOAs Somali Service. "Books and pens will have to replace the chaos, screaming and guns."

Somalis took to social media to hail the event as a positive development and "images you won't see in mainstream media.



Organizers said they were surprised by the huge turnout. The majority of the attendees were young people, between the ages of 15 and 35. Some came for the experience, but most were buying books written in Somali, Arabic and English, including books about late South African president Nelson Mandela and the late co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs.

Abdinur Mohamed, another one of the organizers, said he was overwhelmed by what he has heard from one of the participating writers, a woman who came from Somaliland.

She said to me, Mogadishu Book Fair broke barriers erected by politicians, he said.

He was referring to Naima Qorane, author of a new book titled Qoys ilaa Qaran or From Family to Nation. Her book discusses the importance of families in nation-building.

The mother is key to raising a good family which then produces good children who contribute to having a healthy society, she told VOA That way you build a nation which will then have a good leadership.

Dini said the first book fair last year had a positive impact on Mogadishu, sparking interest in libraries and reading clubs.

He said half of the books on display this week are different from last year's. "It's a new year, new book fair, new faces, new picture, he told VOA.



This is the second major event Mogadishu has hosted within a week. On Tuesday, hundreds of Somali diaspora members concluded a three-day conference in the city, discussing their role in rebuilding the country.

Much of Mogadishu remains in ruins after a quarter century of conflict, and al-Shabab continues to launch suicide attacks on hotels where Somali lawmakers gather.

At the end of the first day of the book fair, the participants were relieved it passed peacefully. Without question, Mogadishu will need many more initiatives like the fair to fully shake off the dark days.
Despite two new polio cases  the first in Nigeria in two years  Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is optimistic the African nation will be able to defeat polio, even though intense challenges make it hard to immunize children in the most vulnerable areas.

Gates told VOA's "Africa 54" program Wednesday that two newly reported cases of polio in Nigeria are "a disappointment" after so much success  not only in Africa, but in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the only other countries where polio is still endemic.

"Our main challenge is that we have kids who the vaccinators have a tough time finding," he said. "Reaching those kids in an insecure environment can be very complex...Obviously, we're going to need great partnerships with the governments in the region, particularly up in the northeast," in Nigeria's Borno State.

But Gates said he is quite optimistic that as many kids as possible can be protected in northern Nigeria.

"We're getting smarter all the time about how we find the villages, how we reach out to the traditional leaders," he said. "We've got a great team up there. The government's working with us. We need to access kids and we need for people to understand the importance of getting all the kids to take this oral polio vaccine."

Since 2000, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation  the charity started by the computer-technology magnate and his wife  has donated $3.5 billion to eradicate polio.

Nigeria launched an emergency campaign to vaccinate millions of children against polio, after two cases were found in toddlers earlier this month  the first cases in Nigeria in two years.

Officials say the 15-month-old boy and 2-year-old girl likely will be paralyzed for the rest of their lives. They were stricken in Borno, part of which is under siege by Boko Haram terrorists.

The Islamic militants not only make it extremely difficult to educate parents about the crippling disease, they also make it dangerous and nearly impossible for health workers to immunize children.

Nigerian forces are accompanying medical volunteers to guarantee their safety.

Teams are also vaccinating children inside a displaced persons camp in Borno and will soon spread out to the neighboring states surrounding the Lake Chad region in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Polio cannot be cured, and the virus struck fear in parents before Dr. Jonas Salk developed the vaccine in 1952. Kids no longer need a painful needle to get vaccinated, as the vaccine can be administered via a few drops taken orally.
Inside the Pentagon's 9/11 memorial chapel, built where Islamic extremists attacked the building nearly 15 years ago, sounds of the Muslim call to prayer softly welcome passersby at around 2:00 p.m. each day.

The prayer service is led by Dawud Agbere, one of five Muslim Army chaplains or imams. Since being stationed at the Pentagon, Agbere leads afternoon prayer to give fellow Muslims a chance to connect with their creator.

Abdul Zaid, an IT contractor who works in the building, credits Agbere with "running interference" to make the prayer service available. He calls Agbere a spiritual leader who cares, consoling his fellow Pentagon employees during times of grief and occasionally taking them for cookies or ice cream in times of celebration.

"It's about the community that he has built here," Habiba Heider, another Pentagon contractor, told VOA.

Unusual path to service

Agbere will be the first to say he's not a typical U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel. Born and raised in the West African nation of Ghana, Agbere won the U.S. Diversity Visa lottery, which randomly selects immigrants from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States.

"When you are growing up in Ghana  in Africa, not just in Ghana  America is the land of prosperity," he said.

He eagerly accepted the visa and got a job teaching high school students in New Jersey, but after months with the unruly students, he yearned for a job with more discipline and order.

"So when I saw the Navy was hiring people, I said, That's where I belong,'" Agbere said.

He went to boot camp with the Navy until he discovered he could not become an officer without U.S. citizenship. Rather than make him wait, his superiors allowed him to switch to the Army, which did not have the same restriction.

Bridging the gaps

His Army career has taken him to war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a fluent Arabic speaker and oftentimes the only Muslim in his unit, Agbere says he works to "bridge the gap" between cultures. He said many in the allied armies he worked with "never fathomed" they'd see a Muslim in the U.S. Army.

"Then they see one; they are shocked," he said.

Only a small fraction  less than 3,600  of the U.S. Army active duty and reservists self-identify as Muslim. Despite Agbere's ever-present optimism, his minority status has not always been a positive experience. When he deployed to Iraq, for example, one of Agbere's military leaders was extremely apprehensive of him even before they met.

"He had his own misconception about who that Muslim guy is going to be," Agbere said, "but today, he's one of my best friends."

Adding Agbere's time in the Army and the Navy, he has served in the U.S. military for nearly two decades. He says he doesn't judge those who have sought to vilify his faith during this turbulent political time, choosing instead to point out the "beauty" of American diversity.

"Definitely some of these things are based on ignorance, and I always see this as an opportunity to teach people," he said.

"I want to be able to define my story. I don't want my story to define me."
A mothballed hydroelectric dam project funded by China is expected to dominate Thursday's talks between de-facto Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.

Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to the Chinese capital is her first major diplomatic mission since her National League for Democracy party won a historic landslide election last year that finally brought an end to five decades of tight-fisted military rule. The Nobel Peace laureate is barred from serving as president under a military-drafted constitution, but holds several key posts, including state counselor and foreign minister.

China is eager to restart work on the $3.6 billion Myitsone project in northern Myanmar along the Irrawaddy River. Ninety percent of the power it creates would go to China. But the project was suspended in 2011 under a quasi-civilian government headed by former President Thein Sein, due to vocal opposition. The dam's opponents cite environmental concerns and a lack of electricity in Myamnar as reasons to halt the work.

A Myanmar government commission has been formed to review the Myitsone and several other proposed hydroelectric projects.

Aung San Suu Kyi is also expected to discuss peace talks between her government and ethnic minority rebel forces along the Myanmar-China border. Fighting in the region has sent a flood of refugees into China

She is scheduled to meet with President Xi Jingping on Friday.
Mose tapped the screen of his mobile phone to zoom in on a photograph of his wife, Yordanos, pointing to a mole under her eyebrow.

"She has a recognizable mark here," the 26-year-old Eritrean said in a park in Rome; after fleeing compulsory military service back home, Mose now lives in an Italian reception center for migrants.

He has not seen Yordanos since May 26 when they left Libya, packed by people smugglers on to two separate boats bound for Italy. He was rescued, but her boat sank in the Mediterranean.

Helping people like Mose find out their loved ones' fate is becoming ever more pressing as Europe's migrant crisis drags on in its third year and the death toll rises.

Teams of forensic scientists in Italy and Greece are painstakingly trying to identify the victims of drowning found at sea, washed up on shores or recovered from wrecks.

However, there is no common practice to collect information about these deaths between states or even sometimes within the same country, and a plan by the Dutch-based International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) to start tracing lost migrants is still awaiting funding.

Kathryne Bomberger, director general of the ICMP, said the problem was too big to be left solely to front-line countries such as Italy and Greece.

"This is a complex, international problem," she said, as the task of identification and notification involves tracking down relatives who may be in their home countries, in refugee camps, or building new lives in the likes of Germany or Sweden. "We are ready to go, we have the necessary database systems, we have an agreement with Italy, we have done our homework. We just need the financial support."

The ICMP and International Organization for Migration (IOM) are calling for a strategy to process the data, and a system for repatriating migrants' remains.

Replacing Numbers with Names

Mose, who withheld his surname for fear of reprisals from Eritrean authorities, clings to the hope that Yordanos was rescued and that she could be recognized from the photograph.

If she did not survive, and her body was recovered, her remains are likely to have been buried in one of hundreds of numbered graves in Sicily or the southwestern Calabria region for migrants who have drowned.

Both in Italy and Greece, which migrants have also tried to reach on a shorter but still dangerous sea crossing from Turkey, the forensic experts are trying to replace the numbers with names.

Sometimes they succeed, despite the practical and financial problems, as in the case of a baby boy found floating near the Greek island of Samos in January.

The child, no more than six months old, had been lost in a shipwreck on Oct. 29, 2015 when 19 migrants drowned. For over two months, his body drifted more than 150 km (95 miles) north until it was recovered from the water.

In the end, police identified the little boy from a DNA sample given by his Syrian father, who was among 139 people rescued when the boat sank in the Aegean off the island of Kalymnos.

"It is the least we can do for these people, under very difficult circumstances," said Penelope Miniati, director of the Greek police's Forensic Sciences Division.

For some, the tragedies recall Greece's own history of migration, including in the 1950s and '60s when many escaped poverty for a new life in countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia, breaking up families who sometimes lost contact with each other.

"We are Greeks, we also migrated and some people were lost in the journey ... and each time people wondered what had happened to them," said Miniati.

"Improvisation"

More than three quarters of the 4,027 migrant and refugee deaths worldwide in 2016 so far happened in the Mediterranean, according to the IOM.

Most died between Libya and Italy. Hundreds also drowned on the Turkey-Greece route, although arrivals have fallen sharply since a deal between the European Union and Ankara on curbing the flow in March.

Many shipwreck victims are never recovered, but about 1,500 have been brought to Italy since 2013. So far, just over 200 have been identified.

In a "policy vacuum" the action in Italy and Greece has been driven by "improvisation", the IOM said in June in a joint report with City University London and the University of York.

The report praised a deal that Italy's special commissioner for missing persons struck with a university laboratory, which provides free forensic work, and the interior ministry, to adopt a protocol to identify victims and inform relatives.

The commissioner records details of corpses and sends notices through embassies and humanitarian organizations asking survivors for photographs of the missing, and personal effects such as toothbrushes that could harbor DNA.

In Athens, Miniati's division has a database with information on 647 people who need identifying, about 80 percent of them the nameless dead of the migrant crisis.

People who drown and stay trapped underwater for months are often unrecognizable, so accounts of scars, tattoos and dental cavities help. Some people come to Italy to look for missing relatives in the commissioner's files and some take DNA tests.

Values That Count

Deputy Italian Commissioner Agata Iadicicco said a shared international database would make it easier to reach migrants' home countries and diasporas across Europe. "We need money to standardize this model and to involve all the migrant communities that mainly live in northern Europe," she said.

With no sign of a let-up in the perilous voyages from North Africa, Italy feels that fellow EU countries should pull their weight more in handling the crisis.

The issue of graves for the victims has become caught up in the ill-feeling. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he sent the navy to raise a ship that sank last year and bury the more than 450 people found in the wreck to "tell Europe which values really count".

For Mose, whose young son is still in Eritrea, even being sure Yordanos had died would be some comfort.

"If I find her body, I can find some serenity," he said. "If my son asks whether his mother is, at least I can say where she is buried."
Seven years of war against Boko Haram militants have left northeastern Nigeria in the grips of a humanitarian emergency. Borno state has borne the brunt of the violence and is now feeling the pain of an increasing food shortage.

More than a million Nigerians have fled to the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, to escape the raids on villages, the suicide bombings, and the military operations that have characterized the Boko Haram insurgency.

Many of them live in shanty settlements where they have little access to food and clean water.

Across the city, people are squatting in abandoned fields, uncompleted buildings and under trees.

To survive, many rely on leaves they gather from the fields. Sometimes they go two or three days without eating. It is not what they expected.

We came here to Maiduguri because of high expectations we had that things will be better if we are here, says Ya Falmata, an elderly woman among the displaced.

She has set up a makeshift tent made of twigs and bamboo in the middle of a field where more than 13,000 people are living, trying to survive.

Talk of famine

They become malnourished because they do not eat and they are not adequately fed. And theres no food, says Rebecca Smith, a nurse with Doctors Without Borders.

She sees some of the most extreme cases of illness at a hospital that the organization has set up.

These cases are malnourished children that come with respiratory distress that needs O2 (oxygen) therapy, that needs blood transfusion, that are very very sick. Common cases are from disease, problems like measles, whooping cough, Smith says.

Relief agencies have warned of a possible famine in parts of Borno state, where fighting between government forces and Boko Haram has discouraged farming and cut off some areas from outside aid.

In the local markets, the price of produce has increased because of the food shortage.

The government runs displaced persons camps, but not enough for everyone who needs shelter.

And some Nigerians say food distribution in the camps is unfair. Makkah Mustafa, who lives in a warehouse with dozens of other families, is one of them.

We dont know the reason why, but the distributors in the camps do not distribute food to everyone. Some people will get [it]. Some people will not.

Some help is slowly coming. A group of children are seen gathered waiting for a food delivery truck from a local charity. They sing happy songs from happier times. Their parents and guardians hope the happier times will return.
A Philippine senator has vowed to continue an official inquiry into President Rodrigo Duterte's incendiary anti-drug trafficking campaign despite his accusations and threats against her.

Senator Leila de Lima called Duterte's attacks an "abuse and misuse of executive power" during an emotional speech Thursday in Manila. De Lima has launched a legislative probe into the killings of at least 1,000 suspected drug traffickers since Duterte took office in June, having won election on a pledge of ridding the archipelago of illicit drugs and drug criminals.

The senator said Duterte's accusations, which he made during a speech Wednesday marking the 115th anniversary of the country's police force, had temporarily caused her to reconsider her position. "It is clear that what is being done to me is what will happen to anyone who does not bow to the wishes of the president," she said.

President Duterte also lashed out against the United Nations in his speech Wednesday, saying the world body was making "a very stupid proposition" in criticizing his efforts. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned Duterte's apparent support of extrajudicial killings, calling them "a breach of fundamental human rights and freedoms."

The president questioned why the U.N. would be "so easily swayed into interfering into the affairs of this republic" since only 1,000 people have been killed.

Official tallies say at least half of those killed were involved in shootouts with police.
4 Left: "I have been planning to get married for more than five years," confided Hossam from Minya, 29. "Since I finished my obligatory military service duty. I havent had a stable job or my own business. I tried to get a loan and a permit to open a kiosk that I can run by myself, but those who have families already got the priority.

Right: Egyptian men apply for loans supported by the Egyptian government to open new small projects from the headquarter of the ministry of social affairs and insurance in Cairo.
Demonstrators took to the streets in eastern DRC for a second day to protest the massacre of at least 50 people in Beni territory during the weekend. Three people died when a demonstration turned violent Wednesday in Beni town, according to the United Nations.

This latest round of protests in eastern Congos North Kivu province follows the killing of at least 50 people in a village on the outskirts of Beni last Saturday by assailants suspected to belong to the ADF rebel movement.



The U.N. Mission in Congo reported the killers were disguised as park rangers and detained people returning from their fields before murdering them.



The ADF originated as an Ugandan rebel movement, but over the years has recruited many Congolese. It is blamed for the massacre of at least 700 people in Beni territory since late 2014, civil society activists say as many as 1,200 people have been killed.



The United Nations says the Beni protest led to the deaths of a policeman, a demonstrator and a third person lynched by a mob, and that a soldier and several civilians were wounded.



A peaceful demonstration was held Thursday in the provincial capital Goma.



Activist Diego Mutima addressed the crowd of several hundred people. He called for the truth to be established as to who instigated and carried out the massacres in Beni. Mutima also demanded military and judicial action to bring them to justice, whatever their rank and status.



Several reports have raised questions about the role of high ranking officers in Benis troubles, but these allegations have not been tested in court.



The demonstration in Goma quickly turned political with opposition party supporters chanting he is on the way out" a reference to the end of DRC president Joseph Kabilas two-term mandate in December.



Speaking to Congolese media Wednesday, North Kivu province vice governor Feller Lutahichirwa accused activists and opposition members of exploiting the massacres to stir up more trouble.



He says those who have been calling on the people to demonstrate are practically aligned with the terrorists, and there might have been ADF terrorists among the demonstrators.



Opposition lawmaker Juvenal Munubo rejected the accusation against opposition parties.



It is not enough to make allegations, he says, they have to be backed up with proof, and he says the vice governor has not been able to say which opposition party or group was behind the disturbances.



A civil society organizer Thomas dAquin Mwiti told VOA a public trial of suspected ADF members will be held next week in Beni.
Despite on and off again public calls in Armenia to Stop Buying Turkish Goods, the country cant seem to get enough.

Retail stores in Yerevan and beyond are chock full of Turkish stuff  from coffee makers toTupperware, from household cleaners to clothing, from citrus fruits to wood items. Like it or not, Turkish imports enjoy a large market share.

In the spring, the Armenian government even discussed the matter. In May Prime Minister HovikAbrahamyan had the final say, announcing that the government would not ban Turkish goods.

It all comes down to the individual consumer when it comes to buying Turkish imports.

Data shows that Turkish imports this year continue apace with last year and that consumers, despite the boycott calls, continue to buy them.

According to the National Statistical Service (NSS), Armenia imported US$61.1 million worth of Turkish consumables in the first half of 2016. This is a mere 1.3% drop ($774,000) form the same period last year.

Armenia exported just $227,000 worth of goods to Turkey. Talk about a trade imbalance.

In terms of the overall trade that Armenia has internationally, Armenia-Turkey commerce comprise 2.7% in the first half of 2016. Armenian exports to Turkey comprised 0% of overall exports and 4.2% of imports.

Armenia: Imports from Turkey

2012: $92.1 million

2013: $89.2 million

2014: $106.2 million
Imagine the fun  and the responsibility  of photographing America.

Thats what Carol M. Highsmith has been doing for more than three decades  traveling the U.S. and taking pictures of the people and places that make America unique.

The award-winning photographer shoots everything from small family farms to historic landmarks to stunning landscapes of Americas national parks, plus many other cultural and historic sites.

Highsmith wants to capture as many images as she can before those places change or disappear, she said. And shes donating her photos to the Library of Congress in Washington, the largest library in the world, completely royalty free.

What better place for them to be stored, she said, than at the nations library? It's a place that, as she put it, "knows all about preservation.

When I go out across America, what do I photograph? Everything! Someone said to me, Well, why would you photograph the Golden Gate Bridge, for instance. Everybody's taking photographs of it. Yes, there will be images of the Golden Gate Bridge that may exist 500 years from now, but the ones that we know will exist in high resolution will be mine at the Library of Congress," Highsmith said.

IN PHOTOS: Renowned Photographer Captures Americas Treasures in Stunning Images

Not that I'm such great shakes. It's just that they need to be tucked somewhere for us so that we can see what we looked like during this time period," she added.

Frances Benjamin Johnston

Highsmith was inspired to embark on her project by another patriotic American, Frances Benjamin Johnston, a photographer who traveled across the country 100 years ago.

When I visited the Library of Congress, I saw the work of Frances Benjamin Johnston, Highsmith said. And she had donated her work royalty free, and so I thought That's what I'll do. I'll donate my work, royalty free.

And thats exactly what shes doing.

I had the thrill of going to Yellowstone [National Park], where Frances Benjamin Johnston had gone 100 years ago, at a time when you could just go up to the geysers and look straight down  didn't matter that it might have blown your face off, she said with a laugh.

Johnston had taken a self-portrait there, Highsmith said, so she decided shed like to have one taken there, too. She wrote to the park ranger and asked if he could find that exact spot, and after a bit of searching, apparently he did.

So I did it! said Highsmith, proudly, it was such a thrill to sit where she sat!

Natural wonders

In addition to the thrill of sitting in the same spot as Johnston had a century before, Highsmith also enjoyed capturing the many natural wonders of Yellowstone. Located in Wyoming, the park has the world's largest collection of geysers and spectacular vistas that look different in every season.

Highsmith took many photographs of the park during those changing seasons, and she became particularly fond of its resident bison.

So you're looking at this vast, gorgeous landscape of Yellowstone, in the winter, in the fall and the spring, and you're seeing the bison babies, the calves and you just think, 'Will this always be?'  she said.

I would say in all the wildlife images Ive taken, and Ive taken a lot, the bison are the best, in a sense that they look like they come from a hundred thousand years ago.

Capturing the present

Highsmith shoots at all hours of the day, in every weather condition, and has even had to face her fear of flying.

So I finally get to Alaska and I'm going to Denali [National Park], and I hire a plane to take me up there and I'm thinking all the way there, How can I get out of this? I just say, You must do it.' So I did it!" she recalled. But to photograph it, and then to photograph Ruth Glacier, which is huge, and to know that maybe someday it'll be gone  it was just an experience and a half!

It is that fear of iconic American landscapes and landmarks one day disappearing that motivates her.

They say Yellowstone could have an earthquake, it could have a volcano, it could just blow up, she said. You dont know, I don't know, we dont know where history will take us.

And the Washington Monument. We had an earthquake here in Washington, D.C. That whole thing could have just collapsed. So I'm just there to capture it as it looks right now.

Postage stamps

Two of Highsmiths photographs have ended up on U.S. postage stamps, both Washington landmarks honoring past presidents: the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial.

That was a thrill, you know, to know your images are traveling all over the world, Highsmith said.

And there have been other experiences, she said, that have been meaningful for her.

Connecting with history

So I'm at Ford's Theatre, 150 years after Lincoln died, right there. And there are re-enactors, and there was this man who held a candle and that's how his face was lit. And I thought, Whoa, you could almost feel like what it must have felt like to be there that night,'  she said.

I also photographed, for instance, the coat that Lincoln wore the night he died, with his bloodstains on it. So to be close to these artifacts  its just incredible."

Do I not get that there are millions and billions of photographs being taken every day? Highsmith asked rhetorically. I do. But unfortunately, most of those wont be around over time.

So she said that for the Library of Congress to preserve her images, and those of Frances Benjamin Johnston and others who came before her, "is an honor.

"I'm just glad to be there," she said proudly. "I'm glad to have this as my job.
The Russian prosecutor general's office has added two U.S.-based non-governmental organizations to its list of foreign NGOs whose activities are deemed "undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation."

The office said Thursday that the work of the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) "poses a threat to the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation and state security."

The IRI is based in Washington and funded by the U.S. Congress. Its board of directors is chaired by Senator John McCain of Arizona, who also chairs the U.S. Senate's Armed Services Committee and was the Republican presidential nominee in the 2008 presidential election in the United States.

The IRI says its programs are aimed, among other things, at encouraging democracy "in places where it is absent" and helping democracy "become more effective where it is in danger."

The New York-based MDIF says it "provides affordable financing and technical assistance to independent news and information businesses in challenging environments."

In March, the Russian prosecutor general's office added the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) to the list of organizations whose presence in Russia is deemed "undesirable."

Sergei Nikitin, director of the Russian branch of Amnesty International, the London-based human rights group, said Thursday that the latest move against foreign organizations was designed to "send yet another unmistakable message: Russian NGOs and independent media should steer clear of foreign funders  and foreign funders should steer clear of Russia.

In May 2015, President Vladimir Putin signed a law giving prosecutors the right to declare as "undesirable" foreign and international non-governmental organizations whose activities are deemed a threat to Russia's constitutional system, "defense capability or the security of the state."

Amnesty's Nikitin said Thursday the aim of that law is to isolate Russian civil society, intimidate human rights defenders and suffocate the free press that are facing increasing difficulties in accessing sustainable funding.
A new Amnesty International report details allegations of systematic torture of political prisoners and accuses the Syrian government of killing more than 17,000 people held in custody from the outset of the conflict in 2011 to December 2015.

The report is based on the recollections of 65 torture survivors.

The "catalog of horror stories" included in the report "depicts in gruesome detail the dreadful abuse detainees routinely suffer ... in Syria's notorious intelligence facilities," said Philip Luther, Amnesty's director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Torture has long been used in Syrian prisons, but its scale has increased dramatically" since the 2011 conflict began, according to Amnestys Syria expert Claudia Scheufler, who was instrumental in putting the report together.

"I was looking through one of our old reports from 1987, she said, and the torture methods that we documented then are scarily similar to the ones that we have documented now, but the scale has changed dramatically."

The Amnesty report recounts how survivors of systematic beatings were often surrounded by others who had died alongside them, and how the wounded were kept in cramped, unsanitary facilities, without medical treatment.

"For most Syrians, Palmyra prison was where the Syrian regime perfected torture, said Nadim Shehadi, director of the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The saying [went] that the lucky ones were dead, because life was made so horrible by the brutality of the prison."

New and often worse horrors surfaced in the past several years, when the Islamic State group captured Palmyra and other parts of Syria  including Raqqa, chunks of Deir ez-Zor and areas outside Aleppo.

The "inhumanity of the war keeps reaching new lows," Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, told VOA.

IS released video this week, he noted, showing the "slow-motion executions of young boys" who scrawled the word "resistance" in Arabic on the walls of Mosul in Iraq, while members of a rebel group in Aleppo beheaded a 12-year-old boy, joking that they were "worse than IS."

It is this inhumanity that demands action, according to Amnesty International.

"Historically we will look back at this and think that the international community was very slow to react, and we could have saved lives that were lost, Scheufler said. And that is why it is important that concrete action is taken promptly now, so no more lives are lost."
South Africa's two main opposition parties have put aside huge ideological differences to unseat the ruling ANC in major cities it has controlled for 22 years, they said on Wednesday.

The African National Congress lost its majority in the local governments that rule Pretoria, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth this month, its worst electoral performance since coming to power after apartheid, leaving the other parties free to discuss coalitions.

In the end, the gulf separating the Democratic Alliance (DA), a party with a largely white voter base, and the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), was too great to form formal coalitions, but they made a pact which will allow the DA to rule the country's economic hubs.

Mmusi Maimane, a black politician whose leadership of the DA since last year has helped reform its image as a party for wealthy whites, welcomed the EFF's agreement to vote for it in the municipalities concerned.

"It is quite clear that we would never agree on ideological issues," Maimane said. "I welcome their offer to say that they will vote for us."

EFF leader Julius Malema, a former ANC youth leader who split from his former mentor President Jacob Zuma in acrimonious circumstances to form the breakaway party in 2013, said although he saw the DA as "white racists" it was worth making a pact with them to defeat the ANC.

"We are caught between two devils. The DA is a better devil than the ANC. We are not in bed with them," he told reporters in the Alexandra township in Johannesburg.

"We will vote for the opposition because the ANC must be removed from power."

The EFF and DA, which both said they would not work with the ANC because their supporters had voted for change, are far apart in terms of policy, approach and experience.

The DA is pro-business while the EFF wants to redistribute land from whites to blacks without compensation.

Malema said his party would work with the ANC only if it removed Zuma, made education free for all, and nationalized banks and mines.

ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said his party could not accept those conditions.

"You don't take those decisions on your feet, or under pressure from the opposition, you don't do that," he told Talk Radio 702.

Scrutiny

With EFF votes, the DA is now likely to form a minority administration in Tshwane, which includes the capital Pretoria, Malema said, adding that his party's support in Johannesburg hangs in the balance over an outstanding issue with the DA.

Malema said the EFF would assist the DA in the symbolically important Nelson Mandela Bay, which includes the manufacturing hub Port Elizabeth, although the DA said it would rule there without EFF help after forming a coalition with smaller parties.

But even with the coalition it had formed and the EFF's support, the DA is unlikely to form a government in the industrial region of Ekurhuleni that lies next to Johannesburg and hosts the country's main airport, Maimane said.

Some analysts said the minority governments may descend into wrangling, slowing decision-making or triggering new elections at a time when the country teeters on the verge of recession. Other analysts felt that close scrutiny on budgets by rival parties may help fight corruption.

"The fact that there are coalitions in the first place, that no party has a majority, is good for governance because now they are all keeping tabs on each other," said head of research at NKC African Economics, Francois Conradie. "The spending is going to happen in a cleaner and better way."
South Sudans former first Vice President Riek Machar has fled to neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where he may be ill or injured.

U.N. Spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters that Machar and a small group of people turned up in the DRC on Wednesday. The U.N. mission there, known as MONUSCO, was alerted to his presence and contacted the Congolese government. The government asked them to facilitate the groups transfer from an area near the DRC-South Sudan border to a location inside Congo which the U.N. has not revealed.



We can confirm that an operation was undertaken by MONUSCO on humanitarian grounds to facilitate the extraction of Riek Machar, his wife and 10 others from a location in the DRC in support of the DRC authorities," Haq said.



He said the U.N. Mission in South Sudan played no part in Machars arrival in the DRC.

Asked whether Machar required medical care, Haq said we have been providing him with whatever medical assistance he needs.



Sources tell VOA that the former leader was either ill, injured or possibly both, when peacekeepers met him in DRC.

Peacekeepers retrieved Machar and his group from the town of Dungu, near to the border of South Sudan, sources told VOAs South Sudan In Focus. They said he was suffering from exhaustion after having been on the move for weeks.

Machar has been in hiding since early July following clashes between his supporters and government troops in South Sudans capital, Juba that killed more than 300 people.

President Salva Kiir fired Machar as first vice president and replaced him with Taban Deng Gai, who was backed by a breakaway faction of Machars SPLM-IO movement.


A Southern California wildfire raged unchecked in thick brush on Wednesday after destroying an unknown number of houses near a highway corridor between Los Angeles and Las Vegas and forcing as many as 80,000 residents to flee their homes, officials said.

The so-called Blue Cut Fire ignited on Tuesday in the mountainous Cajon Pass and quickly ballooned to 30,000 acres (12,140 hectares), putting firefighters on the defensive as they made a stand in front of homes and businesses.

The blaze is the latest in an intense series of wildfires this year in the U.S. West, where years of drought have dried trees and brush.

"It's to the point where explosive fire growth is the new normal this year," Glenn Barley, a fire chief with the San Bernardino unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal-Fire) said at a news conference Wednesday.

Given the dryness and ongoing warm weather, U.S. government forecasters have said Southern California faces a potential threat from major wildfires until December.

The Blue Cut Fire, named for a narrow gorge north of San Bernardino where it started, was zero percent contained as it threatened the town of Wrightwood near a ski resort and other communities in a partly rural area, authorities said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Authorities said they were forced to close part of Interstate 15, which runs through the Cajon Pass between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area, and to order about 80,000 residents to evacuate.

Thick columns of smoke blocked out the sky above mountain peaks, as horse owners in the area scrambled to lead their animals onto trailers.

Local television station KNBC showed video of several homes engulfed in flames. Officials confirmed houses were gutted by the blaze but could not say how many.

"There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing," San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig told reporters.

The Los Angeles Times reported hundreds of residents of Wrightwood were staying in their houses, despite dire warnings from authorities.

"In my 40 years of fighting fire, I've never seen fire behavior so extreme as it was yesterday," Michael Wakoski, the incident commander on the fire, said Wednesday.

About 600 miles (970 km) to the northwest, the so-called Clayton Fire was 40 percent contained on Wednesday morning after charring 4,000 acres in and around the community of Lower Lake and destroying 175 homes and businesses.
South Sudan rebel leader and former first vice president in the Transitional Government of National Unity, Riek Machar, will break his silence Thursday, a spokesman for the SPLM-IO movement told VOA Daybreak Africa.

Machar has been in hiding since early July following clashes between his supporters and government troops in the capital, Juba.

President Salva Kiir then sacked Machar as first vice president and replaced him with Taban Deng Gai, who was backed by a breakaway faction of Machars SPLM-IO movement.

Mabior Garang de Mabior, chairman of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) National Committee for Information and Public Relations, told VOA that Machar has been safely evacuated to another country in East Africa and will hold a news conference.

He said Machars whereabouts remain secret because the enemies of peace are still pursuing Machar, tracking his every move and phone communication.

The government has denied previous allegations that it has tried to assassinate Machar.

Mabior referred to Machar as the legitimate first vice president but did not say whether Machar would seek to challenge Gai for his old job.

Speaking to reporters in Nairobi Wednesday, Gai said Machar should denounce violence, form a political party and wait for elections in 2018.
Three Ukraine troops were killed and six wounded in recent fighting with pro-Russian separatist in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said Thursday.

The Ukrainian presidential envoy for the operation in the east, Olexander Motuzyanyk, says during the past 24 hours, separatists have shelled government positions along the 30-kilometer buffer zone separating the two sides forces.

In comments carried by the French news agency, Motuzyanyk said the rebels "launched more than 500 mortar and over 300 artillery shells" at Ukrainian positions.

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko warned they have not ruled out martial law or a new wave of military mobilization if the fighting continues.

"If the situation escalates in the east and in Crimea we don't rule out the possibilities (that) we will be forced to introduce martial law and announce a (further) mobilization," he said in a televised speech.

Last week, Russia accused Ukrainian military and intelligence forces of plotting attacks in the annexed region of Crimea.



Ukraine officials have denied the accusations saying the Kremlin was likely to use it as a pretext for a major escalation of the two-year-long conflict in eastern Ukraine.
In a pre-dawn operation Thursday, Turkish police issued nearly 200 arrest warrants and raided more than 100 places as they searched for people alleged to have connections to U.S.-based cleric , Fetullah Gulen, who the government claims is behind an attempted coup last month.

Turkey's financial police led the raids in search of connections between businesses and sympathizers who fund Gulen's religious movement.

On July 15, at least 270 people were killed during a short-lived coup attempt the government claims was masterminded by Gulen and carried out by thousands of police officers and military personnel. Afterwards, the government announced a state of emergency and began rounding up people it accused of plotting the coup.

The raids came a day after Turkey said it will free 38,000 prisoners who have less than two years left on their sentence.

The announcement Wednesday, was intended to make room in jails for the thousands of people its arrested in recent weeks for allegedly participating in the failed coup.

Turkish justice minister Bekir Bozdag cautioned in a series of tweets Wednesday morning that the releases are not pardons but rather conditional releases.

This measure is not an amnesty. The punishment will be served outside through supervised released, Bozdag said on Twitter. I hope that the arrangement is beneficial to the prisoners, their loved ones, our people and our country,'' the minister wrote.

In addition to those inmates with less than two years left on their sentence, prisoners who have served more than half of their sentences would be eligible for parole. The decree will not apply to inmates jailed on murder, terrorism, domestic abuse or sexual assault charges.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday that more than 4,200 businesses and organizations linked to Gulen had been shut down.

In all, more than 35,000 people  including judges, academics and journalists  have been detained for questioning, with more than 17,000 of those people formally arrested. Nearly 80,00 government employees have been removed from duty since the failed coup attempt, Yildirim said in a speech broadcast live on television.

Bozdag announced a second decree Wednesday that would remove 2,300 more officers from the police force, as well as 136 military officers and 196 government employees from its information technology authority.

The government's post coup attempt crackdown has raised criticism from some European nations and human rights organizations which have urged Turkey to show restraint.
A civilian and a police officer were killed Wednesday in clashes in northeast Congo during a protest of the governments failure to stop massacres of civilians by rebel groups, according to police.

The protests in the town of Beni added to tensions in Democratic Republic of Congo ahead of an election set for November in which the opposition has called for President Joseph Kabila to step down after his allotted two terms.

Crowds jeered Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo and two ministers Tuesday when they came to assess security.

On Wednesday, residents of Beni and surrounding towns again chanted against the government and army outside the mayor's office, voicing frustration in a region once considered a political stronghold for the government.

In the latest example of rebel violence, around 50 people were killed by suspected Ugandan rebels on the outskirts of Beni on Saturday.

More than 700 people have died in similar attacks on civilians since 2014.

The government blames the attacks on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan Islamist group of a few hundred fighters that has operated in eastern Congo since the 1990s.

U.N. experts and analysts say other armed groups, including Congolese soldiers, are responsible for attacks on civilians and Kabila's opponents have seized on the massacres as evidence of government incompetence.

The government says the army is rooting out the ADF, but its guerrilla tactics make it difficult to counter.

National police spokesman Pierre Mwanamputu said five people were injured Wednesday in the protests, aside from those killed. Police made 79 arrests.

Teddy Kataliko, president of the Civil Society of Beni Territory, told Reuters the police had shot dead a man when they opened fire on protesters. A medical source in Beni, who declined to be identified, said one man was killed and five people wounded by gunfire.

Mayor Nyonyi Bwanakawa told local radio that a third person was killed Wednesday in Beni by a lynch mob that suspected him of belonging to the ADF.

A woman and a young girl were also killed on Tuesday night about 40 km (25 miles) north of Beni by ADF fighters, local army spokesman Mak Hazukay told Reuters. The girl, he said, had been decapitated.
Arguing that Armenia is being pressured by the West and doesnt enjoy total confidence by Russia, Founding Parliament member Alek Yenikomshian today told reporters at a Yerevan press conference that a movement has begun in Armenia, embodied by the SasnaDzrer movement, that seeks to form a new, independent and sovereign Armenia.

Yenikomshian said that, nevertheless, the regime in Armenia still enjoys the support of Moscow and might seek to create a North Korea-like version of governance in the country. This would only last a few months, given Armenias geographic position and the interests of the Armenian diaspora and other international players, he argued.

Yenikomshian, who has been released from detention while awaiting trial for fomenting public disorder last month, said that the first step would be to remove the current regime and its leaders. This, he said, would just be a means to realize the movements primary objective.

To achieve this, Yenikomshian has proposed the creation of a government of trust parallel with the current regime.

The aim of such a body, according to Yenikomshian, would be to mobilize the people and incorporate such forces that would be able to assist in extricating the country from the existent situation and to present an ultimatum to the regime.

Yenikomshian promised to provide details on how he and his cohorts perceive the process of struggle and its tactics at a later date.

The SasnaDzrer movement will organize the people around the principles it holds dear  the reestablishment of a sovereign Armenia and a principled stance on Artsakh, meaning ruling out any return of land to the opponent, Yenikomshian said.

Photo: Saro Baghdasaryan
The top U.S. diplomat for Africa says South Sudans peace process is not on track and government and rebel leaders need to resume negotiations.

In an exclusive interview, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield told VOA the people of South Sudan have suffered for too many years ... and two years after their independence, they are being tortured, harassed and forced into refugee status again because of lack of leadership of their two major leaders."

The world's youngest nation has been rocked by more than two-and-a-half years of ethnically charged fighting that has displaced over 2 million people, with nearly 1 million fleeing to other countries.

A peace deal between the government and the rebels a year ago has failed to end the conflict, and last month Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting between forces of President Salva Kiir and those loyal to his rival, Riek Machar.

Machar was first vice president in South Sudans transitional government but was replaced by another opposition figure, Taban Deng Gai, after going into hiding in mid-July. He was reported Thursday to be in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Thomas-Greenfield said, In terms of appointment of individuals, we have to allow the South Sudan government to make those appointments. We, too, wonder why this decision was made. We are hoping theres a possibility that Dr. Machar comes back to Juba and they are able to continue the process [that existed] before the situation occurred in July.

The U.N. Security Council voted Friday to send a regional protection force to South Sudan, a move the opposition requested.

The regional protection force has been created in response to the collapse of security in Juba, and it will remain until South Sudan's leaders take the steps necessary to provide that security for their own people, said David Pressman, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for special political affairs.

Thomas-Greenfield said the United States is committed to seeing the current situation end, while working closely with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an East Africa bloc, to implement the regional security force for Juba so parties can move the peace agreement forward.

U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan Molly Phee told VOA on Thursday that the deployment of the troops was not solely a U.S. exercise, but a partnership between the U.S. and IGAD, of which South Sudan is a member. She stressed that "American policy toward South Sudan and the people of South Sudan has been constant for decades. We have always wanted to support the people of South Sudan against oppression and discrimination."

She said accusations by South Sudanese officials that the United States was trying to undermine their country were "not true."

Killings in DRC

In the northeastern part of neighboring DRC, suspected rebels killed at least 51 civilians recently, adding to the tension mounting ahead of presidential elections. President Joseph Kabilas term is due to expire, but observers believe he is trying to delay the election.

While DRC has one of the worlds largest U.N. peacekeeping forces, Thomas-Greenfield said that in situations when people are bent on killing, even if we have U.N. troops, they are going to find a way until we as the international community and the countries themselves find a way of dealing with the root causes of these conflicts.

She said the DRCs problems are the result of not dealing with situations that involve illicit distribution and trafficking of a countrys rich resources.

Allowing the people through the democratic process to elect their leaders is the only solution in the DRC, she said.

In the first part of Kabila's 10 years in power, the DRC was "relatively peaceful," Thomas-Greenfield said.

"He has the opportunity now to take DRC back into another chapter, and that is to transition this government at the end of his term, allow for free, fair and transparent elections," she said. "That would be a legacy that no one in the history of the DRC has ever left.

The DRC has borders with nine countries, some of which arent seen as examples of the best democracies in that region. Thomas-Greenfield, however, said she sees Kabila as a beacon of hope.

I can be proven right or wrong, but Kabila is different and could be the role model," she said. "He doesnt have to follow that route. He can establish his own road, his own path for his country.
The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan urged Afghan leaders Thursday not to allow political differences to undermine recent security gains in the war-torn country.

U.S. General John Nicholson made the remarks as President Ashraf Ghani and his governing partner, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, are locked in a political confrontation, raising questions about the survival of their so-called national unity government.

"RS (Resolute Support) respects the Afghan political process, but has no involvement with it. Our only message to all involved is please don't let the political process undermine the security gains and progress within the security institutions that have been made over the last six-nine months," said General Nicholson in written comments that NATO's Resolute Support mission sent to VOA from Kabul.

Simmering tensions between Ghani and Abdullah were publicly exposed for the first time last week when the chief executive criticized the president and accused him of not honoring provisions of the political agreement they signed in September 2014, that paved the way for installing the unity government.

President Ghani called the remarks counterproductive and not in line with the spirit and principles that shape the foundation of governance.

Abdullah responded by demanding total implementation of the agreement on unity government; we don't want anything more or less than that because implementation of the agreement would lead to the survival and stability of the country, he said.

The two Afghan leaders met for the first time on Wednesday since the political turmoil erupted and are scheduled to hold more talks in coming days to resolve their differences.

The Obama administration has reiterated its support for the Afghan unity government, encouraging both Ghani and Abdullah to work together for a prosperous and stable Afghanistan.



I think our assessment is that theyve got significant challenges facing them, but we stand by and ready to support them as they work through these challenges," Deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters in Washington.

"We want to see them implement what is an ambitious reform agenda and we believe that they understand the importance of them working together rather than separately," he noted.

The political dispute has gripped the Afghan government at a time when Taliban fighters have intensified attacks in 15 of the country's 34 provinces. They have also made significant advances in recent weeks in southern Helmand and two northern provinces, Baghlan and Kunduz.

Addressing a gathering at the presidential palace in connection with Afghan independence day on Thursday, Ghani praised national security forces for bringing security to the country.

"On this historic day, I call on all Afghans to work for peace, prosperity and stability. And I urge Afghan people to stand with their security forces as our security forces have already proven that they can defeat the enemy.

Abdullah was not present at the ceremony and Ghani did not make any reference to the tensions between the two.

Ghani and Abdullah were rivals in the 2014 presidential election and both claimed to be winners after polls that many observers declared were marred by fraud and irregularities. The deadlock ended when U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry intervened and brokered a political deal between the two.

Under the agreement, Ghani was installed as the president and the post of chief executive was created for Abdullah to equally share power in their national unity government. It was also agreed that electoral reforms will be introduced to prevent a repeat of the controversy-marred presidential polls and a constitutional jirga or grand assembly would be held within two years to give legal cover to Abdullahs office, a deadline due to expire next month.



It has not, however, been possible to convene the jirga meeting because a delay in electoral reforms has prevented authorities from holding parliamentary as well as regional elections that together form the assembly. Abdullah's camp insists the delay in electoral and other reforms is deliberate, assertions Ghani aides reject.



The Taliban have recently made significant advances in southern Helmand province and northern provinces, including Baghlan and Kunduz. The insurgent group lately has also taken steps to reduce internal divisions, raising fears of a more resilient and unified opposition that may face Afghan security forces in coming months, although they have held certain key areas only with the help of U.S. airstrikes in recent weeks.
The cold-blooded killing of a New York imam and his assistant over the weekend has heightened Muslim American fears of rising violence against the 3.5 million-strong community.

While prosecutors have yet to uncover any religious motive in the shootings of Imam Maulama Akonjee and Thara Uddin, to many Muslims, the murders illustrate the increasingly violent face of Islamophobia in the United States.

The perception among Muslim Americans is that it is potentially a hate crime, said Engy Abdelkader, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and author of a recent report on Islamophobia in America.

A surge in Islamophobia seen in recent years has been driven to a large extent by anti-Muslim political rhetoric and violent extremism, among other factors, Abdelkader said.

Abdelkader led a study by Georgetowns Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding earlier this year showing hate crimes against Muslim Americans during the 2016 U.S. election cycle have soared to levels not seen since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Between March 2015, when the first candidate entered the U.S. presidential race, and March 2016, there were 180 reported incidents of anti-Muslim violence, according to the study, When Islamophobia Turns Violent."



The figures are based on published news reports and incidents reported by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Muslim advocacy organization.

On average, the study recorded 18 incidents per month during the 12-month period, including 12 murders, 34 physical assaults, 49 verbal assaults or threats against individuals and institutions, 56 acts of vandalism or destruction of property, nine arsons, and eight shootings and bombings.

The data reveals that acts and threats of anti-Muslim violence remained significantly higher than pre-9/11 levels with American Muslims approximately six to nine times more likely to suffer threats and attacks, the report says.

The actual number may be higher, as many incidents go unreported, Abdelkader said.

Steady uptick

In the Georgetown study, the number of attacks against Muslims leveled off this year after soaring in November and December but if you compare them to pre-election in March 2015, youre still three to five times higher, Abdelkader said.

Though Georgetown hasn't released data for the period since April 1, Abdelkader says anecdotal evidence suggests anti-Muslim acts and threats of violence remain at the highest levels since 9/11.



The Huffington Posts Islamophobia tracker, launched in January, tracks a broader range of Islamophobia but shows a steady uptick in cases of aggression against Muslims. Between January and July, the tracker has recorded 87 acts of aggression, a broad category that includes threats, physical assaults and vandalism of mosques.

Among incidents recorded in the past two months:

 On July 18, a note left at the home of a married couple in Tennessee read Im going to kill you Muslim bitchesIm coming for your baby.

 On July 11, two men stalked a hijab-wearing woman out of a Walmart in San Leandro, California, and attacked her with blows to her head and body with eggs.

 On June 29, a man approached a group of Muslim men wearing Islamic attire in Minneapolis, Minnesota, made anti-Islamic remarks before opening fire on them, wounding two of them.

Inspired by terrorist attacks

Corey Saylor, director of CAIRs department to monitor and combat Islamophobia, noted that anti-Muslim attacks have also grown more violent in the past two years.

When you go back to 2010 and the controversy over the Ground Zero mosque what we were seeing was a pushback against the construction of a mosque, Saylor said. Now, pretty much since the first Charlie Hebdo attack, what you see is a change to more violent attacks.



The sharp increase in anti-Muslim attacks has come during a period of public anxiety over several high profile terrorist attacks in Europe and the U.S. Indeed, three spikes in anti-Muslim violence recorded over the past year followed the Paris and San Bernardino attacks last year and the Orlando shooting in June.

In November, Georgetown recorded 35 acts or threats of violence against Muslims in America, up from eight the previous month, after terrorists killed 130 people in a series of coordinated attacks in Paris. In December, it documented a record 53 incidents, after a Muslim couple inspired by the Islamic State killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California. And in June, 2016, the month that saw the largest domestic terror attack since the 9/11 attacks, the Huffington Post documented 24 acts of aggression, the highest monthly figure since it started tracking Islamophobia in January.

But Muslim American critics of Islamophobia say terrorist attacks alone dont explain the recent rise in violent attacks on Muslims.

Our research shows that even in the first months of 2016, when anti-Muslim violence seemed to have leveled off, it actually still remained 3 to 5 times as high as pre-election levels, Abdelkader said via email. This suggests a positive relationship between anti-Muslim violence and Islamophobic political rhetoric.

Anti-Islamic political rhetoric

The Georgetown report catalogues a litany of Islamophobic statements made by Republican presidential candidates during the 2016 election cycle, from Senator Lindsey Graham and former New York governor George Pataki talking tough about mosque surveillance and closures to Ben Carson saying he opposed a Muslim serving as president of the United States.

The first surge in Islamophobic political rhetoric, according to the report, came in September when former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum told a conservative radio host: There are serious questions about Islam and the spread of Islam and how it spreads

Though no terrorist attacks were reported in September, public concerns about the Syrian refugee crisis quickly devolved into Islamophobic rhetoric about an influx of terrorists entering the United States under the guise of being refugees, the report says.





The result was a ten-fold increase in anti-Muslim attacks: In September, Georgetown documented 10 incidents or threats of violence, including three murders, compared with only one incident recorded in August.

The rhetoric escalated after the San Bernardino shooting, leading Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner at the time and now the GOP nominee, to call for mosque closures and announce his controversial ban on Muslims entering the U.S. And it further heated up after the Orlando shooting when Trump said hed ban all immigration from regions of the world with a history of terrorism.

Trump escalated anti-Muslim vitriol in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, France, in November 2015 rather than urge calm and international unity, the report says.

But Brian Levin, who directs California State Universitys Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and tracks hate crimes, said actual hate crime spikes do correlate to events.

The spread of prejudice often is a process that includes a variety of factors that certainly include but are not only limited to political rhetoric, he said. The negative stereotypes about Muslims are present but seem to combust into what is called reactive/defensive hate crimes from a catalytic event, he said.
Brazilian police say they might charge U.S. Olympic swimmers with vandalism and giving false testimony after the swimmers admitted they fabricated a story about being robbed at gunpoint.

Swimmers Ryan Lochte, Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and James Feigen initially told police they were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday morning on their way back from a party outside Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro.

But two of the swimmers, Conger and Bentz, admitted to fabricating the story after they were detained at the airport late Wednesday while attempting to head back to the United States. The two boarded a flight back to the U.S. late Thursday after being questioned by authorities. Feigen, however, is still in Brazil hoping to get his passport back to leave the country, while Lochte returned to the United States Monday before any of the news emerged.

ABC News in the U.S. reported early Friday that Feigen will pay $11,000 to a charity in Brazil to settle the robbery dispute.

The U.S. Olympic Committee has apologized to Brazil for the false robbery claim.

Fernando Veloso, head of the civil police of Rio, told reporters Thursday that security cameras revealed the swimmers actually visited a gas station early Sunday morning, and that witnesses said they damaged a bathroom, were confronted by an armed guard and left before police arrived.

Brazil's Globo TV on Thursday aired security video of the swimmers showing them arriving at the gas station in a taxi, entering the building, leaving, and later sitting on the curb with their hands up, as instructed by one of the staff members at the gas station.

Veloso said the men left $20 and 100 Brazilian reals to pay for the damage to the bathroom, which included broken mirrors and damage to the door. The police chief also said Lochte was "physically outraged" during the incident and was "probably drunk." But he said Lochte could not be held solely responsible for the incident.

"That would be a premature assumption of guilt," Veloso said.

Despite the visible ire of the police, Rio Games organizers defended the swimmers, insisting, "Let's give these kids a break."

Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada told reporters, "They competed under gigantic pressure...They had fun, they made a mistake, life goes on."

The gas station is close to Olympic Park, where the sporting events have been overshadowed over the past two weeks by a series of muggings and robberies, including incidents involving other athletes and two visiting government ministers.
A Native American village in the U.S. state of Alaska was poised on Wednesday to decide whether to relocate its entire population of some 600 people due to the threat of rising seas.

Shishmaref, located on an island north of the Bering Strait that separates the United States and Russia, is losing up to 10 feet (three meters) of shoreline each year, according to research by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Alabama-based Auburn University.

Shishmaref is one of dozens of indigenous villages in Alaska that face growing threats of flooding and erosion due to global warming, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Several are weighing options to move, according to the government.

Shishmaref's residents, who are members of the Inupiat tribe, voted on Tuesday on a proposition to relocate the community, and the votes were being certified on Wednesday, according to the city clerk.

The results were due to be released publicly at 1 pm local time (9 pm GMT) on Wednesday.

Residents voted earlier, in 2002, to relocate but that effort stalled.

The cost of relocation has been estimated at some $180 million, and authorities are seeking state and federal funding, according to local media.

Where to relocate remains to be decided, the clerk said. Two vacant sites on the mainland are being considered.

The island, which is seven square miles (18 square kilometers), lies five miles off the mainland. Its economy is based largely on fishing and hunting.

Scientists attribute coastal erosion in Shishmaref to global warming that has thawed sea ice that once shielded the island from storm surges. Its permafrost, the layer of permanently frozen soil on which it is built, is melting as well.

The village already has moved several homes and a National Guard Armory away from its coastline and built sea walls that have had limited success, according to Alaska authorities.

In March, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced $6.5 million in funding to help Native American communities find ways to deal with climate change.

Since 2014, more than 140 tribes and tribal organizations have gotten government funding to help address the impacts of global warming, it said.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, has started distributing biofortified maize and bean seeds to farmers impacted by drought in Zimbabwe.

A good harvest in March is seen as key to helping families escape the lengthy food crisis.

"We have had two bad seasons, and a lot of farmers do not have adequate seeds, said Chimimba David Phiri, the head of FAO for southern Africa. We need to support the farmers to have the seed that they need for them to grow this season, and also to avoid a problem of having continued humanitarian support.

So it is very important that farmers plant and on time so that we avert hunger for next season as well.  I do not think they can take it anymore."

Millions of people across southern Africa are dealing with food shortages as a result of El Nino-induced drought.

In March, the U.N. Children's Fund said Zimbabwe is facing its worst child malnutrition rates in 15 years. Rural areas have been hit especially hard.

The seeds being distributed are designed to produce more nutritious crops.

Farmer Mirriam Chagweja from Silobela, about 300 kilometers southwest of Harare, planted some of the biofortified maize and beans in her field in February. She obtained them as part of an initiative funded by the British government, which is also funding the FAO program.

I would encourage others to go on board and join, she said. I noticed that for the beans, you get more yields compared to other ordinary varieties.

The seed distribution program is targeting about 127,000 small-holder farm households in eight districts, before it rolls out to other parts of the country, according to FAO.
Tajamuka-Sesijikile Campaign holds a meeting with UNICEF officials in Harare following claims by the United Nations agency that it is illegal to use children in public demonstrations or any political protest. The family of abducted political activist, Itai Dzamara, recently featured children at Africa Unity Square who handed flowers and cakes to the police when it staged a public demonstration to mark 17 months of the disappearance of the leader of Occupy Africa Unity Square.

Zimbabwean vendors march to a local police station to express their dissatisfaction with the manner in which they are being allegedly brutalized by the police.

Members of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise today staged a peaceful demonstration in Bulawayo demanding that the government should introduce free primary education, starting this coming school term.

Most farmers in Mashonaland West say they are ill-prepared for the 2016/2017 agricultural season.

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 of the Womens Round Table Marvellous Mhlanga Nyahuye and Praxedes Jeremiah will be talking about peaceful demonstrations in Zimbabwe.

Participate by sending your messages on our WhatsApp number 001 202 465 0318. The number again 001 202 465 0318. Please note that we are livestreaming on all Studio 7 Facebook pages. Stay tuned!!!!!!
Several members of the organization danced and sang outside Unicef offices in Harare denouncing the organization for attacking the Dzamara family for using children at Africa Unity Square last week.

Unicef warned the family and activists saying children are protected by various international and local statutes from participating in public protests. It quoted Article 15 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which relates to freedom of association.

Article 15 stipulates in part that children have the right to meet together and to join groups and organizations. This section is silent on the participation of children in public protests. However, some provisions of Section 81 of the Zimbabwe Constitution state that every child has the right not to be recruited into a militia force or take part in armed conflict or hostilities.

It further states that every child has the right not to be compelled to take part in any political activity.

But Tajamuka-Sesijikile Campaign stressed during their protest today that Unicef should have expressed these sentiments every time President Robert Mugabe used children in his rallies.

Speaking outside Unicef offices, Tajamuka-Sesijikile spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi, accused the U.N agency of seeking to pacify the sitting government at the expense of the children it claimed to be representing.

As I speak Linda Musarira is in illegal political detention and Unicef has never said anything about that. Itai Dzamara has been missing Unicef has never said anything about that. We know that Elizabeth Mupfumira is a daughter to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare in (Mr.) Mugabe's government and we know that you are trying to pacify Mugabe regime.

Her mother, Priscillah Mupfumira has already indicated that she has nothing to do with the Unicef statement.

We say this is not right. We do not expect the international community to behave in that way. We do not expect employees of Unicef to use their position in the organisation to push political and partisan agendas.

Silvanos Mudzova, a member of the political campaign group, told Studio 7 that they want a retraction of the Unicef statement.

We expect them to retract the statement first of all and issue an apology to Itai Dzamara's family directly to say that Itai's children were only looking for their father and were not being political.

Fortune Nyoni, another activist, concurred adding that Itai Dzamara's children were at the demonstration seeking answers from the Zanu PF government on the whereabouts of their father.

We are here to demand from Unicef why they have issued a statement trying to stop Itai Dzamaras children who were seeking to know from the regime where their father is.

Mkwananzi and three other members of Tajamuka-Sesijikile Campaign met with Unicef representatives.

He claimed that Unicef has agreed to have a relook at the statement and address the concerns of the campaign group.

She agreed that within a week she is going to consult within the United Nations and make a review of the statement they have made and make a public statement clarifying the position of Unicef.

Victor Chinyama, chief of communications, confirmed that they held a meeting with Tajamuka-Sesijikile Campaign but declined to disclose what was discussed.
Police in Zimbabwe on Thursday severely beat up prominent activist Sten Zvorwadza who led some street traders to the Harare Central Station to express their dismay over alleged police brutality.

Zvorwadza, who is the board chairperson of the National Vendors of Zimbabwe, arrived at the Harare Central Police Station together with another activist, Patson Dzamara, while holding flowers that they attempted to distribute to police officers who had already mounted a barricade.

Some police officers approached Zvorwadza who tried to explain that their demonstration was going to be peaceful but in no time, some baton-wielding officers came out of the station in full speed and assaulted Zvorwadza while Dzamara took to his heels for safety.

Zvorwadza had earlier told reporters that their demonstration was meant to send a message to the police that they were supposed to protect citizens and not to victimize them when they are demonstrating against problems they are facing.

He police were violating the constitution whenever they violently dispersed peaceful protesters.

Dzamara weighed in saying police were violating citizens right to freedoms of assembly and expression.

After assaulting Zvorwadza, the cops went on to beat up people who were at the Charge Office Bus Terminus and in the process an elderly woman was injured on her head while another unidentified woman was arrested.

It could not be established how many people were part of the planned protests as most activists were among people who were boarding commuter omnibuses at the terminus.

Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba told Studio 7 that she was unable to comment on what happened at Harare Central Station claiming that she was yet to be briefed about the incident.

President Mugabe told the nation recently his government would not allow any form of protests. This, despite constitutional provisions allowing peaceful demonstrations.

Meanwhile, a local non-governmental organization, Heal Zimbabwe Trust, issued a statement condemning police brutality on demonstrators. The organization implored the government to swiftly provide effective and independent complaint mechanisms that would receive and investigate complaints from the public against members of the security services in compliance with the constitution.

The statement also called on government to use non-violent and engaging processes that seek to address challenges amicably and that the police were violating their own code of conduct by assaulting peaceful protestors.
Zimbabweans in the diaspora have been encouraging each other to build their country despite the socio-economic problems currently gripping the Southern African nation.

Many organisations have taken the initiative, with one such group being Build Zimbabwe, a platform encouraging Zimbabweans at home and in the diaspora to give back to their country and communities.

Build Zimbabwe convener and founder Dr. Noah Manyika, who is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said his organisation was working on a number of projects, including low-cost housing projects around the country.

Dr. Manyika said he founded Building Zimbabwe many years ago with the aim of helping underprivileged children.

It was basically my organisation but I decided no, no, let me invite Zimbabweans to build this platform which would accomplish an unprecedented mobilization of Zimbabweans wherever they are, ah, to really bring about change in 2018, but also to make sure that we have an unassailable program to rebuild Zimbabwe, Dr. Manyika said.
Hanging by a Thread: Somalis Traumatic Past and Uncertain Future

by Mohamed Omar Hashi & Adan Omar Hashi

Thursday, August 18, 2016





Across Somalia, on 1 July 1960, there was great jubilation and celebration as the country had gained independence from both Britain and Italy after a long struggle for independence. Having bitterly battled against and survived the devastating tyranny of colonisation, there was a slight uncertainty that the genesis of the new epoch would not only convey political sovereignty, but also lead to the fulfilment of its long-deprived economic liberty and social opulence hitherto unseen in the country. The triumphant achievement, and the ultimate envisioned prospect, was notably depicted in Somalis national anthemSomalia, Wake Up. The national anthem was composed in the 1940s to entice citizens to rise against colonial rule. These noble compatriots, warriors, the Somalia Project, the purpose of its struggles, successfully defeated the enemy who were an existential threat to Somali union, motherland, brotherhood, culture, religion, and to Somali moral and ethical standards/wellbeingby advocating for a united Somalia to keep at bay any prospective threats from neo-colonisers, regional and non-regional, state and non-state actors.

As these newly liberated compatriots of Somalia were revelling in the midst of its pristine self-determinations, nonetheless, there was a greater, yet subtle, impending quandary waiting to strike. These malignant manifestations of imperialism recklessly revealed themselves in numerous ways: poor governance, widespread corruption combined with dictatorship; and clan divisions; relentless poverty, devastating diseases and appalling health conditions; decrepit public infrastructures and wretched under-development. Although the Somali citizens have been magnificently liberated from the draconian chains of imperialism, Somalia has today become synonymous with inexpressible misery, tenacious diseases, famine and all the blemish of this planet, which is much more than anything imagined by those patriotic comrades who were out celebrating the fall of colonial rule.

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However, can it be said that Somali leaders were, and are completely, stranded in the midst of conditions brought about by issues outside their powerthose initiated and enforced on them by foreigners? We argue that colonialism, neo-colonialism, regional and non-regional, state and non-state interventions are not solely to blame for the current state of Somalia. The Asian Tigers, the Chinese, Japanese, South Koreans, citizens of Thailand, the Taiwanese and Singaporeans, which are the desire of the globe today because of the remarkable achievements of their individual economics, were once faced by the same fangs of imperialism and interventions before they completely recuperated their independency. It is estimated that in the 1960s, many African nations, were more or less economically advanced than countries such as South Korea. Thanks to their political stability, economic models and visionary leadership, today, these countries appropriated exclusive membership of the most developed nations in the world. Their success, despite their colonial legacy and neo-colonisation, is the earnest evidence to most troubled Somalians that the ball is in their court.

Although it would be peculiar to reject the heinous legacies of colonialism, neo-colonisation, and the growing regional, non-regional, state and non-state intervention that, respectively, impoverished Somalias young and enthusiastic productive labour force, we should never use these as an excuse, mission impossible type, as their core objective is to demoralise our forward thinking. These same groups are advocating for federal member states in order to weaken the countrys central government with the core objective of forming alliances and affiliations to protect their interests, further destabilising the country and destroying noble ideas to resolve and free the nation of all plights it experiences.

Federalism is one of the biggest challenges currently facing the nation - building federal states that serve the interests of the country. Due to lack of trust and land disputes, the process of forming most federal member states has been uptight with adjournments, contestation and disagreements, misunderstandings, tensions running high amongst the rival state formation talks, with a lot of disagreements between the federal government and federal states and in-fighting between the federal member states:

Federal Government Versus Federal Member States Conflict between Federal Member States  Somaliland (Unification versus independency)  Jubaland-South West State  Puntland  Galmudug-Puntland  Hiiraan (Dispute over how the state formation process with Middle Shabelle should occur)  Puntland-Somaliland  Jubaland  Somaliland-Khatumo  South West State  Khatumo-Puntland

These federal member states, are predominantly clan-driven, often signified as clan federalism, have unsettled grievances against one another and have, under the pretext of kinship, amalgamated during the course of the civil war, while their multiplicities and conflicting behaviours, governed by their self-interests, antagonised many resolution efforts to the countrys appalling conflict. There is growing concern that the federal project could further widen and fragment the already polarised nation that is still struggling to recover from the legacy of clan violence and more recently terror organisations such as Al-Shabaab. We fear, like most Somalis, that by crimping the power of the federal government could lead to the balkanisation of Somalia along clan lines and this could trigger a resumption of hostilities between federal member states, rendering peace negotiations. Furthermore, if the federal member states interests take precedence over the national interest, the shared Somali interest, envisaged by the countrys noble warriors, is lost as a result, and that could set a deadly precedent and will remain an intractable problem in the long-term.

The countrys rampant corruption and acutely rooted patronage structure is hammering the legitimacy of the government. Corruption is further worsened by the lack of an efficient central government, and administrative capacity, a poor leadership system and a limited capability to pay public officials. It has infiltrated core areas of the economy, for instance port(s) and airport(s), tax and custom collections, immigration, telecommunication and supervision of international aid with practised negligence, and camouflage of existing resource flow.

Reasonable or accessible security provision is indeed an essential part of some of the prerequisites for a developed society that is at peace with itself. The effort to rebuild this countrys military and other security forces is taking place amidst an absence of a political coherences and strategy. The security sectors of the country is dispersed, weak, corrupted, under-resourced - lacking leadership, discipline, command and control and mostly being run by either corrupt officials or various non-state militant entities with their own security institutions functioning. To reform such bodies or stakeholders in line with the idea of accountability as well as democratic values is thus significant in such contexts.

Observing from within, whether those obstacles lie with the leadership or the Somali people as a whole; from where leaders are chosen, is a different discussion in itself. Be that as it is, we anticipate that you, as a reader, agree with our analysis to some level, what lessons, if any, Somalia gleaned and acquired from this, apparently, totally disastrous and dark past and an uncertain future? These lessons would perform as a guiding post to the current dreadful environments.

In order to find a way forward, Somalia needs to learn from the past by being a devoted student of its mysteriesobnoxious or stunning ones! We would like to highlight two quintessential elements: avoidance and emulation. Firstly, all frailties and impairments brought about by the civil war, civil unrest, corruption, poor governance, inequality, injustice, terrorism, insecurity and clientelism, amongst others, must be avoided like leprosy. Secondly, achievements, from the rest of the world, especially the Asian Tigers, must be conscientiously pursued and emulated. All documented achievements in history were formed on the existing knowledge before they were adopted and innovated on.

Nevertheless, there is a need for visionary and ideologically inspired leadership, otherwise it would just be a simple wishful idealistic thinking. Weak political, social or economic strategies and policies amongst the governing leaders would signify that they would stand for nothing and can consequently fall for anything: short-sightedness, self-delusion and political expediency. From a political perspective, the government must reform its anti-corruption strategy by establishing an independent panel, naming and shaming corrupt officials, and imposing travel ban and imprisonment. Furthermore, it has to reform its judiciary, protect and promote the rights of its citizens, freedom of speech and human security. From an economic perspective, a meticulously planned, significant balance must be reached between social and economic equality, and free market economy, where the margin between the rich and the poor is kept at minimum. The virus of corruption and poor leadership hinders economic and political freedom.

Furthermore, Somalia must reform its currency, utilise its labour force, subsidise and facilitate tax incentives, adopt policies that promote export growth and monitor its tariffs to stimulate the economy. It should also review its monetary and fiscal policy, diversify its economy and utilise its cheap labour force as a competitive edge, concentrating on sectors or niche markets in the country can surpass and therefore, upsurge the countrys exports to the developed nationscreating much desired foreign exchange with which to obtain imports and other indispensable resources not produced in Somalia. With the right leadership, Somalia will certainly make it into the prosperous future envisioned by the aforementioned noble warriors.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

George Santayana

Mohamed Omar Hashi was a Member of the Transitional Federal Parliament of Somalia from 2009 to 2012, and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in International Studies from the University of Staffordshire and an M.A. in International Security Studies from the University Of Leicester.

E-mail: [email protected]

Adan Omar Hashi is a research scholar and holds a Bachelor Degree in German and English languages from the University Of Salford and an M.S.C in Development Management from the University of East London.
Zimbabweans have been of late been staging peaceful protests in the country, which has resulted in President Robert Mugabe, senior members of the national army and some state officials, warming them that the government will take stern measures against protesters.

Since July 6th when Zimbabweans staged a massive stay away, the police have been descending heavily over protesters, mostly demanding the resignation of President Mugabe and an address to social and economic problems bedeviling the country.

Protesters say their public action is guaranteed by the Zimbabwe Constitution while the government claims that such moves are designed to denigrate the person of the president and dent the image of the country, which is failing to attract meaningful foreign direct investment.

Why is the government not keen to see people protesting in the streets?

Studio 7 reached Rashid Mahiya of Heal Zimbabwe Trust and Gadzira Chirumanzu, a Zanu PF activist.

Mahiya said protesters should not be brutalized by the police. The role of the police is to provide security for citizens and not to injure citizens who are actually enjoying their democratic right to express themselves against whatever issues  The role of the police is to ensure that citizens are safe and secure and not to harm them.

But Chirumanzu said, The Zimbabwe Constitution allows people to demonstrate but what is shocking even the responsible authorities is the mushrooming of so many organizations that want to protest in the streets and you now wonder where all these organizations are coming from and who is pushing this agenda of protesting and who is financing all these people from their residential places into the kombis or buses for what ever it is to come and demonstrate in Harare.

At the end of the day behind the scenes you could see that there is a hidden hand trying to push a certain agenda which at the present moment its not very clear.

Pastor Evan Mawarire of #thisflag movement, Tajamuka-Sesijikile Campaign, some vendors and hundreds of people have been staging protests demanding an end to Zimbabwes current social and economic problems.
Members of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) staged a peaceful demonstration in Bulawayo on Thursday demanding thatgovernment scraps levies in public schools with effect from next term which starts in the first week of next month.

WOZA director Jenni Williams told Studio 7 that her organization has since 2006 been campaigning for free primary education and wants government to scrap levies charged in public schools, removing the burden from hard-pressed Zimbabweans.



Williams castigated government for having misplaced priorities and said the state must ensure that 20 per cent of the national budget goes towards education as outlined in the Dakar Declaration of 2000 to which Zimbabwe has ratified.



The demonstrators sang and marched through the central business district to the Mhlahlandlela government complex where they wanted to deliver a petition to Resident Minister Eunice Sandi Moyo, but were stopped from doing so by police who blocked the entrance to the offices.



Reverend Useni Sibanda of the Zimbabwe Institute for Social Transformation, who also joined the march, said he supports WOZAs calls and reiterated that it is governments responsibility to ensure that citizens get quality education by training and paying teachers well.



Zimbabwes education system, once the envy of the world, has crumbled amid the ongoing economic crisis compelling parents at one point to fund even the salaries of teachers through levies.

Local education officials declined to comment.
Dallas guitarist Tommy Katona knows full well the musical pull of the late Texas blues-rock guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan: It captured him as a 4-year-old in his native Hungary when his guitar-playing father, Tamas, showed him a video of the famed guitarist.

Katona, 32, grew up under his fathers musical tutelage, joining his band when he was 5 and earning a reputation as a precocious talent. American rock and blues shaped his playing, his formal music school training supplemented by listening to recordings of Vaughan, B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, Albert Collins and Jimi Hendrix. Katona was 6 when Vaughan died Aug. 27, 1990, in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin.

A visit to Dallas, Vaughans hometown, in 2006 to attend a SRV fan tour and concert planted a desire to return. Katona did the next year, moving from Hungary to Dallas and setting up musical shop. I just wanted to be around the place he was from, he said in a recent phone interview.

A musician friend, Steve Buckner, had put together a Stevie Ray tribute band, Voodoo Blue, and, in the general rotation of band personnel, eventually Katona and drummer Travis Montoya came aboard. The threesome clicked and soon was impressing Dallas area audiences with their tight blues-rock sound. Voodoo Blue changed its name to Texas Flood nearly six years ago, taking its name from Vaughans 1983 debut album, and building up a steady performance schedule.

That schedule brings them to Hewitts Warren Park on Thursday night as the featured performers for the Hewitt Summer Concert Series. Its one of more than 150 shows the band plays yearly, primarily in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but stretching to Houston and even the East Coast, where Texas Flood toured earlier this year.

Does handling guitar leads and vocals for an SRV tribute band put extra pressure on Katona? Not really, he said.

Im not trying to copy or be like him. Im doing my own thing, he said. Were trying to keep Stevie Ray Vaughans legacy alive, but we also play Jimi Hendrix and blues by B.B. King, Albert King, Albert Collins and Buddy Guy. . . . Were pretty high-energy, more rock into the face and kinda loud.

That said, Texas Flood doesnt back down from comparisons to the Texas guitarist and his Double Trouble band, with upcoming Houston gigs at clubs where SRV often performed, Rockefellers and Fitzgeralds  the latter date on SRVs birthday, Oct. 3.

For that occasion, Katona said Texas Flood will try to play the same show Vaughan did there in 1981.

Katona said hes aware there are other SRV tribute bands, include a Texas Flood band that is active in Serbia.

I actually know them, he said. Theyre a really good band.

-----

Texas Flood

Hewitt Summer Concert Series

Performance: 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday at Creekside Amphitheatre, Warren Park, 450 S. Old Temple Road, Hewitt. Gates open at 6 p.m.

Admission: Free, but $2-$5 for parking.
An intermediate appellate court Thursday upheld a convicted sex offenders conviction for trying to hire a hit man to kill a state district judge who sent him to prison.

Wacos 10th Court of Appeals, in a 10-page opinion written by Justice Al Scoggins, overruled an appeal by William Ray Phillips, 65, and affirmed his conviction and 80-year prison term.

Phillips was convicted in February 2015 of solicitation of capital murder after he agreed to pay $30,000 to a man he thought would kill 54th State District Judge Matt Johnson.

Evidence at his trial revealed Phillips also had placed U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. and McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna on his hit list.

The appellate court rejected Phillips argument that the trial court improperly admitted extraneous offenses, specifically evidence of Phillips desire to also have Smith and Reyna killed.

Phillips has previous convictions for possession of child pornography, including lewd photos of his young daughter, and failure to register as a sex offender. Trial testimony showed he became obsessed with wanting to kill Johnson, who presided over two of Phillips previous trials and imposed a 10-year sentence in the failure to register case.

Phillips was sentenced to 99 years in prison in 2007 in the sexual assault of his daughter. But his conviction was thrown out by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which ruled the statute of limitations had expired and the case never should have been tried.

Johnson also presided over that trial, and Phillips became fixated on the judge after the reversal and his 2013 conviction for failure to register as a sex offender, trial testimony showed.

He talked of finding someone to kill the judge with a fellow county jail inmate, who reported Phillips plot to investigators.

Authorities made up a sham corporation of mercenaries, and the jail informant got Phillips to write to the company to solicit a hit man to kill the judge. Letters Phillips wrote to the fake company and to friends were intercepted by officials and read to the jury.

An undercover Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent posed as a hit man from the fake company in February 2014 and videotaped his meeting at the jail with Phillips. After some cautious conversation in which Phillips asked if he was being taped, Phillips finally confirmed that he was willing to pay $30,000 to have Johnson killed, asking the agent to take care of my problem.
Veteran Waco police Officer George Neville was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge Thursday, accused of assaulting a man he was arresting after a traffic stop in early May, Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said.

Neville, an 11-year commissioned officer with the Waco Police Department, turned himself in to McLennan County Jail on Thursday afternoon after Waco police detectives issued a Class A misdemeanor assault warrant for his arrest.

As officers, we are sworn to enforce and uphold the law. The behavior which resulted in the arrest of this officer is unacceptable, Waco Interim Police Chief Frank Gentsch said in a statement. It saddens me that the public trust has been violated. We are committed to professional policing and will hold our officers to the highest standards.

Officers Kevin Spicer and Adam Beseda stopped a vehicle, driven by Qualon Deshon Weaver, 35, for a traffic violation on May 4 near the intersection of J.J. Flewellen Road and Herring Avenue, police records show. During the stop, officers reportedly observed Weaver moving in the car before he pulled over, appearing to conceal something before he eventually stopped. Weaver came to a stop, then continued driving slowly multiple times before pulling over, according to records.

Nearly 10 grams of marijuana was later found in his vehicle, an affidavit for Weavers arrest states.

Neville, 33, arrived with another officer to assist with the arrest when the assault allegedly occurred. Police reports stated that Weaver was handcuffed when Neville grabbed Weaver around his neck after the two exchanged words with each other, and the other two officers watched the scuffle, Weavers attorney, Jason Darling, said.

We met with police two weeks ago, so this is a mixed-emotions type of day, because obviously you dont want to see law enforcement get arrested when you hope they will uphold the law and protect citizens rights, Darling said. But you have to praise the investigation that was done by the Waco Police Department in having to make a tough decision and hold that officer accountable for his actions.

Darling reviewed dash camera video of the incident and said it shows Neville calling Weaver a dumbass, then Weaver returning the same insult. At the point, Darling said Neville can be seen grabbing Weaver around his throat before he is placed inside a police car. Weaver was making no attempt to run or tamper with evidence when Neville grabbed him by the throat, according to the warrant for Nevilles arrest.

There really is no excuse for it, Darling said. My client felt like race was the reason he was pulled over, but I am not sure if race was a factor in (the alleged assault). It might have just been an issue of anger. Obviously race could play an issue in this, but with what is going on in the country, you have to pay attention to all these issues, but I dont know if we can say if (the assault was racially-motivated).

Weaver, who is black, was arrested on charges of evading arrest in a motor vehicle and possession of marijuana. He later filed a complaint against all three officers in June. In the departments inquiry, Swanton said Neville and Beseda were placed on administrative leave on June 9. Spicer was placed on administrative leave June 16 as the investigation progressed.

All the other officers involved in the incident were cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, but internal investigations by the Professional Standards and Conduct Unit remain ongoing, Swanton said.

The grabbing of Qualon Weavers throat by Officer Neville was not necessary as Qualon Weaver only yelled at Officer Neville, Nevilles arrest affidavit states. Qualon Weaver was not assaulting or resisting the officers at that point and was not attempting to destroy evidence.

Possible lawsuit

Darling said he plans to wait for developments in Nevilles criminal case before deciding whether to file a civil lawsuit against the officers or the department. He will most likely file a civil lawsuit at a later date on Weavers behalf, he said.

The Tribune-Herald requested the in-car video and other public documents related to Weavers arrest and the alleged assault when the department announced its investigation of Neville. The Waco Police Department is seeking a Texas Attorney Generals opinion on whether releasing the video and other documents would unduly interfere with its investigations. No response to the request had been returned by Thursday.
The man police were seeking following a standoff earlier in the week surrendered to authorities Thursday night.

Reginald Tyrone White, 29, turned himself in at the McLennan County Jail late Thursday night, according to Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton.

Police had issued an arrest warrant earlier Thursday for White, who was involved in a standoff with officers following a domestic disturbance with a woman in a South Waco neighborhood two weeks ago.

White was involved in a police standoff in the 1200 block of Carter Drive on Aug. 6, police said. White assaulted his 35-year-old girlfriend the night of the standoff and grabbed her hair, threw her to the ground and hit her multiple times in the face and with some type of stick, according to police.

Swanton said officers were called to the residence in an attempt to arrest White for the assault. White contacted police by telephone and reportedly told officers he had a knife to his throat.

A large police presence was at the location in an effort to take White into custody without injury. Swanton said White managed to escape the home before officers were able to completely secure the residence.
It was widely observed that Brexit was driven by anti-immigrant sentiment. A new Ipsos poll confirms that about half of Brits have a negative view of immigration, while only 35 percent view it positively. Much concern has focused upon European Union citizens currently residing in the United Kingdom (theyll certainly be grandfathered, as will UK citizens living in the EU), but the real question is what kind of long-term immigration policy the UK should adopt.

Britains best option is a points-based system along the lines of those in Canada and Australia. Both countries sought, a half-century ago, to replace a system of favoritism by race and national origin with measures of merit  including education, English fluency (or French in Canada) and work experience  with the obvious design of admitting the most qualified people.

Remain campaigners balked when Brexiters proposed the same during the campaign, but Britain should consider the proposal now. Canada and Australia, it is true, are bigger and less populous nations which seek to attract immigrants, but their experiences can work equally well for more densely populated nations such as Britain which seek to limit immigration without choking off supply of needed skilled labor and unskilled workers.

Points systems in these two countries have worked as intended, attracting large numbers of qualified people. Apart from the United States and the UK, the two have sustained the most consistently high levels of net immigration among developed nations. Currently, they admit about one-quarter of a million annually.

Other nations have experienced spikes in net influxes, including Germanys 1.1 million in 2015. This was not immigration  that is, people seeking opportunity  but rather asylum-seeking by refugees. A better example is Spains net immigration of 725,000 in 2007, powered primarily by Spains then-booming economy and its law granting citizenship to immigrants from the former Spanish Empire after just two years of legal residency, among other very lenient immigration policies. Since 2013, Spain has experienced net migration.

These huge spikes illustrate something else. While the EU enforces a uniform policy for internal movement, there is no uniform policy for entry from outside its borders. Without such a common policy, every EU nations immigration policy is vulnerable to the discretion, whims and weaknesses of each and every other EU nation.

For its part, the United Kingdom has experienced markedly increased immigration since net immigration first topped 100,000 in 1998. According to the UK Office of National Statistics, the increase has been dramatic over the past four years, to 333,000 from less than 200,000, an obvious driver of the widely recognized anti-immigrant sentiment behind the Brexit vote. It is not surprising that this sentiment targeted the EU, since net immigration of EU citizens has skyrocketed to 184,000 in 2015 from less than 20,000 in 2004.

Not only do the Canadian and Australian successes recommend the point system, but the UK already employs elements of a point system introduced in its 2008 reforms for non-EU immigration, which replaced a maze of about 80 different types of visas.

Even a well-constructed points system wont satisfy those who want more draconian limits on immigration. But using explicit criteria for admissions ensures that the immigrants admitted contribute to society and reduces fears that uncontrolled immigration poses social, cultural, economic and security threats. Awarding points for English language proficiency, for example, favors immigrants more predisposed to assimilate and reduces the likelihood of nativist opposition.

Brits are not alone in their negative view of immigration, with only an average of 20 percent in the 22-nation Ipsos poll thinking it has a positive impact on their own country. Citizens in 18 of the 22 nations in the Ipsos poll have even more negative views of immigration. Some people continue to believe that most immigrants find their own way to genuine opportunity and naturally fulfill labor market needs. However, this article of faith is difficult to prove.

Of course, it cannot be disproved either. But a modified points system at least takes the guesswork out and offers a way to address some urgent concerns expressed in the Brexit vote.

Red Jahncke is president of Townsend Group International, a business consultancy in Connecticut, and a freelance columnist who writes on a wide range of public policy issues.
WAHOO  Looking for ways to reduce recidivism, probation service staff in District 5 are incrementally changing their duties.

They are now charged with the duty of post-release supervision of inmates.

LB605, adopted by the Nebraska State Legislature, aims to employ the use of probation for people convicted of low-level offenses and to ensure post-release supervision to aid in addressing victim needs.

Post-release supervision will focus on transitioning people from prison back into the community, said Carrie Rodriguez, chief deputy probation officer for District 5 Probation.

Specifically, probation will engage people prior to coming out of prison to connect them with services that can aid living arrangements and substance abuse treatment. They will also present all services related to rehabilitation, Rodriguez said.

According to the National Institute of Justice, recidivism is measured by criminal acts that resulted in rearrest, reconviction or return to prison with or without a new sentence during a three-year period following the prisoners release.

The change has not yet affected Probation 5s budget, as salaries and benefits are state funded. But, Saunders County is one of 11 counties in District 5 that contributes to the operating budget.

In 2015, Saunders County contributed $35,904. This number is based on population percentage and percentage of active probation cases.

There were 358 active probation cases in Saunders County in 2015. Rodriguez does not anticipate much change immediately due to the increase in duties, as the budget request for next year is $34,584.

However, when presenting the annual report to the Saunders County Board of Supervisors in June, Rodriguez said LB605 will cause the budget to go up significantly over the next four to five years.

Probation officer caseloads will also become filled with more high-risk clients, said Rodriguez.

She does not anticipate any difficulties with the transition though.

Our officers go through lots and lots of training, she said.

Transition efforts with high-risk clients are based on research that shows what works, she added.

With a looming caseload increase, probation officers are already utilizing technology to meet the needs of individuals needing services.

Video conferencing is utilized for those that dont have transportation to groups.

That factor could specifically increase Saunders Countys contribution, as all county contributions go toward office equipment, data processing software, and general computer expenses.

State funding does pay for video services and cell phones, she said.

The lack of services in Saunders County for mental health, transitional living and medication management could also see an increase.

Recent juvenile reform increased the number of people providing services. But, Rodriguez said its unknown whether the same effect will manifest in adult services.

District 5 has also been allocated for a new high-risk officer position. That position is posted now, she said.

With that addition, high-risk probation officer Suzanne Kusy that serves in Saunders and Seward counties should see a decrease in her caseload.

Based on the stipulations of their probation, Kusy connects individuals to services related to addiction and mental health rehabilitation.

Ninety percent of them have an addiction of some sort, said Kusy about her clients.

The new position would serve in York and Seward counties, decreasing Kusys caseload to a more manageable level, Rodriguez said.

Were doing our best to keep communities safe, Rodriguez said.
WAHOO  Road responsibility issues surfaced at the Aug. 9 Saunders County Board of Supervisors meeting.

Public Works Director Steve Mika addressed the board with concerns regarding maintenance responsibility where state and county roads intersect.

Its a liability issue for the state, but also us, said Mika.

Currently, Nebraska Department of Roads policy states that the county has jurisdictional responsibility for and will maintain the entire part of each county road outside of the traveled lanes of the highway located on state highway right-of-way.

Mikas question to the board was whether or not it is legal to spend county tax dollars on state right-of-way.

This maintenance could also include higher costs for the county, he added.

Fixing potholes is one thing, but if pipes or culverts get plugged, that would cost the county much more, Mika said.

Maintenance also includes ensuring all road signs are visible.

We have a guy we hire during the summer to trim trees around ridges and traffic signs, said Mika.

Following a recent fatality accident in Morse Bluff, the accident report noted the sheriffs deputy observed the stop sign was partially obstructed by hanging tree branches and leaves.

The DOR came in and cut down that entire tree, Mika said.

In that instance, there was a stop ahead sign that was clearly visible, he added.

Mika said its a gray area that needs to be changed or discussed further.

Other counties have passed resolutions so as not to spend any money on state right-of-ways, he said.

Supervisor Doris Karloff said at the meeting that she would be speaking with the Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Association (NIRMA) about the issue.
OMAHA  The Honor and Remember Flag Nebraska Chapter presented Honor and Remember flags to the family of five fallen service members Sunday afternoon, Aug. 7 at Lamb of God Lutheran Church in Omaha.

Flags were given to the families of Army Spec. Dustin Workman of Greenwood, Navy LCDR Keith Hanson of Fremont, Army 1LT James Moore and Navy PO3 Gene Moore of Weeping Water and Army 1 LT Mark Noziska of Papillion.

The Honor and Remember Flag Nebraska Chapter presented special flags to families of the fallen (Gold Star families) as a national symbol of gratitude and a visible reminder that perpetually recognizes the sacrifice of military members who die while serving or as a result of serving. The flag is inscribed with the service members' name, date of death and place of death.

Army Specialist Dustin Workman of Greenwood was born in 1987 in Miami and attended Ashland-Greenwood High School. He joined the Army after high school and was assigned as a Humvee driver, gunner, infantryman, 2/12 Infantry Battalion, B Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Fort Carson, Colo. He was one of five who died and 12 injured on June 28, 2007 in Iraq during an ambush as a result of an improvised explosive device.

Family members receiving the flag included his mother and father, Valerie and Dustin Workman, Sr., sister and brother-in-law, Cortney and Jason Trudell, and sister, Krysta Workman.

Workman was known to make people laugh, was loving and liked to test the rules. He enjoyed writing poetry, loved singing, listening to music, and playing video games. One of his parents said they were able to meet several of their sons buddies while he was in Colorado, as he could always convince at least one of them to come to Nebraska for the weekend, with, or most of the time, without a pass. He loved his family and the six-hour drive and risk was worth it to him.

One of those young men, Sgt. Jonathan Smithers, has become the familys adopted son and was present for the flag ceremony.

I may have lost my son, but I gained three, as I have three soldiers that come every year on the anniversary of Dustins death to celebrate his life with us, his mother said.
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World-first battery testing taking place in Canberra will reveal critical information about the best ways to store renewable energy for when the sun's not shining and the wind's not blowing.

ITP Renewables' new Lithium-ion Battery Test Centre at the Canberra Institute of Technology will run a $600,000 world-first trial, which will test the unproven claim that lithium-ion batteries charge faster, last longer and take up less space than traditional lead-acid batteries.

ARENA chief executive Ivor Frischknecht and ITP Renewables' managing director Simon Franklin with the Samsung All In One 10.8kWh battery and the Tesla Powerwall battery, which will both be tested at the CIT's new Lithium-ion Battery Test Centre Credit:Clare Sibthorpe

Five lithium-ion batteries will be tested over three years against one conventional lead acid battery, one advanced lead battery and the Tesla Powerwall in a climate controlled building at the CIT Bruce Campus.

The much-hyped Tesla Powerwall is a battery system which generates and stores solar energy during sunny periods and can then transmit electricity to your home during peak hours. It also transmits energy directly from the grid during off-peak periods and stores it in the Powerwall battery for later use via a hybrid inverter which converts direct current (DC) energy to alternating current (AC).
So what happens to the CEO's salary when a company delivers an $8 billion loss?

One thing is for sure, BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie will be doing well to take home as much as last year's $US4.6 million.

That said, Mr Mackenzie could take home anything from $US2 million to $US13 million this year, according to the miner's most recent annual report.

But this was a year in which BHP was caught up in a dam collapse at its joint venture Samarco mine operation in Brazil, killing 19 people and for which the company has paid a $3 billion clean-up settlement. It remains the subject of an $8 billion civil claim.
Late night negotiations between Malcolm Turnbull and his Vietnamese counterpart will see Australian veterans given restricted access to the Long Tan battle site, with wreath laying ceremonies allowed for groups of up to 100 people planned.

Mr Turnbull issued a rebuke to Vietnamese authorities on Wednesday, after an announcement that access to the site for the 50th anniversary of the historic battle would be blocked at the last minute because of sensitivities within the local community.

On Thursday, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told ABC radio Mr Turnbull's discussions with Nguyen Xuan Phuc overnight meant veterans would have travelled in vain.

"Obviously we are very keen for Australian veterans and their families who have travelled to Vietnam in good faith to be able to pay their respects at Long Tan.
His college roommate, Jean McGianni Celestin, who received a credit on the movie, was also charged. Last week Deadline.com and Variety asked Parker about the case, and on Tuesday, Variety reported that his accuser committed suicide in 2012 at age 30.

Scheduled to be released in the US on October 7, the film is now attracting unwanted attention because of renewed interest in a 17-year-old case in which the film's director, writer and star, Nate Parker, was accused - and later acquitted - of rape when he was a student at Penn State.

In a statement to The New York Times, the woman's family said: "We appreciate that after all this time, these men are being held accountable for their actions. However, we are dubious of the underlying motivations that bring this to present light after 17 years, and we will not take part in stoking its coals. While we cannot protect the victim from this media storm, we can do our best to protect her son. For that reason, we ask for privacy for our family and do not wish to comment further."

Nate Parker: "I made this film for one reason: with the hope of creating change agents. That people can watch this film and be affected." Credit:Elliot Davis/Courtesy Sundance Institute

But the woman's sister, Sharon Loeffler, said that statement did not represent the sentiments of other family members or the woman herself. "I know what she would've said," Loeffler said, "and that would be, 'I fought long and hard, it overcame me. All I can ask is any other victims to come forward, and not let this kind of tolerance to go on anymore'."

Loeffler said her sister had believed there were other victims, and had been broken by the 1999 case and its aftermath. "These guys sucked the soul and life out of her."

Parker took to Facebook on Tuesday evening to say he had just learned of the death and was filled with sorrow. "I can't help but think of all the implications this has for her family. I cannot - nor do I want to ignore the pain she endured during and following our trial." He maintained his innocence, but added that he wished he had been more empathetic at the time, writing: "There are things more important than the law. There is morality," and adding, "I look back on that time as a teenager and can say without hesitation that I should have used more wisdom."
As a kid, a lot of my friends did ballet, joined brownies and played the recorder.

Instead, I chose jazz, gymnastics and the flute. I wasn't particularly good at any of them and I would always look longingly at my ballet friends, with their perfect buns and wrap bodysuits. And the tulle skirts  oh, how I wanted one of those.

Net gain ... a tutu-style skirt looks great with a logo t-shirt or sweatshirt. Credit:Edward Berthelot

Then in my 20s, thanks to Carrie Bradshaw and the opening credits of Sex and the City (and later Natalie Portman in Black Swan) I could finally wear a tutu with careless abandon (read: to the office).
Dautovic's business is called The Room Xchange. It connects travellers and guests with busy people who do up to 15 hours of chores around the house in exchange for food and accommodation.

"I literally remember when I first had access to the internet and I thought 'how amazing is this?' I was running a video production company and I just had to teach myself," she said.

Ludwina Dautovic says the fact she only used the internet at 30 hasn't held her back from launching a start-up.

The former marketing and media head said the fact she only first used the internet at the age of 30 doesn't mean she can't succeed with The Room XChange. After all, she's been in love with computers ever since.

"We've organically lived this way for a couple of years," she said. "I initially looked at Airbnb as a way to utilise the space but the work involved in getting the room hotel-ready wasn't worth it for me. My children's friends from overseas would come and stay for a few weeks at a time and in exchange, help out around the house. It's a fair exchange."

The site is currently open for people to register their interest.

Dautovic isn't daunted by the idea of launching a new tech venture at 50. In fact, she's energised by it and says her life experience has been a credit even in the new field.

"You can't buy life experience, I've survived cancer, I'm married, I've got adult children who I'm proud of," she said. "That gives me reference points.



"A lot of its been unknown to me, whether its social media, or the corporation side of things. If you're passionate for what you're developing, you'll find the right advisers and actually listen to them."

Dautovic has two advisers, Chris Adams and Tim Wall, who she says give her a lot of comfort and security.
Patrick Norman Pat Chapman is a 34-year-old, Caucasian male who was last known to be in Piedmont which is near the area of Greenville, Missouri on May 10, 2020.

Pat had stayed the night with a friend and his wife at their home. In the early morning when the friend woke to go to work.

Pat was gone in his own Burgundy color 1995 Ford Escort. That is the last anyone was known to have seen him. The vehicle was later recovered on May 29, 2020 in Mill Spring, Missouri.
State Debate: Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke blames liberals and media for city's violence, others see more complex problemss
Chris Walker: Voters deserve to know where their legislators stand on Donald Trump
RACINE  A waiter at Iron Skillet restaurant who handed out close to $5,000 in free meals over a seven-month period has managed to avoid jail time for the crime.

Prosecutors charged Korey Hintz, 24, of the 17100 block of Durand Avenue in Yorkville, in January with felony theft in a business setting as well as possession of a controlled substance, after Iron Skillet management said Hintz cost the restaurant $4,743.37.

On Tuesday, Hintz pleaded guilty to the drug possession charge, which stemmed from the fact that deputies found illegally obtained amphetamines in his possession on the night of his Jan. 15 arrest.

The felony theft charge was dismissed but read into the record.

According to the criminal complaint, the manager of the Iron Skillet, 717 S. Sylvania Ave. in Yorkville, was informed by an employee that third-shift employees were giving out half-price dinners. The manager checked computer records and observed that several of Hintzs transactions had been discounted down to a bill of $0, deputies said.

Hintz allegedly did this by utilizing a $2-off button, created for a promotion the restaurant had not used in over a year. All of the transactions took place during third-shift hours when only Hintz and a line chef were working, the criminal complaint states.

On Tuesday, Racine County Circuit Judge Mark F. Nielsen sentenced Hintz to one year probation for the drug possession charge, according to online court records. An additional punishment of 60 days in jail was stayed by the court under the requirement that Hintz obey all the rules of his probation. Nielsen also ruled that the violation could be expunged from Hintzs record as long as Hintz follows the terms of his probation and pays restitution to Iron Skillet.

If convicted of the theft charge, Hintz faced up to two years and six months in prison, as well as another two years of extended supervision and fines of up to $15,000.
Fort Polk, LA (71446)

Today

Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 69F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will become overcast later during the night. Low 56F. Winds light and variable.
Experts may never figure out why a large oak tree on the Capitol Square that had just been inspected and deemed healthy broke in half Tuesday evening, injuring two men who were walking near it, a Madison arborist said.

It will be declared an act of God, said Briana Frank, the owner of Tree Health Management, LLC.

The men were pulled free by witnesses and taken to a hospital after parts of the tree fell on them in calm weather conditions at about 6:30 p.m. on the Carroll Street side of Capitol Square at West Washington Avenue, according to Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster.

Schuster identified the two men as Casey Wittmann and Emmett Strohfeldt. She did not include ages or addresses for the two men.

Wittmanns mother, Marita Wittmann, of DeForest, said her son was no longer in the hospital but provided no other information.

Weve been advised not to talk to anyone, she said. Were trying to work through some details.

Court cases involving tree incidents often get intense, especially if theres a fatality involved, according to Frank.

People really want to know why it happened and, unfortunately, sometimes there isnt a great explanation, she said.

The state has been proactive in monitoring the health of the trees on Capitol Square to ensure the safety of its visitors, according to state Department of Administration spokesman Steve Michels. He said trees identified for removal by UW-Madison professor of arboriculture Bruce Allison have already been cut down.

Allison, a renowned tree expert who has been monitoring the health of the trees on Capitol Square for 20 years, never saw outward signs of rot or distress in the tree that split apart, Michels said.

Allison re-examined all the trees in the area Wednesday, he added.

Despite advances in testing trees for stress and diseases, its impossible to test every part of one so problems can escape detection, Frank said. There also is a phenomenon called summer branch failure, which occurs when seemingly healthy limbs break off of mature trees in calm weather during summer months.

Toronto officials were blaming summer branch failure for an incident at a park there in June when a large limb broke off a Siberian elm and killed a 30-year-old French citizen who was sitting with his pregnant wife.

But almost every single case (of summer branch failure) happened after a drought and we havent seen much drought, Frank said. Usually it occurs on a branch that is 3 to 12 feet away from the trunk and this was a failure right at the trunk.

She also said the tree showed no signs of limb die-back from injured roots so recent construction in the area most likely isnt to blame.

Trees in urban settings sometimes can become more susceptible to breakdowns because pruning for power lines or other reasons change the way the trees biomechanics work, according to Frank.

We are constantly managing trees and we do make them more vulnerable, she said. But trees break down in the forest all the time, too. They just dont have the consequences they do in an urban setting.
Search of Mayfield home snares alleged meth trafficker and two others
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During World War Two, farming communities in Devon were displaced when American troops moved in to practice for the D-Day landings. One account of US soldiers who promised to help look for a little girl's pet cat, left behind in the move, inspired Michael Morpurgo's children's book The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips. He adapted it for the stage with Emma Rice and Kneehigh; she now brings the family-friendly show to London as part of her first season at the Globe.

Given the new name 946  that being the number of soldiers killed in a botched practice landing off Devon's coast in 1944, a tragedy of needless errors  the show is, despite this sombre story, largely a feel-good, all-ages tale told with Kneehigh's customary agility and flair. The stage is set with sandbags and propellers, while a band swings on a platform above. Their jazzy, soulful numbers soundtrack most of the action, and prompt lively, jiving dance sequences as West Country folk forge bonds with jitterbugging Black American soldiers.

This unlikely meeting of cultures forms just one strand of a busy story, filled with evacuees, refugees, and a menagerie of animal puppets. But at its heart is Lily, a 12 year-old country girl who befriends a solider, Adolphus, who promises to help her find her lost beloved moggy Tips. The missing cat is symbolic, of course: a site for the swirling feelings around loss of loved ones; her father is serving oversees. This is familiar Morpurgo ground, even if 946 never plumbs the depths of hankie-grabbing heartache that War Horse so memorably did.

Katy Owen is astonishingly good as Lily, a grown-up actor who it's hard to believe isn't really a hem-twisting, knicker-flashing, spirited little girl. Lithe and nimble, fierce and funny, she rules the stage  no mean feat amidst an energetic cast of comic, cross-dressing, saucy, sweet and silly characters. Under Rice's direction, the action is presented with wit and verve; actors bring to life roaring motorbikes, stuttering tractors, battle scenes and barn dances alike. That said, the attempt to recreate the mismanaged military exercise with plastic boats and tin baths proves ultimately more bathetic than effective.

And although 946 has a fabulously footloose, skipping energy, it's a shame its story structure follows suit. Most of the narrative simply hops from minor event to minor event, and too much of it feels bitty and insubstantial. For all we warm to these characters, we often don't get to know them sufficiently well before being asked to emotionally respond to their allotted sad backstory.

A contemporary framing device also seriously overcomplicates things, opening with a death that needs to be swiftly disregarded and several extraneous characters; it takes a good while for the story to hit its beats. When it does, there's much to enjoy, and it has certainly found a good London home: the music and energy of the show glows on the Globe's stage.

946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips is at the Globe until 11 September.
Join Tribes To Save America's Most Significant Unprotected Cultural Landscape

Bear Ears, a hallowed region for Native Americans, should be a national monumentRed-rock canyons, wide-open plateaus and steep, rugged mountains: Utah has been my home for over half a century. I feel a strong sense of connection to this state, its people and its landscapes, as many of us feel toward the places we call home.Here in the rural American West, that connection to the land is still very much alive, especially for the cultures that are inextricably linked to these sandstone mesas and high alpine meadows. Ranchers are intimately familiar with the lands on which they run livestock. Hunters know where to find elk and deer in late fall. Native Americans have inhabited these landscapes since time immemorial and still harvest herbs, collect firewood and perform ceremonies on their ancestral grounds. As Westerners, we feel a sense of ownership over public lands not only because we use them, but because we belong to them and have stewarded them for generations.Over time, our national monuments commemorate the contributions of underrepresented portions of our history and population. Today there is a proposal for a new national monument in Utah that recognizes and celebrates human relationships to land.Bears Ears National Monument has been proposed by an unprecedented coalition of Native American tribes whose connections to this cultural landscape run millennia deep. For the first time in history, five tribesthe Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute and Uintah Ouray Utehave joined forces to call on the President of the United States to designate their sacred ancestral lands as a national monument for future generations.Named for a pair of iconic twin buttes that in every Native language translate as Bears Ears, the proposed monument encompasses 1.9 million acres of high desert plateau in southeast Utah. All five tribes of the coalition trace an unbroken line of ancestry here, reaching back thousands of years. Within the proposed boundary lie more than 100,000 archaeological sites that Native people recognize as the dwelling places of their Ancestors. Every canyon and alcove holds significance for tribal members who utilize these lands for subsistence and ceremony.Despite the cultural significance of this area for Native peopleand in a sense, because of itBears Ears is facing serious threats. Looting, vandalism and grave robbing continue to this day, with half a dozen cases reported so far in 2016 alone. As Americans, we would never tolerate desecration of the cemeteries of our pioneers or founding fathers. Yet that is precisely what is taking place within Bears Ears. Oil and gas speculation, as well as uranium and potash mining, also threaten to disrupt the ecosystems upon which we all depend.Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell visited the proposed Bears Ears National Monument in July and met with a diversity of grassroots residents who all care deeply about these homelands. As she observed, There is a desire to protect whats here for future generations. That has been consistent no matter who I have spoken with. I hope Secretary Jewell accepts the opportunity to honor both Native Americans and rural Utahns by recommending that President Obama act to protect Bears Ears. Ongoing stewardship and access to the land is essential to both cultures.The Bears Ears proposal is unique in that it celebrates the timeless bond between people and place. We all feel that bond, whether youre a cowboy working the land for a living, a passerby enjoying the freedom of the open range or a Native American whose people have lived here since time immemorial, with stories and songs that run as deep as the canyons of the Colorado River.That is why I stand with the tribes and a broad coalition of supporters throughout Utah and across the United States asking President Barack Obama to permanently protect Bears Ears as a national monument. These 1.9 million acres and the cultures connected to them are profoundly deserving of our respect. Bears Ears National Monument is an opportunity to honor the land and all the people by moving forward, together.
A truck that would soon strike and kill a bicyclist out for a triathlon training ride two weeks ago was seen being driven erratically moments before the crash, witnesses told Dane County Sheriffs investigators, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday.

The complaint charged Kevin D. Meister, 35, of Brooklyn, with hit and run resulting in death and second-degree reckless homicide for the death of Shelton Berel, 33, of Madison, who was killed on Aug. 5 when he was struck by a truck that authorities say was driven by Meister.

A crash analysis indicated Meister may have been driving on the wrong side of the road, the complaint states.

Meister was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia after investigators searching his truck found materials used to cook, inject and smoke drugs in a pocket of the drivers side door, the complaint states.

Dane County Assistant District Attorney Shaun OConnell said Meister gave investigators a blood sample on the day of the crash, after he was found at his workplace, but the results of the tests were not yet available.

What we do know, though, is that there were clear signs of impairment, OConnell said.

According to the complaint, Meister initially told investigators he thought he had struck a deer, but he was late for work so he kept driving. He admitted, though, that he never saw a deer either before or after hearing a loud bang as he drove on Lincoln Road in the town of Oregon. At the time, he told police, he was reaching down for what he first said was a soda, and later said was a bottle of iced tea, the complaint states.

Meister will remain free after posting $5,000 bail last week. His lawyer, Daryl Jensen, argued that the bail money should be returned and Meister should not be subject to the Dane County Bail Monitoring Program because he turned himself in after hearing about the crash in the media and because he has a very limited criminal record and steady work history.

OConnell said, however, that even after hearing about the crash, Meister went on with his workday for a landscaping firm and went out to a job site, and that it was false to say he turned himself in.

Meister was also fired from his job at Glacier Landscaping, OConnell said, likely because of evidence discovered indicating he may have been stealing equipment from the company. OConnell said charges related to those allegations are likely.

According to the complaint:

A witness who was about 150 yards behind Meisters truck said she saw the truck being driven in the middle of Lincoln Road in the town of Oregon, and saw it strike what appeared to be a flock of birds. She said she then saw a bicycle wheel rolling down the road away from where the truck had been.

The woman said she stopped and found Berel in the ditch. She immediately called 911. Berel died at the scene.

A second woman who had been behind Berel earlier, said that she saw the truck go into the ditch as it traveled north on Glenway Road, before it turned onto Lincoln Road.

OConnell clarified in court that it was the left ditch that the truck entered, not the right ditch.

The woman said that she also saw the truck strike, without braking, what appeared to be a flock of birds, but then saw bicycle parts and a bike in the middle of the road after she got closer.

After a description of Meisters truck was released through local media, Meisters sister called the 911 center to say that the truck being described sounded like her brothers, and that he worked at Glacier Landscaping in Verona.

Deputies went there and found the truck with fresh damage, including damage to the front passenger side corner, which was missing a headlight. Meister was out at a job site, and his boss went to get him.

Paint chips recovered from the crash scene on Lincoln Road matched paint from Meisters truck, the state Crime Lab determined.

The trucks Ford emblem was found in the road at the crash scene.

Crash analysis also determined that based on the points of impact on the truck from Berel and his bicycle helmet, Berel was facing the truck when he was struck, and the truck was driving entirely on the wrong side of the road when it struck Berel.
As youre no doubt aware, Riyad Mahrez defied almost an entire summers worth of tabloid rumour-mongering to sign a new, long-term contract with Leicester on Wednesday afternoon.

This came as great news for Foxes fans and as especially bad news for one Arsenal fan in particular, who suddenly found his expensive new replica shirt rendered a pointless, almost worthless exercise in transfer folly.

Back on 23rd July, Asad Balal was so certain in his belief that Mahrez would join the Gunners that he went and proudly showed off his new jersey, printed up with the Algerians name and prospective squad number

Alas, fate intervened. Mahrez signed up for the long haul at Leicester and Arsenal were left to pursue other options  thus leaving our good friend Asad looking a little bit silly.

Upon hearing that Mahrez has pledged his future to his current employers, our gun-jumping chum was coerced into performing a very public climb-down

Giving away the Mahrez shirt to the Charity Shop  #Arsenal #WasFunWhilstItLasted  Asad Balal (@AsadBalal) August 17, 2016

What a prat.
A second suspect in a January home invasion on Madisons Southwest Side, in which a couple was duct-taped with their children in the apartment, was arrested Wednesday by U.S. Marshals in Chicago, Madison police said.

Michael L. Hogan, 26, was apprehended after a foot pursuit, police said. Hogan and Chabris E. Link, 27, robbed a man at gunpoint of his rent money on Jan. 8 at an apartment building on the 6700 block of Schroeder Road, according to a criminal complaint filed in July. The pair then bound the man and his girlfriend in the apartment, as their children sat nearby, and demanded more money, the complaint said.

Hogan has been charged with armed robbery, first-degree recklessly endangering safety and false imprisonment. Link, who was arrested by marshals earlier in the year, faces the same charges plus a second false imprisonment offense.

According to the complaint, Hogan pointed a gun at the head of the couples 3-year-old daughter and said, You think its a game?

Later, after Hogan had left, the 27-year-old father broke free of his bonds and lunged at Link, the complaint said. The victim ended up being shot multiple times, including once in the abdomen, and was taken to UW Hospital.

Link was identified as a suspect after DNA testing of a vest left at the scene was linked to him, police said. Hogan was considered a suspect after reviewing Links phone records, police said.

The robbery victim has picked Hogan out from a photo lineup and told police, Ill never forget his face, according to the complaint.

Hogan has connections in Madison and Chicago, while Link is from Chicago, police said. Both men are in custody in Illinois but face extradition hearings for Wisconsin, according to police.
Dane County is looking to contribute $1.75 million to add more than 130 units to the stock of housing reserved for homeless or low-income people.

The four projects that would receive funds are in six communities surrounding Madison, County Executive Joe Parisis office said Thursday. A resolution authorizing the awards was introduced at the Dane County Board meeting Thursday night, but not voted upon.

The Affordable Housing Development Fund, established in the 2015 county budget, has a goal of providing $8 million over four years to increase the supply of low-cost housing in Dane County.

Over two years, a similar program in the city of Madison has contributed more than $7.5 million to projects delivering housing for homeless and low-income people. Both funds have contributed to recent projects to help developers win key federal tax credits.

We must continue to meet the needs of our most vulnerable by increasing employment opportunities, creating more affordable housing and helping people stay in their homes, Parisi said.

Projects that would receive money this year from the county are:

$665,000 to housing developer J.T. Klein Inc., for 83 housing units in Middleton, 60 units devoted to people earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of the countys median income, and seven units for grand families, the term given to grandparents raising their grandchildren.

$515,000 to Housing Initiatives Inc., a local agency that finds housing for the homeless who suffer from mental illness. The grant will allow Housing Initiatives to buy an eight-unit apartment building, though the building has not yet been selected.

$350,000 to the Dane County Housing Authority to help in the purchase of 56 market-rate housing units in Verona, Stoughton and DeForest and make the homes available to very low income residents.

$220,000 to homeless advocate Porchlight, to buy a four-unit apartment building in Sun Prairie, with the apartments for homeless families in the Sun Prairie School District.

This round of awards does not include a separate $1 million provided for the $11 million Madison Family Supportive Housing project on Madisons Far West Side. That development, which will provide 45 units for homeless families, also received $1.6 million from the citys housing fund.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/08/2016 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A second report in a little over a week shows debt delinquency rates are on the rise in Manitoba, but that consumers here are still carrying less debt than anywhere else in Canada.

In its Q2 2016 National Consumer Credit Trends Report released on Thursday, Equifax Canada says the average delinquency rate for Manitoba stood at 1.2 per cent in the second quarter. Thats a 12.9 per cent increase from the second quarter of 2015, when it was 1.06 per cent.

Its also the fourth highest year-over-year increase in the country. The only provinces that saw bigger increases were the ones hardest hit by the downturn in oil prices  Alberta (up 40.3 per cent), Saskatchewan (up 22.7 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (up 19.4 per cent).

FREE PRESS FILES

Although those provinces saw much higher year-over-year increases in their debt delinquency rates, their rates still arent a lot higher than Manitobas rate. Albertas average delinquency rate in the second quarter was 1.4 per cent, Newfoundlands was 1.3 per cent, and Saskatchewans was the same as Manitobas at 1.2 per cent.

Canada, meanwhile, saw its delinquency rate climb by 4.1 per cent to 1.1 per cent, while four provinces  British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick  saw their rates decline over the past year.

The Equifax report notes that while delinquency rates in Manitoba are rising at the fourth fastest pace in the country, the average consumer debt loads here are still the lowest in Canada.

The credit monitoring agency said Manitoba consumers were carrying an average debt load (excluding mortgages) of $18,193 in the second quarter. Thats more than $3,000 below the national average of $21,878 and nearly $10,000 less than Albertas average, which was the highest in the country at $27,753.

That absolutely is the good news, Regina Malina,the lead author of the report, said in an interview. If youre seeing delinquency rates increasing, you certainly dont want to see that the debt levels (are also) high.

But Malina noted that while the average debt levels is lower here, it increased by 3.5 per cent between the second quarter of last year and the second quarter of this year.

If debt levels are increasing and delinquencies are increasing, you might want to pay attention to the situation, she said.

Equifax blamed fallout from the plunge in oil prices as the main reason behind rising debt delinquency rates in the three big oil-producing province. In the case of Manitoba, Malina suspects the main driver is rising unemployment levels.

She noted Manitobas jobless rate jumped from 5.6 per cent in Q2 2015 to 6.2 per cent during in Q2 2016.

That is definitely something that would have an impact on delinquency rates, she said.

The best advice she could offer to Manitoba consumers is to also take into consideration both their own financial situation and the economic conditions in their area when assessing whether to take on more debt.

You probably have to do a stress test a little bit. If interest rates were to increase, what would that do (to your ability to keep up with your debt payments)? And what is the economic situation in your region in terms of the possibility of you losing your job she added.

Another piece of advise is to try and pay down your debt as quickly as possible by making more than the minimal monthly payments. Especially in the case of debt that carries a higher interest rate.

Its old advice, but its so true.

She said Equifax has noticed that Canadian consumers are already trying to pay off their credit-card debt as soon as they can, and that its rising instalment loans and auto loans, not credit-card debt, that are the driving forces behind rising consumer debt levels in Canada.

The Equifax report came out just over a week after another credit monitoring agency  TransUnion  released its second quarter report which showed similar trends  that the average delinquency rate has risen here in the past year, that Manitobas rate is higher than the national average, but that the average debt load here was still smaller than anywhere else in Canada.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca
Help will be on the way soon for scores of Kewaunee County residents whose drinking water has been contaminated by animal waste, a federal official said Wednesday.

Details would be wrapped up and announced imminently, a regional U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator said during a meeting of government agencies organized by Sen. Tammy Baldwin to answer public concerns.

Baldwin called well contamination in Kewaunee County a crisis, and said the governments failure to supply clean water to families with ruined wells was the top concern she has heard from that part of the state.

One of the most unsettling things you can imagine is turning on your faucet and knowing that it is not safe and theres nobody coming to alleviate that, Baldwin said in an interview after the meeting. Most people dont have the resources to deal with an issue like that.

Since at least 2004, about 30 percent of tested wells in the county have had unsafe drinking water, but operators of industrial-scale feedlots questioned if the tests were representative and if cows were the source.

Kewaunee County has become the center of pitched struggle between farming interests and clean-water advocates as Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature have curtailed Department of Natural Resources budgets and its authority to set and enforce standards for polluters.

Massive regulatory failure led to the widespread drinking water contamination, an administrative law judge said in a 2014 ruling in one of several lawsuits aimed at forcing the DNR to take greater responsibility for the states water quality.

After conservation groups that year petitioned the EPA to use emergency powers to protect public health in Kewaunee County, the agency worked jointly with the DNR to form collaborative workgroups, which issued recommendations in June, including one calling for delivery of safe water.

Its not clear why the DNR hasnt acted.

Midwest Environmental Advocates, a public interest law firm based in Madison, has contacted the DNR several times since October with legal analysis suggesting the department can provide drinking water when wells are poisoned by animal waste, according to email exchanges the group released.

And in a letter dated March 28, acting regional EPA administrator Robert Kaplan told DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp that while the DNR worked on a comprehensive plan to prevent further contamination, it was important to ensure county residents had access to safe water.

I know you share my concerns about the availability of clean drinking water for residents with private well contamination, Kaplan wrote. We would like to meet with you to discuss your plans in this regard as soon as possible.

But on Aug. 3, DNR attorney Judy Mills responded to Midwest Environmental Advocates questions about drinking water in an email that said, I have been informed that this issue will be addressed as part of the overall department response to the workgroup recommendations.

DNR spokesman Jim Dick declined to discuss reasons water hasnt been provided to date.

DNR has been working with EPA and local groups on this issue but if an EPA announcement is imminent, well leave it to EPA to provide details, Dick said.

Tressie Kamp of Midwest Environmental Advocates said people with polluted wells are forced to choose between costly options of purchasing bottled water, drilling new wells or purchasing expensive treatment systems.

Kewaunee County has a high concentration of large dairy feedlots, but state officials have said they were awaiting confirmation that farms, and not another source such as septic systems, had caused the health hazard.

Residents say the county program of inspecting septic systems for leaks has all but eliminated the possibility that human waste was the culprit.

In November, tests ordered by the DNR of 320 randomly selected wells found 110 exceeded standards for total coliform or nitrate, both of which can come from manure or other sources, such as faulty septic systems.

The Wednesday meeting organized by Baldwin, a Madison Democrat, took place in Luxemburg in Kewaunee County. During the session, an EPA official acknowledged that it hasnt conducted certain training on regulating manure pollution with DNR employees since 2014, and that the training was necessary to ensure laws are enforced consistently, Baldwin said.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/08/2016 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  A new discount airline wants to set up a crew hub and airplane-maintenance centre in Winnipeg, but it wont happen unless Ottawa agrees to exempt the company from a 25 per cent limit on foreign investment in airlines.

Canada Jetlines Ltd., based in Richmond, B.C., hopes to establish itself as an ultra-low-cost carrier in Canada, flying up to 64 domestic and international routes within eight years. Twelve of those routes would be out of Winnipeg, including direct flights to Canadian cities such as Edmonton, Ottawa and Thunder Bay, Ont., and direct flights to American cities including Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

Winnipegs central location and the existence of a maintenance industry make it an ideal place for a regional hub for the airline, said Jetlines chief executive officer Jim Scott.

CANADA JETLINES / FACEBOOK

The plan could add 60 new direct jobs to the city within three years and 250 within eight years, once a crew base has been established. Another 1,200 indirect jobs could be created, according to the airlines plan.

Winnipeg is a great place for us to stop, Scott said.

Jetlines requires a federal airline licence to operate, something it can only get by showing financing in place to cover 90 days of operations. In Jetlines case, the Canadian Transportation Agency says that is $27 million.

Jetlines said it has an investor lined up that would allow it to hit that target and get planes in the sky within six months, but that investor is not from Canada, and such involvement would exceed the 25 per cent limit on foreign investment in airlines.

In May, the airline applied to Transport Minister Marc Garneau for an exemption to the limit.

Meanwhile, Garneau is studying a recommendation to raise the foreign-investment cap to 49 per cent from 25 per cent. The recommendation was made in a December report to government on the future of Canadas transportation system.

Conservative transport critic Kelly Block said her party supports the change, particularly as it will increase options for Canadians who live in secondary markets that are not well-served by existing airlines.

Last month, Winnipeg Airports Authority CEO Barry Rempel wrote Garneau in support of a raised investment limit as a way to encourage growth in the airline industry.

This is the kind of thing which will help our economy grow, Rempel told the Free Press in a phone interview.

A bilateral agreement with Europe on the airline industry cannot be fulfilled without raising the investment limit, said Rempel. The agreement should allow more access to the European market for Canadian airlines, as well as bring more European carriers to Canada.

He said tourism marketers in Winnipeg fight to compete with cities travellers can reach more quickly via direct routes because tourists dont want to have to make two or three connections.

Jetlines has a large stack of letters from airport CEOs, mayors and other community leaders asking Garneau to raise the limit or, at least, give Jetlines an exemption from it.

Garneaus spokeswoman said the minister had no comment on the application.

A spokesman from the department said in an email, The Canada Transportation Act authorizes the minister to provide an exemption when it is in the public interest. Transport Canada is currently reviewing the request by consulting stakeholders and evaluating the public interest.

Scott said he would like to see the overall policy changed, but that could take years. He said his company doesnt have that kind of time because its investor will walk away if the limit isnt changed soon.

Scott hopes a decision might be made this weekend at the cabinet retreat planned for Sudbury, Ont.

Were encouraged, he said. At the beginning, we thought we had a 50-50 chance, but we have had an outpouring of support, and I think we have demonstrated this is in the public interest.

Jetlines would compete with Winnipeg-based NewLeaf Travel, which began flying between 12 Canadian cities July 25 after a delayed start to sort out regulatory issues.

NewLeaf Travel is not considered to be an airline, but a ticket reseller, because it doesnt lease or own its own planes.

NewLeaf contracts with B.C.-based Flair Air for planes and pilots. As such, NewLeaf isnt subject to the foreign-investment limit, nor did it have to acquire an airline licence.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/08/2016 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fishers have to wait at least a year before the province is officially withdrawn from the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation.

John Wood, interim president of the FFMC, said that the provinces decision on Tuesday to withdraw from the Crown corporation was sprung upon them. We had no forewarning, so it takes a little while to gather ones position on these things, he said.

The monopoly is required to buy, sell and trade all fish it receives from its fishers, a policy that has been in place since 1969.

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES John Wood, interim president of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation.

The announcement comes after the Tories said during the April election campaign that they would give commercial fishers the freedom to make their own individual marketing decisions about their products.

A press release issued by the Manitoba Government stated that the withdrawal will allow Manitoba fishers to market their products outside Manitoba. It also states that the corporation will continue to exist as a marketing option for fishers.

Wood said the withdrawal will not happen overnight; signatories have to give a one year notice of intent to withdraw. It is very early days. Obviously we have to work out first what the fishery is going to look like going forward and then decide how were going to respond to that, he said.

Frank Stanek, manager of media relations for the department of fisheries and oceans, said there will be no immediate changes to the FFMC operations.

DFO will look at all opportunities and options over the next year to ensure freshwater fisheries are supported in western and northern Canada, he said. . . . the Crown corporation will maintain its mandate and operations while analyzing how to modernize and make FFMC more effective.

Wood said there are going to be a lot of discussions between the federal and provincial governments over the next year. Over that year were going to be working towards what our own future at Freshwater looks like and that cant happen until we understand what the fishery in Manitoba is going to look like.

. . . I know theres a lot of fishers who are concerned about what the future is going to look like, he said. Not everybody is happy with that decision, well put it that way.

Fishers stand on both sides of the issue, voicing their opinions both for and against the decision to withdraw.

Based out of Gimli, Robert Kristjansons family has been in the fishing business since 1891. He dealt with fish companies before the FFMC was formed and said nothing has changed since then.

It is so sad that I cant even put words to it, said Kristjanson, speaking on Tuesday about the withdrawal. Im not saying (it) has been true blue . . . but to add more fish companies to this is not the answer.

Frank Kenyon runs the WMM Fisheries Co-operative Ltd., and is a fisher based out of Fairford. He said Manitobas withdrawal will have a positive impact on the price of his fish, the environment, jobs and foreign investment in the province.

We have a lot of hopes here and we dont know how theyll turn out, but if were all very careful and work together, and the fishermen stick together, and the buyers, we hope that this move will be better for everyone, he said.

alexandra.depape@freepress.mb.ca

 With files from Kristin Annable
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/08/2016 (2264 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was late in the evening on April 19, and a sweaty and exhausted David McLaughlin already had one foot out the door.

The veteran political operative and civil servant had just helped Brian Pallister and the Progressive Conservatives win a resounding majority mandate. As Tory candidates and supporters alike danced around the room, McLaughlin was asked if he might stick around in Winnipeg to help Pallisters transition team, or perhaps even take on a role as a senior adviser to the new government?

My plane leaves first thing in the morning, he said with a wry smile.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES David Mclaughlin during Brian Pallister's acceptance speech at Canad Inns Polo Park after his party won a majority of seats in the Manitoba Legislature.

It was no slight against Winnipeg. McLaughlin is highly respected as a political adviser and commentator who has work and a life back east. During his engagement with the Tories, he lived out of a suitcase, giving no sign a permanent move to Manitoba was ever in the cards.

Still, the news Wednesday he was coming back to Manitoba to help Pallister hone the provinces climate-change policy caused quite a stir in Tory circles. Would McLaughlin be working directly with Pallister to file down the rough spots in government operations? Could he possibly help Pallisters political staff sort out who was doing what and in the process provide more support to struggling cabinet ministers?

As it turns out, for the next six months or so, McLaughlin will help the premier with a made-in-Manitoba climate-change plan. Its an important file  perhaps the most important in all of government  made all the more pressing as everyone awaits Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus promised national carbon-pricing plan, expected to be unveiled in early 2017.

Trudeau made it clear in media interviews last month it was essential to establish a national price on carbon and he was willing to impose that price, or taxes, or impose a cap, to make progress on reducing Canadas overall carbon output. The response from the premiers has been mixed to say the least: some believe Trudeau is moving too quickly and asking too much; others believe Ottawa should be acting with more urgency and demanding more from the provinces.

In an interview, McLaughlin, a former CEO with the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, said he never intended to take on more work in Winnipeg. But the opportunity to work with Pallister again, and on a file that is close to his heart, was just too good to pass up.

I couldnt resist this one because its such a great file, McLaughlin said from Ottawa, where he lives with his family. Im not moving to Winnipeg or looking for a long-term or permanent job. But Ive been working on climate change for a really long time, and that made it a great opportunity.

McLaughlin said Pallister wants a made-in-Manitoba climate-change plan developed quickly. The former NDP government unveiled a climate-change plan late in 2015, but it appears none of its measures was ever implemented.

As an act of leadership, Pallister deserves credit for turning once again to McLaughlin for help. Climate change is one of the biggest and most impactful policy areas facing government in Canada today. There is really no aspect of life in this country  from economics to health care, agriculture and resource management  that does not have a climate-change angle.

Bringing in a hired gun on a top-policy priority is also, perhaps, a sign Pallister recognizes his government has experienced more than its fair share of policy missteps in its first four months. Many Tories and their hardcore supporters continue to protest its early in the mandate and there are bound to be growing pains. However, veteran political observers understand this is a government that has underperformed on many of its most important portfolios.

The premiers decision to bring in McLaughlin to manage the April election was nothing less than a stroke of genius. For nearly a year prior to the vote, the gregarious adviser helped remake the culture of the party, converting it from a loosely connected network of independent contractors only interested in how they fared in their own riding to a genuine team all pulling in the same direction.

Success has a way of uniting political parties. And the Tories continue to enjoy solid support from the public and no immediate threat from the NDP or Liberals. Both opposition parties are currently floundering, lacking permanent leadership and a discernible, marketable brand.

Despite that, the Pallister government continues to find nails to step on, and there is grumbling from the rank and file. The budget was a muddle, and key moments of truth for cabinet ministers have been botched.

Officially at least, McLaughlin is not here to fix all that is wrong with government operations. He is back in Winnipeg to help Pallister on what could be a defining file during his first term in office.

Perhaps others in government will watch McLaughlins work on the climate-change file and learn from his steady, even-handed approach. Or, perhaps in unguarded moments between meetings and conferences, McLaughlin will be able to advise and support political staff on how to get a handle on their daily message.

Either way, strong leaders are defined by the number of strong people they bring in to work with them. McLaughlin is a particularly strong voice, and his presence here, even for a few months, is a net gain for Manitobas new government.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/08/2016 (2264 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Every Thursday night since last November, a group of young people has met in the second-floor classroom at the Downtown Y. They range in age from 14 to 20, and they come from all different backgrounds and neighbourhoods, but they are united but a singular vision: to empower girls and women, and affect real change in their community.

They are members of the Winnipeg council of Strong Girls, Strong World, a two-year partnership between Plan International Canada and YMCA-YWCA Canada, funded by Status of Women Canada. These councils exist in 10 centres across the country, from Prince George, B.C. to Iqaluit, Nunavut, and each has the been tasked with executing a project that addresses an issue concerning young women and girls. The projects are led by the girls themselves, and are as diverse as the communities they come from. The Winnipeg participants include youth who identify as non-binary, defined as people who dont exclusively identify with one gender. The Quebec chapter is focusing its energy on sexism and social media, while Hamilton-Muskoka is working on a Girls Guide to Civic Engagement.

Here in Winnipeg, Strong Girls, Strong World decided to look at a pervasive issue in this province: intimate partner violence. Theyve been working hard over the past several months, learning all they can about the issue as well as its contributing factors, including gender-based violence, poverty, racism, colonization and the ways in which violent behaviours are both normalized and passed down through generations. Theyve taken classes in everything from self defense to conflict resolution. Theyve talked to community leaders and activists. Theyve build friendships and gained self-confidence.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS From left Pamela Campos, Nicole Kaneski, Soomin Han, Ivy Deseiolles and Brianna Jonnie are part of the Strong Girls, Strong World program and photographed at the downtown Y.

And on Thursday, they will share what theyve learned with the community at Eckhardt Gramatte Hall at the University of Winnipeg at 5:30 p.m. Their presentation will focus on healthy relationships  what that means, what they look like, and how to build them  and will be adapted into a teaching tool that can be used by schools and community organizations. Everyone is welcome to attend.

When I meet with five of the councils members earlier in the week, they are readying their presentation. The passion in the room is palpable. This matters to them. They know the statistics: Manitoba and Saskatchewan continue to have the highest rates of intimate partner violence in the country. According to a 2011 Statistics Canada report, half of all female Canadian murder victims were killed by a current or former partner. And its an issue that affects young women, too; in 2014, Statistics Canada found that a current dating partner was most often the perpetrator among youth aged 15 to 19 years (51%) and young adults aged 20 to 24 years (44%) victimized by an intimate partner.

The group wants to do something about those numbers, and they believe education is critical. Sex Ed, as it exists today, tends to focus on the biology of the act, as well as how to prevent pregnancy and STDs. Whats too often missing is vital information about relationships, and what makes them healthy. Our young people need to be learning about consent, boundaries, self-care, conflict resolution and how to identify abusive behaviour.

Its important to know what a healthy relationship is, and thats something they dont teach us in school, says Brianna Jonnie, 14. I believe this group has been helping educate us, and then were able to create this teaching tool to present to others to help them deal with unhealthy relationships and knowing what resources they can use to build up confidence and courage to leave those.

You dont think itll happen to you, until it does, says Nicole Kaneski, 14. The sad reality is that it keeps happening, and its happening to a lot of women in particular. And thats just sad, and scary, and I dont like it. I dont like living in fear of walking outside because I dont know whats going to happen to me or my body. Thats not OK.

As part of their research, the group spent time unpacking unhealthy relationship behaviours that have been normalized by popular culture  such as the idea that stalking, predatory and obsessive behaviour is somehow romantic.

Ivy Desbiolles, 17, says researching consent made her reflect on some of the behaviour she used to consider normal. Like at school, when people were annoying you, and the teacher would say, Oh, they like you, you should see it as a compliment. Back then, I didnt see anything wrong with that. Now, I look back and I think its so wrong to tell people that. I think its important to be having these discussions. Thats why our project is so important.

Pamela Campos, 20, says that although intimate partner violence affects her age group, its an ongoing problem we ignore because people dont take this age group seriously. As she correctly points out, these formative years are important; the behaviors our young people learn now will carry over into their relationships going forward.

Nicole adds that young people desperately want to have these conversations, but are often dismissed by adults. People dont want to talk to us about issues that are deemed more serious because they feel like dont have the same level of insight or understanding. But we do. We have opinions, we have feelings, and this stuff affects us.

Establishing healthy relationships doesnt just apply to romantic ones. Soomin Han, 17, says that through working on this project, she gained a lot of insight into herself and how she relates to other people. I have a better relationship with myself, now, because of these meetings.

This is what empowerment looks like. Strong girls, strong world indeed.

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @JenZoratti
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/08/2016 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Pallister governments new climate change adviser will not participate in meetings involving the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association while working in Manitoba.

David McLaughlin confirmed Thursday his voluntary position as an external advisory panel member for the industry lobby group will not intersect with his time in government.

It meets twice a year: May and November. I will not be attending or participating in the advisory panel during my (Manitoba government) tenure, McLaughlin said via social media.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES David Mclaughlin during Brian Pallister's acceptance speech at Canad Inns Polo Park after his party won a majority of seats in the Manitoba Legislature.

The political heavyweight was hired by the Pallister government this month to help implement a made-in-Manitoba climate change plan. The hire comes just a few months after McLaughlin helped steer the Tories to victory April 19 as the Progressive Conservatives campaign manager.

Since 2014, McLaughlin has been a member of the panel, which has direct access to the CEPA board of directors and provides advice and assistance in determining priorities for the lobby groups Integrity First program. The programs priorities include pipeline safety, environmental protection and socio-economic practices.

Alex Paterson of the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition, applauds McLaughlins record on carbon pricing  calling him an intellectual leader on the issue  but is concerned his ties to the pipeline lobby group may affect his approach to climate change policy.

It is an industry lobby group designed to represent the interests of pipeline operators and I have no doubt they develop the best technology they can, but I also have no doubt it is their strategic mandate to increase the amount of pipeline capacity in Canada, Paterson said.

McLaughlin was president and chief executive officer of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy from 2007 to 2012. The advisory agencys funding was famously cut by the Harper Conservatives after it produced more than 10 reports promoting a carbon tax, according to then-foreign affairs minister John Baird.

The Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition is vehemently opposed to the proposed TransCanada Energy East pipeline, which would transport one million barrels of crude oil a day from Alberta, Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba to refineries in Quebec and a tidewater port in New Brunswick. The pipeline would run underneath Winnipegs aqueduct, which supplies the citys drinking water from Shoal Lake on the Manitoba-Ontario border.

The province has requested intervener status in the National Energy Board review of the pipeline.

McLaughlin will receive roughly $10,000 a month until his temporary appointment expires March 31, 2017.

When asked why McLaughlin  who will commute between Winnipeg and Ottawa  was hired within the governments priorities and planning department as opposed to as a consultant, a spokeswoman noted it was a purposefully transparent appointment.

He is not known as sort of an ultra right-wing Tory. He is seen as more someone can comfortably swing with the red Tories and the hard C-Tories political analyst Chris Adams on the perception of David McLaughlin (right)

McLaughlins role with Manitobas government is a limited-engagement, focused appointment made public, purposely, via our transparent (order in council) process, said Olivia Billson. His broad national network and intergovernmental experience will be of great value in this role.

Author and political analyst Chris Adams says to attract a heavy hitter such as McLaughlin, a prominent position and title was needed.

He is not known as sort of an ultra right-wing Tory. He is seen as more someone can comfortably swing with the red Tories and the hard-C Tories, Adams said. I think he will get more co-operation with civil servants and deputy ministers, etc. I think if youre to bring this guy back from down East, put him in an area which has authority and can offer authoritative advice to the premier  this is the way to go.

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/08/2016 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After more than two weeks on strike, unionized staff from Macdonald Youth Services will return to work Friday morning with no increase in pay.

On Thursday afternoon, Macdonald Youth Services management reached a return-to-work agreement with the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union. MGEU represents the nearly 30 employees of Youth Crisis Stabilization System program who went on strike on Aug. 2, requesting a wage increase. The program offers crisis support to Manitoba children, youth and families.

Its a bit of a bittersweet, said Michelle Gawronsky, president of the MGEU. Im extremely happy the strike is over and our members can go back to work (But) its a huge disappointment not to have the support of this government to continue on what was agreed to with the previous government.

ZACHARY PRONG / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ] MGEU President Michelle Gawronsky, joined about two dozen workers picketing on Mayfair Avenue.

The agreement comes after the province  the sole funder of the youth crisis program  denied a request from Macdonald Youth Services management to use its own surplus to boost staff pay earlier this week. In the same announcement, the province advised it would keep overall funding for Macdonald Youth Services static at $2.4 million annually, meaning the centre is now entering its fourth operating year with no increase in funding.

Staff in the Youth Crisis Stabilization System program have been without a contract since March 31, 2014, and are requesting a wage increase of two per cent per year for four years, beginning April 1, 2014.

Earlier this week, Macdonald Youth Services CEO Erma Chapman told the Free Press management supported the increase, and that shed received verbal approval from the former provincial government to allow the centre to use its own surplus to fund the hike. However, she said, nothing was finalized before government changed. Without provincial approval, she said, managements hands were tied.

With the strike over, Chapman said management and union will join forces in an attempt to secure provincial funding for the requested wage increase, beginning with a joint request for a meeting with Manitoba Minister of Families Scott Fielding, to be submitted Friday morning. In terms of labour negotiations, its an unusual turn of the tables, Gawronsky said, that Manitoba hasnt seen for 20 years.

A spokeswoman for the Manitoba government responded to a request for comment Thursday, saying, Child and Family Services (CFS) recognizes that MYS provides important services for at-risk youth and we encourage the employer and employees to continue to collaborate.

On Thursday, Chapman said she was very disappointed to see staff coming back to work without a pay increase, but very relieved to see them return to provide services to youth in crisis. Youth crisis workers typically make about $10 less per hour than their counterparts who work with adults, she said, and the staff at Macdonald Youth Centre could make thousands more a year if they left to work with youth already in the corrections system.

If you are a youth care practitioner your wage would top out somewhere around $43,000 a year, she said. Whereas if you were starting as a juvenile counsellor in the corrections system, you would be starting at around $54,000 a year.

Chapman said many of her full-time youth crisis staff do work with adults on the side to supplement their pay.

It is a labour of love, Chapman said. Their dedication to the youth, their commitment to Macdonald Youth Services, whichever To be paid that much less than someone who is having the same youth incarcerated is a values statement.

Last year, staff in the Youth Crisis Stabilization System program responded to 6,000 crisis calls from Manitoba children, youth and families, and attended 1,400 calls.

aidan.geary@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/08/2016 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Just in case youve been trapped down a coal mine for the past couple of days (or kidnapped by space aliens, or otherwise cut off from the global information flow), the most widely shared news story all over the world for the past 48 hours has been about the magic-wand shop in the beautiful village of Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield.

It wont sell wands to Muggles.

In J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter books and the accompanying movies, the most important cultural phenomenon of the early 21st century, Muggles are people who just dont have the magic. They are not witches or wizards; theyre not even house elves. And Slaithwaite, although it is one of the jewels in West Yorkshires crown, is not widely known outside the British Isles, even in magic circles.

WARNER BROS. PICTURES Magic wands dont always solve the problems theyre meant to, as Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe, centre) and his friends discovered. Theyre unlikely to help Donald Trumps political fortunes, either.

What brought Slaithwaites magic wands to the worlds attention was Richard Carter, the proprietor of the aforesaid magic-wand shop (called Mystic Moments). He declared to an inquiring journalist that he would not sell any of his lovingly handmade wands to Harry Potter fans, because they dont really believe in magic.

Wands are spiritual tools, Carter said. If I had someone come in wanting a wand just because they liked Harry Potter, I would not sell them one, no matter how much money they were offering. I can tell what people are like when they walk in by their aura.

You wouldnt believe how many real witches and wizards there are knocking about, the wand-maker continued. You would be amazed. They know they can come in here and reveal themselves without people thinking theyre mental.

Mean-spirited cynics are suggesting Carter said this because it would get him lots of publicity. Rowling herself came to the defence of her gazillions of heartbroken young readers, tweeting, Oh, yeah? Well, I dont think theyre real wands.

But they are real, or at least as real as Carter can make them. He does believe they work, at least in the right hands. And maybe they do.

If you secretly believe in magic and you have made promises that are impossible to keep, it would certainly be worth giving one of Carters wands a try, especially as they only cost $25 to $40 each. Which would explain why several foreign-looking gentlemen have recently been seen on Britannia Road in Slaithwaite.

One of them was Chinese. Not that Chinese visitors are all that rare in Slaithwaite  its a lovely town with a canal running right alongside the High Street  but most of them dont come in long, black limos with embassy plates. This gentleman parked around the corner, lurked in the shadows until Mystic Moments opened, then dodged in, spent about 20 minutes in the shop, emerged with a brown-paper parcel under his arm and sped away.

Speculation was rife in the Silent Woman public house later in the day that the visitor had been sent by the Chinese government to get a magic wand for President Xi Jinping. Harold Crossley, the reigning geopolitical expert in the saloon bar, opined that Xi is in deep, maybe terminal trouble because he keeps insisting the Chinese economy is in good shape when it is actually near collapse. A magic wand is obviously his last chance.

Later in the day, a car from the Turkish Embassy drew up right in front of Mystical Moments, and a diplomat walked into the shop bold as brass. But he came out crestfallen and empty-handed. Crosseley reckons the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wanted to put a hex on his rival Fethullah Gulen, and everybody knows Carter doesnt let his wands be used for black magic.

The most intriguing visitor, though, was an American gentleman who drove up in a rental car. Nobody knew who he was, and to add to the mystery, Grace Robinson, who was in the shop at the same time, said the man had tried to pay for his wand in Russian rubles. And its no use asking Carter, who is always the very soul of discretion about the identity of his clients.

The mystery was only solved when Ernie Best, who patrols Slaithewaites 22 parking meters, came into the Shoulder of Mutton for his evening pint. He had been putting a ticket on the Americans car for parking on a yellow line when the man came out of the shop and told him to stop. You cant do that to me. Im Paul Manafort, the man had said.

The name didnt mean anything to Best, who made Manafort wait while he finished writing the ticket, but the well-travelled landlady of the Shoulder of Mutton spotted it at once. Thats Donald Trumps campaign chairman, she said. The pub went silent: everybody was shocked Carter would let a man like Trump have a magic wand.

But Carter is subtler than that. News is just in that Manafort has been demoted by the down-market Mussolini he works for. The new chief executive officer of Trumps campaign is Stephen Bannon, from the right-wing website Breitbart News, a man who was once described by the websites editor as Trumps personal Pravda. So it looks as if Trumps magic wand didnt work after all.

Gwynne Dyer in a independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/08/2016 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

News of the recent arrest of a waiter at a Sherbrooke, Que., restaurant  prompted by a customers severe allergic reaction  has triggered a spirited public discussion on where responsibility lies in protecting Canadians with food allergies.

It is important we conduct this dialogue respectfully, acknowledging this is a difficult time for all involved. One man almost lost his life; another is potentially facing a criminal charge.

For individuals with food allergies and their families, stories such as this hit home. Having children with multiple food allergies, we know the anxiety that can accompany the simple act of eating. One mistake, one miscommunication or one unguarded moment can be the difference between enjoying a meal and enduring a life-threatening reaction.

Without knowing all the facts of this specific case or attempting to imagine ourselves in these circumstances, it is imprudent to draw conclusions or cast moral judgment.

Food Allergy Canada has long advanced the idea the safe management of food allergies is a shared responsibility. It has made this case both nationally, and locally, including at a Winnipeg conference a few years ago.

Individuals  for their own protection  must strive to take ownership of their allergies. This means following important strategies to minimize the risk of an allergic reaction.

Among these preventive strategies are communicating your allergies to restaurant staff, ensuring friends and dining companions know about your allergies, always carrying your epinephrine auto-injector (EpiPen) and knowing when and how to use it.

Yet, less-than-perfect adherence to this advice does not lessen the communitys role, including that of restaurants to know what is in the food served to its customers.

With more than 2.5 million Canadians with food allergies  including approximately 95,000 Manitobans  and one in two Canadians knowing someone with a food allergy, it is irresponsible  not to mention unwise, from a business perspective  to suggest this community might not be welcome in restaurants pending the outcome of the Quebec case.

The reality is many Canadians with food allergies have and will continue to dine safely and enjoyably in restaurants across the country. Numerous restaurants, from big chains to small establishments, make great efforts to be allergy-aware.

Still, if we are to reduce the risk of incidents such as the one that occurred in Sherbrooke (a man with a severe seafood allergy was served raw salmon, and he ended up in hospital for five days where he went into a coma, police said)  and these incidents do occur although they are not always reported on  it is time we begin treating food allergies in restaurants as a public-health issue.

We take for granted many measures that help ensure consumer safety in restaurants. Processes that support reducing the risk of allergic reactions is a natural evolution.

To achieve this, education and training on food allergies and the implementation of clear processes and procedures should be required and universally applied throughout the food-service industry.

This idea is not a novel concept. These strategies  education and training  have been used effectively in other domains as part of public policy measures that have fostered understanding and saved lives.

Think of the requirements for schools to have measures in place, such as staff training, to protect students at risk of anaphylaxis, and federal food-labelling rules that require clear ingredient lists and allergen warnings.

We have an opportunity to transform what was a negative  and could have been tragic  event, into a positive outcome that brings together Canadians with food allergies and the food-service industry in a spirit of understanding and co-operation for the public good.

Lets seize the moment.

Laurie Harada is executive director of Food Allergy Canada. Carla Da Silva is a Quebec-based consultant for Food Allergy Canada. Both are mothers of sons with multiple food allergies.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/08/2016 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Green Party of Canada has a problem with Palestinian-rights enthusiasts. As a fringe party focused on a single set of issues, the party is vulnerable to takeover by such highly motivated groups of campaigners. Party Leader Elizabeth May has retreated to her Cape Breton Island home to consider her options. Her best bet is to let that ship sink and await better opportunities.

The Greens Palestinian problem came to a head Aug. 7 at the partys national conference in Ottawa. Delegates voted to support an international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel, saying the country failed to accord equal rights to Arabs in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Ms. May had warned against adopting the resolution.

The Green partys problem with Middle East politics goes back a long way. Monika Schaefer, for example, who was a Green candidate in Alberta in 2006, 2008 and 2011, recently posted videos in which she claimed the Holocaust never happened and there were no gas chambers in Nazi death camps. The party disavowed her views and rejected her as a candidate for last years federal election. The boycott-Israel vote at the convention, however, showed the problem has not gone away.

ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Elizabeth May helped form the Green party in 1983.

The Green party needs Ms. May, but she does not need it. She is an eloquent, hard-working, thoughtful parliamentarian with lengthy political and policy-making experience. She knows her policy files extremely well. Her contributions to the national conversation are careful and generally free of rancour. Canada will find a way to use her after she and the Green party part ways.

She is the only Green party candidate to be elected to the House of Commons. While the party garnered 3.5 per cent of the popular vote last year, Ms. May was re-elected in SaanichGulf Islands with 54 per cent of the vote. Without her as the leader, the party will sink back to invisibility, while she will be free to continue her work without the taint of anti-Israel foolishness.

Ms. May could organize a purge within the party aimed at removing the anti-Israel virus. That will be messy and painful, and the best result it could offer is to defend the partys toehold on a corner of the Canadian political stage. She could soldier on in a party she disagrees with, constantly explaining why she marches in such ranks. Neither of these courses will help her advance her environmental principles.

Ms. May and others formed the national Green party in 1983. In its 32-year career in federal politics, the party has only been a fringe player. Its share of the popular vote peaked at 6.8 per cent in 2008. The publics verdict on the party during 32 years has been to turn elsewhere for political leadership. Nothing in the current political climate suggests the country is yearning for the Greens to play a larger role.

Party loyalists will feel betrayed if Ms. May withdraws from their ranks. The party, however, has little to offer her but grief. She has won a personal audience in Parliament, and in the country, on account of her intellectual qualities and her evident understanding of the wide Canadian public interest.

If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on his toes, he will start recruiting her for the Senate, where she can join the likes of Manitobas Raymonde Gagne and Murray Sinclair in rescuing that institution from its long decline and loss of political credibility. If that does not work out, plenty of universities and not-for-profit agencies would love to make use of her high public profile.

She need not spend the rest of her career with a political albatross slung around her neck.
First District Congressman Tim Walz was down on the farm Wednesday morning.

Walz paid a visit to LaVerne and Arlene Nelson, who, along with their son Ross own and operate the Nelson Family Farm in Altura, Minn.

Walz, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, is visiting farms and farm-related events, gathering observations and insights that may be incorporated into 2018 Farm Bill.

The Nelson family took Walz, and other organic farmers on a tour of their 365-acre organic dairy farm, offering the congressman their perspective and insights to various organic farming methods.

In the last 10 years organic farming has made tremendous strides, Walz said, but theres still more we can do to make things easier for organic farmers.

Organic farming doesnt involve the use of pesticides and other chemicals, and keeping their land, crops and animals free of the chemicals used in conventional farm operations is a vital concern to organic farmers

We want rules proposed for aerial spray (of pesticides) because that stuff carries through the air and affects our operations, Arlene said, adding that the health and environmental effects of conventional farming took a toll on the Nelson family, motivating them to transition to organic farming.

Ross Nelson talked about the importance of the organic farming community continuing to work together.

We have to educate ourselves and we also have to inform the public and be more transparent with them when it comes to organic farming, he said.

Educating the public about benefits of organic farming is crucial because the programs that will be included in the 2018 Farm Bill will impact the future of farming and sustainability of future food supply.

Its not just about this years yield, but the year after that, and the year after that, Walz said. We need to build coalitions with the public and fellow politicians and get them on board with this stuff.

Consequently, finding a middle ground between conventional farmers and organic farmers is a matter on ongoing concern. Walz said in recent years the conflict has lessened as organic farming has become more popular and accepted.

Walz said he was optimistic about the finding areas of common ground between conventional and organic farming methods resulting in long-term solutions that will ensure future generations of farmers will thrive.

Its my responsibility to use my position to get this information out there, he said. The mindset of conventional vs. organic farming is the old way of thinking ... theres room for us all to come together.

You guys are writing this bill, youre the ones voicing the issues, he said. I just vet them and write them into the bill ... Im optimistic about this and coming to a way to find an ideal solution.

The mindset of conventional vs. organic farming is the old way of thinking ... theres room for us all to come together. Rep. Tim Walz
As 1933 dawned, the editorial writers at the Winona Republican-Herald looked forward to a year of tremendous opportunity, an optimism not likely shared by the seven out of 10 Minnesota Iron Range workers who started 1932 with no work and no prospects for jobs.

Across Minnesota, more than 20 percent of wage earners were earning no wages. Farmers were selling hogs for 3 cents a pound, milk for 2 cents a quart. Nearly 140,000 families were classified as needy.

Winona, despite brave words on the editorial page, was not immune from hard times. In response to the worsening economic conditions, the county board slashed wages by 10 percent. The city budget was cut by $100,000  nearly one-third. As winter took hold, the Salvation Army handed out more than 5,000 meals, until in February, after spending more than $1,500, the money ran out, the kitchen was closed, and the hungry were forced to look elsewhere.

As the ballots were counted on election day, the depth of dissatisfaction was apparent. Franklin Delano Roosevelt carried all wards handily, polling a nearly 2-to-1 margin in the city. In the heavily blue-collar 4th Ward, President Hoover managed 98 votes to FDRs 1,794.

After three years of depression, it was time for a new deal.

The cheering had barely died away on Inauguration Day in 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt closed the banks.

By March 1933, the American financial system was teetering. In those days before federal deposit insurance, if a bank went bankrupt depositors could lose everything. Rumors of financial trouble would send depositors rushing to the bank in a scramble to get their money out before it was all gone. As economic conditions continued to worsen, runs on the nations banks became more frequent and threatened the stability of the financial system.

Across the country, more than 5,000 banks had been forced to close. More than 9 million savings accounts had vanished. In a dramatic move, intended to restore confidence in the nations banking system at the depths of the Great Depresssion, Roosevelt declared a bank holiday, intending to allow the banks to reopen only after they had been certified sound and solvent.

Using the power granted by the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, the president suspended all transactions by the Federal Reserve and other banks and put an embargo on the export of gold, silver and currency on March 6, then promptly turned to Congress for authority to reorganize insolvent banks and provide protection for depositors.

The swiftness of the action took the local banking community by surprise. Longtime Winona banker S.J. Kryzsko remembered the bank holiday in a 1968 interview:

I vividly and clearly remember that morning. We had been opened for about a half-hour and we had only a slight flurry of people, but a lot of newspaper publicity. So the order came and we closed the bank doors. We told the people simply that we had just received a telegram ordering us to close the bank.

I remember one old gentleman who really had confidence. He said, I will never draw my money out. I have confidence in you people. Im going to leave it all here! He did have a sizable savings account, and his action was very heartening.

You see that big vault door out there? I remember that we sat in front of that big vault all the time that the bank was closed. We really didnt know what else to do.

The next day, the citys three banks issued a joint public statement: Our people have every reason to maintain their spirit of calmness and confidence. The attitude of the general public in times like these is a vital element in successfully carrying through a situation such as the one that faces the country at the present time. The people of Winona no doubt will accept the situation cheerfully and cooperate fully with our local banking institutions in which they have always manifested their fullest pride and confidence.

The impact of the bank closing rippled out through the community. With no idea of when they could get more, businesses and individuals became exceptionally protective of what cash they had. Most merchants preferred to charge items rather than cash a check.

The situation became especially critical when it was apparent that the banks would remain closed past payday. To cope with the situation, some businessmen arranged to have credit extended to their employees until they could draw their pay.

Around town, old-fashioned blanket-bills appeared in circulation, presumably pulled from between mattresses and out of dusty Mason jars where they had been squirreled away for years.

Tensions eased a bit March 8, when the banks were allowed to open for the limited purposes of receiving deposits and making change, a day later payroll checks were accepted at the banks on which they were drawn, and by the 10th, sound banks were cleared to reopen.

Mayor James Rice proudly announced that Winonas banks came through the national banking crisis with colors flying. The city should be proud to have three banks so sound they are permitted to open early.
Baraboo leaders have asked consultants to evaluate potential uses for dormant properties on the citys east side.

This spring the city hired MSA Professional Services to analyze the underachieving business district and guide a redevelopment effort. On Tuesday, project manager Chris Janson reported to the Baraboo Economic Development Commission and the Plan Commission the studys early findings.

Members of those groups asked Jansons team to turn its focus to the fate of underutilized properties along Eighth Street. Greg Wise, president of the Economic Development Commission, said the city needs help evaluating the potential of the former Darrows Country Market and Viking convenience store, as well as the former Brittingham & Hixon lumber yard.

Wise pushed to find new uses for those buildings, rather than razing and rebuilding. He said the city should offer support services to recruit and retain businesses. Id like us to think more broadly about redevelopment than just physical redevelopment, he said.

Jackson farm

City leaders also want guidance in determining what to do with the former Jackson farm, 120 acres the city bought along its eastern border in 2001. This land along Highway 33 could become an industrial park, a shopping center or a residential development  or it could be sold. Janson suggested asking prospective developers to submit plans for the site.

Id love to know the options, Wise said.

The propertys fate has been on the back burner, but could become a key piece of the neighborhoods redevelopment, Mayor Mike Palm said. With the east-side study, maybe the heat gets turned up a little bit, he said.

Sonja Stauffacher, a member of the Economic Development Commission, said developing a shopping plaza wouldnt make sense when existing storefronts are available. We have empty spaces downtown now, she said.

Palm said residential growth on the east side might support new businesses. People like to be able to shop fairly close to home, he said.

Others questioned the need for an industrial park, as the city already has five. Theyre virtually full, but theres a private business park, anchored by Teel Plastics, that has lots available.

Pat Cannon, executive director of the citys Community Development Authority, said the former Jackson farm offers a unique opportunity to any developer seeking dozens of acres. That changes the whole complexion of the east side if you put somebody in there, Cannon cautioned.

Janson asked for contacts with commercial real estate agents to help him evaluate available properties. City overseers will review the east-side study in September.

Other factors

A community forum and online survey conducted as part of the study found that recruiting and retaining businesses should be a priority. Possibilities identified include a niche grocery store, and electronics and appliance outlets. More sit-down dining options to complement the Log Cabin and Joses Authentic Mexican Restaurant are desired, too. Theres two great restaurants on this corridor, and there might be room for more, Janson said.

Leaders discussed creating signs to brand the east-side commercial corridor, and perhaps establishing a special tax district to encourage redevelopment. Its going to take the right project to come through, Janson said.

A state Department of Transportation study of the Highway 33 corridor will play a significant role in the neighborhoods future. Its possible the four-lane road will be converted to three: One eastbound and one westbound, with a turn lane in between. Its also possible Jefferson Street will be realigned to go directly through Eighth Stree with a stop light, rather than taking a jog: This could make the Schadde Plumbing and old Viking properties ideal for redevelopment.

A lot of whats going to happen depends on what the DOT does, Janson said.

The Sauk County Fairgrounds is another key piece in the east-side redevelopment puzzle. Facilities improvements and more aggressive scheduling of events could bring people to the neighborhood, Janson said. Its a great traffic generator, he said. Lets make it look great and find better ways to use it.
JUNEAU  A 52-year-old Burnett man is facing criminal charges after his family members turned in four firearms to the Dodge County Sheriffs Office that they alleged he owned as a convicted felon.

James Voit is charged with four felony counts of possession of a firearm by a felon. If convicted of all charges he faces up to 40 years in prison and $100,000 in fines.

During his initial appearance in court, Judge Steven Bauer gave Voit a $5,000 cash bond with the conditions that he may not possess any firearms, must maintain absolute sobriety and may not possess any controlled substances or drug paraphernalia. He also may not leave the state of Wisconsin or have any animals in his care.

On Aug. 8, officers were directed to three members of the Voit family who had gone to the lobby of the Dodge County Sheriffs Office. One of the family members said Voit was a convicted felon, and was allegedly in possession of illegal weapons that they wanted to turn into the sheriffs office.

The Voit family turned over one Thompson muzzle-loader, .50 caliber, one Springfield Armory XD 40 semi-automatic .40 caliber handgun, one Springfield Armory XD 9 semi-automatic 9mm handgun and one Mossberg International 817, .17 caliber rifle with scope and weapon light.

One family member told officers that he had not been to his fathers residence in a long time but went on that day to retrieve one of his own rifles. While looking for his rifle he discovered these additional firearms and removed them from his fathers residence.

James Voit pleaded no contest to operating with a prohibited alcohol content of .02 or more, fifth or sixth offense in 2009. He was convicted of the charge and is a convicted felon.

Voit will appear in court Aug. 25 at 8:30 a.m. for a preliminary hearing.
Anna Boschert, Beaver Dam, was named the 2016 Dodge County Fairest of the Fair Wednesday.

When she was announced as the winner, she thanked her family and the judges.

Boschert, 20, is the daughter of Bill and Mary Pat Boschert of Beaver Dam. She attends UW-Platteville seeking a degree in animal science and agribusiness while active in Block and Bridle, the agricultural sorority Sigma Alpha, the Agriculture Business Club and Collegiate FFA. She enjoys running, horseback riding and helping her younger brother show pigs and lambs. She was a co-founder of the Generating a Greener Future project at Beaver Dam High School.

Each contestant was asked an impromptu question, and Boschert was asked what the most valuable asset is at the Dodge County Fair.

Its the people, she said.

Boschert replaces 2015 Dodge County Fairest of the Fair Karoline Twardokus.

Twardokus, a student at UW-Platteville, spoke about her year wearing the crown, from the ups and downs.

It is the opportunity of a lifetime, Twardokus said.

She competed in the Wisconsin State Fairest of the Fairs competition at the Wisconsin Association of Fairs Convention in January, one day after her family lost a barn due to a fire at their dairy farm. Her highs included representing the Dodge County Fair at events throughout the year, and she spoke of how much fun she had serving as the Fairest during the 2015 fair.

I competed in a kiddie tractor pull and won, in a dress, Twardokus said.

Erin OToole, Iron Ridge, was named the first runner-up. She is the daughter of Patrick and Susan OToole.

Samantha Laabs of Iron Ridge and Natalie Rennhack of Beaver Dam also competed for the crown.

2016 Wisconsin Fairest of the Fairs Gloria Kesler attended the finals competition. Kesler spoke about her fair family, learning the dos and donts of the fair and of her experiences attending fairs as the Wisconsin Fairest of the Fairsfrom chugging milk from a calf bottle to sticking cheese up her nose. She said she will have attended 53 fairs by the end of fair season, and that this was her first time attending the Dodge County Fair.

Its all about the experience, Kessler said.

Judges for the 33rd Dodge County Fairest of the Fair include Richard Griep, Beaver Dam, a financial advisor with Edward Jones; Christine Lindner, Fall River, who works for Alsum Farms & Produce in Friesland and served as the 63rd Alice in Dairyland in 2010; and Patti Roden, West Bend, who works for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federaration and served as the 2006 Ozaukee County Fairest of the Fair.

Boschert will represent the Dodge County Fair Association at parades and other functions for the next year. She will also participate in promotion programs and media events and assist in the planning of next years Fairest of the Fair program.
After three years of barely uttering a word in court, Stephanie McMillen took the witness stand Wednesday, admitting to poor decisions and bizarre behavior, but insisting she never wanted to kill anyone.

In the third day of testimony in her second trial stemming from a 2012 incident in which she is charged with first-degree attempted homicide, McMillen, 47, was called as the final witness and only witness for the defense.

On Aug. 22, 2013, charged with obstructing an officer, stalking and attempted homicide, McMillen stood mute, resulting in a plea of not guilty. In the three years since, she has appeared in court dozens of times, her voice heard only on rare occasions when absolutely necessary for proceedings.

When she was tried on those charges in May 2015, she chose not to testify. But on Wednesday court broke for lunch early to give time for the defense to thoroughly consider the decision and prepare.

The testimony began with defense attorney Rich White asking a few open questions for McMillen to introduce herself to the jury. She was born in Iowa, but moved to Baraboo in the fourth grade. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1992. She became emotional when White asked her about how she went back to school to become a nurse.

She told the jury how she was married in 1994, which ended in a divorce in April 2012.

White then asked about her relationship with Mike Tennier, who she described as a co-worker at Divine Savior Healthcare who became a close friend over several years, leading up to a retirement party in 2011 in which, after telling her about his having a difficult marriage, he told her that he wanted to be more than friends and she welcomed it, telling the court that her marriage at that point was falling apart.

The two of them would go hiking, cook, debate Scripture and go out with groups of friends, she told the court, leading up to April 2012, when Tennier told her that he was making an attempt to salvage his marriage.

Over the next several months she had more non-work-related contact with Tennier, in which he had emailed her messages that were ambiguous about their future together, as testimony with Tennier the day before revealed, sometimes in intimate terms. An Aug. 22 email from Tennier referred to the last chapter not being written yet.

I felt many emotions spinning out of control: depression, anxiety, McMillen said about the time following an Aug. 23 phone call that seemed to unequivocally end the relationship. It was impacting every aspect of my life.

White began asking McMillen about when the situation started becoming strange, with web searches in late August and early September that detectives would later find on McMillens computer, looking at instructions on bomb making, pipe bombs, dynamite and a call to a fireworks company.

I considered that as one way to commit suicide, because I wanted people to know, said McMillen referring to the image of her possibly charred and scattered remains. They might have a lasting impression of me and what they did to my soul.

White asked why McMillen sent emails to Tenniers wife in August under the pseudonym Trina Worth.

Because I thought if she knew about the affair, she would leave him.

Although the Tennier-McMillen affair was already known in the home, the emails referred to more recent meetings between the two, saying that the two were together and looked like a couple, and that Mrs. Tennier should know because, once a cheater, always a cheater.

Around the same time, McMillen was researching handguns through friends and the Internet, because, she said, I had incidents at my home and someone tampered with my car, saying that she also received disturbing phone calls, in which she was called, bitch, slut, and worse.

Earlier in the week, McMillens neighbor at the time testified to the court that she had been visited by McMillen, who borrowed her cell phone to call her own phone, using *67 to block caller ID to call the fireworks company. Unlisted calls to McMillens home were revealed on two occasions to have come from McMillens daughters phone through the same the same *67 method and from McMillens work phone.

McMillen admitted to renting a car from the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells and how that evening she drove it by the Tenniers home in Wyocena. She admitted to calling herself at work the next day to make up an excuse about a sick relative so she could leave early. McMillen told the court how she drove to the Tenniers house, put on a disguise, including a wig and sunglasses and rang the doorbell with the intention of meeting Kimberly Tennier. She admitted to making up a story about a lost cat and convincing Tennier to follow her toward the pond at the edge of the property. And at the point that Tennier went back into the house, McMillen said she got scared and left, telling Tennier the cats dead.

I did those things because I wanted her to feel the same things that I felt  fear, being uncomfortable, said McMillen. I remember thinking to myself, this is crazy. I went home and I remember laying on the couch thinking that I had hit rock bottom.

White asked McMillen if she believed Tennier was responsible for the harassing phone calls and garage break-ins she said she was dealing with at the time. As I sit here, no, said McMillen.

On cross examination Assistant District Attorney Crystal Long asked McMillen about the subsequent interview with Detective Sgt. Greg Bisch after the incident, when Bisch, according to his testimony earlier in the day, was dispatched to serve a restraining order and ask follow-up questions about the Tennier situation.

Long asked if McMillen felt it would have been relevant to explain her suicidal state as they were asking about this strange visitor at the Tennier house. No, I did not, said McMillen.

Long then returned to asking about the vial of morphine reported missing from Divine Savior, which appeared to coincide with web searches by McMillen about morphine, lethal dose of morphine, and a host of other drugs found in the anesthesia work room, which McMillen had access to, and where McMillen had assisted in drug counts the preceding Friday afternoon and Monday morning of the incident, when the count was found to be off by one vial of morphine.

I did not take any medications from work, said McMillen who earlier told the court that the searches were part of her research into suicide methods.

Its possible that under the right set of circumstances, said Long, that you would have taken them from work.

Theres always the possibility of a lot of things, McMillen responded.

Over the course of two interviews following the incident, McMillen admitted to almost every point of the accusations against her, except the accusation of attempted homicide and stolen morphine, which remained unsolved.

Bisch testified that McMillen was very cordial, but her answers just dishonest.

Just before McMillen testified Wednesday, White moved to have the case dismissed on a lack of evidence. It is not the way our system is designed to work, he said, with half-baked theories good enough for a bar stool convention.

There was a lot of evidence by the Internet searches, and the affair, said Long. The standard is whether or not if the acts that were taken unequivocally showed that was going to happen, and there were acts that were happening, going on to say, If there was a conversation that needed to happen, why did it need to be by the pond?

This is quite certainly circumstantial evidence, said Judge Brian Pfitzinger, but there is enough to support the states primary theory that the morphine was taken and was taken by Ms. McMillen.

Closing arguments are scheduled for this morning.
On Wednesday, Aug. 24, the Columbus Police Department will be holding a training exercise with the Columbus School District. Multiple public safety agencies will also be participating in this training.

The training will occur at the Columbus Elementary and Middle Schools. There will be a significant law enforcement and fire department presence at this exercise. People are welcome to observe from a distance, but the school property will be off limits to the general public during the training.

Training will start around 8 a.m. and is expected to be completed around 4 p.m. Some streets and parking around the school will be restricted during the exercise. The school district office will also be closed during training.

Questions may be directed to the Columbus Police Department or the Columbus Emergency Management Director/Fire Chief Randy Koehn.
A home in the town of Honey Creek was destroyed by fire Tuesday.

The Sauk City Volunteer Fire Department responded to the rural house fire Tuesday afternoon after receiving a report that flames were showing through the buildings roof.

Sauk City Volunteer Fire Department President Tom Wipperfurth said the property, located in the 7900 block of Petzke Drive near Natural Bridge State Park, was burned to the ground.

The fire had a pretty good head start before anyone even called it in, Wipperfurth said. That property is 15 to 20 minutes away from our station, so you can imagine the damage before we got there.

Along with Sauk City, four other fire departments responded to help fight the blaze. Water tenders from Loganville, Plain and North Freedom, along with a fire engine from Plain, an aerial truck and an additional fire chief from Baraboo were dispatched.

Wipperfurth estimated 25 to 30 firefighters fought to extinguish the fire for more than four hours.

We had wires down, so Alliant Energy was also there, Wipperfurth said, and Sauk County Sheriffs Department assisted with traffic.

Wipperfurth said the home and its contents are considered a complete loss. There is no damage estimate at this time, and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is still undetermined.

The Salvation Army is assisting the family with relocation.
Beaver Dam is considering how to respond to recent changes in the state statues tied to room tax that will be in effect Jan. 1, 2017.

Beaver Dam Area Development Corporation met Wednesday afternoon to look at the options the group and Beaver Dam have moving forward with room tax collection.

In 2016 Beaver Dam collected $137,000. The city has a long-term contract that designates 90 percent of the funds for the BD Area Development Corporation and 10 percent for the Beaver Dam Chamber of Commerce.

The changes are a result of the lodging and hospitality industry wanting room tax funds used more for tourism promotion and development.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, the changes to local room tax include that a municipality must create a tourism entity or commission and room tax revenue must be spent on tourism promotion. This commission or entity must include at least one owner operation of a lodging facility that collects room tax and is located in the municipality. It cant be spent directly by the municipality.

Mayor Tom Kennedy said during the meeting that by January there will be a tourism commission.

Beaver Dam has an agreement to use room tax fund in its current form up to 2023.

When that agreement is up its a whole new game, said Trent Campbell, executive vice president of the Beaver Dam Area Development Corporation.

Other than that, the group is deciding to hold off making any changes for the time being.

Action by inaction, Campbell said.

Wary on potential Dodge/Jefferson development partnership

Dodge County may join a regional economic development partnership with Jefferson County, although members of the Beaver Dam Area Development Corporation are hesitant about that.

Campbell said he is sharing the information with the group and looking for its input.

At the moment, Jefferson County Economic Development Consortium has created a public-private nonprofit organization in an effort to work on community development and tourism.

The initiative involves a five-year plan of $4.1 million to attract new developments in the two counties, grow business and job investments and drive tourism.

Campbell said it seems like the county wants to move forward with the partnership that would cover the entire county instead of just portions of it.

This scenario would cost $85,000 annually for five years and would cover the entire county. Three seats on the GHDP board of directors and a potential seat in the executive committee would be established for a Dodge County representative. A program manager would be placed in Dodge County, with the rest of the Jefferson County Economic Development Consortium staff working to cover the area as well.

Campbell said that the $85,000 may come from county sales tax dollars. He and Kennedy said that this will not greatly benefit Beaver Dam. Both speculated that Beaver Dam contributes the bulk of the sales tax revenue in the county.

In opposition, the opinion was raised that the sales tax dollars should go back into the Dodge County communities to spur economic development or Dodge County should end the sales tax program.

Campbell said Beaver Dam has its own system. Having an economic development group on the county level would be redundant for Beaver Dam, he said. However he said that labor info, demographic statistics and other information from this potential partnership could benefit Beaver Dam.

Campbell said that an economic development group on the county level could help smaller communities in Dodge County, but he questioned whether those communities would be able to attract major businesses.

Will this really create impact in this area, he said. That is anyones guess.

Campbell ended the discussion by telling the group that he will bring the comments to the county.
In an election season marked by broad dissatisfaction with the two major parties, Libertarian Phillip Anderson sees a chance to make history in Wisconsins U.S. Senate race.

Anderson, a Fitchburg business manager and owner, is the Libertarian nominee for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin. That pits him against incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Oshkosh and Democrat Russ Feingold of Middleton, who are much more widely known.

Recent polls show Anderson getting 7 to 8 percent support in the Senate contest. Thats better than a typical Libertarian candidate in a statewide race, but a far cry from giving him a path to contention  much less a victory.

Anderson says the path exists, however unlikely.

My own mother asked me the same question: Do you think you can win? Anderson laughed. His answer: Yeah, theres a path  and its narrow.

Anderson sees opportunity stemming from the presidential campaign, which could make 2016 a year of broader visibility for the Libertarian Party.

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, is getting nearly 10 percent support in many polls  buoyed by the fact that both major parties and their presidential nominees, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, are viewed unfavorably.

Far more likely than an Anderson win this November is a scenario in which he plays spoiler. Feingold has consistently led in polls of the race. But if Johnson draws closer to him as Election Day nears, as many political observers and the campaigns expect, its conceivable that Anderson could tilt the election toward the candidate from whom he poaches fewer supporters.

Stakes in the Senate race are high because Wisconsin is among a handful of states with competitive races  the outcomes of which will determine which party controls the Senate in 2017.

Slightly more voters who initially backed Johnson defect to Anderson if given that third option in polls, versus the number of voters who defect from supporting Feingold, according to data supplied by Marquette Law School Poll director Charles Franklin from the two most recent polls in August and July. But despite that  and the sizable role libertarians have played in Republican politics in recent years  the polls show Anderson pulling nearly equal support from Republican- and Democratic-leaning voters.

Anderson and Johnson had a chance personal encounter at the Racine County Fair earlier this month, in which Anderson said Johnson urged him to reconsider his candidacy.

The Johnson campaign said that account is not accurate. Johnson spokesman Brian Reisinger said the senator never asked Anderson to reconsider his campaign.

Phil Anderson seems like a nice man. Ron had a brief conversation with him and took a photo, but he never asked him to drop out of the race, Reisinger said.

The Feingold campaign did not immediately respond to an inquiry about how, if at all, it is addressing Andersons role in the race.

Polls: Voters from both parties mull Anderson

Anderson is general manager of Green Cab of Madison and owns Silver Compass Realty. He has never held elected office. Two years ago he ran as an independent candidate for a Dane County state Assembly seat, getting 18 percent of the vote.

Anderson hopes to capitalize on broad discontent with the two-party system and Washington, D.C., by running a campaign that bashes both.

This particular election, we see as a huge opportunity, Anderson said of himself and fellow Libertarians. People are seeing more and more behind the curtain of Washington, D.C. Theyre seeing all the nasty corruption, all the influence-peddling, all the dishonesty that come forth from not only the presidential candidates, but from both parties.

Libertarians have had some representation in the Republican Party in recent years  most notably, through the presidential candidacies of former Congressman Ron Paul. His son, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, also ran for president this year.

Anderson said he is aggressively courting Republicans and Democrats. He believes he can capture some disaffected supporters of Bernie Sanders, an independent U.S. senator from Vermont who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Recent polls show at least a handful voters in both parties are open to Andersons message.

Recent Marquette Law School Poll results show 5 percent of voters who picked Feingold in a two-way poll between him and Johnson shifted their support to Anderson in a three-way poll. Eight percent of voters who back Johnson in the two-way poll defected to Anderson in the three-way matchup.

Sorting Anderson supporters by party produces a fairly even split. About 11 percent of voters who identified as leaning Republican, and 5 percent of those who identified as solidly Republican, backed Anderson in the poll. He got the backing of 11 percent of voters who identified as leaning Democratic, and 4 percent of those who were solidly Democratic.

Anderson doesnt have the advantages of being a major-party nominee. He has a small campaign war chest and less of a ready-made campaign infrastructure than Johnson or Feingold. He also has far less name recognition than the incumbent, Johnson, or former three-term senator, Feingold.

Anderson hopes to counter those disadvantages with a grassroots campaign powered by personal interaction with voters and social media.

Thats our angle, is to get in front of people, Anderson said. Its just a question of being able to compete in the arena of ideas on a somewhat level playing field. And I believe in that sense, well win.

Anderson on the issues

One issue on which Anderson has strong  and in some cases, controversial  ideas is foreign policy. He denounces recent U.S. foreign policy as imperialistic and hypocritical and violent.

We need to stop the meddling that we do overseas, Anderson said. I think that we have created a lot of terrorists and a lot of ill will across the world. Thats something that we need to pull back from, while still having a strong defense.

Anderson said he wants to halt drone strikes against  and opposes sending any U.S. troops to fight  terror groups overseas. He said he would consider supporting manned aircraft strikes against such groups.

Heres a brief overview of where Anderson stands on other key issues:

Free trade: Hes generally supportive of global trade agreements such as the Trans Pacific Partnership  he actually thinks it doesnt go far enough toward removing trade restrictions  and strongly opposes tariffs and other protectionist measures touted by Trump.

Monetary policy: Like many libertarians, Anderson stands apart from mainstream thinking in both major parties by denouncing U.S. monetary policy as harmful. He wants to stop quantitative easing, the Federal Reserve policy that increases the U.S. money supply.

Abortion: Anderson calls himself pro-life, though he said hes open to circumstances in which abortion would be legal in some cases. Anderson said he favors banning abortion after a certain point in the pregnancy after which the fetus would be deemed an alive human individual based on medical evidence  a threshold he said could be anywhere between conception and 26 weeks into a pregnancy. After that point, Anderson said he would oppose any exceptions to an abortion ban, including for rape or incest.

Minimum wage: Anderson does not favor increasing the minimum wage, and in the long term hed like to see it abolished.

Drug war: Anderson condemns U.S. drug policy as counterproductive. He wants to immediately legalize marijuana. Anderson favors eventual legalization of other drugs too, with U.S. policy in the short term shifting toward treatment of addiction instead of criminal enforcement.

Entitlements: Anderson supports privatizing Medicare in the near future, partially privatizing Social Security by allowing beneficiaries to immediately opt out of the program, and incrementally increasing the Social Security retirement age.

Health care: Anderson wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and privatize Veterans Affairs health care.
WYOCENA  It took more than 10 months, but the graves of 249 indigent people in Columbia County will soon have a marker  a historical marker, sanctioned by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Terry Pease of Pardeeville, who has spearheaded the effort to get a monument for the potters field on a Wyocena hillside, said the plaque will soon be affixed to a boulder, which will be placed at the site along Crawford Drive in Wyocena.

And, Pease has set a time  1:30 p.m. Aug. 27  for a short, somewhat solemn dedication of the monument.

These were indigent people, he said, who were not claimed by any families.

Pease said he raised about $1,400 for the project, mostly from local supporters. The money that isnt needed for the monument will be donated to the Columbia County Historical Society.

When he was a boy growing up in the Pardeeville-Wyocena area, Pease said, hed heard, from time to time, that his favorite sledding hill might be a cemetery.

It is.

Its the final resting place of 249 paupers who resided in what was then known as the Columbia County Asylum for the Chronic Insane and Poor House.

Of the people buried there between 1871 and 1971, only three have a stone marker: Beulah Lehman (1914-1954), Henry Leo Harry Cummings (died in 1933) and Carrie Popp (1891-1969).

The names of the people buried in the cemetery (too many, of course, to be inscribed on the monument) are known, thanks largely to the late Monna Aldrich, who died a year ago. She compiled the names of the 249 people known to be interred in what the local people referred to as the potters field, plus seven more who died at the asylum but who may or may not have been buried in the plot.

The names are in a database that can be accessed at the Museum at the Portage website, portagemuseum.org. By clicking on genealogy, a researcher can get the list of all known Columbia County burials, with burial sites listed by town. The listing of the people buried in the potters field is under Columbia County Home and Hospital, in the town of Wyocena.

Anna Mae Axness of Portage, who compiled the database of Columbia County burials, credited Aldrich for taking the lead in putting together the names of those buried in the Crawford Drive hillside. Many, however, have only the date of death, because the date of birth was often unknown.

Pease said his efforts to get the monument, and get it sanctioned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, stemmed from his desire that the people buried there should not be forgotten.

It took several months, he said, but thats par for the course when dealing with the Wisconsin Historical Society, whose officials like to be thorough and accurate.

Pease said tentative plans call for inviting a local Christian pastor to say a few words at monument dedication. He said he knows, from clergy who have served in the area, that at least some of the people buried in the potters field had a clergy member present at their burial.
Wits and Academic Partnerships agree to educate online

Wits signs a MOU with Academic Partnerships to increase access to education through online learning.

The demand for quality education and access to education in Africa is increasing, with few resources and infrastructure to accommodate qualifying students.

Online learning is important to South Africa because the demand for tertiary education in emerging economies is insatiable but access is a problem.

The University of the Witwatersrand and Academic Partnerships (AP) in the USA, which partners with universities to increase access and revenue through online courses, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signaling their intention of participating actively in building online programmes.

The MOU was signed at Wits on 8 August 2016.

The introduction of online programmes at Wits aims to address some of the challenges of access to higher education in South Africa.

In June, the University launched its first three massive open online courses (Moocs) on the EdX platform, the first African university to do so.

These Moocs are: System Dynamics for Health Sciences; Research Methods: An Engineering Approach; and Results-Based Project Management: Monitoring and Evaluation.

Professor Andrew Crouch, Deputy Vice Chancellor: Academic who signed the agreement with AP on behalf of Wits says that the agreement to launch online programmes, rather than online courses is an exciting development for the University.

Academic Partnerships is very reputable. There are partnerships in many parts of the world, and AP has experience in launching and sustaining online programmes,says Crouch.

The introduction of online programmes at Wits will enable the University to serve students across the globe through a highly efficient delivery system.

Randy Best, Chairman and Founder of AP says the partnership will benefit students, professors and the economy whilst making knowledge more accessible.

The online programmes are going to play a critical role in the students life and enhance education. The programmes are also economical; there is no need to deal with infrastructure to support it. It makes the great knowledge of your professors far more available for more people, says Best.

According to Crouch, the launch of the online programmes at Wits is awaiting final approval from a number of bodies, including the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Council for Higher Education as well as the South African Qualifications Authority.

It will take almost a year before the first online programme can be launched, as the programmes also need to be accredited.

The first online programmes will be in business and administration and these will be postgraduate programmes.

Other programmes which are currently being explored are in the education area and the health sciences. Only a few programmes will be online.

The introduction of online programmes will not replace current contact programmes. Rather, online programmes will increase access to courses where there are too many students and too few lecture halls and lecturers to accommodate all those students, says Crouch.

The quality of education for online students will also be important and has to meet Wits standards.

The same entry requirements for our full- time students will be prescribed for our online students, so that we are ultimately assured of a proud Wits product.
Immunizations

*** Special Immunization Announcement *** Effective July 21st, 2016 updates to the Illinois General Assembly Administrative Code have increased the immunization requirements for college students attending all Illinois State schools. These changes have increased the requirements for Tdap, MMR and Meningitis. Immunization records can be faxed to 309-298-2188 All required immunization information must be submitted and in compliance within the first 10 days of the semester on campus. Failure to do so will result in registration encumbrance and a processing fee. All students are encouraged to log in to the secure patient portal at http://beuonline.wiu.edu with their ecom credentials to check their current compliance status. Questions may be addressed to: The Immunization Compliance Officer by calling (309) 298-3171 or by emailing Beuhealthcenter@wiu.edu

What We Can Do For You

Assist students in obtaining required immunization records.

Maintain, record and retain all immunization records for enrolled students.

Provided copies of immunization records.

Answer questions about State requirements for immunizations.

Illinois Immunization Requirements

The following students must comply with the Illinois Immunization Law:

Undergraduate students taking 6 credit hours or more

Graduate students taking 5 credit hours or more

All students taking 3 or more credit hours during the summer session

There is a fee for receiving additional immunizations at Beu Health Center by appointment. For details, please call (309) 298-1888.

Immunizations offered at Beu Health Center

Vaccine Price Gardasil (HPV) $260.00 Hepatitis A $90.00 Hepatitis B $75.00 Menactra $150.00 MMR $95.00 Td (tetanus) $35.00 Tdap $45.00 TBST Tubersol $25.00 Flu Shot Free

*Prices may change without notice.*

Acceptable Documentation of Immunizations

An immunization form is available for use of documenting immunizations. This form is NOT required if an official record can be provided with a verifying signature.

Illinois high schools are a good source for obtaining an up-to-date record. A copy of the high school record is acceptable.

Copies of a baby book are acceptable providing there is an official signature verifying dates and the name of the person receiving the shots.

Your family doctors office may be able to provide the record of immunization. A signature by a health care provider or their nurse is acceptable.

Previous Colleges and Universities students have attended may have required immunization information. A copy from a previous College or University is acceptable.

Students who are exempt:

You may be exempt from the Illinois Immunization Law if you meet one or more of the following

students with approved medical waivers

students with approved religious exemptions

students taking less than half of a full-time load each semester

students taking online only classes with no direct physical interaction with other WIU students or the Macomb campus

Students must show verified proof of immunity by:

Beginning with the Fall term 2016-2017, students who enroll at a post-secondary educational institution shall present to Beu Health Center proof of immunity evidencing the following immunizations:

Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis

Students shall provide dates of any combination of three or more doses of Diphtheria, Tetanus containing vaccine. One dose must be Tdap vaccine. The last dose of vaccine (DTP, DTaP, DT, Td, or Tdap) must have been received within 10 years prior to the term of current enrollment.

The minimum time interval between the first and second dose must have been at least four weeks (28 days), with the third dose having been received at least six months after the second or last dose of the basic series.

Receipt of Tetanus Toxoid (T.T.) vaccine is not acceptable in fulfilling this requirement.

Measles

Students shall provide documentation of receipt of two doses of live measles virus vaccine on or after the first birthday. The minimum time interval between each dose must have been at least four weeks (28 days). If either dose was received prior to 1968, proof must be provided that a live virus vaccine, without gamma globulin, was administered.

Students who cannot provide proof of immunization may provide laboratory (serologic) evidence of measles immunity.

Rubella

Students shall provide documentation of receipt of two doses of live rubella virus vaccine on or after the first birthday. The minimum time interval between each dose must have been at least four weeks (28 days).

Students who cannot provide proof of immunization may provide laboratory (serologic) evidence of rubella immunity.

Mumps

Students shall provide documentation of receipt of two doses of live mumps virus vaccine on or after the first birthday. The minimum time interval between each dose must have been at least four weeks (28 days).

Students who cannot provide proof of immunization may provide laboratory (serologic) evidence of mumps immunity.

Meningococcal vaccine.

Beginning Fall term 2016-2017, all new admissions under the age of 22 shall show proof of having at least one dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine on or after 16th birthday.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS are also required to have a TB blood test to be administered upon arrival at WIU. If the TB blood test is positive, a chest x-ray will be required.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS NEEDING BOTH second TD & MMR -- both should be administered four - six weeks after the initial series. If you are not able to present us with proper documentation, we are required by law to re-administer the immunizations.

Revised 07/2018
ITPIR 'Shark Tank' winners announced

Diving into the deep end Fourteen teams of student researchers submitted proposals to a panel of faculty judges. Five emerged from the competition.

The judges From left: Michael Tierney, Jaime Settle, Stephen Hanson, Daniel Maliniak and Brad Parks. All photos Leilia Magee

A powerful proposal Their project: Democratizing Data: A Data Gathering Tool with Infinite Expansions. The team (from left): Nadia Aly 16 MS 17, Ivan Echevarria 18 and Dan Jelf 18. Leilia Magee Photo - of - Hide Caption

Fourteen teams of student researchers presented thought-provoking pitches to a faculty panel of judges on Aug. 8 during the second annual Institute for the Theory and Practice of International Relations (ITPIR) Shark Tank competition..

The students, all but two from William & Mary, worked on project ideas for eight weeks this summer, and provided a five-minute public preview of how their ideas would be implemented and their potential impact. Then, thanks to generous gifts from Tim Dunn 83, Ellen Stofan 83, and Andrew 93 and Sarah Sugerman 92, the panel was able to award funding totaling $20,000 to its five top choices.

{{youtube:medium|-Gxu7exnh9Q, A lighter look at Shark Tank 2016.}}

Shark Tank provides students with a structured process to refine their own ideas, learn how to write a proposal, learn how to construct a budget and, ultimately, to write a compelling proposal and pitch it to a critical audience, said Michael Tierney, director of ITPIR.

Tierney was part of a panel of judges that featured Stephen Hanson, vice provost for international affairs, and assistant professors Jaime Settle (government) and Dan Maliniak (government and public policy) and Brad Parks, executive director of AidData.

The five projects they selected are highlighted.

Debating Foreign Aid: A Comprehensive Text and Sentiment Analysis of the Congressional Record on International Development, by Samyuktha Mahadevan 19, Ben Neider '18, Amanda Lewe '19.

What we hope to find with our study is, firstly, a more comprehensive understanding of the process by which foreign aid policy is developed, Mahadevan said. Secondly [to find] a model of patterns regarding debates on international assistance, which can be used to understand and predict congressional action in the future.

In doing this, Mahadevan's group will produce a large-scale analysis and policy prediction model based on the patterns of discussion on foreign aid and an open-source online database that includes the entire Congressional Record for trends in arguments for and against foreign aid and the terminology used over time.

Mahadevans group is receiving support and guidance from Professor Maurits van der Veen, assistant professor of government and director of the STAIR lab at William & Mary.

Maliniak said he was really excited to see what this team of researchers would produce.

Both in the academy and in industry, the use of prose as data is becoming increasingly frequent and sophisticated, he said. Sure, someone could read the entire Congressional Record for all discussion of foreign aid, and try to summarize it and search for patterns, but five different Ph.D. students could do the same task and come up with five different dissertations.

Instead, a few W&M undergrads will be able to process more text than one could reasonably read, and look for patterns that might not be obvious otherwise.

Modeling Internally Displaced Person Movements: A Case Study of Conflict, Infrastructure, and Urban Travel Time Analysis, by Sarah Harmon 19 and Ethan Harrison (Rappahannock CC).

Where do displaced groups relocate following conflict events? Harmon and Harrison asked the judges.

They speculated that displaced groups seek shelter in areas with the most developed infrastructure, but other factors, such as cultural similarity or security, might also shape these movements. If they can establish the push and pull factors that drive the movements of displaced people, donors might be able to predict how similar groups will behave at the onset of displacement during future crises, leading to a development and finance policy that would respond more effectively to overwhelming groups of moving people.

Verifying and Strengthening the TUFF Methodology, by Graeme Cranston-Cuebas 18.

The TUFF (tracking underreported financial flows) methodology recently completed worldwide coverage of all Chinese development finance, Cranston-Cuebas said. However, the methodology has been sharply criticized by some scholars due to its reliance upon open-source media collection.

Cranston-Cuebas told judges his project will take a data-driven approach to validating the accuracy of, streamlining and improving TUFF methodology. The first phase will determine the accuracy of the TUFF methodology in tracking development finance at the project level through open-source data collection. The second phase will identify ways to streamline the methodology to improve accuracy and efficiency. The third phase will combine the results of the two and produce a white paper addendum to the current TUFF methodology."

While the TUFF methodology has produced the most comprehensive and widely used project-level dataset of Chinese foreign aid that has been cited over 100 times in academic journal articles and now three times in The Economist magazine, we have not yet proven that the TUFF method accurately classifies data by comparing the TUFF data to official records from government agencies," Tierney said. "Graemes research seems like an important and obvious check on the reliability of these data.

Tracking International Development Projects and Finance: Open Data on the Activities of Commercial Volunteer-Sending Agencies, by Grace Anderson (James Madison University) and Allison Bowers 18.

The popularity of volunteer tourism  or voluntourism  has seen exponential growth in the past 20 years. Despite this, little has been done to track and map where exactly these voluntourism projects are and what sectors are involved. Their project aims to map and sort by sector a database of voluntourism projects occurring in Cambodia and produce a final paper on various trends that emerge from the data.

We have spoken with several organizations, such as Save the Children and ReThink Orphanages, who have expressed strong interest and need for this database on these projects in Cambodia, Bowers said.

Democratizing Data: A Data Gathering Tool with Infinite Expansions, by Nadia Aly 17, Ivan Echevarria 18 and Dan Jelf 18.

The team proposes an online Decision Support Tool (DST)  preliminarily named GUAC  that will democratize access to internal tools created by AidData/ITPIR to reduce the time and cost of collecting, processing and publishing data.

GUAC is the next logical step for AidData, they told the judges. We have been making high-quality, open data sets for years, and we have taken the same approach with our methodologies. GUAC expands on this by making it easy for anyone to create similarly high-quality data sets. AidDatas core is open data  and we want to push forward to become a leader in open data creation.

What of the projects that didnt receive funding? Tierney pointed to a project from last year that was not funded, but the students pressed on with their work and it is now in the running for funding from the United Nations Centre for Counterterrorism.

Tierney said many ITPIR projects, such as TRIP and AidData, were created and grew from the innovative ideas of undergraduate students.

However, he added, as projects get larger and become more hierarchical, the ability of 19-year-old students to weigh in on the operational decisions and strategic direction of a project has a tendency to decline. Shark Tank is an effort to institutionalize student innovation and to ensure that we dont miss the next great idea that could lead to knowledge breakthroughs, inform policy decisions or save lives.

Maliniak said that what impressed him most about this years crop of projects was the diversity of questions combined with the innovation used to try to answer them.

It was a real reminder of how important it is to have people take a look at a familiar problem with fresh eyes, he said. And, as a William & Mary professor, I was reminded that I get a new crop of very smart people starting at the task every August.




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Repair job complete at Angra 2 pool

18 August 2016

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Brazil's fuel cycle company INB has celebrated the successful underwater repair of a damaged fuel rod canister in the storage pool of Angra 2.

If the integrity of fuel rods in a light water reactor such as Angra 2 is reduced they sometimes begin to release radioactive elements such as iodine-131 into the coolant water. This has no effect on the performance or safety of the plant, but is nevertheless monitored by operators. On the next refuelling outage the damaged elements are removed from the reactor, placed in a sealed canister and stored alongside other used fuel elements in the used fuel pool.

During this procedure at Angra 2 in April 2014 the canister itself suffered damage while being manoeuvred. Rather than purchase a new container and transfer the rods, plant owner Eletronuclear and Industrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB) launched a project to repair the canister in situ, some 12 metres underwater and with used nuclear fuel elements inside it as well as nearby.

Planning the job took two years for INB and Eletronuclear, based on the technical drawings of the canister, Eletronuclear's capabilities within its power plant and INB's machining skills. After a test run at an INB facility, the team performed the repair "with a high level of technical sophistication and pinpoint accuracy," said Rogger Faria, the mechanical engineer at INB who led the project.

INB said the success has led to a partnership for a commercial service offering ultrasound inspection of fuel elements in nuclear power plant used fuel pools and company superintendent Reinaldo Gonzaga said the experience opens the opportunity for INB to become qualified in fuel element repair.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Urenco signs Ukrainian contract

18 August 2016

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Urenco is to supply uranium enrichment to Ukraine under a contract signed today by the country's national nuclear company Energoatom and the enrichment firm owned by Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

Urenco CEO Thomas Haeberle and Energoatom president Yuriy Nedashkovskyi celebrate the contract at a ceremony in Kiev (Image: Energoatom)



The Ukrainian company earlier this year invited Urenco to submit an offer to supply enriched uranium as part of a competitive procurement exercise. The material supplied by Urenco will be used to produce nuclear fuel for Ukraine's nuclear power plants at Westinghouse's fabrication facility at Vasteras, Sweden.

Energoatom president Yuriy Nedashkovskyi said contract was part of the company's efforts to strengthen the country's energy security. "This contract is another consistent step by Energoatom to diversify nuclear materials and fuel supply to meet the needs of Ukrainian nuclear power plants," he said.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Look No Further, It Is All Here Is Message To Students Thinking Of Wrexham

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Aug 18th, 2016

The new Vice Chancellor of Glyndwr had a simple message to prospective students today, saying she believes the Wrexham institution has it all.

Its been all systems go at Wrexham Glyndwr University this morning as the phone lines and web chats opened to students who are looking for courses through the Clearing process.

A designated team of staff are on hand until 8pm this evening to answer all queries from students following this mornings A Level results. Around ten staff at a time at at the university to answer phone calls and answer prospective students questions on the online chat.

Preparation for Clearing itself began for staff at the end of June, just a few days before the Clearing process opened up on UCAS. However as readers will know it is A Level results day and the weeks that follow that see an increase in course enquiries.

This years team is also larger than normal and has a number of academics on the end of the phone to help deal with any specific student queries.

Julie Cowley, head of marketing, recruitment and admissions told Wrexham.com that the admissions team started work this morning at 6:30am, with the first call about Clearing coming through at 6:40am.

The whole admissions team are giving help and advice to students ringing this morning. We are giving out instant decisions and offers where possible, said Julie.

We are a very friendly team and students shouldnt worry about ringing us.

Although it is only a few hours into the Clearing process, the number of calls to the university is already on a par with previous years.

Courses which have already seen a peak of interest throughout this morning include education, psychology, business and health.

Julie said: It is a constant process throughout the day. UCAS has been open since 8am, but we have been getting calls before then.

Some students who call have not got a place on a specialised course and want to discuss alternatives with us and we are here to help advise and point people in the right direction.

We expect a lot of the calls that come through today to be local. It is potentially a cheaper option  some ring today because they have they decided they dont want to move away from home and want to discuss other choices.

She added: We are urging students to give us a call, but also invite them to the Clearing Open Day on Saturday where we can offer support and guidance.

In the past the Clearing process has been seen as a lesser and possibly scarier option to those who have missed out on the grades for their chosen course. However Andy Phillips, admissions & enquiries manager noted that this perception has changed over the years.

He said: It is more of a back up and a second chance really. We want to make sure they make the right decision. We tell them there is no rush to accept this offer, particularly if they have not considered us before.

It has also been a busy period for careers advisors at the university, who have been helping prospective students find out more information about the career prospects of particular Glyndwr courses.

Andrea Hilditch, careers advisor at the university explained standard queries they deal with include; where do people go at the end of this course, what is the work experience like, what is expected of me on the course and if it fits in with a students personality and what they are looking for.

Andrea added: We dont have all the answers, but we can help people get reasonable conclusions. We see potential students and advise them on a set of questions to ask the tutors to help find out if the course is right for them.

Job prospects is often a big draw to those who choose to study at Glyndwr, with the university amongst the top performing for student employability in Wales.

This, along with the universitys recent increase in student satisfaction, are part of the unique strengths of Glyndwr according to Vice-Chancellor, Professor Maria Hinfelaar.

Speaking about the University, Professor Hinfelaar told us this morning: It is very important for students to make the right choices. Is it likely to lead to a job? 92% of students who graduate from this university find jobs inside six months.

Professor Hinfelaar added: There is lots of hope and growth in north east Wales. There are lots of opportunities for people to study, then stay and work in north east Wales.

There are key growth areas for north Wales, with food, drink, manufacturing and health leading the way. We have our courses in a full sweep of all those sectors. There is a good match, look no further, it is all here!

In a sense there are a lot of students from north east Wales who do not appreciate the opportunities there are for them locally. There is an impression people leave Wales to study elsewhere, and there is nothing wrong with mobility, but we can offer an experience in Wales.

This does not mean students dont have to feel constrained, there are opportunities for placements outside the region and also internationally. Welsh students underestimate the opportunities inside their own system.

Professor Hinfelaar is quite new to Glyndwr, only joining the University in April, and explained: Today is a very big day for the students and a very important day for them with perhaps some anxious moments. We are here to help and answer the questions from students and covert that into firm acceptance and registration, or, if they are still in an orientation process and need a rethink to help them.

We asked how the process compares to elsewhere, and what her first impressions were, It is a very professional system compared perhaps to Ireland and the Netherlands. The people here are so focused and professional. There are lots of people in over the summer here with a real service mentality. We are very supportive of students and are open to students from all walks of life, I think that is a great strength of this University.

I started in April at the latter end of the UCAS cycle, and have had management meetings every two weeks. We get progress updates on applications and some courses do better than others. For next year we are going to look at the whole programme portfolio and see which ones need refreshing.

In my role as Vice Chancellor I need to be speaking with the Students Union all the time, and speaking with students to their input on that.

More information about Clearing at Wrexham Glyndwr University can be found here on their website!
A Socialist Equality Party (SEP) team campaigning for Jerry White for president and Niles Niemuth for vice president spoke to workers during a shift change at the Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI) Brackenridge mill. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Over 50 workers took copies of the SEP's election statement, with many workers expressing disgust with the Democratic and Republican nominees, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Workers also described the escalating attacks on their jobs and living standards after the United Steelworkers (USW) betrayal of the seven-month ATI lockout.

The SEP's call for an independent movement of the working class won a hearing, and some support among ATI workers.

When a campaigner explained that the SEP is building a movement in opposition to the banks, corporations, and big-business parties, a worker initially responded somewhat skeptically, Good luck with that. When the campaigner responded We can't do it alone, the worker raised his fist in the air and responded, this time in an earnest tone, Strength in numbers!

Toward the end of the shift change, one worker asked, Are other workers taking these [leaflets]? When SEP campaigners responded in the affirmative, they replied Good.

Several workers referred approvingly to the consistent coverage by the WSWS of the seven-month ATI lockout. One worker who initially refused a leaflet changed his mind after an SEP campaigner reminded him of the WSWS coverage of the lockout.

Many workers expressed hostility towards the big-business presidential candidates.

Asked about the election, Bud, an ATI worker, responded, Hillary, we already had her for eight years, and we know how that turned out. We know what she's capable of, and it's not good.

Speaking of Trump, he continued, I don't want a president that encourages people to kill the other candidate, no matter how subtle a reference it is.

Another Brackenridge worker commented on the election, Which one do you pick? The good, the bad, or the ugly?

Just over one year ago, ATI locked out 2,200 workers in its Flat Rolled Products division, including 1,100 workers in Western Pennsylvania, and about 600 workers at the Brackenridge mill. The company demanded major increases in healthcare payments, a two-tier benefit system for new hires, and contract language allowing highly arbitrary scheduling and increased use of outside contractors. The USW isolated the lockout from 35,000 steelworkers at US Steel and ArcelorMittal, and hundreds of thousands of auto, telecommunications, and municipal workers whose contracts expired during the same period.

Ultimately, the USW pushed through a contract that gave in to all of ATI's major demands, and allowed the company to idle the Bagdad and Midland plants, leaving 420 workers jobless.

An ATI worker from the finishing department described conditions inside the Brackenridge mill: It's the same as before, not nearly enough people. One thing that did change is that initially we were a just-in-time operation. Now they're stockpiling, which they didn't do before, except right before the lockout.

In the months before the lockout, ATI forced many workers to work overtime for months on end to manufacture a stockpile of steel, which was then used to fill orders during the lockout. At the beginning of the lockout, workers reported logging as many as 4,000 hours the previous year, averaging roughly 80 hours per week.

The global steel industry currently suffers from low demand, and resulting low prices, with corporations opting to hoard trillions of dollars instead of reinvesting in production or rebuilding rotting infrastructure. ATI, like the rest of the US steel industry, has responded to the crisis of the steel industry by attacking the jobs and living standards of ATI workers, shutting down the least profitable plants.

Another ATI worker described the effects of the lockout: There arent a lot of the oldest guys left. At least a quarter of everybody retired, a lot of experienced people.

A big layoff is coming up, August 1 offered voluntary layoff. They say orders are slow, even though theyre shipping lots of coils out.

A lot of coils are only being partially processed in Brackenridge, then shipped to Louisville or to outside non-union shops for post-processing, even though a lot of this could be done in Brackenridge.

They might shut down or curtail some departments [in Brackenridge]. The finishing department is just daylight now. So are many others. Steel mills generally run continuously, day and night, in some cases on a 21-turn work schedule.

The worker continued: The melt shop is off on weekends now. They dont have enough people or orders to work 21-turn. The two [remaining] operations that were seven days a week are now five days.

In the immediate aftermath of the lockout, ATI forced many workers into extreme overtime to restart operations. The worker explained: A lot of guys are pretty burned out, even new guys. They would say, 'This is killing me. Its hard on my family, I never get time off.'

Asked about the 420 workers from the idled Bagdad and Midland plants, he said, There haven't been any new hires. They brought in some maintenance people from Bagdad, some salaried people from Midland, none of the worker workers. With the slowdown, it doesnt look like they will be coming back any time soon.

While workers pay the steep price of the USW's betrayal, the local USW bureaucrats who helped push it through are being rewarded. Fran has an International job, as a safety coordinator, they said of Fran Arabia, who was president of the Brackenridge USW Local, 1196, during the lockout. During the lockout, Arabia chose to send left-over strike pay back to the International, rather than supplement the miserly $50-100 per week in grocery gift cards doled out to locked-out workers.

Chuck, who lives a few miles from the Bagdad plant in Leechburg, spoke about the effect of the givebacks on health contributions for ATI retirees. I think it's terrible. My brother-in-law worked for ATI, he thought his pension was locked in. Then they raised his healthcare, and now he has to work another job to make up for it. When you work for 30 years, you would think you would be locked in. It's crazy, what do they expect these people to do?
On Monday, a hacker group calling itself the Shadow Brokers released malware files and code it claimed to have taken from hackers employed by the US National Security Agency (NSA). The codes, described by the group as a state sponsor tool set for spying and exploiting breaches in computer networks of foreign governments and companies, were released in two bundles--one a freely accessible trove and the other an encrypted bundle containing the best files, which would be auctioned to the public for $500 million.

There is a lot of consensus among technical experts that the cybertools were indeed stolen from the NSA, most likely from an external command and control server created to launch hacking operations that couldnt be traced back to the US, former NSA General Counsel Stewart Baker told NBC News.

The Shadow Brokers group claims to have taken its nearly 300 megabyte collection of malware from an NSA-affiliated hacker team known as the Equation Group. According to the Russian security firm Kaspersky Labs, the Equation Group is a threat actor that surpasses anything known in terms of complexity and sophistication of techniques.

How much you pay for enemies cyber weapons [sic]? asks Shadow Brokers in a crudely worded statement on its web page, referring to the NSA. We find cyber weapons made by creators of stuxnet, duqu, flame, continues the statement.

The Equation Group is the maker of the Stuxnet worm, a computer virus that was used to infect Irans nuclear centrifuges, significantly hampering the latters ability to develop its energy sector. The New York Times reported that the exposed cache of malicious computer code was used to break through network firewalls and get inside the computer systems of competitors like Russia, China and Iran. The NSA has yet to comment on the evident breach of its security system.

The malware programs were mostly dated to June 2013, the month that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed massive illegal spying operations conducted by the US intelligence apparatus around the world. The NSA conducted a systematic revamping of its security protocol after Snowden made these revelations and many of the programs made available by the Shadow Brokers are considered obsolete today.

Both the Times and the Washington Post published prominent news pieces on Wednesday, two days after the leak, seeking, without presenting any factual substantiation, to attribute the breach to the Russian government. Both quoted from statements made on social media by Snowden, who said that circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicates Russian responsibility.

Snowden suggested the alleged Russian move was more diplomacy than intelligence, related to the escalation around the DNC hack. This was a reference to the campaign of the Democratic Party and much of the US media to blame the Russian government for last months leak of Democratic National Committee emails showing corrupt efforts by the party leadership to undermine the primary campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The presidential campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and the party establishment, with the tacit support of Sanders, have charged that the leaks amount to an intervention into the US election by Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at tipping the result in favor of his agent, Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Snowden said the Russian government likely wanted to send a warning that someone can prove US responsibility for any attacks that originated from this malware server, and that this could prove damaging particularly if any of those operations targeted elections.

The acknowledgment by the corporate media of massive spying, hacking and cyber warfare by the NSA against governments and corporations all over the world underscores the hypocrisy of the current efforts to brand Putin and the Russian government as international pariahs and rogue forces for their alleged hacking into Democratic Party computer servers.

Other experts in cyber security have cast doubt on the claims of Russian involvement in the Shadow Brokers hacks. There are so many unknowns here, and a lot of people in the hacking community dont think this is the Russian government, said journalist James Bamford, the author of authoritative books and articles exposing the illegal activities of the NSA. He told NBC News that even the NSA probably doesnt know who did this.

Former NSA General Counsel Baker suggested that the more disastrous and less likely scenario is that someone has hacked US infrastructure and extracted large files, and likely has the ability to do so again.
Eight years after the 2008 economic crash elderly Americans face continuing hardships due to low incomes and the lack of decent and affordable housing. A large percentage of senior households find themselves in low income or very low income status due to the paltry amount of Social Security they receive.

In 2014 the Social Security administration reported that half of all people age 65 and older received less than $14,425 a year from Social Security. Among elderly US Social Security beneficiaries, 22 percent of married couples and about 47 percent of unmarried persons rely on Social Security for nearly all their income.

Conditions are particularly dire in the Detroit area, where, nearly two years after the settlement of the Detroit bankruptcy, the Democratic city administration, with the backing of the federal government, has embarked on a program of mass demolition under the guise of blight removal.

A World Socialist Web Site reporting team recently spoke to residents and their relatives at a senior complex in Southwest Detroit.

Across the Park senior housing is an 11-story facility in Southwest Detroit. Reporters found the deplorable conditions in senior housing, and the shortage of housing for seniors in Detroit are directly related to the mass of foreclosures in the 2008 recession, the loss of auto jobs, and the bankruptcy of Detroit.

The reporting team encountered a retired autoworker sitting in front of the building trying to cool off. He worked 20 years in the plants until a serious non-work injury left him unable to continue. He said: Here I am. I lost my house to back taxes. I was living in a hotel. But I was beaten and robbed there. So I had to move.

Even the elevators and hallways here do not have air conditioning. I hope they get it together. I don't think this thing is right. Unfortunately, it's like that and a whole lot of people in here are retired auto and city workers.

The struggle elderly people face to keep a roof over their heads has corresponded to the worsening of conditions in Section 8 or government subsidized senior housing set aside for low-income retirees.

The American Civil Liberties Union recently filed a lawsuit against the city of Detroit stating Detroit residents were either overcharged on their taxes for houses that were plummeting in value, or not informed of programs that could have helped them. The city refuses to budge, saying tax relief would violate the terms of the Detroit bankruptcy settlement crafted with the crucial support of the trade unions, who handed over millions in pensions and wages to the citys wealthy creditors.

A major banner covers the web site of the city of Detroit. It says that 10,000 homes in Detroit have been demolished since Democratic Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan took office two and a half years ago. The city plans to demolish at least 8,000 more, the culmination of a decades-long process of foreclosures of once owner-occupied homes in Detroit.

The so-called blight removal has led to a precipitous drop in low-income housing units in the city. According to an Urban Institute report there has been a drop in affordable housing units for extremely low income renters in Wayne County, comprised of Detroit and the surrounding metro area, from about 48,000 units to about 24,500.

The retiree explained that there was little help left for seniors because of state-level budget cuts: I got bronchitis, high blood pressure. The government should provide money but the state cut me off my Medicaid. So with Medicare only it takes $30 out of my pocket every time I see a doctor.

They told me I make too much money and would only get $10 worth of food stamps, which does nothing for me, he said. My income is only $1,243 a month. There is nothing upstairs in the refrigerator so I will have to do without for the next three days.

Mariah Howard, 23, a young worker, spoke at length with reporters. She was enraged at the conditions inside the building. She said: My uncle lives on the tenth floor. He is 69 years old. My aunt is 58 years old and stays here when she cares for someone. My father used to live here, too, so I have been coming around here for a long time.

It is not right when you pay your rent on time. You should have everything. The apartment management says that air conditioning is working but you don't feel the A/C blowing with your hand. The temperature feels like 90 degrees inside, real hot. It is terrible.

There are a lot of old people living here with oxygen tanks. Half the people must use walkers and do not have a car. People breathe normally when they leave the building but their breathing is worse when they re-enter.

When a local television station did a nightly news report on the lack of air conditioning at the HUD-financed senior building, residents reported they had been sweltering in dangerous conditions since the heat wave hit at the beginning of July.

Mariah said: Management told us someone will come out to fix the A/C tomorrow, but people living here have been going without air conditioning that works right for at least two years. Well see if anything gets done. I was not here at the time but they tell me the apartment manager actually ran out the back door when Channel 7 came.

I think it is terrible that old people end up like this after working their whole lives. Even as a young person I can see that this is not right. You just dont treat people like this.

A WSWS reporter asked Mariah what she thought about the presidential elections. She held both palms up and said: "They are both working together in the end, Democratic and Republican." She signed up and said she was looking forward to attending an election meeting for Socialist Equality Party candidates Jerry White for president and Niles Niemuth for vice president.

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Low-income retirees in the Detroit-area face abysmal housing conditions

[8 August 2016]
The New York City police announced late Monday that they had arrested and charged a Brooklyn man with second-degree murder (upgraded the next day to first-degree murder charges) in connection with the execution-style killings of an imam and his assistant in broad daylight near their mosque in Queens. The community of Bangladeshi immigrants in the Ozone Park area was plunged into mourning, and Muslims throughout the city of 8.5 million expressed alarm over the hostility being stoked by the endless war on terror, and the growing attacks on refugees and immigrants.

The victims, 55-year-old imam Alauddin Akonjee and his 64-year-old assistant, Thara Miah, were followed and shot in the back of the head at close range, as shown in video footage from nearby cameras. No words were exchanged and the victims never saw the shooter. The killings took place about 1:50 pm on Saturday, soon after they had left their nearby mosque. The imam, who came to the US in 2011, was among many Bangladeshi immigrants who have settled in the Ozone Park area.

As reported in local news sources, the police department said that the surveillance cameras showed the killer get into a Chevrolet sport utility vehicle and drive away. This same vehicle was involved in an incident at an intersection only a mile away, in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. The car was tracked to the nearby apartment of Oscar Morel, 35. Morel was arrested on Sunday night, after first trying to escape by ramming the car of the detectives who had staked out his home.

A police search of Morels home turned up a revolver and clothes that matched the video footage of the Saturday shooting, leading to the murder charges. The gun had been hidden inside a wall in the apartment. The suspect, who works as a janitor at The New School in Manhattan, has no criminal record other than a misdemeanor charge for marijuana possession.

Funeral prayers for both murder victims were held on Monday, with many mourners expressing concern and worry over their own safety. According to a report in the New York Times, some held signs stating, We Are Muslims, Not Terrorists, We Want Peace, We Want Justice, and Muslim Lives Matter.

Several days after the arrest of Morel, police said they still had no motive in the shootings. Morel, of Hispanic background, has admitted he is in the video, but denies his guilt in the murders. According to the New York Post, the police were considering that Morel had been hired to carry out the killings.

The targeting of men in religious garb and the ruthlessness of the attack pointed to some planning. The shooter may have been suffering from mental illness, although Morels family denied any signs of such problems.

We want to know as victims why he killed my father, the oldest of the imams seven children told the Times. What was his motive behind killing my father? Whether he was hired or appointed by someone else to kill my father or did he himself plan and kill my father?

Whatever the details in the case, it cannot be separated from the Islamophobia being whipped up, not only in the US but elsewhere as well, at least for the past 15 years, since the events of September 11, 2001. As one Muslim immigrant told the Times, I dont feel safe anymore. All of this hatred being propagated, especially by Donald Trump, it puts us at risk. People sometimes pass me on the street and call me bin Laden. I just try to keep my head down and keep walking.

While Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is in the forefront of this campaign, with his calls for mass deportations and the building of a wall between the US and Mexico coupled with his increasingly bellicose pronouncements on the Middle East, responsibility is a bipartisan affair.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke at the funeral prayers for the two murdered men, promising protection for the immigrant community. The Obama administration, however, has carried out a record number of deportations while waging endless war.

Beneath the hypocritical official veneer of multiculturalism, the ruling elite has worked, especially through the Democratic Party and in response to the growing anger and dissatisfaction throughout the working class, to divide the population along ethnic as well as racial and religious lines. The nonstop depiction of all issues within the prism of race and ethnicity encourages division, the scapegoating of minorities and the pitting of one section of workers against another, in the context of the daily struggle facing the vast majority of working people.
University of Sydney management has intensified its cost-cutting attacks on the Sydney College of the Arts (SCA) following the collapse, on July 28, of a proposed merger between the fine arts college and the University of New South Wales Art & Design centre.

Early last week, Vice-Chancellor Dr Michael Spence released a Draft Change Plan (DCP) which made clear that the arts college will be forced into the universitys overcrowded Camperdown campus where it will be merged into the Arts and Social Sciences faculty.

Under the new plan, academic and professional staff positions will be slashed by 60 percent, or about 50 full and part-time jobs, and specialised courses in glassmaking, ceramics, jewellery and other more resource intensive mediums eliminated. The Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) will also be suspended and no applications accepted for Master of Contemporary Arts and Master of Fine Arts.

Vice-Chancellor Spence declared that the Rozelle campus, which has 700 students, was costly to run and cynically asserted that the current location of the arts college was constraining choice and options for students.

The DCP claims that enrolments for the SCA had fallen by 20 percent since 2011 and that the college was running a $5.1 million annual deficit, including $2 million in maintenance costs, the highest of any Sydney university faculty. The shift, it insists, would reduce the SCA debt to between $500,000 and $1 million a year.

The shutdown of BVA, higher graduate programs and specialised courses will lead to further falls in enrolments and be used, in turn, to justify more cuts. The so-called deficit, moreover, is a product of the universitys corporate University Economic Model (UEM) program.

The UEM was imposed on all faculties in 2012 and includes a per metre space tax. This heavily impacts on the SCA, which occupies a large area of heritage-listed, state-owned buildings in Rozelles Callan Park. Prior to imposition of the UEM, the SCA had no such debt. Successive state governments, Liberal and Labor alike, have sought to sell-off Callan Park, which consists of 60 hectares of prime foreshore parkland in Sydneys inner west.

Senior lecturer in jewellery Dr Karin Findeis, whose job is on the line, told the media that the proposed merger would destroy the college, which would be fragmented and dispersed across parts of the university.

SCA staff, she told the Sydney Morning Herald, are concerned that students would no longer have a defined and cohesive contemporary art education.

This level of education, she continued, will no longer be on offer to people wanting to work in that field and that will have an ongoing detrimental effect on the whole field of contemporary art. Galleries will disappear, the inclusiveness and the breadth of contemporary art will be challenged.

Sydney College of the Arts students and staff have held a series of protests at the University of Sydney and outside the Art Gallery of New South Wales opposing the closure since university management first announced it was planning a merger on June 21.

More than 130 students are currently suing the University of Sydney over proposed changes to the Bachelor of Visual Arts degree. Their legal case alleges that the university actions were deceptive conduct under consumer law by misleading already enrolled students who were unaware that access to the Rozelle campus and its various courses were not guaranteed beyond 2020.

The SCA student and staff protests, however, have been dominated by the Student Representatives Council and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) who have promoted the illusion that University of Sydney management can be pressured to withdraw its SCA closure plans.

These claims are false and are aimed at preventing SCA students and staff from understanding that the moves to close the college are part of an escalating assault on the basic social right to decent high quality education and access to arts and culture for all by Liberal-National and Labor governments alike.

SRC Education Officer Dylan Griffiths, an organiser of the Let SCA Stay campaign, was quick to claim the cancelled merger with the University of New South Wales late last month was an initial victory. He insisted that the protests had put pressure on the university to recognise the faults in the closure. The claim had no credibility. The campaign did nothing to halt the attacks on the arts college. In fact, just over a week later the assault was stepped up.

On the NTEUs Let SCA Stay Facebook page the union appeals to university management to engage in a genuine, good faith collaborative process to secure its future and honour its stated commitment to excellence in visual arts education.

This is empty posturing. The fact is that the NTEU, at the University of Sydney and other tertiary institutions across Australia, have worked hand in glove with management to impose cost-cutting and pro-business measures. At the University of Sydney in 2013, for example, it assisted management to destroy over 60 jobs and force 100 academics into teaching-only positions.

With the assistance of the NTEU, Sydney University has become one of the most corporatised tertiary institutions in Australia. In December last year the universitys senate adopted plans to slash the number of undergraduate degrees from 122 to just 20 and restructure the universitys current 16 faculties and schools into six faculties and three schools. The union is now calling for enterprise agreement talks with university management, which will include negotiations on jobs redundancies, not just for SCA employees but academics and other professionals.

* * *

Several arts students spoke with the WSWS last week about the attack on the Sydney College of the Arts:

Philia, a mature age TAFE student who attended the SCA in the 1990s, was critical of claims by SRC education officer Dylan Griffiths that the previous cancellation of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) merger was an initial victory. How can it be a victory when [the students] are being forced to go on campus? This is all about money. Education has now become a business. USYD is now the biggest business, she said.

Philia is currently attempting to find somewhere to study jewellery and object design. She says that the course was axed from TAFE last year, and all that remains is an apprenticeship version. She has tried to contact the SCA about the course, which she said is the last place in Sydney she can study jewellery and object design.

Lisa, a mature age student at UNSW Art & Design, said: They seem to be merging arts at other universities as well. My sister studies Natural History Illustration at Newcastle Uni. Theyre talking about offering a degree called creative disciplines [instead] 

If the SCA is closed, she continued, there will be no alternatives. I dont understand the rationale. I think theyre trying to make us more employable but Im not quite sure how. Were supposed to be more industry ready  Ive done life drawing classes. My life drawing class had 24 people in it. Trying to jam enough people around one life drawing model  youve got to question whether its turning into a money-making thing.

I can understand [SCA students] not wanting to be forced into a merger. Theres not enough space. People are fighting over studio spaces as is. People studying masters came in this semester and found their names had been taken down, and others put up, because theres no space. Ive no idea how they would fit any other people in.
The Partei fur Soziale Gleichheit (Socialist Equality Party of Germany, PSG) is placing the fight against war at the center of its campaign for the Berlin House of Representatives. The party is intervening in the elections with a state-wide list of candidates as well as several direct candidates in local constituencies. The PSG is the only party which has put forward an election program that answers the growing threat of war.

The response to the campaign has been strong. Volunteers report lively discussions wherever they go. Many people have expressed their concern about the expansion of the military, crisis and warall questions which overshadow local issues.

The Berlin elections are taking place in the midst of a deep social crisis. In recent months, the coalition led by Berlin Mayor Michael Muller (Social Democratic Party, SPD) and Interior Senator Frank Henkel (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) has launched its own campaign of law-and-order and carried out massive social assaults. The effects of privatization have been especially severe in the housing market and the health care industry. In their treatment of refugees, one can see the kinds of attacks the government is preparing for the entire working population.

At the Jobcentre in the Tempelhof district of Berlin, the question of war is a major topic of discussion. Here one quickly gets a sense of the difficult situation facing refugees. Many who come here have escaped the Syrian war and are now seeking to make a life for themselves in Berlin. Two young men from Syria spoke in support of the PSGs fight against war. It would be great if people came together to stop the war, said Sahin, a young mechanic from Aleppo. His friend, a medical student from Damascus, added, Every day I wish I was back at my university in Damascus.

Simaw was a primary school teacher in Aleppo and has lived in Germany for three years now. Her husband made his escape to Germany more than four years ago, shortly after the outbreak of the civil war. During this time, Simaw stayed in Turkey for a year with their three children. Weve been very lucky, she said. I didnt dare travel across the sea with three children. I would have been too fearful of that. But it was difficult for us in Turkey. Everything was expensive and I wasnt allowed to work. We had to pay more than 200 euros each month for rent alone, then you have all kinds of other expenses. I sold all of our valuables. When my husband was finally granted asylum, we were able to enter Germany legally.

War is a terrible thing, said Simaw. My brother still lives in Aleppo under difficult conditions and my mother lives in Lebanon. My brother cant come to us because the borders are completely sealed now. Weve all been torn apart. Now I just hope to get further training so that I can work. The worst thing is not having a job.

An older worker named Mohamed agreed that the cause of war is to be found in the capitalist profit system. He said: It is the capitalists and their politicians who wage wars for power and raw materials and not ordinary people. I am generally against war and building up the military. It would be much wiser if one took all the money and energy used for that to build new houses and apartments for people.

War does not belong in this world anymore at all! added Erol. In the end, its all the same whether a million people or a single person gets shot down. Any one person who has to die in a war is too many. In response to the elections, he said: A politician would only be acceptable to me if he genuinely fought for peace.

At the employment offices, the social misery caused by decades of social cuts in Berlin is easily seen. Here one can meet hundreds of people who only make ends meet with the greatest difficulty.

One of them is Christina, a German studies and sociology student and single mother in her mid-20s, who pays for school with a mini job at a supermarket. She was very impressed when she listened to campaign workers discuss the building of a revolutionary party and especially the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE). Thats a worthy cause, she said. It is crucial that a youth and student organization be built which is organized internationally and advocates anti-capitalist politics. Christina worried that the possibility that war in the Middle East could escalate is real and extremely dangerous.

Salvatore is angry about war and the money spent by politicians to build up the military. Then they always say theres no money! said Salvatore, My problem is Hartz IV has been paying my rent and now Hartz IV is over but my apartment is still there! At the moment, Salvatore has a mini job in a kitchen, but wants to run his own restaurant. Really good Italian food, that would be perfect, he said, Instead, Ive been living for more than six months on 13 euros a day, and I tell you thats not easy in Berlin.

Salvatore said he has already received his notification for the Berlin elections, but is more familiar with politics in Italy. In a discussion on the Left party, Salvatore said that in Italy the entire pseudo-left supported the Renzi government but now theyre going to war with Libya again. War is never the solution! said Salvatore with conviction. Any political and diplomatic solution that avoids war is better than bombings and mass killings. Look at Syria, the people there live in fear of death every day. Salvatore was encouraged to hear that the PSG is taking up the fight against war and pledged to vote for the party.

Johannes, a social education worker, said suddenly: A huge amount of money will be spent on the Bundeswehr and Germany is also an exporter of weapons. One really cant be proud of that. Johannes expects nothing from the elections, even though he wants things to change. One has to invest money in the social sector and not in arms for the military.

The discussion turned repeatedly to the Left Party, which co-governed the Berlin Senate from 2001 to 2011. Their politics were in some instances even more reactionary than the other parties. They managed to carry out social cuts that provoked open opposition from other parties. Disillusioned, many responded by turning away from politics.

The Left Party is also no different than all the other parties, said Alexander, a young man who would like to work as a nurse. He insisted that he does not vote. I stay out of it completely. And I know a lot of people, including educated people, who do the same.

Alexander witnessed how the hospitals were privatized in Berlin and taken over by the private hospital company Vivantes. The Left Party didnt prevent it either, he said. So much is promised, but in the end nothing changes, or if it does it is in the interest of the economy. Germany is one of the most capitalist countries there are.

Gerke said she was disappointed by all of the parties represented in the Senate. I go vote, but I make my ballot invalid to express my opposition, she said. When told that this alone would change nothing and that it was necessary to unite the working majority of the population to give them a voice, Gerke said: Its true that my ballot protest goes unheard. I dont want to belong to the so-called silent majority by doing that.

Campaign workers frequently discussed political tendencies that presented themselves as supposedly left and progressive but ultimately supported the Left Party. A young woman from Spain discussed her experiences with Podemos, a Spanish tendency comparable to the Left Party in Germany and Syriza in Greece.

Sandra, in her mid-30s, originally from Valencia, Spain, has lived in Berlin for one year. She was active in the Spanish Indignados protests in April and May of 2011 but grew completely disillusioned with Podemos. She said: Im finished with Podemos. They always made a lot of promises, but kept none of them. Pablo Iglesias, the political leader of Podemos, was earlier an active supporter of Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, two bourgeois nationalists.

Campaigners explained that many politicians of the pseudo-left originated in the Stalinist camp. To this, Sandra said: I am fundamentally opposed to Stalinism. One can put no trust whatsoever in these organizations [The Left Party, Podemos and Syriza]. Sandra said she wanted to come to the PSG campaign meeting on August 18 in Schoneberg to learn more about the Fourth International.

Victor, a student, sat in front of the American Memorial Library, and read carefully the PSGs election platform. Finally he approached the partys book table and said he was pleasantly surprised to have discovered the PSG. He had already heard about the IYSSEs campaign Scholarship or War Propaganda at Humboldt University. Munkler-Watch had reported on a lecture that one of his friends had also attended. At first, we thought it was somewhat exaggerated, but now Munklers arguments seem genuinely problematic, Victor said.

Diana had spent several years in the US and supported the campaign of Bernie Sanders while she was there. She described her experiences: Today we live in a merciless system of two classes. Now you only have the alternatives of Trump or Hillary over there. Trump is nothing more than Americas Hitler, and Hillary has lied to people from beginning to end. She noted that in the end the Clinton campaign only used [Sanders] to contain oppositional voices.

Diana supports the anti-war campaign of the PSG and took flyers and other material for her daughter. She said that she makes a point to call herself a citizen of the world to take a stand against nationalism.

Diana and several others said they wanted to read the partys election statement more carefully and promised to come to the election meeting in Schoneberg on Thursday evening to learn more about the program of the PSG and the Fourth International.
With 150 years and counting, members of St. Paul United Methodist Church are celebrating a Sesquicentennial Anniversary. Founded three years after the historic Emancipation Proclamation was signed, and just six years after the City of Meridian was established, St. Paul is thought to be the oldest predominately African-American United Methodist congregation in Lauderdale County. Having played a key role in community affairs over the years, church leaders say they are taking steps to continue that tradition well into the future.

"St. Paul has a rich and glorious history," says Dr. Hargie Crenshaw, chairwoman for St. Paul's History Committee.

The church's history is one that includes being the home to the first African-American Girl Scout troop in the South. It was also a church that was pastored by the first African-American Methodist Bishop to serve in the predominately white southeastern jurisdiction during the Civil Rights Era, and a church that was instrumental in establishing the Carnegie Library for African-Americans during the early 1900s. However, the church's strides in education started many years prior to that time.

"Immediately following the Civil War, St. Paul was instrumental in forming the Freemans' Bureau School. That school played a pivotal role in the education not only for black students, but for black adults as well," says Dr. Crenshaw.

Currently featuring a picture of the historic Carnegie Library and other relics, part of the church's fellowship hall is where there are plans to open a resource center. If things do go as planned, the congregation hopes to open that center around the start of next year.

"St. Paul is on the Freedom Trail," says Pastor Eugene Boger, "but I'm interested in persons coming to St. Paul, and being able to see artifacts that reflect our history."

Boger says the church is also taking initial steps to establish after-school programs for young people, and a children's church service.

"We have an upstairs third floor that we're anticipating having a children's area where young people can go and just make a whole lot of noise, and learn at the same time," says Boger. "Youth outreach is imperative for the growth of the church, and also for the improvement of the community. The community and church definitely need to work hand and hand."

St. Paul's anniversary celebration will continue Friday night with a memorial service at 6:00 to honor church pioneers. This will be followed by an open house at the church from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday, and a church banquet at the Tommy Dulaney Center at MCC Saturday night at 6:00. The guest speaker for the banquet is former Assistant Secretary of State for Elections in Mississippi, Constance Slaughter Harvey. The celebration will conclude Sunday with the morning worship service at 11:00 followed by a free 'dinner on the grounds'.
MIAMI, FL. (AP) - Environmentalists and recreational divers filed a federal lawsuit challenging plans to dredge Port Everglades, arguing the project will harm coral reefs.

The groups filed their lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Miami.

The groups including Miami Waterkeeper and the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association argue that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the project without using the latest science to determine effects on coral reefs.

The port, about 30 miles north of Miami, is near reefs that are home to dozens of species of coral.

Miami Waterkeeper executive director Rachel Silverstein says they don't want to see the same reef damage that occurred during the Port of Miami dredging.

The Corps said it anticipates a new biological assessment to be done in January and that the project will be in planning stages through 2018.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) - You may see less bears digging in your trash after the agreement signed by the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission and Waste Pro USA.

Wednesday morning, the two companies signed an agreement that was intended to reduce human to bear conflicts in northwest Florida. At the event, the companies also showcased a new trash can to prevent bears from digging in it to eat. The container included a metal bar and a lock on top of the trashcan to secure the trash inside.

FWC said that bears are attracted to unsecured trash found around Florida homes and businesses.

FWC Chairman Brian Yablonski said, "We need to do a better job in Florida of securing our trash with bear resistant cans and dumpsters, making east food, hard to get food. If we do that, then the bears won't be as tempted to get into our neighborhoods and into our communities as well."

The FWC and Waste Pro have been working together to make bear-resistant garbage containers more widely available in northwest Florida.
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ANKARA -- Three people were killed and 40 were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a police station in Turkey's eastern province of Van near the Iranian border on Wednesday, state broadcaster TRT said, citing the local governor.

Police and ambulances were seen rushing in, according to another broadcaster, the privately owned Dogan news agency.

The station also serves as a police barracks, TRT said, citing a statement from the local governor. It was not immediately clear how many police and civilians were among the dead and wounded.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on live television there had been an attack on a police station in Van but did not elaborate.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Police returned the body of Muhammad al-Kalouti, one of the two terrorists who carried out a shooting attack on a bus in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem in March.

Al-Kalouti was killed by police at the Damascus Gate after a chase. He was buried in accordance with the conditions police set upon his family -- including burial in a cemetery in East Jerusalem , the presence of fewer than 30 people at the funeral, and a high financial penalty guarantee in the event that one of the conditions is breached.

The process of returning the bodies of East Jerusalem terrorists to their families with specific police conditions is expected to continue.
KAMPALA- A spokesman for South Sudan's opposition and rebel group says that their leader Riek Machar has fled the country.

Mabior Garang of the SPLM-IO said Thursday that Machar had gone to a safe country within the region.

After clashes with President Salva Kiir's army in the capital of Juba on July 8th, Machar and rebel forces left the city, putting the country's peace deal in limbo. Hundreds of civilians died in the July fighting.
BEIJING- Chinese state media say a top military officer visited Syria this week in a show of support for President Bashar Assad's embattled regime.

The official Xinhua News Agency says Rear Adm. Guan Youfei met on Monday with Syrian Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij in Damascus. It said he also met the same day with a Russian general who is coordinating his country's military assistance to Assad's fight against armed opposition groups.

Xinhua said Guan expressed China's willingness to boost military cooperation.
Despite the thousands of Hezbollah terrorists in Syria, one of the most worrying things to the West is the newest weapon the terrorist organization has added to its arsenala cheap UAV.

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After Hezbollah launched over the last few years UAVs toward Israel, last week the organization publicized a video showing UVA attacks on the outskirts of Aleppo.

Hezbollah UAV in Syria

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This UAV however, as written in the Daily Beast, differs dramatically from its predecessors. Although it is capable of carrying much smaller loads of ammunition, it is significantly cheaper and lighter to operate.

The clip shows chinese-produced cluster munition being shot from the drone onto the residents.

Already in 2004 Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, promised that the Mirsad drone would be able to penetrate deep into Israeli territory while carrying 100kg of ammunition. Two years after this he carried through with his promise and launched three Ababil UAVs into Israel, all of which were intercepted by the Israel Air Force.

Mirsad drones and the Ababil drones are strategic weapons for terrorists and are intended to cross borders and instil fear into enemy cities. However, the UAV Hezbollah showed in Aleppo is a tactical weapon. Commercial UVAs are able to fly limited distances while carrying only several kilograms of ammunition. But not only are they cheap, they are also extremely accurate in launching explosions.

According to the Daily Beast, the Pentagon estimates that each UAV can cost as little as $200 and will be used by Hezbollah in other combat fields. Consequently, the Americans are working to upgrade their defense against drones.

Hezbollah UAV attack in Aleppo

This month, the American security apparatus asked scientists and companies to suggest technological solutions to locating, recognizing, tracking and neutralizing UAVs on the move while simultaneously avoiding environmental damage.

The Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar published on Thursday morning an article entitled Hezbollah on the ground and in the air.

The propaganda article, which is meant to demonstrate Hezbollahs new upgraded systems, features an interview with a senior commander who discussed the changes within the organization since the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

After the victory in 2006, we were asked to change our offensive systems and to prepare for what the Israelis fear the mostour infiltration into the Galilee, the official said.
Former prime minister Ehud Barak leveled harsh criticism against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday evening, accusing him of having made an unsuccessful "gamble" in his management of Israel's relationship with the United States.

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"After the signing of the American military aid agreement for the coming decade, the magnitude of the damage caused by Netanyahu's reckless gamble will come to light," Barak said during an event organized by the left-wing political movement Darkenu.

"Instead of receiving $4.5 billion per yearwhich was both plausible and expected just one year ago, shortly after the signing of the nuclear agreement with IranIsrael will receive $3.8 billion. Even these funds will only be given on the condition that Israel agrees to refrain from demanding any additional funding from Congress."

Barak speaking at an event organized by the Darkenu movement (Photo: Courtesy Darkenu)

Barak went on to say that because of Netanyahu's gamble, "vital projects will have to be halted or cancelled altogether, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs in the (Israeli) defense industries."

The former prime minister went on to accuse Netanyahu of interfering in US politics.

"Instead of having an open and candid dialogue behind closed doors with the president (about the Iran agreement), as any other prime minister would've done, we've witnessed Netanyahu's flagrant interference in American politics, intruding into the domestic partisan dispute," Barak said.

"Netanyahu has done all this despite the predictable failure of his actions, and now must face the concrete costs of this failure. Such unforgivable negligence," he added.

The Likud party said in response, "When it comes to military aid from the US, Barak should be the last one to talk. While Prime Minister Netanyahu is about to sign an unprecedented aid agreement with the US, which amounts to almost $40 billion, we're still waiting for the $1 billion in US military aid that Barak promised we'll receive during his hasty withdrawal from Lebanon."
The High Court of Justice ordered illegal structures in Susya to be demolished two years ago. The Court then requested the state's position on the issue. However, due to international pressure, the state has yet to take a stance.

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The village of Susya is a Bedouin village built without permits in the Israeli controlled Area C of the West Bank. The international community has been putting pressure on the Israeli leadership to not destroy the illegal structures for years, saying that it would make 300 people homeless, and endanger the two state solution. The European Union has built structures on the land for the Palestinians without obtaining building permits from the Israeli government.

In an effort to come to an understanding between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, Israel has said that it wants to move the villagers to a nearby hill and give them 540 dunams next to the Palestinian town of Yatta, from which many of them hail. Meanwhile, the Palestinians have requested to make arrangements to enable the village to continue to exist where it is while giving the villagers 1,500 dunams of land for agricultural purposes.

The tent village of Susya with illegal EU built structures (Photo: Regavim)

Throughout this time, There have been dozens of attempts by the Israeli government and the Palestinians to try to come to a compromise, but they have all failed due to seemingly insurmountable differences between the two sides. The Palestinians insist that they are not willing to give up the land and claim they will not move under the framework of any solution.

The village of Susya (Photo: Regavim)

Regavim replied in response, "this is a clan of a few dozen people making a crazy demand for land that is comparable to the size of Beit Dagan or Rosh Pina. The Nawajah family owns homes in Yatta and therefore it's the government's job to evict them to ensure they go back to their homes. Even the solution offered by the government to facilitate their relocation to areas close to Yatta is too lenient."

"We expect the Prime Minister to ignore foreign pressure, which constitutes blatant interference in the internal affairs of Israel, and make a decision which reflects the rule of law and the national interests of Israel," Regavim continued.
Russia launched a second day of airstrikes Wednesday against Syrian militants from an Iranian air base, rejecting US suggestions its cooperation with Tehran might violate a UN resolution as illogical and factually incorrect.

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Iran confirmed on Wednesday that Russia was using its territory for the airstrikes

Russia first announced the strikes on Tuesday from near the Iranian city of Hamedan, 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. On Wednesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said another wave of warplanes had departed from Iran, striking targets in eastern Syria.

According to the head of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi the Russians were using Iran's Shahid Nojeh air base some 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Hamedan, a secluded base where Russian warplanes were detected landing late last year.

Russian jet departs Hamedan, Iran to drop bombs on ISIS in Aleppo (Photo: EPA)

Boroujerdi said the Russian Tu-22M3 bombers landed inside Iran only to refuel under the permission of the country's Supreme National Security Council, a move that allowed them to carry a larger bomb load of more than 20 metric tons.

"There is no stationing of Russian forces in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Boroujerdi added.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner on Tuesday called the Iranian deployment "unfortunate," saying the United States was looking into whether the move violated UN Security Council resolution 2231, which prohibits the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran.

Russia bristled at those comments on Wednesday after announcing that Russian SU-34 fighter bombers flying from Iran's Hamadan air base had, for a second day, struck Islamic State targets in Syria's Deir al-Zor province, destroying two command posts and killing more than 150 militants.

"It's not our practice to give advice to the leadership of the US State Department," Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

"But it's hard to refrain from recommending individual State Department representatives to check their own logic and knowledge of basic documents covering international law."

Moscow first used Iran as a base from which to launch airstrikes in Syria on Tuesday, deepening its involvement in the five-year-old Syrian civil war and angering the United States.

Russian jets stationed in Hamedan (Photo: AP)

Russia's use of the Iranian air base comes amid intense fighting for the Syrian city of Aleppo, where rebels are battling Syrian government forces backed by the Russian military, and as Moscow and Washington are working towards a deal on Syria that could see them cooperate more closely.

Russia backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while the US believes the Syrian leader must step down and is supporting rebel groups that are fighting to unseat him.

On Wednesday the State Department reiterated its concern, saying Russia's use of the Iranian base "doesn't help" reach a cessation of hostilities in Syria and that US lawyers were still assessing whether it violated the UN resolution.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier any US dismay over Moscow's military cooperation with Iran should not distract from efforts to realize the US-Russia deal on coordinating action in Syria and securing a ceasefire.

Lavrov said there were no grounds to suggest Russia's actions had violated the UN resolution, saying Moscow was not supplying Iran with military aircraft for its own internal use, something the document prohibits.

"These aircraft are being used by Russia's air force with Iran's agreement as a part of an anti-terrorist operation at the request of Syria's leadership," Lavrov told a Moscow news conference, after holding talks with Murray McCully, New Zealand's foreign minister.
BEIRUT -- Syrian government warplanes bombed Kurdish-controlled areas of the city of Hasaka in northeastern Syria on Thursday for the first time in the five-year-old civil war, the spokesman for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said.

YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said the air strikes had hit Kurdish districts of the city, which is mostly controlled by Kurdish groups, and the positions of a Kurdish security force known as the Asayish.

"There are martyrs and wounded," he told Reuters.
Survivors of Auschwitz have asked Germanys highest court to resolve the case of a former SS soldier who was convicted of complicity in the murder of 300,000 Jewish prisoners during the Holocaust.

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While the German authorities have pursued prosecution cases of suspected former Nazis with greater intensity, Auschwitz survivors do not have as much time as German justice, said Roman Kent, 90, the New York-based president of the International Auschwitz Committee, a nongovernmental group that unites Holocaust survivors.

Oskar Goening on trial

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The former SS soldier, Oskar Groening, now 95, went on trial in April 2015 and was sentenced in July 2015 to four years in prison for accessory to murder while serving at Auschwitz death camp. Among other things which emerged in the trail, Groening also used his position to confiscate money and jewels from arriving prisoners.

His lawyers and those representing some of the dozens of co-plaintiffs in the case appealed the decision. However, due to technical reasons the arrival of the case at Germanys Federal Court of Justice was delayed.

The appeal was formally received on March 22, said Erna Besirovic, a justice official at the court in Karlsruhe.The case is pending, she said, with no date set for a hearing or other action.

Mr. Kent, one of the 80 Holocaust survivors and Christoph Heubner, the vice president of the Berlin-based International Auschwitz Committee, said that the elderly had taken some comfort from belated justice Groeings case and that of another former SS guard, Reinhold Hanning, who was sentenced in June to five years as an accessory to 170,000 cases of murder

Oskar Groening (Photo: AFP)

The two men were among a handful whom Germanys central office for prosecuting Nazi crimes deem fit to stand trial despite their age.

For decades, former guards at Auschwitz and other death camps eluded prosecution since the German justice authority determined that they could only be prosecuted providing that concrete witness evidence could link them to specific criminal acts.

This approach however, changed with the trial of John Demjanjuk, a former guard at the Sobibor camp who lived and worked in the United States for many years and who was eventually sentenced to five years by a Munich court in 2011. His trial set a precedent making way for the arraignment of other suspected former Nazis.

Reinhold Hanning in court (: )

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Mr. Heubner, who has worked at the International Auschwitz Committee for 20 years, said that the survivors whose hope had been renewed in the German justice system following the trials of Groening and Hanning were losing faith once more.

These co-plaintiffs had a great new impression of Germany, Mr. Heubner said. Now, it is like being plunged into a bath of cold water; suddenly, again, nothing is happening.

He added in a statement that, survivors are harshly critical of German justice, whose almost complete inaction regarding the judgment of SS perpetrators they had to follow for decades.

The central office for prosecuting Nazi crimes in Ludwigsburg continues to pursue cases, announcing only last week that it would seek the prosecution of four former male guards and four women who worked in administration at the Stutthof camp, near Gdansk, Poland.

Reinhold Hanning (Photo: AP)

Last week, the justice authorities confirmed a finding that a 92-year-old woman in north Germany who had served as a radio operator in Auschwitz was not fit to stand trial on charges of complicity in the murder of 260,000 prisoners.

In April, a former SS guard at Auschwitz who was scheduled to go on trial in Hanau, near Frankfurt, died days before his case was set to open.
ISIS suicide bombers reportedly battacked Libya's pro-government forces in the ISIS' former stronghold city of Sirte on Thursday, detonating two cars bombs that killed at least 10 troops. The death toll is expected to rise, since many of the 20 troops wounded were in

Sirte is IS's final bastion in the country, and Libyan troops have been forcing the militants into ever-smaller bits of territory there, backed by US airstrikes. Suicide attacks are a much-used tactic by the extremist group.

Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 ouster and killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country has been split between rival parliaments and governments, based in Tripoli and the country's far east, each backed by an array of militias and tribes.
ISTANBUL - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday blamed followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen for playing a role in a series of bomb attacks in eastern Turkey blamed on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

In a speech broadcast live on television, Erdogan said Turkey was facing joint attacks by various terrorist organisations who act together. He said that Gulen's followers were complicit in attacks by the Kurdish militants that killed seven members of security forces and wounded 224 people in the southeast on Thursday.

Ankara blames Gulen for the failed July 15 putsch when a group of rogue soldiers attempted to overthrow the government, commandeering tanks, planes and helicopters. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, has denied the charges.

Ideologically, Gulen, an Islamic cleric, has little in common with the leftist, secular PKK, which seeks autonomy for Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. More than 40,000 people, mainly Kurds, have died since it took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. It is considered a terorist organisation by the United States, Ankara and Europe
The Israeli military said Thursday it has disciplined three soldiers after a video emerged that seemed to show them hurling a stun grenade at Palestinian men smoking a water pipe in the northern West Bank.

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In the video, captured by a surveillance camera, an Israeli military jeep pulls up to the four Palestinians, stops briefly, then drives away as a stun grenade explodes in the frame, sending the Palestinians fleeing. The military said a platoon sergeant was sent to jail for 10 days and two other soldiers were also disciplined for acting "contrary to military standards."

The video was the latest footage filmed during a recent wave of violence that has been widely circulated in both Israeli and Palestinian media.

Video shows soldiers throwing stun grenade at group of Palestinians

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Since mid-September, Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis and two visiting Americans in stabbing and shooting attacks, as well as attack in which cars were used to ram into Israeli troops and civilians. At least 206 Palestinians have died by Israeli fire in that period, most said by Israel to be attackers. The attacks have tapered off in recent weeks.

Palestinians have accused Israelis of using excessive force against assailants who have already been wounded or stopped, and quickly circulate videos which they say back up their claims.

The Israeli watchdog group Yesh Din said that between 2010 and 2013, only 1.4 percent of Palestinian complaints led to indictments against soldiers. The military insists its justice system works, saying the low indictment rate does not signal lack of effort. They say the system is independent and that proper measures are taken if there are legal grounds to try and punish a soldier.
Allowing the deployment of Russian bomber planes in the Iranian airport of Hamadan and having those forces make daily trips into Syria constitute a monumental event in Iranian history. Never before has Iran let foreign forces into its territory. This move displays the full the ineptitude of the Ayatollah regime's attempt to subdue Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's dissidents without Russian assistance, in addition to showcasing Russia's failure to determine the Syrian War's outcome. All this while we sit on the border of the and rub up against it.

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Understanding Russia's recent moves necessitates a return to the MolotovRibbentrop Pact from August 1939 between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, from a week before the breaking of WWII. The pact was comprised of two parts: a public non-aggression agreement between the two countries, and a secret arrangement made to divide Central Europe into USSR and German-influenced zones.





Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: AP)

Following the pact, the Soviet Army and the German Wehrmacht invaded Poland, defeating it with ease and throwing a joint parade in celebration. Ten months later, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were all stripped of their independence, and a Soviet law declared that they had never existed. Germany, for its part, managed to conquer Western Europe thanks to fuel provided to it by the USSR. The situation drove Churchill to declare that Britain could very well fall under German rule; if Hitler had not made the mistake of turning against Russia, he might not have been defeated.

For decades after the war was over, the MolotovRibbentrop Pact was not to be mentioned in Soviet Russia, with its congress publicly condemning the agreement only in 1992. It is particularly important, though, to track the current Russian President Vladimir Putin's shifting position on the pact: In 2008, he had condemned it during a conversation with the three Baltic countries' presidents. Back then, Putin had stressed that the agreement did not reflect Russian sentiment and should be viewed as no more than "a private agreement between Hitler and Stalin."

Two years ago, however, Putin expressed a change of heart, when he justified Russia's conquering of Poland as punishment for Poland's actions, explaining during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the agreement had intended to secure Russia's safety from Germany, after Russia had unsuccessfully tried to present a firm front against Germany throughout the 1930s.

The principles of the MolotovRibbentrop Pact are still alive and well, as is Russia's modus operandi. Its latest moves in the Middle East reflect a desire to secure Russia's influence over geographical locations and regimes. In practice, Russia would like to return to the way things were in 1973, when it wielded its influence over Iraq, Syria, Libya and different liberation movements, including Palestinian ones. It would like to become a major weapons supplier in the area and a force to be reckoned with and considered in any Middle East dispute.

Putin possesses a rare level of skill in using his cunning, strategic misdirection, misinformation and simultaneously using what it publicly known and what is kept secret, all while relying on the intel at his disposal. So far, his successes have been greater than his failures. It isn't hard to understand why his own security is linked to the goings on in our area. It is less clear how Israel's security is affected by positioning Russian Tupolev planes in Iran's Hamadan Airport. It would behoove us not to be surprised in the matter.
SAN FRANCISCO - Uber passengers in Pittsburgh will be able to summon rides in self-driving cars with the touch of a smartphone button in the next several weeks. Uber also announced that it is acquiring a self-driving startup called Otto, co-founded by Israeli Lior Ron, that has developed technology allowing big rigs to drive themselves.

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With the acquisition of Otto, Uber gets a fast infusion of self-driving expertise, including Otto co-founder Anthony Levandowski, one of the founding fathers of autonomous technology. According to estimates, Uber paid $680 million for the acquisition.

Otto promotion

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The high-tech ride-hailing company said Thursday that an unspecified number of autonomous Ford Fusions with human backup drivers will pick up passengers just like normal Uber vehicles. Riders will be able to opt in if they want a self-driving car, and rides will be free to those willing to do it, spokesman Matt Kallman said.

Uber, which has a self-driving research lab in Pittsburgh, has no immediate plans to deploy self-driving cars beyond the Pittsburgh experiment. But its CEO, Travis Kalanick, has said the ride-sharing company's futureindeed, the future of all transportationis driverless.
A documentary dealing with the story of Anne Frank, shot in Gaza and featuring Palestinian young women, was recently given a clandestine screening in Iran, whose Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is a Holocaust denier. The film, titled "Anne Frank: Then and Now,'' was shown to interested lecturers and students.

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"Anne Frank: Then and Now" was shot in Gaza, Ramallah and Jaffa during Operation Protective Edge. It features eight young Palestinian women and follows them as they learn about Frank's story. The film also incorporates excerpts from her diary.

An excerpt from the film "Anne Frank: Then and Now"

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The Iranian screening was kept secret to protect the safety of those who would view it. The film's director, Jacob Sedler, told the online magazine Deadline that he spoke to the film's Iranian audience. "We talked about the effect that art can have in today's world," he said, adding that "Toward the end, one of the students thanked me for 'teaching us something new.'" He said that he hopes the film will reach a wider audience in Iran. "Tell your friends about Anne Frank," he urged audience members. "Tell them about the Holocaust."

One of the women featured in the film

Khamenei's denial of the Holocaust has been well-documented: earlier this year, he published a video where he referred to the Holocaust by saying, "Even if this was indeed true, we have no idea how it happened." Two weeks before this year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, Iran declared the start of a caricature drawing contest under the theme of Holocaust denial.
The Israel Air Force's (IAF) Airborne Rescue and Evacuation Unit 669 has begun exercises in recent months for direct leaps into the water to rescue the injured from the sea, directly from the helicopter, without cables, all to minimize the extraction time. The IDF has recorded and released documentation on Thursday of these drills.

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669 exercise (:  ")

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Such a rescue may be required if a naval ship or gas rig is struck by a rocket. The exercise was carried out 15 kilometers from shores of Haifa and simulated a rescue operation that would require a 100-kilometer flight. The unit's soldiers leapt to the water from a height of ten meters, wearing a light swimmer's vest that allowed them a few seconds' entry into the depth of the water.

(Photo: IDF Spokesperson)

(Photo: IDF Spokesperson)

A senior officer in 669 explained, "Swimming is the hardest task for a rescuer, and also for the rescuee, because it requires a different physical and mental ability. The drill in February included dealing with high seas and cold water. The two teams jumped from the helicopter and connected the rescuees to the chopper's line. The rescue itself lasts from seconds to minutes, but the entire event took about two hours."





(Photo: IDF Spokesperson)

(Photo: IDF Spokesperson)

In the video, the soldiers deal with a complicated challenge: rescuing submariners. The unit's soldiers also drilled in recovering important parts of aircrafts.





(Photo: IDF Spokesperson)

669 is one of the IDF's most select units, and soldiers reach it after competitive trials of physical exertion. Over the past year, its soldiers have trained in the United States on the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, which the IAF is to acquire in the coming years.
After months of negotiations, Israeli authorities handed over the body of the terrorist who committed a shooting attack on a bus in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot in March despite firm opposition to the move by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

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Muhammad al-Kalouti, 21, was buried in a small ceremony heavily guarded by police at the Bab al-Zahra cemetery in Jerusalem last night. Al-Kalouti had been killed by security forces while perpetrating the attack.

Eliminating the terrorist (:  )

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The Israeli government often holds the bodies of terrorists both as a deterrent against future attacks and because funerals in the past have turned into massive demonstrations of incitement. Officials only returned Al-Kaloutis body after the family deposited NIS 20,000 in collateral with the police and pledged not to have more than 30 people at the ceremony.

The terrorists' vehicle at the scene of the attack (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Lieberman is a firm proponent of withholding the bodies of terrorists from their families, but Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit ruled that the move did not have legal justification and ordered the body released. The Supreme Court has also demanded answers from the government as to why terrorists bodies have not been handed over after it ruled on the issue in July.

The defense minister criticized Mandelblits decision yesterday, telling reporters that the role of the attorney general is to be an advisor, not a judge.

Liebermans predecessor Moshe Ya'alon had opposed withholding the bodies of terrorists from their families and had argued that the policy only provoked more attacks.
A string of bombings, blamed on Kurdish rebels and targeting Turkey's security forces, killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 220 others, officials said Thursday.

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Two of the attacks were car bombings that hit police stations in eastern Turkey, while a roadside blast targeted a military vehicle carrying soldiers in the southeast of the country.

Turkish PM visits wounded:



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Authorities say the assaults were carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has launched a campaign of car bombings targeting police stations or roadside bomb attacks against security force vehicles. Last week, PKK commander Cemil Bayik threatened increased attacks against police in Turkish cities.

The wave of attacks comes as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan clamps down on suspected followers of a dissent movement he believes is led by US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who the government accused of orchestrating the failed military coup last month that killed at least 270 people.

People rush to the blast scene after a car bomb attack on a police station in the eastern Turkey (Photo: Reuters)

The first car bombing hit a police station in the eastern province of Van late Wednesday, killing a police officer and two civilians. At least 73 other people53 civilians and 20 police officerswere wounded.

Erdogan added that another car bombing hit police headquarters in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig early Thursday, killing at least five people. Officials said earlier that 146 people were wounded and 14 of them were in serious condition.

Video footage shows a large plume of smoke rising from the area. Cars were overturned and the windows of the four-story building and its wings were blown out.

In the southeastern province of Bitlis five soldiers were killed after rebels detonated a roadside improvised explosive device as an armored military vehicle drove by. Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack. A government-paid village guard, helping the security forces battle the PKK, was reportedly also killed in a clash with rebels in the province.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim traveled to Elazig to visit the site of the bombing as well as those wounded in the attack.

He told reporters there that both the PKK and the Gulen movement were directed by the same "intelligence" intent on causing Turkey harm, without elaborating on the matter any further.

"The (Gulen movement) has lost its assertiveness and has handed over the duty to the (PKK)," Yildirim said. "The intelligence that directs them is the same. When one's duty ends, the other takes up the duty.

Yildirim vowed to fight the PKK until it is "eliminated," adding that "No terror organization will force this nation to cow in submission," Yildirim said.

Speaking in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkey was jointly attacked by various organizations who he said were in close contact with each other and were "acting under the same motivations even if they have different names."

He said the Turkish security forces have killed at least 182 Kurdish rebels in the weeks following the July 15 failed military coup, insisting that there has been no slackening in the fight against the PKK.

Fighting between the PKK and Turkey's security forces resumed last year after a fragile peace process collapsed. Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have reportedly been killed. Human rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also died in the clashes.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict since the PKK took up arms for autonomy in southeast Turkey in 1984. Turkey and its allies consider the PKK a terrorist organization.

Amnesty International condemned Thursday's car bombings as "the latest in a series of reckless and brutal attacks."

"Those responsible for these crimes show a contempt for the right to life and must be brought to justice," added Andrew Gardner, a researcher at Amnesty.

On Thursday, authorities imposed a temporary blackout on media coverage of the bombing in Elazig, citing "public order and national security" concerns. Turkey frequently imposes such bans following deadly bomb attacks. Thursday's order asked media organizations to refrain from broadcasting and publishing anything that may cause "fear in the public, panic and disorder and which may serve the aims of terrorist organizations."
Federal prosecutors have opened an investigation into whether civil rights laws were violated by the town of Dudley that has rejected plans for the Muslim cemetery.

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US Attorney Carmen Ortiz announced Thursday that the investigation will determine whether the town of Dudley violated the right to religious exercise by the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester. The Islamic group purchased 55 acres of farmland in Dudley for a Muslim cemetery, but town officials rejected the plan, citing traffic and environmental concerns. Ortiz said she plans on looking into whether the town placed unreasonable barriers to the group's cemetery proposal. Federal prosecutors are authorized to investigate allegations of discriminatory treatment under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits discrimination against any assembly or institution on the basis of religion. "All Americans have the right to worship and to bury their loved ones in accordance with their religious beliefs, free from discrimination," said Ortiz.

A shack located on the disputed land where a Muslim group wishes to build a cemetery (Photo: AP)

Jay Talerman, a lawyer for the group, has suggested that anti-Muslim bias played a role in the town's decision to deny needed permits for the cemetery. After filing a lawsuit against the town in land court last month, said he has had discussions with the town's attorneys to try to come to an agreement about the cemetery. "We remain hopeful, but to date we don't have a commitment from the town that meets our expectations," Talerman said.

Dudley officials said their denial of a permit for the cemetery did not violate the religious rights of the group. "The Dudley Board of Selectmen welcomes this investigation as an opportunity to show that the Town's zoning and land use practices do not violate any religious rights of the Islamic Society, nor do such practices discriminate against any assembly or institution on the basis of religion or religious denomination," the town said in a statement.

The Islamic Society, which owns a mosque in Worcester, wants to build the cemetery on a long-idle dairy farm.

During town meetings on the proposal, residents of Dudley have said they are concerned that burial practices could contaminate groundwater because Muslims traditionally do not embalm bodies and bury their dead without coffins. They have also cited concerns about noise, vandalism and increased traffic on the narrow road where the cemetery would be built.

Proposals for Muslim cemeteries in other states have been met with similar resistance, including in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Farmington, Minnesota; and Farmersville, Texas.
On Thursday night, the Israel Police arrested six persons for disturbing the peace following a protest that broke out following the arrest of an ultra-Orthodox deserter who was AWOL from the IDF.

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Ultra-Orthodox protestors (:    24)

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Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox took to the streets and set fire to trash cans and blocked roads at Shabbat Square.

Protests in Jerusalem (Photo: Hershi Perlmutter, News 24)

The demonstrators were protesting the fact that the deserter was arrested a fortnight before his wedding. Large forces of police came to the scene, where the protestors hurled rocks and insults, such as "Nazis."





Protests in Jerusalem (Photo: Hershi Perlmutter, News 24)

Half a year ago, serious public disturbances took place in Ashdod when dozens of ultra-Orthodox attacked a force of military police officers who came to arrest another deserter. The protestors flipped the police officers' car. The IDF later explained that in that case, the deserter had not presented himself when called up, as is required. Thus, he failed to prove his ultra-Orthodox background, which would have exempted him from military service.
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For the second day, Russian warplanes used an airbase in Iran to hit targets in Syria Wednesday in another sign of growing cooperation between Moscow and Tehran to counter U.S. interests in the region.

Russia's Defense Ministry also mockingly dismissed U.S. State Department charges that the arrangement for use of the Iranian airbase southwest of Tehran could be in violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 prohibiting the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran.

The second consecutive day of bombing missions from Iran's Hamadan airbase about 175 miles southwest of Tehran involved Sukhoi Su-34 strike aircraft, called Fullbacks by NATO, according to the Russian news outlet RT.

Once they reached Syrian airspace, the Su-34 aircraft were escorted by Su-35 fighters, known as Flanker-Es, flying out of the Syria's Khmeimim airbase near the port city of Latakia, RT said, citing the Russian Defense Ministry. The Fullbacks reportedly hit Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, targets near the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zour.

"Over 150 militants have been eliminated, among them foreign mercenaries," in the strikes, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Russian bombers used the Iranian airbase for the first time. The strike wave consisted of Su-34s and long-range Tu-22M3 bombers, called Backfires by NATO, against targets in Deir al-Zour Aleppo and Idlib, Army Col. Chris Carver, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said in a video briefing to the Pentagon on Tuesday.

For those strikes, "the Russians did notify the coalition" under the memorandum of understanding on flight safety over Syria that was agreed to by the two countries, Garver said. "They informed us they were coming through. We assured safety of flight as those bombers passed through the area and toward their target and then when they passed out again," he said.

It was not immediately clear whether the Russians gave notice for the strikes on Wednesday.

Secretary of State John Kerry phoned his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, after the first strikes Tuesday to express U.S. concerns and also to try again to get Russia to use its influence with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to arrange a ceasefire that would ease the siege of Aleppo.

"Discussion of the situation in Syria continued with a focus on the situation in Aleppo, where government forces are conducting a large-scale humanitarian operation with Russian support," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on the Kerry-Lavrov phone call.

Also on Tuesday, State Department Spokesman Mark Toner said the Russian airstrikes out of Iran had killed civilians and suggested that they might constitute a violation of the UN resolution on military cooperation with Iran.

Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for Russia's Ministry of Defense, responded Wednesday in a mocking statement singling out Toner by name.

"It is against our rules to provide advice to the leadership of the U.S. State Department, but it's hard to resist a recommendation for some State Department representatives to check their logic and knowledge of fundamental documents of international law," Konashenkov said.

In the regular State Department briefing Wednesday, Toner said that the Russian airstrikes out of Iran "continue to hit civilian populations. Our concerns remain very vivid." Kerry's phone call to Lavrov was focused on trying to arrange a ceasefire "and this doesn't help," Toner said. "It only exacerbates what is already a dangerous situation."

When asked whether Russia was in violation of the UN resolution, Toner said, "Our lawyers are looking at it. It requires a very detailed legal analysis."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
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.
News

Belgrade - The Vice President met with President of the Republic of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic in Belgrade today. The leaders agreed on the critical importance to regional stability of continuing to strengthen Serbia's relationship with its neighbors.

The Vice President commended the commitment of Serbia's leadership to implementing reforms that move Serbia forward along its European path. The Vice President also welcomed the deepening of U.S.-Serbia efforts on cancer research, prevention, and care as part of the Cancer Moonshot initiative.
Health News

Portsmouth, Virginia - The Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center (NMCPHC) announced the release of an updated ShipShape Program, August 16.

The ShipShape Program is the official Navy weight-management program designed to assist active duty and reserve military service members, beneficiaries, and government civilians with making healthy behavior changes in order to lose weight.



The curriculum was modernized to reflect the most recent weight-management research and best practices, and the program transitioned to an open enrollment format to provide flexibility and meet an increased demand for the program.



William Calvert, deputy director of Population Health at NMCPHC expressed excitement about this update.



"For over 15 years, the ShipShape Program has helped participants achieve their weight management goals," said Calvert. "This new and improved version enhances what is really great about the program - an evidence-based approach to weight management offered in a group setting -- and expands it to benefit participants and make it more accessible."



Anthony Barkley, NMCPHC's department head for Health Promotion and Wellness and ShipShape program manager, emphasized the benefits of the new program.



"In this new open enrollment format, participants have the flexibility to make the program work for their schedule," said Barkley. "They can take the first and last sessions online and attend the in-person group sessions in whatever order they choose, depending on the availability of courses in their area."



The flexible program will offer participants greater and easier access to the program. Additionally, the open enrollment format will enable any personnel who fail a physical fitness assessment (PFA) spot check to enter into the program immediately if a course is in session. Other individuals interested in weight management and healthy living can self-enroll at any point throughout the year based on availability of courses in their location.



To learn more about the ShipShape Program, visit the NMCPHC ShipShape Program homepage, http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmcphc/health-promotion/Pages/shipshape.aspx.



Follow the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center on Twitter or Facebook for the latest news and updates on the ShipShape Program and other news and programs from NMCPHC.
Latest News

Okinawa, Japan - Amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) made a port visit to White Beach, Okinawa, today.

During the visit, Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) will join the Bonhomme Richard (BHR) crew for a scheduled deployment.



BHR is conducting a fall deployment in the 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance partnerships, maintain forward presence, and increase Navy-Marine Corps integration for amphibious operations.



Sailors and Marines from the 31st MEU attached to BHR, flagship of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (BHR ESG), will focus on amphibious assault and humanitarian assistance capabilities, disaster relief operations and non-combatant evacuation missions.



"The Marines are a vital element of our 'blue-green' team aboard BHR and a key part of our mission," said Capt. Jeffrey Ward, BHR commanding officer. "It's going to be great to have them back, and we look forward to accomplishing valuable training with our Sailors, Marines and allies in the Pacific."



The BHR ESG and 31st MEU will conduct a series of theater security cooperation engagements designed to strengthen ties and increase interoperability with allies and partners in the region. Sailors and Marines are scheduled to conduct exchanges with allies and partners across a range of mission sets.



The BHR ESG consists of Bonhomme Richard, amphibious transport dock USS Green Bay (LPD 20), and amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42).


New York: A Muslim mother of Pakistani origin has sued a New York school for USD 25 million claiming her disabled son was forced to sign a confession saying he was part of the Islamic State terror group.

Nubaisha Uppal, a resident of Long Island, claimed senior staff at East Islip Middle School bullied her son, Nashawn, 12, into falsely confessing he was a terrorist, the media reported on Thursday.

Attorney David Antwork said Nashawn, who emigrated to the US from Pakistan, was pressured into signing the confession despite not knowing what the word "terrorist" meant because of his severe social and learning difficulties.

According to the Daily Mail, Nashawn was bullied in the school cafeteria on January 6 by a group of older students, who repeatedly questioned his identity. After learning he was from Pakistan, it is alleged that the students began calling Nashawn a "terrorist" and asking him what he was planning to blow up next.

The abuse continued for ten to 15 minutes, the suit alleges, before Nashawn finally agreed with his tormentors that he was a terrorist. The suit alleges that Nashawn was only repeating the word "terrorist" without knowing what it meant, and when questioned later said it referred to "someone who travels", like a tourist.

Nashawn's family said that the following day of the abuse the assistant school Principal Jason Stanton removed him from a gym class and took him to his office. Inside the office Stanton was joined by Principal Mark Bernard, before the duo grilled Nashawn over his terrorism claims.

Stanton conducted an illegal search of Nashawn's bag and was then accused of telling Nashawn that he had to write a confession admitting he was part of the IS and knew how to make bombs before he would be allowed to leave the office.

As part of the suit, Nashawn's mental capacity by the district's own staff is made clear that he is unable to understand the meaning of basic words, or follow logic in sentences, the Daily Mail reported.

The family is now suing for USD 25 million in compensatory and punitive damages, alleging that they have suffered nightmares, sleeplessness, fear, and stress as a result of the questioning.
Istanbul: A car bomb in Turkey`s eastern province of Elazig has killed three police officers and wounded 217 people, including 85 police, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Thursday, adding that Kurdish militants were responsible for the attack.

Speaking in Elazig after visiting the police headquarters targeted in the attack, Yildirim said Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants were carrying out random suicide attacks across the country wherever possible and that Ankara has raised its level of alarm following recent bombings.

The bombing was the second in less than 24 hours targeting police in eastern Turkey. Three people were killed and 40 were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a police station in the eastern province of Van on Wednesday.
Lucknow: Islamic seminary of Barelvi sect on Thursday issued a fatwa against Mumbai terror attacks mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed declaring him anti-Islamic.

The fatwa was issued against Saeed by Mufti Mohammed Saleem Barelvi, an Islamic seminary in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.

It dubbed Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Toiba who carries a USD 10 million bounty on his head, as outcast from Islam and declared those following him as illegal.

A fatwa is a legal pronouncement in Islam which is given by a mufti, a Muslim scholar of a recognised authority, who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law.

The ruling came close on the heels of Saeed asking Pakistan Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif to send troops to Kashmir to obey the pending order of Pakistan founder M A Jinnah.

The fatwa was issued by Manzar-e-Islam Saudagaran, an institution associated with Dargah Ala Hazrat, in a reply to a question asked by Mohd Moinuddin of Jaipur. It said Saeed has no connection with Islam.

Moinuddin had mentioned in his query that Saeed considered those writing against Allah and Prophet Mohammad as Muslims. Besides, he publicised anti-religious ideology and points of view and provoked people to create terror.

He asked whether such a person should be considered as Muslim.

In his fatwa, Mufti Saleem said that having any type of connection with persons working against the dignity of Allah and the Prophet was illegal and haraam, an act that is forbidden by Allah.

It said since Saeed was having contacts with such persons, he has been outcast from Islam.

It said that considering him as Muslim and listening to his words was also illegal and prohibited.

As per the fatwa, Saeed was a man with terrorist ideology, who with his acts has brought infamy to Islam and Muslims across the world. Therefore, it was compulsory for every Muslim not to follow him and keep away from his ideology.

Addressing a rally held under the banner of Defence Council of Pakistan in Karachi on Sunday, Saeed had claimed, Kashmiris had announced before the partition that they wanted to remain with Pakistan. But after the partition, India forcibly sent Army to Jammu and Kashmir.

With PTI inputs
Kolkata: The Coast Guard has rescued 31 crew members of two Bangladeshi fishing boats off the West Bengal coast after the vessels became non-operational due to engine failure in the mid-seas.

The boat 'Allar-dan' with 15 crew and 'Farhad' with 16 crew were evacuated on August 16-17 in inclement weather triggered by low pressure off the coast.

The Allar-dan crew was shifted to a local fishing boat whereas Farhad along with its crew was towed to Frazerganj (West Bengal) with the help of local fishing boats, a Coast Guard statement said.

The rescued fishermen were provided food and medical assistance by the Coast Guard.

The entire operation was coordinated by Coast Guard Regional Headquarters (North East).

"We are maintaining enhanced vigil in view of the extremely rough sea conditions. We are ever prepared to render any assistance to seamen in distress," Headquarters Inspector General K.R. Nautiyal said.
New Delhi: The CPI (M) on Thursday said the allegations against former army chief and Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) V.K. Singh by incumbent General Dalbir Singh will send a very wrong message to the nation and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take cognizance of this case.

"Such condition has never occurred in the history of nation, that an ex-Army chief and the Current Army chief are accusing each other and have even approached the court in this regard," said CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat.

"Moreover, one of them is a sitting minister. The Prime Minister should take a cognizance of this case over the lines that is credible for our armed forces. That a Union Minister is being accused of false conduct by the incumbent Army Chief and he is still in office. What image of India will it give?" she added.

In an affidavit submitted in his personal capacity to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the Army Chief has said that in 2012 he was sought to be victimised by the then COAS General V.K. Singh "with the sole purpose of denying me promotion to the appointment of Army Commander".

"False, baseless and imaginary allegations of lapses were levelled against me in the show cause notice" of May 19, 2012 and consequent imposition of an "illegal" discipline and vigilance (DV) ban, the Army chief has stated in his affidavit.

The affidavit was filed in response to a petition moved by Lieutenant General (Retd.) Ravi Dastane, who alleged favouritism in Dalbir Singh`s selection as the Army Commander, making him next in line to succeed General Bikram Singh.

Dalbir Singh was placed under a DV ban by V K Singh between April and May 2012 for alleged "failure of command and control" after a Court of Inquiry was ordered into an operation carried out in Jorhat, Assam, on the night of December 20-21, 2011 by the 3 Corps Intelligence and Surveillance Unit.

Dalbir Singh was then General Officer Commanding of the Dimapur-based 3 Corps.Referring to the Jorhat operation in his affidavit, he has stated "on that day, I was away on part of annual leave and rejoined duty on 26 Dec 2011".

His promotion as GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, with effect from June 15, 2012, was cleared by General Bikram Singh, who reversed the DV ban after V.K. Singh retired on May 31, 2012.

This delayed promotion, after reserving the vacant Army Commander`s post for 15 days, was challenged by Dastane in the Supreme Court. He contended he was eligible to be Army Commander but was denied the opportunity by General Bikram Singh, who favoured Dalbir Singh despite the latter being under a DV ban at the relevant time.
New Delhi: Delhi Police on Thursday were conducting searches for Pradeep Chauhan, who has been missing for the past few days after an FIR for blackmail and extortion was filed against him by the wife of Union Minister V.K. Singh.

Chauhan had earlier been questioned by the police following the FIR. His mobile phones are switched off for the past two days, police sources said.

V.K. Singh's wife Bharti Singh had on late Tuesday filed a case against Chauhan at Tughlaq Road police station for allegedly blackmailing her and demanding Rs 2 crore as extortion money.

In a related development, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Thursday said that Chauhan met him on Sunday and claimed that he has "evidence" against two union ministers of plotting murder.

But the audio and video evidence did not have anything substantial, the AAP leader said.

Singh told IANS that Chauhan also wanted an AAP ticket for the Punjab elections.

"He (Pradeep Chauhan) came to my office on Sunday. He said he is a nephew of Gen (retd) V.K. Singh and has worked for him from Sahibabad during elections," Sanjay Singh told IANS.

"He further said that he has evidence against two union ministers of hatching a conspiracy to get a few people murdered and assured that he has audio and video evidence of the same," Singh added.

"When I asked him to show the audio and video evidence there was nothing substantial in them," the AAP leader added.

Following the claims of Chauhan, Sanjay Singh called up a close relative of Minister of State for External Affairs Singh to confirm if he was really a nephew. "A close family member said that Chauhan is not his nephew," he said.

The AAP leader said that Chauhan wanted his support to "expose" the minister and also demanded a party ticket from Punjab for the coming assembly elections. Singh said he told Chauhan that "ticket will be given to party volunteers and not to him".

Sanjay Singh then asked Chauhan to leave his office and threatened to call police.

In her complaint to the police, Bharti Singh said: "The accused has been threatening me with dire consequences, saying that if I fail to pay him Rs 2 crore, he will make public some doctored audio and video clips, contents of which are unknown to me."

Bharti Singh further said that the accused had threatened to ruin her and the reputation of her husband. She has also demanded security from the Delhi Police.

Bharti Singh's lawyer Vishwajeet Singh told IANS on Thursday that they will pursue their complaint.
New Delhi: Amid reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit to be held in Venezuela next month, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was extended an invitation to attend the event by her Venezuelan counterpart Delcy Rodriguez here on Thursday.

Delcy Rodriguez, Minister of External Relations of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, visited India on August 18, 2016 , to personally hand over an invitation for India's participation in the 17th NAM Summit being held in Margarita Island, Venezuela on September17-18, 2016, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup informed the media.

The last time an Indian prime minister did not attend a NAM Summit was in 1979 when Charan Singh was the caretaker Prime Minister.

Swarup said that Rodriguez was accompanied by a 14-member delegation including Venezuelan Minister of Petroleum and President of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), Eulogio del Pino and Venezuelan Vice Minister for Asia, Middle East and Oceania, Felix Plasencia.

Stating that Rodriguez held a substantive bilateral meeting with Sushma Swaraj, Swarup said: They discussed the whole gamut of bilateral issues and views were exchanged on various multilateral issues, including UNSC Reform, UN Peacekeeping and terrorism.

The ministers also agreed to move ahead for an early finalisation of various agreements in different areas, including extradition treaty, double tax avoidance agreement (DTAA), mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) on criminal matters and air services agreement etc.

According to Swarup, Sushma Swaraj underlined the importance India attached to NAM, particularly as one of the founder members.

She confirmed India's participation and conveyed that the details will be worked out and intimated soon, the spokesperson said.

It was agreed that there is huge potential on both sides on the trade front and that the basket needs to be diversified.

Swarup also said that both the ministers agreed that the next joint commission meeting should be held soon in Venezuela.

India raised the issue to pending payments of both public and private sector companies with the Venezuelan side, he said., adding that the visiting delegation assured that they would look into the matter for an early solution.

In the cultural sector, it was agreed that programmes like symphony, film festivals and youth orchestra should be exchanged.

The External Affairs Minister thanked her Venezuelan counterpart for their support in successfully organising the International Day of Yoga for two consecutive years, Swarup said.

The Venezuelan Minister of External Relations invited External Affairs Minister to visit Venezuela which she accepted.

Earlier on Thursday, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan hosted a lunch in honour of the visiting dignitaries.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will visit Myanmar on August 22 following the swearing in earlier this year of the new government of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), it was announced on Thursday.

During her visit, the External Affairs Minister will be calling on U Htin Kyaw, President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and holding discussions with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor and Foreign Minister of Myanmar, the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

Discussions are expected to focus on the rich bilateral content of the relationship as well as plans for the upcoming BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit in India, building on the comprehensive discussions during Foreign Office Consultations held in New Delhi on August 9, 2016, it stated.

The statement said that India and Myanmar shared close relations with a robust development cooperation programme in areas such as agriculture, IT, human resource development, infrastructure development, culture, etc.

The visit reaffirms India's commitment to heightened partnership with Myanmar in areas accorded priority by the new government of Myanmar, it added.

During the visit, Sushma Swaraj will be accompanied by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and other senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs.

India and Myanmar reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral issues during the 15th round of Foreign Office Consultations here including high level visits, security and defence-related issues, boundary matters and border management, trade and commerce, development cooperation, connectivity, cultural and consular matters.

They also exchanged views on issues of mutual interest at regional and multilateral forums.

The consultations were of special significance as these were the first institutionalised exchanges between India and Myanmar after the swearing in of the new NLD government in Myanmar on March 30 this year.

In the intervening period, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval visited Myanmar as a special envoy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 16, 2016 and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman led a high-level business delegation to the eastern neighbour for the India-Myanmar Business Conclave on May 18-20, 2016.

Last month, in a meeting with Minister of State for External Affairs on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Suu Kyi said that she looked forward to visiting India.

As her country's constitution bars her from becoming President, the Nobel peace laureate serves as the State Counsellor and Foreign Minister.
New Delhi: Union Minister and former Army chief VK Singh's wife Bharti Singh, has filed a complaint with Delhi Police alleging, her nephew's friend blackmailed her.

The minister's wife in her complaint has claimed that the person, Pradip Chauhan, demanded Rs two crore by threatening her with "doctored" audio-video clips to defame her husband.

The complaint was filed at Tughlaq Road police station and the police has filed an FIR against the Gurgaon resident.

Chauhan made phone calls to Bharti on the intervening night of August 6-7, following which, she spoke to Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma.

An FIR was filed under Section 384 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code.

It is being learnt that the accused had already uploaded a video clip on Youtube.

Bharti has claimed that she was unaware about the content of the clips, but Chauhan has threatened to ruin her husband's reputation.

A report published in 'The Times of India' the accused is a real estate agent and and has already been questioned by the police. Chauhan is learnt to have denied the allegations of making any extortion calls. However, the real estate agent admitted of being a frequent visit to the minister's family. Chauhan had reportedly told police that he only had informal chats with Bharti Singh and didn't blackmailed.

The FIR quoted Singh's wife saying, He has threatened me that he will ruin my husband's reputation. It may be noted that I am a senior citizen and have only two daughters and there is a grave threat to the security of my family as my husband has to travel abroad very regularly for official purposes.

She has described Chauhan as a dangerous person, who always carries a gun with him.
New Delhi: Expressing its "vulnerability", Maldives has sought India's assistance in key area of counter- terrorism and the chief of its National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) will travel to India from August 29 to discuss the specific requirements in this regard.

Maldivian Foreign Minister Mohamed Asim also described India as a "solid friend" and assured that Maldives will not undertake any activity that will jeopardise security of the Indian Ocean.

The request by Maldives for intelligence sharing, capacity building and skill development assumes significance in view of increasing threat from Islamic State and reports of radicalisation of Maldivian youth with the government there maintaining that about 50 locals have joined ISIS.

"The issue was discussed in detail during the visit of Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Counter-Terrorism Asif Abrahim to Maldives last month and will be taken forward during the visit of NCTC chief's visit here," Maldivian Foreign Minister Mohamed Asim told PTI in an interview.

"Because of our small size, we are very venerable and we have sought India's help in strengthening our mechanisms to tackle threats of terrorism," Asim said.

The two countries have already inked the Defence Action Plan during Abdulla Yameen's visit here in April. Cooperation in counter terrorism is one of key component of the pact.

Apart from cooperation in counter-terrorism, the minister, during his wide-ranging interview, talked about Maldives' efforts to get foreign investments and his country's relationship with China.

Asked about apprehensions in India over increasing Chinese presence in various projects in Maldives including infrastructure sector, he said they were purely economic engagements and "Maldives will not undertake any activity which will jeopardise security of the Indian Ocean."
New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday launched a Facebook application to help people connect with the Indian missions across the globe any time of the day.

Announcing the launch here, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said: "The social media has been a game changer in the way we communicate with each other and the world".

He said the ministry has been a pioneer in adapting to digital tools, starting in 2010.

"The ministry handles on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, G+, Soundcloud etc. have a collective viewership exceeding four million," he said, adding this particular application will help people in various ways.

Speaking on the occasion, Ankhi Dass, Pubilc Policy Director of Facebook for India, South and Central Asia, said it was a good step from the government's side to help people and getting them involved in foreign policy matters directly.

"This really is the consumerisation of foreign policy and you have taken distress mitigation and grievance redress literally to the next stage. I think with this app what is happening is that you are putting power in the people's hands to be able to contact to the missions directly," she said.

"This is very useful, particularly in distressing times," she said.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the Balochistan issue during his Independence Day speech as he was moved by the messages he received from the people of that Pakistani province, a senior government official said on Thursday

The Prime Minister was sufficiently moved by these messages of gratitude to share it with the people of India in his Independence Day address, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in his weekly media briefing here.

He said this while responding to a question on India's policy following reports that several Baloch groups were seeking recognition from the Indian government and they were even trying to set up a government-in-exile with India's support.

Putting the scenario in context, Swarup said several people from Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, including Gilgit-Baltistan, had messaged Modi and had been writing to him following his comments at an all-party meeting on August 12 in which he had flagged the atrocities being committed on the people of Balochistan.

Prime Minister had been thanked by these people for flagging their cause in the all-party meeting which represents all political segments in India, the spokesperson said.

As for India's policy on the issue, he said that the Indian government has made statements about the situation in Baluchistan in the past as well.

The only difference this time was that the various messages the Prime Minister had received had sufficiently moved him to share it with the people of India, he said.

To a question on comments by Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, that Modi's reference to the Balochistan issue has crossed red lines, Swarup described it as an extraordinary remark.

I find this an extraordinary remark from a senior functionary of Pakistan that recognises no red lines in its own diplomacy, he said.

Pakistan's record of cross-border terrorism and infiltration is at the heart of the problems in the region today.

In a first for any Prime Minister in an August 15 address, Modi referred to human rights abuses in Balochistan and the part of Kashmir that Pakistan controls.

"The world is watching. People of Balochistan, Gilgit, Baltistan and occupied Kashmir have thanked me a lot in the past few days. I am grateful to them," Modi said, referring to his comments last week on excesses in Pakistan's largest province and in the part of Kashmir it holds.

He said the way people from these Pakistani regions "wished me well, gives me great joy".

In thanking an Indian Prime Minister, "they have thanked the whole population of my country", he said. "I want to offer my gratitude to these people."
Agar Malwa: Three young men were arrested in this district of Madhya Pradesh for allegedly skinning live cows, Superintendent of Police R.S. Meena said on Thursday.

Hemraj, Dhanraj and Rakesh were arrested on the complaint of another youth Badri Singh who said he found the three men in Shyampura forest skinning cows that were alive, Meena told IANS.

The three accused have denied the charge, saying they were skinning dead -- not live -- cows.

Meena said a post-mortem report will help get at the truth of the matter.

According to Badri Singh's complaint, he saw some people skinning cows in Shyampura forest where a large number of cows were grazing. When he confronted them to stop them from doing that, they threatened him, he said.

Badri Singh said the cows were very much alive and died only after they were targeted by the skinners.
New Delhi: In a touching gesture, Union Minister Smriti Irani, Thursday, celebrated the festival of Raksha Bandhan with army jawans stationed on the Siachen Glacier in Jammu and Kashmir.

Ms Irani flew on a special Indian Air Force chopper to the icy outpost as part of an initiative taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reach out to the soldiers guarding India's borders.

The union minister personally tied rakhis on wrists of 20 soldiers and wished them and all other soldiers a long and prosperous life.

Making the whole event more memorable for the soldiers, Ms Irani also brought special home-made sweets from Delhi and distributed it among the soldiers.

Addressing the soldiers, Smriti Irani said that the country remains indebted to its soldiers, who man the borders of the nation.

"An honour for me, to celebrate this festival here with my brothers who guard the borders," she added.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, Women and Child Welfare Minister Maneka Gandhi are also visiting borders areas and interacting with the soldiers.

Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Commerce; Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries; and Anupriya Patel, Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare are also taking part in the event on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.
New York: Indo-US cooperation in defence technology and trade initiatives will be the focus of the US Air Force Secretary's upcoming visit to India during which she will also discuss with top Indian officials proposals to co-produce military aircraft in India.

Deborah Lee James will travel to India later this month as part of a maiden visit to four Asian countries that would also take her to Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines and will discuss the situation in the South China sea as well as the growing threat of terrorism.

During her visit to India, she will meet Chief of Air Staff Marshal Arup Raha and Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar and will also discuss with her Indian counterparts proposals to co-produce aircraft in India in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Make in India' campaign.

"We will be looking to see how can we deepen our partnerships and how can we take it to the next level," James said in response to a question by PTI at a press briefing here yesterday on what her focus will be during her visit to India.

She said she will discuss defence technology and follow up on the trade initiatives, which were launched during US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter's visit to India in April.

James replied in the affirmative when asked if she will follow up on American defence major Lockheed Martin's proposals to assemble F-16s in India as well as on discussions to collaborate in bolstering India's fighter jets and the jet engine technology working group.

"I will be following up on all of those topics, discussing these counterpart to counterpart on a bilateral basis. I will be seeking the views of my counterparts, what their opinion is on the various proposals on the table and what more needs to happen to advance the ball on some of these proposals.

"I am also aware of the Prime Minister's push for Make in India and the importance of creating new jobs in that sector. One of the proposals would be to co-produce certain aircraft in India and that might be one example of something that will be useful from a military standpoint but also might play into the Make in India campaign," she said.

James said she would also follow up on the initiatives launched during Carter's visit and the possible outcomes of it from the Air Force perspective.

She, however, noted that while some proposals will move forward, others may not if they are not the right fit.

Describing the Indian Air Force as a "very effective fighting unit", she said it has been a participant over the years in "red-flag" exercise series, where the US gets together with coalition partners to train and inter-operate and "test ourselves in a high-end and very challenging difficult environment".

James added that she also looks forward to congratulating India on the "magnificent execution" of the operation undertaken to evacuate Indian citizens from South Sudan.
New Delhi: On the auspicious day of Raksha Bandhan, the widows of Vrindavan, will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital to tie rakhis.

Ten widows from Varanasi and Vrindavan will visit PM Modi on behalf of around 2,000 widows of on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

Besides this, around widows of Vrindavan are also expected to send around 1000 rakhis to the Prime Minister.

It is being learnt that the 'rakhi sisters' of PM Modi will seek an assurance on national security and better facilities for the widows across the country.

The Vrindavan widows said they are very grateful to Sulabh International for bringing in happiness to their lives.

This year, besides tying rakhis on the wrist of saints and Sanskrit scholars, they will also share food with upper caste sadhus and brahmins on the occasion.

With Sulabh's efforts the widows in the temple town now celebrate festivals like Hol, Diwali and Teej.

Earlier, they were barred from celebrating or attending the festivities.

Founder, Sulabh International, Bindeshwar Pathak said: "They (widows) are planning to present around 1000 rakhis to Prime Minister. At least ten widows also plan to visit his residence with the rakhis on behalf of widows of Vrindavan."
New Delhi: Alleging that the Congress is trying to exonerate Pakistan, the BJP on Thursday hit out the Sonia Gandhi-led party saying that its stand on Kashmir was guided by political opportunism.

Congress has once again displayed its insensitivity on J&K issue, its own leaders are not in consonance. Their statements and contradictions smell of political opportunism, said senior BJP leader and union minister Venkaiah Naidu.

What's consistent about Congress party's policy on Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir is inconsistency. It appears that Congress leaders are not guided by national interest but political opportunism, he said.

Why is Congress trying to exonerate Pakistan? I appeal them to be sensitive, realistic, and act and speak accordingly, Naidu added.
Srinagar: Security forces clashed with protestors on Thursday in the Kashmir Valley after the house of an MLA was attacked in south Kashmir, police said.

An irate mob attacked the house of Muhammad Yusuf Bhat, MLA from Shopian, while Bhat and his family were away, a police official told IANS here.

"The guard room at Bhat's house in Bimender village was torched by the mob, but all the guards were safely evacuated," he said.

Panic gripped the Valley after rumours spread that authorities were planning to embargo supplies, including petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Scores of people thronged filling stations, but at most places those in charge of filling station said they had run out of supplies.

Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Basheer Ahmad Khan, however, refuted the rumours and maintained that "the oil companies in the Valley have been assured of all essential supplies".

Security forces are enforcing a day-night curfew in Srinagar for the first time in 41 days since the ongoing unrest started.

At many places, the security forces intervened in areas which had been placed under curfew where shopkeepers tried to open their shops.

Meanwhile, the unified separatists camp issued a fresh protest calendar extending the 41-day protest shutdown till August 25.

All educational institutions, shops, public transport and other businesses have remained shut in Kashmir since July 9, a day after young rebel commander Burhan Wani was killed in a gunfight with the security forces.
Srinagar: A lecturer was killed and 18 others were injured in clashes between security forces and protesters who were opposing a search operation in Khrew area of Pulwama district in Kashmir where curfew and restrictions remained in force for the 41st day today.

Shabir Ahmad Monga, a contractual lecturer, died when he and several others were beaten up at Khrew late last night, a police official said.

He said 18 other persons, mostly youths, have been admitted to a hospital here.

According to the locals, army conducted house to house searches for the youths who were leading protests in the area late last night which was resisted by the residents of Khrew. In the ensuing clash, 30-year-old Monga died.

An army official said they were collecting details about the incident and will soon issue a statement.

Curfew remained in force in entire Srinagar district, Anantnag town and Pampore police station, which includes Khrew area, while restrictions continued on the movement of the people in rest of the Valley.

Normal life has been paralysed in the Valley due to street protests since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8.

Heavy deployment of security forces has been carried out in Srinagar city with all roads leading to the local office of United Nations Military Observers Group (UNMOG) at Sonawar sealed.

The authorities strictly imposed night curfew in the city in view of the separatists' call for march to the UN office over a 72-hour period beginning yesterday. Schools, colleges and private offices remained closed while public transport remained off the roads due to the strike called by the separatists.

The attendance in government offices was thin.

Mobile Internet and mobile telephony services across the valley remained suspended.

However, broadband services were restored early this morning after five days.

Broadband services and mobile telephone services were snapped Saturday evening.

As many as 64 persons including two police personnel have been killed and several thousand injured in the clashes that began on July 9.
Udupi (Karnataka): In a brutal incident of cow vigilantism, a BJP worker was killed and another person injured allegedly by VHP and Bajrang Dal activists who waylaid and attacked them near Hebri in this district last night.

Praveen Poojary (28) and Akshay Devadiga (20) were surrounded and attacked with sharp weapons by the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists as they were transporting three cows in a vehicle, Udupi district Superintendent of Police K T Balakrishna told PTI.

Poojary died instantly while Devadiga has been admitted to a hospital at Bramhavar, he said.

Seventeen people were arrested and a hunt was on to nab the others involved, he said.

The coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada have been reporting cases of cow vigilantism in the last several years.

The incident comes days after the Union Home Ministry had cracked the whip on cow vigilantism, asking all states not to tolerate anyone taking law into their hands in the name of protecting cow and to take prompt action against such offenders.

The Home Ministry advisory had come two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked cow vigilantes and asked people to beware of these 'fake' protectors trying to divide the society and the country.

He made these comments after his government and BJP came under attack over incidents of violence against Dalits and Muslims by cow vigilantes in various states including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said prima facie cattle trade-related business dispute may be the reason behind the killing of the BJP worker.

"... Seventeen people have been arrested in connection with the incident, they (police) are suspecting some sort of a cattle trade-related business dispute," he told reporters in Bengaluru, adding police have taken up the case.

Noting that he does not see a communal angle to the incident "at this point of time", Parameshwara said "some reason must be there, we will find out".

He said "... We don't know at this stage, but they are suspecting some sort of a dispute because of the trade, it is not definite, but they are suspecting. Investigation will give us the final picture."

Parameshwara also expressed concern over repeated incidents relating to beef and cattle trade in Karnataka.

"We are vigilant, we will definitely try and maintain peace and order. I appeal to the people who are trying to create this kind of disturbance not to do this because we are a tolerant society and we should not create these kind of issues," he said.
Jabalpur: In a shocking incident, two eunuchs in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur city got themselves undressed in the middle of a busy road during a bitter fight between two groups over who should get the tip for a Raksha Bandhan wish.

The fight reportedly broke out between two groups of eunuchs at an intersection in Jabalpur city as they were at loggerheads over the share of the tip.

As their charge and counter-charge began to grow intense, two members of the rival groups started to undress till they are completely naked.

This dramatic development caught the public off-guard, whose numbers began to swell as their fight grew intense.

The incident reportedly took place in Jabalpur's Blunda market.

They reportedly crossed all limits of vulgarity in the heat of the moment, as they danced nude in view of full public glare.

According to bhaskar.com, the Maqsood group and the Mattoo Hirabai Amkera group of eunuchs were involved in the ruckus.

During the fight, they also hurled abuses at each other.

The passers-by were amused by their shocking act, but the women members have fled the scene after the fight turned ugly.

According to a passer-by, the eunuchs performed a snake dance naked.

The fight eventually ended when the police finally intervened.

Both the eunuchs were taken to a police station.
Chennai:: The one-week suspension of DMK legislators from the Tamil Nadu assembly will not be revoked, Speaker P Dhanapal said on Thursday.

When the issue was raised in the assembly by lawmakers of the Congress and DMK parties (members who were not present in the House on Wednesday), Dhanapal said the suspension could not be revoked.

Meanwhile Leader of the Opposition in the assembly, DMK's MK Stalin, and other lawmakers of DMK held a sit-in protest at the entrance of the assembly as they were not allowed to enter their chambers.

Stalin said the assembly proceedings should be telecast live so that people will know what is happening inside the House.

On Wednesday Dhanapal suspended 80 DMK members including Stalin for a week for unruly behaviour in the House.

The DMK has 89 members in the 234-member assembly.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday said her government will file an interim petition in the Supreme Court to secure release of Cauvery river water from Karnataka.

Announcing this in the state assembly, Jayalalithaa said the petition will be filed in one or two days in the Apex court and, after appropriate court orders, the state will get its share of water as per the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.

The Chief Minister said Karnataka did not release water during June and July this year as per the tribunal award.

She also said that both Karnataka and the central government have not replied to her letters on the release of Cauvery water.

Moreover, owing to insufficient water at Mettur Dam, no water could be released for cultivation from there on June 12.

If the state does not get adequate water for cultivation by the end of this month the Tamil Nadu government has formulated subsidy schemes worth Rs 64.3 crore for the benefit of farmers.
Kolkata: West Bengal's opposition parties CPI-M and the Congress on Thursday demanded the setting up of a commission and a public debate on rechristening the state, while the Bharatiya Janata Party said there was no need to change the name.

"Yes, there is nothing wrong in changing the name of the state. In the past, the assembly had twice passed proposals and sent them to the centre, but without success.

"We think the matter needs to be publicly discussed and debated. Such vital decisions cannot be taken in cabinet meetings held in air-conditioned chambers," said Communist Party of India-Marxist legislature party leader Sujon Chakraborty.

Leader of the opposition Abdul Mannan said a commission should be set up to finalise a name.

"Let the Commission take the final decision on a new name, because in the past the assembly had sent two different names," said the Congress legislator after an all-party meeting at the chamber of the Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay to finalise the agenda of a special session of the House convened in the last week of the month.

The name change issue would be the main point of discussion at the three-day meeting of the assembly convened on August 26, 29 and 30.

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh, however, said his party would continue to oppose any change of name.

"We have been opposed to any change of name from the outset, and we stick to our stand. The opinion and sensitivity of the nine crore plus people of Bengal have not been sought," said Ghosh, who leads the three-member BJP legislative party.

"They (the government) may bulldoze the bill on the strength of its brute majority. But when the legislation is sent to the centre, it will have the same fate as the two earlier bills."

The speaker told media that besides seeking rechristening of the state's name, the state government would move a proposal alleging the centre was depriving the state. The opposition parties have said they want discussions on dengue deaths in the state. "If the opposition moves such a proposal, the matter will be taken up".

Chakraborty, however, mocked the state for talking about how the centre was depriving the state.

"Those who are depriving the people, are now talking of the state being deprived. This is a dichotomy".

Echoing Chakraborty, Mannan said: "We will also talk about how the state was being deprived. But can you (the state government) gloss over the way we (the opposition) are being deprived?"

Both Chakraborty and Mannan said the opposition would highlight the state government's failure to tackle dengue fever during the assembly session, which has "taken the shape of an epidemic".

Seventeen persons have died and over 3400 have been affected by dengue in the state since January.

Earlier this month, the cabinet mooted a proposal to rename the state as "Bengal" in English and 'Banga' or Bangla in Bengali.

In Bengali, the state is currently referred to as "Paschim Banga" or "Paschim Bangla".

After the partition of India in 1947, Bengal was bifurcated as East Bengal and West Bengal. East Bengal became a part of Pakistan. It was rechristened East Pakistan in 1956 and later emerged as the independent nation of Bangladesh after the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
Colombo: Sri Lanka's Tamil politicians have alleged that over 100 LTTE cadres at rehabilitation centres were injected with poison leading to their deaths, prompting the government to reject their claims on Thursday.

Politicians of the main Tamil party TNA politicians and the Tamil media claimed the deaths of some 104 ex-combatants who had allegedly been given poisonous injections. They had claimed physical disability due to the injections being given to them.

Northern chief minister C V Wigneswaran has said that the US Air Forces medical team, currently in the Tamil-dominated north, will examine the former rehabilitated LTTE cadres, who he alleged had fallen sick because they were injected with poisonous substances at government detention or rehabilitation centres.

State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene rejected the claims as "false allegations".

"It is sad to hear some politicians in the North making false allegations when the government is making a genuine effort to resolve the issue of the Northern people.

"Anyone, including those from the international community, can visit the rehabilitation camps after obtaining permission from the government and see for themselves the work that is being done," he said, referring to claims by members of the northern provincial council.

Government spokesman and Minister of Health Rajitha Senaratne also dismissed the claims yesterday and said local doctors can be asked to examine them.
Bangkok: Thailand's junta today said 15 suspects in last week's bomb and arson attacks against a string of tourist resort towns are being detained at a military barracks in Bangkok.

"Authorities have detained 17 suspects at the special 11th Army Circle barracks in Bangkok but we had released two of them," Colonel Burin Tongprapai, the junta's top legal advisor, told reporters.

Colonel Burin said authorities were looking to re-detain the two suspects who were released and that the entire group were likely to be charged on Friday.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing spree, which hit tourist towns in the country's south last today and Friday, killing four and wounding dozens, including European visitors.

The attacks were highly unusual in a country where foreign visitors are rarely caught up in the country's frequent bouts of political violence.

Colonel Burin's comments highlight the primary role the military have played in the investigation and is the first official admission that scores of suspects have been held since the bombings on army barracks.

Local human rights groups had previously said more than a dozen suspects were being held without access to lawyers and called for greater transparency in the investigation.

Authorities have remained tight-lipped on the motive of the attackers or the identities of anyone detained.

Thailand's junta, which seized power in 2014, and the police quickly ruled out international terrorism, saying the perpetrators were "local saboteurs".
Damascus: At least 25 people, including children, were killed in a bombing in Syria's Idlib town, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday.

The Human Rights observatory said the victims included two women and 10 rebel fighters, adding that the death toll could rise due to the serious condition of the wounded in the rebel-held Syrian town, Efe news reported.

The local media quoted a military official who said that the Syrian Air Force and the army's artillery killed at least 40 "terrorists" in bombing in several villages in Idlib.

The airstrikes targeted the villages of Khan Sheikhoun, al-Sheikh Mustafa and Maaret al-Nouman in Idlib.

According to the official, the attacks targeted "terrorist groups" such as Ahrar al-Sham, Jund al-Aqsa and other Islamic factions.

Idlib is almost entirely controlled by Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly Nusra Front, and other allied factions.
Ankara: A string of bombings, blamed on Kurdish rebels and targeting Turkey's security forces, killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 220 others, officials said today.

Two of the attacks were car bombings that hit police stations in eastern Turkey, while a third a roadside blast targeted a military vehicle carrying soldiers in the southeast of the country.

Authorities say the assaults were carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has launched a campaign of car bombings targeting police stations or roadside bomb attacks against security force vehicles. Last week, PKK commander Cemil Bayik threatened increased attacks against police in Turkish cities.

The wave of attacks come as Turkey is focused on a clampdown on suspected followers of a movement led by US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, which the government accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup last month, that killed at least 270 people.

The first car bombing hit a police station in the eastern province of Van late yesterday, killing a police officer and two civilians. At least 73 other people including 53 civilians and 20 police officers were wounded, officials said.

Another car bombing hit police headquarters in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig early today, killing at least five people, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Officials said earlier 146 people were wounded and 14 of them were in serious condition.

Video footage showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area. Cars were overturned and the windows of the four-story building and its wings were blown out.

In the southeastern province of Bitlis meanwhile, five soldiers were killed after rebels detonated a roadside improvised explosive device as an armored military vehicle was passing by, officials said. Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack.

A government-paid village guard, helping the security forces battle the PKK was also killed in a clash with rebels in the province, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim traveled to Elazig to visit the site of the bombing as well as those wounded in the attack.

He told reporters there that both the PKK and the Gulen movement were directed by the same "intelligence" intent on causing Turkey harm, without elaborating.

"The (Gulen movement) has lost its assertiveness and has handed over the duty to the (PKK)," Yildirim said. "The intelligence that directs them is the same. When one's duty ends, the other takes up the duty."

Yildirim vowed to fight the PKK until it is "eliminated."

Speaking in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkey was jointly attacked by various organizations who he said were in close contact with each other and were "acting under the same motivations even if they have different names."
Beijing: A top Chinese military officer visited Syria this week in a show of support for President Bashar Assad's embattled regime, official media reported Thursday, underscoring Beijing's backing of fellow authoritarian governments and concerns about the spread of religious militancy.

Rear Adm Guan Youfei met on Sunday with Syrian Defence Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij in Damascus, the Xinhua News Agency said. He also met the following day with a Russian general who is coordinating his country's military assistance to Assad's fight against armed opposition groups, the agency said.

Xinhua said Guan expressed China's willingness to boost military cooperation with Syria, while the newspaper Global Times cited the Chinese Defense Ministry as saying that both sides agreed to expand personnel training and humanitarian aid via the Chinese military.

The Chinese military "is willing to strengthen cooperation with its Syrian counterparts," it quoted the ministry as saying.

Guan is head of the Office for International Military Cooperation under the Central Military Commission that oversees China's 2.3 million-member armed forces.

While China has followed Russia's approach in backing Assad, it hasn't directly contributed forces in keeping with its policy of opposing outside intervention in domestic conflicts.

During the early months of the 5-year-old civil war, China joined Russia in blocking motions at the United Nations calling for Assad to work for a resolution of the conflict.

Despite that, Chinese military advisers are on the ground in Syria helping train soldiers in the use of weapons purchased from China, including sniper rifles, rocket launchers and machine guns, reported the Global Times, which is published by the ruling Communist Party's flagship newspaper People's Daily.

Guan's visit illustrates Beijing's enduring recognition of the Syrian government and insistence that the warring parties reach a resolution among themselves, said Wang Lian of the School of International Studies at Peking University.

Although China wants to expand government-to-government and military-to-military cooperation, it's unlikely to provide substantial military support, much less send personnel to fight on behalf of the regime, Wang said.

"More likely, the Chinese military wanted to use Guan's trip to better understand the current state of the turmoil in Syria," Wang said. "In developing a closer relationship with Syria, one has to take into account the changes at hand in Syria and the region, including the fast recovering relations between Turkey and Russia."
Washington: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has sought the help of Muslims to help root out terrorism, saying the community will be blamed if it does not assist in combating the menace.

The 70-year-old reality TV star-turned politician, who earlier drew flak for proposing a ban on Muslims entering the US, appealed to the community as they would know "what is going on in their community".

"Look, we have to be so tough and so smart and vigilant. And frankly, the Muslims have to help us, because they see what's going on in their community. We do not see it. They have to help us," Trump said in a Fox News town hall which was taped on Tuesday.

"And if they're not going to help us, they're to blame also," Trump said and indicated favouring racial profiling otherwise.

In response to another question, he said he would throw out Siddique Mateen, father of Orlando shooter.

"I'd throw him out. If you look at him, I'd throw him out. You know, I looked at him. And you look, he's smiling," he said.

The Republican nomiee called for swift action against the ISIS, which he said is better than the US on social media.

"We have to take them out very, very swiftly and viciously if necessary," he said, responding to a question on ISIS.

"I mean they're better at social media than we are. ISIS, if you look at what ISIS is doing with social, they're recruiting over the internet. And I also said we have to end that. We have to knock it out," he said.

Responding to another question, Trump claimed that his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton is being shielded by the media.

"She is so protected. They (the media) are so protective," he said. "She doesn't really do that much. She'll give a speech on teleprompter, and then she'll disappear. I don't know if she goes home ? she goes home and goes to sleep, I think she sleeps."

"Who do you want to be at that phone at 3 in the morning?"

"I'll be up, I will tell you that. She wasn't there," he said in reference to the Benghazi attacks.
Nay Pyi Taw: Myanmar will deploy single-stop inspections at border gates with neighbouring countries to prevent illegal trade, officials said on Thursday.

Minister of Commerce Than Myint told the House of Nationalities that discussions wereunderway with the two neighbouring countries -- China and Thailand for the move, Xinhua news agency reported.

The system is aimed at preventing illegal trade and boosting the country`s revenue collected from border trade, he said, adding that work was underway to set up customs checkpoints for border trade complete with X-ray machines to inspect containers.

He warned that unscrupulous businessmen and corrupt staff in illegal trade activities in border trade would be punished.

The ministry revealed that goods worth more than 52 billion kyats (about $43 million) were seized and inedible food worth more than 2.5 billion kyats were destroyed over the last three years until operation of previous mobile inspection teams were shut down in December 2015.


Beijing: Myanmar`s Aung San Suu Kyi was to meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday in her first major foreign trip since becoming the country`s de facto leader, with a suspended Beijing-backed dam project set to dominate talks.

Myanmar sees its giant neighbour -- and largest trading partner -- as its biggest foreign policy preoccupation.

Resumption of the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam will be a priority for China, while Suu Kyi seeks Beijing`s cooperation for talks with armed groups operating near the countries` shared border, officials said.

Beijing was instrumental in shielding Myanmar`s former junta rulers from international opprobrium while Suu Kyi languished for years under house arrest as a democracy activist.

At the time Myitsone was seen as emblematic of China`s economic dominance over Myanmar. In 2011 a quasi-civilian government halted the project in a surprise move after local protests, and Beijing has been pressing for its resumption ever since.

"China definitely will discuss about (Myitsone) as it is their main interest," Kyaw Zeya, DG at Myanmar`s ministry of foreign affairs told AFP.

As well as Li, Suu Kyi is due to hold talks with China`s President Xi Jinping during her trip, which began Wednesday.

On her first visit to China last year, she faced calls to raise the case of her fellow Nobel laureate Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo -- sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for circulating a petition calling for democratic reforms -- but did not do so.

Beijing staunchly objects to foreign leaders criticising its rights record, and few expect her to do so this time.Analysts said the choice of China for Suu Kyi`s first trip to a major foreign capital shows the relationship is a priority after Myanmar`s historic November elections saw a landslide vote to end military domination.

With a total of $15.4 billion of approved investments in Myanmar, China is by far its largest foreign investor, despite reforms in recent years that have seen Western firms surge back.

Its interests range from a huge oil and gas pipeline and special economic zone, to dams and mining. Chinese firms have continued to win major contracts in recent months.

But the Southeast Asian nation has drawn closer to the US during its transition to civilian rule.

At the same time Myanmar needs to get Beijing onside as it pursues historic peace talks with armed groups who cross over the border into China to find sanctuary and to trade in illicit items.

Fighting in the border region of Kokang between the Myanmar army and local rebels has seen residents flee into China, and shells occasionally landing on its territory, straining relations.

"We are prepared to discuss it (about peace) if they would discuss," Kyaw Zeya added.

Communist-ruled China launched a diplomatic charm offensive after the November elections, dispatching foreign minister Wang Yi for talks with Suu Kyi soon after her party`s victory.

China`s state-run media sought to portray the current trip as a sign that Myanmar`s ties with Beijing are stronger than its links to Washington.

"Contrary to the subjective view that a democratic Myanmar will lean toward the West, Suu Kyi`s visit to China carries significant weight," commentator Wang Wenwen wrote in the Global Times newspaper.

Several commentators said Chinese investment was still essential for Myanmar, but signalled that Beijing might be willing to make concessions on dam projects by consulting more with locals.

Researcher Song Qingrun wrote in the China Daily that "China should make sure local residents approve of the location and size of the hydroelectric stations, and the environmental assessments pass public scrutiny."
Manila: The Philippines received the first of ten coast guard vessels from Japan Thursday, the coastguard said, as the two countries boost security ties in the face of their separate maritime disputes with China.

The 44 metre (144 foot) BRP Tubbataha has arrived in Manila, the Philippines coast guard said in a statement, adding that it will be used for search and rescue, law-enforcement and transport purposes.

They did not specify where it would be deployed.

This is the first of 10 Philippine coast guard ships being built in Japan, supported by Japanese aid money, as the former World War II foes seek to boost defence ties in the face of growing Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

Japan -- the Philippines` top source of development aid -- said this month it would give Manila two additional patrol vessels, and that it was discussing the possible lease of surveillance aircraft.

Japan and China are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea. Manila and Beijing have overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

The Philippines has been seeking closer defence ties with Japan as well as traditional allies like the United States and Australia in a bid to boost its capabilities against regional giant China.

The Philippine military and coast guard are among the region`s weakest.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his Philippine counterpart Perfecto Yasay last week called on China to observe the rule of law in settling maritime disputes.

This came after a UN-linked tribunal ruled in July that China`s claim to most of the South China Sea was invalid, handing a sweeping diplomatic victory to the Philippines.

Beijing vowed to ignore the decision, and the Philippines and China have been preparing for direct talks to ease tensions.
Istanbul: Turkish police launched a vast operation today against businesses suspected of financing US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of masterminding last month's attempted coup, media reported.

Prosecutors issued 187 arrest warrants as part of the operation in the country's economic capital of Istanbul and other provinces, CNN-Turk reported.

It said around 1,000 police took part in the operation in 15 provinces, which included simultaneous raids in about 100 addresses in several districts of Istanbul.

The suspects are accused of financing the activities of Gulen, blamed by authorities for orchestrating the July 15 putsch.

In a similar operation on Tuesday, Turkish police raided dozens of companies in Istanbul in search of 120 suspects. Around 100 people were detained.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said late yesterday that 40,029 state employees have been detained in the crackdown on alleged Gulen supporters in the wake of the failed July 15 coup, of whom 20,335 have been remanded in custody.

More than 5,000 civil servants have been dismissed and almost 80,000 others suspended, he said in an interview with TRT public television.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to eradicate businesses, charities and schools linked to Gulen, calling them "terror organisations" and "nests of terror".

Gulen, a reclusive cleric who has lived in the US since 1999, has been repeatedly accused of running a "parallel state" since a corruption scandal embroiling then premier Erdogan and several of his ministers erupted in 2013.

Gulen, in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, has denied the government's accusations.

Ankara wants Washington to extradite Gulen to face trial back home, indicating that any failure to deliver him will severely damage ties.
New York: US Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James has praised the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the "magnificent execution" of `Operation Sankat Mochan` which evacuated Indian civilians trapped in South Sudan last month.

James, who is scheduled to visit India, told reporters here on Wednesday that she was "looking forward to congratulating the IAF chief in particular on what I think is a magnificent execution of the C-17 operation where you were able to evacuate Indian citizens from South Sudan. Well done on that."

Operation Sankat Mochan, which brought back 156 civilians from South Sudan capital Juba, used C-17 Globemaster aircraft purchased from the US.

During her New Delhi visit, she is slated to meet Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, the Chief of Air Staff and Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee.

She described the IAF as "a very effective fighting unit" and recalled its participation in Red Flag exercises with the US Air Force.

During the exercise, she said, "we get together with coalition partners and we train together and interoperate together and we go up sometimes against simulated threats so that we test ourselves on a high-end, very challenging, difficult environment."

Most recently the IAF took part in a four-week Red Flag exercise in Alaska that concluded in May.

India deployed Sukhoi 30-MK and Jaguars fighter jets and IL-78 mid-air refuelling planes.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Member of Germanys Left Party, Bundestag lawmaker of Turkish origin Sevim Dagdelen is one of those German lawmakers who voted in favor of recognizing the Armenian Genocide on June 2.

The Bundestag recognition angered Turkish President Erdogan so such extent that he even made threats and accusations towards the German lawmakers of Turkish origin, even calling their blood dirty.

Back in June, Sevim Dagdelen urged to ban Erdogan from entering Germany after receving those threats.

And just recently, after the failed coup attempt in Turkey overnight July 15-16, she made an announcement demanding sanctions to be carried out for violence and mass arrests in Turkey, and Erdogan who is carrying out a persecution policy.

ARMENPRESS had an interview with Bundestag MP Sevim Dagdelen regarding the recent developments in Turkeys domestic and foreign policy.

Mrs. Dagdelen, many views were voiced regarding the reasons of the latest domestic policy events in Turkey, I would like to know your opinion as well. What led to such extreme tense situation?

Erdogan and his AKP already followed an authoritarian course prior to the attempted coup detat of July 2016. This policy was backed only by roughly one half of the population. The recent development will deepen the split in Turkish society. What has triggered the so-called putsch right now remains unclear at the moment. It seems to me that theres not only a split in Turkish society, but within the elites, too. Look at the military, the state apparatus, mass media, or the (higher) education system. If, as Erdogan is constantly repeating, the Gulen movement is responsible for the coup, than we are witnessing a fight between former allies. The AKP and Gulen are adhering both to ultra-conservative and Islamic views for Turkeys future. Ironically, the ruling AKP follows neoliberal economics, and Erdogan and his family are facing accusations because of corruption.

How do you see Turkeys future, in case of Erdogan continuing such dictatorial policy?

Since Mr Erdogan has announced to continue the persecution of opponents in the same brutal and extra-legal way, he will plunge Turkey into a full-scale civil war.

Mrs. Dagdelen, after the adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution, you announced that along with several lawmakers of Turkish origin you have been receiving threats, after what you urged to ban Erdogan from entering Germany. Recently you also called for sanctions to be implemented against Erdogan. What is the main reason of making this call this time?

To have a hands-off approach to the Erdogan regime means to encourage the new dictator. Personal sanctions against him might have a sobering effect on him and his entourage, while avoiding hardships for the already suffering people of Turkey.

What practical steps are you going to implement in the future for realizing your demand?

As politician of the Left party, which is in opposition to the fatal government stance towards Ankara, my colleagues and I will further promote sanctions against the Turkish leader. At the same time well support persecuted journalists like Can Dundar, Erdem Gul or other jailed democrats. Well try to shed some light on groups in Turkey, who need a voice from abroad, like the Kurds.

Regarding the June 2 Bundestags adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution, what caused you to vote in favor?

I have voted pro, since we were witnessing a really historic decision of the German Bundestag. It was the first time that a vast majority of German parliamentarians acknowledged the fact of the genocide against the Armenian people during World War I. This has been also a success of the Left faction in the Bundestag, because our party has always turned against a false consideration of the official Turkish point of view. The fact that this resolution has been adopted means a victory of justice and the principles of enlightenment and a victory over more than 100 years of German denial of German complicity in the Armenian genocide. Mr Erdogan is the mouthpiece of genocide deniers in Turkey. Mr Erdogan holds the view that Armenians have themselves to blame for the genocide, because they had been terrorists. This paradigm is maintained by certain party of Turkish society till today, and therefore a clarification of historic facts is so important. Only wholehearted recognition is the way to reconciliation and a common future.

What would you say regarding the further development of Turkish-German relations after this step of Bundestag?

Adopting the resolution has meant only a further step of the deteriorating relations between Ankara and Berlin.

Mrs. Dagdelen, was Erdogans response predictable in terms of him going really far, up to accusing and threatening Bundestag lawmakers of Turkish origin?

If you look at the rude views which are common in the islamist spectrum of Turkey, such a reaction was completely expectable. As the denial of the genocide has de facto been part of the reason of state in Germany for the last century, this applies even more for Turkey.

And I would like to know how would you label the first Putin-Erdogan meeting after the long-lasting tense situation which resulted from Turkey shooting down the Russian jet in 2015 over Syrian-Turkish border?

Mr Erdogans foreign policy of violence has dramatically failed. Under his leadership Turkeys position in the whole region has become less safe and relations to neighboring countries more tense. You cannot sponsor terrorist groups across the border and live in peace at home. Erdogan is suspecting a NATO-involvement in the recent coup attempt. So thats why in regard to Russia, Mr Erdogan had to fix relations with Moscow after shooting the Russian fighter jet in November 2015. Russia could wait and see, while Russian tourists staying away from Turkish tourist destinations seem to have a sobering effect on the Turkish despot. Im very much skeptical that Erdogan will in the long run change its attitude towards Syria or Iraq. Still the Turkish border is open for new weapons for the IS and there are worrying reports that for Al-Kaida in the West of Syria it is pretty much the same thing. All Erdogan does now with the improvement of the relations with Russia seems he is trying to buy some time.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan received on August 17 USA Global Peace Operations Initiatives Europe Command coordinator Ann Stieglitz and Timothy Byrne, Program Manager for peacekeeping programs of the US Navys post graduate school.

The meeting focused on the Armenian participation in UN peacekeeping missions, trainings which are necessary in this context and issues of the upcoming projects of the Global Peace Operations Initiative  reconstruction of the peacekeeping training center, acquisition of devices for locating and disposing improvised explosive devices etc.

The Armenian membership to the US Global Peace Operations Initiative was confirmed in 2013 and aims at developing the peacekeeping capabilities of Armenia and assisting the process of involvement in UN missions.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The Government allocated 18 thousand 225 Euros to the Justice Ministry for realizing the demands of the European Court of Human Rights April 7, 2016 verdict on the Simonyan vs. Armenia case.

Justice Minister Arpine Hovhannisyan said the ECHRs verdict defined the compensation payment deadline as October 7, 2016.

Prime Minister Abrahamyan instructed to calculate the amount which has been allocated during the past three years for ECHR verdicts.

I instruct the Finance Ministry and the Governments staff to discuss how much money we have allocated for the ECHR decisions in 2014-2015 and during the 8 months of this year, the PM said.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shavarsh Kocharyan finds incorrect to speak about concessions of the Armenian side in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.

After the Cabinet meeting, reporters asked Kocharyan what the Armenian side is ready to concede, Kocharyan answered : When Baku will speak about concessions, that time it will be possible to speak about mutual concessions. As long as they dont talk there, even asking such questions is at least inappropriate. Its another issue that when talking about the negotiations process the Armenian sides say  yes, they are ready for mutual concessions in general, but as long as the stances become even more hard from the Azerbaijani side, talking about mutual concessions from the Armenian side has no sense.

In Kocharyans words, the negotiations process implies moving towards mutual concessions, but as long as one of the sides hasnt announced what concessions it is ready to make, speaking about concessions from the Armenian side is a tactical mistake.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The stance of the Armenian sides is clear: Nagorno Karabakh cannot be part of Azerbaijan, Deputy FM Shavarsh Kocharyan told reporters after the Cabinet meeting- answering to a question what concession does the Armenian side demand from Azerbaijan and what expectations it has.

Our goal is very clear: Nagorno Karabakh cannot be part of Azerbaijan, the security of the people and state of Nagorno Karabakh should also be guaranteed. These two questions are clearly stated and have been talked about numerous times. Regarding details, how to achieve this, thats another issue, which also depends on the other sides stance, and the negotiations stance of that side is very tough, and in this case speaking about details is senseless, Kocharyan said.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. RPA faction MP Gagik Minasyan finds the Russian-Turkish rapprochement a risk for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, however the lawmaker is confident that the Armenian side will not make any concessions in this very important issue.

The Armenian side cant concede anyhow in this issue, because this is a very important issue for us, we dont have an issue of concession here. Some issues can be laid down at the discussion table in case the sides have an agreement regarding the status of Nagorno Karabakh, Minasyan said.

The lawmaker noted that the history of Russian-Turkish relations is centuries-old, during which tensions and friendship have regularly accompanied one another.

Now we are witnessing yet another rapprochement, which was preceded by a very tense situation. I think that we caught an important test, when the Russian-Turkish relations were very tense, and calls were being made from Russia, that Armenia should also be used in order to gain profit from that tension, but our society and leadership didnt give in to this temptation. I am convinced that we will respond with the same correctness to possible problems resulting from the rapprochement of Russian-Turkish relations, he said.

Gagik Minasyan ruled out the possibility that Turkey can ever become a co-chairing country of OSCE Minsk Group. He reminded that Turkey has always supported Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement issue, thus such country cannot be among the co-chairing countries.

The lawmaker also added that the candidacy of any country to be included in the co-chairing countries of the Minsk Group should be approved by all three sides of the conflict, and Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh will never allow Turkey to become a co-chairing country.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Russias long-range bombers Tupolev-22M3 and frontline bombers Sukhoi-34 have dealt another strike against Islamic State targets in Syrias Deir ez-Zor province from bases in Russia and Iran, the Russian Defense Ministry said, TASS reported.

"On August 18, 2016 long-range bombers Tupolev-22M3 and frontline bombers Sukhoi-34 took off from bases in Russia and Iran to deal a massive strike against the facilities of the Islamic State group (outlawed in Russia) in Syrias Deir ez-Zor province," the Defense Ministry said in a news release.

The planes eliminated five large warehouses containing weapons, ammunition and lubricants.

"Six command centers were hit and a large amount of artillery positions, armored vehicles and manpower was destroyed," the Defense Ministry said.

Sukhoi-30SM and Sukhoi-35S based at Hmeymim, in Syria, provided protection.

"All Russian planes coped with their tasks and returned to base," the Defense Ministry said.

On Tuesday, Russian planes for the first time used the Iranian airdrome Hamadan to bomb terrorists in Syria. Long-range Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter-bombers raided facilities of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra (both outlawed in Russia) in Syrias provinces Aleppo, Deiz ez-Zor and Idlib. On Wednesday, August 17 Sukhoi-34 bombers again used the airdrome in Iran to bomb IS positions in Deir ez-Zor province.






YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs that on August 18 the USD exchange rate was 475.30 AMD which is a decrease of 0.01 drams compared to the previous day.

The euro increased by 2.41 drams forming 537.94 drams, and British pound rose by 6.02 drams forming 625.59 drams. Russian ruble increased by 0.05 drams forming 7.47 drams on August 18.

The prices for precious metals are as follows: the price for silver per gram is 299.05 AMD, gold-20,528.06 AMD, and platinum  16,946.9 AMD.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan received the delegation led by French Schneider Electric company President on Russia and the CIS states Johan Vanderplaetse on August 18, press service of the Government informed Armenpress.

The PM welcomed the initiative of the French company to carry out activities and investment projects in Armenia and the implementation of practical steps towards that path. The Armenian PM said there are wide range of opportunities in the energy sector in our country.

Johan Vanderplaetse expressed gratitude for the reception and said he has examined the opportunities for conducting investment projects in Armenia and said favorable conditions exist for the electric power production.

He said they are going to transfer their technological production to Armenia, to apply the latest production technologies and prepare necessary personnel in cooperation with universities.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. An aircraft has crashed in North Las Vegas between the Nellis Air Force base and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Clark County Fire Department said, RT reported.

Smoke was seen rising from the scene Thursday morning and officials at Nellis confirmed they are investigating an aircraft incident.

Police said they are giving assistance following a plane crash incident in the northeast valley.

The crash occurred during a Red Flag 16 training exercise, according to an airplane enthusiast who was observing the action.

The wreckage came down near Sloan Lane and Ann Road.

Nellis AFB officials confirmed a civilian contractor aircraft supporting 57th Wing operations came down near the base at 7.40 a.m. local time, KVVU reports.

The pilot sustained minor injuries in the accident and an investigation is under way.

There are reports that the plane was an A-4 Skyhawk. Introduced to US Navy service in 1956, the jet was retired in 2003.

Several of the aircraft, retired from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, were acquired by the Florida-based Draken International, a private contractor providing training jets for the US military.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced she is doing everything possible to return the relations with Russia which will make the sanctions unnecessary.

Firstly I would eliminate the sanctions against Russia. Unfortunately, we still do not see the implementation of the Minsk agreement. We want through all our forces to return to the relations with Russia which would not make the sanctions necessary, Merkel said, RIA Novosti reported.

Merkel said together with French President Francois Hollande, they are doing everything possible almost every day to achieve progress over the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
A multi-billion corruption scandal and international criticism have failed to topple Prime Minister Najib Razak. Fresh political opposition isn't expected to work either, analysts say.

Malaysia saw the birth of its newest political party, the Parti Pribumi Bersatu, last week. With former premier Mahathir Mohamed as founding chairman and former deputy PM Muhyiddin Yassin as president, it's widely believed the party has one clear goal.

"It's explicitly clear that the party [commonly referred to as Bersatu] was created to topple the PM," said Oh Ei Sun, Najib's former political secretary from 2009-2011 and a current senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Indeed, it's no secret that Mahathironce a mentor to Najiband Muhyiddin are the PM's biggest critics.

Last June, the PM was accused of receiving $681 million in his personal bank account from state wealth investment fund 1MDB, sparking calls for his resignation, led by Mahathir at home and anti-graft watchdogs abroad. Meanwhile, Yassin was sacked last year for criticizing Najib's handling of the scandal.

Early this year, Mahathir rounded up Najib's political enemies to spearhead the 'Save Malaysia' movement-- a campaign to oust Najib and form a national consensus on institutional reforms and a new political system. In March, the movement got more than 1 million people to affirm their concerns over Najib's leadership by signing a document called the Citizen's Declaration and Bersatu's launch is seen as an extension of these efforts.

But with general elections expected in 2018, pundits are sceptical of Bersatu's ability to dislodge Najib's ruling partythe United Malays National Organization (UMNO)and its coalition government, the Barisan Nasional (BN).

UMNO has helmed Malaysia since independence in 1957 and provides the PM with support of its central leadership and regional chiefs, widely seen as the key to Najib's political survival. In February, Mahathir quit UMNO, saying it was "supporting corruption" under Najib's reign.

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Given UMNO's deep roots and historical dominance, Bersatu may not be a formidable enough opponent, suggested Tringh Nguyen, Asia Pacific economist at investment bank Natixis. "It is doubtful that this new political vehicle is going to do much given Mahathir's age [91] and also waning political clout...it's unlikely that Mahathir can galvanize support to topple Najib."

Moreover, Malaysia's fractured political landscape is another obstacle.

"There are many challenges facing Bersatu, especially with the opposition disunited," said Norshahril Saat, fellow at the ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute, a research group specializing in Southeast Asian studies.

There are already a number of opposition parties to BN, including the People's Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP), the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah). But infighting between these groups has only solidified the BN's grip over the country, Saat noted.

Certain members of PAS left to form Amanah in 2015, uniting with the PKR and DAP to form an opposition alliance called Pakatan Harapan. However, the alliance has already lost two by-elections to BN this year. Meanwhile, other smaller opposition vehicles have united to form another pact called Saksama.

Bersatu has said that it will ally with Pakatan Harapan but if that materializes, it's expected to only muddle the opposition landscape further, noted Oh.

Still, it will certainly make the 2018 elections interesting, said Saat. "Mahathir's hope is that sentiment against the BN government has not changed since 2013, when more than half of Malaysians voted for the opposition."

With a lack of viable alternatives to Najib and slowing economic growth, Malaysia overall is in a state of "strategic survival," said Nguyen.

Amid a messy political atmosphere, there is an air of stagnation around the country's medium-term outlook and a lack of debate about how to take Malaysia to the next level of development, he explained.

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Will you lose your job to a robot?

As technology, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) progresses, Aussies are becoming increasingly concerned about the security of their job.

So should they really be worried?

Fifty-two per cent of Australians definitely think their job will be affected, according to recruiting experts Hays.

In the online poll of 2,706 people, a further 27 per cent said that maybe their job will be affected. The final 21 per cent do not believe their job will be affected at all.

Also read: 12 businesses you can start for under $100

So is AI and automation your friend or foe? The answer, says Hays, depends on your willingness to adapt your skills.

Automation and artificial intelligence has already begun to impact a diverse range of workplaces and jobs, from automated self-service checkouts in retail stores to assembly lines in manufacturing plants, says Nick Deligiannis, Managing Director of Hays in Australia & New Zealand.

But with automation and AI replacing or taking over manual and repetitive tasks, this will leave employees free to focus on the non-routine and more advanced aspects of their job.

Theres also the possibility that robots and AI could be used as another tool to help us do our job better, rather than replace us. In this context, automation could be viewed as an enabler, helping us to be more efficient.

Of course this makes continuous up-skilling key to remaining relevant in the job market of the future. But Nick warns that its not only technical or hard skills youll need to focus on.

When we look at the skills automation is taking over, they are usually hard or technical skills. Soft skills are a lot more difficult to automate or outsource, says Nick.

Also read: 4 easy ways to make more money in 2016

So it is soft skills that will add to your value in the years ahead. This includes communication, team work, adaptability, creative thinking and relationship building skills.

With employers already looking closely at candidates soft skills, it seems the value of the human touch is growing even greater in an automated world of work, said Nick.

Story continues

The poll was conducted on hays.com.au between June and August 2016.

Hays, the worlds leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.
Back in April, we learned that UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi had hired a sleazy "reputation-management" company to scrub her reputation and that of the university after the 2011 incident in which university police lieutenant John Pike hosed down peaceful protesters with pepper spray, jetting chemical irritant directly into their open mouths and eyes.



The bill for that "scrubbing" was over $175,000. But turns out that she hired two other companies to try to prevent the taint of scandal from landing on her, spending more than $400K in all on the fruitless exercise.

This isn't her first terrible adventure in "reputation management." At her previous job at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she forced her aides to edit her Wikipedia entry  over their protests  when it emerged that children of big-ticket donors were given admission preference to the university.

Katehi's quest to get rid of online references to the pepper-spray incident led to the hiring of Nevins and Associates, a Baltimore company Katehi found after seeking help from a social media consultant, the report stated. Nevins promised to "expedite the eradication of references to the pepper spray incident in search results on Google for the chancellor." The company collected more than $92,000 before UC Davis decided to replace it with a firm called Purple Strategies, a Virginia company that was paid $44,600 over three months to focus "on improving Chancellor Katehi's personal narrative and online identity, primarily through her Wikipedia page," the report found.



That company produced a "UC Davis Bible" filled with suggestions on how to "create a personal narrative for the chancellor" and "engage the Wikipedia community." "Notably, the proposal did not include a strategy to manage UC Davis' Wikipedia page; it was exclusively focused on Chancellor Katehi's page," the report stated. After that contract ended, the school hired Sacramento firm Idmloco "at the behest of Chancellor Katehi," the report says. That firm was paid $270,000 under three contracts to enhance the school's and Katehi's images and to provide "listening reports" on how online news reports and social media were referring to both.



'Get me off the Google,' UC Davis Chancellor Katehi urged communications staff [Diana Lambert and Sam Stanton/Sacramento Bee]



(via Techdirt)





(Image: STEM Interview: Linda Katehi  Chancellor, UC Davis (2)

, CaSTEMLearning, CC-BY)
By Julie Zhu and James Pomfret HONG KONG (Reuters) - Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd, the country's second-largest insurer, is aiming for a possible fivefold increase in overseas investments and has not been put off Britain by its vote to leave the European Union, its group chief financial officer (CFO) told Reuters on Thursday. Ping An plans to gradually increase its overseas investments to 5-10 percent of total insurance assets if it can find appropriate targets, CFO Jason Yao said in an interview. It currently invests about 2 percent of its total assets abroad, well below the 15 percent cap imposed by China's insurance regulator, giving it ample room to splurge. "That could even happen in the next three to five years as the world is changing very fast," Yao said, naming the United States, Britain and Europe as the key investment markets the company is targeting. Britain's vote on the EU was not an issue, he said. "There will be investment opportunities in the UK ... Britain's stock market and currency have gradually stabilised (since the vote). We've been watching that very closely," he said. Based on Ping An Group's current insurance assets, the company's total overseas investments could reach as much as $27.5 billion (21.02 billion pounds) from about $5.5 billion currently, according to Reuters calculations. Yao said possible investments included property, logistics-related real estate and private equity funds. Ping An bought London office property Tower Place for 327 million pounds in January 2015 and Lloyds Building in the city's financial district for 260 million pounds in July 2013. INVESTMENT INCOME SLIDE Ping An, the country's second-largest insurer by market value, posted an 18 percent rise in first-half net profit, led by a one-off gain in its internet finance business. Yao said it was a "relatively big challenge" to stem the slide in investment income in the second half of this year, after investment returns fell 54 percent in the first half, hit by falling interest rates and the stock market downturn. That increases the impetus to diversify its asset allocation and expand its footprint abroad. However, steady growth in its life insurance and banking businesses helped the rise in profit, in contrast to the declines forecast by rivals. Ping An's overseas ambitions mirror those of other Chinese firms, including Anbang Insurance Group and Fosun International Ltd, which are spending billions on overseas acquisitions in a bid to reduce their dependence on the slowing Chinese economy and weakening yuan currency. Yao said the parent company would push ahead with its plans to list its Ping An Securities arm in Hong Kong by the end of this year at the earliest. Yao declined to specify the size of the IPO, but IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication has reported it could be as large as $1 billion. As for Lufax, a Ping An Group-backed Chinese online lending platform, Yao said a dual listing was still a possibility and could happen next year. Lufax serves as a trading platform for a wide variety of financial products between institutional and individual investors, including wealth management products and peer-to-peer loans. Lufax raised $1.2 billion in its last round of fund raising, valuing the company at $18.5 billion, but Yao said there were no current plans to raise more capital ahead of any IPO. Years of breakneck growth for China's top insurers has been partly fuelled by a splurge on risky investment products that could punch multi-billion-dollar holes in their balance sheets if the slowing economy triggers heavy debt defaults. (Reporting by Julie Zhu and James Pomfret; Editing by Denny Thomas and Will Waterman)
Evisa Asia currently offers 40 products consisting of electronic visa, pre-filled form, visa sticker, invitation letter and approval letter

Evisa Asia has today launched their travel visa app which caters to a variety of visa products and services in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In essence, they provide visa requirement and visa products and services that cater for citizens of 40 countries worldwide. However, one of their services called Embassy Trip which requires pickup of passport, is available to Malaysian citizens only at the moment.

Typically, a Malaysian citizen would require a visa to visit nearly half of the places in the Asian continent. Evisa Asias products and services are specifically created to meet visa needs as such.

Also Read: Indias online bus ticket booking marketplace Travelyaari raises US$7M Series B

Currently, theyre offering 40 products consisting of electronic visa, pre-filled form, visa sticker, invitation letter and approval letter.

The availability of these products depends largely on the visa requirements of a particular country. Hence, this number is not fixed as the product range will adhere to the latest updates implemented by respective governments.

The travel visa app utilises a single universal form which caters to single or multiple applications simultaneously and safely. Evisa Asia also provides passport drive-thru facilities for clients to drop off their passports alongside passport photo conversion via a selfie photo.

Also Read: Travel platform Touristly secures investment round from Tune Labs

Founders - Chiam Wei Kiat (Left) and Lee Earn Pin (Right)

Founders  Chiam Wei Kiat (Left) and Lee Earn Pin (Right)

Formerly, a China visa is obtained either via a travel agent or by personally going through an application process. This travel visa app allows users an alternative by filling up a form (via app) then wait for their passport to be collected and delivered back safely alongside a visa sticker in the nearest time.

Even if you are sure about the visa requirement today, it doesnt mean that you are sure about it tomorrow, because visa rules changes. We want to make travel visa application as easy as booking a flight. The Cambodia electronic visa project inspired us to find a way to solve visa problems for Asia, said Lee Earn Pin, co-Founder of Evisa Asia, when contacted by e27.

Story continues

The design of the new app must allow travellers to find the right information and apply for their visa in no more than three pages, added Chiam Wei Kiat, co-Founder.

Founded in 2006, Evisa Asia first started with a single country, Cambodia, where they built the governments first electronic visa system. Their first visa office-cum-Passport DriveThru is currently based in Malaysia.

The post Evisa Asia launches travel visa app in Malaysia covering over 60 Asian countries appeared first on e27.
By John Tilak and Rosalba O'Brien TORONTO/SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Canada's Kinross Gold Corp is looking to retreat from Chile and has put its main assets in that country up for sale, according to people familiar with the process. The move comes at a time Toronto-based Kinross has suspended operations at Maricunga, its major mine in Chile, because of environmental concerns raised by the Chilean regulator. The world's fifth-largest gold miner by output has hired Bank of Nova Scotia to help find buyers for its two main Chilean gold mines, the sources said. They requested anonymity because the matter is not public. Interest has been very strong, with bids coming from mining companies from Canada, Chile and other parts of the world, the sources said. "We have received expressions of interest for Maricunga and La Coipa, as we do for our other assets from time to time, and we continue to keep our options open," said Kinross spokesman Louie Diaz. He declined to comment on whether the company has begun a formal process to sell its Chilean mines. Kinross shares turned positive after the Reuters report and climbed 1.2 percent before paring some gains. The stock was up 0.5 percent at C$6.48 by mid-afternoon. Citing environmental damage that has been disputed by Kinross, Chile's environmental regulator in March shut down the water system linked to the Maricunga mine. In 2015, that mine accounted for about 15 percent of the country's gold production. After a suspension in May, mining resumed in July, subject to ongoing regulatory proceedings. Diaz said the mine was suspended again that month, following pressure from the regulator. Operations at La Coipa were suspended in 2013. Located in northern Chile, Maricunga produced 212,155 gold equivalent ounces last year, making up about 8 percent of the company's total production. Chile produced 40,829 kilos of gold in 2015, according to government statistics, or about 1.4 million ounces. Spurred by local demonstrations, Chile's enforcement of environmental regulations has become stricter in recent years. Some business leaders have criticized tougher rules and protracted court cases, saying they have driven away investment. For instance, the huge Pascua Lama gold and silver project, run by another Canadian miner, Barrick Gold Corp, has been suspended since 2013 after problems that included permitting issues. On a conference call on July 28, Kinross Chief Executive Officer Paul Rollinson said the company was "not in a situation where we need to sell assets", but no decision had been made on a sale. According to the Chilean governments lobbying transparency website, two representatives from Kinross - Bob Musgrove, VP of operations in South America, and Jose Letelier, VP of external affairs in Chile - visited with Mining Minister Aurora Williams on April 12 to discuss information on the mines situation. Letelier told Reuters on Thursday that the meeting concerned the environmental issue. Kinross also has mines and projects in Brazil, Russia, Mauritania, Ghana and the United States. Last year, Kinross acquired some Nevada assets from Barrick, and sources told Reuters at the time that Kinross was aiming to increase its exposure in safer mining jurisdictions. (Reporting by John Tilak and Susan Taylor in Toronto, Rosalba O'Brien in Santiago; Editing by Christian Plumb and David Gregorio)
By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index ended barely lower on Thursday as energy stock gains on higher oil prices were offset by weakness in bank shares and some consumer and telecommunications names and a reversal in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc . The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> settled down 1.92 points, or 0.01 percent, at 14,695.68. Advancers outnumbered decliners by a ratio of 1.2-to-1. The heavyweight energy group climbed 1.3 percent, with Suncor Energy Inc up 0.9 percent to C$36.64 and Encana Corp jumping 5.9 percent to C$12.95, as Brent crude rose above $50 a barrel for the first time in six weeks. But six of the index's 10 main groups ended lower, including a 0.5 percent fall for financials and a 0.7 percent loss for the smaller consumer staples group. Ian Nakamoto, director of research at MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier, said the banks may have stepped back as investors bet on a slower pace of U.S. interest rate hikes, following the release of minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's last meeting. He expects their earnings, which start being reported next week, to be encouraging for investors as they stick to or increase their dividend payouts. "If Calgary starts to feel better I think the banks in general will get a bit of a kick to them also," he said. Calgary is Canada's oil industry hub. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc ended down 3.4 percent at C$37.19, after T. Rowe Price sued the drugmaker over what it called a "fraudulent scheme". The stock had earlier risen as much as 5 percent after the company's creditors agreed to amend loan terms. Telecom stocks also weighed, with BCE Inc off 0.8 percent at C$61.68 and Rogers Communications Inc down 0.7 percent at C$56.78. Brookfield Asset Management declined 1.4 percent to C$44.05. A source told Reuters on Wednesday that the company plans to buy a majority stake in a water and sewage company to add to its holdings which include property, infrastructure, renewable energy and construction investments. Foreign investors scooped up Canadian securities for the sixth month in a row in June, driven by the largest purchase of Canadian equities since April 2004, data from Statistics Canada showed on Thursday. (Editing by W Simon and Chizu Nomiyama)
Productivity Software

Microsoft Adds New Features to Office 365 Education

Microsoft has added a couple of new features to its Office 365 Education portfolio of products for students and teachers.

In April, the company released Microsoft Classroom, which provides course management operations for teachers. For school IT staff, an updated Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer tool would let them set up shared devices in bulk for classroom scenarios where students share devices. Finally, an updated release of Windows 10 offered Windows Ink, a technology that enables the user to write on his or her device as if it were paper.

Now, Microsoft has introduced two new features in time for the new school year.

First, a version of Microsoft Classroom and a new software product called School Data Sync will help IT administrators connect existing school systems to Office 365, enabling a single sign-on for teachers and students while automating Microsoft Classroom set-up.

Microsoft representatives described School Data Sync as "the easiest way to provision online classrooms in Office 365 Education." It will also allow teachers to create and manage online classes and then connect that data with third-party apps or other databases that the schools might rely on.

An advancement on Windows Ink is OneNote Ink that now  in addition to letting students shade, sketch, draft, save and share ideas  recognizes math equations. The belief is that students will now be able to show their thought processes while working on math problems and teachers can better identify the gaps in understanding.

IT administrators can get started with Microsoft Classroom and School Data Sync while teachers learn about the new OneNote Ink.
Camposol Holding Ltd. sold 17,597 net MT during 2Q-16, including discontinued operations volume, down 16.3% from 2Q-15 mainly explained by a decrease in volumes of peppers, asparagus, artichokes, grapes, avocados, shrimp and other seafood products, net of an increase in volumes of blueberries.

Average price during 2Q-16 was USD 3.08 per net KG, including discontinued operations sales, up 12.0% from 2Q-15 mainly explained by higher prices of shrimp and other seafood products as well as higher prices of blueberries and avocados.

As a result, Camposol Holding Ltd. reported sales of USD 54.2 million during 2Q-15, down 6.1% from 2Q-15. Average cost of goods sold during 2Q-2016 was USD 2.50 per net KG, including discontinued operations costs, up 12.1% from 2Q-15 mainly explained by higher costs for asparagus, blueberries, shrimp and other seafood products.

EBITDA during 2Q-16, including discontinued operations sales, was USD 6.1 million, down 14.6% from 2Q-15. EBITDA margin during 2Q-16 decreased to 11.2% from 12.4% in 2Q-15.

As of June 30th 2016, the Company maintained a cash balance of USD 29.6 million.

The Company expects to continue its diversification strategy by increasing the production in the F&V Segment (blueberries) and Seafood Segment (conversion of shrimp ponds), as well as continue to reinforce the Trading Segment (direct sales to retailers), adding value to its clients through commercial, marketing and service initiatives which should result in higher margins.

"Second quarter results are in line with our expectations including the effects of our recently declared discontinued operations. We are keeping our renewed focus on our fresh and frozen business and a positive outlook for the year, especially on our avocado and our growing blueberry business. We are grateful to our shareholders for the confidence placed on us as we continue working hard in making Camposol a world-class company", stated Manuel Salazar Diez Canseco, CEO of Camposol Holding Ltd.

The long-term growth prospects for exotic fruits and vegetables markets are excellent. Avocados and blueberries consumption is growing, with headroom for increased per capita consumption in key markets. The Company expects good demand for all fresh produce in general in both the United States and Europe.

Mr. Manuel Salazar, CEO and Ms. Maria Cristina Couturier, CFO, will host a conference call today, Thursday August 18th at 10:00 a.m. (Lima). For details on the conference call, please see attached invitation details.

Please see the full second quarter 2016 report and presentation enclosed (or click on the links below of this release if received by e-mail).

For further information, please contact:

Manuel Salazar Diez Canseco, CEO

msalazar@camposol.com.pe

Maria Cristina Couturier, CFO

mcouturier@camposol.com.pe

Jossue Yesquen, Head of IR

jyesquen@camposol.com.pe

Phone: +511 621 0800 Ext.: 7171

About CAMPOSOL

CAMPOSOL is the leading agro industrial company in Peru, the first producer of avocados and soon the first producer of blueberries in the world. It is involved in the harvest, processing and marketing of high quality agricultural products such as avocados, asparagus, blueberries, grapes, mangos, tangerines and shrimp; which are exported to Europe, the United States of America and Asia.

CAMPOSOL is a vertically integrated company located in Peru, offering fresh and frozen products. It is the third largest private employer of the country, with more than 13 thousand workers in high season, and is committed to support sustainable development through social responsibility policies and projects aimed to increase the shared-value for all of its stakeholders.

CAMPOSOL was the first Peruvian agro industrial company to present annual audited Sustainability Reports and has achieved the following international certifications: BSCI, Global Gap, IFS, HACCP and BRC among others.

To learn more about CAMPOSOL please visit: www.camposol.com.pe
Grand Forks North Dakota, Aug. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The University of North Dakota (UND) Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), a worldwide leader in the development of solutions to energy and environmental challenges, announced increased hiring during Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16), which ended June 30, 2016, with a significant rise in contract awards.

Over the 12-month period, the EERC hired a total of 11 new full-time employees, which is the result of continued steady improvement in the overall financial health of the organization.

This fiscal year has brought the EERC the best year for new contract awards in 6 years, and weve made some major strides forward this year in expanding our capabilities and our capacity to respond to our clients needs, said EERC CEO Tom Erickson. With the number of new contract awards in recent months, weve had an urgent need to bring additional staff on board to carry out the work and help meet client needs. The response has been so positive that we received more than 120 applications for just one recent position.

In FY16, the EERC was awarded more than $36.5 million in new contracts, a 28.5% increase over the previous year and a 49% increase from FY14. Total contract expenditures exceeded

$31 million, an increase of 7.5% from FY15. Over the course of the fiscal year, the EERC submitted 150 proposals worth $67.4 million to organizations worldwide.

This is the second year in a row that we have seen significant financial progress, Erickson continued. Along with our success in awards, we launched a major internal reorganization focused on efficiency gains and aligning our core business activities, which has allowed us to meet the State Board of Higher Education 3-year financial plan 1 year earlier than expected, regaining our self-sufficient funding model, he said.

With last years success, combined with nearly $25 million in contracts already awarded or under negotiation, FY17 is expected to bring a continued need for aggressive hiring.

The EERCs success is due, in part, to a new focused approach on developing programs and client relationships to solve the worlds most pressing energy and environmental needs, attracting significant federal, state, and industry support. For example, the EERC has focused on the incredible opportunity that exists in North Dakota to bring together the synergies of coal, oil and gas, renewable, and agricultural industries, resulting in significant opportunity for the state. In FY16, the EERC received over $8 million in state awards to address current issues and enhance future energy opportunities for North Dakota. These projects demonstrate our commitment to serve the state of North Dakota and the businesses active in the state.

Erickson concluded, The EERC now has a total client base of 1340 clients in 52 countries, which is a direct reflection of our commitment to strengthening relationships with current partners and our ability to foster new business opportunities. I would like to acknowledge the tremendous effort by our staff this year for their work on our existing core programs, building exciting new initiatives, and strengthening our presence in the states energy sector.
Ann Barrett Steps Down from WAMES Leadership Role

Rose Schafhauser will replace longtime executive director of Wisconsin association.

Ann Barrett, the longtime executive director of the Wisconsin Association of Medical Equipment Services (WAMES), will retire after the associations Sept. 28-30 annual conference.

Ann has been the heart and soul of WAMES for almost 25 years, so while we are very happy for her she will be deeply missed, said Rick Adamich, president of WAMES President. WAMESs strength as a state association is largely attributed to Anns leadership over the years. We wish her the best.

After reviewing multiple options, WAMES reported that its board has chosen Rose Schafhauser, the President and Owner of Association Management LLC (Stillwater, Minn.) to replace Ms. Barrett. Schafhauser also serves as the executive director of both the Midwest Association for Medical Equipment Services (MAMES) and the Arizona Medical Equipment Suppliers Association (AZMESA).

It has been a wonderful experience to work with the many excellent people in and connected to WAMES, Barrett said. Ive seen this association accomplish many great things and I am delighted that Rose is to be the new Executive Director.

Schafhausers company also provides administrative support and services for the Region A Council, the Region B Council, the Region C Council and the National Supplier Clearinghouse Advisory Committee. She has also served on the board of directors of the American Association for Homecare and is a past chair of AAHomecares State Leaders Council.

As a board, it was important to us that we hired someone with strong industry ties. Rose is extremely advocacy savvy while still being effective administratively, Adamich said. She has everything we were looking for in an Executive Director and more. We are very excited to be bringing on an individual of her caliber.

We are very excited to have been chosen to work with WAMES and we look forward to continuing to build on the foundation of excellence that Ann and the WAMES Board of Directors has built over the past 25 years. Schafhauser said.

WAMES noted that Barrett and Schafhauser will work closely together over the next several months to ease the transition.
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
Greetings!

I hope that you were all somewhere where the weather broke and you got a respite from the heat. I also hope that when that cool breeze came in, you cranked up your ovens and made the Seafood and Corn Ragout in a Sack. I've been wearing the recipe out knowing that soon corn will be a sweet memory.

What have you been up to? Let's hear all about it...
News

Electronic Frontier Foundation Points to Windows 10 Privacy Missteps

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has taken a position on Windows 10, stating that "Microsoft blatantly disregards user choice and privacy" for those persons using the operating system.

The nonprofit organization, which advocates for "civil liberties in the digital world," published an announcement this week asking Microsoft "to come clean with its user community" and to acknowledge its privacy "missteps." It also asked Microsoft to separate "security updates from operating system upgrades going forward." There are some signs of a legal backlash against Windows 10 already, the EFF's announcement noted. Moreover, the EFF is starting to get requests to take action, it added.

Last month, a French privacy agency gave Microsoft three months to address a list of privacy issues, including Windows 10's handling of advertising IDs, cookies, PIN security, data transfers and telemetry reporting. The word, "telemetry," typically implies data collection for service improvement purposes or problem-solving purposes, but it's a somewhat ambiguous term. The agency warned that Microsoft could face sanctions if it didn't comply with its change requests.

U.S. regulatory agencies haven't been too vocal about Windows 10 and potential privacy issues. But, in general, privacy doesn't appear to be a top-of-mind consideration for those agencies, nor regulation, for that matter.

Telemetry Controls

Organizations do have the ability to manage Windows 10 telemetry connections, as described in this TechNet article. They can control 31 separate Group Policy settings. However, only Windows 10 version 1607 Enterprise and Education editions offer full control over those settings. Here's how the article described it:

Some of the network connections discussed in this article can be managed in Windows 10 Mobile, Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise, Windows 10, version 1507, and Windows 10, version 1511. However, you must use Windows 10 Enterprise, version 1607 or Windows 10 Education, version 1607 to manage them all.

Last month, Microsoft published an Enterprise Products section in its privacy policy, which apparently is new. It's a little more complicated to track such nuances with Windows 10 because even individual features, such as the Cortana personal search assistant, have their own separate privacy policies to read. An organization's overall agreement with Microsoft, though, could supplant all of those individual privacy policies, according to the Enterprise Products segment.

Microsoft describes how to use the Windows 10 user interface to remove Cortana at this page, which involves turning off its use with e-mail, calendar, contacts and the Edge browser, among other applications. Cortana is also integrated with Office 365 applications. Group Policy can be used to turn off Cortana more programmatically, which is the option that organizations likely would use. However, a manual registry edit is required with the Windows 10 Home edition, according to this ZDNet article, making that an unlikely option for consumers wanting to turn off Cortana.

Trust

In terms of security, Microsoft announced in February that U.S. Department of Defense agencies were advised to "standardize on Windows 10." And presumably the DoD is assured about Windows 10's privacy protections, too -- that is, privacy for governmental agencies. Microsoft reportedly was an early collaborator with the U.S. National Security Agency's PRISM program, which secretly harvested people's communications data from around the globe, which, if true, renders Windows 10 privacy assurances kind of moot.

In the end, it's all about trust, in a world of mass spying (or marketing) by government and industry. Last year, Terry Myerson, Microsoft's executive vice president for the Windows and Devices Group, said that Microsoft was committed to transparency with regard to Windows 10 and privacy:

Trust is a core pillar of our More Personal Computing vision, and we know we have to earn it. We've taken time to expand the documentation on our approach today with this blog, and new content we're posting today for consumers and IT Pros, designed to complement our One Microsoft Privacy Policy. We look forward to the next round of questions and feedback on these new posts. I assure you that no other company is more committed, more transparent and listening harder to customers on this important topic than we are.

It's a strong statement of assurance. But at least two organizations now aren't seeing Microsoft's Windows 10 privacy assurances in that way.
South Sudan's former rebel leader and ex-vice president Riek Machar has escaped to the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo following violent clashes last month, an official said Thursday. "Riek Machar is currently in DRC, in Kinshasa, and wants to go as soon as possible to Ethiopia," an aide told AFP. An earlier statement from Machar's SPLM-IO party said the leader had been "evacuated to a safe country within the region" without naming Congo. Civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused Machar, then his deputy, of plotting a coup. The fighting has split the world's newest country along ethnic lines and driven it to the brink of collapse. A peace deal signed between the government and rebels a year ago has so far failed to end the conflict. And last month Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting between Kiir's forces and those loyal to Machar. Machar's whereabouts had been unclear since the fighting flared in Juba between July 8 and 11 and led to his outgunned and outnumbered forces being chased from the city by government troops. He was subsequently replaced as vice president on July 25 by Taban Deng Gai, a former friend and ally. Deng warned Wednesday that Machar should stay out of politics to allow peace despite previously indicating that if Machar returned to Juba he would stand aside. - Cost of war - Machar's intention to travel to Ethiopia, a regional power broker that hosted peace talks through the trade bloc IGAD, suggests he has no intention of being cut out of negotiations or pushed from power. Several former rebel commanders have warned they consider Deng's elevation to vice president to be "treason". South Sudan's civil war has been characterised by war crimes and human rights abuses with civilians massacred -- often along tribal lines -- women and girls raped and children forced to become soldiers. Homes and property have been looted and burned, and entire towns razed. Tens of thousands of people have died and over two million have been forced from their homes. In just the most recent documented atrocity a South Sudanese journalist was killed by government soldiers because of his tribe and foreign aid workers were shot, beaten and raped in an attack on a hotel during last month's fighting in Juba. The targeting of foreigners spurred the United Nations to launch an investigation into why its peacekeepers failed to respond to calls for help while the attack was going on. Last Friday the UN Security Council approved a US-drafted resolution to strengthen the 12,000-person peacekeeping mission with 4,000 additional troops drawn from regional armies and equipped with a more aggressive mandate. Juba has yet to accept the resolution.
Germany's Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst employed a special mind trick to help deal with the raucous home crowd as they crushed hosts Brazil to win the women's Olympic beach volleyball final on Wednesday. A packed house, loud music and swirling wind on the famed Copacabana beach made for an intimidating atmosphere but the Germans kept their cool to see off Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas 21-18, 21-14. Afterwards, Ludwig revealed they had practised mind-control techniques and imagined that instead of playing on Brazil's most famous beach, they were at home in Germany and the deafening support was theirs. "It was definitely tough. We knew that it was going to be really loud," she said. "Before (the final) we were talking about it, how it could be a bit distracting. "We had some tools, some routines in our heads which we worked through with our team before. And then we were just in a tunnel and we could play really well from the beginning to the end. "We were just in our own court and we were just hearing our own German crowd. Not really, but in our heads." While the Germans celebrated, it was a chastening night for Brazil who were denied a fourth gold medal of the Games and also missed bronze when Talita Rocha and Larissa Franca lost to Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross. World champions Bednarczuk and Seixas had sent home hopes rocketing when they handed American legend Walsh Jennings her first ever Olympic defeat, but it was a different story against the Germans. - Samba band - "Of course it would be wonderful to get the gold medal... but the silver medal is wonderful (too)," said Bednarczuk. "It was a long, hard journey to get here so the feeling isn't sadness, we're very happy." At a packed temporary stadium, complete with dancers and samba band and under a full moon, Walkenhorst was devastating with the spike as Germany bossed the first set. It only got worse for Brazil in the second set as Germany raced to an 11-5 lead and quickly sealed it on their first match point when Seixas hit a serve straight out. "We definitely deserved to win. We played better and better from game to game and we had a strong team behind us. They showed us how to be self-confident, even with this crowd," said Ludwig. Earlier, America's Walsh Jennings added Rio Olympics bronze to her collection of gold medals after beating Brazil's Rocha and Franca in the third-place play-off. The three-time defending Olympic champion and Ross, her new partner after the retirement of Misty May-Treanor, came from behind to win 17-21, 21-17, 15-9 in front of the partisan crowd.
The Philippine economy expanded 7.0 percent in the second quarter, official data showed Thursday, but President Rodrigo Duterte's new government said major changes were needed to fix one of Asia's biggest rich-poor divides.

The April-to-June period covered the final months of Benigno Aquino's administration, capping six years of stellar growth that helped boost the Philippines' credit ratings and end its reputation as one of the region's economic laggards.

However, Duterte won a landslide election victory partly on his railings against the nation's elite who have soaked up much of the benefits of the growth, while leaving a quarter of the nation's 100 million people living below the poverty line.

Duterte's economic chiefs on Thursday credited the 7.0-percent growth on annualised basis in the second quarter, the fastest in three years, to Aquino's "sound marco-economic, fiscal and monetary policies", but emphasised the poor were continuing to be left behind.

"We need to sustain that rebalancing toward investment-driven growth, especially investment that will lead to more inclusive, poverty-reducing, inequality-reducing growth," Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said.

Pernia said the Duterte administration was particularly concerned about the farming and fisheries sector, which accounts for about 10 million workers and their families.

"Knowing that the majority of poor Filipinos rely on this sector for their livelihood, this administration will prioritise agricultural development," he said.

The sector declined 2.1 percent from April-June, the fifth consecutive quarter of declines.

Nevertheless, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez also said Aquino's administration had helped set the foundations for even stronger overall growth, setting a target of at least 7 percent for the second half of this year and 6.5-7.5 percent in 2017.

"Our strong macro-economic fundamentals will buffer the Philippine economy from external shocks," Dominguez said.

Story continues

The government is aiming to cut the poverty rate from 26 percent currently to 17 percent when Duterte steps down in 2022.

Dominguez said this would begin with a stimulus programme focused on infrastructure, education and health.

The government on Tuesday unveiled its 2017 budget, announcing an overall increase of 11.6 percent in spending. Education was one of the biggest winners, with a 31-percent rise.

Dominguez also said the government would expand a government programme providing free contraceptives to poor couples and allowing sex education to be taught in schools.

A landmark law enabling this passed under Aquino but budget cuts by lawmakers in the mainly Catholic nation diluted its effectiveness.

Duterte has said helping Filipinos have fewer children is one of the keys to poverty reduction.
Singapore is one of the richest places in the world with a stunning 155,000 millionaires. Which means approximately one in 35 people you see every day are millionaires. Theyre not really a rare breed anymore.

We have just 30 billionaires on the island  a far rarer breed. Basically the Laprases of the Pokemon Go world. We take a look at how these people amassed their wealth and what it is about them that has made them Laprases.

Here is a snapshot of the top 10 richest in Singapore.

No. Individual/ family Worth (USD) Sector 1 Robert and Phillip Ng 8.6 Real Estate 2 Kwek Leng Beng and family 7.6 Real Estate 3 Eduardo Severin 7.2 Technology 4 Khoo family 6.3 Banking 5 Goh Cheng Liang 5.7 Paints 6 Kwee family 5.4 Real Estate 7 Wee Cho Yaw 4.9 Banking 8 Raj Kumar and Kishin RK 2.6 Real Estate 9 Kuok Khoon Hong 2.5 Palm Oil 10 Richard Chandler 2.45 Investments

Forbes 2016 list

Read Also: Why Are Millionaires Attracted To Live In Singapore?

Self-Made Billionaires

Of the top 10 richest in Singapore, just half of them derived their wealth on their own accord. Of these, two, Brazilian-born Facebook co-founder Eduardo Severin and New Zealand-born Richard Chandler, relocated to Singapore recently. This means only three of the top 10 can be considered self-made in Singapore, bucking the trend of Forbes global rankings where eight of the 10 are self-made.

The three in Singapore are Goh Cheng Liang, reclusive paints magnate more commonly associated with the Nippon brand, Raj Kumar, one-half of the now disbanded Royal Brothers group and only non-Chinese entry in the top 10, and Kuok Khoon Hong, co-founder of Wilmar International and also dubbed the oil palm king.

This is in stark contrast to the global list where the worlds richest self-made entrepreneurs are people who have innovated in the technology sector. The saving grace is that Singapore now boasts third-placed Eduardo Severin, a co-founder of Facebook. As much as Singapore is trying to boost its image as a technology and innovation hub, entrepreneurs in these sectors have not been able to break the top 10, or even top 20 richest list in the country. This is an area that should be looked into closely if Singapore is to play a major role at the international stage.

Story continues

How Did They Do It?

The pace at which family fortunes were able to outgrow earning levels of self-made entrepreneurs in Singapore is an oddity, with only two entries, both from the same company, making it to the list in the global rankings. Another anomaly is that the real estate sector contributes four entries in Singapore while on the global stage, innovation and craft are more highly valued with the real estate sector not represented at all in the top 10 richest. This could be down to the fact that the rich in Singapore have traditionally kept their money in real estate. Over the years, this has not only helped preserve its value but also exponentially grew it.

These factors could be down to the fact that property prices in Singapore have risen at astounding levels compared to other regions in the recent decades, enabling both family fortunes and established businesses within the sector to thrive beyond normal levels associated with delivering value. A threat to mirroring that the rich did traditionally, the Singapore government has taken a stance, via policy shifts, to limit residential property prices while global economic forces continue to depress commercial and industrial property prices. Despite this, companies in the sector remain in good stead to weather the storm and they seem unlikely to buckle to selling pressure. For now, their places in the top 10 remain resilient. Further shifts in government policies will be required to place more value on innovation and entrepreneurship rather than real estate ownership.

Which Sector Will Potential Billionaires Come From?

Interestingly, third-ranked Eduardo Severin and tenth-placed Richard Chandler, among several other entries lower down the local list, chose to relocate to Singapore. This shows the nation is able to attract highly talented people to the country. While there have been contrasting views about how much trickle-down effect they actually deliver to Singapores benefit, the fact is that having more of them around to boost investment in innovation, import foreign expertise through know-how or contacts and backing new entrepreneurship will be beneficial to Singapore. The next billionaire may just come about from an investment into a technology venture here.

While it may be disheartening to know that so few self-made Singaporean entrepreneurs made the local top 10 list, the younger entries in the group are indeed self-made and from sectors we would expect  Eduardo Severin, 37, from the technology sector and Richard Chandler, 57, from investments, and even further down the list, the younger entries are from the investments, technology and retail.

Read Also: 10 Quotes From Warren Buffett We Can All Learn From

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Thousands turned out Thursday at a victory parade for Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling, who clinched the city-state's first Olympic gold medal with a stunning victory over his boyhood idol Michael Phelps. The 21-year-old waved to crowds from an open-top double-decker bus while sporting a new tattoo of the Olympic rings on his right arm. Schooling set an Olympic record of 50.39sec in the men's 100m butterfly final in Rio last Friday after edging out Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history. The parade started near Schooling's housing estate in the island's eastern suburbs, where hundreds gathered, many of them dressed in Singapore's national colours of red and white. "Thank you for coming out here and waiting so long," he told the crowd. Cheering fans, many jostling to take pictures of the gold medallist, lined the streets waving mini flags before the parade ended at a downtown shopping mall where thousands had waited from as early as 8:00am. The swimmer has been mobbed since returning to Singapore on Monday, when hundreds gathered to meet him at Changi Airport. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong invited Schooling and his parents to parliament where he was formally congratulated. He has also won a four-year exemption from compulsory military service so he can prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Schooling's mixed European and Asian heritage has resonated strongly in the immigrant society of 5.5 million people, which had to rely on naturalised athletes for years to win medals at international events. In an interview with AFP on Tuesday, Schooling said he is mulling a professional career but would prefer to be based in the United States.
Ukraine on Thursday reported the heaviest rebel shelling attack in the separatist east for a year in what the president said could be a prelude to a full-scale Russian invasion. Military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said insurgent strikes had doubled from the previous day as tensions between Kiev and Moscow soar over Kremlin charges that Ukraine plotted to make armed incursions into Russian-annexed Crimea this month. "The rebels launched more than 500 mortar and over 300 artillery shells at our positions," Motuzyanyk told reporters in Kiev. "The last time we witnessed a similar intensity of fire using heavy armaments was a year ago." Motuzyanyk said three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and six wounded in clashes across the 30-kilometre-wide (19-mile-wide) buffer zone splitting government forces from the pro-Russian militias. Kiev and its Western allies accuse Moscow of trying to escalate a 28-month conflict in Ukraine's rust belt that has claimed more than 9,500 lives and began just weeks after Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March 2014. Petro Poroshenko responded to the reported violence by sending his top army commander into the war zone and warning that he "does not exclude a full-scale Russian invasion along all fronts". "The likelihood of the conflict's escalation remains very high," he said in televised remarks from the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. - Remembering a forgotten war - Poroshenko has issued similar warnings on previous occasions. But he added on Thursday that a further escalation may force him to introduce "martial law and a mobilisation" of reserve troops. The Crimea episode has thrust back into the spotlight a conflict that has effectively ground to a stalemate but remains one of Europe's bloodiest since the 1990s Balkans wars. French President Francois Hollande warned on Tuesday against any "escalation" of the conflict after telephone talks with Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. EU president Donald Tusk on Wednesday said he and the Ukrainian leader both believed Russia's account of recent events in the battle-scarred east and Crimea was "unreliable". And Ukraine has even become an issue in the US presidential race, with Republican candidate Donald Trump's campaign chief embroiled in allegations of receiving secret payments from Kiev's Russian-backed leaders prior to the former Soviet republic's 2014 pro-EU revolt. Analysts remain divided about whether Ukraine is about to enter an even deadlier phase of the war or if Russian President Vladimir Putin is simply adopting a tough posture that could give him the upper hand in any final peace deal. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow remained committed to a stalled European-brokered truce deal that was signed in the Belarussian capital Minsk in 2015. But he also warned that Russia would take "comprehensive measures to make sure any attempts to make incursions into our territory are nipped in the bud". Kiev and the West accuse Russia of supporting the rebels and deploying troops across the border -- claims Moscow denies -- in order to keep at least a part of its western neighbour within its geopolitical orbit. Poroshenko attended a summit of NATO leaders in Warsaw last month in which the alliance agreed to bolster its eastern flank in order to calm fears of Russia in both Ukraine and among other east European states.
Note: Images provided by Hope Technik.

Hope Technik is a 10-year old Singapore company, started by four engineering graduates from the National University of Singapore. It employs more than 110 employees, and has completed projects from 18 countries in the past decade.

I visited its offices a couple of weeks ago, right next to the Jurong river. Before we continue this story, I want to say something  and I admit I might just be speaking about my own prejudices here. For some reason Singaporeans dont seem to give enough credit to Singaporeans. Over the years, Ive come to recognize this odd doubt in myself, and overcome it through seeing the work done by local entrepreneurs and companies, companies like Hope Technik.

The first floor of Hope Techniks offices houses a massive garage, where Isuzu D-Max tracks are stripped down to their bare bones, and then rebuilt into muscular Red Rhino fire trucks (officially Light Fire Attack Vehicles) for the Singapore Civil Defense Force.

To my ignorance, I had no idea that these Red Rhinos were designed engineered and built right here in Singapore, by a Singapore company. Hope Technik, working together with the SCDF, has been building the last four generations of Red Rhinos, which is now in its fifth incarnation.

The entire garage is an eye-opener, like one of those custom garages youd see in a Fast and Furious movie. As we look at the molds for the custom fiberglass body panels, my host reveals something Id wondered but never considered: Why does the SCDF have both the larger fire trucks and these Red Rhinos?

The answer is that the SCDF needs smaller fire trucks to maneuver through tight, urban areas like multistory carparks and small roads, which would be difficult for a large fire truck to squeeze into.

Next to the Red Rhinos is a massive Mass Decontamination Vehicle, also built in conjunction with the SCDF. The MDV serves as both a personnel carrier, as well as a decontamination center  like a big shower bus, almost, where chemical warfare victims can quickly wash themselves down.

Story continues

I tour a drone lab, where Hope Technik is working on what they call the Water Spider, a drone that can take off and land on water. Developed in collaboration with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the Water Spider is co-funded by MPAs Maritime Innovation & Technology (MINT) Fund.

We also talk about Hope Techniks space plane demonstrator, a project in 2014 with the French Airbus Defence and Space company, in which a 4.6m space plane prototype was designed, built and launched 100km off the coast of Singapore, to test the flight conditions following a return from space.

A rehabilitation exoskeleton is in the works, which is being developed in collaboration with the National University of Singapore, which would be strapped to a patients limbs and can guide them to walk. Exoskeletons which would help users lift heavy weights with ease are being developed; think of them as proto-Iron Man suits.

Ive visited several multi-national tech companies here in Singapore, which are selling but arent making product locally. Its heartening to see that somewhere in Singapore, there are still local companies that are inventing, designing and engineering things, making the future and not just selling it.

Note: This article was first published on 18th August 2016.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday hit out at "stupid" United Nations' criticism of his controversial crime war that has claimed 1,000 lives, warning the global body not to interfere. The political outsider, who swept to a landslide election victory in May largely on a pledge to kill tens of thousands of criminals, said he would continue his anti-drug crackdown despite mounting criticism, including from UN chief Ban Ki-moon. "Why would the United Nations be so easily swayed into interfering in the affairs of this republic? There are only 1,000 (killed)," he said at an event marking the 115th anniversary of the police force. Ban Ki-moon in June condemned Duterte's apparent support for extrajudicial killings, saying they were "illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms". The UN's anti-drugs office also this month said it was "greatly concerned" by reports of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers and users in the Philippines. The UN has made "a very stupid proposition", Duterte said, warning them not to meddle in the country's politics. "What's the problem? You inject politics. Only one thousand died and you put my country in peril, in jeopardy," he said. He told foreign human rights watchdogs not to "investigate us as though we are criminals," and warned they would not be treated well in the Philippines. Duterte, who took office on June 30, ordered a bloody war on crime that has left 1,054 people dead since the May elections, according to the country's largest broadcaster ABS-CBN. This includes people killed in police operations, and more than 400 people murdered by mysterious vigilantes. Duterte won the election on a promise to wage a war on illegal drugs and other crime that would claim tens of thousands of lives. He has ordered police not to hesitate to kill and even urged ordinary citizens and communist guerrillas to join in the bloodshed. He has repeatedly scoffed at human rights groups opposed to the killings.
The second volume of the Lurk NYC Mean Streets series sees the crew head to Boston and hit the streets hard  Premier and Pete Rock productions, police vehicles as skate spots and East Coast street vibes for ten and a half hype-inducing minutes.The Lurk crew came through good with this one!

New Lurk NYC affiliated board brand Hotel Blue steps into the public eye with a laid back nine minute slice of New York street cruising.

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In a square mile radius in Germantown, Maryland are about 6 Asian grocery stores. Yet I visited the one store whose location was way off the main road and was difficult to find. I saw a sign for the business in another Asian grocery store and knew that they stocked goat meat, which is a delicacy for meat eaters from the Indian sub-continent.

I cant tell you how many countless times I have used a new business based on their business signs. Business signs work  and heres why.

5 Reasons Why Business Signs Work

Location

For a brick and mortar small business your sign is important as it acts like a guidepost to guide customers to your place of business and attract the attention of new customers. If you are a new business, people driving by will be attracted to stop in and try your business. People moving to the area look for local businesses that they can start visiting.

Brand Promise

A sign should always be neat and bright and should convey the promise of your brand, convey the high standards of your business, your differentiation. A sign board that is damaged or smudged may fail to convey your brand.

Special Occasions

In the photo above, SXSW is a large event in downtown Austin and this small business is attracting event attendees walking by. Find local events and community gatherings like parades to create awareness for your business

Competition

When Groupon rented ad space outside Living Socials offices in downtown Washington, D.C. it created some buzz. You see these signs often on highways advertising restaurants or gas stations just a few miles ahead of an exit ramp. Signage is important in a high traffic location as overflow traffic from other places can find your business and make an impromptu decision to use your business.

Online-Offline Connection

Take a look at the picture at the very top of this post from an Irish pub in the Cleveland Park area of Washington, D.C. that advertises their Facebook page.

Adding your website url to your sign is a good idea for people who dont have time to stop and can check you out later. Adding a QR code is a good idea if your sign can be scanned easily.

In photos of your business on your website, it may be a good idea to include pictures of your businesses physical location, signage and neighborhood. So that when people visit, they are already familiar with how the business and surroundings look.

More and more people are finding your business online, but that is only half the story. If you have a great location, you can also appeal to new people who are walking past your business every day.

Do you have a success story about using signs for your business?


Directories have been given a bad reputation because theyre so easy to spam and they make it easy to publish poor quality content, but that doesnt mean that all directories should be off limits. The key is not to find just any directory, but find niche directories. With a little bit of know-how when it comes to finding the right directories and using them correctly, the SEO benefits can be great, even now in 2015.

Why Niche Directories Matter

For those who are unfamiliar, a directory is a website that includes links to many different websites so that people can stop there and navigate to different webpages. Niche directories simply refer to directories that only focus on including companies from certain niches. Below is a screenshot of AllTop, one of my favorites niche directories that caters to a lot of different niches:

The goal is to be included in a few, quality niche directories to help your visibility as well as your SEO. Think of your link on these directories as a link you might earn in a piece of content. It helps show that youre an authority and puts your website in front of the eyes of a targeted audience. Again, Google does not want you to be included in 50 general directories (this would not help your SEO), but a few quality directories is a good sign in the eyes of Google bots.

Extra Reminder: Before you go out and try and find niche directories, make sure you do a link audit to get rid of all the links associated with poor directories. They may not have been spammy at the time, but directories tend to go sour with Google fast.

How to Find and Analyze Niche Directories

Below are a few tips on finding niche directories and then analyzing their quality:

How to Find and Analyze a Niche Directory:

Start by researching on your own and search for some of your top keywords and then search directory. You should have at least one page of directories that are ranking best, so analyze the first ten with some of the tips described in the next section.

According to this article we wrote on SEMRush, you should consider downloading SEOquake and then sorting the directories you see by links or indexed pages by clicking the ? in the SEOquake bar.

After you type in a general search query, use your browsers Find function to search for the word directory. For Mac users simply press Apple Key +F, and for PC users press Control key +F. This will highlight which results are directories.

A Few Basic Analysis Tips to Remember:

Try to find directories with a Page Authority of at least 40. Page Authority is starting to become less and less important, but I find it still helps give a good benchmark to start.

You should never be asked to give a reciprocal link.

Good directories generally have engaging Web designs just like any other website. This means images, content, and even video. It is possible to find a quality directory without this variety of content, but most will have more happening than just a long list of links.

Pay attention to the dates on the directories. The more recent the better.

Look to see what other businesses are included in the directory. If theyre spammy, keep moving no matter how good the directory might look.

Be prepared that for many quality directories you will have to pay a fee. Whether or not you have to pay a fee does not necessarily guarantee youve found a good directory, however, its just something to keep in the back of your mind. There are plenty of quality directories that are free, but if you find something that asks you to pay, its not a scam.

Building Quality Links on Niche Directories

When you do finally find a niche directory that you like, its important to not only get your link on the site but also engage with the directory as much as possible. Submit an article or get involved in any comments and discussions to help bring even more visibility to your company.

Its also worth noting that finding niche directories is important in terms of generating traffic. Some of the more general directories (though still quality) including Yahoo and DMOZ are great for link juice and visibility but not always traffic.

What are the quality directories in your niche? Let us know in the comment section below.

Republished by permission. Original here.
The human gut is a complex and amazing system, and the more we learn about it, the more amazed we are. It turns out
Accessibility

Half of High School Seniors Lack Access to Computer Science

More than half of high school seniors attend schools that dont offer computer science, according to a new analysis by Change the Equation, a nonprofit organization that aims to mobilize businesses to improve STEM learning.

Only 22 percent of 12th graders say theyve ever taken a computer science course, according to the analysis. Just 44 percent of seniors say they have access to any computer science classes, and less than a quarter of seniors have access to Advanced Placement computer science courses, the analysis said.

To conduct its study, Change the Equation (CTEq) examined data from the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nations Report Card, which is given to seniors and includes survey questions for students, teachers and schools.

The data also indicated that low-income students are less likely to have access to computer science courses than higher income students. And African American and Native American students were much less likely than Asian and white students to attend high schools offering the subject.

Curiously, Latino students were about as likely as white students to go to a school with computer science, and slightly more likely than white students to attend a school with AP computer science.

Seniors in rural areas also face challenging odds. Only 30 percent say their high school offers any computer science classes, and just 15 percent say their school offers an AP computer science course.

Meanwhile, its pretty well documented that computer science skills lead to better paying jobs. Last year, a CTEq study  using data from Economic Modeling Specialists International  found that workers in computing jobs make a median $39 an hour, while people in all other jobs make $21 an hour.

And projected job growth in computing jobs is 19 percent from 2015 to 2025, while the rate of increase is only 11 percent for all other jobs during that same time period, according to the CTEq study.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 3.8 million people in the United States work in computing occupations. Yet, CTEq determined last year that more than twice as many  7.7 million Americans  said they use computers in complex ways in their jobs.

More studies and information can be found at Change the Equations website.
Computer Science

Arkansas Governor Promotes Coding in School Tour

The governors 2016 Coding Tour seeks to encourage high school students to take computer science classes in the upcoming school year.

Governor Asa Hutchinson will be traveling to nine high schools across Arkansas in an effort to encourage students to sign up for coding classes this school year.

In its second year, the 2016 Coding Tour begins on Aug. 22 and ends on Sept. 13. Hutchinson will speak to students directly about the benefits of taking computer science courses, including learning skills that pave the way to in-demand jobs. The governors tour promotes an area of STEM that is often forgotten, with less than half of schools in the United States offering CS classes.

Hutchinson has a track record of working to increase CS education in Arkansas. He teamed up with four other governors (from WA, RI, IA and VI) earlier this year to launch the Partnership for K12 Computer Science. Known as GovsForCS, the partnership works with Code.org to increase access to CS classes.

I look forward to visiting schools across the state to continue promoting my computer science initiative in Arkansas, Hutchinson said in a statement. Its always encouraging to meet students who are excited to learn how to code, and its important that we maintain the momentum of this movement and continue to build awareness of the exciting opportunities in STEM and computer science fields.

The 2016 Coding Tour schedule is available on the governors site.
- Rumours that a man-eating community from Uganda has entered Kenya have been circulating online

- The unconfirmed reports come after Radio Citizen reported a recent case that happened in Kampala

- The rumours have been circulating via Facebook and WhatsApp

Fear has gripped Wester Kenya residents and the Kenyan online community after rumours that the feared man-eating community from Uganda has allegedly entered Kenya.

Through social media, Facebook and WhatsApp specifically, word had has been spreading that the community, which feasts on human flesh, has crossed the borders and is now in Bungoma and its environs.

READ ALSO: Railas ex-aide Miguna Miguna talks about violence in 2017

One of the messages being spread around on social media.

This comes after Radio Citizen ran a report about cannibalism in Uganda and highlighted a recent case that happened in Kampala.

The gut-wrenching audio gives a narration of the humans slaughtered by other humans and how they were later made into a meal.

READ ALSO: Gays want to rape me  Minister confesses

In Indonesian New Guinea, to some members of the Korowai tribe, human flesh is a dish central to their culture and they enjoy it just like others enjoy Nyama Choma in Kenya.

The New Guinea community eats everything except the hair, nails, and the penis.Photo: vice.com

Cannibal suspects have been arrested in isolated cases in Kenya before but the cases have never been rampant.

You can listen to the audio report from Citizen Radio below:

Source: TUKO.co.ke
BAMAKO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Mali collected 245 billion CFA francs ($422 million) in state revenues from mining companies last year, a near 11 percent fall on the previous year, owing to stagnant production and lower gold prices, the statistics office said on Thursday.

The figure came in lower than the 275 billion CFA francs in 2014, despite Mali exporting a record 70.2 tonnes of gold last year.

Mali is the third biggest gold producer in Africa behind South Africa and Ghana, and gold overwhelmingly dominates its mining sector, itself about a quarter of government revenues.

Mohamed Ouedrago, director of Mali's Planning and Statistics Unit (Stuttgart: UN7.SG - news) , told Reuters the main reasons for lower revenues were a lower average gold price in 2015 of $1,068 per ounce, against about $1,200 per ounce in 2014, and stagnant production.

Gold (Other OTC: GDCWF - news) output was virtually flat at 50.502 tonnes in 2015, against 49.865 tonnes in 2014, Ouedrago said. The discrepancy with export figures is because Mali is a also hub for the regional gold trade, receiving supply from artisinal miners in neighbours such as Ghana and Guinea.

Gold producers including Randgold Resources and AngloGold Ashanti (Xetra: AOD.DE - news) have operations in Mali.

The revenues for 2015 included 165.5 billion CFA in taxes, 33.898 billion CFA in customs duties and 45.57 billion CFA in dividends and other income streams, Ouedrago said.

He added that gold contributed 6.2 percent to GDP last year, against 6.5 percent in 2014.

The land-locked country expects to produce 47.37 tonnes of gold this year, lower than an earlier forecast of 52.85 tonnes, owing to a failure to restart its Kodieran mine.

In March, Mali upgraded its estimated of below-ground gold reserves by a third to 800 tonnes, enough to maintain current levels of output for the next 15 years. ($1 = 580.2400 CFA francs) (Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Tim Cocks, editing by David Evans)
DENVER, COLORADO and VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Aug 17, 2016) - Sandspring Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:SSP)(SSPXF) ("Sandspring" or the "Company") is pleased to announce commencement of the 2016 exploration campaign at its Toroparu Gold Project ("Toroparu") in Guyana, South America.

Sona Hill Prospect

In 2015 the Company completed a 3,700-meter diamond drilling program on the promising Sona Hill Prospect, located 5 km southeast of the main Toroparu deposit. Sona Hill is the eastern most gold anomaly in a cluster of ten gold features located within a 20 km by 7 km hydrothermal alteration halo around Toroparu. Drilling at Sona Hill in 2012 and in 2015 intercepted high-grade mineralization in both saprolite and bedrock, and confirmed the continuity and grade potential of the Sona Hill mineralization. Highlights from the 2015 drill program include:

Hole-ID From

(m) To

(m) Drill Width

(m) Weighted Gold

Grade Average

(g/t) SOD022 53.5 59.4 5.9 23.41 incl. 56.5 58.0 1.5 41.40 SOD029 62.7 66.7 4.0 8.72 incl. 62.7 64.0 1.3 16.80 SOD031 0.0 4.0 4.0 8.45 incl. 0.0 2.5 2.5 11.40 SOD032 86.1 90.0 3.9 5.48 incl. 86.1 87.2 1.1 17.20 SOD009 101.4 105.3 4.0 6.84 SOD009 68.3 74.5 6.2 3.74 SOD038 44.5 55.0 10.5 3.63 * (cut-off grade 0.5 g/t; no grade capping applied)

Drilling to date has confirmed Management's belief that the Sona Hill anomaly hosts higher-grade, shallower mineralization that could complement the existing Toroparu and Satellite deposits and improve project economics. To further confirm the continuity of mineralization between existing drill holes, Sandspring has initiated a 5,800-meter infill drilling program in 50 diamond drill holes on 50m x 50m spacing (Figure 1). This drill density is designed to allow the Company to model and estimate a resource for the Sona Hill anomaly that can be incorporated into the mine plan for the Toroparu project. The drill program should be complete in early December, with results available in February 2017.

Story continues

To view Figure 1 - 2016 Drill Program for Sona Hill Prospect, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/SSP-20160817-Figure1.jpg

Concurrent with the drill program, Sandspring is extending surface exploration west of the Sona Hill anomaly. The program includes saprolite geochemical as well as geophysical surveys designed to identify gold mineralization down-dip and to the west of mineralization currently delineated at Sona Hill. The presence of magnetite in the hydrothermal alteration zones that carry gold mineralization at Sona Hill provide a potential marker for ground magnetics and induced polarization survey methods to trace the mineralization and further define the structural setting in the targeted exploration area. The program includes eight line kilometers of ground geophysics at 100m and 200m spacings (Figure 2), additional sampling to tighten the saprolite geochemistry grid to 100m x 50m, and a small alluvial sampling program.

To View Figure 2 - 2016 Sona Hill Surface Exploration Program, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/SSP-20160817-Figure2.jpg

Otomung Concession

Geochemical surveys in 2015 identified new gold anomalous features in the Otomung Concession north of Toroparu, suggesting a geological context similar to that of the Toroparu Deposit, as predicted by Sandspring's restraining shear bending zone geologic model for the area (Figure 3). The Toroparu Deposit and surrounding gold anomalies lie at the southern edge of a large bending zone in the Puruni Shear Corridor, a regional feature that can be traced more than 100km into the prolific Venezuelan Gold District. Sandspring's geologic model suggests that the northern part of the large bending zone may contain a similar structural pattern as Toroparu and a favorable geological context for gold mineralization within the Otomung Concession area.

To view Figure 3 - Upper Puruni Geological Sketch, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/SSP-20160817-Figure3.jpg

In 2015 Sandspring completed a 100-km2 regional geochemical survey on the Otomung Concession, collecting 764 samples on a 1000m x 100m grid. Sandspring will follow up these results with an extension of the survey grid further to the northwest to explore for other intrusive structures, collecting an estimated 300 samples on a 1000m x 100m grid. In addition, the Company will infill survey lines and sampling in the previously explored area to develop new drill targets, collecting an estimated 700 samples on a 200m x 50m grid.

The technical information in this document has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Lucas W. Claessens, P.Geo. and Pascal Van Osta, P.Geo., both Senior Exploration Consultants for Sandspring, who have sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralization under consideration and are Qualified Persons under National Instrument 43-101.

Reduced Exploration Concession Area

The Company has held mineral exploration concessions in the Upper Puruni River Area of northwestern Guyana, South America, covering an area of 242,691 acres (98,214 hectares) referred to as the "Upper Puruni Property", which hosts the Toroparu Deposit. The Company continuously reviews the composition of its mineral exploration concessions based on the results of exploration work. The results of exploration work to date, including drilling and surface exploration (primarily geochemical and airborne surveys), indicate that the Company should concentrate its land holdings along the Puruni Shear Zone, which runs northwest-southeast along the Puruni River and is believed to extend from the Toroparu Deposit into the Venezuelan Gold District. Accordingly, the Company has been restructuring its mineral exploration concessions to ensure that exploration work and resources are focused on the areas considered to be most prospective.

As an initial step in the land restructuring, the Company acquired rights in 2015 to the Otomung Concession. In June 2016, as a second step in the land restructuring, the Company surrendered 96,067 acres. Accordingly, as of June 30, 2016, the Upper Puruni Property covers a total of 154,696 acres (62,603 hectares). The Company will consider further land adjustments as additional exploration work is completed.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Sandspring Resources

Richard A. Munson, Director and Chief Executive Officer

About Sandspring Resources Ltd.

Sandspring Resources Ltd. is a Canadian junior mining company currently moving toward a definitive feasibility study for the multi-million ounce Toroparu Project in the Guyana, South America. A prefeasibility study completed in May 2013 (NI 43-101 Technical Report, Prefeasibility Study, Toroparu Gold Project, Upper Puruni River Area, Guyana, dated May 24, 2013 completed by SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc., available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com) outlined the design of an open-pit mine producing more than 200,000 ounces of gold annually over an initial 16-year mine life. Sandspring and Silver Wheaton have entered into a gold and silver purchase agreement for the Toroparu Project. Sandspring intends to undertake additional exploration at the Toroparu Project in 2016. Additional information is available at www.sandspringresources.com or by email at info@sandspringresources.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control

The drill program and sampling protocol is managed by Sandspring under the supervision of Lucas W. Claessens, P.Geo. and Pascal Van Osta, P.Geo. The diamond drill holes are drilled at HQ and NQ sizes and core recovery to date has averaged 94%. Half core is cut by rock saw and is generally sampled using 1.5 m meter intervals. Analytical testing and reporting of quantitative assays for the results reported in this press release was performed independently by Bureau Veritas Mineral Laboratories in Vancouver, Canada. Bureau Veritas Commodities Canada Ltd. is an ISO9001: 2008 accredited laboratory. Gold analyses reported in this release were performed by standard fire assay (FA450) using a 50 gram charge with atomic absorption finish and a gravimetric finish for assays greater than 10 grams per tonne. Samples from the geochemical survey were submitted for analysis of ICP 37 elements (including gold) AQ252 30 gram (Aqua Regia digestion - Ultratrace ICP-MS analyses). A system of blanks, standards and duplicates were added by the Company to the sample streams to verify accuracy and precision of assay results, supplementing a variety of internal QA/QC tests performed by Bureau Veritas Mineral Laboratories. The half core samples were securely transported by Sandspring personnel from the project site to the Bureau Veritas sample preparation facility in Georgetown, Guyana.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "potential", "suggesting", "indicating", "will", "plans" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information and/or statements. Forward-looking statements and/or information are based on a number of material factors, expectations and/or assumptions that Sandspring has used to develop such statements and/or information, but which may prove to be incorrect. Although Sandspring believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since Sandspring can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such information and/or statements, including the assumptions made in respect thereof, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and/or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information and/or statements including, without limitation: the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; risks associated with the uncertainty of exploration results and estimates; results from drilling and exploration activities and Sandspring's ability to identify additional gold mineralization; Sandspring's ability to successfully advance the Toroparu Gold Project toward feasibility; Sandspring's future plans; the availability of financing and/or cash flow to fund current and future plans and expenditures; the impact of increasing competition; fluctuating commodity prices; the general stability of applicable economic and political environments; the general continuance of current industry conditions; uncertainty regarding the market price for gold, silver and copper; uncertainty of conducting operations under a foreign regime; uncertainty of obtaining all applicable regulatory approvals and related timing matters; Sandspring's dependence on management personnel; and/or certain other risks detailed from time-to-time in Sandspring's public disclosure documents. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligations to publicly update and/or revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of additional information, future events and/or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.
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.
Montana Board of Investments has made $240m in new commitments, AltAssets understands. The board has re-upped into both
Great power comes from a great prepaid program. Since launching its first card in 2001, Starbucks has achieved tremendous success with its prepaid program. Today, the coffee mega-chain boasts more than $1.2 billion loaded onto its cards and mobile app.

The volume of consumers cash stored on Starbucks cards is impressive in its own right. Whats even more impressive, however, is that this figure exceeds the deposits at many financial institutions (FIs). California Republic Bancorp, Mercantile Bank Corp and Discover Financial Services are just a few of the FIs outmatched by Starbuckss deposits.

To win back consumers prone to depositing their money in Starbucks accounts, credit unions should consider bolstering their prepaid programs with strategies straight out of the Starbucks playbook. These may include:

Adopting a robust rewards program. By pairing rewards with prepaid cards, Starbucks has successfully transformed a transaction device into a program that attracts (and retains) loyal consumers. Rewards as simple as free beverages work wonders in increasing consumers card usage.

Introducing rewards points for a variety of behaviors. Starbucks does not limit its rewards points to purchases made exclusively in its retail locations. Instead, consumers are rewarded with Star Codes for purchasing specially marked Starbucks products at grocery stores.

Integrating with a mobile app. Consumers receiving physical Starbucks prepaid cards can easily link those to their mobile accounts. They then have the option to make purchases with the card or the mobile app and reap the rewards.

Offering a variety of card designs. Each year, Starbucks releases prepaid cards with holiday themes, colorful designs and other embellishments. While these cards have the same functionality as less flashy ones, they may be more aesthetically pleasing to consumers. Additionally, they offer a personalized touch for consumers getting prepaid cards for special occasions.

Establishing an elite group. For its highest rewards earners, Starbucks offers gold level status. Reaching this level comes with special perks including free refills, special promotions and a personalized card. Additionally, it fosters a sense of exclusivity among consumers.

Credit unions looking to advance their prepaid offerings should take advantage of the lessons found in the Starbucks business model. The secret to success lies not only with the coffee, but also with a simple, incentivizing program.
Oilseed rape prices have continued to climb due to disappointing yields, gaining 7.70/t to average 303.20/t ex-farm in the week to 17 August. Spot demand and spot shorts also caused values to rally as traders sought to meet contracts.

In addition DRV, which represents German co-operatives, cut its estimate of German rapeseed production by 10.9%, year-on-year, to 4.46m tonnes.

See also: Top 5 yielding OSR varieties

Paris rapeseed futures gained more than 6/t (5.20/t) on Monday (15 August) to reach a three-month high of 375.75/t (325.74/t), due to gains in the soya bean market and strong US export demand, said a report by AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds. With the value of the pound falling to a three-year low against the euro, this meant that, in sterling terms, Paris rapeseed futures were at the highest level for the nearby contract since April 2014, it added.

The USDA had boosted its forecast of US soya bean exports for 2015-16 by 2.3m tonnes, and its 2016-17 estimate by 0.8m tonnes. This reflected the strong export sale announcements over recent weeks, particularly to major importer China, said the report. The market was further supported by strong soy oil markets, which rallied last week.
"Shoot First, Ask Questions Later," Police Training Relocated to San Jose Church

Where The Bulletproof Warrior Went

Last month, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office withdrew its sponsorship of a "Bulletproof" street survival training course for law enforcement officers after community activists questioned whether the former "Bulletproof Warrior" class should be offered by the department. The most famous alumnus of the two day training is Jeronimo Yanez, the St. Paul, Minnesota officer who shot and killed Philando Castile during a traffic stop. The aftermath of Castile's shooting was posted on the Internet by his girlfriend and viewed by millions when the video went viral on social media.

Calibre Press (www.calibrepress.com), the private company that offers the training, had declined to reveal the new location, but Bay Area residents found out that "Bulletproof" got underway yesterday at the Family Community Church, located at 479 Piercy Road in San Jose and will continue throughout the day on August 18th. It is not known how many members of Bay Area law enforcement agencies are participating.

"Calibre Press training promotes fear instead of the de-escalation that we need from police," said Stephen McNeil of the Quaker organization American Friends Service Committee. "We urge people of faith to reflect on whether hosting this training is consistent with Christian values."

The seminar encourages police officers not to hesitate in the use of their weapons. It is taking place during a broad national conversation about police killings of unarmed black people, which have sparked nationwide protests. According to the Guardian's Counted project, 676 Americans have been killed by the police in 2016 and 1,147 were killed in 2015 and victims were disproportionately Black, Native-American and Latino.

Michael Becar, the leader of an international police training association said "...seminars like those offered by Calibre and other firms foster a sense of paranoia among officers." Oakland Privacy member JP Massar commented: "We know that paranoia leads directly to officers shooting at people because they think that toy trucks and cell phones look like handguns."

Urban Shield, the controversial police militarization exposition and training, which features a large weapons expo and Bay-Area wide training drills on proto-military operations gets underway in less than a month on September 8th in Pleasanton, California. The Stop Urban Shield Coalition is calling for a mass demonstration on September 9th. Urban Shield is a public face of police militarization, while private companies like Calibre are private twins.

Tracy Rosenberg, executive director of Media Alliance and an Oakland Privacy member commented: "Events like the Bulletproof Warrior and Urban Shield reinforce a culture that pits law enforcement against civilians. Police officers are public servants in our communities, not an invading army. Real safety shouldn't mean that police are afraid of the people and people are afraid of the police. We've seen that unnecessary loss of life is the result".

Santa Clara County sponsorship of the Bay Area session of "Bulletproof" was canceled on July 27 by County Sheriff Laurie Smith who said the training had not been vetted thoroughly by the Department and cancellation was under consideration when they started receiving calls from community members. Smith told Oakland Privacy member Susan Harman that she shared some of the community's concerns and would raise them in the national sheriffs' associations.

Oakland Privacy was formed in 2013 to fight against the growth of the surveillance state. Oakland Privacy recently had a major success working with other civil liberties groups and the Santa Clara Supervisors to pass the country's most comprehensive surveillance privacy policy. Among the groups who have collaborated are ACLU-Northern California, Bay Area Restore The Fourth, Asian Law Alliance, Media Alliance, San Jose Peace and Justice Center, Silicon Valley DeBug, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Code Pink, and the Bill of Rights Defense Committee.
- Governor Ayodele Fayose was absent from the PDP national convention

- Fayose says he was placed under "house arrest" hence could not attend the event

- The Ekiti state governor has decried the ugly development

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state was reportedly placed under house arrest, hence stopping him from attending the aborted national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Governor Ayodele Fayose says he was placed under house arrest in Port Harcourt, hence, denied the opportunity to attend the PDP national convention.

Fayose said he was stopped from attending the national convention of the PDP, in Port Harcourt, Rivers state Wednesday by security operatives that blocked the gate to the old old Presidential lodge in Rivers state Government House, Port Harcourt where he lodged.

The Ekiti state governor said the security operatives blocked the gate with an armoured personnel career (APC).

READ ALSO: I placed a curse on PDP five years ago  Enugu politician spits fire

A statement by his media aide, Mr Leye Olayinka described the alleged action of the security aides as a clear case of house of arrest.

The media aide said all appeals to the security personnel at the gate to allow the governor go out to attend the convention were ignored.

The governor decried the ugly development in the statement which read: "I was under house arrest in PH. I was not at the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because I was placed under house arrest at the Old Presidential Lodge, Rivers state Government House where I lodged."

The governor, who was conspicuously absent at the convention which was eventually held at the state secretariat of the party after security agencies had sealed off the initial venue, was prevented from moving out as the gate to the Old Presidential Lodge was blocked by an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC).

Special Adviser to the governor on social media, Lere Olayinka disclosed that all entreaties to allow Fayose to step out to attend the convention were rebuffed by the security personnel on ground.

Punch reports that when contacted for comments, the state police commissioner, Mr Francis Odesanya said it was not true.

"That cant be true . It is not to my knowledge. How did the other excellencies( governors) go out of their lodge" Odesanya asked rhetorically.

READ ALSO: Fast all in one -- UC Browser

Odesanya said that he did not seal off the convention venue of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but was only providing security.

A blockade mounted by the police on a road leading to Sharks Stadium, the venue of the botched PDP National Convention on Wednesday, August 17.

Odesanya explained that by his action, he was only complying with a court order, even as he said that he was not in a position to interpret court judgement.

Two Federal High Courts in Abuja and Port Harcourt had given conflicting positions on the PDP National Convention that was to hold in the Rivers State capital.

While the court in Port Harcourt had ruled that the convention should hold, the Abuja High Court ordered that the exercise should not hold and warned police and the Independent National Electoral Commission to stay away from it.

Moscow Road leading to the convention venue. Photo: Punch

But while the police seal off the venue of the convention, the state CP insisted that his men were only providing security.

I did not seal off the convention venue. I was only providing security. I was only obeying a court order. It is not my duty to interpret court order, Odesanya stressed.

However, as of 11.35am, most PDP delegates were nowhere around the Sharks Stadium, venue of the convention.

Meanwhile, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and other leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have described the situation surrounding the party as the beauty of democracy.

READ ALSO: Tension in Niger Delta: What Navy has unveiled will send militants running (photos)

The duo with others, told journalists at the aborted party convention in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, August 17 that the challenges in the party were working for the partys good and would make it come out stronger and more united.

PD supporters at the venue of the convention in Port Harcourt.

The party stalwarts who were adorned in the PDP uniform, stated that the PDP has structures that were laid to stand the test of time and expressed satisfaction with the large turn-out of delegates, including former governors, former chairmen of the party at the convention.

They were optimistic that at the end of the turner the party will weather through the storm and eventually emerge victorious.

They said the party, undermining the present challenges, would be prepared to wrestle power from the APC led federal government, saying the APC had failed Nigerians considering the hunger and poverty bedeviling the majority of Nigerians.

Governor Okowa, whose Delta State has remained a PDP stronghold since the inception of democracy, said undermining the issues surrounding the party at the moment, it would not relent in its bid provide good leadership to Nigerians and pull the presidency from the All Progressives Congress in APC 2019.

Source: Legit.ng
- The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has alleged that the group, the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta is a media arm for the Department of State Service (DSS)

- IPOB urged on the Nigerian government to come out clean on negotiations rather than fabricating lies against its leader Nnamdi Kanu

- IPOB said said that Nnamdi Kanu is not for sale like some individuals or groups

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has alleged that the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) now operates as the media and publicity arm of the Department of State Services (DSS).

The IPOB said MEND has been captured by President Muhammadu Buhari and converted to a media department for the top security agency.

In a statement signed by IPOB's spokespersons Emma Nmezu and Clifford Iroanya, the group said: "We also have intelligence information that as part of the deal accompanying the conversion, MEND or should we say the ever suicidal and mentally imbalanced Charles Okah was promised early release from prison where he is currently being held for his role as the infamous Gbomo Jomo of the tragic terrorist bombing of October 1, 2011 at Eagle Square Abuja."

The group also accused Nigerian security agencies of using Okah as a credible source of information for making arrests.

Read full statement below:

MEND having lost focus and credibility is now the media and publicity arm of Buhari's DSS

"The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) can confirm that the moribund terrorist organization known as Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) has been captured by Retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari and converted to the official media and publicity arm of Nigerias Department of State Services (DSS).

"Because of this latest conversion, the rogue organization is now popularly called Movement for the Enslavement of Niger Delta (MEND). We also have intelligence information that as part of the deal accompanying the conversion, MEND or should we say the ever suicidal and mentally imbalanced Charles Okah was promised early release from prison where he is currently being held for his role as the infamous Gbomo Jomo of the tragic terrorist bombing of October 1, 2011 at Eagle Square Abuja.

"This schizophrenic Charles Okah or Gbomo Jomo who as a matter of public record has attempted to kill himself twice, in his new role as the MEND leader that only exist on the Internet, was given a paltry One Million Naira by the DSS to provide information on the whereabouts of Niger Delta Avengers," IPOB said.

"Following this promise of early release from prison, MEND was required to issue a series of fake press statements intended to drive a wedge between IPOB and the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) both of whom have since closed ranks in total pursuit of the restoration of the nation of Biafra.

"The initial attempt by MEND to execute their own part of the deal on fake press releases failed woefully even with the backing of Nigerias brown-envelope journalists typified by the APC-financed Sharia Reporters".

"Hence they changed tactics with the recent press release in which they lied that the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has agreed in secret to renounce Biafra in order to be released. Even if we foolishly accept their assertion, does that not indict Buhari and the Judiciary and prove IPOB right that Nigerian Judiciary is compromised and the case against Nnamdi Kanu lacks merit?

"By the way, what has renouncing of Biafra got to do with discussions between Buhari and Movement for the Enslavement of Niger Delta (MEND)? Why is MEND interested in Biafra and Nnamdi Kanus release on one hand and on the other hand assert that Biafra Republic aims to annex the Niger Delta region as part of its territory"?

"Is MEND that poorly educated that they are unaware that the last Head of State of Biafra before the war ended in January 1970 is from the same Niger Delta? Furthermore, is MEND aware that it was Chief Frank Opigo from the same Ijaw Clan where MEND leadership comes from in Niger Delta that reminded us that the name of our nation is Biafra at the meeting of Eastern Consultative Assembly held on May 27, 1967?

"Niger Delta gave birth to the notion of Biafra and actively nurtured it. Anybody who doesn't know this is ignorant of history and IPOB is not in the business of educating the uneducated. Had Nigeria invested in education especially history in the Niger Delta areas, some of these glaring ignorance of historical facts will be minimized.

"The latest fake press release by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) is part of several stories planted by Buhari's DSS to save face because the pressure from around the world to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is becoming unbearable for Buhari and his DSS.

"For the information of the public, the so-called Jomo Gbomo of MEND is no other person than Charles Okah who is currently in Kuje prison and in his desperation for freedom has handed over MEND propaganda machinery to the DSS after several late night meetings.

"The questions that DSS and Charles Okah (MEND) must answer are: where, when and how did the IPOB leader agree to renounce Biafra? Who was present from DSS/Charles Okah (which is the same as MEND) to authenticate this hogwash of a news?

"Where did this meeting take place? If Buhari is looking for a way out he should say so instead of fabricating lies against an innocent man. Nnamdi Kanu is not for sale like Raphael Uwazuruike and Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo.

"If anyone wants to see Nnamdi Kanu to find out what he thinks, then let the person go to Kuje prison in Abuja. Nigerian media houses should investigate every press statement from this M.E.N.D. that is now based at DSS headquarters.

"It is a shame that MEND or what is left of it run from Kuje prison by Charles Okah in concert with DSS allowed himself to be used as an informant for Hausa Fulani Islamic Nigeria and agent provocateur. He is not alone but all of them will join the long forgotten list of betrayers and turncoats that history has quickly forgotten.

"What a tragedy that the same womb that gave birth to the gallant Henry Okah could produce such a coward and traitor to the cause to liberate all territories of Nairaland. We hereby remind MEND that we are into Biafra restoration in order to free the enslaved people of Biafra and by extension other parts of Nigeria that are under the hegemony of Hausa-Fulani domination.

"We are not into money-making venture. Biafra restoration is a divine project and it has as all the attributes of a project one of which is time limit, meaning that we are not career freedom fighters" but we are constrained by time to get Biafra liberated from the British criminality called Nigeria.

"We advice all discerning people and lovers of freedom to discountenance any press release from MEND because they have officially taken the task of media and publicity arm of the DSS and are hell-bent on the Enslavement of Niger Delta People who are part of the blessed nation of Biafra.

Nnamdi Kanu shall NEVER ever renounce Biafra whether in secret or in the open and he and the entire IPOB stand strongly with the N.D.A. Together, we shall restore the nation of Biafra while MEND continues to operate as the official media and publicity arm of Buharis DSS.

Biafra or death!!!

Signed

Barrister Emma Nmezu

Dr. Clifford Chukwuemeka Iroanya

Spokespersons for IPOB

Source: Legit.ng
- The MJTF killed and arrested some terrorists in the border town between Nigeria and Cameroon

- No soldier was killed in the encounter

- The terrorists are finding it hard to operate in Nigeria

Troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) have killed 27 Boko Haram terrorists in the border town between Nigeria and Cameroon.

The Punch reports that this information was revealed by the commander of a regional army force on Thursday, August 18.

Although Nigeria has been making headway in its fight against terrorism, the insurgent have not been completely decimated with the latest encounter showing some of them still exist.

Apart from Nigeria, the MJTF also include Niger, Chad, Benin and Cameroon.

Bouba Dobekreo who is the commander of the task force revealed that 11 other terrorists were apprehended.

He said: A Multinational Joint Task Force set up by Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Benin and Cameroon to fight Boko Haram across borders, ambushed a group of the terrorists on Wednesday near the town of Fotokol.

It is located close to the border with Nigeria.

"No soldiers were killed during the clashes.

The terrorists who seem to be finding it difficult to operate successfully in Nigeria are choosing border towns as their targets.

Meanwhile, in what may be perceived as a supremacy battle, two factions of Boko Haram terrorists are waging war against each other.

Since the appointment of Abu Musab al-Barnawi as the new leader of Boko Haram by ISIS, there has been disquiet within the rank of the terrorists as Abubakar Shakau who has been the leader of the group insists he is still in charge.

READ ALSO: 5 new facts about Boko Haram you should know

In a video by the Wilayat Gharb Afriqiya which is recognises the leadership of Barnawi, the group showed its military strength by firing machine guns and a suicide bomber drives a vehicle into what is possibly the rank of Shakaus boys and explodes in the distance.

The group then shows off bodies of dead soldiers from the faction they now consider their enemy.

READ ALSO: Nigerian army reacts to new Boko Haram leadership

Shekau has insisted that his rival does not have what it takes to lead the terrorist group as it is not possible for a Muslim to profess his faith without kicking against an infidel system.

In a statement he released, he claimed he was deceived.

All blessings be to Almighty Allah, and his His Prophet SAW. I am Imam Abubakar Shekau. This is the message to the world, to those who can understand Hausa and any other languages it can be translated for a clear understanding of the message, which is why we are sending this message to the world.

READ ALSO: Top facts about new Boko Haram leader revealed

The content of my message goes thus. We have heard news going round and attributed to people we had earlier pledge allegiance to. Even though we are not against them base on the message we heard in the world radio but we are still honour ideology.

We know those we differ with, and I have written on this long ago. All we wrote have been documented with me, some eight pages and some nine pages stating their kind of ideology.

Because I stated it clear that I am against the principle where someone will dwell in the society with the infidels without making public his opposition or anger against infidels publicly as it is stated in the Quran. Anyone doing such can't be a real Muslim thick and thin.

This is what our ideology proved. And that is where I am, to them, a Muslim can dwell in the society and do his marketing compromising core foundations. I want the world to know that we are still holding our ideology and tied with the Quran, we will not derail and will not revolt but will continue to remain in the cause of Allah. Following Prophet SAW is compulsory for us, and we will follow it to the end.

This is our stand, and we are still in the cause of Jamaatu Ahl as-Sunnah li-Daawati wal-Jihad and Allah will help us. May Allah strengthen us to remain in this cause. We are still members of Jamaatu Ahl as-Sunnah li-Daawati wal-Jihad, no matter what they call us, we remain what we are. No matter what we have our basis in Quran.

No matter what they call us, what we aspire is to justify our ideology in the Quran which is ultimate because we have not derailed. We are on and in the future, we will not accept any emissary except the one we can attest he is sincere and truthful for Allah and His cause.

READ ALSO: Seems Shekau is finally dead, he will forever be in hell  Nigerians

In the first place, we sat and I was deceived, they said I should write my ideology to be taken if there is a mistake they will point out and bring back. They now deceive me, and it is base on some authorities and today I found out that there is one who is following principles of infidel which they want me to follow, and Prophet has stopped us against such.

We are still in the cause of Allah and will never depart in the struggle to establish an Islamic caliphate and standing by Islam. We will continue to work for the cause of Allah no going back. Anyone that caused this, no problem, if it's possible may Allah show him the correct path and if it is not so may Allah protect us from his mischief."

Source: Legit.ng
A TV station in Egypt has reportedly asked overweight members of its staff, to either shed some weight or forfeit their jobs.

While some people have no problems about people being 'overweight', some people are about to lose their jobs over it.

According to reports, some TV presenters have been asked by their union to either drop some fat off their bodies, or stand the risk of losing their jobs.

The Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) reportedly asked its members who worked at their national radio and TV stations, to achieve an 'appropriate appearance' in one month, if they hoped to continue hosting their shows.

A massive outcry from the workers led women rights groups in the country to champion the cause and try to put a stop to it. They said it's a violation of the constitution and it's some sort of discrimination against women.

PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App

Some of the presenters expressed their disappointment over why their 'weight issues' should have been discussed with them first, before being made public.

A presenter on Egypt's Channel 2 station, Khadija Khattab, reportedly asked her audience to judge her size and decide if her weight should cost her her job.

An Academician, Waheed Abdul Majid, asked the channel to spend more time improving on their content, instead of focusing on their presenters' appearances.

The ERTU has stuck to its decision, despite all the protests, and has reportedly suspended eight female presenters pending the completion of their weight loss programme. They however promised to pay their benefits and salaries during their suspension period.

Hmmmm...What do you think?

Source: Legit.ng
- Niger Delta Avengers has vowed to declare the Niger Delta region an independent entity on October 1, 2016

- The group said they no longer want to be part of Nigeria

- The group had earlier said: By October 2016, we will display our currency, national flag, passport, our ruling council and our territory to the world"

The militant group, Niger Delta Avengers, '(NDA) has vowed to declare the Niger Delta region an independent entity on October 1, 2016.

In a statement released on the website of the Avengers on Thursday, August 18, Mudoch Agbinibo, spokesman of the Avengers, said that the Niger Delta no longer wants to be part of Nigeria.

READ ALSO: We are not ready for dialogue - Niger Delta Avengers

"Our prayer for Buhari and the Northern hypocrite (Northern Governors) is that oil should be found in commercial quantity in the North, so they can let the Niger Delta go.

The Buhari Led government has fail Nigerians with their misdirected policies that has divide the country, as such nobody wants to be part of that failed state not even the Niger Delta.

The October 1, declaration of independence is still sacrosanct. If the Nigeria government fails to retrace its step by restructuring this country.

We want to warn the general public that those using NDA to defraud people days of reckoning is close."

In May, 2016 the group had said: By October 2016, we will display our currency, national flag, passport, our ruling council and our territory to the world."

READ ALSO: Avengers issue strong statement, warn navy

For about a few weeks now the group has been giving mixed signals regarding dialogue with the federal government.

NDA on Wednesday, August 17, denied agreeing to enter into dialogue with the federal government for a possible ceasefire in the region.

The militant group which has claimed responsibility for major attacks on oil facilities in the region in recent times also denied knowing the self-acclaimed spokesman for the dialogue group, Ballantyne Agiri.

Source: Legit.ng
Founder of Living Faith Ministries, Bishop David Oyedepo and his wife Faith Abiola, have four children in their 32 years marriage.

The children - David Jnr., Isaac, Love and Joyce Oyedepo - are doing quite well in all their endeavours and they are sure making their parents proud!

Bishop David Oyedepo's family. His children, their spouses and his grandchildren.

According to Ecclezzia, two of the children are pastors based abroad. Here are the four children of one most influential pastors in Nigeria:

1. David Oyedepo Jnr.

David Oyedepo Jnr and wife

He is the first born and the first son of bishop. He was ordained as a pastor in May 2007 by renowned American preacher, Kenneth Copeland. Pastor Oyedepo Jnr. heads the London branch of Winners Chapel. He is married to Kemi Olubu-Oyedepo. Pastor Oyedepo Jnr. is also the regional overseer of the European Network of churches.

2. Isaac Oyedepo

Isaac Oyedepo and wife

He is the second child and son of bishop. He was also ordained by Kenneth Copeland in May 2007. Pastor Isaac is currently in charge of the Winners Chapel International, South Africa. He tied the knot in 2010 with Ayomitide Omogbadegun.

3. Love Oyedepo-Ogah

Love Oyedepo-Ogah and husband

She is the third child and first daughter of the Oyedepos. She is also a committed army of God. She often goes on mission trips with her mother Faith Oyedepo. Love got married March 2013 to Stephen Ogah, one of Bishop Oyedepos personal aides.

4. Joyce Oyedepo

Joyce Oyedepo

The last born of the Oyedepo family is a product of Faith Academy school owned by her father. Joyce is currently studying in America and has certain functions she performs in church during her stay in Nigeria. She recently made news when she took to social media to describe herself as being crazy.

What a beautiful family!

Source: Legit.ng
- The relations between Nigeria and Turkey have been traditionally cordial

- But the recent coup in Turkey and a request by the Turkish government to Nigeria may trigger a diplomatic row

- The Turkish government had requested the closure of 17 Nigerian Turkish International Colleges (NITC)

The federal government has ignored the request by the Turkish government seeking for the closure of 17 Nigerian Turkish International Colleges (NITC).

Presidents Buhari and Erdogan

During a visit to the vice chairman of the Senate committee on foreign affairs, Shehu Sani, the Turkish ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil, said his government had requested the Nigerian government to shut down the colleges because they were allegedly linked to Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric who was blamed for the failed coup.

He went on to say the colleges were run by Gulens movement, a sect which was trying to overthrow the Turkish government as well as train terrorists.

The comment by Ambassador Cakil drew the ire of many Nigerians especially whose wards either graduated or are schooling in the colleges.

The Nigerian government however reacted quickly, saying the allegation was frivolous because it lacked legal merit.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, the minister of education, Malam Adamu Adamu, said the request by the Turkish government did not hold water because it appeared to be without evidence.

He gave the assurance that the schools would remain open until there was substantial fact for government to take action upon.

READ ALSO: Tension as Buhari shuts 9 foreign embassies, SEE list

The spokesman of the colleges, Mr Cemal Yigit, said the allegation was a deliberate attempt by the Turkish government to smear the image of the colleges.

That is how they do the defamation campaign. It is so unfortunate that the smear attack is even reaching Nigeria," Yigit said.

According to Daily Trust, he said the schools have about 5,000 students and employed about 2,000 Nigerians.

The annual trade volume between Turkey and Nigeria was $1.2 billion by second quarter of 2016, and this consists of clothing, food, engines and automobile parts, as well as pharmaceuticals.

In return, Turkey imports sesame seeds, petroleum, raw and semi-processed leather and rubber from Nigeria.

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said during his recent visit to Nigeria that, Our total trade volume is currently at $1.145 billion. Our export is $314 million and our import is $831 million. As you can see, the result is to the favour of Nigeria.

I believe that if the two countries combine forces, making use of our own respective resources, we would be able to come up with even better outcomes. As we speak, our business people are connecting with their Nigerian counterparts.

READ ALSO: Shocking: About 10,410 arrested for plotting coup?

Meanwhile, Nigerian leading financial institution, the United Bank of Africa (UBA) has also clarified reports linking it to the funding of the failed coup plotted in Turkey.

In a press statement released by the bank, it countered the claims by a Turkey-based newspaper, Yenisafak, that some of those arrested in connection with the July 15, 2016 failed coup plot implicated UBA as its sponsors.

Source: Legit.ng
Whiskey enthusiasts often wax romantic about the balance of this mash bill, or the elegant neck of that copper pot still and sometimes even about exotic yeasts, and how these things play out in the flavor of their favored spirits. Yet its not these things, but the cask and the time spent in it that is the single biggest player in what whiskey tastes like.

According to Chris Morris, Master Distiller at Woodford Reserve, aging in new white oak barrels gives his bourbon 100% of its color naturally, and approximately 50 to 60% of its aroma and flavor. For decades, the choice of wood used in whiskey casks was standardized. In America, it was almost all new white oak, as mandated by Federal law. In Scotland and Ireland, most of the casks were old barrels imported from America, plus a few types from Europe.

With whiskey around the world surging in popularity, the wood choices are now expanding, as producers reach for new sources of oak and sometimes other woods, and this reach is turning out new flavors.

Outside The Wood Bin

American whiskeys first major steps away from traditional white oak were made by Makers Mark, which put French oak stave inserts into its barrels to produce Makers 46, and by Morris at Woodford Reserve, who produced a Masters Collection bourbon finished in sugar maple wood. This month, Seattles Westland Distillery took another step with its Garryana American Malt, made in part with whiskey aged in Garryana oak, a species native to Oregon and an all-new choice for whiskey barrels.

Compared to the standard white oak, with its sweet vanilla, The flavor profile skews dark: molasses, clove, coffee grounds, blackberry jam, and wood smoke, says Westlands Master Distiller Matt Hoffman.

Same Tree, New Forest

Remember going to a national park as a kid, and seeing the sawn tree trunk on display, its rings indicating how old the tree was? Those rings tell you a lot more than just the age of the tree. The space between the rings, the grain, also tells you how favorable the climate was to the growth of the tree. That grain matters in whiskey barrels, too.

Most of the white oak used to age bourbon and rye whiskey in America comes from a swathe of states in the middle of the Eastern United States. Independent Stave Cooperage in Kentucky, a major barrel-maker, gets its wood from 12 states, but the two biggest are Kentucky and Missouri. Brown-Forman, maker of Jack Daniels and Woodford Reserve, owns its own cooperages, and most of its oak comes from Tennessee, Alabama, Indiana and Missouri, says their Supply Chain General Manager Larry Combs. The similar climates in these places yield trees with similar grains, creating standardized barrel oak.

Using oak from places with a shorter growing season, producing a tighter grain, constricts some of the flavors whiskey pulls from the wood as it ages, as some American craft distillers have discovered. Chicagos FEW Spirits uses oak drawn from northerly Minnesota, and the tight grain of the Minnesota oak brings the wood spice and vanillin flavors drawn from the barrel more into balance, making the whiskey lighter on the vanilla and caramel.

Another whiskey using tighter oak is WhistlePig 15 Year Old Rye, finished for six months in barrels of Vermont oak harvested from the distillery property. As with FEWs Minnesota wood, the tighter Vermont grain changes the balance of flavors coming out of the wood, in this case playing up the rye whiskeys spiciness.

Across the Atlantic, the makers of Jameson reached outside the box last year to make their celebrated Midleton Dair Ghaelach, and in so doing they went in the opposite direction. Drawing on stocks of Irish pot still whiskey aged 15 to 22 years, Dair Ghaelach is then finished for 10 months in casks made of new Irish oak. Compared with its better-known cousins in France and Spain, Irish oak has a wide open grain, due to Irelands milder, wetter climate and long growing season. The result is a kind of super whiskey wood, allowing the spirit to pull heaps of flavors from the oak.

Little in whiskey-making looks as timeless as the barrel, lying in the warehouse year after year, waiting for the day its contents are mature. Now the whiskey boom is turning the old whiskey barrel on its head, and these new wood choices are just the first of what is to come. More new whiskey wood projects are already in the warehouses, holding whiskey, awaiting maturity and bottling.
Back in May, prominent liberal radio host Dan Savage went off on a caller who asked about voting for Jill Stein. Incorrectly diagnosing the Green Party as only running presidential candidates, Savage did not mince his words:

The revolution did not come in 2000 when George W. Bush got close enough to winning to steal the White House. It will not come if Donald J. Trump gets his ass elected.

Disaster will come. And the people wholl suffer are not going to be the pasty white Green Party supporterspasty white Jill Stein and her pasty white supporters. The people wholl suffer are going to be people of color. People of minority faiths. Queer people. Women.

Dont do it. Dont throw your vote away on Jill Stein/vote for, bankshot-style, Donald Trump.

This argument is one weve been hearing a lot this election. A Trump presidency, the reasoning goes, would irreparably injure minority groups in the US, and thus must be avoided at all costs. Anyone who disagrees is likely white and/or does not care about minority Americans.

But this with us or against us ideology is dangerous.

Speaking remotely at the Green Party National Convention, Julian Assange of Wikileaks said the following:

What the Clinton campaign is doing at the moment is trying to say, Well, OK, yes, maybe were committed to arms dealers and to Saudi Arabia, and yes, maybe we subverted the integrity of the Democratic primary, etc., etc., but youll just have to swallow that, youll just have to swallow that or else youll get Donald Trump. Thats a form of extortion.

His message was clear: Americans must stop voting out of fear because it leads to intolerable outcomes.

Assange had a point.

Fear voting allowed the Democratic Party to move to the right, as it could take liberal votes for granted. The country suffered as a resultnobody more so than minority Americans. The party enacted laws that contributed to the rise of mass incarceration, gutted welfare, signed NAFTA, deregulated the financial sector, and expanded US military involvement overseas.

These policies, with the exception of the expansion of US interventionism, can be attributed exclusively to Bill and Hillary Clinton.

And yet, today, even though there is no guarantee a second Clinton presidency would be any better for the downtrodden than the first, fear voting is alive and well on the left, as Clinton supporters insist that Donald Trump is an existential threat to American Democracy.

But, as frightening and downright atrocious as some of the GOP candidates rhetoric is (like his joke about Second Amendment people stopping Clintons judicial picks), it is hard to square the idea that voting for Clinton is voting to save American democracy with the fact that it took a skewed primary election to nominate her. Thanks to the revelations from the recent DNC email release by Wikileaks, we know that the party leadership was acting well outside the bounds of what can be considered neutral.

As Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone pointed out in a recent article titled, DNC Leak Shows Mechanics of a Slanted Campaign, it was thanks to the Clinton campaign coordinating with the DNC that the former Secretary of State was able to compete with Sanders grassroots political fundraising network.

But it doesnt stop there. The DNC also helped Clinton avoid political fallout after Ken Vogel and Isaac Arnsdof of Politico broke the story that, though the former Secretary had attacked Sanders for not helping down-ballot Democrats, the money raised through the Hillary Victory Funda joint venture between her campaign and the party meant to help the party at the state leveloverwhelmingly went towards her own presidential campaign. In fact, the reporters found that less than one percent of the funds went to the state parties.

Also troubling was the fact that the joint fundraising apparatus allowed donors to, in effect, give more than the maximum amount of money allowable to the DNC.

Naturally, the Sanders campaign seized on the story, but, the emails reveal that the party leadership actively sought to muddy the waters around it.

As Taibbi explains:

Whats patently obvious from these emails is that there was virtually no distinction between DNC and Clinton campaign officials when it came to the handling of this media problem. They were all on the same team, working in tandem to try to talk down the likes of Vogel and Emery.

Meanwhile, the Sanders campaign is treated as an enemy. After Vogels story came out, Sanders campaign chief Jeff Weaver sent DNC Treasurer Andrew Tobias a letter asking him to sign a petition calling for the state committees to receive all the money allowable from the Victory Fund

Tobias circulates this letter to other DNC staffers, saying, Seems awfully unfair and inaccurate?

Soon after, communications chief Miranda circulates a note to staffers asking them to search if theres any coverage of Bernie Sanders camp calling the victory fund money laundering.

In the end, these efforts seemed to pay off as the story was reduced to little more than a dispute between two campaigns on mainstream news.

That said, with the release of the emails, all of that has changed. The burgeoning scandal has resulted in no less than three top DNC officials stepping down in disgraceincluding former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

For her part, Clinton, in a confounding move that made even her allies shake their heads, appointed Wasserman Schultz to an honorary chair position in her campaign.

So can we really call it privilege that many voters would throw their hands in the air in disgust and vote a third party in light of the current options? Honestly, it is difficult to say which is worse.

On the one hand, you have Trumpa Nixonian strongman figure who has, for some of his appeal, relied on voters most base instincts, and who many, including his own ghostwriter, feel is unfit to hold public office.

On the other you have a conservative candidate who only won with the deck stacked in her favor, in spite of starting out with all the name recognition, and all the news coverage. Even then, the she had to break federal election laws regarding coordination with super PACs.

Correct The Record, one such independent expenditure group, had to AstroTurf online support for Clinton in an effort known as Barrier Breakers, which amounted to little more than a paid online troll army.

And so, while a vote for Jill Stein may, in effect, be a vote for Donald Trump, a vote for Clinton is a vote against our democratic processan endorsement of the DNCs actions, as well as her own, in the skewed 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

(For an alternate take on the Green Party, read Jacob Weindlings piece from yesterday.)
A jetset lifestyle doesnt have to be all private planes and decadent digs. In Paste Travels Jet-Set Bohemian series, we blend the best of high and low for just the right balance  enticing everyone from backpackers to luxury boutique hotel lovers to come along for the ride.

as we step onto the cobblestoned alleyways of Plaka, the capital of the island of Milos more than 700 feet above sea level, were swept into a wedding reception. The parade encompasses us as we join the marching band and wind up with the bride and groom in front of the reception site, which just so happens to be one of the top pastry shops on the Greek Cycladic island. Ducking past the band and into the taverna, the brothers behind the family run Kivotos ton Gefseon greet me in front of the multiple assortments of baklava, the phyllo dough-encrusted traditional pastry stuffed with honey, pistachio and walnuts. Theres a reason this spot has become a not-so-secret favorite among locals. Mom uses her own farm-produced honey in the pastries and weaves elements of the islands volcanic nature into her seaside tavern Restaurant Sirocco, roasting seafood and meat underground with heat stemming from volcanic vents.

One half of island hopping in Greece is basking on the beaches and seeking out hidden rocky coves, but the other is cruising through these isles sampling what theyve done best for thousands of years. Map out your route by ferry or hop on a Greek-based liner like Celestyal and make the rounds to the more untouched parts of the islands indulging in tradition, eating and drinking likeand withthe locals. As with any good adventure, it all begins with a toast, and Greece is one of the oldest wine-producing regions on the globe.

In addition to being known as the birthplace of Greek legends like father of mathematics Pythagoras and historian Herodotus, the island of Samos is famous for producing sweet dessert Muscat wine. Once the home of the Vaticans personal winery, Samos still produces communion wine for the Catholic church today and its vino is in high demand by the French market.

If youre visiting the island during the summer season, Samos plays host to a wine festival in Vathy the first 10 days of August where you can fill up a cup for as many rounds of sweet wine as you can stomach. For those who are good at stopping after just a sip, learn the history and sample a few of the more iconic varieties at the Samos Wine Museum, which holds large wooden wine barrels dating back to the early 20th century.

Photo by Lane Nieset

25-mile-long island of Kos is closer to Turkey than it is to Greece, the cuisine here sticks entirely to Greek tradition. The spot believed to be the birthplace of physician Hippocrates, Kos features a 14th century fortress at the mouth of the harbor, built by the Knights of Saint John of Rhodes, and still relies mainly on farming crops like grapes, tomatoes, figs and olives. Growing wine since the time of Hippocrates himself, Kos is known for its salty Coan wine, but family run wineries like Hatziemmanouil have made a name for themselves playing with both indigenous and international varieties cultivating grapes on almost 150 acres of vineyards in Afousa.

After sampling the spots six vinos, which include the signature Assyrtiko from Santorini, head to the southwestern-most village of Kos, Kefalos, where youll come across another family run business. Third-generation beekeepers behind Melissa, Greek for honey bee, work with over 650 hives to produce the islands traditional thyme honey, used for centuries here as a form of medicine. The family moves its hives throughout the nearby islands to get just the right blend of herbs for its honey thats used in everything from raki liqueur to mini fried donuts called loukoumades.

Of course a trip to Greece isnt complete without sampling a spread of mezze, or tapas-style shared small plates that act as an appetizer. Dont expect to eat light while youre here. Part of Greek hospitality is breaking bread with your hosts, preferably at a beachside taverna with a cool glass of local vino. Head from flat-topped Plaka on Milos to the seaside fishing village of Pollonia on the northeastern corner of the island whose coastline is surrounded by white-washed homes.

Photo by Lane Nieset

thats about as close to the sea as you can get without being on the sand at family run Enalion, whose name translates roughly to living in the water. Start with a glass of local Cycladic Assyrtiko white wine from the restaurants cellar and prepare for a feast crafted from produce grown on Enalions own 7-acre farm, sitting less than a mile away. The traditional spread blends hot and cold plates from eggplant salad and Tzatziki, or Greek-strained yogurt with Milos-grown garlic and cucumber, to grilled squid, tomato fritters and pitarakia, small fried onion and cheese pies. Dishes slowly make their way to the table over the course of a lengthy lunch allowing more than enough time to work through each course and bottle, culminating with a dip in the sea just steps away.

Lane Nieset is Pastes Jet-Set Bohemian columnist and a freelance writer covering all things travel from her home base in Nice, France.
Zayed University offers M.A. in judicial studies for the first time in Arabic as an open cohort

Contact

Sara Hassan

Media Relations Specialist

***@zu.ac.ae Sara HassanMedia Relations Specialist

End

-- With the growing need for highly trained legal professionals in the UAE and other Gulf States, Zayed University opened its doors for 26 students who wish to hone their skills and acquire the knowledge and competencies necessary for successful handling and dealing with judicial administration.The Master of Judicial Studies (MAJS) is offered for the first time in Arabic as an open cohort this year.The University's Graduate Studies Office has also accepted 54 more students, who will be studying international business, public relations, tourism and cultural communications, and healthcare administration this fall.The announcement came during an orientation seminar held yesterday's evening at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi campus to introduce the University and its resources, campus services and facilities, and University's departments and faculty.The one-day orientation was attended by Dr Marilyn Roberts, Acting Provost at Zayed University, Chet Jablonski, Dean of Graduate Studies, coordinators of graduate programs as well as students.At the outset of the event, Dr Marilyn Roberts, Acting Provost at Zayed University, gave a welcome speech, saying: "You all have made a decision to start a two year journey as students here at Zayed University. We want you to gain the knowledge that will truly put you in a different place following graduation. Welcome you all at Zayed University and congratulations for making the right choice."The new M.A. in Judicial Studies will provide students with the latest development in the field of law and judicial administration to improve their skills and equip them with the knowledge and competencies necessary for successful handling and dealing with judicial administration in public and private law.Dean Chet also welcomed new students, saying: "Welcome and congratulations on your acceptance for graduate study at Zayed University. I am confident that our master's degree programs will inspire you to achieve your career goals and will prepare you to join the next generation of leaders in your chosen field. You can be assured there will be hard but gratifying work ahead; enjoy it and make the most of your investment. I wish you every success."The program offers a range of core courses, electives, and a major project. The MAJS program is also approved by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.Future MAJS students will have the unique ability to understand the most recent and important developments in different legal fields; relate the theoretical legal studies to the practical conditions in the United Arab Emirates; apply different laws in selected real cases properly; and practice the judicial duty in different legal fields.Graduate Program Coordinator for the MAJS program, Dr Walaaeldeen Ibraheem, said the purpose of offering this program at Zayed University is to deliver high qualified and experienced legal graduates, who are able to deal with new and complex legal issues."Students will embark on a two year academic journey studying diverse subjects on civil law, criminal law, judicial writing and research, advocacy skills, case analysis, and alternative dispute resolution. The MAJS program will help students who wish to pursues careers as judges, prosecutors, advocates, and legal advisors," he added.During the orientation seminar, new students expressed their willingness to achieve better understanding of the judiciary and to generate improvements in the administration of justice by focusing on the study and exploration of the judicial process."I have a passion to learn more about law reform, emerging legal issues, case management techniques, and other matters that pertain to my daily work as a legal officer," Ibrahim Al Memari, who works as a legal specialist, said.Maryam Ashtari, 36 year old employee at Abu Dhabi Judicial Department with more than 15 years of strong experience, can't wait to start her classes that will touch on a critical array of issues relating to judicial institutions, judicial behavior, and decision-making.About 2,250 post-graduate students have enrolled in Zayed University's graduate programs since it was founded.ENDS//Zayed University is today the premier national university in the United Arab Emirates and a regional leader in educational innovation and change. It has created and implemented a skills-rich, outcome-based general education program that systemically develops student skills, knowledge, and values associated with liberal learning and provided a solid foundation for pursuit of disciplinary majors and future careers. Zayed University welcomes national and international students, and provides them with a high quality education, offered by seasoned teaching scholars to prepare them to shape the future of the United Arab Emirates.Zayed University offers Undergraduate and Graduate degrees in the following Colleges: College of Arts & Creative Enterprises (recognized as substantially equivalent by NASAD), College of Business (Accredited by AACSB), College of Communication & Media Sciences (Accredited by ACEJMC), College of Education (Accredited by NCATE), College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Natural and Health Sciences, and College of Technological Innovation (Accredited by ABET). For more information, visit www.zu.ac.aeMedia contacts: Sara Sabry, Media Relations Specialist at the Office of the Vice President at Zayed UniversityDir-Tel: 025993630Mobile: 0566561059E-mail: Sara.Hassan@zu.ac.aeWeb: www.zu.ac.ae
A Comprehensive Overview of the Business and IT Value of SAP's Next-Generation Business Suite

By: T.A.Cook Conferences

Contact

T.A.Cook Conferences

***@tacook.com T.A.Cook Conferences

End

-- A Comprehensive Overview of the Business and IT Value of SAP's Next-Generation Business SuiteSAP's S/4HANA suite offers companies a great platform for innovation and improved business efficiency. If you and your team are new to the solution or if you are an existing customer and want to explore the full capabilities of S/4HANA, don't miss this two day seminar specifically designed for the oil and gas industry.SAP S/4HANA Seminar for the Oil and Gas Industry takes place on 27-28 October in Amsterdam, Netherlands.Packed with use cases, demos and interactive content join SAP experts and industry professionals to discuss key concepts, deliveries, road map items and considerations when moving your IT landscape. Take this opportunity to have your questions answered, share best practice and take a deep dive into SAP's next-generation ERP business suite.Registration is now live, the Early Bird rate is on and group offers are currently available. Visit the seminar web site to download the agenda and for more information on the event: http://uk.tacook.com/ events/conferences/ details/seminar- s...
By: REAL Women in Trucking

Media Contact

Desiree Wood, REAL Women in Trucking

Kristine Gobbo, Spectrum Public Relations

kristine@spectrum- publicrelations.com Desiree Wood, REAL Women in TruckingKristine Gobbo, Spectrum Public Relations

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-- REAL Women in Trucking, Inc. (RWIT) is hosting a conference aboard the Carnival Conquest to unite and honor women in the truck driving industry. The "Queen of the Road on the High Seas" conference, taking place Sunday, March 26 to Saturday, April 1, 2017, will include education sessions on a broad range of topics, including personal safety, discrimination, sexual harassment, and driver health. The agenda also includes a driver advocacy forum, a lady truck driver roundtable and an awards ceremony recognizing women who have overcome obstacles in the truck driving industry. The six-night cruise will depart from Ft. Lauderdale for the Eastern Caribbean with stops at Grand Turk, Dominican Republic and Nassau.The conference - http://www.realwomenintrucking.com/1st-annual-lady-truck-driver-cruise/ - will provide tools for truck drivers while advancing a voice for RWIT and its members. The sessions will include information on improving technical skills for drivers, promoting advocacy through social media, transitioning company drivers to owner-operator, and much more. A forum of truck driver advocates will also discuss issues that affect the industry. Notable speakers include Allen Smith, host of 'Ask the Trucker;' Anne Balay, published author of Steel Closets: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Steelworkers, a former truck driver, and writer of a recent op-ed published in The New York Times "Long-Haul Sweatshops;" and Christine Gray, Becca Kennedy and Shannon Morris, truck drivers, and advocates for the safety and success of women truck drivers.All interested drivers, professionals within the truck driving industry, and others who encourage and support women truck drivers are invited. Families or significant others are also welcome. The conference schedule has been planned to allow plenty of leisure time to enjoy cruise activities. For those interested in supporting this important event, sponsorship opportunities are available at five levels with details provided at RWIT Lady Truck Driver Conference.Nominations for outstanding female truck drivers, the "Queen of the Road" awards, are welcome. Awards will be presented to three outstanding women who have demonstrated dedication and tenacity in their efforts to become professional commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operators. Nominees must either be past or present CMV drivers that fit the R.E.A.L. criteria, which stands for Reaching Out, Encouraging Others, Achieving Personal Success and Leadership. Nominations will be accepted beginning Thursday, September 1 with a deadline of Monday, November 7, 2016."This conference is important to our efforts of 'breaking the silence' about the treatment of women in the trucking industry." said Desiree Wood, one of RWIT's founders. "At the conference, we hope to provide the tools women need to be more successful in their chosen field. Along with information sessions, participants will have the opportunity to network with fellow drivers. Learning from one another and unifying on important issues is one of our primary goals."RWIT was initially formed in 2010 as a 501(c)(6) membership organization by female truckers to protest poor conditions that were not being effectively addressed by the trucking industry. "Queen of the Road on the High Seas" is the organization's first fundraising event. Proceeds will help establish a 501(c)(3) foundation which will provide a headquarters and facilities with modest truck parking availability for members, scheduled learning conferences and advanced training for entry-level driver training students to develop their skills.For more information, contact Desiree Wood at 561-232-9170 or info@realwomenintrucking.org, or visit http://www.realwomenintrucking.com . Follow RWIT on Twitter: @womentruckers.About REAL Women in Trucking, Inc.:REAL Women in Trucking, Inc. promotes safety by educating the public about unsafe truck driver training and has created a network of support for women entering trucking. The mission of REAL Women in Trucking, Inc. is to deliver highway safety through leadership, mentorship, education and advocacy.
If a city plants trees near a residential area, most homeowners value the likely subsequent boost to their property values, a new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences study shows.

And they're willing to pay an average of $7 more per month in taxes for public trees planted in their city.

In the UF/IFAS study, 1,052 surveyed Florida homeowners said they'd like the trees on their land to provide shade and to be healthy, but they'd prefer an increase of $1,600 in their home's value.

Residents were separated into two surveys. One asked them to consider a hypothetical home improvement project to better the trees on their property, while the other asked a similar referendum question regarding a city program that would increase their utility tax to increase urban forests in public areas near their homes. There were 526 responses to each survey.

Given a range of paying between $1 and $10 more per month in city utility taxes, survey respondents said they want trees in their cities, but they're only willing to pay up to $7 more per month, said Jose Soto, a post-doctoral researcher in the UF/IFAS School of Forest Resources and Conservation.

"Our findings indicate that participants find it useful to invest in urban forest infrastructure and are also willing to pay for the benefits of having more trees near their homes," Soto said.

Damian Adams, a UF/IFAS associate professor of forest resources and conservation and an Extension specialist, said the study's findings are consistent with basic economic theory. All things considered, people want more value for their property, and more trees can add money to their home's appraisal.

"Basically people are driven at least in part, by economic values associated with planting trees, but they appear to be more sensitive to the property value effects of planting trees than other factors," Adams said. "They are clearly concerned about tree shade too, which can lower energy bills and hence reduce costs. But tree shade also increases outdoor enjoyment and aesthetic benefits, which just makes people happy, and that's worth something."

It is important to note that while Florida homeowners are willing to pay more for public trees, some Florida programs give trees away for free, and some actually plant trees near homes -- for example, in Tampa, Soto said.

Tampa has a program called "Tree-mendous Tampa," in which the city plants free trees in public rights-of-way. You can find more information on that program here: http://bit.ly/25Lkrl3. Other cities, such as Portland, Oregon, compensate residents for planting trees, Soto said.

Soto and Adams presented their findings this month at the 2016 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association Annual meeting in Boston.
An analysis of about 1,300 peer-reviewed research articles found that few studies included men and women equally, less than one-third performed data analysis by sex, and there was wide variation in inclusion and matching of the sexes among the specialties and the journals reviewed, according to a study published online by JAMA Surgery.

Males and females can have different postoperative outcomes, complication rates, and readmission rates, so it is important to know if sex bias is pervasive in surgery. Adequately controlling for sex as a variable with inclusion, data reporting, and data analysis is important because data derived from clinical research are the foundation for evidence-based medicine.

Melina R. Kibbe, M.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (formerly of Northwestern University, Chicago), and Editor, JAMA Surgery, and colleagues conducted a study to determine if sex bias exists in human surgical clinical research, if data are reported and analyzed using sex as an independent variable, and to identify specialties in which the greatest and least sex biases exist. For the analysis, data were abstracted from 1,303 original peer-reviewed articles published from January 2011 through December 2012 in 5 surgery journals.

Of the 1,303 articles, 17 (1.3 percent) included males only, 41(3.1 percent) included females only, 1,020 (78 percent) included males and females, and 225 (17 percent) did not document the sex of the participants. Although female participants represent more than 50 percent (n = 57,688,606) of the total number (115,377,213) included, considerable variability existed with the number of male (46,111,818), female (58,805,665), and unspecified (10,459,730) participants included among the journals, between U.S. domestic and international studies, and between single vs multicenter studies.

For articles included in the study, 38 percent reported these data by sex, 33 percent analyzed these data by sex, and 23 percent included a discussion of sex-based results. Sex matching of the included participants in the research overall was poor, with less than half of the studies matching the inclusion of both sexes by 50 percent (e.g., 100 males to 50 females, or vice versa). During analysis of the different surgical specialties, a wide variation in sex-based inclusion, matching, and data reporting existed, with colorectal surgery having the best matching of male and female participants and cardiac surgery having the worst.

The authors write that the implications of these findings are numerous. "First, drugs, therapies, and devices may be developed that are effective for one sex. Second, for therapies and drugs that have an overall low efficacy in men and women when the data are combined, the therapy or drug may be abandoned; however, that therapy or drug may have greater efficacy in one sex vs the other. This result would be known if sex-based analysis and reporting of the data were performed. ... Third, therapies may be developed that have undesirable adverse effects in the opposite sex. For example, the odds of an adverse drug reaction in women is 50 percent greater than in men, women are more likely to be hospitalized because of an adverse drug reaction, and 80 percent of the drugs removed from the market by the FDA were because of undesirable adverse effects in women."

"Thus, whereas it is important to collect data of male and female participants, performing independent data analysis and reporting can produce findings leading to valuable contributions to the health and well-being of males or females independently."

Commentary: Precision Health Outcomes Require Precise Patient Identification

"Because the foundation of precision health is adjusting treatment modalities specifically for each patient, consideration of sex variability is necessary to increase successful outcomes. In addition, we need to consider sex presentation, age, ethnic background, and socioeconomic status because these factors also can determine results," write Julie A. Freischlag, M.D., and Michelle M. Silva, B.A., of the UC Davis Health System, Sacramento, in an accompanying commentary.

"Identification of all patients included in clinical trials is essential. Authors, reviewers, publishers, and funding agencies should mandate this process in any publication so that results used to provide quality care are accurate. Diversity and inclusion excellence are important in the success and greatness of academic institutions, and the same can be said for research."
A significant portion of preterm births might be avoided by reducing or eliminating three major risk factors.

A new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study shows that as many as 25 percent of preterm births might be attributed to abnormalities in the interval between pregnancies, the mother's body mass index prior to pregnancy, and the amount of weight gain in pregnancy. All of these risk factors may be modifiable to reduce the risk of premature births -- those before 37 weeks of gestation.

The study is published online in the Maternal and Child Health Journal.

"The highest risks for premature birth were in women who were underweight, had poor weight gain during pregnancy, or short periods of time between pregnancies," says Emily DeFranco, DO, a physician-researcher at the Center for Prevention of Preterm Birth at Cincinnati Children's and an associate professor of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Cincinnati. "However, excessive weight gain in obese women also increased the risk."

Dr. DeFranco and her colleagues conducted the study from birth records in Ohio from 2006 to 2011. Nearly 400,000 live, non-multiple births were included. Potentially modifiable risk factors for preterm birth were present in more than 90 percent of women in the study. Fewer than half of women begin pregnancy with a normal weight, and only 32 percent achieve the recommended pregnancy weight gain.

"Attention should be paid to educational interventions on the importance of birth spacing, achieving an optimal pre-pregnancy weight, and ensuring adequate nutrition and weight gain during pregnancy," says Dr. DeFranco. "Improvements in these modifiable risk factors could have significant influence on premature birth and infant mortality worldwide."

According to the March of Dimes, the rate of preterm birth in the United States is 12 percent. This is above the global average of 11.1 percent.
If you hate going to the dentist, here's some good news. New research published online in The FASEB Journal, shows that melanocortin agonism may effectively control the inflammation that often occurs in gum tissue, which when unchecked, ultimately accelerates tooth and bone loss. This research involving mice, opens the door to a new class of treatments for gum disease.

"Controlling inflammation during gum disease is a key step to avoid alveolar bone resorption, tooth loss and, thus, improve the quality of life of patients," said Mila Madeira, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Microbiology at the Biologic Science Institute at the Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

To make their discovery, Madeira and colleagues used several groups of mice. The first group was infected with bacteria related to gum disease and then treated them with a melanocortin agonist. The second group had no infection. The third group was infected, but not treated. The final group was infected but treated with a placebo. Melanocortin agonism was associated with reduced alveolar bone resorption and less inflammation, a critical feature to be controlled in gum diseases.

"Attenuation of the inflammatory axis of periodontal pathology cannot be overstated in its importance ," said Thoru Pederson, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "These findings provide an entirely new approach to this highly prevalent condition."
Although female certified urologists are still a minority within the specialty, they perform many more procedures on women than their male colleagues, who perform more procedures on men than their female colleagues. As more women opt to specialize in urology, attention needs to be paid to the way gender shapes the clinical landscape, report researchers in The Journal of Urology.

Urology has traditionally been dominated by men, but more than 50% of medical school graduates in the United States are now women, and the number of female urologists has risen from a mere 34 women in 1981 to 512 in 2009 -- a thousand-fold increase. The percentage of female urology residents has increased even more quickly, from 5% in 1989 to 23% in 2011.

There is a perception that female urologists may be "pigeon-holed" into caring for more female patients and female-specific urological issues than their male colleagues. With the gender landscape quickly changing, researchers decided to look at the surgical practice patterns of male and female urologists over time and the influence of surgeon gender on patients treated.

"An assumption is often made that women prefer to go to female physicians and surgeons. There have been reports in the obstetric and primary care literature documenting a preference by female patients for female practitioners; however, to our knowledge no study exists that directly analyzes the influence of surgeon or patient gender on the surgical practice patterns of urologists in the U.S.," explained lead investigator Daniel T. Oberlin, MD, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Department of Urology (Chicago, IL).

Investigators looked at six-month case logs of more than 6,000 certifying urologists from 2003 to 2012, which included over one million cases that were either gender-neutral cases (i.e., they could be performed on either male or female patients) or gender specific procedure groups. These data represented over two-thirds of all urologists in the U.S. based on current estimates. Gender neutral procedures included extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, ureteroscopy, transurethral resection of a bladder tumor, and nephrectomy. Female specific procedures included fitting a urethral sling for stress urinary incontinence. Male specific procedures included vasectomy and treatment of prostate cancer.

Female urologists accounted for 8.4% of the certifying urologists included in the study. The results showed that female surgeons perform a higher proportion of gender neutral index surgical procedures on female patients relative to their male counterparts (54% vs 32% female patients, respectively). This trend for female surgeons remained consistent for each individual gender neutral procedure that was assessed.

The surgical volume of gender specific female cases is higher for female surgeons. Among cases that were gender specific, female surgeons performed 14.5% of all urethral sling procedures in women, and only 3.1% of vasectomies and 3.6% of prostate surgeries in men. Male urologists, on average, performed three times as many vasectomies and over twice as many prostatectomies as their female colleagues. The proportion of female patients treated by female urologists was at least 1.65 times higher than their male counterparts in all six geographic regions in the U.S., with the largest discrepancies observed in the northeast and west where female urologists operated on twice as many females as their male counterparts.

"Our results are consistent with data from other specialties suggesting that female patients may gravitate toward female physicians," commented Dr. Oberlin. "Women are pursuing medical careers in numbers equal to that of men. As the number of women physicians going into urology grows, increasing attention to practice pattern discrepancies and gender biases is needed to better appreciate how these disparities will shape the clinical landscape."
By PTI: Situated in the heart of Hyderabad?s HITEC city, ibis Hyderabad HITEC City is the 13th ibis to open in India. The hotel is centrally located at the entrance of HITEC city close to HICC & HITEX, Google, Novartis, Facebook corporate offices and surrounding IT companies. It is 35 Kms from the Rajiv Gandhi International airport and 15 minutes from the Inorbit and Forum Sujana mall.

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The hotel offers 178 comfortable, fully equipped sound proof guest rooms, 50 mbps Wi-Fi, flat screen LED TV and a spacious next gen bathroom. The property offers a 24 hour reception, an ibis kitchen serving hot and cold dishes day or night and a nonstop bar.

Spice It, the signature casual dining restaurant offering the best of Indian, Oriental and European cuisine with a choice of buffet or a la carte menu options. The restaurant also offers the Great Indian 8 hour all day breakfast from 4am until noon.

The Hub, the bar at the hotel provides a wide selection of refreshing beverages and snacks. Address: ibis Hyderabad HITEC City, Plot 3/2, Sector II, Huda Techno Enclave, near Cyber Towers, Hyderabad 500081, India Note to Editor: Hi-res images can be downloaded via: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qwv21kc9gjop1j8/AADy5hEYlr27EHlU9Rt 362s4a?dl=0 ABOUT IBIS Ibis, AccorHotels? economy brand, promises modernity, comfort and service at the best price.

The brand innovates constantly to offer its guests even more modernity, comfort and availability. It created revolutionary bedding concept Sweet BedTM by ibis; welcoming, designer common areas and the modern food and beverage offer, ibis kitchen. It also cultivates the spirit of service that drives each of its employees. Ibis is recognized across the world for its quality, reliability and commitment to the environment. It was created in 1974 and is now the European leader in economy hotels and the fourth hotel chain in its category worldwide with over 1,060 hotels and 135,000 rooms in 64 countries. MORE BUSINESSWIRE BMR BMR

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Some anxiety is perfectly normal for kidney transplant patients, but new research suggests that medical staff can help patients feel more at ease when they leave the hospital and that could decrease the chances they'll be readmitted.

High levels of anxiety a week after a kidney transplant patient went home more than doubled the chances he or she would be readmitted within 30 days of release, researchers found.

And anxiety was higher for patients who received inconsistent directions related to post-discharge care while in the hospital and who reported less-than-optimal empathy on the part of nurses, doctors and other caregivers, researchers from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and Wexner Medical Center report in September's Journal of Surgical Research.

"The more patient-centric the care, the more trust the patient had in the information provided, the lower the anxiety level after discharge," said Aravind Chandrasekaran, study co-author and an associate professor of operations and associate director of Fisher's Center for Operational Excellence.

"If you're anxious, you're going to come back."

Readmissions can happen for true medical reasons -- such as a patient taking the wrong medications or not adhering to post-transplant safety measures.

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They can also arise when the worried well return unnecessarily, said Susan Moffatt-Bruce, study co-author, cardiothoracic surgeon and chief quality and patient safety officer at Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center.

"Sometimes we can make ourselves unwell because we've been so anxious," she said.

Standardizing post-transplant care and training caregivers to convey more empathy during their educational interactions could go a long way toward keeping new kidney recipients well and out of the hospital, the study concluded.

"It comes down to understanding the whole patient," Moffatt-Bruce said. "With some simple interventions, including being kind and being present, we can make a difference."

About 17,000 people receive kidney transplants each year in the United States and more than 100,000 are on the waiting list, according to 2014 data from the Health Resources and Services Administration. More than 30 percent of them are readmitted within 30 days of their release, previous research has found.

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When patients head home, good self-care -- including taking medications properly and avoiding infection risks -- is critical for maintaining good health.

But the list of instructions for transplant patients is long and it can be confusing, Chandrasekaran said. On top of that, patients sometimes hear conflicting advice from different members of their care team.

Prior to beginning the study, he and his collaborators reasoned that anxiety after discharge could be a significant player in the high rate of readmissions.

Ohio State's research team first interviewed 20 patients who received a transplant at the Wexner Medical Center to get a handle on the quality of care delivered during hospitalization. In general, the interviews suggested that information conveyed to patients varied depending on the caregiver and was delivered "in a somewhat rushed manner."

Researchers also shadowed the care team to listen first-hand to the instructions they gave transplant patients after their surgeries.

One example of inconsistent advice they witnessed: One nurse recommended "a lot of fluids," another said to drink two liters a day and another told the patient to consume 100 ounces.

"There must have been 16 different ways to tell them to drink a lot of water," Chandrasekaran said, adding that this wasn't because the nurses weren't following protocol. Rather, they were passing along various guidelines they'd been told over the years.

The researchers then used information from those shadowing experiences and the initial 20 interviews to develop surveys given to another 77 kidney recipients, 24 of whom were readmitted within 30 days.

"We wanted to see what was it that caused them to have anxiety and what could we do to alleviate that," Moffatt-Bruce said.

"We asked patients, 'What went right, what went wrong?' "

The researchers assessed the consistency of patient education using a five-item test that measured the ease of getting information and the level of understanding of symptoms and procedures. To evaluate empathy, they used a three-item scale that asked patients about their comfort level when they interacted with caregivers.

The researchers worked closely with the entire transplant team at Ohio State's medical center, including 24 nurses and several physicians.

They found a strong association between anxiety levels a week after discharge and readmission within a month. They also found that the odds of getting readmitted increase by 110 percent for a one-unit increase in anxiety levels.

They did not find a direct link between consistency and empathy measured in the surveys and readmissions. But they did find that those elements appeared to play a clear role in raising anxiety, which was linked to readmissions.

The researchers took into account factors that could skew their findings -- including age, ethnicity, preexisting health conditions and the function of the transplanted organ upon discharge.

Since conducting this work, the researchers and transplant staff designed interventions to improve pre-discharge care and attempt to reduce preventable readmissions.

The discharge nurses, in particular, played a key role in the changes, which have cut the number of individual instructions given to patients from about 80 to 25, Moffatt-Bruce said.

"When you go home you're going to be more confident, you're going to be safer and you're going to be less likely to come back to the hospital," she said.

The researchers plan to publish results from the follow-up study soon.
An alternative to using Twitter geotags and hashtags to identify community members who have experienced collective trauma, such as a school shooting, shows promise in helping researchers rapidly assess local effects. The approach, developed by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, was deployed to study the impact of deadly gun violence at UC Santa Barbara, Northern Arizona University and Oregon's Umpqua Community College.

Followers of local Twitter accounts, such as the city hall's, were identified, and the tweets of these likely community members were then downloaded for data analysis. Results of the UCI team's work will be published in the December issue of Psychological Methods, a peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Psychological Association.

"Twitter's rapid distribution and widespread use enable us to avoid the fundamental difficulties with traditional survey methodologies," said Roxane Cohen Silver, professor of psychology & social behavior and research team leader. "Studying communities impacted by traumatic events is often costly and requires swift action to enter the field when disaster strikes. And individuals are typically studied after the traumatic event, so there's no baseline data against which to compare post-disaster response."

Social media such as Twitter offer a wealth of information that can provide an immediate window into a community's emotional response to a collective trauma, but using a big data approach presents its own unique challenges, according to Nickolas M. Jones, lead author and graduate student in psychology & social behavior.

"Locating community members who have experienced the trauma can be problematic," he explained. "To infer members' location, prior researchers have either used geotagged tweets, which account for only 3 to 6 percent of Twitter users, or tweets with hashtags, which yields vast numbers of tweets without certainty of the users' location. It's critical for researchers interested in using big data to study how trauma affects a community to identify Twitter users who likely live there, and our method helps achieve that goal."

The UCI team compared negative emotional expression via Twitter by people in the impacted communities and those in three matched control communities shortly before and after the campus killings. Despite variation in the severity of violence at the colleges, results showed similar patterns of increased negative emotional expression in the post-event tweets from those in the affected areas, while tweets from those in the matched control locales exhibited no change in negative emotional expression during the same period of time.

Based on the findings, the researchers believe Twitter is a creative tool that can be utilized to gauge negative emotion in the aftermath of violence, especially on college campuses, since students are the most likely users within the general population.
Long ago, one great ocean flowed between North and South America. When the narrow Isthmus of Panama joined the continents about 3 million years ago, it also separated the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean. If this took place millions of years earlier, as recently asserted by some, the implications for both land and sea life would be revolutionary. Aaron O'Dea, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), and colleagues writing in Science Advances firmly set the date at 2.8 million years ago.

"Recent scientific publications proposing the isolation of the two oceans between 23 to 6 million years ago rocked the generally held model of the continental connection to its foundations," said Jeremy Jackson, emeritus staff scientist at the Smithsonian. "O'Dea and his team set out to reevaluate in unprecedented, rigorous detail, all of the available lines of evidence -- geologic, oceanographic, genetic and ecological data and the analyses that bear on the question of when the Isthmus formed."

"The timing of the connection between continents and the isolation of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans is important for so many reasons," O'Dea said. "Estimates of rates of evolutionary change, models of global oceans, the origin of modern-day animals and plants of the Americas and why Caribbean reefs became established all depend upon knowing how and when the isthmus formed."

The team of researchers from 23 institutions, including nine current or emeritus staff scientists from STRI and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and 13 current or previous Smithsonian post-doctoral fellows concluded that records from marine and terrestrial fossils, volcanic and marine rocks and the genes of marine animals split by the formation of the Isthmus all tell the same story. Three key pieces of evidence defined when the land bridge was finally in place:

Analysis of the family trees of shallow-water marine animals such as fish and sand dollars from the Pacific and Caribbean (Atlantic) sides of the isthmus show genetic mixing until after 3.2 million years ago.

Surface waters from the Pacific and Caribbean mixed until about 2.8 million years ago, as seen in deep-ocean sediments.

Massive migrations of land animals between North and South America began sometime before 2.7 million years ago.

The first paper to propose an earlier connection, published by Camilo Montes, professor at the Universidad de los Andes, and STRI staff scientist Carlos Jaramillo in 2015, asserted that tiny particles called zircons found in northern Colombia arrived there 15 million years ago via rivers from the Panama Arc along a land bridge. The authors of the new paper reveal that, in fact, there are several possible sources for these zircons, all of which require less convoluted travel to arrive at their resting place in the Magdalena basin.

The second paper to propose an earlier isthmus by Christine Bacon, post-doctoral fellow at the University of Gothenburg, suggested that molecular data from terrestrial animals and plants corresponded with geographic splits in marine animals, assuming the correspondence must have been due to a land bridge. The new study questions their use of a universal rate of evolution -- "different species evolve at different rates" Harilaos Lessios, a coauthor, said. They also question their use of genetic splits for land animals as evidence of the continental connection because "a land bridge would not cause genetic divergence, but would, on the contrary, allow greater genetic mixing between the continents."

In addition, the new paper mentions that Bacon et al.'s study omitted several important published genetic analyses, which skewed their results and when included, eliminate the main line of evidence that marine and terrestrial events coincided.

The authors concluded, "Our review and new analyses aims to clarify the issue by bringing together expertise from a wide array of different lines of evidence. Given all the available evidence, we strongly caution against the uncritical acceptance of the old isthmus hypothesis."
The more it swarms, crawls and flies the better it is for humans. This is the finding of a study published in "Nature." More than 60 researchers from a number of universities were involved, including the Technical University of Munich, the Institute of Plant Sciences at the University of Bern and the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre in Frankfurt. A diverse ecosystem populated by many species from all levels of the food chain provides higher levels of ecosystem services, the team reports. Even rather unpopular insects and invisible soil-dwelling organisms are important in maintaining a wide range of ecosystem services. The results underline the necessity of maintaining species-rich ecosystems for the good of humanity.

Grasslands full of flowers are not only beautiful they also provide many important services for humans. These include food production, alongside supporting services such as soil development, regulating services such as pest control and climate regulation and cultural services such as the use of the grassland for recreation. A grassland is also a complex ecosystem containing many species belonging to different levels in the food chain, so called "trophic levels."

Humans are causing declines in biodiversity for many of these groups and evidence from experiments on plants suggests this might threaten ecosystem services. However, studies had not looked at diversity at many trophic levels at the same time.

A 60-strong research team, led by Dr. Santiago Soliveres from the University of Bern, therefore studied all groups in a grassland food chain for the first time. They collected data on a total of 4600 species of animal and plant from nine trophic groups, including often neglected ones such as micro-organisms in the soil and insects that live in the soil or on the plants. "The data was collected as part of a programme supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in 150 grasslands across Germany, the so called 'Biodiversity Exploratories'," says Professor Wolfgang Weisser of the Chair for Terrestrial Ecology at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) -- "it constitutes the most extensive ecological sampling in Europe."

Biodiversity required within all trophic groups

"Working out how different groups affect ecosystem services is like trying to solve a very complicated puzzle but with our extensive data we are able to put together a coherent picture of how important individual groups are for fourteen ecosystem services. Each ecosystem service is dependent on at least three groups and the higher the number of species within the group, the more reliably the ecosystem service is provided. In addition, each individual group influences at least one ecosystem service," Soliveres, lead author for the study, summarises the results.

Dr. Eric Allan from the University of Bern adds: "Many different groups are important for providing essential ecosystem services. In order for nature to continue 'working' reliably for us we therefore need to protect biodiversity at all levels in the food chain, including in often overlooked groups such as microbes or insects. This is especially important for regulating processes and cultural services."

The importance of overlooked organisms

Microbes and insects are overlooked and are not generally considered in conservation. However, this study shows that view needs to change because many insects and soil organisms play a central role, alongside plants, in supplying the services we depend on. "Plants supply biomass which forms the beginning of the food chain, but insects act as pollinators and soil organisms increase soil fertility through the breakdown and retention of chemical elements such as phosphorus. The more different species there are, particularly within these three groups, the more positive the effect on all services," explains Soliveres.

Often, fertiliser is applied to the soil in order to increase soil fertility and thus increase plant growth. Fertilisers help in the short term, but if biodiversity is reduced, then the downsides outweigh this. Maintaining high levels of biodiversity throughout the food chain is therefore more economical and wiser in the long term than destroying it for short term gains.

The importance of biological diversity for ecosystem services has been underestimated

"If biodiversity is rapidly destroyed, what consequences does this have for humans? What courses of action are available? Thus far, there has been insufficient research into this, which is one of the reasons why the international biodiversity council IPBES was founded," explains Prof. Markus Fischer from the Institute of Plant Science at the University of Bern and head of the Biodiversity Exploratories project. This study also shows that the importance of biological diversity has been underestimated because previous research only focussed on individual trophic groups: "Our extensive research programme demonstrates how important it is to study the broader context and that there is a need for action to protect ecosystems," summarises Fischer.
The UC Mosquito Research Laboratory in Parlier is the epicenter of California research on the Aedes aegypti mosquito, a tiny, black and white mosquito that can spread the Zika virus.

Aedes aegypti were first identified in California in June 2013, when they were found in the San Joaquin Valley communities of Clovis and Madera. They have now been detected in certain Fresno County neighborhoods, plus the Bay Area, and Southern California, according to the California Department of Public Health.

To date, the Zika virus hasn't been found in the California mosquitoes, however with thousands of Americans traveling to Brazil for the 2016 Olympics, plus travelers regularly visiting other countries with outbreaks of Zika, some could be carriers of the virus when they come home.

The UC Mosquito Research Laboratory, located at the 300-acre UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, is led by entomologist Anthony Cornel, Ph.D. He is working with the Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District (CMAD) on research projects aimed at controlling this new mosquito menace.

"When Aedes aegypti first came to the United States a few hundred years ago, there were major epidemics of yellow fever in the East and South," Cornel said. "Today this mosquito serves as the vector of three other serious viruses, dengue, Chikungunya and Zika, which are major threats to global public health."

What keeps him up at night, Cornel said, is grave concern that there will be a Zika outbreak in California.

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"Right now, our only control tool in response to a disease outbreak is use of insecticides," Cornel said. "If Zika breaks out here, we will have to do whatever we can to reduce the number of adult Aedes aegypti mosquitoes right away, and a single insecticide application isn't going to do it."

The Cornel lab at Kearney and the Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District are conducting myriad laboratory and field research trials to evaluate insecticide treatment options, to minimize potential mosquito breeding sites, and to understand Aedes aegypti biology and behavior in order to inform control decisions should such an outbreak occur. Following are summaries of research underway that involves the UC Mosquito Research Laboratory in the fight against the Zika vector Aedes aegypti.

Make female mosquitoes infertile

Working in cooperation with scientists at the University of Kentucky and MosquitoMate Inc., Cornel and CMAD staff are releasing male mosquitoes that have been infected with a bacterium, Wolbachia pipientis. When these males mate with local females, the females pick up Wolbachia, which causes them to lay eggs that will not hatch.

"The infected male mosquitoes are shipped to us from Kentucky overnight twice a week and we release them in the test area in Clovis," Cornel said. "These male mosquitoes are harmless to humans. They do not bite and can't transmit disease."

Special traps have been placed in the treatment area and in a nearby control area, where no Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes are released.

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"Right now, the number of eggs we are getting is very much reduced in the treated site," Cornel said.

Pesticide applications and mosquito resistance

Mosquitoes are generally susceptible to the lethal effects of insecticides.

"In mosquito control, we use insecticide concentrations much lower than is typically used for controlling other pests that hamper agricultural operations," Cornel said.

But Aedes aegypti appear to quickly develop insecticide resistance. In laboratory and field research, Cornel is studying Aedes aegypti's uncanny ability to survive certain insecticide treatments.

Cornel maintains colonies of Aedes aegypti in the lab that are susceptible to insecticides. "These are colonies that have been with us for many years," he said.

For comparison, the scientists have collected mosquitoes that are living in local neighborhoods. Mosquitoes representing different colonies are dropped inside glass bottles that are coated inside with insecticides. The scientists record how many of the mosquitoes are knocked down and how many die.

The experiments have shown that mosquitoes collected locally are resistant to almost all pyrethroid insecticides except one, Deltamethrin, which is not registered for mosquito control in California. However, these mosquitoes are also susceptible to organophosphate insecticides.

"Deltamethrin is used effectively in the European Union and other countries, but unfortunately, it is not yet available for use here," Cornel said. "The company that makes the product is working to get California Department of Pesticide Regulation approval for using it in the state."

The Cornel lab has also studied various insecticides in field applications.

"We placed susceptible and local mosquitoes in sentinel cages in a field and sprayed them from a truck 100-, 200- and 300-feet away in an open field situation," Cornel said. "We recorded knockdown and mortality one hour and 24 hours after application."

The field studies verified what the scientists found in their lab tests: local Aedes aegypti have developed resistance to most pyrethroids, but organophosphate insecticides offer effective control. However, the study doesn't prove what will happen in residential areas.

"We were in an open field, with no trees and houses to block the spread of the chemical," Cornel said. "Now we should evaluate the efficacy of ultra-low-volume applications of malathion, an organophosphate, in a residential area."

Reduce mosquito breeding

A well-known approach to reducing mosquito populations is elimination of standing water where mosquitoes can breed. Bird baths, abandoned toys, old tires and drainage plates under potted plants are all potential receptacles for standing water and should be discarded or kept dry. Less obvious are underground yard drains often found in newer housing developments. The scientists believe that the drains, designed to channel rain or irrigation runoff to the gutter in front of the house, may leave a perpetual supply of standing water in the buried pipe beneath the soil surface, which provide sites for mosquito development.

To test the theory, the CMAD personnel went door to door in a Clovis neighborhood to work with residents to eliminate water sources and to place fine netting on the ends of the drainage pipes.

"We have 80 percent compliance in the testing area," Cornel said. "A few people have refused, which surprised me. But most of the residents were willing to help."

The district is monitoring mosquito traps placed in the test area and in another Clovis neighborhood where yard drains haven't been netted.

"We have no results yet. When the study is done, CMAD will give me the data and I will analyze it," Cornel said. "If I do see a statistically significant impact on mosquito populations, then that will confirm our suspicions and give us more convincing information to share in communities with Aedes aegypti to get them to eliminate even unseen potential mosquito breeding sites."

If the yard drains are a confirmed mosquito breeding location, it may require a redesign to make sure that they do not hold water.

Genetics

Scientists have sequenced the genome of Aedes aegypti and are using genetics to understand the movement of the pest in California.

"We want to know if the population in California comes from multiple introductions, or from a single introduction that has subsequently spread," Cornel said.

This research is being done in collaboration with Gregory Lanzaro, Ph.D., and Yoosook Lee, Ph.D., in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at UC Davis, and has not yet been published, but preliminary results show that the population of Aedes aegypti that is south of the Tehachapi Mountains is probably from a separate introduction than the one that settled in Fresno, Clovis and Madera.

The scientists are also using genetics to determine the mosquitoes' dispersal patterns.

"We need to know this to help us develop effective control strategies," Cornel said. "For example, if we've located an area with a large number of mosquitoes, we need to know how large an area we have to treat."

The general consensus from studies around the world is that these mosquitoes don't fly very far from their development site.

"We're finding much the same here, usually no more than 80 meters," he said. "Except, there are always a few males that disperse long distances within 24 hours -- sometimes over 300 meters in one night."


Pioneering research into GP receptionist interaction with the public over the telephone has revealed how patients have to 'push' for effective service.

The study, led by Elizabeth Stokoe, Professor of Social Interaction in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University, examined -- for the first time -- how receptionists interact with patients over the telephone.

Professor Stokoe uses conversation analysis to understand the organisation of communication in different interactional settings and to highlight what constitutes [in]effective communication.

Conversation analysis of 447 recorded calls from three GP surgeries in England showed that 'patient burden' occurred near the start and at the end of the conversation. In both instances, the onus was increasingly placed upon the patient to drive calls forward in order to achieve good service. For example, patients are left hanging.

This pattern occurred when receptionists failed to offer alternatives to patients whose initial requests for information could not be met (for example, requesting an appointment but being told the GP surgery is 'fully booked'), or who failed to offer an alternative course of action (for example, the option of a call-back to let a patient know when their X-ray results were available).

Independent patient satisfaction scores for the three surgeries involved in the study, which were collected from the GP Patient Survey, were compared with the relative frequency of 'patient burden'. A strong association was found between increased 'patient burden' and decreased satisfaction survey scores.

Professor Stokoe said the findings of the study can be used to boost frontline GP receptionist training, by offering a better communication strategy to help improve patient experience and satisfaction.

"The strengths of this study are in its analysis of actual, real-time encounters between the patient and the GP receptionist -- effectively the 'shop window' of the practice," she said.

"This research, using conversation analysis, represents an important step forward in evidence gathering of what needs to change in order to improve the patient experience in GP surgeries. The findings can help inform future training, rather than having to rely on post-hoc reports of, or surveys about, communicative encounters.

"The study has also flagged, what I would term a phenomenon of interest, whereby rather than the receptionist offering an alternative course of action during the call, the burden is placed on the patient to keep the call going and push for the service they require. This kind of scenario was common across the dataset. In one instance, the receptionist initiates a closing of the call without any alternative proposal being made. In comparison, more effective receptionists made immediate alternative offers when the patient's first request could not be met."

The study entitled "Calling the GP surgery: patient burden, patient satisfaction, and implications for training" has been published in the British Journal of General Practice.
A 'go-to' guide for the UK's solar park community allowing them to qualify and, where possible, quantify and value the ecosystem services of current and planned parks, is planned.

Lancaster University and the University of York are collaborating with the solar park community (civil society, policy and industrial partners) to deliver the Solar Park Impacts on Ecosystem Services (or SPIES) Project.

The primary output of the SPIES project will be a succinct and accessible decision-support tool to assess the impacts of solar parks on 'ecosystem services' -- an array of services provided by the natural world that benefit people such as reducing flood risks, providing homes for protected species and carbon storage.

With input from the solar park community, the SPIES tool will assist the decision making process of park development and management. For example, what the optimal management of vegetation and site boundaries is.

"It is important that we assess the positive impacts of solar parks beyond low carbon energy to ensure that we are gaining all of the potential benefits," says Richard Randle-Boggis, a Senior Research Associate at Lancaster University. "Assessing ecosystem services will also help reduce any negative impacts."

To help the project team understand the impacts of solar parks on ecosystem services, they are asking members of the solar park community to complete a short survey (available here: https://goo.gl/5pjJsz).

"The scope of the tool will help park owners and developers make decisions that will benefit ecosystems and, in turn, the environment and society," explained Mr Randle-Boggis. "This can, of course, assist with planning, and it has many benefits for developers such as corporate social responsibility impacts. The main focus however is environmental/ecosystem protection."

Research Fellow at Lancaster University Dr Alona Armstrong added: "The solar park community will have invaluable data essential for helping us develop the decision-support tool. Every response will contribute towards delivering a tool that will ultimately benefit new and existing parks."
Paleontologists with the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and the University of Washington have discovered a Tyrannosaurus rex, including a very complete skull. The find, which paleontologists estimate to be about 20 percent of the animal, includes vertebrae, ribs, hips and lower jaw bones.

The team, led by Burke Museum Adjunct Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology and UW biology professor Gregory P. Wilson, discovered the T. rex during an expedition to the Hell Creek Formation in northern Montana -- an area that is world-famous for its fossil dinosaur sites. Two Burke Museum paleontology volunteers, Jason Love and Luke Tufts, initially discovered pieces of fossilized bone protruding from a rocky hillside. The bones' large size and honeycomb-like structure indicated they belonged to a carnivorous dinosaur. Upon further excavation, the team discovered the T. rex skull along with ribs, vertebrae, and parts of the jaw and pelvis.

T. rex was one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs to ever roam Earth. Measuring an average of 40-feet long and 15 to 20-feet tall, T. rex was a fierce predator with serrated teeth and large jaws. Fossil evidence shows it ate other dinosaurs like Edmontosaurus and Triceratops, with crushed bones from the animals even showing up in the its fossilized poop. T. rex lived about 66-68 million years ago in forested river valleys in western North America during the late Cretaceous Period.

The T. rex found by the Burke/UW team is nicknamed the "Tufts-Love Rex" in honor of the two volunteers who discovered it. The skull is about 4 feet long weighs about 2,500 pounds in its protective plaster jacket. Excavation in the field revealed the right side of the skull from base to snout, including teeth. Burke paleontologists believe it is very probable the other side of the skull is present, but will need to carefully remove the rock surrounding the fossil before they can determine its completeness.

"We think the Tufts-Love Rex is going to be an iconic specimen for the Burke Museum and the state of Washington and will be a must-see for dinosaur researchers as well," said Wilson.

Based on the size of its skull, Burke paleontologists estimate this dinosaur is about 85 percent the size of the largest T. rex found to date. At the hips, the T. rex would have been nearly as tall as a city bus, and as long as a bus from tail to head.

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The Tufts-Love Rex is 66.3 million years old. T. rex lived at the end of the Cretaceous Period, 145-66 million years ago, and became extinct during the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction 66 million years ago. Burke paleontologists could determine that the Tufts-Love Rex lived at the very end of the Cretaceous because it was found at the bottom of a hill; a rock layer at the top of that hill marks the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. Based on the size of the skull -- a good indicator of T. rex age -- the team estimates the dinosaur was about 15 years old when it died. Adult T. rex lived up to 25-30 years.

Although arguably the most iconic and well-known dinosaur, T. rex fossils are rare. This remarkable find is one of only about 25 of this level of completeness. The skull is the 15th reasonably complete T. rex skull known to exist in the world. Next summer, Burke paleontologists will search for additional parts of the dinosaur at the site.

More than 45 people helped excavate the T. rex over the course of a month this summer. The team was collecting fossils in the area for the Hell Creek Project, a multi-disciplinary project examining vertebrates, invertebrates, plants and geology of the area to learn more about the final 2 million years of the dinosaur era, the mass-extinction event that killed off the dinosaurs, and the first 1.5 million years post-extinction that gave rise to the age of mammals. The project, currently led by Wilson, was founded by Jack Horner and Nathan Myhrvold. Burke paleontologists, volunteers, undergraduate and graduate students from the UW and other universities and K-12 educators participating in the Burke's DIG Field School contribute to the project.

"This is really great news. The Hell Creek Project is responsible for finding the most T. rex specimens in the world, with 11 to date," said Myhrvold, Intellectual Ventures CEO and Paleontologist. "The T. rex has always been my favorite dinosaur and I'm really pleased that this one is going to make its home at the Burke Museum."

"Having seen the 'Tufts-Love Rex' during its excavation I can attest to the fact that it is definitely one of the most significant specimens yet found, and because of its size, is sure to yield important information about the growth and possible eating habits of these magnificent animals," said Horner, former curator of paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies and current Burke Museum research associate.

The T. rex skull and other bones are currently covered in a plaster jacket -- similar to a cast used to cover a broken bone -- in order to protect the skull during transport. The public can see the plaster-covered T. rex skull, along with other T. rex fossils and paleontology field tools, in a lobby display at the Burke Museum from August 20 to October 2. Special T. rex-themed activities will take place over Labor Day Weekend and on Sunday, September 25.

After removing the fossil from display, the Burke's paleontology team will begin preparing the fossil by removing the rock surrounding the bone, which may take a year or more. The museum plans to display the T. rex skull in the New Burke Museum when it opens in 2019.
Airlander 10, dubbed as the world's largest aircraft, flew for the first time on Wednesday in Cardington, England.

By Shreya Biswas: After undergoing much tweaks and changes, world's largest aircraft, Airlander 10, took its maiden flight over the Cardington airfield in Bedfordshire.

The 302-foot airship roared into air at around 7.40 PM and took a lap of the airfield as hundreds of photographers and plane-lovers cheered it from the ground. It touched down about half an hour later as dusk fell.

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The aircraft has been described as being a hybrid of blimp, helicopter and airplane.

Technicalities aside, what you will agree with about this aircraft is its nickname: the "Flying bum"









The bigger, the better

Airlander 10 earned the nasty nickname because of its bulbous shape, but that does not negate its power.

The aircraft has been designed in a way that it uses less fuel than a regular plane, but can carry much heavier loads in comparison (up to 10 metric tons of weight).

According to Its makers, Hybrid Air Vehicles, it can fly up to the height of 16,000 feet, travel at the speed of 148 kph and stay aloft for up to two weeks, thanks to its helium-pumped innards.

"Think of a big helicopter, a really giant helicopter," said CEO Stephen McGlennan. "This can do the same thing that a helicopter can do. That's to say, provide air transportation for people and goods without the need for a runway."

At the same time, it has the potential to gather data and conduct surveillance for days on end.

What makes it even more special? It can do all that and at the same time be "cheaper and greener".

"It's a great British innovation," said . "It's a combination of an aircraft that has parts of normal fixed wing air craft, it's got helicopter, it's got airship."







Looking back

Airlander 10 was initially developed for the US military for the use of surveillance in Afghanistan. But in 2013, US dropped its blimp program due to "defence cutbacks".

Since then, British aviation firm Hybrid Air Vehicles has sought funding from their government and individual donors to keep the project alive.

The hybrid aircraft was revealed to the world for the first time in March at the Cardington hangar, where the first British airships were built during and after World War I.

Airlander 10 was supposed to take its maiden flight on Sunday, but the plan scrapped at the last minute because of an unspecified technical issue.

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Fortunately, its postponed trip yesterday was successful.





@CardingtonSheds

some shots for you from the outer fields pic.twitter.com/w2vV5nRmwB Helen Fisher (@FisherdhlHelen) August 17, 2016





The 'Flying Bum' has issues

Hybrid Air Vehicles is confident that Airlander will have much demand in the market, for both civilian and military purposes.

However, its not all sunny for the "Flying bum". Defense editor of aviation magazine AIN, Chris Pocock, said the jury is still unsure whether the aircraft is commercially viable.

"Airships and hybrids have still got a credibility gap to cover," he said. "Technically I think they are there now, but economically I'm not so sure."

Nonetheless, HAV plans to build even bigger aircraft that will be capable of carrying 50 metric tons by the early 2020s. Well, bigger or not, it will certainly give Kim Kardasian some serious competition.





What a sight! Great day for @AirVehicles and a great day for Bedfordshire pic.twitter.com/nPqd1HLBPG Tracey Wye (@thewyebird) August 17, 2016

--- ENDS ---
Sometimes all it takes to chase the dark clouds away is to have a new friend walk into our lives - or in this case, waddle. Almost two years ago to the day, George the dog lost his partner of 12 years, a Labrador named Blackie. From that point on, says owner Jacquie Litton, he was overwhelmed with grief - growing so depressed she wasn't sure at times that he'd even survive the heartbreak. But then that all changed.

Earlier this month, without warning, a friendly duck appeared on the porch of their home in Tennessee - and was immediately drawn to sad old George. As it turns out, the feathered stranger was just what he needed.

Dodo Shows Cat Crazy Fluffy Cat Wants To Sit On His Dad At All Times

"We have no idea where this duck came from but he sure does love George and since the duck has arrived George has not cried one time," Litton wrote on Facebook. "It is strange for a duck to just appear at our house and be attached to your dog and even more strangely the anniversary week of Blackie's passing."

From that moment forward, George and the duck were inseparable. Litton even invited the new arrival inside to sleep. George gave him his bed.

It's only been about a week now, but George has already benefitted from the joy of having a new best friend. In a way, it's like he's himself again.

"Since the duck has showed up, he's been fine," Litton told news station WKOW. "He's not wanted in the house. He's not whined. He's not meeting you at the car, ya know, looking sad."
Chloe was just "one of the many strays that hang around the neighborhood," according to the person who brought her to Anne Arundel County Animal Control (AACAC) in Millersville, Maryland, this July - but the shelter staff fell absolutely in love with her. Not only was she sweet and friendly at only 9 months old, Chloe was also so pregnant she was almost bursting. "She is so calm and personality-filled and followed shelter workers around like a puppy," Chris Collins, a volunteer with Friends of the AACAC, the nonprofit created by the shelter's volunteers to help the animals, told The Dodo.

Friends of the AACAC

Chloe also had another unique, lovable quirk: She loves walking on a leash. "Except, unlike a puppy," Collins said, "she did great on a leash!" The shelter knew that it had to find the very pregnant Chloe a foster home quickly, because once she gave birth, being at the shelter could be unhealthy for her kittens.

Dodo Shows Adoption Day Hairless German Shepherd Puppies Find The Perfect Families

"The shelter tries to get pregnant cats or those with nursing kittens into foster homes as soon as possible to reduce the risk that they will get ill," Collins explained. But after Chloe was admitted to the shelter, she had a serious health scare. As is routine for new cats, Chloe was tested for feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). "To everyone's surprise and dismay, her snap test came up very, very slightly positive for FeLV," Collins said. "Most rescues wouldn't be willing to take her if she was indeed FeLV positive because almost all foster homes have cats of their own." If Chloe was sick, she could get the other cats sick too.

Kim Morrissette

The AACAC reached out to its few rescue group partners who do sometimes accept FeLV positive cats, but none of them had room for Chloe - she was running out of time. So the Friends of AACAC took Chloe to get the more sensitive test for FeLV at a local animal hospital. To everyone's relief, Chloe's test results showed that she was actually perfectly healthy. The SPCA of Anne Arundel County offered to take Chloe and her kittens. Late at night on August 9, Chloe gave birth to five healthy kittens.

Kim Morrissette

Two days later, she and her family were on the way to live in the home of an experienced SPCA foster mom, Kim Morrissette, who reports that Chloe and her kittens - Catelyn, CeCe, Corbin, Cersei and Candice - are doing very well.

Friends of the AACAC

"Chloe is such a sweetheart," Morrissette told The Dodo. "She loves people and has the cutest little combination purr/meow. She will let you hold her in your arms like a baby and truly just wants to love on people. She is being a very good momma to her babies as well."

Friends of the AACAC
<p><a href="http://www.bees-elesanctuary.org/" target="_blank">BEES</a></p>

The elephant had started refusing to work, shaking tourists off her back as they rode her through the forest in Chiang Mai, Thailand. To try and make her behave, the mahouts (people who work and ride elephants in Southeast Asia) would beat her with a sharp nail on a piece of bamboo, leaving huge welts on her sensitive skin. Even with the constant beatings, the elephant - Mae Kam - refused to behave.

Due to her temperament, Mae Kam's owner believed that the only way to transport her to BEES was to ride her using the basket. | BEES

Before she was forced to take tourists for rides, Mae Kam spent 37 years working in the Thai logging industry, hauling heavy logs through the jungle. She'd also had two calves - one was stillborn, and the other calf died after being bitten by a cobra. Mae Kam had actually watched the snake bite her calf. Mae Kam had screamed, and pulled hard against the foot chains that tethered her to her concrete stall. When the owner finally unchained Mae Kam, she rushed to protect her baby, but it was too late. For hours afterwards, she charged anyone who tried to get near her. After the tragic loss of her baby, Mae Kam was never the same.

When Emily McWilliam and Burm Rinkaew, cofounders of BEES (Burm & Emily's Elephant Sanctuary), learned about Mae Kam, they asked her owner if he'd allow her to retire at their sanctuary. At first, Mae Kam's owner was reluctant. How would he make an income and provide for his family without renting Mae Kam to the tourist camps? McWilliam and Rinkaew offered a solution: they'd pay the owner "rent" to keep Mae Kam at BEES. Pleased with the compromise, the owner agreed.

Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Woman Tries Every Day For A Month To Rescue This Dog

When Mae Kam arrived at BEES, McWilliam began to understand why her owner had worried about her carrying tourists. "She was very challenging and didn't like being around humans," McWilliam tells The Dodo. "She only trusted Burm and her new mahout here at BEES."

Despite her dislike of people, Mae Kam settled in well at BEES. She spent her days doing exactly what an elephant should do - bathing, dusting, foraging, exploring and playing in the mud. She was also able to scratch herself on any tree or rock she wanted, which is something she couldn't do while in captivity.

Then, two and a half months later, another retired elephant - a 71-year-old female name Mae Jumpee - arrived at BEES. Similar to Mae Kam, Mae Jumpee had spent her life working in the logging and tourist industries. She was generally good around other elephants, but McWilliam and Rinkaew worried about introducing her to Mae Kam. "Mae Kam was very damaged," says McWilliam, "and we were unsure if she'd accept another elephant into her new home where she'd spent the last two months exploring."

When the day of the big meeting came, Mae Kam's caretakers slowly led her towards Mae Jumpee. "At first Mae Kam was very cautious," McWilliams wrote in a media release. "She was slow and sniffed the air. When she came across Mae Jumpee's dung, she let off a huge trumpet and ran away. It took about half an hour to calm Mae Kam down."

After several hours, the caretakers tried introducing the elephants again. This time, instead of running away, Mae Kam lifted her truck and touched Mae Jumpee's bottom. And then, something magical happened. "These ground-shuddering vocalizations broke out and the two began to squeak, trumpet and rumble," says McWilliam. "They slowly and gently began to sniff around each other's genitals and temporal glands, even inside each others mouths. They gently rubbed against each other and were being very affectionate towards each other."

From that moment on, Mae Kam and Mae Jumpee were inseparable. The two of them now go for long strolls through the forest together to forage for grasses, fruits and bamboo, and take mud baths in the river. When they find a good tree, they take turns scratching themselves on the rough bark. Mae Jumpee might like elephants, but she doesn't like dogs, so Mae Kam helps her chase away the rescued dogs at BEES.

"We can never really know why they became such good friends," says McWilliam. "It was a bond that formed instantly, similar to when humans find a soul mate. They love each other dearly."
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Asias biggest international carrier, says its getting tougher to find premium flyers from Hong Kong.

The lack of first and business-class travellers from the Asian financial centre  the worst since the global financial crisis days of 2009  is such a dent on Cathays financials that analysts are asking whether chief executive officer Ivan Chu needs to find a Plan B. After more than two years at the helm of the marquee Hong Kong airline  his two predecessors stayed for about three years at the top  Chu is under pressure to revive earnings that have slumped amid an expansion by his Chinese and Middle Eastern rivals.

Cathay shares have lost about 27 per cent of their value since Chu took over while passenger yields  the amount earned by carrying a person per one kilometre, and a key metric of profitability  slumped to their worst in seven years. With Chinese airlines offering more direct services to the U.S. and Europe from the mainland, Cathays Hong Kong hub is no longer critical. The carrier also reported Wednesday that it lost HK$4.49 billion ($579 million) from fuel hedges in the first half of the year.

Everything is quite negative for them and their business model is ripe for change, said Shukor Yusof, founder of aviation consulting firm Endau Analytics in Malaysia. They need to review their hedging and focus on things that have contributed to growth. They should focus more on regional services.

The carrier reported Wednesday an 82-per-cent drop in first-half net income. Passenger yields fell 10 per cent to 54.3 Hong Kong cents as an economic slowdown in China hurt premium class demand and depressed corporate travel from Hong Kong to London and New York, Cathay said. Security concerns related to terrorism has also dented travel demand, Chu said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Hong Kong-based conglomerate Swire Pacific is the largest shareholder of Cathay, owning 45 per cent of the Hong Kong-traded airline. Aviation brought in 20 per cent of revenue last year for Swire, which reported a 27 per cent drop in core profit to HK$3.55 billion in the first half of the year.

Cathay launched summer sales for premium class in May, offering as much as 30 per cent discounts, in a bid to boost passenger load in low season of business travellers, Chu said.

Theres more pain to come. Chairman John Slosar said in a statement Wednesday that the business outlook remains challenging as the operating environment in the second half continues to face the same adverse factors.

Theres not much we can do about the economic environment, Chu said in the interview. We hope it is a short-term issue rather than a long-term one. We are going to have very competitive fares.

Chu was elevated to the top job in March 2014 after his predecessor was named chairman of the group in a reshuffle of top management. Chu, Slosar and Tony Tyler, the three most recent CEOs, all served as chief operating officers.

Shares of the carrier had their biggest two-day loss in more than seven years. They fell 4.9 per cent to HK$11.34 in Hong Kong Thursday, extending Wednesdays 7.3 per cent decline. Credit Suisse Group AG cut the stock to underperform from neutral, while UOB Kay Hian Pte and Bocom International Holdings Co. downgraded it to sell.

We do not expect a recovery in profitability for the second half of 2016 and flag a likely lack of share-price catalysts in the near term, Kelvin Lau, an analyst at Daiwa Capital Markets Hong Kong Ltd. said in an Aug. 17 note, maintaining a hold recommendation.

Another change in management will do little to boost its earnings prospects, said Martin J. Craigs, chairman of Aerospace Forum Asia. Its the nature of the airline industry to confront structural and cyclical issues such as the expansion by Chinese airlines and having to hedge fuel, he said, adding Cathays management is its best asset.

Some of the problems Chu faces are structural, which he cant really counter, Craigs said. All airlines experience external turbulence. Changing management wont solve all the problems. Cathay has a strong history of getting through difficult times.

Instead of counting on the premium segment, they should focus more on their unit Dragonair and boost their regional services to capture a market that is switching to rivals in China, said Endaus Shukor.

Chu needs low-cost, and that should be priority for him right now, he said. You have to price your fares more competitively, which they havent been doing.

Cathay will add more flights to the U.K. and continue to make long-term strategic investments including in lounges, Chu said.

Cathays yields have been under pressure as Air China Ltd., China Eastern Airlines Corp. and others offer more direct services from the mainland. Thats coming at a time when the Middle Easts Big Three  Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways  expand more into Asia and offer luxuries such as butlers and shower rooms.

Cathay needs to change their business model from being a hub airline to a more point-to-point airline, said Mohshin Aziz, an analyst at Malayan Banking Bhd. But I dont think that will happen in my lifetime.

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Local Kanye West fans are praising Yeezus after the rapper announced he will open a pop-up store in Toronto this weekend, the only Canadian location of 21 shops worldwide.

The Toronto pop-up will be at 12 Ossington Ave., near Queen St. W., said Dayna Shiskos, a spokesperson for Universal Music. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, she added.

West tweeted a map with red dots indicating the stores locations Wednesday night and also posted it on his website. Fourteen of the stores will be in major cities in the U.S.

West appears to be expanding the pop-up store concept following a successful run at a New York City location in March. The New York Daily News reports that shoppers lined up for blocks to snatch a piece of clothing inspired by Life of Pablo, Wests latest album. A recycled Levis jacket customized by West was on sale at the store for $400.

West is due to join the club of celebrities who have drummed up the buzz around their brands with pop-ups in Toronto. In May, Justin Bieber fans lined up for the chance to buy $100 hoodies saying Bieber 6 and other merch at a temporary store on Queen St. W. And in April, Drake personally greeted fans and gave away T-shirts at a downtown pop-up before releasing his fourth studio album, Views.

For brands, pop-ups are opportunities to test a new market and deal directly with buyers, without paying the high overhead costs associated with permanent locales.

But some might wonder what pop-ups appeal is for customers, who often stand in line for hours and pay exorbitant prices.

From a consumer perspective, we crave fear-of-missing-out opportunities, explained Jeremy Baras, the CEO and founder of the Chicago-based consulting firm, PopUpRepublic.

Over the last three years, the pop-up trend has picked up speed as more and more people seek the newest and coolest items, he said.

More traditional artists have also sought to cash in.

In 2012, Bob Dylan hired the retail company Vacant to design shops in New York, London and Los Angeles, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time. Dylan signed 15 copies of his album Tempest that sold for $9.99 each. Hours later, some reportedly went for $3,000 apiece on eBay.

There was a fight in the New York store because some people had paid a homeless person to stand in line overnight, Vacants founder Russell Miller told the Journal.

West hasnt said what wares his pop-ups will carry, but Vogue says each will have tees and hoodies with Los Angeles artist Cali Thornhill DeWitts gothic font.

Toronto last caught a glimpse of the rapper-turned-fashion mogul on Aug. 1, when he made a surprise appearance on day two of Drakes OVO Fest. He is set to return to the Air Canada Centre for back-to-back shows, on Aug. 30 and 31.

With files from the Associated Press.

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Last Wednesday afternoon, when I was idly musing about how hot it was and what to do for supper, a friend contacted me and told me something startling.

There is a credible threat of a suicide bomb in downtown Toronto tonight, she said. So be careful if you are out and about.

She is my most unflappable friend, not in the media, not interested in gossip or making outrageous statements.

She gave me her source, which involved the police and to me, it seemed pretty good. Scary, I said, and asked if she was free for lunch tomorrow.

How banal is that? My terrorism sang-froid lasted only another few seconds before I began to worry. My husband was safe at home, my daughter and her husband live in Paris (hah), but my son is always out and about in downtown Toronto.

I decided to warn him, as I began searching Twitter and news sites for any hint of a raised threat level. None.

I also emailed my editors, with the subject heading: Are you hearing anything about a credible bomb threat in downtown Toronto tonight?

By this time, it seemed surreal, sitting at my kitchen counter, warning my son who was about to leave work and board transit that there may be a bomb somewhere, anywhere  Transit? Union Station? A public event?

How do you even narrow down the choices a suicide bomber could make in downtown Toronto?

Please be careful, I thought, not wanting to say stay home. Knowing also he had to get to his home to stay home.

I wondered whether I should alert other family, including nieces and nephews most likely to be in the downtown area.

But it could be anywhere, I mused. Why scare everyone into changing plans?

Within a few hours, the story had broken. A young man named Aaron Driver, who was known to police as a Daesh sympathizer, had just been killed  we now know by a single police bullet  during a police operation in Strathroy, Ont.

The operation had been mounted quickly after the FBI had sent the RCMP a martyrdom video that morning in which a partly masked man, subsequently identified as Driver, 24, warned Canadians would pay today for actions in the Middle East. Authorities believed Driver was about to carry out an attack on a crowded urban centre during rush hour.

Driver, apprehended getting into a cab, was carrying at least one explosive which detonated in the cab. He might have been going to a London, Ont., mall and not, as some people were subsequently saying on Twitter, to Union Station. His ultimate destination was unknown. Although late that afternoon, there seemed to be a heavier-than-usual police presence at Union Station.

The next day, CBCs As It Happens interviewed Drivers anguished father, Wayne, a retired military officer who says he didnt blame the police action, but was grappling with the death of a difficult son. Things had been tough for Aaron, he said, since at age 7 he had lost his mother to cancer.

Drivers history with police began after the Ottawa shooting attack in 2014 in which Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was killed. Driver publicly defended the attack in media interviews and became an outspoken Daesh sympathizer.

Police subsequently had him in custody, then on a peace bond with a GPS ankle bracelet. But some sanctions were lifted when he went to Strathroy to live with his sister. He seemed to be no longer under surveillance.

Speaking out just so they know he was a human being and that  he was loved, Wayne Driver said his daughter, with whom Driver was living, was now, in his words, a mess. She had four children in their home, ranging in age from 9 to 16, as her brother was apparently concocting his deadly plan.

Islam isnt necessarily a bad religion. Its what you choose to do with it, Wayne Driver, a Christian pastor in training, told the CBC.

Aaron would have turned 25 on Thursday. The family says it will give Aaron an Islamic funeral that day to honour his religion.

His father told As It Happens he tried to stay in touch with his son but was rebuffed. More recently, Wayne Driver was quoted by the Stars Alex Ballingall saying he was trying to remember Aarons childhood. One moment in particular sticks out, Driver said: teaching Aaron to roller skate, just before his mother died.

Its one of my favourite memories, he said. Id rather remember him that way.

Extraordinary that a father is so outspoken and eloquent, and although grieving, still accepts how his son violently died. In the As It Happens interview he said he was surprised" the police hadn't detained his son, although "I guess he hadn't broken any law."

Since this event, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has talked about increased vigilance, and a robust security alliance between Canada and the U.S.

Nothing seemed robust to me when I got that personally delivered bomb warning.

How helpless a local credible terrorism threat can make you feel. Yet how vague and only probable it seems until something actually happens. Ill-defined too  before and after. In some recent attacks, there has been a debate  terrorism or just another madman?

Millions of people all over the world live with this threat on a daily, even hourly basis  Israelis, Afghans, Syrians and the French to name a few.

They dont think: It might happen. They think: It will happen.

Here, I would have still hopefully said might.

Now I say will. Or to put it more calmly, a terrorism attack in downtown Toronto, especially by a lone-wolf operative, is entirely plausible.

The trick is learning to live with it.

Judith Timson writes weekly about cultural, social and political issues. You can reach her at judith.timson@sympatico.ca and follow her on Twitter @judithtimson.

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MONTREALAs Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale promised to toughen the requirements on terror suspects who are subject to restrictive peace bonds, newly unsealed court documents show police feared one Montreal man could launch an attack in Canada if he were prevented from travelling abroad.

The warning from RCMP Cpl. Brenda Makad is contained in a police affidavit used in support of a peace bond application in 2015 against Daniel Minta Darko.

Even though I believe that the desire to leave Canada in order to join the fighting in Syria is Darkos priority, the call to action in the West and the incidents Canada has suffered recently lead me to fear that faced with the impossibility of leaving, Darko would act here, Makad said in the affidavit.

The 28-year-old Muslim convert, along with Merouane Ghalmi, 24, travelled halfway around the world to try to shuffle the cards and throw authorities off their trail, the police allege in the affidavit. They were intercepted in Turkey and returned to Canada, the affidavit said.

In Canada, RCMP officers investigated and interviewed the two men. Individual affidavits of the interviews were then used to obtain peace bonds  with restrictive conditions  against both. Among the allegations in the police affidavits: Darko lied to police and Daesh propaganda was found on his cellphone, and Ghalmi enjoyed a close friendship with Canadian jihadist Sami Elabi. The two affidavits were released in a Montreal court Wednesday after a media challenge of the sealing order.

Darko did not respond to a request for an interview. Ghalmi could not be reached for comment. The peace bonds against the two men were in effect for 12 months and expired earlier this year, Crown prosecutor Lyne Decarie said in an email to the Star.

Goodales focus on peace bonds comes just days after Aaron Driver, a 24-year-old Daesh sympathizer, was shot dead by police in Strathroy, Ont. Driver was within 72 hours of committing a terror attack on Canadian soil, police have claimed. Driver was under a peace bond with restrictive conditions, and was still able to acquire bomb-making materials and make a martyrdom video.

Its the restrictive nature of peace bonds that has least one expert wondering if they only further isolate would-be radicals.

The problem with peace bonds, said Canadian terrorism researcher Amarnath Amarasingam, is that there are only restrictionson movement, on communication, on associationwithout positive intervention.

There is no followup, no attempt to provide further help and supervision, he said. We tell them what they cant do and leave it at that.

Peace bonds are used to place restrictions on the movements and associations of people who are believed by police to be at risk of committing a criminal offence, even if there is insufficient evidence to show that a law has been broken. A peace bond is not an admission of guilt and must be agreed to by the person it is issued for. Police have used them a handful of times on people deemed to be at risk of committing a terrorism offence.

In the case of the two Montreal men, the Mounties suspected Darko and Ghalmi had travelled from Montreal to Toronto to Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Istanbul, Turkey, with the goal of joining a terrorist group in Syria, the police affidavit said.

Darko and Ghalmi left Canada on Jan. 22, 2015, and were turned back by Turkish authorities on Jan. 28, 2015, after arriving in Istanbul, the affidavits said.

They returned to Montreal less than two weeks after leaving and were questioned by national security investigators about the depth of their commitment and beliefs, the police affidavit said.

The details of the Montreal case raise some of the same questions now being asked publicly in the debate over the death of Driver, including how closely individuals believed to pose a terror threat are being tracked in Canada as well as what support, counselling and intervention they should or do receive.

In Ottawa Wednesday, Goodale said the federal government is now considering tougher conditions for terror-related peace bonds that could include mandatory de-radicalization counselling as a package of reforms to last years anti-terrorism legislation.

Goodale told reporters that while peace bonds could be a useful tool in controlling individuals deemed to pose a terror risk, they are not a panacea.

The case involving Driver and the fact that he was able to assemble a bomb as well as produce and post a chilling martyrdom video to the web while supposedly barred from having a computer and cellphone shows that one particular tool obviously was not effective in dealing with that particular case, Goodale said.

In the Montreal case, Ghalmi, a former kick-boxer, was allegedly the mastermind behind the plan to leave Canada for Syria, the affidavit said. He had tried unsuccessfully to make the trip in July 2013 but was arrested at the Turkish-Syrian border and returned home, the six-page affidavit outlining the police investigation said.

Ghalmi also had the on-the-ground contacts in both countries, including a close friendship with Canadian jihadist, Sami Elabi, who has fought with the Free Syrian Army, Daesh and Jabhat al-Nusra, the police affidavit said.

It was Ghalmi who invited Darko to come with him just five days before their departure, which the RCMP learned about only after being tipped off in a telephone call from Ghalmis worried sister, according to the police affidavit.

After the two men were turned back from Turkey and returned to Montreal, their passports were seized and they were brought in for questioning, Ghalmi was open about his beliefs under questioning by the police, the affidavit said.

On his computer, police discovered photos of dead jihadists, as well as audio files of speeches by leaders of Daesh and Ansar Al-Charia, although Ghalmi allegedly told investigators that the extremist militant group Ahrar Al-Sham was the one that he felt most drawn toward, the affidavit said.

He told investigators that living an Islamic life in the West was like trying to mix oil and vinegar, and he felt judged while living in Montreal because of his beard and his lifestyle and said that having his passport seized or being included on a no-fly list would not deter him from his ultimate goal, the affidavit said.

I wont be on it for 50 years, he said of the no-fly list, according to the affidavit. In the end I will leave.

Darko, who was born in Ghana and had converted to Islam, was evasive under questioning from police and was caught lying about numerous aspects of his and Ghalmis meandering route toward combat, the 12-page affidavit said.

Police nevertheless scoured his computer, the contents of which had been erased before leaving Canada, and his cellphone to discover several items of Daesh propaganda, the affidavit said. Investigators also found an image on Facebook from 2012 showing Darko in the company of nine other young Muslims from Montreal, including Mohamed Rifaat, who was among a group that successfully fled to Syria in mid-Janruary 2015, the affidavit said.

With files from Tonda MacCharles

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All Canadians will remember Liberal MP Mauril Belanger, who passed away Tuesday at 61, for his grace under the cruel duress of ALS. In recent months many will also have come to know of his deathbed wish to make the English version of O Canada gender neutral.

But most of Belangers battles were fought on a different language front. He earned his place in Ontario history as one of a long line of political champions of the provinces francophone community.

It is a role that has long come with the job of representing Ottawa-Vanier in Parliament and at Queens Park. Few ridings are more closely associated with the long-standing struggle of Ontarios francophone community to maintain its place on the provinces map.

In 1916, it was the site of a memorable standoff between French-language parents and the Ontario government. In protest against regulation 17  which limited French-language instruction to the first two years of elementary school  the mothers and grandmothers of the students of Ecole Guigues in Ottawas lower town set up a human chain to protect its classrooms from police interference.

When the authorities showed up, the women famously fought back with hatpins and sewing scissors. Among others, one of Torontos French-language elementary schools  Ecole Jeanne-Lajoie  is named in honour of a teacher who opened a then-illegal French school after losing her job for teaching francophone students in their mother tongue.

Not all the battles for French-language rights in Ontario go back a century.

Liberal MPP Albert Roy who represented Ottawa Vanier (then known as Ottawa East) at Queens Park in the 1970s brought in a private members bill that would have bound the province to offer services in French. The bill failed but a decade later it served as a foundation for Ontarios first French-language services act. Roy also fought for the right of French-speaking defendants to be tried in their language.

It was Bernard Grandmaitre, Roys Liberal successor as MPP, who oversaw the introduction in the late 80s of the act that guarantees provincial services in French in designated areas of the province. Not everyone was happy about it. A number of Ontario municipalities declared themselves English-only, even if the act did not apply to them.

Jean-Robert Gauthier represented Ottawa Vanier in Parliament for 20 years as of 1974. The Liberal MP fought relentlessly to have francophones historic place in Ontario recognized, once even taking up rhetorical arms against prime minister Pierre Trudeau.

Gauthier did not support the 1982 patriation of the Constitution because it did not include the recognition of French as an official language of Ontario, on par with English. But he did have input on the wording of the section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that deals with minority education rights. Shortly after it came into effect, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the English-speaking minority in Quebec and its French-speaking counterparts across Canada had the constitutional right, by virtue of the new charter, to run their own schools.

Belanger earned his stripes on the front line of the fight to overturn a 1997 provincial decision to shut down Montfort hospital  Canadas only French-language university teaching hospital west of Quebec. Five years and two pro-Montfort court victories later, Tony Clement, as the then-Ontario health minister, waved the white flag on behalf of the Conservative government.

Today no one questions Montforts existence. There is a tentative plan afoot to create a French-language university in Ontario. Earlier this year premier Kathleen Wynne offered the provinces francophone community an official apology for regulation 17. But Belanger would not have considered his work done.

He would have liked Ottawa  Canadas capital  to declare itself officially bilingual. Had he not lost his health he would have had a chat with Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould about her contention that a Supreme Court judge can be considered functionally bilingual even if he or she cant hold a conversation in French.

Ottawa Vanier is no longer home to as tightly knit a francophone community as it was a few decades ago. The proportion of French-speaking voters who call it home has declined. But it remains an iconic riding for the Franco-Ontarian minority. It is also one of the safest Liberal ridings in the country. There will be no lack of contenders to fill the seat. Belanger would not wish for a faint-hearted successor.

Chantal Hebert is a national affairs writer. Her column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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The city has put the province on notice that proposed legislation to build affordable housing will leave communities without desperately needed amenities such as community centres, park improvements and child care spaces.

While Toronto city council has long pushed for provincial rules that would force developers to create affordable units, a proposal from the province to do just that would exempt developers from paying for other community benefits.

Councillors and city staff say the province is asking them to make an impossible choice  build badly needed affordable housing or secure every day amenities that make communities livable and are increasingly necessary as the population balloons.

The city submitted its official response this week to the provinces proposed legislation, first announced in May, for whats known as inclusionary zoning. The citys housing advocate Councillor Ana Bailao said theyve written to strongly oppose the provinces plans.

By creating affordable housing, youre not getting rid of those pressures, Bailao said. Those pressures are still there and having affordable housing competing for what we think are just as important city-building initiatives, I dont think it benefits anybody.

When a developer applies to the city to construct buildings taller or denser than zoning rules allow, the city can negotiate Section 37 benefits  named for the part of the provincial Planning Act that governs them  to compensate the community.

Inclusionary zoning, meanwhile, is meant to create homes for those with moderate to low income  a middle ground between a booming housing market that is pricing many out of downtown and midtown neighbourhoods and public housing where most live below the poverty line.

Without inclusionary zoning powers, the city has had to look for alternatives to building affordable units, such as offering financial incentives for developers through the Open Door program. In one case, the city is moving ahead in partnership with Dominus Capital Corporation to build 80 affordable rental units on surplus city land in CityPlace next to the rail corridor.

The province's proposed regulation would allow cities to decide how and where to apply inclusionary zoning rules as part of their official plans. The province has not yet specified whether it will regulate the minimum size of a building that would trigger inclusionary zoning or the minimum number of units that must be affordable. Importantly, developers would not be able to appeal those affordable housing requirements at the provincial land appeals body, the Ontario Municipal Board.

But the province has been clear that the cities shouldn't be allowed to impose Section 37 or density bonusing on top of affordable housing. Mark Cripps, spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing said, if passed, the regulations could include some circumstances that would allow cities to require developers to provide both affordable housing units and Section 37 benefits. But the province has not outlined how that might work and how rare an exception that might be.

In May, when the plan was announced, Cripps told the Star that it is important to explore how Section 37 and inclusionary zoning might work together while still ensuring profitable development projects.

Sharon Hill, manager of strategic initiatives, policy and analysis in the citys planning division, said the regulation creates an impossible trade-off.

In many ways it would just be business as usual for developers, Hill said, asking them to provide only one benefit or another at a time when existing community infrastructure is already stretched to the limit.

Councillor Josh Matlow, whose Ward 22 (St. Pauls) includes the increasingly dense Yonge-Eglinton area, said, Its time for developers to pay their fair share to support the new residents that they are profiting from.

It makes no sense to make it an either/or proposition, he said of the waiver of Section 37 benefits. All Torontonians deserve access to a safe and clean home regardless of their income. Our growing population also needs child care, parks libraries, recreation and other services to build livable communities.

Councillor Mike Layton, who represents the downtown Ward 19 (Trinity-Spadina) and who has been pushing for inclusionary zoning powers, said Section 37 not only contributes to things such as new recreation centres but is also used to secure needed improvements such as widening sidewalks.

He said theres also a concern councillors looking to fund specific projects in their ward may be more reluctant to enforce inclusionary zoning.

It shoulders the entire burden on the rest of the community, he said.

Those representing developers say they support the provinces proposal.

Ontario Home Builders Association CEO Joe Vaccaro said it's unreasonable for the city to ask for both Section 37 and affordable housing  a burden he argued would ultimately be borne by homeowners.

You have to set your priorities, and with Section 37 being determined on the back of outdated zoning, it simply becomes a piling on effect, he said. We support the proposal because we think this move really signals that the province is directing us into a partnership model.

The citys submission to the province also asks that the city be allowed to accept cash-in-lieu of affordable housing units or to dedicate units offsite, which is currently not allowed under the proposed regulations. It also requests that the province set a minimum threshold that 10 per cent of units be designated as affordable.

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A former evangelical pastor accused of sexually assaulting two congregants  including a child as young as 5  will remain in custody after he appeared in court Wednesday.

Jose Colindres, 64, is charged with five counts of sexual assault and three counts each of sexual interference and sexual exploitation.

Police allege the offences took place at various locations in Toronto from 2006 to 2011, while Colindres was the pastor of a group called the Evangelical Christian Congregation. The alleged victims, whose names are subject to a publication ban, are a woman and girl who were former congregants of the group.

The woman is now in her 40s and the girl is in her teens, according to police, who said they believe there could be more victims as they distributed Colindres mugshot in a news release Wednesday.

Later in the day, the former pastor briefly appeared before a judge in an Old City Hall courtroom. He sat in the prisoners box wearing khaki pants and a green polo shirt and shook his balding head slightly as the Crown lawyer detailed the allegations against him. His lawyer, Juan Lopez, withdrew a bail application and asked that the hearing be rescheduled for next Monday.

Four women and a man who came to see Colindres wept as he was escorted away in handcuffs after the hearing.

His lawyer declined to comment when approached by the Star.

The details of the allegations Colindres faces are also subject to a publication ban, which is routine for evidence presented during bail hearings.

Colindres is scheduled to appear in an Old City Hall courtroom again Monday at 10 a.m.

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By PTI: Visakhapatnam, Aug 17 (PTI) The Antwerp Port Authority of Belgium has offered its consultancy services to Indian ports for improving their inland waterways.

"In India, the ports are not well connected to the hinterland by inland waterways. In this area we can offer consultancy services to Indian ports," said Chief Commercial Officer of Antwerp Port Authority Luc Arnouts here today.

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He was addressing a press conference where Ambassador of Belgium to India Jan Luykx was also present.

"Antwerp Port has gained great expertise in improving inland waterways. More than 30 per cent of its cargoes reach Antwerp port through such waterways, where logistics cost is cheap," Arnouts added.

He said a delegation from Belgium, led by its Ambassador to India, visited the Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) and its facilities here.

Arnouts said he was impressed with the facilities at the port and added in future Antwerp Port and VPT would cooperate to forge close ties.

Stating that relations between India and Belgium were excellent, Luykx said his country was first to recognise India after its independence.

He said Belgium wanted to improve trade ties with India, especially with the States located on the east coast. PTI COR RSY UZM

--- ENDS ---
Ever sat back and thought, Man, my life would be perfect except for the fact that I cant watch pandas live for nine and a half hours a day?

Worry no longer. The Toronto Zoo has launched an online live-stream of everyones favourite bamboo-munching, nap-happy, Justin-Trudeau-cuddling bears.

Starting Wednesday, anyone with an internet connection can peek into the lives of Toronto Zoo panda Er Shun and her two 10-month-old cubs, Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue, as they play, eat and (mostly) sleep in the indoor portion of their enclosure.

We thought it was a great way to engage people and just to share awareness (of animal conservation) around the world, Toronto Zoo marketing manager Kimberly Haider said.

The camera, donated to the zoo when Er Shun arrived in Toronto from China in 2013, was originally installed so zoo staff could monitor the animals well-being and collect behavioural research data.

The zoo teamed up with TELUS earlier this year to set up the live-stream. Its the only live animal cam at the zoo, Haider said, although there was a tiger cam years ago.

With the successful births of the first giant panda cubs born in Canada last year, we are grateful to TELUS for providing this opportunity for people to watch these cubs grow during their limited time in Toronto, Toronto Zoo CEO John Tracogna said in a statement.

We hope this will instill the desire in all viewers to learn more about saving this flagship species.

The stream is live on the zoos website from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday to Friday and is operated by a giant-panda behaviourist who tracks the pandas with the camera and zooms in for action shots. If thats still not enough for viewers, recorded videos of the pandas are available around the clock.

The hours for the live cam were chosen because they provide the optimal experience for viewers, Haider said; the behaviour specialist works until 5 p.m., and the stream runs a little longer so people can watch when they get home from work.

The Star watched the stream for about an hour Wednesday. Mother Er Shun did not make an appearance, but the two cubs remained on-screen throughout. One was asleep the entire time while the other rolled around on a wooden structure playing with what appeared to be a large red ball attached to a yellow plank, occasionally scratching its head with its back foot. It then climbed over to its sleeping sibling and unsuccessfully tried to wake it up by with repeated nudges and cuddles before slinking back to its own perch. It was unclear which cub was Panpan or Yueyue.

The pandas are in Canada on a 10-year loan from China. The family will be moving to the Calgary Zoo in 2018.

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Canadian citizens with dual citizenships will soon be allowed to fly into the country only if they have a Canadian passport.

The policy will come into effect Sept. 30 as a final phase of Canadas move to an electronic screening system to step up border security and boost exit control of travellers, including Canadians on government benefits.

The upcoming requirement has caught many by surprise calling the practice discriminatory against dual citizens and a money grab, and is expected to create havoc as travellers with dual Canadian citizenships may find out only at the last minute when trying to board on a flight.

What is changing is that the Government of Canada is implementing a new electronic system to assist airlines in verifying that all travellers have the appropriate documents to travel to or transit through Canada by air, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada spokesperson Lindsay Wemp told the Star.

Air carriers are obligated by law to confirm that all persons seeking to travel to Canada carry both proof of citizenship and proof of identity. A valid Canadian passport satisfies these requirements for Canadian citizens, and is the only acceptable travel document for the purpose of air travel.

Currently, Canadian citizens with dual citizenships can use the passport of the other country to enter Canada by air if they can provide proofs of residency in Canada, such as a drivers licence and Canadian citizenship card.

According to the 2011 Census, at least 2.9 per cent of Canadians  944,700 people  had multiple citizenships; the most frequently reported other citizenships were the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Poland.

Ottawa rolled out the electronic travel authorization, or eTA, system last year, requiring air passengers  including all applicants for study and work permits, as well as those from countries that currently do not require a visa to come to Canada  to submit their biographic, passport and other personal information through the immigration department website for prescreening or face being denied entry. American citizens are exempted.

However, Canadian citizens will be ineligible for eTA of Sept. 30, because they will be expected to carry their Canadian passports which, by default, bar dual citizens from using the passport of the other country to return to Canada. What baffles several observers about the new rule is that it only applies to air passengers.

This proposed policy change is discriminatory to dual citizens and for the life of me, I cannot see why it is necessary. It would appear to be a money grab with no benefit and huge inconvenience for any of us who live overseas, said Craig Campbell, 60, who was born to a military family in Manitoba and is a dual Canadian-Australian citizen.

There is time to fix this appalling discriminatory policy. I served the country of my birth as did my father, uncles, aunts and grandfather before me. This is simply a shameful way to treat one very small category of proud Canadians for no discernible benefit to the country.

Calgary-born Carey Du Gray, 45, who has lived in the U.K. since 2009, said he only found out about the new requirement when he was trying to book travel two weeks ago to fly home in October.

My daughters were born in the U.K., but they are Canadian citizens. They would not be able to travel to Canada using their British passports. What lunacy, eh? asked Du Gray, a fundraising consultant based in London.

What followed was a 48-hour scramble to get all of the documentation and photos together. The guidance on the (Canadian) website said they were taking up to 40 business days to process new passport applications on account of the flood of them that are coming in ahead of the policy change.

Canadian expatriate Sandi Logan, who worked in the Australian immigration department, said the requirement on dual citizens travel just doesnt make sense.

Its bad policy on so many fronts. It discriminates against dual citizens of Canada for starters. It discriminates against dual citizens of Canada flying into any Canadian port, as opposed to arriving by sea or land, said Logan, 59, who was born and raised in Toronto before settling in Australia in 1980.

From my vast bureaucratic experience in the public service, it has all of the hallmarks of being a simple revenue grab masked as border security, with no discernible impact on safe and stronger borders.

(It currently costs $120 for a five-year Canadian adult passport and $160 for one that lasts for 10 years.)

Wemp said the federal government is doing everything it can to raise awareness among dual Canadian citizens about the importance of travelling using a valid Canadian passport.

A handout has been distributed at airports of entry, along with a media and social-media blitz via Canadian overseas missions since March of this year. Global Affairs Canada officials have also notified registered Canadian citizens abroad of the upcoming change by email and through their websites.

All Canadian citizens have a Charter-protected right to enter Canada. Canadian law requires that all persons entering Canada carry both proof of citizenship and proof of identity, said Wemp.

A Canadian passport is the only reliable and universally accepted travel and identification document available to Canadians for the purpose of international travel. As the government does not want Canadians to face travel-related delays, we strongly encourage all Canadian citizens to travel using a valid Canadian passport.

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WESTBROOK, MAINEA civil-rights group that advocates for the interests of Muslims is calling on authorities to look into written threats against the Islamic community in Maine.

Typewritten notes urging violence against Muslims were discovered at an apartment complex in Westbrook on Wednesday, after an Iraqi man went to Westbrook police and told officers he had found a piece of paper that said All Muslims are Terrorists should be Killed.

Police responded and found a second note, and were told two additional notes had been discovered by Iraqis living there. Police say they are investigating the threats as a hate crime, but they dont see evidence of any immediate threat.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations says local, state and federal authorities should seek to bring the perpetrator to justice.

The threats came two days after federal court documents unsealed in Portland revealed that former Maine resident Adnan Fazeli was fighting for the Daesh group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, when he was killed last year in Lebanon.

He was an Iranian who came to Maine as a refugee in 2009.

The department has set up a meeting Thursday evening with Iraqi community members to address their concerns.

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Ukraine isnt ruling out a full-scale Russian invasion and may institute a military draft if the situation with its neighbour worsens, President Petro Poroshenko said, after three soldiers were killed in the worst spate of shelling by pro-Moscow separatists in a year.

The confrontation between Ukrainian forces and the rebels in Ukraines eastern Donbas region has worsened, Poroshenko said in the western city of Brody on Thursday. His comments come a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the government in Kyiv of engaging in terror tactics in Crimea, which Ukraines fellow former Soviet republic annexed in 2014. Putin vowed to respond with serious measures.

The probability of escalation and conflict remains very significant, Poroshenko said in a televised speech. We dont rule out full-scale Russian invasion.

The Ukrainian government, which says Russia is funneling troops, cash and weapons to the separatists, has rejected Putins accusations over Crimea and said its neighbour may use them as a pretext to mass more troops in the disputed Black Sea peninsula. Ukraine has enough forces along its eastern front line and near the border with the territory to resist a possible offensive, military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said Thursday.

Rebels fired more than 800 artillery and mortar rounds at government positions during the past 24 hours, the most since last August, Motuzyanyk said. He added that Ukrainian positions along the front line stretching from near the rebel-held city of Luhansk to the government-controlled port Mariupol on the Azov Sea came under attack. July was the deadliest month since last August in the conflict, which the United Nations estimates has killed at least 9,500 people since 2014.

Putin may travel to Crimea on Friday to talk with local officials and visit a summer camp for children, Russian media group RBC reported on its website on Tuesday, citing three people it didnt identify.

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BOSTONFederal prosecutors in the U.S. are investigating whether a Massachusetts town violated the civil rights of an Islamic group when officials there rejected plans for a Muslim cemetery, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz announced Thursday.

Ortiz said the investigation will determine whether the town of Dudley violated the right to religious exercise by the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester. The Islamic group purchased 55 acres of farmland in Dudley for a Muslim cemetery, but town officials rejected the plan, citing traffic and environmental concerns.

Jay Talerman, a lawyer for the group, has suggested that anti-Muslim bias played a role in the towns decision to deny needed permits for the cemetery.

Ortiz said her investigation will look into whether the town placed unreasonable barriers to the groups cemetery proposal. Federal prosecutors are authorized to investigate allegations of discriminatory treatment under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits discrimination against any assembly or institution on the basis of religion.

All Americans have the right to worship and to bury their loved ones in accordance with their religious beliefs, free from discrimination, Ortiz said.

Talerman, who filed a lawsuit against the town in land court last month, said he has had discussions with the towns attorneys to try to come to an agreement about the cemetery.

We remain hopeful, but to date we dont have a commitment from the town that meets our expectations, Talerman said.

Dudley officials said their denial of a permit for the cemetery did not violate the religious rights of the group.

The Dudley Board of Selectmen welcomes this investigation as an opportunity to show that the Towns zoning and land use practices do not violate any religious rights of the Islamic Society, nor do such practices discriminate against any assembly or institution on the basis of religion or religious denomination, the town said in a statement.

The Islamic Society, which owns a mosque in Worcester, wants to build the cemetery on a long-idle dairy farm.

During town meetings on the proposal, residents of Dudley have said they are concerned that burial practices could contaminate groundwater because Muslims traditionally do not embalm bodies and bury their dead without coffins. They have also cited concerns about noise, vandalism and increased traffic on the narrow road where the cemetery would be built.

One resident said he worried he would have to listen to crazy music like the Islamic call to prayer.

Proposals for Muslim cemeteries in other states have been met with similar resistance, including in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Farmington, Minnesota; and Farmersville, Texas.

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The Russian military says its ready to back a UN call for weekly 48-hour ceasefires to allow humanitarian aid deliveries to the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo.

Russian Defence Ministry spokesman, Maj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov says that Russia would back the initiative on condition that the aid convoys should travel to both rebel-controlled and government-controlled parts of the city.

He says Russia was ready to support aid deliveries starting next week.

Konashenkov on Thursday also added that specific dates could be determined upon co-ordination with the United Nations and after receiving guarantees of safe passage of the convoys from the U.S.

He says aid could be sent from Gaziantep in Turkey to the eastern part of Aleppo via Castello road. He says another route to the western part of Aleppo would run from Handarat and further along the Castello road.

The Russian military says its warplanes have flown from Iran for a third straight day to strike targets in Syria.

The Russian Defence Ministry says the Tu-22M3 and the Su-34 bombers flew from bases in Russia and Iran on Thursday to target the Daesh groups facilities in Syrias eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

It said that the raid struck five ammunition and fuel facilities, six command facilities and destroyed a large number of militants, artillery and armour.

Russia first announced on Tuesday that its planes started flying combat missions from Iran against targets in Syria, a move that represented a historical rapprochement between Moscow and Tehran that could rile U.S.-allied Gulf neighbours, strengthen Syrian President Bashar Assad and impact the war against the Daesh group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Syrian opposition activists have released haunting footage showing a young boy rescued from a partially destroyed building in the aftermath of a devastating airstrike in Aleppo.

The image of the stunned and weary-looking boy, sitting in an orange chair inside an ambulance, covered in dust and with blood on his face, encapsulates the horrors inflicted on the war-ravaged northern city. Photographs of the boy were widely shared on social media.

An hour after his rescue, the building the boy was in completely collapsed.

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With dispensaries outnumbering ice cream shops in some parts of Toronto, a casual observer could be forgiven for thinking that marijuana is legal in Canada. But as we were reminded again last week with another round of police raids, that is not the case.

Make no mistake: at least for now, these neighbourhood drug stores are prohibited by law (subject to certain constitutional arguments available to those selling to documented medical patients). Owners, employees, and customers face potential criminal charges; owners can also be prosecuted and fined under municipal zoning and licensing bylaws; and health practitioners issuing prescriptions can be disciplined by their professional regulator.

Our political and law enforcement leaders have emphasized the illegality of dispensaries in recent public statements. In June, after police raided Torontos dispensaries for the second time in a month, Chief of Police Mark Sanders said, Its illegal to sell marijuana unless you have a licence from Health Canada. (Canadas current regulatory regime, the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPRs), only allows marijuana to be sold by licensed producers to patients with a prescription by mail order.) Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has said that marijuana laws should be obeyed and enforced while they remain on the books. Toronto Mayor John Tory has described the citys dispensaries as bogus and likened their proliferation to the Wild West.

And yet, for all the rhetoric, there they are: dozens of dispensaries beside drycleaners, restaurants and shoe stores  all seeking to preemptively corner the market with the federal governments announcement that marijuana will soon be legally available, and not just for medicinal purposes. The longer it takes the government to fill in the details, the longer the gap between law and reality will persist.

At the federal level, we have only a general sense of what the new regime might look like. The government has promised to legalize, regulate, and restrict marijuana so that possession is removed from the criminal law but the drug is kept out of the hands of children. Meanwhile, at the municipal level, Torontos Licensing and Standards Committee declined to take any steps towards developing a regime for regulating the dispensation of marijuana such as the one adopted by Vancouvers City Council in June 2015. Instead, the committee commissioned a staff report due to be considered in October.

The federal taskforce responsible for hammering out the details of the new regime was struck on June 30, and given less than a year to develop an entire framework from scratch. This is no small feat. Canada has never regulated marijuana for recreational use. The existing regulatory regime speaks only to medicinal use. And even that regime is still being perfected: a February ruling of the Federal Court struck down part of the MMPRs as unconstitutional and gave the government until August 24 to put new regulations in place. Earlier this month, the government announced that the MMPRs will be replaced by the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations, which will allow medical marijuana patients to grow a limited amount of marijuana at home or designate someone to do so for them.

It may be a tall order, but the government must act quickly to clarify the new rules going forward. When the legal bright lines get clouded in smoke, risk abounds. At the moment:

Owners, employees and customers all face potential criminal charges. In the aftermath of its May 26 raids, Toronto police laid 186 charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking and 71 charges of possession of property obtained by crime. Customers who purchase marijuana are in possession of contraband, and police may obtain evidence of those purchases if they discover membership lists in the course of a raid;

Dispensary owners operate in a precarious business environment, particularly as new laws may continue to prohibit dispensaries. On top of criminal charges, stores operating in Toronto can face stiff penalties for municipal licensing and zoning violations that carry maximum fines of $25,000 for individuals and $50,000 for businesses. Inventory can be seized;

Medical practitioners who assist patients in accessing marijuana through illegal dispensaries can face regulatory sanction. In May, the B.C. College of Naturopathic Physicians suspended a naturopath for providing medical consultations to dispensary patients.

The gap between law and reality is in no ones interests. It undermines respect for the rule of law and opens the door to selective enforcement. Having uncaged the magic dragon, all levels of government must now act quickly to put a new, coherent structure in place.

Gerald Chan and Benjamin Kates practise criminal, regulatory and civil litigation at Stockwoods LLP. Gerald argued on behalf of the Criminal Lawyers Association in R. v. Smith, a landmark medical marijuana case in the Supreme Court of Canada.

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Contract talks currently underway between Unifor and the Big Three U.S. auto manufacturers are being called the most significant in a generation, maybe a half-century. The union has put future investments at the top of its wish list. Underlying it all is that old existential question: does Canada really need an auto industry, especially now that Mexico is such a magnet for new investment?

It's true demand is expanding in Mexico, but it only represents around 10 per cent of all Big Three sales in North America now. Population growth is faster there, and the Panama Canal has just been deepened to accommodate bigger ships, making Mexico a possible launching pad to other emerging markets. But there is a strong business case for why Canada is critical to the Big Three's business plan. It's not a case of Mexico versus Canada, but of Mexico and Canada.

Indeed, GM has sunk $1.6 billion between Oshawa, St. Catharines and Ingersoll in the past few years and this June announced it would hire 700 more engineers, bringing the total to 1,000 in Ontario.

In February, Fiat Chrysler spent an unprecedented $3.7 billion on the minivan line in Windsor and added 1,200 new jobs. Ford broke hearts in 2014 by choosing Mexico over Windsor for production of a new engine, but last year the companys Oakville plant saw $700 million in investments and 400 new jobs.

Unifor is right to focus on future investment, particularly in a year that every one of the Big Three manufacturers are seeing record profits and outpacing expectations this year.

What we are witnessing is hardball negotiations: these companies will see even more profit if they can wring concessions from the Canadian union before they announce next steps.

High costs of labour aren't the dealbreaker for future investments that we often hear about. Japan and Germany have the highest labour costs in the world and thriving auto industries. Mexican wages are obviously lower than Canadian wages, but Canada is cheaper than the U.S., where these companies are also investing billions of dollars in production.

Labour gets 99 per cent of the attention during contract talks but represents a stunningly tiny 4 per cent of the price of an average Big Three car in Canada, the same amount these companies spend on advertising.

Canada has a competitive edge even when our dollar is at par with the greenback, partly because of our public health care system that saves automakers $5 an hour per worker compared to U.S. labour costs. But today we've also got a 76-cent dollar, which makes Canadian workers significantly less costly. The exceptional productivity of Canadian auto workers is another factor for reducing costs: 13 per cent of the cars for the North American market are made here, but Canadian plants win 33 per cent of quality and productivity awards.

That is partly because 60 per cent of auto workers in Canada have college or university degrees compared to 40 per cent in the U.S. and 15 per cent in Mexico. Linda Hasenfratz, CEO of auto-parts giant Linamar, dismissed the high cost of labour argument, which she noted actually paid off for her company, leading to a 21 per cent increase in sales over the last year. As cars get more complicated, more connected, she said, a smart workforce can improve quality control and innovate processes and products. That spurs savings and creates new markets.

And when it comes to markets, consider this: southern Ontario's auto plants are a day's drive from half of all North American sales, and those sales account for 90 per cent of the profits for the Big Three.

Auto is not only Canada's number one export industry, bringing in $77 billion last year; Canadian buyers are the fifth largest market for Big Three vehicles in the world. The reason: the Auto Pact of 1965. Increased production of cars in Canada led to more good-paying jobs here, which meant increased consumption.

But shut down production and watch consumption fall. The Centre for Spatial Economics estimates closing the Oshawa GM plant would see a direct job loss of 4,100 workers spiral out to affect 30,000 jobs. That would trigger $1 billion in lost provincial and federal tax revenues, creating further pressures to cut jobs or services.

If these companies don't invest in Canada, they will lose the buyers who can afford to purchase their most profitable products. It's hard to grow the bottom line when you're killing the top line.

It may seem like a man-bites-dog story, but when you add it all up, the business proposition is simple: If the Big Three want to make more money making cars, they should invest in Canada.

Armine Yalnizyan is Senior Economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and Vice President of the Canadian Association for Business Economics. You can follow her on twitter @ArmineYalnizyan.

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The overhaul of United Continental Holdings (UAL) picked up steam with the troubled airline filling its long-vacant chief financial officer position and bringing in a new chief commercial officer.

United has hired Andrew Levy, the former president of discounter Allegiant Travel, as CFO and Julia Haywood, currently an industry consultant, as chief commercial officer. As part of the shift, Gerry Laderman, who has been acting as finance chief since August 2015, will resume his role as a senior vice president and treasurer while Jim Compton, the airline's chief revenue officer, will retire at year's end.

The moves continue a reshaping of United under Oscar Munoz, a long-time United director who became CEO last September with a mandate to bring the long-time industry laggard in line with its peers in terms of performance and profitability. Munoz suffered a heart attack and went on leave shortly after taking over, but returned to work last March and has been quickly moving to put his stamp on the company.

United under Munoz has made peace with some of its largest unions, ending some long-lasting disputes that ate into productivity, and in June outlined a plan to improve operating income by $3.1 billion in the next two years by revamping fare structures, cutting costs and reducing delays and cancellations.

Levy and Haywood figure to help in that effort. Levy spent 13 years at Allegiant, a Las Vegas-based ultradiscounter with a reputation for a streamlined operation, serving as CFO and then president before leaving in 2014. While at Allegiant, Levy helped in a restructuring that ushered in an era of good results at the company, taking a leading role in strategy, planning and finance.

He is also currently on the board of Panamanian airline Copa Holdings.

Munoz, in a statement, called him "the ideal candidate to join United," saying both his deep experience in finance and also operations "is critical as we are redefining all aspects of our business to build a truly great airline."

Stifel's Joseph DeNardi, in a note, said that Munoz has talked about the need to position United to better compete against the likes of Allegiant and Spirit Airlines, calling the hiring "the first step in the plan."

DeNardi called the hire "a clear positive" both for United, and for the industry as a whole as some had speculated that Levy could consider forming a group to create a new airline once his non-compete expired. Given the industry's existing difficulties with margins, a new discount competitor adding additional capacity would be a blow to all U.S. airlines.

Haywood, meanwhile, joins from Boston Consulting Group where she was part of a team working with United on its plans to revamp its network and revenue systems. She has expertise in the delicate task of managing pilot and flight crew schedules to boost productivity within the confines of labor agreements.

"I have spent the last few months working with Julia as she has been partnering with our revenue and network teams, and her expertise in global consumer travel will be a tremendous addition to drive United's strategic direction," said Munoz.

The hirings also help address criticism that United lacks airline industry expertise. In April, the airline settled with activists PAR Capital Management and Altimeter Capital Management in part by pledging to name directors with more travel experience to the board, and many investors had also called for Munoz, a former railroad exec, to add new voices to his management team.

Worth noting that veteran airline investor Par Capital was a substantial holder of Allegiant shares through much of Levy's tenure at the company.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Williams Cos. (WMB) were climbing 6.6% to $27.78 on heavy trading volume mid-Thursday afternoon after the company reportedly rejected an offer by pipeline competitor Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), the Financial Times reports.

Enterprise remains interested in acquiring Williams Cos. despite the rebuff and may make another offer, sources told the Times.

Also, oil prices are advancing today to their highest level in six weeks on speculation of an upcoming output freeze, further boosting Williams Cos. stock.

OPEC countries are planning to meet next month at the International Energy Forum in Algeria, fueling reports they may resume talks of stalling output levels.

Many OPEC members have been hurt recently by the collapse in oil prices over the last two years, CNBC reports.

Crude oil (WTI) climbed 3.18% to $48.28 while Brent crude advanced 2.31% to $51 per barrel.

Over 15.65 million shares of the Tulsa, OK-based energy infrastructure company have traded so far today, higher than the 30-day daily average of 12.15 million shares.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

TheStreet Ratings rated this stock as a "hold" with a ratings score of C-.

Among the primary strengths of the company is its expanding profit margins over time. At the same time, however, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, generally higher debt management risk and disappointing return on equity.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: WMB
By PTI: Visakhapatnam, Aug 17 (PTI) The Antwerp Port Authority of Belgium has offered its consultancy services to Indian ports for improving their inland waterways.

"In India, the ports are not well connected to the hinterland by inland waterways. In this area we can offer consultancy services to Indian ports," said Chief Commercial Officer of Antwerp Port Authority Luc Arnouts here today.

advertisement

He was addressing a press conference where Ambassador of Belgium to India Jan Luykx was also present.

"Antwerp Port has gained great expertise in improving inland waterways. More than 30 per cent of its cargoes reach Antwerp port through such waterways, where logistics cost is cheap," Arnouts added.

He said a delegation from Belgium, led by its Ambassador to India, visited the Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) and its facilities here.

Arnouts said he was impressed with the facilities at the port and added in future Antwerp Port and VPT would cooperate to forge close ties.

Stating that relations between India and Belgium were excellent, Luykx said his country was first to recognise India after its independence.

He said Belgium wanted to improve trade ties with India, especially with the States located on the east coast. PTI COR RSY UZM BAS

--- ENDS ---
Frank Lloyd Wright was furious with my great-uncle Tommy. The mercurial architect was at work on his masterpiece SC Johnson Research Tower in Racine, Wis., and he had a problem. The glass tubes he wanted to wrap around corners of the tower had a tendency to let in not just the light, but also the rain.

Thomas H. Truslow Jr., a general sales manager at Corning Glass Works, proposed a solution of flexible waterproof strips directly to Johnson executives, bypassing Wright.

The architect seethed. Are you then unfamiliar with the way of work with an architect, he wrote in a typed letter on Nov. 10, 1948. He added an angry question mark in green ink.

The scheme is not the Johnson Companys, the typing continued. It is the architects. Then more green scribbled rage: Mine.

Wright summoned Uncle Tommy to meet at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. They got on great. Wright liked the waterproof strips. My uncle came up with classy, glassy adornments for two more Wright projects.

Near the end of his life, as his great-nieces and -nephews got married, Uncle Tommy, who didnt have children, would invite them to his house in Geneva, N.Y., to pick a wedding gift from the paintings and figurines he had collected over a lifetime of adventures. When my turn came, the letter wasnt even on display, but thats what I wanted. Uncle Tommy thought I was cheating myself.

Now it hangs prominently in my house, a tribute to the pluck of a salesman.

David Montgomery, 55, of Takoma Park, Md., is a Washington Post staff writer.

More Mine.

For stories, features such as Date Lab, Gene Weingarten and more, visit WP Magazine.

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Email us at wpmagazine@washpost.com.


Maureen Clark, 29, a public health analyst, and Richard Barry, 28, program manager, at Proof in Chinatown. (Courtesy of daters)

Interviews by Michele Langevine Leiby

Richard Barry, 28, a program manager, is passionate about Catholic volunteer work, has bicycled across the country and juggles. Maureen Clark, a 29-year-old public health analyst, also Catholic, is looking for someone with a genuine concern for others and a desire to make the world a better place. We sent them to Proof in Chinatown.

Richard: She seemed pretty nice and pretty cute. She had nice dark brown curly hair.

Maureen: He looked really nice and friendly and approachable and down-to-earth.

Richard: Shes really attractive.

Maureen: I dont have a distinct physical type, but he definitely fits my criteria.

Richard: She grew up in Cleveland; I grew up in Northern Virginia. But we have similar backgrounds going to Catholic school, grade school and high school, so we definitely had a lot to talk about.

Maureen: I go to a Jesuit parish in D.C., and he did the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and went to a Jesuit high school. My faith is really important to me, so it was cool, right off the bat, thats something he can relate to.

Richard: She is really buoyant and not flustered by the idea of being on a blind date. When the waiter suggested: Oh, you should get a bottle of wine, she seemed up for the experience.

Maureen: His volunteer experience was  working with the Native American population. Ive worked with Native American high school students. Its not super-common that you meet someone whos worked with that population. I was really impressed he dedicated at least a year to full-time service.

Richard: It seemed pretty fluid. I mean, we had that bottle of wine to work through.

Maureen: He works in public policy and I do as well. We ended up talking about [work] and the election a little bit. Were both pretty moderate, so we agreed on a lot. I really enjoyed hearing what he was working on because its totally different than what I do.

Richard: [She] was talking about this trip with her college girlfriends  a 48-hour train trip from Chicago to Seattle. They scrimped, not getting the sleeper car. They were frugal about meals [and] just packed a bunch of snacks. It sounded terrible, but she told it in a really entertaining way.

Maureen: One of the questions on the Date Lab application was, In what way are you not D.C.?, and his answer was he doesnt really like brunch. I was like, Whats wrong with brunch, why do you not like brunch? He [said]: Its kind of a big commitment. You lose your entire weekend day. If you have a bottomless brunch, the day is definitely done, thats true. We joked about it for the rest of the meal.

Richard: She seemed to be enjoying herself. She might have thought, yeah, this is a nice guy to do this weird thing with. I dont know if she had any thoughts beyond that.

Maureen: We did hug at the end of the night, but weve all been on enough dates [to] tell at the end whether it was a friendly hug or Id-maybe-be-interested-in-seeing-you-again kind of hug. ... To me it seemed like a more flirtatious hug. And we did exchange numbers.

Rate the date

Richard: Probably 3, 3.5. It was a really enjoyable time, but maybe there wasnt such a real pull. But a lot of times getting to know someone is better; that develops later.

Maureen: 4. He seems like a great person and someone I would be interested in getting to know better. I would definitely be interested in going on another date with him.

Update

A few texts, but nothing more for now.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump's wife Melania spoke at the Republican National Convention July 18. Here are some highlights from her speech. (The Washington Post)

Among the earliest times Melania Trump appeared on The Apprentice was on April 15, 2004. This was before her wedding, the birth of her child, the launching of her jewelry and skin-care brands and, obviously, before Cleveland and the day last month when she briefly and inadvertently committed the cardinal sin of upstaging her husband.

That appearance was during the finale of Season 1, when she accompanied Donald Trump on a trip to Atlantic City. At the time, she was Melania Knauss, Trumps girlfriend of five years and a model perhaps best known for posing in what appeared to be the altogether for the cover of the British edition of GQ.

The Apprentice isnt a documentary. Its a reality show, with the emphasis on show. What happens  what we see  is what the producers want us to see. And heres some of what we saw, which is instructive when you consider all that has since taken place: First, Trump doesnt wait for Melania when he gets off the helicopter at the Trump Taj Mahal. Then a contestant mispronounces her name. Finally, she gets to say exactly six words, which are: Its so cute. Its really good.

Trump and Knauss were engaged less than two weeks after the episode aired, and they married the next year. Shes shown she can be the woman behind me, Trump would later tell the gossip columnist Cindy Adams. Were together five years, and these five years for whatever reasons have been my most successful. I have to imagine she had something to do with that.

They each said they wanted a small, simple wedding. He, to Us Weekly: Who needs the big hoopla? I get enough of it. She, to People: I like private, intimate. That didnt happen. This is not to say they lied or even misspoke. Perhaps just that their plans changed or that the very rich have very different definitions for these very ordinary words.



Melania Trump takes the stage at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July. (Timothy A. Clary/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

The ceremony was at the Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal church in Palm Beach, Fla., and the reception was just down the road at Mar-a-Lago, Trumps uber-posh club. Melanias Christian Dior gown with its shimmer of beads required nearly a half-year of labor to make. Billy Joel, Elton John, Paul Anka and Tony Bennett performed, and more than 300 guests, a great many of them the global elites that Trump now frequently campaigns against, dined and danced into the evening.

Bill and Hillary Clinton attended, and there is a widely circulated photograph of the Clintons and the Trumps at the reception. Donald is talking, gesturing, and Hillary and Bill and Melania are laughing and smiling at whatever it is he is saying. Bill has his arm on Donalds shoulder, and Hillary has her arm around Bill. So, they are intertwined, these three people, one former president and the other two now competing for that job in the ultimate game of musical chairs.

[From Wild Bill to Supportive Spouse: Can Clinton stick to his script?]

Just off to the side but not quite removed from this braid of ambition, celebrity, narcissism and power is Melania. Depending on turnout in November and a few swing states, she will be either our next first lady or simply and forever the third Mrs. Trump.



Donald and Melania Trump with Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton at the Trumps wedding reception in 2005. (Maring Photography/Getty Images/Contour by Getty Images)

Melania Trump speaks in short, declarative sentences. She is 46 and still carries an accent from her native Slovenia and makes the occasional lapses in grammar and syntax that are charming when spoken by a cultured and wealthy person born abroad. She shares her husbands aversion to introspection or doubt, whether the topic is politics: I follow it from A to Z. I know exactly what is going on. Or parenting: We know what is right, what is wrong. Or our capacity for personal growth: I think the mistake some people make is they try to change the man they love after they get married. You cannot change a person. You accept the person.

Perhaps the closest she has come to appearing at a loss for words was during an interview this year for a friendly profile that ran in DuJour magazine. She was asked what she thought about the comedian Louis C.K. comparing her husband to Hitler. Melania did not know who C.K. was.

Her enigmatic, cloistered presence has taken on a life of its own. The New York Times published a short story in July loosely based on Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway, with Melania as a brooding wife trying to manage her moody husband and keep a step ahead of his scheming daughters, Tiffany and Ivanka. It can be confusing and  lets be honest  also a little unfair, this fiction mingling with fact and absence of fact, compounded by Melanias low profile. She declined to be interviewed for this story; a spokeswoman cited scheduling commitments.

Melania is an infrequent companion with her husband at political events. She wasnt in attendance when he announced that Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana would be his running mate, and she did not accompany him in the days after the Republican National Convention. In the past, she has tied that decision to her desire to stay in New York with Barron, their 10-year-old son. I made that choice, she told Harpers Bazaar earlier this year. I have my own mind. I am my own person, and I think my husband likes that about me.

And that is a constant refrain in Melanias public remarks. Along with her self-assuredness and her statements that Donald has amazing business skills and that the United States can be great again if we just give him the keys to the car called America is another cri de coeur: that she is more than Mrs. Donald Trump. She is Melania. She is independent and capable. And she would like our respect.

It is not easy to escape the long shadow of her husband and carve out her own identity. Melania has noted that she is more than just a pretty face. And that is true. She grew up as Melanija Knavs in Slovenia when it was still part of Yugoslavia, graduated from a design high school, then attended the University of Ljubljana before moving to Milan and later Paris for modeling. She has testified in court that she received a two-year degree in architecture from the school, but journalists who have examined her academic record report that she never received any such certification. Her spokeswoman did not respond to a request to clarify her education.



Melania Trump modeled for a number of publications, including FHM magazine in 2000. (George Holz/Contour by Getty Images)

During the early part of her modeling career, she also changed her name to the more German-sounding Knauss. Melania came to New York in 1996, moved into an apartment by Union Square in Lower Manhattan and made her own way. Acquaintances have described her as smart and disciplined, cautious about dating and largely removed from the disruptions of the citys nightlife. She and Trump met in September 1998 during a Fashion Week party at a place just off Times Square called the Kit Kat Club. In some retellings, Trump arrived with a date; in others, he arrived alone. In any event, he was smitten. Trump was 52 and separated a year from Marla Maples, wife No. 2, whom he would divorce in 1999. Melania was 28, which can be a difficult age in an industry where youth is nearly everything.

They broke up briefly in 2000, when Trump was toying with running for president on the Reform Party ticket. Then they got back together, this time for good. Their pairing raised Melanias profile. She got to christen a cruise ship, do modeling for Levis, have a blink-of-an-eye uncredited spot in Zoolander and make a cameo in the 2000 Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition (she hugs an inflatable killer whale).

Melania was featured in her wedding dress on the cover of Vogue in February 2005,and the next year she was in the magazine again, seven months pregnant and wearing a gold Norma Kamali bikini. In between, she appeared in an Aflac commercial, where she and the spokesduck swap brains at the hands of a mad scientist. I thought she would be perfect, said Aflac chief executive Dan Amos. Shes the bride of the year, and shes getting enormous publicity. No one really knows her. The commercial is funny, but it also reinforced her new place in the world. The lab assistant simply refers to her as Mrs. Trump. At the time, Melania was often using the hyphenated Knauss-Trump, a style that would continue until at least 2008, according to records from the Federal Election Commission.



The Trumps with their son, Barron, at the Ricoh Womens British Open at Donald Trumps Turnberry resort in Scotland in 2015. (David Cannon/Getty Images)

Barron was born on March 20, 2006, a few months before Melania became a U.S. citizen, and she was less visible while her son was very young. In 2010 she resurfaced. First came a line of jewelry she designed and was sold on the QVC shopping channel. The Melania collection did well, but QVC is a little down-market if you live on floors 66 to 68 of Trump Tower, flanked by Tiffanys on the north and Gucci on the south, with a view of Central Park spread out below like your own personal picnic blanket. Two years later, she signed a licensing agreement for skin-care products made with caviar and sold in high-end department stores. It was her very own art of the deal.

The agreement, which would later become a point of litigation, took a year of negotiations between an attorney for New Sunshine LLC and an attorney with the Trump Organization. Its first statement of fact read: Melania Trump, the principal of Licensor (Melania), is a world-renowned model, celebrity and businesswoman, who enjoys the highest reputation in these fields. The agreement spelled out her advance payments, which were to total $1 million. And it also made clear that the use of her last name was heavily restricted. The brand name was simply Melania, and her full name could appear only directly below the brand itself and always in smaller type.

New Sunshine was run by a businessman named Stephen Hilbert. He and Donald had worked together on a big real-estate deal to buy the General Motors Building in New York in 1998 and remained in contact as business and social acquaintances. Both had much younger wives, too. Although Melania said she had been tinkering with skin-care formulas for years, it was Hilberts company that sought her out when New Sunshine wanted to expand its product line because the tanning industry, which had been the companys mainstay, was tanking.

Donald Trump with daughter Ivanka, left, and Melania at the Met Gala in 2004. (Evan Agostini/Getty Images)

One reason Hilbert wanted to work with Melania was to get discounted access to The Apprentice as a marketing tool. Most businesses paid more than $1 million for their products to be the subject of the contestants often goofy competitions. For Melania, New Sunshine got the friends and family discount: $100,000. The episode, called How Do You Spell Melania, aired April 7, 2013, and is a surreal hour of television. Two teams, one led by Dennis Rodman and the other by Penn Jillette, compete to develop a display for Melania Caviar Complexe C6. Gary Busey, on Jillettes team, at one point says Melanias beauty is such that it makes his genitalia so excited that it spins like a Ferris wheel in a carnival ride. Jillettes team incurs Melanias wrath by referring to her as a mere spokesperson instead of the companys head. Rodmans team misspells her name, M-I-L-A-N-I-A, an error that cannot be made right, and he gets fired.

By the time the episode ran, there were more-serious problems. The investment fund that owned New Sunshine wanted to renegotiate the agreement. Among other things, it claimed that Hilbert had cut Melania too sweet a deal in part because of his relationship with her husband (in the summer of 2013, he would sell Trump a vacation property in St. Martin for about $20 million). After a bench trial in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, a judge ruled that the agreement was valid and that the dispute would be resolved through arbitration. Melania had sought $50 million in damages, but the settlement has not been disclosed. That said, the launch was in essence aborted. Most of the product was never made or shipped.

During the trial, attorneys for the investment fund sought to cast Melania as a dilettante and dabbler, a woman playing with house money whose celebrity was tied exclusively to her husbands fame. Licensing expert Erik Rosenstrauch, CEO of Fuel Partnerships, ridiculed the agreements statement of fact that asserted Melanias stature.

If you are going to do a licensing agreement, you need to talk to your celebrity as the general public would know the celebrity, and therefore, be able to relate to the celebrity, Rosenstrauch said. And Melania is not  Melania is just a name.

In her testimony, Melania held her ground, while others on her team testified to her bona fide celebrity. She said she was a hands-on manager, taking part in every step of the process, including package design and the advertising campaign. The collapse had left her frustrated, not just for herself but for her fans. I promoted all around the world, she said. The product was on the national TV all around the world, all the magazines and was nowhere to be found.



A 1977 photograph shows Melania Trump, second right, at a fashion review for a textile company in Slovenia. (Nena Bedek /STR/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

Melania has more than 200,000 followers on Twitter. Her husband has more than 10 million; her son, about 1,100, but he follows only Melania and has yet to tweet. Her personal website was taken down in late July. Before Donalds official candidacy in June 2015, Melania was active on social media, sending forth an inoffensive if perhaps slightly tone-deaf stream of digital flotsam and jetsam. She tweeted pictures of homemade pizza, aerial views of New York snapped from the Trump jet and the occasional selfie, including one a month before Trump announced, taken in her bathroom with the words: Bye! Im off to my #summmer residence #countryside #weekend. But no more.

She tweeted just nine times in the 12 months after she and Donald rode the escalator down to the Trump Tower lobby so he could announce he was running for president and would build a wall. Three tweets were in response to an article in GQ (the American version, not the British edition for which she posed all those years ago) that Melanias supporters felt was condescending in tone and exploitative in reach for reporting on her fathers treatment of a son born out of wedlock. The reporter became the target of anti-Semitic threats, which Melania disavowed while also seeming to blame the journalist. I dont control my fans, but I dont agree with what theyre doing, she told DuJour. I understand what you mean, but there are people out there who maybe went too far. She provoked them.

In the handful of profiles that have carried Melanias stamp of approval, friends talk of her in glowing and carefully polished terms. They praise her loyalty, her even keel, common sense and grace. Pamela Gross, a CNN producer and former editor of Avenue magazine, told Harpers Bazaar: When he [Donald] is spinning and thinking and blazing forward, she brings this quality of calm and serenity to him. She declined to comment.

So did the others. I reached out to nearly a dozen of Melanias friends and business associates. They include fashion designers and photographers, as well as career women who occupy the intersection of wealth and class in a city that knows the difference between the two. None would talk. Some said they would, then changed their minds without giving a reason. Some are politically active and reliable campaign contributors. Several gave to Democrats, and I could find none who had donated to Donald. Of course, Trumps fundraising machine has only recently revved up. That said, some of these women appear to have backed other candidates. Audrey Gruss, a New York and Palm Beach philanthropist who hosted a baby shower for Melania, first gave money to Jeb Bush in July 2015. A month later, it was John Kasich. And a month after that, Chris Christie.

Gruss agreed to an interview, then changed her mind. She had said of Melania in an email that I am a friend and have only the nicest things to say.

Political conventions used to be messy affairs. Spouses attended, but they didnt make speeches, in part because the nominating process was never a sure thing. In the modern era, as conventions have changed into something approaching the first step in a coronation, the spouses have become part of the act. Their job is to underscore the candidates humanity and decency. Thats how Melania found herself as the Republican conventions headliner on the opening Monday in Cleveland. She was introduced by her husband, and her speech about her values and Donalds commitment to the country they both love was seen as a welcome respite from the other speakers often incendiary remarks about Hillary. She was a hit. Then she wasnt.



Melania Trump speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The first allegations of plagiarism  that part of her speech appeared to be largely lifted from the speech that Michelle Obama gave at the 2008Democratic National Convention  began even before Melania finished speaking. By Tuesday morning, it was a viral storm, with the campaign staff trying to deflect and defuse the situation without admitting to any borrowing. The problem was exacerbated because Melania had already asserted principal ownership of her remarks. In an interview with the Today shows Matt Lauer a few hours before the speech, she was asked whether she had rehearsed on the flight to Cleveland. She responded, a bit dismissively: I read once over it, and thats all. Because I wrote it ... with as little help as possible.

Wednesday morning, an in-house writer at the Trump Organization offered a more expansive explanation and took responsibility. It was a simple mistake, Meredith McIver said in a statement; Melania had read McIver inspiring passages from a wide range of people, including those of Michelle Obama, and phrasing from those passages had made their way into the final draft, which McIver referred to, maybe wistfully or optimistically, as Melanias First Lady speech.

Because of the endless parsing of the portion that had a dubious origin (a mere 7 percent, per Chris Christie), there has been little attention paid to the rest of her remarks. They are worth noting. Melania reminded the audience of her immigrant roots and said being a U.S. citizen was the greatest privilege on planet Earth. She lavished praise on her husbands unique ability to get things done. She urged party unity and reminded the audience of the tough road ahead before the election.

There will be good times and hard times and unexpected turns, Melania said. And then with a slight pause, a nod of sorts to the new reality show that she finds herself in, she added, It would not be a Trump contest without excitement and drama.

Ken Otterbourg is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to the magazine.

Correction: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect date for Melania Trumps first appearance on The Apprentice. Her debut on the show was Jan. 8, 2004.

E-mail us at wpmagazine@washpost.com.

For more articles, as well as features such as Date Lab, Gene Weingarten and more, visit The Washington Post Magazine.

Follow the Magazine on Twitter.

Like us on Facebook.


Larry Wilmore, center, and two of his contributors (Grace Parra and Jordan Carlos, left) talk to Sen. Bernie Sanders on The Nightly Show. (Bryan Bedder/Comedy Central)

Larry Wilmore sipped a glass of wine at the desk of his recently-canceled Nightly Show and reflected on his 18-month run on Comedy Central, which officially ends Thursday.

We started our show thinking all the good bad race stuff was done already, but apparently we were wrong, he told viewers Tuesday night. And weve covered race from just about every angle you can think of.

Wilmore threw to footage of controversial incidents he had covered on his late-night talk show, including a Texas police officer aggressively breaking up a pool party attended by black teenagers, and a Georgia principal who mocked people exiting a high school graduation ceremony early by saying, Look whos leaving: all the black people.

For fans of The Nightly Show, Wilmores smart commentary on race will be sorely missed amid an ongoing debate around fatal police shootings and the racial tension in a presidential election marking the end of a historic presidency  the Unblackening, as the show dubbed it in a recurring segment.

In an interview with The Post, Wilmore said he was told last Thursday of the cancellation and that it came as a shock. Even if we werent picked up for the next season, I thought wed be on at least through the election, he said.

In Jan. 2015, the veteran writer-producer and former senior black correspondent for The Daily Showtook over the 11:30 time slot previously held by The Colbert Report, becoming late-nights only black host before Trevor Noah inherited The Daily Show from Jon Stewart.

On Mondays show  his first since the cancellation was announced  Wilmore made a pointed joke that highlighted the shows unique perspective.

My only regret is that we wont be around to cover this truly insane election season, Wilmore said. On the plus side, our show going off the air has to only mean one thing: Racism is solved. We did it.

The shows frequent discussions of race often made headlines, but The Nightly Show also focused on gender, economic equality and other social issues. The show introduced a Tampon Tuesday segment to discuss the taxation of feminine products and related subjects. From the beginning, Wilmore said that he wanted his show to be a voice for the underdog.

Comedy Central's president says that Larry Wilmore's late-night show "hasn't resonated." Here's why else the show didn't make it. (Nicki DeMarco/The Washington Post)

The shows diverse staff reflected those values. The Nightly Show made history by hiring Robin Thede as the first black woman to lead a late-night shows writing staff. Earlier this year, Thede transitioned from head writer to writer-contributor, joining a pool of eight on-camera panelists that appeared with Wilmore and his guests on a rotating basis. Four are women of color. Only one of those contributors  showrunner Rory Albanese  is white.

In an interview, Thede described the writers room as a really fun environment, devoid of the competition thats typical on other late-night shows.

Everybody brought their own unique thing to the table, Thede said. Larry also really encouraged us to have clear points of view. Even if he didnt agree with something  if you could convince him of it, he was really open to it.

Albanese told The Post that the show struggled in its initial format, which involved hosting four different panelists each night. But it found stronger footing after paring down the number of guests and figuring out a comedy style  which he describes as early Conan mixed with The Daily Show   that worked.

The struggle was getting to where we got, and I feel like had we gotten to where we are now faster, people probably would have caught on, Albanese said.

The show had to compete against Jimmy Fallon, Jinmy Kimmel and predecessor Stephen Colbert in the 11:30 time slot. Plus his former Daily Show colleagues Samantha Bee and John Oliver each have formidable weekly political talk shows, while NBCs Late Night host Seth Meyers has also emerged as a strong voice in political comedy.

As far as political commentary goes, there are a lot of choices, Albanese said. Everyones doing really great stuff.

But the biggest challenge may have been Stewarts departure fromThe Daily Show  Wilmores lead-in  last August. When Jon went off the air, we hadnt really found our show yet, Albanese said. (Stewart also happens to be an executive producer of The Nightly Show.)

The Daily Show has declined in ratings since Noah took over for Stewart. And in July 2015, right before Stewarts departure, The Nightly Show averaged just over 1 million viewers, according to Nielsen. This July, the average was 770,000.

But The Daily Show has seen success among millennial viewers  Noahs show is second in late-night viewership among the coveted 18-to-34 demographic. Recently, Comedy Central touted The Daily Shows success on digital and mobile platforms. Comedy Central president Kent Alterman told the New York Times that The Nightly Show hadnt seen similar growth. We just havent seen it on any level from the general conversation to ratings to any sort of traction on social media platforms, Alterman said.

[Larry Wilmores Nightly Show died of antiviral causes]

Despite ratings, Wilmore told The Post that he is very proud of the show he and his staff made. We definitely introduced voices that people didnt know about and didnt always see, Wilmore said. We werent a show that was trying to book movie stars because we wanted people who brought a different perspective to late-night.

Last year, as protests raged in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray, Wilmore met with a group of local gang leaders who had declared a truce in hopes of curbing escalating violence. Wilmore listened as the men described a city in turmoil. The segment, which the show re-aired Monday night, was offbeat and earnest  the kind of segment youd only see on The Nightly Show.

Like his peers, Wilmore faced the daunting task of talking about tragic events from a comedic perspective. Our show was at its best when the news was at its worst, he told viewers Monday.

I always said, We try to find humanity in a story and then mine jokes out of that, but its very difficult, Wilmore told The Post. But we made a promise to ourselves to try to cover the difficult stories and the things that maybe were afraid to talk about.

Thede cites the shows coverage following the Charleston church shooting as one of its best episodes.

We had an incredible show  not capitalizing on that tragedy, but being able to bring in our audience and empathize with them and make them feel that we understood, that we felt the way they felt and that we were outraged as well, Thede said.

That touches a nerve with people, she added. Our audience was small, but it was mighty.

Wilmore gave a shout-out to the shows passionate fans at the top of Mondays show. People come up and they never say Hey, nice show. They say, Thank you,  he told viewers. Its such a cool thing.

Wilmore, who co-created the upcoming HBO comedy Insecure with Issa Rae, told The Post he will take some time after Thursdays final broadcast to think about what he wants to do next. But he wants his fans to know that he hasnt ruled out a return to late night.

To be continued. We aint done yet, Wilmore said. Weve only kept it 99. Weve got a ways to go before we can keep it 100.
The news and gossip site Gawker.com is shuttering after a lengthy court battle with former professional wrestling star Hulk Hogan, who was secretly backed by Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel. The Post's Margaret Sullivan and Paul Farhi look at Gawker's legacy and how this could be a dangerous precedent for news critics. (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post)

The news and gossip site Gawker.com is shuttering after a lengthy court battle with former professional wrestling star Hulk Hogan, who was secretly backed by Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel. The Post's Margaret Sullivan and Paul Farhi look at Gawker's legacy and how this could be a dangerous precedent for news critics. (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post)

In the end, the vengeful billionaire got his wish.

Gawker Media said Thursday it will close its always brash and sometimes lacerating news and gossip site, Gawker.com, next week, in a capitulation to legal troubles secretly engineered by a business tycoon who bore a long-standing grudge against it.

Gawker was ostensibly brought low by an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit by former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan over a sex tape of Hogan that Gawker posted in 2012. But the $140 million judgment that Hogan won in March was merely the explosive edge of the legal war against the site and its parent company that was quietly funded by Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal.

Gawker.com, which attracted millions of readers with its insider gossip, scoops, speculation and a snarky writing style that became the default voice of the Internet, ran afoul of Thiel on several occasions, most notably in 2007 when it outed him as gay. He subsequently paid for the payback, covering millions in legal fees for Hogan and a series of other plaintiffs whose suits are pending.

The site confirmed Thursday that it was closing 14 years after Nick Denton, a veteran British journalist, founded it in New York and two days after Univision won a bankruptcy auction for its parent company, Gawker Media. Also Thursday, a bankruptcy court cleared Univisions takeover of the company, which will include its six remaining sites  Deadspin (sports), Lifehacker (personal productivity), Jezebel (women), Gizmodo (technology), Kotaku (games) and Jalopnik (cars).

Gawker.com, the crown jewel of Dentons former empire, will go back into Gawker Medias bankruptcy estate, its value effectively zero, said Jude Gorman, general counsel of Reorg Research, a financial data company. I think the Gawker brand was pretty much tainted by the legal battle, he said. Univision decided to wash its hands of it and start anew.

Despite their decapitation of Gawker and Denton, Hogan and Thiel have yet to see any money from Hogans suit; the judgment remains on appeal. However, if he ultimately prevails, Hogan (real name: Terry Bollea) will probably collect only a fraction of what a jury awarded him earlier this year. His claim on Gawker Medias assets  which now consist almost entirely of Univisions $135 million purchase price  is secondary to the companys secured creditors, who are owed about $40 million, Gorman said. Other unsecured creditors will divide whats left over.

But the damage has already been done. In a statement Thursday, Denton said Gawker.coms legal troubles effectively made it toxic for a buyer.

We have not been able to find a single media company or investor willing also to take on Gawker.com, he said. The campaign being mounted against its editorial ethos and former writers has made it too risky. I can understand the caution.

He added: Even if the appeals court overturns this springs Florida jury verdict, Peter Thiel has already achieved many of his objectives.

Denton, who has a $10 million judgment pending against him from the Hogan suit, has filed personal bankruptcy. He wont be joining Univision, and said he will move on to other unspecified projects. In any case, he said, hell be out of the news and gossip business.

Although its reporting on Thiel and Hogan was controversial, and a story last summer outing a New York magazine executive drew widespread criticism, Gawker and its related sites produced some major scoops. Among others, Gawker broke stories about Toronto Mayor Rob Fords cocaine habit and about Hillary Clintons use of a private email server. Deadspin broke the bizarre story of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Teos phantom girlfriend.

Denton offered praise for the company he started, writing that it had introduced a new style of journalism, sometimes enthusiastic, sometimes snarky, but always authentic. We connect with a skeptical and media-savvy generation by giving them the real story, the version that journalists used to keep to themselves.

He said Mondays posts will be Gawker.coms last before it is mothballed in the bankruptcy estate.

Gawker has said it will reassign its employees to its other operations.
High prices. Long airport lines. Terrorism.

Zika.

Youve got enough to worry about, between making sure your hotel reservations match your arrival dates and ensuring that all your credit cards will work. And now this?

Relax. Here are the most common travel problems and their solutions. Keep this article, slip it into your carry-on and stop worrying.

Airline computer outages are just plain bad news, here's what you need to know. (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post)

Q : Is there anything I have to absolutely know about travel as the summer winds down?

A: This summer has been a little different so far. With all thats going on, travel insiders say doing your homework is more important than ever. That means carefully planning your trip and leaving nothing to chance. Consider travel insurance and a reliable medical evacuation coverage. If youre crossing an international border, register with the State Departments Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, which allows you to receive important information from the embassy about safety conditions in your destination and offers a way for the embassy to contact you during an emergency. Know the area, says Sheryl Hill, who runs Depart Smart, a nonprofit organization dedicated to safe travel. Have an emergency plan in case the unthinkable happens.

[Airline computer outages like Deltas are bound to repeat themselves. Heres what to know.]

Q: How important is my paperwork?

A: It probably has never been more important. The most common screw-ups involve still-valid passports that dont comply with a countrys validity requirements. For example, if youre headed for France, your passport must be valid a minimum of six months after you cross the border. Brazil is waiving its tourist-visa requirements for the Olympics, but after Sept. 18, youll have to pay for one. One of the main problems in travel is the unawareness of visa requirements, says Sergio Merino, founder of Ivisa.com, a visa-processing service.

Q: What should I do about long airport lines, other than showing up three hours early?

A: Unless youre flying just before or after a major travel holiday or after a terrorism scare, those legendary three-hour lines are unlikely to remain that long, at least in the near term. Keep a close eye on your airports website, which issues recommendations for screening times. The only way to be sure you wont get stuck in one of these ridiculous lines is to give the Transportation Security Administration your money. Get PreCheck, says Seth Kaplan, editor of Airline Weekly, a trade publication. Yes, the $85 fee is a lot, but even for an infrequent traveler, its a sound investment, he says. After all, the point of flying is to get somewhere as quickly and painlessly as possible, and PreCheck really does make flying much more of a pleasure again.

Q: Check or carry on?

A: Check it. Better yet, pack extra light and buy any items you may need when you get there. Carry-on luggage clogs screening areas and slows down the boarding process, resulting in longer delays. Greg Geronemus, the co-chief executive of smarTours, a New York-based tour operator, says hes conflicted about that advice, because it only helps the airline make money. But this summer, its not a bad idea to check as much of your luggage as possible, he adds. It might not cost as much as you think. Southwest Airlines, for example, doesnt charge for most checked luggage, and if you belong to an airline loyalty program or carry an airline-branded credit card, you might get the luggage fees waived.

[Frequent-flier programs could face tighter regulation  if customers speak up]

Q: Should I worry about Zika?

A: You can worry, but it may not do you much good. The best source for Zika travel information is the website of the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. These concerns  what Sarah Lisovich, a senior editor for CIA Medicals educational blog, calls Zika anxiety  are common among travelers. Those who are pregnant or hoping to become pregnant, and even those just leery of the notorious virus, are avoiding locations that have announced a presence of Zika, Lisovich says. If you cant change your travel plans, she says, you can help protect yourself against an infection by using insect repellent, staying indoors as much as possible and wearing clothing that covers the skin.

Q: What can I do about high travel prices?

A: There are ways to get cheap fares. Weve already seen some summer sales and discounting, so the high travel prices arent uniform. The trick may be to stay flexible with your times and dates  and most important, your location. Accommodations at popular summer destinations, such as Marylands Eastern Shore, might not be discounted, but if you like to go hiking, you could find a deal in a place like Vail, Colo. Eliminate the roadblocks, says Gracia Larrain, a spokeswoman for Skyscanner.com, a website that offers a set of tools that allows users to set flexible parameters for travel. Among them: an everywhere feature, which allows you to search a list of destination options in order of airfare cost, and a show whole month option, which lets you to see the best fares for each day of the month.

[How online travel agencies are dimming results on hotel searches]

Q: What three items do I have to pack?

A: Your patience, politeness and sense of humor. Youll probably get stuck in a line, so youll need to keep your cool. Your impeccable manners will ensure that you get the service you deserve and that you dont needlessly draw attention to yourself and possibly get marked as a target. And smile, says Declan Kunkel, a New York theater producer and frequent traveler. Employees, he notes, have to deal with a lot of troubles. If you can make their day even that much better, they will go to leaps and bounds to help you.

Q: Any parting advice for someone traveling for Labor Day and beyond?

A: Theres no sugar-coating it: The summer of 2016 has been filled with challenges for travelers. But dont let that stop you from getting out there. As my colleague Ed Hewitt of Independenttraveler.com would say, Go anyway. I cant think of more appropriate advice.

Read more from Travel:

That saucy, borderline NSFW email? Its from your airline.

Newly passed air travel legislation is an amazing win for consumers

Read past Navigator columns here

Elliott is a consumer advocate, journalist and co-founder of the advocacy group Travelers United. Email him at chris@elliott.org.
THE DISTRICT

Man pleads guilty to shooting girl, 16

An 18-year-old District man on probation for a robbery conviction pleaded guilty Thursday to wounding a 16-year-old girl in the leg in a Memorial Day weekend shooting near the Anacostia Metro Station.

Demetri Goldsmith pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court to assault with significant bodily injury and unlawful possession of a firearm in the May 29 shooting.

Goldsmith, who has been in D.C. jail since his arrest, is to be sentenced Oct. 19. He could face a maximum of 10 to 13 years in prison.

According to prosecutors, at about 7:30 p.m. Goldsmith was talking to the teenager near the entrance to the Metro station.

Prosecutors say Goldsmith then pulled a gun from his jacket and fired it in the direction of the teen,hitting her in the left leg.

Goldsmith then put the gun back in his jacket and biked away.

 Keith Alexander

Man is killed by car near Logan Circle

A Maryland man was fatally struck by a vehicle early Thursday near Logan Circle in Northwest Washington, police said.

About 2:20 a.m., Armin Amin-Toomaji, 44, of Potomac and another pedestrian were crossing Ninth Street NW, from east to west in the 1400 block, when Amin-Toomaji was struck by a 2003 Mercedes-Benz, D.C. police said in a statement.

Amin-Toomaji was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The driver of the Mercedes remained at the scene, the statement said.

Police asked anyone with information about the incident to call 202-727-9099. Anonymous information may be submitted to the departments text tip line by messaging 50411.

 Dana Hedgpeth

MARYLAND

9-year-old boy is killed in boating accident

A 9-year-old boy died Wednesday in Ocean City after falling from a boat and being hit by its propeller, police said.

About 3 p.m., near Buoy No. 4, 17 people were on a pontoon boat rented from Under the Bridge Watersports, Maryland Natural Resources Police said in a statement.

Kaden Frederick of Howell, N.J., was bow-riding without a life jacket, his legs dangling in the water, when he fell overboard and was struck repeatedly by the propeller, the statement said.

A passing tour boat with two nurses, an emergency medical technician and two out-of-state, off-duty state troopers stopped to help and tried to resuscitate the boy but were unsuccessful, the statement said.

Police said the death was Marylands 11th boating fatality this year.

 Dana Hedgpeth

Man, fatally shot, is found in his car

Prince Georges County police said they are investigating the fatal shooting of a man who was found wounded in his car outside his home late Wednesday, authorities said.

About 11:35 p.m., officers were called to the 7200 block of Joplin Street in Capitol Heights for a reported shooting, police said.

When officers arrived, they found Oscar Colindres Garcia, 37, suffering from a gunshot wound, police said. Garcia was taken to a hospital, where he died, police said.

Detectives were trying to identify a motive and suspects in the case. They planned to canvass the area for tips Thursday evening.

Authorities are asking anyone with information to call 301-772-4925 or 866-411-TIPS (8477). They can also text PGPD with a message to CRIMES (274637). A reward of up to $25,000 is available for information leading to an arrest and indictment. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

 Lynh Bui
Pepco ratepayers Assya and Mario Pascalev are seen by the light of an LED lantern they use as a light inside their home in Bethesda, Md. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

Philosophers sometimes pay a high price for standing by their philosophies.

Socrates drank hemlock after being convicted of corrupting the youth of ancient Athens. Civilly disobedient Henry David Thoreau went to jail rather than pay his taxes.

And Assya and Mario Pascalev, philosophers from Bethesda, Md., are going without air conditioning.

Pepco shut off power to the couples Colonial home on Aug. 4 after the Pascalevs  both of whom have doctorate degrees in philosophy  declined to pay a monthly $14 fee for refusing installation of a smart meter. Theyre sweating out an August heat wave with their two teenage children and their Kerry blue terrier  that is, when theyre not taking refuge at Bethesdas Hilton Garden Inn.

We can afford to pay, Assya Pascalev said of the couples power bill, which stands at $634.94 after a two-year battle. Its not a matter of money, its a matter of principle.

Pepco ratepayers Assya and Mario Pascalev use an LED lantern to navigate their sweltering home at night in Bethesda, Md. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

[Grandparents $1,500 swing set creates a rift in wealthy suburb]

The couple, whose story was first reported by Bethesda magazine, have put no small amount of thought into their stand.

Many Americans may not have noticed as utilities across the country replaced old-fashioned meters read by humans with smart meters that can be read remotely.

The Pascalevs, scrutinizing their Pepco bill in their home near Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, did take note  and not just because of a one-time $75 opt-out fee that preceded the monthly charge. Mario Pascalev, who works in IT, has an academic paper in the works about moral issues created by complicated software user agreements. Assya is a Howard University professor who studies biomedical ethics.

When you have a conscientious objection, its a thought process rather than an arbitrary or emotional reaction, she said.

The first problem with smart meters, according to the Pascalevs: a lack of privacy. The meters, designed to help maintain your budget and control your energy costs, according to Pepcos website, offer too much information to utility companies and those who might hack them.

Each appliance has a signature and consumes a specific amount of power, a perspiring Mario Pascalev said as he wiped his brow in the sweltering dining room. If I am given this information, I would know where you are in the house.

And there are health and safety considerations, the Pascalevs say. Some argue that smart meters cause fires and are a source of dangerous radiation similar to cellphones and microwaves. The Maryland Public Service Commission, the administrative body that governs Pepco, says such concerns are unfounded.

[Do cellphones cause cancer? Dont believe the hype.]

Jonathan Libber, the president of Maryland Smart Meter Awareness, an anti-smart meter advocacy group, said smart meters were never tested for health effects before being installed en masse.

We may find 10 to 15 years from now there is a huge spike in childhood leukemia, he said. What do you say, Were sorry? Citing the preliminary results of a National Institutes of Health study that may link cellphone radiation to tumors in rats, Libber added: I would no longer say that these things may be dangerous. I would say they are dangerous.

The Pascalevs say that evidence about health risks from smart meters is inconclusive  but that what isnt broken shouldnt be fixed, especially when change compromises personal choice. After all, this couple met in Bulgaria in the 1980s, where, as university students, they fought against the then-Communist nations compulsory military service.

Were probably more sensitive to limitations on individual liberties, Assya Pascalev said.

Pepco, however, counters that smart meters bring a host of benefits. The meters dont just help consumers save money but communicate information about power use and outages that improves customer service.

Smart meters provide tremendous benefits to all of our customers by giving them detailed information on their energy usage and assisting if outages occur, a statement from Pepco spokesman Vince Morris said. We believe every one of our customers should embrace this smart technology and we believe strongly that suspicions that the meters are dangerous have no merit.

Company officials say 98 percent of Pepco customers in the District and 99 percent of the ones in Maryland have smart meters.

The Maryland Public Service Commission also stands by the move. Saying concerns about health and security are baseless, the PSC this year opposed legislation that would have prohibited opt-out fees and required utilities to notify customers before installing smart meters.

Those who refuse to get on board must pay for the old system they insist on sticking to.

There is no free opt-out option, the commission wrote in March. Without an opt-out charge, the vast majority of customers who accept smart meters would have to subsidize a parallel and redundant billing and operations system for customers who retain a legacy meter.

But the Pascalevs dont think they have a responsibility to their public utility.

I dont see how choice is in any way in conflict with the greater good, Assya Pascalev said.

As Pepco seeks a 10 percent rate increase in Maryland, the family is not alone in its stand against smart meters. Deborah Vollmer of Chevy Chase  known for a seven-year court battle with a neighbor over use of a shared driveway  is refusing to pay opt-out fees and is also subsidizing the Pascalevss $200 per night hotel bills.

[Declaring war against thy neighbor over a house and a shared driveway]

Lets take a deep breath, said Vollmer, who hasnt had her electricity turned off. Dont bully us into accepting something that may or may not prove to be beneficial in the long term.

The Pascalevs said their civil disobedience will soon end, although they arent sure when. They have a daughter on the way to college and a dog that needs more relief from the heat than trips around the neighborhood in an air-conditioned car. Thoreau, after all, only spent one night in jail  theyve gone without air conditioning for two weeks.

When the time comes to pay their balance, their Pepco philosophy will remain unchanged.

You know the thing they said about the unexamined life? Mario Pascalev said. Were thinking about stuff.
Paying his tributes to the Netaji, Arun Jaitley tweeted, 'Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was an icon of exemplary valour and sacrifice. We remember and pay him our respectful tribute on his death anniversary.'

By Indrajit Kundu: The family members of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose have raised serious objection to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for terming August 18 as Netaji's "death anniversary".

On Thursday, while paying his tributes to the leader, he tweeted, "Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was an icon of exemplary valour and sacrifice. We remember and pay him our respectful tribute on his death anniversary."

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Soon, Netaji's family members expressed their shock at the senior minister's comment. Expressing her "outrage" Netaji's niece Prof Chitra Bose said the family was "shocked beyond words".

'MYSTERY STILL BEING UNRAVELLED'



"The mystery is still being unravelled with the secret files coming out now. So how can he be so sure?" questioned Netaji's nephew Dr DN Bose adding that he feels Arun Jaitley had been misinformed.

Netaji's grand nephew Chandra Bose who was fielded by the BJP against Mamata Banerjee in the recent state assembly elections said, "the family does not accept August 18 as Netaji's death anniversary. We demand that such a statement be withdrawn and a regret be offered stating that it was a mistake."

"In the last commission of enquiry constituted by the Government of India, the Justice Mukherjee commission clearly stated that there was no air crash on August 18, 1945. So it is not correct to state this date as the death anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose," he added.

TWEET DELETED



Following the outrage expressed by Netaji's family members and activists on Twitter, Jaitley's tweet was subsequently deleted. However, there was no clarification given on whether it was a genuine faux pas.

For several years, members of the Bose family have been campaigning for complete declassification of all classified files relating to Netaji in order to unravel the mystery behind his disappearance in 1945.

Responding to the families plea, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began the declassification of secret Bose files. The first tranche of declassified files were released at the National Archives in New Delhi in February.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who took a lead by releasing the files under the possession of West Bengal government in September 2015 lashed out at Jaitley.

"Today is Raksha Bandhan I don't want to hurt anybody. But shocked with @arunjaitley Ji hurtful tweet this morning on Netaji. We're all hurt," she tweeted.

Also Read:

'2 Netaji files go missing from Prime Minister's Office, home ministry'



PM Modi declassifies 100 secret Netaji files, family members welcome move



New declassified Netaji files reveal Morarji Desai raised questions about freedom fighter's death





--- ENDS ---
The acting manager of two D.C. post offices and two of his employees took bribes in exchange for illegally delivering packages of marijuana, according to an indictment filed Thursday in D.C. federal court.

Deenvaughn Rowe is charged, along with letter carriers Kendra Brantley and Alicia Norman, with bribery and distribution of a controlled substance. All three were arrested Thursday.

According to the indictment, Rowe would monitor the arrival of marijuana packages at the Lamond Riggs and River Terrace post offices. He would then instruct Brantley and Norman to meet individuals, who would offer cash in exchange for the packages, on the street during their routes. They gave the cash to Rowe, according to the indictment. Between September 2015 and August of 2016, Rowe allegedly deposited $31,485 in bribes into his bank accounts.

It is not clear how the arrangement benefited Brantley and Norman.

To cover up the scheme, authorities, say, the two carriers would either fail to scan or scan with false information the packages containing marijuana.

Authorities appear to have been monitoring the trio since at least March. According to the indictment, that month and during the next two months, Brantley and Norman were repeatedly seen exchanging packages for cash with someone in a white Range Rover with California license plates. Phone calls among the three defendants were recorded before, during and after those deliveries.

The packages were coming from California and Oregon, according to the indictment. California residents will vote this fall on a ballot initiative to fully legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Oregon legalized the sale of marijuana last year.

Although possession of a small amount marijuana is legal in the District, the sale of the drug is not. According to the indictment, more than 100 kilograms of marijuana, or 220 pounds, were involved in the scheme.

More than 35,100 pounds of illegal narcotics delivered through the mail were seized by postal inspectors in 2015, according to the U.S. Postal Service.
Damaging winds and powerful thunderstorms caused thousands to lose electricity across the region Wednesday night as wind gusts sheared part of a roof from a Southeast Washington apartment building. And authorities said lightning might have sparked three house fires.

No injuries were immediately reported, but more than 17,000 customers were in the dark in Fairfax County and the city of Fairfax around 10 p.m. County officials reported that lightning may have ignited a small attic fire at a Centreville-area townhouse about 9 p.m. And trees toppled power lines and blocked roads across the Annandale and Lorton areas.

The fire was quickly brought under control, officials tweeted.

In the District, fire officials reported that gusts blew roofing from a four-story apartment building in the 1100 block of K Street SE. Several residents were forced to evacuate, but officials initially believed the buildings structure remained intact, according to a tweet from the fire department.

In Montgomery County, firefighters responded to a home in the 4000 block of Thornapple Street in Chevy Chase, where a lightning strike might have caused smoke and a fire from a garage, said Pete Piringer, a fire department spokesman.

And in Prince Georges County, firefighters quickly extinguished an attic fire sparked by lightning at a house in the 7100 block of Matthew Street in Greenbelt just after 10 p.m.

Heavy rains caused spot flooding of streets and gutters in the District and surrounding areas.

Pepco reported 14,000 customers without power, including 9,300 in Prince Georges County, 3,000 outages in the District and 1,600 in Montgomery County.

Dominion Power sustained 19,000 outages, including those across Fairfax County. Outages were also reported in Alexandria and Arlington.

Baltimore Gas and Electric reported 1,300 outages in Prince Georges County.
Amtrak Police Chief Polly Hanson attends a news conference at Union Station in Washington, D.C. on Sept.3, 2015. She joins Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in highlighting nationwide rail safety and security efforts. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

Amtraks inspector general has launched a fraud and conflict of interest investigation involving the rail systems top law enforcement officer, her alleged boyfriend and a counterterrorism contract she helped oversee, according to federal court documents.

Amtrak Police Chief Polly Hanson, who oversees 500 sworn officers and other personnel across the country, was deeply involved in preparing a contract that was awarded to ABS Consulting in May 2014, according to a statement from the inspector general filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Hanson  who also has served as chief of Metro Transit Police and executive director of the Strategic Services Bureau of the D.C. police force  failed to disclose the nature of her relationship with Kerry Thomas, senior director for Homeland Security Support Programs for ABS, the documents allege.

A statement from a senior special agent with the inspector generals office said an investigation was initiated in December 2015, based on allegations about Hanson and Thomass relationship. The allegations included that Hanson and Thomas have been romantically involved for a substantial period of time, that they cohabitate in Arlington, Va., and own a residence together in Delaware, and that, consequently, their actions regarding the procurement of the contract . . . were unethical and illegal.

According to the court records, Hanson and Thomas are listed as having separate apartments in the same building in Arlington, Va. They are listed as co-owners of a condominium unit in Dewey Beach, Del., and share a mortgage on it.

The court documents were filed as part of a response to a civil action by Hanson to limit investigators access to her bank records and other financial information.

Sara E. Kropf, Hansons attorney, said Wednesday night that Hanson was aware of the allegations by the inspector generals office and has cooperated fully with the investigation. She said that Hanson did disclose her personal relationship with one of the bidders and that Hanson did not personally benefit from the award of the project at all.

Ms. Hanson has been a respected law enforcement officer for 40 years, has a stellar reputation and is anxious to see this matter concluded, Kropf said.

Thomas and ABS Consulting did not respond to requests for comment.

ABS received a $713,609 contract, funded by the Department of Homeland Security, to provide counter-terrorism, law enforcement and rail specific training courses for Amtrak police under an initiative known as RailSafe, according to the filings. The training would provide information and familiarity with the railroad environment to partner law enforcement agencies across the country that help with rail system operations and emergencies, according to the documents.

In October 2015, the contract was changed to include training in 10 additional cities, bringing the total contract to $1,071,597, according to the filings.

From information gathered thus far by investigators, the relationship between Hanson and Thomas is quite close and personal, and includes a romantic relationship and a joint financial relationship that appears to go as far back as 2006, according to a filing in May by federal prosecutors representing the inspector general in the dispute over financial records sought in the investigation.

The filing continues: This close personal and financial relationship was not disclosed to Amtrak prior to the award of an Amtrak contract to ABS Consulting, a company in which Thomas is a Senior Director in charge of the Amtrak contract.

The inspector general is trying to determine whether Hanson violated federal wire- and mail-fraud laws and the federally supported railroads conflict-of-interest rules. The investigation into Hanson was first reported Wednesday night by WTTG-TV (Channel 5) in Washington.

Hanson was named Amtrak police chief in 2012. At the time, Amtraks chief executive and president, Joe Boardman, praised her strong police, security and intelligence background and said in a statement that she was exactly what is needed to improve the department.

Hanson also spent 27 years at the Metro Transit Police Department, where she started out as a police officer and was eventually promoted to chief of police. Additionally, she worked for three years for D.C. police.

The inspector general is also investigating whether Thomas and his company violated the federal False Claims Act and the contracts terms when they failed to disclose the relationship and the nature of the relationship to Amtrak prior to the award of the contract.

Amtrak officials declined to comment, citing the active investigation. The inspector generals office did not respond to a request for comment.

Thomas Hopkins, the senior special agent with the inspector general, asserted in court filings that in April 2014, Hanson sent Amtraks chief financial officer, who had recently been given the duties of ethics officer, an email that said, I just learned I know the bidder at ABS Consulting.

The email failed to disclose that she had known Thomas for 10 years and was in a personal or financial relationship with him, Hopkins wrote.

The ethics officer replied: Polly, as we discussed, I do not see an issue moving forward with this purchase agreement, according to the filings.

The ethics officer said that he did not recall that conversation but that if Hanson had told him that she had a close personal relationship with Thomas, as she claims to have done, he would have referred the matter to Amtraks legal department.

A top Amtrak procurement official and vice president said that if there had been a timely and complete disclosure of what he considers a conflict of interest, ABS would have been deemed ineligible for the contract, Hopkins wrote.

Jean-Louis Magda and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.
People displaced from a fire that killed two people and injured 31 at an apartment complex in Silver Spring, Md., find shelter and assistance from their neighbors. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

People displaced from a fire that killed two people and injured 31 at an apartment complex in Silver Spring, Md., find shelter and assistance from their neighbors. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

Augusto Jimenez and Maria Castellon had cleaned houses for more than two decades in the Washington area, finally saving enough five years ago to buy a piece of land and build a home in their native Nicaragua.

Jimenez, 62, and Castellon, 53, planned to retire there in three years, settling back in the tropical climate of La Paz Centro, a small town known for its markets and pottery, where the couple had started a life together more than 35 years ago. Their plan was shattered a week ago.

The couple died Aug. 10 in a late-night explosion and fire that ripped through the apartment building where they lived in Silver Spring, Md.

On Thursday, their son, Augusto Jimenez Jr., 35, was making funeral arrangements after police told him Wednesday evening that his parents had been identified as victims of the disaster.

Authorities have scheduled an update Friday on the continuing investigation into the cause of the explosion and their progress in identifying the remains of five others recovered from the rubble on Arliss Street.

Augusto Jimenez, 62, and Maria Castellon, 53, died in the Aug. 10 explosion and fire at the Silver Spring apartment building where they lived, according to relatives who said police confirmed the identifications to the couples son. (Family Photo)

Police did not comment Thursday on the identities of any of those who died.

The blast and fire also injured more than 30 and displaced about 100 as occupants of the building dropped children from windows to safety and escaped on stairs that began to collapse beneath them, survivors and witnesses have said.

[NTSB to lead investigation of explosion at apartments in Silver Spring]

The Jimenez family had watched investigators working at the site and waited for word on the couple, whose remains they plan to send to Nicaragua.

It was their dream to build that house, and they worked so hard for it, said Sandra Jimenez, 40, Augusto Jimenez Sr.s youngest sister. Last year, Jimenez and Castellon traveled the 3,500 miles to see their freshly painted two-bedroom brick house and to plan the construction of a studio where Jimenez would have spent his nights making music.

They were so happy, said Sandra Jimenez, that they invited the entire family to celebrate and see the home.

Jimenez and Castellon left Nicaragua in the early 1990s for the United States in search of economic opportunity. They settled in Silver Spring, and their children joined them a few years later. The couple lived at the Flower Branch Apartments for 16 years  occupying apartment 103 on the night of the explosion.

Before the couple started their cleaning business, Jimenez had worked as a contractor cleaning a Montgomery County government building in Bethesda and in Bethesda Cares, an organization that works with the homeless.

Through the years, many people they met while cleaning offices became clients as they built their housecleaning business. Those clients recommended others, and in time, some clients became the friends now mourning the couple.

Maria and Augusto were just the nicest people. They both were reliable, hardworking and took pride in their work, said Nancy Greene of Bethesda, who met them more than 20 years ago when Jimenez was still working in a county building. I cant imagine that anyone who met them would not like them immediately. Maria always had a big smile for everyone and was just so kind.

When Jimenez learned that a former social worker at Bethesda Cares was ill and needed someone to help with cleaning and laundry, Castellon immediately volunteered to help, Greene said.

She was always so cheerful and friendly and never once missed the job, Greene recalled.

Jimenez later offered to go grocery shopping for the ill friend, even though it meant dealing with the friends big envelope of coupons, which made the job more time-consuming, Greene said. When the man died several years later, Jimenez and Castellon were at the wake.

Cary Plamondon, another longtime client, described the couple as dedicated and kind. For more than 15 years, Castellon and Jimenez drove the more than 40 miles from Silver Spring to Frederick to clean the Plamondon home.

They were the kindest, sweetest people, and I loved that they worked together every day and had such a wonderful relationship with each other, Plamondon said. They worked hard, loved their family and shared some of their stories, as I did with them, Plamondon said. I cant believe we lost them.

[An anguished wait for families of those missing in Maryland apartment fire]

Even decades after moving to the United States, Jimenez and Castellon were nostalgic about their homeland, relatives say. Most evenings, Castellon prepared a traditional dinner that often featured the Nicaraguan style of mixed rice and beans known as gallo pinto.

Jimenez stayed connected with his homeland through music. He stayed up late listening to oldies he had played while with a band back home. He spent his free time playing the keyboard, guitar and flute in the couples two-bedroom apartment and had become passionate about new-age melodies that he said soothed the soul. He recorded his music and gave it to friends and relatives.

Each year, the couple would go home to Nicaragua bearing gifts from America for friends and relatives.

This year, they were especially excited at the prospect of meeting their newest grandchild, a baby girl born in May, relatives said. Castellon and Jimenez had four children in their family, all boys. Castellon had always wanted a girl and was especially happy at her granddaughters birth.

The couple never met her.

After so many years working for Washington-area families, Jimenez and Castellon were looking forward to retirement in Nicaragua. They were waiting for him to turn 65 to leave the life they had built in the United States and clients they had befriended, to return home.

They will be where they wanted to be, their son, Augusto Jimenez, said.

Two urns in their homes living room, where they can rest in peace.

Dan Morse contributed to this report.
Arvind Kejriwal today lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the raid at Delhi Commission for Women's (DCW) office by the Centre-controlled Anti-Corruption Bureau.

By India Today Web Desk: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the raid at Delhi Commission for Women's (DCW) office by the Centre-controlled Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

In a tweet in Hindi, he said: "Modiji did not spare even the DCW which is doing such commendable work. Modiji has done a very bad thing."

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Kejriwal was responding to a series of tweets posted by DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal expressing shock over the raids. Maliwal is a former active member of Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Delhi's ACB today carried out searches at DCW office in New Delhi in connection with complaints by a former Delhi Chief Secretary Omesh Sehgal and an ex-chief of the panel Barkha Shukla Singh.

The ACB officials claimed that they had intimated the DCW about their visit to collect certain documents regarding the complaints.

Barkha Singh, a former Congress MLA who headed the panel for nine years till last year, had filed a complaint with ACB recently alleging "nepotism and favouritism" by Maliwal in appointing employees to DCW.

She had claimed that several AAP supporters were given plum posts in the women's panel, an allegation strongly denied by Maliwal.

In another complaint, the former Delhi chief secretary had alleged that Maliwal was misusing her official position by issuing a show cause notice to a club of which he is a member.

A woman had claimed that Sehgal had harassed her by bumping into her constantly in the club's swimming pool. The woman had claimed that she and her husband were suspended from the club after they filed an FIR against Sehgal.

DCW had sought a reply from the club on the suspension of the couple's membership and the club's failure to forward the woman's complaint to the local complaints committee.

Maliwal could not be reached for her reaction on the ACB searches.

Kejriwal, as usual, tweeted and blamed the PM for the raids. In the past too, the Delhi CM has held the PM directly responsible for any action taken against his party MLAs, Delhi ministers or officers. He had stooped to a new low by calling Modi a "coward and psychopath" when his official Rajendra Kumar's office was raided.

(With inputs from PTI)

--- ENDS ---
Oscar Morel, 35, pleaded "not guilty" in a New York court on charges he shot and killed a Muslim cleric and his assistant outside a mosque. Police say they found the handgun used in the attack at Morel's house, but his attorney said he denies the charges. ( / Reuters)

Ten minutes after Oscar Morel allegedly killed an imam and his assistant, he cursed and then struck an Iraqi man walking his bicycle through a crosswalk, the man said yesterday.

Salim al-Shimiri, a fashion designer who fled the Iraq War, saw a black SUV moving erratically, glanced at the driver and tried to get out of the way.

Instead, the driver sped up and appeared to drive right at him, al-Shimiri said in an interview Wednesday.

I saw his face. It was anger, said al-Shimiri, 52. The force of the impact knocked him to the ground and left him badly bruised. A bystander reported a hit-and-run, police retrieved surveillance video from the accident and the scene of the double murder and saw the suspect fleeing into the car after the slaying and then striking al-Shimiri.

Morel, 35, faces the possibility of life in prison without parole in the execution-style killings of imam Maulama Akonjee and his assistant, Thara Uddin, both Bangladeshi immigrants and fathers of three, as they walked down a sidewalk near their mosque after Saturday afternoon prayers. He first was charged in the hit-and-run.

Investigators say they have not found a motive in either crime, but have not ruled out charging Morel with a hate crime, as well.

A porter at the New School in Manhattan, Morel was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder, an added count that brings the heavier penalty, said Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney. He is due in court again Thursday.

While the motivation for this violent act is still unclear and continues to be investigated, one of the possible motives being explored is whether this was a hate crime, Brown said in a statement. Crimes motivated by bias or hate are deplorable and can never be tolerated.

[Tension roils Queens immigrant community after killings]

The killings have sparked deep unease across the area, where many residents are convinced that the two Muslim men were killed in a hate crime.

Morel lived in the basement apartment of a house in Brooklyn, in a building that, like many around it, has bars covering the windows. His apartment entrance was around back of the blue house, down a narrow set of concrete steps, and facing an overgrown yard where some neighbors said he sold cars and car parts.

He tried to sell me a Lexus, said Ronald Clark, who lives nearby and said he periodically talked to Morel over the past few years.

He was cool to me, Clark said Wednesday. He didnt buy the Lexus from Morel  other people warned him it might be stolen  but he did drive his own car into Morels yard once to help him jump-start it. Another time, Morel tried to sell me a Honda Accord for parts, Clark said.

He was a nice person. . . . The only thing is  what would make him do that? asked Louis Garcia, who lives around the corner and said he had casual exchanges with Morel every so often.

Another neighbor, Gary Dematas, said Morel at one time had a small stand-alone pool in the back yard where he sometimes swam with children. But none of the neighbors seemed to know if Morel had a partner or children of his own.

Al-Shirmiri, still recovering from the accident, was badly shaken anew when he learned the man charged with hitting him also was charging with killed two men minutes before.

He fled Iraq for the United States in 2008 and said he has sometimes experienced discrimination as an Arab man. A landlord refused to rent to him, hes been kicked out of stores and he often avoids the question where are you from? Sometimes, he uses the name David Hunter.

But he views the country as his adopted home.

I think of America as the country of security, but I am afraid now, he said in his native Arabic. The best thing about America is the security and the fact that all people and all faiths can live together, but now I am scared.
MINNESOTA

Chief backs officer

who killed black driver

The police officer who killed a black motorist in a shooting whose bloody aftermath was live-streamed on Facebook was defended by his chief Wednesday as a level-headed member of the force with a real sound ability when it comes to communicating and relating to people.

In an interview with the Associated Press, St. Anthony Police Chief Jon Mangseth sketched a portrait at odds with the image of the officer screaming expletives while pointing his gun at the dying man in the video.

St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez fatally shot 32-year-old Philando Castile during a traffic stop in nearby Falcon Heights on July 6. Castiles girlfriend streamed the aftermath live on Facebook and said Castile was shot several times while reaching for his ID after telling the officer he had a gun permit and was armed.

Yanez was expected to return to work for the first time Wednesday, Mangseth said. He will perform desk duties and other administrative work until the investigation is completed, the chief said.

Mangseth wouldnt discuss details of the shooting, including what prompted the traffic stop that preceded Castiles death, citing the ongoing review of the incident.

Castiles death set off weeks of protests and calls for Yanez to be charged. It also put the sleepy collection of St. Paul suburbs in which St. Anthony police serve in the group of communities dealing with officer-involved shootings of black men, along with Baltimore, Ferguson, Mo., and most recently, Milwaukee.

 Associated Press

nasa

Rockets payload lost

in return to Earth

NASA on Wednesday said it lost the payload of a suborbital rocket carrying student experiments into the atmosphere as it returned to Earth, a rare occurrence thats being investigated.

The 20-foot-long tube carried high-definition cameras, various gauges and antennas from universities and community colleges. It was launched atop a rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility near Chincoteague Island and reached an altitude of about 95 miles before it descended toward the Atlantic Ocean.

NASA spokesman Keith Koehler said data was received from most of the experiments during the flight. A parachute was supposed to open at about 20,000 feet, but its unclear whether that happened, he said.

 Associated Press

ILLINOIS

Autopsy finds no drugs in teen slain by police

Paul ONeal, the black teen fatally shot last month by Chicago police in a controversial incident captured in part on video, suffered a single gunshot wound to the right side of his back, the Cook County medical examiners office determined in an autopsy made public Wednesday.

Toxicological testing found no drugs in ONeals system, the autopsy found.

The medical examiners report repeated claims that an officer believed ONeal may have fired shots during a chase. Authorities have said that ONeal was not armed.

Acting with unusual swiftness a little more than a week after the shooting, city officials released nine video clips from police dashboard and body cameras that showed apparent procedural errors by three officers who fired on ONeal, 18, as he fled July 28 in a reportedly stolen Jaguar and then on foot. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson stripped the three of their powers, citing potential policy violations.

 McClatchy-Tribune
Boys aboard an abandoned boat collect recyclable items through polluted waters in front of fishing boats at Fish Harbor in Karachi, Pakistan, August 17, 2016. (Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)

NORTH KOREA

Plutonium work has resumed, report says

North Korea says it has resumed plutonium production by reprocessing spent fuel rods and has no plans to stop nuclear tests as long as perceived U.S. threats remain, Japans Kyodo news agency reported Wednesday.

North Koreas Atomic Energy Institute, which has jurisdiction over the countrys main Yongbyon nuclear facilities, also told Kyodo that it had been producing highly enriched uranium necessary for nuclear arms and power as scheduled.

We have reprocessed spent nuclear fuel rods removed from a graphite-moderated reactor, the institute told Kyodo in a written interview.

The institute did not mention the amount of plutonium or enriched uranium it had produced, Kyodo said.

According to Kyodo, the North Korean institute said that it had already succeeded in making lighter and diversifying nuclear weapons and that it had no intention of halting nuclear tests. North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January.

Children sleep on the ground outside the former international airport in Athens, currently used as a temporary camp for migrants and refugees. (Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images)

North Korea will also build a 100,000-kilowatt light-water nuclear reactor for experimental use, the institute was quoted as saying, but it did not provide details.

 Reuters

MIGRANTS

Greeks, Turks carry out Aegean rescues

Greeces coast guard rescued 59 migrants from an inflatable dinghy off the island of Kos on Wednesday while a second vessel reported in trouble in the Aegean Sea was picked up by Turkish authorities.

A total of 147 people arrived on three Greek islands in the 24 hours between Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning, including those rescued in rough weather off Kos. Of the others, 44 reached the small island of Kalymnos and the remaining 44 were picked up by the coast guard from another inflatable dinghy off the island of Lesbos.

Also Wednesday, Turkeys coast guard rescued passengers on a migrant boat who had called for help citing engine problems, according to Greek authorities. The boat was found in Turkish waters after an initial search on the Greek side between the islands of Samos and Ikaria. The caller said about 50 people were on board.

With many islands close to the Turkish coast, Greece is a major entry point for hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees hoping for better lives in the European Union.

 Associated Press

Airstrikes on rebel-held Syrian city reportedly kill 17: A Syrian search-and-rescue group said 17 people were killed in airstrikes on the rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib. The local branch of the volunteer Syrian Civil Defense group said the airstrikes wounded at least 30. The group, which is also known as the White Helmets and operates in opposition-held areas, blamed the attack on government jets. Monitoring groups say rebel-held territory in the northwest has come under increasing attack by Syrian and Russian jets in recent weeks.

Four suspected militants killed in Russia: Russias top investigative body said four suspected militants were killed in a shootout with intelligence officers in St. Petersburg. The Investigative Committee said officers from the FSB security service were raiding apartments in Russias second-largest city looking for suspected Islamist insurgents who have fought in Russias North Caucasus. The investigators said the suspects were holed up in an apartment block on the outskirts of St. Petersburg and opened fire when the officers tried to detain them.

Indonesia cuts radical clerics sentence by three months: Indonesias government has cut a radical Islamic clerics prison term by three months as part of sentence reductions given to thousands of criminals on the countrys Independence Day, an official said. Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual leader of the militant group behind the 2002 Bali bombings, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2011 after being convicted of funding a terrorist training camp in Aceh. It was the second three-month reduction granted to Bashir.

Zambian opposition party to challenge election results: Zambias main opposition party will file a court petition against President Edgar Lungus reelection, its vice president said. The United Party for National Development says some electoral officials colluded with the ruling Patriotic Front to rig the vote, handing victory to Lungu over rival and main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema. The ruling party and the election officials deny the charge.

 From news services
YEMEN

Medical charity hit by attacks pares presence

Doctors Without Borders announced Thursday that it is withdrawing from northern Yemen because of what the international aid group called indiscriminate bombings and unreliable reassurances from the Saudi-led coalition fighting Shiite rebels in the country.

The group, known by its French abbreviation MSF, said an attack Monday on a hospital it supported in the area had killed 19 people and wounded 24  a toll higher than earlier reported.

The airstrike on Abs Hospital was the fourth and the deadliest attack on an MSF-supported medical facility during this war, while there have been numerous attacks on other health facilities all over Yemen, the Geneva-based group said in a statement.

MSF also said that airstrikes in northern Yemen, a stronghold of the rebels, known as Houthis, have intensified since peace talks collapsed this month.

The conflict in Yemen pits an internationally recognized government backed by a Saudi-led coalition against the Shiite Houthi rebels. The coalition, supported by the United States, has been carrying out airstrikes in Yemen since March 2015.

MSF said the bombardment had continued despite its sharing of the GPS coordinates of its hospitals with the parties involved in the conflict.

 Associated Press

TURKEY

Kurdish rebels blamed for attacks that kill 14

Attacks blamed on Kurdish rebels and targeting Turkeys security forces killed more than a dozen people and wounded more than 220, officials said Thursday.

Authorities blamed the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which is conducting a campaign of violence against security forces.

The attacks come as Turkey is focused on a clampdown on suspected followers of a movement led by U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, which the government accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup last month that killed at least 270 people.

A car bombing hit a police station in the eastern province of Van late Wednesday, killing a police officer and two civilians. At least 73 people  53 civilians and 20 police officers  were wounded, officials said.

Another car bombing hit police headquarters in the eastern city of Elazig early Thursday, killing at least five people, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Officials said 146 people were wounded.

In the southeastern province of Bitlis, meanwhile, five soldiers were killed when rebels detonated a roadside bomb as an armored military vehicle was passing by, officials said. Five soldiers were wounded. A government-paid village guard helping the security forces battle the PKK was killed in a clash with rebels in the province, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

 Associated Press

Russian prosecutors blacklist 2 more U.S. groups: Russian prosecutors have declared two more U.S. nonprofit organizations undesirable under a repressive law intended to tighten the Kremlins control over the political landscape. The prosecutor generals office said the activities of the International Republican Institute and the Media Development Investment Fund pose a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the state. Five other U.S. nonprofit organizations were earlier blacklisted under the 2015 law.

Egypt sentences 418 alleged Brotherhood backers: An Egyptian military court has sentenced 418 alleged supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood to prison terms, including life imprisonment, for involvement in violence in 2013. Court documents show that the decision was related to the storming of a police station in the Minya area after the military cleared two Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo, killing hundreds in the process. The court sentenced 350 defendants in absentia to 25 years or life imprisonment, while 68 defendants present were sentenced to two to 10 years.

British Ebola nurse under scrutiny: A British nurse who developed Ebola working in Sierra Leone is facing disciplinary action over allegations that she lied about her temperature during health checks on her return. The Nursing and Midwifery Council alleges that Pauline Cafferkey allowed an incorrect temperature to be recorded at Heathrow Airport on Dec. 29, 2014, and intended to conceal that she had a temperature higher than 96 degrees Fahrenheit. The council said a full hearing is scheduled for next month. Cafferkey could lose the right to practice.

 From news services
By PTI: Chandigarh, Aug 17 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the decision of appointing an Administrator of Chandigarh, saying the capital city belongs to Punjab and its right over it can never be "diluted or compromised with".

In a statement, Badal also asked the Centre not to "disturb" the time tested convention and practice of keeping the Governor of Punjab as the Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

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While urging Modi to review the decision, he said it violates the premise under which the arrangement was originally made, which was that Chandigarh belongs to Punjab and has to be transferred to the state.

Badal also spoke to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh over the issue this evening.

He reiterated that Chandigarh belongs to Punjab and the right of the state on its capital city can never be "diluted or compromised".

Holding the successive Congress governments squarely responsible for "injustice and discrimination" against Punjab, Badal said Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi went "back on solemn pledges" made to the people of Punjab on the floor of the parliament regarding the transfer of Chandigarh.

He dismissed Amarinder Singhs statement on the subject today as "nothing more than a case of a crocodile shedding tears.

"Will captain Singh please tell Punjabis as to who kept Chandigarh and other Punjabi speaking areas out of Punjab? Will he also tell why the city was not transferred to Punjab on January 26, 1986, as promised under the Rajiv-Longowal Accord which he now talks about? Will he also tell why did he not resign as senior minister in the Punjab government when the Rajiv Gandhi government at the centre had betrayed Punjabis at the eleventh hour on the midnight of January 25-26, 1986," Badal said.

"Amarinder or any other Congress leader has no moral right to speak on the subject," he said, adding "they are the real culprits for Chandigarh being denied to Punjab as well as other acts of injustice and discrimination against the state."

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also condemned the Centre on the appointment of Administrator and described the move as "anti-Punjab".

The party demanded Badals should clarify their stand on the decision. (MORE) PTI CHS AKA DKS AQS ZMN AQS

--- ENDS ---
In his Aug. 14 op-ed, Lessons of the failed Soviet coup, Stephen Sestanovich, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for the former Soviet Union from 1997 to 2001, wrote that Russian President Boris Yeltsin picked Vladimir Putin as his successor and made it easy for Putin to become popular. Although Yeltsin handed power over to Mr. Putin, few factors made it likely that Mr. Putin, then an unknown, uncharismatic bureaucrat with less-than-popular career ties to the KGB, would become popular, much less succeed, in the presidency.

At the time of his appointment, neither the Russian media nor Yeltsins political opponents were supportive; most were hostile to Mr. Putin as the election approached. The Russian economy was in shambles. Unrest within Russias borders was an obstacle to any Yeltsin successor.

Russian oligarchs were very powerful. They had made possible the reelection of a sick and politically weak Yeltsin, divided the Russian economy among themselves and controlled Russian media. The recurring fight with Chechen separatists was serious  a bloody conflict with these separatists damaged Yeltsins presidency. Mr. Putins risky decision to attempt a military solution was attacked as shortsighted and foolhardy by Russian and foreign media.

There were and there remain real concerns in Russia about the expansion of NATO right up to Russias borders. As far back as 1998, George Kennan, former ambassador to the Soviet Union, said, I think it is the beginning of a new Cold War.

Mr. Putins rise to power and popularity was not easy. Lets not underestimate his ability to pose a dangerous threat to Europe and the United States.

Thomas Bickerton, Vienna

The writer was a staff member of the U.S. Information Agency; a consultant for coordinating exchanges for a U.S.-U.S.S.R. bilateral technical agreement; and a Russian foreign-affairs specialist, economist and remote-sensing coordinator with the U.S. Agriculture Department from 1977 to 2014.
OF ALL the murky financial links to Russia and Ukraine involving Paul Manafort, the just-demoted campaign chairman for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, the most disturbing so far was published Tuesday by the Associated Press. Mr. Manafort is reported to have helped a pro-Russian party in Ukraine route at least $2.2 million in payments to a pair of prominent Washington lobbying firms in 2012. According to the AP account, the lobbying firms did not register as foreign agents under U.S. law with the Justice Department, potentially obscuring from public view a foreign political partys attempts to influence Congress.

Mr. Manafort has made a career out of working on overseas political campaigns. A generation ago, he advised the Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. His work in Ukraine over the past decade has been well-known, especially how he helped Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian politician, engineer a turnabout in his fortunes to become Ukraines president, until he fled office in the face of mass demonstrations in 2014, triggering Russian President Vladimir Putins seizure of Crimea and instigation of a violent insurrection in the eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. Mr. Manaforts work abroad has raised questions about whether he might be channeling into the Trump campaign some kind of influence from Russia and Mr. Putin. The questions have been deepened by Mr. Trumps expressed affinity for the Russian strongman, by his association with Russian and Russian American businessmen, and by a change in the GOP platform on Ukraine this summer that was in Mr. Putins favor.

Now add this: Mr. Manafort and a business associate were working in 2012 on behalf of Mr. Yanukovychs political party when they steered money to a nonprofit organization, the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, which subsequently paid $2.2 million to the lobbying firms to advocate positions in line with Mr. Yanukovychs government. The two recipient firms were Podesta Group Inc., led by Tony Podesta, whose brother, John Podesta, is now chairman of Hillary Clintons campaign, and Mercury LLC, led by former Minnesota Republican congressman Vin Weber.

Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, lobbyists must declare publicly if they represent foreign leaders or foreign political parties and file detailed reports to the Justice Department. A violation carries criminal penalties, although the law is not often enforced. Neither of the lobbying firms registered in this case, and they told the Associated Press they didnt believe it was necessary.

Mr. Manafort is no neophyte when it comes to the rules of lobbying and politics. It appears from the AP article that the nonprofit functioned as an intermediary for the money from Ukraine. If not a violation of the letter of the law, it certainly appears to circumvent the spirit. This is precisely the kind of opacity that generates suspicion about Mr. Trump, who has been less than forthcoming about his corporate and personal finances. American voters are right to wonder whether Russia is attempting to meddle in the U.S. presidential campaign, and to what extent Trump & Co. might be enabling that.
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to see Donald Trump become the next president of the United States. To that end, Putin and his government have taken unprecedented steps to influence our electoral process to help the Republican Partys nominee. Whether Russias interventions will succeed is not obvious. But its clear that Putins government has the motives  and the means  to try.

Putin has rational motives for wanting Trump to win: Trump champions many foreign policies that Putin supports. Trumps most shocking, pro-Kremlin proposal is to look into recognition of Crimea as a part of Russia. President Obama and nearly every member of Congress  Republican and Democrat  have rejected that idea vigorously. Only Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela have recognized Russias annexation of Crimea. Naturally, Putin would love to see the United States join that list.

Trump also has made clear his disdain for the United States alliances around the world. Demonstrating his misunderstanding of how NATO works, Trump has demanded that other NATO members essentially pay us for protection, making many of our allies, especially in the eastern part of Europe, nervous about his commitment to defend them. Trump has also disparaged our allies in Asia, creating new opportunities for Russian influence. On trade, Trumps promises to disrupt our agreements also play right into Putins agenda. From Putins perspective, what could be a better way to start the New Year than a trade war between the United States and China or Mexico? Trumps threats to stop paying our debts also would radically undermine our credibility as a lender, another desirable outcome for Putin.

On the whole, Trump advocates isolationist policies and an abdication of U.S. leadership in the world. He cares little about promoting democracy and human rights. A U.S. retreat from global affairs fits precisely with Putins international interests. And if Mr. Trump becomes president, experts on U.S. politics predict a tumultuous period domestically. If a President Trump tried to implement his radical ideas regarding immigration or walling off our southern border, a serious push-back effort would ensue, both in Congress and in the country as a whole. A United States convulsed by infighting over Trumps deeply divisive policy proposals gives Putin more freedom to act around the world.

If a Trump victory would serve Putins interests, a President Hillary Clinton would not. Clinton will never recognize Crimea as part of Russia, seeks to strengthen relations with our allies and speaks out about human rights.

Putin and his government already know Clinton from her four years as secretary of state. They remember the tough line she took in seeking to negotiate a political transition in Syria; her efforts  though failed  to get Russia to support even modest U.N. Security Council resolutions regarding this humanitarian tragedy; and her early advocacy for arming Syria opponents of Bashar al-Assad, Moscows ally. They remember her public criticism of irregularities in Russias December 2011 parliamentary election, which Putin lambasted as a signal to Russian protesters to take to the streets against him. And they remember her portrayal of Putins prized foreign policy project  the creation of the Eurasia Economic Union  as a a move to re-Sovietize the region. No one should be surprised that Putin and his government would rather see Trump in the White House.

Putin not only has strong motives for wanting to Trump to win over Clinton, but also has some means to try to influence our presidential vote.

Kremlin-controlled media outlets have stated publicly their preference for Trump. RT, Russias state-controlled television station broadcasting in the United States, has a clear preference for Trump. In one of many pro-Trump reports, the Russian state-controlled news service, Sputnik, said it confirmed Trumps claim about Obama being the founder of the Islamic State and tweeted the hashtag: #CrookedHillary. With vigor and volume, pro-Kremlin bloggers echoed these same messages on Twitter and Facebook. Putin himself has weighed in, praising Trump as a colorful (yarkii) and talented politician (though not as a genius, as Trump has claimed), who seems more amenable to work with Russia than other candidates.

More audaciously, Russians apparently stole emails from the Democratic National Committee, after which Trump then encouraged Russian spies to steal again and publish more of Clintons emails. No one should be surprised that the Russian government uses its incredible cyber capabilities to collect intelligence on important U.S. politicians. That is what spies are supposed to do. What they have never done in the past, however, is publish stolen information to influence a U.S. presidential election.

1 of 60 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  What Donald Trump is doing on the campaign trail View Photos The GOP presidential nominee is out on the trail ahead of the general election in November. Caption The GOP presidential nominee is pressing his case ahead of Election Day. Nov. 7, 2016 Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

To be precise, WikiLeaks  not the Kremlin  dumped this data into the public domain on the eve of the Democratic National Convention with the clear and successful intent of damaging the Democratic Party and their candidate for president. To remind, WikiLeaks is a foreign agent now meddling directly in our electoral process. We are unlikely to ever know for sure if Russian spies gave this data to WikiLeaks, as WikiLeaks refuses to say and probably would not even know. The Russians are sophisticated enough to use intermediaries to make sure the recipients of the stolen information would not know the original source. WikiLeaks is promising to release more emails, fueling expectations about a possible October surprise.

U.S. electoral experts, not me, must judge whether Russian efforts will sway the elections this fall. From my amateur armchair, the tactics seem crude and counterproductive. Does Sputnik tweeting #CrookedHillary really win over any undecided voters? I hope not, but I dont know. What I do know is that Secretary Clinton could well become President Clinton on Jan. 20, 2017. Russian officials  from Putin to the person running the Sputnik Twitter account  might want to start thinking about what they plan to do then, and stop playing around with our electoral process now.
Daniel Akerson was chairman and chief executive of General Motors from 2010 to 2014 and was vice chairman and special adviser to the board of directors for the Carlyle Group from 2014 to 2016.

I am the son of a World War II and Korean War veteran. As a young man, the men I respected most were my father and my uncles, who collectively fought in the Battle of the Atlantic and the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, D-Day, Iwo Jima and Inchon. I came of age in the service of our nation. I never had a draft card. I entered the U.S. Naval Academy before my 18th birthday and served in the Navy for five years. My older brother volunteered as well. Simply put, it was expected. We were raised in a good Catholic home and believed in God and country. My wife of 44 years and I have sought to pass these values to our kids and grandkids.

And I have always voted for Republicans for president. Not this year.

The compelling rationale behind this decision: leadership. A good leader must demonstrate such qualities as competence, integrity, empathy, character and temperament. Hillary Clinton has these essential qualities. Donald Trump does not.

Trump simply lacks the competence to serve as president of the United States. His knowledge of economic policy and foreign affairs is rudimentary, at best; his views are misguided. His threat to impose prohibitive tariffs on trade would repeat mistakes that contributed to the Great Depression. His words and actions have rattled our European and Asian allies at a time when Russia and China are resurgent. He has demonstrated neither the capacity nor the inclination to learn from experts in global economics.

Trump claims great business prowess. Running the U.S. government is perhaps the most complex global chief executive job in the world. Everything one does as the leader of the free world is watched by markets, foreign governments, our competitors and our enemies. This requires a steady hand and temperament.

When I worked at General Motors, our global operations comprised more than 100 plants and roughly a quarter-million employees. Supply-chain management and the orchestration of commodities, parts and components around the globe required a multinational, interdisciplinary effort. In every chief executive job I have had, my team and I spent countless hours analyzing global trends, listening to experts, learning from others and making informed, reasoned decisions. Trump does none of that. While running a successful hotel business is honorable and hard work, there is no comparison to running a sophisticated global operation such as the U.S. government. Trump is simply not up to a job of this complexity.

During a speech in Youngstown, Ohio, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump outlined some of his plans to defeat the Islamic State and protect the United States. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

Long ago, I learned an old Navy saying from a good friend and now-retired admiral: Ship, shipmate, self. This motto set the priorities for my life during my service. The civilian equivalent would be country, fellow citizen, self. As individuals and as a nation, we must aspire to serve the greater good. We must exhibit the empathy that places the greater good of the nation and its people above individual self-interest.

Unfortunately, Trump has appealed to the lowest common denominators in our society: prejudice, xenophobia and intolerance. He has mocked people with disabilities, tarred ethnic minorities, demeaned women and insulted religious leaders, including the pope.

When Trump questioned the patriotism and sacrifice of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and, thereby, other prisoners of war, he demonstrated a complete lack of respect for the men and women in uniform, as well as our veterans. He appeared unable to empathize or comprehend the sense of isolation and despair associated with years of imprisonment. But he did not stop there.

When asked how he has sacrificed for our country, Trump compared his experiences in real estate to that of a mother who lost her son after that brave young man volunteered for service in the U.S. Army. Trumps complete lack of empathy and his failure to understand the heartache of a grieving mother disqualify him from being commander in chief. What kind of person equates the sacrifice of the loss of a child to that of creating jobs or making money?

Trump has resorted to schoolyard name-calling and skewed the truth too many times. I simply do not believe that Trump could stand tall like John F. Kennedy did during the Cuban Missile Crisis, demonstrate the strength of Ronald Reagan in bringing about the end of the Cold War or articulate the vision of George H.W. Bush to support a unified Germany when the wall came down.

By contrast, Clinton has been tested. She has demonstrated balance, calm and an even temperament. She has an unparalleled knowledge of foreign and economic policy; she has run complex organizations such as the State Department. Over the years, she has demonstrated that she can take criticism and work with even her most strident political opponents. Like other leaders, including myself, she has made mistakes. I believe she has learned from those mistakes. In my opinion, she is ready to be commander in chief on Day One.

Many of my fellow chief executives will question my decision to speak out. My choice is grounded in the Midwest values that I learned from my parents and grandparents. I hope and believe that one day my grandchildren will be proud that I stood up to speak out about what is right for our country. Ultimately, our greatest duty to our country is to put our future, and our childrens future, above partisan politics.
IT WOULD have made a mockery of justice had the man who did so much to debase politics in the District walked out of court without facing prison time. Incredibly, thats what prosecutors had recommended in the case of Jeffrey E. Thompson, the fat cat city contractor-turned-campaign-finance scofflaw whose shenanigans included masterminding the shadow campaign behind former mayor Vincent C. Grays (D) election in 2010.

Providentially, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, possessed of a broader sense of the publics interest, sentenced Mr. Thompson to three months behind bars, a token but nonetheless meaningful term for a figure she called the leader, organizer, and mastermind of this conspiracy.

Mr. Thompson could have faced up to seven years incarceration for illegally funneling more than $3 million to more than two dozen candidates over six years, including more than $650,000 to Mr. Grays campaign. He was saved from that by what prosecutors called his extraordinary cooperation, which he delivered only after the failure of his initial gambits to destroy evidence and spirit a key witness out of the country.

His relatively slight punishment, which also includes a $10,000 fine and 36 months of probation, was Mr. Thompsons prize for having spilled the beans on a retinue of his retainers and associates who did his bidding, some of whom are already serving harsher sentences than he received.

Its worth remembering that Mr. Thompson, praised to the skies for his candor by prosecutors, clearly implicated Mr. Gray as fully cognizant of the illegal cash sloshing around his campaign. Mr. Gray denies this and refused, two years ago, a proposal from prosecutors that he plead guilty to a single felony count. Late last year, a new U.S. attorney, Channing D. Phillips, pulled the plug on prosecuting Mr. Gray in the face of reports that Mr. Thompsons unrelated personal conduct may have undermined his credibility had he been asked to testify in court. The taint of Mr. Grays close association with Mr. Thompson will linger  owing in no small part to the former mayors six associates convicted of felonies arising from the illegal shadow campaign  even after his likely return to public office as Ward 7 representative to the D.C. Council after this falls election.

Prosecutors made the case that Mr. Thompson, once a local symbol of prestige and financial success, had suffered sufficiently, citing his loss of status and liquidity; he is said to owe many hundreds of thousands of dollars, probably in legal bills. If not for him, they said, the full story of the Districts electoral culture of corruption may not have been told.

Granted, it has been a precipitous fall from grace for a fellow who once rubbed elbows with celebrities. Yet for all Mr. Thompsons noble pronouncements  One can only accept responsibility with a clear conscience, he told the court  his schemes were acts of unalloyed self-interest, intended to grease the wheels of municipal government and keep contracts flowing to his firms. Popular cynicism, distrust and a sense that the system is rigged: This is the legacy of Jeffrey E. Thompson.
Regarding Esther Bowrings Aug. 13 Free for All letter, Sorriest bus stop coverage:

Under what circumstance does it make sense to spend $3.8 million for a 1,000-foot sidewalk to a bus stop that serves 15 people per day? When the $3.8 million is someone elses money.

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation is planning to spend $400,000 per year to provide bus service to a community of 60 people on River Road  more than $6,000 per person per year. Thats about $20,000 per family per year. The county could buy each family a new Mercedes-Benz every four years instead. This is the same government that just raised taxes because of a lack of sufficient funds to provide adequate schools and services.

And the traffic control devices the department is considering are part of a flood of unnecessary traffic lights popping up throughout Montgomery County at a cost of up to $500,000 each.

Other peoples money.

Mark Stamm, Potomac
Regarding the Aug. 17 Food article Virginia brewer becomes a pariah at its own party:

It is true, as Brewers Association craft beer program director Julia Herz said, When a small brewer sells to a large company, they choose to willingly, and should expect their position in the brewing community to change and customer relationships to change. However, we should applaud the success of Devils Backbone and appreciate Anheuser-Buschs ability to recognize changing tastes of beer lovers around the country.

Goose Island, once a Chicago-based brewery, was bought by Anheuser-Busch in 2011. Tweaks were made to the original recipes, but Goose Island fans, including critics at the Chicago Tribune, order a 312 Urban Wheat Ale all over the United States.

The departure of Devils Backbone from Virginias independent beer scene leaves a space for smaller ventures to gain traction. Hankering for a hoppy brew in the Shenandoah Valley? Try a Neptude IPA from Pen Druid, new to Sperryville. Or replace Devils Backbones Vienna Lager with a Fire in the Sky from Charlottesvilles South Street Brewery.

Beer lovers should be happy Anheuser-Busch sees the growing craft beer market as an opportunity instead of competition. The decline of Bud Light sales wont put it out of business, but the award-winning Schwartz Bier from Devils Backbone just might persuade a Budweiser loyalist to try something new.

Emily Pomeranz, Washington
The top cops have told India Today that the post mortem that was conducted on the bodies have not indicated presence of liquor content in the blood.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: The Bihar government has claimed that 13 deaths that took place in the hooch tragedy in Gopalganj are not a fallout of consumption of spurious liquor. The top cops have told India Today that the post mortem that was conducted on the bodies have not indicated presence of liquor content in the blood.

Speaking to India Today, Sunil Kumar, IG Muzaffarpur zone said that the postmortem report did not point towards the liquor angle for the deaths.

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"The post mortem report does not give a clarity over presence of liquor content in the blood", said Sunil Kumar, IG Muzaffarpur Zone.

The government which is facing allegation of trying to hush up the case and dismiss the liquor theory, however, maintained that the blood samples of the dead that have been collected will go through forensic examination before arriving at a final conclusion for reason of deaths.

"The FSL team has also reached Gopalganj from Patna to conduct thorough examination", informed Sunil Kumar.

On the other hand, family members of the deceased have claimed that the deaths took place because of liquor intake.

Speaking to India Today, Umesh Ram, who is uncle of Raju Ram (35), one of the deceased said that his nephew had drunk and come home on Tuesday morning and also later in the evening. Raju was working as a daily wager in a factory in Mumbai and had come back home for to meet his family.

"Raju after coming home, complained of stomach ache and uneasiness following which he was rushed to hospital. The doctors referred him to Patna seeing his condition worsening. He died on the way", said Umesh Ram.

The government may be aggressively dispelling the liquor theory for the deaths but the symptoms which caused the 13 deaths are similar where the deceased complained of stomach ache and vomitting leading to sudden death.

IG Sunil Kumar along with Saran Commissioner Narmadeshwar Lal, DIG Ajeet Rai are camping in Gopalganj after the hooch incident took place leading to 13 deaths.

5 arrested in Gopalganj hooch tragedy, 1,000 litres of spurious liquor recovered

--- ENDS ---
Here's what you need to know about the Breitbart News chairman who just became Donald Trump's new campaign CEO. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Here's what you need to know about the Breitbart News chairman who just became Donald Trump's new campaign CEO. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

At the lowest point of Donald Trumps quest for the presidency, the Republican nominee might have brought in a political handyman to sand his edges. Instead, he put his campaign in the hands of a true believer who promises to amplify the GOP nominees nationalist message and reinforce his populist impulses.

Steve Bannon is a fighters fighter. He is somebody who wants to be the first boots on the beach. In the military, its called the tip of the spear, said David Bossie, a conservative activist. It was Bossie who five years ago introduced Trump to Bannon, the top executive of the new media clarion of the establishment-loathing right, Breitbart News.

Breitbart has since become a champion of Trumps candidacy  in large part because Stephen K. Bannon himself believes it represents a cause much bigger than a political campaign. Bannon sees Trumpism as part of a global movement that will continue, no matter who is sitting in the Oval Office next January, those close to him say.

Last September, when hardly anyone else on this side of the Atlantic was taking the prospect of a British exit from the European Union seriously, Bannon invited influential Republican leaders to a dinner for Nigel Farage, the head of the UK Independence Party, at the Capitol Hill townhouse known as the Breitbart Embassy.

Bossie and others hailed Bannons pick as a sign that Trump, whose campaign has wobbled since the GOP convention, will return to the messages that won him the Republican nomination.

The Fix's Chris Cillizza explains why Donald Trump demoted campaign chief Paul Manafort and added two new top advisers  Breitbart News chief Stephen Bannon and pollster Kellyanne Conway. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

Its been frustrating that the campaign is not as vibrant and agile as we thought it could be at this stage, Bossie said. Steve is all action, action, action.

Democrats saw a darker, more divisive turn in the selection of Bannon to hold the new title of chief executive.

Robby Mook, campaign manager for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, told reporters on Wednesday: We absolutely expect, with this change, for Donald Trump and the campaign as a whole to double down on more conspiracy theories, more hateful rhetoric, more wild accusations.

Mook also called Breitbart News a divisive, at times racist, anti-Muslim conspiracy news site, citing a report earlier this year by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal advocacy organization.

One headline last October dubbed Bannon the most dangerous political operative in America.

In that Bloomberg News article, Joshua Green reported that Andrew Breitbart, the late founder of the site, had described Bannon, with sincere admiration, as the Leni Riefenstahl of the Tea Party movement, a reference to the infamous and glamorous maker of Third Reich propaganda films.

Moviemaking has been one of the many chapters of Bannons career, which had previously included four years aboard a Navy destroyer, a post-MBA stint with Goldman Sachs, and founding an investment firm specializing in media.

1 of 60 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  What Donald Trump is doing on the campaign trail View Photos The GOP presidential nominee is out on the trail ahead of the general election in November. Caption The GOP presidential nominee is pressing his case ahead of Election Day. Nov. 7, 2016 Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

In one particularly felicitous deal, Bannons fee included an early stake in Seinfeld, the residuals of which alone would turn out to be enough to make him wealthy.

Along the way, he developed a worldview remarkably in tune with what is now regarded as Trumpism: suspicious of free trade and liberal immigration policies, wary of military adventurism, and contemptuous of the old order.

Bannon grew up in a working-class Democratic family in Norfolk, Va. He has attributed his disillusionment with the Democrats to his years in the Navy under Jimmy Carter as commander in chief, and said his experience running businesses in Asia while George W. Bush was president convinced him that establishment Republicans were no better.

Bannon met Andrew Breitbart at a Beverly Hills screening of a 2004 Bannon-produced documentary on Ronald Reagan.

We screened the film at a festival in Beverly Hills, Bannon told Bloombergs Green, and out of the crowd comes this, like, bear whos squeezing me like my heads going to blow up and saying how weve gotta take back the culture.

At the time, Breitbart was trying to get his own website going, after having been an editor for the conservative aggregator Matt Drudge and a researcher for Arianna Huffingtons left-leaning Huffington Post. Bannon signed on to Breitbarts new venture.

After Breitbarts death from heart failure in 2012, Bannon vowed to carry on his vision by building a global operation of real hell fighters.

His operation has a more wonkish side as well, in the form of the nonprofit Government Accountability Institute, which produced the best-selling book Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Business Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.

Trump was not the first potential president to catch Bannons eye.

In 2011, Bannon released a two-hour documentary about Sarah Palin called The Undefeated, attempting to reshape the way that voters and the media viewed the former candidate for vice president.

The reason she draws this kind of fire is that she is an existential threat to the establishment, Bannon told Fox Newss Sean Hannity during the films promotional tour. The vested interests in our country are scared to death of her.

While Palin dithered about whether to run for president, the documentary flopped, grossing $116,381. But Bannon remained convinced that the GOP was ripe for a populist takeover. That, say former employees of the site, was what set up the sites aggressive coverage of illegal immigration, and what turned into the most pro-Trump news source.

In March 2014, after BuzzFeeds McKay Coppins ran an unflattering report on what happened after traveling with Trumps fake presidential campaign, Breitbart published a series of stories in which Trump allies attacked the reporter. This nervous geek isnt fit to tie the Donalds wing tips, Palin said, defending Trump against Coppins.

When Trump became a candidate for president, the relationship deepened, and the billionaire frequently made himself available to break news on his race.

He went to Breitbart to mock Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish and to attack Republicans for folding on trade. In a typical interview, conducted in November, Bannon joked that he himself had gone to the poets version of business school  Harvard, and he helped Trump dump criticism on the Republicans consultant class.

Former employees of Breitbart describe a work environment that mirrors the Trump campaign. Reporters who couldnt break or match news were chewed out with profanities; reporters on his good side were drawn into a hypercompetitive battle to own the news.

All were encouraged to sign contracts with strict nondisclosure agreements. Several described Bannon pushing reluctant reporters onto stories by telling them: I didnt get where I am by being a Boy Scout.

In March 2016, after Trump won Florida and held a news conference, Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields tried to ask Trumps then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski a question and was pushed aside.

Chat logs later obtained by BuzzFeed revealed that Breitbart leadership wanted Fields to lay off the story and for members of the team to avoid tweeting about it. Fields quit, followed by several Breitbart staffers, including longtime editor-at-large Ben Shapiro.

Hell tell Trump hes doing a fantastic job even if he isnt, Shapiro wrote Wednesday on his new site, The Daily Wire. Thats how Bannon Svengalis political figures and investors  by investing them in his personal genius, then hollowing them out from the inside. Theres a reason Sarah Palin went from legitimate political figure to parody artist to Trump endorser, with Steve Bannon standing alongside her every step of the way.

A lot of the people that you like and respect have targets on their backs as a result of Bannons ascent to the top, wrote Ben Howe, an editor at the conservative blog Red State who had spoken out against Trump. You have no idea how dangerous this man is. It is going to be score settling time for him if Trump wins. 

If Donald Trump won the election, and Steve Bannon were his chief of staff, I would have legitimate fears about the use of government power to come after political enemies, Shapiro said. I dont think Steve Bannon has principles.

But a current employee of Breitbart, who had not been authorized to speak for the record, disputed that characterization of his boss: What he does is he gets the best out of people.

That, it would appear, is what Trump is hoping, as well.

david.weigel@washpost.com
A new Afghan biometric ID card, which is supposed to prevent voter fraud, has not been issued because of fights over whether to put ethnic information on the document. (Pam Constable/The Washington Post)

It is one of the few things everyone in Afghanistan can agree on  the need for a new, electronically readable, biometrically secure ID card that will help build a sense of national identity and prevent the kind of massive voter fraud that has marred the past two presidential elections.

The new card was promised by President Ashraf Ghani soon after he took office nearly two years ago and approved by parliament last year. It was designed by experts and financed by international donors. More than 9 million cards have been produced so far, and the cost of providing them to more than 20 million adults is expected to be well over $100 million.

Yet to date, not a single card has been issued to the public. Instead, the e-Tazkiras as they are called here, have become the latest casualty in an ongoing war of ethnic sensitivities that caused previous brouhahas, over the images on the Afghan currency and the language of the national anthem.

The e-Tazkiras were supposed to be an important early step in electoral reforms that would lead to local and parliamentary elections by this fall. But those have been repeatedly delayed, weakening the legitimacy of the struggling national unity government. Ghani and his top electoral rival, Abdullah Abdullah, were pressured by U.S. officials into a power-sharing deal after the chaotic 2014 election.

The rollout of the ID cards was halted because of vocal opposition from various ethnic leaders, who objected to having ethnic background mentioned as part of each citizens official identity. Some minority groups feared it would make them vulnerable to harassment, while some from the dominant Pashtun ethnic group worried it would reveal that their percentage of the population is less than they have always insisted.

We have millions of ghost voters with fake cards that have been printed in Pakistan. This is a problem we urgently need to solve to hold future elections, but for some groups, the larger issue is one of social insecurity, said Javid Faisal, an aide to Abdullah, the countrys chief executive. Abdullah recently proposed a compromise in which citizens would be issued two ID cards  one for voting with no ethnic information, and a second for other uses with a full list of personal information.

But even that apparently has not satisfied some minority critics, who also objected to printing every card-holders nationality as Afghan on the new biometric cards, complaining that Afghan historically has been used interchangeably with Pashtun. Several officials have suggested the cumbersome Afghanistani as a substitute; the simpler Afghani is already in use as the name of the national currency.

Beneath the veneer of an emerging modern democracy, in which the United Nations and Western donors have invested enormous resources since the overthrow of Taliban religious rule in 2001, Afghanistan is still a fractured tribal society whose inhabitants identify themselves first as ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras or Uzbeks, as well as a small Turkmen group.

Ancient ethnic lines hardened during the civil war of the early 1990s, when anti-Soviet militias from different groups turned against each other and nearly destroyed Kabul in the process. Since then, national leaders have bought off ethnic bosses by parceling out ministries, governorships and other lucrative posts, although that system is now under pressure from President Ghanis drive to depoliticize the government and build a professional meritocracy.

Today, there are no guns being drawn in the name of Pashtun or Tajik supremacy, but their old lions still roar when they dont get enough respect. Even the president, a Pashtun, has gotten grief from his fellow tribesmen on the e-card issue, although it is the former Tajik militia commanders from the north who have roared the loudest about prejudicial wording, calling for protests and walkouts.

The e-card was such a simple thing, and now it has become a huge political issue, complained Shinkai Karokhel, a member of parliament from Kabul. Everyone who lives in Afghanistan should be considered an Afghan, she said. These politicians just want to satisfy their groups; they wont take advantage of an historic opportunity and tell people to shut up and do the right thing.

On the streets of the capital this week, an assortment of shopkeepers, professionals and tradesmen agreed uniformly that the new foolproof ID card would be a very good thing for the country, especially to prevent Afghanistans neighbors from interfering in elections and to restore trust and accountability to an electoral system that lost both after the fraud-plagued 2014 presidential contest.

Perhaps not surprisingly, however, they were divided on the question of whether to put ethnicity on the new ID cards. Some thought the issue was a tempest in a teapot being stirred up by ethnic leaders to prove their clout; others thought it would help establish the true balance of ethnic power in a country where no national census has ever been conducted and every ethnic boss claims to be king of the largest constituency.

These self-proclaimed leaders act so foolishly, proclaiming that the Pashtuns or the Hazaras are the majority, said Sherzai Seerat, 25, who manages a small market in West Kabul. The electronic tazkiras will be a vital tool for solving crimes, finding jobs, getting passports. A year ago, people from the government were knocking on doors and telling us about them, he added with a bewildered shrug, but then nothing happened.

Ahmad Zaki, 32, an unemployed plumber, said the dispute over the new tazkiras is one in a long list of things that has made him 100 per cent disappointed in the current government. I think they should put down peoples ethnicity, because it is important to know who is who, he said. But we have much bigger problems: security, prices and jobs. I go to my plumbing shop every day, but there is no work at all now. The new president promised to change so many things, but there has been no action.

Read more:

Young people dont see a future in Afghanistan, so theyre leaving

Taliban pushes toward strategic provincial capital in Afghanistan

These are the elite Taliban forces fighting for a province once held by U.S. troops

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Encep Nurjaman, a.k.a. Riduan Isamuddin but best known as Hambali, was captured in Thailand a year after the 2002 Bali bombing and passed through at least one CIA overseas prison before his transfer to Guantanamo. (John Riley/EPA)

An Indonesian man suspected of being al-Qaedas chief operative in Southeast Asia appeared before a Guantanamo Bay review board on Thursday, making his first public appearance since his transfer to the detention facility in Cuba almost a decade ago.

Encep Nurjaman, a.k.a. Riduan Isamuddin but best known as Hambali, was described by military officials as an operational mastermind of Jemaah Islamiah, the militant group that conducted the suicide bombing of a Bali nightclub in October 2002, killing more than 200 people in the regions worst terrorist attack.

The review board process was established by the Obama administration to conduct periodic assessments of the continued detention of prisoners at Guantanamo and give them a chance to argue for their release. The interagency boards are made up of senior national security officials.

Hambali, now 52,was captured in Thailand a year after the Bali bombing and passed through at least one CIA overseas prison before his transfer to Guantanamo. He is held there in the top-secret Camp 7 facility along with a small group of high-profile detainees, including the men accused of organizing the 9/11 attacks.

Flanked by U.S. military officials and a translator, Hambali sat quietly through the session, his eyes trained on a sheaf of papers as a statement was read by his representative, an unidentified U.S. military officer.

An undated image of Hambali, suspected of being the mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings, was obtained by Thai police in Bangkok on Aug. 7, 2003. (Reuters)

During the unclassified portions of the session watched by journalists via satellite link, Hambali made no acknowledgment of the officials around him. Dressed in a white T-shirt and wearing eyeglasses, he was neatly groomed and appeared to be in good health.

Making the case for Hambalis release, his military representative said that his client was respectful, energetic and always smiling. He said the Indonesian had used Rosetta Stone, an audio-learning course, to study English and Arabic, skills he now taught to other inmates.

Hambali has stated he has no ill will towards the U.S., the officer said in the statement, adding that his client wanted to live a peaceful life.

But in a separate character appraisal, another unidentified officer representing the U.S. government argued against release. He said Hambali appeared to have influence over a number of his fellow detainees, promoting violent jihad during daily prayers and lectures.

The officer said Hambali was a key link between Jemaah Islamiah and al-Qaeda. The officer said U.S. officials are confident that if Hambali is transferred out of Guantanamo, he will seek ways to reconnect with his Indonesian and Malaysian terrorism network or attract a new set of followers. His younger brother, Rusman Gunawan, is thought to have joined the Indonesia-based affiliate of the Islamic State, the officer said.

The hearing came as President Obama accelerates efforts to empty Guantanamo Bay, a facility he promised on his first day in office to close. To that end, the Pentagon said Monday that it had transferred 15 detainees from the prison to the United Arab Emirates, the largest release under the current president.

The fate of most of the remaining 61 prisoners  many now described as forever prisoners  will be harder to resolve.

Indonesian security officials have said they want Hambali to stay in U.S. detention.

A 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee report said the CIA used enhanced interrogation techniques  often a euphemism for torture  on Hambali about a month into his CIA detention. According to the report, Hambali was told by an interrogator that he would never go to court: We can never let the world know what I have done to you.

The panel on Thursday issued no decision on Hambalis future.
Strings of code were released to the Internet by a group calling themselves "the Shadow Brokers". They claim the code is a tool that can be used to hack into any computer. (Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post)

Strings of code were released to the Internet by a group calling themselves "the Shadow Brokers". They claim the code is a tool that can be used to hack into any computer. (Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post)

To penetrate the computers of foreign targets, the National Security Agency relies on software flaws that have gone undetected in the pipes of the Internet. For years, security experts have pressed the agency to disclose these bugs so they can be fixed, but the agency hackers have often been reluctant.

Now with the mysterious release of a cache of NSA hacking tools over the weekend, the agency has lost an offensive advantage, experts say, and potentially placed at risk the security of countless large companies and government agencies worldwide.

Several of the tools exploited flaws in commercial firewalls that remain unpatched, and they are out on the Internet for all to see. Anyone from a basement hacker to a sophisticated foreign spy agency has access to them now, and until the flaws are fixed, many computer systems may be in jeopardy.

The revelation of the NSA cache, which dates to 2013 and has not been confirmed by the agency, also highlights the administrations little-known process for figuring out which software errors to disclose and which to keep secret.

The hacker tools release demonstrates the key risk of the U.S. government stockpiling computer vulnerabilities for its own use: Someone else might get a hold of them and use them against us, said Kevin Bankston, director of New Americas Open Technology Institute.

This is exactly why it should be U.S. government policy to disclose to software vendors the vulnerabilities it buys or discovers as soon as possible, so we can all better protect our own cybersecurity.

The weekends release prompted immediate speculation about who might be behind it. A group calling itself Shadow Brokers claimed responsibility. Some experts and former employees suspect, although without hard evidence, that Russia is involved. Other former employees say it is more likely a disgruntled insider seeking to make a profit.

Whoever it is, its very concerning that potentially someone working for another government is essentially holding hostage companies that are sitting behind these [firewalls], making them very vulnerable, said Oren Falkowitz, chief executive of Area 1 Security and a former NSA analyst.

The firewalls sold by Cisco, Juniper and Fortinet are highly popular and work on large-scale enterprise systems. These are very, very powerful and successful products, Falkowitz said. They arent devices bought by two people.

Already, the firms are racing to reverse-engineer the code, identify any flaws and devise patches. Cisco confirmed Wednesday that one of the flaws was a zero-day  previously unknown to the public  and that it is working on a fix. The flaw was in a tool or exploit code-named Extrabacon.

Juniper spokeswoman Leslie Moore said the company is reviewing the released file. If a product vulnerability is identified, we will address the matter and communicate to our customers, she said.

Fortinet spokeswoman Sandra Wheatley Smerdon said that the firm is actively working with customers who are running the FortiGate firewall version 4.X and that it strongly recommends that they update their systems with the highest priority.

The government has a process for determining when to share software flaws. Agencies such as the NSA and the FBI are supposed to submit any flaws they discover to a multiagency group of experts, who then weigh whether the advantage of keeping the vulnerabilities secret outweighs the publics cybersecurity.

White House cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel has said that in the majority of cases, disclosure of the bug is in the national interest. The multiagency process didnt really begin until spring 2014. The NSA had had its own internal process for years before that.

Either way, in this case, disclosure never happened.

This is what happens when you have security agencies hoarding exploits insecurely  poorer security for all, said Kevin Beaumont, a cybersecurity researcher who verified that some of the leaked tools rely on still unpatched vulnerabilities.

Former NSA personnel who worked with the tool cache that was released say that when they worked at the agency, there was an aversion to disclosure.

While I was there, I cant think of a single example of a zero-day [flaw] used by the agency where we subsequently said, Okay, were done with it and lets turn it over to the defensive side so they can get it patched,  said the former employee, who worked at the agencys Tailored Access Organization for years. During that time, he said, he saw hundreds of such flaws.

He added: If its something in active use, my experience was they fight like all get-out to prevent it from being disclosed.

Said a second former employee, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive government operations: Its hard to live in a world where you have capabilities and youre disclosing your capabilities to your defensive team.

This former operator said that sometimes a vulnerability is patched, but that if you weaponize it in a different fashion with a special technique, maybe thats one way to increase the longevity of a tool.

In that way, a flaw could still be good for several years.

Two or three years is not really a long time for a bug to go undiscovered, said Joseph Lorenzo Hall, the chief technologist at the Center for Democracy & Technology.

For example, a major vulnerability called Heartbleed made its way into the code of widely used encryption software in 2011, but didnt come to light until 2014, he noted. Last year, Microsoft fixed a critical zero-day bug that had been lurking in Windows for at least a decade.

There are so many vulnerabilities in software that we cant possibly find them all, Hall said. Its really kind of scary, especially when youre talking about technology like firewalls, which are supposed to help keep systems safe.

Experts studying the release say the material probably was stolen in October 2013, the date of the last file creation. If thats true, then someone or another spy agency has had time to hack companies using the vulnerable firewalls or watch NSAs own cyber spying.

Past NSA employees, including former contractor Edward Snowden, say it is unlikely that the material was hacked from the agencys servers. It is more likely, some say, that the tools were uploaded and inadvertently left by a TAO hacker on a server used to stage hacks on targets. These servers are sometimes called redirectors or staging servers, and they mask the hackers true location.

The NSA has always had audit controls on its systems. But particularly in the wake of leaks of classified material by Snowden that began appearing in the media in June 2013, the agency has strengthened its control mechanisms.

Read more:

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Footage released by the Aleppo Media Center on Aug. 17 appears to show a little boy and others being rescued from rubble after an airstrike. (Aleppo Media Center)

Footage released by the Aleppo Media Center on Aug. 17 appears to show a little boy and others being rescued from rubble after an airstrike. (Aleppo Media Center)

Russia said Thursday it would stop attacks on Aleppo for 48 hours next week to allow delivery of humanitarian aid, indicating it would also prevent the Syrian government from bombing there, provided the United States could guarantee a similar pause by the so-called moderate opposition.

The Russian Defense Ministrys spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said Russias other condition for implementing the temporary cease-fire was that separate routes would be established for U.N. convoys to bring aid to rebel-controlled eastern Aleppo and to the western side, held by the government.

The Obama administration, which has been pushing for a more widespread cease-fire, said it would not turn up our nose at the 48-hour offer. But we really believe its important to get beyond temporary, ephemeral and localized cease-fires, State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

News of a possible pause in the fighting came as the world was arrested by a video of a small boy, covered with blood and dust, pulled by rescue workers from the rubble of a building in Aleppo bombed by Russian or Syrian aircraft.

Medical workers identified the boy as Omran Daqneesh, 5, and said he was only one of a number of children rescued Wednesday. His parents were later said to have survived the attack.

Dazed and expressionless, barefoot and dressed in dirty shorts and a cartoon-character T-shirt, Omran is seen reaching up his hand to his blood-covered face. Seemingly in slow motion, he looks at his hand and then wipes it on the orange leather of his seat in an ambulance as he stares into the distance.

The video spread quickly on social media, much like last years image of a dead Syrian toddler, the son of a family fleeing by boat to Europe, whose body washed up on a Turkish beach.

By my figuring, that little boy has never had a day in his life where there hasnt been war, death, destruction, poverty in his own country, Kirby said of Omran. You dont have to be a dad, but I am. You cant but help look at that and see that thats the real face of whats going on in Syria.

Earlier Thursday, Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. envoy to the Syria crisis, said he had suspended meetings of an international task force working on humanitarian issues in Geneva because there was no sense in having a humanitarian meeting today unless we got some action.

The United Nations has said that the level of fighting in August has prevented aid from reaching any of the 18 besieged areas and cities in Syria, most of them surrounded by government forces.

But Aleppo, once Syrias largest city, has brought the crisis to a new level of desperation. In recent weeks, intense Russian and Syrian bombing closed the only access road from Turkey, in the north, to an estimated quarter-million people on the rebel-controlled eastern side. Early this month, opposition forces broke through government encirclement of the city in the south to threaten government-held western Aleppo, where up to 2 million civilians live.

The United States and Russia, which head a separate international task force trying to implement a cease-fire, have been negotiating for months as the carnage has increased.

In a statement issued after news of the Russian announcement of what Konashenkov called a pilot program for possible weekly 48-hour truces, the United Nations said it was ready to begin food and medical deliveries immediately, once security could be guaranteed.

The statement said the United Nations counts on Russia to deliver its part, regarding, in particular, the adherence of the Syrian armed forces to the pause, once it comes into effect, and on the United States to ensure that the armed opposition also respects the 48-hour humanitarian pause.

Carol Morello contributed to this report.
By PTI: Bhubaneswar, Aug 18 (PTI) The BJD-led Odisha government has raised the Mahanadi river issue to divert attention from the killing of five villagers during an anti-naxal drive in Kandhamal and the death of 19 malnourished infants in Jajpur, Union Minister Jual Oram said today.

"I feel the Naveen Patnaik government which came under attack over recent Kandhamal killings and infant deaths at Nagada village in Jajpur district is raising Mahanadi river water issue only to divert peoples attention," the Union Tribal Affairs Minister said.

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While five villagers, including three tribals, were shot dead during anti-Maoist operation by security men on July 8, at least 19 infants died in a short span at Nagada village in Jajpur district allegedly due to malnutrition.

Accusing the ruling BJD of giving contradictory views, Oram said though the state government was now making noise over construction of projects on Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh that could reduce water flow into Odisha, BJD MPs had last year urged the Centre to divert surplus water from Mahanadi to Rushikulya river basin.

In a letter to the Union Water Resources Minister on May 23, 2015, BJD MPs had stated that there was surplus water in Mahanadi river basin and sought diversion of the surplus water to the water deficit Rushikulya basin, the senior BJP leader told a TV channel.

The BJD MPs in their letter had stated that surplus water of Mahanadi river was flowing into the sea during monsoon season and thus going waste, Oram said.

Reacting to Orams allegation, BJD MP Sidhant Mohapatra said the party had sought diversion of Mahanadi water only during monsoon for irrigation and drinking water projects in south Odisha.

BJD is agitating over Mahanadi water issue claiming that the Odisha government was kept in the dark about construction of barrages and dams in upper reaches of the inter-state river in Chhattisgarh. It says these projects would severely hit flow of river water into Odisha and affect irrigation and power generation.

However, opposition Congress and BJP rejected BJDs claim saying the state government was very much aware of the projects way back in 2001 and that it had received communications in this regard from Chhattisgarh. PTI SKN NN SRY LNS

--- ENDS ---
This file photo taken on September 11, 2013 shows the logo of the social networking website Twitter displayed on a computer screen in London. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

Twitter said Thursday it has shut down more than 235,000 accounts for promoting terrorism since February, far surpassing the 125,000 it had suspended in the previous seven months.

That brings the total number of such suspensions to 360,000 since June 2015.

Since February, the world has witnessed a further wave of deadly, abhorrent terror attacks across the globe, the firm said in a blog post. Attacks linked to or inspired by the Islamic State have occurred in France, Germany, Turkey, Iraq and Florida, among other locations. We strongly condemn these acts and remain committed to eliminating the promotion of violence or terrorism on our platform, the company said.

For the past two years, the popular social media site has sought to respond to criticism that it wasnt doing enough to crack down on users who promote or are linked to the Islamic State and other terrorist groups. It began mass suspensions in early 2014.

[Bloodline: Hes the son of Osama bin Ladens bombmaker. Then ISIS wanted him.]

Last December, after the San Bernardino, Calif., mass shootings, President Obama called on tech leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice. Earlier this year, senior national security officials, including the attorney general and FBI director, met with tech firm senior executives to discuss ways to use technology to disrupt paths to radicalization to violence.

In its blog post, Twitter reported that daily suspensions are up more than 80 percent since last year, with spikes in suspensions immediately following terrorist attacks.

Our response time for suspending reported accounts, the amount of time these accounts are on Twitter, and the number of followers they accumulate have all decreased dramatically, it said. We have also made progress in disrupting the ability of those suspended to immediately return to the platform.

The company said it has expanded the teams that review reports around the clock, adding new tools to help detect suspicious accounts and hiring people fluent in different languages. The firm said it also collaborates with other social media companies, sharing information for identifying terrorist content.

There is no one magic algorithm for identifying terrorist content on the Internet, the company said. But it deploys technologies such as proprietary spam-fighting tools to supplement reports from the public to help identify people who violate Twitters user policies. During the past six months, these tools have helped the firm to automatically identify more than one-third of the accounts that were ultimately suspended for promoting terrorism, the company said.

Twitter said it works with law enforcement agencies seeking help in preventing or prosecuting terrorist attacks. It reports on government requests for information twice a year in its transparency report.

Read more:

What is it like to interview a terrorist?

Tracing the path of four terrorists sent to Europe by the Islamic State

One woman helped the mastermind of the Paris attacks. The other turned him in.
South Sudan's then-Vice President Riek Machar, left, looks across at President Salva Kiir, following the first meeting of a new transitional coalition government on April 29, 2016. (Jason Patinkin/AP)

South Sudans former first vice president and top opposition leader has fled the country, according to a spokesman, making the prospect of a sustainable peace in the worlds youngest country even more remote.

More than a month after the countrys most recent spasm of violence, Riek Machar has arrived in a neighboring country, according to a Facebook post from his spokesman James Gatdet Dak. A news release from another spokesman, Mabior Garang, late Wednesday called the move an evacuation and said it followed a botched attempt to assassinate Machar.

Garang said Thursday that Machar crossed the border into Congo and was airlifted to the capital, Kinshasa, according to the Associated Press. Machar was planning to travel to Ethiopia soon, the report said, citing the spokesman.

The split between Machar and President Salva Kiir in 2013 prompted the countrys long descent into civil war, which has left tens of thousands dead. The war has divided much of the country along ethnic lines, with Kiirs predominantly Dinka troops fighting against Machars Nuer followers.

Last year, the two agreed to an internationally brokered peace deal, and Machar returned to the capital city of Juba earlier this year with about 3,000 armed men. But last month the feud between the two sides again spiraled into a broader conflict, consuming Juba for days and leaving hundreds dead.

[South Sudanese civilians fear U.N. peacekeepers cant protect them from a massacre]

Now Machars absence from South Sudan casts further doubt on the resumption of a peace process between the two sides. Without his support or his return to Juba, its unlikely that any negotiation will end successfully. Some experts worry that his self-imposed exile might embolden the Machar forces who remain in the country, as they give up hope of reconciliation. Indeed, officials in the Yei region have reported recent clashes between the two groups.

The United States and other members of the international community spent more than two years trying to persuade Machar and Kiir to reconcile. That looked unlikely even before the recent outbreak of violence. The two had a long-standing rivalry that had grown more bitter as they clashed over the spoils of the federal government  including many millions diverted from international assistance programs.

The fighting in July showed just how much bitterness remained. According to analysts, Kiirs men tried to hunt down and kill Machar after he fled Juba. Many of his Nuer supporters remain in U.N. displacement camps. During last months fighting, 217 women in Juba were sexually assaulted, according to the U.N. human rights chief, Zeid Raad al-Hussein. Most of the victims were members of the Nuer ethnic group, and most of the attackers were members of Kiirs forces  the official army of South Sudan.

The U.N. Security Council voted this month to send 4,000 additional peacekeepers to South Sudan  about 13,000 are already there  in recognition of the deteriorating situation. But the peacekeepers have been able to do little to prevent the country from sliding back toward war.

The over-focus on a new peacekeeping mandate at the expense of political developments in the country reflects international disunity and a lack of political strategy, the independent International Crisis Group said Tuesday in a report.

During the fighting last month, Machar fled the capital, not disclosing his location. Weeks later, Kiir formally replaced him as first vice president with Taban Deng Gai, a former Machar ally. That appointment has created challenges for the international community, including the United Nations, which has been careful in meeting with Gai so as not to validate Kiirs dismissal of Machar.

Read more:

A muddy field in South Sudan is at the center of a war

In South Sudan, bodies are being counted as peace accord unravels

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Nicoderm Aristide, left, waits with his daughter Sofia (not shown) as Katiana Presmy holds her daughter Erica Jupiter, 4, at cholera treatment facility in Port-Au-Prince in late 2010. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

Blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers sent to conflict zones have long suffered from a reputation for passivity. But the acknowledgment this week by U.N. officials that its troops bear responsibility for Haitis cholera epidemic comes at a time when the organization is already facing criticism for undermining countries it has been sent to stabilize.

The United Nations admission that its forces played a role in triggering Haitis 2010 cholera outbreak is seen as a long-overdue official recognition of something that has been widely known  but stubbornly denied by U.N. leaders  for years.

It follows accusations this year that U.N. peacekeepers have committed rape and murder in the Central African Republic, and more recently that they failed to defend aid workers against brutal attacks in South Sudan.

Critics say these scandals have laid bare the United Nations struggles to police its forces and investigate claims of wrongdoing and abuse, whether in cases of negligence  such as Haiti  or the allegations of more serious crimes in Africa.

When the United Nations fails to accept its responsibility as well, said Akshaya Kumar, the deputy U.N. director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, the peacekeeping system breaks down.

I think one of biggest losses from cases like this is loss of trust between U.N. and communities theyre sent to serve; that is really hard to rebuild, she said.

That has been the case in Haiti, where thousands of heavily-armed troops with U.N. blue helmets have been deployed since the bloody 2004 ouster of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti is resented by many Haitians who view the foreign troops as an occupying force. But their role in policing the volatile country is considered critical by international donors and foreign governments.

[Thousands died when the U.N. brought cholera to Haiti. Heres why its getting off scot-free]

U.N. officials have refused for years to accept blame for bringing cholera to Haiti, but suspicions have long settled on a contingent of U.N. troops from Nepal who arrived after the January 2010 earthquake that devastated the capital of Port-au-Prince. A cholera epidemic in Nepal was underway at the time, and raw waste from the latrines at the U.N. troops camp in Haiti was allowed to seep into an adjacent river.

In a statement sent to The Washington Post, Farhan Haq, a deputy spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said that the organization has become convinced in the past year that it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial cholera outbreak in Haiti and the suffering of those affected by the disease, which has sickened hundreds of thousands and left about 10,000 dead.

The U.N. acknowledgment, first reported by the New York Times, comes after top officials were provided a draft report by an adviser criticizing their handling of the cholera outbreak.

Haitis 2010 earthquake left as many as 200,000 dead, and the damage has been compounded since then by periodic flare-ups of cholera. A recent report by Doctors Without Borders has raised the possibility the disease may have killed far more Haitians than previously estimated.

Cholera spread virulently in the muddy, crowded tent camps where destitute Haitians took refuge after the quake. Nearly six years later, the disease continues to claim new victims, particularly in rural parts of the country without access to clean drinking water. A new spike in infections has been reported this year.

Ban has pledged more than $2 billion to fight the disease in Haiti, but has struggled so far to raise the funds from member states.

Haq said the Haiti report, written by Philip Alston, a New York University law professor and U.N. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, would probably be published late next month and presented by Ban at the U.N. General Assembly in October. Alston did not respond to requests for comment.

The United Nations wanted to take this opportunity to welcome this vital report, Haq said.

[Cholera's fresh attack in Haiti]

Without giving details, Haq said the draft report criticizing the U.N. handling of the outbreak, and its recommendations, will be a valuable contribution to the U.N. as we work toward a significantly new set of U.N. actions."

He said the United Nations has been working to fight cholera since the outbreak but would present a new set of measures after discussions with Haitian authorities and U.N. member states.

A U.N. spokesman who was asked about the report Thursday said the organizations legal position had not changed and that it was working to figure out how to resolve questions of its responsibility in the outbreak. The U.N. charter affords the organization broad diplomatic immunity from lawsuits and other legal action.

Beatrice Lindstrom, an attorney for Haitian cholera victims who have filed a suit in U.S. federal courts seeking reparations from the U.N., said an acceptance of culpability could make it more likely that plaintiffs will finally receive financial compensation.

The U.N. has broad immunity from national courts, but that has always been conditioned on providing remedies out of court to victims who are harmed by U.N. operations, Lindstrom said. It has been in breach of the treaty granting it immunity in the first place, so if the U.N. follows through on remedies, that would make questions of immunity mute.

But Robert Fatton Jr., a Haitian-born political scientist at the University of Virginia, said Haqs statement amounted to little more than the idea that the U.N. might be more receptive to its own criticism.

Will that entail more than just empty promises to address the problem? Fatton asked. The question is whether the report will lead to some form of compensation for the victims of the epidemic and whether the moral outcry resulting from the U.N.s irresponsibility will begin to erode the notion that the organization should continue to enjoy diplomatic immunity.

Read more

The growing U.N. scandal over sex abuse and peacekeepers

Venezuela was once an aviation gateway to South America. Now its an outcast.

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
The Socialist Party (PS) mayor of Sisco on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica has banned the burkini body-covering swimsuit for Muslim women, after a fight erupted between Corsican villagers and three Muslim families of North African origin.

On Saturday afternoon, local youth were at the beach along with the Muslim families. The fight allegedly erupted when the Muslim men accused a tourist of taking pictures of his wife and threw a stone at the vacationer. Then, according to witnesses, a Sisco teen recorded on his smart-phone the brawl between the father and the vacationer. He was then himself attacked and hit in the face. He and his friends then called adult villagers for help, and dozens came, there were insults and bottles and stones were thrown.

The brawl left five people injured, including at least two badly bruised men of North African origin. Four were briefly hospitalized. Three cars belonging to the North African families were torched.

Well before the circumstances of the brawl were established, the French ruling elite seized upon this incident to launch a provocative and reactionary campaign to stoke up anti-Muslim hysteria. On Monday, Sisco mayor Ange-Pierre Vivoni issued a decree prohibiting the wearing of burkini on the beaches of his town. The decree was based on two similar bans, that of the French Riviera towns of Cannes and Villeneuve-Loubet, recently approved by France's administrative court.

The ban was the subject of an extraordinary intervention by national authorities and parties. Speaking to La Provence, Prime Minister Manual Valls (PS) said he would support mayors banning the burkini, which he called incompatible with the values of France, while Minister for Family, Children and Womens Rights Laurence Rossignol (PS) defended the bans, stating that the burkinis purpose is to hide womens bodies in order to better control them.

The Vice-President of the neo-fascist National Front (FN), Florian Philippot, echoed PS attacks on Muslims. It's not surprising, when the State does not respond to the actions of scum and Islamist violence, he said, calling for a general and absolute ban of the burkini on all French beaches.

Vivoni imposed his ban based on unsubstantiated allegations that Saturday's incident was caused by women wearing burkinis. He claimed that the ban was necessary to protect the population. In fact, the ban aims neither to protect the population nor to defend women's democratic rights, but to attack democratic rights and encourage racism, orienting to Corsican-nationalist and far-right forces.

Vivoni justified the measure based on arguments from a right-wing protest on Sunday after the incident. Some 500 people gathered on Sunday in areas of Bastia that are home to a large North African community, shouting, Were going up there, because this is our home. Citing allegations from a girl at the rally, Vivoni told AFP: I confirm that women were bathing in burkinis  [which are] a fashion statement we see on all Corsica's beaches.

Similarly, last month, the right-wing mayor of Cannes signed a decree denouncing burkinis as an incitement to terrorist violence and a threat to public order and hygiene. It stated, Beach wear that ostentatiously indicates religious belief, under conditions where France and its religious institutions are targeted by terrorist attacks, threatens to create the risk of troubling public order (gatherings, riots, etc.) that we must prevent. It imposed a 38 (US$42.90) fine for wearing a burkini.

Charges that Muslim women exercising their democratic right to dress as they please are inciting terrorist violence linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militia, and thus hostile to France, are baseless and dangerous lies. The relentless incitement of anti-Muslim sentiment, as the Sisco brawl itself shows, has raised ethnic and sectarian tensions in France to the boiling point.

It is the ruling elites in France and the other NATO powers that have incited Islamist terrorist forces as part of their wars for regime change across the Middle East and Africa. They fomented proxy wars, arming and financing Islamist militias and terrorist groupsfirst to topple the Libyan regime in 2011, and then to stoke a sectarian civil war in Syria that has claimed over 400,000 lives and forced over 10 million people to flee their homes.

The hypocrisy of the campaign against the burkini is staggering. US media have reported that the CIA is arming Al Qaeda-linked opposition militias near the Syrian city of Aleppo with anti-tank missiles and other high-tech weapons to attack Russian-backed Syrian government forces. Yet it is Muslim beachgoers, not the reckless actions of the NATO imperialist powers that are arming terror groups and threatening to provoke all-out war with Russia, that are denounced as threats.

Burkini bans are fundamentally opposed to secular principles and violate basic democratic rights. The European Convention on Human Rights' Article 9 on religious freedom states: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.

The burkini ban is the outcome of over a decade of escalating attacks on Muslims' democratic rights in France. The conservative government of President Jacques Chirac imposed a headscarf ban in public schools in 2004, followed by a burqa ban introduced by right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy. These bans were supported by pseudo-left groups, including the New Anticapitalist Party, who then backed the imperialist wars in Libya and Syria as well as the lifestyle justifications for anti-Muslim hatreds such as the headscarf and burqa bans.

The current allegations that Muslim swimwear marketed by major clothing stores in Europe incites terrorism underscore the absurd and fraudulent character of these assaults on democratic rights, which have fanned reactionary, pro-FN sentiments in France.

Since when did wearing a burkini, in most cases a loose fitting nylon version of a wetsuit, become an act of allegiance to terrorist movements? Huda Jawad asked in the British Independent. Do Marks & Spencer or House of Fraser know that their attempt to raise profits and exploit a gap in the over-saturated clothing market is selling and promoting allegiance to ISIS?

The anti-burkini hysteria is aimed above all at the working class, and rising opposition to policies of war and social austerity imposed by the European Union and France's PS government.

The European bourgeoisie is seizing on recent terrorist atrocities, like last year's Charlie Hebdo and November 13 attacks in Paris and the March 22 Brussels attackall carried out by forces known to European intelligence servicesto impose police-state measures and authoritarian forms of rule. French President Francois Hollande imposed a state of emergency suspending basic democratic rights, and promoted policies associated to the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy regime, such as stripping French nationality from those supposedly linked to terrorism.

The French state of emergency was used principally to justify cracking down on and trying to ban this spring's protests against the draconian attacks on social conditions contained in the PS government's wildly unpopular labor law.

The only way forward for class-conscious workers is to oppose the bourgeoisie's attempts to divide the working class along religious and racial lines with reactionary policies such as burkini bans.
The Greens preselected Justin Field, a former military intelligence officer, to represent their party in the upper-house of the New South Wales (NSW) state parliament last Saturday. Fields victory followed a bitter factional conflict over the seat, which was vacated in May as a result of the death of sitting Greens member, John Kaye.

Fourteen candidates sought selection, which was decided on the basis of a ballot of NSW Greens members. Around 2,000 votes were registered, with Field reportedly winning 955 first preference votes.

Field was widely viewed as the candidate favoured by the partys national leadership, including Greens founder, Bob Brown, and current leader, Richard Di Natale. Their support for the former military intelligence officer was directed against a left grouping in NSW, led by federal Senator Lee Rhiannon. In the midst of the campaign, Brown called for a clean-out of the NSW Greens and Rhiannons resignation.

The leaderships backing for a figure with high-level connections to the military and intelligence establishment is another sign of the partys right-wing trajectory. Indeed his background was considered an asset to his campaign and was featured in online biographies.

The Greens co-convenors in NSW, Debbie Gibson and Hall Greenland, who has for decades postured as a left, immediately issued a statement celebrat(ing) the beginning of Justins parliamentary term... One of the unsuccessful candidates, Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, summed up the general tenor of the response, stating in an online post that Field was also an army intelligence officer before joining the Greens, so he will add an interesting component and range of talents to our MPs.

Field told the WSWS this week that he served in the armys intelligence corps between 2001 and 2007. From 2006 to 2007 he worked as an Operational Intelligence Analyst at the armys Joint Operations Intelligence Centre in Sydney, working on questions concerning our deployment to the Middle-East, but primarily southern Iraq.

A job description for the role of Operational Intelligence Analyst on the armys website notes that employees work in a highly classified environment, and have access to intelligence from combat operations, covert surveillance, electronic warfare and satellite imagery which they analyse and provide to battlegroup commanders.

In other words, Field was playing a sensitive role in Australias participation in the US-led neo-colonial occupation of Iraq. Field told the WSWS that he left the army in late 2007, having attained the rank of Captain. He said that he had grown disillusioned with the Iraq conflict. Field, however, did not publicly oppose the war. His retirement from the military also coincided with the withdrawal of the bulk of Australian troops from Iraq. Field noted that he had done my time. He went to work as a Security Risk Advisor for the major telecommunications firm, Telstra, for the following two years.

Field joined the Greens around 200708, becoming a full-time policy advisor in early 2009. Fields relatively rapid rise to prominence has coincided with a campaign by the Greens to present themselves as a party of parliamentary stability capable of forming a government responsive to the agenda of the corporate elite, including on war and militarism.

At the time of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Greens postured as an anti-war party, winning support from layers of students and young people. They sought to divert widespread opposition to the criminal invasion behind impotent appeals to the UN and the two-party parliamentary set-up within Australia.

The Greens opposition to Australias involvement in US-led wars in the Middle-East was always tactical. Bob Brown, Greens leader at the time of the invasion of Iraq and in the years following, called for Australian troops to be redeployed to Australias arc of stability in the South Pacific, including to prevent a growth of Chinese influence.

Following the 2010 elections, the Greens formed a de-facto alliance with the Gillard Labor government. They played the central role in propping up the minority government, as it aligned Australia with the US pivot to Asia and its aggressive military build-up directed against China. At the same time, the government carried out an offensive against education, healthcare and welfare as part of a pro-business overhaul of public spending.

The Greens also backed the US-led regime-change operations in Syria and Libya, and in effect backed Australian involvement in the new US-led war in Iraq and Syria that was launched in 2014. Field enunciated the partys policy in a social media post at the timea criticism of the lack of an overall strategy by the Coalition government, an appeal for parliamentary debate and consensus combined with denunciations of ISIS barbarity and the need for governments to protect their people and sometimes that may include the use of military force.

Field, like party leaders such as Di Natale, has also hailed the example of the Gillard Labor government as a model to be emulated. He told the WSWS that the Greens were a party of consensus and that it was necessary to build consensus in the parliament. When this reporter noted the right-wing agenda pursued by the Gillard government, Field stated, just because you empower someone to be in government and seek to get outcomesthat doesnt mean that you buy into their agenda. However, by propping up the Labor government, they bear political responsibility for its policies, whatever limited criticisms that are made.

The Greens integration into the political establishment has exacerbated tensions within the party, which were on display during the upper-house contest. Bob Brown told the Monthly in August that They need a clean-out in New South Wales. The people who have been for decades running the NSW Greens need to do what I did: retire and make way for new blood and people more in tune with the electorate in 2016. This is no longer 1986.

Brown has elsewhere accused the Rhiannon grouping of introducing factionalism into the selection contest. Rhiannon responded by declaring, Look at the agenda Bob is running here. Hes used to getting his candidate up for pre-selection and when that doesnt work he gives us a hard time.

The public conflict followed bitter recriminations between the groupings over the failure of the Greens to increase their representation in the House of Representatives or boost their vote in the Senate in the July federal election.

The divisions are entirely tactical. The Rhiannon wing of the party is fearful they will be sidelined as Di Natale and others continue to make overtures to Labor or the Liberals for the formation of a coalition government, and cultivate figures such as Field. For their part, Di Natale and the partys national leadership view the Rhiannon grouping, and its relations with various middle-class protest movements, as an impediment to attracting support from the most affluent sections of the electorate, and the corporate elite itself.

The differences between them did not prevent both groupings from coming together behind the Gillard Labor government, as it implemented a program of war abroad and austerity against the working class.

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At least 26 people in Huntington, West Virginia overdosed on heroin in the span of a few hours August 15, officials reported Tuesday. This was well above the citys average of 20 overdoses per week.

Huntington is a center of the drug crisis nationwide, having the onerous distinction of being the worst-hit city in the state, ranking highest in heroin overdose deaths nationwide last year.

Cabell County Emergency Management Services Director Gordon Merry told the Huntington Herald-Dispatch that all 26 victims had been revived by first responders using the opioid blocker naloxone. Local EMTs and police had only recently been equipped with the treatment. Without it the death toll would undoubtedly have been devastating.

Most of the overdoses occurred around the Marcum Terrace neighborhood, a high-poverty area of the city comprised of public housing projects. Five people overdosed in the same house, according to officials. A call to 911 described the scene as dead people everywhere in this house.

The emergency calls overwhelmed first responders. Just to give you an idea, Merry said, when the first few [calls] came in, three ambulances were already out dealing with overdoses. Seven ambulances, fire and police departments were all mobilized to respond.

We had a half-hour span where we had absolutely no trucks to send in the county, Cabell County EMS assistant supervisor David McClure told local television station WSAZ.

Merry told the Herald-Dispatch that rescuers had to administer multiple doses of naloxone to some victims, because the heroin they used had been laced with a far stronger substance that has not yet been identified.

Last year, Huntington saw 520 heroin overdoses, 35 of them fatal. That rate was 13 times the national average. Cabell County as a whole saw more than 70 deaths.

As of July, the city has seen 440 overdoses this year. To June, 26 people have died from drugsa rate that has been described by local media and officials as steady, but actually represents a sharp increase on an annualized basis.

Huntington has a population of some 50,000. To give a sense of the scale represented by 26 overdoses, the Washington Post posited an outbreak of the same magnitude unfolding in New York City, with a population of 8.4 million, and projected that over 4,400 people would be affected.

Fentanyl, an opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin, was found in many previous overdose victims, but officials suspect an even more potent drugcarfentanil, an elephant sedative 100 times stronger than fentanylmay be involved in the latest spate of overdoses.

Clusters of carfentanil-laced heroin overdoses have occurred elsewhere in the region. In July, Akron, Ohio saw a staggering 230 overdoses, 20 of them fatal. In Philadelphia and New England, heroin cut with a similar substance called W-18 was contributed to a rash of overdoses.

Drug overdoses have risen dramatically in the past few years nationwide, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control, and contribute to rising mortality rates in the United States. Last year, the death rate increased across the board for the first time since 2005, with the working class and poor seeing deterioration in their health and life expectancy.

Overdoses from opioids, along with alcoholism and suicide, are primary drivers of rising death rates for young and middle-aged white workers. Last year the CDC reported that heroin deaths tripled in the span of four years (2010 to 2013). In the time since, this trend has only worsened. The official statistics reflect the impact of the protracted economic crisis and attacks on social conditions for the majority of Americans.

The availability of cheap heroin is bound up with the protracted US military occupation of Afghanistan, the worlds largest opium producer, now in its fifteenth year.

The stagnant economic situation in the US has pushed large numbers of people into destitution and long-term unemployment. Many have turned to drugs. Lack of health care and drug rehabilitation programs, particularly for those addicted to prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, has exacerbated the use of street drugs like heroin.

In Appalachia, the growth of drug addiction is worst where industrial and mining jobs have disappeared. West Virginia has the highest unemployment rate and lowest labor force participation rate in the country. Many jobs in the region are labor-intensive, dangerous, and associated with on-the-job injuries and chronic pain.

Appalachia was deliberately targeted by pharmaceutical manufacturers for prescription painkillers, which were seen by employers, insurers, and physicians alike as the fastest way to treat injured workers. By 2009, West Virginians averaged 19 prescriptions per person, according to a Charleston Gazette-Mail analysis.

After a clampdown on OxyContin and other painkillers, those with addictions turned to cheaper street alternatives. According to the CDC, three of every four heroin users were previously taking prescription painkillers. With the rise in intravenous drug use, West Virginia now also has the highest rate of new hepatitis C cases in the country.

Rehabilitation options are limited for addicts, since there are few recovery clinics and most have long waiting lists. Necessary treatment is long-term, and most addicts have inadequate or no health insurance coverage.

At Recovery Point in Huntington, the average stay for patients is six to nine months. The Cabell-Huntington Health Department has initiated a syringe exchange program to help hundreds of heroin addicts stay healthier while they await treatment, and to train people to administer naloxone in the event of an overdose.

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[21 August 2016]
In a carefully scripted event on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the resignation of his chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov. He is being replaced by Anton Vaino, a young and relatively unknown government insider of Estonian descent who was a deputy of Ivanov. The surprise move is one of a series of recent dismissals of leading officials with close ties to the Putin administration.

Ivanov, considered a close personal confidant of the Russian president, was placed in major government posts with Putins rise to power in 1999. He was Putins chief aide for more than four years. Prior to this, he was deputy chief of the Federal Security Services (FSB) and subsequently served as a deputy prime minister and defense minister. Ivanov was regarded as a rival of Dmitri Medvedev for the Russian presidency during the period in which Putin had to leave office due to term limits and effectively handed power to a caretaker.

As of August 12, Ivanov has been demoted to the position of special representative of the president of the Russian Federation on questions of conservation, ecology, and transportation. According to RIA Novosti, In recent years in his work as head of the Kremlin administration, Sergei Ivanov devoted considerable attention to questions of ecology, actively supervising a program for the preservation of the population of far eastern leopards and, in connection with this, even met with the model, actress, and animal rights defender Pamela Anderson.

The Kremlin and Ivanov himself insist that the move was voluntary and the fulfillment of Ivanovs promised request to only serve till 2016. A special televised appearance with Putin appeared intended to quell rumors of a major rift. Ivanov will continue to serve on the countrys Security Council.

Press reports describe Putins new 44-year old chief of staff as a colorless technocrat who has never been implicated in political or financial scandals, although there are some tendentious claims that he has ties to Sergei Chemezov, an oligarch in the Russian defense industry and head of a major state-owned firm. Vaino has been active in the Russian government since 1996, when he served in the Russian embassy in Tokyo. After working for a couple of years on Asian matters for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 2003 he entered the presidential administration.

The sudden changing of the guard in the Kremlin has provoked a flurry of speculation in press outlets, with commentators putting forward differing interpretations. Ivanovs dismissal may be part of an effort to cut loose former close allies and bring in a new generation of less experienced but loyal servants, under conditions in which the Putin regime finds itself besieged by an unrelenting economic crisis, a burgeoning geopolitical conflict with the United States and looming parliamentary elections.

Despite something of a recovery in oil prices, the Russian budget continues to experience a shortfall greater than official predictions. The deficit, which stood at 3.3 percent of gross domestic product as of July 2016, is .3 percent higher than the upper limit called for by Putin at the start of the year. As a result, government officials have had to tap the countrys reserve funds more than expected. Russia remains mired in a recession that began in 2015. Although there has been a small uptick in wages in recent months and continued low unemployment rates, real incomes have not fundamentally recovered from a near 10 percent decline last year.

At the same time, the US is pursuing a relentlessly anti-Russian foreign policy, with last weeks provocations initiated by the US-backed stooge regime in Ukraine against Crimea being only the latest salvo. Washington has made clear its desire for regime change in Moscow and is preparing for war with Russia.

Parliamentary elections will occur in Russia on September 18. While the ruling United Russia (UR) party is expected to emerge victorious, deep social discontent exists within the country. In 2011, this boiled over into a major rebuff of UR candidates, allegations of electoral fraud, and the emergence of a protest movement.

It is within this context that the Kremlin has been systematically replacing key political and economic leaders. Putin has dismissed eight governors and presidential representatives from regions around the country and sacked top figures regarded as close friends, including the head of the Russian railways, Vladimir Yakunin, in August 2015 and the director of a major state bank, Vladimir Dmitriev, in February 2016. Oleg Belozerov, a relatively unknown 46-year-old logistics specialist and deputy transportation minister, was chosen to replace Yakunin as the director of one of the countrys essential pipelines for the movement of goods and people.

Noting the immense power and resources under the discretion of major state firms like those previously overseen by Yakunin, Nikolay Petrov, a professor at the Higher School of Economics, observed in an interview with the Christian Science Monitor, Some of these companies, like Gazprom and Russian Railroads, were like states-within-the-state.

This spring Russias antinarcotics official, Viktor Ivanov, left office and in May, Kremlin security chief Evgeny Murov lost his post. Recently, police brought criminal charges against Andrei Belyaninov, the countrys chief customs officer, for alcohol smuggling. Television exposes revealed the allegedly corrupt and illegal dealings of this former insider, including the discovery of over $800,000 in Russian and foreign currency stashed away in his luxury home.

Putin has simultaneously replaced the governors of three regionsYaroslavl, Kirov, Kaliningradthe last of which is a geostrategically critical stretch of Russian territory sandwiched in between Poland and Lithuania. The Kaliningrad post was handed to the regional head of the FSB. The fired governor of Kirov oblast, Nikita Belykh, who was not a member of the governing United Russia party and maintained ties with the liberal opposition, is now facing corruption allegations.

Whether the Kremlins actions are defensive measures aimed at forestalling an internal rebellion against Putins rule, advance efforts to shore up the Russian presidents position before challengers emerge, or simply a rotation of the elite as some have suggested, is unclear. As the pressures facing it mount, the Putin government will be beset by continuing turmoil.
A Socialist Equality Party (SEP) campaign team spoke with residents of Leechburg and Brackenridge in western Pennsylvania's Allegheny-Kiskimenitas river valley, campaigning for the SEP's Presidential candidates, Jerry White and Niles Niemuth. Many residents greeted the campaign with interest and enthusiasm, speaking of low-wage jobs, dwindling retirement benefits and a political establishment with nothing to offer.

Campaigners distributed copies of an SEP election statement, and several residents signed up for the SEP newsletter or otherwise sought to stay in contact with the SEP.

When SEP campaigners explained that this campaign was independent of and in opposition to the Democrats and Republicans, Don Sweeney, a young unemployed worker in Brackenridge, listened with interest.

Speaking of the big-business presidential candidates, Don explained, I don't like either one. If I were to say who I like out of both of them, I would say Trump. Clinton was already in office, and we saw what that was like.

After SEP campaigners explained the demand for a workers' government, Don asked how this could be achieved. A lengthy discussion followed in which SEP supporters explained the necessity for creating a mass independent political party of the working class.

Historically, western Pennsylvania was a major center of the global steel industry. After decades of plant closures and layoffs, facilitated by the United Steelworkers (USW) union, steel employment in the area is a fraction of what it once was. As a result of these betrayals, young workers face low-wage, casual jobs, and retirees are forced to subsist on dwindling pensions and meager Social Security benefits.

Don described the low pay and casual labor conditions facing an entire generation, I just moved back from New York, up near Albany, but I lived around here for ten years. I just got back two weeks ago, and I am unemployed. I was driving a forklift for $12 to $13 an hour in New York. Here I was making $18 to $19 an hour.

In Albany, they can lay you off for any reason. If you miss work one day, they can lay you off. Here there are more protections.

A Brackenridge truck driver with 30 years experience took a copy of the SEP election statement after expressing no confidence in the Democrats and Republicans. It's getting worse. It's going to get worse if Hillary gets in, but Trump's not ideal either.

Both Brackenridge and Leechburg were sites of 2015-2016 lockout of 2,200 workers by Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI), during which the ATI Bagdad plant in Leechburg was idled, putting 220 workers out of work.

Christine, a retired schoolteacher from Leechburg, spoke about the impact of the lockout on workers and their families.

The Bagdad plant, they have titled it idled, but I don't think it's going to open again. The 200-some people who were laid off. Some of the workers just retired or got other jobs.

It's been very hard on the families. Even during the lockout, many of them couldn't afford their medicines without their insurance. They were able to buy some kind of insurance, but it didn't cover much.

A lot of the workers did lose their jobs. I think they're trying to find work elsewhere. It's mainly the younger guys who didn't have much seniority. A lot of the older guys went ahead and retired with a lower pension, and just got out.

After SEP campaigner quoted Obama's assertion that America is pretty darn great right now, Christine responded, I don't think so. Everyone promises to help the middle class, but no-one does, even the things that Hillary's saying she's going to do on this. I don't think either one of those candidates can relate to middle-class people.

They both work for big money, and Obama's not a poor person either. He's got a beautiful home that he's going to move into, that he's renting now.

We need a revolution. I think that's what we need to do. It's going to take the younger people, with more energy and drive than the older people

Speaking on the bipartisan attacks on Social Security, Christine continued, They're supposed to improve it, but I don't think they're going to do that. If they reduce it, or eliminate it, there would be a revolt for sure. We put our money in there; we deserve to be able to retire.

I'm fortunate, I have a pension, a teacher's pension, but they're eliminating teachers' pensions now. Nobody's going to have a pension, that's going to be a thing of the past. Already with the younger teachers, they're having to put money in a 401(k). As far as contributing toward health benefits, health costs are so ridiculous. It's just insane.

Things have to change. I hope they change. It's up to you guys, the younger people. You have the energy and drive. We'll pitch in, but you have to initiate.

After the discussion Christine donated generously to the SEP election campaign.

Brad, a young worker from Brackenridge, spoke of the hardships facing convicts. People should give criminals more opportunities.

I'm a convicted felon. I couldn't even get a job at McDonald's.

But, I got a job anyway. I work at TruFoods through a temp agency. I make Kind Bars, making $10.07 an hour; it started at $9 an hour. After a few months, they pass you off to TruFoods, and they decide whether to hire you. Then you get a 401(k), and they offer medical, which you have to pay for.

Last week I worked 54 hours. It's usually more like 48. I'm a wrapper operator. There are three of us, and there are three shifts, so if one of us calls off, we work together to cover. I just got paid, and I have $4 left to my name.

Brad explained the wealth his factory produces. We can put out 100,000 bars per hour, and they cost the company 3.5 cents to produce. Kind Bars sell for over a dollar a bar.

Speaking of the nearby ATI Brackenridge mill, Brad argued, They need to have an agreement. If they don't hire the community, they should help rebuild the community, especially with all the soot coming out of there.

An older unemployed worker in Leechburg spoke about the lack of decent-paying jobs across the country. I was in Florida for 15 years. There are jobs there, but they don't pay all that much. It's not very good.

I had a job in Greensburg making $9 per hour cleaning at a CVS facility. I got laid off. SSDI [Social Security Disability Insurance] or SSI [Social Security Insurance] pays a bit, but it's not enough. You can't live on that. I'm 57.

I have a few friends working as janitors for the school district. That's the only good job around here.

A retired power plant worker spoke of her family's connection to the mill in Leechburg, My husband worked at the Leechburg [ATI] mill. He's retired now, and we get a small pension. Now he works for the sheriff's department. My dad and my grandpa both retired from Allegheny Ludlum.

She expressed concern over attacks on retirees and young people. If they get rid of Social Security, what are we supposed to do? They take a part of our wage every week. We haven't had a raise [in social security benefits] in years.

Jobs today are hard to come by for young people. My grandson, he's in college at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He's so far in debt, he'll never get out.

Asked about the presidential election, she responded, There's nobody to vote for this time. Hillary's a liar, and he [Trump] is a joke. I've been a Republican all my life. The slams he made about women are unacceptable. Trump doesn't care about anybody. He's got his millions already.
By PTI: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Aug 12 (PTI) China has evinced interest in establishing diplomatic ties with Bhutan as the two countries held 24th round of boundary talks here to resolve their border dispute.

China hopes to work with Bhutan for early establishment of diplomatic relations and solution to boundary issues, Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao said when the visiting Bhutans Foreign Minister Damcho Dorji called on him yesterday.

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Dorji is in China to attend the 24th round of boundary talks.

"China and Bhutan have yet to establish diplomatic ties but have always respected each other and treated each other as equals," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Li as saying.

Dorji said Bhutan expects to strengthen cooperation with China in various fields and looks forward to settling the boundary issue at an early date, the report said.

China has settled border differences with 12 of the 14 land neighbours with boundary disputes pending with India and Bhutan, which had close relations.

India and China have held 19 round of Special Representatives talks to resolve their bounder disputes.

Strategically placed between India and Tibet, Thimphu remained aloof since 1951 after China took firm control of Tibet, which formed borders with Bhutan.

Relations between Beijing and Thimphu remained traditionally strained following border dispute while the two countries maintained friendly exchanges and contacts in recent years.

In a surprise move in 2012, then Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Bhutanese counterpart Jigmi Y Thinley met on the sidelines of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development at Rio De Janeiro and expressed their willingness to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries and discussed measures to speed up efforts resolve border dispute and to step up bilateral ties.

But Thimphu did not pursue the move apparently to avoid creating any misunderstanding in its close ties with India.

China and Bhutan, however, continue their exchanges with visits by high level diplomats besides a dialogue to resolve the border dispute. PTI KJV UZM

--- ENDS ---
The 4,800 nurses at Allina Health in the metro-region of Minneapolis and St. Paul will vote August 18 on Allinas recent contract proposal that guts nurses health care plans. The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) has called on nurses to reject the proposal with the additional proviso that a two-thirds rejection will allow the negotiating committee to launch an open-ended strike.

Allina CEO Penny Wheeler calls the companys most recent proposal a significant compromise. Nothing could be further from the truth. The essence of managements position is to allow nurses to keep two of the union-backed health care plans in name only, while the future expense of maintaining these plans will be shifted unto the backs of nurses.

The nurses contract struggle, which began back in February, has been characterized by a determined drive by Allina management to force nurses off their current healthcare plans and onto corporate plans with the result that the company will save $10 million a year.

Allina faced a seven-day strike in June at a cost of $20.4 million for replacement workers and other expenses. They hope that a defeat of the nurses will clear the way for even greater concessions in the future in terms of wages, pensions and working conditions.

When Brigham and Womens Hospital in Massachusetts spent $24 million to take on their nurses earlier this year, the chief financial officer for the parent company blandly remarked, frankly, at the end of the day, it was the cost of doing business. It is no different for Allina.

While the MNA has called on nurses to vote no, nurses should consider carefully the situation they now find themselves in. It was the MNA that started down the road of compromise on the healthcare plans when it was clear that Allina would accept nothing short of their destruction.

In its compromise proposal, the MNA hoped to obtain a cover from Allina for its capitulation on the issue of healthcare and in other areas. On wages, it is supporting the companys two-percent annual wage hikes, which will be more than offset by increased healthcare costs. Among the MNA requests was a $1,000 signing bonus. Traditionally, the labor bureaucracy and corporations have used signing bonuses as a means of bribing workers to accept regressive contracts. The cost to management of paying out the bonus will be more than covered through savings on healthcare and other concessions.

Management has pursued a strategy aimed at dividing Allina nurses from their co-workers at other hospitals. At the beginning of this year the MNA concluded wages-only contracts with 6,000 nurses at the other five healthcare systems in the Twin Cities, claiming this protected benefits for these nurses. That decision, however, left the 4,800 Allina nurses to fight on their own. Whatever concessions are now imposed by the MNA on Allina nurses will form the basis for future concession demands by other healthcare operators.

Nurses should recall the outcry by the corporate and media establishment in 2010 when 12,000 nurses were poised for an open-ended strike that the hospitals were ill-prepared to withstand. Today, there is no outcry from the corporate establishment to the MNAs call for an open-ended strike. This is for the simple reason that it is confident that the MNAs call for an open-ended strike is toothless now that Allina nurses have been separated from nurses at other area hospitals. They believe that nurses can be worn down and ultimately forced to accept concessions that will not only be used as a battering ram against other nurses, but against all hospital workers.

Allinas obstinate position over healthcare plans did not develop overnight. Back in 2009 President Barack Obama revealed to Business Week that in discussions with corporate CEOs he advised they copy the policy of slashing the wages and benefits of industrial workers during the 1980s and transfer this to other sectors of the working class. What they pointed out was, there were a couple of sectors that were resistant to that: health care, education, energy, and government, said Obama. Can we introduce the same sort of productivity in the health-care industry, which we know is going to be a growing sector?

What is clear is that the struggle by Allina nurses to defend their healthcare plans is part of an overall struggle to defend healthcare for the entire working class. Therefore, it requires the unity and mobilization of the widest possible movement of workers.

But the MNA is opposed to this. Instead, it seeks to subordinate the working class to the corporations and banks through its insistence that workers must support the Democratic Party. This was the essence of MNA President Mary Turners article on the MNA website, entitled, Solidarity is Alive and Well, which listed the names of more than 100 politicians as supporters of the MNA.

In the presidential elections, the MNA initially endorsed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders as the Democratic candidate, whose rhetoric about a billionaire class and a political revolution resonated more widely among nurses as opposed to the more openly pro corporate candidate Hilary Clinton. But with Sanders endorsement of Clinton, his campaign has been exposed as merely a way of keeping disgruntled workers within the capitalist two-party system.

The bluntest warning must be made to nurses. Victory in their struggle will not be in any way facilitated by support from the Democratic Party. It will only come through a struggle against the Democratic Party establishment including such figures as Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton as well as the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul and the Democratic state legislators and city council.

If nurses are to enter into an open ended strike, it will require the broadest mobilization of workers. Immediately, a substantial rank-and-file committee composed of at least 100 of the most militant nurses must be elected to direct the strike. It must send delegations of nurses to rally support from all sections of the working classhospital workers, construction workers, transit workers, government employees and industrial workers.

In turn, workers who respond to the appeal of Allina nurses must set up their own support committees that will mobilize workers from their workplaces and neighborhoods for the coming struggle. These committees must ensure that Allina nurses are not starved into submission by management during an open-ended strike.

Mass rallies must be held in cities across the state and draw in national support so that the mobilization in defense of Allina will serve as a beacon to all workers who face deteriorating livings standards and are looking for a way to open a wedge against the corporations.

Above all workers require a new political strategy. They must break with the two parties of Wall Street, the Democrats and Republicans, and forge an independent political movement of the working class. This party must be based on a program that starts with the needs of workers and their families, not the profit requirements of the richin other words, a socialist perspective. This includes a struggle by the working class to take the healthcare system out of the hands of the corporations and place it under the democratic control of the working class, that is, genuine socialist healthcare.
The 2016 US elections mark a new stage in the deep and protracted crisis of American democracy. Political parties that have been in existence for well over a century and a half are breaking apart. New political alignments are emerging, and an extremely dangerous type of politics, in gestation for an extended period of time, is erupting to the surface.

In the aftermath of the Democratic and Republican national conventions, Donald Trumps standing in the polls has declined significantly, particularly in key battleground states. From prominent sections of the Republican Party and allied media there are complaints that Trump is not running a traditional race capable of winning office. There are mounting demands that he change course.

The editorial page of the Wall Street Journal wrote this week that if the Republican leadership cant get Mr. Trump to change his act by Labor Day, it will have no choice but to write off the nominee as hopeless and focus on salvaging the Senate and House As for Trump, the Journal declared that he needs to decide if he wants to behave like someone who wants to be Presidentor turn the nomination over to [his vice presidential running mate] Mike Pence.

What is most remarkable is how little Trump appears to be concerned with either the poll numbers or the increasingly strident complaints from the leadership of the party he nominally heads.

The Republican candidate on Wednesday responded to the complaints from the Journal and others by organizing a shake-up of his staff along precisely the opposite lines from those demanded by his Republican critics. He effectively demoted his current campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and appointed Breitbart News head Stephen Bannon to run the day-to-day operations of his campaign. In bringing on Bannon, the Guardian newspaper wrote, Trump shook free the last vestiges of political supervisionwith the appointment of a mavericklikely to favour his freewheeling style. It is a middle finger to the Republican establishment, read a headline in the Washington Post.

More significant than issues of style are the political implications of Bannons selection. Breitbart News is at the center of the right-wing gutter press, the network of blogs and talk radio programs that promote the foulest, most nationalist, militarist and fascistic politics.

A report published in the Daily Beast on Wednesday pointed to Breitbarts connections to white supremacist organizations like VDare, the National Policy Institute, Alt-Right and American Renaissance. Andrew Breitbart, the founder of Breitbart until his death in 2012, is reported to have approvingly called Bannon the Leni Riefenstahl of the Tea Party movement, referring to the Nazi propagandist and filmmaker. According to the Post, Bannon has encouraged Trump to run as an unabashed nationalist.

Bannon recently made waves when he defended former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski against accusations that he assaulted one of Breitbarts own reporters, Michelle Fields. Breitbart has since been transformed into what amounts to a campaign web site for Trump.

Trumps evident disinterest in the opinions of prominent Republican officials is in line with a political orientation he has developed in the course of his campaign. He is calculating that there is a reservoir of social anger and frustration that can be channeled, on the basis of vague denunciations of the elite, in an extremely right-wing direction. As the World Socialist Web Site noted in March, following a string of Trump primary victories on Super Tuesday, It was only a matter of time before one or another right-wing demagogue would recognize the political potential of an appeal to the economic and social insecurity of millions of people.

Whether or not he wins in November, Trump is creating the basis for a fascistic and nationalist movement, focused on attacks on immigrants, anti-Islamic hysteria, calls for law and order and demands for an end to all constraints on the police and military. This movement will persist after the elections, with Trump or some other demagogue at its head.

In this connection, it is significant that Trump is increasingly raising the charge that the elections are rigged in favor of Clinton and the Democrats, with the clear implication that a Clinton presidency will be illegitimate from the start.

In the final analysis, Trump speaks for a section of the ruling class that is well aware of the crisis of its economic and political system, and the growth of social opposition, and is preparing more authoritarian and violent methods of rule.

Trump represents a serious danger for the working class. However, his ability to gain a hearing among certain oppressed sections of the population is due above all to the bankrupt and reactionary character of what passes for left politics in the United States. Trumps denunciations of crooked Hillary, his attacks on the media, his broadsides against the political correctness of the liberal elite are meant to tap into a deep well of hostility to the Democratic Party, magnified after seven and a half years of the Obama administration.

Over the past month, the World Socialist Web Sites characterization of Clinton as the candidate of the political status quo has been ever more dramatically confirmed. She now has the explicit or implicit backing of everyone from neoconservative Republicans such as Iraq warmonger Robert Kagan, to top intelligence officials such as former CIA heads Michael Morell and Michael Hayden, to the Obama administration, the entire trade union apparatus and former primary challenger Bernie Sanders. To this list must be added major hedge fund billionaires and most of the media.

A Clinton presidency would represent an alliance between Wall Street and corporate America, the military-intelligence apparatus, and the upper-middle class layers that adhere to the Democratic Party on the basis of the politics of race, gender and sexual identity. The focus of a Clinton administration would be a vast expansion of US military interventions, particularly in the Middle East and against Russia, as well as an intensification of the Obama administrations anti-Chinese pivot to Asia.

The Democrats and the media are seeking to turn the elections into a mandate for war, even as the vast implications for the population of the United States and the world are covered up. The Clinton campaign has centered its criticisms of Trump not on his fascistic policies, but on his alleged ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his unsuitability, for both political and psychological reasons, to serve as US commander in chief.

The nature of the Clinton campaignparticularly in the unprecedented intervention of top intelligence and military officialsin its own way expresses the crisis of bourgeois democracy. The program she is preparing requires an escalation of the assault on the working class and a further dismantling of constitutional forms of rule beyond what has already been implemented by Bush and Obama.

In the 2016 elections, processes that have been developing for some time are coming to a head. It is now sixteen years since the theft of an election by the US Supreme Court brought George W. Bush to power, an event that was preceded by an impeachment campaign against Hillary Clintons husband based on a manufactured sex scandal.

The 2000 elections were followed by the attacks of September 11, 2001. 9/11 was used to justify the war on terror, which brought the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the wars in Libya and Syria and a new war in Iraq, the Patriot Act and domestic spying, Guantanamo Bay, CIA torture and drone assassinations. A quarter century of wargoing back to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the proclamation by the first Bush administration of a New World Orderhas led to an immense growth in the power and influence of the military and intelligence agencies.

Underlying the crisis of democratic forms of rule is the long-term decay of American capitalism, accompanied by a process of financialization and the rise of a new aristocracy that has accumulated unimaginable levels of wealth by means of parasitism and speculation. Social inequality is at record levels, and a large majority of the population confronts some combination of unemployment, economic insecurity and poverty-level wages.

The basic trajectory of popular sentiment is to the left. Recent polls confirm the undeniable fact that millions of people view the entire political system, including both Clinton and Trump, with hatred and contempt. The widespread support for the Sanders campaign in the Democratic primaries showed that broad sections of the population are looking for a way to oppose the domination of the banks and corporations over economic and political life. The outcome of Sanders campaignwhich the WSWS anticipated and repeatedly warned againsthas ensured that this sentiment finds no political expression.

Whatever the outcome of the November election, the crisis of American democracy will intensify. The greatest danger facing working people is that they are not politically organized and they are not conscious of the tasks they confront. The presidential election campaign of the Socialist Equality Party is aimed precisely at developing the independent political organization and consciousness of the working class.

The dangers before workers in the United States and internationally will not be resolved through tactical maneuvers or wishful thinking. What is required is an uncompromising political struggle, based on the understanding that the political crisis is a reflection of the crisis of the entire capitalist system.

The candidates of the SEPJerry White for President and Niles Niemuth for Vice Presidentare advancing a socialist and internationalist program that represents the interests of the working class and prepares it for the struggles that lie ahead.

The World Socialist Web Site speaks each day to tens of thousands of readers. Events have proven the correctness of the perspective and program of the Socialist Equality Party. The time has come to draw the necessary political conclusions. We say to all our readers who recognize the dangers and the need to fight for socialism: Translate your convictions into actions.

The building of the Socialist Equality Party is the most urgent political task. Now is the time to join the SEP and support its election campaign.
After eight months without a government and two months after the second round of elections in June produced another hung parliament, a major political crisis is rising in Spain with the prospect of a third general election.

The Socialist Party (PSOE) is being called on by the media and other political parties to abstain in order to allow a minority Popular Party (PP) government to be formed. Following the June election, there was little political movement towards an agreement and the Spanish bourgeoisie has increased the pressure on the main parties to come to some sort of agreement quickly, out of fear that continued paralysis may deepen the crisis of rule, prevent an agreement with the European Union (EU) on the budget and destabilize Spains social order.

The PP, led by caretaker Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, won 137 seats in parliament in June, which is insufficient to form a government. They need the support of other parties to reach a majority of 176 deputies in the first vote, and more yeas than nays in a hypothetical second vote, which news reports suggest would take place in the last week of August.

The PP has accepted the six conditions placed on the table by the right-wing Citizens Party in order to obtain their 32 seats supporting a PP minority government. The six conditions include Rajoy setting an investiture date in Congress, expelling PP officials targeted in corruption investigations, ending judicial privileges for elected officials, changing the electoral law, ending amnesties and pardons in corruption cases, limiting the prime minister to two terms in office, and creating a parliamentary commission to look into the Barcenas case involving illegal payments to PP officials.

Citizens leader Albert Rivera has previously insisted repeatedly that Rajoys departure was a condition for even beginning to talk to the PP, but that has been dropped.

The support given by Citizens to the PP once again shows that the entry of new political forces in parliament, including the pseudo-left Podemos, has not made it more responsive to broad social opposition to austerity. Rather, their role is to channel mass discontent back to the parties that have dominated the post-Franco dictatorship era.

Citizens have assumed the role, with wall-to-wall favourable coverage by the national media, of defending the bourgeoisies call for a quick agreement to set aside all tactical differences between the PSOE and the PP. At the same time, its task is to re-brand the PP, widely seen as a corrupt party, in order to aid the PP on moving forward with implementing further austerity in the form of tax hikes and spending cutbacks amounting to 10 billion euros, as demanded by the EU.

Last Wednesday, Citizens leader Rivera wrote an open letter titled To My Socialist Compatriots published in El Pais, traditionally a pro-PSOE newspaper that has shifted further to the right and given Citizens wide coverage and a platform. In it Rivera appealed to the PSOE to have a sense of state, calling on the party to abstain to allow the PP to rule.

Former Socialist Party Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez has hailed Citizens initiative in helping to clear the way for a PP government, calling on the PSOE to allow Rajoy to govern, even if he doesnt deserve it.

Former Defence Minister and PSOE parliamentary spokesperson Jose Bono has also spoken out, calling on the PSOE to abstain because Spain deserves a government and if the PSOE has to abstain to avoid third elections, I think this is based on our responsibility to our country.

The PSOE has, to date, remained adamant in its position of No to Rajoy and the PP and No to forming an alternative government with Podemos and regional nationalists. Other than repeating their No, the PSOE and its leader, Pedro Sanchez, have kept as quiet as possible while Citizens takes center stage.

Miquel Iceta, the Leader of the Catalan section of the PSOE, stated that a third solution to the political deadlock would be to get rid of Rajoy and propose someone else within the PP or appoint an independent candidate. The PP responded that this is not an option; with PP spokesman Fernando Martinez Maillo saying that Rajoy is our candidate from start to finish.

Popular discontent with the current political setup, and all the parties, runs deep. The current vacuum of power is only heightening fears in ruling circles that the country may run adrift; resulting in damage to Spains economic position, its credit rating and its bond spreads. This has been intensified by the drive to secession by separatist bourgeois and pseudo-left parties in the Catalan regional government and parliament, which is being used by Citizens and the PP to put pressure on the PSOE to abstain.

If Rajoy fails, the alternative of a PSOE and Podemos government backed by regional nationalists is held in reserve, although no significant figures are saying anything publicly about such an eventuality.

Podemos has been licking its wounds after its disappointment in June, when it stood in alliance with the Stalinist-led United Left. Its leaders have mostly remained silent in recent weeks, as they have been pondering how or whether Podemos can regain its previous political momentum. Splits are emerging over electoral strategy, regional alliances, the partys ideology or lack thereof, and other matters.

The pseudo-left party, hitherto the young upstarts in Spanish bourgeois politics, is already showing signs of being a spent force. They can no longer credibly present themselves as insurgents against a corrupt political system and ruling caste into which they have now been fully integrated, while pleading for an alliance with the openly pro-capitalist, pro-austerity and pro-NATO PSOE.

Podemos and its United Left allies have called on the PSOE to take the first step in forming a progressive government to remove Rajoy and the PP from Moncloa Palace. The major difficulty in forming such a government is that the Catalan nationalists have recently voted through measures in the regional parliament aimed at secession. The PSOE, a stalwart defender of the unity of Spain, is a sworn opponent of such moves.

Any such government would be a mortal enemy of the working class. It would flaunt its left credentials, only with a view to shoving EU-imposed austerity down the throat of the population in the same way that the radical left Syriza in Greece has betrayed the Greek working class and acted as European finance capitals must trusted ally in ramming through one austerity package after another.

The political crisis is taking place against a background of an unabated and ongoing social and economic crisis, as Spanish workers, especially young people, have suffered a devastating decline in their living standards and hopes for the future. Therefore, even if a government is installed in the coming week, the ruling class fears that it will lack the political strength and social base to implement the social counter-revolution against the working class called for in a new dose of EU-prescribed austerity.
Russian bombers used an air base in the northwest of Iran for a second day Wednesday to attack targets inside Syria described by Moscow as arms depots and command centers used to support jihadist militias fighting Syrian government forces for control of the city of Aleppo.

The air strikes, carried out by Tupolev-22M3 long-range bombers and SU-34 tactical bombers, mark the first time that Russia has used a base inside a third country to prosecute the bombing campaign that it began last September against Al Qaeda-linked militias and in support of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.

The long-range planes are too large to use the base that Russia occupies inside Syria. They had previously flown out of southern Russia. The use of Iranian bases cuts flight time by 60 percent and allows the aircraft to carry large amounts of bombs.

The move provoked expressions of disquiet within the Washington ruling establishment. It has grown increasingly concerned about the evident debacle confronting the five-year-old US-backed war for regime change in Syria, which has relied upon Islamist sectarian militias armed and funded by the CIA, the Pentagon and US imperialisms regional allies, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.

In addition to the State Departments official denunciation of the use of the Iranian base, there has been a rising tide of editorials and news articles indicting the Obama administration for failure to take more aggressive action in Syria, invoking the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo as the pretext for a stepped-up US intervention.

Responding to the reports of the Russian air strikes conducted from Iran, State Department spokesman Mark Toner criticized Moscow for a second day Wednesday declaring that the action was not helpful because it continues to complicate what is already a very dangerous situation in and around Aleppo.

The complication which concerns Washington is the stalling of a rebel offensive meant to break the governments siege of eastern Aleppo, where a minority of the population has lived under the rule of the jihadi militias. The Al Qaeda-linked forces had boasted that they were on the verge of conquering the entire city through the offensive, which was prepared by the funneling in of massive amounts of arms, including heavy weapons, by the US and its regional allies. However, Syrian government forces, aided by fighters of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and backed by Russian air strikes, have apparently reversed the initial gains of the Western-backed Islamists.

This reversal has triggered the propaganda offensive over the catastrophe in Aleppo, which for the most part completely ignores indiscriminate shelling and gas attacks by the rebels against the vast majority of Aleppos population living under government control in the west of the city. Washington is pressing for an immediate ceasefire and opening up of humanitarian corridors so that it can resupply its proxy forces.

The State Department has also over the past two days suggested that the Russian-Iranian action is somehow in violation of a UN Security Council resolution adopted a little over a year ago as part of the agreement over Irans nuclear program. It included language barring the sale or transfer of any weapons systems that could used to deliver nuclear weapons. This allegation is utterly spurious, given that Russia has not placed its warplanes under Teherans control, but is only using the countrys bases.

On both days, the State Department repeated charges that the Russian air strikes had hit moderate opposition targets, while failing to provide any details as to the identity of these so-called moderates. The reality is that the dominant force on the ground is the Al Nusra Front, the Syrian Al Qaeda affiliate that last month changed its name and formally disaffiliated from Al Qaeda, along with similar Salafist jihadi militias. While the US pledged that it would secure the separation of the moderates from the Al Qaeda affiliates, it is unable to do so because those armed and funded by the CIA are thoroughly integrated with these forces.

The real concern in Washington is the emergence of an alliance that could potentially act as an impediment to the 25-year-old US drive to militarily assert its unquestioned hegemony over the Middle East. The Russian-Iranian agreement marks the first time that a foreign military has been allowed to operate out of Iranian bases since the 1979 revolution that overthrew the Shahs US-backed dictatorship.

The basing agreement was preceded by Moscows provision to Teheran of its advanced S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system, which had previously been held back during the tightening of UN sanctions over Irans nuclear program. Components of the missile system have already been delivered, according to Iranian officials.

The situation is even more disagreeable for Washington as the Russian planes are flying from Iran over Iraqi territory with the permission of the US-backed government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Russian media have also reported that the Abadi government has given Moscow permission to fire cruise missiles from the Caspian and Mediterranean over Iraqi territory.

Further complicating the situation from Washingtons perspective, the Chinese government announced on Tuesday that it is seeking closer military collaboration with the Assad government in Syria. Guan Youfei, director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of Chinas Central Military Commission, visited Damascus, meeting with top Syrian officials and promising increased military aid as well as training for Syrian government forces. Guan also met with a senior Russian general while in Syria. Chinese officials have cited the participation of Islamists from the Uighur population in Chinas Xinjiang region in both ISIS and the Syrian Al Qaeda affiliate as one of their reasons for seeking increased involvement in Syria.

Perhaps even more concerning is the rapprochement between Russia and Turkey in the wake of last months abortive coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which by all indications enjoyed the support of Washington and its European allies. In his first trip abroad in the wake of the July 15 military uprising, Erdogan visited Saint Petersburg, Russias second city, last week for talks with Putin. In the aftermath of the talks, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that a proposal was on the table for Turkey and Russia to carry out joint operations against ISIS.

This was followed Tuesday by a statement from a member of the Russian Federation Council Defense and Security Committee, Senator Viktor Ozerov, that Turkey could provide the Incirlik base to the Russian Aerospace Forces for its use in counterterrorism operations [in Syria]. Incirlik currently serves as the base for thousands of US Air Force personnel and private contractors. Its status became a sensitive issue after it served as a base of operations for the abortive coup, which also called into question the safety of at least 50 US nuclear weapons stored there.

The unraveling of US policy in Syria was the subject of a paper issued Tuesday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies by its strategic analyst and longtime Pentagon adviser Anthony Cordesman.

Stating that the situation seriously threatens the future of the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region and US strategic interests, Cordesman noted the lack of any serious public discussion over US war policy: For the first time in its national history, the United States may get through a Presidential campaign amidst multiple wars without seriously debating or discussing where any of its wars are going, or what their longer-term impact will be.

The developments in Syria, he added, represent not simply a massive and lasting humanitarian nightmare, it is a strategic nightmare as well. He pointed in particular to the growing Russian and Iranian role in the conflict and the likely survival of the Assad government.

So far, the United States seems to have done little to address these issues, Cordesman writes. Secretary Kerrys negotiations with Russia seem to have done little more than give Russia freedom of action in backing Assad while the United States focuses on ISISchoices that also empower Iran and raise critical questions about who will really win in Syria if the United States does defeat ISIS.

One indication that this same question is being asked in the US military command came with the report that after conquering the city of Manbij in northern Syria, US-backed forces, which are fighting with the support of American special operations troops, granted safe passage to a convoy of between 100 and 200 trucks and cars filled with ISIS members fleeing toward the Turkish border. The effect was to ensure that these forces lived to fight another day, presumably the Americans hope, against Assad.

While the Obama administration has sought to limit US engagement in Syria, preferring to concentrate its military efforts on the encirclement of and preparation for war against Russia, Washington is not prepared to accept the restabilization of the Assad government or the consolidation of any regime aligned with Russia in Damascus. The rising tensions over the coordinated actions of Russia, Iran, China and potentially Turkey pose the threat of a military confrontation with globally catastrophic implications.
On Tuesday, North Carolina police believed they found the remains of 3-year-old Jordan Ann Dumont and subsequently filed murder charges against her mother's boyfriend, 21-year-old Billy McCullen.



Neighbor Dustee Connard tells PEOPLE the news wasn't a complete shock to her because she'd seen disturbing signs from the home McCullen shared with Jordan and her mother, Jaylene Dumont.



"We could sit on our front porch and we could hear [McCullen and Dumont] fighting with the kids in the house. Jaylene was screaming, 'Please stop, please Billy,'" Connard says.



Connard says she and her family called police three times in the last six months. In the last three years, 49 service calls were made to McCullen and Dumont's home, police said Tuesday.



"[Dumont] would tell police everything was fine, that nothing was wrong," Connard says. "It's just horrible."



Connard says she grew worried at the family's Easter egg hunt this year when she saw Jordan with a bruise on her face.



"Jordan was a beautiful little girl," Connard remembers. "When she came down here she loved to play around the yard but you would see bruises on her."



During the egg hunt, when Connard asked Jordan what happened, she allegedly replied she fell. According to police records obtained by PEOPLE, authorities responded to more than a dozen calls to the home between Easter and her disappearance on Monday.



Connard says she never saw McCullen hurt Jordan, Dumont or the couple's 13-month-old daughter, Angel herself. However, she says her daughter told her she saw McCullen allegedly smack Jordan so hard she fell off the house's porch before yanking Jordan up by the arm and bringing her inside.



"It just blows my mind," Connard says.



"[Jaylene] would say it was nothing. I couldn't even image my girls [being treated like that] and of course I was concerned."





Story continues

Neighbor of North Carolina Toddler Allegedly Murdered By Mom's Boyfriend Said She Saw 'Bruises' on Girl| Child Abuse, Crime & Courts, Death, Murder, Physical Abuse, True Crime

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.



On Monday afternoon, McCullen reported Jordan missing, telling police that at 1 p.m. he put Jordan down for a nap and took a nap himself. He said when he awoke two hours later he realized she was not home and the front door was open.



On Tuesday, authorities announced they had found remains they believe belong to Jordan and arrested McCullen for first-degree murder.



"It appears the remains are that of Jordan Ann Dumont," the Gaston County Police said in a press release, which added, "Tests will need to be conducted by the medical examiner's office to determine a positive identification of the remains as well as the cause of death."





Neighbor of North Carolina Toddler Allegedly Murdered By Mom's Boyfriend Said She Saw 'Bruises' on Girl| Child Abuse, Crime & Courts, Death, Murder, Physical Abuse, True Crime

At a press conference, Gaston County Police Chief Joseph Ramey said "further charges could be forthcoming," and that authorities will "see where additional evidence leads us."



McCullen has not entered a plea and it is not known whether he has an attorney.
Freddie Gibbs has been charged with "sexual abuse of a defenseless or psychologically impaired person" following an alleged July 2015 incident in Vienna.

Two-and-a-half months after Freddie Gibbs was arrested in France stemming from an alleged sexual assault that occurred in Vienna, Austria in July 2015, the rapper has formally been charged in the incident.

A spokesperson for the Vienna criminal court confirmed the charges of "sexual abuse of a defenseless or psychologically impaired person" Wednesday. "[Gibbs] is alleged to have administered knock-out drops to a woman and then have abused her sexually while she was in a defenseless state," the spokesperson said in a statement, accusing the rapper of spiking a woman's drink, Metro US reports.



Gibbs could face 10 years in prison if convicted of the charges. Gibbs' Austrian-based lawyer Thomas Kralik denied that the rapper had any sexual contact with the alleged victim. "He strenuously denies [the accusations]," Kralik said.

Gibbs' U.S. lawyer Theodore Simon added in an email statement to Rolling Stone, "While Freddie Gibbs was charged with an offense today, it remains only an allegation, and it does not in any way change the actual facts that Freddie Gibbs is 100 percent innocent ... As the investigation and process continues, Mr. Gibbs remains hopeful that a thorough, searching and complete investigation will reveal the actual facts, including the absence of any scientific, physical, or credible evidence implicating him, thereby paving the way for his exoneration and return to his family and one-year-old child."

At the time of Gibbs' arrest in Toulouse, France in June, the rapper's lawyer told Rolling Stone in a statement, "Freddie Gibbs adamantly denies the allegations that have been levied against by Austrian authorities. It makes you wonder why it took almost a year for Austrian officials to bring these charges. Freddie will be fighting the extradition request as these are nothing more than trumped up charges."

Gibbs was scheduled to perform in Vienna on May 26th but the concert was cancelled due to "transportation issues." A European arrest warrant was issued for Gibbs days later.

Related Content:
The aviation industry has seen some really heartbreaking disasters in the past couple of years. But Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, is not the only plane to have disappeared into thin air.



Mysteries have been playing themselves on the aviation industry since the beginning on the 20th century.

Here are 10 of the most perplexing aviation disasters; most of them are still unsolved.

Aer Lingus Flight 712 - The fight crashed on its route to London from Cork, in March 1968, with 61 passengers and crew members, due to reasons that remain unknown till date. 14 dead bodies were located and none of the passengers, mostly Irish and a few Americans, could survive the accident. It was a popular speculation that an experimental British missile took it down, but no evidence could be traced to support the speculation. What makes this case interesting is, unlike popular convention of discontinuing a flights number following its crash, Aer Lingus has retained the number for a daily flight flying the same route.

B47 Stratojet - The bomber carrying nuclear weapons went missing while flying across the Mediterranean Sea in 1956. Quite mysteriously no remains of the flight could ever be recovered  no dead bodies, debris, or missiles. This one is the strangest mystery for the US government. They have lost 11 nuclear weapons and two of them were on B47 Stratojet.

Amelia Earhart - She could have realized her ambition of becoming the first woman to have flown around the world in 1937. But while she was over the Pacific Ocean, with Captain Fred Noonan, her flight disappeared. The last time she was heard on the radio she said she was running out of fuel and was unsure of her whereabouts. Search efforts didnt yield any result  none of the bodies were discovered. There was no trace of any wreckage or debris. Amidst various conspiracy theories, Earhart was declared dead 2 years from the accident.

Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 - The mystery behind the disappearance of Flight 739 in 1962 is another unsolved aviation disaster. This one was clearly the worst mishap in the Lockheed Constellation series. Again, the rescue team couldnt locate any debris or bodies without which the reason of the explosion stayed unsettled. However there are a couple of conspiracy theories that insinuate a sabotage in play.

Story continues

Egypt Air Flight 990 - The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 217 passengers including the crew. Heading from Los Angeles to Cairo, Flight 990 was already in Egyptian territory when the accident took place. The Egyptian government carried on some investigations initially, but due to lack of infrastructure they later signed off the duty to US. The outcomes were contradictory and left the Egyptian government unhappy with the investigation of National Transportation Safety. The board considers a criminal event as the voice recorder in the flight had evidence that the officer shut down the engines and said, I rely on God.

Pan Am Flight 7 - Flight 7, also known as Clipper Romance of the Skies crashed, as assumed, due to the malfunctioning of its engine. The wreckage was found off route and toxicology reports of 44 dead passengers show high levels of carbon monoxide. But the ultimate results of the investigation do not satisfy the curiosity and hence the possibilities of it being a planned attack have never been written off. It is also believed that the accident was designed and the aircraft carried explosives  all this to work out insurance frauds.

Dan Cooper and Northwest Airlines Flight 305 - Now this one is like a thriller movie, with a positive note that no passengers were killed during Dan Coopers skyjacking gig. On November 24th, 1971, Dan Cooper a.k. D.B Cooper boarded Flight 305. Midair, he placed a demand of a knapsack filled with $200,000, 4 parachutes and a refueling truck in Seattle. Once the demands met he released all the passengers, and held the crew and one stewardess for a flight to Mexico City. However, he jumped with all the money and parachute shortly after the take off. The man who purchased the ticket by the alias of Dan Cooper has never been identified or found despite many attempts.

Air France Flight 447 - The mystery leading to Flight 447s disappearance on June 1st, 2009, was the toughest to decipher. The flight fell into the Atlantic while on its way to Paris from Rio de Janeiro. An extensive search was initiated and then called off with 74 bodies still in water. After 2 years the black box was found and the reason of the accident turned out to be a disconnect from autopilot.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 - Perhaps the most interesting and heart-breaking aviation mysteries of this century so far was the disappearance of Flight 370. On March 8th 2014 the Malaysia Airlines flight heading to Beijing, with 239 passengers and crew members literally vanished from its route. Search efforts began and many countries pitched in to help find the flight but no major wreckage or bodies have been found till date. However, in July 2015 a part of its flaperon was found on the beach of Saint-Andre. The reason of the crash is unsolved.

Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 - Radar contact with Flight 8501 was lost within 40 minutes of take-off and after 40 more minutes the flight was declared missing. Debris were reported in Karimata Strait and bodies were found floating. From engine damage to bad weather, a lot of theories have been drawn to explain the crash.

From time to time, various conspiracy theories and explanations have surfaced, but none could satiate all the queries enough to be adopted as a solution. Will these mysteries be ever solved - guess the question itself is an enigma.
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Michael Phelps

Good morning. Here's everything you need to know in the world of advertising today.

1. The UK government brought out its long-awaited Childhood Obesity Plan, which includes plans to introduce a soft drinks tax. However, the plan doesn't include expected measures to curb junk food advertising to children.

2. Coca-Cola says the UK soft drinks tax "is not the right response." The soft drinks company says the plan will only serve to hit consumers' pockets, damage businesses, and that it won't reduce obesity rates.

3. Michael Phelps' new Sports Illustrated cover could make Under Armour furious. Under Armour's star athlete is wearing Nike.

4. Pinterest has finally started selling video ads. The New York Times reports that the silent autoplay video ads will begin appearing on the Pinterest feed from Wednesday.

5. New guidelines led to a big change for uniforms at the Olympics. Brand logos are showing up more than ever.

6. Snapchat plans to more than double its workforce in New York City. The company has agreed to create 396 jobs in the state of New York in exchange for tax breaks totaling up to $5 million.

7. Russian billionaire Evgeny Lebedev tried to buy The Daily Telegraph, The Financial Times reported. Lebedev, who owns The London Evening Standard, was told by The Telegraph Media Group's chairman Aidan Barclay that the title was not for sale.

8. Mark Zuckerberg said he regretted having to spend $2 billion on Oculus in order to get into virtual reality. "I actually view that as, you know, if we'd done a better job of building up some of the expertise to do some of that stuff internally, then maybe we wouldn't have had to do that"  but he added that he's happy with the investment.

9. McDonald's has had to pull its Happy Meal fitness bands. People had reported skin irritation after wearing them, according to AdAge.

Story continues

10. Tencent reported strong second quarter results. Net profit rose 47% to 10.73 billion yuan, while revenue was up 52% to 35.69 billion yuan, beating analysts' estimates.

NOW WATCH: New guidelines have led to a big change for uniforms at the Rio Olympics





More From Business Insider


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In the year 1820, a person could expect to live less than 35 years, 94% of the global population lived in extreme poverty, and less that 20% of the population was literate. Today, human life expectancy is over 70 years, less that 10% of the global population lives in extreme poverty, and over 80% of people are literate. These improvements are due mainly to advances in technology, beginning in the industrial age and continuing today in the information age.

There are many exciting new technologies that will continue to transform the world and improve human welfare. Here are eleven of them.

1. Self-Driving Cars

Self-driving cars exist today that are safer than human-driven cars in most driving conditions. Over the next 35 years theyll get even safer, and will begin to go mainstream.

"so what did you do before self-driving cars?"

"we just drove 'em ourselves!"

"wow, no one died that way?"

"oh no, millions of people died"  gregory erskine (@cat_beltane) April 15, 2015

The World Health Organization estimates that 1.25 million people die from car-related injuries per year. Half of the deaths are pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists hit by cars. Cars are the leading cause of death for people ages 1529 years old.

Just as cars reshaped the world in the 20th century, so will self-driving cars in the 21st century. In most cities, between 2030% of usable space is taken up by parking spaces, and most cars are parked about 95% of the time. Self-driving cars will be in almost continuous use (most likely hailed from a smartphone app), thereby dramatically reducing the need for parking. Cars will communicate with one another to avoid accidents and traffic jams, and riders will be able to spend commuting time on other activities like work, education, and socializing.

Story continues

dixon graphic

2. Clean Energy

Attempts to fight climate change by reducing the demand for energy havent worked. Fortunately, scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs have been working hard on the supply side to make clean energy convenient and cost-effective.

Due to steady technological and manufacturing advances, the price of solar cells has dropped 99.5% since 1977. Solar will soon be more cost efficient than fossil fuels. The cost of wind energy has also dropped to an all-time low, and in the last decade represented about a third of newly installed US energy capacity.

Forward thinking organizations are taking advantage of this. For example, in India there is an initiative to convert airports to self-sustaining clean energy.

Tesla is making high-performance, affordable electric cars, and installing electric charging stations worldwide.

Tesla Charging

There are hopeful signs that clean energy could soon be reaching a tipping point. For example, in Japan, there are now more electric charging stations than gas stations.

And Germany produces so much renewable energy, it sometimes produces even more than it can use.

3. Virtual and Augmented Reality

Computer processors only recently became fast enough to power comfortable and convincing virtual and augmented reality experiences. Companies like Facebook, Google, Apple, and Microsoft are investing billions of dollars to make VR and AR more immersive, comfortable, and affordable.

People sometimes think VR and AR will be used only for gaming, but over time they will be used for all sorts of activities. For example, well use them to manipulate 3-D objects.

To meet with friends and colleagues from around the world. And even for medical applications, like treating phobias or helping rehabilitate paralysis victims.

VR and AR have been dreamed about by science fiction fans for decades. In the next few years, theyll finally become a mainstream reality.

4. Drones and Flying Cars

Roads? Where were going we dont need roads.  Dr. Emmet Brown

GPS started out as a military technology but is now used to hail taxis, get mapping directions, and hunt Pokemon. Likewise, drones started out as a military technology, but are increasingly being used for a wide range of consumer and commercial applications.

For example, drones are being used to inspect critical infrastructure like bridges and power lines, to survey areas struck by natural disasters, and many other creative uses like fighting animal poaching.

Amazon and Google are building drones to deliver household items.

Amazon Drone Smaller

The startup Zipline uses drones to deliver medical supplies to remote villages that cant be accessed by roads.

There is also a new wave of startups working on flying cars (including two funded by the cofounder of Google, Larry Page).

Flying cars use the same advanced technology used in drones but are large enough to carry people. Due to advances in materials, batteries, and software, flying cars will be significantly more affordable and convenient than todays planes and helicopters.

5. Artificial Intelligence

It may be a hundred years before a computer beats humans at Go  maybe even longer.  New York Times, 1997

Artificial intelligence has made rapid advances in the last decade, due to new algorithms and massive increases in data collection and computing power.

AI can be applied to almost any field. For example, in photography an AI technique called artistic style transfer transforms photographs into the style of a given painter.

Google built an AI system that controls its datacenter power systems, saving hundreds of millions of dollars in energy costs.

The broad promise of AI is to liberate people from repetitive mental tasks the same way the industrial revolution liberated people from repetitive physical tasks.

Some people worry that AI will destroy jobs. History has shown that while new technology does indeed eliminate jobs, it also creates new and better jobs to replace them. For example, with advent of the personal computer, the number of typographer jobs dropped, but the increase in graphic designer jobs more than made up for it.

Master of Go Board Game Is Walloped by Google Computer Program  New York Times, 2016

It is much easier to imagine jobs that will go away than new jobs that will be created. Today millions of people work as app developers, ride-sharing drivers, drone operators, and social media marketers jobs that didnt exist and would have been difficult to even imagine ten years ago.

6. Pocket Supercomputers for Everyone

I wanted a flying car and all I got was a way for the entire planet to communicate instantly via massively powerful pocket computers.  Fraser Speirs (@fraserspeirs) September 29, 2013

By 2020, 80% of adults on earth will have an internet-connected smartphone. An iPhone 6 has about 2 billion transistors, roughly 625 times more transistors than a 1995 Intel Pentium computer. Todays smartphones are what used to be considered supercomputers.

vatican mobile

Internet-connected smartphones give ordinary people abilities that, just a short time ago, were only available to an elite few:

Right now, a Masai warrior on a mobile phone in the middle of Kenya has better mobile communications than the president did 25 years ago. If hes on a smart phone using Google, he has access to more information than the U.S. president did just 15 years ago.  Peter Diamandis

7. Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains

Protocols are the plumbing of the internet. Most of the protocols we use today were developed decades ago by academia and government. Since then, protocol development mostly stopped as energy shifted to developing proprietary systems like social networks and messaging apps.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies are changing this by providing a new business model for internet protocols. This year alone, hundreds of millions of dollars were raised for a broad range of innovative blockchain-based protocols.

If you asked people in 1989 what they needed to make their life better, it was unlikely that they would have said a decentralized network of information nodes that are linked using hypertext.  Farmer & Farmer

Protocols based on blockchains also have capabilities that previous protocols didnt. For example, Ethereum is a new blockchain-based protocol that can be used to create smart contracts and trusted databases that are immune to corruption and censorship.

8. High-Quality Online Education

While college tuition skyrockets, anyone with a smartphone can study almost any topic online, accessing educational content that is mostly free and increasingly high-quality.

Encyclopedia Britannica used to cost $1,400. Now anyone with a smartphone can instantly access Wikipedia. You used to have to go to school or buy programming books to learn computer programming. Now you can learn from a community of over 40 million programmers at Stack Overflow. YouTube has millions of hours of free tutorials and lectures, many of which are produced by top professors and universities.

The quality of online education is getting better all the time. For the last 15 years, MIT has been recording lectures and compiling materials that cover over 2000 courses.

As perhaps the greatest research university in the world, MIT has always been ahead of the trends. Over the next decade, expect many other schools to follow MITs lead.

9. Better Food through Science

Earth is running out of farmable land and fresh water. This is partly because our food production systems are incredibly inefficient. It takes an astounding 1799 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef.

Fortunately, a variety of new technologies are being developed to improve our food system.

For example, entrepreneurs are developing new food products that are tasty and nutritious substitutes for traditional foods but far more environmentally friendly. The startup Impossible Foods invented meat products that look and taste like the real thing but are actually made of plants.

Impossible Foods

Their burger uses 95% less land, 74% less water, and produces 87% less greenhouse gas emissions than traditional burgers. Other startups are creating plant-based replacements for milk, eggs, and other common foods. Soylent is a healthy, inexpensive meal replacement that uses advanced engineered ingredients that are much friendlier to the environment than traditional ingredients.

Some of these products are developed using genetic modification, a powerful scientific technique that has been widely mischaracterized as dangerous. According to a study by the Pew Organization, 88% of scientists think genetically modified foods are safe.

Another exciting development in food production is automated indoor farming. Due to advances in solar energy, sensors, lighting, robotics, and artificial intelligence, indoor farms have become viable alternatives to traditional outdoor farms.

Compared to traditional farms, automated indoor farms use roughly 10 times less water and land. Crops are harvested many more times per year, there is no dependency on weather, and no need to use pesticides.

10. Computerized Medicine

Until recently, computers have only been at the periphery of medicine, used primarily for research and record keeping. Today, the combination of computer science and medicine is leading to a variety of breakthroughs.

For example, just fifteen years ago, it cost $3B to sequence a human genome. Today, the cost is about a thousand dollars and continues to drop. Genetic sequencing will soon be a routine part of medicine.

Genetic sequencing generates massive amounts of data that can be analyzed using powerful data analysis software. One application is analyzing blood samples for early detection of cancer. Further genetic analysis can help determine the best course of treatment.

Another application of computers to medicine is in prosthetic limbs.

Soon well have the technology to control prothetic limbs with just our thoughts using brain-to-machine interfaces.

Computers are also becoming increasingly effective at diagnosing diseases. An artificial intelligence system recently diagnosed a rare disease that human doctors failed to diagnose by finding hidden patterns in 20 million cancer records.

11. A New Space Age

Since the beginning of the space age in the 1950s, the vast majority of space funding has come from governments. But that funding has been in decline: for example, NASAs budget dropped from about 4.5% of the federal budget in the 1960s to about 0.5% of the federal budget today.

The good news is that private space companies have started filling the void. These companies provide a wide range of products and services, including rocket launches, scientific research, communications and imaging satellites, and emerging speculative business models like asteroid mining.

The most famous private space company is Elon Musks SpaceX, which successfully sent rockets into space that can return home to be reused.

SpaceX



Perhaps the most intriguing private space company is Planetary Resources, which is trying to pioneer a new industry: mining minerals from asteroids.

If successful, asteroid mining could lead to a new gold rush in outer space. Like previous gold rushes, this could lead to speculative excess, but also dramatically increased funding for new technologies and infrastructure.

These are just a few of the amazing technologies well see developed in the coming decades. 2016 is just the beginning of a new age of wonders. As futurist Kevin Kelly says:

"If we could climb into a time machine, journey 30 years into the future, and from that vantage look back to today, wed realize that most of the greatest products running the lives of citizens in 2050 were not invented until after 2016. People in the future will look at their holodecks and wearable virtual reality contact lenses and downloadable avatars and AI interfaces and say, 'Oh, you didnt really have the internet'  or whatever theyll call it  'back then.'

"So, the truth: Right now, today, in 2016 is the best time to start up. There has never been a better day in the whole history of the world to invent something. There has never been a better time with more opportunities, more openings, lower barriers, higher benefit/ risk ratios, better returns, greater upside than now. Right now, this minute. This is the moment that folks in the future will look back at and say, 'Oh, to have been alive and well back then!'

NOW WATCH: I spent 37 consecutive days playing 'Pokemon GO'  here's what I did to catch 'em all





More From Business Insider


This Colombian woman was raped and forced to leave her home for speaking out against the constant victimisation of women by armed militants in the country.

A woman participates in a rally called "March of Whores" to protest against discrimination and violence against women in Colombia. (Reuters Photo)

By India Today Web Desk: Up until six years ago, Maria (name changed) used to lead a women's group which denounced militants for subjecting women and girls to sexual abuse, campaigned against the recruitment of child soldiers and most importantly, supported families displaced by conflict.

That was until the July of 2010, when the men she spoke against kidnapped her, along with her 13-year-old daughter, and raped her for five days.

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Now, she works as a healer, 650 kilometres from home, even as her own wounds remain unhealed.

This is a story we've heard too often - of women being 'punished' with sexual violence for raising their voices against injustice.

MARIA'S STORY

Six years ago, living in her hometown of Quibdo, Maria led the AfroMuPaz group to help support families being affected by an ongoing battle, among the many armed groups operating in the area, to access and control drug-trafficking routes and illegal gold mines. These militants are also known for preying on women.

AfroMuPaz was one of the few groups talking about the problem and calling for it to stop.

One day, a man invited Maria to his neighbourhood to collect some children's clothes and shoes he wanted to donate to her group. "So I climbed into his truck suspecting nothing," she recounted to BBC News. "But when we started driving out of the city I felt uneasy and asked where the donation was. At that point someone pointed a gun at me and pulled a hood over my head."

When her hood was taken off, Maria found herself in the jungle surrounded by armed captors. She also saw her 13-year-old daughter Camila being led out of a hut. Her captors had lured her youngest daughter into a car on the pretext of taking her to her mother.

"At first I thought they were going to kill me. Then one of them told me they were going to punish me for talking too much. They started showing me their genitals and I realised what they were going to do. I started screaming: 'OK do whatever you have to do to me but please don't touch my kid. Don't touch my daughter!'" she says.

Over the next five days, Maria was assaulted and raped repeatedly by five men.

At one point she fainted - and found herself in a hospital when she awoke. Her daughter Camila had been returned to the family, physically unhurt. But the trauma from the kidnapping crippled the young girl. "They'd told her that if she breathed a word of what had happened, they'd come back and kill me. So she stopped speaking altogether. For a very long time she only said 'yes' or 'no' and almost every day she cried," said Maria.

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Six months after her ordeal, Maria resumed her work for AfroMuPaz. But one morning a member of her captor group came to her home and told her she had 48 hours to leave town. "I just knew I had to go," she says.

A COUNTRY OF HOMESICK REFUGEES

Maria fled to Bogota, where authorities gave her a bullet-proof vest, a mobile phone and a monthly budget for taxis as it was unsafe for her to use public transport. Her three kids joined her several months later.

Her hometown is one of the poorest regions of the country - most of its population descended from African slaves brought over by Spanish colonisers.

In Bogota, Maria uses traditional medicine to heal patients at the Armed Conflict Victims Centre. People come to the state-run clinic to share their stories and get some relief from the war between left-wing guerrillas and the army.

She still struggles to adjust to her life in Bogota - she is homesick for her ageing mother, her friends and the sense of purpose she felt in her old job.

Her daughters are doing a little better than her, with Camila studying law at university now.

advertisement

Like Maria, one in every 10 Colombians end up as refugees in their own country. Nearly seven million people have been uprooted and more than 220,000 killed since 1964, when the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) took up arms against the state to demand social equality and land reform.

DECADES OF VIOLENCE

In June this year, Farc signed a historic ceasefire deal with the state, where an agreement was reached on the creation of a special tribunal to investigate and prosecute human rights violations committed during the last 50 years of conflict. Farc also promised that perpetrators of sexual violence, including rape, will not be eligible for amnesty.

But countless other armed groups, including right-wing paramilitaries, continue to terrorise large areas of the country. Nearly half of Colombia's 7.8 million officially registered "war victims" are women. A majority of these have been forced out of their homes by armed groups, while more than 13,600 women have been raped since 1985.

These militants are also targeting more and more people like Maria who speak out against them, or champion causes that conflict with their interests.

In one four-week period earlier this year, 13 human rights activists, environmental campaigners and community leaders from indigenous tribes were assassinated, according to the BBC report. Last year one was being murdered every five days.

advertisement

In July, the Colombian government announced a commission on gender issues, to ensure women's suffering was recognised and that their voices would be heard. But Maria remains skeptical about testifying - after all, she and others like her were targeted precisely for reported abuses.

She still dreams of returning to Quibdo though, unsure of when that will happen. And she struggles to forgo the scars of those five days.

"I can't change what happened to me. I am not able to forget because my body reminds me of it every day," she says.

--- ENDS ---
coma cluster galaxies abell 1689 chandra xray

Astronomers have a very big problem on their hands: Four-fifths of all the stuff in the universe can't be found, a cosmic mystery known as "dark matter."

People have searched for tiny, hypothetical particles of dark matter for years in machines deep below the ground and in space, but we have yet to find a single speck. All we know is that it tugs on "normal" matter with gravity.

That's why some scientists are revisiting an old idea that black holes born at the dawn of time  invisible monsters that could have avoided our detection until now  are a prime suspect for all that missing mass.

Researchers call these speculative black holes "massive compact halo objects," or MACHOs, since dark matter lurks in a "halo" in and around big galaxies.

But a new study in The Astrophysical Journal Letters offers a serious reality check to the idea that MACHOs are dark matter.

Timothy Brandt, an astrophysicist at the Institute for Advanced Study, wrote the study after he took a close look at 11 dim, feeble, and weird little galaxies. The stars there are choking with dark matter, at least compared to larger galaxies like the Milky Way or Andromeda, but the little galaxies don't seem to show any obvious signs of harboring a flotilla of old black holes.

"These galaxies would be less dense and larger than we see," Brandt told Business Insider.

Instead they're inexplicably compact. And that could represent a big threat to the MACHO hypothesis.

The mystery of 11 non-puffy dwarfs

dwarf galaxy nasa PIA16613 labeled

Brandt's interest started with relatively recent discoveries of small, seemingly very old, and ultra-faint star clusters.

Some of these clusters are large enough to be called dwarf galaxies, yet are billions of times dimmer than larger galaxies. Such ultra-faint dwarfs are thought to be incredibly common, Brandt says, perhaps outnumbering visible galaxies by 10- or 100-to-one.

Story continues

Nearly all of their young, bright stars have burned out over the eons, which is why these ultra-faint dwarf galaxies are so hard to find.

"If you're looking with your own eyes you'd never see them," Brandt said, noting they can be as small as a few thousand stars. "We've only been finding these things for about 10 years with computer algorithms."

What made them so interesting to Brandt is that some of these clusters exist at all.

By mass our own Milky Way is somewhere between 70% and 80% dark matter  most of it lurking near the outer edge of the galaxy. Meanwhile, ultra-faint dwarf galaxies are roughly 99% dark matter.

"The dark matter is holding them together and preventing them from flying apart," Brandt told Business Insider.

And that's where Brandt realized he could see if a bunch of old black holes between 20 to 100 times the mass of the sun (a size range for MACHOs that has yet to be ruled out) really exist there. If so, they'd accelerate stars as they passed nearby, causing the entire cluster or galaxy to "puff" outward over billions of years.

A diffuse cloud of dark matter particles, on the other hand, would keep the cluster glued together.

eridanus ii 2 dwarf galaxy sergey e koposov dark energy survey

Brandt focused his attention on one ultra-faint, dark matter-choked star cluster near the center or Eridanus II, or Eri II.

Eri II is a 3- to 12-billion-year-old dwarf galaxy that astronomers barely and recently noticed hanging out near our much-larger Milky Way galaxy.

Brandt's calculations show that if the cluster's dark matter is made of MACHOs, then it would have puffed out and faded into Eri II a long time ago.

But there it was: A small, dim, ancient star cluster that was much too compact, as well as its parent galaxy.

He noted the 10 dwarf galaxies that are similar to Eri II should act the same, but that "we don't see puffy ultra-faint dwarf galaxies."

"This one cluster could be a coincidence. But if you look at all the other dwarf galaxies, I don't see how [the dark matter] could be black holes between 20 and 100 solar masses," Brandt said.

Why dark matter might be ancient black holes

black hole

Brandt's study comes at a time when scientists like Alexander Kashlinsky, a cosmologist at NASA, have started revisiting the MACHO idea that dark matter may just be a bunch of really, really old black holes.

That's because several searches for tiny bits of dark matter, called "weakly interactive massive particles" or WIMPs, keep striking out.

"[WIMP] searches have been going on for quite some time, but nothing has been reliably detected, slowly shrinking the box of parameters where [dark matter] particles can hide," Kashlinsky previously wrote in an email to Business Insider.

Meanwhile, MACHOs of a few sizes  including those weighing roughly 30 solar masses  have yet to be firmly ruled out.

Scientists figured MACHOs probably formed within a fraction of a second of the Big Bang some 13.8 billion years ago. This was right as the event's hot, energetic soup of plasma cooled into the first subatomic bits of matter (then later into atoms, gases, stars, and so on).

These primordial black holes would have lurked in the background as the first stars, galaxies, and planets started to form millions of years later, subtly influencing their destinies while vastly outweighing them; for every bright, shining star, four stars' worth of mass was forever locked away in a black hole.

Trouble is, no one could find enough black holes to finger them as dark matter. So this spooky hypothesis lost steam over the past couple of decades.

ligo mirror

But the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)  a 15-nation, 900-scientist, $1 billion experiment  recently gave the notion new life.

LIGO's first-ever detection of gravitational waves was made possible by two black holes smacking together, each roughly 30 times the mass of our sun.

Thing is, this size of black hole is supposed to be rare in nature  so detecting two at once is rather remarkable.

Calculations suggest black holes of that size could be MACHOs that formed within a second inside the hot, energetic soup of the Big Bang.

If so, then a lot more of them are out there, others will eventually collide, and LIGO will keep detecting them as it listens for ripples in space-time.

"We should know the answer within a couple of years," Kashlinsky previously said, later emphasizing that this is irrespective of Brandt's challenging findings.

"LIGO is starting a new run of observations in September. If they keep discovering these beasts at this rate, every one to two weeks, we should have good enough statistics to rule in the possibility."

'We could be in trouble'

cdms dark matter fermilab reidar hahn

Both Brandt and Kashlinsky told Business Insider the ultra-dim dwarf galaxy study isn't the end of the end of the line for MACHOs.

Although unlikely, the star cluster in Eri II may have recently dropped into the center  so its stars may not have had enough time to be accelerated by MACHOs.

"It takes a long time for MACHOs to share their energy with the stars" if they exist, Brandt said.

Kashlinsky says another possibility, as pointed out in Brandt's study, is that a chance alignment makes the star cluster only appear to be near the core of Eri II. If true, the cluster exists near the edge or outside of the dwarf galaxy, which could explain its non-puffiness (there is less mass nearby to pull on stars and help accelerate them).

Brandt's study pegs that possibility at about 1%. "Statistically speaking that is non-negligible at all," Kashlinsky wrote in an email to Business Insider.

A more radical explanation is that MACHOs may be smaller than anyone thought, perhaps somewhere between the the weight of the moon and an asteroid. These may be impossible to detect, though, since Brandt said since they'd be less than a millimeter in size.

A scenario like that is one Brandt fears the most.

"It's possible there is no interaction of dark matter [with normal matter] except through gravity," he said. "If that's the case, we're in trouble. We've never come to that point where we know something is out there but is completely invisible to our experiments."

"But I'm not that pessimistic," he said. "Not yet."

NOW WATCH: Einstein's powerful equations can't explain the most mysterious point in the universe





More From Business Insider


It's relatively common to find debris from rocket launches in the waters off Cape Canaveral in Florida, but divers exploring the seabed recently uncovered artifacts from an age of exploration long before America's space program: 22 cannons and a marble monument in what they think are three 16th-century Spanish shipwrecks.

The finds include three ornate bronze cannons  two that are 10 feet (3 meters) long and one that is 7 feet (2 m) long  and the marble monument, engraved with the coat of arms of the king of France, which has been identified from the manifest of a 1562 expedition to Florida by the French navigator and colonialist Jean Ribault.

Robert Pritchett, chief executive of the Florida-based company Global Marine Exploration, which explored the wrecks in May and June, told Live Science that it was initially thought that the newfound wrecks might include Ribault's two "lost ships," which sank during a storm in 1565, a few years after the voyage from France. [See Photos of the Colonial-Age Shipwrecks Found Off Cape Canaveral]

But records showed that the bronze cannons and monument from Ribault's expedition were installed at Fort Caroline, an early French Huguenot colony on the St. Johns River, in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. In 1565, the cannons and monument were seized in a Spanish raid, "so [the monument] would not be on a French ship if it was removed by the Spanish," Pritchett said.

Instead, Pritchett thinks these items were being carried away from Florida as booty on Spanish ships, bound for Havana, Cuba, when they were struck by a storm that banished them to the seafloor.

The remains of the three colonial-age ships were found across a wide "scatter field" of debris on the seafloor about 4 miles (6 kilometers) long and about a half mile (0.8 km) wide, along with the remains of a later shipwreck that is thought to be from the 1800s, Pritchett said.

Divers discovered the shipwrecks during a marine survey of the area in late September 2015 using underwater magnetometer equipment that allowed them to locate metal items lying beneath the seabed.

Story continues

In addition to the three bronze cannons and the marble monument, the divers found 19 iron cannons, 12 anchors, a stone grinding wheel, and scattered ballast and ammunition from the ships, Pritchett said. The markings on one of the bronze cannons indicate that it was cast in the 1540s, during the reign of King Henry II of France, he added.

Rocket graveyard

Pritchett explained that his company had permits from the state of Florida to explore seven areas off the coast of Cape Canaveral, where the wrecks were found  an area littered with debris from rocket test launches at the U.S. Air Force base at Cape Canaveral, southeast of NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

"We've found hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of U.S. Air Force rockets that they were testing from 1948 forwards, and also shrimp boats, airplane engines, airplanes, " Pritchett said.

"We have found some of the actual rocket engines, and lots of rocket tubes  some of these things are 30, 40 feet long," he said. "Some are sticking halfway out on the surface, or sticking straight up out of the sand  there are literally thousands of them out there. We GPS and photograph everything we find, and we turn that stuff over to the U.S. Air Force, because one day, it will be valuable to someone for a historical reason."

The area containing the colonial-age wrecks is in shallow water, and the conditions on the seabed changed from day to day, he said. [Shipwrecks Gallery: Secrets of the Deep]

"The sea there is shallow, 15 to 25 feet [4.5 to 8 m], and the sand shifts a lot out there, " he said. "So the cannons could be covered by 3 feet [0.9 m] of sand, or they could be covered by 8 feet [2.4 m] of sand  it's different every time the wind blows."

Looter danger

For now, the cannons and the marble monument remain with the other debris of the wrecks on the seafloor, until Florida authorities approve a permit for Pritchett's company to recover the artifacts, Pritchett said.

"We've been letting the state [of Florida] know that these artifacts are at the jeopardy of looters, and of the weather," he said. "These cannons are worth over a million dollars apiece  so if looters could find out the location, then a piece of history is gone forever, because it's going to be sold on the black market."

Pritchett thinks the marble monument may be worth many times that amount, as "the only one of its kind  and probably the most significant piece of maritime history that's ever been found on the entire East Coast of the United States," he added.

The monument, which is in the shape of a coat of arms set atop a pillar, is about 3 feet high and 2 feet (0.6 m) wide, "exactly the way it is described in the original records," Pritchett said, and decorated with fleur-de-lis symbols  a stylized flower used in heraldry by French royalty  and the crown of the king of France.

Pritchett said more information about the origin of the wrecks will have to wait until archaeologists on the surface can study them.

"It's a mystery at this point, and until we bring all these items up and study them, we're not going to know a lot more about them  only what we know from the little bit of research in the water that we've been able to do," Pritchett said. "But right now, we're waiting on the state of Florida."

Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
From Road & Track

Remember the 1991 Nissan Sentra, the basis for the outstanding B13 Sentra SE-R? Man, that was such a great car. But sadly, it appears that Nissan has finally decided to cancel the B13 Sentra. [Update: See below]

Don't worry, though. The current Sentra isn't going anywhere. But as The Truth About Cars reports, you will no longer be able to buy a 25-year-old Sentra brand new anymore. And it's all because of the meddling government.

Photo credit: Nissan Mexico

Yes, despite the U.S.-spec Sentra ending production in 1994, Nissan continued to sell the B13 Sentra as the Tsuru in Mexico where it's still popular today. Considering it has a base price of around $7000, that's unsurprising. It's also relatively reliable, and is easy to maintain. But Mexico recently passed new safety regulations, and without airbags or anti-lock brakes, those requirements spell doom for the Nissan Tsuru.

So farewell, B13 Nissan Sentra. You had a good 25-year run, and we will always remember you fondly. When you get to where you're going, say hello to the original Volkswagen Beetle for us!

Update: This post was originally published on August 17th, 2016. Today, Nissan officially confirmed its plans to cancel stop production of the Tsuru. It also announced it will build a limited run of 1000 "special commemorative" Tsurus but did not clarify what will make them special.

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When Clare Tattersall and her boyfriend decided to have a child, marriage wasn't top of mind.

"Time was obviously a consideration for us," says Tattersall, who became pregnant at age 41. "And we only talked about having a baby, not of marriage."

Before the baby talk, Tattersall and her boyfriend were already in a committed relationship. The couple had previously registered as domestic partners. And Tattersall had even been on her boyfriend's health insurance when she worked as a freelancer.

The couple didn't need to sign a marriage contract to feel committed, says Tattersall, who works as owner and designer at Primrose & Wilde, a private client fashion label in New York City. "I think having a child is a far greater commitment than getting married," she says.

The financial challenges of having a child outside of marriage didn't worry the couple either. Instead, their big consideration was how to handle health insurance. "We wanted to address that," Tattersall says. "For everything else, we rolled with the punches."

[See: 10 Ideas for Dating on a Budget.]

Tattersall is not alone. About 4 in 10 births are to unmarried women, according to federal data. And while raising a child outside of wedlock isn't always a choice a parent gets to make, sometimes, like in Tattersall's case, the decision to remain unmarried is intentional.

But entering into parenthood without first walking down the aisle has its own unique financial planning challenges. Here's what to know.

1. It can be tough to live on a single salary. Not all unmarried parents are single parents. For those who are going it alone, making do on one income raises specific financial hurdles.

"Every financial challenge is more difficult if you have a single income than a dual income," says Liz Deziel, senior vice president and Twin Cities head of banking for the Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank.

One common pitfall for single parents to avoid, experts say, is focusing on paying for their child's needs at the expense of their own retirement accounts.

Story continues

"Save for retirement," says Michelle Scarver, wealth advisor at Exencial Wealth Advisors in San Antonio. "No one's going to loan you anything to retire on."

[See: 13 Money Tips for Married Couples.]

2. Think about taxes. Depending on your financial situation, getting married and filing taxes jointly may be beneficial -- or it may incur a penalty.

"It depends on the relative salaries whether you have a marriage bonus or marriage penalty," says Steven M. Rosenthal, senior fellow at Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute.

Meet with a tax accountant and do the math. For some couples, signing a marriage certificate can drive up their annual tax savings.

3. Consider life after you're gone. Without the built-in legal protections of marriage, couples or individuals raising children need to make doubly sure that there's a plan in place for their child if one parent dies -- or becomes disabled.

"If you're not legally married, and if you don't plan, then everything will pass according to the law," Deziel says. "And if you don't have everything spelled out in a will or other legal documents, then [things] won't go as you'd like them to go."

Considering life after your death may involve meeting with an attorney to draw up documents, spelling out who will take care of your child and where any savings, insurance payouts and other assets will go when you're gone.

Unmarried parents may have to take a few extra steps to ensure they have the financial systems in place that marriage automatically ensures. When you're not married, "you do have to do more planning," says Ed Vargo, certified financial planner and founder and private wealth manager at Burning River Advisory Group in Cleveland.

While these topics may not be fun to discuss, it's important that couples entering parenthood have them.

"If you're responsible for another human being now, and the financial future of the child is on the line, there's a level of responsibility there, whether it's fun to deal with or not," Deziel says.

"If you don't do the pre-work, you're more likely to have conflicts down the road," she says.

[See: 10 Money Questions to Ask Your Parents.]

Tattersall and her boyfriend eventually married when their daughter was 2-and-a-half years old. The wedding was a celebration and a party, she says, with her daughter as flower girl. Their daughter is now 9 years old.

But for Tattersall and her husband, the commitment was always there. "You're going to be stuck with the other person for at least 18 years, and you're going to have to communicate with them," she says. "I think everyone should do what is best for them."





More From US News & World Report


The fifth adaptation of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel is guaranteed to become at least the fifth-best "Ben-Hur" film as it tells the tale of two childhood friends, one an army officer, the other an ex-convict out for revenge.

- Who's in it and what's it about? -

A story of both revenge and redemption, culminating in a high-stakes chariot race, and one whose budget-busting, box-office record-breaking 1959 adaptation starred Charlton Heston in the leading role and collected an astonishing 11 Oscars. Quite a reputation to live up to.

Here Jack Huston plays the title character, a Judean prince who emerges from the bowels of a slave ship after five years in captivity, returning to his former life to find it comprehensively ruined by none other than Messala, the man who -- in this version -- he once called brother.

Huston comes to the film from TV series "Boardwalk Empire" and Oscar winner "American Hustle," while Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman plays his ally and sponsor, Sheik Ilderim; Toby Kebbell of "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" and "Warcraft" becomes Messala.

Brazilian "Lost" actor Rodrigo Santoro goes from playing Biblical character Xerxes in "300" to Biblical character Jesus in "Ben-Hur," provoking the prince to consider an alternative approach to revolution; while his inclusion is part of the original story, modern faith-based interpretations such as "Exodus: Gods and Kings," "Noah" and History channel miniseries "The Bible" have also been subject to renewed interest in recent years.

- Who's behind it? -

Timur Bekmambetov of vampire movies "Night Watch" and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," and comic book adaptation "Wanted" worked from a script provided by John Ridley ("12 Years a Slave") and Keith Clarke.

- When's it out? -

An August 19 release date in the US and Canada follows hot on the heels of same-week releases in Brazil, Russia, Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Story continues

Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, India, and Argentina are among territories screening "Ben-Hur" from August 25; it comes to Germany on September 2, France, the UK and Ireland on September 7, South Korea on September 14 and Malaysia the next day, and Japan from January 13, 2017.

- Trailers & Social -

Debut trailer: youtu.be/gLJdzky63BA (playlist)

Facebook page: facebook.com/BenHurFilm

Twitter feed: twitter.com/BenHurMovie

Instagram account: instagram.com/BenHurMovie
While the S&P 500 braved a tech bubble, a financial crisis and two recessions in the last decade to finally hover near its all-time highs this year, Canadian stocks also regained their lost ground. The slump in commodity prices had crippled Canadian stocks for a pretty long time. But, that is a thing of the past.

A slew of factors including stocks trading at cheap valuations, a healthy GDP outlook, banks surviving the financial crisis with less stress and the country being home to global mining players make us believe that Canadian stocks still have plenty of room for upside. In fact, this year, their gains have already toppled returns delivered by U.S stocks. Hence, investing in stocks exposed to a thriving Canada is not a bad proposition.

Canadian Stocks Surge this Year

Through the first eight months of this year, Canadian stocks outperformed U.S. stocks. Canadas TSX Composite indexs year-to-date return is around 12%, way above the S&P 500s return of about 7%. The indexs over exposure to natural resources and energy industries made it vulnerable to a commodity slump.

Commodity prices took a beating due to sluggish global economic growth, mostly led by a weak Chinese economy. Almost everything ranging from petroleum to potash saw their prices tank. However, the index made a comeback this year, thanks to commodity prices gaining traction. Needless to say, a weak Canadian dollar better known as loonie boosted exports and a sturdy government under Justin Trudeau instilled confidence in the economy.

Do Bulls Still Have Room to Run?

Even though Canadian stocks have moved north this year, they are cheaper than their American counterparts. According to Matt Barasch, the chief Canadian equity strategist for RBC Capital Markets, If you go back 35 years and look at price-to-book ratios compared to the U.S., Canada has never been cheaper on a relative basis. Its indeed quite remarkable that Canadian stocks continue to trade at cheaper valuations amid a rise in commodity prices and recovery in earnings. This makes them quite attractive.

Story continues

Canadas GDP growth for the next year is also poised to beat that of America. According to TD Economics, the Conference Board believes that Canadas GDP is expected to expand at a solid rate of 1.9% in 2017, whereas the U.S. economy is pegged to grow 1.7%. On the other hand, Brexit-affected Eurozone is expected to witness decelerating growth of 1.4%, according to Focus Economics. Robust economic growth will certainly boost Canadas broader markets.

Sector Outlooks Encouraging

As the GDP is poised to be better next year, the odds of the countrys jobless rate whittling down from 6.9% increases. This in turn could boost consumer spending levels, the backbone of any economic growth. Rise in spending levels will work wonders for retail conglomerate George Weston Limited, doughnut chain Tim Hortons Inc., and media companies Rogers Communications Inc. RCI and Bell Media Inc.

Meanwhile Canadian banks unlike their American counterparts indulged in fewer risks to sail though the financial crisis with ease. Canadas central bank hasnt trimmed rates as aggressively as other central banks across the globe. Canadian banks including Toronto-Dominion Bank TD and Royal Bank of Canada RY enjoyed bigger profits, while they paid out hefty dividends.

Canadas global mining giants also enjoyed a bull run as global jitters boosted gold prices. The rise in the price of the yellow metal benefited mining majors Goldcorp Inc. GG, Franco Nevada Corp FNV and Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd TRQ.

Top 4 Canadian Stocks to Buy Now

As prices of oil and other commodities have somewhat stabilized, with consumer-driven companies to banks to mining-behemoths all set to gain, investing in Canadian stocks will be judicious. These stocks are also far more attractively priced than their American cousins.

We have selected four such Canadian stocks that have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). Also, such stocks have a VGM score of A or B. Here V stands for Value, G for Growth and M for Momentum and the score is a weighted combination of these three scores. Such a score allows you to eliminate the negative aspects of stocks and pick winners.

IAMGOLD Corp. IAG is engaged in the exploration, development and production of mineral resource properties across the world. The company's mining activities in Canada include Doyon Division with Westwood Mine in Quebec and Cote Gold Project development project in Ontario. IAMGOLDhas a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM score of B. Its estimated earnings growth for the current year is 110.9%.

Richmont Mines Inc. RIC is engaged in activities related to the acquisition, exploration, development and operation of mineral properties. Its segments include Quebec and Ontario. The company has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM score of B. The estimated earnings growth for the current year is 261.1% for Richmont Mines.

H2O Innovation Inc. HEOFF provides integrated technological water treatment solutions based on membrane filtration technology to municipal, energy, and mining end-users primarily in the United States and Canada. The company has a Zacks Rank #1 and a VGM score of B. Its estimated earnings growth for the current year is 300%.

Endeavour Silver Corp. EXK is a mid-tier precious metals mining company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. The company has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM score of B. Its estimated earnings growth for the current year is 113.6%.

International investing can be tricky, and especially given the uncertain global landscape we have seen lately. Fortunately, we have our Chief Equity Strategist to scour the Earth for the best stocks with top Zacks Ranks in any market around the world. Click here to learn more about the picks and the International Trader service>>>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



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NextShark

Jahrah, who only has a first name as customary in Indonesia, went out to collect rubber on Sunday morning in the forest in Jambi Province on Sumatra Island, Indonesia. The search parties only found success a day later, on Monday, when they discovered a 22-foot-long (6.7-meters-long) python with a bulging stomach resting in the woods. Her family then reported her missing to the local authorities, and a search has been carried out since then, Anto, the local villages chief, said.
By PTI: Kohima, Aug 18 (PTI) A criminal revision petition has been filed before the Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court in cases pertaining to the educational qualification of Nagaland Chief Minister T R Zeliang.

A lower court had earlier dismissed the cases.

Filing the revision petition, the petitoners said they were within the limitation period as per the Supreme Court and high court orders.

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The HC after hearing the counsel for the petitioner today fixed September 14 as the next date.

Senior apex court advocate K N Balgopal represented the petitioners at the hearing.

The judicial magistrate first class of Peren district had dismissed the complaint cases on Zeliangs educational qualification on July 29 on the ground that they are barred by time limitation.

In November 2015, Maziezokho Nisa of Jotsoma village had filed a complaint against an alleged offence punishable under Representation of People Act, 1951, purported to have been committed Zeliang while filing his affidavit for 2013 state polls.

A similar case was filed against the chief minister by K K Kulimbe of Jalukie town in July this year. PTI NBS KK SC LNS

--- ENDS ---
After Paul Castro "liked" a Facebook status from a local college that offers online degrees, the Yorba Linda, California, resident noticed ads for different online programs popping up on his social media accounts.

He came across ASU Online, the online arm of Arizona State University. On its Facebook page, the program highlighted different degree programs, including the now-senior's major in mass communications and media studies. The 24-year-old says it was this social media presence that drew him in.

And Castro probably isn't alone.

"Within the last 10 years, there's been this huge influx of not only admissions, but student affairs offices -- and colleges in general and marketing departments -- using social media to engage prospective applicants," says Nat Smitobol, an admissions counselor at IvyWise, a higher education consulting company in New York City.

Social media platforms aren't the only resources prospective online students should use in their research, experts say, but they are definitely valuable. Because online degree applicants often can live anywhere, social media easily connects them with current students and alumni to answer the questions they would have asked had they visited a campus in person.

Here are four ways online degree applicants might use social media to explore their options.

[Explore four steps to find the right online degree program.]

1. Find general information about academics and life as an online student: Some online programs, or their umbrella universities, have Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram pages that applicants can visit to narrow their list and gain a sense of how online learning works.

Oregon State University Ecampus' Facebook page, for example, shares articles about changing careers through online learning, and photos and videos of the online student graduation on campus.

Kelley Direct, the online branch of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University--Bloomington, tweets networking opportunities, alumni achievements and photos from the required face-to-face residency components, like this one:

Story continues

#OnlineMBA Kelleys learning about "Financing the Enterprise" with professor Tod Perry at #KCW16 pic.twitter.com/WuF1i2M5EW

-- Kelley Direct (@KelleyDirect) July 26, 2016

2. Engage with current online students and alumni: Features like Facebook groups and LinkedIn networks might be helpful, experts say.

"I think that's the most important thing for anybody -- is to get a sense of how someone who's gone through the program or someone who's in the program, what's their opinion of it," says Catherine Dwyer, chair of information technology at Pace University's Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, who researches social media.



[Learn four ways to use social media as a current online student.]

On ASU Online's Facebook page, Castro, after doing more research online, says he asked enrolled students: "How did you apply? How did the process go? How are your classes? How is this online program different than online classes I've taken in the past?"

Kelly Lux, assistant director of the online Communications@Syracuse master's program offered through Syracuse University, says the program connects prospective students with student ambassadors. Experts say applicants can also find students and alumni to speak with on programs' Facebook or LinkedIn groups.

As a current online graduate student in Communications@Syracuse, Ashlee Post, 28, of New York City, sometimes receives questions from prospective students on social media about online learning and her program.

"I would say any question about what to expect is the biggest conversation out there, because the program is so new, and because the idea of going to school online has been a little bit taboo over the years," Post says.

When Post herself researched online programs, she couldn't really ask current students or alumni questions because the program was so new, but she still checked out the Syracuse alumni network on LinkedIn. Being able to gauge these potential connections "was a big deal for me," she says.

[Discover what to consider to decide if an online program is legit.]

3. Ask admissions officers questions: Students might simply message an online program on Facebook, or reach out to one on Twitter or LinkedIn, for example.

Some online programs also hold Twitter chats to answer applicants' questions, Smitobol says. Pennsylvania State University--World Campus held one in March about transferring credits to the online program -- a topic relevant to many online applicants.

During the chat, one prospective online student also asked some general questions about the program, and admissions counselors at Penn State responded. For example:

What's the average time required per week per course? #ChatPSUWC

-- Kirk Kraft (@KAKraft) March 29, 2016

@KAKraft Undergrad students report spending 10-12 hours per week on each 3-credit course. Grad is closer to 10-15 hours. #ChatPSUWC

-- Carli Donovan (@CarliDonovan) March 29, 2016

4. Learn about virtual and face-to-face events: Online programs also advertise events for applicants, from webinars to Twitter chats.

Penn State posts information about virtual "open houses" and webinars on Facebook for prospective students, says Cara Bell, the recruitment coordinator at World Campus.

In general, "Social media is a great way for prospective students to engage and start that process if they're looking to go to a school online," Bell says.

Trying to fund your online education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for Online Education center.

Jordan Friedman is an online education editor at U.S. News. You can follow him on Twitter or email him at jfriedman@usnews.com.


Dictionary.com defines negotiation as mutual discussion and arrangement of the terms of a transaction or agreement."

As a CEO, I negotiate day in and day out. Whether the topic is a business deal or employment terms, negotiation is a process. It's a way to ensure things get done and goals are met. Ive read countless tips on how to negotiate more effectively.

"Shark Tank" is one of the few shows I watch, and in my humble opinion, many entrepreneurs on the program need to do a better job negotiating with the sharks. Sometimes the very savvy investors -- seasoned in the skill of negotiation -- take advantage of the guest business owners.

Here are five key lessons from past episodes.

1. Youll never walk away with nothing.

You can learn something new from each negotiation, and meetings with investors are never a waste of time -- even you dont arrive at a deal. Investors ask thoughtful questions and often challenge you to think about your business beyond the scope you've already defined. These insights and new ways of thinking can be as valuable to growing your business as the negotiation process itself.

It's a mistake to walk into a negotiation with the sole purpose of securing an investment. Keep an open mind, ask questions, and be present to learn. Internalize what the investors have to say, and apply their advice as it makes sense for your business.

When I was fundraising, I left each meeting with plenty of notes to reflect and follow up on. The best investors ask insightful questions that force you to think even harder about your business. Peter Lee, managing partner of Baroda Ventures, grilled me on our product-market fit for a good month before he invested in my company Retention Science. It was worth it. I didn't walk away with a check the first time, but the back-and-forth discussion eventually resulted in a $500,000 check.

Most entrepreneurs featured on "Shark Tank" fail to land a deal, but putting into action the advice they receive can help them building a stronger and better business. Remember: Even when you secure the investment, you don't leave empty-handed. You always can obtain new ideas to help you grow.

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Related: Hustling 101: These 5 Entrepreneurs Negotiated Big Value for Small Money

2. Know your limit.

Before each negotiation, determine how much company equity you're willing to give up. This helps you make decisions and counter offers based on numbers, not emotions. As "Shark Tank" reveals, negotiating can be a very emotional process. Many entrepreneurs get personal and teary-eyed on the show. At the end of the day, knowing your bottom limit can help you avoid the emotional roller coaster.

I shake my head whenever I see entrepreneurs step out of the tank for a few minutes to think about deals on the table -- only to come back and find the sharks either have restructured their offers or withdrawn them altogether. Knowing the lowest possible offer youll accept gives you a toehold during a negotiation and can keep you from giving away too much of your company.

3. Don't get so greedy you ignore a reasonable offer.

It happens quite a bit on "Shark Tank." And when a shark offers a reasonable offer (or even the exact deal the entrepreneur asked for), it doesnt help to hesitate or shop around. Likewise, you can offend your potential investor and hurt your chances of closing a deal.

This isnt to say you should jump at the first offer you receive. But if you've a perfectly good one in hand and you can see yourself working closely with this investor, you should seriously consider it.

In Season Five, Solomon Fallas of 180Cup asked for $150,000 thousand for 15 percent ownership of his company. Daymond John made an offer right away, asking for 20 percent equity. Instead of taking it, Solomon said he first wanted to hear what the other sharks had to say.

Big mistake. After Solomon's spiel, all the other sharks told him they were out. Solomon had to appeal to Daymond to put a deal back on the table. By this time, Daymond already had revised his offer -- and took an additional 5 percent equity. Solomon had no choice but to accept $150,000 and 25 percent equity.

It's probably the fastest 5 percent of company ownership Solomon ever has lost. As an entrepreneur, I felt his pain.

Related: Instead of Always Aiming to Win, Agree to Agree

4. Investors back people, not just companies.

It's an obvious but often forgotten fact: You're not pitching only a business, you're pitching yourself. You might have a great product, but if you appear difficult to work with, youll be hard-pressed to find an investor willing to make an offer.

Be authentic and genuine. Show investors your best qualities. Convince them youre worth the money. Thats exactly what Kim Nelson of Daisy Cakes did. Nelson said she had the best cakes the sharks had ever tasted, and she was right. Each one of them gobbled up her product. Unfortunately, she couldnt convince them her business was worth the investment. Everyone except Barbara Corcoran passed, saying Daisy Cakes just wasnt a big enough business for them.

Corcoran had the same reservation, but made an offer anyway. She believed in product, and more import, she believed in Nelson. The other sharks thought she was nuts. One went so far as to call her a "crazy chick." Corcoran didn't blink. "Not at all," she replied. "I'm going to get my money back. This girl's a hustler."

Corcoran was right. Not only did she recover her capital in three weeks, Daisy Cakes went on to become one of her best investments.

Related: Personal Styles of 10 Successful Entrepreneurs

5. Keep your cool.

Its very common to disagree during a negotiation. And while theres nothing wrong with standing your ground, getting hotheaded is a different story. Stick to you guns -- with respect. Many entrepreneurs on "Shark Tank" take offense when they're challenged by tough questions about market size, pricing strategies or other specifics. Others lost their cool when sharks disagreed with their vision.

Consider what happened to Scott Jordan of TEC (Technology Enabled Clothing). Jordan already had built a successful business that caught the sharks' attention. But he got into a heated argument about patents and licensing, ultimately telling the sharks, "You're out!" Needless to say, he didnt close the deal.
The current bull run in stocks has lasted longer than any other, save the tech bubble of the 90s.

That in itself shouldn't be cause for alarm -- bull markets don't die of old age. What should worry investors, however, is the massive disconnect between economic fundamentals and stock valuations.

From weakening retail sales to corporate America heading for its sixth consecutive quarter of declining earnings, the fundamentals of the market conflict with the record highs we're seeing nearly every day.

But missing out on further upside isn't an option for most investors either.

What to do when all the data screams crash but the market keeps moving higher?

You find stocks that beat the market during a crash.

A Tale Of Two Worlds, Exuberant Markets Versus Dismal Economics

Profit expectations have come down for the third quarter, which is likely to mark six consecutive quarters of falling earnings for companies in the S&P 500. The global economy is struggling and the only thing keeping the United States out of recession has been auto sales and housing. Auto sales are weakening and uncertainty around Brexit may be enough to push the United States into a recession over the next year.

Against all this, stocks continue to hit fresh highs with the S&P 500 priced at almost 25 times earnings of companies in the index.

There isn't much holding up stocks other than global central bank policy, and even that may be running out of steam. The Bank of Japan said in late July that it would begin a comprehensive assessment of its monetary policy to determine if programs have been effective.

[More from StreetAuthority.com: This Billionaire Is Building The Next Disney]

It's the most definitive admission yet that monetary stimulus hasn't worked as well as authorities would have liked and may result in a new direction. If that new direction limits the tidal waves of money that have been flowing into bonds and stocks, the market could lose one of its only drivers.

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How To Make Money And Protect Your Portfolio

The dilemma in all of this is that investors don't want to miss out on further upside in the markets. Bull markets don't die of old age. Jumping out of stocks when the economy starts to wobble means trading commissions and risks missing out on returns.

But there are stocks that can offer upside while still providing protection if the market starts to tumble. I ran the numbers on some of my favorite best-of-breed stocks to find remaining value, a strong dividend yield and historically low-risk compared to the market.

The S&P 500 reached its pre-recession peak on September 10, 2007, but even as the broader market fell each of my safety stocks were able to keep rising. Two picks didn't peak until September 2008 as investors rushed to safety and industry leaders.

Market volatility over a rolling six-month period peaked in September 2008, with annualized volatility in the S&P 500 reaching 58%, while the volatility of my safety stocks ranged from just 26% to 42% during the period.

Perhaps most interesting is the fact that while the five safety stocks were able to keep rising far after the market peaked, the lows were all within a month of the market trough. Investors didn't have to wait nearly as long for the five stocks to hit bottom and start rebounding.

Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) has an advantage over other drug makers in its diversified business model, with sales in branded pharmaceuticals, generics, eye care and consumer staples. Most importantly here is its generic business through Sandoz, which can recapture some of the branded products' losses when they come off patent protection. Shares have struggled over the last year on fear of generic competition on a few key drugs, but the company has a strong late-stage pipeline including its heart drug Entresto and immunology drug Cosentyx.

[More from StreetAuthority.com: If History Repeats, This Growth Stock Is Money In The Bank]

Shares of Novartis traded for over 20 times earnings in mid-2015, a valuation that could take the stock to $97 on earnings expectations of $4.88 per share over the next year. Drug sales are not as susceptible to cyclical pressure, and the company's generics business helps to capture price-conscious consumers.

Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) is correcting the missteps it made by moving into too many markets without focusing on brand identity. It will finalize a two-year strategy to sell off half of its branded portfolio by the end of the year, and could be ready to boost margins significantly. This renewed focus on quality and profitability will serve it well if the global economy stumbles. P&G still has the size and popular brands to negotiate better shelf space and pricing with retailers which should protect revenue even after it sheds some of its brands.

Earnings are expected higher by 5.7% to $3.88 per share over the next four quarters. The company has turned around a string of disappointments to beat expectations four consecutive quarters by an average of 5.2% each quarter. It's the most expensive stock in our list but should do well in a market selloff as investors rush to consumer staples and attractive dividends.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has struggled along with other traditional retailers on fears of growth in online shopping limiting top-line sales. While critics of Wal-Mart's online platform have a point, the $230 billion retailer has a size and price advantage that will leave it the last man standing in its market. If there is just one brick-and-mortar store left in the world, it will be Wal-Mart.

The company's recent acquisition of Jet.com could help it compete better digitally, and its massive scale gives it a wide economic moat. Shares saw a drop of less than half of what the broader market saw during the crisis, and shareholders only had to wait five months from the high to see the stock start to rebound, more than a month ahead of the rest of the market.

Shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) are 6.8% off their April high on weak volume growth, especially in emerging markets, where currency effects have also weighed on earnings. Management downgraded its 2016 guidance to 3% sales growth during the second quarter earnings release.

The recent weakness could be a buying opportunity for shares that have jumped 190% since the bottom of the 2009 crisis. The company is diversified across non-carbonated beverages and juices in addition to its portfolio of soft drinks, and it enjoys one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Coca-Cola is selling its North American distribution assets and some manufacturing facilities through 2017, which could mean greater profitability and strong shareholder cash return.

[More from StreetAuthority.com: Bond Guru Bill Gross' Secret To Investing In An Overvalued Market]

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) has added significantly to its electricity distribution with the recent AGL acquisition and its natural gas distribution business. The company has also been aggressively adding solar and wind projects to further diversify.

As a holding company for regulated utilities, Southern Company performed better than most during the financial crisis. Shares fell just 30% from the peak, and investors only had to wait five months for the price recovery to begin. Volatility was the lowest among these five safety stock picks, and the shares pay an attractive 4.2% yield.

While all five stocks were relatively protected during the last bear market and offer strong fundamentals going forward, Novartis and Southern Company stand out as the best opportunities for safety and return. Each is relatively cheap and pays a strong yield, while also benefiting from company-specific upside over the next year.

Risks To Consider: Company-specific factors may mean performance differs greatly in the next market crash compared to that seen previously.

Action To Take: Take a position in one or more of these safety stocks that have the potential to provide upside returns while still protecting you from volatility in a market selloff.

Editor's Note: The market is overvalued, but that's not the only thing you should be worried about... Virtually every new President to take office has had a devastating effect on economic growth. It happened with Obama, it happened with Bush and Clinton... in fact, it's happened to every president for 183 years. Will these 3 simple plays make you rich while the rest of the nation bleeds?

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Should little girls be required to cover up when theyre at the pool? (Photo: Getty Images)

As many parents do on a hot summer day, Stephanie Felkai took her two young daughters to their local public pool in Montreal. Felkais 6-year-old daughter wore her favorite swimsuit shorts without a top. A lifeguard approached Felkai and said that her daughter needed to cover up with a bathing suit top.

Felkai felt this was unfair since the upper body of a 6-year-old  whether its a boy or a girl  looks basically the same, and she argued that if young boys dont have to cover up on top, why should young girls who havent developed yet?

At her age, shes indistinguishable from a boy, Felkai told CBC. Her physique is exactly the same as a boys. So how does anyone even know to approach her to tell her shes not wearing an appropriate bathing suit?

According to Felkai, the lifeguard responded that women are asked to cover their breasts and genitals, while men must cover their genitals. I said, Yes, thats for a woman and a man, but this is a girl, Felkai said.

She added: Theres no gender or age related to this rule. It said that people need to not be nude or partially nude. My interpretation is that my daughter is partially covered because her genitals are covered.

The mom filed a complaint with the borough, explaining that she would like the rules amended for young children. My concern for my daughter in my situation is, I dont want her to be forced to identify as girly too early, she said. We dont need that. Just let them be.

Borough spokesman Daniel Bussieres to CBC that bathing suits are required for anyone going to the pool and that includes tops for women. However, Bussieres added that the lifeguard who approached Felkai about her little girl may have been overzealous in following the rules.

Kristin J. Carothers, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute in New York City, notes that this is a tricky situation. The issue that arises with this scenario is whether or not guidelines for bathing suits at public pools should apply to young children, she tells Yahoo Style. One could argue that the guidelines for wearing bathing suits at public pools are in place to ensure that genitalia are covered for health and safety reasons.

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She adds that it can also lead to some confusion: When we think of teaching children about good touches and bad touches to protect them from predators, we usually send the message that any area that could be covered with a bathing suit should not be touched by anyone, and that a child should immediately report inappropriate touching to an adult. [However,] at 6 years of age, boys and girls chests are similar. Usually, boys are not expected to wear tops, while girls are, because they will eventually develop breasts. In this particular case, it seems that the mother does not believe allowing her 6-year-old daughter to swim without a bathing suit top would put her at risk for harm.

Carothers notes that if Felkai wants her young daughter to be able to swim without a top, she may need to find other outlets for now. This mom might have to comply with the rules at the public pool; however, she also has the right to decide if her daughter should swim with a top in places where there isnt the rule, like private pools, she says, or she can decide not to take her daughter to pools that have those rules.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
No. 1:Concierges Are Getting a Reboot

A number of upscale brands are taking their concierge services digital, using texting, social media, and custom apps to help guests connect with the hotel. In some cases, theyre replacing people with technology altogether.

Its quite a change for this very traditional hotel role. And while it may dismay travelers who rely on concierges for assistance and advice, there are definite upsides for guests.

Many of the new apps provide a central place to make various kinds of requests. At Conrad Hotels & Resorts, for instance, you can book a spa treatment and ask for restaurant recommendations with a few taps instead of multiple phone calls. You can even select your room and order a room-service meal before check-in, tasks that were challengingif not impossibleat the hotel previously.

Useful for those times when youre away from the hotel but want a concierges local insights, Porter & Sail is a city-guide app used at independent hotels. It offers picks curated by distinguished locals (musician Moby, chef Alan Stewart), and is available at more than three dozen properties worldwide, including Soho Beach House, in Miami, and Londons Zetter hotels.

Hotel Stay Changes

Social-media addicts might appreciate that Hyatt has taken to Twitterdirect-message or tweet at the @HyattConcierge handle, and the 24/7 guest-service team will usually respond within 15 minutes. (Its handy for quick requests, like extra pillows or a restaurant suggestion.) Guests of most Commune Hotels & Resorts dont have to speak to anyone in person, eitherthey can use e-mail or SMS to communicate with the hotel, whether they want to inquire about a car service or complain about noise. And a new function in the Marriott Rewards app lets guests chat with a concierge before they arrive at the hotel.

Like the worlds best concierges, some of these apps are fluent in multiple languages. Though Connie, the two-foot-tall robot concierge unveiled in March at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner, in Virginia, is monolingual, the AI-powered automaton is able to answer simple, common requests (What time does breakfast start?), so guests dont have to wait for attention.

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Connie doesnt expect a tipthough for better or worse, apps havent yet eliminated that practice. In fact, they have made it a bit more challenging. Says George Corbin, senior vice president of digital at Marriott International, Some guests have made a point of seeking out in person the associate who helped them online.

No. 2: Theyre Padding Your Tab

Some hotels are adding vague, even questionable chargeslike facility and hospitality feesto bills. Several in Canada are being sued for making a marketing fee look like a tax. If you dont know what a charge is for, ask. If its not an actual tax and you werent informed about it, politely request its removal.

No. 3: Airport Hotels Are Taking Off

With architectural pedigrees, fitness classes, and (believe it or not) good food, you might actually want to stay at oneeven if you dont have to.

Denver

The Westin Denver International Airport, shaped like a whales tail rising above the main terminal, debuted in December. Travelers can recharge in Westins Heavenly beds, swim in the 11th-floor pool, soak in a hot tub with Rocky Mountain views, or take advantage of yoga classes and self-guided art tours.

Amsterdam

Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo was tapped to create the Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The striking, modern building, wrapped in diamond-shaped windows, has 433 chic guest rooms decorated with Dutch art and furnishings, 23 meeting spaces, and a spa with four treatment rooms.

Sydney

With floor-to-ceiling double-glazed windows and comfy lounge chairs, the 229 rooms at the new five-star Pullman Sydney Airport Hotel feel like stylish apartments. The fitness center is open 24 hours, and the restaurant, Mobius, features an open kitchen and a mix of individual and communal seating.

Hotel Stay Changes

Alessandro Gottardo

No. 4: Direct Isn't Always A Deal

Hilton wants you to stop clicking around. Marriott says, It pays to book direct. Hyatt tells travelers they can save big.

Hotel companies are tired of paying commissions to online travel agencies (OTAs) like Priceline and Expedia, so theyre trying to convince customers to cut out the middlementhey promise youll find the best prices on their own websites and apps, with loyalty-program members seeing even bigger savings.

But do they deliver? We put the brands to the test, to see what kinds of discounts travelers could expect, and got mixed results. In some cases, prices were lower on hotel websites. In others, the very same room cost 20 percent more. So caveat emptorbut remember that if youre trying to collect hotel loyalty points, which you dont get through OTAs, it might be worth paying a little bit more.

No. 5: Credit Cards Are Paying Off

Hotel-branded cards are gaining on their airline competitors, offering customers these valuable extras.

Big Bonuses

Cards have been giving record sign-up bonuses this year: the Hilton HHonors Surpass American Express and the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Business cards each offered 100,000 points for meeting the initial spending requirement, enough for a night at a top hotel.

Better Earnings

Several hotel cards do better than the usual one mile per dollar spent. The IHG Rewards Club Select card, for instance, pays double points on gas, groceries, and dining.

More Perks

While airline cards come with benefits like free checked bags and priority boarding, many hotel cards now simply bestow full elite status. The Hilton HHonors Citi Reserve and American Express Surpass cards make you a Gold guestwith 25 percent bonus points on hotel stays, free Wi-Fi, late checkout, and more.

Annual Freebies

IHG cardholders get a free night every year at any of the brands properties, even the pricey InterContinental Paris-Le Grand (from $549 per night). The Hyatt Visas complimentary stay is only good for hotels in specific categories, but that includes some luxury resorts.

Hotesl Stay Changes

Alessandro Gottardo

No.6: You Can Stay For A Whilein Style

If you consider them at all, you might think of extended-stay hotels (a.k.a. apartment hotels) as functional but blah accommodations for businesspeople or families between homes. But a number of properties aimed at leisure travelers have recently hit the market. Theyre upscale, offering rooms that feel like residences (kitchens, separate bedrooms), yet with a level of predictability and service that you generally dont get with vacation rentals. Theres just one element travelers might miss. Some people want to meet the owners and have some hot chocolate with them, says Skyler Reep, marketing director at Stay Alfred, which has serviced apartments in 11 U.S. cities. We dont offer that. For some, that might actually be a selling point.

Q&A Residential Hotel, New York City

This property in the Financial District offers loftlike digs starting at 500 square feet, done up in a minimalist style. Pets are welcome, and guests get access to a 21,000- square-foot La Palestra fitness center. Have groceries delivered to your suite or, starting next year, just head upstairs to the April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman restaurant.

Minimum Stay: One night

Starting Rate: $329/night

Roost Apartment Hotels, Philadelphia

Roosts two locations in Midtown and Rittenhouse Squarehave Midcentury Modern furnishings and bathrooms clad in subway tile. Each unit (from studios to two-bedrooms) is equipped with a Bosch washer and dryer, Apple TV, and Sferra sheets. With the in-house bike-share program, guests dont even need to bother with Uber.

Minimum Stay: One week

Starting Rate: $155/night

Hollywood Proper Residences, Los Angeles

Poised to become a celebrity favorite, the just-opened Proper offers one- and two-bedroom suites kitted out by Kelly Wearstler. All units have professional-grade kitchens, and two of the four penthouses come with private plunge pools. Guests can avail themselves of the rooftop pool, open-air yoga patio, and coffee and wine bar.

Minimum Stay: One week

Starting Rate: $395/night

25 Place Dauphine, Paris

Vacation-rental specialist Paris Perfect spent two years renovating this 17th-century building. Situated on the le de la Cit, it contains six apartments decorated with gilt-framed mirrors and contemporary sofas. The kitchens are sleek. While theres no concierge in residence, the company will make your restaurant reservations for a small fee.

Minimum Stay: One week

Starting Rate: $261/night

Hotel Stay Changes

Alessandro Gottardo

No.7: Rooms Can Be Had By the Hour (Or the Minute)

HotelsByDay

This app (Android, iOS) and website lets guests reserve rooms in four- to nine-hour blockstypically between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Inventory consists of three- to five-star hotels, mostly in U.S. and Canadian cities. Five daytime hours in a deluxe double at Tryp by Wyndham in New York costs $125, versus $249 for a regular stay.

Recharge

Recharge (iOS) makes upscale hotel rooms at press time, four- and five-star properties in the Bay Area available at the last minute, for 66 cents a minute (around $40 an hour). By comparison, a same-day booking made directly with Park Central Hotel in San Francisco, one of the properties on the app, is $284 a night.

Dayuse

The only global microbooking service, Dayuse (Web, Android, iOS) has an inventory of more than 2,000 hotels in 15 countries. Youll find plenty of Quality Inns and Best Westerns, but also a few gems. Sort hotels (by cost, proximity to airport, etc.) to find spots like the Pullman Miami, just three miles from the airport.
From Redbook

The Bachelorette's Chad Johnson spent his time on the show spiking ratings with over-the-top one-liners and insults that earned him a reputation as the show's villain and a general douchebag. And yet - the guy's got some solid love advice. Ask the 29-year-old luxury realtor/season 12 contestant for the relationship rules he lives by, and, oh, will he deliver. So if you're looking to make your relationship better, or just muddling through a love life streak that "ain't all blueberries and paper planes" (to use another Chadism), these nine pieces of relationship Chad-vice are kind of brilliant.

RELATED: My Husband and I Lived Like We Were on "The Bachelor" and the Fantasy Suite Got Weird

Chadism #1: "I like smiley girls, girls who are happy and positive."

What qualities does Chad look for in a girl? "I get along with every girl I meet in real life. Girls love me, I love girls...," he said. (Oh, Chad.) But after a bit more prodding, he elaborated: "I like it when a girl is talkative and happy and positive. I want to be with someone who likes to have fun with things and doesn't hold on to anger." So keep that PMA (positive mental attitude) strong every damn day - not only will your co-workers, boss, friends and fam appreciate it, but your partner or potential suitors dig it, too.

Chadism #2: "I'm on my phone all the time when I'm at home or working, but if I'm on a date with a girl, I am with her."

Be present. Chad stresses that this rule applies whether you're on your first or your 500th date with someone. It's difficult to connect fully with your husband or get to know someone better when you're passively scrolling through your Twitter feed while they retell an anecdote from their day. It's also a huge turnoff for men. "When I'm on a date, my phone is on silent and in my pocket," he says.

Chadism #3: "When a girl holds eye contact, I love that."

See Chadism #2 and put that phone down. "My favorite way for a woman to let me know she's into me is eye contact," he says. Sounds obvious, but so often we forget to lock eyes with our significant other or on a date. It's actually a biologically hardwired way to express affection, not to mention a surefire way to make a dude melt.

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Photo credit: Giphy

And pro tip if you're still looking: The same goes for your online dating profile. Showcase a profile picture where your gaze is locked and steady with the camera, and where your smile is big. "Most guys don't swipe past the first picture until we've already matched," he says.

RELATED: 8 Pieces of Relationship Advice You Should Never Take

Chadism #4: "When you get home, leave your work and any negative things that happened there."

It's great to rely on your BF or husband for support, but making a daily habit out of coming home and venting is, to quote the man, a Bad News Chad Bear. "You can tell me about [those crummy things], but don't dwell on it." (Research agrees with Dr. Chad on this one: Rumination is bad for you.) To blow off steam, find a positive outlet for your negative emotions, like cooking, taking a yoga class, or even organizing your home until your feelings settle. "When I'm in a relationship, I want it to be a positive experience," says Chad. "Nobody wants to get thrashed by all the negative things that happened with your co-worker Stacy throughout the day, all night long."

Chadism #5: "I like girls who take care of themselves. If you don't take care of yourself, why would someone else want to take care of you?"

An oh-so-Chad way to put it, but he's not talking about being super skinny or Glutes Gone Wild-level shredded. For guys, taking time to carve out a portion each day to prioritize your health is a turn on. "The more you stick to a routine, the better you feel, which allows you to be able to let loose and have fun in your downtime," he explains.

Chadism #6: "Personally, I don't care about your clothes, your shoes, anything like that, it's about your personality..."

..."and your face...and I guess your body." But in all seriousness though, Chad just wishes girls would keep their first date looks simple: "I've always said I can look better in a $3.99 white v-neck and jeans than most guys can in Louis Vuitton," he says. Wear what feels comfortable and flattering for you, and that confidence will shine through in how you carry yourself.

Photo credit: Giphy

Chadism #7: "Be Yourself."

Simple, but the guy means it. And while Chad's particular strain of in-your-face realness may rub some the wrong way, guys have a sixth sense for detecting when you're being fake. Not into pumping iron? That brah can smell your alpha amino-infused lie from a mile away. Have a soft spot for country (cough, alllll the Eric Church and Willie Nelson albums ever are stashed under your bed) music? Own it. Hate hiking? Don't make it seem like that eight-hour hike through the Ozarks is total fifth date material when even glamping terrifies you. "Go on and be yourself, do your thing." Unless, of course, you're cast on the series' next season "Then don't [be real] and do what I did. You're just going to be pounced upon by everybody!" Aw, Chadykins.

RELATED: 15 Things Dads Should Teach Their Sons About Dating

Chadism #8: "A lot of people's dating philosophy is this: Get to know you first, then figure out whether you enjoy each other's company. Mine is the exact opposite."

This long-term dating advice actually works, and can help ease first date nerves: "[On a first date,] sometimes girls are like 'you haven't asked me any questions yet!' But why would I want to know about you before I even know whether I enjoy spending time with you? So, on a first date, I don't ask a lot of questions, I just try to have fun in the moment."

But if his personality and sense of humor align with his date's? Then he'll dive deeper. "It saves you five hours of learning all this information and then at the end of the night thinking 'well, they're super boring and now I know all this information that is not necessary.'" Like that he wears sweatpants to the gym on leg day and that he reads psychology books in his spare time (kinda cool, actually).

Chadism #9: "My ideal first date is always something simple."

"I'm not one of those guys who's like 'hey, let's go hiking' - you don't really get to know someone whenever your first date has too much activity" (and we're guessing he'd be cranky after a few hours without a Muscle Milk and VyoPro protein bar). Get an appetizer somewhere, grab a bottle of wine and sit outdoors, or stake out a bench for a coffee break - just keep it low-key. But when it comes to that adage about keeping a first date to an hour, the Chad disagrees. "I don't do the whole hour thing. I'll let it go until I feel like it's time to go." And as for that age-old question: What do guys think of you if you sleep with them on a first date? "Well," he pensively replies. "If she sleeps with me on the first date, yeah, I would consider seeing her, but if she sleeps with someone else on the first date, that would affect my judgment."

Photo credit: Giphy

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Police have released the audio of the Monday 911 call made by the North Carolina man accused of reporting his girlfriend's toddler missing a day before being charged with her murder.



In the six-and-a-half minute call, obtained by PEOPLE, Billy McCullen, 21, frantically tells the operator he's searching for the toddler.



"I was taking a nap, I just woke up and I can't find her anywhere," McCullen tells the dispatcher. "I donat know where she's at."



McCullen was arrested and charged with first-degree murder Tuesday afternoon after police found remains believed to belong to the 3-year-old. The medical examiner's office has not yet confirmed the identity of the remains.



"I have a newborn with me too, a 1-year-old, and I got her and I can't find the other one," McCullen tells the operator. "I really need some help right now."



During the call, the dispatcher instructs McCullen to look for Jordan under beds and in closets.



"She's not here, she's not here," he says, panicked.



"I don't know where my daughter is," the Bessemer City resident adds while apparently breaking down weeping.





911 Call of Man Who Reported Toddler Missing Before Being Charged with Murder: 'I Can't Find Her Anywhere'| Crime & Courts, Death, Murder, True Crime

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While McCullen awaits for police to arrive, he can be heard walking through the home calling Jordan's name.



"I donat know if she's hiding or what, I don't know, I cant find her anywhere," McCullen says before breaking down again. "The door was wide open and I can't find her."



"Jordan if you hear me come out, please come out!" he cries.



The body believed to belong to Jordan was found 500 to 750 yards from her home, authorities said.





Neighbor Says She Saw Bruises on Jordan

In a previous interview, neighbor Dustee Connard told PEOPLE the news wasn't a complete shock to her because she'd seen disturbing signs from the home McCullen shared with Jordan and her mother, Jaylene Dumont.



During an Easter Egg hunt earlier this year, she says she saw bruises on Jordan.



"Jordan was a beautiful little girl," Connard remembers. "When she came down here she loved to play around the yard, but you would see bruises on her."



During the egg hunt, when Connard asked Jordan what happened, she allegedly replied she fell. According to police records obtained by PEOPLE, authorities responded to more than a dozen calls to the home between Easter and her disappearance on Monday. In the last three years, 49 service calls were made to McCullen and Dumont's home, police said Tuesday.





911 Call of Man Who Reported Toddler Missing Before Being Charged with Murder: 'I Can't Find Her Anywhere'| Crime & Courts, Death, Murder, True Crime

Connard says she and her family called police three times in the last six months.



"[Jayelen Dumont] would tell police everything was fine, that nothing was wrong," Connard says. "It's just horrible."



McCullen has not entered a plea or been assigned an attorney, Gaston County court officials tell PEOPLE.
By Marwa Rashad and Katie Paul QADISIYA LABOUR CAMP, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Migrant construction workers, abandoned in their thousands by Saudi employers in filthy desert camps during the kingdom's economic slump, say they will not accept a government offer of free flights home unless they receive months of unpaid wages. The plight of the workers, stranded for months in crowded dormitories at labor camps with little money and limited access to food, water or medical care, has alarmed their home countries and drawn unwelcome attention to the conditions of some of the 10 million foreign workers on whom the Saudi economy depends. The government says it is trying to resolve the situation by giving the workers -- who normally need their employers' permission to leave the country -- the right to go home and free transport back. It is also granting them special permission to stay while they look for other jobs. But workers say they fear that if they leave they will end up with nothing at all. "We will wait here - one year, two years. We will wait for our money. Then we will go back," said Sardar Naseer, 35, a Pakistani welder at the Qadisiya Labour Camp, which houses around 2,000 workers from construction conglomerate Saudi Oger. Naseer says he is owed 22,000 riyals ($5,900) after receiving no wages for eight months. Workers at the camp, about 20 km (13 miles) from the center of Riyadh, said they had stopped work about four months ago and none had been paid since January. Oger, the family firm of billionaire former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, did not respond to requests for comment for this story. The Hariri family did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment. In July, Oger stopped providing food, electricity, maintenance and medical services at several of its camps including Qadisiyah, prompting the Saudi Labour Ministry to take over provision of basic services there, men at the camp said. They sleep six to eight to a tiny room, with stray cats and cockroaches lingering on torn bedsheets. They sit on the floor to eat food rations provided by the Labour Ministry or their embassies. There is no regular supply of clean drinking water -- a filter on a public water fountain meant to be changed daily has not been serviced in a year -- so they are forced to buy bottled water with their own money. Saudi Oger, which employs some 30,000 workers, has built mega-projects including Riyadh's palatial 500-room Ritz Carlton hotel and all-female Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman University. It is one of Saudi Arabia's two most prominent construction companies, along with the Saudi Binladin Group. Both have faced financial difficulties as the world's biggest oil exporter has suffered from the fall in the price of crude. Construction projects have been halted or slowed and revenue has fallen. As the salary delays have worsened, frustrated workers have in some cases staged rare public protests. Countries including India, Pakistan and the Philippines have sent senior officials to Riyadh to press authorities to assist their workers. Indian officials said this month that more than 6,200 former Indian employees of Oger were stranded in Saudi camps after being laid off and owed wages. "GOOD IMAGE" Two weeks ago, after Indian authorities raised their concerns, King Salman set aside 100 million riyals of government money to help the stranded workers, mostly from Pakistan, India, the Philippines and Bangladesh. Saudi Labour Minister Mufrej al-Haqbani told Reuters on Wednesday that several distressed local firms, including Saudi Binladin Group, had now started paying overdue wages. Binladin executives promised him that payments would be completed by September, he said. Oger is the only company still broadly withholding payments, and the Labour Ministry will press foreigners' wage claims through the kingdom's labor dispute system, Haqbani said, without specifying when claims might be resolved. "Saudi Oger - now well take it to the courts. Now we are responsible for that. Weve hired lawyers," he said. "As the ministry, we will go through the labor dispute courts to go after Saudi Oger and to collect the claims." He also said the troubles at Oger were not a sign of problems with Saudi Arabia's overall employment of foreign workers, most of whom were choosing to remain in the country. This is a small segment...of the labor market. We have more than 10 million expats working happily here in the country. When a company like Saudi Oger fails to comply with the rules, this will never destroy the good image of our labor market. Philippines Secretary of Labour Silvestre Bello, who visited Riyadh for talks with Haqbani this week, said that with the assistance of Saudi authorities, about 1,000 Filipino workers could be sent home by mid-September. At the camp, Mohammed Niaz, 42, said his two daughters back in Pakistan had stopped attending school because he could no longer send money home for fees. "I'm wasting my time. I want to go to Pakistan," he said. But he added that he refused to leave Saudi Arabia without the 13,000 riyals which Oger owed him. "My family has no money. My daughters are out of school. How can I go to Pakistan?" (Additional reporting by Reem Shamseddine; editing by Andrew Torchia and Peter Graff)
Jeff Smith, CEO and chief investment officer of Starboard Value, L.P., speaks at a panel discussion at the SALT conference in Las Vegas May 14, 2014. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

The activist hedge fund that shook up Yahoo is crushing it as many of its peers struggle.

New York-based Starboard Value's flagship fund is up 8.25% through July this year, according to a performance document viewed by Business Insider.

That compares with a 4.36% return for the HFRI event-driven index, which measures Starboard's activist competitors, over the same period.

Meanwhile, the average hedge fund, which includes firms employing all strategies, is up about only 3% this year through July, according to Hedge Fund Research.

Activist hedge funds try to boost companies' stock values by taking big stakes in the companies and influencing changes with management.

Starboard Value, which manages about $4.7 billion in assets, has influenced Yahoo. In April, Yahoo agreed to add four of Starboard's independent directors to its board, for instance.

Its stock price has been rising since February this year.

Starboard's performance this year represents a return to form for the firm. Last year, the flagship fund dropped 8.55%, for instance. It rose 21.45% and 10.7% in 2014 and 2013, respectively, according to the document.

Screen Shot 2016 08 18 at 3.22.24 PM

Starboard's Yahoo position is the hedge fund's largest, making up about 15.7% of its fund, the investor update said.

Starboard's next biggest stock positions are Marvell Technology Group, Advance Auto Parts, The Brink's Company, WestRock Company, and Depomed, Inc. It also holds positions in Macy's, Office Depot, and Darden Restaurants, according to the document.

The firm also announced a new stake in Stewart Information earlier this week, Bloomberg reported.

Press contacts for Starboard didn't respond to requests for comment.

NOW WATCH: A self-made millionaire describes the financial mistakes to avoid if you want to get rich by 30





More From Business Insider
The affidavit revelations have stung the Army headquarters into near paralysis with no reactions or refutations coming from any side.

According to an affidavit filed by Army Chief General Dalbir Singh in the Supreme Court, the then Army Chief and present Minister of State (MOS) General VK Singh (retd) tried to 'victimise' him.

By Jugal R Purohit: The politics that was played behind the high walls securing the Indian Army's top brass is now out in the open once again with an affidavit filed by the Army Chief Dalbir Singh in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The revelations seem to have stung the Army Headquarters into near paralysis, unable to refute or react.

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On the other side, General VK Singh (Retd), now a minister, who is not exactly known to mince his words, is maintaining a quiet posture.

Also Read: General vs General: All you need to know on VK Singh-Dalbir Singh spat

WHAT THE AFFIDAVIT SAYS

According to an affidavit filed by Army Chief General Dalbir Singh in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the then Army Chief and present Minister of State (MOS) General VK Singh (retd) tried to 'victimise' him so as to deny him promotion as Army Commander. General Dalbir Singh also mentioned that 'false, baseless and imaginary allegations' were levelled against him.

The fact that such a serious charge has been put by a serving Army boss against his retired senior , who happens to be a minister, and that too before the Supreme Court makes the matter unprecedented.

An effort made to speak to General Dalbir Singh was thwarted by his security staff who did not allow the correspondent to ask any questions. The General even changed the route of his entrance into his office at South Block today, sending his security detail into a tizzy at the last minute.

AFFIDAVIT IS OLD, THE ONE FILED IN 2012

Initially, a source close to the General said the affidavit was an 'old one, filed in personal capacity, way back in 2012'. He also mentioned that 'since General Dalbir was a made a respondent, he had personally filed the reply and it was neither shown to the Ministry of Defence nor scrutinised by their officials'.

However, there was no response when it was learnt that the affidavit was actually submitted to the apex court only on Wednesday. In the morning, reliable sources had stated that a clarification was soon to be issued. However, none came till the time of filing this report.

It was learnt that General VK Singh (Retd) was in Saudi Arabia in a bid to aid the Indian workers stranded there.

Also Read: Relief for stranded Indian workers as Saudi Arabia vows action: VK Singh



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While there was no official response from his side, it was learnt that details of the matter, including the affidavit were being quietly collated by his staff.

Undoubtedly, this had led to several eyebrows being raised. Many are even wondering if General Dalbir Singh had kept Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in the picture or not.

"How can a serving Army chief say such a thing especially when the person concerned is a serving minister? Did Parrikar not stop him or did it have Parrikar's blessings?" is how an observer put it.

Also Read:

After VK Singh's wife files extortion complaint, accused goes missing



--- ENDS ---
The United States is known for having the largest prison population in the worlda dubious distinction thats the result of decades of get tough policies, including mandatory drug sentences and three-strikes laws. Now thanks to an announcement Thursday by the United States Department of Justice, fewer federal inmates will be locked up in privately owned penitentiaries.

The Department of Justice announced in a memo that it will close three of the nations 13 private prisons by May 1, 2017, and the rest in the following five years. In the memo, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to either decline to renew contracts with private prison operators or substantially reduce the number of beds inmates inhabit in private prisons. The closure affects about 22,000 federal prisoners in the private prison system, 1 percent of the nations total incarcerated population.

RELATED: At This Library, Story Time Doesnt End Because Dads Locked Up

Private prisons served an important role during a difficult period, but time has shown that they compare poorly to our own Bureau facilities, Yates wrote in the memo. They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Departments Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety or security.

A report Yates cited in the memo found that the contracted prisons studied had more problems with assault and inmate discipline than federally owned facilities did. In one example, a correctional officer was killed and more than 20 people were injured following a riot in a correctional facility where inmates reported receiving low-quality food and medical care.

Given the human rights violations that the Department of Justice has found in private prisons, the announcement seems like a win for activists who have spoken out against mass incarceration. But for Blake Simons, the communications director of the California-based black empowerment collective Afrikan Black Coalition, because most inmates are not locked up in federal private prisons, the closures are only a symbolic victory.

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According to Prison Policy Initiative, there are around 6,125 prisons and jails in America. By only closing 13 private prisons, its like putting a Band-Aid on the gaping wound of mass incarceration, Simons wrote in an email to TakePart.

The coalition successfully pushed the University of California system to divest $25 million from the private prison industry in 2015 and has worked with Californian cities to reallocate prison funding to community services.

Instead of prisons, we need an investment in public schools, health care, social work, and an overall end to poverty in America, Simons wrote. By taking a restorative justice approach, we can begin by eliminating contracts with private and public prisons at the state level, ultimately abolishing them completely.

RELATED: Art Class Could Keep People From Going Back to Prison

Not all private justice facilities in the U.S. will close or lose their contract. Private care facilities that provide transitional support and operate halfway houses will not be affected, and the Department of Homeland Security continues to operate privately owned detention centers.

Jamie Trinkle, the campaign coordinator for antimass incarceration collective Enlace, pinpointed the Department of Homeland Securitys privatized detention centers as the next step the federal government should take in reforming the justice system.

The Department of Homeland Security should immediately follow suit and end all Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts with private prisons, including for ankle bracelet monitoring, privatized transportation, and other practices that expand the ways people are controlled by the state and the ways corporations profit from that increased state control, Trinkle wrote in an email to TakePart. States and counties should terminate and ban contracting with private prisons for prison facilities as well as re-entry services, addiction treatment, rehabilitation services, and electronic monitoring.

Sign the Petition: Take Action to End the Overuse of Solitary Confinement in Federal Prisons

Related stories on TakePart:





 UC Divests From Private Prisons After Black Students Protest

 Heres Why Its a Big Deal That Columbia Divested From Private Prison Companies

 How a Former Detainee Is Advocating for Prison and Immigration Reform

Original article from TakePart
Mazar-e-Sharif, March 8, 2008 An Afghan woman enjoys an afternoon with her family near the Blue Mosque. (Photograph by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

In the fall of 2001, the award-winning American photojournalist Paula Bronstein traveled to Afghanistan on assignment for Getty Images to document the U.S-led "Operation Enduring Freedom" in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Captivated by the indomitable resilience and spirit of the Afghan people and the rugged beauty of their country's landscape, Bronstein has made Afghanistan her mission ever since. She has returned to the country repeatedly over the past 14 years to document the lives of the Afghan people against the backdrop of a brutal and protracted war. Her remarkable and nuanced body of work is collected for the first time in a powerful new monograph 'Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear' (University of Texas Press, August 2016).

What sets Bronstein's photographs apart from many of her peers is her choice to spend most of her time with the Afghan people. Her work goes beyond war coverage to reveal the full complexity of daily life in what may be the most reported on, yet least understood country in the world. The result is an intimate photographic portrait of this war-torn country's people spanning 2001-2015. With empathy born of the challenges of being a female photojournalist working in a conservative Islamic country, Bronstein gives voice to many Afghans who remain silenced by Taliban repression, particularly women and children.

Represented by Getty Images Reportage, Bronstein documents the ongoing challenges facing the country today including human rights abuses, poverty, heroin addiction and increased violence and instability ? to the stirrings of new hope, including women participating in elections for the first time, education for girls and expanded job and recreational opportunities for both men and women.

Afghanistan is cited by international rights groups as one of the worst places to live if you are born female and Bronstein's searing photographs bear this out ? from her depiction of the struggle of Afghanistan's over 2.5 million war widows, many of whom are forced to beg on the streets, to the anguish and desperation of Afghan women who practice self-immolation to escape forced marriages and domestic abuse. Bronstein counters the grim realities with positive photographs of women active at political rallies and girls engaged in learning in school classrooms.

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At the core of Bronstein's work is her compassion for her subjects and her ability to gain extraordinary access to document the hope and beauty as well as the harsh realities of their lives. She is relentless in her pursuit of stories she believes must be shared with the world, and she goes after them, sometimes at great personal risk.

In her afterword in the book, Bronstein writes:

"I have made some of the most extraordinary photos of my career in Afghanistan, with face after face offering a complex and intriguing gaze and revealing the constant tension between optimism and reality that shapes the lives of so many here. I keep going back, motivated and inspired by those faces, pushing against the difficulties, hoping to find fewer doors slamming shut and more people seeing reasons to smile."



In her introduction, fellow award-winning journalist Christina Lamb describes the gains that Afghan women have made since the overthrow of the Taliban, as well as the daunting obstacles they still face, and Kim Barker, a staff reporter for the New York Times, writes the foreword. Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear is an eloquent portrait of everyday life, and a story about the legacy of America's longest war. This important and beautiful volume is the most complete visual narrative history of the country currently in print.

With over 30 years in the news business, Paula Bronstein is one of America's most distinguished female photojournalists. She has won numerous awards, among them: Pictures of the Year International; National Press Photographers Association (Runner-up: Photographer of the Year); Pulitzer Prize (Finalist: Breaking News); the Overseas Press Club of America (John Faber Award); Foreign Correspondents Club: Thailand (Asia Photographer of the Year); Leica Oskar Barnack Award (Finalist); and China International Press Photo (Photo of the Year). Her work has been featured in numerous individual and group exhibitions, including "Afghanistan's Health Crisis," Lido, Italy, and the Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles; "Women in War" at the 2014 Korea Photo Biennale; and "Women Between Peace and War ? Afghanistan," which traveled to venues throughout the U.S. Other exhibits include War Photo Limited in Dubrovnik; "Women War Photographers," Visa Pour L'Image, Perpignan, France; the Fence, an outdoor photography exhibition; and Photoville, New York.

Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear by Paula Bronstein, book screening at Visa Pour LImage Festival in Perpignan, France, on Friday evening, Sept. 2, and book signing on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 3. The book is available from the University of Texas Press, August 2016).

See more news-related photo galleries, and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr.
By Kieran Guilbert DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Aid agencies in the Central African Republic said on Thursday they were racing to prevent the first outbreak of cholera in five years from spreading across the conflict-stricken country. The outbreak, which was declared last week, started in the southern Kemo prefecture before spreading to the capital Bangui, and has infected more than 150 people and killed at least 18 people to date, according to the latest government figures. Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has opened a cholera treatment center in Bangui, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is supporting an awareness-raising campaign along the country's entire southern border. MSF is also monitoring communities along the Oubangui River who use it as their main water source, and said it was working to prevent the river from spreading the epidemic further. "It is important to react quickly to prevent the spread of the disease because the risk of infection is higher in areas where clean water is limited," said Jose Antonio Sanchez of MSF. Cholera, which spreads through contaminated food and drinking water, causes diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. The disease can lead to death by dehydration and kidney failure within hours if left untreated, but most patients recover if treated promptly with oral rehydration salts. The IOM said it was concerned about the risk of the cholera outbreak spreading throughout the capital's 26 sites for people uprooted by fighting, which host some 50,000 displaced. Central African Republic descended into chaos in March 2013 when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters seized power, triggering reprisal attacks by Christian anti-balaka militias. President Faustin-Archange Touadera took office in March after elections aimed at drawing a line under the crisis, but insecurity has since persisted and fresh fighting broke out in Bangui at the end of June. "Early action to prevent a further spread of the disease is crucial, especially considering the state of many displacement sites here in Bangui," said the Anne Schaefer of the IOM, adding that water and sanitation programs were hugely underfunded. The U.N. children's agency (UNICEF) said it was working with the health ministry to give medicine, clean water, purification tablets and hygiene kits to the cholera-hit communities. "Children are at the highest risk of cholera, but so far we have been lucky that not many children have been infected," Souleymane Sow of UNICEF told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Central African Republic was last hit by cholera in 2011, when an epidemic swept through West and Central Africa - one of the biggest in the region's history - infecting more than 85,000 people and killing at least 2,400. (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)
Apartment Investment and Management Company AIV, commonly known as Aimco, disclosed the acquisition of Indigo in Redwood City, CA. The move comes as part of the companys portfolio revamping strategy.



Aimco met the funding of this $320 million acquisition with 1031 like-kind exchange proceeds generated from asset sales done earlier this year.



Currently 27% leased, this ten-story luxury communitys takeover is a strategic fit for Aimco. Its position within downtown Redwood City is around 25 miles southeast of San Francisco and on the northern edge of Silicon Valley. The property enjoys good accessibility. Moreover, with the downtown Redwood City serving as a hub for the adjoining residential population together with a thriving community of tech-related jobs, this property is expected to enjoy decent demand.



Notably, Aimco is revamping its portfolio through lowest-rated portfolio dispositions and reinvesting the proceeds in select apartment homes with higher rents, superior margins and greater-than-expected growth.



Through these measures, the company increased its conventional portfolio (market-rate apartment communities) percentage net operating income (NOI) in target markets to 91% in second-quarter 2016 from 89% a year earlier. Moreover, revenue per apartment home improved 8% year over year to $1,900 from $1,759 a year ago.



Going forward, Aimcos solid portfolio, which is diversified both in terms of geography and price point, is expected to help it enjoy relatively stable revenues despite new supply in various markets. Further, portfolio revamping efforts are expected to help the company improve its overall asset quality and achieve a favorable mix. Yet, even if the divestitures pay off in the long run, its near-term adverse effects on earnings cannot be ignored while stiff competition poses challenge.



Aimco currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the residential REIT industry may consider stocks like Select Income REIT SIR, Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp. SBY and Sun Communities Inc. SUI. Each of these stocks holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Story continues

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From Country Living

Airbnb has stepped in to help its community in the wake of Louisiana's severe flooding, which has damaged at least 40,000 homes. More than 180 hosts from the areas surrounding the most devastated flood zones have set their listings at zero dollars per night, according to People.

"People are losing everything they have," Nick Shapiro, an Airbnb representative, told The Huffington Post. "We have an ability to help people, at least in the short term, to get a comfortable bed, a home-cooked mealwhich is a very different experience from what they'd get in a shelter."

The flooding has overwhelmed some areas with as much as 30 inches of rain, NBC reports. Eleven people have been killed and another another 30,000 people have been rescued. In one of the hardest-hit areas, Livingston Parish, an estimated 75 percent of homes were a "total loss."

Airbnb called upon its disaster response tool, which has previously been used around Superstorm Sandy, the Paris attacks in November, and wildfires in California. In the event of a natural disaster, the tool emails Airbnb hosts around the affected area to see if they can help. If so, fees for the bookings are waived and users still have access to the usual Airbnb customer support tools. For the Louisiana flooding, service changes and free hosting is allowed through September 4, The Huffington Post reports.

"We are trying to reach as many residents affected by the flooding as possible, as well as spread the word to Airbnb hosts in the area who are not impacted, so that they can list their home for free and assist in sheltering those in need," Shapiro told People.

President Obama released a major disaster declaration on August 14 to make federal funding available to areas affected by the flooding in Louisiana. The Red Cross sent 1,000 volunteers to the area, the beginning of a relief operation that will cost at least $30 million, NBC reports. On Tuesday night, Taylor Swift also donated $1 million to relief efforts.

If you need a place to stay in the affected area or can offer your space to those in need, please visit Airbnb for more information.

With reporting from The Associated Press.
Nothing can ruin a vacation or a business trip faster than getting caught up in airline delays or cancellations. More than 6,000 flights have been canceled today due to the intense late-winter storm, according to FlightAware, which tracks flight data. The storm, dubbed Stella by The Weather Channel, threatens to dump more than a foot of snow in parts of the Northeast.

Knowing your rights as an airline traveler can help ease the situation. In some cases, airline travelers may be due compensation from the airline. Airlines wont always alert you to whether you are owed compensation or services, so its best to come prepared with knowledge of the rules and stand up for yourself, says George Hobica, the founder of travel site Airfarewatchdog.com.

Airline travelers may be surprised to find out how few rights they actually have.

They arent guaranteed a seat, or a flight arrival time, Hobica says. If you buy nonstop, you arent entitled to a nonstop flight. They can change everything. The only thing you are entitled to is a refund.

The first step is to read an airlines contract of carriage, he recommends. Each airline has its own guarantees for what it will and wont provide to travelers in case of delays or cancellations.

For instance, in case of a cancellation, Delta says it will route airline travelers on the next available flight or, at the airlines discretion, rebook on another carrier. Delta will also provide a refund, if the passenger requests it. Southwest will also provide a refund or place a passenger on the next available flight, but its contract doesnt include the option to rebook on another carrier.

Rights also vary by country. Airline travelers whose flights originate in the European Union are entitled to compensation if their flights are delayed for several hours or canceled. Payments can range from about $283 to $680 per person. Unfortunately, that isnt a right for air travelers whose flights originate in the U.S.

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Know Your Rights

So where do you have some recourse?

If your flight is delayed or canceled. The federal government has no requirements about how airlines handle delays or cancellations, and each airline handles the process according to their contract of carriage. The Department of Transportation advises travelers to use defensive planning because of the likelihood of delays and cancellations.

Generally, airlines will rebook travelers on one of their own flights. Not all of them will try to rebook customers on other airlines, however. Passengers can also ask for a refund, and then rebook themselves on another flight or make alternate plans.

Delays or cancellations can easily ruin expensive vacation plans. Travelers should consider booking their flights with credit cards that offer good insurance for air travel snafus, Hobica says. Chase Sapphire Preferred, for instance, offers trip coverage up to $10,000 for canceled trips and $500 for delays.

Travelers do have rights when it comes to getting stuck on the tarmac, however. The Department of Transportation prohibits airlines from keeping planes waiting on the tarmac for more than three hours.

Airlines might try to do more for customers who paid a higher fare or who are in their higher-level membership groups, Hobica adds. If you arent satisfied with the outcome, reach out to the airlines customer service department and politely ask for compensation.

If youre bumped off your flight. While overbooking isnt illegal, travelers who are bumped involuntarily have rights guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. If the airline rebooks you to reach your destination within an hour of your original arrival time, the carrier doesnt owe you anything.

But if the new arrival would make you between 1 to 2 hours late on a domestic flight (and one to four hours late on international flights), the airline must pay double your one-way airfare, up to $675. If the delay is more than two hours on a domestic flight and four hours on an international one, or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements, you are due four times your airfare, up to $1,350.

Some airlines will try to give you a voucher rather than provide the cash, but Hobica advises against accepting the voucher, which may come with restrictions and be worth less than the compensation. You are entitled to a cash payment, he says.



If you still want to consider a voucher offer, ask about the catches, such as whether it has blackout days, when it expires, and if its good for international travel.





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Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright  2006-2017 Consumers Union of U.S.
LONDON (Reuters) - Online retailer Amazon said it would create 1,500 new jobs in 2017 when it opens a new distribution centre in Tilbury, south east England, maintaining its surge of investment in Britain.

News of the investment follows Friday's announcement that it will create 500 jobs when it opens a fulfilment centre in Doncaster, northern England, next year.

The new jobs in Doncaster and Tilbury are in addition to the 3,500 Amazon has announced it expects to create in Britain in 2016, spanning head office, research and development centres, customer service centres, a fashion photography studio, Amazon Web Services and distribution centres.

Those jobs will take Amazon's total full-time permanent employees to over 15,500 by the end of 2016.

Amazon said it needs more distribution centres to meet increasing demand, to expand its product selection of more than 150 million items and support a growing number of independent small businesses who sell on Amazon Marketplace and use Amazon's warehousing and delivery services.

The Tilbury warehouse will be the firm's 13th in Britain.

Amazon's new UK manager Doug Gurr said in July Britain's decision to leave the European Union had not affected its investment plans for the country.

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Kate Holton)
LONDON (Reuters) - Online retailer Amazon said it would create 1,500 new jobs in 2017 when it opens a new distribution center in Tilbury, south east England, maintaining its surge of investment in Britain.

News of the investment follows Friday's announcement that it will create 500 jobs when it opens a fulfilment center in Doncaster, northern England, next year.

The new jobs in Doncaster and Tilbury are in addition to the 3,500 Amazon has announced it expects to create in Britain in 2016, spanning head office, research and development centres, customer service centres, a fashion photography studio, Amazon Web Services and distribution centres.

Those jobs will take Amazon's total full-time permanent employees to over 15,500 by the end of 2016.

Amazon said it needs more distribution centres to meet increasing demand, to expand its product selection of more than 150 million items and support a growing number of independent small businesses who sell on Amazon Marketplace and use Amazon's warehousing and delivery services.

The Tilbury warehouse will be the firm's 13th in Britain.

Amazon's new UK manager Doug Gurr said in July Britain's decision to leave the European Union had not affected its investment plans for the country.

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Kate Holton)
By India Today Web Desk: Deepika Padukone is currently on a success-induced high. But does that mean the actor has got no regrets as far as her career in Bollywood is concerned? Hardly.

In a recent interview with Filmfare, Deepika shared her unfulfilled wish and biggest regret - not being able to work with ace filmmaker Yash Chopra. "I wish I could have worked with Yashji (Yash Chopra). He was very fond of me and so was I of him," said Padukone.

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ALSO READ: Lovers Deepika and Ranveer have been together for 4 years. That's all you need to know

ALSO READ: Shah Rukh, not Ranveer, to star with Deepika in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati?

ALSO READ: Deepika Padukone says the world is finally waking up to new talent

Yash Chopra, who redefined the concept of love for Indians with his timeless love stories like Silsila and Veer-Zaara, breathed his last in 2012. Chopra was working on Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Jab Tak Hai Jaan when he contracted dengue and passed away suddenly, leaving the film industry shocked to the core. Jab Tak Hai Jaan ended up being called Chopra's swan song.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan, which starred Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, were the last ladies to have received the honour of being called a 'Yash Chopra heroine'. An honour that many of Katrina and Anushka's contemporaries, including Deepika, have regretted not being able to receive.

Deepika Padukone is busy with the pre-release work on her maiden Hollywood project these days. The Bajirao Mastani star will be seen alongside Vin Diesel in xXx Return of Xander Cage, which is slated for a 2017 release.

In addition to the goings-on overseas, Deepika is prepping for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati too. The leggy lass is collaborating with Bhansali for the third time, after 2012's Ram-Leela and last year's Bajirao Mastani.

--- ENDS ---
Amber Heards entire $7 million divorce settlement to Johnny Depp is going to charity, Heard said in a statement on Thursday.

Heard said shes donating half of the settlement to American Civil Liberties Union, with a particular focus to stop violence against women, and to the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, where she has worked as a volunteer for the past ten years.

As described in the restraining order and divorce settlement, money played no role for me personally and never has, except to the extent that I could donate it to charity and, in doing so, hopefully help those less able to defend themselves, she said in the statement.

As reported in the media, the amount received in the divorce was $7 million and $7 million is being donated, she went on. This is over and above any funds that I have given away in the past and will continue to give away in the future.

Both the ACLU and Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles responded to the donations in statements. We are incredibly grateful that Ms. Heard has so very generously shown her support for the important and necessary advocacy for victims of domestic violence, said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. For years, we have worked through the courts and legislatures around the country to make sure that domestic violence victims are fully protected by the law and receive the government assistance they deserve. We could not be more thankful for Ms. Heards support- she can be confident that this gift will help other women live safely and freely.

On behalf of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles leadership, staff and the thousands of brave patients and their families who will benefit from this donation, I would like to thank Amber Heard for this tremendous gift, said Paul S. Viviano, president and chief executive officer, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Her generosity will support the lifesaving treatments and cures that Childrens Hospital Los Angeles provides for critically ill children each year.

Story continues

Heard and Depp settled their divorce case on Tuesday. Heard had previously accused Depp of physically assaulting her on several occasions. She withdrew allegations and retracted her request for a restraining order as well, which she filed on April 27.

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Amber Heard said on Thursday she is donating her $7 million divorce settlement from actor Johnny Depp to charity. Heard, 30, said in a statement that she is dividing the full settlement equally between the American Civil Liberties Union, specifically to prevent violence against women, and the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. "As described in the restraining order and divorce settlement, money played no role for me personally and never has, except to the extent that I could donate it to charity and, in doing so, hopefully help those less able to defend themselves," the actress said. Depp's representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Heard and Depp, 53, privately settled their acrimonious divorce case on Tuesday, a day ahead of a court hearing on the status of a restraining order the actress had obtained against her estranged husband. The couple released a joint statement calling their relationship "intensely passionate and at times volatile but always bound by love," adding that "there was never any intent of physical or emotional harm." The settlement ended the couple's 15-month marriage after weeks of highly publicized claims of domestic violence by Heard and counterclaims of financial blackmailing by Depp. Depp, one of Hollywood's top actors and box-office draws with franchises such as "Pirates of the Caribbean," married Heard, known for "Friday Night Lights," in February 2015 after meeting on the set of the 2011 film "The Rum Diary." Heard will be starring in Warner Bros' upcoming "Justice League" superhero film, while Depp will reprise his lead role in the next "Pirates of the Caribbean" film. (Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by David Gregorio)
Outside of Simone Biles, no one made themselves a bigger star with their performance at the Rio Olympics than Katie Ledecky. The 19-year-old swimmer just wrecked people in the pool, winning four gold medals and a silver during her stint in Brazil. She won most of those medals by beating her opponents so thoroughly that it made it look like Ledecky was swimming against children.

On Wednesday, Ledecky returned to the United States. Because she is suddenly a star, she was greeted by a mob of friends, media people, and dudes who look like they are going to try and get her autograph so they can throw them onto eBay in the hopes of making a profit.

Katie Ledecky is home pic.twitter.com/fMAcI376FZ  Kelyn Soong (@KelynSoong) August 17, 2016

Notice how when Ledecky walked through the doors, she was wearing all of her medals. This, of course, is the single most baller thing you can do after you win any number of Olympic medals.

Additionally, Ledecky took some time to briefly talk to the press. She basically said that her next move is to prepare to move into college  Ledeckys going to Stanford, where she will swim and beat the bejesus out of every other collegiate swimmer for the next four years  and she shouted out her support system. Oh, and she said that shes going to compete in the Tokyo Games in 2020, which shouldnt come as a surprise to anyone, but for swimmers around the world, that gives them something to not look forward to if they compete in Japan.

(via SB Nation)
On Aug 17, 2016, we issued an updated research report on American States Water Company AWR. The company is benefiting from its organic initiatives and its strength lies in an expanding customer base, extensive water rights and strong credit ratings. On the flip side, dependence on a single state, California, for the majority of its earnings, highly regulated operations, and ongoing drought conditions in the state could adversely impact results.



Recently, the company reported second-quarter 2016 pro forma earnings of 45 cents per share, on par with the Zacks Consensus Estimate but 9.8% higher than year-ago earnings. The year-over-year increase was due to higher contribution from its Water and Contracted Services segments.



A major portion of American States Water Companys total revenue comes from its Water segment and water rights are essential for a water service provider. Notably, American States Water has extensive rights to provide fresh water services in its service area.



Moreover, the companys subsidiary, American States Utility Services, has 50-year contracts with 10 military bases. These long-term defense contracts provide stability to earnings and offer substantial visibility into the financial performance of utilities.

AMER STATES WTR Price

AMER STATES WTR Price | AMER STATES WTR Quote

American States Water has some of the highest credit ratings in the water utility space. In Apr 2016, Standard & Poors Ratings Services (S&P) affirmed its A+ credit rating on the company. Another water utility, Connecticut Water Service Inc. CTWS also has an A credit rating from the same agency.



On the flip side, American States Water only offers services to a single state, California, precisely southern California. So, the financial performance of the company is largely dependent on the political, water supply, labor, utility cost and regulatory risks, economic conditions, natural disasters and other risks affecting the state.



At present, nearly 60% of California is affected by severe drought. Since the company derives the majority of its revenues from this state, continuation of such weather extremities could hurt its prospects significantly.



Also, American States Water operates in a highly regulated environment and any changes in the existing laws and conditions could have an adverse impact on the business of the company.



Zacks Rank & Key Picks



American States Water currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked stocks in the water utility space include Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo SBS and Veolia Environnement S.A. VEOEY. Both the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).



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Beirut (AFP) - Syrian authorities are committing torture on a "massive scale" in government prisons including beatings, electric shocks, rape and psychological abuse that amount to crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said Thursday.

More than 17,700 people are estimated to have died in custody in Syria since the country's conflict began in March 2011, an average of more than 300 each month, the watchdog said in a report.

Anyone seen as an opponent of the government is at risk of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and death in custody, according to Amnesty.

It said the report was based on interviews with 65 torture survivors, mostly civilians, who described "appalling abuse and inhuman conditions" in intelligence agency detention centres and the Saydnaya Military Prison near Damascus.

Most described witnessing at least one, if not several, deaths in custody, Amnesty said.

Detainees are frequently subjected to a beating, known as a "welcome party", after their arrival at a prison by guards using tools such as silicone bars or hoses.

"They had to break us; they treated us like animals. They wanted people to be as inhuman as possible," according to a former detainee identified as Samer, who Amnesty said was arrested while transporting humanitarian supplies.

"I didn't see anyone die but I saw the blood, it was like a river," he said.

- 'Getting rid of the weak' -

Omar S, who was a 17-year-old high-school student at the time of his arrest in 2012 after taking part in demonstrations, said the detainees were asked upon their arrival if they were ill.

"It felt like the purpose was death, some form of natural selection -- to get rid of the weak as soon as they arrive," he said.

"They first asked my friend and he said, 'Yes, I have breathing problems -- I have asthma.' They started beating him until he died, right there in front of me."

Story continues

The rights group said it had documented cases of rape and sexual violence against both men and women.

They include Said, a pro-democracy activist, who said that he was suspended by one hand while blindfolded.

"While I was hanging ... they used an electroshock baton to hit my penis. Then they took the electroshock device and inserted it into my anus and switched it on. This was my first experience of rape. Then one of the guards asked for my face to be uncovered and I saw my father there. He had witnessed all of it."

Access to food, water and sanitation facilities is often severely restricted in regime prisons and infestations of scabies and lice thrive along with diseases, according to the report.

Amnesty urged world powers, in particular Russia and the United States, to pressure the Syrian authorities and armed groups to end the use of torture and other ill-treatment.

"For decades, Syrian government forces have used torture as a means to crush their opponents," said Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director Philip Luther.

"Today, it is being carried out as part of a systematic and widespread attack directed against anyone suspected of opposing the government in the civilian population and amounts to crimes against humanity. Those responsible for these heinous crimes must be brought to justice."
I have the ability to kill you here, and no one will ask questions. That was what Abu Anass interrogator at a Syrian Air Force Intelligence branch in Aleppo told him before demanding Anas pay for his release with a $100,000 bribe. To show he was serious, the interrogator shot another prisoner in the head as Anas watched. Bashar is God, the interrogator told him the next day. He can give life, and he can take life.

Anas, an Aleppo businessman who was arrested at a protest in 2011, was, in a grim sense, lucky  he was able to bribe his way out of prison. He was a tragic exception: An Amnesty International report released late Wednesday found that almost 18,000 people died in Syrian state custody between 2011 and 2015.

Those who survived described hellish conditions that included overcrowded cells, long periods of solitary confinement, humiliation and sexual harassment by guards, as well as lack of food, water, sanitation, and medical care.

Prisoners were sometimes held in cells with dead bodies for hours or days. Others were subjected to mock executions, threats against family members, and physical and psychological torture. Some were forced to watch as guards beat other detainees with objects like hoses and maces.

One prisoner, Muhannad, told investigators from the advocacy group that he tried to kill himself by grabbing a live electrical wire when, after days of torture, the guards convinced him that they were also beating his mother.

The report found that anyone who the government saw as a threat  including human rights activists, journalists, and people who provide aid to civilians  was at risk of being arbitrarily snatched, tortured, and detained in prisons where they might die in custody due to abuse and bad conditions.

Torture and harsh treatment are nothing new for Syrias prisons  the regimes of both President Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, have used them as tools of intimidation for decades  but theyve gotten worse since the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011. While the regime continues to deny that human rights violations are taking place  while also keeping human rights investigators out of their prisons  groups like Amnesty have been able to gather information by interviewing former captives. Read the full report here.

Photo credit: ZEIN AL-RIFAI/AFP/Getty Images
From Esquire

If you want to get Amy Schumer to notice you, try tweeting at her about Inside Amy Schumer writer Kurt Metzger-she'll immediately block you.

Schumer criticized Metzger on Twitter after he publicly defended a comedian recently accused of raping multiple women in New York City. Schumer has received considerable backlash for continuing to employ Metzger; she responded Wednesday afternoon saying that he is no longer a writer on her show:

I am so saddened and disappointed in Kurt Metzger. He is my friend and a great writer and I couldn't be more against his recent actions. - Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) August 17, 2016

Kurt does not work for me. He is not a writer on my show. Please stop asking me about it. His words are not mine. - Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) August 17, 2016

And she seemed to be quite serious about the whole "stop asking" thing, because she spent all of yesterday and today blocking anyone who tweeted pretty much anything about it. Seems like a pretty bizarre way to respond: publicly speak out against Metzger, yet block anyone who brings up the issue.

Update: Amy Schumer blocked me on Twitter for bringing up the fact that Amy Schumer blocks people on Twitter - Alison Herman (@aherman2006) August 17, 2016

Hey gang. Amy Schumer blocked me on Twitter for this tweet. I was such an enormous, obsessed fan. This is devastating. She has failed women. - Liz Arcury (@LizArcury) August 16, 2016

Real life: @amyschumer blocked me after I retweeted the rape comments by Kurt Metzger to @ComedyCentral pic.twitter.com/vuMfAElXvq - Nancy Upton Amely (@nancyupton) August 16, 2016

I guess I am in good company being blocked by Amy Schumer who I... don't even follow. Okay, girl. - roxane gay (@rgay) August 17, 2016

Soon, we'll be adding "blocked by Amy Schumer" to our resumes, right below "added to the fake Martin Shkreli email."

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Amy Schumer is actively distancing herself from a controversy involving one of her writers. (Photo: Getty)

Amy Schumer was pulled into a hailstorm of controversy on Twitter (where else) last night, and in the process she revealed her show Inside Amy Schumer is, in her words, done. The flak all has to do with one of her Inside Amy Schumer writers, comedian Kurt Metzger, who has been vocal about a sexual assault scandal thats rocking the comedy world.

Updated 11:30am: Inside Amy Schumer has not been cancelled. Schumer tweeted  # InsideAmySchumer is not cancelled. @ ComedyCentral has provided us with a wonderful home and we couldnt be happier there. I am just touringDoing Standup and focusing on writing more for the next year at least. We are slated for a season 5 but not in the foreseeable future.

Upright Citizens Brigade comedian Aaron Glaser was banned from the popular New York City improv venue this week after two women accused him of rape, and Metzger, who has written for Schumers Comedy Central show since 2013, has been posting long, vehement rants on his Facebook and Twitter accounts blasting the very notion of rape culture and the idea that a womans rape allegations alone should not condemn a person before a proper investigation is conducted by police and guilt is established. Far from measured, his offensive posts have many suggesting hes a rape-apologist and victim-blamer.

One particularly abrasive rant came on Monday, when Metzger criticized women who dont take their rape accusations to the police, essentially calling women an unthinking herd of mewling progressive cattle. The Facebook post included such highly insensitive lines as, If we ask them [women alleging rape] to even merely also post a vague account of what happened before asking us to believe that would like re-raping their rape! These women are as BRAVE as they are sore!

And, while comparing the legitimacy of a womans word to the Bible (also bunk, in his opinion), You think I would dare ask my God, Lord Jesus Christ the Nazarene to provide any details or evidence of any kind before I believe in him? Or a woman? No, because that be that would be like hammering the nails into Jesus My Lords feet! Or re-raping the victims good hole!!!

Story continues

#throwback to last night #lateshow when #kurtmetzger was on stage! Catch him on #racewars this week! A photo posted by Stand Up NY (@standupny) on Mar 20, 2016 at 3:02pm PDT

According to research from the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), 97 out of 100 rapists receive no punishment, and only 6% of rapists ultimately go to prison. Out of every 46 rapes that get reported to police, only 12 lead to an arrest, 5 lead to a conviction, and 3 lead to jail time. Despite these facts  and the obvious humiliation many rape victims face when they have to come forward with their story  Metzger continued to point the finger at victims, insisting that they must go to the police and suggesting that their argument is invalid, and theyre doing a disservice to other victims, otherwise.

I did not yell at victims to go to police; They are VICTIMS. I am yelling at the people who said, Women CANT go to the police! They have to work outside the system! Metzger wrote. I think thats utter bull**** and leads to rapists walking free. It hurts the victims of sexual assault.

Incensed by Metzgers belligerence, social media users began calling for Metzgers firing from Inside Amy Schumer by tweeting at Schumer, considered by many to be a modern feminist icon, en masse. The comedian finally responded yesterday in three tweets posted to her account, expressing her disappointment in her friend Metzger, decrying his missives (his words are not mine), then clarifying that she had not fired him, but rather that he doesnt work for her anymore because we arent making the show anymore. (Metzger took credit for Schumers condemning tweets, writing on Facebook, I specifically told her [Schumer] to do exactly what she did.)

I am so saddened and disappointed in Kurt Metzger. He is my friend and a great writer and I couldnt be more against his recent actions.  Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) August 17, 2016

Kurt does not work for me. He is not a writer on my show. Please stop asking me about it. His words are not mine.  Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) August 17, 2016

I didnt fire Kurt. He isnt a writer for my show because we arent making the show anymore. There are no writers for it.  Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) August 18, 2016

Many fans were shocked not just to learn that Inside Amy Schumer is no longer in production (no announcement had been made), but also to find they had been blocked by the comedian on Twitter for asking about the Metzger situation, or for simply mentioning his name.

.@amyschumer blocked me for asking her about her writing who supports and seems to encourage rape culture. #byekurt pic.twitter.com/zoSXr7IVlF  Jamie (@JamieDresher) August 16, 2016

Hey gang. Amy Schumer blocked me on Twitter for this tweet. I was such an enormous, obsessed fan. This is devastating. She has failed women.  Liz Arcury (@LizArcury) August 16, 2016

Metzger has since apologized for his inflammatory language, saying on Facebook, If my disjointed swatting at biplanes like King Kong confused and hurt reasonable people who agree with me, I apologize. It was never my intent to antagonize victims or their supporters. My defensiveness came from feeling deliberately misunderstood.  I stand by the points I made, but I sincerely apologize for using inflammatory language to make them. His stance on the issue, however, remains the same.

Yesterday, the controversy was discussed at length on the podcast Race Wars, which Metzger co-hosts with comedian Sherrod Small. In the episode, which also featured Vocativ deputy editor Erin Gloria Ryan, Metzger continues to further an agenda that comes across as aggressively misogynistic, saying, I kept getting my point just turned into  a lie. His dismissed and justified his harsh words, too. I thought it was such a clever, funny way to say it in my head because Im right, he said. So I have to apologize for that part of it [the inflammatory language] because then people cant stick up for me, when Im right!

Schumer has moved on from the controversy, which she seems eager to distance herself from, and is busy promoting her new non-memoir, The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo. Metzger continues to address the issue on Facebook, Twitter, his podcast, and any other platform that gives him an audience.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
Iranian food is NOT like Turkish, Lebanese or even Moroccan food. Indulge in unique Iranian flavours at this little restaurant called Nooshe Joon at Nehru Place.

By Ursila Ali: If you have been a regular at the Palate Fest or other food festivals in Delhi, chances are, you've already stumbled upon the delicious Iranian fare that Nooshe Joon has to offer.

Iranian food, often confused with other Middle-Eastern cuisines like Turkish, Lebanese and sometimes even Moroccan, has little in common with these when it comes to flavours. Tangy and sweet, the cuisine--much like its Parsi cousin--is a vibrant mix of colours, strong fragrances and minced meats.

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'Nooshe Joon' is a phrase every Iranian says before any meal, and it quite literally translates to bon apptit, or 'eat it to your health'. That is exactly the experience this tiny little food outlet in Nehru Place's Epicuria Food Mall wants you to have. Its only drawback is its lack of seating. The space limits the amount of people that can be accommodated at any given time.

However, the interiors, a small glimpse into the culturally vivacious nation of Iran, make up for the drawback. If the heavenly aromas don't draw you to the eatery, the interiors of Nooshe Joon definitely will. Persian carpets on the roof, bright tinted glasswork, Moroccan lamps and peppy Persian music all complement the delectable meal wonderfully.

Start your meal with the drinks. Go for a simple buttermilk (Doogh Joon), but if you want the complete Iranian experience, we suggest the Evil Eyes Drown, which is nothing diabolical (as the name suggests) but a sherbet of poppy seeds, rose-flavoured water and basil seeds that many will find quite similar to the consistency of bubble tea.

At Nooshe Joon, chicken and lamb dominate a menu that has been kept simple, understanding the customer's lack of familiarity with the cuisine. Go for the Kebabs Mezze Platter, a combination of both chicken and lamb skewers served with taziki, hummus and baba ganoush. The platter is a meal in itself and includes most of what the menu offers on one plate. But considering you don't want to stop just there, try the gravy items, especially the Zereshk Polo Ba Murgh, tangy chicken gravy served with berry rice (quite close to the berry pulao you might have tried at Parsi restaurants). Though you won't find any desserts here, a Nutella Brownie Milkshake is the next-best and hearty alternative.

Where: Epicuria Food Mall, Nehru Place, Delhi

Meal for two: Rs 800 (approx)

--- ENDS ---
Is Amy Schumers Comedy Central show over?

The Trainwreck star posted a cryptic tweet Wednesday night suggesting that Inside Amy Schumer is done after four seasons.

I didnt fire Kurt. He isnt a writer for my show because we arent making the show anymore. There are no writers for it, she wrote.

The demise of Inside Amy Schumer would be very unexpected, as it was given a fifth season renewal by Comedy Central in June. Reps for Schumer and Comedy Central have not yet responded to TheWraps request for comment.

Also Read: Amy Schumer 'Disappointed' One of Her Writers Mocked Rape Accusers

The message came after she tweeted about Kurt Metzger, a writer and performer on Inside Amy Schumer who has been writing lengthy online posts about another comedian accused of rape.

I am so saddened and disappointed in Kurt Metzger, Schumer tweeted on Wednesday morning. He is my friend and a great writer and I couldnt be more against his recent actions.

Metzger caught criticism online after he began writing about Aaron Glaser, a comedian associated with the improv-comedy mainstay Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) in New York City. Multiple women accused him of sexual assault, and he was banned from performing at UCB after an internal investigation. Glaser has not been charged and has denied the allegations.

Also Read: 5 Amy Schumer Revelations From Comedian's New Memoir, 'The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo'

Story continues

Metzger seemed to defend Glaser in days of posting, such as in criticizing the fact that none of Glasers accusers went to the police. He used the apparently made-up name Jiff Dilfyberg as a substitute for Glasers name:

Guys I have just heard some disturbing news, this guy Jiff Dilfyberg is a rapist! I know because women said it and thats all I need! Never you mind who they are. They are women! ALL women are as reliable as my bible! A book that, much like a women, is incapable of lying!

Schumer was bombarded with questions from angry commentators asking why she had hired Metzger, which she responded to in a string of diplomatic tweets before dropping the bombshell above.

See her previous tweets below.

I am so saddened and disappointed in Kurt Metzger. He is my friend and a great writer and I couldn't be more against his recent actions.  Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) August 17, 2016

Kurt does not work for me. He is not a writer on my show. Please stop asking me about it. His words are not mine.  Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) August 17, 2016

But at least she ended the day peacefully 

7 Other Comics Accused of Joke Theft Before Amy Schumer (Photos)



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Trainwreck star is the latest in a long line of alleged punchline-pilferers, from Milton Berle to Bill Cosby

Amy Schumer was recently accused of stealing other people's jokes by stand-up comics Wendy Liebman, Kathleen Madigan and Tammy Pescatelli. Schumer has denied the accusations, but she's far from the first comedian to face such claims.

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Watching Inside Amy Schumer has often elicited a storm of different reactions: laughter, recognition, shock, occasionally frustration.

So its not surprising that this week has been a rollercoaster for those whove followed Schumers meteoric rise.

Shock, horror and sadness are only a few of the emotions that swirled online as Kurt Metzger, a longtime writer for the Comedy Central show that launched Schumer to prominence, spent days making offensive and incendiary comments about a situation involving allegations of rape within the comedy community.

Via Twitter and Facebook, Metzger mansplained how women should process and report their assaults. His behavior was a textbook demonstration of male privilege and a series of examples of clueless and cruel victim-blaming. And yet as much of this occurred, Schumer remained silent.

When she finally commented on Wednesday, via Twitter, she conveyed disappointment about Metzgers actions, but she didnt use the kind of bold, cut-through-the-b.s. language that is familiar from her stand-up material and her show. She distanced herself from Metzger, but in ways that felt equivocal and halting.

There was some doubt about where things stood late Wednesday night: Was Metzger fired or not? Was the show canceled or not? She finally cleared things up Thursday morning: The show is not canceled, but its taking a long break, and Metzger no longer works for Inside Amy Schumer, but then again, nobody does, because its not gearing up until next year, after her tour.

As the situation played out, observers  many of them, like Schumer, self-declared feminists  tried to understand how she could have employed a man with such toxic tendencies for so long. Because this isnt the first time Metzger made a series of poor decisions; back in 2013, a similar controversy swirled when feminist writers Lindy West and Sady Doyle accused him of harassing them online. There are few things more tiresome than a comedy bro being offensive to women in the name of speaking uncomfortable truths or whatever his excuse is, but that seems to be Metzgers thing. Sigh.

Story continues

Perhaps the lowest point of the more recent Metzger affair was when women who asked Schumer to speak up found theyd been blocked by her on Twitter. Its hard to describe the letdown of seeing someone whos positioned herself as a champion of women literally wall off the words of those airing their concerns in a civil fashion.

Maybe we should have seen all this coming. After all, Schumer has said things before that crossed lines, only to retreat into the usual excuses about how she didnt mean to offend anyone. Last year, she faced criticism over what one writer called her blind spot about race, and while she apologized for an offensive joke about Mexican men, she also said that those who called her humor lazy are wrong.

This is a pretty familiar pattern: The more famous a comedian gets, the more scrutiny he or she is subjected to, and while everyone understand that writers and artists must grow and evolve  and possibly make mistakes along the way  defensiveness and self-righteousness seem to be the instinctive responses of many in the comedy world when challenged in reasonable ways.

But this time felt different. The Schumer-Metzger mess is a huge, exhausting reminder that even when a woman is the boss, she can make other women feel like she doesnt have their backs.

If youre a woman over the age of 14 or so, the depressing deflation of being let down by a woman you had admired isnt a new feeling. But to be so disappointed by someone whose whole public persona is based on bold talk, refreshing honesty and confrontations with sexism in all its slippery forms is a huge bummer.

As the controversy gained steam, I kept thinking of a sketch that aired in the second-season premiere of Inside Amy Schumer.

A focus group made up of men talked in graphic and insulting terms about whether they would sleep with Schumer, who stood behind a one-way mirror, listening to them list her faults. Like a number of her sketches throughout the years (particularly the lauded 12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer), it brilliantly captured the ways in which women cant avoid being subjected to unfair and crass judgments. It was yet another comedic distillation of the idea that double standards and unfair limitations too often determine the shape and scope of our lives.

At the end of the sketch, Amy asks the focus-group leader a question: A couple of them said they would bang me? He nods, and she turns to the camera and smiles. The joke is that, even though the men shredded her, some part of her wanted their approval. Its funny because its true; Ive been there. A lot of us have been there. So much of Schumers work is based on the idea that, even as women reject the punishments and judgments they know are unfair, they still have to operate inside biased systems, and they can still find themselves responding to the alleged rewards offered to women who conform.

A Chick Who Can Hang is another skit that explored how women have to conduct themselves in order to be accepted by men, and how tiring that can be. Because she depicted that kind of everyday sexism and those kinds of brain-melting compromises with such subversive glee and amusing focus, I let the lesser sketches go. I didnt write about being troubled by some of the gender and race content of some of her jokes (and thats my bad). I made allowances, because Amy Schumer, the woman who aired effective comedy sketches eviscerating rape culture, got it, right? Especially as a woman who revealed in her new book that she was sexually assaulted, she got it. Didnt she?

Its a confusing situation that partly reflects the binds that so many women are put in on a daily basis. But that explanation is not a justification, and I am clear about one thing: Schumer did not come up with a statement that made it clear that she picks women over Metzger. She tried not to make a choice, but evasion can speak volumes.

The banning of Aaron Glaser from UCB for alleged rape is just one of many rape, harassment and assault controversies that have roiled various comedy communities in the last year or two. Those painful confrontations with the toxic elements of comedy culture have, for the most part, happened after the 2013 debut of Schumers show  after she came up through that world. Maybe her embrace of feminist concepts in her work helped change the culture she sprang from, and much of her work clearly reflected personal experiences. But maybe her success has made her more prone to compromise, not less. Without her offering a more complete explanation of these events, its difficult to say (and her recent interview with Charlie Rose on this topic didnt help).

Speaking of her memoir, it was hard not to feel a few shreds of sympathy for Schumer in the last few days. This week marked the arrival of her book, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, but a thoughtless and selfish man made everything about him and pulled the focus away from her moment. What woman hasnt been there  having to deal with a male colleague whose poorly timed and immature hissy fit threatened to undo her hard work? Could he have picked a worse week to have his manbaby meltdown?

But this isnt just about that, and attempts to turn the conversation into a discussion of what Schumer has suffered arent working, not for me anyway. As writer and comedian Nikki Black wrote in a compelling essay, the past few days have really been about how women in comedy dont deserve to be treated like our experiences are unreliable.

Metzgers actions are typical of the kind of gatekeeper behavior women face, especially as they ascend the ladder. Sometimes when gatekeepers get testy and possessive, you just have to break the gate, and Schumer had that power. But this week has laid bare the kinds of disappointing compromises even powerful women sometimes make in order to succeed in male-dominated professions. When she needed to make it clear to her fans that she valued her feminist beliefs over the actions of a rogue employee, Schumer didnt step up to the plate.

Maybe she will in season five of Inside Amy Schumer. If it ever comes to pass.

Related stories

Amy Schumer on Kurt Metzger: 'He Baits People. He's the Problem, No Question'

Amy Schumer Says Her Show Isn't Cancelled After Hinting at Its End

Amy Schumer 'Disappointed' in Writer Kurt Metzger After He Comments on Sexual Assault Scandal
Andi Dorfman is beyond chill about Josh drama on Bachelor In Paradise

Andi Dorfman is beyond chill about Josh drama on Bachelor In Paradise

If, like us, youve been totally wrapped up in Bachelor In Paradise the last few weeks, then youve probably also been tracking the Amanda-Josh situation. But for those just catching up, heres a brief recap (spoilers ahead!): Amanda Stanton fell HARD for Josh Murray (who won The Bachelorette Season 10 and was previously engaged to bachelorette Andi Dorfman).

However, before Tuesday nights rose ceremony, both Nick Viall and Evan Bass took Amanda aside to warn her about abuse allegations directed at Josh in Dorfmans recent book, Its Not Okay, Turning Heartbreak Into Happily Ever After. Amanda still ended up giving her rose to Josh, but it was clear her certainty about their dynamic had been shaken.

And what was Andi Dorfmans response to all this DRAMA, you ask? While she hasnt addressed any of it directly, a sly Instagram post all the way from a vacation in Greece seems to imply shes WAY beyond all this.

Here's to Ancient History #blessed #opa #Parthenon A photo posted by Andi Dorfman (@andi_dorfman) on Aug 15, 2016 at 5:27pm PDT

Thats right. A literal picture of the Parthenon with the comment, Heres to ancient history.

Weekend Update

OH SNAP! No matter what this cryptic message may truly mean, its looking like Dorfman isnt all too worried about the situation back in paradise and is moving on with her life in a big way. And to this we can only say, YEAH GIRL!

The post Andi Dorfman is beyond chill about Josh drama on Bachelor In Paradise appeared first on HelloGiggles.
By Umberto Bacchi

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - More than 100,000 meals in Europe have been saved from the rubbish bin over the past 10 months thanks to an app that allows hungry diners to buy leftover food from restaurants at a fraction of the price, its founders said on Wednesday.

The app, Too Good To Go, was launched in Denmark in October last year and has since expanded to Germany, Switzerland, France, Norway and Britain on the back of a growing global effort to cut food waste.

Between 30 percent and 40 percent of food produced around the world is never eaten because it is spoiled after harvest and during transportation, or thrown away by shops and consumers.

Yet almost 800 million people worldwide go to bed hungry every night, according to U.N. figures.

The problem has become so serious that halving world food waste by 2030 was included as a target in global development goals adopted by world leaders in 2015.

Chris Wilson, co-founder of Too Good To Go UK, said his team hoped to play its part in ending food waste by "putting food into bellies instead of bins", while raising awareness over the issue.

App users can search for meals that restaurants would otherwise throw out and put in an order to collect before closing time.

"It's a win-win concept," Wilson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"From a user prospective it is extremely affordable. From a restaurant point of view ... they are attracting a new market."

In Britain, where the app features a variety of eateries ranging from bakeries to high end Japanese restaurants, prices vary from 2 pounds to 3.80 pounds ($4.95).

Wilson said since its launch, Too Good To Go, a social enterprise, has amassed more than 350,000 users across Europe and is planning to launch in the United States before the end of the year.

($1 = 0.7683 pounds)

(Reporting by Umberto Bacchi @UmbertoBacchi, Editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
By Subrat Patnaik

(Reuters) - Gap Inc <GPS.N> forecast a full-year profit below analysts' estimates as the apparel retailer struggles to attract shoppers to its Banana Republic stores.

The company has been working on refreshing its Banana Republic line of clothing, but comparable sales at the company's third-biggest brand fell for the sixth straight quarter as its merchandise did not resonate with shoppers.

"The assortment is at the heart of Banana's issues and symbolizes a brand that has simply lost its way," Neil Saunders, chief executive of research firm Conlumino, said.

"Customers are confused and, of course, increasingly unwilling to pay the premium that Banana once commanded."

Gap forecast a full-year adjusted profit of $1.87-$1.92 per share. The company had earlier forecast a profit of about $1.92.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of $1.96, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

MERCHANDISE MARGINS INCREASE

Gap has also been trying to reduce promotions and sell more merchandise at full price. Chic and trendy clothes at lower prices from off-price, online and fast-fashion retailers such as H&M <HMb.ST>, Forever 21 and Inditex's <ITX.MC> Zara have lured away shoppers looking for deeper discounts.

The company's merchandise margins increased in the second quarter, Chief Financial Officer Sabrina Simmons said on a post-earnings conference call.

San Francisco-based Gap has also been controlling inventories and shortening production times as it attempts to replicate the success of its Old Navy brand at its Gap and Banana Republic chains.

"After a string of quarters with merchandise margins declines, Q2 represented a turning point, driven by healthy Old Navy selling," Nomura analyst Simeon Siegel said.

The company's net income fell to $125 million, or 31 cents per share, in the second quarter ended July 30, from $219 million, or 52 cents per share, a year earlier.

Story continues

Excluding items, the company earned 60 cents per share, beating the average analyst estimate of 59 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net sales were unchanged from the $3.85 billion the company provided on Aug. 8.

Shares of Gap, which also owns the Athleta and Intermix clothing brands, were down 0.82 percent in after-hours trading. Up to Thursday's close of $25.88, the stock had lost nearly a quarter of its value in the last 12 months.

(Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
Madrid (AFP) - An Argentine judge known for investigating crimes committed during Spain's civil war will probe the murder of poet Federico Garcia Lorca, a victims' association said Thursday.

The Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARMH), a group seeking justice for people tortured, killed and disappeared in the 1936-1939 war and the ensuing 36-year dictatorship, said it had made an official complaint to Maria Servini.

Servini "accepted the complaint and has started working on the issue," said Emilio Silva, head of the association.

Servini has previously probed Spain's dark and bloody recent past, having opened a lawsuit in 2010 to investigate rights violations during the war and dictatorship, invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction.

In 2014, she issued arrest and extradition warrants for around 20 former Spanish officials, including ex-ministers of dictator Francisco Franco, to face justice in Argentina for alleged crimes against humanity.

The extradition demand was rejected by Madrid but she will travel to Spain to question them.

After Franco's death in 1975, Spanish leaders signed an amnesty agreement seen as essential to preventing score-settling as they tried to unite the country and steer it toward democracy.

- 'Executed by firing squad' -

Spanish authorities point to the deal in refusing to investigate alleged atrocities during the Franco era.

Servini will ask "the Spanish government for any information related to the case that could exist in any archives," said Silva, adding that she may visit Spain in person as part of the case.

Garcia Lorca was 38 when he was killed by firing squad on August 19, 1936, a month after Franco's rebellion against a republican government sparked Spain's civil war.

The poet and playwright, whose works dealing with death, passion and injustice are widely studied at universities, is believed to have been buried in an unmarked grave near Granada in southern Spain.

Story continues

Several attempts to find his remains have failed, and archeologists will try again next month.

The ARMH filed its complaint on the basis of a 1965 document that for decades remained buried in the archives of the interior ministry, in which "for the first time the Franco state recognises Lorca's assassination," said Silva.

The text, a report written by police in Granada, says that the poet was "executed by firing squad" and buried not very deep in the ground.
Buenos Aires (AFP) - Argentina's Supreme Court on Thursday blocked President Mauricio Macri's move to slash natural gas subsidies, a much-hated policy that has sent customers' bills soaring.

The ruling is the hardest blow yet to the business-friendly president's move to eliminate electricity, gas and water subsidies which he says are bloating the deficit and sapping the struggling economy.

In a unanimous decision, the top court ruled the government must hold public hearings before implementing any rate increase for residential customers.

The ruling does not apply to gas prices for businesses.

Angry Argentines had filed a flurry of legal challenges to the rate hikes after their utility bills shot up an average of 700 percent.

A federal court blocked the electricity rate hike earlier this month.

Protests had already forced the government to cap the gas increases at 400 percent for homes and 500 percent for businesses.

But lower courts suspended the increases. The government appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, to no avail.

Macri's chief of staff, Marcos Pena, said the government would call public hearings "as soon as possible, which is in three weeks."

He said the ruling showed that Argentina needs to overhaul what he described as an "energy system in crisis."

Political analyst Daniel Kerner of consultancy Eurasia Group said the hearing process would likely result in more modest price increases.

"This decision will complicate the government's ability to meet its deficit targets and will create uncertainty regarding the government's ability to define energy prices in the future," he said in a note.

In the past 12 years, Argentina has spent $52 billion on gas subsidies and $24.4 billion on electricity subsidies, according to the government.

Macri, 57, took office in December vowing to kick-start economic growth with free-market reforms after 12 years of leftist rule.

Argentina's economy -- the third-largest in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico -- is facing a contraction of 1.5 percent this year, according to International Monetary Fund forecasts.

Macri, who has ended foreign exchange controls and triggered a currency devaluation, insists his reforms are necessary medicine to restore growth.
With the Santa Fe Indian Market to open this weekend, we take a look at how this season is honoring Native American Culture in a variety of creative genres, starting from the vibrant Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Native Art markets

Santa Fe Indian Market, August 20-21



The largest Native American art show in the US, the Santa Fe Indian Market celebrates its 95th birthday this year with a diverse collection of artwork for visitors to buy and browse: from jewelry and pottery to textiles, paintings and beadwork, as well as a "Diverse Arts" section. The market signals the culmination of Indian Market Week, a week-long festival in Santa Fe featuring Native film, literature, music, fashion and visual art displays.

Santa Fe Indigenous Fine Art Market (IFAM), August 18-20

The IFAM is a nonprofit organization that aims to promote Native culture by building and facilitating market places under the motto "Native Art is the Voice of Native People." This year, for the IFAM's third edition, 250 artists will be showing their creations a few blocks away from the Indian Market (above). The three-day event will also include contemporary visual artists and music performances.

Native Art exhibitions

Twenty-seven tribal nations are represented in Newark Museum's recently redesigned Native American galleries as part of the new "Native Artists of North America" permanent exhibition, featuring over 200 rarely-exhibited artworks from the US and Canada. From October 22, Newark Museum, New Jersey.

The successful traveling exhibition "Return from Exile: Contemporary Southeastern Indian Art", featuring work from 32 well-known Native American artists, has announced further dates for its US tour, which will pass through various states before winding up in Oklahoma in August 2017.

"Into the Future: Culture Power in Native American Art" is running through October 22, 2017, at the MIAC (Museum of Indian Arts and Culture) in Santa Fe. The show features almost 100 objects by more than fifty Native artists, under the theme of reinterpreting popular Western imagery through the lens of traditional Native culture stories.

Story continues

Fashion and accessories

The Peabody Essex Museum's traveling exhibition "Native Fashion Now" is leaving Portland on September 4 and moving on to the Philbrook Museum of Art. The exhibition celebrates indigenous designers from across the United States and Canada from the 1950s to today.

There are also plenty of other ways to learn and appreciate how Native American culture has influenced the current fashion world, with jewelry designers, such as TurquoiseJewelry and SilverTribe, for example, designing dedicated collections for Native Indian culture to correspond with the Native Art markets.
The two brothers got attracted to the business of smuggling illegal weapons for the big money it offered.

By Tanseem Haider: Delhi Police Special Cell arrested two people, Mohd Rehan Ansari and Mohd Qurban Ansari after a shootout near Indraprastha Park on Ring Road. A total of 10 foreign-made sophisticated pistols and about 157 live cartridges were recovered from their possession, along with several other incriminating materials.

SMUGGLING WEAPONS FROM PAKISTAN



Information received in the last few days indicated that Mohd Qurban Ansari, his brother Mohd Rehan Ansari and his family members were involved in smuggling of sophisticated foreign weapons from Pakistan and supplying these weapons to their associates in Delhi and NCR. It was also learnt that these residents of Khurja, Uttar Pradesh, were running their network by communicating with their associates through different internet communication platforms. Efforts were made to identify and trace these criminals.

advertisement

TIP-OFF LED TO ARREST



On August 17, a secret tip-off was received that Mohd Qurban and his brother Mohd Rehan will come near Gate No. 4 of Indraprastha Park at about 11.30 PM to deliver the foreign-made weapons to their associates. Acting on the information, the Special Cell team laid a trap near the specified gate. At about 11.50 PM, a Duster car bearing a Delhi license plate came from the direction of Sarai Kale Khan and stopped near the gate. After 10 minutes, an Ertiga car also came from the same side and slowed down near the Duster car. Without wasting time, the police team rushed towards the meeting venue but both Qurban and Rehan whipped out their pistols and fired at the approaching police team.

The police escaped unhurt and managed to apprehend both the accused persons after a chase near the boundary of the Indraprastha Park.

WEAPONS RECOVERED



Ten pistols and about 157 live cartridges were recovered, along with 17 mobile phones. The recovered pistols are of German, American, Chinese and Russian origins. Two cars were also seized from the accused.

About two years ago, Qurban came to know that one of their relatives is involved in import and smuggling of illegal foreign weapons from Pakistan via Nepal and supplying the same in the Delhi-NCR region and other parts of the country. Having heard from the relative that there is a huge scope of making money in the illegal trade of weapons, Qurban and his brother Rehan got sucked into the business.

--- ENDS ---
Ankara (AFP) - Suspected Kurdish rebels have carried out a wave of deadly bombings in Turkish cities in what appears to be an intensified campaign against state security forces in the chaotic aftermath of the failed coup.

Turkish leaders on Thursday accused the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) of waging three attacks in less than 24 hours that for the first time struck areas in the east that are not predominantly Kurdish.

At least 14 people have been killed in total and around 300 wounded, according to various officials.

One of the bombings struck near a hall in the far eastern city of Van where a wedding party was in full swing, sending the bride and groom and their guests fleeing in panic.

"Our fight against terror will never cease," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

The bloodshed comes after a top commander with the PKK -- which is labelled a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies -- last week threatened further attacks in Turkish cities.

Early Thursday, a car bomb blew up at police headquarters in the eastern city of Elazig, killing five people including three police and injuring more than 200 people.

The force of the blast left the building largely in ruins and turned nearby vehicles into blackened, mangled wrecks.

The city, a conservative nationalist bastion, had been spared much of the violence that has rocked the Kurdish-dominated southeast since a two-and-a-half year ceasefire collapsed in 2015.

Just a few hours later, five soldiers and a village guard were killed when a homemade bomb exploded in the path of a military convoy in the southeastern town of Bitlis.

And on Wednesday night, two policemen and a civilian were killed and dozens wounded in another car bombing in Van, which has a mixed ethnic Kurd and Turkish population.

Dramatic video footage showed the moment the bomb exploded as a wedding party was taking place in a nearby hall, causing debris to fly everywhere and people to flee, screaming.

Story continues

The rebels appear to have intensified their attacks since the failed July 15 attempt to overthrow Erdogan, seen by critics as an increasingly authoritarian and polarising figure.

- 'West doesn't understand' -

One senior politician suggested the PKK was collaborating with supporters of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, an erstwhile Erdogan ally now accused by Ankara of orchestrating the coup bid.

"Once again, the attacks in Van and Elazig show how PKK and FETO work together," former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu wrote on Twitter, using the name Ankara gives to the movement led by Gulen.

Erdogan, who has come under fire over the massive post-coup crackdown and human rights in Turkey, said his country was facing a battle against both the PKK and the Gulen movement.

"The West doesn't understand our struggle, they didn't understand, they don't understand and they won't understand," he said in a speech.

Monday was the 32nd anniversary of what is considered to be the launch of the PKK's armed rebellion against the Turkish state.

- 'Exploiting the crisis' -

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source close to the Turkish government told AFP that the PKK was taking "advantage of the current atmosphere in Turkey".

"Any terrorist organisation likes to exploit crises," the source said, referring to the aftermath of the failed putsch which has seen a massive purge of the army, including the dismissal of almost half Turkey's generals and admirals.

Anthony Skinner, head of political risk at Verisk Maplecroft consultancy in Britain, said the Elazig attack was not "that much of a surprise" after the PKK warning.

"The PKK wants to show it's very much alive and kicking, and various people do anticipate it will launch more attacks towards central and western Turkey."

Davutoglu's suggestions of collaboration between the PKK and so-called Gulenists stand in contrast to the history of tense relations between them.

One of the reasons for the acrimonious split between Erdogan and Gulen is said to be the Turkish leader's now failed peace push with the Kurds.

Kurdish activists have also long accused Gulen supporters in the police and judiciary of targeting them.

More than 600 members of the security forces have been killed in PKK attacks since the ceasefire collapsed, according to a toll given by Anadolu on July 31.

Erdogan said Thursday that 182 PKK militants had been killed with more than 3,000 suspects detained since the coup bid.

Since the ceasefire ended, the military has waged fierce offensives against the guerrillas in southeastern Turkey, including punishing curfews on urban areas.

Anadolu said the operations have killed more than 7,000 militants in Turkey and northern Iraq but the toll cannot be independently verified.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a Vietnam War battle has soured into a diplomatic spat after the Vietnamese government restricted access to the site at Long Tan. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made an 11th-hour appeal to his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc on behalf of about 1,000 Australian veterans and their families who had traveled to Vietnam but found themselves barred by authorities, who said the ceremony might offend residents. "I thank the prime minister of Vietnam for agreeing last night to arrangements which will, after all, enable our veterans and their families who have traveled to Vietnam, reverently to commemorate the battle as they honor all those who fought and died in those fields so many years ago," Turnbull said in an address in Canberra on Thursday. The commemoration had long been planned in coordination with Vietnamese authorities, but was canceled on Wednesday. Australian Veterans' Affairs Minister Dan Tehan said the formal ceremony at the Long Tan site remained canceled but Nguyen had agreed to ease the restrictions so that smaller groups of veterans could visit the site. Tehan called the cancellation "a kick in the guts". In Vietnam, police blocked roads leading to Long Tan and allowed a small group of veterans and diplomats to lay a wreath at the site. "Very, very sad that the Vietnamese government has taken the attitude they have toward a fairly peaceful commemorative service to honor the dead," Australian veteran Peter Wyldey told Reuters in the nearby seaside resort of Vung Tau, where some veterans had gathered for a private ceremony. A local government official told Reuters that Hanoi feared the service would turn into a victory celebration and put the Australians at risk because families of Vietnamese soldiers killed in the battle still lived nearby. More than 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1972 and more than 500 Australians were killed during the deeply unpopular war between the Soviet-backed Communist government of North Vietnam and South Vietnam's U.S.-backed regime. The war ended with the fall of the former Saigon in 1975. The 1966 battle of Long Tan was fought in a rubber plantation in South Vietnam. Eighteen Australian soldiers were killed and 24 wounded. North Vietnamese and Viet Cong casualties numbered about 245 killed and 350 wounded. (Reporting by Matt Siegel and Reuters TV; Editing by Paul Tait and Clarence Fernandez)
By Matt Siegel SYDNEY (Reuters) - The premier of Western Australia state, a member of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Liberal Party, has offered to accept refugees from Australian-funded detention centres amid growing concern about conditions for the 1,350 people held in the camps. Under Australian law, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to asylum seeker camps on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru or to Manus Island off Papua New Guinea. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia. Australia and Papua New Guinea said on Wednesday that they would close the Manus Island facility, but gave no timeline, and did not say where the people held there would be sent. "We would certainly accommodate a number of them in Western Australia and we'd certainly support them as a state government," Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Wednesday night. Barnett has taken a similar position in the past, and his stand demonstrated a rare public split in the conservative Liberal Party over the government's controversial detention policy. A spokeswoman for New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Thursday said that an offer made in 2013 to accept 150 refugees, which Canberra has rebuffed, still stood. Harsh conditions and reports of rampant abuse at the camps have drawn wide criticism at home and abroad. Australia says its hardline policy is needed to stop deaths at sea during the dangerous boat journey from Indonesia to Australia. Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on Thursday stood by the government's policy ruling out settling the detainees in a third country, casting doubt over the fate of the remaining 850 refugees on Manus and 500 in Nauru. "It's never been about tearing down the fences, it's about what to do with the people trapped behind them," Daniel Webb, director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Center, told Reuters. "There's absolute clarity about what should happen but no clarity whatsoever about what will happen." There are no plans to close the Nauru camp, which is under renewed scrutiny after a newspaper published leaked documents detailing reports of more than 2,000 incidents of sexual abuse, assault and attempted self-harm, many involving children. News of the closure of the Manus Island facility did not immediately generate much hope amongst the refugees there, many of whom have spent years in detention and suffer from mental health issues. "Everybody is tired, people think this news will make us happy but everyone is same like before," Kurdish Iranian refugee Benham Satah told Reuters from Manus Island. "I want to believe there is something good happening but I can't. I just focus on seeing tomorrow." The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court ruled in April that the detention center at Manus was illegal and ordered it closed. Next week it will hold a hearing into what progress has been made. Webb, the lawyer, said that Australia may have announced the closure of Manus Island as a means of deflecting the court's attention from the lack of progress it has made in implementing the ruling. Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish Iranian journalist and refugee, pleaded with Australia to recognize the court's decision and facilitate the refugees' resettlement. "We don't know what will happen on the next step and this is a big torture for us," he told Reuters from Manus Island. "We are really tired from their political games with our souls and bodies and need to start a normal life." (Reporting by Matt Siegel; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
VIENNA (Reuters) - U.S. rapper Freddie Gibbs was released on bail in Austria on Thursday after being charged with sexual assault, a Vienna court spokeswoman said. Gibbs, 34, whose real name is Fredrick Tipton, was extradited from France over the accusation that he spiked a woman's drink and sexually abused her while he was on tour in Vienna last year. He denies any wrongdoing. Gibbs was freed on bail of 50,000 euros ($56,560) and had to surrender his passport, the Vienna criminal court spokeswoman said. (Reporting by Francois Murphy; editing by Mark Heinrich)
VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian conservative politicians called for a ban on full body veils on Thursday, saying the veils would hinder women to integrate into the mainly Catholic Austrian society. Public debate about a ban on full body veils was ignited in several European countries after three French Mediterranean cities banned body-covering Muslim burkini swimwear, saying the burkini defies French laws on secularism. France, which has the largest Muslim minority in Europe, estimated at 5 million, in 2010 introduced a ban on full-face niqab and burqa veils in public. Austria's Foreign and Integration Minister Sebastian Kurz from the centrist People's Party, who plans to introduce a new integration law next year, said religious symbols such as the burqa were an issue that needed to be discussed. "A full body veil is hindering integration," Kurz told broadcaster ORF, adding that the burqa was "not a religious symbol but a symbol for a counter-society". In Austria, Islam is the second most widely professed religion, practiced by 7 percent of the population or around 600,000 people, according to the Islamic Religious Community. The country has been spared the kind of Islamist attacks suffered by Germany, France and Belgium. But fears and tensions have been growing over the past months, fueled by anti-migrant campaigns of the popular right-wing Freedom Party (FPO). The head of the FPO, which hopes to provide the first far-right head of state in the European Union after the re-run of the presidential elections on October 2, said it was about time to ban the full body veil. "We want to be able to look into peoples faces in our society," Heinz-Christian Strache said at a press conference on Thursday. Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka - as fellow party member Kurz seen as a hard-liner regarding migrant policy - said he would expect a full ban as problematic in terms of constitutional law. But he could imagine a partial ban as when driving a car, when crossing the border or at demonstrations, Sobotka was quoted by Oesterreich daily. Muslim groups called the recent ban in France unconstitutional, divisive and Islamophobic. (Reporting by Kirsti Knollen Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)
From Esquire

A son of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is in fact among the half-dozen kidnapped from a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta Monday (but not the one previously named), Mexican officials said Tuesday.

Jalisco Attorney General Eduardo Almaguer earlier told Radio Formula that "it is presumed," though not yet certain, that Ivan Archivaldo Guzman was among those kidnapped around 1 a.m. at La Leche restaurant on the city's main boulevard by five gunmen.

But later Almaguer said that forensic evidence and items found left in the vehicles showed that it was the 29-year-old "El Chapo" son, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, who was kidnapped rather than Ivan Guzman.

Experts say Ivan Guzman took over parts of his father's business when the Sinaloa cartel leader was arrested in January.

Authorities believe those involved in the kidnapping are part of cartels.

"They were not tourists or residents who work in legal activities," Almaguer said. "They were people tied to a criminal group we can very clearly presume."

The prosecutor said the kidnappers appear to belong to the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, according to an Associated Press report.

Witnesses reported that four women in the targeted group were not taken by the gunmen, he said. He said authorities were looking for those women for more information.

He said some of those abducted had been vacationing in Puerto Vallarta for a week and authorities found lots of drinks and luxury items inside the restaurant. Five vehicles were abandoned at the restaurant, among them one with Jalisco license plates, but a false registration.

"Obviously, those who acted (the kidnappers) - we presume with the information we have - also belonged to a criminal group that acted against members of another criminal group they located here in Puerto Vallarta," Almaguer said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A baby girl is having an exciting first week on the planet.

After being born on an airplane during a flight from Dubai to Manila on Sunday, Philippine airline Cebu Pacific gave the baby one million air miles, the Guardian reports.

The mother, who was not due for another five weeks, went into labor about four hours into the flight, according to the Guardian. Crew members found two nurses among the passengers to help with the delivery.

The flight stopped in Hyderabad, India, the airline told the Guardian, so the mother could get medical assistance for her premature baby, named Haven.

The stop added about nine hours to the trip, according to another passenger, Missy Berberabe Umandal, who posted about the incident on Facebook. But Umandal had no complaints and called the birth the highlight of her trip to Dubai.

Everyone in that plane was blessed, Umandal wrote.

Cebu Pacific told the Guardian that baby Havens one million GetGo points wont expire and can be shared with her family.
Miami (AFP) - Much like parents who talk to a pregnant woman's belly, some birds sing to their eggs before they hatch, and the reason may be to prepare them for a warming world, researchers said Thursday.

The study in the journal Science examined a peculiar habit of zebra finches, which sing to their eggs particularly when the weather is hot -- above 78 Fahrenheit (26 Celsius) -- and the end of their incubation period is near.

Eggs are unaffected by outside temperatures and are kept at steady temperature of 98.6 F when the parents are sitting on them.

What could they be saying? Could it have to do with the temperature outside?

"I would say it translates to: 'it's hot babies, get prepared!'," said lead author Mylene Mariette, in an email to AFP.

"That's what they are effectively telling their embryos."

To see what impact this chirping chatter might have on eggs, Mariette and Katherine Buchanan of Australia's Deakin University recorded the calls and played them for eggs in an incubator.

Some eggs were played regular contact calls from adult zebra finches, while others were exposed to particular calls made by expectant parents, chirping to their eggs before they hatch in warm weather.

Those who heard these so-called hot calls grew slower and emerged smaller when they hatched than the other birds.

This compact size would present a survival advantage, because having a small body makes it easier to cool down in hot climes.

As they tracked these hot-call birds over time, researchers found they had more offspring than the other birds that did not hear the preparatory calls during the hot weather.

Researchers believe that the calls somehow affect the babies' growth, since they are delivered in the last one-third of the incubation period when the hatchlings' temperature and regulation system is starting to develop.

"By acoustically signaling high ambient temperatures to their embryos before hatching, zebra finch parents can program the developmental trajectories of their offspring," said the study.

If such a strategy is found to exist in other animals, it would suggest a previously unknown survival mechanism to help creatures adapt to global warming, researchers said.
A Special Investigation Team has managed to bust a human trafficking gang carried out in Delhi and its adjoining states and has arrested eight accused.

By Tanseem Haider: A Special Investigation Team busted the notorious gang of human trafficking, operating in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and other parts of India. Police has arrested 8 accused in this case.

During the course of this investigation, SIT conducted raids at the various districts of Punjab and Haryana i.e Mansa, Bhatinda, Patiala, Sangrur, Ambala and Kurukshetra.

Two girls including one minor have been rescued from the clutches of accused Babli, the kingpin of above human trafficking gang, from her rented house at Kurukshtra. The rescued minor girl aged 15 yrs belongs to Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh while the other girl is from Muzaffarpur in Bihar.

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Khajuri Khas Police station registered a complaint from the resident of Janta Colony, New Jafrabad, who stated that her daughter aged 12 years was missing since July 2, 2006 from Khajuri Khas. After the registration of the case, an investigation was carried out by the Delhi Police.

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED

After almost 10 years on August 2, 2016, a girl came at the same police station and recorded her statement, stating that she was kidnapped in 2006 when she was on her way to visit her sister.

In her complaint, the girl said that she was made unconcious after a handkerchief was put to her face and on gaining conciousness, she found herself in a room full of girls and boys. After enquiring from one of the girls, she was told that she is in Ambala and was brought there for sale following which she was injected to unconciousness. The next day when she regained her conciousness, she was taken to a jungle where a car was waiting to take her to Gujarat on the pretext of taking the girl back to her home.

In Gujarat, the girl was kept in a house built in fields where she was raped repeatedly by two cousin brothers and their friend, beaten and forced to work in the fields. She was kept there for three years after which she was marrried to a 40-year-old truck driver. She was sold to 9 time in the year 2009 itself.

Also read: Trafficked Delhi girl, tortured brutally, returns home after 10 years



--- ENDS ---
Lima (AFP) - Acclaimed Belgian filmmakers Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne will tell the story of an Islamist "fanatic" linked to jihadist attacks in their next film, the latter said in an interview.

The brothers' new film, to be shot next year, comes after their native Belgium was rocked by the March 22 airport and subway bombings in Brussels, igniting national debate over home-grown Islamist extremism and how to counter it.

But Luc Dardenne said the new project originated long before that.

"We've been thinking about it for years," he told AFP in Peru, where he was being honored at the 20th edition of the Lima film festival.

"We're going to deal with a fanatical character, a character related to Islamist terrorism," he said, declining to go into further detail.

The Dardenne brothers have twice won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival -- in 1999 for "Rosetta" and in 2005 for "The Child." They are known for minimalist movies focused on characters at the margins of society.

Dardenne said both Belgium and neighboring France, which has also been hit by a string of Islamist attacks, were now immersed in "an unusual, uncommon war."

"For the past 20 years in Belgium we've had schools where people study Arabic through the Koran, we have Salafist mosques," he said.

"They're the ones that trained today's youth, telling them, 'On one side you have us, the true Muslims. On the other side, the Westerners, or the bad Muslims who are not the way they should be.

"That kind of education leads to what we have today."

The phenomenon, he said, is "Islam reacting to globalization."

"The Muslim religion, as a religion that organizes society, senses that that is finished, and they see it on the internet," he said.

At 62, Dardenne is three years younger than his brother. They have been making films together since the 1970s.

Their latest, "The Unknown Girl," premiered at Cannes in May.
"Benghazi mom" Patricia Smith is weighing in after the GOP speechwriter who wrote her searing RNC speech criticizing Hillary Clinton said in an op-ed that he now feels compelled to vote for the Democratic nominee.



Smith, whose son Sean Smith, was killed in the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, tells PEOPLE of the speechwriter, Richard J. Cross III, "That's his decision, I don't agree with it. That's his idea, that's what he's going to do, that's not what I'm going to do."



Smith adds, "I am still not going to vote for Hillary  she killed my son, I don't care how you twist it, she killed my son."



"I will not vote for her and I don't agree with anybody that says that they would and I'd like to know why they would."







In an op-ed published Wednesday in The Baltimore Sun, the man who wrote the explosive speech Smith delivered at the RNC in Cleveland last month said that while he has always been "GOP to the core," he "cannot vote for Donald Trump."



"So instead, I am confronted by two painful choices: Vote for the most divisive political figure in the past 25 years or throw away my vote on a kooky Libertarian ticket."



Cross said he was proud of his speech for Smith, which blamed Clinton for her son's death and concluded with the line, "If Hillary Clinton can't give us the truth, why should we give her the presidency?"



"But weeks after the end of the 2016 GOP convention, I am confronted by an inconvenient fact," Cross wrote in his op-ed.



"Despite what I wrote in that nationally televised speech about Hillary Clinton, I may yet have to vote for her because of the epic deficiencies of my own party's nominee."



Cross, who said he idolized Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan as a youth, criticized Trump's proposal to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the U.S., saying, "President Eisenhower would have never proposed banning Muslims from America. Nor would President Nixon. Nor would President Reagan."



"Donald Trump has betrayed and perverted their legacies. Consequently, I no longer recognize my party," he wrote.





Story continues

President Obama Passes the Torch to Hillary Clinton





Cross said that the central question of the 2016 election is: "Are Muslim Americans an equal and welcome member of the American constituency?"



"For me, the answer is a clear 'yes.' Now, the question becomes: Can we come together and find a positive solution to the issue of illegal immigration, just like President Reagan and congressional Democrats were able to achieve? The answer to that is, 'we must.' "



The alternative, he said, would be to embrace fear, as Trump has done  but fear "doesn't create jobs, build schools, reduce crime or improve the quality of life for all citizens. Great political leaders help us transcend our fears."





Are you planning on voting in this year's election? We want to know! Take our survey: https://t.co/b6KMj1ZeAt a People Magazine (@people) August 15, 2016





Still, Cross compares the notion of voting for Clinton to Dr. Van Helsing being forced to vote for Dracula.



"But the only prospect more terrifying than voting for Hillary Clinton is not voting for her," he concluded. "The reality of American politics today is, she is the only choice."
As a Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont vociferously argued for political transparency, especially when money was concerned.

Sanders insisted, for example, on complete transparency regarding the funding of campaigns. He decried huge piles of undisclosed cash benefiting candidates.

But when federal law required Sanders to reveal, by mid-May, current details of his personal finances, his campaign lawyer asked the Federal Election Commission for a 45-day extension.

Request granted.

On June 30, Sanders campaign requested a second 45-day extension, saying the senator had good cause to delay because of his current campaign schedule and officeholder duties.

Again, regulators approved Sanders punt.

Now that Sanders second extension has expired, spokesman Michael Briggs confirmed to the Center for Public Integrity that the senator wont file a presidential campaign personal financial disclosure after all.

This story is part of Buying of the President 2016. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.

Don't miss another Politics investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email.

We were told that since the senator no longer is a candidate there was no requirement to file, Briggs said.

FEC spokesman Christian Hilland verified that Sanders has not filed a personal financial disclosure. He likewise confirmed that Sanders, who technically ceased to be a presidential candidate when Hillary Clinton secured the Democratic nomination on July 26, is no longer required to file one.

A 2011 legal advisory from the United States Office of Government Ethics provides Sanders cover, stating that the requirement to file a Public Financial Disclosure Report  ends when the candidate is no longer seeking nomination or election to the office of president.

Story continues

On the one hand, who now  beside political voyeurs and snoopy journalists, perhaps  would care about the investments and income of an also-ran presidential candidate who hasnt been a major factor in Election 2016 for more than two months?

But on the other, Sanders expertly exploited a system that effectively allowed him to delay, delay, delay  all while he chided Clinton receipt of six-figure paydays for delivering closed-door speeches to officials at investment bank Goldman Sachs and other powerful special interests. (Both Clinton and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump filed their personal financial disclosures on time in mid-May without asking for extensions.)

Therefore, in the teeth of a Democratic primary where Sanders posed a bona fide threat to Clinton, voters couldnt definitively know whether Sanders  historically one of the Senates least wealthy members  suddenly parlayed his political fame into personal profit. Or, for that matter, whether he sustained financial distress.

The form Sanders didnt file would have detailed his finances through the middle of May 2016.

His most recent U.S. Senate disclosure, which details only his 2015 assets, show his wealth concentrated in a collection of mutual funds owned by his wife, Jane Sanders.

Beyond his Senate salary, Sanders himself draws a small pension from the government of Burlington, Vermont, where he once served as mayor. And hes also received a handful of modest honoraria for speeches and television show appearances, although he reported donating them to charity.

Related story: Tracking TV ads in the 2016 presidential race

Sanders also carried up to $50,000 in credit card debt and up to $1 million in mortgage debt, according to his 2015 U.S. Senate personal financial disclosure.

Sanders filed that Senate disclosure document on June 6. This somewhat undercuts his presidential campaigns argument, made around the same time, that Sanders was too busy campaigning to complete and submit a presidential disclosure covering his finances during early 2016.

Its disappointing that a candidate who spent so much time talking about political reform ... and was critical of Hillary Clintons personal finances, chose not to let us know anything about his own, said policy analyst Richard Skinner of the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, which advocates for political transparency.

Had Sanders filed a personal financial disclosure report this month, it would have looked more or less like the ones Sanders had filed in the past, Briggs said.

Theres a couple decades worth of congressional financial disclosure reports that show pretty much the same thing from year to year, Briggs said.

The public will eventually find out how Sanders managed his assets while running for president: As a sitting senator, Sanders must next year file a personal financial disclosure with the U.S. Senate covering calendar year 2016.

Versions of this story were published with NBC News, VTDigger and the Huffington Post.

This story is part of Buying of the President 2016. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.

Related stories

Copyright 2016 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
Hillary Clinton has been nationally controversial more or less since the 1992 presidential election, when she first became a national figure. In one early incident, Bill Clintons rival for the Democratic nomination, Governor Jerry Brown of California, accused him of sending business to the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas, where Hillary Clinton was a partner. She responded by implying the charge was sexist, the sort of thing that happens to women who have their own careers.

But reporters kept pressing her, asking if she should have avoided the appearance of a conflict of interest.

I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life, she snapped.

The comment blew up, becoming a major gaffe story on the campaign trail. Critics charged Clinton with belittling women who chose not to work, portraying them as quaint homemakers. She was on the defensive for some timeone of the early episodes that led the poisonous distrust of the press Clinton often exhibits today.

Recommended: The Era of 'The Bitch' Is Coming

There was, however , some sweet revenge for Clinton, if you will. Later that fall, after Bill Clinton had won the Democratic nomination and was running against President George H.W. Bush, Hillary Clinton participated in a bake-off against First Lady Barbara Bush, sponsored by Family Circle magazine. Each of them submitted a recipe, and then readers were given a chance to bake the cookies and choose for themselves which was better. Clinton won. And she won again in 1996, too.

The prospect of a woman president has raised many questions, with some of the least important but most discussed hinging on what happens with the presidential spouse isnt a woman. Perhaps the most mundane of these: How would Bill approach the Family Circle cookie bake-off?

Story continues

Now we know. Family Circle announced Thursday that the prospective first gentleman had indeed entered, submitting the same oatmeal chocolate chips that carried Hillary Clinton to victory twice before. Melania Trump offered up star cookies made with sugar cream.

Its a little disappointing that Bill Clinton went with an old recipe, even if its a proven favorite, rathe than something more original. Couldnt he have come up with a new recipe that would match the vegan lifestyle he now (mostly) leads? Moreover, with the Clinton family facing renewed scrutiny over conflicts of interest, this time related to his work at the Clinton Foundation and hers at the State Department, a little time away from globe-trotting and in the test kitchen might be just the thingmuch more than in 1992.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
The scene at the State Bag Drop in Brooklyn. (Photo: Tyler Gustin)

It seems as if summer just started, but now here we are already getting into back-to-school mode. And while some parents scurry to clothing and office supply stores to make sure their kids have all the tools they need once classes are in session again, others arent as fortunate. STATE Bags intends to do something about it.

The brand teamed up with Roc Nation and President Obamas My Brothers Keeper initiative this summer to donate 30,000 bags to underprivileged kids across America. Together theyve tapped Roc Nation artists and athletes to attend Bag Drop rallies, where backpacks are handed out to the kids. Yahoo Style attended one last week in Brooklyn at P.S. 284, the Gregory Jocko Jackson School for Sports, Arts, and Technology.

These Bag Drop rallies encourage kids to adopt a positive, empowered attitude. And it is truly uplifting to see, especially at the end, when each child is given a backpack filled with essential school supplies.

We dont like to say that we are changing the world or changing lives because were giving a bag. Were planting a seed and were giving kids something new that they can put their possessions in, that they can feel proud of, that they can wear every single day to school, STATE Bags co-founder Scot Tatelman told Yahoo Style.

Performer Santigold poses with NYC kids at the Bag Drop. (Photo: Tyler Gustin)

STATE Bags follows the one-for-one business model, meaning that for every bag sold, it donates one filled with supplies. For recording artist Santigold, who was on hand for the Bag Drop, STATEs initiative holds a special place in her heart.

We all know the future of our country and our planet is dependent on how well prepared the children are to deal with all the issues facing us, she told us. We need to arm them with an excellent education, to shape them into creative thinkers, innovators who are respectful and open to differences, and understand the value of nurturing a global community. We also need to bridge the widening economic gap to make sure that a good education is accessible to everyone. Each child deserves an opportunity to learn in a nurturing and safe environment.

The STATE Bags vision fits right in here, giving kids the necessary tools so that its easier for them to get that education. It might not be something as major as a scholarship, but a good schoolbag is a start. Santigold, who still carries a backpack herself, has a young son and, like any mom, is concerned about the future. This cause provides her an opportunity to help in a small way to secure that future and make it better not only for her child but for all children. [My son is] 2, and hes so interested and articulate  everything is an adventure. You see the spirit that they start out with, and you want them to keep that. There are so many reasons why they might lose it.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
Warnes (Bolivia) (AFP) - Bolivian President Evo Morales inaugurated a new "anti-imperialist" military academy Wednesday, calling it a response to the former School of the Americas, a US program that provided training to Latin American military regimes.

The leftist leader said the new academy was needed to "confront the empire's cultural, ideological, political and economic domination and capitalist structure."

Morales, who has had rocky relations with the United States and expelled the US ambassador in 2008, told the inaugural class of 100 cadets that their mission would be "to defend the people, not the empire."

The head of the armed forces, General Gonzalo Duran, said the new school, located in the eastern town of Warnes, would teach about "de-colonization, gender equality, intercultural understanding and social inclusion."

The program will be mandatory for soldiers seeking to be promoted to captain.

Bolivia returned to democracy in 1982, after a series of coups.

Its Cold War-era military regimes received money and training from a United States alarmed over the emergence of militant leftist movements in the region.

A country of 10 million people, Bolivia today has an army of some 46,000 troops.

The idea of an "anti-imperialist" military academy was initially proposed by late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who wanted it to train officers from leftist countries around Latin America.

The new academy was born out of that project, but it will only train Bolivians.

Chavez said such a school was needed to counter the lingering influence of the School of the Americas, which was launched in 1946 and provided anti-communist counterinsurgency training to Latin American officers.

Its alumni included top figures in some of the region's most brutal military regimes.

Originally based in Panama, it has since been renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation and transferred to Fort Benning in Georgia.
(Adds judge's ruling denying request to intervene in settlement)

By David Shepardson and Joel Schectman

WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH was a "knowing and active participant" in a decade-long scheme by Volkswagen AG to evade U.S. emissions laws, according to lawyers for U.S. owners of polluting VW diesel vehicles.

In a court filing late on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the lawyers cited confidential documents turned over by the German automaker to plaintiffs attorneys in making the new allegations against the auto supplier.

Volkswagen declined to comment on the filing, except to say that it had no effect on its multibillion-dollar settlement of a civil complaint over the diesel scandal. The filing was made a day after sources briefed on the matter said the automaker has held preliminary talks with the U.S. Justice Department to settle a criminal probe into the emissions cheating case.

Most of the allegations involving Bosch remain under seal because the documents have been designated as confidential by VW, the plaintiffs' lawyers said in the court filing.

A Bosch spokeswoman said the company took the allegations seriously and is cooperating in several investigations, but declined to comment further.

The documents include records and communications between Bosch, VW and U.S. regulators. One 2011 email to the California Air Resources Board, among other communications, demonstrates "Bosch's deep understanding of what regulators allowed and would not allow, and what Bosch did to help VW obtain approval," the filing said.

"Bosch played a crucial role in the fraudulent enterprise and profited handsomely from it," the court papers say.

Bosch has not been charged with any wrongdoing. But German prosecutors said in December that they were investigating whether staff at the Stuttgart-based company were involved in the rigging of emissions tests by VW.

Bosch makes an engine control unit, often referred to as the "brain" of the engine, used by several top automakers including VW. That system controls a vehicle's acceleration and power and is extensively customized to give each car model its own unique feel.

Story continues

Bosch supplied software and components to VW but has said responsibility for how software is used to regulate exhaust emissions or fuel consumption lies with carmakers.

In the court papers, the attorneys said Bosch had worked "hand-in-glove" with Volkswagen to develop a so-called cheat device to circumvent emissions tests and trick regulators.

The engine control system for VW's clean diesel engine was customized through years of close collaboration between the carmaker and Bosch, the lawyers said.

"It is inconceivable," the attorneys wrote, "that Bosch did not know that the software it was responsible for defining, developing, testing, maintaining and delivering contained an illegal defeat device."

Bosch chief executive Volkmar Denner said in January he had ordered an internal investigation and was cooperating with authorities. In April, Bosch said it had set aside 650 million euros for potential legal costs, including for an ongoing investigation into the company's role in Volkswagen's diesel emissions manipulation scandal.

Reuters reported in November that U.S. federal prosecutors were investigating whether Bosch knew or participated in VW's years-long efforts to cheat on U.S. diesel emissions tests.

In June, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates said the VW probe is looking at "multiple companies and multiple individuals."

VW has agreed to pay up to $15.3 billion to buy back or fix 475,000 2.0 liter diesel vehicles in the United States, offset excess emissions, invest in zero emission vehicle efforts and address some state claims. It still must win approval of plans to address 85,000 polluting 3.0 liter vehicles in the United States.

Separately, a federal judge on Wednesday rejected a Virginia VW owner's request to intervene in the settlement of a class-action lawsuit against the automaker. Had the owner been successful, the move could have delayed the beginning of the buyback program, which is expected to begin in October.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Joel Schectman; Editing by Tom Brown)
By David Shepardson and Joel Schectman

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH was a "knowing and active participant" in a decade-long scheme by Volkswagen AG to evade U.S. emissions laws, according to lawyers for U.S. owners of polluting VW diesel vehicles.

In a court filing late on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the lawyers cited confidential documents turned over by the German automaker to plaintiffs attorneys in making the new allegations against the auto supplier.

Volkswagen declined to comment on the filing, except to say that it had no effect on its multibillion-dollar settlement of a civil complaint over the diesel scandal. The filing was made a day after sources briefed on the matter said the automaker has held preliminary talks with the U.S. Justice Department to settle a criminal probe into the emissions cheating case.

Most of the allegations involving Bosch remain under seal because the documents have been designated as confidential by VW, the plaintiffs' lawyers said in the court filing.

A Bosch spokeswoman said the company took the allegations seriously and is cooperating in several investigations, but declined to comment further.

The documents include records and communications between Bosch, VW and U.S. regulators. One 2011 email to the California Air Resources Board, among other communications, demonstrates "Bosch's deep understanding of what regulators allowed and would not allow, and what Bosch did to help VW obtain approval," the filing said.

"Bosch played a crucial role in the fraudulent enterprise and profited handsomely from it," the court papers say.

Bosch has not been charged with any wrongdoing. But German prosecutors said in December that they were investigating whether staff at the Stuttgart-based company were involved in the rigging of emissions tests by VW.

Bosch makes an engine control unit, often referred to as the "brain" of the engine, used by several top automakers including VW. That system controls a vehicle's acceleration and power and is extensively customized to give each car model its own unique feel.

Story continues

Bosch supplied software and components to VW but has said responsibility for how software is used to regulate exhaust emissions or fuel consumption lies with carmakers.

In the court papers, the attorneys said Bosch had worked "hand-in-glove" with Volkswagen to develop a so-called cheat device to circumvent emissions tests and trick regulators.

The engine control system for VW's clean diesel engine was customized through years of close collaboration between the carmaker and Bosch, the lawyers said.

"It is inconceivable," the attorneys wrote, "that Bosch did not know that the software it was responsible for defining, developing, testing, maintaining and delivering contained an illegal defeat device."

Bosch chief executive Volkmar Denner said in January he had ordered an internal investigation and was cooperating with authorities. In April, Bosch said it had set aside 650 million euros for potential legal costs, including for an ongoing investigation into the company's role in Volkswagen's diesel emissions manipulation scandal.

Reuters reported in November that U.S. federal prosecutors were investigating whether Bosch knew or participated in VW's years-long efforts to cheat on U.S. diesel emissions tests.

In June, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates said the VW probe is looking at "multiple companies and multiple individuals."

VW has agreed to pay up to $15.3 billion to buy back or fix 475,000 2.0 liter diesel vehicles in the United States, offset excess emissions, invest in zero emission vehicle efforts and address some state claims. It still must win approval of plans to address 85,000 polluting 3.0 liter vehicles in the United States.

Separately, a federal judge on Wednesday rejected a Virginia VW owner's request to intervene in the settlement of a class-action lawsuit against the automaker. Had the owner been successful, the move could have delayed the beginning of the buyback program, which is expected to begin in October.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Joel Schectman; Editing by Tom Brown)
By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested two gunrunners who smuggled sophisticated foreign-made weapons from Pakistan via Nepal, and recovered 10 pistols and 157 live cartridges from them after a brief shootout near Indraprastha Park, police said today.

The accused Mohammad Rehan and Mohammad Qurban, residents of Khurja, were brothers and they were caught following a brief exchange of fire near Indraprastha Park last night, said P S Kushwah, DCP (Special Cell).

advertisement

The duo were involved in smuggling sophisticated foreign weapons from Pakistan and supplying these weapons in Delhi and NCR. It was also learnt that they were running their network by communicating with their associates through different internet communication platforms, said the officer.

The arms recovered from them were .30 and .22 bore pistols. The .30 bore pistols were of Chinese and Russian make while two of the .22 bore pistols included a Walther (German) and Sig Sauer (US).

About two years back Rehan had come in contact of one of his relatives who was involved in smuggling of illegal foreign weapons from Pakistan via Nepal, and joined him alongwith his brother.

The duo had reached Indraprastha Park in an SUV to deliver the pistols and ammunition to one of their suppliers and when intercepted by Special Cell sleuths they resorted to firing at them.

No one was injured and they were caught although windscreen of a police vehicle was shattered in the firing exchange, Kushwah added. PTI VIT KUN

--- ENDS ---
Forget Marcia, Marcia, Marcia  money, money, money! Eve Plumb, who originated the role of Jan Brady in The Brady Bunch, is currently laughing all the way to the bank.

The former child star, 58, just sold her Malibu home for $3.9 million. According to the Los Angeles Times, she originally bought the pad at age 11 (with the help of her parents) for just $55,300 in 1969.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Real Estate

The oceanfront bungalow-style residence, which is raised above the ground with wood posts, was designed by Meis Architects. Architect Dan Meis is also behind such venues as the Staples Center in L.A., Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, and Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field.

According to the L.A. Times, the cottage is 3,500 square feet and has three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. Some of its desirable features include a retractable roof, floor-to-ceiling windows and a front porch.

PHOTOS: Child Stars Gone Bad

"The most notable feature was, of course, the site on Escondido Beach Road, with one of the largest oceanfront parcels available in the area," realtors Brian Linder and William Baker of Deasy/Penner & Partners told the Today show via email. "It was essentially a little cottage, with no heat or air conditioning, but a fabulous view on one of the best private beaches in Southern California."

Plumb originally listed the home earlier this year for $4.15 million.

PHOTOS: TV Shows Gone Too Soon!

Plumb is best known for starring as the awkward middle child in the beloved series from 1969 to 1974. The actress, who has more than 60 acting credits to her name, recently played Mrs. Murdock in the Fox TV musical event Grease Live!

"It's obviously still having an effect because everybody is still in love with the show," Plumb told TV Fanatic of the Brady Bunch legacy in January. " It's been a very good effect, that everyone loves it and has good memories of it, and that's been great."





Related Content:
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - A Brazilian federal court lifted an injunction on the transfer of public funds to the Rio Paralympics to make sure it goes ahead in September, a court statement said.

The court imposed the injunction last week saying the cash-strapped Rio 2016 organising committee did not publish credible accounts of how its money is spent.

Paralympics organisers had failed to pay promised travel grants to several countries because it had not received government cash. There had been warnings that without the money some poor countries would not be able to get to Rio.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian police accused a group of U.S. Olympic swimmers on Thursday of vandalism during an incident at a Rio gas station last weekend, saying they were considering whether to recommend charges against any of them. Police began investigating the incident after four swimmers, including gold medalists Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen, said they been robbed by gunmen impersonating police officers in the early hours of Sunday, as they returned in a taxi to the Athletes Village from a party in the city. The head of Rio de Janeiro's civil police, Fernando Veloso, said there was no robbery as described by the swimmers and that they had instead offered to pay some money for damage to the gas station. Veloso did not give details on the alleged damage. (Reporting by Daniel Flynn and Brad Brooks; Editing by Mark Bendeich)
UPDATE, 9:22 AM: A Brazilian police official said ahead of a scheduled news conference today in Rio de Janeiro that U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochtes claims he and three other American swimmers were robbed at gunpoint over the weekend had been fabricated. The report from the Associated Press comes a day after two of the swimmers, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, were pulled off a plane at the Rio airport for further questioning from police, who had been having trouble corroborating the claims.

The latest revelations in the case come amid reports that a member of the British Olympic team was allegedly held up by an armed assailant in Rio early Tuesday. It prompted the British Olympic Association to issue a strong warning to team members, advising that it is simply not worth the risk to leave the Olympic Village. It is understood the unidentified Team GB athlete in question was in shock, but not seriously hurt.

As for the U.S. incident the APs source said Conger and Bentz told police they had made up a story about being robbed at gunpoint. The police official said that early Sunday morning, the swimmers stopped at a gas station but could not get into an outside bathroom there. A few of them pushed the door and broke it, and a security guard confronted them. He was armed with a gun but did not take it out. Eventually, the gas station owner arrived and at some point the swimmers paid him money to fix the door and they left.

Lochte and the swimmers originally told police and later NBC that they were stopped in a cab and robbed by armed men posing as police. Lochte said one pointed a gun at his head, but he backed off that claim in an interview with NBCs Matt Lauer on Wednesday.

A U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman told the AP today that the swimmers were planning to meet again with authorities. Lochte and the fourth swimmer in the group, Jimmy Feigen, had left Rio before police earlier this week ordered the group to stay to continue the investigation.

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PREVIOUS, WEDNESDAY, 7:43 PM: The U.S. Olympic Committee has confirmed that Brazilian authorities removed U.S. Olympic swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz from their plane tonight and are questioning them as part of an investigation into claims that they were the victims of an armed robbery Sunday morning in Rio. The claims were made public by gold medalist Ryan Lochte, who later told NBC News that the trio, along with fellow swimmer James Feigen, were robbed at gunpoint by assailants posing as police officers.

We got pulled over, in the taxi, and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge, no lights, no nothing just a police badge and they pulled us over, Lochte told NBC on Sunday. They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground  they got down on the ground. I refused, I was like we didnt do anything wrong, so  Im not getting down on the ground.

And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, get down and I put my hands up, I was like whatever. He took our money, he took my wallet  he left my cell phone, he left my credentials.

Lochte later thanked fans and supported in a message posted to his Instagram feed.

The claims made global headlines owing to concerns about the safety of visiting Olympians in the Brazilian city, but have in the days since been subject to heavy scrutiny. Police in Rio say they cannot locate the driver of the Taxi the Americans claim to have been in, and have not been able to find corroborating witnesses. In addition, the quartet were captured on video sometime after the robbery was supposed to have occurred in apparent possession of their wallets and phones.

Subsequently, a judge ordered Lochte to remain in Brazil for questioning and a warrant was issued for the seizure of his passport, but he had by that time already returned to the United States. A warrant was also issued for Feigen, whose location is not known. Lochte said he wouldnt make up a story like this, Matt Lauer reported tonight. Lochte told him he his three teammates were victims.

Lochte has won 12 Olympic gold medals, including one for 4200 freestyle relay at the Rio Olympics.

Related stories

Ryan Lochte Robbery Report A Lie, Brazil Police Say; USOC Apologizes As 2 Swimmers Return To U.S. - Update

'What Would Ryan Lochte Do?' Marathon Set On Esquire To Commemorate Controversial Robbery Report

American Track Sweep & Beach Volleyball Drive NBC Olympics Ratings Day 12
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Scandal overshadowed the Rio Olympics Thursday as two US swimmers faced further questioning by Brazilian police after a judge raised doubts about their claims of being mugged, while a new report said a British athlete had been held up at gunpoint.

A top International Olympic Committee official was also arrested on Wednesday in a black market ticket sales probe, posing major distractions from the sport in Rio with Usain Bolt casting his sights on a new gold medal.

According to the Guardian newspaper, a British athlete was accosted by an armed assailant while out on the town early Tuesday.

Details were not immediately available but a British Olympic team spokesman told the BBC there had been an "incident of theft" and that the athlete concerned was "safe and well."

On Wednesday, American swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were taken off a flight leaving Rio de Janeiro.

Conger and Bentz, along with star US swimmer Ryan Lochte and squad member James Feigen, said they were held up at gunpoint in the early hours of Sunday.

However Brazilian judge Keyla Blank ordered the passports of all four to be seized to prevent them leaving the country.

The Globo media organization posted a video online showing Conger and Bentz walking into a police station on Wednesday.

They were released late at night "with the understanding that they would continue their discussions about the incident on Thursday," said Patrick Sandusky, spokesman for the US Olympic Committee.

Lochte, who had returned to the US before Brazilian authorities ordered the swimmers' questioning, and Feigen, who remains in Brazil, will cooperate with the investigation, US broadcaster NBC reported.

The four made headlines with their terrifying account while returning from a party.

Lochte said they were held up by muggers posing as police as they left a party just after 4:00 am. In interviews, he described how he had a gun put to his head and handed over his money and wallet.

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- 'Victims laughed' -

However, the judge said their story was full of inconsistencies.

And Britain's Daily Mail obtained video surveillance showing the four laughing as they returned to their accommodation at 6:56 am on Sunday.

Speaking to NBC late Wednesday, Lochte denied the swimmers fabricated their story.

"I wouldn't make up a story like this nor would the others -- as a matter of fact we all feel it makes us look bad," he was quoted as saying.

Also Wednesday, top European Olympic official Patrick Hickey was arrested over a black market ticket sale scandal.

The IOC executive member, head of the European Olympic Committees and the Irish national committee, spent Wednesday night in hospital after being detained at his luxury hotel.

Accused of ticket scalping, ambush marketing and conspiracy after tickets were seized from another Irish businessman, Hickey has "temporarily" stood down from his posts.

Following a raid similar to the arrest of seven top FIFA officials at a Zurich hotel last year, Hickey was shown in media video answering his hotel room door unclothed before putting on a bath robe.

Police said they suspect he had changed rooms to try to evade arrest.

Hickey's wife was in another room and at first told them Hickey had left the country, police told reporters.

Brazilian police have launched a widening investigation after seizing more than 1,000 premier tickets for Games events, including the opening ceremony.

Tickets with a face value of about $1,000 dollars were sold for $8,000, in a racket prosecutors said yielded profits of $3.0 million.

The head of a sports ticketing firm, THG Sports, was detained with the tickets on August 5.

Hickey's son once worked for THG, but the sports powerbroker denied any wrongdoing in an interview with Irish television last week as the scandal mounted.

The arrests diverted attention from the sporting action as Bolt reached the final of the 200m -- the second of his targeted three-gold-medal sweep of the Olympic sprint titles.

While Bolt ran the season's best 19.78 sec, his American arch-rival Justin Gatlin, 34, failed to reach the final.

Gatlin, who won the 100m silver behind Bolt at the weekend, said he had not fully recovered from an ankle injury suffered in November.

"I definitely think I can try for the world record, I definitely feel that," Bolt said.

Drug-tainted Russia's only competitor in the track and field, Darya Klishina, failed to reach the final medal battle in the long jump. The 25-year-old blamed the turmoil of the doping scandal for her disappointment.

The IAAF gave her the green light for Rio and then banned her because of "new" doping information. She went to the sports tribunal to reverse the ban.

Brazil's suffering sports fans got some good news when football star Neymar scored twice -- including the fastest Olympic goal after 15 seconds -- in a 6-0 win over Honduras in the Olympic semi-final.

They take on Germany in the final in a revenge repeat of their disastrous 7-1 loss in the World Cup semi-final two years ago.
Brasilia (AFP) - Brazil's suspended president Dilma Rousseff said Thursday she will demand "justice" when she defends herself next week at an impeachment trial.

Rousseff was suspended from office in May over accusations that she fiddled with state accounts to make the numbers look better in an election year.

Senators will vote on whether to remove her from office for good after an impeachment trial starting on August 25.

The leftist leader, 68, has denied breaking budget laws.

"I expect justice from the Senate," Rousseff told a gathering of foreign correspondents on Thursday.

"In the Senate I will argue not only for democracy and respect for the direct vote of the Brazilian people, but also for justice."

Rousseff is widely expected to lose the impeachment vote, since media calculate that a large majority of Senators will vote against her. But she said on Thursday she was refusing to think about defeat.

She is scheduled to have half an hour on August 29 to present her defense in person. The Senate's final vote is expected on August 31.

Rousseff has branded the impeachment drive a "coup" by her former vice-president and interim successor Michel Temer and other conservative rivals.

"He did not want to be a mere decorative figure. He wanted to be president," she said. "He betrayed me."

She said that if she was spared by the Senate, she would back a referendum on holding early elections.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday authorized an investigation into allegations that Rousseff tried to obstruct a corruption probe into the state oil firm Petrobras.

The probe has dragged in politicians on both sides of the political fence, including allies of Temer.
By Elisabeth O'Leary EDINBURGH (Reuters) - For comics at this year's Edinburgh festival, Britain's vote to leave the European Union has been a blessing and a curse. "I would like to thank the political establishment for giving me the opportunity of rewriting this script every ... day," jokes Matt Forde at the start of his show. Like countless other stand-ups in Edinburgh - the annual career-defining showcase for comic talent - Forde had to rewrite his routine after the June 23 Brexit vote left him with a torrent of rich new material. The pace of surprising events - including the resignation of prime minister David Cameron and the disintegration of the opposition Labor Party - has kept comics on their toes. "It was a fireworks display of news, it was like 'What's this? Who's resigned? What's going on?' And the public felt exactly the same. I remember thinking: 'I can get a lot out of this!'" Forde told Reuters. Brexit has posed unsettling questions about nationalism, democracy and tolerance, with a rise in hate crime in the vote's immediate aftermath. Forde explores the divisions - often along class lines - that the referendum laid bare, joking that the British are now all "Brexit racists", able to recognize "leavers" by their tattoos and "remainers" by whether they carry baguettes. Bridget Christie riffs on the way the leave campaign dismissed expert evidence that Brexit would hurt Britain, joking that she was fed up with her dentist "lording it over me with his tooth knowledge," according The Guardian's five-star review of her show. Nish Kumar, a London-born comic of Indian parentage, gained first-hand experience that an unintended consequence of the vote was to embolden racists, he told Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theater Podcast. At a pre-Edinburgh show the day after the referendum, for the first time in his career a heckler shouted: "Go home!" "I said 'to Croydon?' (a London suburb) and he was not amused," Kumar, a nominee for last year's comedy prize, said. In her routine, Labor Party political adviser-turned-standup Ayesha Hazarika, describes the "middle-class hysteria" of well-to-do parents distraught not at the economic and social impact of Brexit, but at the possibility their children will no longer qualify for an Erasmus EU study trip abroad. From an Indian family, she also lampooned the rise in hate crimes: "After the vote everyone went racist. I only ate white food for a while, just white bread and Philadelphia (cheese) for a week." For Matt Forde, comedy provides an "exorcism" of the issues which many in the country are struggling to come to terms with. "But they are things that were already there, just now they are unlocked and magnified." (Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
The evicted DMK members have again arrived at the Tamil Nadu Assembly and are staging a sit-in protest against the enmasse eviction.

By Pramod Madhav: A day after all DMK members in Tamil Nadu Assembly were evicted enmasse and its leader M K Stalin physically carried by marshals, the MLAs have again arrived at the Assembly and are staging a sit-in protest.

Despite that the government moved a resolution suspending the DMK members for a week which was passed by voice vote, they still have the rights to visit the opposition party leader's office and stay there.

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But according to the DMK MLAs, the associates are not letting them inside the building and hence that they are staging the protest.

The eviction happened after pandemonium broke out during their strong protests against remarks by a ruling AIADMK MLA apparently ridiculing the Leader of the Opposition.

It all began with an AIADMK MLA mocking Stalin's 'Namaku Naame' tour yesterday. Stalin has already accused the Speaker of being partial and not letting DMK speak.

Speaker P Dhanapal ordered eviction of the DMK members by Assembly marshals after they stood up and insisted on expunging the remarks even after he rejected their demand and asked them to cooperate for the smooth conduct of the House.

Trouble erupted during the debate on demands for grants for the Housing and IT departments when AIADMK member S Gunasekaran, without naming Stalin, made some remarks about the 'Namaku Naame' programme undertaken by the DMK Treasurer in the run up to this year's Assembly election.\

During the 'Namakku Naame' programme, Stalin had extensively toured the state and interacted with people.

The remarks about the programme triggered strong objection from the DMK members who wanted the Speaker to expunge them.

Dhanapal, however, said the MLA had not made any pointed reference to anyone and therefore there was no need to expunge the remarks.

DMK Deputy Leader Durai Murugan said 'Namaku Naame' was an initiative of Stalin and therefore the remarks refer only to him and sought their expunction.

At one point, Stalin himself rose and said he was proud that 'Namakku Naame' had featured in an Assembly debate. He also made some remarks which were later expunged by the Speaker.

Following this, the DMK members stood up and opposed the Speaker's action even as Dhanapal asked them to cooperate in the smooth conduct of the House.

Since the DMK members did not heed his repeated pleas, he summoned the marshals to evict the agitating MLAs.

Stalin, who was physically removed, staged a brief sit-in before being finally taken out of the House.

The Speaker later said he had to resort to such an action as the DMK members did not heed his pleas for cooperation.

Leader of the House and Finance Minister O Panneerselvam then moved a resolution for the suspension of the DMK members for a week, which was passed by a voice vote in the AIADMK- dominated House.

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After this, the Speaker said Wednesday's proceedings of the House have ended and asked Housing Minister Udumalpet K Radhakrishnan and IT Minister M Manikandan to give their replies to the debate on their departments tomorrow.

Earlier, explaining the rationale behind his decision to evict DMK members, Speaker Dhanapal said they had made it a "practice" to stall proceedings "right from day one" of the ongoing session and not allowing him run the House smoothly.

"This was a situation where I had no other option."

Later, speaking to reporters, Stalin said the comments by Gunasekaran were "unwarranted".

DMK has 89 members in the AIADMK-dominated 234-member Assembly.

-With inputs from PTI



Also Read:

All DMK MLAs evicted, suspended from Tamil Nadu Assembly



AIADMK sacks Rajya Sabha MP Sasikala Pushpa for slapping DMK leader

DMK members stage walkout as AIADMK leader calls Karunanidhi by his name





--- ENDS ---
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Scottish nurse who contracted then recovered from Ebola is facing disciplinary action over allegations she concealed her temperature on her return from Sierra Leone, according to charges from a nursing watchdog seen by British media. Pauline Cafferkey, 39, contracted Ebola in December 2014 when she was working in a treatment facility in Sierra Leone at the height of the epidemic which swept through West Africa. The nurse is alleged to have given dishonest answers to medical staff when she returned to Heathrow airport that month. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) alleged in a case hearing published on their website that was later deleted, that Cafferkey "allowed an incorrect temperature to be recorded" on December 29, 2014 and intended to conceal from Public Health England staff that she had a temperature higher than 38C. The NMC said an investigation into Cafferkey's conduct was underway, with a case hearing scheduled for next month. "Since these proceedings began the NMC has worked closely with Ms Cafferkey and her representatives to reach an outcome that is fair and meets the public interest in this case," an NMC spokesperson said. Cafferkey initially recovered from the Ebola hemorrhagic fever and was sent home in January 2015. But in October she fell ill again and doctors found the virus was persisting in tissues in her brain. They later said she had developed meningitis caused by the Ebola virus - the first known such case. Cafferkey was readmitted to hospital for a third time earlier this year after falling ill. Ebola killed more than 11,300 people and infected some 28,600 as it swept through Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea from 2013 in the world's worst outbreak of the disease. The World Health Organization declared Sierra Leone free of the deadly haemorrhagic fever on March 17, Guinea on June 1, and Liberia on June 9. (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)
On Aug 12, we issued an updated research report on Billerica, MA-based Bruker Corporation BRKR  a global manufacturer of high-end analytical instruments utilized within the academic & government, pharma/biotech, clinical diagnostic and industrial markets. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Bruker ended second quarter of 2016 on a disappointing note. While the companys earnings came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate, revenues missed the mark. Despite significant revenue decline organically, a reasonably better performance by BioSpin group, optics and semiconductor metrology businesses as along with a margin recovery witnessed in the Bruker's Nano-surfaces business, encourage us.

Currently, Bruker is in the process of assimilating the Jordan Valley Semiconductor within its Nano segment. Through this acquisition, Bruker expects to capitalize on nano-metrology requirements of smaller feature sizes and three dimensional structures, which are increasingly growing in demand in the semiconductor metrology market.

On healthier bookings and backlogs, already in the second quarter, this acquisition contributed 3% growth to the companys revenues. Management anticipates the semiconductor metrology tools to contribute considerably to Brukers top line through the rest of 2016 as well. We believe the recent initiatives adopted by Bruker in this segment will enable it to return to a positive organic growth trajectory going ahead.

Bruker is also progressing well with its existing MALDI Biotyper menu. During the reported quarter, the company launched Rapiflex MALDI-TOFTOF for detailed protein characterization in life science research and biopharmaceutical laboratories. Further, we are also looking forward to the companys MALDI PharmaPulse label-free ultra-high throughput screening platform for direct discovery on Rapiflex mass-spec system, which should fetch good orders by pharma companies in the second half of 2016.

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On the flip side, unfavorable currency translation continues to be a major hindrance for the stock. Additionally widespread macroeconomic uncertainties prevailing in countries like the U.S., Russia and certain European nations in which Bruker operates might impede its revenue growth significantly, in case of any further economic downturn. Competitive headwinds also continue to pose concerns.

Key Picks in the Sector

Some of the top-ranked medical stocks are GW Pharmaceuticals plc GWPH, LeMaitre NuVasive, Inc. NUVA and Quidel Corp. QDEL. All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

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(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.)  A wildfire with a ferocity never seen before by veteran California firefighters raced up and down canyons, instantly engulfing homes and forcing thousands of people to flee, some running for their lives just ahead of the flames.

By Wednesday, a day after it ignited in brush left bone dry by years of drought, the blaze had spread across nearly 47 square miles and was raging out of control. The flames advanced despite the efforts of 1,300 firefighters.

Authorities could not immediately say how many homes had been destroyed, but they warned that the number will be large.

There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing, San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig said after flying over a fire scene he described as devastating.

It hit hard. It hit fast. It hit with an intensity that we hadnt seen before, he said.

No deaths were reported, but cadaver dogs were searching the ruins for anyone who was overrun by the flames.

The cause of the fire wasnt immediately known.

Five years of drought have turned the states wildlands into a tinder box, with eight fires currently burning from Shasta County in the far north to Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego.

In my 40 years of fighting fire, Ive never seen fire behavior so extreme, Incident Commander Mike Wakoski said a day after the latest blaze broke out Tuesday in Cajon Pass, a critical highway and rail corridor through mountain ranges that separate Southern Californias major population centers from the Mojave Desert and Las Vegas.

Residents like Vi Delgado and her daughter April Christy, who had been through a major brushfire years before, said they had never seen anything like it either.

No joke, we were literally being chased by the fire, a tearful April Christy said in a voice choked with emotion as she and her mother sat in their minivan in an evacuation center parking lot in Fontana. They did not go inside because their dogs, three Chihuahuas and a mixed-breed mutt, were not allowed.

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Youve got flames on the side of you. Youve got flames behind you, Christy said, describing a harrowing race down a mountain road. She was led by a sheriffs patrol car in front while a California Highway Patrol vehicle trailed behind and a truck filled with firefighters battled flames alongside her.

She and her mother, onsite caretakers at the Angels and Paws animal rescue shelter in Devore Heights, said it was only moments after they smelled smoke that flames exploded all around them. They grabbed their pets and tried to rescue nine other shelter dogs and three cats, but a sheriffs deputy told them there was no time.

You wont make it. Save yourself. Take your truck and leave, Delgado said the deputy shouted at her, adding that he and others would try to rescue the animals. She learned later that authorities did save the animals, but officials could not tell her if her home survived.

More than 34,000 homes and some 82,000 people were under evacuation warnings as firefighters concentrated their efforts on saving homes in the mountain communities of Lytle Creek, Wrightwood and Phelan. They implored residents not to think twice if told to leave, but it appears many were staying.

From reports that we were hearing, possibly up to half didnt leave, said Lyn Sieliet, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman.

It does change the way that we can fight fire, she added, Now we have to worry about the people in there as well as trying to protect the structures and trying to build a line of defense as the fire comes toward that area.

Six firefighters were briefly trapped by flames during the fires early hours, when occupants of a home refused to leave and the crew stayed to protect them.

This moved so fast, said Darren Dalton, 51, who along with his wife and son had to get out of his house in Wrightwood. It went from Have you heard theres a fire? to mandatory evacuation before you could take it all in. This is a tight little community up here. Always in rally mode. Suddenly its a ghost town.

Hundreds of cars packed with belongings and animals left the town. The air for miles around the blaze was filled with smoke.

Although there was no official count on how many homes were lost, Eric Sherwin of the San Bernardino County Fire Department said Tuesday that he had seen at least a dozen buildings go up in flames, some of them homes. Among them was the Summit Inn, a historic Route 66 diner near Interstate 15. Countless big rigs were parked along both sides of the highway on Wednesday, waiting for it to reopen.

Less than 24 hours after the blaze began 60 miles east of Los Angeles, authorities had assembled a fleet of 10 air tankers, 15 helicopters and an army of 1,300 firefighters, many of them just off the lines of a wildfire that burned for 10 days just to the east.

At a dawn briefing, half the firefighters raised their hands when asked how many had just come from one of the other infernos burning across California. In all, 10,000 firefighters are fighting the eight ongoing blazes.

One major fire, north of San Francisco, was fading and about 4,000 people in the town of Clearlake were allowed to return home.

Their relief was tempered by anger at a 40-year-old man authorities believe set the blaze that wiped out several blocks of the small town of Lower Lake over the weekend. That fire destroyed 175 homes and other structures in the working-class community.

Damin Pashilk is charged with 14 counts of arson in connection with 12 separate fires dating back to July 2015 and one count of attempted arson. He appeared in court on Wednesday but did not enter a plea.

Associated Press writers John Antczak, John Rogers, Robert Jablon and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles, Sudhin Thanawala in Lakeport, Kristin J. Bender in San Francisco and Don Thompson in Sacramento contributed to this report.
Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will travel to China for an official visit at the end of August aimed at boosting diplomatic and trade ties, his office announced Thursday.

The August 30 to September 6 trip will include stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong where Trudeau will meet with political and business leaders. His staff did not identify the people he will be meeting.

Trudeau will also travel to Hangzhou for the summit of leaders of the Group of 20 economic powers on September 4 and 5.

In addition, he will try to mingle with the "public at large" in China, likely posing for selfies with locals as he has done everywhere he has gone since being elected to Canada's highest office last year, according to his staff.

"On this trip, I will strive for a closer, more balanced relationship between Canada and China -- one that unlocks the untapped potential in our two countries' commercial ties, and advances important issues like good governance, the rule of law and the environment," Trudeau said in a statement.

The trip is being made at the invitation of Premier Li Keqiang.

It comes less than two months after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's berating of a Canadian reporter while visiting Ottawa provoked a public outcry and led Canada to lodge a formal complaint with Beijing.

A visibly irritated Wang Yi told a reporter during a news conference that she had "no right" to question Beijing's human rights record.

The reporter had asked Canada's foreign minister about what Canada was doing to pressure China over human rights and its holding of a Canadian man on espionage charges.

Despite an apparent eagerness on both sides to grow their trade relationship, Sino-Canadian ties have been strained by the detention of Canadian citizen Kevin Garratt in 2014 on espionage charges. He had run a Christian-themed coffee shop near the North Korean border.

According to Canadian government figures, China is Canada's second-largest trading partner after the United States, with exchanges topping Can$85 billion ($66.5 billion) last year.

Canada is also hoping to increase the number of Chinese students and tourists coming to the country.
Solar cell manufacturer Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ reported second-quarter earnings of 68 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 cents by a whopping 70%. Reported earnings also surged 119.4% from the year-ago tally of 31 cents.



Total Revenue



Canadian Solar posted second-quarter total revenue of $805.9 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $711 million by 13.3%. Revenues were also up 26.6% from $636.7 million reported in the prior-year quarter.



Of the total revenue, the American markets comprised 47.6%, Asia represented 39.5% and the European and other markets contributed 12.9%, compared with the respective year-ago contributions of 47.6%, 45.5% and 6.9%.



Operational Update



Solar module shipments in the reported quarter totaled 1,290 megawatts (MW), up 59.5% from the year-ago level of 809 MW. The figure also surpassed managements guidance range of 1,2001,250 MW.



Gross profit was $138.5 million, up 43.5% from the year-ago profit level of $96.5 million. Gross margin was 17.2% in the quarter, compared with 15.2% in the prior-year quarter.



Total operating expenses were $98.9 million in the quarter, up 54.4%. Operating expenses increased due to higher general and administrative expenses.



Selling expenses totaled $33.9 million in the reported quarter, up 5%. General and administrative expenses were $60.0 million, up 118.1%. Research and development expenses were $5.1 million, compared with $4.3 million a year ago.



Interest expenses were $11.9 million, down from the year-ago level of $12.9 million.

CANADIAN SOLAR Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

CANADIAN SOLAR Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | CANADIAN SOLAR Quote

Financial Update



As of Jun 30, 2016, cash and cash equivalents were $495.1 million, down from $553.1 million as of Dec 31, 2015.



Long-term debt as of Jun 30, 2016 was $828.5 million, up from $606.6 million as of Dec 31, 2015.



Guidance



For the third quarter of 2016, Canadian Solar expects shipments of 1,200 MW to 1,300 MW. Total revenue is expected in the range of $660 million to $710 million, with gross margin of 1416%.



For the full year, Canadian Solar reiterated its total module shipments expectation in the range of 5.45.5 gigawatts. Total revenue is still expected to be in the range of $3.0 billion to $3.2 billion.



Peer Releases



SolarCity Corp. SCTY, the largest U.S. rooftop solar installer, posted adjusted loss of $2.32 per share in the second quarter of 2016, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $2.43. However, the figure was much wider than the year-ago loss of $1.61, thanks to the companys rising expenses.



First Solar Inc. FSLR reported second-quarter 2016 earnings of 87 cents a share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 58 cents by 50%. The reported number also surged 67.3% from the prior-year figure of 52 cents on the back of higher sales and gross profits.



SunPower Corp. SPWR reported second-quarter 2016 adjusted loss of 33 cents per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 31 cents by 6.5%. In the year-ago quarter, the company had reported earnings of 9 cents.



Our Take



Canadian Solar is working on improving both module sales and the downstream energy business. The company has the potential to tap into the growing solar markets of Asia. As of Jun 30, 2016, Canadian Solar had late-stage projects totaling 121 megawatt-peak (MWp) in China and 576 MWp in Japan. Solar plants in operation totaled 218.0 MWp in China and 21.0 MWp in Japan.



Zacks Rank



Canadian Solar presently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).



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Theres a full moon rising tomorrow, Aug. 18, and it has a name. Known as the Sturgeon Moon, it marks the time when Native American tribes harvested those meaty, plentiful fish from Lake Champlain and the Great Lakes. According to Sea Grant Michigan, When European settlers arrived in the region, sturgeon were so numerous during the spring spawning run that they were reportedly capable of capsizing fishing boats.

Ill bet that wasnt just hyperbolic prose. Sturgeon are the biggest of the freshwater fishes, gargantuan compared with other freshwater species: The largest sturgeon, the endangered beluga of Eurasia, may reach a length of 24 feet and weigh more than 3,500 pounds. A North American lakerup to eight feet long and 300 poundsis no slouch either. Steering a boat through water roiling with them must have been a tricky business indeed.

Note the past tense. Sturgeon, which, like salmon, are an anadramous fish, are slow to reach reproductive maturity, and they spawn intermittently, so factors such as habitat loss in the rivers used as spawning and nursery grounds, disrupted migration routes due to dams and hypoxic zones, and poaching for caviar have led to depressing and all-too-predictable results.

Globally, there is no telling how many species of sturgeon have gone extinct in the past hundred years. Nor is there any certainty, exactly, as to how many species remain, writes Richard Adams Carey in The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar, and the Geography of Desire. Even molecular analysis of DNA sometimes yields you-pick-em results, but current estimates range from twenty-four to twenty-six species that are still around.

Today, a healthy population, like that of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Columbia River of the Pacific Northwest, is a rarity. In other words, one of the most legendary fishes on the planet is in a serious heap of trouble.

Its been on the planet for a long, long timesince the time of the dinosaurs, more than 200 million years ago. Its no surprise, then, that the sturgeon is often described as a living fossil. Along with a back armored with razor-sharp pointed plates called scutes and a shark-like asymmetrical tail, it boasts a rather jaunty upturned snout and a toothless mouth fringed with four tactile, dangling barbels that it uses to search for food, like a catfish. Its also no surprise that this primitive family of fishes is going the way of T. rex and company.

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Or not, if the aquaculture industry has anything to say about it.

Beginning in 1980, a group at the University of California at Davis, led by Russian emigre Serge Doroshov, developed a sturgeon hatchery system using wild fish from the Sacramento and Columbia Rivers for broodstock, writes Jay Harlow in the 1999 book West Coast Seafood. Today, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program lists six sturgeon species farmed in eco-friendly recirculating aquaculture systems in the United States and British Columbia as best choice. By the mid-1990s, Harlow adds, sturgeon farmers could devote some of the eggs to the production of caviar rather than baby sturgeon.

Caviar. Even if youve never seen the glistening, jam-like amalgam of eggs cured with salt, let alone tasted it, you likely have an opinion about it. For some, it reeks of old-world decadence, like peacock tongues, and thats the end of the matter (insert shudder here). For others, its simply an acquired taste not worth acquiring (fish eggs! expensive!). Then there are those who think its clean, marine flavor and wonderful mouthfeel make an occasion instantly memorable.

Notwithstanding the billion-dollar black market, Id like to think that most of the folks in that last group draw the line at the most highly prized caviar in the worldthat from beluga sturgeon from the Black and Caspian sea basins. After the fish was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started banning imports of beluga caviar and other beluga products the following year. The New York Times reported in September 2005 that beluga stocks, particularly in the Caspian, had declined by 90 percent in the previous 20 years.

Interestingly, beluga caviar is still listed on the website of renowned purveyor Petrossian, but more as a way of educating consumers, with an explanation of why it isnt availableand noting that although it is currently illegal in the U.S. through legitimate purveyorsthere are retailers who continue selling through black market operations and the sale of frozen caviar. Among Petrossians sustainable offerings are Tsar Imperial Transmontanus Caviar, from farm-raised white sturgeon native to California, and Royal Siberian Caviar, from Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) raised in Florida.

So the future of caviar, it seems, lies in sustainable, domestic aquaculture, and the best examples from farm-raised fish on the market today have the burst-in-the-mouth texture that connoisseurs dream about.

Robert Gardners American Caviar Company sells caviar from farm-raised sturgeon (including one from Americas first nonprofit aquaculture center) as well as caviar from wild hackleback sturgeon and paddlefish, a distant cousin of the sturgeon that is found in the MississippiMissouri River complex.

The rainbow trout caviar produced by Sunburst Trout Farms, in Canton, North Carolina, has a concentrated yet gentle flavor, and salmon roe, which typically comes from wild Alaskan fish, is another sustainable choice. Even crisp-textured Japanese tobiko (flying fish roe), a common topping for sushi, makes a great garnish. Theres no need for twee spoons or to otherwise stand on ceremony. Warm some good-quality potato chips in a 350-degree oven, top with a dab of creme fraiche and a little roe or caviar, and celebrate something.

Take the Pledge: Help Protect Marine Habitats From Illegal and Unregulated Fishing

Related stories on TakePart:





 Even as Fish Stocks Decline, the World Eats More Seafood Than Ever

 Its Time to Throw Some Sustainable Seafood on the Grill

 Fishy Data: Countries Are Catching Far More Seafood Than They Claim

Original article from TakePart
Join Simran Rastogi and Dhruv Paliwal, as they embark on this breath-taking drive in a special Maruti Suzuki Ertiga to explore the many wonders of our beautiful country.

The Seven Wonder Drive is all about connecting the different wonders of India and presenting it to you in a never seen-before way.

By Dhruv Paliwal: India, a land of infinite wonders, has always attracted people from all around the world to visit the vast beauty the country has to offer. Over the years, the number of people travelling to India has increased from hundreds to thousands to lakhs. But what makes India so special that it is on most of the travellers bucket-list?

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The Seven Wonder Drive is all about connecting the different wonders of India and presenting it to you in a never seen-before way. Join Simran Rastogi and Dhruv Paliwal from the Auto Today team, as they embark on this breath-taking drive in a special Maruti Suzuki Ertiga to explore the many wonders of our beautiful country.

We start off on our quest to explore the Seven Wonders of India in a very special Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, which will be our best friend for the entire period of the drive.

Day 1

We start off on our quest to explore the Seven Wonders of India in a very special Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, which will be our best friend for the entire period of the drive.



On the 7 Wonder Drive, we will be visiting the 7 Wonders of India in a @Maruti_Corp Ertiga pic.twitter.com/HcGiWV7REw AUTO TODAY (@AUTOTODAYMAG) August 17, 2016

The starting point for this drive is the India Today Mediaplex in Noida. Getting out of the famous Film City in sector 16A, Noida, we head straight for the Yamuna Expressway, towards our first wonder. Any guesses on our first destination?



When you go out on a mega-drive like this, the most important part is the middle or towards the end. The Seven Wonder Drive is a little different, as the most important wonder is the one we hit on Day 1, the stunning Taj Mahal in Agra.

The Seven Wonder Drive is a little different, as the most important wonder is the one we hit on Day 1, the stunning Taj Mahal in Agra. The Seven Wonder Drive is a little different, as the most important wonder is the one we hit on Day 1, the stunning Taj Mahal in Agra.

Now this drive is about the seven wonders of India, but out of the seven, the Taj Mahal is the only one that can lay claim to being counted among the seven wonders of the world. The Ertiga gobbled up the Yamuna Expressway with ease.

Reaching the Taj Mahal was no difficult task, as the road leading up to Agra, was surprisingly free of traffic. But, we faced a little trouble finding the perfect spot for our photographer to do his thing, as numerous cars stopped a little before the Taj for the same purpose as us. But, we did manage to click some memorable shots of this wonderful construction, which is a blend of traditional Persian and Mughal architecture.

No visit to Agra is complete without pethas. We recommend the amazingly refreshing pan-flavoured petha. No visit to Agra is complete without pethas. We recommend the amazingly refreshing pan-flavoured petha.

Also not to miss in Agra, Lal Qila built by Mughal Emperor Akbar as a military fortress in late 1500s #WondErtiga pic.twitter.com/zTMBtdV4ME AUTO TODAY (@AUTOTODAYMAG) August 17, 2016

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After a few hours of getting immersed in the Mughal era, it was time to hit the road again. I took over the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga from Simran, and we headed for Kanpur, our stop-over for the night. As the moon loomed over us, we gunned the Ertiga and managed to reach Kanpur a little before 11pm. Good roads on NH19 helped us to maintain a healthy average speed of 70 kmph, although we could have done better.

After recharging our fuels and also the Ertiga's at Kanpur, we head to our next destination in this Seven Wonder Drive with Maruti Suzuki Ertiga.

After recharging our fuels and also the Ertiga's at Kanpur, we head to our next destination in this Seven Wonder Drive with Maruti Suzuki Ertiga.

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Keep reading for Day 2.

Follow Auto Today on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to get all the live action as we explore India as never before.

Also follow the #7WondersDrive on Twitter to know about our journey.



--- ENDS ---
* Forint, zloty rebound from 2-week low vs euro on Fed minutes * Bond yields retreat as U.S. rate hike expectation weakens * Hungary, Romania hold bond auctions, good demand is seen * Warsaw bucks global equities rebound, bank stocks, KGHM fall By Sandor Peto BUDAPEST, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Central European currencies rebounded from multi-week lows and Hungary's and Romania's bond auctions were seen drawing healthy demand on Thursday as U.S. rate hike expectations have receded.

Hawkish comments from two Federal Reserve rate setters knocked down assets in the European Union's emerging markets in the previous session.

But the minutes of the Fed's latest meeting, published after European markets closed, showed that the Fed is unlikely to hike its rates soon and make high-yielding emerging market assets in Central Europe relatively less attractive.

The leu rebounded from a 4-week low against the euro, the forint and the zloty were off two-week lows and the dinar off a one-week low.

The Hungarian and the Polish currencies firmed by 0.3 percent by 0750 GMT, the leu gained 0.2 percent and the dinar 0.1 percent.

Poland's 10-year bond yield was down 6 basis points from Wednesday's high, at 2.7 percent, following a 16 basis points rise from 8-and-1/2-month lows touched late last week.

Investors will watch later in the session to see if July Polish industrial output and retail sales figures, due at 1200 GMT, add fuel to speculation that the Polish central bank could resume monetary easing. Weak figures could soften the zloty and lift bonds, analysts have said.

Hungary's less volatile bonds yields were also lower by a few basis points from Wednesday's fixing, with 5-year bonds trading at 1.88 percent, down 4 basis points.

The positive mood signalled that Hungary's auction of 3-, 5- and 10-year bonds will attract good demand, one Budapest based trader said. Yield often rise ahead of auctions as investors position to reach lower prices in the primary sale.

Story continues

"Good sentiment remains... The auction could see average yields near the current secondary market offers," one Budapest-based fixed income trader said.

The auction results are due at 0930 GMT.

Romania will also auction 5-year bonds on Thursday.

Stock indices were mixed in the region and gainers lagged behind a rebound in Frankfurt and London.

Warsaw's bluechip index fell half a percent, dragged down mainly by bank stocks: PKO BP shed 1.4 percent, Pekao 0.6 percent and BZ WBK shed 1.4 percent.

KGHM shares fell 0.9 percent after the copper producer reported a bigger than expected fall in net profit in the first half of 2016 on the back of losses on its foreign assets driven by rising costs and falling copper prices.

CEE SNAPSHO AT 0950 CET MARKETS T CURRENCIES Latest Previous Daily Change bid close change in 2016 Czech Hungary 0 % Polish % Romanian % Croatian Serbian 0 % Note: calculat previou close at 1800 daily ed from s CET change STOCKS Latest Previous Daily Change close change in 2016 Prague 855.71 850.80 +0.58 -10.52 % % Budapest 27755.4 27790.97 -0.13% +16.0 8 3% Warsaw 1817.48 1824.40 -0.38% -2.24% Buchares 6866.50 6866.19 +0.05 -1.97% t % Ljubljan % Zagreb 1792.45 1789.03 +0.19 +6.09 % % Belgrade Sofia 468.59 467.91 +0.15 +1.67 % % BONDS Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs change Bund in Czech spread Republic 2-year ps 5-year ps ps Poland 2-year ps 5-year ps ps FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interb ank Czech 0.29 0.25 0.21 0 Rep (PRIBOR= ) Hungary 0.73 0.7 0.72 0.84 Poland 1.615 1.565 1.545 1.71 Note: are for FRA ask quotes prices ***************************************************** ********* (Reporting by Sandor Peto; Editing by Keith Weir)
Chad Johnson came and went quickly on Bachelor in Paradise, but his debut was perhaps the most notorious in not just Bachelor Nation, but all of reality TV history. Chad got very drunk, and according to the show, defecated in his pants. This is something the infamous villain has denied on social media (blaming editing, of course), but Johnson's Bachelorette pal and fellow BIP cast member, Daniel Maguire, says the mess did indeed happen.

When ET chatted with Maguire (aka 'The Canadian') on Wednesday, he said he didn't hear about Johnson's issue in his shorts until a few days after it happened. "I thought they were joking!" he shared.

"[That night] was worse in person, because this was going on for hours," Maguire recalled. "It was pretty bad, you know, and people were getting kind of worried."

Once workout buddies on The Bachelorette, Johnson and Maguire now haven't spoken since the show's Men Tell All taping, when they argued during commercial breaks. "I guess [Chad is] a little sensitive sometimes," he noted. "But if he wants to say hello I'm here." Maguire said he doesn't think Chad  whose mother died just months before he went on The Bachelorette -- is at a good place in his life for reality TV right now. Despite a plea to be the next Bachelor, Johnson told me it's not happening.

WATCH: Chad Johnson Says He Won't Be the Next 'Bachelor,' But Here's Who He Thinks Will

So, who will take on the role? Per the show's formula, it will be another of Maguire's fellow contestants from JoJo Fletcher's season. Luke Pell and Chase McNary are in the running. "If I had a guess, it's probably going to be Luke, because it looked like he really got heartbroken," he pointed out. "Everyone seems to love him. He seems like a great guy, he's just that typical 'Bachelor dude.' It's like, come on, you might as well put the TV on mute because it's going to be boring, to be honest. I'd rather watch Chad be the Bachelor than Luke!'

Story continues

But back in Paradise, there's plenty of drama left to be seen. Josh Murray's motives on the show have been questioned. "I don't know if I can trust [Josh] or not," Maguire said. "I don't know what to believe." Murray has quickly paired off with Amanda Stanton. Maguire said their make-out sessions were just as obnoxious in person as they seem on the show, but revealed that no one ever calls the two out on their PDA. "Everyone's pretty laid back, everyone's kind of holding it in," he added.

Another storyline: Evan Bass' alleged medical emergency this week. Fans (and Bass' love interest, Carly Waddell) wondered if he'd faked an illness for attention. "It's a smart move, kind of sneaky," Maguire said. "He used to work in the medical field, and so he's comfortable being in hospitals and ambulances and that sort of thing. So he's probably like, why not  let's go!"

Bachelor in Paradise airs Mondays and Tuesdays on ABC.

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The 11.3% visitor arrivals growth isnt spurring spending.

Most Singapore retailers suffered through lowif not negativeYoY growth in footfall and sales in the second quarter of 2016, but it remains unclear if this is an omen or just a false alarm, according to analysts.

DBS noted in a report that while it is too early to conclude that this could spark further weakness going forward, Orchard Road focused malls may be battered by headwinds given the 11.3% YoY spike in visitor arrivals does not seem to spur spending for malls like Vivocity and Wisma Atria and Paragon.

DPU growths also fell to low single digits in Q2, while occupancy rate managed to hover above 90% though there was greater dispersion between retail malls.

Its not all bad news, though, as many Singapore retail REITs have been taking advantage of the soft environment as a chance to refresh their offerings by introducing new brands and concepts. Major developments have also kicked offfor instance, asset enhancement initiative works at Northpoint (FCT) commenced in March, and the redevelopment of Funan started in July.

Looking ahead, rental reversions are likely to stay flat to low, as managers aim for tenant retention. DBS noted this is on back of increased vacancy rates across selected malls (especially in Central Singapore) likely providing tenants more bargaining power.





More From Singapore Business Review


As if the multi-party war in Syria werent complicated enough, it now appears that the Peoples Republic of China has decided to take a more active role in the conflict, providing increased humanitarian assistance and possibly military training to Syrian forces, according to Chinas state-run media outlet Xinhua.

Chinas announcement that it is increasing its commitment to the Assad regime comes just a day after Russia announced that it had launched strikes against ISIS from an airbase inside the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Related: You Wont Believe Where Putin Is Building a Military Base in Syria

Combined, these two events create a major foreign policy conundrum for the Obama administration, as three of the countries most resistant to the US on the global stage appear to be teaming up against a non-state actor that has frustrated the US for years.

At first glance, it might seem like a lucky break for the US that three of its adversaries are combining to challenge a fourth. However, the problem is that they are doing so in support of a Syrian regime that has brutally repressed a popular uprising through indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations, torture, and the use of banned chemical weapons, a regime that Obama has said must be removed.

The Xinhua report said that Guan Youfei, director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China's Central Military Commission, met Syrian Defense Minister Fahad Jassim al-Freij to discuss expanding a relationship that has so far been more low-key.

China and Syria's militaries have a traditionally friendly relationship, and China's military is willing to keep strengthening exchanges and cooperation with Syria's military," Guan said, according to Xinhua.

Related: Kerry Hopes to Work With Russia on Syria

A decision by China to increase its involvement in Syria would necessarily require closer cooperation between Beijing and Moscow, because Russian forces have been in Syria propping up the regime of Bashar al-Assad for nearly a year now, mainly through air and naval power.

Story continues

In a three-way war, Assad is fighting rebel groups that oppose his increasingly brutal regime at the same time that he is fighting the terror group ISIS, which holds territory in Syria. Some of the rebel groups fighting Assad are simultaneously fighting ISIS.

Iran, where Shia Islam dominates, is a dedicated foe of ISIS, a terror group that holds that Sunni Islam is the only true form of the religion. ISIS holds that all Shia are apostates worthy of death if they refuse to convert.

Russias state-controlled media immediately jumped on the possibility that Chinas increased involvement in the conflict suggested a new alliance.

China to Play Greater Role in Syria While US Left Out, trumpeted RT.com. The Kremlin-backed site added, Are we seeing the start of a new anti-Islamic State coalition with Russia, Iran and Chinas involvement in Syria? How could it influence the balance of power in the region? What reaction could be expected from the West, particularly from the countries involved in Syria?

Related: Russia and the US Look for a Way to Cool Down Syria

Immediate reaction from the White House seems unlikely, but the same doesnt go for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has been a frequent critic of the Obama administrations policies in the Middle East.

However, the Trump campaigns path on this question isnt obvious, either. Trump has spent much of his time on the campaign trail calling for the US to cooperate with Russia in the battle against ISIS. But he has also repeatedly attacked the Iranian regime and has made criticism of the Chinese government a standard talking point on the stump.

Complicating matters further is a spate of news stories suggesting that Trumps campaign chair, Paul Manafort, has been a paid advocate of a Russia-friendly political party in Ukraine, whose leader was overthrown in a popular uprising in 2014. Among the allegations leveled against Manafort is that he organized protests against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization -- something that could be seen as working against the interests of the US, which is a member of the NATO alliance.

The Trump campaign, meanwhile, is in a state of turmoil after a major staff shakeup was announced Tuesday night.

All told, it might be for the best if neither the White House nor the Trump campaign responds to the latest news out of Syria in a hurry.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
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BEIJING, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Average new home prices in China's 70 major cities rose 7.9 percent in July from a year earlier, an official survey showed on Thursday.

That compared with a 7.3 percent increase in June.

Home prices in Shenzhen and Xiamen had the biggest surge, rising 40.9 percent and 39.2 percent, respectively, from a year ago.

The booming property market has been a key driver of China's economic growth in the first half of the year as weak demand at home and abroad continue to take a toll on trade and investment.

But concerns are growing that the property rebound may be coming to an end as local governments tighten restrictions on home purchases to cool sharp price rises, which are sparking fears of asset bubbles.

(Reporting by Yawen Chen and Kevin Yao; Editing by Kim Coghill)
Chinas One Belt, One Road (OBOR) intercontinental trade and infrastructure project must bring real benefits to participant nations, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday, as his seminal foreign policy initiative faces mounting challenges.

Xi told a meeting in Beijing that more than 100 countries and international organizations have so far signed up to OBOR, which is touted as a revival of the iconic land and maritime Silk Road via a trade-and-infrastructure network spanning East Asia to Western Europe and south through Africa.

The progress and results of the Belt and Road Initiative have been greater than expected, Chinas state newswire Xinhua quoted Xi as saying. The Chinese President has traveled extensively over Central Asia and Eastern Europe in recent months to champion the benefits of OBOR.

However, that message has been tricky to sell. OBOR covers over half of the global population, three-quarters of its energy resources and 40% of GDP, yet, crucially, geoeconomic fundamentals have shifted since its unveiling in 2013. Infrastructure routes through resource-rich central Asia were proposed at a time when raw commodity prices were high, but given todays historic lows, the economic viability of such projects has suffered. Plus there is the added problem of Chinas own economic plateau.

Read More: These 5 Facts Explain Chinas Coming Challenges

The unbalanced economic development of countries along One Belt, One Road is the main challenge, says Xu Fengxian, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. These countries are opening to different degrees, and have different import-export trade and political situations.

Compounding matters, these once freely navigable trade routes, trodden since the expeditions of Marco Polo in the 13th century, are now slashed by festering conflicts  most notably in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Burma (officially now Myanmar), Ukraine and large swaths of the Middle East. Chinas own westernmost region of Xinjiang is also prone to outbreaks of strife.

Story continues

How China and Pakistan set about securitizing the China-Pakistan economic corridor will in particular be a litmus test for the viability of the Belt and Road Initiative, says Alexander Neill, Shangri-La Dialogue senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore.

Despite these challenges, Xis propaganda train hasnt slowed. Every day Chinese newspapers teem with dozens of articles exalting the myriad benefits of OBOR. Academics frequently cite OBOR on research proposals, cognizant that any association will radically boost their chances of approval. The OBOR official website is on a recruitment drive ahead of its launch in October.

Read More: New Silk Road Could Change Global Economics Forever

However, it is overseas where marketing OBOR needs to be improved. There has been a perception that OBOR is simply about China throwing cash around the region. However, its actually supposed to be an inclusive project and Beijing wants international investors to get involved, says Neill. Its not just about countries sitting back and waiting for China to arrive with investment plans and loans.

Geopolitically, OBOR is seen as a rival to the Washington-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade pact, which Beijing has opted not to join. And one of the principle benefits of OBOR is conflict avoidance with U.S. interests, given the Obama Administrations rebalancing to Asia.

Yet convincing Chinas neighbors of the benefits has proved problematic. Although Russia  nearing international pariah status since its annexation of the Crimea  recently inked a $6.2 billion high-speed rail deal, many countries remaining wary. In March, the Thai government shunned proposed Chinese financing for a $15 billion railway project and opted to pay for a less ambitious rail network itself. A similar $5.1 billion joint venture with state-run Indonesian enterprises has suffered from technical problems and mounting costs, reports the Jakarta Post.

Its fizzled a bit and hasnt lifted off as they would have hoped, and a lot of that is to do with the message they are delivering abroad, said Neill. Some target countries felt a bit like deer in headlamps.

Beijings overlapping disputes in the South and East China Seas may also be galvanizing suspicions that OBOR is a Trojan horse for extending its geopolitical clout, and dumping excess capacity abroad as its economy flags. As such, peacefully resolving these territorial quarrels and building political capital will take on new impetus for the Xi administration. Beijing has already launched a charm offensive with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Disputes in the South China Sea jeopardize the regional shipping and resource development, adds Xu. The problem should be solved among the countries near South China Sea. We need to reach a consensus on this issue.

 With reporting by Yang Siqi / Beijing
By Cyril Altmeyer

PARIS (Reuters) - Ingenico Group has signed a deal with Alipay, China's biggest online-payments platform, that will allow Chinese consumers to use the mobile payment app widely across Europe, the French company said on Thursday.

The agreement, signed on Wednesday, marks an opportunity for Alipay, a unit of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, to deepen its mobile-payment push into Europe.

"With this partnership, Aliplay will be embedded into Ingenico's in-store payment gateway," Ingenico said in a statement.

Alipay boasts over 450 million active users, while Ingenico processed more than 3.5 billion transaction in 2015. China's 10 million visitors to Europe in 2014 represented a total purchasing power of $21 billion, Ingenico said.

Jacques Behr, Ingenico's head of Europe and Africa, described the partnership as a "must have" but declined to quantify Ingenico's expected additional revenue.

"It's a bit like not offering air conditioning in a car. If you're a serious player in the world of payments you cannot say 'No, I won't do that, it doesn't interest me'."

Behr said he also expected Ingenico to benefit from Alipay's ambitions in Africa, where payments are frequently made on mobile platforms such as Kenya's M-pesa.

Ingenico already has a presence in China after buying terminal supplier Landi in 2008. A quarter of its staff is employed in China.

The next phase for Ingenico in China would be to focus on managing transactions made by Chinese traders using its terminals, Behr said.

In May 2015, the group sold a 20 percent stake in its holding company Ingenico Holdings Asia Ltd to Chinese investment fund Fosun in order to accelerate its growth strategy in the country.

In December, Alipay and Wirecard AG agreed to a deal to provide mobile phone payment services for Chinese tourists visiting Europe.

(Writing by Richard Lough; editing by Michel Rose and Subhranshu Sahu)
By Cyril Altmeyer PARIS (Reuters) - Ingenico Group has signed a deal with Alipay, China's biggest online-payments platform, that will allow Chinese consumers to use the mobile payment app widely across Europe, the French company said on Thursday. The agreement, signed on Wednesday, marks an opportunity for Alipay, a unit of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, to deepen its mobile-payment push into Europe. "With this partnership, Aliplay will be embedded into Ingenico's in-store payment gateway," Ingenico said in a statement. Alipay boasts over 450 million active users, while Ingenico processed more than 3.5 billion transaction in 2015. China's 10 million visitors to Europe in 2014 represented a total purchasing power of $21 billion, Ingenico said. Jacques Behr, Ingenico's head of Europe and Africa, described the partnership as a "must have" but declined to quantify Ingenico's expected additional revenue. "It's a bit like not offering air conditioning in a car. If you're a serious player in the world of payments you cannot say 'No, I won't do that, it doesn't interest me'." Behr said he also expected Ingenico to benefit from Alipay's ambitions in Africa, where payments are frequently made on mobile platforms such as Kenya's M-pesa. Ingenico already has a presence in China after buying terminal supplier Landi in 2008. A quarter of its staff is employed in China. The next phase for Ingenico in China would be to focus on managing transactions made by Chinese traders using its terminals, Behr said. In May 2015, the group sold a 20 percent stake in its holding company Ingenico Holdings Asia Ltd to Chinese investment fund Fosun in order to accelerate its growth strategy in the country. In December, Alipay and Wirecard AG agreed to a deal to provide mobile phone payment services for Chinese tourists visiting Europe. (Writing by Richard Lough; editing by Michel Rose and Subhranshu Sahu)
By PTI: Panaji, Aug 18 (PTI) Goa Assembly Deputy Speaker Vishnu Wagh was today shifted to a Mumbai hospital from Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) as his condition continues to be critical.

Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar told reporters here that Wagh was shifted to Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai by a special air ambulance at 8.05 PM today from GMCH.

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The Chief Minister, who was present during shifting of the legislator, said Wagh was accompanied by doctors from both GMHC and the Hinduja hospital.

Wagh, a journalist-turned-politician, was admitted to GMCH on August 15 after he complained of uneasiness.

"The MLA was diagnosed with high blood pressure and sugar when he was brought to the hospital," GMCH Dean Pradip Naik had said earlier in the day.

Since then he remained on ventilator at Cardiac Care Unit of the hospital, Naik had said.

Naik said the MLA was shifted to the Hinduja hospital upon request of his family. PTI RPS NRB RG

--- ENDS ---
Septembers Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting, a yearly gathering of world leaders, non-profit officials and celebrities, will be its last, a spokesman confirmed on Thursday.

The foundation also will not accept foreign and corporate donations if Hillary Clinton is elected president, according to the Associated Press and a spokesman for the organization.

Bill Clinton, who is resigning from the board, made the announcement at a meeting with staffers on Thursday afternoon, according a source. Hillary Clinton is not expected to attend this years Global Initiative, which is being held from Sept. 19-21. It has coincided with the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The event was started in 2005 as a way to try to implement meaningful solutions to world problems such as climate change, world hunger and poverty. Participants at the gathering make commitments that the foundation says has improved the lives of 430 million people.

Hollywood figures such as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have spoken at the initiative through the years, often to discuss their philanthropic work.

Hillary Clinton stepped down from the board of the foundation when she launched her presidential bid, but foreign donations to the foundation have come under scrutiny and have been the target of attacks from her opponents.

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By Mark Hosenball, Dustin Volz and John Walcott WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bill and Hillary Clinton's charitable foundation hired the security firm FireEye to examine its data systems after seeing indications they might have been hacked, according to two sources familiar with the matter. So far, no message or document hacked from the New York-based Clinton Foundation has surfaced in public, the sources said. One of the sources and two U.S. security officials said that like hackers who targeted the Democratic National Committee, Hillary Clintons presidential campaign and the Democrats' congressional fundraising committee, the hackers appear to have used spear phishing techniques to gain access to the foundation's network. These techniques include creating bogus emails or websites in an effort to gain access to Clinton Foundation staffers emails and then to the foundation itself. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the U.S. officials said the hackers used the same techniques Russian intelligence agencies or their proxies employed against the Democratic Party groups, which suggests that Russians also attacked the foundation. Kremlin officials dismissed as absurd the allegations of Moscow's involvement, which were made last month amid political party nominating conventions for the Nov. 8 election. Neither former White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, the Clinton Foundations principal lawyer, nor a spokeswoman for the foundation responded to requests for comment on the hacking and the precautions the organization has taken. Officials with FireEye said the company could not discuss its clients. Although no documents have emerged, the attacks have left some Democrats and Clinton campaign officials worried that the hackers might have obtained emails and voice messages that could be used to reinforce Republican charges that donors to the Clinton Foundation were rewarded with access to Clinton and her aides while she was secretary of state or to her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Another concern: hackers or outlets such as the anti-secrecy WikiLeaks website could release documents and emails damaging to her presidential campaign, several people familiar with the foundation's activities said. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee convened a closed-door meeting on Wednesday to discuss best cyber security practices. The meeting, according to people familiar with it, included a recommendation that staff and lawmakers change their phone numbers and email addresses if that information was published online by hackers believed to be working for or with Russian intelligence agencies. One of the U.S. officials said, however, that the spear phishing pattern used against several organizations, appears to reinforce the intelligence community's "preliminary assessment" that the attacks were intended more for espionage than for trying to influence the U.S. presidential election. So far, said a third U.S. official familiar with the attacks, there is no evidence that the hackers were able to follow any of the hacked emails into the State Department's classified email systems. Anxiety in Washington over the possibility that a foreign power might be using hacked information to meddle in the U.S. election has prompted some Democrats and cyber security experts to urge the Obama administration to blame Russia publicly. Rep. Jim Himes, a Democrat on the House of Representatives intelligence committee, said the United States should carry "a big stick" in cyber security matters. "The U.S. government needs to be very clear, very direct, and hold these people accountable." Current and former White House and intelligence officials said the Obama administration is unlikely to blame Russia publicly, given the difficulty of attributing the attacks without revealing American sources and methods, the geopolitical concerns at play, and a fear that doing so could risk aggravating cyber conflict. (Reporting by Mark Hosenball, Joe Menn, Dustin Volz and John Walcott; Editing by John Walcott and Grant McCool)
18 Aug - Cloie Syquia Skarne has been working hard and is determined to win in the upcoming Miss Sweden Universe, and that is by training with the Filipino pageant team.



As reported on ABS-CBN News, the 22-year-old daughter of actor Gabby Concepcion and ex-wife Jenny Syquia has recently returned to his father's home country in the Philippines for her pageant training with the same team that helped Pia Wurtzbach win the Miss Universe crown.



"There are really good trainers here. I think that could really help me win the Miss Universe Sweden pageant," said Skarne, who would be competing against Philippine-bet, Maxine Medina, if she wins the pageant.



When asked about the training that she has been undergoing, Skarne stated that she has been learning how to walk and talk like a beauty queen and admitted that she didn't have any basic training before the pageant.



"I'm just learning all the basics that I need," she said.



Skarne is also looking forward to returning to the Philippines again if she gets the crown, saying that the Philippines is still close to her heart.



(Photo source: instagram.com/mjfelipe)
CNN is wasting no time taking advantage of the Federal Aviation Administration's new rules on commercial drone use.

The cable news network is launching a drone division this week, comprising a new unmanned aerial vehicle and two dedicated staff members, to assist in news-gathering efforts.

"CNN will have a designated Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) unit with two full-time UAS operators to fully integrate aerial imagery and reporting across all CNN networks and platforms, along with Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner entities," the company said in a statement released Thursday.

This isn't the first time the network has used drones to augment their reporting. The Republican and Democratic nominating conventions, Louisiana flood sites and Flint, Michigan, water contamination zones all had drones contracted by CNN flying overhead. But the Atlanta-based cable channel thinks the technology is worth a long-term investment.

"In 2015, CNN was selected by the FAA as one of the first three industry 'Pathfinders' to develop safe uses of UAS in news gathering," the statement said. "CNN has shared data and research that has helped formulate a framework for various types of UAS to be safely integrated into the national air space and continues to work to expand the safe and legal operation of UAS in news gathering."

The FAA issued new rules for drones in June that went into effect this week. The rules pertain to drones weighing fewer than 55 pounds and conducting non-hobbyist operations, which means they're of particular importance to the film and television industries.

The rules specify that drones must be kept within the line of sight of their operators, a significant creative limitation. Drones have to have anti-collision lights. Flying over people is still not allowed.

The photographic possibilities afforded by the new technology continue to excite filmmakers and documentarians.

"You're seeing drone camera work get more and more common because it's so affordable," Max Bohichik, a commercial and music video director, told The Hollywood Reporter. "But who knows, this might make it less special over time."

A CNN rep told THR that further regulations are expected this month.
Matt Null, a CNN senior producer and a former Fox News producer, died on Monday while vacationing with friends in Barcelona. He was 34.

Null had been worked on CNNs Early Start for more than three years. The morning shows anchor, Christine Romans, shared the news with viewers on Wednesday.

It is with a heavy heart that we report tragic news of one of our own this morning, Romans said, holding back tears. A cause of death has not been revealed.

Romans described Null as an exceptional producer who was a rising star here at CNN.

He is literally the voice in our head every morning. When terrible things happen around the world, he is the one who brings it to you with calm and fairness, she added. He is someone who really made a difference in the world through his job.

Before joining the CNN team, he worked as a producer for Fox News Channels On the Record With Greta Van Susteren, beginning in in 2012.

Van Susteren also discussed Null on-air, saying the news of his death stopped me in my tracks.

Null worked his way up the producing ranks of local TV news stations  at WKBN in Youngstown, Ohio; WFTS in Tampa; WSVN in Miami; and KRON in San Francisco  before transitioning to network news. He got his start in the industry as a reporter at KTVO Kirksville, Mo., after graduating from Truman State University.

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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Africa's biggest Coke bottler, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, will rethink its spending plans in South Africa if Pretoria's proposed tax on sugary drinks gets the green light, a spokeswoman said on Thursday. In a bid to fight a growing obesity rate in the continent's most lucrative market for Coca-Cola and fast-food chains in sub-Saharan Africa, the government has proposed a 20 percent tax on sugar sweetened drinks under a plan that has delighted health campaigners and angered drink makers. Coca-Cola Beverages Africa was created earlier this year through a combination of SABMiller and Coca-Cola African soft drink operations. The deal won an anti-trust go-ahead on several conditions that included a commitment to spend 800 million rand to develop farmers and retailers. "It is not what the company is wanting to do but when you look at the impact the tax would have, we will have relook at some investment commitments we have made," said Coca-Cola southern African spokeswoman Vukani Magubane. The proposed levy, which was first announced by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in February, is expected to be implemented this year. Last month, the Treasury has asked the public submit comments on the proposal by Aug. 22. It has already received endorsement from lobby group Public Health Association of South Africa, saying it was a cheaper intervention measure to fight obesity-linked diseases such as diabetes. More than half of South Africa's adults are overweight, with 42 percent of women and 13 percent of men obese, according to National Treasury data. Sub-Sahara's most industrialised economy also has its most overweight population, the figures show. A local soft drinks industry body, Beverage Association of South Africa, has already dismissed the proposed tax as "discriminatory" and warned it could lead to job losses. The industry employs about 200,000 people. Britain on Thursday launched a strategy to tax companies selling sugary soft drinks, joining Belgium, France, Hungary and Mexico, all of which have imposed some form of tax on drinks with added sugar. Scandinavian countries have levied similar taxes for many years. (Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng, editing by David Evans)
Seoul (AFP) - One year after North and South Korea vowed to resume a constructive dialogue, they have instead resurrected a spirit of Cold War-era antagonism, complete with cross-border propaganda shouting matches, spy messaging and defection dramas.

Official contact between the two Koreas has never been easy, but the current situation, with all official lines of communication severed and a host of flash-point issues raising tensions, appears to be particularly volatile and fraught with risk.

"The relations between North and South Korea have never been as tense as they are now since the Cold War period of the 1970s", said professor Kim Yong-Hyun, a North Korean expert at Dongguk University.

High-profile defections are suddenly back in vogue, with the North Korean deputy ambassador to Britain, Thae Yong-Ho, handing Seoul a propaganda coup this week by defecting to South Korea with his family.

Although Thae's motives were probably as much personal as ideological -- he has two children, one of school age -- South Korean officials attributed his decision to a straightforward choice between good and evil.

On his reasons for defecting, Thae "cited disgust with (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-Un's regime and admiration for South Korea's free, democratic system," said Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee.

- Communications cut -

This sort of old-school diplomatic baiting has become increasingly common at a time of almost zero cross-border contact.

As tensions rose in the wake of North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January, Pyongyang shut down the two existing hotlines with South Korea -- one used by the military and one for government-to-government communications.

And last month it severed its only direct communications link with the United States when it shut down the so-called "New York channel" which had previously served as a key point of contact between North Korean and US diplomats at the United Nations.

Story continues

"The total absence of channels for dialogue between the two Koreas as well as between Pyongyang and Washington is a real cause for concern," Kim Yong-Hyun said.

Inter-Korean communication has now gone back to the basics, with both sides effectively reduced to shouting across the heavily militarised border.

Banks of loudspeakers have been dusted off and brought up to the frontlines, blasting music and propaganda messages into each other's territory.

In another nod to Cold War methodology, North Korea appears to have resumed the transmission of coded messages over state radio -- presumably meant for spies operating in the South.

The short-wave transmissions -- the first of their type for around 20 years -- were picked up by the South's intelligence agency in mid-June and comprised a female announcer reading long lists of numbers for several minutes.

- False starts -

It wasn't meant to be this way.

In August last year, a top North Korean negotiator was trumpeting a "dramatic turning point" for inter-Korean relations after the two sides agreed to defuse a crisis that had pushed them to the brink of an armed conflict.

The accord, which the lead South Korean negotiator also hailed as providing a "new momentum" for cross-border cooperation, included a commitment to resuming a regular, high-level dialogue.

But just two weeks later, the two sides were back in familiar territory, trading insults and accusations of insincerity.

They did finally manage to hold vice-ministerial talks in December, but the discussions went nowhere and the prospect of further dialogue was then wiped out for good by the North's nuclear test the following month.

The strong international reaction to the test emboldened the South to take a hard line and match the Norths brinkmanship, instead of turning the other cheek as it had often done in the past

The diplomatic fallout was toxic enough to kill off the sole remaining North-South cooperation project -- the Kaesong joint industrial zone, which had managed to ride out pretty much every inter-Korean crisis thrown up since it opened for business in 2004.

"Inter-Korean peace-time relations are really at their worst... with trade, and exchanges of people and dialogue all severed," said Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies.

- Flashpoints -

The North's state media, meanwhile, has become a vehicle for abusing South Korean President Park Geun-Hye -- often employing coarse and highly sexist language.

Tensions are expected to spike again next week when South Korea and the US kick off a joint military exercise involving tens of thousands of troops.

The two week-long Ulchi Freedom drill is one of a number of annual exercises viewed as provocative rehearsals for invasion by Pyongyang, which often test fires missiles in a mark of protest.

Yang said the North might opt for a low-key response this time around so as to avoid undermining a Cold War-flavoured stand-off that has built up over South Korea's recent decision to deploy a sophisticated US anti-missile system on its territory.

While Seoul and Washington insist the deployment is purely defensive in nature, it has been sharply criticised by Beijing and Moscow.
Now this is some classy in-flight entertainment.

A group of students from Lee University Campus Choir, based in Cleveland, Tennessee, were aboard a Delta flight when they broke out into a beautiful rendition of the hymn "I Love You, Lord."

Read: Husband Surprises Multiple Sclerosis-Stricken Wife With Flash Mob Show for 10th Anniversary

Footage taken aboard the plane shows the 55 students captivating other passengers while their conductor instructs them from the middle of a row of seats.

"Everybody was clapping," Johnna Phillips, co-director of the choir, told InsideEdition.com Thursday. "They loved it."

The group was flying from Atlanta to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands as part of a ministry trip, and they were wearing matching t-shirts at the time, Phillips said.

One of the flight attendants noticed the shirts and asked if they could sing. The choir didn't even flinch.

They'll sing "in a McDonald's," Phillips said. "Well sing anywhere that they like us to sing."

Read: Children's Choir Brings Disney Princess to Tears With Powerful Performance

But the performance wasn't the only impressive part of the trip. While the students were in Tortola, they worked with a church, a bible school and daycare and carried out numerous service projects.

"We did cleanup work for their elementary school," Phillips said. "We cleaned out their landscaping beds. We did a lot of weeding and we painted."

Watch: Choir Serenades Newlyweds During Their First Dance at Bar

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By PTI: Patna/Gopalganj, Aug 18 (PTI) The death of 15 people in Gopalganj may have been due to consumption of either hooch or spurious substance mixed in some drink, the district administration today said as it mulled sending viscera and blood samples of the deceased for forensic test.

Meanwhile Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grave concern over the Gopalganj tragedy, the first major incident after Bihar was declared a complete dry state on April 5.

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He told reporters that the incident was serious and expressed confidence that truth would come out in the forensic test of viscera and blood samples of deceased.

Gopalganj District Magistrate Rahul Kumar said post-mortem report of the deceased indicated death due to either consumption of hooch or some spurious substance mixed in some drink.

"The district administration would approach court to seek its permission to hand over viscera and blood sample of deceased for forensic test," Superintendent of Police Raviranjan Kumar said.

Nitish Kumar appealed to the kin of the deceased not to be scared and speak the truth so that the culprits behind the incident could be caught and severely punished.

He said if the deaths are due to hooch, compensation of Rs 4 lakh each would be given to the family members of the victims.

He said Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh and state police chief P K Thakur were keeping a close watch over the Gopalganj incident and there was no chance of culprits escaping from the law.

The chief minister said total prohibition in Bihar since April has taken shape of a social change under which some such unpleasant events would crop up which would be dealt with sternly.

SP Kumar said that six persons have been arrested in connection with death of 15 people on Tuesday. An FIR has been lodged against the six and some others with the town police station.

DM Kumar said a hectic search is on for two persons released recently after arrest under new Excise law. Even relatives of some of the deceased told us their names, he said but refused to disclose the names which might disturb the probe.

The SP said that during search operations in Khajurbanni locality, 45 gallons of mahua (country liquor) hidden inside the earth have been recovered.

In addition, 25 empty bottles of a homeopathic medicine Dhuja which has alcoholic contents have been also found from the place of incident, the SP added.

The DM said that initially 13 people had died but later two more succumbed at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in Patna where four more are under treatment.

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The Gopalganj incident has provided opportunity to opposition BJP and its NDA partners to attack the Nitish government. PTI SNS CR ZMN

--- ENDS ---
BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - An opposition leader in Congo Republic, detained since June on charges of violating state security and illegally possessing weapons of war, was denied bail on Thursday by an appeal court in the capital Brazzaville, his lawyer said. Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, the former army chief and a power broker in the former French colony's 1990s civil war, finished third to long-serving President Denis Sassou Nguesso in a March election criticized by opposition parties and foreign powers for irregularities. Sassou Nguesso's government has accused Mokoko of involvement in an alleged coup attempt in 2007. Mokoko's supporters say the president is trying to stifle dissent, a charge the government denies. Mokoko's lawyer, Yvon Eric Ibouoanga, told Reuters the court's decision "lacked a legal basis". Additional charges of incitement of public disorder were also brought against Mokoko on Thursday, apparently in connection with his calls for civil disobedience after the election results were announced. Sassou Nguesso, 72, has ruled the small oil-producing nation for 32 of the last 37 years. He successfully pushed through changes to the constitution last year that allowed him to stand for a third consecutive term, triggering violent protests that killed at least 18 people. Another opposition leader, Paulin Makaya, was sentenced to two years in prison last month for his role in protests against the referendum on the third term. (Reporting by Christian Elion; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Tim Cocks)
For this North Carolina couple, one man's trash is truly another man's "Thriller."

Mike and Amber Hernon of Concord were scouring their local thrift store when they purchased an old Michael Jackson cassette for 25 cents.

That seemed like a reasonable price, until days later, they realized it was signed by the King of Pop himself.

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"We were ecstatic," Amber told InsideEdition.com, "kind of in shock."

She said they were looking around their local thrift store, Heavenly Treasures, when two cassettes caught their eye  one by Fleetwood Mac and Michael Jackson's "Bad."

Mike joked that even though one of their cars had a cassette player, they hardly ever used it.

But both their families had been huge fans of Michael Jackson, and for just a quarter, "we couldn't pass it up," Amber said.

They tossed it aside, but days later, Amber said she wanted to show their sons pictures of the superstar behind such hits as "Billie Jean" and "Man in the Mirror," and what she found inside the cassette was truly shocking.

"We opened it up and realized it was signed," Amber said.

Susanne Lambert, the owner of Heavenly Treasures, told InsideEdition.com most of the goods they sell are purchased in estate sales.

"There's no telling what house it came from," Lambert said of the cassette. "They might have passed away."

Amber said the piece of memorabilia is "pretty priceless to us," and her husband insisted they weren't interested in finding out the cassette's monetary value.

Read: Afghan Boy Who Received Signed Jersey From Soccer Star Forced to Move Amid Safety Concerns

Amber said while selling the artifact was out of the question, they would consider having the signature appraised, to confirm that it is the John Hancock of the real Michael Jackson, who died in 2009 at age 50.

Story continues

Darren Julien of Julien Auctions in West Hollywood, California, told InsideEdition.com that if the signature is authentic, it could fetch between $1,000 and $3,000.

"Having it appraised puts a dollar to it, but that's not really the value to us," Mike said. "It doesn't matter if it's $12 or $1,200. How we got it and who we got it from is worthless in value to us."

Watch: Man Discovers Heartwarming Letter Tucked Inside Used Record: 'Play It Loud For Mark'

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A Utah couple have tied the knot in a unique wedding venue  the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital, where their baby has been since she was born nearly a year ago.

Shawn Donovan and Vilayvone Thipsouvan of Salt Lake City knew they wanted their kids present when they got married, so they chose the NICU, surrounded by friends, family and their two daughters.

Read: Nurses Inspire Bride With Terminal Cancer to Continue Treatment After Throwing Her a Wedding

"Having the option to have it in the hospital seemed like a better option than a courthouse," Donovan said.

He told InsideEdition.com that he and his wife have been talking about getting married for the past two years, but between working full-time jobs, caring for their 2-year-old daughter, and never leaving the bedside of their infant, they never found a moment to exchange vows.

Finally, with the help of the hospital chaplain, they were married beside baby Zariah's hospital bed among 20 members of their friends, family, and hospital staff who have provided emotional support to the couple since their baby was born more than 3 months premature.

The wedding came a week before Donovan moved to Ohio with baby Zariah in search of better treatment for her conditions, leaving his new wife and 2-year-old Raven behind on the other side of the country.

"It was day and night," Donovan said about Zariah's improvement since she was moved to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus. "She's actually smiling and happy."

Donovan said their baby girl, who was diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) was given a 0 percent chance of survival earlier this summer, but their odds since transferring hospitals has skyrocketed to a 96 percent chance.

Read: Sheriff's Deputy Gently Cradles Baby Girl on the Side of the Road After Crash

In recent videos posted to their Facebook page, ZariahStrong, the girl who turns 1 in September can be seen playing with toys and sucking her fingers, a miraculous transformation from just weeks ago when she was medically paralyzed.

Story continues

In fact, Donovan said it's been "very up and down" since Zariah was born after just 24 weeks of gestation. The average term of pregnancy for a woman is 40 weeks.

When Thipsouvan prematurely went into labor, they were turned away from a hospital because their facility didn't have a NICU.

The second hospital, Donovan said, didn't consider babies viable until they reach 24 weeks.

"My wife looked at me and started crying," Donovan recalled. "She said, 'Don't let him kill my baby. That's not an option.'"

So they were airlifted to the University of Utah, where surprisingly, Zariah did better than anyone expected after she was born.

But since that moment, little Zariah's life has been spent in the hospital where she's fought off one problem after another.

From open heart surgery to a collapsed lung and three bouts of pneumonia, baby Zariah has gone through more in 11-months than most people do in their entire lives.

In fact, at their previous facility, doctors gave Zariah a devastating 0 percent chance of survival.

According to Donovan, doctors said, "this isn't a way for a child to live. We're going to pull the plug. If she doesn't make it, she doesn't make it."

But Zariah miraculously pulled through.

Read: 3-Year-Old Boy Battling Terminal Cancer Sworn In as Honorary FDNY Firefighter

Doctors at Nationwide Children's Hospital even estimate that in three years, Zariah will walk out of their facility a healthy toddler.

But for now, Donovan said baby Zariah is making do nearly 1,500 miles away from her mom and older sister, who asks every night, "Are we going to see daddy?"

The family has started a GoFundMe page to raise funds toward their daughter's medical bills.

Watch: One of the Smallest Preemies to Ever Survive Is Thriving After Being Born 3 Months Early

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By Olivia Oran NEW YORK (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG is accusing a group of five investment bankers who left for Jefferies Group LLC in May of stealing confidential information and trying to coax former colleagues to join them. The dispute, which has not been previously reported, offers insight into how the Swiss bank's push into wealth management under Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam may be prompting the departure of bankers that Wall Street businesses want to retain. Credit Suisse said in a petition in New York State Supreme Court in June that the bankers printed out and had access to proprietary information that could be used for the benefit of Jefferies. Documents in the court case also accused the bankers of conspiring to attract members of Credit Suisse's technology banking team to Jefferies. The Swiss bank is asking the court to block the five, all former managing directors, from using proprietary information it said they obtained before quitting. Credit Suisse did not name Jefferies Group as a defendant in the case. The former employees, Steve West, Bill Brady, John Metz, Cameron Lester and Cully Davis, had worked in Credit Suisse's technology, media and telecom investment banking group, handling high-profile deals such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's $25 billion IPO. They denied Credit Suisse's allegations. Lawyers for the bankers and Jefferies could not immediately be reached to comment. Credit Suisse declined to comment. The departure of the five to Jefferies raised eyebrows on Wall Street. Several of them had worked at Credit Suisse for over a decade. But in court filings, their lawyers argued they had little choice but to leave Credit Suisse to foster their careers, since the Swiss bank was moving away from "investment banking." The lawyers cited news articles with headlines to that effect and comments from Thiam, who became CEO in June 2015, about the bank's shift toward wealth management and away from capital-intensive businesses such as bond trading. While the term "investment banking" is sometimes used to refer broadly to institutional businesses, Credit Suisse has said it is not moving away from traditional work done by these former employees, like advising on mergers or underwriting initial public offerings. Nonetheless, Thiam's emphasis of wealth management has alienated some of the dealmakers. Credit Suisse has suffered a number of senior banker departures in 2016, including global chairman of M&A David DeNunzio, who left for a role at Wells Fargo & Co . For the first half of 2016, Credit Suisse ranked No. 6 for U.S. announced M&A, down from No. 4 during the same period a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters data. In court documents, Credit Suisse said its former employees printed and transferred confidential information about transactions, client presentations, conferences and internal research. The bank said they could cause "irreparable harm" if they used the information. They said the information could help the five to pursue deals that were in Credit Suisse's pipeline. David Wah, global co-head of the tech, media and telecom group at Credit Suisse, said in an affidavit that senior managers at Jefferies were also soliciting junior Credit Suisse employees. Wah called the recruitment efforts "ongoing and aggressive" and targeted in such a way that made Credit Suisse suspect the former bankers. Under separation agreements, the five were prohibited from recruiting from Credit Suisse for three months. In court filings, lawyers for the former employees denied they had taken confidential information or courted other Credit Suisse employees, and said the Swiss bank was retaliating against them for leaving. "After publicly announcing that it would shift focus from investment banking and reduce resources allocated thereto, Credit Suisse is now indignant that respondents found another opportunity to attempt to move on with their career," the bankers' lawyers wrote. The filings also revealed retention agreements Credit Suisse had given some of the bankers in 2015 and 2016 to discourage them from leaving. These cash awards, which vested at the end of each year, were on top of their annual salaries and end-of-year bonuses. Such retention agreements are rare, compensation experts said, because they are all in cash. Bank compensation is typically tied up in stock to encourage long-term performance, with a small portion payable in up-front cash. The case is Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC v. Stephen West, William Brady, John Metz, Robert Lester and Charles Davis, Supreme Court, New York of New York, No. 653002/2016
- Brazilian police pulled two US Olympic swimmers off a US-bound plane in a row over their claim of having been victims of an armed mugging, officials said Wednesday. "We can confirm that Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were removed from their flight to the United States by Brazilian authorities," said Patrick Sandusky, spokesman for the US Olympic Committee. The two were with star US swimmer Ryan Lochte and another squad member, James Feigen, when they said they were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday. A Brazilian judge ordered a probe, saying their story is full of inconsistencies. "The swimmers are here and making statements," an airport police spokesman told AFP, without giving further details. Globo, a leading Brazilian news organization, posted a video online showing the two swimmers walking into a police station. They were later released "with the understanding that they would continue their discussions about the incident on Thursday," Sandusky said.

AFP
Beni (DR Congo) (AFP) - Authorities slapped a dawn-to-dusk curfew on two towns in northeast DR Congo Thursday, following deadly clashes over the government's failure to prevent repeated civilian massacres.

Interior Minister Evariste Boshab announced the 7:00 pm to 6:00 am curfew on Butembo as well as Beni were he flew into following the massacre of 51 civilians in the town last weekend.

The slaying in which victims were the latest in a string of massacres that has left more than 700 dead since 2014.

The gruesome Saturday night killings prompted an angry march by hundreds of people from Butembo to Beni on Wednesday, which ended in tear gas, gunfire and clashes, leaving a policeman and a protester dead.

In a separate incident, a woman was beaten to death with stones and sticks and her body set alight on suspicion of being a member of the rebel group believed to be behind the civilian massacres.

- 'What did he come for?' -

The violence added to the existing tension in Democratic Republic of Congo, where fears are mounting that President Joseph Kabila plans to hold on to power after his second mandate expires in December.

The United States has warned of the threat of more violence in the mineral-rich nation of 70 million people.

In Beni on Wednesday, an effigy of Kabila was burned in the town's main market, as were flags of Kabila's ruling People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD).

The deadly protests came a day after Prime Minister Augustin Matata was booed by hundreds outside Beni's town hall, after he visited the massacre site.

"What did he come for? We don't need humanitarian aid, but peace," said Germain Katembo, a survivor of the massacre who lost three members of his family.

The killings have been blamed by the government on the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a partly Islamist armed group of Ugandan origin.

The group has been present in DR Congo for more than two decades and is accused of a litany of human rights abuses.

The ADF, opposed to Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, is thought to be heavily involved with criminal networks funded by kidnappings, smuggling and logging.

But a report published in March by the Congo Research Group at New York University, which probed the massacres around Beni, claimed that soldiers from the regular army had also participated in the killings.
By PTI: Bareilly (UP), Aug 18 (PTI) Hafiz Saeed, Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief and mastermind of Mumbai terror attack, cannot be considered a Muslim as he has "terrorist ideology" and has "brought infamy to Islam", declared an Islamic seminary here while giving a fatwa (edict) against him.

The seminary of the Barelvi sect dubbed Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who carries a USD 10 million bounty on his head, as "outcast" from Islam and declared that following him or considering him as Muslim is "illegal".

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A fatwa is a legal pronouncement in Islam which is given by a mufti, a Muslim scholar of a recognised authority, who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law. The fatwa issued by Mufti Mohammed Saleem of Manzar-e- Islam Saudagaran, an institution associated with Dargah Ala Hazrat, said that considering Saeed as a Muslim and listening to his words was "illegal" and "prohibited".

As per the fatwa, Saeed is a man with "terrorist ideology", who with his acts has brought "infamy to Islam and Muslims across the world".

"Therefore, it is compulsory for every Muslim not to follow him and keep away from his ideology," it said. The fatwa was issued in a reply to a question asked by one Mohd Moinuddin of Jaipur who had mentioned in his query that Saeed considered those writing against Allah and Prophet Mohammad as Muslims.

Besides, Saeed publicised anti-religious ideology and points of view and provoked people to create terror, Moinuddin said and asked whether such a person should be considered as Muslim. In his fatwa, Mufti Saleem said that having any type of connection with persons working against the dignity of Allah and the Prophet was illegal and haraam, an act that is forbidden by Allah. It said since Saeed was having contacts with such persons, he has been outcast from Islam.

The ruling came close on the heels of Saeed asking Pakistan Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif to send troops to Kashmir to "obey" the pending order of Pakistan founder M A Jinnah.

Addressing a rally held under the banner of Defence Council of Pakistan in Karachi on Sunday, Saeed had claimed, "Kashmiris had announced before the partition that they wanted to remain with Pakistan. But after the partition, India forcibly sent Army to Jammu and Kashmir. "On this Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah ordered his commander-in-chief to respond by sending troops but he refused (to obey his orders). Now, I ask Gen Raheel Sharif to send troops in (Jammu and) Kashmir as Quaid-e-Azams order is pending," Saeed said. He said he was not asking for a war with India but they (Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Raheel) must form a strategy regarding the Kashmir issue. PTI COR AVA SMI ZMN AKK

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(Reuters) - Legendary Russian-American dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov has denounced Donald Trump as a "totalitarian opportunist,' saying the Republican presidential candidate's speeches remind him of his years in the Soviet Union. Baryshnikov, 68, who defected to the West in 1974, made his views known in a video released on Wednesday in which he threw his support behind Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton. "Today, as a citizen of the United States, for the first time, Im hearing rhetoric that reminds me of the Soviet Union of my youth, where it was a crime, and continues to be, a crime to be different," Baryshnikov said. "Take it from one who knows. Hundreds of thousands of people like me have fled from countries led by dangerous totalitarian opportunists like Donald Trump," he added. Baryshnikov's video, titled '#ITrustHer', was produced by Humanity for Hillary, a social media campaign of artists that aims to build support for Clinton ahead of the Nov. 8 election. Baryshnikov, regarded as one of the world's best ballet dancers, defected from what was then the Soviet Union seeking more artistic freedom. He went on to lead the American Ballet Theatre and to co-found the White Oak Dance Project, as well as building a career as an actor in films like "The Turning Point" and the TV series "Sex and the City." You can watch the video here: http://bit.ly/2bqM7sn (Reporting by Reuters Television; Writing by Melissa Fares in New York; Editing by Frances Kerry)
Delta Air Lines has introduced what they call the world's first all-suite business class, with suites featuring sliding doors that enclose fliers in their own little cubicle.

The airline introduced their Delta One suite this week, touting it as a first for business class travel.

Individual suites with sliding doors already exist at Singapore Airlines for fliers who opt for the highest-tiered ticket. Likewise, First Class cabins on Emirates also boast individual suites with privacy sliding doors.

The new feature is meant to appeal to business fliers who may need to catch up on sleep before alighting for a big meeting upon arrival, or those who wish to be undisturbed throughout the flight.

The Delta One suites will make their debut on the A350, due to enter service next fall, and will feature 32 individual suites. Delta will be the first US airline to take delivery of the A350 which will primarily serve routes between the US and Asia.

Along with lie-flat beds, the suites will have customizable ambient lighting, stowage compartments for shoes, headphones and laptops, an 18-inch high-resolution monitor, and universal power outlet and USB port.

Following the A350 debut, the Delta One suite will be rolled out on the carrier's Boeing 777 fleet.

Delta's business class suites are meant to rival United Airlines' recently announced business class Polaris cabin, featuring flatbeds, electronic dividers, and luxury bedding by Saks Fifth Avenue, which will debut December 1.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine is heading to late night.

Hillary Clinton's running mate is set to visit The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Aug. 25, it was announced Thursday.

This marks the Virginia senator's first late-night appearance since he was selected as Clinton's running mate in June. Their first joint interview was also on CBS, specifically for 60 Minutes. So far, Kaine's solo interviews have skewed away from the traditional path. He granted one of his first individual interviews to Telemundo, the NBCUniversal-owned Spanish network. Clinton will appear on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, Aug. 22, for her first late-night stop since accepting the Democratic Party nomination last month.

Earlier this month, Colbert famously discussed the similarities in appearance between Kaine and one of his Late Show staffers, Mark Spada, as seen in the video below.

Colbert has increasingly taken advantage of the upcoming presidential election for his show. In addition to taping live shows for both the RNC and DNC, CBS recently announced that The Late Show will air live during the presidential debates.

The Late Show airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. on CBS.
This article outlines the recent trend in housing in the front range market, and outlines how as home prices in Denver continue to increase, move residents are moving south to cities such as Colorado Springs

DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2016 / As the Denver real estate market continues to see large increases in demand for properties with a limited amount of inventory available on the market, home prices are exponentially trending upward, which is forcing residents to move south in search for a less-crowded, more affordable place to live. Colorado Springs is at the very top of that list, as it's only about an hour drive from the Denver metro area, and is a great place to live and work, as the taxes are low and job opportunities are on the rise, with the city creating more payroll jobs than any other city in the country for the second straight month in a row. But along with this love affair of the Colorado Springs area, and the increasing number of Denver residents that are moving there to seek refuge, comes the over-population of this area, which is now experiencing the same increase in home prices as Denver. This trend in increasing property values is also attracting professional home buyers and real estate investors such as http://www.hbrcolorado.com who seek to identify distressed properties in the community, and rehabilitate them to full market value for a hefty profit.

This is causing residents to look even further south, and buy homes in areas such as Pueblo and Trinidad, which is a good 1 - 2 hour drive from the Denver area. Local real estate experts say that this trend is likely to continue throughout 2017, as we see more out of state residents move into Denver and Colorado Springs, forcing the housing prices to rise even further, and create an ever-increasing demand for homes, as the inventory is still lacking in a big way to supply this ferocious appetite of consumers. Home prices and values will likely continue to keep rising, and residents will continue to move further south in search of affordable housing. The taxes are much lower in the southern cities when compared with the Denver metro area, and while the prices are steadily rising, they're still much cheaper than purchasing in the downtown area, where homes are selling for much more than they are worth due to the high demand for housing from new residents that are flooding the state from different locations all around the entire country.

This trend in increasing property values has also attracted a lot of young entrepreneurs and real estate investors to the area, who advertise we buy houses Denver with the hopes of attracting highly motivated sellers who are looking to sell their homes quickly for cash, so that they can then renovate the properties and then list them on the market for a nice profit. With home prices increases 3% - 5% each year, it really does make sense to get into this type of business in 2016, as the market is looking to continue trending upward for at least the next ten years, most experts say. New companies are coming into this marketplace each day, and the competition is extremely fierce. We have received reports that this summer was a cut-throat period in the local real estate market, and some businesses are using underhanded tactics to achieve domination over their competitors. The real estate markets along the front range are only going to continue on this trend for at least another ten years, so it would be best to brace for the impact, as more people move into these cities, and the markets continue to expand at an exponential rate, driving demand for housing up even higher than it already is now.

For more information, please visit http://www.hbrcolorado.com

Contact Info:

Name: Brian Rudderow

Organization: HBR Colorado

Address: 3023 1/2 W. Colorado Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80904

Phone: (719) 286-0053

SOURCE: HBR Colorado
The August 4th decision by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) not to modernize the consent decrees that govern performing rights societies ASCAP and BMI, and its plans to force a "full-work" licensing model into the market, are the equivalent of an earthquake for the global music community, and most of all for songwriters. It opens a new era full of uncertainty for the music industry.

Dept. of Justice Makes a Dramatic Change for Music Licensing Official

CISAC, which regroups 239 societies from 123 countries, including ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and AMRA in the United States, has been monitoring the evolution of the licensing ecosystem in the US with much concern. Because of the size of the US market and its influence in the world, any changes in the way our US members operate has consequences for sister societies, songwriters and music publishers worldwide.

We had high hopes that the DoJ would have taken these factors into account and come up with solutions to ensure a better, more efficient licensing system in the US in its two-year review of the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees. Yet for some reason the much-needed reform of the US licensing landscape took a wrong turn at the expense of creators, music publishers and their societies.

The DoJ's statement and its decision to leave the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees unchanged simply means ignoring market realities. Dating back to the 1940s, these decrees desperately need a fresh look to allow ASCAP and BMI, as well as their affiliated creators and publishers, to offer licensing solutions that correspond to today's needs and the rapidly evolving digital marketplace. Failure to update the consent decrees could force rights holders to withdraw rights in order to license them outside of the collective management network, consequently throwing the whole system that has supported songwriters for decades into disarray. This is not only dangerous for the effective functioning of the licensing market, but also unfair to songwriters.

Story continues

Dept. of Justice Slams BMI's Protest of Licensing Changes

Rather than reforming and modernizing the consent decrees, the DoJ has chosen to interpret them in a manner that forces a "full work" licensing scheme, thus bringing to an end the system of fractional licensing that worked for the music community and for licensees for years. The wisdom in doing so is hard to understand from both a market as well as legal point of view.

"Full-work" licensing would see rights holders having their rights licensed by entities that were not mandated by them and that they are not affiliated to. It could also see competing societies (either subject to the consent decrees or not) having their rights licensed by rivals. That in itself raises numerous legal issues and is unprecedented in developed and western music markets. From a business standpoint, this approach would likely put pressure on royalty rates and impose further confusion and complexity in a market occupied by multiple licensing entities. This is not the approach that one would expect to find in the world's largest music industry.

It is clear that the DoJ's decisions have been made without taking the interests of creators, neither American nor international, into account. It is also clear that they were made with total disregard for the international framework, where fractional licensing is practiced, even if its less of a factor because many countries only have one performance rights organization representing songwriters in their territory. International copyright laws grant songwriters exclusive rights, giving them the power to decide who will license their rights in each territory and it is these rights that underpin the landscape in which authors' societies operate. The international system of collective management of rights, which is based on reciprocal representation agreements and founded on the freedom of choice of the rights holder, would be negatively affected by such level of government intervention, at a time when it needs support more than ever.

ASCAP, BMI Announce Plans for Bilateral Fight Against Dept. of Justice Decision

Undoubtedly, the US has the right to organize its market the way it sees fit. But taking a system which already requires improvements and further tampering with it in a manner that is so far removed from market realities, international practices and the needs of rights holders makes little sense. It singles out the US, but for all the wrong reasons.

Our member societies accept that they are often in a monopolistic position in their respective countries and, because of this, they also understand the scrutiny that comes with this status. However in western economies we rarely see such overwhelming control of collective management organizations by the government. In the land of the free market economy, music is regulated like no other good or service and to the detriment of songwriters. It is as if songwriters were a major threat to... well, to who exactly?

It is not very difficult to figure out who will be the beneficiaries of the DoJ's approach and, in particular, the "full-work" licensing scheme. As if paying songwriters their fair share was unbearable for big media and tech companies, the DoJ came to their rescue by tilting the balance even more in their favor.

It is very clear that the decisions taken by the DoJ after more than two years of review will create a major imbalance that will certainly not be in favor of songwriters and publishers. This is why, on behalf of four million creators represented by CISAC's members around the world, we fully back and support the undertaking by ASCAP and BMI to join forces against the decisions, to pursue a legislative solution and challenge the DoJ's decision in Federal Court. These are extreme, time-consuming and expensive steps that could have been avoided. Yet drastic times call for drastic measures. We do hope that these measures will eventually open the door to a fruitful and fair discussion on the state of the US licensing market and the solutions that we can find, collectively, to make it more efficient and fairer for all stakeholders.

Gadi Oron is the Director General of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), a Paris-based organization that regroups 239 rights societies from 123 countries, including ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and AMRA in the United States.
By Anuradha Nagaraj CHENNAI, India (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - More than a quarter of India's land is turning to desert and the rate of degradation of agricultural areas is increasing, according to new analysis of satellite images. A report from the Indian Space Research Organization says land degradation - broadly defined as loss of productivity - is estimated at 96 million hectares, or nearly 30 percent of Indian land. "As a country we should be more than alarmed by this data," said S. Janakarajan, chairman of the South Asia Consortium for Inter-disciplinary Water Resources Studies. "There is no coherent plan to reverse this process or its impact." Analysis of satellite mapping shows new areas in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir and eastern Indian states like Orissa and Jharkhand turning arid, with nine states together accounting for nearly 24 percent of desertification. In states like Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat and Goa, more than 50 percent of land is under desertification. "Population pressure has resulted in over exploitation of land for cultivation, grazing, water resources and deforestation leading to degradation of drylands," Indian minister Jitendra Singh wrote in the report. The ongoing study, initiated by the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, was led by the Indian Space Research Organization and involved 19 other institutes. It analyzed satellite images over an eight year period to compile the atlas. "This is the first time we are looking at a digital atlas of degradation and it is pointing at newer areas undergoing desertification," A.S. Rajawat of the Space Applications Center told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It is a ready reckoner to understand where we stand and the impact of land degradation on agricultural productivity." (Reporting by Anuradha Nagaraj, Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)
Nate Parker (far right) in The Birth of a Nation (Photo: Fox Searchlight)



By Brent Lang and James Rainey, Variety

Nate Parker is going ahead with plans to be the public face of The Birth of a Nation despite the furor surrounding rape accusations that were made against the actor, writer, and director when he was a student at Penn State University.

He will be on hand at the films Toronto Film Festival premiere next month, where he will participate in a scheduled media junket.

Parker and Fox Searchlight, the boutique label behind the film, have no plans to hide the filmmaker from the press. He will still go ahead with a scheduled promotional roadshow, a source close to the studio said  one that will take him to major cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.



Although there has been speculation that the controversy surrounding news of the 2001 rape trial would imperil The Birth of a Nations Oscar chances, Fox Searchlight management considers that a secondary concern, sources say. The company, which is opening the movie wide on Oct. 7, as planned, is more interested in the film being a commercial success than it is with capturing awards. Fox spent a whopping $17.5 million to acquire the picture at Sundance and is prepared to make a big media spend, according to a source familiar with the plans.

A Toronto Film Festival official says Parkers film will remain on the schedule for the festival, which is often a proving ground for movies hoping to make noise during awards season. TIFF is proud to help bring The Birth of a Nation and the important story it tells to audiences, said a spokesperson, in a statement. We will present the film as planned.

Related: Nate Parkers Rape Accuser Committed Suicide in 2012: Her Brother Speaks Out (EXCLUSIVE)

Parker stuck to his schedule in the immediate aftermath of news breaking about the 1999 rape case, in which he was acquitted. He received a Vanguard Award Thursday night from the Sundance Institute, which had supported the making of Birth of a Nation through its Feature Film Program. The organization also announced the creation of a Sundance Institute/Birth of a Nation Fellowship, to be awarded to young filmmakers. Over the weekend, he and Aja Naomi King (who plays Turners wife in the film) had a Q&A with Spike Lee at the Marthas Vineyard African American Film Festival, and separately, Fox Searchlight had a private screening of his movie.

Story continues

As a student at Penn State, Parker and his friend, Jean Celestin, were charged with raping an 18-year old, who claimed she was unconscious after drinking heavily. Both men said the sex was consensual. Parker was acquitted of the rape charges in 2001, but Celestin, who co-wrote The Birth of a Nation, was found guilty of sexual assault. He appealed the verdict and was granted a new trial in 2005, but the case never made it back to court after the woman declined to testify again.

That part of Parkers history has been on his Wikipedia page and on several websites, though it was not widely known throughout the industry. This week, however, news broke that Parker and Celestins accuser committed suicide in 2012.

In a Facebook post, Parker said he was devastated by the news of her death, while maintaining his innocence.

I cant help but think of all the implications this has for her family, he wrote. I cannot, nor do I want to, ignore the pain she endured during and following our trial.

Even though Fox Searchlight is moving forward with its publicity plans, it is getting help from an outside crisis PR firm that is routinely enlisted by its parent company, 21st Century Fox.

Related: Nate Parker Pens Response to New Details of College Rape Case: I Am Filled With Profound Sorrow

After The Birth of a Nation sold for a record amount at Sundance, Parker lined up a series of projects. He was slated to adapt Carry On, a true life story of disabled wrestlers for Walden Media, and he also sold an original feature film idea to Legendary Pictures. A spokeswoman for Walden declined to comment on whether or not the company still planned to move forward with the project. A spokesman for Legendary confirmed that Parker had a project set up at the company, but declined to offer additional comment.
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Eric Ben-Artzi is a brave man.

The former Deutsche Bank risk officer was one of three whistleblowers who reported improper accounting at the German bank to regulators in 2010 and 2011.

In 2015, the US Securities and Exchange Commission imposed a $55 million fine against the bank over the issue.

Ben-Artzi is due a share of 15% of this sum, adding up to $8.25 million. In an opinion piece in the Financial Times on Thursday, he revealed that he had rejected the payout.

He said:

"But Deutsche did not commit this wrongdoing. Deutsche was the victim. To be precise, the bank's shareholders and its rank-and-file employees who are now losing their jobs in droves are the primary victims.

"Meanwhile, top executives retired with multimillion-dollar bonuses based on the misrepresentation of the bank's balance sheet. It is therefore especially disappointing that in 2015, after a lengthy investigation helped by multiple whistleblowers, the SEC imposed a fine on Deutsche's shareholders instead of the managers responsible."

And then (emphasis added):

"Although I need the money now more than ever, I will not join the looting of the very people I was hired to protect. I never intended to turn a job in risk management into a crusade, but after suffering at the hands of the Deutsche executives I will not join them simply because I cannot beat them.

"I request that my share of the award be given to Deutsche and its stakeholders, and the award money clawed back from the bonuses paid to the Deutsche executives, especially the former top SEC attorneys.

"I would then be happy to collect any award for which I am eligible."

Talk about making a statement.

In his piece, Ben-Artzi really homes in on two hot-button issues that get a lot of people on Wall Street uncomfortable: the revolving door between Wall Street and regulators, and the regulators' propensity to fine the firm, rather than the individual.

federal reserve

On the first issue, he details the numerous Deutsche Bank lawyers who moved to and from the firm and the SEC. This is common on Wall Street, and it is something that the Federal Reserve for one has sought to address.

Story continues

For example, bank supervisors at the Fed can't join a bank that they had been supervising for a year after leaving.

Still, the relationship between Wall Street banks and the regulators supervising them continues to be a focus.

For example, Jason Gross, a former Fed employee, last year admitted to leaking confidential government information to Rohit Bansal, a banker at Goldman Sachs. They pleaded guilty to theft of government property in November.

Then there is the lack of individual convictions.

Earlier this year, Jean Eaglesham and Anupreeta Das from The Wall Street Journal carried out a study on the 156 criminal and civil cases brought by various regulators, including the US Justice Department and the SEC, against the 10 largest Wall Street banks in the past seven years.

Less than one in five of those cases, or 19% of them, identified or charged an individual.

It's part of the reason why Hillary Clinton has made reining in Wall Street part of her presidential campaign pitch:

"There should be no bank too big to fail and no individual too big to jail." Hillary #DemDebate  Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 18, 2016

In turning down $8.25 million, Ben-Artzi made his stand in one of the most dramatic ways possible.

Correction: An earlier version of this post said Ben-Artzi was due $16.5 million. He is in fact due $8.25 million.

NOW WATCH: How Merrill Lynch changed the way people are paid on Wall Street





More From Business Insider


Jamie Curry, the teen comedian whose Jamies World page has nearly 10 million fans on Facebook, has signed with WME for representation.

Overall, the 20-year-old New Zealand native has more than 12 million followers across all digital platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

Curry rose to popularity with her buoyant vlogs and skits on YouTube and Facebook about teen life with a style that has resonated worldwide. Among her most popular videos are My Sister is SO Annoying! and My First Ball.

Last year, Currys first book, They Let Me Write A Book!, was published by HarperCollins, in which she recounts my cowboy hat years, the year I dug a big hole, and the time I pulled down my pants at a badminton game. She also toured throughout New Zealand and Australia, and was nominated for a 2015 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award in the favorite internet sensation category for Australia/New Zealand.

i roast myself everyday https://t.co/94EQbBZMKG  Jamie Curry (@jaamiecurry) August 8, 2016

WME will rep her across all digital platforms and in film, TV, books and touring. Curry will continue to repped by Imogen Johnson and Julie Cooper at New Zealands Johnson & Laird Management and Danny Miller at Hirsch Wallerstein.

Her prominence on Facebook, where shes one of the most popular comedic personalities, underscores how the social giant has become a platform for individual creators to reach a large audience. Earlier this year, CAA signed Matt Bellassai, a former BuzzFeed employee who hosted alcohol-fueled comedy series Whine About It on Facebook.

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An interview between a CNN anchor and a top aide to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump devolved into a palpably uncomfortable debate over polls on Wednesday evening.

In a conversation with Yahoo News shortly after the conversation aired, Michael Cohen, an executive vice president and attorney at the Trump Organization, said he believed he controlled the interview with Brianna Keilar.

I think I unraveled her, Cohen boasted.

The awkwardness occurred after Keilar discussed Cohens comments on the changes to Trumps senior campaign staff that were announced on Wednesday. After a tumultuous two weeks since the national conventions, Trump named a new campaign CEO and a new campaign manager.

You say its not a shakeup, but you guys are down, Keilar began.

Cohen cut her off.

Says who? he asked.

After a brief pause, Keilar answered.

Polls, most of them, all of them, she said incredulously.

Both Keilar and Cohen were silent for at least three seconds before he repeated his question.

Says who? Cohen asked.

Polls, I just told you. I answered your question, Keilar said.

OK, which polls? Cohen asked.

All of them, said Keilar.

CNNs Brianna Keilar interviewing longtime Donald Trump aide Michael Cohen. (Screenshot: CNN/The Situation Room)

Major national polls do indeed show Trump struggling against his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Every poll included in the RealClearPolitics average since July 24 has Clinton ahead. Clinton has also been pulling ahead in recent surveys of key battleground states.

Clips of the exchange rapidly began spreading online. Politico media reporter Hadas Gold tweeted, I keep getting sent this clip. Many people on Twitter began making jokes based on Cohens refrain of says who? CNBC executive editor Jay Yarow tweeted a picture of some of the commentary and declared, A meme is born.

Cohen told Yahoo News he was stunned by Keilars conduct during the interview.

I was shocked at the length of the silence as she stumbled to think of an answer, Cohen said. And when she did come up with an answer, it was so generic it could have applied to anything.

Story continues

Keilar continued her broadcast for over an hour after her discussion with Cohen. During one of the commercial breaks, she sent Yahoo News a response to his review of the interview.

Can you just embed the video in your story? My reaction is that people can watch and decide for themselves, Keilar said.

In his conversation with Yahoo, Cohen also said he does not trust the polls Keilar referenced during the broadcast.

I completely disagree with the polling information, said Cohen.

He specifically pointed to Trumps poor numbers in the African-American community as evidence that the polls may be off. Cohen, who has been working with Trump since 2006 and describes himself as fiercely loyal, has helped coordinate some of the candidates African-American outreach efforts and said his anecdotal experience contradicted the poll data.

When they say that Donald Trump has a 1 percent favorability amongst the African-American community, I know from my own interactions that that number is absolutely and unequivocally inaccurate, Cohen explained. I speak on a weekly basis to more than 100 African-American Evangelical preachers who are all committed to ensuring Donald Trump becomes the next president of the United States.

Cohen went on to say the over 100 African-Americans he has worked with during the campaign are all convinced Clinton would pander to their community with no ability or intent to follow through.

These same individuals have all met with Mr. Trump and have engaged in significant dialogue about issues that effect their specific communities. Unanimously, these African-American Evangelical preachers all acknowledge that Donald Trump is colorblind when it comes to race and is only interested in ensuring that all Americans have the opportunity to thrive and achieve the American dream, said Cohen.

Cohen also pointed to the crowds at Trumps rallies as a sign polls may be off.

I think Mr. Trump and Secretary Clinton are substantially closer than the polls indicate, Cohen explained. The proof is the massive 20-, 25- and 30,000-person rallies that he is attending on a multiple-time-per-week basis. In all honesty, Hilary Clinton cant fill a Starbucks even if they offered free ventis.

Cohen concluded by disputing the reports that Trumps staffing changes were the result of his frustration with the state of the race.

No such thing. No such thing. Totally deny it. Inaccurate reporting, he said.
At least four Hindu temples were vandalised in Malaysia over the last month, leaving the minority Hindus in the country concerned about their safety.

By India Today Web Desk: Series of hate crimes taken out on temples and sacred idols have left Hindus in Malaysia much concerned about their safety. Reports of such vandals have been coming since early this year.

Minority Hindus from all around the world expressed concern as the spate of temple desecration in Penang became more frequent over the last month.

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Here's a quick glance at the vandals that have been reported.





Muthu Mariamman temple

Two statues of deities were vandalised the Muthu Mariamman temple in Ara Kuda early in July, prompting the temple committee considered installing CCTV cameras for security.

While nothing was stolen from the century-old temple, idols of Lord Muruga and Goddess Amman had been found smashed on the floor earlier in July.

The state government is said to have given RM 10,000 (around Rs 1,67,000) to the temple committee for the damage.

On July 13, police arrested a man on the charges of vadalising the temple.





Sri Madurai Veeran Temple

The Dewa Sri Madurai Veeran Temple at Sungai Nibong Kecil was found vandalised on July 3. Here, too, a statue of a deity worth over Rs 8,000 was damaged just before midnight.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the temple was not being used for religious rituals at the time, and its committee had been served with a notice to vacate the area, as it was located on private land.





Kuil Sri Muniswarar

Priests came in to find signs of a break-in at this temple located in Jalan Baru. Idols of Ganesh, Sivalingam and the main deity Munisverar were found to be damaged with "a sharp object."

Deputy Chief Minister Dr P Ramasamy said the padlocked grilles of the nearly 70-years-old temple had been pried open. The trunk and arms of the granite Ganesh idol, and the serpent on the Sivalingam statute had been smashed.

"The damage is not extensive but once it's broken we can't use the statue again," said Ramasamy.

Statues of deities at the Kuil Sri Muniswarar at Jalan Tunku Kudin were reported to have been broken around July 10.





Sri Veera Muniswarar Alayam Hindu temple

A statue at the Sri Veera Muniswarar Alayam Hindu temple in Petaling Jaya, Old Town, was reported to have been vandalised on July 20. The Star Online reported that a devotee walked in to find the Nagama snake statue inside shattered.

With no CCTV installed in the temple, investigation into the matter became difficult. Nonetheless, the temple committee lodged a police report.

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Reaction to the vandals

Almost eight per cent of Malaysia's 29 million population comprises of ethnic Indians, most of whom are Hindu Tamils. With at least four temples being vandalised and no items being stolen, it is apparent that these attacks are triggered by "Hinduphobia".

Speaking to Free and Independent, Ramasamy said, "The pertinent question is why have four Hindu temples been damaged in a short span of two months, in Penang alone? Are there some forces trying to destabilise Penang? Could this be an IS-inspired attack?"

Hindu Stateman Rajan Zed urged Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to 'to come up with an effective strategy to put an end to such reported desecration of religious centers in the country'.





Building a wall to hide a temple

The Chakra reports that the Malaysian government had plans of building a 700m wide wall around a temple in January, which would hide it from the view of drivers on the highway adjacent to it.

However, the temple in question was not named.

In 2009, a group of about 50 men had marched with severed cow heads to protest against the construction of a Hindu temple in Malaysia. The march triggered tension among the communities during that time, resulting in six of the protesters being arrested.



--- ENDS ---

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GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump called himself Mr. Brexit on Twitter Thursday, which some took as a suggestion that he will defy the polls just like the unexpected success of the Brexit referendum earlier this year.

Trumpwho supported Brexit after the U.K. voted in favor of ittrails his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by an of 6 percentage points, according to a Real Clear Politics collection of recent polls. He is also down in polls of most swing states.

British voters also defied expectations in a referendum earlier this over whether to leave the European Union. That move was approved 52% to 48% despite expectations that the country would stay.

They will soon be calling me MR. BREXIT!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2016

Trumps campaign recently hired Cambridge Analytica, a marketing firm that worked with the Brexit campaign, to aid his ailing campaign.
- Brazilian cyclist Kleber Ramos and Chinese swimmer Chen Xinyi were disqualified from the Olympic Games for having failed doping tests, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said. Ramos tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO Cera while Chen took the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide. Diuretics are outlawed as they can be used as masking agents for other doping products. The Brazilian tested positive in a pre-Games test, although the news only emerged after he had competed in the men's road race 10 days ago. Last Friday, Xinhua news agency said Chen had tested positive after her fourth-placed finish in the women's 100m butterfly on August 7. She was provisionally suspended and scratched from the 50m freestyle with her case still pending. In both cases, CAS said "the athlete is disqualified and excluded from the Olympic Games Rio 2016".

AFP
Down Ticket is Yahoo News complete guide to the most fascinating House, Senate and governors races of 2016. Coming to you every Tuesday and Thursday until Nov. 8. What you need to know today.

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North Carolina was supposed to be a purple state. But Democrats are suddenly ahead in all the big races. Whats going on?

If you want to understand the larger dynamics at play in the 2016 election  and how they are reshaping the clash between Republicans and Democrats in real time, from the top of the ticket to the bottom  theres no better place to look than North Carolina.

And thats a problem for the GOP.

Once upon a time, the Tar Heel State was reliably Republican, at least on the presidential level. Sure, Jimmy Carter  a southern governor with strong Evangelical ties  won there in 1976. But otherwise N.C. voted for every GOP nominee from Richard Nixon in 1968 to George W. Bush in 2004, and much of the time it wasnt even close: George H.W. Bush trounced Michael Dukakis 16 percentage points in 1988, and his son defeated another Massachusetts Democrat, John Kerry, by more than a dozen points 16 years later.

Thats why it was such a big deal when Barack Obama inched past John McCain in North Carolina in 2008; his win seemed to signal some sort of shift. Still, Obamas minuscule margin of victory  a mere 14,177 votes  suggested that, rather than voting Democratic from here on out, N.C. voters would be toggling back and forth between the parties. The fact that Mitt Romney recaptured the state in 2012 while losing nationally only confirmed the conventional wisdom: North Carolina might not be a solid red state any more, but it certainly hadnt transformed into a solid blue state, either.

What to make, then, of the latest N.C. polling?

According to an NBC/Wall Street Journal survey conducted between Aug. 4 and 10 by Marist College  one of only two firms awarded a statewide accuracy grade of A by FiveThirtyEight  Hillary Clinton now leads Donald Trump by a staggering 9 percentage points in North Carolina. Down ballot, incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr is trailing Democratic challenger Deborah Ross by 2 points among registered voters, 46 percent to 44 percent. And in North Carolinas gubernatorial race, incumbent Republican Gov. Pat McCrory is losing by 7 points to Democratic challenger Roy Cooper, who leads 51 percent to 44 percent.

Story continues

Of course, one poll does not a blue state make. But the recent trend lines are not encouraging for the GOP.

FiveThirtyEight specializes in forecasting election results. To do so, the groups model combines a weighted, adjusted polling average for each state with demographic data, then simulates the election 10,000 times to get each candidates chance of winning. From July 17 to Aug. 1, the FiveThirtyEight model gave Trump a better chance of winning North Carolina than Clinton; his odds peaked at 63.5 percent. But this month, as the polling has shifted in Clintons favor, the two candidates have traded places  and the gap between them has continued to widen. Currently, Clinton is a 3-to-1 favorite.

Meanwhile, North Carolinas marquee down-ballot races appear to moving in the same direction. McCrory led in pretty much every early poll. But Cooper, his Democratic challenger, has come out ahead in six of the 10 surveys released since the start of spring. (Of the other four, two showed a tie, and the remaining two  the only polls since March to give McCrory the edge  were conducted by a conservative group.) Coopers position seems to be improving as well. In July, Marist showed him up by 4 percentage points; now, one month later, his lead has nearly doubled.

The picture isnt quite as clear in the Senate race, but early evidence of a shift may be emerging. Burr finished first in every survey released before the presidential nominating conventions (and Trumps subsequent slide in the national polls). But only two N.C. soundings have come out since then, and one of them  again, from Marist  shows Ross taking the lead. A month ago, the Democrat trailed in the same poll by a dispiriting 7 percentage points; now shes up by 2. That 9-point swing could be a fluke. Or it could be a sign of things to come.

Either way, the proof is piling up: North Carolina appears, for now, to be breaking toward the Democratic ticket much faster, and more decisively, than anyone anticipated. In 2008, the Obama campaign was ecstatic to win the state by 0.32 percentage points. But now, if current trends continue, Clinton could clobber Trump by 5 points and propel a new Democratic senator and governor into office with her.

So whats going on in the Tar Heel State? And what does it say about the 2016 election as a whole?

There seem to be two factors at work here. The first is a combination of broader demographic changes that would have affected the race regardless of who was running. As analyst Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report recently put it, North Carolina is becoming less of a Southern state and more of a Mid-Atlantic state. Arit John of Bloomberg Politics elaborates:

The shift has been fueled by an influx of new residents from out-of-state to city centers like Raleigh and Charlotte. Between 1990 and 2010, the number of North Carolinians who lived in a city with 75,000 people or more rose from 17 percent to 28 percent, according to Rebecca Tippett, the director of Carolina demography at UNC-Chapel Hills Carolina Population Center. During the same period the states population grew from 6.7 million to 9.6 million. As it continues to become less rural and more urban, Democrats stand to benefit.

Why? Because the kinds of voters who are driving this trend  college-educated whites drawn to North Carolinas burgeoning Research Triangle region and Latino immigrants lured by the states fast-growing economy  tend to be Democrats already. In November, Cook expects college-educated whites to comprise 35 percent of the North Carolina electorate, up from 33 percent in 2012; at the same time, the share of the states white voters who didnt attend college is projected shrink from 37 percent to 33.8 percent. Likewise, only 10,000 Latinos were registered to vote in North Carolina in 2004; today the number is 135,000. Over the long haul, these are the groups that are turning N.C. purple.

Then theres the second factor to consider: Donald Trump.

Unlike North Carolinas changing population patterns, Trump isnt a long-term trend. Hes a much more immediate concern. Still, he should frighten North Carolina Republicans, because his nationwide decline has coincided with McCrory and Burrs slipping numbers in the state  and that suggests some sort of connection.

Well need to see more polling before we draw any definite conclusions, but it isnt hard to hypothesize about what that connection might be. The voters who have gradually been making North Carolina more urban and purple  again, college-educated whites and Latinos  just so happen to be the exact voters among whom Trump is performing his worst.

The data tells the tale. According to Fox News, Trump is currently pulling down a paltry 20 percent among Latinos  well shy of the 40 percent that George W. Bush won in 2004 or even Romneys lackluster 27 percent. At the same time, Clinton is trouncing Trump by 8.7 percentage points among college-educated whites  a demographic that Romney actually won by 14 percentage points four years ago.

A Republican presidential nominee who appealed to Latinos and college-educated whites  someone like, say, Marco Rubio  might have slowed North Carolinas leftward momentum. (And Virginias, and Colorados  the demographic trends are similar.) By the same token, a nominee like Trump, who repulses these groups in particular, could have the power to speed it up  and perhaps drag the rest of the ticket down with him.

(Thats part of the reason Clinton and her allies are bombarding the state with TV ads. So far, Trump has let their attacks go largely unanswered.)

If the GOP can convince voters in North Carolina and elsewhere not to punish down-ballot candidates for Trumps transgressions, they may salvage control of the Senate and rescue some endangered governors. But right now, the Tar Heel State seems to be gravitating the other way. Thats not a good sign for the GOP.

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Poll Position

A weekly look at the latest down-ticket data

Theres good news and bad news for Republicans in this weeks latest polls.

Lets start with the good news.

Despite giving Hillary Clinton a 9-point advantage over Donald Trump in Florida  and despite the fact that 6 of the 8 Republicans running in top-tier Senate races have been polling worse since the conventions  a new Monmouth University survey suggests that Sen. Marco Rubio is bucking both trends and leading the two Democrats vying to challenge him this fall. (Floridas U.S. Senate primary is Aug. 30.) According to Monmouth, Rubio currently holds a 48 percent to 43 percent lead over Rep. Patrick Murphy, his likeliest opponent; Rubios lead over Rep. Alan Grayson is larger, at 50 percent to 39 percent.

Why is Rubio  a late entrant who initially promised to retire from the Senate at the end of the year  performing so much better than GOP senators elsewhere? The Monmouth poll contains a few clues.

First of all, hes very well-known  and relatively well-liked. More Florida voters approve (47 percent) than disapprove (39 percent) of the job Rubio has done in the Senate, and 40 percent see him favorably. Only 33 percent have an unfavorable view of the guy. Meanwhile, 68 percent of Floridians have no opinion of Murphy. When one of your choices is a former presidential candidate and the other is someone youve never heard of, the presidential candidate tends to do fairly well.

Secondly, Trump isnt hurting Rubio the way hes hurting other senators, such as New Hampshires Kelly Ayotte. Sixty-three percent of Florida voters arent even aware that Rubio eventually endorsed the Republican nominee. Theyre probably more familiar with the remarks Rubio made about Trump during the presidential primaries (this guy is a con artist) than the remarks hes made about Trump since then (the time for fighting each other is over). And Rubio should try to keep it that way: Of the Floridians who knew about his Trump endorsement, 25 percent told Monmouth that it would actually make them less likely to vote for Rubio. Only 9 percent said the opposite.

Now for the bad news.

Monmouth also released an Indiana poll this week, and in many ways, its the reverse image of Florida. Boosted by his selection of Hoosier State Gov. Mike Pence for VP, Trump is currently leading Clinton by 11 percentage points among likely voters.

But unfortunately for the GOP, that boost doesnt seem to be extending down-ballot. In the states open-seat Senate race, former Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh  who, like Rubio, only launched his comeback bid earlier this summer  leads his GOP opponent, Rep. Todd Young, 48 percent to 41 percent.

Like Rubio, Bayh  who served two terms in the Senate after serving two terms as governor  is well-known and well-liked in Indiana. Nearly half of Indiana voters (46 percent) have a favorable view of Bayh, while just 19 percent view him unfavorably. Hoosiers arent as familiar with Young; a majority (55 percent) have no opinion of him at all.

So far, Bayhs popularity seems to be serving him well. While professional Republicans have been attacking his work as a lobbyist and questioning his claims that he stayed in Indiana after leaving the Senate in early 2011, actual Republican voters seem relatively unperturbed. In fact, according to Monmouth, 16 percent of Trump voters are planning to split the ticket and vote for Bayh as well.

The same cannot be said of Clinton voters: only 3 percent plan to vote for Young.

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The trickle-down effect of Trumps latest campaign shakeup

The big news in presidential politics this week was Donald Trumps decision to shake up his campaign and bring in Breitbart News Executive Chairman Steven K. Bannon as CEO. Theres already been plenty of press about Bannon and how he will influence Trump. Short version: Bannon will encourage the Donald to be the Donald  combative, uncouth, controversial.

Or as Trump told a Wisconsin interviewer earlier this week: I dont want to change. Everyone talks about, Oh, well, youre going to pivot. I dont want to pivot.

But so far theres been less talk about what sort of effect Bannons presence will have on Trumps relationship with the Republican Party  especially in the timing of what many regard as an inevitable shift of RNC resources from Trumps campaign to down-ballot races.

What we know: Trumps new campaign boss hates  really, really, really hates  the Republican establishment. As the Daily Beast reports, Bannon has used his perch at Breitbart to make the case that House Speaker Paul Ryan is a liberal globalist trying to sell out the American worker to foreign Islamist shills. Also, under [Bannons] tenure, Breitbart turned its guns on establishment Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. John McCain, with Bannon himself taking aim at former Republican House Speaker John Boehner, alleging he was involved in a scheme for political contributions.

What we think we know: That this sort of attitude wont encourage party unity  and may even convince the GOP to throw Trump overboard earlier than expected. Heres the CW starting to take shape:

top GOP strategist tells me Trump campaign shakeup will accelerate party move to shift resources toward House/Senate races, away from Trump  John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) August 17, 2016

Stay tuned for more.

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Bai: Why its smart politics for GOP leaders to cut Trump loose

In his latest must-read, Yahoo News National Political Columnist Matt Bai takes issue with Republican leaders  Paul Ryan in particular  for failing to disavow Donald Trump and devote themselves to saving down-ballot candidates instead.

Trumps probably not going to win in November anyway, and party leaders want to be able to move on with an intact party and maybe even an expanded, energized base, Bai explains. But let me offer an alternative way to look at it.

The crux of Bais argument is that GOPs current wishy-washy strategy ignores everything we know about pop-up political movements. More from his column:

What Republicans should have learned from the tea party uprising is that you dont really appease or absorb these kinds of rebellions. Their guiding principle is to upend party establishments, which is why John Boehner is home in Ohio now, despite having twisted himself like a yogi to avoid alienating the partys angriest new voices. Ron Pauls voters didnt become party loyalists. Neither did Ted Cruzs. And Trumps wont, either. By not more explicitly renouncing Trumps increasingly appalling campaign, Ryan and the others may well be fumbling the more genuine opportunity to expand their partys appeal. More and more Americans, and particularly younger voters, are wary of party politics, mainly because they suspect  rightly  that leaders too readily subvert Americans overarching interests to their own partisan agendas. This is, at the moment, a much larger problem for Republicans than it is for Democrats. According to the latest data from Pew Research, only about a third of the public sees the Republican Party favorably. (The Democratic number is more than 10 points higher.) If Ryan, as the countrys ranking Republican, were to finally say enough is enough  that, whatever the consequences to himself or his party, he could no longer endorse Trumps candidacy and hope to teach his children anything about decency and public service at the same time  then he would send a powerful signal to those voters. Hed be saying that conscience still exists in politics, which is exactly what Cruz got across in his convention speech, and Im betting it serves him well. If you want to know what standing on principle does to your credibility with voters, look at John Kasich in Ohio. He pointedly declined to endorse Trump or attend his convention down the street, and his approval rating is near 60 percent while other governors are tanking.

Do you buy Bais argument? Do you think the rewards of dumping Trump outweigh the risks  especially for down-ticket Republicans? Let us know on Twitter: @andrewromano

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The best of the rest

Senior Republicans are quietly advising the RNC NOT to pull cash from Trump. @mkraju tells you why: https://t.co/ZLvwWtssU8  Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) August 17, 2016

First on CNN: Romney conducting donor outreach for Rubio @CNNPolitics https://t.co/x8ATsFSn1e  Chris Moody (@moody) August 18, 2016

Ryan to Cover 12 States Campaigning for House Candidates in August https://t.co/7FkQBcMgso pic.twitter.com/Wsl8l64dDC  CQ Now (@CQnow) August 17, 2016

Senate Republicans Fear That John McCain And Others Lose Big This Fall : NPR https://t.co/GGCa2c4iOv  james weaver (@maddogesq) August 18, 2016

Long a proponent of trade, @PatToomey says TPP details fall short. @KatieMcGintyPA says hes trying to save himself: https://t.co/hynFNbBQam  Jonathan Tamari (@JonathanTamari) August 17, 2016

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Countdown

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Drop everything you are doing: Pottermore is looking for writers!

Drop everything you are doing: Pottermore is looking for writers!

The Harry Potter series is groundbreaking and beloved for so many reasons. As a writer, J.K. Rowlings fully-realized, wonderfully inventive, magical world was definitely one of the very first things that inspired me to create my own fictional worlds. Im sure there are thousands of young writers out there who can say the exact same thing.

And Potterheads around the world can never get enough of the series. Beyond the existing Wizarding World theme parks and tours in Florida, California, and England, this year has also brought us the epic continuation of the series with the London stage play (and script book) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child PLUS the spin-off/prequel film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which is set to hit theaters this November.

But now, incredibly, there is actually a way for writers to become involved in the world of Harry Potter themselves. Pottermore posted a job listing looking for writers for the site!

Yep, you read that correctly: There is an opportunity for freelance writers and fans of the Wizarding World to create original content for Pottermore.

Excuse me while I hand-flail forever and express my excitement in a series of appropriately giddy Potter gifs.

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The job listing was posted via Gorkana Jobs, calling for writers for Pottermore, the Wizarding Worlds digital arm which covers everything from the latest news across the brand, to in-depth features on existing canon and characters.

The ad stated that they are looking for Freelance Writers with an eye for a good story, a passion for in-depth analysis and research, as well as strong working knowledge of the Harry Potter stories.

So, basically Harry Potter superfans who are great at writing, research, and know a ton about the Wizarding World, this is the gig for you.

Writers interested in a Freelance Writer position are encouraged to send their pitches and writing samples to Pottermores Content Editor Krystal Sim via the application form on the listing, which also asks for the applicants CV and cover letter.

I cant even imagine how many applications theyre going to get, so Id ~strongly~ suggest you get on this ASAP if youre interested. I know I will.

The post Drop everything you are doing: Pottermore is looking for writers! appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Johannesburg (AFP) - UN agencies warned Thursday that southern African countries were at risk of another year of food shortages as the drought-hit region is expected to be hit by above-average rainfall likely to trigger floods.

The region is still reeling from the effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon which devastated crops leaving some 18 million people in need of food aid, according to the World Food Programme.

Meteorologists forecast the region will this year experience more rainfall than normal due to an extreme weather pattern known as La Nina.

"What La Nina brings is both good news and bad news," Lewis Hove, regional agricultural coordinator with the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation told AFP.

"The good news is that we are going to get above average rainfall -- which normally means good production from our farmers," said Hove.

"But above average rainfall is going to bring with it floods and water logging in some areas of the region," said Hove, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting on drought-resilient agriculture in Johannesburg.

To ensure farmers benefit from the rains, the UN officials said they needed to plant early to avoid the floods.

But most farmers have little or no capital to buy farming inputs having been hit by two successive droughts.

Their governments will struggle to bail them out with cash for seeds and fertilisers.

Many of the regional economies are heavily dependent on commodities, prices for which have slumped on the international markets.

"If you look at Zambia, they lost something like 47 percent of their income because of the drop in copper (prices)... so the capacity of government is weakened," Chris Nikoi, WFP southern African director told AFP.

"You take Zimbabwe for example, if the government is struggling to pay its civil servants -- its ability to ensure that seeds are in the hands of rural farmers on time, obviously is going to be challenged."

"The international community needs to step in and help," said Nikoi.

Humanitarian agencies including the UN's OCHA last month called for $1.2 billion in aid for seven drought-stricken countries in southern Africa, with Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique among the hardest-hit.
On Aug 18, 2016, Zacks Investment Research downgraded DST Systems Inc. DST to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). Going by the Zacks model, companies holding a Zacks Rank #5 are likely to underperform the broader market.



Why the Downgrade?



There have been frequent downward estimate revisions of late. In fact, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter dropped 15.9% to $1.48 per share over the last 60 days. For fiscal 2017, one out of the two estimates was lowered over the same time frame. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was down approximately 11.1% to $6.78 per share.



Moreover, DST Systems balance sheet appears highly leveraged. The company exited second-quarter 2016 with $72.7 million in cash and equivalents compared with $73.4 million in the previous quarter. Long-term debt (including current portion) was $712.2 million compared with $721.5 million in the previous quarter.



It is worth mentioning that DST has divested its Customer Communications division to focus on financial services and health care segments. During the second quarter, the company successfully sold its North American Customer Communications division to Broadridge Financial Solutions BR for a cash consideration of $410 million. It has also divested its UK Customer Communications Bristol production facilities in exchange for net pretax proceeds of approximately $16 million. The proceeds from the aforementioned divestments will facilitate the acquisition of new businesses in addition to improving flexibility to capitalize on new opportunities in health care and financial services. However, all of this depends how the company utilizes these funds to drive future growth. Furthermore, loss of revenues due to divestments has made us increasingly cautious about the stocks future performance.



The company faces stiff competition from the likes of Broadridge Financial Solutions' BEA, Lombardi, Savvion, and TIBCO Software, which offer their premium services at more competitive prices. Some of the companys clients are in a position to develop in-house capacity to perform transaction processing, recordkeeping and output generation services. In-house facilities of these companies could increase competition, leading to lower prices and profits for DST.



Furthermore, decreasing organic revenue growth, tough competition from International Business Machines Corporation IBM and Fiserv Inc. FISV, and a high debt burden remain concerns.

Story continues

DST SYSTEMS Price and Consensus

DST SYSTEMS Price and Consensus | DST SYSTEMS Quote

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Duke Energy Corporation DUK has received a new 30-year operating license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for its Keowee-Toxaway Hydroelectric Project in northwestern South Carolina.



Details of the Project



The hydroelectric project, comprising two reservoirs with two powerhouses, extends across 25 river miles and covers roughly 480 miles of shoreline. It starts from Lake Jocassee in North Carolina and South Carolina, flows into Lake Keowee and then runs downstream to the Army Corps of Engineers' Lake Hartwell Project in South Carolina.



The plant generates 868 megawatts (MW) of hydropower and cooling water for Duke Energy's Oconee Nuclear Station on Lake Keowee. TheOconee power station can generate about 2,500 MW of energy.



Keowee-Toxaway will enable Duke Energy to continue operating the Jocassee Pumped Storage Hydro Station, the Keowee Hydro Station and connected lakes.



According to Steve Jester, Duke Energy's vice president of water strategy, hydro licensing and lake services, theproject generates renewable hydroelectric power, fulfils regional potable water requirements and offers high-quality recreational prospectsin the region. He believes that the licensealso ensures the availability of these resources for future generations.



The License



The new license will be effective from Sep 1. It will help the company to executeoperational, environmental and recreational resource development, and benefit the community and the environment in many ways. One such benefit will be improvements in existing public recreational areas on Lake Jocassee and Lake Keowee.



Additionally, Duke Energy will execute a Habitat Enhancement Program in the watershed and expects to conserve around 2,900 acres of property adjacentto the lakes. The program will aim to conserve ecologically and culturally important resources.



It is the first relicensing for the project in Upstate South Carolina. In 1966, the hydroelectric project received the first 50-year license from FERC.



The company has been working with community, environmental and local government groups on the relicensing proposal since 2011. It has filed its formal application in Aug 2014.

Story continues

DUKE ENERGY CP Price

DUKE ENERGY CP Price | DUKE ENERGY CP Quote

Renewable Endeavors



Duke Energy is a premier utility service provider that offers efficient power and energy services across various states in the U.S. and several international locations. The company has plans to invest $1.5 billion in renewables in its pipeline joint ventures in 2016. Additionally, it intends to invest $3$5 billion in commercial renewables in its gas pipeline through 2020.



On Apr 2016, the company raised its 2020 renewable energy goal by 33% on the back of continued growth in renewable energy. The company expects to own or acquire 8,000 megawatts (MW) of wind, solar and biomass capacity by 2020, marking a substantial increase over the 2013 target of 6,000 MW. The company is committed to the construction and expansion of the scale of its solar and wind projects across the U.S.



Duke Energy currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).



Stocks to Consider



Some better-ranked companies in the utility sector include Spark Energy, Inc. SPKE, Korean Electric Power Corp. KEP and DTE Energy Company DTE. While Spark Energy and Korean Electric Power sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), DTE Energy carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).



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Hotels in Delhi might not cost as much, thanks to an upcoming Bill by the AAP government.

By India Today Web Desk: When Delhi's Lt Governor Najeeb Jung gave his approval to the proposal of introducing a luxury tax for the city's hotels, it didn't make too many travellers happy. But if things go right, the situation is going to turn in the travellers' favour.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is all set to introduce a Bill in the Delhi Assembly, which will do away with the luxury tax on hotels having rent up to Rs 1,500.

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Also read: Guess which Indian hotel chain has been voted the world's best by travellers



As per the current norms in motion, thanks to the Delhi Tax on Luxuries Act (1996), any person who stays in a hotel room having a tariff of at least Rs 750 a day or above, is entitled to pay the luxury tax.

"The Lt Governor has given his nod to the proposal to do away with luxury tax on hotel renting up to Rs. 1,500. The AAP government will thus table the Bill in the upcoming Assembly session," said a senior government official.

The aim is to make the city's budget hotels cheaper, thus attracting more tourists to the national capital. Paharganj, Karol Bagh, Mahipalpur and Daryaganj are the areas having most of the budget hotels in the city.

(With inputs from PTI)



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By Ju-min Park and James Pearson SEOUL (Reuters) - Thae Yong Ho, the most senior North Korean diplomat to flee to the South, is likely to have round-the-clock protection and make a comfortable living at a think-tank run by Seoul's intelligence service, say elite defectors who followed a similar path. Thae, who was deputy ambassador at the North's embassy in London, defected with his family and arrived in the South, Seoul said late on Wednesday, an embarrassing blow for leader Kim Jong Un's increasingly isolated Pyongyang leadership. Many of roughly 27,000 North Koreans who have fled the impoverished, repressive North for the wealthy and democratic South struggle to assimilate and are economically marginalized, but well-connected defectors like Thae are treated as a valuable resource who can shed light on a secretive neighbour. Like many high-profile defectors, Kim Kwang-jin works for the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS), a think-tank run by South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS). "To live here, of course, everybody needs a job, and the South Korean government offers jobs to people. I was given the opportunity to work at INSS," said Kim, who defected with his family in 2003 while working in Singapore for a North Korean insurance firm that became notorious for involvement in scams. Choi Ju-hwal was a colonel in the North Korean army when he fled to South Korea via Hong Kong during a business trip in China in 1995, making him the highest-level military defector at the time. He was an INSS researcher from 1997 to 2012 before leaving to head the Association of the North Korean Defectors. "(The government) can't just pay him (Thae) for nothing, so it is most likely that he would be given a job at the research institute," said Choi, now 67, referring to the INSS. The NIS declined to comment on Thae. UNDERCOVER Some defectors change their names for security purposes and to protect loved ones left behind, or to appear less obviously North Korean. Most keep a low public profile, although some, like Kim, become prominent through media appearances as experts on North Korea. While Thae had a relatively high public profile as a representative of North Korea in London, Choi expects the ex-diplomat to try to live anonymously in South Korea. "He won't pursue a public life, because he has to think about the safety of his family he brought here. Being quiet can hurt people around him less, so I don't think he will do public activities," Choi said. Choi said that for two years, he had four armed policemen guarding him around the clock due to concerns about his safety. He now has a lower level of police protection. Kim, the former insurance worker, said he used to have one round-the-clock armed bodyguard. ARDUOUS JOURNEY Most ordinary defectors make a lengthy and often harrowing overland journey across North Korea's border with China to a third country before arriving by air in South Korea. Upon arrival, they are held for up to 180 days alone in comfortable rooms, and screened to make sure that they are not spies or impostors. After that, they are transferred to a resettlement complex, which they cannot leave, for another 12 weeks, to help them adjust to life in the South. Many end up working in restaurants and other low-paid positions, earning 67 percent of the national average wage, data from the parliamentary budget office shows. Once they finish their resettlement programme, each defector receives 20 million won ($18,025) to help find housing and jobs. Some use part of their subsidy to pay private brokers who facilitated their escape. "Ordinary defectors are having difficulties in getting jobs and education and making families here," said Seo Jae-pyoung, a defector who left his homeland in 2001 and now works for Choi's group to support ordinary defectors in the South. "It is not so easy for them as people say." For higher-ranking defectors, the process can be different. Kim said he was in South Korea, where he underwent interrogation, within 24 hours of walking into the South Korean embassy in Singapore. Choi was questioned alone at an intelligence agency safe house. The same could be true for Thae. Overall, the number of North Korean defectors to the South has declined since leader Kim took power following his father's death in late 2011. But in the first seven months of 2016 it rose by about 15 percent year-on-year to 814, including a group of 13 workers from a North Korean restaurant in Ningbo, China. Experts say the share of well-connected defectors is rising, an increase that ex-insurance company official Kim said began when the 2013 execution of Kim Jong Un's powerful uncle, Jang Song Thaek, rattled Pyongyang's elite. "In the past we couldn't have imagined that these kind of people are coming here - these kind of people from these kind of families," Kim said. ($1 = 1,109.5500 won) (Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
Last Saturday, the lead actor from the original Star Wars died, though few people thought of him as such. Kenny Baker was, of course, not as famous as Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford. But R2-D2, the droid given life by Baker from inside a blue and white mobile garbage can, drove much of the action for A New Hope, as he did in subtler ways in the original sequels, the prequels, and The Force Awakens. In 2005, when George Lucas was asked which Star Wars character hed miss the most, he named R2-D2. He's the hero of the whole thing, Lucas said. He's the one that always comes through and saves everybody.

Droids are as responsible for Star Warss Star Wars-ness as the Force or daddy issues are. The special emotional blend of original trilogy is in in the melding of R2-D2s wry, can-do unflappability with C-3POs nerdy, terrified wonder. The bad humor, dull reasoning, and interchangeable personalities of The Phantom Menaces battle droids certainly can be seen as a microcosm for that film. And like the The Force Awakens itself, BB-8 was zippy, adorable, derivative, and eager to please. In all cases, as the galaxys great helpers (every few years, someone writes a think piece about how the films are problematic because the bots are actually slaves) droids competence and comedy both enable their masters adventures and keep their melodrama from getting too serious.

The prompt for thinking about droids right now is not only Bakers death but also the steadily rising hype for Rogue One, out on December 16. The first in Disneys one-off Star Wars films that will alternate release years with the franchises proper sequels, it tells of the Rebel spies who stole the plans for the Death Star immediately before the events of A New Hope. The full-length trailer that recently premiered during Olympics coverage promises a slick, serious ensemble film with some very cool-looking tweaks of existing Star Wars tropes from Imperial Walkers to desert planets. Perhaps the most intriguing element on displayboth familiar and radical within the tradition of Star Warsis the new droid character, K-2SO.

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Visually, K-2SO recalls not his colorful Star Wars predecessors but rather a more archetypical sci-fi robot, gunmetal grey and bipedal, tall enough to make the obvious Iron Giant comparisons relevant. Voiced by Alan Tudyk of Firefly fame, K-2SO tells Rogue Ones protagonist, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), The captain says you are a friend. I will not kill you. Its a jarring thing to hear from a Star Wars droid-ally: Can you imagine C-3PO threatening anyones life? The filmmakers seem to want us to be drawing such contrasts between the gold-plated protocol droid and this new bot. There is a 97.6 percent chance of failure, K-2SO says elsewhere in the trailer, a clear throwback to C-3POs pesky tendency of telling Han Solos crew their dreadful odds of survival.

The movies publicity campaign has given more information about where K-2SO might fit in the droid-hero tradition of the series. (Read no further if you want to avoid knowing anything about the films plot outside of what the trailers have shown). As the insignia on K-2SOs shoulder indicates, he was once Imperial property: a security bot, used as a violent enforcer. Rebel pilot Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) reprogrammed him to side against the Empire, but its clear he still has dangerous capabilities. Interestingly, EWs preview of Rogue One says that the droid is seeking a bit of redemption.

K-2SO may show that the porous boundary between dark and light concerns machines as well as man.

Even so, it appears he shall continue in the historical droidly role of comic relief. Tudyk has said K-2SO has no filter... he can say insulting things very casually if he thinks theyre true. Hes also said, Hes not an overly emotional guy  Hes not like C-3PO, whos like a fucking neurotic mess. The moment in the trailer when he blurts about not killing Jyn confirms that description. This is a darker kind of humor than is typical for Star Wars, but one in line with the grittier tone thats been promised for Rogue One.

Moreover, the fact that this droid has crossed from working for the Empire to working for the Alliance signals that Disneys Star Wars are continuing their exploration of moral side-switching. Finn, The Force Awakens turncoat stormtrooper, represented the movie series first significant glimpse into what lifes like for rank-and-file employees of the Dark Side. Now, both K-2SO and a new character named Bodhi (Riz Ahmed) have gone from working for the Empire to working for its enemies. And the Rogue One trailer promises that much of the movie will revolve around Jyn Erso heading undercover as an Imperial.

Flipping between dark and light is, of course, the foundational conflict of the entire saga, seen in the arc of Anakin Skywalker. Its possibly much the same conflict that will define the story of Rey and Kylo Ren in the future sequels. From what we know now, K-2SO may not compete with R2-D2 to become the iconic fan-favorite droids of the series, but he will show that the porous boundary between good and evil is one that concerns machines as well as man.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
When The Night Manager star Tom Hiddleston showed up in Zelmatt, Switzerland, for the first day of filming AMCs miniseries adaptation of John le Carres novel, he had a suggestion for director Susanne Bier: The script was missing a line from the book that sums up the narrative perfectly.

[Olivia Colmans character] asks [my character, Jonathan] Pine, Why did you do it? Why does a respected hotelier snitch on his guests?' Hiddleston said in a recent interview with TheWrap.

And I remember I had the novel with me.  Its a direct quote from the novel: If theres a man selling a private arsenal to an Egyptian crook and hes English and youre English, you just do it.'

Also Read: Tom Hiddleston Wants You to Binge-Watch 'The Night Manager' (Video)

That line seemed to me to sum up the theme of the novel, which is John le Carres anger that a man who is in receipt of all the privileges of British citizenship  education, wealth and democracy  is using those privileges to do the worst things imaginable, he explained.

The target of that ire is Hugh Lauries character, Richard Onslow Roper, an arms dealer whose organization Hiddlestons character must infiltrate on behalf of Colmans intelligence agency. Hiddleston described Lauries role on the series as the most charming man in the world playing the worst man in the world.

Also Read: Emmy Quickie: Why 'Night Manager' Star Elizabeth Debicki Is So Close to Tom Hiddleston (Exclusive Video)

Pines anger is le Carres anger that an Englishman is doing this terrible thing that is creating destruction and poverty and death on a global scale, he said. To me, that really summed up The Night Manager.'

Watch the interview above.

Emmy Quickie: 'The Night Manager' Star Elizabeth Debicki Exclusive StudioWrap Portraits (Photos)

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Star of AMC hit stops by TheWrap for interview and photo session

Elizabeth Debicki, "The Night Manager"

Photographed by Michael Rowe for TheWrap

Styling by Annabelle Harron, Hair by Christian Marc & Makeup by Kirin Bhatty

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Infamous New England mobster James "Whitey" Bulger wants the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse his 2013 racketeering convictions for his role in 11 murders in the 1970s and '80s, PEOPLE confirms.



In a petition filed August 11 and obtained by PEOPLE, Bulger's lawyers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the 86-year-old's appeal. Whether the high court takes up Bulger's case remains to be seen.



The U.S. Supreme Court generally hears just a fraction of the thousands of cases it is asked to review each year. Five months ago, the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Bulger's convictions.



According to the appeals court's ruling, Bulger failed to show his right to a fair trial had been violated when a judge forbade him from testifying about an alleged immunity agreement Bulger said he established with a now-deceased federal prosecutor.



 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.



Bulger is currently serving two life sentences.



For nearly three decades, Bulger served as the head of Boston's Winter Hill Gang. He fled Massachusetts in 1994 after an FBI agent warned him he was about to be indicted.



Bulger spent more than 15 years on the run, but authorities caught up with him in 2011, apprehending him in Santa Monica, California. Actor Johnny Depp portrayed Bulger in the 2015 film, Black Mass.



Bulger's petition to the Supreme Court claims a pretrial ruling prevented him from telling the jury about his supposed immunity deal. That ruling, the filing reads, trampled Bulger's rights to effectively present a defense and to testify on his own behalf.



"This error affected the fundamental fairness of Mr. Bulger's trial and his convictions should be automatically reversed as a result," the petition reads.



Bulger's lawyer further argues federal prosecutors withheld information regarding certain "promises, rewards and inducements" offered to John Martorano, a self-admitted hit man who testified against Bulger at his trial.



Martorano killed 20 people, and served only 12 years in prison.



Federal prosecutors have until September 12 to file a response.
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether a Massachusetts towns rejection of plans for a Muslim cemetery violated any civil rights.

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said Thursday the prosecutors will examine whether the town of Dudley violated the Islamic Society of Greater Worcesters right to religious exercise, the Associated Press reports.

The Islamic group bought 55 acres of land in Dudley for the cemetery, but local officials stopped the project due to environmental and traffic concerns. Dudley residents have said they fear burial practices might contaminate groundwater, according to the AP, because Muslims often do not embalm bodies and do not use coffins.

The groups lawyer, Jay Talerman, filed a lawsuit against the town last month and said anti-Muslim prejudice was behind the towns rejection. Ortiz said the investigation will look at whether the town put unreasonable barriers on the cemetery proposal.

All Americans have the right to worship and to bury their loved ones in accordance with their religious beliefs, free from discrimination, she told the Associated Press.
Heart-breaking image and video of a bloodied child, pulled out from the rubble in an Aleppo airstrike, reveals the tragic human cost of war in Syria.

By India Today Web Desk: Pictures of dead and injured children have tragically turned out to be most powerful portrayal of the ongoing war in Syria. While the world is still finding it hard to come to terms with the photo of 3-year old Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi swept ashore on a Turkish beach, another heart-breaking one comes up.

This time, a devastating image and video of a dazed and bloodied child pulled out from the rubble left by an airstrike in Aleppo was shared widely on social media on Wednesday.

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In the YouTube video posted by an activist organization, Aleppo Media Group, the five-year-old child named Omran Daqneesh is carried into an emergency van. As he sits on an orange chair, he touches the blood seeping from his forehead, while still looking dazed.



A Telegraph correspondent tweeted pictures of the five-year-old Omran who was injured on a blast that took place on Wednesday. According to the report, the little boy was taken to M10 hospital, where he was treated for the injuries he sustained.

Doctor in #Aleppo just sent this photo of a dazed child who survived an airstrike pic.twitter.com/IHLDc6KPh8 Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) August 17, 2016

His name is Omar Daqneesh and he is 5. Here he is after treatment by some extraordinarily brave doctors in #Aleppo. pic.twitter.com/7WT4oMqExK Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) August 17, 2016

War-torn Syria has also been struggling to treat patients as many hospitals are bearing the brunt of the bombings.

Since 2011, Syria has been grappling with constant bombardment and terror strikes. So far the attacks have claimed more than 3,00,000 lives and millions have been displaced.

However, over the past three weeks airstrikes have wreaked havoc in Aleppo. Continuous bombings have pounded the city and left thousands dead. Since 2012, the eastern part of Aleppo has been under a Russian-backed government siege.

ALSO READ: Aylan Kurdi's drowning inspired Australian singer Missy Higgins to pay a poignant tribute





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By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not complied with federal requirements to study the effects of the nation's biofuel use mandate, an agency watchdog said on Thursday. EPA's Inspector General concluded that the agency has not issued a report to Congress on the environmental impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) since 2011, even though federal law requires that the agency provide a report every three years. The RFS, which is administered by EPA, sets the amounts of biofuels, such as ethanol, that must be blended into U.S. gasoline and diesel supplies annually. The IG report also said the agency has not evaluated whether the program is causing any harm to air quality and it has no formal process to initiate an update of its data on the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels. "Not having required reporting and studies impedes the EPA's ability to identify, consider, mitigate and make policymakers aware of any adverse impacts of renewable fuels," the report said. EPA said it mostly agreed with the report's findings. The agency said it has "agreed to a set of corrective actions and timelines" to address the report's conclusions. The agency estimated that it would complete a report on the impact of the biofuel mandate by the end of 2017. The renewable fuel program has faced intense opposition in recent years from oil companies, who argue that the program places undue financial burdens on refiners. A spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute said the oil and gas trade group is still reviewing the IG report. Some environmental groups have also questioned whether EPA has properly evaluated the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn ethanol to calculate its global warming potential. They say land-use change associated with its production outweighs the environmental benefits of replacing gasoline. But, biofuel backers have strongly pushed back against these claims. "We are confident that once EPA conducts these required studies, they will show that biofuels like ethanol are significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, even above the threshold reductions," said Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen in a statement. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
AMSTERDAM, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The average annual management charge rate paid by European investors to their mutual fund manager fell more than 8 percent over the last three years, investment research firm Morningstar said in a report.

The average yearly fee is now 1 percent of the assets, down from just under 1.1 percent in 2013. The study, which looked at thousands of funds across all European countries, did not look at exchange traded funds and excluded trading costs.

Growing demand to invest using tracker funds underpinned the price fall, author Nikolaj Holdt Mikkelsen said. Such funds often charge a full percentage point less than actively managed funds, but still form just 10 percent of the total market.

The move to passive comes as many active funds struggle to outperform and as regulatory change forces funds to be more open about the fees they charge, with investors increasingly aware of how fees impact long-term performance, Mikkelsen said

Fees varied significantly by country, with investors in Italy and Belgium paying on average 1.42 percent and 1.47 respectively, while those in Switzerland paid just 0.62 percent.

British and Dutch investors had both seen large declines in costs over the three-year period, mostly due to the introduction of rules separating trading commissions from fund management costs.

Total fees earned by European funds were 61 billion euros ($69 billion) in 2016, up from 53 billion euros in 2013, Mikkelsen said, because overall fund assets under managment increased. ($1 = 0.8840 euros) (Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by Simon Jessop, Greg Mahlich)
The 25th anniversary of the August 1991 revolution is not likely to be met with widespread joy and pride, let alone cymbals. For one, wasnt it more of a revanchist coup attempt than a democratic revolution? Didnt the Soviet Union sort of just collapse on its own four months later? And what does it matter, anyway, in Vladimir Putins 16th year in power?

Wrong, wrong, and  well get to the last bit later.

By any measure, the August 1991 revolt was a classic, great revolution  consider its results, impact on Russias future, and, most of all, objectives. Its core aims were moral. Like the American Revolution, the French, and even the uprisings of the Arab Spring, the overthrow of the Soviet system was about human dignity. Those who began the liberalization that ignited the revolution (Mikhail Gorbachev and his top aide, Alexander Yakovlev, the Godfather of Glasnost), as well as those who took it over, propelled by the upswell and radicalization from below (Boris Yeltsin and Yegor Gaidar), sought to end the complete subjugation of society to the state and the daily insults of shortages, fear, repression, lies, lawlessness, and moral degradation that resulted from this subjugation.

In 70 years  a system was built that is organically indifferent to the real, existing man, hostile to him, Yakovlev wrote. And not only in the mass repressions, the victims of which were millions, but in daily life, where a person means nothing, has nothing, and cannot obtain even basic things without humiliation. To Gorbachev, the essence of perestroika, or restructuring, was the struggle for the dignity of man, his elevation and his honor, according to a seminal 1987 essay by Mikhail Antonov in Oktyabr magazine. Yakovlev defined perestroika as the peoples right to act as independent and rational human beings and responsible citizens  no longer powerless subjects of a totalitarian state.

The socialist totalitarian state, which was doomed to perennial shortages in one of the most resource-rich countries in the world and which owned justice and the courts (as it owned everything else, including the livelihoods of every one of its 287 million citizens), was the culprit. Hence the aim of the revolution was to erect three tall hedges against the recurrence of such a state: private property, a free market economy, and popular sovereignty over the executive.

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In pursuit of these goals, the August 1991 revolution launched one of the most impressive economic and political modernizations in modern history. Those three rainy days in Moscow would usher in a new economic organization, a new political system, and create 15 new, independent states.

In the largest privatization on record  wrenching, dislocating, and costing millions of Russians their jobs  the country sloughed off thousands of hopelessly obsolete subsidized enterprises that had wasted billions of rubles in raw materials and man-hours on things that nobody needed. Marred as it was by favoritism, manipulation, and outright fraud, privatization served as the foundation of the spectacular economic takeoff that began in 1999.

Never before have as many Russians had access to as much quality food or as many goods and services as they do now. A 25-year-old today has never seen a food ration coupon. She doesnt know what its like to line up for hours for milk, eggs, or pantyhose  or have meat only on major holidays. She cannot imagine a world without tampons and toilet paper or picture nuclear physicists and surgeons being sent to the countryside to dig up potatoes on collective farms. Once gray, dingy, and hungry, the downtowns of most Russian cities are indistinguishable today from their European counterparts.

Along the way, revolutionary Russia underwent a self-administered demilitarization, unprecedented for a major power undefeated in war. Following an 80 percent cut in defense expenditures in January 1992, the defense sectors share of Russian GDP fell from at least one-fifth to 2 percent in 1999. The empire that the military guarded was dismantled as well. Between 1992 and 1995, Russia withdrew 800,000 troops from the former Warsaw Pact countries and roughly 40,000 troops from Estonia, shuttering all its military bases there. In December 1991, Moscow recognized Ukraines independence and later signed a Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership with Kiev.

It is nonsense to suggest that post-Soviet Russia cut defense because it had no money. What nation spends on its army solely by whats in the till and not by fear, pride, hatred, or aspiration? North Korea still manages to find the money for missiles. Cuba, which rations food, found the pesos to send 24,000 men to fight in Angola and still maintains the strongest armed force in Central America. And, of course, even with half the countrys schools lacking central heat, running water, or indoor toilets, the Soviet Union had more soldiers than the United States, China, and the Federal Republic of Germany combined and twice as many tanks as NATO.

But with the average price of oil at around $18 a barrel, post-Soviet Russia in the 1990s steadily increased health care expenditures; by 1999, it spent more than twice as much (7.3 percent) on health care as did the Soviet Union in 1990-1991 (2.9 percent), by share of GDP  and more than Putins Russia does today (6.5 percent).

Just as spectacular was the attempt at regaining dignity by liberty, the separation of powers, and the limitation of state power by law. Freedom of speech, the press, and of demonstration  never before seen in Russia save between February and November 1917  flourished. Three parliamentary ballots (in 1993, 1995, and 1999) and a presidential election (1996) were the freest in Russian history, except for the November 1917 election to the Constituent Assembly. Just as unprecedented was an independent and opposition-dominated parliament, which in 1999 came within a handful of votes of impeaching the president.

Exercising its constitutional right to grant amnesty, Russias lower house, the State Duma, ordered the release of the leaders of the October 1993 rebellion, in which black-shirted bands of leftist, anti-Semitic thugs shot at passersby from the top of the parliament building and lobbed grenades into the Ostankino television station. President Yeltsins compliance with the amnesty law was another revolutionary miracle. It is impossible to find another instance in Russias blood-stained history (or, for that matter, in almost any country) of unrepentant leaders of an armed uprising  who would have certainly executed Yeltsin had they succeeded  being freed by the victors with not one precondition. Since their release from detention, none has been persecuted or harassed in any way; none has been barred from politics; and several were later elected regional governors and Duma deputies.

In another historical first for Russia, the First Chechen War (1994-1996) was ended not by defeat on the battlefield, but by free media and democratically exerted pressure on the executive. Yeltsin promised to end the conflict if re-elected in 1996  and he did, withdrawing all Russian troops by early 1997.

Meanwhile, the courts, formerly pitiful appendages of state-owned socialist justice, were hugely empowered. For the first time in the countrys history, citizens sued authorities at every level, including the president  with courts ruling for the plaintiffs in more than three in four cases. The courts banned the hated propiska, or residency permit, which allowed local authorities to determine (or deny) where people could live; threw out bans on foreign religious denominations (Jehovahs Witnesses and Pentecostals among them); and limited the military draft by affirming the right to alternate service. A St. Petersburg court also acquitted naval officer Alexander Nikitin, charged with espionage by the KGB successor, the FSB  the first not-guilty verdict in a treason case brought by security services since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

So where did these stunning accomplishments end up? Consumed without a trace by the Putin restoration  utterly cynical, preening, rapacious, belligerent, and corrupt on a scale that makes the accursed 1990s (as the Putin propaganda machine has dubbed the revolutionary decade) look like childs play?

Looking back at the French Revolution, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote of the events, mistakes, misjudgments which led  Frenchmen to abandon their original ideal and, turning their backs on freedom, to acquiesce in an equality of servitude under the master of all Europe. Putin is not Napoleon (although he undoubtedly would love to be), but in claiming to defend the motherland from alleged NATO aggression, to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine from the fascist junta in Kiev, and to stabilize the legitimate government of Syria while leading the world struggle against international terrorism, he has recovered for his compatriots the lost pride in being a counterweight  moral, as well as military  to the United States.

Again, as in the Soviet days, millions of Russians see their country as a bulwark against evil and a guarantor of world peace. Obscured by the swelling of national pride are the indignities they suffer at the hands of the authorities, whom people consistently describe to pollsters as incompetent, corrupt, and callous. As the great Russian writer Mikhail Lermontov wrote, Ya rab, no rab tsarya vsellenoy! (I am a slave, but I am a slave of the Master of the Universe!)

True, reactionary restorations that follow great revolutions may last for decades. But no restoration has ever managed to extirpate completely the revolution it followed  and not one has proved permanent.

The August revolution of 1991, too, lives on. Its slogans were on the placards of the tens of thousands of demonstrators in more than 100 Russian cities and towns who protested a rigged election and Putins rule in the winter of 2011-2012. It shines through the honesty and integrity of many of my Russian colleagues, scholars, and experts who refuse to be bought or intimidated by the Kremlin. Its spirit animates civil rights activists from Vladivostok to Kaliningrad: courageous men and women who mobilize their fellow citizens to protect the Khimki Forest and Lake Baikal; to fight graft, corruption, electoral fraud, and oppose the destruction of parks, kindergartens, and hospitals to make room for grotesque shopping malls.

Although most of these activists are too young to remember the heady days of 1991, in their quest for democratic citizenship their goals are indistinguishable from those of the August revolutionaries. The revolution lives also in the women and men who refuse to surrender their Russia to the thieves and swindlers, as the anti-corruption and pro-democracy leader Alexei Navalny called members of Putins ruling party. And so they continue to come out to the streets, despite being met by truncheon-wielding anti-riot police. Navalny, meanwhile, continues his struggle with the Damocless sword of a suspended prison sentence hanging over his head; his brother, however, has effectively been taken hostage by the regime  sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail.

August 1991 also inspired the opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, the first democratically elected governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region and, later, the first deputy prime minister in the Yeltsin government. When he was assassinated in February 2015  just 600 feet from the Kremlin Wall  an estimated 70,000 people came to his funeral. And the revolution continues to live in the work of Vladimir Kara-Murza, Nemtsovs close friend and younger associate. After a sudden and near-total organ failure in Moscow in May of last year, most likely due to poisoning, he is back in Russia organizing the pro-democracy opposition movement.

Their quest for a democratic Russia may seem quixotic today, but the arc of modern Russian history bends closer to the Navalnys, Nemtsovs, and Kara-Murzas than to the regime trying to suppress them. Given a choice between freely competing parties and candidates, at every critical historical juncture, the majority of Russian voters have opted for democracy, modernization, and reform  not authoritarian reactionaries on the left or right: as in the votes for the 1906 Duma, the 1918 Constituent Assembly, and in the 1993 referendum and 1993 Duma.

Tocqueville compared enduring national institutions to rivers that after going underground re-emerge at another point, in new surroundings. Driven deep into the ground today by the weight of repression, monopolistic propaganda, and war-mongering paranoia, the great August revolution, too, will re-emerge.

Photo credit: MICHAEL EVSTAFIEV/AFP/Getty Images
By Alex Whiting ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Anyone with internet access and a passion for seafood will soon be able to track commercial fishing trawlers all over the world, with a new tool that its developers hope will help end the overfishing that has decimated the world's fish stocks. Millions of people depend on fish to survive, and fish will be vital to feeding the world's growing population that is predicted to reach 9.7 billion people by 2050, the United Nations says. But overfishing has diminished fish stocks, and illicit fishing is threatening people's access to food in many poor countries, according to the United Nations. "We currently have around 450 million people globally who get their primary source of food from the ocean. This is 450 million meals a day under threat," said Lasse Gustavsson, executive director of Oceana in Europe on Wednesday. "To solve the overfishing problem, including illegal fishing, we want to create transparency in the oceans," Gustavsson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Madrid. Oceana, an international conservation organisation, together with Google and SkyTruth, a nonprofit group that uses aerial and satellite images to track changes in the landscape, are due to launch the Global Fishing Tracker within weeks. The public, non-governmental organisations and local authorities will be able to use it to monitor coastlines and marine conservation areas, follow individual boats in near real-time and track what boats of a particular flag are doing. It will be especially useful for countries like Madagascar which have few resources to patrol and monitor their own coastlines, Oceana said. "You can slice that piece of data in many different ways which we think will be helpful when it comes to law enforcement, increasing public understanding, and catching the kind of people who are doing stuff they shouldn't be doing," said Gustavsson. Some 30 percent of fish stocks were overfished in 2013, up from 10 percent in 1974. Most of the remaining stocks are fully fished, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. At risk are hundreds of millions of people who depend on fisheries to earn a living, for food and nutrition, according to the FAO. The industry has vessels operating all over the world - some 15,000 European Union-registered fishing boats work off the coast of West Africa for example. Although legal, it is unsustainable, according to Oceana. Fish stocks will quickly bounce back if areas where fish spawn are protected, if fish stocks are managed scientifically, and if destructive and illegal fishing ended, Gustavsson said. "If we do all the right things now, in 10 years we will have twice as much fish in the ocean globally," he said. "We could increase the number of meals from 450 million a day today to maybe 1 billion." An international agreement to curb illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing came into force in June. The Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing allows a country to block ships it suspects of illicit fishing, stopping their catches from entering local and international markets. It will be a key driver in the international community's fight against illicit fishing, FAO said. (Reporting by Alex Whiting, Editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
Nairobi (AFP) - South Sudan's former rebel leader and ex-vice president Riek Machar has escaped to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo following violent clashes last month, officials said Thursday.

His precise whereabouts remained unclear but a United Nations spokesman confirmed his presence in the country.

UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Congolese authorities had asked the MONUSCO peacekeeping mission there to help transfer Machar and his family from a location near the border with South Sudan to elsewhere in DR Congo.

"MONUSCO (the UN's mission in DR Congo) became aware yesterday of the presence of Riek Machar in DRC and the DRC authorities requested MONUSCO to facilitate his extraction and transfer," Haq told reporters in New York.

"He has been handed over to the DRC authorities," he said, adding that the transfer was done for "humanitarian reasons" and "with his consent".

"We have provided him with whatever medical assistance he needs," Haq said, declining to give further details.

The UN mission in South Sudan had "no involvement" in Machar's departure, he added.

A source close to the matter told AFP that Machar could be in the northern city of Kisangani, but there was no official confirmation.

The UN spokesman said the agency did not know

A statement from Machar's SPLM-IO party said the leader had been "evacuated to a safe country within the region" without naming Congo.

A party source had earlier told AFP that Machar was in the Congolese capital Kinshasa but wanted "to go as soon as possible to Ethiopia".

Civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused Machar, then his deputy, of plotting a coup. The fighting has split the world's newest country along ethnic lines and driven it to the brink of collapse.

A peace deal signed between the government and rebels a year ago has so far failed to end the conflict. And last month Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting between Kiir's forces and those loyal to Machar.

Story continues

Machar's whereabouts had been unclear since the fighting flared in Juba between July 8 and 11 and led to his outgunned and outnumbered forces being chased from the city by government troops.

He was subsequently replaced as vice president on July 25 by Taban Deng Gai, a former friend and ally.

Deng warned Wednesday that Machar should stay out of politics to allow peace despite previously indicating that if Machar returned to Juba he would stand aside.

- Cost of war -

If Machar is indeed seeking to travel to Ethiopia, a regional power broker that hosted peace talks through the trade bloc IGAD, it would suggest he has no intention of being cut out of negotiations or pushed from power.

Several former rebel commanders have warned they consider Deng's elevation to vice president to be "treason".

South Sudan's civil war has been characterised by war crimes and human rights abuses with civilians massacred -- often along tribal lines -- women and girls raped and children forced to become soldiers.

Homes and property have been looted and burned, and entire towns razed.

Tens of thousands of people have died and over two million have been forced from their homes.

In just the most recent documented atrocity a South Sudanese journalist was killed by government soldiers because of his tribe and foreign aid workers were shot, beaten and raped in an attack on a hotel during last month's fighting in Juba.

The targeting of foreigners spurred the United Nations to launch an investigation into why its peacekeepers failed to respond to calls for help while the attack was going on.

Last Friday the UN Security Council approved a US-drafted resolution to strengthen the 12,000-person peacekeeping mission with 4,000 additional troops drawn from regional armies and equipped with a more aggressive mandate.

Juba has yet to accept the resolution.
She may be named after a super villain, but Harley Quinn Smith is all about taking the high road!

ET spoke to Kevin Smith's daughter at Variety's Power Of Young Hollywood Issue Celebration, presented by the app Pixhug with Vince Camuto on Tuesday, where the 16-year-old actress opened up about how she and her dad recently expertly shut down an online troll trying to tear her down.

"It definitely hurts when you see stuff like that." she admitted. "But it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, they don't know you."

WATCH: Kevin Smith Destroys Online Troll for Bullying His 17-Year-Old Daughter Harley Quinn: 'You're Being Useless'

Smith acknowledged that online hate "can seriously affect you," but said ultimately, "you cant let that get to you because ... it's just a stranger online going off and trying to spread their negativity."

"There are so many people being negative," she added. "You should just use that as an example, and as a motivation to be positive."

WATCH: Kevin Smith's Daughter Harley Quinn Says She Was Almost Kidnapped by Fake Uber Drivers

But even though she has the right attitude, Smith knows that for a lot of people going through bullying, it can be hard.

"I know it can hurt, and I know it can really get you down," she said, advising her fans who might be going through similar experiences, "Stay true to who you are, because you're fantastic just the way you are... You cant let anybody demean you of your worth."

WATCH: Paris Jackson Slams Online Trolls for Trying to 'Harass' Her Into Writing a Father's Day Post

"Anybody that's trying to get you down is obviously insecure and dealing with their own issues," Smith said. "And you just have to separate yourself from that."

Meanwhile, Smith also raved to ET about Suicide Squad, which features Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, with whom the young actress shares a name!

Story continues

MORE: Cara Delevingne Responds to Bad 'Suicide Squad' Reviews, Says It's 'for the Fans' Not the 'Critics'

"I feel such a strong connection with [the fictional Harley Quinn]," Smith said. "Not only because we share a name, but Margot Robbie did a fantastic, amazing job, portraying her, and I could not be happier with the performance she gave."

Smith said she's already seen the movie multiple times, adding, "I will stand by that movie till the day I die. I love it so much."

WATCH: Margot Robbie Talks Permanent Tattoos She Inked on Her 'Suicide Squad' Co-Stars

And Smith has just one request for DC Comics -- keep her in mind for a cameo in any spin-offs!

"If I was just in the corner, like eating some food or something...literally anything!" she exclaimed. "That would mean the world!"

WATCH: Lily-Rose Depp Has a Friend-Filled Prom With Kevin Smith's Daughter Harley Quinn

Related Articles
By Silvia Ognibene

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - The chief executive of Monte dei Paschi di Siena <BMPS.MI>, Fabrizio Viola, and the Italian bank's former chairman, Alessandro Profumo, are under investigation for alleged false accounting and market manipulation, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

The investigation, which started in 2015 following complaints filed by small shareholders and consumer associations, comes as the Tuscan bank prepares to launch a 5 billion euro ($6 billion) stock sale after emerging as the weakest bank in Europe in industry stress tests in July.

A spokesman for Monte dei Paschi said the decision to investigate Viola and Profumo followed a proposal by two shareholders to seek damages from the two executives which was rejected by other shareholders at an April meeting.

"(Under Italian law) prosecutors are bound to open an investigation when they receive a complaint," the spokesman said in an emailed comment.

This comment reflects Profumo's position, a separate spokesman for Profumo said.

Being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt and does not automatically lead to charges being laid.

The source said on Thursday prosecutors in Siena alleged the bank did not correctly book two derivatives trades known as Alexandria and Santorini between 2011 and 2014.

The inquiry was transferred to prosecutors in Milan in July. They now have 18 months to decide whether to shelve the investigation or seek trial for Viola and Profumo, the source said.

Siena prosecutors could have chosen to close the case, the source added.

Reuters' calls to the prosecutors' offices in Milan and Siena went unanswered.

The health of Italy's third-largest lender poses a threat to the wider banking system, the savings of thousands of small investors and also to the weakening political standing of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who faces a make-or-break constitutional referendum in the autumn.

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Viola and Profumo were drafted in at Monte dei Paschi in 2012 to turn it around after it wrecked its balance sheet by overpaying on the purchase of rival Antonveneta in 2007 and engineering risky derivatives trades.

Profumo, a veteran Italian banker formerly at UniCredit <CRDI.MI>, stepped down as Monte dei Paschi chairman in August last year after overseeing two cash calls in 2014 and 2015 which raised a total of 8 billion euros.

Shares in Monte dei Paschi are trading at record lows, after losing around 86 percent of their value since the bank completed its last share sale in June 2015.

In January, Milan prosecutors sent to trial 13 former managers at Monte dei Paschi, Nomura <8604.T> and Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> in a separate investigation into the two derivatives as well as a hybrid financial instrument used to partly finance the 2007 acquisition.

All the managers involved and the banks have denied any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors have said the bank's former management entered Alexandria and other derivative trades to conceal losses after stretching its finances to buy Antonveneta for 9 billion euros.

The Monte dei Paschi spokesman said on Thursday the Milan prosecutors had acknowledged the bank's new management was actively helping to shed light on those responsible for the trades.

In December, Italy's market watchdog Consob told Monte dei Paschi it had inaccurately booked the Alexandria derivative trade in its 2014 and first-half 2015 accounts.

($1 = 0.8834 euros)

(writing by Valentina Za and Stephen Jewkes, editing by Anna Willard)
In a move that could further irk Pakistan, there will be a joint Indo-Bangla co-production of 'factual' documentary on the 1971 War of Liberation in which India and erstwhile Prime Minister Indira Gandhi played a pivotal role.

By Smita Sharma: Keeping up the momentum of good bilateral relations, India and Bangladesh have agreed to collaborate more closely through their information ministries. In a move that could further irk Pakistan, there will be a joint Indo-Bangla co-production of 'factual' documentary on the 1971 War of Liberation in which India and erstwhile Prime Minister Indira Gandhi played a pivotal role. The two sides will also jointly produce a documentary featuring the life, struggle, politics and assassination of Bangladesh's Founding Father- 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rehman.

advertisement

The objective behind the move according to officials is to counter rumour, distortion of history and false propaganda as well as misinterpretation of religion through proper flow of information.

2020 marks the 100th year of Bangabandhu's birth anniversary while Bangladesh will celebrate 50 years of its independence from Pakistan in 2021 .In the run up to these landmark events,the Film Development Corporations and respective departments on both sides will cooperate on Skill development in media and cinema sector, Archiving, Capacity building, and co-production of fictional films to promote cultural bonds.

Bangladesh's Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu had nearly two hour long discussions with his Indian counterpart Venkaiah Naidu in Delhi on Wednesday. The two leaders agreed that an MoU would soon be signed for closer collaboration and a joint working group would start work on the 1971 and Mujibur Rehman joint documentaries.

Additionally, the two sides have agreed to restart the Indo-Bangla film festivals in each other's countries as a continuous process. Cinema exchange had stopped over the years as anti-India sentiments were fanned across Bangladesh by conservative and hawkish groups.

On 23rd of August,President Pranab Mukherjee is expected to launch All India Radio's new project Maitree- An Indian initiative for friendship with Bangladesh. The public broadcasters Doordarshan and Bangladesh TV will also henceforth collaborate for content.

According to Hasanul Haq, "The Whole subcontinent is sitting on communal and poverty bombs. Terrorists are trying to trigger the communal bomb which can be diffused only once by destroying terror networks through sharing of information to fight poverty."

--- ENDS ---
NSA headquarters

In the wake of an unprecedented breach of hacking tools and exploits apparently stolen from the US National Security Agency's elite hacking unit, experts are offering two competing theories on how it happened  and they're equally disturbing.

Some former agency employees believe that the alleged group behind the leak, the "Shadow Brokers," may have hacked an NSA server that had a top-secret hacker toolkit left there by mistake.

Others believe that the Brokers may be just a smokescreen for another possibility: an agency mole.

"The key thing I think people are missing is that [most are talking] about how someone hacked a command-and-control box somewhere on the internet," Dave Aitel, an ex-NSA research scientist who now leads penetration-testing firm Immunity, told Business Insider. "If you actually look at the files, it really doesn't seem like that is the case."

His remarks about looking at the files are interesting, especially in light of a post on Medium by Matt Suiche, the founder of Comae Technologies. He claimed that he was contacted by a former NSA analyst who offered a somewhat-redacted image of an award citation received while working inside the agency for the US Army to prove his bona fides.

In the post about this "insider theory," Suiche's source said that the supposed NSA toolkit usually sits on a physically segregated network that never goes near the internet. And even more interesting, the source says, is that when an NSA hacker  an operator working in what is called Tailored Access Operations (TAO)  is going to carry out a cyberattack on a target, he or she would grab the files from this offline repository and then change many of their file names before they start.

"The file hierarchy and the unchanged file naming convention tends to say that the files were directly copied from its source," Suiche writes.

Aitel, the ex-NSA research scientist, agreed with that assessment as a valid possibility. Further, Aitel argued that putting those types of files up on a computer that an adversary could find is not a common practice.

Story continues

"It's not from a [command-and-control] server," he said. "It's just not C2 server stuff. It's operational machine stuff. No one puts their exploits on a C2 server. That's not a thing."

A hacker, who requests not to have his name revealed, works on his laptop in his office in Taipei July 10, 2013. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang

'There's all kinds of ugly here'

If the leaked files didn't actually get hacked from a server on the internet, then it's possible that the NSA has another "insider threat" problem  an especially embarrassing prospect for a spy agency still reeling from the fallout surrounding documents taken by Edward Snowden.

The former Booz Allen Hamilton employee who was contracted to work for the NSA leaked an alleged 1.7 million documents to journalists in 2013 before eventually seeking asylum in Moscow, where he remains.

"There's all kinds of ugly here," John Schindler, a former NSA analyst and counterintelligence officer, told Business Insider, speculating that "there's fear now that this will bring on a serious mole hunt  which, by the way, is completely necessary  but never fun for the workforce. This isn't an entertaining thing to have to worry about, 'Is the guy or girl in the next cubicle a Russian spy?'"

The previously-unknown Shadow Brokers created a number of social-media accounts earlier this month on Reddit, Github, Twitter, and Imgur, before announcing on August 13 that its "cyber weapon auction," which promised bidders a "full state sponsor tool set" from a hacking unit believed to be within the NSA known only as "The Equation Group."

It released a 234-megabyte archive on various file-sharing sites with half being free to view and use  which numerous experts say is legitimate  while the other half was encrypted. The winner of the auction, the group said, would get the decryption key.

shadow brokers cache

But an auction for hacking tools and exploits is not something that ever happens, experts say. Instead, exploits are bought and sold on the black market for hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of dollars in private.

Also interesting is a newly released linguistic analysis of the group's announcement on Pastebin, a text-sharing site, in which it used broken English.

"He is a native English speaker who tried to pass himself off as a foreigner," Jeffrey Carr, a cybersecurity expert and CEO of Taia Global, told Business Insider.

The cybersecurity firm analyzed the text of the Shadow Brokers auction announcement and found evidence seeming to indicate that the author, or authors, purposely tried to mislead readers in the way they wrote, which included inconsistent errors in the text.

"The cumulative effect of these multiple lines of evidence leads to the conclusion that the author is most likely a native speaker of US English who is attempting to sound like a non-native speaker by inserting a variety of random grammatical errors," wrote Dr. Shlomo Argamon, an expert on linguistics and the company's chief scientist.

So what does this all mean? As ex-NSA employees and computer-security professionals analyze the files leaked by Shadow Brokers, it's becoming increasingly likely that they are legitimate tools, exploits, and implants that were used by NSA hackers.

But at this point, the way they ended up getting out of the NSA's grasp is not clear, and that's a big problem.

"If you don't know how it was lost, there's then a lot of panic in terms of what else is out there, particularly from a counterintelligence perspective," a source who previously worked as a hacker with NSA's Tailored Access Operations unit told Business Insider, on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive matters. "Now you have to really worry  are all of my operations exposed? I think that's very concerning to people because they want to be covert and stealth."

The NSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NOW WATCH: FORMER NSA DIRECTOR: America is really good at stealing data from other countries





More From Business Insider


(Reuters) - Gulf Coast refineries have suffered a spate of outages due to fires, historic flooding and severe weather. Below is a list of the outages. * LyondellBasell Industries was shutting down its 263,776 barrel per day (bpd) Houston refinery on Thursday due to a loss of steam production and power after a lightning strike. The refinery had been at reduced production levels since Wednesday, when the small coking unit was shut to replace piping on the unit that may be subject to corrosion. * ExxonMobil Corp on Wednesday shut a 110,000 bpd crude distillation unit at its 502,500 bpd Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery to reduce LPG production amid historic flooding in the region. In addition, Exxon cut production on a 210,000 bpd CDU in half for maintenance planned prior to the floods, the sources said. * Valero told state regulators Thursday that it had an unspecified equipment malfunction at its 205,000 bpd Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery. * Total SA returned a reformer to production at the company's 225,500 bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Wednesday, one day after a small fire broke out on the unit, said sources familiar with plant operations. * An Aug. 11 fire shut the 45,000 bpd heavy oil hydrocracker at Motiva Enterprises' [MOTIV.UL] 235,000 bpd Convent, Louisiana, refinery. The refinery has had to reduce staffing to essential personnel due to flooding between Aug. 13-20. (Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Bill Trott)
Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas. The following are some questions and answers about the virus and current outbreak: How do people become infected? Zika is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said Aedes mosquitoes are found in all countries in the Americas except Canada and continental Chile, and the virus will likely reach all countries and territories of the region where Aedes mosquitoes are found. How do you treat Zika? There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika infection. Companies and scientists are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine for Zika, but the World Health Organization (WHO) had said early in 2016 that it would take at least 18 months to start large-scale clinical trials of potential preventative shots. A vaccine is not expected to be ready for widespread use for at least two or three years. U.S. government researchers said they started their first clinical trial of a Zika vaccine. How dangerous is it? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that infection with the Zika virus in pregnant women is a cause of the birth defect microcephaly and other severe brain abnormalities in babies. The CDC said now that the causal relationship has been established, several important questions must still be answered with studies that could take years. According to the World Health Organization, there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can cause the birth defect microcephaly in babies, a condition defined by unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems. In addition, the agency said it could cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis. Conclusive proof of the damage caused by Zika may take months or years. Brazil reports the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly at more than 1,700 as doctors and Brazilian health officials find that some suspected cases of microcephaly are not the disorder. Suspected ones under investigation had declined to 3,257. Brazil registered 91,387 likely cases of the Zika virus from February until April 2. Current research in Brazil indicates the greatest microcephaly risk is associated with infection during the first trimester of pregnancy, but health officials have warned an impact could be seen in later weeks. Recent studies have shown evidence of Zika in amniotic fluid, placenta and fetal brain tissue. What are the symptoms of Zika infection? People infected with Zika may have a mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain and fatigue that can last for two to seven days. But as many as 80 percent of people infected never develop symptoms. The symptoms are similar to those of dengue or chikungunya, which are transmitted by the same type of mosquito. How can Zika be contained? Efforts to control the spread of the virus focus on eliminating mosquito breeding sites and taking precautions against mosquito bites such as using insect repellent and mosquito nets. U.S. and international health officials have advised pregnant women to avoid travel to Latin American and Caribbean countries where they may be exposed to Zika. How widespread is the outbreak? Active Zika outbreaks have been reported in at least 55 countries or territories, most of them in the Americas, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Brazil has been the country most affected. (http://1.usa.gov/1ovAJyh) Africa (1): Cape Verde Americas (46): Anguilla, Antigua, Argentina, Aruba, Barbados, Barbuda, Belize, Bolivia, Bonaire, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saba, Puerto Rico, Saint Barthelmy, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Eustatius, St. Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Cacos, U.S. Virgin Islands and Venezuela. Oceania/Pacific Islands (8): American Samoa, Fiji, Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Tonga. What is the history of the Zika virus? The Zika virus is found in tropical locales with large mosquito populations. Outbreaks of Zika have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Southern Asia and the Western Pacific. The virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys and was first identified in people in 1952 in Uganda and Tanzania, according to the WHO. Can Zika be transmitted through sexual contact? The World Health Organization (WHO) said sexual transmission is "relatively common" and has advised pregnant women not to travel to areas with ongoing outbreaks of Zika virus. It also advised women living in areas where the virus is being transmitted to delay getting pregnant. The U.S. CDC is investigating about a dozen cases of possible sexual transmission. Those cases involved possible transmission of the virus from men to their sex partners. But the CDC issued updated recommendations for preventing and testing for Zika infection on July 25, warning that the virus can be transmitted through unprotected sex with an infected female partner. A reported case of female-to-male sexual transmission in New York City, and limited human and non-human primate data indicating that Zika virus RNA can be detected in vaginal secretions, led to the new warning, the agency said. CDC's expanded warnings on sexual exposure to Zika now caution against sex without a condom or other barrier method of protection with any person, male or female, who has traveled to or lives in an area with Zika, including female to female transmission with a pregnant partner. British health officials reported Zika was found in a man's semen two months after he was infected, suggesting the virus may linger in semen long after infection symptoms fade. The PAHO said Zika can be transmitted through blood, but this is an infrequent transmission mechanism. There is no evidence Zika can be transmitted to babies through breast milk. The WHO has identified Zika cases in Argentina, Chile, France, Italy and New Zealand as likely caused by sexual transmission. What other complications are associated with Zika? Zika has also been associated with other neurological disorders, including serious brain and spinal cord infections. The long-term health consequences of Zika infection are unclear. Other uncertainties surround the incubation period of the virus and how Zika interacts with other viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue. (Compiled by the Americas Desk)
National Constitution Center Supreme Court correspondent Lyle Denniston looks at an interesting religious freedom case headed to the Supreme Court about a Marine corporal who refused an order to remove a bible-verse sign from her office desk.

armedforcesappealscourt320

Already deeply immersed in religious controversy, the Supreme Court soon will be asked to clarify the duty of members of the military services to obey orders, even if they believe that doing so would violate their religious faith. A new case based on the rights protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (or RFRA) is on its way to the Justices in an appeal from a military court.

The case of United States v. Sterling involves a former Marine  discharged from the ranks after her conviction for disobeying one of her military superiors  who had posted signs around her desk, each with the same phrase taken from the Old Testament, the book of Isaiah. Each sign read: No weapon formed against me shall prosper.

Former Lance Corporal Monifa J. Sterling, formerly on duty at the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, was convicted in February 2014 of a series of charges involving refusals to take down the signs, along with other claims of failing to follow orders. But, as the case moves toward the Supreme Court, it will focus solely on the religious dispute surrounding the charges.

The guilty verdict, along with a pay cut and a bad conduct discharge (both affecting her eligibility for benefits) were upheld in a 4-to-1 decision last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. That is the highest appeals tribunal in the U.S. military, with appeals from its rulings going on to the Supreme Court  if the Justices accept them for review.

Her lawyers, including the high-profile Washington, D.C., attorney, Paul D. Clement, have said they plan to appeal. The case attracted a wide array of state governments and advocacy groups at the military appeals court, which was reviewing a decision from a Navy-Marine Corps tribunal.

Story continues

When Sterling was tried in a military court-martial, she testified that she put up the signs to protect herself, arguing that other Marines were picking on her. At the trial, she began claiming that the signs were based on her faith as a non-denominational Christian, and thus her refusal to take them down when told to do so by a sergeant was protected by the 1993 federal law protecting the exercise of religious freedom: RFRA.

That law has had a prominent place in the Supreme Courts work in recent years, most recently in the challenges by Roman Catholic hospitals, colleges and charities to the birth-control mandate of the Affordable Care Act, and in other challenges under that Act. Religious freedom cases based on that and similar state laws are developing around the nation in reaction to the Supreme Courts same-sex marriage ruling.

The Justices are divided on such religious questions, and disputes often produce strongly worded dissents. Last term, the court was unable to make a final ruling on the latest birth-control cases and chose instead to try to get the parties to work out a compromise themselves.

The Sterling case, though, arises in the special situation of the military, where obedience to orders is a fundamental duty of maintaining discipline in the ranks. The fact that the case arose in that context appeared to be important to the majoritys ruling,

The majority, in a decision written by Judge Margaret A. Ryan, ruled that Sterling had failed to prove that the message on her signs was important to her religion and that taking them down violated her faith, and that, in any event, she had not taken steps to let her superiors know that she was, in fact, acting on the basis of faith principles. It also said she should have tried remedies that the military offers for religious claims by those on duty.

The majority concluded that the sergeant who told Sterling to take down the signs had acted within his authority as her superior and that he had given her a valid reason  that the desk where they were posted was used by other Marines, too. There was no evidence, the court found, that the sergeant knew at the time that the phrase on the signs was religious in nature.

Under RFRA, it is illegal for the government (including the military) to take action that imposes a substantial burden on the exercise of religion. The individual making a claim must show that the religious belief was held sincerely. If a burden is proven, then the government must show that it was pursuing a compelling interest and doing so by the means that would have the least negative impact on the individuals religious beliefs.

In the appeals courts ruling, it assumed that Sterling sincerely believed that the message on the three signs at her desk was inspired by her faith, and thus moved on to the question of whether her religion had been subjected to a substantial burden. On that point, Sterlings claims failed, according to the majority.

A key factor on that point, Judge Ryan wrote, is the importance  or lack of it  that the individual assigns to the religious reason for acting  here, putting up the signs. Sterling, the opinion said, had to show that she had an honest belief that the sign-posting was important to her faith, and she did not meet that test.

We reject the argument that every interference with a religiously motivated act constitutes a substantial burden on the exercise of religion, the opinion said.

In judging the claim of a burden on Sterlings faith, the majority said that it relied in part upon the fact that she had never told her sergeant that the signs had religious meaning for her. That minimal burden, it said, is certainly not onerous or unreasonable in the military context, where orders are presumed to be lawful, adherence to orders is integral to the military performing its mission, and the military force is made up of diverse individuals with diverse backgrounds  with no guarantee those charged with command have any special expertise in religion.

The majority said it could not approve a circumstance of disobey orders now and explain why later.

Another fact that the majority said helped shape its view that the burden on Sterlings religion did not meet the RFRA test was that she could have, but did not, request a religious accommodation of the posting of the signs. The Marine Corps rules require that a marine obeys her or his orders while waiting for a ruling on such a requested, the opinion noted.

Three other appeals judges joined in the Ryan opinion, but Judge Kevin A. Ohlson dissented, arguing that the ruling requires members of the military to do something that RFRA does not require  to ask the government, Mother, may I? 

The ruling, the dissenting judge wrote, imposes a legal regime that conflicts with the provisions of RFRA, contradicts the intent of Congress, and impermissibly chills the religious rights of our nations servicemembers.

The Supreme Court is not likely to examine the coming appeal until sometime in the fall.

Legendary journalist Lyle Denniston is Constitution Dailys Supreme Court correspondent. Denniston has written for us as a contributor since June 2011. Denniston has covered the Supreme Court since 1958. His work also appears on lyldenlawnews.com.

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From Town & Country

When a road that runs along the river Arno in Florence, Italy, collapsed into a sinkhole this May, it served both as a frightening reminder of how fragile historic sites can be and a pointed example to the philanthropy community of why private help is needed to keep landmarks from falling into ruin. Fortunately, in Italy a group of well-heeled corporations have already begun leading the charge to preserve history.

One recent example of this was unveiled in Florence last year, when the Uffizi Gallery reopened eight rooms that had been revamped with funds donated by the luxury fashion brand Salvatore Ferragamo. "We hoped to join in a competition between companies to contribute to our culture," says Leonardo Ferragamo, executive vice president of Fondazione Ferragamo, the firm's educational arm.

The United States has a long tradition of citizens and corporations donating money to preserve public and private landmarks, but in Europe upkeep is often overseen by local governments. The difference in approach can be attributed to variations in political systems, but another reason is taxes. The U.S. offers many financial incentives to contribute; Europe, comparatively few. That changed in Italy in 2014, when the country introduced a 65 percent deduction on gifts made for the restoration and preservation of museums, monuments, archives, and libraries.

The fashion industry quickly embraced the new rules. In Rome, Fendi underwrote a restoration of the Trevi Fountain that included new lighting, Bulgari gave money to clean up the Spanish Steps, and Tod's invested in a major overhaul of the Colosseum.

Ferragamo focused its attention on the Uffizi. "We adore Florence and the Uffizi, and the opportunity to help was irresistible," says Fulvia Ferragamo Visconti, vice president of the brand's holding company, Ferragamo Finanziaria S.p.A. Indeed, the family has a long history in the city. It is where Naples-born shoemaker Salvatore decided to locate his company after returning to Italy from California in 1927. "My father chose Florence because of its beauty-it inspired his creations," explains Ferruccio Ferragamo, the company's chairman.

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The year long project included updating climate and security systems as well as painting the walls a period-appropriate pale moss color-a tone that showcases the artworks perfectly. "I cannot tell you how rewarded we were to see these rooms restored," Leonardo says. "You can see the masterpieces in an exciting new way."

The Ferragamos have several other projects coming up, including helping fund the restoration of the 16th-century Fountain of Neptune, a Florence landmark, and contributing to the revamping of the Lungarno Acciaiuoli, the river-front promenade between the Ponte Vecchio and Ponte Santa Trinita. "We feel it is our duty to maintain and contribute to the beauty of our city and its culture," Ferrucio says. "Florence gives to us every day. Now it is time we give back."
From Cosmopolitan

A Kansas lawmaker whose 10-year-old son was killed on the world's tallest waterslide thanked supporters Tuesday, joining two others who were in the ill-fated raft in hoping that unfolding investigations prevent any such tragedy from happening again.

Scott Schwab, in a statement released by the family's lawyer, said "words will never convey the appreciation" the Schwabs have for the public outpouring since Caleb Schwab died Aug. 7 on the 168-foot tall Verruckt ride at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas.

"'Thank You' seems so inadequate to express our appreciation, but it is the only phrase we have. So, from the depths of our hearts, we thank you," Schwab, a Republican from Olathe, Kansas, said in the statement, first reported by the Kansas City Star.

"While we try to step forward into the new normal of life without Caleb in our presence, we find hope with the current investigation into the incident to provide answers and assurances that such tragedy will not strike again."

Michael Rader, a partner in the law firm hired by the Schwabs, said Schlitterbahn has cooperated with his independent investigation of the tragedy that also injured the raft's two other occupants - Hannah Barnes, 32, and Matraca Baetz, 25.

"I can say that my firm and I along with our team of experts are doing everything in our power to ensure that all questions surrounding the cause of this tragedy are fully answered," Rader wrote.

Cameron Morgan, a police spokesman, said earlier Tuesday that it's unclear when the investigation will be completed and any findings released.

Barnes and Baetz issued a separate statement through their attorney.

"Being mothers ourselves, we can only hope that Caleb's family can find some comfort in knowing we are doing everything we know how to do to stop something so tragic from occurring again to any other family," the women's statement said.

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Johnson told the Associated Press that Barnes and Baetz "want answers and assurances from Schlitterbahn that that slide will be corrected or not continue to be in operation."

"If necessary, there will be litigation," he said, adding that "we have not had the opportunity to have our experts inspect the Verruckt or see the [ride's design] drawings."

When it comes to discussing what caused the tragedy, "we would be hesitant to say anything until our experts inform us of their opinions," Johnson said.

Caleb Schwab was decapitated in the accident, a person familiar with the investigation told the AP last week on condition of anonymity because that person was not authorized to speak publicly about the boy's death.

Verruckt - German for "insane" - features multi-person rafts that make a 168-foot drop at speeds of up to 70 mph, followed by a surge up a hump and a 50-foot descent to a finishing pool.

Riders, who must be at least 54 inches tall, are harnessed with two nylon seatbelt-like straps - one that crosses the rider's lap, the other stretching diagonally like a car shoulder seatbelt. Each strap is held in place by long straps that close with fabric fasteners, not buckles. Riders hold ropes inside the raft.

Riders are weighed to ensure each raft carries between 400 pounds and 550 pounds.

Police on Monday released a report showing one rider at 140 pounds, another at 170, and an unclear weight for Caleb, who would have had to weigh 90 pounds to make the trio's weight reach 400 pounds. But police said weights taken at a hospital after the accident show one person weighed 275 pounds, another 197 pounds and a third 73 pounds, putting the combined weight at 545 pounds.
Apprentice by Singaporean director Boo Junfeng will get a North American theatrical release in early 2017.

Rights to the film, which premiered in Un Certain Regard in Cannes, were acquired by Film Movement. The sales agent is Frances Luxbox.

The film also scored another significant deal when it was licensed to Sahamongkolfilm International, one of Thailands top commercial distributors. That deal was negotiated by Sahamongkol director of acquisitions Panu Aree and the films producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon.

The film will have its North American premiere at the Toronto festival next month. Film Movement plans an early 2017 outing followed by online and DVD distribution.

The second feature by Boo, who previously made Sandcastle, the drama is the story of a young prison officer who becomes friends with and the trainee of the chief executioner.

Having taken five years to make, the film was eventually structured as a five way co-production involving producers from Singapore, Germany, France, Hong Kong and Qatar.

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By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) India has expressed interest in jointly developing coal fields and iron ore mines in Russia to bolster bilateral trade and economic ties. An India-Russia working group on industrial cooperation and modernisation during its meeting here identified fields such as technology for production of CRGO steel in India, modernisation of steel manufacturing facilities in India and pharmaceutical industry for enhancing cooperation.

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"The Indian side expressed interest in joint development of coal fields and iron ore mines in Russia. They agreed to exchange information on such areas having potential for cooperation," the Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a statement. It also said that in the civil aviation sector, Russian side has declared its readiness to participate in the Make in India programme to develop technological and production capabilities of India in this field and potential supplies of the jointly produced equipment to third countries.

As regards fertiliser sector, both sides expressed mutual interest in developing the long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of mineral fertilisers, it added.

Further India and Russia identified specific areas of cooperation in the field of mining and metallurgy.

"The Russian side reconfirmed their interest in receiving information about possible participation of Russian companies in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)," it said.

Both sides have agreed to hold the next meeting of the working group in 2017 in Russia.

Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Ramesh Abhishek led the Indian delegation to participate in the 5th meeting. The Russian delegation was headed by Alexander Potapov, Deputy Minister of Industry & Trade. PTI RR MR

--- ENDS ---
Are film tax credits worth the money? Its a hotly debated question. Hollywood contends that tax credits create a multiplier effect that stimulates the broader economy, while skeptics say the benefits dont outweigh the costs.

But a new study from a professor the USC Price School of Public Policy says that argument is beside the point. Professor Michael Thom reviewed the effects of tax credits nationwide, and found that the benefits are almost non-existent.

The promise was this was going to diversify the economy, that they were going to draw Hollywood out of Hollywood, Thom said in an interview. In general, this does not pay off.

Thom analyzed wages and employment levels within the motion picture industry in more than 40 states where incentives have been implemented. In 18 states that implemented transferable tax credits, employment in the motion picture industry increased by less than 1% per year. In 26 states that implemented refundable credits, there was no measurable effect on job growth. Transferable credits had no measurable effect on wages, while refundable credits did produce short-term wage gains, the study found.

The study, titled Lights, Camera, but No Action?, also looked at sales tax and lodging tax waivers, finding no effect on motion picture employment from those incentives. The study also found that none of the incentives had a measurable effect on the share of the motion picture business located in each state.

The findings fly in the face of the conventional wisdom in Hollywood, which is that state tax incentives have resulted in a massive flight of jobs from California to other parts of the country. That argument was central to the California Legislatures decision in 2014 to expand its tax credit program from $100 million per year to $330 million per year.

In pushing for the credit expansion, legislators relied on research from the Milken Institute. Kevin Klowden, the executive director of the institutes California Center, was asked to review Thoms paper. Klowden argued that it was well done for its limited focus, but misses the bigger picture. Specifically, Klowden argued that Thom did not adequately distinguish between different types of incentives.

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There are a lot of different states that have thrown money at incentives and they havent worked out, Klowden said. If all theyre doing is using incentives as a lure and nothing else, then as soon as they go away, local film production takes a hit. What makes things work is you need to invest in and build up the local workforce.

Klowden argued that states that have provided incentives for investment in permanent infrastructure, like production facilities, have seen the greatest benefits. He singled out New York and New Mexico as states that have been particularly successful.

Thom was not impressed with that argument. If its such a successful industry and a profitable industry, you shouldnt need a subsidy, he said. This is a multi-billion dollar industry.

In the last couple of years, a handful of states have rolled back or eliminated their incentive programs. In the wake of a number of state-by-state studies showing that incentive programs dont create benefits commensurate with their costs, Thom wondered why more states have not done away with their programs.

That led him to write another paper, titled Fade to Black?, that examines the rise and fall of motion picture tax incentive programs. He found that states generally enacted incentives as a response to high unemployment, and also because they were following the example of other states.

Policymakers look around and say, If five other states are doing something, they cant all be idiots, so they have to do it to, Thom said. Theres a lot of peer pressure.

Thom also looked at states that have eliminated their programs, finding that the smaller the program, the easier it was to get rid of. States that have spent the most on tax credits have generally been the most reluctant to give them up.

Many have doubled down, said Thom, adding that regulators and vested interests have become powerful advocates for continuing the larger programs. The people who voted for that money dont want to admit fault.

Thom also noted that few programs include a requirement to analyze the effects of the tax subsidy.

In California, advocates for film incentives are still awaiting definitive data that would show whether the expansion has had a positive effect, Klowden said.

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For the makers of Mission: Impossible 6, the biggest challenge might not be how to keep the franchise fresh, but how to keep shooting the action-packed film in France. In the wake of recent terrorist attacks that have killed more than 230 people, filming in the country is more complicated because of increased security.

France has served as the backdrop for many high-voltage action movies, including The Bourne Identity, Taken, and Lucy. But ever since the Charlie Hebdo massacre in January 2015 in Paris, authorities have been reluctant to allow the filming of sequences featuring explosive violence. With the country now locked down after the recent attacks in Paris and Nice, getting permits to shoot action scenes has become almost impossible.

The official word from authorities is that we cant film car chases, bank robberies, shootings, or actors dressed in police and military outfits, because these scenes could disrupt public safety and create confusion and panic among residents, says Raphael Benoliel, a French line producer who worked on Woody Allens Midnight in Paris.

According to producer Matthias Weber of 2425 Films, the restrictions recently pushed director Yann Gozlan to consider relocating the shoot of his thriller Burn Out from Paris to Amsterdam. Gozlan eventually opted to film certain scenes on private property in Paris, rather than on the street. Director Jalil Lespert did the same for his thriller Iris.

The official word from authorities is that we cant film car chases, bank robberies, shootings, or actors dressed in police and military outfits, because these scenes could disrupt public safety. Producer Raphael Benoliel

Officials emphasize that France remains open for business when it comes to filming. In spite of the volatile security situation, an increase in the government tax rebate from 20% to 30% has helped make 2016 a record year for production so far. The rebate was a key factor in attracting projects such as Fifty Shades Darker and Christopher Nolans Dunkirk.

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But terrorism has taken its toll on Frances industry. After last Novembers attacks in Paris, all filming permits were suspended briefly, including for David Michods War Machine, with Brad Pitt; the films two-day shoot in the French capital was postponed to January.

Mission: Impossible 6, which could start filming in January 2017, according to sources, will need to operate under new, more stringent practices, though authorities appear willing to work with filmmakers on ways around the restrictions.

It just requires that more resources have to be used and rules followed, says Michel Gomez, who heads Mission Cinema, the organization that coordinates all Paris filming. Shoots must be well-publicized to residents and neighbors in order to avoid disruption to the public order, and when weapons or explosions are used, they have to be soundproofed.

Gomez cited Michel Hazanavicius film Le Redoutable, which is currently being shot in Paris. The action takes place in May 1968, and shows scenes of riots in the capital, with actors dressed as cops.

Our big advantage is that its a period film, says Francois Pulliat, a veteran head of production whos working on Le Redoutable. So our police costumes are from 1968  theyre easily identifiable. It limits any possible confusion by residents.

Under Siege France and Belgium have been targeted by terrorists in recent years. Paris Jan. 15 17 people were killed at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo Paris Nov. 15 Attacks at the Bataclan music hall and elsewhere killed 130 people Brussels March 16 3/16 Airport and subway attacks killed 32 Nice July 16 A truck attack killed 84 people on Bastille Day

The shoot called for eight days of demonstrations, which required closing down a large area, and having real police officers on the ground to maintain order. We knew it would have been extremely difficult to get permits to shoot these scenes on the Champs Elysees in the middle of May. Thats why we chose to film them during the first two weeks of August - a very quiet period  in an area thats not as affluent, Pulliat says. When they blew up a car, he adds, the production used soundproofing material.

Security concerns in Europe have also forced insurance firms such as Tokyo Marine, Circle, Axxa, and Allianz to increasingly take into account the risk of terrorist attacks, restricting coverage and in some cases increasing premiums. In 2013, Allianz launched a crisis-management division specializing in terrorism coverage that can be sold in conjunction with a film insured by Allianz or separately.

We do have a volatile security environment in certain countries,- including France, Belgium, and Germany, says Bjoern Reusswig, executive underwriter for terrorism insurance at Allianz. But in general, all film shoots and events in France are insurable.

Policies usually cover losses due to terrorist incidents within a defined radius around the filming location. A different bond is required for losses from the threat of terrorism rather than an actual attack. In the case of a threat, a local authority has to order or recommend stopping or delaying the shoot.

Weber, who was shooting The Eavesdropper with Francois Cluzet in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek during the massive police operation that followed the March 22 terror attacks in Belgium, lost a permit to shoot a scene at the local police station. Shooting the scene weeks later cost an additional 40,000, but the productions insurance policy covered the loss.

Despite the new obstacles, producer Benoliel is confident that France will remain a draw for Hollywood. Though some American producers are now as concerned about filming in France as they would be in the Middle East, he says, they keep coming. The danger can be everywhere, he adds, and France is France  well always have iconic sites and good tax rebates.

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Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f180909%2f0cdcad6da19e4708aa1c4c0d9b6240a3

Climbing a freezing cold mountain is already hard enough work. But in briefs? Nope.

It's too late for Sydney teacher Ben Anderson and four friends. They conquered Australia's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, while wearing very little at all back in early-July. And they lived to tell the tale.

SEE ALSO: What is the 22 push-up challenge?

The group were inspired by the antics of Wim Hof, a Dutch man nicknamed "The Iceman" due to his ability to withstand extreme cold, holding a number of world records for different feats.

"The idea came about last year, [my friend] Blake and I were discussing a podcast on Wim Hof," Anderson told Mashable Australia.

"We thought you know what, let's see if we can do that. So in November last year, we thought let's try and make it up Kosciusko in our swimmers in the middle of winter. And so we started training."

While it was difficult to train for the winter cold during the blaring heat of summer, the group prepared by taking ice baths, cold showers and going for swims in the middle of the night when temperatures were at their minimum.

"It's all about getting the mind and body familiar with what it's like to be cold. That's how you'll survive really," Anderson laughed.

The 13 kilometre (eight mile) trek to the summit of the mountain (and back) took four hours, with 3.5 of those hours done in swimwear. But they nearly didn't make it up. The group went up on the last day of their allotted four-day window, when the weather was finally good enough to climb.

"The weather is highly unpredictable, and it's not like we were going to go up in a blizzard. So we had to select the best day out of four days, and the Friday turned out to be the best day," Anderson said.

Image: kossie in cossies

By "best day," Anderson means chilly temperatures of minus four degrees Celsius (39.2 degrees Fahrenheit) at the summit, with winds ranging from 25 to 30 kilometres (15 to 18 miles) an hour. Despite the confronting weather, it was an experience that they relished.

Story continues

"It was just an absolutely exhilarating experience. We trained and prepared ourselves very, very well so that we were able to do the climb quite easily," he said. "Other people might not believe that, well, most people don't actually  they're still wondering how the hell did you do that?"

The group did exercises along their trek to help regulate their body temperature, as inspired by Wim Hof. Despite the relative ease in getting up the mountain and the beautiful surrounds of Mount Kosciusko, Anderson isn't rushing to do it all in his swimwear all over again.

"I doubt whether there will be a similar sort of experience [again]. It was a really good physiological challenge, and sparked something for most of us to see what our bodies are capable of," he said.

It wasn't just for the thrill of it though. The group is also raising funds for Australian depression and anxiety charity, beyondblue, while also trying to show people what can be done with a bit of persistence and resilience.

If it's getting your pants off and freezing on an icy mountain for a good cause, so be it.
ROME (Reuters) - The bodies of five migrants were recovered and 534 others were saved on Thursday following an array of rescue operations in the Mediterranean sea, Italy's coastguard said. The migrants were picked up from two large rubber dinghies and nine other smaller boats, the coastguard said, giving no details about how the deaths occurred. Vessels from the Italian and German navy joined four ships run by humanitarian groups in the various rescue missions. Latest data from the International Organization for Migrants, released on Aug. 9, said some 100,244 migrants have reached Italy by boat this year, many of them setting sail from Libya. An estimated 2,742 men, women and children have died over the same period trying to make the journey. Italy has been on the front line of Europe's migrant crisis for three years, and more than 400,000 have successfully made the voyage to Italy from North Africa since the beginning of 2014, fleeing violence and poverty. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Toby Chopra)
From Good Housekeeping

A 74-year-old Florida man was arrested for shooting and killing an alligator that was endangering his horses and later attacked his stepson, according to Florida news station WFLA News - and his friends and family are in total disbelief.

The incident occurred earlier this summer when Reginald Blanton first noticed that his horses were behaving strangely out in his field. Unsure of what might be bothering them, Blanton brought his gun with him to check on them. That's when he spotted the gator - and proceeded to shoot it three times in an attempt to protect his horses.

Blanton tells WFLA News that he shot the alligator in an attempt to protect his horses. But things only got crazier from there: After Blanton shot at the animal, his stepson, 58-year-old Jack Hildreth, assumed it was dead and approached the scene. The alligator was still alive, however, and it lunged at Hildreth. "It was a burst of lightning," he told WFLA News. "It was just a surprise."

Hildreth sustained a severe leg wound in the attack before someone pulled him away from the alligator. Once local authorities arrived on the scene, a licensed trapper euthanized the gator.

The next surprise came when a Sumter County deputy arrested Blanton, who was cited for unlawfully killing the alligator. Friends and family tell WFLA News that they're shocked by the arrest. On top of paying for Hildreth's medical expenses, Blanton's family has now also had to pay for bail and an attorney for Blanton - even though he was just trying to protect himself, his family and his property from the dangerous animal.

WFLA has reportedly reached out to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to ask if Blanton's motive of self-defense will protect him in court, but the news station has not yet received a response.

For more on this story, watch the video from WFLA News below.

[h/t WFLA]
Profitability analysis is one of the most effective methods to assess the potential of a stock. Using profitability analysis, we can figure out whether a company can generate enough sales revenue not only to meet all its cost and expenses but also to pass on strong returns to its investors. However, if a profitable company has weak fundamentals, it may not be able to give a satisfying stock performance.

Several studies have indicated that a company with high profitability normally offers healthy returns to its investors.

So, in order to determine the exact profitability of a company, we have used the most effective profitability metric- net income ratio.

Net Income Ratio

Profitability ratios in general are classified into gross income ratio, operating income ratio, pretax profit margin and net income ratio. Here, we have selected net income ratio in order to assess the exact level of profitability of a company.

Net income ratio is measured by dividing net income by total sales revenue. The higher the net income ratio, the better is the companys profitability. This is because it showcases how effectively the company shells out all its business-related expenses and generates funds.

Screening Parameters

Net income ratio is not the only indicator of future winners. As such, we have added a few additional criteria to arrive at a winning strategy.

Zacks Rank equal to #1: Only Strong Buy stocks are allowed. With the Zacks Rank proving itself to be one of the best rating systems out there, this is a great way to start off.

12-Month Trailing Net Income Ratio Higher than X Industry: A higher net income ratio indicates a companys solid profitability.

12-Month Trailing Sales and Net Income Growth Higher than X Industry: Stocks that have displayed higher sales and net income growth in the last 12 months give a better financial performance.

% Rating Strong Buy greater than 70%: This indicates that 70% of the analysts covering these stocks are optimistic.

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Here are five of the 10 stocks that qualified the screening:

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMPH is a specialty pharmaceutical company. This company has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of more than 100%.

Parsley Energy, Inc. PE is an independent oil and natural gas company. It has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 97.9%.

Entegris, Inc. ENTG is a leading provider of materials management solutions to the high-technology industries, including microelectronics. The company has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 20.7%.

State Bank Financial Corporation STBZ, through its subsidiary, provides community banking services to individuals and businesses in the middle Georgia and metropolitan Atlanta markets. It has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 10.4%.

HollySys Automation Technologies, Ltd. HOLI is one of the leading automation systems providers in the People's Republic of China. The company has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.1%.

While backtesting over a two-year timeframe (August 08, 2014 to August 05, 2016), a portfolio following this strategy provided a total return of 13.8% compared with the S&P 500s return of 9.3%. Thus, this strategy may prove profitable for those looking to beat the markets.

Get the rest of the stocks on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and back-testing software.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.

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BOCA RATON, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2016 / Foreign visitors are critical to the state's economy. But Florida's open arms to tourists and visitors can't always protect them when they become pedestrians or motorists on the state's often congested and dangerous roadways. Boca Raton car accident lawyer Joe Osborne discusses issues faced by foreign visitors if they become accident victims in a podcast available on YouTube.

The Sun Sentinel reports that in 2013 11.2 million international visitors plus 3.7 million Canadians (or about 10% of the country's population) visited Florida. When they come they need to cope with the fact that on average there are almost 700 fatalities a year due to car accidents in South Florida. Many foreign tourists get more than they bargained for when they visit the state. Some go home with serious injuries or coping with the trauma of suddenly losing a loved one in an accident.

One of car accident attorney Osborne's cases involves an Irish couple that was visiting Florida when they became victims of a tragic accident in Miami Dade County. Robert and Adrienne Hammond were driving and while making a legal left turn they were struck on the driver's side by a speeding truck trying to illegally pass them. The accident fatally injured Mr. Hammond and caused physical and brain injuries to his wife.

Mrs. Hammond had to be airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Due to the accident she suffered a loss of motor function and cognitive abilities. Mrs. Hammond spent a significant amount of time at the hospital and was later transferred to a rehabilitation facility. Once she was well enough she was flown back to Ireland suffering serious, chronic physical and mental limitations.

"The Hammonds reached out to us through a law firm in Ireland. They have two grown sons who obviously were devastated by the loss of their father and by the injuries to their mother," Osborne says. He says the Irish law firm found him because he and his car accident law firm specialize in representing victims of auto accidents. Osborne answered their many questions about the Hammonds' legal rights as foreigners.

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Osborne says foreign visitors can use the U.S. civil justice system just as citizens can. When a person is injured due the negligence of another they can seek compensation for their injuries through the legal system. "Even though the Hammonds were not citizens of the United States as foreign visitors they have the full rights and privileges that citizens do when they are hurt, especially if it's in a situation like this," Osborne says.

Osborne says the Hammonds' two sons came to Florida and they met to discuss the case. "We developed a plan to bring a lawsuit for the death of Mr. Hammond and the injuries that Mrs. Hammond sustained. We filed that case in Miami Dade County, prosecuted the case and ultimately got a verdict in their favor." Part of that verdict will help pay for the ongoing care that Mrs. Hammonds will receive in Ireland.

"They need to be protected just like everybody else. The Hammonds were not familiar with our civil justice system but certainly their sons were able to reach out to us and we were able to discuss their options," Osborne says.

If you or a family member were injured in an auto accident in the South Florida area, whether you're a U.S. citizen who lives here or a foreign national visiting the area, contact Boca Raton car accident lawyer Joe Osborne at (561) 800-4011 or fill out this online contact form. You can discuss your case, how the law may apply and your best legal options to protect your rights and obtain compensation for your injuries.

Press Contact:

Personal injury lawyer Joseph Osborne

561-800-4020

source: http://www.oa-lawfirm.com/foreigners-find-danger-florida-reveals-boca-raton-car-accident-lawyer/

SOURCE: Osborne & Associates via Submit Press Release 123
An underperforming public exchange business and regulatory attacks on the proposed acquisition of Humana are lately hassling health insurer Aetna Inc. AET.



Earlier this week, Aetna voiced its concerns over the public exchange business and is mulling over exiting from this business in 11 of the 15 states in which it is currently present. It will reduce its individual public exchange participation to 242 counties from 778 for the 2017 plan year.



This development comes after Aetna suffered a pretax loss of $200 million in the second quarter and total pretax loss of more than $430 million since Jan 2014 in its individual products sold via public exchanges.



Earlier, Aetna had expected to be at breakeven profitability on this business in 2016, but is now reevaluating it, after witnessing huge claims from sicker-than-expected customers enrolled on public exchanges. The number of healthy and young individuals who enrolled on these exchanges are far less that customers who are aged and had pre-existing diseases who lacked coverage earlier. This adverse mix of customer population led to increased claims leading to losses for the insurer. Aetna is now expecting losses (pre-tax) north of $300 million on policies sold on public exchanges for 2016.

Aetna is being troubled by regulators, with the Department of Justice suing it for its proposed merger with Humana Inc. HUM. The merger, which would have lifted the rank of Aetna as the major Medicare provider, a market coveted by all the other players in the industry, is now shrouded in uncertainty. Aetna is, however, determined to overcome the challenge and is divesting Medicare Advantage plans that cover 290,000 people in 21 states to Molina Healthcare, Inc. (MOH) to gain approval for the deal.



Aetnas bottom line will also suffer from the suspension of share buyback to lower debt levels to below 40% within 24 months. The companys debt to consolidated capitalization ratio shot up to 53.8% as of Jun 30, 2016 from 32.6% on Dec 31, 2015, due to the issuance of $13 billion of senior notes to partially fund the acquisition of Humana.



Aetna is also witnessing hurdles in growing its membership. The company is experiencing continued membership pressure in the middle market and small group businesses due to its previous pricing actions to improve margins. The company now expects losses in its commercial membership to more than offset growth in government membership over the remainder of 2016. The year 2015 saw medical membership decline by 61,000. Also, the company ended the second quarter with 23 million medical members, essentially flat with the first quarter. The company now projects 2016 membership at around 23 million, down from 23.49 million in 2015, as growth in Government membership over the remainder of the year will be largely offset by declines in Commercial Insured membership, including continued attrition within its individual products.

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AETNA INC-NEW Price and Consensus

AETNA INC-NEW Price and Consensus | AETNA INC-NEW Quote

While Aetna, carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), is trapped in a web of woes, other players worth considering in this space are Humana, United Health Group Inc. UNH and WellCare Health Plans, Inc. WCG.

Humana with a Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy) has strong fundamentals. Its strong-performing individual Medicare Advantage and other government-sponsored plans remain the highlights. Also, its Healthcare Services business is well poised and will contribute to its growth. Last month, Humana won a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to administer TRICARE benefits to about 6 million people, which nearly doubles the number of military beneficiaries served by Humana.

However, challenges in its individual commercial medical business are nagging. Also, its merger with Aetna remains uncertain. Nevertheless, the company has reaffirmed its 2016 financial guidance. The company expects earnings of at least $8.56 in 2016 compared with $8.32 predicted before. Humana has also witnessed a 4.9% increase in earnings estimate to $9.28 per share for 2016, over the past 30 days, with all the 10 analysts covering the stock raising their estimates. Its long-term EPS growth rate is 13.5%.

HUMANA INC NEW Price and Consensus

HUMANA INC NEW Price and Consensus | HUMANA INC NEW Quote

UnitedHealth with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) is the most diversified health maintenance organization. Though the company also remains troubled by its public exchange business and has exited most of the markets, it remains attractive given the strength in its other business segments. Instead of its heavily regulated Health Benefits business, the company is focusing on investing and growing its health services business branded as Optum.

To this end, the company acquired Catamaran last year. The acquisition has been evidently fruitful thanks to the revenue accretion from it. Optum is becoming an increasingly valuable business and is expected to contribute about 42% of UnitedHealth Groups consolidated operating earnings outlook this year.

Also, the company has also grown membership over the past five years by nearly 13.5 million or 40% well diversified across commercial, government programs and international offerings. The companys membership is further set to grow in Medicare Advantage, Medicaid as well as commercial plans. UnitedHealth also has a strong balance sheet and generates handsome cash flows which allow it to increase dividend payments and make regular share buybacks.



UnitedHealth also witnessed a 0.4% increase in earnings estimate to $7.91 per share for 2016, over the past 30 days, with eight out of the 13 analysts covering the stock raising their individual estimates. Its long-term EPS growth rate is 13.4%.



UNITEDHEALTH GP Price and Consensus

UNITEDHEALTH GP Price and Consensus | UNITEDHEALTH GP Quote

WellCare Health Plans with a Zacks Rank #2 remains well poised to grow in the Medicaid, Medicare and Medicare Part D business. During the second quarter, it closed the Advicare transaction, gaining greater Medicaid presence in South Carolina. The company taking both organic and inorganic steps to fuel its growth and is trying to double its revenues between 2017 and 2021.

The company also increased its 2016 adjusted earnings per diluted share guidance to a range of $4.95 to $5.05 from its previous guidance range of $4.55 to $4.70.



WellCare Health also witnessed a 7.5% increase in earnings estimate to $5.01 per share for 2016, over the past 30 days, with each of the nine analysts covering the stock raising their individual estimates. Its long-term EPS growth rate is 17.7%.

WELLCARE HEALTH Price and Consensus

WELLCARE HEALTH Price and Consensus | WELLCARE HEALTH Quote

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"Pakistan recognises no red lines in conduct of its own diplomacy," Vikas Swarup, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said.

By Smita Sharma: Hours after Pakistan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had crossed the 'red line' by discussing Balochistan, India hit back by saying Pakistan's record of cross-border terrorism was central to the current situation in the region.

Vikas Swarup, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said, "Pakistan recognises no red lines in conduct of its own diplomacy. Pakistan's record of cross-border terrorism and infiltration were central to the problems in Balochistan. And this isn't just India's view. You can ask some of the other countries in the region too."

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"We need to understand the context in which the prime minister made the statements. Several people from Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including Gilgit-Baltistan, wrote to the PM after his comments at the all-party meet on August 12, thanking him for flagging their cause. PM was touched by these messages and thought of sharing it during his Independence Day speech," he added.

Swarup also said that this was not the first time that India had made a statement on Balochistan.

"India had made such remarks in the past as well. My predecessor has commented on this issue," the spokesperson said.

On India's decision to discuss solely terror and not Kashmir in the upcoming bilateral talks in Islamabad, Swarup said, "The ball is in Pakistan's court now. They made an offer, we responded to it. Now it's up to them to reply."

Talking about the atrocities being committed in PoK, Swarup said the MEA would do whatever it takes to assist people in the region.

The MEA's remarks at a press conference came after Pakistan today said that PM Modi crossed the "red line" by discussing Pakistani atrocities on people of Balochistan and asserted that it will "forcefully" raise the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly session next month.

"The Prime Minister strongly pleaded the case of Kashmir during General Assembly session last year and we will again forcefully raise the issue," Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said.

"It is the violation of the UN Charter...He (Modi) crossed the red line by talking about Balochistan," he added.

Zakaria alleged that India was involved in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi. Zakaria also claimed that India was referring to Balochistan to cover up its human rights violations in Kashmir.

Zakaria said the UN and international community should remind India that it must fulfil its commitment to give the right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as per Security Council resolutions.

"Pakistan strongly condemns the continuing use of force by India and violation of human rights. The brutal use of force has killed at least 80 people and at least 100 have been blinded by use of pellet guns," Zakaria alleged.

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Zakaria said Pakistan had proposed to India to hold talks on Kashmir. However, he refused to confirm if India had responded to the proposal.

Also read: India will talk to Pakistan only on cross-border terrorism, not Kashmir

--- ENDS ---
Ankara (AFP) - Three soldiers and a local guard were killed on Thursday in an attack on a Turkish military convoy in the town of Bitlis in the country's troubled southeast, state-run media reported.

Another six soldiers were injured in the bombing blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), news agency Anadolu said.

The attack was carried out using a handmade bomb that detonated as the armoured vehicle drove by, the agency added.

The guard killed was part of a group of local residents who cooperate with Turkish security forces in the fight against the PKK, listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.

The latest attack came after three police officers were killed in an assault earlier Thursday on the police headquarters in the eastern city of Elazig.

Two more policemen and a civilian were killed in another car bombing on Wednesday night in Van, another city in the east which has a mixed ethnic Kurdish and Turkish population.

The PKK, which has been fighting a deadly insurgency against the Turkish state for three decades, appear to have intensified their attacks since the July 15 failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Over 40,000 people have been killed since the group first took up arms in 1984 in a separatist rebellion led by now jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Nate Parker is plunging ahead with plans to be the public face of The Birth of a Nation despite the furor surrounding rape accusations that were made against the actor, writer, and director when he was a student at Penn State University.

He will be on hand at the films Toronto Film Festival premiere next month, where he will participate in a scheduled media junket.

Parker and Fox Searchlight, the boutique label behind the film, have no plans to hide the filmmaker from the press. He will still go ahead with a scheduled promotional roadshow, a source close to the studio said  one that will take him to major cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and San Francisco.

Although there has been speculation that the controversy surrounding news of the 2001 rape trial would imperil The Birth of a Nations Oscar chances, Fox Searchlight management considers that a secondary concern, sources say. The company, which is opening the movie wide on Oct. 7, as planned, is more interested in the film being a commercial success than it is with capturing awards. Fox spent a whopping $17.5 million to acquire the picture at Sundance and is prepared to make a big media spend, according to a source familiar with the plans.

A Toronto Film Festival official says Parkers film will remain on the schedule for the festival, which is often a proving ground for movies hoping to make noise during awards season. TIFF is proud to help bring The Birth of a Nation and the important story it tells to audiences, said a spokesperson, in a statement. We will present the film as planned.

Parker stuck to his schedule in the immediate aftermath of news breaking about the 1999 rape case, in which he was acquitted. He received a Vanguard Award Thursday night from the Sundance Institute, which had supported the making of Birth of a Nation through its Feature Film Program. The organization also announced the creation of a Sundance Institute/Birth of a Nation Fellowship, to be awarded to young filmmakers. Over the weekend, he and Aja Naomi King (who plays Turners wife in the film) had a Q&A with Spike Lee at the Marthas Vineyard African American Film Festival, and separately, Fox Searchlight had a private screening of his movie.

Story continues

As a student at Penn State, Parker and his friend, Jean Celestin, were charged with raping an 18-year old, who claimed she was unconscious after drinking heavily. Both men said the sex was consensual. Parker was acquitted of the rape charges in 2001, but Celestin, who co-wrote The Birth of a Nation, was found guilty of sexual assault. He appealed the verdict and was granted a new trial in 2005, but the case never made it back to court after the woman declined to testify again.

That part of Parkers history has been on his Wikipedia page and on several websites, though it was not widely known throughout the industry. This week, however, news broke that Parker and Celestins accuser committed suicide in 2012.

In a Facebook post, Parker said he was devastated by the news of her death, while maintaining his innocence.

I cant help but think of all the implications this has for her family, he wrote. I cannot, nor do I want to, ignore the pain she endured during and following our trial.

Even though Fox Searchlight is moving forward with its publicity plans, it is getting help from an outside crisis P.R. firm that is routinely enlisted by its parent company, 21st Century Fox.

After The Birth of a Nation sold for a record amount at Sundance, Parker lined up a series of projects. He was slated to adapt Carry On, a true life story of disabled wrestlers for Walden Media, and he also sold an original feature film idea to Legendary Pictures. A spokeswoman for Walden declined to comment on whether or not the company still planned to move forward with the project. A spokesman for Legendary confirmed that Parker had a project set up at the company, but declined to offer additional comment.

Related stories

Nate Parker Pens Response to New Details of College Rape Case: 'I Am Filled With Profound Sorrow'

Nate Parker's Rape Accuser Committed Suicide in 2012: Her Brother Speaks Out (EXCLUSIVE)

Nate Parker's College Rape Trial Raises Questions for 'The Birth of a Nation' Release
Fox Searchlight has acquired rights to "The Aftermath", a film adaptation of Rhidian Brook's historical bestseller set in postwar Germany.

The feature, which reportedly has Keira Knightley and Alexander Skarsgard in talks to star, will be helmed by director James Kent, with Ridley Scott attached to produce under his Scott-Free production banner (via Deadline).

The novel, set in Hamburg, Germany in 1946, follows the story of a British colonel charged with rebuilding the shattered city and his wife, Rachael Morgan, who are faced with several challenges and tensions when they decide to share their house with its previous owners, a German widower and his troubled daughter.

The script has been adapted for the screen by Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel.
Paris (AFP) - France's unemployment rate dropped below 10 percent for the first time since 2012, statistics bureau Insee said Thursday, eight months before presidential elections in which job creation is expected to be a key issue.

Socialist President Francois Hollande has said he will not stand for reelection unless he makes a "credible" dent in joblessness.

After stabilising at the start of the year, the unemployment rate fell 0.3 points in the second quarter to 9.6 percent of the working age population. The rate rises to 9.9 percent when France's overseas territories are included.

The margin of error for the indicator is 0.3 points.

The unemployment rate is at the lowest level since the third quarter of 2012.

Over the past 12 months it has fallen by 0.5 points, according to Insee.
Shares in Tronc  the company formerly known as Tribune Publishing  are up more than 2% this morning following a Wall Street Journal report that Gannett has sweetened its previous $15 a share offer.

The owner of the Los Angeles Times  and other major publications including the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, and Hartford Courant  rejected that unsolicited bid. Although the size of the new proposal is still unknown, Tronc is said to be preparing to respond by the end of this week.

Gannett wants to expand its USA Today Network, launched late last year. It encourages collaboration between all of the the companys media properties, giving them a common branding platform.

It had hoped to pressure Tronc Chairman Michael Ferro into negotiating. It urged his companys shareholders to register their support for a sale at its annual meeting on June 2 by withholding their votes for the nominated directors. They ended up with a majority of the votes cast, even though most independent owners withheld.

Since then Troncs share price appreciated 34.7%. Gannetts fell 22.6% , especially after it disclosed disappointing Q2 results.

A few Tronc shareholders sued the company in Delaware, where its incorporated. Some allege that it failed to serve their interests by refusing to negotiate with Gannett. Others also challenge a stock sale shortly before the annual meeting to Patrick Soon-Shiongs Nant Capital: He became the No. 2 investor after the company issued new stock and sold him 12.9% of the total shares for $70.5 million  equal to $15 a share.

A judge has given the plaintiffs to September 6 to submit a consolidated complaint. Tronc will then have 30 days to respond.

Related stories

New York Times Reporter Michael Cieply Joins Deadline

Tribune Publishing Shares Rise After Gannett Says Buyout Offer Still Stands

Is 'Tronc' The Worst Corporate Brand Name Name Ever?
UPDATE, 1:12 PM: Univision just officially announced its acquisition of Gawker Media, adding it will not be operating the Gawker.com site.

Univision will fold other Gawker-owned properties  Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Deadspin, Lifehacker and Kotaku  into the Fusion Media Group.

That operation is focused on serving Americas diverse youth with digital-first brands that reflect their values and passions, authentically, says Chief News, Entertainment and Digital Officer Isaac Lee.

The Gawker properties reach about 50 million readers per month, raising FMGs reach to nearly 75 million.

PREVIOUS, 10:18 AM: Univision has agreed to buy Gawker Media  but not the 14-year-old site that started the company, Gawker.com, which will end operations this week.

Founder Nick Denton told staffers today ahead of a U.S. Bankruptcy Court session to approve Univisions $135 million purchase, the site says. It adds that near-term plans for Gawker.coms coverage, as well as the sites archives, have not yet been finalized.

The purchase agreement with Univision, filed at the court yesterday, allowed for Univision to designate Gawker.com as an excluded asset.

Properties in the sale will include Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Deadspin and Jezebel.

The Spanish-language broadcaster plans to add them to its digital portfolio which includes Fusion, The Onion, and The Root.

The digital expansion could enhance the perception of Univision as a forward-looking media power, which would be helpful if it decides to go public. The company has been mulling the possibility of raising $1 billion in a stock sale. It filed a preliminary prospectus with the SEC last year.

Gawker Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after wrestler Hulk Hogan won a $140 million verdict in an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit. Gawker had posted a sex tape featuring Hogan. Denton has also filed for bankruptcy.

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A Florida circuit judge upheld the award to Hogan, whose legal effort was backed by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel.

Much of Univisions cash will go to Hogan. Denton is responsible for paying $10 million to the wrestler while he and Gawker jointly owe $115 million.

Gawker generated $48.7 million in revenue last year, a court filing shows.

Its bankruptcy auction only attracted two bidders  Univision and Ziff Davis  though several took a look. Ziff Davis previously had made a $90 million so-called stalking horse bid, providing a floor for the auction.

Related stories

Univision's $135M Bid Wins Gawker Media Bankruptcy Auction: Report

Univision Sues Charter Communications Over Rates Tied To Time Warner Cable

Univision Promotes Isaac Lee To Chief News, Entertainment & Digital Officer
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Nick Denton Gawker Hulk Hogan

Gawker Media founder and CEO Nick Denton confirmed on Thursday that he will leave the company following its $135 million sale to Univision.

Univision will also shut down Gawker Media's flagship site, Gawker.com, though it will continue to run the other properties.

Here is the letter that Nick Denton sent to Gawker staffers, obtained by Politico:

"I am relieved that, with the approval today of the agreement with Univision, that we have found the best possible harbor for Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Jezebel and Deadspin, and our talented writers and other staff. They will be joining The Onion, ClickHole and other beloved web properties in Fusion Media Group, the digital operation of Univision. Isaac Lee and the team at Fusion are fellow spirits, as committed to real journalism and an open future as they are to digital media expansion.

"Sadly, neither I nor Gawker.com, the buccaneering flagship of the group I built with my colleagues, are coming along for this next stage. Desirable though the other properties are, we have not been able to find a single media company or investor willing also to take on Gawker.com. The campaign being mounted against its editorial ethos and former writers has made it too risky. I can understand the caution.

"Even if the appeals court overturns this spring's Florida jury verdict, Peter Thiel has already achieved many of his objectives. I will move on to other projects, working to make the web a forum for the open exchange of ideas and information, but out of the news and gossip business. Gawker.com may, like Spy Magazine in its day, have a second act. For the moment, however, it will be mothballed, until the smoke clears and a new owner can be found. The archives will remain, but Monday's posts will be the last of this iteration.

Story continues

"I am proud of what we have achieved at Gawker Media Group, both in our work and our business, never more so than in these last few months.

"Our bloggers  and the alumni now dispersed through the media from the New Yorker to the New York Times  have introduced a new style of journalism, sometimes enthusiastic, sometimes snarky, but always authentic. We connect with a skeptical and media-savvy generation by giving them the real story, the version that journalists used to keep to themselves.

"Without outside capital, we bootstrapped a profitable digital media operation. With only the talent and energy of our writers and other staff, we have drawn one of the most influential audiences in digital media: our stories connect with 100m people a month around the world. In 2016's dance of media consolidation, the company has found a partner that understands our appeal and character; not all will have that luck.

"As for Gawker.com, founded in 2003 and mothballed in 2016, it will live on in legend. As the short-lived killer android is told in Blade Runner: 'The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very very brightly.'"

NOW WATCH: Amazon has an oddly efficient way of storing stuff in its warehouses





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Closing its doors. Gawker announced that its website will officially cease operations next week after its parent company, Gawker Media, was sold to Univision at a bankruptcy auction earlier this week. The business went bankrupt following the $140 million Hulk Hogan lawsuit and several other legal proceedings.



PHOTOS: Stars at Court

After nearly fourteen years of operation, Gawker.com will be shutting down next week, a statement on the blog read on Thursday, August 18. "The decision to close Gawker comes days after Univision successfully bid $135 million for Gawker Media's six other websites, and four months after the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel revealed his clandestine legal campaign against the company.



The other websites  which include Deadspin, Jezebel and Gizmodo  will likely become part of Univision once the sale is finalized.

PHOTOS: Biggest Celebrity Scandals of 2015

Nick Denton, the companys outgoing CEO, informed current staffers of the sites fate on Thursday afternoon, just hours before a bankruptcy court in Manhattan will decide whether to approve Univisions bid for Gawker Medias other assets, Gawkers announcement continued. "The near-term plans for Gawker.coms coverage, as well as the sites archives, have not yet been finalized.

Since Gawker was founded in 2002, it has been an influential and game-changing media presence, and one of the first websites to make blogging profitable. While Gawker faced criticism over the years for some of its more salacious stories, it created a snarky, often-imitated writing style and captured millions of readers with content that ranged from investigative journalism to provocative, funny first-person essays.

PHOTOS: Celebrity CEOs: Stars Who Run Their Own Business Empires

As previously reported, Gawker Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a judge ordered the company to pay $140 million in the Hulk Hogan lawsuit. The former wrestling pro filed an invasion of privacy lawsuit after the site posted a sex tape featuring Hogan in October 2012. It was later revealed that Hogans case was financed by Thiel because back in 2007, Gawkers now-defunct Valleywag blog outed the PayPal cofounder as gay.

Story continues





Related Content:
India Today's political opinion poll puts debates to rest on who will win if Lok Sabha elections were to be held today.

By India Today Web Desk: In our last Mood Of The Nation (MOTN) poll in February 2016, the cover of India Today magazine had 'Resurgent Rahul' indicating a growing popularity of Rahul Gandhi as PM Narendra Modi's biggest challenger. Six months later, is the Congress leader seen with the same perspective? Or, was that only a flash in the pan? More importantly, is Narendra Modi still the person who remains India's No. 1 leader?

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MOOD OF THE NATION POLL: INFOGRAPHICS

India Today has collaborated with Karvy Insights to bring you the latest MOTN political opinion poll. The Narendra Modi government has virtually reached its half-way point in power. The question is whether the same government will retain power in Lok Sabha polls in 2019 if the elections were held today. Is Narendra Modi still the popular choice for prime minister's post? Who's the most popular chief minister? Who's seen as the best chief minister in the country? These are some of the intriguing questions that the India Today MOTN poll answers.

This political opinion poll may not be the real elections, but it might give a sense ahead of a major election year in which way the country is turning.

"Such polls are perhaps at least a trailer to the kind of political situation that we find ourselves in today. Is there a TINA factor - There's Is No alternative - to Narendra Modi. Is the Grand Alliance slowly emerging among the Opposition leaders?" said India Today's Rajdeep Sardesai.

MODI: MAN OF THE GOVERNMENT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal popularity remains intact, according to the August 2016 MOTN poll. Half way into his first term as prime minister of the world's largest democracy, Modi has bounced back strongly after his government's popularity fell precipitously in the last three MOTN surveys.

RAHUL IN 2ND PLACE

The Congress vice-president is still in second place, but his rating has plunged. Sonia Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal are on third and fourth position for the person best suited to be India's next prime minister.

NDA GETS A BOOST

If elections were held today, NDA is likely to get 304 seats in Lok Sabha. In 2014 elections, NDA won 336 seats in lower house of the Parliament. But, similar to Modi's popularity in the last three editions of MOTN, the National Democratic Alliance gets a boost after a steep fall in the previous surveys.



RAHUL REMAINS BIGGEST MODI CHALLENGER IN 2019

Rahul Gandhi is still the best alternative to challenge Modi in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is far behind in second place, followed by Arvind Kejriwal and Sonia Gandhi as potential challengers in 2019.

INDIRA REMAINS BEST INDIAN PM EVER

The poll still rates late Indira Gandhi as the best prime minister ever. Atal Bihari Vajpayee is rated second in the poll. Narendra Modi comes in at No. 3.



SURVEY METHODOLOGY

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The India Today Group-Karvy Insights Mood of the Nation (MOTN) poll was conducted by Karvy Insights Limited. A total of 12,321 interviews were conducted, spread

across 97 parliamentary constituencies in 194 assembly constituencies in 19 states-Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand,

Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

In each of the assembly constituencies, different starting points were selected and afixed number of interviews were done in each, rigorously following the righthand rule of household selection. Fieldwork for the MOTN poll was conducted from 15-27 July 2016. The survey followed multi-stage stratified random sample design. All interviews were conducted face to face using a standard structured interview schedule/questionnaire, which was translated into regional languages.

The poll was conducted under the supervision of Ranjit Chib, who is a Director of Karvy Insights, and he was assisted by Dixit Chanana, Vice-President, Karvy Insights.

--- ENDS ---
Berlin (AFP) - Controversial German historian Ernst Nolte, who sparked a massive dispute in the 1980s over his thesis on the cause of Nazism, died Thursday aged 93, this family told AFP.

Nolte had contended that it was the Russian Revolution in 1917 -- in which the monarchy was dismantled and which led to communist rule -- that touched off events that led to Nazi rule and finally resulted in the Holocaust.

He argued that fascism had gained strength as the middle classes sought a response against communism and that Soviet gulags were the examples on which Nazi death camps were later built.

His views sparked what became known as the "Historians' Dispute" that raged from 1986, with his detractors condemning his thesis as coming too dangerously close to justifying the Holocaust.

Nolte was born in 1923, and taught at Berlin's Freie Universitaet until his retirement.
By Jonathan Gould and John O'Donnell

FRANKFURT, Aug 18 (Reuters) - A German politician said on Friday he was trying to persuade foreign banks to make Frankfurt their home after Britain's vote to leave the European Union, and outlined how Europe's biggest economy wants to bolster its financial capital at London's expense.

Thomas Schaefer, finance minister of the state of Hesse which includes Frankfurt, said he had spoken to British banks with an arm in Frankfurt as well as others, and sought to persuade potential movers that local labour law and tax were not overly onerous.

"We are listening very carefully to the questions that the financial sector has after the Brexit vote," Schaefer, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party, told reporters.

"We are campaigning for Hesse because the financial centre of Frankfurt has a lot to offer."

Most German politicians have been reluctant to publicly push Frankfurt as an alternative to London. Schaefer's remarks suggest momentum may now be growing behind Frankfurt, less than two months after Britain voted in a referendum to leave the European Union -- a process widely referred to as Brexit.

Schaefer did not, however, offer any prospect of special deals to cut tax or any other such concessions. He said the city's infrastructure and the fact that it hosted the European Central Bank were reason enough to move there.

Schaefer said he had held talks with "all kinds of players" but that many had wanted to keep the contact secret. "There is a fear of being considered disloyal in the London community," he said.

(Editing by Timothy Heritage)
By Madeline Chambers

BERLIN, Aug 18 (Reuters) - In his decade as a neo-Nazi skinhead in eastern Germany, Manuel Bauer says he beat up foreigners and disabled people, stabbed a cigarette in the eye of a 12-year old boy and assaulted a Muslim man and his pregnant German wife.

Bauer, who led two racist gangs, the "League of Aryan Fighters" and "Revenge Act", says groups like his carried out violence on behalf of the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), which has a seat in the European Parliament and five seats in one of Germany's 16 state assemblies.

Bauer was jailed on a 22 month sentence for extortion, causing bodily harm and arson, before he quit the right-wing scene with the help of a support group. Today he works with refugees from Afghanistan and Syria. He says the NPD should be banned.

"There is too much democracy if you allow anti-democratic forces like (the NPD) to exist," said Bauer.

The NPD denies that it is behind violence, and says it is being unfairly targeted as a group over the behaviour of some individuals. Reuters was not able to verify independently any relationship between the party and Bauer's former groups.

The upper house of parliament is trying to impose just such a ban. It has lodged a court case which alleges the NPD is inspired by the Third Reich, believes in ethnic German supremacy and incites people to torch refugee hostels. The Constitutional Court is expected to rule in coming months.

Germany recorded 1,408 violent acts carried out by right wing supporters last year, a more than 42 percent rise from the previous year, and 75 arson attacks on refugee shelters, up from five a year earlier, according to an annual report by the BfV domestic intelligence agency published in June.

But at a time when far right parties are winning votes across Europe, and Germany itself is struggling to integrate an unprecedented influx of more than 1 million foreigners last year, some experts in right-wing extremism say a ban could be counterproductive. Germany's federal government, while officially supporting the case, has declined to sign on as a party to it.

Story continues

A ban would deprive the NPD of around 1 million euros it receives in public funds as a lawful political party, and prevent it from contesting future elections, although it is not clear what would happen to its existing seats.

The party would be barred from holding rallies in public, and the authorities could punish people who persisted as members. But in practice, followers could avert punishment by forming new organisations, or take their activities under ground, making them harder to detect.

That would "make it even more difficult to recognise right-wing extremist players and to develop appropriate ways of countering them," said Matthias Quent, director of the Institute for Democracy and Civil Society in Jena, in eastern Germany.

"Bans can easily lead to people and small groups being criminalised and being driven underground and then they radicalise. Then the danger, which is already large, from right-wing terrorism would increase."

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STAYS OUT OF CASE

The NPD publicly disavows violence and rejects accusations by the authorities that it is connected to skinhead gangs like the ones Bauer used to lead, or to the neo-Nazi National Socialist Underground (NSU) blamed for the murders of nine immigrants and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007.

NPD lawyer Peter Richter said it was wrong to judge the party based on the actions of individuals.

"No one can predict whether an acquaintance who seems completely normal today will tomorrow commit a terrible crime," argues Richter in his defence to the court, which he sent to Reuters in response to a request for comment.

Individual NPD figures have fallen afoul of German laws that ban Holocaust denial and punish praise of the Nazis.

The NPD's European lawmaker Udo Voigt has described Hitler as a "great German statesman". Before being elected to the European parliament, he was found guilty of incitement, including honouring Hitler's SS. He was given a 10-month suspended sentence which was upheld on appeal.

The case to ban the NPD is being brought on behalf of the Bundesrat, parliament's upper house, which represents Germany's 16 regional state governments.

The federal government's decision not to sign on as a party to the case is seen by some as a sign that Berlin is uncertain of the wisdom of pursuing a ban. The government denies it is half-hearted.

"The German government, in particular the BfV domestic intelligence agency, supports the Bundesrat case for a ban and is contributing its expertise. The government therefore does not deem it necessary to have its own motion," said a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry.

She also noted however that a ban's impact would be limited since it "cannot eliminate the extremist mindset".

Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, justice minister from 2009-2013 when the federal government was considering its position in the court case, said there was a high risk the trial could conclude without a ban, making it counter-productive.

"The NPD is an appalling party. But that is not sufficient for a case to ban them," she has said.

BANNING DIFFICULT

Despite Germany's strict laws against hate crime and expressing Nazi sympathies, it also sets high hurdles for outlawing political groups. Only two parties have been banned since World War Two - the Socialist Reich Party, a successor to Hitler's Nazis, in 1952, and the Communist Party in 1956.

"A ban is a heavy weapon and the hope was, after the war, it wouldn't have to be used. But it is there if necessary," said Christian Pestalozza, a law professor in Berlin.

The NPD has been around since 1964 and survived a previous government lawsuit to ban it, which collapsed in 2003 as some of the party officials used as witnesses turned out to be government-paid informants.

To ban a party, the Constitutional Court has to find that a party's aims or behaviour seek to undermine or abolish German democracy. But it also has to find that it poses a genuine, serious threat. Declining public support for the NPD may make this harder to prove, said a senior legal source.

Support for the NPD has dwindled as Germany's migration crisis has changed right wing politics, with parties that express dissatisfaction with immigration growing far bigger than ever before, but also trying to distance themselves from the radical right fringe to win over more mainstream voters.

This past year, a new group, the AfD, founded in 2013, has seen its support in opinion polls swell to about 12 percent by adopting an anti-immigrant stance, while disavowing the far-right trappings and rhetoric of groups like the NPD.

The NPD is too small to appear in most opinion polls, but German officials estimate its support has ebbed to just 1 percent from closer to 1.5 percent. NPD membership has fallen to just 5,200 from around 7,000 a decade ago. The AfD now has seats in eight state legislatures, compared to the NPD's one.

REMOVING THE SWASTIKA

For Bauer, banning the NPD is necessary to stop far right politicians from using racist gangs as muscle.

After prison, fearing reprisals, he left his home in the state of Saxony, gave up his nickname "Pistol" and removed tattoos including a swastika.

He spoke to Reuters at a location he asked to keep confidential to protect his security. NPD lawyer Richter said he had never heard of Bauer and had no comment on his allegations.

Bauer was never a member of the NPD but says some members of his racist gangs were linked to the party, which provided them with vehicles. While party figures would keep their hands clean, they would use gang members to carry out violence, he said, without naming the party figures involved.

"If I've got a business and want to harm my enemy I can get someone else to do it for money or for a promise. That's how the NPD does it," said Bauer, between long puffs on a cigarette.

"It was racist. We were against people with mental and physical disabilities. Everything the Third Reich targeted." (Reporting by Madeline Chambers; editing by Peter Graff)
Well, this is interesting.

Jeremy Meeks, the felon who stole our hearts back in 2014 with his exquisite mugshot, seems to have found a friend in Anwar Hadid.

RELATED: Remember 'Hot Mugshot Guy'? Check Out His First Modeling Photos Since Being Released From Prison!

The 32-year-old, who was sentenced in Feb. 2015 to two years in federal prison for a weapons violation, seems to be making progress on his modeling career, posting a photo with Hadid to his Instagram on Wednesday.

Whether the two were together for a shoot or a simple hangout sesh is unclear. The photo actually appears to be from a couple weeks ago, judging by a snap Hadid posted of himself rocking the same shirt on Instagram.

RELATED: Move Over Gigi and Bella! Little Brother Anwar Hadid Signs With IMG Models

Meeks has been hard at work on his career choice since his release from prison, having signed with a modeling agency, White Cross Management, while still on the inside.

The former felon has posted tons of modeling pics to his social media since gaining his #freedom, with his manager telling The Los Angeles Times in March that Meeks has "a multitude of offers on the table."

LOOK: Gigi Hadid Rocks Barely There Bikini in Snapchat Selfie

Apparently one of those offers involved hanging out with Hadid, who signed with IMG Models -- the same agency that represents his sisters, Gigi and Bella -- in February.

While Hadid has since been making a name for himself on the runway, it was revealed late last year that he, like Bella and mom Yolanda, suffers from Lyme Disease.

See more in the video below.

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From Harper's BAZAAR

With fall sneakily (and quickly) approaching, it's time to start putting boots on the brain. Luckily, your favorite A-list style stars have already done the leg work and discovered this season's must-have bootie. Enter Dear Frances, a buzzy new shoe brand that's already become a hot favorite amongst celebrities like Selena Gomez, Bella Hadid, Emma Roberts, Kylie and Kendall Jenner, and its sleek 'Spirit' boot.

The mid-calf boot has cemented its MVP-status amongst street style stars and young It-girls alike-punctuating many a model off-duty outfit along the way. And for those of us (aka all of us) in search of the perfect bootie for fall: this might just be it. With a sturdy block heel, gold zipper and four different styles to choose from (black leather, camel croc, blue velvet and maroon leather), the Spirit boot is versatile enough to pair with any fall wardrobe-even if you're Emma Roberts leaving the Met Gala.

Photo credit: Getty

Dear Frances, which just made its US launch in Spring 2016 and debuted its new fall collection earlier this week, is surprisingly accessible with prices ranging from $340- $660. With sleek designs, intricate details and and a cult following of A-listers, this is one shoe brand to put on your radar.

You can shop the Dear Frances Spirit Boots for $550 at dearfrances.com.

Photo credit: Dear Frances

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Theres going to be a Sherlock convention here in the U.S. of A., and can we line up for it NOW?

Theres going to be a Sherlock convention here in the U.S. of A., and can we line up for it NOW?

Sherlock is one of those near-perfect things that only comes around once like every two years, in a way that only Sherlock can pull off. The BBC series has run for only three seasons, but its spanned the last SIX YEARS, and constantly leaves us wanting more. More Sherlock. More Sherlock episodes. More Sherlock holiday episodes. Just more of absolutely everything to do with the show, and we want it NOW.

Since well actually have to wait a few more months for Season (or ~Series~) four to land on our television sets, how about we set our Sherlock sighs on a Sherlock convention instead?

giphy (1)

Yes, you read that right. Howd you like to attend a Sherlock convention with you and a thousand other Sherlock fans? While a Sherlock convention has taken place a few times over the last few years in England, this one is coming to America, and we could not be more excited.

Sherlocked: The Official Sherlock Convention will happen May 26-28 2017 in Los Angeles and that is SO CLOSE, both time wise and distance wise!!

SHERLOCKED USA is heading to California to the Marriott LAX in Los Angeles from 26-28 May 2017.Spend a weekend... Posted by Sherlocked The Event on Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Just like the Sherlock convention in London, this one will feature special guests  so far, the only two confirmed are showrunner Steven Moffat and producer Sue Vertue, but there will be more!  autograph sessions, photo opportunities, and even real sets and props from the series.

Tickets are on sale RIGHT NOW, and knowing how huge and passionate Sherlocks fan base is, these wont last long. You can snag one for yourself right here, and see you all at 221B Baker Street the Marriott LAX.

The post Theres going to be a Sherlock convention here in the U.S. of A., and can we line up for it NOW? appeared first on HelloGiggles.
By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to force a former managing director to arbitrate his claim for legal fees stemming from probes into his alleged use of confidential Federal Reserve documents.

The lawsuit was filed in New York state Supreme Court in Manhattan against Joseph Jiampietro, an ex-Goldman employee whom the Federal Reserve Board this month brought an enforcement case against.

Goldman's lawsuit came after Jiampietro in July sued the bank in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to force it to cover at least $350,000 in legal expenses stemming from probes by the Federal Reserve and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in 2015.

Adam Ford, a lawyer for Jiampietro, in a statement called Thursday's lawsuit "a classic example of inappropriate forum shopping" by Goldman Sachs to delay advancing his client's defence fees.

The Fed brought enforcement proceedings against Jiampietro on Aug. 3, the same day it announced a $36.3 million settlement with Goldman Sachs for the unauthorised use and disclosure of confidential information.

The Fed alleged that Jiampietro in 2014 on multiple occasions asked Rohit Bansal, a Goldman associate who previously worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to obtain confidential information from a New York Fed employee.

The information was then used by Jiampietro and Bansal in connection with Goldman Sachs' regulatory advisory work for current clients and pitches to potential clients, the Fed said.

The Fed is seeking to fine Jiampietro and bar him from the banking industry. Jiampietro denies wrongdoing.

Bansal and the former New York Fed employee, Jason Gross, both pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanour charge of theft of government property, and were sentenced to probation in March.

The criminal case came after an earlier related $50 million settlement by Goldman Sachs in October with the New York Department of Financial Services.

The case is The Goldman Sachs Group Inc v. Jiampietro, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 654364/2016.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
A Texas teacher was in line at Walmart, ready to provide a generous 'back to school' gift to her students, but it was the actions of another man that proved to be the good deed of the day.

Read: Texas Boy Who Dreams of Becoming a Firefighter Donates 125 Smoke Detectors for Needy Seniors

Sabrina Drude, 23, was preparing to start her second year teaching seventh-grade science in San Antonio.

"A lot of my kids will say they can't afford their school supplies, or they need to wait until their parents (get a) paycheck," Drude told InsideEdition.com. "So I just figured it's not worth trying to make them feel bad, or have them stress over it."

So she and her husband went to their local Walmart and loaded nearly 200 notebooks before approaching the register.

The man behind her, Lester Brown, was purchasing dorm essentials for his college-age daughter and began talking to the couple.

"I asked her, 'What is all that for?'" Brown told InsideEdition.com.

Drude explained even though the school has money for textbooks, most school supplies are paid for by students.



As the cashier finished checking her out, Brown interjected, asking how much the notebooks cost.

The cashier told him $97.80.

"It doesn't make any sense that she should have to buy that," Brown said. "I paid for it. It was the right thing to do."

Immediately, Drude began crying.

"That is one of the sweetest things I ever heard. Most teachers spend hundreds, or thousands, of dollars on their classrooms every year," she said.

Read: Cop Raises Thousands of Dollars For Family After Finding Son Crying Over His Mom's Cancer

"That's when I told her, 'You're a teacher, and you deserve to be recognized,'" Brown said.

Watch: Teams Celebrate as Teen with Down Syndrome Scores Touchdown: 'The Sportsmanship Was Incredible'

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The crew of Allar-dan were shifted to a local fishing boat and Farhad with 16 crew members were towed to Frazerganj in Sundarbans with the help of local fishing boats.

By Jugal R Purohit: Thirty-one Bangladeshi fishermen were rescued today by the Indian Coast Guard after two fishing boats were stranded due to engine failure.

The crew of Allar-dan were shifted to a local fishing boat and Farhad with 16 crew members were towed to Frazerganj in Sundarbans with the help of local fishing boats.

The operation was conducted Coast Guard Regional HQ (NE) on August 16 and 17, during poor weather conditions, due to a low pressure developed off the coast of the West Bengal. The coast guard was assisted by Bangladesh Coast Guard ships Swadhinata, Amin, Sangu and Hurricane-3 in the operation.

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"Coast Guard is maintaining enhanced vigil in view of the extremely rough sea conditions and we are ever prepared to render any kind of assistance to seamen in distress," HQ, Inspector General KR Nautiyal said.

The fishermen were provided with medical assistance by the coast guard.

--- ENDS ---
Since its creation, we have learned about the Islamic State from its enemies. Its story has largely been told by those fighting the group in Iraq and Syria, traumatized civilians who have escaped its brutal rule, and the occasional defector. That is about to change. This is the story of Abu Ahmad, a Syrian operative for the Islamic State who witnessed the groups lightning expansion firsthand and spent months among its most notorious foreign fighters.

In this series of three articles, he provides unique insight into how Abu Bakr al-Baghdadis political scheming paved the way for its expansion into Syria, al Qaedas efforts to stem the groups rise, and the terrifying weapons in the arsenal of the self-proclaimed caliphate. Some names and details have been omitted to protect Abu Ahmad. Read part one here and two here.

It was May 2013, and the newly formed Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant was intent on cementing its status as the worlds most fearsome jihadi force. But before it could do so  or use the new cache of chemical weapons it had obtained  it would have to contend with a new challenge from senior al Qaeda figures.

Al Qaedas senior leadership was not about to accept Abu Bakr al-Baghdadis claim to authority  particularly in light of his brazen lie that he had been instructed to do so by al Qaeda leader Ayman-al Zawahiri. One month after the historic meeting between the ISIS chief and other jihadi leaders in Kafr Hamra, a small group of men, including a few armed guards, secretly traveled in a couple of vehicles through Syria. Fearing that they might be discovered by Baghdadis loyalists or targeted by the Syrian regime, they moved quietly and carefully.

This group was called Lajnat Khorasan, or the Khorasan Committee. Its members had emerged from their underground lairs in Afghanistan and Pakistan and come to Syria on behalf of Zawahiri, who remained in hiding.

One of the Khorasan Committee members, a Syrian by the name of Abu Osama al-Shahabi, told his associates to be extremely cautious during their travels. I have information [Baghdadi] was planning to assassinate [Nusra] emir Abu Mariya al-Qahtani, Shahabi said to the others, according to Abu Ahmad. So we too should be careful.

Story continues

The mission of the Khorasan Committee was to investigate Baghdadis expansion into Syria. Their findings were to be given to Zawahiri, who would then decide al Qaedas response to the situation in Iraq and Syria, where the rivalry between ISIS and the al Qaeda-affiliate Nusra Front clearly had gotten out of control.

The Khorasan Committees existence would only become public knowledge in September 2014, when the U.S.-led coalition targeted its members in the first airstrikes in Syria. By then, the al Qaeda veterans who made up the committee had moved on from investigating Baghdadis maneuvering to planning attacks abroad. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said about the group, in terms of threat to the homeland, Khorasan may pose as much of a danger as the Islamic State.

But back in summer 2013, the Khorasan Committee was directing its attention not to the United States, but its jihadi rival. The task could not have been more urgent: Each day, it seemed, another jihadi opposition group switched loyalty from al Qaeda to ISIS. If Zawahiri couldnt regain the loyalty of some groups in Syria, or at least stop this mutiny in its tracks, the al Qaeda leader ran the risk of becoming a general without soldiers.

Six members of the Khorasan Committee visited the headquarters of ISIS in Kafr Hamra, which previously served as the headquarters of the Majlis Shura al-Mujahideen. Abu Ahmad personally met four of them: Abu Osama al-Shahabi; the Kuwaiti Muhsen al-Fadhli, born in Kuwait (killed in a U.S. airstrike on July 8, 2015, in the Syrian town of Sarmada); Sanafi al-Nasr, a Saudi also known as Abu Yasser al-Jazrawi (killed by a U.S. drone in the northern Syrian town of al-Dana on Oct. 15, 2015); and Abu Abdel Malek, another Saudi national (killed in the same October strike in al-Dana).

U.S_State_Department_photo_of_Muhsin_al-Fadhli

Muhsen al-Fadhli

Abu Ahmad said that the members of the Khorasan Committee were all friendly and had good knowledge of the Quran. All of them had spent years with bin Laden or Zawahiri in Khorasan, an old Islamic historical term for a region covering parts of Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.

Abu Ahmad didnt spend much time with Fadhli. They spoke briefly during a meeting in the northern Syrian town of Sarmada; at the time, Abu Ahmad did not know that he was such a senior figure in al Qaeda. But two years later, after the airstrike killed Fadhli, Abu Ahmad saw a picture online of the man he had met. The photo was part of a Reuters article that quoted a Pentagon spokesman describing him as among the few trusted al Qaeda leaders that received advanced notification of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. In 2012, the U.S. State Department had even issued a $7 million reward for information leading to finding Fadhli.

Abu Ahmad knew the two Saudi members of the Khorasan Committee better. He once traveled in a car with both men, and knew Malek rented a house in the northern Syrian town of al-Bab. Jazrawi, meanwhile, was the head of the Nusra Fronts political bureau. He was based in Latakia countryside, in northwestern Syria.

When Abu Ahmad heard the news that the duo was killed by an American strike, he felt sad. They looked and behaved like normal guys, said Abu Ahmad. Although they were leaders, they did not behave in an arrogant fashion.

Among all the Khorasan Committee members, Abu Ahmad was closest to Shahabi, a Syrian in his forties from al-Bab. Shahabi was in direct contact with Zawahiri, al Qaedas commander in chief. It had taken him one and a half months to move unnoticed from Afghanistan to Syria. He traveled with his pregnant wife, which made the trip even harder. He said to Abu Ahmad: Im already 20 years in jihad, so hardship is nothing new to me.

The Khorasan Committees goal was fundamentally political. They were tasked with convincing jihadi commanders who had already pledged allegiance to Baghdadi during the five-day meeting in Kafr Hamra to change their minds.

Baghdadis claims were nonsense, they told everyone. Zawahiri had never sent Baghdadi from Iraq into Syria. Zawahiri had never said that other commanders could pledge allegiance to ISIS and to Baghdadi himself.

But the Khorasan Committee had a tough sell ahead of them. Shahabi managed to convince an important commander who had recently joined ISIS to meet in a town close to the Turkish border.

It is very clear, Shahabi told him, that Baghdadi only created ISIS because he felt Nusra was becoming very powerful. He knew that [Nusra chief] Julani was becoming too big of a leader.

We thought Baghdadi was acting on orders from Zawahiri, replied the commander. What you are telling me comes as a shock.

Shahabi suggested that he should immediately rescind his allegiance to ISIS. But the commander wasnt ready to do that. I pledged my allegiance to him [Baghdadi], the commander said. Give me time to think and discuss this with others. But I just cannot undo this all of a sudden.

Anyhow, we have sent most of the messages and letters [about the investigation] already to al-Zawahiri, replied Shahabi, according to Abu Ahmads recounting of the conversation. He will rule in favor of Nusra, not ISIS.

Nusra Front fighters wave their groups flag in the Yarmouk refugee camp, south of Damascus, in July 2014. (RAMI AL-SAYED/AFP/Getty Images)

The civil war begins

Until this point in May 2013, the rivalry between ISIS and Nusra had been more or less peaceful. Fighters from the rival groups could still travel through the areas the other controlled, and could still visit each others headquarters. The jihadi organizations were still trying to resolve their differences peacefully, and Abu Ahmad had known many of the commanders in the Nusra Front for over a year while fighting under the same banner  which is why he was able to meet and speak with members of the Khorasan Committee.

But as the balance of power tilted further toward ISIS, the friendship and camaraderie between both groups supporters was replaced by distrust. Nusra members were disgusted by what they perceived as ISISs moves to split and weaken the jihadi movement in Syria. ISIS members accused Nusra of becoming soft and mainstream. Many within the group did not even consider their former friends in Nusra to be Muslims any longer.

As the battle lines hardened, the Khorasan Committee finished their field investigation into Baghdadis plans. Zawahiri, upon receiving it, ruled in favor of Nusra and against ISIS. He called on Nusra to lead the jihad in Syria, and made clear that Baghdadis organization should return to Iraq.

[Al-Baghdadi] was wrong when he announced the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham without asking permission or receiving advice from us and even without notifying us, Zawahiri wrote in a letter published on May 23, 2013.

The ruling made clear that Baghdadi was never Zawahiris man and that the expansion plans were his alone. Some jihadis felt duped by this revelation and reversed course. According to Abu Ahmad, around 30 percent of the Nusra members who had switched sides returned to Nusra after al-Zawahiris ruling. Some factions declared themselves neutral in this growing conflict. Groups like Ahrar al-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa hoped to stay out of this power struggle. They were fighting to kick Assad out of power, not to bicker with fellow jihadis.

Of the roughly 90 Dutch and Belgian Majlis Shura al-Mujahideen (MSM) jihadis  Abu Ahmads fellow fighters  who had joined ISIS, around 35 returned to Nusra; the remainder stayed with ISIS. Abu Ahmad also heard that the high-ranking ISIS commander who Khorasan Committee member Shahabi had tried to convince to defect, in a meeting near the Turkish border a month before, had also left ISIS and rejoined Nusra.

People mill around a former ISIS base in the northern town of al-Dana after rebel fighters captured it in January 2014. The al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front regrouped in early 2014 after previously suffering significant defections to ISIS, participating in an offensive against the group that saw it driven from northwest Syria. (ABDALGHNE KAROOF/Reuters)

Gag orders

Abu al-Atheer, the emir of MSM who had joined ISIS, was firmly committed to staying with the group. He glorified Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. But Atheer was worried about losing more Dutch and Belgians to Nusra. You are not allowed anymore to speak to Nusra members over the internet, Abu al-Atheer commanded. You must cut all communication with them.

He even sent a message to the Nusra fighters from Belgium and the Netherlands at their headquarters in Urum al-Sughra, in Aleppo province. Do not dare to contact my men, he threatened the Dutch and the Belgians, who were staying with Abu Suleyman al-Australi, an Australian al Qaeda ideologue.

Atheer threatened to confiscate the passports of any foreign ISIS fighters so they could not leave. But this proposal was met with anger from the foreign fighters, who accused their emir of not trusting them. Atheer eventually backed down  his men could keep their passports.

But old friends now were becoming foes. Each side tried to convince the other to defect. Abu Ahmad noticed a sudden increase of the activities of the ISIS secret police, known as al-Amneyeen. A rumor in ISIS territory was circulated that anybody who wanted to defect or quit would be shot on sight.

One of Abu Ahmads friends in ISIS made clear he wasnt happy about the rivalry between the various jihadi groups. He criticized Atheer and Baghdadi for their uncompromising stance and even altered the lyrics in a famous ISIS nasheed  a type of vocal chant that does not violate the jihadis rules forbidding the use of musical instruments  from our emirs are distant from suspicion to our emirs are distant from the frontline.

That same night Abu Ahmads friend sang this nasheed, the secret police rolled up in a car and carted him away to jail. He was kept there for a couple of days but wasnt tortured. Instead, he received a textbook ISIS punishment: He had to torture others.

Baghdadis successful coup in April 2013 had brought Nusra almost to the verge of collapse. But now Nusra was regaining strength. They started to reorganize themselves and forged alliances with jihadi Salafi groups like Ahrar al-Sham and even some units of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

As the tensions between the two camps reached a climax, Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham, and the FSA started to kick out ISIS from Idlib and parts of Aleppo province. In Daret Izza, where Nusra had stolen the barrels of chlorine and sarin from the Syrian Army base, Regiment 111, Nusra and its allies retook the town. From Daret Izza, ISIS retreated to al-Dana, near to the Turkish border. But after another battle, this town was also lost. From al-Dana, ISIS pulled back to the town of al-Atarib. Here too the same scenario played out: ISIS was defeated by Nusra.

Eventually ISIS decided to give up the whole northwest of Syria. On March 4, 2014, it retreated from the strategically crucial border town of Azaz. ISIS regrouped most of its forces near to Kafar Joum, not far from the old MSM headquarters, where the five-day meeting had taken place between Baghdadi and the various jihadi commanders.

The fractures that emerged during this period still define the battlefield in northern Syria. Two years on, the Islamic State has dropped the of Iraq and the Levant from its name, but it and Nusra still very much live separate lives  and are fighting separate wars. The Islamic State lords over its caliphate in Syrias north and east, and has killed or kicked out moderate rebels from its territory. Nusra, meanwhile, has bolstered its influence in Syrias northwest, becoming a dominant player in Idlib province. The two groups territories barely even border each other any longer  the only front line where they stand against each other is in the northern Aleppo countryside. Yesterdays allies today live in separate worlds.

On Jan. 20, 2014, the split between Syrias two jihadi powerhouses became final. In Kafar Joum, ISIS prepared a convoy of over 200 vehicles. The cars and trucks were packed with fighters, family members, weapons, and foreign hostages. In the convoy, Abu Ahmad noticed three of the 15 chemical containers he saw Nusra capture from Regiment 111.

Then, the huge ISIS train of steel and bodies roared off to the east, toward the city of Raqqa.
The hits just keep on coming for Green Day. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong  a vocal critic of the George W. Bush administration and not one to hide his political views  is taking aim at another Republican heavyweight.

In an interview with Kerrang, Armstrong slammed presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying the billionaire reminds him of Hitler, a comparison he isnt alone in making.

He just said, You have no options and Im the only one, and Im going to take care of it myself. I mean, thats fing Hitler, man! Armstrong proclaimed, likely referring to Trumps convention speech.

I dont even know how else to explain it, he continued. I wish I were over-exaggerating. And sometimes maybe I do over-exaggerate with Bush. But with Trump, I just cant wait til hes gone.

Armstrongs choice words didnt stop there. He also said the worst problem I see about Trump is who his followers are.

I actually feel bad for them, because theyre poor, working-class people who cant get a leg up. Theyre pissed off and hes preyed on their anger, he added.

Armstrongs political jabs date back to the George W. Bush administration; Green Days 2004 album American Idiot, and its songs American Idiot and Holiday directly addressed his presidency.

The rocker joins a slate of other notable celebrities and Hollywood execs who have taken shots at Trump. Earlier this year, George Clooney called Trump an opportunist and a xenophobic fascist in an interview with the Guardian. In a recent Facebook post, NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt wrote a scathing critique of the Republican candidate.

The sad state of affairs thanks to a pompous businessman turned reality TV star (whose show consistently ran LAST in its time period, by the way) who thinks speaking his mind is refreshing. Its actually corrosive and toxic because his mind is so demented; and his effect will unfortunately linger long after hes been told to get off the stage, Greenblatt wrote.

Story continues

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Port-au-Prince (AFP) - The United Nations' belated acknowledgement it played a role in a cholera epidemic in Haiti that has killed nearly 10,000 people was hailed by victims' advocates Thursday as vindication of their efforts to hold the world body accountable.

The epidemic broke out in 2010 in the vicinity of a base housing UN peacekeepers, in an impoverished Caribbean country that previously had been considered cholera-free.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq promised a "significant new set of UN actions" to respond to the crisis, following a confidential report sent to the UN chief that was critical of the world body's actions.

Draft language of the report, prepared by New York University law professor Philip Alston, who serves as a special rapporteur advising the UN on human rights issues, stated that the epidemic "would not have broken out but for the actions of the United Nations," according to The New York Times.

"This is a major victory for the thousands of Haitians who have been marching for justice, writing to the UN and bringing the UN to court," said Mario Joseph, a Haitian human rights lawyer representing victims of the epidemic.

"It is high time for the UN to make this right and prove to the world that 'human rights for all' means for Haitians too."

Already one of the world's poorest countries, Haiti was still reeling from a devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010 that killed more than 200,000 people when its misery was compounded by the cholera outbreak.

The first cases appeared in October 2010 on the banks of the Artibonite River, near a base where Nepalese members of the UN peacekeeping mission were quartered in the central town of Mirebalais.

"Over the past year, the UN has become convinced that it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera," Haq said.

Story continues

The spokesman said the new response would be released publicly within the next two months, after it has been agreed with Haitian authorities and discussed with member states. Alston's report will be released in late September.

- Unchanged legal position -

"The UN must follow this announcement with action, including issuing a public apology, establishing a plan to provide compensation to the victims who have lost so much, and ensuring that cholera is eliminated in Haiti through robust investment in water and sanitation infrastructure," said Beatrice Lindstrom, staff attorney at the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

"We will keep fighting until it does."

French epidemiologist Roland Piarroux has said the scope of the cholera epidemic is "unprecedented" in recent history.

As early as November 2010, Piarroux had concluded that the epidemic had been imported from outside the country.

Despite numerous scientific studies backing that conclusion, the United Nations had until now refused to acknowledge any responsibility in introducing the disease in Haiti, saying it was impossible to authoritatively determine the source of the epidemic.

US courts have rejected complaints filed by families of cholera victims in New York, where the UN is headquartered, due to the world body's immunity.

And that is not likely to change, with a UN official saying that "the UN legal position has not changed."

Cholera, which is transmitted through contaminated drinking water and causes acute diarrhea, is a major challenge in a country with poor sanitary conditions.

Some 72 percent of Haitians have no toilets at home and, according to the UN, 42 percent still lack access to drinking water.

Researchers have made alarming forecasts.

In a report earlier this month, Piarroux found more than 21,000 cases and 200 deaths took place from January to June.

"With a rainy season that will last through November or possibly December, we worry that cholera will be especially deadly this year, easily killing 400 or 500 people."
Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Haitian authorities announced anti-fraud reforms for a redo of last year's scandalous elections that left the impoverished Caribbean country in political chaos.

The Provisional Electoral Council said that in the October 9 election all Haitians will be required to cast their ballots where they are registered to vote and people working the polling places will receive more comprehensive training.

Haiti has been mired in political crisis since the results of the October 25, 2015 presidential elections were annulled because of massive fraud.

One key part of the problem was that some Haitians could vote wherever they wanted: political parties could designate individuals to survey the operations, and those people were able to vote anywhere using special "access cards."

Election authorities determined that more than 910,000 polling access cards had been trafficked, out of the 1.5 million votes cast last year.

"Floating votes will no longer be allowed. Everyone must vote based on a list where the person's name is found and by presenting an election identification card," Leopold Berlanger, head of the electoral council, said in an interview Wednesday.

Under normal circumstances Haitian citizens must vote where they are registered using their national identification card.

Berlanger also blamed a lack of training, explaining that in the past, poll workers received preparation for a day or less, contributing to human errors in the election process.

"Now it will be four or five days, with an improved program that includes practice runs of the tasks needed for the day of the vote," he said.

Faced with national skepticism about the integrity of elections, the electoral council also unveiled a detailed $55 million budget for the vote -- a first for the poorest country in the Americas -- as the council seeks to provide greater transparency.

"The election must become an institutionalized norm in Haiti and stop being a project or an initiative undertaken somewhat under pressure from the international community," Berlanger said.

Story continues

The council chief acknowledged that international players, particularly the United Nations could again provide logistical and security support for the organization of the elections, but that foreign meddling in the vote would be unacceptable.

"Those who are chosen by the people will be elected. The others should be satisfied if they are not the people's choice. That should be the reality and nothing else," he said.

Foreign donors bankrolled much of last year's vote, and the international community has voiced concern that starting from scratch will have serious financial consequences for the country.

Haiti has been in a power vacuum since acting president Jocelerme Privert's mandate ended in June without a chosen successor.

Parliament had elected Privert in February for a 120-day term when Haiti's previous president, Michel Martelly, left office without a replacement.

Last October's top presidential finisher Jovenel Moise, Martelly's hand-picked candidate, is among the contenders signed up for the October vote.
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haiti said on Wednesday it would spend $55 million on a new election after the results of the last vote were scrapped, with most of the money to be drawn from the poor Caribbean nation's own coffers as foreign donors are reluctant to pay again. The United States, which contributed $33 million to the last election, strongly opposed aborting the results and said in July that no aid would be forthcoming for the repeat. Washington also asked Haiti to return nearly $2 million. Haiti's electoral council said the new budget would cover a period from June 2016 to March 2017, by which time both rounds of the presidential vote are due to be completed. Finance Minister Yves Romain Bastien told Reuters the polls would be largely paid for through funds collected from a port, the central bank and Haitis National Credit Bank. "The only way for us to have these elections is to get our own financing in place," Bastien said. Funding of other government programs would be largely unaffected because the port and two banks were providing profits they ordinarily do not share with the state, he added. Budget cuts this year for education and health have had no link to the election costs, he said. About 50 presidential contenders vied to succeed former President Michel Martelly in Oct. 2015, but after protests and multiple postponements of a run-off, a non-binding investigation said the vote had been marred by fraud. Subsequently, the electoral council said it should be started from scratch. Haiti has been led by interim president Jocelerme Privert since February to avoid the prospect of Martelly leaving office without a replacement. Privert's 120-day mandate expired in June but parliament has not yet voted on whether he can stay in office. In June, he told Reuters he intended to stay in office until the elected president took office in March. At the time, international observers said the poll results were legitimate, despite irregularities. The European Union has said it will not send observers for the election. The Organization of American States has said it will, urging that the agreed-upon timeline be respected. Haiti will vote in presidential and legislative elections on Oct. 9. Another round of legislative elections and a possible second round will take place Jan. 8. (Reporting by Makini Brice; Additional reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Clarence Fernandez)
mike pence donald trump

What happens if Donald Trump calls it quits and exits the 2016 presidential race?

Thats a burning question on the minds of many, according to Google Trends.

As Trumps numbers continue to sag and turmoil plagues his campaign, the internet-search giant recorded a spike in interest in the search term earlier this month.

The right-leaning Wall Street Journal editorial board tossed more fuel on the fire this week when it published a scathing op-ed calling on Trump to mature his campaign style or hand the nomination to his running mate, Mike Pence.

So what would happen in the extremely unlikely scenario of Trump quitting the race? We took a look.

Can Trump give Pence the nomination?

If Trump did choose to exit, a messy transition would ensue.

"I don't think he's going to step aside," Alex Keyssar, a political historian at Harvard University, told Business Insider.

But the fact that people are even suggesting that Trump should, Keyssar said, has never happened before at the presidential level.

"This is the first time any such discussion has really occurred," he said.

If Trump did decide to drop out, Pence would not automatically receive the Republican nomination, Ballotpedia's Charles Aull, an expert on the presidential race and its many rules, told Business Insider.

The GOP would have to go through a formal process.

How could the GOP replace Trump?

The Republican National Committee's rules say it can fill any candidate vacancies that occur because of "death, declination, or otherwise" by either reconvening all 2,472 delegates to vote at another convention, or by letting its 168-member body decide via majority vote.

In the latter scenario, each member would get a certain number of votes based on how populous the state they represent is.

Aull said this is much more likely, because reconvening another convention would be a logistical nightmare.

Story continues

Who would replace him?

If this happened, Aull said, choosing Pence would be the least controversial option (as opposed to former presidential nominees Gov. John Kasich or Sen. Ted Cruz), because he was already approved by Trump and chosen at the convention.

This choice could give some Republicans a sense of relief, Keyssar said, encouraging some voters who don't want to vote for the candidates from either party a reason to cast their ballots on Election Day instead of staying home.

Republican National Convention Texas

Is it too late to get rid of Trump?

This formal re-selection process would take at least a couple weeks, though, and time is ticking down to Election Day.

Most states have their own ballot deadlines for presidential elections so people casting absentee ballots can vote for the correct candidates.

That means that if the RNC replaces Trump, his name could still appear on the ballot in some states  and not the new nominee selected by the party. This could be incredibly confusing for voters who would want to vote for Pence, but would have to select Trump on the ballot, political scientist Josh Putnam told The Washington Post.

Several ballot deadlines have already passed, and more are coming up this week.

"The deadline for things not being messy is like now," Aull said. "By the end of the month at the latest, that's the non-messy deadline, whereas post-August or end of September is when things start to get really, really complicated. They dont want that."

Another state-specific hurdle would come up after the election.

When voters select a candidate, they are really telling members of the electoral college in their state to vote for that candidate. In some states, the electors can choose whomever they want for president. Others require they vote for a party based on popular vote. And in a third set, electors are legally bound to vote for the name on the ballot.

It's this third category where the Republican Party would have to go to court to transfer the votes for Trump to the replacement. That would be even more time consuming and "messy."

What if the party replaces Trump too late?

If Republicans win states where the filing deadlines have passed, the RNC would likely have to appeal to the courts in order to give the new nominee the votes cast for Trump, Aull said.

That scenario would obviously be a hurdle for the Republicans, so if the party does decide to replace Trump, it would be better off doing it as soon as possible.

What if Trump steps aside the day after the election?

We have a constitution for that one.

The 20th Amendment says: "If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified."

In that case, Trump could effectively "choose" Pence to take over if the voters vote him into office and he then decides to step aside.

Could the RNC say, 'You're Fired'?

Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump attends a campaign rally at Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania August 12, 2016. REUTERS/Eric Thayer

Of course, all of the scenarios so far assume Trump politely steps aside. Most presidential nominees simply don't do that, Keyssar said.

"I think it's usually the case that you can assume that people who run for an office actually want to hold the office," he said. "They would not step aside, especially with the presidency. It's fulfilling their lifetime ambition."

But a small subset of people are calling for the RNC to use an extreme interpretation of the phrase "or otherwise" in the rules for replacing a candidate as a way to forcibly remove Trump from the nomination. That's unlikely, Aull said, but worth noting.

The RNC could also rewrite its rules to force him out, which would take even more time. That's also pretty unlikely.

If Trump didn't go willingly, he would probably sue the RNC if they use this "otherwise" clause and take the nomination away from him. Then it would be up to the courts to decide who the nominee could be.

Since we're getting into serious hypotheticals here: If Trump (or any candidate) committed a major crime, he could still legally run for president. There's nothing in the constitution banning alleged felons from running for office. Socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs even received a million votes from behind bars in 1920.

If Trump were then convicted, the vice president might have to take over (if the new Republican nominee won the White House, that is). Or maybe he could pardon himself  we really don't have precedent for that ludicrous scenario.

Could Pence win?

The most interesting note about this complex process is that if Trump dropped out, Pence could still have a chance of becoming president.

For some voters, Keyssar said, replacing Trump could be a bad idea. Most of his supporters are loyal to him and could feel betrayed by the RNC if it attempted to replace him with someone else.

But for others, Pence may be seen as their savior.

"If there was a replacement nominee, it's still possible that that replacement nominee could win the election," Aull said. "Because so many of the issues that the GOP has been having have sort of centered on Trump himself ... it would probably generate some excitement. People are bound to be excited if somebody like Pence stepped in."

NOW WATCH: Trump says he was being sarcastic when he called Obama the 'founder of ISIS'





More From Business Insider


Today, we celebrate the anniversary of the 19th Amendment (ratified on August 18, 1920). Heres what you need to know:

Full Text of the 19th Amendment

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Synopsis:

The Constitution has never prohibited women from voting and for many years before the adoption of this amendment women did vote in several states. The 19th amendment established a uniform rule for all states to follow in guaranteeing women this right.

Explanation:

The states ratified the 19th Amendment in 1920 after a long campaign by advocates, who achieved limited success changing state laws. The womens suffrage movement started in the era of the Andrew Jackson administration.

In 1838, Kentucky authorized women to vote in school elections and its reforms were later copied by other states. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 in upstate New York played a pivotal role in bringing to public consciousness the right of women to vote. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott appealed to like-minded men and women to discuss female inequality in social and political spheres.

The first significant victory for suffrage advocates was in 1869, when the Wyoming Territory granted women voting rights on an equal basis with men and continued the practice following its admission to statehood.

In 1890, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was formed from two competing suffrage groups, led first by Susan B. Anthony and then Carrie Chapman Catt. While helping to consolidate efforts and reduce rivalry within the movement, suffrage still focused on individual states to pass laws allowing women full voting rights.

But by 1914, just 10 states had joined Wyoming and other legal efforts failed. However, the push toward national Prohibition helped the womens suffrage cause, and the two issues became linked together as prospective constitutional amendments.

Story continues

In 1913, the day before Woodrow Wilsons inauguration as President in Washington, D.C., Alice Paul and Lucy Burns organized a parade promoting votes for women. National media attention focused on the 5,000 participating women and brought the issue in front of the country.

Paul and Burns formed the Congressional Union, later the National Womans Party, a group whose mission was to get Congress to pass a womens voting bill. They tried (and failed) in the 1916 elections to leverage the voting power of women in western states that already had female enfranchisement.

In 1919, the necessary votes in the Senate finally solidified. The final obstacle was getting three-fourths of the states to ratify the amendment. By mid-1920, 35 states had approved and Tennessees ratification ensured that the 19th Amendment was added to the Constitution, ensuring that American citizens could no longer be denied the right to vote because of their sex.

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Woman carries a bag with Arabic text written on it. The text sends out a strong message against increasing Islamophobia.

By India Today Web Desk: A female passenger on a Berlin metro decided to do her bit in sending out a message against rising Islamophobia in the world. She carried a bag which has text written in Arabic.



The text reads, "This text has no other purpose than to terrify those who are afraid of the Arabic language."





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The image, captured and shared by journalist Nader Alsarras, has gone viral on social media with over 26,000 likes, 14,000 shares on Facebook.

Nader had tweeted the image as well, but user Zarah Sultana's tweet with the same image was widely circulated. It got over 67,000 retweets and over 1,00,000 likes.

Text on bag reads as: "This text has no other purpose than to terrify those who are afraid of the Arabic language." pic.twitter.com/vHknRBQoPG Zarah Sultana (@zarahsultana) August 16, 2016



The message was well-received and so a lot of positing responses that people even inquired where they can purchase a similar bag from.



? ? To everyone interested in purchasing this bag by RPS Mafia ? ? Instagram: https://t.co/Z5ACPEVOfW

Facebook: https://t.co/ji2Q6i7JVh Zarah Sultana (@zarahsultana) August 17, 2016



But some were not really impressed with the whole idea. They asked, "if I can't read it in the first place, how would it make me ponder about Islamophobia?"

@zarahsultana @exitthelemming Don't get it! If I can't read something I don't think about it! If you can read it, it means nothing! Susanne Traynor (@Christmaspud) August 17, 2016

@exitthelemming How can something that say it aim to terrify people like me be funny? It doesn't scare me as I wouldn't give a 2nd thought Susanne Traynor (@Christmaspud) August 17, 2016



And some defended the idea.

@Christmaspud surely it doesn't mean nothing? It has an important satirical point for people who don't read Arabic (and it's very funny). Samuel West (@exitthelemming) August 17, 2016





Tote bags available ya jama3a A photo posted by Rock Paper Scissors (@rps.mafia) on Apr 25, 2016 at 3:58am PDT

--- ENDS ---
Washington (AFP) - US motorcycle giant Harley-Davidson on Thursday entered a $15 million settlement with US authorities who accused the company of making and selling illegal devices that increased air pollution from its bikes.

The company, the iconic American manufacturer of large and loud motorcycles, agreed to buy back and cease selling so-called "super tuners," which improved performance but increased hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions.

The company has produced and sold about 340,000 of the devices, which are prohibited under the US Clean Air Act, the Justice Department said.

The announcement comes as the German automaker Volkswagen faces continuing legal woes after admitting that it had installed emissions cheating devices on 11 million diesel-powered automobiles worldwide.

Last year, the company sold about 265,000 motorcycles worldwide and 168,000 in the US.

Assistant Attorney General John Cruden, head of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in a statement that other manufacturers should consider themselves warned.

Anyone else who manufactures, sells or installs these types of illegal products should take heed of Harley-Davidsons corrective actions and immediately stop violating the law," Cruden said.

The settlement involves both the Justice Department and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

In a statement, Harley said it had not admitted liability and took issue with the government's legal positions.

"This settlement is not an admission of liability but instead represents a good faith compromise with the EPA on areas of law we interpret differently, particularly EPA's assertion that it is illegal for anyone to modify a certified vehicle even if it will be used solely for off-road/closed-course competition," Ed Moreland, head of government affairs, said in the statement.

Under its terms, Harley will pay a $12 million civil penalty and devote another $3 million to a project to replace conventional woodstoves with cleaner-burning stoves in local communities, according to the statement.
(Adds additional details on Harley statement, EPA comments, updates shares)

By David Shepardson and Meredith Davis

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Harley-Davidson Inc agreed to pay a $12 million civil fine and stop selling illegal after-market devices that cause its motorcycles to emit too much pollution, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.

The settlement resolves government allegations that Harley sold roughly 340,000 "super tuners" enabling motorcycles since 2008 to pollute the air at levels greater than what the Milwaukee-based company certified to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Harley did not admit liability, and said in a statement it disagrees with the government's position arguing that the devices were designed and sold to be used in "competition only."

The company said the settlement represents "a good faith compromise with the EPA on areas of law we interpret differently, particularly EPA's assertion that it is illegal for anyone to modify a certified vehicle even if it will be used solely for off-road/closed-course competition."

An EPA spokesman said that the vast majority of these tuners were used on public roads.

According to the government, the sale of such "defeat devices" violates the federal Clean Air Act. Harley was also accused of selling more than 12,600 motorcycles that were not covered by an EPA certification governing clean air compliance.

The settlement calls for Harley to stop selling the super tuners by Aug. 23, and buy back and destroy all such tuners in stock at its dealerships. EPA said the modified settings increase power and performance, but also increase the motorcycles' emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides.

Harley must also deny warranty claims if owners continue to use the devices. An EPA spokesman said the company's dealers are not part of this action, but "if they are tampering or selling defeat devices on their own, then they could be investigated independently in the future."

Story continues

Harley will also spend $3 million on an unrelated project to reduce air pollution, the Justice Department said.

"Given Harley-Davidson's prominence in the industry, this is a very significant step toward our goal of stopping the sale of illegal after-market defeat devices that cause harmful pollution on our roads and in our communities," John Cruden, head of the Justice Department's environmental and natural resources division, said in a statement.

The announcement comes amid greater scrutiny on emissions and "defeat devices" by U.S. regulators after Volkswagen AG admitted to using illegal software to evade U.S. emissions standards in nearly 600,000 U.S. vehicles.

"This settlement immediately stops the sale of illegal after-market defeat devices used on public roads that threaten the air we breathe," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

Harley must obtain a certification from the California Air Resources Board for any tuners it sells in the United States in the future. For any super tuners that Harley-Davidson sells outside the United States in the future, it must label them as not for use in the United States.

In a separate statement, the company said it has sold the product for more then 20 years under an accepted regulatory approach that permitted the sale of competition-only parts and said it believed it was legal to use in race conditions in the United States.

Harley shares closed down 94 cents at $53.54, or 1.7 percent. They had earlier fallen as much as 8 percent after news of the allegations had surfaced in a U.S. lawsuit filed in Washington, but before the settlement was announced.

Harley said last month that EPA had first sought information about after-market part issues in December 2009.

Pat Sweeney, a Harley-Davidson spokesperson, said the company did not have immediate details on how many units of inventory had to be bought back or destroyed, nor details on the cost.

EPA said it discovered the violations through a routine inspection and information Harley-Davidson submitted. EPA has been investigating after-market part emission issues for more than five years.

In 2012, Suzuki Motor Corp paid an $885,000 fine to EPA for selling 25,458 all-terrain vehicles and off-road motorcycles because they were built to allow for the installation of an after-market part to increase horsepower and emissions.

Several other companies have paid fines to EPA in recent years for selling after-market parts to diesel truck owners to remove emission controls and boost horsepower and fuel efficiency.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Sweta Singh in Bengaluru, Nick Carey and Meredith Davis in Chicago; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Alan Crosby)
When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in July 2007, many fans were prepared for the final book to be The End. Yes, there would be two new films adapting the novel for the big screen in 2010 and 2011. But the series author, J.K. Rowling, had always said the series would conclude with book seven.

Since then, there have been: a proliferation of stories on the companion website Pottermore, a real-life version of The Tales of Beedle the Bard (a fictional set of fables referenced in the series), a forthcoming Potter-world film trilogy starting with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (out in November), and a new play called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which wasnt written by Rowling, and which had its script released in book form in July.

As per an announcement on Wednesday, fans can expect even more from the author: three new e-books about Hogwarts will be released on September 6, including Power, Politics, and Pesky Poltergeists; Of Heroism, Hardship, and Dangerous Hobbies; and Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide. Given that Rowling has long seemed unwilling to put the wizarding world behind her for good, constantly offering new tidbits on Twitter or in interviews, this news shouldnt be surprising. But after the Cursed Child debut, she made a point of saying that the play would, in fact, be the end of Harrys story.

He goes on a very big journey during these two plays and then, yeah, I think were done. This is the next generation, you know  So, I'm thrilled to see it realized so beautifully but, no, Harry is done now.

In a very technical sense, Rowling was being truthful. The books will reportedly explore characters other than Harry: One will delve into the backstory of Dolores Umbridge and how Professor Slughorn met a young Voldemort. Another will revisit Professor McGonagall and Remus Lupin, while the last will focus on Hogwarts. But it seems disingenuous to say that these wont, by extension, change Harrys story in some way. And if fans can only hope to trust Rowlings future announcements on a purely technical basis, then they might as well accept that the fictional magical world will evolve for years to come, perhaps in surprising ways. What if theres a rock opera about Voldemorts childhood? Or a new animated Netflix show about Harry and Ginnys grandchildren? Or an augmented-reality mobile game where users can explore the Forbidden Forest, or battle Blast-Ended Skrewts, or eat an end-of-term feast in the Great Hall?

Story continues

Considering much of the fan reaction to the script book for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, perhaps Rowling staying away from Harry-specific stories (assuming she does) is a good thing. While reviews of the two-part play itself have been overwhelmingly positive, those who could only get their hands on the book seemed less delighted. Part of this was undoubtedly because scripts, especially early versions, rarely shine on the page like they do on stage. Part was because there were many fans who had mistakenly been expecting an actual novel. And yet there were others who felt that the playwith all its plot holes, occasionally odd dialogue, and apparent revisionismfell well short of the ideal standards for a canonical Harry Potter tale.

If Rowling sticks to fleshing out little details and backstories, rather than shepherding along full-blown, brand-new story arcs, perhaps that can be a reasonable middle ground for both the author and fans. After all, a 79-page e-book will generally have lower stakes than a two-part stage production (especially one involving extensive time travel, alternate histories, and secret children). The move will please those hungry for any new Harry Potter stories. But an e-book is also a minor enough release that it can be ignored altogether by fans hoping to preserve the original story in their minds.

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Either way, Potterheads can all but count on the likelihood of new magic-minded works, whatever the length or medium or subject. Stephen King told The New York Times that he felt Rowling was being influenced by her own love for the characters, and by her millions of fans eagerness for Harry to live on. Writers feel responsibility to their readers, and some of that is a way of saying to the fans, If you want a little more, Ill give you a little more, he said. Perhaps this little more will just be random tweets or e-books or fake Daily Prophet articles. Or maybe one day the world will see whole new series about James Potter and Sirius Blacks adventures at Hogwarts. Either way, it seems clear that, for Rowling and for fans, The End is nowhere in sight.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Earlier this week, a Hawaii woman accused of killing her twin sister after their vehicle plunged off a Maui cliff was arrested in upstate New York on drunken driving charges, PEOPLE confirms.



According to a statement from the New York State Police, Alexandria Duval, 37, who was never charged with a crime in Maui, was pulled over Monday afternoon just before 4:30 p.m. in the town of Stamford.



Officers charged Duval with aggravated driving while intoxicated and other traffic violations. Her blood alcohol content was allegedly 0.26, more than three times the legal limit, according to police.



Duval caught the attention of police after her car allegedly started drifting into the oncoming traffic lane, nearly striking a state police detective's vehicle.



 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.



Police allege she was also driving too closely behind the car in front of her, which prompted calls to 911.



A state trooper stopped Duval, who was allegedly "highly intoxicated" at the time and was not wearing a seat belt.



The police statement alleges Duval presented officers with her Hawaii driver's license and submitted to a breath test, but later refused to say where she lived or be fingerprinted or photographed.



Duval is being held on $5,000 cash bail and is due back in court August 23 for her arraignment, where she will enter a plea. Court records do not indicate who her attorney is.



Duval and her sister, Anastasia, were traveling in a Ford Explorer in May when they crashed into a rock wall, sending the car plummeting 200 feet onto a rocky shoreline.



The accident occurred during an alleged physical fight over the car's steering wheel.



Anastasia died in the crash and Alexandria was arrested on a second-degree murder charge. Police alleged she intentionally crashed the car to kill her sister.



A judge later ordered Alexandriaas release after determining there was not enough probable cause for the murder charge.



The twins formerly owned and operated two popular yoga students in Palm Beach County, Florida, before changing their names.
The Hawaii State Health Department ordered the immediate closure of nearly a dozen locations of the restaurant chain Genki Sushi on the islands of Oahu and Kauai amid the states worst Hepatitis-A outbreak in decades.

Officials have confirmed 168 cases of the virus since June, including dozens of people who required hospitalization, saying imported frozen scallops served raw at Genki Sushi are likely to blame. The scallops were imported from the Philippines, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, and distributed by the Honolulu-based wholesale company Koha Oriental Foods.

A Hepatitis-A outbreak of this scale is unusual but not unprecedented in recent decades. In 2003, 565 people were sickened in Pennsylvania after eating contaminated green onions at a Chi-Chis Mexican restaurant. Three people died as a result. That same year, 297 cases of Hepatitis A recorded in Georgia were also linked to contaminated green onions. In 2013, 162 people across 10 states got Hepatitis A after eating products containing tainted pomegranate seeds.

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Still, the incidence of the virus has dropped dramaticallyby some 95 percentin the United States since a vaccine became available 20 years ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recommends vaccinating children at 1 year old, but officials believe many adolescents and adults remain unvaccinated, which is part of why outbreaks like the one in Hawaii are concerning. Hepatitis A is rarely fatal, though it can cause fatal liver failure.

The virus, which sickens those who consume contaminated food or water, is highly contagious and spreads fastest in settings where personal hygiene is subpar or sanitary conditions are poor. Those who are infected stay contagious for up to two weeks, and are often most contagious before symptoms ever appear. It can take several weeksin some cases even monthsafter an infection before symptoms show up, making the risk of spreading the virus even greater. Many people who get the virus never show symptoms. In young children, the vast majority of Hepatitis A infections are asymptomatic. Signs of Hepatitis, when they appear, can include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, clay-colored bowel movements, vomiting, diarrhea, and yellowing skin and eyes.

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Along with closing Genki Sushi for clean-up, the Hawaii State Department of Health also issued a list of establishments where food service workers sickened in the latest outbreak are employedincluding Baskin-Robbins, Chilis, Costco Bakery, Taco Bell, Papa Johns, and several local restaurants on Oahu. This information is important, as Hepatitis A is often spread by food handlers who are themselves infected.

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State officials told the Star-Advertiser that theyre working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to further investigate the origin of the tainted scallops. Raw shellfish are considered particularly risky for spreading Hepatitis A, since shellfish make efficient filters for extracting bacteria from watermaking them great receptacles for the virus when theyre exposed to it. Although many states have regulations aimed at preventing the distribution of contaminated shellfish in the United States, researchers have linked several outbreaks to the illegal harvesting of oysters and scallops. The lesson here, health officials say, is not to eat raw shellfish.

Then again, Hepatitis A is unpredictable, which is part of what makes outbreaks so disconcerting. Going back to the 1960s, major outbreaks of the virus have been traced back to frozen strawberries, frozen raspberries, lettuce, sandwiches, salads, glazed doughnuts, and pastry icing.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Even though HBOs The Night Of premiered just last month, the miniseries camerawork informed the look of Nightcrawler, a film released in 2014.

A case of cinematographic time travel? Not really. When gearing up for Dan Gilroys Nightcrawler in 2013, DP Robert Elswit knew hed have to shoot digitally, because the feature required many nighttime exteriors and had a low lighting budget. But he had always shot on film.

That experience gap figured into Elswits decision to first take on Steven Zaillians 10-part miniseries, which began production three years ago but was stalled after the untimely death of star James Gandolfini (later replaced by John Turturro). The Night Of would serve as a testing ground for the Arri Alexa digital camera.

I was able to use everything I learned in The Night Of to help me get the most out of Nightcrawler, Elswit says. [Alexa] was a great way to go because its a little faster. The exposure index is twice as high as the fastest Kodak film stock, and you can get away with murder. By shooting in places that had a lot of street and business lighting, I didnt have to light backgrounds.

Set in New York, the 10-part mini tells the story of a man accused of murder, and the suffocating judicial system that works against him. Elswit, who could commit to only the aesthetic-setting first two episodes, says he and Zaillian were inspired by New York-set movies shot there in the 70s, particularly the raw-energy ones, like Report to the Commissioner and The French Connection.

In Demand DP Robert Elswit has more than 70 film and TV credits. Mission: Impossible  Rogue Nation (2015) The latest Mission is darker than the franchises earlier films, including his own Ghost Protocol. The Town (2010) The Boston-set film features a shootout-in-the-streets finale. There Will Be Blood (2007) Elswit earned the cinematography Oscar for Paul Thomas Andersons tale of an oil baron, starring Daniel Day-Lewis. Good Night and Good Luck (2005) Elswit was Oscar-nominated for George Clooneys B&W saga of Edward R. Murrows battle with Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

It wasnt a documentary style in the sense that it was handheld camera or anything, but you really felt like you were in the city, Elswit says. Things were theatrical but not artificial. You were in real locations. The lighting would be dictated by the places you picked to shoot.

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Elswit also looked back to the 1961 television series The Defenders, starring E.G. Marshall. It was all in black and white and in the streets, he recalls. It was a courtroom drama, but it wasnt like Perry Mason. It wasnt a Hollywood version. You werent looking at a lot of sets. And thats what Steven was hoping youd come away feeling here  that youd seen a kind of slice of life.

The other eight episodes in the series were shot by lensers Igor Martinovic (House of Cards) and Fred Elmes (Olive Kitteridge). But Elswit doubled back in the end to shoot some additional photography on different parts of the series, which is set all over New York, including Rikers Island.

I matched what they did in the courtroom and some other places, Elswit says. I couldnt pull it all apart, and I didnt want to. Steven is a hands-on director and I think thats why the thing looks vaguely consistent with three different DPs. He believes what cinematographers believe, which is that how something is lit  how light, how dark it is, where the shadows fall  all of these things are keys to an audiences emotional response.

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The annual Railway Budget may just be a thing of the past, with the Government considering scrapping it and merging it with the General Budget, from 2017. In June 2015, the Bibek Debroy Committee, a high level committee set up for Mobilization of Resources for Major Railway Projects and Restructuring of Railway Ministry and Railway Board, had mentioned, in its report, a number of measures aimed at restructuring the Railways, with getting rid of a separate budget, being one of them. According to the committee, while not much benefit came from holding a separate Railway Budget, a lot of resources were being wasted in the process of preparing and presenting it. As per the reports recommendations, the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, had written to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asking for the practise of presenting a separate Railway Budget to be scrapped.

Over the recent years, the Rail Budget has seen a number of announcements and initiatives, along with a lot of protests from states which felt that they were not given their due. With budget due to get scrapped, lets take a walk down memory lane as we highlight some interesting facts about the Indian Railways and the Railway Budget:

First passenger train: On April 16, 1853, the first ever passenger train ran from Mumbai to Thane. It took 57 minutes to cover a distance of 21 miles and reach Tannah (Thane). Three locomotives pulled 14 carriages, carrying 400 passengers on board. This was run by the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, the predecessor of the Central railways.

Image: William Mitchell Acworth. By Bain News Service (publisher) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

First Railway Budget: It was the recommendations of the ten-member Acworth Committee, headed by British railway economist, in 1920-21, that led to the reorganisation of the Indian Railways. With the Railways being a huge asset, in 1924, the railway finances were separated from the general finances. The first separate Railway Budget was presented in 1925. Railway Minister, John Mathai, presented independent Indias first Railway Budget in November, 1947.

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First televised Railway Budget: The Railway Budget was first telecast live on 24 March 1994, by the then Railway Minister C.K Jaffer Sharief. The term Railway budget does not appear in the Constitution, but the budget is introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha under Articles 112 and Rule 204 of the Constitution, in two distinct parts  the Railway Budget and the General Budget.



Most presentations: Former Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was in tenure from 2004 to May 2009, presented the Rail Budget a record six times in a row.

First and only lady to present the Railway Budget: The first female Railway Minister, and the only lady to present the Budget was current West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress honcho, Mamata Banerjee, who presented it in 2002.

Image: Kaziranga Express By Smeet Chowdhury - http://www.flickr.com/photos/50628848@N07/6915255201/sizes/o/in/photostream/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27244049

Second largest railway network: The Indian Railways has the worlds second largest railway network, carrying over 23 million passengers daily. It employees close to 1.54 million people, making it the seventh largest employer in the world.



Image: Gorakhpur railway Station. By Benison P Baby - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39068508

Longest platform and highest rail bridge: The worlds longest railway platform is at the Gorakhpur Railway Station in UP, with a length of 1,366m. In fact, seven of the worlds longest railway platforms are located in India. Once complete, the under-construction Chenab Railway Bridge, in Reasi district, Jammu and Kashmir, will be one of the highest rail bridges in the world. The bridge is between the towns of Udhampur near Jammu, and Baramulla in the Kashmir Valley.

Image: By Nikhilb239 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48269643

High speed trains: In the 2014 Railway Budget, the then Railway Minister D.V Sadanand Gowda announced the first bullet train, and nine other high speed trains. The 2016 Railway Budget, presented by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, saw no hike in fares, WiFi at 100 stations and 17,000 biotoilets and additional toilets in 475 stations before the close of this financial year, among other initiatives.
Obamacare hasn't been a cure-all for America's uninsured population  but it sure has changed the numbers of people without health coverage, and what the remaining uninsured look like.

Two new surveys out Thursday shed new light on the effects of the Affordable Care Act.

One details a dramatic drop in uninsured population in California, the nation's most populous state, and one that has fully embraced Obamacare's tools for expanding health coverage.

The other survey details how people nationally who still lack health insurance after Obamacare's first two years are more likely to be Hispanic, be very poor, be under the age of 35 and work for a small business.

The first survey comes from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has been tracking the effects of the ACA in California since 2013 in a series of interviews with the uninsured. That year was the last one before individual health insurance plans went on sale on government-run Obamacare marketplaces nationwide, and also the last year before the ACA rule mandating nearly every American to have some form of health coverage or pay a fine took effect.



Kaiser's survey in 2014 found that 58 percent of the uninsured population in California had gained health health coverage since the year before. In 2015, the survey found that 68 percent of the previously uninsured had obtained such coverage.

The new survey released Thursday found that in 2016, 72 percent of previously uninsured Californians had become covered.

The percentage was even higher if uninsured undocumented workers, who are not eligible for either Medicaid or Obamacare plans, are not considered. Among previously uninsured, eligible Californians, 78 percent are now insured in some manner, Kaiser found.

When currently uninsured people were asked why they still don't have coverage, almost half said insurance is too expensive for them.

Kaiser's report on the survey noted that largest share of the recently insured residents  33 percent  have become covered through Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program that covers primarily low-income people. Another 21 percent are insured through employer-based health plans, and just 11 percent are insured through plans sold on Covered California, the state-run Obamacare exchange. The rest of the recently insured said they have other forms of coverage.

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Kaiser's survey also found that recently insured Californians "are more likely to report that their health needs are being met today than when they were uninsured"  77 percent this year, compared to 49 percent in 2013. Nearly 80 percent of the recently insured said their experiences with their current coverage has been positive.

The second report released Thursday comes from the Commonwealth Fund, with the title, "Who Are the Remaining Uninsured and Why Haven't They Signed Up for Coverage."

The group notes that about 20 million Americans have gained health coverage since 2010, when the ACA first began taking effect, with a provision that allowed people under the age of 26 to stay on their parents' health plans.

"Yet an estimated 24 million people still lack health insurance," the report said.

Of that 24 million, about 21 million of them  88 percent  have incomes below about $16,243, were young adults, worked at small firms, and/or are Latino, according to the Commonwealth Fund.

In 2013, Latinos, who have the highest rates of uninsurance of any ethnic group, compromised 29 percent of the uninsured population.

Latinos now make up 40 percent of the uninsured, according to the report, which notes that is "more than twice their representation in the overall population.

At the same time, whites, who previously made up half of the uninsured, now comprise 41 percent of the uninsured.



The report noted that 34 percent of the remaining uninsured have incomes low enough to qualify them for Medicaid, but live in one of the 20 states that have not adopted Obamacare's provision that allows nearly all poor adults to be covered by that program, with significant federal financial assistance.

In states that did not expand Medicaid under Obamacare, 41 percent of adults with incomes below $16,243 were uninsured as of the summer of 2013. By 2016, the uninsured rate among that population had fallen just to 35 percent hits year  which is actually 1 percent more than in the past two years.

However, in the states that did expand Medicaid, the uninsured rate among poor adults fell from 30 percent in 2013, to only 17 percent this year.

The report found that almost two-thirds of uninsured adults who knew about Obamacare insurance marketplaces, which offers subsidized coverage to low- and middle-income people, had not visited those exchanges "because they did not think they would be able to afford coverage."



At the same time, the report said, more than half of the uninsured adults actually had incomes in range that made them eligible for federal subsidies that could reduce the coverage of their Obamacare exchange plan coverage.
The first look posters of actor Karthi's upcoming supernatural thriller Kaashmora are out. Going by the posters, Karthi plays a warrior in the film.

First look of Karthi's Kashmoora is out

By India Today Web Desk: Actor Karthi, who has been patiently waiting for two long years to unveil his Kaashmora, has finally released the first look posters of his upcoming supernatural thriller, which reportedly features the Madras actor playing triple roles for the first time in his career.

ALSO READ: Kaashmora- Karthi's first look to be unveiled on August 18

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ALSO READ: Kaatru Veliyidai- Karthi sports three different looks in his upcoming film

Karthi took it to Twitter and unveiled the first look posters of Kaashmora.



According to reports, Kaashmora is a multi-genre film and has elements of horror, comedy and action, besides period flavour.

Santhosh Narayanan, who is basking in the success of Kabali music album, has composed the songs and BGM for Kaashmora.

Tipped to be the most expensive project of his career, the film also stars Nayanthara and Sri Divya as the leading ladies.

Directed by Gokul, the film is produced by SR Prakash Babu and SR Prabhu under the banner of Dream Warrior Pictures.

Also, Kaashmora is said to be the first south Indian film to have used 3D face scan technology for an important sequence in the film, which lasts for 15 minutes.

Karthi has already acted in a supernatural thriller Aayirathil Oruvan, directed by Selvaraghavan.



--- ENDS ---
From Esquire

Nate Parker took to Facebook on Tuesday night to express his "profound sorrow" over the suicide of his college rape accuser.

Hours after the woman's brother told Variety that she had committed suicide in 2012, Parker posted that although he "maintain[s] [his] innocence that the encounter was unambiguously consensual, there are things more important than the law":

"I myself just learned that the young woman ended her own life several years ago and am filled with profound sorrow...I look back on that time as a teenager and can say without hesitation that I should have used more wisdom...I see now that I may not have shown enough empathy even as I fought to clear my name."

The incident occurred in 1999, when Parker and his Penn State roommate Jean Celestin-the co-writer of The Birth of a Nation-were charged with raping the woman, then 18, in their apartment. The woman passed away at age 30; the New York Times reports that she had attempted suicide twice after the incident, and she had "suffered severe depression, sleeplessness, and anxiety attacks."

"She became detached from reality," the woman's brother told Variety. "The progression was very quick and she took her life...My position is [Parker] got off on a technicality...If I were to look back at her very short life and point to one moment where I think she changed as a person, it was obviously that point."

Though Celestin and Parker were acquitted in 2000, the controversy still remains and has been heightened due to Birth of a Nation, which Fox Searchlight bought for $17.5 million, making it the most lucrative film deal in history.

"His character should be under a microscope because of this incident," the victim's brother said. "If you removed these two people, the project is commendable. But there's a moral and ethical stance you would expect from someone with regard to this movie."

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U.S. oil exports are on the rise after the federal ban was lifted in December.

So which country is the top recipient of American oil, aside from Canada? None other than Curacao, the island nation and popular tourist destination.

Congress agreed to allow the export of crude oil for the first time in 40 years. Analysts predicted that oil producers would be slow to take advantage of the new policy, mainly because there was little price advantage with the market still reeling from oversupply concerns. Also, Canada was excluded from the ban, and some oil exports to other countries were already allowed under the law. Exporting refined products like gasoline was permitted as well.

U.S. oil exports this year averaged 501,000 barrels per day through May, just a 9% increase over the full-year daily average in 2015. The Energy Information Administration noted that exports had already grown by a large margin before the federal government scrapped its export restrictions. Canada wasand isthe most popular customer by far, although oil was also regularly postmarked for five other countries by 2015.

But with the ban in the rear-view mirror, more nations are benefiting from the U.S. shale boom. American oil has made its way to a total of 16 different countries so far in 2016.

Canada, which received 422,000 barrels of American oil per day in 2015, remains the most popular trade partner for domestic drillers. The EIA said other than Canada, Curacao has been the largest and most consistent U.S. crude oil export destination over the first five months of this year. Exports to Curacao, located in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela, averaged 54,000 barrels per day through May. Venezuelas state-owned oil company, PDVSA, operates a refinery on Curacao.

The Netherlands (39,000 b/d) is the second-most popular destination for American oil this year, followed by Japan (17,000 b/d) and Italy (15,000 b/d).

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OTTAWA, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2016 / Carube Copper Corp. (TSXV: CUC) announces that its joint venture partner, OZ Minerals, has commenced drilling at the Calabash Ridge Prospect at the Bellas Gate Joint Venture (BGJV) in Jamaica. This area is considered a high-priority target after an extensive Induced Polarization (IP) survey identified a large chargeability anomaly that correlates to surface copper mineralization. The first hole at Calabash Ridge will be completed sometime this week. Drilling will also continue at the Provost Prospect to follow up the excellent copper-gold results previously encountered there.

Jeff Ackert, President and CEO of Carube Copper noted: We are happy to see our JV partner, OZ Minerals, embark on an aggressive drilling program at Calabash Ridge. It is a high-priority target due to its recently discovered IP chargeability and resistivity responses as well as its proximity to the Connors Porphyry complex, the Northern Alteration Zone and associated mineralizing structures.

Figure 1: Plan View of the IP Chargeability Anomaly at Calabash Ridge Showing Location of drill hole CLB-16-001

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: [http://www.accesswire.com/uploads/22184_a1471529903532.jpg]

Calabash Ridge Drilling: The initial drilling at Calabash Ridge is targeting the 15-35 mRad chargeability zone, which is peripheral to the chargeability anomaly. It has been noted in previously drilled holes that the high chargeability areas (+50 mRad) appear more pyritic. It is expected that the peripheral areas will be more copper rich. The first hole drilled at Calabash Ridge is expected to be more than 400 metres in depth. It is very important to note that the Calabash Ridge target area is adjacent to the Connors Porphyry System where previous drilling has intersected 294m of 0.56% CuEq; including 96m of 1.00% CuEq, in diamond drill hole DDH-CON-14-005. Copper equivalents (CuEq) are calculated using a US $3.00/lb. copper and a US$1200 per ounce gold price assuming unlimited internal dilution and 100% recovery of both metals.

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Provost Drilling: Another hole of approximately 400m in length will soon be drilled at Provost where a new discovery was made last month (see Press Release dated July 22, 2016). PVT-16-002 intersected consistent and strong copper mineralization - chalcopyrite - through its entire length, returning 339m of 0.34% CuEq, including 10m of 1.79% CuEq. This mineralization exists within a zone of 20-35 mRad chargeability that is coincident with a west dipping resistivity feature, which is interpreted as being caused by pyrite-chalcopyrite bearing veins. This next hole at Provost will target the 20-35 mRad IP chargeability shell that is interpreted to be most prospective for copper mineralisation.

To date, OZ Minerals has sole-funded the drilling of forty-five holes, totalling 12,045 metres on BGJV targets as part of a 70% interest earn-in on the BGJV; Carube Copper now holds a 30% interest. OZ Minerals is currently earning an additional 10% interest in the Joint Venture by sole funding Phase Five which includes all work to the completion of a feasibilty study.

Please see our press release of February 10, 2016 regarding the work completed and expenditures on the BGJV.

Contacts

Jeff Ackert, President and CEO  1-613-839-3258  jackert@carubecopper.com

Vern Rampton, Executive VP of Corporate Development  1-613-839-3258  vrampton@carubecopper.com

Alar Soever, Chairman  1-705-682-9297  asoever@carubecopper.com

www.carubecopper.com

QP Statement: This press release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Vern Rampton, P. Eng. in his capacity as a qualified person as defined under NI 43-101.

Carube Copper Corp. (TSXV: CUC) is a Canadian exploration company focused on the exploration and development of copper and gold projects in Jamaica and Canada. In Jamaica, two projects, totalling 188 square kilometres in area, are the subject of separate joint venture agreements with OZ Minerals Limited, an Australian copper-gold producer with a market capitalization of $2B. Carube Copper holds a 100% interest in two other nearby projects, totalling 80 square kilometres. In Canada, Carube Copper holds a 100% interest in three porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum properties, totalling 593 square kilometres within the Tertiary-aged Cascade Magmatic Arc in southwestern British Columbia. Exploration continues on these properties with the goal of joint-venturing them to larger exploration and mining companies. Carube Copper continues to seek opportunities in Canada and the Caribbean for acquisition and development.

DISCLAIMER & FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" which are not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, and by their very nature involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on currently available information, Carube Copper Corp. provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Factors that can cause results to differ materially are set out in the Company's documents filed on the SEDAR website. Undue reliance should not be placed on "forward looking statements".

IMPORTANT NOTICE: By reference herewith, Carube Copper incorporates into this release the entire disclaimer set forth on our website at http://carubecopper.com/disclaimer.htm

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 release.

SOURCE: Carube Copper Corp.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy does not shy away from the fact that guns on are on the national ballot this November.

If Donald Trump wins, it will be a pretty dramatic setback, says Murphy, who has emerged as the Democratic Partys most vocal champion of new gun regulation. Not just because how terrible hell be on the issue, but the fact that a presidential candidate who ran asking for a mandate on guns lost.

For Murphy, the fight is personal. He had just been elected to the Senate in 2012 when word arrived that there had been an incident at an elementary school in his House district. The Senator-elect watched in horror as Newtown, Conn., became the site of the deadliest mass school shooting in U.S. history.

Murphy, an earnest legislator who first won election at age 25, wanted to know what he and other lawmakers could do to help families who were affected by the scene unfolding at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and how he might prevent similar future incidents. His efforts, the Democrat acknowledged over a breakfast interview with TIME this week, were perhaps ahead of their time, if not premature.

Sandy Hook was so cataclysmicwas so outside of the normthat peoples reaction was all about simply figuring out how to process it, how to reconcile that level of evil, Murphy said during a candid conversation on Aug. 17. They were trying to reconcile how Sandy Hook could exist in a civilized world. No discussion of policy or politics, he said, could break through the disbelief roiling his constituents, his colleagues and the nation, no matter how much he saw a chance to do good.

His ensuing efforts came up in defeat largely at the hands of the National Rifle Association. Murphy is now eyeing action in 2017, which he hopes will be achieved by a Democratic Party-led Senate, if comrades can pick up a net six Senate seats, and championed by Hillary Clinton, who is the most stridently pro-gun-control presidential nominee ever. We have had time now, and a never-ending trend line of mass atrocities, to think about how policy can change to make this less likely, Murphy said as he picked at smoked salmon on a bagel.

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Public opinion, at the moment, is on Murphys side, at least for incremental changes to the nations rules for buying guns. Voters seem to favor policies he is pushing: background checks, limits on online sales, measures to keep suspected terrorists from buying a gun at Wal-Mart. Politics, however, is iffy. Im not sure that our movement is ready yet to beat the gun lobby, he said, using the pollster-crafted reference to the NRA. Im not sure that were strong enough. Im not sure that were big enough. I dont want to over-state the movement.

Candidates are facing pressure for their votes on gun restrictions. Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire is locked in a tight race for her second term representing a state where guns are part of the DNA. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania faces skepticism from the Right over his work to boost background checks in the wake of Newtown. The Democrats devoted hours of Clintons nominating convention to the topic, openly calling on tighter restrictions to prevent future massacres. Something has changed within our party, Murphy said.

Indeed, campaign consultants for a generation were leaning on the lessons of Bill Clintons crime bill in 1994. Lawmakers who supported it found themselves out of a job, as the NRA came after them with millions in negative ads. Republicans defaulted to the NRA position from a mix of fear and pragmatism.

You were told, as a Democratic candidate, you should stay away from guns. Democrats (now) have decided that this a core value for our party and its a winning political issue, Murphy said. Its become a litmus test for Democrats. You have to be strong on the issue of guns or you are ineligible for Leadership in our party.

But thats not to say there is the political infrastructure to back them up. The anti-gun violence movement was essentially asleep from 1994 to 2012 and during that time, the NRA and the gun lobby built up an incredibly impressive political organization, Murphy said. The modern movement to stop gun violence and to take illegal weapons off our streets is less than four years old.

Indeed, its a movement in its infancy. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has spent millions to criticize pro-NRA politicians with limited efficacy. Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who survived a 2011 assassination attempt, has led an anti-gun violence group that is preparing an active fall campaign, both on the ground and on televisions. And grassroots activists are seeing an opportunity to run against the NRA, even if some Democratic campaigns are only lukewarm to the strategy.

Have faith, Murphy argues. The shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando on a Saturday night in June became the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Forty-nine people, plus the gunman, died in a shooting that is said to have been inspired by Islamic extremism. It was fundamentally disruptive with the electorate. The new intersection of law enforcement and terrorism has caused voters to elevate the issue on their priority list, Murphy said. Orlando was a policy tipping point. They now knew how to react psychologically to these tragedies because they had practiced it and they were ready to think about policy.

Thats not to say Murphy expects the NRA to be sidelined any time soon. I think its still very powerful, 10 years from now. It is whether the NRA has a vice-like grip on the Republican Party, or whether it is another interest groups that wins some battles and loses some battles. They have not lost a fight in decades, Murphy said. My hope is that 10 years from now, while the NRA will still be powerful, Republicans will get used to stepping out and occasionally take on the NRA.

Murphy likens the NRA to another industry that survives but with a significantly damaged public image. Guns are the new cigarettes, he said.
Hillary Clinton launched a new ad on Thursday attacking Donald Trump for not releasing his tax returns as Democrats tighten the screws on the Republican nominee.

The new Clinton ad features television clips of prominent Republicans questioning Trumps decision to keep his tax returns private. Perhaps one more reason why were not seeing his tax returns is because he is deeply involved in dealing with Russian oligarchs, suggests conservative columnist George Will. Either hes not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is or theres a bombshell in Donald Trumps taxes, the 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney says in a clip with Fox News.

The ad, part of the Clinton campaigns existing national cable ad buy, is the latest salvo in the campaigns fight to keep Donald Trumps taxes at the top of the agenda. The speculation around Trumps decision not to release his returns has led to questions about whether he has foreign investments or pays a below-average tax rate.

Trump has said he will not release his tax returns until the IRS has completed an audit of his returns. The audit, however, does not prevent him from releasing the records, and President Nixon released his tax returns despite being under audit.

Clintons latest tax returns show that she and Bill made an income of $10.6 million in 2015 and $27.9 million in 2014.

Trumps taxes are an issue that Clintons aides want to see in the news. Clinton herself has been pressing the issue at rallies, saying that Trump would benefit from his own proposed tax cut.

Of course, we have no idea what tax rate he pays  because unlike everybody else whos run for president in the last four or five decades, he refuses to release his tax returns, Clinton said at a rally in Cleveland on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee is organizing a gimmicky attack around the country at Trump rallies and outside of the Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, where protestors are holding signs that say Donald Ducks Releasing His Taxes complete with a Duck mascot.

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On Thursday, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Chris Murphy and Clinton endorsers held a conference call to push a bill, the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, which would require presidential nominees to release their tax returns.

The American people deserve to know whether the president of the United States is making a decision in order to advance the best interests of the citizens of the country, or the best interest of his wallet, said Sen. Chris Murphy.

The Senate bill would not require members of Congress or sitting presidents to release their returns.
The Netherlands festivals Holland Film Meeting and Rottermans CineMart are launching BoostNL, an industry confab dedicated to Dutch movies in development and international projects.

Spearheaded by CineMarts Marit van den Eshout and Holland Film Meetings Vanja Kaludjercic (the former head of industry at Les Arcss co-production village), the first edition of BoostNL will present six international projects and five Dutch projects in development, as well as three works-in-progress.

BoostNL, hosted during the Holland Film Meeting (Sept. 22-15) and CineMart (Jan. 29-Feb. 1) will connect filmmakers and producers with with international mentors to advise them during development, post-production, marketing and distribution.

There is a strong interest on our part to do more for projects throughout the year, especially for those that we have already invested in via the Hubert Bals Fund and CineMart, said van den Eshout, adding that BoostNL programme also allows them to keep track of interesting projects.

Kaludjercic pointed out that tailor-made consultancy has always been one of the trademarks of the Holland Film Meeting.

What we are creating with BoostNL is a more thorough, more streamlined and longer-running expert programme providing producers and directors with continuous support for projects further development and improvement, Kaludjercic added.

One of the anticipated projects is Ali Jaberansaris Tehran, City of Love, which received the Hubert Bals Fund for script and development support last year.

From the Netherlands, Sacha Polak will present her English-language debut, Jade.

Its a great initiative combining the Holland Film Meeting and CineMart, two platforms that are very dear to us, said Jades producer, Marleen Slot.

BoostNL will give Sacha and Viking Film the opportunity to work intensely on the film and will help us to push it forward and to bring it under attention of international financiers and distributors, added Slot.

Story continues

The six international projects are:

Bootlegger, directed by Caroline Monnet (Mobilize), produced by Microclimat Films (Canada)

The Bridge, directed by Hala Lotfy (Al-khoroug lel-nahar), produced by DayDream Art Production (Egypt)

Jessica, directed by Ninja Thyberg (Pleasure), produced by Plattform Produktion (Sweden)

Loveling, directed by Gustavo Pizzi (Riscado), produced by Bubbles Project (Brazil)

The Reports on Sarah and Saleem, directed by Muayad Alayan and Rami Alayan (Love, Theft and Other Entanglements), produced by PalCine Productions (Palestine)

Tehran, City of Love, directed by Ali Jaberansari (Aman), produced by Here & There Productions

Dutch projects in development:

Dreamscape, directed by Anna van der Heide (Fidgety Bram), produced by Pupkin Film

In the Arms of Morpheus, directed by Marc Schmidt (The Chimpanzee Complex), produced by KeyDocs

Jade, directed by Sacha Polak (Zurich), produced by Viking Film

Quicksand, directed by Margot Schaap (12 Months in 1 Day), produced by PRPL

Totem, directed by Sander Burger (Alice Cares), produced by Volya Films

Works in progress:

Charlie and Hannahs Grand Night Out, directed by Bert Scholiers, produced by Minds Meet (Belgium)

Mormaco, directed by Marina Meliande (The Escape of the Monkey Woman), produced by Enquadramento Producoes (Brazil)

Quality Time, directed by Daan Bakker (Jaccos film), produced by Pupkin Film (Netherlands)

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Dutch pics grab the spotlight
As far as The Hollywood Reporter was concerned, the film industry reached creative and commercial perfection with 1959's Ben-Hur. MGM's sword-and-sandal epic - a remake of which lands in theaters Aug. 19 - was "more spectacular than any of the previous spectacles  a highly rewarding dramatic experience  the $15 million production cost [$125 million today] is all there on the screen." And that's just in the review.

In a front-page editorial, THR founder and editor Willie Wilkerson called it "the greatest gamble any company ever made.  It is a GREAT GREAT picture that will return a GREAT income to MGM for years and years." He was right: The $74 million domestic gross would be $613 million today. The plot centers on wealthy Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (the late Charlton Heston, then 35), who is thrown into slavery, regains his freedom and becomes a top-notch chariot racer. While the film does hit some biblical talking points ("A Tale of the Christ" is an opening subtitle), that's like saying audiences were drawn to Ghostbusters II for the paranormal science. The 212-minute drama really is all about the 10-minute chariot race.

"It was the only real action in the whole picture," says Joe Canutt, 79, Heston's stunt double. "When a horse went down, there was no room for mistakes. It wasn't digital. All those wrecks were real." Ben-Hur received 11 Oscars, a record that stood until Titanic equaled it in 1998.

This story first appeared in a special Emmy issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

Read more: Box-Office Preview: 'Ben-Hur' Praying for Close Chariot Race With 'Suicide Squad'
The National Conference (NC) today lashed out at Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and the PDP-BJP government for their brazen and shameless attempts to prevent essential food commodities from reaching parts of Srinagar.

By Ashwini Kumar: The National Conference (NC) today lashed out at Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and the PDP-BJP government for their brazen and shameless attempts to prevent essential food commodities from reaching parts of Srinagar. The NC also condemned the curbs announced on distribution of fuel to petrol pumps.

"As if the wanton killing and maiming of our youth was not enough to satiate her appetite for tyranny, Mehbooba Mufti is now supervising a systemic, well-planned policy of an embargo on essential commodities and rations to persecute the people into submission", NC State Spokesperson Junaid Mattu said.

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"We are shocked and sickened at the ghastly murder of a young lecturer in Khrew, Pampore last night. This narrative of arrogance and ignorance from the central and the state government, coupled with an increased sense of impunity, has emboldened brutality against civilians to an extent where a young lecturer has been beaten to death," he added.

The spokesperson also said that cases like those in the last few days, including the barbaric point-blank shooting of an ATM guard at Chattabal, followed by the targeted killing of a youth in Batamaloo, failed to awaken the dead conscience of the CM and her allies and has also failed to attract the attention of the PM towards Kashmir.

"We express our heartfelt condolences and solidarity with the families of these young men who have lost their lives. Their loss is unimaginable", the NC Spokesperson said.

Junaid Mattu also condemned the intimidation and harassment of Amnesty International after an event held in Bangalore.

"The intimidation of Amnesty International is by no means an attribute or measure of patriotism. This fully patronized harassment of Amnesty International depicts the fascist and intolerant narrative that is thriving under a central government that finds its succor in jingoism and autocracy. If Amnesty International can be booked for a law as archaic and regressive as sedition in the present day and age, one can only dread the imminent elimination of transparency and freedom of speech in the country. This churlish, intolerant behavior goes against the very fabric of the Constitution. The prime minister shouldn't allow this narrative to flourish - its long term implications will be disastrous", the NC spokesperson said.

Mattu also expressed serious concern over the safety and security of Kashmiri students studying outside the state and said it was the CM's responsibility to take all possible measures to ensure their safety and well-being.

"Mehbooba Mufti should take some time from the frequent practice of putting one's foot in one's mouth at every possible opportunity and call all chief ministers and also exert pressure on her allies in New Delhi to ensure no Kashmiri student is harassed or intimidated. Her failure to call the Chattisgarh chief minister on time over the case of a young Kashmiri professional in Chattisgarh booked in a case of sedition over a Facebook post has emboldened fascist fringe groups and communal organizations across the Country. These groups are now issuing public warnings to Kashmiri students. The onus lies on the chief minister to act and till now her characteristic inaction has cast a shadow of insecurity over our students studying outside the state", the NC Spokesperson added.

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"The curb on distribution of fuel is outrageous and will pose enormous difficulties to Hajjis, patients and attendants as well as doctors who have to reach hospitals. That the CM has chosen to do something as atrocious as this after more than a month of curfew speaks volumes about her state of mind. If she wants to torture people into submission - she is grossly mistaken and also a very poor student of history. Mass repression against civilians will worsen the situation and bring with it an enormous risk of public revolt that goes beyond the scope of the traditional operational containment," he added.

--- ENDS ---

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Minnesota, Austin-based Hormel Foods Corporation HRL is a prominent meat products firm, conducting trade in the global consumer goods sector. The company sells superior-branded high-quality convenient, nutritious and flavorful edible products to its global customers. HRL shares high brand value in the market but is also exposed to certain risks of external market uncertainties.



Currently, HRL has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) but that could change following its third-quarter fiscal 2016 earnings report which has just released. We have highlighted some of the key details from the just-released announcement below:



Earnings: HRL beat on earnings. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 36 cents per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 34 cents.



Revenue: Revenues of $2,302.4 million came above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,238 million.



Key Stats: HRL has raised its full year fiscal 2016 earnings guidance to the range of $1.60-$1.64 per share from $1.56-$1.60. The company perceives that higher international, Jennie-O Turkey Store and Refrigerated Foods sales would boost its aggregate revenues for full year fiscal 2016.

Stock Price: Stock Price: As of Aug 16, 2016 HRLs closed the trading session at $36.19 per share.

HORMEL FOODS CP Price and EPS Surprise

HORMEL FOODS CP Price and EPS Surprise | HORMEL FOODS CP Quote

Shares price did not show any movement in the pre-market trading session.

Check back later for our full write up on this HRL earnings report later!



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days Click to get this free report >> .





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Latosha Lovell is always willing to try something once. "That's sort of my philosophy about life," says the 45-year-old interior designer in Pasadena, California. So when a friend invited her to check out The Sweat Shoppe, a new heated spin studio in North Hollywood, last March, she saddled up. The workout, she thought, could be the perfect cardio substitution for her regular treadmill sessions that had begun to wear on her knees.

That first class was a fog. "I was totally exhausted and a little confused" afterward, Lovell recalls. But the prevailing memory is a positive one: "I felt completely amazing." She soon began taking up to five classes at The Sweat Shoppe each week and now credits the studio with her 8-pound weight loss, strong lower body and core, reduced environmental allergies and mental grit. "It's greatly improved my quality of life on the health level," she says.

[See: Mantras That Get 11 Diet and Fitness Pros Through Their Toughest Moments.]

While The Sweat Shoppe is the country's first heated spin studio, it's not the only place taking a cue from Bikram yoga -- a style of hot yoga that took off in the 1970s. Plenty of studios are turning up the heat during exercise classes, a practice that owners claim intensifies workouts, among other benefits. Gym-goers are eating it up: The Sweat Shoppe, for one, opened with both heated and non-heated classes, but switched to exclusively offering hot classes to keep up with the demand, says Mimi Benz, who founded the studio with her spin instructor husband in 2011 after a broken air conditioner in a spin class spurred the idea.

"People were really into the heated thing," she says. The studio has since relocated to a larger space and has seen a relatively consistent 30 percent growth in revenue year over year, Benz says. The heated classes at CorePower Yoga, a studio chain that fuses the mindfulness of yoga with the intensity of other workouts, meanwhile, are the most popular and widely offered, says Heather Peterson, the company's chief yoga officer. The chain opened its first studio in 2002 and now has 150. "A lot of people just love a really good sweat," she says.

Story continues

Hot and Beneficial or Hot and Bothered?

Burn more calories and lose weight by working harder; cleanse the body by sweating more; reduce risk of injury by loosening the muscles -- there are plenty of theories as to why heated fitness classes may be healthier than their cooler counterparts, but most raise eyebrows among exercise professionals.

"The only benefits [are] if you're an endurance athlete and you're trying to train for a race and you're trying to acclimatize your body and mind toward exercise in the heat," says Diana Zotos Florio, a physical therapist and yoga teacher in the New York City area. "Otherwise, all of the proposed benefits ... aren't true. There's no point; there's more risk than anything else. We're just not designed for it."

Still, most experts agree that people who are in good shape and lack certain medical conditions can benefit from heated workouts, as they would from any exercise. "I certainly advocate and promote exercise -- you just have to have the preparation and the tolerance level for what you're about to undertake, and then it can be a fun thing and probably pretty good for you," says Michael Bergeron, senior vice president of development and applications in the Center for Advanced Analytics in Sport & Health at Game Changer Analytics. "I just don't think there's anything particularly special about it."

Tempted to turn up the temperature on your workout? Heed these expert tips first:

1. Know the risks.

Some people -- namely those with heart or lung problems -- should avoid heated workouts. Pregnant women and those taking medications that affect body temperature should consult with their doctors before taking a hot class. And everyone else should be aware of the very real risks of dehydration and overheating, says Dr. Jason Zaremski, an assistant professor in the University of Florida College of Medicine's department of orthopedics and rehabilitation. "The major concern is that your body's core temperature will begin to rise and you put your internal organs and central nervous system at risk," he says. Another issue: Getting too tired too soon can affect your posture and alter your ability to control your muscles and movements, boosting your risk for injury, Bergeron adds. As Zotos puts it, "people tend to stretch deeper [in heated classes,] but they're not ready for it," she says. "That's where you tend to get injuries to your tendons or ligaments."

[See: 8 Lesser-Known Ways to Ruin Your Joints.]

2. Do your research.

"Hot" varies from class to class -- some may hover around 80 degrees; a Bikram yoga class will be close to 105 degrees. Humidity and ventilation differ, too. All make a big difference in your ability to handle -- and benefit from -- heated classes, experts say. Benz recommends talking to the studio ahead of time about the room's environment; The Sweat Shoppe, which keeps its classes at 80 to 84 degrees, for example, has cooler "microclimates" in the room where newbies can sit.

3. Manage expectations.

If you're a fitness enthusiast looking for a new challenge or an elite athlete training for a race, a heated class could be a good fit. But if you're trying to burn more calories while doing less work, trim fat or "detox," keep in mind the support for such benefits is thin at best. "Hotter workouts are harder than performing the exact same workout at a lower temperature; thus, you will burn more calories," Zaremski concedes. "But if you cannot maintain the same level of intensity and exertion in a heated environment ... this defeats the purpose."

Looking to lose fat? Stick to an air-conditioned gym, Bergeron advises. "As your body heats up, you favor burning carbohydrate versus fat," he says. "So, even though you may feel you are getting a 'better' workout, if burning body fat is your goal, exercise in cool conditions."

And while it's true that exercising in hotter conditions can increase plasma volume, reduce resting heart rate, improve cardiovascular efficiency and enhance your sweat mechanism, "these adaptations vary and are dependent on multiple factors," such as how hard, long and often you work out in those conditions, Zaremski points out. Simply exercising, Zotos says, is the safer way to reap the benefits of an elevated heart rate.

And the idea that sweating profusely purges your body of toxins? Hogwash, experts say. "What you're sweating out is just sodium and calcium and potassium, and those are nutrients your body needs," Zotos says. "The only way you detoxify is by having a fully functioning liver and kidneys." Even The Sweat Shoppe's Benz agrees that the research isn't there to support heat's cleansing effect on the body. "We don't really do it for the detoxing thing," she says, "even though I know people were drawn to that word."

4. Listen to your body -- and your buddy.

The Sweat Shoppe instructors are trained to recognize signs of fatigue, teach modifications and encourage people to sit, stop or slow down if they start feeling lightheaded, Benz says. "We don't push people." That's important, experts say, since the heated environment can actually reduce your capability to recognize your limits. "Overheating can affect your brain and cognitive function; thus, you are often not the best person to assess your own status and stop," says Bergeron, who recommends the buddy system for heated classes.

5. Drink lots -- lots -- of water.

The morning after Ali Hines' first Bikram yoga class, she threw up. "It wasn't the class," says the 31-year-old in District of Columbia, whose next heated classes went smoother. "I just didn't prepare or I didn't drink enough water." Indeed, drinking enough water is the No. 1 priority before heading to a hot workout, pros say. And in heated classes, "enough" probably means more than you think. "Make sure you're well-hydrated well in advance of getting there," says Chris Fluck, a Bikram yoga instructor in Philadelphia, who also recommends adding a pinch of salt to your water after class to replenish minerals lost through sweat.

[See: 6 Reasons You May Need to Eat More Salt.]

6. Believe in yourself.

When Lovell feels like she can't push any harder during a class, she draws on the energy of the riders around her and reminds herself that getting through the workout will only make her stronger. It works. "When you're in there and you're subject to that level of heat, you have to get out of your head, and it takes a lot of mental strength to get through that," she says. "It's helped me in other areas of my life."
By Gergely Szakacs BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's chief prosecutor has asked parliament to lift the immunity of a ruling-party lawmaker who is suspected of corruption involving public funds, a move the legislator himself said he would support. Prosecution spokesman Geza Fazekas told reporters Roland Mengyi was suspected of an attempted misuse of public funds and abuse of the powers of his office. The case involves five other suspects, none of whom hold public office, Fazekas said. Shortly afterwards, Mengyi issued a statement that said, in full: "I will cooperate with the authorities fully and ask Parliament to lift my immunity in order to clarify the reality as soon as possible." Mengyi has previously denied wrongdoing, according to a statement by the ruling party, Fidesz, published in local media. Since coming to power in 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has redrawn hundreds of laws and taken control of state media and several public institutions, which critics say has eroded democratic checks and balances. Hungary's ranking has gradually deteriorated in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index in the past years, dropping to 50th in a 2015 survey from 47th a year earlier, on a par with central European peers Slovakia and Croatia. A Median survey published last month in the weekly HVG showed 60 percent of people believed corruption in Hungary was "systemic" and centrally-driven. Some two-thirds suspected the ruling elite of foul play to a "large" or "very large" degree. Prosecutors say Mengyi said he would use his influence as a lawmaker to ensure that a program devoted to social co-operatives received 500 million forints ($1.83 million) worth of European Union funds when it was launched. The prosecutors said Mengyi had asked for 5 million forints as a "constitutional expense" to ensure that the co-operatives involved would receive the funds and for a further 5 million forints after they got the funding. "The parties involved had no intention of implementing the objective of the application," a statement by the prosecutors said. "On the contrary, their intention was to use part of the awarded funds to boost their private wealth." The two offences Mengyi is suspected of being involved in are punishable by up to eight and 10 years in prison. Under the scheme developed by the suspects, prosecutors said the social co-operatives involved would have received just 10 percent of the funds awarded. The rest would be paid as kickbacks to the suspected ring leaders. The prosecutors said in the end no funds were lost under the program, because applications were rejected for formal errors and missing criteria. Mengyi had also paid back the 5 million forints through an intermediary, the prosecutors said. Fazekas added that two suspects were detained and three more were under house arrest. Prosecutors can quiz Mengyi as a suspect only if parliament lifts his immunity. PM Orban's chief of staff, Janos Lazar, told a weekly news conference that lawmakers would probably lift Mengyi's immunity after the MP had also requested this to happen. "I will of course vote in favor of lifting his immunity, no doubt. The situation must be cleared, this is in the interests of my fellow lawmaker, Fidesz as well as the government," Lazar said. He said the government launched an internal probe to establish whether any decisions about the contents of the funding program in question had been unduly influenced. (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Larry King and Toby Chopra)
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f180465%2fphoto-hurricane_earl-81116-noaa-1120x534-landscape

When it comes to hurricanes in the U.S., large-scale trends are not in our favor. In fact, unless action is taken to curb both global warming and coastal development, the American economy may be set to take a perilous bashing from stronger storms, rising seas and too much high value, high-risk property lying in harms' way.

By the end of the century, a hurricane that strikes the eastern United States could cause up to three times more economic damage than a hurricane that strikes today, climate researchers warn in a new study.

SEE ALSO: Why the extreme Louisiana floods are worrying but not surprising

If the world doesnt drastically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and Americans dont move to safer ground, the U.S. could suffer an eight-fold jump in average annual financial losses from hurricanes by 2100, the study found.

In the study, published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the scientists from Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research show that future hurricane-related losses for American families, companies and communities could grow faster than the overall U.S. economy  meaning the country wont be able to counteract the damages from extreme weather events by creating more jobs and wealth.

On land, and in red: Historical trends in gross domestic product, from 1963 to 2012. In the water, and in blue: Historical hurricane tracks.

Image: potsdam institute for climate impact research

We find that hurricane losses have risen and will rise faster than the economy, Tobias Geiger, the papers lead author and a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute, told Mashable.

The impacts of climate change cannot be simply economically outgrown," he said.

In the U.S. alone, hurricanes caused $400 billion in estimated losses between 1980 and 2014, accounting for more than half of all weather-related economic losses, the German reinsurance giant Munich Re estimated last year.

Damages from other extreme weather events  including floods, wildfires, tornadoes and droughts  are also on the rise due to both human-caused global warming and unchecked development into floodplains, fire-prone forests and waterfronts.

Story continues

A firefighter sprays the remains of a house destroyed by a wildfire in Lower Lake, California, Aug. 15, 2016.

Image: GABRIELLE LURIE/AFP/Getty Images

In 2015, the U.S. experienced 10 weather and climate disaster events that each caused $1 billion in total damages and costs, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Thats about twice the annual average of 5.2 billion dollar events experienced from 1980 to 2015.

And this year is already on track to outpace 2015 in the number of these expensive disasters. As of July, the country has suffered eight such events, including two flooding and six severe storm events  not including the devastating floods in southern Louisiana that have killed at least 13 people and led to 40,000 rescues.

Geiger said that few other studies have projected future U.S. damages from hurricanes in a comparable way to the Potsdam Institutes research.

Image: noaa

A 2010 study in Climate Change Economics and a 2011 research paper by the World Bank both found that hurricane-related losses would roughly double by the end of the century due to climate change alone.

But Geiger said his team made a novel finding: That hurricane-related losses in the U.S. will grow faster than per-capita income growth, so that even if the United States grows wealthier as a nation, it will be no better protected from the wrath of warming-fueled hurricanes.

Some people hope that a growing economy will be able to compensate for the damages caused by climate change  that we can outgrow climate change economically instead of mitigating it, Anders Levermann, one of the studys authors, said in a press release.

But what if damages grow faster than our economy? What if climate impacts hit faster than we are able to adapt?

A house destroyed by 2012's Hurricane Sandy in New York City, Oct. 8, 2013.

Image: Getty Images

Kerry Emanuel, a meteorologist at MIT and a prominent researcher examining global warming-related trends in hurricanes, said the study is important because it shows that the U.S. cant compensate for increasing hurricane damages solely by growing the economy.

Emanuel contributed research on the synthetic storm events used in the study and reviewed an earlier draft.

This adds urgency to the need to revise existing policies that inadvertently promote migration to and building within hurricane-prone coastal regions, he told Mashable in an email.

Address climate change and coastal development

The Potdsam Institute researchers developed statistical damage models that linked a hurricanes wind speed, the size of the exposed population and per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) to reported storm losses. They also studied information on historical hurricane tracks for the eastern U.S. to determine the connections between storm damages and the other three indicators.

The team used those findings to analyze thousands of potential hurricane tracks that could affect the Gulf and Atlantic Coast regions through 2100, using different degrees of global warming.

Image: potsdam institute for climate impact research

When it comes to the rise in annual financial losses from hurricanes, about one-third of the losses could be the result of global warming, while the remaining two-thirds could come from increased vulnerability on the socio-economic side, Geiger said in an email interview.

Geiger said the institutes research shows that adaptation measures  such as storm surge barriers, wind-resistant housing and floodgates  wont be enough to keep the U.S. or other hurricane-prone nations safe in the warming future.

To fully hold costs down, we would have to limit the magnitude and pace of global warming, he said.

Reducing emissions of harmful greenhouse gases that cause global warming is perhaps even more essential to limiting the future damage of hurricanes, Geiger said.

Although improving adaptation efforts can reduce further harm, it is important to increase climate mitigation in order to prevent or damp still-avoidable consequences, Geiger said.

Editor's Note: This story has been edited to remove the quotes from a researcher, Roger Pielke Jr. of the University of Colorado at Boulder, who felt he had been misquoted as disagreeing with the new study's findings. Pielke's research, in fact, is consistent with the study's findings about future storm losses, he said on Thursday.
IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2016 / Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Tokai Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Tokai" or the "Company") (TKAI). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares between June 24, 2015 and July 25, 2016 inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm prior to the September 30, 2016 lead plaintiff motion deadline.

If you purchased Tokai shares during the Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or by e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com.

There has been no class certification in this case. Until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. You may choose to take no action and remain a passive class member.

According to the complaint, Tokai made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: there were significant structural problems with the trial design for its Phase 3 galeterone study, ARMOR3-SV; that ARMOR3-SV was unlikely to succeed in meeting its primary endpoint; the commercialization of galeterone was less likely than investors were led to believe; and as a result of the above, Tokai's statements about its business, operations, and prospects were false and misleading at all relevant times.

If you wish to learn more about this lawsuit, or if you have any questions concerning this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or by e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com.

This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in certain jurisdictions.

Contacts

Joon M. Khang, Esq.

Telephone: 949-419-3834

Facsimile: 949-225-4474

joon@khanglaw.com

SOURCE: Khang & Khang LLP
Two Indonesian sailors captured by Islamist extremist group Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines have successfully escaped from their militant abductors after being held since early June, Filipino authorities said Thursday.

The duo escaped together on Wednesday but fled in different directions with their captors in hot pursuit, Major Filemon Tan, a spokesman for the Philippine military, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. Ismail, the chief officer of an Indonesian tugboat, was found by troops alongside a road in the southern coastal town of Luuk on Wednesday, while his colleague Mohammad Safyan swam into the ocean and was recovered by villagers after he got caught in fishing nets.

Read next: Sun, Sea and ISIS: How Radical Insurgents Have Made the Southern Philippines a No-Go Zone

While escape attempts from Abu Sayyaf are not uncommon, they rarely succeed because hostages are unfamiliar with the region and soon get recaptured. The notorious militant group, which is linked to the Islamic State (ISIS), is still holding 16 other foreign nationals  including nine Indonesians, five Malaysians, one Norwegian and a Dutchman  and at least five locals.

[AP]
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- IndyCar drivers will have ''Back The Blue'' decals on their cars and wear caps representing local police and national law enforcement agencies when they resume the rain-interrupted race at Texas Motor Speedway on Aug. 27.

Just weeks after the June 12 postponement, five law enforcement officers were shot and killed July 7 in downtown Dallas at the end of a protest over protest over police-involved shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota in the days before that. There have been protests this week in Milwaukee after an officer-involved shooting there.

Indianapolis 500 champion Alexander Rossi joined Texas Motor Speedway officials Wednesday on visits to the headquarters of the Fort Worth Police Department and the Dallas Police Department.

''It means a lot, we had an opportunity with the race being rescheduled to do something to show our appreciation, and our respect, and gratitude,'' Rossi said. ''I'm just honored to be a part of it.''

Rossi and TMS President Eddie Gossage addressed officers at each department, and presented 200 tickets for the race at each stop. Police personnel will be admitted to the race free, along with a companion, by showing their badge.

Gossage said all that is being done is a way to show respect to police and all first responders.

''Our fans' blood runs red white and blue, probably more than any other sport going, so it just made obvious sense,'' Gossage said. ''To put the 'Back The Blue' decals on the car and for each of the drivers to wear a hat from a various police department, as opposed to their sponsor hats, that's a big deal.''

The Texas race in June was first pushed back a day because of rain, then the next day completed only 71 of the scheduled 248 laps before more rain led to an unprecedented 2 1/2-month delay.

Fort Worth police officer Matt Pearce, who survived being shot multiple times by a fugitive during a manhunt in March, will return as Grand Marshal and give the drivers command to start their engines - the same as he did in June. He appreciates what TMS and the IndyCar Series are doing for officers when the race resumes.

''It means a lot to every officer, anybody that wears a badge,'' Pearce said. ''I know that for me it was a big morale booster knowing that I had support, not only from my guys, but pretty much every agency throughout the Metroplex. I don't think there's an agency in Tarrant County that didn't chip in to support me when I needed their help, and that's huge. ... I really think that has a lot to do with how fast I have recovered.''
NIA has sought details from Jammu and Kashmir Bank and some other private banks about the accounts of such people whose bank transactions look suspicious.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: A team of NIA has begun investigation into suspicious inflow of funds suspected to be fuelling unrest in the Kashmir Valley. NIA has sought details from half a dozen banks including Jammu and Kashmir Bank and some other private banks. The banks are bound to disclose information to investigation agencies under section 43F UAPA Act and failure to do so can attract three years of imprisonment.

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READ | India ready for talks with Pakistan but only on 'relevant issues', says MEA



Based on technical inputs, information has been collected that shows certain bank accounts in Jammu and Kashmir have seen huge inflow and outflow of funds during the last few months. These accounts are in names of persons whose income doesn't warrant such banking transactions. Some of these accounts have transactions of lakh to crore, with funds being linked to Pakistan. Some of the transactions under the scanner are for Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) links. Recently Hafiz Saeed announced relief for Kashmiri people. The funds by JuD and other Pakistan based organisations are now being investigated. Since direct funds are not allowed, these organisations look for unscrupulous methods to send in terror or jihadi funds.

MODUS OPERANDI The Gulf Contact - Terror outfits are in touch with their counterpart in Gulf countries, who have well oiled system in place. According to the sources, contacts are activated in Gulf countries, those contacts in turn use persons who come to visit the land for pilgrimage or for trade . They are convinced to send money into the account of Over Ground Workers (OGW) in Kashmir Valley. The contacts also get a percentage from that money while rest of the money is used for terrorism or fuelling unrest. Foreign Contact Relative- They are in touch with NRI or relatives of their OGW or other people who have contact in Kashmir. So their account is used to send money. Conventional Root- Srinagar to Muzzafrabad by Teetwal route through trade or OGW ( RISKY ROUTE- used less these days) From Trade- By showing investment in Orchid business and huge amount is also transferred under the cover of Apple trade. Hawala with Code Word CARD- They are transferring money by sending it through gulf countries to the businessman or people who are going to other places for work. Also flow of funds from UK meant for charity is under the scanner.

Similarly, information also shows flow of funds into and disbursement from bank accounts of some persons of interest including religious activities in J-K. Fund by JuD also under scanner.

READ: India will talk to Pakistan only on cross-border terrorism, not Kashmir



To verify the details and to ascertain the end users in the flow of funds, NIA has recently registered preliminary enquiry into the subject and would submit its findings to MHA in due course.

NIA is primarily looking at the transactions from the perspective of funding of terrorist or unlawful activities.

Also Read:

Army chief Dalbir Singh reviews security situation in Jammu and Kashmir

Pakistan formally invites India for talks on Kashmir

Amartya Sen to India Today: Kashmir brutality biggest blot on our democracy

Blame game continues: Mehbooba Mufti accuses Centre for Kashmir unrest





--- ENDS ---
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2016 / Inovent Capital Inc. (IVQ-P.V) ("Inovent"), a Capital Pool Company ("CPC"), has signed a definitive agreement dated August 12th, 2016 to acquire 100% of the King's Point Gold-Base Metals Property in the Green Bay area of Newfoundland (the "Property") for a one-time payment of 2,750,000 common shares of Inovent and a 2.5% NSR in favour of the vendor, of which NSR 1.5% is purchasable by Inovent for $1 million. Comprising 129 claims covering 3,225 hectares within two separate blocks, the Property hosts numerous priority mesothermal gold and "Buchans Type" VMS exploration targets in an established precious and base metal mineral belt. The proposed transaction is intended to constitute Inovent's Qualifying Transaction under the Corporate Finance Policies (the "Exchange Requirements") of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") such that, in the result, Inovent will be listed on the Exchange as a Tier 2 Mining Issuer.

Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, Exchange acceptance and if applicable pursuant to Exchange Requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the proposed transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the transaction, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative.

The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

In addition to the Exchange Requirements noted above, the completion of the proposed transaction is subject to Inovent completing its due diligence investigation of the Property, obtaining an acceptable 43-101 technical report (the "Technical Report"), and completing a concurrent financing (the "Financing"). Inovent has commissioned an independent Qualified Person to visit the Property and complete the Technical Report as soon as possible. The proposed acquisition of the Property does not constitute a non-arm's length qualifying transaction. The amount and terms of the Financing have not been determined and no sponsor has been or is required to be engaged.

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Map of King's Point Property with significant gold deposits and prospects

To view an enhanced version of this image, please visit:

https://www.accesswire.com/uploads/Kings%20point%20map.jpg

"Inovent management is excited about the discovery potential at the King's Point poly-metallic Property where past drilling and exploration work by reputable companies has identified multiple high priority targets," said Inovent CEO David Brett. "The underexplored Property also lies within in an active gold and base metals district with excellent access and infrastructure." The vendor of the Property, Mr. Dean Fraser, P.Geo, of Paradise Newfoundland, has agreed to manage any exploration activity Inovent may carry out on the Property through his geological and geophysical consulting firm RDF Consulting Ltd. of Paradise, Newfoundland. Mr. Fraser is a highly experienced geologist who has worked on projects around the world, including the Nui Phao poly-metallic skarn deposit in North Vietnam, Ixhuatan Gold and porphyry deposits, Chiapas Mexico, and the Fruta del Norte Gold Project in Ecuador. About the King's Point Gold-Copper-Zinc Property

The King's Point Gold-Base Metals Project is part of the prolific Catcher's Pond Greenstone Belt in the Green Bay area of Newfoundland noted for high grade gold deposits and low exploration costs. The Project area, having excellent infrastructure and accessibility, is located only minutes from the communities of King's Point and Springdale, the mining hub of Newfoundland. The Property is host to numerous priority "Buchans Type" VMS exploration targets, as well as advanced stage targets including the Golden Anchor mesothermal gold prospect, the Rendell-Jackman gold bearing "Betts Cove Type" VMS deposit, and the Beetle Pond zinc prospect. These targets lie immediately along strike and adjacent to claims held by Maritime Resources Corp., host to the high grade Hammerdown Gold Deposit, the Orion Gold Deposit and the Lochinvar VMS Deposit.

King's Point Project Highlights:

Recent sampling of the historic and undeveloped Rendall-Jackman VMS deposit returned 21 of 31 samples assaying greater than 1 g/t gold ("Au") and up to 12.7 g/t Au. Copper values ran up to 9.9% Cu.

Ground strategically positioned adjacent to and surrounded by Maritime Resources Corp. and miner Rambler Metals and Mining Pty.

Excellent potential exists within the Property to discover additional gold and base metal deposits.

Claims contain highly prospective ground for both high grade mesothermal gold and gold bearing VMS Deposits. The northern claim group lies directly along strike to the known Hammerdown and Rumbullion gold vein system and within 200 meters of the Lochinvar VMS Deposit. The claims also host the Rendall-Jackman gold bearing VMS Deposit, Golden Anchor Gold Prospect and Beetle Pond VMS Prospect.

Recent Induced Polarization/Resistivity surveys over the Rendall-Jackman Deposit, Beetle Pond and Golden Anchor Prospects have defined new drill targets in areas never tested.

Key Targets:

Northern Claims Block

Golden Anchor Prospect

Discovered by Major General Resources Ltd. in 1993, Golden Anchor is characterized by a 500 meter long, 110 degree trending gold in soil geochemistry anomaly that has been compared in size and magnitude to that of the Hammerdown Gold ("Au") Deposit held by Maritime. Only two drill holes have intersected this anomaly with one encountering highly anomalous results of 1.86 g/t Au over 2 meters. Recent geophysical surveys and geological work over this area have delineated significant targets of interest for follow-up work and have provided a new geological understanding of the area.

Rendell Jackman Deposit

Rendell Jackman was discovered during the late 1890's and experienced a small amount of mining during the early 1900's. The area saw only cursory exploration work during the 1980's and 1990's by Noranda Exploration Company Ltd., who identified two separate stratigraphic VMS lenses. Significant assays from this program included trenching results of 3.09 g/t Au, 7.9 g/t Ag and > 1% Cu over 3.4 m and assays from one of two shallow drill holes returned values of 1.24% Cu, 6.5 % Zn, 14.3 g/t Au, 19.6 g/t Ag over 0.6 m followed one meter deeper by 0.82% Cu, 0.22% Zn, 6.99 g/t Au, 5.8 g/t Ag over 0.7 m. Recent geophysical work and sampling have identified an open ended, strong Induced Polarization/Resistivity response over a strike length of 200 meters along with assays results from the area of up to 12.7 g/t Au, 6.7% Cu and 15.4 g/t Ag.

Beetle Pond Prospect

Beetle Pond is considered to be the strongest zinc anomaly in the Green Bay area as defined by work performed by Hudson Bay/Anglo Gold. With only very limited work Hudson Bay commented that "Further consideration should also be given to deep exploration in the vicinity of Beetle Pond as this area is host to widespread, visually impressive, alteration and disseminated sulphide mineralization potentially associated with a significant, deeply buried, massive sulphide deposit."

Southern Claims Block

The Southern Blocks have been explored to a lesser degree and provide significant discovery potential.

Ursa Minor

The Ursa Minor Zone consists of stringer and semi-massive sulphide mineralization returning low grade base and precious metal assays over broad widths including 0.23 g/t Au and 25 g/t Ag over 30.8 m as well as 1.1% Zn over 13.5 m. Surveys over the Ursa Minor sulphide zone detect the known mineralization as a coincident chargeability high/ resistivity low and suggest the horizon remains open in both strike directions.

Pieces Showing

Discovered by Phelps Dodge in 1997, this zone is hosted by felsic volcanics of the Indian Brook package and consists of a narrow band (vein?) of high-grade massive sulphide intersected in drilling assaying 12.9% Zn, 8.5% Pb, 1.02% Cu, 54 g/t Ag and 0.11 g/t Au over 0.13 m (hole GF-3, Thurlow, 1997). Subsequent drilling by Phelps Dodge intersected similar sulphides down dip; however, the zone remains untested along strike and at depth below 100 m (Thurlow, 1998).

Goldfish Showing

Also discovered by Phelps Dodge in 1997, this zone is located in the northeast corner of license 4330 and consists of a 0.65 m wide section of granular, pyritic, massive sulphides intersected in drill hole GF-9 assaying 1.36% Zn, 0.69% Pb, 0.06% Cu, 164.5 g/t Ag and 0.95 g/t Au over 0.65 m (Thurlow, 1997). The mineralization is interpreted to occur at a transitional contact between aphyric rhyolite breccias (Indian Brook felsic package) and an overlying sequence of felsic tuffaceous rocks and sediments (Batters Brook felsic volcanic package).

Inovent has commissioned L. John Peters, P. Geo., an independent Qualified Person, to visit the Property and complete the Technical Report as soon as possible.

Qualified Person Statement

L. John Peters, P.Geo., who is an independent Qualified Person within the context of National Instrument 43-101 has read and takes responsibility for this news release.

On behalf of the board of Inovent:

INOVENT CAPITAL INC.

Per:"David Brett"

David H. Brett, MBA

Chief Executive Officer & Director

For more information please contact:

John Gomez, Director

Tel. 604-484-7118

john@inoventcapital.com

David Brett

Tel. 604-682-2421

david@inoventcapital.com

www.inoventcapital.com

Forward-Looking Statement Cautions:

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to, among other things, Inovent's plans for the acquisition of the above-described Property as its Qualifying Transaction (as such term is defined in the policies of the Exchange), the completion of a contemplated, and the future exploration of the Property. Although Inovent believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Inovent cautions that Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Inovent's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the Exchange, Inovent undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include, Inovent's inability to secure the acceptance of the Exchange for the above-described acquisition transaction, delays faced by Inovent in completing a NI 43-101 technical report on the Property, accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that Inovent will encounter unanticipated geological factors, the possibility that Inovent may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental or First Nations clearances, or complete the financing necessary to carry out Inovent's acquisition and exploration plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes in the jurisdictions where the Inovent carries on its business, including the Newfoundland and Labrador, that might interfere with Inovent's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to Inovent's reports and other disclosure filings, from time to time, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of any of Inovent securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. No Inovent securities issued in connection with the above described Qualifying Transaction have been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States.

SOURCE: Inovent Capital Inc.
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Ben Hur Paramount Pictures

In March, Paramount released the first trailer for its summer blockbuster, Ben-Hur, a remake of the Charlton Heston Oscar-winning classic, which follows the journey of a Jewish prince, named Judah Ben-Hur, who is betrayed, sent into slavery, and then seeks vengeance.

Like the Heston movie, the latest adaptation of the Lew Wallace novel, out Friday, hinges on a thrilling chariot race in which Ben-Hur (played in the latest film by Jack Huston) battles the person who betrayed him, his adoptive brother, Messala (Toby Kebbel).

Based on what you see in the trailer, you'd probably assume the race was shot in a Los Angeles soundstage with full green screen.

But the film's director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) revealed to Business Insider that much of the sequence was done without computer graphics.

Those are real horses, real actors driving real chariots on the track, Bekmambetov told Business Insider. Thats 42 horses driving neck-and-neck.

According to Bekmambetov, the sequence, which lasts 10 minutes in the movie, took 45 days to shoot on location in Italy.

It was a very intense experience, said Bekmambetov, who noted that the actors spent over three months training for the chariot race, which includes 90 horses on a 1,000-foot-long set.

That's not to say CGI is entirely absent from the sequence.

Many of the wide shots of the crowd were enhanced with computer graphics, and there's a shot in the trailer of a horse that gallops into the crowd  done with, yes, CGI magic. (The shot is also in the movie.)

But Bekmambetov said the "goal was to do as much in-camera as possible."

ben hur 1 copy

The lack of computer graphics in the sequence was something Bekmambetov pushed for. And the inspiration for it came from a project he produced, Hardcore Henry.

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The unique action movie feels like a video game, with a point of view that comes entirely from a man who's trying to save his wife from a warlord.

You really feel youre in that chariot driving it, Bekmambetov said of the Ben-Hur scene.

Having seen it, we can tell you it's one of the most thrilling parts of the movie.

Watch the Ben-Hur trailer below:

NOW WATCH: 7 things you missed in the new Star Wars Rogue One trailer





More From Business Insider


Getty Image

Ryan Lochtes rendevouz at a Brazilian gas station grows stranger by the day. Lochte initially claimed that he and other members of the U.S. swimteam were held up at gun point. The details of that particular story came off as strange from the beginning.

It didnt take long for police to unravel Lochtes troublesome tale. Security footage caught U.S. swimmers on tape fighting with a security guard on the night of the alleged robbery. The protocol when one lies about being held at gun point in a foreign country and then try to hop on a plane to avoid any repercussions is to apologize and explain your faulty decision making. These U.S. swimmers dont have any plans to do that.

IOC spokesman Mario Andrada chalked up their decision not to apologize as completely normal; that we should give these kids a break.

twitter

Ryan Lochte is 32 years old. No one would call LeBron James, just a few months younger than Lochte, a kid. There are lots of crazy things about this Lochte story, but treating him like a kid takes the cake so far.

(Via Twitter)
Iran revolutionary guard hormuz

Afghanistan's Hazara minority have a proud lineage, supposedly dating back to Genghis Khan, but a recent piece from Ramin Mostaghim and Nabih Bulos in the LA Times claims that they are fleeing persecution in Afghanistan only to be sent to fight, and often die, in Syria by Iran.

Currently, Hazaras have face persecution as Shia Muslim minorities in a Sunni Muslim country. The Hazaras have equal rights under Afghanistan's 2004 constitution, but they were sold as slaves as recently as the 19th century, Al Jazeera reports, and their continued fleeing of Afghanistan in large numbers testifies to their continued persecution.

The LA Times piece reports that Hazaras entering Iran are given a choice: Go to jail, face deportation, or fight in the Fatemiyoun Division  an all-Afghan Shiite militia that backs Assad and seems to take on some of the dirty work Iranians in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard don't touch.

ethnolinguistic map of Afghanistan hazara

Iranians see the Hazara as cannon fodder, a Sheik from Qom, told the LA Times.

If the Hazara are the Muslim Shiite brethren of Iranians, then why are they the least important people in the devastating civil war in Syria?

But some Hazaras see the fight in Syria as noble, protecting fellow Shia Muslims from Sunni persecution by the likes of ISIS and other militias.

However, this foreign venture for the ethnic group may be having dire consequences at home. The LA Times suggests an ISIS-claimed bombing in at a Hazara protest in Kabul was retribution for the Fatemiyoun Division's activities in Syria.

NOW WATCH: Something is about to happen to Afghanistan's abandoned palace named 'abode of peace'





More From Business Insider


Madrid (AFP) - An Irishman was shot dead on the holiday island of Majorca, police said Thursday, in what local media reported may have been a settling of scores that went badly wrong.

"Yesterday at 9pm (1900 GMT), a person was... shot in the back, which caused their death," a spokeswoman for the Guardia Civil police force told AFP. She said the man was Irish but gave no further details.

The shooting took place in Costa de la Calma, a residential area not far from the popular resort of Magaluf.

"The person who fired the shots escaped," the spokeswoman said, adding that the perpetrator did not shoot anyone else.

Local media on Thursday said the shooter may have mistaken the man for someone else, in what could have been a failed settling of scores.

Majorca in the Balearic Islands is a huge tourist draw in Spain, and authorities there predict that more than 10 million people will visit its shores this year.
Lieutenant General Satish Dua, Srinagar-based Corps Commander, today said, "This time there have been instances where militants have fired from behind the stone-pelters."

By India Today Web Desk: In a statement which exposes the Kashmiri protesters and also seeks to put their sympathisers on the defensive, the Army has claimed that militants have fired from behind the stone-pelters.

Lieutenant General Satish Dua, Srinagar-based Corps Commander, today said, "This time there have been instances where militants have fired from behind the stone-pelters."

This time there have been instances where militants have fired from behind the stone pelters: Lt.Gen Satish Dua on Kashmir&; ANI (@ANI_news) August 18, 2016

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To a question by the media in Srinagar on the ongoing Kashmir unrest, Lt Gen Dua said initially the protests were spontaneous. However, the protests have become engineered, of late, he said.

Despite this new tactics adopted by the protestors, Lt Gen said the security forces have maintained utmost restraint. "My orders are very clear, we exercise restraint to the last," he said.

Questioned over the use of pellet guns and demands for non-lethal weapons to control the protesting crowds, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps, reiterated that the security forces do not use non-lethal weapons. "There are so many stitches and injuries to Army soldiers due to stone pelting. We don't have non-lethal weapons to respond," he said.

"I want to appeal to the youth to introspect, like the CM (Mehbooba Mufti) said 'give peace a chance'," Lt Gen Dua said.

I want to appeal to the youth to introspect, like the CM said 'give peace a chance': Lt.Gen Satish Dua on Kashmir pic.twitter.com/Mqa8Pf4KBT; ANI (@ANI_news) August 18, 2016

He said militants firing shots on Army personnel from behind the crowd is a part of a well-thought out strategy.

There are allegations that the Kashmiri protestors are paid money from Pakistan to throw stones on the security forces.

On the other hand, several sympathizers in the country of the protestors have condemned the use of pellet guns on the protestors. They have alleged that the pellet guns have caused permanent blinding of the protestors. They have demanded a less lethal weapon to control the crowd.

However, the latest revelation by Lt Gen Dua will weaken the case of those who demand a ban on the use of pellet guns. This may, in fact, lead the Army to recalibrate its strategy and go for fire power to counter the militants.

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Jared Leto is moving on from Suicide Squad.

The 44-year-old actor has signed on to star alongside Ryan Gosling in the upcoming Blade Runner sequel, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

MORE: Jared Leto Praises Heath Ledger's Joker in 'The Dark Knight': It Was a 'Perfect Performance'

Harrison Ford is set to reprise his role as Rick Deckard in the sequel, which takes place decades after the 1982 original movie. Robin Wright and Ana de Armas will also star in the follow-up.

Leto took to Twitter on Thursday with a sage -- if cryptic -- message, writing, "Every day is another chance to be more of who you wish you were."

MORE: Jared Leto Covers Himself in Puppies on 'Tonight Show,' Sets New Screensavers Around the World

Every day is another chance to be more of who you wish you were.  JARED LETO (@JaredLeto) August 18, 2016

The untitled Blade Runner sequel is set to hit theaters in October 2017.

Watch the video below to see who was the best Joker ever.

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Jill Stein arrives at a rally of Bernie Sanders supporters on the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. (Photo: Dominick Reuter/Reuters)

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein on Wednesday dismissed the criticism that her bid for the White House could help propel Donald Trump into the White House by sapping leftist support from Hillary Clinton.

An audience member at CNNs Green Party town hall event asked Stein to directly confront the possibility of being a spoiler candidate. Andrew Fader, a software engineer from the Bronx, N.Y., held little back regarding how he felt about Trump or Steins candidacy.

Given the way our political system works, effectively you could help Donald Trump like Ralph Nader helped George Bush in 2000. How could you sleep at night? asked Fader.

Without missing a beat, Stein replied, I will have trouble sleeping at night if Donald Trump is elected. I will also have trouble sleeping at night if Hillary Clinton is elected. And as despicable as Donald Trumps words are, I find Hillary Clintons actions and track record is very troubling.

A common criticism against third party candidates trying to break up the United States two-party system is that they ultimately draw votes away from the major party candidate whose ideological views are closer to the third partys. If the election is close, the criticism goes, then the election could be thrown to the less preferable of the two major candidates.

Jill Stein has been critical of Hillary Clinton foreign policy history. (Photo: Alex Brandon/AP)

The questioner invoked the 2000 U.S. presidential election to illustrate his point. Many argue that Democrat Al Gore would have beaten Republican George W. Bush in the battleground state of Florida had liberal activist Ralph Nader not run on the Green Party ticket.

But for Stein, who appeared at the Green Party town hall with her running mate Ajamu Baraka, another Clinton administration would not be a victory for liberalism.

Donald Trump bashes immigrants and is a xenophobic and racist loudmouth, but Hillary Clinton has been promoting these wars that have killed a million black and brown people in Iraq, for example, she said.

Stein, a retired physician, criticized Clinton for allegedly being untrustworthy and hawkish. She also took issue with Clintons use of a private email server out of her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., during her tenure as secretary of state. The FBI announced in July that it would not recommend charges against Clinton or her staffers related to the mishandling of classified information.

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Part of the problem with Hillarys abuse of the rules, she was sort of too big to jail on the rules, Stein said. And she violated those rules with a sense of impunity, and she violated them for a purpose which she stated herself.

Supporters cheer as Jill Stein speaks at a rally in Philadelphia last month. (Photo: John Minchillo/AP)

She continued: So I do have serious questions about Hillarys judgment, her safeguarding of national security information and, above all, her trustworthiness in a job where she will have her finger on the button, given how she handled major decisions both around the War in Iraq but especially around the War in Libya, where she led the charge.

Stein only received 0.36 percent of the national vote when she was the Green Partys presidential nominee in 2012, but she hopes to capitalize on the liberal enthusiasm that surrounded Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders bid for the Democratic nod. Sanders, a self-identified democratic socialist, brought many issues that had traditionally been the purview of the Green Party  such as economic inequality, corporate influence in politics, climate change  to the forefront of the Democratic primary.

To people who dont like Donald Trump, Stein said, you know, you have more alternatives out there than just Hillary Clinton.

Margaret Flowers and James Lane, the honorary co-chairs of the 2016 Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention, wrote an open letter to Sanders supporters earlier this month. They congratulated the grassroots activists who helped Sanders make it further in the nomination process than any other insurgent candidate ever has in the party and extended an olive branch to those unimpressed by Clinton.

We invite you to consider the Green Party. The Green Party platform, which has been and continues to be shaped through a grassroots democratic process for twenty years, is in line with the values of the Sanders campaign. In some ways, it goes beyond Sanders platform, Flowers and Lane wrote.

A recent CNN poll found that Stein only had 5 percent of support compared with Clintons 45 percent and Trumps 35 percent. The Libertarian Partys candidate, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, had 9 percent.

At the Green Party town hall, Stein warned against succumbing to what she dubbed the politics of fear that encourages people to vote against the people they most dislike rather than for the person they most prefer.

Once the Green Partys message is heard, she argued, their campaign might actually flip the vote rather than split it.

So that we who are the underdog, Stein said, deserve to be the top dog and actually could be the top dog if we stand up with the courage of our convictions.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone (Photo: everett)

The Harry Potter novels ended nine years ago, but that hasnt stopped J.K. Rowling from continuing to milk the franchise for all its worth. Most recently, theres been the blockbuster London stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, whose script (released in book form two weeks ago) has already sold more than 4 million print copies in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Then, of course, theres this falls highly anticipated movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, an all-new fantasy film set decades before Harry, Ron, and Hermiones adventure, which will kick off its own prequel saga. But even before that movie flies into theaters, Potter fanatics will get a chance to revisit their favorite magical world in just a few short weeks, courtesy of three new e-books from the best-selling author.

Related: Magic Is on the Loose in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Comic-Con Trailer

Announced yesterday on Pottermore, the interactive fan site created by Rowling, three new e-books are on their way, each of which will run approximately 10,000 words, and will be a combination of J.K. Rowlings writing that originally published on pottermore.com, as well as new work. Whether that means theyre little more than rehashes of prior material remains to be seen, though the short-form tomes will nonetheless provide readers with a more in-depth look at various aspects of the Potter universe. And they certainly suggest that Rowling was being very specific when she said recently that the Harry Potter saga was done.

Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide will delve into the details of everyones favorite wizarding school. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists will focus on Azkaban prison, the Ministry of Magic and Potions Professor Horace Slughorn (played by Jim Broadbent in the movies.) And Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies will shine a spotlight on some of Hogwarts most beloved staff members, including Professor Minerva McGonagall (played by Maggie Smith in the movies.)

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All three books will cost about $3 and will be available in digital format on Sept. 6  meaning Potter-philes will have plenty of time to bone up on the franchises rich mythology before Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them debuts in theaters on Nov. 18.

Watch the Fantastic Beats cast talk about their favorite beasts:




A jury will decide if Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer should have paid a few dollars more for its use of Clint Eastwood classics after a California federal judge allowed some claims to survive summary judgment.

PEA Films sued MGM in 2014, claiming the studio has been underpaying for its distribution rights to For a Few Dollars More; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly; and Last Tango in Paris.

The suit alleges MGM has been using creative accounting methods to lower its payments by inflating expenses, in part by misclassifying Fox as a servicing company instead of as a subdistributor - shorting PEA by $4.6 million.

U.S. District Judge Beverly Reid O'Connell found that PEA failed to adequately allege its misclassification claims. The claims were added late in the proceedings and, while O'Connell agreed to hear motions on the issue, she declined to allow PEA leave to amend its complaint.

"Plaintiff apparently seeks to bypass the pleading process and informally incorporate its misclassification claim into the proceedings," O'Connell wrote in an Aug. 10 ruling. "To allow Plaintiff to amend its Complaint now would fly in the face of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure."

The judge dismissed the misclassification claims with prejudice, so PEA will have one less arrow in its quiver moving forward.

O'Connell also addressed whether there is an issue of material fact as to the reasonableness of expenses paid to Fox by MGM. Under the agreement with PEA, MGM is entitled to deduct from its total profit distribution and packaging expenses that were incurred by Fox and charged to MGM.

At issue is a $10.6 million expense, which PEA has argued was unreasonable - but the parties dispute whether any evidence was presented before the discovery cutoff. An expert witness made the claim in a supplemental report filed at 8:47 p.m. on the day of the deadline, which MGM argued was untimely. O'Connell noted that PEA complied with the court's deadlines and overruled the objection.

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MGM also argued the expert's report was inadmissible hearsay, but O'Connell disagreed and overruled that objection.

Moving on to the issues of good faith and fair dealing raised by PEA, O'Connell found that the expert's claim that Fox overcharged MGM by $1.2 million-$1.8 million for manufacturing and by $300,000 for packaging is enough to defeat summary judgment.

In dismissing the motion, O'Connell found "a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether Defendant acted unreasonably by simply 'adopting' and passing these expenses on to Plaintiff without investigating them or ensuring they were reasonable."

PEA on Monday filed an ex parte application for an order clarifying O'Connell's ruling, asking her to make clear the dismissal with prejudice of the misclassification claim is not a ruling on the merits of the claim.

In its opposition, MGM argues the application is merely a "thinly veiled motion for reconsideration" and is not appropriate for ex parte relief.

Trial is currently scheduled to begin Oct. 4.
Two of the U.S. swimmers who were with Ryan Lochte during his alleged robbery in Rio were removed from their plane by Brazilian authorities on Wednesday night, the U.S. Olympic Committee confirmed.

Authorities are investigating whether Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, who were both escorted off the plane, were actually robbed at gunpoint early Sunday in Rio de Janeiro as they claimed to the press, along with Lochte and swimmer James Feigen.

A judge ordered Wednesday for Lochte to stay in Brazil and issued a search and seizure warrant for the swimmer. Lochte, however, had already left the country before police could seize his passport and ensure that he could answer questions in the investigation. Its unclear if Feigen, for which a warrant was also issued, is still in the country.

Lochte flew out of Brazil on Monday, before the order was issued, federal police said. Authorities apparently showed up at the Olympic village on Wednesday, only to find that the swimmers were not there for questioning.

The swim team moved out of the village after their competition ended, so we were not able to make the athletes available, said U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky said at the time.

We will continue to cooperate with the Brazilian authorities, he added.

Lochte and the American swimmers claimed to have been robbed at gunpoint early Sunday after leaving a party, when the taxi they were in was pulled over by criminals posing as police, the U.S. Olympic Committee said in a statement. In an interview with Todays Billy Bush, Lochte described having a gun pointed at his forehead as the robbers stole their wallets.

Lochtes mother also confirmed the story to USA Today.

It was a story that raised even more concerns over the safety of athletes in Rio de Janeiro. However, in recent days, the incident has been placed under a microscope, with some questioning the veracity of the report.

Rio authorities said they have not found the driver of the taxi the men were allegedly in, and have had trouble finding witnesses to corroborate their story.

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A video reportedly showing the athletes returning to the Olympic village shows what appears to be their wallets and phones, which they said were taken during the robbery, in their possession walking through metal detectors.

You can see the supposed victims arriving without signs of being physically or psychologically shaken, even joking amongst themselves, Judge Keyla Blanc de Cnop said in a statement to the New York Times.

Lochte, a 12-time Olympic gold medalist, won a gold medal in the 4200 freestyle relay.

Pictured above: U.S. Olympic swimmers Gunnar Bentz and James Feigen stand together during the mens 400-meter relay team medal ceremony in Rio.

Related stories

Olympian Ryan Lochte Fabricated Robbery Story, Brazilian Officials Say

Ellen DeGeneres Responds to Accusations of Racism Over Usain Bolt Tweet

TV Ratings: Simone Biles, Volleyball Drive Olympics Viewership on Day 10
By Dan Levine and Heather Somerville SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday rejected an attempt by Uber Technologies Inc to settle a class action lawsuit with drivers who claimed they were employees entitled to expenses. In a case that has been closely watched in Silicon Valley, where many companies use on-demand workers, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco ruled that the settlement was not fair or adequate for drivers. Some drivers had objected to terms of the settlement valued at up to $100 million, which would have affected roughly 385,000 current and former drivers in California and Massachusetts. Uber drivers contended in the lawsuit they should be deemed employees and entitled to reimbursement for expenses, including gasoline and vehicle maintenance. Those expenses are now borne by the drivers. The proposed settlement would have kept drivers classified as independent contractors. Several drivers who were part of the class filed objections with the court, particularly because the proposed amount was well below the total potential damages in the case of roughly $850 million. Chen noted that part of the proposed settlement, $16 million, would only have been paid to drivers if Uber's valuation grew by a certain benchmark within a year of any initial public offering. Because Uber could not provide specific information that such an outcome was likely, Chen said he would not consider those dollars as part of the settlement. The remaining $84 million, Chen said, represented a "substantial discount" on the full value of driver claims. In a statement, Uber said it believed the settlement was fair and reasonable. "We're disappointed in this decision and are taking a look at our options," the company said. An attorney for drivers could not immediately be reached. (Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)
Photo: Getty Images

Katherine Heigl has been in the news a lot lately, mostly because of the ongoing drama and responses from her former Knocked Up co-star Seth Rogen about her comments regarding sexism in that movie. This is super disappointing because, rather than focusing on this years-old drama, we could be discussing any number of the really cool things going on in Heigls life at the moment  like the fact that shes expecting her third child with her hubby Josh Kelley and is making her return to television in the new CBS drama Doubt. All great and exciting things!

Heigl recently spoke to PEOPLE and got super real about the challenges of hiding her growing baby bump onscreen.

Im excited for Doubt for a number of reasons. Its been far too long since Heigl was consistently onscreen, and shes a great actress. She starred on the short lived NBC series State of Affairs last year but that was cancelled after only one season. Its great that Heigl will finally get to show off her acting chops in a show that looks like it will go the distance  the series trailer, released yesterday, has me totally psyched for the series premiere.

Also, Laverne Cox co-stars, which is awesome (because shes an incredibly talented actress) and also a ground-breaking step forward in transgender representation in media. The show is about a lawyer (Heigl) who falls in love with her client, who is accused of murder. So, yknow, DRAMA is afoot.

Of course, given the shows plot, a pregnancy for Heigls character couldnt be written in. It just wouldnt fit. So when Heigl announced her pregnancy this past June, it quickly became obvious that the show, which is currently filming and premiering midseason, would need to get creative with hiding her growing baby bump.

Were working really hard to try to hide [my pregnancy], and its a challenge, Heigl told PEOPLE. Because every day my body changes a little bit more.

Heigl went on to explain that, initially, the costume crew had other ideas altogether for her lead character Sadie Elliss costuming.

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We started out with really high hopes of like, fitted, pencil skirts and those really great Victoria Beckham dresses, and that became impossible pretty quickly, Heigl said. So now its a lot of big coats. Its either a purse, a jacket.

Big coats, purses or jackets are all tried and true ways of concealing a pregnancy onscreen when the portrayer is expecting but the character is not. Shows like Scandal, The Americans, How I Met Your Mother and many more have employed all of these methods (to varying degrees of effectiveness and, occasionally, inadvertent hilarity).

Of course, there are ~other~ ways to hide a baby bump.

I think I should start carrying a big plant around, honestly  just to shake things up, Heigl joked. Maybe a dog! Maybe [Sadie] has a small dog that she carries with her everywhere. Like a service dog. Im gonna pitch that.

LOL! Personally, I think the small dog option is an amazing idea. Either way, Im sure Heigl will look radiant and fashionable in the role and cant wait until a premiere date for Doubt is officially announced!

The post Katherine Heigl got super real about hiding her baby bump at work appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Premium engineering, procurement, and construction company KBR, Inc. KBR recently announced that it has managed to clinch three contracts from major civil infrastructure projects in Australia. These awards entail KBR to provide design management, project management and procurement services for its clients.

All of these contracts, whose value has been kept under warps, has been booked into backlog of unfilled orders under the companys Engineering & Construction business segment for third-quarter 2016.

The Contracts in Details

Gateway South  a joint venture between Fulton Hogan and Laing O'Rourke  has selected KBR to offer engineering and design services for the Darlington Upgrade Project in Adelaide. Adelaide's North-South Road Corridor happens to be an important transport route of the city and Darlington Upgrade Project is a part of it. This contract has been booked into backlog of unfilled orders for the companys Engineering & Construction (E&C) business segment in the third quarter. The company will be offering design services to deliver a lowered motorway that bypasses five signalized intersections and ten new bridges.

Secondly, KBR, as a part of the John Holland Managing Contractor team, will offer professional services for initial works on the Metro Tunnel project in Victoria, Australia. One of the most prominent public transport projects of Victoria, this project includes the excavation of two shafts in Melbourne's central business district to create twin rail tunnels and five new underground stations.

Thirdly, KBRs contract with South Australia Water Corporation (SA Water) has been extended for another two years. Per this extension, KBR will continue to offer project management and procurement (PMP) services for capital works projects in the Adelaide metropolitan area. Also, the company will be offering engineering management and construction management services as part of an integrated management team with SA Water.

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Our Take

KBR has a diverse mix of business portfolio that helps the company combat cyclicality associated with any single market. Presently, the company is banking on the strength of its Technology & Consulting and Government Services businesses to optimize its growth potential. Of late, it has won multiple key contracts and deal extensions in the government sector that have proved conducive to growth.

KBR INC Price

KBR INC Price | KBR INC Quote

The company believes the Government Services and Technology businesses will provide it some balance between hydrocarbons and government projects, which bodes well for long-term improvement. Apart from solid prospects in the Asia Pacific region, KBR also remains bullish about the U.K. governments Army 2020 project as it enters into the next phase and is expected to unlock multiple lucrative opportunities in the second half of the year.

KBR currently holds Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the industry include Willdan Group, Inc. WLDN, Franklin Electric Co., Inc. FELE and AO Smith Corp. AOS. All three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) Expressing its "vulnerability", Maldives has sought Indias assistance in key area of counter- terrorism and the chief of its National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) will travel to India from August 29 to discuss the specific requirements in this regard.

Maldivian Foreign Minister Mohamed Asim also described India as a "solid friend" and assured that Maldives will not undertake any activity that will jeopardise security of the Indian Ocean.

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The request by Maldives for intelligence sharing, capacity building and skill development assumes significance in view of increasing threat from Islamic State and reports of radicalisation of Maldivian youth with the government there maintaining that about 50 locals have joined ISIS.

"The issue was discussed in detail during the visit of Prime Ministers Special Envoy on Counter-Terrorism Asif Abrahim to Maldives last month and will be taken forward during the visit of NCTC chiefs visit here," Maldivian Foreign Minister Mohamed Asim told PTI in an interview.

"Because of our small size, we are very venerable and we have sought Indias help in strengthening our mechanisms to tackle threats of terrorism," Asim said.

The two countries have already inked the Defence Action Plan during Abdulla Yameens visit here in April. Cooperation in counter terrorism is one of key component of the pact.

Apart from cooperation in counter-terrorism, the minister, during his wide-ranging interview, talked about Maldives efforts to get foreign investments and his countrys relationship with China.

Asked about apprehensions in India over increasing Chinese presence in various projects in Maldives including infrastructure sector, he said they were purely economic engagements and "Maldives will not undertake any activity which will jeopardise security of the Indian Ocean." MORE PTI PYK ZMN

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Disneys Bambi is one of the most underrated Disney classics that has gotten lost in all the modern day Disney movies. This is why we were so delighted with the recent release of the Isa Knox x Disney Bambi Collection! Finally some recognition for Bambi!

Isa Knox is a recognised Korean beauty brand, that has accumulated a great following in Korea. While the brand has usually stuck to a posh and minimalistic packaging, the newly released Isa Knox x Bambi collection is both feminine and dainty.

Micro-foam Cushion Foundation

Isa Knox x Disney Bambi

L: Micro Foam Cushion, R:Micro Foam Cushion Silk Cover

Isa Knox x Disney Bambi

A special Bami edition of the brands classics SPF 50 cushion foundation, the micro-foam cushion is available in two variations: the classic foundation for neat finishing in teal color and the silk cover for brightening in ivory. Putting fans of Bambi or in a tough spot, both casings feature Bambi accompanied with floral laurels. Why cant wait to test out its level of coverage!

Glow Tinted Lip Balm

Isa Knox x Disney Bambi

Isa Knox x Bambi - Airfrov Blog

This moisturising lip balm not only keeps your lips hydrated, it also protects them from UV rays with its SPF10 properties! The light sketch of Bambi on the lipstick tube is much subtle than the cushion foundation but just as dainty.

Glow Cushion Blusher

To complete your whole makeup look, the Disney Bambi collection even includes a Glow Cushion Blusher. This blusher is simple to use even for beginners, just tap the center of the cushion to get an appropriate amount of pigmented colour. The moist and bright blusher will certainly add life to your cheeks!

Isa Knox x Disney Bambi

Isa Knox x Bambi - Airfrov Blog

For those who doesnt apply makeup but still love Bambi anyway, heres a surprise for you! Keep your hands moisturised with the collections hand cream

Isa Knox x Disney Bambi

We also learnt from their Facebook page that there will be free gifts including Bambi handkerchief or pouch. While stocks last!

Isa Knox x Disney Bambi

While Isa Knox is currently not available in local retail stores, it does not mean that you have to pass this gorgeous product on! Join other Airfrov users as they get their hands on this limited edition makeup collection from South Korea. You would be the first few to have Bambi on your vanity table, that, is something to brag about.

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Heres how it works:

1) Post a New request / Shortcut: just click on + on these requests to copy others

2) Input details such as color, willing to pay price (cost price + tips for travellers effort)

3) Wait for traveller to offer help

4) Pay deposit (held safely by Airfrov until traveller returns with correct goods)

5) Wait for travellers to return to Singapore!

Click the + sign below to get the Isa Knox x Bambi collection for yourself!

Isa Knox x Bambi - Airfrov Blog

Image source: IsaKnox website & Facebook

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The post Koreas Isa Knox x Disneys Bambi Cosmetics Collection appeared first on Airfrov Blog.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A car bomb in Turkey's eastern province of Elazig has killed three police officers and wounded 217 people, including 85 police, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Thursday, adding that Kurdish militants were responsible for the attack. Speaking in Elazig after visiting the police headquarters targeted in the attack, Yildirim said Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants were carrying out random suicide attacks across the country wherever possible and that Ankara has raised its level of alarm following recent bombings. The bombing was the second in less than 24 hours targeting police in eastern Turkey. Three people were killed and 40 were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a police station in the eastern province of Van on Wednesday. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Daren Butler; Editing by David Dolan)
Los Angeles-based duo Uzi -- comprised of producer Mike and visual artist and vocalist Gabe -- have a simple strategy when it comes to their musical output: stay low and build. "We're doing the slow burn," Gabe tells Billboard, calling in from the New York City, where the pair was taking meetings with a few record labels courting them. "We want to get as far as we can while dropping as little as we can."

To date, Uzi -- a twosome that adds other creatives to their work as needed -- has only dropped a handful of songs. They've also produced and directed the videos, ranging from 2014's chill groupie alert "Scene Girl" to this spring's release "Games," racking up a couple hundred thousand views respectively. The visuals are lo-fi and dynamic, reviving the gritty VHS look while adding modern graphics.

Despite their low key presence, they have assisted some pretty major acts -- including the video for Kanye West's latest single "Famous" and Diplo's 2015 offering "Dr. Pepper" (Gabe briefly makes an appearance in the latter, squatting in prayer position).

Today Gabe stars in another self-directed Uzi video for the new single, "Know Me." Shot in Tokyo about a month ago, the video "is a photo series of the coolest kids in that city," Gabe says. "[It's] a time capsule. When it comes to their own musical aspirations, Gabe offers, "We're trying to make cool pop with the same textures and instruments that you might hear in a Calvin Harris song. The lyrical content is a play on what Justin Bieber would say, but it's got a street twist to it because it's talking about weed or fashion."

The 100 Biggest Summer Songs of All Time: A Complete List

True to his mission, "Know Me" sounds akin to trap pop featuring Gabe's speedy rap flow that leads into a melodic hook, jumping synths and hard-hitting drums. While he confidently says that Uzi has plenty of new material ready to go, don't count on the clique releasing a full project in the near future. "We just want to put each video out as an art piece," Gabe explains. "We have a mixtape ready, but we're dropping one song every few months."

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So far, their plan's working just fine. "We went on tour with Wiz [Khalifa] after dropping one song," Gabe says, referring to the rapper's 2014 Blacc Hollywood Big Secret Tour where they performed as openers. Gabe says that Uzi also wrapped shooting and directing OVO Sound signee Roy Woods' forthcoming "How I Feel" video.

"We want to become a band that directs as many videos as possible," Gabe says. "It's getting harder to pinpoint an artist to one thing. Like Kanye. It'd be unfair to call him a rapper, because he's got his hands in so much stuff. There's a whole generation under the Kanyes and Pharrells that is kind of genre-less and doing everything. And not just for themselves, they're working with other pop stars and companies. We're just artists."

Watch Uzi's video for "Know Me," premiering on Billboard, below.
[The naked Donald Trump statue in New York City. Photo: The Verge]

Donald Trump may be in North Carolina today  but statues of his naked body have already made it to five different states.

Early Thursday morning, residents of Cincinnati, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Seattle woke up to enormous naked Donald Trump statues in their town squares and parks. Members of the anarchist collective Indecline came forward and claimed responsibility for the art work.

The name of the project is The Emperor Has No Bs. The artists behind the project claimed that they were inspired by the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale, The Emperors New Clothes.

[Photo: The Verge]

In the story, two weavers sell an emperor a new set of robes that, they tell him, will be invisible to any servants unfit for their positions. The emperors staff and townspeople are too afraid to tell the emperor that he is naked, until a child comes forward with the truth.

The artists seemed to suggest that Trump was very much an emperor without his clothes  a man obsessed with his own image and blind to his own faults.

[Photo: The Verge]

Like it or not, Trump is a larger-than-life figure in world culture at the moment, a spokesman told The Washington Post. Looking back in history, thats how those figures were memorialized and idolized in their time  with statues.

The statues are large, imposing and unflattering. They lack several elements of human anatomy, including testicles.

The statues were designed by a Las Vegas artist that goes by the name of Ginger, The Washington Post reports. Ginger enjoys making monsters, and was delighted to design states of Trump, who he considers just another monster.

[Photo: The Verge]

It was absolutely in my wheelhouse to be able to create these monstrosities, Ginger told The Washington Post.

Warning: The following images are not safe for anyone, anywhere, at any time.

BONUS: Corgi tea party
The Delhi government has blamed Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and the environment secretary for the delay, while the BJP and the Congress have cornered the AAP government for the delay in issuing draft notification over banning Chinese manjha.

By Mail Today Bureau: Political blame game began following the death of three people, including two children, after their throats were slit by manjha.

Manjha is a strong nylon glass-coated string used in flying kites. The Delhi government has blamed Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and the environment secretary for the delay, while the BJP and the Congress have cornered the AAP government for the delay in issuing draft notification over banning Chinese manjha.



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MANJHA FILE DELAYED

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia asserted that Delhi government had not delayed the file on the ban of Chinese manjha. He said as the matter was sensitive, he had cleared the file within seconds but the process got delayed in the Lt Governor's office, adding that Environment Secretary, Chandraker Bharti, is also to be blamed.

Sisodia mentioned that Bharti failed to issue the notification before Independence Day despite the Environment Minister approving it on August 5.

ENVIRONMENT SECRETARY BLAMED

Thereafter, the Lt Governor had given his nod and termed it as gross negligence of primary duty by the senior civil servant. The lack of timely-action by Secretary Environment Chandrakar Bharti has resulted in the unfortunate loss of precious life, Sisodia said.

Sisodia also claimed that the file was sent to the L-G office on August 5, and they got it back on August 9. He added, "I received the file at 3.57pm on August 9 and judging the importance of this matter I cleared it within few seconds. After the file was cleared by us it was sent to the office of Environment Secretary on Aug 10. The file was kept there for seven days," he added.

Also Read:

Supreme Court ropes in NGT for petition seeking ban on Chinese manjha

--- ENDS ---
The first episode of Billboard's new Latin Connection Podcast is finally here!

In the debut show, co-hosts Leila Cobo and Griselda Flores talk hot collabs between Nicky Jam and Mana, Enrique Iglesias and Wisin, and Colombian power duo Carlos Vives and Shakira, which are ruling the Hot Latin Songs chart.

Iglesias and Wisin's "Duele el Corazon" has remained on the No. 1 spot for eight consecutive weeks, while Shak and Vives' summer song "La Bicicleta" remains in the top five after getting a boost from the cheerful music video released back in July. New collabs on the Hot Latin Songs chart include Zion y Lennox featuring J Balvin and Maluma's "El Perdedor" remix with Yandel.

Switching to some positive news in the Latin music industry, Leila and Griselda talk about the triumphant return to the stage for Banda MS' Alan Ramirez after he was hit on the neck by a bullet after leaving a concert in Mexico City last month. Plus, Selena Quintanilla fans will be able to get their hands on a limited-edition vinyl titled Ones -- honoring the 21st anniversary of her final album Dreaming of You.

MAC Makeup Collection & More Selena Quintanilla Highlights to Expect This Fall

Also on the podcast, Norteno band Siggno visits Billboard's Los Angeles offices to talk about their first-ever No. 1 Top Latin Albums score with their latest LP Yo Te Esperare. In an emotional interview, the group members, led by frontman Jesse Turner, talk about the tragic car accident back in February that left Jesse's son and band member Jacob Turner in a coma.

"This album is totally dedicated to my son," Jesse says in the interview. "And we want people to hear the passion of a father and a son, to hear the passion between brothers ... He's a miracle. He survived. Five months later, here we are. I am even more proud of him today for trying to survive. I'm so proud of him."

Listen to Siggno talk about this and more on this week's Latin Connection:
Miami (AFP) - Miami Beach now has cases of Zika infection that appear to have been locally transmitted, US media reported on Thursday, suggesting that the mosquito-borne virus is spreading in Florida.

The Miami Herald reported a new zone of Zika transmission has been identified in the resort city, citing unnamed local health sources.

The New York Times also reported "a cluster" of Zika cases most likely transmitted by local mosquitoes in Miami Beach, citing an unnamed health official.

The report described "a handful of cases" in which Zika likely spread among people in close proximity to each other. It added that an official announcement could come later Thursday or Friday.

Last month, Florida announced its first cases of local Zika transmission in Miami, in a one-square mile section of the arts neighborhood of Wynwood, north of downtown.

Florida now has 35 cases of local Zika transmission. A total of 25 of those cases have been traced to Wynwood.

Contacted by AFP, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health declined to comment on the Miami Beach reports.

She said investigations are ongoing in "areas in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties where local transmissions of Zika may have occurred."

However, the state health department "still believes active transmissions are still only occurring in the area that is less than one square mile in Miami-Dade County."

Florida is so far the only state in the mainland United States where local spread of Zika has been reported.

Florida Governor Rick Scott released a statement Thursday afternoon that called on state business and health associations to work with the tourism industry on Zika prevention and education.

He also called on the state department of health to offer hotels, restaurants and attractions in Miami-Dade County mosquito spraying at no cost.
EXCLUSIVE: As the CW is preparing to bid farewell to The Vampire Diaries, the network is eyeing a successor  another vampire drama based on a well-known property from a top TV creator.

The CW has landed The Lost Boys, a series adaptation of the iconic 1987 Warner Bros horror comedy movie, from Veronica Mars and iZombie creator Rob Thomas, Gulfstream TV and Warner Bros Television.

Written by Thomas, The Lost Boys series re-imagines the cult Joel Schumacher film, which starred Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Haim and Corey Feldman.

Envisioned for a seven-season, anthology-style run, the series will tell a story spanning 70 years, each season chronicling a decade. Season 1 will be set in San Francisco during the Summer of Love, 1967. Each season, the humans, the setting, the antagonist and the story all change  only the vampires, our Lost Boys, who like the Peter Pan characters never grow up, remain the same.

The project, which will explore what it really means to be immortal, is executive produced by Thomas via Spondoolie Productions, his frequent collaborators Danielle Stokdyk and Dan Etheridge as well as Gulfstream principals Mike Karz and Bill Bindley.

It was Gulfstreams idea to remake The Lost Boys into a TV series through the companys overall deal with WBTV. Thomas, who also is under an overall deal at WBTV, came on board and came up with the new take on the movie that was pitched and landed at the CW in a competitive situation, with two networks pursuing.

Gulfstream Television head Juliana Janes, who was instrumental in putting the project together, will oversee for the company.

The original movie was about two Arizona brothers, played by Patric and Haim, who move to a California town where they take on a gang of vampires. Here is a trailer:

Former CW flagship drama The Vampire Diaries, developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, is heading into its eighth and final season.

WBTV has four new series based on movies for next season: Training Day at CBS, Lethal Weapon at Fox, Frequency at the CW, and Time After Time (based on the book and the movie) at ABC. Last season, it produced Rush Hour for CBS.

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Thomas is repped by UTA.

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DENHAM SPRINGS, La.  Keisha Taylor, a 37-year-old mother of four, has spent three nights in two different shelters since her family fled the flooding at their Baton Rouge apartment complex. And she doesnt know how many more nights they will be sleeping on cots inside the downtown arena where hundreds sought shelter.

Taylor probably could stay with relatives in White Castle, a town about 30 miles west of Louisianas capital city, but three of her kids are enrolled in Baton Rouge schools that could reopen next week.

This is where I live. I need to be home, she said.

Taylor is one of thousands of people across southern Louisiana displaced by catastrophic flooding and now struggling with where to live.

An additional evacuation recommendation was made in Vermilion Parish. Gueydan Fire Chief Evans Bourque told The Associated Press early Thursday that residents in about 60 to 70 homes in an area outside the levee system there were being urged to evacuate amid rising water. Bourque said he did not know how many people the evacuation included but said it was less than 100.

With an estimated 40,000 homes damaged by deadly flooding, Louisiana could be looking at its biggest housing crunch since the miserable, bumbling aftermath of Hurricane Katrina a decade ago.

For the Baton Rouge area, it was a blow on top of what has already been a tough summer starting with the shooting death of 37-year-old Alton Sterling on July 5. The death of Sterling, a black man, at the hands of two white police officers incited widespread protests in which nearly 200 people were arrested.

Then on July 17, a lone gunman shot and killed three law enforcement officers and wounded three others outside a Baton Rouge convenience store. The suspect, Gavin Long, an Army veteran from Kansas City, Missouri, was killed by police. The dead officers all had lived in the area of Denham Springs, a quiet bedroom community near Baton Rouge.

Then the rains hit.

People now are staying in shelters, bunking with friends or relatives, or sleeping in trailers on their front lawns. Others unable or unwilling to leave their homes are living amid mud and the ever-present risk of mold in the steamy August heat.

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Many victims will need an extended place to stay while they rebuild. Countless others didnt have flood insurance and may not have the means to repair their homes.

I got nowhere else to go, said Thomas Lee, 56, who ekes out a living as a drywall hanger  a skill that will come in handy. His sodden furniture is piled curbside and the drywall in his rented house is puckering, but Thomas still plans to keep living there, sleeping on an air mattress.

Exactly how many will need temporary housing is unclear, but state officials are already urging landlords to allow short-term leases and encouraging people to rent out any empty space available.

Terri Ricks, deputy secretary for the Department of Children and Family Services, which helps organize sheltering efforts in parishes, said the state is talking with parishes about possibly running a long-term shelter in the region if needed to give people a place to stay while they repair and rebuild.

Nobody wants to do a long-term shelter, she said. We want to get people in a more permanent situation.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose very name became a punchline during Katrina, said it will look into lining up rental properties for those left homeless and will consider using temporary housing units.

But FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate gave assurances that the temporary units wont be the old FEMA travel trailers  a reference to the ones brought in after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that were found to have toxic levels of formaldehyde.

The flooding that struck the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas left at least 13 people dead. More than 30,000 have been rescued, and at least 70,000 have registered for federal disaster assistance. At the height, 11,000 people were in shelters, though that figured dropped to 6,000 by Wednesday.

Slideshow: Unprecedented flooding slams Gulf Coast >>>

Bryce Richard, Nick Rome and Blake Waguespack (L-R) wait in the boat for a friend to check out her flooded house in Sorrento, La. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Those with flood insurance will be in a much better place to begin rebuilding  but there wont be many of them.

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said it was shocking that only 12 percent of the homes in hard-hit Baton Rouge were covered by flood insurance, and only 14 percent in Lafayette. Donelon, however, said he understands why the states large population of working poor folks wouldnt pay for flood coverage when lenders tell them its not a requirement.

Many flood victims said they werent required to have flood insurance and didnt have it, since nothing remotely like this had ever happened before. One of those people was David Ellis.

He and his wife closed on their new house in a Livingston Parish subdivision last Thursday afternoon. It started flooding the very next day, water ultimately rising above three feet inside his home. Like many of his neighbors, Ellis didnt have flood insurance. He said he was told he didnt need it.

Friends have launched an online fundraising campaign to help repair the new home.

I hate asking for help, but having somebody do that for us is awesome, he said.

___

Kunzelman and Deslatte reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
HOUSTON (Reuters) - LyondellBasell Industries 263,776 barrel per day (bpd) Houston refinery was knocked out of production on Thursday after a lightning strike took out steam production, according to Gulf Coast market sources. Lyondell expected to avoid a complete shutdown of multiple units at the refinery, according to the three sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preserve business relationships with the company. A company spokeswoman did not discuss the status of refinery production, but confirmed the loss of the external steam supply due to a lightning strike at a third-party provider, triggering the refinery's flare system and sending a thick plume of black smoke over east Houston. "The smoke associated with the flare is due to the lack of steam," Lyondell's Faye Eson said in an emailed statement. "The refinery uses steam to power turbines, compressors, and for the flare system." Eson said initial air testing showed "no level of concern for the surrounding community." Before the lightning strike, the refinery had been at reduced production levels since Wednesday, when the small coking unit was shut to replace piping on the unit that may be subject to corrosion, the sources said. The refinery may attempt to restore production on some of the units later on Thursday, once steam supply is restored, the sources said. A thick black plume of smoke was visible from 10.5 miles (17 km) away in downtown Houston while the refinery's flaring was at its heaviest. The 42,000 bpd coker was taken out of production on Wednesday to replace piping that may be at greater risk of corrosion. It was the second time this month Lyondell has had to contend with an unplanned production interruption. A brief power outage at the sulfur recovery complex on Aug. 9 triggered 12 hours of flaring at the refinery that released 592,500 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 6,400 pounds of hydrogen sulfide, according to a notice the company filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Lyondell had replaced most of the piping on the coker during a four-month shutdown of the unit following an April 8 fire. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by G Crosse and Jonathan Oatis)
By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh has again gone to Saudi Arabia to help thousands of laid-off Indian workers either to return to India or seek alternative employment in the Gulf nation which is faced with severe economic slowdown that has forced companies to retrench work force.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said purpose of Singhs visit was to resolve issues being faced by Indian workers wanting to come back home or find alternative employment in Saudi Arabia.

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Indians employed with Saudi Oger, Saudi-bin Laden and Saad Group are facing major difficulties and they have no other option but to return to India.

"No other option is available to Indian workers belonging to these three companies. MoS VK Singh is in Saudi Arabia right now as there are some issues which need to be addressed so that the retrenched workers either seek alternative employment or return to India," said Swarup.

Singh had rushed to Saudi Arabia earlier this month after large number of Indian workers sought Indian governments intervention in taking up their difficulties with the Saudi authorities.

The Saudi government, then, had agreed to swiftly resolve plight of the laid-off Indian workers including providing them free passage to return to India and clearing their unpaid dues.

Swarup said Singh will try to reach out to Saudi authorities to seek cooperation in helping the distressed Indians.

Thousands of Indian workers have lost their jobs due to slowdown in Saudi economy, triggered by low oil prices and cut in spending by the government.

The Indian government had requested the Saudi authorities to give the unemployed Indian workers exit visas without NoC (No-Objection Certificate) from employers and also urged it to clear the dues of workers who have not been paid for months, whenever they settle the accounts with the companies concerned.

As per rules, no foreign employee can leave the country without NoC by the employers.

The Saudi government also agreed to allow transfer of Indian employees, who have lost their jobs, to any other company within Saudi Arabia.

As per rules, foreign employees cannot change jobs with permission of the company where they were employed. PTI MPB ZMN

--- ENDS ---
The Metropolitan court today granted bail to all five doctors of LH Hiranandani hospital who are accused in the kidney racket with a bond surety of Rs 30,000.

By Vidya : The Metropolitan court today granted bail to all five doctors of LH Hiranandani hospital who are accused in the kidney racket with a bond surety of Rs 30,000.

All five doctors, including Dr Sujit Chatterjee, the CEO of LH Hiranandani hospital, Dr Anurag Naik the medical director and Dr Prakash Shetty the urologist at the same hospital were lodged in the jail along with nephrologist Dr Mukesh Shette who was not working with Hiranandani hospital just as Dr Mukesh Shah, the urologist.

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The lawyers tried to make provision for the cash immediately so the procedure for bail could be completed at the earliest and the doctors could be released from jail today itself. The court has directed all doctors to appear before Powai Police Station every Monday between 6 pm and 8 pm till September 26. They cannot leave india without permission.

THE CASE

The lid was blown off the racket on July 14 when social worker Suresh Gupta, some political activists and members of a trade union stopped a kidney transplant operation midway since the donor and the recipient were allegedly found to be a fake couple - 'husband' Brijkishore Jaiswal and 'wife' Shobha Thakur.

Since then, a total of 14 persons have been arrested in connection with the racket at the reputed 12-year-old suburban private hospital with 240 beds.

Following the expose, the Maharashtra Directorate of Health Services set up a committee of medical experts, which found irregularities related to at least four kidney transplant cases.

Based on the committee's report, the police arrested the five medicos, sending shockwaves in the medical fraternity.

--- ENDS ---
Since Making a Murderer made him famous last month, former Wisconsin prosecutor Ken Kratz hasnt been shy about defending his work in the 2005 murder prosecution of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey. On Monday, TheWrap reached out to him about suggestions in the Netflix docu-series that his office railroaded two innocent defendants.

In an email to TheWrap on Monday, Kratz strongly rejects the criticisms, saying the documentary series got it wrong.

The email concludes with Kratz saying Netflix should either provide an opportunity for rebuttal, or alert the viewers that this series was produced by and FOR the defense of Steven Avery, and contains only the opinion and theory of the defense team.

Also Read: 'Making a Murderer': Steven Avery Files New Appeal

Here is his email to us, in its entirety. It begins with the Calumet County district attorney responding to our question about whether he believed the docu-series left out any evidence:

Examples for you to consider: 1. Averys past incident with a cat was not goofing around. He soaked his cat in gasoline or oil, and put it on a fire to watch it suffer. 2. Avery targeted Teresa. On Oct 31 (8:12 am) he called AutoTrader magazine and asked them to send that same girl who was here last time. On Oct 10, Teresa had been to the Avery property when Steve answered the door just wearing a towel. She said she would not go back because she was scared of him (obviously). Avery used a fake name and fake # (his sisters) giving those to the AutoTrader receptionist, to trick Teresa into coming. 3. Teresas phone, camera and PDA were found 20 ft from Averys door, burned in his barrel. Why did the documentary not tell the viewers the contents of her purse were in his burn barrel, just north of the front door of his trailer?

Also Read: 'Making a Murderer': Why Steven Avery Says Juror Was Out to Get Him

4. While in prison, Avery told another inmate of his intent to build a torture chamber so he could rape, torture and kill young women when he was released. He even drew a diagram. Another inmate was told by Avery that the way to get rid of a body is to burn itheat destroys DNA. 5. The victims bones in the firepit were intertwined with the steel belts, left over from the car tires Avery threw on the fire to burn, as described by Dassey. That WAS where her bones were burned! Suggesting that some human bones found elsewhere (never identified as Teresas) were from this murder was NEVER established. 6. Also found in the fire pit was Teresas tooth (IDd through dental records), a rivet from the Daisy Fuentes jeans she was wearing that day, and the tools used by Avery to chop up her bones during the fire.

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Also Read: 'Making a Murderer': Brendan Dassey's Brother Raps About Steven Avery's Innocence (Video)

7. Phone records show 3 calls from Avery to Teresas cell phone on Oct 31. One at 2:24, and one at 2:35both calls Avery uses the *67 feature so Teresa doesnt know it himboth placed before she arrives. Then one last call at 4:35 pm, without the *67 feature. Avery first believes he can simply say she never showed up (his original defense), so tries to establish the alibi call after shes already been there, hence the 4:35 call. She will never answer of course, so he doesnt need the *67 feature for that last call. 8. Averys DNA (not blood) was on the victims hood latch (under her hood in her hidden SUV). The SUV was at the crime lab since 11/5how did his DNA get under the hood if Avery never touched her car? Do the cops have a vial of Averys sweat to plant under the hood? 9. Ballistics said the bullet found in the garage was fired by Averys rifle, which was in a police evidence locker since 11/6if the cops planted the bullet, how did they get one fired from HIS gun? This rifle, hanging over Avers bed, is the source of the bullet found in the garage, with Teresas DNA on it. The bullet had to be fired BEFORE 11/5did the cops borrow his gun, fire a bullet, recover the bullet before planting the SUV, then hang on to the bullet for 4 months in case they need to plant it 4 months later???

Also Read: 'Making a Murderer': 5 Theories for Steven Avery's Innocence

There is more of course. But Im not a DA anymore. I have no duty to show what nonsense the planting defense is, or why the documentary makers didnt provide these uncontested facts to the audience. You see, these facts are inconsistent with the claim that these men were framedyou dont want to muddy up a perfectly good conspiracy movie with what actually happened, and certainly not provide the audience with the EVIDENCE the jury considered to reject that claim. Finally, I engaged in deplorable behavior, sending suggestive text messages to a crime victim in Oct 2009. I reported myself to the OLR. My law license was thereafter suspended for 4 months. I have withstood a boat-load of other consequences as a result of that behavior, including loss of my prosecution career. However, Ive enjoyed sobriety from prescription drug use for over 5 years now, and refuse to be defined by that dark time of my life. All of this occurred years after the Avery case was concludedIm unclear why the defense-created documentary chose to include this unpleasantness in this movie, especially if the filmmakers had no agenda to cast me as a villain. I am not a victim in that whole texting scandalthen again, its exceedingly unfair to use that to characterize me as morally unfit. To identify Lt. Lenk, Sgt. Colburn and myself as being responsible for the framing and knowing false murder conviction of Steven Avery is irresponsible, and inconsistent with a consideration of all the evidence presented. Netflix should either provide an opportunity for rebuttal, or alert the viewers that this series was produced by and FOR the defense of Steven Avery, and contains only the opinion and theory of the defense team. Thanks for your consideration.

Finished 'Making a Murderer'? 9 More Infuriating Documentaries Streaming on Netflix (Video)





















Previous Slide Next Slide

1 of 10

The best documentaries are enlightening, infuriating and sometimes even frightening  Making a Murderer certainly was. But if youve finished all 10 episodes of the true-crime saga, check out these docs currently streaming

Before we go any further, we have to make sure: You've seen "Making a Murderer," right? If the answer is "no," then what are you waiting for? Watch the trailer to get an idea of what all the hype is about.

View In Gallery

Related stories from TheWrap:

'Making a Murderer': Steven Avery Files New Appeal

'Making a Murderer': Why Steven Avery Says Juror Was Out to Get Him

Steven Avery's Attorney Cites 'New Evidence,' Is 'Confident' of 'Making a Murderer' Convict's Exoneration
Paul Manafort, Donald Trumps campaign chairman, personally recruited a top lobbyist to join a $2.2 million campaign aimed at influencing U.S. policy toward Ukraine, but refused to tell him who was behind the effort, the lobbyist, former Republican congressman Vin Weber, tells Yahoo News.

Weber, a senior partner at Mercury Group, said in an interview that Paul did recruit me in 2012 to lobby on behalf of the newly formed European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, a Brussels-based nonprofit that, Manafort told him, was backed by businesspeople who did not want to give their names.

Weber said he repeatedly asked Manafort to identify the principals behind the Brussels organization, but he declined to do so. In fact, the backers of the nonprofit had close ties to the hardline, pro-Russian government of then Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych, and one of the groups board members was the countrys foreign minister, says Adrian Karatnycky, a Ukraine expert at the Atlantic Council and the former president of Freedom House, a Washington-based human rights group.

It would be very hard to look at this entity and say it was not directed by the then Ukrainian government, said Karatnycky. Its pretty clear they were running interference on sensitive issues on behalf of Yanukovych.

Manaforts role in setting up the Washington lobbying campaign on behalf of the Brussels nonprofit was first reported Wednesday by The Associated Press. The AP reported that between 2012 and 2014, Manafort helped channel $1.07 million to the Republican-oriented Mercury Group and another $1.13 million to the Podesta Group, a Democratic firm headed by Tony Podesta, brother of Hillary Clintons campaign chairman John Podesta. The fees were meant to promote the publicly announced purpose of the nonprofit: to lobby Congress and the Obama administration to support Yanukovychs bid to gain entry into the European Union.

Webers account shows how Manaforts work for the Kiev regime may have gone beyond his self-described role as a campaign adviser to Yanukovych to include active  and previously secret  efforts to influence U.S. policy in the region. Asked for comment for this story, Manafort Wednesday night said in an email: I never worked for the center. I introduced them to D.C. firms who worked directly for the center. He added that The Associated Press account was wrong. I was not involved in any payment plans from the center to the two Washington lobbying firms.

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Vladimir Putin, right, and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych at a news conference in Moscow. Moscow granted Yanukovych protection shortly after the leader sought help from the Kremlin, according to an official quoted by Russian news agencies in 2013. (Photo: Ivan Sekretarev/AP)

The new details about Manaforts Ukraine work come on a day that Trump shook up his faltering campaign, replacing Manafort as campaign manager with pollster Kellyanne Conway, and naming Steven Bannon, head of Breitbart News, as campaign CEO. Manafort will remain as campaign chairman despite mounting questions about his Ukrainian ties following a report this week by the New York Times. The Times disclosed that the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Bureau, an arm of the current Ukrainian government of President Petro Poroshenko, is investigating ledgers that appear to show $12.7 million in off-the-book cash payments to Manafort between 2007 and 2012.

Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort talks to reporters on the floor of the Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland in July. (Photo: Matt Rourke/AP)

Manafort has strongly denied the report, saying in a statement Monday that he never received any of those payments, nor have I ever done work for the governments of Ukraine or Russia. Calling himself a campaign professional who like other American political consultants has worked overseas, Manafort said in his statement all of the political payments directed to me were for my entire political team: campaign staff (local and international), polling and research, election integrity and television advertising. (He did not respond to a request for comment on this story.)

The new details about Manaforts work on behalf of the Brussels nonprofit revive questions that have been swirling for years about his work on behalf of Yanukovychs Party of Regions  the political party aligned with Russian president Vladimir Putin. In 2007, the Wall Street Journal first reported that Manafort was advising Yanukovych (then the countrys prime minister) and his principal financial backer, metals billionaire Rinat Akhmetov. Manafort had accompanied Yanukovych on a trip to Washington the year before and helped set up meetings for the prime minister with journalists and a Washington think tank, the Journal reported.

Manafort never registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent  as he would have been required to do if he was lobbying on behalf of a foreign government or a foreign political party. But in January 2008, another Washington firm, Daniel J. Edelman Inc., parent of the Edelman public relations firm, did register with the Justice Department, stating it had been hired by Manaforts consulting firm, Davis Manafort, to promote Yanukovychs Party of Regions in the United States.

Edelman [was] retained by the Ukraine Party of Regions through Davis Manafort International LLC to develop a communication campaign to increase Prime Minister Yanukovychs visibility in the U.S. and Europe, according to a copy of the Edelman filing with the Justice Department reviewed by Yahoo News.

Vin Weber, co-chairman and partner at Mercury and special adviser to the economic policy team for Mitt Romney for President, speaks at the Bloomberg Washington Summit in Washington, D.C., in 2012. (Photo: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Weber told Yahoo News that when he was first solicited by Manafort to lobby on behalf of the Brussels-based organization, he was wary. Although Manafort declined to identify the business interests that were behind the nonprofit, it seemed logical that these were backers of the Party of Regions.  I never doubted they were tied to Yanukovych. And, Weber said, he told Manafort he viewed Yanukovych as somebody who was in Putins hip pocket.

But Manafort sought to convince him otherwise, Weber said. Manafort told me that Yanukovych actually hated Putin, Weber recounts, but was facing conflicting pressures within his party. Gaining American support for Ukraine to join the European Union would help steer Yanukovych toward the West, Manafort told Weber. Weber agreed to take the job.

Lobbying reports filed by Mercury on behalf of the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine indicate its work was not limited to issues relating to Ukraines application to join the European Union. (The application was withdrawn by Yanukovych in 2013.) Among the issues Mercury lobbied on, the reports show, was opposing congressional resolutions to condemn the political persecution and later arrest by Yanukovychs government of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, and a resolution condemning illegal Russian aggression in Ukraine. Asked how opposition to these measures related to the stated goal of the center, Weber said our focus was to prevent messages that were sent out from Washington that would undercut the countrys bid to join the European Union.

While Weber and Mercury had the task of lobbying Republicans in Congress, Tony Podestas firm, the Podesta Group, was retained to press the nonprofits cause with Democrats and the Obama administration. Podesta in an email told Yahoo News he was recruited by Manaforts deputy, Rick Gates. Kimberly Fritts, chief executive officer of the Podesta Group, stated in a follow-up email: We were not aware that Rick Gates was a Party of Regions consultant at the time he introduced us to the Centre. Our assumption was that he was working for the Centre, as we were hired to do.

The AP reported that there a dispute within the Podesta Group as to whether the firm was required to register with the Justice Department as agents of a foreign principal. Neither Podesta nor Webers firm, Mercury, did so, instead filing standard lobbying reports with Congress, identifying their client as the Brussels nonprofit, but making no mention of the Party of Regions, Yanukovych or Manafort. Weber and Fritts both said they relied on a legal opinion by Ken Gross, a well-known Washington ethics lawyer. They say Gross told them registration was not required, based on a written contract with the center stating that none of the activities of the Centre are directed, supervised or financed in whole or in major part by a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party. (Weber said his questions to Manafort about the centers backers were a matter of curiosity, not necessity.)

But Karatnycky, the Ukraine expert at the Atlantic Council, said the representations that the center made to the Washington lobbyists were suspect all along. As the Daily Beast first reported in 2014, one of the centers first presidents was Leonid Kozhara, a senior member of the Party of Regions who in December 2012 was appointed as Yanukovychs foreign minister.

Moreover, the Ukrainian press has reported close ties between the center and two wealthy brothers and businessmen, Sergei and Andrei Klyuyev, influential figures in the Party of Regions. Accompanied by one of Mercurys lobbyists, Sergei Klyuyev, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, had met with Washington officials on behalf of the center in 2013. His brother, Andrei, became Yanukovychs chief of staff and is alleged to have ordered the crackdowns on protesters, leading to the collapse of the government in 2014 and Yanukovychs flight to exile in Moscow.

Kozhara and the Klyuyev brothers were the hardline faction around Yanukovych, said Karatnycky. They were three key people in power-structure positions in the Party of Regions.

_____

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KELOWNA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2016 / Marapharm Ventures Inc. ("Marapharm" or the "Company") (CSE:MDM, FSE:2M0, OTCQB:MRPHF) (http://www.marapharm.com/) announces today that it has advanced approximately $1.5 million, via its wholly owned subsidiary Marapharm Washington, LLC, to conclude the asset purchase of an operating Tier 3 marijuana production and processing facility in Washington. A "Tier 3" production and processing facility allows the licensee to grow up to 30,000 square feet of marijuana at any one time.

"We will enhance the production and processing facility considerably with new equipment and building improvements. This includes a complex HVAC system, botanical oil extraction equipment, sterilization, security and safety equipment, dehumidifiers, nutrient reservoirs and knockboxes. Marapharm Washington, LLC, will receive $2.4 million per year$200,000 payable on the first of each month, with payments contracted to have accumulated since March 2016for providing the facility to the marijuana licensee, Living Green, Inc. Additionally, Marapharm Washington, LLC intends to provide marketing and branding consultation services to Living Green, Inc., optimizing our relationship with Living Green, Inc. while respecting the boundaries set forth by Washington law. This is an exciting opportunity for the Company to generate revenue from a facility involved in the cannabis space in Washington State, stated Linda Sampson, CEO." Marijuana sales in the State of Washington have reached a total of approximately $1 billion since recreational marijuana was legalized in 2014. More than $275 million of tax revenue has been generated from marijuana sales over the course of the past two years. Sales continue to increase and in July the 2016 statewide sales reached $121 million, setting a new record. Ms. Sampson added, "Only retailers pay the excise tax of 37%. Marijuana producers and processors have been exempt from this tax since July 2015. Accordingly, we are very pleased to have this asset package in Washington."

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About Marapharm Ventures Inc.

http://www.marapharm.com/ Additional information on the operations or financial results of Marapharm are included in reports on file with applicable securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed through the OTC website (www.otcmarkets.com) CSE website (http://www.thecse.com/) and Sedar website (http://www.sedar.com/) under the profile for Marapharm Ventures Inc.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:



info@marapharm.com



Neither the CSE, the FSE nor the OTCQB has approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the CSE, the FSE nor the OTCQB accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.



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Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate," "continue," "estimate," "expect," 'may," "will," "project," "should," 'believe," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumption but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and the forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon.

SOURCE: Marapharm Ventures Inc.
(BEIJING)  Efforts by Burmas leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week to bolster ties with her countrys dominant northern neighbor China may hinge on whether she can resolve the fate of a massive, Chinese-funded dam project blocked by overwhelming local opposition.

Suu Kyi was to be greeted with a formal welcome ceremony on Thursday as part of a visit ending Sunday that will include talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Its her first trip to China since her party won a historic majority last year.

Now leading Burma with the title of state counselor, Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who spent 15 years in house arrest under Burmas former military junta, which was supported for years by the authoritarian Communist Party-led government in Beijing. But analysts say Suu Kyi has shown pragmatism and a desire to re-order Burmas relationship with China, its top trading partner and a major investor, while also reaching out to the United States, Europe and Japan.

Key to both sides is the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam project in northern Burma, funded by Chinese power interests but suspended in 2011 by the countrys former military-backed president, Thein Sein. A spokesman for Burmas foreign affairs department said China was expected to raise the dam dispute this week.

China sees the dam as an important part of a national strategy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and meet its targets to cut pollution. It has pursued a charm offensive in Burma partly to push for construction to resume.

But opponents in Burma, also known as Myanmar, say the reservoir created by the Myitsone dam would create massive flooding on the Irrawaddy River, endangering ecologically sensitive areas and displacing thousands of people. They also question the previous arrangement of China taking 90 percent of the dams power, while nearly 70 percent of Myanmar has no access to electricity, according to the World Bank.

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The dam is one of several Chinese-backed projects stalled due to protests from Burmese citizens newly emboldened to speak out following democratic reforms, part of a larger backlash against Chinas economic domination of its poor southern neighbor.

Suu Kyis government recently announced a commission to review all hydroelectric projects along the Irrawaddy. Zhao Gancheng, director of the Asia-Pacific Center at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said that announcement might be a signal that a compromise was possible.

To handle it well will help create a favorable condition for future trade and economic development between the two countries, Zhao said. Otherwise, obstacles will emerge in attracting investment from China in the future and that is not what the new Burmese government and Aung San Suu Kyi want to see.

Aaron Connelly, a research fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, said Suu Kyi could offer an alternative plan that mollifies China and at least some of the opposition in Myanmar.

That would be the question on the Myanmar side, Connelly said. Is there something that can be offered that meets the expectations, but does not create a lake the size of Singapore on the Irrawaddy?

Suu Kyi remains an icon to many of the people of Myanmar, and that may give her the standing to seek a deal that allows the dam to go forward under different circumstances, Connelly said.

She is also likely to seek more cooperation from China as her government begins a peace conference at the end of August with ethnic minorities from the region where the dam is planned, and may tie the two issues together, Connelly said. China has been involved previously in negotiations between the government and Kachin rebels, who have fought for decades in regions near the Chinese border.

She constantly surprises in what shes willing to do in terms of political agreements that shes willing to strike, and because shes such a singularly popular figure, he said. She can potentially make a deal here that would be very unpopular and bounce back from that.

Beijing supports the peace process because a politically stable and economically prosperous Myanmar is in Chinas best interests, Chinas official Xinhua News Agency said in an editorial Wednesday.

Given the fact that a strong China-Myanmar partnership is important for both sides, it is welcome that Suu Kyi, a key figure in the Myanmar government and the leader of the ruling party, plays a greater role in helping secure a healthy Myanmar-China relationship, Xinhua said.

China considers Burma strategically important as a gateway to the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, and wants to secure oil and gas pipelines running across the country to the Chinese border.

Along with stalled projects, friction between the countries has erupted over fighting between Burmas military and ethnic minority rebels along the border that has killed Chinese farmers and sent a flow of refugees into China.

___

Associated Press writer Esther Htusan in Yangon, Myanmar, and researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.
A Muslim family based out of New York sued their 12-year-old son's school after school officials forced the kid to sign a false confession stating he was a terrorist.

By Reuters: A 12-year-old Muslim student with learning disabilities was forced by New York school officials to sign a false confession stating he was a "terrorist," his family claimed in a $50 million federal lawsuit.

Nashwan Uppal, a seventh grader at a middle school in East Islip, New York, was harassed by bullies who called him a terrorist and demanded to know what he planned to "blow up next," according to the lawsuit.

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Uppal, who did not understand what they were saying due to his disabilities, eventually responded that he would blow up the fence outside the school, the complaint said.

Following the incident, school officials yelled at Nashwan and instructed him to admit he was a member of Islamic State before forcing him to sign a false confession and searching his belongings, the lawsuit said.

Police officers were also called and searched Nashwan's home.

Uppal, 12, is a US citizen of Pakistani background.

A spokesman for the East Islip Union Free School District on Long Island declined to comment on pending litigation.



--- ENDS ---
After 34 years, the curtain will fall on The McLaughlin Group after this weeks installment.

John McLaughlin, creator and host of the public affairs TV staple, died at age 89 on Wednesday. The show is so well-established that it likely could have transitioned with a new moderator at the helm.

But McLaughlin made his wishes known about the shows future five years ago when he received an offer from Anschutz Media Group to buy the franchise, according to John Roberts, a senior producer for McLaughlin Group.

Anschutzs lucrative offer called for McLaughlin retire within two years after grooming a successor as moderator of the four-person panel debating political headlines and issues of the day.

We talked about it at some length, Roberts told Variety, noting McLaughlin ultimately passed on the deal. John finally said What would be so wrong if when I finish up I just turn the lights out?

Roberts said McLaughlin noted at the time that fellow conservative TV commentator William F. Buckley decided to bring Firing Line to a close after his retirement as host in 1999. McLaughlin missed his first episode of his show only last week as his health failed.

The current McLaughlin Group panel  consisting of Pat Buchanan, Eleanor Clift, Clarence Page and Tom Rogan  is expected to tape one more half-hour on Friday in Washington, D.C., Roberts said. There are plans down the road for an hourlong retrospective episode but those details are still being firmed up. McLaughlin Group has been distributed across the PBS network by WTTW-TV Chicago.

Roberts observed that McLaughlins run beginning in 1982 makes him TVs longest-serving single host of a talk show in TV history. McLaughlin surpassed by a few months the mark previously held by Buckley with his 34 years on Firing Line.

Given how rapidly the world is changing, Im not sure thats something that anyone will be able to accomplish again, Roberts said.

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John McLaughlin, Longtime Host of 'The McLaughlin Group,' Dies at 89
Not only is it a New Era for the WWE in terms of their performers, its also a New Era for their music  for the past few years, longtime WWE composer Jim Johnston has been phased out, replaced with the New York-based production duo of John Alicastro and Mike Lauri, better known as CFO$. The pair doesnt do many interviews (believe us, weve asked), but recently opened their studio doors up to WWE.com to share a bit of their history as well as some insight as to what makes some of their most popular themes so special.

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First up is Catch Your Breath, the arena-worthy theme for Finn Balor. Alicastro explains that the original idea for the song actually came from Triple H, which the duo were able to expand upon using all sorts of atmospheric sound effects as well as sampling their own breath for the suspenseful build before the main guitar riff.

The team also went in-depth on The Rising Sun, the electric theme for NXT Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura, giving all the props in the world to violinist Earl Maneein for pushing the song over the edge as well as pointing to an unlikely source of inspiration.

One thing that inspired us was the feel of Japanese video game music, Alicastro tells WWE.com. We grew up on The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid. Their soundtracks are brilliant. We wanted to achieve the epic feeling that they all have.

Of course, who could forget the theme thats launched a thousand #GLORIOUSBOMBS, Bobby Roodes Glorious Domination. CFO$ explains they were going for a Queen meets Muse vibe, eventually recruiting some friends to add in dozens of gang vocal tracks. The result is, well, glorious.

Last but certainly not least, the duo breaks down SAWFT Is A Sin, the banger of a theme song for Enzo Amore and Big Cass. They confirm what everyone already suspected  yes, that is Enzo Amore rapping the whole dang thing  and isolate some of the more random asides in the vocal track to best showcase just how over the top Amore really is.

The real big thing we wanted to do with Enzo & Cass was make a hip-hop version of The Godfather, Alicastro says. The main idea started with the mandolin strumming, creating an Italian atmosphere. Then, we added drums, horns and trombones. From there, we took it into hip-hop territory and made it weird, different and fun.

The entire interview with the duo is worth a read.
Donald Trump gathered advisers for a meeting in Trump Tower Wednesday on national security  and his daughter, Ivanka, joined him.

Read: See Awkward Moment CNN Anchor Tells Trump Adviser He's Down in the Polls: 'Says Who?'

Ivanka sat in on the summit with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and campaign chairman Paul Manafort, among others.

The billionaires 34-year-old daughter, who runs her own fashion empire, has no national security experience. None of Trump's other children were involved in the meeting.

Trump posted about the meeting on Instagram, saying: This afternoon - I hosted a very informative #national #security roundtable at Trump Tower. I assure you -- with a Trump Administration, we will make the #safety & security of our nation a top priority. We will MAKE #AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!"

Not involved in the meeting was Trumps running mate, Mike Pence. He was campaigning in Nevada.

Great crowd in Henderson, NV talking about how Donald Trump and I will Make America Safe Again! #TrumpPence16 A photo posted by Mike Pence (@mike.pence) on Aug 17, 2016 at 3:33pm PDT

The roundtable discussion was held several hours before the Republican nominee received his first classified intelligence briefing.

Read: Donald Trump Attends 'Informative' CIA Briefing: 'The Issues Are Serious'

Arriving with a motorcade at 26 Federal Plaza, Trump brought along retired Lt. General Michael Flynn and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to that meeting.

Watch: Christie Brinkley Slams Trump Supporters: 'You're Complicit in His Racism'

Story continues

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Mexico City (AFP) - The brazen kidnapping of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's son has unleashed fears of a new war between rival cartels in the violence-weary country.

Police have confirmed that Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar -- one of Guzman's sons from his first marriage -- was abducted from an upscale bar in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta on Monday along with five other men.

Authorities say they suspect the gunmen who seized them were from the Jalisco New Generation cartel, an upstart rival of jailed kingpin Guzman's Sinaloa cartel.

Jalisco New Generation emerged in Puerto Vallarta in 2010, when a power vacuum opened after the local boss of the Sinaloa cartel, Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, was killed in a shootout with the Mexican army.

Now, Jesus Guzman's kidnapping could trigger a violent battle between the two cartels for control of the drug trafficking routes to the United States.

The governors of the states where the cartels are based -- Jalisco, on the central Pacific coast, and Sinaloa, also on the coast and two states to the north -- have both warned that reprisal attacks may be on the way.

The state sandwiched between them, Nayarit, is meanwhile bolstering its security in case of a bloodbath.

"We are coordinating with the federal government to reinforce these areas," said Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval.

His Sinaloa counterpart, Mario Lopez Valdez, warned of a potential "flare-up" between the two cartels.

That would be the last thing Mexico needs a decade into its heavily militarized, highly violent war on drugs.

Since the country started using its army to fight drug traffickers in 2006, more than 166,000 people have been killed and 27,000 have disappeared in a bloody spiral of violence.

- Bargaining chip? -

According to investigators, 29-year-old Jesus Guzman and his associates were drinking champagne with a group of nine women when their kidnappers stormed into the La Leche bar and restaurant shouting an obscenity-laced threat that roughly translates as: "We'll make you pay."

Story continues

The question is, what price?

"If they use (Guzman) as a bargaining chip, this could go down calmly. But if they liquidate him, there will be chaos up and down the northern Pacific coast," said Jose Reveles, a journalist and author of several books on drug trafficking.

Jalisco New Generation has grown into a powerful force in recent years, spreading into Asia and Europe and defying the authorities with attacks and ambushes. Last year it brought down an army helicopter with a rocket launcher, killing seven soldiers.

Its leader, Nemesio "El Mencho" Oceguera, is one of Mexico's most wanted criminals.

El Chapo is meanwhile languishing in a maximum-security prison after being recaptured in January following a spectacular jailbreak last year.

But that has not weakened the Sinaloa cartel, said Reveles.

The new Sinaloa boss, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, has so far managed to keep Jalisco New Generation from spreading north of Nayarit.

However, crime analysts say internal struggles have erupted in the Sinaloa cartel. Zambada, who keeps a low profile, has a markedly different style from Guzman's sons, who are known for flaunting their enormous wealth.

Reveles said it was impossible to rule out that Jesus Guzman's kidnapping was an inside job set up by Zambada, 68.

"El Mayo is the dominant one, the veteran, and he's betrayed people in the past. El Chapo's son made the mistake of straying into enemy territory, and he may have taken advantage of that," Reveles told AFP.

Investigators say a seventh man who was with the kidnapped group stepped out just before the attack -- opening the door to infinite speculation about a double-cross of some sort.

The kidnapping is the latest in a string of incidents apparently targeting the family of El Chapo, who is fighting extradition to the United States.

Media reports say gunmen ransacked his mother's house in June, though authorities deny it. Two of his wife's nephews were also killed in July.
NFL

The Miami Dolphins will face off against the Dallas Cowboys this Friday evening in the teams second preseason contest. It will be a great test for Miami defensive line considering the Cowboys have arguably the best offensive line in the NFL. Not to short sell the Dolphins, Miami has one of the most cultivated defensive lines with Ndamukong Suh, Mario Williams, and Cameron Wake.

AROUND COVER32

Power Rankings: Ranking the rookie quarterbacks

Hard Knocks: Week 2: Football and mermaids

Goodell: Time to talk for Harrison, Matthews, Peppers

Preseason: Studs and duds from the first week of games

That said, the 2016 Miami D-line is still a work in progress and must establish themselves on the gridiron. The Dolphins defensive line has been mostly dominant in training camp, however, the big question mark is whether it is an issue of a struggling Dolphins offensive line or if the defensive line is efficiently getting it done.

Again, lets be clear, this is pre-season and lets try not to take everything we see too seriously. The plays on offense and defense, I think will be very vanilla and not extravagant at all.

However, I do want to see how Mario Williams play for the fact that he played unquestionably poorly last season with the Buffalo Bills. It would nice to see for myself if there is any fire left in him or hes just here to collect another paycheck.

READ MORE: Dolphins home to be known as Hard Rock Stadium

I believe now that Mario Williams is back in a 4-3 defensive that hell thrive and create havoc in combination with Suh and Wake. Unfortunately, as much I want to see a lot Im sure Ill get a glimpse very little luck to zero of anything of seeing what this Miami Dolphins team is really capable of this year.

Yes, the first pre-season game wasnt impressive by a stretch but remember last year? The Miami Dolphins dominated the Carolina Panthers in, the joint practice and their pre-season game against one another. We were all cheering and praising until the regular season started and reality sunk in on what the Dolphins really were and what the Panthers were.

Story continues

I do expect to see a better offensive performance from our Dolphins starters against the Cowboys starters. This Friday evening will be fun, exciting, and a little nerve racking too, because until the first game of the regular season starts in Seattle well be sitting here wondering and waiting.

READ MORE: Arian Foster expected to play against Dallas

The post Miami Dolphins defense facing stiff test against the Cowboys appeared first on Cover32.
By PTI: From Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Aug 18 (PTI) Prachanda is likely to visit India on his first official foreign trip as Nepals prime minister, in a departure from his earlier practice when he visited Beijing ahead of New Delhi in 2008.

The Maoist chief, who was elected by lawmakers to the top post for the second time earlier this month, had rubbed India the wrong way when he chose China as his first destination after taking over as the premier in 2008 and attended the Beijing Olympics that year.

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Prachandas predecessor, KP Sharma Oli too visited India as his first official foreign destination. But the run up to his visit was surrounded by intense speculation that the Communist leader might visit China ahead of India.

Oli, viewed by many as pro-China, visited India in February, when the agitation by Madhesis - inhabitants of the southern plains who share strong cultural and family bonds with Indians - over Nepals new Constitution was at its peak.

The protesters had blocked trade transit points with India, creating a huge shortage of essential goods and fuel in the landlocked Nepal.

The usual practice of new prime ministers in Nepal is to visit to India, ahead of China. Prachandas China trip in 2008 was the only departure from that practice.

It is learnt that he will visit India ahead of China this time, sources said.

The development comes as Nepals Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Bimlendra Nidhi begins his two-day visit to India as Prachandas special envoy today.

His visit is aimed at preparing ground for Prachandas forthcoming visit to India, foreign ministry sources said.

Nidhi is expected to discuss the possible visit by President Pranab Mukherjee to Nepal and the proposed visit by Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari to India, they said.

The visit is also aimed at normalising and improving Nepals relations with India, which was at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation.

Prachanda has send a special envoy to China as well. Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Maharas visit to China comes following anxieties in Beijing over the fate of projects connecting China and Nepal to reduce dependence on India. PTI SBP ABH AKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
microsoft research peter lee

Everybody from Facebook to Microsoft to President Barack Obama thinks that chat bots  robots you talk to like humans in apps like Facebook Messenger or Microsoft's Skype  are the future.

In many ways, it's a logical evolution. As showcased by the relative success of gadgets like the Amazon Echo and digital agents like Apple's Siri or Microsoft's Cortana, we're at the precipice of a new kind of computing, where you can use your natural language skills to get stuff done.

It's a great idea. The problem is chat bots these days kind of stink out. It's often harder to get stuff done with a chat bot than it is with the suite of apps and websites to which we've become accustomed. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Tay Twitter bot had a high-profile meltdown, showing how far AI still has to go.

But while Tay may have been a fiasco, Microsoft has had massive success elsewhere: The Xiaoice chat bot  pronounced "Shao-ice" and translated as "little Bing"  born as an experiment by Microsoft Research in 2014, reaches 40 million followers in China, who often literally talk with her for hours.

At her most active, Xiaoice is holding down as many 23 conversations a session, says Microsoft Research NExT leader Dr. Peter Lee. It's even evolved to become a nice little sideline business for Microsoft, thanks to a partnership with Chinese e-retailer JD.com that lets users buy products by talking to Xiaoice.

The reason Xiaoice is so successful is she was born of a different kind of philosophical experiment: Instead of building a chat bot that was useful, Microsoft simply tried to make it fun to talk to.

"I think we've all made valiant attempts to make this stuff useful," Lee says. "What if we stopped trying to be useful and just focused on chit-chat?"

Chit-chat

To Lee and Microsoft Research, "chit-chat" has a very specific meaning.

When you ask Siri or Cortana a silly question and get a funny response, that's "chit-chat." It doesn't serve a practical purpose, but it makes your AI assistants feel just a little warmer and friendlier.

Story continues

To teach Xiaoice how to make chit-chat, Microsoft trained her with every public Chinese message board and social-media post they could get their hands on. By feeding Xiaoice the text from some popular Chinese frequently asked question, or FAQ, sites, she learned how to answer questions.

Armed with all of that information, Xiaoice was able to hold down a conversation, which is all Microsoft Research wanted from her. It was a very "pure" experiment in optimizing for friendliness, not usefulness.

xiaoice weather

Then, as she gained in popularity, Microsoft started adding features that made her a little bit more useful. Now she can assess a user's emotional state and provide advice accordingly, going so far as to help users with breakups. With the JD.com integration, Xiaoice can suggest products and let users buy them straight from chat.

If you ask her for the weather, she'll give you an answer, plus maybe a funny anecdote drawn from social media about a pop star who got caught in the rain without an umbrella. It combines the friendliness that made her so popular in the first place with stuff that actually makes her useful and a desired way to find information.

Now Xiaoice is "way less pure and way more intelligent," Lee says. In fact, a Chinese TV station has even experimented with letting Xiaoice do their morning weather reports.

That's good news for Xiaoice's millions of users, Lee says. Still, he laments, the more Xiaoice drifts from that original goal of focusing on "chit-chat," the less useful she is to Microsoft Research as a test subject.

"What we've learned scientifically has faded," Lee says.

Dramatic improvements

What Microsoft learned from Xiaoice has led to "dramatic improvements" elsewhere. Thanks in large part to Xiaoice, Microsoft's Cortana digital agent, which comes with every copy of Windows 10, has both a lot of personality and a lot of intelligence, Lee says, and both bots are getting smarter all the time.

Microsoft's Tay, which had a disastrous 24-hour run on Twitter earlier in 2016, was supposed to accelerate that science even further by bringing a similar kind of conversational-focused approach in chat bots to an English-speaking audience.

While the experiment was ultimately a failure, thanks to a concentrated effort by trolls to trick Tay into saying hateful and racist things, Lee says the whole episode actually proved that Microsoft was on the right track  before she shut down, Tay was definitely doing more than the 23 conversations a session boasted by Xioaice.

Microsoft Tay AI

As tools like Microsoft's own Conversations-as-a-Platform product, which helps developers build smarter chatbots, mature and get more complete, Lee says, developers will be able to benefit from what Microsoft has already learned the hard way from Xiaoice and Tay.

On a final note, Lee notes that just because bots like Cortana are the most visible way you work with artificial intelligence today, it's an intellectual hazard to think that it's where this technology begins and ends.

"There's a powerful tendency to fixate on machine-learning systems that simulate human characteristics," Lee says.

Instead, he reminds us to be aware of the artificial intelligence that's going to do everything from more intelligently route network traffic for faster internet connections to trading stocks and bonds. It's not all anthropomorphic, Cortana and Siri aside.

NOW WATCH: 20 Easter egg questions you can ask Cortana to get a hilarious response





More From Business Insider


Republican vice presidential nominee is diagnosing the problem with his running mate. What ails Donald Trump is the news media.

After three weeks of public and messy struggles, the Trump-Pence ticket is returning to a favorite tactic of failing campaigns: blame the woes on those who are chronicling it in real time. Throughout a town hall-style meeting in Manchester, the Indiana Governor kept returning to his grievances about coverage. Left unsaid: Trump, the former reality television star, is largely a creation of the media.

Just about every day, the national media latches onto some issue about my running mate. It really does, Pence said at a conference center in suburban Manchester, N.H. I mean, the media is so busy parsing every word that Donald Trump said in the last 30 minutes, they dont have time to cover what the Clintons have been up to for the last 30 years.

Pence went on to cite news coverage of Democratic nominee Hillary Clintons emails, her aides ethics and foreign donations to her familys foundation. While the media was focusing on word choices by my running mate, Pence said, we that learned the FBI discussed opening a public corruption case against the Clinton Foundation, but the Obama Justice Department shut it down. He was citing unnamed officials quoted by The Daily Caller, a conservative website.

To be sure, distrust of the media runs strong, especially among conservatives. New Hampshire voters are notoriously late to make up their minds, and relish a chance to prove outsiders wrong. Blaming journalists for a sinking campaign is nothing new. Usually, its coupled with complaints about polling methods, too. But it typically comes later in the campaign, not mid-summer, and not so strongly. American voters dont like whiners or losers.

Pence seemed certain that his message to supporters, that the deck is stacked against them, could help energize allies. Its pretty rough out there. Its like 2-on-1 most days with the media doing most of Hillarys work for her. The good news is Donald Trump is still winning hearts and minds, Pence said. The most powerful media in America is you. Word of mouth has alwaysand will always bethe most powerful form of communication. Its good spin as to why the Trump campaign has yet to spend a dime on traditional general election television ads.

Story continues

Pence, a dutiful running mate, kept the focus mainly on Trump and his slogan to Make America Great Again. He gamely turned questions from the audience into laudatory statements about Trump and brushed past questions from voters whom he didnt fully understand.

At no point did Pence nod to the problems of Trumps own making: his sloppy language, controversies over his policies that seem to shift with his mood, a campaign at war with itself. Trumps polls are sinking, and Clinton is widening her advantages in a number of states. Privately, Republicans are groaning that the coming weeks will be marred by Trumps stumbles and will drag with them local candidates.

Pences message to New Hampshire voters was a candid pay-no-attention-to-the-implosion and a dismissal of the staff shake-up this week that elevated an online provocateur to campaign CEO, a pollster to campaign manager and the sidelined of a veteran lobbyist who retains the title of campaign chairman. It was all the product of media lashing out, Pence said. The campaign was actually winning because, after all, thats what Trump does.

Donald Trump gets it, right? Hes a genuine article. Hes a doer in a game usually reserved for talkers. When Donald Trump does his talking, he doesnt go tiptoeing around the thousands of rules of political correctness that the media and the elites impose, Pence said. He tells it like it is. And the American people hear him loud and clear.

Trumps poll numbers have slumped in the weeks after his nominating convention in Cleveland, and Republicans grouse that the campaign badly lags the offices and staffers that the Democrats have had in place. Instead, Pence said, the Establishment is conspiring to keep Trump down.

Its pretty amazing. The party in power, and their allies in the media, all think the usual things will work against him, right? You can just see it on their faces. They keep thinking they finally got him this time. They (have) finally done him in, Pence said. Donald Trump is still standing stronger than ever before and fighting for the American people. The man never quits.
Venus and Pluto are creating positive money vibes during the Full Moon in Aquarius, which features new ideas.

Money Ideas Lit Up

By Susan Abbott Gidel

August 17, 2016

(All times Eastern)

Thursday, August 18 is this months top Red Letter Trading Day because of two strong astrological events. First, at 10:17 pm Wednesday, the money planet Venus is in a positive, easy relationship with Pluto. This trine aspect between these two planets is one of the strongest for positive developments in money matters.

Second, the Full Moon occurs at 5:27 am Thursday in the sign of Aquarius, which sheds light on bright, new ideas and the unusual people or places that sprout them.

In addition, at the stock market open, look for some big, unusual news to break as Mercury and Jupiter are connected to both the Moon and Uranus in a formation that can bring actions that seem fated. This is right when the US Jobless Claims number is being released, and an hour after the European Central Bank releases its most recent meeting minutes, on the heels of the Feds on Wednesday afternoon.

Thursdays reports include:

7:50 pm Japan Merchandise Trade

9:30 pm Australia Labour Force Survey

4:30 am Great Britain Retail Sales

7:30 am European Central Bank minutes

8:30 am US Jobless Claims

8:30 am US Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey



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Rabat (AFP) - A senior Moroccan cleric has lashed out at what he called "nudity" in the Muslim kingdom, claiming that more and more women are immodestly dressed, sparking criticism in the media.

Morocco is seen as promoting a more tolerant form of Islam than some Arab countries, and woman in cities and towns often eschew the Islamic veil in public.

While the countryside is somewhat more conservative, attitudes to female dress vary according to local social and cultural customs and in the cities many women don Western-style clothes.

Omar al-Kazabri, imam of Casablanca's Hassan II mosque, Morocco's largest house of worship, said there is a growing trend among women across the country to go about "unclothed".

"Nudity is no longer confirmed to season, it is spreading before our eyes in winter and summer," he said on his official Facebook page earlier this week.

"Look at the streets. It breaks your heart to see the situation we find ourselves in. Obscene nudity (is an) affront to God's commandments and an insult and an outrage to the population," he wrote.

"Young women, unclothed, smoking cigarettes. Where are their guardians?" he asked.

And he warned that "impudent women could go to hell".

Kazabri said what he calls "nudity" is part of a "conspiracy" against Morocco by people who wish to "kill modesty, values and principles".

The outburst from one of Morocco's most prominent clerics was criticised in the media.

"What's gotten into him?" the private news site Media24 asked on Thursday.

It said such remarks are "scary" coming from a top cleric.

Another private site, Telquel, said Kazabri had a "peculiar concept of nudity".
By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) - The type of brain bleeding that causes the most lethal kind of stroke has declined substantially since 1998, possibly as a result of falling smoking rates, according to researchers in Finland. Bleeding in the space between the brain and the thin tissue covering it, known as subarachnoid hemorrhage, affects fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. each year and represents about 10 percent of all strokes. About 50 percent of all cases die within a year, the study authors note in the journal Neurology. In Finland, however, a decline since the 1990s in rates of subarachnoid hemorrhage, along with an increase in the average age of victims, tracks with a 30 percent drop in national smoking rates during the same period, especially among younger people, researchers found. During recent years, we have noticed that less and less people are admitted with subarachnoid hemorrhage to the Helsinki University Hospital, said lead author Dr. Miikka Korja of the neurosurgery department there and the University of Helsinki. Since Finland has a publicly funded healthcare system, it was unlikely that changing hospital admissions explained the trend, Korja told Reuters Health by email. Its not certain why the decrease has happened, but smoking is the number one risk factor for subarachnoid hemorrhage, he said. When smoking rates plummet rapidly together with plummeting incidence rates of subarachnoid hemorrhage, it is conceivable that smoking contributes to the decreased number of people suffering from this subtype of stroke, he said. The researchers used Finnish national databases of deaths and hospital discharges to identify 6,885 people who experienced subarachnoid hemorrhage between 1998 and 2012, which included 1,771 sudden deaths from a brain hemorrhage away from the hospital. In 1998 there were 510 subarachnoid hemorrhages in Finland, half affecting people younger than 54 years old. In 2012 there were 337 subarachnoid hemorrhages, half affecting people younger than age 60. The overall rates of subarachnoid hemorrhage were almost 12 per 100,000 people per year in 1998-2000, but fell to less than 9 per 100,000 in 2010-2012. Stroke events had decreased gradually over time, especially considering that the population of Europe increased over the same period, but each year around 60 percent of cases were in women, according to the analysis. Smoking among Finns ages 15 to 64 decreased by 30 percent from 1998 to 2012. Over that 15-year period, the number of hemorrhagic strokes decreased particularly among people younger than 50 years old, Korja said. Long-term smokers are less likely to quit smoking and probably therefore the number of these strokes did not decline so dramatically among 50-year-old and older people. But in most countries the true incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage is unclear, he said, since a quarter of people who experience it die away from a hospital and the specific cause may not be investigated. Smoking has decreased substantially in Western Europe during the last 20 to 30 years, but increased in the Middle East and Africa, he said. We must understand that in many African and Middle East countries there are much more important life-threatening dangers and hazards than this subtype of stroke, Korja said. In future, however, stroke can become an epidemic disease in these countries, not least because of a high prevalence of smoking. Though decreased smoking may be driving the decrease in subarachnoid hemorrhage, high blood pressure also decreased over the same period, said Dr. Marie Softeland Sandvei of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, coauthor of an editorial accompanying the new study. Nevertheless, former smokers should be happy that they managed to quit, and should refrain from starting again, Sandvei told Reuters Health by email. People start smoking almost invariably in their teens and early twenties, Korja said. If anti-smoking campaigns and policies are effective, as they have been in Finland, youngsters do not start smoking during their wild years, and basically never after reaching perhaps a bit more mature state of adulthood. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2b2dGnG and http://bit.ly/2aZGHVT Neurology, online August 12, 2016.
By PTI: From Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Aug 18 (PTI) Nepals new government today announced a compensation of Rs 1 million each to families of 52 people, including 11 security personnel, who were killed during the Madhesis protests over the new Constitution.

The Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Prachanda decided to provide the compensation to 41 civilians and 11 security personnel, who were killed in the months-long anti-Constitution protests, minister for environment Jaya Dev Joshi told PTI.

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At least 50 people were killed during the six months-long protests in southern Nepal districts last year following the promulgation of the new Constitution.

Earlier this month, the Cabinet had decided that Nepali Rs 1 million will be given to the families of those killed in the protests. It also decided to provide free medical treatment to those injured in the agitation.

Meanwhile, the government today formed a seven-member probe committee led by former Supreme Court justice Girish Chandra Lal to investigate into violent incidents occurred during the protests.

Prime Minister and CPN Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" and coalition partner Nepali Congress had recently signed a pact with the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front and other ethnic groups which agreed to provide compensation to families of the Madhesi unrest and form a commission to probe into the violent incidents during the protest.

The Madhesi parties had led the six months-long agitation, mainly to protest against the seven-province federal model enshrined in the new Constitution.

The protests by Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, had also disrupted the supplies of petroleum products and cooking gas among other essentials to Nepal, creating massive shortage of essential goods. PTI SBP AJR AKJ AJR

--- ENDS ---
Paris (AFP) - Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Thursday said it was evacuating its staff from six hospitals in northern Yemen after 19 people were killed in an air strike on one of its facilities earlier this week.

Monday's Saudi-led coalition strike on Abs hospital in the rebel-held province of Hajja was the fourth and deadliest attack yet on an MSF facility in war-torn Yemen, according to the charity.

The decision to pull staff out "is never taken lightly", the Paris-based aid agency said in a statement, accusing the coalition of "indiscriminate bombings and unreliable reassurances".

"Given the intensity of the current offensive and our loss of confidence in the SLC's (Saudi-led coalition's) ability to prevent such fatal attacks, MSF considers the hospitals in Saada and Hajjah governorates unsafe for both patients and staff," it added.

The hospitals will continue to be manned by local workers and volunteers, MSF said.

Yemen has been gripped by unrest since Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels and allied loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014.

The violence increased after a Saudi-led Arab coalition launched a military campaign in March last year to help shore up the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The coalition stepped up its air strikes this month after UN-mediated peace talks between the rebels and Yemen's internationally backed government were suspended.

- 'Indiscriminate attacks' -

Monday's bombing of Abs hospital drew international condemnation, prompting the coalition to announce an independent investigation into the attack.

MSF said it had shared the hospital's GPS coordinates with all parties involved in the conflict.

"Coalition officials repeatedly state that they honour international humanitarian law, yet this attack shows a failure to control the use of force and to avoid attacks on hospitals full of patients," it said.

Story continues

"MSF is neither satisfied nor reassured by the SLC's statement that this attack was a mistake."

It also accused all sides in Yemen's war of "indiscriminate attacks without any respect for civilians".

One MSF worker was among those killed in the Abs hospital attack, while another 24 people were wounded.

The group's emergency coordinator Laurent Sury told AFP that "several dozen" international and Yemeni MSF workers were affected by the decision to pull out of the six hospitals.

"Our aim is to open programmes, not close them, especially considering the enormous needs in the north," he said. "But today, the minimum security conditions can no longer be guaranteed."

He said that civilians were paying a heavy price in the conflict.

"Today in Yemen, you risk your life when you seek out care, whether you are a pregnant woman needing a Cesarean or child requiring antibiotics."

The hospital strike was the latest in a series of coalition raids that have allegedly hit civilian facilities -- including a school in the rebel stronghold of Saada on Saturday where 10 children were killed.

The UN says more than 6,500 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since last March and more than 80 percent of the population needs humanitarian aid.
DOHA (Reuters) - Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it was evacuating its staff from six hospitals in northern Yemen on Thursday after a Saudi-led coalition air strike hit a health facility operated by the medical aid group killing 19 people. "Given the intensity of the current offensive and our loss of confidence in the Saudi-led coalition to prevent fatal attacks, MSF considers the hospitals in Saada and Hajjah governorates unsafe for both patients and staff," the group said in a statement. Countless attacks on health facilities in Yemen have endangered patients and staff and displayed a failure by warring parties to control the use of force, the group said. MSF is one of handful of international medical aid groups operating on the ground in Yemen where a 16-month civil war between a Gulf Arab coalition and an Iran-allied militia has killed over 6,500 people and brought one of world's poorest countries close to famine. On Tuesday a Saudi-led coalition air strike hit a hospital operated by MSF in the northern Hajja province injuring 24 and killing 19 people including one of its staff members, the group said. Another air attack on Saturday hit what MSF described as a school in neighboring Saada province, killing 10 children. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the air strike and called for a investigation, which the coalition said it would conduct. MSF said it had met with officials from the Saudi-led coalition and shared GPS coordinates of the hospital it operates in with parties involved in the conflict but aerial bombings had continued. "The decision to evacuate the staff from a project is never taken lightly but in the absence of credible assurances that parties will respect the protected status of medical facilities there may be no other option," said the statement. Dozens of Saudi-led air strikes and shells launched by the Houthis have hit civilians in Yemen since the Arab coalition began military operations in March 2015 to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power. The cost from damage to infrastructure and economic losses in the civil war is more than $14 billion so far, according to a confidential report seen by Reuters. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Tom Finn; Editing by Toby Chopra)
franckreporter

Now that the presidential race is hurtling forward at a breakneck pace, we got to pondering one of the many prizes at the finish line: the chance to live in the White House!

Because lets face it, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is not only the seat of power for the free world, its also a pretty nice place. Sitting on 18 acres of prime Washington, DC, real estate, its 55,000 square feet featuring 132 rooms, 28 fireplaces, and more than 750 historic artifacts.

All of which got us wondering: How much is the White House actually worth? In cold, hard cash?

Some, of course, might argue that you cant put a price tag on this symbolic structure any more than you could price the pyramids in Egypt or the Eiffel Tower in Paris. But the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors of London, an organization that accredits professionals within property and construction sectors, clearly disagrees. The group, along with L.A. real estate consultant Ann Gray and International Art Advisors president Barden Prisant, decided to crunch the numbers and come up with a real figure.

So what magic number did they arrive at? Drumroll, please.

They calculated that if someone were to plant a For Sale sign on the lawn of the White House today, someone would buy it for around $90 million. And thats just for starters. To arrive at this figure, Gray relied on three real estate valuation staples:

How much it would cost to build the White House today: The original construction in 1792 cost $232,000. Taking into account the rising costs of material and labor, Gray estimated that the cost to rebuild today would come in at around $100 million.

How much comparable properties would sell for: For a comp, Gray used Donald Trump s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, FLoften dubbed the White House of the Southwhich is about the same size as the White House (17 acres) with weirdly similar amenities (including fallout shelters, tennis courts, and underground tunnels). Trump bought this place in 1985 for $10 million; today its valued at nearly $100 million.

How much income the White House could produce: Lets face it, the White House has way more cachet than Trumps digs, so to factor that in youd have to estimate how much money the White House could bring in as an investment propertysay, a really nice hotel. A decent comp for that is the Jefferson hotel nearby, where a deluxe suite rakes in $1,200 a night with an 85% occupancy rate. Do the math on the White Houses 16 bedrooms, and theyd net $5 million a year. Over time, this would lead to a property worth $86 million.

Story continues

Average all this together, and you get a White House listing price of $90 million.

What if the White House came fully furnished?

But theres more! What if the White House came fully furnished with all the fancy art and accoutrements inside? According to Prisant, that would hike up the price of the White House an additional $160,000 million, for a grand total of $250 million. That figure includes the following:

Two $5 million Thomas Moran paintings

A $5-million-plus artwork by James Abbott McNeill Whistler

A $250,000 gilded-bronze table centerpiece

A $100,000 grandfather clock

A few $20,000 sets of presidential china

Could the White House be worth more?

But not all real estate agents agree that the price is right.

I think $90 million seems on the low side, says Florida Realtor Cara Ameer, who researched her own comps to come to this conclusion. If you look at several significant properties that have been on the market across the country, you can get an idea of value that is north of $100 million.

One recent case in point: the Playboy mansion, which just sold for $100 million. It sat on just 5 acres and was 20,000 square feetless than half the size of the White House, Ameer points out. I dont think it would be out of the realm of possibility to value the White House anywhere in the $150 to $250 million range, depending on what was included. The Playboy mansion had a huge celebrity factor going into the sale, which would be on par with the notoriety of the White Housejust a property that everyone knows.

Another factor Ameer feels may be shortchanged is the construction costs.

With structures like this, the skill sets involved to replicate some of the more unique and historic features has become a lost artand finding craftspeople to do these kinds of things may be nearly impossible today, she says.

Not that anyone will get a chance to rebuildor buythe White House any time soon. Still, its a fun exercise to see how much it would cost if someone could. Because who wouldnt find it a hoot to spend a night in the Lincoln Bedroom, knockoff or not?

The post How Much Is the White House Worth? Hold On to Your Hats appeared first on Real Estate News and Advice - realtor.com.





Related Articles
[Photo: Facebook / Deborah Grimshaw Skouson]

A mother has been bowled over by peoples generosity after she launched an appeal to find a replacement for her daughters favourite t-shirt.

Deborah Grimshaw Skousons daughter Cami, who has autism, has been fixated on a pink flowery t-shirt from Target for more than four years.

The mum, who lives in St. George, Utah, explained that her daughter wears the top when she comes home from school and in bed.

The shirt is no longer available in store so Deborah took to Facebook in a bid to find a new one.

She wrote: She got her first one in kindergarten 5 years ago, and we have found 4 more since then, mostly on eBay. Her current one is almost unwearable, and eBay has gone dry. This shirt is a CIRCO brand from TARGET. They were sold in 2011-2012.

[Photo: Facebook / Deborah Grimshaw Skouson]



This is where you come in. We need another pink flower shirt, so will you please share this post or even just the photo? We will pay for the shirt and the shipping if someone would be kind enough to sell it to us. It has to be this exact shirt! Weve tried similar shirts, and they dont cut it with Cami! Thank you so much!! (any size is great!)

The post was shared almost 4800 times and Deborahs message was also reposted by the Love What Matters Facebook page where it was shared more than 13,000 times.

Camis mum later responded to the post revealing that she had received 78 shirts.

She wrote: I am so grateful for the kindness that my daughter has been shown! I made this post a week ago in the hopes of finding a few shirts for backup. Cami adores this shirt, and it brings her a lot of comfort and security, which is sometimes hard for her to come by in her chaotic little world.

She doesnt wear it all the time, but likes to put it on after school, and she wears it to bed as a pajama shirt. At last count, we are at 78 shirts, and Ive had many offer to make her teddy bears, pillows, blankets, and other keepsakes out of the extras. These are all total strangers. People are inherently good and kind, and Im glad Ive been able to be a recipient of that kindness. May God bless you all!

Story continues

See, 2016 aint all bad, is it?

Heartwarming Images: New Dads React To Meeting Their Babies For The First Time



Mans Heart-Warming Post About His Heroic Nurse Wife Goes Viral


NEW YORK (Reuters) - An artists' collective took credit for exposing Donald Trump to unflattering scrutiny on Thursday, saying it was responsible for a life-sized nude statue of the Republican presidential candidate that turned up in a New York City park. Copies of the orange-tinted likeness - featuring a massive belly, small fingers and missing some genital parts - were simultaneously unveiled in downtown Manhattan's Union Square Park and public places in four other U.S. cities. The collective titled the work "The Emperor Has No Balls." In New York, the unauthorized installation appeared to surprise passers-by - prompting stares, giggles and shrugs of bemusement from park visitors. Ina Cope, a 58-year-old retiree from the Bronx borough of New York, said she was not expecting to see the Trump statue when she got off the subway to meet a friend for lunch. "It was crazy: I was coming off the train, minding my own business, and there it was," she said, laughing. By early afternoon, workers from New York's Department of Parks and Recreation had taken down the statue. Mae Ferguson, a Parks Department spokeswoman, said the statue was removed because the installation of any unapproved structure is illegal in any city park. The activist collective, a group called INDECLINE that includes artists, musicians and filmmakers, claimed ownership of the work, saying in an email that the statues were also placed in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Cleveland. It said an artist called Ginger helped create the likeness. "These fleeting installations represent this fleeting nightmare and in the fall, it is our wish to look back and laugh at Donald Trump's failed and delusional quest to obtain the presidency," INDECLINE said in a statement. A Trump spokeswoman did not respond immediately to an email with a request for comment. (Reporting by Chris Prentice in New York; Editing by Frank McGurty and Jonathan Oatis)
Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth in Thor: The Dark World (Photo: Marvel)

There seems to be no stopping the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which continues to churn out hits and to enlist many of Hollywoods best and brightest in its heavily populated superhero sagas. Thatll be true again with next years Thor: Ragnarok, the third standalone adventure for Chris Hemsworths God of Thunder, which will include the participation of Mark Ruffalo (as the Hulk), Jeff Goldblum (as the Grandmaster), and Cate Blanchett (as Hela). One person who wont be back for more intergalactic mayhem however, will be original Thor and Thor: The Dark World costar Natalie Portman  and according to the actress in a new video interview, she may never return to the Marvel fold.

Related: Tom Hiddleston Returns as Loki and More Photos From the Thor: Ragnarok Set

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal senior editor Christopher John Farley, Portman  on a press tour for A Tale of Love and Darkness, which she wrote, directed and stars in  confesses that, when it comes to Marvel cinema, as far as I know, Im done. Portman, of course, played Thors human love interest, astronomer Jane Foster, in the first two movies; the character was last seen kissing the superhero in a post-credits scene in 2013s The Dark World. (Although Thor did briefly brag about her in Avengers: Age of Ultron.) Portmans remarks arent too much of a surprise considering her absence from the Thor: Ragnarok cast, but the Oscar winner was quick to make it clear that theres always a chance she may be re-recruited for a future Marvel endeavor: I dont know if maybe theyll ask for an Avengers 7 or whatever. I have no idea, but as far as I know, Im done.

Even if Portman wont be back, the blonde-locked demi-God will have plenty of illustrious company for his next outing  along with the aforementioned cast members, Ragnarok (directed by Hunt for the Wilderpeoples Taika Waititi) will also co-star Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban and Tom Hiddleston as Thors nefarious brother Loki.

Thor: Ragnarok lands in theaters on Nov. 3, 2017. Portmans drama A Tale of Love and Darkness, meanwhile, debuts Friday.
The Toronto International Film Festival is moving forward with plans to premiere Nate Parker's Birth of a Nation next month, amid renewed attention on the director's involvement in a college rape trial.



"TIFF is proud to help bring Birth of a Nation and the important story it tells to audiences," festival organizers told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. "We will present the film as planned."



The director and his critically acclaimed film have been overshadowed by controversy after it was revealed that Parker, 36, was acquitted in a 2001 trial after an 18-year-old female classmate at Penn State University accused him and his Birth of a Nation collaborator and friend, Jean Celestin, of sexual assault in 1999.



Celestin was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to six months in prison, according to court documents obtained by Variety. But he later appealed the ruling and a judge ordered a second trial, which was tossed out in 2005 after the accuser decided not to testify.







On Tuesday, Parker issued a lengthy statement about the case on his Facebook page, expressing the "profound sorrow" he felt after learning that his rape accuser committed suicide four years ago.



In the statement, Parker wrote that while he still maintains his innocence, he looks back "on that time as a teenager and can say without hesitation that I should have used more wisdom."
By Silke Koltrowitz

ZURICH (Reuters) - Nestle , the world's largest packaged foods maker, is counting on new products and price increases in the second half of the year to meet its full-year sales growth target after a weaker than expected first half, the company said on Thursday.

The company has missed its long-term target of 5-6 percent annual sales growth for three years but it said it still expects organic growth this year will be in line with the 4.2 percent seen last year.

The shares were up 1 percent at 79.1 Swiss francs by 1000 GMT.

Organic sales growth, which excludes the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and currency, slowed to 3.1 percent in the second quarter, hit by weakness in China and deflation in Europe, while growth in the first half was 3.5 percent.

Analysts had been expecting a rise of 3.6 percent in the second quarter and 3.8 percent for the full six months, according to a Reuters poll.

But Chief Financial Officer Francois-Xavier Roger said he thought pricing had hit the bottom in the second quarter and, to underscore the importance of innovation, explained that a third of Nestle sales came from products new to the market in the last two years.

New products often fetch higher prices, which in turn boost profit margins.

The maker of Kitkat chocolate bars and Maggi noodles has also been cutting costs, shedding underperforming businesses and expanding its presence in the more profitable and faster-growing market for healthcare products.

Liberum analysts, who have a "hold" stock rating, said that "may lead to upside surprise although current progress is slow" and the shares remained "an attractive defensive haven".

HEALTH DRIVE

Faced with more demanding consumers asking for fresh, healthy products, makers of packaged foods are reformulating recipes, cutting sugar, salt and fat.

To accelerate its health push, Nestle recruited Ulf Mark Schneider from German healthcare group Fresenius as its next chief executive.

Story continues

"In our view, the Nestle investment case hinges on incoming CEO Ulf Mark Schneider, who takes over on 1 January 2017. In the meantime, though, we regard this as a competent set of results," RBC Europe analyst James Edwardes Jones said in a note.

Asked whether Nestle would increase its dividend this year, Roger only said Nestle had done so in the past despite the strong Swiss franc.

($1 = 0.9609 Swiss francs)

(Additional reporting by John Revill and Angelika Gruber; Editing by Michael Shields, Greg Mahlich.)
RJD chief Lalu Yadav has advised the Bihar government to take the hooch tragedy seriously in which 15 people lost their lives.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: RJD President Lalu Prasad has advised Nitish Kumar government to take the hooch tragedy in Gopalganj seriously in which 15 persons lost their lives. Reacting two days after the incident, Lalu said that the hooch incident was saddening and heart wrenching.



Speaking on the incident in Patna, Lalu said that he has been informed by the Gopalganj SP that the local police during investigations have found few homeopathic bottles, which perhaps was used to store illicit liquor. He advised the state government to take the incident seriously. He also raised questions as to why despite prohibition in the state, this tragic incident took place.

advertisement

"Bihar government should take the incident seriously as to why hooch deaths took place despite prohibition in the state", said the RJD President.

LALU DEMANDS PROBE



Lalu has asked Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to get the incident probed thoroughly. He also said that the kingpin of the hooch deaths was released on bail last month and is presently on the run after the incident.

Lalu advised that people should themselves remain alert and create awareness about prohibition. He said that it was not possible to conduct checkings at all spots and police cannot man each and every citizen of the state. Lalu said that the accused in this incident must be apprehended immediately following which strict action will be taken against them.

GOVT OFFICIALS UNDER LALU'S RADAR



Lalu also warned that those government officials who acted irresponsibly and did not do their duty will be punished. Lalu said that he will soon go to Gopalganj to meet the victim families.

Gopalganj is home district of Lalu Prasad.

Also read - Cows give us milk, not votes: Lalu on PM's belated condemnation of cow vigilantes





--- ENDS ---
Suspended presenter Khadija Khattab [Photo: Twitter/Timkidda]



Imagine this: Youre at the height of your career. Youve got all the skills, the drive, the ambition.

And then, your boss calls you over for a word, and says that somethings wrong - but it isnt anything to do with your performance. Its to do with your appearance.

Unfortunately, exactly this happened to several Egyptian News Broadcasters the other day. Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) - the countrys state broadcaster - told eight of its female broadcasters that if they didnt lose weight, theyd lose their jobs.

Yep. This happened in 2016.

[Photo: Giphy]

Of course the Womens Centre for Guidance and Legal Awareness has argued that ERTUs decision violates the constitution, but a depressingly high number of people are totally on board with the idea.

Lets all give a deep sigh about the medias obsession with controlling womens bodies for a moment, shall we?

The first thing wed expect from this scenario is for the person that gave the order to be an old-fashioned man, but no - the director of ERTU is former TV anchor Safaa Hegazy; a woman. Not that that changes anything, but its a harsh reminder that sexism can come from anyone.

But it goes on - one woman on Twitter reportedly described Hegazy as a strong woman for making the decision - which is nothing short of surreal.

[Photo: Pexels]

The women will apparently be allowed on air again once they have an appropriate appearance, and its a terrifying thought for any woman that someone can consider you inappropriate simply for being above a size 12.

The presenters havent stayed silent on the matter. According to The Independent Khadija Khattab, one of the suspended presenters, said she wanted people to watch her most recent TV appearances and judge for themselves if she was fat, and deserved to be prevented from working.



What do you think about the presenters suspension? Tweet us at @YahooStyleUK.

Kerri Walsh Jennings Responds to Sideboob Shaming



Even Gigi Hadid Gets Sh*t About Her Weight


Lagos (AFP) - The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) militant group on Thursday threatened to pull the oil region out of Nigeria, accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of fuelling divisions in the country.

"The Buhari-led government has failed Nigerians with their misdirected policies that have divided the country, as such nobody wants to be part of that failed state not even the Niger delta," the NDA said in a statement.

Since the start of the year, the Avengers have carried out a string of devastating attacks on Nigeria's oil pipelines and facilities.

The oil rebels said the Niger Delta, home to the country's multi-billion-dollar oil and gas resources might declare an independence on October 1.

"The October 1st declaration of independence is still sacrosanct. If the Nigerian government fails to retrace its step by restructuring this country," it warned.

Nigeria marks October 1st as the anniversary of its political independence from colonial power Britain in 1960.

The Avengers said they wished that northern Nigeria could also strike crude oil.

"Our prayer for Buhari and the northern hypocrite (northern Governors) is that oil should be found in commercial quantity in the north, so they can let the Niger delta go," it added.

Buhari, a northern Muslim, came to power in May 2015 following his victory over former president Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the Niger delta.

Oil majors including Shell, Exxon, Chevron, Eni and the state-run oil group NNPC have been targeted in the attacks this year.

The attacks have reduced Nigeria's output by a third, hammering government revenue at a time of global low oil prices.

The oil sector accounts for 90 percent of the nation's foreign exchange earnings and 70 percent of government revenue.

The Avengers claim to seek a fairer share of Nigeria's oil wealth for residents of the region as well as self-determination and political autonomy.

They have rejected a government truce to end the violence.
The discovery of a 3,000-year-old pyramid-shaped mausoleum in Kazakhstan has gone viral over the past 24 hours, with several media outlets proclaiming the structure to be the world's first pyramid. But archaeologists say the structure, which contains a series of five walls that gradually get higher toward the center, is not nearly as old as these news reports claim.

The mausoleum is 6.6 feet (2 meters) high and about 49 by 46 feet (15 by 14 m) long, said Viktor Novozhenov, an archaeologist with the Saryarka Archaeological Institute at Karaganda State University in Kazakhstan who helped excavate the mausoleum. "It's made from stone, earth and fortified by slabs in the outer side," Novozhenov told Live Science. A number of media outlets that reported the discovery did not include the size of the structure, which, compared to Egypt's royal pyramids, is very small.

While the exact age of the structure is uncertain, it likely was built during the late Bronze Age, more than 3,000 years ago, Novozhenov said. This is more than 1,000 years after the Egyptians built the step pyramid of Djoser, Novozhenov said, so it is not the "world's first pyramid." [In Photos: Egyptian Pyramid Predates Giza Landmark]

The mausoleum's burial chamber had been robbed, although graves found near the mausoleum yielded the remains of pottery, a knife and bronze objects, Novozhenov said. Before the mausoleum was robbed, it would have held the burial of a clan leader, and not a pharaoh as has been stated in some online accounts of the discovery, Novozhenov said.

The design of the mausoleum, with its five walls that gradually get higher, is similar in some ways to the step pyramid of Djoser, built about 4,700 years ago at the site of Saqqara in Egypt, Novozhenov explained. The Djoser pyramid, which is far larger than the recently discovered Kazakhstan mausoleum, has six layers piled on top of one another to form a flat-topped pyramid.

Story continues

While the mausoleum isn't the world's first pyramid it is nevertheless an interesting find said Novozhenov who notes that a lot more work needs to be done. "We need a lot of additional analyses and hard work for interpretation."

Novozhenov said that excavation of the mausoleum is being led by Igor Kukushkin, who is also from the Saryarka Archaeological Institute at Karaganda State University in Kazakhstan.

Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2016 / North American Cannabis Holdings, Inc. (USMJ) in conjunction with Puration, Inc. (PURA) and IJJ Corporation (OTC:IJJP) today released an update to the previously announced joint project to launch a residential treatment facility for U.S. Veterans with chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that includes cannabis (THC and CBD) as a treatment option. USMJ's subsidiary, the American Seed & Oil Company and IJJP originally entered into a partnership last year to build the residential treatment facility on a targeted property in Vermont. Various red tape issues bogged down the Vermont initiative. The project has recently been renewed and refocused toward a targeted property in the Southern Front Range Region of Colorado.

Since the launch of the original initiative, USMJ has spun-off a cannabis extraction operation into the independently listed PURA which recently announced a $1 million collaboration agreement with Colorado based Spanish Peaks ScrumpDelicacies that includes the buildout of operations in the Southern Front Range Region. PURA is a natural addition to the USMJ and IJJP partnership. Spanish Peaks has also committed to build into its revenue model a percentage of sales to be dedicated to the ongoing operation of the U.S. PTSD treatment facility. USMJ and PURA both plan to explore with future customers securing commitments similar to Spanish Peaks dedication of a percentage of sales.

USMJ has also recently secured new business opportunities in Colorado that furthermore make Colorado a synergistic fit for the U.S. Veterans PTSD treatment facility. USMJ last week announced entering a $20 billion market signing a $1 million licensing agreement in Colorado with Rocky Mountain High Restaurant Group.

Since entering into the original partnership, IJJP has undergone a major overhaul of its entire business which is just now coming to fruition with the Company imminently coming current with the OTC Market Current Information reporting requirements.

USMJ CEO, Steven Rash and IJJP CEO, Clifford Pope are both wartime veterans. Through their respective personal commitments, the two have maintained the U.S. PTSD treatment facility project as a priority over the past year and actively worked to cut through and ultimately bypass red tape issues.

The Treatment Facility plans include the use of cannabis as an option in the treatment protocol as well as resident participation in an education program teaching organic and sustainable farming skills that emphasize organic cultivation.

To learn more about IJJ Corporation: http://ijjc.com/index.php/project-news/active-projects.

To learn more about Puration: http://www.purationinc.com

Follow Puration on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Puration710

Visit Puration on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/puration/

To learn more about North American Cannabis Holdings: http://www.growusmj.com.

Follow the Company on Twitter: https://twitter.com/US_HEMP

Follow the Company on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/USMJ-1619086738345351/?fref=ts

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and as such, may involve risks and uncertainties. These forward looking statements relate to, among other things, current expectation of the business environment in which the company operates, potential future performance, projections of future performance and the perceived opportunities in the market. The company's actual performance, results and achievements may differ materially from the expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements as a result of a wide range of factors.

CONTACT:

Steven Rash

Phone: +1-972-528-0162

Email: Info@growusmj.com

SOURCE: North American Cannabis Holdings
By Joachim Dagenborg

ARENDAL, Norway (Reuters) - Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said she saw some advantages if Britain joined the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) after quitting the EU, qualifying past doubts about British membership.

Solberg also said in an interview with Reuters that Britain's 65 million people would radically change EFTA, which now comprises Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein with a combined population of just 14 million.

Prime Minister Theresa May is undecided about her country's future role in Europe after Britons voted to leave the European Union in a June referendum.

One option could be to join EFTA, which Britain helped found but quit to enter the EU in 1973, though it is far from clear that is a path that Britain wants to follow.

"It's easy to see some advantages of British membership. It's a big country with a big economy," Solberg said.

But that benefit of more clout also means Britain might demand conditions that would mainly help it - rather than its putative EFTA partners - when negotiating trade deals.

"Some countries will probably think it's fine to have a free trade deal with us (EFTA), but won't necessarily think that it's equally simple to have a free trade deal with Britain," she said.

EFTA has about 30 free trade deals with nations including Canada, Chile, Morocco and Singapore.

Solberg cited farming as one example of a possible conflict of interest. Britain exported food and drink worth 18 billion pounds ($24 billion) in 2015 while Norway imposes high import barriers to protect farmers in a country that stretches into the Arctic.

"I don't think that the EFTA path is necessarily the way Britain should be interested in going," she said.

She said her Conservative Party was in "continuous dialogue" with their peers across the North Sea led by May, whose first weeks in office have been dominated by a debate over the terms and timing of Britain's divorce from the EU.

Story continues

Overall, Solberg's comments were less sceptical about British membership than shortly after Britain's vote, when she stressed that it would "change the balance of power in EFTA".

That variable picture has parallels within the EU, where Germany has held out the prospect of granting Britain a special status in its post-Brexit relationship while France has pushed for a more hardline approach.

Within EFTA, all member countries have to approve new members, giving each a theoretical veto.

"It would be wrong to flag a veto or no veto now, and I believe anyway that we will find good solutions to these problems," Solberg said.

She said it was important for all countries to set out their national interests in the debate. "Then all must be prepared for anything, if it turns out that Britain joins EFTA," she said.

Alongside being members of EFTA, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein also have free movement of goods, services and people with the 28-nation EU. Switzerland is outside that deal.

($1 = 0.7599 pounds)

(Writing by Alister Doyle; editing by John Stonestreet)
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GettyImages 143210146

Dana Perino, a Fox News host and former White House press secretary for President George W. Bush, offered a blunt assessment of the 2016 race on Twitter on Wednesday night.

Perino, who has been critical of GOP nominee Donald Trump, said that she wanted to get "a few things" off her chest.

The conservative personality then said in a spate of tweets that she "will not lie" to her fans and say that the Republican Party has a good chance of doing well in the November election.

"I won't do it," she wrote. "No amount of peer pressure digital or otherwise can move me."

Perino said "the future of this party is at risk" and that she wouldn't be a party to the "delusion" that polls don't matter. She was likely alluding to her Fox News cohost, Eric Bolling, who tried to argue that Trump's large crowds are a more important predictor of success than polls.

Trump has been down in nearly every national poll for weeks and is down in several of the key battleground states.

Read Perino's tweetstorm:

Getting a few things off of my chest cold: When it comes to political analysis, I make you a promise - I will never lie to you.  Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 18, 2016

Many of you write, wanting me to tell you GOOD things about the gop chances this year. I wish I could do that. But I WILL NOT LIE TO YOU.  Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 18, 2016

In 2012, I fell for "the polls are wrong" mantra. I felt sick election night, realizing I'd been suckered into a fall sense of complacency.  Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 18, 2016

Romney was not going to win in spite of the "rigged polls" - and I vowed that night that I would NEVER EVER fall for that again  Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 18, 2016

The Dems start with 242 electoral college votes to win. They need 270. Even I can do that math - it isn't hard.  Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 18, 2016

Sure there are 11 weeks to go and a lot could change. I expect the polls to tighten a lot after Labor Day. But you can't win a general...  Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 18, 2016

...Election with the current state of campaign. Think of how fast 11 weeks goes. Nov 8th will be here before you can buy any Xmas presents.  Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 18, 2016

Some of you call me Debbie Downer, Negative Nancy, or even Pollyanna. I've been called a Pragmatic Snob (is there such a thing?)  Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 18, 2016

But I will not lie to you about the state of this race. I won't do it. No amount of peer pressure digital or otherwise can move me.  Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 18, 2016

So I'm going to keep being a voice that says yes on the one hand but not the OTHER FREAKING HAND, the future of this party is at risk.  Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 18, 2016

Maybe you want the party to be at risk. maybe it SHOULD be at risk. But I won't be a party to delusion that crowds > established polls  Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 18, 2016

And with that, I'm taking NyQuil, sniffing some Afrin, and GOING TO BED WITH JASPER! (peter is away on business!!)  Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 18, 2016

NOW WATCH: Watch the RNC audience boo Ted Cruz for not endorsing Trump





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Statues of a veiny, naked Donald Trump appeared in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Cleveland and Seattle on Thursday morning.

Anarchist group INDECLINE took credit for the statues, releasing a video of the process of creating the bright, unflattering images of the Republican presidential nominee. They titled the project The Emperor Has No Balls, a play on the idiom "the emperor has no clothes," and highlights the part of Trump's anatomy that is missing from the artwork.

Photo Credit: @jamesmichael

Passerbys began tweeting images of the statue on Thursday morning, with the one in New York's Union Square getting the most attention.

"Like it or not, Trump is a larger-than-life figure in world culture at the moment," a spokesman for the group told The Washington Post. "Looking back in history, that's how those figures were memorialized and idolized in their time - with statues."

The artist who created the statue is named Ginger, and he has designed monsters for haunted houses and horror movies. "When the guys approached me, it was all because of my monster-making abilities," Ginger said in an interview with the Post about how INDECLINE reached out to him for the four-month project. "Trump is just yet another monster, so it was absolutely in my wheelhouse to be able to create these monstrosities."

Read more: Trevor Noah Jokes Donald Trump "Has Hired the Suicide Squad" With New Campaign Staffers
By Krishna N. Das and Serajul Quadir (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Bangladesh's central bank have agreed to withdraw additional payment security measures put in place after one of the world's biggest cyber heists, the theft of $81 million from Bangladesh Bank's account at the Fed, two sources said. The decision comes after SWIFT, the global financial messaging platform, promised in May to strengthen security on software tools used by its clients and to develop new tools that would spot a compromised account and raise a red flag when a payment instruction deviates from normal patterns. The decision was taken at a meeting in New York this week between officials from Bangladesh Bank, the New York Fed and SWIFT, said a source close to Bangladesh Bank who has direct knowledge of the matter. They have agreed on a tentative timeline to withdraw the additional security measures but the source declined to give details. "(The New York Fed and Bangladesh Bank) want to use (only) SWIFT for secure communication," said the source, declining to be named as he was not authorized to brief the media. "We are talking about normalizing our communication channels as soon as possible." The New York Fed declined to comment. SWIFT could not be immediately reached. In early February, hackers used stolen Bangladesh Bank credentials to send three dozen SWIFT messages to transfer nearly $1 billion from its Fed account, eventually managing to route $81 million to a bank in the Philippines. Most of the money was laundered through casinos in Manila and remains missing. Following the heist Bangladesh Bank initiated a new protocol under which the Fed could only clear any SWIFT request from Dhaka after a voice authentication. Fed officials had to call one of two or three Bangladesh Bank officials whose voice samples were shared with the Fed. A senior Bangladesh Bank official in Dhaka, who declined to be named, said more time was needed "to improve the system" before moving back to a SWIFT-only transfer mechanism. Both sources said the New York Fed wanted to do away with the additional measure as it delayed genuine transfer instructions. SWIFT has told Bangladesh Bank its system was secure and that the Asian bank needed to tighten its own defenses to prevent criminals from hacking into their computer systems. Bangladesh Bank spokesman Subhankar Saha said he was not aware of the agreement and would comment only after the bank's delegation came back from the United States. The three parties that met in New York this week said in a statement on Wednesday that officials discussed "certain technical details" of the heist to enhance their understanding of how the fraud occurred, as well as "steps that have been and will be taken to remediate the event." The Bangladeshi delegation also requested the New York Fed put more pressure on the Philippines' Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) to recover the rest of the stolen money, said the source close to Bangladesh Bank. The funds were routed to four accounts at that bank before they disappeared into casinos in the city. Since the heist, the New York Fed has launched a 24-hour hotline for emergency messages from its banking clients. In June, it also wrote to the Philippines' central bank, prodding it to help Bangladesh Bank retrieve the lost money. Bangladesh Bank officials believe the nudge from the Fed was one of the reasons the Philippines central bank this month slapped a record fine of 1 billion pesos ($21 million) on RCBC in connection with the heist. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer in New York; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and David Gregorio)
By India Today Web Desk: You might be familiar with Germany's famous Oktoberfest, which is conducted every year to celebrate the country's beer. And you might never have heard that North Korea, a country which is politically famous for all the wrong reasons, loves its homegrown beer. So much so that the country's capital is now witnessing their first ever beer festival!

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Yes, the so-called 'Oktoberfest of the North' just started in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and its focus is to familiarize the public and tourists with their local brews, including Taedonggang. For those who don't know, the Taedonggang beer factory was founded by the former leader of DPRK, Kim Jong-il.

According to a report in The Guardian, the festival is being conducted despite the United Nations' sanction against the country, which limits its access and activities. The festival is taking place near an illuminated floating restaurant, and can hold about 700 people at once.

Also read: Jamie Oliver is on a Super Food journey across Korea



The festival invites people to drink from 7pm up till midnight for the whole 20-day period, and it's already pulling a large crowd. The public is served all the varieties of local brews by waitresses in blue and white uniforms, especially Taedonggang, which is supposed to be one of the best beer varieties produced in the peninsula.

The fest is taking place near a floating restaurant in Pyongyang. Picture courtesy: Instagram/ianseogyong

Taedonggang has an alcohol content of 5% and tastes a bit like British ale. Till a few years ago, this brand wasn't available beyond Pyongyang. But with increasing nation-wide distribution and all the focus during this beer fest, sales are expected to rise along with Taedonggang's popularity.

While this particular beer fest is going rather well, another one is already in the cards. The second beer festival is scheduled to start in September, and this time it might actually clash with the real Oktoberfest, which will start on 17 September.



--- ENDS ---
EDGARTOWN, Mass. (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama next month will make what is expected to be his final trip to Asia, a region at the center of his administration's foreign policy, to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders, the White House said on Thursday. During his time in the White House, Obama has sought to "rebalance" America's defense and economic policy to counter China's rising influence. During the trip from Sept. 2-9, Obama will attend the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, where he will also meet privately with Xi, the White House said in a statement. He also will travel to Laos to participate in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit and East Asia Summit, where leaders have grappled with China's territorial claims in the South China Sea. Obama will be the first U.S. president to visit Laos. He will have a bilateral meeting with Laos President Bounnhang Vorachith and attend a town hall with young leaders, the White House said. The trip will also be a chance for Obama to promote the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, a key part of his Asia strategy that he hopes the U.S. Congress will approve before his term ends on Jan. 20. Trade deals and their impact on U.S. manufacturing jobs have become a hot-button issue in the Nov. 8 presidential campaign. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump both oppose the TPP, and congressional approval is uncertain. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
(Reuters) - Britain's energy regulator Ofgem has proposed scrapping some 185.4 million pounds worth of power and gas projects due to be undertaken by National Grid, it said on Thursday. Ofgem, which sets the amount of cash which is granted to National Grid to improve and maintain the country's electricity and gas distribution networks, launched a review into some transmission projects in May. Its biggest proposed cutback to National Grid's budget relates to a 168.8 million-pound Avonmouth gas pipelines project, which it says are no longer needed. It also proposes reducing Grid's allowance by 38.1 million pounds for electricity transmission works. However, Ofgem is allocating an extra 21.5 million pounds to help National Grid manage additional supply and balancing services on Britain's high-voltage network as the country moves to a low-carbon economy, it said. Ofgem said it was consulting on its proposals and would take a final decision this autumn. (Reporting by Oleg Vukmanovic in Milan; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
* Steely pair claim Japan's first badminton title * Denmark's hopes of first title in 20 years crushed (Adds details, quotes) By Ian Ransom RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi showed nerves of steel to outdo a formidable Danish pair in the women's doubles final at the Olympics on Thursday and claim their nation's first badminton gold medal. The top-ranked Japanese had to fight for every point against the determined Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl and dug themselves out of a huge hole to win 18-21 21-9 21-19 in a thriller at the Riocentro. Trailing 19-16 in the decisive game, their title hopes seemingly shot, Matsutomo and Takahashi digged deep to claim five successive points, closing out the match and crushing Denmark's hopes of a first badminton title in 20 years. "We thought that we would lose but we were trying to get at least one point to surprise them," said 24-year-old Matsutomo, her eyes still shining after being mobbed by Japanese media. "Of course we are so happy to win the gold medal but more than that we put in our best effort. "Winning the gold medal was definitely the goal but more than that we fought until the very last moment. "That was the greatest thing." Winning a furious final skirmish at the net, Matsutomo and Takahashi slumped on the court in relief, having gone one better than compatriots Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa, the London silver medallists in the event. Unseeded veterans Pedersen and Rytter Juhl grabbed Denmark's first medal in women's doubles and a seventh in Olympic badminton since the sport's debut in 1992. But they were crushed to have let the gold slip through their fingers. "We were not thinking that we'd already won this final," 30-year-old Pedersen told reporters, her exhausted partner slumped in a chair. "But of course we had our chances. "My dream right now is to go back, play again from 19-16. But we feel that we did the best we could. We have never been so tired as we are right now." The Danes ended China's 20-year dynasty in the event by knocking out the country's world number two pair in the semi-finals. But it was the Japanese who reaped the rewards. "We are happy that we were able to break something that the Chinese doubles (players) had been building up," said Matsutomo. "But the Chinese built the history until now. And we would not be here now if it wasn't for them." In a major surprise, China bowed out without a medal in the event, with Tang Yuanting and Yu Yang slumping to a 21-8 21-17 loss to South Korea's Jung Kyung-eun and Shin Seung-chan in the bronze medal playoff. (Editing by Nina Chestney)
* Germans handle gusty conditions to clinch gold * First women's Olympic title for Germans * Walsh Jennings takes bronze, to go with three previous golds (Adds quotes from Germany and Brazil players) By Stephen Eisenhammer and Brad Haynes RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 17 (Reuters) - German beach volleyball duo Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst took gold in the early hours of Thursday, beating Brazil in gusty conditions to win their country's first female Olympic medal in the sport and silence the partisan Copacabana crowd. The Germans used the wind and their height advantage, with Walkenhorst's dominance at the net proving too much for Brazil's Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas as they won 21-18 21-14 in the final that ended past midnight. They were the second Brazilian team to lose on a night of heartbreak for the home crowd after America's Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross beat Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes to take bronze. Bednarczuk and Seixas, world champions and playing on home sand, started out as favourites but the Germans quickly showed they would not be cowered by the odds or the hostile crowd. "We worked on how to be self-confident even with this crowd," Ludwig said after the match. "The Brazilians were really loud, even I had goosebumps, it was really special." The wind picked up just before the final, swirling around the temporary 12,000-seat arena and making playing conditions difficult. But the Germans dealt much better with the wind, serving three aces while the Brazilians faulted five times. "There was a storm coming and I thought let's take this storm and make our own storm," Ludwig said. The Brazilians were crestfallen not to win the country's first female beach volleyball gold since 1996, but admitted the Germans had been the better team. "It was not good for us when the wind started," Bednarczuk said, explaining that they had struggled to adapt to the gusty conditions. "They deserved the gold medal today." Earlier on, Walsh Jennings and Ross came from a set down to clinch the bronze. Walsh Jennings, the sport's most successful player with three gold medals, dominated at the net during the second and third sets as the Americans overpowered Brazil's Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes 17-21 21-17 15-9. For Walsh Jennings, it was not the fourth gold medal she had cherished, but she leaves Rio having lost only one Olympic beach volleyball match during her career, Tuesday's semi-final against Bednarczuk and Seixas. Walsh Jennings made six blocks during the match, four of them coming in the final set, as the American showed her experience to keep cool in front of the partisan crowd that booed every U.S. serve and cheered the early Brazilian lead. (Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes/Greg Stutchbury)
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 17 (Reuters) - A Brazilian judge on Wednesday lifted an injunction on the federal and city government using public money to help finance the organization of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Federal judge Guilherme Couto de Castro said the block on transfers of public money could seriously disrupt next month's Paralympic Games, for which organizers have said they still need additional funding. Brazil's Presidential Chief of Staff Eliseu Padilha announced on Aug. 4, the day before the Rio Olympics' lavish opening ceremony, that the federal government would provide 120 million reais to the organising committee and the city of Rio would make a further 150 million available. The judge said that failure to disburse the funds would mean that the Rio 2016 organising committee would not be able to make payments to national Paralympic organizations for travel, food and uniforms, making it impossible for some countries to participate. The judge said that his order to unblock the funding did not overrule a previous court's decision to require organizers to disclose their revenues and spending. Last week, judge Marcia Maria Nunes granted a request by prosecutors to freeze the transfer of public funds unless the accounts were made public. (Reporting by Rodrigo Viga; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
By Amy Tennery RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Hungarian kayaker Danuta Kozak fought off a fearsome pack of competitors to defend her Olympic title in the women's K-1 500 metres final on Thursday. Kozak, 29, claimed the fifth Olympic medal of her career and her second gold of the Rio Games in one minute 52.49 seconds, 1.82 seconds faster than silver medallist Emma Jorgensen of Denmark. New Zealand's Lisa Carrington, who won gold in the women's kayak single 200 metres on Tuesday, uncharacteristically struggled throughout the race. Carrington, who languished behind much of the pack at halfway, battled back to claim bronze in the final stretch. Thursday's field featured five different Olympic medal holders. Maryna Litvinchuk, a member of Belarus' 2012 bronze medal-winning K-4 team, took fourth place and Germany's triple medalist Franziska Weber was fifth, while five-time Olympic medalist Inna Osipenko-Rodomska of Azerbaijan finished last. Kozak, who also took gold in Tuesday's women's K-2 500 metres, will seek a rare triple gold in the sport, returning on Friday for the K-4 500 metres heat. (Reporting By Amy Tennery in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Brian Homewood)
By PTI: Washington, Aug 17 (PTI) Scientists have developed new windows made of transparent wood that could provide more even and consistent natural lighting and keep houses cooler than glass.

Led by Liangbing Hu of University of Maryland (UMD) in the US, researchers showed that their transparent wood provides better thermal insulation and lets in nearly as much light as glass, while eliminating glare and providing uniform and consistent indoor lighting.

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The transparent wood lets through just a little bit less light than glass, but a lot less heat, researchers said.

"It is very transparent, but still allows for a little bit of privacy because it is not completely see-through," said Tian Li from UMD.

"We also learned that the channels in the wood transmit light with wavelengths around the range of the wavelengths of visible light, but that it blocks the wavelengths that carry mostly heat," said Li.

The teams findings were derived, in part, from tests on tiny model house with a transparent wood panel in the ceiling that the team built.

The tests showed that the light was more evenly distributed around a space with a transparent wood roof than a glass roof.

The channels in the wood direct visible light straight through the material, but the cell structure that still remains bounces the light around just a little bit, a property called haze.

This means the light does not shine directly into your eyes, making it more comfortable to look at.

Transparent wood still has all the cell structures that comprised the original piece of wood. The wood is cut against the grain, so that the channels that drew water and nutrients up from the roots lie along the shortest dimension of the window.

The new transparent wood uses theses natural channels in wood to guide the sunlight through the wood.

As the Sun passes over a house with glass windows, the angle at which light shines through the glass changes as the Sun moves.

With windows or panels made of transparent wood instead of glass, as the Sun moves across the sky, the channels in the wood direct the sunlight in the same way every time.

Working with transparent wood is similar to working with natural wood, the researchers said. However, their transparent wood is waterproof due to its polymer component.

It also is much less breakable than glass because the cell structure inside resists shattering.

The process for making transparent wood starts with bleaching from the wood all of the lignin, which is a component in the wood that makes it both brown and strong.

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The wood is then soaked in epoxy, which adds strength back in and also makes the wood clearer. The team has used tiny squares of linden wood about 2cm x 2cm, but the wood can be any size, the researchers said.

The research was published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials. PTI MHN SAR SAR

--- ENDS ---
By Mitch Phillips RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Alistair Brownlee won the Olympic triathlon in dominant style on Thursday, outrunning brother Jonny in a British 1-2 to become the first to retain the title and underlining his position as the greatest-ever exponent of the swim-bike-run sport. Jonny, 26, third in London four years ago, went one better to take silver after being outkicked by his 28-year-old brother in the heat of the concluding 10km run, with Henri Schoeman taking the bronze, South Africa's first medal in the sport since it was introduced in 2000. The brothers delivered a textbook performance after coming out of the 1.5km sea swim off Copacabana beach and controlling the 40km bike leg. They then surged clear on the 10km run, defying the heat, with Alistair walking across the line with a Union Flag held aloft. "Every day has been so hard. I have woken up in pain every day." said the champion, who underwent extensive ankle surgery last year. "We knew the first two laps on the bike would be crucial. The last few weeks we have been training to commit and boy we did. "As soon as we got to half way I knew we were going to get two medals and it was just a run for it. "I was pretty confident we would get first and second but I didn't know which way round it would be. I just had the edge on Jonny but he has killed me in training every day. "We have been pushing each other to the max. Jonny had the edge and I wasn't sure I would win, I knew had to go through hell and I did. "I knew the gap was big and I had a chance to enjoy it, I will probably never get the chance again." Slovakian Richard Varga, as expected, led the field out of the 1,500 metre sea swim off Copacabana beach but the Brownlees were right behind him. South African Richard Murray and Spain's Mario Mola, expected to be among the main challengers, were almost a minute back, with their chances already virtually over. The Brownlees took the initiative in the lead pack of 10 bikes, driving hard up the first steep hill on the first lap of eight, and never looked back. By the halfway mark on the bike, the chase group were 73 seconds adrift and out of contention. Despite baking heat, the Brownlees continued to drive up the two climbs from the front of the group, asking questions of their rivals that none have previously been able to answer. The lead group stayed together into the second transition but within the first few metres of the run the Brownlees and Vincent Luis forged clear. After the first of four laps, however, the two Britons were clear and it was going to be another of the family duels that has been their bread and butter for just about all their lives. The brothers worked hard to hold off the effects of the heat having both suffered in previous races, but by the 5km halfway mark they had forged 13 seconds clear of Schoeman. They then ran shoulder to shoulder before Alistair stamped his authority on the race by diving clear on the third lap. (Editing by Brian Homewood and Neil Robinson)
As the anticipation builds for the upcoming The Birth of a Nation, the writer, director and star of the film is coming under fire as a past rape case has re-emerged.

Read: JonBenet Ramsey Investigators Reunite, New Witnesses Emerge in Documentary About Her Murder

All the buzz about the movie, which is about Nat Turner's famous slave revolt, is now being dampened by the explosive story that when Parker was in college at Penn State he was accused but later acquitted of raping a fellow student in 1999.

Parker and his college roommate Jean McGianni Celestin went to trial.

Celestin, who co-wrote The Birth of a Nation with Parker, was convicted of sexual assault but that verdict was later overturned. Both men testified it was a consensual encounter.

The victim spoke out in 2002 in an interview for a story about campus rape.

"I won't go on campus. I won't go to Walmart or the grocery store by myself. I wont even go shopping alone," she said.

After filing charges against the two students, who were members of Penn State's wrestling team, she says she was harassed by people who heard the story.

"Im in my hometown and I can't even feel safe. I'm in my hometown and I can't even go anywhere alone or without being fearful, she said in the local news interview.

Tragically, the victim took her own life in 2012 at age 30.

Her brother, identified as Johnny, spoke to Variety recently, saying she committed suicide by an overdose of sleeping pills.

She became detached from reality, Johnny said. The progression was very quick and she took her life.

On Tuesday, Nate Parker posted a statement on Facebook, saying: I have never run from this period in my life and I never ever will. Please dont take this as an attempt to solve this with a statement. I urge you only to take accept this letter as my response to the moment.

Parker also added: "I myself just learned that the young woman ended her own life several years ago and I am filled with profound sorrowI cant tell you how hard it is to hear this news. I cant help but think of all the implications this has for her family."

Story continues

Fox Searchlight paid $17.5 million to acquire The Birth of a Nation at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Read: Pregnant Through Rape, Women Are Forced To Share Child Custody With Their Attackers

The film company released a statement about Parkers past, saying they knew of the situation.

Fox Searchlight is aware of the incident that occurred while Nate Parker was at Penn State. We also know that he was found innocent and cleared of all charges. We stand behind Nate and are proud to help bring this important and powerful story to the screen.

In the wake of the scandal, a street artist known as Sabo has been plastering doctored images of the films poster around Los Angeles with the phrase Rapist? replacing The Birth of a Nation under Parkers head which is being hung by an noose made from the American flag.

'Birth of a Nation' poster altered to read "Rapist?" by prolific street artist https://t.co/wm0WartZfE pic.twitter.com/GscmYUQLDW  Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 17, 2016



Watch: Ex-Fox News Reporter Arrested on Rape and Forcible Sodomy Charges: Cops

Related Articles:
Pakistan's military said Thursday it had killed at least 11 militants in air strikes in a restive tribal region near the Afghan border as part of an ongoing offensive.

The latest operation in the Khyber district came just after the military said it had killed at least 14 militants in the same area Tuesday.

"Eleven terrorists were killed and four others injured when eight terrorist hideouts close to the Afghan border were destroyed in precision air strikes and synchronised ground operations," the military said in a statement.

The army offensive took place in the mountainous terrain of Babar Kachkol, Naray Nao and Tor Sapar areas of Khyber.

The conflict zone is remote and off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to verify the army's claims, including the number and identity of those killed.

Khyber is one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal districts where the military has been fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants for over a decade.

Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency since 2004, following the US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in 2001 and the subsequent spillover of militants into its territory.

The army launched the "Zarb-e-Azb" operation in June 2014 in a bid to wipe out militant bases in North Waziristan tribal area and so bring an end to the bloody insurgency that has cost thousands of civilian lives.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2016 / Pancontinental Gold Corporation (PUC-H.V) ("Pancon Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed the acquisition of the Jefferson Gold Project located in South Carolina, United States, first announced on May 25, 2016.

The acquisition has been completed pursuant to the purchase agreement with Firebird Resources Inc. ("Firebird") (FIX.V), Pageland Minerals Ltd. ("Pageland") and Appalachian Resources LLC ("Appalachian") dated May 20, 2016, and Pancon Gold has acquired a 100% interest in the high-potential, advanced exploration stage gold project (the "Jefferson Gold Project" or "Jefferson").

In 2011, Firebird and Pageland drilled a total of four holes at Jefferson with very positive results, providing a base for establishing a significant gold resource. All four holes encountered mineralization, with the best hole averaging 1.27 grams per tonne over 539 feet (164.3 metres) - true width unknown. The drill hole details for all four holes were included in the Company's news release of May 25, 2016.

The Jefferson Gold Project is located within one of the most significant historic gold trends in the United States. It contains the nearby Haile Gold Mine, which is less than 7 miles (12 km) from Jefferson. Haile is currently being developed by Oceanagold Corporation and is expected to begin production in 2017, according to Oceanagold's website.

Also on this trend is the former Brewer Gold Mine, which was last mined in the 1980's and 1990's and forms the western border of Jefferson Gold Project. The region also includes the former Ridgeway Gold Mine, about 35 miles (56 km) away, which was a 15,000 tons per day open pit mine operated by Kennecott Minerals and produced in excess of 1.6 million ounces of gold from 1988 to 1999.

The Jefferson Gold Project consists of over 1,500 acres under lease from private landowners who own the surface and sub-surface mineral rights. Jefferson is along a nearly continuous northeast-striking structural trend of hydrothermal alteration and gold mineralization. The mineralized footprint of Jefferson is similar in magnitude to the footprints of the Haile and Ridgeway mines. Jefferson contains multiple drill targets within a mineralized trend over 1.2 miles (2 km) wide.

Story continues

Pancon Gold has engaged the services of Dr. Dennis LaPoint, PhD, LGeo, to manage the exploration programs at Jefferson. Dr. LaPoint, who originally assembled the Jefferson property package, managed and was responsible for the 2011 exploration program at Jefferson and was the QP when the assay results were originally released in Firebird's March 1, 2012 press release. Pancon Gold is currently reviewing the historic data and is planning for an effective staged drilling and exploration program to develop an initial gold resource at Jefferson. The initial drilling by Pancon Gold will commence in the 4th Quarter of 2016 following a financing, subject to regulatory approval including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Dr. Dennis LaPoint is a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" and has approved the technical information contained in this news release. Dr. LaPoint is not independent of Pancon Gold, as he is a consultant of the Company. Dr. LaPoint has verified all the technical data in this release.

As consideration for acquiring the 100% ownership in the Jefferson Gold Project, Pancon Gold agreed to pay and issue:

to Firebird and Pageland, in aggregate, cash totalling $100,000 ($30,000 was paid on May 25 and a further $70,000 paid on closing), and 1,000,000 common shares (issued); and,

to Appalachian, 1,000,000 common shares (issued).

In addition, Pancon agreed to settle Firebird's and Pageland's lease arrears with the private landowners of approximately USD $183,000.

The common shares of Pancon Gold issued pursuant to the Jefferson Gold Project acquisition are subject to a resale restriction until December 18, 2016.

About Pancontinental Gold Corporation

Pancontinental Gold Corporation is a Canadian-based mining company listed on the NEX Board of the TSX Venture Exchange, trading under the symbol PUC.H. In 2015, Pancon sold its interest in its Australian rare earth element (REE) and uranium properties, formerly held through a joint venture, and retains a 1% gross overriding royalty on 100% of future production. Pancon Gold is now focused on the exploration and development of the Jefferson Project gold properties.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Rick Mark

President and Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact Mr. Mark at:

Email: info@panconu.com

Tel: (416) 293-8437

Fax: (416) 293-3957

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.



Cautionary Language and Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, including those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws.Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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SOURCE: Pancontinental Gold Corporation


Pekin Ibrahim has lost his respect over those who have questioned his FFM nominations.

18 Aug Actor and director Pekin Ibrahim has expressed his disappointment towards those who have questioned the nominations garnered by his directorial debut, ""Mat Moto: Kami Mat Moto Bukan Mat Rempit", for the upcoming 28th Malaysia Film Festival (FFM 28).



"Is my film that terrible that there are some who are asking if it should even be nominated for FFM? Did these people watch my film or are they just making assumptions based on the title?"



"Actually these are the kind of people who have thought me to be a 'fighter' and I am afraid that this attitude will eventually make me ruder than them," he was quoted as saying to mStar.



Added the 36-year-old, he has also lost respect towards those he had once idolised.



He also said that his first directorial effort is very close to his heart and it did not give a negative influence to audiences, in fact, it has indirect elements of religion in it.



Pekin however had expressed his gratitude that his film had received eight nominations for the event and thanked those who had appreciated his work.



FFM 28 is set to take place on 3 September at the Planery Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC).



Tomorrow, Pekin will be officiating his next movie "KL Wangan" which is a collaboration with car manufacturer, Volkswagen. He is also expected to unveil the cast members of the film at the press event.
By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf on Thursday nominated the state's inspector general to serve as interim attorney general until November's election, temporarily replacing Kathleen Kane, who resigned the post earlier this week after her conviction for perjury. Bruce Beemer, who previously served under Kane as first deputy in the attorney general's office, will have to be confirmed by the state Senate. Wolf said in a statement that he had already conferred with both Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate and expected a quick confirmation. Beemer would hold the job until a successor is elected in November for a four-year term, and then return to his role as inspector general. Kane announced her resignation on Tuesday, a day after a jury convicted her of leaking sealed grand jury material to a news reporter in an effort to embarrass a political rival. The move will likely end a brief stint as acting attorney general for Bruce Castor, whom Kane had hired as her second-in-command earlier this year. In a statement, Castor said the governor was fulfilling his duties under the law. "I will do all within my power to see that the office of attorney general is in the best possible shape for whenever the next attorney general arrives," Castor said. Castor, the former Montgomery County district attorney, made headlines earlier this year when he testified at a hearing for comedian Bill Cosby in his sexual assault case. Castor said he had agreed not to prosecute Cosby if the entertainer testified in a civil case brought by his accuser. But a court ruled Castor's claims were not enough to prevent the current district attorney from bringing charges. Kane's conviction, meanwhile, ended what had once been seen as a promising political career. Prosecutors said Kane believed former state prosecutor Frank Fina was behind a 2014 newspaper article that said she had abandoned a corruption investigation into Philadelphia officials. In an effort to take revenge, prosecutors said, Kane leaked sealed details about a separate investigation that Fina declined to pursue and then lied about having done so to a grand jury investigating the matter. Kane had portrayed the charges as politically motivated, after she revealed lewd emails exchanged among judges, state officials and prosecutors that she discovered while re-examining the Jerry Sandusky molestation investigation. Several officials, including two state Supreme Court justices, lost their jobs in the wake of the email scandal, dubbed "Porngate." (Reporting by Joseph Ax, editing by G Crosse)
Cable and streaming shows continue to make strides in the comedy categories, which have been the one bright area for the traditional broadcast networks when it comes to the Emmy competition. Its not particularly impressive for the broadcasters, but at least they havent been wiped out. For the male comedy stars, returnees Anthony Anderson of ABCs Black-ish and Will Forte from Foxs The Last Man on Earth are hoping that being on one of the big four doesnt hurt their hip factor when it comes to voters who seem to hold edgier shows and their stars in higher regard. Heres how I see this race going.

Anthony Anderson

Black-ish

ABC

Bucking the trend against network shows, Anderson made this category on his first time out last season as the sole nominee from ABCs Black-ish. This time he might have a leg up thanks to the increased presence of his show in other categories including Comedy Series. The fact that his series also has important things to say mixed in with the laughs wont hurt his chances here, and clearly the show is trending upward in its second season.

Aziz Ansari

Master of None

Netflix

Hes the one to watch. A triple threat in the Emmys this year, Ansari lands his first nomination for Season 1 of his very personal Netflix show, which also brought him additional nods in the writing and directing categories, a rare trifecta for a star in this category and one that should not be underestimated. With earlier Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations, Ansari was able to break through where other new shows havent, and the deep pockets of Netflix should help him campaign-wise.

Will Forte

The Last Man on Earth

Fox

Willing to do just about anything in his role as Phil Millerincluding wearing an outrageous hair styleForte grabs his second consecutive nod for Lead Actor; but unlike in the shows first season, he did not also receive recognition for his writing. Nevertheless, the Fox series seems to be gaining a dedicatedif not blockbusterfollowing, and Forte has been charming voters on the campaign trail which is always a good trait in a crowded field. The series found its groove in Season 2, which could help.

Story continues

William H. Macy

Shameless

Showtime

Remaining the one bright light at the Emmys for Shameless, this is veteran actor Macys third consecutive nomination for the series since it switched from drama categories to comedy. Unfortunately voters only seem to like him, as the innovative show never seems to gain much more traction than this one category. It doesnt hurt that Macy is widely admired by fellow actors and this is his 12th Emmy nod overall, with two previous wins (both for the TV movie Door to Door in 2003).

Thomas Middleditch

Silicon Valley

HBO

Now consistently one of Emmys favorites, Silicon Valley has garnered 11 nominations in its third season, but surprisingly Middleditch is the only actor from the great cast to make the grade. This is his first appearance in the Lead Actor category and first Emmy nod ever as Richard, the complicated center of HBOs strong comedy stalwart. Could the fact he is the only cast member to be recognized help him in the end with actors branch members who have only Middleditch on their ballot?

Jeffrey Tambor

Transparent

Amazon

In Transparents first season, Tambor took this prize after the veteran star had gone zero-for-six for his previous series. But in Maura Pfefferman, the transgendered matriarch of a dysfunctional family, Tambor has found his meal ticket to the Emmys with the perfect match of role and actor. The series has received 10 nominations in its second season which means a lot of love for the Amazon staple, and Tambor has enormous goodwill in the industry.

PETES PICK: Jeffrey Tambor. Emmys like to repeat, so Tambor should win again.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series

In a category where there are a lot of familiar names, the one standout could be Louie Anderson and his startling gender-bending turn as Christine Baskets in FXs oddly compelling comedy Baskets. He is returning to public consciousness in the role and could be the breath of fresh air the category is seeking. Two-time winner Tony Hale is the reigning champ from Veep, but he faces competition this time from castmate Matt Walsh in a crowded field of seven contenders. Andre Braugher, a veteran Emmy winner, has a shot again with Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but that show is losing momentum, it seems.

The over-the-top Tituss Burgess is back again for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, but if he didnt win last year, does he stand much a chance this time around against similar competition? Ty Burrell, a multiple winner here in the past, is the sole acting nominee in the supporting categories for long-in-the-tooth Modern Family. That leaves Keegan-Michael Key as various characters in the final season of Key and Peele, and he could have a good parting shot of a chance if voters watch their screeners.

PETES PICK: Louie Anderson. An irresistible choice.

Louie Anderson - Baskets.jpeg

The post was originally published August 18, 2016.

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By PTI: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Aug 18 (PTI) US President Barack Obama will travel to China next month to attend the G-20 Summit which will also be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This would be Obamas 11th trip to Asia after he became the US President in January 2009.

Two of these trips have been to India in November, 2010 and January 2015.

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"This trip will highlight the President?s ongoing commitment to the G-20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation as well as the US Rebalance to Asia and the Pacific," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement.

On the sidelines of the G-20 Summit, Obama among others is likely to meet Modi, which would be the eighth meeting between the two leaders after he became Prime Minister in May 2014.

While there has been no word of confirmation from the White House on this, Modi during his joint White House media interaction in early June had said that the two leaders would be meeting in China in September.

Earnest said, in China, Obama will participate in his final G-20 Leaders Summit, where he will emphasise the need to continue building on the progress made since 2009 in advancing strong, sustainable, and balanced global economic growth.

"He will underscore the importance of G-20 cooperation in promoting a level playing field and broad-based economic opportunity. The President will also conduct in-depth meetings with President Xi Jinping of China in Hangzhou, where the two leaders will discuss a wide-range of global, regional, and bilateral issues," Earnest said.

During his week-long Asia trip from September 2 to 9, Obama would become the first US President to visit Laos, where he will participate in the US-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit.

Additionally, he will have bilateral meetings with President Bounnhang Vorachith and other key officials to advance US-Lao cooperation on economic, development, and people-to-people ties, among other areas.

Obama will participate in the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative Summit, where he will hold a town hall meeting.

"During the ASEAN Summit, the President will discuss ways to strengthen our economic cooperation with the countries of Southeast Asia, which collectively represent America?s fourth largest trading partner and further enhance our collaboration on regional and global challenges," Earnest said.

"At the East Asia Summit, the President will coordinate with the regions leaders on efforts to advance a rules-based international order," he said.

The visit also will support Obamas efforts to expand opportunities for American businesses and workers to sell their products in some of the worlds fastest-growing markets.

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"Central to this effort is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the high-standards trade agreement that will unlock key markets to American exports and cement Americas economic leadership in the Asia-Pacific," Earnest said. PTI LKJ UZM

--- ENDS ---
MANILA (Reuters) - A Philippine court on Thursday released on bail a former branch manager of a Manila bank in a perjury case linked to the world's largest known cyber bank heist, police said.

Unknown criminals tried to steal nearly $1 billion from the Bangladesh central bank account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in February and succeeded in transferring $81 million to four accounts at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) in Manila.

Maia Deguito, a former manager of an RCBC branch in Manila, helped arrange the deposit and withdrawal of the money but says she was only following orders from her superiors and denies wrongdoing.

Deguito posted bail of a 6,000 pesos ($130) on Thursday, Makati police chief Rommel Mitra said.

Deguito also faces money laundering and falsification of documents complaints at the Department of Justice for opening five bank accounts at the bank branch last year.

She said a Manila-based Chinese casino junket operator had asked to open the accounts. The stolen funds were deposited in four of the accounts and ended up in casinos which are not covered by the anti-money laundering law.

Only about $18 million has been recovered.

Deguito's lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, said she had no idea who filed the perjury case.

"We have never heard about it until tonight," he told broadcaster ABS-CBN on Wednesday night after she was arrested. "This is pure harassment. Her rights were violated."

ABS-CBN said the perjury case was filed by former RCBC president Lorenzo Tan.

In April, Tan filed a civil complaint against Deguito alleging abuse of rights and defamation after she told a congressional hearing that Tan was aware of the opening of the five questionable accounts at her branch.

(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Nick Macfie)
MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has freed 12 communist guerrilla leaders, police said on Thursday, days before a new round of peace talks with the Maoist-led rebels resumes in Norway to end nearly five decades of conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people. New President Rodrigo Duterte has a reputation as an implacable and ruthless enemy of drug traffickers but he came to power after winning a May election promising to negotiate the end of long-running insurgencies. Talks brokered by Norway between the government and the rebels' National Democratic Front stalled in 2012 over the refusal of the government to free communist leaders who had been in jail for decades. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa told reporters the temporary release of the 12 by courts was a consequence of the president's peace offer and was "one of the most positive developments" in years. "They were only allowed to post bail," he said. "But they continue to face criminal cases in courts". Renato Reyes, secretary-general of the left-wing Bayan (Nation) group, which is allied with the communist movement, said the releases boded well and raised hopes the talks would begin on Aug. 22 "on a positive note". Among those freed were Adelberto Silva, Concha Araneta Bocala, Alan Jazmines and Tirso Alcantara. Alcantara, one of the country's highest ranking guerrilla leaders, was wounded in a firefight with soldiers five years ago. The rebels' top leaders, Benito Tiamzon and his wife, Wilma, are still in prison. Activists are holding a protest outside the national police office on Friday to demand the release of them and six others senior guerrilla commanders. Leftist lawmakers and human right advocates said the government is holding more 500 rebels in detention. (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Robert Birsel)
The Philippines received the first of ten coast guard vessels from Japan Thursday, the coastguard said, as the two countries boost security ties in the face of their separate maritime disputes with China.

The 44 metre (144 foot) BRP Tubbataha has arrived in Manila, the Philippines coast guard said in a statement, adding that it will be used for search and rescue, law-enforcement and transport purposes.

They did not specify where it would be deployed.

This is the first of 10 Philippine coast guard ships being built in Japan, supported by Japanese aid money, as the former World War II foes seek to boost defence ties in the face of growing Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

Japan -- the Philippines' top source of development aid -- said this month it would give Manila two additional patrol vessels, and that it was discussing the possible lease of surveillance aircraft.

Japan and China are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea. Manila and Beijing have overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

The Philippines has been seeking closer defence ties with Japan as well as traditional allies like the United States and Australia in a bid to boost its capabilities against regional giant China.

The Philippine military and coast guard are among the region's weakest.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his Philippine counterpart Perfecto Yasay last week called on China to observe the rule of law in settling maritime disputes.

This came after a UN-linked tribunal ruled in July that China's claim to most of the South China Sea was invalid, handing a sweeping diplomatic victory to the Philippines.

Beijing vowed to ignore the decision, and the Philippines and China have been preparing for direct talks to ease tensions.
Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) - A shocked Syrian boy pictured sitting in an ambulance covered in blood and dust after an air strike has become a symbol of civilian suffering in Aleppo, drawing worldwide attention.

As international concern mounted, President Bashar al-Assad's key ally Russia said it was ready to halt fire in the battleground northern city for 48-hour "humanitarian pauses" from next week.

The announcement Thursday followed pleas from the United Nations and the European Union for a halt in the fighting in divided Aleppo to allow aid deliveries.

But it was the haunting image of five-year-old Omran sitting dazed and bloodied in an ambulance that reverberated around the globe, much like the photo of little Aylan Kurdi whose body washed ashore on a Turkish beach last year.

Omran was pulled from the rubble after an air raid on Wednesday in the rebel-held district of Qaterji in the southeast of Aleppo, which has been devastated by the five-year war.

The Aleppo doctor who treated Omran's head wound said in an interview that the boy had been reunited with his parents and that his family were all believed to have survived the strike.

"Omran was afraid and astonished and he didn't cry because he was shocked," the surgeon named by the BBC as Dr. Mohammad said, adding that the child hadn't spoken a word.

"Omran had a lucky chance to spread his story over all the media but every day we have many children who have worse injury and sad stories. They maybe lost their lives or limbs, or many of them became paralysed," he said.

The US State Department called Omran "the real face" of the Syrian conflict.

"That little boy has never had a day in his life where there hasn't been war, death, destruction, poverty in his own country," State Department spokesman John Kirby said at a press briefing.

Photographer Mahmoud Rslan captured the image of Omran, who was plopped onto a seat in an ambulance after being carried out of his family's destroyed apartment by a rescuer.

Story continues

He has a head full of hair that falls into his eyes and is wearing a T-shirt and shorts, but with bare feet that barely reach the edge of the chair.

"I've taken a lot of pictures of children killed or wounded in the strikes that rain down daily," Rslan told AFP by telephone.

"Usually they are either unconscious or crying. But Omran was there, speechless, staring blankly, as if he did not quite understand what had happened to him."

- Aleppo stalemate -

Opposition-held neighbourhoods in Aleppo are frequently targeted by air strikes including barrel bombs dropped by regime helicopters.

Syrian and Russian aircraft have been carrying out intense air strikes this week on opposition strongholds across northern Syria to prevent rebels sending reinforcements to the city, a monitoring group said.

Regime aircraft continued to pound rebel positions across Idlib province on Thursday as well as parts of Aleppo province, it said.

Aleppo has been the scene of intense fighting since July 31, when the "Army of Conquest" alliance of rebels and jihadists launched a major offensive to break a regime siege of opposition-controlled districts.

But neither side has achieved a decisive victory despite hundreds dead on both sides.

In Geneva, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura cut short the weekly meeting of the humanitarian taskforce headed by the United States and Russia, in protest at the failure of warring parties to allow aid to reach civilians.

"Not one single convoy in one month has reached any of the humanitarian besieged areas," he told reporters.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov later announced that Moscow was "ready to implement the first 48-hour 'humanitarian pause' to deliver humanitarian aid to Aleppo residents" next week.

De Mistura welcomed the move and said the UN was counting on Moscow's help to ensure "the adherence of the Syrian armed forces to the pause, once it comes into effect".

The Syrian conflict has left more than 290,000 people dead and displaced millions since it began in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations.

Amnesty International said Thursday that Syrian authorities were committing torture on a "massive scale" in government prisons including beatings, electric shocks, rape and psychological abuse that amount to crimes against humanity.

More than 17,700 people are estimated to have died in custody since the conflict began, an average of more than 300 each month, the watchdog said in a report.
Pink Floyd will reissue Atom Heart Mother, Meddle and Obscured By Clouds on vinyl September 26th.

The LPs mark the latest batch in the British group's ongoing reissue campaign, which kicked off this summer with re-releases of their first four full-lengths: 1967's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, 1968's A Saucerful of Secrets and 1969's More soundtrack and Ummagumma double-LP.



Atom Heart Mother, Meddle and Obscured By Clouds were released in 1970, 1971 and 1972, respectively, and capture Pink Floyd on the cusp of superstardom. Atom Heart Mother, the band's fifth LP, notably became Pink Floyd's first Number One record in the U.K.

Meddle  a more experimental effort  also charted well, signaling the group's shift from psychedelic to a more progressive rock sound. Obscured By Clouds was originally recorded as the soundtrack for the French film La Vallee, which the band was asked to do just as they'd begun work on their 1973 follow-up, Dark Side of the Moon.

Along with the vinyl reissues of their early Seventies output, Pink Floyd will restock previously released vinyl editions of The Wall and The Division Bell starting August 26th. On November 11th, the band will also release a massive 27-disc box set, The Early Years 1965  1972, which will include unreleased outtakes and demos, TV appearances, seven hours of concert recordings, 15 hours of video (including concert performances, interviews and three feature films) and over 20 unreleased songs.



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JOHANNESBURG, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Oscar Pistorius' lawyers will argue that "enough is enough" when his case resumes in court on Aug. 26 to hear an appeal by state prosecutors against his six-year murder sentence on the grounds it is too lenient. In court papers filed by Pistorius' lawyers on Aug. 11 and seen by Reuters on Thursday, his defence team says it will argue "a continuation of this matter is inimical to the interests of justice, patently unfair and that enough is enough." The National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku said the case would be heard at the High Court in Pretoria next Friday before the original trial Judge Thokozile Masipa. Pistorius is not expected to attend the hearing. The Paralympic gold medallist was sentenced in July for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013. The state said last month it would appeal the jail term, which was less than half the 15 years it had sought. A Pistorius family spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment. The track star was treated in hospital for wrist injuries earlier this month, but prison officials said Pistorius denied trying to kill himself. The incident coincided with the first day of competition in the Rio Olympic Games. (Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Andrew Roche)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Oscar Pistorius' lawyers will argue that "enough is enough" when his case resumes in court on Aug. 26 to hear an appeal by state prosecutors against his six-year murder sentence on the grounds it is too lenient. In court papers filed by Pistorius' lawyers on Aug. 11 and seen by Reuters on Thursday, his defense team says it will argue "a continuation of this matter is inimical to the interests of justice, patently unfair and that enough is enough." The National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku said the case would be heard at the High Court in Pretoria next Friday before the original trial Judge Thokozile Masipa. Pistorius is not expected to attend the hearing. The Paralympic gold medalist was sentenced in July for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013. The state said last month it would appeal the jail term, which was less than half the 15 years it had sought. A Pistorius family spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment. The track star was treated in hospital for wrist injuries earlier this month, but prison officials said Pistorius denied trying to kill himself. The incident coincided with the first day of competition in the Rio Olympic Games. (Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Andrew Roche)
Its not easy being an indie standalone channel in the era of cord-cutting and too much TV. Participant Media learned that the hard way, moving in to pull the plug on its three-year old network Pivot TV, writing off a $200 million initial investment and further tens of millions in costs.

Cord-cutting continues to dominate investor outlooks, RBC Capital Markets Steven Cahall said this week. Pay TV providers cable, satellite and telcos  lost 665,602 subscribers in Q2, according to researcher Bruce Leichtman.

Their annual rate hikes have become risky as consumers, especially Millennials, warm to low cost alternatives including Netflix. Many cable owners fear that cord cutting and shaving will accelerate when they face planned live streaming services from Hulu and AT&Ts DirecTV  and possibly Apple.

These likely will have fewer channels than the traditional expanded basic pay TV bundle, and also cost less. Operators hope to compete by offering their own so-called skinny bundles, just featuring their most popular networks.

At the hight of cable and satellite services popularity, small, limited-appeal nets were considered safe when part of a network group featuring channels the cable and satellite providers had to have, which was used as leverage to secure carriage for the lower-profile nets. With the introduction of skinny bundles, that no longer is the case.

The danger is even bigger for small, independent channels as cable operators see their profit margins from TV slipping and want to cut costs. That has led to consolidation  for instance BBC America was acquired by AMC Networks which itself has been an acquisition target.

Some say Pivot TV was doomed from the start as Participant Media went into the indie cable network business without knowing how the market works. There were multiple attempts at a course correction via executive shakeups but nothing could save Pivot TV from going under.

Story continues

The squeeze is on these little channels, and its going to get worse, said media analyst Hal Vogel, head of Vogel Capital. My guess is this [Pivot] wont be the only one.

Viewers have a limited bandwidth of how many hours of TV they can watch a day. Additionally, the younger population is mobile and glued to the phone, Vigel said. They dont watch television as muchIts the move to mobile thats killing this [cable TV] economy.

Pivot TV has been targeting the elusive millennial audience. Observers have drawn comparisons to Current TV, which in its original incarnation also was after younger viewers, and the A+E Networks recently rebranded Viceland, which has had a hard time trying to take hold. After a long time on the market, Current TV was able to land a buyer, Al Jazeera, which shelled out $500 million. That network too eventually shut down.

This was the last network to sell for its distribution, an industry observer said of the Current TV deal. Participant Media also tried hard to unload Pivot TV but there were no takers.

While cord-cutting and Pivot TVs focus on Millennials are considered logical factors in its demise, not everyone is convinced.

You can call it the first casualty of cord-cutting, skinny bundling, OTT and delayed viewing phenomenon but thats too easy of an answer, an industry insider said. Maybe it was just a network that nobody needed. Maybe it couldve survived 25 years ago but not today. If your content is not something that is in demand, you are in trouble, and that is especially true if you are a niche network.

None of the series Pivot TV put on the air has made a mark.

Meanwhile, Adult Swim often dominates the adults 18-49 ratings. With its median age in the low 20s, those ratings are largely driven by Millennials.

Millennials are watching linear TV despite what people say, one observer said. Millennials are not abandoning linear TV, they just dont want to watch most of whats on linear TV.

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By Devina Gupta: Even as speculation is rife over the nominees to succeed the RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, the corridors in the Finance Ministry are abuzz with another nomination race.

Bureaucrats are scrambling to meet the Padma Awards nominees deadline of September 15.

"Right now recommendations are being sought from the Junior Ministers to give recommendations", a senior official told India Today

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Each Union Cabinet minister can nominate people from art, literature, education, sports, medicine, social work, public affairs, civil service, trade, science and engineering.

Sources have told India Today a top filmmaker who has graduated from FTII is in the race to be nominated by the Finance Ministry.

Interestingly, Padma Awards nomination rules were tweaked earlier this May to make the process more transparent. With emphasis on e-governance, the Modi Government has invited Padma Awards nominees through an online portal.

The idea is to ensure transparency during the selection process. But the bureaucracy used to dealing with direct letters of recommendation, the online system is proving to be a challenge.

"Since its first time, it's a bit confusing. Earlier they would send a letter attached with the person's name to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Now we need to first create an online account for each Minister, then type out a details of the candidate of their choice. Then get it checked from the seniors, its quite a drill", said a senior official.

While even citizens can nominate their favourites this year, the scheme is also open to artists to files their own nomination. The selection committee headed by Cabinet secretary with Home Secretary and Secretary to the President alongwith eminent persons. The final decision rests with the Prime Minister and the President who review the recommendations.

--- ENDS ---
By Marcin Goettig WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish prosecutors said on Thursday they had begun investigating whether the head of the constitutional tribunal exceeded his authority by not allowing three judges chosen by the ruling parliamentary majority to rule on cases. The inquiry marks another stage in the conflict between Poland's eurosceptic government and its top court. The conflict has already soured investor sentiment toward Poland, eastern Europe's biggest economy. "This investigation is at a very early stage. We are gathering documents and are exchanging letters with the constitutional tribunal," said Ireneusz Kunert, a spokesman for the regional prosecutor's office in the city of Katowice. The head of the constitutional court, Andrzej Rzeplinski, told state news agency PAP the investigation was as an "incompetent attempt" to encroach upon the independence of the judiciary. Earlier this year, prosecutors in Warsaw declined to investigate whether the refusal of the government to publish some verdicts of the constitutional court was legal. "Perhaps this investigation is a form of exerting pressure on the head of the tribunal, but I doubt it will impact actions of the court's head," said Piotr Kladoczny of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. Government spokesman Rafal Bochenek said that the decision of the prosecutor's office was independent. Since winning an outright parliamentary majority last year, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has passed several changes to the constitutional court's operational rules. The court ruled some of these change were illegal, but the government ignored the verdicts. Parliament also scrapped last year the previous parliament's nominations for five of the court's 15 judges and put forward its own candidates, which were immediately sworn in by President Andrzej Duda, an ally of PiS. The tribunal later ruled that three of the nominations of the previous party were legal and two illegal. PiS representatives said then that the process of the five new appointments had already been completed. Critics say the government's changes to the tribunal had undermined democratic standards and are part of a broader push to seize more control over state institutions, charges denied by PiS. (Additional reporting by Pawel Sobczak; Writing by Marcin Goettig; Editing by Larry King)
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Portola Pharmaceuticals said on Wednesday its investigational drug AndexXa did not get approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

AndexXa is being developed for patients being treated with a Factor Xa inhibitor when reversal of anticoagulation is needed due to life-threatening or uncontrolled bleeding.

Factor Xa plays a key role in blood coagulation.

The FDA also sought additional information related to manufacturing of the drug.

Portola is developing drugs related to thrombosis and other hematologic diseases.

Portola's shares fell 11 percent to $23.69 in regular trading on Wednesday, and a further 12 percent in after-hours trade.

(Reporting by Bhanu Pratap in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)
Aug 18 (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

* Cisco to cut 5,500 jobs as it restructures http://on.ft.com/2bfFF6b

* Sage employee arrested over data breach http://on.ft.com/2bfHy2G

* Cobham chief executive to step down after costly deal strategy http://on.ft.com/2bfFMyD

* UK jobs figures stronger than expected http://on.ft.com/2bfFMyS

Overview

- Cisco will cut 7 percent of its global workforce or up to 5,500 jobs as it restructures in what it called a "challenging macro environment".

- City of London Police said they detained a female employee of Sage Group at the airport on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. The woman may have been detained in relation to the data breach that hit Sage Group.

- Cobham has appointed a new CEO after reporting losses two weeks ago in the first half of the year. David Lockwood, who is currently chief executive of Laird, will replace Bob Murphy before the end of the year.

- The number of people in Britain claiming jobless benefits fell in July and the unemployment rate also held steady at an 11-year low of 4.9 percent in a sign of the labour market's resilience.

(Compiled by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Aug 18 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

- Hillary Clinton leaned into her plans to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans on Wednesday, denouncing Donald Trump's tax proposals as a boondoggle for billionaires. http://nyti.ms/2bkdfpX

- Pinterest has started selling video advertising. Video ads from brands like Kate Spade and bareMinerals will start appearing in the virtual scrapbook-like Pinterest feed on Wednesday and into the coming weeks. http://nyti.ms/2bkdsZX

- Facing high-profile withdrawals from online insurance exchanges and surging premiums, the Obama administration is preparing a major push to enroll new participants into public marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act. http://nyti.ms/2bkdRMg

(Compiled by Bhanu Pratap in Bengaluru)
It was the fashion sell-out of the year when the then- Kate Middleton wore a blue Issa dress to announce her engagement to Prince William back in 2010. Now the designer is back with an almost-identical version of the iconic dress for $175  a bargain considering the original retailed for $535!



Daniella Helayel, founder and former creative director of Issa, has launched a capsule collection with U.K. brand Monsoon featuring 13 of her glamorous wrap-style dresses, including the Gisele, which is strikingly similar to the Issa silk-jersey version that Kate wore six years ago for her first-ever televised interview.



 Want to keep up with the latest royals coverage? Click here to subscribe to the Royals Newsletter.



After dressing Kate for many years in the lead-up to the royal engagement, Brazilian-born Helayel sold the label to Camilla Al-Fayed (daughter of former Harrods boss Mohamed Al-Fayed) in 2013. The new capsule collection, which she describes as having a "wide appeal to every woman," marks her first foray back into the fashion world since then.













The Gisele style features the same plunging v-shape neckline, long sleeves and waist-accentuating design that Kate still favors today. Bringing back her signature floral and geometric prints, Helayel says the vintage-vibe dresses should make every woman feel her best: "I like to empower women so they can get on with their lives knowing they look fantastic!"
By PTI: Karachi, Aug 18 (PTI) Fourteen years after he killed his first wife, a Pakistani man has murdered his second wife by repeatedly stabbing her before slitting her throat with a knife, in the latest case of "honour killing" in the country.

Rahim Daad killed Farzana, 35, inside their home in Sindhs capital Karachi early yesterday, police said. Daad has been arrested and a knife was seized from him.

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He repeatedly stabbed Farzana before slitting her throat, Dawn reported quoting a top police official.

During interrogation, Daad confessed to murder his wife in the name of honour, the official added.

Early Wednesday night, the couple had an argument over some issue following which Farzana wanted to leave the house and Daad. In an ensuing scuffle, Daad took out his knife and killed her.

He stabbed her in the abdomen and then slit her throat.

The suspect had killed his first wife, a mother of three, citing that she too had shamed the family, the police said.

In Pakistan, the victims of "honour killings" are overwhelmingly women, with hundreds killed each year. The crime came under the international spotlight after social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was killed by brother.

Balochs murder sparked an international uproar forcing the Pakistani government to announce strict action against those involved in her murder.

Rights groups have for years called for tougher laws to tackle perpetrators of violence against women in Pakistan. PTI ABH AKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
Army ACH helmet

The US militarys iconic Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) that has seen combat for over a decade has been manufactured by an unlikely source: America's prison inmates.

Though the origin of this life-saving equipment may not be reason for concern, the processes and checks to ensure the integrity of each helmet should be  which is why a recent investigation from The Washington Post is cause for worry.

The Post's investigation revealed that a settlement of $3 million for defective helmets was reached between the Department of Justice and ArmorSource, an Ohio-based corporation that develops and manufactures ballistic helmets for military and law-enforcement personnel.

The official DOJ report that was released on Wednesday states that in 2006, the US Army approved a $30 million contract with ArmorSource to manufacture the ACH for soldiers. After winning the contract, Federal Prison Industries (FPI), a corporation that provides services and products made by federal inmates through a correctional program, was subcontracted from ArmorSource to begin production.

FPI, which also operates under the trade name UNICOR, then began production of these faulty helmets that were found to have degraded armor, which in turn failed ballistics-testing standards. A total of 44,000 of these helmets, many which were already seeing use in Afghanistan, were recalled in 2010 by the Army.

It is estimated that a total of 126,052 helmets were eventually recalled  equating to a $19.1 million loss. In addition to these defective units, The Post reports that an initial shipment of 23,000 helmets bound for the US Marine Corps was also held.

soldier

The investigation revealed that the helmets were scrutinized after finding them to be constructed using unauthorized or degraded materials that attributed to the helmet's deformities. Specifically, parts of the combat helmet were merely filled with dust and fragments of Kevlar, and many of the helmets serial numbers were altered or changed.

Story continues

The inspector general also found that there was a lapse in operational procedures that were directly attributable to the Department of Defense. The Defense Contract Management Agency, a DOD-operated component that works with contractors to ensure that supplies and services are properly handled, was discovered to have lacked the proper training to conduct an inspection of the helmets. Despite this insufficiency, inspectors submitted false reports that purported to have conducted these reviews.

According to The Post, no charges against ArmorSource or FPI were filed by federal prosecutors  citing a matter of policy, the DOJ declined to provide an explanation.

Having recently won another contract with the US Marine Corps for an order of 10,000 units, ArmorSource still remains a manufacturer of the militarys helmets today. Stating that the case's investigation was old, The Post reported that ArmorSource declined to make any additional comments.

NOW WATCH: The US military uses this tactic to get hundreds of troops onto the ground in a matter of minutes





More From Business Insider


(Yahoo Singapore photo: Safhras Khan)

REPORTING FROM BATAM



The main door of one house at a quaint neighbourhood in Batam, about a 25-minute drive from the ferry terminal, was unlocked.

Lights in the single-storey house in Taman Mediteranian were switched on while clothes were hanging on several laundry lines.

But no one was inside the house. A yellow police line taped around the fence was an indication that a crime investigation was taking place.

The house was where the alleged mastermind of the plot to launch a rocket attack on Marina Bay, Singapore, used to live.

Gigih Rahmat Dewa, the suspected leader of KGR@Katibah GR, a terrorist group linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and five others - Trio Syafrido, 46, Eka Saputra, 35, Tarmidzi, 21, Hadi Gusta Yanda 20 and M Tegar Sucianto, 19  did not manage to carry out the plot and were arrested by Indonesian authorities in Batam on 5 August.

A friendly and sociable person

Yahoo Singapore visited the Taman Mediteranian neighbourhood on Tuesday (16 August), and spoke to several of Gigihs neighbours. They were shocked by the relevation of his radicalisation and arrest - all of them refused to be photographed.



Gigih did not show any signs of being a potential terrorist and was a friendly and likeable person in the close-knitted community, they said.

Anjas, who goes by a single name, said that Gigih moved into the area in 2012 and appeared to be normal. The 42-year-old construction worker said that Gigih used to attend daily prayers at a nearby mosque and was often helping out during community events.

His movements are predictable. He will go to the mosque in the morning before leaving for work and he will come home in the evening. He is friendly and will always be around to gotong-royong (help as a community) whenever there was a cleaning up activity in the neighbourhood, said Anjas.

The police raided Gigihs house after he was arrested elsewhere, Anjas revealed. It was during the raid that he found out that Gigih has been under police surveillance since December last year.

Story continues

The police officers told me that they have been keeping tabs on Gigih and they were monitoring his house. It is scary to know that a terrorist leader has been staying among us for a long time, said Anjas, who moved into the neighbourhood in 2010.

More than 40 officers involved in raid

The house was empty but the lights inside were switched on. (Yahoo Singapore photo: Safhras Khan)

Around 8 am on 5 August, the tranquility of the neighbourhood was shattered by the presence of more than 40 police officers wearing riot gear and equipped with assault rifles.

Some of the officers took a battering ram to smash through the front door of Gigihs house. Freddy Siahan, who was appointed as the security officer in charge of the neighbourhood in 2007, said that he was present during the raid.

The 36-year-old assisted the officers to carry out the raid. He said that Gigih and his family were not home then.

Gigih was arrested somewhere else but the police raided his house to look for evidence. I participated in the raid and was responsible to ensure that local residents stay away from the house.

As of now, the house is abandoned and we are unable to enter the building as it has been cordoned off. But it is my duty that the house remains safe and no thieves can enter the place, said Freddy, who stays about 50 metres away from Gigihs house.

According to Freddy, the neighbourhood comprises 640 houses with about 1,000 residents.

Freddy agreed with his neighbours that Gigih was a friendly person. Gigihs wife works for a government agency and the couple have a daughter who is about two years old, Freddy said.

I am shocked. We talked a lot but he never discussed anything related to radicalism with me before, said Freddy, who moved into the neighbourhood in 2003.

Since the arrest, police have been stepping up patrols in the neighbourhood.

Residents concerned about business impact

Gigihs abandoned house is being monitored by Indonesian authorities. (Yahoo Singapore photo: Safhras Khan)

The raid has already led to a sharp decline in the number of tourists visiting Batam, most of who are from Singapore, Malaysia and other parts of Indonesia. The Batam residents have expressed concern about the impact on their livelihood given that the tourism sector is a major part of the local economy.

Mohammad, a 36-year-old businessman, pointed out that there has been a significant drop in the number of tourists on weekends.

Before the raid, it was difficult for me to book a hotel room for my business clients on a weekend. But now, the rooms are almost empty. I have no problem booking a room for my clients who were in town last weekend, said Mohammad, who was speaking to Yahoo Singapore at a cafe near the ferry terminal.

I had clients who cancelled their appointments to visit Batam as they were afraid there will be an attack soon.

Mohammad said the government must ensure that terrorist groups are dealt with quickly. He condemned these groups, saying that they are a disgrace to Islam.

Edison, who works in the tourism industry, said parents have to play a part in ensuring that their children are not exposed to radicalism. The father of four said that educating children from a young age is important, especially with the prevalence of the internet.

Although Edison was happy that the suspects had been arrested, he said there must be proof to show that the suspects were terrorists.

For now, people are saying that they are terrorists. But I do hope they are given a fair trial and punished only if they are found guilty, said Edison.
T. rex skull

Seattles Burke Museum took delivery of whats recognized as one of the finest Tyrannosaur rex skulls in the world today, but there are still more bones out in Montana to add to the treasure.

Well go back again, Greg Wilson, a University of Washington biologist who led the excavation team at Montanas Hell Creek Formation, told GeekWire at the arrival ceremony. Theres more in the hill.

Itll take more than a year to do the preparatory work on the skull and more than 50 other T. rex bone specimens that have been recovered over the past couple of months, including vertebrae, ribs, hips and lower jaw bones.

The haul so far appears to account for about 20 percent of the complete skeleton. That puts the Burke Museums set of fossils among the worlds top 25 T. rex finds, Wilson said. He told reporters that the museums T. rex skull will be the only one to go on public display in Washington state.

This is a huge discovery for the Burke Museum, science in general, and the state of Washington, he said as he stood alongside the flatbed truck that brought the plaster-wrapped skull to Seattle overnight.

Minutes after Wilson spoke, a forklift operator carefully raised the 3,000-pound-plus hulk off the flatbed, moved it onto a pallet, and deposited it in the museums loading dock.

The skull, still encased in rock and plaster, will go on display in the museums lobby on Saturday and stay there until Oct. 2. Then the Burkes paleontology team will go to work.

The museum expects to put the partially prepared skull on exhibit again next year for its annual Dino Weekend in mid-March, and then show off the specimen in its full glory by the time the museums new building opens in 2019.

Greg Wilson with T. rex skull at Burke Museum

Wilson and his colleagues already have figured out some of the T. rexs history. It was probably about 15 years old, close to full adulthood, when it died about 66.3 million years ago. That time frame would be 300,000 years before the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs (except for birds, which are considered the modern-day descendants of dinosaurs).

Story continues

Based on the size of its skull, the T. rex was about 40 feet long and 15 to 20 feet tall in life. Its hips would have come up nearly to the height of a city bus, Wilson said.

The discovery drew praise from Nathan Myhrvold, the CEO of Intellectual Ventures, who has conducted and supported paleontological research in the Hell Creek Formation. This is really great news.  The T. rex has always been my favorite dinosaur, and Im really pleased that this one is going to make its home at the Burke Museum, he said in a statement.

Veteran dino-hunter Jack Horner said the T. rex trove is definitely one of the most significant specimens yet found, and because of its size, is sure to yield important information about the growth and possible eating habits of these magnificent animals.

T. rex skull extracted

The initial find was made in May 2015, while Burke volunteers Jason Love and Luke Tufts were taking an exploratory hike through a little-traveled area of the Hell Creek Formation.

We came around a corner and saw some really big pieces of bone, Love recalled. Their interest grew when they noticed that some of the bones had the honeycomb appearance associated with big predatory dinosaurs like T. rex.

Confirmation of the find, and the excavation itself, had to wait until the professionals came onto the scene. Tufts and Love have been fossil-hunters since their college days, but theyre not trained paleontologists. Tufts is an accountant, while Love is a pathologist specializing in blood diseases.

We dont do any digging, we dont do any disturbing of the fossils, because were not the experts, Love explained.

T. rex honeycomb bone

The Burke Museum got into the act because it holds a permit from the Bureau of Land Management to conduct excavations on federal land in the Hell Creek Formation.

Wilson said examining the bones in the field was a long process, involving 30 to 45 people. Finally, during this summers field season, Wilson and his team removed more than 20 tons of dirt around the skull and the surrounding rock. At one point, a local rancher lent his hay bale loader to help lift the chunk of rock out of the ground.

During excavation, paleontologists exposed the right side of the fossilized skull from base to snout, including teeth. Researchers assume that the rest of the skull will come to light once additional rock is chipped away.

To honor the discoverers, Wilson said the specimen would be known as the Tufts-Love Rex. That kind of recognition tickled Tufts and Love, who have been dinosaur fans since childhood.

This is a big thrill for a couple of aging guys in their 40s, Love said.

Luke Tufts and Jason Love

More from GeekWire:
Raytheon Company RTN is set to manufacture launchers for the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile or NSM at its Louisville facility. The company builds Close-in Weapon Systems including Phalanx, SeaRAM and Rolling Airframe Missile launchers at the plant. This contract closely follows Raytheons deal with Kongsberg to construct the NSM launchers in Tucson, AZ.

RAYTHEON CO Price

RAYTHEON CO Price | RAYTHEON CO Quote

The contract also entails the final assembly, integration and test of the NSM at Raytheon's Tucson facility.



NSM is an anti-ship missile with a range of over 100 nautical miles. It has a greater capability to strike land and sea targets. Raytheon and Kongsberg believe that NSM is a perfect resolution for navies around the world as well as for the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Back in 2014, the U.S. Navy test fired a NSM from Independence-class LCS USS Coronado (LCS-4).



Lockheed Martin Corp.s LMT Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) and an improved version of Boeings BA Harpoon anti-ship missile are likely to pose competitive threat to the Over-the-horizon program.



Based in Massachusetts, Raytheon is one of the largest aerospace and defense companies in the U.S. with a diversified line of military products, including missiles, radars, sensors, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment, communication and information systems, naval systems, air traffic control systems, and technical services.



Q2 Performance at a Glance



Raytheon reported solid second-quarter results wherein it topped the Zacks Consensus Estimates on both the top and bottom line fronts. Further, the companys earnings and revenues improved 3.2% and 6.1% respectively, on a year-over-year basis. Apart from reporting a stellar second quarter, the missile maker raised its 2016 guidance for margins, operating cash flow, EPS as well as bookings.



Earlier this month, Raytheon secured a U.S. Navy contract extension to provide conversion, system overhaul and upgrade services as well as related hardware for MK 15 Close-In Weapon Systems or CIWS. This modification contract, worth $288 million, will include purchases for the Navy and foreign allies comprising governments of Turkey as well as Australia, under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Raytheon is slated to complete work under this contract by Dec 2022.



Raytheon has a distinct focus on its overseas business. The company has been witnessing a steady rise in international sales over the past few years. International bookings comprised 31% of total company bookings in the second quarter of 2016. International sales increased 8% in the quarter while 42% of the total backlog was from international customers.



Raytheon carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).



A Key Pick



A better-ranked stock in the defense space is Ducommun Inc. DCO, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).



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From Esquire

Charlie is taking a well-deserved break this week. In his absence, we'll be remembering some of his greatest hits from throughout this election cycle. Here is his takedown of the House Select Committee on Benghazi after Hillary Clinton's appearance before that body, originally published on October 23, 2015.

-The Editors

As a public service, I would like to give the voters of Alabama's Second Congressional District a preview of one of the campaign commercials they are going to see next fall, when Congresswoman Martha Roby is running for re-election. There is going to be a serious movie-trailer in-a-world musical introduction and then a clip of Ms. Roby thundering at Hillary Rodham Clinton, "I don't know why that's funny. Did you have any in-person briefings? I don't find it funny at allThe reason I say it's not funny is because it went well into the night when our folks on the ground were still in danger, so I don't think it's funny to ask if you're alone the whole night." And then, Martha Roby-Not Afraid.

Paid For By The Committee To Re-Elect The Clueless.

What you will not see is Hillary Rodham Clinton's finally breaking into the gale of laughter she'd been suppressing for about seven hours, and those members of the gallery still conscious enough to laugh guffawing right along with her. This is because if you watched the hearings in real time, you would realize, in context, that in her outrage, Ms. Roby looked like nothing more than an angry nun who'd reached for her ruler only to realize that someone had switched in a vibrator on her. It was that kind of day. It was that kind of night. Well, if nothing else, HRC's stalwart performance scared Lincoln Chafee right out of the presidential campaign.

Feel the O'Malleymentum!

Photo credit: Getty

I would like to take a minute to defuse one line of historical analysis that even kindly Doc Maddow fell partly victim to as the hearing finally wrapped up, and as Trey Gowdy returned to his office to fill in his Uncle Beldar on the events of the day. It was said by many people that one of the reasons that the hearing was such an embarrassment to representative democracy was that the overt partisanship set it apart from similar hearings into similar events, like the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983, or the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, or the bombings of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

Story continues

Partly because HRC and her partisans on the committee had been relentless in pointing out these events as precedents for how dangerous overseas work can be, an argument developed that these previous congressional investigations had been productive exercises in bipartisanship. There was an element of what the most excellent Digby calls "Tipnronnie" nostalgia to this argument that serves to obscure the fact that these investigations are always political.

As has been relentlessly argued ever since the issue of Benghazi, Benghazi!, BENGHAZI! was first raised, in the wake of the Marine barracks bombing in 1983, a Democratic congress launched an investigation that had no public hearings and that produced a bipartisan report that parceled out the blame. Nobody, it is said, tried to "politicize" the event. History does not necessarily indicate that this was a good thing.

President Ronald Reagan, who was only mildly called to account for his administration's negligence in protecting Marines in a city where the United States embassy already was bombed, went on to deflect the nation's attention by invading Grenada, and he and his national-security team were emboldened to launch in full the various covert enterprises that came to be known as the Iran-Contra scandal. Perhaps a little "politicization" of the investigation might have been a good thing.

[contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related Story" customtitles="The Committee to Keep Benghazi Alive" customimages="" content="article.39090"]

In fact, it is the congressional investigation into Iran-Contra that gives the lie to the nostalgia for the good old days of bipartisan investigation. The special committee chaired by then-Senator Daniel Inouye was intensely political, both on the surface and behind the scenes. Part of the reason that it became so politicized was that Inouye went out of his way to be fair and bipartisan. Among his other decisions, he refused to let the committee subpoena either President Reagan or vice-president George H. W. Bush, the latter of whom was able to duck responsibility for having been hip-deep in the scheme all the way into the White House himself. As Sean Wilentz writes in the Age of Reagan,

"A strong Democrat, but a patriot first, Inouye wanted to promote a sense of national unity as well as probity in this new time of trouble. Yet Inouye's aversion to conflict led him and his colleagues to commit tactical errors that helped stack the deck in favor of the White House and its unwavering loyalists."

What resulted was an inconclusive investigation that produced two remarkable (and very political) events-the glorification of arms-peddling, Iran-enabling Oliver North, and the minority report of the committee, written by Wyoming Congressman Dick Cheney, that was a blueprint for all the extraconstitutional atrocities that Cheney would commit between 2000 and 2009. Again, maybe a little partisanship would have led to different results.

The reason that Thursday's hearing looked so grotesque was not simply that it was a partisan dumbshow. It looked grotesque in the first place because what was being investigated was nothing. The Marine barracks really was destroyed. The Khobar Towers really did blow up. The Reagan administration really did sell weapons to the mullahs. What Gowdy and his merry band of meatheads was trying to find out already had been explained by a number of different investigations, and it still was unclear what Thursday's hearing was supposed to be getting at.

[contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related Story" customtitles="The Benghazi Committee's $4.7 Million Fishing Trip" customimages="" content="article.39099"]

The other reason is that, for two midterm cycles now, the Republican base has been sending lightweights to represent it in a federal government that the base has grown to hate. Say what you will about Cheney, in terms of partisan political warfare, the man is a heavyweight. Instead, we got Roby, inadvertently stumbling into a wilderness of punchlines, and Lynn Westmoreland, who appeared to be lifted whole from Sam Drucker's store and plopped behind the committee table, and angry red balloons like Mike Pompeo and Peter Roskam.

Even chairman Gowdy is in Congress only because Bob Inglis proved too much of a liberal for a district down in the home office of American sedition. The Tea Party people are electing each other now. The problem with Thursday's fiasco was not that it was partisanship per se, but that it was an obviously amateur theatrical.

Dear United States:

Please stop electing morons.

Sincerely,

America.

Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page.

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Dan Och

A multibillion-dollar hedge fund firm considered selling itself earlier this year amid a government investigation, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Och-Ziff Capital Management considered selling part of itself to other asset managers, including Pimco, according to The Journal's Sarah Krouse and Rob Copeland.

Joe Snodgrass, a media rep for Och-Ziff, told Business Insider that the firm is "not contemplating selling any part of the firm or any other strategic transactions."

The Journal's reporters first broke the news on Twitter:

Screen Shot 2016 08 18 at 1.29.01 PM

Screen Shot 2016 08 18 at 1.25.43 PM

Earlier this month, Och-Ziff's partners prepared to set aside $500 million for a settlement with the US government. Och-Ziff has been involved in an investigation about whether it knowingly paid bribes in exchange for an investment from Libya's sovereign wealth fund.

The firm said it had added $214 million in reserve for its ongoing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation, bringing the total reserve to $414 million, according to its second-quarter earnings call.

NOW WATCH: MALCOLM GLADWELL: Anyone who gives a single dollar to Princeton has completely lost their mind'





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From Cosmopolitan

Women are being jailed in America at a faster rate than men and now make up the fastest growing population in America's correctional system. That finding is according to a staggering report by the Vera Institute of Justice and the John D. and Catherine T.MacArthur Foundation's Safety and Justice Challenge, which has found that the number of women in jails has increased 14-fold since the 1970s, driven mostly by county jails. Fewer than 8,000 women were in jail in 1970. Today, there are nearly 110,000 women in jail.

Unlike prison, most of the men and women in jail are charged with criminal offenses and awaiting trial, and are therefore legallypresumed innocent. Like men, women in jail are disproportionately black and Latina, low-income, and charged with low-level offenses. While there is evidence that women receive "greater leniency" than men do in decisions pertaining to bail, custody, or release, the population of women in jail also face a distinct set of disadvantages, according to the report.

Due to the wage gap, women are less likely to be able to afford bail and associated legal fees than men. In fact, "nearly half of all single black and Hispanic women have zero or negative net wealth"

Furthermore, 79 percent of women in jail are mothers, and the report notes that, unlike incarcerated men, these women "are, by and large, single parents, solely responsible for their young children." This means that extended jail time for a woman likely has a devastating ripple effect on families, forcing children into foster care.

Women who enter jail are also more likely to be victims of sexual violence and report a higher rate of health issues than men prior to being incarcerated. A high percentage of these women - 86 percent - are victims of sexual violence and 77 percent report being victims of intimate partner violence. And a majority of them have been charged with low-level offenses "and tend to have less extensive criminal histories than their male counterparts." Eighty-two percent of women are in jail for nonviolent offenses.

Story continues

Women are also far more likely to be sexually assaulted in jail. Between 2009 and 2011, for example, women "represented approximately 13 percent of people held in local jails, but 27 percent of victims of inmate-on inmate sexual victimization and 67 percent of victims of staff-on-inmate sexual victimization," the report says.

Despite these statistics, there is very little research that examines why more and more women are ending up behind bars, or how to reverse this trend. Men continue to make up a majority of the population behind bars, and therefore many policies in the criminal justice system are designed with men in mind. The purpose of this report is to highlight the growing challenges that women face in the criminal justice system and seek to rectify them.

"Just as the misuse of local jails has been missing from the national conversation on criminal justice reform until recently, the exponential growth of women in jail has been ignored for too long," said Nicholas Turner, president of the Vera Institute of Justice. "This report is an important first step to recognizing this gap - which profoundly and directly affects families as well as the women behind bars - and reversing course on this alarming trend."

Follow Prachi on Twitter.
PALO ALTO, Calif.A few minutes into the conservative policy seminar, the economist John Cochrane made a point of clarification. This is not, he specified, advice for a Trump administration.

At Cochranes elbow, George Shultz, the former secretary of state, muttered, God help us.

Shultz, the Republican elder statesman and veteran of the Nixon and Reagan administrations, had spent the preceding months assembling a far-reaching book of policy recommendations on matters domestic and foreign on behalf of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He commissioned a decorated group of expertsmen and women with gaudy constellations of letters after their names, generals and ambassadors and national-security expertsto pen chapters outlining their vision for such topics as health-care reform, banking legislation, counterterrorism strategy, and the U.S. posture toward Asia. On Monday, the group summoned a group of reporters here for a special summit to unveil these policy ideasgrandly titled Blueprint for Americato the world.

Recommended: The Era of 'The Bitch' Is Coming

Hopefully, said John Cogan, a Hoover economist who wrote the Blueprint chapter on entitlements, these ideas will be picked up by some enterprising politician.

Hope springs eternal for the Republican Party-in-exile. The vast apparatus of right-wing policy, built up over decades and seeded with millions of dollars to promote a conservative vision, has never seemed more quaintly irrelevant than it does today. Despite various attempts to allude to the world beyond this leafy campus, an air of unreality hung over the proceedings. In a presidential campaign year in which no candidate seems remotely interested in the fine points of conservative policy, what was it all for?

The Blueprint calls for international free-trade agreements and a more liberal immigration system; it recommends reducing spending on Social Security and Medicare and promoting democracy and human rights abroad. Even as the Hoover scholars spoke, Trump was in Youngstown, Ohio, delivering an address on an altogether different vision of foreign policyone in which Americas interests are paramount and relations with allies are transactional, in which immigrants and their children are subject to what he termed extreme vetting.

Story continues

Other Republicans, like the partys Senate candidates and House leadership, are doing the best they can to make the Republican brand as inclusive as possible, noted Lanhee Chen, a former policy adviser to the presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio. But that, he lamented, could only go so far in an atmosphere dominated by Trump: So much is driven by the top of the ticketit just is.

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With the rise of Trump, institutions like Hooverthe sole public monument to the 31st president, who famously was blamed for exacerbating the Depression have come to seem like an alternate universe, created in the vain longing that reality were not so. In todays political climate, it isnt only these particular ideas that seem quaintits the very idea of having ideas at all.

And yet the intellectuals persist; what else can they do? Having formulated the Blueprint, there was nothing to do but release it, orphaned, into the world. Shultz recalled fondly a meeting at the Kremlin with then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at which a previous Hoover report came up for discussion. All of a sudden he attacks me for something in the book, Shultz recalled. And I said, Oh, my God, somebody read it! A lively discussion of markets ensued.

Chief among the many disturbances to the Republican psyche prompted by Trump is the realization on the part of many of the partys erstwhile mavens that their voters were not nearly as interested in their agenda as they previously believed. The party base proved, in this years primaries, not only willing to go along with a candidate who called many of its dogmas into question, but perhaps actively supportive of his heretical ideas. So much of what you read, whats in the political agenda, is just so wrong, Cochrane sputtered, exasperated. Its really frustrating. Immigration is good, and trade is good!

Recommended: What Michael Moore and Donald Trump Have In Common

But Republicans dont have anything they agree on anymore, as the conservative columnist Matt Continetti recently noted. There are Republicans who favor more foreign adventurism and those who favor less of it; those who would drastically shrink the government and those who would consider raising taxes; those who favor gay marriage and those who oppose it. (President Hoovers great-granddaughter, Margaret Hoover, is a pro-gay-marriage activist.) Nonpartisan analyses of Trumps tax proposals say it would explode the deficit, something of great concern to budget hawks like Cogan. But, judging by the candidates proposals, Im not sure theres agreement that a problem exists, he said mournfully.

The reporters attending the seminar, who represented major newspapers, television networks, conservative outlets such as National Review, and of course The Atlantic, kept asking versions of the same question. How, we wanted to know, could these ideas be made relevant to a skeptical public? Cochrane suggested that, given that people are angry, perhaps their sentiments could be redirected at more appropriate targets. We have to harness their justified rage, he said. The reason your students are getting a lousy education is that teachers unions have taken over the political system and are screwing your kids!

Many in the GOP have convinced themselves that Trump is an anomaly, a one-of-a-kind celebrity interloper whose nomination was a fluke. All that is necessary is to wait for the election to be over; then they can return to their regularly scheduled programming. It is as if the presidential campaign is a bad dream from which theyll soon awaken. When the seminar broke for lunch, the eminent scholars could be heard asking the political reporters, in bewildered tones, to explain the state of the campaign. The hope of institutions like Hoover, which are carrying on their business and preparing for the day that the party comes back to its senses, is that this too shall pass.

But in other quarters, there are heretical whispers. What if Trump has exposed something fundamentalthe hollowness of the partys old agenda, the troubling priorities of its most reliable voters? What if nobody wants the old-time religion of supply-side economics, or the neoconservatism that produced the Iraq war? Can there be any going back once that realization sets in?

At the days final session, the upcoming presidential debates were considered. An attempt was made by the moderator, Bill Whalen, to treat this campaign as a normal one. Who exactly is doing policy for Donald Trump? What does he have in his policy binder? he asked. Who is going to put ideas in front of him so that he can prepare? He put a series of questions to Chen and Kori Schake, a former National Security Council and State Department staffer under George W. Bush, trying to get them to imagine the contours of a Trump administration.

The experts seemed exhausted by the very thought of it. Schake, who has endorsed Hillary Clinton and signed a letter declaring Trump a danger to national security, expressed the hope that Trump would not only lose the election but lose it by a wide margin, in order to discredit his ideas. In matters of both policy and rhetoric toward minorities, Chen noted sadly, the party has taken steps back, not forward; its very discouraging to me personally.

Conservatives, Chen said, are already having discussions about next steps, forming institutions to revitalize the party and the movement. Trump has surfaced a number of things that Republicans are going to have to deal with after November 9, he said.

But before the party can fix itself, it must decide what ails it. After the election, Chen anticipates that this will be the first fight to break out. The establishment faction, he said, will insist that the problem was figures like Ted Cruz who fanned the anger of the grassroots. Others will blame the partys positions and advocate reorienting it toward a populist platform of protectionism and expanding entitlements. And others will say the policies are fine; its merely the tone that needs to be fixed.

Maybe the answer is that we wont agreewell always have this roadblock, he concluded.

A reporter asked whether Trump winning the election might speed the process of reflection, and Chen shook his head. All the soul-searching we need to do has been provoked already, he said. I would rather not see him win. Thats my view. The impetus is already there. Im not sure what ore is gained by four years of this. At the thought of that prospect, a shudder seemed to go through the room.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
(Updates to add detail on disputed products)

WELLINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - ResMed Inc said on Thursday it has filed legal action to stop the alleged infringement of its patented technology by New Zealand-based medical device manufacturer Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.

ResMed said in a statement it filed legal action with the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego, as well as courts in New Zealand and Germany.

ResMed is calling for an injunction banning importation of Fisher & Paykel Simplus full face mask, Eson nasal mask and Eson 2 nasal mask. It asserts the masks infringe ResMed's patents.

The masks, which provide continuous airway pressure, are used to treat obstructive sleep apnea, a condition where airways are blocked during sleep.

It is also calling on the court to invalidate patents that Fisher & Paykel recently asserted against ResMed, to declare that ResMed does not infringe those patents, or both.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare intends to "vigorously defend" the allegations, it said in a statement to the New Zealand stock exchange.

The move comes after Fisher & Paykel Healthcare filed patent infringement proceedings against ResMed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California earlier this week.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare argues that several of ResMed's breathing masks and air flow products infringe its patents.

The New Zealand company specifically cites the AirSense 10 and AirCurve 10 range of flow generator products, ClimateLineAir heated air tubing for use with such flow generator products and Swift LT and Swift FX masks.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Chief Executive Lewis Gradon said "we believe we have good and valid defences to the claims filed by ResMed and we will vigorously contest these claims. We are also confident in our infringement and validity positions with respect to our own patents."

ResMed global general counsel and chief administrative officer David Pendarvis said his company "is confident that when the courts hear all the evidence, ResMed will prevail on its case and defeat any claims asserted by Fisher & Paykel." (Reporting by Rebecca Howard; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Eric Meijer)
By PTI: New York, Aug 18 (PTI) A 12-year-old Pakistani-American special needs student was forced by a school here to sign a false confession stating that he was part of ISIS and wanted to blow up the school fence, according to a USD 25 million lawsuit filed by his family.

The Muslim family from Long Island has sued the East Islip Union Free School District for USD 25 million, saying their son Nashwan Uppal was taunted by his classmates as a "terrorist" and then was asked repeatedly by school officials if he was a terrorist, if he made bombs, if he knew who "Osama" was and if he was part of ISIS.

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The lawsuit, which was filed in Brooklyn federal court on Monday, claims Uppal, a Pakistani-American student, was sitting in the lunchroom of the East Islip Middle School on January 6 when other kids started asking him what he was going to "blow up next", the New York Post reported.

Uppal, who has severe learning and social disabilities, attempted to move to another table as adults in the lunchroom did nothing, according to the lawsuit, but the bullies followed him and continued their Islamophobic taunts.

The suit says, the next day, Uppal was pulled from gym class by Superintendent John Dolan, Principal Mark Bernard and Assistant Principal Jason Stanton, and interrogated.

"Stanton repeatedly asked Nashwan if he was a terrorist, and if he made bombs in his house," the suit says. When he said no, an increasingly irate Stanton allegedly bellowed, "Dont lie to us!"

A trembling Uppal was forced to write a confession saying he was "part of ISIS, knew how to make bombs, that he had bombs in his house, and that he was going to blow up the school fence," the suit alleges.

Officials eventually let him call his mother, Nubaisha Amar, who was told her son had pledged allegiance to ISIS and was going to blow up the school.

Police escorted mother and son back to their home before searching the entire house and concluding he was no threat. However, Uppal was suspended for a week for "criminal activity".

Attorney David Antwork said the boy was emotionally scarred.

"The defendants trampled on...Nashwans civil rights, berated and humiliated him by forcing Nashwan to confess to crimes which he did not commit while ignoring the fact that he was incessantly bullied and had known social, language and learning disabilities," Antwork was quoted as saying.

The lawsuit also claims that Uppal suffered from "severe and extreme emotional distress" including "nightmares, sleeplessness, crying, fear, humiliation and stress" as a result of the incident. PTI ASK AKJ ASK

--- ENDS ---
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Amid the turmoil engulfing Ryan Lochte and three other US swimmers over their mugging story, Rio organisers on Thursday gave them words of sympathy.

"Let's give these kids a break," said Rio 2016 chief spokesman Mario Andrada, who had earlier given a full apology for the supposed ordeal they had gone through in a gunpoint robbery.

The story has unravelled in a police investigation with reports of Lochte, Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and James Feigen in a fight at a Rio gas station.

"I do not regret having apologised," Andrada told a press briefing when asked whether he expected better behaviour from Olympians like six gold medal winner Lochte.

"I do not expect, no apologies from him or from the other athletes are needed.

"We need to understand that these kids were trying to have fun. They came here, they represented their country to the best of their abilities. They trained for at least four years and they competed under gigantic pressure," the spokesman added.

"I understand that this issue is under investigation. I cannot go much further into the details, but you know lets give these kids a break. Sometimes you take actions that you later regret.

"They are magnificent athletes, Lochte is one of the best swimmers of all times. They made a mistake, it is part of life."

On Sunday after the robbery reports started, Andrada told his daily briefing, "We apologize to those involved and regret that violence is an issue in these Games."
Ryan Lochte

A Brazilian police official has said American swimmer Ryan Lochte fabricated the story that he and three teammates were robbed in Rio, according to the Associated Press, and a gas station owner has accused the quartet of vandalism, according to Globo.com.

The official said swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, who were blocked from leaving Rio on a plane Wednesday, admitted during questioning that Lochte had made the story up.

According to a television report for the Brazilian publication Globo, the police are now saying the alleged robbery involving Lochte, Bentz, Conger, and Jimmy Feigen was actually confusion over a broken bathroom door at a gas station.

A second report from Globo.com, however, features a witness who says the swimmers intentionally vandalized the gas station after being accused of urinating on a sidewalk.

According to the first report, security guards at a gas station told the police the swimmers stopped at the station at about 6 a.m. and used the bathroom. The statements from the guards reportedly say that when the swimmers tried to leave, it was noticed that the bathroom door was broken, the taxi was ordered not to leave, and the police were called.

2016 08 18_11 33 15

The police official told the AP the swimmers couldn't open the door and broke it when they pushed it in.

The report says two of the swimmers fled the scene down the street and security would have then pointed a gun and shown badges to the other two swimmers to prevent them from leaving.

Here is a translation of the report from Google translate:

"The guards told in a statement to police that on Sunday at 6 a.m., the taxi driver stopped at the station with four men in the car. He recognized swimmer Ryan Lochte as one of the athletes who were in the vehicle.

"In testimony, he also reported that the manager was called to contain a confusion in the gas station funds. And when it came to the bathroom he found the soap dish, the paper, the information board and the damaged door. Then the swimmers went to the taxi, but the taxi driver obeyed the order of safety to await the arrival of the police, which was triggered.

Story continues

"Also according to the safety, swimmers showed aggressive, changed and clearly drunk. And in that moment, he presented the badge. Two athletes fled to the street, following the flow of vehicles. The security would have pointed, then the gun to prevent other two left the place."

However, the second report paints a slightly different picture. According to that report in Globo, the station's owner accused the swimmers of vandalism.

Here is the Google translation:

"According to the dealer, Ryan Lochte, James Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger came to urinate on the spot, despite appeals from officials for them to use the bathroom.

...

"Also according to the owner of the station, one of the athletes came to vandalize part of the establishment. They would have torn an advertising board after they urinated.

" It was pure vandalism  said."

The first report goes on to say (via Google translate) that the swimmers became "aggressive" when it took the police a long time to show up, adding that eventually somebody showed up to translate and the Americans offered cash to pay for the door and then left.

Security reportedly said in their report that the police did not show up to the gas station until the afternoon, seven hours later.

This report does seem to at least be consistent with large parts of what the swimmers say happened, including details such as being forced out of a taxi and somebody showing a badge and pointing a gun. It would seem that the language barrier also played a role and could have added to the confusion.

You can see video of some of the incident at Globo.com.

NOW WATCH: REPORT: Lochte's teammates told police he 'fabricated' the robbery story





More From Business Insider


Ryan Lochte said he was robbed at gunpoint after leaving Club France. (Reuters)

Medal count | Olympic schedule | Olympic news

RIO DE JANEIRO  Raked over the coals for months now, portrayed as a bumbling, corrupt, polluted cesspool of crime that never should have hosted the Olympic Games, the city of Rio de Janeiro and the nation of Brazil are punching back, hard  at American swimmer Ryan Lochte of all people.

Authorities here do not believe Lochte was mugged at gunpoint Sunday morning, as he has alleged in the media and in an interview with police.

They dont believe he and three fellow swimmers had their taxi stopped by robbers disguised as police. They dont believe they had guns drawn on them and they certainly dont believe an organized criminal crew like that would take their money but not their cell phones and jewelry.

Lochte captured one gold in a swimming relay here but because of past success, his looks and a willing participation in the Hollywood self-promotion machine, he is a big star.

His claims of a wild and dangerous night on the streets of Rio went global. Its the very headline that government officials dread, scaring off tourists and business investments alike. If four big, strong Olympic athletes arent safe riding in a taxi then who is? Your kids? Your employees?

Rio isnt taking this black eye quietly.

[Related: Report: Russian boxer who won controversial match wont fight again in Rio]

On Wednesday, a local judge issued an order to seize the passports of Lochte and fellow American swimmer Jimmy Feigen, essentially assuring they couldnt leave the country. He ordered them to be subjected to more questioning, citing inconsistencies in  and implausibility of  their stories of what happened that night.

Lochte had already left Brazil, though, flying back to the United States before the order was issued. He told NBC on Wednesday that no one told him he couldnt go and that he had offered full cooperation.

Feigen, however, was still in Brazil after not showing up for his flight. He told USA Today that he would cooperate. The United States Olympic Committee stated that the two other swimmers there that night, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, were removed from their flight to the United States [Wednesday night] by Brazilian authorities. A representative of the American consulate here was seen at the airport.

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This is a major show of force by the Brazilians, especially for what might be, at most, a falsified police report or perhaps some kind of lying to the police by Lochte and Feigen, one of whom already scurried home and the other was in the process of doing so.

Its believed neither Conger nor Bentz spoke to police or misled anyone and arent facing any potential charges. If so, the Brazilian government just pulled two passengers from an international flight so they could serve as potential supporting witnesses.

Thats how seriously Brazil is taking this.

And that is what has to concern all four of the people involved.

Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger of Team USA. (AP/Getty)

For the sake of argument, assume that the Brazilians are correct, Lochte is lying and there never was a robbery. There are massive holes in the story. The timeline doesnt match up. The inability of Lochte or the others to identify a taxi driver or a taxi company is suspicious. No driver has come forward to police, his cab company, anyone. Perhaps he was involved. Theres no telling, but the swimmers didnt call police or USOC officials at the time.

Then there is surveillance video obtained by the Daily Mail out of London of the four men returning to the athletes village at 7 a.m. Sunday. This was three hours after one of Lochtes stories said the incident likely happened. They are wearing jewelry, carrying cell phones and acting casually, not at all like someone who just had a gun pointed at them.

One sees that the supposed victims arrived with their physical and psychological integrity intact, even playing with each other, showing that there wasnt any psychological shock inherent to such alleged violence, a prosecutor said in a statement.

Still, even if Lochte, who has often acted impulsively, made up a story, this would hardly constitute a crime that would require such resources. If anything, its proof there is one less armed robbery gang out there. Yes, wasting the time and talents of police is a serious issue, but there are a lot of serious issues here in Rio.

This one has been deemed the most serious, though, because it picked at a beaten-down city and country. It played off the worst assumptions of a place that has been dragged through the mud.

It was four Olympic athletes, Americans no less, after a night of partying, finding a way to continue to sully Brazils image, in this case, the Brazilians believe, for no particular reason.

Yeah, Brazil is going to go to the wall to fight that.

[Featured: Greg Louganis explains why I thought I was going to die before 30]

The story of Lochte, Feigen and the others may still check out. Its certainly possible they were mugged. This is still Rio, like most major cities dangerous and unpredictable. The Guardian reported Wednesday night that a member of Britains Olympic team was held up at gunpoint, prompting British track and field officials to warn their athletes that its not worth the risk to leave the athletes village. Maybe Lochtes story is a bit embellished but still mostly correct.

Lochte doubled down on the basics of the incident in an off-camera discussion with NBC, which was relayed by Matt Lauer, although a few details were changed.

Why would they all make up the story? There are a million reasons. Why would Lochte almost bask in the attention from it, going to the media with this story? A million of those, too.

To NBC, after all, Lochte boldly claimed that in the face of an armed burglary in progress he refused to lay on the ground as commanded, and when a gun was pressed to my forehead and he said, Get down, and I put my hands up. I was like whatever. 

Now Lochte is telling NBC the gun was just pointed in his direction, not put to his head. Whatever, indeed.

Time will tell whether this story stands or unravels. This much is certain: On Wednesday authorities here believed it was all a hoax, another cruel attempt to make them and the city look terrible, incompetent and dangerous.

And this time they werent going to take it. Not from Ryan Lochte. No, for Ryan Lochte, theyre going to put everything they have into proving its the lie they believe it is.

More Summer Olympics coverage on Yahoo Sports:
Moscow (AFP) - Russia said on Thursday it was ready to halt fire for 48-hour periods in Aleppo from next week, following UN calls to extend humanitarian pauses to deliver aid.

"Russia's defence ministry is ready to support the proposal by UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura regarding the introduction of weekly 48-hour 'humanitarian pauses' (in Aleppo)," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

"We are ready to implement the first 48-hour 'humanitarian pause' to deliver humanitarian aid to Aleppo residents as a 'pilot project' already next week in order to ensure safe cargo deliveries to the city's civilians."

"Specific dates and times will be determined after information regarding the readiness of humanitarian convoys is received from the UN, as well as confirmation of safety guarantees from American partners," he said.

Russia last week declared it would hold three-hour pause in artillery fire and airstrikes daily around the ravaged Syrian city but the UN decried this as insufficient to help the approximately 1.5 million people in Aleppo.

De Mistura had insisted on a 48-hour halt, saying the logistics along mined and destroyed roads made access impossible in just three hours and endangered aid workers.

The special envoy welcomed Russia's support for his plan and called fur urgent action.

"Our plan is to collectively work out the operational details, and be ready for delivery as soon as possible," he said in a statement.

He added that the UN was counting on Russia to help ensure "the adherence of the Syrian armed forces to the pause, once it comes into effect".

He also urged "all those with access to or influence on the armed opposition, in particular the United States... to ensure that the armed opposition also respects the 48-hours humanitarian pause."

The EU on Thursday called for an "immediate halt" to fighting, as the UN said aid was not reaching the besieged residents desperate for food and care.

Story continues

"Not one single convoy in one month has reached any of the humanitarian besieged areas," de Mistura earlier told reporters in Geneva.

Russia has been carrying out an air strike campaign in Syria since September to help troops loyal to long-time Moscow ally Bashar al-Assad fight rebels and Islamist jihadists in the country.

Overall, more than 290,000 people have been killed and more than half the population has been displaced since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests that escalated into a brutal multi-front war.
Moscow (AFP) - A senior Muslim cleric in Russia has prompted controversy by urging universal female genital mutilation after a rights group released a report on the practice in the country's North Caucasus region.

Mufti Ismail Berdiyev, who heads a Muslim association for the North Caucasus region, said Wednesday that if FGM "could be applied to all women, that would be very good" in an interview with Interfax news agency.

The practice, which ranges from pricking of the clitoris to its complete removal, causes infections and loss of sensation.

The procedure has come under massive international scrutiny in recent years, with UN chief Ban Ki-Moon in 2014 launching a global campaign to end it.

Berdiyev, who was decorated by President Vladimir Putin in March, said FGM does not stop women from fulfilling their ordained role of motherhood and if all women were mutilated, "there would be less fornication".

- 'Compulsory ritual' -

He later retracted his comments, claiming that he had been joking and Islam does not call for FGM.

A controversial Russian Orthodox cleric and blogger, the Church's former spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin, backed Berdiyev saying that Muslims had a right to a "time-honoured tradition".

"You probably don't need to 'circumcise' all women, there's no need with Orthodox women as they don't fornicate anyway," he added.

The head of the health ministry's public health department Oleg Salagai insisted FGM is "mutilating and not positive in any way," quoted by RIA Novosti news agency.

Berdiyev spoke after rights NGO Russian Justice Group released a report Monday on the ritual cutting of young girls' genitals in some mountain villages in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan.

The report said that in Dagestan the practice has gone "without any attention whatsoever from the authorities".

"In Dagestan, most of society is still not ready to admit that this problem exists," it said, adding that FGM has "almost total support" in certain villages where it is seen as a "compulsory ritual" to control sexual desire.

Story continues

The group said it managed to talk to 25 women aged 19-70 who underwent FGM, who spoke of the pain and trauma of the operation.

UNICEF figures published this year indicate that some 200 million girls in the world are subjected to genital mutilation, 44 million of whom are younger than 15-years-old.

More than half of the total figure are living in Indonesia, Egypt and Ethiopia, though data is incomplete in many countries.
Pakistan had invited India for talks on Kashmir, saying it is the international obligation of both the countries to resolve the issue.

New Delhi told Islamabad that cross-border terrorism should be the focus of any talks between the two countries and that Pakistan has no right to address the J&K issue.

By Mail Today Bureau: Rejecting Pakistan's proposal to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks on Kashmir, New Delhi said cross-border terrorism should be the focus of any dialogue between the two countries. Responding to Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry's invitation, Indian counterpart S Jaishankar expressed his willingness to travel to Islamabad but maintained Pakistan has no locus standi to address any aspect of the situation in J&K, which is an internal matter of India, except to put an end to crossborder terrorism and infiltration.



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INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATION

The response was handed over to Pakistan by Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad Gautam Bambawale. "Since aspects related to cross-border terrorism are central to the current situation in J&K, we have proposed that discussions between the Foreign Secretaries be focused on them. We have also conveyed that Government of India rejects in their entirety the self-serving allegations regarding the situation in J&K, which is an integral part of India where Pakistan has no locus standi," the sources added.

Pakistan on Monday had invited India for talks on Kashmir, saying it is the international obligation of both the countries to resolve the issue. The invitation was extended amid tension in bilateral ties due to the war of words between the two nations over the issue.

RELEVANT ISSUES IN INDO-PAK RELATIONS

Last week, while reacting to a statement by Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz regarding the invitation, India had made it clear that it would talk on contemporary and relevant issues in Indo-Pak relations and at this time it included stoppage of Pak-supported cross-border terrorism.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup had said: "India would welcome a dialogue on contemporary and relevant issues in India-Pakistan relations. At this time it includes a stoppage of Pakistani support for cross-border terrorism, infiltration of terrorists like Bahadur Ali. Incitement to violence and terrorism across the border, parading of internationally-recognised terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin, and a sincere follow up on the Mumbai attack trial and the Pathankot attack investigation in Pakistan."



PAK-SPONSORED TERRORISM

India and Pakistan have been engaged in a war of words over the statements by Islamabad on the situation in Kashmir which is witnessing unrest following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. Wani was described as a martyr by Pakistan, which has also tried to globalise the Kashmir issue while India has been maintaining that Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the Valley is the root cause of the turbulence.

India will talk to Pakistan only on cross-border terrorism, not Kashmir



Also Read: Kargil diwas: Infiltration across border will increase as Pakistan is frustrated, says Lt General DS Hooda

--- ENDS ---
Authorities in Rio are currently investigating the validity of claims made by U.S. Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte, Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and James Feigen, who said that they were robbed at gunpoint last Sunday by men posing as police officers.

Police arrived Wednesday morning at the Olympic Village to take Lochte and Feigen's passports and gather further testimony from them about the reported robbery, said U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky. As the swimming portion of the Rio Games had come to a close, Lochte had already returned home to the United States. The USOC confirmed late Wednesday that Conger and Bentz had been removed from their return flights, while NBC News reported that Feigen had checked in online from the airport but never boarded his plane.



Sandusky and the USOC later released a statement saying, "Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were detained Wednesday night shortly before their flight was scheduled to depart from Rio. They were released by local authorities with the understanding that they would continue their discussions about the incident on Thursday. James Feigen is also communicating with local authorities and intends to make further statements regarding the incident on Thursday as well. We will continue to provide updated information as it is appropriate."

USOC statement regarding U.S. swimmers >>https://t.co/qz2c7CG04b  U.S. Olympic News (@USOlympicNews) August 18, 2016

WATCH: U.S. Olympic Swimmer Ryan Lochte Robbed at Gunpoint in Rio

On Wednesday night, Matt Lauer spoke with NBC Olympics anchor Bob Costas after interviewing Lochte over the phone from his home. According to Lauer, the 12-time Olympic medalist left Rio without knowing the police wanted to investigate his claims.

"[Nobody] in law enforcement, said, 'Hey, it would be a great idea if you stick around Rio while the investigation unfolds,'" Lauer said, recounting Lochte's recollection of the events.

Story continues

The Today show host also reported that Lochte had been surprised by the casual nature of the Rio police after the swimmers reported their story. Lochte also told Lauer that authorities never questioned his truthfulness, and even congratulated him on his performance at the Rio Games, where he won a gold medal in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay.

According to Lochte's original retelling of events, the four swimmers were taking a taxi after a night of partying when their cab was pulled over by men flashing police badges. He said the criminals then proceeded to brandish a gun, putting it to his forehead before making off with their money, but leaving their phones and Olympics credentials.

PHOTOS: The 2016 Rio Olympics in Pics

Brazilian authorities have stated that they have not found the driver of the taxi in question, and have raised other concerns regarding the validity of their claims.

According to Lauer, Lochte's story did change slightly during their conversation when the Olympian recounted the robbery.

"He didn't say he was pulled over by these people pretending to be police," Lauer reported, explaining that Lochte remembered the cab pulling into a gas station so the swimmers could use the bathroom. When they returned, Lochte told Lauer, the cab driver wouldn't pull away from the station.

That is when the criminals allegedly pulled them out of the car. And, unlike Lochte's previous claim that one robber put the gun to his head and cocked it, Lauer says the swimmer told him, "That's not exactly what happened."

"When he talked to me tonight, he said, 'That's when the guy pointed the gun in my direction, and cocked it.'"

NEWS: Michael Phelps Claims 28th Medal as Team USA Wins Gold in Men's 4x100M Medley Relay

Lauer concluded by sharing Lochte's response to speculation that he and his fellow swimmers made up the robbery to cover up some illicit activity or embarrassing behavior that would have possibly gotten them in trouble.

"He stopped me quickly and strongly denied that. He said, 'That's absolutely not the case. I wouldn't make up a story like this, nor would the others. As a matter of fact, we all feel it makes us look bad. We're victims in this and we're happy that we're safe,'" Lauer reported.

As for Conger and Bentz, NBC reports that the swimmers are currently being questioned by Brazilian authorities, and their lawyers, as well as a representative from the American consulate, have visited them at the police station.

Related Articles
UPDATED, 8:05 PM: The U.S. Olympic Committee has issued an apology for the scandal involved four American swimmers who claimed to have been robbed. The behavior of these athletes is not acceptable, nor does it represent the values of Team USA or the conduct of the vast majority of its member, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said. The statement comes as two of the swimmers  Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz  reportedly have left Brazil for home. No update on the status of James Feigen, the fourth swimmer involved in the case.

PREVIOUSLY, 1:20 PM: There was no robbery, Rio de Janeiros chief of civil police Fernando Velosa said today of U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochtes claim he and three other American Olympic swimmers were robbed at gunpoint over the weekend.

In the latest bizarre twist to the story that has completely hijacked NBCs Games coverage, U.S. medal counting, and talk of Lochtes brilliant post-Olympics endorsement future, the police chief said a security guard at a gas station did pull a gun on the athletes. But only after Lochte got particularly angry and unruly after gas station staff and guards tried to prevent them from leaving. They did so because the swimmers had vandalized the gas station bathroom, including breaking mirrors, and were trying to duck out without paying, Velosa indicated.

The police chief called the security guards behavior justified because he was dealing with four strong and intoxicated athletes. The security guard may have demanded money, several reporters concluded after hearing the police chiefs very disjointed explanation at his bizarre news conference.

The swimmers did give someone at the gas station money, which the police chief said was offered to pay for the damage.

Velosi said one of the American athletes has confirmed reports that a robbery did not occur. This backs up statements, Velosi said, that police have gathered from witnesses including someone who acted as translator during the incident between the English-speaking athletes and Portuguese-speaking gas station staffers. Some or all of the athletes could be charged, Velosi said, but would not elaborate. At the very least, the U.S. athletes owe the city of Rio an apology, he added.

Story continues

One of the athletes was really disturbed and he was actually kind of angry, so there is the use of this weapon to control one of them, the police chief said, later identifying that athlete as Lochte, who he said was very angry because he was intoxicatedhe was probably drunk.



During the news conference, one reporter told the police chief that an attorney for Lochte has accused him of creating a circus in the way this investigation has been conducted, which presumably includes the news conference.

Do you see a clown nose on my face now? Velosa shot back. That would be my answer. No, we dont have anyone here with a nose clown. What this attorney is saying deserves that kind of answer.

Brazilian police sources had told news outlets ahead of the news conference that Lochte and three other American swimmers made up their story about being robbed.

This in marked contrast to Matt Lauers report on NBC this morning, saying Lochte told him, We wouldnt make this story up, adding, according to Lauer, Were victims in this and were happy that were safe.

On Sunday, Lochte had told NBC News Billy Bush that a a man posing as a police officer pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and said get down. I was like (puts hands up) I put my hands up. I was like whatever. He took our money, he took my wallet.

Lochte claimed in that initial interview that the robbery took place in a taxi early that morning as they returned to the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro.

Two of the swimmers, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, subsequently were pulled off a plane at the Rio airport for further questioning from police, who had been having trouble corroborating the athletes claims. Lochte and the fourth swimmer in the group, Jimmy Feigen, had left Rio before police had ordered the men to stay while an investigation into the incident continued.

Conger and Bentz told police they had made up a story about being robbed at gunpoint, the Associated Press reported in advance of the presser, citing a local police source. The swimmers stopped at a gas station early Sunday morning to use the bathroom and broke the door when they were unable to get in, AP reported. A security guard confronted them; he was armed with a gun but did not take it out, that report said. The swimmers offered 100 reals and $20 to compensate for the damage, ABC News reported this morning, also citing an unnamed police source.

Lochte and the swimmers originally told police, and NBC, which is broadcasting the Rio Olympics, they were stopped in a cab and robbed by armed men posing as police. Lochte said one put a gun to his head, though he backed off that claim slightly, saying the gun was pointed at him but was not put at his head, in a Wednesday interview with NBC News Matt Lauer. Lochte told Lauer that the swimmers used a restroom at a gas station and when they got back to their taxi, the driver did not drive away. Thats when two men approached with guns and badges and told them to get out of the vehicle and down on the ground, Lochte said.

Lochte and the fourth swimmer in the group, Jimmy Feigen, had left Rio earlier this week, before police ordered the group to stay to continue the investigation.

United States Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky said today that all of the swimmers are represented by counsel, and being appropriately supported by the USOC and the U.S. Consulate in Rio.

Related stories

Olympics Ratings Hit New Rio Low For NBC, 'Superstore' Gets Big Bounce

Ryan Lochte To Speak With Matt Lauer In First Interview Since Rio Robbery Scandal

U.S. Swimmer Gunnar Bentz Details Events Leading To Ryan Lochte's False Robbery Claim
By Joachim Dagenborg

ARENDAL, Norway (Reuters) - Nearly a year after mobile operator Telenor (TEL.OL) announced it would sell its $2.5-billion stake in Vimpelcom (VIP.O), it is still planning how it will go about it, its chief executive told Reuters, underlining the difficulties of the process.

The Norwegian firm said last October that it planned to sell its 33-percent stake in company, which in February paid $795 million to settle a U.S. and Dutch probe into a bribery scheme in Uzbekistan.

Telenor has been in open conflict with Vimpelcom's other major shareholder, Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, over control of Vimpelcom, to the point where it became a diplomatic issue between Oslo and Moscow.

"We have hired financial advisers that are helping us to plan how our exit will happen but we don't know what the structure will look like. We are in a planning phase," Chief Executive Sigve Brekke said in an interview, declining to give further detail. JP Morgan is advising Telenor.

The process is difficult because Telenor has few options available, analysts said.

"The ownership structure in Vimpelcom has left Telenor with only one obvious buyer, Fridman's LetterOne, which leaves Telenor little bargaining power if they want to sell all-in-one," said Carnegie analyst Haavard Nilsson, who has a "Hold" rating on the stock.

"(And) there are only a limited amount of potential buyers, seeing as telecom is viewed a strategic asset in Russia," he said.

An alternative solution would be to split up Vimpelcom and sell the Russian business to a Russian telecoms company and then European operators could be interested in its other European assets, the analyst added.

Those European operations include Italian business WIND which is merging with 3 Italia, owned by CK Hutchison Holdings . to create Italy's largest mobile business.

In addition, Vimpelcom's price stock has languished, down 50 percent over the past two years and lagging the European telecoms (.SXKP) index up 4 percent over the same period.

Story continues

The Norwegian company began an aggressive expansion in Eastern Europe and Asia in the 1990s and was quick to enter growth markets when new licenses were put out for tender.

Brekke said the firm would take part in planned 2017 and 2018 spectrum auctions in Thailand, a market that made 14 percent of the firm's total revenues in the second quarter.

"We definitely want to be part of the next rounds," he said in an interview in the southern Norwegian city of Arendal. "We want to have more spectrum."

Bangkok plans to auction two new frequencies in 2017, of 2,300 megahertz (MHz) and 2,6000 MHz, and reauction in 2018 the 1,800 MHz band, which Telenor currently holds.

"It is of major importance, because demand for data in Asia is huge," said analyst Rapolas Peciulis at Norne Securities brokerage, who has a "Buy" rating on the stock.

"Successful participation in spectrum auctions is vital in order to maintain competitive position and catch up with the market trends."

(Writing by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Keith Weir)
Japan defender Atsuto Uchida is set to fly home on Friday to be treated by a specialist doctor after suffering with on-going knee problems, his Bundesliga club Schalke 04 confirmed.

The 28-year-old, who missed the whole of last season with injury, has been blighted by knee problems for two years and has been out since a relapse in April 2015.

Schalke will start their new Bundesliga season at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday August 27 without Uchida, who has made 74 appearances for Japan.

After a period of rehab in Japan, Uchida flew back to Gelsenkirchen last month to take part in Schalke's pre-season training, only for the injury to return and now he will fly east again to be treated by his specialist Japanese doctor.

"He arrived back here with a lot of hope and euphoria," Schalke's director of sport Axel Schuster told magazine Kicker.

"During our camp in Austria, he took part in some Under-23 team training.

"But unfortunately, we have to sum up that he is not quite that far along and has suffered a set back.

"There (in Japan) he will have a fixed time scale of treatment, we think about 14 days, with special measures, courses of injections and similar," added Schuster.

The right-back played his last game for Schalke in March 2015 and travelled to Japan last year, against the advice of his club's doctors, for an operation on his knee.

His Schalke contract expires in June 2018.
(Photo: Getty Images)

Zika virus has dominated headlines for months, and with good reason. But the mechanics of how the virus causes brain damage in newborns has been largely a mystery  until now.

A new study from Yale University has identified how Zika virus travels from the mother to the baby, crossing the placental barrier and causing microcephaly, a dangerous birth defect that causes babies to be born with unusually small heads. For the study, researchers used three different strains of Zika virus to infect three types of cells that are found in the placenta (the organ that forms during pregnancy to help nourish the baby through the umbilical cord). The cells Hofbauer cells, cytotrophoblasts, and fibroblasts  were taken from normal pregnancies.

What they found: Fibroblasts and Hofbauer cells were susceptible to being infected by Zika virus.

Board-certified infectious-disease specialist Amesh A. Adalja, MD, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, explains to Yahoo Beauty why thats a big deal: The placenta is supposed to form a barrier, protecting the baby from infections that the mother might battle. The fact that we know that Zika is causing infection raises the question of how it was doing it, he says. Trying to understand the mechanisms is crucial to understand how Zika is causing fetal abnormalities.

Study co-author Michael Simoni, MD, agrees, noting that this is a step in the right direction. This finding helps toward understanding a critical mechanism of the virus, he tells Yahoo Beauty. If researchers continue down the path, it could shift how we counsel and protect those women who are at risk for Zika.

But what does it mean, exactly? Basically, Zika virus, traveling through the pregnant womans blood, worms its way into the placenta, board-certified ob-gyn Pari Ghodsi, MD, explains to Yahoo Beauty. There, Hofbauer cells become infected and the virus replicates inside them. Hofbauer cells have direct access to the fetal blood supply, so the Zika virus shimmies its way into the fetal blood supply and infects the fetus, she says.

Story continues

Unfortunately, this doesnt change the fact that theres no treatment for pregnant women with Zika virus. Currently, women who are infected with Zika or are at risk of exposure have increased screening done  and thats it, Sarah Yamaguchi, MD, an ob-gyn at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, tells Yahoo Beauty. There is testing that is recommended to be done on all pregnant woman that are within a two- to 12-week window since exposure, she says.

But Sherry Ross, MD, an ob-gyn and womens health expert at Californias Providence Saint Johns Health Center, tells Yahoo Beauty that its important to talk to your doctor if you suspect youve been exposed to the Zika virus, especially if youre pregnant. If you suspect you have been exposed, its important to treat the symptoms, get plenty of rest, drink a lot of fluids, and, most importantly, get your blood tested by a perinatologist to confirm exposure, she says.

Despite the new findings, Adalja says that there may not be a treatment for Zika virus anytime soon, especially given that 80 percent of people who are infected with the virus have no symptoms. Sometimes findings like these dont exactly translate into treatments, but it does help us understand why these abnormalities are occurring, he says. Once you understand why, you can start to think about the ways the virus attaches to these cells and what mechanisms are used  that can lead to a treatment. However, there are still a lot of questions about how to treat this.

Simoni agrees, noting that scientists still have a long way to go. I think we are far from a proven, effective treatment or vaccine, he says. But any significant information we can learn about the virus could bring us one step closer to those results.

Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
By Justin George Varghese

Aug 18 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose

on Thursday as risk-taking appetite improved after minutes of

the U.S. Federal Reserve's July meeting showed policymakers were

in no hurry to raise interest rates.

Fed policymakers agree that more economic data is needed

before raising rates, although some see a need to tighten policy

soon, the minutes showed.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

rose 0.6 percent, as investors added to

positions after a 14 percent rise over the last two months.

Indonesian shares rose more than 1 percent and led

gains in Southeast Asia, with consumer and financial stocks

accounting for more than half the rise.

PT Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna Tbk and PT Astra

International Tbk were among the top percentage

gainers.

Thai shares rose over 1 percent and were headed for

their first rise in four sessions, driven by industrials.

Philippine shares eked out small gains after data

showed second-quarter annual economic growth picked up to 7.0

percent from 6.8 percent in January-March.

Singapore shares were up after five straight sessions

of losses, led by consumer goods and services.

Bucking the trend, Vietnam and Malaysia

traded lower.

For Asian Companies click;

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

STOCK MARKETS

Change on 4:40 GMT

Market Current Prev. close Pct Move

Singapore 2845.06 2843.35 0.06

Bangkok 1547.65 1531.63 1.05

Manila 7948.77 7946.19 0.03

Jakarta 5442.716 5371.846 1.32

Kuala Lumpur 1693.4 1694.32 -0.05

Ho Chi Minh 659.67 660.51 -0.13

Change this year

Market Current End prev yr Pct Move

Singapore 2845.06 2882.73 -1.31

Bangkok 1547.65 1288.02 20.16

Manila 7948.77 6952.08 14.34

Jakarta 5442.716 4593.008 18.50

Kuala Lumpur 1693.4 1692.51 0.05

Ho Chi Minh 659.67 579.03 13.93

(Reporting by Justin George Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by

Subhranshu Sahu)
El Chapo Alfredo Ivan Guzman Mexico kidnapping

Earlier Monday morning, a group of gunmen burst into a trendy restaurant on a main boulevard in Puerto Vallarta, a resort city on Mexico's Pacific coast, abducting at gunpoint six men who were in the restaurant.

In the confusion that followed, reports emerged that one, or possibly two, of Sinaloa kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's sons had been kidnapped, allegedly by members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG), the Sinaloa cartel's only real rival in terms of power.

Mexican officials later confirmed that Jesus Alfredo Guzman, the kingpin's youngest son, was taken along with five others, and reports that Ivan Archivaldo, Guzman's oldest son, remain unconfirmed.

The Jalisco state prosecutor, however, did admit that the CJNG was behind the abduction, setting the stage for a clash between two of Mexico's most powerful cartels.

Below, you can see video, leaked by an unknown source and reposted on social media, of when gunmen stormed into La Leche restaurant, just after 1 a.m. local time.

The video shows the victims in the restaurant's main room, sitting around a long table with several women, reportedly celebrating the 33rd birthday of Ivan Archivaldo. Just after one of the abductees gets up to use the phone in the lobby, the gunmen, with faces uncovered, burst in, waving rifles.

Without firing a shot, the attackers are able to round up six of the men in the restaurant, forcing them to their knees in the lobby before then presumably escorting them out at gunpoint.

In an interview with El Universal, Eduardo Almaguer, the Jalisco state prosecutor, said that 16 people  nine women and seven men  were in the restaurant. One of the men left before the arrival of the gunmen, who he said were members of CJNG.

El Chapo Alfredo Ivan Guzman kidnapping Mexico

Unconfirmed reports have said the man who left just before the gunmen got there was Ivan Archivaldo; others have suggested that because someone left right before the attackers arrived indicates there was someone on the inside involved.

Story continues

Almaguer, speaking with El Universal, did not rule out that Ivan Archivaldo was one of the two victims who remain unidentified and stressed that the Jalisco state prosecutor was working with the federal prosecutor's office to determine who was missing.

Law-enforcement sources also told El Universal that Ivan Archivaldo was among those taken, and one of the elder Guzman's lawyers said family members had told him it was very likely Ivan was kidnapped with his younger brother.

The CJNG's purported involvement gives the incident even more sinister implications, as a move against the Sinaloa cartel could be the start of a full-scale cartel war.

The governors of the states where the cartels are based  Jalisco and Sinaloa, both on the Pacific coast  have warned that reprisal attacks may be on the way. The state sandwiched between them, Nayarit, is bolstering its security in case of a bloodbath.

La Leche restaurant Puerto Vallarta mexico

"We are coordinating with the federal government to reinforce these areas," said Jalisco Gov. Aristoteles Sandoval, according to AFP. His Sinaloa counterpart, Mario Lopez Valdez, warned of a potential "flare-up" between the two cartels.

What happens next with Alfredo  and Ivan, if he was taken  may influence the fate of both the Sinaloa cartel and Mexico itself.

"If they use (Guzman) as a bargaining chip, this could go down calmly. But if they liquidate him, there will be chaos up and down the northern Pacific coast," Jose Reveles, a journalist and author of books on drug trafficking, told AFP.

NOW WATCH: There's a terrifying reason people are warned to stay inside at 5:45 p.m. in parts of Mexico





More From Business Insider


There was an awkward exchange on CNN with a top Donald Trump adviser over the appointment of a new campaign manager.

Read: Donald Trump Attends 'Informative' CIA Briefing: 'The Issues Are Serious'

Executive vice president of the Trump organization and special counsel to the real estate tycoon, Michael Cohen, appeared on CNN Wednesday to discuss the appointment of Stephen Bannon and Kellyanne Conway to the campaign hierarchy. He also spoke of the apparent demotion of former campaign manager Paul Manafort.

CNNs Brianna Keilar asked Cohen: You say it's not a shakeup, but you guys are down.

He replied: Says who?

Polls, most of them. All of them, the host said.

Cohen again replied: Says who?

Polls. I just told you. I answered your question, Keilar stated.

He then asked: Ok. Which polls?

All of them, she answered.

When asked about being down in the race, Trump adviser replies, "Says who?"https://t.co/HO9wqbdDWR https://t.co/C2UzSDdUo4  The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) August 17, 2016

The exchange went on for nearly 30 uncomfortable seconds before he finally accepted defeat.

Read: Less Than 3 Months Before The Election, Trump Shakes Up Top Campaign Staff Again

Hillary Clinton is leading Trump in 11 battleground states by an average of 45.2 percent to 39 percent, acccording to Politico.

Watch: Ex-Congressman Who Was Caught Sending Lewd Messages to Teens Is Spotted Behind Trump at Rally

Related Articles:
This girl fell into the river and drowned while attempting to click a selfie. Her parents also died trying to save her.

By India Today Web Desk:

The selfie mania has claimed yet another life, this time of a girl in Pakistan. An 11-year-old girl drowned on Tuesday after falling into a river in northern Pakistan while trying to take a selfie, a Gulf News report said. But that was not the end of the tragedy. When both her parents tried to rescue her, all three of them also perished.

advertisement



THE TRAGIC INCIDENT

The incident happened in the Kunhar river in Beesian village which falls in the hilly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Other tourists at the spot witnessed the incident.

"The girl, Safia Atif, was trying to take a selfie along the river when she slipped and fell," local police official Arshad Khan said.

Safia's mother Shazia also jumped in to save her daughter but was carried away by the fast-flowing river.

"Seeing both his wife and daughter in trouble, the father Atif Hussain also jumped in to rescue them but unfortunately he too met a similar fate. The bodies of the mother and daughter have been recovered while we are still looking for the body of Hussain," Khan said.



WHAT'S LEFT OF THE FAMILY

The parents of the girl were doctors and were out for a holiday.

They are survived by a nine-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son, who also witnessed the tragic incident.

--- ENDS ---
By Justin Madden

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago's police superintendent has recommended that seven officers be fired after they were accused of lying about the details of a black teenager's fatal shooting by a white officer in 2014, a police spokesman said on Thursday.

The decision comes 22 months after Officer Jason Van Dyke shot Laquan McDonald 16 times. Van Dyke has been charged with first-degree murder and is on unpaid leave.

The shooting made national headlines and sparked protests after the release of a dashboard video of the incident last fall. The video shows the officer continued to fire after McDonald, 17, fell to the ground.

The Chicago Police Department is under federal investigation over officers' use of lethal force.

Of 10 officers who were investigated over their roles in the McDonald shooting, seven were accused of making false reports or false statements, police spokesman Frank Giancamilli said in a phone interview on Thursday. The seven were not identified.

Two of the 10 have since retired and "there is insufficient evidence to prove those respective allegations" for the tenth officer, Giancamilli said.

The police reports on the shooting conflicted with video footage of the incident, sparking accusations that Van Dyke's fellow officers were trying to cover up an unjustified shooting.

The Police Board, whose members are selected by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, must consider Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson's recommendation and make the decision on firing the officers.

Johnson's move came in response to a recent report on the shooting by the city's inspector general which recommended that the 10 officers be fired, local media reported.

"While I know that this type of action can come with many questions and varying opinions, please know that these decisions were not made lightly," Johnson wrote to officers, the Chicago Tribune reported. "Each of these decisions was based on a methodical and substantive review of the facts by both internal and external counsel. Each officer will have their right to due process."

Separately, a special prosecutor is investigating whether the officers lied to justify the shooting death of McDonald and will decide whether to bring criminal charges.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)
When in doubt, disclose, the bourse said.

Amid the criticism swarming Swiber Holdings disclosures leading up to its liquidation filing, the Singapore Exchange has sternly reminded firms the importance of disclosing relevant information to stakeholders.

In a speech at the State of Corporate Governance Disclosures organised by the Singapore Institute of Directors, SGX Chief Regulatory Officer Tan Boon Gin told firms to announce any information which is necessary to avoid the establishment of a false market in its securities, or would likely impact the price or value of its securities.

He further advised companies to avoid adopting narrowly prescriptive qualifications for materiality.

There is no mention of what financial figures to compare against, and rightly so, Tan said. The fundamental determinant of materiality is whether the information will be useful to your investors in making their decisions. And the cardinal rule iswhen in doubt, disclose.

Tan also underscored that firms should consider the prevailing economic landscape when determining the materiality of certain information.

So when the industry is humming along, the macro-economic environment is stable, and there is no real volatility in your business, what might be considered material could be quite different from information investors might need when your industry is going through extreme volatility and/or a protracted down-cycle, such that the financial position of your company is at risk of deteriorating quickly, Tan stressed.







More From Singapore Business Review


NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2016 / The following statement is being issued by Levi & Korsinsky, LLP:

To: All Persons or Entities who purchased Cardinal Financial Corp. ("Cardinal Financial") (CFNL) stock prior to August 18, 2016 .

You are hereby notified that Levi & Korsinsky, LLP has commenced an investigation into the fairness of the sale of Cardinal Financial to United Bankshares, Inc. (UBSI) for 0.71 of a United share for each Cardinal Financial share. To learn more about the action and your rights, go to:

http://zlk.9nl.com/cardinal-financial

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@zlk.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972. There is no cost or obligation to you.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities lawsuits and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders. For more information, please feel free to contact any of the attorneys listed below. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Joseph E. Levi, Esq.

Eduard Korsinsky, Esq.

30 Broad Street - 24th Floor

New York, NY 10004

Tel: (212) 363-7500

Toll Free: (877) 363-5972

Fax: (212) 363-7171

www.zlk.com

SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2016 / Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of Hudson Technologies Inc. (HDSN) concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty by the board of directors of the company. To obtain additional information, go to:

http://zlk.9nl.com/hudson-technologies-hdsn

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@zlk.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, California, Connecticut and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities and shareholder lawsuits. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

Levi & Korsinsky, LLP

Eduard Korsinsky, Esq.

30 Broad Street - 24th Floor

New York, NY 10004

Tel: (212) 363-7500

Toll Free: (877) 363-5972

Fax: (212) 363-7171

www.zlk.com

SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP
Affordable Cool-Girl Denim Affordable Cool-Girl Denim Courtesy of Cotton On Gucci

Australian brand Cotton On is becoming the go-to destination for on-trend pieces that dont break the bank (even Kendall and Gigi are fans). With its laid-back aesthetic, the retail giant from Down Under specializes in versatile contemporary basics such as jeans, tees and knits at affordable prices. And since denim is its forte, the brand recently launched a limited-edition capsule called 91:LTDa range of denim dresses, jackets, jumpsuits and skirts that offer an alternative to the regular blue jean. The best part? Price points go from $35 to $75 so you can nab a gorgeous patchwork mini and zipped one-piece just in time for fall without spending a fortune. Ahead, six of our favorite selects to shop now.
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f183471%2fsimonebileszacefron

Men are fighting over Simone Biles, as they should be.

After the Olympic champion finally met her dream man, Zac Efron, the man she referred to as her "Brazilian boyfriend" two weeks ago is ready for a fight. Brazilian gymnast Arthur Nory isn't backing down just because some High School Musical bro is swooping in.

SEE ALSO: Simone Biles and Zac Efron's golden Twitter romance

Well first off, Mr. Nory, Simone Biles belongs to no man, or country, even. She may honor America by wearing the Team USA uniform, but as a nation, we bend at her will  not the other way around.

That being said, your devotion is properly placed. You seem like a nice, flexible boy and your bronze Olympic medal, though certainly not gold, is quite impressive.

Three days ago, the posed for a cute kissing selfie  smooching their medals, not each other, but whatever.

But then this happened:

So, Nory, forget the Olympics  this is the fight of your life.
From Esquire

Charlie is taking a well-deserved break this week. In his absence, we'll be remembering some of his greatest hits from throughout this election cycle. Here's his reflection on the Pope's speech before Congress, originally published on September 24, 2015.

-The Editors

Poor Mr. Madison. He didn't even want to pay for congressional chaplains. And, in the greatest defense of secular government ever written, he made sure to remind his fellow citizens of the following:

During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution.

Well, OK, then.

And here was the Pope of Rome, standing at the Speaker's rostrum in the United States House of Representatives, the legislative body in which Madison ultimately served, and talking with quiet modesty-and quiet quiet, occasionally edging on inaudibility-about the great issues of the day, and about what the responsibility of elected officials are. God only knows, you should pardon the expression, what Mr. Madison would have thought of the event itself, but it's hard to believe he would argue with Papa Francesco's assertion that:

Your own responsibility as members of Congress is to enable this country, by your legislative activity, to grow as a nation. You are the face of its people, their representatives. You are called to defend and preserve the dignity of your fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good, for this is the chief aim of all politics. A political society endures when it seeks, as a vocation, to satisfy common needs by stimulating the growth of all its members, especially those in situations of greater vulnerability or risk. Legislative activity is always based on care for the people. To this you have been invited, called and convened by those who elected you.

Story continues

It was not the stemwinder people expected. It was more of a homily than an address. Very likely, the Pope was trying as best he could to be a grateful guest of the nation. "He knew where he was speaking," said Senator Bernie Sanders. "He didn't want to be rude or antagonistic. But I think his calling out for social justice, his talking about income inequality and social justice, his talking about creating an economy and a culture that works for everybody, rather than just the few, is a very, very powerful message on its own."

Photo credit: Pool/Getty

Buttonholed at the top of the staircase just outside the House chamber, Sanders was positively aglow over Papa Francesco's choice of Dorothy Day as one of the four examples of the American spirit. Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. are automatic. (Although the sight of John Lewis nodding and smiling when the pope name-checked Dr. King got the air in the press gallery curiously dusty, at least for me.) But it was the other two names, Day and Thomas Merton, whom the pope used as an example of the prayerful life and the wish for peace, that got heads turning. Merton was a monk whose writings were the bulwark of liberal Catholicism from the 1950's until his accidental death in 1968, and Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker movement, was a genuine radical, an avatar of progressive Catholicism for decades. Day was a devout pacifist and a ferocious advocate for social justice, who once took on the inexcusable Francis Cardinal Spellman of New York when Spellman used seminarians as strike-breakers against the archdiocese's grave-diggers.

[contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related Story" customtitles="Was Pope Francis Swindled into Meeting Kim Davis?" customimages="" content="article.38440"]

(How radical was she? William F. Buckley, whose Catholicism stopped at the Council of Trent, once derided her as slovenly, dangerous, and not a Catholic. Dorothy Day is now a candidate for sainthood. WFB is, ah, not.)

During the brawl with Spellman, Day wrote in her newspaper, The Catholic Worker:

A Cardinal, ill-advised, exercised so overwhelming a show of force against the union of poor working men. There is a temptation of the devil to that most awful of all wars, the war between the clergy and the laity."

And on Thursday, Papa Francesco told the Congress:

But there is another temptation which we must especially guard against: the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil; or, if you will, the righteous and sinners. The contemporary world, with its open wounds which affect so many of our brothers and sisters, demands that we confront every form of polarization which would divide it into these two camps. We know that in the attempt to be freed of the enemy without, we can be tempted to feed the enemy within. To imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place.

He did not use Dorothy Day idly here. He knew exactly what he was doing, and that is what put the glow on Bernie Sanders. "I think this would be perhaps one of the very, very few times that somebody as radical, that somebody as committed to social justice as Dorothy Day's name has been mentioned," Sanders said. "Somebody can check it out, but I suspect that her name has not been mentioned terribly often."

The one thing we did learn from the speech was that this pope is a master of strategic ambiguity-almost Jesuitical in that regard, one might say. This was most evident in the very brief attention he paid in his address to what we laughably call the "social issues" in our politics. When he said, "The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development," the zygote-fondling caucus went wild but then, as a real world example of what he was talking about, he pivoted to this:

This conviction has led me, from the beginning of my ministry, to advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty. I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes.

You could feel the air go out of the congresscritters who'd leaped to their feet. Both of Trey Gowdy's faces fell.

[contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related Story" customtitles="Pope Francis Is Hunting Down Shady Vatican Bankers" customimages="" content="article.39421"]

And when he talked about his concern for The Family, he did so in such a way that almost anyone could take almost anything from what he said.

It is my wish that throughout my visit the family should be a recurrent theme. How essential the family has been to the building of this country! And how worthy it remains of our support and encouragement! Yet I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without. Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life.

That could be any family, constituted however it is. This is why you don't fck with The Society. They will fck your stuff up for you. It is clear that Papa Francesco's definition of "social issues" is very different from that held by, say, Ben Carson, who was in the House today, by the way.

Photo credit: Mark Wilson/Getty

The Pope was far more direct, and far more detailed, in his condemnation of the arms trade, in his extended discussion about the environmental crisis, and in his lengthy and passionate disquisition about our obligation to what the Gospels call the least among us. (Even here, he wrongfooted them. Out along the aisle, Paul Ryan bobbed his head when the Pope talked about "subsidiarity," which is a Catholic doctrine that Ryan doesn't understand any more than he understands theoretical physics, but that he uses as a theological basis for his zombie-eyed granny-starving. However, the Pope actually talked about "reciprocal subsidiarity," which is a whole 'nother thing. Again, and we told you this before, Paul, don't fck with the Society.) Alas for his audience, the pope lost his place early on and omitted the most powerful section of his prepared text.

Here I think of the political history of the United States, where democracy is deeply rooted in the mind of the American people. All political activity must serve and promote the good of the human person and be based on respect for his or her dignity. "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" (Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776). If politics must truly be at the service of the human person, it follows that it cannot be a slave to the economy and finance.

The Vatican press office hustled to tell the assembled media that the passage had been left out by accident-I give Papa Francesco credit for doing as well as he did, since English is about his fourth language-and that the pope stands by it. I tend to believe the papal flacks because the idea of poverty as a new kind of slavery popped up several times in the address, and Papa Francesco made sure to link it not only to what Dr. King once called the original "promissory note" in the Declaration of Independence, but also to the struggle to end actual slavery under Lincoln, and the struggle to end the de facto slavery of Jim Crow under Dr. King. There wasn't an accidental syllable in the whole speech. And, for one morning, the spirit of Dorothy Day walked the halls of the United States Capitol. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't feel that was a blessing.

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On the front. American forces are closer to the front lines in the fight against the Islamic State in northern Iraq than is often portrayed by the Pentagon, and special operations forces are taking the lead in ops with their Kurdish allies. Thats according to a group of veteran Kurdish officers interviewed by Buzzfeed along the front near Mosul.

Somewhere in the area is Camp Wheeler  named after Master Sergeant Josh Wheeler, who was killed in a raid on an ISIS compound in October  where U.S. and Kurdish commandos live. Theres also an expanding base at the Erbil airport which houses roughly 2,500 personnel from the US and its coalitionSpecial forces are mixed with conventional troops and US military contractors, sleeping in rows of tents.

And then theres Camp Swift about 50 miles south of Mosul, which houses about 150 American troops. Theres a photostream of life inside the camp, which will look pretty familiar to anyone who has ever stepped on one of the hundreds of American forward operating bases in Iraq or Afghanistan over the past 15 years. The story marks the second time a reporter has been allowed inside Camp Swifts operations room, after The New Yorkers Robin Wright visited for a story published in March.

More on the $400 million. New details are emerging about the $400 million Washington shipped to Tehran in January, which some say was ransom for U.S. citizens being held by the regime, but which the White House says was an agreed-on settlement of a decades-old dispute. The Wall Street Journal says that according to anonymous people in the U.S. government, Washington wouldnt let Iranians take the money until a Swiss Air Force plane carrying three freed Americans departed from Tehran on Jan. 17. Once that happened, an Iranian cargo plane was allowed to bring the cash home from a Geneva airport that day.

Rethinking things at the U.N. Senior U.N. officials tell FPs Colum Lynch that the world body will threaten to put the Saudi Arabianled military coalition operating in Yemen back on a blacklist of states, rebels, and terrorist groups that kill or inflict extreme suffering on children in conflict zones unless Riyadh halts its indiscriminate bombing of schools and hospitals. Lynch writes in his exclusive get that the move reflects deepening frustration by Ban and his top advisors that long-running efforts to persuade Saudi Arabia and its allies to prioritize the protection of children have failed. The action is likely to set the stage for a major confrontation between the U.N. leader and senior officials from Saudi Arabia, who have threatened to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance to the United Nations if it didnt take the coalition off the list, according to U.N. sources.

Story continues

Elsewhere at the U.N. A new report expected to come out of Turtle Bay as early as next week may be unwelcome news for the Obama administration, as it is likely to officially attribute a number of instances of chemical weapons attacks over the past three years to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who officially gave up his stockpiles of such deadly agents in 2013, according to Politico. Assad, remember, agreed to give up his chemical weapons after his forces used agents such as sarin to kill hundreds of people, mostly civilians. Russia, which has been backing up the regime for years, is expected to block any move to impose additional sanctions on Damascus.

In related news, check out this great piece of reporting by FP contributors Harald Doornbos and Jenan Moussa on how ISIS managed to get its hands on the regimes chemical weapons in Syria.

Good morning and as always, if you have any thoughts, announcements, tips, or national security-related events to share, please pass them along to SitRep HQ. Best way is to send them to: paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or on Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley

Whos where when

10:00 a.m. U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Michael Shoemaker, commander, Naval Air Forces and Naval Air Force Pacific Fleet, talks about the future of Naval aviation at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Livestream here.

North Korea

North Korea has openly admitted to carrying out plutonium reprocessing at its Yongbyon nuclear facility, Voice of America reports. The admission by North Koreas Atomic Energy Institute that its back in the nuclear weapons fuel business prompted a State Department spokesman to label the move a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. North Korea originally agreed to suspend reprocessing at Yongbyon following a round of the Six Party talks in 2007.

Come at me, bro

The U.S. Air Force has flown all three of the services bombers for a brief photo op over Guam and some not-so-subtle messaging. Defense Tech reports that the Air Force took the B-1, B-2, and B-52 bombers out for a spin over Guam in what a press release says is the first time all three have flown together, dispersed and then simultaneously conducted operations in the South China Sea and Northeast Asia. The move comes as China has been building up its military forces on man-made islands in the South China Sea and following a series of ballistic missile tests by North Korea.

Syria

Amnesty International has built a 3D model of one of the Assad regimes most notorious prisons with the help of witness interviews and satellite imagery. The human rights organization released a new multimedia report on the regimes network of prisons, where it says 17,000 people have already been killed and 65,000 remain missing after being arrested. Saydnaya, the most notorious of the prisons, was the scene of countless acts of torture. Amnesty researchers interviewed former detainees, using their recollections of and descriptions of sounds to flesh out the internal structure of the facility.

Libya

The CIA was grateful for the services of Libyas General Khalifa Hifter back in the 1980s when he helped the U.S. try to overthrow the Gadhafi regime, but now the Agencys erstwhile ally is proving to be something of a pain as the U.S. tries to buttress the internationally-backed government in Tripoli. The Washington Post reports that in 2014, Hifter launched an effort to clear eastern Libya of Islamist militants like Ansar al-Sharia, earning him a slot in the Tobruk-based government and the favor of backers like Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Since then, hes helped fuel opposition to Libyas unity government as he appears to try and position himself for a more senior leadership role in the country.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force in Libya has been pretty busy, carrying out 48 airstrikes already this month since the bombing campaign against the Islamic State in Sirte began, according to Air Force Times.

Cybersecurity

United Nations counterterrorism experts are warning in a new report that jihadists use of encryption is growing. The AP, which snagged an early copy of the document, reports that even the most sophisticated agencies now have trouble reading intercepted messages of suspected terrorists messages. Online recruiters for jihadists groups now make a point of quickly introducing new recruits to encrypted communications apps early on when interacting with them online.

Photo Credit NurPhoto/Corbis via Getty Images
It's 9:40 pm on Wednesday evening at the Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. The historic 1600-seat Theatre is packed to the brim (with a line nearly twice that wrapped around the block), and Skrillex and Wiwek have just premiered their new short film, Still In The Cage. "I don't know if I've ever heard this much bass in a movie theater before," Skrillex says, and he's probably right.

Watch Skrillex & Wiwek's Trailer for Debut Short Film 'Still In The Cage'

The 18-minute short, written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Jodeb, is akin to an extended music video, spanning an entire EP's worth of music -- in this case, Wiwek's recent OWSLA release, The Free and Rebellious. As the story progresses along, tracks from the EP -- including Wiwek's collaboration with Skrillex on "Killa" -- provide an aggressive, oftentimes anxious, soundtrack.

Set in Bangkok, the film charts a dark, existential narrative, following a group of friends as they leave the city's urban sprawl in search of a mythical community along the river. Downright hair-raising at times, the sinister composition recalls the art direction of Skrillex's surreal "Red Lips" video.

Skrillex Explores Filmmaking with Surreal 'Red Lips' Music Video (Interview & Premiere)

Outside of its thrilling narrative and avant-garde editing techniques, Still In The Cage serves to depict the unique universe of 'jungle terror': Wiwek's homegrown subgenre blending elements of grime, dubstep, electro and more. "We wanted to create the meaning and the visual behind what jungle terror is," Skrillex said.

On a larger scale, the film serves as a metaphor for one's individual search for freedom: "No matter where you are, you can't escape yourself until you face yourself," Skrillex stated in the official Q&A. Wiwek further added: "When searching for freedom, you have to start from the inside."

Watch the film in its entirety below:
The Kill Dill actor was wishing a friend on his birthday where she asks him to 'eat less, become thin'.

By India Today Web Desk: Parineeti Chopra made the headlines last year when she released a series of posters on getting fit, flaunting her newly-acquired abs. The Ishaqzaade actor had spent the last few years combatting the label of being a cute, pudgy actor not fitting Bollywood's requirement of a lean, mean lady.



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However, the social media has done a u-turn on the once 'cute, bubbly' actor when they heard her wish a friend on his birthday by saying, "eat less, become thin..." The b'day wish invited comments from calling it incredibly harsh on the part of someone who used to be chubby herself at one point.

The video and tweet has since been taken down by the actor and her Twitter fan clubs, however, the reactions have not stopped on the issue. One particular tweet said, "I can understand your relief at having lost weight but please be a little responsible about what you say..." Others were well, less kind in response to the wish





After Parineeti herself was fat shamed you'd think she'd be a little more sensitive to a poor BIRTHDAY GIRL wtf man https://t.co/DEEdEsTL44 jaz (@desiavan) August 17, 2016

eat less...become thin

my esteem for Parineeti Chopra is ZERO!

nice Birthday wish for a friend....NOT -_- CoffeeWithBollywood (@BollyArabfan) August 16, 2016

parineeti chopra used to be acclaimed for changing the view on women's body image in india but she turned out to be a fake jasmine (@mindofjasmin) August 17, 2016

Parineeti has become so obnoxious, it's obvious she's obsessed with body image. Cancelled. pari (@sansaslady) August 16, 2016

Time to preach what you practiced Parineeti Chopra? At least some sensitivity on your part wouldn't hurt.

--- ENDS ---
After just a couple of weeks past a bear market fall off, crude oil futures moved backed into bullish territory Thursday. Meanwhile, some larger traders jumped into a smart-beta, energy sector exchange traded fund on the suddenly rosier outlook in the oil market.

Crude oil futures are now trading 20% higher since spending a day below $40 per barrel on August 2. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were up 3.1% to $48.25 per barrel Thursday while Brent crude oil futures were 2.1% higher to $50.9 per barrel. The oil markets would confirm bullish conditions if WTI crude settles above $47.41 per barrel and if Brent settles above $50.16.

Meanwhile, the United States Oil Fund (USO) , which tracks West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, gained 2.7% Thursday and is trading back above its 50- and 200-day simple moving averages. The United States Brent Oil Fund (BNO) , which tracks Brent crude oil futures, added 2.2%.

Leading the charge on Thursday, the John Hancock Multifactor Energy ETF (JHME) surged 3.6% on an exceptionally high 532,600 shares exchanging hands, compared to its average daily volume of 666 shares, according to Morningstar data. Additionally, the sudden huge creations in shares has had a limited impact on the funds price, with JHME actually trading at a -0.10% discount to its net asset value at last check.

SEE MORE: Its Game Time For Oil ETFs

JHMEs underlying index select components based on company size where a premium is given on smaller companies over larger companies, relative price where value stocks are selected over growth and profitability where more profitable companies are overweight.

Additionally, the underlying index implements market-capitalization adjustments where it increases the weights of smaller companies and decreases the weights of larger names. The weighting methodology suggests that the ETFs may follow a more equal-weight tilt with greater exposure to smaller companies than traditional market-cap weighted index funds.

Story continues

In contrast, the widely observed market cap-weighted Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) gained 1.6% Thursday.

The oil market and energy sector have been strengthening in recent weeks on ongoing speculation that the worlds largest exports, including the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia, may cooperate and implement an output freeze at current levels to stabilize prices, the Wall Street Journal reports.

A dip in U.S. crude and gasoline inventories are also diminishing fears of a supply glut.

SEE MORE: Gasoline ETF Back on Trend as Supply Glut Concerns Abate

Moreover, the sudden bullish sentiment has caught many short traders off guard, forcing many to scramble out of bearish positions and buy back contracts, which further fueled the sharp price increases.

When you post up a record short position of that size, the resulting unwinding tends to be rather dramatic, Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA Inc, told the WSJ. The OPEC headlines are the spark thats feeding the fire.

For more information on the crude oil market, visit our oil category.

United States Oil Fund
Volunteers at an expo center-turned-shelter in Gonzales, Louisiana, handed out free snow cones  or snowballs, as theyre called in Louisiana  to those affected by the historic flooding that inundated Baton Rouge and the surrounding area.

Louisiana has seen an outpouring of support in the wake of the flooding, including donations of clothes and supplies, from its own residents as well as people from other states.

The Louisiana National Guard, along with the American Red Cross, are coordinating relief efforts at shelters across Louisiana including the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, Louisiana.

The record flooding has left at least thirteen people dead as of Thursday, August 18. Credit: Instagram/@studiogabriella
When Sofia was in her 20s, she didnt use sunblock as much as she should have. (Photo: Getty Images)

While Sofia Vergara is known for her gorgeous looks, the 44-year-old actress recently confessed to her biggest beauty blunder.



In my 20s, I started to use sunblock on my face, she told PeopleStyle. I wish I had put it on my chest too.

And even though Mrs. Joe Manganiello also shared that she currently applies sun protection each day, she added: I think its too late, but what can I do?

Does the CoverGirl have a point?



Khloe Kardashian Urges Others to Have Skin Cancer Screenings





A little sun before heading to Mexico lindooooo today !!! are u packed @reesewitherspoon A photo posted by Sofia Vergara (@sofiavergara) on Jun 21, 2015 at 1:08pm PDT





Yes, some damage thats been done by the sun is probably permanent, Mark B. Faries,, surgical oncologist and director of the Donald L. Morton, MD, Melanoma Research Program and director of Therapeutic Immunology at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence St. Johns Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., tells Yahoo Beauty. In fact, there will be an increased risk of skin cancers and other skin changes as a result from that damage  and were the most vulnerable to that kind of damage when were youngest.



However, he applauds the Modern Family star for being diligent about applying sunscreen today. Its definitely a great thing  at any time  to be taking good care of your skin, so that the chance of a problem down the road will be as small as it can be, states Faries. She may not be able to make up for everything [shes done in the past], but certainly it is an important step in terms of decreasing any future damage.



Women Still Use Tanning Booths but Want Stricter Policies

Pool time #hm #ilovesummer A photo posted by Sofia Vergara (@sofiavergara) on Jun 19, 2016 at 12:09pm PDT





He strongly advises everyone  especially adults who have a history of sunburns and/or basking in the sun  to seek a full-body evaluation, either from their dermatologist or physician.

If something that looks unusual is skin cancer or even precancerous changes, those cases are easier to treat if theyre caught early than if theyre allowed to get out of hand, concludes Faries.



Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Soldiers raided a village in restive Indian-administered Kashmir overnight in an attempt to quash ongoing protests, leaving one civilian dead and dozens injured, police and witnesses said Thursday.

Villagers said soldiers from a nearby Indian army camp ransacked homes in Khrew village and beat residents with bamboo sticks, leading to the death of a teacher.

"They beat up men, women and children and took away many young men with them. We discovered the battered body of Shabir Mangoo on a village street in the morning," said one villager who asked not to be named, fearing reprisals.

Army spokesman Colonel N.N. Joshi confirmed the raid on the village 25 kilometres (16 miles) south-east of the main city of Srinagar, saying "the incident is being investigated".

Indian-administered Kashmir has been in the grip of almost daily anti-India protests and rolling curfews sparked by the killing on July 8 of a popular rebel leader, Burhan Wani, in a gunfight with government forces.

"One person was also found dead after the raid," a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that around 28 villagers were taken away by the soldiers.

The army raid -- the third in recent days -- comes after five weeks of unrest that have left more than 60 people dead.

India has clamped down hard on protests, with the army accused of using brutal tactics to suppress demonstrators.

"First the electricity went off and soldiers soon started attacking our home, beating up all of us including my 10-year-old niece," villager Ghulam Hassan told AFP from his hospital bed in Srinagar.

Dr Nazir Chaudhary, medical superintendent at the main SMHS hospital in Srinagar told AFP 24 injured villagers had been admitted for treatment.

A daytime curfew in place across the territory was extended to night-time Wednesday, with police forcing shops to close and soldiers setting up additional roadblocks and checkpoints to restrict residents' movement.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full.

Several rebel groups, including Wani's Hizbul Mujahideen, have fought for decades 500,000 Indian troops deployed in the territory, demanding independence for the region or its merger with Pakistan.
Police who answered a 911 call Wednesday about a dead woman in the backyard of her home in an affluent New York City suburb have arrested her son and accused him of drowning her in her own pool, PEOPLE confirms.



Denis D. Cullen, 23, was arrested on a charge of second-degree murder for the death of his mother, Elizabeth Cullen, 63, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy Sini tells PEOPLE.



The Cullens' sprawling property on White Hill Road in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, is located in an area of multimillion-dollar homes where crime is rare, reports NBCNewYork.



Sini did not reveal a motive. "The investigation is ongoing," he says.



He tells PEOPLE that Lloyd Harbor police received a call around 3:45 p.m. Wednesday "about a possible intentional drowning" at the address where Denis Cullen lives with his parents. It was unclear who placed the call.



"When they responded to the scene, they discovered the deceased in the backyard," Sini says. "She was actually found outside the pool in the backyard."



He adds, "The evidence at the scene suggested that she was intentionally drowned, as the call indicated."



 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.



The Lloyd Harbor department then alerted Suffolk County Police, which intervenes in homicide cases, and Suffolk County investigators arrived about 4:15 p.m., Sini says.



"While we were processing the scene, the suspect returned and we arrested him, and that occurred about 5:50 p.m.," he says.



He would not say what identified Denis Cullen as a suspect.



Denis Cullen is scheduled to be arraigned today and has not yet entered a plea. It could not be determined whether he has obtained a lawyer.



The second-degree murder charge, says Sini, carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Johannesburg (AFP) - The South African government is to pay damages to victims of a 2012 police shooting that left 34 mineworkers dead and dozens wounded, the presidency said Thursday.

In a victory for the victims and their families, the government said it was "ready to make an offer to settle these claims in the next few months".

The announcement comes two days after the four-year anniversary of the killings in which the miners were gunned down after police were deployed to break up a wildcat strike that had turned violent at the Lonmin-owned Marikana platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg in August 2012.

It was the worst police violence in South Africa since the end of apartheid 21 years ago.

"Government is currently in the process of determining the quantum and will make offer of payments in full settlement of claims," said a statement issued by the president's office.

Presidential spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga told AFP that there were 34 claims for loss of support, 81 for injuries suffered during the shooting, and 275 for unlawful arrest. Some of the claims overlap, he added.

Last year families of the victims lodged compensation claims against the government, listing a total of 326 dependents as having been affected by the violence.

An official inquiry established by President Jacob Zuma put much of the blame for the massacre on police tactics used to disperse the strikers, but it did not go as far as recommending compensation.

George Bizos, one of the lawyers that represented the affected families during the Marikana inquiry would have preferred for the families to receive "temporary relief" while the compensation amounts were being finalised.

"We welcome the statement, but I am concerned that it's going to take another few months for the widows that have had nothing for the past over years," Bizos told AFP.

"I appeal to those responsible that the matter is a matter of urgency and I hope that they take immediate steps of a temporary nature," said Bizos, who represented Nelson Mandela during the Rivonia Trial that sentenced the anti-apartheid icon to life in prison.

Ten other people were killed in the days preceding the Marikana incident, including two police officers and four non-striking workers.
By Joe Brock and Zimasa Mpemnyama JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's two main opposition parties have put aside huge ideological differences to unseat the ruling ANC in major cities it has controlled for 22 years, they said on Wednesday. The African National Congress lost its majority in the local governments that rule Pretoria, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth this month, its worst electoral performance since coming to power after apartheid, leaving the other parties free to discuss coalitions. In the end, the gulf separating the Democratic Alliance (DA), a party with a largely white voter base, and the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), was too great to form formal coalitions, but they made a pact which will allow the DA to rule the country's economic hubs. Mmusi Maimane, a black politician whose leadership of the DA since last year has helped reform its image as a party for wealthy whites, welcomed the EEF's agreement to vote for it in the municipalities concerned. "It is quite clear that we would never agree on ideological issues," Maimane said. "I welcome their offer to say that they will vote for us." EFF leader Julius Malema, a former ANC youth leader who split from his former mentor President Jacob Zuma in acrimonious circumstances to form the breakaway party in 2013, said although he saw the DA as "white racists" it was worth making a pact with them to defeat the ANC. "We are caught between two devils. The DA is a better devil than the ANC. We are not in bed with them," he told reporters in the Alexandra township in Johannesburg. "We will vote for the opposition because the ANC must be removed from power." The EFF and DA, which both said they would not work with the ANC because their supporters had voted for change, are far apart in terms of policy, approach and experience. The DA is pro-business while the EFF wants to redistribute land from whites to blacks without compensation. Malema said his party would work with the ANC only if it removed Zuma, made education free for all and nationalised banks and mines. ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said his party could not accept those conditions. "You don't take those decisions on your feet, or under pressure from the opposition, you don't do that," he told Talk Radio 702. SCRUTINY With EFF votes, the DA is now likely to form a minority administration in Tshwane, which includes the capital Pretoria, Malema said, adding that his party's support in Johannesburg hangs in the balance over an outstanding issue with the DA. Malema said the EFF would assist the DA in the symbolically important Nelson Mandela Bay, which includes the manufacturing hub Port Elizabeth, although the DA said it would rule there without EFF help after forming a coalition with smaller parties. But even with the coalition it had formed and the EFF's support, the DA is unlikely to form a government in the industrial region of Ekurhuleni that lies next to Johannesburg and hosts the country's main airport, Maimane said. Some analysts said the minority governments may descend into wrangling, slowing decision-making or triggering new elections at a time when the country teeters on the verge of recession. Other analysts felt that close scrutiny on budgets by rival parties may help fight corruption. "The fact that there are coalitions in the first place, that no party has a majority, is good for governance because now they are all keeping tabs on each other," said head of research at NKC African Economics, Francois Conradie. "The spending is going to happen in a cleaner and better way." (Additional reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Piali - The Curry Bistro serves all the Indian curries you love to eat, and many more from around the world.

By Mohini Mehrotra: Curries dominate the Indian thali--from Gatte Ki Sabzi in Rajasthan to Bhutta Methi Malai in Uttar Pradesh, Amritsari Cholley in Punjab and Assamese Black Sesame Curry in West Bengal. So what happens when you find a variety of curries from different states of India, and some of your favourites from across the globe, under one roof? With over 40 varieties of curries from across the world on their menu, you will be spoilt for choice at Piali - The Curry Bistro at Connaught Place.

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The low-lit interior, a bit old-fashioned in appearance, is cosy and comfortable. You can choose a window side table which overlooks the PVR Plaza or relax on one of the laidback quilted black chesterfield sofas. The bar is well-stocked and serves a number of interesting cocktails to choose from. From their signature cocktails, try the Kala Khatta, a tangy concoction of vodka, gin, tequila with kala khatta syrup--that will 'punch' you back to the good old college days of street bought ice lollies.

Piali serves a variety of curries from across India and the world. Photo: Piali

Pair your drink with Khumb aur Singhade Ki Galouti which will leave you confused at its vegetarian-ness, for it is super-delicate and mouth-watering delicious. For those who can't do without a non-vegetarian starter, go for the Roast chicken and caremalised onion Spring roll--its crisp casing and sweet, spicy and tender chicken filling make it a great bite.

Also read: Check out the new Chor Bizarre outlet at Bikaner House, Delhi



Coming to main course, their Daab Chingri--a traditional Bengali preparation of prawns cooked in mustard and filled inside a coconut is worth trying. The combination of mustard and coconut in the dish is lovely and goes well with gobindobhog rice. From the international spread, the creamy and flavourful Burmese Khao Suey is a good pick.

Unlike most restaurants in the city, the dessert menu is strictly limited to only two options--Piali Pineapple Halwa and Rum Flambe Gulab Jamun with vanilla iceream. So why not try both, we say!

The next time you're looking for a relaxed place that serves delicious curries and heady cocktails, head to Piali - The Curry Bistro.

Address: K 41, Level 1, Opposite PVR Plaza, Connaught Place, New Delhi

Meal for two Rs. 1200 plus taxes

Timings 11.30 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Contact no 9205050970, 9205050971, 9205050972

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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand recouped the previous sessions losses as expectations for a September U.S rate hike subsided, and as traders looked on to a string of local and global economic data due later in the session. * At 0650 GMT, the rand trades at 13.2600 per dollar, 0.82percent firmer from its Wednesday close. * The U.S Fed July meeting minutes published on Wednesdayshow Fed policymakers were generally upbeat about the U.S.economic outlook and labour market. * Statistics South Africa to release wholesale trade salesand tourism and migration data today and the release of USInitial Jobless Claims and July's US Leading Index data. * The local bourse was set to open higher at 0700 GMT, withthe blue chip futures index up about 0.3 percent. * In fixed income, the yield on 2026 benchmark governmentbond fell 9.5 basis points to 8.355 percent. (Reporting by Zimasa Mpemnyama; Editing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Thousands of subscribers of South Africa's biggest landline provider Telkom SA were cut off its network after the firm's cables were cut and some set ablaze, in acts of vandalism it blamed on striking workers. Telkom agreed a pay deal with two of it three largest labour unions in June, but the Communications Workers Union (CWU), which had initially agreed to the deal in principle, later rejected the offer and called a strike on Aug. 1. Telkom said the cables in a number of cities, including parts of the capital Pretoria, were damaged on Wednesday, interrupting telephone and Internet links to about 6,000 customers, spokeswoman Jacqui O'Sullivan told Talk Radio 702. The CWU has denied the claims of vandalism. O'Sullivan said striking CWU members had blocked entrances to Telkom's offices in Centurion, near the capital on Monday, and threatened some employees who were not part of the strike. "Historically there has always been a close link between industrial action and sabotage in the telecommunications sector," she told the radio. O'Sullivan said police were investigating the vandalism. She could not be reached by Reuters for comment. Telkom's spokesman Gugu Maqetuka said "yes, of course" when asked if the firm blamed the striking workers for the vandalism, but did not elaborate. The CWU, which has 4,500 members at Telkom all of whom have downed their tools, rejected claims of vandalism. "We are denying anything of our members being involved ... there is no evidence which has come to the fore," CWU President Clyde Mervin told Reuters. ($1 = 13.2938 rand) (Reporting by Zimasa Mpemnyama; Editing by James Macharia and Susan Thomas)
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea has expanded a probe into whether foreign carmakers besides Volkswagen AG falsified documents on emissions and noise-level tests, in the wake of the German automaker's emissions-test cheating scandal. Foreign carmakers found guilty of wrongdoing may face a sales suspension and a fine, which could put the brakes on strong sales rises they have enjoyed in recent years, helped by trade deals. About 100 models from 23 companies face investigation, which will take two to three months, said Hong Dong-gon, a director at the environment ministry. "Last week, we launched a preliminary probe into foreign carmakers to see whether there are cases similar to that of Volkswagen," he added. South Korea has sought to punish Volkswagen aggressively, suspending sales of most of its models for allegedly forging documents on emissions or noise-level tests. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
By Denis Dumo and Michelle Nichols JUBA/NEW YORK (Reuters) - South Sudan's opposition leader, Riek Machar, is in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations said on Thursday, several weeks after he withdrew from the capital, Juba, during fierce fighting with government troops. The world body said its peacekeeping mission in the DRC became aware of Machar's presence in the country on Monday and contacted the Congolese government, which then asked the mission to pick up Machar. That operation took place on Wednesday, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters in New York. "Riek Machar has been handed over to the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We're not in a position to confirm his location," Haq said. A spokesman for the DRC government, Lambert Mende, denied it had been in touch with any party on helping the former South Sudanese vice president, but Haq said Machar was removed from an area close to the border with South Sudan. "We can confirm that an operation was undertaken by MONUSCO (U.N. mission) on humanitarian grounds to facilitate the extraction of Riek Machar, his wife and 10 others from a location in the DRC in support of the DRC authorities," Haq said, adding MONUSCO was considered the best-suited party to move Machar safely. A statement issued by the leadership of the SPLA In Opposition (SPLA-IO) said he had left on Wednesday to a "safe country within the region". Machar led a two-year rebellion against forces loyal to his longtime rival, President Salva Kiir, before the two sides reached a peace deal in August 2015. Under the deal, Machar returned to Juba in April to resume his role as vice president. But fighting flared last month, leading Machar to withdraw with his forces from Juba around mid-July. Opposition spokesman James Gatdek Dak, writing on his Facebook page, said opposition fighters had "successfully relocated our leader to a neighboring country where he will now have unhindered access to the rest of the world and the media." Machar had sustained a leg injury from weeks of walking in the bush but not serious enough to require medical attention, Gatdek Dak said. Since the July fighting, Kiir has sacked Machar from his post and appointed Taban Deng Gai, a former opposition negotiator who broke ranks with Machar, as vice president. The United Nations told Kiir any political changes must be consistent with the peace deal, which stated that the vice president must be chosen by the South Sudan Armed Opposition. (Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York and Aaron Ross in Kinshasa; Writing by Edmund Blair and Duncan Miriri; Editing by Toby Chopra and Peter Cooney)
By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Southern California wildfire raged virtually unchecked in thick brush on Wednesday after destroying dozens of houses near a highway corridor between Los Angeles and Las Vegas and forcing as many as 80,000 residents to flee their homes, officials said. The so-called Blue Cut Fire ignited on Tuesday in the mountainous Cajon Pass and has exploded to cover 25,626 acres (10,370 hectares). Firefighters had carved containment lines around only four percent of the blaze by Wednesday night, fire officials said. They described the blaze as unusually fierce, even for a year of intense wildfires in the U.S. West, where years of drought have placed a heavy burden on firefighting resources. "In my 40 years of fighting fire, I've never seen fire behavior so extreme as it was yesterday," Michael Wakoski, the incident commander on the fire, told a news conference on Wednesday. As many as eight wildland fires were burning in California on Wednesday, three of them scorching thousands of acres as firefighters sought help from emergency responders from other states and the California National Guard. U.S. government forecasters have said Southern California faces a potential threat from major wildfires until December, given the dryness and warm weather. Santa Ana winds, which sweep desert air to California's coast while driving the fires, are due to kick up next month, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal-Fire) spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff said by phone. September and October are often the peak of the state's wildfire season. The Blue Cut Fire, named for a narrow gorge north of San Bernardino where it started, threatened the town of Wrightwood near a ski resort and other communities in a partly rural area, authorities said. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Authorities said they were forced to close part of Interstate 15, which runs through the Cajon Pass between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area, and to order about 80,000 residents to evacuate. Thick columns of smoke blocked out the sky above mountain peaks as the fire overran a number of properties, leaving behind barren lots with blackened appliances and vehicles stripped of nearly everything but metal. Louis Penna, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County Fire Department, said in an email an official damage estimate was not available but that dozens of destroyed structures were clearly visible. San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig told reporters: "There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing." The Los Angeles Times reported hundreds of residents were staying in their houses, despite dire warnings from authorities. Among them was Nico Santucci, who was standing sentry outside his home in Lytle Creek with his young son by his side. "If the first house catches on fire here or the fire breaks this mountain here, then I'm gone, then we're gone," Santucci said. About 600 miles (970 km) to the northwest, the so-called Clayton Fire was 40 percent contained after charring 4,000 acres in and around the community of Lower Lake and destroying 175 homes and businesses. California had spent $164 million by Aug. 12 to combat wildfires this year, Cal-Fire's Tolmachoff said, not including the Blue Cut or Clayton fires. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Calif.; Editing by Alistair Bell and Matthew Lewis)
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's lower house of parliament will begin to discuss acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's bid for a second term in office on Aug. 30, the house speaker said on Thursday, meaning he will likely face a confidence vote the following day. The Spanish parliament usually stages a debate to invest a prime minister before holding a vote on their plan for a government the next day. If the candidate fails to secure an absolute majority on the floor of the 350-seat lower house - at least 176 votes - then a second vote is held 48 hours later. At the second vote, the candidate only needs a simple majority of votes cast. (Reporting by Sarah White, Editing by Catherine Bennett)
By Selam Gebrekidan (Reuters) - On the night of June 2, 2015, gunmen blocked a highway on Libya's northern coast and stopped a white truck speeding toward Tripoli, the capital. The men trained their assault rifles on the driver. Three climbed aboard to search the cargo. Ruta Fisehaye, a 24-year-old Eritrean, was lying on the bed of the truck's first trailer. Beside her lay 85 Eritrean men and women, one of whom was pregnant. A few dozen Egyptians hid in the second trailer. All shared one dream  to reach Europe. The gunmen ordered the migrants off the truck. They separated Muslims from Christians and, then, men from women. They asked those who claimed to be Muslims to recite the Shahada, a pledge to worship only Allah. All of the Egyptians shouted the words in unison. "There is no god but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God." "Allahu Akbar," the gunmen called back. Fisehaye realized then that she was in the hands of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Her captors wore robes with beige camouflage print  clothes she had not seen on other men in Libya. Most of them hid behind black ski masks. A black flag waved from one of their pickup trucks. "We were certain that they were taking us to our deaths," recalled Fisehaye, a Christian who wears a black-thread necklace to symbolize her Orthodox faith. "We cried in despair." Her captors had another end in mind. As Islamic State battles to expand in Libya, it is rewarding its warriors by exploiting the great exodus of African migrants bound for Europe. Since the group emerged in Libya in late 2014, some 240,000 migrants and refugees have traversed the war-torn country. Over the past 18 months, Islamic State fighters have abducted at least 540 refugees in six separate ambushes, according to 14 migrants who witnessed the abductions and have since escaped to Europe. The fighters then enslaved, raped, sold or exchanged at least 63 captive women, nine of whom described their ordeal in detail to Reuters. Their stories comprise the first corroborated account of how Islamic State turns refugee women into sex slaves using them as human currency to attract and reward fighters in Libya. It is the same blueprint of abuse it employed on Yazidi women in Syria and Iraq. Because of its proximity to southern Europe, and its shared borders with six African nations, Libya is Islamic State's most important outpost outside Syria and Iraq. It is territory that the group is fighting hard to defend. In August, U.S. fighter jets bombed Sirte  the stronghold of Islamic State in Libya  in an attempt to wrench the city from the group's control. The airstrikes have revived a stalled military assault that Libyan brigades launched earlier this summer. Sirte is strategically important for Islamic State. The city sits on a highway connecting two hubs of Libya's people-smuggling trade  Ajdabiya in the northeast, where migrants stop to settle fees with smugglers, and fishing ports in the west, where boats depart for Europe every week. From this bastion, Islamic State has found numerous ways to profit from the refugee crisis, despite the group's declaration that migration is "a dangerous major sin" in the September issue of its magazine, "Dabiq." The extremist group has taxed smugglers in exchange for safe passage and has used well-beaten smuggling routes to bring in new fighters, according to Libyan residents interviewed by phone, a senior U.S. official and a U.N. Security Council report published in July. Brigadier Mohamed Gnaidy, an intelligence officer with local forces mustered by the nearby town of Misrata, says Islamic State has recruited migrants to join its ranks, offering them money and Libyan brides. It has also extracted human chattel from the stream of refugees passing through its territory, according to the accounts of Fisehaye and the other survivors who were interviewed. Five of six mass kidnappings verified by Reuters took place on a 160-km stretch near Sirte in March, June, July, August and September of last year. The sixth occurred near Libya's border with Sudan this January. This story is based on interviews with Fisehaye, eight other women enslaved by Islamic State, and five men kidnapped by the group. Reuters spoke to the refugees in three European countries over four months. Two women agreed to speak on the record, risking the stigma that besets survivors of sexual violence. Reuters was unable to reach the Islamic State fighters in Libya or independently corroborate certain aspects of the women's accounts. BETTER SHOT THAN BEHEADED Before she left Eritrea, Fisehaye (rhymes with Miss-ha-day) felt trapped in her job as a storekeeper for a government-owned farm. Like most young Eritreans, she was a conscript in the country's long-term national service, which lasts well beyond the 18 months mandated by law. She could hardly get by on her meager wages of $36 a month. But she also felt she could not quit and risk angering the state, which is often accused of human-rights violations. Fisehaye, a petite woman whose smile easily takes over her entire face, decided to take a risk. In January 2015, she walked across the border into Sudan with a cousin and two friends, her heart set on Europe. In Khartoum, Sudan's capital, Fisehaye spent four months raising the $1,400 she needed to pay a smuggler for a trip to Libya. She tried and failed to find a lucrative job. So, like thousands of refugees before her, she called on relatives abroad to pitch in. She talked to recent emigres and found an Eritrean smuggler whose clients gave him a glowing review. Before setting off into the desert, she heard stories about armed outlaws who rape women in Libya. She paid a doctor for a contraceptive injection that would last for three months. "Once you leave Eritrea, there is no going back. I did what any woman would do," she said. The first leg of her journey went off without a hitch. In May, her convoy crossed the Sahara and reached Ajdabiya in northeast Libya. Fisehaye believed the worst was behind her. Though no one counts migrants who die from sickness, starvation and violence in the desert, refugee groups say more may perish there than drown in the Mediterranean Sea. "No one stopped us in the Sahara  and the smugglers told us we shouldn't worry about Daesh," she said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. "I never expected to see an organized state like theirs in Libya." She was wrong. On the night of the kidnapping, the armed Islamic State fighters ordered Fisehaye and the other Christians back onto the truck. The men climbed onto the front trailer and the women, 22 in all, onto the back. They drove east, threading the same road they had driven hours earlier. A pickup truck with a mounted machine gun trailed close behind. A half hour later, the truck turned right onto a dirt road and the soft glow of a town's lights shimmered ahead. A few male captives had seen videos of Islamic State beheadings. Realizing the gunmen belonged to the group, the men jumped off and ran into the flat desert. Gunfire erupted. Some fell dead, others were rounded up. A few got away. "We thought it would be better to get shot than beheaded," Hagos Hadgu, one of the men who jumped off the truck, said in an interview in Hallsta, Sweden. He wasn't caught that night and made it to Europe two months later. "We didn't want to die with our hands and legs bound. Even an animal needs to writhe in the hour of death." The fighters deposited the migrants at an abandoned hospital perched in a scrubland near a desert town called Nawfaliyah. They searched the women for jewelry, lifting their sleeves and necklines with a rod, and hauled them into a small room where a Nigerian woman was being kept. The next morning, one of the fighters' leaders, a man from West Africa, paid the women a visit. He brought a young boy, one of at least seven Eritrean children Islamic State had kidnapped in March, to serve as his translator. "Do you know who we are?" the man asked. The women were silent. "We are al-dawla al-Islamiyyah," the man explained, using the Arabic for Islamic State. He reminded the women that Islamic State was the group that had slain 30 Eritrean and Ethiopian Christians back in April, filmed the massacre, and posted the video online. The caliphate would spare their lives because they were women, he assured them, but only if they converted to Islam. "Or we will let you rot here," he warned. Fisehaye found conversion an unholy thought. Along with the other women, she fired a volley of questions at the man: Can we call our families and tell them where we are? Can they pay you a ransom for our freedom? Can you tell us what you did to our brothers? Our husbands? The man offered few answers and no solace. Three weeks later, in the first week of Ramadan in June, fighter jets bombed the abandoned hospital compound and some of the buildings collapsed. It is difficult to determine who was behind the attack. Both the U.S. military and western Libyan groups have claimed raids on nearby towns around that time. In the ensuing chaos, Fisehaye and the other women sprinted past the debris and ran barefoot into the desert. The hot ground seared their feet. The captive men, who had been held in the same compound all along, ran ahead. Before long, the fleeing captives made out the silhouettes of a pickup truck and men with assault rifles ahead of them. The armed men waved for the migrants to stop then opened fire. The women stopped. Most of the migrant men escaped, but eleven were rounded up and flogged. Their whereabouts are unknown. The airstrikes continued through the week. Eventually, Islamic State fighters moved the women to the abandoned quarters of a Turkish construction company in Nawfaliyah, two hours away. The makeshift prison housed graders and dozers from road-work projects of the mid-2000s, their metal bodies rusting under the intense heat. Itinerant workers had scribbled their names and countries on the compound's walls. Fisehaye and the other women stayed in a small room where the drywall sweated when temperatures rose. A Korean family  a pediatrician, his wife and her brother  were jailed in another room. It only took a week for Fisehaye and the other women to attempt another breakout. Nine escaped, but not Fisehaye. Instead, she was brought back to the makeshift prison and whipped for days. The Korean doctor tended to her wounds. A few weeks later, in early August, 21 other Eritrean women joined Fisehaye's group. They too had been kidnapped along a stretch of highway in central Libya. One woman came with her three children, aged five, seven and eleven. CONVERSION Throughout the summer, Islamic State consolidated its hold in central Libya. In Sirte, Islamic State fighters crushed a Salafist uprising by executing dissenters and hanging their bodies from lampposts. In Nawfaliyah, they paraded decapitated heads to silence dissent. Then, in September, the group's emir in Libya, Abul-Mughirah Al-Qahtani (more commonly known as Abu Nabil), advertised his domain's "great need of every Muslim who can come." He summoned fighters, doctors, legal experts and administrators who could help him build a functioning state. He levied hefty taxes on businesses and confiscated enemy property, just as his group had done in Syria and Iraq. The ranks of Islamic State fighters swelled. At its peak, the group may have had 6,000 fighters in Libya, based on the U.S. Army's estimates, although the Pentagon drastically cut that estimate this month to a thousand fighters in Sirte. The single men, most of whom flocked from other parts of Africa, needed companions, and Islamic State enlisted older women in Sirte to help. The women, called 'crows' because they dressed in black, visited townspeople's homes and registered single girls older than 15 as potential brides, says Brigadier Gnaidy of the Misrata forces. As the group's ambitions grew that summer, so did its need for women. Islamic State's take on sharia permits men to take sex slaves. The kidnapped women, unprotected and far from home, became easy targets. In mid-August, more than two months after Fisehaye was abducted, Islamic State fighters moved the 36 women in their custody to Harawa, a small town they controlled some 75 kilometers (46 miles) from Sirte. As Fisehaye and the seven other women Reuters interviewed describe it, life in Harawa was almost quotidian at first. There were no air strikes, beatings or threats of sexual violence. The captives  the Eritreans kidnapped in June and August, including Fisehaye, two Nigerians, and the Korean couple and their relative  lived in a large compound by the town's dam. In the next few weeks, they were joined by 10 Filipino medical workers kidnapped from a hospital in Sirte, a Bangladeshi lecturer taken from a Sirte university, a pregnant Ghanaian captured in Sirte, and an Eritrean woman captured with her 4-year-old son on the highway to Tripoli. It was here that Fisehaye bonded with Simret Kidane, a 29 year-old who left her three children with her parents in Eritrea to seek a better life in Europe. She was among the women kidnapped in August. Kidane befriended one of the guards, Hafeezo, a Tunisian mechanic turned jihadist in his early 30s. Hafeezo helped the women navigate their new life in captivity. He brought them groceries and relayed their demands to his superiors in Sirte. He comforted them when they cried. He counseled them to forget their past lives and embrace Islam. That way, he promised, they may be freed to find a husband among the militants. They may even be allowed to call home. The women asked for religious lessons, and Hafeezo brought them a copy of the Koran translated into their first language, Tigrinya. He also brought a small Dell laptop and a flash drive on which he had uploaded religious texts and lessons on the lives of fallen jihadists. Fisehaye succumbed first. In September, after three months of captivity, she converted to Islam and took on a Muslim name, Rima. Her conversion had a domino effect across the compound; Kidane and the others followed suit a month later. "I could see no other way out," Fisehaye said. "Islam was one more step to my freedom. They told us we would have some rights as Muslims." After their conversion, Hafeezo brought them black abayas and niqabs, loose garments some Muslim women wear to cover themselves. He kept his distance and refused to make eye contact. Instead, he supervised their piety from afar. Another guard, an older Sudanese fighter, taught them to pray. He recited verses from the Koran and made the women write down and repeat his words. When the guard moved to a new job in Sirte, Hafeezo brought a flat-screen TV and played them videos of religious lessons and suicide missions. As promised, Hafeezo allowed the women to call their families. In December, frequent gunfire punctured the relatively quiet life in Harawa. Food became scarce. Hafeezo was often called to the frontline and disappeared for days. One day, he took Kidane aside and told her to prepare for what was to come. The leadership had changed  Islamic State's emir in Libya had died in a U.S. airstrike a month earlier  and the women's fate along with it. "You are now [[i]]sabaya,[[/i]]" Hafeezo told Kidane, using the archaic term for slave. There were four possible outcomes for her and the other women, he explained. Their respective owners could make them their sex slaves, give them away as gifts, sell them to other militias, or set them free. "Do not worry about what will happen to you in the hands of men," Kidane says Hafeezo told her. "Concern yourself only with where you stand with Allah." Kidane did not share this detail with Fisehaye or the other women, hoping to save them from despair. Later, one of Hafeezo's superiors came to the compound to take a census. He wrote the women's names and ages on a ledger. He asked them to lift their veils and examined their faces. He returned a week later and took two of the youngest women, aged 15 and 18, with him. On December 17, he sent for Kidane. That day, he gave her to a Libyan member of an Islamic State brigade in Sirte. Despite her repeated pleas, her new owner refused to reunite her with Fisehaye. Kidane and the teenage women escaped and are now seeking asylum in Germany. SABAYA In late January, a stomach ulcer confined Fisehaye to her bed. Stress made matters worse. Returning from a hospital visit one afternoon, she witnessed a child, no older than 9, shoot a man in the town square. Soon after, she and the remaining female captives moved to a warehouse in Sirte where Islamic State stored appliances, fuel and slaves. A group of 15 Eritrean women, who had been kidnapped in July, and three Ethiopian women kidnapped in January joined them that week. The warehouse became, to the women, a last frontier of defiance. As new Muslims, they argued for better healthcare and the abolition of their slavery. They absorbed beatings in response. Resistance proved futile. An Eritrean fighter called Mohamed, who had often dropped by to survey the women, purchased Fisehaye in February. He never said how much he paid for her. But he seemed gentle at first, asking after her waning health and her past life in Eritrea. "I was confused. I thought he was going to help me. Maybe he had infiltrated Daesh. Maybe he wasn't really one of them. I started harboring hope," Fisehaye said. Instead, he raped her, repeatedly, for weeks. "No one ever showed us which part of the Koran says they could turn us into slaves," Fisehaye said. "They wanted to destroy usso much evil in their hearts." She plotted her escape but could not find a way out. Then her owner lent her to another man, a Senegalese fighter. Known by the nom de guerre Abu Hamza, the Senegalese had brought his wife and three children to the Libyan frontline. Fisehaye was to work, unpaid, in Abu Hamza's kitchen. The work was busy but bearable, until one night in mid-February when Abu Hamza brought an Eritrean woman from the warehouse. He raped the woman all night. "She was screaming. Screaming. It tore my heart," Fisehaye recalled. "His wife stood by the door and cried." The next morning, Fisehaye convinced the battered woman to run away with her. They left the city behind and ran into the desert. No one stopped to help them and they were caught by religious police on patrol outside the city. The police returned both women to captivity. The battered Eritrean woman went back to Abu Hamza. Mohamed took Fisehaye to a three-story building in Sirte that he shared with two other fighters. Fisehaye moved in with a 22-year-old Eritrean woman and her 4-year-old son, both of whom belonged to a Tunisian commander named Saleh. Another 23-year-old Eritrean lived down the hall with her 2-year-old son and a daughter to whom she gave birth while in Islamic State custody. That woman and her children belonged to a Nigerian fighter who called himself al-Baghdadi. Fisehaye's roommates said the men raped them on multiple occasions. They told their stories on condition of anonymity. "There was no one there to help me. So I kept quiet and took the abuse," the Eritrean mother of two later said. "I stopped resisting. He did as he pleased with me." ESCAPE In April of this year, Libya's nascent unity government stationed itself in a naval base in Tripoli. Separately, rival factions  the Petroleum Facilities Guard in the east and brigades from towns in the west  plotted to attack Islamic State from opposite flanks. In Sirte, meanwhile, Fisehaye and her roommates learned that one of them, the mother of two, would soon be sold to another man. The revelation pushed them to plot an escape. They pretended to call their relatives but talked, instead, to Eritrean smugglers in Tripoli. They studied their captors' schedules. They surveyed their surroundings whenever the Tunisian commander Saleh, in a cruel prank, left the house keys with his slave but took her son with him. Finally, on the early morning of April 14, the women grabbed 60 Libyan dinars, about $40, from Saleh's bag and broke out of the house through a backdoor. But Sirte looked ominously deserted in the early morning and, fearing they would be caught, the women returned to the house. They ventured out again, hours later, when the city came to life. They walked for hours before a cab stopped for them. Fisehaye negotiated with the driver in halting Arabic. She told him they were maids who had been swindled by an employer. She gave him a number for an Eritrean smuggler in Tripoli. The driver negotiated with the smuggler over the phone. He agreed to drive them for 750 dinars ($540), to be covered by the smuggler once the women arrived in Bani Walid, five hours away. In the end, it took the women 12 hours to get to Bani Walid. As promised, the Eritrean smuggler paid for their escape and took them to a holding cell. There, they shucked off their niqabs and cried with joy. They prayed for the dozens they had left behind. Fisehaye borrowed the smuggler's phone and called her father in Eritrea. Soon, word of her escape spread among her friends and relatives. They settled her debt and paid the smuggler another $2,000 to get her on a boat to Europe. In May, during a month when 1,133 refugees drowned at sea, Fisehaye crossed the Mediterranean. Her 10 months of captivity had come to an end. She traversed a path trod by many refugees, across Italy and Austria, and reached Germany a month after her escape. She is now seeking asylum there. (Gebrekidan reported from Ulm and Hanover, Germany; Catania and Rome, Italy; and Hallsta, Fur and Vetlanda, Sweden; Additional reporting by Patrick Markey and Aidan Lewis in Sirte, Libya; Ali Al-Shouky in Marsa Matrouh, Egypt; and Jonathan Landay in Washington; Edited by Alessandra Galloni)
From Town & Country

Last year, St. Paul's senior Owen Labrie was sentenced to a year in jail for sexually assaulting a freshman at the school in 2014. The victim's parents, who have remained anonymous in court filings and media reports about the case, sued St. Paul's for not doing enough to prevent the assault-and now the school wants their anonymity revoked.

A motion St. Paul's filed in federal court on August 11 states that "judicial proceedings are supposed to be open and transparent," the Boston Globe reports. The school wants the court to reject the family's use of pseudonyms (the father and mother have been referred to as John and Jane Doe, respectively, and their daughter has been identified as J.D.) in court documents. St. Paul's accuses the family of orchestrating "a national media campaign attacking the character, credibility and reputation of the Schoolwhile simultaneously extolling [the] Plaintiffs' own character, credibility and reputation."

It goes on to state that the plaintiffs' "blatant attempts to try this case in the media-up to and including attempting to set a range on a potential jury verdict-from behind a cloak of anonymity should not be countenanced."

The motion asks that:

"a. The parties, their counsel, and others acting on their behalf shall refrain from making any further public statements about this matter or the facts underlying it until the litigation is completed;

b. The School shall be entitled to identify Plaintiffs and J.D. during the discovery and fact investigation process to third parties and during depositions, and Plaintiffs shall bear the cost of redacting any documents ... filed with the Court bearing Plaintiffs' and J.D.'s names or personally identifiable information;

c. Plaintiffs and J.D. should not be allowed to proceed under pseudonyms atthe trial of this matter."

For his part, St. Paul's board president Archibald Cox, Jr. (Class of 1958 and the son of the Watergate special prosecutor Cox, Sr.) issued a statement on Monday clarifying the school's position. It read, in part, "It appears the media has not read, or is not accurately reporting about our filing. We did not oppose the family's use of pseudonyms, and certainly did not request that the young woman's name be made public. Rather, we agreed to the family's use of pseudonyms during pretrial phases of the litigation, provided they agreed to stop improperly attacking the School's character in statements to the press. The point of the pleading was to suggest that the family's request to proceed anonymously should incorporate the School's desire for the matter to be handled responsibly in court and not through coordinated media attacks."

Cox's statement does not address the third condition of the filing, the request that the pseudonyms be disallowed. Labrie's bail was revoked in March after he violated the curfew terms of his release eight times.
Barack Obama sad

The StateDepartment says that a $400 million cash payment to Iran was contingent on the release of American prisoners.

Spokesman John Kirby says that negotiations over the US's returning Iranian money from a decades-old account was conducted separately from a prisoner swap in January, in which seven Iranians detained in the US were exchanged for Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-American prisoners.

But Kirby acknowledged for the first time that the US withheld delivery of the cash as leverage until the US citizens had left Iran.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the US refused to hand over the $400 million cash payment that was being held at Geneva Airport "until a Swiss Air Force plane carrying three freed Americans departed from Tehran."

The release of the prisoners and of the $400 million to Iranian control occurred January 17.

Kirby spoke after The Wall Street Journal reported that the departures of the crisscrossing planes were linked.

Administration officials initially denied that the $400 million cash transfer was tantamount to critics' assertion of a ransom payment, insisting that the funds were part of a $1.7 billion financial settlement that the US had reached with Iran as part of the nuclear deal.

"As we've made clear, the negotiations over the settlement of an outstanding claim ... were completely separate from the discussions about returning our American citizens home," Kirby told The Journal, which first reported the $400 million cash payment, earlier this month.

"Not only were the two negotiations separate  they were conducted by different teams on each side, including, in the case of The Hague claims, by technical experts involved in these negotiations for many years," he added.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, March 26, 2016. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood/File Photo

That President Barack Obama failed to disclose the transfer of foreign hard currency to Iran by an unmarked cargo plane raised initial questions about the administration's transparency in its dealings with Iran, however.

Story continues

That scrutiny is bound to intensify now that the State Department has admitted to withholding the funds until the prisoners were released from Iranian custody  a move that some might perceive as the US effectively allowing Iran to use American detainees as bargaining chips.

"There are arguments by some analysts that downplay the transfer as a ransom payment because this was money owed to Iran in principle and interest," Amir Toumaj, an Iran expert at the Washington, DC-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Business Insider earlier this month.

"But we wouldn't be having this discussion if the Islamic Republic were a government that abided by international norms and did not arbitrarily hold hostages as bargaining chips," he said.

The prisoner swap fueled skepticism about the extent to which the US may have appeased Iran in the name of finalizing the landmark nuclear deal. The exchange was later revealed to have been a year in the making, despite claims by administration officials that the subject of a prisoner release was never broached during nuclear-related negotiations.

The swap was also finalized on the same day that the nuclear deal was implemented and the nuclear-related sanctions on Iran were lifted  a "coincidence," as officials characterized it, that left some experts wondering whether the exchange was aimed at bolstering overall support for the deal inside Iran.

"The administration announced the transfer of the $1.7 billion, of which the $400 million is the first installment, in January," Toumaj said.

"Still, the timing of this first installment is suspicious," he added. "And it's difficult to imagine that the prisoner swap and money transfer were not part of a quid pro quo arrangement."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NOW WATCH: Obama said the White House previously announced the $400 million payment to Iran  here's the footage





More From Business Insider


Two teenage Pokemon Go players were terrorised by laser-wielding, pig-masked Swedish couple who were having public sex.

By India Today Web Desk: Two teen siblings were on a Pokemon Go hunt in Sweden but it turned out more like a 'Pork'emon hunt.



The teenagers ran into something indescribably strange. They spotted a couple having sex wearing pig masks and matching shirts labelled King and Queen.

Fancy, eh?

In the event of any disturbance during their swiney sex session, the couple had their guards up. As soon as they were spotted by the Pokemon players, they flashed a green laser light at them.

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The teenagers' mother told a local newspaper that the weird pig-headed couple, 'started squealing and waving their green light' at them. Luckily the laser beam hit the teen's face but missed the eye. Laser beams when directed at the eye can cause instant blindness.

In the middle of this chaos, the hammy couple also managed to block traffic in the town. Baffled passersby stopped to catch a glimpse of the madness that was unfolding.

Police are still on the look out for the 'sex-pigs' who caused quite a stir in the town.

--- ENDS ---
The transportation sector, which includes airlines, truckers, shipping stocks and railroads to name a few, is grappling with a number of challenges. The headwinds have hurt the second-quarter 2016 results of this widely diversified space (one of the 16 Zacks sectors).

This can be made out from our latest Earnings Trends report which shows that the transportation sectors second-quarter performance was worse than the first quarter of 2016. The report states that the bottom line has declined 12.4% year over year in the second quarter for transportation companies (in the S&P 500 space) while the same had expanded 3.3% in the first quarter of the year. The numbers make a sorry reading even with respect to the top line as well. In the second quarter, revenues shrunk 1.3% while the same had declined only 0.9% in the first quarter.

With the broader sector undergoing tough times, how can the airline sub-group be spared? The sorry state of affairs is reflected by the bearish Zacks Industry rank of 241 (among 260+ groups) carried by the Transportation-Airline segment.

Stocks in the airline space are facing a number of headwinds ranging from the surge in terror attacks, uncertainty following the Brexit vote, unit revenue issues and technological glitches, to name a few. Moreover, declining airfares have the potential to hurt the top line of airline companies.

The mixed second-quarter 2016 performance by airline behemoth Delta Air Lines DAL throws more light on the plight of the airline stocks. The Atlanta, GA-based carrier kicked off the second-quarter earnings season for the airline sector on Jul 14. Even though the carrier beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings, it continued to struggle on the revenue front with the top line shrinking 2.4% mainly due to currency woes. Revenues also fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

DELTA AIR LINES Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

DELTA AIR LINES Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | DELTA AIR LINES Quote

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Unit revenue issues have been plaguing Delta, like its peers for quite some time. This is reflected by the declining metric  passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM: a measure of sales relative to capacity for a carrier). PRASM declined 4.9% in the second quarter of 2016 to 13.59 cents mainly due to currency woes. That the PRASM-related issues are not a thing of the past at Delta can be made out from the 7% drop in the metric in July. The sharp drop was due to foreign exchange woes along with the ongoing supply-demand imbalance in the Transatlantic and softness pertaining to domestic yield.

Earlier in the month, the carrier suffered yet another setback when a power outrage in Atlanta disrupted its operations causing undue harassment to passengers. In view of this gloomy backdrop, it is of little surprise that the 2016 Zacks Consensus Estimate declined in excess of 8% over the last 60 days to $5.79 per share. Additionally, the Delta stock lost 26% year to date. The Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) carried by Delta further reinforces the fact that investors should avoid this stock for now.

4 Other Airline Stocks to Avoid

With the airline sector struggling, we pinpoint four other stocks in the space that are underperforming and should be dumped without further ado.

Dallas-based low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines Co. LUV is struggling big time. The stock lost value following the release of its second-quarter results on Jul 21 wherein earnings lagged estimates. Moreover, the carrier suffered a technology outage recently, which resulted in cancellation and delays of over 2000 flights.

The setback caused the carrier to slash its third-quarter operating revenue per available seat mile (RASM: a key measure of unit revenue) guidance earlier this month. RASM is now expected to decline in the range of 3.5% to 4.5% in the third quarter as compared to the earlier projected range of a decline of 3.0% to 4.0%.

SOUTHWEST AIR Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

SOUTHWEST AIR Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | SOUTHWEST AIR Quote

In view of this gloomy backdrop, it is of little surprise that the 2016 Zacks Consensus Estimate has declined almost 5% over the last 30 days to $3.87 per share. Additionally, the stock lost in excess of 14% year to date. The Zacks Rank #5 carried by Southwest Airlines further reinforces the fact that investors should keep away from this stock at present.

CA-based low-cost carrier Virgin America VA is also best avoided at the moment. The Zacks Rank #5 company reported lackluster second-quarter results with both earnings and revenues lagging expectations. The carriers earnings per share of 93 cents missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.17 and also declined 36.3% year over year. Quarterly revenues of $426 million also missed the consensus mark of $447 million.

VIRGIN AMERICA Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

VIRGIN AMERICA Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | VIRGIN AMERICA Quote

Also, Santiago, Chile-based LATAM Airlines Group S.A. LFL should be avoided going by the present scenario. The carrier, carrying a Zacks Rank #5, performed disappointingly in the second quarter of 2016 reporting wider-than-expected loss. Moreover, the quarterly loss of 17 cents per share was wider than the year-ago loss of 9 cents. Revenues declined in excess of 14% to $1,967 million in the reported quarter. Due to the below-par results on Aug 11, the 2016 Zacks Consensus Estimate declined over 34% to 17 cents over the last 7 days.

LATAM AIRLINES Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

LATAM AIRLINES Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | LATAM AIRLINES Quote

Last but not least Germanys Zacks Rank #5 company Lufthansa DLAKY should also not make it to your portfolio now. The carrier reported year-over-year decline in earnings and revenues in the second quarter of 2016. The carrier stated last month that travel demand to Europe has been waning following multiple terror attacks and the uncertainty following the Brexit vote.

The carrier also said that advance bookings, especially on long-haul Europe-bound routes, have been hurt by the above-mentioned headwinds. The company now expects 2016 adjusted earnings before interest and taxes to be below 2015 levels (the previous guidance had hinted at the measure being slightly above the 2015 figure). Shares of the carrier have shed over 25% so far this year.

LUFTHANSA -ADR Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

LUFTHANSA -ADR Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | LUFTHANSA -ADR Quote

If you want to know which stocks we think every investor should be avoiding right now, then you need to checkout our Short List. This service takes a look at a variety of fundamental and technical factors in order to find the best candidates to short right now. Click here to learn more information about the Short List>>>



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Sieg Heil! Baron Rudolf-Christoph von Gersdorff barked, keeping his left hand in his pocket as he raised his right arm to salute Adolf Hitler. The Fuhrer acknowledged the sign of respect, and, with his concealed hand, Gersdorff ignited a chemical fuse connected to a cocktail of explosives.

Intelligence Officer Gersdorff acquired the hardware for this March 21, 1943, assassination attempt through his work with Col. Henning von Tresckow, who was one of a group of officers tasked with strategizing the invasion of the Soviet Union. The officers were also part of a conspiracy ring aimed at taking Hitlers life. Gersdorff removed his hand from his coat pocket and beckoned Hitler into the exhibition hall of Berlins Zeughaus military museum. As he led the Third Reichs chief on a guided tour of captured Soviet equipment, acid in the bombs fuse began to saturate wads of cotton wool. Once a hidden wire was severed by the acid, a striker pin would be set off, detonating the explosive. This would take 15 to 20 minutes, and the tour was scheduled to take about 30. The only problem? Hitler was in a rush.

I did not need much time to answer yes to the most momentous question that anybody ever asked me. Rudolf-Christoph von Gersdorff, Soldier in the Downfall

According to Gersdorffs memoir, Soldier in the Downfall, he was given less than a weeks notice when Tresckow asked whether he would be willing to take Hitlers life during the Fuhrers Memorial Day activities. Tresckow didnt reveal any details of the plot, other than that it required Gersdorff to kill himself. Gersdorff was a widower and his only child, a daughter, was under the care of his brother. At that time we were so caught up in the mission, wrote Gersdorff. I did not need much time to answer yes to the most momentous question that anybody ever asked me.

220px bundesarchiv bild 146 1976 130 51, rudolf christoph v. gersdorff

Baron Rudolf-Christoph von Gersdorff

Source CC

Gersdorff claimed he had harbored anti-Nazi sentiments since the late 1930s, noting that his first impressions of Hitler were of a repulsive jumped-up proletarian who may have been mentally abnormal. In 1941, as Hitlers war ground east, Gersdorff received orders he described as monstrous and criminal. One enabled German soldiers to execute Russian citizens without fear of prosecution; the other mandated that any captured commissars were to be immediately executed. But, according to Gersdorff, it was the massacre at Borisov, Belarus, that determined the conspirators that killing Hitler was their only option. The Jewish ghetto at Borisov, which was located close to Gersdorffs barracks in Smolensk, Russia, was the site of an SS massacre of 15,000 men, women and children in 1942. A bulletin from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that the adult victims were machine-gunned, while the children were buried alive. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the graves breathing for two hours following the slaughter.

Story continues

Gersdorff prayed that Hitler would slow down during his tour of the Zeughaus. But Adolf plowed through in less than five minutes, leaving Gersdorff alone  with a ticking bomb. A common criticism of anti-Nazi conspirators, including Gersdorff, is that they found a passion for resistance only after it became clear that Germany would lose the war. The suggestion that officers trying to overthrow or kill Hitler were hoping to save their own careers may apply to some, says Peter Hoffmann, a history professor at McGill University who spoke to Gersdorff in 1967. But, he says, that criticism is not a valid one in Gersdorffs case: [He] did what he could to prevent or limit the shooting of Soviet political commissars, and the killing of the Jews.

Felix Romer, of Londons German Historical Institute, disagrees. He believes Gersdorff acted out of patriotism and a desire to rescue his fatherlands reputation. There was probably some moral outrage about the atrocities, says Romer. But I think the moral motives have been exaggerated. Romer agrees that Borisov may have been the tipping point. But, he says, Gersdorff seemed unconcerned with earlier war crimes, citing recently discovered SS reports detailing massacres of able-bodied Jewish men that Gersdorff received, signed and forwarded in 1941.

Whatever his motivation, theres no denying that Gersdorff was willing to die for the cause. After watching Hitler leave the Zeughaus, the would-be suicide bomber still faced the prospect of dying  but for nothing. He briskly made his way to the nearest lavatory, yanked out the fuse and flushed everything down the toilet, thwarting a detonation.

The resistance was exposed in 1944, but key conspirators suicides and resilience in the face of Gestapo torture kept Gersdorffs involvement a secret. The highly decorated baron died in Munich in 1980, age 74, after decades of wondering what might have been had he managed to slow the Fuhrer down.

Related Articles
From Delish

Those who have never tried sushi typically fear it for the health implications of consuming raw fish. While it's more often than not totally safe to eat, there are some rare cases in which pathogens are passed and outbreaks occur. But the latest out of Hawaii is particularly scary.

According to Hawaii News Now, the Hawaii State Department of Health is currently investigating 168 confirmed cases of Hepatitis A that was likely caused by a batch of imported frozen scallops that were served raw. Those who have fallen ill ate the tainted seafood at Genki Sushi restaurants in Oahu and Kauai. "The restaurants have been closed tonight to prevent any further illness and protect the public," health officials said.

Mary Hansen, Genki's chief administrative officer, said the company was shocked to hear news that their restaurants were linked to the outbreak. "Genki Sushi cares about our customers health and safety. We immediately complied with the order," she said.

Photo credit: Getty

But there are other eateries of interest that the health department has listed but may not fully investigate because they are not believed to be sources of the outbreak. "The likelihood that patrons of these businesses will become infected is very low," the department explained. "However, persons who have consumed food or drink products from these businesses during the identified dates of service should contact their healthcare provider for advice and possible preventive care."

But before you go and boycott scallops forever, the tainted sea port bay scallops-a.k.a wild-caught Philippine Bay scallops-were distributed by Koha Oriental Foods. And while the distributor True World Foods also had the same type of scallops at the ready, they've been impounded by the health department. What's more, the distributors have already changed where it sources scallops.

Follow Delish on Instagram.
A 5-year-old Syrian boy sitting in shock in an ambulance is reminding the world about the sheer destruction of pro-government airstrikes amid the ongoing civil war.

Syrian or Russian jets struck the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, indiscriminately raining explosives on more than 300,000 civilians trapped in the eastern part of the city, which is held by rebels battling the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Slideshow: Syrias children caught in the crossfire of civil war >>>

Bombs hit the family home of Omran Daqneesh, 5, who became the latest symbol of Syrian government bombing campaigns meant to drive rebel-held areas into submission as the war drags on in its sixth year. His parents and three of his siblings, ages 1, 6 and 11, were also rescued from the destroyed building.

Daqneesh was one of 12 children under the age of 15 treated on Wednesday, according to medical workers, who said that a similar number of children are victims of airstrikes on any given day in the besieged city. More than 450,000 people, including 50,000 children, have been killed during the war. Many deaths occur amid widespread airstrikes by the Syrian government and more recently its Russian allies. The rebels do not have an air force.

Video of the latest airstrike aftermath quickly spread online.

The video shows Daqneesh being taken from the rubble that was his home and placed in the back of an ambulance. Once sitting, the boy, in shock and covered with blood and dust, looks around and tries to wipe his face. Realizing that removing the carnage is futile, he looks at his hand and wipes it on the ambulance seat before continuing to stare off into the distance as more children are brought into the ambulance.
Beirut (AFP) - Photographer Mahmoud Rslan has taken many pictures of children killed in Syria's war but none as haunting as the one showing Omran, four years old, dazed and covered in blood.

Shot after an air strike that hit a rebel-held district the battlefield northern city of Aleppo, the picture of Omran shows the brutality of Syria's five-year conflict and the suffering of people trapped by fighting.

"I've taken a lot of pictures of children killed or wounded in the strikes that rain down daily," Rslan told AFP on Thursday, the day after he captured the image that has gone viral on social networks.

"Usually they are either unconscious or crying. But Omran was there, speechless, staring blankly, as if he did not quite understand what had happened to him," he said by telephone.

A video filmed by the Aleppo Media Centre, a network of activists in the divided northern city, shows Omran sitting still in an ambulance, his face, arms and legs caked with blood and dust.

He stares into space, raises his arms to touch his bloodied forehead, looks at his hand then wipes it on the ambulance seat.

Omran has a head full of hair that fall into his eyes.

He is wearing a T-shirt and shorts but his feet are bare, having apparently lost his shoes when he was pulled out alive but in shock from the family apartment destroyed in an air raid.

Wednesday night's air strike hit the Qaterji neighbourhood in rebel-held east Aleppo, Syria's former economic hub which is divided between insurgent and regime control.

Rslan was nearby when he heard the raids at 7:15 pm (1615 GMT).

"It was dark already but I saw a building that had totally collapsed and another half destroyed," he said.

He and rescuers rushed to the buildings to search for survivors.

When they reached the first building, they had to step over three bodies before they could go inside and once there they could not go any further because the staircase had collapsed.

Story continues

Rslan and the rescuers went next door and found Omran and his family, wounded but alive.

- 'Symbol of innocence' -

They were plucked out of the building one by one, brought down through balconies.

Omran was the first to be carried to an ambulance, followed by his 5-year-old brother, his sisters, 8 and 11, and finally the rescuers took out the parents.

"When we placed Omran in the ambulance there was some light, so I was able to take pictures," Rslan said.

"Omran was in a state of shock, a wall had collapsed on him and his family," he said.

"This child like all children in Syria is a symbol of innocence. They have nothing to do with wars."

Syrian and Russian aircraft have been carrying out intense air strikes this week on opposition strongholds across northern Syria to prevent rebels sending reinforcements to Aleppo, a monitoring group has said.

Aleppo has been the scene of fierce fighting since July 31, when the "Army of Conquest" alliance of rebels and jihadists launched a major offensive to break a regime siege of opposition-controlled districts

The haunting image of Omran reverberated around the globe, much like the photo of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi whose drowned trying to reach Europe with his family last September.

Aylan's body washed ashore on a Turkish beach.

Thousands of Syrian asylum seekers have continued to attempt the deadly crossing to Europe in rickety boats, joining thousands others from Africa and other Arab countries hoping for a better life.

The Syrian conflict has killed more than 290,000 people and displaced millions since it began in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations.
PV Sindhu outclassed world No. 6 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-19, 21-10 to become the first Indian shuttler to reach an Olympic final.

By Indo-Asian News Service: India's PV Sindhu thumped Nozomi Okuhara of Japan to enter the final of the women's singles event of badminton competitions, assuring the country at least a Silver medal at the RIo Olympics on Thursday. (Rio Olympics: Full Coverage)

World No. 10 Sindhu registered a 21-19, 21-10 triumph in the semi-finals over world No. 6 Okuhara to become the first Indian shuttler to enter the final of the Olympics.

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With this win, double World Championship bronze medallist Sindhu improved her head-to-head record against reigning All England Open champion Okuhara to 2-3.

In the final, she will face two-time reigning world champion Carolina Marin of Spain, who beat defending champion Li Xuerui of China 21-14, 21-16.

Irrespective of the colour of the medal in the final on Friday, it will be India's second medal in the Rio Games after wrestler Sakshi Malik bagged a Bronze in the women's 58 kg category.

For Sindhu, who was on a giant-killing spree after dismissing two higher-ranked opponents - Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying and World No. 2 Wang Yihan of China in the pre-quarter-final and the quarter-final respectively - Thursday's win was also an extension of her good form.

Sindhu's height and long reach gave her a lot of advantage against the pint-sized Okuhara, who also had her right thigh strapped.

Especially, Sindhu's sharp cross-court game and half smash helped her get off to a fine start.

In the first game between the two 21-year-olds, Sindhu started the match on a positive note, taking a 4-1 lead before the Japanese reduced it to 3-4. But Sindhu took two straight points to hold a 5-3 lead before Okuhara got a point to sit at 4-5. But Sindhu upped the ante and took a 8-4 lead before Okuhara bagged two points as Sindhu hit wide.

Sindhu reached the mid-game interval with a 11-6 lead and after a two-minute break, Okuhara's delectable drop shots helped her bounce back. She was trailing 10-12 when Sindhu forced her to hit the net and take a 14-10 advantage.

Later, Sindhu took a 15-12 lead that became 17-14 but Okuhara's net game helped her almost reduce the deficit. She kept coming back at Sindhu, forcing the Indian to make some unforced errors - hitting wide.

But Sindhu remained always in the lead, albeit a slender one-point advantage, before winning the game 21-19.

In the second game, Sindhu again began convincingly taking a 3-0 lead before Okuhara took five straight points to sit at a 5-3 lead.

Afterwards it was a neck-and-neck contest. Sindhu rattled Okuhara with two straight points as the Japanese hit wide and failed to return a fierce smash from the Indian.

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Okuhara again held the lead at 7-5 and at the mid-game interval Sindhu led 11-10.

After the break, Sindhu turned more aggressive and played a fearless game to stun the Japanese who looked short of ideas.

Sindhu kept earning points, hitting one smash after another to enjoy a comfortable ride. As many as 10 points on the trot catapulted her to the final with a 21-10 win in the second game.

Afterwards, what followed was a screaming celebration from Sindhu and her camp.

--- ENDS ---
Hasakeh (Syria) (AFP) - Syrian government aircraft bombed Kurdish positions in the divided northeastern city of Hasakeh on Thursday, the first such strikes against a Kurdish-held area of Syria, an AFP correspondent reported.

The strikes hit three Kurdish-manned checkpoints and three Kurdish bases, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

They came after heavy clashes broke out on Wednesday between Kurdish fighters who control two-thirds of the city and pro-government militia who control the rest.

The clashes have left 11 people dead -- four civilians, four Kurdish fighters and three government loyalists, a medical source told AFP.

The two sides share a common enemy in the Islamic State jihadist group which controls most of the Euphrates valley to the south but there have been tensions between them in Hasakeh that have sometimes led to armed clashes.

The Kurds, who control much of northeastern and northern Syria along the Turkish border where they have proclaimed an autonomous Kurdish region, recently demanded that the pro-government National Defence Forces disband in Hasakeh.

A government source in the city told AFP that the air strikes were "a message to the Kurds that they should stop this sort of demand that constitutes an affront to national sovereignty."

The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) are a key US ally in the fight against IS.

Washington regards them as the most effective fighting force on the ground in Syria and has provided weapons and special forces military advisers.
(Adds Valeant's response, background; updates shares)

Aug 18 (Reuters) - T. Rowe Price Group Inc has sued Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc , alleging that investors in the Canadian drugmaker lost billions of dollars as a result of the company's "fraudulent scheme".

Valeant's U.S.-listed shares reversed course to close down 3.4 percent at $37.19 on Thursday. They had risen as much as 5 percent, after the company's lenders agreed to an amendment to loosen covenants on its $31 billion of debt.

T. Rowe Price, one of the biggest investment managers in the world, said Valeant had used a secret pharmacy network, deceptive pricing and reimbursement practices, and fictitious accounting to shield the company's branded drugs from generic competition and artificially inflate revenues and profits.

Valeant's relationship with specialty pharmacy Philidor RX was revealed last fall, including the aggressive tactics used to receive payments from insurers.

Scrutiny of the company's dealings with Philidor and sharp increases in drug prices last year sent the company's shares plunging. The stock is down about 90 percent from its August 2015 high.

Valeant said on Thursday it was aware of the lawsuit but had not been served yet. (http://bit.ly/2bAYlgG)

T. Rowe Price, which held a 6.4 percent passive stake in Valeant as of Dec. 31, filed the lawsuit in the District Court of New Jersey on Monday. The filing was made public on Thursday.

The lawsuit comes a week after the Wall Street Journal reported that lawyers at the U.S. Attorney's Manhattan office were probing whether Valeant obscured from insurers its relationship with Philidor.

Institutional investors, including TIAA-CREF and CalPERS, filed securities fraud lawsuits against Valeant in New Jersey last year, accusing the company of inflating its share price by not disclosing the use of specialty pharmacies to prop up sales of high-priced drugs.

Valeant has taken a series of steps to restore investor trust, including cutting off ties with Philidor last October, replacing Chief Executive Michael Pearson and adding top investor Pershing Square's Bill Ackman to its board.

T. Rowe Price and Pershing Square Capital Management declined to comment.

(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee and Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
AT&T Inc. T, one of the big players in the U.S.wireless carrier market, has announced discarding its policy of charging fees to customers exceeding data caps. The carrier will instead lower the connection speed  something which has been done by its rivals for a while now.

New Plans

Additionally, AT&T has been reshuffling its data packs in order to entice customers who have high data requirements. While raising data prices per gigabyte in the smaller packs viz 1GB/2GB data packs, the carrier is lowering the price of its large data packages like 30GB. This should be favorable for those who utilize data for watching online videos.

Industry Trend

AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc. VZ communications has been under pressure from its smaller telecom rivals like T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS and Sprint Corp. S for both customer retention and addition. The aggressive stance of the latter two has compelled the former two companies to launch accommodative plans lately.

Notably, the competition in this space is intensifying, with T-Mobile registering high subscriber growth in the recent quarters. Furthermore, with the launch of new smartphones lined up, notably the iPhone 7 from Apple Inc. AAPL, aggressive promotional activities are anticipated by these carriers to draw customers.

The Bottom Line

High market saturation and ever shrinking margins owing to escalating cost of promotional activities have been affecting the wireless carriers for some time now. Notably, industry players like AT&T and T-Mobile US are trying to diversify their operations geographically outside the boundaries of US, while trying to penetrate the rural parts of the country simultaneously. Conversely, due to high investments required for the implementation of the plan, as well as spending on promotional activities, we except high level of cash burn for sometime.

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Taiwan's new government unveiled its first budget Thursday as it tries to kickstart the island's fragile economy, but the cautious spending plan raised questions over whether it was investing enough.

President Tsai Ing-wen was voted in by a landslide in January partly because of public anger over stagnant wages, lack of job opportunities and a rising cost of living.

Trade deals with China under former leader Ma Ying-jeou were seen as helping big business, not the ordinary citizen.

Tsai has pledged to boost innovation in several sectors, including technology and defence, as well as diversifying away from reliance on trade with China.

But the first budget under Tsai, announced by the cabinet, only raised spending for 2017 by 1.1 percent.

The biggest increases were in education and social welfare. Defence was given a marginal lift.

The budget also included Tw$186.9 billion ($5.96 billion) on public works and Tw$45.9 billion to foster five key industries flagged by Tsai, including creating a "silicon village" for Asia.

Analysts said it may be too conservative to provide meaningful growth.

"This is perhaps much too cautious given that the world is going through a longer period of stagnant growth," Angela Hsieh, an economist at Barclays, told AFP.

Hsieh compared it with Korea, which already has higher growth momentum than Taiwan and may be increasing spending by at least 3.5 percent to boost sluggish performance.

But Premier Lin Chuan defended the plan to reporters, saying economic growth could not be provided through government investments alone.

"The purpose behind the government's (investments) actually is to create a good environment for private investments to increase," he said after the budget was approved by the cabinet.

The budget will be deliberated in parliament, with a date yet to be set.

Traditionally an export-driven technology hub, Taiwan has suffered from increased competition and stagnating demand globally.

Story continues

In May the government revised down its 2016 growth forecast to 1.06 percent, down from earlier prediction of 1.47 percent.

However, the island managed to come out of recession in the second quarter after three successive quarterly contractions, thanks to demand for components for Apple's new iPhone 7.

Tsai is under pressure to show results as her approval rating this week slipped to under 50 percent for the first time.

Ties with China have deteriorated since she took office in May, as Beijing does not trust her China-sceptic Democratic Progressive Party.
From Cosmopolitan

Taylor Swift announced Tuesday she is donating $1 million to Louisiana to help those affected by the devastating flood that has killed at least 11 people. In a statement to the Associated Press, Taylor said, "We began the '1989' World Tour in Louisiana, and the wonderful fans there made us feel completely at home. The fact that so many people in Louisiana have been forced out of their own homes this week is heartbreaking." The flooding has damaged at least 40,000 homes, while more than 60,000 residents have registered for disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), according to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards's office. Twenty parishes have also been declared a major disaster area. The AP adds that more than 30,000 people have been rescued since Friday.

Photo credit: Getty

Photo credit: Getty

In related news, Taylor recently made a donation to African Parks, a conservation NGO, on World Elephant Day. The organization called her gift "generous."

Thank you @TaylorSwift13 for your very generous donation to @AfricanParks on #WorldElephantDay - African Parks (@AfricanParks) August 13, 2016

Follow Peggy on Twitter.
By Dan Levine and Kristina Cooke

SAN FRANCISCO(Reuters) - When San Francisco passed an ordinance this year imposing fines on home rental companies for listings by hosts not registered with the city, Airbnb sued, saying the measure runs afoul of Section 230 of the U.S. Communications Decency Act.

The case is the latest test of Section 230, a federal law that has been a trusty workhorse for the technology industry.

By protecting website operators from liability for content posted by others, the 20-year-old statute helped pave the way for the explosion of social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as online marketplaces, including Amazon and eBay.

But detractors say the law has been applied too broadly, and judges have pushed back in a string of recent cases. Lawyers for web operators are closely watching the Airbnb case where the utility of the legal shield is at issue.

Section 230 was intended to protect free speech online by removing liability for a newspaper, say, for libelous comments posted on their websites by readers.

The law has shielded social media and e-commerce sites from activities not even imagined when it was enacted in 1996.

Amazon.com used it to beat back part of a lawsuit over the sale of stolen photos. EBay used it to defeat a claim over the sale of an unsafe product. Craigslist prevailed in a case alleging it had "knowingly and intentionally" facilitated prostitution.

In those cases and others, websites successfully argued any offending offerings on their pages were not their responsibility because they had been posted by others.

In its lawsuit against San Francisco, Airbnb says it cannot be held responsible for ensuring hosts have complied with the city's laws.

The disputed ordinance requires Airbnb and similar services to verify that people offering short-term rentals on their sites have registered with the city. The services would face fines of $1,000 each time they process a booking from an unregistered host.

Story continues

The ordinance "violates federal law," Airbnb said in a statement.

But Deputy City Attorney Robb Kapla said Section 230 doesn't apply.

"San Francisco is regulating commercial transactions, not speech," he said.

JUDGES PUSH BACK

Some say Section 230 has been stretched too far.

Mississippi lawyer Leslie Roussell - who lost a case over the sale of a recalled product on eBay - said he strongly believes in the free flow of information online.

But, he said, "when free speech gets to the point it harms other people, it is no longer free speech."

Another attorney, Elizabeth Brancart, defeated a company's attempt to use Section 230 to shield itself from liability in a suit she brought. But she believes the law often shields companies that don't need the protection to succeed.

"I feel like we're in 1890 and we're protecting the railroads," she said.

Some advocates of the law see things differently. Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara Law and supporter of Section 230's protections, including in the Airbnb case, follows Communications Decency Act cases closely.

Since June 2015, judges have rejected Section 230 defenses in at least 17 cases, according to his research. While it is difficult to comprehensively track cases where the law is asserted, Goldman said it has been a rough period for the defense.

In one case, Twitter cited Section 230 in an attempt to persuade a San Francisco judge to dismiss a suit filed by a woman receiving unwanted tweets on her phone.

The woman's mobile provider had given her a recycled phone number, and it was still receiving Twitter feeds its former owner had signed up for. She repeatedly asked Twitter to stop the feed, texting "STOP," but it kept coming.

In her suit, she asserted Twitter was violating consumer protection laws against unsolicited calls and texts.

Twitter argued that Section 230 should bar the lawsuit because its users composed the tweets, not the company. But a judge ruled against Twitter's motion this year, saying that what mattered is who sent the tweets, not who composed them.

In ruling the case should proceed, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria wrote: "The lawsuit does not depend on the content of any tweet but rather on the fact that the tweets themselves are a nuisance. Thus Section 230 doesn't apply."

EVOLVING CASE LAW

Section 230 was introduced in 1996, when the internet was still new, by then-Congressmen Christopher Cox, a Republican from California, and Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who is now a senator. Their goal was to encourage robust dialogue on the internet without burdening website hosts with policing third-party content.

Cox and Wyden said they were proud of the role the law has played. "Without question, we would not today have Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn or any of the hundreds of social media sites without [Section 230's] protections," Cox said.

Wyden said he worries about the law's future. "There's a lot at stake in the courts right now," he said.

Website operators are watching two cases pending against the classified advertising site Backpage.com that could prop up  or erode  the law.

One was filed in 2012 by three young teenagers who alleged they were raped multiple times after being advertised on the site. The girls, the oldest of whom was 15, sued Backpage for claims, including sexual exploitation of children, alleging its posting rules were intended to instruct pimps how to post trafficking ads that evade law enforcement.

Backpage argued its rules are meant to prevent unlawful posts and invoked Section 230, asserting the ads themselves were third-party content. Some free speech advocates filed briefs in support of its position.

But the Washington state Supreme Court disagreed, ruling last year that, since the plaintiffs claimed Backpage did more than "simply maintain neutral policies prohibiting or limiting certain content," the lawsuit could go forward.

Attorneys for Backpage did not return calls and email seeking comment, and a lawyer for the plaintiffs declined to comment.

Earlier this year a similar trafficking case involving children against Backpage in Massachusetts was dismissed by the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the free speech principles embodied in Section 230 were paramount.

An attorney for those plaintiffs said they will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not heard a case about Section 230.

(Reporting by Dan Levine and Kristina Cooke; Editing by Sue Horton and Lisa Girion)
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A teenager who was shot and killed by Chicago police officers last month suffered a single gunshot wound to his back, according to an autopsy by the Cook County medical examiner's office made public on Wednesday.

Toxicology reports also found 18-year-old Paul O'Neal did not have drugs in his system. His death has been ruled a homicide, the autopsy report said.

"We knew he (O'Neal) didn't have any drugs in his system," said Michael Oppenheimer, a lawyer for O'Neal's family. "We're pleased for that."

O'Neal, who was not armed, was fatally wounded by police officers on July 28 after he crashed a stolen Jaguar into a police car and then fled into a backyard where he was shot.

During the foot chase shots were fired by unidentified officers at the scene. An officer "believing the shots being fired were coming from O'Neal fired his Glock 9mm handgun five times in an attempt to stop the threat," the autopsy said.

The shooting death of O'Neal adds to list of fatal encounters between police and black men and women in U.S. cities that have fueled protests over the past two years and stoked a national debate on race and police tactics.

The Chicago Police Department is currently facing a federal probe of allegations of racism and abuse against minorities. Protests rocked the city last year after dashboard video showed another black 17-year-old teenager being shot by a white cop as he jogged away from police officers during an October 2014 encounter.

Authorities released videos that captured the moments before and after police shot O'Neal, but not the shooting itself because a police officer's body camera was not recording. No firearms were found on O'Neal.

Three Chicago police officers have been stripped of their law enforcement authority, a more severe step than a mere suspension, for their roles in the shooting.

(Reporting by Justin Madden; Editing by Bernard Orr)
GENEVA (Reuters) - A Russian delegation told a U.N. meeting on Thursday it would support a 48-humanitarian pause in Aleppo from next week to allow aid deliveries, but the terms have not yet been agreed, a Western diplomat said. The diplomat, speaking after a closed-door meeting of the cessation of hostilities task force in Geneva, said it was important for the United Nations to lead the effort to deliver aid to some 2 million civilians in the divided northern city. "It is not a Russian operation, it has to be a U.N. operation to be a good and credible operation," he told Reuters. "It would start at the beginning of next week on condition that there is an agreement between the U.N., Russia and the (Syrian) regime on modalities." (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Andrew Roche)
Tesla Model S

Tesla is making big moves to get ready for its first mass market car, the Model 3.

In addition to ramping up construction at its giant Gigafactory, honing in its manufacturing practices, and buying SolarCity so that the company can provide the energy needed to power the Model 3, the electric car maker is now rethinking the design of its showrooms.

"Were throwing preconceived notions of auto sales out the window and starting from the ground up," Ganesh Srivats, Tesla's Vice Presiden of North American sales, told Fast Company in a recent interview. The car is set to be released in late 2017.

Unlike other car companies, Tesla doesn't sell its cars via dealership networks. Rather, it uses a direct-to-consumer sales approach, selling its vehicles both online and at its own retail locations.

Because direct sales are banned in a few states, including Texas and Arizona, Tesla is forced to also set up galleries instead of stores to showcase its products. At these galleries, interested buyers can talk to product specialists and can take cars on test drives, but no sales are allowed.

Tesla store

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during an analyst call in June that the company would also integrate SolarCity's offerings, like solar panels, into its stores.

"Looking ahead, particularly to next year, selling Model 3, something on the order of a $35,000 car, if were selling Powerwalls and solar systems of comparable value and doing so in the same sales footprint with the same person, of course this is an approximation, but our cost of sales should drop in half," Musk said. "Youre basically selling almost twice as much in a single transaction as you otherwise would."

Basically, Musk is betting that the Model 3 will ramp up foot traffic in its stores, thus creating the perfect opportunity to also sell people other Tesla products.

Story continues

It's a good plan, but only time will tell if it actually works.

NOW WATCH: We went inside Elon Musk's futuristic Tesla factory filled with over 150 robots





More From Business Insider


Here are the last photos of Machli as Ranthambore's pride bids adieu. People and many police officers came together for her cremation ceremony.

By India Today Web Desk:

Machli, Ranthambore's pride, the most loved and photographed tigress in the world, died this morning.

The 19-year-old tigress who was the oldest big cat ever known to have walked the wilderness, sadly passed away.

Also Read: Queen of the jungle: All you need to know about Machli, the tiger who took on a crocodile



Save the Tiger posted photos of her cremation ceremony on Facebook that was attended by a lot of people.

advertisement

She was thought to be the world's oldest surviving tiger in the wild.

Photo: Facebook - Save the Tiger

Machli was one of the most photographed tigers in the world.

Photo: Facebook - Save the Tiger Photo: Facebook - Save the Tiger

She shot into the limelight when an amateur video captured her taking down a 14-foot crocodile.

Photo: Facebook - Save the Tiger

She was named Machli as she was often seen hunting and playing around water bodies.

Photo: Facebook - Save the Tiger

Machli was first spotted in 1997 and was also called "Lady of Lakes" or "Queen Mother".

Photo: Facebook - Save the Tiger

Many people including police officers and forest officers attended her cremation ceremony.

Rest in peace Machli.





--- ENDS ---
By Jessica DiNapoli and Tom Hals

WILMINGTON, Del., Aug 17 (Reuters) - Energy Future Holdings Corp , Texas' biggest power company, urged a U.S. bankruptcy court on Wednesday to allow the bulk of its operations to exit Chapter 11, in its latest bid to reorganize after two years of battling creditors in the largest U.S. bankruptcy since the financial crisis.

"The time has come to ... confirm a plan and actually emerge from Chapter 11," said Chad Husnick of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, at the start of a trial in Wilmington, Delaware, to decide on a plan Energy Future had proposed in May.

"The evidence is going to show that this is the best available alternative," he said.

Energy Future filed for Chapter 11 in April 2014 with $42 billion in debt, the largest bankruptcy since General Motors Corp's in 2009. Much of the debt had been taken on in 2007 when the Dallas-based company was formed through the $45 billion leveraged buyout of TXU Corp, led by KKR & Co, TPG Capital Management and the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs.

Energy Future and its creditors have been engaged in expensive legal fights over a wide range of disputes. Other reorganization plans had failed to get support.

Under the latest plan, the company would be renamed TCEH and own TXU Energy, the state's largest retail electric utility, and Luminant, Texas's largest power plant operator and largest coal miner.

Leading the fight against the proposal are holders of about $650 million of notes issued by Energy Future. They argue that the plan would not fairly compensate creditors for tax benefits and back office operations that would be transferred to the new company. The noteholders estimated that the transfers would add more than $1 billion to the TCEH operations.

"We believe these are a fraudulent transfer," said Richard Pedone of Nixon Peabody LLP, an attorney for the EFH Indenture Trustee, which represents the noteholders. "There's no monetary compensation."

The company has said the transfers would be necessary to avoid triggering large tax liabilities.

Story continues

Energy Future's Oncor power distribution business would remain in Chapter 11. It had agreed in July to sell Oncor to NextEra Energy Inc in a deal valued at $18.4 billion.

The latest trial is scheduled to last through the middle of next week. It is the second of its kind for Energy Future, which had confirmed another plan of reorganization last year.

That plan never became effective because regulators blocked the sale of Oncor to a group of creditors and investors led by Hunt Consolidated of Texas.

However, many of the settlements with creditors under that plan have been finalized.

(Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli and Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Richard Chang)
Kiev, Ukraine Kiev is ranked 131st out of 140, making it the 10th least livable city on earth. Its overall rating is just 44.1 out of 100, and it scored just 20 for stability.

A decline in liveability in a number of cities worldwide is said to be a result of heightened fears of terrorism, according to new research.

The latest figures come from a report by the The Economist Intelligence Units Global Liveability Ranking  which provides scores for lifestyle challenges in 140 cities.

The study shows that factors such as social unrest in many U.S. cities, tensions in Eastern Europe and Asia and the ongoing civil wars in Ukraine, Syria and Libya have contributed to the slipping levels.

Some of the steepest score declines came from Tripoli in Libya which crumbled 4.1 per cent and Lagos in Nigeria dropped by 3.7 per cent.

Only six cities have managed to buck the trend, with improving liveability, although of these the Tehran is the only one to see a noteworthy change.

Jon Copestake, editor of the report, said: The latest rankings paint a very somber picture. We are seeing greater instability around the world including unrest in the U.S., political disruption in Turkey and Thailand and geopolitical disputes in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Two medal ceremony incidents from Rio have grabbed the headlines all over the world.

Gabby Douglas was part of the US gymnastics team which won the gold medal.

But she irked more than a few back home and in the stadium, by not saluting during the national anthem.



She is not the first one, though.

In 1972,Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett, the first and second place holders in the 400m, talked and laughed incessantly while The Star-Spangled Banner was played.

They were booed by the German crowd and the IOC banned them from further competition.

Even the victorious 4x100m relay team of 2000 ( which included Maurice Greene) laughed and joked while the national anthem was being played during the medal ceremony.

They were not really reprimanded for their action but became a talking point for their rather poor behavior.

But there was one who did the salute in the US way despite representing Switzerland.

In 1996, Xeno Muller won the gold medal in single scull. He grew up in Switzerland, Germany, Spain and France before attending Brown University in the U.S.

He was so Americanized that he placed his hand over his heart in the American way when the national anthem was played- the Swiss national anthem!

Renaut Lavillenie, the French pole vaulter was beaten into silver medal position by Brazilian Thiago da Silva.

He compared the treatment he received from the partisan Rio crowd to the one Jesse Owens received from Nazi Germany.

He later apologised, though.

During the victory ceremony the crowd booed him and that, in effect, made Lavillenie burst into tears.

This is obviously not expected in this big an event but this too has happened before in the Olympic games.

And guess the culprits on that occasion.

The French themselves!

In 1924, around 40,000 people watched the home team being defeated in the finals by the unfancied team from USA.

Fighting broke out in the stands and a student from Illinois was knocked unconscious.

At the medal ceremony, The Star-Spangled Banner could not be heard at all as the boos were too clear and too loud.

The US team had to be escorted from the field under police protection.

Its been more than 90 years since this happened but the home crowd phenomenon has not changed much.
[Photo: Instagram/pilatesflavianamoreira]

Deep down, all of us have this one insecurity about our bodies: That our toes arent hench enough.

Just kidding (we hope), but if you do want a way of strengthening your toes, a gym machine now exists for that - this mini pilates machine.

[Photo: Instagram/pilatesflavianamoreira]

The toe corrector claims to correct toe misalignment, improve bunions and strengthen your feet.

Its made up of two leather straps to wrap around your toes and a resistance spring in the middle.

Theres a light-spring option, which has red straps, or for the more hardcore toe exercisers out there, a heavy-spring option with black loops.

To use it once fixed on, you move your feet or toes from side to side. Simple, huh?

[Photo: Instagram/pilateswithsafiah]

Pilates and yoga fans are loving it, too, and recommending the little device all over Instagram.

One said: The power of a rubber band! For those of you who wear high heels and/or have bunions, this will help amazingly well! Its all about connecting to the glutes. Her glutes were on FIRE!! [sic] Its amazing how the feet are connected to postural muscles.

Another commented: Your toes will be happy after, take more reps if it feels right!

Hmmm. It sure looks unusual, but perhaps its one of those things you just have to try in order to understand?

Would you use the toe corrector? Tweet us at @YahooStyleUK.

Just Thinking About Working Out Makes You Stronger, Apparently



Woman Wears Bikini For First Time After Losing An Incredible 15 Stone


Bronze medalist Kristi Castlin, silver medalist Nia Ali, and gold medalist Brianna Rollins of the United States pose with Alis son, Titus, after sweeping the womens 100m hurdles. (Photo: Getty)

Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali, and Kristi Castlin  Olympians on Team USA  swept the womens 100-meter hurdles on Wednesday night, earning some coveted accessories in the process: gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively. And they looked fabulous while doing it.

Astute viewers who werent completely dumbstruck by the trios performances might have noticed their other amazing accessories. For one, a rhinestone bindi worn by Castlin. The 28-year-old bronze medalist and Atlanta native rocked the bindi where its traditionally worn by Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim (among other) women: in the center of her forehead.

Photo: Getty

Gold medalist Rollins, a 25-year-old Miami native, was rocking a throwback to the 80s  a superskinny headband in a patriotic pattern. A simple nose ring and multiple ear piercings gave her an enviable look.

Photo: Getty

Not to be outdone, silver medalist Ali wore a glamorous red pout. The Philadelphia and Pleasantville, N.J.-raised 27-year-old also carried the cutest accessory in all of Rio: her 15-month-old son, Titus, who was all smiles  and grabbing at microphones  as he helped his mom celebrate her victory.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
What its like to be a Third Culture Kid in the age of social media

What its like to be a Third Culture Kid in the age of social media

Instagram is pretty effing dope.

I know that sounds arbitrary, but just think about it: you follow people, sometimes they follow you back; you can watch, emulate, fawn over, covet, inspire, and be inspired by these people who, oftentimes, you dont even know! You can find similarities with these strangers, and its pretty powerful when you realize  damn, someone out there is just like me.

Instagram has motivated me to connect with other like-minded women who are speaking their truth and living an existence parallel to my own. It has given me the bravery to speak up.

An app was the catalyst to my own becoming.

Through my perusing, I stumbled upon a term that I never knew, but that Ive felt through my own experiences and my siblings experiences  Third Culture Kids.

Third Culture Kids refers to children who were raised in a culture different from their parents culture for a significant part of their developmental years.

It was something I knew I had lived through, but I did not know it was recognized  or even had a name. It was cool learning about other third culture kids. Reading their immigration experiences and witnessing them essentially find their own identities has taught me how to open up about my own immigration story.

Story continues

My family immigrated to Canada from Botswana in 2000 when I was 13 years old.

Many people are actually surprised by that fact because Im so well adjusted and eloquent They assume that I only began speaking English at age 13, and gained no social skills in Africa. The reality is that I went to some of the worlds top international schools, was very well-traveled, and was asked to tutor kids in English when I began school in Canada.

In many ways, I shattered the stereotypes of poor African girls who had no hope for a future.

I was interesting and had a unique background. As a result, I was popular all throughout high school, and even into university. At times, I resented the attention I got  adjusting to a new life was tough enough without constantly being asked to divulge my past. Sometimes I felt like I wasnt really liked for being Danai, myself, but for being a caricature. I was liked for representing this idea of who people thought I should be.

Still, I absolutely had a story to share. I felt like I could educate people about the realities of being born in Zimbabwe and living in Botswana. I could tell them how different, and amazing, and developed those countries were in comparison to their portrayal in the media. The dichotomy between trying to fit in while wanting to share my unique story was a tough place in which to exist.

The truth is, moving here wasnt easy.

The idea of starting a new life was an exciting one, especially because we had hit the literal jackpot by getting accepted to live in Canada as landed immigrants. We even tried to apply for permanent residency in Australia and Switzerland, but Canada was the winner. It was a big deal, because the process of immigration is a long and hard one. My family had experienced moving to a different country before; I was 5 when we left Zimbabwe for Botswana. But this was different.

Even though Canada is so multicultural and liberal, adjusting to Canadian culture was profoundly more difficult than I couldve anticipated.

Difference and diversity is so widely accepted, but there is a level of assimilation required in order to feel like a citizen  not an immigrant. I witnessed the hardships my father faced to find a job and calibrate to cultural norms  and that transition, in many ways, broke his spirit.

Thankfully, I was young and malleable, and I became accustomed.

In order to avoid the difficulties my parents faced when learning basic cultural nuances and colloquialisms, I inadvertently unlearned my African self.

It still trips me out that I moved here with a strong foreign accent that I completely lost by high school. Looking back, it made sense. It was almost a relief that I no longer sounded different, and I could finally fit in. But I never really did, and I still dont.

danai

As Ive grown up and met people with this shared Third Culture Kid experience, Ive reintroduced the African parts of myself again. I dont worry so much about wearing my hair straight or in a weave so I can appear Westernized. Wearing braids helps me feel connected to my roots.

I still mispronounce words when my old accent rears its head  if someone catches on, I get self conscious. Still, Im embracing my identity and opening up more about the journey that got me here.

Thats whats really cool about living in the age of social media and connecting with so many women across the world. Through our discovered solidarity, Ive been able to let out a huge sigh of relief and say me too. There is something profoundly powerful about knowing that youre not alone in your existence. Thanks, Instagram.

My uniqueness is now a comfort  not a burden I have to carry or feel embarrassed about. Its taken me a long time to understand that. Even when I still feel stuck between who I was born as, and who I am now, I can understand it. I remember when I taught young kids in Korea, theyd ask, Danai teacher, are you African? Id say, Yes, but Im also Canadian, and thats my home. Theyd tilt their little heads, perplexed. The looks on their faces exemplified exactly how I often felt in my own life, but in those moments, Id think, hmm, I was born Zimbabwean, but I hold Canadian citizenship, and I live in Korea, and because Im free, I can live and do and create wherever I want to. How damn lucky am I?

Dont get me wrong  its still hard at times. Its often easier to develop my Canadian cultural identity because I am so physically far from my Zimbabwean culture. Some days I identify so much with my Zimbabwean self: when Im around my grandma, or laughing with my beautiful cousins, or looking at photos of the beauty and wonders that country has to offer  or when I m brought to tears over the disparity in Zimbabwe or the family Ive left behind. Other days, I still get butterflies like I did when I was 13 years old arriving at Pearson Airport in Canada, almost in disbelief that this could be my life. Every single time I see a Canadian flag, I am proud that I get to call this country mine.

As a third culture kid, I always have the perspective of other in a culture that has not seen or experienced anything different from their norm. Its the reason Im so empathetic to the immigration experience. I know how truly difficult it is to move to a new country while trying to maintain some of your old traditions.

And yes, Instagram is a construction, but it helped me find my identity, and that is very real.

Perhaps the trick is that, really, I dont have to identify as either Zimbabwean or Canadian. Existing in the in-between means that I have free reign to carve out whatever life I want to create, while always remembering my parents journey to get me here, and being thankful that I can make a wonderful future in this smorgasbord of history and culture.

Danai Mush is a communications pro and freelance writer who still feels 17 at heart. While she has no formal dance training whatsoever, she hopes to be part of a professional hip hop troupe some day. You can follow her escapades on Instagram and Twitter, or visit her website mushlove.ca

The post What its like to be a Third Culture Kid in the age of social media appeared first on HelloGiggles.
[Photo: Pexels]

Like our hair colour or height, our eye colour is one of the first things we learn about ourselves when were little. And since most people in the world have brown eyes, if you have blue eyes, you probably learned that you were pretty special.

And now, a study has revealed why your eyes are the colour they are. Apparently all people with blue eyes have a single common ancestor. Yep - just one.

The study by the University of Copenhagen found a genetic mutation which happened 6,000 to 10,000 years ago and determined the eye colour of all blued-eyed people today.

Professor Hans Eiberg from the study told Science Daily that originally, everyone had brown eyes, but that a genetic mutation affecting a gene in our chromosomes turned off the ability to produce brown eyes.



[Photo: Pexels]



This gene affects our levels of melanin, which is what determines our eye, hair and skin colour. But for some reason this mutation just ended up altering our eyes rather than the whole package.

If that gene (called OCA2) was totally turned off, for example, it would cause albinism.

The reason scientists think it all goes back to one ancestor is that blue-eyed individuals only vary a little in the amount of melanin in their eyes - while brown-eyed peoples vary a lot more.

From this we can conclude that all blue-eyed individuals are linked to the same ancestor, Professor Eiberg said.

They have all inherited the same switch at exactly the same spot in their DNA.

What do you think about Professor Eibergs study? Tweet us at @YahooStyleUK.

This Is The Weird Biological Reason Why You Get Car Sick



5 Kinds Of Breast Lumps That Arent Cancer


Los Angeles (AFP) - Firefighters battled to douse a series of wildfires fueled by high winds, scorching temperatures and dry vegetation, which have forced tens of thousands of Californians to flee their homes.

A blaze scorching sections of the Angeles National Forest, in southern California, two huge infernos in the central part of the state and another fire further north have displaced entire towns.

"Our fire activity has definitely picked up in past weeks in number and severity," said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The Angeles forest fire -- dubbed "Blue Cut" -- has devoured 31,000 acres (12,545 hectares), an area more than twice the size of Bermuda, and is just four percent contained.

The fire has been spreading at such an alarming pace that it appears as if it were "running at you," according to Michael Lopez, a spokesman for fire information website Inciweb.

More than 82,500 people potentially in Blue Cut's path are under evacuation orders, including the entire populations of Wrightwood and Lytle Creek, towns of a few thousand people, and most of those in nearby Phelan.

On Thursday evening some people in the towns of Hesperia, Oak Hills and Phelan will be allowed to return home, the San Bernardino sheriff's office said.

Many had sought refuge with family or friends but motels in the area are full. Many businesses have doubled their prices, leading to a warning from the authorities that "price gouging" is against the law.

Colette Martinez, 50, fled with her husband and son to a Red Cross center hastily installed at a school in Hesperia.

"We don't know if we'll have a home to go back to," she told AFP, in tears.

No deaths have been reported, although two firefighters surrounded by flames on Tuesday sustained minor injuries.

Some 1,600 firefighters are committed to Blue Cut, while 5,000 are battling the larger Soberanes fire, which has charred 79,000 acres in the Big Sur tourist region, further north.

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Near Santa Barbara, north of Los Angeles, a new fire broke out Thursday afternoon and spread quickly, charring more than 500 acres.

Meanwhile 4,000 people have fled the Clayton fire, started by an arsonist, according to police, in the northern Clear Lake area, near the wine regions of Sonoma and Napa.

Since the beginning of the year, some 4,600 fires have ripped through some 300,000 acres of Californian scrub and forest.
Istanbul (AFP) - Three people were killed and 40 more wounded on Thursday in a car bomb attack in Turkey's eastern city of Van carried out by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, a local official said.

The attack targeted a police headquarters in the central Ipekyolu district of Van city, Van deputy governor Mehmet Parlak was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency, blaming the "regional terror group", the official phrase for the PKK.

He said that the three killed were all civilians while two of the 40 wounded were police.

Anadolu said that after the bombing police were sent to the scene, identifying a militant named M.O. suspected of bringing the car bomb in front of the police station.

He had been wounded and was detained and taken to the main police headquarters in Van city for questioning, it said.

The Turkish security forces have been hit by near daily attacks by the PKK since a two-and-a-half year ceasefire collapsed in 2015, leaving hundreds of police and soldiers dead.

But Van, a city with a mixed Kurdish and Turkish population and a popular tourist destination, has generally been spared the worst of attacks like those seen in the nearby city of Diyarbakir.

The PKK has kept up its assaults in the last weeks even after the unsuccessful July 15 coup by rogue elements in the military aimed at unseating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Eight people -- five police and three civilians -- were killed on Monday in a PKK car bomb attack on a police traffic control building on a highway leading southeast from Diyarbakir.

The government has vowed to press on with the campaign to eradicate the PKK from eastern Turkey despite a purge in the army for those responsible for carrying out the coup.

Over 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK first took up arms in 1984 with the aim of carving out an independent state for Turkey's Kurdish minority, although now it focuses more on rights and demands for greater autonomy.

It is proscribed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
Actor Rajinikanth has praised the Tamil political satire film Joker, which has been getting outstanding reception from the audience and critics.

By India Today Web Desk: Superstar Rajinikanth, who returned to Chennai after holidaying in the US, is likely to resume the shoot of his upcoming mega-budgeted 2.0, the sequel to the blockbuster Tamil film Enthiran.



ALSO READ: Enthiran 2.0- Thalaivar Rajinikanth's first look to be unveiled in November



ALSO READ: Enthiran 2.0- Rajinikanth to resume shoot next week in Chennai

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Apart from being a global star, people adore Rajinikanth for his humility and simplicity. He's one actor in the industry who has never ceased to praise talents and appreciate one's work. Now, the Kabali actor has appreciated the recent Tamil political satire film Joker.

Rajinikanth took it to Twitter and wished the entire team.



I applaud the team of #joker, brilliant film ! Rajinikanth (@superstarrajini) August 18, 2016

Joker is based on a middle-aged man, who lives below the poverty line and feels that feels that it is the responsibility of people to not just elect political bodies but also expel them if they are corrupt. Ever since its release, Joker has been getting outstanding reception from the audience and critics.

Producer of the film SR Prabhu shared this exciting news on Twitter.





Got a call from the one & only @superstarrajini sir! Appreciated the whole team for #joker #magizhchi ?? S.R.Prabhu (@prabhu_sr) August 17, 2016

Rajinikanth, who joined Twitter in 2013, now has over 3 million followers. Though the Kabali actor is not an avid user of the platform, he posted a tweet wishing the team of Joker.

Meanwhile, the first look poster of 2.0 is expected to release in November this year. Bankrolled by Lyca Productions, the film co-stars Amy Jackson, Akshay Kumar and Sudhanshu Pandey in pivotal roles.

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The following timeline charts the origin and spread of the Zika virus from its discovery nearly 70 years ago: 1947: Scientists researching yellow fever in Uganda's Zika Forest identify the virus in a rhesus monkey 1948: Virus recovered from Aedes africanus mosquito in Zika Forest 1952: First human cases detected in Uganda and Tanzania 1954: Virus found in Nigeria 1960s-80s: Zika detected in mosquitoes and monkeys across equatorial Africa 196983: Zika found in equatorial Asia, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan 2007: Zika spreads from Africa and Asia, first large outbreak on Pacific island of Yap 2012: Researchers identify two distinct lineages of the virus, African and Asian 201314: Zika outbreaks in French Polynesia, Easter Island, the Cook Islands and New Caledonia. Retrospective analysis shows possible link to birth defects and severe neurological complications in babies in French Polynesia March 2, 2015: Brazil reports illness characterized by skin rash in northeastern states July 17: Brazil reports detection of neurological disorders in newborns associated with history of infection Oct. 5: Cape Verde has cases of illness with skin rash Oct. 22: Colombia confirms cases of Zika Oct. 30: Brazil reports increase in microcephaly, abnormally small heads, among newborns Nov. 11: Brazil declares public health emergency November 2015-January 2016: Cases reported in Suriname, Panama, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Paraguay, Venezuela, French Guiana, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Guyana, Ecuador, Barbados, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Curacao, Jamaica Feb. 1: World Health Organization (WHO) declares public health emergency of international concern Feb. 2: First case of Zika transmission in United States; local health officials say likely contracted through sex, not mosquito bite Feb. 5: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says virus being actively transmitted in 30 countries, mostly in the Americas Feb. 8: U.S. President Barack Obama requests $1.8 billion to fight Zika Feb. 12: Brazil investigating potential link between Zika infections and 4,314 suspected cases of microcephaly. Of those, 462 confirmed as microcephaly and 41 determined to be linked to virus Feb. 17: Brazil investigating potential link between Zika and 4,443 suspected cases of microcephaly. Of those, 508 confirmed as microcephaly and most of those cases are linked to the virus. WHO seeks $56 million to fight Zika. Feb. 18: CDC adds Aruba and Bonaire to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 32. Feb. 23: CDC investigating 14 cases of possible sexual transmission of Zika. CDC also adds Trinidad and Tobago and Marshall Islands to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 34. Feb. 25: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases number more than 580 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,100 suspected cases of microcephaly. Feb. 27: France detects first sexually transmitted case of Zika. Feb. 29: CDC adds St. Maarten, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 36. March 1: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 641 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,222 suspected cases of microcephaly. March 8: WHO advises pregnant women to avoid areas with Zika outbreak and said sexual transmission of the virus is "relatively common." March 9: CDC adds New Caledonia to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 37. March 15: Cuba reports first case of Zika contracted in the country. March 16: Cape Verde identifies first case of microcephaly. March 18: CDC says during Jan. 1, 2015 to Feb. 26, 2016, 116 residents of the United States had evidence of recent Zika virus infection based on laboratory testing. Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 863 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,268 suspected cases of microcephaly. March 19: CDC adds Cuba to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 38. March 21: South Korea confirms first case of Zika. March 22: CDC adds Dominica to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 39. Bangladesh confirms first case of Zika virus. Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 907 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,293 suspected cases of microcephaly. March 29: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 944 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil said the number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped slightly to 4,291. March 31: According to the World Health Organization, there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika can cause the birth defect microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis, though conclusive proof may take months or years. April 1: CDC adds Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 40. April 4: CDC adds Fiji to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 41. April 5: Vietnam reports first Zika infections. April 6: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 1,046 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. The number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped to 4,046. April 7: St. Lucia confirms first two cases of Zika, contracted locally. April 12: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 1,113 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. The number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped to 3,836. It was the second week in a row that the overall total figure fell. April 13: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that infection with the Zika virus in pregnant women is a cause of the birth defect microcephaly and other severe brain abnormalities in babies. The CDC said now that the causal relationship has been established, several important questions must still be answered with studies that could take years. CDC adds St. Lucia to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 42. April 14: Colombia confirms two microcephaly cases linked to Zika. April 18: Peru reports first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus. CDC adds Belize to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 43. April 19: Chilean authorities find Zika mosquito for first time in decades. April 25: Canada confirms first sexually transmitted Zika case. April 26: Brazil says the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly climbed to 1,198 from 1,168 in the week through April 23, but suspected ones under investigation continued to decline to 3,710 from 3,741 a week ago. Brazil registered 91,387 likely cases of the Zika virus from February until April 2, the health ministry said, in its first national report on the epidemic. April 29: Puerto Rico reports first death related to Zika, according to the CDC. The country also confirmed 683 Zika cases, including 65 pregnant women, and five suspected cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome from Zika, the CDC reported. May 4: Panama confirms four microcephaly cases tied to Zika. May 6: Spain gets first case of Zika-related brain defect in a fetus. May 9: CDC adds Papua New Guinea, Saint Barthelemy and Peru to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 46. Honduras suspects first case of microcephaly in Zika patient. May 11: Brazil says the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly dropped to 1,326 in the week through May 7 as doctors and Brazilian health officials find that some suspected cases of microcephaly are not the disorder. Suspected ones under investigation continued to decline to 3,433. May 12: CDC adds Grenada to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 47. May 13: Puerto Rico reports first case of Zika-related microcephaly. May 20: WHO says an outbreak of Zika virus on the African island chain of Cape Verde is of the same strain as the one blamed for birth abnormalities in Brazil. May 24: Brazil reports the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly at 1,434 for the latest week to May 21. Suspected ones under investigation declined to 3,257. May 26: CDC adds Argentina to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 48. June 9: WHO issues updated guidelines on prevention of sexual transmission of the Zika virus, including advising women living in areas where the virus is being transmitted to delay getting pregnant. June 14: El Salvador confirms first case of microcephaly linked to Zika. June 23: CDC reports seven babies in the United States with microcephaly or other Zika-related birth defects such as serious brain abnormalities, and five lost pregnancies from either miscarriage, stillbirth or termination. June 28: First baby with Zika-related birth defect microcephaly born in Florida. June 30: CDC adds Anguilla to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 49. Guinea-Bissau confirms three cases of Zika, government says. Spain records first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus, health authorities said. July 8: CDC confirmed that a Utah resident's death last month is the first Zika-related death in the continental United States. July 14: CDC adds Saint Eustatius to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 50. July 15: New York City's health department reports the first female-to-male transmission of the Zika virus. July 18: CDC reports that caregiver of Utah man who died of Zika tested positive for virus. July 19: Florida health officials are investigating a case of Zika virus infection that does not appear to have stemmed from travel to another region with an outbreak. July 21: CDC reports 400 pregnant women in U.S. with evidence of Zika infection, up from 346 a week ago. The health agency also reports three more babies born in U.S. with birth defects linked to the Zika virus, bringing total to 12. Florida Department of Health said it was investigating a non travel-related case of Zika in Broward County, marking the second such case in the U.S. July 22: New York City health officials reports first baby born with Zika-related birth defect. July 25: Spain reports first case in Europe of baby born with Zika-related defect. CDC issues updated recommendations for preventing and testing for Zika infection, warning that the virus can be transmitted through unprotected sex with an infected female partner. July 26: Honduras detects 8 cases of babies with Zika-related defect. CDC adds Saba to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 51. July 27: Paraguay reports first cases of microcephaly linked to Zika. July 29: Florida authorities report what is believed to be the first evidence of local Zika transmission in the continental United States. Aug. 1: Florida identifies 10 more cases of Zika virus caused by mosquitoes, bringing total to 14. CDC issues guidelines for pregnant women who live in and traveled to affected area in a Miami neighborhood. Aug. 2: Health authorities in Florida add one more case of locally transmitted Zika, bringing total to 15. CDC adds Antigua, Barbuda, and Turks and Cacos to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 54. Aug. 3: U.S. researchers said they launched Zika vaccine clinical trial. Aug. 4: Cuba reports two cases of locally transmitted Zika. Aug. 5: Florida health authorities report another locally transmitted case, bringing total to 16. Aug. 8: Florida said it was investigating new case of locally transmitted Zika in Palm Beach County. Aug. 9: Texas health officials said death of infant born with microcephaly is linked to Zika, the first casualty in the state associated with the virus. Cayman Islands reports two locally transmitted Zika cases. Florida announces four more cases of locally transmitted Zika, bringing total to 21. Aug. 11: Florida reports three additional cases of locally transmitted Zika, bringing total to 25. CDC adds Cayman Islands to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 55. Aug. 12: Florida health officials said three more people test positive for locally-transmitted Zika, bringing total to 28. The department of Health and Human Services declares public health emergency in Puerto Rico over Zika with 10,690 laboratory-confirmed cases. Aug. 15: Florida health officials said two more people test positive for locally-transmitted Zika, bringing total to 30. Aug. 16: Haiti reports first case of microcephaly linked to Zika. Aug. 17: Guatemala confirms first case of newborn with microcephaly linked to Zika. Aug. 18: Florida health officials have found evidence of local Zika transmission in Miami Beach, according to media reports. The Florida health department said there are 35 cases of likely local transmission in the state. SOURCES: World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Reuters (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by the Americas Desk)
As Emmy season continues  final voting runs through Aug. 29  Yahoo TV will be spotlighting performances, writing, and other contributions that we feel deserve recognition.

Season Five of Veep has been a roller coaster of anger, insult and emotion. Selina Meyers last ditch effort to retain a spot in the White House  even if it meant she would have to eat crow and return to the vice presidency  often resembled a slapstick version of Hitler in the bunker at the end of the war. And like the leader of the Third Reich, President Meyer was going to take everyone down with her.

Naturally, these high-stake hilarities netted the series, crew and actors twelve nominations for the 2016 Primetime Emmy Awards, including a fourth Supporting Actor nod for Tony Hales performance as Gary Walsh, the bag man and floor mat to Julia Louis-Dreyfuss President Meyer. Hales ability to hold back and be seen, but not heard amongst a cast that is constantly running their filthy mouths is a feat in and of itself, but his character, Walsh, was finally given the opportunity to unleash his true feelings that hed kept hidden for years. The passion with which Gary spits out You fers reveals the full force of his anger at Meyers team of buffoons, who have consistently ridiculed Gary despite their own mistakes and flaws.

Gary Walsh worships the ground [Selina Meyer] walks on, and when she doesnt become president, not only does she lose what shes been going for, Gary feels like hes losing his identity, Hale says. Meyers staffers dont realize the diamond before them that they could easily give to the nation. In reality, shes an awful human being; in Garys world, shes Jesus. Hale let us into the process of rehearsals that the showrunners afford the Veep actors to nail down scenes like this. And clearly, they have paid off as Hale, Louis-Dreyfus, Matt Walsh, Anna Chlumsky, and Martin Mull were all nominated for acting awards this year.

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Tony Hale: Who is the Donald Trump of Veep?





Donald Trump has changed the nation and the nature of politics, and this has to be inspiring, or at least befuddling, the Veep writers as they go into another season of the HBO series. We asked Hale about who he believed was the closest in personality to the divisive GOP presidential nominee, and without even taking a beat, he answered the former White House liaison turned New Hampshire congressman, Jonah Ryan.

Jonah has those elements of a clinical narcissist. Its like child behavior and childlike reactions. Ryan, who is expertly played by the lanky Timothy Simons, bum-rushing a focus group tasked with evaluating his image definitely brings to mind Trump and his thin-skinned responses to any sort of criticism about him.

The 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will air Sunday, Sept. 18, on ABC.
Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is set to bring her push to improve diversity and inclusion in Hollywood to the Toronto International Film Festival.

Boone Isaacs is headed to Toronto as the Academy continues to work to create more opportunities for minorities in the film industry. Her appearance as part of the festival's Moguls section, alongside onstage conversations by The Weinstein Company president and COO David Glasser and Olsberg-SPI chair Jonathan Olsberg, comes as TIFF on Thursday filled out the lineup for its industry conference next month.

Fest organizers also announced master classes by Invisible director Doug Liman, Queen of Katwe helmer Mira Nair and Feng Xiagang, often hailed as the Steven Spielberg of China as that country's top-grossing filmmaker. And Toronto booked additional panels, including one on indie film distribution with Picturehouse's Clare Binns and Mongrel Media's Tom Alexander, and another on film casting, which will include Sony Pictures vp of casting Tamara Hunter and casting director Stephanie Holbrook.

The seven-day industry conference previously announced that it would feature panels assessing the impact of Brexit and the film industry's gender gap. The fest's Doc Conference on Thursday also revealed it will feature onstage conversations with Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme; I Am Not Your Negro helmer Raoul Peck; Joe Bini, editor on Werner Herzog films including Cave of Forgotten Dreams and Into the Inferno; and the creative team behind CNN's Great Big Story digital video series, including executive producer Courtney Coupe.

TIFF also unwrapped its Primetime sidebar of global TV premieres by announcing first looks for new episodes of Amazon's Transparent from Jill Soloway; Netflix's Black Mirror, Charles Booker's dystopian anthology series from the U.K.; Kenyan crime thriller Tuko Macho; and Czech Republic mystery miniseries Wasteland for HBO Europe.

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"We are proud and excited to be producing this major original piece from one of the most talented young screenwriters in our region," Antony Root, executive vp, original programming and production at HBO Europe, said in a statement about Wasteland series creator Stepan Hulik.

The Toronto International Film Festival is set to run Sept. 8-18.

Aug. 18, 10:15 a.m. Updated with quote from HBO Europe about Wasteland drama.

Read more: Toronto Film Fest Sets Industry Conference Panels on Brexit, Gender Bias
The Toronto Film Festival is standing by plans to give Nate Parker's Sundance sensation The Birth of a Nation an international premiere next month to launch the movie's Oscar campaign.

"TIFF is proud to help bring Birth of a Nation and the important story it tells to audiences. We will present the film as planned," festival organizers told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday in a statement. Toronto is sticking with The Birth of a Nation after a woman at the center of a college sexual assault case involving director-writer-star Nate Parker was revealed to have died in 2012.

Parker has found himself in the middle of a media firestorm after speaking out about the rape accusations he faced while in college at Penn State in 1999. He was acquitted of the charges while his Birth of a Nation co-writer Jean Celestin (his roommate in college) was originally found guilty. Celestin would go on to win his appeal.

On Tuesday, it was revealed that the accuser, a woman also attending Penn State at the time, had later dropped out of school and eventually made several suicide attempts. She died at the age of 30 in 2012.

Parker issued a statement on his Facebook page Tuesday night, saying: "I myself just learned that the young woman ended her own life several years ago and I am filled with profound sorrow. I can't tell you how hard it is to hear this news." (Read the full post here.)

Parker's Birth of a Nation became a sensation at Sundance, where it debuted and was sold to Fox Searchlight for a record $17.5 million after an all-night bidding war. Fox Searchlight plans an Oct. 7 release for Birth of a Nation, and an awards-season campaign.

The film centers on slave Nat Turner, who led an uprising in 1831. Toronto artistic director Cameron Bailey wasn't available for comment on the upcoming screening of Birth of a Nation in Toronto.

Bailey on July 25 tweeted the festival was "honored to be bringing #TheBirthOfANation to Toronto audiences. Can't wait for the night!" That followed Parker on his own Twitter account indicating he was "honored" to have his film accepted into Toronto.

Read more: Nate Parker's 'Birth of a Nation' Faces Uphill Battle Amid Resurfaced Rape Claims
Few conventions in political campaign coverage are as straightforward and unassailable as quoting a public figure verbatim. After all, how can there be any doubt when you are putting down the exact words someone says?



And yet, as with many other parameters of the process, Donald Trump has complicated this, too.



The rhetorical challenges of Trump are not just those of substance  or the lack thereof, but of syntax  and the lack thereof.



His unscripted speaking style, with its spasmodic, self-interrupting sentence structure, has increasingly come to overwhelm the human brains and tape recorders attempting to quote him.



Trump is, simply put, a transcriptionist's worst nightmare: severely unintelligible, and yet, incredibly important to understand.



Given how dramatically recent polls have turned on his controversial public utterances, it is not hyperbolic to say that the very fate of the nation, indeed human civilization, appears destined to come down to one man's application of the English language  and the public's comprehension of it. It has turned the rote job of transcribing into a high-stakes calling.

Say nothing of the greater struggle journalists have pinning him down on what he means: The first big test is getting the source material right.



"Almost every time we have done a transcript of him there is something in there that makes you wonder what is going on," said Elizabeth Pennell, president of ASC Services, which produces verbatim political transcripts for Congressional Quarterly and many of the news networks (but not CNBC).



Trump's menace to semantics exemplified in the initial dust-up of his "Second Amendment people" comments last week, when he seemed to suggest gun-rights supporters may want to assassinate Hillary Clinton to prevent her judicial appointments. Even before the media attempted to measure how out-of-bounds this latest inflammatory remark was  and before Trump eventually claimed it to be "sarcastic"  the question was where to put the periods and commas in a quote that defied both campaign and grammar norms. Because that can matter.



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"Trump is a very sloppy speaker," said Pennell. "He is very hard to transcribe and because what he says can be such a bombshell and so badly parsed by the consuming public and the media, you just got to take so much more care. Because everybody out there is literally hanging on every word he says in a way I have never seen happen before in a race."



Trump's crimes against clarity are multifarious: He often speaks in long, run-on sentences, with frequent asides. He pauses after subordinate clauses. He frequently quotes people saying things that aren't actual quotes. And he repeats words and phrases, sometimes with slight variations, in the same sentence.



To untangle the jumble, his stenographers are increasingly reliant on a punctuation known as the "em dash" (), which are used to separate parentheticals within the same sentence. Philip Rucker, The Washington Post's national political correspondent, said that among reporters covering Trump, he has become known as the "em-dash candidate."



For comparison, Pennell provided CNBC.com transcripts her company did for speeches Trump and Clinton delivered last Wednesday. Trump's remarks to a crowd in Abingdon, Virginia, produced 9,345 words and 157 em dashes. Clinton's transcript from a campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa, clocked in at a much shorter 2,251 words, with only eight em dashes.

However, unlike with the words themselves, punctuation is often a matter of interpretation: Is a certain pause conveyed best by a comma or a dash?



The New York Times and The Washington Post used em dashes in quoting Trump's Second Amendment comment, but in different places; The Associated Press stuck with commas.

In any case, everyone is spending a lot more time listening to tapes.



Pennell estimates it takes her transcriptionists twice as long to transcribe a Trump speech as it does for Clinton  and additional safeguards have been in place for the GOP nominee.



"Basically, you can't do Trump in real time," said Pennell. "Trump is a team approach  with a secondary editor acting as secondary review point, and there is a lot that can be lost in the mix."

Rucker, who conducted a 50-minute interview with Trump earlier this month, said journalists following the GOP nominee have been forced to pay attention to every word he is saying when he speaks. In 2012, when Rucker was covering Mitt Romney's campaign, he said, "you could sit through the rallies and something he said was something you already heard before and you didn't have to keep up with it so carefully."



That's journalistic malpractice with Trump, who routinely creates headlines with his parenthetical asides  and subsequently quibbles with the quotes or the paraphrases that result.



This dynamic has prompted mainstream news outlets  particularly print to publish transcripts of Trump interviews in conjunction with their interviews. The New York Times, which twice interviewed Trump this year on foreign policy, published "edited" transcripts of each, but did not release the tape recording of the interview. (Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy told CNBC.com: "We only edited out 'off the record' comments and it was never a consideration to post the audio." She declined to explain why.)



Earlier this month, in a podcast interview with former CBS anchor Bob Schieffer, Times reporter David Sanger, who conducted the Trump interviews with colleague Maggie Haberman, said his paper decided to publish transcripts to protect itself from charges it had mischaracterized the Republican nominee.



"That's because we're in a situation and a political atmosphere right now where you get a lot of people saying, 'Oh, you know, the liberal media took Mr. Trump out of context or asked a trick question or whatever, " Sanger said. "I think these days in things as important as presidential interviews it is important that we do that."



In the transcripts, the Times kept its punctuating to a minimum: It used just 61 em dashes in its first interview with Trump, which took place over two telephone calls on March 25. In its second interview on July 21, which was shorter, there were 41 em dashes. (Sanger and the Times' politics editor, Carolyn Ryan, did not respond to requests for comment. In an email, Haberman declined to comment.)

In March, The Washington Post produced a transcript and the audio of its editorial board's in-person interview with Trump. Even before the meeting, much thought had gone into how the paper would reproduce the written exchange. It assigned 10 Post journalists to break up the transcribing work and tasked James Downie, digital opinions editor, to oversee the final product.



Downie told CNBC.com he was "nervous" from the start, particularly with what to do in the event Trump innocently misspoke. Fortunately, Downie said, no such incident occurred, but the endeavor of merely conveying Trump's speaking style was a uniquely difficult deadline assignment.



"It was very much unlike any other transcription I have been a part of," Downie said. After pulling together the various chunks his reporters transcribed, Downie relistened to the entire audio. Ultimately, the transcript resulted in 81 em dashes and 57 ellipses. The other big question Downie grappled over was how to capture the extra-verbal aspects of the interview, without overly editorializing it. He ultimately decided to interject in two places: once, when Trump was pointing to a Washington Post columnist while speaking, and at another point, when he was relaying an anecdote that included an expletive. The transcript noted that Trump said it "in a hushed voice."



"He tried to mouth it as much as possible," Downie recalled. "In both cases, I think it helped [the] reader and made it a more accurate transcript."



But all this meta-analysis can numb the media's mind after a while.



The tedium of fine-parsing Trumpspeak can at times find reporters and pundits dumping block-quotes of Trump speeches under headlines with the phrase "word salad."



At other times, the media has taken to mock-crowd sourcing the syntax of Trump's sentences. During a live podcast show in July, the hosts of Slate's Political Gabfest attempted to diagram a Trump sentence from a speech he gave in South Carolina. Conceding defeat, they later turned to their online followers for assistance.

But the levity shouldn't obscure the severity of the work.



"The problem with transcripts is if you get something wrong, you can create an incident," said Catherine Hagman, a former transcription team leader at Federal News Service.



In 2005, a controversy erupted over the transcript of a White House press briefing, when President George W. Bush's press secretary, Scott McClellan, was asked about the Scooter Libby trial. Federal News Services, which transcribed White House briefings at the time, quoted McClellan as having said "that's accurate" when asked if former Bush advisor Karl Rove had a conversation with a covert CIA officer. The White House later challenged that McClellan had said the opposite and insisted that the official transcript be changed. FNS, after reviewing the tape, stood by its draft.



In 2008, an FNS transcript of the congressional testimony of Gen. Burwell Bell, then commander of U.S. Forces in the Korean Peninsula, caused tension with South Korea. Bell was quoted as saying that the key U.S. ally would pay $10 billion to relocate U.S. troops in the country, when it had actually agreed to only pay half that much. Afterward, Bell and the Pentagon insisted that he was misquoted. FNS again stood by the accuracy of its transcription, but acknowledged that the words may not have conveyed the proper context.



Throughout this campaign, Trump has routinely claimed that he has been misquoted or taken out of context by a media he argues is treating him unfairly.



At the same time, there's an ongoing press debate as to whether quoting Trump verbatim conveys him most accurately. This debate divides, in part, between those who think Trump is merely inarticulate, and those who think he's being savvily obtuse.

The renowned cognitive linguist George Lakoff is among those who argue the latter.



"Any unscrupulous, effective salesman knows how to use (your) brain against you, to get you to buy what he is selling," Lakoff wrote earlier this year, in an article titled, "Understanding Trump." He added that Trump's coercive tactics include his grammar and phraseology.



"With Trump, it is important that people look at the full interview and get the context," said Angie Drobnic Holan, editor of the Tampa Bay Times' PolitiFact. "Don't get me wrong. The context might be as appalling as the quote lifted out of it, but it is, I think, in most cases necessary to have the context."



The iconic Howard Baker line during the Senate Watergate hearings  "what did he know and when did he know it?"  might well be updated thusly in 2016: What did he say and how did he say it?



Yet oftentimes, the answer is unclear. In arbitrating whether Trump's Second Amendment comment constituted a threat of violence against Clinton, PolitiFact was forced to punt last week.



"Our only conclusion: Trump's rather elliptical words certainly left room for interpretation," the website demurred.



As it were, transcribing Trump has redefined the roles and divisions in the political media food chain, as all interested parties are now compelled to take up the original source material.



Media Matters, the left-leaning, pro-Clinton watchdog group, said that Trump has not only changed the the nature of its work, but its relationship to the mainstream press.



"It is very new terrain where some of the deficiencies in coverage is not with bias or agenda, but the literal technical challenge," said Angelo Carusone, Media Matters' executive vice president and in-house Trump cryptologist. "It does create a dynamic where you see more camaraderie, because now you have multiple different entities trying to decipher what they just heard, and nobody wants to be responsible for providing the quote or comment that is wrong."





More From CNBC


traviskalanick

Travis Kalanick has to get Uber's bet on self-driving cars right.

"It starts with understanding that the world is going to go self-driving and autonomous," he told Business Insider in an interview.

"So if that's happening, what would happen if we weren't a part of that future? If we weren't part of the autonomy thing? Then the future passes us by basically, in a very expeditious and efficient way," he said.

On Thursday, Uber took a step into that future when it announced that Pittsburgh riders will be able to take free rides later this month in the self-driving cars that it's been developing.

Riders will request a car as usual, but the one that shows up may just drive itself  at this point with two highly-trained engineers in the front seats documenting its every move and ready to take the wheel if need be.

It's not just a bet on passenger cars, but a belief that self-driving technology will change everything. This summer, Uber bought Otto, a self-driving truck startup, so it can get into the trucking business as well.

These are big, bold, and aggressive moves characteristic of the Uber that has already changed how millions get around in cities across the globe. But they also show the growing existential threat that Kalanick feels if his company doesn't wake up to the impending revolution in transportation.

And he's not willing to cede any ground to giants with hundreds of billions of dollars in the bank, like Apple or Google.

"If we are not tied for first, then the person who is in first, or the entity that's in first, then rolls out a ride-sharing network that is far cheaper or far higher-quality than Uber's, then Uber is no longer a thing," Kalanick said.

Business Insider spoke to Kalanick about what an Uber that relies on self-driving cars looks like  and what will happen to all of those drivers who tote people around if this is its future.

The following Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity.

Biz Carson: You called the development of autonomous vehicles existential to the company, and you've also called buying Otto another existential move. So what is so existential about it and where is that threat really coming from?

Story continues

Kalanick: I think it starts with understanding that the world is going to go self-driving and autonomous. Because, well, a million fewer people are going to die a year. Traffic in all cities will be gone. Significantly reduced pollution and trillions of hours will be given back to people  quality of life goes way up. Once you go, "All right, there's a lot of upsides there" and you have folks like the folks in Mountain View, [California,] a few different companies working hard on this problem, this thing is going to happen.

So if that's happening, what would happen if we weren't a part of that future? If we weren't part of the autonomy thing? Then the future passes us by, basically, in a very expeditious and efficient way.

Carson: How soon will self-driving cars realistically be a significant portion of Uber's fleet?

Kalanick: That is the trillion-dollar question, and I wish I had an answer for you on that one, but I don't. What I know is that I can't be wrong. Right? I have to make sure that I'm ready when it's ready or that I'm making it ready. So, I have to be tied for first at the least.

What I know is that I can't be wrong.

Carson: Do you think you're in that position right now?

Kalanick: No, I don't. I think we're catching up. Look at some of the folks and how long they've been working on it. Lots of respect for an area that they've pioneered, and we've got to do some catch-up. And that's OK, but it means we gotta wake up early and we're going to bed late.

Carson: What's holding self-driving cars back right now other than technology?

Kalanick: Isn't that the thing? [Laughs] I could give you self-driving nirvana if it's in the desert, there's no oncoming traffic and there are no pedestrians. I can do it right now. The problem is I don't think I could take you anywhere that you wanted to go. [Laughs] So, that's just the state of technology.

Remember, Uber is a global business. We don't think just in terms of [the] US. There's a ton of places around the world that will clear the path to make sure that safer roads, that are more humane, that give time back to the people, that have less congestion and are less polluting  they'll make that happen tomorrow if the tech is right. So it's all about the tech. I could geek out with you on the tech and what needs to be done, but in order to make this a reality, there's literally things that haven't been invented yet.

That's what makes this problem special and interesting and challenging. It's not just an engineering challenge that's deterministic, and I know what I have to build. We are figuring out as we go what has to be built because, even when you have the world's experts on this challenge, there are things that even if you're Google, or even if you're anybody, Apple, all the guys that are working on it, there are things that haven't been invented yet. And that's part of the fun.

Carson: You mentioned Google and Apple. With so many of these companies working on it, why do you think Uber will have an advantage? Why do you think Uber will be tied for first if not in first place?

Kalanick: Well, it's not about whether I think it is  it's that it has to be. So, if we are not tied for first, then the person who is in first, or the entity that's in first, then rolls out a ride-sharing network that is far cheaper or far higher-quality than Uber's, then Uber is no longer a thing.

Carson: What is your timeline for this existential threat? Are you looking at "Next year, if Uber is not in this, we're dead," or is this 10 years down the road?

Kalanick: I wish I had the exact timeline. If you had the exact timeline, then it would mean everything was deterministic, that you knew exactly what needed to be built, and you could sort of logically figure it out. That is not the case. We just don't know all the things. There are still things to be invented. But this is a years thing, not a decade thing. But how many? Shoot, I don't know, but I'm going to be hustling to get it out there.

Carson: How do you keep Uber's driver partners excited about working for Uber when today's announcement is that you're one step closer to replacing them? I believe your engineering director said you're trying to wean riders off having drivers.

Kalanick: The first part is that the timescale is pretty long. We've got income opportunities today and we got ways of serving the city today. That's part 1.

Part 2 is that if you're talking about a city like San Francisco or the Bay Area generally, we have, like, 30,000 active drivers. We are going to go from 30,000 to, let's say, hypothetically, a million cars, right? But when you go to a million cars, you're still going to need a human-driven parallel, or hybrid. And the reason why is because there are just places that autonomous cars are just not going to be able to go or conditions they're not going to be able to handle. And even though it is going to be a smaller percentage of the whole, I can imagine 50,000 to 100,000 drivers, human drivers, alongside a million-car network.

I can imagine 50,000 to 100,000 drivers, human drivers, alongside a million-car network.

So I don't think the number of human drivers will go down anytime soon.

In fact, I think, in an autonomous world, it goes up. In absolute figures. Of course, in percentage, it's down. But then you also think, what about the tens of thousands of jobs that are necessary to maintain that fleet?

Carson: Will Uber be in charge of maintaining? You have always said you will not be the ones manufacturing these cars.

Kalanick: Yeah, we are definitely not building the cars, and I don't know who is going to own the fleet, but somebody is going to have to maintain it.

Carson: So you see this in some ways as job creation or ... ?

Kalanick: Yeah, I believe it is. And at the same time, remember, technology moves forward, we are talking about a million lives a year being saved. You know there was once a time you made a phone call and there was a person that, the operator, had to do switching, right? Or there were literally hundreds of thousands of people employed to build telephone booths. And then cellphones came and it is a beautiful thing, but then that created a whole new industry and all new kinds of jobs.

And look at Uber. Uber exists because of mobile telephones. And what did we do with that? Well, there are millions of people that make an income every day because of it. And that happened in six years. It couldn't have been predicted. So what's next? So in that way, I guess maybe I am a technology optimist, but I have a lot of good data on my side.

Carson: By buying Otto, does that mean that Uber is going to be getting into this trucking and transportation of goods industry? How big of a part will it be in Uber's future?

Kalanick: Part 1 is, yes, we are getting in the trucking business.

We are getting in the trucking business.

Part 2 is that it is a multitrillion-dollar business globally as well. I have always talked about the consumer ground-transport business being a multitrillion-dollar business. Now there's this other one called trucking. It is a challenging, interesting, nuanced business, and it is going to be intense getting into it, but that's exciting to me. We'll just have to see how it grows over time, and it is a bit early. We are still in sort of the R&D phase, if that makes sense.

Carson: So with the acquisition of Otto, you're expanding your self-driving research beyond Pittsburgh and will have more offices around the Bay Area. Why stay in Pittsburgh for the tests? You already have a little trouble with the bridges there. Do you have plans to expand those tests outside of Pittsburgh?

Kalanick: Well, first I've got to get those bridges right, Biz. If I don't get them right, I've got a real problem.

Our main jam right now is Pittsburgh. I literally have hundreds of scientists and engineers. You want them to be close to the action, period. Yes, now we've got a new West Coast thing, too  San Francisco as well as Palo Alto. And that's important because my whole thing on this is ... we need to be working with all the great minds, and San Francisco ain't enough, like you've gotta be in Palo Alto because these folks don't want to be on the 101 [the congested highway that links Silicon Valley to San Francisco]. We're gonna get those bridges right, I promise, but you also want your engineers and your scientists close to the action, and that's why Pittsburgh is where we start.

Carson: And where will you go in the future? Are you looking at conquering the easy deserts and then residential roads? Or is it city by city?

Kalanick: It'll be city by city, but I promise you we will go to all of them.

NOW WATCH: Uber will be offering free rides in self-driving cars later this month





More From Business Insider


ETFdb.com analyzes the search patterns of our visitors each week. By sharing these trends with our readers, we hope to provide insights into what the financial world is concerned about and how to position your portfolio.

This week retail companies have stolen the spotlight by releasing their earnings reports, many of which painted an image of the broad U.S. economy. Emerging markets represented by China equities and Russia have attracted our readers for market-related and geopolitical reasons, respectively. Meanwhile, corn bulls were disappointed after hearing forecasts of a record harvest this autumn, and equity bears are on the lookout for a short opportunity.

Bubble%20chart

Retail: All Eyes on Earnings

Top U.S. retailers have been reporting their quarterly earnings over the past week, making our readers interested in the ETFs tracking companies such as Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), Home Depot (HD) and Target (TGT). As a result, the retail page has seen its traffic jump 118% week-over-week. While some retailers (i.e., Home Depot) posted good results , others disappointed (Target), contributing to a relatively mixed performance of ETFs. For example, VanEck Vectors Retail ETF (RTH B+) has dropped 1% over the past five days, but year-to-date is up 3.74%.

Retail

Target released its second-quarter results on Wednesday, saying net income fell 9.7% and sales were down 7.2%. The company lowered its full-year sales guidance, citing a difficult retail environment. The earnings per share results were higher than analysts had expected, but investors were not impressed, bidding the stock down more than 6% on Wednesday. Home Depot, meanwhile, released results on Tuesday that matched forecasts, and the stock has barely moved since then. Wal-Mart is set to issue its quarterly report on Thursday, and expectations are for the company to post good results. Wal-Mart has also been in the news for its recent $3.3 billion acquisition of online retailer Jet.com, prompting pundits to wonder whether the brick-and-mortar giant launched a race after the clear online leader Amazon (AMZN). Other parts of the retail landscape are much grimmer, particularly clothing. Macys (M) recently announced plans to close 100 stores in a bid to boost efficiency and reverse flagging sales.

The overall retail landscape looks somewhat healthy. U.S. retail sales increased in the three months through July. The growth was flat for July, however.

China Equities: More Welcoming

Chinese equities have benefited from good news this week from the government, which announced plans to further open up its stock markets to international investors. Traffic to China equities was up about 91% this week, as investors wondered what to make of the announcement. iShares China Large-Cap (FXI A-) has risen 2.26% over the past five days, extending year-to-date gains to 6.35%.

China

On Wednesday, the Chinese government said it will connect its bourse in Shenzen with the Hong Kong stock exchange, effectively allowing traders of both exchanges to trade each others stocks. The move is part of a plan by China to slowly give unrestricted access to international investors willing to invest in the country. Until now, traders were allowed to invest in the country through the Hong Kong-Shanghai connect.

Elsewhere, China announced a fall in new yuan loans to $70 billion in July, prompting market observers to raise eyebrows. A large part of that lending was to finance new home purchases, boosting property developers. Corporate lending, however, remains sluggish.

Russia

Russian equities have seen their traffic rise more than 60% over the past week, as the countrys relations with the West are deteriorating on renewed tensions over Ukraine. Shares have still edged up slightly over the past week, with iShares MSCI Russia Capped (ERUS B+) increasing 1.48%. Year-to-date, iShares MSCI Russia is up an impressive 29.38%.

Russia

The good news for equities has been a potential cooperation with Saudi Arabia on freezing oil output to support prices. The sides were close to reaching a deal on stabilizing the market earlier this year, but talks collapsed after Saudi Arabia insisted on Iran joining the accord. The bad news for Russia has been the escalation of the Ukraine conflict. Tensions have been rising since July, and Western allies observed a build-up of Russian forces along the shared border in Crimea. The ruble weakened as a result, and costs to insure Russian debt increased. If tensions escalate and a new armed conflict erupts, Russian equities are expected to decline further on the threat of additional sanctions from Europe and the U.S.

Corn: No Light at the End of the Tunnel

The only ETF tracking corn, Teucrium Corn (CORN B), has jumped slightly over the past few days, although prospects for further gains look grim at the moment. Corn has seen 54% more viewers this week than in the past, as investors were disappointed to acknowledge that a recovery in prices may not come anytime soon. The U.S. Agriculture Department said last Friday that the country was on track to harvest record amounts of corn this autumn, about 15.2 billion bushels of compared to the previous record of 14.2 billion achieved in 2014. Higher demand is not expected to offset the increase in supply, putting further pressure on prices.

Corn

Teucrium Corn has risen 1.77% over the past five days, but is still down 10.74% since the beginning of the year.

Inverse Equities: Waiting to Short

Inverse Equities ETFs have taken the last spot in the list with a 34% rise in viewership over the past week. The ETFs gaining from a slide in stock prices have had a bad year so far, given the U.S. equities are hovering around all-time highs. For instance, Short S&P500 (SH A+) has dropped 0.71% this week, extending year-to-date losses to nearly 9%.

Short

Despite the obvious optimism in the market, many reputable voices have condemned this bull run, pointing to fundamental weaknesses and sluggish economic growth both in the U.S. and the rest of the world. Perhaps, the U.S. stocks are becoming more attractive for a short position as the bull market continues its advance.

The Bottom Line

Retail companies have posted mixed results for the second quarter, with apparel struggling the most and online in high gear. Chinese stocks have been boosted by news of a connection between the Hong Kong and Shenzen bourses, while Russian equities could suffer from the resuming of the Ukraine conflict. Corn, which took fourth place in the list, is not likely to see a rebound in prices anytime soon given the record crop forecasts, and inverse equities drew interest for the short-selling possibility.

By analyzing how you, our valued readers, search our property each week, we hope to uncover important trends that will help you understand how the market is behaving so you can fine-tune your investment strategy. At the end of the week, well share these trends, giving you better insight into the relevant market events that will allow you to make more valuable decisions for your portfolio.

Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.
On Wednesday night's The Daily Show, Trevor Noah took on Donald Trump's campaign shake-up, with the Republican presidential candidate naming Breitbart boss Steve Bannon as campaign CEO and pollster Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager. There are also reports that former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes is giving Trump advice.

"If Trump is the Joker, he has hired the Suicide Squad," Noah joked. "Kellyanne Conway - she's a legendary Republican pollster; Roger Ailes, the sexual harassing architect of Fox News."

He continued, "And Steve Bannon - this is the boss of Breitbart, an arch conservative website that often has headlines like this: 'There's No Hiring Bias Against Women in Tech. They Just Suck at Interviews.'"

Noah said the Trump campaign is operating like the final season of Lost.

"They should be wrapping things up, but instead they're adding more and more characters. And everyone's like, 'Hey, how are you going to make this work? Oh! I get it! They don't know what the f - they're doing!' That's what's happening."

That's not all Noah said about Trump. The Daily Show host mocked the Republican presidential candidate for speaking to black voters but not near black voters. He was referring to a speech Trump made about police discrimination in West Bend, Wisconsin, which a news report says is 95 percent white.

Read more: Trevor Noah Mocks Olympics Issues and Marco Rubio's Zika Response

"You know things are bad when a rich white man is asking black people for help," said Noah. "Normally, the only time a 70-year-old billionaire is asking black people for help, it's usually their nurse, and it's usually because they've shit themselves  which, technically, the Trump campaign has, so I guess it makes sense."

He criticized Trump for implying that black communities don't feel oppressed because of their experiences but because its what Democrats have tricked them into thinking.

Story continues

"Like before that, black people didn't know what was happening to them?" asked Noah. "They were like, 'What? This is oppression? I thought the officer was massaging me with his night stick! Oh, I didn't know. Why, thank you, Mr. Democrat.'"

Read more: 'The Daily Show' Reveals What Donald Trump's "Extreme Vetting" Could Look Like
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2016 / True Leaf Medicine International Ltd. (CSE:MJ). In a letter sent today to the Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Secretariat, True Leaf, a BC-based medical marijuana company, makes four recommendations on the future production and distribution of legalized marijuana in Canada.

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has established a task force to advise the Canadian government on how best to move forward with its plan to legalize marijuana.

Chaired by Anne McLellan, former deputy prime minister and health and justice minister, the task force is seeking public input and will advise the government on the design of the legislation and the regulatory framework for a new system marijuana sales and distribution.

True Leaf Medicine International Ltd. is one of 400-plus companies in the process of applying for a licence to produce and distribute medical marijuana under the previous government's Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) program. The new plan to legalize marijuana will replace the MMPR process.

True Leaf Chair Michael Harcourt, the former Premier of British Columbia, has written a letter to the task force outlining the company's vision for a new plan, calling for both recreational and medical marijuana to be produced and distributed via the same system.

Mr. Harcourt's case and supporting points are contained in the letter, which is included in this message.

To interview Mr. Harcourt or True Leaf CEO Darcy Bomford, please contact:

Danielle Johnson

Associate, BreakThrough Communications

(604) 803-0341

associatebreakthroughpr@gmail.com

Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Secretariat

Address locator 0602E

Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9

Email: cannabis@canada.ca

August 10, 2016

As the federal government contemplates the means by which it will implement its laudable commitment to legalize marijuana, a task force has been created to advise on the design of a new system. The Task Force is seeking the views of Canadians on issues that are key to that design. They will then provide the federal government with a final report.

Story continues

This letter represents True Leaf Medicine International Inc.'s response to the call for public input.

PRODUCTION

Among the Canadians most knowledgeable about the safe and secure production and distribution of marijuana are those companies, including our own, which have applied to become licensed producers of marijuana for medical purposes. As one of the 416 applicants in the queue as of June 28, 2016, we agree with the government's discussion paper that this current regime could be effectively adapted for the full-scale production of marijuana in Canada.

Of course, this process was established to produce marijuana for medical purposes under regulation (MMPR), but it has also generated a repository of knowledge, expertise and skill that can be seen as a formidable asset as the government contemplates wider legalization.

There are currently 33 licensed producers who have been through an exhaustive seven-part process, and as mentioned above, another 416 who are currently working their way through the rigors of the process, which include screening, security clearance, review, pre-licence inspection and, finally, licensing.

Along the way, attrition has been extensive. Hundreds have been refused, rejected, or withdrawn. In a number of cases, products have been recalled to protect client safety. This is a comprehensively and carefully regulated sector, unlike the ad hoc blossom of illegal dispensaries around the country, which have sprouted up to be in position for legalization. Whatever the ultimate fate of those dispensaries, the quality and safety of the product has to remain paramount - and the MMPR companies provide a ready-made source of supply that will comply with the strictest safety standards.

The discussion paper points out that the relatively small numbers of medical marijuana users suggests that adopting the current model would not be in the public interest in the context of the larger number of users expected in a legalized market. Yet in addition to the licenced producers, there are the more than 400 applicants at various stages in the queue, and prior to the change in government, movement through the process was characteristically slow. An intensified focus on resolving partially-completed applications will serve to increase supply, while ensuring the quality of that supply. As well, companies with licences have untapped capacity allowing for production increases.

While using an adapted version of the current model may lead to a limitation in the supply at the outset, starting from scratch or instituting a parallel process will undoubtedly introduce troubling uncertainty in quality and security of the supply (at least), as has been the case in the US states legalizing marijuana for the public. The current model, which the discussion paper calls the market-driven competitive model, offers the best start, with a large number of qualified, screened and cleared sources of supply ready to scale up and address the demand.

DISTRIBUTION

Turning to distribution: A number of options have been outlined in the discussion paper, including the through-the-mail system currently used in the distribution of marijuana for medical purposes. Another possibility is modeling the distribution system after the alcohol or cigarette distribution system. One of the key considerations is protecting young Canadians by keeping marijuana out of the hands of children and youth.

While these systems have merit, it is time to acknowledge that marijuana is a unique substance that is sought for its medicinal as well as its recreational benefits, unlike other controlled substances. There is an outside-the-box argument to be made that marijuana distribution should be controlled by or grounded in a coalition of health care professionals, including doctors, naturopathic doctors and pharmacists. Today, even the illegal dispensaries often go through the formality of requiring the approval of a licensed health professional as a condition of purchase. While this may amount to window dressing, the idea of a licensed dispensary, for both medical and recreational marijuana, is worth further consideration. A network of licensed dispensaries already exists - pharmacies. A licenced system including some of the more professionally run dispensaries and alternative health care practices, carefully integrating health care considerations into the recreational marijuana narrative, may prove surprisingly beneficial immediately and in the long run.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Production of the medicinal and recreational supply, other than plants grown for personal use, can be most effectively, safely and securely supplied by commercial licenced producers. Now that the MMPR process is scheduled for change, we see this as an opportune time to licence more of the already screened, qualified and cleared applicants in anticipation of increased demand. Distribution of medical and recreational supply should be worked out co-operatively between Ottawa and the provinces. In BC, it will likely occur through a combination of Liquor Control Board outlets and private facilities. We recommend that pharmacies and alternative medical practices, as well as licenced existing dispensaries, be included in the distribution network for recreational as well as medical supply. Naturopathic doctors are professionally trained practitioners and herbalists; they are experts in both the historical uses of plants as well as modern pharmacological mechanisms. Therefore, we recommend that prescription for medical marijuana should expand beyond medical doctors to include both naturopathic doctors and pharmacists. Production and distribution issues aside, more research is needed on both recreational and medicinal use. True Leaf Medicine International Inc. sees the need for evidence-based research on the most effective dosages and strains required for the various applications of medicinal marijuana: pain management, nausea from cancer treatment, and epilepsy, among others. We are prepared to work further with our contacts in the medical community, along with pain management centres and organizations such as the Canadian Arthritis Society.

If you are interested in discussing these ideas further, we would be pleased to do so.

Sincerely,

Michael Harcourt

Chair, True Leaf Medicine International Inc.

SOURCE: True Leaf Medicine International Ltd.
Ram Gopal Varma does it again, insults actor Rajinikanth on Twitter.

By India Today Web Desk: Despite being a maverick filmmaker, Ram Gopal Varma will be remembered for the number of controversies he is associated with. This is not the first instance when the Satya director has been in the news for taking a dig at superstar Rajinikanth.

SEE PIC: MS Dhoni copying Kabali Rajinikanth is the best thing you'll see today

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ALSO READ: Rajinikanth heaps praise on Joker, calls it brilliant film

While praising Kannada actor Kiccha Sudeep for his recent hit Kotigobba 2, Ram Gopal Varma compared actor Kiccha with Rajinikanth as saying, "I just saw kotigobba 2 and I honestly think u shud change ur name from Kiccha Sudeepa to Rajni Sudeepa."



@KicchaSudeep I just saw kotigobba 2 and I honestly think u shud change ur name from Kiccha Sudeepa to Rajni Sudeepa..????????? Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) August 16, 2016

While insulting actor Rajinikanth, RGV went to insult another legendary Kannada actor Vishnuvardhan, who featured in the prequel of Kotigobba 2. He said Vishnuvardhan's performance was amateur.

@KicchaSudeep Saw Kotigobba..compared to ur performance in Kotigobba 2 Vishnuvardhan looks amateur n if his fans disagree they also amateur Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) August 16, 2016

But the rant didn't stop there. He said, "But Rajni can do just only one type whereas u proved ur better versatility from Autograph to Eega to Kotigobba 2 to many more.

@KicchaSudeep But Rajni can do just only one type whereas u proved ur better versatality from Autograph to Eega to Kotigobba 2 to many more Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) August 16, 2016

In the next tweet, he said, "U can anyday do a Robot in ur sleep but Rajnikant can't do a Eega even in his dream..Respect".

@KicchaSudeep U can anyday do a Robot in ur sleep but Rajnikant can't do a Eega even in his dream..Respect??? Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) August 16, 2016

Reacting to his tweets, Kichcha replied saying, "thanks fr th appreciation sir....but I'm nowhere close nor a comparison to th two legends,,Vishnusir & RajiniSir.."

@RGVzoomin thanks fr th appreciation sir....but I'm nowhere close nor a comparison to th two legends,,Vishnusir & RajiniSir.. Kichcha Sudeepa (@KicchaSudeep) August 16, 2016

However, Gopal's potshots triggered the ardents fans of Rajinikanth who slammed the him on Twitter.

@vijay_Aero @RGVzoomin thank god film making became digitized! All the FILM #RGV wasted would have gone as toilet paper! VJ Abishek (@cinemapayyan) August 16, 2016

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@RGVzoomin @KicchaSudeep Dear RGV, I am a fan of ur movies, for u health sake plz do concern my request, Do visit a psychiatrist near by!!! Vijay (@vijay_Aero) August 16, 2016

SlipperShot ??? to Joker Rajini and his dumb fans ---- @RGVzoomin @KicchaSudeep They deserve craps like #kabaliflop only. Mass Maharaja (@Mass_Maharaja) August 16, 2016

@RGVzoomin @KicchaSudeep Similarly u can never be a sensible human in your sleep nor your dreams sachin (@urmirror10) August 16, 2016

Notably, RGV, while praising Amitabh Bachchan's Te3n, he had take insulted Rajinikanth to which actor Dhanush gave him a fitting reply.

--- ENDS ---
Dont look now, but the era of big government may be returning. Its slowly sneaking up on us, but both the present and the future shows that its return may be inevitable.

A generation ago, President Bill Clinton famously declared an end to the era of big government in his January 1996 State of the Union speech. Four days later, Clinton repeated his pledge about the end of big government in his weekly radio address while calling for a balanced budget as the status quo. That call came the day after Congress ended a government shutdown that had as its purpose a meaningful cut in the size of federal bureaucracies.

At the time, Clinton had to prepare for his re-election campaign after taking a beating in the 1994 midterms when Republicans took control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. Then-President Clinton adopted a strategy of triangulation, attempting to co-opt Republican priorities and messaging so as to re-establish himself as the nations political leader. Co-opting Republican distaste for big government gave Clinton some cover as he maneuvered his way into re-election.

Related: Apathetic Workers in State and Local Government Are Costing Taxpayers Billions

Regardless of Clintons intent, the Republican Congress managed to make significant cuts in federal employment after the 1994 revolution. When Newt Gingrich took the gavel as Speaker in 1994, the federal government employed 3,038,000 people, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By the end of the Clinton presidency in 2000, that number had dropped to 2,741,000, a reduction of nearly 10 percent.

When Democrats won back control of Congress in January 2007, federal employment had drifted down even further to 2,707,000. It was the smallest federal workforce (excluding decennial censuses) since the launch of Lyndon Johnsons Great Society heralded the era of big government.

After the financial crisis of 2007-8, the federal government almost immediately began expanding, thanks to the stimulus program proposed by President Barack Obama and passed by fellow Democrats in Congress. In the previous two years, Democrats had added 65,000 to the federal rolls, and at the end of his first two years, Obama added another 79,000. A series of budget standoffs with Republicans after they took back control of the House rolled back the new expansion of the federal workforce.

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Related: 7 Unbelievable Ways the Government Wasted Your Money in 2015

However, big government had not ended for good. Instead, it simply bided its time until conditions became ripe for its rebirth. And that time may have already arrived.

Last week, the BLS noted a new upsurge in federal hiring. The federal workforce has once again gone above 2.8 million, the first time it has reached that level since the sequester of the 2013 budget agreement. Julys preliminary employment report shows 33,000 more federal workers than a year ago. Its a gain of almost 80,000 since the post-sequester low in May 2014. Just the addition alone would rank the federal government in the top ten privately-held employers in the US.

That expansion has not come in a vacuum, either. This weekend, The New York Times hailed the outgoing president as one of the most prolific authors of major regulations in presidential history. In a valediction to Obama, Binyamin Applebaum and Michael Shear declare that Obama once had deep misgivings about executive power, but that he had spent almost eight years using his executive authority to insert the United States government more deeply into American life.

Applebaum and Shear blame Republican Congresses for Obamas reliance on regulation and unilateral action, but admit that once Mr. Obama got the taste for it, he pursued his executive power without apology, and in ways that will shape the presidency for decades to come.

Related: Federal Civilian Workforce Soars to 2.79 Million After Years of Restraint

No kidding. One only need to look at the signature legislation that will forever bear his name, Obamacare. It aimed for the most personal of all intrusions into the lives of citizens  healthcare decisions  and forced Americans to engage in insurance markets on his terms. Health and Human Services has passed a deluge of regulations to put Obamacare into place, including the mandate that employers provide free contraception to their employees regardless of whether they have religious objections. Obamacare has injected the federal government into the ledger of every business and forced every business owner to be part of the decisions made in the bedrooms of its employees.

The bad news is that the expansion of government, both in size and in impact, is likely to grow no matter the outcome of the presidential election. Republican nominee Donald Trump has largely dispensed with the smaller-government priorities normally championed by its presidential candidates. His immigration policies alone will require significant expansion of the federal government, but Trumps declaration that conservatism is irrelevant makes his approach clear. His argument that he alone can save the US and that he plans to use his executive power to get things accomplished promise even bigger and more intrusive government, rather than rolling both trends back.

Related: Bankrupt of Ideas, Clinton Turns to Obamas Big Spending Plans

If Trump signals staying the course, then Hillary Clintons campaign shouts ramming speed on big-government momentum. The Democratic nominee has promised to double down on Obamas executive orders on immigration, which have already been suspended by courts. The former First Lady wants to impose more regulation on gun ownership, political speech, and wants a massive expansion of the regulatory regime to fight against environmental injustice. Clinton also declares that she will defend and expand the Affordable Care Act, promising to expand federal initiatives on a number of fronts in service to a regulatory system that has almost collapsed the health-insurance industry already.

And so the era of big government returns  with a vengeance. The only question, at least for the next four years, is whose hands will be on its levers and whether the abuses to come will finally awaken Americans to the dangers that concentration of power holds.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Donald Trumps latest proposals for preventing radical Islamic terrorists from entering the country by temporarily barring immigrants from the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world and engaging in extreme vetting of immigrants ideological beliefs could profoundly alter the religious makeup of refugees and others allowed to enter the U.S. in the future.

The Republican presidential nominee and his advisers have provided few details of the potential impact of their latest proposal for choking off the flow of refugees and immigrants from Syria, Iraq, North Africa and other terrorism hot spots.

Related: Trump Promises to Get Vicious With Radical Islam

However, the Pew Research Center reported this week that nearly half of the more than 63,000 refugees who have entered the country so far in the current fiscal year are Muslims. Experts say that number would likely be slashed dramatically if Trump were suddenly in charge of the countrys immigration policies.

Using data from the State Departments Refuge Processing Center, the Pew researchers found that the U.S. has accepted 28,957 Muslim refugees so far since last October, or 46 percent of the total. That means that already this year, the U.S. has admitted the highest number of Muslim refugees of any years since 2002, when data on self-reported religious affiliations first became available, according to the report.

The Obama administration set a ceiling of 85,000 on the number of refugees who will be allowed into the country this fiscal year, meaning there is room for 22,000 more before the deadline Sept. 30. Even that number is considered paltry compared to the magnitude of the problems of more than 10 million refugees displaced by the civil war in Syria alone.

As of earlier this month, the countries of origin for the majority of these refugees entering the United States included Myanmar (10,464), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (10,417), Syria (8,569) and Iraq (7,479). Taken together, these four countries represent 58 percent of all refugees allowed to enter the U.S. this year.

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Related: The Russian Government Could Be Manipulating the US Election

Christians made up the second-largest group of refugees, with 27,556 entering the country. In the past, Christian refugees slightly outnumbered Muslims, but that began to change in fiscal 2006, when large numbers of Somali refugees flocked to the U.S., according to Pew.

Yet refugees constitute only about a tenth of the roughly one million immigrants granted lawful permanent residency in the United States every year. And that doesnt include the millions of others who annually enter the country on temporary H-1B work visas and student visas, or simply enter as tourists.

While its impossible to say with certainty the percentage of total immigrants who are Muslim, a 2013 report by the Pew Center roughly pegged that number at 10 percent.

Experts say that Trumps latest proposals for vetting immigrants, visitors and refugees to root out possible terrorists could force profound changes in immigration patterns for years to come.

Related: As Young Voters Flee Trump, Republicans May Be Losing a Generation

I dont know what extreme vetting is, Marie Price, a professor of geography and International Affairs at George Washington University, said in an interview Wednesday. But it could have significant impacts well beyond the refugee population, which is very, very small.

Muslim refugees entering the US

The refugee flows are an important obligation we have in holding up the principles of refugee resettlement, she said. 

Michael OHanlon, a foreign policy expert with the Brookings Institution, said that without congressional support, there are limits to what Trump could do as president by executive fiat to slam the door on Muslims seeking to enter the country  if he is truly serious about it.

Does he realize hes overplayed his hand, and look for a symbolic way to toughen up what is, I think, already a fairly vigorous and rigorous screening/interview process? OHanlon said in an email. Or does he try to make the process so onerous that one essentially has to prove ones innocence beyond a shadow of a doubt, and thereby really clamp down on the numbers? I dont think we really know.

Related: Heres What Happens If Trump Decides to Quit

With Trump, at this point, Im inclined to believe the more extreme interpretation, but I dont think we can be sure until he tells us what extreme vetting actually consists ofand even then, it may not be clear, OHanlon said in an email Wednesday.

Trump, who is trailing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the polls, outlined his view on Monday during a national security speech at Youngstown State University in Ohio. Since calling for a temporary ban on most Muslims from entering the country until the U.S. gets a better handle on domestic terrorism, Trump has been under pressure to better define what he has in mind. And many in his own party, including House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, have objected to his more draconian proposals for excluding Muslims.

Just as we won the Cold War, in part by exposing the evils of communism and the virtues of free markets, so too must we take on the ideology of radical Islam, Trump said.

Trump has promised as president to impose a vigorous  even extreme  process for vetting of refugees and immigrants attempting to enter the country to cut down on the possibility of Muslim immigrants or their children.

Related: Warren Buffett Scolds Donald Trump: Have You No Sense of Decency, Sir?

The common thread linking the major Islamic terrorist attacks that have recently occurred on our soil  9/11, the Ft. Hood shooting, the Boston Bombing, the San Bernardino attack, the Orlando attack  is that they have involved immigrants or the children of immigrants, Trump said in his Ohio speech. Clearly, new screening procedures are needed.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
By Steve Holland and Emily Flitter (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Donald Trump overhauled his presidential campaign team on Wednesday for the second time in less than two months, hiring the head of a conservative news website to bolster his combative image and try to reverse poor opinion poll numbers. Trump named Steve Bannon, head of the Breitbart News website, as campaign chief executive officer, a new position. He also promoted senior adviser Kellyanne Conway to the post of campaign manager. The latest shake-up combines Bannon, a conservative flamethrower, with Conway, a measured, data-driven analyst who might be able to broaden Trump's appeal to women and independent voters. It offers Trump's team a chance to return to the "let Trump be Trump" style practiced by former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski that helped Trump, who has never held elective office, win the Republican presidential nomination for the Nov. 8 election. Lewandowski, ousted in the last campaign reorganization in June, said on CNN that Bannon was "a street fighter" like himself. A Trump campaign statement announcing the changes touted a Bloomberg Politics article that branded Bannon "the most dangerous political operative in America." Whether that style will work in the fight against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is unclear. Trump, a New York real estate developer and former reality TV host, has largely been unable to extend his reach beyond white middle-class voters who pack his rallies. Trump trails Clinton in national opinion polls and in many battleground states, potentially facing a big defeat that could also cost Republicans congressional races. Trump, who relishes revving up crowds with off-the-cuff remarks, drew criticism for comments insulting women, Muslims and Mexican immigrants during the primary campaign for the Republican nomination. He has since faced a barrage of criticism from Republicans over his campaign style and his refusal to stick to a policy message. In particular, he has been rebuked for his prolonged feud with the family of a Muslim U.S. Army captain who was killed in the Iraq war. On Wednesday afternoon, Trump received his first intelligence briefing from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Retired U.S. Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, a Trump adviser who attended the briefing at the New York field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said the officials who conducted the two-hour session were "absolutely professional" and that it was "a great conversation." Intelligence officials brief the major-party U.S. presidential candidates on foreign policy and national security issues but do not disclose ultra-sensitive information about ongoing U.S. undercover operations, methods or the identities of intelligence sources. DIFFERENT STYLES Wednesday's campaign appointments amounted to a demotion for Paul Manafort, who was brought on as campaign manager in June to bring a more professional touch to Trump's campaign but has struggled to get the businessman to rein in his freewheeling ways. Clinton, a former secretary of state who has called Trump temperamentally unsuited for the White House, said staff shake-ups did nothing to change the candidate and his rhetoric. "Donald Trump has shown us who he is, he can hire and fire anybody he wants from his campaign, they can make him read new words from a teleprompter, but he is still the same man who insults Gold Star families, demeans women, mocks people with disabilities and thinks he knows more about ISIS than our generals," she told a rally in Ohio. Conway and Bannon may prove to be opposing forces in Trumps campaign. Conway is analytical and numbers-driven and often offers a more pragmatic approach to winning campaigns. She is expected to travel with Trump. Bannon likes to push the limits of polite conversation and revels in taking the fight up a notch, strategists say. "For Steve and I, we also recognize that we are different when we say we have different styles, but we have one vision," Conway told reporters. Bannon was a key figure in producing and promoting a movie called "Clinton Cash" that accused Bill and Hillary Clinton of doing favors for high-dollar donors to the Clinton Foundation charity, a theme that Trump has been touching on in his campaign speeches. "My guess is Bannon will be a bull in a china shop and Conway will be focused on messaging and paid media," said Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak. The appointment of Bannon suggested Trump was aiming not to tone down his aggressive style but to be more disciplined in emphasizing themes that resonate strongly with the voters he is trying to court, such as his tough stance against illegal immigration and withering personal criticism of Clinton. "I am who I am, I dont want to change," Trump told Wisconsin television station WKTB on Tuesday. "If you start pivoting, youre not being honest with people. The shift to new leadership may not be a good sign at this stage of a campaign, but some Republican strategists said it was not too late for Trump. "I've thought for a while that they've needed more smart, senior people and it looks like they just got them," said Republican strategist Charlie Black. "It's only the middle of August. This race is going to be close in the end, but he does need to tighten up his performance." Conway told Fox News she was advising Trump to take his case directly to the people. With Donald Trump, he is still his own best messenger because people see him as very authentic.". She has worked to improve the Republican Party's standing with women voters and to push back on Democratic accusations that Republicans are waging a "war on women." Manafort drew unwelcome attention this week when The New York Times reported his name was on secret ledgers showing cash payments designated to him of more than $12 million from a Ukrainian political party with close ties to Russia. Manafort denied any impropriety on Monday. The current RealClearPolitics average of national opinion polls puts Clinton six percentage points ahead of Trump, at 47.2 percent to his 41.2 percent. (Additional reporting by Alana Wise, Amanda Becker, Ginger Gibson, Luciana Lopez, Mark Hosenball and Eric Beech; Writing by Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney; Editing by Frances Kerry and Jonathan Oatis)
New York (AFP) - Donald Trump's campaign went on the offensive Thursday, promising to "sharpen" its message and let the Republican candidate be his authentic -- if controversial -- self as rival Hillary Clinton leads the polls.

The New York billionaire, whose multiple self-inflicted wounds have left him trailing in virtually every battleground state, spent the day in North Carolina, meeting law enforcement officials and addressing supporters later Thursday.

"I know how well we're doing with law enforcement. That could be unanimous. That could be no matter where you go in the country, we get no negative vote," Trump boasted, as Clinton held talks in Manhattan with police chiefs.

The evening rally in Charlotte will be Trump's first since he overhauled his campaign team this week for the second time in as many months, in a bid to regain some momentum in the drive to win the White House in November.

Clinton leads Trump 47 percent to 41.2 percent, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average, following weeks of errors that have alienated establishment Republicans and seen his own supporters tear their hair out.

On Wednesday, Trump appointed right-wing news executive Stephen Bannon CEO and promoted pollster Kellyanne Conway to campaign manager.

Conway embarked on a series of television interviews Thursday, insisting that the emphasis going forward would be on policy. She is the first woman ever to manage a Republican presidential campaign.

"I think it helps us to be a little bit behind," she told CNN. "It lights a fire under us and reminds us what we need to do to get this done."

"We're going to sharpen the message. We're going to make sure Donald Trump is comfortable about being in his own skin -- that he doesn't lose that authenticity," she added.

- Nastiness -

Trump has been badly damaged since engaging in a lengthy war of words with the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq -- one of the so-called Gold Star families who have lost loved ones in military service.

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Critics accused him last week of inciting violence against Clinton in a remark about the right to bear arms, and media reports have swirled about a campaign in crisis and a candidate apparently incapable of reeling in crass remarks.

Conway said she was confident Trump "can stay on message" and accused Clinton of waging "disappointing and unbecoming" attacks on her Republican opponent.

"There's not a single job that gets created from that, there's not a single uninsured American who gets health care from that kind of nastiness," she said.

Wednesday's shake-up comes with campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who has spent years lobbying for dictators, unsavory foreign clients and rogues, in the headlines in connection with a Ukrainian corruption investigation.

Conway praised Bannon, who is on leave from the virulently anti-Clinton Breitbart News as campaign CEO, calling him a "brilliant tactician."

But the Clinton campaign has slammed his appointment, saying they expect it to lead the Trump campaign to "double down on more hateful, divisive rhetoric."

In an email to supporters, it called Breitbart News "not just conservative but radical, bigoted, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic conspiracy peddlers who never have been and never should be anywhere near the levers of power in this country."
As Donald Trump runs on the platform "Make America Great Again!," donors giving money to the campaign of the Republican presidential candidate are investing in his message and his ability to win. But with the constant missteps and a big drop in the polls by Trump, those donors are increasingly concerned about a return on investment as they weigh giving more to his campaign.

Donors like Victor DeFrisco, 60, an owner of Exit Realty Premier in South Florida, said the time is now to double down on Trump. DeFrisco said he is still behind Trump and hopes the missteps stop.

"Hillary's past actions are more harmful than his rhetoric," he said. "I don't think she is beating him. He is beating himself down. He just has to tone down his rhetoric and get back to the issues. But I don't know if he will." DeFrisco who has donated twice to the Trump campaign for a total of $350, vows he is going to donate for a third time in the near future.



Small-business owners like DeFrisco make up a good portion of Trump's donor base, said Steve Mnuchin, national finance chairman for the Trump campaign. Mnuchin also said the Trump campaign will be adding small-business owners to its economic council in an effort to focus on delivering policy solutions to the economic challenges facing small businesses. The Clinton campaign did not respond to CNBC's follow-up inquiry on small-business owner donations for the Democratic candidate.



The latest federal election filings revealed that the GOP presidential nominee's campaign ended June with more than $20 million on hand, a big jump from $1.3 million at the end of May. Clinton's campaign committee reported more than double that, with $44.4 million on hand. The July numbers are expected early Sunday.

As an investor in Trump, DeFrisco said it is frustrating to read Trump's tweets and watch his over-the-top comments. He hopes the candidate would listen more to his team, "He is obviously not listening to the donors or his family. He has really good people around him and he is obviously not listening to them," DeFrisco said.

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Support from one of Trump's larger donors continues as well. Wilbur Ross, a donor and member of the Trump economic council, said despite the "bumpiness" of the last two weeks, he will continue to support Trump.

"The lynchpins of the Clinton economic program simply don't work," said Ross. "We would be left with job-killing increases in taxes and regulation." Added Ross: "Her infrastructure bank would create subprime lending for infrastructure and her energy plan is out of the failed clean energy Obama playbook. So what's left of her economic plan is Obamacare, which is self-destructing before our very eyes."



The rhetoric does concern donors like broadcast billionaire Stanley Hubbard, who recently threw his wallet and support behind Trump. Hubbard who had been a "Never Trump" megadonor, said on CNBC's "Power Lunch ," while he doesn't love Trump, he will stand by him.

"I am backing him because I don't want Mrs. Clinton picking a Supreme Court justice. We don't need more regulations in our country ... I think Hillary Clinton is more dangerous," said Hubbard. "We know what Mr. Trump is going to do. That is why I am backing Mr. Trump. I am hoping the American people realize, whether they like him or not, Trump would be the best for them."

Several high-rolling Republican donors said, under the condition of anonymity, that they while they can't support Trump, they want to support their party and were allowed to earmark their donations to the Victory Fund for the lower tickets and not Trump. The Republican National Committee did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.



"Major donors are concerned with keeping the Senate but not going Trump," said Charles Spies, former chief financial officer and counsel for Gov. Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign. "With Trump on top of the ticket he can't lose by a landslide. Trump must have money or the Senate and House could be lost. The candidates in the key states will be impacted if Trump loses by more than 5 points."

Trump on the campaign trail has complained numerous time he has raised money for the Victory Fund but has not seen a lot of that money in return for his efforts.



Trump's slide in the polls comes after the repeated attacks on Khizr and Ghazala Khan, a Gold Star family who lost their son, an Army captain in Iraq. Trump's doubling down on his comments and his tongue-in-cheek call to Russia to find and expose former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's lost emails have not helped to instill confidence in the candidate.

"I believe donors are concerned. This has been disappointing to a lot of people," said Gary Emineth, former chairman of the North Dakota Victory Fund for Trump. "While Trump has disappointed many people with his lack of discipline and off-the-cuff comments, we still hold out hope that he can grow up and get his act together. It has been very frustrating to see a race Republicans ought to be leading by 10 to 15 points." Emineth stepped down from his post with the Trump Victory Fund in protest after the floor fight at the Republican National Convention over the way anti-Trump forces were treated.



GOP insiders tell CNBC the management announcements of Stephen Bannon as CEO of Trump's presidential campaign and the promotion of Kellyanne Conway from a senior advisor and pollster to campaign manager, makes for strong headlines, but Republicans say it doesn't change the campaign rhetoric or "unpresidential" like behavior of Trump  the real reason for the drop in the polls.

"At this point there is no rational reason to invest in Trump," said Spies. "It's an emotional decision. Either the donor has a personal relationship with him or they dislike Hillary so much they feel the need to do something." According to Federal Election Commission documents, Trump's economic advisors are also his biggest donors. For example, Mnuchin, Trump's national finance chairman donated $425,000 at the end of June.

With Trump's negatives going up and his poll numbers going down, Emineth tells CNBC if Trump can't get back on track, it could hit the campaign coffers hard. "If he doesn't pick up in the next 30 days you might see funds dry up for his campaign."

Some donors looking to cancel their recurring campaign donations through the Trump campaign website were having difficulties navigating the website to stop their payments. OpenSecrets.org said it has received numerous calls from donors looking to cancel their recurring campaign donations. The group did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.



Still, Mnuchin said, "An investment in Donald Trump is an investment in our future with economic growth, job creation, and financial and physical security for all Americans."



DeFrisco added the stakes are high this election and the candidate with the best economic policies for America should win. "My investment in Trump is more than money. It's about the direction he will take this country in. Hillary is the most unfit candidate I have ever seen in my life." Said DeFrisco: "Trump has the policies and plans to strengthen this nation and help small-business owners like myself."

Ross echoed DeFrisco's call on the need for Trump to focus on the economic issues at hand. "If the Trump campaign keeps addressing the issues facing the country and explaining why her plan won't work I believe that Trump will be elected president. Remember how far down in the polls Ronald Reagan was during the summer before he was elected Remember too how similar the criticisms of Reagan were to the criticisms of Trump."
Athens (AFP) - Turkey has officially requested the extradition of eight military officers who fled the country after July's failed coup, Greek officials said Thursday.

"The demand was received yesterday and sent to the justice ministry," a diplomatic source told AFP.

The requests will be handed on Friday to state prosecutors for examination, the officers' lawyer Stavroula Tomara told AFP.

The eight men -- two commanders, four captains and two sergeants -- requested asylum in Greece after landing a military helicopter in the northern city of Alexandroupoli four days after the attempted government takeover on July 15.

Their asylum hearings are to begin on Friday, when Captain Feridun Coban will have his case heard.

The rest will have their cases examined one by one from this weekend to August 30, Tomara told AFP.

In late July, the court of Alexandroupoli sentenced the eight -- who face a military trial in their homeland if sent back -- to suspended two-month prison terms for illegal entry.

The men were subsequently relocated to Athens and are in police custody until their asylum applications are heard, a process expected to take a month.

The eight claim they will not receive a fair trial in Turkey, where the authorities have detained thousands of people over the coup, including top generals.

If sent home, their lives could be in danger, one of their lawyers has claimed.

Rights group Amnesty International has said it has "credible evidence" of the abuse and torture of people detained in sweeping post-coup arrests -- something Ankara has denied.

The case threatens to strain ties between the uneasy NATO allies, with Ankara labelling the eight "terrorists".
Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey on Thursday ordered the seizure of assets belonging to 187 businessmen suspected of links to US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of masterminding last month's attempted coup, state media reported.

Police launched a vast operation in the economic capital Istanbul and other provinces into the alleged Gulen-linked companies -- the biggest crackdown on business since the July 15 failed putsch, the Anadolu news agency said.

Local media said around 1,000 police took part in raids at 204 addresses in 18 provinces, including simultaneous operations at around 100 sites in Istanbul.

Prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 187 suspects including the CEOs of leading companies, with the Istanbul chief prosecutor's office ordering their assets to be seized, state-run Anadolu said.

Sixty-five of the suspects were detained including Omer Faruk Kavurmaci, CEO of the Aydinli Group clothing retailer, it added.

The raids targeted major companies like Aydinli -- present in 39 countries with 476 stores and 3,500 employees -- as well as fashion company Eroglu, with 14,150 employees globally, and bakery Gulluoglu Baklava, reports said.

Anadolu said Eroglu's CEO Nurettin Eroglu, Gulluoglu's CEO Nejat Gullu and its owner Faruk Gullu were also among the detainees.

Gulen, a reclusive cleric who has lived in self-exile in the United States since 1999, vehemently denies he was behind the coup attempt.

With a powerful network of influence in institutions such as the judiciary and police as well as the media, the former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been accused of running a "parallel state" in Turkey.

Tens of thousands of his alleged supporters have been detained or sacked in a sweeping post-coup purge that has worried Ankara's Western allies.

- Gulen books seized -

Aydinli CEO Kavurmaci condemned the failed coup in a statement on the website of the group, which also has interests in the construction sector.

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"We support our president, our prime minister and our government elected with the will of the people," he said.

Police seized books by Gulen and a plaque awarded by the preacher to Kavurmaci during a search Thursday of the CEO's office, Anadolu said.

Rizanur Meral, president of the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (Tuskon), was also among those sought by police, the news agency reported.

Founded in 2005, Tuskon has 55,000 members and is accused by the government of financing pro-Gulen activities.

The suspects were accused of "membership in a terrorist organisation" and "financing the activities" of Gulen, according to the private Dogan news agency.

In a similar operation on Tuesday, Turkish police raided dozens of companies in Istanbul in search of 120 suspects including CEOs. Around 100 people were detained.

That operation targeted Akfa, largely involved in construction, and the A-101 supermarket chain which has 6,300 stores across Turkey, reports said.

- 'Let us try Gulen'-

Turkey has imposed a three-month state of emergency which it says is needed to hunt down the coup plotters, and Erdogan has vowed to eradicate businesses, charities and schools linked to Gulen, calling them "nests of terror".

Ankara wants Washington to extradite Gulen to face trial back home, indicating that any failure to deliver him will severely damage ties.

"We are telling America 'aren't we strategic partners? Don't we have a mutual agreement on the return of criminals'," Erdogan said in a televised speech on Thursday. "We want a terrorist from you... Let us try him," he added.

Gulen's legal team in Washington, meanwhile, called Ankara's claims regarding Gulen as a flight risk from the United States as "baseless and false".

"For the last 17 years, he has lived in modest accommodations at a retreat center in rural Pennsylvania, where he spends his days praying, studying, teaching and editing his book manuscripts," they said in a statement.

"He sees no need to change his living circumstances."

US Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Ankara next week, the White House said, in the highest ranking visit to Turkey by a Western official since the coup.

Turkish prosecutors this week demanded two life sentences and an additional 1,900 years in prison for the preacher.

In a 2,527-page indictment, the so-called Fethullah Terror Organisation -- the name Ankara gives the group led by Gulen -- is accused of collecting funds from businessmen and channelling the "donations" to the US through front companies, among other charges.

Gulen, 75, has strongly denied all of the government's accusations.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Wednesday that 40,029 state employees had been detained in the post-coup crackdown, with 20,335 remanded in custody.

More than 5,000 civil servants have been dismissed and almost 80,000 others suspended, Yildirim said in an interview with TRT public television.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday blamed followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen for playing a role in a series of bomb attacks in eastern Turkey blamed on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). In a speech broadcast live on television, Erdogan said Turkey was facing joint attacks by various terrorist organizations who act together. He said that Gulen's followers were complicit in attacks by the Kurdish militants that killed seven members of security forces and wounded 224 people in the southeast on Thursday. Ankara blames Gulen for the failed July 15 putsch when a group of rogue soldiers attempted to overthrow the government, commandeering tanks, planes and helicopters. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, has denied the charges. Ideologically, Gulen, an Islamic cleric, has little in common with the leftist, secular PKK, which seeks autonomy for Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. More than 40,000 people, mainly Kurds, have died since it took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. It is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Ankara and Europe. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Patrick Markey; Writing by David Dolan)
Twitter said it has shut down 235,000 accounts in the last six months for violating its policies prohibiting the promotion of terrorism, as it looks to show that its proactively responding to critics who charge that the social media service is a haven for extremist groups around the world advocating violence.

In February, Twitter said it had shut down more than 125,000 accounts since mid-2015 for violating its policy on terrorism, bringing the total number of suspensions for terrorism to 360,000 in the last year.

Daily suspensions of Twitter accounts are up over 80% since last year, with spikes in suspensions immediately following terrorist attacks, according to the company.

Our response time for suspending reported accounts, the amount of time these accounts are on Twitter, and the number of followers they accumulate have all decreased dramatically, Twitter said in a blog post. We have also made progress in disrupting the ability of those suspended to immediately return to the platform.

In January, Twitter was sued by a Florida woman whose husband and another man were killed in an attack by militants in Jordan, alleging that the company allowed ISIS an unfettered ability to use the social service; Twitter said the lawsuit was without merit and the case was dismissed earlier this month. In June, the family of an American woman who died the Paris terrorist attacks last November sued Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, alleging the companies knowingly permitted the terrorist group ISIS to use their social networks as a tool for spreading extremist propaganda.

Meanwhile, ISIS-linked groups have issued threats aimed personally at CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in response to the companies efforts to purge user accounts spreading terror propaganda.

In its announcement Thursday, Twitter said it is using proprietary anti-spam tools to supplement user reports to identify repeat abusers of terrorism accounts, and the company said such automated tools have helped catch more than one-third of the accounts suspended for promoting terrorism. The company said it will provide regular updates on its fight against terrorism as part of its Transparency Report starting in 2017.

Story continues

In addition, Twitter said its public policy team is working with an expanded set of partners to fight terrorism on the platform, including Frances Parle-moi dIslam, the U.K.s Imams Online, Indonesias Wahid Foundation, United Arab Emirates Sawab Center and True Islam in the U.S.

Separately, Dorsey has said the company is boosting efforts to curtail abusive attacks against individual users on the service.

No one deserves to be the target of abuse on Twitter. We havent been good enough at ensuring thats the case, and we need to do better, he said on Twitters financial earnings call last month. Dorseys comments came after actress Leslie Jones was the target of numerous racist comments on Twitter, which prompted Twitter to ban conservative columnist Milo Yiannopoulos and other accounts over the attacks.

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By Andrew M. Seaman (Reuters Health) - About 361,00 children were seen in U.S. emergency departments between 1990 and 2010 for injuries sustained while riding in a stroller or carrier, according to a new study. "Its over 17,000 injuries per year, which is equivalent to about 50 children every day or two injuries every hour," said study author Kristin Roberts, of The Research Institute at Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Strollers and carriers can include a range of products from portable cribs on wheels to backpack-like devices. "I use them to transport my children for daily activities but we wanted to see what types of injuries are occurring," Roberts told Reuters Health. For the new study, the researchers used data on stroller- or carrier-related injuries among children 5 years old or younger recorded in the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System between 1990 and 2010. "Its injuries serious enough to require trips to the emergency department," Roberts said. The researchers found data on 360,937 children treated in U.S. emergency departments for stroller- or carrier-related injuries during that time period. While the average annual rate of injuries was high, the researchers note in Academic Pediatrics that injury rates did decline during the study period. For both stroller- and carrier-related emergency department visits, injuries were most likely to occur among male children under 1 year old. Heads and faces were the most likely places to be injured. About 40 percent of children in stroller accidents were diagnosed with soft-tissues injuries like bruising when they were brought to the emergency department, followed by traumatic brain injuries and concussions making up about a quarter of stroller injuries. In carriers, about 48 percent of children were diagnosed with soft-tissue injuries at the emergency department and 35 percent with traumatic brain injury or concussion. About 7 percent of children in carrier-related accidents were hospitalized, compared to about 2 percent of those in stroller accidents. "A majority of the hospital stays for both products were for traumatic brain injuries or concussions," Roberts said, adding that the results don't represent all children who may be injured by strollers or carriers. "We know this is actually an underestimate of stroller and carrier injuries, because its only the ones that warranted a trip to the emergency department," she said. Parents can take a few simple precautions to keep their children safe in strollers and carriers, Roberts said. They include making sure the child is buckled into the device and secure during each use. Also, parents should be aware of anything that might tip or topple over the device, such as putting it on an elevated surface or weighing it down with heavy objects like purses. "If parents can take a few extra steps to avoid injuries and falls, then parents can hopefully use these product more safely and reduce the likelihood that their children will be injured," said Roberts. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2b4VM4c Academic Pediatrics, online July 8, 2016.
By India Today Web Desk: Ranbir Kapoor looks more sombre than he has ever looked recently, as he sits down to talk about Katrina Kaif, their alleged relationship and then their break up. In an interview with CNN News 18, the Barfi actor was most transparent he has ever been amidst all the speculation surrounding his relationship with Katrina Kaif.

ALSO READ: It hurt, she was the most influential entity in my life, says Ranbir Kapoor on break-up with Katrina Kaif

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"I've not even said that I've broken up you know, don't feel the need to talk about it. My personal life is very dear to me and what my relationship with Katrina is, was and will always be very influential in my life. Whatever I shared with her, I hold it very dear to me, there is no sense of bitterness, no neagtivity."

When asked if working with her post break-up was different, Ranbir denied it flat out saying, "Working with Katrina is fun, she's very passionate about her work. There's no awkwardness, and I hope we can keep working together even in the future."

In the past, we have seen Ranbir and Deepika Padukone sail through a much in-the-public break-up. Both the actors are good friends now and have worked in two films post break-up too; Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Tamasha, both of which saw the two cast as a pair.

When Ranbir was asked if he could ever reach that level of comfort with Katrina Kaif too, the Tamasha star said, "We're actors, we can't bring our personal lives and emotions to the sets. Katrina, in fact, makes it easy. With her, it's not awkward or weird at all. Both of us believe in being professionals and bringing our A-game to the set. We share a great creative partnership."



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Tyco International plc TYC, a leading fire protection and security service company, recently inked a definitive deal worth ZAR 1.9 billion ($140 million) to sell its security business in South Africa to Fidelity Security Group.

Fidelity Security Group is South Africa's largest integrated security solutions provider. The company offers a wide range of security services and related products. With approximately 47,000 employees and presence across 142 locations in South Africa, Fidelity provides its services to top listed and state owned companies along with multinational conglomerates.

The South African security business of Tyco functions under the ADT brand. The deal is expected to be completed by first-quarter fiscal 2017. On completion of the sale, the company will focus on its core business which provides fire, security and life safety products in the region.

TYCO INTL PLC Price

TYCO INTL PLC Price | TYCO INTL PLC Quote

Tyco is repositioning its portfolio to improve its top line and bottom line. The strategic divestment is an endeavor in this regard.

This segment of the company is expected to generate revenue of approximately $160 million, for the fiscal year 2016. Deutsche Bank AG DB is the exclusive financial adviser, whereas Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Bowman Gilfillan are the legal advisors to Tyco on this agreement.

Tyco is the largest fire protection and security company in the world, serving over three million customers. With an employee base of over 57,000, the company has branches in more than 900 locations, stretching across 50 countries in various end markets.

Tyco currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of stocks that look promising in the same industry include Alarm.Com Holdings, Inc. ALRM and Ascent Capital Group, Inc. ASCMA , both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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The Department of Justice wants to end the federal governments reliance on private prisonswhich could mean a big change for thousands of federal prisoners currently doing time in private facilities.

Private companies now run 14 federal prisons across the country that hold about 22,000 federal inmates. The DOJ plans to stop renewing some of those contracts, beginning the process of reducingand ultimately endingour use of privately operated prisons, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said in a memo. The move follows a DOJ report released earlier this month finding that private prisons incurred more safety and security incidents per capita than those operated by the Bureau of Prisons.

The DOJ directive will reduce the total private prison population to fewer than 14,200 inmates by May 2017, a 50% reduction since 2013. But where will all those prisoners go?

The answer likely lies in the federal governments own existing prisons, which will have the space to absorb additional inmates because the nations prison population has declined over the past decade, experts say.

The memo is premised on the belief that a decline in the number of federal prisoners will free up space for others, says Martin Horn, a corrections professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

The growth of private prisons mirrors the decades-long increase in inmates around the country. In 1980, there were roughly 300,000 state and federal prisoners nationwide, but by 2013 there were 1.5 million, leading to prison overcrowding and the outsourcing of inmates to privately held companies. Private prisons in 1980 held just 25,000 federal prisoners and hit a peak of almost 220,000 in 2013. But over the last several years the number of prisoners has ticked down as states have overhauled mandatory minimum sentencing laws, given judges more discretion in sentencing, especially in juvenile cases, and focused on programs to prevent recidivism.

Story continues

In 2014, the number of prisoners overall decreased nationwide by 1%, while the number of federal prisoners has declined by more than 20,000 to roughly 197,000. Federally run prisons are still 20% over-capacity, but it appears that officials believe that number will continue to go down, clearing space for new prisoners to move in.

Read more: Privately Held Prisons Hold Inmates Longer, Study Finds

The DOJ report harshly criticized conditions found at several private prisons that it studied, a reality that has been the subject of numerous stories by national publications and news outlets. One incident that appears to have spurred the DOJ to look into private prisons occurred in May 2012 when a correctional officer was killed during a riot at the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, Miss., a facility run by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).

The inspector generals report used to buttress this decision has significant flaws, said Jonathan Burns, a CCA spokesperson, in an email. The findings simply dont match up to the numerous independent studies that show our facilities to be equal or better with regard to safety and quality, or the excellent feedback we get from our partners at all levels of government.

Along with CCA, the other companies that run federal prisons in the U.S. are the Geo Group and Management and Training Corporation (MTC).

While the DOJ memo is significant, it isnt binding for states, which currently have roughly 100,000 of the total 130,000 inmates who are living in privately run prisons, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. But opponents of privately prisons are hoping that states will take a second look at their contracts following the DOJs directive.

I think it should and hopefully will provide an impetus for states to reduce their reliance on private prisons and ultimately ban them entirely, says David Shapiro, a Northwestern University law professor. I think it adds to a growing movement to reject for-profit incarceration.
(UNITED NATIONS)  The United Nations says it needs to do much more to address its own involvement in the introduction of cholera to Haiti and the suffering of those affected, estimated at more than 770,000 people.

Researchers say there is ample evidence that cholera was introduced to Haitis biggest river in October 2010 by inadequately treated sewage from a U.N. peacekeeping base. The United Nations has never accepted responsibility, and has answered lawsuits on behalf of victims in U.S. courts by claiming diplomatic immunity.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haqs statement referring to the U.N.s own involvement, which was sent to The Associated Press on Thursday, came a step closer to an admission of at least some responsibility and was welcomed by lawyers for the victims.

This is a major victory for the thousands of Haitians who have been marching for justice, writing to the U.N. and bringing the U.N. to court, said Mario Joseph, a Haitian human rights attorney whose law firm is leading a high-profile claim on behalf of 5,000 cholera victims who blame the U.N. for introducing the disease.

It is high time for the UN to make this right and prove to the world that human rights for all means for Haitians too, he said.

Haq said in the statement that the United Nations has been considering a series of options, and a significantly new set of U.N. actions will be presented publicly within the next two months.

It was first reported by the New York Times.

Five U.N. human rights experts criticized the United Nations in a letter to top U.N. officials late last year for its effective denial of the fundamental right of the victims of cholera to justice.

At least one lawsuit was dismissed because of the U.N.s diplomatic immunity claim. But a U.S. federal appeals panel in New York is weighing whether the lawsuit that Haitian lawyer Joseph is involved in can proceed, or if the United Nations is entitled to immunity.

Story continues

Haq reiterated Thursday that the U.N.s legal position in claiming diplomatic immunity has not changed.

According to government figures, cholera has sickened more than 770,000 people, or about 7 percent of Haitis population, and killed more than 9,200. As of March, it was killing an average of 37 people a month.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and only 24 percent of Haitians have access to a toilet. Sewage is rarely treated and safe water remains inaccessible to many.

Researchers said cholera was first detected in the central Artibonite Valley and cited evidence that it was introduced to Haitis biggest river from a U.N. base where Nepalese troops were deployed as part of a peacekeeping operation which has been in the country since 2004. Cholera is endemic in Nepal.

In December 2012, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a $2.27 billion initiative to help eradicate cholera in Haiti and the neighboring Dominican Republic, which share the island of Hispaniola, but the ambitious 10-year plan is underfunded. According to a report last November, only $307 million has been received.

Haq said the announcement of U.N. plans for new action to address cholera was made in response to a draft report by the U.N. special investigator on extreme poverty and human rights.

Ahead of its release, likely in late September, he said we wanted to take this opportunity to welcome this vital report.

Haq said its findings and recommendations will be a valuable contribution to the U.N. as we work towards a significantly new set of U.N. actions.

Associated Press writer David McFadden in Port-au-Prince, Haiti contributed to this report.
Medal count | Olympic schedule | Olympic news

The United States womens 4100-meter relay team crossed the finish line last in its qualifying heat at the 2016 Olympics after the baton exchange between Allyson Felix and English Gardner was impeded by a runner in an adjacent lane.

The U.S. filed a protest immediately after the race, and the protest was successful. The Americans will re-run the race at 6 p.m. ET.

Felix was set to hand off to Gardner for the third leg of the relay when Felix appeared to make contact with Brazilian runner Kauiza Venancio in the lane to her right. Felix, slowed by the contact, grimaced, and lunged to get the baton to Gardner, but couldnt reach Gardners outstretched hand. Felix threw the baton out of desperation, and it tumbled to the track.

After a moment of confusion, Felix went and picked up the baton, handed it to Gardner, and told Gardner to finish the race. She said afterward in an interview with NBCs Lewis Johnson that she did so because she knew that, If something is protestable, you have to finish.

The U.S. team of Tianna Bartoletta, Felix, Gardner and Morolake Akinosun filed a protest within minutes. Felix said in the interview with NBC after the race that she did feel contact. The contact appeared to occur in the Americans lane.

Only eight teams can advance to the final, so track and field officials were left with a difficult decision. In a similar situation in the mens 4400-meter relay in 2012, officials allowed nine teams to advance to the final due to a protest. A South African runner was tripped by a Kenyan runner during a semifinal heat. The Kenyan team did not qualify for the final, so its disqualification didnt matter. The South African team was given a ninth spot in the final.

But the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Stadium track only has eight lanes. According to Olympic historian Bill Mallon, never before had a time trial been used in a similar situation for an Olympic relay.

In the re-run, the U.S. team will have to beat 42.70 seconds, the time the eighth-place Chinese team ran in the heat.

The U.S. is the defending gold medalist in the event, having won it over Jamaica in 2012 in London. Felix was the only member of that team who is also part of the 2016 team.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it released $400 million in cash to Iran under a tribunal settlement only once it was assured that American prisoners had been freed and had boarded a plane. "The payment of the $400 million was not done until after the prisoners were released," State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters. "We took advantage of that to make sure we had the maximum leverage possible to get our people out and get them out safely," Kirby added. It was the first time the administration has said publicly that it used the payment as leverage to ensure the prisoners were released by Iran. Three of the five prisoners, including Jason Rezaian, the Washington Posts's Tehran bureau chief; Saeed Abedini, a pastor from Idaho and Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine from Flint, Michigan, as well as some family members, were part of a prisoner exchange that followed the lifting of most international sanctions against Iran following a nuclear deal in 2015. One more prisoner, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, chose to remain in Iran, while a fifth prisoner, American student Matthew Trevithick, was released separately. Both U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have denied that the payment was ransom for the release of the prisoners or tied to the Iran nuclear deal. The White House announced on Jan. 17 it was releasing $400 million in funds frozen since 1981, plus $1.3 billion in interest owed to Iran, as part of a settlement of a long-standing Iranian claim at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague. The funds were part of a trust fund Iran used before its 1979 Islamic Revolution to buy U.S. military equipment that was tied up for decades in litigation at the tribunal. The payment was made by the United States in cash due to international sanctions against Iran. The administration has maintained that negotiations over the funds and the prisoners were conducted on separate tracks and were in no way linked. Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has asked Kerry to appear at a future committee hearing to discuss the payment. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Aug 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has sued Harley-Davidson Inc for allegedly violating environmental laws, court filings showed on Thursday.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), accused the company of violating the Clean Air Act and on-highway motorcycle regulations.

The lawsuit is related to 12,682 motorcycles that did not conform with EPA regulations governing engine emission standards, according to court filings.

The civil lawsuit, filed in the federal court in Washington, D.C., seeks to impose fines for sale of non-compliant motorcycles.

Harley-Davidson's shares were down 7.5 percent.

(Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
The ride-sharing experience of the future is coming to Pittsburgh this month, when Uber will launch a fleet of autonomous carscustom Volvo XC90sthat come with a human being to supervise in the drivers seat.

While many experts would say truly self-driving cars are years from hitting the road, Ubers CEO Travis Kalanick sees it differently.

We are going commercial, he told Bloomberg Businessweek. This cant just be about science.

Starting later this month, Uber will allow customers in downtown Pittsburgh to summon self-driving cars from their phones, leapfrogging over companies like Google and Tesla, who have also been working on autonomous vehicles. Once theyve requested a car, theyll be paired with a driverless vehicle at random, though the test cars will for now come with safety drivers.

Related Stories from Consumer Reports

Tesla Losing Key Autopilot Supplier

Tesla's New Master Plan: Autonomy, Pickups, Buses & Car Sharing

Will Self-Driving Cars Make Our Roads Safer?

The State of the Self-Driving Car

Guide to Self-Driving Cars

Theyre trained engineers who sit with their hands on the wheel, prepared to take over if something unexpected happens. A copilot will assist from the passenger seat, taking notes, and everything is recorded by cameras inside and outside the vehicle. Theres also a tablet in the backseat telling passengers whats going on, and urging them to pretend the other humans arent there.

The goal is to wean us off of having drivers in the car, so we dont want the public talking to our safety drivers, Raffi Krikorian, the companys engineering director, told Bloomberg.

Trips will be totally free at first, instead of $1.30 per mile, the local rate for Uber in Pittsburgh. Eventually, prices will fall so much that the cost of a driverless ride will be a lot cheaper than one in a private car, Kalanick says. As for why the company picked Pittsburghits where Uber has been working with robotics experts at Carnegie Mellon University.

Story continues

Volvo will be providing about 100 cars for the fleet by the end of the year, though Uber will also be working with other carmakers as well.

Ubers First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month [Bloomberg Businessweek]





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Top pick tires for 2016

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By India Today Web Desk: Just when you thought the ever-so-phenomenal Rihanna couldn't get any more perfect, she goes ahead and meets herself.

Yes, it's exactly as it sounds.

The pop goddess who is the epitome of perfection for multiple reasons, recently paid a visit to a massive statue of herself in Berlin, Germany.

Also Read: Unlike you, Barack Obama knows all the lyrics to Rihanna's Work Work Work

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But this isn't one of your normal statues. This one in fact, is a gigantic and headless version of Rihanna. Created by Colombian artist Juan Sebastian Pelaez, the statue was created as a part of the ninth Berlin Biennalle for Contemporary Art.

Also Read: The top 10 moments from Billboard Music Awards

But it doesn't there. The Can't Remember to Forget You was a total goofball as she documented her tryst with the statue on her official Snapchat account and basically made us fall in love with her for the 908769373656th time.

Titled Ewaipanoma (Rihanna)the art work can be seen at the Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art.



Went to visit my boobs the biggest they'll ever be by #JuanSebastinPelez at the @BerlinBiennale Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art! Too wild. #Berlin ?? A photo posted by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Aug 17, 2016 at 10:08pm PDT





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* Underlying sales slump 7.5 pct

* New CEO started in July

* Turnaround will take time -Wal-Mart CEO

* Eighth consecutive quarterly sales fall

* Britain's most profitable supermarket (Adds detail, CEO, analyst comment)

By James Davey

LONDON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Supermarket chain Asda warned on Thursday a recovery under its new boss would take time after Wal-Mart's British subsidiary suffered its worst drop in quarterly sales and lost customers to rivals.

Sean Clarke, former boss of Wal-Mart's China business, took the helm at Asda last month after CEO Andy Clarke was fired.

He has been tasked with defending a UK market share that has slipped nearly 1 percentage point over the last year to 15.5 percent.

Asda needs to win back shoppers from German discounters Aldi and Lidl and from traditional rivals Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons, who have all upped their games.

Asda said sales at stores open more than a year, excluding fuel, tumbled 7.5 percent in its second quarter, which ended on June 30.

The company's eighth consecutive quarterly fall comes a year after a 4.7 percent fall which its then-CEO deemed Asda's "nadir".

The 7.5 percent like-for-like sales fall was made up of a 6 percent decline in customer numbers and a 1.5 percent fall in average spending.

"The competitive environment and food deflation continued to challenge the market, significantly impacting traffic and comp sales. Our strategy to turn things around is focused on improving the retail basics," Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon said.

"While our turnaround will take time, I'm confident in the new leadership team there and want to assure you we're addressing this with urgency," he said.

NO 'RETAIL ARMAGEDDON'

Shares in Asda's rivals were sent higher by its statement that maintained, rather than increased, a commitment to price cuts of 1.5 billion pounds ($1.97 billion) over five years which began in November 2013.

Shares in Tesco were up 2 percent, Sainsbury's up 2.8 percent and Morrisons up 2.5 percent.

Story continues

"There has been much market speculation about what Asda may or may not do to solve its trading woes with some suggestions that a form of retail Armageddon was about to strike the UK," said Clive Black, analyst at Shore Capital.

"Today, we believe that Wal-Mart dispels such a possible expectation, doing as we felt it would. That is outlining a rational plan within existing price parameters."

Wal-Mart's McMillon said Asda would also improve product availability and reduce costs.

CEO Clarke was optimistic.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the culture that has always been at the heart of our success is still there," he said. "I feel positive about the future."

While Asda has lagged peers in sales performance for two years, it has been Britain's most profitable supermarket.

Asda said its gross profit was up in the second quarter but did not provide details nor any guidance for the full year.

Wal-Mart raised its annual profit forecast on Thursday after beating quarterly earnings expectations.

($1 = 0.7616 pounds) (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Paul Sandle and Jason Neely)
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday he did not rule out introducing martial law and a new wave of military mobilization if the conflict with pro-Russian separatists worsened. Poroshenko made his comments as fresh tension with Russia over Crimea reignited fears that a fragile ceasefire deal hammered out in the Belarussian capital Minsk in February 2015 could collapse following the deadliest month of fighting in a year. "If the situation escalates in the east and in Crimea we don't rule out the possibilities (that) we will be forced to introduce martial law and announce a (further) mobilization," Poroshenko said in a televised speech from the western Lviv region. Poroshenko did not make clear what introduction of martial law might mean, and whether he was talking about martial law in the whole country or only in some parts. Ukrainian law stipulates that martial law is passed through a presidential degree that needs to be approved by parliament. It could include restrictions of the movement of people, banning political parties and certain institutions and public gatherings. Since 2014, Ukraine's pro-Western leadership has announced several waves of mobilization, calling up Ukrainian men to join the military in its fight in the eastern Donbass region. Earlier on Thursday, the Ukrainian military reported that three servicemen had been killed and six wounded in fighting over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile separatist officials accused the Ukrainian military of firing at rebel-held territory, including with heavy weapons that were meant to be withdrawn from the front line according to the Minsk deal, the separatist news site DAN reported. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the 18-month-old ceasefire agreement, has reported a "high number" of violations in eastern regions this week. That includes artillery and gunfire and the movement of heavy weapons. (Reporting by Alessandra Prentice; editing by Matthias Williams and Richard Balmforth)
Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine on Thursday reported the heaviest rebel shelling attack in the separatist east for a year in what the president said could be a prelude to a full-scale Russian invasion.

Military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said insurgent strikes had doubled from the previous day as tensions between Kiev and Moscow soar over Kremlin charges that Ukraine plotted to make armed incursions into Russian-annexed Crimea this month.

"The rebels launched more than 500 mortar and over 300 artillery shells at our positions," Motuzyanyk told reporters in Kiev.

"The last time we witnessed a similar intensity of fire using heavy armaments was a year ago."

Motuzyanyk said three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and six wounded in clashes across the 30-kilometre-wide (19-mile-wide) buffer zone splitting government forces from the pro-Russian militias.

Kiev and its Western allies accuse Moscow of trying to escalate a 28-month conflict in Ukraine's rust belt that has claimed more than 9,500 lives and began just weeks after Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March 2014.

Petro Poroshenko responded to the reported violence by sending his top army commander into the war zone and warning that he "does not exclude a full-scale Russian invasion along all fronts".

"The likelihood of the conflict's escalation remains very high," he said in televised remarks from the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

- Remembering a forgotten war -

Poroshenko has issued similar warnings on previous occasions.

But he added on Thursday that a further escalation may force him to introduce "martial law and a mobilisation" of reserve troops.

The Crimea episode has thrust back into the spotlight a conflict that has effectively ground to a stalemate but remains one of Europe's bloodiest since the 1990s Balkans wars.

French President Francois Hollande warned on Tuesday against any "escalation" of the conflict after telephone talks with Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Story continues

EU president Donald Tusk on Wednesday said he and the Ukrainian leader both believed Russia's account of recent events in the battle-scarred east and Crimea was "unreliable".

And Ukraine has even become an issue in the US presidential race, with Republican candidate Donald Trump's campaign chief embroiled in allegations of receiving secret payments from Kiev's Russian-backed leaders prior to the former Soviet republic's 2014 pro-EU revolt.

Analysts remain divided about whether Ukraine is about to enter an even deadlier phase of the war or if Russian President Vladimir Putin is simply adopting a tough posture that could give him the upper hand in any final peace deal.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow remained committed to a stalled European-brokered truce deal that was signed in the Belarussian capital Minsk in 2015.

But he also warned that Russia would take "comprehensive measures to make sure any attempts to make incursions into our territory are nipped in the bud".

Kiev and the West accuse Russia of supporting the rebels and deploying troops across the border -- claims Moscow denies -- in order to keep at least a part of its western neighbour within its geopolitical orbit.

Poroshenko attended a summit of NATO leaders in Warsaw last month in which the alliance agreed to bolster its eastern flank in order to calm fears of Russia in both Ukraine and among other east European states.
Khartoum (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed disappointment over the failure of talks between the Sudanese government and rebels on a ceasefire in Darfur and two other conflict zones.

The talks on a cessation of hostilities in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan were held in Addis Ababa last week after three prominent rebel groups signed a roadmap brokered by African Union mediators for ending the conflicts in the three areas.

Their signing of the roadmap, which had already been signed by the Sudanese government, had raised hopes of a breakthrough after successive rounds of abortive talks.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in the three regions as ethnic minority groups rebelled against President Omar al-Bashir's Arab-dominated government.

The signing of the roadmap by two Darfur rebel groups -- the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army - Minni Minnawi faction -- and the main rebel group in the other two areas -- the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - North -- prompted the renewed ceasefire talks but they again broke down.

"The secretary general is disappointed that the Sudanese parties failed to reach an agreement on a cessation of hostilities in Darfur and the two areas of Blue Nile and South Kordofan states," a UN statement released on Wednesday said.

"He reiterates that there can be no lasting alternative to a negotiated settlement and stresses that a cessation of hostilities is the first, indispensable step towards achieving this goal."

The African Union mediating panel criticised the Darfur rebels for the failure of the talks.

"The panel believes that the parties have allowed a real and critical opportunity to slip out of their hands," it said in a statement.

It blamed the JEM and SLA-Minnawi for the failure of the Darfur talks, saying the two groups had "reopened numerous issues that had previously been agreed and others which contradicted the roadmap agreement".

Story continues

The panel said that the talks on Blue Nile and South Kordofan had been derailed by disagreements over the handling of humanitarian aid.

"The impasse ... has frozen the prospects for peace for the people of Darfur and the two areas," it said.

The conflicts in the border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile erupted when South Sudan broke away in 2011.

The Darfur rebels took up arms in 2003, triggering a conflict in which at least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million fled their homes, according to the UN.
The war of words between Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and the United Nations escalated Thursday, with a UN envoy warning that "state actors" could be held responsible over hundreds of killings in a controversial anti-drug crackdown.

More than 1,500 people have died in Duterte's fight against narcotics, police chief Director General Ronald de la Rosa told a Senate hearing, saying that 665 drug suspects were killed in "legitimate (police) operations" with another 889 were killed by vigilantes.

"Claims to fight illicit drug trade do not absolve the government from its international legal obligations and do not shield state actors or others from responsibility for illegal killings," the UN Special Rapporteur on summary executions, Agnes Callamardv said in a statement.

The warning came a day after President Rodrigo Duterte, who swept to a landslide election victory in May largely on a pledge to kill thousands of criminals, called the UN "stupid" and vowed to continue his anti-narcotics offensive despite mounting criticism, including from UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

The UN statement, posted on the website of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Duterte had repeatedly urged police and the public to kill drug suspects, while promising to protect police from prosecution.

"Directives of this nature are irresponsible in the extreme and amount to incitement to violence and killing, a crime under international law," Callamard said.

UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dainius Puras, added that the fight against the illegal drugs trade must "respect the human rights of each person."

On Wednesday, Duterte warned the United Nations not to meddle in the country's politics and told foreign human rights watchdogs not to "investigate us as though we are criminals".

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in June condemned Duterte's apparent support for extrajudicial killings, saying they were "illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms".

Story continues

The UN's anti-drugs office also this month said it was "greatly concerned" by the reports of extrajudicial killings.

But Duterte's spokesman Martin Andanar said the public supported the crackdown.

"President Duterte has time and again warned us during the (election) campaign that if you vote for me, this is going to be bloody," he said, adding that there is "no war without casualties".
(Adds executive, analyst and investor comments, stock price, byline)

By Jeffrey Dastin

Aug 18 (Reuters) - United Continental Holdings Inc said on Thursday it appointed a new chief financial officer and chief commercial officer in the first major management shuffle since Oscar Munoz took the helm of the airline last September.

United, the No. 3 U.S. airline by passenger traffic, named Andrew Levy its CFO, filling a job that has been vacant for more than a year. Levy had multiple roles including CFO at low-cost airline Allegiant Travel Co.

United also said Julia Haywood, a former Boston Consulting Group partner, was named chief commercial officer (CCO). Chief Revenue Officer Jim Compton will retire at the end of 2016, the airline said. Haywood's role will be the same as Compton's despite the change in title.

The moves are the latest attempt by United and its reshuffled board to shape a new strategy and boost its stock price. The airline has lagged larger rival Delta Air Lines Inc in on-time arrivals and profit margins.

"The older blood, within the airline industry, was seen as potentially negative," said Craig Juran of Denver Investments, who manages a fund with a stake in United. Levy "fits the description where he's in the industry, but he's not 100 percent in the industry. He's a little bit different."

PAR Capital Management Inc partner Edward Shapiro won a seat on United's board following the hedge fund's activist campaign last spring, and the fund was a major Allegiant shareholder during Levy's time.

Allegiant's stock more than quadrupled by the time Levy departed in 2014 from its 2006 initial public offering price, which industry observers attributed to his efforts.

"He is a colorful guy who doesn't shy from bluntly speaking his mind," Wolfe Research analyst Hunter Keay said in a note. "The question is, can he find a balance of challenging the status quo with fresh ideas while 'conforming' to a more structured corporate culture?

Story continues

"Given (United's) spotty track record over the last few years, it seems like it's worth the calculated risk."

One industry consultant said it was unlikely that Levy would usher in blockbuster growth similar to Allegiant's.

Levy "had a situation out there that had unrealistically and unmaintainable low costs," said consultant Robert Mann. "It won't be a story like that going forward."

United's shares dropped nearly 2 percent to $47.24. In the last 12 months, shares are down 19 percent.

The CCO is responsible for developing strategies for pricing, routes and product development that drive growth.

Haywood recently worked on a revenue and network transformation project for United and has consulted for more than a dozen airlines.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
United Insurance Holdings Corp.UIHC recently announced a merger agreement with RDX Holding LLC, the parent company of American Coastal Insurance Company (ACIC). The transaction will enable United Insurance emerge as a leader in the specialized personal lines and commercial lines underwriter space. The deal is valued at approximately $310.36 million.

Pursuant to the agreement, shareholders of RDX Holding will own a 49% stake in United Insurance. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.

Rationale of the Merger

American Coastal Insurance Company boasts a strong foothold in the Florida commercial residential market. Moreover, the company has recently inked an exclusive MGA agreement with AmRisc. The company also has a track record of strong bottom-line growth as well as of offering high returns on equity. These factors not only ensure solid near-term fundamentals for United Insurance, but also pave the way for a healthy performance over the long run.

Notably, the company has been focused on establishing itself as a premierprovider of property insurance in regions prone to natural catastrophes. This transaction hence is a strategic fit for the insurer creating over $1 billion of premium in force.

On the other hand, RDX Holding expects to utilize United Insurances expertise to strengthen its base among other specialty cat underwriters.

The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to both earnings per share and return on equity for United Insurance.

Through the merger, the company projects realizing near-term cost savings through reinsurance synergies. The deal is also aimed to createa tax-free reorganization.

Inorganic Growth Story

In the past, United Insurance had adopted the inorganic strategy to improve its growth profile. In Apr 2016, the company acquired Interboro Insurance Company to foray into the markets of New York and South California. In 2014, it had taken over Hawaii-based Family Security Holdings LLC (FSH) in a bid to expand into Louisiana and Hawaii.

Story continues

Peers Following a Similar Strategy

Acquisitions and mergers have always been considered an effective inorganic growth strategy. Recently, Assurant, Inc. AIZ acquired American Title, Inc. for a cash consideration of $45 million to strengthen its capabilities in the housing market.

Arch Capital Group Ltd. ACGL has also agreed to acquire United Guaranty Corporation and AIG United Guaranty Insurance Limited from the parent company to expand its private mortgage insurance business.

Meanwhile, American Financial Group Inc. AFG has inked an agreement to buy all shares of National Interstate that are not currently owned by AFGs wholly owned subsidiary, Great American Insurance Company.

UTD INSURANCE Price

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Zacks Rank

United Insurance currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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Vinesh had sustained a knee injury during her bout vs Sun Yanan of China in the quarter-finals of the Women's Freestyle 48kg category.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Amid the celebrations over Sakshi Malik's bronze medal, the Indian contingent at the ongoing Rio Olympics received another piece of good news with doctors announcing that her fellow female wrestler Vinesh Phogat will recover from her injury within two weeks. (Rio Olympics 2016 full coverage)

Vinesh had sustained what seemed to be a serious knee injury during her bout against Sun Yanan of China in the quarter-finals of the Women's Freestyle 48kg category at the Carioca Arena 2 here on Wednesday. (Rio 2016: Freak injury costs wrestler Vinesh Phogat quarter-final bout)

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"She has only a tendon tear, no fracture. The doctors said she would recover in a couple of weeks since there was no fracture," Indian chef de mission Rakesh Gupta announced.

The Haryana grappler, one of India's best bets for a medal, had received a bye in the opening round. She then started her campaign on a rousing note with a dominant 11-0 thrashing of Alina Emilia of Romania in the pre-quarterfinals. (Also read: Wrestler Sakshi Malik gives India its first medal in Rio Olympics 2016)

However, disaster struck during the quarter-finals as Vinesh twisted her leg badly while attempting a hold on her Chinese opponent.

The 21-year-old, who was leading 1-0 at the time also lost her grip following the injury allowing Sun to score a couple of points and take the lead.

The match was immediately stopped to allow medical attention to Vinesh. After the Indian physio declared that Vinesh will not be able to continue, Sun, who was leading 2-1, was declared the winner by injury.

Vinesh, who got her injured knee wrapped, was taken off on a stretcher as the injury seemed to be a very serious one.

--- ENDS ---
Gawker Nick Denton at Ignition

Univision, which bought Gawker Media for $135 million in a government-ordered auction, is shutting down Gawker.com, the company's flagship site, founder Nick Denton told staffers on Thursday. Gawker.com will shutter next week.

Univision will still maintain Gawker's other properties, like Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Jezebel, Deadspin, and so on. "[Gawker.com] staffers will soon be assigned to other editorial roles, either at one of the other six sites or elsewhere within Univision," Gawker's J.K. Trotter wrote.

Gawker.com began as a site mostly focused on New York media gossip, but it has evolved over the years and recently pivoted to politics around the upcoming election.

It is also the site that has been the focal point of Gawker Media's recent legal troubles, particularly the $140 million verdict won by Hulk Hogan.

After buying Gawker Media, it was initially unclear whether Univision would take over Gawker.com, but Gawker staffers were cautiously hopeful.

"We've heard a lot about [Univision's news chief] Isaac Lee's commitment to fearless journalism. He has a reputation for a guy who very much buys into the idea of fearless journalism," Gawker staffer Hamilton Nolan told CNN. "I hope he demonstrates that by keeping Gawker.com open."

The case

Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, was awarded $140 million in damages in March stemming from a Gawker news article published in 2012 that included a clip of him having sex.

It was revealed in late May that billionaire Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel had secretly financed the lawsuit and others against Gawker Media to try to put the website out of business.

"I saw Gawker pioneer a unique and incredibly damaging way of getting attention by bullying people even when there was no connection with the public interest," Thiel, who Gawker publicly outed as gay in 2007, told The New York Times.

Gawker Media was handed a legal loss in May when a judge in Florida denied Gawker's motion for a new trial. That meant the damages would not be reduced. The judge also denied Gawker's request for a stay. This led to Gawker's decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Story continues

NOW WATCH: Jon Stewart broke his silence to call out 'man-baby' Trump and the medias 'corrupt' investment in his rise





More From Business Insider


Washington (AFP) - The US Department of Justice on Thursday announced it was ending the use of private prisons to detain federal inmates, severing itself from a practice that had become increasingly controversial.

The decision will affect only a small share of the detainee population within the United States, which represents one in four prisoners held around the world.

In an internal memo released by the department, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said her agency would begin the gradual process of reversing the privatization of some US prisons, a practice which had proved more problematic but no less costly than the use of government-managed correctional facilities.

"They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs and resources; they do not save substantially on costs," Yates wrote.

Yates also cited a recent report by the department's internal watchdog, the Office of the Inspector General, which found that private prisons were more dangerous than those in public hands.

- Rising scrutiny for private prisons -

The decision will affect 13 privately run prisons housing just over 22,000 people, or about 11 percent of the federal prison population. Most are foreign nationals, mainly Mexicans incarcerated for immigration violations.

The prisons are run by three companies: Corrections Corporation of America, GEO Goup and Management and Training Corporation.

Shares in CCA and GEO Group nosedived on the news, both down nearly 39 percent by midafternoon.

In the United States, the federal government detains a relatively small share of the overall prison population, currently about 1.6 million people, according to the Prison Population Initiative.

Since peaking in 2013 at nearly 220,000 inmates, the federal prison population has declined in recent years to fewer than 194,000.

The news was quickly hailed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a former presidential candidate in 2016.

"Due in large part to private prisons, incarceration has been a source of major profits to private corporations," Sanders said in a statement.

Story continues

"We have got to end the private prison racket in America as quickly as possible."

However, Peter Wagner, executive director of the Prison Policy Initiative, said private prisons received outsized attention for their relatively small share of the prison population.

"This is a small black eye to the private prison industry, which is a very small corner of the prison system in this country, which is overwhelmingly publicly run," Wagner told AFP.

"The federal prison population is declining and they have concluded the obvious, which is that private prisons are not as good," he added.

"They are going to have to close some prisons and they're choosing to close the ones that are not performing."

The changes will not be immediate.

According to Yates, the Bureau of Prisons will not renew existing contracts to the private operators as they expire, or reduce them in scope as allowed by law as the inmate population declines.

The total population of federal inmates housed at privately run facilities will drop to 14,200 by May of next year, Yates said.

Calls for criminal justice reform have gained favor in recent years among both Democrat and Republican lawmakers.

The Justice Department's decision comes as the private prison industry has fallen under increasingly critical scrutiny.

The magazine Mother Jones in June published the results of an undercover investigation during which a reporter worked at a CCA-run prison in Louisiana. The report exposed widespread violence among inmates and poor medical and mental care, among other conditions.

In its most recent two seasons, the popular Netflix drama "Orange is the New Black," which dramatizes the lives of female federal inmates, painted a harsh portrait of a fictional private company that seeks to maximize profits at the expense of prisoners' human rights.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Beach volleyball legend Kerri Walsh Jennings said she had "no idea" whether she'd be back for a fifth Olympics after bouncing back from her first ever defeat to win bronze in Rio on Thursday.

The 38-year-old won three consecutive Olympic titles with the now retired Misty May-Treanor before suffering a shock loss in the Rio semi-finals with new partner April Ross.

Speaking after their 17-21, 21-17, 15-9 third-place play-off win over Brazil's Talita Rocha and Larissa Franca at Copacabana beach, Walsh Jennings deflected talk about retirement.

"I've no idea, I don't know. But I'm very happy tonight," she said, when asked whether fans would see her at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

"You're going to see me with my kids very soon."

Walsh Jennings added that she was so stunned by Wednesday's defeat that she barely slept, before finally snapping out of it and being able to focus on the play-off.

"Devastated pretty much captures how I felt last night. We came here to be at our best and I was so sub-par," she said.

"I talked to myself all night long, I didn't sleep and at some point I said, 'You have to stop feeling sorry for yourself. You have no one else to blame. This is an honour to have one more day to fight for what you want'."

The Americans had to scrap to rescue a match which was slipping away from them until they rallied with a determined fightback in the second set.

Walsh Jennings came out fired up as she belted a series of spikes, but errors crept in as the Brazilians put the Americans under pressure with their greater variety.

Rocha scored point after point with her soft shots at the net and she clinched the first set 21-17 with a trademark touch into space near the right boundary line.

Walsh Jennings and Ross collided and both hit the deck as they slipped 8-11 behind in the second set, before they roared back to take it 21-17 and force the decider.

And after a tight start, they took control of the final set and clinched it 15-9 when Walsh Jennings blocked Rocha's spike.
Washington (AFP) - The United States Thursday expressed shock at a photo circulating worldwide on social media that shows a dazed Syrian boy covered in blood and dust, calling him "the real face" of the country's war.

"That little boy has never had a day in his life where there hasn't been war, death, destruction, poverty in his own country," State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters during his daily press briefing.

Departing from his usual diplomatic talking points, Kirby asked the reporters how many among them had seen photos of the child.

The shocked boy, a four-year-old named Omran, is pictured sitting in an ambulance covered in blood and dust after an air strike Wednesday in the rebel-held district of Qaterji in the southeast of Aleppo, which has been devastated by the five-year war.

"You don't have to be a dad, but I am. You can't but help look at that and see that that's the real face of what's going on in Syria," Kirby said.

Since the image's release, the photo has reverberated around the globe, much like that of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, whose body washed ashore on a Turkish beach last year.

Kirby, whose boss John Kerry has for months attempted to forge a pathway with Russia to end the war, said Thursday that "we all have to pull together to try to reach a better outcome."

Kerry "continues to urge Russia to work with him on a set of proposals that we agreed to in Moscow and teams are still trying to work out, try to get the cessation of hostilities to be more enforceable across the wide expanse of Syria in an enduring way," Kirby said.

In July, Washington and Moscow reached an agreement to cooperate more closely in an attempt to salvage a failing truce and focus on battling the Islamic State jihadists.

The American roadmap to end the war includes a national ceasefire, opening up of humanitarian aid, and the resumption of political negotiations between the Syrian regime and opposition in Geneva.

Under a cessation of hostilities, Kirby said, people would hopefully be spared "any more images like the one of that young boy today in Aleppo."
Washington (AFP) - The United States acknowledged that it waited for Iran to release American prisoners before delivering $400 million in cash that it owed the country, but again insisted the payment was not ransom.

Republicans including Donald Trump pounced on Thursday's admission as proof that President Barack Obama's government had misled the American people.

"With concerns that Iran may renege on the prisoner release... we of course sought to retain maximum leverage until after American citizens were released," State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

"That was our top priority," he said.

In January, five American prisoners were released as Washington granted clemency to seven Iranians and withdrew arrest warrants for 14 others.

Immediately thereafter, the United States helped airlift $400 million worth of Swiss francs and euros to Iran.

The US government insists that money was meant to settle an old debt stemming from a military purchase by Iran.

The money was delivered on January 17, just one day after a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers took effect.

"We were able to conclude multiple strands of diplomacy within a 24 hour period, including implementation of the nuclear deal, the prisoner talks and a settlement of an outstanding Hague tribunal claim," Kirby said, referring to the money claimed by Iran.

"It's already publicly known that we returned to Iran its $400 million in that same time period as part of the Hague settlement agreement," he said.

In early August, the State Department had said the prisoner release and delivery of money were completely separate, although Kirby acknowledged Thursday that the two were in fact related.

"I'm saying that the events came together simultaneously... it would have been foolish, imprudent, irresponsible for us not to try to maintain maximum leverage," Kirby said.

The ordeal has set off a tidal wave of condemnation from Republicans, who have questioned the timing of the two events and said the government paid ransom for the prisoner release.

Story continues

Republican presidential Trump was quick to attack.

"Speaking of lies, we now know from the State Department announcement that President Obama lied about the $400 million dollars in cash that was flown to Iran," he told a rally in Thursday in North Carolina.

"He denied it was for the hostages, but it was. He said we don't pay ransom, but he did. He lied about the hostages  openly and blatantly," Trump said.

Trump's opponent in the race for the White House, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, was no longer serving as the nation's top diplomat when the accord came into effect.

Still, Trump senior communications advisor Jason Miller said that "by helping put together a deal that ultimately sent $400M to Iran that was likely used to fund terrorism, Clinton has proven herself unfit to be president of the United States."

House speaker Paul Ryan said Obama had set a dangerous precedent.

"Today the State Department admitted what we've long suspected -- that the president and his administration have been misleading us since January about whether he ransomed the freedom of the Americans unjust imprisoned in Iran," America's top elected Republican said.

"The president owes the American people a full accounting of his actions and the dangerous precedent he has set," Ryan added.
Neither Usain Bolt nor Canada's Andre De Grasse was sweating the competition in the pair's 200 meters semifinal at the Rio Olympics on Wednesday night.

Bolt, as he is wont to do, steadily built a big lead during the race, with De Grasse hanging around in second in the lane next to him.

Bolt then, as he is also wont to do, slowed down, seemingly taunting opponents while keeping some gas left in the tank.

That's when De Grasse surged, pushing Bolt for first, though Bolt ultimately won by a hair. With the two top sprinters qualifying for the finals, Bolt and De Grasse were so comfortable that they made eyes at each other and laughed their way across the finish line:

bolt de grasse 1

They laughed as they crossed the finish line, too. Note how far they are ahead of the other runners:

bolt de grasse 2

And Bolt had to lecture De Grasse for trying to sneak up on him and take first place:

bolt de grasse

We'll see if things are so friendly in Thursday night's 200m final. So far Bolt hasn't given much reason to doubt that he wouldn't beat De Grasse if he runs hard the entire race.

NOW WATCH: Here are all the animals Usain Bolt can outrun





More From Business Insider


From Woman's Day

Toronto parents are appalled and frightened for their kids' safety after reports that vandals have been smearing peanut butter on playground equipment across the city, potentially targeting children with peanut allergies. According to theToronto Star, mom Sarah Bolton recently spotted the common allergen at the playground in Dufferin Grove Park, which she was visiting with her two-year-old son Lewis.

"It's just a really scary situation. It was everywhere...it would have to take a sociopath to do something like this," she told the news outlet. She estimates there was enough peanut butter to fill three jars spread over the swings, slides, and handrails. She quickly took to Facebook to warn other parents, and the disturbing news went viral.

For children with an allergy to peanut butter, any contact with it is extremely dangerous. "Given that even a small amount of peanut butter, if ingested, could cause a serious allergic reaction and be potentially life-threatening, it is an upsetting situation for everyone," said Food Allergy Canada in statement.

Even more upsetting, this incident has reportedly happened before. Matthew Cutler, a spokesperson for Toronto's Parks, Forestry and Recreation department, told CTV News that peanut butter sightings have been reported in Carleton Park, Perth Square, and Hillcrest Park. But Matthew says staffers never actually found any peanut butter when they arrived at those park locations. But in the case of Dufferin Park, staff did find the peanut butter-and quickly cleaned it up.

Despite the multiple sightings and viral warnings, no official reports have been made to authorities. "As soon as someone calls the police, an investigation will begin," a police spokesperson told the media.

(h/t Daily Mail)

Download the free Woman's Day Now app to stay up-to-date on the best healthy recipes, relationship advice, craft ideas, and more.
They finally did it! Vanderpump Rules stars Katie Maloney and Tom Schwartz tied the knot on Wednesday, August 17, in Northern California.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Engagement Rings of 2016

Im so happy to have married my best friend and love that I finally get to call Tom my husband, Maloney told E! News. Celebrating with our closest friends and family has been nothing short of an amazing experience.



The groom told E! that that the couples wedding theme was woodsy elegance. We wanted to be secluded and in the woods, and we are just that, he said.

PHOTOS: Most Over-the-Top Celebrity Weddings

The longtime couple got engaged on July 7 last year after some not-so-subtle hints (and even an ultimatum) from the 30-year-old beauty blogger, who founded Pucker & Pout, about wanting to get married after years together.



After some missteps (remember when he gave her the ring on a necklace?), Schwartz surprised his love by popping the question with a champagne diamond ring during dinner with a group of friends.

Their engagement, like much of the relationship, was documented on the hit Bravo show.



In November, the waitress  who also works at Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpumps Beverly Hills eatery Sur  told Us Weekly exclusively that she was looking for a vintage vibe  lace  and nothing poofy for her wedding gown. I will stick to the ivory and white family of colors, for sure.

PHOTOS: Stars Who Got Their Start on Reality TV

Bravo renewed the RHOBH spinoff for a fifth season in April, and if Vanderpump star Scheana Marie Shays 2014 nuptials are any indication, fans of the reality show will get to see Maloney walk down the aisle when the show returns later this year.







Related Content:
A new research has revealed that being in a bad relationships affects your sleep in ways more than one.

By Indo-Asian News Service: How well you think your partner understands and cares for you is linked to how well you sleep, new research suggests.

"Our findings show that individuals with responsive partners experience lower anxiety and arousal, which in turn improves their sleep quality," said lead author Emre Selcuk from Middle East Technical University in Turkey.

One of the most important functions of sleep is to protect us against deteriorations in physical health. However, this protective function of sleep can only be realised when we have high quality uninterrupted sleep, known as restorative sleep.

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Restorative sleep requires feelings of safety, security, protection and absence of threats. For humans, the strongest source of feelings of safety and security is responsive social partners--whether parents in childhood or romantic partners in adulthood.

"Having responsive partners who would be available to protect and comfort us should things go wrong is the most effective way for us humans to reduce anxiety, tension, and arousal," Selcuk said.

Using data from the Midlife Development in the US project, past projects from the researchers showed connections between partner responsiveness, physical health and psychological well-being over several years.

"Taken together, the corpus of evidence we obtained in recent years suggests that our best bet for a happier, healthier, and a longer life is having a responsive partner," Selcuk noted.

The results were published in the journal Social Personality and Psychological Science.





--- ENDS ---
Sydney (AFP) - Vietnam will allow an Australian war commemoration to go ahead on the site of the Battle of Long Tan on Thursday's 50th anniversary, reversing an earlier ban, a minister said.

Canberra announced Wednesday that Vietnam had cancelled the ceremonies at the last minute describing the surprise move as "a kick in the guts".

More than 1,000 veterans and their families have travelled to Vietnam to remember the most costly single battle fought by Australian soldiers in the Vietnam War, 18 of whom died as a result of the encounter.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appealed to his Vietnamese counterpart late Wednesday to understand Australia's position, Veterans Affairs Minister Dan Tehan told Sky News.

"That message has thankfully hit a chord.

"We will now... be able to conduct a wreath-laying ceremony today in Vietnam and also there will be access given to the Long Tan site to groups of up to 100 at a time," Tehan said.

"This is a welcome change of heart from the Vietnamese government."

The Australian and New Zealand ambassadors will lay wreaths along with a representative of the veterans affairs department.

Tehan stressed that Australia was very aware of Vietnamese feelings about the war.

"There was huge loss of life on the Vietnamese side as a result of the Vietnam war, we have always remained sensitive to that."

A force of just 108 Australian soldiers held off an assault by around 2,000 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese fighters at Long Tan on August 18, 1966.

Seventeen Australians were killed in action and 25 wounded, one of whom later died from his injuries while at least 250 Vietnamese fighters perished.

With commemorations marking Long Tan under way in Australia, Tehan said Canberra had gone out of its way to ensure the Vietnam event was low-key.

It appeared the decision to halt the ceremony was based simply on the sensitivities relating to Long Tan, and did not relate to any other aspect of Australia's relationship with Hanoi, Tehan said.

Vietnamese authorities in both Hanoi and southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province, where the battle took place, did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
By Liz Hampton

HOUSTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Swiss commodity trader Vitol SA criticized Exxon Mobil Corp this week for failing to be transparent about maintenance at its Los Angeles refinery following a February 2015 blast, which contributed to tighter gasoline supplies and higher prices.

Speaking before a committee of the California Energy Commission on Tuesday, Brad Lucas, a West Coast trader for Vitol, said that lack of information from Exxon made it difficult to time cargo deliveries into the West Coast market.

The explosion at Exxon Mobil's 149,500 barrel-per-day Torrance refinery, which provides about 10 percent of California's gasoline supply, knocked a gasoline-producing unit offline for more than a year.

The higher prices created an incentive for traders to import fuel into California, but only if they could gauge when prices might fall after a refinery restart.

Lucas said at the meeting that Exxon kept promising that the Torrance refinery would come back online "next month," but that it never seemed to happen. "In my opinion, there was a lack of transparency with what was going on with Torrance," he said. "Basically, the lack of transparency kept cargoes at bay."

The meeting by the Commission's Petroleum Market Advisory Committee was to discuss gasoline price volatility and policy alternatives to mitigate price spikes.

Exxon in an emailed statement on Thursday rejected Vitol's claims, saying it operated responsibly and in strict compliance with all laws.

PBF Energy acquired the Torrance facility from Exxon on July 1.

Vitol's comments came after California Attorney General Kamala Harris issued subpoenas to refiners in the state in May as part of a probe into whether they manipulated gasoline prices since 2014.

California's gasoline prices are among the highest in the continental United States, in part due to special blending requirements mandated by the state, and because it imports much of the crude oil it refines.

In July 2015, refinery outages and tightened supplies pushed Los Angeles wholesale CARBOB gasoline prices to record levels of more than a $1.30 a gallon premium to the U.S. RBOB futures contract.

Kinder Morgan, which operates pipelines and terminals, also spoke at the hearing.

(Editing by Terry Wade and Matthew Lewis)
If you want to know more about your relationship, just look at how youre sleeping

If you want to know more about your relationship, just look at how youre sleeping

If theres one thing every single one of us can agree on, its that sleep is pretty much sacred. Not only is sleep necessary to stay alive, getting enough sleep is imperative for you to have a healthy body and mind. When youre not getting enough sleep, or your sleep isnt restful, this can lead to a lot of negative side effects. Of course, various aspects of your life can cause you to sleep poorly: stress, illness, changing schedules, and mental health can all come into play.

Plus, according to a new study released in the Social Psychological and Personality Science journal, if your partner is keeping you up at night, this could be a sign of a problem within your relationship.

Mind you, if your partner is keeping you up by snoring or moving while asleep, that isnt cause for concern. In fact, these findings dont have anything to do with your partners body at all. As far as lead researcher Dr. Emre Selcuk (a developmental and social psychologist at Middle East Technical University in Turkey) is concerned, these results suggest implications that go beyond your partner snoring too loudly or hogging the covers.

giphy (16)

As Dr. Selcuk explains, Having responsive partners who would be available to protect and comfort us should things go wrong is the most effective way for us humans to reduce anxiety, tension, and arousal.

Unsurprisingly, feeling safe and secure leads people to a better, deeper sleep. As Dr. Seluck continues, Our findings show that individuals with responsive partners experience lower anxiety and arousal, which in turn improves their sleep quality. So a dreamy relationship will essentially lead to even sweeter dreams.

giphy (17)

And this study is no joke, either. The research team surveyed 698 married or cohabiting adults between the ages of 35 and 86, suggesting that they got a diverse sample size for their results. All participants filled out surveys about their partners responsiveness, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and sleep problems. Taking the study a step further, researchers then had 219 participants participate in a week-long sleep study where researchers could monitor how restful their sleep was. Pretty intense, right?

If you sit back and realize you havent been sleeping all that well lately, and none of the usual suspects seem present, it might be time to have a little conversation with your partner  to see if something deeper is on your mind.

The post If you want to know more about your relationship, just look at how youre sleeping appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Some stories are best suited for prose. Others seem to demand the Hollywood treatment. When director Todd Phillips read Guy Lawsons 2011 Rolling Stone article The Stoner Arms Dealers, about a pair of young Miami dudes who got in way over their heads as, well, arms dealers, he knew it was meant to be a movie. Even Lawson appears to have considered the storys big-screen potential, intermittently describing his characters as though they were the star[s] of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Five years later, that blockbuster is War Dogs (Aug. 19) and its stars are Jonah Hill and Miles Teller, who play Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, respectively, childhood friends who exploited a government procurement opportunity to land a $300 million contract to supply the Afghan army in 2007. It was the kind of business that would normally go to a heavy hitter like Raytheon. Diveroli and Packouz, meanwhile, were half-baked and flying by the seats of their pants.

Phillips is best known as the director comedies like The Hangover and Old Schoolbromances, if you will (though Phillips wonthes not a fan of the term) about grown men getting tangled in untenable circumstances and then attempting to riddle their way out, often ungracefully. What drew him to this story, though, wasnt the male bonding part, but the untenable circumstances part. I like situations in which characters, whether theyre male or female, make bad decisions and get themselves in over their heads, he says. Im just sort of attracted to chaos.

And Diveroli and Packouzs story is nothing if not chaotic. The real-life friends met, wholesomely enough, at their orthodox synagogue in Miami. They struck up a friendship that was interrupted when Diveroli was kicked out of high school in the ninth grade and went to work in Los Angeles in the family businessarms dealing. When he returned to Miami years later, he reconnected with Packouz, who was hitting a ceiling on his entrepreneurial efforts selling bedsheets to nursing homes while working as a massage therapist. When Diveroli offered Packouz the chance join his growing venture and make millions, Packouz eagerly accepted. They embraced the derogatory term applied to hustlers like them: war dogs.



As AEY Inc., they took advantage of a government requirement that a certain percentage of contracts be awarded to small businesses, working their way up from helmets to AK-47s. What ensued was a web of shady contracting, cocaine-fueled crises and international diplomacy best left for the movie (or, if you want the whole story, Lawsons 2015 book Arms and the Dudes). Though much of what they did was legal, some wasnt (forging company information in order to make bids more attractive, for example, or procuring illegal ammunition), and the whole affair would ultimately come crashing down.



Phillips and co-writers Stephen Chin and Jason Smilovic changed many of the details: Audis were swapped for Porsches, the nationality of the shady arms dealer played by producer Bradley Cooper was switched from Swiss to American. Phillips subscribes to the adage never let the facts get in the way of the truth, and he appreciated the freedom afforded by his subjects relative anonymity. As he explained, Were not making Lincolnwere making a movie about two stoners from Miami.

In casting Hill and Teller, Phillips sought a balance between what Teller calls that guy who can come into any room and take over and the one who is very much not that guy, but respects that guy. As Efraim, Hill is as crude as they come. Hes a chameleon, assuming false identities to ingratiate himself with whoevers on the other end of the phone. In one scene hes a devout Christian, and in the next hes waxing philosophical on last weeks Torah portion. His expressions of joy, punctuated with a high-pitched cackle, arrive whenever money is on the table, and his opposition to the war is trumped by the opportunities it presents to line his pockets. Still, hes magnetic in his crassness.

If you meet him in real life, hes a great guy but hes not necessarily electric, says Phillips. But when hes onscreen in movies, he vibrates. That was why I wanted him so badly. I wanted this guy to be one of those guys that you fall in love with in the beginning, and by the end youre supposed to hate him, but you kind of walk out and go, Hes kind of cool, still.

With Hill playing an untouchable spectacle, it falls on Teller to be a way in for the audience, a challenge he welcomed coming off of playing the flamboyant boxer Vinny Pazienza for the forthcoming drama Bleed For This. I enjoyed playing the guy with the redeeming qualities, he says. Its nice to actually play a guy that you like.

Teller spent time with the real-life Packouz on setpay close attention and youll catch his cameo playing Blue Oyster Cults (Dont Fear) The Reaper at a nursing homebut by that point he had largely completed his preparations for the character. (Diveroli, who was released from prison last year, did not participate in the film). Anytime you can meet the person youre playing its always interesting, says Teller, though hes wary of peoples tendency to edit their own stories to their benefit. Its not a documentary, so I didnt feel the need to imitate him.

Though Phillips was drawn to the storys human tale, its inextricably entwined with its political context, and he hopes viewers dont confuse the storys victims for its villainsor feel the need to draw such simple conclusions at all. I think if you watch this movie through the correct lens, you dont see it as these guys are horrible, he explains. You see it as an indictment on the governmentthe lack of checks and balances that exist at the Pentagon. The government was fully aware that you couldnt source a hundred million rounds of ammo after two Iraq warstheres literally a drought of ammobut the government didnt give a st where it came from. It was for the Afghans. It wasnt for our soldiers.

Or, as Teller puts it, They dont make the statutesthey just figure out what they can do to make some money. They dont call them war dogs for nothing.
US-led coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria continued throughout July as a part of Operation Inherent Resolve, with bombing runs taking place in northern Syria in the run up to the liberation of Manjib by Arab and Kurdish forces.

The GIF below shows a July 21 airstrike on an ISIS fighting position near Manjib.

via GIPHY

Anti-ISIS forces liberated Manjib in mid-August, after a protracted fight in and around the town.

According to an August report verified by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, ISIS had kidnapped fleeing residents of the town, using them as human shields as the terrorist group retreated from Manjib to Jarabulus in an effort to slow the advance of SDF soldiers.

After Manjib's liberation, Syrians gathered in the streets to celebrate ISIS' retreat.

Syria Manjib ISIS liberation

See the full video of the airstrike below:

NOW WATCH: The US Army is sending Apache attack helicopters to fight ISIS in Iraq





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cow la nina

CEOs, investors, and economists love to blame the weather.

Here's a short sample of excuses from the past several quarters alone:

Bank of America Merrill Lynch said the warmer-than-average October last year probably negatively affected the month's retail sales. (October 2015)

Macy's CFO attributed weak interest in the company's fall apparel to warm weather. (November 2015)

Dick's Sporting Goods CEO said slowing sales could be attributed to "funky weather." (November 2015)

High Street retailer NEXT said "unusually warm weather in November and December" led to a "disappointing" holiday season. (January 2016)

The basic thinking here is that unseasonably warm or cold weather alters the way Americans shop. This makes sense, to a certain extent: If it's 80 degrees outside, you might not exactly be in the market for a parka.

But the cynical read here is that companies and economists use "the weather" as an excuse for other, real problems with their business and/or the economy. Perhaps our hypothetical American shopper didn't buy a certain winter coat at a given department store because the person bought it on Amazon or because the department store looked chaotic or because wage growth has remained low since the Great Recession  not because of the weather.

F0r what it's worth, back in January, Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Michelle Meyer, said her team found "little evidence of a weather effect on total sales."

She plotted the deviation for total retail sales excluding cars for the month of December over the past 25 years against the same measure for temperatures over that same time period and found no correlation.

screen shot 2016 01 12 at 10.59.52 am

But even though everyone blames the weather in what feels like every earnings call, folks fall silent when it comes to effects from the weather that could actually change things up, such as La Nina and El Nino.

Story continues

"La Nina episodes can have an outsized economic and financial impact ... Yet surprisingly little about evolving weather developments finds its way into the business or popular media until after the fact," a Deutsche Bank team led by strategist John Tierney observed in a note.

"And historical evidence suggests that investors can be slow to price in weather patterns until things are fairly far along. A key reason is that most people simply do not understand the underlying weather drivers."

For those unfamiliar, La Nina is characterized by powerful monsoons that could flood low-lying areas, while El Nino comes with unusually dry weather. And the National Oceanic Administration Agency confirmed that La Nina was on its way this year.

Here's Deutsche Bank again:

"Given the many far-reaching implications, investors should pay closer attention to the potential flipping of the weather conditions from El Nino to La Nina in the near future. A moderate La Nina will benefit Southeast Asia and Australia by bringing an end to the prevailing drought conditions and improve the production of agricultural commodities such as rich and palm oil. In contrast, a very powerful La Nina event would cause widespread destructive flooding, offsetting the benefits of more rain in the region."

As Business Insider's Akin Oyedele noted earlier, one area of particular interest to Deutsche Bank time around is Asian currency markets.

honda thailand

Though these weather events hit the equatorial Pacific particularly hard, they could also have ramifications on other economies, including the US's, given increased global integration.

Back in 2011, for example, heavy rains and flooding forced many factories in Thailand  a major hub for hard disk drives  to close down.

That led the worldwide production of hard drives to drop by 28% and the production of notebooks, digital video recorders, and other devices to stall. Intel's profits fell by $1 billion in Q4 2011, according to data cited by Citi Research in 2014. And the total estimated losses attributed to the floods were $45.7 billion, according to Citi.

That seems like a more appropriate time to blame the weather.

NOW WATCH: EX-UNDERCOVER DEA AGENT: What I did when drug dealers asked me to try the product





More From Business Insider


By India Today Web Desk: Television star Roshni Chopra welcomed her new baby in the world recently. The actress was treated to a grand bash by her family when she finally returned home with her precious bundle of joy.

Roshni's sister Diya was quoted telling The Times of India, "We were all happy that she delivered on a Sunday. The wee hours of August 14 had us all rushing to the hospital and everything went off really well."

advertisement

Also read:Soon-to-be-mother Roshni Chopra's baby shower pictures are adorable



Roshni's baby boy has been named Reyaan. The Kasamh Se fame actress also has a three-year-old son, Jaiveer.



The actress had posted this picture of herself on Instagram a while ago. Picture courtesy: Instagram/roshnichopra

The actress' friends and family also threw her a baby shower recently. Preeti Simoes, the creative director of the comedy reality show, The Kapil Sharma Show, was just one of the attendees at the function. .

We wonder if anyone else from the Indian television industry was also invited to the more recent party that Roshni's family have organised for her.

Anyway, many congratulations, Roshni!





--- ENDS ---
BERLIN (Reuters) - The governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Britain and the United States welcomed the appointment in Libya of an interim panel to run the country's sovereign wealth fund, Germany's foreign ministry said on Thursday. "The governments (of those countries) call on all Libyans to support the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in preserving and protecting the independence and integrity of the Libyan Financial Institutions for the benefit of all Libyans," the ministry said in a statement. Libya's U.N.-backed government said on Monday it was appointing a five-member caretaker committee to run the $67 billion sovereign wealth fund. [nL8N1AW4C9] (Writing by Madeline Chambers, Editing by Andrea Shalal)
Last Thursday, the Movement for Black Lives got together for an emergency conference call. One week after the drafting committee released its political platforma long document that covers everything from U.S. policing to education reform to mass incarcerationthe activists felt they needed another deep internal discussion, as they called it, on one small section toward the end: their statement on Israel and Palestine.

Of all the positions included in the platform, this is the one that has generated the most backlash. The conflict is largely one of language: Jewish groups have been most upset about its use of the words genocide and apartheid to describe Israels actions against the Palestinians, describing the terms as offensive and odious. Some progressive, social-justice-oriented organizations have condemned the statements in part; others have condemned the movement in full. Church groups have repudiated it. Jews of color have struggled with it. In the wake of what should have been a powerful moment, black activists have found themselves at odds with the one group that may have been most ready to support them as allies.

But this is also a conflict of history. Jews and blacks in America have long danced around one another, at times feeling solidarity and at others, opposition. Both groups have developed a self-understanding rooted in a history of oppression and struggle, often in solidarity with others in need. Their clash on Israel may be a testament to how much U.S. views have changed on this issue, or how much Israels self-vision has changed since 1948. But its also a sign of how thoroughly elements of these groups have become alienated from one anotherhoping for justice, but hearing different things when they try to speak its language.

Its not clear what the Movement for Black Lives will do about the backlash against this part of its platform, if anything. An informal spokesperson for the drafting committee, Zakiya Scott, declined interviews, saying, Folks have been getting a lot of criticism for the divest / invest piece of the platform. Before we say anything as a group, it has to be agreed upon by the members of the leadership team and the endorsing organizations.

Recommended: The Era of 'The Bitch' Is Coming

On every side, the clash over language and history in the Movement for Black Lives platform is a story of loss. Relationships have been damaged, and political momentum lost. And the hope of liberation, cherished by black and Jewish Americans alike, has been cut with resentment.

* * *

The word genocide was coined to describe the Holocaust. Six million Jews were systematically eliminated from the earth on the basis of blood and faith. Subsequently, a nation was formed where those who survived could goincluding those fleeing the homes they tried to return to, only to be met with rejection and renewed violence. The dream of the state of Israelof freedom, radical equality, and survivalantedated the Holocaust, but in its wake, it assumed new urgency.

Yet, that was not the genocide the Movement for Black Lives elected to highlight. The U.S. justifies and advances the global war on terror via its alliance with Israel and is complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people, the activists wrote in the platform. They go on to call Israel an apartheid state, condemning Israeli settlements and the apartheid wallpresumably the security barrier that roughly follows the countrys border with the West Bank.

These two wordsgenocide and apartheidhave been the focus of the outcry in Jewish communities. We were stunned and outraged by the erroneous and egregious claims of genocide and apartheid, the Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative movement said. Truah, a progressive organization that describes itself as the rabbinic call for justice, said it was extremely dismayed by the use of genocide. The Union for Reform Judaism went a step further: We reject wholeheartedly the notion that effective anti-racism work can only be done by denouncing and excoriating Israel, it said.

Recommended: America Is Ignoring the Worst Natural Disaster Since Superstorm Sandy

There are as many positions on Israel within the Jewish community as there are Jews, and including many who adamantly oppose the countrys treatment of Palestinians or its erection of the security barrier. But the broadness of the outcryreaching across progressive and left-leaning groups, with few exceptionssuggests its about more than policy.

The most basic explanation is that its a disagreement over language. From the perspective of the platforms drafters, the word genocide is simply descriptive. We recognize that the use of the word genocide is controversial, whether used in reference to the systemic killing of black people here in the U.S. or the killing of Palestinians, said Janae Bonsu, the national public-policy chair for a Chicago-based group called Black Youth Project 100, who was involved in drafting the platform. But we do believe that it is accurate from a legal perspective and a moral perspective.

This reliance on  vague, theoretical terms that the left has been using in general has not been helpful.

Yet others would say that this represents a slide of meaning: Genocide is not just a charged word to use in the context of Israel, they argue; applying it requires redefining it. Genocide means the deliberate wiping out of a group of people based on their ethnic or racial background, said Cheryl Greenberg, a professor of history at Trinity College who has written about the history of black-Jewish relations in the U.S. But in the past 20 years, the word genocide has become much broader, and it has come to mean any kind of massive, racialized oppression.

Recommended: The Republican Party in Exile

Part of this fits with language used throughout the Movement for Black Lives platform. The United States is an empire; the world is shaped by interlinked systems of white supremacy, imperialism, capitalism, and patriarchy. The claims are sweeping and conceptual; theyre written in a revolutionary idiom cribbed from academia. Even people who essentially agree with the Movement for Black Lives on the facts might find its language jarring, disagreeing over style rather than substance. This reliance on jargon-y, sweeping, vague, theoretical terms that the left has been using in general has not been helpful, Greenberg said. It obfuscates important differences by [painting with] this wide brush. This tendency to move to these emotionally laden jargon words is not doing their argument service.

The problem is not that they are inadequate orators or inept rhetoricians; its that theres a disconnect of meaning, Greenberg said. When one group uses the word genocide, they mean something different from the other.

Jewish groups have also objected to what they hear as coded anti-Semitism in the linking of Israel, Zionism, and thus Jews to oppressive systems of global power. To try to conflate the military-industrial complex with Americas support of Israel is to play on some pretty discomforting tropesanti-Semitic tropes about Jewish power and the way that Jewish power is leveraged in the world, said Daniel Burg, a Baltimore-area rabbi who serves on the board of the progressive group Jews United for Justice, speaking on behalf of his own views rather than any of the institutions he represents. As a Jewish American, and as a rabbi, I am concerned about the increase in anti-Zionism in the world that is bleeding into anti-Semitic language tropes and canards, he added. Its not to say that everyone who disagrees with Israel is anti-Semiticon the contrary. But I do think that, increasingly, the rhetoric around Israel and those who critique Israel can be anti-Semitic rhetoric. These feelings were echoed separately in statements put out by a number of Jewish groups.

And for some, the split is more fundamental. The Movement for Black Lives position against Israel violates a core convictionenough, say groups like the Jewish Community Relations Council of Boston, to warrant repudiation of the whole movement. The platform calls for boycotts, divestments from, and sanctions against Israel; it calls for an end to military support and aid to the country. For some Jewish groups, these actions would represent an existential threat to Israelsomething they cannot support in any way.

I dont know how you can be for ending state-sanctioned violence ... and be supportive of [Israel].

The Movement for Black Lives wasnt trying to offend Jews or be insensitive, said Bonsu of BYP 100. We remain unequivocally supportive of Palestine and critical of Israel, but I dont think that precludes Jewish people who are pro-Israel from supporting other aspects of the platform, she said. And yet, its difficult to seefrom either sidehow that alliance would work in practice. Even in  saying that out loud, I dont know how you can be for ending state-sanctioned violence in its many different forms and be supportive of a heavily militarized, occupied state like Palestine, said Bonsu.

The Movement for Black Lives is trying to advance what it sees as a global struggle for liberation, including the struggle of Palestinians. Jews are expressing deep hurt at what they see as an attack on their history and homeland. Neither side seems to accept the others reasoning; both sides seem willing to walk away from their past and potential coalition. But unlike splits between black activists and other American groups, this one isnt new. Jews have long accused black activists of anti-Semitism. And black activists have long accused Jews of forgetting the stranger, even though they were once strangers in a strange land.

* * *

In 1967, James Baldwin wrote an essay for The New York Times, as declarative in its title as in its prose: Negroes Are Anti-Semitic Because Theyre Anti-White. Poor blacks in New York hated the Jewish landlords and grocers and pawn-shop owners who ran their communities, he said, but they mistakenly attributed their animus to Jews themselves. The most ironical thing about Negro anti-Semitism is that the Negro is really condemning the Jew for having become an American white manfor having become, in effect, a Christian, he wrote. He is singled out by Negroes not because he acts differently from other white men, but because he doesnt.

Once they got to America, Baldwin argued, the long-oppressed Jews had become complicit in the oppression of others. [The Jew] is playing in Harlem the role assigned him by Christians long ago: He is doing their dirty work, he wrote. Where Jews and blacks should have been allies, they became enemies.

Baldwin was writing at a time when the relationship between American Jews and blacks had become particularly fraught and contested. When Israel was founded, many Jewsand blackssaw it as a utopia. The kibbutzim, or collectivist farms and living communities, were the socialists pastoral fantasy. The strong union movement, centralized in an organization called the Histadrut, represented the ideal of radical equality for workers.

American Zionists and black activists had a natural connection, especially through the 1950s and 60s.The civil-rights movement presented this great moment of affinity, said Marjorie Feld, a professor at Babson College. Rabbis joined arms with black freedom fighters in the South; the image of Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the most prominent rabbis and Jewish writers of the 20th century, marching with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma has become iconic. Jews also died for the cause: Andrew Goodman and Mickey Schwerner, two Jewish men in their 20s, died alongside James Chaney in the slaughter that was later memorialized in the film Mississippi Burning.

Israels fall from grace was very powerful.

But even while that was going on, there were lots of indications, starting the 50s, that African Americans would start linking their activism to broader, third-world causes, such as Palestinians in Israel, Feld said. Israel maintained close ties with France while the European country struggled to maintain control of Algeria. Israel also had a tense relationship with Egypt under the leadership of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was a leader of the pan-Arab and pan-African movement. After Israel captured Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula during the Six-Day War in 1967, even some black liberal allies of Israellong-standing black liberal allies of Israel, including [Martin Luther King Jr.]did not know how to contend with the occupation, Feld said.

In the following decades, the sense of division between black activists and supporters of Israel deepened, especially as many Americans pushed to boycott, divest from, and sanction South Africa over the issue of apartheid. Israel was one of the last developed countries to maintain diplomatic and military ties with the apartheid government, although it eventually severed them in the late 1980s. For some black activists, Israels fall from grace was very powerful, Feld said.

In this way, the Movement for Black Lives platform is not anomalous; it follows a long tradition of activists critiquing Israel for its involvement in alleged colonialist activity. The platform drafters believed the movement for Black lives must be tied to liberation movements around the world, as they wrote in the platform. The Black community is a global diaspora and our political demands must reflect this global reality. In drafting their platform, Bonsu and her peers felt the bind of history. Being committed to a fight for global freedom, we saw no choice, really, to not include a critique of the way the U.S. enables the state-sanctioned killing on an occupation of black and brown people globally across the diaspora, she said. Our freedom fight knows no borders, so that has to include unequivocal support for the Palestinian struggle for freedom and peace.

While many Jewish leaders disagree with this framing of history and the current situation on the ground in Israel and Palestine, what seems to matter to them almost as much is being singled out. While the platform names a number of nations, claiming theyve been victimized by the United States colonial-style foreign policy, it condemns only one foreign government: Israel. The platform does not express sympathy with the Kurds in Iraq or the Rohingya in Burma; it does not condemn Qatars treatment of migrant workers or Saudi Arabias oppression of Shiite Muslims. Perhaps, just like the landlords and grocers and pawnshop brokers of New York, Israel is held to a different standard by black activistsbecause Jews, they think, should know better. Or perhaps the special focus on Israel traces back to the pan-African movement, or owes a debt to the prominence of pro-Palestinian activism on American campuses. Whatever the origin, the result is the same.

While the Movement for Black Lives platform drafters may have wanted to express solidarity with Palestinians and the global diaspora, the backlash to their statement shows the near-impossibility of creating a coalition around a global liberation movement. The Movement for Black Lives has tried to articulate not only their narrow concerns, but framed those concerns in a more global and universal context, said Greenberg. I think, ultimately, that is the right thing to do. It is the ethical thing to do. Its the effective thing to do. Its the moral thing to do. But, she added, The problem is, once you articulate a whole vision in which you are a part, you open the door for other people to pick apart those details.

Just like the landlords and grocers and pawnshop brokers of New York, Israel is held to a different standard by black activists.

The fact that the platform drafters did not anticipate this kind of backlash and were forced to regroup once it happened, combined with most Jewish groups unyielding condemnation of the language of the platform, shows how distant the relationships between many black and Jewish activists have become in the United States. Burg, whose congregation stands in a historically Jewish neighborhood that is now predominantly black, said he sees the platform as a reflection of the lack of healthy dialogue right now between those who support BDS and whats actually happening on the ground in the state of Israel. The members of his largely progressive community expressed a sense of hurt and betrayal during a discussion on the Shabbat after the platform came outthere was a sense that this platform speaks in the un-nuanced way that black and brown Americans hope white Americans wont use in speaking about them and the issues that matter to them. But its impossible to know how to listen to another groups hurt when you dont know any of its members; Bonsu said she does not know a single Jewish person who supports the state of Israel, although, as she pointed out, she is just one person.

No matter how deeply hurt many members of the Jewish community may feel about the language of the platform, the debate over Israel and Palestine has distracted from its impact. While some may recognize this with regretfor me to try to pretend that the document is all about the Jews and the state of Israel is also, I think, doing a disservice to an underprivileged class and race in this country, said Burgthe Jewish community as a whole has been very effective at mobilizing around this issue. The Movement for Black Lives platform drafters tried to use strong language to rally their supporters; in return, Jewish groups have used strong language to rally theirs.

That has produced more noise than justice and division rather than empathy. Fundamentally, Burg said, the spirit behind the Movement for Black Lives is one found at the heart of Judaism: We should remember the widow and the stranger and the orphan and the oppressed, because we were orphans and we were strangers and we were slaves.

But if, as in the case of the disagreements over this platform, we close ourselves off to those who are different from us, who have different backgrounds, who have different races and ethnicitieseven those who have different beliefs and opinions, he said, "we do ourselves a disservice. We do them a disservice. And, to my mind, we violate Gods will.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
New Yorkers flock to ashrams in the Appalachian Mountains, Europeans to refurbished hermitages in the Umbrian countryside, but where do Asians go to get away from it all? Sure, there are Balinese yoga retreats and meditation centers run by Nepali beekeepers. But for a growing number of Chinese, the ultimate escape is the ultimate in oppression: North Korea.

To be clear, North Koreaa rogue state that probably has nuclear weaponsisnt suddenly a land of milk-and-honey baths, and woe betide anyone who requests a chemical peel at a Pyongyang hotel. But a corollary of being the most isolated place on earth is utter sequestration from modern banes. And ever more Chinese visitors are, out of curiosity, making the short hop across the Yalu River at border town Dandong and going back for the relative serenity they find. Without cell phone, computer or any modern communications, the feeling of isolation lets me find peace, says history teacher Bai Xuejiao, 28.

Of course, Orwellian societal controls dont lend themselves to a relaxing vacay, and the totalitarian regime of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un isnt known for its laissez-faire attitude even to holiday snaps. (Tour guides and government minders will tell you that only front-on and well-framed photos can be taken of founding father Kim Il Sungs statue.) There are also serious ethical questions about funneling cash to whats considered the worlds most repressive regime, under which 25 million people live under the imminent threat of extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, according to a 2014 U.N. report.

As such, organizing tours to North Korea remains a somewhat secretive industry, and none of the dozen Chinese tour operators contacted by TIME agreed to comment for this article. However, travel advertisements increasingly home in on the nations natural splendor. The sea by North Korea is 100% clean, you wont see any garbage, claims an advertisement for Yan Bian Century tourism agency. The whole of Rason City [on the Sea of Japan in North Koreas northeast] is an organic place. Beautiful, gentle and shy North Korean girls will give you the memory of a lifetime.

Tourism dollars have taken on new significance for the Kim regime since Marchs ramped-up U.N. sanctions, which have made traditional methods of acquiring foreign capitalgenerally exporting coal and mineralsfar trickier. From July, Chinese nationals could enjoy visa- and passport-free half-day tours from Dandong to the North Korean city of Sinuiju, right on the other side of the border. Already, 85% of all Chinese tourists to North Korea use this route. North Korea also has a plush ski resort at Masik Pass, boasting nine pistes, a luxury hotel, several well-heeled restaurants and a rental shop stocked with high-end gearan attraction that only the countrys elites can afford.

Luxury, however, seems the opposite of what many Chinese visitors to North Korea seek. I planned to make my son experience some hardship, but our North Korea trip gave me a new perspective, posted one Chinese travel blogger. Without wi-fi, we saw their simple lives and it eased our minds. We climbed the mountains and watched a waterfall. We are amazed by natures craftsmanship. It was truly natural and pollution-free.

Other than pollution, food safety consistently ranks as a top concern among Chinese today, as an antiquated agriculture system struggles to feed 1.3 billion hungry mouths by adding more fertilizer to fields and cramming more hormone-pumped cattle into cages. This has led to a raft of food-safety scandals, and one of the greatest draws for Chinese visitors to North Korea is the perception that what they eat is chemical- and additive-free. I trust food safety in North Korea as it is all organic, says one Dandong-based Chinese trader who regularly travels all over North Korea. I can feel the organic taste from potatoes and beans in North Korea, but in China you rarely get food like that.

For the Chinese, though, much of North Koreas allure is its resemblance to a simpler China, harking back to an era before mass industrialization and commercialization. The idyllic scenery in North Korea is beautiful, posted one user to Chinas Twitter-like microblog Weibo. When I saw the uniformed people riding bicycles, it feels like I am traveling through time.
Its Vintage Week at Yahoo Style! In honor of our favorite environmentally friendly way to make sure youre never wearing the same outfit as anyone else, were bringing you insider intel on the best vintage  what to look for, where to find it, and how to make the most money when selling yours. Stay tuned all week for more.



(Illustration: Courtesy of New York University)

Shopping for vintage can feel like an exercise in futility. By the time you locate a piece you love, it not only has to be in good condition and the right price, but it also has to be in your size. Finding the first two is a miracle, but finding all three is almost too much to ask from the universe. In fact, it often is, especially if you wear a plus size. Its so hard that we have to ask: Does plus-size vintage even exist? Or is the whole category a myth?

The first theory waving its hand in the air is our weight. Have you heard? Its higher than its ever been. The Centers for Disease Control has been watching the scale for decades, and it has damning stats at the ready: On average, American women weighed 18% more in 2010 than they did in 1960, with the average weight going from 140 to 166.

True as this all may be, weight has always varied, and obesity wasnt invented in the 90s. Julie Smolinski, co-curator of this years Beyond Measure: Fashion and the Plus-Size* Woman exhibit at New York University, says clothes have catered to larger women since the early 20th century at least. Plus-size vintage is not necessarily a myth because these women existed, and they needed to clothe themselves, she tells us.

Illustration: Courtesy of Lane Bryant.

Lane Bryant, which opened its doors in 1904 as a store for maternity clothes, was focused on larger sizes for stout women by the 1920s (it would go on to rebrand stout as plus misses in 1922). And in 1924, Smolinski says the New York Times declared stout as women with bust sizes between 38.5 and 52.5"  the latter being the modern equivalent of a 3XL.

Story continues

Until the 1940s, womens sizes were determined solely by bust measurements. The custom was a holdover from ready-to-wear menswear, which dates back to the Revolutionary War. Women resisted the idea of ready-to-wear fashion until the 1920s, when they realized its relative low cost (as compared to dressmakers) allowed them to update their wardrobes more frequently. It was an epiphany we can undoubtedly thank the burgeoning ad industry for, and it would go on to bring sweeping changes around how clothes are sized and categorized.

The first non-bust-centric sizes came in the 30s, and there was no size 0, not even a size 2. In the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, most clothes intended for adult women started their sizing off at 8, 10, or 12, writes Jessica Cangiano on Chronically Vintage. She adds that clothes from the 30s to the 50s are about double the size of what they would be today. A dress from the 1950s with a size 18 tag would likely fit a woman today who wears a modern size 8 or 10.

This is a relief to anyone whos ever tried (and failed) to fit into a vintage dress nearly twice their size. But it still does not answer the real question: Where are all the plus sizes? If a size 18 is a really a size 8, and its almost impossible to find anything above a size 18 in pre-80s vintage, what is going on? Is everyone with an appetite for both pussy-bow blouses and office birthday cupcakes destined to a life devoid of vintage?

The reason [plus-size vintage] may be rarer may have to do with the notion that this demographic was even less catered to than it is today by both designers and manufacturers, Smolinski tells us. There is little to be found because it simply wasnt produced in high volume, so there is less surviving and less in circulation. I know [from] hunting on Etsy, it was very hard to find pieces that would work for our exhibition, but they were certainly out there.

Its a sad tale but a true one. Ragini Nag Rao of Curious Fancy, a vintage-skewing plus-size blog, is a pro at foraging for plus-size vintage. She agrees the dearth of plus-size vintage can be attributed to the fact that less of it was made. It doesnt help that most of what was made was unattractive or unflattering, and what was attractive was worn to death either by its original owner or a vintage pioneer who struck gold long ago.

When I first started shopping for vintage back in 2004, the 60s and 70s dominated the scene, Rao says. Now it seems only the smalls and extra smalls remain on the racks because a huge number of these sizes were manufactured to begin with, and there arent enough people who wear them. Unfortunately, she says, its a trend that will only become more common as time goes on.

The good news is plus-size vintage is a very real thing, and with a little bit of strategizing, you can still find it. Alissa Wilson of Stylish Curves says if youre shopping for vintage, you should be willing to travel. Some of the best vintage can be found at estate sales and even garage sales, she says. And if youre looking for 80s vintage, she suggests heading directly to the nearest rich neighborhoods vintage store.



Rao, who lives in India, is an Internet-shopping pro. She loves using Etsy and eBay, and mining these sites has taught her an important lesson: Dont be put off by bad photos. Good photos, she says, come with bigger price tags, and as long as you examine the pics carefully, you can still spot flaws. Besides, she adds, asking sellers for more photos is always an option.

Plus-size vintage may not be myth, but it is a bit of a white whale. Just thinking about all the options that werent available to women decades ago makes us grateful we live in a time where plus-size fashion is having a moment. Still, its good to know its out there for anyone willing to put in the work. We just wish it was a little less work.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.


AISs spectrum acquisitions and 4G launch outweigh uncertainties.

While there are uncertainties around Advanced Info Services Public Limited (AIS)s dividend policy, Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel)'s latest maneuver in acquiring its biggest shareholder shows a sign of confidence.

According to BNP Paribas analyst Wei Shi Wu, Singtel's expansion of its stakes in InTouch Holdings Public Company Limited (Intouch) and Bharti Telecom Limited (Bharti Telecom) signals the group's trust in the competence of the two telcos.

Intouch is the biggest shareholder in AIS, the largest mobile operator in Thailand. Bharti Telecom, meanwhile, is the holding company of Indias biggest telecommunications company, Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel).

According to Wu, the risk around AIS's dividend policy is offset by its strengthened fundamentals with its spectrum acquisition and 4G launch.

"While there are uncertainties around AISs dividend policy beyond 2016, Singtels latest move may be viewed as a sign of its confidence in AISs dividend outlook. We are positive on Airtel given its spectrum and network leadership, and exposure to data growth," Wu said.

The proposed acquisition would boost Singtel's effective interest in AIS to 31.8% from 23.3% and in Airtel to 36.3% from 32.9%.

Meanwhile, Wu estimates that it would take time for the proposed transactions to affect Singtel's earnings per share (EPS).

"We estimate the proposed transactions would be neutral to Singtels FY17 EPS, taking into consideration larger earnings contributions from AIS/Airtel for three months, offset by slight debt increase and an enlarged share base. We believe the EPS impact could be mildly (1-2%) positive in FY18-19," she said.

She added that the transaction worth $2.47 billion may raise the eyebrows of investors who may question if the capital would have been better invested in higher-growth digital businesses.





More From Singapore Business Review


By Siddhartha Rai: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has reiterated its position on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raked up the issue in his Independence Day speech. "PoK must be liberated from Pakistan at any cost," a top RSS functionary told Mail Today.



J&K INTEGRAL PART OF INDIA



Modi's mention of PoK and Balochistan and the alleged human rights violations by the Pakistani army has pushed Pakistan on the back foot after the latter tried to take advantage of the recent violence in the Kashmir Valley.

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"The RSS' position on PoK is the same as Parliament declared in its unanimous resolution in 1994," Manmohan Vaidya, RSS' Rashtriya Prachar Pramukh told Mail Today.

"Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India; the only thing remaining is to liberate it from Pakistan and amalgamate it in India. The Indian government should try to implement that resolution."

Vaidya's reference is to the parliamentary resolution moved on February 22, 1994, under the Congress government led by late Narasimha Rao.The resolution stated that 78,114 sq km of Jammu & Kashmir was under illegal occupation of Pakistan and demanded the "Indian government to re-conquer the PoK".

POK INTERGRAL PART OF INDIA

The resolution, unanimously adopted, read: "The State of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall be an integral part of India and any attempts to separate it from the rest of the country will be resisted by all necessary means," adding, "Pakistan must vacate the areas of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, which they have occupied through aggression."

Vaidya's views were seconded by RSS ideologue and Delhi University professor Rakesh Sinha. "The RSS believes in the undivided map of India and thus considers PoK an integral part of India," he told. Sinha said the RSS has been categorical in its stance that India has to claw back the occupied territory from Pakistan.

"The more the time we waste in not acting against Pakistan and taking our territory back , the more we are losing it. Because Pakistan is consequently institutionalizing its position there in the same measure," Sinha said.

TAKE BACK ALL AREAS PAK ILLEGALLY OCCUPIES

Parliament has clubbed Chinese with Pakistani occupation of the state and in the context of its liberation stated in the 1994 resolution: "It will be decisive blow to security threat to Republic of India from Communist-Islamist alliance. Pakistan has substantially changed the demography of POK and attempts are under way to do the same in Gilgistan-Baltistan. Shia majority of the area is being routinely terrorized by Pak army backed Sunni Islamist groups. Forced conversion, abduction of girls has reached alarming new height."

The RSS has passed several resolutions demanding the government to "endeavour to take back all those areas which Pakistan has illegally occupied".

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Also Read:

Anari ki foreign policy: Salman Khurshid on Modi's Balochistan, PoK remarks

--- ENDS ---
A woman who cops suspected of killing her twin sister after their car plummeted off a Hawaii cliff was arrested in upstate New York for drunk driving when she nearly hit a cop's car, police said.

Alexandria Duval, 37, was arrested Monday after she allegedly swerved out of her lane on State Route 23 in Delaware County, nearly striking a New York State Police investigator's vehicle, cops said.

Duval, who has family in the area, continued to swerve as she drove too close to another vehicle, officials said.

She was pulled over as she drove onto Main Street in the Village of Stamford, where a trooper discovered she was driving without wearing a seat belt.

Duval took a breathalyzer test, which revealed her blood alcohol content was 0.26, more than three times the legal limit, police said.

Read: Teen Babysitter Driving 4 Kids Charged With DWI After Good Samaritan Stops Her

She refused to be fingerprinted, photographed or say where she lives, authorities said.

Duval was driving on Maui's Hana Highway with her twin sister Anastasia on May 29 when they slammed into a rock wall and drove off the road.

Duvals Ford Explorer landed 200 feet below on a rocky shoreline, killing Anastasia after what witnesses described as a violent fight between the women before the crash.

Though investigators alleged Duval deliberately caused her sisters death, a judge later ordered her release saying there was no probable cause for the second-degree murder charge for which she was jailed.

Read: Money Troubles and Anger Issues May Have Led Woman to Kill Twin Sister - 'They Had a Rage Problem'

Prosecutors in Hawaii said they planned to search for further evidence in the case.

The twins did most things together  including running two successful Twin Power yoga studios in Palm Beach County, Florida from 2008 to 2014  but were reportedly often at odds.

They had a rage problem, an anger problem [and] were arrested several times with anger incidents involving even the police, gossip columnist Jose Lambiet told Inside Edition at the time.

Story continues

Duval was ordered held on $5,000 cash bail at Delaware County Jail after her arraignment in Stamford, where she remained Thursday.

She is due in court on August 23.

Watch: Woman Leaves Hawaii After Murder Charges In Twin Sister's Death Are Dropped

Related Articles:
(Reuters) - A New York state teen who allegedly plotted an attack on a school and put bomb-making materials on a list of items was arrested by sheriff's deputies on Wednesday, authorities said.

The suspect, Kyle Gorden, 19, of Fairport, a Rochester suburb, had told people that "he was going to attack a school at a future date," the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Gorden has admitted making a list of items for an attack, including bomb-making materials, ammunition and knives, and buying many of them, the statement said.

Investigators said they found that Gorden had been trying to get a gun. The statement said he was arrested on felony charges of making a terroristic threat.

A sheriff's spokesman could not be reached for information on a lawyer for Gorden.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington)
The NSA was hacked by a group that calls itself Shadow Brokers, a report earlier this week revealed, with some of the stolen cyberweapons being auctioned off to the highest bidder. Since then, experts who have seen some of the stolen files believe that the NSA has indeed been hacked, with Russia being one of the prime suspects. As for the strange auction itself, it looks like nobody is really interested in paying for the hacked documents at this point.

DONT MISS: iPhone 7: Our biggest question was just answered

A new report from Business Insider reveals that the NSA itself was not hacked. However, a server used by the Equation Group, a highly sophisticated cyber-security company thats believed to support the NSAs Tailored Access Operations (TAO) hacking group, was hit.

Security researchers who have seen the stolen data believe it's authentic, including Kaspersky researchers and Nicholas Weaver.

Even Edward Snowden commented on the matter, suggesting that a server may have been hit. "NSA malware staging servers getting hacked by a rival is not new," he said on Twitter. "A rival publicly demonstrating they have done so is."

Meanwhile, some security experts believe that Russia is behind the hack. Theres no real proof for now, but considering the timing and nature of the attack, security experts see the country as a potential backer of the Shadow Brokers.

"High level US political officials seemed quite upset about the DNC hacks, which no doubt resulted in a covert response, which this is then likely a counter-response to," former NSA employee Dave Aitel said. "No team of 'hackers' would want to piss off Equation Group this much. That's the kind of cojones that only come from having a nation state protecting you."

"The list of suspects is short: Russia or China," Weaver said. "And in the context of the recent conflict between the US and Russia over election interference, safe money is on the former."

Story continues

Even Snowden said the attack might be a warning to the US against accusing Russia publicly of hacking the DNC.

As for the contents of the files stolen from the NSA computer, nobody is really looking to buy them, Wired reports. With over 24 hours having passed since the auction was made public, the highest bid is at $937.15. Thats nowhere near the asking price of 1 million bitcoin that the hackers are looking for (thats $576 million).

The auction is rather strange and isnt really an auction, per se. The Shadow Brokers expect bidders to pay in advance, with the highest bidder set to receive the stolen cyeberweapons. Everyone else would lose their bids.

However, the attackers  if they're indeed enemies of the US  may be more interested in sending a message than making any money off the hack. This leak is likely a warning that someone can prove US responsibility for any attacks that originated from this malware server, Weaver wrote. That could have significant foreign policy consequences. Particularly if any of those operations targeted US allies.Particularly if any of those operations targeted elections.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  August 18, 2016  Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU),Southwest Airlines (LUV),GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL),Copa Holdings (CPA) and Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Wednesdays Analyst Blog:

Airline Stock Roundup: A4A Bullish, JetBlue Improves

The past week saw premier trade organization Airlines for America (A4A) revealing a bright forecast for U.S. carriers. It is expected that U.S. airlines will make hay in the upcoming Labor Day holiday period (Aug 31  Sep 6) with travel demand projected to increase 4% on the back of low air fares.

Apart from the A4A forecast, the past week saw the Bureau of Transportation Services revealing data on air fares for July according to which the monthly fall wasthe sharpest in over a year. On the traffic front, JetBlue Airways Corporations ( JBLU) share price surged following an improvement in the carriers July load factor (% of seats filled by passengers).

On the other hand, Southwest Airlines (LUV) share price declined following its July traffic report as the carrier provided a bearish outlook for operating revenue per average seat mile (RASM: a key measure of unit revenue) for the third quarter.

On the earnings front, Latin-American carrier GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL ) revealed disappointing numbers for the second quarter of 2016, hurt by currency issues.

TRANSPORTATION-AIRLINE Industry Price Index

Read the last Airline Stock Roundup for Aug 10, 2016 .

Recap of the Past Weeks Most Important Stories

1. According to a forecast made by A4A, approximately 15.6 million passengers are expected to avail the services of U.S. airlines on Labor Day this year, up 4% year over year. The forecast translates into 2.23 million fliers per day during the period (Aug 31Sep 6), an increase of 82,000 over the comparable figure last year.

Story continues

Cheap ticket prices are one of the main reasons behind the bullish forecast. According to the organization, air fares declined 5.2% in 2015. The downtrend has continued this year with ticket prices down 6% so far.

2. Southwest Airlines suffered a technology outage last month, which resulted in the cancellation and delay of over 2000 flights. This has affected operating revenue per available seat mile (RASM: a key measure of unit revenue) for the third quarter by 0.5 points on a yearly basis. Given the negative impact, RASM is expected to decline in the range of 3.5% to 4.5% in the third quarter as compared to the earlier projected range of a decline of 3% to 4% (read more: Southwest Airlines July Traffic Up; RASM Guidance Hits Stock ).

3. Traffic at JetBlue Airways climbed 6.6% in Jul 2016 from the comparable month a year ago. On a year-over-year basis, consolidated capacity increased 5.5%. Load factor improved 80 basis points to 87.8% as traffic growth outpaced capacity expansion (read more: JetBlue July Traffic Rises, Stock Up on Load Factor Growth ).

JetBlue was also in the news for wrong reasons when its flight 429 experienced turbulence, injuring many on board. The flight was en route from Boston to Sacramento when the unfortunate incident occurred (read more: Brutal Turbulence on JetBlue Flight Injures 24 People ).

4. GOL Linhas, weighed down by weak economic conditions and currency headwinds, reported dismal numbers in the second quarter of 2016. Net revenue declined 2% year over year to R$2,089 million (approximately $614.4 million). Cargo revenues improved 4.8% while passenger revenues declined 3%. Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) deteriorated 11.2% year over year, mainly due to a decrease of 10.6% in International RPK and 11.2% in domestic RPK (read more: GOL Linhas Reports Profit in Q2; Revenues Decline ).

5. According to data released by the Bureau of Transportation Services, airfares declined 4.6% (on an unadjusted basis) in Jul 2016 from the comparable figure in Jul 2015. Moreover, the airfares for the month showed an 8.5% decline compared to Jun 2016, courtesy soft oil prices. Apart from cheap oil, capacity-related woes, which have hurt airline companies for quite some time, are being cited as the reason behind the substantial fall in July airfares.

With airline stocks already struggling, the July reading on airfares imply further struggles for the carriers on the top-line front. The sharp fall in air fares prompted by weak oil prices is however an encouraging piece of news for fliers.

6. Copa Holdings (CPA) posted a rise in air traffic for the month of July this year. Traffic  measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs)  came in at 1.63 billion, up 9.8% from 1.49 billion recorded in Jul 2015 (read more: Copa Holdings Posts Impressive Growth in July Traffic ).

7.Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) announced plans to launch a new business-class service  the first of its kind in the industry. The company will launch the Delta One suite in fall 2017. Each suite in the business class cabin will have a sliding door which ensures enhanced privacy for customers. The new service will be available on Deltas A350 flights.

Notably, Delta will be the first airline in the U.S. to take order for the A350. The airplane is expected to operate on routes between Asia and U.S. Deltas new business class suite is also expected to feature on its Boeing 777 fleet after it features on the A350.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.





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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  August 18, 2016  Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses the Oil & Gas, part 2, including like Devon Energy Corp. (DVN), EOG Resources Inc. (EOG), Chevron Corp. (CVX), Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. (EEP) and CONE Midstream Partners L.P. ( CNNX).

Industry: Oil & Gas, part 2

Link: https://www.zacks.com/commentary/88528/savvy-investors-can-still-find-oil-stocks-with-green-shoots

Crude oil  considered to be in a bear market  is currently down significantly from its recent highs.

Is now the time to be buying energy stocks?

While record high inventories and robust production could still push the commodity to the depths of multiyear lows, signs are emerging that oil prices are likely to stabilize and gradually pick up. Not only is global demand expanding but energy companies have significantly scaled back on plans to explore for and bring out more oil. This should lead to lower future production and supply/demand rebalancing.

However, not all oil stocks are the same. In fact, one needs to have an appetite for risk in order to invest in the energy sector. For savvy investors though, there are opportunities to earn big returns.

Look at E&Ps with Strong Balance Sheets

While all oil/gas-related stocks stand to move with fluctuating commodity prices, companies in the exploration and production (E&P) sector tend to be the most affected, as their products values are directly dependent on oil/gas prices.

However, some upstream energy companies stand out from others with their ability to absorb volatile prices. These entities have restructured costs or taken other measures to deal with the prevailing situation. In this event, it may be a good idea to look at energy companies that have low debt capital ratios, which make debt servicing relatively easier for them.

They boast of a conservative balance sheet with enough cash on hand and a manageable leverage. This provides the companies ample flexibility to make acquisitions or grow internally. Moreover, driven by operational efficiencies, these entities have been able to reduce unit costs -- an impressive achievement amid the low realization scenario.

Story continues

We advocate large-cap companies such as Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) and EOG Resources Inc. (EOG).

Integrated Majors Still Attractive

In this current turbulent market environment, we advocate the relatively low-risk energy conglomerate business structures of the large-cap integrateds, with their fortress-like balance sheets, ample free cash flows even in a low oil price environment and steady dividends.

Thanks to their integrated structures, companies like Chevron Corp. ( CVX) have been able to withstand plunging oil prices better than the rest and protect their top and bottom lines to a certain extent.

The companies financial flexibility and strong balance sheet provide them with a larger war chest to draw upon in this highly-uncertain period for the economy. Most of them remain in excellent financial health, with ample cash on hand and investment-grade credit ratings with a manageable debt-to-capitalization ratio. On top of this, managements have established quite a track record of conservative capital management and cash returns to shareholders. They also pay a safe dividend, yielding attractive returns.

While all of them have suffered from the crude carnage over the past 24 months, holding on to them can still prove to be an astute move.

MLPs: A Safer Way to Play the Sector

The Master Limited Partnership (MLP) business model looked like a goner earlier this year. As oil prices plummeted to a 13-year low in Feb, the Alerian MLP index dived 30% in just five weeks. However, market sentiment has improved considerably thereafter.

Importantly, the collapse in crude has markedly reduced the average price of U.S. gasoline, the most widely used petroleum product. This has resulted in record gasoline volumes across pipeline systems and a boon for operators whose compensation is based on the quantity moving through their system.

Given the current weaknesses in petroleum stocks, MLPs are probably the best method of investing in the sector. They also offer liquidity and tax benefits, which add to their appeal. This is why these stocks would make good additions to your portfolio.

With capital market access remaining tough for most sector components, we suggest buying stocks with clean balance sheets. Our picks would include the likes of Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. (EEP) and CONE Midstream Partners L.P. (CNNX).

Check out our latest Oil & Gas Industry Outlook here for more on the current state of affairs in this market from an earnings perspective, and how the trend is looking for this important sector of the economy.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Click here for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.

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Saina had cited an inflammation in her right knee, which hampered her on-court movement, as the reason for her shocking group league exit from the Rio Olympics.

By India Today Web Desk: Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad to undergo treatment for her knee injury. Saina claimed that the the injury was one of the key reasons behind her disappointing run at the Summer Games as it affected her badly.

The 26-year-old lost to Ukraine's Maria Ulitina in her second group match to crash out of the Rio Olympics.

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"Saina has been hospitalised for the last two days and is undergoing treatment for her injury, which got worse during her match against Maria at Rio Olympics," Saina's father Harvir Singh told PTI.

Saina had cited an inflammation in her right knee, which hampered her on-court movement, as the reason for her shocking group league exit. Singh said Saina was back home on August 16 and next day got admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad and underwent treatment for her injury. He, however, did not divulge the contents of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan.

"The doctors have not revealed the contents of the MRI scan to me. I will be able to talk about it tomorrow, not today," Singh said. Singh also said Saina will be flying to Mumbai for advanced checkup tomorrow.

"The doctors here have referred her case to a hospital at Mumbai, and she will be flying from Hyderabad," he said. The World No 5 lost her second group league encounter 18-21, 19-21 to World No 61 Ulitina to crash out of the competition. Saina had said the injury happened during training before the Olympics and it got worse during the match.

(With PTI Inputs)

--- ENDS ---
For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  August 18, 2016  Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses the Oil & Gas, part 3, including like HollyFrontier Corp. (HFC), Weatherford International plc (WFT), Natural Gas Services Group Inc. (NGS), Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) and ONEOK Partners L.P. ( OKS).

Industry: Oil & Gas, part 3

Link: https://www.zacks.com/commentary/88531/eroding-hopes-for-some-energy-stocks-in-tough-environment

Stuck in a long-term bear market, money managers are warning of more pain ahead for energy stocks. In fact, fundamentals  as in ample stockpiles, plentiful refined products and rising production in Iraq and Saudi Arabia  suggest that the odds are firmly stacked against a sustained rally and point toward lower for longer commodity price expectation.

After several industry biggies came out with abysmal quarterly results, some sector observers feel that the door is open for one more retest of the multi-year lows that oil and natural gas fell to in the first quarter.

With no guarantees that things will improve in the near-to-medium term, investors would be better off ignoring the following set of stocks.

Challenging Refining Backdrop Weighs on Downstream Operators

Till recently, U.S. downstream (refining and marketing) stocks were seen notching up healthy gains and earnings beats. This is because the companies use oil as an input from which they derive refined petroleum products like gasoline, the prime transportation fuel in the U.S. Hence, lower the oil price, higher will be their profits.

But with the cost of gasoline, heating oil, and other refined products catching up on the beaten down crude price, crack spreads (or refining margins) are under pressure. This is expected to impact the refiners near-term profitability.

As per the U.S. Energy Department, the existing stock of gasoline is significantly higher than the year-earlier level and is comfortably above the upper half of the average range. This refers to low demand for the most widely used petroleum product and has cast a deep shadow over the performance of refiners

Story continues

As a result of these bearish factors, the tendency for a downward estimate revision has been more obvious in recent times. Companies like HollyFrontier Corp. (HFC) look to be in most trouble.

E&P Cuts Hurting Oilfield Equipment Suppliers

With new competitors entering the market and shrinkage of capital expenditure spending by the drilling contractors, oilfield machineries and equipment suppliers have seen their pricing fall drastically. In particular, the companies margins have been hit hard by the ongoing North American drilling slump. The situation  characterized by tepid demand and weak pricing  is not expected to normalize anytime soon.

While firms catering to North American land drillers have been the worst affected, lack of new deepwater drilling orders are starting to haunt the subsea part of the industry. As it is, the commodity price rout has made a number of deepwater drilling projects uneconomical. With contract backlog down, most of the players are facing continued pressure on revenues, earnings and cash flows.

In particular, we suggest avoiding exposure to Weatherford International plc (WFT) and Natural Gas Services Group Inc. ( NGS).

Depressing Prices Make It Difficult for Gas-Weighted Companies

Natural gas has rebounded strongly (by around 60%) since hitting 17-year lows of around $1.6 per million Btu (MMBtu) in the first quarter. The phenomenal run up notwithstanding, the commodity is struggling to reach the psychologically important $3 per MMBtu level. And with expectations of surging supplies in North America amid tepid demand, there appears no reason to believe that the supply glut will subside and natural gas will be out of the dumpster in 2016.

Consequently, natural gas-weighted exploration and production companies like Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) are in for a tough time. Gas-focused partnerships like ONEOK Partners L.P. (OKS) tend to suffer too, from falling sales for their natural gas liquids (NGL) processing.

Check out our latest Oil & Gas Industry Outlook here for more on the current state of affairs in this market from an earnings perspective, and how the trend is looking for this important sector of the economy.

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Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Click here for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.



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By Caroline Copley and Rene Wagner

BERLIN (Reuters) - Zalando, Europe's biggest pure online fashion retailer, plans to open two new distribution hubs in France and Poland next year, stealing a march on competitors by cutting average delivery times by 1-2 days in an market where prompt dispatch is key.

The two new centres located close to Paris and Szczecin will be its only foreign hubs outside of Milan and should help Zalando better cater to its French market as well as customers in Poland and the Nordics, Head of Operations David Schroeder said in an interview.

Faced with growing competition from Amazon which is expanding into fashion, Zalando is also investing in logistics and technology to offer customers more delivery options.

"Logistics play an incredibly important role for the success of our firm," said Schroeder. Delivery time, costs and the returns process heavily influence levels of customer satisfaction, he added.

With customers growing to expect ever faster, cheaper and more convenient delivery, analysts believe e-commerce retailers like Zalando and rival Asos are better positioned than their bricks and mortar peers.

Zalando's warehouse and logistics network enables it to currently offer same-day delivery to 12 percent of the European population and next-day delivery to 56 percent. By 2020, it expects this to rise to 20 percent and 75 percent respectively.

In future, a package may even be able to locate the customer by using a GPS tracking sensor, Schroeder said.

"We have this vision that the package should fit in with the customer's life and not that the customer should fit in with the package."

STAMPING BY HAND

Established in 2008, Zalando's founders used to package every single order by hand in a Berlin apartment and stamp the wall with a postmark to celebrate each parcel they sent.

The company has since grown to become Europe's biggest online-only fashion group by sales with revenue of 3 billion euros (2.6 billion pounds) in 2015 when it handled some 55 million packages.

Story continues

Zalando has four distribution hubs in Germany and opened a warehouse in northern Italy at the start of this year. Managing board member Rubin Ritter said last week it was weighing up the Nordics, Spain, Britain and France for further satellite hubs.

"Now is the right time to start the next phase and pay more attention to local customer needs," Schroeder said.

The company no longer wants to be simply Europe's biggest online fashion retailer, but market leader in Germany, France, Italy and other individual countries. That will only work if it differentiates its service according to country, he said.

While Germans like to pay by invoice, the French prefer to use credit cards and in Italy and Poland customers like to hand over cash on delivery.

"You are only successful if you approach every single market in a targeted way," he said.

Zalando will invest 150 million euros in a 130,000 square metre distribution centre close to Szczecin, which will open next summer and employ over 1,000 people, he said.

In addition, Zalando will open a local warehouse operated by an external provider close to Paris at the start of 2017, which will allow same-day or next-day deliveries to customers.

"If we continue to grow our sales by 20 to 25 percent, we will need new logistic capacity in one to two years," Schroeder added.

(Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia's main opposition party will file a court petition against President Edgar Lungu's re-election to the helm of Africa's second-largest copper producer on Thursday, its vice president said on Wednesday. The United Party for National Development says some electoral officials colluded with the ruling Patriotic Front to rig the vote, handing victory to Lungu over rival and main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema. Both sides deny the charge. "We have been robbed of this election, that is a fact and it shall be proved after 14 days," the party's vice president, Geoffrey Mwamba, told a news conference in the southern African nation's capital. "We have enough evidence to secure us a judgment which has so much being awaited by the Zambian people," Mwamba said. The inauguration of the president had initially been set for Aug. 23, but a law introduced in January says the winning candidate cannot be sworn in if the vote is contested in the Constitutional Court, which has two weeks to decide on such a petition. Secretary to Zambia's cabinet, Roland Msiska, acknowledged the Aug. 23 date would have to be revised because of the petition. "The inauguration will depend on how quickly the Constitutional Court disposes of the case," he told Reuters. The UPND said on Saturday data from its own parallel count showed economist and businessman Hichilema beating Lungu, a lawyer, "with a clear margin" with about 80 percent of votes counted. The election results released on Monday means Hichilema has now lost five presidential elections. The election was fought around an economy suffering an economic slump due to depressed commodity prices that has led to mine closures, rising unemployment, power shortages and soaring food prices which Hichilema, blamed on Lungu's mismanagement. Lungu blames Zambia's economic woes on its over-reliance on copper exports, and says his government has been working to diversify the economy by investing in other sectors like agriculture. (Reporting by Stella Mapenzauswa and Chris Mfula; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Richard Balmforth)


18 Aug - Chinese director Zhang Yimou has refuted the claim of Asian-American actress and "Fresh Off the Boat" star Constance Wu, who cried "Hollywood white-washing" against his movie, "The Great Wall", for depicting Hollywood actor Matt Damon as a warrior defending the Great Wall against Chinese monsters.

As reported on China Topix, Wu previously took to social media to express her annoyance with the casting of Damon in the movie, saying that people should stop perpetuating the racist myth that only a white man can save the world.

"Our heroes don't look like Matt Damon. They look like Malala, Ghandi, Mandela," she said. When asked to comment about Wu's statement, Zhang stated that the movie, which was directed by a Chinese director, and stars more Asian actors than their Western counterpart, is deeply rooted in Chinese culture.

"Our film is not about the construction of the Great Wall. Matt Damon is not playing a role that was originally conceived for a Chinese actor. The arrival of his character in our story is an important plot point. There are five major heroes in our story and he is one of them - the other four are all Chinese," Zhang stated.

Zhang also added that as a Chinese man who has directed over 20 movies as well as the Beijing Olympics, he will not cast a film that is "untrue" to his "artistic vision".

(Photo source: nydailynews.com)
A cruise to the Bahamas is a tempting vacation treatso close by, and yet so sunny and warm, just when youre craving a seaside escape. The allure of white sand as soft as powdered sugar, and the appeal of pale blue water to chill your warm skin, is undeniable. Once there, you can also snorkel, dive, and admire the fish-filled reefs that are common in this part of the world.

So why arent you sailing there now? After all, there are lots of embarkation ports to choose from: Miami, Port Canaveral (near Orlando), Fort Everglades (Fort Lauderdale), and even New York City. Indeed, if you choose to depart from Manhattans West Side cruise ship terminal, you may save yourself a flight if you live within driving distance, but you will add on several days until you reach the sand-in-your-toes islands of the Bahamas. Once there, you can get a day-pass to a popular resort and be by the surf while the hotel guests are still waking up.

Another unique appeal of the Bahamas, when compared to other warm and beachy cruise destinations, is the temptation of private islands. These islandsoften just peninsulas, or acres of land gated off from the rest of the isleserve as hotel-less resort areas for use exclusively by cruise ships. Youll find a whole slew of fabulous amenities: think lounge chairs, water sports, 5K challenges, cabanas for rent, BBQ cookouts, adults-only beaches, and yes, even water slides, splash parks, swimming pools, zip lines and roller coasters. In addition, when you visit one of these private islands, you can also sign up for shore excursions that include snorkeling trips and boat rides. Best of all, if you want to just lie in the sand ordering frozen drinks all day, the lines make that as easy as waving your arm in the air.

Here, some of the ships that sail to this gorgeous destination.

Sherri Eisenberg is the Editorial Director ofShermansCruise.com, a new cruise deals and advice site.
From Town & Country

Update 8/17/16: The New York Times traveled to Tulum for yesterday's update on the story T&C broke back in June, and the news is that the situation in the idyllic beach community remains bleak.

"The 17 properties seized in June are now guarded by the same group of men who participated in the evictions, some of whom are armed with machetes," the newspaper reports. "Business signs have been torn down, gates padlocked, entrances walled off with cinder blocks.

On a recent day, a group of protesters with poster boards denouncing the evictions closed two Tulum roads: "At one point, a group of men dropped from a truck and hopped over the fence of one of the properties. Witnesses said they heard sounds that suggested clashing machetes and perhaps gunshots. The attackers were repelled, jumped back over the fence, climbed into their truck and took off."

The picketers eventually moved on, but it seems the armed guards have yet to vacate the beachside hotels, shops, and residences they seized.

Original 6/20/16: Tulum is known for its balmy blue water, perfect white sand beaches, and captivating Mayan ruins. But last Friday, the scene was far from pretty as 16 hotels, restaurants, shops, and private residences along the Mexican beach were seized in a government land dispute.

"It's essentially a war for the land," Sophia Perlstein of Tulum's KM33 boutique tells T&C. KM33 is next door to Coqui Coqui, the region's buzziest hotel and spa, where guests were reportedly forced to leave during the raid. Three hundred tourists in the area were evacuated by 200 privately hired security guards, and some of those who resisted were met with tear gas. Instagram users have rallied around the hashtag #freecoquicoqui to express their support for what is one of the most photographed and Instagrammed destinations in the region.

The evictions were in response to an alleged breach of an oral lease contract between business owners and the municipality and were supposedly the subject of a judicial order, Mexico News Daily reports. One hotel operator told the outlet that the local governor has "strong interests" in the Tulum area: "We know well that all this is in response to the sale-with false documents-of several beachfront pieces of land by the governor. Now, before he leaves office, he wants to make sure he doesn't lose what he earned from the sale."

The eviction victim said told Mexico News Daily that the officials maintained they weren't paying rent, but in fact they had been paying it and keeping up their end of the agreement.

The unfortunate reality is that for many seemingly idyllic havens around the world, this kind of oral agreement between local hotels and developers is the norm, not the exception. It may be wishful thinking, but here's hoping that all parties involved can come to an amicable agreement.
- By Shudeep Chandrasekhar





After living in the shadow of Google Search (GOOG) for many years, Microsoft's (MSFT) search engine Bing seems to have found a second wind. With search advertising still in double digits but starting to show an upswing, there seems to be enough momentum to take it a long way.

4qtPYepH40mSFZ6Q2dRG0Q_4GiyxGiG9k5D873iK





Of course, that is not to say they will displace Google in the next five years, because that ship has sailed. The best they can do now is to keep that momentum going, so they have a larger and stronger user base that can continue generating ad revenues. Let's see how they are going about it.

The Uphill Task for Microsoft Bing





The company knows only too well that it is going to be an uphill task to gain market share against Google, but instead of throwing in the towel and calling it a day, Microsoft has been forging partnerships for Bing that promise high longevity.

KMnBGMOFcbR5gIOxym3knain6gLUeS7bQJIPjm32

Here are some of the key deals they have struck and how it will impact Bing.

Microsoft-Yahoo Deal





This is basically a deal update that will improve the search experience for Yahoo (YHOO) users and bring more advertisers into the fold. The original agreement was signed in 2009 and this update is an extension intended to provide more stability and productivity into the relationship, for mutual benefit. Microsoft hopes that this will continue to foster user growth as well as advertiser growth, both of which Bing needs in order to gain market share.

Microsoft-Apple Deal





For the past three years, Apple's (AAPL) virtual assistant Siri has had an assistant of her own, Bing. The search engine helped Siri by providing relevant web links and even specific answers whenever a search-type query was thrown at it.

This is a critical component of artificial intelligence, since AI bots must be able to scour the internet in microseconds for large amounts of data, and Bing scored big when chosen by Apple for the introduction of iOS 7 in the fall of 2013.

Story continues

Microsoft-AOL Deal





Here is one area where Bing is actually displacing Google. Under the terms of engagement with AOL (NYSE:AOL), for a 10-year period, Microsoft Bing will allow AOL to handle all of its advertising on Skype, XBox and other assets. In exchange, Bing will become AOL's preferred search engine, effectively putting Google out of the picture.

This is a tremendous coup because AOL's assets alone - HuffPost, TechCrunch, etc. - have over 200 million monthly unique visitors. But what makes the deal really sweet is that they were able to edge out Google, which had been providing the search capabilities for AOL for a long time.

What is Microsoft Really Doing Here?





By staying in the shadows and striking deals with key partners, Microsoft has managed to keep Bing relevant in our eyes. And by really hanging in there, the company finally has started to taste some success.

Bloomberg estimates Microsoft's search advertising revenue to be around $5.3 billion, which is significant. Even though it is dwarfed by Google's ad revenue numbers, it is a major win for a search engine that many literally wrote off years ago.

hqmnu1Iv7czmua2xBC5m2kFccD4FECwu2OKKe8tq

Google has a huge ace up its sleeve and that is Android. With more than 80% of the world's smartphones operating on Android, Google Search will always be there when the world needs information. Microsoft does not have that strength, so it will have to rely on its partners to keep it in the hunt.

Microsoft has been reducing its focus on selling advertisements and is increasingly relying on partners such as AOL to do the job. A smart move considering the content empire AOL and its parent company, Verizon (VZ), has been building in the last few years.

These strategic deals will lead to an increase in advertising contribution to Microsoft revenues, but it does two other things as well. First, it frees Microsoft's time so more attention can be given to core growth drivers such as Office 365, cloud infrastructure and Windows. Second, and more importantly, it will keep Google on its toes because Alphabet knows full well that one slip up like the one with AOL may not hit them hard, but a series of such missteps could be disastrous to their core revenues.



Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Start a free 7-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.






At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, USA, the microprocessor maker demo-ed Project Alloy, a standalone virtual reality headset allowing wearers to explore and interact with a virtual world while keeping one foot firmly in reality.

The headset was presented by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, who claimed that Project Alloy completely redefines what's possible from a VR device. In fact, Project Alloy offers a new immersive experience thanks to Intel RealSense technology, which notably monitors the various movements of the body.

The headset is a completely standalone device, with no need to hook up to a computer or external sensors, so wearers can move around and explore virtual environments with total freedom. It is, however, equipped with several cameras that scan the surrounding environment so that wearers can also interact with real-world objects when the need arises. This could be climbing stairs or opening a door, for example, or raising a glass to toast with another person. Intel is calling this approach to VR "merged reality."

Virtual and augmented reality

Although Project Alloy won't necessarily end up being released commercially, it's a formidable showcase for Intel's RealSense cameras (short- and long-range), which are already found in certain hybrid PCs. In 2017, Intel plans to open up this ecosystem to developers looking to create their own headsets and/or custom environments.

Note that Intel is still working in close collaboration with software giant Microsoft (who already caused a stir with their HoloLens VR glasses) in the fields of virtual and augmented reality.

Two major new virtual reality headsets are due out this fall, with the Oculus Rift landing in Europe September 20, followed by the PlayStation VR on October 13.

Check out Intel's merged reality in this video: youtu.be/DIIk89cmcsU
"India's daughter Sakshi Malik has earned a new strength and respect for the tricolour on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan," Modi said.

By India Today Web Desk: Congratulating Sakshi Malik for opening India's account at the Rio Olympics by winning a bronze , Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the wrestler has earned a new strength and respect for the tricolour.

"India's daughter Sakshi Malik has earned a new strength and respect for the tricolour on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. I extend my heartiest wishes and congratulations to her," Modi said while laying the foundation stone of the BJP's new office in New Delhi.

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Malik, 23, is the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics. She clinched the bronze medal in the Women's Freestyle 58kg category by beating Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi also congratulated the grappler from Haryana, terming it "a moment of pride and honour for India". In a statement, Sonia said Sakshi's extraordinary journey and success is inspiring.

Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar said, "It is a matter of happiness that India's daughter has won a medal for the country."

Khattar's West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee took to Twitter to congratulate. "Whole of India says with you together 'Jai Hind'," Banerjee tweeted this morning.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

PM Modi congratulates Sakshi Malik, says 'India's daughter has made us proud'



Also Read:



Sakshi Malik a reminder of what can happen if you don't kill a girl child: Virender Sehwag

'It took a woman athlete to slap Shobhaa De'. Twitter cheers Sakshi Malik after Bronze medal

Rio 2016 - It was a dream to run with the Indian flag: Sakshi Malik to India Today

--- ENDS ---
China Mobile Ltd. CHL, the largest wireless operator in China and Finland-based Nokia Corporation NOK seem to have strengthened their alliance in the optical network space. China Mobile recently offered a 30% partnership to Nokia in its 2016-2017 100G optical network project to rollout mobile broadband services for the world's largest 4G network. The 100G optical network deal has been structured to support the Broadband China strategy, the countrys efforts to meet rising mobile data demand in the cloud era.

However, this new contract is subject to the initial one-year framework deal worth 1.36 billion ($1.5 billion), which was signed by Nokia and China Mobile in Jun 2016.

Broadband China Strategy

China Mobiles 100G project is based on the Broadband China strategy. Under the deal, China Mobile will help Nokia utilize its 100G Optical Transport Network (OTN) and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) backbone based on the recently announced packet-optical transport platform  Nokia 1830 PSS-24x. The centerpiece of the network architecture is a four-port 100G DWDM line card for Nokia 1830 PSS-24X. This high density line card leverages the Photonic Service Engine 2 Compact (PSE-2c)  Nokia's low-power 100G-optimized digital signal processor. In combination with CFP2 (C form-factor pluggable) analog coherent pluggable optics, the line card allows China Mobile to add optical capacity faster.

Nokia assures to deliver its latest optical transmission innovation to help China Mobile optimize its networks and make new opportunities available for subscribers. This resourceful optical platform is expected to help China Mobile function better  rapidly add optical capacity, fulfill increasing mobile data demand in the cloud era and offering the best speed and quality to the expanding 4G customer base.

Initial Framework Deal

In Jun 2016, Nokia had signed a one-year agreement worth 1.36 billion ($1.5 billion) with China Mobile to provide the operator with infrastructure and equipment for operating a cloud network. As per the deal, Nokia will help China Mobile transit to a flexible cloud network infrastructure with the help of its 5G-ready AirScale Base Station and deliver mobile, fixed, IP routing, optical transport, customer experience management technologies and operational support, global services throughout the year. Presently, the Chinese market is dominated by China Mobile, China Telecom Corp. Ltd. CHA and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited CHU.

Story continues

Nokias Latest Coverage in China

This month, Nokia signed an agreement with China Telecom to forge ahead with 4G rollout in 19 provinces of China, enabling China Telecom to expand coverage and capacity as well as the quality of service for subscribers. This agreement paves the way for the introduction of 5G technology and lays the foundation for China Telecom's launch of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services in 2017.

The Bottom Line

Undoubtedly, China has one of the fastest growing technology sectors in the world. However, a downward trend has been observed in the recent months. Reports state that China Mobile recently recorded a 5.6% hike in profits compared to last year due to continued rise in 4G customers. China Mobile had 837.04 million mobile customers in June, 2016 versus 817.2 million a year ago. Out of the total, 4G customer count stood at 428.54 million versus 189.66 million a year ago. China Mobiles 4G network is expected to gain over 300 million of subscribers, which would make it one of the largest 4G networks in the world.The latest association between China Mobile and Nokia is a crucial win for Nokia as it will help the latter safeguard its leading position as a technology service provider in China.

Both Nokia and China Mobile currently have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

NOKIA CP-ADR A Price

NOKIA CP-ADR A Price | NOKIA CP-ADR A Quote

CHINA MOBLE-ADR Price

CHINA MOBLE-ADR Price | CHINA MOBLE-ADR Quote

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Android fans, you're now officially one day away from seeing the hottest phablet in the history of phablets hit store shelves. Some shipments went out a little early and retailers in some markets actually began selling the Note 7 a week early, but Friday is Samsung's official launch date for its brand new Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.

If you read our in-depth Galaxy Note 7 review, you know that we were absolutely blown away by Samsung's latest new handset. It features an incredible design, outstanding software features and killer performance that ranks among the best in the world. But as it often does, Samsung is releasing two different versions of the Galaxy Note 7. Will the US finally enjoy the more powerful model this year, or will the trend continue and see Samsung's international version outperform the US model?

MUST SEE: The 7 best features on Samsungs Galaxy Note 7 (none of which are on the iPhone)

Samsung designs and builds its own mobile processors, but it doesn't always use them in its smartphones. In versions of its flagship phones that are sold in the United States, the company often uses Qualcomm chipsets instead to cut down on the network licensing fees it has to pay.

Versions of Samsung smartphones powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processors are generally on par with versions powered by Samsung's own Exynos chipsets, but in the past we've often seen the edge go to Exynos in terms of both performance and battery life. While the jury is still out on battery life, mobile blog PhoneArena put both versions of the Galaxy Note 7 to the test to see which one outperforms the other.

Here are some charts that show the test results, with scores from the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S7 edge mixed in as well:

Screen Shot 2016-08-18 at 8.19.50 AM

Screen Shot 2016-08-18 at 8.20.23 AM

Each model outscored the other in some tests but overall, it looks like the performance edge clearly goes to the Snapdragon 820-powered US version of the Galaxy Note 7.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) will float tenders for setting up wind projects with cumulative capacity of 1,000 mw to supply power to non-windy states.

"SECI will float tenders for total wind power capacity of 1,000 mw. This will be tariff based competitive bidding and will be awarded to bidders quoting lowest price (power tariff) bid," a senior official said.

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The official said: "At present the rate of wind power ranges between Rs 3.9 per unit (lowest in Tamil Nadu) and Rs 5.5 per unit in other states. This bidding may result in drop in prices of wind power as happened in case of solar power."

The New and Renewable Energy Ministry has planned to set up grid-connected 1,000 mw wind energy projects, which will supply power at price discovered through competitive bidding.

According to the scheme approved by the ministry for setting up this 1000 mw wind power capacity, the project capacity will be determined by SECI for each tender, but will not be less than 25 mw for a single project developer at one site.

The scheme for setting up of 1000 mw wind power projects connected to transmission network of Central transmission Utility (CTU), through SECI will be implemented to supply power to discoms of non-windy state, the ministry had said earlier in June.

SECI is the nodal agency for implementation of this scheme. It is working on e-bidding process followed by e-reverse auction for eligible bidders.

The body will also develop a suitable mechanism for monitoring the performance of the projects.

The scheme provides that no separate funding shall be provided by the ministry to SECI for implementing this scheme for setting up 1000 mw wind power capacity.

The objectives of the scheme is to facilitate supply of wind power to the non-windy states at a price discovered through transparent bidding process.

Besides it will encourage competitiveness through scaling up of project sizes and introduction of efficient and transparent e-bidding and e-auctioning processes.

It will also facilitate fulfillment of Non Solar Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) requirement of non-windy states.

The wind power deployment in the country started in early 90s. The present wind power installed capacity in the country is nearly 26.7 GW sharing around 9 per cent of total installed capacity.

Globally India is at 4th position in terms of wind power installed capacity after China, USA and Germany. Centre has set an ambitious target of target of achieving 175 GW power capacity from renewable energy resources by 2022 and out of this 60 GW to come from wind power. PTI KKS ABK

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Aryan Khan is in Los Angeles at film school. Now, he's looking as good as his dad in this new photo. Do we have a rising star on the horizon?

By India Today Web Desk: Given the doting father that Shah Rukh Khan is, it is most natural that he cannot get enough of his childen. Recently, SRK shared a picture of his youngest, AbRam on Instagram. In his latest Instagram post, King Khan and his eldest son Aryan are seen wearing shades. Looking dapper, Prince Khan.

SEE PIC: Shah Rukh Khan kicked by youngest AbRam on camera, well, almost

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Shah Rukh shared the picture on Thursday (August 18) with the caption "Objects in the mirror....r closest...sigh...!!!"



Objects in the mirror....r closest...sigh...!!! A photo posted by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) on Aug 17, 2016 at 9:42pm PDT

The 50-year-old actor recently accompanied Aryan to his orientation at the film school at University of Southern California (USC).

ALSO READ: Dad Shah Rukh Khan escorts son Aryan Khan to film school at California

As reported by Filmfare Magazine, Shah Rukh was quoted as saying, "I am showing Aryan a lot of films because he is going to film school now."

Aryan recently graduated from Seven Oaks High School in London, where both son and father looked dapper in black suits during the son's graduation ceremony. Aryan is expected to join films, after he's studied them in his under-graduate. Shah Rukh was quoted as saying, "I had done my masters and my kids are pursuing their graduation. As far as following my footsteps as an actor is concerned, it is up to them what they want to do."



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By PTI: Pamba, Aug 18 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today suggested that the practice of providing special darshan for VIPs in the hill temple of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala should be done away with and that the Tirupati temple model queue system for pilgrims needs to be introduced. The Chief Minister, who held a review meeting of various facilities at the temple prior to the start of pilgrim season, also wanted the shrine, which sees a heavy rush of pilgrims every year, to be kept open on all days. He also enquired if Tirupati model darshan tickets of Rs 1,000 and Rs 250 could be introduced for Sabarimala pilgrims.

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Prayar Gopalakrishnan, President of Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the world famous shrine, however turned down the three suggestions of the ChiefMinister at the meeting, which also saw heated exchanges between both of them. "The temple cannot be opened on all days as it follows certain rituals and customs," Gopalakrishnan said. There are no separate queue for VIPs, he said adding only those who offer poojas for over Rs 500 are allowed to have darshan after standing in a special queue.

The Tirupati model tickets also cannot be introduced as it would amount to discriminating devotees, he said. The TDB president said only women of a particular age group are not allowed inside the temple. The Chief Minister also suggested that a rope way and airport for pilgrims who come from far off states need to be considered. "We need to think of an airport as people from different states are coming", he said. Vijayan said the parking facilities are not enough at Pamba and suggested a multi-level parking facility. State ministers - K K Shylaja, Kadakkampally Surendran, K Raju, A K Saseendran and K T Jaleel besides TDB officials and members from various departments participated in the meeting. PTI UD APR KUN MVV

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These women run their house like a married couple but do not engage in sexual intercourse.

By India Today Web Desk: Straight women in a certain remote village of Tanzania are getting married to each other as a means of reclaiming their independence and freedom.

The above-mentioned women who happen to be members of the cattle-herding Kurya tribe in Tanzania take other females as their spouses under a local tradition named, Nyumba Ntobhu that roughly translates into 'a house of women'.

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A recent feature by Marie Claire delved into the tradition and noted that women in such relationships--much like a married couple--eat, cook and raise children together but do not have sex with each other.



Also Read: Jaipur: Two married women get married to each other. Then it gets complicated

These women have the freedom of indulging in sexual intercourse with men outside their marriage--but any child thus produced, belongs to the all-women household.

As per Tanzanian journalist Dinna Maningo, this tradition is quite practical as Kurya tribe rituals do not allow a widow to keep property--but under Nyumba Ntobhu "if a

woman without sons is widowed or her husband leaves her, she is allowed to marry a younger woman who can take a male lover and give birth to heirs on her behalf."



Also Read: 10 women confess what REALLY happened on their wedding night

This tradition seems like quite a liberating and novel one, as men have no control or say in the functioning of a female household. Women are also spared from being subjected to domestic abuse and violence which is a raging issue in the Tanzanian community.

In fact, according to Marie Claire's report, a survey in 2013 by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare had revealed that as many as 45 per cent women aged between 15 to 49 had experienced domestic abuse.

Not just their households, women of the Kurya tribe who abide by the tradition of Nyumba Ntobhu also have complete autonomy over their bodies and consent--the importance of which cannot be emphasised upon enough.









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By Mail Today: Wego

The Company is known for its award winning travel app and website tailor-made for travel enthusiasts in Asia Pacific and Middle East regions. Wego's competitive edge lies in the fact that it leverages simple yet state-ofthe-art technology that automates the entire process of searching and comparing results from a multitude of airline, hotel and online travel agency websites out there. The platform features travel products and prices which enables shoppers to find the best deals and from where to book the deal from - from an airline or hotel directly, or from a third party aggregator website. Headquartered in Singapore, each month ,Wego sends flight and hotel booking referrals worth US$1.5B to travel partners.

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Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor is the world's largest travel site. TripAdvisor offers advice from travelers and compares hotel prices from around the world to offer the best that is there, to their customers. The platform covers 350 million reviews and 6.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions.

Some USPs include:



Strong international presence in 45 countries like U.S., U.K., India, France, Germany etc.

"Just For You" feature in the app offers personalised travel recommendations for customers.

A pioneer in Hotel and flights booking, vacation rentals, restaurant finding and travel guides.



ixigo

The fastest growing travel meta search engine in Indian travel industry. Founded in 2007 in Gurgaon, ixigo connects over 80 million travellers with content and deals from over 25,000 online and offline travel and hospitality businesses. With a mission to simplify the lives of travellers by building apps, ixigo makes their travel search and planning hassle??free. It aggregates and compares real-time travel information, prices and availability for flights, trains, buses, cabs, hotels, packages and destinations.



Recent developments



ixigo launches book a cab through ixigo without Internet or GPS.

Launch of Intercity cab booking in 10 cities.

ixigo launches ixibaba-AI powered personal travel assistant.

Launch of Ixibook to simplify your travel bookings.



Travelocity

Travelocity.com is a premier online travel app where travelers can make airline, hotel, car rental reservations, book cruises and vacation packages, search information about destinations, and access a range of other travel-related services. It is a joint venture by Sabre Interactive and Worldview Systems Corp.

Cleartrip

A simple, easy to use and comprehensive online bookings portal, Cleartrip?fs services includes online booking and reservation services, booking status check, schedules and guides for both international and domestic flights, trains and hotels, IRCTC railways reservation and PNR status.

The USPs include:



Simple and user-friendly Interface and processes.

Prominent presence in the international business arena.

Highly customer oriented.

Tieups with select airlines, corporate houses and hotel chains.





--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Mumbai, Aug 18 (PTI) Director Anees Bazmee says he will soon announce the names of two "established actors" who will join the star cast of "Aankhen 2".

Makers of the sequel of 2002 "Aankhen" last night officially announced the star cast for the film, which has megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Arshad Warsi, Ileana DCruz, southern actress Regina Cassandra on board.

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A video clip of the star cast was screened at the event which also showed a character in the film, named Rahul - The mysterious man - whose identity is yet to be unveiled.

"There will be two more actors for Aankhen 2, one who will play the role of a blind man, named Rahul. The actor who will play this part is a well known actor from the younger generation. There would be another well known actor who would be part of the film as well," Bazmee told PTI.

In the second installment, Arjun, Arshad will play the role of blind men, while there would be one more young actor who would join the duo to carry out the heist.

The "Welcome Back" helmer without divulging much about the role of another well known actor, said, "He is a grey character, but he is comedian also."

Meanwhile, grapevine was abuzz that either Akshay Kumar or Abhishek Bachchan was going to be a part of "Aankhen 2".

When asked about it, Bazmee said, "There was lot of speculation happening about the casting like Katrina Kaif is going to be part of it, Abhishek and Akshay but we never gave out any names."

According to Bazmee, official announcement about the two actors will be made soon.

First part, "Aankhen" saw three blind men, played by Arjun, Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar, rob a bank that was once headed by Bachchan.

Though the basic premise of the story is same, Bazmee says, sequel will have a different angle with the heist centring around a casino.

"The three blind men will rob casino. Till now no robbery has taken place in a casino. We will shoot in a casino abroad for this," he added. PTI KKP ARS JCH RDS

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By PTI: Chandigarh, Aug 18 (PTI) Union Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa today reviewed the progress of the proposed roll out of the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), administered by the Controller General of Accounts, with Chief Secretaries of the States of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

M J Joseph, Controller General of Accounts (CGA) and other senior officials attended the meeting, said an official release.

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PFMS provides an end-to-end solution for processing payments, tracking, monitoring, accounting, reconciliation and reporting of transactions. The system provides scheme managers a unified platform for tracking releases of funds to implementing agencies and monitoring their last mile utilization.

The objective of Government of India is to promote fiscal discipline in both the Union and State Governments and greater transparency in the fund flow management of various schemes implemented by States.

"Efficient utilization of resources and establishing a transparent mechanism to transfer resources and track the transactions till the benefits reach the target recipients is the objective of the PFMS", the Finance Secretary said.

At various review meetings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized on the need for better utilization of central funds transferred to the state governments and their implementing agencies.

In this context, it has been decided that PFMS will be tasked to develop and implement a system that facilitates Just in Time (JIT) release of funds and complete monitoring of end usage of funds up to the last beneficiary, a release said.

The state governments play an important role in attaining these objectives through integration of their state treasuries with PFMS.

During the review meeting, States indicated the level of preparedness of treasury integration with PFMS.

Gaps in implementation were also identified and necessary support mechanisms for full roll out in a time bound manner were discussed, it said.

Central Government would provide financial assistance for computerisation of State treasuries and training of personnel. The State Governments would set up the State Project Management Units (SPMU), District Project Management Units (DPMU) etc, the release said PIT CHS RG

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By PTI: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Aug 18 (PTI) The Obama Administration withheld USD 400 million ransom that was paid to Iran in a plane till the time its hostages were released by Tehran, a major US daily reported today in a potentially damaging report for the Democratic party campaign.

"US officials wouldnt let Iranians take control of the money until a Swiss Air Force plane carrying three freed Americans departed from Tehran on January 17. Once that happened, an Iranian cargo plane was allowed to bring the cash home from a Geneva airport that day," The Wall Street Journal reported.

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The Obama Administration has insisted that the payment was part of its effort to sort out a long pending dispute with Iran and was not a ransom. However, the opposition Republican party does not seem to be convinced.

USD 400 million was the first instalment of the USD 1.7 billion settlement reached by the Obama Administration with Iran.

"Its time for the White House to drop the charade and admit it paid a USD 400 million ransom to the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism," the Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Reince Priebus has said in a statement.

"President (Barack) Obama has foolishly put a price on the head of every American abroad and it should be no surprise that Iran has since detained more US citizens.

"Hillary Clintons support for this dangerous blunder shows once again she does not have the judgement to be President," Priebus has said.

According to the report, executives from Irans flagship carrier Iran Air, organised the flight from Tehran to Geneva where the cash ? euros and Swiss francs and other currencies ? was loaded onto the aircraft.

"Our top priority was getting the Americans home," a US official was quoted as saying.

Once the Americans were "wheels up" on the morning of January 17, Iranian officials in Geneva were allowed to take custody of the USD 400 million in currency, according to officials briefed on the exchange, the daily reported. PTI LKJ SUA AKJ SUA

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By PTI: Lalit K Jha

Washington, Aug 18 (PTI) References to Baluchistan, Gilgit and PoK by Prime Minister Narendra Modi signals a change in Indias Pakistan policy, top American experts on South Asia have said as they sought more clarity on New Delhis new approach towards disturbed areas in Pakistan.

"Hes (Modi) either appeasing hardliners at home or deliberately signaling to Pakistan in an effort to strengthen Indias hand in future discussions," said Vikram J Singh, a former Obama Administration official who served in key positions in State Department, playing an important role in shaping its Af-Pak policy and later in the Defense Department.

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"If the latter, it could backfire but be viewed as worth the risk," cautioned Singh, vice president, national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress, a top US think-tank based in Washington DC.

So far, Modi has demonstrated both a willingness to work with Pakistan and a willingness to take a hardline stance, he said.

However, Singh felt Modis deeper challenge is ensuring India has the allegiance of the majority of Kashmiris rather than growing resentment and resistance, much as Pakistan needs the Baluch to have a stake in the Pakistani state.

"In the long term, the local people matter more to long term stability than do the far right political and chattering class. Appeasing hardliners for political ends leads to bad policy outcomes," Singh said in response to a question.

"The reference to Balochistan in this years Independence Day speech certainly signals a change in tone in the Modi governments Pakistan policy," said Lisa Curtis of The Heritage Foundation, a top Americana think-tank, which is considered close to the Republican establishment.

The attack on Pathankot air base earlier this year by Pakistan-based terrorists just six days after Modis goodwill visit to Lahore seems to have convinced Modi and his advisors of the futility of pursuing dialogue with Pakistan, Curtis noted.

While the previous Manmohan Singh government persevered with dialogue in the face of terrorist attacks, it can be argued that such forbearance paid few dividends for India, she said.

"Still, its unlikely that the Balochistan reference heralds any significant new actions on the ground by India. Modi seems instead to be laying down a marker that his government will be less patient than its predecessor when it comes to Pakistani terrorist provocations," Curtis said.

The Obama Administration, however, has refrained from making any comments on Modis Independence Day speech with regard to PoK, Baluchistan and Gilgit.

Refusing to be drawn in the Kashmir debate, State Department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters at a news conference on Monday, "Our position, as you well know, on Kashmir has not changed. The pace, the scope, the character of any discussions in Kashmir is for the two sides to determine," she said. PTI LKJ SUA AKJ SUA

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By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) India and Venezuela today held "substantive" talks to explore deepening of ties in a range of areas including in trade and investment and hydrocarbons sector as the two countries agreed to finalise a number of key pacts including double tax avoidance agreement.

During talks with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, her Venezuelan counterpart Delcy Rodriguez personally handed over an invitation for Indias participation in the 17th edition of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Venezuela next month.

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It is understood that the invitation is for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The two sides agreed to move ahead for an early finalisation of a number of agreements in different areas, including Extradition Treaty, Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) on Criminal Matters, Air Services Agreement etc, said External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

About NAM, he said Swaraj underlined the importance India attaches to it, particularly as one of its founder members and confirmed Indias participation.

She conveyed to Rodriguez that the details of Indias participation will be worked out and intimated soon.

Earlier asked whether Modi will attend the summit, Swarup said decision on Indias level of participation has not been taken yet. The last time an Indian Prime Minister stayed away from attending NAM was Chaudhary Charan Singh in 1979.

Rodriguez is here to personally hand over the invitation for Indias participation at the NAM summit to be held in Margarita Island from September 17-18.

The Venezuelan Foreign Minister is accompanied by a 14- member delegation including Minister of Petroleum Eulogio del Pino and Vice Minister for Asia, Middle East and Oceania Felix Plasencia.

"They discussed the whole gamut of bilateral issues and views were exchanged on various multilateral issues, including UNSC Reform, UN Peacekeeping and terrorism," said Swarup.

He said it was agreed that there is huge potential on both sides on the trade front and that the basket needs to be diversified.

"India raised the issue to pending payments of both public and private sector companies with the Venezuelan side. They assured that they will look into the matter for an early solution," Swarup said adding the ministers also agreed that the next Joint Commission Meeting should be held soon in Venezuela.

A luncheon meeting was also hosted for Rodriguez by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan during which both sides agreed to step up cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector.

In the cultural sector, it was agreed that programmes of symphony, film festivals and youth orchestra etc should be exchanged, Swarup said.

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The Venezuelan minister invited Swaraj to visit Venezuela which she accepted, said Swarup. PTI MPB ZMN

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From kissing to ragging; Yeh Hai Mohabbatein's upcoming track has it all.

By India Today Web Desk: Ekta Kapoor's Yeh Hai Mohabbatein has never failed to delight its loyal viewers. And it is about to do the same again. We kid you not.

According to BollywoodLife during theupcoming track of the show, Shagun will be stopped from meeting Pihu by none other than her own daughter Ruhi.

Ruhi will also be seen blaming Shagun for trying to snatch away Pihu from Raman and Ishita.

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Also read:Karan Patel is NOT leaving Yeh Hai Mohabbatein, so fans can sigh in relief



On the other hand, Raman will instruct the school principal to not allow any kind of meeting to take place between Pihu and Shagun.

A still from the show. Picture courtesy: YouTube

Meanwhile, Ishita, who has enrolled into an MBA course, will face a lot of ridicule from her fellow classmates. She will even be ragged and asked to walk whilst balancing a stack of books on her head. Raman, upon seeing 'this,' will fly into a rage.

But, the sauciest for the last, guys. Your favourite couple, Raman-Ishita, will soon be seen locking lips on the small screen.

The on-screen couple might be seen sharing a kiss soon. Picture courtesy: Instagram/yehhaimohabbatein

Yes, you are not dreaming.

Stay tuned to Yeh Hai Mohabbatein for all this and more.

Yeh Hai Mohabbatein airs at 7:30 pm on Star Plus.



--- ENDS ---
Diagnosis? Too many dumplings.

Alice/Mayo back to the Vet!

Two recent developments in U.S. patent law mean mixed news for the bio-pharmaceutical industry. First, the bad news -- the U.S. Supreme Court declined to accept for review the closely-watched Ariosa Diagnostics v. Sequenom case concerning the patentability of a diagnostic method. Second, the good news -- a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued the Rapid Litigation Management v. Cellz Direct decision further clarifying application of the two-step Alice/Mayo test (1. claim directed to a patent ineligible category and 2. lack of inventive concept) concerning laws of nature. Prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's issuance of the Mayo v. Prometheus case invalidating claims to a diagnostic, there was general concern about patents inhibiting the use of diagnostics. Indeed, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Association of Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics was also, in part, directed to the use of claimed inventions for diagnostic purposes. Since the issuance of the famous Alice v. CLS Bank International case and Mayo v. Prometheus, there is a concern that the Supreme Court has pushed too far against patent eligibility. Post-Mayo, it appeared that few diagnostic inventions would be patent eligible.In Ariosa Diagnostics v. Sequenom, a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit found that Sequenom's diagnostic patent was patent ineligible. This was despite the fact that the discovery made by Sequenom was very beneficial to patients and apparently against previous wisdom concerning the utility of the material used in the diagnostic. Moreover, the patentee asserted that the natural phenomenon/law of nature was not preempted by the claimed invention. Notably, Sequenom requested an en banc rehearing , but was denied by the Federal Circuit . Interestingly, Judge Dyk wrote a concurrence essentially expressing concern that the Mayo case's sweeping test prohibiting the patenting of diagnostics would result in insufficient incentives for the invention of diagnostics. Importantly, Judge Dyk set forth a way to distinguish and apply Mayo that would allow for some diagnostics to survive the Alice/Mayo test. However, Judge Dyk signaled to the Supreme Court that it should take the case. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court did not accept the invitation to hear the closely watched case.In Rapid Litigation Management v. Cellzdirect, a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit found that claims directed to a method to preserve liver cellswere patent eligible. The Federal Circuit further clarified the application of the Alice/Mayo test in the context of laws of nature/natural phenomenon. As in the Enfish case, the Federal Circuit focused on the first prong of the Alice/Mayo test by finding that the claimed invention was not "directed to" a patent ineligible concept--the discovery that certain liver cells can survive multiple freeze/thaw cycles. While the discovery was certainly made by the inventors, the patent claimed a "new and useful laboratory technique for preserving" those cells "for later use." This approach seems to track part of Judge Dyk's analysis in his concurrence to deny en banc review of the Sequenom case. The Federal Circuit further found that the second prong--inventive concept--was also satisfied to find patent eligible subject matter. Notably, even though the additional steps were well-known, a method to preserve the cells was not known or present in the prior art. An instruction to apply a known step a second time in the claims is essentially an inventive concept if prior art directed not to apply the known step again.A press release issued by Sequenom notes that it has "equivalent" claims in enforceable and valid patents in other jurisdictions, including Europe, Japan and Australia. It also states it is enforcing those patents in some jurisdictions. From the perspective of global innovation, will there be less innovation in diagnostics if the Federal Circuit does not continue to "clarify" the U.S. Supreme Court's approach?
However, as reported by Irans foreign ministry, Brge Brende and Mohammad Javad Zarif signed three export credit deals aimed at funding development and infrastructure projects. Brende said, After the lifting of sanctions, good opportunities have emerged for cooperation and Norway is ready to utilise the post-deal situation to expand cooperation in various fields, according to the The Local. He met with many officials during his one-day visit, including Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani, before leaving for Pakistan.

The Iranian opposition warns that Brendes visit may be used for propaganda purposes and to justify its repressive policies at home and its support for international terrorism and Islamic extremism.

Shahin Gobadi of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said in a statement provided to The Local, This trip takes place amid a wave of mass executions in Iran. Just today [Wednesday, ed.] the regime carried out five public executions, and added, The notion of moderation under [President Hassan] Rouhani is a total myth, and all the factions of the regime are in consensus regarding human rights abuses and export of terrorism, Gobadi added. The regimes human rights abuses and its appalling record should be addressed publicly and explicitly during this trip.
Because of Irans relationship with the death penalty, and particularly because that penalty is sometimes given to political prisoners, the 22 human rights organizations have formally reiterated the call for an immediate moratorium on executions throughout the country. The joint statement also called upon both the United Nations Human Rights Council and the European Union to put pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran over this and other human rights issues.

The mass executions that took place early in August have certainly become one of the newest hot button human rights topics regarding the Islamic Republic. The related controversy has continued to grow as more information has emerged about the incidents. On Tuesday, Al Arabiya reported that the families of some of those who were executed found that when they recovered their loved ones bodies, they bore marks that were indicative of torture prior to their hanging. It had previously been reported that the condemned men were physically assaulted by prison authorities before being taken to pre-execution solitary confinement.

There are many such reports of abuse in the Islamic Republic, and there would likely be more if not for the regimes efforts to suppress details of what happens inside Iranian prisons. Al Arabiya also reported that Iranian intelligence agents had warned the relatives of some hanging victims to not discuss the condition of their bodies with the media or other outside sources. In some cases, relatives were even instructed not to hold public funerals, presumably out of fear that these could become rallying places for activism or political dissent.

Regardless of all this surrounding context, the August 3 hanging of 20 men was quickly described as one of the worst incidences of mass execution in recent years, although smaller scale mass executions throughout 2015 had contributed to a final total of nearly 1,000 executions in that year alone. Iran consistently ranks as the country with the highest per-capita rate of executions in the world, and last years figures were reportedly higher than any in the past 25 years.

But only a few years prior to that, the Iranian regime set a considerable record when, in the summer of 1988, it executed as many as 30,000 political prisoners, mostly members of the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran. This incident returned to the headlines around the same time that human rights groups began to speak out regarding this months executions. On August 9, Ahmad Montazeri, the son of an Iranian cleric who was once slated to take over the leadership of the Islamic Republic, posted an audio recording online featuring his father speaking out against the 1988 executions and thereby making additional information about the incident publicly available for the first time.

On Wednesday, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which is made up in large part of the Peoples Mojahedin, reported that Ahmad Montazeri had called upon the leadership of the Islamic Republic to apologize to the families of victims of the 1988 massacre. He added that the regime should disclose the locations of those victims burial sites and allow families to visit them for the first time.

Such commentary highlights the fact that at the same time that new human rights controversies are emerging in the Islamic Republic, there are longstanding human rights issues that remain unresolved and to a great extent un-acknowledged.

The NCRI has expressed concern that too few people are aware of the 1988 massacre or its true extent. Montazeris comments threaten to bring that incident into sharper focus, but it remains to be seen whether international human rights groups or Western policymakers will commit their own attention to the 28 year-old incident in the midst of more recent, but much smaller mass executions and the ongoing Iranian crackdown on persons with connections to the West.

The International Campaign reported on Tuesday that an American citizen who was arrested in July while visiting his native Iran has now been formally charged after spending long stretches of time in solitary confinement. Robin Shahini is said to be facing charges of acting against national security, participating in protest gatherings in 2009, collaborating with Voice of America television and insulting the sacred on Facebook. He is one of at least six foreign nationals who have been arrested in Iran in recent months on vague or unspecified charges, amidst unsubstantiated accusations of spying for Western governments.

The arrests have been widely interpreted as part of an effort to minimize cultural contact and information exchange between Iran and the West. Notably, that project promises to limit Iranian awareness of international statements regarding Irans human rights abuses. Toward that end, Irans civilian militia destroyed some 100,000 confiscated satellite dishes in July, and the Human Rights Activists News Network reported that a new round of confiscation began on August 8.
These refugees, mainly members of the Peoples Mujahedin of Iran (otherwise known as the MEK) are unarmed, innocent people who have been forced to flee their homes because of their opposition to the tyrannical theocratic regime in Tehran. They have endured decades of exile outside of Iran marked by continuous suffering and persecution.

Camp Liberty has been the target for seven rocket attacks since 2013. Hundreds of people have been wounded, and the death toll lies at around 139 residents. The attacks are believed to be the work of Shiite militias in Iraq linked to the Iranian regime, or by agents of the Iranian Quds Force. To date, no one has been arrested, no one held accountable.

The Iraqi government signed a Memorandum of Understanding ensuring the safety and security of the residents of Camp Liberty, however, it now appears that the Iraqi government isnt, in fact, protecting Camp Liberty.

Because they are not safe in Iraq, the freedom fighters are to be relocated outside of the country. Albania has taken in many of the refugees leaving Camp Liberty.

Congressman Poe says that, Recent reports from MEK sources within Tehran now suggest that the Quds Force is contemplating another major strike on Camp Liberty before the remaining refugees are allowed to leave. At the same time, Quds Force-linked paramilitary forces have been increasing their presence in Baghdad International Airport  a troubling sign that could presage another strike on the camp that is located not too far from the airport.

He adds, The Iranian government would like extend the reign of terror it wages at home against any and all people who speak out against it- including the dissidents in neighboring Iraq. How many more people have to die? How many more times will unarmed refugees be attacked by rockets? The Iraqi government must live up to its commitment and protect these refugees until every last one of them finds his or her way to safety.

Congressman Poe sadly concludes, And thats just the way it is.
It has been held by the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, since 2014 and is hailed by the terrorist group as the capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate. Now Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-coalition airstrikes and with technical support from 500 American troops, have recaptured four villages on the outskirts of Mosul  Tal Hamid, Qarqasha, Abzakh and Qura Takh  and are already constructing an airbase near the village of Qayyara, which will be used as a staging post for the impending assault on the city.

Stevenson believes that the successful recapture of Ramadi and Fallujah from IS, has sectarian tensions on the rise. He explains that, Shiite militias armed and commanded by the Iranian regime spearheaded the so-called liberation of these major Iraqi cities, exploiting the opportunity to exact a brutal campaign of revenge against the predominantly Sunni population. The Shiia-dominated Iraqi government has launched an investigation into allegations of executions and torture of Sunni civilians and the disappearance of over 1,000 Sunni men.

According to Stevenson, there are Kurdish Peshmerga, some fighters loyal to the pro-Sunni former governor of the city and a number of Shiia militias gathered around Mosul. The diverse political objectives of these military forces are widely contradictory, sparking fear in the leaders of the Peshmerga.

Sheikh Lukhman Sharawani, a Kurdish military commander, says the Sunni population of Mosul fear they will face the same fate as their brothers and sisters in Ramadi and Fallujah. They fear that the Iranian-led Shiia militias are taking advantage of the war against IS to implement a ruthless policy of ethnic cleansing in Iraqs Sunni provinces, according to Stevenson.

Additionally, Last month, New York-based Human Rights Watch asked Iraqs Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to exclude the Shiia militias from the battle for Mosul. But there is little hope that this will happen, as the Iraqi military is so riven with corruption that few believe it has the capacity to mount an effective offensive against IS without the assistance of the militias. Abadi, a puppet of the theocratic Iranian regime, has allowed the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Gen. Qasem Soleimani to take command of the Shiia militias inside Iraq. Stevenson also says that, Soleimani and the IRGC are listed as international terrorists. Soleimani directed the attack on Fallujah, which led to widespread destruction, with most buildings in the city damaged or destroyed. Thousands of civilians were killed and injured and men and boys were ruthlessly rounded up and tortured by the brutal Shiia militias, who claimed they are trying to identify Daesh militants fleeing from the crumbling metropolis.

The widespread purge of Sunnis from the political scene in Iraq, means that Sunnis may fear the sectarian militias more than they fear IS. Its unsure whether or not the eventual collapse of IS in Iraq will bring peace and safety for the Iraqi people. Iraqs political system is such that any vacuum created by the removal of Daesh may be quickly filled by new threats to security.

Stevenson states that,  U.S. pledges of airstrike and logistical support for the Shiia militias surrounding Mosul may prove to be a costly mistake with the price being paid by innocent Sunni men, women and children who face imminent death and destruction. The real victors will be the mullahs in Tehran who will forever thank U.S. President Barack Obama for helping them to ethnically cleanse Iraq of its Sunni population and to enable their theocratic Iranian regime to extend its evil influence exponentially across the Middle East. By defeating IS in Mosul, Obama wants to leave a good foreign policy legacy for himself or at least to decrease his disastrous legacy of failure in Iraq and Syria. But this cannot happen by using Shiia militias affiliated to the Quds force at the expense of the Iraqi Sunni population. Americas ominous cooperation with the criminal Shiia militias, even if it ultimately leads to the expulsion of IS from Mosul, will strengthen the jihadists in the long term and as soon as the U.S. military and air force leave Iraq, IS will return.

If he wants to preserve any kind of reputation in the Middle East, Obama needs to do several things, according to Stevenson, and he outlines his suggestions:

 Firstly he must insist on the expulsion of the Shiia militias from Nineveh province; they can be replaced by actively recruiting and organizing local Sunni tribes and forces in Mosul and its suburbs. The United States should arm and train these recruits and treat them as an equal partner in the liberation of Mosul, as they are the only ones who can keep IS out of Nineveh Province in the long term.

 Secondly, the United States should strengthen the Iraqi army, purging it of all pro-Iranian elements.

 Thirdly, Obama must be seen to support al-Abadi in his bid to carry out radical reforms.

No one can expect a miracle in Iraq. But leaving a wrecked and devastated Iraq will not be a sound legacy for Obama. If he adopts the correct strategy, he still has time. Even if by Jan. 20, the battle for Mosul is still raging, it will be a just and honorable battle to the credit of Obama. But a shattered Mosul, 2 million homeless Sunni men, women and children and IS waiting in the wings to re-emerge, will not be an honor or distinction for anyone.

Struan Stevenson is the President of the European Iraqi Freedom Association, he was also a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014, and was president of the European Parliaments Delegation for Relations with Iraq from 2009 to 2014.
At a recent meeting, he spoke about the the regimes monitoring of womens veiling over the past 15 years, and that the situation has worsened, saying that, the current status of the hijab and virtue does not conform to an Islamic society.

At the virtue and the veil meeting, held on August 12, addressed the area of chastity and public morality. Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi said, 24 departments have responsibilities Despite the fact that specialized courts have been set up in Tehran to encounter these types of offenses, a lack of coordination among relevant departments, has prevented progress. he also stated that the presence of people who do follow the regimes rules is predominant in public places such as parks, restaurants, etc. and it is necessary to overcome this atmosphere by providing solutions. He called on the regime officials to deal with offenses against public chastity and morality. (State-run news agency ISNA, August 12, 2016), referring to Khameneis orders on womens veiling.

On July 20, 2016, Khamenei said, Any discussion over the voluntary or mandatory nature of the Hijab (womens veil) is deviatory, and does not have any place in the Islamic Republic. If it turns out that something is religiously unlawful (haram), the Islamic regime is duty-bound to stand against such haram.

The Womens Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran issued a statement condemning the Iranian regimes backward and repressive positions against women. There is no doubt that in fear of the Iranian people and womens growing protests, the misogynist regime seeks the remedy in further escalation of oppression of women. They know, however, that this will only foment the Iranian peoples fury against the regime as manifested in the protests by various strata of society.
[August 17, 2016] NDT Services Market Worth 8.55 Billion USD by 2022

PUNE, India, August 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "NDT Services Market by Testing Technique (Ultrasonic, Radiographic, Eddy Current, Magnetic particle, Acoustic Emission, Terahertz Imaging), Type (Inspection, Renting, Training, Calibration), Vertical, & Geography - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets, the NDT services market is expected to reach USD 8.55 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 8.52% between 2016 and 2022. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 71 market data Tables and 50 Figures spread through 177 Pages and in-depth TOC on "NDT Services Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ndt-services-market-207570323.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The major factors driving this market include the outsourcing of NDT services to third party service providers and aging infrastructure and increasing need for maintenance. Ultrasonic testing technique to hold the largest share in the NDT services market The ultrasonic testing (UT) is expected to occupy the leading market share between 2016 and 2022. It uses high-frequency sound energy to examine and measure defects. UT can be deployed to inspect objects that are not easily accessible for inspection through direct contact, for example, for inspecting piping system buried under the earth surface. Some of the advanced technologies under UT such as immersion testing and guided-wave ultrasonic can be used for critical applications in sectors such as oil & gas and aerospace. This has enabled UT to be used as a substitute for other NDT techniques as well, making it the largest technique for NDT inspection. The market for the manufacturing vertical is expected to grow at the highest growth rate The NDT services in the manufacturing vertical are expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This vertical is receiving a boost from the emerging markets such as China, India, and South Africa. The various government initiatives such as "Make in India", "Industry 4.0" in Europe, and "National infrastructure plan" in South Africa are designed toincrease the manufacturing output from the respective regions.



North America is expected to hold the largest share in this market during the forecast period North America has been a leading region in this market. UT technique accounted for the most used technique in this region. Construction and manufacturing activities in North America have driven the NDT services market in this region. Also, the rapid growth of transportation, power transmission and supply, oil & gas, and aerospace and defense vertical, and so on is driving the growth of this market. For instance, upcoming power plant construction projects such as coal power plant in California, Kanas, Missouri, and Texas are an opportunity for NDT services in the power generation market. The U.S. held the largest market share in the NDT services market in 2015 and is expected to be the leading player in North America.

Inquiry Before Buying: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=207570323 The key players in the market include GE Oil & Gas Digital Solutions (U.S.), Ashtead Technology (U.K.), Mistras Group Inc. (U.S.), Zetec Inc. (U.S.), Intertek Group (U.K.), Yxlon international GMBH (Germany), and TUV Rheinland AG (Germany) among others. Browse Related Reports Terahertz Technology Market by Type (Terahertz Imaging, Terahertz Spectroscopy, and Terahertz Communication Systems), Technology (Terahertz Source and Terahertz Detector), Application & Region - Analysis & Forecast to 2022

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/terahertz-technology-market-71182197.html Machine Condition Monitoring Market by Monitoring Type (Vibration Monitoring, Ultrasound Monitoring, Thermography, & Others), Components, Monitoring Process (Portable & Online Condition Monitoring), Applications, and Geography - Global Trend & Forecast to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/machine-health-monitoring-market-29627363.html Know More About our Knowledge Store @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Knowledgestore.asp About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide 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 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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[August 17, 2016] HVR Strengthens Credentials as Data Replication Experts

HVR Software has released version 5 of their flagship data replication software. This release strengthens HVR's position as a leading provider of data replication software for businesses that need to be confident in their data, whether stored in the cloud or on-premises. The main developments with HVR version 5 are deeper heterogeneous capabilities and better performance. HVR 5.0 cements HVR's place as the data replication software of choice for businesses that operate within increasingly complex data environments but require simple tools to use. With outstanding performance and cloud integration, DDL replication, and improved SQL Server log-based capture, HVR is a leader in heterogeneous database and mixed file replication. "Over the last few years I have seen the Cloud develop from a flexible sandbox for development projects into a primary storage location for many reputable organizations," said Anthony Brooks-Williams, CEO. "I am very excited to see HVR play a key role in Hybrid Cloud data management infrastructures as both existing and new clients adopt Cloud technologies. With HVR 5.0 the engineering team delivered technology even better equipped to support Cloud use cases."



Details of the new release show 10x faster performance for loading into AWS Redshift, improved performance in the cloud and heterogeneous environments and the ability to support larger volumes of data while using fewer network resources. The update ensures swifter management of replication set up to minimize latency for business critical data. Check-box-simple replication in heterogeneous environments is offered and a "DVR for data" allows users to look at all logs in the past to double-check data-even before the software was installed. "HVR continues to lead with high-performance real-time replication in heterogeneous environments," said Mark Van de Wiel, CTO. "Beyond generic performance optimizations HVR 5 extends this commitment with faster log-based capture from SQL Server, improved loads into Teradata (News - Alert) and Amazon Redshift, and full support for log-based Change Data Capture on open source PostgreSQL. Rich support for heterogeneous setups combined with a flexible hub and spoke architecture allows our customers to avoid database vendor lock-in, both on-premises and in the Cloud."

For organizations where real-time data replication is a mission critical process, HVR has been proven to be a reliable, secure and scalable solution implemented by some of the largest global companies and leading government and defense organizations. HVR Software is a privately held company with offices in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160817006110/en/

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[August 17, 2016] Solid Lenovo 1st Quarter FY16-17 in Face of Industry & Currency Headwinds

Lenovo (News - Alert) Group (HKSE: 0992) (PINK SHEETS: LNVGY) today announced results for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2016. Quarterly revenue was US$10.1 billion, a six percent decrease year-over-year (or four percent decrease in constant currency). Quarter-to-quarter, this represented a 10 percent increase. First quarter pre-tax income increased 297 percent year-over-year to US$206 million. Net income increased 64 percent year-over-year to US$173 million. Lenovo's first quarter financial performance occurred during a period when the core markets saw either slow growth or year-over-year industry declines: PCs were down 4.1 percent and tablet shipments fell 11.1 percent, while server industry shipments were essentially flat with smartphone markets growing 0.7 percent. At the same time, the RMB continued its depreciation, capping overall growth potential during the quarter. "Although the macro-economy and our industries remain challenging, causing a decline in our revenue, we significantly improved our profit year-on-year through innovative products and strong execution. Our PC business delivered strong profits and our smartphone business stabilized compared to last quarter," said Yuanqing Yang, Chairman and CEO of Lenovo. "Going forward, in PCs we will focus on high growth segments and leverage industry consolidation to resume growth. In smartphones, we will leverage innovative, differentiated products and continue to shift to higher price bands to drive growth and turn around this business. In data centers, we will continue to expand in hyperconverged technology, and improve profitability in the hyperscale business." The Company's gross profit for the first fiscal quarter decreased 7 percent year-over-year to US$1.5 billion, with gross margin at 15.3 percent. Operating PTI for the quarter increased 97 percent year-over-year to US$281 million. Basic earnings per share for the first fiscal quarter was 1.57 US cents, or 12.19 HK cents. Net debt as of June 30, 2016, totaled US$1.2 billion. Business Group Overview In the PC and Smart Device Business Group, or PCSD, which includes PCs and tablets, Lenovo's quarterly sales were US$7 billion, down seven percent year-over-year. Pre-tax income was US$370 million, an increase of 2.4 percent year-over-year. Pre-tax income margin was strong at 5.3 percent, improving 0.5 points year-over-year, aided by good margins in China and increased profitability of the Latin America and Brazil PC businesses. Lenovo remained #1 worldwide for the 13th consecutive quarter with 21.1 percent market share, with gains in every geography except EMEA. It shipped 13.2 million PCs in the quarter, a 2.3 percent decline, which represented a 1.8 point premium to the overall market, which saw a 4.1 percent decline. The tablet business was profitable with a double-digit growth premium to market. Lenovo continues to make steady progress towards its goal of achieving 30 percent worldwide PC market share. In the Mobile Business Group, or MBG (News - Alert), which includes products from Motorola and Lenovo-branded mobile phones, Lenovo quarterly sales were US$1.7 billion, down 6 percent year-over-year, but nearly flat in constant currency. MBG's total pre-tax loss was US$206 million, with a pre-tax profit margin of negative 12.1 percent. The transition to higher priced products drove pre-tax profit margin up 2.9 points year-over-year. In mainstream price bands, MBG is streamlining costs and expenses, while at the high end it is focusing on innovation. Overall, the group is strengthening its cohesiveness and building a more consistent culture within its global team. With the enhanced product portfolio that includes Moto Z and Moto Mods and further expanding channels in China, the Mobile business is making steady progress. In the Data Center Business Group, or DCG, which includes servers, storage, software and services sold under both the Lenovo ThinkServer and the System x brands, sales were US$1.1 billion, up 1 percent. DCG's reported PTI - which included non-cash, M&A-related accounting charges - was negative US$64 million with a pre-tax profit margin of negative 5.9 percent. DCG continues to face stiff challenges in mature markets, but it strengthened its #1 market share position in China, increasing revenue 14 percent year-over-year, driven by growth in the hyperscale business. DCG's global accounts sales group, which services Fortune 500 clients, saw a 45 percent year-over-year increase in revenue, driven by a significant increase in customers who had not previously purchased from Lenovo. DCG will deploy strategic investments in sales force capabilities, marketing, channel programs and portfolio partners to drive future growth opportunities, while improving its financial footing with better cost competitiveness and an increased attach rate of storage, networking, services and options. Geographic Overview In China, consolidated sales in the first fiscal quarter, declined 9.8 percent year-over-year to US$2.9 billion, accounting for 28.4 percent of the Company's worldwide sales. Pre-tax profit margins were flat at 4.8 percent amidst softening PC demand. The mobile business is successfully shifting the portfolio to higher price bands and improving user experiences, while the successful launch of the ZUK Z2 model received good initial market feedback. China data center revenues grew at 14 percent year-over-year - a premium to the market - supported by growth from hyperscale and contributions from the new partnership approach. In the Asia Pacific region, Lenovo achieved sales of US$1.7 billion, or 16.7 percent of Lenovo's worldwide sales, while pre-tax profit margins were down 1.2 points to 1 percent, mainly due to contraction in the Japan PC market and the impact of currency fluctuation. The Asia Pacific business saw continued PC market share gains, up 0.4 points to reach 16.4 percent. The mobile business outgrew the market in key countries, including India and Indonesia, while the data center group continues to work on improving profitability. New leadership and business management systems in the data center business delivered stable revenues. Lenovo in Europe, Middle East & Africa had consolidated sales in the first quarter of US$2.5 billion, a year-over-year decline of 7.3 percent driven by a mix of operational and macroeconomic challenges. EMEA accounted for 24.5 percent of Lenovo's total worldwide sales. Pre-tax profit margin was negative 2 percent, a decrease of 3.5 points year-over-year. In PCs, the Company took action to improve channel inventory to address challenging conditions and return to future growth. Mobile saw traction over the previous quarter as a result of new products coming to market. The data center business remained challenging with a year-over-year revenue and margin decline. In the Americas, Lenovo saw consolidated sales decline 6.6 percent year-over-year to approximately US$3 billion in the first quarter, driven by the product transition in the mobile business. This represented 30.4 percent of Lenovo's total worldwide sales. PC market share was up 1.4 points year-over-year to 14.4 percent, driven by strong growth in North America and improvement in Latin America, especially Brazil. Mobile shipments declined in North America due to product transition, but stabilized in Latin America. The data center business worked on building the right sales model, while strong competition put pressure on the business. * see IDC (News - Alert) data 2Q 2016 About Lenovo Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $45 billion global Fortune 500 company and a leader in providing innovative consumer, commercial, and enterprise technology. Our portfolio of high-quality, secure products and services covers PCs (including the legendary Think and multimode YOGA brands), workstations, servers, storage, smart TVs and a family of mobile products like smartphones (including the Motorola (News - Alert) brand), tablets and apps. Join us on LinkedIn, follow us on Facebook or Twitter (News - Alert) (@Lenovo) or visit us at www.lenovo.com.







LENOVO GROUP FINANCIAL SUMMARY For the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2016 (in US$ millions, except per share data)

Q1 16/17

Q1 15/16

Y/Y CHG Revenue 10,056 10,716 -6 % Gross profit 1,534 1,647 -7 % Gross profit margin 15.3 % 15.4 % -0.1pts Operating expenses (1,289 ) (1,551 ) -17 % Expenses-to-revenue ratio 12.8 % 14.5 % -1.7pts Operating profit 245 96 157 % Other non-operating expenses (39 ) (44 ) -9 % Pre-tax income 206 52 297 % Taxation (38 ) 50 N/A Profit for the period 168 102 65 % Non-controlling interests 5 3 62 % Profit attributable to equity holders 173 105 64 % EPS (US cents) Basic 1.57 0.95 0.62 Diluted 1.56 0.94 0.62

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160817006303/en/

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[August 17, 2016] Grace Century's Electronic Health Records Partner Gains 12th Patent Approval

RAS AL-KHAIMAH, United Arab Emirates, Aug. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Grace Century's Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) Project, the Quantum Group, has received approval from the U.S Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its 12th patent. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399188LOGO The patent, entitled "Method and system for regulating entry of data into a protected system", represents a breakthrough in the protection of confidential patient data from certain type of malware including viruses, worms and Trojan horses which pose a risk to systems containing such data. The approach described in the patent details a double-protection system against malware, whereby an unbreakable "taster" processor preempts any attempts from malware programs to compromise the main processor which executes anti-malware protection software. The processes work completely and seamlessly in the background, in no way compromising the user experience of the main system in which the processors are being used. Grace Century CEO and Director of Research Scott Wolf said "Quantum have once again demonstrated their dedication to pioneering research and development with their 12th patent, which consolidates their position at the cutting-edge of Electronic Health Records, a field which is increasingly being shown as having the potential to transform the way health professionals use technology to enhance the quality of care and even save the lives of their patients. The Electronic Health Records market is expected to experience growth for seveal years to come, with a recent market research report estimating that the expected compound average growth rate (CAGR) of the market will be of 5.4% from 2015 to 2023, reaching an estimated global value of US$30.28 by by 2023. The reported value of the market in 2014 was $18.93 million, meaning that the 2023 estimate would represent an overall market growth of 60% over this period.



About Grace Century, FZ LLC

Grace Century FZ LLC is an International research and private equity consultancy located in Ras Al Khaimah, (north of Dubai) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Grace Century specializes in "game-changing" life science and health related private equity projects. For portfolio or company information please email [email protected] or call +971 (0)7 206 8851

Please direct all media enquiries to [email protected] or call +971 (0)52 712 1777 Website  http://www.gracecentury.com Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/GraceCentury LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/grace-century-holdings-fzc-llc Twitter - https://twitter.com/GraceCentury Blog  http://www.thegracecenturyblog.com Pressroom  http://www.gracecenturypressroom.com About The Quantum Group, Inc. The Quantum Group, Inc. is an innovation-driven organization purposefully designed to bring effective change to the U.S. healthcare industry. The foundation of the Company has been in design, development and deployment of innovative solutions, technology, products and services to the healthcare industry. Our purpose is to seek and assist physicians and hospital providers, as well as government and private sector payers, in managing the treatment outcomes through a patient-centered wellness concept. This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grace-centurys-electronic-health-records-partner-gains-12th-patent-approval-300315167.html SOURCE Grace Century

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[August 18, 2016] RiskSense Co-Founder to Discuss Cyber Risk Management at Transportation Summit

RiskSense, Inc.:







WHO: Mark Fidel is a cyber risk management expert and co-founder of RiskSense where he is responsible for corporate development. Fidel is a licensed attorney with over 14 years of experience in law and litigation and has held financial positions at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, in commercial insurance, and at Intel (News - Alert) Corporation. Fidel holds a Bachelor of Arts and Economics degree from New Mexico State University, an Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of New Mexico, and a law degree from the University of Denver (News - Alert). WHAT: The U.S. transportation industry is in the cross-hairs of global cyber-crime attackers. The trucking industry is particularly exposed, as many carriers continue to rely on an outdated patchwork of information technology systems to conduct business electronically. In this session, "Who is Driving this Rig? Cyber Security Concerns in the Transportation Industry", Mark Fidel will discuss the biggest security challenges facing companies and outline best practices they can use to pro-actively address cyber risks through threat prevention, detection, and response. WHERE: TrueNorth Transportation Risk Summit, DoubleTree Hotel, 350 1st Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. To register, visit https://register.eventmobi.com/tnrisksummit/page/1. WHEN: Thursday, August 18, 2016 HOW: To schedule a conversation with Mark Fidel, contact Marc Gendron at [email protected] or 781-237-0341.

About RiskSense RiskSense, Inc., is the pioneer and market leader in pro-active cyber risk management. The company enables enterprises and governments to reveal cyber risk, quickly orchestrate remediation, and monitor the results. This is done by unifying and contextualizing internal security intelligence, external threat data, and business criticality across a growing attack surface. The company's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS (News - Alert)) Platform transforms cyber risk management into a more pro-active, collaborative, and real-time discipline. The RiskSense Platform embodies the expertise and intimate knowledge gained from real world experience in defending critical networks from the world's most dangerous cyber adversaries. As part of a team that collaborated with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Intelligence Community, RiskSense founders developed Computational Analysis of Cyber Terrorism against the U.S. (CACTUS), Support Vectors Intrusion (News - Alert) Detection, Behavior Risk Analysis of Vicious Executables (BRAVE), and the Strike Team Program. By leveraging RiskSense cyber risk management solutions, organizations can significantly shorten time-to-remediation, increase operational efficiency, strengthen their security programs, improve cyber hygiene, heighten response readiness, reduce costs, and ultimately minimize cyber risks. For more information, please visit www.risksense.com or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at @RiskSense. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005003/en/

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[August 18, 2016] Fitch Places Heartland Health (MO) Revs on Rating Watch Negative

Fitch Ratings has placed on Rating Watch Negative the 'A+' rating on approximately $202 million of series 2001A, 2001B, 2001D, 2009A, and 2012 revenue bonds issued by the St. Joseph Industrial Development Authority (MO) and Missouri Health and Educational Facilities Authority on behalf of Heartland Health (Heartland) (the series 2001A, series 2001B, and series 2001D bonds were rolled into two direct purchases with US Bank and Bank of America). SECURITY Debt payments are secured by a pledge of the gross revenues of the obligated group and a first mortgage on Heartland Regional Medical Center (HRMC, dba Mosaic Life Care), the sole member of the obligated group. As of June 30, 2012 HRMC has satisfied the mortgage release provisions of the master trust indenture but has chosen to keep the mortgage in place at this time. KEY RATING DRIVERS REVIEW OF MISSOURI SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING PROGRAMS: A review of Missouri's provider tax program (known in the state as Federal Reimbursement Allowance, FRA) and Medicaid disproportionate share (DSH) concluded that in prior years certain hospitals in the state were overcompensated. Based on analyses by third party accountants, management expects this will affect Heartland Health negatively. The exact amount of the overpayment is still being reviewed; estimates are expected by October. STRONG LIQUIDITY: Heartland's liquidity remains strong, with cash on hand of 326 days and cash-to-debt of 211% at unaudited March 31, 2016. CORE OPERATING PERFORMANCE IS ADEQUATE: Heartland's core operating performance remains adequate (the review of prior year reimbursement notwithstanding), although margins are somewhat modest at the rating level. Operating EBITDA margin measured 8.9% through nine months unaudited FY 2016 and 9.6% in audited FY 2015. STRONG MARKET POSITION: Heartland has a dominant 80% inpatient market share in its primary service area. Heartland recently expanded its clinical expansion into northern metro Kansas City, which has broadened its regional footprint, although also exposes the system to new competition. RATING SENSITIVITIES RESOLUTION OF REIMBURSEMENT REVIEW: Fitch expects to resolve the Rating Watch on Heartland Health after the review of prior year Federal Reimbursement Allowance (FRA)/Medicaid disproportionate share (DSH) reimbursement is complete, which is expected by October. Heartland Health also plans to publish its fiscal 2016 audt (June 30 year end) at that time.



CREDIT PROFILE Heartland Health is composed of: Heartland Regional Medical Center (dba Mosaic Life Care), a 352-operated bed hospital located in St. Joseph, Missouri; Heartland Long Term Acute Care Hospital; Northwest Medical Center (acquired in December 2014); Community Health Plan Insurance Company; Midwestern Health Management, Inc.; and HHS Properties, Inc. Total operating revenue in fiscal 2015 measured nearly $580 million.

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. Applicable Criteria Revenue-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 16 Jun 2014) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=750012 U.S. Nonprofit Hospitals and Health Systems Rating Criteria (pub. 09 Jun 2015) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=866807 Additional Disclosures Solicitation Status https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1010542 Endorsement Policy https://www.fitchratings.com/jsp/creditdesk/PolicyRegulation.faces?context=2&detail=31 ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON (News - Alert) THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818006159/en/

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ARM (News - Alert) technology has cemented its position in the smartphone market. Its become so popular, in fact, that none other than Intel Corp. is licensing technology from ARM Holdings Plc.

The booming smartphone market is almost exclusively based on microprocessor technology from tiny ARM, a British chip design company with no manufacturing capability and a market cap that, for most of the pre-iPhone era, was smaller than Intels (News - Alert) advertising budget, Jon Stokes wrote in a May 2016 piece for TechCrunch.

A new deal between ARM and Intel, which was announced at the Intel Developer Forum Tuesday in San Francisco, will enable Intel to manufacture ARM chips for third-party semiconductor companies at the Intel Custom Foundry. The 10 nm design platform at Foundry will provide access to ARM Artisan physical IP, including POP IP, based on ARM cores and Cortex series processors.

Optimizing this technology for Intels 10 nm process means that Foundry customers can take advantage of the IP to achieve best-in-class PPA (power, performance, area) for power-efficient, high-performance implementations of their designs for mobile, IoT and other consumer applications, Zane Bell, vice president in the technology and manufacturing group and co-general manager of Intel Custom Foundry, wrote in an Aug. 16 Intel blog, in which he noted that the ARM Artisan platform includes high-performance and high-density logic libraries, memory compilers, and POP IP (for future ARM premium mobile cores).

While Intel retains its position as the worlds largest semiconductor company, the company faces a PC market thats in decline and has not seen much success in the smartphone market, which is where the growth is. In fact, the company recently laid off 12,000 of its employees.

This deal with ARM could better position Intel to play a bigger role in the smartphone space and assert a position in the growing Internet of Things world. A Bloomberg (News - Alert) Technology article by Ian King earlier this week suggested the deal with ARM could help Intel win chip fabrication business from such mobile industry giants as Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc., which today rely on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (News - Alert) Co. and others for such work.

Edited by Maurice Nagle
proxima

Representante del KKL en Cuba: Ponemos enfasis en la actividad de educacion
CHARLESTON -- A sales tax touted as a way to fund schools and help property taxpayers will get a third try with Coles County voters.

On Wednesday, the Charleston school board approved a referendum that will ask for a 1-percent sales tax to be put in place for school facilities expenses.

The Mattoon and Oakland school districts have also approved the referendum for the Nov. 8 general election.

District Superintendent Jim Littleford mentioned the money the state owes the district because of its budget problems as well as cuts put in place as a result of that.

"School districts need to find ways to be less reliant on the state," Littleford said. "We need to find ways to generate more money ourselves."

The board's voted unanimously in favor of the referendum and also on a resolution committing the district to the ways it would spend the money.

The lack of a guarantee on how the money would be used was one concern about the sales tax opponents mentioned during the last two votes.

County voters rejected the proposal in 2010 and again in 2014, both times with about 55 percent opposed.

If approved, the additional sales tax would be added to most items for which sales tax is now collected and would be in place countywide. One advantage to the tax that proponents often mention is that some of the revenue would come for people who shop in, but don't live in, Coles County.

Money from the 1-percent sales tax would be divided among the three Coles County-based school districts based on enrollment. The revenue could be used for building renovations and similar projects but not for salaries or education supplies.

On Wednesday, Littleford told the board that sales tax rates in the county would still be lower than those of many others counties that draw area shoppers, such as Champaign, Douglas and Effingham counties.

He estimated a $2 million-per year revenue source from the sales, which would start coming into schools in about a year. He added that the state has been about $3.5 million short on its state aid to the district over that last six years.

Littleford also said schools can issue health/life safety bonds for repairs and needed renovations but then have to levy property taxes to repay those bonds. The sales tax revenue could be used for that instead, he said.

He also told the board that it's been about 15 years since the district has done any extensive repairs, other than in emergency situations.

"It's not going to be long before we have some major issues," he said.

Littleford also said the sales tax, unlike property taxes, would be something all residents would share in paying. On a similar note, board member Kelly Miller said the district has seen an increase of families with school children living in rental property and not directly contributing to property taxes.

The board also voted 7-0 on the resolution that was supposed to be a commitment to how the sales tax revenue would be used.

Littleford said the resolution isn't legally binding on the district but it's important to "reveal" the intended uses for the funds.

Among those, he said, would likely be work on the modular building at Mark Twain Elementary School and a "major overhaul" of the oldest section of Jefferson Elementary School.

The resolution specifically addresses improvements to security, flooring, roofing, electrical systems, heating and air conditioning, outdoor lighting, windows, plumbing, parking lots, technology, ceilings and lighting, energy efficiency and disabled access.
AREA 51 AREA 51 . It has since been transformed to described my current watering hole. Since joining AOL Journals in December of 2006, I began adding honorary members to the AREA 51 menagerie. AREA 51 is a state of mind and not always a location. The majority of the members have escaped from a home and are constantly looking over their shoulders. They are intelligent, fun loving and enjoy life to its fullest. sign made and placed it over the barstool where I always sat. Since that day years ago, there was always an

began as a location in a local watering hole where my friends and I would always sit. Soon thereafter, people began stopping by and asking me why the area was always full and so popular. I would tell them that we were the descendants of the UFO crash at Roswell, New Mexico and that we always sat together. My friends then had an
On 3-5 October 2017 Kyiv is going to host the Space and Future Forum to network international experts and youth, many of whom will also participate at the first CosmoHack in the world. Joinfo provides media coverage of the Forum, and some of its topics were already discussed ...
Lincoln City Council members who dont want a property tax rate hike can be compelled to approve one, according to an opinion from the city law department.

The opinion becomes important as the four-member Republican majority on the council and Mayor Chris Beutler, a Democrat, head toward a potential budget showdown next week.

The council amended Beutler's proposal, cutting it to eliminate the need for a property tax hike. It is expected to give final approval to the amended budget, which could then face a mayor's veto.

Republican council members say they disagree with the legal opinion, and some are seeking a second opinion.

Several of them also said it appears Beutler has been preparing for this kind of a conflict for several years, since the opinion on the veto and resulting tax rate hike was written in 2009.

In it, then-City Attorney John Hendry describes the budget veto scenario and what would happen if the city ends up with a budget requiring a higher property tax rate.

The council has a duty to enact a tax levy increase, if the final budget requires it, the opinion says.

And if the council majority refuses to approve a higher tax rate, the city can go to court and compel it to do so through what is called a writ of mandamus.

The city must have funds to operate and the failure or refusal of the council to perform its obligation cannot be permitted to create a crisis, Hendry wrote.

Here is how the veto situation would work, based on the opinion and the potential pending confrontation between the mayor and council Republicans.

If the council majority passes its version of a final budget Monday and Beutler vetoes it, the council needs five votes to override. If it doesn't have them, the mayor's original version of the budget stands.

It's unlikely the majority could muster the five votes because one Democrat would have to vote with the four Republicans, and so far the Democrats have lined up solidly behind the mayors plan.

So, if the veto stands and the budget reverts to the plan proposed by Beutler in early July, a tax hike of about 1.17 cents per $100 valuation, or about $18 a year on a $150,000 home, would be required.

And based on the Hendry opinion, the council must approve the tax hike.

The adopted budget, as law, imposes a duty upon the council to enact the tax levy increase, he wrote.

If the seven-member council cant get four votes to approve a property tax levy hike, the city administration can take the issue to court, seeking to compel council approval.

The specific duty of the council to pass the tax levy resolution is clear and plain by Article IX, Section 26 (city charter), leaving no discretion for the council to exercise," Hendry wrote. "Therefore council can be compelled by mandamus action to perform this ministerial duty.

Hendry, who retired as chief justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court before taking the job as city attorney, wrote the opinion in April 2009 as the city faced the aftermath of the stock market crash and recession.

Jeff Kirkpatrick is city attorney now, and he agrees with Hendry's analysis. He shared the Hendry memo with the City Council after members asked for it early this week.

The memo also refers to a 1998 opinion from then-City Attorney Bill Austin that addresses the veto override issue.

Hendry said he agreed with Austins assessment of the veto situation -- where the budget would revert to the mayors original proposal if there were a successful veto.

Then, Hendry went on to look at the question of what happens if the council is unwilling to pass a tax increase resolution.

City Councilman Jon Camp, an attorney, disagrees with the memo and said he is getting some other people to review it.

Councilwoman Cyndi Lamm, too, plans do do her own research on the questions.

"It's incorrect," said Lamm, an attorney. "I think it's based on a faulty premise."

Councilman Trent Fellers said it looks like the Beutler administration has been planning for such an impasse. Beutler has been mayor since 2007.

They had this (opinion) in their back pocket in case there was some different balance on the council, Fellers said.

Ive been around enough that Ive seen lawyers draft opinions to fit with what their boss wants to happen, he said.

Two years ago, Fellers voted with the Democrats to pass the mayors proposed budget when Democrat Councilman Doug Emery was out of town on business.

But this year, he wrote the first set of cuts that removed enough spending from Beutlers plan to eliminate the need for a property tax increase, and he has consistently voted with the Republican majority.

The opinion exposes a major flaw in the city budget process, said Fellers. When the mayor can veto back to his original proposal and require the council to raise the property tax, he has no incentive to negotiate, he said.

Republicans have complained throughout the spring and summer that they did not get enough information early enough in the budget process to have much effect on it.

He can form a budget and can raises taxes with no input from the people, Fellers said.

The council is charged with holding a budget hearing and listening to peoples thoughts. People who came to the hearing said they didnt want their taxes raised, and the mayor was not responsive to that, Fellers said.

Camp said the Beutler administration has a very disruptive approach to city governance."

"They are just fighting everything. They have to win every time. And it is very disappointing.
Former City Attorney Bill Austin, who wrote one of two earlier opinions on the Lincoln mayor's budget veto power, said he might arrive at a different conclusion today than he did in 1998 based on changes made to the Lincoln City Charter in 2010.

And based on state law, he said, the City Council may have the authority to set a lower tax levy than a budget requires.

Austins current analysis contradicts an opinion written by another former city attorney, John Hendry, which gives the mayor the upper hand in budget battles.

The Republican majority of the City Council cut enough from the budget proposed by Mayor Chris Beutler to eliminate the need for a small property tax hike.

Beutler could veto that budget, and the Hendry memo says that if the council does not get five votes to override that veto, the mayors original proposal -- which does require a property tax hike -- would become the citys two-year budget.

Hendry also concluded the council would then have to approve the higher tax rate because that vote would simply be a ministerial function. The city administration could force that approval by going to court, Hendry said in the 2009 opinion written for Beutler during a tough financial year.

Hendrys opinion on the veto power was based on a 1998 opinion by Austin, then city attorney for Republican Mayor Mike Johanns. Johanns asked Austin whether the Lincoln mayor had a line-item veto power, as the governor does.

In his opinion, Austin said, the mayor does not have line-item veto power but must veto the entire budget plan passed by the council. Austin also concluded that if that veto was not overridden, the mayors original proposal would become the budget.

But Austin, now in private practice with Baylor Evnen, said he might come to a different conclusion today since the city charter was changed in 2010 to allow for a two-year budget process.

There is a pretty good argument that this is an administrative function, and in that case the two-year budget plan approved by the council may not be subject to a veto at all, he said.

In his 1998 memo, Austin did not address the question of whether the council can set a lower tax levy than the budget requires.

Id have to say that is a close question, he said in a telephone interview Thursday.

"State law obviously gives the council the obligation and duty to set the level. Can they be compelled to set a certain levy? Im not sure you can ministerially compel them to set a specific levy, he said.

If no new levy is set, it clearly reverts to last year's levy, he said. In this case, the old levy is what the Republican majority wants.
Growing up, I watched a lot of Westerns. In addition to the cowboy hero, the town sheriff was almost always a model of integrity. He stood for law and order against bank robbers, cattle rustlers and horse thieves all trying to disrupt the peace.

A contemporary and real-life version of those fictional characters is Sheriff David Clarke of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.

Clarke has been trying to restore law and order after several nights of rioting following the shooting death of 23-year-old Sylville Smith by a Milwaukee police officer. Smith had a lengthy criminal record, longer than some people's resumes. He should have been in prison.

Sheriff Clarke has appeared numerous times on the Fox News Channel, but not so much in other media. On Monday, The Washington Post carried a story about the riots and ignored Clarke, choosing instead to quote Milwaukee's chief of police, Edward Flynn. I suspect that's because Sheriff Clarke speaks some hard truths, which many liberals do not want to hear.

In an appearance Monday on Fox, Sheriff Clarke, who is African-American, offered his explanation for the major cause of riots in Milwaukee and other cities: "You know what encourages this? The growth of the welfare state. These are underclass behaviors. Seventy percent of the kids born in Milwaukee ... are born without an engaged father in their life. So I look at the progressive policies that have marginalized black dads. They push them to the side and say 'you're not needed.' Uncle Sam is going to be the dad, he's going to provide for the kids, he's going to feed the kids ... Uncle Sam has been a horrible father. Uncle Sam does not love these kids. He might keep a little food in their mouths and that is about it. But we all know the importance of an intact family, what it can do to shape the behavior of kids."

Sheriff Clarke called progressive policies "a total disaster," not only in Milwaukee, but in Chicago, Baltimore, New York and elsewhere. "These progressive policies have hit the black community like a nuclear blast and until we reverse this government dependency, that's what creates all of this and it encourages it by the way, along with some questionable lifestyle choices."

His answer? "Until the black community does a self-evaluation and until they begin to self-criticize about some of the lifestyle choices they are making, this stuff is going to continue to fester."

A young African-American man found by a TV camera during the weekend riot said: "The rich people, they got all this money, and they not ... trying to give us none." Really? All of that tax money spent on anti-poverty programs for the last 50 years never trickled-down to him? This poisonous attitude has been promoted by progressives and has not helped the poor rise above their circumstances.

This young man should talk to Sheriff Clarke about changing his attitude. Some self-evaluation and an internal re-adjustment would do more for him than any anti-poverty program the Democrats could dream up.

Why do African-Americans continue to vote for liberal Democrats who have done little to help them and, in fact, often cause more harm than good?

Again, Sheriff Clarke gets it right: "Until we push back against this progressive ideology, this dangerous ideology that has been very destructive to the black community ... and that's what I'm trying to do ... it's job one right now in terms of messaging -- this thing is only going to get worse."
CHICAGO -- Like millions of children across the country, last week I went back to school.

After 10 years of being away from the classroom, I'm teaching high school students the same age as my own children. Lots of things are the same as when I last taught, and others are quite different -- such as the technology used to teach, plan lessons, give assessments and enter grades.

But what is most surprising by far is something I hadn't anticipated: the diversity of the Hispanic students at my school.

In 2012, the Pew Research Center's Hispanic Trends Project reported that about a quarter of all pre-K through 12th-grade public school students were Hispanic. But I hadn't seen with my own eyes what that really looks like.

I'm teaching in a middle- to upper-middle-class community in a suburb of Chicago that saw an approximate 30 percent increase in its Latino population since the 2000 census. And within the cohort of Hispanic students, most of whom have dark hair, olive skin and parents of Mexican descent, there are large numbers of kids from Hispanic and non-Hispanic white (and black and Asian) families who seem to come in two types: the semi-visible and the hidden.

Though the school is about 43 percent Hispanic, my classes include semi-visible Hispanic students. What I mean by this is that they have names such as Kevin Gonzalez, Todd Chavez, Madison Vargas or Kaylee Escobar (these are not real names) and have a wide variety of features -- sometimes even blond hair and blue-eyes like the actress Cameron Diaz -- and speak little, if any, Spanish.

The hidden ones have names like Tyler Warner and Jenna Lee who are half-Hispanic. But because they may have features associated with other races and don't have typically Hispanic-sounding names, they go through life with deep cultural ties to the Hispanic community, yet no visible ones.

The misperception about what a majority-minority school district looks like was silly of me. Of course, not all of the Latino students are brown-eyed Diegos or Marias -- I should have known that from my own family.

Like myself, my two cousins are half-Mexican, half-Ecuadorean. One married a woman from the Philippines and their two boys take after their mom's side of the family. My sons look like my husband's white family and carry clear-as-day Scots-Irish first and last names. My other cousin married an African-American woman, and their daughters are mixtures of both their backgrounds.

I imagine all our kids' teachers' eyebrows went up when they looked at our clan's demographic data. I know mine did when I compared my rosters to the kids sitting in my classrooms.

For a decade, I've been writing about how America's racial tensions will ease as the children of interracial and interethnic marriages become a larger share of the population. The Pew Research Center says that in 2010, regardless of when they married, the share of intermarriages reached an all-time high of 8.4 percent. In 1980, that share was just 3.2 percent.

It's obviously not that simplistic, but it's still neat to see such a transition play out in real life. There will always be social stratifications in high schools, but when groups of young people who have parents from a mixture of ethnic and racial groups gather, they seem to tend toward being able to relate to each other's similarities, not their differences.

Throughout the course of the day, kids who look like they might be purely European break out native-level Spanish language skills when immigrant parents walk into the room.

When we talk about news items involving racial issues, students will chime in with tidbits about their diverse demographic family constellations that inform discussions that might otherwise veer into taking sides or us-versus-them mentalities. Even the cafeteria tables are pretty well integrated.

This is all unscientific observation, but it's still uplifting.

Demographic shifts often are characterized sensationally -- news headlines typically shriek about rising minority populations with thinly veiled terror about reverse-supremacy and "The End of White America." But if the rest of the country's shift to majority-minority is as cosmopolitan as it is in just one American suburb, things are looking up
Like many Lincoln taxpayers, the Journal Star editorial board hoped that the City Council could come up with a responsible way to avoid a property tax hike next year.

Thats why we declined to endorse the budget presented by Mayor Chris Beutler when he presented it more than five weeks ago.

The council labored mightily. But the changes it made for the most part just delayed necessary spending to the future. City Hall will be forced to address those expenses eventually; the bill will be bigger when elected officials finally get around to it.

And the last cut made on a partisan basis, with the four Republicans on the officially nonpartisan council, voting in favor of cutting the budget for the mayors office by the equivalent of two positions, just seemed petty.

Like the majority of those who testified at the council meeting on the councils proposed version of next years budget, the editorial board prefers Beutlers budget, even with a property tax increase that will add $18 a year to the city tax burden for a home valued at $150,000.

The tax increase will give residents of the city specific benefits, rather than just growing government in a general sense.

Its Mother Nature, to cite one example, who is giving City Hall more work to do. The emerald ash borer already has been found in Greenwood, and its only a short matter of time before it is discovered in Lincoln, where it will kill every one of the 70,000 ash trees in Lincoln over a 15-year span.

But budget okayed by the council slashes the $950,000 the mayor wanted to spend on the emerald ash borer.

In Omaha, where the city property tax rate is 46 percent higher than in Lincoln, city officials are not ignoring the issue, adding tree-trimming positions and planning to spend an additional $1 million a year.

When it comes to local taxes, its clear that Lincoln residents are getting a lot for their money. Of the 15 largest cities in Nebraska that like Lincoln have a local sales tax, Beutlers proposed budget would make it the sixth lowest. Heres a list of the cities with a higher city property tax rate: Bellevue, La Vista, North Platte, Omaha, Hastings, Papillion, South Sioux City, Beatrice and Fremont.

Under the budget process laid out in the voter-approved city charter, Beutler has no authority to make line-item changes to the council budget. He can either accept it or veto it.

Its too bad the council was unable to come with a better plan. Of the two alternatives, the budget originally presented by the mayor is the more prudent and sensible approach.
OMAHA  The Omaha Police Department says internal investigations have found that two officers violated policies and procedures.

The department announcement Wednesday said it wouldn't disclose the nature of any discipline pending or received by Officers Thomas Deignan and Bryan Kulhanek. The officers have declined to comment.

The department said last month that Kulhanek had posted potentially inappropriate content on his Facebook page. He'd said the Black Lives Matter movement is racist and is against white officers.

Officials said Deignan threw a teenager to the ground as he attempted to book her into the Douglas County Youth Center on May 15. The 16-year-old suffered a fractured eye socket. The State Patrol said it found no evidence of criminal conduct, and prosecutors have agreed.
RACINE  The Music & More Season Finale Concert will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, at First Presbyterian Church, 716 College Ave. Doors open at 6 p.m. Featured performers are Martin OLeary, Ami Bouterse, Karen Archbold, John Stumpff and Nick Barootian.

Pianist and composer Martin OLeary from Dublin, Ireland, will perform during the first half of the concert. His compositions have been heard throughout Europe, Israel and the U.S. His program will sample works by six contemporary Irish composers, with all pieces receiving their first performances in America. OLeary began composing at the age of 14. He earned a Ph.D at Trinity College, Dublin, and is on staff in the Department of Music at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

The Belle Ensemble vocal group will perform during the second half of the concert. Soprano Ami Bouterse is an associate professor of music at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. She received voice and opera theater performance degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Carnegie Mellon University. Mezzo soprano Karen Archbold received first place in the 2016 Sinfonietta Bel Canto Voice Competition. She studied classical voice in Bremen, Germany. Tenor John Stumpff is an active performer and teacher in the Milwaukee and Chicago region. He teaches voice at Loyola Academy. Baritone Nick Barootian is the founder of Belle Ensemble, a vocal music group aimed at bringing first class vocal performance to Racine and its neighbors, and at developing collaborations among talented vocal musicians and other artists in the Milwaukee-Chicago corridor.

A silent auction of paintings donated by the estate of a local artist will be held with the proceeds benefiting the Music & More program. Concert-goers can view the paintings and bid before the concert and during intermission. Checks and cash will be accepted.

Tickets cost $10 at the door. For more information, call 262-632-1686.

Donations received at the 10 noontime concerts will be divided among the Health Care Network, Racine Habitat for Humanity and Racine Vocational Ministry Inc. The Mearl Mahl Youth Music Scholarship will be presented to a young musician.

The church is air-conditioned and handicapped-accessible, with an elevator at the parking lot entrance. Additional parking is available in south adjacent parking lot at Living Light Community Center.
The Origins of Hip Hop event will return to Racines lakefront on Saturday, Aug. 20, and everyone is welcome to come share this exploration of the culture of hip-hop, from 4 to 10 p.m. at Smoked on the Water, 3 Fifth St.

In its fifth year, Origins of Hip Hop aims to highlight the five primary elements of hip-hop culture: DJ-ing, emceeing, graffiti art, breakdancing/all-styles hip-hop dancing and knowledge, according to Nick Ramsey, one of the event organizers. It will do so through a series of performances, workshops and competitions, or battles, which together will not only celebrate the rich culture of this music genre, but raise awareness about it.

By learning more about hip-hop culture, people will be better able to understand it, said Ramsey, a local emcee, poet and self-described addict of hip-hop culture.

Presenters will include local performers and artists, as well as those from as far away as Milwaukee and Louisville, Kentucky. And representatives of each element will present mini workshops designed to showcase that aspect, Ramsey said. His own presentation about the art of emceeing, for example, will include information about its historical roots in ancient storytelling, as well as practical tips about everything from meter and line to mic-holding skills, he said.

Attendees will also have opportunities to get involved in the action. Anyone interested in trying their hand at graffiti art can do so on special panels provided at the event. And area hip-hop DJs, emcees, dancers and more are invited to enter competitions in their categories, with a chance to win cash prizes. Registration for competitions is available at the event, but must be done prior to the start of each competition (See event schedule below for details).

Cultural diversity

This event is really about everybody  young, old, all races  getting together and celebrating cultural diversity, said Ramsey. The thing I am most proud of is the way the Origins of Hip Hop really represents this city.

Since its inception, Origins of Hip Hop has expanded its reach throughout the community to include a variety of partnerships with businesses, organizations and individuals including Black Hand Tattoo, Christi Beerntsen, the College of Art & Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Downtown Racine Corp., Family Power Music, the Racine Public Library, Sweatshop Movement, Willys Sole Kitchen and Smoked on the Water. In years past the event has drawn as many as 300 people, and Ramsey said organizers are expecting between 400 and 500 this time around.

Caleb Robinson  owner of Smoked on the Water, who has been involved with the event since its start  said he, too, appreciates the diversity of Origins of Hip Hop.

What I love most about this event, is that it has such a positive feel, Robinson said. Its really about bringing people together and I wish everyone would stop down and see what it is about. Everyone is welcome.

Admission to the Origins of Hip Hop event is free (donations will be accepted), including all performances, presentations and competitions. Food and beverages will be available for sale at Smoked on the Water during the event.

Robinson said the venues usual menu will be available, featuring specialities including pulled pork sandwiches and chicken wings. Origins of Hip Hop 5 T-shirts will also be available for sale, on a first-come, first-served basis.

Origins of Hip Hop 5 events

(Schedule is subject to change)

4-5 p.m.  DJ spinning old-school Hip-Hop and graffiti artists beginning their pieces

5-5:15 p.m.  DJ workshop

5:15-5:45 p.m.  DJ battle (DJs must register by 4:30)

5:45-6 p.m.  Performance by ESCH, of Racine

6-6:15 p.m.  Graffiti workshop: Pre-made backdrops will be available for people to create their own graffiti art

6:15-6:30 p.m.  Performance by Sypher Lady X of Milwaukee

6:30-6:45 p.m.  Breakdance workshop

6:45-7 p.m.  Dancer warm-up and opportunity for attendees to try out their new knowledge

7-8 p.m.  Breakdance and All-Styles dance battles (dancers must register by 6 p.m.)

8-8:15 p.m.  Performance (performer TBA)

8:15  8:45 p.m.  Freestyle Emcee Competition (emcees must register by 7 p.m.)

8:45-10 p.m.  Performance by RMLLW2LLZ , of Louisville, Kentucky

For more information, go to www.facebook.com/events/1722583611290236/.
BURLINGTON  Burlington residents will get the chance Nov. 8 to advise their City Council on whether it should fund the construction of a new community pool.

The referendum is posed as a yes-or-no question and is nonbinding, meaning the council isnt required to adhere to the result of the vote. The wording was approved by the City Council at Tuesdays meeting, according to Burlington City Clerk Diahnn Halbach.

It is moving forward, she said. It will be on the November ballot.

The referendum reads as follows: Should the City of Burlington construct a community facility at Devor Park, 394 Amanda Street, funded by taxes with the following conditions: (1) Spending and/or borrowing on the facility is not to exceed $5,400,000.00 (5.4 million dollars) and; (2) the facility will be built within the corporate limits of the City of Burlington.

According to City Administrator Carina Walters, the $5.4 million in tax funding for the pool project was amended from $4.7 million, at Tuesdays meeting. Council President Tom Vos said he was frustrated at how high the price had risen, since it originally was proposed at $3.5 million.

Its disappointing that it came in higher than expected, Vos said. As we went through that process, things kind of changed.

City Treasurer Steve DeQuaker estimated at the Aug. 2 Committee of the Whole meeting that the tax increase for the project would be 30 to 50 cents per every $1,000 of assessed property value for the duration of the 20-year loan. Vos said that since the median home value in Burlington is $179,000, it will cost Burlington taxpayers roughly an additional $82 per year.

Vos said that very rarely in his 34 years as a city alderman has the city taken a major funding issue to referendum.

On most of the things, weve never gone to a referendum because were not obligated to do that, he said.

The city has been working with Ayres Associates, a Wisconsin architectural and engineering services firm, to develop plans to redesign and rebuild the pool. The process is currently in its third and fourth stages, which includes referendum assistance.

Vos worries that the referendum could be voted down no matter what dollar amount appears on the ballot. In that instance, since the referendum is nonbinding, Vos thinks the project may not necessarily die.

What the council is going to be faced with is if the eight of us and the mayor and the city administrator  really feel strongly that this is something that will benefit our community as a whole, then we have to vote our conscience, he said.
RACINE  With two new schools set to open this school year and a third expanded and renovated, Racine Unified officials are already looking ahead to future building needs.

On Monday night, the Racine Unified School Board approved a $3 million contract with Partners in Design, a Kenosha-based architectural firm, to oversee renovations to accommodate the move of the REAL School to the Sturtevant Sportsplex building, 10116 Stellar Ave.

The Racine Educational Alternative Learning School is a charter school based at the former Olympia Brown Elementary, 5915 Erie St., Caledonia. District officals plan to relocate the REAL School in 2017 to the recently acquired Sturtevant Sportsplex building.

A new Olympia Brown opens this school year on 5 12 Mile Road in Caledonia. The district also is opening a new Knapp Elementary School, 2701 17th St., Racine, and a renovated and expanded Gifford Elementary, 8332 Northwestern Ave., Caledonia.

The School Board on Monday also approved a contract to have architectural consultants on retainer for smaller remodeling projects throughout the district. Partners in Design, along with Milwaukee-based Zimmerman Architectural Studios, are being awarded a collective contract of up $2.5 million for that work.

Both of those firms have been involved with the district, said David Hazen, Unifieds chief operations officer.

Hazen noted that Partners in Design has worked on recent projects at Gifford, Mitchell and the Case High School Fieldhouse. Zimmerman has worked on Olympia Brown.

The committee looked at not only price, but the experience level and the work that they had done for the district in the past, Hazen said.

New health resources

A new health class resource, The Great Body Shop, will be available for fifth-graders in the district. The board on Monday approved purchasing the program, which costs $84,360.

It comes in 10 units throughout the school year, said Chris Thompson, Unifieds director of curriculum and instruction, adding it helps the children learn more about nutrition, fitness, emotional health, substance abuse and sexually transmitted diseases. It comes in a magazine format for the teachers to use with the students. Its a piece of informational, nonfiction text that can be incorporated into reading class.

Thompson said theres also a parent and family component that students can use at home.

For grades 6-8, Thompson proposed purchasing the McGraw Teen Health resource, which will provide teachers additional support when they plan health lessons for students becoming teenagers.

Were looking at the well-rounded individual and what we want them to know as adults, Thompson said.

The board on Monday approved the McGraw purchase at a cost of $7,768.80.

Library partnership

The board on Monday also approved a proposal that would enter the district into a partnership with the Racine Public Library to provide all Unified students library cards.

Every child has access now to the public library as a result (of the board vote), said James OHagan, Unifieds director of digital and virtual learning. Not just elementary, but this is every RUSD student  this is equal access to everybody.
The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents endorsed a budget request Thursday asking the state for $42.5 million more in funding to support a package of initiatives designed to help students earn degrees more quickly with skills for a 21st century workforce.

A plan titled 2020FWD, with an emphasis on dynamic learning, creativity and innovation reflecting concerns of state residents and business leaders, is a step in the right direction, Board of Regents President Regina Millner said.

But we have hard work ahead of us to convince the governor and the Legislature that UW can serve as an economic engine for all of Wisconsin, she said.

The 2020FWD plan packages expansion of programs in four areas: educational pipeline, the university experience, business and community mobilization, and operational excellence.

This is the Wisconsin Idea in action, UW System President Ray Cross told regents in a lengthy presentation of the plan that stressed its development with input from listening sessions across the state and surveys of experts on the needs of communities and business.

The Wisconsin Idea is great, but its not the last word on everything, said Regent Margaret Farrow. She called for a blue ribbon committee to size up the educational and workforce demands in not only Wisconsin, but other states, to best prepare Wisconsin to attract and retain the best students, faculty and workers.

We have to know who the competition is so we know how better to meet it and win the battle, Farrow said.

Regent John Behling said that the initiative, together with controversial changes made to faculty tenure last spring through a committee he headed, make a good case for responsible stewardship of the public's money.

"I think this is a good follow-up to the strong work we did on tenure," Behling said.

Regent Tony Evers, the state superintendent of public instruction, protested that while he supported the 2020FWD initiative, the budget "falls far short of what the UW System needs," especially since the campuses absorbed $250 million in cuts in the last biennium.

Evers cast the lone vote against the budget request.

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank spoke in support of the request, saying it's necessary to make new investment in educational programs.

The UW Systems budget request to the state for the 2017-2019 biennium is due Sept. 15. The state has already said the system will receive $50 million more in that budget, as required by a 2015 law. UW administrators have said the cost of the new initiative can be covered by projected savings in such costs to continue expenses as utilities and benefits for staff.

In addition, Gov. Scott Walker has said he will propose further increases in funding for the UW System that will be tied to performance metrics that have not yet been revealed.

How performance metrics will fit into the new plan is not yet clear, Cross said. There are already metrics in place to measure effectiveness of many programs, including some in 2020FWD, but more are needed, he said.

State funding helps support the UW Systems operating budget, which is $6.2 billion for the current 2016-2017 fiscal year.

State funding has declined in recent years, even as enrollment has grown, UW administrators pointed out in a budget summary.

For example, general purpose revenue funding was $1.034 billion for the 2000-2001 school year, when total enrollment at UW System schools was 160,567. In 2015-2016, state funding was $1.029 billion and enrollment was 178,571. System funding, then, had dropped by $5.22 million while enrollment increased by 18,004.

Many of the initiatives in 2020FWD beef up efforts already underway, Cross said.

The additional state funding sought for each of the focus areas of 2020FWD in the 2017-2019 budget are:

Educational pipeline: $26.1 million

Expand opportunities to earn college credit in high school, prepare students for college in middle schools and train K-12 teachers to teach college level courses.

Expand academic, career and financial advising for students to help students stay in school and graduate.

Update technology to help students transfer among UW and Wisconsin Technical College System schools.

Make the Wisconsin Grant program more flexible so adult learners can access it.

Funding to allow UW institutions to identify and target critical workforce needs.

University experience: $6 million

Four new programs would train staff, provide technology and connect students to Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, UW-Milwaukee Research Foundation, SiSys and other organizations to foster innovation and entrepreneurism by students.

Business and community mobilization: $6.4 million

Expand the UniverCity Year program that has student and communities partner on projects to all four-year campuses and UW Extension.

Partner with health care providers in Wisconsin Vitality to produce more healthcare professionals to meet growing needs in rural and underserved areas.

Fund campus-level CareerConnect web portal efforts to connect students with employers.

Convene Wisconsin Ideas Summit on pressing state challenges.

Operational Excellence: $4 million

Provide incentives to UW institutions to maintain current levels of accountability and address performance areas where resources are needed.

Develop UW System performance metrics.
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Abducted 7-yr-old child rescued from India

A seven-year-old girl abducted by her neighbour over family dispute has been rescued from India by Saptari District Police.
Ambassador nominees: Apex courts show cause to govt

The Supreme Court has issued a show cause notice to the government seeking reasons for withdrawing the ambassadorial nominees recommended by the erstwhile government.
CIAA to brief international community

The Commission for Investigation for Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is planning to hold a programme on Tuesday to brief the Kathmandu-based international community on its activities.
DPM Mahara meets Chinese Premier Li

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Krishna Bahadur Mahara met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Wednesday.
DPM Nidhi leaves for India as Nepal PM's emissary

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi left here for Indian capital New Delhi on Thursday as the special envoy of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
Islamophobic tweets 'peaked in July'

Almost 7,000 "Islamophobic" tweets were sent, in English, every day in July worldwide, data seen by the BBC suggests.
Janai Purnima festival today

The tagadharis or those who wear the 'Janai' (the sacred thread) around their bodies from the left shoulder change the sacred thread on Tuesday after having a haircut and a bath on the occasion of 'Janai Purnima', also known as 'Rishi Tarpani'.
Krishi Udhyam Bazar app released

The Agro Enterprise Centre under the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has launched an agricultural market-related Android application named Krishi Udhyam Bazar.
Life jacket rule made compulsory in Phewa Lake

Holidaymakers who wish to enjoy a boat ride in Phewa Lake of Pokhara will have to compulsorily wear life jackets from now on.
Local body restructuring: Lawmakers find fault with LBRCs work

Lawmakers have objected to the Local Body Restructuring Commission (LBRC)s proposal to carve out 565 local units across the country as part of the local body restructuring, saying that the LBRCs work is unscientific and out of place.
Mass cremation of Kavre bus crash victims

The final rites of 27 people who were killed in a bus accident in Kavre district on Monday were performed in Kathmandu and Ramechhap on Wednesday in a grim reminder of the dangers of road travel in the country and how old and unmaintained public buses, poor road conditions and bus operators blase attitude about passenger safety have been claiming innocent peoples lives.
Morcha welcomes Cabinet decision

Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM), an alliance of various Madhes-centric parties agitating for broader rights of Madhesis in the new constitution, has welcomed the government decision pertaining to the issues of Madhes agitation last year.
Mahar secures NSU top post in tight race

In a much tighter battle than expected, Nain Singh Mahar beat Manoj Mani Acharya on Thursday to be elected the president of the Nepal Students Union, a sister wing affiliated to Nepali Congress.
Ncell officially unveils new brand logo

Ncell on Tuesday officially unveiled its new brand logo promising affordability and innovation.
NEA incurs more losses due to power leakage

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has witnessed an increase in net system losses, or commonly known as electricity leakage, in the last fiscal year at a time when the country is reeling under prolonged power cuts.
Nearly 18,000 have died in Syria state jails, says Amnesty

Nearly 18,000 people have died in government prisons in Syria since the beginning of the uprising in 2011, according to Amnesty International.
Nidhis agenda: Fixing dates for high-level engagements

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhis visit to India will focus on enhancing ties between two countries and fixing dates for high-level visits between two countries, officials and experts have said.
Once war-makers, now peace-keepers

As many as 28 former Maoist fighters who during the decade-long insurgency made war on the state now are set to work as peacekeepers in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Suicide bombers hit Libyan troops in Sirte, kill at least 8

Libya's pro-government forces say suicide bombers detonated two cars near their forces in the Islamic State group's former stronghold city of Sirte, killing at least eight.
3 handed down 34-yr sentence each for murdering CNP employee

The Chitwan District Court has handed down a 34-year sentence each to three persons convicted of murdering a Chitwan National Park (CNP) employee.
Pramod Mishra is a biweekly columnist for The Kathmandu Post. He is the department chair of English Studies at Lewis University in the United States.
Turkey car bombs: Police station attacks kill six and injure 219

Two big car bombs have hit police stations in separate cities in Turkey, killing six people and wounding at least 219 others.
Two shepherds hurt and 72 sheep killed in lighting strike

Two shepherds were hurt and at least 72 sheep killed when lightning struck them at Girka in Myagdi on Wednesday night.
UNHCR to exit Bhutanese refugee camps by 2019

The UNHCR will exit Bhutanese refugee camps in eastern Nepal at the end of 2019 after nearly three decades of continued humanitarian support to refugees who numbered over 107,000 at one point.
Prahlad Rijal is a business reporter at The Kathmandu Post, focusing on the energy sector. Before joining the Post, Rijal was an online reporter at The Himalayan Times.
Writing on the wall

The clock is ticking for Nepal to take a decision on the remaining Bhutanese refugees
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

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A choir member of St Joseph Catholic Church in Patongo Town Council in Agago District has been killed by a mob for allegedly stealing a parish priests cell phone.

Christians had accused the deceased only identified as Ochan of stealing the mobile phone belonging to Fr.Lioncy Akena.

The priest reportedly demanded that the deceased brings back his phone but he denied being in possession of the handset, prompting other Christians to beat him to death.

Patongo Parish Council chairperson, Alfonse Odongo, confirmed the unfortunate incident

He however denies reports that the parish priest also participated in the lynching of the suspected thief.

The Officer in Charge of Criminal Investigations Department of Agago Central Police Station, Ben Kilama says one person has been arrested in connection with the incident.
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One serious case

Two or more serious bouts

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Six dogs made their way across the United States last week in hopes of a second chance at life. The pack traveled more than 1,200 miles to escape the high euthanasia rates of the South and take refuge at the Coulee Region Humane Society.

Though the Onalaska shelter has been nearing capacity this August, the staff was more than willing to take on the extra pups. The transfer from the Bandera County Humane Society in Texas was one of three out-of-state dog transfers since January 2016, all of which were arranged and financed by donors. The shelter also accepted seven dogs from North Carolina and two coon hounds from Kentucky, with the agreement that the shelters will take them back if necessary.

Local people use their own funds and resources to bring the dogs up, said Heather Hankins, executive director of the Coulee Region Humane Society. A lady in Minnesota facilitates with high-kill shelters, and they run transfers twice monthly to multiple shelters. A La Crosse woman arranged for the coon hounds. We have a really soft spot when people say these dogs will be euthanized. We want to save them all.

The dogs come ready to adopt, with their heart-worm tests, vaccinations and certificates of veterinary inspection completed, and most are already spayed or neutered, saving the shelter hundreds of dollars per dog.

They come in more medically sound than some other dogs might, said Amber Grosch, kennel operations manager. All we have to do is a behavior evaluation and get them on the adoption floor.

The CRHS has taken in 89 transfers so far this year, frequently partnering with the Crawford County Humane Society and occasionally trading animals, finding that a change of scenery might help them get adopted. However, the shelters open admission policy was changed in January 2015, and now CRHS will only take in strays once the mandatory state of Wisconsin stray hold is up and the shelter becomes the legal owner of the animal. A fee is charged for out-of-county surrenders.

We want to focus on La Crosse County  thats the community were supposed to be serving, Hankins said. Places were saying, Call Coulee Region, theyll take anything. Weve had a bit of push-back, because every shelter tries to do their best, but we cant take up the slack for everyone.

The changes were made to force other counties to address their animal overpopulation issues, but Hankins is sympathetic to the limitations of other shelters and says they will take in a transfer if there is even a minuscule amount of space.

Were all in this together. Networking is part of running a shelter, Grosch added. It can be hectic at times, but if someone asks us for help were going to do our best.

The shelter hasnt had to euthanize a dog due to of lack of space in over five years, and the average stay is about a week. Grosch and Hankins credit the amazing community, staff and volunteers as well as their growing foster system, which has housed more than 200 dogs, cats, and small animals in three months.

If it comes to the point of over capacity, one of our staff or foster homes would take the animal in, Hankins said. Weve come to this point (of not having to euthanize to make room) and we dont want that to change.

While the Texas dogs have adjusted well to their new location and half have already received applications, the shelter is having trouble placing coon hound Hank, 8, who arrived in late July from Hancock County Animal Shelter in Kentucky.

Hes sweet, loves other dogs, respects cats, but isnt eating well, Grosch said. Were looking for someone to adopt or foster him. Hes the man we need help with.

For more about Hank or the CRHS foster program, go to www.couleehumane.com.
Jim Rogala, who was leading a hike on the Holland Sand Prairie last Saturday, twirled a whorled milkweed plant in his fingertips while explaining to a couple dozen hikers that the delicate plant with grass-like leaves was a food source for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Hes a tall, lean and genial guide wearing tall boots in the wet grass. A thick plant reference book bulged in a pocket of his cargo pants.

The milkweed, one of some 150 species on the 61-acre prairie west of Holmen, has the same milky juice as the common milkweed that is being planted and promoted by those hoping to boost the endangered monarch population. On closer examination, the hikers saw that the tiny white flowers on the tip of the whorled milkweed were just like the fragrant clusters atop its beefier relative.

Rogala, a fisheries biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, is one of the volunteers working with the Friends of the Holland Sand Prairie to help manage the property that was purchased by the Mississippi Valley Conservancy more than a decade ago to save the land from imminent development. The conservancy later turned it over to the town of Holland under a conservation agreement known as an easement.

The town, which participated in the purchase by providing about 25 percent of the total cost, maintains the property as prairie and provides financial and other assistance to help the volunteers. The balance of the purchase cost was covered by the state Stewardship Program and the conservancy.

Another of the prairie volunteers, Mike Nied, held his 10-month old son Braxton, as he pointed out a clasping milkweed among the other plants underfoot. Rogala noted that the plant has the unusual trait of reclining on the sandy ground.

As the sun broke through the morning clouds, Rogala introduced the hikers to the naked sunflower (no leaves on the stem), just one of the bright splashes of color on the prairie. We also saw the rare silky prairie clover, rich purple of the clustered poppy mallow, New Jersey tea, leadplant and the early bright purple blooms of blazing star that will color an entire slope on the prairie later this month. The grasses included porcupine grass, big bluestem, little bluestem, switch grass and prairie drop seed.

Rogala reminded the hikers that if the conservancy had not stepped in to buy the prairie remnant, it would, and he swept his hand toward the subdivision across the road, look like that. He noted that the citizens of the town had voted in a town meeting to participate in the purchase.

Rogala also serves as the secretary for the Prairie Enthusiasts, a regional organization working to preserve and protect prairies  the remnants of the great North American prairie that was once continuous from Indiana to the Rocky Mountains. He said in response to a question from one of the hikers that he had become interested in prairie plants after noticing the diversity of plants on hunting land that he owns.

While I was reviewing all the plants we had learned about during the hike, it occurred to me that the diversity that makes our areas prairies so fascinating to visit has a counterpart in the diversity of the efforts to protect them. Rogala represents the hundreds of volunteers, organizations, government units and businesses who have invested time and money in land protection.

The prairies will be in their glory this month. Grab a guide book and pay a visit to these places that have been saved for us, for those who come after us and the plants and critters that inhabit them.

A guide to the Holland Sand Prairie flowers is available online at hollandsandprairie.org or at the kiosk, and the prairie at the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge Visitor Center on Brice Prairie is open to hikers.
The Coulee Life Church is a resurrection of sorts, a new life rising from the painful demise last fall of the old Sand Lake Wesleyan. Once a growing church of more than 200, the 33-year-old Sand Lake congregation closed its doors after reaching an impasse during a pastoral transition.

Although the old church is now a statistic, a core group of 25 people survived, convinced that they had been called to serve the Holmen/Onalaska community. Sensing their commitment, the Wisconsin District of the Wesleyan denomination called on Craig Coe, who was then working as Assistant Admissions Director for Indiana Wesleyan University.

Today, the soft-spoken Coe, who had previously served as Sand Lakes Pastor of Ministry from 2010 to 2013, is directing the resurgence under a new name: Coulee Life Church. But beyond that, he has already logged six years of church planting experience in Aurora, Colo., and more importantly, wrestled with issues confronting the church-at-large in the wake of pastoral transitions.

In 2004, Coe and his wife, Priscilla, and three other couples left Indiana to start a new church in Colorado, but storm clouds soon gathered over the less than two year old project. The burgeoning 150-member congregation suddenly faced the resignation of its lead pastor. Coe, as the assistant pastor, never saw it coming and the event forced him into a decision he never anticipated.

I had a lot of questions as to what God had for us next, Coe recalled, noting that it was a big decision for him to accept the lead role. He remembers telling God that if he took the position, Id have to rely on his strength and power.

Coe took the position, and learned a lot in the process.

Its not something we expected, but God used us to help people walk through that transition, he said.

Now at Coulee Life, its like history repeating itself. But this time, Coe has the field experience to help the congregation dig a secure footing.

We spent time building a foundation, he said, as he described the first meetings. We needed to understand our role in the community.

So they asked themselves, What is a church? What is the role of the church? And what had God called them to do? Three ministries quickly grew out of their introspection: parents night out, a babysitting service for nearly 30 children so couples could spend time together, meal service for Holmen Hope, and the Salvation Army extension program. Before school begins, the group will add a fourth project  landscaping at Sand Lake Elementary School.

Not surprisingly, social justice concerns and community activism happen to be in the DNA of the Wesleyan denomination.

We stem from the Methodist tradition on the evangelical side, Coe explained. The Wesleyans formed in the 1800s when they sided with the abolitionists over the slavery issue.

Coe hopes to increase visibility for the new start-up with a spot in the Holmen Kornfest Parade, followed by a scoop night at the church the Wednesday after the parade. This will let people know better who we are, he said.

Well be talking about the vision of the church and what God has called us to do. Well lead people up the timeline to launch, he said.

As a run up to launch, the church has scheduled two preview services for September with the first official service set for sometime in October.

Weve already checked, he says with a grin. All the Packer games are late games.

According to Coe, the Sunday morning worship service will feature a contemporary band but will weave in more traditional songs and hymns. But the focus will always be on families.

Thats a large part of the demographics here, he said.

Yet, even now, Coe and his group are looking far beyond October.

We also have a far-reaching regional outreach, he notes, pointing to his core group that extends from West Salem to Trempealeau and points in between.

Eventually we also want to be a sending church, he said. We want to understand each community and help plant another church in the area within the next five years.

But for now, the goal is more immediate.

Our people want to see individuals and families experience the life God has for them, he said. We want to start something fresh and new.
The road to annexation isnt an easy one, and it sometimes hits familiar bumps. The La Crescent City Council again found that out at its Aug. 8 meeting, during a public hearing for the annexation of 102 Kinder Rd., which has been initiated by the property owner.

Cheri Olson, who along with Douglas Nelson, signed the petition to annex in, was in attendance and said the request was generated to obtain city services for sewer. Olson said her neighbors to the south have already been annexed, and her biggest concern was what would happen to the road.

We have a road that were currently privately maintaining, Olson said. Obviously, one of the appeals for us is to have the road maintained by the city now.

She wanted to know the next step for the road, and she wasnt alone with a query.

Joshua Whitson, who lives at 104 Kinder Rd., was also in attendance, and since he lives next door to 102 Kinder Rd., he wanted to know what its annexation meant for him.

Is it true that Im also being annexed into the city? Whitson asked.

City attorney Skip Wieser deferred an answer until the public portion of the hearing was complete, so Whitson pushed forward with more inquiries.

The road shares both of our properties, he said. Am I, or am I not, up to become part of the city?

Olson rejoined with yet another question.

What is happening in our backyards, she asked.

It was hard to tell from the information shed received, she said, and she wasnt clear what was happening with this race track thing, as well as possible annexations of other things.

Our land is in a conservation easement, she said, so Im assuming that, when you annex it, that that conservation easement stands, and that you wouldnt come in and develop condos in wetlands, or something like that.

Olson wanted to know if there were other things that come with this annexation, specifically any future city developments.

With the public comment period then closed, Wieser took over to answer some of the questions posed.

At the June 27 council meeting, Wieser said, when the council accepted Olsons petition, the status of Kinder Road was discussed, and it currently is a private easement that services three property owners.

One of those has already been annexed, he said, and now Olson and Nelsons property will be, too.

What we would be doing after the annexation is done, Wieser said, is, we would be, because its by private easement, its not by a dedicated street, a plat, is wed be preparing an easement agreement where they would basically turn over that road to the city, and then that would make all future maintenance, repairs, those sorts of things, the citys obligation.

The road will also be factored into the citys state aid calculations, he said.

As for Whitson, he said, his property is included in the joint resolution passed that night by the council, and was negotiated with La Crescent Township. Whitsons property, after the attendant annexations in the area, would then be 90 percent-plus surrounded by the city, Wieser said. The township agreed it should be annexed, too.

That news didnt sit well with Whitson, who said he was never informed his property would be annexed.

I think this was very poorly orchestrated, Whitson said.

While he understands there was no legal obligation for the city to inform him of the impending annexation, he said it was a matter of civility to at least send him a notice.

Its not necessarily that I disagree, he said, but I dont know that that speaks well for the integrity of the city if I dont even know whats happening with my own property.

Mayor Mike Poellinger said this comes up every time theres an annexation; the city simply doesnt have a mechanism for negotiation with individuals. Whitson countered he wasnt seeking negotiating rights; he simply wanted to be informed.

I understand my position in this, Whitson said, and that I cannot change it.

Wieser said the matter is an inter-governmental process, and the obligation is the townships; it must communicate with its residents regarding how and why they do or dont make those kinds of decisions.

Its kind of beyond our control, Wieser said.

Councilor Dale Williams voiced his concern, as he has many times before, about how this type of annexation was being handled; he asked Wieser if, as has been requested by the council in the past, the township had been asked to send its property owners a letter of notification.

I can see the frustration on this gentlemans part, Williams said.

Wieser said the request was made to the township, but its beyond the citys control.

Williams said notification has been discussed, and he and the council agree its the right thing to do, but it falls to the township to do that. Annexation, he said, should be smooth, simple, and it shouldnt be forcibly taking someone.

He apologized, and stressed he was not trying to pass the buck here.

I know your frustration as you sit there and hear this, Williams said. I was there 15 years ago.

Once again, he stressed communication needs to happen.

Regarding the conservation easement, Wieser said, he wasnt aware that any such easement exists, and he had already checked the county recorders office. As for the race track property, he said, there are no pending applications or zoning requests for development in the area.

The council unanimously approved the annexation request.

More annexation matters

Prior to the public hearing, Wieser brought forward a joint resolution for annexation of a large swath of property along CTH 6, which included Hickory Lane, Kinder Road, and the property generally referred to as the racetrack, south of CTH 6.

The council previously approved the notice of intent to annex the properties; the township has been served, and, Wieser said, they had already informally agreed to permit the annexation, but the town board would make it official later that night at its regularly scheduled meeting.

The council needed to approve the agreement with a joint resolution, which it did unanimously. The resolution included a two-year tax reimbursement clause  the minimum required, Wieser said  which says in the first year following the year the city could first levy on the annexed area, the amount would be $2,640, with the same amount reimbursed to the township in the second and final year.

The parcel totals approximately 97.5 acres.

In other news

The council unanimously approved the development agreement with SpringBrook Village, a move that was anticipated, but not without agreeing to certain conditions requested by the developers of the senior housing project.

Since the (council) packet went out, Wieser said, weve received communication from the developers. Two requests that they are making  is were suggesting proposed amendments to the development agreement. The first is, the developers requesting reimbursement of $11,250 for looping of the water main.

The water main connects the highway to the Rosewood area, Wieser said, and permits better flow. Wieser said the amendment would come with a condition: It would not be paid until the building was completed.

And then the second item that theyre requesting, Wieser said, with regard to the development agreement, is parallel to CTH 25, running generally in the east-west direction, we currently are requiring that they provide a sidewalk. Therell be a sidewalk within the development which would be private for the residents that live there; this would be a public sidewalk, running along Hwy. 25. Theyre asking that they not be required to construct that until such time as that sidewalk is being constructed all the way around Hwy. 25.

The council unanimously approved both amendments. Wieser added that two definitions are being fine-tuned within the agreement, but once those are satisfactorily reviewed, the council gave its unanimous approval for the proposed development agreement to be signed.

On recommendation of the citys planning commission, the council unanimously approved the motion to opt out of a Minnesota statute regarding the creation of temporary health care dwellings on the driveway of a home for up to six months. An ordinance to that effect had to be adopted, which the council duly did. Had the council not voted to opt out, the statute would have automatically gone into effect. Planning commission chairman Don Smith said a public hearing was held on the matter, and no one was there in support of the state statute.

The council also unanimously approved the acceptance of a proposal by Stantec for professional planning services aimed at consolidating and coordinating shoreland development regulations with the citys zoning code. The costs for the services are estimated at $5,600, with part of the cost coming from the general fund budget in 2016, and the balance from 2017.

The council also unanimously approved a motion to accept the citys new comprehensive plan at its Sept. 12 meeting.

The council unanimously voted to award the bid for the water main project  extending the water main from the citys Well No. 2 to the transmission line on Stoney Point Road  to Zenke, Inc. in the amount of $124,128, the lowest bid received. The work will be done in the fall.

Also unanimously approved, the low bid of $73, 380 from Hydro-Klean, LLC to line the sanitary sewer along Elm Street, from North Second Street to North First Street, and along North First Street from Elm Street to the highway.
If, as the saying goes, a true compromise leaves no one happy, that may have proved to be the result of the Aug. 11 Winona County Planning Commission.

The commission, having grappled over several meetings with the both the gritty specifics and philosophical implications of a proposed ban on frac sand, came to a conclusion late that night:

Revise, but dont ban.

The commissions decision is just a recommendation, and now heads to the Winona County Board of Commissioners at its Aug. 23 meeting. It would add limits to the size and number of potential industrial mineral mines, but would not ban them outright.

It also wouldnt address processing or transporting operations, with the commission concluding those operations would be better off guided under existing sets of processes and regulations.

The commissions final meeting on the issue, scheduled for Monday, was canceled.

The proposal, introduced by commission member and board commissioner Steve Jacob, would limit the total size of mines to an area of 40 acres, and operators couldnt exceed that without reclamation of previously mined areas.

Jacobs proposal would also limit the number of Winona County mining sites to six, and no permit could be issued for a new one until another one was officially inactive and not permitted.

Jacob said he had heard from just as many people wanting the commission and board to make a decision and move on as he had heard arguments for or against a ban.

It offers a chance for both sides of this issue to find common ground as a compromise, Jacob said. It doesnt give anybody everything they want.

The recommendation was approved 5-3, with commission members Robert Redig, Cherie Hales and Chris Meyer dissenting. Joy Fabian-Ewing was not present.

No one got everything they wanted.

Several of the nights speakers, continuations of the long list of testifiers for or against frac sand mining from Monday and previous meetings, were asked by Jacob whether they would support a compromise.

Dennis Egan, a representative of the Minnesota Industrial Sands Council, said while he didnt necessarily love the 40-acre restriction, he said his group would work with you on identifying that kind of compromise, absolutely.

Egan had spoken earlier against the ban, arguing that existing permitting and regulation were already effective tools.

Johanna Rupprecht, policy organizer for the Land Stewardship Project, said she didnt think the people against frac sand mining wanted a compromise, and that the regulation wouldnt address the environmental and health concerns that brought the debate to the county.

We will not support this, Rupprecht said.

The commission members were equally adamant on their positions.

Commission members Gene Hansen and Don Evanson unequivocally referred to a ban as the worst kind of government and poor government, respectively.

Those dissenting maintained that the ban was supported broadly by county residents, and just reducing the number of mines wouldnt change what they were trying to prevent by banning any amount of new mining.

I really dont see how this goes far enough, Meyer said. This reduces the amount of mining, but it doesnt really address the affects of mining.

The testimonies leading up to the decision continued the back-and-forth exchanges continued from Mondays hearing, where rosters of people with credentials ranging from doctors to lawyers, not all of whom have expertise in environmental law or health or technical issues related to mining, took turns contradicting each other.

Thursdays meeting was mostly a repeat throughout the four speakers, who were split two and two for and against.

First was Mike Flynn, a representative of the Winona County Township Association, presenting the resolution against the ban, saying that the group was of the belief that it was contrary to the countys comprehensive plan, which he was involved in creating.

Its intent was to regulate and not ban, Flynn said. We knew that was a tool that could be used effectively and most likely wouldnt be challenged down the road.

Following Flynn, Rupprecht spoke of the documents Land Stewardship had submitted, which included legal precedents they felt supported the ban, and geological studies that showed the potential of adverse effects to water and air quality, including one by the state of Minnesotas Environmental Quality Board in their guide to planning for and regulating silica sand projects.

She said that fit in with the larger goals of the comprehensive plan by protecting its citizens, geography and resources.

She received rebukes from both Jacob and Evanson in their questions.

Jacob asked Rupprecht, since she had cited both legal and geological data, if she was a lawyer or a geologist. None involved in the questioning or answering were either, though Rupprecht was presenting material created by experts in both fields on their behalf.

Evanson, in response to the ban proponents claim that the ban had broad support, said:

You imply that the majority of the county is in support of a ban, Evanson said. Are you able to understand that majoritarianism, even if you have the majority, can be a form of tyranny?

The proposed language recommended in the end was formed by removing a portion of the original proposed ordinance, and replacing it with language from Florence Township in Goodhue Countys ordinance on frac sand.
Hidden off a fork in the road on Hwy. 44 just outside Hokah, theres a little taste of something special.

Its called Union Valley Vineyard and Winery, and if you havent heard about it, you will soon enough. When it opened in October, owner Robin Schlegel said it was after years of planning. Shes on eight acres of land, but that includes her home, and not quite a half-acre is now filled with rows of 220 vines that carry seven different varieties of grapes.

Then theres the 1,280 square-foot building, which is the winery, where tasting and production commences.

They crush and press the grapes on the patio, then bring them in to steel tanks and ferment them. They bottle in the same production area, which as of now isnt closed off. Yet.

Maybe, she said, there will be glass windows installed, so folks can look in at the production area. She hasnt made a final decision on that, but theres time.

Its still a work-in-progress, Schlegel said.

The name came because, for 19 years, the Schlegels have lived on Union Ridge Road in Union Township, but theyre not on the ridge.

We are in the valley, she said.

But, of course, the idea for the entire enterprise came some years before the name.

One day, they were picking Concord grapes and they made some wine. Then a friend told her about her brothers vineyard in Coon Valley, Wis.; they went up, picked some Edelweiss grapes, and became super-enthused about it. All of it.

We just loved the beauty of the vineyard, she said. And it was just fun. Very exciting.

Something about picking the grapes, bringing them back, making their own wine. It got in her bloodstream.

I kind of developed a passion for it through that, she said.

That was back in 2007.

It sounds simple enough, but passion isnt as easily tended as grape vines are. Over time it spread, then leapt, into the desire to build what has become known as Union Valley Vineyard and Winery.

Fruit wines actually came next; Schlegel loved the whole fermentation process. Then she went to school. It was called VESTA, an enology program, which is an alliance between Iowa State University, the University of Missouri, and (now) the University of Minnesota. Some of it was online, but a big part of it got the students out into different wineries doing workshops and learning exactly what it takes.

I worked at a couple wineries through harvest, she said, so I began to understand the whole process from start to finish.

Its a hobby that turns into a passion, but its also a serious business. Schooling was important; the classes were always full. Many people are beginning to take a real interest in the process. It can be fun, its true, but it takes real skill. Mistakes, she said, are costly.

When you make a wine, you want to make sure you know what youre doing, Schlegel said.

The hope is to produce a good-quality wine, and not just Grandmas hooch in a crock, you know?

Theyre a farm winery, she pointed out, something Minnesota offers as a commercial opportunity. They must produce less than, say 3,000, maybe 5,000 gallons. Shes never made more than, say, 800.

So far, thats been plenty to support, she said, because were a pretty small and local area.

At first, she wasnt too focused on a customer base; it was more about getting the winery developed.

Nothing like it was here in Houston County, she said. I believe were the first farm winery licensed in Houston County. Were the first one in the books.

Theres a menu board mounted on the wall with the wines she currently has on offer: La Crescent, Brianna, Moonlight, Fire Sky and Edelweiss. Schlegel is a pro when it comes to describing the quality of each grape  each wine that tastes like magic in a bottle.

Weve had really good success so far with the roses, she said.

Prices range from $8 to $13 per bottle; the cost is dependent on the wine itself, she said, and the quality of the grapes.

It all goes into what it takes more of to produce, she said.

Shes learned what people who come in like to drink, and thats what she tries to give them. Its not so much trial-and-error as it is professional experimentation. It takes a lot of time.

Its almost like youre designing a wine, she said.

Its also important to her to buy local, which she most decidedly does when it comes to growers. Its all about community, which is an integral part of her family.

Her husband, Jimmy, works alongside her. He handles all the vineyard work. That includes tending to the grapes, spraying, monitoring, mowing and maintenance. She says hes great at it.

He even did all the inside finishing work on the winery.

He did a really nice job, Schlegel said.

Randy Dobbs of La Crescent also works there, and theres an even wider network out in the valley. Family and close friends helped construct the building itself, she said. It was a real neighborhood effort.

Union Valley Winery is usually open Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m., but Schlegel noted theyll be closing down for a couple of weeks during harvest, which is the first three weeks in September.

We need to get the grapes in, she said.

Come October, though, the winery will be open again.

Last Tuesday, two local women and a girl come in; theyre having a wedding shower at the winery soon. Yes, the winery does special events like that. Theyve even had a canvas and wine evening with 18 in attendance. If its feasible, and she can accommodate the people and the time-of-year, shes most willing.

A wealth of happiness: Thats what Schlegel says she gets from doing all of this. You get to see something grow so beautifully, and the hard work and the harvest. Its the camaraderie.

Its to see people smile, she said.

The winery has a Facebook account. Word-of-mouth also helps, and Schlegel is doing some advertising. She wants to retire in 3.5 years (shes an engineer in circuits at CenturyLink); until then, shes happy watching the place grow.

Just like the grapes.
A lessening of demand for natural gas from frac sand mining customers has caused WE Energies to cancel a $21.4 million pipeline that was to be built between the village of Taylor and the city of Blair.

The Milwaukee-based utility asked the Public Service Commission in November to approve construction of the 20-mile-long Blair Lateral Project in November. However, declining oil prices, idled drilling rigs in North Dakota and layoffs in the sand mining industry apparently prompted WE Energies to pull the projects plug.

Through the project review process, we solicited additional information from the potential large industrial customers in the project area. The updated information collected showed that the projected demand in the area has not increased as significantly as previously projected, WE Energies spokesman Brian Manthey said.

Large natural gas users, including grain dryers and sand plants, plus some growth in demand from residential and commercial customers, were counted on to make the project financially feasible. However, the boom-and-bust cycle of the petroleum industry returned the project to its original timeline, Manthey said.

Our process for determining the need for a project is based partially on the projected demand and growth in an area. Based on inquiries we received from potential customers at one time, we accelerated this project from our initial plan which was to propose it several years from now, he said. In this case, however, those short-term projections for natural gas changed when market conditions for our customers changed leading us to return to our original plan.

WE Energies initially planned to begin constructing the pipeline in November and have it in service by August 2017.

PSC staff spent 700 hours analyzing the two routes WE Energies proposed for the pipeline, said Elise Nelson, PSC spokesperson. It was conducting an environmental assessment for the project when the utility officially notified the PSC on July 29.

The amount the PSC will bill WE Energies has not been determined.

The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection produced a 96-page draft Agricultural Impact Statement in July but a call to the agency regarding its billing WE Energies for its analysis was not returned by press time.

Manthey said the utility will review the costs from the state agencies when received and pay them.

The Blair Lateral Project was announced a little more than a year after the utility began construction of the West Central Lateral project, an 80-mile-long natural gas pipeline between Tomah and Fairchild.

Then Commissioner Eric Callisto, who voted against the West Central Lateral in June 2014, called the frac sand industrys interest conjecture since it had signed no supply contracts with WE Energies.

The cost of the pipeline will be spread across the (WE Energies) system while theres a relatively small amount of customers who would be served by the line, Callisto said at the time.

The village of Hixton is served by the West Central Lateral. The Blair Lateral would have provided a second pipeline in addition to the Viking Gas Transmission pipeline which serves Taylor and Blair.

In its November 2015 construction application to the PSC, WE Energies estimated that the customers served by the Blair Lateral would have accrued gas cost savings of $1.44 million to $9.6 million over the life of the project due to providing a second source of natural gas to the area.

The application also stated the utility was not dependent on a sand mine customer, not identified in the public version of the application, to make the Blair Lateral economically feasible.

The analysis looked at the economics without an anticipated sand mine customer  and found the project was still economically justified, according to WE Energies application. Thus, no contribution is anticipated from this customer.

Cancelling the project will not negatively impact the utilitys ability to serve the area around Blair and Taylor, Manthey said, and the project could be resubmitted to the PSC if conditions improve.

We have sufficient capacity to serve the existing customers in the project area for the near future. We will continue to analyze the need for the Blair Lateral project in the future, he said.
A former Gundersen Health System employee parking lot that will house the Gundersen Hotel & Suites was a field of dirt Thursday as Premier Hotel Properties broke ground on the four-story structure on South Avenue.

The hotel developer and hospital system gathered on the site to celebrate the beginning of an estimated year-long construction process for the hotel, which is a collaborative effort between the two entities.

Mark Platt, senior vice president of business services at Gundersen, was excited to see the project, which is scheduled to be completed July 1, get started after years of planning.

Its a thrill that were going to be able to build this property attached to our campus, because we do believe that having our patients and their families connected to our healthcare system when they are in those times of need is going to make a difference, Platt said.

The hospital has considered collaborating on a hotel for its patients and their families for decades but had been unable to find the right deal.

Its been a long road to find the right partners, but I think we did, Platt said.

The owner of the hotel will be Premier, a Missouri-based hotel company that also owns and operates the Holiday Inn Express in Onalaska. Spencer Schram of Premier said the company was prepared to serve the unique needs of the hotels patient clientele.

We know that were going to have people who are under stress at greater frequency than those who just have somebody who is going to visit La Crosse to have a good time at Oktoberfest, Schram said. We need to be ready to help those people under stress, and thats our pledge to Gundersen.

The hotel will include extensive landscaping outside, as well as 65 rooms. There will be 16 extended-stay suites, which will include a full bedroom, walk-through closet to the bathroom, and a range and refrigerator to allow guests to cook their own food.

It will also feature a 100-foot-long underground tunnel connecting it to the Gundersen Founders Building.

The Gundersen and Powell-Poage-Hamilton Neighborhood Associations collaborative strategic plan called for a hotel among other things in 2012, primarily for those taking advantage of the hospitals services.

Were not in the hotel business, Platt said. Were in the make communities better business.

From the hospitals perspective, they want to see the neighborhood thrive because it promotes overall well-being.

We are not in the business of trying to compete with leisure travelers and business travelers who are going downtown, he added. This is about taking care of our patients and families, and taking care of their families.

Despite the focus on patients, there will also be rooms available for tourists and other visitors to La Crosse.

La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat was happy to see the continued focus on providing a place for patients to stay during a vulnerable time.

Theyll have that just one less thing to worry about, Kabat said.

Kabat praised Gundersens forethought and investment in the Powell-Poage-Hamilton Neighborhood as a whole, including its properties, new medical resident housing and contribution to Poage Park.

I think it really is a strong testament to this city, to this region and especially to this neighborhood, that they are engaged in all of these things, Kabat said. It really does make La Crosse a great place. It really does boost our neighborhood.

Those engagements are part of Gundersens overall philosophy, according to Platt.

Wed much rather keep people healthy than fix them when theyre broke, Platt said.
La Crosse County law enforcement Friday launches a campaign designed to combat drunken driving.

Additional officers will patrol for longer hours during the annual Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over statewide enforcement that runs through Sept. 5.

Although drunken driving is 100 percent preventable, 190 people were killed and another 2,900 were injured in alcohol-related crashes in Wisconsin last year, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse police detective Chris Schuster said.

About 24,000 people were convicted last year of drunken driving, according to the state Department of Transportation. In the first seven months of the year, police in La Crosse County issued 141 citations for drunken driving, seat belt violations, speeding and operating after revocation or suspension.

Drunk drivers will find themselves arrested, jailed, ordered into court and facing steep fines and other penalties, Deputy District Attorney Jessica Skemp said.

The La Crosse County Tavern League encourages bar patrons to take advantage of its SafeRide program, where they can get a cab ride home at no cost. More than 7,000 people used the program between July 1, 2015, and June 30.

Any one of those could be someone who injured someone, tavern league president Mike Brown said. There is no excuse not to take a free ride.

Authorities encourage those who have been drinking to use the DOTs Drive Sober free mobile app, which will help users locate a safe ride home and features a blood-alcohol estimator. About 70,000 people have used the app since it launched three years ago.

Statewide, 33 task forces will participate in the campaign. Overtime costs are covered by federal funding through the state DOT Bureau of Transportation Safety.
Last weeks flooding did roughly $2 million worth of damage to public infrastructure in Buffalo County  but not enough for the county to qualify for federal disaster relief.

Emergency management officials with the county began their assessments this week, as did officials in Trempealeau County, needing to find a combined $8 million of public damage before they could receive federal money.

Overall estimates haven't been anywhere near that, said Stephen Schiffli, emergency management director for Buffalo County, and officials have already shifted their attention to securing the next best thing.

Were going to require the state to provide assistance to our municipalities, Schiffli said. There are programs that could help our communities immensely. Thats what theyre there for. There shouldnt be any issues with that.

Schiffli said most of the needs in Buffalo County could be handled through the Wisconsin Disaster Fund and grant programs under the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The county would make repairs with the understanding it would be reimbursed by the state, he said.

Buffalo County is still calculating its private damage, Schiffli said, and residents should report any damage they see.

In parts of the county, thunderstorms Aug. 11 and 12 dumped nearly a foot of rain. Families are still reclaiming their yards and homes from the floodwaters, and roads are still closed thanks to washed out bridges.

Crews have repaired many county and town roads that were blocked off after the storm  but with more rain forecast over the next couple days, Schiffli said the county is bracing for the possibility some of that work might be undone.

With the amount of road damage weve had, roads have a high probability of getting damaged again, Schiffli said. If that happens, we want people to turn around and dont drive through water. The last thing we need is someone driving through water.

Schiffli reported no injuries from last weeks flooding but said there are displaced families still being supported by the county.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that FEMA officials conducted damage assessments this week in Buffalo and Trempealeau counties. The assessments are being conducted by county officials, and are ongoing.
As Donald Trumps prospects have diminished, so too has the likelihood that Gary Johnson, Jill Stein or Evan McMullin will play any significant role in the 2016 election.

To do so would require a close race between Trump and Hillary Clinton  and enough support for at least one of them to qualify for the nationally televised debates. So far, neither is happening.

American presidential campaigns are replete with unsuccessful bids by third-party hopefuls who aimed to influence the outcome, displace one of the major parties, provide a vehicle for protesting the major candidates or achieve some combination of those goals. But though Americans frequently dislike both main candidates, few independents ultimately had much electoral impact.

For example, in 1960, Southern segregationists sought to withhold enough electoral votes from both John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon to throw the election into the House of Representatives, hoping it would elect someone more sympathetic to their views. They won electors in two Southern states but failed to prevent Kennedys election.

In 1948, left-winger Henry Wallace cost Harry Truman New York, and segregationist Strom Thurmond captured four Southern states. Truman still won.

And in 1992, computer magnate Ross Perots support in early polls spurred speculation he could win a three-way race. He finished third, and studies showed that, despite polling nearly 20 million votes and making the debates, he didnt change a single states result.

There are two exceptions, one quite recent. In 2000, onetime consumer activist Ralph Naders Green Party candidacy drained off enough liberal votes in New Hampshire and Florida to elect President George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore.

Nader got fewer than 3 million of the 105 million votes cast, but his 22,198 votes in New Hampshire tripled Bushs margin over Gore. In Florida, Naders 97,488 total was more than 100 times Bushs disputed 537-vote margin. Victory in either state would have given Gore the presidency.

The most clear-cut case occurred more than a century ago, in 1912. Former President Theodore Roosevelt, running as the Progressive Party nominee after losing the Republican nomination, split the GOP vote so Democrat Woodrow Wilson won easily with incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft third.

Roosevelt proves the exception to the rule that independents who influence the outcome are generally not high profile hopefuls but mavericks who get relatively few votes in the right places.

Nader fit that pattern. So did former Minnesota Democratic Sen. Eugene McCarthy, who in 1976 ran as an independent, drew only 740,000 votes but nearly enabled President Gerald Ford to defeat Democrat Jimmy Carter by tipping three closely divided states to the GOP.

Sometimes, third party candidacies produce results opposite the predominant views of their voters.

That was true in 2000, when Naders voters were generally disaffected liberals who thought Gore too centrist. The result was the most conservative presidency of the past quarter century. Theodore Roosevelts 1912 candidacy cost Republicans the White House, though he may have preferred Wilson to the increasingly conservative Taft.

Others impact long-term ideology more than a single election. Former Alabama Gov. George Wallaces strong showing in 1968 spurred President Richard Nixon to increase his appeal to conservative Southerners, helping build a national GOP majority for the next two decades.

This year, all three independent hopefuls are primarily protest vehicles for voters who dont like either Trump (Johnson and McMullin) or Clinton (Stein). Stein has attracted some outspoken liberals who backed Sen. Bernie Sanders primary challenge to Clinton. Johnson and McMullin are getting support from anti-Trump Republicans who also reject Clinton.

As a group, polls show theyre attracting more backers than recent independent hopefuls. But despite anecdotal evidence theyre appealing to disaffected mainstream voters and some prominent politicians, their numbers have stayed relatively stable  Johnson close to 10 percent, Stein with about half that. McMullin, just starting, doesnt register yet. Barring a big change, none seems likely to reach the Commission on Presidential Debates 15 percent national threshold for inclusion in the first debate scheduled Sept. 26.

Still, given deep dislike for both Clinton and Trump, it would be no surprise if the three totaled more votes than in any election in 20 years. Polls suggest support for Johnson and McMullin could undermine Trump sufficiently to cost him a state or two, notably Utah.

But history suggests their totals will decline as Election Day nears and voters acknowledge the real choice, once again, is between the two major party nominees.
Once upon a time, a scantily clad lass padding down a beach might cause a riot  at least of eyeballs eager to extend the sidelong glance.

Today, its the fully clothed woman who overheats the passions in France, where three towns have banned the burkini. Leave it to the French to criminalize modesty.

Latest to the ban-wagon is the Corsican village of Sisco, where three Muslim families and a group of local teens recently got into a row when one of the Muslim men became upset as a tourist photographed his burkini-clad wife.

The next day, riot police were needed in a nearby town to quell 200 protesters who stormed a housing area of mostly North African people, shouting this is our home. The precise cause of that flare-up wasnt known.

Did a burkini do it?

No clue, according to local authorities, but Sisco is banning the ultimate cover-up, anyway, to protect the population. Back on the mainland, the mayors of Cannes and nearby Villeneuve-Loubet also have banned burkinis. Two Muslim associations unsuccessfully challenged the Cannes ban, but have promised to appeal the lower court decision.

In the strangest justification offered for the wardrobe ban, Lionnel Luca, mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet, said it is unhygienic to swim fully clothed. For whom? The fish?

Tensions in France between Muslims and others may be understandable in light of recent events, including the July horror in Nice when a truck driver shouting paeans to Allah mowed down hundreds of Bastille Day revelers, killing 85 people, as well as the recent jihadist slaying of the beloved, 85-year-old priest Jacques Hamel in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.

But how the practice of modesty associated with many Muslims religious beliefs became an offense against the majority society is hard to fathom. The burkini also provides an interesting study in the metamorphosis of a symbol and its use in rationalizing other beliefs and actions that bear striking similarities to the extreme religiosity the caused such consternation in the first place.

Suddenly, the burkini has become Frances Confederate battle flag. Like the flag, the burkini means different things to different people, yet it has become such a powerful symbol of the cultural clash between overzealous French patriots and Muslim immigrants that it has become a prompt to man the barricades.

It is hardly shocking that women are the objects of such aggression. Or that men are the ones fighting over what women ought to be doing with their bodies. Depending on the era  and often the prevailing religion  women are either showing too much or too little. Frankly, Id like to see more not fewer burkinis on the beach, especially for Speedo-lovers over 50. Guys, do you own a mirror? (Please dont send pictures.)

It isnt just men concerned with burkinis. Some feminists and the enlightened French see the burkini as a visual face-slap to womens egalite. Among other things, equality means never having to cover up just because your natural self gets anothers gander up.

Non-Muslims in the West may disapprove of the practice and prefer our mores over those of strict Muslims, but were in no position to be smug. Less than 100 years ago in Washington, modesty police literally measured womens bathing suit skirts to ensure adherence to the legal standard of only six inches above the knee. In 1921 Atlantic City, women were also required to wear stockings pulled above the knee with their swimsuits. When young women protested the stocking law, it was the League of Women Voters that urged strict enforcement.

While beach patrols searched out bathing suit violators, they also scouted for their ogling male counterparts, described in a newspaper story of the time as bald beach lizards. One brave woman, novelist Louise Rosine, went to jail rather than cover up her knees with stockings. It was none of the citys darn business, she said, whether she rolled em up or down.

Weve come a long way, baby. And along the way, with few exceptions, weve found it possible to allow people to don (or not) their apparel as they wish. Some schools may ban message-emblazoned shirts. And we dutifully shed our jackets, scarves and shoes during security checks.

But liberte ought to mean that one can wear a burkini on the beach  or a thong, if you must. Neither suits my personal fancy, but its hard to imagine that a Muslim woman dressed traditionally is a threat to any but her own comfort.

Like the lady said, its none of the citys darn business.
After viewing the recent Republican National Convention and hearing Donald Trumps remarks last week about how the National Rifle Association could take care of Hillary Clinton, Americans should be extremely concerned about the prospects of a Trump presidency. The convention and Trump painted a dark picture of our country that reeked of pessimism, hatred and fear.

If elected, Trump claims he will make America great and safe again. He says violence on American streets will end, world terrorism will cease and America will regain the respect of world leaders.

His claims are difficult to believe considering his history. Trump has boasted about plans to build a wall on our southern border with Mexico and deport millions of immigrants. More than 30 years ago, however, a Trump contractor used undocumented Polish workers to clear the site where Trump Tower was built in Manhattan. They worked 12-hour days, seven days a week, and at times were not even paid.

In Las Vegas, where Trump owns a hotel with gold-gilded windows, some of his workers are employed part-time, have no healthcare and are paid under $10 an hour. These are some of the tens of thousands of jobs he claims to have created. And he also claims all of his employees are treated well.

Trumps public appearances continue to show the person he really is. He cant help himself from insulting women and minorities, the disabled, military heroes and so many more.
EAU CLAIRE  Gerald Jerry Garber, 65, of Eau Claire went to rest peacefully Monday, July 18, 2016, at MCHS, surrounded by the love of his family, after a short but courageous battle with lung cancer.

Jerry was born Jan. 16, 1951, in Black River Falls, to Leroy and Betty (Bullock) Garber of Tomah.

Jerry graduated in 1969 from Tomah High, and shortly after he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he bravely served from 1969 to 1972, fighting in the Vietnam War.

Shortly after his honorable discharge from the U.S. Army, Jerry met the love of his life, Leaf (York), and Jan. 15, 1981, they were married, and through the good and the bad, through sickness and in health they recently celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary.

Jerry worked many jobs throughout the years but the ones that meant the most were working for Uniroyal Tire Company for over 20 years up until the Eau Claire location closed, mechanic at Ricks Service Center, maintenance supervisor at the former Quality Inn, and his most recent position that he retired from, as a floor technician at Syverson Lutheran Home.

Jerry enjoyed spending time outdoors with his family and those he held close, keeping the house clean, the yard looking nice, and watching game shows.

Jerry will always be remembered as hardworking, compassionate, someone you could always rely on, and someone who always put everyone else before himself. Jerry was always a protector and now will continue to protect and look over those close to him.

Jerry is survived by the love of his life, Leaf; children, Josh and MacKensie (Brian) Garber; his little buddy and grandson, Izaiah; siblings, George (Karen) Garber of Great Falls, Mont., Judy Keeth of Waynesville, Mo., James (Linda) Garber of Warrens, Jack (Connie) Garber of Warrens, Rita (Todd) Steffel of Tomah, and Carol (Gary) Mitchell of Waynesville; sister-in-law, Sonja Rieder of Chippewa Falls; many nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives, and close friends.

Jerry was preceded in death by his infant son, Nicholas; parents, LeRoy and Betty Garber; grandparents, Ralph and Grace Garber, Perl Bullock and Leah Gentille; mother and father-in-law, Sully and Sigrid York; and nephew, Nathan Garber.

Per Jerrys wishes, there was no funeral service, but a celebration of life was held Sunday, July 31, in Eau Claire. There will also be a celebration of life for family and friends 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, at his brother, James (Linda) Garbers house in Warrens.

Lenmark-Gomsrud-Linn Funeral & Cremation Services assisted the family.
Teaching dance always attracted Misty Lown  she was leading her own classes when she was 16, having started dancing at 3. But she thought dancing professionally was her true calling, and a dream that was within her grasp.

As a college student at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Lown was accepted into a prestigious year-long training program with the acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City.

I thought, This is going to be my life, Lown said.

Before going to New York City, though, Lown went to Madison to see a performance by the Alvin Ailey troupe. During their closing number, Revelations, I had what I can only call a God-whisper on my heart that said, What will you remember of this performance a week, a month or a year from now? Lown recalled. Then she thought of the impact she could have on her dance students, imparting both art and life lessons that they might well pass on to more students themselves.

That was it for me, Lown said. I left that theater with tears streaming down my cheeks and knew the classroom would be my stage.

Over time, Lowns classroom grew. In 1998, barely into her 20s, she opened a dance studio, Mistys Dance Unlimited, in a brand new building in Onalaska. Nine years later, she built a bigger home that now has 800 students. Then she launched an organization to help other dance studios that now reaches 60,000 students a week. Now she has an ever-more demanding schedule as an inspirational speaker on leadership and entrepreneurship.

And now Lowns classroom is getting a lot bigger  again. In early July, Lown published a book called One Small Yes: Small Decisions That Lead to Big Results that in its first five days alone had more than 10,000 online e-book downloads on Amazon, hitting No. 5 on the list of most downloaded books during that period.

The book has an uplifting, empowering message, one that draws heavily on Lowns own life in an effort to help people find their own calling  as she did.

The message is centered on my belief that everybody was DNA-wired to do something great that only they can do. So you have a special calling in your life. Its the great privilege and responsibility of life to figure that out and then start making small yes choices in that direction, Lown said. If you can figure out, or at least ask the question  What am I here for?  and then make an earnest yes effort to move in that direction, I think thats where people get a lot of joy out of life.

Beginnings

My parents were doers, they just made things happen, Lown said of her childhood on La Crosses North Side. We didnt always have all the resources we might want ... but they made it happen.

She recalled when she was about 11 and her father, Paul Averill, lost his job as a truck driver. He was the familys sole breadwinner, but he insisted that rather than go on public assistance he was going to dig ditches for the railroad if he had to. And he was 40, so my age, Lown said. And that left an indelible mark on me. It made me realize everything is figure-out-able.

Her mother, Sandy Averill, had the same kind of can-do attitude, and Lown recalled that her parents were always quick to help anybody else who was going through a hard time. I just think compassion is important. When you see somebody has a need, you need to act on that, said Sandy, who has worked at MDU since it opened.

Lown saw her parents as great role models. They were so giving and they just faced each challenge, they just kept saying yes to the challenge of life, the daily grind of life, Lown said. If my dad was willing to go and dig ditches for me so we wouldnt lose our house, by golly, I owe it to him to face the challenges in my life. And I tell that story to my kids.

Her father did go to work on the railroad, but he put himself through railroad signal school and rose to the top of his field, the equivalent, Lown said, of going from the mailroom to a corner office on the top floor.

Starting dance lessons at Lorraines School of Dance when she was 3, Lown faced challenges of her own: asthma and a club foot. But the dancing helped her foot straighten out, Sandy said, and dance gave Misty a growing sense of confidence and helped develop her perseverance.

Lown proved to be a superlative dancer, and Paul Averill said he thought his daughter might end up a professional dancer. She was just a bright kid. I knew that whatever she wanted to do, shed succeed at it, he said.

Misty the teacher

Lown was on track to become a Spanish teacher  her bachelors degree is in Spanish, and she earned a masters degree in education from UW-L. But she knew that teaching dance was a way in which she could have more impact and more satisfaction.

I got into the Spanish classroom, and I thought, I could be turning cartwheels in here, and I dont think the kids would be very interested, Lown said. But when I go to the dance studio ... they cant wait to hear what I have to say.

At first, Lown taught most of the dance classes at Mistys Dance Unlimited. But, as she attracted more students, she taught new teachers to lead classes. Kristina (Smaby) Schoh was one of the many dancers turned teachers, teaching when she was just 15.

Schoh, a Miss Wisconsin Pageant winner, recalled praying at night when she was 9 or 10 to wake up and be Misty.

I so badly wanted to emulate her in every way  from a dancer to a teacher to a person, she said.

But Schoh said Lowns mentorship taught her she didnt need to be someone else, just her best self, and that was a message Schoh and other MDU teachers passed on to their students.

Shes unstoppable, invincible, Schoh said of Lown. Misty could have stopped at Mistys Dance Unlimited and she would have been defined as successful.  Its been really fun for me and empowering to see that you dont ever have to stop.

These days, Mistys Dance Unlimited draws about 800 dancers every week, and MDU reaches another 600 area kids through community outreach, including classes at Boys & Girls Clubs branches, preschools, community events and more.

Five years ago, Lown started More Than Just Great Dancing, a company that provides member dance studios with a template that can help them emulate Mistys Dance Unlimited.

I was out speaking on the national circuits, writing for a national magazine, and people were just really interested in how we built what we did, and how we did it without losing our families, our minds, or compromising kids, because those are pretty common things to happen in the industry, Lown said.

After five years, there are 164 affiliated dance schools in 34 states, Canada, Australia, Aruba and Dubai serving 60,000 young dancers every week. More Than Just Great Dancing has become a very full-time job for Lown, and she has 10 employees in the MTJGD enterprise, eight of them full-timers (including her sister, Alana Hess, nine years her junior).

Lown also has a reach beyond those 60,000 young dancers through an online magazine called More Than Dancers, which started a year ago. Last month, the site had 200,000 visitors (from more than 90 countries) with a million Facebook engagements, and More Than Dancers is among the top 10 most popular dance-related accounts on Twitter.

More Than Dancers is launching a new summer dance festival in the Twin Cities next year. Its expected to draw 500 dancers, mostly from MTJGD-affiliated schools. Unlike most large gatherings of dancers, its not a competition. The emphasis will be on learning and not just about dance. There will be breakout sessions to help participants work out their paths in life after high school.

Nobodys done a dance festival that has this life- and college-planning focus, and I think thats really necessary, Lown said.

More than busy

Lown also regularly speaks on business development, creating wow experiences for clients, marketing, community service, work-life balance and other business and entrepreneurial topics. She recently returned from speaking at a convention of mortgage bankers in the Virgin Islands.

Lown also takes part in four or five Dance Revolution events a year as a performer and teacher  basically 2-day Christian dance conventions.

All but two months this year have her traveling, but April and September on her calendar say no speaking  family time. Those months were strategically chosen, Lown said, for the beginning of school in the fall and for preparation for the annual MDU spring dance recitals, which draw thousands of spectators for multiple performances every year at Viterbo Universitys Fine Arts Center.

Family time is important to Lown. Shes had an extended break from teaching dance classes to make more time for her husband, Mitch (her high school sweetheart at La Crosse Logan), and their daughter and four sons: 15-year-old Isabella, whom Lown says is an even stronger dancer than she was at that age; 13-year-old Mason, an avid water skier; 11-year-old Sam, a talented dancer and member of the MDU competitive hip-hop team; 9-year-old Max, who is into all things sports, all the time; and 7-year-old Benji, who loves music and science and is extremely inquisitive.

As busy as she is between her family and ever-growing enterprises, Lown makes it a point to find time for charitable work. Most notably, she started and led for seven years the annual Dancing With the La Crosse Stars fundraising event that raised $400,000 in those years for the American Red Cross  and she won top honors in the first one with her dance partner, UW-La Crosse Professor Robert Richardson.

She also started a free adaptive dance class for youths with disabilities, launched a dance education program at the Boys & Girls Clubs along with scholarships for 10 BGC members per year to take classes at MDU. And a grant program she helped start in 2011 has given $25,000 to area schools so far, with students writing their own proposals for grants of up to $250. MDU also gave more than $200,000 in cash and in-kind scholarships before starting the Chance to Dance Foundation three years ago.

And these are just the public things. Sandy Averill said her daughter does a lot of things anonymously, something confirmed by Mike Desmond, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater La Crosse.

(The Lowns) as a couple seem to really understand the meaning of what were all called to do, which is to make a difference in other peoples lives, especially the most vulnerable, Desmond said.

Now that all her children are in school full-time, shes going to ease back into teaching at the studio for the first time in five years with an advanced ballet class on Tuesday nights.

Thats my sweet spot, working with teenagers, because they are making those daily choices about who they are and what they stand for and what they want to be when they grow up, she said.

After her early July trip to the book launch in Washington, D.C., coming back home to the chaos of a five-child household helped Lown put life into perspective again after the dizzying success of her book launch.

You come home and theyre like, Hey, welcome home, did you pick up milk? Lown said with a laugh. My real life is very real, so it definitely keeps me grounded.

Writing a book

Last fall, Lown started writing a book called Eight Steps to a Better Dance Studio, with the thought she could help more studio owners and teachers than she can reach through her More Than Just Great Dancing organization. She was an old hand at writing, having written about 50 stories for various publications over the years.

Lown was about halfway through writing it when she sat down with key members of her team. She had some doubts about where the book was going and wanted their advice.

Her core team members  there are about 15 between the dance studio and MTJGD  pressed her on what studio owners ask her when they ask her for advice.

And they always ask, How did you do it, and I always say, Just take it one small yes at a time, Lown recalled. Then we had this a-ha moment as a team where it was like, well clearly Im writing the wrong book.

Lown enrolled in a three-month, online book writing course called Make a Difference through a publisher called Difference Press that focuses on publishing books meant to have an impact for good on readers. The course forced Lown to ask herself hard questions she hadnt considered.

You know, who is your ideal reader? Who is the audience? What is your purpose? Why are you doing this? We worked backwards through the outline, so it was really a reverse engineered process, Lown explained. They say the worst thing you can do when you want to write a book is to start writing. You have to build the structure.

What Lown came up with had implications well beyond how to build a successful dance studio business. This book is about creating a path between where you are and what you feel like you are called to do, she said.

For the launch of the book, Lown and the six other authors in her class gathered at the publishers office in Washington, D.C., for a launch party on July 7, Lowns 41st birthday. Difference Press launches books by offering free downloads on Amazon for five days. By the end of the launch, One Small Yes topped 10,000 downloads, by far the most of any of the 174 books published in the history of Difference Press.

Hitting the 10,000 mark was extra sweet for Lown because the publisher had offered a reward for hitting that: a $1,000 donation to Global Groundwork, the charitable initiative launched by Lowns husband in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake to establish a school in Port-au-Prince.

Shes our superstar, said Angela Lauria, the woman behind Difference Press and The Author Incubator, which put on the class Lown went through to write her book. I think the reason why her message was so appealing is it was so doable. So many people have these big messages about living your dreams.  I think her message is so accessible.

Lown was very happy about her books reception and the quantity of downloads. Weve had 90 five-star reviews, so I think its something people were glad they took the time to read, she said.

As far as Lowns mother is concerned, the book could not have been better. I thought it was very inspiring, she said. She just has a wonderful gift in telling her story in a way that people see themselves in it and they can relate to it.

Lown signed a publishing contract with Morgan James Publishing, which specializes in books on entrepreneurship. Some of my heroes of the entrepreneurial world were published by Morgan James, so for me, that was an especially sweet thing, she said.

For all the success of the book so far, Lown says she has tried to put that in perspective. My real reward is what I learned through the process, another layer of can-do. I can do this, I can discipline myself to get this done, and I can apply that discipline to something else.

Lown is quick to point out that the successful launch of the book, which will have a print edition that will be in Barnes & Noble stores next spring, went far beyond her own efforts. In addition to the editors and designers who helped get the book ready for publication after she had written it, there were also about 150 people on her launch team that read the book in advance and helped spread the word.

Success means many things to many people, but to me it means giving credit where credit is due and never forgetting the people who helped you along the way, Lown added. Ill talk about that as long as I have breath, and I think thats really important to model to kids.
VIROQUA  Harold C. Sturgill, 97, of Viroqua passed away Monday, July 25, 2016, at the Bethel Home in Viroqua, where he had been a resident since May 3, 2016.

He was born Aug. 11, 1918, to Walter and Edna Sturgill in Ashland, W.V., and graduated from Elkhorn High School in Elkhorn, W.V., in 1935.

Harold began working for the Appalachian Power Company until 1937. Later he began working as an inside coal miner at the Consolidated Coal Company in Bartley, W.V., until he volunteered for the U.S. Army in early 1942. He served in the U.S. Army in the North Africa campaigns with General George Pattons Third Army, serving in southern Italy, as a signal corpsman until the war in Europe ended in 1945.

Following his army tour of duty he returned to War, W.V., to resume his career in the coal industry as an electrician and later as mining engineer. Harold was very fond of automobiles and motorcycles. He often rode his Norton motorcycle on the mountain roads of West Virginia, and even made several trips to Hot Springs, Ark. In 1950, he married his beloved wife, Effie White, and they remained in War, until 1965. He then accepted an engineering position with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in Viroqua. Harold and Effie moved to Viroqua, and quickly became a part of the Viroqua community, making lots of new friends. Effie in particular was very instrumental in developing many lasting relationships. His duty with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was to survey land areas adjacent to the Mississippi River to develop wash basins to retain water for flood control of the Mississippi River. He did this until his retirement in 1983. After suffering a long illness of diabetes, Effie passed away in 1984. She was dearly missed by Harold.

Harold was very active in the Westby United Methodist Church, until he became disabled due to macular degeneration. During this time he continued to live alone with much support from the Gary and Judy Gilbertson family, neighbors and other friends. He was a great storyteller and was very fond of telling about his experiences in the coal industry and his service in the army during World War II. Due to his macular degeneration he was not able to read or watch TV, however, he loved listening to his Bose radio to keep current with the news of the world, and could converse on about any subject right up until his passing.

Harold was preceded in death by his parents, Walter and Edna Sturgill; wife, Effie; sisters, Helen Aker, Gladys Thompson, Evelyn Landford and Marilyn Sturgill.

He is survived by his brother, Richard (Dawn) Sturgill of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., and several nieces and nephews. Blessed be his memory.

Harold appreciated the kindness shown to him during his lifetime, from his many friends including Brenda Turben, Lynn Bambenek, Susan Williams, Betty Nigh, along with Pastor Don and Mary Greven. A special thank you to Dr. Duane Koons and his staff at Hirsch Clinic over the past 25 years, for their understanding, kindness and support, which was unsurpassed. Harold also really appreciated the wonderful care he received in his last days, from the entire staff at the Bethel Home. Memorials may be given to the Bad Axe Lutheran Church Word of Life Radio Show, which Harold enjoyed every Sunday; the Bethel Home, Viroqua; or the Vernon County Aging Unit Meals on Wheels Program.

Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5, at the Thorson Funeral Home in Viroqua, with Pastor Donald Greven officiating. Burial was in West Virginia.

Online condolences may be sent to info@thorsonfuneralhome.com.
Tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 19, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin will host a roundtable in Viroqua to discuss the opioid and heroin epidemic with local law enforcement, health care providers, and leaders from the education and criminal justice community.

The roundtable will be held in the county boardroom of the Vernon County Courthouse, 400 Courthouse Square, Viroqua, at 2:30 p.m.

Opioid and heroin abuse is an epidemic in Wisconsin that continues to grow at an alarming rate, Baldwin said. I look forward to this dialogue because I believe Congress needs to do to more to address this crisis. Until we do, our job is not done and local communities will be without the support they need to effectively combat this crisis in Wisconsin.

Baldwin cosponsored and voted for the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (S.524), which included bipartisan VA reforms she authored. The legislation was signed into law last month by President Obama.

Congress recently passed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act as a critical first step. However, Washington needs to act immediately to provide emergency investments for local prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts, Baldwin said.

Last week, Baldwin called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to schedule a vote on legislation to provide emergency funding when Congress returns to session after Labor Day. The legislation, introduced by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and cosponsored by Baldwin, would provide supplemental appropriations totaling $600 million to support the work of first responders, health care providers, and law enforcement as they continue to respond to this national emergency. In March, the legislation did not receive enough support from Senate Republicans to pass the Senate.

Baldwin has held roundtable dialogues on the opioid and heroin epidemic in Green Bay, La Crosse and Wausau this year.


Bill Gates says the world can beat polio -- despite two new cases of the disease in Nigeria.

Gates, who started Microsoft, spoke to VOAs Africa 54 program. He said he was disappointed to hear of two new cases in Borno, located in Nigerias northern Lake Chad region.

But Gates said he is optimistic that the whole world will soon be polio free. He said he is hopeful, despite how hard it is to find kids in areas that are not safe.

Northern Nigeria is where Boko Haram militants operate.

We need to access kids, and we need for people to understand the importance of getting all the kids to take this oral polio vaccine."

Nigerian officials said the virus was found in two children from Borno State earlier this year. The discovery came days before Nigeria would have marked two years without a case of polio.

Ministry of Health officials told VOA that the army would help health teams to vaccinate children in Northern Nigeria.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $3.5 billion since 2000 to stop polio. Forbes Magazine lists Bill Gates as the richest person in the world.

In 1999, the foundation said polio was present in 125 countries and paralyzed 350,000 people every year.

Last year, Gates said, there were 19 cases in the world.

This is, by far, the lowest year of polio cases ever and were getting smarter all the time about how we find the villages, how we reach out to the traditional leaders...

Gates said his goal is to allow kids in poor countries to be as healthy as kids in the rest of the world. That requires better health care, better food and more education in poor nations, he said.

Theres still a lot to be done, Gates said. But he said it is important to talk about how much progress has been made in recent years.

Gates told VOA that 25 years ago, about 12 million children under the age of five died every year. Now, he said, that number is under six million.

Polio used to strike fear into every parent before 1952 because there is no cure. But Dr. Jonas Salk found a vaccine. These days, kids no longer need a painful injection to make them safe from the virus. A few drops taken by mouth can prevent a lifetime of paralysis.

Gates said it is important to spread the vaccination program into northeastern Nigeria, along with Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Well, the simple thing is that if we get every kid to take the vaccine, then the disease drops to zero and zero is, you know, [a] really magic number.

The benefits of making the world polio free are major, Gates said.

No kid will be paralyzed, no parents will have to worry about this disease, which, you know, back in its heyday, was very, very, very widespread...

Gates spoke about where he sees that effort now.

So getting the coverage level up, not having large pockets of children, like in that Lake Chad region, that were missing with the vaccines, that's what we have to deal with. And we certainly see great progress on that in Asia, and now, you know, we've got to redouble our efforts in Africa.

Im Mehrnoush Karimian-Ainsworth.

Kenneth Schwartz reported this story for VOANews.com. Bruce Alpert adapted his report for Learning English. Pete Heinlein was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page.

___________________________________________________________ Words in This Story

disappointed -- n. feeling bad about a situation

optimistic -- n. feeling hopeful about a situation

oral -- adj. of or relating to the mouth

paralyze - v. to make a person unable to move or feel all or part of the body

magic -- n. a special power or skill

heyday -- n. the time something was at its greatest strength


:    9         

         2013 .         9          .    .
Fleeing places such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan is not easy because few countries will accept refugees.

Several of the countries that do welcome refugees are in South America. Over the past five years, Brazil has been the place where refugees arrive and stay  or at least live temporarily -- before they are sent to Europe or the United States.

Ahmad Hamada is one of those refugees. Seven days a week, he sells Arab food in the Botafogo neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.

"Here in Brazil, no person [helps you], gives you money, give[s] you [a] house," he said. "You must work. No work, you cannot eat here."

Hamada is a Palestinian who grew up in Syria and Lebanon. He decided to flee the conflicts in the Middle East 11 months ago. He wanted to go to Europe and believed he could get there by going first to Brazil.

Before Europe began to accept large numbers of refugees, Brazil was one of the few countries that would give Syrians and Palestinians a visa. Since 2013, thousands of refugees have entered Brazil. Many of them hope to be sent to Europe.

Ahmad was one of them. But he says immigration officers attacked him in Rome and returned him to Brazil. He says he woke up on a plane, guarded by four Italian police officers. He said his hands and legs were in chains.

Refugees who arrive in Rio de Janeiro are often sent to the Sao Joao church. It is led by Father Alex Coelho Sampaio.

Father Sampaio operates The House of Support for Refugees in buildings behind the church. He says Brazil has, for many years, accepted those who are being persecuted or are fleeing conflict.

"Brazil for many years has had an open-door policy and that was true after the Second World War, for example," he said. "And at the moment, in particular, regarding Syrian refugees, we are receiving quite a lot."

Father Sampaio says at one time he was caring for so many Syrians that the refugees had to sleep on mattresses on the floor. With his help, some have gone to Europe and others have remained in Brazil. He now cares for 35 refugees. Three are Syrians. They include Ahmad Barour, from Damascus.

"I would love to go to Europe, Britain, a country that is democratic," Barour said. "Everybody is equal -- no discrimination between black, white, stranger, or native. They respect everybody."

For now, he is happy to stay in Brazil. He says he earns enough money to buy food. And he says he has friends. But he says someday he hopes to visit his sister in Denmark.

Im Pete Musto.

VOA Correspondent Jeff Swicord reported this story from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his report for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly 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

persecute  v. to treat (someone) cruelly or unfairly especially because of race or religious or political beliefs


It took just two weeks for lawmaker Howard Anderson Jr. to get a vote on his bill.

Anderson serves in the North Dakota State Senate. His bill would help people seeking medical help for a drug overdose avoid arrest.

In most legislatures across the United States, including the U.S. Congress, it is a big deal to get a vote on a bill. But in North Dakota, every bill proposed is guaranteed a vote.

Andersons bill was one of over 900 introduced in the last North Dakota legislative session. All bills that were not withdrawn got votes and over half were passed and signed into law, including Andersons.

'Good Thing' for North Dakota

I think its a good thing, said North Dakota House Majority Leader Al Carlson.

We are a citizens legislature. We dont get paid a lot of money. We go into session for 80 days every two years. And if you introduce a bill, you are going to get a hearing and a vote.

That is a big difference from other legislatures. In the U.S. Congress, for example, only 5 percent of the 11,000 bills proposed during the current term got a vote. Only 2 percent passed and were signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Better Odds in North Dakota

There are no such long odds facing sponsors of bills in North Dakota, a state just south of the Canadian border.

Anderson said his bill makes sure people are not afraid to call for emergency help after a drug overdose for fear of getting arrested. The senator said he hoped his bill would save lives.

Carlson and Anderson are members of the Republican Party, the majority party in North Dakota. But the states Democratic Party lawmakers also like the guarantee of every bill getting a vote.

North Dakota Senate Minority Leader Mac Schneider, a Democrat, said that in most legislatures it is easy for a committee chair to kill a bill. But with the requirement that every bill get a vote, Schneider said, Democratic proposals can pass -- even in mostly Republican North Dakota.

As examples, he points to Democratic bills to help college students. The legislature passed measures to help students change terms on their student loans and to set limits on student fees at state colleges.

His opinion: It is one thing for a committee chair to kill a popular bill with few looking, but another for lawmakers to vote against a popular bill when the vote is made in public.

What About the Crazy Stuff?

But surely, some really crazy bills must get votes, right?

Schneider said he cant think of many. It might be because members know whatever they propose will get a vote and few lawmakers want to defend a bill other members consider strange, he said.

He told VOA the only example he could think of was a bill that required people to keep their car headlights on while driving both during the daytime and at night.

This made sense to one of our members, but the majority voted it down, Schneider said.

Dana Michael Harsell teaches political science at the University of North Dakota. He said the every bill gets a vote rule follows a long tradition of citizen democracy in North Dakota.

It is more than just the vote guarantee, which is unique among the 50 states. Many North Dakota state legislators leave their home telephone or cell phone numbers on the states website.

As popular as it is in North Dakota, Harsell said, the requirement that all bills get a vote probably would not work in larger states.

For example, New York has a population of 19.8 million, 26 times larger than that of North Dakotas 756,927. New York state lawmakers consider about 12,000 bills in a legislative session, about 13 times as much as North Dakota, according to FiscalNote.com.

I dont know how it would work elsewhere, said Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner of his states vote guarantee. I just know that it works in North Dakota.

But Wardner said even North Dakota has rules. For example, to get a vote a bill must be proposed during the first part of the 80-day legislative term. There are exceptions. But no matter the party of the sponsor, there has to be a pretty good reason to allow a bill to be considered past the deadline, he said.

I'm Bruce Alpert.

Bruce Alpert reported this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page.

___________________________________________________________

Words in this Story

overdose -- n. an amount of a drug or medicine that is too much and usually dangerous

introduce -- v. to submit a bill to a legislature

long odds -- adj. very little chance of happening

sponsor -- n. the person in a legislature who writes and introduces a bill

unique -- adj. very unusual

deadline -- n. a date or time when something must be finished
German carmaker Audi is equipping some of its 2017 models in the United States with technology that will communicate with traffic signals.

Information from the signals will let drivers know exactly when the light will change color.

The technology is known as vehicle-to-infrastructure (V-to-I). It lets traffic signals and other infrastructure send safety and operations information wirelessly to vehicles.

The equipment will be included on Audis Q7, A4 and A4 Allroad models built after June 1, 2016.

The service is set to begin this year in at least five smart American cities. These include Las Vegas, Nevada, Seattle, Washington, and Washington D.C.

The information will come from government agencies that already collect data to predict and oversee traffic flow. A private company will partner with government officials to pass along the data to vehicles.

Drivers will see a countdown on the cars instrument panel to show when the traffic signal will turn green or red. The message goes away a few seconds before the light changes, so drivers can turn their attention to safely proceeding.

Pom Malhotra is general manager of Audi's connected vehicles division. He said the system was designed to provide drivers with a sense of ease and convenience, not as a safety feature.

A better informed driver means a less stressed driver, an announcer says in an Audi video explaining the technology.

The company said the idea is to let drivers know exactly how long before a signal changes. It suggested they use the time to make sure other passengers are fine or monitor vehicle operations.

The technology raises the possibility that some drivers may use the vehicles downtime to talk on the telephone or send text messages. But Audi said it would never tell drivers to text while driving  an activity that is illegal in almost all 50 states.

Many other automakers are experimenting with the technology.

The goal is to eventually integrate traffic infrastructure with cars on many city roads. This would let traffic signals use the vehicle data to regulate traffic, suggest better driving paths, or suggest speeds needed to hit all green lights.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Additional material came from Reuters. 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

infrastructure  n. basic systems used to serve society, such as transportation and communication

instrument panel  n. surface in front of a driver that displays all major functions of a vehicle

convenience  n. something that makes life easier

monitor  v. watch, keep track of

integrate  v. combine two or more things to make something more effective

recommend  v. to say something is good and should be chosen
It was announced on Wednesday morning that the NEBRASKAland Days Parade will double as the Official Sesquicentennial Grand Parade for the states 150th birthday celebration.

Officials also said the June 17, 2017, parade would keep the route its traveled for the last two years.

Earlier this month, the Nebraska Sesquicentennial Commission designated the NEBRASKAland Days Parade as a Signature NE150 Event, and the NEBRASKAland Days Board of Directors accepted the

designation.

Were obviously excited about the partnership that is being forged between the commission and NEBRASKAland Days, said executive director David Fudge. As Nebraskas official state celebration, we knew we wanted to contribute to NE150 in whatever way we could.

The parade actually predates the NEBRASKAland Days celebration by one year. It was founded by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in 1964 and originally took place in downtown Lincoln. It was meant to highlight everything Nebraska has to offer and participants were invited from across the state.

The 2017 parade will have a similar mission, said Fudge. Nebraska should be proud of what we have to offer, and we hope to be able to highlight that during not only the parade, but throughout our 2017 celebration.

Fudge said the parade will likely be much longer in 2017. The start time will be moved up from 1 p.m. to noon to accommodate what we think will be an uptick in participants for 2017, Fudge said.

The parade will travel down South Dewey Street again next year, instead of returning to the traditional North Jeffers route. The route was originally changed in 2015 to accommodate construction on Jeffers Street.

Feedback from law enforcement, the city, the state, sponsors and entrants was almost universally in favor of keeping this route, Fudge said.

The parade will begin at Memorial Park and will go west on Fourth Street before turning south on Dewey Street and concluding at H Street.
LINCOLN  A Nebraska death row inmate challenged the states death penalty law Wednesday based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down capital punishment in Florida.

The motion for post-conviction relief argues that Nebraska unconstitutionally requires a three-judge panel to make the final sentencing decision in capital cases. The motion cites the Supreme Court opinion released this year in Hurst v. Florida, which said the U.S. Constitution requires juries to decide the critical elements of a death sentence.

The Nebraska statutes, which allow a panel of judges, not a jury, to make findings authorizing a death sentence, violates this central constitutional tenet repeated in Hurst, Omaha lawyer Alan Stoler wrote in the motion.

A similar legal challenge that relied on the Hurst ruling prompted the Delaware Supreme Court to strike down that states death penalty this month.

Stoler filed the motion in Scotts Bluff County District

Court on behalf of Jeffrey Hessler, convicted of the 2003 first-degree murder of 15-year-old Heather Guerrero of Gering. Hessler abducted the girl as she was delivering newspapers, then drove her to an abandoned farmhouse, where he raped her before shooting her in the head.

The jury that convicted Hessler identified aggravating circumstances necessary to warrant a death sentence, said Suzanne Gage, spokeswoman for Attorney General Doug Peterson. Jurors who heard all of the evidence in the case determined that Hesslers actions were especially heinous, atrocious, cruel, or manifested exceptional depravity.

The Attorney Generals Office will defend the motion, which we expect will be as unsuccessful as Hesslers other two failed post-conviction cases, she added.

The new legal challenge comes as advocates on both sides of the death penalty ramp up efforts to sway Nebraska voters, who will be asked Nov. 8 to decide a referendum on the Legislatures 2015 repeal of capital punishment.

This week, death penalty backers released poll results indicating that a strong majority of Nebraskans support capital punishment. Meanwhile, opponents unveiled an economic analysis that says the state spends $14.6 million annually to maintain the death penalty.

Hesslers new challenge wont be decided before voters go to the polls, so it most likely becomes moot if the repeal survives. But his case will proceed if voters keep the death penalty on the books, and Hessler will try to convince the Nebraska Supreme Court to strike down the law.

In Hurst v. Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court negated a death penalty sentencing scheme that required juries to make a recommendation to the judge on sentencing. The final decision, however, rested with the judge.

The Supreme Court said the Florida law violated the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to a jury trial.

Nebraskas system is similar, but not identical, to Floridas.

In Nebraska, a second trial takes place after a defendant is convicted in a death penalty case. The same jury that decided guilt also decides whether aggravating factors exist to justify the defendants execution.

If the jury finds that aggravating factors were present in the murder, a three-judge panel is convened to determine if they outweigh any mitigating factors in the defendants favor. The three judges also must determine if the death sentence is warranted and, if so, whether it is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases.

After making the necessary determinations, the judges impose the sentence.

Those findings are elements of the crime of capital murder, Stoler said in a legal brief. As a result, these elements must be found by a unanimous jury, not a judge.

Hessler, 37, is one of 10 men on Nebraskas death row. He was sentenced in 2005 and lost his appeal to the State Supreme Court two years later.

He has filed two other post-conviction appeals, which were unsuccessful. His newest motion will be heard by District Judge Randall Lippstreu.
Paul Ryan, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, helped raise money for Republican congressional candidate Don Bacon in Omaha on Wednesday.

Ryan endorsed Bacon and attended a lunchtime fundraiser that hauled in about $150,000, according to a Bacon campaign official.

The event was held at Midtown Crossing and hosted by Ken Stinson, chairman emeritus of Peter Kiewit Sons Inc.

About 100 people attended, paying $1,000 for lunch or $2,700 for lunch and a photo opportunity with Ryan.

Ryan left Midtown Crossing at 1:45 p.m.

For security reasons, the fundraiser was not made public until after Ryan had left.

It was the first of three fundraisers that Ryan was set to attend Wednesday. The others were in Iowa and Minnesota.

Ryan praised Bacon, a retired brigadier general who is seeking the 2nd District seat now held by U.S. Rep. Brad Ashford, D-Neb.

With America at a critical crossroads, we need tested and proven leaders like Don Bacon in Congress, Ryan said in a statement. I know he will help protect our nation and take care of our veterans, because he has his entire career.

After the event, Bacon talked with reporters and said that Ryan spoke for 30 to 40 minutes about national security issues and the economy.

Fresh off his primary win in Wisconsin last week, Ryan is visiting eight states in two weeks to campaign for House Republicans in order to preserve the GOP majority, according to Roll Call, a Washington-based publication.

Ryan had volunteered to come to Omaha, Bacon said, after identifying the 2nd District race as one that Republicans think they can win in November.

Stinson said that hes glad Ryan came and shared his vision for the country.

On the national scene, hes one of the more sane leaders with a plan, Stinson said.

Meanwhile, in a letter to Ryan on Wednesday, Ashford welcomed the House speaker to Omaha and invited him to meet and discuss issues important to the 2nd District.

Ashford happened to be in the neighborhood when the event concluded, and he also spoke to reporters at Midtown Crossing.

Ashford said he learned Wednesday morning that Ryan was coming to Omaha but didnt know where and when the event would be held.

He had just finished running at Prairie Life Fitness when he saw Hal Daub, a veteran Republican politician who is a University of Nebraska regent, walking out of a restaurant with reporters gathered outside. He said thats when he came to the realization that Ryan was probably speaking nearby.

I wasnt born yesterday, Ashford said.

Ashford said that he was hoping to talk to Ryan about the Nebraska Medical Centers role in combating health crises such as the Zika virus, as well as national security issues. A representative for Ryan told Ashford that the speaker didnt have time to meet Wednesday.

I dont care about him supporting Bacon, Ashford said of Ryan. Thats his right. He can do what he wants to do.

World-Herald staff writer Robynn Tysver contributed to this report.
Mark your calendar: Omaha Restaurant Week is back, this year with more than 60 participating restaurants.

The sixth annual event is Sept. 16 through 25, and diners can look forward to three-course, fixed-price meals for $20, $30, $40 or $50 per person. The event raises money for the Food Bank of the Heartland.

For the first time, the event includes a $50 price point, applied at the citys most upscale restaurants. Chef Clayton Chapman, who runs The Grey Plume, said the new higher price allows him to put together a menu that mirrors the quality and portion size that non-Restaurant Week diners would find at his Midtown Crossing spot.

New this year to the event are Agave Azteca, Baela Rose,

the Jams Old Market location, Jazz, Julios, Lo Los Chicken & Waffles, Riva, Saigon Surface, Tavern 180 and Via Farina.

The rest of the participants are 1912, 7M Grill, 801 Chophouse, Anthonys Steakhouse, Avoli Osteria, all locations of Blue Sushi Sake Grill, Black Oak Grill, all locations of Blatt Beer and Table, The Boiler Room Restaurant, Bravo Cucina Italiana, both locations of Brix, Cantina Laredo, Crave, Dante Ristorante, Darios Brasserie, Dolce, Farnam House Brewing Co., Flemings, Gorats, J. Coco, Jams midtown, Johnnys Cafe, Johnnys Italian Steakhouse, Kona Grill, Lazlos, Le Bouillon, Le Voltaire, Little Espana, Lot 2, Nosh, Pasta Amore, Pig & Finch, both locations of Pitch Pizzeria, Plank Seafood Provisions, Railcar Modern American Kitchen, both locations of Stokes, Sullivans, Taita, Thai Pepper, The Grey Plume, Tusseys Casual Grill, Twisted Cork Bistro, Twisted Fork and Wave Bistro.

Menus will be released later today. For more information, visit omaharestaurantweek.com.

Participating restaurants will donate 5 percent of sales from Restaurant Week specials to the Food Bank for the Heartland, which provides emergency and supplemental food to people in need in Nebraska and western Iowa.

The event is presented by the Omaha World-Herald.
It is often asserted that the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 proved that HWA was right and he really did see the future.

This of course is nonsense. Herbert W. Armstrong said that Christ would return within twenty years in his book Mystery of the Ages. (PCG has since deleted those words so someone in there knows HWA spoke nonsense.) How convenient for them to forget this.

Also Herbert W. Armstrong never said the Soviet Union would collapse. He thought it would survive intact until a few years after Christ's return. It shows how biased some many in the COGs are that they never seem to notice this. This inconvenient truth is just tossed into the memory hole.

It is true that HWA said that some Eastern European states would break away from Moscow's orbit and join the European Empire he said would arise at any moment. But he never talked of the Soviet Union collapsing. He did not teach that. Also he portrayed the rise of the European Empire to be far quicker then what has actually happened. In Mystery of the Ages Christ was supposed to return by 2005 at the most.

So assertions that the fall of the Berlin Wall somehow prove that HWA was right is just complete nonsense spread by people who, for whatever reason, are still in denial that HWA was a false prophet who merely talked out of his own "human reasoning".
Residents at the Mosley Motel in St. Petersburg, many of them low income families, were served eviction notices this week following the motel's purchase by new owners.

Among those evicted are students at nearby elementary schools

Pinellas County currently serves more than 3,000 homeless students

District offers services to homeless families through HEAT program

We got our walking papers basically, said resident Mary Bell. Telling us we have to leave the property by the 16th.



Bell has four children, three of them attending nearby elementary schools. While Bell plans to find a new place to live, she worries others will be left with nowhere to turn for help.



Sure, theres a lot of us that are going to make our own way, Bell said. But theres a lot more people in here that are just totally lost.



The Pinellas County School District currently serves more than 3,000 homeless students. The dozens of children living at the Mosley Motel already count towards that number, as do all students who reside in a motel or hotel.



District Spokesperson Lisa Wolf said the district is aware of the situation at the motel. The district offers services to its homeless families through its HEAT Program, which includes two social workers. The program offers families referrals to local community resources and aids with bus transportation, free meals and school supplies.



Bell said those are all things she and other parents will take advantage of if they are still living within Pinellas County come end of September.



You never know, said Bell. Right now everything is so up in the air.
The image of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Chadian President Idriss Deby proudly holding the first two copies of the newly launched pan-African passport at the African Union (AU) summit in the Rwandan capital Kigali, marked the type of historic moment rarely seen at such gatherings, where outcomes are often measured in declarations or resolutions.

Image by 123RF

With the launch of the new pan-African document, the continent moved up a notch towards the free cross-border movement of goods and people  in direct opposite to Brexit, the decision by British voters to exit the European Union.

The AU will issue the new biometric or electronic passport only to African heads of state, foreign ministers and diplomats accredited by the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It will bear the AUs name and that of the issuing country. The plan is for African governments to roll it out to their citizens by 2018.

Many thought the move was well overdue, since one of the AUs regional trading blocs, the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has been offering 90-day visa-free entry to member states citizens since the late 1970s.

Visa challenges

One sign that the region is making progress in dismantling intra-African trade barriers is that while the AU was launching its new passport, Ghana, a member of ECOWAS, was starting to issue visas upon arrival to citizens of all 54 African countries. Prior to the move, Ghana offered visa-free entry only to ECOWAS citizens.

According to the African Development Banks Africa Visa Openness Report 2016, acquiring a visa is a huge challenge for travellers, with Africans still needing visas to travel to 55% of other African countries. Only 13 out of 54 countries offer liberal access (visa-free or visa on arrival) to Africans.

Integrationists say restrictions on movement across borders go against the continents goal of becoming One Africa and further negate the spirit of the AUs Agenda 2063, the continents long-term economic blueprint. They maintain that visa-free regimes promote intra-African trade and investment, facilitate business and create employment opportunities.

So far Seychelles is the only country in Africa that has abolished visa requirements for all African countries, with Ghana, Mauritius and Rwanda having made great strides. Namibia and Zimbabwe have also made notable progress.

In March, Zimbabwe scrapped its requirement for visas for citizens of members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), another AU regional trading bloc. The country is already one of only nine African countries offering e-Visas, which allow visitors to apply online and pay for a visa on arrival, facilitating easy and hassle-free travelling.

Likewise, Namibia scrapped visa requirements in May for all holders of diplomatic or official passports from AU member states. Although the visa exemptions do not apply to all Africans, they are widely seen as a precursor to a continent-wide visa-free regime.

Open visa initiative

Southern Africa ranks as the third most open sub-region in Africa. It allows the highest number of the worlds population into its countries without visa restrictions, while East Africa is the continents most visa-open sub-region.

Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda share the East Africa Tourist Visa, an open visa initiative for citizens from the three countries. In the coming months, Rwanda could very well follow Seychelless footsteps, as it is carrying out a study expected to recommend abolishing visa requirements for all African nationals. In the meantime, Burundi and Tanzania have opted to stay out of the common tourist visa initiative for security reasons.

Yves Butera, spokesperson for the Rwanda Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration, said removing visa restrictions would promote African unity and help the continent reduce its dependence on donor aid.

The idea of an Africa with seamless borders is the way to go. Africa is endowed with vast natural resources, including minerals and rich soil. If we can combine our strength, then we could live without financial help from Western and European countries, he told Africa Renewal.

Butera said his countrys non-restrictive visa regime has allowed more visitors to visit Rwanda, which has boosted trade and development and created jobs.

We support the idea of visas on arrival; if necessary we should remove visas to Rwanda so that people can freely visit our country and other African countries, he said. As well, the idea of open visas and/or visas on arrival is beneficial to us because it facilitates the ease of doing business between our country and other countries, and that helps investors to come here easily, and to spend, which creates revenue and jobs.

He urged other African countries to adopt visa-free policies, which is one of the many elements that have lifted Rwanda to its ranking among the top three easiest places to do business in Africa. A high ranking on the World Banks ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is conducive to starting and operating a company.

Significant progress

The World Tourism Organization (WTO), a UN body that promotes tourism, notes that Africa has made significant progress in simplifying the issuance of visas since the organisation started monitoring tourism visa policies in 2008.

In 2008, Africans comprised on average 88% of the worlds population to apply for a traditional visa prior to departure. This has decreased to 57% in 2015, because many African countries have introduced travel facilitation measures such as visa on arrival and e-Visa, Rut Gomez Sobrino, a WTO media officer, told Africa Renewal.

WTO research has shown that tourist visa facilitation can deliver important benefits by increasing tourist numbers and generating more income, said Sobrino, adding that [visa facilitation] is also a key element in fostering regional integration, and we are thus very pleased to see the progress that is being made in Africa.

This is corroborated by the Africa Visa Openness Report, which observes that Rwanda, a country that abolished work permits for East African Community citizens to support its open-visa policy, has increased its trade with Kenya and Uganda by at least 50%, while the visa-on-arrival policy has increased African arrivals in Rwanda by an average of about 22% per year. Foreign nationals, however, may be charged up to $100 for a 90-day East African Tourist Visa or $30 for a 30-day Rwandan visa purchased at the airport.

For a seamless Africa to be a success, the WTO says it is imperative to continue to push for the elimination of visa requirements, the continuous liberalisation of international air transport to the benefit of all stakeholders, the promotion of initiatives (such as one-stop border posts) that reduce delays, and the creation of interregional and international transport and road transit. A one-stop border post merges two stops in a national border control process into one to reduce transit costs and facilitate the easy movement of passengers and goods.

What are the threats?

The greatest threats to a borderless Africa lie in the prospect of increased risks to national security and heightened exposure to regional conflicts, contagion from public health crises and the movement of the jobless from many parts of the continent. African countries with strong economies tend to attract a large number of migrants from poor countries.

The lack of technological infrastructure and capacity to issue biometric passports is likely to create problems for many African countries. Only 13 of the 54 African countries currently offer biometric passports.

However, the experiences of Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles and the ECOWAS bloc show the positive effects of open-visa policies on economies, and that governments can address security concerns and economic migration by investing in new technologies, effective traveller identification management systems and integrated border controls.

Trade barriers

For full integration, open visas should also be accompanied by free movement of goods and the removal of high, protective tariff barriers.

According to the World Bank, intra-African trade costs are around 50% higher than in East Asia, and are the highest of intraregional costs in any developing region. In its December 2015 brief, Deepening African Integration: Intra-Africa Trade for Development and Poverty Reduction, Anabel Gonzalez, the banks director of trade competitiveness, notes that because of high costs, Africa has integrated with the rest of the world faster than with itself.

Effective regional integration, she suggested, must involve more than removing tariffs; it must also involve addressing on-the-ground constraints that paralyze the daily operations of ordinary producers and traders. This is done through regulatory reforms and building the capacity of institutions tasked with enforcing the regulations.

Africa seems to be going where the EU is coming from, given the Brexit experience and the anti-immigration sentiment sweeping Europe; the majority of its citizens are keen on moving towards a more integrated continent, although outbreaks of xenophobia have been reported. Integration starts with making it easier for people and services to move freely across national borders.

The new AU passport is an important new addition to the steps Africa is already taking to achieve the goals embodied in the Agenda 2063 vision.

Source: Africa Renewal.
How would you like a Goblet of Fire Lemonade? Or a Godric's Hollowed Burger?

Well, you could sample both of those (and more such delicious Potther-themed goodies) not in Diagon Aley, but in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Hassan, Ouj and Emad came up with the idea of encashing their best memory from childhood and set up the Hogwarts Cafe  a Harry-Potter themed restaurant  in Central Islamabad.

The founders of the cafe wanted to visit a place where they could enjoy good food while the kids indulged in the world of Harry Potter like they did. "We wanted to make the next Potterheads dreams come true," said one of the owners, on being asked about his idea behind setting up this cafe.

The cafe is beautifully decorated with Harry Potter merchandise.

The owners said that they created most of their own Harry Potter merchandise, due to lack of interest in Pakistan. From the Nimbus 2000s, to the robes and wizard hats, they have created everything from scratch. And they've done a spell-bindingly good job of it too!

Don't we absolutely love these magical books?

This takes us back to our very own Hermoine's potion making skills!

Keeping in mind the needs of Potterheads, this cafe also has a the right kind of menu for all muggles, witches and wizards.

Within a week of their launch, the owners have received an overwhelming response. Initially, the founders mentioned that they went for a soft launch, however, soon after they were in the middle of a kind of response that "they were not ready for at all"

Hassan and Haider have gone beyond memorabilia to create recipes that will find favour with Potterheads. Their specialties include Butterbeer, which is their original recipe and has turned to be one of their best-sellers. We'd love a swig of that!
Cisco Systems Inc's announcement on Wednesday that it plans to lay off 5,500 employees is unlikely to be the last round of Silicon Valley pink slips as hardware companies struggle to keep up with rapid technology shifts, analysts and recruiters said.

Companies that traditionally have made most of their money selling computers, chips, servers, routers and other equipment are especially vulnerable, analysts say, as mobile applications and cloud computing become increasingly important.

The Cisco layoffs come in the wake of Intel's announcement in April that it was laying off 12,000 workers. Dell Incsaid in January it had shed 10,000 jobs and is expected to make further cuts after it closes a $67 billion deal to acquire data storage company EMC Corp.

So far this year, technology companies in the United States have shed about 63,000 jobs, according to outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

"The hi-tech industry is going through a serious deconstruction," said Trip Chowdhry, an analyst at Global Equities Research. "There is more pain to come."

Chowdhry said he expects job cuts to rise drastically as more companies subscribe to "super cloud" services from the likes of Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp. These services manage hardware, software, networks and databases and eliminate the need for workers to manage various technology layers, Chowdhry said.

In January, Chowdhry estimated that layoffs in the tech industry would hit 330,000 this year. On Wednesday, he said he had raised his estimate to 370,000. Some other analysts said that forecast was too bleak.

IBM Corp, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co, Oracle Corp and Dell Inc could be the next to shed workers, analysts said.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Dell and Oracle declined comment and IBM could not be immediately reached for comment.

Tremors of change

"Tech incumbents are all bracing for the tremors of change. said Glenn O'Donnell, an analyst at Forrester Research. "We fully expect a lot of collateral damage as this plays out - not just with Cisco."

Cisco and other old-guard technology companies have been pursuing a challenging shift to software-oriented services. Margins in software services are higher than hardware because they bring recurring revenue and there are "fewer people involved on the cost side," said Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates.

That could mean more job cuts. Silicon Valley job recruiters offered mixed views about the fate of hardware engineers laid off at Cisco and other tech firms.

Nobody wants to be laid off but if job elimination is going to happen, 2016 is not a bad time for it to happen, said John Reed, Senior Executive Director of the tech recruitment firm Robert Half Technologies.

Still, recruiters said, hardware engineers may need to be flexible and willing to retrain if they want to find work.

"Nobody wants hardware designers and engineers, said Andy Price of executive search firm SPMB. There was a moment in time when devices were hot and (action-camera maker) GoPro made everyone excited about devices, but a lot of those types of companies died on the vine.

Currently, he said, hardware engineers are probably the least attractive skill set imaginable in the Valley.
New Delhi: India Post Payments Bank has come into existence after it received certificate of incorporation from the Registrar of Companies, setting the stage for the new bank to begin operations in 2017.

This will be the first PSU under the Department of Posts which expects to complete the rollout of its branches all over the country by September 2017.

"The India Post Payments Bank received the Certificate of Incorporation from the Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, yesterday under the Companies Act, 2013," an official release said here.

The board of the India Post Payments Bank is likely to be constituted soon and the bank will now begin hiring of professionals.

"This could be the fastest rollout for a bank anywhere in the world," it added.

The India Post Payments Bank aims to become the most accessible bank in the world, riding on advanced banking and payments technology. Coupled with physical presence across 1.55 lakh post offices and the reach of the postman, the India Post Payments Bank plans to become a powerful and effective vehicle of real financial inclusion in the country.

"It is poised to create a national payments architecture riding on a modern payments platform and ubiquitous information and communication technologies that can be accessed by all users and service providers like never before," it added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence day address, had stated that steps have been taken to convert post offices into payments banks. Through this, a network of banks will be established across villages, he had said. Reserve Bank of India gave in-principle nod to 11 entities to set up payments banks in August 2015, but three have already opted out since.

Payments bank allows mobile firms, supermarket chains, and others to cater to banking requirements of individuals and small businesses. It will be set up as a differentiated bank and will confine its activities to acceptance of demand deposits, remittance services, Internet banking and other specified services.
Speculation is rife that the government will today announce the new RBI govenror to succeed Raghuram Rajan.

According to a report by news agency Cogencis, finance minister Arun Jaitley is meeting prime minister Narednra Modi and is likely to take a final call on the appointment today.

Earlier Firstpost had reported that the government has shortlisted three candidates for the post: deputy governor Urjit Patel, former RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn and veteran banker KV Kamath.

Besides, these names, the government was also considering chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian and economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das too for the post, in the initial stages. However, there have not been any confirmation on any of these names yet.

Rajan is to leave the office on 4 September. Typically, the name of the new governor is decided a few days or weeks before the incumbent exits.

Rajan had joined the RBI three weeks before he took over the governorship from his predecessor D Subbarao as an officer on special duty (OSD). This stint is to familiarise the new governor with the central banks operations and functions.

The speculation that the government will make announcement this week, if not today, has gained ground because Rajans exit is less than a month away and if the announcement is not made now the new governor will get lesser time to familiarise with the functioning of the governor.
New Delhi: State Bank of India's board today approved merger of three associate lenders and Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMBL) with SBI, a move which will make the state owned lender a bank of global size.

"The central board of directors of SBI has accorded their approval to the scheme of acquisition of the State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT) and Bharatiya Mahila Bank Limited (BMBL) by the State Bank of India," SBI said in a BSE filing today.

The proposal does not include merger of State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Hyderabad with SBI.

As per the merger proposal, SBBJ shareholders will get 28 shares of SBI (Rs 1 each) for every 10 shares (Rs 10 each). Similarly, SBM and SBT shareholders will get 22 shares of SBI for every 10 shares.

In the case of Bharatiya Mahila Bank, 4,42,31,510 shares of SBI will be swapped for every 100 crore of Rs 10 each.

Last month, the Union Cabinet had cleared merger of all the five associate banks of SBI with the parent and acquisition of BMBL.

With merger of all the five associates and BMBL, SBI will become a global-sized bank and could compete with the largest in the world, with an asset base of Rs 37 trillion (Rs 37 lakh crore) or over USD 555 billion, with 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs. It will have over 50 crore customers.

SBI has close to 16,500 branches, including 191 foreign offices spread across 36 countries. It first merged State Bank of Saurashtra with itself in 2008. Two years later, State Bank of Indore was merged.

On Thursday, the SBI stock closed at Rs 248.20, up 0.79 per cent on BSE. SBBJ shares ended the day at Rs 673.30 a piece, up 3.49 per cent while those of SBM were up 2.06 per cent at Rs 621.70. State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Hyderabad are not listed.
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd is investing a total of S$2.47 billion ($1.8 billion) to increase its stakes in the top mobile operators of Thailand and India as part of its strategy to boost exposure to emerging markets.

"Thailand, India and Africa continue to be attractive, high-growth markets for us," Singtel's group CEO, Chua Sock Koong, said in a statement on Thursday.

Singtel has built a portfolio of stakes in regional mobile associates as it hunts for growth outside its small and mature home market of Singapore.

SingTel said it had entered into conditional share purchases with state investor Temasek Holdings to acquire 21 percent of Thai telecom firm Intouch Holdings PCL. Intouch is the largest shareholder in Advanced Info Services PCL, the country's biggest mobile operator, in which SingTel currently holds 23.3 percent.

It will also acquire 7.39 percent of India's Bharti Telecom Ltd, the holding company of Bharti AirTel Ltd, the country's largest telecoms firm and SingTel's existing partner.

The transactions will be funded through internal cash, short-term debt and proceeds from a share placement of 386 million new Singtel shares to Temasek totalling S$1.605 billion.

Singtel, 51.1 percent owned by Temasek, said the acquisitions and share placement are interdependent and have to close at the same time.
Vijay Mallya has a pinned tweet on his account, Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain. The famous line of Vivian Greene, which the flamboyant liquor baron describes as one of his favourites is true to his real life.

Mallya, who took over the business empire from his father Vital Mallya as the chairman of UB Group in 1983 is no stranger to crises in his journey to grow the family business to a multi billion empire. Mallya has survived the stormy days and has emerged even stronger to dance in the rains  may be the most colorful businessman India has ever seen, often described as Indias Richard Branson.

That flamboyance evidently helped him line up several banks at his doorstep to lend Rs 9,000 crore worth (today including accumulated interest amount) loans to his now grounded airline, Kingfisher, which never mad any profit in its eight year old life. But, things changed when he chose not to pay back the money, to which he had offered his personal guarantee, and take on the entire system to make his case, even to the point of his forced exile.

Ever since Mallya left the country with his now famous seven bags and an unidentified woman, multiple courts have issued warnings and summons on him. The investigative agencies have done everything possible to nail him, including prompting the external affairs ministry to cancel his passport. Mallya also lost his parliament membership and was declared as a proclaimed offender by a PMLA court (prevention of money laundering).

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also begun to attach his properties and is planning to register a fresh case. Even the central bureau of investigation (CBI) has now registered a case against Mallya in connection with the loan default (Mallya owes money to 17 banks mainly state-run banks). The government has pushed for his deportation and extradition from the UK.

But, despite all these, the man reached beyond the reach of every one. He is not perturbed by the witch hunting, as he calls it, by Indian authorities to nab him. In an interview to a UK-news paper, Mallya clearly said they arent getting any money by cancelling passport or arresting him. The tone was that of clear defiance.

Instead, Mallya has tried to sway public opinion in his favour by playing the victim card. With no hope for deportation or extradition (for which both countries have to agree that the person has criminal offence), as the last ditch effort, the Narendra Modi government is now readying to invoke a 21-year old bilateral treaty to get him back. Thats kind of unheard in cases involving well known businessmen in India at least in the recent history.

Under the 1995 treaty-- Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT)-- as per the 1995 treaty, countries can seek "transfer of persons, including persons in custody, for the purpose of assisting in investigations or giving evidence in proceedings". Will the government make any major headway in getting Mallya back after invoking MLAT. It is unlikely.

Sources in the banking sector said it is difficult to convince the UK government about the criminal offence against Mallya sufficient enough to invoke MLAT. The simple reason is that a section of banks like IDBI bank hasnt so far found any evidence of financial misappropriation or diversion by Mallya using the bank money, though another section of lenders such as SBI claims otherwise.

There is no way to trap him on the case of loan default. Not unless the CBI has a case establishing his criminal offence. Chances are less, said one banker. Till the time Mallya doesnt return to the country by himself and offers to pay back the money, there are unlikely to be any major turns in this story. The only losers in this take are banks, who merrily lent to Kingfisher till 2010 and offered restructuring only to become bakras after they classified the loan as non-performing asset (NPA) in late 2011 and early 2012.

Mallya is on his way to becoming an urban legend  someone who is a villain and hero (depending on who you ask to)  who can never be caught, even if the state is against him. Something like a phantom in myths, who can be seen by all but always beyond their reach. For some, Mallya already has attained the stature of a living urban legend, who lives and moves at his own terms and can never be caught, no matter who is out there wearing the hunters armor.
New Delhi: Global retail major Walmart has shown interest in entering India's food processing sector after the government relaxed foreign investment norms, a top official said Wednesday.

"Walmart is showing lot of interest. Now we are hoping that they will come on their own and they will add to the growth story of this country," Food Processing Secretary A K Srivastava said while briefing reporters about the investments in the sector in the last two years.

He also said that a leading Brazilian poultry company has expressed keen interest in joining hands with Kishore Biyani's Future Group to sell their products in the country.

"A Brazilian company claiming to be world's leading exporter in poultry sector met us Tuesday. They want to tie up with Biyani's Future Group to use their retail outlets," he added.

However, when contacted, a Future Group spokesperson said there is no such development. To give a boost and attract foreign investments in the sector, the government recently permitted 100 percent FDI in retailing of processed food produced and manufactured in India.

The US-based Walmart is present in the cash-and-carry retail format in the country. Talking about the food processing sector, Srivastava said that government is taking lot of steps to boost the sector.

"Our projects are quite power intensive. Be it our mega food parks or cold chains. We have requested Solar Energy Corporation of India to formulate a proposal for providing solar energy in mega food parks and cold chains. We are preparing a proposal of 47. It will help in reducing consumption of power," he said.

The ministry has also floated expression of interest for six new mega food parks. To promote foreign investment in the sector, he said "we have kept a special condition (in the EoIs). So to promote foreign investment, we have said that we will give 2 or 3 extra marks to the marking scheme if you bring in foreign equity of 26 percent or more".

He also said that FDI in the sector will give a huge boost to the sector and also job creation. Speaking at the briefing, Special Secretary in the ministry Jagdish Prasad Meena said that PepsiCo is growing potatoes with farmers and they are also talking to develop clusters for citrus production.

Meena said that in the next few months, the ministry will come out with new schemes to improve infrastructure.

The food processing sector received FDI worth $1.04 billion during April 2014 to March 2015. Food processing industry contributed around 9 percent to the manufacturing GDP. The industry was valued at $39.71 billion in 2013 and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11 percent to $65.4 billion by 2018.

"32 lakh tonnes capacity of cold storage has been created with an expenditure of Rs 9,000 crore within the last two years. This is expected to reduce wastage by 10 percent per annum or Rs 9,200 crore every year," Srivastava said.

Over the last two years, 51 cold chain projects have been completed and six mega food parks have been operationalised since June 2014. Some of the major investments received in the last two years include Linde Group investment of $200 million in seafood segment in Andhra Pradesh; US-based Mondelez International has inaugurated its new manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh.

This plant has been set up with an investment of Rs 1,265 crore with an annual capacity of 250,000 tonnes. Mars International India, a leading chocolate maker, has invested $114.63 million in Pune. With a total investment of $33.96 million, Kellogg's unit in Andhra Pradesh provides employment to 500 persons.

The company is also planning to set up an R&D facility and their third cereal facility in Mumbai. Fresh dairy products player Danone Asia Pacific Holdings has invested $24.24 million and is expanding its manufacturing facility in Lalru near Chandigarh.

Domestic companies, including Patanjali Ayurveda, have also announced major investments in the last two years. Patanjali is planing to set up a Rs 500 crore food processing unit in Madhya Pradesh. The state has cleared 400 acres of land for this. It is expected to provide jobs to about 700 people.

Balaji Wafers is investing $61.5 million in building a plant for wafers and snacks in Madhya Pradesh. It has acquired land and would employ 1,000 people.
Kandhamal: On the night of 7 June this year, suspected Christian fanatics broke into a small Hindu temple in Daringbadi in Odishas Kandhamal district. The 'Ma Bana Durga' temple, which the locals say was at least 50 years old, was just a shrine under a tree till two months earlier when a proper brick-and-mortar structure was created around it.

On 22 June, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) organised a public meeting at the site of the broken shrine. A priest performed the puja, as people from the neighbouring villages began to pour into the site. They examined the damage, particularly standing for long in front of a portrait of the Goddess Durga, painted on the wall of the temple, now broken into pieces.

There is no doubt that the Christian missionaries did this, said Minaketan Sahu, who had come to the site from a neighbouring area. They are the ones who killed Swamiji, and now they have done this, he pointed at the rubble.

This was the second time the shrine/temple had suffered damage; earlier also, in 2007, when clashes erupted between two main ethnic groups of Kandhamal  the Panos (a Scheduled Caste community, a majority of them converted to Christianity) and the Kandha tribals (most of them converted to Hinduism), the shrine was vandalised.

Blood spills on Janmashtami

On the evening of 23 August, 2008, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a much-revered Hindu leader of Kandhamal, entered his quarters in his ashram in Jalespata. It was the day of the Hindu festival of Janmashtami, and the evening celebrations were about to begin for which a pandal had been erected on the ashram grounds. The 82-year-old Saraswati wanted to take a little rest before he would attend the festivities.

Saraswati had come to Kandhamal 40 years ago in 1968. At the age of 25, after eight years of marriage and after working as a cook in places like Jamshedpur, he had decided to become a sanyaasi. He began to travel and finally settled in Rishikesh, where he learnt the Hindu scriptures.

In 1966, when Hindu organisations launched a major campaign to demand a ban on the slaughter of cows in India, Saraswati also took part in the agitation in Delhi. He was arrested along with many others and spent 18 days in Tihar Jail.

After he returned to Rishikesh, Kuldeep Maharaj, a sadhu, told him how Christian missionaries were active in Odisha, attracting lower-caste Hindus to their fold. It was also the time when the VHP was becoming active  it had been formed two years earlier. After consultations with the VHP and the leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Saraswati left for Odisha.

Saraswati went to the Kandhamal area, and within a year (1969), established his first ashram (with a boys residential school) in Chakapad. Twenty years later, in 1989, a separate residential school for girls was opened in Jalespata.

There was blood all over and it smelled; it was as if I had entered an abattoir

As Saraswati retired to his room one August evening eight years ago, at 7.45 pm, Simachal Patra, one of the ten constables deployed by the Odisha Police for Saraswatis security, heard the sound of footsteps outside their tent in front of the ashram. The two other constables present in the tent at that time had eaten their dinner, and Patra was about to eat. One constable had ventured out after borrowing Patras cellphone, to speak to his family. None of the policemen carried any firearms.

As Patra stuck his head out, he saw two men standing outside. One of them was carrying a gun, and it was pointed at Patra. When he looked to the side, Patra saw a group of armed men entering the ashram.

Around 20 masked men, wearing black uniforms, kicked the gate open and headed straight towards Saraswatis quarters, opening fire. As he heard the gunshots, Saraswati locked himself in the bathroom adjacent to his room and started shouting in Odia: Save me, save me! The gunmen broke into his room and killed two of his associates: Ma Bhaktimayi and Kishore Babu. Then they tore through the bathroom door and fired at Saraswati.

Another associate of Saraswati, Baba Amritananda, was shot dead in the adjacent room. One of the guardians of a girl student who happened to be in the guest room, Puranjan Gaunta, was killed as well.

Outside, the gun was still pointed at Patras head. Then he saw a group of men running towards the main road shouting in Odia, It is done, it is done! At this moment the man holding Patra hostage threw a letter towards him, asking him to give it to reporters. And then he also ran into the street.

A local reporter who reached Jalespata soon afterwards says he can never forget what he witnessed inside Saraswatis quarters. There was blood all over and it smelled; it was as if I had entered an abattoir, he recalled...

Read the full story here
The 48-day annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas ended on Thursday, coinciding with the festival of Raksha Bandhan, with over 2.20 lakh pilgrims offering prayers to the naturally formed ice-shivlingam despite the ongoing unrest.

This year's figure is the lowest in the past decade.

The holy mace of Lord Shiva popularly known as 'Chhari Mubarak', carried by a group of sadhus and devotees led by its custodian Mahant Deepindra Giri, arrived at the holy cave in the wee hours for the day-long prayers, officials said.

The group of sadhus and devotees trekked 42 kilometres from Pahalgam to reach the cave shrine with night halts at Chandanwari, Sheshnag and Panchtarani.

After traditional rituals at the sanctum sanctorum, the holy mace would start the return journey before dusk .

While officially the yatra ended today, 'pujan' and 'visarjan' (immersion) ceremonies for the journey of 'Chhari Mubarak' would be performed on the banks of Lidder river in Pahalgam on 20 August . It will be followed by a traditional open kitchen, the last ritual of the pilgrimage.

The holy mace would return to its abode at Amareshwar temple at Dashnami Akhara here the same day, the officials said.

The yatra had commenced from Pahalgam and Baltal routes amid strict security arrangements on 2 July, a week before protests erupted in the Valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by security forces on 8 July.

The unrest has left 64 people, mostly young boys, dead and over 8,000 injured.

Twenty-nine people -- 21 pilgrims, a sage, three sevadars (community kitchen workers), two local Muslims and as many paramilitary troopers -- died during the yatra after suffering cardiac arrest, while 40 yatris and 10 local Muslims were injured after falling from steep slopes, the officials said.

A pilgrim and a Muslim driver were killed when a yatra bus collided with a truck near Bijbehara on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway on 13 July. Muslim villagers had defied curfew to save the lives of the injured pilgrims.

Setting an example of communal harmony and brotherhood, the residents had also offered free meals to the pilgrims at various places including Nigeen Club and TRC in Srinagar during the yatra.
Police investigation against Amnesty International India  for slogans raised during an event the global advocacy organised  is the second such sedition complaint registered by the police in Karnataka this year after a complaint from the student wing of Indias ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The police charged two students with sedition in the southern town of Tumakuru on 30 March, 2016, after the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) accused them of raising pro-Pakistan slogans while distributing pamphlets supporting Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and Rohith Vemula, a Hyderabad University Dalit scholar who committed suicide. About 80 ABVP activists beat the two students with helmets and sticks, according to this India Today report.

In the Amnesty case, a first-person account of the Broken Families event speaks of a heated but not threatening meeting with diverging viewpoints from Kashmiri Hindus and Muslims in the audience. As the audience dispersed, ABVP activists outside stepped in.

In slapping sedition charges, the police appear to have ceded to pressure from the large group of ABVP activists at the (police) station, said Chandan Gowda, a sociology professor at Bengalurus Azim Premji University.

Sedition crimes recorded for first time in 2014, when BJP came to power

For the first time ever, the National Crime Records Bureau included data on crimes related to the 156-year-old sedition law in 2014, the year the BJP came to power. Sedition is a new category (section 124A of the Indian Penal Code) under a heading called Offences Against the State.

Karnataka registered no sedition case in 2014, although 47 such cases were filed across nine states that year, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. Jharkhand (18) and Bihar (16) registered the most sedition cases that year.

In June 2016, Karnataka charged two organisers of a protest demanding better working conditions for the police with sedition. Three journalists were arrested and booked for sedition in Karnatakas Belagavi on 3 December, 2015.

Source: National Crime Records Bureau; Note: Offences Against the State have been classified largely under two categories: offences against the state (under sections 121, 121A, 122, 123 & 124A IPC) and offences promoting enmity between different groups (under sections 153A & 153 B IPC).

Offences Against the State have been classified largely under two categories: Offences against the state (under sections 121, 121A, 122, 123 & 124-A IPC) and offences promoting enmity between different groups (under sections 153A & 153 B IPC).

Sedition falls under section 124A IPC (See Box Below), while sections 121, 121A, 122 & 123 constitute waging war or attempt/conspiring to wage war or collecting arms for this purpose, among other related crimes.

India shares sedition law with authoritarian regimes

India shares the sedition law  once used by the colonial administration to imprison Mahatma Gandhi in 1922 and Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1987 and 1909  with a variety of mostly authoritarian countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Senegal and Turkey. The USA also has a sedition law, but many parts have been struck down over two centuries. Others, such as the UK, Scotland, South Korea and Indonesia have done away with the law.

As many as 58 people, including 55 men and three women, were arrested for sedition nationwide in 2014. Bihar arrested the most people (28), followed by Jharkhand (18), Kerala (4), and Odisha (4).

Karnataka uses a law often used in conjunction with the sedition charge  "promoting enmity between groups"  to deal with religious riots, which it experienced, per million population, more than any Indian state between 2010 and 2014, IndiaSpend reported in 2015.

Unlawful assembly case against event cleared, protected by police

Apart from sedition, the promoting-enmity law was coupled, in the Amnesty case, with rioting and unlawful assembly, although the event was cleared by the police, which provided security. The police were invited and (were) present at the event, Aakar Patel, Amnesty Indias executive director said in a statement.

The ABVP claimed the event supported terrorism. The Amnesty Event showcased the stories of three families who lost kin to action by security forces, including extra-judicial killings, for which six soldiers were court-martialled and imprisoned for life in 2015. The fracas began when the audience disagreed over the role of the Army, with Kashmiri Muslims shouting freedom slogans in response to Kashmiri Hindus defending the Army.

We dont know who shouted the slogans or who provoked them, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara was quoted as saying. If we find out that those who shouted slogans are connected to any terror outfit, we will rope in the National Investigation Agency. We will not tolerate any anti-national behaviour.

Gowda said the home minister ought to have clarified that slogans alone do not constitute sedition. The Supreme Court has frequently clarified that words and speech, criticism or slogans, however distasteful, cannot be considered seditious unless they incite violence.

It is absolutely necessary to read the entirety of the law that penalises sedition, before whipping it out as a means of quelling free speech, said Deeptha Rao, a lawyer with Bangalores Alternative Law Forum, a legal advocacy.

Explanation 2 to Section 124-A of the IPC clearly provides that comments expressing disapprobation of the measures of the Government, with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful means, do not constitute the offence of sedition.

Likewise, Explanation 3 to Section 124-A clarifies that comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the government do not constitute sedition. The event in question was meant to be a platform for remembrance of undeniable pain and suffering in the valley and clearly does not fall within the gamut of exciting hatred, contempt or disaffection towards the government at law in Indiawe are clearly witnessing a disturbing trend of the invocation of an archaic law to suppress any speech or expression that brings to light the insecurities of the state and the stifling of democratic dissent.

Amnestys Patel said: Merely organising an event to defend constitutional values is now being branded as anti-India and criminalised.

Section 124A IPC  Sedition Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, * * * the Government, established by law in [the States], ** shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine. Explanation 1.-The expression disaffection includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity. Explanation 2.-Comments expressing disapprobation of the measures of the Government with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful means, without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section. Explanation 3.-Comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the Government without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not Constitute an offence under this section.

Source: Bombay High Court
As the death toll in Bihar's Gopalganj district climbed to 13 on Wednesday, the state government has gone into a damage control mode by dismissing Opposition's claim that the tragedy happened because of consumption of spurious liquor.

Following the deaths, ANI tweeted Nitish Kumar as saying-

We are concerned about Gopalganj tragedy, strict actions will be taken against the people behind this: Nitish Kumar pic.twitter.com/SEj4lH9d4L  ANI (@ANI_news) August 18, 2016

Ever since the blanket ban on sale of alcohol was announced by the Nitish Kumar-led government on 5 April, this is the first time deaths due to consumption of liquor has been reported. But according to Rahul Kumar, Gopalganj district magistrate, the deaths seemed to be 'mere coincidence', a claim also being supported by the superintendent of Gopalganj, Ravi Ranjan.

With the kin of the victims alleging the deaths happened because of consumption of spurious alcohol, Kumar has constituted a three member team and has ordered a probe into the incident.

According to The Indian Express, Mahesh Mahato, brother of Sashikant Mahato  one of the victims in the alleged hooch tragedy  claimed that his brother had indeed consumed illicit liquor on Monday and started complaining about stomach ache and nausea.

MP Singh, Gopalganj Sadar Hospital surgeon who was treating the victims, was also cautious in linking the deaths to only to consumption of spurious liquor while admitting that the post-mortem report holds the "key".

While the state government has ordered Saran Divisional Commissioner Narmadeshwar Lal to submit a report, BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi asked whether the Nitish Kumar-led government will take responsibility for the deaths, The Indian Express reported.

Following the deaths, the Opposition has upped the ante against prohibition with senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav saying, "If there is a total ban on liquor in Bihar, how come the poor are dying after consuming it? The Nitish Kumar-led government has failed to enforce liquor ban."

On Wednesday, 13 people died overnight under "mysterious circumstances" in Gopalganj district of Bihar while five others are in critical conditions.

All the victims were residents of Nonia tola locality - one of the poorest section of the district.
Srinagar: 300 youth hailing from various parts of Jammu and Kashmir were on Thursday inducted as soldiers in the army after completing one-year strenuous training.

The new recruits of Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) regiment took the oath to serve the cause of the nation at the ceremony held at the Bana Singh Parade Ground at Rangreth, nine km from Srinagar.

The youth of Jammu and Kashmir being inducted in the army comes at a time when the state has been making headlines for incidents of stone-pelting by some youth in the valley.

The highlight of the function was the sons of the soil and their families lighting candles as a mark of solidarity with the people of Kashmir and praying for return of calm and peace to the valley at the earliest, an army spokesman said.

Kashmir valley is on the boil since 9 July following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. The widespread clashes left 64 persons including two policemen dead and over 8000 others injured.

The passing out parade, depicting graduation of a recruit and his transformation into a young soldier, was overseen by Governor NN Vohra and was attended by over 1500 parents and other relatives of the young soldiers along with a number of

civil and military dignitaries.

Vohra praised the young soldiers and said it will encourage more and more youth from the state to come forward to join the security forces.

He highlighted the vital role played by their parents in motivating their wards to join this noble profession, the spokesman said.

In the end, the spokesman said, proud parents and relatives pipped the soldiers ready to join their battalions and to tread the immortal path of glory, living up to the expectations and the best traditions of the army.

"As a mark of respect, gratitude and recognition of contribution made by the parents of these young soldiers, they were also presented with the 'Gaurav Padaks' (prestige medals) instituted by the army," the spokesman said.
Bhopal: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday described Kashmir as "India-occupied Kashmir" while criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's utterances on Pakistan.

"Prime Minister Modi seems more concerned about Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which is welcome, than he is interested in holding talks with India's Kashmiris," Digvijaya told reporters.

"Boosting trust among Kashmiris, whether they belong to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir or India-occupied Kashmir, is possible only through dialogue," he said.

The Congress General Secretary later corrected himself by saying he only meant that Modi is not worried about "India's Kashmir  not worried about the valley  but worried about Pak-occupied Kashmir".

Digvijaya's gaffe invited immediate reactions on social media.

Following the gaffe, Bollywood actor Praesh Rawal tweeted: "Digvijay Singh ji calls J&K as 'India occupied Kashmir'. It was his #HappyRakshaBandhan gift to his Pakistani sisters".
New Delhi: Whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Pakistan to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit later this year will be a "policy decision" a call on which will be taken at the "right time", government sources said on Wednesday.

"It is something on which we will take a call at the right time," they said.

There has been an escalation in war of words between India and Pakistan over the ongoing unrest in Kashmir with India rejecting Islamabad's proposal to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks on the issue.

The 19th Saarc summit is scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November.

Asked whether Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will travel to Pakistan to attend the Saarc Finance Ministers' meeting, the sources said a decision on it has "not been firmly made".

On reports that the Prime Minister may not travel to Venezuela next month to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, the sources said it has not been decided who will represent India at the conclave.

At the same time, they added there was no change in India's policy towards NAM. The last time an Indian Prime Minister stayed away from attending NAM was Chaudhary Charan Singh in 1979.

Asked about Modi's comments on situation in Balochisthan, the sources said it was an expression of concern by the Prime Minister and did not come out of the blue. They said the PM was troubled by the human rights

violations and excesses done by Pakistani army in Balochistan.

Questions like with whom India will coordinate and what New Delhi was going to do in Balochistan are "premature and irrelevant", the sources said.

About discussion with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi here last week on NSG issue, the sources said the leader of the Chinese delegation at the plenary meeting of the 48-nation grouping in Seoul in June will soon come to India. They said all related issues will be discussed during his visit.
Srinagar: Army on Thursday expressed regret over the death of a lecturer in alleged thrashing by soldiers in Khrew area of Pulwama district last night and ordered an inquiry into the incident even as police registered a murder case against unknown security personnel.

30-year-old Shabir Ahmad Monga, a contractual lecturer, died when he and several others were allegedly beaten up by army personnel at Khrew late last night, police said.

As many as 18 people, mostly youth, have been admitted to a hospital here with injuries suffered allegedly due to thrashing by the army personnel.

General Officer Commanding of Army's Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen Satish Dua regretted the incident and said a probe has been ordered into the incident.

Police also registered a murder case against unknown security personnel.

"A case under sections 307 (attempt to Murder), 302 (murder), 427 (mischief causing damage to property) and 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy) of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) has been registered against unknown secuirty personnel in connection with the incident at Khrew last night in which one Shabir Ahmad Monga was killed and 18 others were injured," a police official said.

According to the locals, army conducted house to house searches for the youth who were leading protests in Khrew late on Wednesday night which was resisted by the residents.

They claimed that the security forces rounded up 28 youth including Monga and beat them up, resulting in his death.
Taking a surprise visit to a government hospital in Delhi, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia caught a worker watching a film on his computer while patients were waiting in a long queue, waiting to be treated. A furious Sisodia barged into the room and tapped the man from behind after watching quietly for a while. As the man turned flabbergasted, Sisodia lambasted him before summoning his superior and asking for his dismissal. The man was seen pleading an apology but the minister turned him away.

In a video uploaded on the Facebook page of the Aam Aadmi Party, the minister caught the hospital worker red-handed, idly enjoying a movie, while long queues of patients waited outside. The video uploaded on Wednesday has since then gone viral with over 1.1 million views and more than 21,000 shares.

However, this is not the first time, the Delhi government has rounded up government officials in a surprise visit.

In March this year, Sisodia had also visited a government school in Delhi and had taken action against the principal after he found that attendance records of teachers were botched up.

In a surprise visit I found 3 teachrs were absent but were shown present in data base @8.15AM.Hav given show cause notice to Principal.

2/2  Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) May 4, 2016

However, Health remains a primary sector where the Delhi government is keen to show its pro-activeness.

In December last year, when Delhi was braving a bout of Dengue fever, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had made surprise visits to inspect the state of affairs in various hospitals, as reported in the Hindustan Times. Besides this, the AAP government is busy leveraging its pet project, Mohalla clinics, amid the people of Delhi. The government has even sanctioned funds worth Rs 209 Crore to kick-start the initiative. In a bid to boost the primary healthcare infrastructure in state, AAP has floated a plan to open these clinics where crucial primary OPD consultation will be provided by specialist doctors.

The Delhi government is also in the process of floating a 500 crore Rs project called the Aam Aadmi Swasthya Beema Yojna in a bid to cover 40 lakh families under universal health insurance, according to a report in The Indian Express. The scheme is proposed to be a cheap insurance alternative for the underpriviledged section of the society.
On 12 July, Firstpost wrote about the need to investigate the affairs of Islamic International School (IIS) in Mumbai's Mazagaon, conceptualised and run by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik in the backdrop of the alleged charges and ongoing investigations against him. This website argued that if the government is indeed convinced that there is a problem to the secular fabric of the country on account of the ideas disseminated by Naik through his speeches and the activities of his institution Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), there is certainly a case to probe the functioning, curriculum and the religious learning of the educational institution conceptualised and operated by Naik for young children.

An investigation report by the Mumbai Police on Naik, submitted last week and forwarded to the home ministry for further examination, supports arguments raised by the Firstpost piece. According to the Mumbai Police report, the state police has raised "serious concerns" on the nature of education given to students of IIS and has said that the school is 'brainwashing' students, urging parents to keep kids away from an 'un-Islamic environment'. The 71-page Mumbai Police report further quotes from the school's literature to highlight how it aimed to 'insulate' students.

"Societal influences upon a child should be analysed critically. An un-Islamic environment can result in the corruption of a virtuous Muslim's Islamic understanding, upbringing and values. It is therefore recommended that Muslim parents educate their children in an Islamic school to prevent them from falling prey to the bad influences and immorality prevalent in society," the report quotes the school's literature as saying.

The point here is this: If the Indian government has identified Naiks speeches both, through the TV and outside, as a threat to religious harmony and a threat to countrys secular fabric, caution is also warranted on the operations of the school. Naik is the chairman of the IRF Educational Trust and president of the IRF. The IIS website says Naik has visited several Islamic and other educational institutions worldwide and interacted with many experts on school and university education to grasp their approach to Islamic orientation, teaching methodology, curriculum implementation and management.

The pragmatic insights gained from these meetings and latest research and learning on effective education strategies help in the continuous improvement and development of IIS, to be contemporary and Islamic... to fulfil the students educational needs for this duniya (world) and the aakhirah (hereafter).

The school also has a branch in Chennai.

Naik found himself in trouble when evidence emerged that the Islamic State terrorists involved in the Dhaka blast and those operating out of Hyderabad (a module arrested by NIA), were inspired by Naik's preaching. The preacher, who is currently abroad, has all along denied the allegations but has refused to return to India to face the charges. There is a common pattern seen in Naiks speeches. He enchants the crowds with his skills to recollect the chapters and versus of religious scriptures and connects these lines to establish his fundamental idea that Islam is the only true religion and the rest are either false or impure.

In one of his videos, Naik aggressively exhorted his fans to take on the enemies of Islam and proclaimed that he would side with anyone, including Osama bin Laden, if the fight is against the enemies of Islam like the America, "the biggest terrorist".

"If he is terrorising America, the terrorist, biggest terrorist, Im with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist. The thing is that if he is terrorising the terrorist, he is following Islam," Naik says.

But, in the same breath Naik distances himself from potential trouble and says things like, "Whether he is or not, I dont know. Now dont go around outside saying Zakir Naik is for Osama bin Laden and I dont know him personally. I dont know what he is. I cannot base my judgment only on news. But, you as Muslims, without checking up laying allegations are also wrong."

Naik has been extremely tactful in his speeches to avoid getting into legal troubles. One can question how the preacher concluded that America is the biggest terrorist, since Naiks knowledge of that country is presumably also through the news media. There is no evidence so far that Naik met George W Bush, Barack Obama or any US authorities in person and was personally convinced that they were terrorists. But, the point here is that an Indian sleuth, who sits down to examine the video and contemplates using this as evidence before the court of law, will be disappointed to see these contradictory statements. Most of his talks have a similar pattern.

This is where the investigators walk into a cul de sac and Naik has the last laugh. To be sure, Naik vows that he never asked anyone to kill innocent people and the Bangladesh daily  that reported that Naik inspired the terrorists  has backtracked from that statement. But, the fact is that his speeches often amount to encouraging religious fundamentalism. This is something even leaders within the Islamic community have pointed out. The Indian government and the NIA have taken cognisance of the issue and have taken certain actions against Peace TV and the NGO run by Naik, sensing potential danger.

The subsequent arrests of two of Naiks alleged aides add to the troubles for Naik.
Amid a debate over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments on Balochistan in his Independence Day address, External Affairs Ministry on Thursday indicated that the remarks did not constitute a policy shift as being construed.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the Prime Minister had been thanked by people of Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, including Gilgit-Baltistan, for flagging their problems at an all-party meeting here last week and, moved by their messages, he talked about them in his speech from the Red Fort.

At the same time, he said, Modi also gave "certain instructions" on the next course of action but refused to divulge details or how those instructions will be implemented.

"I cannot at this stage share with you. However, MEA will do what it has to because after all people of PoK are also our people," he said.

On Modi's mention of Balochistan he said, "As to whether this constitutes a policy shift, let me say that Government of India has made statements about the situation in Balochistan in the past as well.

"My own predecessor had commented on this issue. The only difference this time was that the various messages the Prime Minister had received had sufficiently moved him to share it with the people of India."

In his Independence Day speech on Monday, Modi had talked about the situation in PoK, Gilgit and Balochistan and said people from there have thanked him for raising their issues.

"The Prime Minister had been thanked by these people for flagging their cause in the all-party meeting which represents all political segments in India. Prime Minister was sufficiently moved by these messages of gratitude to share it with the people of India in his Independence Day address."

When asked about certain Baloch groups seeking recognition from India, the MEA spokesperson said,"Don't jumpt the gun".
The row over the sedition charge  a colonial legacy that needs to be scrapped without delay  has taken away from the core questions surrounding Amnesty International India's programme on Independence Day where it sought to flag the Indian state's human rights violations in Kashmir. This was the first part of a multi-city event designed to draw attention to New Delhi's alleged excesses in the strife-torn region.

Unfortunately, by first slapping sedition charges and then getting its knickers in a right royal twist over it, the Congress has muddied the debate. There can be no argument over the criminality of raising slogans. Sedition charges against Amnesty India are baseless and stupid. Period. And belated Congress efforts to blame the students affiliated to ABVP for sedition charges are laughable. Complainants do not decide on FIR sections.

But there's a larger debate over politics, ethics and credibility. Slogans are not raised in a vacuum, nor are these without context. Amnesty India's efforts to politicise the Kashmir issue by organising events on it comes at a time when we are in the middle of a ferocious proxy and propaganda war launched by Pakistan over Kashmir. Lives are being lost daily without any sign of abatement in violence.

Amnesty India's claim of plausible deniability, that it cannot be held responsible for what happens in an event organised by it rings hollow. Its subsequent explanation that "as a matter of policy (it) does not take any position in favour of or against demands for self-determination" is self-contradictory. Over the years, it has shown remarkable inconsistency in choosing cases of human rights abuse and has been repeatedly accused of harbouring moral ambiguity towards terrorists and their organisations.

Watchdogs such as Amnesty should be Caesar's wife. The weightiest human rights institution, which was founded in 1961 and has since grown in scope and reach, has once too often waded into the quicksand of moral quagmire to be counted among a bona fide human rights institution. Its credibility is at an all-time low and its authority to lecture nation-states stands considerably eroded.

Amnesty's shtick is that it is a non-partisan institution. Its entire moral legitimacy stems from that premise. Was it innocent to the response such an event with blatant political overtones might trigger especially at a time when India is battling a secessionist struggle fuelled by an aggressive neighbouring country that uses terrorism as state policy?

While Amnesty is well within its rights to flag reports of excesses by Indian security forces in Kashmir, the Bengaluru event went much beyond that. There was a talk show, video screening, theatre performance and even a performance by a Kashmiri hip-hop artiste.

The artiste Roushan Illahi, who goes by the name of MC Kash, told The Hindu that he was supposed to sing five songs all pertaining to the conflict at the land of bloody crackdowns. The cutting short of his second song (as the police insisted the mikes be switched off) led to the crowd of young Kashmiris shouting pro-Kashmir Independence slogans.

On Tuesday, three days after the controversial event, Bengaluru Police Commissioner NS Megharikh confirmed to news agency IANS that 'Azadi' (freedom) slogans were raised at the "cultural programme" Amnesty International India had organised on alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Though Amnesty has claimed that "police were invited", Megharikh clarified that police permission "was neither sought nor given, as the event was an indoor function at United Theological College in the city on August 13." Some cops were, however, deployed as the programme was brought to the notice of the local police station.

It sounds exceedingly hollow when Amnesty India head Aakar Patel claims that they were "merely organising an event to defend Constitutional values" to define a cultural show which showcased theatre performance, rap artiste singing provocative songs among a volatile mix of Kashmiri Pandits and some pro-azaadi Kashmiri students.

For decades, Amnesty's reputation has been based on rigorous collection of evidences and reports of rights abuses, not headline-hunting stunts of the kind we saw in Bengaluru. It may be argued that the event was designed not to discuss threadbare its 2015 report "Denied: Failures in accountability for human rights violations by security force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir" which was surely based on in-depth research, but to stoke political fire when the Kashmir iron is hot as hell.

It sounds even more ridiculous when Amnesty tries to wash its hands off any controversy by saying its employees were "not involved in sloganeering". That may well be true but as organisers, it cannot escape culpability when those present at the event raise secessionist slogans. If Amnesty professes to defend "Constitutional values", then it should also be aware of the Constitution's position on India's territorial integrity. If, as a matter of policy, it "doesn't take sides on self-determination" then it should have protected the sanctity of the event by asking the students to cease and desist and if they do not listen, ask the police to escort sloganeers out of the room.

Amnesty will fool no one if, in this case, it seeks to hide behind the cloak of "freedom of speech and expression". In the wake of Charlie Hebdo killings, it held that freedom of expression "is not absolute and it may be subject to certain restrictions"

Patel, executive director of its India chapter, had written in a Livemint column in 2012, Learnt in Godhra, forgotten in Jaipur that "the critical learning was that freedom of speech in India must be regulated" in the context of the Salman Rushdie affair in Jaipur. Elsewhere in the column, he wrote: "The damage is done by a Hindi-medium world view. Trying to fight it with English-medium tools will end in frustration. This is why a debate about free speech here has no meaning. All these things dissolve to nothing in the knowledge that a real price is extracted for this freedom. The men who read Rushdie aloud in Jaipur and fled after lighting the fuse were neither brave nor considerate. Such deliberate mischief has consequences."

There is also the point to be noted that we are talking about an organisation that issues nuanced, careful statements like "in the absence of further clarification from the US authorities, the killing of Osama bin Laden would appear to have been unlawful," to address an American covert operation deep into Pakistan territory (keeping the host nation in dark) to take out bin Laden, and issues strong condemnation at the way India handled 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab's death penalty that followed an inscrutable legal process.

Condemning Kasab's death penalty, Shashikumar Velath, Director-Programmes, Amnesty International India, had questioned the unusual speed with which his mercy petition was rejected and also the secrecy surrounding the execution at the Yerawada prison in Pune. If this is not an example of dual yardsticks, what is?

Finally, Amnesty's dalliances with groups soft on terror and its alleged links with globally infamous terrorists such as Jihadi John are well-documented and rob the agency of its halo.

Its links with Cage (formerly Cageprisoners)  a British Islamist outfit which reportedly had "warm relations" with Jihadi John of ISIS  led to considerable squirming and eventual falling out of Gita Sahgal, one its top guns. Jihadi John (real name Mohammed Emwazi, a British citizen) was a particularly revolting specimen of the Islamic State who beheaded at least five Western hostages in Syria before being killed via a drone strike.

"Far from being a genuine human-rights group", Sahgal told The Economist, Cage is completely poisonous, promoting an ideology that mocks the values of tolerance, especially towards women. Immense damage has been done to Amnesty, she said, not least because they wont come clean about their association with Cage.

Sahgal, former head of Amnesty International's gender unit and daughter of Nayantara Sahgal, was finally sacked for criticising her organisations close ties to Moazzam Begg, a British former detainee of the Americans in Afghanistan and then in Guantanamo, and a director of Cage.

She told The Times of India that it is typical of Amnesty to claim to be neutral on "the right to self-determination" while giving more space to people who give it political support. "As far as I know, they (Amnesty) have never examined the full range of violations by both the state and the non- state actors. They have never looked at cross-border infiltration or the support to Kashmiri jihadi groups in Britain, including by their hero Begg, whose bookshop published jihadi literature by a man called Dhiren Barot, glorifying the Kashmir jihad in the 90s as a means of establishing an Islamic state," Sahgal revealed. She added: "Amnesty's history on Palestine is similar; it gives space to Hamas supporters rather than secular and human rights voices from Palestine."

According to the report, Sahgal condemned the sedition charges but also slammed the NGO for its continuing support to Kashmiri terror groups. She called on Amnesty and other human rights NGOs "to live up to the standards they demand of others: be transparent, accountable and impartial".

In trying to fish in political waters, Amnesty risks sullying its image further. A rights organisation's moral weight depends on whether its integrity is unimpeachable. Amnesty's is up for questioning.
New Delhi: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has been admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital again for a medical check-up, two days after she was discharged following treatment for illness and a shoulder injury.

She had visited the hospital on Wednesday for removal of her stitches from the surgery. Sources, however, on Thursday said she was admitted again on Wednesday evening, for "routine" medical check-up.

"At the time of her discharge from the hospital last week, doctors had said that she was likely to revisit the hospital for further evaluation of her condition. So, she is here for that," a hospital source said.

"She is likely to stay at the hospital for a couple of days," the source said.

Party sources also said she has been admitted again, and will be there for couple of days for a medical check-up.

The 69-year-old leader was admitted to the hospital on 3 August after being taken ill during a roadshow in Varanasi. She was discharged on 14 August and doctors treating her at the hospital had then said she had recovered from her illness and injury to the left shoulder and was stable.

"Mrs Gandhi is likely to visit the hospital for further evaluation of her condition in the coming week," DS Rana, Chairman of Board of Management of the hospital, had said the day she was discharged.

Gandhi was admitted under the care of Arup Basu, senior consultant, Department of Pulmonology and Chest Medicine and

his team.

She was operated upon for a shoulder injury by Prateek Gupta, senior consultant and his team from Department of Orthopaedics and Sanjay Desai from Mumbai.

The Congress chief was shifted to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital from the Army Research and Referral Hospital, where she was rushed soon after her arrival from Varanasi around midnight of 2 August.
Baghpat (UP): Nearly 150 kg meat suspected to be of cow was seized and two persons, including a 60-year-old woman, were arrested at a village, triggering tension in the area as right wing Hindu groups staged protests.

Acting on a tip off about cow slaughter, a police team raided the house of Nazim in Gauspura village in Singhavali Ahir police station area on Tuesday and recovered 150 kg meat, Additional Superintendent of Police Aziz-ul Haq said on Thursday.

Haq said veterinary doctors suspected it to be meat of "cow or its progeny" and a sample has been sent for laboratory test.

He said the equipment used in cow slaughter were also recovered from the spot. Haq said that during raid two persons- Wakeela (60) and her neighbour Talib (22) - were arrested, while three persons escaped.

The ASP said a case has been lodged under Uttar Pradesh Cow Slaughter Prevention Act against them.

"The arrested accused have disclosed the names of their three accomplices and efforts are on to nab them," he said.

The remains of the animal have been buried, he said.

Members of Bajrang Dal and other Hindu organisations protested against the incident. A large group led by local Bajrang Dal leaders reached the village, which is Muslim dominated, and raised slogans against cow slaughter following which heavy police force have been deployed to maintain peace.

A delegation of Bajrang Dal on Thursday met the police officers and demanded strict action against those involved in cow slaughter. They have threatened to launch an agitation "if incidents of cow slaughter were not checked".

Police said they were tipped-off about a stolen cow being slaughtered in a house at Gauspur village following which they conducted the raid. Blood-stained butcher knives were recovered, they added.

Modi government and BJP have been facing flak over cow vigilantes in various states including Uttar Pradesh, where a man, Ikhlaq, was beaten to death by a mob in Bishada village in Dadri on 9 September last year following rumours that his family had stored and eaten beef.

The fresh incident came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked people to beware of fake cow protectors trying to divide society and the country and asked the states to severely punish them.
New York: We know four fundamental forces - gravitation, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Now, scientists have discovered what can be the fifth force of nature.

A previously unknown subatomic light particle may be evidence of a fifth fundamental force of nature and a key to understanding dark matter in universe, according to theoretical physicists at the University of California - Irvine (UCI), US.

"If true, it's revolutionary. If confirmed by further experiments, this discovery of a possible fifth force would completely change our understanding of the universe, with consequences for the unification of forces and dark matter, explained Jonathan Feng, Professor of physics and astronomy.

The researchers came upon a mid-2015 study by experimental nuclear physicists at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences who were searching for "dark photons.

These are particles that would signify unseen dark matter which, physicists say, makes up about 85 percent of the universe's mass.

The Hungarians' work uncovered a radioactive decay anomaly that points to the existence of a light particle just 30 times heavier than an electron.

"The experimentalists weren't able to claim that it was a new force," Feng said.

They simply saw an excess of events that indicated a new particle, but it was not clear to them whether it was a matter particle or a force-carrying particle, he added in a paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

The UCI work demonstrates that instead of being a dark photon, the particle may be a protophobic X boson.

While the normal electric force acts on electrons and protons, this newfound boson interacts only with electrons and neutrons - and at an extremely limited range.

Like many scientific breakthroughs, this one opens entirely new fields of inquiry.

This potential fifth force might be joined to the electromagnetic and strong and weak nuclear forces as "manifestations of one grander, more fundamental force."

In a broader sense, it fits in with our original research to understand the nature of dark matter, the authors noted.
Is Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi overstepping his authority as the second-in-command of India's grand old party? Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh's advice to Karnataka Chief Minister G Siddaramaiah on the Amnesty International sedition case not to make any arrests pending investigation indicates that the Gandhi scion is even indirectly interfering into matters involving law and order.

Singh's advice came a day after Siddaramaiah warned on Wednesday that anyone involved in anti-national activities won't be spared. It is surprising that Rahul Gandhi is intervening into the matter even before the Bengaluru Police came to any conclusion. Has the Congress vice-president taken over the role of an investigation agency as well?

It's no secret that the political leadership often interferes in the filing of a case, the kind of sections of IPC and CrPC to be slapped or not and the way investigations should proceed. The investigating officers in all cases concerning the high and mighty almost necessarily obtain clearance from political bosses.

But these are always done discretely and any claims or allegations of interference are stoutly denied. No party ever go on publishing it, least of all make any boastful claim over that.

Rahul Gandhi's political guide Digvijaya Singh, however, chose to be different.

According to a report in the Indian Express, "Singh confirmed that he got a 'message' from Rahul inquiring about the development. He also said there was a need to review the sedition clause in the IPC."

Did the Congress get its strategy wrong by going public?

The party in its wisdom decided that by making Rahul's unauthorised intervention in the Amnesty International case and with directions to Karnataka Chief Minister to go soft would put the Congress vice-president on a pedestal probably as a messiah of free speech.

Rahul behaved similarly when the Jawaharlal Nehru Students'Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was slapped with sedition charges earlier this year. The difference between the two situations is that -- in JNU, Rahul only limited himself to a speech but in the Amnesty International case he went a step ahead.

Being Congress in-charge of the state, Singh does have the authority to impress upon the Karnataka Chief Minister what the party high command wants from him. In a series of tweets, Singh said, "I spoke to CM Karnataka and he has assured me that no arrests would be made pending investigation. Only FIR has been filed."

Pending investigation is a broad term. Does it mean till police reaches to a conclusion in weeks, months or may be years? There are situations where police investigation on a politically sensitive issue drags on for years. Or does it mean till it gets a direction from the court? Does his tweet on Karnataka Chief Minister's assurance that no arrests will be made during this period, a blanket ban on arrest, no custodial interrogation of accused persons will happen? Aren't all decisions pertaining to a case ideally be taken by the investigating officer?

In another tweet Digvijaya said, "Simply raising slogans is not a fit case to be charged with Sedition. It is a law which British used against our Leaders in Freedom Movement." Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi had later held a press conference to dwell at length why a sedition case is not applicable here.

Again they could be right that sedition was too serious a charge and should not be randomly applied. But the same question arises again -- who decides, Rahul Gandhi or the state administration?

The argument here is not whether the sedition law is good or bad, archaic or not, but on who decides on how investigations should proceed and whether the police need to make any arrest? It is the job of the police to find out who raised anti-India slogans and find out their mastermind. It is for the police to decide whether a case should be made against Amnesty International or not.

The Congress' de-facto boss can't lord over law enforcing agencies. He has no mandate to do so.
Jammu: On Thursday BJP attacked NC leader Omar Abdullah for "absolving" Pakistan of its role in the current turmoil in the Kashmir Valley and accused the opposition parties of "aggravating the prevailing situation" to destabilise the coalition government in the state.

Hitting out at the opposition parties a day after their meeting to discuss the Kashmir unrest, BJP also said it was not the time to have dialogue with Pakistan or any other individuals or groups on the Jammu and Kashmir issues.

"Leaders like Omar Abdullah, Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami and Congress leaders who participated in yesterday's meeting of opposition parties in Srinagar are trying to fish in troubles waters," BJP state spokesperson Virender Gupta alleged.

He claimed that none of the leaders had played any effective role in pacifying the situation.

"Instead of playing a constructive role these leaders remained engaged in instigating the people and aggravating the prevailing situation.

"Omar Abdullah's tweets on a daily basis gave support to the ongoing agitation led by the extremists and terrorist groups at the behest of Pakistan," he alleged.

Targeting Congress, the BJP leader said, "It was obvious from the statements of Ghulam Nabi Azad and P Chidambaram that Congress was acting behind the scene in organizing the present meeting to take the benefit of the existing situation and destabilize the PDP-BJP coalition government in the state.

Gupta criticized Omar for "absolving" Pakistan and "downplaying" its role in creation of the present situation, "whereas it is well known and amply clear from the statements of Pakistan Prime Minister, its President, Army Chief and other functionaries, apart from the leaders of the terrorist groups, that Pakistan and terrorist groups operating from there are mainly responsible for the present situation in the Valley.

"Omar Abdullah must have the knowledge that most of the terrorists killed in Jammu and Kashmir recently belonged to Pakistan and must be aware of the admission statements of Pakistani terrorists captured by the Indian security forces.

"Omar needs to explain the reason for denial of truth and for his blatant lies," he said.

The NC leader had on Wednesday said that Kashmir is a political issue which needs to be addressed politically.

"The first step is to admit and recognise the anger and then take steps to address it," Omar said.

Lashing out at the former chief minister, the BJP leader asked, "who was behind motivating the 10-12 year old children to throw stones at the security forces."

"Did the Prime-Minister not make efforts to have negotiations with Pakistan to resolve the bilateral issues between the two countries? Did Modi not make attempts to address the various issues confronting the people of Jammu and Kashmir? Did he not make many visits to the state particularly the Valley?" Gupta questioned.

He also refused the demand to initiate an inquiry into the allegations of excessive force by security forces while dealing with protestors.

The former chief minister said all the opposition parties were worried about youths getting killed and injured in security forces' firing, while the state and the central governments "mishandled" the situation.

The BJP spokesman questioned how many enquiries were conducted during the outbreak of violence after 1990, 2008 and 2010 when National Conference and Congress were in power.

He also said that any political solution for Jammu and Kashmir can only be worked out by taking people of all the three regions into confidence.
Chennai: The one-week suspension of DMK legislators from the Tamil Nadu Assembly will not be revoked, Speaker P Dhanapal said on Thursday.

When the issue was raised in the Assembly by lawmakers of the Congress and DMK parties (members who were not present in the House on Wednesday), Dhanapal said the suspension could not be revoked.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, DMK's MK Stalin, and other lawmakers of DMK held a sit-in protest at the entrance of the Assembly as they were not allowed to enter their chambers.

Stalin said the Assembly proceedings should be telecast live so that people will know what is happening inside the House.

On Wednesday, Dhanapal suspended 80 DMK members including Stalin for a week for unruly behaviour in the House.

The DMK has 89 members in the 234-member Assembly.
Srinagar: The house of ruling PDP MLA Mohammad Yousuf Bhat in Shopian district in Kashmir was attacked by a mob which set ablaze the security guard room and a motorcycle, police said on Thursday.

Bhat, who is the chief whip of PDP in the Assembly, and his family were not present in the house at the time of the attack.

A large number of people attacked Bhat's house after police raided several houses in Meemandar locality late last night in search of youth, a police official said.

The locals put up a stiff resistance because of which the police party had to beat a hasty retreat, the official said, adding the mob subsequently attacked Bhat's house.

The mob set on fire the guard room of the MLA's residence and a motorcycle parked outside it, the official said.

Kashmir has been on the boil since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani in an encounter on 8 July.
Srinagar: Chief Minister Mehbooba Muftis government in Jammu and Kashmir is quickly losing its grip on the state, with the ongoing unrest spilling into a 41st day, and militants stepping up their offensive against government forces. The Valley continues to be on edge. The situation, after every passing day, is worsening and there is no sign of normalcy returning to the Valley any time soon.

Fearing the wrath of people the state government, its ministers and bureaucrats are confined to their official residencies. The streets leading to the civil secretariat are wrapped in concertina wire and manned by fatigued soldiers. The government is almost entirely invisible on the ground.

The roads leading to Gupkar  where a majority of ministers and bureaucrats have official residencies  are barricaded and blocked by concertina wire. CRPF and Kashmir policemen refuse to allow civilians vehicles entry to this road that was historically thrown open to civilian vehicles when Mehboobas father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed become chief minister in 2002, after the militancy started waning in the Valley.

Ministers from Jammu, all of them from PDPs coalition partner BJP, have already left the Valley and are waiting for the offices to reopen in the winter capital of Jammu. Sensing trouble on the streets, after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani on 8 July, a majority of ministers and MLAs from Jammu have decided to camp in the city, as they see no reason to continue to be in the Valley.

We left three weeks ago and are waiting for the Darbar move. If developmental work cant be implemented in Kashmir, why should Jammu also suffer? We cant move outside our official residence in Srinagar, never mind taking stock of the situation, a BJP minister in the state government told Firstpost.

For the moment, no one seems to have any idea who is running the state. Is it the protesters whose writ runs large on the streets during the day? Or is it the government forces who have now decided to impose a curfew during the night?

On the 40th day of unrest (Wednesday), the state government decided to impose a night curfew in the Valley. Local newspapers reported on Wednesday that shopkeepers had been asked to stop opening their establishments during evening hours  something that was allowed over the past month. The curfew will now continue even during the night.

Recently, Mehbooba had ordered the restoration of broadband connections to newspapers after meeting with their editors, but the police has refused to do so. On 15 August, she warned that members of the forces who violate her directions would face action. This is not a mere statement. It will be done and you will be told about it." The very next day, forces killed five people in the day and seven in 24 hours.

The curfew continues to paralyse life, with schools, shops and business establishments closed for over a month now, and mobile telephony and internet services shut. More than 60 people have been killed, including two policemen, in the protests that erupted after the killing of Wani, and over 8,000 civilians and government forces have been injured during the clashes.

Worried that the state government has lost touch with the common people, Opposition parties  on invitation of the National Conference  met on Wednesday and passed a resolution demanding a probe into the civilian killings in the ongoing unrest by a retired Supreme Court judge, stopping the use of pellet guns on protesters, and a special Assembly session on the prevalent unrest in Kashmir.

"We have decided to seek time from the president to apprise him about the real ground situation in Kashmir. We will try to persuade the Central government to take steps that will at least help in improving the situation in the Valley," National Conference working president Omar Abdullah told reporters after the meeting at his residence.

Surprisingly, no minister from the ruling coalition government has been seen in public since the unrest began in the Valley. Initially, government spokesperson and education minister, Naeem Akhtar, visited some places, but in his hometown of Bandipora, he was stoned by people and extra forces had to be deployed to rescue him from the district.

Mehbooba is the only visible face, although, she too prefers to travel by helicopter avoiding the chaotic roads, and has been left alone to defend government actions and the alliance with the BJP, with none of her cabinet colleagues coming to the rescue. Ministers from her own party have not been seen in public for a long time, as anger against government functionaries is at its peak in the Valley.

The chief secretary BR Sharma chaired a meeting with administrative secretaries to review the attendance of government employees. During the meeting, he found that employees were not attending to their duties regularly, thereby putting the general public to inconvenience in availing various services, an official spokesperson said.

The Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission is facing tremendous administrative issues in the recruitment and selection of candidates against hundreds of notified vacancies because of the unrest. As schools remain shut, volunteers in different districts have started teaching children inside their homes. Recently, the Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) on its official Facebook page had posted an emotional message urging students to return to the schools.

Come back, before we forget the art of teaching and you forget the joy of learning, come back to salvage the old friendship. We miss you, the post on the DSEKs page read. Without you our days are lifeless. Children, when are coming back to school? It has been a long time since the last morning prayer, since the last afternoon huddle.

The department received flak at the hands of people who accused it of blackmailing children.

And then a user posted this as a reply:
Mumbai: In a tragic incident, a state agriculture department official's pleas for a half day leave

to attend his depressed son were turned down by his superior who nudged the official to continue working, following which the boy allegedly committed suicide.

The incident took place last week and the Maharashtra government has ordered an inquiry into it.

Sources in the agriculture department said in the afternoon of 12 August, department joint secretary Rajesh Ghadge (posted at department office in Mantralaya in Mumbai) got a panic call from his son, who was suffering from depression, asking him to come home in Navi Mumbai as soon as possible, failing which he (the son) would end his life.

Panicked by the threat, Ghadge requested additional chief secretary (ACS) Bhagwan Sahay to let him go home early. But Sahay turned down his requests and made him work till regular office hours.

"Ghadge's 23-year-old son was desperately calling him to come back home and had threatened to commit suicide if he did not turn up," the source said.

"So Ghadge approached Sahay with a permission for a half day leave. Sahay, known for his whimsical ways not only denied the permission, but asked Ghadge to work as per the regular office hours," he said.

A distraught Ghadge was virtually on his knees as he got a second frantic call from his son. He once again approached Sahay pleading for mercy, but his pleas fell on deaf ears, the source said.

"All that he got to hear again from Sahay was a 'no'. At the end of the day, Ghadge's worst fears came true as he got the news from his home that his son had committed suicide," he said.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, state Minister for Agriculture Pandurang Phundkar on Thursday said he has ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident.

"I have spoken to Ghadge and had also asked state chief secretary to order an inquiry into the incident," Phundkar

said.

Following the directions, chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya has ordered an inquiry into the entire episode.

The incident sparked outrage in the department, with officers and Ghadge's colleagues staging a demonstration

today.

According to sources in the department, Ghadge is now contemplating applying for voluntary retirement.

The body was taken to Solapur, the native place of the Ghadge family, for the last rites. Other officers in the

department rushed to meet Ghadge at his Solapur residence.

Efforts to contact Sahay did not yield results as he turned away media persons.
New Delhi: Modi Government remains as popular as it was on the day it took oath, BJP President Amit Shah on Thursday, stressing that the party needs to work to retain this support, as top leaders came together to mark the start of work on its new swanky headquarters.

The new office spread across two acres at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg will bear the stamp of the party's cultural and nationalist agenda in its design, party leaders said, adding it will be equipped with latest communication medium and conference facilities, allowing its leadership to connect with district and block-level workers.

It is vastu-compliant, can hold a meeting of two to three thousand workers, will have several conference rooms and a big screen outside to live stream any big party event. The proposed structure of six floors will be illuminated with ample sun light, according to a presentation made at the event, also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Over two-and-half-hours of yagna was held with Shah at the centre of rituals for 'bhoomi pujan' and top party leaders and Union ministers joining him.

The party is hoping that the new premises will be ready by December, 2018 and plans to hold its inauguration on the birthday of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Shah was joined by all the former party presidents at the dais as he hailed the sacrifices of party workers during its journey from a 10-member organisation to 11-crore membership.

Today, BJP has over 1000 MLAs, more than 300 MPs and is in power in 15 states either on its own or with its allies, he said.

Noting that the Modi government formed in 2014 was the first majority dispensation at the Centre in the last 30 years, he said, "It remains as popular as it was when it took oath. It is our responsibility to lend permanence to the support the party has received."

The party is probably at its peak right now, he said, exhorting workers not to remain satisfied and ensure that it grows beyond its current strength.

The party wants to open an office each in 580 districts of the country and has bought land in 250 places so far, he

said.

While its commitment to its ideology has fuelled its growth, the way it is run will have to change with time, he said as he spoke about his thrust on the use of offices equipped with modern communication facilities to coordinate in real time its programmes from Tamil Nadu to Arunachal Pradesh.

The party is also working to document its history and efforts are on to put together audio and videos of its

leaders.
The unthinkable has happened in Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, after repeatedly castigating his chief minister son Akhilesh Yadav on issues related to governance, has made it clear that if it comes to political expediency, he would choose brother over son.

For those who never get tired of accusing Mulayam of falling in the trap of putra moh (love for the son) it is a bolt from the blue, since it exposes one big facet of the patriarchs personality  rules of politics are unbending and sons cannot go far if parents do not allow them to.

On several occasions in the last three years Mulayam had criticised Akhileshs style of working, including his handling of bureaucrats, party workers, ministers and peoples grievances. But what he did on Independence Day at a function in Lucknow was unprecedented. He said his brother Shivpal Yadav had been feeling uneasy in the party, he had complained of officers, party leaders and others not listening to him, and that Shivpal had offered to resign in case things continued like this. Mulayam then went on to say that the Samajwadi Party would fall apart if Shivpal left, and Akhilesh must take steps to put things in order.

A day earlier, Shivpal had vented out his anguish at a function in Mainpuri, when he had said he was pained at party workers grabbing land, and the establishment or the police not handling peoples grievances properly.

Incidentally, differences of opinion between Akhilesh and Shivpal have come up on several occasions. Notable among these is the choice of official to be appointed as the states chief secretary after Alok Ranjans term ended, and the postponement of Qaumi Ekta Dals (QED) merger with the SP. While in the first case it was Shivpals choice that prevailed, in the second case Akhilesh managed to have the last word. Apparently, Shivpal has been sulking ever since the QED fiasco as it involved a lot of efforts on his part to bring the outfit comprising Mukhtar Ansari and Afzal Ansari to the SPs fold, and the cancellation of the merger had led to huge embarrassment  if not humiliation  for Shivpal.

Now, with the showdown becoming public, there are reports that the QED merger chapter could be reopened and it might eventually take place despite Akhileshs very public criticism of the move in the first place.

If that happens, it could be very difficult for Akhilesh to keep up a smiling face, and his only response could well be that father knows best.

Coming at a time when Assembly elections are only a few months away, those in the party owing allegiance to Akhilesh and Shivpal, are jittery. The youth brigade in Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha and Lohia Vahini appear solidly behind Akhilesh, but then Mulayam has very openly said that election tickets would only be finalised by him. Those enjoying the patronage of Shivpal but sidelined by Akhilesh would only feel stronger, and the same could be true otherwise.

Already, a very senior officer Pravir Kumar, given the charge of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway Authority a month ago, has been shifted from these prized posts and given a relatively less powerful position. Kumar was known to be Akhileshs choice for chief secretary but the post had gone to Deepak Singhal, backed by Shivpal.

More such moves involving the bureaucracy and party positions are likely in the coming days as strategic positions are fortified in the run-up to the 2017 election. Whether the chief minister would sulk, revolt or grin-and-bear-it, is something that would be clear in the coming days.

As the head of the first family of Uttar Pradesh politics for more than two decades, Mulayam has evolved a system of maintaining the balance of power among brothers, sons, cousins, nephews and other relatives. They enjoy their positions as MPs, MLAs, MLCs, heads of local bodies and others on elected or nominated positions in UP only because of Mulayams farsightedness. Years ago, when Mulayam was a firebrand socialist leader in the state, his brothers were still either studying or trying to find their place in their chosen vocation. It is to the credit of Mulayam alone that he not only consolidated his own political career with a mix of ideologically-driven associations but also with alliances with selected political figures. In such a situation, Mulayam is not exaggerating when he says that Shivpal has remained in the party on his (Mulayams) insistence. Being an aggressive and temperamental individual that he is, Shivpal could well have moved on to carve out his political highway.

For Akhilesh, any political position other than UPs chief ministership is difficult to imagine. Although comparisons with the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi are obvious but Akhilesh started off on a stronger note, with his first major assignment being heading a huge government for a huge state. But while Rahul may have had the luxury of remaining the contender for the number one post despite all shortcomings mainly on the strength of his party, Akhilesh may have little support from within the party  or family  once his party is out of power in UP. Recent history has shown that mighty ex-CMs do not like working as mere members of state Assemblies or as leader of Opposition once they are out of power: They move to Parliament.

Any disturbance in the balance of power is likely to have repercussions outside UP since the family extensions now reach other states also. For the family, being in power in UP means much more than Samajwadi Party in UP alone. Delicate balances may become upset in Bihar too.

Incidentally, politician sons of heavyweight politicians, be it Karunanidhi and his two sons in Tamil Nadu, late YS Reddy and his son in Andhra Pradesh, Farooq Abdullah and his son in Jammu and Kashmir, or even Deve Gowda and his son in Karnataka, have never been able to outshine their fathers, or even survive untroubled in their own states. Navin Patnaik is the only exception in Odisha, but then his late father never harboured national ambitions. And Patnaik senior did not have an ambitious brother.
In hindsight, Indira Gandhi was perhaps justified in repeatedly harping about the hazards of the ubiquitous foreign hand. Only, it was ironical given the fact that more than 40 MPs in her government were on the payroll of the CIA or KGB or both, as the Mitrokhin Archives reveal. But her harping ensured keeping intact something that is non-negotiable for any independent, sovereign nation: external and internal security and freedom from alien  especially Western  interference, no matter how benign the disguise.

Lets examine the 1984 National Day speech by Indira Gandhis contemporary, Lee Kuan Yew who recalls his early, uphill struggles to build Singapore:

.the stench, the filthwhat did [build Singapore] it? Human rights? Are they bankable? The [Western nations]  should underwriteadmit two million people to Australia or UK or US [in case something goes wrong] and Ill follow what you tell mewhen you dont have jobs, will you queue up outside the ILO?...when youre hungry, will you go to the FAO?....This is the only bank you havethe Singapore governmentI tell thisclass of intelligentsia, those who read all these magazines and newspapers: who wrote it? What is his stake and interest in your future before you believe him? ... But you know, Amnesty International and all these human rights guys say, hanging is wrong!

It might be very hard for the post-colonial generations in former colonized nations to understand what they see as paranoia about allowing Western intervention on their soil in the name of human rights, aid, etc. But both Indira Gandhi and Lee Kuan Yew belonged to a generation that had lived the horrors of Western colonialism, and were justifiably wary.

Put another way, it must never be forgotten that the freedom struggle was fundamentally fought to achieve two ends: to drive out the oppressive, alien occupier and to unite India as one nation, a unity that should remain non-negotiable, Jammu and Kashmir included. And unless this fundamental, integral premise is not forgotten, it will become clear that the protracted violence and sloganeering that continues in the name of the so-called azadi for Kashmiri Muslims is not a debate much less a point of view.

And this is precisely what vast sections of our academia, media, intelligentsia and policy wonks want us to forget when they cynically throw around diversionary labels like human rights, hypernationalism and so on. This is the context in which we need to examine the ongoing fracas that Amnesty International India instigated in Bengaluru under the garb of human rights abuses by the Indian army against Kashmiri Muslims.

I dont wish to dwell at length on the ongoing issue because its merely the latest manifestation of a rot whose roots go much farther back in time.

Suffice to ask a few questions to Amnesty: Why hasnt it interviewed even one Kashmir Pandit over more than two decades after lakhs of them were forced out of the Valley by the selfsame Azadi torchbearers? And why hasnt Amnesty shown the sorry plight of the families of the slain Indian soldiers fighting to protect our borders? More importantly, why hasnt it interviewed the perpetrators of the worst human rights abuses, the Jihadi groups and their enablers who violently execute this noble task of 'Azadi'? And what was the crying need for Amnesty to organise an event of such a nature  knowing well that it would lead to controversy  in the first place? Equally, the timing of the event also arouses a doubt: is it to keep the flames of sympathy for the slain terrorist Burhan Wani still burning?

The answers will become evident the moment we hold the mirror to Amnesty International specifically and to the entire West-and-Church-funded Human Rights cottage industry.

Human Rights as an interventionist model

The Western Human Rights cottage industry follows the historical colonial model of saving souls and the white mans burden repackaged to fit contemporary times. Its core doctrine is dictated by interference in the affairs of independent nations using whatever tools are deemed fit including think tanks, bureaucracy, local advocacy groups, universities and the media.

We can turn to Lee Kuan Yew again:

nail your colours to the mast, defend it and say, This is my flag, this is what I believe in. I believe in open debate, arguments, persuasion, I hope to win by votes. But start manipulating innocent professional groups, cultural groups and make them support political causes, whether its freedom of the foreign press or whatever, then I say you are looking for unpleasant linkages with what has happened in the past. [Emphasis added] And more crucially, We allow American journalists in Singapore in order to report Singapore to their fellow countrymenBut we cannot allow them to assume a role in Singapore that the American media play in America, that is, that of invigilator, adversary and inquisitor of the administration.

Now apply this to the Indian situation and notice how dangerously true this has turned out. From Amnesty International to the clutch of foreign media houses with a single-minded agenda of demonising and pressuring the Narendra Modi government on mostly phony grounds, and causing mini-conflicts at regular intervals.

Would the US or UK allow say, a desi version of Amnesty International to pry into its racism, police brutality, illegal detentions and spying on private citizens in the name of homeland security?

Its a beautiful model though: first, identify a target country for intervention and concoct a random narrative of human rights abuses there, and when that countrys government protests, portray such protest as a proof of the poor human rights record of the country.

It is nobodys claim that there are no human rights abuses in India or anywhere else the world. The point is that every country has its own ways of dealing with it, and no external agency should be accorded permission to interfere in the internal affairs of independent nations. Would the US or UK allow say, a desi version of Amnesty International to pry into its racism, police brutality, illegal detentions and spying on private citizens in the name of homeland security? Amnesty International India is thus precisely a case in point. The slogan shouters, its volunteers, its donors, and supporters are all mostly Indian citizens participating in alien agendas that include abusing and demoralising the Indian armed forces, and escalating social and gender tensions among others.

Revisiting Amnesty International in India

It might come as a surprise but Amnesty International was allowed to open shop in India only as late as in 2012. However, a short trip to the past reveals this interventionist agenda it has always had for Kashmir and Punjab, to begin with.

We can examine excerpts from just three Congressional records:

The Congressional House Record of 10 June, 1991

Placed by Rep Dan Burton, heres how it reads: the President shall report to the Congress whether the Government of India is implementing a policy which prevents representatives of Amnesty Internationalfrom visiting India in order to monitor human rights conditions And if India still disallowed entry to Amnesty, all development assistance for India shall be terminated. And on Kashmir, the Congressdemands that the Government of India open the borders ofJammu and Kashmir to Amnesty Internationalto permit an accurate assessment of of the human rights situation This is the same Dan Burton who later was part of the team of US politicians who participated in denying the Visa to Narendra Modi.

The Congressional (House) Record of 10 May, 2000 (Extensions of Remarks)

Tabled by Rep Edolphus Towns cities an Amnesty International report that falsely blamed the then NDA government as responsible for the killing of 36 Sikhs at Chithi Singhpora. More tellingly, Towns says America should also supportplebiscites in Kashmir, in Christian Nagaland and throughout India. This is the way to bring real freedom, peace, prosperity and stability to South Asia. [Emphasis added]

The Congressional (House) Record of 1 June, 2004 (Extensions of Remarks)

Tabled yet again by Rep Edolphus Towns makes Punjab a part of Khalistan. Its instructive to read this record at some length: "Mr Speaker, on 12 May, the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness conducted a hearing into human-rights violations in Kashmir and in Punjab, KhalistanWitnesses travelled from Kashmirto testify. Those testifying included Mr T Kumar, Advocacy DirectorAsia, Amnesty InternationalDr. Ghulam Nabi Fai India claims to be democratic, but it is really a brutal tyranny Amnesty International hasnot been allowed into Punjab since 1978" [Emphasis added]

What does this tell India about Amnestys alarming reach in the highest corridors of the US government? Given this, its hard not to appreciate the farsightedness of past Indian governments, which had accurately assessed its true character and kept it out of India. The role of Amnesty in India can also be examined in tandem in light of its aggressive campaign against denying the US visa to Narendra Modi and its nexus with the global Human Rights Award industry with generous backing of Evangelists of all hues.

We can turn to the meticulously researched work, NGOs, Activists and Foreign Funds by Vigil, Chennai, first published in 2006:

"No Indian government will allow Amnesty International to set foot inside this country Amnesty International will ask neither the Indian government for the truth, facts and figures[but] will ask the likes of Teesta Setalvad, Harsh Mander and Kathy Sreedhar" (Page 251)

The book informs us how in the year 2000, a certain Martin Macwan, a Christian from Gujarat received these awards: the Magsaysay and the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award. And one William Schulz, former Executive Director of Amnesty International, Smita Narula of Human Rights Watch and Kathy Sreedhar of the Holdeen India Fund recommended Macwans name to the judges. Now, Schulz is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, and served as president of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

And Amnestys deep links with the Evangelicals show up more distinctively in its campaign to deny Modi the US visa. Heres Zahir Janmohamed, former Amnesty employee:

"In March 2005, the United States denied a visa to Gujarats chief minister, Narendra Modiit came about from a highly unusual coalition made up of Indian-born activists, evangelical Christians, Jewish leaders and Republican members of CongressI had a front-row seat to these events as they unfolded. I worked in Washington DC, from 2003 to 2011, mostly at Amnesty International and in the United States Congress, and I was a part of the campaign to deny Mr Modi a visa"

And how Amnesty bullied talk show host Chris Mathews by writing a letter to American Express asking it to withdraw its sponsorship of the conference with Narendra Modi. Of course, the conference never happened because Modis visa was denied.

Funding Sources, Conflicts of Interest

Indeed, if Amnesty International operates with seeming impunity on this scale, it is also because of its funding and its labyrinthine web of relationships which continue to cause controversy.

Founded in 1961 by the Catholic lawyer Peter Beneson, Amnesty International was infiltrated early on by the UK Intelligence. The book, Like Water on Stone: The Story of Amnesty International says:

"Benesons suspicious about Amnestys collusion with the [UK] Foreign Office continued to fester in his mindthe Labour Party [Governments] obvious embarrassment over the Aden issue deepened his suspicions that someone was working to keep the matter quiet. And top of his list of suspects was Robert Swann[who] had worked for the British Foreign Office in BangkokBeneson began to suspect that Swann andhis colleagues were part of a British Intelligence conspiracy to subvert Amnesty He contacted Sean MacBride [founding member of Amnesty and former Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army] another bombshell exploded. An American source disclosed that CIA money was going to a US organization of jurists which in turn contributed funds to the International Commission of Jurists, of which Sean MacBride was secretaryBeneson became convinced that MacBride was tied up in a CIA network." (Pages 127-128)

This co-founder of Amnesty International, Sean MacBride went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Subsequently, a Sean MacBride Peace Prize was instituted in his honour. In 2000, the Communist journalist and author Praful Bidwai, and Delhi University Professor Achin Vanaik were awarded the MacBride Peace Prize.

The NGO watchdog website, NGO Monitor has this to say about Amnestys funding:

"Although AI claims that it does not accept any funds for human rights research from governments or political parties from governments or political parties, it has received governmental funding, including from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the European Commission, the Netherlands, the United States, and Norway."

NGO Monitor has also published a monograph titled Amnesty International: Failed Methodology, Corruption, and Anti-Israel Bias, in which it details the various irregularities committed by Amnesty. As corroboration, we can also look at the International Business Times, which published a report on Amnestys funding anomalies:

the messy and somewhat mysterious departure of Shettys predecessor, Irene Khan, cast a harsh glare on Amnestys internal strife and financial issues.

Khan, who had led the organization since 2001, was given a severance pay package of more than 533,000 ($760,000 in 2012 currency), while her deputy Kate Gilmore received a hefty 325,244 ($493,000) payout An Australian blogger thundered:

I am not sure about an international organisation that collects donations and then pays the leaving secretary- general 533,103 or 4 times her yearly wage... That is a lot of money and I am sure [it] could have been used much better to champion fight for human rights that Amnesty International go on about.

In 2007, the Catholic Church, a long-time supporter of Amnesty, withdrew donations owing to the group's pro-abortion stance. NGO-Monitor noted, in 2008, the campaigners received a four-year grant from the British government's Department for International Development (DFID in excess 3 million, including more than 840,000 in 2011 alone Amnesty has also received funds from the European Commission, as well as from the government of Netherlands, the US, and Norway. In 2009, NGO-Monitor cites, Amnesty received 2.5 million (approximately 1 percent of its donations) from government entities. The British government was the third largest donor (at 800,000). Amnesty also received government funding in 2008 (1million), 2007 (1 million), and 2006 (2 million).

Theres just no other way of saying this: we slept, our political class fought internally, our governments became alphabet soups of warring political factions even as the likes of Amnesty International made slow, steady but sure inroads.

The report also mentions the name of Amnesty Internationals Secretary-General, Salil Shetty who earns nearly 200,000 ($305,000) a year. Salil Shetty is the son of the Bengaluru-based VT Rajashekhar, publisher of the notorious journal, Dalit Voice, which Arun Shourie characterized as a venomous rag. And that brings us to the question of conflicts of interests, which are aplenty and the nexus, deadly to say the least.

Here are a few names:

Aakar Patel, currently India head of Amnesty International has a lengthy record of baiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in racist language and generally building a casteist narrative of Hindu society. His wife, Tushita Aakar Patel is/was the political secretary of disgraced business tycoon, Vijay Mallya whose foray in the media business is shown by his connection to NDTV.

Salil Shetty was previously Chief Executive of ActionAid and Director, United Nations Millennium Campaign. Sonia Gandhis confidant, Harsh Mander had once been the head of ActionAid.

Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, was drawn directly from the US State Department, again, utterly contradicting Amnesty's claims of being "independent" of governments and corporate interests.

George Macfarlane, formerly with Greenpeace International and Oxfam.

Minar Pimple, Senior Director of Global Operations at Amnesty International was Regional Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign, and Oxfam India.

Divya Iyer, now Research Manager at Amnesty International, India was with NDTV, AajTak and CNN-IBN.

Carolyn Hardy, now a co-opted member of Amnesty, was with United Nations and UNICEF.

Anantapadmanabhan, now Executive Director at Amnesty International India, was formerly Executive Director, Greenpeace India.

Im sure one can uncover more such relationships in this complex web of the NGO-Human Rights-Foreign Governments-Church universe but the worrying aspect is their former and present connections to international bodies like the UN and the US State Department. And so, is it any surprise that when the Modi government showed the door to Greenpeace India, one of the first and most vocal critics was Amnesty?

Friends with Jihadis

Even if we grant that Amnesty International is focused on the noble tasks in the Human Rights sphere, we need to but ask a fundamental question: what is its record in adhering to the Indian national interest?

The evident answer: terrible.

Amnesty International has consistently deepened fissures in the Indian society by escalating internal fault-lines using various devices one of which is manufacturing and disseminating atrocity literature. About a year ago, Amnesty published a scurrilous petition about the rape of two Dalit girls in Uttar Pradeshs Baghpat region, which was supposedly ordered by the villages Khap panchayat. The petition generated more than 500000 signatures but the truth was revealed a few days later by this Reuters report:

"members of the village council in the Baghpat region of northern India have told Reuters they passed no such order. Family members of the two sisters also told Reuters they are unsure if the ruling was made. And local police deny any such directive was given."

But then Amnestys purpose had been served: the phony petition will be another notch in Amnestys narrative of widespread human rights abuses that continue to occur in India.

Not to be left behind, Amnesty too, had a hand in supporting the anti-Kudankulam protests, which had the covert backing of Hillary Clinton.

Now, sample this overview to India on Amnesty Internationals India web page:

"Authorities clamped down on civil society organizations critical of official policies, and increased restrictions on foreign funding. Religious tensions intensified, and gender- and caste-based discrimination and violence remained pervasive. Censorship and attacks on freedom of expression by hardline Hindu groups grew. Scores of artists, writers and scientists returned national honours in protest against what they said was a climate of growing intolerance The criminal justice system remained flawed, violating fair trial rights and failing to ensure justice for abuses. Extrajudicial executions and torture and other ill-treatment persisted."

Gives the picture of a horrible tyranny, right? And the instances it gives to back up all these claims are supplied precisely by the local award wapsi brigade, the intolerance bogey and the rest.

Never mind the fact that India allows Amnesty freedom enough to actually write all this. Had Amnestys claims been true, it wouldve received the treatment that Lee Kuan Yew gave it in the past.

Indeed, is it narratives like this that prompts US politicians like Towns to label India as a brutal tyranny on the floor of the House.

If this is on the one side, the other side is more worrying.

We can begin with the name of Gita Sahgal, whose statement slamming Amnesty was reported by Firstpost. This former Amnesty International employee was suspended in 2010 by the organization. Christopher Hitchens narrates what happened in Slate:

Amnesty International has just suspended one of its senior officers, a woman named Gita Sahgal who until recently headed the organization's "gender unit." It's fairly easy to summarize her concern in her own words. "To be appearing on platforms with Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban, whom we treat as a human rights defender," she wrote, "is a gross error of judgment." One might think that to be an uncontroversial statement, but it led to her immediate suspension.

The most famous supporter of Taliban was Moazzem Begg who was detained at Guantanamo Bay in the wake of 9/11. Hes friends with militant groups like Hizb-ut Tahrir, and extremists like Abu Hamza. And Amnesty International lends its support to him. And how! A 2014 Wall Street Journal article on Amnesty says: is "jihad in self-defence...antithetical to human rights? Our answer is no." That was how Claudio Cordone, then Amnesty International's interim secretary-general, responded in February 2010 to criticism after the human-rights group made ex-Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg its poster child Nor was Amnesty bothered that, alongside his "human-rights" work, Begg was conducting fawning interviews with Al-Qaeda propagandists such as the late terrorist imam Anwar al-Awlaki The world needs morally credible human-rights organizations. Amnesty too often isn't one of them. In fact, given the pattern of Amnestys interventions over the years, it seems to be on the side of radical jihadists  early on, from supporting violent extremists in Kashmir and Punjab to Taliban now.

But theres more.

NGO Monitors numerous reports also show how Amnesty International has taken to supporting Palestinian terrorists and has consistently painted the state of Israel as the villain. One of the reports as much as calls it Amnestys war on Israel. It is worth perusing NGO Monitors collection of reports on Amnestys damning record of supporting pro-Jihadis both in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Rajiv Malhotra recounts in a 2004 article, the words of Nobel Laureate David Trimble:

One of the great curses of this world is the human rights industry. They justify terrorist acts and end up being complicit in the murder of innocent victims.

His words drew an angry reaction from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, two of the worlds biggest human rights groups, with more than a million members worldwide. And why would it invite said angry reaction when Trimble hadnt named anybody? Guilty conscience much?

How did we get here?

As far as India is concerned, Amnestys human rights work has been selective to say the least. Apart from completely ignoring the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, Amnesty has been mum about the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Hindus in West Bengal at the hands of both illegal Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators and local Muslim extremists. It appears as though Amnesty is wilfully blind to this despite the meticulous, detailed and heartrending documentation of this massacre on the Hindu Samhati Global Media website.

This equally applies to Hindu workers and RSS members murdered with alarming regularity in Kerala either at the hands of Communists or Muslims or both. Apparently some lives deserve to be violently extinguished.

Given this historical pattern, it goes without saying that today, Kashmirs 'azadi' might be Amnestys focus area and tomorrow, it could be West Bengal: perhaps all thats required is for that one spark of separatism to be lit.

How did we even get here?

As weve seen earlier, Amnesty has invested in India for nearly four decades: recall the US House Representatives claim that Amnesty was disallowed in Punjab in 1978. What does that tell us? What does it say about our capabilities, even our self-worth, that we allow this kind of (alien) Congressional hearings about our internal matters?

Theres just no other way of saying this: we slept, our political class fought internally, our governments became alphabet soups of warring political factions even as the likes of Amnesty International made slow, steady but sure inroads. In Arun Shouries words, the Indian state steadily hollowed out. And it finally gave in during Sonia Gandhis decade-long NGO regime where the likes of Greenpeace and Amnesty flourished, the cancer eating Indias vitals. And now, when the Government itself tries to mitigate the situation, it has to face internal and international resistance and hostility on an epic scale.

Indeed, it appears that weve remained in a civilisational inertia of meekly allowing the West to lecture us about human rights given how the sponsors of these human-rights-advocates continue to bomb entire countries out of existence and are on a spree of plundering the planet. And so, the fundamental question remains: given what these human rights worthies have done and continue to do, is something like Amnesty International even required in India? If the answer is yes, then we might as well concede defeat and throw up our hands in helplessness at being unable to guarantee our own internal and external security and national integrity.
Union minister Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday lashed out at the Congress over former Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks on the Kashmir unrest and said that his remarks showed the level of inconsistency of the Congress.

"The only consistency in the Congress is its inconsistency," said Naidu in New Delhi. "The statement of the former Home Minister P Chidambaram shows the casual and reckless manner of the Congress when discussing Kashmir," he further said.

"Congress has once again displayed its insensitivity on the Kashmir issue. Its own leaders are not in consonance...One day, Kapil Sibal says something. The next day, Congress disowns it," he said. "These statements and contradictions show lack of maturity and signs of political opportunism," Naidu said, referring to how the Congress distanced itself from Chidambaram's remarks.

"Their utterances are totally out of sync with the mood of the country," Naidu further said. "Why is Congress trying to exonerate Pakistan? I appeal to these parties to be realistic and understand the sentiments of the people."

Naidu's reaction came a day after Chidambaram had blamed the PDP-BJP government for the unrest in Kashmir Valley and said the statements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have "exacerbated" the crisis.

Chidambaram said he was deeply concerned over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, which is "sliding into total chaos".

"The PDP-BJP government is squarely responsible for the sharp deterioration in the last 6 weeks," he said in a statement.

He also said that the Congress, National Conference and PDP should form an alliance to bring about peace in Kashmir but Congress rejected that idea and said that Chidambaram's views were "personal and individual views".

"Obviously, unless any party line is announced, it is his individual view. But an individual view is not to be seen the way you are seeing it...Somebody has expressed a hope and that is his personal view," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi had said.

At the AICC briefing, he had said, "A person is free to write and speak, so long as he is expressing a personal opinion  a hope, a wish, a desire and not going against any established party opinion."

With inputs from PTI
There is a legend that if a Gurkha takes out his khukri from its scabbard, he must draw blood from its edge before sheathing it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has drawn his khukri over Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Balochistan, and it cannot go into its scabbard until he touches it with crimson.

Whether or not the Indian prime minister has the mojo to be a Gurkha is yet to be seen, but it is clear that the war cry resonates: Ho ki hoye na.

The most famous war strategist Sun Tzu said that an armys most important element for being effective was its supply lines. From guns to gum, from bazookas to bandages and hot food, not to forget hot tea  millions of cups of tea  an army marches on its stomach.

In his words: Attacking with the purpose of removing the enemy's supply... then curls into its rear to cut it off from home; Win without fighting.

On this canvas, the attack by militants on an army convoy in Baramulla not two days after Modi trumped the table is a matter of concern in that it indicates a pattern. India should be ready for more ambushes of this variety.

Disrupting Indias supply lines would be the most sensible option for Pakistan. All convoys are now fair game by proxy. Having opened a new front where the Baloch leaders are asking India for military aid, Modi now has to give his forces full rein for they are on the frontline and they are the ones who will bear the brunt of the hostility.

And hostility there will be.

In 1971, when I was officially the youngest war correspondent sent to cover the war  dispatched by Khushwant Singh  and being from the only family in the world where four brothers made the rank of general in the same corps (one of them getting the MVC and the other a Sena medal), I saw up close and personal during the Battle of Basantar  the biggest tank battle since Rommel and his Afrika Corps  how war is the worst option.

If it wasn't for Jehangir Gazder of Newsweek I would have been a POW.

At 21, I thought it okay to 'interview' a Pakistani colonel in a war zone, until Gazder pulled me in and screamed the house down.

And the other lessons were gross.

War sucks. Big time.

There is no romance, no grand John Wayne gesture, just the stench of cordite and corpses.

One can only hope that India and Pakistan avoid an all-out battle, but the deck is being stacked and so rapidly that we might find it inevitable to cock the gun.

The one saving grace is that the human instinct for survival will kick in. Pakistan may talk about nuking Delhi in 15 minutes, but these are orgasmic scenarios and not really on the cards.

What is on the cards is the upgrade in sporadic raids, an increase in terror activities and clearly, with very little doubt, a wake-up call to the sleeper agents and fifth columnists on Indian territory.

In contrast, India has none  or almost negligible numbers  across the border.

This is Indias intrinsic weakness and the only way to combat it is to send out a message to Islamabad that a new front has been opened.

That this front will not close nor is it a passing phase. Like they say in Kerala give an elephant but dont give hope. We have given the people in these regions hope.

The scariest factor for Pakistan as it struggles to subdue the freedom movement in PoK, Balochistan and Azad Kashmir is that in Jammu and Kashmir, there may be a realisation that with Article 370 offering this huge umbrella of comfort perhaps Pakistan is not the best alternative. After all, the spoiling over all these years is one of the major reasons for the contempt.

Will the lifting of this Article and all it offers be a logical step for Modi somewhere down the line?

It cannot be ruled out. Sooner than you think. It is the transparent rung on this ladder.

Any way you turn this Rubiks cube it is coming up in Indias favour.

For the first time India has the diplomatic and political lead and can dictate the signposting.

Yes, it is going to be tough. Modi should be prepared to prioritise and make national security the number one call of the day.

Not since Kargil have the armed forces been bestowed the importance that they deserve.

India could be hurt on the streets as much as on the border. For India, the difference between militants and regular forces is a blurred line and it cannot afford to enjoy the luxury of asking "Who goes there?".

Everyone suspicious has to be challenged.

India should talk peace but by holding the thick end of the straw for once, be ready to do battle. On the border and the city streets.

Pakistan will be reluctant to go to war. It will exercise the option of skirmishes and soft target attacks.

For India a time to be alert and ready for high noon.

It is already 11.50.

In the 10 minutes left on this doomsday clock, it is entirely up to Pakistan to name the date, the place and the agenda and get out of Jammu and Kashmir.

If Modi puts the khukri back in its sheath without metaphorically drawing blood he will not live it down.

That blade is now glinting in the sun.
Islamabad: Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri on Thursday said no one in the Pakistani province had supported Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that the Baloch people had thanked him for his support.

"We condemn Narendra Modi's statement on Balochistan. No one in Balochistan supported his statement. There is no comparison between the struggle for liberation in India-held Kashmir and the so-called Balochistan insurgency," Zehri asserted at a rally in Quetta, the provincial capital.

Modi in his speech on 15 August, India's Independence Day, said "people of Balochistan, Gilgit and PoK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) have thanked me a lot in past few days, I am grateful to them".

According to media reports, Modi's comments sparked protests across Balochistan, with large numbers of tribesmen taking to the streets in protest in Dera Bugti, Khuzdar, Quetta, Chaman and other parts of the province. Angry protestors set ablaze the Indian flag and chanted slogans against the Indian Prime Minister at many places.

"We didn't ask the people to come out on the streets  they are on the streets themselves," the Pakistan Muslim League-N lawmaker said of the protests against Modi.

"The Kashmiris are agitating for their right to self-determination in accordance with UN resolutions, whereas in Balochistan there is only a small group working on the behest of the enemy country," Zehri said, referring to suspected Indian involvement.

"I swear on the blood of the dead, wherever these terrorists are, we will hunt them down."

"The Indian government fully supports the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan. It is deeply involved in sponsoring elements like Brahamdagh Bugti, Haerbyar Marri, Zamran Marri and Allah Nazar," he said.

"Balochistan is part of Pakistan and is run by a democratically elected government," he said. "The Pakistan Army is ours and we will not tolerate any Indian interference in our internal matters," he added.
New Delhi: Government on Thursday said it is yet to decide on the level of India's participation at the Saarc Finance Ministers meeting later this month in Islamabad, amid indications that Arun Jaitley may skip the conference due to strain in ties between the two countries.

"No decision has been taken so far on India's level of participation at SAARC Finance Ministers meet in Islamabad," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters in New Delhi at his weekly media briefing.

The conference is scheduled on 25-26 August in Islamabad.

Earlier this week, official sources had said that Jaitley may not visit Pakistan due to "political reasons".

"You all know what happened last time and what is happening," a source had said, referring to Home Minister Rajnath Singh's visit to Islamabad earlier this month, which was also for a Saarc Ministerial meeting.

Barbs were exchanged between Singh and Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who only had a tense and uneasy handshake during the Saarc meeting.

Pakistani authorities did not allow entry of Indian mediapersons, including those from PTI and Doordarshan, inside the venue of 7th Saarc Home Ministers Meeting in Islamabad.

Singh had informed Rajya Sabha that after the meeting was over, Pakistan's Home Minister, who was the host, invited the participants for lunch but left in a car soon thereafter.

"Keeping in mind the country's prestige, I did what I should have done. I have no complaints. I had not gone there for lunch," he had said.

India had on Wednesday rejected Pakistan's proposal to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks on Kashmir and made it clear that terrorism was "central" to its relations with Islamabad, whose different view and attitude has made it difficult for bilateral ties to grow.

That apart, in his Independence Day address to the nation earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that India will not bow before terrorism, and also brought up Pakistani atrocities on people of Baluchistan and PoK, saying that they have thanked him for doing so.

Though Modi did not make any reference to Kashmir valley, which is witnessing violence after the killing of Hizbul Commander Burhan Wani, he accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorists and celebrating the killings in India.

Pakistan's Finance Ministry in a recent statement had said the country would play the role of a "good host" and try to keep the overall ambiance positive.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation. Its member states include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi crossed the "red line" by talking about Balochistan and asserted that it will "forcefully" raise the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly session next month.

"The Prime Minister strongly pleaded the case of Kashmir during General Assembly session last year and we will again forcefully raise the issue," Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said.

Zakaria, in his weekly news briefing in Islamabad, also took strong exception to the remarks by Prime Minister Modi on Balochistan.

Prime Minister Modi had brought up Pakistani atrocities on people of Balochistan and PoK in his Independence Day speech.

"It is the violation of the UN Charter...He (Modi) crossed the red line by talking about Balochistan," Zakaria said.

He alleged that India was involved in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi. Zakaria also claimed that India was referring to Balochistan to cover up its human rights violations in Kashmir.

Zakaria said Prime Minister Sharif will lead the official delegation at the General Assembly session. He said the UN Secretary General and most of the UN members had already been informed about the "precarious situation" in Kashmir.

Zakaria said the UN and international community should remind India that it must fulfil its commitment to give the right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as per Security Council resolutions.

He said the issue was still outstanding on the Security Council agenda for more than six decades.

"Pakistan strongly condemns the continuing use of force by India and violation of human rights. The brutal use of force has killed at least 80 people and at least 100 have been blinded by use of pellet guns," Zakaria alleged.

He said the international community and human rights organisations should call upon India to stop use of "brute force" in Kashmir.

Asked about Indian taking action against Amnesty International, he said it showed how India was treating the issue of human rights in Kashmir.

Zakaria said Pakistan had proposed to India to hold talks on Kashmir. However, he refused to confirm if India had responded to the proposal.

When asked about any conditions India had put before them for starting dialogue, the spokesman said Pakistan proposed that Kashmir should be the focus of the talks.

Zakaria also claimed that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was aimed at economic development of not only Pakistan and China but the entire region. He said India's objection to such a beneficial economic project was beyond comprehension.

Zakaria said Pakistan had invited finance ministers of Saarc countries for the next week meeting but so far was waiting for confirmation on Arun Jaitley's participation.
The Prime Minister's Office has now scrapped a 32-year-old list that barred 212 Sikhs residing abroad from entering India, reported Economic Times.

The report cited government officials as saying that a committee headed by an additional secretary of the home ministry had examined the blacklist, and about 212 cases of a total of 324 were removed.

A move strategically made ahead of Punjab polls, the delisting followed soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visits to the UK and Canada in the past year where several Sikh NRI groups had sought prime minister's attention into reconsidering the travel ban.

What is this list?

After Operation Bluestar in 1984 and Kanishka bombings in 1985, the then incumbent Congress government had blacklisted certain Sikh families who had protested the Army action at the Golden Temple or were allegedly involved in anti-national activities. These families had then sought asylum abroad mostly in the United States, UK and Canada.

According to this report by The Indian Express, the blacklist is being maintained by the Foreigners Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs and not made available in public domain.

The report reveals that it was only after the leaders in Punjab started receiving complaints from Sikhs abroad, in the early 1990s, about being denied entry into India, the existence of the blacklist became known.

However, this report by The Tribune on 30 March mentioned 21 names which were delisted and the mentioned people thereon could avail access to India.

The list included names of Ripudaman Singh Malik, accused (and later acquitted) in the Kanishka bombing in 1985; Resham Singh Babbar, accused of being one of the conspirators in former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singhs assassination case; Massa Singh, an aide of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale; Satbir Singh Bhullar; Satnam Singh Johl; Gian Singh Sandhu; Daljit Singh Sekhon; Mokham Singh Bagria; Parshottam Singh Pamma; Gurwinder Singh Rana (associated with AISSF); Gurmeet Singh Aulakh; Prof Uday Singh, Parminder Singh Bal, Raghbir Singh Johar and Amrik Singh Gill and Bhupinder Singh Johal.

Top government sources were quoted in this report as saying that the motive of delisting is to make them pledge their allegiance to the Indian Constitution. However, with the Assembly elections round the corner, the move could definitely help the BJP-led government to gain ground in Punjab and ensure NRI vote bank.
Beirut: Syrian authorities are committing torture on a "massive scale" in government prisons including beatings, electric shocks, rape and psychological abuse that amount to crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

More than 17,700 people are estimated to have died in custody in Syria since the country's conflict began in March 2011, an average of more than 300 each month, the watchdog said in a report.

Anyone seen as an opponent of the government is at risk of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and death in custody, according to Amnesty.

It said the report was based on interviews with 65 torture survivors, mostly civilians, who described "appalling abuse and inhuman conditions" in intelligence agency detention centres and the Saydnaya Military Prison near Damascus.

Most described witnessing at least one, if not several, deaths in custody, Amnesty said.

Detainees are frequently subjected to a beating, known as a "welcome party", after their arrival at a prison by guards using tools such as silicone bars or hoses.

"They had to break us; they treated us like animals. They wanted people to be as inhuman as possible," according to a former detainee identified as Samer, who Amnesty said was arrested while transporting humanitarian supplies.

"I didn't see anyone die but I saw the blood, it was like a river," he said.

Omar S, who was a 17-year-old high-school student at the time of his arrest in 2012 after taking part in demonstrations, said the detainees were asked upon their arrival if they were ill.

"It felt like the purpose was death, some form of natural selection  to get rid of the weak as soon as they arrive," he said.

"They first asked my friend and he said, 'Yes, I have breathing problems  I have asthma.' They started beating him until he died, right there in front of me."

The rights group said it had documented cases of rape and sexual violence against both men and women.

They include Said, a pro-democracy activist, who said that he was suspended by one hand while blindfolded.

"While I was hanging ... they used an electroshock baton to hit my penis. Then they took the electroshock device and inserted it into my anus and switched it on. This was my first experience of rape. Then one of the guards asked for my face to be uncovered and I saw my father there. He had witnessed all of it."
Syrian opposition activists have released haunting footage showing a young boy rescued from the rubble in the aftermath of a devastating airstrike in Aleppo.

The image speaks volumes of the horror and trauma faced by thousands of children caught in the crossfire in the Syrian civil war. It is a vivid reminder of the tragedies that the war has been spreading.

The image of the stunned and weary looking boy, sitting in an orange chair inside an ambulance covered in dust and with blood on his face, encapsulates the horrors inflicted on the war-ravaged northern city and is being widely shared on social media.

The five-year-old Omran Daqneesh can be seen sitting stunned at the back of the ambulance. He was reportedly one of the five children injured in the military strike.

Osama Abu al-Ezz confirmed he was brought to the hospital known as "M10" on Wednesday night following an airstrike on the rebel-held neighborhood of Qaterji with head wounds, but no brain injury, and was later discharged.

Rescue workers and journalists arrived at Qaterji shortly after the strike and began pulling victims from the rubble. "We were passing them from one balcony to the other," said photojournalist Mahmoud Raslan, who took the iconic photo. He said he had passed along three lifeless bodies before receiving the wounded boy.

In the video posted late Wednesday by the Aleppo Media Center, a man is seen plucking the boy away from a chaotic nighttime scene and carrying him inside the ambulance, looking dazed and flat-eyed. The boy then runs his hand over his blood-covered face, looks at his hands and wipes them on the ambulance chair.

With inputs from AP
Washington: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has received his first classified intelligence briefing which he said he is unlikely to "use" if he is elected in November's general election.

As per the US laws, presidential nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties receive classified presidential briefings which prepares them for presidency if elected.

Given some of his rhetoric in the past, his opponents have urged the US Government not to provide him with intelligence briefing. However, the FBI went ahead with its well established tradition of providing classified briefings to the GOP candidate, which happened at the FBI office in New York.

Trump was accompanied by two of his confidants New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn. The briefing that reportedly lasted for more than two hours was led by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

While there was no word, these classified intelligence briefings normally includes on threats to the US and other security issues. It is not secret intelligence briefings which includes operational intelligence.

Before the briefing, Trump said he would not much depend on such intelligence briefings. "Very easy to use them, but I won't use them, because they've made such bad decisions. If we would have never touched it, it would have been a lot better," Trump told Fox News in an interview.

Before headed for intelligence briefing, Trump held round table with his national security team on defeating radical Islam, his campaign said.

"Today, Mr. Trump convened a meeting of some of the top foreign policy and national security experts in the country to discuss how to win the war against Radical Islamic Terrorism," said his national policy director Stephen Miller.

"The participants talked about improving immigration screening and standards to keep out radicals, working with moderate Muslims to foster reforms, and partnering with friendly regimes in the Middle East to stamp out ISIS," he

said.

"This is a stark contrast to Hillary Clinton who wants to bring in 620,000 refugees with no way to screen them, who

refuses to say radical Islam, and who bears direct responsibility for the rise of ISIS with her disastrous interventions overseas," Miller said.

It was not immediately known when Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton would receive such a briefing or when it has been scheduled for. Several Republican leaders have called for Clinton not to be given classified information in view of the email scandal.
New York: Indo-US cooperation in defence technology and trade initiatives will be the focus of the US Air Force Secretary's upcoming visit to India during which she will also discuss with top Indian officials proposals to co-produce aircrafts in India.

Deborah Lee James will travel to India later this month as part of a maiden visit to four Asian countries that would also take her to Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines and will discuss the situation in the South China sea as well as the growing threat of terrorism.

During her visit to India, she will meet Chief of Air Staff Marshal Arup Raha and Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar and will also discuss with her Indian counterparts proposals to co-produce aircrafts in India in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Make in India' campaign.

"We will be looking to see how can we deepen our partnerships and how can we take it to the next level," James said in response to a question by PTI at a press briefing in New York on Wednesday on what her focus will be during her visit to India.

She said she will discuss defence technology and follow up on the trade initiatives, which were launched during US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter's visit to India in April.

James replied in the affirmative when asked if she will follow up on American defence major Lockheed Martin's proposals to assemble F-16s in India as well as on discussions to collaborate in bolstering India's fighter jets and the jet engine technology working group.

"I will be following up on all of those topics, discussing these counterpart to counterpart on a bilateral basis. I will be seeking the views of my counterparts, what their opinion is on the various proposals on the table and what more needs to happen to advance the ball on some of these proposals.

"I am also aware of the Prime Minister's push for Make in India and the importance of creating new jobs in that sector. One of the proposals would be to co-produce certain aircrafts in India and that might be one example of something that will be useful from a military standpoint but also might play into the Make in India campaign," she said.

James said she would also follow up on the initiatives launched during Carter's visit and the possible outcomes of it from the Air Force perspective.

She, however, noted that while some proposals will move forward, others may not if they are not the right fit.

Describing the Indian Air Force as a "very effective fighting unit", she said it has been a participant over the years in "red-flag" exercise series, where the US gets together with coalition partners to train and inter-operate and "test ourselves in a high-end and very challenging difficult environment".

James added that she also looks forward to congratulating India on the "magnificent execution" of the operation undertaken to evacuate Indian citizens from South Sudan.

James said she also looks forward to "congratulating the Chief of Air Force in particular on what is I think a magnificent execution of the C-17 operation where Indian citizens were evacuated from South Sudan. Well done on that, well done.

India had launched 'Operation Sankat Mochan' to evacuate about 600 of its citizens from the war-torn country. The Indians were ferried back to the country by Indian Air Force carrier C-17 Globemasters.

James leads a globally deployed force of nearly 660,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian Airmen and oversees the Air Force's annual budget of more than USD 139 billion.

The focus of her visit to the Asian countries, her first as Air Force Secretary, will be to underscore US support for efforts that bring peace, security, and prosperity to the Asia-Pacific region and to seek opportunities to deepen and expand the relationship between US and ally air forces.

"The future that the US would like to see in the Indo-Asia Pacific region is a future where we are all working, collaborating and training together and not just in a military sense but in a political and economic sense also," she said.

"Freedom of navigation and legal use of the sea and airspace is a central part of this idea of cooperation and that is why the Air Force and the US Navy have engaged in freedom of navigation operations. We will fly and operate wherever international law allows and we believe that is the right of all countries to do so," she said.

Asserting that the US considers the recent ruling from The Hague on South China Sea to be "legally binding on all parties", she said Washington hopes that "all of the claimants in the South China Sea will exercise restraint in the future and will work to lower tensions".

"We certainly support the peaceful resolution of the disputes in this region. I look forward to discussing this and other matters with my counterparts during the visit in the region," she said, adding that the US stands "very firmly" behind the principle of freedom of navigation.
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Chinese state media say a top military officer visited Syria this week in a show of support for President Bashar Assads embattled regime.

The official Xinhua News Agency says Rear Adm. Guan Youfei met on Monday with Syrian Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij in Damascus. It said he also met the same day with a Russian general who is coordinating his countrys military assistance to Assads fight against armed opposition groups.

Xinhua said Guan expressed Chinas willingness to boost military cooperation.

Guan is head of the Office for International Military Cooperation under the Central Military Commission that oversees Chinas 2.3 million-member armed forces.

While China has echoed Russias approach in backing Assad, it hasnt directly contributed forces in keeping with its policy of opposing outside intervention in domestic conflicts. AP
Sheraton Grand Macao and The St. Regis Macao have launched eVent PortfolioTM, a mobile tool that streamlines event planning processes and offers environmentally-friendly alternatives.

The eVent Portfolio  which is free for meeting planners  enables event planners, event managers and clients to collaborate via a centralized web-based tool. The user interface integrates all documents and correspondence and sorts them by time and date.

The tool also features a special sustainability tab that lets planners track their usage of paper, energy and waste during their meetings.

Both hotels will soon offer complimentary phone devices for business and leisure guests during their stay at any of the hotels combined 4,400 rooms. The phones offer unlimited local voice calls and data access while exploring the region.

CEM donates used items to Salvation Army

Companhia de Electricidade de Macau (CEM) has collaborated with the Salvation Army for the fourth year in a row to collect used clothes, toys and books in July and August.

The company said it has received overwhelming support from staff, and the volume of clothes and toys collected has reached the highest over the years thanks to the assistance of the CEM Ambassadors Team members.

A donation ceremony was held at the CEM Building yesterday, where the donated items were collected by the Salvation Army.

CEM said in a statement that is has proactively supported work on environmental protection by promoting a green office culture.

To encourage citizens to take part in environmental protection, the company organizes and participates in various activities including the Macao International Environmental Cooperation Forum & Exhibition, Macau Energy Saving Contest, Experience Life without Electricity Camp, CEM Energy Fun Fair, Solar & Capacitance Model Car Races among others.

MGM announces specialty mooncakes and hampers

MGM Macau has announced a new range of mooncakes and hampers to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, featuring a Mini Chocolate Mooncake with three different ganache fillings.

The resorts specialty, the Black Garlic and Soy Milk flavor, is loaded with healthy fermented soybean and aged garlic. Also on offer is its Cherry and Dark Chocolate flavor, made with 70 percent premium cocoa.

The classic Double Yolk White Lotus Paste Mooncake and the Mini Egg Custard Mooncake are also available.

MGM Macaus festive hampers each contain a number of gifts, including MGMs special Luis Pato 1812 Reserva red wine, homemade strawberry jam and XO sauce. The Luxurious Hamper Edition includes premium dried scallop, Australian abalone and Jasmine Pearl Tea, among other items.

The Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake vouchers and hampers are available at the resorts Pastry Bar until September 15.
Lawmaker Pereira Coutinho accused the TDM Chinese Channel of running electoral propaganda for the Macao Jiangmen Communal Society, an avid supporter of legislator Mak Soi Kun campaign to AL.

On a topic raised by the journalists during the press conference of Coutinho and Leong Veng Chai yesterday afternoon, Coutinho referred to a program of the TV station focused on the association and where the legislator is highlighted saying [it raised] questions of professional ethics and unfair competition as it was clear for the citizens that the programme was of electoral purpose since the lawmakers were there doing personal promotion, adding that a channel supported almost exclusively by the government cannot show preference for candidates to the AL.

We have received several complaints and even questions about when [we] would be broadcast[ing] the programme of the fellows of Portugal and of Macau. We are waiting for the call from TDM to do that programme, he said, adding the government needs to inspect TDM and not let things develop in this way creating social instability, creating unfairness and social friction he said.

To recall, the same association announced recently that it will distribute shopping vouchers and other gifts for a large number of members. Coutinho calls on the government to establish a real law based on the conflict of interests and that grants powers to a permanent organization to investigate and to sanction these practices at least for a period of one and half years before the elections.
A suspected hit-and-run driver involved in accident that resulted in the death of a motorcyclist in Hong Kong was arrested last night, after eluding police authorities for 38 hours, reported Hong Kong-based newspaper The Standard.

The 36-year-old suspect, surnamed Kwok, was arrested yesterday at around 7 p.m. for dangerous driving causing death, failing to stop after the accident and to report it to the police, driving without a valid license and without third-party insurance and claiming to be a member of a triad gang.

The aforementioned accident occurred on Tuesday, when a 52-year-old motorcyclist was hit from behind by a seven-seater van. The motorcyclist sustained serious head injuries and was pronounced dead at the Princess Margaret Hospital.

It was reported earlier, after the accident, that Kwok could be a casino employee in Macau, after membership cards from a casino and staff information were found in the van, believed to have been driven by the suspect.

According to the Standard, an unidentified source told the newspaper that Kwok was known to be a triad member, making it easier for the police to track him down. Kwai Tsing regional crime squad is now investigating the case.

A police source also informed that the suspect had claimed he was drunk at the time and did not see the motorcyclist.

Security camera footage from the incident revealed that the seven-seater van changed lanes prior to the accident, from the fourth to the third and then the second, before immediately striking the motorcyclist who was riding ahead in the second lane.

The arrest occurred after video clips of the incident surfaced online, showing a part of the accident and the immediate moments that followed it. DB


A massive bomb has wrecked the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, killing at least 17 people including the UNs chief envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

Three floors of the concrete building collapsed in the explosion. Hundreds of people were still at work, and it was an especially busy period since a news conference had just begun.

Rescue efforts to dig out those trapped in the rubble are continuing into the night.

Alice Yacoub, a UN employee, was sitting in the cafeteria when the blast happened. Everything came down on our heads, she said. I cant find my colleagues and Im worried about them.

The UNs spokesman at the scene, Salim Lone, was working in his office when the bomb went off. There was a huge, shattering explosion. I was working on the computer, the glass in the window blew  the woodwork, everything came out of the roof.

I ran in to the corridor. Everybody was very severely wounded, very badly hurt, bleeding, people with blood on their face.

A US military spokeswoman said the blast was caused by a truck bomb, possibly in a suicide bombing. Eyewitnesses said a concrete mixing lorry believed to have been carrying the bomb was parked just outside Mr de Mellos office when it went off at about 1640 local time (1240 GMT).

The highly-respected 55-year-old Brazilian diplomat died after being trapped under rubble for several hours. He was one of the UNs most experienced envoys, and had been on many of the most sensitive and dangerous peace missions of recent years.

The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, said in a statement that everyone at the UN was shocked and dismayed at the attack.

Nothing can excuse this act of unprovoked and murderous violence against men and women who went to Iraq to help the Iraqi people, the statement said.

The bombing is the latest in a steady stream of attacks by groups opposed to the US occupation of Iraq.

The United Nations has just increased security measures around the Baghdad building in the wake of several recent attacks, including the bombing of the Jordanian embassy 12 days ago in which at least 14 people died.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

The death toll later rose to 23.

Following the attack, all but about 50 foreign UN workers were pulled out of Baghdad.

The remainder were withdrawn in October 2003 following an attack on the Red Cross headquarters in which 12 people died.

Many other aid organisations have since left Baghdad as the security situation continues to deteriorate.

In December 2003, Kofi Annan named New Zealand official Ross Mountain as an interim envoy to Iraq to replace Mr de Mello.

In February 2004, a UN team returned to Baghdad for the first time since the attack, on a fact-finding mission to discuss the handover of political power.

Iraq was run by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), headed by American diplomat Paul Bremer until 28 June 2004 when power was officially handed back.

Elections to choose a full, sovereign Iraqi government were held in January 2005.

The United Iraqi Alliance, tacitly backed by Shia Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, led with some 48% of the vote for the 275-member National Assembly. The Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan was in second place with some 26% of the vote. Prime Minister Ayad Allawis party, the Iraqi List, came third with some 14%. In total, twelve parties received enough votes to win a seat in the assembly.
The defection of a North Korean senior diplomat in London poses a major problem for Pyongyang on a number of fronts  not least of which is how to publicly respond.

As of yesterday, Pyongyang hadnt made a public statement about the defection. But when  or if  it does, its response will likely be ferocious and accusatory.

Seouls Unification Ministry announced Wednesday that Thae Yong Ho, minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, has arrived in South Korea with his family and is under the protection of the South Korean government. Thae was the second-highest official in North Koreas embassy and is the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to the South.

Seoul, which doesnt always divulge defections, was quick to seize on this one as evidence of growing dissent within the Norths ruling elite.

Its Unification Ministry claimed Thae defected because of his disgust with the Kim Jong Un regime and worries about the future of his children. A spokesman for the ministry further said that the defection is a sign of weakening unity within the Norths ruling class.

Extrapolations about the bigger significance of individual defections should be taken with a grain of salt.

Seoul and Pyongyang have strong political and propaganda motivations for the way they handle announcements about defections. Analysts generally agree there are no significant signs Kim Jong Uns regime is weakening. Moreover, previous defections of officials from the North have by and large been isolated incidents that did not lead to a chain of more choosing to flee.

Thae himself has not yet spoken in public about his motives and details about the context of his defection remain sketchy.

Defectors are referred to by the North in the harshest of terms. Human scum is a common epithet, along with criminals or traitors. Pyongyang often accuses the South of tricking or paying its citizens to defect, or claims that they have simply been kidnapped.

In April, 13 North Koreans working at a North Korean-operated restaurant in China defected to South Korea in the largest group defection since Kim Jong Un took power in late 2011.

The North responded furiously to the Souths account of the flight of the restaurant workers, alleging repeatedly that the women  12 waitresses and their manager  were tricked into thinking they were being transferred to work at another restaurant in Malaysia. It has also presented the colleagues and parents of the waitresses to North Korean and international media in Pyongyang to appeal for their release. Seoul categorically denies any wrongdoing.

Thaes case presents a more difficult conundrum for Pyongyang.

Though South Korea doesnt always make high-level defection cases public, its announcement of Thaes flight comes as ties between the rivals are at one of their lowest points in decades. North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and Seoul been working hard to apply more international pressure on the North.

Thae, 55, is a veteran diplomat who is experienced in dealing with countries in Western Europe. He led a North Korean delegation that held talks with European Union representatives over the Norths human rights situation in Brussels in 2001, according to South Koreas Yonhap news agency.

He had worked at the London embassy for about 10 years, Yonhap said. Previously, he worked at the now-closed embassy in Denmark and spent a short period of time at the embassy in Sweden, it said.

In 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled, but he resettled in the United States. Eric Talmadge, AP
Chinas latest attempts at reforming the countrys extensive pipeline network are aimed at lowering prices for end users and boosting gas demand, analysts said yesterday after the country released draft guidelines.

The National Development and Reform Commission proposed setting gas transmission fees for companies rather than for individual pipelines, the countrys top economic planner said in the policy draft released yesterday. Operators should publicly disclose cost data to allow effective supervision and should be guaranteed an 8 percent return if they utilize at least 75 percent of their capacity, it said. Owners should also create conditions for equal access to pipelines for all customers, according to the draft.

The ultimate purpose of NDRCs pipeline reform is to find a way to deliver cheaper natural gas to end users and therefore improve the fuels mix in Chinas energy consumption, said Tian Miao, a Beijing-based analyst at North Square Blue Oak Ltd. Pipeline companies currently enjoy a 10 to 12 percent return. By capping investment return at 8 percent, the extra margin could be passed down to city gate prices and end users.

The worlds largest energy consumer is seeking to raise the share of less-polluting natural gas in its energy mix. The government of President Xi Jinping cut gas prices twice last year in an attempt to boost demand.

The NDRC also said pipelines should be separate units from other businesses in principal. In the case of integrated companies involved in production and distribution where a physical separation may be difficult, owners should at least provide separate financial accounting for the pipeline operations, it said.

Among the countrys two largest energy producers, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. would be required to disclose more information if the policy is enacted, according to Neil Beveridge, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

PetroChina Co. already reports its pipeline business in its financial accounts, while China Petroleum, known as Sinopec, would need to provide separate figures to provide greater transparency on pipeline operations, Beveridge said.

The draft policy is also the latest indication that the government has iced plans to strip oil and gas pipelines from its biggest energy companies, said Laban Yu, head of Asia oil and gas equities at Jefferies Group LLC in Hong Kong.

It seems there is no rush to spin off pipelines from the big Chinese oil companies based on what they say in the draft, he said. The independent accounting requirement seems aimed at long-term reform that will make pipeline spin off much easier if the government eventually plans to do so.

Bloomberg News reported in May 2015 that the government intended to create an independent national pipeline company as part of broader energy reforms aimed at allowing equal access to infrastructure for gas producers and distributors.

Those plans appear to have changed. China National Petroleum Corp., PetroChinas parent, in June decided to invest in expanding a major natural gas pipeline after determining the government will no longer seek to spin off its pipeline assets into an independent company, people with knowledge of the plan said. Sinopec this month approved a plan to sell as much as a 50 percent stake in a pipeline asset, a move seen to be following CNPCs footsteps.

The new policy may be able to provide some transparency that can assist opening pipelines to new producers without having to spin them off.

This new proposal is a long-term positive to the whole gas industry, said Andy Meng, an analyst at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong, said in a note to clients. Release of tariff and return benchmark will significantly improve industry transparency, making Open Access of the pipeline more likely. Aibing Guo, Bloomberg
Indonesia marked its Independence Day yesterday by sinking 60 foreign ships seized for fishing illegally in the countrys waters.

Maritime and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said the ships were sunk at eight locations across the Indonesian archipelago.

Pudjiastuti has organized the destruction of more than 200 illegal fishing boats since 2014. The government of President Joko Jokowi Widodo has taken a hardline stance against illegal fishing, partly driven by the need for Indonesia to show its neighbours, including China, that it is in control of its vast territory of 17,000 islands.

Many of the boats were captured off Indonesias Natuna Islands, a point from which Indonesias exclusive economic zone thrusts into the South China Sea. Beijing has described the area as a traditional Chinese fishing ground even though it is nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) from the Chinese mainland.

The sinkings were carried out in a low-key fashion compared with previous occasions, when boats were blown to smithereens and their destruction broadcast live.

Pudjiastuti told a news conference in Ranai, a Natuna Islands port, that the ships were sunk off Ranai, Batam, Tarempa, Kalimantan, Maluku, and Sorong in West Papua to create artificial reefs.

We do see at the moment the deterrent effect, she said. I think it is already quite a strong message to foreign countries and their fishing fleets.

Pudjiastuti said future ship sinkings would be done in a less sensational way but that would not mean Indonesia is relenting on its stance against illegal fishing.

The government originally planned to sink exactly 71 boats from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and China yesterday, which was the 71st anniversary of national independence.

Pudjiastuti said six other vessels would be sunk in Pangandaran on the southern coast of West Java, where the government plans to build a museum of illegal fishing with U.S. and Norwegian help.

Local media reports said eight vessels were scuttled on Monday in the eastern Indonesian ports of Bitung and Ternate.

In March, Indonesia destroyed the Nigeria-flagged Viking with explosives. The ship was wanted around the world for illegally taking toothfish from southern waters. AP
Legislators Pereira Coutinho and Leong Veng Chai have critically evaluated the 2015-2016 legislative year. In a five-point review, the lawmakers particularly criticized the work of Legislative Assembly (AL) for failing to serve the citizens with an effective supervision of the governments policies.

In a press conference held yesterday afternoon at the Macau Civil Servants Association (ATFPM) headquarters, legislator Coutinho heavily criticized the role of AL during the legislative year.

Coutinho said that initiatives from the legislators were weak and minimal, and that the AL does not pay importance to the legislative initiatives from the legislators. This was exemplified by an initiative created by the two legislators regarding an interpretative note aiming to clarify the decree-law 33/81/M regarding the Natural Heritage of Coloane and that aims to prevent what the lawmakers call the concrete invasion of Coloane.

The AL didnt manage to find time to discuss one single article of our bill, stated Coutinho claiming the example shows the tendentious way the AL works, favoring the government in all they want to do, Coutinho remarked, adding that we think that AL needs to change its conduct in order to change its nickname of a [rubber] stamp of the government, he concluded.

The transparency of the AL work was in fact addressed in several different ways with Coutinho extending criticism to the way Q&A sessions to the Chief Executive (CE) work, saying [these kinds of sessions] do not contribute to clarify, explain and detail the questions raised by the lawmakers, he said, affirming that the system that forces lawmakers to present the questions one week or ten days in advance does not work as the CE will only read the answers and not permit additional or follow-up questions.

Regarding these problems, the legislators propose an improvement of the system through eliminating the pre-sending of the questions to the government [] and that could be added an additional time of 2 or 3 minutes to request additional clarifications in resemblance of what already happens for the spoken enquiries.

Aiming to further add transparency to the work of AL, the legislators also propose the press be authorized to assist to the standing committees meetings; being allowed inclusively to live broadcast the sessions in order to clearly inform citizens about the topics discussed, as both legislators claim that working behind closed doors allows all kinds of discretions and abuses.

When questioned by journalists specifically on the topic, both Coutinho and Leong admitted that the summaries done by the presidents of the standing or follow-up committees often do not match with what was in fact discussed as they selectively choose not to address the topics that arent in the favor of the government. Coutinho remarked that this has happened ever since he first joined the AL.

The lawmakers also took the opportunity to call on the government to promote more participation from citizens, namely public servants, in the elections, calling for greater representation.

Rita Santos says is too early to decide whether to run for AL

Former deputy secretary-general of the permanent secretariat of Forum Macau and Chairman of the General Assembly of ATFPM, Rita Santos says [it] is too early to take that decision [of running in the AL elections]. Santos, who was also councilor of the Council of the Portuguese Communities, recalls when I took the decision to retire it was to dedicate myself to my family, and to have more time to give support to the legislators and to receive complaints and concerns from citizens.

Santos claims that time is also needed to study and inquire with the population in order to gather the feedback from supporters to determine whether it is worth running or not.
Trade between the Chinese mainland and Macau dropped by 21.3 percent year-on-year to USD1.68 billion during the first half of 2016, according to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce.

The mainlands exports to Macau decreased by 21.3 percent year-on-year to USD1.6 billion over the six-month period. Macaus exports to the mainland dropped to USD80 million, a decrease of 22 percent year-on-year.

Guo Wanda, vice president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, told Xinhua yesterday that the decreasing number of travellers to Macau and the ongoing downturn in the gaming industry had caused the decline in mainland-Macau trade.

Mainland authorities approved 169 investment projects from Macau entities during the period under review. The amount of Macau capital in actual use reached USD540 million, up 5.4 percent from the same period last year.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he will not raise long-simmering maritime disputes with China at a meeting of Southeast Asian nations in Laos next month, preferring to talk quietly with Chinese officials.

I will only bring the issue when we are together face to face, he told reporters late Wednesday night. Because if you quarrel with them now and you claim sovereignty, make noise here and there, they might not just even want to talk.

In July, a Hague-based arbitration tribunal ruled heavily in the Philippines favor in a case challenging Chinas claims and aggressive actions in the South China Sea. Chinaignored the decision and continued to block Filipino fishermen from a disputed shoal and build new islands.

The arbitration case was filed by Dutertes predecessor. Duterte has been lukewarm in his support for the action and has said he was adopting a softer approach to resolving the disputes.

He said Wednesday that his special envoy to China, former President Fidel Ramos, is paving the way for possible talks with China.

Let us create an environment where we can sit down, talk directly, and that is the time when I would say, we proceed from here, he said.

Ramos flew to Hong Kong last week to meet the Chinese legislatures foreign affairs chief, Fu Ying, and a leading government-backed scholar on the dispute, and they agreed on the need to reduce tensions through talks.

China welcomed him to visit Beijing for discussions, but the tribunal ruling was not directly discussed, Ramos told reporters. He gave no indication of when any talks might be held. AP
Five more facts about Macau property that you may not already know:

11. Rental yields in Macau are very low

Rents may seem high at times, but rental yields in Macau are some of the lowest in the world. Why ?

Other major cities around the world have diverse but mutually beneficial industries such as finance, educational institutions, advanced healthcare facilities and the like.

Macau has none of these industries, which incidentally also require skilled and well-paid professionals to run them.

Instead, Macau has only casinos and hotels, and whilst service professionals may earn reasonable salaries, they are certainly not enjoying the six-figure bonuses that come hand in hand with industries such as banking and finance.

12. Rental increases and limits

The rent may be adjusted once the agreement comes to an end, and there is no cap on the amount that the rent may be adjusted both up or down.

In some countries, the amount that rents can be increased is limited to a certain percentage; say 10 percent for example. However in Macau, once the agreement comes to an end all subsequent agreements are treated as a new agreement.

13. Why many old buildings in Coloane & Taipa are falling down

If you have looked at the old sea front buildings in Coloane Village or the low-rise houses in Taipa Village and wondered why they are not fantastic restaurants, trendy cafes or just extremely nice houses, you are not alone.

There are two reasons that the properties have remained in a similar condition for such a long time.

The first is that there is no clear legal title on some of the properties. Property ownership on the islands of Taipa and Coloane is slightly different from Macau peninsula, and many of the village properties do not have a legal binding title.

Buying a property under these circumstances represents a great risk for the buyer, who would not be able to secure bank financing because of the legal issue.

The second reason is because some of the buildings are protected. Now that should be a good thing shouldnt it?

Well in this case, protected means that it is not actually protected and maintained, but rather that it cannot be improved unless it becomes dangerous and unstable.

Hence, owners are incentivized to leave the buildings until they fall down after which they can build a nice, new building crazy, but true.

14. The responsibility to maintain the apartment

The responsibility to maintain the infrastructure, such as the water, electricity, sewage etc belongs to the landlord.

He or she must maintain these elements to a reasonable standard unless some other provision is made explicitly between the two parties.

The upkeep of the apartment itself is the responsibility of the tenant, who must hand back the apartment in the same condition that it was handed over in.

This even includes cleaning the apartment before leaving IF it was handed over in a clean state at the beginning.

15. When your neighbor causes damage to your apartment

When a neighbor causes damage to your apartment through a burst or leaking pipe for example, they are duty bound to fix the problem but are not obliged to fix the damage it has caused.

Apartment living can be hazardous, especially if the block is old and in need of attention, and this would help to explain the reluctance of some people to move into older buildings no matter how well appointed they are.

Next week: The Top 5

Juliet Risdon is a Director of JML Property and a property investor.

Having been established in 1994, JML Property offers Investment Property

& Homes. It specializes in managing properties for owners and investors,

and providing attractive and comfortable homes for tenants.

www.JMLProperty.com

info@JMLProperty.com
Who knew a simple statement about that time of the month could cause such a stir?

A Chinese Olympic swimmer whose popularity soared during the Rio Games for her animated facial expressions and rare candor has become a social media sensation for another off-the-cuff comment about a topic still considered taboo in China: her period.

Twenty-year-old Fu Yuanhui emerged from the womens 4100-meter medley relay last week and told a Chinese state broadcaster that she failed to swim her best in part because her period had started the day before. Television footage showed her crouching down with her hand over her stomach. Team China finished fourth in the race.

The interview quickly trended on Chinese social media sites, where users expressed surprise  and some admiration  that Fu had shared such an intimate matter but also that she swam while menstruating. Said one blogger: If her candor can dispel the thought in some peoples minds that menstruation is dirty, then her act is worth applause.

In China, menstruation is considered an off-limits topic of conversation, a reflection of conservative views about womens bodies and sex. Its an issue stemming from demonizing sex, said one woman on the Chinese question-and-answer internet site Zhihu. Therefore, a well-educated girl should not think about anything related to sex.

There is also a long-held notion in China that women should not engage in exercise during menstruation. Girls are excused from physical education class at school and warned about taking showers, drinking cold water and eating raw fish during ones period. Immersion in water, the stories go, may cause infection.

And because tampons are unusual in the communist nation  there is a belief they can compromise the virginity of unmarried women  the idea that someone could swim during that time of the month is entirely novel.

Such ideas, while wrong, are something all women endure in China, said Wang Yuling, a gynecologist in Shanghai Huangpu District Health Center for Women and Children.

If you have so many limitations during the period, Wang said, you could waste one-sixth of the year by thinking in this way.

Fu, a bronze medal winner in the 100-meter backstroke, is just one of several athletes on the Chinese team breaking ground by breaking from the typical on-message style common with past Chinese Olympic squads. Didi Tang, AP
A senior North Korean diplomat based in London has defected to South Korea, becoming one of the highest Northern officials to do so, South Korea said yesterday.

Thae Yong Ho, minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, has arrived in South Korea with his family and is under the protection of the South Korean government, Seouls Unification Ministry said.

Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee said Thae told South Korean officials that he decided to defect because of his disgust with the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, his yearning for South Korean democracy and worries about the future of his children.

Jeong said Thae was the second-highest official in North Koreas embassy, and is the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea. In 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled but resettled in the United States.

Jeong refused to give further details about Thaes defection, citing possible diplomatic problems with a concerned country he didnt identify. Britains Foreign Office declined to comment.

The highest-level North Korean to seek asylum in South Korea is Hwang Jang-yop, a senior ruling Workers Party official who once tutored Kim Jong Uns late father, dictator Kim Jong Il. Hwangs 1997 defection was hailed by many South Koreans as an intelligence bonanza and a sign that the Norths political system was inferior to the Souths. Hwang died in 2010.

Thaes defection will likely enrage North Korea, which often accuses South Korea of kidnapping or enticing its citizens to defect.

South Korea doesnt always make high-level defection cases public. Its revelation of Thaes defection came as ties between the rivals are at one of their lowest points in decades over the Norths nuclear ambitions. North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January, and South Korea has been working hard to apply more international pressure on the North.

Jeong said Thaes defection could be a sign that unity in Kim Jong Uns ruling class is weakening.

Analyst Chang Yong Seok at Seoul National Universitys Institute for Peace and Unification Studies disputed that assessment, saying there are no tangible signs that Kims grip on power is being challenged. Senior North Korean officials have defected before, but these have all been isolated cases that werent followed by a chain of defections by other officials, he said.

Ramon Pacheco Pardo, senior lecturer in international relations at Kings College London, said a diplomatic defection could prove very valuable to South Korea, the U.S. and other countries.

Most North Korean defectors have limited access to the inner workings of the North Korean regime, he said. The defection of a diplomat would allow intelligence services and military forces in other countries to learn more about the level of support that Kim Jong Un enjoys, recent developments in North Koreas nuclear and missile programs or the extent to which real economic reforms are being implemented.

The defection of a high-level diplomat could also signal growing internal skepticism about the strength of the Kim Jong Un regime, since they are a rare occurrence.

Thae, 55, is a veteran diplomat who is experienced in dealing with countries in Western Europe. He led a North Korean delegation that held talks with European Union representatives over the Norths human rights situation in Brussels in 2001, according to South Koreas Yonhap news agency.

Thae had worked at the North Korean Embassy in London for about 10 years, Yonhap said. Previously, he worked at its now-closed embassy in Denmark and spent a short period of time at its embassy in Sweden, it said.

More than 29,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to South Korean government records. Many defectors have said they wanted to leave North Koreas harsh political system and poverty.

In April, 13 North Koreans working at a North Korean-operated restaurant in China defected to South Korea in the largest group defection since Kim Jong Un took power in late 2011. Later in April, South Korea also revealed that a colonel in North Koreas military spy agency had defected to the South last year.

Wednesdays announcement came as North Korea is responding angrily to a U.S. plan to place an advanced missile defense system in South Korea. The North has warned of unspecified retaliation and fired several missiles into the sea earlier this month. Hyung-Jin Kim, Kim Tong-Hyung, Seoul, AP
CHINA A top Chinese military officer visited Syria this week in a show of support for President Bashar Assads embattled regime, official media reported yesterday, underscoring Beijings backing of fellow authoritarian governments and concerns about the spread of religious militancy.



PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte said he will not raise long-simmering maritime disputes with China at a meeting of Southeast Asian nations in Laos next month, preferring to talk quietly with Chinese officials.

MYANMAR Efforts by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week to bolster ties with her countrys dominant northern neighbor China may hinge on whether she can resolve the fate of a massive, Chinese-funded dam project blocked by overwhelming local opposition. Suu Kyi was welcomed by Premier Li Keqiang at a formal ceremony yesterday as part of a visit that will include talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

KOREA The defection of a North Korean senior diplomat in London poses a major problem for Pyongyang on a number of fronts  not least of which is how to publicly respond.



AUSTRALIA-PAPUA NEW GUINEA Papua New Guinea and Australia said on Wednesday they have agreed to close a detention center on Manus Island for asylum seekers but they offered no details on when it will happen or on the fate of the 850 men being held there. Australias tough stance on migrants and refugees has long drawn condemnation from human rights groups. The country has a policy of sending people who try to reach its shores by boat to island detention centers, including Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.

TURKEY Two car bombings targeted police stations in Turkey, killing at least six people and wounding 219 others, officials said yesterday. Authorities blamed that attack on the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has launched a campaign of car bombings targeting police stations or roadside bomb attacks on police vehicles.

UKRAINE A government official says three troops have been killed and six wounded in fighting in eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours. Fighting between government forces and separatists rebels has recently intensified despite a 2015 truce.

BOLIVIA Good leadership skills wont be enough for Bolivian military officers seeking promotion to the rank of captain  they must now add ideological schooling. An academy that previously trained soldiers for U.N. peacekeeping missions will now aim to counter U.S. political and military influence abroad.
STANLEY  Want to see wild salmon spawning in the streams of their birth? Join Idaho Rivers United and the Sawtooth Interpretive and Historical Association for the annual Sawtooth Salmon Festival in Stanley.

The festival will kick off at 5 p.m. Aug. 26, at the Stanley Community Center, with a presentation by "Outdoor Idaho" Executive Producer Bruce Reichert, who last summer helped produce an hour-long program featuring the headwaters of Idaho rivers.

The main festival will ensue at 10 a.m. Aug. 27, at the Stanley Museum (between Upper and Lower Stanley, on Idaho 75) with vendor booths, kids' games and tours to see wild salmon spawning throughout the day. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes cultural dancers will perform from 4 to 6 p.m., with dances honoring the salmon's annual return to the Sawtooth Valley's lakes and rivers.

This year the Salmon Festival will be bigger and better than ever, said SIHA Executive Director Terry Clark said in a release. It will be capped off by the return of the popular wild salmon dinner on Saturday.

Lunchtime pizza will be available from Papa Brunees, and the day will culminate with a 6 p.m. wild salmon dinner catered by Chef Doug Plass of Stanleys Redd Restaurant with live music by Scott Knickerbocker from the Hokum Hi Flyers.

Advance tickets for the dinner are required and are available in person at the Stanley Museum and Redfish Lake Visitor Center in Stanley, or at idahorivers.org by clicking on Events and then Sawtooth Salmon Festival. Tickets are $30 for members of SIHA and IRU, and $40 for others.
FEATHERVILLE  The view from the western slope of the Soldier Mountains offered nearly too much to absorb.

While a quickly moving thunderstorm passed over the exposed granite of the Trinities, blue sky served as the backdrop to the Boise Mountains spread across the north horizon. In the opposite direction and behind Kent Ireton and me, the North Fork of Lime Creek drained through open hillsides and forest on its roundabout journey toward Anderson Ranch Reservoir.

What really held our focus, however, was the peak looming off to the east. From the Camas Prairie, Iron Mountain appears as the last inconsequential bump in a small mountain range whose claim to fame is the Four Soldiers. From our viewpoint, however, the nearby prominence dwarfed everything else.

Our goal had been to hike to the top of Iron Mountain, inspect its lookout building and enjoy the elevated view.

Most of the options that lead to our destination involve 4,000-foot elevation gains over the course of nearly 10 miles. Finding an alternate route to those standard trails that could be hiked as a round trip in one day, however, had not gone well. Issues with unfamiliar country near the town of Featherville and my failure to successfully find the correct logging road had placed us on a backup trail later than we had hoped.

In addition, the path took an indirect line to the mountain as it looped around the headwaters of Lime Creek. While reaching the top of Iron Mountain remained in question, the superb vista had already made for a successful outing.

In Idaho: A Climbing Guide, Tom Lopez describes part of the route  his hike had a different starting point than ours  in glowing terms. He declares that the bare set of hills that we traversed, called Blue Ridge, was the highlight of his trek to the summit. The trail along this ridge flows for miles above tree line reminding hikers of the movie The Sound of Music.

The worn path that we walked was typical for the area in terms of multiple modes of travel. A web of trails, nearly all accessible to motorbikes and some to all-terrain vehicles, weaves its way throughout the Soldier Mountains.

The word has gotten out in the local motorcycle community, said Steve Frost, the Forest Services recreation program manager at the Fairfield Ranger District. The area has a world-class network of single-track trails.

According to Frost, there are routes that lead to Iron Mountain from almost any direction, but a trail starting from Baumgartner Campground on the South Fork of the Boise River is the most popular. That trail, accessible to all vehicles 50 inches or less, covers about nine miles. Frost also reminds travelers accessing Baumgartner that the river road remains closed several miles east of the campground due to a washout that occurred in the same spot over the past two years.

Once Kent and I had completed a half-circle along Blue Ridge, our trail took on a more direct course to Iron Mountain. As we hiked up and down several small rises and through pockets of forest, we witnessed the areas popularity for motorbike enthusiasts. First several pairs of riders, then a group of four, passed us going in our direction. Whether they were headed to the lookout or down to Baumgartner, or would choose other options, remained unknown, as all seemed focused on their ride.

While our pace paled in comparison with those sharing the trail, we had progressed a half-dozen miles by midafternoon and almost reached an area called Deer Park. With a few miles remaining that were by far the steepest, however, we agreed that our journey would end there.

Content with what we had hiked and seen, the turnaround point still seemed bittersweet. We could clearly see the last few long switchbacks up the south side of the mountain and the lookout perched on top.

According to the website Firelookout.com, a log cabin built in 1922 and another in 1938 had preceded the structure. The present two-story building was built in 1961 and manned, Frost said, until about a decade ago.

Before our trip we had seen recent photographs of the boarded-up lookout, a nearby helipad, and Heart Lake pooled in a cirque a thousand feet below the peak. We had both pictured ourselves standing next to one of the iconic symbols of mountains and forest protection.

While the distant perspective and a few images in our heads were as close as we came to the summit, they also began to serve as motivation to return and finish the journey.
In my late-July column, I described how the renewed trickle of .22 rimfire ammunition to dealers shelves inspired me to pull a new-in-the-box standard Ruger 10-22 from the basement closet  where it had languished for years  and use an assortment of aftermarket parts to trick it out into the .22 of my dreams.

Well, Ive done that, and Im happy to report that the project is a success.

My new upgraded 10-22 not only looks cool but, more importantly, is a joy to handle and, with many hundreds of rounds down its .920-inch target bull barrel, is proving to be outstandingly accurate. A word of caution: Many target-grade barrels feature Bentz chambers, which due to their tighter dimensions tend to be much more finicky about what brands/styles of ammunition they prefer. But not to worry, Ive had the gun running for only about a month now and Ive already found five or six varieties of plinking, target and hunting ammunition that cycle perfectly. I cant wait to wring it out this winter on some plump cottontails that frequent the basalt outcroppings near my home.

While the major components (lock, stock and barrel, literally) were sourced locally, the specialty parts that really sent this rebuild into overdrive came from a single internet source: Tandemkross.

Based in New Hampshire, Tandemkross carries aftermarket products manufactured exclusively in the U.S. Its mission is to solve firearms problems that manufacturers cant or wont, making good guns great. Currently its product lines service a number of Ruger, KelTec, Walther, Browning, Smith&Wesson and Glock centerfire and rimfire models. Check out the extensive inventory at Tandemkross.com.

Lets take a moment and talk about the TK parts that have transformed my ho-hum 10-22 rebuild into a real showstopper. In my book, functional reliability trumps all other criteria, so the first thing I did was to replace my Rugers cheap, stamped factory extractor with TKs Eagles Talon version. Machined from hardened tool-grade steel, the Eagles Talon incorporates a positive hook design which guarantees that even the most recalcitrant round or casing will be plucked from my rifles tight chamber.

To speed competitive reloads and alleviate the bothersome two-handed operation of releasing the 10-22s bolt to chamber a round, I substituted my guns manual bolt release with TKs Guardian auto bolt release plate. Installation was a breeze, thanks to TKs online instructional videos. Now all I have to do to release the bolt on a fresh magazine is to intuitively pull back and then release the bolt-charging handle. Also pictured is TKs Advantage Picatinny Charging Assist that Ill be installing before my nieces next Johnny Appleseed competition. She already has designs for using Uncle Richs 10-22 to get a competitive edge over her competitors.

A really nifty item (pictured) that makes bolt and extractor removal and reassembly a snap is Gunsmither Tools Bolt Bar. This ingenious device greatly simplifies these two formerly onerous tasks.

Ive deliberately held back the best news for last. As dearly as I love Rugers utterly reliable BX-1 rotary 10-round and its BX-25 25 round Zytel magazines, in my opinion they have at last been bested. They are being phased out of my collection and replaced with TKs Double Kross double 10-22 magazine bodies.

Following website video instructions, use the Magazine Tune Up Tool to dissemble two Ruger factory magazines, and place their internals into a single Double Kross magazine body. These reliable units double your standard 10-round capacity in a single clear or black Zytel magazine that is only slightly larger than the standard 10-rounders. They are fully compatible with 10-22 competitive belt pouches and function flawlessly in competitive scenarios.

Thanks to the increased availability of .22 ammo and Tandemkross componants, I now have my one-gun-does-it-all Ruger 10-22. Life is good.
Volunteers  Interlink Volunteer Caregivers (IVC) provides volunteers to help elderly, disabled and chronically ill people to live safely and independently at home. Volunteers are needed in the Mini Cassia area and Magic Valley to help build wheelchair ramps and install grab bars. Volunteers are also needed to help with light housekeeping. Volunteers are reimbursed for mileage and covered with excess auto liability insurance. Commitment is flexible with no minimum hours required. Information: Edie, 208-733-6333 or ivcofmv@gmail.com.

Training  Local nonprofit Niche Assistance is holding a free Volunteer Training Workshop from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 17 at Heritage Alliance Church, 401 Sixth Ave. N., Twin Falls. Lunch will be provided. The workshop will help prepare volunteers to work with struggling individuals who want to make their lives to become more self-sufficient and successful. If you plan to attend the workshop, contact Phyllis Berg by Aug. 28, at 208-329-3796 or nicheassistance@yahoo.com.

Volunteers  St. Lukes Home Health and Hospice is looking for new volunteers to join its team to share compassion and care and increase the quality of life for patients and their families. The program is designed to offer companionship and socialization to patients as well as respite and support for the caregivers. Information: Marie Sharp, 208-814-7603 or sharpm@slhs.org.

Drivers  The Twin Falls Senior Center delivers meals to homebound seniors in the Twin Falls area Monday through Friday, and the routes take an hour or less to complete. Commitment is based on your availability; pick a day of the week or drive once or twice a month, pick a week to drive, or be a substitute driver. Volunteers must be 18 years of age with their own car, and have proof of liability insurance. Drivers receive 54 cents a mile fuel reimbursement. Information: Sandee Earl, 208-734-5084.

Volunteers  The Senior Companion Program at the CSI Office on Aging needs volunteers, age 55 and older, to assist homebound seniors by providing friendly visits and transportation as needed. Information: Marisol, 208-736-2122, or toll free, 800-574-8656.

Volunteers  The Foster Grandparent Program at the CSI Office on Aging has openings for volunteers, age 55 and older, to read to children ages 2 to 9 and assist with their academic and social skills. Placements are available throughout the Magic Valley in Head Start programs and public elementary schools. Information: Marisol, 208-736-2122 or toll free, 800-574-8656.

Volunteers  Hospice Visions Inc. is looking for volunteers to visit with patients and their families, do minor home modifications such as grab bars, and also volunteer Light Touch Massage therapists, hair dressers, meal assist volunteers, and to play music and games with hospice patients. Volunteers are needed with licensed certified therapy animals to love our hospice patients in their own homes or assisted living centers. Hospice Visions is looking for volunteers interested in doing art projects with patients or filming and creating a Life Legacy Video, or to take someone to the store, run an errand or out for a drive. Veterans can become a Vet-to-Vet Volunteer and visit with other veterans. Volunteers are also needed to assist with fundraising events and provide office assistance. Information: Nora at 208-735-0121 or nwells@hospicevisions.org.

Volunteers  The Fifth Judicial District CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) Program is seeking community volunteers to become advocates for abused children. Advocates receive training and support to investigate, report, monitor and advocate for children involved in the child protection system. Advocates are needed in all eight counties of the district, but it is critical to the program to recruit volunteers in the Mini Cassia area. Information: Tahna, 208-735-1177.

Volunteers  The Twin Falls County Historical Society is seeking volunteers for various programs and general support. Volunteers are needed to paint, weed, clean or work on docent projects and fundraising. No minimum amount of hours, commitment is flexible. Fill out an application at the Twin Falls County Historical Museum (Union School at Curry), open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Information: 208-736-4675.
BURLEY  A Burley man convicted of breaking into several homes and vehicles to burglarize them  including a Cassia County judges house  received suspended sentences for the crimes and will spend time in a therapeutic program run by the Department of Correction known as a rider.

Cassia County District Judge Michael Crabtree sentenced Ramon Flores, Jr., 18. If Flores fails the rider program, he could spend six years and six months in prison with two years and six months fixed for each of two burglary charges.

Flores was also sentenced to five years in prison with two years and six months fixed on an attempted burglary charge.

Crabtree suspended the sentences and placed him in the states program.

Flores, 18, along with another suspect, Ruben Ortiz Jr., 19, were charged in July 2015 of breaking into Cassia County Magistrate Judge Blaine Cannons home, forcing open the front door of a probation officers home and burglarizing other homes and vehicles.

Flores was originally charged with 13 counts of burglary, grand theft and robbery, but the robbery charges were later dropped because prosecutors failed to prove force was used to take property from the victims.

Under a plea agreement, Flores pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary, one count of attempted burglary and the remaining charges were dismissed by the state.

Seven counts of burglary are still pending for Ortiz. He has a change of plea and sentencing hearing set for Sept. 1 in Cassia County District Court from charges filed July 2015 and a change of plea-sentencing hearing set at the same date and time for three grand theft and one burglary charges that were filed December 2014.

None of the victims could positively identify Flores and Ortiz as the men who broke into their homes, making the case difficult to prosecute. But, one piece of evidence came from Judge Cannon. His laptop was taken from his home and later found by detectives at the home of Christopher Vergara.

Vergara testified at a previous hearing that he dropped off Flores at Storybook Park, close to where the judge lives. He said he did not know how the laptop ended up in his room but that Flores did go to his house after a trip to the park area. He said no one in his family left it there and that Flores would occasionally leave belongings in his room.

Another key piece of evidence was video footage recorded by Maria Fitzhugh, a probation officer. It shows Ortiz and Flores shining flashlights into the probation officers home and forcing her front door, police said.
TWIN FALLS  A Twin Falls man wearing nothing but a tarp told police he woke up naked in a field Tuesday morning and couldnt remember anything from the night before, but police arrested him on suspicion that he stabbed a man in the neck and left him bleeding to die.

Roberto Vidales Rodriguez, 30, was arrested Tuesday and arraigned Wednesday in Twin Falls County Magistrate Court on felony counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Prosecutors say Rodriguez slashed the neck of his victim using a three-inch razor blade early Tuesday at a home on Eastland Drive South. Police later found his mothers blood-soaked pickup truck about a mile from the scene, and about six hours later arrested the tarp-wrapped Rodriguez near Smiths grocery store.

Twin Falls Police responded to the report of the stabbing about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 300 block of Eastland Drive South where they found Kenneth Bushnell bleeding heavily, an officer wrote in a sworn affidavit.

Mr. Bushnell had a large gash on the right side of his neck under his jaw line, the officer wrote. Mr. Bushnell told the officers that Roberto Rodriguez had stabbed him and then left in a red and silver Chevy pickup.

Bushnell was taken to St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center, where he later told police Rodriguez grabbed him from around the neck, stabbed him and then told him he was going to stand there and watch him die.

Police found the pickup Bushnell described abandoned near Locust Street South and Lindy Lane, court documents said. Police say the truck, registered to Rodriguezs mother, had fake license plates and a large amount of blood on the steering wheel, gear shift, seat and dome light; officers also found a Ruger .22-caliber rifle inside the truck.

At about 9:30 a.m., police found Rodriguez wearing nothing but a tarp at Addison Avenue East and Sunrise Boulevard, near Smiths, court documents said.

Mr. Rodriguez told me he had been drinking a lot of alcohol yesterday and this morning and could not remember anything, the officer wrote in the affidavit. He told me could not remember being at Mr. Bushnells house or anything until he woke up in a field. Mr. Rodriguez told me he noticed he had no clothes on and found a piece of tarp and rope and tied it around his waist.

Rodriguez told police that he isnt violent and that if he stabbed someone, it would have been self-defense, court documents said. He also said he couldnt remember how he got large cuts on his right index and middle fingers, but later said he cut them on a broken bottle.

At the home where police first responded to the stabbing, officers found a bloody three-inch razor blade in the kitchen, where Bushnell said the stabbing took place, court documents said.

Rodriguez was arrested on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm. According to the complaint filed by prosecutors, Rodriguez was barred from possessing a gun because of a 2003 conviction in Twin Falls for burglary. Idaho Department of Correction records show Rodriguez was discharged from custody in 2009.

Rodriguez is being held in the Twin Falls County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond and a preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 26.
TWIN FALLS  The man who shot himself after leading police on a frantic chase Tuesday has died, Twin Falls County Coroner Gene Turley said.

The coroner identified the man as Roger David Vulgamore, 24, of Buhl.

Vulgamores family was with him at St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center when he died, and most of his organs were harvested for donation, Turley said.

He gave his organs to be donated, so at least something good came of this, Turley said.

The coroner said Vulgamore shot himself in the head; his body will be taken Thursday to Boise for an autopsy.

Details of the chase and shooting are still hazy as investigators continue to reconstruct the frantic, wide-ranging pursuit that began in Kimberly, entered Twin Falls on Kimberly Road, headed north on Eastland Drive and wound at least as far west as Washington Street and at least as far north as Pole Line Road.

What is known for sure is it began some time before 5:50 p.m. in Kimberly and ended about 6:10 p.m. near Carriage Lane and Indian Trail, south of Clyde Thomsen Park, in Twin Falls. It was on Carriage Lane, a dead-end street in a quiet neighborhood, where a Twin Falls police officer driving a marked SUV intentionally crashed into the back of the brown four-door sedan using what police call a PIT maneuver, or pursuit intervention technique.

At that point the pursuit ended, and when officers approached the vehicle, they found the suspect in the vehicle with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Twin Falls Police spokesman Joshua Palmer said Tuesday evening.

Vulgamore was still alive at the scene and was rushed to St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center, Palmer said.

Because the pursuit involved so many local agencies, a police crash and a shooting  Kimberly police, Twin Falls County Sheriffs deputies and Twin Falls police were all involved  outside investigators were brought in to help.

Twin Falls Police asked for an outside investigation, Jerome County Sheriff Doug McFall said Wednesday. Were the lead agency.

Idaho State Police, Jerome Police, Rupert Police and the Minidoka County Sheriffs Office are all assisting in the investigation.

McFall said Vulgamore was on life-support late Tuesday night. The Jerome sheriff and three investigators from his office were at the crash scene until well past midnight into Wednesday morning, McFall said. The vehicle involved in the chase was taken by ISP for further investigation.

Particulars of the case will be forthcoming and will be coordinated with the Twin Falls Prosecutors Office, McFall said.

Palmer on Wednesday confirmed the vehicle was a brown, four-door sedan. He said earlier the vehicle appeared to be similar to the brown sedan  described as possibly a Buick  wanted in connection to an attempted robbery Monday at KJs Super Store at 1612 Blue Lakes Blvd. N. Palmer said it was too early to say if its the same vehicle.

The Kimberly Police Department, the Twin Falls County Sheriffs Office and the Twin Falls Police Department were all involved in the pursuit. By the time it ended, more than 20 law-enforcement vehicles had swarmed the scene while SWAT officers paced the area dressed in body armor and holding assault rifles.

About an hour later, many of the patrol officers and SWAT officers had dispersed, but Police Chief Craig Kingsbury and much of his command staff was still on scene along with City Manager Travis Rothweiler.

Meanwhile, neighbors looked on in disbelief that something like this happened in their quiet neighborhood, with many of them assuming the suspect must have reached the neighborhood by accident if he was heading south on the dead-end Carriage Lane.
TWIN FALLS  A 69-year-old Pocatello man has pleaded guilty to molesting a 9-year-old Twin Falls girl and will likely face at least five to 15 years in prison.

David Alan Higbee was indicted by a Twin Falls grand jury in April on three felony counts of lewd conduct with a minor under 16. The indictment charged him with touching the genitals of two young girls on at least three occasions in April and September of 2015.

Last week, Higbee pleaded guilty to one count in exchange for prosecutors dismissing the other two counts. Prosecutors will seek a 15-year prison sentence with a five-year minimum fixed term, while Higbee and his attorney are free to argue for the punishment they feel is appropriate.

According to a newly available affidavit in the case, three girls told investigators that Higbee would tickle them and touch them below their clothes in their private areas. One girl also said Higbee asked her if she had been touching herself.

Police first became aware of the abuse after the mother of at least one of the girls expressed concern over her daughters behavior, court documents said. She said after noticing the behavior, she started to get bad feelings that she could not explain when  Higbee would be around.

In January, after the three girls told investigators about the abuse, Twin Falls detectives went to Pocatello to speak with Higbee, but he requested a lawyer and declined to talk to them.

A Twin Falls grand jury indicted Higbee in April and he was arrested on a warrant in May. A judge set his bond at $100,000, and Higbee has been in the Twin Falls County Jail ever since. He originally pleaded not guilty May 31, and a trial was set to begin next Tuesday before he pleaded guilty Aug. 9.

Higbee will be sentenced Oct. 14.
TWIN FALLS  A Nevada man fleeing a Twin Falls County Sheriffs deputy was injured late Wednesday when he fell into the Snake River Canyon near the Perrine Bridge and Twin Falls Visitor Center, police said.

Deputies were in the area of the bridge shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday looking for a possibly suicidal subject when one of the deputies saw an Isuzu SUV speed into the parking lot of Outback Steakhouse, sheriffs office spokeswoman Lori Stewart said in a statement. The SUV skidded and spun 180-degrees before coming to a stop.

The nearby deputy turned on his emergency lights and approached the SUV in his patrol vehicle.

The driver of the SUV, later identified as 30-year-old David T. Geul, of Sparks, Nev., fled toward the bridge with the deputy in chase, Stewart said.

As the deputy pursued on foot, (Geul) leaped over the safety wall underneath the bridge, the statement said. The deputy climbed over the safety wall and saw (Geul) lying on a small ledge. Geul stood up and took a step and then fell from the ledge he was standing on.

Geul landed about 50 feet down the canyon, hitting his head on a pile of rocks, but was conscious and alert, Stewart said. Following the deputys instructions, he took his shirt off and wrapped it around his head to temporarily treat his injury.

A search and rescue climber rappelled to Geuls location and lifted him out of the canyon, Stewart said. Just before 1 a.m. Thursday, Geul was taken by ambulance to St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center.

He was no longer listed as a patient about 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

The sheriffs office is still investigating the incident and trying to determine why Geul ran from the deputy. He was not the possibly suicidal subject authorities were looking for.
TWIN FALLS  The Twin Falls School District will offer free lunch at eight schools during the school year.

The offering is through the U.S. Department of Agricultures Community Eligibility Provision.

The program has been in Twin Falls since last school year. This year, two more schools will be added.

To qualify, a school must have at least 40 percent of its students directly certified for free meals under other programs.

Students can receive a free lunch at Bickel, Harrison, Lincoln, Oregon Trail, Morningside and I.B. Perrine elementary schools, plus Bridge Academy and Magic Valley High School.

All district schools offer free breakfast for students.
GOODING  A Gooding man was killed and his two passengers injured in a recreational utility vehicle crash early Thursday in Gooding.

Kurtis J. Borda, 32, was driving the utility vehicle east on Roosevelt Street at high speeds when he tried to turn left onto North Oregon Street and lost control, Idaho State Police said. The 2015 Polaris UTV flipped, throwing Borda and his two passengers.

Borda died at the scene.

Alcohol was involved in the crash and none of the occupants were wearing seat belts, ISP said.

Bordas passengers  35-year-old Steven B. Lopes and 22-year-old Jordan R. Eden, both of Shoshone  went to North Canyon Medical Center in a private vehicle.

ISP is still investigating the crash.
BURLEY  A Burley man was sentenced Tuesday to up to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing two teenage boys.

Jesus Ramon Valdez, 57, was charged in 2015 with three counts of sexual battery committed by lewd or lascivious acts on a minor child 16 to 17 and one count of lewd conduct with a child under 16. Hell serve at least three years in prison before hes eligible for parole.

Under a plea agreement, Valdez pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery committed by lewd or lascivious acts on a minor child 16 to 17. The other charges were dismissed.

In April, Valdezs sentencing was delayed after his attorney David Pena was suspended by the Idaho Supreme Court for failing to forward another clients payments to a creditor, among other issues and the sentencing hearing was again delayed this summer due to mental health concerns for Valdez.

The boys told police the sexual abuse by Valdez began when they were teenagers.

The oldest boy told police he was abused between 20 and 25 times, beginning when he was 16, police said. He was given gifts such as $100 cash, cologne, food, shoes and glasses. He was threatened by Valdez, who said he would tell the victims friends what they were doing if the victim told anyone about the abuse. The abuse stopped when he was about 19, police said.

The older brother talked to police once he believed the younger boy was also being abused by Valdez. The younger boy, who was 15 at the time, told police he was abused six or seven times over a year, police said.

He told police Valdez threatened to post about him on Facebook if he tried to back away from him during one incident.

Online court records show Valdez also will be sentenced Monday in Minidoka County court on two counts of sexual battery by committing lewd or lascivious acts on a child.
TWIN FALLS  Emergency crews responded Thursday morning to the Joslin Field, Magic Valley Airport for the report of an aircraft emergency, but the plane landed safely and the emergency turned out to be a false alarm.

Fire crews were dispatched to the airport about 8:30 a.m. for a plane that reportedly had smoke coming from an engine, Twin Falls city spokesman Joshua Palmer said. When firefighters arrived, the plane was on the runway and the pilot and co-pilot, the only people on-board, had safely evacuated.

The firefighters checked the plan but there was no sign of damage, and it appeared the incident was a false alarm, Palmer said. The fire crews stayed at the scene and remained on standby until the plane was towed to a safe location for more tests.

The flight was operated by Ameriflight, a cargo airline based in Texas.
Are we watching an American presidential campaign or the pilot episode of a bizarre new TV series? Or both? The hallmark of reality TV, of course, being its extreme unreality.

On a daily basis, the Trump campaign invites sheer disbelief. Recently, Ivanka Trump, the statuesque daughter her father talks about dating, posted an Instagram photo of herself sightseeing in scenic Croatia with Wendi Deng Murdoch.

The New York Daily News explains that Deng, who was divorced from Rupert Murdoch in 2013 ... has been linked romantically to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. The newspaper adds that the optics of the photo could raise further questions about the relationship between Ivankas father and Putin.

Geez, you think? Maybe Ill ask Boris and Natasha. Those are my pet names for the Russian operatives who started sending me obscene emails after a recent column critical of Trump. The subject line in Boris latest reads, TRUMP SHOULD (DEFECATE) IN YOUR TRAITOROUS MOUTH!

With impressive tradecraft, Boris calls himself Jason Larenzen, a name that appears not to exist in the United States.

Anticipating the latest Fox News fantasy theme, Natasha (masquerading as Karyn) asks, Will lying c**t Hillary last to the election before brain blood clot ruptures? Her IP address links to Yandex.com, which a Google search locates in Moscow, within walking distance of the Kremlin.

They arent even subtle about it.

Of course, in Putins Moscow, offending journalists get shot dead in the street, so I shouldnt complain. Besides, having grown up in New Jersey, profanity makes little impact on me.

Yo, Natasha, you eat with that mouth?

But think about it: Russian operatives are openly intervening in an American presidential election: hacking Democratic Party emails and harassing obscure political columnists.

Always on Donald Trumps side. Youve got to ask yourself why.

One possible answer may have appeared in the New York Times. Trump campaign manager Paul Manaforts name turned up 22 times on a secret ledger detailing $12.7 million in illegal payola handed out under deposed Ukranian president Viktor Yanukovych.

Supposedly, Manafort was also involved in a murky $18 million deal to sell Ukrainian cable TV to a partnership put together by Mr. Manafort and a Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of President Vladimir V. Putin.

Him again.

The information was given to Times reporters by the Ukranian governments National Anti-Corruption Bureau, no doubt tasked with putting as many of the current regimes political rivals as possible in prison.

At the expense of being a spoilsport, Ive learned to be highly skeptical of New York Times blockbusters. From the Whitewater hoax onward, the newspaper has produced a series of Clinton scandal stories, culminating in last Aprils abortive attempt to hint that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had corruptly engineered the sale of a Wyoming uranium mine.

Look, I wrote last April, theres a reason articles like the Times big expose are stultifyingly dull and require the skills of a contract lawyer to parse. Murky sentences and jumbled chronologies signify that the Clinton rules are back: all innuendo and guilt-by-association. All ominous rhetorical questions, but rarely straightforward answers.

So it comes as no great surprise that Ukrainian investigators have yet to determine if (Manafort) actually received the cash.

So is Manafort a victim of the Clinton Rules? Could be.

But theres no doubt about this: Before he fled to Russia two years ago, Mr. Yanukovych ... relied heavily on the advice of Mr. Manafort and his firm, who helped them win several elections.

On evidence, little things like democratic institutions and the rule of law dont appear high on Manaforts priority list. Among his previous clients were Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos and Zaires infamous Mobutu Sese Seko, aptly described as the archetypal African dictator. Both regimes were essentially kleptocracies, characterized by nepotism, brutality and extreme corruption.

Comparatively speaking, Vladimir Putin would appear to be one of Manaforts more savory associates.

So when candidate Trump expresses a Russia-friendly foreign policy agenda  musing aloud about recognizing Putins illegal occupation of Crimea, and hinting that President Trump might refuse to defend NATO allies against Russian attack, its reasonable to wonder whats being said behind closed doors.

Or when Trump invites Boris and Natasha to conduct cyber-warfare against his Democratic opponent. Russia, if youre listening, I hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing, Trump said in July.

Later, of course, the candidate alibied that he was being sarcastic. Hes a great kidder, Trump. Something blows up in his face, it was a joke.

Washington Monthlys David Atkins poses the million ruble question: How much does (sic) Trump and his team need to do before we start asking serious questions about whether theyre a Manchurian Candidate campaign actively working on behalf of a foreign nation?

Basically, that depends upon how big a piece of Trump Russian oligarchs own  one big reason well never see his income taxes.
As a retired teacher and having taught in Idaho for 25 years, I continue to be very concerned about the education of our children. The teachers of Idaho are dedicated to providing an excellent education for their students. I recall General MacArthur saying he was fighting with one hand tied behind his back. And that is the case of our public schools. More funding support is warranted so our children get the education they deserve.

Sadly, Idaho is now 49th in the nation  just shy of the very bottom, the worst  in per capita state school funding. So, when, Dale Ewerson, as a candidate for state Senate, says that he supports the current level of state of funding for education he really means that he is content with keeping Idaho and its children at the bottom.

Idahos current level of funding for education is only at the 2009 level. However, this is 2016 and we have 18,000 more students in the system. While Dale may talk about promoting business growth, he does not understand that companies paying good wages will come to Idaho only if we have the educated workforce they require. That requires us investing in education, and not simply supporting the status quo.

Luckily, Michelle Stennett, our state senator in District 26, does understand the importance of education to our children and our economy. She is not satisfied with Idaho being bottom of the barrel.

That is why she is a strong advocate for state funding of education focused on the future and for relieving our communities of expensive local tax levies.

We need Michelle Stennetts vision and leadership, and that is why I am voting for her this November for Idaho Senate, District 26.

Kathleen Boian

Gooding
Should you go? I give the place high marks for food and scenery, but the total population of about 48,700 limits other benefits. It is like visiting a smaller, more unspoilt Iceland. There is a shop in the main city selling Faroese music and many shops selling sweaters. They will not tell you where the sweaters were knitted.

The natives seem to think Denmark is an excessively competitive, violent, harsh and hurried place. The norm here is to leave your door unlocked. It is a self-governing archipelago, but part of the Kingdom of Denmark. In other words, they get a lot of subsidies.

But they are not part of the EU, so they still sell a lot of salmon  their number one export  to Russia.

You see plenty of pregnant women walking around, and (finally) population is growing, the country has begun to attract notice, and the real estate market is beginning to heat up. But prices remain pretty low, and it would be a great place to buy an additional home, if you do that sort of thing.

In the early 1990s, their central bank did go bankrupt and had to be bailed out by Denmark. It is a currency board arrangement, and insofar as the eurozone moves in that direction, as it seems to be doing by placing Target2 liabilities on the national central banks, a eurozone central bank could become insolvent too, despite all ECB protestations to the contrary.

Every mode of transport is subsidized in the Faroes, including helicopter rides across the islands. Often the bus is free, and there is an extensive network of ferries. I wonder how many population centers there would be otherwise. There is now the notion that all of the communities on the various islands are one single, large networked city.

The Faroes are a food desert of sorts, with few decent or affordable fruits or vegetables. And not many supermarkets of any kind. Yet the rate of obesity does not seem to be high. And they have a very high rate of literacy with little in the way of bookstores or public libraries.

The seabirds including puffins are a main attraction, but I enjoyed seeing the mammals too, with pride of place going to the pony:

The country receives a great deal of negative publicity for killing whales, but overall they seem to treat animals better than the United States does. Fish consumption is very high and there are no factory farms.

If the Faroes had open borders, but no subsidies for migrants, how many people would settle there?

In 1946 they did their own version of Faerexit, from Denmark of course:

The result of the vote was a narrow majority in favour of secession, but the coalition in parliament could not reach agreement on how this outcome should be interpreted and implemented; and because of these irresoluble differences, the coalition fell apart. A parliamentary election was held a few months later, in which the political parties that favoured staying in the Danish kingdom increased their share of the vote and formed a coalition.

Overall I expect this place to change radically in the next twenty years. It is hard to protect 48,700 people forever. In part, they are killing those whales to keep you away.
Hamza bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden, has called for the overthrow of the House of Saud describing them as oppressive and tyrannical rulers in an audio message that surfaced this week.

The 23-year old man, described as the favorite son of the founder of the Al-Qaeda network and believed to be groomed to replace his father as the leader of the terror group, said change in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques will benefit the whole Islamic nation and bring it back to its glorious past.

Saudi Arabia is ruled by the Saud family and Hamza describing them as American agents said there must be an uprising to end the reign of the criminal ruling family, which has turned the Land of the Two Holy Mosques into a kingdom of [the West and Iran].

In an audio message released last month, he vowed to revenge the killing of his father.

Hamza said there must be an uprising to pave the way for Islamic law ruling the land.

Saudi Arabia is governed by the Islamic Law but hardliners have often criticized it for laxity alleging that it succumbs to Western policies and is also influenced by modernization.

The message called on the tribes of the oil rich nation to wage jihad against the royal family and suggested that they could join Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) based in Yemen to gain the necessary experience if that is what they lack. He said the Saudi-led coalition, being powerless to confront the Houthi Movement, has instead focused on bombing AQAP, which is also fighting the Houthi militants.

The latest audio message is the fourth of its kind from Hamza but it is unclear if he has already taken up a leadership role in al-Qaeda currently under Ayman al-Zawahiris command.

With the increasing audios being released, it seems as if the world is about to have another Bin Laden famous for his terror activities in the West. Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011 during a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after he had been untraceable for decades.
President Sisi on Wednesday ratified the unanimously approved law instituting cooperation between the armed forces and the police to protect public and vital facilities for a period of five years, beginning October 28.

The law was inspired by a 2014 presidential decree issued in October 2014 to fight militancy in the country, especially after the killing of 33 security personnel in the Sinai.

The presidential decree was to become null and void in the next two months. The decree considers as vital infrastructures needed for public services such as electric power plants and pylons, gas pipelines, oil fields, railroads, roads and bridges. Sabotaging or attacking such facilities are considered as terrorist operations and culprits will be tried in military courts.

Analysts are however wondering why the Parliament set the duration of the cooperation at five years considering that in June the cabinet extended its application for two years.

Kamal Amer, head of the defense and security committee at the House of Representatives, argued that the countrys present situation calls for the army-police cooperation to be extended for a longer period.

The Sisi administration is faced with security challenges and is also battling an extremist group affiliated to the Islamic State in the Sinai that plans to establish a Caliphate in the region.

Defense Minister Sedki Sobhi during a tour in northern Sinai on Wednesday warned that they have a zero tolerance policy to forces of evil and corruption and for those who want to seize Egypts land and territory.

Northern Sinai has been the most volatile region since the arrival of Sisi to power and the government claims that militant groups have ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.
One out of four women living in South Africas platinum belt have suffered from rape, a report released on Tuesday by Doctors without Borders (MSF) said.

According to its survey of more than 800 women aged 18-49 in Rustenburg municipality, north-west of Johannesburg, MSF said only 5% of the approximately 11,000 women and girls raped each year report the incident to a health worker.

What we found from this survey is one in four women has been raped in Rustenburg. What really struck us was the frequency, you can say that about 11,000 women are trafficked each year, Garret Barnwell of MSF told AFP news agency.

For many women, sexual violence has become part of their daily lives. The violence is routine, Rosina Palai, a health worker quoted in the report said.

The report also shows that only 5% of women who have suffered rape received healthcare.

Those who have survived sexual violence face many other obstacles to heal  getting back to the community is important and there are few opportunities to access well-equipped and specialized care services for sexual violence, the report said.

South Africa has one of the highest incidences of rape in the world and a low prosecution rate.

The MSF research also suggested that a very low number of these women were aware of how to prevent HIV transmission and even pregnancy.

An estimated 6.2 million South Africans live with HIV
The United Nations on Tuesday, urged the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate the killing of dozens civilians including two children in North Kivu.

The machete odious killings that occurred on Saturday are suspected to have been perpetrated by Rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF,) a Ugandan Islamist militia that has operated in eastern Congo since the 1990s.

This is the most serious violence to affect the area since late 2014 when the UN documented at least 237 civilian deaths in a three-month period between October 1 and December 31, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ensure the perpetrators of human rights abuses and violations on all sides are brought to justice, the statement added.

Dozens of armed groups are active in North Kivu, where government troops have also been accused of preying on civilian population.

The killings came three days after DR Congos President Joseph Kabila visited the region, promising to do everything in his power to bring peace and security.

Police fired warning shots and tear gas to disperse protesters in the affected village early Wednesday, local media reported.
Sudans ceasefire talks have collapsed less than a week after they began, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The road map of ceasefire talks and political reconciliation have failed due to lack of commitment by armed factions, the states chief negotiator was quoted by the news agency as saying.

Speaking to reporters at Khartoum airport upon return from the peace talks in Addis Ababa, Ibrahim Mahmoud, the governments lead negotiator, said the main reason the negotiations broke down was the rebels deal-breaking request that, following the ceasefire, humanitarian aid be delivered by airlift to rebel areas in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile from Ethiopia, South Sudan and Kenya.

The government delegation has rejected the proposition, he said.

Last Monday, rebel and political parties welcomed the roadmap agreement brokered by the African Union and already accepted by the government.

Four groups of the opposition under the umbrella of Sudan Call signed the agreement for peace and dialogue.

They had requested a number of measures including granting political freedom in the country and the release of political prisoners.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and the European Union commended the opposition for signing the agreement which will go a long way to ensure peace in the region.

However, a week after the talks, the rebels have blamed the government for stalling the talks as they are unwilling to renounce any of their demands.
The United Nations' belated acknowledgement it played a role in a cholera epidemic in Haiti that has killed nearly 10,000 people was hailed by victims' advocates Thursday as vindication of their efforts to hold the world body accountable.

The epidemic broke out in 2010 in the vicinity of a base housing UN peacekeepers, in an impoverished Caribbean country that previously had been considered cholera-free.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq promised a "significant new set of UN actions" to respond to the crisis, following a confidential report sent to the UN chief that was critical of the world body's actions.

Draft language of the report, prepared by New York University law professor Philip Alston, who serves as a special rapporteur advising the UN on human rights issues, stated that the epidemic "would not have broken out but for the actions of the United Nations," according to The New York Times.

"This is a major victory for the thousands of Haitians who have been marching for justice, writing to the UN and bringing the UN to court," said Mario Joseph, a Haitian human rights lawyer representing victims of the epidemic.

"It is high time for the UN to make this right and prove to the world that 'human rights for all' means for Haitians too."

Already one of the world's poorest countries, Haiti was still reeling from a devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010 that killed more than 200,000 people when its misery was compounded by the cholera outbreak.

The first cases appeared in October 2010 on the banks of the Artibonite River, near a base where Nepalese members of the UN peacekeeping mission were quartered in the central town of Mirebalais.

"Over the past year, the UN has become convinced that it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera," Haq said.

The spokesman said the new response would be released publicly within the next two months, after it has been agreed with Haitian authorities and discussed with member states. Alston's report will be released in late September.

Unchanged legal position

"The UN must follow this announcement with action, including issuing a public apology, establishing a plan to provide compensation to the victims who have lost so much, and ensuring that cholera is eliminated in Haiti through robust investment in water and sanitation infrastructure," said Beatrice Lindstrom, staff attorney at the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

"We will keep fighting until it does."

French epidemiologist Roland Piarroux has said the scope of the cholera epidemic is "unprecedented" in recent history.

As early as November 2010, Piarroux had concluded that the epidemic had been imported from outside the country.

Despite numerous scientific studies backing that conclusion, the United Nations had until now refused to acknowledge any responsibility in introducing the disease in Haiti, saying it was impossible to authoritatively determine the source of the epidemic.

US courts have rejected complaints filed by families of cholera victims in New York, where the UN is headquartered, due to the world body's immunity.

And that is not likely to change, with a UN official saying that "the UN legal position has not changed."

Cholera, which is transmitted through contaminated drinking water and causes acute diarrhea, is a major challenge in a country with poor sanitary conditions.

Some 72 percent of Haitians have no toilets at home and, according to the UN, 42 percent still lack access to drinking water.

Researchers have made alarming forecasts.

In a report earlier this month, Piarroux found more than 21,000 cases and 200 deaths took place from January to June.

"With a rainy season that will last through November or possibly December, we worry that cholera will be especially deadly this year, easily killing 400 or 500 people."

Explore further Haiti victims file cholera lawsuit against UN (Update)

 2016 AFP
Dr Emma Boyland. Credit: University of Liverpool

Dr Emma Boyland is a Lecturer in appetite and obesity at the University of Liverpool's Institute of Psychology, Health and Society and Trustee of the UK Association for the Study of Obesity.

"The Government's long awaited Childhood Obesity Strategy is out, and it is as frustrating as it is disappointing. It has been downgraded to a "plan", and contains little of the "brave and bold action" that had been called for, and that the obesity problem warrants.

"The plan is but 13 pages long, and outlines a series of lacklustre proposals that will not be sufficient to make real progress in tackling the obesity crisis. There is a lot of focus on sugar, but still fails to take on board the majority of recommendations made in the recent Public Health England report on how to reduce excess sugar intake.

"The plan states that it has been devised "while respecting consumer choice and economic realities", and this is a clear and depressing indication of the Government's unwillingness to tackle the junk food and advertising industries, who form a critical part of the obesogenic environment in which we live.

"True choice is a fallacy when the food environment has such power over what, how, when and how much we eat. Until the root causes of obesity are tackled with considered and co-ordinated action, we will fail to made real inroads into improving the health and the lives of children in this country. This was a real opportunity to make a difference, and it has been missed by a mile. It is our children who have been let down the most."

Explore further Critics: UK plan to cut child obesity lacks muscle
Screenshot of the app interface offered by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency to handle parental leave (in Swedish).

I recently became a father to a beautiful little girl. As an ECR and first time parent living in Sweden, this means that I am now entitled to parental benefits, i.e. money that I receive from the government to subsidize my expenses so I am able to be at home with my child instead of working, applying for a new job, or studying. Therefore, I did not have to make a choice between prioritizing my family and my professional development, but instead could let the two develop simultaneously and benefit each other. In spite of strong evidence that supports the overwhelming benefits paid parental leave affords families, these policies are not universal. I hope that by sharing my positive experience with parental leave (which, granted is a special case), it can help other ECRs factor this in to the considerations they make when building a career.

My experience with parental leave in Sweden

As Swedish citizens, my fiancee and I are eligible for a combined 480 days of paid parental leave. We can divide the days between us by transferring the days to each other, but 90 days are fixed for each of us and cannot be transferred in an effort to involve both parents in the early days of their child's life. For 390 days, we are entitled to nearly 80% of our regular salary, up to a maximum of SEK 946 (approximately $112) per day. This leave can be taken by the month, week, day or even by the hour, since Sweden's parental leave policies also allows parents to take part-time leave with partial benefits for a longer period. As the non-pregnant parent, I was also entitled to compensation for 10 days of leave in connection with the birth of my daughter, so-called temporary parental benefits. These days allowed me to stay at home with my new family, and because I was financially compensated for this time through our public social security authority, my family did not suffer any financial hardship as a result.

The parental leave is extended further by my place of employment, which offers even more expansive benefits to encourage parenthood. My institution has policies that allow me to take full parental leave until my daughter is 18 months old and my working hours can be reduced by up to a quarter until my daughter is 12 years old. The University also offers a so-called "parental benefit supplement" which is paid out for a certain period of time, meaning that I am entitled to keep a larger portion of my salary per month than the 80% that I am entitled to by Swedish law. It is therefore important to check institutional policies when reviewing job offers, regardless of whether one has children or plans to.

Paternal leave encourages fathers to take on the caregiver role

Promoting gender equality in child rearing and domestic life is unsurprising in Sweden, where more than 70% of women also participate in the professional workforce. It follows that expansive parental leave policies allow for a revision of traditional gender roles toward shared responsibilities between who is the breadwinner and who is the caregiver. The importance of equal involvement from both parents in raising a child has become a frequently discussed topic in modern life. The evidence shows that paid maternal leave benefits women, families and the economy. By enacting similar policies for dads, they can be more involved in family life, which confers long-term benefits for their children. In terms of achieving more equitable division of labor between parents, regardless of gender, helping dads gain comfort and confidence in the role of caregiver is beneficial for the whole family. Other studies show that fathers who get involved in taking care of their children early on wind up being more involved in the child's life as they age. For households that value partnership, both professionally and in family life, it is critical that both parents are equipped to fulfill the role of primary caretaker for their children.

Beyond Sweden's borders: Parental leave flimsy elsewhere

Unfortunately, the right to long-term, paid parental leave is not the global norm for most parents in the world. I was surprised to learn that the United States remains the only OECD country whose federal government does not provide nor protect the right to paid maternity leave, and is one of nine OECD countries that does not offer a paid leave entitlement reserved for fathers.

Fortunately, some states in the U.S. picked up the slack of the federal government. California is one of only a few states today that offers paid parental leave, and in April 2016, San Francisco became the first city in the U.S. to approve six weeks of fully paid leave for new parents who either bear or adopt a child. But social norms have not caught up with state policies on paternal leave. A common problem in these progressive states is that despite maternity leave being offered to mothers, many women fail to take leave, research indicates reasons for this may include: inadequate knowledge of policies, unclear values, social pressure, inexperience with negotiating in the workplace, and lack of financial and childcare resources. To encourage uptake of maternity leave policies, researchers from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health developed an evidence-based tool using participatory design to educate working women in California about maternity leave. This study assessed the short-term efficacy of the tool and encourage pregnant, working women in California to plan for and use maternity leave. Using a randomized control trial set-up, the findings from the pilot evaluation show that the tool helped educate women in the sample about maternity leave and effectively mobilized them to use their leave.

Compared to the struggles faced by the California women enrolled in the aforementioned study, access to information and planning resources about maternal and paternal leave in Sweden is easy to come by, particularly since the Swedish Social Insurance Agency has embraced technology. With the "Kassakollen" function, I can quickly see approximately how much I can receive for my parental leave. This tool is also available as free app for smartphones and tablets, which makes the information very accessible.

Family leave policies in Scandinavia enter US politics

During the US Democratic Primary elections, the Scandinavian welfare societies and their social contract has been intensively discussed as a model for the American dream, especially by former Democratic party candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders' former rival and the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton also promises to enact policies guaranteeing up to 12 weeks of paid family leave to care for a new child in her political platform. Not only did Clinton break the glass ceiling of politics by becoming the first woman to be nominated for U.S. president by a major political party, but she also directed the dialog around paid parental leave and other women's right issues.

Concluding thoughts

As a first time parent and ECR in Sweden, I realize that I am truly blessed to live in a country and work for an institution that values my role as a parent and wants to give me the time to build a close relationship with my child. Without paternity leave, dads face a major hurdle in being equal partners at home and without maternity leave, or limited access to it, women may be end having to make a choice between their academic career and having children, which should not be the case. Access to parental leave should be included as a government or workplace benefit to support ones' professional development and family planning goals. While hopefully the new U.S. president will usher in more expansive and generous family leave policies (12 weeks is as good as it gets from the U.S. government), ECRs are wise to consider the paternal leave policies provided by their employers/governments, regardless of where they are at in their family planning lives.

Explore further Facebook ramps paid leave time for new dads

This story is republished courtesy of PLOS Blogs: blogs.plos.org.
Ramucirumab (trade name: Cyramza) is a monoclonal antibody, which blocks a receptor, reducing the growth of blood vessels and so reducing blood supply to the tumours. This aims to slow the growth of the tumours. As a so-called orphan drug, i.e. a drug for the treatment of rare diseases, ramucirumab was initially exempt from proof of an added benefit. With several expansions of the therapeutic indication, it has lost this special status.

Having already conducted early benefit assessments for two other oncological indications recently, the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) was now commissioned to investigate, based on a third manufacturer dossier, whether ramucirumab offers an added benefit in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapy for adults with advanced adenocarcinoma of the stomach or of the gastro-oesophageal junction. Since the requirements specified by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) for the appropriate comparator therapy and for the target population were not met in the studies cited by the drug manufacturer, such an added benefit is not proven.

Approved as combination and monotherapy

After previous chemotherapy, ramucirumab can be used either in combination with paclitaxel or alone if paclitaxel is inadequate for the patients. The G-BA specified different appropriate comparator therapies for both situations: in the first case, individually optimized treatment specified by the physician under consideration of the respective approvals, and in the second case, best supportive care (BSC).

Combination therapy: control arm did not concur with the G-BA's specifications

For the first research question, the manufacturer cited the study RAINBOW, in which ramucirumab plus paclitaxel was compared with placebo plus paclitaxel. This study was unsuitable for conclusions on an added benefit of the combination therapy in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapy for several reasons. First, determining paclitaxel deviated from the specification of "individually optimized treatment specified by the physician". According to guidelines, paclitaxel is only one of several treatment options for the target population and not preferred over the other options.

Second, paclitaxel as monotherapy is not approved for people with advanced stomach cancer who have already received chemotherapy. The G-BA had explicitly pointed this out to the manufacturer before the dossier was compiled. The same applies to the other drugs recommended in the guidelines. Hence the patients in Germany are in a situation where the drugs recommended for their treatment are not approved, and the approved drugs, conversely, are not recommended in the guidelines.

Since the G-BA explicitly reminded the manufacturer to consider the approval status, this inevitably resulted in the conclusion that the study did not concur with the requirements; an added benefit of ramucirumab plus paclitaxel in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapy is therefore not proven.

Monotherapy: study deviated from the relevant patient population

For the second research question, the manufacturer cited the study REGARD, in which ramucirumab plus BSC was compared with placebo plus BSC. This study was also inadequate for the assessment of the added benefit because this would require analysing data of patients for whom a combination therapy with ramucirumab and paclitaxel was not an option. The proportion of patients who were included in the study although they could have been treated with the combination was probably at least one third of the total study, however. The manufacturer did not address this problem in its dossier.

Hence it was concluded for the second research question that an added benefit of ramucirumab in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapy is not proven.

G-BA decides on the extent of added benefit

The dossier assessment is part of the early benefit assessment according to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG) supervised by the G-BA. After publication of the dossier assessment, the G-BA conducts a commenting procedure and makes a final decision on the extent of the added benefit.

An overview of the results of IQWiG's benefit assessment is given by a German-language executive summary. In addition, the Website gesundheitsinformation.de, published by IQWiG, provides easily understandable German-language information.

More English-language information will be available soon (Sections 2.1 to 2.5 of the dossier assessment as well as subsequently published health information on informedhealth.org).

Explore further Afatinib in advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the lung: Added benefit not proven
Credit: Shutterstock

ANGLE plc's Parsortix, which was granted a European patent in March 2016, harvests circulating cancer cells from blood for further medical analysis. Its use is an essential step in research under the GANNET53 project, which bets on a second generation Hsp90 inhibitor to improve metastatic ovarian cancer survival rates.

The GANNET53 project - set to be completed in 2019 - is well under way. 424 blood samples have been collected so far from 136 patients and processed using Parsortix. Sufficient RNA could be isolated for further qPCR (real time quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction) analysis in 134 of the 136 samples, and the Medical University of Vienna is currently analysing the RNA Markers to determine their presence or absence.

'For the first time, using the Parsortix system, we can now reliably access ovarian cancer cells from patient blood samples for analysis,' said Prof. Robert Zeillinger, Head of the Molecular Oncology Group at the Medical University of Vienna. 'This opens up completely new approaches to drug development in ovarian cancer and has the potential for wide applicability in other ovarian cancer drug trials.'

Unlike other CTC (circulating tumour cells) analysis systems, which lack suitable surface markers that makes them ineffective for ovarian cancer, Angle's Parsortix showed 'unprecedented sensitivity and specificity' when it was first used by the Medical University of Vienna in January 2015.

ANGLE has since been invited to participate in the project. The company hopes that GANNET53 will help obtain evidence of the capability of Parsortix to harvest cancer cells from patient blood for analysis in large scale studies, but also that, if the trail is successful, Parsortix will be utilised as a companion diagnostic to identify patient responders for Ganetespib  the drug being developed under GANNET53.

'The integration of our system into drug trials is a key objective in order to grow research use sales. Performance demonstrated in the GANNET53 trial and the capability developed by Medical University of Vienna to analyse the cancer cells has the potential to open new markets for Parsortix,' explained Andrew Newland, ANGLE Founder and Chief Executive. In the years to come, ANGLE is confident that the analysis of blood cells harvested with Parsortix has the potential to help deliver personalised care for various forms of cancers.

A highly potent drug

Ganetespib is considered by its creators as the safest, most effective and clinically most advanced Hsp90 (heat shock protein 90) inhibitor available. It was developed by Synta Pharmaceuticals in the United States, which has agreed to provide the drug for GANNET53 trials at no charge.

The GANNET53 project consists of two phases: Phase one will test the safety of Ganetespib in a new combination with standard chemotherapy (Paclitaxel weekly) in high-grade serous, high-grade endometrioid or undifferenciated, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients. The second phase will examine the efficacy of this combination with the sole use of standard chemotherapy.

The GANNET53 project will run until March 2019 and has received close to EUR 6 million in EU funding.

Explore further Chemotherapy may boost immunotherapy power in ovarian cancer

More information: Project website: Project website: www.gannet53.eu/
In this Feb. 11, 2016 file photo, Dallas County Mosquito Lab microbiologist Spencer Lockwood sorts mosquitos collected in a trap in Hutchins, Texas, that had been set up in Dallas County near the location of a confirmed Zika virus infection. The quest for a vaccine began less than a year ago as Brazil's massive outbreak revealed that Zika, once dismissed as a nuisance virus, can harm a fetus' brain if a woman is infected during pregnancy. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

Wanted: Volunteers willing to be infected with the Zika virus for science.

It may sound bizarre, but researchers are planning just such a studythis winter, when mosquitoes aren't bitingto help speed development of much-needed Zika vaccines.

The quest for a vaccine began less than a year ago as Brazil's massive outbreak revealed that Zika, once dismissed as a nuisance virus, can harm a fetus' brain if a woman is infected during pregnancy.

Now, researchers in the United States have begun safety testing of two vaccine candidates, and more experimental shots are poised to enter that preliminary testing soon. Any that seem promising will have to be tested in thousands of people in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean that are hard-hit by the mosquito-borne virusthe only way to prove if an experimental vaccine really protects.

Even if all goes well, a vaccine wouldn't be available for general use any time soon.

But a different kind of research also can offer clues for vaccine development. It's called a human challenge study, when healthyand nonpregnantpeople agree to be injected deliberately with a virus, mimicking natural infection while scientists track how their bodies react.

The first question is even more basic: How much of the virus does it take to infect someone?

If government regulators agree, researchers could find out by injecting paid volunteers with different amounts of lab-grown Zika virus as early as December in a Baltimore hospital. That information will help the researchers later, when they're ready to test an experimental Zika vaccine.

"We're looking at these human challenge protocols not only as an important step in vaccine development but as a means to learn more about Zika," said Dr. Anna Durbin of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who is leading the work. "We can look at things that you just can't do in someone who's naturally infected."

Some questions and answers about the development of Zika vaccines:

Q: Which potential vaccines are first in line?

A: Two so-called DNA vaccines have begun preliminary safety testing, one made by the National Institutes of Health and the other by Pennsylvania-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals.

They mark a new kind of technology. Traditionally, vaccines are made using a dead or weakened virus to train the body's immune system to recognize that infection and fight it off. DNA vaccines may be easier to make. Scientists used a circular piece of DNA, called a "plasmid," to carry genes that prompt the body itself to produce certain Zika virus proteins, alerting the immune system.

That piece of trickery worked in animals. The phase 1 studies in dozens of people will check for safety, and whether the vaccinations rev up human immunity enough to justify further tests.

Q: What else is in the pipeline?

A: "We are right now in a race of time to get the best vaccine," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

In this photo provided by The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a healthy volunteer receiving the NIAID Zika virus investigational DNA vaccine as part of an early-stage trial to test the vaccine's safety and immunogenicity. This is the first administration of this vaccine in a human. (The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases via AP)

Multiple candidates are important as there's no way to predict which kind will work best. The DNA vaccines simply were ready for human testing first.

In October, safety tests are set to begin using the more traditional killed-virus vaccine, developed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

The NIH also is developing a vaccine using live-but-weakened virus, the type thought to trigger particularly long-lasting immune protection. That's the kind used to protect against rubella, which back in the 1960s caused an epidemic of birth defects.

Q: If the first candidates are safe, what happens next?

A: Fauci expects to open next-step studies in January, enrolling 2,400 to 5,000 people in areas where Zika still is spreading widely to test if the vaccinated are less likely than the unvaccinated to become infected.

Q: Are vaccines aimed at pregnant women?

A: Not at this point. It's hard to test new products during pregnancy. Plus, a fetus can be vulnerable to Zika even before a woman realizes she's pregnant.

The goal instead is to vaccinate women of childbearing age and their sexual partnersbecause Zika also can be transmitted through sexwell before pregnancy ever occurs.

Q: Where do the human challenge studies come in?

A: Jabbing someone with Zika is faster than waiting around for a mosquito to bite them to see if an experimental vaccine provides protection. But first Durbin must find what dose of Zika causes infection, to be sure she's giving a vaccine enough of a challenge.

That's what the study planned for December would do. Volunteers given different amounts of Zika would be kept in a Hopkins hospital unit for 12 days, to be sure the virus had cleared the bloodstream, and would have to agree to use condoms for a while afterward to avoid any possibility of sexual transmission. Because Zika usually causes few if any symptoms, those infected might expect a rash or low fever.

The second round of the research would recruit volunteers who'd received an experimental vaccine, trying to infect them with Zika six months after their shot.

The extra benefit: Tracking people from the moment they're exposed to Zika also could shed important new light on how the virus affects the bodysuch as how long it's infectious in blood, semen and other bodily fluids, and just how the immune system fights it off.

Q: Has this been done before?

A: Human challenge studies are rare because they're difficult to perform and expensive. But Durbin recently did just such research to test a potential vaccine against dengue, a dangerous cousin of Zika, and doesn't expect difficulty recruiting volunteers for the Zika study once regulators are satisfied it can be conducted safely.

Q: What about the fight over federal funding for Zika?

A: In February, the Obama administration requested $1.9 billion for the nation's fight against Zika, including vaccine development, but Congress hasn't approved any of it. With existing money running out, federal health officials are taking funds meant for other diseases to get by until the end of the yearbut Fauci said NIH alone will need $196 million more in 2017 to avoid delays in the vaccine research.

Explore further Experimental Zika vaccine to begin human testing

 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Tbilisi City Court sentences man 12 years in prison for terrorist activities

By Messenger Staff

Tbilisi City Court sentenced a Georgian man to 12 years in prison for being a member of a terrorist organisation and participating in operations conducted by the organisation on August 9.The court accepted evidence provided by Georgias Chief Prosecutors Office which claimed that a 30-year-old Georgian citizen from the countrys eastern, mainly Muslim-populated Pankisi Gorge, David Borchashvili, was a member of the Islamic State.Borchashvili joined the terrorist organisation in Syria and was actively participating in armed military operations, the Prosecutors Office said in the statement after the Court's verdict was announced.Borchashvili was detained by law enforcers at Tbilisi Shota Rustaveli International Airport on November 22 last year.Borchashvilis family were adamant that he had never been in Syria.However, a video released on the Internet after his detention showed Borchashvili in a foreign country with armed people in a military vehicle.Borchashvilis lawyer, Gela Nikolaishvili, claimed that the man had connections with Syrias Free Army, which was not a terrorist group, and fought against the Islamic State and the Russian-backed, President Bashar al-Assad.Borchashvili can appeal Tbilisi City Courts verdict to the Court of Appeals.Last year, Georgia introduced harsh punishments for those affiliated with any terrorist groups.There are no official figures as the numbers of Georgian Muslims fighting for IS, but many young Georgians from the mainly Kistpopulated Pankisi Gorge travelled to Syria and Iraq through Turkey.One of the most famous leaders of the Islamic State (IS), who was reported as dead by US and IS affiliated media this year, Tarkhan Batirashvili, was also from Pankisi Gorge area.The relevant state bodies must be very cautious of such incidents, as terrorism is an international threat. Providing better opportunities for the Pankisi Gorge population, increasing their knowledge of terrorism and human rights issues could also help reduce the flow of Georgians travelling abroad to fight for a fundamentalist cause.
The Myaamia Center at Miami University has been awarded a $182,406 grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages project.

The funding is part of the Documenting Endangered Languages program, a joint effort between the NSF and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), which is designed to support projects that protect and preserve endangered languages.

The Tututni language team works at the Smithsonian National Anthroplogical Archives during the 2015 National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages workshop.

This is the second time the Myaamia Center has received NSF funding for the project. Breath of Life is designed to train researchers from indigenous communities in the methods of archives-based linguistic and ethnographic research. This research is critical to the advancement of knowledge about indigenous languages and cultures and to their revitalization.

Daryl Baldwin, director of the Myaamia Center, is principal investigator. Co-principal investigators are Leanne Hinton, professor emerita of linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley, and Gabriela Perez Baez, curator of linguistics and director of the Recovering Voices initiative, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

The Native American Languages Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1990, enacted into policy the recognition of the unique status and importance of Native American languages. All Native American languages are endangered, and more than 120 of them have gone silent, which means there are no remaining fluent first language speakers. Experts recognize approximately 7,000 languages worldwide and estimate at least half will fall silent by the end of this century, according to the researchers.

National Breath of Life (BoL), as the program is more widely known, was awarded a $167,650 grant in 2014. The increased funding for this years award is largely due to a new assessment component that will be directed by Miami Universitys Discovery Center for Evaluation, Research, and Professional Learning.

The Kwakiutl language team at the 2015 Breath of Life workshop (images courtesy of Myaamia Center archives).

The results of the assessment will inform the evolution of the institute to ensure that the National Breath of Life continues to offer state-of-the-art training in linguistics and archival research for community researchers, Perez Baez said.

Co-hosted by the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives, the National Museum of the American Indian and the Library of Congress, the 2017 National BoL workshop will run from May 29 to June 9 and introduce linguistics and the language sciences. Participants are grouped by their heritage language, with each group assigned an academically trained linguist for one-on-one mentoring in the analysis of archival materials in that language. Ultimately, these efforts by citizen scientists will increase their linguistic understanding of their languages to support reclamation and further investigation of the languages.

The National BoL will train citizen scientists from some 15 language communities, bringing the cumulative number of languages investigated in these national workshops to more than 70.

The Breath of Life archival model has been successful in engaging Native American citizen scientists to work with archival language documentation in repositories in California, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C.

Thanks to the support of the NSF-DEL program and our partnerships with the Smithsonians Recovering Voices and the National Breath of Life Committee, we are able to offer this unique opportunity for selected participants to research new archival resources and receive specialized training that supports their communitys language research needs, Baldwin said.
Miami students sample water from shallow wells in one of Lusakas unplanned periurban communities. (Photo from Jonathan Levy)

An intensive three-week study abroad workshop in the Republic of Zambia teamed Miami University students and professors with colleagues from the University of Zambia and the Zambia Environmental Management Agency in three ongoing research projects.

The team of eight students and three professors collected a wide range of scientific data through sometimes difficult rural terrain and crowded city streets. They did this all while carefully establishing cooperative relationships with residents and leaders of the communities they visited.

According to team leader Jonathan Levy, director of Miamis Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, the ultimate goal is to have the research driven by community needs and continue over time with community involvement in the data collection.

Many in low-income communities are rightfully wary of groups of mainly white students and scientists entering their communities, said Levy, who also is an associate professor in the department of geology and environmental earth science.

Miami University and University of Zambia students 950 m below the surface on a tour of the Konkola Copper Mine in Chingola, Zambia. (Photo from Jonathan Levy)

Mapping the pathways of contamination

The first research project used dye tracing to develop a better understanding of the groundwater supply of Lusaka, the capital of Zamiba. The dye traces the patterns of groundwater travel and contaminant pathways. Levy and the students are still awaiting results of the dye tracing while a team of students from the University of Zambia Integrated Water Resource Management Program continues their weekly monitoring of the groundwater.

Assessing water quality in Lusakas periurban communities

The second project was an assessment of the quality and extent of provision of drinking water in unplanned, high-density, periurban communities around Lusaka. Relatively good quality water is provided by semi-governmental agencies called Water Trusts, but residents also get their water from often highly-contaminated shallow wells. The students measured water quality in the various water sources and the Water Trust managers were surveyed to try to determine how many people have access to the higher quality water.

University of Zambia, Integrated Water Resources Management post-graduate student, Naphtallie Banda and Miami University, IES graduate student, Mengwei Yang, retrieve and replace dye receptors inside of a large shallow well.

Mining and the environment

For the third study, the team traveled to Kabwe, a city of about 200,000 people and the location of a former lead and zinc mine that was in operation from 1906 to 1994. As a result of mining and smelting, there is widespread lead and cadmium contamination that has earned Kabwe a spot on Time magazines list of the worlds most polluted places.

The levels of lead in childrens blood is especially alarming. In June, the research team worked on a holistic assessment of the effects of toxic metal contamination in the former mining town of Kabwe. This assessment involved sampling air particles, dust in homes, soils and groundwater.

The project also included health surveys of Kabwe residents led by Cameron Hay-Rollins, associate professor of anthropology. She worked closely with Miami students and students from the University of Zambias department of public health.

The data collected will serve as the basis for Levy, Hay-Rollins and colleagues to write a proposal to the National Science Foundation or the National Institute of Health for more extensive research that will include community-based science.

Miami University, IES graduate student, Kathleen Jordan, injects Fluorescein dye into a latrine for a groundwater dye-tracing experiment. (Photo from Jonathan Levy)

Findings and moving forward

The findings of the continued studies will become recommendations for local government agencies to revitalize community outreach and education about dangers of metal exposure and offer ways to minimize exposure in heavily contaminated areas."

Kathleen Jordan, a graduate student in environmental science, said the opportunity to be involved firsthand in international field research gave her a unique perspective.

I was able to immerse myself in the day-to-day processes of the research .... I think it adds a lot of integrity to my upcoming practicum.

Patrick Shanahan, a junior geology major, appreciated the amount of planning and coordination required for a large-scale study such as this.

No matter how many people in your group have a doctorate, things can still derail very quickly. Equipment gets forgotten, samples get lost or mislabeled, and various other things. But I love doing fieldwork. Its demanding and very engaging.

Editor's note: Jonathan Levy, Carole Johnson, university news and communications, and Kerry McFadden, intern, contributed to this story.
The local makers of an original science-fiction comedy feature film are seeking to raise $20,000 to finish off post-production.

"Here We Are in the Present ... Again," was written and directed by Zach Smith, a Dillon native who spent some time acting and working in the Los Angeles film and comedy scenes. You can watch some of sketch videos at "Find Zach Smith" on YouTube.

Smith recently returned to L.A. to attend the American Film Institute's Directing Conservatory.

The film was produced by Skye Bennett, a native of Troy with experience in L.A. and New York who's produced and co-written a feature-length independent film here in western Montana "Love Like Gold," among other credits.

"He We Are" is a science-fiction comedy in the vein of Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman, centering on a physicist, played by Smith, who has developed a time machine. "In his attempt to destroy the object he's spent his life building, he wakes up in a small Montana town without any recollection of how he got there or if his machine even existed in the first place," the filmmakers write. "What he does find, is that happiness and peace can come from living in the present moment and that working on being a better person to those around him is the most rewarding accomplishment of all."

The film was shot over 20 days in Dillon last June, with a crew of five, a cast of five principal actors, and 3 smaller roles. They're editing and finishing the film, and have a full cut completed. The money will go toward color correction, sound mixing, an original soundtrack and payments for an editor.

The filmmakers are seeking to raise $20,000 by Friday, Sept. 2.

To donate, watch clips or get more information, go to indiegogo.com/projects/here-we-are-in-the-present-again-feature-comedy.

They've also entered the film in the Audience Awards' Post-Production competition. The winner of the crowd-sourced contest will receive $28,998. You can vote at theaudienceawards.com/films/here-we-are-in-the-present-again-18675.
The apocalypse has already happened.

The remaining humans are trapped in a bunker. Most of the them are actors. If everything is going to be over soon, why not put on a sketch show?

That's the premise of "No Refunds," an original play being staged this weekend at the Zootown Fringe Festival.

Actor, director and writer Sean Kirkpatrick came up with the premise as a way to blend some sketches he'd written, but he says the scenario is a good encapsulation of theater as a whole.

"That's what theater is: taking people who want to be loud, putting them in a little room with people who will listen to them be loud, and then letting them go," Kirkpatrick said.

His characters are a broad assembly of caricatures of the theater world: the egotistical actor. The naive newcomer. The sexy actress and the stage manager. The rude audience member.

The sketches parody political performance art and monologues, soap operas, game shows, musical numbers and more as the cast struggles to put on their show.

Garner, who played the title character in Missoula Community Theatre's "Mary Poppins: The Musical," described the show as a hilarious romp into self-deprecation.

It's specific to actors, but will resonate with anyone who occasionally takes themselves and their creative passions too seriously.

"I think that it's good for anybody that does any kind of creative pursuit to do that sort of thing occasionally. It keeps you authentic," she said.

Among the acting tropes they mock: the style of a high-schooler overacting at a drama competition. They also poke fun at the tics of soap opera thespians.

"The way people will pause on words and be really big even though it's unnecessary for the scene," she said.

Then the broader issue of "taking the creative process too seriously," she said.

***

Kirkpatrick plays an egotistical actor named Sean. Adrian Adams portrays a "dopey guy who's never done a show before," Kirkpatrick said.

Despite his uncertainty, "he has a very beautiful moment where he gets to go onstage and spread his little wings and fly."

Dani Sather plays Female Ensemble. Garner is "The Sexy One," and Winnie Lohof plays the stage manager.

Kirkpatrick said the best seat in the house will likely be next to Curen Feliciani. The acting student in the BFA program portrays the audience member.

"I'm just kind of your average stereotypical person who hasn't been to a show, and doesn't really know how to act," Feliciani said.

He'll be texting. Or eating popcorn or chips. Maybe doing a little heckling.

It's a new experience for Feliciani, one he said is somewhat cathartic.

"You know it's wrong, what you're doing," he said. "It feels good to just let it out. I get to be that guy. I dig it."

Interspersed are filmed elements by the local Digital Hitch Productions.

***

Kirkpatrick, who recently graduated from the University of Montana theater department, has had funny, scene-stealing roles in productions here over the past several years.

For UM's "Avenue Q," he was onstage operating one of the mischievous puppets that tempt a character's worst impulses. In an independent production, "Holocene," he played a naif with a Walt Whitman obsession. For the Montana Repertory Theatre's educational outreach tour, he was signed on to assist the small traveling cast by playing eight characters for "Growing Up in Wonderland." He also toured with "The Dirty Sexy Chocolate Show," a food-themed original cabaret show that made several stops in Montana and Seattle.

The McCall, Idaho, native has experience writing as well. Back when he was a junior in high school, the local play-writing conference Seven Devils selected his script as part of its staged readings of works by local students.

He penned his own sketch show, and for a previous Fringe Festival he put on a one-man show, "Kelsey Grammer is Abraham Lincoln Live for One Night Only." (Neither the "Frasier" star or the former president made appearances.)

He's a fan of meta-comedies such as "30 Rock" and newer Netflix offerings with "Lady Dynamite," which he thinks offers some frame of reference for the goings-on in "No Refunds."

He and Garner feel they've pushed it as far as they can with their own work.

"Meta no longer exists. We killed it," he said.
Native American art was at one time "frozen in an ethnographic past," as artist and educator Gail Tremblay describes it.

She writes that objects that were both functional and art were displayed in museums without even identifying the maker by name.

Those practices began changing in the 1930s, and the art itself radically began to change in the 1960s with the creation of the Institute of American Indian Art.

More than 20 artists show the range of expressions that opened from then to the present in "Not Vanishing: Contemporary Expressions In Indigenous Art, 1977-2015," which Tremblay co-curated and is now on display at the Missoula Art Museum.

"Artists can appropriate styles and techniques from everywhere and still say something that is distinctly Native and different from the mainstream art movement," she said.

The artists represent myriad tribes from the Pacific Northwest and mediums, often with layers of references, techniques and humor that require repeat viewings to fully understand.

"These are beautiful things to look at and think about, and that the more time they spend studying the background of the people who made the artwork, the more they'll come to understand the richness of its meaning," Tremblay said. "It's like anything."

***

Tremblay, an Onondaga/Micmac professor at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, curated the exhibition for the Museum of Northwest Art in LaConner, Washingon, with Miles R. Miller, a Yakama/Nez Perce artist and former student of Tremblay's who pursued his own art as well as curating and scholarly work.

They divided up the decades they wanted to cover and traced the evolution of major contemporary artists in each state in the region, plus British Columbia.

"This is a celebration of the survival of Native peoples who are not frozen in some ethnographic moment others define for them, but who are representing themselves and their cultures as they speak to the world," Tremblay writes in an exhibition essay.

Broadly, Tremblay said the movement can be traced back to two developments. In the 1960s, the Institute of American Indian Art hired contemporary artists like Fritz Scholder, and Allan Houser developed a contemporary Native American Art curriculum that was strikingly new compared to the romanticized, backward-looking program at the Santa Fe Indian School.

Also, in the 1960s, scholarships allowed Native students to attend universities in their regions, where they learned the same contemporary lessons that mainstream artists were learning, leading to open questions about what they'd like to pursue.

"As Native people, what did they want to say that was uniquely theirs?" Tremblay said. "Put those two things together, and that's how you get the contemporary Native American art movement.''

Tremblay said the reception to modern Indian work has differed by community.

"You have all this stuff going on and it was culture shock for collectors. Sometimes it was culture shock on the Rez until people got used it," Tremblay said.

She said its acceptance in the Indian community was much quicker, though.

An artist might create an abstract work that employs a design, she said. To an outsider, it might be just that, but an Indian viewer could instantly see the artist was referencing, say, a design that is used on leggings to reference the creation story.

"An outsider might see it as an abstract design," she said. "To an Indian person, it might have layers of meaning."

Even today, she said, there are viewers who won't accept any art that is nonrepresentational.

"In the Indian community, we have a centuries-old habit of making things that are abstract or designs that are highly symbolic and have layers of meaning and stories attached," she said. A totem pole, for instance, might have clear representational elements and design elements.

"We have a complicated art history and it's pretty interesting and lively and it fits into world art in an interesting way," she said.

***

The exhibition includes major established artists such as Rick Bartow, Corwin Clairmont, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and George Littlechild, and emerging creators like Cameron Decker, Wendy Red Star and Sara Siestreem.

It also crosses generations: Works by well-known artist Joe Feddersen are paired with works by his nieces, RYAN! Feddersen and Carly Feddersen.

Clairmont's "Split War Shield" marries traditional symbols with contemporary mediums to comment on a proposed wider highway through the Flathead Indian Reservation in 2001.

MAM senior curator Brandon Reintjes said Clairmont, a Salish artist, used cast paper from tire treads he found on the highway to craft the rim of the shield, which is cracked.

"The split in the war shield is the perceived split that the highway would introduce," Reintjes said.

Another Clairmont piece from 2001 was made during the run-up to the centennial celebrations for the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

The monotype, "10,000 Years Indigenous Indian People / 200 Years Lewis & Clark," has lush color and an abstract sense of composition in service of his message.

"He's doing stencils, scraping, imprint, collage. It's a super-complex process and he's a master at it to get the variety of marks on a single image," Reintjes said.

Many of the emerging artists have promising careers ahead of them, he noted. Red Star, who's from the Crow reservation, has several works added from the MAM collection.

Her lithographs, "Rez Car," and "The (HUD)" reference the housing conditions and deteriorated vehicles of her home reservation in an ultra-contemporary style.

"You had this whole body of work that is the next generation inventing for itself," Tremblay said.

In addition to many other projects, Tremblay would like to curate a similar show with a national scope, and one day perhaps produce a book on the subject.

It could open the door for international viewers. Instead of falling back on stereotypes, they could come to interpret what they're seeing.

"It's a very vibrant art scene and it needs to be studied, and then people can come to enjoy and understand it," Tremblay said.
The String Orchestra of the Rockies will close out the St. Timothy's Summer Music Festival on Sunday, Aug. 21.

The professional ensemble, whose members are also music teachers, will bring their talents to the scenic spot above Georgetown Lake.

The concert was built around a rarely performed and as-yet unpublished composition by Irish composer and pianist Joan Trimble. Cellist and artist director Fern Glass Boyd selected the piece, which they received from the Irish Chamber Orchestra, to celebrate the Irish influence in the area around Georgetown Lake.

The remainder of the concert features selections by American fiddler and composer Mark OConnor, who has roots in the Hamilton area; "Solitude on the Mountain," composed by Ole Bull; Peter Warlock's Capriol Suite and Mozarts Serenata Notturna.

Tickets for the 4 p.m. concert can be purchased at sttimothysmusic.org, 888-407-4071, or any of the ticket outlets mentioned on the website.
QUESTA, N.M.  Fueled by faith and determination, volunteers worked tens of thousands of hours over the last several years to rebuild the heart of one mountain village in northern New Mexico.

On Sunday, they will gather in Questa to celebrate their efforts with the rededication of the historic San Antonio Catholic Church. Archbishop John C. Wester and other officials will lead a special Mass.

One of the church's main adobe walls collapsed almost a decade ago, prompting the Archdiocese of Santa Fe to call for the building to be torn down. Community members wouldn't have it and fought for permission to rebuild the church on their own.

"To just let it go and say goodbye was not a real option for us," said Malaquias Rael, a former mayor of Questa and a spokesman for the restoration committee. "For us, it has always been the heart of the community. It's the cornerstone of our community."

Rael predicted there won't be a dry eye in Questa during the weekend celebration.

As part of agreement with the archdiocese, the villagers had a deadline of six years to rebuild the massive adobe structure and they had virtually no money to do it. Undeterred, they held bake sales, car washes, dances, silent auctions and raffled off trucks, a motorcycle and a quilt. They also sold some of the old adobe bricks from the church to raise money.

Rael jokingly called it the "nickel and dime" approach.

But over the years, they raised more than $600,000 in donations and received close to half a million dollars in donated equipment and materials to make the project happen.

Another 41,000 hours in volunteer labor went into laying 29,000 adobes, stabilizing existing walls, plastering and painting and creating numerous stained glass windows and the special carvings that border the altar and choir loft.

Project manager Mark Sideris said working with an all-volunteer crew was a blessing because their hearts were in it.

"What kept us from feeling like we were being overworked is that everybody's forefathers had to make and lay about 50,000 adobes to build this place 170 years ago without any of the resources we have  no mechanized equipment, no mortar mixers, no loaders. It was all by hand and in all seasons and all by daylight," he said. "That kept us kind of in our place."

Finishing touches

The volunteers were focused Thursday on finishing touches ahead of the weekend celebration. That included installing retablos, or devotional paintings, in the altar screen. The day before, the crew lined up all the pews.

It's been a long road and the community has shared its progress through social media .

As much of the original church was salvaged as possible, Sideris said.

The historic adobes and large vigas from the original building provided a glimpse into what life might have been like in Questa in the mid-1800s. The original builders had to chisel square holes in the timber to haul them down from the mountains as there were no hand augers. They also used whatever was around  corn cobs, left-over meat bones from their lunch and pottery shards  to shim the adobes as they were laid.

The adobes  which came in all sizes back then  were placed on bare ground and stretched about 20 feet high to form the main walls. Some walls were 4 feet thick.

"The first miracle here was that it stood for 170 years without any foundation and now the second miracle is getting it rebuilt and keeping the roof in place while we did it and keeping many of the walls standing while we did it," Sideris said. "So there are a couple of miracles here for sure."

Rael and Sideris said the community is ready to move back into the church, which had been the center of so many family events, from baptisms and first communions to weddings and funerals.

"There were all of these stories and just the thought that now that can start all over again, it's going to be back in business and all those new memories can be made," Sideris said.

For Rael, who grew up next door, the reconstruction also symbolizes a rebirth for the community. Questa has struggled to find new economic footing in the wake of the 2014 closure of a nearby mine that employed generations of residents.

"We wanted to draw attention to what this community is made of," he said. "The mine shutdown made it challenging, but this is an attraction now. We want people to come and see this old building that was restored and learn the story of the people who live here."
Every week on the Saturday morning statewide Montana Outdoor Radio Show, we try to give our listeners what we think is their best opportunity to catch fish. Last Saturday with the whitefish reports coming out of Flathead Lake, it just made sense for us to suggest fishing for whitefish.

The bite, as it is known, has been on for the past two weeks and some successful anglers like Ross Tate of Missoula think that it will continue for at least a couple of weeks. They are feeding strong on perch fry," said Tate.

Dick Zimmer from Zimmer Tackle told me that his famous whitefish Rattle-d-Zastor lure has been flying out the door as local sporting goods stores have been calling in orders to satisfy their customers.

Last Sunday there must have been 30 to 50 boats in Big Arm and Elmo Bay,so that is a good indication that they are catching fish," said Zimmer.

Tate was probably one of those anglers as he has had a lot of success the past two weeks. We are always catching 60 to 110 a day and filling our ice-filled coolers. I've been in Big Arm and Elmo Bay and catching them strong until about noon, yet still pulling them in until 3 p.m. As usual, Rattle-d-Zastor and a fly are perfect. We typically are fishing them in 50 to 65 feet of water. This past week has been fantastic."

Jim Vashro, a retired fish biologist for FWP and an avid angler, gave me this whitefish report:

Fished Elmo twice last week, both times slightly east of the Elmo ramp in 55 feet of water. Both days were very different. Fished Wednesday as the front was moving out. We dealt with cold, rain and light gusty winds. I thought that would put the fish off, but the bite was steady from 8 to 11. The whitefish preferred minnow imitations over jigging spoons. The top lures were a standup jig head with a Berkley Power Minnow and a Gitzit. Three of us caught about 25 whitefish in three hours.

"Friday morning was sunny and started calm. Fished again east of the ramp. At one point there were 15 boats. The bite was actually slower, but most boats got fish. The 1/8-ounce Gitzit was the hot lure for two hours, then the bite switched to Northland Mimic Spoons. It pays to switch around if bites tail off.

"We fished from 8 to 11:30 and caught about 20. Fish were biting very light and the wind picked up, making it tough. Most of the anglers that I have spoken with tell me that the whitefish will hang around Big Arm and Elmo Bay as long as the perch fry are there. Look for the spots like the Narrows on the south end of the lake and Rollins to start producing whitefish, too."

Tate shared this recipe for whitefish:

"One of my favorite pan recipes is to take a fillet with the skin on and dip it in hot butter and garlic, roll it in bread crumbs, and cook it skin-side-down first, on a high temp. In the meantime, make sure my broccoli is cooked and potatoes and veggies. After 4 minutes, cook the other side for another 4 minutes and we are ready to eat. A light amount of shredded cheddar cheese on top and you have a mouth-watering fillet of Lake Superior whitefish ready for dinner."
The Bozeman developer of a hotel that will replace Missoula's historic Mercantile Building will agree to the city's design requirements and penalties if the company fails to deliver, the developer's attorney told the city.

The legally-binding document drafted by Missoula's Development Services staff will ensure the five-story hotel looks like the drawings developer Andy Holloran of HomeBase Montana has provided thus far.

That was the big takeaway from the City Councils Land Use and Planning Committee meeting on Wednesday, where committee members unanimously approved the language of the draft. It must still have to be approved by the full council on Monday night.

The agreement stipulates that HomeBase will forfeit a $3 million surety bond if the company fails to comply with the terms of the agreement or fails to preserve the pharmacy portion of the Mercantile building on the northwest corner.

Missoula Redevelopment Agency executive director Ellen Buchanan said the penalty money would, in a worst-case scenario, pay for the city to pave a parking lot if for some reason the developer left a gaping hole in the ground and walked away.

Nobody thinks thats going to happen, but the committee agreed that $3 million is a large enough incentive to compel the developer to follow through with the plans presented. Holloran has estimated that the total project will cost $30 million.

Alan McCormick, a lawyer representing HomeBase, told the committee that Holloran has reviewed the draft and doesnt believe theres anything that would prevent him from signing it. That means one of the last bureaucratic barriers to the development may have finally been erased.

The Mercantile is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and when Holloran unveiled his proposal in March to demolish the building, it sparked five months of contentious debate between historic preservation advocates and those who want a new use for a downtown corner that has been vacant for six years.

In the end, the City Council overturned the Historic Preservation Commissions denial of a demolition permit. But before the permit can be issued, the development agreement must be signed.

If Holloran is granted a partial demolition permit, he must submit detailed engineering plans for how the pharmacy building will be saved. He also must work with the citys Historic Preservation Officer to salvage all historic items from within the building and make them available, at no charge, to entities such as the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula.

The developer also must come to an agreement with the Missoula Parking Commission about how many spaces for the hotel will be leased at the downtown Park Place structure, and that agreement must be approved by the City Council.

McCormick, the attorney, said he is aware that there is some angst within the community that the 150-room hotel will take parking spots away from residents. He reiterated that Holloran and the Missoula Parking Commission both believe that there is enough parking to satisfy the needs of the hotel.

You dont build a project like this if you dont have the parking issue solved because the last thing a hotel owner wants is 10,000 Google reviews saying you cant find parking, he said.

Committee member Emily Bentley said the council has historically not required new downtown businesses to have their own parking spaces before they are issued permits to proceed.

Before I was on council, the council made a conscious decision not to mandate parking downtown because they decided it should be left to the market, she said. One of the reasons council put that policy in place was because it would have been cost-prohibitive for new businesses.

McCormick agreed with Bentley, saying there would be much less development downtown if parking was mandated for every new project because there simply isnt enough space.

Mandating parking "would have killed downtown development, he said.

The developer is now expected to approach the Missoula Redevelopment Agency to see whether Tax Increment Financing funds can be used to offset the costs associated with preserving parts of the facade or other improvements.
The Missoula County Attorneys Office is in full compliance with an agreement made two years ago to improve the way sexual assault cases are handled by local prosecutors, Montana Attorney General Tim Fox announced Wednesday.

His office's oversight of the issue has ended, Fox said.

In June 2014, Foxs office entered into an agreement with then-County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg and the U.S. Department of Justice, ending a feud between the county prosecutor and the federal agency.

This is a big day for her and the team," Fox said of County Attorney Kirsten Pabst, elected after Van Valkenburg retired. "I think this is a big day for the community. This all began in a way that felt like the black cloud. We found the silver lining.

In 2012, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into the way the county attorneys office, as well as the Missoula Police Department and University of Montana, responded to sex assault reports.

On Wednesday, Fox said news stories about rape and sex assault cases originally drew the federal agencys attention to Missoula. The issue became the subject of a 2015 book by Jon Krakauer Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town.

In 2013, UM and the city police department entered into agreements with DOJ that listed a series of stipulations, trainings, procedure overhauls and audits they were required to undergo. Last year, the DOJ announced both agencies had fulfilled their obligations.

Since signing onto the agreement the county prosecutor's office, under Pabst, has developed better policies for handling sexual assault cases, participated in additional training for its attorneys, formed a special victims unit to prosecute sex crimes and hired additional staff to better communicate with victims.

With all of its changes and reforms, Fox said he believes the Missoula County Attorneys Office represents the model for the rest of the country, not just Montana.

Pabst said the special victims unit, which she formed after taking office at the start of 2015, will add a fifth attorney in October.

These cases take exponentially more time and preparation to handle, Pabst said. Its a skill set nobody is born with, you have to learn that.

Since starting the special victims unit, Pabsts office has located one of its attorneys at the Missoula Police Department, helping investigators in the early stages including meetings with victims and writing search warrants.

The police have gone out of their way to commit to doing things right, Pabst said.

One of the victims unit attorneys, Suzy Boylan, also compiled a guide for handling of sexual assault cases that Fox said has since been distributed to prosecutors offices across Montana. Attorneys in the victims unit are also taking part in training sessions for law enforcement and prosecutors in the state.

As part of the agreement, Pabst hired an investigator and a victim witness coordinator who connects victims of sex crimes with services and acts as a point of contact.

Jenny Daniel, coordinator of the multi-agency JUST Response program that focuses on sex assault, domestic violence and child abuse in Missoula, said Pabsts office has been a very active contributor.

Theyve been really involved, they are at all of our meetings and work on training and providing a prosecutor's perspective on these important issues, she said.

In a letter sent to Fox at the end of June, Anne Munch, hired to assess the progress made by the Missoula prosecutors office, congratulated Pabst and her staff on their efforts and accomplishments, in particular saying they have dramatically improved the way they treat victims.

In 2014, during the first quarter Munch monitored cases in Missoula, she found prosecutors took an average of 35 days to contact a victim after a case was referred to them. In her most recent quarterly report, issued in February, Munch said that time period had shrunk to less than a day.

Under the agreement, the county attorneys office was required to undergo an independent review by Foxs office, a process Pabst and the attorney general said they intend to continue.

Pabst said her office has also contracted with a trauma counselor both to help them better understand the behaviors of the victims of sexual violence and to work with attorneys on how to handle the stress of working on such cases.

While the attorney general and county attorney said Wednesdays announcement was a milestone they added there is still a lot of work to be done.

Today is truly a celebration but its also the starting line, Pabst said.

Fox said a continued focus on outreach and education, as well as reexamining sex crime laws in Montana, are paramount, points Munch also highlighted in her letter as areas Pabst's office should continue to work on.

Societal bias, misconceptions and victim blaming make these hard to prosecute, Fox said.

Pabst said the prosecutors in her office take every opportunity they get to go to schools and social organizations to discuss domestic violence and sex crimes.

Fox said his office will support bills in the next Legislature to reform criminal laws, including a better definition of consent in sexual assault and rape cases. Pabst said it would be helpful to change the law from having to prove a negative to simply having to show that affirmative consent was given.

She said her office also supports changes in what it means for a person to be incapacitated and therefore not able to provide consent. Under the current statute and how courts have interpreted it, Pabst said to show a person was incapacitated due to drugs or alcohol, We have to show essentially that they are passed out.
Open your eyes: theres beauty in burned forests!

Nobody should rejoice when a fire threatens or burns homes, as the Roaring Lion fire did recently, but there is plenty of reason to rejoice when the same fire burns in the adjacent wildlands. When a Missoulian article headline indicates that the same fire left devastation at popular hiking area (Aug. 11), it is a clear sign of the failure to recognize that the more severe fires in our western forests are magical transformation events that are as necessary and beneficial to plants and animals as are rainfall and sunlight.

Anyone having the opportunity to walk through the Roaring Lion fire next spring or summer will be blessed with a cacophony of birdsong accompanied by a mushroom, wildflower and pollinator show unlike anything anywhere else on this planet. Fire-killed trees attract legions of insects that flourish in the wood beneath the charcoal bark and in the new shrubs and flowers. Many bird species seek out severely burned forests specifically for this rich insect food source. One species in particular, the black-backed woodpecker, occurs in astronomically greater numbers in burned than in unburned forests, and in the more severely burned portions of those forests as well. The black-backs excavate their nest holes in the dead trees, which then provide nesting sites for other animals that cant make their own nest cavities. No other woodpecker in the world is as adept at extracting beetle larvae from fire-killed trees, and it has become an icon for the ecological importance of severely burned forests.

Its time for the media to provide an ecologically literate perspective on the role of natural disturbance processes in general and on forest fires in particularsevere forest fires are amazing biological processes that help maintain all the plant and animal species that make up our forest systems. Anyone who wants to see the facts for him- or herself should plan to visit the trailhead next spring and summer to experience natures exuberant response to the transformative power of severe fire. Once we learn to appreciate the biological magic associated with the early post-fire years in a severely burned forest, we can celebrate natural disturbance events that create these unique environments.

In 2003, we were blessed in Missoula to have the 7,000-acre Black Mountain fire burn right up to several trailheads near town. Consequently, hundreds upon hundreds of schoolchildren were able to visit the burned forest to learn from the Montana Natural History Center about the role of severe fire in a natural forest ecosystem. I hope the Bitterroot National Forest capitalizes on the opportunity for public education after the Roaring Lion fire in the same way that the Lolo National Forest did after the Black Mountain fireits rare to have great access to the magic created by severe fire in our wildlands. Until then, if you want to see for yourself what its like to walk through such a severely burned forest in the first few years following fire, there are several video links at the bottom of my university webpage: http://hs.umt.edu/dbs/labs/hutto/research/fire.php.
Montanas GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte has qualified for the Duck Dynasty Hall of Fame. Not because of that scruffy beard. Not from all those old grainy photos of him in camo gear that he has imposed upon us with the TV ads he spent over $1 million of his personal fortune on.

Gianforte makes Duck Dynastys Hall of Fame by moving at a record pace from a self-proclaimed straight-talking businessman to becoming a world class evasive political ducker.

This spring, some Butte workers asked Gianforte a straightforward question, expecting a straight answer. Would he support, sign or allow to become law any form of so-called right-to-work which hurts workers and wages. Did they get a straight answer? Yes? No? What they got was its not one of my top priorities - a totally evasive non-answer. A classic duck.

Hes done that time and again. Earlier this week, the ducker-in-chief was at it. A young woman at a Missoula forum asked Gianforte whether he, as governor, would defund Planned Parenthood in Montana, where she and thousands of others get their health care. Did she get a straight answer? Yes? No? She got another world-class Gianforte duck: I havent put any specific proposals out.

Had he been in Montana a few years back, out-of-stater Gianforte might have known of Ted Schwinden, elected governor two times with a campaign of Straight Talk  Good People. Perhaps we should forgive the California/Pennsylvania import for not knowing how important straight talk is to Montanans. So, Gianforte ducks and dives trying to evade his way into the governorship. Montanans are not fools and Montana women deserve straight talk, not ducking.

In reality, Montana women already know that Gianforte is not with us. Gianforte has strongly held social beliefs in which he has been willing to heavily invest. And those investments show that a Gianforte governorship would bring his private choices into Montanas public policy and our lives.

Gianforte wants to ban abortion, a constitutional right in America. Hes helped fund anti-abortion campaigns. He doesnt support Montana women making our own, private, and personal health care decisions about our bodies and about the tough choice of possibly ending a pregnancy. He wants the government to make that choice for us. While the anti-abortion group, Susan B. Anthony List, endorsed him he still tries to duck Montanans who want straight answers.

Gianforte supports Donald Trump, who would defund Planned Parenthood, and even advocated shutting down the entire federal government just to block people from accessing care at Planned Parenthood. Trump has said that women should be punished for having an abortion and that he would appoint Supreme Court judges to overturn Roe v. Wade. Gianforte stands by Trump, but ducks Montanans who want straight answers.

And the Gianforte Family Foundation contributed thousands of dollars to crisis pregnancy centers or CPCs  anti-abortion organizations that attempt to dissuade women from making their own health care choices. A report showed that 89 percent of Montana CPCs were providing women biased and incorrect information. Gianfortes foundation straight-up gave thousands of dollars to them, but he bobs and weaves and ducks to avoid straight talk to Montana women.

Gianforte is avoiding straight talk for the thousands of women, men, and young people who rely on Planned Parenthood of Montana for birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment and more. They need straight talk, not ducking. Evasion isnt good enough for to those who go to Planned Parenthood in Montana for over 33,000 birth control visits, over 4,300 live-saving breast exams, nearly 3,000 pap smears and over 9,200 STI tests. Gianforte owes them answers, not ducking.

Thankfully Montanans have another choice. Gov. Steve Bullock has stood with Montana women, over and over - with his support and his vetoes when necessary. He stands with us because he understands that millions of people across the country and in Montana rely on Planned Parenthood health centers to provide critical, often lifesaving reproductive health care.

Because Gianforte ducks legitimate questions from Montanans, hes now made it to the duck dynasty Hall of Shame. But thats as far as hell get as Montana women will make sure he never makes it to the Governors Office.
Sir, you must stop listening to the political pundits who speak total biased politics. The news media, the broadcast media and the press, especially the Associated Press, are so biased. Whatever happened to freedom of the press? It was never meant to be personal leaning of what you report, but the truth!

Donald Trump never said anything toward denigration of the Khans' son contributing to our safety or his sacrifice for our country. Khizr Khan was used by the Democrats to try to make Trump look small. Khans diatribe (an abusive, bitter harangue in which a person denounces, criticizes or attacks someone) was a political attack reported widely by a biased press.

Do you even know who Pat Smiths son was? Probably not, because he was killed in Benghazi by radical Islamists. Because Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton did not want it to be known that their policy in Libya had failed, they did not send help to try to save the ambassador and three other Americans. They and their military claimed there was not time. Tripoli was 45 minutes away by air. Our military could easily have been there in time to save them. She admitted during congressional hearings they had a drone overhead. They knew exactly what was going on, yet publicly claimed it was a response to a video. Yes, she told Pat Smith that they had arrested the man responsible and he was in jail. (He is still in prison for a 40-minute video no one ever watched.)
The parents of an American soldier killed in Iraq publicly scolded Donald Trump. The father said, Trump has a black soul. The mother implied Trump is insensitive. If they are correct about Donald Trump, then Hillary Clinton must be pure evil. That is what the relatives of the Americans killed in Benghazi, Libya, must feel about Hillary Clinton.

Sensing imminent danger, U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens repeatedly made requests to Clintons State Department for more security, but were denied. Then, on Sept. 11, 2012, the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was attacked by Islamic fanatics. Tragically, Americans Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glenn Doherty were killed because Hillary Clinton ignored their pleas for more security. Evil triumphed because Clinton did nothing.

Like a political opportunist, her only concern was plotting her way to the Democratic presidential nomination.

Kevin Palmer,

Martinez, Georgia
Congratulations, Meagher County.

We, the county commissioners of Lincoln County, were delighted to learn that John Shanahan will become the new president and CEO of Tintina Resources and will be back in Montana to move the development of the Black Butte Copper project along.

We know Shanahan well from his many years as the CEO of Revett Mining. Throughout the good times as well as the tough times, Shanahan was always there for the employees of the Troy Mine and the communities in Lincoln County. We especially appreciated his transparency and his willingness to always meet with us and a broad spectrum of stakeholders to answer our questions, and keep us up to date on operations at Troy and permitting of the Rock Creek project.

John Shanahan left a lasting impression in northwest Montana. He always spoke about his commitment to workers safety, to the environment and to our local communities. And he backed it up; the Troy Mine won the 2014 and 2015 National Mining Association awards for safety, and Revetts efforts in operating and planning for reclamation at the Troy Mine has proven that modern mining can be completed without leaving an unwanted environmental legacy.

He also set the bar for others in earning and maintaining a social license to operate by showing how a company can invest in its workforce and the communities they live in to create a tide that truly raises all ships.

So congratulations to Meagher County and especially the community of White Sulphur Springs. He always spoke about his desire to design, permit and build the best mine in the world right here in Montana that would bring people together and exceed all expectations. We were very pleased to have John Shanahan as CEO of a mine in Lincoln County and believe very strongly you will be too.

Mark Peck, District 1,

Mike Cole, chairman, District 2,

Greg Larson, District 3,

Lincoln County commissioners
What do you think elite means?

Could it be someone in a penthouse tower with his name in immense letters on the outside while lounging on gold gilded furniture inside? Or, someone who inherits millions and imagines being wealthy is an equal sacrifice to that of parents whose son died fighting for the USA?

Or, like Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., you may think someone with a PhD in grammar is one of the reviled elites. (Trump University is the only place a PhD in grammar might be obtained. For a great deal. Believe me.)

Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke was an elite Navy SEAL. Just ask him. An early endorser of billionaire Donald Trump, Zinke was eager to desert Montana to mop up heaps of poppycock spurting like uncontrollable diarrhea from that "yuge" sphincter-shaped mouth. For his blatant lack of rudimentary good judgment, Zinke deserves a hearty youre fired! in November. Bigly.

Trump probably rejected Zinkes generous offer to be his second banana over religion. Zinke believes Hillary Clinton is the anti-Christ. Trump argues shes the devil.

But Zinke shouldnt feel too melancholy. The Donald carelessly discards many American standards. When he implored Russia to hack emails that he maintained hold top secret data, he rejected national security. He treasonously repeated numerous accusations that President Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton are co-founders of ISIS. Now he boasts these were merely examples of his great sarcastic wit. The dishonest media refuses to report things properly is all or they just dont get it.

In case anyone is confused, here is an example of sarcasm: what Vladimir Putin employed when he called Trump a genius.

Wanda LaCroix,

Arlee
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<h2

URINATING MAN

Jason Acebedo, 40, was arrested Wednesday for urinating on a sign outside the public defenders office, 44 W. Park St. The homeless man apologized to police. He faces a disorderly conduct charge.

WELFARE CHECK

Ashleigh Vail, 25, of Anaconda told police she sold a bag of marijuana but didnt smoke it while babysitting kids in a home on the 500 block of South Main Street. A man, 43, alerted police that he smelled pot on Vail when he checked on his nieces Wednesday. Vail was arrested for felony criminal sale of dangerous drugs.

DRUNK MAN

Alan Griego, 37, was intoxicated and had vomited on the floor in the sauna area at the Knights of Columbus on West Park Street when police found him about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. He was arrested for disorderly conduct.

BURGLARY

A police officer on patrol shortly after midnight Thursday heard an alarm at Copper City Wireless, 1619 Grand Ave. An air conditioner unit was pushed from an east window.

A manager responded to the scene and reported a black iPhone 6s and a white and gold iPhone 6s were missing from a display case. The phones were valued at $500 each. Police have no suspects.

DRUG CHARGES

Clinton Miller, 29, of Butte was arrested on drug charges after police spotted him walking on the 3000 block of Busch Street early Thursday. He matched a description of a suspicious man.

He had a syringe and a pot pipe. At the jail, he was found with a loaded syringe of suspected methamphetamine. Miller was booked on felony possession of dangerous drugs and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
PHILIPSBURG  The Aber Day Reunion Concert returns Saturday, Aug. 20, to Philipsburg's Winninghoff Park Arena in the center of the historic mining town.

The original Aber Day artists, Mission Mountain Wood Band, will perform again, along with the Big Sky Mudflaps and The Lil' Smokies. The concert runs from noon to 5 p.m. Gates open at 11 a.m.

Last year was such a wonderful success, and so many of the 3,000 people who attended told us they would come again, said Rotary Club Concert Chairman Mark Ransford. We just had to do another.

The 2015 concert was a joint effort by Philipsburg Rotary, UM Alumni Association and Missoula Liquid Assets, who keep the spirit of the legendary 1970's Aber Day Keggers alive.

Aber Day meant everything to the Wood Band, said MMWB frontman Rob Quist. It is so gratifying the tradition is reborn. Philipsburg is the perfect venue to do so."

Proceeds from the concert will benefit local charities including improvement and expansion of Philipsburgs library. UM students originally held Aber Day events to support the university library.

Advance tickets are $35 for adults, $15 for kids 7-12 and free for children 6 and under. Tickets are available at these Philipsburg area businesses: Montana Gems, Back Creek Pottery, Snookies, Philipsburg Brewery, Tommy Knockers, Stuff N Such Antiques and Granite Co. Insurance.

Tickets will also be available at the gate for $40.

Free vehicle and RV parking will be available throughout Philipsburg.
A chronic case of uranium showing up in Whitehalls two public wells is forcing the town of about 1,000 people to look for money to solve the problem.

Residents do not need to use an alternative water supply and the uranium is not an immediate risk, according to the city.

Whitehall, however, will likely need to drill a new well or install treatment in the existing wells, Kristi Ponozzo, director of public policy at the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, said Tuesday.

She also confirmed that the situation is not acute.

Mayor Dale Davis said Tuesday that he doesnt know where the town will get the money to treat the problem.

We dont know what were going to do, Davis said.

This is the fourth time Whitehall has gotten dinged by DEQ for having uranium rates over the drinking water limit in its water supply. The problem began in early fall 2015.

Whitehalls two public wells were most recently sampled July 12.

DEQ received the sample results electronically after 5 p.m. Aug. 2, DEQ spokeswoman Lisa Peterson said. DEQ notified the town by Aug. 4.

The samples showed the uranium level measured 46 parts per billion at the Division Street well. The Fire Hall well came in one point above the maximum level for uranium, which is 30 parts per billion.

Most ingested uranium is eliminated from the body, but studies indicate that drinking water with elevated levels of uranium over time can affect the kidneys, according to a DEQ fact sheet.

A flier from the city  mailed to residents to tell them of the uranium situation  says that for some, drinking water containing uranium in excess over many years can increase risk of cancer and kidney toxicity.

Naturally occurring uranium has low levels of radioactivity, according to the DEQ fact sheet.

Uranium is naturally occurring in this part of Montana and the cause is the bedrock; the problem is not due to any change the town has made to its water supply or wells.

Peterson said 1,100 people drink from Whitehalls groundwater wells. Ponozzo said DEQ is sampling Whitehalls water quarterly.

Peterson said DEQ doesnt know why uranium is showing up in the water supply now and wasnt a few years ago. She said it could have had to do with a shift in the bedrock.

Other well systems throughout Montana have shown uranium exceeding the limits, Ponozzo said.

The town of Whitehall has notified DEQ that the town is hiring an engineering firm to assist in developing a plan to pursue grants and find other funding sources. Whitehall has asked for more time to work on creating a solution and is providing bi-weekly progress reports to DEQ, according to Ponozzo.

How long the town has to get back into compliance will depend on which type of solution the town chooses.

Peterson said there are two common types of treatment for the problem. One is reverse osmosis, which filters water through a membrane. The other is ion exchange, which removes the uranium through a chemical reaction.
If there was a vaccine that would protect your children from getting cancer as an adult, wouldnt you want them to have the shot?

Well, there are highly effective vaccines that protect against the cancers caused by human papillomavirus. These vaccines have been recommended for use in the United States for 10 years, yet most young Americans havent been vaccinated.

The American Cancer Society recommends HPV vaccinations for boys and girls beginning at age 11 or 12. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends three doses of the HPV vaccine, so does the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But neither Montana, Wyoming nor most other states require HPV immunizations for school attendance.

Much of the hesitation to vaccinate stems from the fact that HPV is transmitted by sexual contact. Its uncomfortable to think about vaccinating boys and girls who are 11 or 12 years old against a sexually transmitted disease. No parent wants to think about their tween having sex.

But parents must face reality: HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, infecting about 79 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most people who have the virus dont know it, because it usually doesnt produce symptoms. About 10 percent of those infected will develop ongoing infections that cause cancer of genitals in males and females. HPV also can cause throat cancer.

Because most people with the virus don't know they have it, they dont know they are passing it on to their partners. A person may pass on HPV to a new partner years after being infected, according to CDC.

The HPV vaccines dont cure infections. They prevent infections in people who havent already been exposed to the virus. Thats why its important for youth to be vaccinated before they become sexually active.

Research published last month in the journal Pediatrics confirms previous findings that the incidence of HPV infection has decreased since the immunization first was recommended for girls. The greatest reduction in infection was among girls ages 14 to 19, but infection rates also were decreased for women in their early 20s. The researchers noted that prevalence of HPV infection also has dropped in other nations with higher vaccination rates than the United States.

Another hurdle for HPV vaccination is getting tweens to their physicians office or health clinic for three shots over a period of six months. One strategy reported this month by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is offering text reminders to parents. Parents who want reminders simply sign up when the first dose is administered, and they will get a text at the appropriate times for the other two doses.

Families that dont have insurance coverage for HPV vaccine may obtain it at no charge for their children under age 18 through the Vaccines for Children program. The vaccine and the no-charge program are available at RiverStone Health in Billings. Outside Yellowstone County, parents should check with their health care provider or county health department,

The HPV vaccine should be a part of taking care of your childrens health. There are other important vaccines to prevent diseases. Parents also need to teach their children how to take care of their health, make good decisions and adopt the morals their parents strive to impart.

Dont pass up the opportunity to protect your child against cancers with HPV vaccines. Every year, nearly 17,600 women and 9,300 men are diagnosed with cancers caused by HPV. Some HPV vaccines also protect against types of the virus that cause genital warts, a condition that affects about 240,000 American adults every year.

Three shots, given at an early age, can spare kids from those diseases as adults. Parents have that power to protect their kids for a lifetime.
Let me just spit it out.

When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asks for public comments, they don't mean you, and they don't mean me. In fact, they don't mean the public at all.

Dan Ashe, the Director of the USFWS, highlighted the publics ability to make public comments in his March 3 announcement of the agency's proposal to delist grizzlies from the endangered species list and he made much ado about the importance of the public's input.

Did he mean it? In a word, no.

The public comment process is intended, by design, to exclude the public from making public comments.

From the press release announcing delisting:

"The Service will be seeking review and comment by the public, other federal and state agencies, and independent scientists." And it goes on to say, "Please note that submissions merely supporting or opposing a potential delisting, without supporting documentation, will not be considered in making a determination.

What Ashe didn't mention was that the delisting documents to be commented upon consist of more than 800 pages of dense, bureaucratic jargon and incorporate by reference over 250 hard-to-find (and harder to read) scientific reports, management plans and other documents, in all totaling many thousands of pages.

We're talking about an undertaking of biblical proportions here, as in reading the Bible three or four times during a 60-day period  and then writing comments.

Recently, at the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee meeting in Bozeman, we finally learned how the grizzly delisting "public comment" process played out. The public submitted 290,000 comments. Of those, only 12,000 were considered "unique." The other 278,000 dont count.

Of those 12,000, only 10 to 20 percent were considered substantive," at most 2,400 comments. The other 9,600 dont count.

So, out of 290,000 comments only 2,400 comments will be "considered in making a determination" to delist grizzly bears.

Only eight out of every 1,000 submitted comments will be considered. That's eight-tenths of 1 percent of the comments submitted by the American public.

Who actually has the wherewithal to make public comments that can pass through the USFWS filter, on a proposal that runs to thousands of pages?

Well, big nonprofits can. They have the money, and some of them employ scientists that can understand the jargon and the voluminous scientific reports.

So, too, can mid- to large-sized corporations. They also have the money and the people, some of them scientists. They also have a profit motive.

Of course, other government agencies are invited to comment and they use our tax dollars to pay our public servants to write their public comments.

And finally, scientists - who have something of a free pass. But here is the kicker: The government and private industry are the largest employers of scientists and much, perhaps most, funding for scientists comes from government and industry.

And how about you? Are you one of the 288,600 people whose voices are being disregarded?

The USFWS will respond that decisions are to be made based on science and that they are justified in disregarding 99.2 percent of submitted comments. Where does that leave the average nonscientific American who was bamboozled into thinking that the comment they submitted actually mattered?

Where is the public process that allows them to weigh in? There isn't one. The American public has been disenfranchised, marginalized. And so less than 1 percent of the public comments will be "considered in making a determination.

Exactly who are the less than 2,400 commenters whose comments will be "considered in making a determination?" And why, exactly, are their voices more important than yours?

-- Kent Nelson, of Jackson, Wyo., is executive director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates.
In response to the story about the closing of the Weyerhauser mills in Columbia Falls, some folks will be quick to blame the federal government for the chronic log supply shortage. However, it could well be that the mill capacity exceeds the available supply of timber. If so, revising national forest management to increase the supply of timber will only prolong the agony.

For several decades, logging on forest lands in western Montana occurred at a rate that was not sustainable. Historically, a significant percentage of the timber that was processed at the mills in western Montana came from the industrial forest lands. Most of the standing crop of merchantable trees on those lands has already gone to the mill. A significant portion of those lands is no longer in timber production. Moreover, one of the industrial forest owners has converted from a forest products company to a real estate investment trust.
BILLINGS  Three men who served their country with bravery and distinction during World War II and the Vietnam War received long overdue medals from U.S. Sen. Jon Tester during a Wednesday morning ceremony.

Tester, a Montana Democrat, said veterans acts of heroism sometimes fall through bureaucratic cracks. His office has worked with about 150 veterans, presenting them with nearly 1,000 medals they've earned. The veterans honored included Gorvan Le Duc, who was awarded his medals posthumously, as well as Thomas Huff and Ron Sims.

Their military accounts will be read into the Congressional Record, Tester said.

Le Ducs wife, Dorothy, and his son, also named Gorvan, were on hand to receive their loved ones medals in recognition of his service in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II.

As his ship was ferrying supplies from the U.S. to Great Britain in September 1943, Le Duc was injured in a torpedo blast that sent him 200 feet into the air and into the Atlantic Ocean. The blast broke 77 of Le Ducs bones, including his back, and gave him a severe concussion.

A British sailor jumped in to save him, but when Le Duc reached the ships hospital room, he discovered the last blanket and the final bottle of rum had already been given out.

No blanket? No rum? the injured Le Duc cracked. I guess I wont (re-enlist), then.

Tester presented Le Ducs family with seven medals, including a Combat Bar with Bronze Service Star.

Le Duc, of Laurel, died in February 2014 at age 94.

This man who was never supposed to walk again, his widow said, I met him square dancing.

Thomas Huff, whos 94, served in combat infantry in the Armys 27th Division for two years, four months and three days during three Pacific campaigns during World War II. One of those was the Battle of Saipan, fought in June and July 1944 and so bloody it was dubbed Purple Heart Ridge.

At the end of his third battle in the Pacific campaign, Huff contracted a mosquito-borne illness and spent seven months in the hospital.

He settled in Lewistown after being honorably discharged, joined the police force, and served as chief during the final seven years of his 22-year police career.

Tester presented Huff with eight medals Wednesday, including the Bronze Star.

Sims, 66, began his Army service in the First Infantry Division in 1969. He was originally awarded a Purple Heart after being injured by an M1 mortar and a Bronze Star with Valor after capturing an enemy soldier.

He re-enlisted in the 101st Airborne Division and became Sergeant of the Guard, the senior non-commissioned officer. He returned stateside in October 1970 and served two years as a drill instructor at Fort Ord, Calif., work he called the best part of my military career.

Tester awarded Sims 11 medals Wednesday, including the Bronze Star and his second Purple Heart, and Sims said hes not giving up on receiving an Oak Leaf Cluster to add to his second Purple Heart.

Id do it again, Sims said of his service. I served my country for three years, 11 months, 22 days, and 11  hours, and I only had three haircuts, said with a laugh. Im too darn old, but Id do it again  if they made me a general.
Butte-Silver Bow County will assume ownership of the sprawling, vacant NorthWestern Energy office building in Uptown Butte after two years of marketing the property failed to land a buyer.

County officials said last fall they were still hopeful NorthWestern would find a buyer so local government wouldnt have to take on the building at 40 E. Broadway St. and pay utility and other costs to keep it in sellable condition.

The power company built a $25 million office building at Park and Main streets in Uptown Butte and more than 200 employees moved to it last December and January. As part of a deal to keep the company here, the county agreed to assume ownership of the old building if a buyer could not be found in 18 months.

NorthWestern kept ownership longer than required because a possible purchase seemed promising. But that deal fell through so ownership will be transferred to the county Aug. 24, Community Development Director Karen Byrnes told commissioners Wednesday night.

There have been 12 to 14 "walk-throughs" to show the building to prospective buyers, she said, and five to six had expressed serious interest.

"To cut to the chase, the building has not been sold to this date," she said.

A real estate company priced it at $750,000.

It will cost the county more than $1,000 a month to mothball the building, which includes keeping the heat on and water running so it can be sold in quick fashion once a buyer is found.

Its a cost the county did not want to bear, Chief Executive Matt Vincent told The Standard, but it was lower than initially expected. In the meantime, marketing efforts will continue.

Byrnes showed commissioners a video made to promote the building, it has been listed on numerous real-estate lists and websites and NorthWestern would continue to help market it, Byrnes said.

It would not, she said, become "one of those dark, cold places that nobody is interested in looking at."

The old office complex, comprised of five buildings that were joined over the decades, could be marketed as one entity or one that could be chopped up, Vincent said. But its combined 110,000 square feet is daunting in itself.

Our goal is to divest of that building as soon as possible, but that being said, we would like to see it go to somebody that has a really good use for it, he said. It has always been our goal to have that building serve its highest and best use, top to bottom.

The building still has furniture and telephones and a computer system wired for 21st century business, Vincent said. It would be ideal as a call center or perhaps a high-tech incubator with shared work spaces that are becoming more popular in the U.S., he said.

Top to bottom, it is one of the most functional buildings in Uptown Butte, Vincent said. Even though NorthWestern had outgrown its usefulness, it is still as usable as a building gets Uptown.

The building and its possible transfer were part of a development agreement commissioners approved in April 2014 to help keep NorthWesterns Montana headquarters and its 220 employees in Butte.

The county also gave the company land to construct its new, five-story office building and agreed to build a parking garage Uptown where some NorthWestern employees could park. A ground-breaking ceremony for that planned parking garage will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in the Galena Street parking lot.

But even as the council signed off on the agreement in 2014, some commissioners were wary of getting stuck with the old building, saying the county should not be in the real estate business.

Bob Rowe, NorthWesterns president and chief executive officer, said in an editorial in the Standard in November 2015 that the company had been diligently pursuing the marketing effort over the previous year.

It included a marketing plan, work with McLeod Realty of Butte and hiring a Texas-based marketing firm to identify possible uses for the building.

Mike McLeod, a broker with McLeod Realty, said then that the marketing firm determined that mixed uses for the building were possible. But the best fit for the community and market, he said, was multi-family residential.

He priced the building at $750,000.
From telemarketing scams to identity theft, fake check scams and business fraud, senior citizens lose an estimated $3 billion annually  a 12 percent increase from 2008, Tim Summers, the state director of AARP Montana, said last week.

In an attempt to help prevent what Summers called "epidemic" fraud, dozens of people showed up at the downtown Holiday Inn in Missoula to watch the American Association of Retired Persons' presentation on outsmarting con artists.

The presentation, which largely focused on keeping sharp, included lectures from several experts, and dozens of brochures packed with information.

Montana Attorney General Tim Fox was one of those experts.

I always like talking with Montanas senior citizens, Fox said to an audience largely made up of that demographic. And youre a very savvy group. But somehow, one in every four seniors in Montana have been successfully scammed.

Fox said in todays digital world, its easier than ever to be scammed, especially for those who arent necessarily accustomed to using technology. The key to preventing fraud, Fox said, is equipping seniors with the knowledge of how to identify it as its happening.

Fox talked specifically about the tricks con artists use while scamming, including their ability to change caller ID using voice-over-Internet-phones. With this kind of technology, Fox said, con artists can made it look like theyre calling from legitimate businesses, or even federal agencies such as the IRS and the FBI.

Why do the phone companies let this happen? a man asked from the audience.

Fox explained that voice-over-Internet-phones are extremely difficult to trace and in most cases, law enforcement  let alone phone companies  cant even track down the scammers.

Fox also added that scams can happen anywhere, including over the phone, at your door and on the Internet. And the scammers are merciless.

One senior was told over the phone that he'd won thousands of dollars, in return for making small payments, Fox said. The man's wife had just died of cancer and he wanted a new start. Over the course of several months, the man lost $75,000.

Another woman with dementia was scammed out of thousands.

Some women were even scammed through an online dating site. The con artist used Tim Foxs photo on the site, telling the women he was starting a business and needed money. Collectively, the women sent the man more than $150,000. Authorities were able to track the man down and prosecute him, a rare case.

When my wife heard people were scammed using my photo on a dating site my wife said, I dont know what those girls saw in him, Fox said with a laugh. But really, scam can happen to anyone. It doesnt matter who you are, what education youve had or how old you are.

Fox said he knows what its like to be getting older and more out of touch with technology. The audience applauded when Fox said hed be turning 59 soon.

Oh, hes just a kid, a woman laughed as she clapped.

Next up was state Auditor Monica Lindeen, who serves as commissioner of securities and insurance. She talked about the other ways scams can happen  with people you trust.

Lindeen said part of her job is to check on Montanas financial advisors, to ensure that they arent pulling Ponzi schemes, a form of fraud in which people are tricked into investing in a nonexistent enterprises.

Ninety-nine percent of our financial advisors in town do a really good job for their consumers, Lindeen said. But there are always bad apples. And before I had this job, I knew there were bad apples trying to take our hard- earned money, but I had no idea how many there were.

Lindeen said most people pulling Ponzi schemes arent even licensed financial advisors. The best way to prevent this sort of a scam is to check your advisor out, make sure he or she is licensed, and backed by a real company.

Lindeen said that seniors are and will continue to be a prime target for scammers because three-fourths of the nations wealth is held by seniors.

The presentation also included lectures from Tim Summers, the state director of AARP Montana, and Alex Ward, the president of AARP Montana.

Director of Communications for AARP Montana Stacia Dahl said these fraud presentations are important for seniors because they are less likely to Google the telltale signs of a scam while theyre in the midst of one. AARPs goal is to equip seniors with knowledge of scams before they happen.

There is even a community shredding event planned for Sept. 10 in Home Depots parking lot. Dahl said people can bring their bank statements and other personal info that needs to be thrown away and AARP and the Office of Public Safety will shred it for them.

This is to help protect peoples identities, Dahl said. Some con artists will still dumpster-dive for peoples Social Security numbers and bank information. So its important that stuff be destroyed.

The key statement made by every speaker at the presentation on Wednesday was, If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Next MD Cover - 5 Time Mr. Olympia Phil Heath

Written by Team MD

18 August 2016

Next MD Cover - 5 Time Mr. Olympia Phil Heath

Joe Weiders Olympia, the most prestigious contest in the bodybuilding universe, takes place on September 16th and 17th at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Mr. Olympia title represents the pinnacle of achievement in the sport of bodybuilding. Beginning in 1965, one man was chosen to represent the absolute best in muscular development in the entire world. The 52nd staging of what has grown to become an all-encompassing fitness and performance weekend will be the setting for Phil Heath to attempt to take possession of his sixth Sandow. Will the reigning Mr. Olympia experience the joy of six, or will a new king of bodybuilding be crowned?

Phil Heath, Denvers most muscular resident, is so good that he can beat his rivals even when hes not at his best. But is there anyone who can possibly beat Phil this year? Bodybuilding historian Peter McGough, who knows the bodybuilding industry better than anyone, gives MD readers an exclusive preview of this years contest called Judgement in Vegas. Its the most comprehensive Olympia preview youll find in any bodybuilding magazine, with a review of the entire 2016 Mr. Olympia lineup. Follow our coverage at musculardevelopment.com as we get closer to the contest.

With the Mr. Olympia just around the corner, MD pays tribute to the event and its legendary champions with our special Olympia Issue. In 50 Training Secrets of the Mr. Olympia Champions, Ron Harris gives us 50 excellent training tips from six Mr. Olympia champions with a total of 34 Olympia titles between them. Take their combined wisdom and use it to forge your own destiny in iron and muscle!

Bodybuilders around the world, seeking to improve their own physiques and aspiring to greatness, look to Mr. Olympia champions and legends of the past as role models on how to build their own bodies and bring them closer and closer to perfection. But not everyone is prepared to step on an Olympia stage, and we all have to start somewhere. Are you ready to get bigger and stronger in the next 90 days, and make more gains than you probably have in the last year or two, maybe more? If the answer is yes, check outGet Big and Strong!Your 90-day Total Program for Mass and Power.

Three-time Ms. Olympia Bikini and IFBB Pro Ashley Kaltwasser is one of the fittest women on the planet, and her appearance in the April 2016 issue of Muscular Development created such a testosterone tremor with our readers that we brought Ashley back again for this months Major Distraction called, Ashleys Other Secret. Ashley will be competing to defend her title at this years Olympia. One look at the photos of Ashley in this months MD, and the judging becomes easy its impossible to take your eyes off her.

Muscular Development is your number-one source for building muscle, and for the latest research and best science to enable you to train smart and effectively. Our team of physicians, industry experts and research scientists has these reports on improving performance this month:

Fat Attack: The Modern-Day Olympia Fat Loss Stack Versus the 90s

Nutrition Performance: Decrease Body Fat With Vitamin D

The M.A.X. Muscle Plan: Does Eccentric Training Enhance Muscle Growth?

Supplement Performance: Boost Muscle Growth With Phosphatidic Acid

Muscle Growth Update: Can the BCAA Valine Drive Muscle Loss?

The Modern-Day Olympia Anabolic Stack Versus the 90s

Bodybuilding Science: Get Even More Jacked With Creatine-Induced PAP

The rest of the book is packed to the binder as usual making MD your one-stop, most authoritative source for optimizing muscular development with the latest cutting-edge research on training, nutrition, fat loss, performance-enhancing drugs, muscle growth and bodybuilding science and exclusive information from the industry experts, insiders and bodybuilding legends who make it all happen. See you at the Olympia!

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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 []
Telkom has been hit by a series of attacks which the company has called acts of sabotage, and is offering a R500,000 reward for information on the incidents.

A number of Telkom facilities around the country were yesterday targeted in a series of acts of sabotage, said Telkom.

Facilities in Midrand, Pretoria West, Silverton, Durban, Pinetown, Pietermaritzburg, Makhado, and Messina were sabotaged.

Telkom said those responsible for the attacks knew what they were doing.

Cables have been cut to cause maximum damage. Entire street distribution cabinets have been ripped apart and, in a few instances yesterday, set on fire.

Specialist equipment was used to access fibre cables at certain of the targeted areas, equipment which is not widely available.

The SAPS are currently pursuing a number of good leads to identify these saboteurs, said Telkom.

Telkom is offering a R500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the saboteurs.

CWU strike

Telkom noted that the acts of sabotage have taken place while Communication Workers Union (CWU) employees are on strike.

The striking workers recently blocked access to Telkom offices and facilities, with employees barred from entering their places of work, said Telkom.

The company subsequently obtained a court interdict to prevent striking workers from negatively influencing Telkoms operations.

The union is demanding an 11% increase for all bargaining unit employees, said Telkom.

More on Telkom

We compared Vodacom Plus and Telkom FreeMe  and the winner is clear

Telkom secures urgent court order against CWU
CareerJunction has released its latest CareerJunction Index (CJI) report, which shows continued growth in the South African IT jobs market.

The CJI uses data gathered from the CareerJunction website to represent labour dynamics in South Africa.

According to the report, there was minimal change in South African labour market conditions over July 2016.

The IT industry, however, continued to see an uptake in jobs during July. Since January, demand has strengthened by 18%, stated the report.

The graph below, which shows volume trends for IT job adverts published on the CareerJunction website over the past 12 months, illustrates the upward trend in IT jobs in South Africa.

More on IT jobs

IT Jobs with the best future

Tech jobs with the highest stress levels

The degrees which will get you the highest starting salary in South Africa
Euphoria Telecoms business goal has always been to push the boundaries of innovation and tech, delivering a relevant and useful communications tool for businesses in South Africa.

WebRTC has helped Euphoria Telecom to push the boundaries yet again.

WebRTC enables developers to quickly and easily develop rich, high-quality phone and PBX functionality directly in the browser (chrome, firefox, opera) significantly reducing R&D time and costs associated with designing a new product for each browser.

Light weight phone and PBX integrations replace bloated browser plugins, no licensing and no in depth expertise. Software developers love the easy and simplicity of WebRTC.

WebRTC offers:

High quality business telephone system in your web browser (for free) without having to install any extra plugins.

Voice communication through your desktop, across platforms, without having to build new for each platform.

Secure encryption is built into WebRTC as standard which means developers do not need to do build or worry about encryption for real time communications, it is built in as default.

Agile and light weight integrations. Uses Opus Codec, which offers the best audio experience available.

Accessible via the Euphoria platform. Happier end users. Rich media interactions.

WebRTC and Euphoria share innovation goals

Euphoria Telecom enables development houses to quickly and easily integrate our business telephone system into their proprietary systems, across multiple platforms (browsers, apps).

WebRTC is a game changer for cloud based business services like Euphoria Telecom, it is paving the way for a whole new world of simpler web interactions, making integration with CRM systems simpler.

Euphoria Telecom is committed pushing the boundaries to deliver innovative tech to customers, and WebRTC helps to advance the quality and accessibility of Euphoria Telecoms product.

For more information, contact Euphoria Telecom.
Advertise Here

Be seen advertise here. Contact us.


AUGUSTA, Maine  Maine's Republican Gov. Paul LePage has endorsed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for president.

The Kennebec Journal reported that LePage endorsed Trump on Wednesday, saying Trump was the "lesser of two evils," and that despite his ups and downs, he's still a businessman.

LePage said Trump was his third choice for president behind New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

LePage said he's concerned that Democrat Hillary Clinton was unwilling to bring home U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, who died in the attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

The Clinton campaign declined to respond to the remarks and pointed to a fact-check by Politifact that says the military's chain of command was responsible for sending troops to Libya.
Redwood Credit Union (RCU) is accepting donations to assist those impacted by the Lake County Clayton Fire. Anyone can make a secure donation online at redwoodcu.org/lakecountyfirevictims or at any of RCUs 17 North Bay and San Francisco locations. A total of 100 percent of the funds will go directly to aid relief efforts and the victims of the fire.
At 1,000 pounds Tiny wasnt so tiny, but she will be missed in a big way.

Tiny was more than just a Jersey cow roaming the pastures at Mountain Home Ranch. To owners John and Suzanne Fouts, Tiny was a member of their family, one of their beloved pets.

Its been really hard, said Suzanne Fouts of the loss of Tiny. The pain of losing her runs very deep. Weve lost a lot of animals. This is harder.

A regular guest of Mountain Home Ranch standing nearby said, Its heartbreaking. We all loved her.

When John and Suzanne noticed Tiny hadnt come home for dinner the night of Monday, Aug. 1, they started looking for her on their 340-acre ranch that sits at the end of Mountain Ranch Road off Petrified Forest Road.

She had gone off on her own, something very out of character, Suzanne Fouts said, and they found her down a steep ravine about 100 yards below from where she had fallen.

Herd animals will wander away from their herd when its their time to go, Fouts said. And she believes that is what Tiny was doing.

With over a dozen firefighters and animal rescue people helping us throughout the night, we were able to get her to a safe place, but she was just too weak, so we did the hardest thing that all good parents do, and put her out of her suffering. Tiny was loved by so many people and it seemed fitting to have so many people around her, fighting for her life, Fouts said.

At 18 Tiny was considered quite old, and the couple had her since she was just a calf.

Thats like being 108 for you and me. She was a very, very elderly lady, said Julie Atwood, founder of Halter Project. She just decided she was going to end her life in one big adventure  it was her big swan song.

Halter Project provides information, resources and training for horse and livestock emergencies and is based at Atwoods Atwood Ranch in Glen Ellen.

Firefighters were able to get Tiny to a makeshift ledge about two-thirds of the way back up the hill. They had essentially cut a pad into the side of the hill and made a retaining wall of sorts and got Tiny to that location, Atwood said.

John Fouts was able to get down to Tiny and kept her comfortable with food and water.

John sat with her about three hours, Suzanne Fouts said. It was clear she was in pain.

Her pain was not caused by broken bones or internal injuries, Atwood said, but by being down for too long.

Lactic acid starts building up in their limbs and paralyzes them, she said. Tinys advanced age worked against her as well.

Tiny was loved by not only the Fouts, but also the guests they hosted at their bed-and-breakfast. Fouts said they received cards, flowers and gifts from people when news of Tinys death spread. But that wasnt really unusual.

Tiny would get fan mail, Fouts said.

One guest said her daughter received a stuffed cow toy for her seventh birthday and promptly named it Tiny. Another guest sent a note addressed to Suzanne and John and Tiny and Tippy and Tyche, et al. Thank you! Wish we could have stayed longer. Look forward to returning soon.

And another said their children cry when we leave. Can you please send us a picture card of Tiny when you can?

Tiny came to the Fouts family more than 18 years ago as a small calf who was still being bottle fed. A dear friends son, who is the Fouts godson, received Tiny as a gift at Easter. Tiny  who was abandoned in a pasture  is believed to have had a twin that didnt make it.

Fouts laughed when the friend told her about the gift and said, You live in a condo in Rohnert Park, where are you going to keep it?

That was why the friend was calling, she said.

Tiny won the hearts of all who came to the ranch, Fouts said.

The bed-and-breakfast is also used as a retreat center and is visited by many painting groups. Over the years several painters have used Tiny as a model, with one artist winning a Best of Show award at the Sacramento State Fair for her painting of Tiny.

The ranch used to be used as a polling place during elections, Fouts said, and Tiny would come greet the neighbors as they came to place their votes. She was always so curious and loved people.

Tiny loved all animals that came to live with her, too, Fouts said. The Foutses, who take a cue from the story of Noahs Ark, keep their critters in at least pairs. Tiny had a companion cow, Tippy, a much larger bull now, who was accepted almost immediately by Tiny.

The first night that Tippy arrived about seven years ago the cows were put in separate stables. Tippy was still being bottle fed at the time and Tyche, one of the Foutses dogs, spent a lot of time licking and fluffing Tippy. The next day they brought Tippy to the gate that separated the two cows.

Tiny reached through and started licking him, so we put them together. She, from that point on, took over all his grooming needs, Fouts said.

The close relationship between the two cows continued; they were inseparable.

They took turns standing over one another, licking each other. She did that with all the new animals we brought home, the sheep, the goats, she was just a very loving soul, she said.

Tinys rescue was a team effort, Atwood said, with Mountain Volunteer Fire Department arriving on the scene first. They used their rope skills to secure Tiny and the scene, but were unable to retrieve Tiny from her dangerous spot. Atwood, who, because of her contacts and training is often one of the first in the region called for large animal rescues, received a call around midnight.

Firefighters from Glen Ellen Fire Department and Kenwood Volunteer Fire Department, who have skills and training in large animal rescue as well as possess the rescue equipment necessary for an animal the size of Tiny, were able to move her. While the fire departments jointly own the equipment, it is stored at Atwood Ranch, where the Halter Project operates.

Atwood will be flying to Washington, D.C., next month to accept a national individual and community preparedness award from FEMA for the work that the Halter Project does, she said.

It is because our project literally started in our backyard and now it has spread. It has now grown from just a neighborhood training project to a Bay Area Northern California project, she said.

Atwood said two Calistoga firefighters participated in a February training with Halter, and was so impressed with them and their enthusiasm and is hoping the rest of the department gets trained.

She encourages anyone interested in helping more firefighters to be able to help in large animal technical rescues to donate to the local firefighters association funds, such as Calistoga Firefighters Association so that they can purchase the equipment needed during emergencies. Donations to CFA can be made to P.O. Box 786, Calistoga, 94515.
Everyone in Napa recognizes Robert Louis Stevensons famous quote, Wine is bottled poetry. His statement adorns Highway 29 at the entrance to the heart of the Napa Valley.

In the 1880s, Stevenson, a Scottish writer living in Paris, fell in love with a married American woman named Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne. When she left France, Stevenson followed her to San Francisco.

Once in California, he slipped into poverty and nearly succumbed to tuberculosis and several other mysterious illnesses. Eventually, however, he persevered and married the newly divorced Fanny. Along with their dog and Fannys son they honeymooned on Mount Saint Helena at a rundown shack in the small mining settlement of Silverado. Their adventure became the material for The Silverado Squatters and other stories.

Stevensons sentiment that wine is bottled poetry seems to makes sense, somehow, and evokes both a romantic and mysterious note, while maintaining room for individual interpretation  just like the definition for the word poetry itself.

Merriam-Webster calls poetry the language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound and rhythm. Yet everyone seems to have his or her own unique view of what poetry is, and this includes some of the most famous poets.

Wordsworth called poetry the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. Emily Dickinson said, If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that it is poetry.

Others describe poetry as musical, universal and the truth. One of my favorite explanations is from Billy Collins, the former poet laureate of the United States, who told me poetry is ultimately all about time: that we are surrounded by beauty and then die.

Wine, too, is also certainly about time. Each vintage is unique, and at its best wine also seems to express the beauty of the place that surrounds the vineyards. Of course, this idea that a place has an influence on the specialness of a wine has its own poetic word, often being referred to as terroir.

Although not calling it terroir exactly, the influence of a specific place on a wines quality and uniqueness was also captured by Stevensons full quote, one version of which can be found in the first chapter, titled Calistoga, of In the Valley, published in 1881.

Wine in California is still in the experimental stage; And when you taste a vintage, grave economical questions are involved. The beginning of the vine-planting is like the beginning of mining for the precious metals: The wine-grower also prospects. One corner of land after another is tried with one kind of grapes after another. This is a failure; that is better; a third best.

So, bit by bit, they grope about for their Clos Vougeot and Lafitte. Those lodes and pockets of earth, more precious than the precious ores, that yield inimitable fragrance and soft fire; those virtuous Bonanzas, where the soil has sublimated under sun and stars to something finer, and the wine is bottled poetry: these still like undiscovered chaparral conceals, thicket embowers them; the miner chips the rock and wanders farther, and the grizzly muses undisturbed. But there they bide their hour, awaiting their Columbus; and nature nurses and prepares them. The smack of California earth shall linger on the palate of your grandson.

The quote appears prophetic, and I am sure that many vintners and wine lovers alike resonate with the idea of earth lingering on ones palate. In other words: terroir. But like poets defining poetry, wine professionals have a variety of answers to the question of the meaning of terroir.

Recently, I asked winemakers for their own definition of terroir. Although each of them referenced the word soil in their explanations (which was reassuring since the word terroir is derived from the French word terre, meaning land or earth), they also had their own special views on the concept.

Terroir is the combination of soil, climate, vine/rootstock and human intervention, said Bibiana Gonzalez Rave, owner and winemaker of Cattleya Wines and consulting winemaker at Pahlmeyer. Rave was ranked as winemaker of the year in 2015 by the San Francisco Chronicle. The amazing combination of all aspects of terroir has the most significant impact on the wines we make.

Terroir is the energy the vine, or any other plant, gets from where it is grown, said Rajat Parr, former San Francisco rock-star-level sommelier turned winemaker at Domaine de la Cote. There are many factors that influence it, mainly soil, exposure, drainage and finally the hands of those that take care of it.

Stevensons words seem to bring together the basic tenets of both poetry and terroir, linking time, place and beauty through wine.

When Stevenson visited the Napa Valley, there seemed to exist an inexhaustible amount of precious ore in the earth and even a few remaining grizzly still roamed the countryside. The Scotsman had come to California in search of love, and he found it in both his beloved Fanny and also his deep appreciation for the potential of the Napa Valley to create poetic wines of terroir, more precious than gold.
AMERICAN CANYON -- A small group of homeless children -- some with mothers, some without -- spent Monday in American Canyon experiencing the joy of horseback riding.

Those who made this opportunity possible had gone through their own hard times earlier in life, making it important for them to give something back.

The day of riding and other activities took place at SpiritHorse Therapeutic Riding Center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a small, unassuming ranch located near the American Canyon wetlands.

SpiritHorse is a nonprofit organization dedicated to horse therapy for kids dealing with developmental, emotional, social or physical challenges.

Mondays visitors to the ranch were from Vallejos Christian Help Center and Reynissance Family Center, where some of the families have been living to avoid being on the streets.

It was apparent the visitors, both young and old, had a good time, gauging from the widths of their smiles.

Look at me! shouted a little boy named Malachi Johnson-Adams during his first ride on a horse.

Yee-haw! he squealed.

Jimilia Davis, 40, was thrilled to watch her 7-year-old son, Jamarie Goins, laugh and smile along with the other kids.

Look at them go! Look at them go! said Davis, her cherry-red hair and silver cheek piercing glinting in the sun. They get to be themselves today.

Davis quietly reflected on the difficulties that had led her family and the others to becoming homeless. But on this day, all of their troubles were forgotten.

Being at SpiritHorse put normality back in their life right now, Davis said.

Theyre in their place, their child place, she added, not having to worry about nothing.

We just wish this day could last forever.

Davis enjoyed being around the horses, particularly a 3-year-old quarter horse named Goose who rested his head on her shoulder while she brushed him.

He was snuggling up to me, she said. He even made me feel good, he helped me a little bit.

Christine Walker could relate to Davis and the positive impact of bringing her own child, 8-year-old Lena Ross, to the ranch.

Look at Lena, shes jumping up and down. Shes having a blast, said Walker, who noted how much her daughters mood and attitude had changed in just a couple of hours.

Its her first time [on a horse], Walker said. She kinda got scared at first, was kinda shy.

Walker got to experience her own first time on a horse. It was adventurous, if not a little painful, she said.

Now I know why they walk like this! Walker yelled after dismounting, displaying a little bowleggedness. Gosh, that was fun!

Thats what Charlotte Dougherty was hoping to hear.

Dougherty, 50, the founder and executive director of SpiritHorse, said she started the 501 c (3) organization after a life of being around horses and enduring her own hardships.

There was a time when I took the wrong path, said Dougherty, who avoided specifics.

She said she turned her life around seven years ago. Five of these past seven years have been spent developing SpiritHorse.

Its my passion to teach, said Dougherty, who informed the visitors from inside the horse arena that the ranch was both a place to have fun and to learn.

I was looking for something when I was on the wrong path, she said. This is where Im supposed to be. This is truly what Im supposed to be doing in life.

Just as the two mothers, Davis and Walker, could relate to what SpiritHorse had done for them and their children, Larry Dudley could relate to why Dougherty was there.

Dudley, 58, whom some called Cowboy Larry, spent the day teaching the children how to lasso.

These kids here, they probably dont have a very easy life, said Dudley, sporting a cowboy hat, chaps and leather gloves.

Dudley has known tough times, as a child and as an adult. The self-described hick from a small town in Oregon spent time in foster homes and emancipated himself when he was 15.

His 20s and 30s were spent logging trees and driving trucks, from Alaska to Arizona. That is when he wasnt drinking.

I went through enough relationships, and enough booze, he said.

His life nearly ended in a motel room 20 years ago with a gun.

Instead, he stopped drinking, started figuring out how to be content within himself, and settled down. He now lives on a 5-acre spread outside Vacaville with his wife, three horses, a sheep, and two dogs.

Dudley helps SpiritHorse because it gives him the chance to give back to kids who, like him, have had a rough youth.

One positive thing we do here today could form them for the rest of their lives, he said.
LAKEPORT  As residents of the tiny Northern California town of Lower Lake began returning to their destroyed or damaged homes, the man accused of setting the Clayton fire appeared Wednesday in a Lakeport courtroom to face charges that he started not only that destructive blaze, but many others in the same vicinity.

The Lake County courtroom was packed with area residents and reporters as arson charges were formally read in Lake Superior Court against Damin Anthony Pashilk, 40, a construction worker with a history of criminal charges in Lake and Napa counties stretching back at least two decades, most either for drug possession or driving on a suspended license.

Pashilk entered the hushed courtroom shackled and hiding his face from the television cameras. He faces 19 charges, including aggravated arson, arson of forest land and arson with damages in excess of $7 million. He also faces a count of methamphetamine possession and a charge of driving on a suspended license.

Pashilk spent part of his childhood in Napa. He attended elementary school at Westwood, which is now Napa Valley Language Academy, and attended 7th grade at Silverado Middle School, according to Napa Valley Unified School District spokeswomen Elizabeth Emmett.

Pashilk left the district only to return, spending part of his 9th and 10th grade years at Napa High School, Emmett said.

In 1996, he lived on the 1000 block of Elm Street, according to court documents. The Napa County Sheriffs Office reported that Pashilk was arrested in the area during 2008 and 2009 for out of county warrants.

Pashilk did not enter a plea Wednesday. He is being held at the Lake County Jail with bail set at $5 million. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 7.

Lake County prosecutors allege Pashilk set a dozen fires, including the Clayton fire and July 2015s Long fire, set on forest land at Highway 20 east of New Long Valley Road, and attempted to set a 13th, all between July 2, 2015, and last weekend. Investigators have tallied the damage wrought in the Clayton fire at more than $7 million.

We are very confident that this is our guy, said Scott MacLean, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the agency investigating the blaze at a news conference following the afternoon arraignment. He called Pashilk a serial arsonist.

When something like this happens, it devastates us all, he said.

Pashilk learned his firefighting skills while serving time at the California Correctional Center in Susanville.
Unionized registered nurses at Queen of the Valley Medical Center have voted overwhelmingly to accept their first contract that will give them wage increases of 13 to 25 percent over the next three years.

Contract acceptance ends three years of contentious negotiations between the nurses and the hospital. In April 2013, the Queens nurses voted to join the California Nurses Association (CNA). However, an agreement about a contract, including pay, benefits and other issues, could not be reached.

Queen nurses held a one-day strike in 2014 to protest the stalled talks and had planned a one-day strike for this week until negotiators reached a tentative settlement a week ago.

The hospitals RNs voted 97 percent approval on Tuesday night, the union reported.

RNs did not get raises during the three years of bargaining, which contributed to wages at Queen of the Valley falling farther behind neighboring Bay Area hospitals, the union said.

With wages going up as much as 25 percent over the next three years, the Queen will be in a better position to retain its RNs, nurses said.

This has been a hard battle, said Queen registered nurse Karen McNair. Weve hung in there and weve ended up with a very, very good first contract.

We are pleased we have reached an agreement our nurses support and are proud of, said Queen CEO Walt Mickens.

The teamwork and commitment from both bargaining teams made this positive outcome possible. Together, we look forward to continuing to provide compassionate, quality care to our neighbors, Mickens said in a statement.

The contract is a huge victory, three years in the making, said Mary Lou Bahn, an RN at the Queen.

We won important protections for our patients, for safe staffing, and for recruiting and retaining experienced nurses for our community, she said. Our RNs can be very proud of what we accomplished.

Highlights of the Queens contract, the CNA reported, include:

 Wage increases and a new wage scale that will result in increases of 13 to 25 percent over the three years of the agreement.

Neither the Queen nor the CNA was able to respond Thursday to requests to provide new wage ranges or estimates for Queen nurses.

 Staffing according to patients severity of illness or injury.

 Establishment of a Professional Practice Committee of nurses to track staffing and better advocate for patients.

 Guaranteed meal and rest breaks to fight nurse fatigue.

Its an amazing contract, said Queen RN Leigh Glasgow. Im very pleased with the work our nurses did, and I think its to going to help us ensure patients are proud to come here.

In July, St. Joseph Health, the parent company of the Queen, formed a new organization with Providence Health to become Providence St. Joseph Health. The CNA represents nearly 4,000 Providence St. Joseph Health nurses and nearly 100,000 RNs throughout the state.

RNs at St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, a sister Providence St. Joseph Health hospital, voted this week to accept a contract, the CNA reported.

Contract votes were scheduled Thursday at two more Providence St. Joseph Health hospitals: Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna and St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka.

This story has been amended since first posting. The CNA provided more accurate information about the range of raises that RNs will receive.
Wearing matching white outfits, flowers in their hats and sashes across their bodies, 10 women made their way through downtown Napa Thursday to commemorate the 96th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment.

We did not want this day to pass without people noticing, said Tama Adelman, 69, dressed in red, white and blue as Aunt Sam. Its taken us a long time to get here.

The 19th amendment, which guarantees all women the right to vote, was passed on Aug. 18, 1920.

To honor the suffragettes who worked to get women the vote, these Napa gals dressed the part, carried signs and passed out information about the amendment.

We tried to replicate the actual suffragette march, said Mara Adelman, 66, who was walking with two of her sisters. While some slogans used during the suffrage movement were still relevant, like The womans hour has struck, other signs were updated. One read: 1920 women vote, 2016 woman for president.

Beating a floral printed drum and chanting What do we want? We want the vote. When do we want it? Now, the women made their journey from Veterans Memorial Park to the Oxbow and back. Along the way, motorists beeped their horns, blew kisses and yelled from their windows in support. At each block, the women would be stopped so a tourist could take a photo with the cardboard cutout of Hillary Clinton they carried.

Can I take a selfie with Hillary? asked Pete Joyce of the United Kingdom. He posed for his photo at the corner of Third and Main streets. When asked why he wanted the snapshot, Joyce said, Just because the alternative is terrible.

If I lived here, I would vote for Hillary, said Isabella DAlvaro, 14, of Caracas, Venezuela. Although she isnt old enough to vote, DAlvaro said that people in Venezuela love Hillary.

Hillary very good, said her grandmother, Noelia Sandil, after posing with the cardboard candidate.

Its the better choice, said Selke Koch of Cologne, Germany.

Tama Adelman noted that all of the people who seemed interested in taking photos in the tourist-rich zone that is downtown Napa werent Americans. Anyone with anything negative to say was just politely waved to by the women in white. But it wasnt really about Hillary, it was about history.

Women nowadays have a lot of rights even compared with women from the 60s, said Jeri Lagorio. Lagorio, 68, said that banks could refuse to issue credit cards to women and that women werent accepted in certain careers. She wanted to be a park ranger, but was told she could be botanist instead, she said. There were a lot of doors closed.

Lagorios grandmother participated in the suffrage movement in Chicago. I think its meaningful, she said. I think we have to educate a lot of young people on womens rights.

A lot of younger women maybe dont have a full understanding of the struggles over the years, said Hope Lugo, who is in her 80s. Lugo is afraid that the right to vote, in addition to other things women have worked so hard for, can be taken for granted. Activities like this walk are important in order to honor and remember the suffragettes, she said.

As for Hillary Clinton, Lugo said that the fact that a woman is running for president in a major party is historic. Im glad Im alive to see that.

By bringing attention to the 19th amendment and honoring the women who helped make it happen, Mara Adelman said that theyre hoping to inspire people to vote. I think the deeper message, she said, is that people cannot afford to be complacent in this election.
GENEVA

CERN officials investigate spoof sacrifice caught on video

Officials at CERN, home to the worlds largest particle accelerator, say theyve launched an internal investigation over a spoof video filmed on its campus appearing to mimic a human sacrifice.

Shot from a building at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, the video shows hooded people in a courtyard before the cape of one woman is lifted off her shoulders. After she lies down, a hooded person approaches and appears to stab her with a knife. An off-camera voice reacts with an expletive.

On its website, CERN called the video a work of fiction showing a contrived scene.

Scientists pour in from around the world for round-the-clock work at CERNs accelerators around Geneva. CERN said sometimes accredited personnel let their sense of humor go too far.

ROME

Biologists remove dead conjoined twin from endangered turtle

Marine biologists in southern Italy have separated conjoined twin loggerhead turtles and released the surviving newborn into the Mediterranean Sea.

The release occurred this week along the beaches of Campania where the endangered loggerheads come to nest every year.

Fulvio Maffucci, marine biologist at Anton Dohrn Zoological Station, said Wednesday there had been only seven known births of conjoined twin loggerheads in the Mediterranean. He said the fact that one survived was extraordinary. The smaller twin was dead and significantly underdeveloped compared to the larger twin.

Maffucci said: After the removal of the dead brother from his chest, he crawled from the nest and hes been released in the wild without any help.

In addition to the twins, one of the hatchlings this year also included a rare albino loggerhead.

LONDON

Nurse treated for Ebola accused of concealing temperature

A British nurse who developed Ebola working in Sierra Leone is facing disciplinary action over allegations she lied about her temperature during health checks on her return.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council alleges that Pauline Cafferkey allowed an incorrect temperature to be recorded at Heathrow Airport on Dec. 29, 2014, and intended to conceal from Public Health England staff that she had a temperature higher than 38 Celsius (96 Fahrenheit).

The council said Thursday that a full hearing on the allegations is scheduled for next month. Cafferkey could lose the right to practice.

Cafferkey, now 40, became critically ill shortly after she returned from West Africa at the end of 2014 and was treated in an isolation unit at Londons Royal Free Hospital.

She was twice re-hospitalized with complications.

PARIS

3 die in icy Mont Blanc avalanche, bodies are dug out

The bodies of three alpinists buried in an avalanche of ice and snow on the Mont Blanc massif have been found and dug out from the thick ice.

The mountain rescue team chief in the French town of Chamonix says Thursday that two women, a Slovakian and a Polish-British, and their German guide were climbing Mont Blancs Mont Maudit at 4,100 meters (13,450 feet) when a tower of ice swept over them early Tuesday and they fell 150 meters (500 feet) to their deaths.

Lieut. Col. Stephane Bozon says the womens bodies were found Wednesday evening and the guides early Thursday. Rescue workers had to use chain saws and a backhoe to free them from the ice.

He said the rescue effort was delayed because other climbers said there were no victims.

Officials at CERN, home to the worlds largest particle accelerator, say theyve launched an internal investigation over a spoof video filmed on its campus appearing to mimic a human sacrifice.
In separate courtrooms at opposite ends of California, two men faced charges Wednesday, accused of being serial arsonists.

In Lake County, Damin Pashilk, 40, was charged with multiple counts of arson, including in connection with the Clayton Fire, an explosive blaze that scorched 4,000 acres, razing 175 structures and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents. Prosecutors accuse Pashilk of setting a dozen fires in recent years. He has not yet entered a plea.

Meanwhile, in the so-called "Hollywood arsonist" case, Harry Burkhart, a 28-year-old German national, is standing trial on charges of lighting more than 40 fires in parked cars and apartment carports, causing $3 million in damage during a three-day spree in 2011. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Man suspected of setting Clayton fire in Northern California appears in court

From urban alleys to forested woodlands, serial arsonists have plagued California for decades. Between 2010 and 2014, arsonists started about 910 California wildfires, according to Cal Fire data. Those fires burned about 121,000 acres, an area almost double the size of Sacramento.

To get a picture of the mindset and motivations of arsonists, we talked with Ed Nordskog, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department arson investigator who has lectured widely and written several books on the subject, including "Torchered Minds: Case Histories of Notorious Serial Arsonists."

Nordskog, 57, is testifying this week in the Hollywood case. He has investigated 2,000 arson cases, including 44 by serial arsonists. Here's an excerpt of his comments:

Q: You've said profiles of serial arsonists are outdated. How so?

A: There's always been this stereotype that a serial arsonist is the lone white male, 18 to 34, with sexual issues, who doesn't get along with people. That describes everybody I know. It's utterly useless. And it's just not true. Serial arsonists can be any age, from 8 to 80, any race, either gender.

Q: So what are common denominators?

A: Big factors in every arson case are alcohol and drugs, especially prescription drug abuse. Childhood traumas are huge and very common in all serial arson cases. It could be abuse or fetal alcohol syndrome that causes traumatic brain injury  (putting them) at high risk for this type of behavior.

They get upset by something or life's not going the way they planned. They get frustrated and frustration brings about anger. If they're mixing that anger with no parental oversight and prescription drug use, that causes aberrant behavior. They're functioning people, but they do have some mental health issues.

Q: How do wildland arsonists differ from urban arsonists?

A: Wildland serial arsonists are a very unique breed. They're night-and-day different than urban arsonists, like you'd see in Sacramento or Los Angeles.

The urban ones are people with a lot of mental health issues, who don't have means to travel; they bike or walk to their fire scenes. They usually don't have a plan or a device. Probably two-thirds are homeless.

Wildland serial arsonists are much more intelligent and functional. A lot of them have jobs and the ability to travel. They tend to be males, maybe 90 to 95 percent. Many are associated with some sort of wildland work, whether it be forestry or fire services. They have a reason to be alone in the wildlands. Maybe they're traveling through a brushy area on their way to work or home. They have a reason to be there  and opportunity.

When you have wildlands arson, you start looking at your firefighters. That's a dirty little secret. About 100 U.S. firefighters each year are arrested for arson. It's a consistent pattern.

Another huge difference is that most wildlands fires are set in the daytime, whereas most other arsonists set fires at night, when there are fewer people around to catch them. If you're a wildlands arsonist, you don't need to hide.  They'll set it in the afternoon when temperatures are high, humidity is low and winds are high, making it a better chance it'll work. They're aware that a wildland on a hot day is going to take off.

Q: What about the so-called "hero" arsonist?

A: The hero arsonist is a general category that includes firefighters, police, security guards or anyone who benefits from being seen as a hero for reporting or fighting a fire. There are dozens of case histories of security guards "finding" fires on their watch or fire patrol officers "discovering" fires. Most of these are events that the actual "finder" orchestrated to give themselves a sense of notoriety.

That type of offender is most often male and has significant maturity issues. About two months ago, I offered expert testimony in a case where a 19-year-old Canadian volunteer firefighter set up to 20 fires in his first year.

Q: Is it behavior a person can outgrow?

A: Some serial arsonists may stop lighting fires and go away for 10 or 15 years. Then their life starts to go sideways and they start again. If a guy is a serial arsonist at 15, he'll still be one at age 85. He'll be at risk to be a serial arsonist his entire life.

Q: How often do they express remorse?

A: Some say they're sorry. I've looked at 900 case studies, the psychological reports and court reports. When you ask them why they're doing it, it's often a pressure release. "I just feel like exploding, so I light a fire." (Urban arsonists) literally burn toilet paper on the ground or light trash cans or junk in alleys. Most of these guys could care less about how big their fire is. They don't know their fire spread to a thousand acres or burned a building down.

It's a little different in wildland fires. Many say they leave the scene, but they may watch the action from a distance or check on the damage in the newspaper.

Q: How often is money a motivation?

A: Fire is money. A wildland fire is employing a lot of people.  They're setting up an entire city, providing everything from showers to food to massage services. There are a few cases where people associated with making money off fires start the fires: seasonal firefighters, contractors with dozer equipment, airplanes. It's all money. There are case histories of setting fires for financial gain.

There's a famous case in Mount Shasta (in 1995) where a mother admitted setting fires because her son was a seasonal firefighter and was about to be laid off.

Q: What types of incendiary devices are used?

A: The most common in California wildlands is some version of the cigarette matchbook delay device, where a burning cigarette is taped or tied to a matchbook, giving them a 10-minute delay. It's not a sophisticated device.

Q: Can arson be prevented?

A: There's no way to eradicate this. Arson is not a preventable crime. You can catch the people who did it, but you cannot prevent arson.
It costs a lot of money to not have money. I don't know that a lot of people know that, and I think more people should know that, particularly since so many of us are so very inclined to think that being poor is a moral condition.

I recently purchased a new car (a horrible, grueling experience I wouldn't wish on anyone). I knew from my credit union that my credit score entitled me to an APR of 1.95 percent, meaning that the money I needed to borrow to finance my purchase was practically free.

A friend of mine is also in the market for a "new" vehicle. She works an hourly wage job, and due to a confluence of circumstances, most notably being a recent (and legal) immigrant, has no credit history. Having no credit, or worse, poor credit, is a condition that will relegate most people to permanent poverty, because they do not have enough money to get cheap money.

A very reputable credit union has offered my friend a 84-month auto loan at an APR of 18.24 percent, meaning that if she were to purchase a $10,000 car, she would pay nearly $7,000 in interest over the life of the loan. In her words, "it's like buying two cars and giving one to the bank."

A lot of institutions are profiting off poor people, and it's not just the usury of those awful payday loans. People without credit are charged for having checking and savings accounts that fail to maintain a minimum balance. Without that minimum balance, or without a direct deposit paycheck, they may also be charged for having debit cards or the means to access their own money.

We're told that these safeguards are necessary because the recipients are high risk. But would they be so high risk if they could get access to the capital that would say, enable them to get the reliable transportation to get to work consistently? Maybe we should require high-risk borrowers attend credit literacy classes, rather than that they sign away so much of their future earnings in exchange for access to credit?

Maybe if the government hadn't decided that America had too many small banks, the traditional savings and loans institutions could have allowed reliable workers with good personal references access to small amounts of credit (that would be paid back) to help them help themselves?

Instead, we disparage the poor and pity that they are how they are because of their personal shortcomings without understanding just how much it "costs" to be poor.

Leslie Caccamese

Yountville
On a recent wine trip to Germany, I kept hearing about dry rieslings. I found this so odd as I am painfully aware of their beauty and balance. It was only upon returning home and speaking with prominent German wine importer, Rudi Wiest, did I realize that the country is in a bit of a wine renaissance. I was certainly surprised to hear this as I wasnt aware that there were Dark Ages.

It may come as a surprise but would you ever guess that German wine was once the most expensive in the world? In the late 1800s that was the case, and by a lot. It was often sold for more than double the price of Clos de Vougeout and fetched higher prices than even Chateau Lafite. This information was confusing to me and also delightful but how did we get to where we are today, I wondered.

It may be a bit of an over-simplification but the best quote I have read about German wine after this golden era in the late 1800s to a new mindset in the first half of the 1900s was from Simon Winder in his book Germania who stated that after the wars, German wine just tasted too much of steel helmet.

In the late 1940s and through the 1970s, stability and sweet wine reigned supreme but how interesting would life be without a little scandal: two scandals to be exact. In 1981, no less than 2,000 Pfalz vintners were convicted of spiking cheap wine with sugar and just four years later a local wine dealer was jailed for four years for adding 530 tons of sugar to 2.5 million gallons of sub-par wine.

Rocked by scandal, ready to regain its place among the most-coveted wines in the world, motivated by international tastes and propagated by a set of internationally-trained young winemakers, the flavor profile of riesling began to change. The new guard of vintners began to produce bone-dry expressions of the grape.

At first, they were ridiculed by their colleagues, though now dry German wine is a part of the new food culture-obsessed lifestyle. The word trocken (German for dry) started to dominant wine labels to let the consumer know that this was not sweet as was the expectation at the time.

In June of 2002, to further cement their place among the top wines of the world the VdP (an invite-only self-governing organization of fewer than 200 wineries that seeks to improve the quality and image of German wines) established Grosses Gewachs or GG. This GG is a designation for the highest quality wines. It qualifies these wines over the course of a five-year process of evaluations of the vineyards and several tastings of the wines from each vintage to ensure that these wines are on par with the Grand Cru sites of France and the best wines internationally.

Think this all may be a marketing ploy? Think again. Would you believe that: Fritz Hasselbach of Gunderloch in the Rheinhessen, is now known as The 300 Point Man for being the only winemaker in the world ever to have received a perfect 100 points three times from The Wine Spectator.

I am excited by so much of what is happening in Germany. The amazing people, the quality-ensuring legislation, the complicated history and the bright path for the future. Dry German riesling is among the most difficult wines in the word to make, and is also seen as the highest rendition of art in winemaking.

Here is a short list of some of the most stand out wineries and their dry rieslings from my jaunt through Germany:

 Weingut Pfeffingen

At the winery, we were greeted by Jan Eymael. He and I already met in Los Angeles a while back, so it was like a little piece of welcome familiarity in Germany for me. He led the group through 10 wines including, of course, his benchmark Scheurebe: a wild vine and riesling cross grape celebrating its 100th birthday.

Pfeffingen is truly a family operation planted with just 37 acres. Jan beams as he mentions that his mother, Doris, is one of the first female winemakers in Germany and his son even sneaks down to make a guest appearance at the tasting. The wine labels feature a unicorn, the familys coat of arms conferred in 1622 by Emperor Ferdinand II.

Weingut Pfeffingen 2015 Terra Rossa Riesling Trocken: Aptly named Terra Rossa for the red loam soil that it is grown in, this showed wonderful depth with its sweet and savory bouquet displaying peach skins, mineral-stone and citrus zest. On the palate, tart pineapple, herbs and minerals with a thrust of vibrant acidity. It was intense on the finish with lingering notes of bright citrus. www.pfeffingen.de

 Weingut von Winning

Uwe Brenneisen led us through the estate that is crafting some of the very best dry wines in Germany, a result of obsessive winemaker Stefan Attman. Under the same ownership and winemaking team as the Dr. Deinhard label (designated for fruity styles vinified in stainless steel), the Von Winning label is reserved for just 40 hectares for the Grosses Gewachs sites vinified dry and in wood. Von Winning maintains some of the oldest parcels in Grosses Gewachs vineyards smattered across Forst, Deidesheim and Ruppertsberg.

Attmans every decision is informed by great enthusiasm and experiences at estates in the Cote dOr and abroad. For example, Attmans newer vines are planted at a very high vine density  9,500 vines per hectare, as opposed to the more typical less than 5,000. This creates competition amongst the vines, forcing the roots to grow deep, naturally reducing yields. Attman has adopted the single cane trellising system, prevalent in Burgundy, and Grosses Gewachs wines ferment in 500-liter French barrels. Von Winning practices organic and sustainable viticulture.

Weingut von Winning 2014 Deidesheimer Herrgottsacker, Riesling Trocken: Very typical riesling nose of honeysuckle, petrol and tart lemons with a golden straw color. Super fruit driven in the nose but in the mouth the minerality and acid really step up. Very balanced and elegant. www.von-winning.de

 Domane Schloss Johannisberg

The tour at this 900-year-old winery was led by charismatic estate manager, Christian Witte. Founded as a Benedictine monastery, Schloss Johannisberg is the worlds oldest riesling wine estate. The winery features a historical cask cellar from 1721 and the former monastery built nine centuries ago. Its barrels are made from trees grown on the property. They are remarkably responsible for the style Spatlese due to a delay in the authorization to harvest the 1775 vintage.

Schloss Johannisberg 2014 Riesling Silberlack GG trocken: The hand-harvested grapes from the totally south-facing vineyard is steep as 45 degrees and climbs to 593 feet above sea level. The forest on top of the Taunus protects the vineyards from cold winds from the North and in the South the Rhine lays like a lake in front of the estate on the foothills. The 50-degree parallel runs directly through the vineyard and the wine boasts a deep lemon yellow color with an attractive, multilayered bouquet that shows exotic notes of mango and pineapple, citrus notes of ripe limes, yellow plums, almond blossoms, green tea, coconut and hint of vanilla. The palate displays a firm core wrapped with vivid acidity. Distinctive and persistent tastes with lots of grapefruit and minerals. www.schloss-johannisberg.de
Well heres a bizarre story to start your Thursday off right. A Shania Twain fans disappearance back in June, which Shania Twain herself tweeted about, has turned out to be fake, fake, fake (allegedly).

In June, New Yorker (and Shania Twain super fan) Rachael Mattice, 24, disappeared from her familys campsite in the Adirondack Mountains. Before her disappearance, Mattice texted her mom, Im at the bottom of the hill. Goodnight and I love you, before she lost cell service. Her family later found her vehicle with its doors open and her purse and phone inside, sparking a desperate search for the young woman.

At one point, Rachaels best friend made a plea to Shania Twain to see if she could send a message to the missing woman.

You are Rachaels favorite country artist, the friend posted to Instagram. Her parents use [sic] to call her Shania when she was little because she would sing your music all the time.  Im reaching out to you in hopes that you can make one of Rachaels dreams come true by sending a message out to her.

Shania came through and on June 30 sent out two tweets to the woman.

Ive heard the story of Rachael Mattice & urge anyone with information to come forward to the police & help her return to her family. (1/2)  Shania Twain (@ShaniaTwain) June 30, 2016

Thinking of you Rachael. (2/2)  Shania Twain (@ShaniaTwain) June 30, 2016

Two weeks, an extensive search, one candlelight vigil, 400 leads followed by officers, thousands of man hours, and a $100,000 price tag later, and Mattice turned herself into police. She claimed that a mysterious bearded man had kidnapped, assaulted, and kept her locked in a shed. He then, according to her report, released her near her parents New York home.

Police became suspicious when hospital records indicated she hadnt been assaulted and witnesses came forward saying they had given Mattice a ride to another campsite after her supposed abduction. During a press conference at the end of July, police announced that the bearded man they were searching for didnt exist and that nothing Mattice said happened. Its all made-up.

Rachael ended up being arrested and was charged with falsely reporting an abduction, a misdemeanor. She pleaded not guilty in court on August 9.

Believe it or not, thats not the end of the story. At the time of her disappearance, Mattice was under investigation for allegedly stealing prescription drugs from her employer. Police believe this may have been what caused her to fake her disappearance. On Tuesday, she appeared in court, charged with one count of Petit Larceny. Her trial is scheduled for November.

But wait, theres more! In a separate odd but related story, two of Mattices friends have now been arrested for attempting to help police locate their friend (while she was still believed to be kidnapped) by throwing a smoke bomb into a house.

Yeah.

According to police, James Gasiewski, 30, and Jacob Eggleston, 31, believed wrongly that Rachael was being held in a home in Caroga, New York after getting false information from social media. Rather than just calling police, the two allegedly tossed a lit smoke-producing device through a window. They then called 911 and reported that the house was on fire.

Their hope, apparently, was that police and/or firefighters would find their friend inside. Instead, it was found that the house was empty. The smoke bomb was put out and police arrested the well-meaning criminal masterminds. Gasiewski was charged with fourth-degree reckless endangerment of property and criminal mischief, and Eggleston was booked on sixth-degree conspiracy charges.

Eesh. So, moral of the story? Dont do drugs, kids.
By Donna Gregory Burch

Donna Gregory Burch

Between the pain, fatigue and other troublesome symptoms, maintaining employment can be a big challenge for many of us living with fibromyalgia.

According to National Pain Reports most recent fibromyalgia survey, 58 percent of respondents said they cant work due to health reasons. Only 21 percent said they are employed full time. These numbers reflect how debilitating fibromyalgia can be.

Unable to work, some fibro warriors end up applying for Social Security disability, but getting approved for benefits is anything but easy. As youll soon read, disability judges are questioning fibromyalgia cases even more closely these days because our condition is sometimes seen as a wastebasket diagnosis.

So what can we do to put forth the strongest disability case possible if we have fibromyalgia? I recently interviewed Jonathan Ginsberg, an Atlanta-based Social Security disability attorney and managing partner of Ginsberg Law Offices, to get his best advice for winning a fibromyalgia disability case.

Jonathan Ginsberg

Jonathan has published two how-to books about Social Security disability  the Disability Answer Guide and the Child SSI Disability Answer Guide. Jonathan is also the publisher of a national Social Security disability information website and, more recently, has developed ssdRadio, an Internet radio program about Social Security disability. He also maintains an active presence on YouTube with more than 150 educational videos.

Below, Jonathan shares his expertise in navigating the Social Security disability system with fibromyalgia.

Ive heard varying opinions regarding the difficulty of getting approved for Social Security disability for fibromyalgia. Can you get Social Security disability for fibromyalgia on its own? Or is it usually people with multiple conditions, including fibromyalgia, who are most successful at getting approved for benefits?

You can get Social Security disability for fibromyalgia (FMS). The Social Security Administration (SSA) has even published a ruling that instructs judges how to evaluate FMS cases. However, Social Security judges give FMS cases much more scrutiny than they did even five years ago, perhaps because FMS is over diagnosed by family doctors when they need a diagnosis to help explain a patients intractable pain.

In 2016, judges are much more comfortable approving claims for diseases and conditions that can be identified using a diagnostic test like an MRI, CT scan, EMG, etc. As such, if I am representing a client with fibro and another condition that can be radiographically confirmed, Ill usually focus my argument on the condition with the objective evidence. If I have no other condition to work with, I can build a winning case based on fibro alone, but I will need the right kind of evidence.

The right kind of evidence for a fibromyalgia case consists of long-term treatment notes from a rheumatologist or pain management specialist, a statement that the patients condition meets the criteria set forth by the American College of Rheumatology, and evidence from medical records and testimony that the patient has been fully compliant with all treatment and medical recommendations.

I also find that judges expect a certain type of claimant  the classic profile is a type A female  usually in their mid to late 40s with a very strong work history. Typically this person is an overachiever, often ending up in a job that would otherwise require more education or work experience than what my client has. My classic FMS client will have gone from doctor to doctor seeking relief. Often my client brings me one or two three-ring binders containing medical records organized with color-coded tabs.

I have never known any male to recover Social Security disability based on fibromyalgia.

There are people who dont believe fibromyalgia exists. Most physicians recognize it as a syndrome, not a disease. Does that make it more difficult to get approved? Are judges becoming more educated in the condition?

Years ago, I appeared before judges who did not believe that fibromyalgia existed. They would bring in psychiatrists, internists and other specialists to try to better understand what this condition was. Now, most Social Security administrative law judges do understand that fibromyalgia exists and is real, but some are still skeptical because it cannot be confirmed radiographically. Even these judges will approve cases where there is unqualified support (in the form of a functional capacity evaluation form) from a treating rheumatologist or pain doctor.

Last year, the United States finally started using the ICD-10 coding system for medical billing. For the first time, fibromyalgia has its own code. Does that bring legitimacy to the condition?

The ICD-10 coding status has never come up at a hearing I have attended. I do think that the majority of medical providers do recognize that fibromyalgia does exist in some patients. Again, the struggle is to separate patients who really have the syndrome from those that may have pain but not FMS pain.

Can you still work and apply for benefits?

In theory you can work part time and still apply. Social Security defines disability as the inability to engage in substantial gainful activity because of a medical condition or condition that has lasted or is expected to last 12 consecutive months or result in death.

For 2016, substantial gainful activity is equal to monthly gross income of $1,130, so, in theory, one could work part time, earning less than that and still pursue disability.

In reality, however, I advise my clients that ongoing part-time work is a problem. Most judges see disability in a black or white context. Either you are disabled or you are not. When a claimant is working part time, the judge may conclude that the claimant could work full time at an easier, less demanding job.

Here is more about the problems with part-time work.

Here is a video I recorded about how to explain part-time work at a hearing.

Some of us are able to work a few hours, but cant handle a full-time job. Does partial disability exist?

No, Social Security only awards full disability. Either you are disabled or you are not. There is no partial disability under Social Security law at this time.

Can you explain what happens when you apply for disability?

When someone applies for Social Security disability that application is considered an initial application. The case file is sent to an adjudicator, who functions like an insurance claims adjuster, who works for the state (not federal government) in the state where the claimant lives. This is called the state agency, and every state has one. The adjudicator sends out requests for medical records, requests for work or education records, and statements from third parties. This initial evaluation process takes 3-5 months.

When the evidence comes back, the adjudicator will review it and ask an in-house physician or psychologist to review it as well. Most of the time in a FMS case, the conclusion will be that the claimant is not disabled, and a denial notice will be sent out.

Upon receipt of the denial notice, the claimant has 60 days to file an appeal. This appeal is called a request for reconsideration. When the reconsideration request is received by the state agency, it will be sent to an adjudicator for review. If the reconsideration appeal references new medical or non-medical evidence, the adjudicator will request it. Otherwise the file will again be reviewed by an in-house medical source and a decision issued. This process takes 3-5 months as well. Only about 10 percent of claims are approved at reconsideration.

When the reconsideration denial is issued, the claimant has 60 days to request a hearing. Currently there is a one- to two-year delay from the time a hearing is requested to the time a hearing is scheduled.

You can and should appeal an initial denial and a reconsideration denial. The hearing is your best chance at winning because you have a judge who has more authority and training to review the entire file.

If you lose at the hearing, you can file an appeal to the Appeals Council. It can take one to two years to get a decision, and very few hearing decisions are remanded (sent back) or reversed. If you lose at the Appeals Council, you can appeal to federal court, but here, too, the odds are very small.

Appeals to the Appeals Council or federal court will generally only be successful if you can show the judge made a mistake in analysis or if the judge misrepresented the evidence. The Appeals Council or federal court will not take a new look at the evidence.

If a claimant loses at the hearing, I look at the unfavorable decision for a possible appeal, but I would estimate that I accept no more than 5 percent of the denials I see for appeal.

You can start over, but your onset date for your new claim will be the day after the unfavorable hearing decision.

Why does the process of seeking disability benefits take so long?

It takes so long because the SSA is underfunded and understaffed. They also use a kludgy procedure for every claim  even the ones that are clearly without merit. Eight years ago, SSA invested $300 million in a computer system to replace a system that used 54 separate computer systems, but basically had to write off that investment and start over. The number of claims has continued to rise but Congress has been unwilling to increase SSAs budget to evaluate these claims.

SSA has made great strides in porting over to a paperless file system, which has been very helpful, but the delays in claim processing continue to rise without any indication that wait times will level out and decrease. I regularly try cases for clients who applied 2.5 to three years previously.

At what point should you hire a disability attorney? And how do you choose a good one?

My feeling is that you dont need an attorney to file your application. It is easy and free to file. Just go to ssa.gov/applyfordisability, or call (800) 772-1213. At the initial application stage, the Social Security adjudicator will gather information about your case, including medical records, statements from third parties, work records, etc. and make a decision.

If you get denied at your initial application stage, it may make sense to hire a lawyer to prepare and file your appeal. A lawyer can help in four ways:

Once a lawyer is associated with your case, both you and your lawyer will receive notices from SSA. This may not seem like a big deal, but SSA loses files on a regular basis, and they also can be unreliable with their mailing. Every year I get calls from potential clients whose initial applications were denied, but the claimant never got notice. Having a second recipient for notices makes it more likely that at least one of you will get any notice, and your lawyer will know when to start calling if no notice comes when it should be there.

SSA insists that all medical conditions must be identified early on  at initial or at reconsideration. A lawyer will review your records and make sure that all relevant medical issues are revealed on the forms. Hearing judges will not consider medical issues not previously raised at the initial/reconsideration stage, so it is crucial that all relevant medical issues are raised early.

A lawyer will develop a working theory of disability for your case. Many claimants, for example, have never heard of the listing or the grid rules, nor do they understand what they have to prove in a functional capacity argument. While it is arguably rare that a FMS case will be approved at reconsideration, it does happen if the lawyer gets a treating specialist to complete a functional capacity form and when medical records are complete. (As an aside, I wrote a book called the Disability Answer Guide that explains how to best complete the administrative forms if someone does not want to hire a lawyer at reconsideration.)

A lawyer can also take some of the stress from a claimant. SSA speaks its own language and requires literally dozens of forms to be completed.

As far as how to find a good lawyer, I would use Google to search for a lawyer with 10+ years of experience in this field. Avoid lawyers who dabble in Social Security disability. This is not an area where you can take two or three cases a year and stay sharp. I am also not a fan of the giant legal mill advertising firms. Many of these big advertisers use contract lawyers to try cases, and the hearing lawyer may not be familiar with the judges in your area. There is a professional association called NOSSCR with a lawyer referral service.

How important are medical records in building a disability case?

Medical records are 90 percent of what makes a successful case. SSA looks for what they call a longitudinal treatment record (ongoing treatment over an extended period of time) and medical source statements (either a statement on a listing or a functional capacity form).

The law requires SSA to help develop the record if a claimant does not have much treatment but this usually amounts to SSA sending the claimant to one or more consultative examinations. The physical medicine consultative examinations are usually worthless; they typically use the same types of doctors that insurance companies use to deny claims (industrial clinic docs). The psychological evaluations are usually a bit more helpful but it is not wise to rely solely or mostly on a consultative evaluation in an SSD case.

Typically, fibro claimants do not have a shortage of medical records. There can be issues with doctors who dont believe in the concept of disability and thus wont complete forms, or when a claimant moves from doctor to doctor seeking relief, and no one doctor has enough contact with the claimant to fill out a form.

In online forums, well-meaning people sometimes advise others not to wear makeup or style their hair in an attempt to look sicker during their hearing. What are your thoughts on that advice?

I advise my clients to dress comfortably and casually. I would not deliberately try to look sick but I wouldnt try to mask how the claimant really feels. In my view, the medical record represents about 90 percent of what makes up a decision. Ones appearance and testimony at a hearing are far less important than a strong medical record.

What factors do the judges consider when rendering their decision?

The judges role is to translate medical records into specific work limitations. So, a comprehensive set of medical treatment records and opinion evidence in the form of a functional capacity evaluation make up 90 percent of what a judge needs.

Testimony is also important. I advise my clients to avoid showing an attitude of entitlement. Come across as a fighter  someone who does not want to be asking for disability and who would return to work immediately if possible.

Judges also expect claimants to be prepared for their hearings. For example, there are certain background questions that are always asked (work history, job titles, etc.). You should not waste time pondering these questions while on the clock at your hearing. Hearings last 45 minutes to an hour, so dont waste the judges time. It is also important to describe your limitations specifically. Avoid phrases like not very much or not very far. You need to give answers using specific measurements  pounds, minutes, feet/yards. I have almost 60 videos on my YouTube channel discussing hearing advice, which covers hearing strategy in great detail.

What general advice can you give to someone applying for disability for fibromyalgia?

I think that, in general, fibro cases are more difficult to win than in years past. You need more than a FMS diagnosis from your family doctor and your own testimony. If you meet the profile (see question #1 above) and if you have medical records from both your family doctor and a rheumatologist and/or pain doctor, and if you have support from one or more specialists (a functional capacity evaluation that identifies significant work limitations), you stand a strong chance at winning.

Always keep in mind that your diagnosis is much less important than opinion evidence from your treating doctor setting out specific activity limitations that arise from your fibro.

*****

Donna Gregory Burch was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2014 after several years of unexplained pain, fatigue and other symptoms. Earlier this year, she was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease. Donna covers news, treatments, research and practical tips for living better with fibromyalgia on her blog, FedUpwithFatigue.com. She is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared online and in newspapers and magazines throughout Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania. She lives in Delaware with her husband and their many fur babies.
Italian prime minister demands that she be addressed as prime minister in masculine form

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Armenian gravestone found in Trabzon, Turkey neighborhood

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Dollar, euro continue falling in Armenia

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Bayramov and US Assistant Secretary of State discuss Yerevan-Baku relations

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YEREVAN.  Specifying as to what concessions the Armenian side will make under these conditions, when the Azerbaijani side never speaks about its concessions, is a gross tactical and strategic error.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan told the aforementioned to reporters, after Thursdays Cabinet session.

In his words, speaking about such matters now is defeatism, since Azerbaijan has never made any statements yet regarding its concessions to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

When Baku will speak [about its] concessions, it will be possible to speak also about their reciprocal nature, stressed Kocharyan.

Reflecting on the Karabakh negotiation process, the deputy FM noted that the Armenian parties to this conflict say they are ready for mutual concessions.

But as long as there is no [corresponding] statement by Azerbaijan; moreover, as long as their position is becoming tougher, speaking about concessions, in my view, is meaningless, concluded Shavarsh Kocharyan.
YEREVAN. - If the section of Yerevans Sari Tagh district, where the protestors stood, was considered a dangerous zone, let the police have put a cordon there in advance.

Vice Chairman of Armenias Heritage Party Armen Martirosyan told Armenian News  NEWS.am, reacting to the accusation that the members of his political force directed the protestors to a dangerous section leading to the territory of the seized police station, which could have resulted in dozens of victims.

In the same way, they could say that Khorenatsi street was a dangerous zone, since a direct road lead to the police station area from there. If the Sari Tagh section, where the demonstrators stood, was considered a dangerous zone, let them have put a cordon there in advance, the way it was done in Khorenatsi street and other places. The people would have understood that that was a dangerous territory and wouldnt have approached it. The dangerous zone was lower, while the demonstrators were from it, Martirosyan said.

In his words, the clashes were sparked by provocateurs recruited by the authorities.

Armen Martirosyan spent about three weeks in prison on charges of organizing mass unrest in Sari Tagh on July 29. He was released on bail on Wednesday. His fellow party members Davit Sanasaryan and Hovsep Khurshudyan are still under arrest on the same charges. Heritage Party issued a statement in connection with the arrest of Martirosyan, Sanasaryan and Khurshudyan, in which it refused to take part in the local municipal elections.

Asked whether this decision will be changed in connection with his release, Martirosyan said: This decision was apparent, since I held all the negotiations on the elections. But I cant yet say anything on what will happen in the future and whether the decision will be reviewed.

Referring to the decision of Sasna Tsrer armed group to lay down the arms, the opposition figure noted that this was a correct decision. I think that they did everything correctly. Obviously, the police shouldnt be held responsible for the corruption and embezzlement committed by the government representatives. They were correct in not choosing bloodshed, Martirosyan concluded.
The Prosecutor Generals Office of Russias Tula district has appealed the indictment against Armenian citizen Garnik Harutyunyan, who was found guilty of the traffic accident involving many victims, Senior Advisor to the district prosecutor Lyubov Kuznetsova informed on Thursday.

In her words, the sentence has been appealed on grounds of extreme leniency of the punishment, Interfax reports.

On August 2, Uzlovsky court of Tula district sentenced Harutyunyan to 4 years and 6 months in prison with the revocation of the right to drive transportation means for three years.

The passenger bus, which was traveling from Moscow to Yerevan, had the accident on November 3 last year, in the Uzlovsky District of Tula Oblast (province), Russia.

There were over 60 passengers on the bus, all of them Armenian citizens. Consequently, 9 people died and 46 sustained injuries. 32 people were hospitalized. A criminal case was opened against the driver under the article of ''violation of traffic rules, negligently resulting in the deaths of two or more persons,'' which stipulates until seven years in prison. Custody was chosen as a precautionary measure against the driver.
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has said that four of the five oil wells discovered in Lagos indeed belong to the state.



It, however, disputed the state's ownership of fifth oil well, which it said fell beyond 200 metres isobaths and therefore does not belong to the state government.



The status of the oil wells was unveiled on Wednesday when a delegation of the Indices and Disbursement Committee of RMAFC led by its Chairman, Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed, visited Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.



The visit was to verify crude oil and gas production from Aje oil wells to set the stage for the disbursement of 13 per cent derivation fund to the state in line with the 1999 Constitution (as amended).



Mohammed said that in pursuant of the commission's mandate, RMAFC set up an Inter-Agency Technical Committee with members drawn from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation and the National Boundary Commission (NBC) to determine the location of the Aje oil wells.



He said: "The technical committee recommended that for the purpose of derivation as spelt out under Section 162 (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as well as the provision of the Allocation of Revenue Act 2004, Aje oil wells 1, 2, 4 and 5 fall within the 200m isobaths and therefore should be attributed to Lagos State.



"As a result, the commission and members of the Inter-Agency Committee had to embark on this working visit to conclude the process. Please, note that Aje 3 oil well falls beyond the 200m isobaths and therefore cannot be legitimately attributed to Lagos State," he stated.



Mohammed noted that the commencement of oil production from Aje oil field by Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited was the first time oil was being produced outside the Niger Delta Basin and therefore a landmark in diversifying the source of crude oil and gas production in the country.



Ambode described the visit as historic, stressing that, "We are very glad to receive this delegation. We also want to thank the Federal Government, especially President Muhammadu Buhari for making this to happen very promptly. I want to say that this has been the promptest action that has been taken by RMAFC since I have known the commission.




Jigawa Pilgrims Welfare Board (JSPWB), says the state government will not intervene for anybody who is caught with kola nuts in Saudi Arabia.

The Head of Operations of the Board, Alhaji Ahmed Labbo, gave the warning in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Wednesday.



He added that Saudi authorities had warned intending pilgrims against exportation of kola nuts to the Holy Land.



`` Saudi Government has banned pilgrims from taking kola nuts to the holy cities of Medina and Mecca during the pilgrimage.''

He said Saudi Arabia had warned that anybody who did not comply will be prosecuted according to the law of the land.



``I am, therefore, advising our pilgrims to desist because the state government will not intervene for anybody who is caught in the act.

``It is very necessary for us to note this because the Saudi Government had issued serious warning that it will not allow anybody to take kola nuts to their country'', he said.
09:59

Narsingh Yadav's statement after his 4-year ban:



"To say I am devastated at the decision of CAS would be putting it mildly. I have gone through so much over the last two months off the mat but the thought of fighting for the glory of the nation at the Games had kept me going. My dream of competing and winning the country a medal at the Rio Olympics has been cruelly snatched away from me twelve hours before my first bout," Narsingh, who was to fight in men's 74kg category, said.



"But I will do everything it takes to prove my innocence. It is all I have left to fight for," he said in a statement issued by his sponsors JSW Sports.



In a stunning reversal of fortunes, wrestler Narsingh Yadav was ousted from the Olympics yesterday and slapped with a four-year ban for flunking a dope test after the ad hoc division of Court of Arbitration for Sports overturned the clean chit given to him by the National Anti-Doping Agency.



The statement said that a review of the decision could be filed if further evidence is found pertaining to the claim of sabotage made by Narsingh.



"We will be pressing for a review of the decision that WADA would be amenable to if further evidence is found pertaining to sabotage," it said.



"JSW Sports strongly believes in Narsingh's innocence and will stand by the wrestler in doing everything to fight for justice," it added. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had appealed against the NADA all-clear to Narsingh at the ad hoc division of the CAS at Rio, three days ahead of his scheduled opening bout at the Olympics.
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SAN FRANCISCO: Giving a renewed push to its dream of making it big in the world of virtual reality, machine learning and Internet of Things (IoT), Intel has announced several projects during its ongoing three-day Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco this week.

The company unveiled Intel Project Alloy -- an all-in-one VR solution that features the compute and sensors integrated directly into the headset and leverages "Intel RealSense" technology.

Intel is also collaborating with Microsoft to bring VR to mainstream PCs, the company said in a statement on wednesday.

During the annual conference organised from August 16-18, CEO Brian Krzanich introduced the new Intel Joule platform for the IoT -- a high-end compute platform capable of delivering human-like senses to a new generation of smart devices.

He also announced the availability of the Yuneec Typhoon H drone, Intel Aero Platform Compute Board and the Intel Aero Platform Ready-to-Fly Drone.

Speaking about the importance of role developers are playing in bringing company's projects to life, the company also announced the Intel Euclid Developer Kit for researchers and robotics developers.

The device integrates sense, compute and connect capabilities in an all-in-one candy bar size form-factor that gives developers the ability to quickly create applications with "Intel RealSense" technology.

Krzanich also explained his vision for merged reality -- a new way of experiencing physical and virtual interactions and environments through a suite of next-generation sensing and digitising technologies.

"Merged reality delivers virtual world experiences more dynamically and naturally than ever before -- and makes experiences impossible in the real world now possible," said Krzanich.

Read Also: Google Unveils End-To-End Encrypted Video Calling App

NASA's Asteroid Mission Brings Astronauts Closer To Mars
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks about Balochistan and Pakistani Kashmir in his Independence Day speech "have not helped matters on the bilateral front", a Pakistan daily has said, terming the current state of relations between the two neighbours as "toxic". "Narendra Modis remarks, repeated during his speech on Aug 15, unnecessarily dragging Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir into the debate, have not helped matters on the bilateral front, or in addressing the unrest in held Kashmir," the Dawn said on Thursday. Asking the Indian government to respond positively to Pakistan's invitation for talks on Kashmir, it said, "Indian foreign secretary should respond positively to Pakistan's invitation. Both the sides need to frankly and sincerely discuss Kashmir - and all other issues". India on Wednesday agreed to talk to Islamabad on the "aspects" related to cross-border terrorism". Terming the current atmosphere between the two countries as "toxic", it said the two nations instead of indulging in a blame game must resort to a mature way of handling the situation in Kashmir. "While the Indian establishment claims Pakistan is fuelling unrest in Indian Kashmir, it is quite clear that the uprising is indigenous in nature, fuelled by New Delhi's repressive methods in the held territory," it added. "Pakistan's call for dialogue makes eminent sense. This can be an opportunity to revive the Pakistan-India dialogue process," the editorial said. It said India's strategy in the "held Kashmir has not borne fruit" and militarising Kashmir has only "increased the locals resentment against New Delhi". "Brutal state repression will only further alienate the Kashmiris, and cause disenchanted youth to pick up the gun," it said adding, "grandstanding and indulging in cross-border verbal duels" will only make matters worse. The Kashmir valley has been on boil since the July 8 killing of militant commander Burhan Wani and the ensuing clashes between protesting mobs and security forces have left over 60 people dead. --IANS ruwa/rn/vm ( 332 Words) 2016-08-18-14:20:03 (IANS)
Vietnam is aiming to create favourable conditions for attracting more investment in infrastructure sector, Xinhua news agency quoted Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Dao Minh Tu as telling Christopher Legg, AIIB Director for Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam at the meeting here earlier this week.

Vietnam and the AIIB will soon select appropriate projects which have economic effectiveness while still securing the target of maintaining sustainable public debt, Tu said.

Legg, for his part, said that based on investment demand and policies of Vietnam, he will urge the AIIB to consider providing financial support for Vietnam.

The AIIB, formally established in Beijing in December 2015, is a multilateral financial institution with the aim of promoting investment in infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific region.

--IANS sm/ksk/dg

( 164 Words)

2016-08-18-15:14:01 (IANS)
Actor Boman Irani is busy urging people to take a 'Smelfie Challenge' to rid their homes of odour, and now Bollywood choreographer-director Farah Khan has challenged her "Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi" co-star. Boman, who is the brand ambassador for Ambi Pur India, is inviting consumers to click smelfies with what they consider the most difficult household odour to get rid of, and send it to the #Smelfie contest platform during the contest. Farah took up the challenge, and said: "I have taken up the Smelfie challenge with what I think is the most difficult smell to get rid of - Fish! So, bring it on Boman, lets see if you win." "I was intrigued by this challenge by Boman! No one likes odours, especially me. But we all face it. So I am very eager to see if Ambi Pur is truly as effective in getting rid of home odours. I want to see if it can be my go-to for my lovely home. So, I have taken up the Smelfie challenge with what I think is the most difficult smell to get rid of - Fish! So, bring it on Boman, lets see if you win," Farah said in a statement. Under this contest, some winners will stand a chance to get invites to a house party hosted by Boman where he will demonstrate how Ambi Pur eliminates the household odours brought in by winners. The "Om Shanti Om" maker will now be seen joining Boman at his house party. --IANS sug/ks/vm ( 263 Words) 2016-08-18-15:10:06 (IANS)
More than 3,300 persons in the town of Havelock North fell sick with gastroenteritis brought on by campylobacter contamination of the drinking water, Xinhua news agency reported.

At least 17 persons were hospitalised and one person is still in intensive care, according to the local health authority.

The government had initiated an independent inquiry into the water contamination, the cause of which is still unknown, Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said.

"The inquiry will look at the events surrounding the outbreak and the response, as well as consider any wider systemic issues," Coleman said in a statement.

The situation was compounded on Thursday when one of the nine water tankers taking drinking water to Havelock North residents was found to be contaminated with e-coli.

--IANS sm/ksk/sac

( 162 Words)

2016-08-18-13:08:01 (IANS)
A Metropolitan Magistrate on Thursday granted bail to five doctors of the L.H. Hiranandani Hospital in a kidney racket case, subject to several stringent conditions. Hospital CEO Sujit Chatterjee, Medical Director Anurag Naik, medicos Mukesh Shetye, Prakash Shetty and Mukesh Shah -- arrested on August 9 -- were ordered to be be released on bail of Rs 30,000 each. However, the court ordered them to report to the police station concerned even Monday evening till September 26 and also barred them from leaving the country without the court's permission. On August 13, these five medicos were produced before the court at the end of their police custody and remanded in judicial custody till August 26. Now, their bail pleas have been granted on Thursday. On August 16, the accused doctors' lawyers Aabad Ponda, Subir Kumar, Pranav Badheka and Brian D'lima had filed the bail applications during a regular sitting, as directed by the magistrate last Saturday. The defence said the police had told the court that the accused were not required for further custodial interrogation, that there were no financial dealings by them and since they are medicos of repute they would not abscond or tamper with evidence or witnesses. They argued that the doctors had no role in the approval of the kidney donation and bail had already been granted to the other prime accused, including the kidney donor, the intended recipient and the coordinator. However, the public prosecutor opposed the bail on the grounds that they might tamper with evidence, that the racket was still being probed and that the anticipatory bail pleas of two other hospital medicos had been rejected. Last Friday, the Dindoshi Sessions Court had rejected the anticipatory bail applications of medicos Suwin Shetty and Veena Salekar. Police is probing more suspicious kidney transplants and have already hinted at more arrests from the hospital. On August 12, the Hiranandani Hospital appointed an external firm, Ernst & Young, to audit all kidney transplant cases carried out in the hospital in the past one year. The lid was blown off the racket on July 14 when social worker Suresh Gupta, some political activists and members of a trade union stopped a kidney transplant operation midway since the donor and the recipient were allegedly found to be a fake couple -- 'husband' Brijkishore Jaiswal and 'wife' Shobha Thakur. Since then, a total of 14 persons have been arrested in connection with the racket at the reputed 12-year-old suburban private 240-bed hospital. Following the expose, the Maharashtra Directorate of Health Services set up a committee of medical experts, which is said to have found irregularities related to at least four kidney transplant cases. Based on the committee's report, the police arrested the five medicos on August 9, sending shockwaves in the medical fraternity. --IANS qn/tsb/sac ( 474 Words) 2016-08-18-16:06:09 (IANS)
In response to the call ofAll India Banks Employees Association ( AIBEA) andAll India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA), morethank five lakh employees and officers working inPublic Sector Banks, Private Banks, foreign banks,Regional Rural Banks and Cooperative Banks willgo on a one-day Nation-wide strike on September 2in protest against the Union Government's 'anti-peopleeconomic policies and anti-worker labour reforms'. The strike call was given in the backdrop of CentralTrade Unions organised a National Trade Union Conventionof all trade unions including unions in Banks, Insurance,Public Sector, Defence Sector, Central and State GovernmentDepartments and calling a National General Strike onSeptember 2, AlBEA General Secretary Ch.Venkatachalamtold UNI here today. Listing out some of the aspects of policies and proposals ofthe government, he said amending all labour laws to empowerthe employers with unfettered rights to 'hire and fire', stripplingthe workers and trade unions of their rights, Unlimited FDI instrategic sectors like Railways, Defence and Financial Sector,Farmers' right to land and agri-workers' right to livelihood isbeing sought to be drastically curbed and curtailed and EPFand ESI schemes are proposed to be made optional. Mr Venkatachalam said the government has not taken anystep to curb price rise of essential commodities, failure togenerate adequate employment, weakening public distributionsystem, Amendment Bills have been put in public domain withoutconsulting the trade unions thereby violating the provisions of ILO Convention 144 of Tripartite Consultation. The Central Government also curtailed budget allocationsto all centrally sponsored schemes meant for poor peoples'welfare and denial of pension for all including the unorganizedsector workers, the AIBEA General Secretary said.MORE UNI CS 1036 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-892342.Xml
DRI sources told UNI that the yellow metal worth Rs two crore has been seized from Phaslish, who came by an Air India flight from Bahrain.

The smuggler hailing from Koilandy in this district has been taken into custody, the sources added.UNI PCH CS 0958

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"Prime Minister Modi seems more concerned about Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which is welcome, than he is interested in holding talks with India's Kashmiris," Digvijay told reporters here.

"Boosting trust among Kashmiris, whether they belong to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir or India-occupied Kashmir, is possible only through dialogue," he said.

The Congress General Secretary later corrected himself by saying he only meant that Modi is not worried about "India's Kashmir -- not worried about the valley -- but worried about Pak-occupied Kashmir".

Digvijay's gaffe invited immediate reactions on social media.

Bollywood actor Praesh Rawal tweeted: "Digvijay Singh ji calls J&K as 'India occupied Kashmir'. It was his #HappyRakshaBandhan gift to his Pakistani sisters".

--IANS sp/kb/vm

( 138 Words)

2016-08-18-14:20:01 (IANS)
Unprecedented security arrangements have been made across Colleges and at Karnataka Open University in the state to prevent students from participating in the Akhil BharatiyaVidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) sponsored agitation demanding filing of sedition charges, arrest of those who shouted slogans against the Army and the country and ban on Amnesty International India in thecity recently. Taking strong exception to students participating in the agitation, authorities have already issued warning to Principals of Government and Private Colleges against allowing students to skipclasses and participate in the stir. The ABVP activists, who protested against shouting sedition slogans in the middle of a function in which some of the displaced Kashmirs had participated, took to streets and today they were planning to show black flag to Home Minister G Parameshwara near Commissioner's office demanding ban on the Amnesty International India. However, their plans were scuttled by deploying a large number of Police near colleges to prevent students from participating in the agitation. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, when asked about the ABVP agitation, said that a case has been registered and inquiry is going on and without getting a report, action cannot be taken and added there is no reason for holding stir.UNI MSP CNR CS CJ SHS1449 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0400-892684.Xml
At a function held at the Raj Bhavan, girls from various walks of life tied rakhis -- sacred thread -- on Naik's wrist.

Among others, girls from Brahmakumari Ishwariya University and Princess Farzana of the royal family of Awadh also tied rakhis to the Governor.

Thanking all for coming to the Raj Bhavan on the occasion, Naik said he hoped that women and girls would get more security in society in days to come.

Later, a function was also held at Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's official 5, Kalidas Marg residence where a large number of girls from different schools and some party workers tied rakhis on him.

Akhilesh Yadav wished the people of the state on the Hindu festival and said the festival reminded people of sacrifice, love and affection towards sisters.

The festival is being celebrated across the state with traditional fervour.

--IANS md/ask/bg

( 179 Words)

2016-08-18-16:04:03 (IANS)
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan held a bilateral meeting with Delcy Rodriguez, Minister of External Affairs, and Eulogio del Pino, Minister of Petroleum of Venezuela and discussed various aspects of bilateral hydrocarbon engagements. These included, inter-alia, sourcing of crude and mechanism to register Indian Oil and Gas PSUs for sourcing of crude, status of the two upstream projects in which Indian Oil and Gas PSU companies have stakes, payment of outstanding dues to ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) by Venezuelan National Oil Company, participation of Indian Oil and Gas companies in additional E&P activities in Venezuela on G-to-G basis, setting up of an Oil for Export mechanism for payment of pending dues, and training of Venezuelan petroleum industry personnel in India. Both sides agreed to continue their cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector and work towards further strengthening the relation in the areas of mutual interests.Ms Rodriguez is currently on a visit to India from August 17-19, 2016 along with a delegation, including senior officials from the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining.Venezuela is India's 4th largest source of crude oil. In 2015-16, India imported 23.6 MMT of crude from Venezuela which is about 12 per cent of India's crude imports. OVL, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and Oil India Ltd have stakes in two of Venezuelan oil blocks.UNI ADP SHS 1558 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0429-892815.Xml
The India-Russia Working Group on Modernisation and Industrial Cooperation has acknowledged and reaffirmed their mutual interest in further strengthening and expanding bilateral cooperation between Russian and Indian companies in different sectors. Both sides also took note of the discussions held during the meeting of subgroups on Modernization, Mining, Fertilizers and Civil Aviation during 5th meeting of the India-Russia Working Group on Modernization and Industrial Cooperation which were held here today. Sri Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion led the Indian delegation to participate in the and held discussions with the Russian delegation headed by Alexander Potapov, Deputy Minister of Industry & Trade of the Russian Federation. According to a ministry statement, the talks during the meeting were held in a constructive atmosphere and both sides acknowledged their mutual interest in further strengthening and expanding bilateral cooperation between Russian and Indian companies in different sectors. In the civil Aviation sector Russian side declared its readiness to participate in the "Make in India" program in order to develop technological and production capabilities of the Indian side in this field and potential supplies of the jointly produced equipment to third countries.As regards fertilizer sector, both sides expressed mutual interest in developing the long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of mineral fertilizers in the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers of the Republic of India.Both sides also identified specific areas of cooperation in the field of mining and metallurgy. The Indian side expressed interest in joint development of coal fields and iron ore mines in Russia. They agreed to exchange information on such areas having potential for cooperation. Other specific fields identified for enhancing cooperation included technology for production of CRGO steel in India, pharmaceutical industry, modernization of steel manufacturing facilities in India and participation of Indian power equipment supplier in modernization of power sector in Russia. The Russian side reconfirmed their interest in receiving information about possible participation of Russian companies in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. Both sides have agreed to hold the next meeting of the Working Group in 2017 in Russian Federation.UNI ADP SHS 1712 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0429-892945.Xml
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and the Roads and Highways Department of People's Republic of Bangladesh today signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Dhaka. The MoU enables IOCL to send its trucks carrying Motor Spirit, High Speed Diesel, Superior Kerosene Oil & Liquefied Petroleum Gas from Meghalaya to Tripura via territory of Bangladesh. According to a Petroleum Ministry release, it will help the supply of petroleum products to Tripura. The validity of this facility is till end September, 2016. Both sides have also agreed to extend the transit facility for a further short period on need basis.The work on the broad gauging of the railway track in the North-Eastern region has shifted the goods vehicle traffic on to the roads. Further, due to heavy rains in the region this Monsoon, the roads, including NH 44, have been affected resulting in non plying of goods trucks, including those carrying petroleum goods to Tripura. This resulted into a situation of scarcity of essential petroleum goods.The Bangladesh Government, given the friendly, multi-dimensional and expanding bilateral relations between the two countries, agreed to India's request for facilitation of the movement of IOCL trucks carrying petroleum goods to Tripura through its territory. While alternate measures are also being taken to address the situation, the facilitation extended by the Bangladesh Government under the MoU is expected to improve the situation of shortage of petroleum products in Tripura in appreciable measure.UNI ADP RJ 2027 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0429-893463.Xml
Acting on a tip-off, a team of District Special Branch, along with police, apprehended one Vikas Sahu, resident of Rampur, District Patna, Bihar, at present Gangyal, Jammu.

''During search, 1.8 kg opium (Ganja) was recovered,'' police said, adding that a case under NDPS Act has been registered and investigation started. UNI VBH AKC RJ 2056

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The 37-year-old accused Santosh and the woman, in her 40s, were arrested from a house in Sahibabad. Victim Rajneesh was also rescued from the same place.

Rajneesh was missing since August 6. Following a complaint, police launched a manual and technical surveillance and came to know that the family had received a ransom call of Rs 10 lakh from the kidnappers, who were using the victim's mobile phone.

"The accused hatched a conspiracy to extort money from Rajneesh through a honey trap. The woman lured him to Bhopura in Sahibabad on August 6, where he was locked up in a rented room. Later, ransom calls were made to the family," police said.

Police said it was looking for two more persons involved in the crime.

--IANS rup/tsb/bg

( 168 Words)

2016-08-18-21:26:02 (IANS)
The toll in suspected hooch tragedy mounted to 16, with one more victim dying during the treatment at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). District Magistrate Rahul Kumar told UNI that a total of 16people had lost their lives after they allegedly consumed spuriousliquor on Monday night. With one more patient dying during treatment,toll increased from 15 to 16, he stated. "Postmortem report mentioned no trace of liquor in bodies ofthose who lost their lives in suspected hooch tragedy", Mr Kumar saidadding that viscera had been sent for Forensic test and anythingconcrete about reason behind the death could be known only afterreport of viscera test was received. District Magistrate said that a total of six people had beenarrested so far while massive raids were being carried out to nabothers in this connection.Those arrested were being interrogated toascertain who were responsible for selling and supply of spuriousliquor allegedly consumed by those who lost their lives, he added. As it is, some local people had consumed spurious liquor onMonday night at Harakhua Khajurwadi locality under Town police stationarea following which they complained of uneasiness and severe pain intheir stomach. Total 13 people had died till late last night.MORE UNI KKS RD AKC RJ 2108 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0432-893534.Xml
Police Superintendent of Saran Pankaj Kumar Raj said here that officer-in-charge of Jalalpur police station Amit Kumar was suspended late last night after he was found guilty of not discharging his duty properly, leading to the loot of Rs 80,000 from a bank two days back.

Police Sub-Inspector Shahid Hussain, posted at Town police station, has been made new officer-in-charge of Jalalpur police station. Departmental proceedings would also be initiated against the suspended police officer, Mr Raj added.UNI XC DH RL AKC RJ 2141

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Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayansamy today convened a review meeting of Police Department here, in which Chief Secretary Manoj Parida, DGP Sunil Kumar Goutham, SSP Rajiv Ranjan, SPs, inspectors and sub-inspectors of police partook. The functioning of the police department, redressal of the grievances of the police personnel, maintaining law and order among others were discussed in the meeting. Later, Mr Narayansamy told newspersons that the number of cyber crimes are on increase in Puducherry. He said the fake lottery ticket sale was totally prevented and substances like pan masala, gutka were banned.Stating that online prostitution has increased here, the Chief Minister said that officials were directed to take steps to put an end to this. He said issues such as modernisation of the police department, purchase of adequate modern weapons, institution of awards to police personnel for their good services, among others were also discussed.Stating that the police personnel should function properly, Mr Narayanasamy said the trust of public on the police helped lakhs of tourists to visit Puducherry. He also advised that Police department should function without corruption and more attention should be paid to nab the culprits.Stating that the government was committed to provide all assistance, the state government could provide, Mr Narayansamy said that in respect of national allowances, proper steps would be taken. He said steps are being taken to install surveillance cameras at important junctions with private participation, adding that any communal conflicts would be suppressed with an iron hand in this 'peaceful' Puducherry.There should not be any land or house grabbing in Puducherry, security be there for public and police officials should not harass people by taking law in their hands, he added.UNI PAB RJ 2342 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0432-893557.Xml
Three civilians were killed and 40 others injured in a car bombing and gunfire attacks on the police headquarters in Turkey's Van province of Van, officials said. Police said the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants carried out the attack on Wednesday night, Xinhua news agency reported. The injured were mostly civilians including two police officials. --IANS ksk ( 68 Words) 2016-08-18-10:56:01 (IANS)
A Southern California wildfire raged virtually unchecked in thick brush after destroying dozens of houses near a highway corridor between Los Angeles and Las Vegas and forcing as many as 80,000 residents to flee their homes, officials said.The so-called Blue Cut Fire ignited on Tuesday in the mountainous Cajon Pass and has exploded to cover 25,626 acres (10,370 hectares). Firefighters had carved containment lines around only four percent of the blaze by last night, fire officials said.They described the blaze as unusually fierce, even for a year of intense wildfires in the US West, where years of drought have placed a heavy burden on firefighting resources."In my 40 years of fighting fire, I've never seen fire behavior so extreme as it was yesterday," Michael Wakoski, the incident commander on the fire, told a news conference yesterday.As many as eight wildland fires were burning in California yesterday, three of them scorching thousands of acres as firefighters sought help from emergency responders from other states and the California National Guard.US government forecasters have said Southern California faces a potential threat from major wildfires until December, given the dryness and warm weather.Santa Ana winds, which sweep desert air to California's coast while driving the fires, are due to kick up next month, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal-Fire) spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff said by phone. September and October are often the peak of the state's wildfire season.The Blue Cut Fire, named for a narrow gorge north of San Bernardino where it started, threatened the town of Wrightwood near a ski resort and other communities in a partly rural area, authorities said.The cause of the fire is under investigation.Authorities said they were forced to close part of Interstate 15, which runs through the Cajon Pass between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area, and to order about 80,000 residents to evacuate.Thick columns of smoke blocked out the sky above mountain peaks as the fire overran a number of properties, leaving behind barren lots with blackened appliances and vehicles stripped of nearly everything but metal.Louis Penna, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County Fire Department, said in an email an official damage estimate was not available but that dozens of destroyed structures were clearly visible.San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig told reporters: "There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing."The Los Angeles Times reported hundreds of residents were staying in their houses, despite dire warnings from authorities.Among them was Nico Santucci, who was standing sentry outside his home in Lytle Creek with his young son by his side."If the first house catches on fire here or the fire breaks this mountain here, then I'm gone, then we're gone," Santucci said.About 600 miles (970 km) to the northwest, the so-called Clayton Fire was 40 per cent contained after charring 4,000 acres in and around the community of Lower Lake and destroying 175 homes and businesses.California had spent 164 million dollar by August 12 to combat wildfires this year, Cal-Fire's Tolmachoff said, not including the Blue Cut or Clayton fires.REUTERS SDR RK0905 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-892278.Xml
At least three people were killed and more than 50 were wounded in a car bomb attack on a police station in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig today, security sources said, hours after a similar bombing killed three people elsewhere in the region.Footage showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area in the immediate aftermath of the blast and extensive damage to the facade of the police station.Turkey's Dogan news agency said the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group was behind the attack. The group has frequently carried out attacks on police stations in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast in recent months.Yesterday, three people were killed and 40 were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a police station in the eastern province of Van near the Iranian border yesterday, state broadcaster TRT said, citing the local governor.No one immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.The mainly Kurdish southeast has been scorched by violence since a 2-1/2-year ceasefire between the state and the PKK collapsed in July last year.The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union. REUTERS SDR PR1309 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-892515.Xml
The governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Britain and the United States welcomed the appointment in Libya of an interim panel to run the country's sovereign wealth fund, Germany's foreign ministry said today."The governments (of those countries) call on all Libyans to support the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in preserving and protecting the independence and integrity of the Libyan Financial Institutions for the benefit of all Libyans," the ministry said in a statement.Libya's UN-backed government said on Monday it was appointing a five-member caretaker committee to run the 67 billion dollar sovereign wealth fund. REUTERS SDR PR1403 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-892543.Xml
At least three police officers were killed and about 100 people wounded by a car bomb at a police station in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig today, security sources said, hours after a similar bombing killed three people elsewhere in the region.Footage on the CNN Turk channel showed offices inside the police station in ruins and filled with smoke after the bomb exploded just outside the complex at 1150 IST, when officers had already begun arriving for work.No one immediately claimed responsibility, but Defence Minister Fikri Isik told the state-run Anadolu Agency that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), deemed a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, was behind the attack."The people see the real face of the PKK," Isik said.The PKK has carried out dozens of attacks on police and military posts in the largely Kurdish southeast since 2015.But Elazig, a conservative province that votes in large numbers for the ruling AK Party, had been spared violence until now.Video footage showed a plume of black smoke rising above the city after the blast, which uprooted trees and gouged a large crater outside the police complex, located on a busy thoroughfare in the city of 420,000 people.In Van province, further east, two police officers and one civilian were killed and 73 people were wounded late yesterday when a car bomb exploded near a police station, the local governor's office said in a statement.There were also no claims for the attack in Van, a largely Kurdish province on the Iranian border. The Van governor's office said the PKK was responsible.The southeast has been scorched by violence since a 2-1/2-year ceasefire with the PKK collapsed in July last year. Thousands of militants and hundreds of soldiers and police officers have been killed, according to official figures. Rights groups say about 400 civilians have also been killed.The PKK wants greater autonomy for Turkey's 15 million Kurds. More than 40,000 people have been killed in violence since it first took up arms in 1984. REUTERS SDR PR1405 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-892578.Xml
Amid recent protests in Gilgit-Baltistan against crackdown by the Pakistani security forces, Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal has said that those protesting against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be charged under anti-terrorism laws. Quoting the minister, Gilgit Baltistan National Congress Director Senge Hasnan Sering tweeted, "Those protesting in #GilgitBaltistan against China led #CPEC will be charged under anti-terrorism laws: Minister Dr Iqbal." The people of Gilgit-Baltistan believe that CPEC will exploit its water resources which would only benefit Pakistan. The locals are also worried about the increasing Chinese footprint in the region. The leadership of Gilgit-Baltistan has been objecting to the controversial corridor for months. The Gilgit-Baltistan based Awami Action Committee (AAC) had earlier called for an indefinite shutdown across the region, saying they will not be holding down their protest unless and until Pakistan withdraws its security forces and also rollbacks the CPEC. AAC, an alliance of around 23 religious, nationalist and political groups, also demanded a complete withdrawal of the Pakistani forces from its soil. The alliance is also against the lack of share for Gilgit-Baltistan in the CPEC. The strike call came days after a powerful senate committee, headed by Senator Taj Haider, visited the region to review the CPEC projects. The committee members, who met several delegations during their three-day stay in Gilgit-Baltistan, confirmed that the region had no share in the CPEC. Last week, the Pakistani Army arrested more than 500 young men in Gilgit-Baltistan who had come on to the streets protesting against them and asking them to vacate the occupation of the region. So far, hundreds, including Gilgit's top political activist Baba Jan, has been arrested. Baba Jan was arrested under Pakistan's Anti-Terrorism Act for raising his voice for displaced people of the Hunza Valley during a climate disaster in January 2010 and protesting against corruption and against the violent repression that had been unleashed against the victims demonstrating in August 2011. Meanwhile, Iqbal while addressing the inauguration ceremony of two new blocks in University of Balochistan earlier on Tuesday said that CPEC will be complete till 2030 and all four provinces will get benefits from its positive impacts. Due to delays in the development of CPEC, the authorities in Beijing had last month suggested Islamabad to formally rope in the Pakistan Army to ensure smooth execution of the project. Security official privy to the development said the Chinese were "unhappy with the overall management of the project, particularly the involvement of various ministries", which were causing unnecessary delays. They envisioned the creation of a separate ministry or authority to deal exclusively with the CPEC. The project is currently being overseen by a special section set up at the Prime Minister's Office - with Iqbal's Ministry of Planning and Development serving as the focal ministry. The army has already created a special division to provide security cover to the CPEC-related projects. Earlier in January this year, China had openly expressed its concern over the lack of consensus on the CPEC across the political spectrum and the Chinese embassy in Islamabad had urged political leaders to "address their differences in order to create favourable conditions" for the completion of the project. In the latest, the members of Corridor Front have said that Pakistan has dodged the Chinese Government regarding the CPEC and insisted the "peaceful completion" of the $46 billion mega project was only possible through its original route, reports The Express Tribune. For India, given the political synergy between Beijing and Islamabad, the CPEC will be a disguised political disturbance. The CPEC actually refers to various major infrastructure works currently underway in Pakistan, intended to link China's Xinjiang province to Gwadar deep sea port close to Islamabad's border with Iran. Apart from infrastructure, it seeks to widen and deepen economic ties with its "all-weather friend" China. The Chinese firms will invest just under $46 billion in the project over six years. However, reports also suggest that several projects have plagued the country due to stalled development, poor infrastructure and lost investment. (ANI)
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan today blamed followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen for playing a role in a series of bomb attacks in eastern Turkey blamed on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).In a speech broadcast live on television, Erdogan said Turkey was facing joint attacks by various terrorist organisations who act together. He said that Gulen's followers were complicit in attacks by the Kurdish militants that killed seven members of security forces and wounded 224 people in the southeast today.Ankara blames Gulen for the failed July 15 putsch when a group of rogue soldiers attempted to overthrow the government, commandeering tanks, planes and helicopters. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, has denied the charges.Ideologically, Gulen, an Islamic cleric, has little in common with the leftist, secular PKK, which seeks autonomy for Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. More than 40,000 people, mainly Kurds, have died since it took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. It is considered a terorist organisation by the United States, Ankara and Europe. REUTERS AKC BD2015 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-893460.Xml
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said today the United States as a strategic partner should facilitate the extradition of the US-based cleric whom Ankara blames for orchestrating last month's failed military coup.Erdogan said he had personally asked US President Barack Obama to extradite Fethullah Gulen back to Turkey. Washington has reacted cautiously and said it needs to see clear evidence to prove Gulen's involvement in the July 15 failed putsch."I personally asked Obama to extradite Gulen a year ago. I have asked him again after the latest events," Erdogan said in Ankara. "Things are moving in a different direction in our country, and a strategic partner should not make its partner's work harder." REUTERS AKC BD2130 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-893550.Xml
SHIJIAZHUANG, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Hebei Province, which surrounds Beijing, aims to build 100 business compounds to attract companies to pivot the local economy away from pollution-spewing industries, local authorities said this week.

The north China province has traditionally relied on industries such as steel and glass, but it is under growing pressure to shift growth toward the service sector amid central government mandates to clean up air pollution caused by heavy industry and address overcapacity in steel.

The province plans to build 100 business compounds within the next three to five years, featuring lush vegetation, accessible transportation and modern amenities such as public wi-fi. The hope is that businesses ranging from tourism and healthcare to musical instrument makers and art studios will set up shops there.

Such campuses will cover a combined 300 square kilometers and be scattered in suburbs approximately a one- to two-hour drive from Beijing.

Authorities did not specify the amount of investment needed for the compounds, but added it will seek funding, mostly from the private sector.

To cut excessive capacity, the province is also shutting down some of its steel mills. Hebei once churned out one-fifth of the country's total steel output.

To meet the target of capping its steel production capacity at 200 million tonnes by 2020, Hebei needs to cut capacity by nearly 100 million tonnes. It has vowed to cut 17.26 million and 14.22 million tonnes in iron and steel production respectively this year.

Such cuts have weighed on local economic growth, which has underperformed compared to national GDP growth in recent years.
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech during a symposium on the Belt and Road Initiative in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 17, 2016. Xi on Wednesday called for steady advance of the country's Belt and Road Initiative to benefit people along the routes. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for steady advance of the country's Belt and Road Initiative to benefit people along the routes.

The Belt and Road Initiative should help promote policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and mutual understanding among the people, Xi said at a symposium on the initiative held in Beijing.

Priority areas for the initiative include building a platform to advance cooperation as well as a green, healthy, intelligent and peaceful Silk Road, Xi said.

The conference was also attended by Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, National Development and Reform Commission's head Xu Shaoshi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Communist Party chiefs of Fujian, Xinjiang, Guangdong and Shaanxi, as well as experts from think tanks.

The initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, refers to building a Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.

Xi said more than 100 countries and international organizations have participated in the Belt and Road Initiative. China has signed agreements with more than 30 countries along the routes to jointly build the Belt and Road, and more than 20 countries have teamed up with China in industrial cooperation.

The progress and results of the Belt and Road Initiative have been greater than expected, Xi noted.

The Belt and Road can be seen as an opportunity to promote transnational interconnection, improve trade and investment cooperation, advance cooperation in international capacity and equipment manufacturing to rebalance and stabilize the world economy, said Xi.

Against the backdrop of a sluggish global economy, the initiative will help stabilize the world economy through industrial capacity cooperation between China and countries along the routes, to advance their industrialization and modernization, as well as improve their infrastructure, Xi said.

Xi stressed that more specific Belt and Road policies should be worked out and major support should be focused on strategic projects including facilities cooperation, energy resource use and core technology research and development.

Domestic enterprises are encouraged to invest in countries along the Belt and Road and countries along the routes are welcome to do business in China, Xi said.

Xi also advocated financial innovation and cooperation in building the Belt and Road, adding the initiative should include a stable, sustainable and risk-controllable financial security system.

The Belt and Road Initiative should also be integrated with China's regional development plans such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development plan and the Yangtze River economic zone development plan, Xi said.

More efforts should be spent on pilot projects to generate benefits as early as possible, he added.

Related:

Belt and Road Initiative making solid progress, demonstrating bright prospects: Li Zhaoxing

SINGAPORE, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative is making solid progress and demonstrating bright prospects, President of the China Public Diplomacy Association Li Zhaoxing said here on Tuesday.
People attend a protest near the Peace Momorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 2016. Hiroshima, the city that suffered U.S. atomic bombing in 1945 during World War II, commemorated the 71st anniversary of the bombing on Saturday at the city's Peace Memorial Park. About 1,000 people from all over the country rallied around the park early Saturday morning, protesting against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attendance at the ceremony and his right-minded policies including the controversial security bills. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)

GENEVA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- In a statement made at the Conference on Disarmament (CD), China's Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs Fu Cong has called upon Japan and its younger generation to adopt an all-encompassing view of world history so that the suffering of all nations including China's can be remembered accordingly.

While recalling the nuclear strikes that hit Japan in August 1945 is essential, so is remembering the misery endured by other states during World War II, Fu said in the statement which was published Wednesday on the website of China's permanent mission to the UN at Geneva.

"World War II was the darkest page in the annals of mankind, with the nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki being part of the tragedy," Fu remarked in the statement, which was delivered Tuesday at the CD's plenary session.

"To view the nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki outside the wider context of World War II would very likely lead to a mistaken conclusion," he warned.

The statement followed a speech delivered by a Japanese high-school student, one of 22 who made the trip from Japan to attend the third and final part of this year's CD session.

Fu highlighted that some 100 million soldiers and civilians, of which 35 million were recorded in China alone and 27 million in the Soviet Union, perished across the world as a result of the World War II.

In light of this, the ambassador reminded that all tragedies, including those perpetrated by Japan's notorious military, are central to the world's holistic understanding of the War.

"During the War, a certain country, in violation of international law, had used biological and chemical weapons, killing or maiming several million soldiers and civilians in China," Fu reminded.

"Commemorating the sufferings endured by the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki while ignoring the much greater sufferings inflicted on the people of other Asian countries will inevitably result in a skewed view of history," he said.

The diplomat called upon nations to adopt a panoramic approach to world history to gain a more accurate understanding of what took place in that dark period.

This is also essential in the quest for peace and stability, as well as the ability of countries to draw important lessons from the past, he said.

"During the War, the people of most Asian countries, Japan included, were victims of fascist militarism," Fu said.

"The purpose of remembering history is not to renew hatred, but to draw lessons from it, to guard against a revival of harmful ideas such as militarism and to prevent the tragedy of war from repeating," he noted.

The official encouraged Japan and its younger generation to deepen its knowledge of the war by reading more history books, in so doing covering facts not included in the nation's curriculum.

Established in 1979, the Conference on Disarmament is the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community.

The Conference on Disarmament counts 65 member states.
FRANKFURT, Aug. 17(Xinhua) -- German police have arrested a German man suspected to have sold a pistol to a gunman who killed nine people in Munich in July, a statement released by Frankfurt state prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Police arrested the 31-year-old man in Marburg, a western German town in the state of Hesse, on Tuesday, according to the statement.

The suspect asserted that he had sold a Glock 17 pistol to the gunman who killed nine people and injured over 20 in July.

The police launched an investigation into the suspect on suspicion of illegal weapons trading. The suspect said he sold the gunman the Glock 17 pistol in Marburg on May 20 and ammunition on July 18.
CHICAGO, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures settled higher Wednesday with soybean futures rising to their highest in nearly four weeks on strong demand from China, the world's top buyer of the oil seed.

Corn and wheat futures posted mild gains on a round of short-covering. It was corn's fourth positive close in a row.

The most active corn contract for December delivery was up 2.5 cents, or 0.74 percent, to 3.3975 dollars per bushel. September wheat delivery rose 2.5 cents, or 0.59 percent, to 4.26 dollars per bushel. November soybeans rose 8.75 cents, or 0.87 percent, to 10.16 dollars per bushel.

The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday morning that private exporters reported the sale of 381,000 tonnes of soybeans to China for delivery during the 2016/17 marketing year.

"Soybeans are providing at least a little lift to the grain market today, with concerns over a big crop muted by strong demand," Bryce Knorr, senior grain market analyst at Farm Futures, said in a note.

A global glut of wheat and expectations for a record corn harvest in the United States quelled buying in the grains. The upcoming U.S. soybean harvest also has been forecast as the biggest on record, but a recent spate of export activity underpinned the market.
CARACAS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has praised the close relationship between Caracas and Beijing, after the 5th Technical Secretariat of the Mixed Venezuela-China High Level Committee (CMAN).

"It is a multi-dimensional relationship, which is spiritual, cultural and deep," said Maduro Tuesday during an address to a group of Chinese academics in the Venezuelan capital.

Maduro also exalted the achievements made through bilateral cooperation, including joint exploration in the Orinoco Mining Arc and the Orinoco Oil Belt.

He added that joint contracts for new mining projects in Venezuela are planned for a value of 20 billion U.S. dollars.

Furthermore, Maduro said that 60 percent of the wealth generated from projects in the Orinoco Mining Arc would be destined to social investment plans, such as housing, healthcare, education, tourism, culture and recreation.

On Tuesday, authorities from Beijing and Caracas concluded their two-day discussions on new avenues of cooperation.

One important deal will see 5,000 Chinese vans and 1,900 heavy refrigerated trucks added to the Venezuelan distribution fleet.

These units will go to strengthen the Great Sovereign Supply Mission, a joint state-military program aiming to eradicate the scarcity of food and medicine in the country.

The Secretariat also set up a period of five months of work, prior to the 15th meeting of the Mixed Venezuela-China High-Level Committee, set to take place in late 2016.

This period will see in-depth discussion about real cooperation on joint financing and cooperation on oil and gas, mining, and electricity.
A protestor from the activist group Code Pink holds an anti-racism and anti-hate banner as she interrupts the proceedings during the second day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio,U.S. July 19, 2016. (REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Over six in 10 Americans say racism against blacks is widespread in the United States, while 41 percent say racism against whites is widespread, Gallup found in a poll released Wednesday.

The poll shows that 61 percent of Americans believe racism against blacks is widespread, up by one percentage point over 2015; the percentage of Americans saying racism against whites is widespread increased by eight points over last year.

Now, 82 percent of blacks and 56 percent of whites say racism against blacks is widespread, reflecting increases of 10 and seven percentage points, respectively.

At the same time, 43 percent of whites and 33 percent of blacks believe racism against whites is widespread, according to the poll.

The latest results are based on Gallup's Minority Rights and Relations survey, conducted June 7-July 1 with 3,270 U.S. adults, including 1,320 non-Hispanic whites and 912 non-Hispanic blacks, Gallup said.

Americans' perceptions of widespread racism against blacks remain elevated this year after an uptick last year, likely in response to the highly publicized incidents in which black men were killed in confrontations with white police officers in 2014 and early 2015, Gallup found.

There have been more recent deadly encounters between police and citizens this summer, including incidents in Texas and Louisiana last month, in which black men shot and killed eight white police officers, but those incidents occurred after interviewing for the poll finished July 1.

Both blacks and whites are more likely to say racism against blacks is widespread today than they were in October 2009, during the first year of Barack Obama's presidency, Gallup found.

Perceptions of racism against U.S. blacks were already high before several deadly confrontations between police and black citizens in 2014 and 2015 led to increased concerns about race relations in the U.S., but they have increased modestly since then.

Americans' belief in equality of opportunity for blacks in being able to find good jobs, a quality education, and any housing they can afford are the lowest they have been since at least the 1990s.

These trends underscore that Americans perceive the situation for blacks as worse than it has been in the recent past, Gallup said.
CANBERRA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam will allow Australian Vietnam War veterans to pay their respects at the site of the battle of Long Tan, 50 years after it was fought after a late-night deal brokered by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Vietnamese authorities had canceled the 50th anniversary Long Tan commemorations, leaving hundreds of Australian veterans and their families without somewhere to pay their respects, but a phone call from Turnbull to his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc paved the way for veterans to access the site.

Veterans Affairs Minister Dan Tehan told the Nine Network on Thursday that Australia was thankful the Vietnamese government agreed to allow veterans to commemorate the battle, as many had traveled to the South East Asian nation to remember those who lost their lives in the battle.

"As a result of Turnbull's urging for the Vietnamese government to show empathy and compassion towards our veterans and their families who have traveled to Vietnam, the Vietnamese government has decided that they will allow a wreath laying at the site," he told the Nine Network.

"They will also allow groups of up to 100 to visit the site and pay their respects," he added.

The event which was to take place is still canceled however those who traveled to commemorate the battle will be allowed to stage a private memorial service.

The battle of Long Tan took place on Aug. 18, 1966 in Vietnam.
SYDNEY, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- An Australian state government has said it would be open to resettling refugees from the country's controversial offshore processing centers despite authorities insisting they will never be resettled on Australian shores.

Though the number of refugees trying to reach Australian shores pales in comparison to those that attempted to enter Europe, authorities controversially ship asylum seekers to two Australian offshore immigration processing centers on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island and the island nation of Nauru.

Australia's hard-line immigration policies however have come under increasing scrutiny over the past fortnight after the Australian-arm of The Guardian published over 2,000 leaked incident reports from the Nauru processing center alleging widespread abuse, including sexual assult of women and children.

Western Australia state Premier Colin Barnett weighed into the debate late Wednesday night saying he would welcome refugees from the Nauru camp, "as long as they don't pose a security or safety risk", though stopped short of seeking Australia's central government to change its position.

"I wouldn't call on the Federal Government but if they decide to do that we would certainly accommodate a number of them (asylum seekers) in Western Australia and we'd certainly support them as a state government," Barnett told Australia's national broadcaster late Wednesday night.

Australia however has repeatedly refused to resettle refugees at it's offshore camps in Papua New Guinea's Manus Island and the Nauru, claiming it would restart the people smuggling trade.

The public support comes as Australia and Papua New Guinea have agreed to close the Manus Island center, though no timetable or details of where the detainees would be relocated have been revealed.

Australia insists those housed at Manus Island will be resettled in PNG as per the deal struck under the previous Labor party government and will never be brought to Australian shores.

"There is no third-country option available for people out of Manus at this point in time," Dutton told the ABC on Thursday.

"That's the reality that we deal with."

United Nations has called for Australia to expeditiously end to the model of refugee processing and keeping migrants offshore by instituting human rights-compliant alternatives.
SYDNEY, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Jetstar Dreamliner fleets are flying with a known engine problem that can trigger mid-flight shutdowns and other catastrophic consequences.

NewsCorp reported on Thursday that Jetstar fleets have been experiencing engine issues, leading to a loss of oil pressure, since March this year.

It is believed that almost half of the Jetstar's Dreamliner fleets come with engine problems.

So far repairs have been made to 11 of its 24 General Electric-made GEnx engines, the report said.

However, the repair figures were disputed by a Jetstar spokesman who declined to elaborate further.

"A service bulletin issued early this year by General Electric to operators of Dreamliner's fitted with the GEnx engine said the issue related to a problem with the 'transfer gearbox'," added the report.

Xinhua had recently reported of Jetstar demanding an explanation from GE after a near-new engine had to be shut down during a mid-air flight from Tokyo to Gold Coast.

The GEnx model engine fitted on a Boeing 787 had to be shut down after a warning light appeared indicating oil pressure problems on a flight earlier this month, prompting it to be diverted to Guam.
LONDON, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The number of people from European Union (EU) countries working in Britain has reached a record 2.23 million, official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed Wednesday.

The total includes more than 1 million from the eight East European countries -- Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, which joined the EU in 2004. That number increased by 44,000 year-on-year. But 10 years ago the figure of EU workers from these eight countries was about 250,000, a quarter of the current level.

The figures are the first to be released after the June 23 referendum which voted for Britain's exit from the EU.

They are likely to fuel the migration debate which was one of the hot topics for the pre-referendum debates. One of the main reasons cited by many people supporting Brexit was the need for Britain to have greater control of its borders.

Frank Field, the Labour MP who chairs the House of Commons' Work and Pensions Select Committee, said the figures "show how crucial it is that one aspect of Brexit's success must be the control of our borders."

"As a party we have known that unfettered and unrestricted mass immigration into Britain from Europe causes wages to stagnate, and pushes British workers to the back of the queue. The benefit of Brexit is that we will finally regain control of our borders. These figures show that the Europe Project of allowing Eastern European countries to join would lead to one-way traffic. The Baltic area of Europe is depopulating faster than any other region on the planet," Paul Nuttall, a member of the European Parliament and deputy leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, told Xinhua.

"British people voted Brexit for three reasons, sovereignty, money and migration. The EU has made a big mistake by trying to do too many things too quickly and I am expecting a flow of other member countries wanting to quit the EU," he added.

ONS figures show that the number of non-UK nationals working in Britain now is 3.45 million, 242,000 higher than a year ago. It means that over one-in-10 workers in Britain are from outside the UK.

The ONS said the increase in non-UK nationals working in Britain reflects the admission of several new member states to the European Union.

The figures show that the number of overseas workers from non-EU countries employed in Britain has remained more or less the same level for almost 10 years.

In 2010, the number of workers from EU countries and non-EU countries were 1.3 million and 1.2 million respectively. A year ago, the number of EU residents working in Britain passed the 2 million mark.

Commenting on the ONS figures, Lord Green, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: "These figures represent a milestone in EU migration to Britain. The pressures that this massive migration has placed on local communities go a long way to explaining the outcome of the referendum. The new statistics underline why it is essential not just to regain control of our borders but also to reduce net migration significantly."

"It is also important to realize that some 80 percent of EU migrants are in lower skilled employment. Migration into lower-skilled work is not of particular benefit to the UK economy," he added.
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China will levy anti-dumping duties on imports of iron based amorphous alloy ribbon from the United States and Japan by requiring deposits for such imports, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

The move came after the initial findings of an investigation launched late last year showed evidence of dumping, according to the ministry's website.

Importers will be required to pay customs deposit fees ranging from 25.9 percent to 48.5 percent according to the level of dumping.

The ministry did not specify when the measure will take effect.

In November, when China announced its investigation into the sales of iron based amorphous alloy ribbon from U.S. and Japan, it said the probe was likely to end before Nov. 18, 2016, but could be extended to May 18, 2017.
by Liang Xizhi

LONDON, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai Ballet made an impressive return to the London Coliseum on Wednesday with their exquisite new production, Echoes of Eternity, which is based on a traditional tragic love story in Chinese literature.

Echoes Of Eternity, choreographed by Patrick de Bana and inspired by Bai Juyi's ancient Chinese poem "Song of Everlasting Sorrow," depicts one of China's most popular legends: the romance between the all-powerful Emperor Tang Xuanzong and his favorite concubine, Yang Yuhuan, which ended in tragedy and led to the downfall of the Tang Dynasty.

Shanghai Ballet brings this contemporary version of the 8th century story to the Coliseum, one of the largest and most magnificent theaters in London, with a cast of award-winning young principals, including Wu Husheng as the emperor and Qi Bingxue as Lady Yang.

"I believe this modern ballet production of an oriental story will create a refreshing theater experience for the British audience and further enrich the culture and art exchange in the 'Golden Era' of China-UK relations," said Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the UK, in a congratulatory message to the performance.

Echoes of Eternity is an original work that presents Chinese productions to the international stage, said Xin Lili, director of Shanghai Ballet. "The ballet is inspired by a Chinese poem telling the love story of the emperor through a fresh new presentation with the international creation concept."

Choreographer de Bana has chosen an eclectic score which ranges from Henryk Gorecki to Armand Amar, from Philip Glass to Kodo to drive the scenes of love and high drama.

De Bana told Xinhua that he started planning Echoes of Eternity when he was working on Jane Eyre which Shanghai Ballet performed at their highly successful UK debut in 2013. "I was drawn by the name of the book - Song of Everlasting Sorrow -- the moment I laid eyes on it," he said.

"In China the lives of emperors are general knowledge but in Echoes of Eternity I speak for Lady Yang. To me it was Lady Yang who made Emperor Tang Xuanzong famous; with her at his side, he became a towering figure. But I think the strongest part of the story is the lengths Lady Yang will go to in the name of love."

Shanghai Ballet made its UK debut at the London Coliseum in 2013 with de Bana's version of Jane Eyre which garnered good reviews and a lot of new fans.

Shanghai Ballet Company is part of the Shanghai Grand Theatre Arts Group, and performs a blend of traditional Chinese and western dance styles. The company collaborates with internationally renowned dance practitioners and participates in highly successful cultural exchanges with other artists and companies from China and abroad.
SYDNEY, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- An Australian professor has rubbished claims that bananas could be extinct within the next five to ten years from a fungal disease known as Sigatoka.

University of Queensland's Professor Andre Drenth told the Australian Associated Press on Thursday that this was because the disease was not in Australia at the moment.

"Black Sigatoka has only been in Australia once, in 2001 in Tully, and it was quickly eradicated," Drenth said.

He said since then strict guidelines and security measures have been put in place to ensure that the disease doesn't return. Among those guidelines was to discontinue the imports of any foreign bananas into Australia.

Drenth also said more monitoring around banana plantations, and molecular diagnostic tests to determine the fungal disease should be carried out frequently to ensure that the disease doesn't recur in Australia.

Recently, a British-based journal said that Australia's favourite supermarket food, the banana could be extinct in the next couple of years from Sigatoka which is made up from three fungal diseases.

The Australian Banana Growers Council said more than five million bananas are consumed by Australians daily.

The iconic Queenslander fruit is also known to be a healthy and nutritious snack, packed with full of potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate, niacin and riboflavin.
WELLINGTON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government Thursday launched an inquiry into the contamination of a North Island town's water supply that has left thousands of people ill, closed schools and businesses, and threatened the country's clean and green reputation.

More than 3,300 people in the town of Havelock North have been laid low with gastroenteritis brought on by campylobacter contamination of the drinking water in one of New Zealand's biggest single instances of waterborne disease.

Up to 17 people were hospitalized at one stage after the outbreak became known on Aug. 12 and one person is still in intensive care with the illness, according to the Hawkes Bay District Health Board, the local health authority.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said Thursday the government had initiated an independent inquiry into the water contamination, the cause of which is still unknown.

"The situation in Havelock North is concerning. It is important that the public has confidence in their water supply," Coleman said in a statement.

"The inquiry will look at the events surrounding the outbreak and the response, as well as consider any wider systemic issues," he said.

"This will be a wide-ranging inquiry to ensure that all New Zealanders can feel confident about the quality of drinking water supplies."

The situation was compounded Thursday when one of the nine water tankers taking drinking water to Havelock North residents was found to be contaminated with e-coli.

The water in all the tankers was being chlorinated, along with water supplies in the neighboring towns of Hastings and Flaxmere, said the Hastings District Council, the local municipal authority, in a statement.

Authorities have been advising Havelock North residents to boil drinking water or to drink bottled water until further notice.

On Monday, Radio New Zealand reported Prime Minister John Key saying the situation was unacceptable.

"Fundamentally we need to understand how it took place, because for the number of people that are now sick it's very clear, given the dilution that you would have expected to take place and the size of the water source, that quite a lot of material has got into the water source," Key said in the report.
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Mexico will not stop investigating a kidnapping of six people, including a son of jailed drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Eduardo Almaguer, prosecutor of the state of Jalisco in western Mexico, has said.

Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, nicknamed "Alfredillo," was kidnapped on Monday by armed men belonging to his father's rival cartel in a restaurant in the seaside resort city of Puerto Vallarta in western Mexico.

"Alfredillo" and his group were celebrating when they were surprisingly taken by armed attackers, who took the six men from the table and left women behind.

Almaguer said he wants to find Jesus Alfredo and other kidnapped men and arrest those responsible.

Mexico's national attorney general's office announced on Tuesday evening that a group of agents from the office that specialize in organized crime will join the investigation currently being carried out by the state government.

"Alfredillo," one of the three sons the Sinaloa cartel leader "El Chapo" had with his first wife Maria Alejandrina Salaza, has been wanted by Washington for several accusations presented before a federal court in Chicago since 2009, according to public documents surrounding the case.

An attorney from the U.S. Department of Justice has catalogued "Alfredillo" as a logistical coordinator who has acted in his father's name since around 2005, trafficking several kilograms of cocaine, heroine and marijuana into the United States as well as being in charge of sending the earnings from his drug sales back to Mexico.

The U.S. Treasury Department froze Jesus Alfredo's assets in the country in June 2012 and banned U.S. citizens from doing business or carrying out transactions with him, under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, known as the Kingpin Act.

The alleged drug trafficker is around 30 years old, six years younger than his brother Ivan Archivaldo who is also considered to be an operator within his father's criminal organization. His father, "El Chapo," who is currently in prison, has led the Sinaloa cartel since the 1990s.

This is not the first time that the drug lord's sons were attacked.

In May 2008, gunmen from the rival Beltran Leyva cartel killed Edgar Guzman Lopez, a son who "El Chapo" had with his third wife Griselda Lopez Perez.

However, Jesus Alfredo's kidnap is somewhat exceptional as it comes at a time when his father has spent the past seven months behind bars since his recapture in January after escaping in August 2015, criminologist and expert in drug trafficking Martin Barron told Xinhua.

"The fact that he is in prison is visible and, above all in Ciudad Juarez (in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua), has made part of his family vulnerable, to a certain extent, and Joaquin Guzman's rival groups have taken advantage of this," said Barron.

The criminologist said it is likely that the abduction will generate acts of revenge from members of the Sinaloa cartel against the responsible organization. Local authorities have suggested that the Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel was responsible for the kidnapping.

This cartel emerged around 2010 after the restructuring of criminal gangs in the country, and Mexican security agents now believe this new cartel is operating in the state of Jalisco and states in central, south and east of Mexico, where they have been involved in shootouts, murders and others.

A possible escalation in violence has also been predicted by authorities in Jalisco and neighboring states, who said they are coordinating with the federal forces in order to reinforce surveillance measures both in the seaside resort and other parts of the region.

Related:

Court frees prison executive arrested after escape of drug lord "El Chapo"
by Alessandra Cardone

ROME, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Brexit and the rising anti-globalization sentiment are among global uncertain factors that are likely to feed into the discussions at the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) summit early next month in China, an Italian expert said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Giuseppe Sacco, a professor of political science and international relations at LUISS University in Rome, said the fact that U.S. President Barack Obama will leave the White House in a few months may also have an impact.

"Some pressing political events are taking place at the global level, and they might divert the G20 agenda or, at least, impact it," said the former division director at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Specifically, Sacco said that the rising anti-globalization sentiment in the heart of the Anglo-Saxon world is a new and interesting phenomenon.

"Most intriguingly, this trend is not revealing itself in a country like Greece, for example, which was hit most badly by the global financial crisis and by consequent austerity measures easily ascribable to the globalized economy," he said.

"Anti-globalization feelings have instead grown in Britain, and the Brexit referendum is much proof of that, and within the campaign of (Republican presidential nominee) Donald Trump in the United States," he added.

China, the rotating chair of G20 this year, has outlined the key points expected to be unveiled at the summit with the theme of building an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive global economy. Innovative and inclusive growth is at the heart of the agenda.

Experts have said that it is necessary for the world leaders to make globalization work in the interest of all. Multinational firms from the developed economies have benefited the most, whereas even the white collars and middle class in many countries feel that they have not benefited so much from globalization, leading to a rise in anti-globalization.

The global challenges and issues have been mentioned in statements of G20 meetings that have been taking place at various levels throughout 2016, showing that world leaders are aware of the urgency.

Development will be a key word at the G20 summit this year. It is one of the key words for the summit as China tries to facilitate the transition of the G20 from crisis response to a mechanism focusing on long-term global economic governance.

Nevertheless, Sacco expects the G20 leaders to address both the short-term economic issues and those related to development.

"Compared to other G20 summits addressing only the ongoing political and economic situation, however difficult it was, the summit in Hangzhou cannot avoid facing structural problems of the global economy," he said.

The sluggish growth pace of global gross domestic product, the depressed market demand, the international trade slowdown, and the excess capacities of some industries are among the structural priorities that are expected to be at the core of the G20 agenda.

Sacco also said world leaders at the forthcoming summit should pay much attention to the worrying rise of protectionism.

"I think Italy will have a keen eye on this, because it is a major exporting economy and risks paying a higher price compared with others for the increasing trade restricting measures," he said, citing the G20 commitment to have consultations aimed at resisting protectionism.

The G20 groups the world's 19 economically important countries as well as the European Union (EU). The upcoming G20 Summit is scheduled to be held in China's eastern city of Hangzhou on Sept. 4-5.

Representatives of international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and the International Labor Organization, the OECD and some guest countries have been invited to attend the summit.

The Italian scholar also said the possible impact of the "still fresh" Brexit referendum is likely to feed into discussions at the summit.

"Its impact on Britain and EU's future is still unclear," he said.
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China Duty Free Group (CDFG), a Chinese state-owned enterprise, has launched the soft opening of its third shop in Cambodia, the Phnom Penh Post reported Thursday.

CDFG, which has already operated duty-free stores in northwestern Siem Reap province and southwestern Preah Sihanouk province, has leased nearly the entire 4,000 square meters of the NagaCity Walk, a 94-million-U.S.-dollars subterranean shopping center in Phnom Penh capital, for its third outlet.

John Zhao, CDFG general manager for Cambodia, said the luxury goods on display would cater to both Chinese and international tourists visiting Phnom Penh.

"The mall will attract international shoppers both from NagaWorld (casino and hotel) and the other five-star hotels in Phnom Penh, not just Chinese tourists," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper. "And it is located in the city's central business district, which has huge growth potential."

"This is the right time for us to open," he said, adding that to keep up with Cambodia's economic growth, the country needs to bring in the biggest brands.

Zhao said he expects work on the mall to be completed by the end of the year and a grand opening to be held in early 2017 at the latest.

The shopping experience would raise Cambodia to international standards with a cheaper price tag, he added.

The completed mall would eventually be divided into two areas, one will be dedicated to duty-free products, while the other will sell goods produced in Cambodia, according to the newspaper.
Photo taken on Aug. 14, 2016 shows fighters of a splinter Taliban group take part in a gathering to announce their new leader in Zabul province, south Afghanistan. (Xinhua/Manan Arghand)

KABUL, Aug.17 (Xinhua) -- Another breakaway Taliban group called "Dadullah Mahaz" which means Dadullah front announced its existence in Afghanistan's southern Zabul province on Sunday, a source close to the newly emerged armed faction Mawlawi Nematullah Samim said Wednesday.

According to Samim, the newly splinter Taliban group is headed by Imdadullah Mansoor, the nephew of Taliban dreadful leader Mullah Mansoor Dadullah who was killed in infighting in Khak-e-Afghan district of the troubled Zabul province 10 months ago.

Meantime, observers familiar with the Taliban developments believe that the new splinter group demonstrates more fragmentation within theTaliban rank and exposes failure in the armed outfit's leadership to keep the militant outfit united.

"More fragmentation within Taliban rank means more weakness of the armed group," a political expert in the southern Kandahar province told Xinhua.

Declining to reveal his name due to security reasons, the analyst said that Taliban's division into two groups and then to three rival factions will undermine the group's advocacy for its so-called Jihad or holy war among its supporters.

"Taliban ideology's credibly for the continuation of jihad or holy war would be questioned by its supporters and they would ask if the group is right in fighting against the government, why is it facing internal differences and infighting?" the observer asserted.

Photo taken on Aug. 14, 2016 shows fighters of a splinter Taliban group take part in a gathering to announce their new leader in Zabul province, south Afghanistan. (Xinhua/Manan Arghand)

Mawlawi Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor succeeded Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar after the confirmation of Omar's death in August last year, but his succession was challenged by Mawlawi Mohammad Rasoul Akhund as illegitimate.

Akhtar Mansoor was killed in U.S. drone strike in May this year and his deputy Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada succeeded him as new leader of the hardliner group.

However, Rasoul Akhund challenged Haibatullah's leadership as illegal and since then hundreds of fighters from both sides have been killed due to infighting between supporters and opponents of Haibatullah.

The emergence of new breakaway Taliban group under Imdadullah Mansoor is the third splinter group that has been emerged since the confirmation of the death of Taliban founder Mullah Omar in August, last year.

Imdadullah Mansoor, the leader of newly emerged Talibangroup, is the nephew of Taliban dreadful commander Mullah Mansoor Dadullah who was killed in infighting by Akhtar Mansoor's men in Khak-e-Afghan district of Zabul province in November.

The young and inexperienced Imdadullah Mansoor in his maiden speech among his supporters released in a video called for trial of those behind the killing of his uncle Mansoor Dadullah.

Photo taken on Aug. 14, 2016 shows fighters of a splinter Taliban group take part in a gathering to announce their new leader in Zabul province, south Afghanistan. (Xinhua/Manan Arghand)

Mawlawi Nematullah Samim who is serving as deputy to the leader of new splinter group "Dadullah Mahaz" in the video demanded the trial and punishment of all those involved in the murder of late Talibanleader Mansoor Dadullah and his comrades.

"The remarks of the leaders of newly emerged Taliban group Dadullah Mahaz virtually convey the message of more fighting among Talibanrival factions," the analyst maintained.

With regard to peace talks with the Afghan government, Mawlawi Samim said in the video that his faction is supportive to peace talks, a process which has been opposed by Haibatullah as meaningless practice.

Emergence of new Taliban faction is taking place amid ongoing fierce fighting between Taliban main faction led by Haibatullah and government forces in several parts of the conflict-hit Afghanistan.

"The new splinter group and its remarks would definitely weaken the embattling Taliban militants on the battle ground, eventually facilitate the government to exploit the situation for its interests," political analyst and editor-in-chief of the Daily Afghanistan told Xinhua.
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged all the parties in Sudan to resume negotiations after they failed to reach an agreement on cessation of hostilities.

On Aug. 9-14, the Sudanese government, armed groups and opposition parties held the latest round of negotiations on ceasefire arrangements in regions of South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur but ended in failure.

Ban strongly urged all the parties to resume negotiations, and refrain from any attempt to escalate the conflict in these regions.

The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 and fighting between the Sudanese army and opposition groups in South Kordofan and Blue Nile has been going on since 2011.

These conflicts have put around 5.8 million people in Sudan in need of humanitarian assistance.

Last year, the African Union proposed a roadmap agreement for Sudanese rivals, which spells out a process for reaching agreement on ceasefire, endorses a national dialogue between major stakeholders and also includes provisions for humanitarian assistance.

Last Monday, Sudanese opposition groups signed the roadmap agreement, which was considered as a positive sign for the peace talks. The Sudanese government signed the agreement in March.
WELLINGTON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government Thursday announced that a new Ministry for Vulnerable Children will be established for the protection and care of children from next year.

The new ministry will replace the government's Child, Youth and Family (CYF) agency from April as the country struggles to deal with perceptions that the state is failing to provide at-risk children with a better future.

"The new ministry will put the needs of children first so that they have the best possible chance of living happy and successful lives," Prime Minister John Key said in a statement.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley, who will be appointed as Minister for Vulnerable Children, said the new ministry, new name and completely new operating model reflected the determination to remain "absolutely focused on the individual needs of each child."

An aspirational Maori name, "Oranga Tamariki" (Healthy Children), as part of the title reinforced the clear expectation that much more needed to be done to address the fact that six out of 10 children in care were Maori, Tolley said in a statement.

"The long-term outcomes for young people in the current system are simply atrocious," said Tolley.

"Too many kids who come into contact with CYF end up on a benefit, or in prison, or with few qualifications. This has to stop."

The new ministry would focus on five core services: prevention, intensive intervention, care support services, transition support, and a youth justice service aimed at preventing offending and reoffending.

It would have the ability to directly purchase vital services such as trauma counselling as soon as they are needed by children.

However, critics said the very name of the ministry treated vulnerable children as a problem rather than looking at their potential.

"You might as well rename the Ministry of Health, the Ministry for Sick People, or instead of talking about the Ministry of Justice, start calling it the Ministry for Criminals," said Glenn Barclay, national secretary for the Public Service Association union.

"It will stigmatize the children who it's aiming to help, and scare families who are trying to do the best for their kids," Barclay said in a statement.
NEW DELHI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were killed and two others injured Thursday in a blast inside a bakery in India's capital New Delhi, police said.

The explosion took place in morning in Khureji area.

"Three laborers were killed and two injured in a blast at a bakery in East Delhi's Khureji area this morning," a police official said.

Reports said around 20 laborers were working at the bakery when the blast took place. Following the blast, firefighters from fire department rushed to the spot to evacuate the injured.

Police officials said they have registered a case and initiated investigations to ascertain cause of the blast.
Dilma Rousseff (Xinhua file pic)

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- As the Brazilian Senate's final vote on the future of suspended President Dilma Rousseff set for late August approaches, the embattled president hopes to fight all out to survive impeachment.

FINAL VOTE NEARS

The Brazilian Senate ruled on Wednesday that the impeachment trial for Rousseff will last for four sessions on Aug. 25-26 and Aug. 29-30.

The decision was made at a joint meeting between Senate President Renan Calheiros, the Supreme Court's chief justice Ricardo Lewandowski, and leaders of different political parties.

Aug. 25 and 26 will be dedicated to hearing witnesses. This process may continue into the weekend, if needed.

On Aug. 29, Rousseff will appear and provide her testimony while the prosecutors and defense lawyers will present their argument. On Aug. 30, the senators will express their opinions about the case.

Rousseff is accused of seeking to hide public budget deficits through fiscal irregularities, such as delaying loan payments to public banks and ordering additional loans without congressional approval.

Rousseff was temporarily suspended for up to 180 days on May 12 and her vice-president, Michel Temer, took over the presidency on an interim basis.

On Aug. 10, after a lengthy session that lasted over 15 hours, senators voted 59 to 21 to approve the impeachment trial, surpassing the 41 votes needed to open the trial.

The final vote on whether to impeach Rousseff could be held on Aug. 30, if time allows, or the next day. If the Senate votes in favor of impeaching Rousseff, she will be officially ousted from her post.

A two-thirds majority, 54 out of 81 senators, is needed to fully remove her from office.

Should Rousseff be impeached, Temer would complete her mandate until the end of 2018 and she would be ineligible to stand for public office for eight years.

LAST-DITCH EFFORT

A spokesman for Rousseff told AFP that the leader would defend herself in person.

On Aug. 29, Rousseff will have 30 minutes to speak, then face questioning.

Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla who was imprisoned and tortured under Brazil's military regime in the 1970s, said she was ready for whatever mud her enemies in the Senate might sling.

"I've never been afraid of that. I've endured much worse tension in my life. This is an exercise in democracy," she told the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.

Rousseff on Tuesday proposed to hold a plebiscite on calling an early presidential election if she would be restored to power.

In a long letter read out in Brasilia "to the federal Senate and Brazilian people," Rousseff repeated her proposal for the South American country to hold early elections to enable political and electoral reforms which would overcome "the fragmentation of parties, make campaign financing moral...and give more power to the voters."

"The full restoration of democracy requires that the population decide what is the best way to...perfect the Brazilian political and electoral system. It is the only way out of a crisis," said the suspended president.

In the letter, Rousseff reiterated her denial of the accusations, adding that her forced removal from office would amount to "a coup."

"I am innocent," she said. "There is no injustice more devastating than to condemn an innocent person."

Rousseff admitted her administration made mistakes and that she accepted "with humility and determination" "tough criticism" of the errors.

Amid growing discontent at Temer's interim administration, the idea of early elections has been gaining popularity and won 62 percent in a Datafolha poll in July.

However, holding an early election requires a constitutional amendment, and faces opposition from within Rousseff's leftist Workers' Party.

Apart from the impeachment vote, Rousseff is now also facing extra pressure as a Brazilian Federal Supreme Court justice has authorized the opening of an investigation into her alleged obstruction of the course of a sweeping corruption probe, according to a GloboNews report on Tuesday which did not disclose the source of the information.

She is accused of trying to appoint her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to a cabinet post in order to help him avoid prosecution. Lula is also Rousseff's political mentor and the founder of the Workers' Party.

In a statement, Rousseff's aide denied the accusation, saying the investigation against Rousseff and Lula will allow "the truth to prevail."
HANOI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam attached great importance to the relationship with China, said Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

At the meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Hong Xiaoyong in capital Hanoi on Wednesday, Phuc said Vietnam is willing to join hands with China in strengthening the traditional friendship, enhancing political trust, and promoting mutual beneficial cooperation.

The Vietnamese government chief said he will make efforts to promote practical cooperation between Vietnam and China in various fields for greater progress.

Hong Xiaoyong, for his part, said maintaining and developing bilateral friendship relations between China and Vietnam are fundamental and long-term interests of the two countries.

Chinese Communist Party and government will work together with Vietnamese side to further enhance political trust, and promote practical cooperation to a new height, Hong said, expressing the hope that Phuc will contribute positively to the development of bilateral cooperation between China and Vietnam during his tenure as Vietnamese prime minister.
HANOI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam witnessed the lowest level of rice exports in July since the beginning of 2016, according to Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Center (VITIC) on Thursday.

In July, Vietnam exported over 286,688 tons of rice, earning 127.2 million U.S. dollars, a decrease of 12 percent in volume and 85 percent in value over the previous month, VITIC quoted statistics of Vietnam General Department of Customs as saying.

Compared to the same period in 2015, the July figure posted a decrease of over 53 percent in volume and 50 percent in value.

All markets of Vietnamese rice saw downtrend in revenue in July due to plunge in export price.

Vietnamese rice was sold at the lowest level compared to other regional rice exporters. Price of Vietnam's 5-percent broken rice was 370-380 U.S. dollars per ton while that of Thailand was over 400 U.S. dollars, said VITIC.

Amid the sluggish situation, the Vietnam Food Association decided to lower rice export target to 5.65 million tons in 2016 from the previous target of 6.5 million tons. As such, this will be the first time in many years that Vietnam saw an under-6-million-ton rice export volume.

Recently, Vietnamese agricultural experts have expressed concerns over the risk that Vietnam may lose its position as the world's third largest rice exporter as the country saw significant declines in rice exports so far this year.

In the first seven months of 2016, Vietnam exported some 2.94 million tons of rice, earning around 1.32 billion U.S. dollars, down 18.2 percent in volume and 14.2 percent in value year-on-year, according to Vietnamese customs statistics.
ANKARA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Four people were killed and 31 others injured when a bus overturned Thursday morning in Turkey's southeastern province of Gaziantep, Dogan News Agency reported.

Emergency crew are working at the site of the accident, Dogan said.
BEIJING, Aug 18 (Xinhua) -- China successfully launched the world's first quantum satellite on Tuesday, a groundbreaking project that global media say could result in breakthroughs in teleportation.

The satellite, Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS) is designed to establish "hack-proof" quantum communications by transmitting uncrackable keys from space to the ground, and provide insights into the strangest phenomenon in quantum physics -- quantum entanglement.

The New York Times said on Tuesday that the launch of QUESS marked a major step in China's bid to be at the forefront of quantum research, which could "lead to new, completely secure methods of transmitting information."

The Times noted that many of China's high-tech endeavors have huge support from the central government, and the quantum technology has been a focal point for development and research in the country's 13th Five-Year Plan that was announced in March.

South China Morning Post said the project carries "the hopes of scientist around the world."

"The Chinese scientist's efforts won respect and applause from colleagues and competitors in Europe, the United States, Russia, Canada and Japan" who had proposed similar plans to their governments only to face delays due to various reasons, the Post reported.

These opinions were echoed by the Wall Street Journal, which said the QUESS is expected to "propel China to the forefront of one of science's most challenging fields."

"It shows again China's ability to commit to large and ambitious projects and to realize them," Nicolas Gisin, a professor and quantum physicist at the University of Geneva told the Journal.

Scientists also said that quantum communication is defensive in nature. John Costello, a Washington,D.C.-based researcher specializing in China and cybersecurity told the Journal that the Chinese government is aware that they are "growing particularly susceptible to electronic espionage." University of Vienna Physist Anton Zeilinger, who used to be the montor of the QUESS project's Chief Scientist Pan Jiawei, was quoted by the Journal as saying that the satellite puts China and the field of quantum mechanics on the verge of a significant breakthrough.

"In the long run, there is a good chance that this will replace our current communications technology," he told the Journal. "I see no basic reason why it won't happen."
ISTANBUL, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Thursday launched simultaneous operations against 204 companies in 18 cities across the country, as the purge continues in the wake of a failed coup attempt last month.

The companies were accused of offering financial support to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen and the movement he leads, the Hurriyet daily said.

Ankara accuses Gulen of masterminding the military coup bid on July 15.

Detention warrants were also issued against 187 businessmen, including owners of well-known companies and brands, with the head of Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists targeted as well, the daily said.

It said the suspects are charged with "financing the terror organization," "being member of the terror organization" and "forming and running a terror organization."

Some 40,030 people have been detained and at least 20,355 others arrested in the aftermath of the coup attempt, in which 237 lives were lost.
KABUL, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The war-torn Afghanistan on Thursday marked the 97th anniversary of its independence from the British occupation by holding meetings and celebrations across the country amid tight security.

"On this historic day, I call on all Afghans to work for peace, prosperity and stability. And I urge Afghan people to stand with their security forces as our security forces have already proved that they can defeat the enemies," Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said in his Independence Day address during a ceremony held at the Presidential Palace on Thursday morning.

During the celebration, the Afghan president paid tribute to security forces who have sacrificed their lives for stabilizing peace and security in the central Asian country.

"We must also together pay homage to the sacrifices of their security forces. Their sacrifices, and their determination, over the past two years, had assured us that we can defend our country and we can win the imposed war against our nation," Ghani said while thanking the people of Afghanistan for their support to their security forces.

Afghan Defense Minister Gen. Abdullah Khan Habibi, Mohammad Masoom Stanikzai, head of National Directorate for Security or intelligence agency, Ahmad Zia Massoud, special envoy to the president for reform and good governance, Mohammad Anif Atmar National Security Advisor and former President Sibghatullah Mujadidi were among those attended the event.

Earlier on Thursday, Ghani laid a wreath at the Afghan Independence Minaret during a celebration held inside the country's defense ministry compound.

Afghan people under the leadership of then king Amanullah Khan regained independence from Britain on Aug. 19, 1919.

The Independence Day was also marked in some of the country's 34 provinces amid tight security.
Photo taken on Aug. 18, 2016 shows the blast site in Turkey's southeastern province of Elazig. A car bomb detonated near a police compound in Turkey's eastern province of Elazig on Thursday morning, killing at least three and injuring over 100 others, Dogan News Agency reported. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya)

ANKARA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A car bomb detonated near a police compound in Turkey's eastern province of Elazig on Thursday morning, killing at least three and injuring over 100 others, Dogan News Agency reported.

The bombing, blamed on the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), hit the neighborhood near Elazig Police Department at 9:20 local time (1220GMT). Locals also reported hearing gunshots afterward, Daily Sabah reported.

At least three people were killed and over 100 injured in the blast, local officials told Dogan.

Early footage from the scene showed smoke rising from the area, and many buildings in the area were reportedly damaged.

Many ambulances and reinforcements of security forces were dispatched after the attack. Operations were launched to search for the attackers.

The Elazig bombing followed another blast late Wednesday, also blamed on the PKK, in Turkey's eastern province of Van, which injured at least 73 people, including 20 police.

Since July 2015, over 500 members of Turkish security forces and thousands of PKK members have been killed in confrontations inside Turkey and in northern Iraq, and more than 40,000 people have lost their lives in clashes with the PKK since 1984, when the group first started anti-government attacks.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Turkey.
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese consumers have expressed mixed feelings after an industry association in China, in an effort to raise consumer confidence, released its first dairy quality report.

The Dairy Association of China (DAC) said in the report it compiled that the quality of domestic milk products has improved substantially, based on the results of 151,000 batches of diary products checked nationwide by the Ministry of Agriculture since 2009.

The report, which was published Tuesday, said 99.5 percent of dairy products checked last year were up to standard and no illegal additives, such as melamine, had been detected in fresh milk for the past seven consecutive years.

The improvement of quality in the milk industry has been made as China has taken several measures over the past years to regain public trust, including tightening supervision, shutting down unqualified dairy operations, and increasing policy support.

The country's milk industry has long been in the shadow of a high-profile 2008 safety scandal, when infant formula produced by Sanlu Group, then a leading dairy company in northern China's Hebei Province, was found to contain the chemical melamine, which killed six babies and left thousands seriously ill.

Following the incident, more contaminated milk products were discovered nationwide, prompting scared Chinese consumers to turn to overseas milk products, especially for infants.

Despite the official figures in improvement of domestically produced dairy products, however, the feelings of Chinese consumers remain mixed.

"I still will not buy Chinese milk powder for my baby," said Yang Yang, a new mother in Beijing. "My daughter drinks breast milk and I have stored some milk powder from Japan for her ... No one dares to risk their babies' lives to test the safety of Chinese milk products."

Wang Lei, another new mother in Beijing also said she would not choose Chinese baby milk products, as she thinks that imported baby milk products are easy to buy online and not too expensive.

While some remain skeptical, others say they have faith in domestic milk products.

Wang Jian, whose daughter is 3-year-old now, said she has always been a firm supporter of Chinese infant formula. Wang said her daughter had tried many products and the infant liked a Bright Diary formula most, a domestic brand based in Shanghai.

"I've also compared ingredients of both foreign and domestic infant formulas, and I believe the Chinese formula is the most suitable for Chinese babies," said Wang.

Li Xiaoli, a nurse from Hebei with an 18 day-old baby girl, said that so far she has fed the baby with breast milk but will choose domestic formula in the future if necessary. She said the official report released Tuesday has increased her confidence.

Wang Xianzhi, a food industry analyst at the Liaowang Institution, said the dairy quality report will be regularly released by the DAC and will serve as an important way for consumers to know more about the industry.

Wang said that although Chinese dairy product quality has improved dramatically since 2008, the situation was still challenging, and the biggest challenge lies not just in quality, but in consumer confidence.

Freelance dairy industry analyst Song Liang said that after eight years of recovery, the Chinese dairy industry is now ready to regain the trust of the public, but more efforts from the industry, government and media are needed to shore up market confidence.
ASADABAD, Afghanistan, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least three persons were killed and about 50 others wounded on Thursday in a mortar attack in Asadabad city, capital of Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, as the country celebrated the Independence Day, sources said.

The attack occurred in the morning after two mortar rounds fired by militants struck near the provincial government office building in the mountainous province, 185 km east of Afghan capital of Kabul.

"A celebration was underway in the governor office building to mark the Independence Day. At around 10:30 a.m. local time, two mortars struck near the building, causing two children and a man killed and 50 others wounded," a security source told Xinhua anonymously.

The attack by the "enemies of Afghanistan" aimed to disturb the celebration, the source said while blaming the Taliban for the attack.

"The initial reports found three persons were martyred and 49 wounded. The injured were shifted by the security forces and rescue teams to hospitals. The number of casualties may go up as some of the injured remained in critical conditions," Wahidullah Kalimzai, the provincial governor, told Xinhua.

The war-torn Afghanistan on Thursday marked the 97th anniversary of its independence from the British occupation by holding meetings and celebrations across the country amid tight security.
KINGSTON, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Police are investigating a drive-by shooting that left three dead and three others injured in Jamaica's capital city Kingston on Tuesday.

The victims were playing dominoes when gunmen stormed in and started shooting. Three were shot dead on the spot. The other three wounded were sent to hospital and are in a critical condition, said the police.

The criminals wanted to create mayhem, Commissioner of Police Carl Williams said, adding that his team will catch up with the perpetrators.

"It is distressing. It is shocking because this area has been very quiet for over two years ... We are now gathering information and we are confident that we will catch them," he said.

Preliminary investigation indicated the shooting was related to gang feuds that have been monitored by the police, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Terrence Bent.

Residents in several communities tried to shield the perpetrators, which undermined police efforts in fighting gang crime, he said.

"The police will have to take actions so that the law-abiding residents, the good people in these communities, can be protected," he said.

Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner of Police Eolan Powell described the situation as unfortunate.

Jamaica has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. With a population of less than three million, the country recorded 1,207 murders last year, up nearly 20 percent year-on-year, according to the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

The police have blamed the rocketing murder cases to escalating gang activities, especially intra- and inter-gang feuds in rural areas.
BISHKEK, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China successfully launched the world's first quantum communication satellite earlier this week and the feat proves that China is playing a leading role in terms of space technology, experts here say.

Early Tuesday morning, the world's first quantum satellite, nicknamed "Micius" after an ancient Chinese philosopher, lifted off by a Long March 2-D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's northwest Gansu Province.

After three months of in-orbit testing, the satellite is expected to start "hack-proof" quantum communications by transmitting uncrackable keys from space to the ground.

Kubatbek Tekeshov, head of the department of information and communication technology in Kyrgyz State University of Construction, Transport and Architecture, said that scientists in several countries are working on quantum communication technologies, but China's successful launch of the world's first quantum communication satellite showed that

the country is indeed a front-runner in this field.

The successful launch of Micius marked a watershed moment whereby quantum communication is no longer a theory, but a reality, he said.

"With the help of quantum we have the opportunity to move particles. Now the scientific community can confidently say that China has made a great leap forward, and opened a new era for all mankind," Tekeshov said.

Meanwhile, Kubatbek Talypov, chief of the physics laboratory in Kyrgyzstan's National Academy of Sciences, told Xinhua that the world has been very attentive to what China has achieved in terms of quantum communication as they know very well such a satellite will "allow us to see what we can't see before."
BERLIN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Bayern Munich's Kingsley Coman suffered an ankle injury on Wednesday's training session. He looks set to miss the opening weeks of the new Bundesliga season as the club confirmed he will be out 'until further notice'.

"He was lying there and was obviously in pain, which is never a good sign," Bayern captain Philipp Lahm told media.

Bayern have not disclosed the exact date for the French international's return, but some German media expect him to be out at least the next eight weeks.
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A high school girl became an internet sensation with her drawings of white chubby faces with green sprigs on their heads: they became the emojis of choice for much of the nation and have been sent more than 15 billion times.

Liu Jingjing, now an art student in college, did not imagine that her emoji sketches would become so popular and that she would sign a contract as a cartoonist and now have her own team for support.

In fact, her "Budding Pop" emoji series broke multiple records and were downloaded more than 30 million times within the first month of being sold on the emoji store of WeChat, the instant-messaging app.

"China lacks no imaginative cartoonists, but needs good models to make their work closer to people's hearts and lives," said Wang Biao, founder of Block 12 Culture Communication, the company where Liu now works.

Emojis can be funny, weird or interesting, but the most loved ones are "people oriented" and prove a useful way of communicating, especially for shy and indirect Chinese people.

In China, these emojis are hugely popular on social media platforms, such as the Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, and Wechat.

Wang and his young start-up team have a dream.

"We want to seek touching and heart-wrenching emojis created in China. We are exploring ways to add more value and vitality to China's original cartoon works."

Three years ago, Wang became fascinated by the original Budding Pop images on Weibo. Cartoonist Liu Jingjing was still in her second year of high school, but was quickly gaining fans of her cute images.

"People are keen on the Budding Pop with the sprig on its head. It is not only a lovely emoji, but gives us warm memories companionship," said Wang.

Meanwhile, it accords with the "core secret" of internet images: they must be simple, symbolic, and dynamic, but with varied expressions and gestures.

Chinese people are known for being shy and indirect. Think of the lyrics, "I love you more than I can say." All too often, Chinese find it difficult or even powerless to say things like, "I miss you," "I love you," or even just "thanks."

It is here where emojis are useful; they allow nominally shy Chinese people to better express their feelings and, even better, to do so in a cute way.

Wang sensed an opportunity and decided to employ Liu, setting up a team to support the schoolgirl in improving her design and promoting her emojis across China.

In August 2015, the first series of the Budding Pop emojis were put on the WeChat emoji store. The cute image with a sprig on its head sparked a surge of downloads.

"It's so stunning for the young cartoonist and the team. And it enlightens us, as people cherish a lot of these innocent and lovely emojis," said Xu Ying, COO of Block 12 Culture Communication.

"The company and the business model are effective. We make efforts to promote the emojis through a variety of the internet applications and physical commodities with a brand," she added.

For Xu, Budding Pop and other emojis gained fame due to their simple ways of expressing feelings of happiness, anger, sadness and pleasure.

"Regardless of age and gender, every person has a secret corner deep down in their heart, and the emoji is the 'daily spokesperson' for all of us," Xu said.

For this start-up, the guiding principle is about exploring the core value of emojis and putting them within touch of average people. To date, they have about 20 cartoonists, most of them born in the internet era, so they have a sense of intimacy with the internet.

"Similar to 'Budding Pop,' we are passionate about life and have bigger dreams in the internet era. Our emojis are a people-oriented bridge between hearts," Wang said.
JERUSALEM, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Israel's security forces arrested five Palestinians and seized weapons in an overnight raid in the West Bank, the Israeli army said Thursday.

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said in a statement that the five Palestinians were wanted on various "terrorism-related" charges, and that some weapons, including a homemade grenade, a shotgun-type weapon and ammunition, were also found in the raid.

The weapons and ammunition were discovered in the houses of the suspects in the Palestinian village of Jaba, north of Hebron, and in the Palestinian villages of Bani Naim and Kifl Haris near Nablus.

The raids and operations are part of efforts by Israeli security forces to curb an ongoing wave of violence which started in October, and has since claimed the lives of 34 Israelis and 220 Palestinians.

While the attacks against Israelis became less frequent in recent months, sporadic attacks still take place, specifically in the West Bank and East Jerusalem area.

Israeli security forces arrested Hussein Abu-Kweik, a high-ranking official of the Hamas Islamist movement, on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday in a similar West Bank raid.

He was arrested by Israeli security forces near Ramallah for alleged "involvement in security related activities" as well as "presenting a threat to the security of the area," the Shin Bet security agency said.

On Tuesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said a Palestinian teenager, Mohammed Abu Hashash, was killed and dozens more were injured in clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians at the al-Fawar refugee camp near Hebron, following an overnight Israeli operation.

The IDF did not confirm or deny the report.

Israeli leaders accuse the Palestinian National Authority of inciting violence, whereas the Palestinians say it is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip territories where they wish to establish their own state.




File photo shows a Congolese mother cooking for her children at a temporary refugee camp in Uganda in 2012. Uganda is the third-largest refugee hosting country in Africa. (Xinhua/Yuan Qing)

KAMPALA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN relief agencies in Uganda have warned that they are cutting food rations for refugees by half in the east African country due to funding shortages.

The move will affect up to 200,000 refugees who arrived in the country prior to July 2015, the agencies said in a joint statement with the Ugandan government.

"Low levels of funding, together with a large number of new arrivals fleeing to Uganda from South Sudan since July 7, has left the refugee response with no choice but to re-prioritize their focus on those refugees in greatest need," the statement said.

The World Food Program (WFP) said about 7 million U.S. dollars is needed every month to provide life-saving food assistance to refugees in Uganda. The food aid agency said an additional 20 million dollars is need to restore full food rations to the refugees for the rest of the year.

"We have done everything we can to avoid this, but we have been left with no option but to reduce food assistance for many of the refugees in Uganda, in order to stretch available resources and prioritize the most vulnerable new arrivals," said Mike Sackett, WFP's acting Country Director for Uganda.

"We hope that this is temporary, and we are working as hard as we can to raise the resources needed to restore the full level of food assistance for as many refugees as possible," he added.

Bornwell Kantande, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Uganda, said although there have been generous donations from the international community, more is needed to save the dire situation.

According to UNHCR, since the outbreak of violence in Juba, South Sudan capital on July 8, more than 70,000 people have crossed the border into Uganda, further straining the already underfunded relief response.
BERLIN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- During a police operation in the western German city of Dortmund, a 53-year-old armed man has been shot dead, German media Focus Online reported on Thursday.
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's largest computer maker Lenovo Group reported a 64 percent increase of net profits in the second quarter on the back of "better than expected" PC and tablet sales, according to quarterly results announced Thursday.

The vendor's profit for the quarter was 168 million U.S. dollars, although its revenue fell 6 percent compared to the same period last year.

Lenovo's global PC unit shipments declined 2 percent year on year to 13.2 million, outperforming the market decrease of 4 percent this quarter.

The company's major rival, Apple saw its Mac sales down 11.3 percent year on year to nearly 4.3 million units in the same period.

Lenovo, which has the Thinkpad brand, said its worldwide PC market share was 21.1 percent for the quarter, up 0.4 percentage point year on year.

Its tablet business also performed well, with shipments increasing 3 percent year on year, against a market decline of 11 percent.

Americas was Lenovo's largest market, accounting for nearly one third of its total revenue.
by Xinhua Writer Zhu Junqing

BEIJING, Aug.18 (Xinhua) -- London has recently made a positive step forward in trying to dilute uncertainties clouding its relations with Beijing following a controversial decision to delay a major nuclear power plant co-sponsored with China and France.

Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Theresa May dispatched her special envoy, Alok Sharma, along with a letter to Beijing in a bid to reassure China of Britain's commitment to the "Golden Era" of bilateral relations, a laudable first move in the right direction.

During his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Sharma said the most important message he extended shows that London attaches great importance to bilateral cooperation and regards China as an important global strategic partner.

In May' s letter, the prime minister said she looked forward to attending the upcoming G20 Summit in the city Hangzhou as well as strengthening cooperation with China on trade and business, along with other global issues, according to the envoy.

Apparently, London's so-called "national security" concerns over Chinese investment into the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant could well endanger the bright new prospects the two nations' leadership have agreed to foster during Chinese President Xi Jinping' s visit to Britain last October.

The worries over the plant are as groundless as they are unnecessary. The Chinese investor only has one-third of the project's stakes while the French side holds all the rest. Thus it is impossible and commercially suicidal for the Chinese side to manipulate the project at its own will.

Also, London's misgivings over Chinese involvement in its key infrastructure is yet another stroke of China-phobia.

For years, despite some twists and turns, China has always been a reliable partner for Britain, and has handled their ties from a strategic and long-term perspective.

Theresa May and her cabinet came to power at a time when Britain voted to leave the European Union amid a still anemic global economic recovery.

After divorcing the EU, Britain would be foolish to decline stronger trade ties with China, whose markets remain home to tremendous business opportunities.

As the British prime minister is set to travel to China for the G20 summit next month, her government has promised to make a final decision on the project in the autumn.

While contemplating whether to give the program a go-ahead or not, London needs to fully appreciate the gravity of what's at stake. It is hoped that Britain will exercise prudence and openness in its decision making so that ties with China remain on the right track at such a critical historical juncture.

Related:

China, Britain should value "hard-won momentum" of bilateral relations: ambassador

LONDON, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese-British relations are "at an important historical juncture" and the two nations should value the current "hard-won momentum" of bilateral ties, Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming has said.
JAKARTA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Another Indonesian hostage fled Abu Sayyaf bandits in the southern Philippines after nearly two months in captivity, Indonesian senior minister disclosed here on Thursday.

Ismail escaped from the Abu Sayyaf captors on Wednesday, the same day when his colleague escaped the group and he is currently at Luuk town of the Philippines, Indonesian Security Chief Minister Wiranto confirmed.

"We got information that two persons escaped their captors," Wiranto said at the State Palace.

Muhammad Sofyan, Ismail's colleague, freed from the bandits' plot to behead him, is in Zambuanga of the Philippines, said Wiranto.

Both seamen are undergoing medical check-up by the Filipino authorities, he added.

Ismail is the chief officer of a tugboat whose seven crews were held hostages in waters off the Philippines in June.

Nine Indonesian nationals along with scores of foreign nationals remain as hostages by the Abu Sayyaf captors in the southern Philippines.

The Abu Sayyaf group always demands ransoms for the release of their victims or violently beheads them.

A total of 25 Indonesian sailors have been abducted by the group this year and so far 16 of them have been released.

Indonesia has called for truce between the Philippines troops and Abu Sayyaf group for the safety of Indonesian hostages.
Diplomats from 13 African countries in Kenya visit Nairobi South Railway Station of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project, Nairobi, Kenya, on Aug. 16, 2016. (Xinhua/Pan Siwei)

NAIROBI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The China-funded Mombasa-Nairobi railway in Kenya has won acclaims from African diplomats, who hailed it as an embodiment of thriving China-Africa ties.

Thirteen African countries' diplomats in Kenya, including ambassadors or high commissioners of Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ghana, Algeria, Senegal, Mozambique and Rwanda, visited the railway's construction sites on Tuesday.

They were accompanied by Kenyan officials and the Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, Liu Xianfa, while visiting construction sites of the Athi River bridge and the Nairobi terminal.

During the visit, the Rwandan High Commissioner to Kenya, James Kimonyo, said he was impressed by the high levels of involvement of Kenyan engineers and technicians in the project.

The China-funded standard gauge railway (SGR) will run from the port of Mombasa to the capital Nairobi, replacing a track built a century ago during the British colonial rule. The project is being carried out by the China Road and Bridge Corporation.

In the second phase, the railway will reach Kenya's western border with Uganda, and the rail is expected to eventually extend to other East African countries.

At a meeting after the tour, the Zimbabwean ambassador and the dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Kenya, Kelebert Nkomani, said the SGR dovetailed with Africa's blueprint on socio-economic transformation, saying it would unleash huge benefits in Kenya and across the Eastern African region upon completion.

"The SGR is an extremely vital project that addresses transportation of goods from the port to the interior. It will greatly improve efficiency in trade," Nkomani said.

Nkomani said the Mombasa-Nairobi railway presented other African countries with sound insight on how to modernize their transport systems.

"The SGR project is a case study in adherence to high degrees of professionalism and inclusiveness. Local people have benefited from the project," said Nkomani.

Construction of the railway has created more than 40,000 jobs for locals, with some 20,000 local employees having received skills training.

Nkomani said sourcing of local materials, job creation and transfer of expertise in the work on the railway had benefited Kenya's economic development, and were worth emulating by other African countries.

"We have so much to learn from the SGR project. It has offered vital lessons like inclusiveness in terms of sourcing alongside adherence to environmental standards," Nkomani said.

Ambassador Liu told the diplomats the SGR would promote economic prosperity and social development, adding the design of the rail ensured free movement of wildlife animals. He described the SGR as a model of win-win cooperation between China and Africa.

The 472km Mombasa-Nairobi railway is expected to be put into use at the end of 2017.
KINSHASA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has mobilized considerable human and material resources to support Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) authorities in a massive vaccination campaign against Yellow Fever.

Speaking on Wednesday in Kinshasa, MSF's emergency coordinator Axelle Ronsse said the campaign which will be conducted for the next ten days, will target 10.5 million people.

"MSF has mobilized 100 teams of 16 people each in three health zones of Kinshasa. Meanwhile, 58 expatriates and 103 Congolese MSF workers will participate in the campaign that targets 760,000 people," Ronsse said.

She said 1,700 employees of Congolese health ministry will work alongside the MSF teams in the three health zones in Kinshasa.

The MSF official said this large scale vaccination campaign will present a number of logistical challenges, but noted that it was essential to conduct it because it was the most effective way of halting the spread of the epidemic.

Ronsse said MSF was present since the outbreak of the epidemic in DR Congo and was currently working in Kinshasa and Kwango province, near the border with Angola.

"It has already supported the Congolese health ministry to vaccinate the entire population of Matadi town which has 370,000 people," she said, adding that her organization had set aside 2.4 million euros to vaccinate about a million people against the deadly disease within Matadi and Kinshasa.

Ronsse equally noted that MSF was taking care of suspected and confirmed Yellow Fever cases, and had organized awareness campaigns for the concerned communities.

The World Health Organization said since the start of the epidemic in central Africa in January 2016, 879 cases have been confirmed in Angola with 119 deaths, while DR Congo has had 74 confirmed cases and 16 deaths.

Vaccination is the best way to prevent against this disease which kills between 15 to 50 percent of people who develop its severe form.
GENEVA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN Special Envoy for Syria sent a strong message Thursday by calling off this morning's humanitarian taskforce meeting after only 8 minutes because of the lack of progress on the ground and ongoing fighting between factions vying for control of the war-torn country.

"Today I suspended the meeting as a symbol of deep concern and as a sign of respect towards the World Humanitarian Day tomorrow," Staffan de Mistura explained after the shortest ever meeting between humanitarian taskforce members who convene here on a weekly basis.

"It is also a sign of deep unhappiness about the fact that due to the lack of a pause (in fighting) no humanitarian aid is reaching anywhere in Syria at the moment except Deir-ez-Zor," he added.

The situation in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, where two million civilians are trapped, is particularly alarming, the envoy warned.

According to the diplomat, rebel-held eastern parts of Aleppo are besieged and western Aleppo is on track of becoming so.

The situation in what was once Syria's largest city and economic hub only compounds the dire humanitarian situation in the country at war since 2011.

"Not one single convoy in one month has reached any of the humanitarian besieged areas," De Mistura reported.

Ongoing fighting between factions loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups seeking to oust him has meant that humanitarian actors have been unable to assist those in need.

Latest UN figures reveal that since relief operations kicked off in February this year, 1,275,750 people have received multi-sectoral aid, far short of what the UN had hoped to achieve by now.

De Mistura recalled the urgent need to install a 48-hour truce in Aleppo to give humanitarian convoys enough time to achieve meaningful aid deliveries.
KUNMING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The former head of a hospital in southwest China's Yunnan Province stood trial on Thursday, accused of accepting 116 million yuan (17.5 million U. S. dollars) of bribes in property and 80,000 dollars in cash.

Wang Tianchao, former head of Yunnan No. 1 People's Hospital, was accused of accepting 100 apartments worth 83 million yuan from a real estate developer, heard the Pu'er Intermediate People's Court.

Wang allegedly took the bribes from companies and individuals in exchange for hospital construction projects, procuring medical equipment, medicine procurement and doctor promotions from 2004 to 2014 when he was president of the hospital.

The trial ends Thursday, with a verdict announced soon.
COPENHAGEN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Danish wind-turbine manufacturer Vestas upgraded its annual outlook for 2016 after posting solid half-year results, the company announced Thursday.

Vestas now expects its revenue for 2016 to achieve "minimum 9.5 billion euros" (about 10.7 billion U.S. dollars) as against its previous forecast of minimum 9 billion euros.

It also raises its expected result on EBIT (Earnings before interest and tax) margin before special items from minimum 11 percent to minimum 12.5 percent, and free cash flow from minimum 600 million euros to minimum 800 million euros.

Vestas said in a statement that "the upgrade is based on better than expected performance in the first half of 2016 and visibility for the remainder of the year."

Overall revenue for the first half of 2016 stood at 4.021 billion euros, up from 3.268 billion euros for the same period last year, the company's half-yearly results showed.

For the second quarter alone, Vestas generated revenue of 2.557 billion euros, an increase of 46 percent from 1.749 billion euros, year-on-year.

Vestas said the second-quarter revenue was primarily driven by higher level deliveries for the project segment.

In order to adjust capital structure, Vestas on Thursday also announced a share buy-back program of 400 million euros to be executed during the period Aug. 18 to Dec. 30, 2016.

The share price of Vestas at the Copenhagen Stock Exchange rose more than 10 percent after the first minutes of trading on Thursday. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars)
by Xinhua writers Li Laifang and Xu Yang

SHENYANG, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Covered with dust, batches of compressors lay idle in the workshops of Shenyang Blower Works Group. Few buyers come to pick up these goods.

"The clients paid subscriptions for the equipment, but they did not come and take them due to their shrinking investment," said Jin Na, head of strategic development at the state-owned firm in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

In the first half of 2016, the output value of Shenyang Blower Works Group fell by half. Some traditional industries in Liaoning, such as mining, cement and equipment manufacturing, also saw a sharp revenue decrease in H1.

As fixed asset investment and industrial added value dropped significantly, Liaoning's GDP contracted 1 percent in H1, the worst among 31 provinces, municipalities and regions on China's mainland. Its growth was 3 percent last year, also the slowest in the country.

The economies of Heilongjiang and Jilin, two other provinces in the northeast, expanded 5.7 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively in H1.

The northeast, an old industrial base, has experienced more difficulties than the rest of the country in the past two years amid China's economic slowdown. The region largely relies on heavy and chemical industries, energy resources, raw materials and a large proportion of state-owned enterprises.

The central government is set to revitalize the flagging economy in the region with a package of new measures to achieve balanced development across the country.

A three-year plan to rejuvenate the old industrial rust belt in northeast China will be distributed soon, said Zhao Chenxin, spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), at a press conference Tuesday.

The plan will focus on improving mechanisms, pushing structural reform, encouraging innovation and startups, and ensuring people's livelihoods, with 127 important projects in sectors such as transport, energy, agriculture and urban-rural construction, he said.

The document has been approved by the State Council, and efforts will be made to guarantee its execution, according to Zhao.

It is part of the latest round of rejuvenation policies being used to shore up the regional economy. In April, the central authorities released a policy document to rejuvenate the northeast rust belt region through more reforms and economic restructuring.

The northeast saw an average annual GDP growth of 12.2 percent in the ten years starting from 2003 when central authorities decided to rejuvenate the region with supportive measures.

Yet the region has suffered as the country's economy undergoes restructuring towards higher quality and efficiency.

NDRC statistics show the northeast region's GDP grew 2.2 percent in H1, much lower than the 7.6 percent, 7.8 percent and 8.0 percent for the east, middle and western regions, respectively.

DUALITY AND TRANSITION

Not everything is bad.

Though many traditional industries are in trouble, struggling to get out of trouble through innovation and upgrading, emerging industries reported rapid growth in H1.

With more efforts on developing new and high-end products, Fushun Special Steel Company in Liaoning reaped a profit of 133 million yuan (20 million U.S. dollars) in H1.

"We will not find a way out if we do not adjust our product structure," said Liu Zhentian, deputy general manager of the company.

Not far from the premises of Shenyang Blower Works Group, Shenyang Piotech saw its output increase 342 percent in H1. The company plans to invest 300 million yuan in building the country's largest manufacturing base of film equipment, specially used in large-scale integrated circuit industry.

As an emerging sector, robot enterprises in Liaoning, led by Shenyang-based Siasun, a leading domestic robot maker, saw output increase35.2 percent in H1, due to the development of new products.

In July, Intel Corp. announced that its nonvolatile memory modules plant in Dalian, a port city in Liaoning, was put into production ahead of schedule.

The 5.5 billion U.S.dollar project will spur the development of relevant industries, said Liu Yan, vice mayor of Dalian.

Consumption, tourism and the tertiary industry have also contributed more to the regional economy. In H1, tourism revenue increased by 13.3 percent in Liaoning, and the added value of the tertiary sector accounted for 63.4 percent of Heilongjiang's GDP.

Yet transition is not easy.

"As long as your company is related to the coal industry, banks will shy away from you," said Jia Liman of Fushun Coal Mine Motor Manufacturing.

"Without money, how will a company upgrade itself?" he said. In H1, banks recovered loan payments of 170 million yuan from his company and refused it new ones.

The investment environment is also a concern for many enterprises in Liaoning.

"We feel certain administration departments are capricious and dishonest. This is a big problem with the investment environment," said Zhang Ruoxi, general manager of Green Automation Equipment Company in Liaoning.

The Liaoning provincial government has vowed to work hard to address problems in the investment and business environment in the second half of the year.

In line with national moves to cut overcapacity, Liaoning cut coal, and iron and steel capacity by 3.5 million and 2.1 million tonnes, respectively in H1. It is pressing for the province to achieve the goals of slashing 13 million and 6 million tonnes, respectively from the two sectors in 2016.

"Economic downward pressure will force reforms. Seen from this angle, difficulties are opportunities too," said Liang Qidong, vice president of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China and Myanmar agreed on Thursday to enhance cooperation between energy departments to find a proper solution for the suspended Myitsone Dam project.

The agreement came during talks between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who started a five-day official visit to China on Wednesday.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters after the talks, held at the Great Hall of the People, that Aung San Suu Kyi said Myanmar's new government has decided to set up an investigation committee to find a solution that is in both countries' interests regarding the Myitsone Dam issue.

The Myitsone Dam is jointly funded by China and Myanmar, but was suspended by the Myanmar government in 2011.

Related:

Aung San Suu Kyi welcome to play greater role in boosting China-Myanmar relations

BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's first State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who starts an official visit to China on Wednesday, is welcome to play a greater role in boosting her country's strategic partnership with China.
Afghan policemen stand guard at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 18, 2016. At least two people, including an army officer, were injured in a bomb attack in Kabul as Afghans were celebrating the Independence Day across the country on Thursday, police said. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)

ASADABAD, Afghanistan, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Three Afghans were killed and about 50 others wounded on Thursday in a mortar attack in Asadabad city, capital of eastern province of Kunar, as the country celebrated the Independence Day, sources said.

The attack occurred in the morning after two mortar rounds fired by militants struck near the provincial government office building where a celebration was underway.

"Two children and a man were killed and 49 others wounded by the mortar shelling in Asadabad this morning," provincial Governor Wahidullah Kalimzai told Xinhua.

He blamed the enemies of Afghanistan, a term referring to the Taliban militants for the attack in the mountainous province, 185 km east of Afghan capital of Kabul.

Kalimzai condemned the attack and the Taliban has yet to make comments.

The war-torn Afghanistan on Thursday marked the 97th anniversary of its independence from the British occupation by holding meetings and celebrations across the country amid tight security.

In Kabul, an army officer and his child were injured after a sticky bomb attached to his armored vehicle was detonated in the central part of the city, causing panic among the residents.

The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital in Kolola Pushta locality of the city.

Some 1,600 civilians were killed and more than 3,560 others wounded in conflict-related violence and Taliban-led attacks in the first half of the year, according to UN officials in the country.
NAIROBI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan officials have sounded optimistic about the sixth Tokyo International Conference on Africa's Development (TICAD) summit to be held in the Kenyan capital on Aug. 27-28, saying its successful hosting for the first time on African soil would improve global confidence on Kenya.

"Nobody will doubt our capacity to host any meeting that can be held around the world after this Summit," Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary, Mwangi Kiunjuri told reporters in Nairobi on Thursday.

Amina Mohamed, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs said at least 4,000 Japanese delegates are expected to attend the Summit. The TICAD Summit comprises 73 different sessions to discuss matters of trade between Africa and Japan.

Mohamed said so far 100 Japanese companies have confirmed participation in an international exhibition and would also take place in a Business forum scheduled during the Summit.

"There are 60 Memorandum of Understanding to be signed during the forum," Mohamed said when asked about the potential benefits the African business leaders were likely to obtain from the Summit.

"Africa is working towards economic and political integration across the continent. We are talking about continental integration and we want to trade more with ourselves," Ambassador Catherine Muigai, Kenya's Permanent Representative to the African Union (AU) told Xinhua.

Japan and other TICAD co-organisers, including the AU, the UN Office of the Special Advisor on Africa, the UN Development Programme and the World Bank, are expected to meet to discuss economic growth, trade and investment as well as sustainable development.

TICAD, first held in 1993, is an international forum of high-level political engagement between Africa and Japan which provides a platform for discussion on matters of national and regional development.
BERLIN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- An armed man was shot dead by police in the western German city of Dortmund on Thursday, local media reported.

The 53-year-old man was supposed to be arrested by local prosecutors office with a warrant, for he had repeatedly committed internet frauds and misappropriated money from a sex worker, the office and the police said.

When the officers stormed his apartment, the man shot immediately and the police returned fire, in which he was killed and a police officer was slightly injured, according to the report.
WINDHOEK, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A draft framework that aims to better coordinate Africa's drought relief efforts has been finalized in Namibia's capital Windhoek and awaits adoption by African Union heads of state on Friday.

Delegates to Africa's first ever drought conference agreed that a core team will be set up to implement the Strategic Framework for Drought Management and Enhancing Resilience to Drought in Africa for a year, while a continental Trust Fund for Africa that will run for three years will be formed.

The draft framework will be tabled before a meeting of relevant portfolio ministers Thursday before it is handed over to the AU heads of state.

During the proceedings Wednesday, the delegates declared that synergies among regional economic groupings, private sector partners and civil society organizations should be increased to address drought, land degradation and desertification by implementing the framework.

Southern African countries are experiencing prolonged drought and United Nations agency OCHA estimated that 32 million people will be food insecure between June 2016 and March 2017.
BUCHAREST, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Romania's Foreign Ministry on Thursday denied an alleged transfer of U.S. nuclear weapons stationed in Turkey to Romania.

"The Foreign Affairs Ministry firmly rejects these pieces of information," the official Agerpres news agency reported the ministry as saying.

EurActiv.com reported on Thursday, citing two anonymous "independent sources," that the United States had started transferring nuclear weapons stationed in Turkey to Romania, against the background of worsening relations between Washington and Ankara.

According to the sources, the transfer of "20-plus nukes" has been very challenging in technical and political terms, yet the U.S.-Turkey relations had deteriorated so much following the coup that Washington no longer trusted Ankara to host the weapons.

The weapons are being moved to the Deveselu air base, a newly-opened ballistic missile defense site in southern Romania, one of the sources said.

In a recent report, U.S. think-tank Stimson Center said that some 50 nuclear weapons are being stored at Turkey's Incirlik Air Base.
ISTANBUL, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Qatar Airways passenger plane on Thursday made an emergency landing in Istanbul's Ataturk Airport after one engine caught fire, Turkish media reported.

The left engine of the Airbus 330 aircraft was on fire soon after taking off from the Istanbul airport, the private Dogan news agency said.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said the plane had a technical fault with one of its motors.

The plane has resumed its fight to Doha, capital of Qatar, the report said.
SYDNEY, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- For the first time, two blonde women from Australia's Queensland have been hired as cabin crew members for Malaysia's AirAsia.

News Corp reported on Thursday that Queenslanders Chloe Markham and Hayley Austin were the first Aussie cabin crew to be hired by the airline in an effort to broaden its appeal to travelers.

The young women will work on flights between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the Australian ports of Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and also on other Asian routes.

AirAsia X chief executive Benyamin Ismail said more Aussie cabin crew would be joining Chloe and Hayley in the near future.

"Our guests from around the world are pleased to see Australians among our crew members who mostly hail from Asia," said Ismail.

"They receive a lot of compliments from all our passengers and obviously Australians feel right at home with them on board," he said.

The report said both flight attendants have enjoyed "rock star" treatment from passengers awed by their blonde hair and fair skin.

Austin said some of the passengers from Hangzhou and Taipei flights had filmed her, especially during safety demonstrations.

"They Snapchat pictures of me because they haven't seen Australians working on the flights before," she said. "Passengers are usually used to seeing attendants from Asian countries on AirAsia flights."
KHARTOUM, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A forum on the role of media in fighting terrorism started here Thursday.

The two-day Arab Media Forum on Terrorism was jointly organized by Sudan's Information Ministry and the Arab League (AL).

Sudanese First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Saleh, AL Deputy Secretary General Ahmed Bin Hali, and representatives of a number of Arab information ministries and Arab media outlets attended the opening of the forum, under the theme "Role of Arab Media in Combating Terrorism."

"Terrorism is an international phenomenon necessitating coordination among all countries," Saleh said. "Terrorism targets all entities and therefore, a selective method cannot be used to face it, whereas a comprehensive phenomenon should be addressed comprehensively."

He reiterated Sudan's commitment to confronting the terrorism phenomenon.

"Sudan is being exposed to unfair accusations and attempts to accuse it of terrorism, but this does not prevent our efforts in the field of combating terrorism," he said. "This forum is an affirmation of Sudan's role in fighting terrorism."

AL Deputy Secretary General Ahmed Bin Hali, for his part, said his organization "is exerting all efforts to update and develop the Arab agreements and strategies relating to combating terrorism."

"This forum avails the opportunity to reach decisions and recommendations on the required arrangements to face terrorism and extremism. It also avails the opportunity to reach consensus on a joint media plan based on sincere and honest reviewing of terrorism issues without being misled by claims of terrorist organizations," he added.

He added that the forum would also work on practical means to implement the recommendations to uproot terrorism, which threatens the national state and the Arab social fabric, cripples the pace of development and confiscates the future of our youths.

A Khartoum Declaration is expected to be issued on Friday at the conclusion of the forum.
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has urged police to keep a firm hand on economic crimes, with a focus on supervision and risk prevention.

Meng Jianzhu, head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks at a national meeting for public security organs on Thursday.

Meng cited contract fraud, counterfeiting and copyright infringement as frequent economic crimes that police should firmly focus on, in addition to key areas such as corruption and bribery.

"With the help of information technology, police departments should better adapt themselves to the big data-era to handle economic crimes," he said.

Official figures released by the ministry on Thursday show that Chinese police have solved 815,000 economic crimes since 2011, recovering losses of 300 billion yuan (45 billion U.S. dollars).

Such crimes, including bank card fraud, illegal fundraising and pyramid selling, have been found in housing, job market, environmental protection, education, elderly care, as well as food and medical care, according to the ministry.

In addition, police have solved over 900 cases involving illegal banks, involving more than 1 trillion yuan, since 2011.
DAMASCUS, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Airstrikes in Syria have killed 70 rebels over the past 24 hours in a contested region south of the northern province of Aleppo, state news agency SANA reported Thursday.

As many as 74 airstrikes were conducted over the past 24 hours against military bases the rebels have recently captured south of Aleppo, said SANA, adding that several rebel weaponry and vehicles have also been destroyed during the airstrikes.

The escalated air raids come as part of the Syrian military counter offensive against a series of military bases controlled by rebels in the southern rim of Aleppo.

A military source told Xinhua that the army was advancing toward the military colleges area south of Aleppo, in a bid to drive the Jaish al-Fateh, or the Army of Conquest, out of that strategic region.

Earlier this month, Jaish al-Fateh, a coalition of several radical religious rebel groups, unleashed a wide-scale offensive against several adjacent military bases in southern Aleppo, trying to break a government siege on rebel-held areas east of Aleppo.

The group said it had succeeded in capturing the military colleges, break the siege and open a route through the al-Ramouseh area near the military bases. The government said the rebels' attempt failed as the route is exposed to the fire of the Syrian army.

Meanwhile, the United Nations special envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, urged on Thursday for a 48-hour truce in Aleppo to facilitate humanitarian missions into the city, as all humanitarian efforts have failed during August.

The envoy said the 48-hour pause will be the topic of a meeting that will take place late Thursday between countries working to achieve a cessation of hostilities.

Aleppo, Syria's largest province and once a thriving economic metropolis, has witnessed heavy battles lately as both warring parties have stepped up their game in the hope of grabbing more gains in that key province.
South Sudanese civilians seek shelter at a UN site in Juba, July 12, 2016, after renewed fighting between rival troops broke out in the South Sudan capital. (Xinhua/EPA)

JUBA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has announced a special investigation into allegations that the UN mission peacekeepers in South Sudan (UNMISS) failed to respond properly to last month's attack on a hotel in Juba.

According to statement from UN Secretary-General received in Juba on Thursday, the UN chief was alarmed by the preliminary findings of an investigation into the attack on Hotel Terrain on July 11, in which one person was killed and several civilians were raped and brutally beaten.

Ban was also concerned about allegations that UNMISS did not respond appropriately to prevent this and other grave cases of sexual violence committed in Juba, according to the statement.

The statement said that the Secretary-General has decided to launch an independent special investigation "due to the gravity of these incidents, related allegations and the preliminary findings by UNMISS," to determine the circumstances surrounding these incidents and to evaluate the Mission's overall response.

The UN chief reiterated his outrage over the acts of violence committed by the government and opposition forces in Juba from July 8 to 11, during which many South Sudanese civilians and two UN peacekeepers were killed.

He urged the South Sudanese government to investigate human rights abuses and prosecute those involved. Nobody in South Sudan has been publicly trialed for any war crime or atrocity since the start of the civil war in mid-December 2013.

"The Secretary-General urges, once more, the Government of South Sudan to investigate these human right violations and to prosecute those involved in these unspeakable acts of violence," the statement said.
ISLAMABAD, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan said Thursday it allows the UN to send a team to its part of Kashmir, days after India turned down request by the UN rights council to travel to the Indian-controlled Kashmir to investigate the alleged rights violations.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had written to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHRC) Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein to "end the persistent and egregious violation of the basic human rights of the Kashmiri people."

The Indian media had reported that a meeting of all political parties in India presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week dismissed the UNHRC's request to visit Kashmir.

But Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said his country has no objection if the UN wants to send any team.

Paksitan welcomes "any UN team that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights may wish to send to AJK (Azad Jammu and Kashmir)" Zakaria told a weekly news briefing.

The spokesman said Pakistan-controlled Kashmir is an area open to everyone and is frequented by foreign tourists and members of the diplomatic community in Pakistan, including representatives of the United Nations, where they have observed recent elections and met cross section of people.

Dozens of people have been reportedly killed and many injured in violence in the Indian-administered Kashmir after the last month's killing of a top militant commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen group.

The spokesman said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will raise the Kashmir issue at the United Nations General Assembly's session in New York next month.

"The prime minister is going to take this issue very forcefully at the UN platform," Zakaria said, describing Kashmir as the "internationally recognized dispute."
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro meets with a Chinese enterprises delegation, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Aug. 6, 2015. (Xinhua/Boris Vergara)

CARACAS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has praised the close relationship between Caracas and Beijing, after the 5th Technical Secretariat of the Mixed Venezuela-China High Level Committee (CMAN).

"It is a multi-dimensional relationship, which is spiritual, cultural and deep," said Maduro Tuesday during an address to a group of Chinese academics in the Venezuelan capital.

Maduro also exalted the achievements made through bilateral cooperation, including joint exploration in the Orinoco Mining Arc and the Orinoco Oil Belt.

He added that joint contracts for new mining projects in Venezuela are planned for a value of 20 billion U.S. dollars.

Furthermore, Maduro said that 60 percent of the wealth generated from projects in the Orinoco Mining Arc would be destined to social investment plans, such as housing, healthcare, education, tourism, culture and recreation.

Photo taken on Aug. 4, 2016 shows the facilities of the Chinese-Venezuelan joint company SINOVENSA S.A. in the Orinoco Petroleum Belt in Monagas state, Venezuela. (Xinhua/Boris Vergara)

On Tuesday, authorities from Beijing and Caracas concluded their two-day discussions on new avenues of cooperation.

One important deal will see 5,000 Chinese vans and 1,900 heavy refrigerated trucks added to the Venezuelan distribution fleet.

These units will go to strengthen the Great Sovereign Supply Mission, a joint state-military program aiming to eradicate the scarcity of food and medicine in the country.

The Secretariat also set up a period of five months of work, prior to the 15th meeting of the Mixed Venezuela-China High-Level Committee, set to take place in late 2016.

This period will see in-depth discussion about real cooperation on joint financing and cooperation on oil and gas, mining, and electricity.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Four gold medals were decided in the Olympic canoe sprint competition on Thursday as Germany, Ukraine, Hungary and Spain each took one gold.

Germany claimed the gold in the men's K2 1000m. It was Germany's third gold in this event after 1992 and 2008.

Max Rendschmidt said after his win: "The best race that we had. It was very hard at the end."

"Everything has to be right to win the gold medal. We were a little bit off of power in the end but otherwise the first 800m was so good, so we can win the race with that part." added Rendschmidt's partner Marcus Gross.

Marko Tomicevic and Milenko Zoric clinched silver, Serbia's first Olympic medal in canoe sprint. It was also Serbia's fourth medal in the 2016 Games.

"Well this is my first medal in the Olympic Games. This is something special in my life, but I can't be fully happy because we wanted to win," said Tomicevic.

Ken Wallace and Lachlan Tame took bronze. This was Australia's third medal in the men's K2 1000m, after two other bronze medals in 1984 and 1988.

Tame said after winning his first medal: "It's special. I'm going to be an Olympian my whole life."

Iurii Cheban from Ukraine bagged the gold in the men's C1 200m. Valentin Demyanenko from Azerbaijan settled for silver and the bronze went to Isaquias Queiroz dos Santos from Brazil.

This was Cheban's second successive gold medal in this boat class.

"Maybe the first time I won the medal it was more emotional, but this time I knew what I should prepare for. I was preparing for a tough race and it was indeed a tough race. This race was much, much harder than the previous one."said Cheban.

Cheban explained why he capsized at the finish. "On the finish line each athlete wants to put the nose of the boat as far as possible to maximize the chance of being first. My body weight got to the back of the boat and I capsized. It was a golden trick."

Spain snatched the gold in the men's K2 200m in 32.075 seconds. Britain and Lithuania took silver and bronze, respectively in 32.368 and 32.382 seconds.

This was the third Olympic medal for Spain's Saul Craviotto after he claimed gold in the men's K2 500m in 2008 and silver in the men's K1 200m in 2012.

"I will never dream to have three medals and two golds so now I am dreaming," said Craviotto.

Danuta Kozak from Hungary took the gold in the women's K1 500m in 1 minute and 52.494 seconds. Emma Jorgensen from Denmark notched up silver in 1:54.326, edging Lisa Carrington from New Zealand into third place in 1:54.372.

Thus Kozak retained her 2012 Olympic Games title in this event. This was her second gold medal in Rio after the K2 500m on Tuesday.

"I am very very happy. A few days ago I have sickness, and now I feel better and better," said Kozak.
MADRID, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Acting Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Thursday said he was in a position to present his candidacy to be returned to office at an investiture vote in the Spanish Congress.

Rajoy said he would ask Speaker Ana Pastor to fix the date for the investiture debate after meeting with the leader of center-right formation Ciudadanos Albert Ribera.

He made his announcement after Rivera had told the waiting press that Rajoy had agreed to sign an anti-corruption pact proposed by Ciudadanos as one of the conditions stipulated for giving their support.

Rajoy in turn said the pair had taken a "decisive" step towards the formation of a new government in Spain and in avoiding a possible third general election in a year.

The acting prime minister also confirmed he has spoken to the Canary Island Coalition (CC), who have one seat in Congress.

However, he admitted that even with the support of CC and Ciudadanos, he would still have just 170 votes in an investiture debate -- short of the 176 needed for a majority. He called on Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez to facilitate the formation of a new government.

The meeting between Rajoy and Rivera came 24 hours after a meeting of the People's Party executive committee in which Rajoy was authorized to negotiate with Ciudadanos. Enditem
SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Villagers in Indian-controlled Kashmir said on Thursday that a young college teacher was killed in army custody.

The killing of Shabir Ahmad Monga, who worked as contractual lecturer at a government college, was reported from village Shaarsali Khrew in Pulwama district, about 28 km south of Srinagar city.

"Indian army troopers along with police on Wednesday night raided our village and took over two dozen men in custody," a resident said on condition of anonymity. "The army personnel ruthlessly roughed up all of them, due to which 30-year-old Shabir Ahmad Monga was killed."

Monga's body was handed over to the family Thursday morning, triggering protests in the area.

Reports said Monga was taken to nearest Pampore town hospital but doctors there declared him dead.

"He (Monga) had already died when brought to hospital," a health official posted at Pampore hospital told Xinhua. "His body had visible external injuries."

A police official at Pampore said Monga was killed during the raid to counter anti-India protests in the village.

A local news gathering agency quoting doctors at Srinagar's SMHS said they admitted 24 civilians in injured condition from Khrew, who were ruthlessly beaten. The injured include Monga's brother.

Indian army has regretted the killing of Monga and said it would investigate the circumstances that led to his death.

"It is regrettable," Lt. Gen. Satish Dua, the General Officer Commanding (GoC) of Indian military's Srinagar-based 15 Corps, told reporters. "It was a joint patrol which had gone there. Thereafter one death has taken place. We are looking into it and have due process of investigation."

Large-scale protests against New Delhi's rule are going on in the Muslim majority areas of the restive region since July 8. The protests broke out following the killing of a top militant commander of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) Burhan Muzaffar Wani.

Despite prolonged curfew and restrictions to clamp down on protesters, clashes and protests seem to be intensifying on Thursday. The death toll of civilians in the standoff has gone up to 62, besides injuries to thousands of civilians and hundreds of government forces personnel.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the psyche of majority of Kashmiris. Irate residents defying curfew and restrictions took to roads at several places and clashed with police. The youth throw stones and brickbats on contingents of police and paramilitary, who respond by firing tear smoke shells, pellets and bullets, which often proves fatal.

Residents alleged the government forces break window panes and resort to ransacking of houses to stop protests. Authorities however said their forces were only responding to chase stone-throwing youth and trying to maintain law and order.

The shutdown and restrictions has affected normal life in the region, with people complaining dearth of essentials and eatables. A shortage of medicines has been reported in the region.

A separatist movement and guerrilla war challenging New Delhi's rule is going on in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.

In 2010, a similar wave of violence hit the region and claimed over 100 lives during clashes that continued for months.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their Independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.

The weeks of turbulence in Indian-controlled Kashmir has added a new confrontation in the already strained relations between the two neighbors.
AMMAN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Thursday underlined the need of continued Russia-U.S. coordination to address the situation in Syria, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

At a meeting between King Abdullah II of Jordan in Amman and visiting Russian envoy for the Middle East and North Africa, Mikhail Bogdanov, the two sides discussed means to end the suffering of the Syrian people and preserve the unity and the territorial integrity of Syria, Petra said.

During the talks, the two sides stressed the need to intensify the cooperation between Russia and the United States to reach a political solution to the Syria crisis, the report said.

Discussions also focused on international efforts to fight terrorism and radical groups.

The Russian official voiced his country's appreciation of Jordan's support to Syrian refugees and its humanitarian efforts in dealing with the Syria crisis.

He stressed Russia's support to all the efforts to create a suitable environment for the refugees to return to their homes.

Jordan now hosts some 1.3 million Syrian refugees.

Also on Thursday, Prime Minister Hani Mulki met with the Russian official, saying that the key to ending the Syria crisis is a political solution rather than a military one.
LUSAKA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Thursday revealed that the government has made great progress and reached consensus on key areas of a financing program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In April, the Zambian government announced it would seek an aid program from the IMF which was expected to be finalized by the end of this year. The IMF was expected to provide up to 1.2 billion U.S. dollars.

But the talks were temporarily halted until after the general elections held last week. Among some of the conditions for the financing program include removal or reductions of energy and agricultural subsidies.

Fuel and power subsidies alone could cost the government 660 million dollars, according to the IMF.

Lungu said during a meeting with 70 business executives in Lusaka, the country's capital, on Thursday that all components of the IMF program will be mutually agreed, a statement released by presidential spokesperson Amos Chanda said.

The Zambian leader also hinted at a rapid but progressive migration to a cost-reflective tariff structure in the electricity and fuel sectors and the restructuring of an agriculture support program under which government provides subsidies for seed and fertilizer to smallholder farmers.

Lungu, who was declared winner of last Thursday's election, has promised the business community of broad policy measures to accelerate economic growth and control spending during his next five years in office.

Lungu said he aims to create a more stable and predictable open market environment which will involve increased consultations with the business community.

"I have five years now which is sufficient time to take more decisive action. I will take measures to grow the economy and control expenditure. Some measures will be painful but they yield results and by 2021, people will reward us for having taken such action," he said. Enditem
ISLAMABAD, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told the cabinet on Thursday that the projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were the top priority of the government and concerted efforts should be made to ensure timely progress.

The cabinet was given a detailed briefing on the progress of the CPEC projects and the prime minister directed the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform to ensure completion of the first batch of projects in energy and infrastructure sectors by 2017-18.

Sharif told the ministers that speedy progress on these projects was necessary for addressing the existing shortfalls and future demands, a statement from the PM Office said.

"The completion of early harvest projects will go a long way in elimination of load shedding by summer of 2018," the statement quoted the premier as saying.

He noted that significant progress was being made on the western route of the CPEC project. Employment opportunities would be generated for the local populace which would generate economic activity and enhance national wealth.

He further stated that the CPEC would ensure equitable benefits among different areas of Pakistan, including the most underdeveloped areas.

"It will not only connect 200 million people of Pakistan, but would also open up avenues of cooperation amongst people, communities and states across the region."

The cabinet was informed that considerable part of portfolio under the CPEC had been energized while the remaining were in the pipeline.

Meanwhile Foreign Office spokesman Nafeez Zakaria said the CPEC, which is broad-based economic cooperation between the two countries, would also benefit other countries.

"CPEC is a comprehensive and broad-based economic cooperation project between Pakistan and China. The project will contribute to economic development of the entire region and not only for Pakistan and China," Zakaria told a weekly briefing.

"It can be a catalyst for economic connectivity and integration in Central Asia, South Asia and the West Asia," he said.
JAKARTA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian investigators were probing the allegation that police personnel received a huge amount of money from drug cartels, police said on Thursday.

The move came after a publication of a testimony from drug lord Freddy Budiman, who was executed on July 29, that personnel of police, armed force and national anti-narcotic agency had received funds from his drug business.

President Joko Widodo has allowed a joint team comprising investigators from police, military and the agency to investigate the allegation as he has been strongly committed to combating drug trafficking in the country.

"The investigation aims to find out whether there is criminal violation. The investigators focus on measures to find out whether police personnel have received 90 billion rupiah (6.829 million U.S. dollars)," National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian said at the police headquarters.

The general said the investigators would also question the followers of Budiman to verify the veracity of his testimony.

Indonesia also executed three drug convicts from Senegal and Nigeria on July 29. Last year, 14 drug convicts, most of them foreigners, faced firing squad in Indonesia.

The anti-narcotic agency has also cooperated with the country's central bank to supervise and trace transactions suspected of being involved in drug business.

President Widodo has declared a war against drug abuse as its impact has been on an alarming level.
KIGALI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan police killed a suspected terrorist in a shootout at a residential house in Nyarutarama, a suburb in capital Kigali Wednesday.

Police said in a statement that the man killed had barricaded himself in the house.

"In the incident, which lasted about three hours on Wednesday night, the suspect exchanged fire with the police, injuring one officer," said the statement.

The suspect has been identified as Channy Mbonigaba from Rubavu district, western Rwanda.

Since last year, police had been investigating individuals suspected of being radicalized and linked to foreign terrorist organizations, and several have appeared in court, according to the statement.
A Tupolev Tu-22M3 Backfire long-range bomber hits ISIS targets in Syria's Aleppo, Deir Ez Zor and Idlib governorates. Best possible quality. (Sputnik Photo)

MOSCOW, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Defense Ministry said Thursday it was ready to support the proposal of the United Nations' (UN) Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura for a 48-hour humanitarian pause in Syria's northern city Aleppo.

"We are ready to implement next week the first 48-hour humanitarian pause to supply Aleppo civilians with humanitarian aid as a pilot project and to confirm the safe delivery of the goods to the population of the city," the ministry's spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

A more precise date and time will be determined after receiving information about the readiness of the convoys from the UN representatives and the United States would provide security guarantees of their safe travel, Konashenkov said.

He said humanitarian aid should be delivered by two different routes to both the eastern part of Aleppo controlled by rebels and its western part controlled by government forces.

Aleppo, strategically located near Syria's border with Turkey, is Syria's largest city and was once an economic hub. It is now a focal point of clashes between the Syrian army and the rebels.

Russia and Syria have opened six humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave the city and to provide aid to those who decide to stay, as well as another for the safe passage of militants who lay down arms.
NAIROBI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government will lobby for a total ban on ivory trade during the 17th meeting of conference of parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to be held in Johannesburg from Sept. 24 to Oct. 5.

A statement from Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said Thursday that Kenya will lobby the international community to back its proposals on putting an end to trade in trophies during the high-level summit.

"Kenya remains committed to playing its rightful role in ensuring that international trade in endangered species does not threaten survival of wildlife species like elephants," read the statement.

It added that Kenya has prepared comprehensive proposals calling for total ban on ivory trade to be presented at the CITES meeting.

"It is critically important that parties to CITES adopt Kenyan proposals calling for decisive action to ban trade in elephant tusks in order to save the giant mammals from imminent extinction," said the statement.

Kenya is a member of the African elephant coalition that has lobbied the international community to support a ban on ivory trade ahead of CITES meeting.

The coalition will submit a set of proposals at the meeting, calling on governments and multilateral agencies to strengthen protection of elephants through outlawing trade in trophies.

Likewise, the coalition has pushed for closure of domestic and international market for ivory, and prohibition of the export of live African elephant to foreign zoos.

Kenyan won global acclaim in April when President Uhuru Kenyatta set ablaze 105 tons of elephant tusks and 1.03 tons of rhino horns seized from poachers.
Rebel fighters ride a tank in an artillery academy of Aleppo, Syria, August 6, 2016. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

ANKARA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that Turkey will defend its interests in northern Syria despite of internal problems, NTV reported.

"We are aware of everything that will make a fait accomplishment, which will endanger our perpetuity in Syria and Iraq, despite the internal affairs," Erdogan said while addressing representatives of Islamic civic organizations.

The president referred to advance of Syrian Kurds that seized control of the Syrian town of Manbij from the Islamic State (IS) last week with other U.S.-backed forces.

Turkey views the Kurdish militias in Syria as a hostile force, an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and rejects de facto autonomy of the group in northern Syria.

Erdogan also criticized western countries and institutions of not showing solidarity with Turkey after the July 15 coup attempt.

World leaders gathered in Paris after attacks in France, but failed to visit Turkey following the coup, the Turkish president stated.

Other than a few exceptions, Muslim states also failed to give support to Ankara, he added.

Erdogan also slammed western countries over attacks of the IS, which is not a representative of Islamic world.

"Nobody can associate terror with Islam which is a religion," the president stated. "Islamic world has become bazaar of arms dealers."

Not fear but hostility towards Islam has emerged in the Western world, he added.

The failed coup attempt killed at least 290 people, including more than 100 "coup plotters."

The Turkish government claimed the failed coup was organized by followers of Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric.
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will attend a foreign ministers' meeting of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) in Japan, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lu Kang said on Thursday.

The exact date of the annual trilateral meeting is still being negotiated by the three sides, said Lu, adding that Wang's attendance will not involve a bilateral visit.

China's policy toward Sino-Japanese relations is consistent and clear, Lu said when answering a question about whether Wang will exchange views with the Japanese side on improving bilateral ties.

China urges Japan to properly handle major sensitive issues and make efforts to improve bilateral relations in accordance with the four political documents and the four-point principled agreement between the two countries, Lu stressed.

The foreign ministers' meeting, established in 2007, is part of a mechanism for the three East Asian countries to discuss issues including cooperation, leaders' meeting preparation and major regional and global issues. Japan is this year's coordinator of the mechanism.
NEW DELHI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Human rights watchdog Amnesty International on Thursday temporarily closed its offices and postponed programs in India.

The rights body officials said they had been asked by police to avoid visiting offices, fearing attacks from rightwing Hindu groups affiliated with the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party.

"Police officials told us they anticipate attacks on our offices," Himanshi Matta, media officer of Amnesty International India, told Xinhua. "So based on police advice, we are asking our staff to work from other locations as a precautionary measure."

The London-based rights body has been engaged in raising awareness of rights abuses in India.
HONG KONG, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- In the first half of 2016, China has completed 1,795 cases of organ donation, up 45 percent compared to the same period of last year, a Chinese official said here on Thursday.

"At present, China's annual average number of organ donation ranks first in Asia and third around the world," Wang Haibo, head of China Organ Transplant Response System (COTRS), told the 26th International Congress of the Transplantation Society (TTS) in Hong Kong.

There were 2,766 donation cases in China last year, Wang said, which exceeded the total number of 2013 and 2014.

First held in China, the TTS congress is the largest and most authoritative academic conference in organ transplantation, which gathered experts from all over the world to discuss the progress that China has made and other academic topics in organ transplantation.

Professionals from China and abroad noted that China's regulations, systems and standards of organ transplantation have been brought in correspondence with the guiding principles of World Health Organization (WHO) and other internationally recognized standards.

Li Bin, head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China, said China has created the "Chinese Mode" of organ donation when she delivered a speech through her representative.

"The Chinese government's attitudes toward organ transplantation is consistent and clear," Li said, adding that China is aimed at developing organ transplantation in a legal and legitimate way in all the aspects such as organization, techniques, implementation, transportation and supervision.

The Chinese government started the work of organ donation after citizens' decease in 2010 and banned the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners in 2015, which made voluntary donation the only legal source of organs.

TTS President Philip O'Connell said, TTS is pleased to see the progress that China has made in the cessation of use of organs from executed prisoners after decade of reform, and they will continue to support the Chinses people who need organ transplantation.

Jose Nunez, a WHO officer in charge of global organ transplantation, said after visiting China several times that he is impressed with the changes done so far, the progress and the determination, not only from professionals but also from health authorities to build the transplantation reform.

He said there were more than 2,700 voluntary donations and 10,500 patients transplanted during 2015, and an estimated increase of 40 to 50 percent this year, which is a clear demonstration of a fair system.

"A transplantation reform on the basis of voluntary community-based deceased organ donation is the only legitimate source for deceased organ transplantation, aligned with the WHO guiding principles, consistent with the Declaration of Istanbul," he said, adding that measures have been taken to ensure transparency, fairness and traceability of the whole process.

Li said representing a creative exploration of ways to develop organ transplantation, the "Chinese mode" may serve as an aspiration for the rest of the world, especially the countries that face similar challenges as China to solve the shortage of human organs for transplant.
DAMASCUS, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) said in a statement Thursday that it will not stand indifferent to the shelling of the Syrian army.

The YPG said the Syrian warplanes "violently" shelled areas in the province of Hasakah on Thursday, as well as positions of the Kurdish security forces, known as Assayish, in that area, causing a state of "panic" among the people there.

It said the airstrikes were coupled by shelling from heavy artillery and mortar shells, leaving tens of civilians either dead or wounded.

The shelling and airstrikes also pushed some people to flee the city, the statement of the YPG added.

It admitted that previous confrontations and shelling between the Assayish and the Syrian forces had taken place in the past, but the Syrian air force didn't carry as many airstrikes as it did on Thursday.

The YPG contended that the Syrian airstrikes came to undermine the "sweeping victories" scored by the YPG and its militia called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (IS) group.

It continued to charge that the Syrian regime "sees the defeat of the IS as a defeat for itself because they (regime forces) are still counting on the IS to achieve what is left of their dirty scheme."

"This step by the regime is like committing suicide," the statement added.

"We will not stand silent about this brutal and flagrant attacks that target our people, who we will stand firmly to protect. Whoever has his hands smeared with our people's blood will be held accountable by all available means," the statement concluded.

The statement is the latest escalation of the Kurdish militant group, which has controlled much of al-Hasakah province over the past five years.

The SDF, has also achieved several victories against the IS with the help of the U.S.-led airstrikes in the northern province of Aleppo, the latest of which was driving the terror group out of its last major stronghold in the town of Manbej near Turkey.

The YPG and other Kurdish militant groups have started assuming positions in Hasakah since 2012.

At the time, reports emerged about a tacit agreement between the Kurds and the Syrian government.

Even though many Kurdish figures denied it, but it's widely believed that the Kurds are planning to carve out a piece in northern Syria with heavy Kurdish weight as their autonomous state.
Palestinians wearing traditional clothing sing and dance during a mock wedding as they take part in an event, under the patronage of The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) operations in Gaza, celebrating Palestinian culture in Khan Yunis in the southern GazaStrip, on August 17, 2016. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

GAZA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Around 250 Palestinian children from the Gaza Strip participated Wednesday in an exhibition of Palestinian cultural heritage to help preserve the Palestinian national legacy.

The two-day event is organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugee in the Near East (UNRWA) in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis.

Inside an UNRWA school, broad collections of traditional handmade cross-stitched items and pottery works were displayed.

Palestinian cuisine and family-oriented activities characteristic of Palestinian legacy were also showcased.

The uniqueness of the exhibition was that its activities were performed by schoolchildren.

The exhibition design was shaped like a traditional Palestinian village, conveying to children the background of Palestinian peasants' lives and how peasants use their animals for transportation and cultivation.

Inside a virtual village, a traditional folk wedding was performed by a group of children, showing types of traditional ceremonies that have been dormant for decades, featuring folk dances and traditional outfits.

In each exhibition corner children displayed traditional clay items and copper pieces from various areas of Palestine.

"I participated today to show my skills in clay pottery," said 14-year-old Mahmoud Atallah. "I'm really happy and proud to be able to create some pieces now."

Organizers believe that similar heritage events are important in helping the coming generations maintain their Palestinian identity alive, as well as learning more about Palestine.

Event coordinator Rami Abu Saada told Xinhua the aim of the event is to keep the memory of childrens' grandparents and heritage alive with children.

"Actually children were unaware about several old tools that their grandparents used," he said.

Abu Saada said the children learned a lot about their heritage and culture, in addition to items that are no longer in use, such as old kitchen machines.

The event also celebrated the end of the UNRWA's three-week summer games program.

The summer program served over 165,000 registered refugee children in the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli blockade since the Islamic Hamas movement seized power over it by force in 2007.

The UNRWA arranges fun weeks and other events as part of its attempts and interventions to help alleviate the psychological effects of the ongoing conflicts and tough living conditions.

In recent years, Israel and Hamas engaged in three major wars, which claimed thousands of lives, including hundreds of children from Gaza.

The UN believes similar activities can improve the lives of war-traumatized children and help alleviate the nightmares many continue to suffer from.

Yossif Moussa, head of UNRWA's Fun Weeks Program, told Xinhua that Palestinian children must be treated like all other children.

"This unfair blockade imposed on children must be lifted," Moussa said. "They must have a chance to play safely."

"They must enjoy their right to play, have fun, sing, learn and dance," he said.
TEHRAN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday strongly condemned deadly bomb attacks killing innocents in Turkey, Press TV reported.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi slammed the bombings in Turkey's southeastern cities and expressed sympathy with the Turkish government and nation.

"As we have repeatedly declared, Iran strongly condemns use of force and any act of violence or terror anywhere, and disapproves of the killing of innocent people and regards that as a crime against humanity," Qasemi was quoted as saying.

"Evil hands" have intensified desperate efforts to create insecurity in the region, especially in Muslim countries, he said, urging governments and people in the region to be vigilant against such destructive and inhumane acts.

Such attacks would not serve the terrorists' inhumane goals and would instead increase unity among people in their fight against such brutal acts, he added.

Five soldiers were killed and six others injured Thursday by a roadside bomb believed to be planted by outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants in Turkey's eastern Bitlis province, Dogan News Agency reported.

Also on Thursday, suspected PKK militants killed a villager and wounded a soldier in the area near Nazar village of Hizan district in Bitlis province.

Early Thursday, another bombing near police headquarters in the eastern province of Elazig killed 3 people and injured 217, including 85 police officers.

A car bombing on Wednesday night occurred in the eastern province of Van, killing at least 73 people and injuring many others, including 20 police personnel.
MADRID, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ana Pastor, speaker of the Spanish Congress, announced on Thursday that acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will present his candidacy to be returned to office at an investiture debate in the Spanish Congress on August 30.

She made the announcement hours after the leader of the People's Party (PP) Rajoy met Albert Rivera, the leader of the center-right formation, Ciudadanos, in the Spanish Congress.

That meeting came 24 hours after the Executive Committee of Rajoy's party gave him the freedom to negotiate a list of six measures Rivera last week presented as the conditions for supporting Rajoy's investiture.

Thursday saw Rajoy and Rivera agree to sign an anti-corruption pact, which Rajoy describes as a "decisive" step towards the formation of a new government and avoiding a possible third general election in a year.

He also said he had spoken to the Canary Island Coalition, who have one seat in congress, but admitted that even adding the 137 seats his party won in the June 26. election to the 32 won by Ciudadanos and Canary Island Coalition, that would still leave him short of the 176 needed for a majority.

As such Rajoy needs another party to support him in the first investiture vote where he needs an overall majority, or to abstain in the second vote 48 hours later a simple majority which would see him return to office.

The Spanish Constitution says that if Rajoy fails to win either of the two votes, then Congress would be dissolved two months later and new election be called 54 days later, which means that if a third election was called, it would be held on Dec. 25, Christmas Day.
OTTAWA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that strengthening relationship with China "is essential to growing our middle class and creating new opportunities for Canadian businesses."

Trudeau said that he will pay an official visit to China from Aug. 30 to Sept. 6. at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

"On this trip, I will strive for a closer, more balanced relationship between Canada and China -- one that unlocks the untapped potential in our two countries' commercial ties, and advances important issues like good governance, the rule of law and the environment," he said in a press release.

The visit to China, which will be the first by Trudeau since he became Canadian prime minister in November, includes stops in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Hong Kong. He is expected to meet Chinese leaders in government, business, and the public at large.

During the visit, Trudeau said he will also participate in the G20 leaders' summit on Sept. 4-5 in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang province.

He said "Canada firmly believes in the work of the G20 and its ability to promote strong, sustainable, and inclusive global growth and prosperity. We place great importance on working with our G20 partners to help address some of the world's most pressing challenges, like climate change, migration, and sustainable development."

Canada welcomes the agenda brought forward by China as this year's G20 host, which encourages members to work together towards an innovative, interconnected, and inclusive world economy, according to the release.

China is Canada's second-largest single-country trading partner.

Trade between the two countries amounted to nearly 85.8 billion Canadian dollars (67.16 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015, a 10.1 percent increase over 2014, and accounted for 8.1 percent of Canada's total merchandise trade, according to Canadian statistics.
ISLAMABAD, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 militants were killed and four others injured when Pakistani army launched aerial and ground operation in the country's northwest tribal area of Khyber Agency on Thursday, officials said.

Inter-Services Public Relations, the mouthpiece of Pakistani army, said in a statement that the troops also pounded eight militants' hideouts in precision air strikes and synchronised ground operation in Babar Kachkol, Naray Nao, and Tor Sapar areas of Rajgal region of Khyber Agency, a semi-autonomous tribal area along Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Thursday's armed offensive is the continuation of the army operation in the Rajgal area, aiming at the reinforcement of troop deployment for effectively checking and guarding against movement across the porous border.

The operation, which was kicked off on August 16, has so far claimed the lives of 26 militants and left scores others injured.
Remains of a car which was damaged by an explosion are seen in Mogadishu, Somalia, Aug. 18, 2016. At least one person was killed and four others injured in a car explosion in Mogadishu Thursday night, police have confirmed. (Xinhua/Faisal Isse)

MOGADISHU, Aug. 18 (Xinhua)-- At least one person was killed and four others injured in a car explosion in Mogadishu Thursday night, police have confirmed.

Elmi Abdi,a police officer at the scene, told Xinhua the incident happened at a junction at Sinai area, north of Mogadishu, when police stopped a car which suddenly exploited.

"A woman has been killed and four others injured. The police tried to stop a car at a junction but it blew up," said Abdi.

An eye-witness told Xinhua that there was a huge explosion at the scene as people headed to their homes some minutes past eight.
BUJUMBURA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The two chambers of the Burundian Parliament on Thursday rejected the UN Security Council resolution on deploying 228 police agents to oversee the country's security situation.

Lawmakers rejected the resolution in two separate statements signed by National Assembly Speaker Pascal Nyabenda and Senate President Reverien Ndikuriyo.

"The decision to deploy 228 UN police agents did not take into account the viewpoint of the Burundian government. As representatives of the citizens, we join the government of Burundi to reject any provision of Resolution 2303 in relation with the deployment of troops on the Burundian territory," said Nyabenda in the statement.

According to him, Burundi is an independent and sovereign country that "has to be consulted" before taking decisions involving the country.

The east African country's Senate also "categorically" rejected the resolution.

"The decision was taken without consulting the government, and did not either take into consideration the country's political and security situation that has returned to normalcy," said Ndikuriyo in another statement.

On Aug. 3, the Burundian government also issued a statement whereby it rejected the resolution.

According to Government Spokesman Philippe Nzobonariba, the decision has "terrible consequences" for other countries because it was taken without the consent of Burundi".

Nzobonariba indicated that Burundi had earlier made its proposal through diplomatic channels, but the proposal was not taken into account by France, the country that initiated the resolution.

On July 29, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2303, authorizing the deployment of up to 228 police forces to Burundi for an initial period of a year.

However, the Burundian government said it would only accept no more than 50 UN police forces.

Burundi plunged into chaos from April 2015 when the country's President Pierre Nkurunziza announced his intention to vie for the presidency for a third five-year-term.

More than 500 people in Burundi have been killed and some 270,000 people fled to neighboring countries since the outbreak of the crisis.
STOCKHOLM, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Over 300 people have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking in Sweden over the past year.

The figures are from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention and represent a significant increase in arrests.

There were five times as many human-trafficking suspects arrested in the first half of 2016 compared to the same period last year, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported.

The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention reports that a total 363 people were arrested between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016.

The spike can be partially explained by Sweden's introduction of identity controls, with more people smugglers now being caught at the country's borders. However, there has also been a rise in human trafficking, with more people being smuggled across borders now, according to the Swedish police.

"We are finding people who don't know their driver at all, people who hide under blankets. [The smuggler] can also be a taxi driver who charges scandalous amounts to bring people into the country," border police Mikael Matsson told Dagens Nyheter.

According to the police, there are around 40 criminal networks that deal with human trafficking by using Swedish passports. There are also several other networks that use other means to bring people into the country illegally.

The police's National Operations Department said that in some cases, newly arrived migrants have been hired as people smugglers.

"In some instances, they were smuggled by the same organization themselves and are acting as traffickers as part of their pay-back deals," said Nicklas Lundh, a section chief at the National Operations Department.
TIKRIT, Iraq, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 displaced people were killed and 36 others wounded on Thursday in a mortar barrage by the Islamic State (IS) militants on a displacement camp in Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

The incident occurred in the morning when IS militants fired many mortar rounds on a displacement camp at an abandoned cement factory in north of the town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The camp was established to receive hundreds of displaced families who left their homes in the besieged town of Shirqat, some 280 km north of Baghdad, which has been under the IS control since June 2014, the source said.

Many of the killed and wounded were women and children, the source added.

Families in Shirqat and other militant-seized cities and towns were prevented from leaving their homes by IS militants who used them as human shields during armed military attacks.

However, the siege upon Shirqat imposed by security forces has forced most extremist militants to flee the town towards the IS major stronghold in Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad.

The escape of IS militants weakened their grip on the town, enabling civilians to leave their homes, following long-term repeated power blackouts, acute food shortages, scarce drinking water and medicine.

Meanwhile, a recent report by Iraq's Ministry of Migration and the Displaced said that up to 13,691 families fled Shirqat and surrounding villages in the past few weeks.

The mass migration comes as security forces attempt to free the towns of Shirqat, Qayyara and Hawijah during their major offensive targeting liberating Mosul, the capital of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, from the extremist militants.

Iraq has witnessed increased violence since the IS took over parts of its northern and western regions in June 2014.
This file photo taken on January 27, 2016 shows an Aedes Aegypti mosquito being photographed in a laboratory of control of epidemiological vectors in San Salvador. European scientists announced on June 23, 2016 they had discovered antibodies which attack Zika, a step they hope will pave the way for a protective vaccine against the brain-damaging virus. The antibodies -- frontline soldiers in the immune system -- "efficiently neutralise" Zika in human cells in lab dishes, and are also effective against its cousin virus dengue, the team reported. (AFP/MARVIN RECINOS)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Zika virus is known to cause microcephaly and other brain abnormalities in developing fetuses, but new research in mice out Thursday showed that adult brain cells critical to learning and memory may be vulnerable to infection as well.

Although more research is needed to determine if this damage has long-term biological implications or the potential to affect behavior, the findings suggested the possibility that the Zika virus may be more harmful than previously believed, according to the study published in the U.S. journal Cell Stem Cell.

"This is the first study looking at the effect of Zika infection on the adult brain," said Joseph Gleeson, a professor at the Rockefeller University and one of the co-authors of the study.

"Based on our findings, getting infected with Zika as an adult may not be as innocuous as people think."

In developing fetuses, the brains are comprised entirely of neural progenitor cells -- the kind of stem cells that in healthy individuals grow and divide rapidly to become fully formed neurons.

Current evidence suggested that Zika can target neural progenitor cells in developing fetuses, leading to microcephaly and a wide variety of developmental disabilities.

The mature brain retains some niches of these neural progenitor cells, which the researchers suspected are also vulnerable to Zika infection.

These niches exist primarily in the subventricular zone of the anterior forebrain and the subgranular zone of the hippocampus, two regions vital for learning and memory in mice.

The New York State Department of Health unveiled a Zika Prevention Kit for pregnant women during the rollout of a Zika Information hotline and website, in New York, NY, U.S., August 2, 2016. Picture taken August 2, 2016.(Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of the Governor/Handout via REUTERS)

Gleeson and his colleagues created a mouse model and then injected a modern Zika strain into the mice's bloodstream to mimic Zika infection in humans.

The results showed adult neural progenitor cells could indeed be hijacked by the virus.

"It was very clear that the virus wasn't affecting the whole brain evenly, like people are seeing in the fetus," Gleeson said.

"In the adult, it's only these two populations that are very specific to the stem cells that are affected by virus. These cells are special, and somehow very susceptible to the infection."

The researchers recognized that healthy humans may be able to mount an effective immune response and prevent the virus from attacking.

However, they suggested that some people, such as those weakened immune systems, may be vulnerable to the virus in a way that has not yet been recognized.

"In more subtle cases, the virus could theoretically impact long-term memory or risk of depression," said Gleeson, "but tools do not exist to test the long-term effects of Zika on adult stem cell populations."

Although there were still many unanswered questions, these findings raised the possibility that Zika is not simply a transient infection in adult humans, and that exposure in the adult brain could have long-term effects.

"The virus seems to be traveling quite a bit as people move around the world," said Gleeson. "Given this study, I think the public health enterprise should consider monitoring for Zika infections in all groups, not just pregnant women."
QUITO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Despite riding a wave of popularity, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa on Thursday again declined to run in February 2017 presidential elections.

A day after polls showed Correa's approval rating at 61 percent -- a notable achievement after 10 years in office -- the president said his decision to not run for a third term "is already made."

In a series of Twitter posts, Correa also thanked a civic group called "Rafael With You Always," which has gathered more than 1.2 million signatures in support of a constitutional reform to enable a third run.

On Aug. 15, the group submitted 1,245,000 signatures to the National Electoral Council (CNE) in favor of a referendum to allow Correa to throw his hat in the ring.

The CNE has 15 days to review the proposal, before sending it on to the Constitutional Court for a definitive ruling.

"Thanks to dear young people," said Correa. "What greater happiness is there for a president than to see thousands of young people mobilized so he can run again for reelection."

Correa noted the political opposition groups could not raise the support the group did in a mere 45 days, despite their media coverage and their millions.

The president also said he was confident that as candidate, he would defeat the opposition again, as now "there is a legacy, an awareness and a new country."

But Correa cited a desire to spend more time with his family and to give others in his Alianza Pais (Country Alliance) Party a chance to govern.

"I owe my family and, above all, there is a valuable AP cadre that could fill the post and surely do it better than I could," said Correa.

Correa, who took office in January 2007, has reduced poverty and unemployment, and most recently skillfully guided the country's reconstruction in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in April of this year.
EDINBURGH, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Scottish Minister for International Development and Europe Alasdair Allan on Thursday hailed the contribution of migrants to the local Scottish society.

At an event of the Festival of Politics held inside the Scottish parliament, Allan said the Scottish government is making efforts to help the refugees who arrived in Scotland, and that Scotland needs the talents of the migrants.

Chaired by veteran Scottish politician George Reid, Allan and other panellists including Labour politician Iain Gray and Gary Christie, Head of Policy and Communications with the Scottish Refugee Council, shared their views with scores of participants on Scottish solutions to the refugee crisis and in which level the controversial refugee issues should be addressed.

With a central theme of The Architecture of Democracy, the three-day festival includes a series of events to look at what makes democracy tick with panels on the role of the media, special advisers and civil servants, and topical issues under the spotlight, such as the refugee crisis, the race to the White House and the effect of Britain's referendum on its European Union membership held on June 23, as well as exhibitions, film screenings, kids activities and music.

"From Brexit to Trump versus Clinton, the Festival of Politics is your opportunity to debate and discuss the big issues of the day," said the Scottish Parliament's Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh.

This year the festival covers a wide range topics from the refugee crisis, to art, neuroscience, music, journalism, sport and Minecraft game, Macintosh noted.

Getting its own platform in 2005, The Festival of Politics is now a main part of the latter stages of the summer season in Scotland.
RABAT, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Morocco and UAE signed on Thursday memorandum of understanding to bolster transportation cooperation and road safety.

Under this agreement signed by the Moroccan Ministry of Equipment, Transportation and Logistics and the UAE's Emirates Driving Institute (EDI), the two countries agreed to develop the Moroccan-Emirati cooperation in the field of transportation and road safety.

The agreement seeks mainly to initiate joint research programs on transportation and road safety and share their experiences, especially in relation with modern techniques of transportation.

The 25-year-old EDI is recognized internationally as the largest and most successful driving institute in Dubai and Middle East.

Deadly traffic accidents are common in Morocco. According to data from the Moroccan Transport Ministry, a total of 3,565 people were killed in the country last year.

The ministry has adopted a new strategy 2015-2025 vowing to reduce the victims of accidents by 50 percent.
JERUSALEM, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli plane en route to Kiev, with 182 passengers on board, was heading for an emergency landing in Tel Aviv after one of its wheels exploded during take-off on Thursday night.

A spokesperson with Israel's Airports Authority said the plane belongs to UP, a low-cost carrier of El-Al airlines.

Dozens of firefighting crews and Magen David Adom emergency medical teams were awaiting the plane at the Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv.

The spokesperson said the plane is expected to land at around midnight, after dumping its fuel at sea.
TRIPOLI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 Libyan government soldiers were killed and 21 others injured on Thursday when IS militants in Sirte launched two suicide attacks, according to a military spokesman.

Mohamed Al-Gasri, spokesman of the government force fighting against IS in Sirte, said the attacks took place in a position of the government fighters at the outskirts of the city.

The death toll is expected to increase as some of the wounded fighters are in critical conditions.

The UN-backed unity government in May has formed a military force, mostly from armed militias from Misrata, to fight against the increased dominance of IS in the city of Sirte, some 450 km east of the capital Tripoli.

The fighting in Sirte has so far killed nearly 350 government fighters and injured more than a thousand others.

The government force said they are now controlling most of Sirte, with IS dominating only 10 percent of the city.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Thursday condemned "in the strongest terms" the terrorist attacks in southeastern Turkey, and expressed support to the NATO ally.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those killed, and we wish a speedy recovery to those injured," Ned Price, spokesperson for White House's National Security Council said in a statement.

Five soldiers were killed and six others injured Thursday by a roadside bomb believed to be planted by outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants in Turkey's eastern Bitlis province, Dogan News Agency reported.

The bombing followed another blast late Wednesday, also blamed on the PKK, in Turkey's eastern province of Van, which injured at least 73 people, including 20 police.

The U.S. remains steadfast in its support for Turkey, a NATO ally and partner, which continues to be afflicted by terrorist attacks that indiscriminately kill and wound both security personnel and civilians, Price said.

"We are in close touch with Turkish authorities and will continue to work together with Turkey to confront the threats we face from terrorist groups," the spokesperson added.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Ankara next week to reaffirm U.S. commitment to Turkey's security and democracy, as the failed coup attempt last month in Turkey has left relations between Washington and Ankara in a state of uncertainty.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed the followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania, the United States, for the coup attempt and demanded his extradition.

The U.S. has insisted that the cleric would only be extradited as a result of a legal process according to the relevant laws and treaties.
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- A kindling Imagination Roadshow was staged as an Innovation and Entrepreneurship brand activity, attended by prominent science fiction writers including He Xi, Wang Xiaoda and six others of the country on Thursday, in Chengdu, southwest China.

He Xi, the fifteen-times Milky Way China Science Fiction Award winner, analyzed his own literary science fiction work, while 77-year-old science fiction writer Wang Xiaoda successively performed during the roadshow.

Another writer Han Song, delegated by his copyright agent, showcased a science fiction-oriented VR game based on his fiction Cold War and Messenger, and won popularity among investors.

Lu Chuan, a famous director, playwright and producer, with his latest documentary film Born in China, was also the guest of this roadshow. He shared his views on science fiction films, saying, Science fiction films are a must for Chinese films because they carry our dreams and embody the spirit of exploring the future and the unknown.

In this Imagination Roadshow, science fiction writers, investors and film agencies reached a series of preliminary agreements on further development and utilization of science fiction works through direct communication.

This roadshow is one of the highlights of 2016 Chengdu International Science Fiction Film Week, sponsored by Xinhuanet, and co-sponsored by Poly Culture Group, Emei Film Group and IDG Capital Partners.
Police challenged by murders

However, he said the police have had a ten percent reduction in violent crimes for the period January to June. This includes, he said, a reduction in firearms seizures and in fatal traffic accidents.

Addressing reporters yesterday at the TTPS weekly press briefing at the Police Administration Building in Port-of-Spain, Pierre said reported violent crimes for January to June stood at 1,956, compared to 2,294 for the same period in 2015.

This figure is a 14.73 percent reduction, he said.

Where illegal firearms are concerned, he said we have seized 397 (this year) and for 2015 we have seized 321, which is a 23.7 percent increase in seizures.

For ammunition, 5,452 seized (this year) and for 2015 we have had 4,463, which is a 22 percent increase.

However, to date we have seized 14,675 rounds of ammunition when compared to the period last year  5,703, which is a 157 percent increase in the seizure of ammunition, he explained.

Pierre said the TTPS will continue to partner with communities and other key stakeholders to intensify its firearm-violence reduction strategy, drive murders down and increase the detection rate.

He said from January to June they recorded 11,871 road traffic accidents as opposed to 16,690 for the same period in 2015, which is a 28.87 percent reduction.

There was a 22.7 percent reduction of fatal accidents, with 51 in the first six months this year and 66 last year.

He said there has been an 18.9 percent increase in highway patrols, with 10,721 in 2015 and 12,748 this year.

Pierre said more than 22,000 motorists were tested for driving intoxicated  a 69.5 percent increase
Man shot dead in Point Fortin

Police officers were contacted and found Sammys body downstairs his home. Sammy was the father of a 14-year-old daughter.

A close female relative said she was not aware of any threats made on Sammys life. Neighbours however told Newsday that Sammy had recently moved into the area and they did not know much about him.

An autopsy on Sammys body was expected to be performed yesterday. No motive for the killing has yet been determined. Region III Homicide Bureau officers are continuing investigations
Cops foil robbery at Princes Town restaurant

The men were arrested inside Luck Sing Chinese Restaurant located along the Naparima / Mayaro Road, Princes Town, near Fairfield Road.

The suspects, both 23 years-old, were liming near a roulette machine. Police also recovered a cutlass and a ski mask which were hidden in the pants of one of the suspects.

Reports are that at about 1 pm on Tuesday, officers of the Princes Town CID received information that two men were planning to rob the Chinese establishment.

Sgt Ramlogan together with Cpls Nanan and Barron and PC Nazrudeen immediately went to the business place.

On arrival they observed the men, who fitted the descriptions received, searched them and found the cutlass and ski mask. One lives at Hindustan, New Grant, and the other at Sangre Grande.

The suspect from New Grant had the items in his possession and police were expected to charge him with possession of a weapon with intent to commit an arrestable offence, resisting arrest and using obscene language.

He is expected to appear in the Princes Town Magistrates Court this morning to answer the charges.

Police sources told Newsday that the accomplice is the main suspect in a house robbery which occurred on August 9 at Penal. As such, he was handed over to investigators of the Penal CID yesterday.

Reports are that he robbed a Penal family of over $250,000 worth of cash and jewellery. Investigations are continuing and, once charged, he will appear in the Siparia Magistrates Court.

Only in July last the suspect had appeared before a Sangre Grande Magistrate charged with housebreaking, police said.

Meanwhile, officers of the Princes Town CID arrested two men in an anti-crime exercise conducted yesterday between 3 am and 2 pm. The suspects were wanted in connection with several robberies which occurred in the Mon Repos district recently.
Increase in vehicle theft at south malls

Inspector Don Gajadhar of the Southern Division said yesterday they are now looking at persons of interest in connection with the stolen vehicles and want members of the public to be aware of the latest development and be cautious.

Gajadhar explained, There was a slow down but it has started back and so we are asking owners to add some extra security to their vehicles.

These vehicles are third-party (insured) vehicles and when they are stolen, the owners lose everything. He said car thieves continue to lurk in the car parks of the shopping malls and make off with the vehicles soon after they are parked.

Meanwhile, in the wake of reports appearing on social media about bandits throwing rocks at passing vehicles in the vicinity of the Gulf City Shopping Mall, La Romaine, Mayor of San Fernando Alderman Kazim Hosein wants his burgesses to be ever vigilant.

Yesterday in a statement from his office, Hosein reiterated his commitment to the safety and security of all families in the city.

He said, I understand the distress that people feel in light of these occurrences and I want everyone to know that safety and security of the families in this city is the top priority.

Hosein said that cooperation between the officers of the Police Service and the San Fernando City Police has led to an increase in patrols across the city.

He appealed to shoppers at the various malls in and around the city to remain alert and to immediately report any suspicious activity to the police.
Five years for robbery

Raymond entered a pleaded guilty yesterday before San Fernando magistrate, Natalie Diop, in the Fourth Court. Cpl Crawford of the Mon Repos Police Station charged him with robbery with violence being armed with a firearm.

The court heard that in May last year, Raymond and another gunman entered an auto repair shop at La Romaine and announced a robbery.

They tied up the owner and an employee with tie straps. The gunmen robbed them of a quantity of equipment and tools together valued $54,000, $600 cash and the businessmans Toyota Hilux valued $140,000.

Nicholas and his accomplice fled the scene in the Hilux and a report was lodged at the San Fernando Police Station.

Sgt Ramroop together with Cpl Crawford and other officers conducted investigations and arrested Raymond.

None of the stolen items were recovered.

Yesterday, Raymond was unrepresented by an attorney and apologised for his actions.

The magistrate sentenced him to serve five years in prison with hard labour. Cpl Kerry Morales prosecuted.
AHYE 6TH IN 200M

Ahye, who finished sixth in the womens 100-metre final in 10.92 seconds on Saturday, ended sixth in the womens 200m final last night. Ahye got off to a solid start and was in contention for a medal at the 120m mark but she could hold on to a medal position finishing sixth in 22.34 behind some familiar faces.

Womens 100m gold medal winner Elaine Thompson of Jamaica completed the sprint double winning the 200m event in 21.78. Claiming silver was Dafne Schippers of Netherlands in 21.88 and Tori Bowie won another sprint medal grabbing bronze in 22.15. Bowie snatched silver in the womens 100m final.

Also finishing ahead of Ahye was Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast who was fourth in 22.21 and Dina Asher of Great Britain who was fifth in 22.31.

In an interview with Newsday following the race Ahye stated, I felt pretty good for the race, I went out there and ran my race, executed well, I just was not strong enough like those girls. I am proud of myself for making the final in the 200 and repping TT. Ahye was focusing more on the 100m event and she admitted she needs to do more work in the 200m event. Everything was fine I am just not as strong as those other girls because I was not really training for the 200 I was more focusing on the 100 so I have a lot to work on for next year. Ahye will represent TT in the relay today and the team will be going with their strongest team.

We decided to go with the A side for the first round because we got a bad lane so we will run the A side just to be safe. She urged TT to keep supporting the athletes saying, Keep supporting us no matter the outcome, win, lose or draw we need the support badly. Defending mens javelin gold medallist Keshorn Walcott only needed one throw to advance to the final of the event. In his first throw Walcott made the qualification standard of 83.00 recording a throw of 88.68 metres competing in group B.

Also making the qualification standard up to press time in group B were Johannes Vetter of Germany and Ryohei Arai of Japan. Vetter threw the spear 85.96m and Arai booked a place at in Saturdays 7.55pm final with a distance of 84.16m.

Sealing places in the final included Petr Frydrych of Czech Republic (83.60m) and Julius Yego of Kenya (83.55m). At the 2012 London Olympics Walcott won gold with a top throw of 84.58m.

Among those qualifying for the final from group A up to press time were Julian Weber of Germany (84.46m), Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic (83.27m), Dmytro Kosynskyy of Ukraine (83.23m) and Thomas Rohler of Germany (83.01m).
Brothers shot dead in Diego Martin

According to reports, at about 9.45 am, two gunmen made their way through a narrow, dried river which led to the back of the brothers home.

The assailants then entered the house and shot Jerome and Joshua. Relatives were alerted by the sound of gunfire and called police. On checking, they discovered the bullet-riddled bodies of the brothers.

Officers of the Western Division Task Force, under Senior Supt Ramdhanie, responded and are investigating.

Relatives described the victims as quiet men who kept to themselves and did not bother anyone. They could not provide a possible motive for the killings.

Jerome, who was mentally ill, was described as peaceful and friendly to all neighbours.

However, one resident told Newsday that people were looking for the elder brother, Joshua, for some time.

The guys who did this were waiting about four years to get him. He left the area but only came back recently, and thats when they decided to kill him. Councillor for the area, Michael Alonzo, who lives mere metres from the scene of the shooting, visited relatives of the deceased and denounced the killing.

This is really senseless. I cant imagine why anyone would want to do something like this.

I personally know the mentally ill young man and we talk often.

It just doesnt make any sense, he said.

Alonzo added that La Puerta is not a crime hotspot and residents often live in peace with one another.

He said this is testament that crime can occur anywhere and without warning. Alonzo said he is prepared to extend whatever assistance he can to the family through the cooperation of the village council. Joshua is survived by his two children, aged five and ten years old.
Superboy continues to shine

Yesterday, Newsday sat down with the pint-sized hero and his mother, Amanda Graham, who spoke about how much Kal-Els life has changed and his future plans .

Ive looked back at that incident everyday for the past year, Graham said.

I keep asking myself Did that really happen?. People always say that the hole was 300 feet deep but, at the time, I didnt realise how far down we were and how that entire situation could have gotten worse. Kal-El, who is aptly named after iconic comic book hero, Superman, garnered considerable national attention for his rescue but said, that at the time of the accident, his only thoughts were to get help for his mother and aunt, Antonia, who were trapped inside the vehicle.

My mummy keep telling me to go and get help. I climbed out the window of the car and climbed up the hole, holding on to branches and vines. I was scared but I was worried about my mummy and auntie so I had to do something. Kal-El made his way to the road where, after several minutes, he managed to flag down a vehicle whose occupants lent assistance to the little boy before Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and fire officers arrived.

Last year, Kal-El was awarded the Humming Bird Medal for Bravery/Gallantry, which made him the youngest recipient of a national award in this countrys history.

Kal-El said when he returned to his pre-school in September last year, he was praised by his friends and teachers. Despite enjoying his new-found fame however, like any other child, he enjoys spending time with his parents, playing games and watching cartoons.

When I went back to school last year, all of my friends saw it and said that they were proud.

My teacher, Auntie Rose, saw the news and was very happy for me. Kal-El, who has been described by both relatives and teachers alike, as having the maturity beyond that of a five-yearold, says that he looks forward to entering primary school next month and is excited about making new friends.

I enjoy going to school. I want to make new friends and learn new things so I can go on and help people. I really like helping people. Asked what plans he has for the future, Kal- El, says that he wants to become a police officer, but also wants to be a fireman, as he was recently named as an honourary fire officer by officers of the Santa Cruz Fire Station.

Despite enjoying modest popularity, Kal-Els mother says he remains shy among persons with whom he isnt familiar and would often play by himself rather than go out with others.

She adds, though he has recovered from physical injuries sustained during the accident, he suffers from mild anxiety attacks when travelling along hilly areas. Sometimes he would just hold on to my hand anytime were driving across a hill. Hes undergoing counselling to help cope with the trauma and hes come a long way since we begun. Kal-El, who has since become a hero in his home town of Santa Cruz, says while he does not care much for being a public figure, he appreciates all of the persons who have praised him and assisted him for his act of heroism.

He went on to say that he was happy that his popularity has helped inspire other children like himself to do the right thing and never stop fighting. I want them all to know that they should never give up on what is right.
Aspiring attorney in the dark

Shawn Hosein, enters Form Two in September and, unlike his peers, never had the luxury of studying under an electric light. He told Newsday that he has to rush home after school on evenings in order to catch the daylight to do his homework and, when night falls he has to do it under candlelight.

I cant even have the use of the internet to help me study, Shawn said. I dont think that in these modern times we should still be without electricity. His brother Rolly, 20, a Tech/ Voc student, experiences similar problems with his studies.

Their father, taxi driver Tasmool Hosein, 55, told Newsday that he has been living in Macajuel Trace, for over 20 years and it was only two years ago, after begging, not only was a road was cut and paved, but the handful of residents inside the trace were provided with a pipe borne water supply. We had hoped the next step was electricity, he told Newsday as he explained that all their efforts so far to get the amenity have failed.

I wrote several letters to T&TEC, but nothing has happened although officials visited and took pictures. Each time is a different reason why the electricity cannot be installed in the area. Tasmool said residents are now being told that it could cost them over $200,000 to have electricity come to them.

He argued that they are low income workers and pensioners living in Macajuel Trace and they cannot afford that kind of money.

I think of my son everyday.

He is doing well at school and I know he can do better if we had electricity home. He has to sometimes spend hours outside to use the library or find an internet caf? to support his studies.

I know he wish he could watch television at times but I cant help it. When contacted yesterday, an official at T&TEC said they needed more information on the issue before making any comment.
PNM begins screening Local Government candidates

Though the date for elections is yet to be announced, General Secretary Ashton Ford told reporters last evening at Balisier House, Port-of-Spain, that the PNM is confident of retaining its seats on the regional and borough corporations, and capturing more in spite of economic challenges the PNM Government met on entering office.

The screening began with 18 nominees of which seven will be selected to contest the seven electoral districts seats on the Arima Borough Corporation, after which 27 nominees were to be screened for the ten electoral districts seats on the Diego Martin Regional Corporation.

The executive was expected to decide on the candidates last night.

Member of Parliament for Arima, Anthony Garcia told the media, I can safely say that Arima Borough Council will be peopled by seven councillors belonging to the PNM.

There might be five incumbents returning and two new ones. The screening is being done by the PNM executive led by Political Leader, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

Seeking to put to rest speculations about Rowleys health, Ford said, The Prime Minister is in good health, good spirits. It looks like the media diagnose his case before he reached America. Meanwhile, screening will continue today at Point Fortin and San Fernando at the PNMs San Fernando office.

Tomorrow, screening for San Juan/Laventille will be at Balisier House.

On Monday, nominees for Sangre Grande and Tunapuna will be screened at Balisier House.

On Wednesday, nominees for Princes Town, Mayaro and Siparia will be screened at the San Fernando office.

Next Thursday, Port-of-Spain nominees will be screed at Balisier House. The screening exercise will end next Friday, August 26, with nominees for Couva/Tabaquite, Penal, and Chaguanas.

The response to screening has been good, Ford said, with many of the incumbents seeking to return to office because they know the party was in good stead.

Asked whether this local government elections will be a test for the PNM in Government given some disenchantments with the manner in which Government managed the state of affairs on assuming office, Ford said, when the PNM took office, there was a problem with the economy and the new Government did not have the financial resources as the last government.
Manning would have been 70

To date, there has been no announcement from the Government regarding recommendations from Mannings family as to how best to honour him. At Mannings funeral at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port-of- Spain, on July 9, Mannings son Brian called for the re-establishment of the Divine Echoes Orchestra and the creation of a Patrick Manning Development Fund at the International Financial Centre as ways to honour his father. At a post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair last month, Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Stuart Young said Government has taken no final decision on how to honour Manning.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley recently said Cabinet will be guided by Brian Mannings statement that the family would decline an offer for his father to be awarded the Order of the Republic of TT (ORTT) posthumously. Manning rejected an offer in August 2014 by then prime minister Kamla Persad- Bissessar to be given the ORTT along with former prime minister Basdeo Panday (who also declined the ORTT). Manning explained Persad-Bissessar had not consulted him about the award, proper protocols were not followed and he could not accept on the basis that he was a sitting parliamentarian at the time.
Crichlow-Cockburn and mayor to deal with homeless

Valentine yesterday met with the Minister of Social Development and Family Services Cherrie-Ann Crichlow-Cockburn to discuss and determine workable solutions to eradicate street-dwelling in the city.

Following the meeting, Newsday spoke with Valentine who said, We have had a very successful and very interesting meeting with the minister and her team from the Ministry.

We dealt with issues on how we can remove the homeless persons from the streets and in the shortest possible time. He added, Arising out of those discussions we identified certain things and immediately set up a meeting for Friday morning which will include members from the Mental Health Department in the Ministry of Health, because they play a critical role in this situation. He indicated that out of the 300 plus persons on the streets in Port-of-Spain, the majority are mentally unstable.

We are hoping to come up with an action plan on how we are going to treat with this situation.

We have been engaged in those types of exercises since 2010 to remove those persons at least four times, so I am looking forward to that meeting on Friday.
No more dancing through manholes and potholes

Hinds further demanded that contractors provide, to government, quality work or else they will not be rehired.

We need to have smooth roads without having to be dancing through manholes and potholes. In this country, like which happens in other countries throughout the world, it can be done. It must be done, Hinds said while on a tour on Tuesday along the Southern Main Road, Chatham.

Hinds, together with the Member of Parliament for the area Edmund Dillon, visited the site of a major landslip, one of several expected to be repaired soon. Dillon is also the National Security Minister.

Hinds noted that it is a constant struggle on part of the government to manage the financial circumstances of this country adding that the times are not what they used to be.

Despite this financial woe, Hinds charged that government is attempting to ensure that with every dollar spent, the public can expect genuine value for money.

Today we live in different circumstances.

The revenue stream has substantially dried up. Money is not coming the way they used to and the nations expectations are very high. Part of the problem has to do with waste, including corruption, Hinds added.

Apart from the landslips along the Southern Main Road, Hinds pointed out that paving work needs to done along Richardson Road Extension, Point Fortin.

Already he has asked ministry officials to do an assessment on it.

As soon as the funds permit, and I hope that will be soon, we will be paving that road to ease the traffic. We see ourselves as problem solvers. The problems of this country are many and its a moving target. It is not a static thing that you can move once and for all. We are on the move, Hinds added.

Dillon noted that the Southern Main Road is the main artery to the south western peninsula that connects trade, commerce, business from Icacos all the way to San Fernando and to Port of Spain.

On the issue of crime in the country, Dillon told reporters that the security forces continue to be vigilant and continue to exercise their duties.

In terms of serious reported crimes, Dillon said that it is down compared to last years figure.

He reiterated that the number one issue continues to be the murder rate. As such all State agencies, Dillon said, are working assiduously to deal with the murders.
How many more American children have to be raped by illegal immigrants before mayors of sanctuary cities are arrested and tried as accessories?

(Freedom.news) Another day, another sad story of an American child being victimized by someone who is not supposed to be our country, but who is allowed to stay because locally and federally elected office holders continue to put their political ideologies ahead of the law.

As reported by The Daily Signal, an illegal immigrant living in Philadelphia has been charged with child rape, which has led opponents of the citys so-called sanctuary policy to use the occasion to bolster their argument that such practices only leave dangerous criminals on the street.

Sanctuary policies  those adopted by Left-wing city administrators, mayors and city councils in defiance of federal immigration laws  are directly responsible for the illegal alien criminal crime wave sweeping the country. Its a crime wave that has only gotten worse since President Obama signed what are essentially open borders executive orders.

In the Philadelphia case, alleged rapist Ramon Aguirre-Ochoa, 45, of Honduras, has not been deported specifically because of the citys policy of refusing to comply with most immigration-related requests from federal officials. Had the city been following the law, this animal would have been deported.

As Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump has said, this is a serious problem in America  the practice of U.S. cities defying immigration rules and statutes that would ensure more illegal alien criminals are caught and then sent packing, before they harm our children and fellow citizens.

As Universal Free Press reported recently, illegal aliens committed 500 sexual assaults in one month and in one state: North Carolina.

In May, The American Mirror reported that an illegal alien in Arkansas was arrested for raping a five-year-old child.

He is far from the only one. The American Mirror report lists many others, and most of them have been arrested and/or convicted for child rape. Breitbart News reported on another case here. And here. Fox News has a story here. Local news affiliate WAFF has a report about an 11-year-old raped by an illegal alien here. A local Fox affiliate has another story here about three illegals who raped minors.

And on and on it goes. So no, this isnt some outlier; this sort of thing is happening all the time. And many of our local elected officials are accessories to this rising incidence of criminal and sexual assaults against our children.

As such, it is time they, too, were held legally liable for these crimes, along with every city council member, administrator, local law enforcement and other officials who, because of Marxist political ideology, are putting their beliefs ahead of the safety and security of the citizens who put their trust in them, especially those least able to protect and defend themselves  our children.

Lawsuits are not the answer. Talking tough is worthless. Threats are not going to work unless and until there is real legal power behind them. And this will have to come from the federal government, which sees hundreds of cities each year openly flout illegal immigration statutes.

For the record, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is not going to demand these cities comply with federal law. She has made it clear that she is on the side of illegal immigrants, not American parents and children. She believes in Obamas open borders policies. She thinks that its racist and bigoted to demand that we know for certain who is coming into our country, why they are coming, and ensure they are arriving legally.

In other words, she isnt about to protect your kids from the sexual predilections of criminal illegal aliens.

Trump is the only one who has said he would act against sanctuary cities by withholding federal funding and other punitive measures.

But he needs to go farther than that, especially in sanctuary cities where horrific crimes have been committed. A President Trump should begin holding local officials legally liable for these crimes too, because they are accessories to them.

Americans are fed up with being taken advantage of and having their lives destroyed by criminal aliens who assault, rape and kill their children and grandchildren. Arresting and prosecuting a few sanctuary city enablers will send a message to the rest of them that the days of flouting U.S. immigration law and putting their citizens at risk are over.

More:

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Religious liberty is dead: Texas lawyer ordered to stop praying in court or be disbarred

Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the right to a fair trial, and Facebook postings have stirred-up a hornets nest in Ellis County.

(Article by L.P. Phillips)

It starts with Waxahachie lawyer Mark Griffith, who doesnt mind telling anyone he prays for help before court, during a trial and on Facebook.

Its the Facebook part that is at issue, another new twist in the odd world that social media has created.

Twice, in separate trials, the Ellis County District Attorneys office has convinced judges to stop Griffith from posting running commentary of a trial in his prayers on Facebook.

No lawyer is allowed to make running commentary in the public forum regarding witnesses, the character of witnesses, the opinion of the guilt or innocence of defendants or suspects in criminal cases. said Patrick Wilson, Ellis County District Attorney. He claims its basic legal ethics.

The argument doesnt hold water with Griffith. He contends his office has a history of tweaking the DA in criminal cases, and he sees the argument over his prayers on Facebook as an effort by the District Attorneys office to throw him off balance.

I can assure you hes not going to said Griffith. What he attacked was my firms personal Facebook page and prayers mentioned by me prior to trial and during trial. And theres not going to be a motion, and theres not going to be any order from any court, thats going to keep me from praying and asking for Gods wisdom as Im fighting for his children.

Wilson says Griffith knows better and is hiding behind religion. Prayer has nothing to do with this. The right to free speech has nothing to do with this says Wilson. This has everything to do with maintaining the integrity of our judicial system. And if he wants to fight that fight with the state bar of Texas, good luck.

Griffith is quick to point out an instruction virtually every judge gives every juror during a trial: Jurors are not to read, listen to or view accounts of the case during the trial. The case is to be decided from the evidence presented in court. Griffith says he has never found a juror who didnt take that admonishment to heart.

But the murky world of social media can present challenges to the most conscientious of jurors. What if, Wilson asks, a person were to copy one of Griffiths postings then repost it on their Facebook page? Or what if they send it along through Twitter

Thats absolutely a concern. Wilson argues.  Unless someone knows how to completely lock down and prohibit jurors from even looking at social media during the course of a trial, this is the only way to appropriately control a trial. And prayer has nothing to do with it.

So far the judges have sided with the state in a broad way. Griffith is allowed to pray on social media, so long as those prayers dont contain a running account of the trial.

Griffith plans to appeal. I am not going to give up my faith.

Read more at: Dfw.cbslocal.com

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Tens of thousands of Russian troops staging near Ukraine as fears of a major assault mount

(NationalSecurity.news) The Pentagon has identified as many as 40,000 Russian troops massing at eight different points along the border with Ukraine, prompting concerns among Western military officials that Moscow is set to make a major push into its neighbors territory.

As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, in addition large numbers of Russian forces are planning to conduct exercises in the coming days that the U.S. Department of Defense says could be used as cover for an attack on Ukraine.

Russian units will likely practice reinforcing the [Crimean] peninsula through such activities as amphibious landings and air defense exercises, and this may involve the change out of equipment and long convoys of military vehicles, one defense official told the WFB.

Included in Russian forces are troops, armor and air force units, all of which are arrayed against the former Soviet satellite state.

The exercises in particular are ominous, say U.S. defense officials. Thats because similar large-scale exercises were held near Ukraine a month before Russia launched the covert military operations to take over the Crimea, a strategic Black Sea peninsula in March 2014.

U.S. military officials say the Pentagon is closely monitoring the Russian excercises.

We are extremely concerned about the increased tensions near the administrative boundary between Crimea and the rest of Ukraine, Navy Capt. Danny Hernandez, a spokesman for the U.S. European Command, told the WFB. We urge both sides to avoid provocative steps or rhetoric that could escalate the situation.

Russian forces in the Crimea do not appear to be building up, according to U.S. intelligence. But that said, over the course of the past several months Moscow has moved large numbers of troops and tanks into eight bases that stretch from Yelnya, near Smolensk and northeast of Ukraine, southward through Rostov, which is a city located very close to eastern Ukraine, where Kievs troops have been battling so-called separatists backed by Russia.

U.S defense and intelligence officials told the WFB they were not sure if the Russian troop movements were merely saber-rattling, to get Ukraine to accept Moscows takeover of the Crimea, or if some larger military operation was being planned. Either way, they said, the situation is being closely monitored.

U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Russia is continuing aggression and threats against the rest of Ukraine after invading Crimea.

This is unacceptable and will only serve to further instability in the region, Pompeo told the WFB. Unfortunately, President Obama is once again leading from behind and is doing nearly nothing to buttress the Ukrainian people. Mr. Putin must respect the sovereignty of other nations. This is a non-negotiable lesson most countries learned long ago.

Other experts said that over the next month weather conditions are perfect for moving tanks and armor into the area. Also, they said, the skies will be generally clear, allowing for air operations.

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Trump polling at two-thirds in REAL polls all the supposed support for Hillary is fabricated TRUMP CAN WIN

Donald Trump is polling at about two-thirds support in real polls compromised of real people, while Hillary Clintons support is waning. When people are allowed to vote anonymously, Trump surges to 64% support, while Clinton drops to 36%, weve now seen in the Zip question and answer app. As reported by Govtslaves.info:

[A] smartphone app developer says his data suggests challenger Donald Trump will be the victor. Based on the stats we see, he looks strong, says Ric Militi, co-founder of San Diego-based Crazy Raccoons, maker of the Zip question and answer app. His app poses questions and polls responses based on an average of 100,000 daily users. I go with Trump, based on what we see.

The results from the Zip app show Trump at 64% and Clinton at 36%, far different from what we see from the rigged, lying mainstream media which is 100% in the bag for Clinton.

In case you didnt already know, nearly all the support for Hillary Clinton is entirely fabricated. CNN, NBC and MSNBC are going all-out in their theatrics, desperately photoshopping, editing and contorting video footage to try to make it appear Clinton enjoys widespread support. In reality, everybody hates Hillary Clinton, including most democrats and independents. And so-called popular support for Hillary is no more real than Obamas multi-layered FAKED birth certificate. (Which is also hilarious, because Hillary Clinton was the original birther who spread the rumor during her 2008 campaign to beat Obama for the DNC nomination.)

Thats why all the official polls are rigged, just like Hillarys nominated was rigged by the DNC as we all now know, thanks to Wikileaks. Whats the point of rigging all the polls? To demoralize Trump supporters and try to fake them out so they dont vote for Trump (who actually enjoys a wide majority of support across America right now).

Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson recently looked into how Bloomberg news altered its poll data to make Hillary Clinton seem to be winning. That article reveals just one of the many ways the lying leftist media fakes poll data and knowingly prints false poll numbers to boost the appearance of Hillary popularity.

Its all about rigging the polls so they can steal the election and get away with it

Rigging the polls isnt just about demoralizing Trump supporters. Its also about establishing a baseline so that they can STEAL the election and get away with it.

With Hillary Clintons public support collapsing, its clear that the Clinton criminal cartel (the DNC, Obama regime, left-wing corrupt media, etc.) will have to steal millions of votes in order to actually win the election. This can be accomplished, of course, with the collusion of left-wing state governors, election boards and organized George Soros poll riggers who commit election fraud on a routine basis (which is, of course, the key strategy of democrats in the first place).

Democrats can never win in honest debates or honest elections, by the way. All their failed ideas are rooted in pure lunacy they dont work! They cant even run on honest promises of what they plan to do, either. To get elected, democrats have to utterly LIE about their true agendas and intentions, posing as patriotic Americans when they actually hate America at its core.

But after they steal the election and win a narrow victory, they can then point to all the rigged polls and say, See? Hillary was always in the lead. These election results reflect that.

This is how the Clinton criminal regime  consisting of people who should spend the rest of their lives locked away in prison  can steal the election, occupy the White House, and unleash absolute totalitarian HELL upon America.

America has awakened to the lies, corruption and failures of the Clintons and the dishonest democrats

Fortunately, most Americans have had enough of the liberal lies, the failed economic catastrophes of democrats, the collapsing Obamacare nightmare, the totalitarian stripping away of civil liberties, the inciting of race wars on Americas streets, and the endless, incessant LYING by Hillary Clinton, a wretched, shameless anti-human she-demon who actually helped a rapist get off for raping a 12-year-old child.

Americans are also totally fed up with the completely dishonest Politifact, Snopes, CNN fact checkers and all the other lying leftist lunatics who claim to have some sort of monopoly on facts while lying through their teeth at every opportunity.

Beyond her dark, psychopathic agenda to crush freedom and rule over the American people like a lawless dictator, Hillary Clinton is also neurologically broken, suffering from seizures, coughing fits, blood clots and bizarre pauses during her public speeches. (Some wonder if this is the moment when the demons in her head are telling her what to say next) She can barely stand up without support, and she cant even walk up a flight of stairs without strong men practically carrying her. The woman is a mental, spiritual and physical WRECK who seethes with hatred for the little people over which she seeks to rule like a demonic dictatorial witch.

Other signs that Hillary Clintons cognitive function appears to be collapsing include:

 Her stunning inability to speak in public unless her entire speech is scripted in advance and all questions from the audience are 100% scripted and approved. (Hillary cant handle the stress of an unknown question even though Donald Trump fields them all day long.)

 Her extreme fear of debating any other political candidate in a live forum, including Bernie Sanders.

 Her tendency to totally FREAK OUT other reporters in her presence, who are visibly horrified at Hillarys bizarre seizure-like activity:

 Her bizarre, inexplicable barking like a dog and bobblehead microseizures, caught on camera in this video:

 Strange lesions on her tongue, blood clots on her brain, neurological issues and more:

Under no circumstances can this wretched creature be allowed to occupy the White House. Millions of Americans now get that. They know that electing Hillary Clinton would only continue the Obamare nightmare that has resulted in 50 million people on food stamps, almost 95 million out of the workforce (mass unemployment!) and tens of millions of Americans having their jobs cut, hours slashed and benefits gutted because of Obamas economic warfare against employers. If you love being homeless, broke, diseased, destitute and destroyed, vote for democrats! Thats exactly what theyre trying to accomplish so that you think you NEED them to rescue you

The political establishment must be CRUSHED, disemboweled and made extinct

There is nothing more important to the future of America than defeating Hillary Clinton and her radical liberal agenda this November. Thats because Hillary Clinton represents the sick political establishment that lives as parasites off American workers and entrepreneurs.

This is why the mainstream media is so desperately slandering and defaming Donald Trump at every opportunity: His victory in November will spell the end of their cushy monopoly over news in Washington. The future of real news is Breitbart.com, ZeroHedge.com, Infowars.com, NaturalNews.com, GovtSlaves.info, ActivistPost.com and a long list of other independent news organizations that dare to tell the truth.

CNN, MSNBC, NBC and ABC are all about to become extinct and irrelevant as the American people are now waking up by the millions and realizing theyve been lied to for decades by the mainstream media. Even the Huffington Post has become a shameless censorship venue that stumps for Hillary while falsely slandering Trump by knowingly printing absolute lies. There isnt a single leftist media outlet remaining in America that will have even a smidgeon of credibility remaining after this election, and people like Michael Savage are already openly calling for the arrest of faux journalists like Wolf Blitzer for acts of sedition and subversion against America.

To avoid their own arrests for sedition, the lying news media seeks to destroy Trump, steal the election and place Hillary Clinton in the White House so they can all continue their criminal cartels another four years, hoping the sheeple wont notice the mountain of steaming bullst coming out of the mouths of democrats and CNN journalists who are nothing more than criminal operatives working for the Clinton cartel.

The era of Big Government is coming to an end

Hillary Clinton promises to invest in new jobs  code words for higher taxes  meaning increased confiscation of money from the working class so that Big Government can waste billions of dollars pretending to create jobs. In economic reality, government cannot create jobs in the first place. It can only influence economic conditions under which the private sector creates jobs. But trying to get democrats to understand economics is like trying to teach a pigeon to play chess. It wastes your time while the bird craps all over the chess board. When it comes to understanding money, jobs, minimum wage and basic math, democrats are all cognitively retarded beyond belief. (Most have no idea that the U.S. government is over $19 trillion in debt because CNN lied to them and ridiculously told them Obama balanced the budget!)

Ultimately, the era of Big Government liberalism is rapidly approaching an end. It doesnt work! Its failing globally. As proof of that, look at Brazil, once the darling of liberal economics but now rapidly collapsing back into a third world nation where they cant even keep the water clean in the Olympics pools. But hey, who doesnt like diving into toxic algae sludge in the hopes of winning gold medals that are taxed by the IRS?

Venezuela, the showcase example of Big Government socialism and widespread entitlement programs, is now on the verge of mass starvation. Citizens of the failed state are hunting zoo animals to cook for food, all while wondering what went wrong after they kept electing lying progressive socialists into power. (Gee, what could possibly go wrong when you give up all your liberty and depend on corrupt government to provide your food, housing, fuel and education?)

America is fed up with the big failures of Big Government. Were fed up with the outright lies, corruption and criminality of democrats, the DNC and the Clintons. Were tired of being lied to by the sleazy mainstream media, which has now lost all credibility and will lose millions of viewers. We are ready for a bold truth-teller to help take back our country from the criminal class of the political elite. Donald Trump is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve this, and thats why hes enjoying 70% support in this online poll. If he had chosen Jesse Ventura as his running mate, his poll numbers would probably be at 80%.

If an honest election were held today, Trump would win in a landslide

Heres what going to happen between now and early 2017. Pay attention, because this st is about to get very, very real:

The desperate democrats are going to try to cheat, steal and rig every single thing they can manage to get their slimy hands on. This includes all polls, news coverage and even the actual votes in November. You should expect this by default, knowing that the term democrat is now synonymous with criminal. Why are they so desperate? Because they know if they lose the White House, a whole bunch of them are going to be indicted and imprisoned by the Trump administration.

If Trump is looking likely to win, watch for a massive false flag attack on a U.S. city in order to declare a national emergency, institute some form of effective martial law, and delay the election so that the fake leftist media can change the narrative (and alter the election outcome). This false flag attack could involve EMP or even nuclear terrorism. There is nothing the criminal class of corrupt government wont try in order to stay in power, including the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. (Which, if it were to happen, would instantly set off a civil war across America.)

If Trump actually does win, watch for massive nationwide riots and violence by the radical left. This is the time when you should be locked and loaded, carrying double magazines, ready to defend your life against the unrestrained violence of left-wing terrorism as it sweeps across America. (This is a time when local police need your support and possibly even some of your spare ammo.)

Once Trump actually takes office in 2017, you should fully expect a deliberate market crash and catastrophic debt collapse as the global banksters attempt to unwind all their debt scams and globalist Ponzi schemes and dump them on Trump, hoping to blame him for the economic chaos that failed debt bubbles always unleash. This global economic crash, in turn, will be used by the leftist media to blame Trump for the widespread misery and joblessness, followed by calls to impeach Trump. It is at this point, by the way, that Second Amendment people are going to have to get involved or youll lose your nation forever.

If you havent already watch the Clinton Cash documentary and prepare to have your world rocked by all the facts about Clinton corruption the mainstream media wont report. The film has already been viewed by millions. It is a MUST-SEE documentary if you seek to be informed in any way.

Also, watch my very important mini-documentary to learn more about the coming debt collapse and why you should empty all your investments, stock portfolios and bank accounts RIGHT NOW and convert your fictional money into REAL assets (while you still can). Those who fail to do this will eventually lose 90% or more of their savings or investments (both of which are entirely fictional and dont exist in the real world).

Do this NOW. Time is running out. America is about to undergo massive social unrest and violence no matter who wins in November. Get prepared in the next 80 days, and make sure you get out and vote for Trump.

Click here to watch the video now on YouTube or view it below:

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NMCG and IOC sign mou for industrial use of treated water

New Delhi, Thu, 18 Aug 2016 NI Wire

Uma Bharti lays foundation of Rs. 40 Crore stp in Vrindavan

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti has said that a new beginning has been made with the foundation laying of STP in Mathura which will provide treated water for industrial use.

Laying the foundation of 20 MLD STP in Vrindavan today the Minister informed that the STP will be built at a cost of Rs. 40 crore.

She said a nine kilometer pipeline from Laxmi nagar to Gokul barrage will carry the treated water to Mathura refinery. An MoU was also signed to this effect between National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).

Sushri Bharti said that with the adoption of hybrid annuity mode by NMCG the complexion of Yamuna will change completely in Mathura-Vrindavan by the year 2018.

She said, every effort will be made to stop the flow of polluted water of Yamuna from Delhi to Mathura Vrindavan.

The Minister said that with the use of pressure technology in irrigation we would be able to save about 60 percent water of Ganga and Yamuna which will help to maintain good e-flow of water in these rivers.

Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari and Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also addressed the gathering. Ujjwala LPG connections were also distributed to 300 women on the occasion.
New steps to enhance transparency in Power Sector Shri Piyush Goyal launches 'TARANG' 'e-Trans' & 'DEEP'

New Delhi, Thu, 18 Aug 2016 NI Wire

Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines opened a new chapter to enhance transparency in power transmission sector of the country by launching the 'TARANG' Mobile App, 'e-Trans' & 'DEEP' e-bidding web portals, developed by Rural Electrification Corporation Transmission Projects Company Limited (RECTPCL), a subsidiary of REC Ltd, in New Delhi yesterday.

The Minister informed that with the perspective of good governance, and keeping in line with the Digital India initiative of Government of India, 'TARANG' (Transmission App for Real Time Monitoring & Growth) Mobile App & Web Portal has been developed by RECTPCL, under the guidance of Ministry of Power. Introduction of the electronic platform shall enhance ease, accountability & transparency and would boost confidence of investors in power transmission sector. Better price discovery shall ultimately benefit the power consumers in India.

Addressing the media during the event, Shri Goyal informed that TARANG is a powerful monitoring tool that tracks upcoming transmission projects and monitor the progress of Inter-State & Intra-State transmission systems in the country, being developed through Regulated tariff mechanism as well as Tariff Based Competitive Bidding(TBCB) route.

TARANG shall also include status of stalled/delayed transmission systems in country which would enable the stakeholders viz. Ministry of Power, State Governments, all private sector transmission developers and PSUs like Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd., for expeditious completion of such projects.

The Minister added that Green Energy Corridors, an important component of our renewable energy mission, would also be monitored through TARANG and help to meet our ambitious targets in same on time. The web portal can be accessed at www.tarang.website.

Apart from Tarang, Shri Goyal unveiled the 'e-Trans' web platform for e-bidding and e-reverse auction for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) in transmission projects. The Minister informed that till date transmission sector providers have been participating in transmission bids through manual mode. With e-Trans, the interface will be electronic. Further, he added that on the lines of coal sector, reverse auction is being introduced in transmission sector to facilitate better price discovery in transmission projects.

The Minister also launched the 'DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) e-Bidding' portal for medium term (1-5 years) purchase of power, on the occasion. He informed that the Portal will provide a common e-bidding platform with e-reverse auction facility to facilitate nation-wide power procurement through a wider network so as to bring uniformity and transparency in the process of power procurement.

Shri Goyal informed that by the introduction of e-Bidding and e-reverse auction process for medium term (1-5 years), the time span of the complete bidding process and the cost of procurement of power is expected to be reduced substantially, thereby significantly benefiting the ultimate consumers. The Minister added that the system of e-reverse auction is being introduced with concept of L-1 matching. The provision of multiple progressive bidding based on the fuel choice has also been incorporated in the system.

To give a perspective of the progress made so far, it may be noted that e-bidding portal was launched on 12.04.2016 for procurement of short term power by DISCOMs. Thereafter 8 States viz., Uttarakhand, Kerala, Jharkhand, Bihar, Punjab, Assam, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, along with other private DISCOMS including Torrent Power, NPCL etc., have conducted e-bidding and around 18000 MW has been requisitioned through the DEEP portal.

As a result of the transparent procurement process, these States have obtained substantially lower rates of power for their short term procurement i.e. UPCL(Description: Rupee Symbol2.59), KSEBL(Description: Rupee Symbol3.14),Torrent Power Limited (Description: Rupee Symbol2.95), JBVNL (Description: Rupee Symbol2.89), BSPHCL (Description: Rupee Symbol2.57), PSPCL (Description: Rupee Symbol 3.6), APDCL-Renewable Energy (non-Solar) (Description: Rupee Symbol4.70) and CSPDCL (Description: Rupee Symbol3.13), WBSEDCL (Description: Rupee Symbol 2.29), inter alia.

The Portal is based on the Guidelines for Medium Term procurement of Power which was notified by Government of India, in 2014 and further amended on May 2015. In order to facilitate the use of portal and to bring clarity in the system necessary amendments will be brought in the guidelines through addendum at the earliest.

Shri Goyal also informed that the scope of this portal shall be further expanded soon to cover medium term and long term procurement of power.

Source: PIB
AMRIT will reduce the burden of out-of-pocket expenses on patients; lakhs of people will be benefitted: J P Nadda

New Delhi, Thu, 18 Aug 2016 NI Wire

Health Minister inaugurates AMRIT outlet at NEIGRIHMS-Shillong, RIMS -Imphal and AIIMS-Jodhpur to dispense affordable drugs of cancer, heart diseases and other life style diseases

With the aim to reduce the expenditure incurred by common patients on treatment of cancer and heart diseases, the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Shri J P Nadda inaugurated three Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) outlets located at North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Shillong, the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal, and All India Institute Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur through video conferencing, here today. Shri Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (MoS)(Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Prime Minister Office, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space were also present during the Video Conference.

We have now 12 AMRIT outlets across the country. More than 2141 drugs (including cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, stents, etc.) for treatment of Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases are being sold through AMRIT at a discount of more than 70% to the patients, the Health Minister said. Shri Nadda also stated that the benefits of the AMRIT clinics can be availed by both in-patients as well as out-patients. He further added that about 300 outlets shall be started by the end of this year and basket of choices of drugs shall also be enhanced further.

Shri Nadda informed that the AMRIT clinics have sold drugs worth Rs. 28 Crores as per the MRP. However, the costs to the patients through these outlets have only been Rs 9 crores. This has resulted in saving of Rs. 19.00 Crores out of pocket expenditure to the patients.

We are exploring the possibility of scaling up the facility and also making it accessible to larger number of people in various parts of the country. The State Governments have been informed about the AMRIT Pharmacies and have been advised to consider opening such pharmacies, The Health Minister mentioned.

Shri Jitendra Singh said that this initiative is going to be a big boost to the healthcare in the region. It will not only go a long way in providing cost-effective medicines to lower strata of the society but through this we will also have a healthcare system that will be more trustworthy.

Also present in the video conference were Shri C K Mishra, Secretary, HFW, Dr. (Prof) Jagdish Prasad, DGHS, Shri Arun Kr. Panda, AS&MD, Shri K B Agarwal, Addl. Secretary Smt. Wansuk Syiem, Honble Member of Parliament (MP), Rajya Sabha & Member Governing Council, NEIGRIHMS, Shri. A. L. Hek, Honble Health Minister, Govt. of Meghalaya, Dr. Thokchom Meinya, MP (LS) Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency, Shri Thangso Baite, MP (LS) Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency, Md. Haji Abdul Salam, Honble Member of Parliament (RS), Manipur, Shri Kh. Joykishan Singh, Honble MLA, Thangmeiband Assembly Constituency, Manipur, Shri Th. Biswajit Singh, Honble MLA, Thongju Assembly Constituency, Manipur, Shri Ksh. Bhabananda Singh, President, BJP, Manipur, Shri M. Bhorot, Former President, BJP, Manipur, Shri Sh. Shanti Kumar Singh, Former President, BJP, Manipur, Shri Th. Chaoba, Former President, BJP, Manipur and Shri Gajendra Singh Ji Shekhawat, M.P. (Jodhpur) & Member Institute Body.

Source: PIB
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The terrorist attacks that struck Tunisia in 2015 have scarred the countrys reputation as a holiday destination and left it struggling to win its share of the Mediterranean tourist market back.

This year, Russians and Algerians are saving the tourist season after ISIS attacks deterred tourists from the traditional markets of France, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands.

The 2015 attacks dealt a heavy blow to a sector that is vital for the countrys foreign exchange and employment. In 2010, Tunisia boasted 7m tourist arrivals and revenues reached 3.5 billion dollars. But arrivals fell to 5.5 million last year and tourism receipts plummeted to 1.5 billion dollars.

The repercussion of the decline of the tourism sector were felt in a slow economic growth, standing at a meagre 1% leading to a depreciation of the Tunisian dinar which hit record lows against the US dollar in July.

On the backdrop of the countrys economic crisis, unemployment rate rose to 15.6 in the second quarter of 2016 compared with 15.4 per cent during the same period last year.

The government is trying to restore the confidence of tourists by reinforcing security measures in tourist zones with extra police and patrols. At the same time, tourism authorities are slashing prices and targeting new markets, particularly Russia and Algeria.

By taking advantage of the regional turmoil, notably in Egypt and Turkey, Tunisia managed to lure 350,000 Russian tourists to its resorts so far this year. Yet tourism professionals see that Tunisia will still fall short of compensating for the losses of French, British and German tourists.
The operation led by Moroccan security services in the southernmost tip of the Kingdom is a police operation conducted in coordination with the UN and Mauritania to curb smuggling and cross-border illegal commercial activities.

Expert in regional issues Abderrahmane Mekkaoui told Le360.ma website that the polisarios allegations of Morocco mobilizing its army to violate the UN-brokered cease-fire agreement is unfounded since the Kingdom informed the UN about the operation.

This is a police and customs operations, said the expert, noting that the claims propagated by the Polisario and its paymaster Algeria were met with utter indifference by the international community.

This combing operation aims at cracking down on all sorts of traffickers and curbing illegal trade activities, notably car and track thefts as well as official documents forging, he added.

The region of Guergarat close to the Mauritanian borders was turned by smugglers from across western Africa into a no mans land where different kinds of illicit activities grew to threaten the security of both Morocco and Mauritania, the expert noted.

A statement issued by Dakhla regional authorities said that the operation started on August 14 in Guergarat on the borders with Mauritania with the aim of clearing the region from smugglers and illegal commercial activities.

Morocco acted in coordination with the UN mission to the Sahara, the MINURSO, the expert said, adding that the latter followed the operation through the use of a drone.

This operation lays bare Polisarios efforts to propagate unfounded claims in a desperate attempt to portray Morocco as a violator of the 1990s cease-fire agreement.

By claiming that Morocco deploys its military beyond the sand wall (the berm,) the Polisario seeks in vain to label the buffer zone as a liberated area.
Hes got this. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

After weeks of high-profile gaffes eroding Donald Trumps already weak standing in the polls, the GOP nominee announced a campaign overhaul on Wednesday morning. In order to overcome his catastrophic unpopularity among moderate Republicans and nonwhite voters, Trump decided to make the executive chair of Breitbart News  a leading journal of alt-right thought  the chief executive of his campaign. With veteran political operative Paul Manafort sidelined and Breitbarts Stephen Bannon at the helm, Trump hopes to win over suburban moms in Loudoun County  by becoming less disciplined and mainstream in his messaging. Per the Washington Post:

While Trump respects Manafort, the aides said, he has grown to feel boxed in and controlled by people who barely know him. Moving forward, he plans to focus intensely on rousing his voters at rallies and through media appearance.



 Trumps turn away from Manafort is in part a reversion to how he ran his campaign in the primaries with then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowskis mantra was let Trump be Trump and Trump wants to get back to that type of campaign culture, the aides said.



 Bannon, in phone calls and meetings, has been urging Trump for months to not mount a fall campaign that makes Republican donors and officials comfortable, the aides said. Instead, Bannon has been telling Trump to run more fully as an outsider and an unabashed nationalist.

Pundits of all political persuasions found this strategy baffling. The Posts Greg Sargent derided it as entirely delusional. And, on the surface, that sounds about right. It looks like yet another example of Trump refusing to understand that the dynamics of a GOP primary differ from those of a general election.

But, in this case, Trumps skeptics may be giving the mogul too little credit. Because if Trump isnt trying to win the election, his new strategy might be the most rational decision of his entire campaign.

And why should Trump be trying to win, at this point? New polls from Quinnipiac  a firm whose results tend to lean Republican  show Trump losing by double-digits in Colorado and Virginia. Earlier this week, a Monmouth poll showed Trump down by nine in Florida. The New York Times currently gives Trump a 13 percent chance of winning Novembers election.

Lets stipulate, for the moment, that Trump launched his presidential campaign with the sincere intention of winning the White House. Put yourself in his shoes.

You can either spend the next two-and-a-half months doing everything the political professionals say that you should: Read the boring speeches off the teleprompters. Go speak to skeptical audiences in the African-American community who will almost certainly boo you. Spend your nights in hotels in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Iowa. Recite carefully vetted talking points in interviews. And tell yourself that all these sacrifices are worth it, because they will marginally reduce your probability of losing on November 8.

Or, you can accept the reality that there is (almost certainly) nothing you can do, at this point, to change the outcome on Election Day. Your path to 270 electoral votes was slim to begin with. Even if Clinton loses all of the states that are currently too close to call she will still win the presidency. And shes winning in nearly all of those swing states, anyway. And she has better ground game in all of them.

If your candidacy is dead, then everything is permitted. Your favorite part of running for president has always been riling up crowds of people who love you  and/or being able to share every damn thought that comes into your head on national television, anytime you please. Why not design a campaign strategy that allows you to do those things, without being frowned at by your advisers?

This seems like an easy choice. And when you consider the possibility that Trump never intended to be president, it becomes even easier.

On Tuesday, left-wing documentarian Michael Moore wrote that he knows for a fact that Trump never wanted to occupy the Oval Office. Instead, Trump launched his presidential bid as a means of increasing the value of his brand, thereby extracting more favorable terms in his negotiations with NBC over the next season of The Apprentice. But the ploy backfired  while, paradoxically, working too well.

Trumps decision to deride Mexicans as rapists and drug dealers in his launch speech rendered him toxic to the network  but beloved by GOP primary voters. Soon, Trump had lost a show but gained an unprecedented level of attention and fame. This was tremendous. But also horrible, because it put him in the impossible position of desperately wanting to be the ultimate winner, while also desperately not wanting to actually be president.

Elements of Moores narrative are backed up by the confession of a former Trump campaign strategist, published by xoJane in March. The story also seems consistent with Vanity Fairs report that the candidate has been mulling the creation of his own conservative cable-news empire, once the campaign is through. The magazine wrote that the presumptive Republican nominee is examining the opportunity presented by the audience currently supporting him, and had discussed the possibility of launching a mini-media conglomerate.

So, slip those Trump shoes back on, one last time. Imagine that you launched a presidential campaign to further your showbiz career. After 14 months as a candidate, youve realized that you cant win in November but you can attract an audience of conservative-news consumers who are looking for an alternative to Fox News. How would you spend the last weeks of your campaign?

Perhaps, you would prioritize keeping your prospective audience entertained, above all else. And to do that, youd make someone with experience in far-right infotainment the chief executive of your campaign. Plus, you might want to seek out an adviser who really knows the cable-news business. Someone like, I dont know, Roger Ailes?

Lets dispel with this fiction that Donald Trump doesnt know what hes doing. He knows exactly what hes doing.
Michael Cohen.

Following the latest Trump campaign shake-up, The Weekly Standards Stephen Hayes  one of the many conservatives aghast at Trumps hiring of Breitbart News CEO Stephen Bannon  explained that the move means Trump is retreating further into his alternate reality:



The campaign overhaul means that Trump is choosing to end his campaign living in the alternate reality that Breitbart creates for him on a daily basis  where everything he does is the best, where everyone who questions him is an idiot or a traitor, where big rallies portend electoral victories, where House speaker Paul Ryan is the problem with modern conservatism, where polls that find him down are fixed, where elections he loses are rigged, where immigration and trade are the nations most pressing issues, and where, truly, Trump alone can fix it all.

A few hours later on CNN, Michael Cohen, an executive vice-president and attorney at the Trump Organization, summed up this mentality with just two words. When Brianna Keilar noted that Trump is currently losing, Cohen interjected, Says who? Polls. Most of them. All of them, Keilar answered. Cohen repeated, Says who? and demanded to know which polls Keilar was referring to. All of them, she said.



When asked about being down in the race, Trump adviser replies, "Says who?"https://t.co/HO9wqbdDWR https://t.co/C2UzSDdUo4  The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) August 17, 2016

After the exchange became a viral hit (even bigger than his classic you cannot rape your spouse), Cohen revealed the seriousness of his break with reality. In a conversation with Yahoo News, Cohen boasted that he had controlled the interview with Keilar, adding I think I unraveled her.

Cohen went on to explain that he disagrees with the findings of all polls, which pretty uniformly show that Trump is trailing Clinton. His evidence: While polls show Trumps support among black voters is almost nonexistent in some parts of the country, Cohen has personally spoken to more than 100 African Americans who are voting for Trump.



When they say that Donald Trump has a 1 percent favorability amongst the African-American community, I know from my own interactions that that number is absolutely and unequivocally inaccurate, Cohen said. I speak on a weekly basis to more than 100 African-American Evangelical preachers who are all committed to ensuring Donald Trump becomes the next president of the United States.

Like other Trump supporters attempting to unskew their guys bad polls with facts that come straight from their gut, Cohen went on to note that lots of people show up to Trump rallies.



I think Mr. Trump and Secretary Clinton are substantially closer than the polls indicate, Cohen explained. The proof is the massive 20-, 25- and 30,000-person rallies that he is attending on a multiple-time-per-week basis. In all honesty, Hillary Clinton cant fill a Starbucks even if they offered free ventis.

Okay, so how would he explain this?



Photo: Jeff Swensen/2016 Getty Images

Probably by repeating, I know you are, but what am I?


Trump.

Donald Trumps campaign is going to die the way it lived: by ginning up fear and loathing of vulnerable minority groups.

On Wednesday morning, the GOP nominee announced a campaign overhaul that sent veteran political operative Paul Manafort to the backseat  and put the chairman of a far-right news site at the wheel. After several days without calling the sitting president a member of ISIS or joking about the assassination of his political rivals, Trump signaled his intention to go back to being Trump. And on Wednesday night, Fox News aired a town hall in which he did just that.

Appearing with Sean Hannity in Milwaukee, Trump suggested that racial profiling might be necessary for combating terrorism, argued that Muslims who fail to report suspicious people in their communities are to blame for attacks, and appeared to suggest that Muslim citizens with extreme views would become subject to deportation.

After championing his new proposal to subject prospective immigrants to an ideological test, Trump was asked what he would do about all of the thought criminals already in the United States.

What do we do when we find somebody that has extreme views? Hannity asked, citing the example of Seddique Mateen, the father of the Pulse Nightclub shooter, who is a vocal supporter of the Afghan Taliban. Do we throw them the hell out?

Id throw him out, Trump said of Mateen, to raucous applause. If you look at him, Id throw him out.

Earlier this month, Mateen was seen sitting behind Hillary Clinton at a rally in Florida. So its possible that Trump meant he would expel Mateen from one of his rallies  not from the country. However, it was quite clear that Hannity was talking about deportation.

If Trump understood Hannitys intention correctly, his answer would mark one of the most profound challenges to American civil liberties ever uttered by a major-party candidate.

Seddique Mateen has been a resident of the United States for three decades. While he has espoused support for the Taliban and a reactionary form of Islam, he repeatedly condemned the violent act perpetrated by his son, telling CBS News, Nobody has the right to harm anything, anybody  What a persons lifestyle is, is up to him. Its a free country. Everybody has their own choice to live the way they want to live.

Mateen has illiberal views on homosexuality and gender. And his ideal government would likely be more theocratic than our own. But the same can be said of many Evangelical Trump voters. And Americas foremost enemy of political correctness has never suggested expelling them from the country for having the wrong opinions.

Later in the interview, Trump suggested that Muslim Americans who fail to prevent acts of violence committed by members of their communities bear responsibility for their co-religionists atrocities.

Look, we have to be so tough and so smart and vigilant. And frankly, the Muslims have to help us, because they see whats going on in their community. We do not see it. They have to help us, Trump said. And if theyre not going to help us, theyre to blame also.

Perhaps the most striking thing about this quote is the way Muslim Americans are juxtaposed with us. On the surface, Trump could be referring to national-security professionals when deploying we in these remarks. However, in arguing that we need to be more vigilant, Trump cited the failure of the San Bernardino shooters non-Muslim neighbors to report the couples suspicious activity (although theres no evidence any conspicuously suspicious activity took place).

Thus, its more plausible that Trump was referring to a broader we  one that included his audience and all other Americans who wish to take their country back. In this framing, Muslim Americans are cast as pseudo-citizens. (Which might explain why they can be deported for their having extreme views.)

Finally, Trump argued that if we dont start treating them with greater scrutiny, then well also be to blame for the suffering they cause.

Whether its racial profiling or politically correct, we better get smart, Trump told Hannity. We are letting tens of thousands of people into our country. We dont know what the hell were doing.
The GOP candidate keeps screwing up with LDS folk in profoundly Republican Utah. Photo: vidalia_11/CC/flickr

Last week, amid buzz over polls showing a remarkably close presidential race in profoundly Republican Utah, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintsowned Deseret News published an op-ed from Hillary Clinton. She shrewdly utilized the history of gentile persecution of Mormons in urging LDS folk to reject Trumps desire to discriminate against Muslims, striking a chord in a community that was already notably hostile to the mogul.

Trump stepped up to the plate and penned his own op-ed in the same paper this week. It is mostly a rehash of his standard campaign message, including elements like his immigration policy and general opposition to globalization that are less than wildly popular in a very globalized and missionary-driven LDS community. But it was Trumps more specific effort to appeal to people of faith that showed how clumsy he is in dealing with Mormons. He emphasized his proposal to free tax-exempt organizations (including churches) from a 1950s-vintage ban on endorsing political candidates and outright electioneering. As the Washington Posts Stephen Stromberg explained, that exhibited some pretty serious ignorance about how the LDS is organized:

To an evangelical Christian, this reads fine. To a Mormon, it reads as though Trump is talking to someone else. Mormons do not have pastors  or even a professional clergy at most levels of the hierarchy. Moreover, local Mormon leaders do not have independent control over individual churches. The LDS organization is highly centralized, and its leaders in Salt Lake City strongly profess their desire to keep the institution out of nakedly partisan politics.

The recitation of this campaign promise beloved of conservative Evangelical leaders also drew fresh attention to Trumps snide reference to Mormons as different in a speech to a Christian-right summit in Florida last week, a remark that annoyed LDS members because of the tycoons long history of snide references to Mormons. Indeed, says Stromberg, Trump keeps digging himself into deeper trouble with Mormons:

In a month in which Evan McMullin, a conservative graduate of Brigham Young University, has emerged as a ballot-eligible non-Trump alternative to Clinton, a reasonable candidate would have had someone on his campaign spend a few minutes figuring out how to talk to Mormons, or at least refrained from insulting them. Trump didnt bother. Instead, he highlighted one of his core attributes: a carelessness that is so obvious it reeks of disrespect.

If Trump manages to lose Utah, he will have no one to blame but himself.
The two major-party candidates turn off different voters at different levels of intensity. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

One of the sturdier memes of this presidential cycle is that most voters pretty much dislike both major-party candidates. Its the foundation for the otherwise forlorn hopes of the Libertarian, Green, and Independent Conservative candidacies. And in the longer run, the idea that other candidates would have done much better is the whetstone on which many knives are being sharpened for a postelection bloodbath. Indeed, even the winner will not be immune; if Clinton wins, it is an ironclad certainty that Bernie fans will argue Sanders would have won by more, with broader down-ballot coattails.

So the everybody hates Hil and the Donald meme matters later, if not so much right now. But polling maven Mark Blumenthal, looking closely at SurveyMonkey tracking data, disputes the premise rather convincingly. Yes, these are two relatively unpopular candidates. But thats mainly because each candidates supporters hate the partisan enemy so fiercely.

Turns out, says Blumenthal, that about a fourth of voters give both Clinton and Trump unfavorable ratings. Thats a pretty high number, but its not close to a majority. And then if you look at intensity levels, the universe of plague on both your houses! voters shrinks even more significantly: Only about 10 percent of voters dislike both candidates with an equal level of disdain.

Looking more closely at that dyspeptic group, Blumenthal finds, unsurprisingly, that they are disproportionately unconnected to either major party and, more important, less likely to vote at all. If they do vote, a majority of them presently will go Libertarian or Green. Its a good guess that as the voting decision approaches, a goodly number will either tilt in one major-party direction or another or decide to stay home.

As one might expect from the toplines of virtually every recent poll, Clinton has a tangible if not overwhelming advantage over Trump according to the various measurements of popularity or unpopularity. Even among the I hate them both equally segment, she leads Trump 36-24. In the end, being a popular winning presidential candidate is a luxury: George W. Bush didnt let it bother him in 2001 that he lost the 2000 popular vote and only became president with the assistance of the entire election machinery of the state of Florida and a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court. But the idea that a massive majority of the electorate is longing for a different choice is largely an illusion.
According to some estimates, about one percent of the adult male population continues, after puberty, to be attracted to prepubescent children. The figure of the pedophile is perhaps one of societys most feared, and, in part because of the deep taboo, the inner lives of pedophiles are not very well understood. This is especially true for the subset of pedophiles who feel attraction to children but who commit themselves to not acting on it; the fact is that unless they encounter the criminal justice system, we are unlikely to learn much about their behavior at all. Support groups are often open only to those who have offended, for instance, leaving pedophiles who refuse to act on their impulses without anyone to talk to.

The plight of the celibate pedophile recently gained media visibility when two men formed an online community of support for men and women who struggle with their sexual thoughts about kids. Their anonymous forum, which launched in 2012, has around 2,000 members who come together behind the veil of the computer screen to talk about their feelings. The founders have the express aim of reducing the stigma attached to pedophilia by letting people know that a substantial number of pedophiles do not molest children, and to provide peer support and information about available resources to help virtuous pedophiles remain law-abiding, and lead happy, productive lives. But how does a celibate pedophile manage his desire on a day-to-day basis? Is talking about such a taboo sexual desire always a good thing? And how does one lead a happy life when the true object of their sexual affection is restricted to fantasy? I spent the last month talking to (and visiting) a 62-year-old man who came out as a celibate pedophile after he discovered images of children online when his marriage disintegrated in his 40s.

Tell me about yourself.

I am 62 years old, retired after a successful career. I helped my parents through their sad final years, settled their estates. Ive long been involved with my community and my liberal church. I have friends who I see occasionally. I helped raise my three daughters to independent adulthood. I have many hobbies like puzzles, games, reading history or books by writers like Jonathan Franzen. I enjoy foreign films, chick flicks, and comedies like Airplane. Im very active online. But Im divorced, and I have no prospect of any romantic relationship ever again.

Why is that?

Im barely attracted to any women over the age of 40. Im not a suave alpha male who can attract younger women. And Im a pedophile, so Im sexually attracted to children. I think small girls are just the most wonderful people, and in fantasy or some imaginary world, Id like to be sexual with them. If Id stayed married, I may never have discovered my true sexuality.

What does that mean, exactly?

I identify as a celibate pedophile. Im sexually attracted to young girls, but I would never, ever, act on it. Other people use words like virtuous pedophile or gold-star pedophile, but I dont like the connotation of reward those terms imply. Usually, when pedophiles talk about this, the subtext is that doing sexual stuff with 12-year-olds would be just fine if not for societys up-tight attitudes. I dont feel that way at all. Some open-minded people get it, but an awful lot dont.

Lets back up and start at the beginning. What can you tell me about your childhood?

I grew up in a small university town  my father was a professor. While I dont have any major complaints about my parents, I did feel that unconditional love was absent. I was always hoping to get attention  looking for approval. Later, I realized my mom was very self-involved. When my aunt died, I read her diaries and her words validated my feelings. Oh, my sisters in a terrible mood and her son cant cheer her up. It was striking that there was this implication that a son should be responsible for keeping his mother happy.

Were her demands reasonable?

Sure  if you were totally devoted to your mother. She stayed very close to her mom, so that relationship was her model. My two older brothers were rebellious, so I was the good son. She wanted me to make her feel very important to me, but she wasnt, not in the way she wanted to be. It was hard to get her attention. Support was always on her terms.

Shed aimed to be a clinical psychologist, so I had the same dream. When I was about 16, she got depressed and stopped working. I felt bad for her, but I also resented that she was letting me down as a role model. She once demanded a hug and I refused, then she said she must have raised a horrible son. I gave in but deeply resented it.

All that about a hug?

The status of hugs was in flux where we lived in the 70s. Only the hippies and New Age people did it.

Okay.

When I was about to get married, I got a call from dad saying my mother was afraid she might do something to herself. He meant suicide. He asked me to help. The message was that if I was going to get married, then I would be lost to her. I said that I really hoped she didnt kill herself, that would make me very sad, and I wanted her to live and be happy, but I wasnt going to cancel my wedding. She came, but there a strain in the air, so I figured we could use professional help.

What did you do?

Called the family into therapy. I remember we had to think of what we wanted from the rest of the family and my mother came back with a four-page document listing things she would want from me.

But listen, I know damned well that other people have had it much worse, so I feel like a whiner. And I have thrived. I didnt set out to complain about my mother. I cant see any connection to my pedophilia. Im only discussing her because you asked.

So, lets talk more about you. What were you like when you were younger?

I picked up on everything around me, and I took criticism hard. My older brothers fought, and I had to dodge the line of fire.

In retrospect, I was definitely looking for the love I should have been getting at home. And then the culture tells you that boy meets girl and then everything is happy. It usually doesnt work when you depend on your girlfriend to get the love you missed out on as a child. I was a nerd. I had enormous insecurities. I wondered: Will I ever feel really good about myself?

How did you learn about sex? Was it something that was ever discussed at school or at home?

Despite her flaws, my mother had some good points, and one was that she very openly discussed sexuality. When my oldest brother went through puberty, I was there when he was masturbating, so I learned how to do it. Im grateful to my mother for being open  she said Do it in private and thats fine. An awful lot of men I know still feel guilt about it. But I always knew it was part of a good life. After puberty, I was masturbating at least every other day, unless I had the flu or something.

Did you have an ideal type of girl back then?

Not surprisingly, big boobs and any hint of heftiness were turnoffs, but maybe not enough to keep me away if that had been the only obstacle  it didnt come up in practical terms. I thought that to be seen talking to someone unattractive or unpopular would threaten what fragile social status I thought I had.

When did you become sexually active?

When I was a freshman in college. I still had immense insecurities, but I met this attractive young woman. We didnt have intercourse, but we did a fair amount of sexual stuff with each other.

Clothes off?

Sometimes. No oral either way, but a lot of manual. Id stimulate her. Id have loved more coming my way, but I took what I could get. With a mother like mine, the idea of pressuring a woman was so foreign. For a few months, we were glued to each other. But she was troubled. And then she said she felt that she had lost herself and broke things off. I think shed been abused.

Can you isolate the first time that you found a young girl attractive?

My romantic feelings and my sexual feelings are quite separate. When I developed a crush in third grade, I figured that was pretty normal. If other guys felt such crushes differently, I didnt know  we didnt talk about these things. Later, I got occasional hints that my friends were lusting after older, fully developed women. To the extent I thought about it at all, I figured that they had to be joking. I thought our tween peers were way hotter than grown adult women.

Im assuming you just thought that you were attracted to your peers, that there was nothing transgressive about that? But did you ever question your desire? Were you ever attracted to adult women?

Im one the muddiest cases of pedophilia because I was very attracted to grown women when I got to be an adult and I wanted to have sex with them frequently and with great passion. Other pedophiles Ive talked to, even those who are married, often report a sort of dotted line in the bedroom. Things work, but theres usually a bit of a stretch. It was much easier for me to hide my pedophilia from myself because I was also attracted to legal, appropriate women. Im not an exclusive pedophile.

Did you always know you were different in that way?

No. In my early 20s, I took a bus trip alone. A family with several children boarded and a 10-year-old girl ended up next to me. I wrote in my diary a candid, Yum! without any self-consciousness. Did I realize other men my age wouldnt feel that way? I dont think so. And of course I didnt touch her, or even make any special effort to get her to talk with me. On that same trip, I visited a family with a 3-year-old girl. I remember I enjoyed playing with her a lot. We got on very well. I hadnt spent any time with 3-year-old girls before. She was just so alive and energetic and totally beautiful. At the time, I just figured this was a good sign for how I would find parenthood rewarding if I got to have a family.

What do you think when you see an adult womans body?

Ive always had this sense that breasts are an unfortunate thing that happens to women when they age, like gray hair. They cant help it, and its part of life, and the women are still attractive, but its no improvement. I also gather there really are a lot of ordinary men who are just fine with smaller breasts. Theres even a saying, Anything more than a handful is a waste.

After college, I moved into a cooperative house. I took up with one of the women who lived there  dating is easy when you live in the same place. We married and had three daughters. The happiest time in my life was when my wife and I got married up until the time we had our first kid. Its worth reflecting on that. And then we got divorced.

I personally think it takes half the time you were in a relationship to get over that relationship 

Yes, I really wasnt ready. I had a relationship for about five or six months, but then I kind of realized it wasnt going to be as easy as I thought. I think that played a role in the worst depressive crisis I had: facing the reality I might be single for the rest of my life. I didnt make a suicide attempt, but I was making plans. I was hospitalized. Later, my co-workers told me that I was walking around the office like a ghost. My psychiatrist said that he would ask me questions and I couldnt form words. After about six months, I found a good medication combination and came out of that hole.

What was your life as a father like around that time?

I was that father who was on the floor playing with the rug rats. It was rewarding getting to know them as friends. My wife got primary custody, which I agreed to because it made sense. I moved a block away. My ex-wife and I differed on many things, but we definitely shared the view that we loved the kids more than we hated each other. We never said bad things about each other around them.

Did you remain single?

Im going to give you the conclusion here first  I know you are waiting for this. So, I was having a lot of trouble because at this point in my life I was really stretching the bounds of my attractive range. I was in my late 40s and I would go out with these women and its like: Yes, they are very nice, but theres no real spark here. I could probably have felt satisfied sexually, but it wasnt enough to make me go through the effort of a relationship.

Because you were attracted to younger women?

We all know that our culture prizes female youth. I think at first that helped mask the pedophilia  I figured I was just more of a slave to patriarchal thinking than most men: We go after young women, and society accepts that. I was dutifully dating women who were roughly my age and hoping for a spark but that spark never came. Now I see what was going on for me was much bigger. So the woman I was in a relationship with was about 40  and one of a very few women that age I could get excited about.

How come?

She was very smart. Ivy League educated, a great researcher. And she was drop-dead gorgeous with a very strong sex drive. But also, her personality was quite  childlike. That was like catnip, although again, I didnt really get it at the time. When I look back, sophistication in women was always a turnoff.

Was she physically childlike, or was it more her personality?

She was small, and she had a high-pitched voice. I once gave her some money for her birthday. I deliberately made sure there were not just 20s but fives and ones, and quarters, and I put it in a little ornate box. She loved it. But there were enormous problems in that relationship. Shed been physically and emotionally abused by another man. One side of her was very loving, and the other was suspicious and trying to sabotage the relationship. We went on problematically for ten years before we broke up.

Was that when you realized that you are a pedophile?

I dont think her childishness had any role in discovering my pedophilia. Id known for a long time that I found 14-year-old girls attractive, but I didnt think there was anything wrong with that. I wasnt going to hit on any of them. It was my attraction to much younger girls that I didnt understand at all. I had a mid-life crisis  well, not a crisis, but a realization.

What did you realize?

My career was on a glide path. The nest was empty. I was alone. So Im looking at the rest of life  Whats in it for me? I started looking at porn  just ordinary adult stuff. I figured Id see what was out there. Id been raised to think porn was bad. Id barely even glanced at it.

What did you search for? Were there particular desires or fantasies that you wanted to explore?

I steered away from women being degraded. That was where the bad resonated most strongly for me. There were no moral issues involved, but I also didnt care to look at gay sex, anal, big breasts, or women giving oral. I dont remember searching for particular things  but as I explored, I found myself most interested in the barely legal genre. They were scantily clad or naked and smiling. I watched some clips of vanilla hetero intercourse where both participants seemed willing. I downloaded about 200 pictures. I found that this was a mild enhancement to my middle-aged life  looking at these images and masturbating. Then one day my childlike girlfriend made a sympathetic comment about people who enjoyed porn. I dared to mention that I had looked at a little.

Had you looked at child porn at that point?

No.

Really?

Ive never seen any, ever.

Its a little hard to believe you really dont look at child pornography.

I am against child sex abuse. Im against doing it. Im against making pictures of it. Im against distributing it.

Okay, so what happened when you told your girlfriend?

She was not okay with my online porn explorations. We had several arguments and then she gave me a choice: her or the porn. I resentfully agreed to give it up.

Was she religious? Or was this more of a social taboo for her?

She was not religious, no! To be honest, Im surprised youre surprised at this. It seems pretty common especially among feminists to be against pornography. But I pretty much stopped looking at porn.

Pretty much

I wondered what other possibilities there were out there. And as it turned out, a Google image search for something harmless like bathing suits yields lots of pictures and many are quite erotic. None of that was porn. And you see, porn sites had a hard limit at 18. No one younger showed up there. But Google images had no limit, nor did erotic stories. I certainly wasnt going to clarify definitions with my girlfriend. But if you search for pictures of college swim teams, you can also ask for pictures of high-school swim teams 

Was this the first time you explored young bodies, visually? Or really engaged your desires using more than just your imagination?

The closest thing to porn Id looked at before were womens clothing catalogues in bathing-suit season. But online I started doing the comparisons and found the high-school girls more attractive  actually, I had known for some time that I thought 13-year-old girls were the most alluring at a purely physical level. When youre looking at a picture on the screen, or reading a story, its pretty clear no one is going to feel embarrassed or hurt. So if I had a satisfying fantasy about 12-year-old, I figured that was okay too. If you do an image search for X-year-old girl, you can fill in any number for X you want. And that includes girls whose age is a single digit.

But you had three daughters; you must have seen them naked and engaged with them quite intimately. Did they arouse you?

I loved them and appreciated their bodies the way any parent does, and I very much appreciated their minds and personalities, but I really didnt feel anything sexual or romantic. I was never aroused. I didnt realize I was a pedophile then. I felt this romantic thing sometimes for girls, but the sexual side was absent. Id occasionally see their friends naked and didnt feel any arousal to them either. I think I remember thinking as they aged above 4 or 5, Oh, well, too bad their golden years are over  But it wasnt sexual  Parents can recognize their sons and daughters are hot, without feeling any attraction. This is quite common, actually. You can look up Westermarck Effect. We pedophiles almost all feel it.

Well, yes, his logic was familiarity breeds contempt, and of course we all know about the incest taboo. But lets be real: That taboo is regularly breached. Men (and women) molest, rape, or harm family members. It happens all the time; we just refuse to talk about it much.

Yes, of course there are men who sexually abuse children, but they are very different from me. Many of these men are not even pedophiles. To go back to your question, I was not attracted to my daughters, but my daughters friends were quite fascinating to me. I found them so alluring  and when I say that, I mean many of them but not all of them. We pedophiles are not indiscriminately attracted any more than anyone else.

But the ones you were attracted to  what was that like?

I had tender thoughts about them. I wanted them to like me. If I could do something to make one of them smile or laugh, that was very nice.

Judging from the pedophiles Ive talked with online, one of the most common misconceptions of pedophilia is the idea that pedophiles want to control kids. Im sure some child sex abusers are like that, but there are sure a lot of pedophiles who are totally the opposite. They might be popular babysitters, but they dont set limits about bedtimes or snacks. They really think of themselves as peers, and theyd like the girl or boy to relate to them that way  thats the fantasy. They want to make the kid happy. This kind of pedophile might not ever offend, since no child wants sex, right? In private fantasy, they can imagine that the girl is eager for sex, but thats not part of reality at all  there is no path to temptation in that scenario.

One time, my daughter had a friend stay over and she couldnt fall asleep. We were alone, and I read her a book for a while, she seemed to trust me. That was a very special moment. I didnt touch her, and I didnt fantasize about doing anything sexually with her.

Were you tempted? Or did you reflect on it later and masturbate or have sexual thoughts?

No, back then I didnt even know I had a sexual attraction to them.

You mentioned the people you talk to online. Are they other pedophiles? How did you meet?

I have been active in an online support group for virtuous pedophiles (or celibate pedophiles) for about a year now. We come together to anonymously discuss the sexual desires the world doesnt understand or let us talk about.

That seems complicated. Theres a fine line between community of support and normalization, right?

Pedophiles are mostly miserable (at least the ones who come to the community). And after being online for a while, they often feel more at peace, better about themselves while in no way being more inclined to do sexual stuff with kids. How would talking with a bunch of guys who are all completely clear that doing sexual stuff with kids is bad, bad, bad enable anyone? Heres a typical story you read in the community:

I am a pedophile. I have been struggling with this for 2 years  I was considering suicide for a while, and then I found an article about this site. Just to know that there are others makes me feel a little less alone  I guess what I havent said is that Im thirteen.

Theres a scientist who works with pedophiles up in Canada, and he puts it like this: The day before a pedo offends for the first time, he was a man trying not to. He believes men are sent over the edge when they are feeling desperate, hopeless, or totally rejected by society. And thats why I am strongly against mandated reporting.

Thats when doctors, social workers, and other counselors are required to report a pedophile, right?

I suspect a fair number of teen suicides are pedos, and most would not even reveal it in a suicide note. They cant tell anyone and that is very, very isolating.

How isolated are you? Does anyone you know IRL know about this part of your life?

My therapist and two friends from college. Thats it. My therapist and I jointly discovered my pedophilia.

So, to clarify: In an effort to avoid porn, so as to not lie to your partner, you found images of children online and that was enough to satisfy you, or enough to use to masturbate or fuel your fantasies for later masturbation sessions?

Yes, and as the weeks or months went by, I got embarrassed at how young the girls were getting.

How young?

My peak attraction was age 4. I hope you havent fainted 

What images of 4 year olds were you looking at?

Mostly family blogs. You can watch the same child as she ages; people are very liberal when they post images of their children online. You can watch the girl age from 2 to 3 to 6 to 12  You can see the same girls body as it changes.

What do you find attractive about girls that young?

Ultimately? Every aspect.

Can you be more specific?

I think their playfulness is important as is the simplicity of emotions. What you see is what you get. There is no deception. Theres an innocence.

But the desire must also hinge on physical things, right?

Yes, I find them physically beautiful.

Heres one way to explain it. I also like 25-year-old women. I like their hair, I like the configuration of a feminine face. I like breasts (at least enough to know they are there). I find the curves of hips and thighs alluring. I like their labia, and the knowledge of a vagina within (I also like the idea of a uterus and ovaries tucked away). I like smooth skin. I like a top thats not too muscular. I like the higher voice. I like typical aspects of the personality  or especially the absence of some typical male aspects, such as competitiveness, a desire to impress with accomplishments, the pressure to appear tough. Ive basically told you I like women (rather than men) because of the things that make them women (and not men).

And so, I also like 4-year-old girls, and I like them more than 25-year-old women. But I know what you are really asking is why do I like them so much?

Yes.

I like that they are small. I love that. I like that their skin is so smooth, so pure and full of potential  even more than the 25-year-olds. Very often small girls have terrific hair. I like their flat chests and the idea that they have no pubic hair. Im not attracted to small boys. I like the knowledge that they have all the female sexual organs, even if they are still immature and more potential than reality. I find their personalities very endearing. The world is experienced in simpler categories, there is much less deception and guile. Joy is the joy of the moment  sadness is the sadness of now. A sleepy little girl is adorable, as is a sleeping one. Ive described what distinguishes a 4-year-old girl from an adult woman and said thats what I like better. When it comes to girls aged 1213, my fantasies often involve her excitement about learning about, and trying, sex.

So why do you think you are attracted to young girls?

You keep asking this in different ways, or so it seems. And I dont blame you. But, I have no idea. Some of the pedophiles try to come up with evolutionary explanations, but the ones Ive heard are silly. Some scientists say its crossed wires, which I dont think is quite right. But an additional connection, or absence of inhibitory connection or something, is a possibility.

And men have this rather strong sexual urge in general. But if youre asking why I in particular have this, I dont know.

And if someone asked you: Why have you not acted on this desire what would you say?

I can list about ten reasons, but the biggest is that I would really risk hurting the girl emotionally. Hurting her really badly.

What about physical pain?

Oh gosh, eek, yes. Causing pain would be a total turnoff. But it isnt hard to imagine (in fantasy) some sort of physical change or medical procedure or hormone treatment or something that (in fantasy) solves the size problem (in fantasy). I put in the extra in fantasy because so often people lose track of that  this is fantasy, never to be acted upon. In all these fantasies, the girl is very much present as a person too  a person who either really enjoys this or is at least okay with it. If she wasnt, the fantasy would instantly cease to be arousing  then I would have a girl who needed something else and I would be attuned to providing her what she needed.

What do you think about the morality of this? Is it okay to have sexual fantasies about small girls?

I have some embarrassment, but no guilt. I had long ago figured out my ethical stance about the difference between thoughts and feelings. And I decided that actions are right and wrong  feelings are not  feelings are just what they are and can be complicated and inconsistent. And one part of happiness is honoring feelings while treating people well. So celibate pedophilia fit right into that very easily.

Given the distinction you make between fantasy and actions (or feelings and actions), Im curious to know: Do you think it would have been wrong for you to have had sexual fantasies about your own daughters?

I dont think it would have been immoral. But  Whether I would have wanted to go that way or not is something Im not sure of.

It does seem possible that having fantasies about a particular person would tend to strengthen your thoughts about them in that way. Im not sure. I think it might well have struck me as, Thats not right.

Even now, Im hesitant to have fantasies about girls I see day to day.

Say you have granddaughters, would you leave them alone with someone who is like you? Or, going back in time, your daughters?

Lets assume I had granddaughters. I think if I knew the person really pretty well and had heard them talk about their sexual attraction and how it works for them, then I would be okay with it. But if six people applied for a babysitting job and one is a pedo and five arent? I guess Id have some inclination to go with the five who arent. In todays world, where the celibate pedos stay hidden and are unknown, its a harder call. Occasionally a lawyer will write an article saying pedophiles deserve civil rights and protection from discrimination. I personally think thats a bridge too far at this point. I dont expect people to trust pedos to babysit.

But what would be your concern? That they would have fantasies about the children? Would that make you uncomfortable? Or do you have a latent fear that they would act?

I have no fears about fantasies other people have of my kids. If I walk down the street and some guy looks me over and that night has a fantasy of torturing me to death and eating me for dinner  I dont mind as long as I never find out about it.





And as for the kids  well, I have fantasies about other peoples kids, so it would be intellectually dishonest of me to say it was different for them.

It seems to me like youve thought an awful lot about how to think about these things, but that you havent really struggled nearly as much with the desire to act. Is that because that option has never been on the table for you?

No, not at all. I was dealing with girls for years, quite intimately. Having them crawl all over me their friends and the Sunday-school kids and all. I never got aroused. I was always thinking of their welfare.

I think sometimes people use attracted to mean different things. Some think it must mean I can see a path from here to having sex with this person  following social rules and conventions. Thats not what Im talking about. And maybe some guys would rather just suppress the attraction completely. For me, when it comes to the younger ones, its a mix of parental protectiveness and romantic desire.

What do you make of conversations about the sexualization of young girls?

Thats a conversation we have been having for a long time  Theres a book, Erotic Innocence, by James Kincaid, about how Shirley Temple was eroticized, too. But we pedos often note that when you take a little girl and put her in makeup and she does adult sexy stuff, its mostly a turnoff. Id wager thats more appealing to ordinary guys because the girls are mimicking adult sexuality.

In many European countries kids dont even wear swimsuits in public until they go through puberty. Theres nothing to hide.

If you like girls for being girls, then that stuff is not going to be appealing. Now, not all pedos would agree. But all parents present their kids to the world regarding grown-up themes the way they want. You can send your 4-year-old to the rally with a Trump placard or a Clinton placard or pro-life or pro-choice placards and its not that different dressing your little girl in sexy outfits, as I see it. Of course, you hope shes interested  but then we also let parents send their kids to Sunday school, or study violin, or whatever they dont want to do.

If you could have a non-sexual consensual romantic relationship with a 4-year-old girl, would you?

I would not allow such a friendship to take on a romantic tone from her point of view. First, you have to peel away all of societys hysteria on the subject. Its hard for any man to have a close friendship with a 4-year-old girl. But if there was a good reason  say if I had a granddaughter some day and she had a close friend I could see it being very rewarding if she was delighted to see me, and if I could do things to make her smile, or want to snuggle with me like a kid might with their parent  I probably wouldnt let myself have erotic fantasies even later, though.

If there was one thing you wished that our culture knew about pedophilia, what would it be? What is the one thing youd hope people would take away from reading this?

There are a lot of pedophiles who never offend and whose affection for children means theres no chance we would abuse them. We both care about them and understand that sexual activity would risk causing great harm. Its understandable that people have never heard of us, because we must remain hidden. People only know about those who offend.

And what does knowing this do, to help people or society  or to stop sexual abuse or power being abused in relationships?

More pedophiles can come out to more people. Then that means that the pedophiles will be happier. It might also protect kids because the pedos who are out to some people feel more connected to society and less likely to figure to hell with it and offend. People might be able to focus on the right danger signs instead of the wrong ones.

And as someone who has accepted that they have sexual desires that can never be fulfilled, whats your life like?

It centers around my chair, the mouse, the full-size keyboard and full-size monitor hooked up to my laptop. When Im offline, I think about what books to get from my local library. Unless Im dining with people, I put very little effort into food. For me, its frozen meals most of the time. But what I might do that the ordinary guy wouldnt is watch a video of a kindergarten class Ive downloaded from the Internet. I love watching kids play. I like to see their facial expressions and the way that they interact with the other kids. It gives me a small but very real lift. They are such earnest small creatures slowly getting ready to take their place in the world as the rest of us age and die off. And yes, some of the small girls make me pine romantically, it would be so nice to be part of their lives. It would be so nice to do things for them, make them smile and laugh with my playful ideas. Occasionally Ill masturbate to a video like this, but rarely. Mostly I look at innocent still pictures of smiling girls for that purpose. Or with my eyes closed and the computer off, bring up the memories of the still pictures or the videos.

While Im awake, Ive got this issue all figured out. Ive had my time at love  in my marriage and in that later relationship. Im also tied up enough with my pedophile identity that a relationship without revealing that just could never be very close  and Id be constantly monitoring myself, living a double life. I could reveal it, but thats an almost certain way to make a date into a last date  and runs the small risk of some woman deciding she is obliged to (mis)inform all my neighbors and church, etc., that there is a dangerous monster among them.

Perhaps in this context it will make sense why I unabashedly let myself fantasize sexually to thoughts of small girls  it is a significant bit of joy in a life that is not abounding in it. I find myself increasingly weary of life. Not really depressed, but also not tolerant of frustration, not willing to take risks. Its hard to imagine 20 or 30 more years of this.
A clinic in Texas. Photo: Melanie Stetson Freeman/Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

In 2012, 148 women died from complications from pregnancy and childbirth in Texas  nearly double the number the state reported in 2010, according to a study in the September issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology. And although researchers have discovered no causal link for the rapid increase (which they call puzzling), it happens to coincide with legislation passed in Texas in 2011 that closed 82 family-planning clinics in the state, one-third of which were Planned Parenthoods.

The closures eliminated 8,000 appointment spots, as well as the last place women could get abortions between Fort Worth and El Paso, according to NPR. (For those unfamiliar with Texas geography, the distance between the two cities is a little more than 600 miles.) Two years after the closures, researchers found that the number of Texas womens-health program served was cut in half  and low-income women in particular had more unwanted pregnancies and more babies. Whats more, a survey conducted in 2015 found that, since the closures, an estimated 100,000 women in Texas have attempted to self-induce abortion.

In the study, researchers note the closures: There were some changes in the provision of womens health services in Texas from 2011 to 2015, including the closing of several womens health clinics, they write. But they go on to say that, In the absence of war, natural disaster, or severe economic upheaval, the doubling of a mortality rate within a two-year period in a state with almost 400,000 annual births seems unlikely. A future study will look at the state separately and divide its population by race and ethnicity to better explain the unusual data.

Thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision, Texas might be able to replenish its depleted number of womens health clinics, but that will depend on health-care providers challenging the laws already in place in the state and trusting state judges to go along with SCOTUSs precedent. Then theyll have to repurchase property, rehire employees, and make sure they have the resources to serve patients  all of which cost money.

Rebuilding is not something that is going to happen overnight, Amy Hagstrom Miller, the president of one of the states largest abortion providers, Whole Womans Health, told ThinkProgress. A lot of us have gone through a lot of disruption over the last three years, and we dont necessarily have the resources to say, Boom! Im going to reopen tomorrow.
Present and accounted for.

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My two husbands in the same movie???

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So guys this is a movie about one of the most important events in my country's* history. The story itself is amazing and heartbtreaking and it makes me proud but so far I'm not really feeling this movie. :(



*They were Czechoslovak soldiers. Kubis (Dornan) was Czech, Gabcik (Murphy) was Slovak.

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damn, that thumbnail. cillian murphy has aged. still pretty, tho.

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For a man who has a face like a delicate porcelain doll, he's doing suprisingly well in terms of aging imo.



Although the severe undercut and 40 extra pounds he's been working since Peaky Blinders started got rid of a lot of that delicateness and did wonders for him. With that look he's going to sail into middle age with no problems.

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iawtc <3

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he's gorgeous as tommy in peaky blinders

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"Checzh"



i was born in prague and haven't been there since i was 3. my goal next summer is to visit.

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Prague in summer is a tourist hell. You should go in the fall months. Or maybe spring? Otherwise it's just too crowded and you can't really enjoy the city.

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around august is only time i can go unfortunately. probably won't be in the touristy areas for more than a day or two. most of that trip will probably be spent in slovakia with family.

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C/p error, my bad. Thanks for pointing it out!

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Oh, I saw this the other week. I thought it was fairly good, better than the reviews are saying imo. It doesn't really add much to the story, like, as far as cinematic flourishes go, but I liked how straightforward and un-romanticized it was. I liked it more than HHhH (hasn't come out yet, but it's a Weinstein Company thing about virtually the same story, wtf).

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is this something i could take my grandma to see or was there some pretty intense shit in it? also any nudity/sex bc i cant deal.

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Uhhh, no, it's pretty intense. There's some pretty upsetting Nazi-torture in the final act (and, ya know, it all really happened). No real sex, but I'd say no to Grandma if she's not into violence/gore.



(Nazi-torture, not Naz; clearly I have The Night Of on the brain)



Edited at 2016-08-19 01:14 am (UTC)

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Here! I love when people ask me who the "beautiful woman" in my icon is.

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HHhH is the same movie

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what a stupid title



works for the book, not the film

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I need to see this too, but I have to read the book first.

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It's the inferior one, trust me.

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The most recent PB season was disappointing but lbr I'm still seeing pretty much anything Cillian is in

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Looks interesting

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interesting

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hft

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Fixed! Thanks

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PRESENT



will be seeing it this weekend, hoping for a bit better than the reviews indicate

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What?

EDIT: Nvm, for some reason this post was completely empty, now I see



Edited at 2016-08-18 12:16 pm (UTC)

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just replied to you in the gaga #PERFECTILLUSION thread. plz read!

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the fuck is she wearing?

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this is not what I needed to see at breakfast



love yourself, girl

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OH HAI MIKE <3

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Nicole come get your sister

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Isn't Nicole married to the Madden who was with H. Duff when she was a teenager?

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yes.





Nicole don't care.

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Idk how I didn't know this

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I think it's a safe bet she has no issue with this.

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the age gap issues aside



wtf is she wearing

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why don't you take a seat, justin?

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i'm all about calling out these pedophiles who are with young girls (i'm looking at you Tyra), but I don't really see this age gap as a big deal. He's 22, and she's 17 (turning 18 next week). I mean, I can see where some of you can find the issue, but they're only like 4 years apart. I know this isn't super kosh, but this is not bad compared to some people and I think Justin has way more issues than the age difference he has with his girlfriend.

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Selena was 18 and Justin was 16. Selena's and Justin's age gap is a year and a half.

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dating a 17 wouldn't qualify you as a pedophile regardless. a pedophile is someone who like prepubescent children. that being said, i would have never dated a teen at 22

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Yeah, they're both in that college age range which is a bit different than dating a high schooler.

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it's not pedophilia, but a gap of 4 years is quite big considering their ages. I'm 21 and I just can't imagine dating someone 4 years younger than me.

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why is she dressing like she was in a hair metal band in the 80s?

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girl I dated a 21 y/o at 17 and it blew up in my face. I thought I was so cool and badass at the time dating him but now i look back at it and cringe. Love yourself!

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hollywood parents are the worst (hadids, jenners, richies+++)



come get your children jfc



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they look like siblings

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A lot of couples do, and it creeps me out.

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It's an actual biological response to make sure we seek out a mate that is genetically compatible.

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How is she wearing a coat in Japan in August?!

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Ikr a coat + shorts? That makes no sense

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August is literally the worst month in Japan when it comes to heat and the unrelenting humidity so idk what she's thinking

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I just came back from Tokyo last month and it was disgusting. I loved my trip so much and I would love to go back sometime, but never again during the summer. No matter how much I bathed, I constantly felt like a someone had sprayed warm sugar water all over my body. So nasty. I feel gross just looking at her coat.

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I would never let my 17 years old flew for a weekend to Japan with her brand new boyfriend. I mean rich people have their own standards I guess

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It totally is



14 in most of Japan

16 in Tokyo



:|



I hate that 16 is okay p much everywhere. That is just... an older child

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LOL is m Sophia ever on her show?

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She was in one where they took sofia on a 90210 bus tour and Nicole made her wear a shirt that said "DONNA MARTIN GRADUATES" a recreate the scene where Brenda tells of Kelly/Dylan.

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she was, i think it was a party at her dad's house that nicole was chaperoning for sofia.

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She also took her to get her ears pierced lol

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tell it, nicole

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Can we fucking not? The woman is fine. She does not have Parkinsons', she is not having seizures on stage. If you don't think this woman is receiving the best health care in the world, you are a deluded moron just like Dr. Drew.



Edited at 2016-08-18 03:22 pm (UTC)

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nice edit! glad you got rid of that personal attack.

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Yeah, decided I didn't want to stoop down to your level. I have to be a better individual like my candidate Hillary. I can't be a garbage individual like your candidate!

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You'd have to be brain damaged to think Jill Stein is even qualified to run for President, especially after all the stupid things she said at the Town Hall on CNN.



Hillary has more intelligence in her little finger than Jill has in her whole unvaccinated body. These witch hunts against Hillary really need to stop. I can't even believe Dr. Drew said this, his ratings must be in the toilet.

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Ummm, how the Fuck is this not a HIPAA violation...????

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This was my first thought. Some random, what, TV doctor? Has access to her medical records? Bullshit.

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don't presidential candidates usually release some health records to show they're healthy? idk

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For real, you saw the confidential health records of a presidential candidate and you're running your mouth about it?!?

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MTE

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Has he reviewed her files other than the ones she released to the public?

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because that's not how HIPAA works- he's not her doctor

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Exactly - she may have released some general medical records, but I highly doubt that a) it is anything in-depth, and b) even if she had some highly concerning health information in her records, do we really think her campaign would readily release that to the public?



Dr. Drew is either fabricating shit or there are some HIPAA violations afoot.

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the 'leak' is fake...per both factcheck.org and snopes. the note doesn't even make sense the way it's written.

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Hillary has released statements regarding her health going back to 1977. She is the most transparent candidate on this issue, as well as on her taxes, which are an open book.



Her own physician released another statement today, basically saying she's as healthy as a horse. Trumps surrogates are all over TV lying about her, as usual. He so knows he's losing to a girl.

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Fuck off Dr. Drew. Doesn't he have some Z-list celebrity lives to ruin?



Edited at 2016-08-18 03:23 pm (UTC)

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Shut the fuck up.

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can't he just fuck off already?

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and he will be missing soon

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You should fuck off too.

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who the fuck are you and what the hell crawled up your ass and died

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well damn

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y i k e s

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He will just conveniently end up shot to death in a parking lot like over 50 other people who have spoken out against the Clintons and coincidentally, with no relation to hrc at all, ended up losing their lives!

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and how does he have access to her medical records?....





oh wait, he's an attention whore

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worry about your own goddamn self sis

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damn thats rude, bitch

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Ew what a moron.

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Did Trump pay him?



Like wtf is he even doing involved in this shit?



Fuck off, you quack.

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I haven't trusted him since he pushes for Chelsea to keep letting Adam into Aubree's life.



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I feel like 1950's level health care for women would be 'suck it up and deal with it'.



also, I don't think that man has ever been to medical school.

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I feel like it would be, "take this pill and go away".

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also, I don't think that man has ever been to medical school.



Maybe his first name is actually Doctor and he thinks that makes him an actual doctor.

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he's Judge Reinhold

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Apparently he actually is an M.D. which I definitely did not expect.

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shockingly, he graduated from medical school.

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i got u buzz

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lbr that's 2016 health care for women

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"you're hysterical! you have opinions? please go to the nearest lunatic asylum."

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i know this a day old post but i appreciate the buzz lightyear reference and fuck these people for not complimenting it

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but what does dr. jill stein think 



(leave killary alone!)

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Did you watch her townhall the other night? It was a MESS.

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-



ICYMI: 4 American swimmers took a cab from a party and stopped at a gas station to pee. They peed on the garden and walls, trashed the place and then tried to leave. The cab driver said he would wait for police as directed by the security guard, the athletes then started cursing and screaming and slammed the cab's door. Bentz picked up a 20 and tried to pay people off with it in a sarcastic voice as if it was a lot of money. The security guard and another worker showed them their credentials and Lochte and Feigen tried to run without paying for damages or the cab fare. Security signed 'stop' and they came back very aggressively. Security pulled his (legal, registered) gun and told them all to sit down (they can be seen sitting in a video), and then immediately put his gun away. They found someone to help translate and the athletes agreed to pay 50 dollars and left.

- Ryan Lochte and James Feigen were the ones who filed the police report about the made-up robbery, although all 4 gave the police versions of the robbery story. Still, the other 2 swimmers were being treated as witnesses. They eventually confirmed that the police's findings were the truth, and not the story about the robbery. There is video evidence of everything and plenty of testimonies from witnesses.



JUST IN: US swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen indicted for false reporting of crime, Brazilian police tell @ABC. https://t.co/SuwGNhJvOb  ABC News (@ABC) August 18, 2016
The Iraqi government has resumed pumping oil from fields operated by the North Oil Company through a Kurdish pipeline that runs through Turkey, according to remarks from a spokesperson from the oil ministry on Thursday.

Around 70,000 barrels per day are currently being pumped through the pipeline, which has been under the control of Kurdish forces, Asim Jihad told Reuters.

The Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government have had difficulty agreeing on the terms of oil exportation contracts in recent months.

The disagreements have led Baghdad to hold back 150,000 barrels per day of crude in Kirkuk from being exported to their final destination, blocking revenues for the cash-strapped KRG.

Without the 150,000 barrel-per-day bump, the KRG will likely have to settle for a 100,000 barrel per day flow rate, the revenues of which would not be able to cover the hundreds of millions of dollars it takes to run a government and the Peshmerga.

The KRG has exported 514,236bpd in June at an average price of US$36.43 per barrel, but saw a decline in both volume and price in July in which it managed to export 457,314 bpd against a price of US$32.52 per barrel.

The KRG has been pushing a deal to offer Baghdad full control over oil exports. In return, Iraq would have to guarantee Kurdistan $1 billion in revenues every month. The proposed figure would represent 17 percent of Iraqs national budget. Related: Will Iraqs New Oil Minister Be Able To End The Iraqi Oil War

Similar deals in the past have not come to fruition, causing trust between the rival governments to suffer. However, Iraqs new oil minister, Jabar Ali al-Luaibi, expressed optimism that the matter could be resolved.

"There are solutions to the existing problems between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government about the oil file, the former South Oil Company executive said, according to Reuters.

Iraq, the second largest oil-producing member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after Saudi Arabia, produces 4.6 million barrels of crude oil every day. Most of the supplies come from operations in the southern portion of the country, which are run under the South Oil Company.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
How much more productive can these new wells get? I asked my host who had kindly invited me on a field trip to some of western Canadas most prolific oil fields.

Looking down the aisle of bobbing pump jacks, seven in a row on one side of the immaculate gravel pad, the veteran oil executive replied, We can get up to 1,000 barrels a day out of some of the new ones, but thats not a limit; were improving the economics and productivity with each new well.

Impressive I thought, subconsciously nodding my head in sync with the leading pump jack.

Back when I was in field exploration, I said sounding like a grey-haired guy, we used to high-five if a new well put out 100 barrels a day.

The stats certainly show that the industrys ability to pull oil out of the ground from parts of North America has recently improved by an order of magnitude. In other words, rig productivity  the amount of new oil production that an average rig can bring on in one month of drilling has increased 10-fold in the last 6 years.

Both of us stood marvelling at the operation in front of us, tacitly thinking the same questions. What are the limits to this remarkable energy megatrend: 1,000? 2,000? 5,000 barrels per day per well?

All this appears amazing, I said, like some sort of Moores Law for guys in hard hats and overalls.

Moores Law  the observation that the number of transistors on a computer chip doubles about every two years  is the gold standard for benchmarking innovation. But at the same time I explained to my host that Im always cautious about being duped by exuberant technology, trends and numbers. For example, weve all subscribed to high-speed Internet services that claim dozens of Megabits per second, but grinds to a fraction of the advertised rate when half the neighborhood is binge-watching Netflix. The notion of rig productivity has to be taken with caution, I noted. We cant assume that the best posted performance in the field is the norm for all wells. Related: How Storage Could Transform The U.S. Power Grid

My thoughts turn to the US Energy Information Agency (EIA), which every month publishes a report on rig productivity.

July data from the Eagle Ford play in Texas  one of the most prolific in North America  shows that rig productivity in the area is now over 1,000 B/d per rig, similar to the Canadian play area Im visiting. The rate of innovation has been impressive; between 2007 and 2014, when oil prices were above $100/B, rig productivity was increasing by 110 B/d per rig, every year.

(Click to enlarge)

But a curious thing is noticeable at the end of 2014: Rig productivity suddenly kicked up in all the US plays. The Eagle Ford was particularly impressive, going from 550 to 1,100 B/d per rig. I did a double take. Really? A doubling every 18 months? Thats better than Moores law! Related: Iran Undecided On Joining OPECs Production Meeting

The well pad Im standing on is a testament to ongoing innovation, but there is a statistical distortion at play. Starting in late 2014, the severe downturn in oil prices forced the industry to park three-quarters of their rigs and high-grade their inventory of prospects. Producers focused on only their best rocks, drilling with only the most efficient rigs. All the low productivity stuff was culled out of the statistical sampling, skewing the average productivity numbers much higher.

(Click to enlarge)

Its only an estimate, but the average productivity in the Eagle Ford using a wider spectrum of rocks is probably at least 30% less, in the 700 B/d per rig range. Higher oil prices are needed to attract rigs to those lesser quality locations. The much-vaunted Permian only averages about 350, despite showing 500 B/d per rig in the EIA data.

But top-end numbers like 700 B/d per rig should still be a cold-shower wake up call to high-cost oil companies, or to the champions of rival energy systems trying to supplant oil. Notwithstanding the high-grading of the rig sample to premium sweet spots, the average productivity in the best North American plays is still improving by about 100 B/d per rig per year, with several years of running room left. Its not exponential like Moores Law, but the pace of innovation is on par with many trends in the tech world.

Weve got some of the best acreage and best practices in Western Canada, said the CEO, looking into the distance and panning his hand across the companys leased land.

Yeah, its amazing, by the numbers youre as good as or better than some of the best in North America, I replied. But best also reminds me to consider that other areas are not as good.

By Peter Tertzakian for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Last week Saudi Arabias Oil Minister said that the large number of short positions on crude have caused prices to fall, even though the market is already rebalancing itself. This statement immediately led to frantic covering, which pushed prices higher.

This is just the latest confirmation that Saudi Arabia has taken center stage when it comes to oil. Nobody cares anymore about fundamentals, everyone listens to what Riyadh says. If Riyadh is bullish on oil, then oil prices rise, despite any production data that might contradict their words. If Riyadh decides for some reason to be bearish, the market follows.

The extent of this dependency of traders on every word that comes out of Khalid al-Falihs mouth (and other Saudi officials) becomes all the more evident in light of the latest production forecasts for Saudi Arabia. August production is expected to hit a new high of 10.8-10.9 million bpd, up from 10.67 million bpd in July. Why? Likely so Riyadh has more leverage at the upcoming unofficial OPEC meeting in Algeria. Not that it needs it, now that it is the undisputable tone-setter of the organization.

And heres another example of how far things have gone: virtually nobody expects the meeting to lead to any sort of agreement to freeze production. In the slim chance it does lead to such an agreement, the Saudis record output would indeed provide it with additional leverage: it will be able to continue pumping at the same level. However, the chance is so slim, its next to non-existent. Even so, the mere talk about the possibility of a production freeze got traders going long on crudedespite the clear lack of any sign of willingness on the part of Saudi Arabia to cut its output.

Some analysts believe that Saudi officials are simply reflecting the rebalancing of the market. They argue that the market is indeed rebalancing and that next year oil fundamentals will swing into a deficit. Others, such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, are not as bullish. Related: Iraq Resumes Oil Exports From Kurdish Fields

This last oil crisis has made it abundantly clear  supported with scientific research  that you can never be sure where the market will be in a year, let alone longer periods, whatever you do. There are too many variables to be considered. In other words, you cant trust anyone. Yet, if youre a trader, you need to have someone to trust, and this someone has turned out to be Saudi Arabia.

Many believe the Saudi tactic of pressuring prices to maintain market share and drive out higher-cost producers is working. And indeed, it is working. There is, however, a question, and this question is: How long will it work?

Unlike Russia and Iran, its greatest foes in the oil arena, Saudi Arabia is not exactly used to economic hardships. It hasnt experienced serious deficits, if any, in its entire history. Now, its going for broke by pumping more and more oil and reducing prices as needed.

This game of output, however, could turn into a game of endurance, if despite all bullish Saudi talk, fundamentals show a different picture. Then someone else will take Saudi Arabias place. This wont really make any big change in oil markets. After all, commodity trading is notoriously vulnerable to forecasts, opinions and rumors, likely as much as it is influenced by actual events and trends affecting supply and demand.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
When search suggestions are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
There once was a man named John McGourthy 

As tempting as it is to finish this limerick and find a word that rhymes with "McGourthy," the story is probably better told sans poetry.

The straight facts are that once upon a time, McGourthy, whose nickname was "McGoo," opened a pub called Finn McGoo's in South Carolina with his dear friend Finbar MacCarthy. However, shortly after opening, McGourthy became ill and they sold the bar.

McGourthy, a native of Mequon, passed away in a Milwaukee County hospital in January of 2014, but during the final days of his life, MacCarthy says he and friends turned the hospital into a pub.

"I dont know how we got away with it, but we brought in mountains of drink and we were singing and raising glasses and I promised McGoo I would put our names over the door of another place before I died," says MacCarthy.

That promise became a reality at 4 p.m. today, when the second Finn McGoos Public House & Eatery opened at 10365 N. Cedarburg Rd. in Mequon in the former Taylor & Dunn's space.

"McGoo was one of a kind. He was larger than life with a heart the size of a whale," says MacCarthy.

MacCarthy owns Finn McGoo's with his wife, Gloria. The couple was born, raised and started their family  which includes son Eoin McCarthy from the band Whiskey of the Damned (yes, they spell their last names differently)  in Dublin. The MacCarthy's owned a hotel and bar in Ireland before moving to the United States in 1992.

"We thought wed try the U.S. for six months and we never left," says Gloria.

The couple operated numerous bars in the United States, including most recently, MacCarthys in Saukville.

"Weve been in the business a long time," says Gloria. "I really love the people in pubs. They are relaxed and just out to have a good time."

Currently, Finn McGoo's offers a full bar  which was remodeled  and will soon have Irish and American food when the kitchen remodel is complete. At some point in September, they will be open for lunch starting at 11 a.m. as well as for dinner.

"Taylor and Dunns was famous for their corned beef," says Gloria. "And although we didnt get their recipe, we got their cook."

The large, 80-year-old building also features a shady and secluded patio and will offer live music. Finbar will play a standing Friday night gig and will also perform at Irish Fest for his 23rd year this Saturday at 8:15 p.m. and Sunday at 7:15 p.m.

Finbar says he was looking for the right place to open the second Finn McGoo's for about two years before finding the Mequon location.

"This was McGoos neighborhood and when I came upon this place, I knew it was perfect," he says.

Here are six more photos from today's grand opening:

1. Finbar and Gloria

2. Finbar and bartender Kelsey

3. In memory of McGoo

4. Perfect pour

5. A shady patio (shady in a good way)

6. Kelsey's got the Guinness
The opinions expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the opinions of OnMilwaukee.com, its advertisers or editorial staff.

As Milwaukee struggles with the issue of how to deal with racial violence, its critical to find answers to two key questions.

The first question, of course, is what caused this whole situation.

Since the Sherman Park explosion, weve had countless experts talking about all the causes: income inequality, hopelessness, housing discrimination, lack of job opportunities, high incarceration rates, woeful educational opportunities.

What all the experts are missing is that all of those things are not root causes. They are symptoms. They are symptoms of a racist country and city. They are symptoms of a historical thread of prejudice by white people against black people.

Dr. Amanda Seligman is the chair of the History Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an expert in the history of racism.

"Racism is not just one thing," she said in an interview this week after the Sherman Park riots. "Its many things. It repeats itself in different ways in different times.

"Nineteenth century racism was rooted in slavery. Then came the Jim Crow laws after the Civil War. I look at the racism in Milwaukee as the period from the 1960s until now.

"In every new period, people remembered what they have been through, and they didnt like living in a new socio-economic climate. Each time, they reinvented the practice of racism."

If you start 200 years ago and walk through American history, you see the racist belief that black people are inferior to white people manifested in a variety of ways that we dont have to delineate here.

On a personal level, there is a complex set of motivations and circumstances that go into the development of racist beliefs. Dr. Clay Routledge of North Dakota State has written extensively about the psychology of racism.

He writes that many studies have shown that white people find that racism allows them to reinforce or improve their sense of self-esteem. People like to see their group as a positive one, and by looking down on another group, it becomes easier to do so.

He writes that humans are hierarchical animals. To have a hierarchy, there must be status differences between people. Racism helps preserve status differences because it oppresses minority groups.

The community affected most by racism  in Milwaukee, that's the black community  has a variety of responses, including a feeling of degradation and hopelessness, as well as frequent ultra-violent outbursts. The Facebook post here is from Russell Stamper, Sr., the father of an alderman and a former Circuit Court judge in Milwaukee.

This next one is from my post Wednesday night after reading a New York Times article about Donald Trump's visit to West Bend.

Ending that kind of racism is almost too much of a concept to consider. The complexities are immense and so very discouraging. But Eugene Robinson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post, had an idea for a measurement at least.

"America will stop racism when it stops being racist," he wrote. "Not a minute sooner."

The second question facing us is, while the issue of racism is the major part of the formula for peace, the issue of violence is equally important and vexing.

Simon Mustaffa, a young black man who lives in the Central City, says "all the kids are carrying" (guns). He says kids as young as 13 are armed on the streets. "It's kill or be killed out there," he says.

Take a look at our elementary schools, where black students are suspended at a higher rate than any other school system in any other state. Take a walk through some of these predominantly black schools and watch and listen to what amounts to a kind of mosh pit of behavior.

And look at the white world in Wisconsin, where we have moved from open carry to concealed carry to the castle doctrine to the ability to carry just about anywhere to allowing people to carry hidden switchblades. All of this contributes to the culture of violence.

A prominent doctor I know calls the belief that violence is an acceptable tool a threat to our civilized society as great as terrorism.

"Violence, and the culture of violence, is our ISIS," he said. "Its a belief system. The flourishing of violent behavior as a solution is endemic to America."

Certainly, this is a country that was founded out of war and violence. But what we see today is more than fighting for some noble calling. Carrying a gun now is an expression of violent potential for white people and black people. Guns cut both ways.

Henry Giroux is a scholar who has written extensively about the American culture of violence. He is one of the founders of critical pedagogy, the philosophy that connects knowledge with power and the ability to take constructive action. He writes:

"There is little doubt that the role of the NRA is instrumental in the violence haunting American culture, or that gun control is important, but it is only one factor in the culture of symbolic and institutional violence that has such a powerful grip on the everyday cultural apparatuses and workings of American society. "The issue of violence in America goes far beyond the issue of gun control. When gun control is the focus  instead of a broader consideration of violence  it can actually serve to deflect the most important questions that need to be raised. The grave reality is that violence saturates almost every aspect of North American culture. Domestically, violence weaves through the cultural and social landscape like a highly charged forest fire burning everything in its path. "The real issue here is the existence of a pedagogy of violence that actually makes the power of deadly violence attractive. There is the fact that as neoliberalism and its culture of cruelty weaves its way through the culture it makes the workplace, schools, and other public spheres sites of rage, anger, humiliation, and misery, creating the foundation for blind rebellion against what might be termed intolerable conditions. "Too many Americans blame themselves for being unemployed, homeless and isolated and end up perceiving their misery as an individual failing and hence are vulnerable to forms of depression and collective rage. We have seen such violence among students reacting to bullying and among postal workers responding to intolerable work conditions. "There is no one cause of violence, but a series of a number of causes that range from the war on drugs and the militarization of police departments to mass incarcerations in prisons to the return from brutal wars of many trained killers suffering with PTSD. All of these factors combine in an explosive mix to create a dangerous culture of violence and cruelty and a willingness of ordinary people to commit unthinkable atrocities."

What we have in this country, and in Milwaukee, is a confluence of two crippling moralities: racism and violence. We may not want to admit it, and we may not want to face it. But until we do, until we talk frankly and with brutal honesty, more Sherman Parks are going to happen.

Prayer meetings and vigils are fine. After school programs for at-risk children are wonderful. There are lots of things that make us feel like we are doing something. But most of those things dont get to the root of the issues that plague this community. For many whites, that kind of paternalistic "what can I do for you" attitude is a salve for guilt.

Milwaukee is crying for leadership, white and black. Milwaukee is crying for honesty. Milwaukee is crying for change.

Well see.
Last year, Milwaukee Public Schools joined with the United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County to create the Milwaukee Community Schools Partnership and launch a wrap-around services program at four MPS schools: two high schools and two K-8 schools.

The program kicked off at Auer Avenue School, Hopkins Lloyd Community School, James Madison Academic Campus and Bradley Tech.

According to the partnership page of the United Ways website, "Community Schools is a proven model to increase a schools capacity to better engage and align partnerships centered on the self-identified, real-time priorities of schools and communities. Our strategy places the focus on the whole child by providing academic supports, social and emotional learning, health and wellness, family and community engagement, and a safe and supportive climate."

Its the kind of program that not only works to educate children during the school day, but to address issues outside the building that may effect how children do in the classroom.

In June, the district and United Way announced that two more schools  Browning and Lincoln Avenue Elementary Schools  will join the programs roster this coming academic year, which kicks off at traditional calendar schools on Thursday, Sept. 1.

According to district statement, issued at the announcement of the new additions, "The Community Schools model has been implemented across the country, showing that authentic engagement and shared leadership, combined with coordinated community partnerships focused on equity, can improve educational outcomes, school climate, and investment in local neighborhoods.

"In Cincinnati, which has become a hub for the effort, graduation rates rose from 51% to more than 80% and the achievement gap between African-American and white students was dramatically reduced."

The program was launched with a $300,000 grant that is rapidly dwindling, so it seems that six schools might be the max for now, though further grants or funding sources could expand the reach.

We caught up with Ingrid Henry, a veteran teacher  who taught at Auer Avenue  who currently serves as a teaching and learning organizer with the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, to ask her about the community schools model and how its working in Milwaukee.

OnMilwaukee: How is a community school different than a traditional school?

Ingrid Henry: The Milwaukee Community Schools Partnership is a collective strategy to transform schools into a place where students, families, staff and the surrounding community can work together to ensure every student is successful.

The difference is the inclusion of parents, children and the community decision making. The decision making is focused on academics, extra-curricular, family supports and more.

Are there others who are making the switch or considering it?

Educators and MPS have recognized the need for community-wide supports. There are many school communities that have expressed interest in the process. MTEA, MPS and United Way want that expansion to be real and sustained, so the work around what it means to be a community school and making it happen is progressing.

What are the benefits of a community school? Is there research that shows their benefits?

A return on investment study by The Finance Project and the National Center for Community Schools shows a social return of $10-$14 for each dollar invested in community schools. Students in high-implementing community schools in Tulsa, Okla. had math scores 32 points higher than those in other Tulsa schools; their reading scores were 19 points higher.

Evaluators of Baltimores community school initiative found that experienced community schools had significantly better attendance and lower chronic absence than non-community schools. From 2009 to 2014, experienced community schools increased their average attendance rates by 1.6%, compared to a 1.8% decrease for non-community schools, and decreased early chronic absence rates by 4.1%, compared to non-community schools, where early chronic absence increased by 3.6%.

In Cincinnati, high school graduation rates climbed from 51 percent in 2000 to 83 percent in 2009, and the achievement gap between African American students and white students narrowed from 14.5 percent in 2003 to 4.3 percent in 2009.

A research review of community school models by Child Trends found growing evidence that community schools reduce grade retention and dropout rates while they increase school attendance, math achievement, and grade-point averages.

What are the biggest hurdles to getting community schools going?

Hurdles to getting community schools going are funding for the community school coordinator (position), finding the right partnerships to support the school and community in growth and having the time to take the emphasis off of tests and into an education that addresses the whole child.

How do we overcome those?

Educating the public on what a community school is and the promise of what it entails is one way to overcome hurdles. Having elected officials understand, believe, and support the work is also essential.

How have the results been so far at the schools that have adopted the approach?

There have been early positive gains in enrollment, early literacy, attendance rates, family engagement and program partnerships. At this point we try not use academic data because a year is not a trend. In cities that have successfully community schools, we can look at data over a minimum of seven years.

How important is public education to addressing the problems that Milwaukee faces?

Education is one part of the issues Milwaukee faces. With the community school initiative we want to provide a good start for children in Milwaukee, as well as some of the vital supports the families and communities need.
Several Sherman Park residents spoke of their pain and sadness over the violence that shook the neighborhood on a recent Saturday night.

Homeowner Danell Cross described it as "a serious grieving, like death," that "sits on (me) so that my throat is choked up."

And there is fear, especially for the youth.

"Those young people  could be my children, my friends children  and were just so scared  that one of them, or 10 of them, (will) lose their life or be in jail forever," added Cross.

The residents who were interviewed all pointed to frustration and lack of hope caused by racism and poor conditions in central city neighborhoods, including lack of employment and high-quality education; deteriorating streets, commercial strips and homes; and a lack of interest in investment by the larger community. Nonetheless, violence and destruction of property were not the answer, they agreed.



A diverse group of Milwaukee residents gathered near Sherman Park to pray for healing.

Cross likened the response to those unjust conditions to physical illness. "This is the vomit that (we) are seeing. When you get so much bile in your stomach that you cant hold it no more, you throw it back up," she said.

Milagro Jones, 26, a single father raising a 2-year-old daughter, moved here in 2005. "I love this city. But Ive seen so much segregation, discrimination and internalized racism (here)," he said. Though hes lived all over the United States, he said he has never seen or experienced as much racism anywhere as he has in Milwaukee.

Frank Finch, who has lived in Sherman Park since 1982, said there is a desperate need for jobs in his neighborhood as well as a lack of opportunities and activities for youth.

"We need to find things for the youth to do to prevent these types of things from happening," Finch said.

Jones and Cross also expressed concern for the neighborhood youth.

"These kids are not getting educated in our failed system, then when they get older there are no jobs, a lack of opportunities  and investment and then the only place they have to be at is on the (street)," Jones said.

A large crowd gathered on West Auer Avenue where Sylville Smith was shot and killed by Milwaukee police Saturday.

According to Cross, some of the young peoples behavior comes from not knowing how to say they are suffering and need help. "They want to say, I need somebody to care," Cross said.

Both Cross and Jones were surprised by the violence.

"I have worked with the community, and I have seen that the people are so pressed down that they cant find their own inner strength to fight back even  on simple things like people dumping (tires, mattresses and the like) in their neighborhood," said Cross, a community organizer and Building Neighborhood Capacity Program coordinator.

Finch, who volunteers for Milwaukee Rising, a housing revitalization initiative of Common Ground, fears the destruction of property may have a lasting effect on business and job development in Sherman Park.

Public officials first priority should be development in the central city at the same level as in more affluent areas, according to Cross.

She plans to ask community leaders to come together and let the communitys young people know that they are going to turn their attention to their needs and push for changes that will improve their lives.

Jones, who lives near 39th and Locust streets. was away from the neighborhood but followed the turmoil on a live-streaming website. When he saw the first scene, a gas station on fire, he said his "spirit was hurting."

And he added," Its just a surprise to me that people on the outside dont even know whats going on in our community or dont have an interest in it until something like this happens."

Brendan OBrien and Edgar Mendez contributed to this report.
Last October, Marquette University opened the new Jesuit Residence on 14th and Wells. Designed by Kubala Washatko Architects, its a handsome enough addition to the seemingly ever-evolving campus on the western reaches of Downtown.

But reader Roz Rouse knew Id be more interested in the building the 25 Jesuit priests formerly called home. And, thankfully, Marquettes planning and facilities project manager Kurt Young Binter was willing to indulge my curiosity and swing open the cyclone fence that surrounds the four-story red brick tudor building at 1404 W. Wisconsin Ave. and take me inside.

Serving as the Jesuit residence  home to as many as 44 priests at one time  since 1973, when two campus residences were combined at the former womens dorm, the building was originally built as the Stratford Arms hotel and apartments.

Miss Harriet Hathaway was the owner of an earlier Stratford Arms building at 179 12th St., which had a restaurant and, in 1914, at least 60 residents, a fact we gleaned from a Sentinel article from November of that year:

"Smallpox in Home of Waitress Causes Prompt Action in West Side Apartment House"



Wisconsin Avenue entrance.

A hundred people were vaccinated by the health department after four cases of the disease were found in the South Side home of Stratford restaurant waitress Miss Ella Puffer. Puffer apparently was not afflicted but four of her siblings were sent to the Isolation Hospital on 20th and Mitchell.

But I digress.

In 1916, Hathaway hired Martin Tullgren & Sons to design her a new Stratford Arms on 14th and Grand Avenue, with brick and stone cladding over a concrete and steel frame, built at a cost of $100,000  no small figure in those days.

While today many of us remember Tullgren and his son Herbert for their more ornate works  like the George Watts building on Jefferson and Mason; their own Terra Company building on 60th and North; the Bertelson Building, 2101-2111 N. Prospect Ave. (home to Allium restaurant, among other businesses); the gorgeous duplex Exton Apartments, 1260 N. Prospect Ave.; or the First Wisconsin Garage on Mason and Water  the Tullgrens also did a lot of multi-unit residential and hotel work.

Among the ones youll likely have seen are the Shorecrest Hotel on Prospect and the Astor Hotel on Juneau.

So, Binter and I probably shouldve been less surprised than we were by the attribution of this relatively anonymous Tudor Revival building to the Tullgrens. After all, red and brown brick were not unfamiliar to these folks we cherish for their terra cotta facades. Look at the old Downer Garage on Webster (Starbucks and Boswell Books), for example. Thats the Tullgrens, too.

Anyway, the hotel opened and was, for a time, home to a restaurant and meeting rooms and had a few well-known residents, including Spencer Tracy, visiting Japanese poet Yone Noguchi and Al Capones brother Ralph (no, not kidding).



An undated image of the Stratford Hotel (PHOTO: Courtesy of Marquette University)

A name familiar to the Marquette community, Anthony Weasler  who donated the funds to build the campus auditorium that bears his name  had a life-altering experience at the Stratford Arms.

While attending the university, he worked as a bus boy in the Stratfords restaurant, and one day he delivered a meal to the room of a hotel resident  and inventor  who, learning that Weasler was an engineering student, asked for his help doing research for a project. The experience spurred Weasler to earn a second degree.

"My life career was changed by that lucky encounter at the Stratford Arms Hotel," he later said in a speech at Marquette.

In the 1930s, the Stratford kept up with the times by cooking up what it called "Milwaukees newest and finest cocktail bar," with curvaceous couches, table seating, a bar, and garlands plastered (or painted, its hard to tell from the drawing) on the walls.

"Milwaukee has never seen a cocktail bar so unique as this," boasted a 1936 advertisement. "Designed for beauty, comfort and quiet, just the place for a quick stopover for the choicest of liqueurs or wines, or the spot for you to enjoy a leisurely evening in a restful environment."

By 1942, in addition to the rooms upstairs, the Stratford was home to the Central Tavern and the Varsity Beauty Shop, though its unclear today where those were located in the building. By the late 50s, the Central was renamed the Stratford Hotel Bar, but not long after  in 1962  the hotel and bar were closed and the building was sold to Marquette.



One of the suites on the second floor.

Because it was basically already a dorm, it was quickly converted to a residence hall for women and named Heraty Hall in honor of 1914 grad Dr. John A. Heraty. Renovations were later made and in 1973 Marquette merged its two Jesuit residences into one at the site.

It appears there were two main entrances to the Stratford. The one between the two east wings of the H-shaped building, on 14th Street, appears to be where the lobby desk was located and just beyond it, the restaurant and bar. Theres another entry on Wisconsin Avenue that has ornate stonework, including a couple grotesques, around the entrance, which leads to a wide marble staircase flanked by elegant wood-paneled walls.



The marble staircase in the Wisconsin Avenue entry.

The basement has a couple entrances off Wisconsin Avenue, too, including one that looks like it couldve been for public use. The other is more clearly a service entrance. Down here theres also a spiral staircase, dating to the Jesuit era, that rises two stories through the library. But if you were in that room, youd have to open a closet door to find the "secret" steps.

Upstairs, the second, third and fourth floors have identical floor plans filled with rooms. There are studios, a few larger units and even a few suites. Some apartments facing north have three-window bays.



Some of the apartments on the north side of the building have window bays.

It appears that some of the rooms have been altered in size and shape over the years, as we found evidence of walls moved, though no proof of when those changes were made. Suffice it to say, based on moldings and other details, it didnt appear that the work was done anytime recently.



The corridor on the second floor.

During the Jesuit era, each residential floor also had a couple small chapels.

The building is slated to be dismantled in July, and a wide variety of salvage work has already taken place with much material already on sale at local Re-Store outlets. That means, though, that some of what was there was gone before I arrived.



Evidence that a wall was moved at some point, changing room dimensions.

What I did see were those gorgeous marble staircases, which couldnt be salvaged. The marble tended to break apart when workers attempted to remove it. The main staircase to the upper floors has a really nice iron railing and wood banister. Some of the bathrooms and the former restaurant space still have parts of their terrazzo floors with marble accent tiles.



The main staircase has a nice iron railing and wood banister.

In the rooms, some of the molding and corner guards appeared original, or at least quite old.

One of the most poignant, though least old, things I saw (and photographed) was the menu from the buildings "last supper" in October on the wall of the dining room.



Evidence of the last supper at the old Jesuit Residence in October 2015.

For now, Binter tells me, the land will be cleared and greened as work continues on Marquettes master plan for the campus, which includes razing and replacing McCormick Hall nearby, adding onto Schroeder Hall and altering the student union, which sits adjacent to the Stratford Arms building. It looks like the ultimate goal is for the land at 14th and Wisconsin to become part of the unions orbit.

It may be a shame to lose the Stratford but not so much for its architecture, which, frankly, isnt all that breathtaking. More so because its one of the last residential hotels on this stretch of Wisconsin Avenue, which used to have many (RIP Biltmore).

Fortunately, it is by no means the last. At least three other Marquette dorms are former hotels (four if you count the old YMCA) and two of those date from roughly the same era: the LaSalle (now Cobeen) and Catholic Knights Hotel (Carpenter Tower).
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) exists for one reason: to advance a radically conservative agenda for privatizing and destroying public institutions through abusive and relentless lawsuits and threats of lawsuits.

Sometimes that means they step into my house: education policy in Wisconsin generally and Milwaukee specifically. As you can imagine, they and I do not agree on much. They have been constant critics of the Milwaukee Public Schools and allies of the Milwaukee Parental Choice (voucher) Program. They would like nothing better than to see MPS dismantled brick by brick and handed over to private operators only, in particular religious institutions.

So I was surprised to find myself nodding along in agreement with the first paragraph of this post of theirs the other day:

"While the debate over failing schools has been framed as a Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) problem (and MPS is certainly troubled), there are also low-performing private and charter schools. Among all schools in Milwaukee with over 80% free-and-reduced lunch and 80% African American students, the average reading proficiency is a shocking 7.3%. While charters and private school choice have helped many students, educational failure in Milwaukee is not just a sector problem. Its a Milwaukee problem."

"A Milwaukee problem." Wow! I thought, I could have written that myself! Indeed, I have. I could link to probably 50 past pieces, but I don't want to put my poor editor through the hassle. If you doubt me, try this, this, this or this.

The short version of my argument, should you not want to click through those links above, is that if better conditions existed in the City of Milwaukee for our children  more jobs, less crime, better health, universal quality pre-K, books in every home, etc.  the outcomes we see in schools would improve. Not linked above is my recent OnMilwaukee column pointing out that in Wisconsin, as across the nation, the single best predictor of a school district's academic success is the income of its families. This is a legacy of this country's long history of racism and economic policy favoring the haves rather than the have-nots.

Want to improve a school's outcomes? Improve economic conditions for its students. Period.

What the WILL authors, Colin Roth and Will Flanders, diagnose here as the symptom  that poor, minority urban students routinely achieve well below their wealthier, whiter suburban counterparts across all education sectors in Milwaukee  is one hundred percent accurate.

But their very next sentence prescribes a solution for a completely different problem than the one of economic and societal inequality: "We wonder whether these issues could be addressed with an 'enhanced voucher,' targeted at students attending failing schools regardless of sector."

I kept reading though, giving Roth and Flanders the benefit of the doubt. "Voucher" sure is a trigger word for me, but given the quality of that opening paragraph, I thought, it's entirely possible that what they're proposing is something I could support rather than, you know, the voucher program that they already support.

Sadly, no. An "enhanced voucher" is simply another iteration of what already exists in Milwaukee  that is, the single most extensive marketplace for school choice in the country. This city has no fewer than five fully taxpayer-funded sectors: MPS, independent schools chartered through MPS, schools chartered through the city, schools chartered through UW-Milwaukee and the voucher program. It's six if you count inter-district open enrollment, which gives Milwaukee students the ability to attend schools in other cities like Shorewood, Wauwatosa or St. Francis for free.

This new "enhanced voucher" is literally more of the same conservative solutions that in the last 25 years have failed to move the needle on student achievement in Milwaukee. Except, they argue, "it adds services and programming and the expectation of results" (their italics). Yes, people, you are reading that right. What would make this new voucher different is that parents and students both would expect the schools they choose to be successful! Yippee!

It may take a moment for that level of stupid to settle in, so let me take a step back now. This WILL post I'm discussing is actually part two of a three-part series in which the group "will investigate ways for improving Milwaukees failing education system." Part one, you'll be unsurprised to learn, also advocates a new kind of voucher, an "education savings account." That post, written by Flanders with WILL's CJ Szafir, fully admits to being "School Choice 2.0."

But because it's their first post, WILL also needs to lay some groundwork, which they do mostly by abusing statistics and touting their own debunked research. For example, they try to create outrage by saying MPS "ranks 13th in the country in per-pupil spending among districts with more than 40,000 students." This is an old, old trick for critics of MPS (and for logical fallacy fans everywhere), cherry-picking data or presenting data out of context to create a false impression. "Thirteenth in the nation," MPS-haters will scoff, "that's way too high!"

There are, in total, only 29 districts in the country with 40,000 students or more, according to the very source they cite, which puts Milwaukee at the 45th percentile in that group. Right about average. WILL's implication that MPS's spending is outrageously high sounds dumb when you rephrase it to say that MPS's spending is average for a district its size.

Their data is also out of date: It's from a 2014 release of U.S. Census Bureau data that covers the 2011-2012 school year. More recent census data show MPS slipping in its national ranking for per-student spending as many states not named Wisconsin have returned to funding schools at or higher than pre-Great Recession levels.

Szafir and Flanders also make great hay about a WILL study purporting to show that non-MPS schools are more "efficient" than other schools. The study was massively flawed, as both I (eighth letter down) and actual professional education researchers pointed out. According to them, the best option for parents, students and taxpayers alike is spending less on MPS.

They go so far as to argue that if a student wants to use her "educational savings account," valued at less than current MPS per-student funding, at an MPS school, MPS "would not be given any additional funding beyond the ESA when taking on an ESA student." Or maybe, they say, we should "explicitly ban ESA participants from using public school services."

So, to sum up, that's two out of three posts from WILL (the third has not yet dropped) proposing to strip Milwaukee's public schools of students and funding, further weakening the only one of the five sectors Milwaukee has that is required to teach all students regardless of ability or disability, regardless of their willingness to learn or readiness for school, whatever disadvantage they may come from. The only one.

Put another way, WILL blames MPS schools, administrators and teachers for the problems we didn't create, but ourselves struggle to overcome every day, and argue as a consequence that MPS must be punished.

This is doubly frustrating, for in that "part one" post, just as in "part two," Szafir and Flanders make some very reasonable points. "Education scholarship shows that the time disadvantaged students spend out of school is one of the key causes of the achievement gap," they write, and then talk about wrap-around services outside of school hours and summer enrichment programs as ways of working to close that gap. I agree completely with both their summary of the research and their recommendations there.

But rather than advocate for, say, a more aggressive expansion of the MPS community schools model (which they praise, even though Szafir in particular threw a hissy fit when Demond Means proposed to implement one through the OSPP), they instead advocate stripping MPS of resources.

They don't argue for something so easy  and relatively revenue neutral  as repealing the state law mandating public schools can't begin the school year before September 1. I'm an MPS teacher, and I would in a heartbeat support shortening summer break by, for example, trimming 20 minutes from every school day and starting school in mid-August while ending at the same time in mid-June. That cuts the time when a "summer slide" might occur by 20 percent and eases burdens on the crowded and underfunded summer programs that do exist. But MPS is legally prohibited from doing something that simple; WILL's friends in the legislature could change that tomorrow if they wanted.

Mostly, though, all of this is just damning evidence that WILL, the Republican lawmakers they ally with and the conservative foundations that fund them aren't really interested in addressing the roots of Milwaukee's educational challenges or empowering the largest player in their "marketplace," MPS, to make the kind of changes we know can actually work. That's because they aren't really interested in acknowledging this state's (and this country's) debilitating economic inequality and long history of legal and institutional racism.

The real answer, the one I would prescribe, is fully dismantling the system that benefits and privileges WILL's clients and benefactors at the expense of the children of Milwaukee, and instead helping this city's residents this city's public schools fix, really fix  as someone smart once put it  the "Milwaukee problem."


The social media network crossed 1.65 billion active users

(Image by Sarah.Marshall) Details DMCA



Facebook have been pushing users to add their cell numbers to their profiles since years. But even those who do not add their contact have noticed that their numbers are being added to their social network's profile. The shocked users have expressed their exasperation over Twitter. Very few people know that these cell numbers, even if unconfirmed, can be used to reveal private information without consent and it simply means that anyone can potentially access their name, pictures, and location.

The multi-billion-dollar enterprise, which thrives on information, has taken a different track recently -- taking mobile numbers from other, less-direct sources and adding them to profiles. And then users who haven't added their numbers willingly are asked to verify whether the suggested number belongs to them.

While most of the users inadvertently verify their number, this deception has irked some who do not want to add their contact info for privacy reasons.

Adding cell contacts to one's profile may have serious implications as it makes personal data vulnerable to be used by stalkers, hackers, and other cyber-criminals.

Facebook users' personal data may be retrieved through their cell-contact numbers simply through a random-number algorithm; hence users need to think twice before putting a phone number on their profile.

For instance, if one leaves his or her number on the OLX website to sell something, anyone could look them up on Facebook and know the name, appearance, and some basic details and possibly, even more information -depending on the privacy settings. Criminals may build up a profile about users through random-number generation.

Hence the primary question remains unanswered. How did Facebook get the number if a user himself has not added or confirmed? According to Facebook's Online Help Center they might have a user's cell number because it was given to them in the past, or it may have been received from the contact information provided by other Facebook users during some application downloading. As gaming apps like Candy Crush push users to allow them access over their friends' list and accounts.

While the Facebook claims that the number is only be added to the account if users opts to confirm and verify it, most users simply do not know that they can adjust their privacy settings to stop people searching their information using a phone number.

Here another dilemma emerges. Why Facebook doesn't intimate the users of these privacy hazards? It should be kept in mind that unlike conventional companies who focus on building products, Facebook thrives on users' data; it is in fact founded on the principle of free sharing of data. Its profit depends on the volume of networking. Adding phone numbers multiplies networking and so the Facebook profit.

One other reason for insisting on phone contacts may be surveillance as it is not hidden now that intelligence agencies are gathering data through social networks. This is my personal observation that wildlife departments in a countries like Pakistan are charging illegal hunters on the basis of their images available on social media. It may help the law enforcement if used appropriately.

Facebook data vulnerability due to unawareness of their privacy policy is not a new phenomenon. Users have been complaining about it ever since Mark Zuckerberg launched the public social network. Experts intimidate users not to share anything over Facebook unless they want to make it public. Better said than done!
Following multiple damning email leaks and disclosures, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign decided, in the weirdest attempt at damage control I've ever seen, to invoke the late Allen Ginsberg's "America":

"America it's them bad Russians.

Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians."

Forget the content of the leaks. Just focus on their alleged (not proven; alleged) source. IT'S THEM RUSSIANS!

Never mind that one of the leaks uncovered the Democratic National Committee's secret program to deliver its party's presidential nomination to Clinton at all costs. Did I mention that Donald Trump MIGHT BE WORKING WITH THEM RUSSIANS?

Never mind that another disclosure gave the public a glimpse of Clinton's corrupt "pay-to-play" scheme, in which high-dollar donors to the Clinton Foundation got special goodies from the Clinton State Department. Who cares? The Ukrainian government (installed in a 2014 coup funded by the US and orchestrated by Clinton's protege, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland) just happened to conveniently "discover" "evidence" linking Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to THEM RUSSIANS!

Servergate? Never mind FBI director James Comey's announcement and testimony revealing that she's at least recklessly negligent and almost certainly a felon who only avoided prosecution because her name is Hillary Clinton. LOOOOOOOK! THEM RUSSIANS!

It's all so maladroit and ham-handed that it would be laughable if not for the stakes:

Clinton's strategy for distracting attention from her corruption and incompetence, so that she can win the White House, is an all-out attempt to re-start the Cold War (at the risk of one or more very hot wars) and resurrect Joe McCarthy between now and November. And it just might work.

No, I can't bring myself to support Donald Trump. But it's getting harder and harder to peg him as the distinctively harebrained, irresponsible, unhinged one in the race. Clinton is still a game down to Trump in the World Series of Crazy, but it looks like the series will go all the way to seven.

It's been noted over and over, by pretty much everyone, that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the two most roundly despised presidential candidates since polling became a thing. How either one of them got within spitting distance of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is a mystery for the ages. And one of them almost certainly moving in come January sounds like an establishing shot for next summer's top-grossing horror film.
This is a reprint from NewsBred.

"Is this the kind of freedom Barkha Dutt wants for Indian media," my wife, sipping her tea, asked me this morning.

(For uninitiated, Barkha Dutt is a media celebrity who despite her involvement in scandals, and being trolled on twitter for her "anti-India" stance, isn't flagging down her position. She was recently in news for her open war-cry against an even bigger media personality: Arnab Goswami of Times Now.)

My wife was drawing my attention to a front-page, four-column screamer of a headline: "99% literacy in this village but separate garbas for upper castes and Dalits (see image)." This story, about Dagavadiya village in Gujarat, ran over two pages and over 1000 words in Indian Express (August 13, 2016) today.

First of all I had difficulty in locating the word "garba" in this story, which in terms of space is the biggest reportage in Indian Express of today. After three attempts, I did find it--just once buried deep in the story.

Let me quote this entire, one-off sentence of the story that, with the help of one or two photographs, could have taken up an entire page of a newspaper: "During the Navratri festival there are three garbas--one organized by the upper caste and OBCs, and two by Dalits." That's it. No further mention of garba in the entire story. Yet a screaming two-decker front-page headline.

There is no background on why there are "separate" garbas in the story. Is the background necessary? Bloody hell it is. Please pay attention to these passages in the story:

"The Choudharys (upper caste) and Chamars (Dalits) together go to Mahadev and Kali mata temples." (Isn't this ought to be worthy of national celebration? If nothing then at least the headline of this pathetic story?)

(Isn't this ought to be worthy of national celebration? If nothing then at least the headline of this pathetic story?) " Official figures show that 99.7 per cent of men and 95.53 per cent of women in the village are literate." (Could Indian Express please explain in a village of such "discrimination" where even "garbas" are celebrated separately, how come there is no hurdle to Dalits by way of education?)

(Could Indian Express please explain in a village of such "discrimination" where even "garbas" are celebrated separately, how come there is no hurdle to Dalits by way of education?) And here is the clincher in the story, and I quote: "All the Dalit communities say there is no untouchability in schools and children sit together to study and eat."

What? Yes you read it right. THE DALITS THEMSELVES SAY THERE IS NO UNTOUCHABILITY IN SCHOOLS AND CHILDREN SIT TOGETHER TO STUDY AND EAT."

I was rapt in attention as my wife kept speaking: "So the logical question is: if there is no untouchability in the concerned village and that upper castes and Dalits have gone to temples together, why the garbas are celebrated separately? And if Dalits celebrate two garbas,--AND MIND YOU THE STORY QUOTES NO ONE ON THIS 'FACT'--it ought to be seen as "discrimination" against the upper castes, if anything.

"And this is not all, the story also says that there are new toilets for Dalits under Swacch Bharat mission in the village," added my wife.

Let me ask you the readers a simple question: Look at the headline and what's the conclusion you draw from it? It is that upper castes "discriminate" against Dalits. Yet the entire story is all about how there is no untouchability in the village. Indeed, the question you are left with after reading this laboured, disjointed shameful story is that why Dalits celebrate two garbas? And if it is such a big news then why did not Indian Express expand on the theme? Apparently length wasn't an issue with this story as it is a "wordathon."

This is the "Dalits In Gujarat" series Indian Express is running on its front pages these days. The headline is an overreach to polarize the society. And if this the kind of freedom Barkha Dutt wants for Indian media, then sorry you won't have it. Certainly no longer. When she says about Arnab that she is "ashamed to be from the same industry as him," it is she and her silence on such shameful media, which shows her to be complicit (didn't she say silence is complicity?) If you have the welfare of Indian media-- and Indian masses I suppose--in your heart, stand up and be counted.

Like sand, Indian Express' reputation is slipping through its fingers. Such non-factual, divisive, polarizing stories will keep appearing it seems till the present government is in centre.

It's also a call to you readers: please read your newspapers carefully and don't gulp them down as facts. There is a section of media that wants a polarized and weak India. For the future of our children, let's not fall for such newspapers. Haul them to account. That is, if you don't burn them down for want of toilet paper.
Ayaz Sadiq averted confrontation between Chaudhry Nisar Ali,Mehmood Achakzai

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Wednesday averted a possibly explosive confrontation between Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai.



A day earlier, the veteran politician from Balochistan had sought time from the deputy speaker to respond to the interior ministers speech  made in the presence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last week  where the minister had condemned him for questioning and criticising the role of intelligence agencies in the wake of the Quetta tragedy.



Since Tuesday is private members day, Mr Achakzai said he would not like to disrupt the agenda of the day and would speak on Wednesday. Chaudhry Nisar had also asked that he be allowed to respond when Mr Achakzai made his remarks the next day.



But when it came time for both leaders to speak, the speaker prorogued the session, putting a damper on both mens preparations.



Expecting a caustic duel between the two battle-hardened politicians, the press gallery saw more than its usual share of attendance. A few senior journalists also turned up to witness the show, along with the uncharacteristically-attentive beat reporters.



As soon as proceedings commenced, all eyes were on the right-most front seat in the hall, reserved for Mr Achakzai, who only came to the house after the mandatory Question Hour had been dispensed with. The interior minister, by contrast, was present in the house from the very outset.



Session prorogued before either had a chance to speak; insiders say war of words between allies wouldve reflected badly on ruling party

The stage looked set for a powerful performance from both sides; the PkMAP chiefs desk was stacked with bookmarked volumes and several sheets of A4 paper, which he continued to read as the speaker proceeded to run through agenda items.



On the other side, the ever-confident interior minister looked determined to defend his position.



Both Mr Achakzai and the interior minister belong to the treasury benches, headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The PkMAP chief had stood by the PM in his confrontation with the PTI and the powers-that-be and is a valuable ally for the ruling party. For his part, the interior minister has led the PML-N government efforts to improve law and order in the country.



But some prudent thinking prevented the house from witnessing fiery speeches from the two time-tested orators. The moment the speaker dispensed with the scheduled business of the house, without making eye-contact with Mr Achakzai or the interior minister, he announced a presidential order to prorogue the sitting.



The announcement was surprising for many in the press gallery, who came expecting fireworks. I think things have been managed at a certain level, commented one senior journalist.



Later, upon inquiry, it was learned that the speaker had requested the PkMAP leader to avoid getting into a blame game, as it would only vitiate the atmosphere in the house and create bad blood.



But whether the speaker took this initiative on his own or at someones behest, sources in the National Assembly secretariat said that after Mr Achakzais announcement a day earlier, efforts were made by certain quarters to avert a confrontation.



Whoever was behind defusing this potential confrontation, the day has been saved for the prime minister because infighting among allies will only reflect poorly on the federal government, said a senior NA official.



A PkMAP insider confirmed the intervention by the speaker, adding that Mr Achakzai had come prepared to take on the powerful interior minister. Had my party chief been allowed to speak his mind today, he would have settled his scores with the interior minister, whose slate is not as clean as he often claims, the party member said.



Sources say that Chaudhry Nisar was in no mood to back down from his stated position either. The interior minister had condemned the PkMAP leader on the floor of house for casting aspersions on the security establishment.
From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...
Ball and stick model of methane. Credit: Ben Mills/Public Domain

(Phys.org)A team of researchers from Belgium and the U.S. has identified the active site of an iron-containing catalyst that has raised hopes for designing a practically useful catalyst that might make converting methane to methanol a possibility. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the researchers describe their efforts, what they discovered and why they believe their findings may lead to a practical way to convert methane to a more efficient energy resource. Jay Labinger, with the California Institute of Technology offers a News & Views piece outlining the work done by the team in the same journal issue.

Scientists would very much like to find a way to convert methane (the primary component in natural gas) to methanol at room temperature. Doing so would offer a new source of liquid fuel that would be readily available due to the abundance of methane. Unfortunately, researchers have found it difficult going due to the unreactive nature of methane. In this new effort, the researchers report on progress they believe they have made in achieving that goal.

As Labinger reports, that progress has come in two forms. The first was developing an aid for picking out the active site of a heterogeneous catalyst from a host of candidates. The second involved creating a design for converting methane to ethanol that would be both efficient and achievable at room temperature.

To create their design, the team looked at an iron-containing structure generated via a zeolite (a type of mineral) that had been reported back in 1997. Since that time, researchers have used various techniques to ascertain that such structures contain another structure known as the -Fe(ii) center, an important component in converting methane to methanol at room temperature. The new design involved proposing a means of describing a structure with an unusual monometallic iron center. They then conducted experiments using Mossbauer spectroscopy that indicated they were on the right track, which could lead eventually to finding the catalyst they are seeking.

The finding by the team is good news, Labinger suggests, though he cautions that it is unlikely that the same approach could be used for solving other catalytic problems.

Explore further 3-D printed polymer turns methane to methanol

More information: Benjamin E. R. Snyder et al. The active site of low-temperature methane hydroxylation in iron-containing zeolites, Nature (2016). Benjamin E. R. Snyder et al. The active site of low-temperature methane hydroxylation in iron-containing zeolites,(2016). DOI: 10.1038/nature19059 Abstract

An efficient catalytic process for converting methane into methanol could have far-reaching economic implications. Iron-containing zeolites (microporous aluminosilicate minerals) are noteworthy in this regard, having an outstanding ability to hydroxylate methane rapidly at room temperature to form methanol. Reactivity occurs at an extra-lattice active site called -Fe(II), which is activated by nitrous oxide to form the reactive intermediate -O; however, despite nearly three decades of research, the nature of the active site and the factors determining its exceptional reactivity are unclear. The main difficulty is that the reactive species-Fe(II) and -Oare challenging to probe spectroscopically: data from bulk techniques such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility are complicated by contributions from inactive 'spectator' iron. Here we show that a site-selective spectroscopic method regularly used in bioinorganic chemistry can overcome this problem. Magnetic circular dichroism reveals -Fe(II) to be a mononuclear, high-spin, square planar Fe(II) site, while the reactive intermediate, -O, is a mononuclear, high-spin Fe(IV)=O species, whose exceptional reactivity derives from a constrained coordination geometry enforced by the zeolite lattice. These findings illustrate the value of our approach to exploring active sites in heterogeneous systems. The results also suggest that using matrix constraints to activate metal sites for functionproducing what is known in the context of metalloenzymes as an 'entatic' statemight be a useful way to tune the activity of heterogeneous catalysts. Journal information: Nature

 2016 Phys.org
These large-diameter old-growth trees marked for logging in a US Forest Service fuels reduction project are typical of what is often described as 'thinning'. Logging like this, done under the pretense of fire risk reduction, is the reason Spotted Owl populations are crashing in National Forests, scientists say. Credit: Wild Nature Institute

Monica Bond has spent the past 15 years studying spotted owls and forest fire. This week, Bond published an article summarizing existing science about what happens to spotted owls when forests burn, in the hope of averting a major US forest management policy disaster.

US Forest Service (USFS) manages 11 million acres of public forest land in California's Sierra Nevada. The USFS has a new California spotted owl conservation strategy and is revising its forest management plans for Sierra Nevada national forests. These documents will guide how national forests are managed for the coming decades, and they are deeply misinformed about fire.

The status of spotted owls tells the USFS how its management activities affect old-growth species. Since 1993 when the USFS began managing for California spotted owl habitat, populations of spotted owls have crashed on USFS lands. In contrast, spotted owl populations are stable in National Parks Service (NPS) lands. Both USFS and NPS lands have wildfires, but NPS lands are not logged. Logging on 1.2 million acres of USFS land in the Sierra Nevada between 1994 and 2014 is driving spotted owl declines.

In Bond's summary paper[1], published by Elsevier Press as a Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, she presents a data-driven narrative describing how forest fires, including big, severe megafires, have no strong negative effects on spotted owl populations. For example, in the largest and most comprehensive Sierra Nevada study to date[2], burned and unburned owl territories had the same probability of being occupiedeven when about a third of the territories' area burned at high severity. "The lack of effect was remarkable because we found it repeatedly," said Bond. "We kept investigating different aspects and the story didn't change. Owls were harmed by logging, not by fire."

These results make perfect sense in light of the history of the Sierra Nevada. Forest fire in the Sierra is typically mixed severity, meaning it includes some large patches of high severity fire, and is as natural and necessary to forest health as rain or sunshine. "The increased abundance and diversity of plants and animals in high severity burns tells us the Sierra Nevada's flora and fauna evolved with regular high severity fires." said Dr. Richard Hutto of University of Montana's College of Forestry and Conservation.

However, Bond's results are troubling to the USFS and scientists on the USFS payroll. The new California spotted owl conservation strategy was written entirely without consulting Bond. A forest oversight organization asked the USFS to include her, but those requests were ignored. The USFS gets billions of dollars each year to fight fires, and millions more to administer sales of public lands trees to timber companies under the pretence of reducing fire risk.

The three studies that examined spotted owl responses to logging all showed negative impacts from fuels reduction thinning. Thirteen scientific papers found no strong negative effects of high-severity fire on owl populations. Yet the USFS plans promote logging under the pretence that logging will save the owls from fire.

Bond concluded, "There is a US forest policy train, about to leave the California station, which aims to promote widespread logging on public forests. The logging will be expensive, ineffective at stopping wildfire, and ecologically damaging, and it will be paid for by the taxpaying citizens of the USA. We must change the track."

Explore further New evidence that forest fires do not threaten spotted owls

More information: [1] Bond ML (2016) The Heat Is On: Spotted Owls and Wildfire. Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, [1] Bond ML (2016) The Heat Is On: Spotted Owls and Wildfire. Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.10014-4 [2] 11 years of occupancy data from 41 burned breeding sites before and after 6 large fires, were compared with 145 long-unburned control sites during the same period (Lee et al. 2012).
Credit: Binghamton University

A new study led by a Binghamton University archaeologist contradicts the belief that the ancient civilization of Rapa Nui, Chile, was destroyed by warfare.

An analysis of artifacts found on what was previously called Easter Island revealed that these objects were likely general purpose tools and not spear points, says Carl Lipo, professor of anthropology at Binghamton and lead author on the study, published this month in the journal Antiquity.

People have long believed that the island civilization ran out of resources and, as a result, engaged in massive in-fighting, which led to its collapse. Thousands of obsidian, triangular objects found on the surface, known as mata'a, seemed to support this theory. Because of their large numbers and because they're made of sharp glass, many believed the mata'a were weapons of war.

Lipo and his team analyzed the shape variability of a photo set of 400-plus mata'a collected from the island using a technique known as morphometrics, which allowed them to characterize the shapes in a quantitative manner. Based on the wide variability in shape and their difference from other traditional weapons, the team determined that the mata'a were not used in warfare after all.

"We found that when you look at the shape of these things, they just don't look like weapons at all," Lipo says. "When you can compare them to European weapons or weapons found anywhere around the world when there are actually objects used for warfare, they're very systematic in their shape. They have to do their job really well. Not doing well is risking death."

He says the mata'a wouldn't be lethal. "You can always use something as a spear," Lipo says. "Anything that you have can be a weapon. But under the conditions of warfare, weapons are going to have performance characteristics. And they're going to be very carefully fashioned for that purpose because it matters."

Lipo's study suggests that the ancient civilization never experienced the oft-theorized warfare. Instead, the belief that the mata'a were weapons used in the collapse of the civilization is likely a late-European interpretation of the record.

"What people traditionally think about the island is being this island of catastrophe and collapse just isn't true in a pre-historic sense," Lipo says. "Populations were successful and lived sustainably on the island up until European contact."

Lipo and his team believe that the mata'a are found all over the landscape because they were cultivation tools used in ritual tasks like tattooing or domestic activities such as plant processing.

"We've been trying to focus on individual bits of evidence that support the collapse narrative to demonstrate that really there's no support whatsoever for that story," he says. "Sort of a pillar of the broader study is the fact that this is an amazing society that really was successful. It just doesn't look like success to us because we see fields that are rock, we think catastrophe, and in fact it's actually productivity."
Diver inspects rubble in Roman marble quarry. Credit: Peter Campbell

An international team, co-directed by a University of Southampton archaeologist, has made a significant discovery at an underwater location in Albania  revealing that the submerged remains of a major ancient fortress and port are far larger than previously known.

The archaeological site of Triport, near the modern port of Vlora in the country, has been studied before, but divers have now found an additional eight acres of submerged structures, adding to known remains of approximately 12 acres.

The results suggest Triport was a harbour for a large settlement during the Roman period, perhaps associated with the ancient city of Aulon (now Vlora). Triport offered ships safe anchorage in both the sea and Narta Lagoon, and connected to ancient cities like Aulon and Apollonia through major Roman roads. The site was first explored in the 20th century, with further study in the early 2000s.

Expedition members also assessed submerged cities and harbour structures along the Albanian coast in Butrint and Orikum.

The expedition, directed by Neritan Ceka of the Albanian Institute of Archaeology and Peter Campbell of the University of Southampton and Albanian National Coastal Agency, has collected scientific data from one of the Mediterranean's most dynamic regions. A team of 14 international researchers worked with the Albanian National Coastal Agency (Agjensia Kombetare e Bregdetit) with the overall aim of assessing the coastal environment and underwater cultural heritage.

Credit: University of Southampton

Peter Campbell comments: "We found indicators of ancient sea level change, Greek and Roman trade (4th BC - 7th AD), and contemporary environmental data. But one of the most significant discoveries was the larger submerged remains  prompting us to rethink the importance of Triport as a Roman harbour.

"Albania has some of the most important waters in the Mediterranean. This coastline was vital for ancient trade and it continues to be significant as the convergence zone for species from the Adriatic and Ionian seas."

Restrictions on SCUBA diving and coastal development during the communist period has inadvertently provided Albania with some of the most pristine underwater cultural heritage in the Mediterranean, though this is changing rapidly due to a boom in coastal tourism.

Auron Tare, Director of the National Coastal Authority, says: "Albania's coastline contains rich cultural and natural resources, but it is under threat from unregulated development. Expeditions such as this help to identify at risk locations."

The research project surveyed threatened areas from the lake surrounding the Butrint UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Albania to Sazan Island and Vlora Bay in the middle of the country  working closely with the government, navy, and local stakeholders such as fishermen, divers, and businesses.

A diver inspects the formation of a tidal notch along the Karaburun Peninsula. Credit: Peter Campbell

The expedition documented ecological impacts from coastal development and pollution, including microplastics (tiny plastic particles which can cause damage to marine life), heavy metals from industry, and invasive species  to help monitor their effects. Coral, sponges, algae, and fish populations were also monitored.

The project discovered evidence of maritime trade and commerce from every time period. These include anchors made of stone, lead, and iron. One of the best indicators of trade are amphoras (large jug like containers), which have a dateable style based on their production area. The survey found amphoras dating from the Hellenistic Period through the early Middle Ages. Items from everyday life were also discovered, such as imbreces and tegulae (roof tiles) for houses, plates, and water jugs. Artefacts were undisturbed and left in situ for the future.

Ancient archaeological sites such as cities, harbour structures, and quarries around southern Albanian showed submergence up to 150 cm, due to a number of geological processes. Peter Campbell comments: "The Albanian coast is incredibly dynamic and we have found excellent indicators of sea-level change such as tidal notches to sunken cities and harbours. This lets us reconstruct the coast in the past, which tells us how different parts are changing through time and may change in the future."

Assessment of potentially at risk underwater cultural heritage and environmental regions under the Coastal Authority will continue in future seasons with collaborations with international partners.

Explore further 23 shipwrecks discovered off Greece
Research by James Westphal, a strategy professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, suggests women executives face social discrimination in the workplace, making their jobs harder.

He said that a recent story in the Economist that suggested women executives don't manage differently, or any better, than men misses an important aspect of gender dynamics. The article argues that lumping women together obscures the differences between individuals.

While that may be true, Westphal says the premise ignores an important aspect of gender dynamics. Quite simply, gender provides a basis for discrimination. No one study should make sweeping statements about gender, but Westphal's body of research shows that intergroup biaswhich includes the tendency to overgeneralize about members outside your groupis preconscious, pervasive and negatively affects women executives.

Westphal, the Robert G. Rodkey Collegiate Professor of Business Administration and chair of strategy at Ross, talks about his recent presentation at the Academy of Management meeting in which he provided an overview of his research showing just how gender dynamics play out in the c-suite.

Q: What was it about this article that led you to connect the dots on your own body of research?

Westphal: It wasn't that the article's conclusions were necessarily wrong. My issue is that the article distracts attention from the most important way gender matters in the upper echelonsby providing a basis for social discrimination. The Economist is less concerned with social issues and more with economic, but in this case the social influences the economic.

Q: Just how does the social influence the economic?

Westphal: One implication is that women have to be better qualified than men to achieve the same position. As a result, they may be "better" than men on average in terms of qualifications, and yet they may also be handicapped in their ability to be effective leaders.

Q: What leads you to that conclusion?

Westphal: My research provides quite a bit of evidence. For example, some of our findings suggest that women leaders receive fewer benefits for their performance. Ithai Stern and I found that women receive less credit than men for contributions to strategic decision making. They need to provide higher levels of advice and input to the CEO to have the same chance of receiving a colleague's recommendation for a board appointment at another firm. Another study I did with Poonam Khanna found that women board members are more likely to receive social sanctions for behavior that runs counter to the status quo. This would be things like proposals to increase board independence and reduce the CEO's power. When women participate in these initiatives they're less likely than men to be invited to informal board meetings and their input was solicited less often in formal meetings. It also had a more negative effect on a woman director's chances of being recommended for another board appointment compared to a man who exhibited similar behavior.

Q: What about when it's a woman CEO, as opposed to one member of a larger board?

Westphal: We found similar issues. My research shows women CEOs receive less help and less professional support of various kinds from CEOs at other firms. After we controlled for the strength of personal relationships and other factors, male CEOs are less likely to provide strategic help to women CEOs, including advice on strategic issues and personal referrals to third-party sources of counsel. We also have evidence that women CEOs receive more of the blame for negative company outcomesboth from peers and external sourcesthan men in the top job. Sun Park and I discovered women CEOs are less likely to receive impression management support from other CEOs. For example, fellow CEOs are more likely to attribute low company performance to women CEOs than male CEOs in their comments to journalists, especially when the women CEOs have other indicators of social status. So while status in a high office helps insulate men from harm to their reputation it increases the risk for women.

Q: We have more women in high positions now, though there's a long way to go. We have women running leading business schools. Why does this pattern of discrimination persist?

Westphal: For one, intergroup biases are difficult to overcome. They're latent and systematic. Second, the Economist and other business publications devote less attention to this issue than they should, partly because it's not popular with most of their readership. Also, perhaps partly because they are implicated in the social discrimination. The media is part of the system that turns psychological biases into social harm for women leaders in the form of damage to their reputations. Not surprisingly, the media was much more interested in my research on CEO compensation, board independence and CEO influence over security analysts than the research on gender bias that results from CEO influence over journalists.

Explore further Women and minority corporate directors lack mentoring
A family of zebra finches. Credit: Hokkaido University

Researchers from Hokkaido University have discovered familial differences in the earliest vocal babblings of juvenile songbirds, suggesting a possible genetic basis for the variations.

As human language and birdsong are both acquired through vocal practice, different patterns emerge among individuals. These distinctions play an important role in communication and identification. Until now, however, it was unclear how individual birds learned slightly different vocal patterns.

The research team uncovered variances in the earliest practice singingknown as "subsong"of zebra finch juveniles, including different temporal patterns between individuals. Furthermore, these differences were found to be more pronounced among different families. Experiments also showed that differences persisted among the juvenile birds even when deafened.

In addition, in experiments involving adoptive parents, the subsong of juveniles was unaffected by the singing of their adoptive guardians, indicating that vocal differences may be due to a combination of the biological parents' genes. These results show there are differences in the utterances of young birds while in the first stages of learning to vocalize, and suggest a hereditary cause for these variances.

The team is planning future studies, to discern, for example, how individual differences formed during the early developmental period affect subsequent learning, and whether there are vocal patterns and tempi that are easy to learn.

More information: Daisuke Sato et al. Familial bias and auditory feedback regulation of vocal babbling patterns during early song development, Scientific Reports (2016). Journal information: Scientific Reports Daisuke Sato et al. Familial bias and auditory feedback regulation of vocal babbling patterns during early song development,(2016). DOI: 10.1038/srep30323
SARATOGA SPRINGS  Saratoga Performing Arts Center has announced the appointment of Elizabeth Sobol as its new president and CEO.

Sobol, formerly president and CEO of Universal Music Classics and managing director of IMG Artists in North/South America, takes the helm Oct. 1.

We are excited to welcome Elizabeth Sobol, Susan Phillips Read, chairman of SPACs board of directors, said in a statement. Elizabeth is a seasoned executive whose artistic and musical interests and experience range from straightforward classical to pop, jazz, world music and dance.

Sobol said she looks forward to strengthening SPAC's existing partnerships with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York City Ballet, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Live Nation.

I have really fallen in love with the culture and ethos that is in abundance in Saratoga Springs and look forward to being a part of and contributing to this community, she said in a news release.

During Sobols nearly three-decade tenure at IMG Artists, she nurtured the careers of some of the music worlds most respected artists, including violinist Joshua Bell.

Sobol will replace SPAC President and Executive Director Marcia White, who announced in February her plans to retire.
UPDATE -- Pierce and Yole were located unharmed early Thursday.

MOREAU  Two people with dementia have gone missing from a family-type adult home in the town of Moreau, according to the Saratoga County Sheriffs Office.

Mial (Sonny) Pierce, 74, and Betty Yole, 92, were reported missing at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to a press release from the Sheriffs Office.

Pierce is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall and approximately 190 pounds with brown eyes and gray hair. He wears glasses and was last seen wearing khaki pants and a red shirt.

Yole is described as 5 feet tall and approximately 115 pounds with gray hair. She also wears glasses and was last seen wearing a print blouse, burgundy sweater and burgundy pants.

Pierce and Yole are believed to be traveling in a dark green 1997 Ford Ranger bearing New York registration GRA-1977. The vehicle is described as having the Marine Corps seal on the rear driver side window and SemperFi on the rear passenger side window.

Anyone who sees or comes in contact with Pierce, Yole or the vehicle is asked to call the Saratoga County Sheriffs Office at 885-6761.
WHITEHALL  Heather Cadarette grew up spending summers in the town where her father grew up.

Despite Whitehalls natural beauty and stately old homes, the 27-year-old had a hard time envisioning the town as her dad described it: a charming village where kids played together until June Cleaver-like mothers called them in for dinner.

But Saturday, as the New York City-based actress was swept up in the magic of William Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream, staged in the tight confines of the Skenesborough Park pavilion, she saw the sense of community her father grew up with.

Thunder cracking and rain pouring down didnt discourage a crowd of about three dozen from attending the first performance of Whitehall Public Theater.

The audience was right there with us, she said. They were completely enthralled the whole time.

The play was moved at the last minute from the outdoor amphitheater to the picnic area, so the actors were visible when they were backstage, but Cadarette said no one seemed to mind.

Theater is such a great way to bring people together, she said.

That sense of community is what drove John Beck and his wife, Sandee Rollins, to create Whitehall Public Theater.

The couple moved to Whitehall three years ago and have since watched it deteriorate.

Weve been watching the slow downturn of the town, even since we got here, Beck said. In the last year, we even lost McDonalds, for crying out loud.

I dont get involved in local politics, so when we think about what we can do for the town, what we do is theater, said Beck, who met Rollins when the two were performing in a community theater show in Connecticut. We came up with the idea of putting on an accessible show, making it free to everyone.

Beck took to the internet, creating a gofundme.com public sourcing account.

It funded very, very quickly, he said, as donations poured in to raise more than $1,000. The community definitely came up around it.

Many people donated in memory of a family member who grew up in Whitehall. Someone shared a fundraising campaign video on Facebook with Cadarette, who as a professional actress was between jobs and offered to star in the show.

Theyre trying bring people into the town to revitalize it, Cadarette said. And I want to do theater for that, for purpose, rather than for money or fame.

Cadarette certainly isnt alone. David Molenaar was walking through Skenesborough Park one day with his dog, when he saw a rehearsal.

He asked what we were doing, then asked how he could help, Beck said.

Molenaar moved to Whitehall two years ago and has created a beautification and enhancement group, and organized an upcoming Sasquatch Festival.

I saw it as a wonderful kind of inclusion, into trying to develop more civic activities, socialization and revitalizing Whitehall, said Molenaar, who rallied community members to serve as ushers for Whitehall Public Theater.

Ive lived everywhere  Oregon, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, New York City, and all over Michigan  so finding Whitehall was a wonderful thing for me, he said. I feel like Ive been settling in the place I should have lived all along.
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Sheas most valuable part however is the shea butter and its derivatives exported in large volumes to France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, North America and Japan where it is processed into a wide range of food products including chocolate as well as the ever increasing use in the cosmetic industry.

In the 2000s shea butter became one of the six vegetable fats allowed by the EU to serve

as a Cocoa Butter Equivalent (CBE) for use in the manufacturing of chocolates. Sheas advantage in the use as CBE stems from the fact that it has the characteristics to increase the melting point of chocolates.

Typically, shea trees grow naturally in eighteen different countries which include: Ghana, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Niger, Chad Cameroon, Central African Republic, Uganda, Congo, Kenya and Sudan.

READ MORE:ADB Four Simple steps to acquire funding for your Agric venture

The Agricultural Development Bank has provided financial intermediation to actors in the shea value chain. At the center of ADBs shea financing is the support to two major sister processors, International Oil and Fats Limited and Ghana Nuts Limited situated at Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region to purchase and process shea nuts into shea butter and subsequent fractionation into stearin, olein and gum. Support to these processors has increased demand for shea nuts, enabling women in the North to easily sell their picks at more competitive prices.

The bank has also provided financing to a number of aggregators to purchase the shea nuts from the pickers for sale to both exporters and processors. Aggregators such as K. Issah Nut Trading Enterprise and MM AWAL Limited have been financed to act as offtakers to several pickers.

ADB has so far invested about US$15.0 million in the shea value chain and would continue to increase its investment, taking cognizance of the special role the crop plays in poverty alleviation especially in the three Northern Regions.
The Trades Ministry, Wednesday announced commencement of a nationwide training program for staff of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority to equip them with the ability to enforce compliance of the EPAs rule of origin.

It is believed that an efficient understanding of the Rule of Origin is critical in how exporters and importers adjust to the EPA and its ramifications.

READ MORE: Economic Zone Hannah Tetteh disputes claims EPA was poorly debated in parliament

An international trades expert, Martin Wilde says a proper understanding of the Rule of Origin in international trade will help Ghanaian importers and exporters properly label their products for clear identifies the origin of exports from Ghana, in order to enjoy duty-free entry into the EU markets, as stipulated by the EPAs.

Rules of origin gives an economic nationality to a product and if for example cocoa that is produced in Ghana, that is only obtained from Ghana. Preferential rules of origin, the EPA which is a free trade agreement, it allows exporters to export without any duty to the European Union, he stated.

Mr. Wilde also believes there is the need to equip the countrys revenue collection agencies to be able to meet internationally accepted standards for exports.

So it is a case of raising awareness and putting policies and regulations in place to ensure that both customs and traders apply the rules correctly.

The EPA ensures a duty-free and quota free access to the EU market for an unlimited period for all exports to EU originating from Ghana.
He also appealed to the people to stop the burning of refuse in communal containers provided by Zoomlion as the act destroys the containers. The companys doors are open and will readily give its support to the community whenever such requests are made appropriately, he added.

Sheik Abdul Salam, the Imam of the Tamale Central Mosque also used the platform to educate the people on Islams stand on sanitation, be it environmental or personal hygiene. Islam is a religion of cleanliness and every Muslim should keep his/her surroundings clean, he said.

He went on to advised the public to put a stop to the indiscriminate littering of the environment, a situation which he believes has a direct link with the incidence of diseases such as malaria and cholera.

In his address Mr. Dasana Salifu Wumbei, Human Resource Officer was of the opinion that the services the company renders in the region consisting of Door to Door waste collection; Water Supply; Cesspit emptying; Janitorial and the hiring of heavy-duty equipment were all geared towards making the city of Tamale Clean, green and a healthy place to live.

Mr. Dasana Salifu further admonished the people of Tamale to treat the staff of the company with respect especially the street sweepers and tricycle riders as their work is very vital to the beautification of the environment and public health.Environmental sanitation is a shared responsibility as we must all come together to fight filth. The government and Zoomlion cannot do this alone so everybody to join hands in this fight, he admonished.
Mr Awal ruled out political consideration in arriving at the decision at its fifth congress held in Accra.

In an interview with Pulse.com.gh Thursday, Mr Awal said: Every year, we look at one president that has been outstanding in one way or the other. In 2013, you will recall we awarded His Excellency Paul Kagame, in 2014, we awarded His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta and in 2015 we awarded His Excellency Macky Sall and this year it came to His Excellency John Dramani Mahama.

Explaining the criteria for the award, he said it goes beyond what a given president does locally.

We look at other things that he does that inures to the benefit of the continent. And youll recall that His Excellency John Mahama when he was the ECOWAS [Economic Committee of West Africa States] chair when the issue of Ebola came, he worked so hard to curb it with a period.\

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Within that same period, there was a lot of instability in Burkina Faso. He showed leadership and there was some stability in that country.

We didnt consider the local issues because they have political connotations, he said.

AASU at it fifth congress judged president Mahama as the Most Inspirational African President

The scales of the union also identified the former African Union Chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Clarie Dlamini Zuma, as African Personality of the Year.
I would want to entreat the private sector to partner with government in these institutions, it is true that the State Owned Enterprises will benefit but I think we can be part of changing all these institutions for investment and trade, the Minister emphasized.

The Ghana EXIM bank is established to develop international trade between Ghana and other countries by empowering Ghanaian importers and exporters with adequate funds.

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We can learn from this model [adopted by the COCOBOD] and from Exim bank practices elsewhere; escrow the export earnings for our private sector who are exporters and through the process, bundle all these earnings together and borrow from the international market at competitive rates.

The Finance Minister announced plans by government to re-strategize the Exim bank to enable exporters accrue enough funds and borrow from the international market for expansion.
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This was after several failed attempts by the management of the facility to get the government to meet its budgetary obligation for more than three years.

Speaking to Pulse.com.gh, Emmanuel Febiri, a nurse and member of the Public Affairs directorate at the hospital said that the facility has owed its suppliers since 2013.

READ ALSO: Psychiatric nurses strike

The Ministry of Health subsequently intervened and released an amount of 1.5 million Ghana cedis to be shared equally among the three Psychiatric hospitals, namely Pantang, Ankaful and Accra, to offset some of the debt owed suppliers.

Emmanuel Febiri, a nurse and member of the Public Affairs directorate at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital has told Pulse.com.gh that the facility has received the money and is yet to decide on the way forward.

Our management are still deciding as to whether we can actually pay some debts or not. So as I speak, we are not taking admissions.
This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between leaders of the union and the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Haruna Iddrisu today [Thursday].

READ ALSO: CLOGSAG Strike

However, the National Labour Commission described the strike as illegal.

The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations Haruna Iddrisu subsequently asked striking members of CLOGSAG to return to work or risk losing their August salaries.

At the end of a meeting on Monday, which ended inconclusively, the Minister of Labour and Employment relations, Haruna Iddrisu said CLOGSAGs demands would be subjected to further consultations with the new market premium pay policy, expected to be introduced in January 2017.

I am subjecting it to further consultation with the Fai Wages and Salaries Commission and the Ministry of Finance; Compensation Division and to further consult with higher authority whilst they also engage with their constituents and membership.

We have to reach an understanding as to where we will begin with in January when the government introduces a new market premium pay policy, Mr. Iddrisu added.

President John Dramani Mahama had earlier pleaded with striking workers of the Civil and Local Government Service Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSSAG), to return to work.

According to him, any attempt to yield to the demands of CLOGSAG will throw the budget completely off track.
Ghana Water Company came and disconnected us for an accumulated bill of 1,500 cedis. When I came back, the information I had was that the officials from the Tanda District of GWCL said they are reconnecting their clients and fixing pre-paid meters on the lines so that nobody owes them. They kept on demanding that we pay 80 cedis flat rate every month to collect, the owner of the company, Michael Donkor told Accra-based Citi FM.

He said the officials took away some of his water processing machines.

Some people came and identified themselves as officers from GWCL and said they were disconnecting us because there was information that we had been connected illegally. They entered the factory and vandalised all pipe connections there and took away two water processing machines and one pumping machine. Later, when I entered my room, I saw that they had taken my money of 364, 000 cedis and 84, 000 dollars, he added.

READ ALSO: GWCL announces new billing and payment system

Michael Donkor said he has since reported the matter to the police.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Water Company has denied the claims, saying the raid had been done with the help of the police.
According to him, government has rolled out plans to finish all roads started across the country.

"There are plans to fix the roads in Ho. As I speak with you, we are dualising the roads in Ho. "We are working on the Ho Town roads, he told Joy FM.

The protestors, largely drown from the Takla, Hodzo and Kpanoe Traditional areas, were cladded in red and wielding placards to express their anger.

Some of the placards read "no roads, no vote", "Our roads, our roads" among others.

The claim persistent appeals to the government to fix their roads have proved futile.

We are tired of the plenty lip services paid to our road and this time, we are resolute to boycott the elections if the road is not fixed," a protestor said.

A similar protest erupted in Kumbungu in the Northern Region but it turned chaotic after police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.

The tear gas was fired after the crowd wanted to deviate from the designated protest roots to the premises of the District Assembly.
The close to150 million US dollar Coastal Protection project being implemented by various contractors in Ahanta West, STMA and the Shama districts are funded by the government of Ghana.

President Mahama visited the projects sites to ascertain work done.

The Aboadze project in the Shama district is an important one, since the extent of erosion could threaten the West African Gas Pipeline and the Aboadze Thermal Plant.
Let me tell you something interesting...I believe that the president shouldnt give them the pardon.

The pardon will not be something that will be in the interest of the president as an individual through his political career [and] what he has done for this country to go out with that colour, he told Accra-based Starr FM.

READ ALSO: Montie Saga

Baba Jamal advised the counsel for the three contemnors to seek for review if possible.

The Montie three, Alistair Nelson, Godwin Ako Gunn and Salifu Maase alias Mugabe were sentenced to four months in prison by the Supreme Court following contempt proceedings against them.

The contempt proceedings came after the three threatened the Supreme Court judges who sat on the Abu Ramadan and Gary Nimako versus the Electoral Commission case.

A petition book subsequently opened by pro-government group Research and Advocacy Platform (RAP) gathered over 18 million signatories from government appointees including the deputy minister of Education in charge of Tertiary, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare and the Education Minister, Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang.

The group subsequently presented the petition to the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah.

Lawyers for the three contemnors had already presented theirs to the presidency.
The Acting General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, John Boadu on Wednesday at a news conference demanded the apology, accusing him of doing a hatchet job.

Mr Boadu said: Our only advice to Ben Ephson, the managing editor of the dispatch newspaper is that; do not allow your newspaper to be used for this cheap and unintelligent piece, it is beneath the reputation you seek to portray.

We demand an immediate retraction and apology from the Daily Dispatch....This fabricated and fake memo creating the impression that the NPP had decided at an advisory committee that we are going to lie to the Ghanaian people about government; well, I dont want to believe that it is part of an agenda.
According to the National Democratic Congress flagbearer, had it not been the challenge to the outcome of the 2012 election results, he would have done a lot more than he has done so far.

President Mahama made the comments when he inspected the Shama and Aboadze sea defense in the Western Region on his third day of campaigning in the region.

He said: When I took over in 2013, our friends took us to the court over the 2012 election.Almost the entire first year was wasted. We were uncertain about the outcome so it stalled the development of the country.

"They were there counting pink sheets, we counted pink sheets for almost a year. Despite that we were able to undertake a lot of projects.

"This means we could have done more.In this election, we are going to give them a resounding defeat so that they wouldnt think of going to court.

Addressing the Chiefs and People of the Aboadze, president Mahama highlighted his achievements, citing road construction, schools, water expansion and hospitals

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We have a lot of projects we must undertake. We have constructed roads, schools, water expansion projects and hospitals across the length and breadth of the country. If you refer to our green book, you will notice that within these four years, we have done well. It is not even four years, but three years.

President Mahama, who is seeking second a term in office, also urged voters to be peaceful, eschew insults and be tolerant of their opponents.
Executive Director of GII, Linda Ofori Kwarfo said the distribution of the outboard motors is more than vote buying in an interview with Joy FM Wednesday.

We have two aspects of abuse of incumbency; coercive abuse and corrupt abuse and corrupt abuse, is using state resources to fuel or fund such activities, she explained.

The spokesperson for the NDC campaign team,Joyce Bawa Mogtari, denied the charge, saying the move is part of government intervention.

It is something we have been engaged in for quite some time. The president has made these donations across the country specifically targeting fishing communities across Ghana, she said.

However, Mrs Kwafo responded saying the NDC campaign team made it known the president was embarking on a campaign to renew his mandate.

She wondered why the party was using state resources to purchase gifts Mrs Mogtari refers to as donations.

If the president told the whole nation that he is embarking on a campaign, then how on earth is the party using state resources to buy such gifts which the woman referred to as donations, she said.

She stressed that the president should be able to draw a line between his duties as president and presidential candidate.
READ ALSO:

He said: Mrs Lordina Mahama has assumed a special role in the 2016 NDC campaign. She is effectively the Chief Director of Gifts. The wife of the president of the republic is going around the country, with a fleet of trucks loaded with goodies, which she is sharing for votes. These run into millions of dollars. Ghanaians deserve to know. How much is being spent? Who is paying for it? Where is the money coming from? Is it from our taxes or from friends? Which friends? Are they friends who are also capable of winning contracts to build walls and roads? The First Lady must be transparent and accountable.

But reacting to the comments by the NPP, Mrs Mahamas aide, Edward Tapsoba, said the NPP is only concocting a story due to its lack of message ahead of the polls.

He wondered why the NPP did not raise issues with the several donations made to former First Lady Theresa Kufuor by benevolent bodies for distribution to several health facilities when John Kufuor was in power.

Lordina [Mahama] has not taken any money from government, neither has government allocated any budget for such donations. It is the hard work of her NGO and her honesty that brings in the donations, he told Accra FM.
The controversial pastor who was angered by the couples amorous activity which has led to a pregnancy took the law into his hands and lashed the young man on his bare back before turning to the girl flogging her mercilessly with a belt in the full glare of his congregation.

Throughout the punishment, Obinim is heard questioning the jobless youngman why he got the girl pregnant when he has no finances for her upkeep and the upbringing of the unborn child.

After subjecting the two to severe flogging for several minutes, Obinim orders his junior pastors to remove their belts and subject the couple to more flogging.

But according to the Director of Amnesty International Ghana Lawrence Amesu, the act is barbaric and criminal, warranting an immediate arrest.

In an interview with Accra-based 3-FM, he said, "The public should be really upset and that must be strongly condemned."

"For Amnesty International, we think that Bishop Obinim is going beyond his jurisdiction at this time. This is a criminal offence [and] he should be arrested by the Police," he said.
Experts have blamed Expressos failure in attracting invest to its links with Sudan Telecom, whose country of origin, Sudan is currently under UN economic sanctions.

NCAs Director for Engineering Henry Kanor has revealed that the continued inactivity of Expresso has taken its toll on the industry stakeholders and creating a shortfall in the revenue targets of the regulator and government.

We have a regulatory regime that is enshrined in their license and so we gave triggered that and a discussion has to be taken in that regard. I should think that is why they are now seriously looking for investors to come invest in the company.
The company said that it was in advanced discussions with leading Nigerian banks, and expects to roll the solution out with banking partners to Nigerian consumers before the end of 2016.

mVisa is a mobile payments solution that allows consumers to pay for goods by scanning a QR code on a smart phone or entering a merchant number into their feature phones. Payment goes straight from the consumers Visa account into the merchants account and provides real-time notification to both parties.

Per a press release made available to me from Visa, mVisa is interoperable, meaning that the consumer and the merchant do not need to be customers of the same bank.

Were excited by the prospects of mVisa for Nigeria as a mobile payment solution which brings real benefits to drive digital transformation, said Ade Ashaye, group country manager for Visa West Africa.

Because mVisa allows merchants to accept Visa payments without having to invest in costly point of sale hardware, it gives Nigerian consumers a reliable, secure and convenient mobile payment option.

Robert Giles, Head of Retail Banking for Diamond Bank, said: As a bank committed to bringing unrivalled customer experiences, were incredibly excited about mVisa and its potential for our customers in Nigeria. The service enables people to engage in secure, digital commerce, and access funds more easily in their bank accounts to make everyday purchases. mVisa increases the opportunity to include more Nigerians into the formal financial system, which will help the economy, and society grow.

mVisa will be available for both smartphone users and consumers using basic feature phones, with the potential to provide a mobile payment service to nearly all active mobiles phones in Nigeria.

Consumers can also use mVisa agents for domestic remittances as well as to access their cash if there is no ATM network. The company says these features accelerate financial inclusion, a core objective of both the Nigerian government and Visa.

Recent data suggests that the informal economy, which refers to economic activity that is often cash-based and goes unreported, represents up to 60 percent of Nigerias economy.

Visa says its research indicates that most consumers, even those who are more affluent, do much of their daily shopping at informal traders and open markets.

mVisa would allow informal traders accept electronic payments in a cost-effective way, without the need for point of sale (POS) terminals.

Merchants are able to receive payments directly into their bank account within minutes of a consumer making a payment.
ALSO READ: Check out media personality in unrecognizable looks

He wrote on his website, "Judge Not.

Recently, there was this trending story of an American who married his Nigerian gay partner, David Shoen-Ukre, in New York on July 30, who accused Nigerian bloggers, of causing the couple harm by publishing their stories without permission. The rain of curses/abuse, and the terrible judgemental comments that ensued after the story broke, was incredible. Many concluded that the couples were Evil. I have never seen hate and ignorance come so alive in words.

While I cannot speak louder than the stupidity of other people who will disagree with me on this, NO, being gay is not Evil!!

A man marrying a man maybe a hard pill for a lot of us to digest, but the world has changed even since I took a dump this morning.

Dont judge others simply because they sin differently than you. Every aspect of humans are diverse. Skin color, tribal marks/culture, height/weight, religious beliefs/tastes, everyone thinks differently and are different. We see what we see from where we stand.

What is Evil to me, are the men in Agbada/Uniform who sold are country, our future and rendered most of us hopeless, future less, obnoxiously poor in a land filled with plenty. They are the VERY EVIL ONEs, and we are feeling the effect of their EVIL."

Just recently Denrele Edun.

He explained the photo, saying, We were shooting a film of two different generations with similarities. Later that evening, we were posing for shots like father and son. Jokingly, he planted a kiss on my lips and that was it. Before, we knew what was happening, the picture was everywhere.

ALSO READ: Eccentric star glorifies pregnant women
The pair came together to give a stage performance of their 2009 collaboration song 'Forever', which led to loud cheers from the crowd.

According to Us Magazine, Drake gracefully welcomed the '8 Miles' rapper onto the stage, describing him as the greatest rapper.

Detroit, make some noise for the greatest rapper to ever get on the motherf--king microphone. He goes by the name of Eminem,

Legendary s--t tonight, he added.

Humbled by the welcoming address, Eminem in turn said, Its an honor to share the stage with this man right here.

The rumoured beef reportedly started when Hot 97 radio anchor, Ebro Darden, revealed to listeners that he recently spoke to Drake concerning Eminem getting involved in his beef with Slaughterhouse rapper, Joe Budden.

He allegedly mentioned that the Canadian rapper told him he would prepare a response for him if that turned out to be so.

Darden quickly made clarification concerning the comment on his Twitter, calling it a joke.

"It was such a joke and people ran with it... Slow news day. Drake got too much respect for all that..."
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
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Africa Fashion Week London which promises to be bigger than ever with a great lineup of designers and events showcasing the best in the world of African inspired fashion.

About Black Marble

Black Marble is a brand inspired by all things African, prints and textures. It is a high end clothing label that does casual and formal ready-to-wear garments. It caters for both men and women who are fashion forward and are not afraid to experiment with fashion.

About Hyness

Hyness is a bespoke women's wear label using delicate fabrics and embroidery, this aimed at making women feel beautiful and feminine, designing and creating beautiful one off pieces unique to each customer.

African Fashion Week London has hosted four catwalk events since inception in 2011 and We have showcased over 300 designers to almost 45,000 visitors including buyers, retailers and other industry professionals.
About Caeser Couture

Established in the year 2000, by owner and brand designer, Esosa Ogedegbe. This brand is known for its exquisite tailoring services and refined design silhouettes of tuxedos, patterned suits, single breasted and double-breasted suits as well as traditional clothing. The suits are timeless, yet incorporate some bold colours like shades of red, yellow, orange and green and can even be dressed down (when worn as a jacket) to a more casual look with sneakers.

The collections are perfect for the sophisticated gentleman that wants a classic look for black-tie events, weddings and business meetings. and/or jeans. The label currently makes clothing for men, but has plans to diversify into female clothing in the near future.

ALSO READ:

About Meme Bete

Meme Bete is a St. Lucian design company by Taribba do Nascimento who began designing bags 5 years ago while working in Ethiopia. Being a lover of life and an avid traveller, do Nascimento marries eclectic style with her ethnocentric eye to create unique pieces.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
Away from the war and politics, Sudan is a beautiful country. There are travel restrictions due to internal conflicts and travellers must be careful as there are still clashes between the government and rebel forces.

The deserts and sand treasures of Sudan are treasures the world is only just rediscovering. Visiting Sudan is sure to leave one with eye-opening and unforgettable experiences.

Here are three places you should visit in Sudan:

1. The White Nile Bridge:

From the White Nile Bridge, you get the best view of the confluence of the Blue and White Niles.

Not only do you see the high point of the longest river in the world, you can see the actual colours of each of the Niles as they flow side by side.

The Niles blend downstream, dissolving into a colour that is neither white nor blue. You could be arrested for taking picture from this bridge.

ALSO READ: Things to avoid on a safari

2. The Sudan Ethnographic Museum:

The Ethnographic Museum displays a fascinating, albeit small collection of artifacts from tribes across the country.

The displays are organised according to geographic regions, illustrating how people adapt to the different climatic areas.

The displays begin with the tropics of today's South Sudan, to Khartoum's savannah regions, ending with the desert regions of the north.

3. The National Museum:

This museum is reputed to be the best in the country and its exhibits are breathtaking.

The ground floor of the museum documents the rise and fall of Kerma, Kush and Meroe Kingdoms.

Upstairs is filled with medieval Christian artwork from the ruins of churches in Old Dongola. Some temples rescued are displayed outside from the waters of Lake Nasser.
This happened at Baale Aiyetoro Street, Ajegunle in Apapa, where a woman preparing soup briefly stepped out to get some salt for her cooking, Daily Sun reports.

Before her return, Daniel had reportedly applied insecticide in the soup, with the intention of killing the family over a disagreement with one of its members.

Luckily, the woman was able to detect the foul smell in her cooking and quickly alerted the landlady of the house.

The latter arranged for the suspect to be taken to the residence of the traditional ruler in the area.

ALSO READ: Police detain lawyer over connection with felon

He was later handed over to the police in whose custody he confessed to his crime.

The suspect seemed apologetic in his confession, stating that the devil pushed him to commit the wicked act.

The devil pushed me to do it. I doused the soup with sniper insecticide so as to deal with the family."

"The husband insulted me last time because of electricity bill. He called me a poor man; the devil pushed me to do it. I am sorry.
The convict was arraigned at the court on Thursday, August 18, 2016, the day he also received the judgment, Daily Post reports.

Inspector Sunday Lubolagbe, reportedly relayed the matter to the Apo Police Station on behalf of the Redeemed Church, Lokogoma.

ALSO READ: Man arraigned at court for allegedly stealing tithes

Buhari, who lives in Ruga village, entered the premises of the church and made away with the item.

According to the Daily Post, Babajide Olanipekun, who is the prosecutor on the case, stated that the crime contravenes against sections 348 and 299 of the Penal Code.
According to Punch News, the victim, simply identified as Funke, was reportedly on an errand when she fell into the hands of the criminals.

She was ambushed by the suspects who wore a military fatigue, and then taken away on a motorcycle to a secluded place in Bariga.

After they finished with her, Funke was reportedly dumped by the road side, where she was found by community members who reported the case to the police.

SP Dolapo Badmos, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, gave a confirmation of the incident, and also reported that four Automated Teller Machine cards and 17 identity cards were discovered with the criminals.

The police recovered items which included military camouflage, two berets, two mobile phones, four ATM cards from different banks, and 17 ID cards bearing different names."

After interrogation, it was discovered that the suspects were impersonators."

They are also suspected to be hoodlums terrorising the area."
Fatmata Turay, 19, died earlier this week after undergoing FGM as part of her initiation rites for entry to the Bondo, a powerful society that carries out the practice and wields significant political clout, according to several campaigners.

Three members of the Bondo society and a nurse have been arrested. Rights groups which campaign against FGM, including FORWARD and Equality Now, urged Sierra Leone to carry out a thorough investigation into Turay's death, and ban the practice.

Sierra Leone has the one of the highest rates of FGM in the world, with nine in 10 women and adolescent girls cut, according to the data from the United Nations children's agency UNICEF.

"This is one death too many  too many lives are blighted by FGM," said Adwoa Kwateng-Kluvitse of FORWARD, adding that it was unclear how many women and girls die from FGM in Sierra Leone.

"There are lots of rural girls who would have died and been buried without anyone taking any notice," she added.

FGM affects an estimated 140 million girls and women across a swathe of Africa and parts of the Middle East and Asia, and is seen as a gateway to marriage and a way of preserving purity.

It involves the removal of the external genitalia, and causes numerous health problems that can be fatal.

While FGM is legal in Sierra Leone, a government ban on the practice enforced during the Ebola outbreak - introduced as part of a drive to stamp out the virus - is still in place.

Sierra Leone last year became one of the last West African nations to ratify the Maputo Protocol, which addresses a range of issues including FGM, violence against women, child and forced marriage, and women's economic empowerment.

"We cannot afford to continue to let girls die and undergo extreme violence and discrimination because of FGM," Mary Wandia of Equality Now told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
He said this while receiving an award from Nigerian Association of Technologists in Engineering (NATE).

Speaking on the current situation in the country, Aregbesola said change is a gradual process.

The Governor also called on Nigerians to support the present administration as it looks for solutions to the present economic crisis.

Adding that Change does not come easily; change comes generally with pain and it is this pain that will turn out for good.

There is no doubt that we are going through serious socioeconomic and political challenges and it is my fervent belief that after this period, Nigerians will experience good life, joy and happiness.

I am of the opinion, with strong conviction that after this painful period, glorious era of joy, happiness and prosperity will come.

I appeal to Nigerians to exercise patience with the present government, as the process of change is difficult and usually accompanied with huge pains.
President Buhari had in a statement signed by his spokesman, Garba Shehu said that he was studying the details of the report before announcing appropriate response in due course.

The foundation's country director, Professor Yemi Ola, stated that the prospects are clearer now that Nigerians will get closure to the clashes which became the subject of a long drawn controversy.

It urged that President Buharis dispassionate response to the report must be such that it prevents the rise of "another terror group like the Islamic Movement of Nigeria."

We must also not lose sight of the genesis of it all," he said.

"IMN is a group that went off hinge and was on the verge of unleashing extremism on the populace with the youths it has brainwashed, indoctrinated, radicalised and militarised to confront state institutions.

"Here was a group whose reign of terror spanned a few decades in Zaria, Kaduna state where it used to test run its version of a Shiite Islamic State. Only those that went through the harrowing hardship that the group is capable of inflicting can truly appreciate the commissions conclusion and recommendations on this group.

These are the issues that the President must take into cognisance as he studies the report. As a soldiers soldier, nothing must be done to cripple the military on the altar of political correctness because this is precisely what some people are waiting to see happen. Not emasculating the military must however be balanced with a demand that future operations and engagements stick to rules in terms of respect for human lives.

Since the clashes between soldiers and IMN members (Shiite Sect in Nigeria), led by Sheikh Ibraheem Al-Zakzaky, tempers have been frayed as several persons, organisations and even a foreign country sought to make political capital out of it. The Army as an institution was demonised beyond belief and some even openly canvassed for measure that would have amounted to waiving our sovereignty as a nation. This is something that must not be allowed to happen under Mr Presidents watch.

The report took the wind out of the sail of those who had expected they would ride on it to unleash mayhem. The numerous abuses and excesses of the IMN were adequately addressed by the commission of inquiry even though it made unnecessary concessions to the outlawed group that must be reviewed thoroughly to pave way for the immediate prosecution of IMN members to serve as deterrence to other persons across the country who may be planning to exploit sectarian or religious differences to cause strife.

Any attempt to reject the panels finding is borne out of the fact that it did its job without becoming tools in the hands of parties to the crises, he added.

It warned that the Presidency must be cautious and avoid the report being hijacked from its own end as several attempts had been made to manipulate facts since December 2015.
Kanu was arrested by officials of the Department of State Securities (DSS) in October, 2015. A situation which generated mass protest in the southeastern part of Nigeria. He is yet to be released from indetention.

The letter written by a member of Kanu's family reads:

We write to the British High Commission on the ugly direction the politically orchestrated trial of (a British citizen) is premised on a most concocted charges of treasonable felony is gradually assuming.

In the face of this conspiratorial plot by the Nigerian government to hang our client at all cost and by any means, we respectfully invite the British government to demonstrate more responsive concern in restoring the dignity and freedom if our client whose fundamental rights as guaranteed under the supreme laws of the land and relevant international conventions has been grossly violated by Nigerian government.

Despite our stiff opposition to this application (protection of witnesses), the honourable court for reasons best known to him, apparently not supported by any legal precedence or judicial authorities made a volte-face and strangely varied the order he made on the 19th day of February, 2016.

In effect, the court granted an application for a secret trial of our client, a British citizen obviously sitting in appeal against his order made on the February 2016, the letter said.

Meanwhile, the federal government has released all IPOB members who were arrested in Aba, Abia state, during their prayer rally in February, 2016.

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, ordered security agencies in the state to release the Biafra agitators, who were in detention camps and prison custody.
The group's action follows the proof of life video of the girls, which was released by Boko Haram last week.

The BBOG led by a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, indicated that the protests will also focus on issues regarding the humanitarian crisis in the North East, corruption in the disbursement of relief materials to IDPs, and the arms deal saga.

This was disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, August 18, jointly signed Ezekwesili and another leader of the group, Aisha Yesufu.

It explained the decision to embark on a series of activities to compel decisive action from our government and the global community.

The statement said: Activities will commence on Monday, 22nd August 2016. They will include several marches to the Presidency, media interactions, and engagements with critical stakeholders such as Governments, International Organizations, Statesmen and Influencers.

ALSO READ: New video shows kidnapped Chibok girls are alive and well

Critical areas to be covered during this period of engagement are our #ChibokGirls, the humanitarian crisis in the North East, corruption in the disbursement of relief materials to IDPs, and the arms deal saga.

We call on all citizens, within Nigeria and across the world, to join us on these engagements.
Akamukale said the ministers were opposed to Buharis presidential bid during the last elections.

The APC chieftain also said Nigerians are becoming impatient with the Buhari-led administration.

He said if by 2019 the (APC) dream is cut short by Nigerians, many people you see today, some who are ministers and others will go back but some of us will still remain; many people will go back and look for a new government to take position. They will tell you that they are technocrats because they have nothing to lose.

If you really ask me, I think Nigerians are becoming impatient with us because it is now about two years into this government, so it is for Nigerians and not about me or about APC members but for Nigerians to know what this government will do to benefit them.

I think it is beyond what Buhari should do to APC members; this is not about APC members, it is about Nigerians; what is the percentage of APC members? How many of us voted? The percentage of real APC members could not have made Buhari a president. So, it is actually Nigerians.

So, I think the president should bring on board those who believe in the change mantra, those who yearned for change, that could assist Mr. President in delivering the dividends of democracy to the masses of this country because in the end, the people that lose or gain are Nigerians. Nigerians voted for us and there are things they are expecting from us, Akamukale said.
According to presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu,President Buhari stopped collecting this from last year.

A statement which Shehu released on Twitter reads: The President has never received pension from the army or car as had gone to former Commanders-in-Chief.

After his overthrow, they didn't remember him even in the annual distribution of diaries or calendars.

If anyone is laying his/her hand on any such payment, they should face criminal investigation.

PMB stopped collecting allowances paid to former Heads of State the moment he took office as elected President last year.

Since his overthrow as Military ruler, the army never instituted a pension for him."

Buhari's spokesman also said On the other hand, there is a directorate in the SGF's office paying allowances to all ex-Heads of State. This is not pension.

The army is known to supply cars to former heads of the army. President Buhari never got any of that.

The cars he got came from the former President through the ONSA. This was after the bomb attack on his convoy in Kaduna.

Before this time, the presidency did not supply cars to him as they did the formers Heads of State. Please be guided. Thank you.
The former minister made the comment in an article titled The PDP and the futility of compromise.

Read the article below:

When I warned the Nigerian people about what the APC represented and that, if given power, they would be the most reactionary, repressive, vindictive, insensitive, vicious, thin-skinned, paranoid, divisive and, worse of all, incompetent government in the history of Nigeria no-one listened.

When I told the people that the leaders of the APC were not only unfit to hold power but that they were also Nigeria's local equivalent to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood no-one listened. When I warned the people that their initial plan was to field a Muslim/Muslim ticket for the 2015 presidential election (until public outrage killed the idea) no-one listened.

When I warned our people about the limitations of President Muhammadu Buhari and what he would do if trusted with power no-one listened. When I warned the PDP leadership and particularly our PDP governors and Board of Trustee members about the dangers of making Ali Modu Sheriff National Chairman of our party they would not listen.

When I warned them to remove him immediately and not to let him stay as National Chairman for the three months that he asked for they would not listen. When I told them that the government would NOT allow the National Convention of the party to hold on 17th August or indeed at any other time, no matter what, because Sheriff is working for them they would not listen.

Now I have been proved right and vindicated on all fronts. Let us consider what took place in Port Harcourt on the day of the convention. Armed with a questionable court ruling the Buhari administration set out to destabilise, destroy and silence the opposition. It was well planned, well-orchestrated and well-executed.

Governors were temporarily barred from moving around freely and were essentially put under house arrest. The convention venue was sealed off and delegates were prevented from entering the stadium by gun-wielding mobile police men and soldiers. It was not only a show of shameful, naked brute force but it was also thoroughly evil.

Let me make another prediction: this is just the beginning of their tyranny. It will get far worse. That is "mai chanji" for you! The sooner the leaders of the PDP wake up, smell the coffee and appreciate the kind of monster they are dealing with and the sooner they elect and select leaders that are prepared to risk their lives and liberty to confront this government the better.

If you want democracy and freedom you must be prepared to confront the dictator and fight for it. Where there is no justice, there can be no peace. Where there is no freedom, there can be no development. Where there is no equity, there can be no progress. Our land has been turned into a barren and poverty-stricken shell of its former-self by President Buhari's administration.

They have stripped away the glory of our nation, ruined the economy, created ethnic and religious divisions, impoverished the people, brought tears to the eyes of the down-trodden, dashed the hopes and dreams of the young and destroyed the destiny of millions.

The only thing that is left for them to do is to crush the leading opposition party and to attempt to silence, humiliate, discredit, destroy, jail and break every single opposition leader that remains vocal. That is where Senator Ali Modu Sheriff comes in and that is why his disruptive role and questionable mission in the PDP is of so much interest and so useful to the government.

That Sheriff has turned into the proverbial stubborn bone that is stuck in the throat of the PDP is no longer news. The role and noble efforts of the Senator Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee have been exemplary and commendable and, in my view, they have earned the support and affection of every loyal party leader and member.

I am not surprised by that because I happen to have known Senator Makarfi, Senator Ben Obi (the Secretary of the Committee) and Hon. Minister Dayo Adeyeye (the Publicity Secretary) for many years and I can attest to the fact that they are all profoundly good men who are very restrained in their manner and approach to complicated issues and who are not only experienced but also rational, reasonable and balanced.

Yet despite their efforts the question that still needs to be answered is how best to handle Ali Modu Sheriff. Dr. Doyin Okupe, a man for whom I have the greatest respect and affection and one of the most formidable and credible leaders in our party, suggested on his Facebook wall that we should "negotiate" with Sheriff with a view to settling this issue.

He has also said that we should "not blame Buhari and the APC for our woes" but rather we should blame ourselves. He may be right on the latter point but I beg to respectfully and humbly differ with him on the former. There can be no question of any further negotiation with Sheriff.

The imposition of Sheriff by the Governors Forum was the biggest mistake that we have made since President Goodluck Jonathan and the then leadership of our party conceded the election to Buhari without at least contesting the matter in court. Frankly, as I wrote at the time, I believe that Sheriff bewitched the governors that brought him to us and indeed those in our party that accepted him and agreed to work with him.

Now the power of the spell has worn off and their eyes have opened. Sadly though things will get worse because Sheriff is under orders: he is working a script and that script was crafted by those who commissioned him to divide, weaken and kill our party. When you open your doors to a snake what do you expect? I am not surprised by all that he is doing because he is acting true to type: he is a green snake who has dipped his fangs deeply into our flesh and whose poison is killing us slowly.

The truth is that there can never be any compromise with Sheriff. You cannot compromise with the devil or a snake. You cannot wine and dine or attempt to cohabit with a creature that the great writer and teacher, Mr David Icke, describes as a "shape-shifting sociopath and reptilian".

There can be no fellowship between light and darkness even in politics. You cannot negotiate with a narcissistic megalomaniac who wants your head to be cut off and served to him on a silver platter. Sheriff is working for Buhari to destroy the PDP and he has almost succeeded in his mission.

The only solution to this intractable and difficult problem is for us to continue to fight him in the courts and elsewhere and, if push comes to shove, form another political party, get our members and supporters to join that party and leave the desperate old scavenger to feed on the carcass of the old PDP. Very few people will stay with him because, after some time, carcasses tend to stink and because he is the quintessential plague. After some time even his most die-hard supporters will get sick of him, run away and abandon him.

Permit me to conclude with the following counsel. We must never attempt to appease a bully and a tyrant: it encourages him in his tyranny and it gives him pleasure. To the bully, compromise is seen as nothing more than weakness.
Udenwa, who was earlier granted an administrative bail by the anti-graft agency, was picked up again, in connection with the funds allegedly used to bribe staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to Leadership, an EFCC source revealed that Udenwa, as a state coordinator for the Presidential Campaign Organisation in Imo state, allegedly collected the sum of N350m from Nenadi Usman, a former senator representing Kaduna south and director of finance for the PDP presidential campaign organisation.

The suspect, in his statement to the commission admitted receiving the money via Diamond Bank account No.0058805692 and 005950791 respectively on the 14th and 28th of January 2015 in three separate instalments.

The source also said the former governor had added that the money came from a company named Joint Trust Dimension Limited. This same company was charged alongside Mrs Nenadi Usman and the media director of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani Kayode before the federal high court Lagos on a similar allegation.

Investigations, however revealed that Achike Udenwa and one Viola Onwuliri, a former minister of foreign affairs and state minister for education, who was his deputy at the presidential campaign organisation were the two signatories to the Diamond Bank account that received the money.

Upon his arrest, Udenwa was immediately granted administrative bail by the commission with condition that he should be reporting to the commission at an appointed time. But while enjoying his administrative bail, Udenwa chose to deliberately skip reporting, thereby compelling the commission to revoke his administrative bail pending his arraignment soon.

The ex-minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison Madueke was accused of masterminding the movements of the funds used to bribe the INEC officials.

An ally of the former petroleum minister, Benedict Peters, was also declared wanted by the EFCC for allegedly providing $60m for the purpose.
According to Premium Times, news of the investigation was disclosed by a top government source, quoting intelligence reports.

The source said further that some of the oil installations bombed in the Niger Delta had actually been mined before the 2015 general elections, when Jonathan was still in power, by some militants close to him.

The mining was meant to be a Plan B should they be removed from Aso Rock. The plan then was to cause confusion if the 2015 presidential election did not go as expected, in favour of the then incumbent, the source said.

However, when the former president surprisingly conceded the election to President Muhammadu Buhari, according to the source, there was both disappointment and confusion in the camp of those who had designed the plan, causing a suspension of the whole agenda.

But by February this year, it was learnt, the plan was reopened as several of the backers were getting investigated on different corruption cases. Mr. Jonathan himself was concerned that himself and his wife could be prosecuted, including on money-laundering charges where investigators said evidence against the wife has already been amassed.

It was at that point that the bombing activities under the banner of the Niger Delta Avengers started. Even the former President himself had been reported while on a foreign trip as saying he knew he was under probe. This was after the plan to start the bombing had become fully operational according to intelligence reports, he added.

Jonathan was accused of funding NDA by a splinter group, Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA).
Three (immigration) officers were hit and injured in the fire exchange. The immigration men drove off towards Maiduguri, leaving the traders behind, an army officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The traders two trucks were looted and set alight, Gamboru resident Umar Ari told AFP by phone, also confirming the five deaths.

Since the Maiduguri-Gamboru highway was reopened two months ago convoys of trucks carrying goods and other vehicles conveying traders have been coming to Gamboru under military escort without any incident, said resident Ari.

The Gamboru to Maiduguri highway is a strategic 140-kilometre (87-mile) trade route in the region, and provides an important link with neighbouring Cameroon.
Report said the prisoners had in the early hours of Thursday, rebelled their poor treatment, especially lack of feeding which had become a norm in the prison.

This was said to have escalated when the inmates reach out for deadly objects they could find and attacked prison officers

Consequently, the officers opened fire on the inmates in self-defense, killing many of them, the report said.

It was gathered that it took a combined team of Prison officers, Nigeria police and the Army to stop the violent inmates, who had already subdued the prison guards and were escaping.

ALSO READ: 15 inmates escape from prison in Nsukka

The rioting inmates attempted to escape through an opening they had created on the prison wall before anti-riot policemen heavily tear gassed them into submission, it was learnt.
The group said it will not enter into any form of dialogue with the government if Kanu is not released.

IPOB also expressed confidence that their leader, who is currently standing trial for treason, will not abandon the Biafra struggle.

It also added that the continuous detention of Kanu is a slap on the rule of law and judicial process.

The group said For Buhari to continue to keep Kanu in custody after a court of competent jurisdiction had granted him (Kanu) bail is enough corruption.

They dont know this man called Nnamdi Kanu. They cant intimidate Kanu by dumping him in prison. He cant beg anybody for his freedom.

Accoding to IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful, Instead of our leader to renounce Biafra, he would renounce Nigeria publicly, mark our words.

We are not after securing bail for our leader; we are after his freedom and freedom for the people of Biafra.

Even a child born today knows that any attempt to tamper with Nnamdi Kanus life will bring about catastrophic consequences.

Should anything happen to Kanu, Somalia will be a paradise, compared to what will happen in Nigeria.

We are not asking for anything short of his immediate and unconditional release, as ordered by an Abuja Federal High Court.
For today, August 18 2016:

THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER

Niger Delta Avengers agrees to dialogue with government

The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) is said to have willingly agreed to dialogue with the Federal Government to resolve the lingering crisis in the region. According to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the spokesman for the group, Mr. Ballantyne Agiri, in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, said that the NDA had constituted a contact and dialogue group to engage the Federal Government in meaningful talks. READ MORE

Electricity firms face fresh financing hurdles

The improvement in electricity supply in recent times may be short-lived. This has nothing to do with low generation output when the rains stop or the vandalised gas pipelines, which have not been fixed. Rather it is the huge debt burden weighing down the generation companies. READ MORE

Sheriff kicks as Makarfis tenure is extended

For hours yesterday, security operatives disrupted the planned national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.As early as 5:00 a.m., hundreds of gun-wielding policemen and officials of the Department of State Security (DSS) had barricaded the two main entrances to the Sharks Stadium, venue of the event, with armoured personnel carriers. READ MORE

THE VANGUARD NEWSPAPER

Oil producing states: FG okays 13% derivation fund for Lagos

LAGOSThe Federal Government, yesterday, announced the approval of four of the five Aje Oil wells, discovered in Lagos State and disclosed plans to commence disbursement of 13 per cent derivation fund to the state as an oil producing entity.

Makarfi cttee stays for one year as police halt PDP convention, lock Fayose inside Presidential Lodge

PORT-HARCOURTThe tenure of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP was extended by 12 months, yesterday, after security operatives stopped the party from proceeding with its convention in Port Harcourt. The convention was to produce a new leadership for the party. READ MORE

Why I named my dog Buhari  Trader

The Police in Ogun State, yesterday, released unconditionally, the 30-year-old trader, Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, who was arrested last Saturday for naming his pet dog Buhari. READ MORE

THE NATION NEWSPAPER

Report links Jonathan to Niger Delta Avengers

Despite his denial, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has been allegedly fingered in the formation and activities of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). READ MORE

Ive nothing to do with Avengers, says ex-president

Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan has denied having anything to do with the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). READ MORE

Makarfis term extended as police stop PDP convention

Despite the build-up to it, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convention failed to hold yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. READ MORE

THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER

PDP convention drama: Wike, others shift poll, extend Makarfis term

The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday failed to conduct the election of it national officers. Instead, the party extended the tenure of the Senator Ahmed Markarfi-led caretaker committee by one year. READ MORE

Avengers split over planned dialogue with FG

The Niger Delta Avengers on Wednesday appeared divided over whether or not to engage in a dialogue with the Federal Government over the crisis in the geopolitical zone. READ MORE

No Kanu, no talk with Buhari, says IPOB

The Indigenous People of Biafra on Wednesday said it would not enter into any dialogue with the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari in the absence of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

BUSINESSDAY NEWSPAPER

Brexit decision hits diaspora remittance to Nig., others

Britain's decision to leave the EU is rippling through the global economy via an important but hidden channel: the money that migrant workers in the UK send home to Nigeria and other home countries.

RMAFC visits Lagos to assess request for 13% oil derivation

Lagos is inching close to further boosting its revenues as the Indices and Disbursement Committee of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) is in the state to assess the four Aje Oil Wells in Badagry as a prelude to granting the state right to share from the 13 percent derivation fund exclusive to the nine oil producing states of the federation.

Niger Delta Avengers now willing to dialogue with Federal Government
The contestants had the opportunity to wow the judges with lots of brilliant performances. You can see this for yourself in the video below.

The search continues in Port-Harcourt for the next vivacious, talented and ambitious actor and screen diva.

Are you in Port-Harcourt and still dreaming of starring in a premium Reality TV drama? Well, wake up and head to the Atrium Hall in Port Harcourt today and tomorrow.

Lets Go Port-Harcourt!!! Show the world what you've got; show them your never say never attitude. Get ready to be a Superstar!!!

Stay connected and keep up with exciting moments of the audition by following Malta Guinness on all social media platforms..

Instagram: @maltaguinnessng

Twitter: @MaltaGuinnessNG

Remember to use the hashtag #letsgo #life101 when taking part in the conversations.

Now is the time! Lace up your boots, your journey to superstardom is about to begin!
The Federal Government is said to have moved to investigate the former president and his wife Dame Patience, over the allegations that they are sponsoring the activities of Niger Delta Avengers, the militant group responsible for the bombing of oil installations in the region.

In a statement issued by Jonathan's media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, on Thursday, August 18, the ex-president said the probe report is a figment of the authors' imagination.

The statement reads:

Our attention has been drawn to two stories entitled report links Jonathan to Niger Delta Avengers and FG probes Jonathan over N/Delta bombings published in some newspapers, on Thursday, August 18, 2016, with the claim that some intelligence reports had linked Jonathan to the renewed militancy in the Niger Delta.

We obviously would have ignored the allegation, having responded recently to the exact same fabrication peddled by a shady militant group, but for the new dimension of bringing in the authorities, while hiding under the often-abused journalism latitude of quoting nebulous sources.

Firstly, we note that there were similarities in the stories published same day by the newspapers that are too striking to pass the test of the normal newsroom process of diligent reporting and independent investigation.

We are convinced that such clear coincidences are only permissible in situations where general statements are issued, but not on matters of intelligence/security reports which do not fly into newsrooms as press releases.

We are also concerned that the stories did not differ in content and substance from the trite allegations earlier made by the so- called Reformed Niger Delta Avengers over the same lies of linking Jonathan to the militants.

For instance, we are amazed that newspapers would be quick to report that the intelligence gathering was said to be a confirmation of a similar claim by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND even without subjecting such frivolity to any ethical interrogation.

From what we know about intelligence gathering, there is no responsible government agency that would rush, as claimed in the stories, to adopt the accusations of a questionable rebellious organisation as its own findings, without applying the professional processes of rigour and due diligence.

It is sad that the publications wore the cloak of deceit from same misguided characters that are hell-bent on pulling down the former President, despite his clear record of diligent service to his country and long-standing commitment to the good of society.

There is no doubt that there exist such people who may have scores to settle with the former President but are now feeling frustrated by the fact that his national and international profile has continued to rise, despite their recourse to less- muck- raking character assassination.

Such people will stop at nothing to continue to throw obstacles, albeit futilely, on his path.

We are aware that the same people approached other well-meaning newspapers with the same false information, but they were wise to turn it down on account of its absurdity.

Our media houses should then be careful not to make the country a laughing stock by being hoodwinked into passing off the perverted voices of irritant groups as that of our well respected official security authorities."

The statement warned news organisations not to allow themselves be used by some questionable elements, threatening that they are toying with libel.
Deputy National Secretary of the party, Mr Oji Ngofa, made this known on Wednesday while briefing newsmen on outcome of the partys weekly National Working Committee meeting at its Secretariat in Abuja.

It would be recalled that the state chairman, Mr Isaac Kekemeke, was accused by members in the state of compromising his position and conniving with a party leader, Ahmed Tinubu, to impose a candidate on them.

This led to the removal of Kekemeke and Mr Saka Ogunleye took over as chiarman.

Ngofa said, "we have taken a decision to invite all the aspirants, the state chairman and the state secretary to a meeting here on Saturday at 12 noon.

''At that meeting, we will ensure that everybody is on the same page; what our party Constitution says on primaries, we'll get the confidence of everybody.

''There's no need for crisis in Ondo state. As a party, we are committed to transparent, credible primaries; we have a reputation for that and we will continue to do that.''

He urged the party supporters in the state to remain steadfast and retain confidence in it.

''From what we have seen and read in the newspapers, they seem to think that the state is responsible for primaries, but it is not.

''We at the national level are responsible for the primary and we will go according to the constitution of our party.

''As far as we are concerned, we are not aware of any chairman that is sacked and all that.

''What we are aware of is just a misunderstanding of the processes and that is why we are inviting them here on Saturday to ensure that everybody is on the same page.

''We understand that when you're going for primaries people want to know who the real delegates are; we'll make all that clear and that will be according to our constitution.

''We have read that the state chairman has been accused of altering the delegates list; nobody has such power.
According to the statement, Zakari said:

Faced with circumstances and armed with the legal provisions, INEC, in an attempt to be fair to all, and to move away from the established syndrome of announce the result at any cost and leave it to the courts, usually invokes the relevant sections to declare elections inconclusive, pending determination of the winner through supplementary elections.

It is no longer business as usual for politicians who embark on the direct intimidation of voters and INEC staff not to use the smart card reader to force over voting perpetrate violence through the use of weapons including guns to scare away voters in an attempt to influence outcome of elections.

INEC has come under fire in recent times due to the number of elections it has declared inconclusive.
He said security operatives, with an armoured personnel career, blocked the old Presidential lodge in Rivers state Government House where he lodged, preventing him from going out.

In a statement titled "I was under house arrest in PH - Fayose", and issued by his media aide, Mr Lere Olayinka, the Governor said several appeals to the security team at the gate to allow him attend the convention were shunned.

The statement said: "Fayose Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State has lamented that he was not at the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because he was placed under house arrest at the Old Presidential Lodge, Rivers State Government House where he lodged.

"All entreaties to allow Fayose to step out to attend the convention were rebuffed by the security personnel on ground.

ALSO READ: Sheriff rejects outcome of PDP convention in Port Harcourt, says its illegal

The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Francis Odesanya, however, dismissed Fayose's claims, saying it cannot be true.
A high court sitting in Kubwa, a satellite town in Abuja on Wednesday, August 18, 2016 restrained Sheriff from parading himself as the chairman of the PDP.

The Sheriff-led group has stated that the judgment of the courts does not affect his position as PDP chairman.

Dr Cairo Ojuogboh, the factional deputy chairman of the party while speaking with journalists in Abuja noted that "Sheriff is covered by the provisions of the constitution of the party 2012 which provides that a member of the party from the zone can replace any member of the National Working Committee that quits his position."

He noted that Sheriff will appeal the decision of the court.

"When you are too much in a hurry to kill your enemy, sometimes you kill yourself. Some persons went to justice Ashi and Sheriff was not party to the case. Justice Ashi gave judgement based on what was placed before Justice Ashi.

"Sheriff was not party to it and we have appealed it and asked for stay of execution. In that ruling, Justice Ashi annulled the amendment of the 2014 PDP constitution.

"In annulling it, we go back to 2012 constitution. In that constitution, it is stated that when an NWC member leaves his office by virtue of death or anything, somebody from that particular zone will be nominated and appointed to complete his tenure and continue in office until the next convention. That is what happened. The court annulled the 2014 constitution as amended, it does not affect Sheriff in any way.

"He will now stand on the 2012 constitution. We have taken it back to the court in an appeal. We will have an opportunity to rebuild the PDP, Ojuogboh said.

Recall that Justice Valentine Ashi, had on Wednesday, June 19, 2016 nullified the 2014 amended constitution of the PDP through which Sheriff was appointed chairman.
Speaking on the peace pact between the minister of transportation and former Governor of Rivers, Rotimi Amaechi and Wike, the commissioner also said the opposition needs to accept defeat.

The commissioner also added that "Peace pacts and handshakes by political leaders are good because they have powerful symbolic value. But I think that the APC will have to develop the democratic temper to accept defeat. So it goes beyond standing before a camera man in Abuja."

He said "Governor Wike has taken concrete conciliatory steps to work with everyone, even those in the opposition. He has an office and a special adviser on inter-party relations. The Governors intention is to keep his ears and doors open for cooperation and collaboration. But the APCs response has always been to slam the door shut. They seem to be unable to cooperate, even in the interest of the State. Its an unacceptable behaviour in a democracy."

Commenting on reports of clashes between cultists and the war of words between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tam-George said "I believe that much of that feeling arises from a mischaracterisation of the political reality in Rivers State. Let me spell it out clearly: the reality is that Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is the Governor of Rivers State.

"Everywhere in the world, politics might be a noisy and clamorous affair. But once the votes are counted after the elections, everyone should be able to accept the outcome. In the 2015 general election in Rivers State, Wike was declared as the winner by INEC. His victory was ultimately validated by the Supreme Court in a unanimous judgement.

"Unfortunately, our friends in the All Progressives Congress, APC, seem unwilling to accept this fact. They seem to be philosophically opposed to the reality that they lost the election. I say this with infinite regret because a political party that can only accept victory but not defeat is as close as you could get to political fundamentalism.

And I think that this kind of absolutist politics poses an existential threat to democracy in the country "
Coming on the heels of the successful inaugural edition that held in Lagos earlier this year, the event is intended to empower hotel administrators to run more successful businesses.

The Abuja summit themed Positioning Your Hotel for More Sales is slated to hold on the 31st of August, 2016 at Hotel de Bently, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala road, Abuja.

The summit is expected to play a crucial role in bringing hoteliers together with a view to sharing industry best-practices and recent technological developments that can have a substantial positive impact on their businesses.

The SlimTrader Abuja Hotels summit will bring together hospitality industry experts as well as representatives from leading local and international online travel agencies (OTAs) to discuss key strategies that hotel administrators can employ to drive more visibility for their hotels and sell more room nights while moving their hotel businesses towards improved operational efficiency and growth.

Confirmed speakers at the upcoming event include Michael Ferrari, Market Manager, Expedia Lodging Partner Services; Anders Johansson, Area Manager East & West Africa, Booking.com; Ibrahim Aminu, Head, Consumer Channels & Services, Interswitch; Magaji Buba, GM Commercial, SlimTrader; Mr. Seun Ojo, Vice President, Operations at Hotelnownow.com.

The speakers would deliver presentations and join panel discussions on topics ranging from 'how to improve your hotel's visibility to implementing the right strategies for hotel growth' and so much more.

According to Femi Akinde, the Founder/CEO of SlimTrader, "This event is envisioned to become Nigerias principal platform for hotel managers and owners to learn important strategies to make their businesses even more profitable in these dire economic times. The Lagos event was the biggest forum in recent times for hotels administrators to meet and interact; over 500 hotels were represented at the event.

He disclosed that the summit is holding in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja ensure that important messages reach hotels across the country. He assured that each edition would feature an insightful lineup of presentations and panel discussions.

The event is free to interested hotel owners, managers and finance directors; however pre-registration is compulsory.
A Davenport man was sentenced Thursday to three years in federal prison for possessing a stolen gun that was later used by another man in a fatal shooting in 2015.

Marcello C. Miller Jr., 26, pleaded guilty in April in U.S. District Court, Davenport, to one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon.

Miller was arrested Oct. 2 by Davenport police and initially charged in state court with possession of a dangerous weapon by a felon. Scott County prosecutors dismissed the state charge once the case was moved to federal court.

On Sept. 24, Brandon M. Smith, 29, of Davenport was shot and killed in the 200 block of East Garfield Street.

Two men, Quantrell L. McDaniel, 19, and Dantawn L. Cole, 24, were charged with first-degree murder and going armed with intent in connection with Smith's death.

The gun used in the shooting was found in the attic in the home of Millers girlfriend, according to court documents.

A photo on Cole's phone showed Miller holding the gun on Sept. 11, according to court documents.

The gun was reported stolen from Nichols, Iowa, on Sept. 10.

Miller admitted to police that he possessed the recovered gun, a .22-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun, according to court documents.

In court documents, Millers attorney, Andrew Larson, said that an acquaintance who was in possession of a handgun had gone to the home he shared with his girlfriend on Sept. 11. The acquaintance had taken a picture of Miller holding the gun, Larson said in court documents.

Miller, who has prior felony convictions, is prohibited from possessing or owning a firearm.

Larson said in court documents that there is no evidence or suggestion that Marcello was involved in the murder at all and said Miller was at work when the shooting occurred.

Once he completes his prison term, Miller must serve three years of supervised release.

There is no parole in the federal system.

Miller was charged in federal court in October.

Cole pleaded guilty in March in Scott County District Court to involuntary manslaughter by commission of a public offense and going armed with intent. He will be sentenced Nov. 3.

McDaniel will be tried Oct. 17.
The Bettendorf Police Department is seeking the public's help in identifying a man who robbed Ascentra Credit Union Thursday.

Police were called about 11 a.m. to the credit union at 1710 Grant St.

Police say the man went into the credit union and approached an employee and handed over a note that demanded money.

No weapon was displayed, and no injuries were reported. There were no customers in the credit union at the time of the robbery.

He left the scene with an unspecified amount of money and was last seen heading west on Grant Street.

Police say the suspect is as a black man with medium to light complexion, about 6 feet tall, thin to medium build, with a trimmed beard and mustache. He was wearing a black bucket hat, blue jeans, a black pullover hooded sweatshirt and black Nike shoes.

His vehicle is a light-colored, four-door Chevrolet Impala. No license plate was available.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911.

Ascentra officials said in a media release Thursday that the situation was "effectively handled" and all staff is safe.
Not many people can say their jobs literally saved their lives. But Emily Shenk-DeMay can.

The first thing the 35-year-old Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center employee noticed after waking up from emergency surgery was a bag of blood from her workplace.

"It was rather life-changing, and it was an incredible moment to wake up to," said Shenk-DeMay, who lost a liter of blood during surgery. "I was very grateful to have that."

The Regional Blood Center provides blood products and services to 88 hospitals in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin.

Just like Shenk-DeMay, many people, particularly in the South because of flooding, are in need of more blood donations. This week, the blood center joined a national attempt to ship blood components to community blood centers in New Orleans and southern Louisiana after severe flash floods stagnated local blood drive efforts.

"When everybody is distracted and responding to the flood, the effect of that is they couldn't hold any blood drives," said Kirby Winn, director of public relations of the Davenport-based blood center.

The blood center, along with three other community blood centers, responded by shipping units of O-positive, A-positive and O-negative red blood cells, Winn said.

A blood center not being able to collect blood for a few days can have a huge impact, he said.

"The blood supply is cut off," he said. "But if you think about it, that's just the supply of blood. The use of blood doesn't change; there's still people in hospitals."

Although blood has been shipped to Louisiana, Winn emphasized the blood center always puts local requests for blood first.

"We don't ever send blood to someplace else without knowing for sure that the local needs are being met," he said.

Summer, Winn said, is when donor numbers usually go down, noting that blood supply is tight now and there is a need for more blood donations locally and nationally.

High schools and colleges sponsor blood drives during the school year.

Students are really generous about signing up, but we don't have many of (them) when school is out," he said.

He said potential donors must be in good health, weigh at least 110 pounds, be at least 17 years old or 16 with a signed parental consent form.

Paul Cottrell, 72, of Davenport started donating when he was a 27-year-old school teacher.

Positioned upright with parts of his arm wrapped in red bandage, the retiree has donated more than 17 gallons of blood in 30 years  143 times in all.

"When people say, 'Why do you do that?' I tell them that I've been blessed and the Lord has been very good to me," he said. "If I am healthy, I can certainly do this. This is just a small thing to share blood."

Seated across from Cottrell was 18-year-old Hannah Witt of Eldridge. She has been making trips to blood drives and centers since she was 16.

Her first donation was while attending a blood drive at Park View Lutheran Church.

To put it simply, she said, her motivation to donate blood comes from her choice "to help others."

"I usually donate because I know it can help. My dad had cancer, so I know it can definitely help people," said Witt, who will start her freshman year at Scott Community College when school reopens next week.

"It's something I know that I can go out to do and make an impact," she said. "Donating is definitely the highlight of my day when I come to donate."
WEST LIBERTY, Iowa  A West Liberty dentist was presented the Humanitarian Award from the Academy of General Dentistry during their annual meeting in Boston, Mass., on July 14. Carol L. Moreno, DDS, MAGD, was presented the award which is presented to an individual who contributes voluntary service and a consistent commitment to enhance the image of general dentistry.

Dr. Moreno has spent her career back to her profession, community, and patients. A 1983 graduate of the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, Dr. Moreno maintains a private practice at Gentle Family Dentists, 1205 N. Columbus St., Hwy #5, in West Liberty. She is a member of ADA, the Iowa Dental Association, the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, and other professional associations and organizations.

She volunteered to participate in a sealant program started by Unity Public Health, now Trinity Muscatine Public Health. In 2001, she established a free dental clinic in Muscatine which operated for two years. Dr. Moreno agreed to donate the clinics equipment to the University of Iowa College of Dentistry to provide care for children by dental students.

In addition, she founded the West Liberty Youth Dream Catchers in 2004. The organizations belief is that early empowerment is the key to making a lasting difference in the lives of young people. Five third-graders are selected each year to participate in the Dream Catchers program; students are matched with local volunteers from all walks of life and mentored throughout their participation in the program. Individuals who complete the program and graduate from high school are given a scholarship to attend an institution of higher learning.

Dr. Morenos impact on the dental profession comes from her leadership and perseverance. She has served in various positions within the Iowa AGD including twice as president. Her enthusiasm, commitment, and deep dedication to the profession revitalized the constituent. In 2015, the Iowa AGD received the prestigious Constituent of the Year Award.
The fight against the Islamic State may get the headlines. But it's the military threats from Russia and China that most worry top Pentagon officials -- and are driving a new arms race to deter these great-power rivals.

This question of how to deal with Russian and Chinese military advances has gotten almost no attention in the 2016 presidential campaign. But it deserves a careful look. The programs begun in the waning days of the Obama administration could potentially change the face of warfare, in America's favor, but they would require political support and new spending by the next president.

A drive to build exotic conventional weapons may sound crazy in a world that already has too much military conflict. But advocates argue that strengthening U.S. conventional forces might be the only way to avoid escalation to nuclear weapons if war with Moscow or Beijing began.

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work argued for the new deterrence strategy in a presentation this month to the bipartisan Aspen Strategy Group, amplifying comments he made to me in an interview in February. The approach, awkwardly named the "third offset strategy," would leverage America's technological superiority by creating new weapons that could complicate attack planning by an adversary.

The premise is that as Russia and China modernize their militaries, America must exploit its lead in high-tech warfare. In the world envisioned by Pentagon planners, the U.S. could field an array of drones in the sky, unmanned submarines beneath the seas and advanced systems on the ground that could overwhelm an adversary's battle-management networks. Like the two previous "offsets," battlefield nuclear weapons in the 1950s and precise conventional weapons in the 1970s, this one would seek to restore lost U.S. military dominance.

The concerns prompting the new strategy were previewed by Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at his Senate confirmation hearing in July 2015: "If you want to talk about a nation that could pose an existential threat to the United States, I would have to point to Russia. And if you look at their behavior, it's nothing short of alarming."

China worries some Pentagon officials even more than Russia. A recent study by the Rand Corp., titled "War with China: Thinking Through the Unthinkable," warned: "Improvements in Chinese military capabilities mean that a war would not necessarily go the way U.S. war planners plan it. Whereas a clear U.S. victory once seemed probable, it is increasingly likely that a conflict could involve inconclusive fighting with steep losses on both sides."

Top Pentagon officials say that because of Russian and Chinese advances, the U.S. military's "overmatch" has diminished. Planners can no longer guarantee a president that the U.S. could prevail in the early days of a conventional conflict; they fear that the U.S. might lose "escalation dominance" -- meaning, basically, the ability to call the shots -- in a future confrontation.

Deputy Secretary Work urged European allies in a speech in Brussels in April: "It's time for another doctrinal and conceptual reawakening." He argued that to cope with "an incredibly lethal modern battlefield," the U.S. must maintain "a healthy margin of technological superiority, because an erosion ... might ultimately undermine our conventional deterrence, contribute to crisis instability, and greatly raise the potential cost of any future U.S. military operation."

A glimpse of what could lie ahead, if the next president continues the projects begun by the Obama Pentagon, came in a provocative 2014 study, "Toward a New Offset Strategy," by Robert Martinage of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

Martinage recommended a dizzying new arsenal that would include: a new fleet of unmanned subs; a new array of undersea sensors; "seabed payload pods" that could hide drones underwater until they were needed in a conflict; electromagnetic rail guns and directed-energy weapons; high-energy lasers that could blind enemy sensors, and a range of other new technologies.

"These initiatives would contribute to an effective offset strategy by affordably restoring U.S. power projection capability and capacity, bolstering conventional deterrence ... and imposing costs upon prospective adversaries," Martinage wrote.

Pentagon officials say they decided over the past year to reveal some formerly top-secret weapons programs because the disclosure would complicate Russian and Chinese military planning. But they say they have concealed other programs to preserve warfighting effectiveness in any future conflict.

U.S. officials contend that this push to offset Russian and Chinese gains will have a stabilizing effect in great-power relations, rather than a destabilizing one. But in an unsettled world, this issue deserves broader debate during the presidential campaign.
There's still time for dozens of area families to sign up their children and teens for the Aug. 22 through 26 visit of the Delta Dental mobile van this year.

More than that, the late August visit also is a reminder for all families and all ages to consider dental checkups before the fall and winter season.

It's the second visit this year for the mobile van that treats youngsters through age 20.

It provides restorative and preventive dental treatment for children who do not have a regular dental home, have not seen a dentist for two years or who have been treated previously by the clinic.

The clinic accepts Medicaid, dental insurance, Native American health insurance, as well as children with no insurance. No child is turned away for inability to pay.

Host for the twice-yearly visits of the van is St. James Episcopal Church. The van parks next to the church

Scheduling and more information on the program are handled through the Butte County community health nurse office.

Health Nurse Kristi Watson said the program is a way for area children to begin their important regular visits for dental health.

She said even the youngest of children can benefit from early visits to the dentist to learn that dental health is important for overall health.

Watson said people can call or drop into her office to make appointments.

The sooner the better, she said, so that staff at the clinic can be scheduled to best serve young people on this visit.

For scheduling or more information, call the health nurse's office 605/892-2523. The office is in the plaza along the highway in front of the AmericInn Motel.

Mike Weaver of the host church organization said appointments should be made early so the dental staff can be assigned to coverage.

The Belle Fourche St. James Episcopal Church has been site sponsor for all of the clinic visits. Parish members provide a facility, and arrange appointments and communications.

Weaver said that the host church not only works well with Delta Dental and the county health nurse, it also works well with Belle Fourche schools to help see that children who need dental care will receive it as soon as possible, no matter their family economic situation.

For nearly a dozen years the church has continued as host for the dental care clinic.

"We were looking for an outreach," he said.

Talks with the county health nurse at the time helped to convince the church, Weaver said. "There really was a need for this."

Starting in 2006, the church contracted with Delta Dental to bring the mobile clinic to Belle Fourche.

The church found sponsors, volunteers, worked with local dental clinics that provided volunteer professional services - and the Butte County Health Nurse office to promote the local clinics through the school district.

On average, each Belle Fourche visit of the van cares for about 60 patients and an average of more than $35,000 in free dental care.

Weaver said just through 2014, 843 patients were seen in eight years, bringing a value of $353,257 in treatment for children and young adults in the Belle Fourche community.

Need for the dental services are shown that the big van initially only made one trip a year to the community from 2006 to 2008. The church members saw that wasn't enough time to meet the mission of the project. That meant a need for more time and cash donations.

The church has worked with local donors and foundations to keep the project running.

So far, that's been about $36,500 annually that grew in value to the community's health services.

St. James also provided use of their parish hall for anything the mobile clinic required. That ranged from the kitchen facilities to the actual meeting space where office and dental care stations could be set up.

Weaver said the church membership is proud of a project that has served so many young people in the community and drawn significant support to help finance the dental care.

The two Belle Fourche dental clinics have each donated dozens of hours of professional skills to the project as well as visiting volunteer dental staff.

The big van serves as a reminder for all families to consider dental care with local clinics.

Belle Fourche was one of the first in the area to work with Delta Dental. Since then there have been mobile clinic visits in Newell, Faith, Spearfish, Sturgis, Whitewood, Union Center, Buffalo, Bison and Lemmon as well as elsewhere in the Black Hills.
The man charged with the attempted murder of a South Dakota highway trooper has requested to move his jury trial out of Pennington County, saying local publicity has jeopardized his chance at a fair trial.

An attorney for 34-year-old Donald Willingham, in a July court filing, asked the Seventh Circuit Court for a change in trial venue.

The pretrial publicity concerning this case has been extensive, said Willinghams lead counsel, Dennis Doherty, citing newspaper, television, radio and online reports, as well as community activities in support of injured trooper Zachary Bader.

It would be unusual to locate someone local who has not been exposed to the pervasive publicity surrounding this arrest and prosecution, Doherty wrote.

Willingham, a resident of Renton, Wash., was initially charged along with three other individuals. Authorities say the group was driving along Interstate 90 in Pennington County last Oct. 24, when Trooper Bader initiated a traffic stop that led to the discovery of drugs and ultimately to his assault. Bader was struck and knocked out on the side of the interstate; he required significant medical care after the attack but has recovered.

In April, the court granted Willinghams request to sever his case from that of his co-defendants because they had made incriminating statements against him. The following month, the three entered into plea agreements with prosecutors, which included testifying against Willingham.

Doherty, in his filing at the Pennington County Court, also said that recent conduct by one of Willinghams former co-defendants put this case back on the news, and back in the chat rooms.

Chase Sukert, 24, of Renton, Wash., lost control of his car and crashed while driving 122 mph on a Washington interstate in June, according to police there.

The prosecution has not yet decided whether to challenge Willinghams change of venue request. Pennington County States Attorney Mark Vargo told the Journal his team will let the judge and the defense know what our position is at a hearing today.

If prosecutors opposed his request, Doherty asked the court for additional time to submit materials in support of a change in venue.

Willingham is being detained at the Pennington County Jail on a $5 million bond, while the other defendants are out on bail.
Three years after Native American families filed a lawsuit against state officials over the handling of cases involving their children, the end of a phase was imminent Wednesday as lawyers from both sides made final arguments in Rapid City federal court.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said the Seventh Circuit Court, state Department of Social Services and Pennington County States Attorneys Office have made no fundamental changes in Native American childrens temporary custody hearings despite a federal judges findings in March of 2015.

Chief Judge Jeffrey Viken, of the South Dakota District Court, at the time found that local court procedures violated Native peoples rights. This included not advising parents they had a right to contest the states petition for temporary custody and not requiring the state to present sworn testimony from a live witness.

Viken had asked the defendants to offer recommendations on how the emergency removal hearings, or "48-hour hearings," can be fixed. The judge wanted to use this as a guide for an order he will be issuing, but on Wednesday said he has not received any recommendations.

Defense lawyers for the Seventh Circuit Court and States Attorneys Office told Viken their clients have already instituted changes since his 2015 findings. The DSSs attorney, meanwhile, said the department has always respected Native rights in the removal process.

Among the issues Viken is expected to address in his forthcoming order is whether the federal court will appoint a monitor to watch over the custody hearings, as requested by the plaintiffs. Viken did not say when his order will be released.

An issue that will be taken up in future hearings is the plaintiffs claim that the DSS has failed to train its workers on the requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Mick Gibbs has resigned as president of Rapid City Regional Hospital and Market.

Regional Health officials said the resignation was effective Tuesday.

Dennis Millirons will take over as interim president on Monday. According to a news release, Millirons was most recently president of Sanford Medical Center in Fargo, N.D., and has more than 40 years of experience "leading successful hospitals and healthcare systems."

"I would like to thank Mick for his contributions to Regional Health and wish him the best in his future endeavors," Paulette Davidson, COO of Regional Health, said in a written statement. "Please join me in thanking Mick for his service and extending a warm welcome to Dennis."
They say that you can learn as much by what people dont say as by what they do say.

That certainly applies to the proponents of Initiated Measure 22, who have been very quiet about how the measure would force taxpayers to fund political campaigns.

Yes, you read that right. The measure creates a deceptively worded Democracy credit program" in which up to $12 million of our tax dollars are made available for some citizens to give to some politicians. Each citizen can give up to two $50 credits to their favored politicians.

Now, you might say, I dont want to participate with those democracy credits, so it wont affect me. Unfortunately, it will.

If your neighbor uses $100 in democracy credits to support his favored politicians, where will that $100 come from?

It will come from the same taxes you, your parents, your siblings, your spouse, your coworkers and all other South Dakotans paid. It will come from the taxes that would pay for repairing our streets, maintaining our schools, and hiring our police and rescue workers.

In short, all taxpayers will pay for public funding, and a few will get to choose which politicians we all will support.

Public funding may sound like a nice way to level the playing field, but its really just a way to change where the money comes from. Currently, your neighbor voluntarily supports the candidates he believes in with the money he earns. Under Measure 22, he and every other participant in this scheme get to force us to support the candidates they like.

The proponents of Measure 22 like to tell us that it likely wont cost much more than $4 million because only a minority of South Dakotans will participate. Thats a rather disappointing justification. Spending even $2 million so that all South Dakotans can subsidize the political giving of a few South Dakotans would be outrageous.

The proponents of Measure 22 are selling their proposal as a panacea for some real problems in South Dakota government. Listen closely  what they dont tell you is how taxpayer funding of campaigns will fix the problems they address.

While most people share their concerns with corruption and transparency, dumping taxpayer money into political campaigns is not the answer. In fact, if anything taxpayer money opens up new opportunities for corruption. That has been the case in multiple states that have ventured down this road.

In Arizona, a candidate spent over $100,000 in public funds on parties and restaurants. After being caught, he was ordered to pay back all the funds but only returned $15,000. In Maine, the Green Party ran a candidate merely to get access to public funds. In NYC, candidates gave public funds to a for-profit company to evade contribution limits.

Perhaps this is why proponents of Measure 22 dont talk so much about the Democracy credit program  they know they dont have good answers for it.

Next time you hear the proponents of Measure 22 talk about what they think it will do, listen to what they dont say. And then, ask them if billing taxpayers for robo calls and TV ads is really the answer to our states problems.
WASHINGTON | If you thought the old Donald Trump campaign was wild and crazy, just wait for the new Trump campaign now that Breitbart's Steve Bannon has taken over as chief executive.

The new leadership  with Bannon and pollster Kellyanne Conway displacing Paul Manafort of the Ukranian Connection at the top of the heap  is likely to steer Trump even more in the direction of the European far right. It also tells you something that Bannon sees Sarah Palin, about whom he made a laudatory documentary, as a model for anti-establishment politics.

Bannon is close to Nigel Farage, the former head of the right-wing UK Independence Party, who offered "massive thanks" to Breitbart News for supporting the party's successful campaign on behalf of Britain's departure from the European Union.

Judging from Bannon's history, Trump's campaign will become even harsher in its attacks on Hillary Clinton and work hard to insinuate anti-Clinton stories into the mainstream media. Bloomberg Businessweek's Joshua Green quoted Bannon proudly declaring in mid-2015: "We've got the 15 best investigative reporters at the 15 best newspapers in the country all chasing after Hillary Clinton."

And count on Trump to ramp up his appeals to Bernie Sanders' supporters and the left. Pushing his anti-Clinton film "Clinton Cash" in May, Bannon said he wanted progressives to "understand how the Clintons, who proclaim that they support all your values, essentially have sold you out for money." In his conversation with Farage, Bannon expressed great interest in the role played by left-of-center voters in Brexit's victory.

A Trump press release Wednesday bragged about the headline on Green's important Businessweek article describing Bannon as "the most dangerous political operative in America." The new CEO poses dangers not only to Clinton, but also to Republicans like House Speaker Paul Ryan who have been tiptoeing around their party's nominee by simultaneously criticizing him and endorsing him. Bannon has no use for Ryan. A December piece Bannon co-authored began: "Paul Ryan's first major legislative achievement is a total and complete sell-out of the American people masquerading as an appropriations bill."

Bannon could thus speed the defection of longtime GOP officeholders, while Senate and House campaigns are likely to become even more distant from Trump. In his past endeavors, Bannon targeted not only Clinton but also Jeb Bush. Trump's relations with the Bush wing of the party could hardly be worse, but Bannon is likely to make them impossible.

There is much good news but one piece of bad news for Clinton in the Trump shakeup. The bad news is that she is likely to have to play more defense, especially if Bannon builds on his success in enticing reporters at non-conservative media outlets to work on stories damaging to her.

Trump seems determined to fight through the campaign on his own terms. This reduces the chances that he will drop out of the presidential race, which, in turn, means that Clinton is more likely to avoid what would be the biggest blow to her chances: a Trump withdrawal and the naming of a new GOP candidate.

Trump's campaign is also likely to look more extreme, which cannot help the flailing candidate in the suburban, highly educated precincts in states such as Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado and North Carolina where he is hemorrhaging more upscale Republican votes. Bannon's fascination with Palin, who turned off many such voters to John McCain after he chose her as his running mate in 2008, could aggravate rather than ease this problem.

Bannon's rise dramatizes the catastrophe GOP establishmentarians brought upon themselves by imagining that they could use the far right for their own purposes while somehow keeping it tame. Bannon's European interests suggest he is far more impressed by right-wing third parties than by traditional Republicanism. He believed the anti-establishment rhetoric that Republican politicians deployed but never really meant when they were attacking President Obama. Now, the GOP faces the possibility of a real split.

It fell to Palin in her January endorsement of Trump to tell the party establishment off: "We are mad, and we've been had. They need to get used to it." They are unlikely to get used to Bannon.
In 2009, the state of South Dakota received $23.7 million in stimulus funds from the Department of Energy to promote energy-efficient buildings.

As part of the deal, the states that accepted the money agreed to adopt by 2017 energy building code requirements for commercial and residential projects that would promote energy conservation.

South Dakota, however, has failed to take a step that many other states have taken and enact statewide building codes. The $23.7 million, meanwhile, was spent on state-owned facilities for energy projects, said Michele Farris, the state energy manager.

Now as the 2017 deadline nears, some in the building industry are asking the state to comply with the agreement it made when it accepted the money from the Department of Energy.

The governors office has responded by saying the money was properly spent without indicating whether it will take steps to create uniform building requirements for the state.

Setting aside the discouraging notion that state government did not share any of the $23.7 million it received to help residents make their homes more energy efficient when the economy was in a recession, its hard to understand why the state would not honor its agreement with the federal government. Its even harder to understand why there is so little apparent interest in promoting energy efficiency.

According to the Department of Energy, 41 percent of energy consumption and 72 percent of electrical usage in this nation occurs in residential and commercial buildings. More energy-efficient buildings means lower utility bills, which saves homeowners and businesses money that can be spent for goods or to boost payroll or to be saved for a rainy day.

Why wouldn't the state want to take steps that in the long run save its citizens and businesses money? Who or what is harmed by energy efficiency?

Builders are among those who want to see a statewide building code.

Kasey Abbott, president of Direct Digital Control of Sioux Falls, an electrical company, is among those lobbying for legislation for an energy code that commercial builders would be required to meet.

Those standards would include, for example, better insulation, better heating and cooling units, and more efficient lighting standards, requirements that are becoming more common across the nation and embraced by consumers and builders, who say a uniform code would create a level playing field in the state.

State government needs to work with builders and others to develop building codes that lead to energy efficiency without burdening consumers. Folks who live in this part of the country are often proud of their frugal ways and don't like to see anything wasted. Why would energy be any different?
Investigators still havent pinned down the cause of a fire that burned down 16 homes and blackened thousands of acres southwest of Hamilton.

Ravalli County Undersheriff Steve Holton said investigators determined on Aug. 4 that the Roaring Lion Fire started on the trail system, but they are still sifting though clues to determine if fire was a result of negligence.

This fire had such a huge impact on this community and really impacted the quality of life of so many residents, we want to preserve the integrity of this case if we need to prosecute it, Holton said. We have a lot of leads, but there is still a lot of work that remains to be done.

The sheriffs office is working with U.S. Forest Service investigators to determine the cause and whether there was negligence.

If anyone has any information about the cause of the fire, Holton urges them to step forward. People with information can call the sheriffs office or use the sheriffs department computer app. If they want to remain anonymous, they can submit their tips through CrimeStoppers at 406-721-4444.

We will follow up on all the leads that we get, Holton said. Once we are at a place where we can release more information without jeopardizing the case, we will do so. We want to be able to bring some closure to this fire for our community.

The only roadblock that remains on Roaring Lion is at the Springhill Road intersection.

Holton said that will remain for the foreseeable future as both a safety measure for the public and for protection of those who have lost homes.

All the trailheads up Roaring Lion remain closed to the public due the dangerous conditions caused by the fire.

Weve recently had a prime example of the danger of these fires in the tragic case of a local firefighter being killed in Nevada, Holton said. He was a trained person who was killed by a falling snag. There are a multitude of those up there right now.

Weve been fortunate that we have not had a serious injury on this fire so far, he said. Thats a testament to the safety practiced by firemen. We dont want to see that happen at the end of this event.
When John and Anita Andre built their home on Judd Creek Hollow in 2002, they were certain that they had moved to the most beautiful place in the Bitterroot Valley.

The house was surrounded by 30 acres of Ponderosa Pine forest that was home to elk, deer, turkeys and a variety of other wild things. This was the investment that would see them into their retirement years.

One Sunday afternoon changed all of that.

Anita Andre will never forget the fear she felt as the Roaring Lion Fire raced toward her house.

My husband and I had been camping, she said Wednesday as she walked toward the charred remains of her garage. We followed a sheriffs car up the road and raced into our home to grab what we could.

By the time they came back outside, the fire was rushing down the mountain straight at them.

It was like a blow torch, Andre remembered. It sounded like a lions roar. I froze and my husband started yelling: Jump in the car. Jump in the car. Lets get out of here.

Andre said shes been through many harrowing experiences in her life. She and her husband were outfitters in Saskatchewan and they have had numerous close calls, but nothing compared to this.

The two of us had nightmares all week long after it was over, she said.

Only seven of the 18 homes on Judd Creek Hollow were left standing following the fire.

Andre believes their home survived because of the patch of green grass that her husband had carefully cultivated and the thinning they had done to their forested lands.

I think the thinning had a huge impact, she said. Most of the homes that survived also had some grass around them.

The Andres lost their garage to a fire that burned so hot that a fireproof safe completely disappeared. The once honey-colored cedar siding on the outside of their home is now several shades darker due to the smoke. The smell of smoke is so strong inside that Andre believes it will be Thanksgiving or maybe Christmas before they can move home.

And thats not their only worry.

On their forested lands, trees with burned out roots are toppling in the wind.

We have trees that are just falling down, Andre said. Weve been told that if the trees still have 25 percent of their crown, theres a possibility that they will live. We figure that weve lost 608.

Right now, were just trying to regroup, she said. This was our investment for what was going to happen next in our lives. Weve lost some of the value of our property. We are hoping to get as much salvaged as quickly as possible.

Thayer Jacques of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Hamilton Unit is helping landowners assess their losses on their forested lands.

Im only at my second place so far, but from what Ive seen, its mainly salvage, Jacques said. Im seeing a little green on trees that might be enough to survive. Some people are better off than others, but so far there is definitely more salvage than survival. This was a pretty hot fire in here. It was devastating.

Landowners who have been impacted by the fire wont have a lot of time to decide which trees stay and which ones will have to be removed if they hope to preserve any of the value that remains in the timber.

Pine tends to rot faster, Jacques said. They need to get it before next summer. Once the wind starts to blow, there are going to be some trees that break off. In terms of preserving those values, landowners will want to get that salvage work done quickly.

If they are able to get the burned trees harvested quickly, Jacques said most should at least be able to break even on the costs of having them removed.

Local logger Shawn Stoker has been helping landowners along Judd Creek Hollow thin their properties since 2005.

Part of me is suffering a big loss, too, Stoker said. Ive been over every square inch in this area over and over doing pruning and cleanup. Ive made all kinds of relationships along the way.

In the places where landowners allowed him to create a 10-foot spacing between the crown of the trees, Stoker said there were quite a few trees that survived the firestorm.

On places where people wanted me to leave it a little tighter for views and sound, it was just annihilation, he said. A lot of these people were very private. They enjoyed the closeness of their trees.

For years, Ive struggled to get people to let me lose a few more close to their homes. A fire here is not an if. Its when and how bad.

Those private lands closer to the national forest boundary  where there had been no thinning  were devastated.

They didnt have a chance, he said. The wind was coming right out of the canyon. It was the perfect storm for that area that I had hoped wouldnt come this soon.

Stoker has already heard from 22 landowners interested in cleanup.

Its important to let people get settled before we jump back in there, he said. I know how it feels to suffer loss. People need a chance to grieve and a chance to get stabilized.

The Andres were initially told their home was one that hadnt survived the fire. On the day that officials allowed homeowners access to their properties, they drove past the smoldering ruins of their neighbors homes to the entrance of their lane.

There was so much smoke, Andre said. We couldnt see our home as we drove down the lane. As we pulled into the driveway, it was like someone pushed the smoke off to either side and we saw it was still there.

After quickly gathering some family heirlooms, the family drove away.

On our way out, we saw this 4x5 whitetail buck standing where a house used to be, she said. We saw that it had come back. It made us feel like we could do the same. God gave us this chance to come back and do this.

She looks out across the charred remains of her garage to the blackened forest that goes as far as the eye can see and slowly shakes her head.

Well see, she said. Well see.
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So fight nice, kids.


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Amistad/Harper Collins PublishersEarth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White died in February at age 74 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease, but before he passed, he wrote a book sharing the story of his life and his award-winning group's rise to fame. The autobiography, titled Maurice White: My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire, is set to be published on September 13.

The memoir details the adversities and triumphs Maurice experienced throughout his life, including his mother leaving him at age four in Memphis, where he was raised by his grandmother; learning to play drums with childhood friend Booker T. Jones; playing with the Ramsey Lewis Trio in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles; and, of course, his many adventures with his pioneering and successful funk/pop/soul/R&B group Earth, Wind & Fire. In the book, White also recounts his work with such stars as Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond, and dealing with the challenges of Parkinson's.

Maurice White: My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire features a foreword by composer and producer David Foster and an introduction by TV host and comic Steve Harvey.

"To the readers of this book you need to know that EW&F is simply the greatest living group in my lifetime," writes Harvey. "No one put together lyrics to a melody like they did; no one put harmony to sound and rhythm like they did; no one added horns in the way that they did and no one, but no one messed with our minds about love and life like they did."

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
MUMBAI, Aug 18: Bollywood actoress Nargis Fakhri has allegedly been cheated of around Rs 600,000 through fraudulent use of her credit card in the United States, police said today.

The actress filed a complaint in this connection at Juhu Police Station earlier this week.

About 14 transactions, amounting to over Rs 600,000 were made through the actresss credit card in the US, an official at the Juhu Police Station said. Fakhri was in Mumbai when the incident happened. The official said the card was used to withdraw money and not for other purposes like shopping.

The concerned bank is still to inform the police about the fraudulent transactions, the official added. Police is also probing as to why the bank did not initiate any action when the transactions went on for 4 hours, he said.
Turkish police on Thursday detained 10 senior figures in a far-left militant group that has in the past targeted Turkish and U.S. interests, Dogan news agency reported.

Police raided a home in the Istanbul suburb of Sancaktepe after determining that key members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), an armed Marxist group, had all gathered there, the privately run agency said.

They seized electronic data held by the members that Dogan identified as regional leaders of the outlawed group, it said.

The outlawed DHKP-C is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union and has staged suicide attacks against Turkish police and the U.S. Embassy in recent years. Kurdish militants and religious radicals, including Islamic State, are also active in Turkey.
Guwahati, August 17 : Militant groups of North East India had used minors as sleeper cell to triggered explosions and it was came to light after Assam police had apprehended two minors who worked for militants.

Based on intelligence input Tinsukia district police on Wednesday had apprehended two minors who worked as sleeper cell for Paresh Baruah alias Paresh Asom led United Liberation Front of Asom (Independence).

'The minors revealed that they had installed the Improvised Explosive Device (IED)' s which were exploded in five different areas in Oil and Tea rich Upper Assam's Tinsukia and Sivsagar district on August 15 as the state

celebrating Independence Day,' a top police official said.

'Both minors were engaged by ULFA(I) militants as sleeper cell,aA the police official said.

Six' s exploded in the two Upper Assam's districts on August 15 morning as the state celebrating Independence Day.

The police official said that, it is very unfortunate and dangerous incident as an outfit group used minors as their sleeper cell and installed IED' s by them.

*(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)*
Kathmandu, Nepal: A French national has gone missing from western Nepal since in August 7.

According to the reports Melanie Guerin, 35 has gone missing from the Pokhara. Earlier, it was believed that she would have left for Lumbini.

However, police have suspected of missing after her belongings including passport, identity card and clothes were found at the beginning point along the Highway.

Melanie Guerin , who had given herself a Nepali name Tara, was scheduled to fly to France from the Tribhuvan International Airport on August 11.
PARSA, Aug 18: The police in Parsa Thursday arrested a man on the charge of murdering his teenage daughter.

Shiba Mukhiya Bin of Mahadevpatti of Parsa was taken into police custody for allegedly murdering his 14- year-old daughter Prabha Kumari.

The accused is suspected to have murdered his daughter on Wednesday night, District Police Office Parsa's Superintendent of Police Raju Babu Shrestha said. The police recovered the body of Mukhiya's daughter from the no-man's-land along the Nepal-India border near Mahadevpatti VDC of the district.

The motive behind the murder is yet to be known and investigation is underway, SP Shrestha said. RSS
"I would like to say 'This book is written to the glory of God', but nowadays this would be the trick of a cheat, i.e., it would not be correctly understood."--Ludwig Wittgenstein



"Talk to me about the truth of religion, and I'll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I'll listen submissively. But don't come talking to me about the consolation of religion or I shall suspect that you don't understand."--C.S. Lewis
sacw.net - 18 August 2016

The people of Kashmir have tried, time and again, to translate themselves from passive recipients of violence, legitimated by legislations of the physically and psychologically removed parliaments of India and Pakistan, into subjects who recognize that they can exercise agency and take control of their destinies. They march forward with a refusal to allow history to be imposed on them, and attempt to take charge of their own social and political destinies. The confluence of religious nationalism, secular nationalism and ethnic nationalism create the complexity of the Kashmir issue.

Over the years, successive Congress governments of the Indian Union may have made attempts to highlight the purported illegitimacy of Article 370, but they have taken no serious measures to revoke it from the Constitution of India. Surprisingly, even the Hindu right-wing BJP, when it assumed power in New Delhi in the late 90s, avoided succumbing to the pressure put on it by its more fanatical cohorts to eradicate the special status enjoyed by the Muslim-dominated state of J& K. Of course, the Narendra Modi-led BJP is a different story. Indiaas policy vis-A -vis Kashmir was influenced by other variables. Pakistanas formal political alignment with the United States of America motivated the Soviet Union, in the 1950s, to overtly support the Indian stance towards Kashmir. The Soviet premier Khrushchev made explicit his governmentas pro-India position on Kashmir in 1955, when he belligerently declared in Srinagar, the heartland of the Kashmir Valley.

The insurgency in J & K, which has extracted an enormous price from the people of the state, was generated by the systemic erosion of democratic and human rights, discrimination against the Muslims of the Valley, socioeconomic marginalization, relegation of the right to self-determination to the background, etc. While the rebellion may have been incited by Indiaas political, social and economic tactlessness, it has been sustained by military, political, and economic support from Pakistan. Proponents of the independence of the state of J & K are just as stridently opposed to Pakistanas administration of aAzada Kashmir as they are to Indiaas administration of J & K.

The current protests in Kashmir are being led by a generation that has known only conflict, political turmoil, and politicoeconomic instability. There is a lot of anger and resentment in this generation because no serious attempt has been made by the Government of India to mitigate the conflict while recognizing the constitutional and legal rights of the people of Kashmir. The complacency of the federal government in times of relative calm is culpable. Given the militarization and rabid fragmentation of Kashmiri society, it is necessary for the Government of India necessary to evoke pluralism in the face of divisive politics, instead of pushing people to the wall by the imposition of a monolithic nationalism, defined by the Hindutva agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modias government. The unfinished business of the powers to be on both sides of the Line of Control (India and Pakistan) to ride roughshod over the history of Kashmiri nationalism and the evolution of a political consciousness in Kashmir, which began much before 1989, cannot continue unabated. It also becomes necessary for federal countries to reassess and reevaluate their policies vis-A -vis border states. The restoration of the autonomous status of J & K would be a viable beginning and would resuscitate rule of law and political self-determination.

Instead of deterring the growth of democracy and depoliticizing the people, the goal should be to empower the populace of Jammu and Kashmir sufficiently to induce satisfaction with the Kashmir constituencyas role within current geopolitical realities such that a dis-empowered populace does not succumb to ministrations of destructive political ideologies. In addition to addressing the political aspect of democracy, it is important to take cognizance of its economic aspect as well. I have brought up this idea in my presentation at a couple of conferences, and I reinforce that perhaps it is time to seriously consider a new regional order which would be capable of producing cross-economic, political, and cultural interests among the people of the region. I believe that people in civic associations and in government should lead the way toward a peaceful pluralistic democracy and support international negotiations for a sustainable peace in the region. All these opinions, by the way, were formed during the course of my research which, at times, entailed painful reappraisals.

The purportedly autonomous status of J & K has always provoked the ire of the Hindutva nationalist parties, which sought the unequivocal integration of the state into the Indian Union.

The unitary concept of nationalism that the BJP and the RSS subscribe to challenge the basic principle that the nation was founded on, namely, democracy. In such a nationalist project, one of the forms that the nullification of past and present histories takes is the subjection of religious minorities to a centralized and authoritarian state buttressed by nostalgia of a aglorious past.a The unequivocal aim of the supporters of the integration of J & K into the Indian Union was to expunge the political autonomy endowed on the state by Indiaas constitutional provisions. According to the unitary discourse of sovereignty disseminated by Hindutva nationalists, J & K was not entitled to the signifiers of statehood a a prime minister, flag and constitution. The concept of nationalism constructed by the BJP and the RSS breeds relentless violence and the delusions of militant nationalisms. The militarization of the region, ecological and economic plunder, negation of legal procedures, and lack of infrastructure has fuelled the hitherto restrained resentment and anger in the state. The use of pellet guns to disperse dissident crowds is particularly condemnable, especially when innocent civilians get caught in the line of fire.

The atmosphere of paranoia and mistrust is exacerbated by the frightening attempts of Hindu fundamentalist groups to rewrite Indian history and the recasting of Pakistani history by Islamist organizations: efforts to radically redefine Indian and Pakistani societies in the light of ritualistic Hinduism and Islam, respectively. Writing about this anti-historical attitude, Kai Friese reported in the New York Times that in November 2002, the National Council of Education Research and Training, which is the central government organization in India that finalizes the national curriculum and supervises education of high school students, circulated a new textbook for the social sciences and history. The textbook conveniently overlooks the embarrassing fact that the architect of Indian independence, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist in 1948, a year after the proclamation of independence. Friese also points out that Indian history has been embellished with some interesting fabrications, one of which is the erasure of the Indus Valley civilization and the conjuring up of a mythical aIndusaSaraswatia civilization in its stead. This is a strategic maneuver to transform a historical civilization into a mythical one. The chapter on the Vedic civilization in the history textbook lacks important dates and is inundated with uncorroborated afacts,a such as: aIndia itself was the original home of the Aryans. The Aryans were an indigenous race and the creators of the Vedasa (Friese 2002). Similarly, mainstream Pakistani history portrays the movement for the creation of the nation-state of Pakistan as a movement for an Islamic state, the carving out of which became a historic inevitability with the first Muslim invasion of the subcontinent. This version of Pakistani history establishes the Islamic clergy as the protagonists of the movement for the creation of a theocratic state (Hoodbhoy and Nayyar 1985: 164a77). Such propaganda to further narrow agendas makes it impossible to hold informed debates on issues of political and religious import. Jingoistic textbooks and biased interpretations negate the possibility of reaching a national consensus regarding Kashmir.

Nyla Ali Khan is a member of Scholars Strategy Network. She is the author of Fiction of Nationality in an Era of Transnationalism, Islam, Women, and Violence in Kashmir, The Life of a Kashmiri Woman, and the editor of The Parchment of Kashmir. She is editor of the Oxford Islamic Studiesa special issue on Jammu and Kashmir. She can be reached at nylakhan[at]aol.com
Japanese filmmaker Sono Sion made a lot of movies in 2015. Before the year was up, Sono had no less than six films on cinema screens around the world at festivals and back home in Japan. So far the only one to get any kind of proper release in the English speaking world, though, is his musical kaiju fantasy Love & Peace, and it is really something special.

The film revolves around a quirky cast of characters led by Hasegawa Hiroki (the exuberant lead from Why Don't You Play in Hell?) as Suzuki Ryoichi. Ryo is a salaryman working at a music parts distributor who dreams of rock stardom. Unfortunately for him, he's very shy and has no social skills at all. When he adopts a baby turtle at his lowest emotional point, it becomes the impetus for a newfound enthusiasm for life and his buddy, named Pikadon (the Japanese diminutive for the A-Bomb), seems to love him just as much.

One day when his secret joy is discovered by his cruel and petty workmates, Ryo abandons Pikadon in an instantly regretted attempt to regain his masculinity. However, this rash decision backfires and he immediately suffers a complete emotional shutdown. However, as sometimes happens in the movies, strange events begin to occur and the story of Pikadon and Ryo is far from over.

Before I tell you what I thought of the film, here's what Jason Gorber said in his review from Fantasia 2015:

The show of Love & Peace is that it's both coherent, entertaining, and still contains much of what his darkest genre fans like about his work. It's a superficially silly film that you could show your kids, but it remains more dark and insane than anything else they've likely seen from any other filmmaker.

I loved Love & Peace, and think it may well be Sono's most unabashedly entertaining, and thus perhaps his most successful film. It's ambitious and silly, perfectly blending the surreal with the saccharine to create something that's simply a joy to watch.

While I don't often agree with Mr. Gorber, in this case it's hard to argue. Love & Peace is somehow vintage Sono in its obsessions, the level of creativity, and the amped up level of energy involved in the production. The surprise is that the film is also completely SFW, unlike Sono's most notorious work. I don't think I've smiled quite as consistently and earnestly at a film so far this year. As the father in a kaiju obsessed family, I cannot wait to show this film to my own son, who knows more about Godzilla than I ever will.

Love & Peace shows a side of Sono that we kind of knew was there. In films like Himizu and Land of Hope, Sono's optimism has been given voice with varying levels of success; however, those films nearly drown in their own overwrought earnestness. In between the melodrama, though, there are moments of shining joy in each, and in Love & Peace Sono manages to successsfully string together an entire film packed with those moments and it is a thing of beauty.

The Disc:

Love & Peace is presented on Blu-ray by Third Window Films in a pristine presentation that has no technical faults that I was able to see. I see no real reason to harp on about A/V details when the thing is perfect. Color is great, detail and clarity are great, and the surround DTS-HD audio track is quite good with decent separation.

There are only two extras on the disc, but I was more than satisfied with what Third Window presented. One of the extras is the trailer, which is no big deal, but the other extra is a little bit of a spoiler (if you ask me), so I'll try to describe it without giving away too much. There is a 25 minute featurette that follows the FX creation for a couple of crucial scenes in the film. We get to see Sono's FX shop planning, building, and executing some amazing miniature and tokusatsu work for Love & Peace. Honestly, the main reason I enjoyed it as much as I did was that it allowed me to live inside the world of Love & Peace for another half hour, and that was a great thing to be able to do when the film ended. Definitely a lot of fun and worthwhile for tokusatsu fans.

Love & Peace is adorable, and not in a grating or overly saccharine way. I have never involuntarily "aw"ed at a movie the way I did with this one, it's just a sweet story told with style. That's not to say that Sono's trademark misanthropy isn't present, it just isn't the focus of the film, and that's a nice switch. I can't recommend this highly enough.

Love & Peace is now available on Region B Blu-ray in the UK from Third Window Films.
The mega merger between the top two ride-hailing service providers in China came into focus on Wednesday after the country's antitrust watchdog said it had a right to investigate the deal.

The Ministry of Commerce said at a news conference in Beijing that it was entitled to investigate whether the merger deal between Didi Chuxing and the China unit of the US-headquartered Uber Technologies Inc suggested a potential monopoly.

"Based on the regulations in China, business operators need to file an application on their merger deal if their revenues reach a certain amount," said Shen Danyang, spokesman for the ministry.

He did not say whether the authorities would mount an investigation, nor mention when a decision would be made.

Shen said that even if companies' revenues didn't reach the threshold, the ministry was still entitled to conduct a probe if there was evidence suggesting a potential monopoly.

The spokesman added that the ministry had not received an application from Didi or Uber on their merger deal.

The statement is the government's latest response to the deal between Didi and Uber.

Didi announced at the beginning of August its decision to acquire Uber's China operations, creating a ride-sharing titan estimated to take about 90 percent of the market.

According to antitrust regulations in China, companies that plan to merge need to file an application to the authorities if their combined revenue exceeded 2 billion yuan ($302 million) in the previous year.

Didi was not available to comment on Wednesday. But in early August, the Beijing-based company said in a statement that "neither Didi nor Uber China reached the revenue threshold to file the application".

However, Dong Yizhi, a lawyer at Liaoning Yatai Law Firm in Dalian, Liaoning province, said that it was the government's right to step up and launch an investigation even if the revenue of Didi and Uber China was not high enough to file an application.

Dong said that what was of interest was that the two companies were internet sector related.

Zhong Nan contributed to this story.
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During a gold rush, as the saying goes, best to sell pickaxes. But in the case of the San Francisco Gold Rush, pickaxes were in relatively good supply compared to protein. A dozen eggs might cost the rough equivalent of $90 today, as SFist wrote in a piece placing our rather expensive locale's current prices in historical context. And this week, a group of podcasters called the Kitchen Sisters took to NPR's Morning Edition to tell a particularly strange story related to those eggs: A massive rush to gather and sell ones laid by a nesting seabird, the common murre, on the forbidding Farallon Islands.

Those distant, uninhabited rocks are technically a part of San Francisco, but 25 miles into the Pacific. And yet brave, industrious, dare I say entrepreneurial folk  many of them Greek and Italian immigrants  formed the Pacific Egg Co., claiming the rights to the islands' eggs in 1851 and paddling out by rowboat to the Farallons.

The egg "war" was fought with a rival company or group of men who landed, perhaps unwisely, on the Farallons to get a piece of the action on June 3, 1863. The guys at the egg company yelled out to them, Land at your peril!'" says local lore lover Gary Kamiya, who is among a few sources interviewed in the NPR segment.

Kamiya has written in the Chronicle of the incident in the past, as well as in his book, Cool, Gray City of Love. According to his account, one of the rival eggers and his men "spent the night drinking... they got themselves into an aggressive, alcohol-fueled state." Continuing from Kamiya's Chronicle summary of events, "The Egg Co. men shouted a warning and opened fire. When the interlopers in the boats returned fire, an Egg Co. man named Edward Perkins fell dead, shot through the stomach and heart... After a 20-minute battle they fled to their boats and sailed back to San Francisco.

Another source to the NPR story, Eva Chrysanthe, who maintains a blog on the subject of the egg war, has a bit to add. She's mined the story before, even producing a comic on the subject, and after giving the NPR segment a listen writes that "The actual political backdrop of the 'war' is far more interesting than you would glean from hearing the segment."

"1850's San Francisco wasn't just about bar-room brawls and desperadoes," writes Chrysanthe, "it was also about a significant amount of progressive political action on the part of the very ethnic group blamed most for the egging."

For that, you can turn to her account. Or, you can consult another whom Chryasthe cites. "Few would know about this story were it not for Susan Casey, the author of The Devil's Teeth. Ms. Casey widely revived the history from Peter White's account, with Ms. Casey placing a particular and penetrating focus on the actual letters sent by Lighthouse Keeper Amos Clift. Casey's rendering is how I myself learned the story."

Today, no thanks to egg plunderers who at one point reduced the common murre population of the Farallons to 6,000 from nearly 400,000, there is once again a healthy bird population among the islands. Demand for murre eggs dwindled after chicken farming in Petaluma took off. But with an increasing emphasis on duck and other eggs on trendy menus about town, maybe we haven't seen the last of expensive common murre eggs in San Francisco. I mean, I'd try them  I just wouldn't row out very far to do so.

Related: San Francisco Has Always Been A Pretty Expensive Place To Live
A deceased man was pulled from the wreckage of an Oakland liquor store last night following reports that he had barricaded himself inside and set it ablaze. CBS 5 reports that the Oakland Fire Department received word Tuesday evening that a belligerent man was inside Seminary Market & Liquors on Seminary Avenue and working to set it on fire, and when they arrived on scene the building was already engulfed in flames.

NBC Bay Area reports that a 911 caller said the man was armed, and according to the East Bay Times he actually got into an altercation with store patrons. The paper informs us that he allegedly had a knife and threw liquor bottles at customers  forcing store employees to flee and call police.

Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Nick Luby told the Times that the man most likely made his way into the store's back office, and it was there that he allegedly lit the fire. It took firefighters roughly 90 minutes to get everything under control, and the man's body was later discovered in the freezer section. He is believed to have died from smoke inhalation.

The suspected arsonist's name has yet to be released pending notification of his family, and at this time there is no known motive. Seminary Market & Liquors is completely destroyed.

Related: Oakland Man Arrested For Double Shooting And Arson
Truth is beauty at Burning Man By Marco Cochrane Pic courtesy of @scottlondonpics edited by me #burningman #art #... pic.twitter.com/Df8SrPvwEl  Luis Cochez (@L_uisCochez) November 18, 2014

While the Chronicle has painted it as an ongoing "controversy," it appears that there are still only a few people who object to the fact that artist Marco Cochrane's 55-foot sculpture "Truth Is Beauty," first displayed at Burning Man in 2013, is getting installed in a public plaza near the BART station in San Leandro. The City of San Leandro announced the acquisition of the sculpture as a public art piece last year, and this week the feet and calves of the enormous, dancing woman made of steel and LEDs began to rise at the San Leandro Tech Campus.

Some persnickety citizens have been put off by the sculpture's nudity and expressiveness since the announcement was made, with one 45-year-old resident telling the San Leandro Times last year, "Truth is beauty, but tacky is forever. I dont think she is porn, but I dont think she fits into the art category, maybe craft."

And now those naysayers are back, with one area woman telling CBS 5, "I really liked it. I think its a beautiful sculpture. Obviously, the artist is extremely talented. But Im not sure its appropriate for public display. I think its better suited for a museum where people have the option about whether thats something they want their children to view."

Of course there's nothing offensive about it in the slightest, and the developer Westlake Urban, says the majority of comments they've heard have been positive and just a small number of people continue to make noise.

City Manager Chris Zappata told CBS 5 that the sculpture will hopefully have some impact on the typically male-dominated tech culture. "There is a dearth of representation of women in the tech industry," he says, "And this hopefully will start to bring attention to that problem as well as bring public art to our community."

Cochrane last week told the East Bay Times, "I think the sculpture has a job in the world to draw attention to something, and I think that this [developer] is really actively doing what we were hoping for. Their effort to create a women-friendly tech center is, to me, very important  without women, we're not going to make it, and I mean that on the most profound level, because if it's just men working at it, we're just going to cause the same types of problems."

The sculpture, the second of three monumental pieces Cochrane has created for Burning Man celebrating female empowerment, self-love, and beauty, was inspired as a response to the abduction and rape of his best friend from childhood. The first in the series, "Bliss Dance" (2011), was briefly installed on Treasure Island before moving to Las Vegas, where it now stands outside the new hotel The Park Vegas.

Previously: 55-Foot Burning Man Sculpture To Arrive At San Leandro BART Station
UPDATE SURF RESCUE FEMALE ADULT GOOD RESPONSE FROM CPR BEING TAKEN TO HOSPITAL CRITICAL CONDITION pic.twitter.com/k3iWycgLfb  San Francisco Fire (@sffdpio) August 17, 2016

A 64-year-old San Francisco woman was pronounced dead Wednesday evening, following efforts to rescue her from the waters of Ocean Beach. But even though this is the second death there this week, officials say that the beach will not be getting lifeguards, as their presence might inadvertently cause even more dangerous situations.

According to San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson Jonathan Baxter, a passerby called 911 at 10:47 a.m. Wednesday after seeing a woman in the waves about 20 feet from the shores near Lincoln Way.

The woman has since been identified by the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office as SF resident Kam Moy.

Crews with the National Park Service and the SFFD pulled Moy, who was fully dressed, to shore. Once on the beach, they performed CPR, during which they were able to revive her, according to a tweet from the SFFD.

By 11:20, an ambulance was rushing Moy to the UCSF Medical Center in critical condition. According to the ME's office, she died at the hospital later that day.

Moy's death comes just days after a similar rescue and subsequent death at Ocean Beach: On Sunday evening, 29-year-old Jason Zumbo was pulled from the waters near Rivera Street, and was pronounced dead a little after 6:30 p.m.

Zumbo's death had already revived a local politician's call for stricter safety precautions at the National Park Service-overseen shoreline, a call that was first raised in April, following the death of two wading teens.

Speaking with CBS 5 Tuesday, Supervisor Eric Mar said that Ocean Beach continues to need "clearer signs and new ways to educate beach goers on risks of swimming" in the area.

One thing that visitors can't expect are lifeguards, as Golden Gate National Recreation Association spokesperson Nathan Sargent tells CBS 5 that The presence and appearance of a lifeguard might just give the implication and the notion that this is a swimming beach., causing even more people to put themselves at risk.

We consider Ocean Beach a knee-deep beach," Sargent says, "so come, stroll, wade in the water. But the rip currents make it just too treacherous for especially inexperienced swimmers.

And besides says Sargent, the beach already has lifeguards  they just don't call them that.

Our Beach Patrol are lifeguards, they are talented, they are brave. They do these rescues. We just refer to them as beach patrol rangers.

Previously: SF Man Dies While Surfing At Ocean Beach
SIOUX CITY | The leaves on tall cornstalks danced in the breeze on a hot, early August afternoon on the south edge of Sergeant Bluff.

The crop looked to be shaping up well just southeast of the intersection of 220th Street and Old Lakeport Road. There was one problem -- Woodbury County Engineer Mark Nahra said the rows closest to Lakeport were planted off private farmland and into the county-owned ditch.

A No Passing Zone sign on the east side of the road was obscured by corn that Nahra said was technically on the county right-of-way, which runs from 80 to 120 feet wide, or from 40 to 60 feet on either side of the center of paved county roads.

"He has 10 to 12 feet on top of us," Nahra said.

As a result, on Aug. 11 Nahra sent a county worker to cut down the corn that was in the right of way. He did that after notifying the County Supervisors chairman and County Attorney Office about the action, in case a complaint call resulted.

Nahra said farmers may be planting wider than their own fields in order to get more bushels in harvest, prodded by a profit motive as they work in the Iowa agriculture industry that delivers $112 billion in annual revenues.

Nahra said he must ensure that roads can be safely used, with visible traffic signs such as no passing zones and stop signs. He said farmers planting into ditches can also impact drainage of water and reduce the quality of roads.

"We attempt to maintain what is called the clear zone in the right of way so we don't have obstructions ... We don't want to interfere with people's ability to farm, but at the same time we don't want people to interfere with safe use of the roads," Nahra said.

Rights of way are easements on private property edges, so that governmental entities such as counties and towns can operate a good roads system.

Woodbury County Supervisor Larry Clausen in recent years has criticized the practice of farmers planting beyond their own acres.

"They may own their property, but they don't own the right of way," Clausen said. "It just creates dangerous intersections."

Iowa Farm Bureau spokeswoman Laurie Johns said planting into governmental rights of way does not appear to be a frequent practice.

"It wouldn't be something that we would be in favor of. It is important that everybody follow the law," Johns said.

Nahra said the trend of farmers planting into county land has increased in the last five years. He said it is more frequent in the flattest, or so-called bottoms, areas of Woodbury County. Clausen said he's noticed it is typically happening in flat southwest portions of the county.

Nahra said the county cuts out crops about five times per year, and that some people are repeat offenders from year to year.

He said the trouble spots are sometimes seen by county crews doing road maintenance. Other times adjacent landowners "who are playing by the rules" will call Nahra with complaints of crops in the right of way.

"We don't just go out and tear out crops at random," Nahra said.

Nahra said one of the worst examples was between Hornick and Smithland on a gravel road where the stop sign could not be seen by a county worker.

"He thought the stop sign had been stolen. It was inside four rows of corn," Nahra said.

Nahra said he sees a few reasons why the trend of planting into county land is happening. Farmers are motivated to make a profit, and as weed-killing applications are made, some of the nearby grass in the ditches dies. Nahra said farmers think it is better to plant crops than have an empty area near or in the ditch.

Nahra also said fewer people let livestock graze in fields, so they have moved away from maintaining fences around their land.

"It is easier and easier for those extra discs on a machine to keep creeping out (wider) as you prepare to plant," Nahra said.

Beyond the spot cutting that is done a few times per year, Nahra will periodically send out letters to landowners reminding them not to plant in rights of way. County workers will report some examples of people who need that warning.

Nahra said the last mass mailing went to several dozen owners in March 2012, after reports of situations seen in the fall 2011 harvest. Clausen likes Nahra's approach to the problems, particularly with periodic reminder letters.

"That's what he should do," Clausen said.
SPENCER, Iowa | A former Spencer pastor and founder of the Spencer Dream Center has been charged with five counts of sexual exploitation by a 
SAC CITY, Iowa | Two men face felony charges for delivering methamphetamine in Sac City, Iowa, earlier this week.

A release issued by the Sac County Sheriff's Office said Levi Blum, 23, and Ralph Freese, 22, both of Wall Lake, Iowa, sold 5 grams of methamphetamine to a sheriff's office informant in Sac City late Monday night.

As law enforcement officers approached the vehicle on foot, Blum sped off but stopped a short time later.

Blum was charged with delivery of methamphetamine, a felony, and interference with official acts, a misdemeanor.

Freese was charged with conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine, a felony.
SPENCER, Iowa | A former Spencer pastor and founder of the Spencer Dream Center has been charged with five counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor after a three-month investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.

According to a news release from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Kevin Grimes, 51, turned himself in Wednesday following and investigation by the Clay County Sheriff's Office, Spencer Police Department and the DCI.

Court documents state that from 2012 to 2016, Grimes engaged in a scheme to engage in sexual conduct with three clients while administering mental health services to them. Court documents say the three victims were emotionally dependent, and Grimes knew or had reason to know they were "significantly impaired" in their ability to withhold their consent.

According to the DCI, interviews of several witnesses and of Grimes revealed he had texted messages of a sexual nature and had shared nude photos of himself with those he was counseling.

Court documents say Grimes had also engaged in two separate sexual acts with one of the three victims during September and December of 2015.

Grimes had served as senior pastor of DaySpring Assembly of God Church in Spencer since 2008 and during that time founded the Spencer Dream Center, a local ministry organization that provides social services and community outreach programs.

Grimes resigned as pastor in May 2016, two days after the DCI investigation began. He turned himself in late Wednesday afternoon.

Grimes was charged Wednesday with five counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor, therapist or school employee. Three of them are felony charges and the other two are aggravated misdemeanors.

He was released after posting $5,000 bond. His next court date is Aug. 31.
PIERCE, Neb. | The Pierce, Nebraska, Police Department is asking for the public's assistance in locating two missing juveniles.

According to a Pierce Police Department news release, Justin Z. Larson, 16, and Rachel A. Fenton, 15, were last seen in Pierce around 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Police believe the teens left on their own and could be traveling together in a 2005 Gold Ford Explorer XLT with Nebraska license plates 40H85. Police do not know their direction of travel or their destination at this time.

Larson is described as 6 feet 1 inch tall and 165 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes. Fenton is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall and 123 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information that could assist authorities in locating the teens can contact the Pierce Police Department at 402-329-4230, Pierce Sheriff's Office at 402-329-6346 or Nebraska State Patrol at 402-370-3456.
Donald Trump continuously lies and makes derogatory and outlandish remarks about blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, the handicapped, women, war heroes and their families, etc. The embarrassed Republican establishment tries to explain it away by saying that isnt what he meant, the biased news media just interpreted it wrong. Even Republican columnist Charles Krauthammer, a board-certified psychiatrist, described Trump as a person with characteristics consistent with those having a personality disorder.
AMES | The nations top agriculture official said Wednesday during a visit to Iowa that farmers would find a controversial federal regulation of water quality more palatable if federal officials did a better job explaining its purpose.

Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and a former Iowa governor, hosted a roundtable discussion with farmers Wednesday at the Hansen Learning Center on the Iowa State University campus.

Among the myriad issues raised by roughly a dozen Iowa farmers was the packaged of federal regulations known as the Waters of the U.S. rule, which defines waterways that are protected against pollution.

Critics of the regulations, including many farmers, say it represents government overreach.

Jacob Handsaker, a farmer from Radcliffe, said those regulations and a lawsuit brought by a Des Moines water utility company against northwest Iowa counties over river pollution make it feel like the farmer is the bad guy.

It focuses close to the heart of everything I do (including farming and conservation), Handsaker told Vilsack. It just seems that it has the potential to put a lot more regulations on farmers.

Vilsack responded by saying Iowa needs to develop and implement a statewide strategy for addressing water quality.

After the roundtable, while addressing reporters, Vilsack said he thinks farmers would not be as upset with the regulations if the federal Environmental Protection Agency did more to explain to farmers what the rule does.

Ive encouraged EPA administrator (Gina) McCarthy, and she has listened to my encouragement, to go out and talk to farmers about environmental regulations and about the important partnership that we have to develop between the EPA and our farm families, Vilsack said. Ive asked her to consider having folks come to states and sit down with farmers.

Because what I hear is often times farmers are not fully aware of exactly what this rule provides. Theyre unclear and uncertain as to how it might impact their specific farm, and it creates anxiety and concern. Often times when they sit down with a technical person from EPA they find out that theyre concerns arent necessarily warranted on their particular farm.

Vilsack described farmers as problem-solvers, and said if they better understood the regulations and their goals, farmers would be more willing to accept them.

There needs to be a more concerted effort at making sure that theres an understanding of the problem were trying to solve and how were actually going about solving it, Vilsack said. And I think sitting down with farmers and having that genuine conversation I think will be pretty helpful.

At the roundtable event, Vilsack announced the dedication of $17.8 million to 37 projects designed to assist new and beginning farmers.

Among the awards, which were made in 27 states, is roughly $589,000 to the Ames-based National Farmers Organization, which will be used to assist 900 beginning organic dairy and grain producers over the next three years.
There's a story that comes with every bruise on Tanner Robertson's body.

After all, the 15-year-old has been a skateboarder for nearly half his life.

"I just got this one," Robertson said, showing off various welts on his upper arms. "Huh, can't even remember when I got that one."

The West High School 10th grader said he developed an interest in street skateboarding -- a style that involves performing tricks while using guard rails, stairs or other architecture not designed expressly for sport -- at around the same time his older sibling did.

"The funny thing is my brother outgrew skateboarding," Robertson said. "In my case, I don't think I'll ever outgrow skateboarding."

According to Marcus Steinhauer -- a longtime skateboarder and owner of a Sioux City store -- Robertson represents the next generation of street skateboarders in Sioux City.

"Sioux City used to be a great skate town," Steinhauer said. "I'd like to see it return to its former glory."

Going back to Sioux City's skater roots

A skateboarder since the age of 13, Steinhauer opened Sayor Skateboards, a 1410 Nebraska St. skateboard shop, in March 2015.

In addition, he is now the organizer of a competition geared towards intermediate and advanced skateboarders.

A point system is used to calculate top scorers during the first two preliminary rounds of the "SIOUXper Crown of Skateboarding." The best of the best will be invited to compete at the "SIOUXper Crown Finals" at noon on Aug. 27, at Cook Park, 505 Market St.

"In order to keep the sport growing, we need to see some new faces," Steinhauer said. "The 'SIOUXper Crown' will give skaters the recognition that they deserve."

This may seem strange, since skateboarding (and skateboarders) haven't always had the best reputation.

Steinhauer said competitions like the X Games and Street League Skateboarding, not to mention prominent skateboarders like Tony Hawk, have helped elevate the sport.

"Those competitions brought skateboarding into the mainstream," he said. "It also created a skateboard lifestyle."

An 'outlaw' sport goes legit

Now 27, Steinhauer grew up watching Tony Hawk on TV. He also saw the Sioux City Skateboard Association work with Sioux City Council members to help construct a new skatepark at Cook Park.

"It seemed like there were plenty of skateboarders around as well as businesses that supported the skateboarding community," he recalled. "Then, they were all gone."

So what happened?

"They grew up or got jobs or moved out of town," Steinhauer explained. "Life gets in the way of skating."

Steinhauer said that almost happened to him, too.

"I skated through my teen years and then I'd give it up for a while," he said. "Whenever I did that, I'd be miserable.

"It seemed like I couldn't pass a flight of stairs or a wall without wondering what it would feel like to skate over it," Steinhauer said. "It's an adrenaline rush that makes skateboarding so addictive."

The adrenaline rush

Blake McRostie, 22, knows that adrenaline rush as well as anybody.

A skateboarder for more than 11 years, he actually quit his construction job because it interfered with the sport.

Now working for Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches, McRostie deliberately chose to work a nighttime shift so it would free up his days to skate.

"People may think that's crazy," he said. "But those are the choices I'm willing to make."

Sliding on top of a rail at Cook Park, McRostie suddenly takes a spill.

Getting up, he says he's never "broken anything important," but still skates in consistent pain.

"C'mon, if you're not a little bit bruised, you feel like you're not trying hard enough," he said.

Still, he's never had the same sort of pain that fellow skateboarder Dallas Warren experienced.

The case of the purple balls

"My worst injury wasn't a broken bone or anything," Warren, 21, said. "It was when I took a fall and landed on my balls.

"It was purple for a while after that," he added.

A veteran skateboarder, Warren will have to miss "SIOUXper Crown Finals" because he'll be starting classes at the University of Iowa, majoring in mass communications.

While Steinhauer is happy for Warren, he's known many skateboarders who gave up the sport for school or for jobs or for romantic relationships.

However, there are plenty of diehards like himself.

"There's no age limit to skateboarding," Steinhauer said, checking his smartphone. "It says here that Tony Hawk is 48 years old. That means I still have some time left."

This doesn't mean he isn't rooting for the next generation to take up the sport. In fact, he has high hopes for 15-year-old Tanner Robertson.

Prepping for the next generation

Although Robertson likes to skate, he also like to watch other athletes.

"The best time to come to Cook Park is when there's tons of other skaters," he said. "This is when you realize there's so much more to learn about the sport."

That's the same way Steinhauer feels about skateboarding.

"You love what you do and you want to know everything about it," he said. "Skateboarding isn't just a sport for us. It's also a lifestyle."
'Kubo and the Two Strings' (Rated PG for thematic elements, scary images, action and peril) -- A young boy embarks on a journey to obtain a magical suit of armor that was once worn by his late father and in turn vanquish a vengeful spirit.

'Ben-Hur' (Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and disturbing images) -- A retelling of the epic story about prince who revengefully travels across seas of water and sand after being falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother, who is also a member of the Roman army.

'War Dogs' (Rated R for language throughout, drug use and some sexual references) -- The true of two young men who are contracted by the Pentagon to become arms dealers and sell weapons to American's allies in Afghanistan.

New DVD releases for this week:

'Ash vs Evil Dead' Season 1

'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Season 3

'The Huntsman: Winter's War'

'The Nice Guys'
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam.A hundred years ago, Muslims were furious over an immigration bill whose origins lay with advocacy by a headstrong and loudmouthed Republican in the White House.The anti-immigration bill offended the Ottoman Empire, the rotting Caliphate of Islam soon to be defeated at the hands of America and the West, by banning the entry of all polygamists, or persons who admit their belief in the practice of polygamy.This, as was pointed out at the time, would prohibit the entry of the entire Mohammedan world into the United States.And indeed it would.The battle had begun earlier when President Theodore Roosevelt had declared in his State of the Union address back in 1906 that Congress needed to have the power to deal radically and efficiently with polygamy. The Immigration Act of 1907, signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt, had banned polygamists, or persons who admit their belief in the practice of polygamy.It was the last part that was most significant because it made clear what had only been implied.The Immigration Act of 1891 had merely banned polygamists. The newest law banned anyone who believed in the practice of polygamy. That group included every faithful believing Muslim.The Ottoman Empires representatives argued that their immigrants believed in the practice of polygamy, but wouldnt actually take more than one wife. This argument echoes the current contention that Muslim immigrants may believe in a Jihad against non-Muslims without actually engaging in terrorism. That type of argument proved far less convincing to Americans than it does today.These amazing facts, uncovered by @rushetteny reveal part of the long controversial history of battles over Islamic migration into America.Muslim immigration was still slight at the time and bans on polygamy had not been created to deliberately target them, but the Muslim practice of an act repulsive to most Americans even back then pitted their cries of discrimination and victimhood against the values of the nation. The Immigration Act of 1907 had been meant to select only those immigrants who would make good Americans.And Muslims would not.In his 1905 State of the Union address, President Theodore Roosevelt had spoken of the need to keep out all immigrants who will not make good American citizens.Unlike modern presidents, Roosevelt did not view Islam as a force for good. Instead he had described Muslims as enemies of civilization, writing that, The civilization of Europe, America and Australia exists today at all only because of the victories of civilized man over the enemies of civilization", praising Charles Martel and John Sobieski for throwing back the "Moslem conquerors" whose depredations had caused Christianity to have "practically vanished from the two continents."While today even mentioning Radical Islam occasions hysterical protests from the media, Theodore Roosevelt spoke and wrote casually of the murderous outbreak of Moslem brutality and, with a great deal of foresight offered a description of reform movements in Egypt that could have been just as well applied to the Arab Spring, describing the "mass of practically unchained bigoted Moslems to whom the movement meant driving out the foreigner, plundering and slaying the local Christian."In sharp contrast to Obamas infamous Cairo speech, Roosevelts own speech in Cairo had denounced the murder of a Coptic Christian political leader by a Muslim and warned against such violent bigotry.Muslims had protested outside his hotel, but Teddy hadnt cared.The effective implementation of the latest incarnation of the ban however had to wait a year for Roosevelts successor, President Taft. Early in his first term, the Ottoman Empire was already protesting because its Muslims had been banned from the country. One account claimed that 200 Muslims had been denied entry into the United States.Despite these protests, Muslims continued to face deportations over polygamy charges even under President Woodrow Wilson. And polygamy, though not belief in it, remains a basis for deportation.Though the law today is seldom enforced.American concerns about the intersection of Muslim immigration and polygamy had predated Roosevelt, Taft and Wilson. The issue dated back even to the previous century. An 1897 edition of the Los Angeles Herald had wondered if Muslim polygamy existed in Los Angeles. Certainly There is No Lack of Mohammedans Whose Religion Gives the Institution Its Full Sanction, the paper had observed.It noted that, immigration officials are seriously considering whether believers in polygamy are legally admissible and cited the cases of a number of Muslims where this very same issue had come up.A New York Times story from 1897 records that, the first-polygamists excluded under the existing immigration laws were six Mohammedans arrived on the steamship California.To their misfortune, the Mohammedans encountered not President Obama, but President Herman Stump of the immigration board of inquiry. Stump, an eccentric irascible figure, had known Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth and had been a wanted Confederate sympathizer during the Civil War.In the twilight of his term, Stump had little patience and tolerance for either Islam or polygamy.The Times story relates the laconic exchange between Stump and the Muslim migrants.You believe in the Koran?" asked President Stump."Thank Allah, yes," responded the men in chorus.The Koran teaches polygamy?" continued the Inspector through an interpreter."Blessed be Allah, it does!""Then you believe in polygamy?" asked Captain George Ellis."We do. We do! Blessed be Allah, we do," chorused the Arabs, salaaming toward the setting sun."That settles it," said President Stump. "You won't do."President Stumps brand of common sense has become keenly lacking in America today.None of the laws in question permanently settled the issue. The rise of Islamist infiltration brought with it a cleverer Taquiya. The charade that Muslims could believe one thing and do another was dishonest on the one hand and condescending on the other. It was a willful deception in which Muslims pretended that they were not serious about their religion and Americans believed them because the beliefs at stake appeared so absurd and uncivilized that they thought that no one could truly believe them.Theodore Roosevelt knew better. But by then he was no longer in office.Unlike todays talk of a ban on Muslim migration from terror states, laws were not being made to target Muslims. Yet Muslims were the likeliest group of foreigners to be affected by them. Even a hundred years ago, Islam was proving to be fundamentally in conflict with American values. Then, as now, there were two options. The first was to pretend that there was no conflict. The second was to avert it with a ban.A century ago and more, the nation had leaders who were not willing to dwell in the twilight of illusions, but who grappled with problems when they saw them. They saw civilization as fragile and vulnerable. They understood that the failure to address a conflict would mean a loss to the enemies of civilization.Debates over polygamy may seem quaint today, but yet the subject was a revealing one. Islamic polygamy was one example of the slavery so ubiquitous in Islam. The enslavement of people is at the heart of Islam. As we have seen with ISIS, Islamic violence is driven by the base need to enslave and oppress. Polygamy, like honor killings and FGM, is an expression of that fundamental impulse within the private social context of the home, but as Theodore Roosevelt and others understood, it would not stay there. If we understand that, then we can understand why these debates were not quaint at all.American leaders of a century past could not reconcile themselves to Islamic polygamy. Yet our modern leaders have reconciled themselves to the Islamic mass murder of Americans.Thus it always is. When you close your eyes to one evil, you come to accept them all.
GREENBELT, Md.

(Aug. 16, 2016)A federal jury convicted Olden Minnick, a/k/a "O," age 53, of Clinton, Maryland, today on charges connected to a conspiracy to distribute heroin and marijuana.The guilty verdict was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Karl C. Colder of the Drug Enforcement AdministrationWashington Field Division; Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the Federal Bureau of InvestigationWashington Field Office; Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George's County Police Department; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Commissioner Kevin Davis of the Baltimore Police Department.According to the evidence presented at his four-week trial, from June 2012 to December 3, 2014, Minnick conspired with Terrance Stanback, Sean Wilson, Christian Byrd, and others to distribute heroin and marijuana. From at least June 1, 2014 to December 3, 2014, Minnick used residences in Clinton, Maryland and Capitol Heights, Maryland, for the distribution and storage of heroin and other controlled substances. Over the course of the conspiracy Minnick used cellular telephones to arrange for the distribution of heroin and was intercepted on several occasions in 2014 arranging to provide distribution quantities of heroin.Minnick faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a maximum of life in prison, as well as a fine of up to $10 million. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled sentencing for Minnick on December 7, 2016 at 10:30 a.m.Co-defendant Terrance Stanback, age 52, of Clinton, Maryland, pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy on the day before trial and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 14, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. Sean Wilson, age 46, of Randallstown, Maryland previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin and was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. Christian Byrd, age 45, of Laurel, Maryland, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. Judge Chuang also ordered Byrd to forfeit $440,000, as the proceeds of his drug distribution.United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the DEA, FBI, and the Prince Georges County, Baltimore County, and Baltimore City Police Departments for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Deborah A. Johnston and Thomas P. Windom, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.
LEONARDTOWN, Md.

Joanna Marie O'Neil, age 32, of Ridge, Md.

Timothy Daniel Busby, Jr., age 24, of Lexington Park, Md.

Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: http://so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at http://so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at http://so.md/expungeme.

(Aug. 18, 2016)The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office released the following incident and arrest reports.8/15/2016 REPORTS OF MAN WITH GUN AT PHILIP J. BEAN MEDICAL CENTER DETERMINED TO BE UNFOUNDED: On August 15, deputies responded to the Philip J. Bean Medical Center for the report of a man with a gun. A witness believed a man pulled out a gun in the lobby of the medical center, holstered it and then walked away. Numerous units arrived on scene, secured the medical center, and further investigation determined the report to be unfounded. The investigation confirmed the alleged gun was a cell phone.8/16/2016 ASSAULT: Deputy J. Davis responded to the 13000 block of Evergreen Estates Lane in Ridge for the report of a theft and assault. The victim alleged the suspect, Joanna Marie O'Neil, age 32, of Ridge, stole cash from the victim's purse. While investigating the case, the victim also alleged O'Neil punched the victim in the face during an argument the day before. The victim displayed signs of injury consistent with the allegations. O'Neil was transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center and charged with Second Degree Assault and Theft Under $100. CASE#42194-168/17/2016 ASSAULT: Deputy J. Bush responded to the 21000 block of Great Mills Road for the report of an assault in progress. The victim alleged the suspect, Timothy Daniel Busby, Jr., age 24, of Lexington Park, assaulted the victim multiples times by choking the victim and grabbing the victim's arm. The victim displayed visible signs of injury. Busby was transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center and charged with Second Degree Assault. CASE# 42367-16BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property in the 28000 block of Three Notch Road in Mechanicsville. Deputy A. Budd is investigating the case. CASE# 41995-16BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property while the victim was parked at the Lowes in California. Deputy M. McCuen is investigating the case. CASE# 42037-16BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle in the 45000 block of Camelot Court in Lexington Park. Cpl. G Knot is investigating the case. CASE# 42117-16BURGLARY: Unknown suspect(s) entered a residence and stole property in the 20000 block of Manor Drive in Park Hall. Deputy First Class J. Maguire is investigating the incident. CASE# 42187-16THEFT: Unknown suspect(s) stole a trailer registration plate in the 48000 block of Sea Side View Road in Ridge. Deputy First Class T. Teague is investigating the case. CASE# 42461-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO MOTOR VEHICLE: During the overnight hours, unknown suspect(s) forced entry into motor vehicles by breaking windows in the 46000 block of Hilton Drive in Lexington Park. Deputy M. Beyer and Deputy B. Gaskill are investigating the cases. CASE#42535-16 and 42537-16
As the owner of New York Grilled Cheese Co. in Wilton Manors, Leor Barak is used to praise about his food. Now, hes getting praise for his defense of one of his transgender employees.

Baraks July 26 Facebook post, in which he defended Mia Patryck and the reason for his gender neutral bathrooms, has gotten the attention and praise of media outlets across the country, including The Huffington Post.

Baraks post was in response to a customer on Facebook who said she liked the food but would not return because the restaurant only had gender-neutral bathrooms.

We have recently been plagued with ongoing attacks directed towards our transgendered employees, and now our gender neutral bathrooms seem to be an issue as well. I will make it super clear to everyone. Our company culture at New York Grilled Cheese Co. is, and will always be one of acceptance, equality, and support of our transgendered community, and any other walk of life! wrote Barak. He told the customer that he hopes she will change her mind on her view of transgender individuals.

RELATED: NEW YORK GRILLED CHEESE OPENS BOCA RATON LOCATION

Although marked as available for any gender, the restaurants two bathrooms are both single-use. Barak said he doesnt understand why some people are making a big deal out of it because only one person at a time can use each bathroom. The stated problem many people have with bathrooms being used by transgender individuals, that assaults might occur, cant happen because only one person can use them at a time. Barak said the single-use bathrooms also benefit fathers who need to take their daughter into a restroom or mothers who need to take their son.

But the online comments werent the beginning. Previously, Patricyk had a bad experience with a different customer in the restaurant.

She called me all types of words  he-she, sir. People started leaving because they got uncomfortable. People have just been attacking our culture of acceptance.

But the attitudes of her co-workers and supporters online have made her feel better about what happened. We do not tolerate that here and we have a loving and accepting workplace. My co-workers are amazing theyre one hundred percent supportive and they always have my back.

Barak said he was disappointed that customers at the time failed to come to her defense. But he was heartened by the response on Facebook, which he said has been overwhelmingly in support of Patricyk. Shes one of our best servers. People just love her. They come for her.

But despite the overwhelming level of support online, Barak said hes knows hes risking the loss of at least some businesses. Its obviously a dangerous situation for our business but were going to keep pushing back. Id rather maintain my employees dignity and not take your money.

On Facebook, Patricyk thanked Barak and her other supporters.

He is not only standing up for me, but he is standing up for an entire community. I also want to personally thank each and every one of you that have come to my aid with your words of kindness and encouragement. Finally, I would like to address all the people that have not been supportive. Although you may not approve of my gender-identity the hurtful things you say to others like me can cause serious emotion damage. I am lucky enough to have a great group of people around me that help support through difficult times. Unfortunately, others in my situation do not. Your words can play a crucial role in someones existence. At the end of the day we are all HUMANS! And when I was young I was raised to love everyone for who they are regardless of their difference. Hopefully one day people can put their prejudices aside so that we can all live as one.
Standing stones Douglas Scott

University of Adelaide research has for the first time statistically proven that the earliest standing stone monuments of Britain, the great circles, were constructed specifically in line with the movements of the Sun and Moon, 5000 years ago.

The research, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, details the use of innovative 2D and 3D technology to construct quantitative tests of the patterns of alignment of the standing stones.

Nobody before this has ever statistically determined that a single stone circle was constructed with astronomical phenomena in mind  it was all supposition, says project leader and University of Adelaide Visiting Research Fellow Dr Gail Higginbottom, who is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Australian National University.

Examining the oldest great stone circles built in Scotland (Callanish, on the Isle of Lewis, and Stenness, Isle of Orkney  both predating Stonehenges standing stones by about 500 years), the researchers found a great concentration of alignments towards the Sun and Moon at different times of their cycles. And 2000 years later in Scotland, much simpler monuments were still being built that had at least one of the same astronomical alignments found at the great circles.

The stones, however, are not just connected with the Sun and the Moon. The researchers discovered a complex relationship between the alignment of the stones, the surrounding landscape and horizon, and the movements of the Sun and the Moon across that landscape.

This research is finally proof that the ancient Britons connected the Earth to the sky with their earliest standing stones, and that this practice continued in the same way for 2000 years, says Dr Higginbottom.

Examining sites in detail, it was found that about half the sites were surrounded by one landscape pattern and the other half by the complete reverse.

These chosen surroundings would have influenced the way the Sun and Moon were seen, particularly in the timing of their rising and setting at special times, like when the Moon appears at its most northerly position on the horizon, which only happens every 18.6 years, Dr Higginbottom says.

For example, at 50% of the sites, the northern horizon is relatively higher and closer than the southern and the summer solstice Sun rises out of the highest peak in the north. At the other 50% of sites, the southern horizon is higher and closer than the northern, with the winter solstice Sun rising out of these highest horizons.

These people chose to erect these great stones very precisely within the landscape and in relation to the astronomy they knew. They invested a tremendous amount of effort and work to do so. It tells us about their strong connection with their environment, and how important it must have been to them, for their culture and for their cultures survival.

The research is part of the Western Scotland Megalithic Landscape Project carried out by Dr Higginbottom and Professor Roger Clay, astrophysicist at the University of Adelaide.

Media Contact:

Dr Gail Higginbottom. Phone: +61 (0) 8 8313 5839, Mobile: +61 (0) 431 946 517, gail.higginbottom@adelaide.edu.au

Robyn Mills, Media Officer, Phone: +61 (0)8 8313 6341, Mobile: +61 (0)410 689 084, robyn.mills@adelaide.edu.au
NASA Briefs on the OSIRIS-REx Mission as Launch Nears. NASA

On August 17, NASA hosted a briefing at the agencys headquarters in Washington, DC to preview the launch of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft.

OSIRIS-REx is the first U.S. spacecraft destined to rendezvous with, study and return a sample of an asteroid. OSIRIS-REx will launch September 8 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on its mission to study, in detail, an asteroid called Bennu. The mission represents a valuable opportunity to learn more about the origins of our solar system, the sources of water and organic molecules on Earth, and the hazards and resources in near-Earth space.
The Tunisian authorities want Fezzani as they allege him responsible for the Daesh raid in March in the city of Ben Guerdane in Tunisia on the border with Libya, which left 58 people dead.

Fezzani is also considered a jihadist recruiter in Italy.
A team of three archeologist-enthusiasts from New York State discovered the wreck deep at the bottom of Lake Ontario. Adventurers Jim Kennard, Roger Pawlowski and Roland Stevens identified the vessel using high-resolution side-scan sonar in late June. It took several more weeks to confirm that the discovery was the same ship known to have sunk there in 1803.

The ship, called the Washington, was a single-masted sloop, a rare type of vessel that navigated the Great Lakes in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The 36-ton Washington was built by Americans on Lake Erie in 1798 to transport goods and passengers between New York, Pennsylvania and Ontario. Some four years later the sloop was sold to Canadian merchants that portaged it to Lake Ontario using oxen.
According to criminal lawyer Elisabeth Massi Fritz, who has represented a number of victims in Sweden's most high-profile rape cases, attitudes and values that allow blaming the victim should not be tolerated.

"If it is not consensual, then it is rape. It is as simple as that," Elisabeth Massi Fritz told Finnish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet.

According to Massi Fritz, Swedish courts require higher standard of proof in rape cases, compared to other offences. Additionally, courts tend to arrive at contradictory conclusions because there appears to be confusion in regard to rape and sexual assault in Swedish criminal law.
The suspension of overweight TV anchors stirred a debate in Egypt. Journalist Fatma al-Sharawi proposed that the same policy should apply to all of the country's television channels, whereas academician and writer Waheed Abdul Majid argued that the ERTU should focus on improving its journalistic content rather than the appearance of its presenters.

On Egyptian social media, many voiced their support for the suspended women, whereas others used all kinds of pejorative terms to describe overweight girls. Some Twitter users called ERTU's Director Safaa Hegazy a "strong woman" for making such a daring decision.

When the news reached Scandinavia, it predictably triggered negative feedback among the Nordic media, which do their best to project an air of tolerance and positivity and condemn every single injustice. Unsurprisingly, the outrage was shared in Nordic social media.

Many users expressed solidarity with the suspended TV anchors, noting that Swedish TV does not seem to be keen on aged or overweight presenters either. Others blamed unrealistic beauty standards, which appear to have become trending worldwide, reflecting the feminist stance, common among liberal Swedes. On a more hilarious note, many users suggested solving the problem with burkas, which is not an uncommon occurrence on Islamic TV channels. After the Muslim Brotherhood Sunni Islamist movement was overthrown in 2013, Egypt returned to a more secular government.
The Mongol Derby is one such endeavour a grueling 1,000 kilometer endurance horse race re-tracking the likely journey of Genghis Khan across Mongolia riding on the back of semi-wild horses. Sounds like a hoot, but certainly not for the faint-hearted!

The annual race is described on the organizers' website as "the toughest horse race in the world." It is also officially acknowledged as the world's longest horse race and every year groups of thrillseekers head out for their adventurist trip of a lifetime in order to make new memories and to be able to share some rather interesting tales with friends and family.

The annual derby documents a fantastic array of multimedia during the full duration of the race including live blogging on Twitter and Facebook all the way to a great catalogue of photography and video content shared for others to feel rather jealous about.
The owner of the money museum which is located in the city of Gaziantep in southeast Turkey, Esat Kaplan, told Sputnik about his desire to give Vladimir Putin banknotes that were issued in 1910 in Czarist Russia.

Kaplan pointed to the close historical ties between Russia and Turkey. At a time when the foundations of the republic of Turkey were being laid, Lenin provided substantial financial support to the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the owner said.

He further said, We want to present Mr. Putin with a gift, Russian bank notes, which we have kept for 25 years. I hope that I will be able to transfer the money through the mediation of Mr. President, Erdogan.
"The money was used to buy materials for the bomb and to send the bomb to Solo," National Police spokesman Gen. Insp. Boy Rafli Amar said on Wednesday, as quoted by The Jakarta Globe newspaper.

On July 5, a suicide bomber attacked a police station in the city of Solo, killing himself and injuring one officer. The attack was reportedly plotted by a network coordinated by Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian believed to be fighting alongside the Daesh terrorist group, banned in a range of countries, including Russia.
PSKOV (Sputnik)  Russia is ready to cooperate with NATO on Afghanistan, but will not try to persuade Brussels, Russia's permanent envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said Thursday.

"We are ready to continue such cooperation. But NATO made a decision [to cease cooperation]these issues are never off the agenda, but we are not going to try and persuade anyone. And, of course, NATO countries bear the primary responsibility for such decisions. If they reconsider, that would serve our mutual interests," Grushko told RIA Novosti.
NEW DELHI (Sputnik)  The latest clashes took place in south Kashmirs Pulwama district on Wednesday night, resulting in one man being killed and another 18 receiving injuries, according to the NDTV broadcaster.

Shabir Ahmed Monga, 30, a contractual lecturer, was killed when security forces raided the Khrew area in order to detain some youths suspected of participating in the recent clashes, according to the broadcaster.

The army is said to have started an investigation into the incident.
In January, the South Korean Environment Ministry filed a complaint against Volkswagen's branch office on suspicion that it had violated the national Clean Air Conservation Act by fabricating emission and noise level reports, triggering an investigation.

Earlier in August, Seoul recalled the certification for 80 car models manufactured by Audi Volkswagen Korea and imposed a fine of 17.8 billion won ($16 million) on the automaker as the probe into the company revealed evidence of fraud.
For example, the first chapter of the revised bill seeks to define a transgender and lays down three main criteria: "Neither wholly female nor wholly male; a combination of female or male; and neither female nor male."

This, activists have said, insults transgender people and propagates the bias that trans identities aren't "whole" by themselves.

The provision might stop many from identifying as just men or women and contradicting the right to self-determination of identity guaranteed by the Supreme Court.

Moreover, throughout the bill, the pronoun used is "his" which is a slip that many have also objected to.

Laxmi Narayan Tripathi is another leading activist for transgender communities in India and even prior to the latest amendments decided by government officials, she has been demanding that a national Transgender Protection and Welfare Board be constituted by the government that would be better informed to propose requirements for and on behalf of the communities.

She spoke to Sputnik about many wider society issues facing transgender communities in India and abroad, but at the core of her motivation is to promote equality and human rights for all. As much as she feels that India is making progress, albeit at a slower pace than it should be.

"It's time for a Love Revolution, not just in India but worldwide!" Laxmi Narayan Tripathi told Sputnik.

Sputnik also asked a human rights legal expert based in New Delhi about whether much of the negative responses regarding revisions to the bill is a case of critics being overly-pedantic in their analysis. He told Sputnik by email:

"Although India, and the wider world even have a long way to go in bettering conditions for the third gender, this bill will definitely reduce the journey by many steps."

One of the highlights of the previous version of the bill is said to be the right to self-determination of identity. This meant that people could identify their own genders without having to seek certification and was meant to do away with years of oppression by laws that refused to recognise transpeople in the way they chose to do so.
Meanwhile, President Obamas initiative could become a major factor in the ongoing presidential race in the US with Donald Trumps oft-repeated desire to weaken military alliances, while Hillary Clinton insists on the very opposite.

In an article titled Will South Korea Go Nuclear? published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Robert Einhorn, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote that the United States will have to give high priority to reassuring South Koreans that they can count on the US extended deterrent. That will require frequent and highly visible demonstrations of commitment, including high-level statements of support by American officials, joint exercises to show collective resolve, and tangible indications  such as B-52 and B-2 flyovers  that US strategic assets remain at the disposal of the alliance.

Commenting on Japans nervous response to President Obamas potential declaration of a no first use nuclear weapons policy for the United States, Dr. Da Zhogang, Director of Chinas Institute of Northwest Asian Studies, said that it was out of trend with Tokyos traditional anti-nuclear policy.

As the worlds only country to have suffered the effects of a nuclear attack, Japan should fight to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Japan does not have nuclear arms, but if it did, it should stick to the policy of the non-use of such weapons, Dr. Da Zhogang told Sputnik.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent security agents abroad to tighten control over the representatives of the diplomatic corps and economic community, the Yonhap news agency reported citing a source familiar with the state of affairs in Pyongyang.

The media outlet added that Kim ordered to root out any possibility of people working in the diplomatic missions and restaurants to leave their posts without a permit.
BANGKOK (Sputnik)  There was no official US extradition request for Dmitry Ukrainsky, a Russian national residing in Thailand, who was detained in Pattaya in mid-July at the request of the FBI, the Russian Embassy in Thailand said Thursday.

"According to our information, an official request for the extradition of Dmitry Ukrainsky has not been received in Thailand yet," an embassy representative told RIA Novosti.
Dozens of military units along the border on Thursday deployed some 300 artillery systems that simultaneously fired shells in multiple directions, according to an army official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to Military.com.

South Koreas front-line army units have engaged in numerous live-fire drills over the years, but the number of artillery mobilized in Thursdays drill is the highest on the Korean peninsula to date, and simultaneous firing from all major front-line areas constitutes a stark departure from previous exercises, according to the army official.
The diplomatic row began following an August 10 Reuters report suggesting that "Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers," in recent months.

Reuters also reported that Vietnams foreign ministry said the information about the deployment of rocket launchers, based on unnamed Western officials, was "inaccurate." Despite the countervailing statement by Vietnam and the lack of satellite photography or other tangible evidence to substantiate the report, the news outlet chose to run the story, sparking an international incident.
US and European aviation companies are likely to face major competition in India as Russia has proposed to set up a production line for Indias civil aviation sector. A Russian delegation headed by Alexander Potapov, Deputy Minister of Industry & Trade of the Russian Federation, put forward this proposal before Indian officials of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in New Delhi.

A statement released by Indias Ministry of Commerce and Industry says, In the civil Aviation sector, the Russian side declared its readiness to participate in the Make in India program in order to develop technological and production capabilities of the Indian side in this field and potential supplies of the jointly produced equipment to third countries.

Russia wants to introduce Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) civilian aircraft in India and has a target set to put out at least 50 SSJ100 in the next three to five years. Sukhoi expects to sign a deal this year with Tata Advanced System to manufacture key airplane parts in India.

Russias proposal to take part in the Make in India program comes soon after the announcement of the New Civil Aviation Policy by India which says,
In a race to catch up to China, India plans to further enlarge the scope of investment in the Russian commodity market to fuel its industries for coming decades. As part of this strategy and also because of favorable commodity prices, India has offered to jointly develop coal fields and mines in Russia.

An official team led by Ramesh Abhishek, secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion conveyed Indias willingness to invest in Russias coalfield and mining sector. The Indian side expressed interest in joint development of coal fields and iron ore mines in Russia. They agreed to exchange information on such areas having potential for cooperation, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.
Despite several Japanese media outlets with experts insisting that the US vice president was wrong as Article 9 of the Constitution reads that Japan has no right to have not only nuclear weapons but any armed forces at all.

However, "the irony is that Washington which imposed a non-nuclear status on Japan has done a lot to neglect those principles.
But this year, city authorities have put heavy security measures in place in light of terrorist attacks in Germany and France.

"[Oktoberfest] wont become a high-security zone, but there will be important changes that affect all guests," Munichs deputy mayor Josef Schmid said Wednesday, according to USA Today.
Dusan Prorokovic also warned against putting too much faith in Mr. Bidens declared desire to seek a political compromise between Belgrade and Pristina.

The policy of the US State Department and Vice President Biden towards Serbia remains unchanged: they want to keep the region under US control, to offset Russias growing influence in the Balkans and mend fences between Serbia and Kosovo to make Pristina officially recognized by the United Nations, he noted.

Dusan Prorokovic added that Washington was clearly alarmed by Russias presence in the Balkans and by its frictions with Germany and Turkey, the latter which the US can no longer rely upon following the recent attempt to oust President Erdogan.
On July 15, a coup attempt took place in Turkey suppressed by the following morning. A day after the coup attempt, eight Turkish servicemen flew a helicopter to the northern Greek border town of Alexandroupolis where they sought political asylum out of fear for their lives. Turkey demanded their extradition, while the men in question denied any involvement in the coup attempt.

The eight men are accused by Turkey of violating the constitution, attempted assassination of the president, crimes against the legislative body and the government and robbery, and are facing jail terms ranging from five years to life sentences for those crimes.
"One of the most important measures Norway must take to reduce crime is to limit immigration," police officer Thomas Utne Pettersen of the South West police district wrote in his much-debated opinion piece in Norwegian newspaper Haugesund Avis , citing Sweden as a "scarecrow" example.

Thomas Utne Pettersen rested his case on both crime statistics and his personal experience as a police officer.

In Norway, which despite last year's dramatic lapse overall has a much smaller scale of asylum immigration compared to its Nordic peers, nine out of ten convicted of violence against the children are of immigrant background. Over the past three years, an Oslo district court handed down 89 verdicts on domestic violence, and 82 of the defendants had an immigrant background, Pettersen pointed out. Additionally, the proportion of foreigners in Norwegian prisons is steadily rising.
Branine further said, We see that in France, politicians are unable to solve economic and social problems and instead they switch to topics that do not deserve attention, such as the wearing of the hijab and now wearing of a burkini. This shows the level of powerlessness of the political class in France. Muslims find it completely ridiculous and do not understand how wearing a burkini can encroach on republican values and the principle of secularism.

According to the director, this case is a typical French controversy because everywhere else people can wear burkinis but somehow in France it is seen as a problem.

It is a problem only in France because France has, firstly, a colonial past, and secondly there is the concept of secularism which can sometimes be restrictive in nature and can be perceived as an instrument of struggle against religion, in this case against Islam.

But people forget that in France the state is secular, state institutions are secular but not public space. In a public place everyone has a right to dress as he or she wants and everyone has the right to talk about their religious beliefs.

The state and public institutions must be secular, but not public space. This is not one and the same thing, Branine said.

The director further spoke about how this decision will further raise tensions in society. In the current situation there has been a terrorist attack and that is not the best time to exacerbate tensions between groups, which, is by the way, what the terrorists are trying to achieve. This contrived controversy about wearing burkini will only heighten tension in the atmosphere to branding the Muslims.

Branine stressed that in France the law does not allow to impose a ban on wearing a Burkini. The matter will be referred to the Council of State and the decision will be made within 48 hours, but according to the director the Council of State will annul the decision because according to him it does not make any sense.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  A bomb attack blamed on Kurdish separatists in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig killed three police officers and wounded 217 people, 85 of them police officers, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Thursday.

We are determined to find any threat coming from within or outside Turkey, Yildirim said at a briefing during his visit to the city in remarks broadcast by the TRT news channel.

The prime minister raised Turkey's alarm level after the attacks in Elazig, Van and Hizan across eastern Turkey.
The migration crisis has led to deep divisions, with many EU states closing their borders and refusing to buy into a relocation system by quote. The EU-Turkey deal to stem the flow of migrants crossing into Europe is rapidly falling apart.

Meanwhile, terrorism throughout Europe  particularly in France, Belgium and Germany  has led to a rise in nationalism.

'Greatest Test in History'

"From the financial and economic crisis to climate change, terrorism, and international migration flows, problems are becoming increasingly global. Yet, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for mutual problem solving because (right-wing) populist movements are gaining ground in a number of OECD and EU countries and placing particular national interests ahead of the objective of joint international policy solutions," the report says.

Check out the new annual sustainable governance data for OECD and EU countries from our sister project #SGI2016: https://t.co/UAMkrRJe9a ^rs  Transformation Index (@bti_project) August 18, 2016

"For example, the governments of Hungary and Poland are refusing to contribute to a fair distribution of refugees throughout Europe. As the power of important constitutional institutions has weakened. The French right-wing extremist party Front National is enormously popular among voters.
Doel is one of the oldest nuclear power plants in Europe, having been commissioned on February 15, 1975.

The Belgian government and NPP operator Electrabel struck a deal to extend the life of two Doel's reactors until 2025. Environmental organizations harshly criticized the decision, however, Electrabel has asserted that the reactors are reliable. The government in turn approved the move based on the fact that the removal of the power units from operation could lead to power shortages.
DONETSK (Sputnik)  He added that at least three tanks and about 400 servicemen had been observed in the settlements of Novohryhorivka and Donskoye respectively.

"[Reconnaissance by the DPR] has revealed the location of three Gvozdika self-propelled 122 mm howitzers in [the settlement of] Novotroits'ke eight kilometers [5 miles] from the contact line. The location of a Grad multiple launch rocket system and of four 120 mm mortars has been discovered in Hranitne," Basurin told reporters.
The 80-year-old Russian lady brought cakes, jam and homemade pickles, as well as a hand-written portrait of the British ruler to Buckingham Palace.

It was a week-long trip to London. The cost was 50,000 rubles (780 USD) per person. Her tour was not able to meet the Queen, but all her gifts were delivered straight to the palace. In response, the Russian woman received a card, saying that the Queen was touched and flattered, said the head of the United Kingdom and Ireland tour Elena Gorokhov.

On April 21, Elizabeth II celebrated her 90th birthday. The Queen is the oldest British monarch and the most elderly woman among state leaders.
Earlier, the German Interior Ministry proposed a set of new security measures to respond to recent terrorist attacks in Germany's Bavaria. These measures, in particular, include steps to make it easier to deport migrants deemed to be a threat to public security, stripping dual nationals who fought for terrorist organizations abroad of their German citizenship, banning the burka and loosening medical confidentiality.

According to Merkel, there is no connection between the rise of Islamic extremism in the country and a huge inflow of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa.
The report, compiled by Ambassador Tomas Bocek, Special Representative of the CoE Secretary General on migration and refugees, found that the number of refugees and asylum seekers in Turkey has created a huge burden in terms of accommodation.

Although the Turkish authorities have received almost universal praise for their speedy construction of a number of camps in the Syrian border region which offer "decent, albeit basic, living conditions" for residents, only around 290,000, largely Syrian, refugees, of Turkey's total 3.1 million refugees, live in them.

"The Council of Europe should assist the Turkish authorities to develop effective policies to prevent refugee and migrant children working and to encourage their attendance at school", said Bocek.
Turkey's foreign ministry issued a statement calling the allegations further "evidence of the biased attitude that, for some time now, attempts to demoralise our country while taking aim at our president and government."

It insisted that Turkey was a country that "always fights terror sincerely regardless of the origin."

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has defended the report, telling the German regional broadcaster RBB:

"There's nothing to regret."

He said the report showed one aspect of Turkey but that there were other factors influencing relations.

This secret report is embarrassing for chancellor Angela Merkel, who has built a policy of friendship with Erdogan. https://t.co/mku7xaYYaF  Mare Kranjc (@Max970) August 18, 2016

However, the German government on Thursday (August 18), was at pains to emphasize the ongoing working relationship between Germany and Turkey.

Political commentators say the incident has highlighted the divisions within German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government.
"The fact that the effectiveness of the project is impossible to estimate, can be seen on the example of user data storage, which we opposed in the Pirate Party Germany. It is also not known whether it will be possible at all to abstract any communication data or carry out surveillance based on it."

Back in March 2013, the Pirate Party filed a complaint to the Federal Court of Auditors, after the criminal police purchased the spy program FinSpy. The party plans to continue opposing the plans of the department.

"Tracking programs cannot replace the real work of police. Turns out that innocent are held up at gunpoint, and a massive violation of fundamental rights happens. It should not be this way, and we will take action against it," Jorg Ahrweiler claimed.

As an alternative to the tracking programs, "the party of the digital revolution" proposes to strengthen police work in its traditional sense. According to the expert, the classic police work needs to be done.

"We need to recruit staff. It is necessary to carry out proper preventive work and correct police work. This cannot be done by the programs, which somewhere and somehow penetrated into someone's computer, and provide questionable data or do not provide any data at all," Ahrweiler concluded.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Wednesday, a civic committee in Neuchatel launched a campaign to rally support for allowing some foreigners stand in cantonal elections, ahead of a referendum on the issue scheduled for September 25.

"There is absolutely no doubt what the voters will say  they will say NO to this idea. This is not an open issue, the climate is very loaded with issues of migration," the deputy of the cantonal parliament, Anne Tissot Schulthess said.

According to Schulthess, the idea "to let long-established and well-known foreigners play a role on the political scene" was floated by her party three or four years ago and approved by a slight majority in the local parliament last summer.
They were trying to reach the shores of Italy in two large inflatable boats and nine smaller boats. Italian and German Navy ships, as well as the vessels of a number of international non-governmental organizations participated in the operation.

Europe has been beset by a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants fleeing their crisis-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa to escape violence and poverty. The majority of them cross the Mediterranean Sea and arrive in the European Union using southern EU nations as transit points.
There are other countries here too  Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and others and they need to realize this too. If they do there will be no reason for any tensions, no one will see the other as a security threat. On the contrary, we will be building up cooperation that everyone will benefit from. Its an ideal picture I just painted though, because the situation in this region is not always so. Crimea has in recent years become a reason for tensions between NATO and Russia over the events in Ukraine.

All the countries in the south of the Black Sea region, Turkey included, are NATO members, hence the tensions that were inevitably created between us. However, during the recent NATO summit there was an overall understanding of the need to resume our dialogue with Russia. We need to strengthen this understanding and try to resolve our problems through dialogue.

Do you see any prospects of closer military-technical cooperation between Turkey and Russia?

Mevlut Cavusoglu: We want to boost our defense industry and are ready to work with anyone who is willing to work with us in the field of technology exchanges, joint investments and production.

We have previously proposed a number of cooperation projects to our NATO allies but, unfortunately, it looks like they are not eager to share their technology with us or engage in joint investment projects with our country. Turkey intends to develop its own defense industry and its defense potential and if Russia is interested in such cooperation we are ready to discuss this.

One problem that may arise here is how a NATO member-state is going to have such cooperation with a non-NATO member. Still, there are many NATO countries that cooperate with Russia in this area. Secondly, if someone does not want to work with us then they should at least not prevent us from cooperating with other countries. We want to strengthen our defense industry and our defense potential, thats why we are ready to maintain contacts with and work with countries willing to cooperate with us in the area of investments and technology exchange.

Russia was one of the first countries to realize that Fethullah Gulen's organization FETO posed a threat. Schools established by this organization were closed in Russia a decade ago. What direction could Russia and Turkey's joint efforts aimed at tackling FETO take?

Mevlut Cavusoglu: Russia saw the threat and the danger that we did not recognize at first right from the beginning. We thought that supporters of this movement were law abiding citizens, believers. We could not imagine that they were secret agents. If Russia was wary of this organization, it must have had strong reasons to be concerned. This is why Russia is one of those countries which is largely unaffected by this issue at the moment. This is why Russia did not give this organization any chance to develop.

At the same time, the Dialogue organization that was established by FETO is currently active in Russia. We hope that Russia takes all the necessary measures in this respect. We highly value support that our friends provide us with regard to dealing with threats that Turkey faces.

Moreover, many branches of FETO have been active in other countries located in our region. We all face the risk that members of these structures will try to carry out coups like the botched putsch that took place in Turkey, grab power and strengthen their influence. This threat is real for Russia, Turkey and the region in general. This is why we need to work together to tackle this challenge.
"We have also detected the first case of microcephaly compatible with Zika," Carlos Mejia, head of the infectious diseases clinic in the Hospital Roosevelt in Guatemala City told journalists on Wednesday, as quoted by NDTV.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 14 countries or territories have reported microcephaly and other central nervous system malformations associated with Zika.
Guzman escaped from the Altiplano maximum security prison on July 11, 2015, using an underground tunnel. Mexican authorities searched for El Chapo for months before finally capturing him in January and sending him back to Altiplano.

El Chapos most recent escape is not his first one. In 2001, he escaped from a maximum security prison in Mexicos Jalisco State, using a laundry cart.

Guzmans Sinaloa drug cartel, named after his home state, smuggles cocaine from Colombia through Mexico to the United States. Sinaloa is responsible for a major portion of cocaine, heroin and marijuana sold in the streets of the United States. The drug empire has allowed Guzman to accumulate a major fortune, which was estimated to be some $1 billion in 2009.
"We can confirm that Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were removed from their flight to the United States by Brazilian authorities," the spokesman said as quoted by The New York Times on Wednesday.

A Brazilian judge ordered US swimmers Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen to stay in Rio three days after they claimed being robbed at gunpoint, as Brazilian law enforcement officials found inconsistencies in the swimmers' stories and wanted to determine if they had filed a false police report.
Veloso admitted, however, that during the confrontation, at least one security guard pointed a gun at the swimmers, one of whom was acting belligerently.

"In theory one of more of them might be charged with false reporting of a crime or damage of a gas station," Veloso noted.

On Wednesday, swimmers Conger and Bentz were pulled off a flight from Rio de Janeiro to the United States amid an investigation into the alleged robbery case.

The New York Times reported citing Lochtes lawyer that the swimmer had left Brazil before the judge issued the order to seize the passports of the swimmers.
US President Barack Obama holds a news conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, US August 4, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Despite opposition from domestic interest groups, US President Barack Obama has reportedly been mulling a no first use policy for the country's nuclear arsenal.

As the world's sole superpower, even in terms of conventional weaponry, such a policy will by no means compromise its military supremacy. Instead, it would cater to people's desire for peace, and help reduce the chance of this fearful power of destruction being unleashed again.

Yet ironically, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the leader of the only country that has suffered an attack by nuclear weapons, has opposed the idea.

He reportedly asked Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command, to convey his disapproval to Obama recently, saying such a policy would weaken Japan's deterrence against its enemies.

Even though it is capable of developing nuclear weapons, as the perpetrator of a war that killed tens of millions of people, Japan is constitutionally banned from doing so, and it relies on the US' nuclear umbrella.

Abe has previously argued that the country's pacifist Constitution does not preclude Japan having nuclear weapons for defense purposes, which raises the question about how credible is his remark that Japan is reliant on the US for a nuclear deterrent.

In fact, by exaggerating the importance of the US' nuclear umbrella for Japan, and opposing the US adopting a no first use nuclear weapons policy, Abe is once again seeking to stoke fears among the public at home in order to serve his own agenda.

Abe is set on changing the Constitution, especially its war-renouncing Article 9 that prevents Japan from engaging in wars overseas, in his quest to turn Japan into a "normal country".

Thus it is not really surprising that Abe has been fabricating and hyping threats from China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

It is worth pointing out that China is the only nuclear power that has committed itself to a no first use policy; a lead that all countries with nuclear weapons should follow as a guarantee that they will never be used in anger.

A US no first use nuclear weapons policy would not make any difference to Japan's security, especially if the country sticks to its course of peaceful development as charted by its pacifist Constitution.

Abe's stance runs counter to Japan's non-nuclear principlesnot possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan, and its expressed commitment to promoting international disarmament and non-proliferation. Instead of opposing it, Abe should be encouraging Obama to proceed with such a policy.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups.

"Low-income families of the Marmarita inhabited area (Homs province) have received 2 [metric] tons of humanitarian cargos with rice, sugar, tea, canned meat and fish. The orphanage of the Aleppo city has received six tons of humanitarian cargos with rice, sugar, tea, canned meat and fish. Aircraft of the Abakan Air, Russian aviation company, has dropped 17 tons of UN humanitarian cargos with corns, salt, and sugar on Deir ez-Zor, which had been besieged by ISIS [Daesh] terrorists," the bulletin said.

On February 27, a US-Russia brokered ceasefire came into force in Syria. Terrorist groups such as Daesh, as well as Jabhat Fatah al Sham (previously known as the al-Nusra Front), both outlawed in Russia and a range of other states, are not part of the deal.
Black, who earned a Purple Heart serving as a pilot in the Vietnam War, stated he was "uneasy" about "letting your enemy out the back door so they can go fight another day."

The battle to retake Manbij, a critical Daesh transportation and smuggling hub, began three months ago. Black anticipated that in the next six months or so, the United States and its Syrian allies will refocus on another Daesh transportation hub, al-Bab, to the west of Manbij.

"So the people who escaped, we will fight once again in al-Bab," Black said.

Manbij had served as a critical hub where the Daesh was able to smuggle fighters and supplies into its territory, and direct foreign fighters out of Syria across the nearby Turkish border.

Richard Black is the elected representative for Loudoun County, Virginia and personally met with Syrian President Bashar Assad during an April visit to the country.
The average number of inmate deaths per month was over 300 in that period. In comparison, before the crisis, the average number of people dying in Syrian prisons every month was 3-4.

The Amnesty report points to physical abuse, a lack of medical care and satisfactory sanitary conditions and a lack of food at Syrian prisons.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting a number of opposition factions and extremist groups. On February 27, a US-Russia brokered ceasefire came into force in Syria. Terrorist groups such as Daesh, as well as Jabhat Fatah al Sham (also known as Jabhat al-Nusra, or al-Nusra Front) are not part of the deal. Both groups are banned in Russia and a range of other countries.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Aleppo has been mired in intense fighting during the past few weeks, with the Syrian army and local militia forces having managed to encircle large groups of militants in eastern districts of Aleppo.

"The humanitarian situation in Aleppo is really poor. I talk about eastern districts of the city, which have been captured by the so-called moderate opposition militants. The situation is much better in the areas, which are under control of the Syrian army. At the same time, people living there are constantly exposed to shelling and bombing from terrorists," Malas told the Russian Izvestia newspaper in an interview published Thursday.

According to Malas, reports on hunger, lack of drinking water and medicines and obstacles for humanitarian convoys, allegedly put by the governmental troops, are "completely untrue."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The source said that the drone had fallen near the city of Samarra in the Saladin province.

"The forces of the tribal militias were able to shoot down Daesh's drone that was flying from the city of Mosul," a source told local Al Mada newspaper.

Iraqi forces backed by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are currently preparing an assault on Mosul. Daesh has controlled Iraqs second largest city for the past two years. Last month, the United Nations warned that the military operation to retake the city could displace 3.4 million people and cause a humanitarian crisis.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  He called for the necessity to have a 48-hour pause in fighting in the city of Aleppo for UN humanitarian convoys to enter the city.

"Not one single convoy in one month has reached any of the humanitarian besieged areas, not one single convoy," de Mistura said.

The UN estimates that between 250,000 and 275,000 people have been trapped in eastern Aleppo after the only route into the area was shut in July amid heaving fighting. Recently, rebel forces made attempts to cut supply lines into the divided citys western districts.
When asked whether an independent probe by a team of experts from countries would bring any results, Pierre-Emmanuel Dupont from the London Center of International Law Practice said that he didnt think that the Arab coalition was serious about investigating the incident.

In cases like this international law requires an international panel of investigators. The 1977 Geneva Convention calls for an international fact-finding commission to be set up and this is exactly what MSF wanted after one of their hospitals was seriously damaged early this year. The problem is that for this commission to start working it needs the consent of all the countries involved in the conflict, but I dont think that the coalition will greenlight this, Dupont said.

He added that even though there exist various mechanisms on the UN level, he still believed that the matter was up to the Security Council to deal with.

However, the Security Council is sputtering. It does not condemn the Arab coalitions airstrikes in Yemen, apparently because they have no consesus there. In their resolutions they blame only the Houthis. In 2015-2016 the Security Council even introduced an arms embargo against the Houthis, but they never touch the Arab coalition, Pierre-Emmanuel Dupont said.

Yemen has been gripped by a conflict between the government and the Houthi rebel movement since 2014.

The Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at the request of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi since March 2015.

The United Nations has recorded well over 3,200 civilian deaths in the conflict, 60 percent of which it has attributed to the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes.


The Russian Aerospace Forces' aircraft destroyed 5 large Daesh ammunition and fuel depots, 6 command centers, a number of militants, artillery positions and military equipment in the Deir ez-Zor province, the ministry said.

"On August 18, 2016, Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 strike aircraft that took off from bases in Russia and Iran conducted a group strike on Daesh targets in the Deir ez-Zor province."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day media reports emerged claiming that the incident occurred when the planes engine caught fire after takeoff.

"Qatar Airways can confirm that todays QR240 from Istanbul Ataturk Airport (IST) to Doha (DOH) has returned to Istanbul safely. The passengers have disembarked as normal," the company said in a statement on Twitter.

According to the statement, the pilot followed all quick response safety procedures.
On Wednesday, GNA head of intelligence Col. Ismail Shukri said the terrorists have lost almost all the territory they have seized in Sirte.

Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many countries around the world, gained a presence in Libya in the turmoil following the 2011 overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi. Libya has been mired in a civil war since 2014.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Achieving a lasting resolution of the crisis in Syria without Russia and Iran would be impossible, Ankara will cooperate with them on these issues, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Sputnik.

"We have repeatedly stated, even in the period of crisis in our relations, that it would be impossible to achieve a lasting resolution in Syria without Russias participation. We continue to insist on this. The same can be said about Iran, with which we are negotiating at the moment as well and aim to strengthen cooperation in this sphere," Cavusoglu said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The first deliveries of weapons to Iraqi Kurdistan with the stated purpose of fighting the Daesh terrorist group started in September 2014, but in January 2016 they were halted following a report by German broadcaster NDR that German weapons were being sold on the black market in Iraq's Erbil and other cities.

"Our partners in the Kurdish regional government made a declaration that they take care of the goods we delivered and we do not have any doubts that our Kurdish partners act different than in that declaration is stated," Maj. Robert Habermann said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The two neighboring countries were involved in an armed conflict that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. The fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003 led to the normalization of relations between the two countries. In 2008, then Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became the first Iranian leader to visit Iraq since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

"[Bolstering] unity between the two countries, establishing stable security, creating joint border committees and negotiations would be beneficial to regional security," Baqeri was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.
We are ready to implement next week the first 48-hour humanitarian pause to supply Aleppo civilians with humanitarian aid as a pilot project and to confirm the safe delivery of the goods to the population of the city, Konashenkov told reporters.

Russia is ready to assist in the safe passage of the United Nations humanitarian convoys into Syria with the coordination of the Arab republics government.

The Russian Defense Ministry is ready to exert additional efforts to enhance the efficiency of mechanisms used in examining and ensuring the security of UN convoys heading to East Aleppo, the spokesman added.

This will help to lower the concerns of the Syrian government about the content of delivered goods and remove the necessity of a detailed examination of the convoys by the government forces. The representatives of the Russian Center for Reconciliation will exercise any help to the Syrian troops during the passage of the convoys through the checkpoints before entering Aleppo, Konashenkov stressed.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday it was expecting the delivery of UN humanitarian aid to Syria's Aleppo via two routes that would ensure food and medical supplies to areas controlled by opposition militia and government forces.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The US-led coalition against the Daesh destroyed 38 oil tanker trucks near the Iraqi city of Mosul on Wednesday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a press release.

Near Mosul, four strikes struck three ISIL [Daesh] tactical units and destroyed 38 ISIL oil tanker trucks, five ISIL vehicles, and six ISIL assembly areas and denied ISIL access to terrain, the release said on Thursday.

Besides, another airstrike in Iraq near Ramadi destroyed two Daesh vehicles, and a shelter, according to the Central Command.
The field commander in the Syrian Army told Sputnik that the militants of al-Nusra Front are using cars filled with bombs not only to stop the offensive, but also to break the ring created by the army.

We are creating yet another blockade in the south of Aleppo, in order to prevent the possibility of sending reinforcements to the militants from Idlib, where they receive their ammunition from, the source said.

According to him, the army is prepared for any suicide attackers in armed cars.

On August 17, the Syrian forces together with their allied forces attacked a military school in the south of Aleppo where rebels had concentrated their forces.

Aleppo has been mired in intense fighting during the past few weeks, with the Syrian army and local militia forces having managed to encircle large groups of militants in eastern districts of Aleppo.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  While driving across Ninawa province, the oil tank trucks came under fire some 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Mosul, the provincial center and Daesh stronghold in Iraq, the source added.

"The entire convoy has been destroyed. A total of 12 Daesh terrorists were killed, several more were wounded," the source was cited by Alsumaria broadcaster as saying.

Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq and with a population of 500,000 people, has been controlled by Daesh terrorist grou for two years. Iraqi forces backed by Kurdish Peshmerga militia are currently preparing an assault on Mosul.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Aleppo has been mired in intense fighting over the past few months, with the Syrian army and local militia forces having managed to encircle large groups of militants in eastern districts of the city.

"The EU and its Member States call for an immediate halt to the fighting in Aleppo to allow medical evacuations, deliveries of aid and repairing of essential water and electricity infrastructure all parties to the conflict to restore the cessation of hostilities, ensure the lifting of all sieges and allow sustained, countrywide humanitarian access to those in need," the statement read.

The European Union also called on all international actors to abide by their commitments to the International Syria Support Group.
ALEPP (Sputnik)  According to the source, a total of 46 militants from al-Nusra Front, Ahrar Ash-Sham and Jaysh al-Muhajireen, have been killed in pinpoint-strike missions.

"Abu al-Walid al-Khani, a spiritual leader of Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham militants in Aleppo, was among those killed," the source told RIA Novosti.
Turkey and Iran are the two countries seeking dominance in the region thus they have had differences on a number of issues, including Syria and Yemen.

Turkey supported a Saudi-led international coalition and its military campaign in Yemen while Tehran has opposed the operation. In addition, Iran has supported the government of Bashar Assad and Turkey has long insisted on Assads resignation.

A coalition between Russia, Turkey and Iran on Syria is theoretically possible but hard to work out in practice, Alexander Sotnichenko, an expert in Russian-Turkish relations, said.

"Such an alliance between the key players is crucial for the peaceful settlement in the Middle East. At the same time, Turkey on the one hand and Russia and Iran on the other hand still support different sides of the Syrian conflict. The recent developments in Aleppo show that Ankara is still supporting terrorists," Sotnichenko told the Russian online newspaper Vzglyad.

However, at a time when Turkey has problems with the West, Erdogan understands that he needs good relations with Russia and Iran. During the visit to Iran, Erdogan will try to bolster his positions in the talks with Moscow, the expert suggested.

At the same time, it is premature to say that Erdogan could break up with NATO.
CAIRO (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, it was reported in the media, citing the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), that Syrian government warplanes for the first time in five years of civil war had carried out airstrikes on areas in Hasakah controlled by the Kurds.

"Our sources in Al Hasakah confirmed that there are no military casualties, but there are casualties among the civilian population," Ibrahim said, adding that five Kurdish positions in the area were hit.

He added that it has not yet be possible to determine the number of victims as planes are still in the sky over Hasakah.
UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik)  Haq told reporters at a daily briefing the details of the pause would have to be worked out at a later time.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mitura called for the establishment of the two-day pause in fighting earlier in the day to allow UN convoys access into the city.

The Russian Defense Ministry later said it was ready to support de Mistura's proposal and ensure the safe passage of UN convoys in coordination with the Syrian government. Haq said the UN was informed of Moscow's readiness to support the envoy's initiative.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The release noted that Human Rights Watch has documented kidnappings, executions and torture against LGBT individuals by al-Sadr's Mahdi Army since 2009.

"State and non-state actors in Iraq should heed the prominent Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's July 2016 statement banning violence against those who do not conform to gender norms," the release stated.

Human Rights Watch also called on al-Sadr to hold his commanders accountable for violating his stated ban on violence towards LGBT individuals.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry welcomed UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura's proposal for a 48-hour pause in fighting in the city of Aleppo for UN humanitarian convoys to enter the city. The Russian military expressed readiness to implement the first 48-hour humanitarian pause to supply Aleppo with aid next week, as a "pilot project."

"We take note of todays announcement by the Russian Federation. As we have said consistently, the UN will look at any proposal to mitigate the suffering of the people of Aleppo, but for a humanitarian pause to support the provision of humanitarian assistance it must be agreed by all parties," Laerke said.

He added that it was vitally important to provide a sufficiently long humanitarian pause to deliver aid to those in need and called on all parties to the conflict to allow safe and impartial access to the affected areas.
For the first time in a long time, Russia deployed a military facility beyond the borders of the former Soviet states. This is the Hmeymim airbase, the centerpiece of the Russian aerial campaign in Syria.

Meanwhile, now the deployment of Russian military infrastructure in Syria and Iran, at the Hamadan airfield, faces less political obstacles than in 2015. Then Turkey opposed a Russian airbase in Syria.

After a Turkish jet downed a Russian bomber in Syria, tensions deepened and there was a risk of a military confrontation between Moscow and Ankara. However, the situation was even more complicated. A failed coup attempt in Turkey affected Ankaras ties both with its NATO allies and Russia. Now, Turkey is not among the countries opposing Russias growing influence in the Middle East.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The aid group took steps for evacuation of its staff after an airstrike partially destroyed the hospital in Hajjah run by the group, killing 14 people on Monday.

.@MSF to evacuate staff from 6 hospitals in N. #Yemen, due to #Saudi-led coalition's indiscriminate bombings & unreliable reassurances    - (@msf_yemen) 18  2016 .

According to the humanitarian group, "indiscriminate bombings" carried out by the coalition which often targets medical institutions prompted MSF to make such a decision.
"Within last 24 hours, terrorists have shelled with MLRS and mortars Khai-al-Ansari quarter, cement and gas plants, purification facilities and the Kastello trade center in the Aleppo city," the bulletin said.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, with an estimated completion date of February, 28, 2019, the Defense Department noted.

"Raytheon Company [of] McKinney, Texas, was awarded a $30.1 million contract for a quantity of 20 turrets for the Marine Corps armored vehicle anti-tank variant," the announcement stated on Wednesday.

The LAV-25 vehicles are equipped with a M242 Bushmaster 25 mm cannon, two M240 7.62 mm machine guns, and two 4-barrel smoke grenade launchers located on the forward left and right sides of the turret, according to published reports.
"A motorized infantry company, reinforced with additional units, stopped an offensive by superior forces of the simulated enemy. At the critical moment of the battle, military aviation was involved, with the use of two Ka-52 Alligator helicopters . The company commander thus for the first time exercised his right to decide on the use of combat helicopters in the interests of the defending units," Alexander Gordeev said.

The exercise was monitored via drones.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The base was impacted significantly by the events of July 15 and their aftermath. Former base commander Gen. Bekir Ercan Van was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the plot, while the Turkish authorities cut the base's electricity supply off and prohibited US planes from taking off.

Its not easy to move 20+ nukes, a source told the EurActive news website.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The US Department of Defense has declined to comment on media reports that Washington was preparing to move over 20 warheads from Turkey's Incirlik airbase to the US base at Romanias Deveselu.

"It is US policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence or absence of nuclear weapons at any general or specific location," Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump told Sputnik on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the Brussels-based EurActiv online news outlet cited sources as saying that the United States was getting ready to relocate the warheads from Turkey to Romania. The move was explained as stemming from increasingly tense relations with Turkey following the failed July 15 coup attempt.
The report indicated that inspectors from the Defense Contract Management Agency, "did not perform proper inspections, lacked training, and submitted false inspection records wherein they attested that [helmet] lots were inspected when in fact they were notAt least in one instance an inspector certified the lots as being inspected over a fax machine."

The OIG also noted that the provisional tools used by inmates posed a security risk, as they could have brought harm to prison guards. But the federal government awarded ArmorSource a two-year contract worth $92 million in 2013, even as the probe was ongoing.

It was announced in January that ArmorSource would deliver 100,000 lightweight helmets to the Marine Corps, and 105,000 to the US Army this year. This announcement came only two months after the company paid out $3 million in a lawsuit over poorly-made helmets brought by two whistleblowers.
Renzi announced the meeting on July 23, citing Brexit as the main issue on the agenda, saying that "the European Union should consider Brexit as a powerful awakening impulse."

The first meeting of the three leaders on Brexit consequences was held in Berlin June 27.
As a result, Bush could defend his decision to invade Iraq in 2003, or Obama could justify toppling the Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi in 2011 or providing massive support for rebel forces seeking to overthrow the government of Syria, Binney recalled.

"Of course, the president and others can always say that they based their decision on the best information they had at the time."

The practice of tailoring false and unsubstantiated intelligence for US leaders had precedents going back at least half a century, Binney remarked.

"It would be similar to the faulty intelligence used to start a war in Vietnam."

William Binney is a cryptanalyst and mathematician, and for 30 years he was a senior analyst at the NSA, where he was regarded as one of the best in the agencys history before he exposed major aspects of its blanket surveillance programs.
Citing the 2014 Uyghur-directed mass-stabbing in Xinjiang and the 2015 attack on a coal mine in Yunnan, Black noted that "instead of carrying out terrorist acts with knives murdering 50 people, they will come back and have advanced weapons and they will start a revolution in Xinjiang province."

China has maintained a relatively low-profile involvement in the military aspect of the Syrian civil war, but has been instrumental in pressing for a political resolution to the conflict as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

At the beginning of the year, China also pledged $30 billion in post-war reconstruction funding for war-torn Syria.

Richard Black is the elected representative for Loudoun County, Virginia, and personally met with Syrian President Bashar Assad during an April visit to the country.
At the start of this month, Savchenko announced a hunger strike to last until the processes of releasing Ukrainian prisoners of war in Donbass is renewed.

Kiev launched a special military operation in Ukraines southeast in April 2014, after local residents refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities, which came to power as a result of a coup.

In February 2015, a peace agreement was signed between Ukraines conflicting sides in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. One of the agreements provisions is an all-for-all prisoner exchange.

The deal also stipulates a full ceasefire in Donbass, but violations both on the part of Kiev forces and local militia have been reported.
"The entire government structure in the United States has been completely corrupted, over time but especially during the Obama administration," Armstrong, a specialist on the Soviet Union and Russia who previously served as political counsellor in the Canadian Embassy in Moscow, said on Wednesday.

The investigation has aroused concern among senior US political figures. Last week, US Senator Kelly Ayotte said that CENTCOM officials must be held accountable for manipulating intelligence about the coalitions efforts to defeat and destroy the Islamic State.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Speaking at a Wednesday campaign rally in the German town of Neustrelitz, Merkel said, as quoted by the Ostsee-Zeitung daily, that "the phenomenon of Islamist terrorism of IS [Daesh] [is] not a phenomenon that has come through the refugees to us, but we've also had before."
Black warned that the failure of the Syrian government would create a vacuum of instability and the likely reverse flow of foreign fighters, like the Muslim Uyghurs from China's Xinjiang province. The possible return of Uyghur foreign fighters should have officials in Beijing "very concerned," Black noted.

According to US intelligence estimates there are approximately 5,000 ethnically Muslim Uyghur foreign fighters from Chinas Xinjiang region, fighting alongside the al-Nusra Front terrorist group in Syria.

China has largely stayed out of military operations in Syria, but a law passed in early 2016 allowing the People's Liberation Army to participate in anti-terrorism operations overseas could potentially enable a more proactive role for Beijing in the conflict.

Richard Black is the elected representative for Loudoun County, Virginia and personally met with Syrian President Bashar Assad during an April visit to the country.
The Daesh militants began leaving the city on Friday while being monitored by US drones, the same day the US Defense Department announced that the liberation of Manbij was in its final stages.

On May 21, the SDF, backed by the US-led coalition against the Daesh, began an offensive to retake the northern Syrian town from the terror group.

Manbij was considered a key hub for the militants to smuggle fighters and supplies across the Turkish border.

The Daesh has been outlawed in Russia and numerous other countries throughout the world.
The government source, cited by the agency, added that the visit would coincide with Abe's attendance of the UN General Assembly in New York City.

Japan's interest in the development of relations with Cuba grew after in 2015 the United States and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations, which had been severed since 1961. In May 2015, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida paid a visit to Havana in the first trip by a Japanese official to the island nation.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russia left PACE in 2015 after the Assembly adopted several resolutions condemning Crimea's reunification with Russia as well as alleged Russia interference in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. PACE also imposed sanctions on the Russian delegation, barring Russian lawmakers from participating in PACE's three key bodies  its bureau, presidential committee and standing committee.

"There is dialogue with the leadership. Moreover, I intend to meet again with the head of the Parliamentary Assembly and the leaders of its political groups here in Moscow in early September," Naryshkin said.

Earlier, member of the French delegation to PACE Thierry Mariani told Sputnik that the Assembly President Pedro Agramunt stood for the return of Russia's delegation to the organization and that PACE may soon ease sanctions against the Russia.
The decision to allow Russian bombers to use the airfield was approved at the session of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). It is a right granted to the SNSC by the constitution, the expert added.

In other words, Russia's military presence in Hamadan does not violate Iranian laws. This is why US State Department's "suspicions" with regard to Russia are "groundless," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier said that the deployment was legal since Moscow was not supplying Iran with military aircraft for its own internal use.

"The United States has turned a blind eye on how dangerous Daesh and other terrorist groups (some of which received assistance from the US) are to the region and the world. At the same time, Washington does not give credit to Russia and Iran for their massive contribution to tackling the threat that terrorists pose," he added.

Toner also referred to Russia's decision to deploy its bombers to Iran as "unfortunate but not surprising or unexpected" during the State Department briefing on Tuesday. Amir Hossein Norbakhsh called these comments "childishly ridiculous."
Researchers insist that there are "serious risks" involved since terrorists or other hostile forces could seize US-made nukes, but Ismail Hakki Pekin did not share these sentiments.

The intelligence expert said that radical groups will not be able to gain access to these weapons, but even if they do, they "will not be able to use them."

The bombs stationed at Incirlik were designed to be dropped from high-speed aircraft. "Taking into the way they function, one can assume that even if they fall into the hands of terrorists, this would not matter since they cannot be used without code keys and outside of planes," he explained.

Ismail Hakki Pekin further noted that stationing "so many nuclear weapons poses a threat to Turkey's security." These bombs "are incapable of protecting Turkey from potential attacks," he said, adding that they do not serve as a deterrent because "these weapons are under full control of the US troops, not Turkish army."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Ankara accuses Gulen of orchestrating the failed July 15 coup that led to over 260 deaths and around 26,000 arrests. Washington has so far refused to extradite the cleric, who denies his involvement in the attempted government insurrection.

"The danger, the threat which we did not see in the past, Russia recognized from the beginning. We thought that the followers of this movement are good citizens of the country, people of faith, but we could not even suspect that they are secret agents," Cavusoglu said.

The minister reiterated that Ankara had sent all documents necessary for Gulens extradition, including proof of his involvement in the coup, to the United States.
On August 6, terrorist groups managed to open a narrow corridor in the Ramouseh district located in southwestern Aleppo, encircling SAA troops nearby. Damascus-led forces and their allies pushed the militants back to rebel-held areas on August 9, but the radicals received a large supply of weapons and ammunition that will prolong the battle for the city.

Experts agree that the fate of Syria is largely linked to the outcome of this standoff.

In this context "Russia found itself facing a tough choice," the analyst said. The country "needed to boost its military presence in Syria due to the escalation of fighting, but understood that this would also hamper the intra-Syrian dialogue and the peace process in the country."
The outfall of the former Soviet bloc's disintegration is clearly visible in the case of Ukraine, which has gone from one of the most prosperous Soviet states to one of Europe's poorest states, Akayev stressed.

"Look at the example of Ukraine. Ukraine was the most prosperous republic in the Soviet Union, they had excellent scienceToday, there is no major science, no industry in Ukraine. I want to remind you that in 1990, Ukraine's annual per capita income was much higher than per capita income in RussiaAnd today, the per capita income is many times less than in Russia," he said.

The August Putsch started early on August 19, 1991. Led by Soviet Vice President Gennady Yanayev, the State Committee on the State of Emergency (GKChP), formed the day before, attempted to remove Gorbachev from power while he was on holiday in Crimea. The coup collapsed several days later, on August 22. The coup attempt is widely believed to have significantly contributed to the disintegration of the Soviet Union on December 26.
It is worth mentioning that Vladimir Putin was the first among foreign leaders who condemned the attempted coup against the legitimate Turkish government and lent his helping hand to Ankara.

There is yet another reason why Washington's Middle Eastern policy prompts suspicions both abroad and in the United States.

The US House of Representatives' Joint Task Force recently published its report on systematic distortion of analytic products by CENTCOM in order to paint US efforts to fight Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria in a more positive light. Although the complaint was first voiced in 2015 neither CENTCOM, nor the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) or other US government services have raised a finger to solve the problem.

To add to the confusion, Joint Task Force reported that it "did not receive access to all the materials it requested."

What lies behind the distortion of information about US' operation in Syria? What political forces in the US are interested in hiding the truth about what the Pentagon/CIA are really doing in Syria?

"The US operations in Syria are really no different from what the US did in Afghanistan over 30 years ago. The US has been using various types of Takfiri [Sunni radicals] crazies in many wars (Chechnya, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, etc.) as what I call 'foot soldiers for the Empire,'" The Saker emphasized.

"The only thing that changes is the label these forces operate under: whether 'freedom fighters' or 'moderate opposition,' they are still in reality only al-Qaeda or ISIS [Daesh], and at the end of the day they are all one and the same: Takfiri crazies, managed by Western special forces, paid for by Wahhabi (Saudi) money and engaged against all those who refuse to bow to the Empire," the military analyst continued.

Referring to the reports of the US-led coalition's "phony" war in Iraq and Syria that left Daesh's positions and supply roots virtually intact in the course of the Pentagon's aerial campaign in 2014, the military analyst nailed the US for its double game in the Middle East.

"Political reasons have forced the US to engage in a pretend war against Daesh just because it does not look very good when 9/11 is blamed on al-Qaeda while at the same time the US is using all its power to prop-up, organize, protect and manage the very same al-Qaeda," he noted.
However, the government of Macedonia can hardly be described as pro-Russian. When the country refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow and supported Turkish stream it was dictated mostly by its national interests. Macedonia has beneficial trade ties with Russia. In addition, if Turkish Stream is built the country will receive transition fees.

Over the past decades, Macedonia was not in the sphere of Moscows interests and as a result has gone under Washingtons influence.

Nevertheless, a deepening political crisis may be in the interests of the US as a way to reduce Russias influence in the regions, especially amid tensions between Moscow and the West, the article read.

Commenting on the Macedonian crisis in 2015, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that political turmoil broke out at a time when Skopje made certain steps toward closer ties with Moscow.

"I cannot judge with a final definition, but objectively it turns out that these events in Macedonia are developing on the backdrop of the Macedonian authorities refusal to join in the sanction policy against Russia, as well as on the backdrop of its active support that Skopje showed in regard to the planned construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, which many in Brussels and those overseas are against," Lavrov said during a press conference in Belgrade in May 2015.

The author assumed that despite the fact that the Macedonian crisis has a number of domestic reasons there are signs that Washington was also involved in the situation.

Representatives of the ruling Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO DPMNE) have repeatedly blamed George Soros and his Open Society Foundation for the turmoil. In fact, many activists involved in protests were affiliated with the Macedonian branch of the OSF.

Recently, a number of OSF inner documents were stolen by hackers and published on the Internet. In particular, the papers describe the strategy of mass protests in Macedonia.
Likewise, it is not written on the wall that Big Labor and women will more willingly vote for Hillary Clinton rather than for her opponent, he adds.

The American academic stresses that Big Labor remembers that it was the Clintons who championed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993 as well as a 2012 South Korean trade pact which, according to labor unionists, destroyed tens of thousands of American jobs.

Moreover, there is little if any doubt Hillary Clinton will continue to push ahead with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which triggers Big Labor's deepest concerns.

Navarro debunks yet another myth, which says that Trump's opposition in GOP will eventually "sink" him, referring to the fact that the presidential nominee's Republican opponents constitute a small faction within the party.

Finally, one of the biggest mistakes of both the political elites and Trump's opponents, according to the US academic, is that they believe that his tough rhetoric was costing him votes.

"After all, much of Trump's popularity stems from his willingness to say what he thinks, even (or especially) if it offends the politically correct," Navarro recalls, adding that "if Trump simply stays focused on his four aces of the economy, trade, immigration and national security, it is equally true that he will surely play a winning hand."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Explosions blamed on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) killed five people in Elazig and three in Van earlier in the day, wounding more than 290 people in total. A third improvised explosive device attack on a patrol vehicle in Hizan killed five soldiers later Thursday.

"These attacks are a revenge for what happened on July 15," Erdogan said at a Union of NGOs of the Islamic World conference in remarks broadcast by TRT.

"The West never understood us, does not understand us and will never understand us in terms of the fight against the PKK," Erdogan said.
While the West struggled to reconcile itself to the unexpected Russo-Turkish thaw, the agreement struck by Moscow and Tehran to bolster bilateral military strategic ties has literary caught Western capitals off guard.

In accordance with the deal concluded between Russia and Iran, Moscow deployed its Tupolev Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bombers and Sukhoi Su-34 strike jets at the Hamadan airfield in Iran to enhance the countries' joint campaign against Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) in Syria.

"Russian bombers flying from an Iranian air base struck rebel targets across Syria on Tuesday, Russian and Iranian officials said, dramatically underscoring the two countries' growing military ties and highlighting Russia's ambitions for greater influence in a turbulent Middle East," the Washington Post reported on August 16.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  According to him, Ankara and Moscow discuss all matters openly and without bias, "including those on which there are differences." He pointed out that the main priority in their bilateral relations was to achieve a higher level of cooperation.

"For Turkey, Russia is a friend in the region, and Russia would not be able to find a more loyal friend than Turkey," Cavusoglu told Sputnik.
Turkeys Minister for Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu has reached India on a crucial three-day official visit. This is his first visit to India. Indias Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup says, The entire gamut of bilateral relations as well as multilateral and regional issues is likely to be discussed during the talks. Talks between the Ministers are to be held on Friday. Mevlut Cavusoglu is also scheduled to visit Hyderabad on August 20 to officially open the Turkish Consulate building.

On August 7, Turkish consul-general in Mumbai Erdal Sabri Ergen had said, "In the aftermath of a coup attempt in Turkey, we have found some connection in India, Mumbai, of the perpetrators. This outfit (Gulen) also poses a grave threat to India's internal security and we have written to the Indian government and placed the details before them."

In a letter received by the Indian Home Ministry, Turkey has demanded a crackdown on all organizations linked to the Gulenist network spread across Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and other places.
The British author believes that neither opening up to Cuba, nor striking the nuclear deal with Iran do Obama credit.

"The opening up of Cuba? Predictably marred by the Castro brothers' reluctance to surrender or even share power. To keep the Iranian nuclear deal on course the president is willing to undergo any manner of contortions," Boyes notes.

But what is more embarrassing in the eyes of Western pundits and analysts is that Russia has outwitted Washington in the Middle East.

Sohrab Ahmari of the Wall Street Journal pins the blame for Russia's geopolitical emergence on Obama's policies, claiming that the US president "allowed that threat to metastasize to its current scale."

Much in the same vein New York Post's contributor Benni Avni is fuming over Russia's recent achievements: the establishment of a permanent military airbase at Hmeymim in Syria, the agreement with Iran on the deployment of the Russian strategic bombers at Hamadan, and, most notably, mending broken relations with Turkey.

"Wasn't President Recep Tayyip Erdogan angry as hell with Moscow?That was then. This is now. Erdogan visited Moscow last week, and the two are now thick as thieves, even raising fears about the integrity of NATO. (Remember: Strategically located Turkey commands the alliance's second-largest army.)," Avni stresses.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Last week, Clintons running mate Tim Kaine also held rallies in New Hampshire. Both campaigns see the swing state as a battleground for the 2016 general election.

"We wont be paying ransoms to terrorism sponsoring states, they will be paying the price," Pence stated at the rally in Manchester, New Hampshire. "We are going to rebuild the American military and stand by our soldiers. We will command respect [in the world]."

Pence blamed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for the American victims in the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, claiming the former secretary of state "should be disqualified from serving as a commander-in-chief."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, media reports, citing unnamed US officials, suggested that Kerry and Lavrov will meet in Geneva on August 26 to discuss the Syrian settlement.

"It is too early to speak of the confirmation yet. The possibility of the meeting is directly linked to the progress in the negotiations, which are being conducted between the Russian and US experts," the source said.

In July, Kerry met with Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where they discussed specific steps to restore the ceasefire and possible US-Russian military cooperation against terrorist groups in Syria.
The aid was delivered to countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania and South America to help in earthquake, flood and storm relief as well as in the fight against the Ebola virus and to help people suffering from armed conflicts (in the Middle East and Ukraine).

"Since August 2014 until now the convoys of the Russian Emergencies Ministry delivered over 63 tonnes of life-saving humanitarian cargo to Donbass [Ukraines southeast], which helped prevent a humanitarian catastrophe," the ministry spokesman said.

Russia is also involved in providing laboratory equipment, medical equipment and supplies, as well as educational technology as part of humanitarian projects in Cuba, Tunisia, as well as other states.
In the UK, as Andrew points out, there are parallels with the States.

Whoever is in power be it the conservatives or labour, the UK will closely follow US policy, which is to sell as many weapons as possible to Saudi Arabia. Arms sales are seen as a business opportunity, the UK government has licenced GBP3.5 billion over the past 18 months, whilst Saudi Arabia has been bombing Yemen. Its not just the US and the UK, it's also the UN and almost every other major international organisation.

Sales carry on because no action is being taken. Condemnation is one thing, but action is another, Andrew Smith pointed out. Andrew said that in the UK at last some action is being taken. Following an application by Campaign Against Arms Trade there will be a judicial review by the Committee on Arms Exports Controls (CAEC) in 2017 about the legality of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. This is the first time such a step has been taken in history, because Saudi Arabia is the largest buyer of UK arms, and arguably the most toxic client the UK has, Andrew said.

However the situation in the UK is that after Brexit, businesses are probably going to be more hungry for business, including arms deals. Saudi Arabia may fall off the political agenda in Britain. Andrew was adamant, however that it wont and that the CAEC case is highly significant.

As far as the US elections go, Joe said that it is unlikely to make any difference. Certainly towards Russia, we have had some hopeful noises from Trump, although we have no idea what he is actually going to do. But on Saudi Arabia, he is as pro-Israel as Clinton is. He has had good relations with Gulf Monarchs, and I think he would not do anything against Saudi Arabia, said Joe. If Clinton wins, well, you just have to look at the Clinton Foundation.The amount of money that flows into the Clinton Foundation has really opened up the sale of arms to almost any country. Shes a hawk, much worse than Obama.
Is the Trump campaign at a crisis point? The Republican candidate has shaken up his campaign team once again, effectively the second overhaul in as many months. As his poll numbers slip, should we now expect a gentler and more mild mannered Trump to emerge, or will his shoot from the hip style continue  and possibly cost him the election?

Did the Obama administration give away $1 billion of taxpayer money to a private corporation to administer a nearly empty detention facility? The mass detention of Central American asylum seekers in 2014 was declared illegal by the federals courts, but the ink was already dry on a contract signed with the Correctional Corporation of America. Margaret Winter, the former Associate Director of the ACLU Private Prison Project, joins the show.

Khalid Jabara, a 37 year old, has been murdered on his own front porch in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The suspect in custody has a history of racist harassment of violence. Brian is joined by Council on American-Islamic Relations Oklahoma Civil Rights Director Veronica Laizure and Robert McCaw, Director of Government Affairs at the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
SIMFEROPOL (Sputnik)  According to the source, on August 7-9, a group of officers from the central headquarters of the Ukrainian Navy arrived in Ochakiv.

"Officers of the navy base mentioned, in private conversations, that the group had arrived to back up and evacuate the sabotage group of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Chief Directorate of Intelligence, which was blocked in Crimea," the source added.
Each unit of S-400 missiles consists of dozens of vehicles, including launching platforms proper, tractor-trailers, mobile radars on wheels, mobile command posts and a flurry of auxiliary transporters based on KamAZ and Ural trucks.

Otvaga-2004 Internet portals editor Vitaly Moiseyev said that the Aerospace Forces were having problems repairing and evacuating S-400 transporters.

The S-400 units are quite diverse and they are very heavy too. That said, one has to be extremely careful when moving them around to make sure that their complex electronics do not get damaged, Moiseyev told Izvestia.

Until very recently the Russian Army had no evacuation trucks capable of doing this, he added.

What also makes the REM-KS so special is that the crew needs a mere 12 minutes to start evacuating damage vehicles.

The REM-KS is built on the basis of the BAZ-6910-021 Voshchina tow truck produced by the Bryansk Auto Works in western Russia.

The S-400 SAM, known as the Triumf at home and better known to NATO as the SA-21 Growler, is the most capable and lethal long-range air defense missile system on the planet.
SAMARA (Sputnik)  Police in the Russian city of Samara arrested a supporter of the Daesh terrorist organization, who was preparing an attack in the country, a source in regional law enforcement agency told RIA Novosti Thursday.

"On August 18, an organizer of a terrorist attack, a native of one of the Central Asian republics, born in 1982, was arrested in a special operation in the framework of the criminal case on preparing sabotage and terrorist acts on the territory of the Volga Federal District, by the FSB [Federal Security Service] and the Russian Interior Ministry officers in the Leninsky district of Samara," the source said.
It is estimated that artificial intelligence will have an enormous impact on mankind, as computers and robots are continuously adapting and are bound to learn to think and behave in a more or less human way. This may have both far-reaching economic consequences and a tremendous sociological impact. To study its implications, Denmark has launched a special commission, spearheaded by Ida Auken, IT spokesman for the Social Liberal Party and Thomas Damkjr Petersen, president of the Danish Society of Engineers (IDA).

According to Auken, the world must brace itself for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is heralded by the advent of robots, artificial intelligence and digitalization. This is bound to significantly change Europe's labor market, as hundreds of thousands of people may be looking for new jobs in the coming decades.

Whereas increased automation previously mostly affected traditional manufacturing jobs, future digitalization may affect a broader scope of jobs, the World Economic Forum recently pointed out in its report The Future of Jobs. Lawyers will be replaced by artificial intelligence in the most trivial cases. Simple operations will be carried out by robots, thus replacing doctors. A skillfully programmed algorithm may in the long run fare better than your average journalist. This makes the fourth industrial revolution both an opportunity and a challenge.
"Hoverboards are filled with batteries and motors. In England and the United States, hoverboards have been known to overcharge, which is hardly a good thing, and then catch fire," Gustafsson told SVT.

In addition to overcharging, the Electrical Safety Board also noted so-called interference issues. Hoverboards are known to send out signals to other electronic devices that make them behave irrationally.

Crazy fact: #hoverboards are too hot to handle sometimes! pic.twitter.com/SbQzxDjpqO  Public House of Art (@PHoA_Ams) August 11, 2016

"These are two separate things, interference issues and battery problems. Both, however, are a very good indication that something is wrong, if you experience either of them," Martin Gustafsson continued.

By its own admission, the Electronic Safety Board hopes to get to the bottom of the combustion problem by examining damaged parts and test-driving hoverboards produced by different companies.

According to Gustafsson, 90 percent of all incidents that happened so far can be blamed on the lack of a proper Swedish manual and the absence of a CE marking, which is mandatory for certain products sold within the European Economic Area (EEA). Unsurprisingly, this is what made hoverboards a cheap, attractive and hip commodity among Swedish youth.

"When you buy a gadget, make sure you get a Swedish manual, if only get the English one, send it back immediately. Otherwise, it is guaranteed that it is not safe at all," Martin Gustafsson recommended to hoverboard riders.

The majority of self-balancing scooters are powered by lithium-ion batteries. So far, there have been numerous instances of defective batteries and faulty wiring, which led to short circuits and overheating, as well as injuries and lawsuits. In July 2016, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled over half a million of self-balancing scooters, citing safety concerns.

The gyroscopic hoverboard, controlled by the rider's feet, made its debut in 2014 in China, and by 2015 became widely popular in the United States, following numerous celebrity appearances. There is no universally accepted name for the device, which is commonly known by a number of distributors' names, such as Airboard, Cyboard, Future Foot, Hovertrax, Segway, Soar Board and Swagway.

The term "hoverboard" originates from a 1969 science fiction novel by M.K. Joseph and was popularized in the Back to the Future film franchise. Remarkably, the "original" hoverboard referred to a fictional skateboard-like device that floats above the ground.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  In 2015, US District Court for the Central District of California awarded Boeing a multimillion compensation from its former partners under the Sea Launch, including Energia, following the bankruptcy procedure. Energia and its Ukrainian counterpart Yuzhnoe claimed that Boeing had given unwritten assurances to its Sea Launch partners that it would not seek reimbursements.

"We have signed a preliminary agreement with Boeing to settle a dispute on 'Sea Launch,' in that context a court in the United States suspended all the activities to collect debts. Before the end of the year we are planning to sign a final agreement with Boeing, which should stipulate conditions of the [dispute's] settlement," Solntsev said, as quoted by the Russian Izvestia newspaper.
"He has a long record of being anti-labor," Bigelow told Loud & Clear. "And then of course Hillary Clinton herself, not only praised NAFTA repeatedly through the Bill Clinton's presidential years, but subsequently as a SenatorShe did it even when she was running for president in 2008."

Emails leaked in the beginning of this year suggest that though Hillary Clinton said in her 2008 campaign that she was against a free trade agreement with Columbia, she was pressuring people to agree to the deal while she was secretary of state.

"There isn't anything about the reality of the Clintons that is pro-labor" Bigelow said.

Walter Smolarek, Loud & Clear producer and co-author of a forthcoming book on the domestic and foreign policies of the Clintons, agreed that the couple has played a big role in moving the Democratic Party to the right, and solidifying a new era of neo-liberalism.

"There was an extensive diminution of the role of organized labor within the Democratic Party establishment as the Clintons took over," Smolarek said.

The labor movement was strong enough in the mid-1960s and 70s that Richard Nixon as president established the Environmental Protection Agency and supported the equal rights amendment for women.

The situation has changed dramatically over the years, and largely due to Bill Clinton's economic policies. His decisions have left millions of people on the verge of poverty throughout the 1990s, Smolarek stated, including the replacement of Aid for families with dependent children' program with the Temporary assistance for needy families,' in which the words temporary' and inaccessible' were widely considered to be interchangeable.
Radio Sputniks Loud & Clear sat down with Eugene Puryear, host of By Any Means Necessary, about the conditions of blacks in Milwaukee and how the uprising is an example of what happens when disaffected people decide they have had enough.

Puryear remarked that rebellions seen in different black communities over the last few years are instances of communities who often feel powerless showing unity and strength.

"I think we saw it initially in Ferguson [Missouri] and thats why the situation in Ferguson was so electrifying, as you saw a whole community come out and, in a united fashion, to resist the police. These things happen spontaneously, they happen with a lot of context, but they also happen with an understanding that the only real way to get any sort of attention is to mess with the money as it were, to disrupt the social stability, and I think when we see these uprisings thats whats happening. And I think what we also see is that theyre often direct responses to the type of oppression people are facing."
On Wednesday, the paper reported, citing unnamed US officials and other sources briefed on the operation, that at a time of the suspected exchange the United States waited for a Swiss Air Force aircraft carrying the three freed US citizens to take off from Tehran before allowing Iranian officials take the sum and depart home on a cargo plane from a Geneva airport.

Following the publication of the original WSJ claims on August 3, US President Barack Obama made a statement saying that the $400-million payment to Iran did not constitute ransom but was made due to the fact that Washington owed even a larger sum of money to Iran over a 1970-s failed arms deal, while timing was simply a coincidence.
WASHINGTON, August 18 (Sputnik)  A civilian contractor aircraft crashed on public land near the Nellis Air Force Base in the US state of Nevada, the US Air Force said in a press release on Thursday.

"[A] civilian contractor aircraft supporting 57th Wing operations crashed on public land adjacent to Nellis Air Force Base," the release stated.

An earlier message posted on Twitter indicated the plane was an A-4 Skyhawk, and crashed after an in-flight emergency.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The US-government supported International Republican Institute (IRI), headed by US Senator John McCain, lashed out against Russian President Vladimir Putin after learning it was banned in Russia as an undesirable foreign organization on Thursday.

"This move really says more about Vladimir Putin than it does about IRI. It's further proof that he fears democracy and allowing his people to have an opportunity to shape their own future," the IRI said in a press release.

Earlier on Thursday, Russian Prosecutor Generals office officially recognized the IRI as an "undesirable group on the territory of the Russian Federation."
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Last week, the US Department of Defense announced plans to sell Riyadh $1.15 billion worth of Abrams main battle tanks and other combat equipment, pending Congressional approval.

"By introducing a resolution of disapproval in the next few weeks, any [Congress] member can put the brakes on the sale and use their opposition to demand action from the Pentagon and the Saudis," Wille stated.
The practice of using for-profit prisons, based on arguments of economic efficiency with regard to taxpayer dollars remains, despite numerous studies finding the opposite, a regular practice within state governments. Under the existing system, an influential and deep-pocket prison lobby can directly subsidize the political campaigns of lawmakers, and submit model legislation in conjunction with organizations including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative group with disproportionate influence in statehouses across the country.

The decision by the Obama Administration appears to be, at least in part, a response to public outcry over a controversial $1 billion contract between the US Department of Homeland Security and CCA, as part of the White House policy of "sending a message to" women and children fleeing violence in South and Central America, who seek asylum in the United States.

On Thursday, prior to the decision, Loud & Clears Brian Becker sat down with Margaret Winter, former Associate Director of the ACLU Private Prison Project, to discuss the controversy surrounding the $1 billion prison contract with CCA.

"The big picture here is that when large numbers of families, primarily women with their children, began arriving in the US seeking asylum from the huge rise in violence in Central America, particularly in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, the Department of Homeland Security and the Obama Administration did what one might call a publicity stunt, something that they called an aggressive deterrence policy, in deciding that they would do a complete turnaround on amnesty," said Winter.

"Previously, when families would come in seeking asylum from brutality and oppression in other countries, the policy was that these families would be housed in the communities where they landed, they wouldnt be put into prison," explained the expert. "However, the administration made a deal with Corrections Corporation of America, the biggest for-profit prison system in the world, for a billion dollar contract, a real sweet deal whereby CCA would get $20 million a year, $1 billion overall."

"It didnt matter whether the facility turned out to be full, half-full, or empty, the money was going to come in anyways. That was the deal."
If Allen were a member of a jury he would rightfully be dismissed from duty, based on his own personal associations and biases. Certainly, nobody would want him serving as the judge in the case for similar reasons. Finally, if he were an attorney for Burgess, appointed or otherwise, this would raise a number of additional concerns.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, supported by many other organizations and individuals, believes that Allen, as the attorney of record in such a delicate case, is so tainted in his personal life that he is incapable of discharging his duties in accordance with the legal code of professional ethics.

UPDATE: The city of Baltimore has now terminated its contract with Allen.

"Mr. Allen was fully vetted at the time of his hire  and of course had decades earlier been professionally and character tested upon his admission to the bar," the mayor's office said in a statement. "None of the historical facts and alleged facts recently publicized about Mr. Allen's political views and affiliations were disclosed or discussed when his contract was agreed to. The law department does not as a general practice question its hired or contract attorneys about their political views."
The man, who has not yet been identified, was shot around 10:00 PM, before walking to a home near 53rd Avenue, just north of McDowell Road, where he collapsed and died.

Police have not yet determined where the victim was shot, or why. While law enforcement does not currently have a suspect, many are speculating that a serial shooter who has been terrorizing the community may be responsible.

The Serial Street Shooter is believed to be responsible for killing seven people, and injuring two more since April. Authorities in Arizona are currently offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
In all, 10,000 firefighters are currently combatting nine wild fires all over California, Berlant added.

California has been suffering from a record drought and Berlant said the Blue Cut fire was raging through exceptionally dry areas.
News of the murder broke on Friday: Jabara, killed by a man who terrorized his family "for years," according to the victim's family and police records. Majors had a lengthy record of violations against Jabara's family at the time of the attack, which had led to a protective order against Majors, which he reportedly violated on multiple occasions.

In September 2015, Majors hit Jabara's mother with a vehicle. He left the scene "without seeing to the welfare" of the victim, who was transported for emergency care by medical personnel who arrived at the scene, according to police reports. When police came to Major's house, he was "extremely unsteady on his feet as he was stumbling around and falling." He also reportedly had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and was "actively urinating, without the use of his hands, through his open pants."

The incident led to Majors being put in jail, after which he was released on bail.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The Louisiana governor was joined by US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, US Congressman Cedric Richmond and American Red Cross President Gail McGovern in explaining rescue and recovery efforts in the city of Baton Rouge.

"I would ask those people watching in Louisiana and around the country to seriously consider making a generous donation to the American Red Cross today so that we can speed assistance," Edwards said on Thursday.

With news focused on the US presidential election and the Olympics, flooding that has damaged or destroyed 40,000 homes in Louisiana has received scant coverage in national media compared with other natural disasters.
Just days after another police shooting rocked the city, officials announced that officers would begin wearing body cameras, but the Fraternal Order of Police is urging officers to refuse, and sent the city a cease and desist letter.

"Requiring employees to wear BWCs will change several aspects of their job and regularly assigned duties," Stephen Lazarus, a lawyer for the union, wrote in the letter. "The adoption of new BWC policies will also have a significant impact on the employees' wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of employment. Accordingly such changes are mandatory subjects that must be bargained to impasse with the union before they are implemented."

City manager Harry Black responded to the letter, stating that he is authorized to order the cameras be worn without contract renegotiations.
On Friday, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said that it was sending two Be-200 Altair amphibious aircraft upon Portugals request to assist it in battling forest fires.

The Beriev Be-200 is well suited to firefighting missions. It can take in up to 12.5 metric tons of water in a few seconds, while traveling over the water surface and then dropping its load on the flame.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The 2016 Eastern Economic Forum will be held in Vladivostok on September 2-3.

"The fifth APEC conference on higher education, the Strategy of Education Development in APEC, will take place in the Far Eastern Federal University on September 1-3, 2016, as part of the second Eastern Economic Forum. It is being organized by the Russian Education and Science Ministry, the APEC Human Resource Development Working Group and the FEFU," the university said in a statement.

Delegations from Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, Canada, China, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Thailand and other APEC member states are set to take part in the conference, according to the statement.
Medvedkov noted that in recent years more and more violations had been observed during the foreign countries investigations against Russian steel products, most notably, the EU anti-dumping investigation in respect of the cold-rolled steel.

In July, the US Department of Commerce, as a part of the preliminary measures, has determined the level of anti-dumping and countervailing margins for suppliers of cold-rolled steel from Russia, as well as a number of other countries. So, the anti-dumping margin for Severstal PJSC was calculated as 13,36 percent while for Novolipetsk Steel just as 1,04 percent.

"Since the formal investigation has not been completed yet, the issue of the WTO dispute settlement procedure involvement is not on the agenda. But we do not exclude such possibility, if the final decision will be made without the elimination of the WTO rules violations," Medvedkov said.

The final decision is expected to be made by the United States on September 3. However, according to the experts, introduction of the anti-dumping duties on this kind of steel products will have no significant effect on Russian companies.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Brussels-based EurActiv online news outlet cited sources as saying earlier in the day that Washington was preparing to move over 20 warheads to the US base at Deveselu. The move is explained as stemming from increasingly tense relations with Turkey following the failed July 15 coup there.

In response to your request, Romanian MFA firmly dismisses the information you referred to, the Romanian Foreign Ministry wrote to RIA Novosti.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to the diplomat, the United States is trying to solve a deep political issue militarily.

"The United States does not have leverage to forge a consensus. And, frankly, the Obama administration is doing very little, if anything, to generate leverage to forge that consensus," Ford told CNN on Wednesday.

According to Ford, one of the main problems is that Washington has a "myopic" notion of the Daesh terrorist group.
Beijing has a complicated network of relations in the Middle East. On the one hand, China is an important partner for Iran. On the other hand, Beijing has intense trade and investment ties with Saudi Arabia.

However, China is concerned about a militant group from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Syria. The militants will pose a threat to Chinese national security if they return to China.

"The recent talks between China and Syria presume actual military cooperation. This is a very important step for both countries," Kashin said.

China is gradually moving across the national border in using its military power, Vladimir Evseyev, senior analyst at the Institute of CIS Countries, said.

"Earlier, China authorized the use of military forces abroad for fighting terrorism. Moreover, China is examining where its forces could be deployed if needed," Evseyev said.

Before the Syrian war, China was Syrias biggest trade partner, with a trade volume of over $2 billion. Beijing also invested in the Syrian oil industry. Now, China is interested in bolstering its presence in the Middle East, including future participation in restoring industry and infrastructure in Syria.

Another reason for Chinas interest for Syria is the need for actual combat experience for the Chinese military, the expert added.

"The Chinese Armed Forces lack serious combat experience. It cannot be ruled out that Chinese military trainers and even special forces would be deployed to Syria. The Chinese military is closely watching Russias actions in Syria. For China, Syria would be a perfect place to gain combat experience and test its weapons," he pointed out.
Any talk that Japan can be a nuclear power is an attempt to twist the meaning of the countrys basic law, he added.

In addition to Article 9 of the Constitution, there are the so-called Three Non-Nuclear Principles of Japan. They say that the country shall neither possess nor produce nuclear weapons, nor shall it permit the introduction of nuclear weapons to the Japanese soil.

But de-facto those principles were violated long ago, experts believe.

"The irony is that Washington which imposed a non-nuclear status on Japan has done a lot to neglect those principles. As for the third principles, the US military moved nuclear weapons to Japan from the very beginning. Everyone knows that nukes are already in Okinawa," Koshkin added.

Valeriy Kistanov, senior analyst at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies, also confirmed that Tokyo is building up its nuclear capacities.

"Japan is taking some steps to boost its nuclear capabilities, including accumulating stockpiles of plutonium. Last year, China reported to the UN that Japan had 10.8 tons of plutonium, enough to manufacture 1,350 nuclear warheads. Even, the US is concerned," Kistanov told Sputnik.

At the same time, Tokyo cannot make a decision on whether to have or not to have nuclear weapons, analysts agreed.

"Currently, nuclear weapons are just a dystopia for Japan. No one would let this happen. China and South Korea are against it. Russia would also oppose. But the main opponent is of course the US. Being a nuclear power would mean that Tokyo could act independently from Washington. The US will not let that happen," Kistanov concluded.
The American vs. Italy Friendship Competition kicked off at Monticello Raceway on the warm and sunny afternoon of August 17 with the amateur drivers competing in both a pace and a trot on the betting card.

The pacing race went to USAs Bobby Krivelin, who reined Five Star Stud to a 2:00.2 victory, while Giancarlo Moretti scored a 2:01.1 triumph in the trot with Samsawinner.

In the first contest race, Krivelin heeded advice and sent Five Star Stud to the lead from the three-hole and led the competition to the first panel in :28.3 while the USAs Peter Kleinhans (Show Topper) and Italys Otello Zorzetta (Arts Jimmy Ray) were hung on the limb. Five Card Stud showed the way by the half in 1:00.1 and was still strong on the lead by the three-quarters in 1:30. Both Show Topper and Arts Jimmy Ray were going the long mile, but still in the race.

When the field headed for home, Krivelin tapped his pacer a couple of times and Five Star Stub responded and sailed home a one and a half length winner over Show Topper and Peter Kleinhans, which gave the American team win and place competition points. Otello Zorzetta, a winner of 471 races in his home country, took home the show dough with Arts Jimmy Ray.

My horse was good today," said Krivelin, who drove Five Star Stud for the first time. I listened to the trainer [Antonio Grillo], who asked me to send his horse to the lead and keep the bit tight in his mouth. I kept a tight hold on him [Five Card Stud], which kept him brave and he went the best mile in his last six starts.

The winner, owned and trained by Antonio Grillo, notched his second win in 29 seasonal starts and paid $16.60 for win. For Bobby Krivelin, a three-time National Amateur Driver of The Year, it was his 13th driving victory this season and it marked his 197th lifetime winner.

Since the front-end worked so good for Krivelin in the first USA-Italy Friendship Competition race, he used that same strategy in the next event, which was a trot.

Up behind 5-2 second choice Mr Invincible, Krivelin gunned the trotter to the lead from post three and they took command on the first turn and led the competition by the first quarter in :28.2 in the process keeping Trojan Horse, driven by the USAs Dave Offenberg, parked out.

The two Americans raced one-two by the half in :59.3 with Italys Giancarlo Moretti and Samsawinner tucked in nicely in the two-hole. Just before the three-quarters flashed 1:30.1, Moretti had Samsawinner out to challenge the leader, and in the lane Samsawinner drew off to a three-length triumph. Mr Invincible held on for second and Dream Defence N finished third for Italys Roberto Michelotto.

Moretti, a principal in Italys world famous Murano Glass, was sporting a huge smile when he handed the lines to the horses caretaker upon his return to the paddock and said, through an interpreter, I had a terrific two-hole journey and when I asked him [Samsawinner] to go he won the race easily.

Samsawinner, trained by Bruce Aldrich Sr., notched his 52nd career triumph. Owned by Woody Hoblitzel, the trotter paid $19.00, $8.10 and $7.40 across the board. For Moretti, it was his first American triumph and his 57th driving victory overall.

At day's end, the American team lead the visiting Italians 43-41. Tomorrow, the same Italian team will battle against an American team consisting of Hannah Miller, Joe Faraldo, Tony Verruso and Tony Ciufettelli at Yonkers Raceway.

(NAADA)
My Tallia Ideal ($5.50) let her foes do the heavy lifting for the first half of the race and then proceeded to pick up the pieces for an easy victory in the $9,500 Mares Open Pace at Batavia Downs on Wednesday night (August 17).

Wanna Rock N Roll (Todd Cummings), Jann Down (Jack Flanigen) and Vla Faire (Wade Tomaszewski) went three-wide around the first turn and then up the backside, scorching a :27.2 quarter in the process. Vla Faire finally claimed the lead and led the girls to the half. My Tallia Ideal (Dave McNeight III) pulled first-over in advance of that station and floated outside the leader as they went around the clubhouse turn. When they straightened up the backside, McNeight let out the lines and his mare responded in kind. Clearing by the three-quarter pole in 1:26.3, My Tallia Ideal proceeded to stride away from the rest of the field and opened up a four-length lead by the time she stopped the timer in 1:54.3, pacing her last quarter in :28 flat. Who Says That (Drew Monti) rallied strong to be second and a very game Vla Faire hung on for third.

The win was the second in three Batavia Downs starts for My Tallia Ideal, both of which were in the top company. The six-year-old daughter of Western Ideal has now earned $38,775 in 2016 for owners Peter Kibler, Kenneth Owczarczak and Courtney McNeight. Dave McNeight Jr. does the training.

Wins came in multiples for many horsemen on Wednesday night. Drivers Dave McNeight III and Ray Fisher Jr. both had triples while Drew Monti and Kevin Cummings chimed in with doubles. On the training side, Dave McNeight Jr. and Angelo Nappo each sent two horses to the winner's enclosure for photos.

(Batavia Downs)
Pennsylvania Attorney General Bruce L. Castor Jr. announced on Thursday (August 18) that a horse racing participant in the state has been arrested and charged with one count of rigging a publicly exhibited contest.

According to an article by wjactv.com, the states horse racing commission initiated an investigation, which was then followed up by an investigation by the Office of Attorney Generals Organized Crime Section and Gaming Unit.

Twenty-five-year-old Marian Vega was arrested and charged after it was alleged that she illegally administered Clenbuterol to racehorses at the Thoroughbred racecourse Parx Casino and Racing.

The article goes on to state that multiple horses tested positive for Clenbuterol and that Vega was found to be in a possession of Clenbuterol during the course of one of the investigations.

Vega was released on $20,000 bail and a hearing into the matter is expected to take place at the end of the month.

(With files from wjactv.com)
After a tour of Century Downs in Alberta, Standardbred Canada's President & CEO Dan Gall has headed east for his first taste of Old Home Week and harness racing on Prince Edward Island.

"Red Shores Racetrack is something special," noted Gall. "They have done a magnificent job in capturing the history of that racetrack from colour displays, salutes to the awesome drivers, and the incredible history. It really is something to see that brings people in to see the faces, the pictures and the history. It is so well done that you can honestly spend hours looking at the pictures. Solid effort by Kent [Oakes] and the volunteers.

"It was rain-soaked on Wednesday but the crowds were still strong and there was some great racing. Kent introduced me to a ton (and I mean a ton) of people we even toured the paddock after the races were over. He will be keeping me busy Thursday and Friday and the weather is supposed to be better."

Gall has provided the following photos and will be sending more photos from his tour of PEI as it progresses. To view the photos submitted thus far, click the following link: Dan Gall at Old Home Week
It's not often that a horse shows up for a meet and greet at a racetrack ahead of a stakes race. But then again, not every horse is Foiled Again.

The 12-year-old warhorse, who advanced to the 2016 Sobeys Gold Cup & Saucer after a fourth-place finish in his elim, is receiving the red carpet treatment on Prince Edward Island. He was cheered for his warm up mile on Saturday night, a respectful display of admiration and Island hospitality from those trackside.

"There's never been a horse like Foiled Again before," Kent Oakes, past chair of Standardbred Canada's Board of Directors told CBC. "He's a warrior...a remarkable equine athlete," whose presence in the prestigious Island event is, according to Oakes, "a pleasure and a privilege" for those involved.

"It's like having Wayne Gretzky in your dressing room," said Darren Trainor, host for the Burke Stable's two Gold Cup & Saucer horses -- Foiled Again and Limelight Beach. "He's nerve-wrecking to have around, we're always checking on him."

Foiled Again will make an appearance on Thursday (August 18) at Red Shores' Charlottetown facility for a special meet and greet beside the trackside beer tent at 1:30 p.m.

Marc Campbell had the choice of both Burke horses for the final; he's sticking with Foiled Again, and relinquishing the drive on Limelight Beach -- who oddsmakers have listed as the 5-2 favourite. Island native Anthony MacDonald picks up the live catch drive on the 2014 Little Brown Jug winner.

$60,000 Sobeys Gold Cup & Saucer

Post/Horse/Driver/Odds)

1. Go Daddy Go (Brad Forward - 3-1)

2. Paparazzi Hanover (Travis Cullen - 12-1)

3. Ys Lotus (Louis Philippe Roy - 7-2)

4. Foiled Again (Marc Campbell - 10-1)

5. DGs Camme (Gilles Barrieau - 6-1)

6. Limelight Beach (Anthony MacDonald - 5-2)

7. Alexas Jackpot (Jody Jamieson - 4-1)

8. Shades Of Bay (Corey MacPherson - 8-1)
Two-year-old pacers will step into the spotlight Saturday night to kick off a month and a half stretch of Grand Circuit action at Mohawk Racetrack. The Nassagaweya Stakes for freshmen pacing colts and geldings and the Eternal Camnation Stakes for juvenile pacing fillies will each feature two divisions.

Each event carries a total purse of $211,000.

Many of the two-year-olds competing in this Saturdays stakes are preparing for next weeks Metro Pace and Shes A Great Lady eliminations.

Bettors Dream, an undefeated son of Bettors Delight, headlines the Nassagaweyas $106,250 opening division. The Scott McEneny trainee is a perfect three for three to start his career, including a three-length score in the Dream Maker Series final on August 1.

A $45,000 purchase at last Octobers Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, Bettors Dream really caught the eye of his trainer.

He was a good looking colt, he was well-bred, McEneny said, following Bettors Dreams series victory. A lot of the two-year-olds in his family didnt make it to the races, but he looked like he couldve been a two-year-old, so I thought he was kind of cheap.

John Fielding and Domenic Chiaravalle share ownership of Bettors Dream with McEneny, who noted that he was forced to geld the pacer early while training down.

Hes been a pretty nice horse to train down, a little lazy, he shows that on the front end, but I think he would be a lot better horse out of a hole.

Doug McNair will steer the undefeated gelding from Post 6 in the first split.

Listed as the 4-5 morning line favourite, Bettors Dream will be looking to follow in the footsteps of last years Dream Maker winner, Control The Moment, who followed up his series victory with a win in the Nassagaweya and ultimately the Metro Pace.

Trainer Casie Coleman is regularly well represented by her rookies during the Grand Circuit events at Mohawk, and this Saturday will be no different.

Ideal Wheel is two for two to start his career and will look for a stakes victory in the Nassagaweyas $104,750 second split. The Coleman trainee hasnt raced since July 28, but qualified last Friday at Mohawk and finished first in 1:54.4, two and three-quarter lengths ahead of Bettors Dream.

The son of American Ideal was a $150,000 purchase at last Novembers Harrisburg Sale and is owned by Mac Nichol. Jonathan Drury will drive Ideal Wheel and the duo will start from Post 7.

The Eternal Camnation Stakes attracted 16 pacing fillies, but much of the focus will be on Coleman trainee Candlelight Dinner.

The daughter of American Ideal is a perfect three for three entering Saturdays contest and has not only been the most impressive rookie pacer locally, but arguably in the entire sport.

Candlelight Dinner caught the eye of Coleman last year at Hunterton Farms and eventually was purchased for $110,000 at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.

There was nothing not to like about her at sale time, said Coleman after her fillys last start. I went to Hunterton Farms and saw her a few weeks before the sale and I actually couldnt turn her out.

I love to turn my horses out in the field and see how they travel, but she had hurt her leg, just a superficial thing, and Cindy and Steve (Stewart) were like we cant turn her out and I understood, but there is nothing to fault on her, shes just phenomenal.

Candlelight Dinner appears to be a special filly based on her performances to date. Through three starts, her smallest margin of victory is four and a half lengths, and she most recently captured the final of the Whenuwishuponastar Series by five lengths in a nations best 1:52.2.

Drury will once again have the assignment behind the talented pacing filly and they will start from Post 5 in the first division. Candlelight Dinner is the 2-5 morning line choice.

Just like Coleman, McEneny is also well represented in both of Saturdays event.

Bettors Up will return to Mohawk after three starts in Pennsylvania Sires Stakes action. The McEneny trainee is riding a two-race win streak, including a 1:52.3 victory in her last start on August 7 at Pocono.

A $15,000 purchase at last falls Lexington Sale, Bettors Up has earned $87,955 through five starts for her connections of Brad Grant, Teresa Davidson and Michelle McEneny. The four-time winner will start from post six in the second split with driver James MacDonald and has been installed as the 7/5 favourite.

The Nassagaweya divisions have been carded as Races 5 and 7, while the Eternal Camnation splits are carded as Races 3 and 9.

Saturdays 11-race card also features a $34,000 Preferred Pace. Post time is 7:30 p.m.

To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at Mohawk, click the following link: Saturday Entries  Mohawk Racetrack.

Here are the full fields for Saturdays Nassagaweya and Eternal Camnation Stakes.

PP/Horse/Driver/Trainer/Morning Line

Race 5: Nassagaweya (Division 1) - $106,250

1. Deadly Action (J. Drury - C. Johnson) 8-1

2. Some Attitude (P. MacDonell - R. McIntosh) 5-1

3. Beyond Delight (S. Filion - T. OSullivan) 10-1

4. Manceiver (T. Henry - H. Okusko Jr.) 12-1

5. Bobcat Bound (Ph. Hudon - C. Jamieson) 6-1

6. Bettors Dream (D. McNair - S. McEneny) 4-5

7. Classic Pro (C. Christoforou - Dr. Moore) 20-1

8. Rock This Way (M. Baillargeon - B. Baillargeon) 20-1

9. Richard Hill (R. Waples - T. Alagna) 8-1

Race 7: Nassagaweya (Division 2) - $104,750

1. Calvin K (P. MacDonell - T. OSullivan) 5-2

2. Shadow Rouge (C. Christoforou - Dr. Moore) 10-1

3. Windsong Napoleon (Ph. Hudon - C. Jamieson) 5-1

4. All It Takes (D. McNair - G. McNair) 12-1

5. Macs Jackpot (S. Filion - T. OSullivan) 8-1

6. Darlings Dragon (D. Dupont - M. Dupont) 4-1

7. Ideal Wheel (J. Drury - C. Coleman) 2-1

8. This Is My Song (T. Henry - C. Barss) 20-1

Race 3: Eternal Camnation (Division 1) - $105,550

1. Awash (Ph. Hudon - T. Alagna) 15-1

2. Thorne Seelster (J. MacDonald - A. MacDonald) 15-1

3. Everyones Watching (S. Filion - T. Alagna) 12-1

4. Windy Sport (T. Henry - C. Coleman) 8-1

5. Candlelight Dinner (J. Drury - C. Coleman) 2-5

6. Beautiful Hill (C. Christoforou - T. Alagna) 15-1

7. Happy Hannah (R. Waples - M. Steacy) 7-2

8. Black Jack Pat (D. McNair - D. Menary) 10-1

Race 9: Eternal Camnation (Division 2) - $105,550

1. Blameitonthenight (R. Waples - T. Alagna) 7-2

2. Somemoneysomewhere (P. MacDonell - P. MacDonell) 15-1

3. Loreenas Ruffian (C. Norris - C. Norris) 6-1

4. Perplexed (C. Christoforou - T. Alagna) 10-1

5. Manhattan (M. Saftic - N. Comegna) 12-1

6. Bettors Up (J. MacDonald - S. McEneny) 7-5

7. Thats The Ticket (S. Filion - C. Ryder) 8-1

8. Fade (J. Drury - C. Coleman) 4-1

(WEG)
Er is iets heel griezeligs aan de gang in Nederland. Dat wij geleidelijk aan in een totalitaire 'democratie' wegzinken wordt steeds ...
Egypt's Telecom Regulator Approves Revised Terms for 4G Licenses

Egypts telecom regulator has approved revised terms for 4G mobile broadband network licenses, and said it will send them out to operators on Sunday.

The government offered four 4G telecom licenses in June, to Telecom Egypt and to the countrys three mobile services providersOrange Egypt , Vodafone Egypt, and Etisalatbut only Telecom Egypt accepted the terms. The regulator, keen to prioritize existing carriers, decided to revise them.

A senior official at the Telecommunications Ministry told Reuters on Wednesday that the revised terms include additional frequencies but there is no change in the pricing or the condition that 50% of the payment for the licenses must be made in U.S. dollars.

The National Telecom Regulatory Authority later issued a statement confirming it approved the final terms and that the companies had until Sept. 22 to accept.



The government, which is grappling with a shortage of hard currency as economic and political turmoil in Egypt in the past few years has deterred foreign investment, has said it hopes to raise 22.3 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.5 billion) in total in license fees.

www.fortune.com
It's Election season and our editor's mailbox is overflowing. Who do your neighbors support? Read about it here.
A Kelso patrolman shot and killed a man who attacked a clerk, a customer and the officer himself with what appears to have been a large piece of wood Wednesday morning at the Flying K mini-mart in West Kelso, according to authorities.

The officer involved, identified as 22-year veteran patrolman John Johnston, suffered a head injury and was treated briefly Wednesday at St. John Medical Center, according to Kelso Police Chief Andrew Hamilton.

An eyewitness at the store, who asked to remain anonymous, called Officer Johnston a hero for protecting store employees and customers. And a local African-American activist said she supports the police officer because she doesnt believe race played a role in the incident.

Johnston, in accordance with standard procedure, was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation of the shooting. He will be referred to a doctor for a knee injury suffered in the altercation, Hamilton said.

The assailant, a 27-year-old black male, was pronounced dead at the scene. The man was a transient and had been contacted by law enforcement a few times recently, including Tuesday night, according to Cowlitz County Sheriff Mark Nelson.

Police are investigating reports that the assailant is an Eastern Washington man originally from Sudan, but they havent reached his family. For that reason, The Daily News is withholding his identity.

Details emerged later Wednesday that clarified some earlier reports.

According to Nelson, a clerk in the Flying K, located at First Avenue and West Main Street near the foot of the Allen Street Bridge, called police at 8 a.m. to report that a shoplifter had just left the store and was walking toward the Red Leaf cafe.

At about 8:10 a.m., officer Johnston was interviewing store workers when the man returned with what police first described as a walking stick but later was described as a piece of wood such as a 2-by-4. Wielding it like a club, Nelson said, the man started hitting the clerk, a customer and officer Johnston. Johnston was struck in the head, Nelson said.

At that point, the officer pulled out his gun and shot the man at about 8:15 a.m., according to Nelson. He did not say how many shots Johnston fired.

An autopsy tentatively is scheduled for Friday, according to the Cowlitz County Coroners Office.

Asked at a midafternoon press conference if Johnston had escalated the situation, Nelson said the officer had been trained to react in such a situation and had appeared to act appropriately given that he had been clubbed.

I dont know what all he was equipped with at the time, but if somebodys being beat on the head with a pole, its time to respond appropriately to that, Nelson said at the news conference.

The incident occurred at a time of heightened national concern about police shootings of young black men, some of which critics contend have been unjustified and rooted in racial profiling.

Cynthia Washington-Mattson, an African-American activist in the community, said she does not believe that racism played a role in the incident and denounced anyone who may protest against police in Kelso.

Theyre not going to look at it calmly. A hothead will come up and try to do things, theyre going to try to stir things up. ... This community will not tolerate it, Washington-Mattson said. We will not stand for it. We will stand together and we will fight it.

Washington-Mattson said her grandmother  Longviews pioneering civil rights leader Victoria Freeman  would support a peaceful march.

She said the public should stand together as a community to say all lives matter including our men in blue. She said officers are in a lose-lose situation when they are placed in harms way.

Young African-Americans need to stop and think, Washington-Mattson said. My heart just goes out to our officers, it really does. I hurt for them because theyre damned if they do, theyre damned if they dont.

The Black Lives Matter group in Vancouver did not offer any immediate comment on the shooting.

Sheriff Nelson said he doesnt think the incident will cause violent protests.

Im not really worried about it. I think if people want to come and express their thoughts and their feelings about things that have gone on here, they can do that, he said at the press conference.

The customer and clerk were taken to the hospital in addition to the officer. Earlier reports identified both as female clerks. Their names were not available, though the Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office said they were released from the hospital by Wednesday afternoon.

Sheriff Nelson said police are getting a search warrant to obtain store surveillance video.

Calls to the stores owner were not immediately returned.

Longview police and the Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office will investigate the shooting. The Washington State Patrol is assisting in the investigation. It is standard practice for other agencies to investigate officer-involved shootings.

Young African-Americans need to stop and think. My heart just goes out to our officers, it really does. I hurt for them because theyre damned if they do, theyre damned if they dont. Cynthia Washington-Mattson, Granddaughter of Longview

pioneer Victoria Freeman
Temperatures in the region are expected to reach 90 to 100 degrees Thursday and Friday, making conditions ripe for fires, authorities say.

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning from 2 p.m. Thursday to 9 p.m. Saturday for Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon from the coast to the Cascade foothills, including Portland and the western Columbia River Gorge.

In Pacific County, the weather service issued a red flag warning in effect from midnight Friday through 8 p.m. Saturday. This replaced the fire weather watch that had previously been in effect.

A red flag warning is issued when weather events could result in an extreme fire risk. The National Weather Service Portland Office is forecasting easterly winds and low relative humidity. An outdoor burn ban is already in effect in all of Pacific County.

Residents are encouraged to check with the Weather Service website for updated information at http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/.
A research team from the Johns Hopkins University and Des Moines University, discovered 54 Million Years Old Primate Bones in a coal mine in Gujarat. It is believed to be the most primitive primate bones, found till date. 25 bones of the small rat-sized animal are belongs to the region below neck. Scientist study the fossil and predicted it to be the oldest.

Their limbs suggested that they were less specialized but used to climb tall rainforest trees showing that India has a major role in the evolution of primates and mammals.

Kenneth Rose, professor emeritus in the Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said All other primate bones found so far around the world clearly belong to one or the other of the two primate groups, called clades: Strepsirrhini and Haplorhini. But many of the Gujarat bones show features that do not clearly belong to one clade or the other.

This signifies that the newly found primitive could be descendants of any of the category as the oldest primitive of both the groups have been categorized as adapoids or omomyids with adapoids being oldest primitive of Strepsirrhini and omomyids of Haplorhini, found in North America, Europe and northern Asia, dating 56 million years ago. These primates shows an early age of primate evolution.

Lead author Rachel Dunn, an assistant professor of anatomy at Des Moines University suggests that the changing climate, mammals were wiped from the northern continents. India was once a part of Gondwana land that included todays Southern Hemisphere, including Antarctica, South America, Africa, Madagascar, and the Australian continent, besides the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian Subcontinent. Gujarat must have those primates when India was a part of Gondwana. This

The discovery has been published in the journal Human Evolution.
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The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) has rejected Reliance Jio's request for additional point of interconnect from its member companies, saying the optimal link has already been provided. "The members of COAI would like to clarify that they have already provided Reliance Jio with enough interconnect capacity to meet the usual demand of 15 to 20 million customers," said COAI Director General Rajan S. Mathews. "We understand Reliance Jio presently has approximately 2 to 3 million customers using their network. Hence, we are unable to substantiate Reliance Jio's claim for additional capacity," he added.

This was also conveyed to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) following a letter from Reliance Jio. Earlier, in a letter to the watchdog, Reliance Jio requested for directives to the existing service providers (telcos) to immediately provide interconnection to its Jio 4G network with their own, in the spirit of the licensing agreements. It also asked the TRAI to take appropriate action against those companies that delay such a provisioning of points of interconnect to Jio in gross violation of the licensing agreements and applicable regulations.

Quoting from licensing accords, Reliance Jio said in its letter to TRAI Chairman R.S. Sharma that operators must extend requisite points of interconnect, of sufficient capacity and in sufficient numbers to ensure that calls are completed to all destinations. The company said the current number of interconnect points being provided to Reliance Jio are far from adequate as the failure rate is in excess of 65 per cent, resulting in more than 1.6 crore call failures per day between Reliance Jio and the networks of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea.

On August 12, chief executives of top mobile companies, under the umbrella of the COAI, called on Communications Minister Manoj Sinha to express concerns over alleged favouritism towards new players in the sector. The meeting came a day after a rather unprecedented move, wherein the association even wrote to the Prime Minister's Office complaining about the industry watchdog and contending that some of its moves discriminated against existing players.

A similar missive was also flagged to the Department of Telecom (DoT), which also specifically alleged that Reliance Jio has launched a full commercial service in the garb of test runs, while expressing concern over some consultation papers floated by the watchdog recently. Reliance Jio had countered the claim, saying its tests are bona fide and were aimed at delivering high-quality service.

IANS

Disclaimer: Reliance Jio is owned by Reliance Industries, who also own Network18, the publisher of Firstpost and tech2
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Daimler's top electric motors development executive, Harald Kroeger, is joining auto supplier Robert Bosch, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as a battle to hire leading talents in the sector heats up. German carmakers are investing heavily in electric cars, a segment once neglected by the industry as customers shunned their limited operating range and high cost. But a growing political backlash against diesel fumes and recent advances in battery technology to increase the reach of an electric car by up to 50 percent have spurred major investments by Volkswagen VOWG_p., Daimler and suppliers such as Bosch and Continental.

Daimler and Bosch declined to comment on Kroeger's move. The departure of the Stanford-educated executive, Daimler's head of Development for Electrics, Electronics, and E-Drive, comes as Daimler's luxury brand Mercedes-Benz prepares to launch a range of electric models. Hiring Kroeger is a major coup for Bosch. The German executive has held various senior roles, including the position of Head of Quality at Mercedes-Benz, and two years on the board of directors at electric car company Tesla Motors.

Kroeger helped oversee development of motors for Mercedes-Benz pure battery powered cars as well as plug-in hybrids. He was also responsible for development of all electronics for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and for battery development, including stationary battery storage systems and the building of a factory to manufacture battery packs for electric cars. The development of Mercedes-Benz electric passenger cars remains in the hands of Juergen Schenk, the engineer who has overseen development of vehicles including the electric Mercedes-Benz B-Class. Kroeger was Schenk's boss.

Daimler remains on track to unveil a new electric car at the Paris motor show next month, a company spokesman said. In July, the German carmaker said it had accelerated development of premium electric cars, a segment currently dominated by United States-based rival Tesla. Stuttgart-based auto supplier Bosch has in recent years built up its expertise in electric and autonomous car technology, helping a wider group of companies to gain a foothold in the auto industry.

Bosch built the electric powertrain and steering for Google's prototype autonomous vehicle and is a supplier of driver assistance systems to Tesla. Bosch expects sales of driver assistance systems, which include radar and video sensors used for emergency braking and sophisticated cruise control functions, to reach 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion) by 2016. In 2025, Bosch expects 125 million cars to be produced, of which 8 million will be electric cars, 8.3 million plug-in hybrids and more than 5 million hybrid vehicles.

Reuters
Naina Khedekar

Going by the data from all quarters, the iPhone maker isn't in the best of shapes when it comes to the China market. It's the slow down in the China market that seemingly compelled Tim Cook to look at India with hopes. After all, never before has India got mentioned in Apple's earnings call, and this was also the first time that Tim Cook visited India to make a slew of announcements. Today, we have the first (in Asia) R&D centre for Maps and an incubator in Bengaluru, along other announcements.

If you were thinking that India is finally becoming the 'apple' of Tim Cook's eyes, then the latest announcements will tell you otherwise. Tim Cook has announced that Apple will have an R&D centre in China by the end of the year. And why not, Apple believes that we are where China was 6-7 years ago. But that's not all, the company may have also miffed officials with its R&D in India announcements.

Tim Cook's latest visit, and second in the past four months, has led to the announcement of a new R&D center, which is said to be first of its kind in Asia. His previous visit to China was followed by a 'surprise' India visit wherein he announced the R&D centre for Maps. This has also led many to believe that Cook's announcement for China is rather late. But what's caught everyone's attention is how Cook called for a media briefing to discuss the new center.

A Forbes report points out, "Apples hesitation over such a move has been quite embarrassing, especially since China has surged to become its second largest market in the last three years. The lack of such investment is also embarrassing for China because India, a much smaller market for Apple, became the first Asian recipient of an R&D center from the US tech giant earlier this year."

This R&D centre will include new as well as existing Apple staff in China. It is believed to have a staff strength of roughly 9000 in China working across 42 retail stores, and has about 45 corporate offices in China. Apples new research and development center will be built by the end of the year, Cook told Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli.

Moreover, reportedly, a Chinese media report said that it will be the first independently operated R&D facility in Asia and apparently an attempt to show that 'it will be more important than the one announced in India'. And, there's more. The Forbes report points out that the vague nature of the announcement points out that it was a rushed one with nothing planned.

Now, joining the dots, the new announcement, if really a rushed one, could quite be possible to woo Chinese government officials, and tell the government that China is still very important for the iPhone maker. On the other hand, in the wake of the plethora of Chinese vendors and Apple's losing market share, the company's investment into R&D seems a natural move to many.

Meanwhile, in India, the stepping stone is the 40,000 sq ft Development Centre space leased in Yelahanka, North Bengaluru. And, not so long ago, Apple had invested in Didi Chuxing, a Chinese car-hailing service, which was one of the most unexpected and unusual move by the company.

However, Cook's visit is believed to be a result of the recent services block issues related to iTunes films and iBooks. Moreover, Apple has also been pushing for renewable energy in China with its efforts to focus on Apple's plans of being environment-friendly company.
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Chinese technology conglomerate LeEco on Wednesday announced inking of strategic partnerships with three leading digital marketing solutions companies in India. With iCubeswire, netCORE and vCommission, LeEco will offer personalised strategies and integrated marketing campaigns to customers.

"We believe these partnerships will help us amplify the reach of LeMall.com and entrench our presence in the country," said Atul Jain, COO, Smart Business Electronics, LeEco India, in a statement. iCubeswire would support various digital marketing activities with accurate data, reports, analytics and insights.

Both netCORE and vCommission were recently assigned to manage the marketing duties for the "LeMall for All" day held on August 9. netCORE will work with LeEco to support the first flash sale of its Super3 Series TVs.

IANS
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By Pallavi Chalkar

The festival of Rakhi is approaching, and it brings with it the dilemma of what to buy for your sister. It was easier when she stayed close and you could take her shopping; but now that she is far way, taking her shopping is going to be hard. Her rakhi has already arrived, thanks to the super-duper fast courier services; but, what remains now is your end of the bargain  a nice gift. And lets admit it, you miss her too! So unless you can go and visit her to celebrate rakhi, your best bargain would be the sending of a nice and thoughtful gift  something that makes your sister happy.

Listed below are some useful suggestions for gifting the sister who lives rather far away.

From the clueless brother

Be honest with yourselves, the bulk of you brothers out there don't know the first thing that your sister wants or are entirely unsure about your judgement when it comes to gifts. If you are that type, these suggestions should have you sorted out in no time at all.

Something

Anything that allows long distance gifting is welcome here. So you can send her something from this fun website called SomethingStore that operates simply on the principle that they will send the addressee (receiver) something, an item selected randomly among many products from their inventory. For $10 (free shipping in the US) and the addressee (receiver) will discover what her something is when they receive it. For details please visit.

Price: $10 per gift (around Rs 700)

Anything

How about an unknown gift package arriving at your sisters doorstep every week? This is where rrandomize steps in. Their working principle is simple  you have to work out your budget and gifting frequency, pay an amount, and there will be gifts sent to your sister at regular intervals as per the schedule you set.

Can you imagine the happy look on her face? It will be like celebrating rakhi every month for the entire year! And hey, what she doesn't like, she'll probably palm off to you anyway. Win win!

If all else fails...

If, like most brothers, you're utterly clueless as to what your sister would like, then you have the option of sending her a gift card from Amazon and the like. Depending on her location, you'll have a number of options at your disposal. You can decide your budget, buy the card online and send her as a gift. Traditionally too, brothers would often gift money to their sisters, so that the sisters may choose to buy what they deem fit. It's kind of a cool way of maintaining a traditional practice  with the added saving grace of not struggling with finding her a gift!

Pro tip: To make up for your cluelessness, make the card is generous.

FabIndia

So your sister loves ethnic wear and she misses India and your family back home! Buy her something nice and indian from the FabIndia website, which also has an option of international stores. It would be pretty nice for her to find that lovely kurta at her doorsteps just on time to celebrate rakhi, or that pretty upholstery that she was looking to add to her new home. You can take a friend or your mothers help on choosing for her; or just ask her what she likes from their collection and buy her that  technology definitely makes life easier these days. If you're doubtful of your ability to pick something nice, at least let her loose on the site so she can load up the cart while you pay for everything.

For all the above:

Price: As you choose.

Availability : International/wherever she is.

After effect, her happiness : Priceless!

Chromebook 11.6-inch

You know that troubleshooting your sister's tech issues is a nightmare, but she needs some tech in her life and to that end, a Chromebook would be the perfect gift. A Chromebook is essentially a laptop that only runs the Chrome browser. It can do more than that, but it's primarily a browser. As long as your sister has a stable internet connection, the Chromebook will work. Apps for work are usually online anyway, as are streaming services and other such tools. The best part of this is that Chromebooks are hassle-free and easy to use.

The two of you can stay connected, she'll have a great device and you'll have peace of mind. Chromebooks are also not that hard on the pocket.

Price: Starting at around Rs 10,000. You can get them just about anywhere.

Xiaomi Mi WiFi Router Nano

Xiaomi describes the Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router Nano as a high-performance device that fits in the palm of your hand; and rightly so! This compact, sleek, portable Wifi Router with barely weighs 100g and is a perfect gift to ensure that your sister is always connected. It's a simple and elegant Nano router  compatible with Web, Windows, Android, MacOS, iOS  with a transmission rate of 300Mbps at 2.4GHz. Its makers claim to have found a way to use a high-precision technology from an SMT smart router, which increases the device performance and significantly reduces the size of its components and PCB  making it Nano! This device is well equipped with a dual-band antenna PCB, high-performance processor and Smart Mi Wifi system  a powerful system to handle connections better!

Price: Rs 1,590 on eBay
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Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) on Thursday said it is acquiring 7.39 per cent additional stake in the holding arm of India's largest telecom company Bharti Airtel for around $650 million. The development, as per a series of regulatory filings across countries, is a part of a larger deal struck by Singtel with Temasek to acquire 21 per cent in Thailand-based Intouch Holdings and 7.39 per cent of Bharti Telecom for a total consideration of $1.8 billion.

"The aggregate consideration payable for the Bharti Telecom sale shares is approximately Singapore Dollars 884 million (US $658 million)," Singtel added about the deal, which comes just ahead of India's largest-ever spectrum auction to date. "Singtel currently already has an interest of approximately 39.78 per cent in the share capital of Bharti Telecom and an interest of approximately 15.01 per cent in the share capital of Bharti Airtel."

Following the acquisition of the Bharti Telecom sale shares, Singtel's interest in the share capital of Bharti Telecom will increase from approximately 39.78 per cent to 47.17 per cent. "Singtel will pay Temasek Thai Baht 60.83 for each share of Intouch and Rs 235.62 for each share of Bharti Telecom. The transaction is subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions precedent, including shareholder and relevant regulatory approvals, and is expected to be completed by December 2016," the statement added.

It will be satisfied in full in cash in Singapore Dollars on completion, and will be funded in part through the utilisation of the cash proceeds from the allotment and issue of the new shares under the placement agreement, with the balance being funded by internal cash and short-term debt. The rather complex deal also involves a share placement of 386 million new Singtel shares to Temasek totalling Singapore Dollars 1.605 billion at a price of Singapore Dollars 4.16 per new share.

Singtel said Bharti Airtel is India's largest telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa and that it has been an associate of its group since 2000. It said the acquisition of stake in Bharti Telecom and Intouch Holdings, which is the biggest shareholder in Thailand's largest mobile phone company, Advanced Info Services, further consolidates its economic interests in the region.

"Singtel has been a strategic partner to both Advanced Info Services and Airtel for more than 15 years. We have built deep and trusted relationships, worked well together through the years, sharing knowledge and expertise and we have grown together, from strength to strength," said Singtel Group Chief Executive Chua Sock Koong. "Today, they have a combined mobile customer base of more than 380 million across Asia and Africa. This is a unique opportunity for us to deepen our relationships with two great market leaders," Chua added.

The company said both India and Thailand are fundamentally attractive markets, reaping the benefits of rapidly increasing smartphone penetration and mobile data adoption by a growing middle class. "Both Advanced Info Services and Airtel are well-positioned to benefit from these trends. The recent mobile spectrum auctions in Thailand and ongoing industry consolidation in India have strengthened their competitive positions. They have also built for the future, securing significant spectrum for the long term and investing extensively in 3G and 4G networks and services."

Bharti Airtel declined comment on the deal, and only posted the identical press statement of Singtel in the regulatory filing to Indian stock exchanges. The shares of Bharti Airtel closed at Rs 352.40 on the BSE on Thursday, up Rs 7.15 or 2.07 per cent. Besides mobile telephony, the New Delhi-based Bharti group has interests in diverse industries, telecom towers infrastructure including mobile gaming, retail, insurance, branded farm produce, realty and e-learning.

IANS
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By Asheeta Regidi

The Independence Day Speech made by the Prime Minister a few days back took an embarrassing turn with an erroneous claim being made on the electrification of villages by the current government. In the speech, a claim was made that the village of Nagla Fatela was one of the villages to be electrified. This was followed by a post on the official twitter handle of the Prime Minister, @PMOIndia of a picture which was supposed to be of villagers in Nagla Fatela watching the Independence Day speech on television sets. Soon, the villagers of Nagla Fatela pointed out that the pictures were not of their village.

Following the confusion, the Prime Ministers Office deleted the tweet with the picture and issued a clarification. This clarification is creating further embarrassment for the government since it shows that the process of electrification was started before Mr. Modi came into office as Prime Minister. The clarification stated that electrification of the village had been proposed in 2013, and was sanctioned in January 2014. On October 2015, after Mr. Modis tenure started, it was reported to the Rural Electrification Corporation that the electrification of the village had been completed and the village was electrified. The villagers, however, claim that though the poles and electricity meters were set up, there is still no power in the village.

The current controversy follows another Twitter controversy in December last year, when the Press Information Bureau posted a photoshopped image of the Prime Minister taking an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of Chennai. The information posted on such official social media accounts has the capacity to reach millions of people in seconds. The @PMOIndia handle alone has 12.5 Million followers. These Twitter controversies raise questions regarding the accountability of heads of state like the Prime Minister and other official government agencies towards their social media activity.

Only general rules govern official government statements

Surprisingly, there are no laws which govern the public statements made by heads of the state and other government entities.

There is, of course, the general obligation to stay within the law. For example, some rules of conduct are imposed on the Prime Minister, since he is a member of parliament. The law governing elections, the Representation of Peoples Act, lays down some actions which can lead to the disqualification of an elected member of parliament. These include making a seditious speech, promoting enmity between people, engaging in corrupt practices, etc. Members of parliament also have a general code of conduct to be followed. For example, the Handbook for the Member of the Rajya Sabha imposes an obligation on its members not to be disrespectful of any religion, not to conduct themselves in a manner that will bring disrepute to the parliament, etc. These general obligations will also extend to any public statements made by the members of parliament. Apart from these, however, there are no specific obligations imposed.

Accountability for public statements is customary, not compulsory

The result of this lack of rules is that there is no legal obligation on the government to make accurate public statements, or keep a record of the statements, or even to make such records accessible to the public. Any rules imposed on public government statements are those which are customary. By custom, official public statements should contain accurate, up-to-date information, and any errors must be corrected and clarified as soon as possible. Keeping publicly accessible records of such statements, such as the PMOIndia Archive, is also customary, not compulsory.

No laws governing social media statements of the government

With so little being said by the law on official government statements, there is even less on the matter of statements made on social media. The only law to be found on the social media usage of politicians are the Instructions issued by the Election Commission, which only governs their conduct before they come into power.

Acts such as the Information Technology Act, the Right to Information Act and the Public Records Act make it clear that a public record can be in a digital form. This does not, however, mean that these Acts require records to be kept of public statements made online. Nor is it clarified if a public statement made online is an official government statement. As a result, the government can freely make, modify and delete its social media activity without any responsibility to keep a record of the same.

Government websites including PMO website disclaim responsibility for online statements

Legally, the government entities cannot be held to any of their digital statements. A look at the Terms and Conditions at the website of the Prime Ministers Office give further weight to this:

This website of the Prime Ministers Office is being maintained for information purposes only. Even though every effort is taken to provide accurate and up to date information, officers making use of the circulars posted on the website are advised to get in touch with the Prime Ministers Office whenever there is any doubt regarding the correctness of the information contained therein.

Similar disclaimers can also to be found on other government websites, including the Press Information Bureau, the entity that published the photoshopped Chennai flood pictures. These disclaimers make it clear that the information provided on them are not guaranteed in any way. This can be assumed to extend to all online governmental activity, including tweets and Facebook posts.

Need for laws governing social media use of official government entities

It is shocking that the two fake pictures in the Twitter controversies here involve, in one way or the other, the highest official of the Indian government, the Prime Minister. Such incidents greatly impact the dignity and respectability of the nation and the Prime Minister himself, not to mention the propagation of misinformation to millions of people There is huge scope to mislead people through the misuse of social media, particularly when there is no obligation to provide accurate information or keep records of the statements made online. This should not be left unregulated. Government entities need to have stricter guidelines for their social media activity.

The author is a lawyer with a specialisation in cyber laws and has co-authored books on the subject.
HSC results published; pass rate 74.70

Dhaka, Aug 18 (UNB) - A total of 8,99,150 students have passed this year's Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examination showing a pass rate of 74.70 percent.



Education Minister Nurul Islam revealed the briefs of the HSC and equivalent examination results on Thursday morning after officially handing over the results to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganobhaban.



The pass rate in the HSC and equivalent exams last year was 69.60 percent where some 7,38,872 students passed the examination.



The Education Minister said some 12,03,640 students took part in the HSC and equivalent exams of all the 10 boards, including Madrasah Education Board and Technical Education Board this year with examinees 1,42,026 sitting for the exams, with 10,61,614 higher than last year's.



He said some 58,276 examinees in all the education boards got GPA Five this year, up from last year's 42,894.



Besides, some 25 educational institutions witnessed zero pass rate this year against last year's 35.



After receiving the results, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina congratulated the students as well as the teachers, and guardians for the successes of the students.
Salman Khan gets an Intl leading lady





Internationally acclaimed film and television Chinese actress Zhu Zhu is the leading lady opposite Salman Khan in his Eid 2017 release Tubelight. Zhu Zhu made a huge splash as a Mandarin pop star, and headlining VJ for MTV China. She has become Hollywoods go-to actress for Asian roles in films including with Hollywood A-listers like Tom Hanks in the Wachowskis Cloud Atlas, and Russell Crowe in The Man With the Iron Fist.

She also plays the lead in Netflixs original series Marco Polo, where she plays the Mongol princess Kokachin where she also showcases her action skills. In 2015, Zhu Zhu also represented designer Stella McCartney at the Met Gala. She was also the voice of Viper in the 2016 animation hit Kung Fu Panda 3.


JHENAIDAH: Students of Jhenaidah Cadet College along with the principal showing V-sign after achieving GAP-5 in HSC examination yesterday.
Iqbal's Joyful Assembly in Japan

Sheikh Arif Bulbon :

Gallery Chayamachi, an art gallery located in the Japanese city of Osaka, hosted a solo show by Bangladeshi artist Mohammad Iqbal. The exhibition, titled Joyful Assembly, features 20 artworks.

Artist Iqbal informed that the visitors were deeply moved by his artworks, especially a live show of painting

conducted by him. Human eyes

figured prominently in the live

painting, the release said, with the

visitors mostly attracted to the way the eyes were drawn, with different emotions expressed through them.

Mohammad Iqbal is mainly

recognised for his skilled drawings and impulsive spirit. He is mainly

distinguished for his theme-based paintings. His canvases are engrossed with various visible and shadowy

figures. His protagonists on canvas are usually exploited people and mystics. The difference between the economic structures of different communities leads him into portraying their lifestyles. From the onset, his works have mirrored the bitter realities of the society. His

paintings effectively touched the heart of art enthusiasts because of his sensible approach. The subject has been addressed at times with abhorrence against injustice and often with anxiety and rage caused by it. This is the grist to the mill in Mohammad Iqbals case.

Figures have taken a prominent place in Iqbal's paintings. Agony seems to get the focus. Iqbal has been working on the lives of Bauls and sages. It should be mentioned that the artist firstly concentrates on his theme, than he pours his labour to other technical aspects. The Baul way of life and the philosophy attract him the most as he finds

spirituality and sanctity in them.

The artist is most comfortable working on a large canvas, as his themes and compositions demand space. His work

is elucidated by a powerful interplay of figures and space, helped by strong and sweeping brushstrokes.

While talking about his artworks Iqbal said, I havent always maintained one particular method, style or technique.

I like to articulate the process of thinking and then add sensation, emotion

and personal experience.

It is noted that Mohammad Iqbal, who teaches painting at Dhaka University, has previously participated in several

solo and group shows in Japan. n
Better results in HSC, equivalent exams

Pass rate 74.70pc: 8,99,150 successful students out of 12,03,640

Students of Rajuk School and College in Uttara rejoicing over their brilliant success after publication of HSC results on Thursday.

M M Jasim :A total of 8,99,150 students passed the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and its equivalent examinations-2016 with 74.70 percent pass rate while it was 69.60 percent last year across the country. This year 12,03,640 students took part in the HSC and equivalent examinations of all the 10 boards, including Madrasah Education Board and Technical Education Board. Of them 58,276 examinees in all the education boards achieved Grade Point Average (GPA)-5 this year, up from last year's 42,894.The pass rate is 73.53 percent under Dhaka Education Board, 68.59 percent under Sylhet, 64.49 percent under Comilla, 75.40 percent under Rajshahi, 70.64 percent under Dinajpur, 64.60 percent under Chittagong, 83.82 percent under Jessore and 70.13 percent under Barisal board. The pass rates in Madrasah and Technical boards are 88.19 and 84.57 percent respectively.A total of 28,110 students got GPA-5 in Dhaka, 1,330 in Sylhet, 1,912 in Comilla, 6,075 in Rajshahi, 3,899 in Dinajpur, 2,253 in Chittagong, 4,586 in Jessore, 787 in Barisal, 2,414 in Madrasah and 6,587 in Technical board. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid disclosed the results at a press conference in the media room of the ministry on Thursday. Earlier in the morning, the minister handed over the copy of the results to Prime Minister at her official residence Ganobhaban while Education Secretary Sohrab Hossain, top officials of the ministry and chairman of all the boards were present there. After receiving the results, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina congratulated the students as well as the teachers, and the guardians for the successes of the students.Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid expressed his satisfaction over the success rate and GPA-5. "I am very glad to know that the students are doing better. Definitely the students will be the assets of the country," he said. He also thanked the officials of the ministry and chairman of all the education boards for preparing the results within 57 days. All 848 educational institutions have achieved 100 percent pass. Besides, some 25 educational institutions witnessed a zero pass rate this year against last year's 35.The pass rate of male students is 73.93 percent whereas the pass rate of the female students is 75.60 percent.Some 29, 325 more female students took part in this year's HSC examinations than the male students whereas some 7,629 more female students came out successful.The number of educational institutions in this year's HSC and equivalent exams also rose to 8,345 up from 8,294 last year. The number of exam centers also increased to 2,621 this year, up from last year's 2,420.Out of the eight Education Boards under HSC examinations, some 10,07,053 students took part in this year's examinations where some 7,29,803 students passed with a success rate of 72.47 percent. The total number of examinees in the HSC examinations last year was 8,76,476 when some 5,57,087 students came out successful with a success rate of 65.84 percent.Some 48,950 students got GPA 5 in this year's HSC examinations, up from last year's 34,721.Under the Madrasha Education Board, some 89,603 students participated in this year's examinations against last year's 79,020 students when the success rate was 88.19 percent.Last year, some 82,558 students took part in the examinations under Madrasah Board when some 74,461 students passed with a success rate of 90.19 percent. Some 2414 students got GPA 5 this year under this Board, up from last year's 1,135.In the Technical Education Board, some 1,02,248 students took part in this year's exams against 86,469 students passed it with a success rate of 84.57 percent with some 6,587 students achieving GPA 5.The examinees can get their results at their respective examination centres, websites of their respective education boards and through short message service (SMS) after 2:00pm, said ministry officials. The results will also be available on the website www.educationboardresults.gov.bdThe HSC examinations began on April 3 with over 1.2 million (12,18,628) examinees taking part in the exams from 8,533 educational institutions.Of the total examinees, 654,114 are males and 564,514 females. The theoretical part of the examinations ended on June 9 while the practical examinations were held from June 11 through June 20.
Killers threaten to withdraw case

Staff Reporter :

The family members of slain Afsana Ferdous, who was allegedly killed by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader Habibur Rahman Robin and his cohorts, fear of regulated police investigation as the killers are trying to influence the inquiry after the mysterious murder.

They also claimed that Robin and his cohorts continued to threat the victim's family members to dismiss the murder case.

According to an allegation, the killers taking the advantage of their association with the ruling party's student wing are trying to file another case as part of harassing the victim's family.

Syeda Yasmin, mother of Afsana, said, "I was astonished when a man named Sourav informed me the death news of her daughter over phone. Later, another man named Babu informed over phone: that the body had been sent to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH)."

"Robin's cousin had called them several times over the phone and proposed negotiation. Some other people identified themselves as BCL leaders and asked them to come over for talks," the victim's mother said

Contacted, Hafiz Uddin, Sub-Inspector and also the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, said that they got many information in connection with the murder.

"The alleged killers -- Robin, Babu and Sourav - have already been taken under

the net of law enforcers and they would be arrest anytime" the police official said.

The IO claimed that the progress of the investigation is quite satisfactory terming it as a 'sensitive' case.

Primary signs indicated that the victim had been strangled with a rope after being raped, the IO said.

The Kafrul police were notified after the doctor found marks on the neck, he said.

"We have seized the CCTV footage from Al-Helal Hospital and hope to identify the two men who had taken the girl's body there," he said.

He said that they were now analyzing some footage from the CCTV cameras of Al-Helal Hospital -- the place where Afsana's body had been dropped off by two young men.

He, however, refused to give the case number or details about the case.

According to family sources, Afsana used to have a relationship with Habibur Rahman Robin, the organising secretary of Chhatra League's Tejgaon College unit, but recently the two had a falling out.

Afsana's elder brother Fazle Rabbi said, he has received phone calls from people identifying themselves as Robin's family members. He expressed his fear that Robin might now try to influence the findings in the autopsy report to hider the proper investigation.

Rabbi's friend Abdur Razzak Raju, who also received similar phone calls, said a man named Dipu had identified himself as a cousin of Robin and asked Afsana's family to sit in a meeting in the capital so that a settlement could be reached for not pursuing a murder case.

Asked when a case would be filed, the victim's brother Rabbi said it would take until Friday (today) to file a case in the city as his family lives in Thakurgaon.

However, Kafrul Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Shikder Md Shamim Hossain said, Afsana's uncle had filed a case in this connection on Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, the body of Afsana Ferdous, a final-year student of Architecture Technology at Mirpur's SAIC Institute of Management and Technology, was dropped off at the Al-Helal Hospital by two unidentified men.

According to relatives, Afsana's mother, who lives in Thakurgaon, first received a phone call from an unknown number on Saturday night and was told that Afsana's body was being kept at Dhanmondi's Bangladesh Medical College Hospital.

However, when her relatives in Dhaka went there in search of Afsana body, they were told there was no body matching her description at the hospital.

Soon after, another anonymous caller phoned the family and said Afsana's body was actually at Mirpur's Al-Helal Hospital. But authorities at the Mirpur hospital said the body was now in custody of Kafrul Police Station.

When the family went to the police station and showed a picture of Afsana, the on-duty policemen told them that someone looking like her was at the morgue of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
JMB has 27 more female members

Four suspects in custody divulge during interrogation

Joynal Abedin Khan :

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) is looking for at least 27 more suspected female members of banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), sources said.

The elite force came to know about the 27 members following interrogation of the four females and analysing their mobile phones and laptops seized during Tuesday's operation in the capital and Gazipur.

Khandker Lutful Kabir, Commanding Officer (CO) of RAB- 4 told The New Nation yesterday, "We've got some of their names. The names might be their code names given by the outfit. We will verify those during interrogation."

The suspects include Safia alias Sanjida alias Jhinuk, Maimuna alias Mahmuda alias Laila, Tasnuba alias Tahira, Shaila alias Shahida, Saleha alias Putul, Dinat Jahan alias Nawmi alias Bani, Tanjila alias Munni, Aliya alias Tinni alias Titli, Monira Jahan alias Mili and Sabiha alias Mitu.

RAB mentioned their names as accused in the case filed with Mirpur Police Station in connection with the arrest of the four female JMB operatives. The RAB-4 CO said that they had already written to the Home Ministry for permission to take the charge of the investigation. A RAB official preferring anonymity said, "As they used to attend meetings with the four women held, we suspect that they all are radicalised."

According to RAB, the female unit was formed under the guidance of JMB's southern Region Chief Mahmudul Hasan alias Hasan who was arrested by RAB on July 21 in Gazipur. The four arrestees along with some others were allegedly spreading extremist ideologies among females in the name of teaching Arabic.

Their current objective was to strengthen the female unit and collect funds for terror activities, RAB officials said.

Earlier, a Dhaka court on Wednesday granted five-day remand for each of the four arrested female JMB activists. Metropolitan Magistrate Pronab Kumar Hui passed the order after Mirpur police produced them before the court and sought seven-day remand for each.

The arrestees are Aklima Rahman Moni, Khadija Parveen Meghla and Ishrat Jahan Mou -- all fourth-year Pharmacy Department students at Manarat International University (MIU) -- and Istishna Afroz Oishee, an intern at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Meanwhile, at least five members of international money racket gangs were arrested by RAB-11 from the capital city and Narayanganj on Wednesday night. The identity of the detained persons could not be known immediately.
No pass in 25 instts

Staff Reporter :

Not a single student passed this year's Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examinations from 25 institutions.

Last year 35 institutions saw zero pass rate.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid disclosed the results at a press conference in the media room of the ministry on Thursday.

The education minister said, the number of zero percent pass rate is decreasing day by day.


Readers Forum

Finding the right hospital abroad



Many patients of our country travel to India, Bangkok, Singapore and other countries for seeking better medical treatment. But they are unaware that not all the hospitals offer treatment for all the medical problems. To find the appropriate facility, it is perhaps wise to seek the help of a medical tourism agency.

When I took a patient to India, I contacted a Mumbai-based Indian international medical tourism agency called "Indicure". They helped me to get my patient's medical history reviewed by leading doctors in best hospitals in India with multiple treatment options and cost estimates. They did it free of charge. The agency also helps patients with follow-ups and all other matters relating to travel and stay in India.



Professor M Zahidul Haque

Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka
How Russia views the West

Sarah Lohschelder :

Russia has had a rough year: it lost to Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest; some of its athletes were banned from competing in the Rio Olympics; and the European Union (EU) decided to renew its sanctions against Russia. Many Russians think these events are Western conspiracies designed to keep Russia down. What does this tell us about how Russia sees the West? After all, whether the Russian view is right or not, this perspective shapes Russian foreign policy. Thus, the West must make an effort to understand the Russian point of view in order to better anticipate Russian actions and make the West more secure.

Russia views the West as an aggressor to be defended against. This perception has deep historic roots dating back to the Napoleonic invasion, German Imperial and Nazi invasions, and the Iron Curtain and proxy wars of the Cold War. The 1990s offered a brief reprieve in Russian-Western relations, but the general theme has remained the same: Russia feels threatened by the West.

The Ukraine crisis is the most recent manifestation of that fact. The removal in 2014 of the democratically elected Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich, who favored closer ties with Russia over the EU, was deemed by Moscow to have been orchestrated by the West. While this perception may exaggerate reality, it is not entirely unfounded. In December 2013, Senator John McCain spoke to Euromaidan protesters while standing next to Ukrainian boxer Vitali Klitschko, who had lived in Germany for years and became one of the leading figures in Ukraine's pro-European movement.

Yanukovich's fall from power only cemented Russia's view of the West's self-serving rhetoric on democracy and universal values - as a values-based imperialism used by the West when politically convenient and easily forgotten when not. The removal of Yanukovich was perceived as a political move that revealed Western hypocrisy and delegitimized rhetoric on Western values. When the United States, the EU, and several other Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia in 2015, popular perceptions of the West in Russia sank to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War, with 81% and 71% of Russians holding a negative of opinion of the United States and Europe, respectively.

The Ukraine crisis is only the tip of the iceberg. Preceding the crisis were two and a half decades of assertive Western actions. Despite slightly reducing its nuclear arsenal, the United States has clearly maintained military superiority in the post-Cold War period. US military capabilities by now not only far exceed those of Russia, but with over 800 U.S. foreign military bases, the United States also has much greater global reach.

As if this were not enough, the Clinton administration pursued eastward NATO expansion in the 1990s. While the Western European countries initially supported this move - Germany was glad to welcome Polish and Czech buffer zones into the alliance - a split in opinions emerged toward the end of George W. Bush's presidency when NATO began looking to Georgia and Ukraine. Russia grew increasingly concerned with NATO's eastward expansion and made it very clear that the inclusion of Georgia and Ukraine in the alliance would be considered an intolerable disturbance to the region's "strategic stability." Germany and France opposed such an expansion in 2008 to avoid provoking Moscow into aggressive action in Georgia or Ukraine, demonstrating prudent foreign policy based on an understanding of the Russia perspective. However, the Bush administration was undeterred and (without allied support) proposed NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine. Only a month later, Russia invaded Georgia to support the independence of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia - a clear sign of Russia's belief that Georgia belongs in its backyard, rather than that of NATO. Given Russia's invasion of Georgia in response to NATO expansion, its invasion of Crimea in 2014 should have been all the more predictable; this makes NATO's failure to anticipate the Ukraine crisis all the more tragic.

Still, NATO seemed insatiable in its desire to expand its influence, even looking to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, countries that are historically Russian satellites and far outside NATO's traditional reach. Reflecting on these developments over the years, rumors abound in Russia that NATO supported Euromaidan with the goal of building a naval base in Crimea. Such a base would not only be dangerously close to Russian territory, but it would also block the Russian fleet's access to the Mediterranean. This perceived threat led Russia to intervene in Crimea to protect its national security - a move that could have been predicted. But the Western failure to anticipate this perceived threat to Russia has now forced NATO to defend its Eastern border by increasing its troop presence in the Baltic countries.

NATO was not the only Western organisation to expand into the former Soviet bloc. After the end of the Cold War, the EU was quick to build close relations with and ultimately grant membership to several Eastern European countries. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania joined the EU in 2004, and Romania and Bulgaria followed suit in 2007. Finally, Croatia became a Member State in 2013, and the other Balkan states are on the membership track. The 2014 EU-Ukraine Association Agreement represented a connection between the EU and one of Russia's last remaining loyal neighbors.

The general theme that emerges is that of the West working to expand its reach to the East and Russia perceiving this as a growing strategic threat to the homeland. This post-Cold War development has been described succinctly as the clash of a liberal West with a realist Russia. The West's push to expand its influence, without a clear consideration of how such actions will be perceived by Russia, suggests that the West is dangerously unaware of how its actions are perceived outside the Western sphere.

The failure to understand the Russian perspective greatly contributed to the Ukraine crisis and led to the lowest point in post-Cold War relations with Russia. While the West clearly should not formulate its foreign policy with an aim to please Russia, it is in its best interest to understand the Russian point of view; failing to do so can only hurt Western self-interest and security.

(Sarah Lohschelder is pursuing a Master of Science in Foreign Service and a Juris Doctor at Georgetown University. She is a Defense Fellow at Young Professionals in Foreign Policy. This piece was originally published in The Diplomatic Courier).


Mismanagement in arranging Hajj facilities

MANY Hajj-aspirants might not be able to perform Hajj this year for failing to get visas in time and also for unavailability of air tickets for which they often wait to the last moment. Quoting functionaries of Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB), a national daily on Thursday reported that Biman has already incurred a capacity loss of 5,000 passengers since Hajj flight begun on August 4. They mainly blamed private Hajj operators for failing to confirm visas and plane tickets ahead of the scheduled flights. The National Flag carrier Biman had to cancel at least 10 Hajj flights so far as the agencies concerned could not send pilgrims. There is mainly coordination problem between airlines, Hajj operators, Ministry of Religious Affairs and Saudi Embassy. The malfunctioning starts this time from the beginning of the Hajj flight.

The Hajj Agencies have reportedly obtained visas for 63,000 pilgrims out of 83,000 applications submitted so far and there is a growing fear that the remaining 20,000 might not be able to fulfil the requirements to be completed by the second week of September. The private operators usually delay hiring accommodations for the pilgrims in Saudi Arabia to save time in sending pilgrims to save money. What happened this time is that Biman allotted seats to pilgrims in its scheduled flights but Hajj operators failed to prepare pilgrims without booking of accommodation for which Saudi Embassy also delays visa. This is why 10 flights had to be cancelled. Now Biman's instruction to all Hajj Agencies to confirm visas and tickets 72 hours before the travel to arrange flights accordingly sounds quite sensible.

This year, a total of 101,758 pilgrims are expected to perform Hajj from Bangladesh and 15,000 have been already lifted to Saudi Arabia. Biman is expected to carry half of the passengers and Saudi Airlines will lift the remaining pilgrims from Dhaka to Jeddah.

We have separate religious ministry. Why cannot the ministry serve efficiently in establishing effective coordination and cooperation among various bodies when they always remain busy in sending official Hajj delegation comprising huge number of officials and party men? We don't know what they really do other than enjoying exertion on public money. We must say they must ensure pilgrims' safety. We can't ignore last year's fatal accidents that killed over two thousand pilgrims. There is no denying that government runs Hajj bureaucratically as the delegation shows where the individual ministers do not count much.

As it appears that most problems that result from lack of coordination and at times forcing pilgrims to miss flights due to some fraudulent practices of the Hajj Agencies. They want to keep the cost at low that create the mismatch. We say they must understand that Hajj-aspirants are paying them at a higher rate. They must not be cheated. There was plenty of time for arranging Hajj flights and yet serious acts of negligence are found in arranging the flights and confirming visas.






The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.
Looking for the vulture assist with Neolithic burials

2 years ago
Ten months after the "illegal immigration" presser that prompted The IND's public records request, City Marshal Brian Pope is indicted on five felony counts.

District Attorney Keith Stutes and ADAs Alan Haney, and Danny Landry exit the parish courthouse after a grand jury hit the embattled city marshal with a five-count felony indictment Wednesday. Photo by Robin May

A Lafayette grand jury has indicted City Marshal Brian Pope today on five felony counts following a criminal investigation into the marshals meddling in last falls sheriffs campaign and his attempts to cover it up by refusing public records requests filed by this newspaper.

The marshal, had he simply cooperated and turned over the records, could have copped to what would have likely been an ethics violation and cursory fine stemming from his political dalliances. Now, however, he faces prosecution for three counts of misuse of public funds for urging voters to elect a candidate for sheriff last year and two for perjury.

After a bizarre press conference weeks before the primary in which Pope attacked then-candidate for sheriff Mark Garber, The Independent suspected political collusion between Pope and his known ally Chad Leger, Garbers opponent in the contentious race. Flanked by his deputies in a press room at his Downtown office, Pope accused Garber of courting illegal immigration for the financial gain of his law firm, and alerted gathered media to a video provided to him by anonymous and concerned law enforcement. Pope would later deny under oath the involvement of the Leger campaign in the planning of that press conference, ultimately attracting a district attorney's investigation, led by prosecutor Alan Haney, and the charges handed down today.

Through a public records request of the marshals work emails, filed Oct. 8 of last year, The IND sought to uncover what later proved to be a staged political overture designed to assist Legers bid for office.

More than two months later, on Christmas Eve, a cache of emails received from Lafayette Consolidated Government proved definitively that the marshals presser was, in fact, orchestrated by Legers campaign manager, Joe Castille, a political consultant known for underhanded campaign strategies. Last month, Castille testified before the grand jury investigating Pope, sources have confirmed.

City Marshal Brian Pope, center, is flanked by deputy marshals while delivering a political attack on then-candidate for sheriff Mark Garber last October. The episode ultimately led to a grand jury investigation and todays felony indictment. Photo by Robin May

As the marshals email service provider, the LCG cache caught emails that Pope had either deleted or failed to turn over in response to our initial request and subsequent requests. Drafts of the marshals remarks and press advisory for the Oct. 7 conference, sent to the marshals email address by Joe Castille, were included in the LCG production among several undisclosed emails that demonstrated the extent of the marshals collaboration with the Leger campaign.

The revelation eradicated the plausibility of Pope's many attempted defenses, namely that his lack of cooperation was justified by a claimed investigation by his office into illegal immigration, that his refusal stood on the grounds of a right to privacy or that his email address had been spoofed to distribute the press materials.

The marshals sworn denial, both in court and in a video deposition, of the existence of those emails and his collusion with Castille prompted District Judge Jules Edwards to speculate of Pope's exposure to criminal charges when handing down a contempt of court ruling earlier this spring.

Both perjury counts point to the marshal's false testimony during the video deposition, in which he asserted that Castille had not "provided services" to him and that he not authorized the use of an email service to distribute the press advisory Castille wrote on his behalf.

Edwards punished Pope with more than $100,000 in penalties and fines, a number that continues to accrue as the civil matter remains unresolved, ordered him to serve 173 hours of community service and serve a mostly suspended spell of house arrest.

Invoices uncovered over several months of subsequent records requests appeared to show that the marshal wrote public checks to his attorney, Charles Middleton, to draft a motion to unseal Garbers divorce records. Pope then allegedly pressured a man named Troyce Thorla to file the motion with the district court mere days before Garbers runoff victory over Leger, according to Thorlas affidavit.

Over the course of a 10-month civil proceeding, the marshal has retained four attorneys in his defense and appeal, all paid for by the same public funds used to pay for Middletons legally aggressive and politically motivated motion.

It remains unclear whether Pope can continue to use his office's funds for his criminal defense.

Pope's lead defense attorney, Kevin Stockstill, confirmed to The IND that the marshal rejected plea deals from prosecutors because they would have required his resignation.

For each perjury count, Pope faces a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment at hard labor for up to five years, or both. On the three misuse of public funds counts, he can be fined up to $1,000 per count or be imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for up to two years, or both. Pope will report for booking at the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center Thursday morning.

Responding to the indictment, Stockstill gave the following comment:

_"Were disappointed that the grand jury returned an indictment. However, a grand jury is a one-sided affair in that the defense is not provided an opportunity to present its own case and make a presentation to the grand jury. Even though Im disappointed, Im not surprised that the grand jury returned an indictment. From here on out it won't be a one-sided affair; it will be two-sided affair. We're prepared to put together our defense and have our day in court and are confident that, after the jury hears the evidence, Marshal Pope will be exonerated."

_

_

To see photos of Marshal Pope being booked at Lafayette Parish Correctional Center, click here.

_
The city marshal faces two counts of perjury and three counts of misuse of public funds.

Marshal Brian Pope after his Aug. 18 booking at LPCC Photo by Robin May

Lafayette City Marshal Brian Pope was booked Thursday morning at the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center after being indicted on five felony counts by a Lafayette Parish grand jury Wednesday.

Pope faces two counts of perjury and three counts of misuse of public funds related to his efforts to urge voters to elect candidate Chad Leger over Mark Garber in last year's campaign for Lafayette Parish sheriff. Garber won the election and now runs the jail the marshal reported to this morning.

All of Pope's legal troubles stem for his nearly year-long public records battle with The IND. The marshal and this paper will be back in court on the public records civil matter Monday.

Photo courtesy LPCC

Pope's lead defense attorney, Kevin Stockstill, confirmed to The IND that the marshal rejected plea deals from prosecutors because they would have required his resignation.

For each perjury count, Pope faces a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment at hard labor for up to five years, or both. On the three misuse of public funds counts, he can be fined up to $1,000 per count or be imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for up to two years, or both.

Read more here.





To see booking photos click here
Pre-purchase property inspection is a relatively new thing in the United Kingdom. Its not something that most people have heard about, but it has become increasingly popular over the last few years with the rise in property prices and increased demand for high quality homes.

What are the benefits of pre-purchase building inspection? What can you expect to find out when you pay someone else to inspect your home before you buy it? And what should you look for during an inspection?

Many people want to know if theyre buying a house thats been well maintained or if its had any serious problems. If youve found a place on the market that seems attractive, but then discover some issues after moving in, you may not be as excited about buying it as you thought you were.

Its important to do your due diligence when looking at properties. A lot goes into making a property appealing to potential buyers, from the landscaping to the flooring to the kitchen appliances. The same applies when inspecting a property  there are many things that need checking over to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Here are some of the benefits of performing a pre-purchase inspection:

You get to see exactly what will happen to your money

When you go shopping for a new car, youll probably be shown several different models. You might even be shown one that looks like a great value, but doesnt fit around all of the extra features that you want. When it comes time to actually buy the vehicle, however, you wont have seen how your money will be spent on it once you drive it off the showroom floor.

Likewise, when you shop for a new home, you dont really know what youre getting yourself into until you move in. In order to get a feel for whether the home youre considering is what you want, you normally have to spend quite a bit of time inside it. This allows you to learn more about everything that youre going to be spending your hard-earned cash on.

A pre-purchase building inspection gives you much the same kind of experience without having to spend thousands of dollars. Since youre paying for the service, you can expect to see exactly what youre paying for, instead of just seeing a vague idea of what you might end up with.

You find out about potential major repairs

Some buildings are very expensive to maintain, which means that owners often neglect them for the sake of saving money. While youre paying for a building inspection, youre also paying for a professional who knows how to spot signs of trouble and repair work that needs doing.

If you notice that a particular area of your new home needs fixing right away, you can call in an expert to take care of it quickly. If you find that theres something wrong with your boiler, you wont have to wait weeks for a plumber to come over and fix it. Instead, youll have access to a solution immediately.

You can save hundreds of pounds by finding out about potential problems early on

One of the biggest expenses when you first buy a home is the cost of moving in. Many people dont realize this until its too late. Buying a home involves not only paying for the actual house, but also for moving costs, furniture, and other items that have to be moved along with the home.

Having a good idea ahead of time of what youre likely to encounter can help you avoid these kinds of costs. If you know youll need to replace the plumbing system, for example, youll be able to put together a budget for the expense and plan accordingly.

You can protect your investment by finding out if the homes been well cared for

While there are plenty of people who think that houses always look better when theyre newly built, youd be surprised at how well maintained older residences can still look nice. Sometimes, though, those homes need some additional maintenance to keep them looking their best.

This could involve repairs that arent so noticeable or small improvements that you wouldnt consider otherwise. Even worse, some houses have fallen into disrepair without anyone noticing. This is why having a professional perform a building inspection prior to purchasing a home is such a big benefit.

Not only will it give you insight into the state of the property, but it will also give you peace of mind knowing youre not getting taken advantage of. As long as youre aware of the potential pitfalls, youll have less reason to worry about the state of your new home.

You can use information gathered during a building inspection to negotiate a lower price

If youre worried about buying a home because you suspect that it may need extensive renovation work, you may already have a rough idea of how much work youll need to do to bring it up to scratch. That knowledge can come in handy if you decide to buy the home.

You can use all of the details that you gather during a building inspection to present a realistic picture of what the home is worth to prospective buyers. If a potential buyer thinks that the home is worth more than what you paid for it, you can try negotiating a lower price.

You can sell your home faster and for more money

If you decide to list your home on the market soon after buying it, youll need to price it accurately in order to attract buyers. But if youve already done a thorough building inspection, youll know exactly what work is needed and what the current market conditions are.

In other words, youll be able to make a more accurate estimate of the amount of money youve invested in the home and how much its worth. If you find that youre selling your house for close to its full market value, you can use this information to convince the potential buyer that your home is worth the asking price.

Even if youre planning to stay in the home for a while before you decide to sell, the fact that you did a thorough building inspection will give you more confidence when listing it. Prospective buyers will know exactly what theyre paying for.

Your home will hold its value longer

As mentioned earlier, the value of a home depends heavily upon the condition of the building itself. If your home is in bad shape, potential buyers wont be interested in buying it. On the other hand, if youve performed a thorough building inspection and know what sort of repairs are necessary, you can offer your prospective buyer a compelling reason to invest in your property.

When you buy a home, youre essentially agreeing to have it inspected periodically to ensure that it stays in top shape. Not only does this allow you to avoid expensive repairs down the road, but it can also increase the value of your home.

You can make smart decisions about property investments

Buying real estate isnt as simple as just driving a couple of minutes to pick up a house. There are lots of considerations involved, ranging from location to cost. The same is true when youre investing in property.

If you find a house that meets all of your requirements, youll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of where it stands with regards to the rest of the market. If you havent spent enough time researching the area, you could inadvertently end up with a bad deal.

There are lots of resources available online that can help you determine the overall level of competition in your area. They can also help you figure out if there are any properties that meet your requirements that you didnt know about.

If you own rental property, you can use the information to identify tenants who might cause damage

If you own rental property and youve noticed that certain tenants consistently cause damage, you can use the results of a building inspection to identify them. You can then contact them directly to let them know that youre watching them closely and that you dont appreciate the problem theyre causing.

They might start taking better care of their homes, which would be good news for everyone. It could also be the case that youll find out that theyre responsible for previous damages that werent caught during a previous visit.

You can make smarter decisions about hiring contractors

If youve hired contractors to build or repair your home, you might want to ask them for references. However, unless you perform a thorough building inspection, you might not know exactly what to look for.

For instance, maybe you only checked the roof for leaks or the walls for cracks. You might not have looked underneath the foundation for anything that could cause a future issue. By performing a building inspection, you can ensure that you hire reputable contractors who will be trustworthy with your money.

You can avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition

Of course, the main benefit of structural inspections perth is that it helps you avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition. Before you make the decision to buy a home, you should do whatever you can to find out about the state of the building.

You can also ask your realtor about what sorts of inspections are typically recommended. Some agents say that its standard practice to check the heating system, the roof, the electrical wiring, and the floors. Others will tell you that they recommend that you check the entire structure.

Either way, if you choose to hire an inspector, youll find out exactly what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost to do so.

As a result, it can be concluded that a pre-purchase building inspection is highly important for the buyers because it provides transparency regarding the current conditions of the structure. Additionally, the building owner is made aware of any upgrades or repairs that are required, which could lead to a fair deal throughout the purchasing and selling process.
US Exports to Morocco More Than Triple in Ten Years Since US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement

Export data pulled from the International Trade Administration (ITA) shows that average US exports to Morocco have more than tripled since the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA) went into effect just over a decade ago. President George W. Bush signed the FTA, the first US free trade agreement with an African country, exactly twelve years ago today; and the agreement went into effect on January 1, 2006.

In the three years before the FTA (2003-2005), US exports to Morocco averaged $482 million; in the past three years (2013-2015), they increased 328 percent to $2.1 billion.

At the state level, Texas claims the spot as the top exporter to Morocco, both in 2015 and on average over the past three years, exporting $510 and $710 million worth of goods, respectively. Other top state exporters when looking at three-year averages include Louisiana, West Virginia, Washington, and California in descending order; considering only 2015, Washington, Louisiana, Virginia and California rounded out the top five following Texas.

When looking at sheer growth in exports since before the FTA, other states emerge as winners. Nevada experienced the biggest boost in exports at a nearly 13,000% increase; Idaho's exports increased by nearly 11,000%; Montana's by just over 10,000%; New Mexico by nearly 4,500%; and West Virginia by just under 4,000%.

The US's biggest exports to Morocco include petroleum, aerospace and automotive parts, and food products; and the US imports primarily fertilizer, electric machinery, and certain agricultural products from the country. In 2013, the United States Trade Representative ranked Morocco as America's 69th largest trade partner worldwide.

In recent years, Morocco has successfully positioned itself as a gateway for US companies to African and European markets, and through aggressive economic reforms has become a top destination for foreign direct investment in Africa. Earlier this year, Morocco was named by the 2016 Bloomberg Innovation Index among the 50 most innovative economies in the world and one of just two such in Africa. The results echoed the findings of many industry reports of recent years. In 2014, the Wall Street Journal's Frontiers/FSG Frontier Markets Sentiment Index reported that Morocco is among the top ten frontier markets -- and the only one in the Maghreb -- most favored by foreign corporations. KPMG International and Oxford Economics' 2015 Change Readiness Index (CRI) ranked Morocco as the most "change-ready" country in the Maghreb, with particularly positive results in the category of "enterprise capability." The World Bank's Doing Business 2016 report ranked Morocco first out of 20 MENA countries in terms of "ease of starting a business" and placed it sixth overall in the region for "ease of doing business."

"Morocco has been doing everything right to strengthen and diversify its economy," said former US Ambassador to Morocco Edward M. Gabriel. "Choosing Morocco as the US's first FTA beneficiary in Africa was a smart move, and I believe the US will continue benefiting from this strong relationship for years to come."

The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials, and interested publics in the United States about political and social developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.

www.finance.yahoo.com
President Joe Biden has decided to ban Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. The United States generally imports about 100,000 barrels a day from Russia, only about 5% of Russia's crude oil exports, according to Rystad Energy. Last year, roughly 8% of U.S. imports of oil and petroleum products came from Russia. Gas prices have been rising for weeks due to the conflict and in anticipation of potential sanctions on the Russian energy sector. The U.S. national average for a gallon of gasoline soared 45 cents a gallon in the past week and topped $4.06 on Monday, according to auto club AAA. Should the US ban Russian oil imports over Ukraine war?

You voted:
The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.

Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market.

In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender.

India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex.

Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted.

But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted?

Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner.

If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems.

I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now.

I want more variation in masturbation

I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own.

If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end.

What is sex toys for Indian?

Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation.

It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms.

They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable.

Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner.

The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner.

It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past.

In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping.

Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order.

In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing.

Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome.

Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own.

But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance.

More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around.

Sextoy situation in India

Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years.

In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India.

Mumbai

Kolkata

Bangalore

Delhi

Chennai

Hyderabad

These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India.

In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well.

If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too.

If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it.

What are Sextoys for beginner?

Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms.

Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy.

I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion.

I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy.

If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma.

Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it.

Advantages of using sextoy for Indians

There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians

You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways.

Can have stimulating sex

Can develop new sexual zones

If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern.

However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways.

You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation.

Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever.

There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure.

This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it.

When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems.

It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms).

For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles

[Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou...

Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India.

Sextoy for beginner men in India

So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners.

For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men!

The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men

Masturbator

Cock rings

Love Doll

Sex Lubricants

Toys for the prostate

Lets check each one in detail.

Masturbator

The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products.

It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands.

Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands.

They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.)

Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much.

Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! !

Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa   SEXToys India PR  (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018

Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood.

If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here

Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ...

[For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien...

Cock Ring

A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis.

It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow.

It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber.

In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection.

Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction.

It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it.

Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time.

Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function.

Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy.

You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect.

[Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat...

Love Doll

Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex.

There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women.

Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price.

The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true.

You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste.

There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice.

You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls.

If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here

Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to...

Sex lubricants

Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules.

It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution.

Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse.

There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent.

Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent.

If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here.

What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many...

Toys for the Prostate

Another sextoy for men is prostate toys.

The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line.

Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men.

Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men.

What is the prostate?

The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm.

You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus.

By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms.

Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.)

The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation.

Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure.

sextoy for beinner women in India

The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy.

The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy.

Vibrator.

Dildo

Electric Masserger

Lets check out what each one is in detail.

If you want to check out womens toys, click here.

[BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm...

Vibrators

A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator.

Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy.

It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy.

Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women.

For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators.

Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex.

Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself.

This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual.

Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men.

When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons.

Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most...

Dildo

A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis.

It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass.

A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it.

They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well.

It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device.

A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo.

Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands.

For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis.

This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one.

To learn more about dildo, please click here.

What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th...

Electric Masserger

A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores.

It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low.

Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels.

Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation.

It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure.

For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm.

It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out.

If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager?

To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here.

What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th...

How to choose a sextoy for Indian

Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one.

Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points:  Does the size fit you (the partner)?

Does the size fit you (your partner)?

Is the environment able to produce sound without problems?

Price range

First of all, the choice of size is quite important.

Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women.

For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage.

Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems.

Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise.

If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level.

Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it.

Finally, there is the price range.

The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest.

Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy.

Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy?

I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance.

For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics.

If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out.

How to buy sextoys in India

The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping.

For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below.

Sextoy is one of them.

Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping.

SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India.

They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry.

Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card.

To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy.

ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal.

Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on.

Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture.

Cautions for Indians using sextoy

When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind

Keep sex toys clean

Watch out for electrical leakage

Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy

As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone.

Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there.

It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case.

In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness.

Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful.

If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it.

You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly.

Summary

What did you think?

In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India.

The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future.

As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values.

However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health.

If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try?

Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women.

I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it.
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Marion Cultural and Civic Center.

Marion Cultural and Civic Center touts the Skyline Creek production as "one of the darkest musicals ever written."

Sweeney Todd, a popular fictional character, has been adapted in literature, stage and film dating back to the 1800s. Johnny Depp revived the character's popularity in 2007, taking on the role in a film directed by Tim Burton.

The story of Sweeney Todd focuses around the "unsettling tale of a Victorian-era barber who returns home to London after 15 years of exile to take revenge on the corrupt judge who ruined his life," the Marion Cultural Civic Center states.

Skyline Creek Productions, a Marion based organization, has also produced other musicals recently such as Chicago the Musical, Addams Family, and American Idiot.

Of the upcoming show's music, Marion Cultural Civic Center states, it's "perhaps composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheims most perfect score, Sweeney Todd is lush, operatic, and full of soaring beauty, pitch-black comedy and stunning terror."

Encore performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21. Tickets cost $15, and are available for purchase online at marionccc.com or by phone at 618-997-4030.

 The Southern
Here's a can of worms. The issue of whitewashing in movies has been on my mind a lot lately and it's led to a few arguments. In case you don't know, whitewashing is when white actors are cast in non-white roles.

The latest potential example is the upcoming movie "The Great Wall," directed by legendary Chinese filmmaker Zhang Zimou. The fantasy takes place in ancient China and stars Matt Damon. It came under fire as many felt casting Matt Damon into a lead role in a fantasy set in the Northern Song Dynasty was forced and offensive. Possibly even less defensible is the upcoming adaptation of the Japanese manga, "Ghost in the Shell," with Scarlet Johansson as a Japanese character. It didn't help that a leak accused Paramount Studios of doing early CGI tests to make the white actors look more Asian.

But it's not just whitewashing that's ruffling feathers. It's that minority actors are not given the same opportunities, a controversy that especially reared its head at the last Oscars, where virtually no people of color were nominated (a movie about a black boxer had nominations for just about everyone but the black people).

On one hand, I hear people complaining that there are not enough minorities being cast in major Hollywood films, and on the other, some say that actors who are not white males are being forced into films in an attempt to appease a vocal minority. As someone who is made up of all sorts of ethnicities, I figure I'll take a look.

I enjoy comic book movies, so let's focus there. In the upcoming Marvel film, "Doctor Strange." Tilda Swinton, who is white, is playing the Ancient One, which is historically an Asian man. It made sense for the character to be Asian, considering the title character tracks the Ancient One down in Asia. Now before anyone says it's super progressive and the race argument is canceled out because they cast a woman in the role, something tells me if someone like Michelle Yeoh had been cast, there would not have been anywhere near the same amount of backlash.

On the other hand, some comic book fans were enraged when a black actor was cast to play the historically white Human Torch in a reboot of "Fantastic Four" that ended up being a disaster, regardless. Also, it supposedly made no sense, because his sister is still played by a white woman in a world where mixed families are allegedly a myth.

So here's how I look at it. In the case of Swinton, it's kind of a bummer, considering Asian actors really get screwed in Hollywood. I mean, the 2008 movie "21" was based on a true story of MIT students who counted cards in casinos. Most of the actual people were Asian. The actors? Mostly white. Tom Cruise's character in "Edge of Tomorrow?" Asian. I'm not going to lie. I'm still going to see "Doctor Strange." But knowing decent Asian actors who are already struggling for parts were overlooked, really sucks.

As for the case of the Human Torch, understand that when most of these characters were created, characters of color were extremely rare, with the exception of characters such as Black Panther and Luke Cage. I can see some leeway there, especially when the source material has little room for diversity. That doesn't mean every single character needs to be changed.

Now as far as not casting minority actors, an argument I hear a lot is you can't blame these studios, because there just aren't any bankable stars of (fill in the blank) descent. That's a load of crap.

The reason there aren't any bankable stars is because they haven't been given the chance to be bankable stars. Roland Emmerich, director of "Independence Day," said he had to fight tooth and nail to get Will Smith cast as Capt. Steven Hiller because the studio didn't think white audiences could connect with a black actor. Since then, Will Smith movies may have made some money.

This mindset isn't just insulting to minorities. It's insulting that studios think that white people are just so close minded, they won't be able to enjoy a movie if the lead has a different skin color. If I couldn't connect with actors who had different skin colors than me, I would never go to the movies. So if people of color can cheer on the white, blond Captain America along with white moviegoers, why can't an Asian man be a romantic lead? Why can't a black woman be a Jedi Knight? Beats me.
CAIRO  Sesser Mayor Jason Ashmore has filed a civil lawsuit in small claims court in Alexander County seeking $9,518.40 for the time he reported to work at the Alexander County Housing Authority in what he perceived to be his role as executive director.

The suit, filed in Alexander County Circuit Court, alleges the ACHA failed to make payment under an employment agreement to Ashmore.

A vote was taken Jan. 19 by three of five present members of the ACHA board to hire Ashmore, though no terms of his employment were agreed upon that day. At the time, then-chairman Andy Clarke stated it was the boards intention to vote on a contract for Ashmore at an upcoming meeting. That never happened, and the five people that made up the ACHA board were dismissed of their duties on Feb. 22 when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development seized control of the housing authority in a rare move, citing years of mismanagement.

Though hired under questionable circumstances, Ashmore continued to report to work in Cairo for about six weeks  until Feb. 29  at which time HUD officials placed in charge of the troubled housing agency informed him that he was not the executive director of the agency.

HUD did not term its directive that Ashmore no longer should report to the ACHA as a firing or other type of dismissal; rather, the federal housing oversight agency states that it did not recognize Ashmore as having ever been legally hired as the executive director.

In late March, the ACHA board, by this point taken over by HUD and made up of two HUD appointees, addressed the Jan. 19 meeting at which the vote was taken to hire Ashmore. At the March 30 meeting, Towanda Macon, a co-administrator of the HUD Recovery Team assigned to Cairo, stated: Since no original, signed meeting minutes were presented from the meeting convened on Jan. 19, 2016, given that there are no official or original documents on record, the current board is unable to take action on approving the minutes.

Further, she states, If any actions were taken at the meeting, they have been invalidated because it (the meeting) was a violation of Illinois Open Meetings Act as attested by the housing authoritys counsel.

The vote to hire Ashmore at that Jan. 19 meeting was taken after HUDs Chicago director of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity stated that he was declining to sign off on the ACHA boards hiring of Ashmore, citing his lack of housing experience and decision not to relocate closer to the ACHAs administrative offices but instead commute from Sesser, where Ashmore serves as mayor.

It is roughly 85 miles  or a 1 hour, 30 minute drive  from Sesser to Cairo  about 3 hours round trip. At the time he was hired, Ashmore was unemployed other than his position as part-time mayor. He had previously been dismissed from his administrative position with the Illinois Department of Transportations regional office in Carbondale following Republican Gov. Bruce Rauners swearing in.

Though his position as mayor of Sesser is non-partisan, Ashmore is active in Democratic politics. It is common for change in positions that are administrative appointments when a new governor is seated, particularly one of a different party than the outgoing governor, as was the case when Rauner defeated then-incumbent Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn.

HUDs Fair Housing director was required to sign off on the ACHAs choice for executive director under the terms of a voluntary compliance agreement the board had previously agreed to in an effort to address numerous issues of mismanagement and discriminatory practices previously cited by HUD.

But the board decided to vote on Ashmores approval anyway at that Jan. 19 meeting. There was a sizable audience in attendance at that meeting, and several people, most of them there to oppose the hiring of Ashmore, asked for an opportunity to address the board but were denied that right.

Then Chairman Clarke told the audience members he was not required to allow them to speak because the special meeting was called outside the routine board meeting schedule specifically to vote for a new executive director for the agency.

After the meeting, The Southern Illinoisan and a citizen who was at the meeting and wanted to address the board, filed a complaint with the Attorney Generals Public Access Bureau alleging the meeting violated the law when citizens were denied the right to address the board given that the Open Meetings Act requires board set aside time for public comment at all meetings.

On behalf of the board, the ACHAs attorney, Rick Abell, responded to the Attorney Generals Office that the board was not aware the rule applied to special meetings. He called it a simple mistake that would be corrected moving forward.

The majority of citizens who appeared at that meeting are African-American. The housing agency has been cited for numerous alleged practices in housing and employment at the ACHA discriminatory against African-American residents and workers. Cairo has a long history of racial tensions.

When Ashmore was informed by HUD in late February that he was not the executive director, he issued a statement that read, in part: I am extremely disappointed in HUDs decision to wrongfully remove me as executive director. I have and will be consulting with legal counsel concerning this wrongful discharge, the blatant reverse discrimination issues behind the discharge and other related labor law violations concerning HUDs failure to follow basic wage regulations.

During his roughly six weeks on the job, Ashmore claimed he was making tremendous progress in righting an agency that oversees roughly 400 housing units in one of the poorest and most complex communities in Illinois. He has since been critical of HUD officials that have been on the job in Cairo about six months at this point, and the agency as a whole. In his statement issued in February upon being notified he was not the executive director, Ashmore noted that HUD, as the oversight agency for housing authorities, had responsibility to take action in Alexander County if it was aware of mismanagement and misappropriations by the ACHA management or board.

They didnt care then and dont now, he said at the time, in a written statement provided to media outlets. This is all about appearances and there is no substance behind HUDs intent or its vision for this community.

Ashmore is represented in his small claims suit by the Bigler Law Office, based in Anna. The same firm represents the city of Sesser.

A hearing has been scheduled in this case for 9 a.m. Friday at the Alexander County Courthouse.
Du Quoins beloved brewpub and eatery is turning two.

St. Nicholas Brewing Company, located in the historic St. Nicholas Hotel building on Oak St., will celebrate two years in business this Saturday with a host of birthday festivities starting at 1 p.m., including the release of a handful of small-batch special beers.

Brewmaster James McCoy chose to mark the occasion with a single-batch, German-style brown ale called St. Muddy Alt, produced as a collaboration with Big Muddy Brewing. The beer has a dark, rich toasted malt character, and it will be available on tap and in 22-oz. bomber bottles.

Altbier is German for old beer and refers to an older method of fermentation than the technique employed for most lagers.

I just kind of looked historically at how alt beer was made, McCoy said. Chuck (Stuhrenberg, Big Muddy brewmaster) uses a German ale yeast for one of his beers, one of his strains in his brewery, so he actually brought the strain of yeast over and used it in the alt beer that we brewed here.

McCoy also prepared three small-batch variations on the brewerys Belgian Witbier: blackberry, cucumber and melon.

Manager Katie Ancell describes the specialty fruit beers as light and refreshing.

If we have a nice hot, sunny day, those fruit beers are going to be great, Ancell said.

$25 buys 10 tasting tickets and a glass, and the brewery will offer beer and food pairings, some yet-to-be-determined special appetizers, and a 3D cake made by Du Quoin-based Baked on Division. Live music will be provided by Chad Harris from 4-6 p.m. and the Storm Crows from 8-11 p.m.

In addition to its extensive tap list of seasonal, flagship and small-batch beers, St. Nicks peddles hearty, flavorful fare. Standout menu items include St. Nicks Fries, smothered in beer cheese and buffalo sauce, and the St. Nicks Sweet and Spicy hamburger, which features jalapenos, pineapples and BBQ sauce on a pretzel bun.

Ancell said St. Nick's brand of upscale pub food has been a smash hit with customers.

I feel like were doing things that other restaurants arent doing. I live in Carbondale, so I go out to eat lots of places, and it just seems like weve kind of filled a niche that wasnt being filled before, Ancell said.

St. Nicholas currently distributes beer all over the Southern Illinois region, and the company hopes to extend its reach to other markets later this year.

I think were just going to continue evolving the vision we have for St. Nick and continuing to expand, both with reaching other markets with our beer distribution, or trying to do other collaborations  whether it be other restaurants or other breweries, things like that  its just kind of helping to build the brewery culture in Southern Illinois, Ancell said.

NOTE: Reporter Janis Esch is a member of the Storm Crows.
MURPHYSBORO  Jackson County residents will see a proposition for a Jackson County Public Building Commission as well as a 1 percent sales tax added to the ballot in November.

During its Aug. 16 meeting, the Jackson County Board approved the proposition to create a Public Building Commission that will look into needs for building fixtures.

"This is not a tax increase," Board Chairman John Rendleman said. "This is a mechanism by which outside citizens can look at county needs to look at buildings and how to go about fixing them."

The board also discussed the resolution of a 1 percent sales tax that will be used exclusively for Jackson County schools.

One speaker, who introduced himself as a representative for Jackson County superintendents said, the tax  which would only apply to school facilities  will increase employment in construction, contribute to economic development and improve the learning environment for children.

A commissioner for the Fountain Bluff/Degognia Levee District discussed his concerns about the Grand Tower levee  a project, he shares has been ongoing for more than 30 years.

"We're doing a lot of work on the levee, we're well ahead of the work schedule, we have a 158 day working contract we're on 24 days thus far, there's no grey area here," Mark Holt, the Fountain Bluff/Degognia commissioner said.

According to Holt, nine of the 26 projects for the levee have already been completed, but due to the river it places the project on a hold.

"During that time frame there were citizens in Grand Tower who called the Army Corp of Engineers and told them that our contractor was putting wet dirt back around the cutout. No kidding. There was no dry dirt, it's a river and it's in a flood stage," he said.

Other approvals for the meeting include nominations for appointments to the Tuberculosis and Jackson County Mass Transit Board, a contract renewing a one year contract to the Southern Illinois Tourism Bureau and an application for an Emergency Management Performance Grant.
SPRINGFIELD  A day after Republicans largely avoided mentioning their partys presidential candidate during Governors Day at the Illinois State Fair, Democrats on Thursday lauded candidate Hillary Clinton and sought to tie Gov. Bruce Rauner and the rest of the Illinois GOP to Donald Trump.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who also chairs the state Democratic Party, vowed during a breakfast meeting of party leaders ahead of Democrat Day at the fair that the party and its labor union allies will continue to stand up to the extreme agenda of Rauner and Trump ahead of Novembers election.

Rauner in particular leads an effort to reverse a trend in American government that has held steady since the start of Franklin Roosevelts presidency, Madigan said.

For 83 years, the American national government and state governments, including Illinois, have always worked to raise wage levels and the standard of living and to protect the vulnerable in our society, he said. Thats been the policy of American governments for 83 years. However, today in Illinois, Gov. Rauner is attempting to advance an extreme agenda that would actually take the state of Illinois in the opposite direction.

At the breakfast and an afternoon rally at the fairgrounds, Madigan and fellow Democrats touted their efforts to block Rauners turnaround agenda, which they say would hurt working- and middle-class families, and they blamed the governor for spending most of his first term so far holding the states budget  and residents in need of state services  hostage in an attempt to force his ideas through the General Assembly. Those ideas include business-friendly changes to workers compensation laws and diminished collective bargaining rights, which he says would make Illinois more attractive to employers and help spur economic growth.

Rauner said Wednesday that Republicans will use the unprecedented campaign cash that he and his wealthy allies have brought to the party to launch the biggest ground game (thats) ever been done for legislative races in state history.

But Democrats said theyll use their network of union members and ordinary, everyday Illinoisans to counter the millions of dollars Rauner and his allies are pumping into the election.

I think Democrats know a little bit about the ground game, Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan said at the breakfast meeting, which dwarfed a similar GOP event held Wednesday morning. Its in this room. You live in Illinois; youve raised your family in Illinois; its your community. You know how to get out and work for your candidates.

Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza, whos challenging incumbent Republican Comptroller Leslie Munger, urged her fellow Democrats to go to the polls Nov. 8 and to make phone calls and knock on doors to convince others to do the same.

I need you to do it not just for me but for every single Democrat on the Democratic ticket this year  from the top to the very bottom, she said, specifically mentioning state Reps. Brandon Phelps of Harrisburg and Mike Smiddy of Hillsdale and state Sen. Gary Forby of Benton, all top targets in the GOPs effort to cut into the Democratic supermajorities in the Legislature.

Republicans have been airing TV commercials all summer labeling those lawmakers and others minions of Madigan, whom they blame for the states many fiscal woes.

Madigan said hes not surprised by the tactic, which has been tried unsuccessfully many times in the past, although without nearly as much money behind the message.

Theyre doing that because they dont want to talk about themselves, he said. They dont want to talk about the record of the Republican Party nationally, the record of the Republican Party here in Illinois, because they know the national Republican Party under Trump and the Illinois Republican Party under Rauner is a Republican Party of extremism. And Illinoisans are prepared to reject extremism.

While Democrats were eager to talk up their 2016 candidates up and down the ballot, they werent so willing to discuss who might step up to challenge Rauner for the governors office in 2018.

Several people whove been mentioned as potential candidates, including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, former Gov. Pat Quinn and Chicago City Treasurer Kurt Summers, waived off questions about possible gubernatorial bids and said theyre focused on their current jobs and helping fellow Democrats win in November.

One candidate who received a strong showing of support from her party in the November race was U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth of Hoffman Estates, who spoke at the breakfast and is challenging U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk in one of the most closely watched Senate contests nationwide.
Last year, more than 22 wells were built in villages throughout Malawi, in southeastern Africa, funded in part by money raised here in Southern Illinois.

The congregation that raised those funds, members of the First Presbyterian Church of Carbondale, wants to help build even more wells. Church members have planned a Water Concert from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28, in Carbondale. The concert will feature musical sections from members of the community.

Funds from the concert will go to the Marion Medical Mission, an ecumenical, Christian volunteer non-profit that raises money to build wells throughout the continent of Africa.

Last year's event raised more than $9,000, which funded construction of the nearly two dozen wells at a cost of 400 each.

This year's goal of the Marion Medical Mission is to build 2,550 wells that would in an area covering roughly 57,700 square miles before November's rains, according to organization founder Tom Logan. The organization has already received funding for 1,053 of the wells and needs money to finance the building of 1,497 more, he said.

The 2,550 villages to receive the wells have already been identified, Logan said.

At the Water Concert, there will also be snacks, a silent auction and a market table with gift items from Malawi. A freewill offering will be collected.
This editorial appeared in Wednesday's Washington Post.

Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from the country has taken many forms over the past few months. All have been abhorrent. All, including the most recent iteration, would have a consequence that has so far gone ignored: the harm it would do to colleges and universities across the United States.

In his acceptance speech at the Republican convention, Trump revised his original call for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" and instead suggested suspending immigration "from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism." If, in order to qualify as "compromised by terrorism," a country must have experienced a recent attack, Trump's list of undesirables includes citizens of France, Belgium and, well, the United States. Even if Trump intends to refer to countries the State Department recognizes as nations where terrorist cells operate, allies such as Saudi Arabia are in the mix. In a speech this week, Trump further refined his proposal as suspending immigration from "some of the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism" while also subjecting would-be visitors to "an ideological screening test."

Saudi Arabia sent almost 60,000 students to study at U.S. colleges in 2015. India, also on the State Department's radar, sent almost 133,000. Iran and Turkey sent more than 10,000 each, and Malaysia about 7,000. Because most of these students get the money for their educations from sources outside of the United States, they give a significant funding boost to the schools they choose - and to the U.S. economy. Saudi Arabian students alone contribute $1.7 billion every year, though the number may decrease with the shrinking of the scholarship fund that pays the way for many of them. Indian students contribute $3.6 billion.

Stopping these students from coming to the United States would not only cause economic pain: It would also fly in the face of the cultural exchange that education is supposed to facilitate. Just as U.S. citizens benefit from studying with people of different backgrounds who may have different ideas about the way the world works, students from abroad can take the values they learn here back to their home countries. That is especially important in places such as Saudi Arabia that could benefit most from the democratic ideals U.S. schools try to instill in their students.

Trump's "extreme vetting" likely would discourage students from every country from coming to the United States, whether to study or to work, by sending a message that the United States is suspicious of the rest of the world and the people in it. Of course, that has always been a central part of Trump's isolationist platform. This is just another reason it is dangerous.
Orangeburg City Council moved closer Tuesday to providing the old First National Bank building on Russell Street to the Palmetto Development Group.

PDG has been improving the building to operate a business incubator to help small businesses grow. Before it can receive funds to fix up the building some more, it has to receive the buildings title, officials say.

Council discussed the matter in executive session before giving second-reading approval to an ordinance transferring the building to PDG. Council members Charlie Jernigan and Buddy Barnwell voted against it.

I am in favor of it, Barnwell said.

He said there were four conditions council made for Palmetto Development Group to receive the building, but one condition has not been met.

Barnwell said the group needs to demonstrate sufficient funding is in hand to restore the building.

That has not taken place, he said. Once thats accomplished then I will be in favor of it.

PDGs Interim CEO Julie-Ann Dixon said they have the paperwork showing they have the proper funding needed to meet the condition. Jernigan asked that the forms be shown before third reading.

During the meeting, Dixon said the group has completed phase I, which involved replacing the flooring, fixing three office spaces, removing two 5-foot trees from the roof of the building, repairing the roof and semi-replacing outdated electrical wiring in the front part of the building.

With this renovation and the opening of the doors, the Palmetto Development Group met the requirements per the lease agreement with the city of Orangeburg and PDG, Palmetto Development Group, as well as a letter of condition by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she said.

Dixon said the group received a grant in 2012 which allowed it to begin renovations on the building.

We have since then applied for two additional grants which according to the USDA, because the first original grant in 2012 had in its agreement that the building will be transferred over to us, they are holding out because they said the transfer of ownership has not gone through yet, she said.

Dixon added that the PDG has lost out on two prospective businesses looking to move into the incubator.

The ordinance will go before council for third reading at the next City Council meeting.

Also in the meeting:

 Ali Weathers, director of the Orangeburg Downtown Farmers Market, thanked council for its support. Weathers reported it has been a success and has seen an estimated 1,500 unique visitors.

Were definitely bringing awareness to the Orangeburg area, Weathers said. Just wanted to come out and say thank you for your support.

The Farmers Market began June 7 and operates in the downtown square every Tuesday from 3:30 to 6 p.m. until Sept. 27.

Weathers added that talks are being held to possibly hold the market until Thanksgiving.

 Downtown Orangeburg Revitalization Association President Jeanna Reynolds asked council for permission to serve beer and wine at a one-day festival to be held on Sept. 24.

Our mission at DORA is to help in the revitalization of downtown Orangeburg while collaborating with downtown merchants to bring awareness to our city, Reynolds said. It is important to have (the festival) downtown to help the businesses understand that DORA is there to help them and bring people downtown.

Mayor Michael Butler noted a rule prohibiting serving alcohol within 300 yards of a church.

Councilman Bernard Haire said if the churches did not have a problem with it, they could go ahead.

City Administrator John Yow suggested using the new parking lot off of Broughton Street if Reynolds were to run into any trouble obtaining the square downtown.

We certainly want to regulate it to where its going to be a good, fun event thats not harmful, Reynolds said.

 Department of Public Utilities Director Tommy Miller presented the departments proposed operational budget.

DPU projects it will have an income of about $94.7 million next year and expenses of almost $78.8 million. The utility will transfer $5.1 million from its net profit to the city's budget.

The budget will include a 2.5 percent raise for employees.

No rate increase is planned.

 Council approved second reading of the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year as presented by Yow.

The general fund totals $19.4 million.

The budget includes a 2.5 percent cost of living raise for employees.

It will not require a property tax increase. Residential sanitation rates will increase from $12 monthly to $13.

Expenditures include the purchase of a new garbage truck for $285,000 and a new fire truck for $550,000.

 The Sunnyside Community Village Association was present to voice concerns for renovations in the community.
Nepotism is a well-known part of South Carolina state government: Lawmakers routinely appoint their siblings and spouses and friends to university boards and various state commissions, for example. Less well known are the outsized salaries associated with some of those positions.

Before considering the salaries of lawmakers friends and relatives, though, take a look at the salaries of those in charge of core state agencies  law enforcement and the like. For agencies like the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Department of Public Safety, directors make around $160,000 a year. Both of the states top cops have a long career in law enforcement and run large state agencies that serve essential government functions. Similarly, Brian Sterling, head of the Department of Corrections  the agency tasked with confining the states prison population  makes $161,137 a year.

Now, back to those friends of lawmakers. They tend to hold positions that, although high-level, could fairly be considered non-essential services.

Begin at the Retirement System Investment Commission, a haven for former Senate employees. The RSICs current chief investment officer, for example, Michael Hitchcock  formerly chief counsel and assistant clerk to the Senate  now makes $230,000 a year, not including benefits. The experience that qualified Hitchcock to run the states pension system  to quote Hitchcock himself  was that he could balance the Senates 46 strong personalities. He went on: Ive built a reputation as a person who can work between sides and help the Senate move past impasses. Less clear was what this had to do with managing a multibillion-dollar investment portfolio.

Wayne Bell, former president of the State Retirees Association, was even more direct about the strangeness of hiring a Senate staffer for such a position: Bringing someone in from the outside who was perfectly capable didnt work [] South Carolina politics just eats them alive.

Or take former Senate staffer Danny Varat, now the RSICs spokesman. He makes $116,688 a year, not including benefits. Varat is the agencys spokesman.

Around the time Varat was hired, his prior boss, former Sen. Greg Ryberg, was hired as the commissions director. Ryberg was hired without a search for more qualified candidates. He made $161,000 a year, not including benefits, while running the RSIC.

Now turn your attention to the Medical University of South Carolina, where former legislator Anton Gunn works as the institutions chief diversity officer. Gunn earns $275,000 a year, not including benefits. The former House member is responsible for strategic diversity initiatives. On his personal website Gunn, also the founder and president of 937 Strategy Group LLC, based in Washington D.C., lists seven speaking engagements around the country in April alone.

Or consider Paul Campbell, chief executive officer of the Charleston County Aviation Authority. In 2013, the previous CEO left the agency because of legislative meddling in the airport affairs. We need to get someone in there who is not susceptible to the politics, said Rep. Jim Merrill, a member of the Charleston delegation that appoints six of the authoritys 11 board members. The delegation responded by appointing a state senator  Paul Campbell.

Campbell earns $231,831 a year, plus benefits, though that does not include the $29,000-plus he makes as a sitting state senator. Why the hefty salary for heading what would seem to be a mid- or low-level agency? Campbells legislative biography says he is a former business executive in the manufacturing industry but offers no hint of experience in running airports.

What makes Campbells hiring at the airport even more striking is that the state constitution prohibits legislators from holding more than one state office. This provision specifically bans lawmakers from holding any office or position of profit or trust. A legislative friend of Campbell knew about this prohibition and requested an opinion from the attorney general. Bizarrely, the A.G.s office concluded that the position  which, again, comes with a $231,831 salary  is not an office of honor or profit.

Maybe its not an office of honor. But the profit part  as with other former legislators and legislative staffers working in non-core agencies  seems pretty definite.
Claflin University welcomed more than 500 freshmen to campus - the most in school history -- for the start of New Student Orientation Week on Sunday.

The Class of 2020 is not only the largest class in school history, it is the most talented, as well, said President Henry N. Tisdale in his remarks during the traditional parting ceremony.

We have students from 44 of the 46 counties in the state of South Carolina. We also have students from Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and from outside of the United States, Tisdale added.

Shonte Felder and Siron Mack, two students from North, arrived for Move-In Day at Claflin on Saturday. They listened intently to Dr. Tisdales message on Sunday before walking through the Arch of Confidence, a Claflin tradition to welcome students to the institution.

Its been a very exciting weekend and you quickly realize how different things will be from high school, said Felder, who said she chose Claflin because she did not want to travel too far from home and she wanted to attend a historically black college/university. Felder is majoring in early childhood education.

We are receiving a lot of information so you have to keep up, Mack said. However, all of the counselors were very helpful and I am really looking forward to getting acclimated to the campus environment.

Mack will major in biology. He said Claflins focus in science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs attracted him to the university.

Junya Taketsu and Kaiki Sumi made the journey to Claflin from Japan and Kansai University. Both will major in political science.

We are looking forward to experiencing the United States and Claflin University, Sumi said. We arrived Friday night so we have not seen much of the area but we are looking forward to meeting other students and getting involved in campus activities.

Taketsu, who plays the guitar in his spare time, said Claflins location and academic reputation were his motivations for moving to Orangeburg.

I did not know much about Orangeburg except that it is not a very big city, he said. We were looking for a small school in a small, quiet city and Claflin fit the profile.

The Class of 2020 enters Claflin with a wealth of impressive academic credentials.

In addition to being school valedictorians and salutatorians, they are Gates Millennial Scholars; South Carolina Life, Hope and Palmetto scholars and Rudolph Canzatar/James E. Clyburn scholars.

Claflin admitted 36 of the 125 students who were Rudolph Canzatar/James E. Clyburn scholars and for the tenth consecutive year, Claflin students were awarded the largest number of scholarships.

Thirty percent of students in the freshman class are pursuing degrees in STEM disciplines.

I thank you for bringing your sons and daughters to us, Tisdale said. These young people are the hopes and dreams of our ancestors who have gone before us. They will be the engaged, visionary leaders of the 21st Century.

The freshmen are participating in a week-long orientation facilitated by the universitys Freshman College. This years theme is Exploring Pathways of Purpose and includes a variety of workshops and social activities to help get the students acclimated to the rigors of college life.

A special highlight is the freshmen retreat held at Camp Bob Cooper in Summerton. The annual retreat serves to teach incoming freshmen leadership skills and prepare them for the transformational challenges they will face as a Claflin student.

The Freshman Confirmation Ceremony on Aug. 21 will conclude the first week of activities for the Class of 2020. At the ceremony, each member of the class will pledge to uphold the hallmarks of the Freshman College, which are building character, confidence, pride, memories and pathways to success.
Increased counter space, efficient service delivery and effective time management were among the things that customers said they noticed following a three-month renovation of the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles office in Orangeburg.

The SCDMV office located at 1720 Charleston Highway closed for renovations on May 20 and reopened on Wednesday.

I think its well overdue given the amount of people thats in Orangeburg. ... They did a real good job. Orangeburg needed it, Michael Owens said.

The renovations updated the interior of the office to include new modular counters, an additional service counter and enclosed testing rooms for customer privacy.

New flooring, paint and energy-efficient windows have also brightened the interior, with a new office layout adding space and comfort for both customers and employees.

The office is also 100 percent compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Renovations were completed several weeks earlier than originally scheduled at a cost of $350,000.

SCDMV Executive Director Kevin Shwedo said the improvements will better serve Orangeburgs growing community.

The office currently averages nearly 9,000 transactions a month, and I think customers will be pleased with their experience in this more efficient, streamlined office area," Schwedo said in a release.

Owens said he liked that it only took him approximately seven minutes to conduct his business.

I think its a good thing for the working-class people who in the past had to come down here and wait a long time. You just come in and handle your business. The flow is better. People have things to do besides spend the whole day here, he said.

Terry Sampson said, Its not as crowded. I dont come too often, but its not as crowded. I can find a park easy now.

Elease Simmons view on the renovations was mixed on Wednesday.

While she appreciated the increased counter space for customers to transact their business, it looks like to me they made the office smaller.

Its still crowded around here. They really should have built it somewhere else. This is the first time Ive been in here since they remodeled. There are people here still standing up waiting, Simmons said. Its better in some ways, and in some ways its not.

During the renovations, customers could visit SCDMVs Community Area Response & Emergency Services Vehicle, a mobile office which was parked at the Orangeburg facility.

It was a great convenience for our customers that we could remain in the location theyre used to visiting; however, our employees and customers really appreciate the comfortable waiting area and spacious layout of the new service counters inside the renovated office, Manager Sandra Sumpter said in a release.
Nearly eight years ago, I was on a Saturday landowner appointment.

It had rained the night before on this late fall day and the wind was whipping winter in. The sky was a crisp, clear blue.

I was about to leave when, through the wind, we heard a noise that sounded like puppies squealing. I looked across a field and there was a dog running across at full speed toward the swamp.

I went to the truck and got out my lunch, deer cubed steak, and walked across the road toward the swamp.

The red dog came snarling out of the swamp, not barking, just growling. I threw the first piece of meat to her and she gobbled it up.

The second piece, she caught in midair and it was gone in a flash.

She ate the third piece.

There I was, standing with no more defense and my knees bare for her to bite. The landowners had gone to the house to get cat food as that is all they had.

While she was eating the cat food, I went into the swamp to find the puppies. The sawtooth briars were so thick that I had to crawl on my belly to get to the puppies.

They were huge, most likely around 8 weeks old. Only one could be dragged out at a time. The pups had never seen humans and squealed as I placed my hands on them.

All I could think about was their mother coming back to bite my nose off. But she didnt.

Finally, the all the puppies were removed from the swamp and placed in the back of the landowners pickup truck. It took a while but the puppies soon found out how to eat cat food.

The landowners decided to take the puppies and go to a well-traveled intersection and give them away. I decided to take the mother as I figured no one wanted a wild dog.

I put her in the front seat of the truck as there is no back seat, fully expecting her to take a chunk out of me. On the way home, I stopped by a grocery store to buy a collar, food, leash and chain.

The next Monday morning, she was at the veterinarians office to be checked out and neutered. The following Wednesday, I went to pick her up, meeting with her doctor.

He asked lots of questions about her such as her age, health records, etc. I told him I did not know; he had had her longer than me.

She had hook worms, heart worms, severe ear infection and a bladder infection. The ear infection was caused by an allergy, so I took her to the allergist in Columbia. Once she started eating grain-free food, her ears cleared up completely.

We have been together ever since.

She learned how to sit, lie down, partially stay and hop on command. We became very close over time. I would take her on landowner calls and she would run through the woods looking for animals to chase.

She loved going on landowner and logging calls with me. She would go with me for prescribed burns. Everyone loves her, including the special needs people who clean our office.

On Saturday, July 30, Red asked to go outside. She went onto the porch, and gave me the expression that she was going on an excursion. This did not bother me as I thought maybe a mile or two out. I was devastated the next morning when she had not returned to eat her food for the day.

The following Monday, posters were made and put up in a three-mile radius of where she lives. I never thought that Red would travel any more than a mile or two.

Orangeburg County Animal Control was contacted and sent photos which they posted on their Facebook page. All of the veterinarians in Orangeburg and Bamberg counties were contacted as well as animal shelters and the SPCA.

From the wonderful phone calls I have received, Red traveled first to the east neighbor. He tried to give her some water, but she would not approach him. He last saw her traveling south, down a lane to a pond.

About two hours later, the neighbor to the west saw her in his yard. Scared that his dogs might want to fight, he shooed her away and went in the house. When he went back out, he did not see her.

Then I did not hear anything for three days until Roger Williams called me late one afternoon. Roger is a logger and knows Red as she has been with me on his logging sites. I was shocked when Roger said she was in the Neeses Piggly Wiggly back parking lot beside the Laundromat. He told me that he called her but she turned away from him and kept walking. By the time I drove the 5.5 miles there, she had vanished and no one saw which way she went.

After Rogers call, I moved some of the posters to Neeses. I would have done this earlier but I did not know Red meant that she was going on a real excursion.

Later, I talked to a man who works at the gas station. He not only had seen her but had petted her at his house. He promised that if he saw her again, he would call me but he never saw her again.

A lady called Aug. 7. She had seen the poster at the Neeses intersection and took the time to turn around and get the phone number off the poster. She told me that Red was in her yard 3.5 miles west of Neeses on Sunday, July 31, which was nine to ten miles from the house.

I was telling a friend about the lady seeing Red and he said, I wonder where shes going? I replied, I dont know but if she is headed to Georgia, I hope she takes the U.S. 321 bridge.

Late Monday afternoon, I got several phone calls but had the phone turned down as I had to go to sleep early to leave the house at 5:30 a.m.

The only message was from Roger. His cutter man, Harvey Phillips, saw Red around 4 p.m. at the place I had just moved from two months ago.

That meant she traveled east from Neeses about 11 miles to the old address.

I called the other person thinking that the number belonged to one of the loggers. It was sometime before 5:30 a.m. Whoops, I called a young lad who is in college, waking him up before his alarm.

Nicholas had seen Red very close to my old residence and recognized her from the posters. He picked her up and took her to his fathers house. After my return from the early appointment in Honea Path, I picked her up.

Red is highly intelligent and I can, more often than not, tell what she is thinking. There is no doubt that when she stepped onto the porch Saturday, July 30, she told me she was going on an excursion. I never thought that she would have traveled well over 26 miles over nine days.

From her actions and reactions since her return, Red thoroughly enjoyed her excursion. I do believe that she will do it again. After all, I found her in the wild.

I want to thank all of you who took the time to call me to report where Red was.
WASHINGTON -- Once upon a time, a scantily clad lass padding down a beach might cause a riot -- at least of eyeballs eager to extend the sidelong glance.

Today, it's the fully clothed woman who overheats the passions in France, where three towns have banned the burkini. Leave it to the French to criminalize modesty.

Latest to the ban-wagon is the Corsican village of Sisco, where three Muslim families and a group of local teens recently got into a row when one of the Muslim men became upset as a tourist photographed his burkini-clad wife.

The next day, riot police were needed in a nearby town to quell 200 protesters who stormed a housing area of mostly North African people, shouting "this is our home." The precise cause of that flare-up wasn't known.

Did a burkini do it?

No clue, according to local authorities, but Sisco is banning the ultimate cover-up, anyway, to "protect the population." Back on the mainland, the mayors of Cannes and nearby Villeneuve-Loubet also have banned burkinis. Two Muslim associations unsuccessfully challenged the Cannes ban, but have promised to appeal the lower court decision.

In the strangest justification offered for the wardrobe ban, Lionnel Luca, mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet, said it is unhygienic to swim fully clothed. For whom? The fish?

Tensions in France between Muslims and others may be understandable in light of recent events, including the July horror in Nice when a truck driver shouting paeans to Allah mowed down hundreds of Bastille Day revelers, killing 85 people, as well as the recent jihadist slaying of the beloved, 85-year-old priest Jacques Hamel in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.

But how the practice of modesty associated with many Muslims' religious beliefs became an offense against the majority society is hard to fathom. The burkini also provides an interesting study in the metamorphosis of a symbol and its use in rationalizing other beliefs and actions that bear striking similarities to the extreme religiosity the caused such consternation in the first place.

Suddenly, the burkini has become France's Confederate battle flag. Like the flag, the burkini means different things to different people, yet it has become such a powerful symbol of the cultural clash between overzealous French patriots and Muslim immigrants that it has become a prompt to man the barricades.

It is hardly shocking that women are the objects of such aggression. Or that men are the ones fighting over what women ought to be doing with their bodies. Depending on the era -- and often the prevailing religion -- women are either showing too much or too little. Frankly, I'd like to see more not fewer burkinis on the beach, especially for Speedo-lovers over 50. Guys, do you own a mirror? (Please don't send pictures.)

It isn't just men concerned with burkinis. Some feminists and the "enlightened" French see the burkini as a visual face-slap to women's egalite. Among other things, equality means never having to cover up just because your natural self gets another's gander up.

Non-Muslims in the West may disapprove of the practice and prefer our mores over those of strict Muslims, but we're in no position to be smug. Less than 100 years ago in Washington, modesty police literally measured women's bathing suit skirts to ensure adherence to the legal standard of only six inches above the knee. In 1921 Atlantic City, women were also required to wear stockings pulled above the knee with their swimsuits. When young women protested the stocking law, it was the League of Women Voters that urged strict enforcement.

While beach patrols searched out bathing suit violators, they also scouted for their ogling male counterparts, described in a newspaper story of the time as "bald beach lizards." One brave woman, novelist Louise Rosine, went to jail rather than cover up her knees with stockings. It was "none of the city's darn business," she said, whether she "rolled 'em up or down."

We've come a long way, baby. And along the way, with few exceptions, we've found it possible to allow people to don (or not) their apparel as they wish. Some schools may ban message-emblazoned shirts. And we dutifully shed our jackets, scarves and shoes during security checks.

But liberte ought to mean that one can wear a burkini on the beach -- or a thong, if you must. Neither suits my personal fancy, but it's hard to imagine that a Muslim woman dressed traditionally is a threat to any but her own comfort.

Like the lady said, it's none of the city's darn business.
Title: The Art of Breathing

Author: Janie DeVos

Publisher: Lyrical Press

Genre: Historical

Format: Ecopy

Meet the Author

Janie DeVos, a native of Coral Gables, Florida, first began work in the advertising industry in the late 1980s, but left the field in 2000, and turned her love for writing into a full time career. DeVos started her freelance writing company, Rainy Day Creations, and became a writer for several greeting card companies. In 2002, her national award winning poem, How High Can You Fly?, was published as a childrens picture book through River Road Press, and a second hard-cover picture book, The Path Winds Home, soon followed.





Both books grabbed the attention of a New York publisher, East End Publishing, and, in 2007, Ms. DeVos third childrens picture book,Barthellos Wing, made its debut. Scholastic Books was interested in including Barthellos Wing in their North American school book fairs, and asked that it be produced in soft-cover. It was, and to date it has sold over 90,000 copies.





Ms. DeVos gave up city life to live in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. And though she continued to write for children, including the publication of her fourth childrens book in 2012, The Shopkeepers Bear, published through Little Giggles Press, she found her writing interests began to change as she became more embedded in the lives and the traditions of the mountain people. Thus, she was inspired to write her first womens fiction novel, Beneath a Thousand Apple Trees, which is centered around three generations of women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the untamed Appalachian Mountains. Her manuscript was fortunate enough to find a home with the highly esteemed publishing house, Kensington Books, and will be the first in a series.





Ms. DeVos has made numerous appearances in schools and libraries, as well as in bookstores; including Barnes and Noble, and Borders Books. She has been a keynote speaker, a selected author for special events for the Miami Book Fair International, and has served on various committees, including being the authors liaison for the Reading Across Broward Festival in 2006. In the autumn of 2013, she was a highlighted author at the Carolina Literary Festival, outside of Asheville.





Janie DeVos has a womens fiction series coming out in late summer of 2016. The first to be released will be Beneath a Thousand Apple Trees, available August 30th, followed byThe Art of Breathing, in February of 2017. Both will be published through Kensington Publishing. DeVos has already begun work on a new book about old Florida, entitled A CORNER IN GLORY LAND.
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Here are some latest figures I think you need to know. The data is provided by CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center), which is the administrative agency responsible for Internet affairs under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in China. It also manages the .cn country domain extension as well as internationalized domain names containing Chinese characters.

The center conducts surveys on internet and domain name usage twice a year since 1997, and publishes the result in a report called Statistical Report on Internet Development in China in January and July. The latest issue is #38 which is available in Chinese only. (The English translation is usually available few months later, and you can find them at http://cnnic.com.cn/IDR/ReportDownloads/)

Here are some important figures taken from issue #38. For comparison, Ive also included figures published one year ago.

1.

China had 710 million internet users as of June this year. Compared with the 668 million a year ago, the increase is about 6%, which is quite decent. If you look at Chinas 1,390 million population, the current penetration ratio of 52% suggests there is still a lot of room for internet growth.

2.

Among the 710 million internet users, 93% of them go online from their mobile phones, and this ratio has increased from 90% a year ago. This indicates mobile phone is extremely important and internet businesses in China must be mobile phone ready. Now, note that the same user may access the internet using multiple devices. As a result, 65% of the internet users also go online from their desktop PC.

3.

The total number of domain names in China is 37 million, which is a massive increase (66%) over the 22 million reported a year ago. I think this high growth will continue, thanks to continued increase in savvy internet users, the ongoing internet startups boom, and strong government initiatives such as Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Internet Plus.

All in all, China presents a rapidly growing domain market which will continue to offer investors a lot of opportunities.

This first appeared on Coreile.com
By Trend

Armenias armed forces have 11 times violated the ceasefire on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops over the past 24 hours, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported on August 18.

The Armenian army was using large-caliber machine guns.

The Armenian armed forces stationed in the Shavarshavan village of the Noyemberyan district and Berkaber, Vazashen villages of the Ijevan district of Armenia opened fire at the Azerbaijani positions located on nameless heights and in the Farahli and Ashagi Eskipara villages of the Gazakh district.

Positions of the Azerbaijani army also underwent fire from the Armenian positions located near the Garakhanbayli, Horadiz of the Fizuli district and near the Chilaburt village of the Terter district.

Moreover, Azerbaijani positions also underwent fire from the Armenian positions located on the nameless heights of the Goranboy 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.
By Azernews

By Gunay Hasanova

Turkeys National Defense Minister Fikri Isik announced that the withdrawal of military bases outside of Istanbul and Ankara will begin on August 22, Hurriyet reported.

He said currently the process is underway for the withdrawal of military bases outside major cities of Turkey.

The minister said that the process is expected to be completed by September15.

Isik previously said that a democracy park will be created in the place of Turkeys Akinci military base, which was a headquarters of putsches during the July 15 military coup attempt in the country.

Turkish Premier Binali Yildirim earlier vowed to close down all military barracks from where tanks rolled out and helicopters took off in Istanbul and Ankara during the failed military coup attempt, adding that Akinci base will be closed.

The July 15 coup attempt occurred when rogue elements in the Turkish military tried to overthrow the country's democratically elected government.

Turkey's government has repeatedly said the deadly plot, which martyred at least 246 people and injured more than 2,000 others, was organized by followers of U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen.

Gulen is also accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration into Turkish state and government establishments, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the "parallel state".

The General Staff of Turkish Armed Forces has said that 8,651 servicemen of the armed forces participated in the military coup attempt in the country. The rebels used 35 planes, 37 helicopters, 246 tanks and three vessels during the military coup attempt in Turkey.

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20.
Egypt is to receive a $2 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia, International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr said on Thursday.



She did not specify when the money was expected to arrive, saying in a message: "We only signed ... two months ago." - Reuters
A sustainability initiative by Grohe, a leading provider of sanitary fittings and innovative water products, has reduced water consumption in many mosques in the Mena region.



Under its Green Mosque Initiative Grohe and its local partners have equipped many main mosques in the Middle East and North Africa with efficient water fittings, thereby turning them into Green Mosques.



The initiative has reduced water consumption for the cleansing rituals by roughly 30 percent. This is good for the environment and helps cut costs, the company said.



Saving water is one of the key aspects of environmental protection and sustainability around the world. This is all the more important as not all regions of the world have a positive water balance.



Grohe offers a full range of products featuring Grohe EcoJoy technology for all areas of the bathroom and the kitchen sink, it said.



In the context of the Green Mosque project, Grohe installed water-efficient products in the ablution rooms of mosques to help them achieve a sustainable reduction in water consumption.



Muslim worshippers' ritual ablutions consume between 10 and 15 litres of water per day. Every possibility to save water therefore has a great impact on consumption. As mosques play an important role in peoples day-to-day lives, they are particularly well suited to inform as many visitors as possible of the need to use water sparingly, Grohe said.



Grohe EcoJoy products integrate water-saving technology that reduces consumption without compromising on comfort, enjoyment and effect of the water, it said.



Since 2009, Grohe has launched the Green Mosque Initiative in many countries including the UAE, Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The successful programme has won the 2014 Sabre Award and was shortlisted for the gold award in 2016.



For Grohe, its responsibility for people and their most important resource, water, is not only confined to manufacturing sustainable products but is also a holistic task, the company said.  TradeArabia News Service


Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG) chief executive Jose Antonio Lopez-Monis has been detained by police in Dubai, a report said.



Lopez-Monis, who is also the managing director of the contractor, was detained on Wednesday, The Australian newspaper said quoting to a statement to the stock exchange by CIMIC Group, which has a 45 per cent stake in HLG.



"As a result of a complaint filed with police in Dubai, the CEO and MD of HLG, Jose Antonio Lopez-Monis, was arrested after market close on Wednesday 17, August 2016," said the CIMIC statement.



The group said it was assisting Lopez-Monis and added it would "inform the market as required and as further information is available".



Lopez-Monis joined HLG as chief executive and managing director in October 2012.



Habtoor Leighton is one of the leading contractors in the Middle East.



In May, the Dubai-based Al Habtoor Group said it had no connection with HLG, a former joint venture between itself and Leighton Holding.



The family giant was understood to have held a sizeable stake in HLG, but a company spokesperson told Arabian Business at the time that the Al Habtoor Group had divested its stake in the JV several years ago.
More than 100 domestic and international firms and specialist entrepreneurs in the coffee and chocolate industry will attend the International Coffee & Chocolate Exhibition, to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, later this year.



The event will take place from December 20 to 23, at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Centre.



The organising committee of the exhibition, which is being held for the third year in a row, revealed that they have increased the size of exhibition area by 100 per cent more of what it was in the past few years, reaching 7,781 sq m display area, said a statement.



Participations will include many of the leading chocolate and coffee makers and dealers and international brands agents, besides representatives of global chocolate companies in the region who are participating in the exhibition to demonstrate the visibility of their brands and their strong presence in the Gulf and Arab market, it said.



Additionally, the participants will aim to enhance communication with their customers In addition to display all the coffee and chocolate kits as making and preparation machines and other modern technologies that fascinates coffee and chocolate lovers, it added.



The participants this year will include Brazil, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Oman and UAE, said a statement.



The exhibition aims to attract investors, suppliers and seeking new investments in this vital sector to open new horizons for entrepreneurs so that puts the kingdom on the map of commodity producing countries of coffee and chocolate instead of being consuming nation to conform to National Transformation Program 2020 and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Vision 2030, especially since it is known that the kingdom have more than 70 thousand coffee trees from the finest in the world that decorate Jazan mountains accompanied by cocoa trees which Faifa region development authority successfully planted in the first experiment of its kind in the Arab world that aims to present this product to the world to achieve economic development for the kingdom.



The exhibition will also organise many surprises to engage visitors and lovers of coffee and chocolate in the largest recreational demonstration. There will also be training courses and workshops, it added.  TradeArabia News Service


The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) will be the host organization of this years SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE), the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) has announced.



ATCE will take place in Dubai from 26-28 September under the patronage of the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.



Adnoc has a long-standing relationship with SPE, and hosting ATCE further extends Adnocs contribution to the oil and gas technical community in the Middle East and beyond.



Qasem M Al Kayoumi, manager, Technical Centre, Adnoc said: Adnoc's support of ATCE and SPE is a reflection of our long-standing commitment to this important non-profit organisation which is dedicated to collecting, disseminating, and exchanging knowledge relating to the oil and gas industry.



Sharing knowledge and best practice amongst industry experts is core to the success and progress of energy companies, particularly during this period when industry players are looking to increase operational efficiency and maximise profitability, he added.



The Welcome Keynote address at ATCE will be given by Abdul Munim Saif Al Kindy, Director, Exploration Development and Production at Adnoc, and the following representatives of Adnoc will be taking part in plenary and panel sessions throughout the conference.



Over 2,000 papers were submitted for this years event, of which 540 will be presented in 58 technical sessions, covering all phases of oil and gas exploration and production. ATCE is expecting more than 8,000 attendees, who will also have the opportunity to visit a world-class exhibition with more than 250 exhibitors showcasing state-of-the-art technologies.



Sponsoring and exhibiting at SPE events like ATCE helps to support the industry by funding training courses, university scholarships, technical journals and many other services, said Al Kayoumi.



Adnoc's support of SPE is a good investment in our professionals, who benefit tremendously from the various technical and educational programmes provided by SPE, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
An injured five-year-old Syrian boy named Omar Daqneesh is seen sitting in an ambulance after an alleged airstrike hit a house in Aleppo, Syria. According to pro-opposition activists and medical staff, at least eight people were killed, including five children, and several injured in an alleged airstrike in the rebel-controlled Aleppo neighbourhood Qaterji. The picture was provided by the pro-opposition activist group Aleppo Media Center (AMC) - EPA
There were no immediate reports of any casualties.Image: Bigstockphoto. For representation only.

A Qatar Airways aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on Thursday after one of its engines caught fire shortly after take-off, broadcaster CNN Turk reported.



The Airbus 330 had been headed for Doha. There were no immediate reports of any casualties.  Reuters




Flag carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has taken delivery of its first A330-300 Regional, making it the launch customer for this new member of the versatile and successful A330 family.



The aircraft is the first of the 20 A330-300 Regional aircraft ordered at the 2015 Paris Airshow, and joins Saudi Arabian Airlines existing Airbus fleet of 12 A330-300s and 50 A320 Family aircraft.



Specially optimised for regional and domestic operations, the A330-300 Regional will boost capacity on several of Saudi Arabian Airlines most in-demand routes, enabling the airline to generate additional efficiencies while offering its passengers an unprecedented comfort level. The A330-300 Regional also represents the lowest-cost alternative and easiest fleet addition due to its high commonality with the A330s already operated by Saudi Arabian Airlines.



Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, director general Saudi Arabian Airlines, said: We are excited to welcome the first A330-300 Regional to our fast expanding Airbus fleet. It is a step forward in recognising our commitment to a family of aircraft which has contributed immensely to our market growth. The advantage of operating the new regional version of such a popular aircraft with proven operational flexibility and lowest cost per seat means unbeatable economics for our business and our customers.



Saudi Arabian Airlines will lease the A330-300 Regional fleet from the International Air Finance Corporation (IAFC), a leading lessor in the Middle East.



Moulay Omar Alaoui, president and chief executive officer of IAFC, said: IAFC has always been a pioneer in introducing innovative Islamic financing solutions to the aviation industry, positioning itself as a strategic partner with unique products and services. We are proud to partner with Saudi Arabian Airlines and Airbus and are confident that this deal will further reinforce the leading position of Saudis national airline.



We congratulate Saudi Arabian Airlines for becoming the launch customer and operator of the A330-300 Regional. We are convinced our most popular wide-body aircraft will play an instrumental role in supporting the regional network expansion of the airline. said Fouad Attar, Managing Director of Airbus Middle East.



The A330-300 Regional is optimised for missions up to 2,700 nm (five-hour flight) covering short to medium haul routes and offers significant cost savings through a reduced operational weight of around 200 tonnes. The reduction in fuel burn per seat and maintenance costs will result in an overall cost reduction of around 20 per cent compared with todays long-range A330-300. - TradeArabia News Service
Russian troops abandoned a key Ukrainian city so rapidly that they left the bodies of their comrades in the streets. The scene offered more evidence Tuesday of Moscows latest military defeat as it struggles to hang on to four regions of Ukraine that it illegally annexed last week. Russias upper house of parliament rubber-stamped the annexations Tuesday after referendums that Ukraine and its Western allies dismissed as fraudulent. Responding to the move, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy formally ruled out talks with Russia. Meanwhile, the U.S. announced it would provide an additional $625 million in military aid to Ukraine, including more of the advanced rocket systems credited with helping Ukraine's military momentum.
A Tennessee man led Wyoming law enforcement officers on a pursuit Wednesday before being apprehended near Walcott Junction, the Wyoming Highway Patrol reported.

No one was injured as 23-year-old Troy Douglas, from Nashville, Tennessee, eluded authorities in two states for nearly three hours, according to Highway Patrol.

A Nebraska State Trooper first tried to stop Douglas on Interstate 80 for speeding. Douglas did not stop and entered Wyoming on U.S. Highway 30 at Pine Bluffs, the Highway Patrol reported.

The Nebraska trooper ended his pursuit and notified Wyoming law enforcement of Douglas alleged actions.

A Wyoming trooper later spotted Douglas on I-80 near Arlington. However, Douglas did not stop, according to Highway Patrol. Troopers used stop sticks near Elk Mountain, but Douglas began to travel on a closed section of the interstate that was under construction. Douglas drove his Chrysler over a raised portion of a bridge deck and disabled his four tires.

Douglas exited his car near Walcott Junction and pointed a handgun at a Carbon County sheriffs deputy, the Highway patrol reported. Douglas then ran away, eventually dropping the gun. He was soon apprehended.

Officials took Douglas to the Carbon County Detention Center in Rawlins. He is charged with eluding law enforcement, reckless driving, driving on a suspended drivers license and driving on a closed road, according to Highway Patrol. He could face more charges from the Carbon County Sheriffs Office.

Along with the gun, troopers recovered more than $10,000 in cash that Douglas had thrown from his car during the pursuit. Authorities are still working to determine why Douglas was running. The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation is assisting the Highway Patrol with the investigation.
Editor:

Having relatives in Casper and other parts of Wyoming, I read The Wyoming Tribune Eagle article that appeared in the Casper Star-Tribune: "Franklin Graham draws estimated 2,400 people in Cheyenne" (Aug. 12).

I attended one of the latter "crusades" his father Rev. Billy Graham ever did, and that was at Oklahoma City around the year 2002. Granted, over a dozen years have passed, but I still like Billy's demeanor better than Franklin's. For one thing Franklin Graham doesn't have as eloquent a vocabulary as his father. In the report in the Star-Tribune, Franklin reportedly said "There's no difference between secularism and communism -- they're both godless." Wrong, Franklin. The true words to be clarified are "secular" which means "worldly" versus "sectarianism" which means "partial, bigoted or prejudiced against a Faith or factions." The United States of America was built from the efforts of people, most from a Judeo-Christian orientation, yet of several denominations. Our nation's Founding Fathers in the First Amendment to the Constitution stating "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...".

The trouble comes in when people corrupt Thomas Jefferson's letter to The Danbury Baptist Association in which he correctly alluded to a "wall of separation between Church and State." Jefferson never said the two entities couldn't exist. He simply wisely suggested that they not become intertwined in overall public-policy as had happened in Europe when sometimes a Catholic bishop or pope was both a temporal head (meaning governmental head of state or monarch) as well as a spiritual head (of his religious flock with the hopes of either converting people to his fold or giving preferential treatment to existing congregants).

I was born, baptized, and raised Roman Catholic (due to my mom's family heritage), yet I have attended various Protestant services (due to my dad's family heritage). I have no problems. Yet, I don't worship at the courthouse or post office nor any federal property. I worship in a church or in my home or in my heart. And harmony prevails.
Jerry Sevelle will be speaking at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, at Word Christian Fellowship Church, at 12th and Melrose. The public is invited. Sevelle is also president of the Christian motorcycle club Chariots of Light. He will bet raveling with a group of Harley Davidson riders this Sunday. For information, call 234-9673.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine was expected to visit Jackson on Thursday evening for an exclusive fundraiser about which the Hillary Clinton campaign shared few details.

The Star-Tribune learned about the event from the Republican National Committee, which sent a statement critical of Kaine, the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Clinton, who is leading Republican Donald Trump in national polls.

Miryam Lipper, a spokeswoman for the Clinton campaign, said she didnt have details on the fundraiser because it was a private event.

The event will raise money for the Hillary Victory Fund, said Ana Cuprill, chairwoman of the Wyoming Democratic Party, who deferred to the Clinton campaign on all other questions about the fundraiser.

The Hillary Victory Fund is amassing contributions from 33 state parties, the National Democratic Committee and Clinton. Wyoming is one of the states that participates.

The Wyoming State Democratic Central Committee has received $64,100 this year from the fund, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The Wyoming Democratic Party previously released a statement indicating that at no point have funds from the Hillary Victory Fund entered the working budget of the Wyoming Democratic Party.

The Hillary Victory Fund controls the money, using it on the fund, the Democratic National Committee or to help down-ballot candidates in targeted races, party leaders said. It is unknown whether any Wyoming candidates will receive money from the fund.

An investigation published in May by Politico found the fund is a vehicle by which state parties were to be monetarily bolstered by mega-rich Clinton supporters, thanks to campaign finance rules allowing contributions of $350,000 or more. But Politico found that much of the money intended for the states was transferred to the Democratic National Committee and Clintons campaign.

Kaine is a U.S. senator and former governor from Virginia. Hes a devout Catholic who speaks Spanish, having learned it while doing missionary work in Honduras. For the past 30 years, he has attended a majority black Catholic parish in Richmond. Hes considered a conservative Democrat.

RNC spokeswoman Natalie Strom warned Jackson donors about Kaine in a statement Thursday morning.

Since he joined the ticket Tim Kaine has done his best impression of Hillary Clinton, flip-flopping his positions on everything from taxpayer-funded abortions to right to work to make himself more palatable to an ultraliberal base, she said. The donors hes courting this afternoon might want to check which way the political wind is blowing before they open up their wallets.
During Liz Cheneys abbreviated U.S. Senate bid three years ago, the daughter of the former vice president struggled to gain support among the states GOP leadership and many rank-and-file Republicans.

But this year, Cheney sailed to victory in the partys primary for U.S. House. The author and television personality succeeded this time around because Cheney was competing for an open seat, she was well-financed and there was a wide field of contenders, observers said.

In her last race, retired U.S. Sen. Al Simpson supported her opponent, U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming, which resulted in a bitter feud between the two political families. This time, he supported Cheney.

She wasnt running against an incumbent, a very popular incumbent, Simpson said about her easy win Tuesday.

Cheney won by 39 percent in a crowded field of nine Republican candidates. Because there were so many people in the race, she didnt need to win by any kind of supermajority.

This time she had eight opponents, Simpson said. She took them head-on. They threw some heavy artillery against her and she handled it. Which is why shell be good.

Cheney raised $1.5 million, nearly seven times more than the second-highest fundraiser in the race. She had the resources to pay more staff and run more television ads.

Cheney had the best name recognition in the race, said Gale Geringer of Cheyenne, who has been involved in GOP politics since 1990 and who ran Gov. Matt Meads 2014 re-election campaign.

Money comes with name ID, she said. She had that. The rest of the money was split so many different ways. So you have Liz Cheney tapping one pool and eight other people tapping the rest.

Cheney garnered 35,668 votes Tuesday. Two state lawmakers, Leland Christensen and Tim Stubson, together gathered 35,198.

The two men, who were more moderate Republicans and billed themselves as pragmatic, may have canceled each other out, Geringer said.

I think they were competing for the same pool of voters, she said. While both of them had the perfect resume to be elected to Congress, when they are picking from the same trees, theres just not enough to go around.

In 2014, Cheney abruptly ended her campaign against U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi due to a family health issue. But she gained insights that helped in her campaign two years later, Geringer said, such as having key Wyoming Republicans working and volunteering in visible positions on the campaign, which was largely absent in the first election.

I think shes very smart and I think she was able to look around and say, What would I want to be different? Geringer said. One of the things she wanted to be different was having a good Wyoming team with her. She worked hard and did a good job with it.

Retired U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin, who held the seat from 1995 to 2009, supported Stubson in the race, but she was happy to congratulate Cheney on her victory. Cubin said she observed Cheney running a better campaign this year.

From the Senate race, she already established grassroots committees in a lot of the counties so she didnt have to redo it this time, she said. The other guys had to start from ground zero. I dont want what Ive said to take away from her victory. She won fair and square.
CHEYENNE  The primary election may be over, but theres still plenty to be done before all the races are formally certified later this week.

Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee and her elections division staff were busy Wednesday as the results of two local races triggered mandatory recounts.

A recount is required in Wyoming any time the vote total difference between the top two candidates is less than 1 percent. That happened in two legislative primary races, each on the Republican side.

Four votes currently separate Anthony Bouchard and David Zwonitzer in the race for the GOP nominee in Wyoming Senate District 6. Unofficial results show Bouchard with 1,137 votes, while Zwonitzer has 1,133. Another 978 votes went to Lindi Kirkbride.

The margin in state House District 41 is even narrower. There, Bill Henderson currently holds a one-vote lead over Patrick Fitzgerald, with 583 votes to Fitzgeralds 582.

Both races were wide open primaries, with SD 6 incumbent Wayne Johnson and HD 41 incumbent Harland Edmonds each announcing they would not seek re-election this year.

Lee said her elections staff plans to begin recounting both races today by first rerunning the results stored on voter cards that were loaded into each of the countys electronic voting machines. Staff members will then manually recount absentee ballots for each race.

The tricky part will be the absentees because they are paper ballots, so they have to run through the optical scan machine, Lee said. Weve got a lot of logistical things to work out. Ive notified the candidates and asked them to come out and observe, but Im told it can take hours.

Lee noted that while the countys vote center model has made it easier for residents to vote wherever they please, rather than in a designated precinct, that same model also complicates the recount process. In past years, uncertain legislative races only required staff to recount the ballots cast in the geographic precincts that corresponded with the legislative district.

But now, since anyone can vote anywhere, Lee said staff will have to go through the voter cards from all 13 vote centers used in Tuesdays primary.

Logistically, that complicates it a little bit, she said.

Another wrinkle in the SD 6 race is that a small sliver of the district is in Goshen County, where 106 total votes were cast out of more than 3,200 total. So the Goshen County Clerks Office also has to conduct its own recount, which was already underway Wednesday afternoon.

Ive finalized the touch-screen votes, and now were recounting on the paper ballots, Goshen County Clerk Cindy Kenyon said Wednesday. Its only 106 votes, so it shouldnt take us too long.

Both the Goshen and Laramie County Clerks offices will present the final vote tallies to a canvassing board in each county Friday, where the tallies will be formally certified, effectively confirming the winners in each race.

Write-ins

In addition to recounts, the Laramie County Clerks Office is also spending the remainder of the week going through the write-in ballots cast. Though write-ins will be inconsequential to most races, they could have an impact on who voters may choose for the Laramie County Commission.

Incumbents Amber Ash and Buck Holmes easily won the Republican primary for the two open seats on the commission, but no Democrat had formally declared for the race. However, Lee said that if any Democratic candidate managed to get at least 25 write-in votes, they may still opt to appear on the general election ballot as the formal party nominee.

If theres 25 or more (write-in votes for one person), we would send that candidate a notice, and they would have to reply in five days to accept the nomination, which means they would also have to fill out an application and pay the filing fee, Lee said.

Registered Democrats cast 523 write-in ballots in the County Commission primary, and since the race is for two seats, Lee said its possible that up to two people could make it to the general election and run against Ash and Holmes.

Lee Filer, chairman of the Laramie County Democratic Party, said he expects at least one candidate to emerge from that process  Ryan Lindsey, who he said works for the Laramie County Sheriffs Department as a nurse in the county jail.

I pushed for Ryan Lindsey pretty hard, said Filer, who is himself running to regain his old seat in House District 12. The main reason was if M. Lee Hasenauer had gotten (on the general election ballot); we needed somebody whos more understanding of how government works instead of him.

A former county commissioner and tea party activist, Hasenauer placed last in the commissions GOP primary Tuesday, which Filer said came as a relief. All the same, Filer said that if Lindsey does meet the 25-vote threshold for inclusion on the general election ballot, he still intends to push for local Democrats to support Lindseys candidacy.

We did push for him at our county party meetings and through social media, Filer said. I think he would make a great county commissioner. So if he accepts it (and secures the 25 votes needed), were going to push it all the way; that way we can have more balance on the County Commission.

Lindsey has filed to run for one of four open seats on the Laramie County Community College Board of Trustees, but it is unclear whether he would drop out of that race to run for County Commission.

The five-member County Commission is currently comprised of four Republicans and one Democrat, Ron Kailey Jr., who placed third out of four candidates in the 2014 election, edging out then-incumbent Hasenauer by 2.9 percent.
Northwest College in Powell is being investigated by federal officials over allegations the school discriminates on the basis of sex by not appropriately responding to complaints of sexual violence.

Its unclear when the Office of Civil Rights, part of the Department of Education, launched the investigation or what sparked it.

The college has informed the OCR that it will thoroughly respond to the information request and will cooperate fully in the investigation, school president Stefani Hicswa said in a press release. College staff are collecting information requested by the OCR.

Investigation of a complaint by the Office of Civil Rights in no way implies that the OCR has made a determination with regard to its merits, Hicswa said. During the investigation the OCR is a neutral fact finder, collecting and analyzing relevant evidence from the complainant, the recipient and other sources as appropriate.

A voicemail left for Hicswa was not immediately returned.

Northwest has a section in its student handbook for sexual assault and rape. An introductory section reads:

Northwest College cannot guarantee a risk-free environment, but we hope the incidence of rape and sexual assault can be reduced through these efforts. Most sexual offenses on campus are committed by individuals known to the victim through an acquaintance or dating relationship, so a truly safe campus can be achieved only through shared knowledge, attitudinal and behavioral changes, and the cooperative effort of all students, faculty, and staff.

Northwest College recognizes that sexual assault and rape are under-reported crimes among college students nationally as well as locally. Northwest College will not tolerate sexual assault or rape and recognizes both an obligation to, and a benefit in, preventing sexual violence and providing support services to all students affected by such abuse. Sexual violence has no place in a community dedicated to fostering academic, community, and personal growth.

Another section specific describes criminal and disciplinary proceedings:

A student charged with sexual assault on campus or at college-sponsored events can either be prosecuted under Wyoming statutes and/or disciplined under the College Student Conduct Code in the Student Handbook. The Student Conduct Code disciplinary action may be applied to off-campus sexual assault under circumstances indicating a continuing direct and serious threat to safety of individuals on campus. Even if the criminal justice authorities choose not to prosecute, the college can pursue disciplinary action. Possible sanctions include suspension, expulsion, counseling, educational sessions, and other sanctions described in the Student Conduct Code. The victim and the accused have the rights guaranteed by the Student Conduct Code which include the right to confidentiality and the right to due process.

The handbook also says:

Sexual assaults must be officially reported to the Powell Police by the victim if the victim wishes to press criminal charges. A victim wishing to pursue college disciplinary sanctions must file a student conduct complaint with the Vice President for Student Affairs (or Designee) or the Residence and Campus Life Director if the incident occurred on campus or involved students living on campus.
Editor:

Im writing to complain and to speak for those disabled and old.

We used to go to Fry Lake, drive down near waters edge, set up chairs and fish. But now they (?) have put up gates to keep people out! Ive noticed many gates near rivers and lakes in Fremont County  for what reason?

Id like to ask what makes the government entities think that public land belongs to them exclusively. Have there been fires? Poison water? Broken rocks or sagebrush smashed? Ive fished Fry Lake for 36 years and see absolutely no differences. Maintenance is a sick reason to gate the whole area!

Keeping and preserving the mountains, rivers and forest for future generations is noble, but what about this generation? I do not see the man-caused destruction or trashing. Im sure those mountains will still be there for thousands of years or til Jesus comes!

Its a sad state of affairs when senior citizens and crippled people cannot get near the Wyoming waters. Im ashamed to take visitors up there just to tell them Its nice, but humans cant access it. Just look but dont touch. The gates look so nice. Sure!

Colorado, California, but I never thought Wyoming would stoop to such ridiculous measures.

The public (which is supposed to control) should rise up and vote against Russian, China and Iranian policies and keep big Daddy from such control. No doubt there is a lot more to come?!

Government control of all of us and everything is not what America is about. Ask your politicians about their feelings in these matters. Open the gates! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down these walls!

Mankind will never be in control of this world no matter how technical or scientific and sophisticated we become. Pride and arrogance keep government and educators trying for that kind of total control.

Complain, speak up, talk about it, and remember you may be old and crippled someday, too!

Thanks to free speech.
PHOENIX  The state utility regulator appointed earlier this year by Gov. Doug Ducey wants to strip his new agency of some of its powers and give them over to others directly under the control of the governor.

Andy Tobin said Tuesday it makes no sense for the Arizona Corporation Commission with its limited staff to be responsible for 6,000 miles of track and 2,500 crossings on top of checking mechanical equipment and monitoring hazardous cargo.

He said it likely would make more sense to have that housed at the Department of Transportation, where the people who inspect roads and bridges and the trucks that use them could be cross trained.

Tobin said the sale of securities  those not already regulated by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission  could better be handled at the Department of Financial Institutions, which regulates banks and the mortgage industry, or maybe even at the Department of Insurance, which already licenses people to sell certain kinds of policies to Arizonans.

And the monitoring of pipeline safety, Tobin said, should be transferred to the Department of Agriculture. Thats the agency that swallowed up some of the duties of the now-defunct Department of Weights and Measures, the agency that Ducey put Tobin in charge of shutting down last year in the name of government efficiency.

Tobin wants all of these ideas studied by an outside consultant.

The proposals came less than a week after Tobin voted with other commissioners to quash a bid by Bob Burns to have an outside inquiry solely on the question of whether the commissions activities and decisions were being improperly influenced by the money that others, including regulated utilities, were spending on commission races.

Tobin said he would prefer to have the commission spend its money looking at more useful issues, like whether some chores should be moved elsewhere.

But Tobin, acknowledging the questions that have been raised about the 2014 commission election, said it might also be appropriate for that same consultant to look at how outsiders were spending money to influence commission races and decisions.

There have been allegations that Arizona Public Service, the states largest electric utility, secretly funneled money into a separate committee that spent $3.2 million to elect Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little in that 2014 race.

APS, for its part, wont deny the spending. Burns contends ratepayers are entitled to know if a regulated utility affected the outcome of the race.

Tobin said he is willing to have the commission consider whether there should be guidelines for the participation of utilities and others in elections. He said a consultant could explore what utility regulators in other states do.

But he conceded that no matter what a consultant finds, the current majority on the commission is unlikely to force any utility or its parent company to disclose its spending on races.

The Arizona Constitution sets up the five-member elected commission as a separate branch of government, with its own unique powers that are generally not subject to review or curtailing by the governor or Legislature.

Tobin said hes not looking to give up what has been the commissions core  and most publicly known  function of setting rates for investor-owned utilities and deciding where high-voltage power lines can be placed across the state.

But he said much of the rest of its chores are more ministerial. And he said theres no reason they cant be handled by other existing state agencies.

Take, for example, the fact that corporations must file paperwork with the commission before they can do business in the state.

All we do here is record, he said, with companies filing their initial articles of incorporation and annual reports. We dont say its right.

Tobin said that probably could be done just as well by the Secretary of States Office which already records partnerships. And it does one other thing: registers names for businesses.
Tucson Electric Power Co. has reached a settlement with state regulators and other parties on how much additional revenue it will get as part of its pending rate case.

But the pact sidesteps contentious issues of rate reform, including treatment of customers with rooftop solar.

TEP filed for a rate increase in November, seeking a $109.5 million or 12 percent increase in non-fuel revenues, along with changes in rate design including doubling the basic monthly service charge to $20 and imposing charges and cutting energy credits for new solar customers.

The proposed settlement with the Corporation Commissions utility staff, the Residential Utility Consumer Office and other intervenors would allow TEP to increase its base rate revenue by $81.5 million, but of that only about $66 million would be additional revenue, compared to the test year that ended June 30, 2015.

About $15 million of the proposed overall revenue increase already is being collected under a separate surcharge. Under the settlement, that would instead be included in the utility's base rates, contingent on TEP completing its planned purchase of a 50.5 percent interest in Unit 1 of the Springerville Generating Station.

The proposal also would set TEPs allowed return on equity at 9.75 percent and adjust depreciation and amortization rates for the Springerville acquisition and other plans.

The proposed settlement does not address specific billing charges or issues of rate design.

An administrative law judge will examine the settlement along with other evidence during upcoming hearings before making a recommendation to the full Corporation Commission this fall. TEP has asked that new rates be put into effect Jan. 1.
If you go What: 29th annual Stars of Magic show. Featuring: John Shryock & Mari Lynn, George Franzen, Hiro, Norm Marini, Shane Cohen, Mike Bekedam, John Redmon, Gabe Lim, Ross Horwitz, Art Trillo, Roxy Sellers, Bobby Maverick and Nate Anderson. When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20. Where: Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Tickets: $15 adults, $12 children 12 and under at the door or in advance at starsofmagicshow.com

Stars of Magic is about more than sleight of hand.

Its a night of grand illusions, drama, dance and comedy that brings about awe from the audience thats sure to fill the Temple of Music and Art on Saturday, Aug. 20.

Tucsons own John Shryock is set to return to the 29th anniversary of Stars of Magic, an annual premier magic event that features local and state magicians. Shryock, who has performed in all but five shows, skipped last years presentation because he was booked in Macau, China.

John Shryock and Mari Lynn, along with 12 other magicians who belong to the Society of American Magicians Tucson chapter, will pull the tricks out from their sleeves to woo the audience in a two-hour show.

Internationally known for his grand illusions and high-energy performances, Shryock speaks highly of Tucsons chapter and event. It was a video of his performance at the first Stars of Magic event back in 1988 that landed him his first gig at the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

This was huge in launching my career, said Shryock, who has performed in more than 100 cities across three continents and refers to magic as his life.

Ive literally been able to travel the entire world and see so many things that would normally be out of reach, he said.

Gabe Lim, 22, a University of Arizona graduate who now studies law at Arizona State University, will perform in Stars of Magic for the third time. John (Shryock) is awesome and its a huge honor to say that Im working with him for Stars, said Lim. Its still unreal to think that Im in the same show as a world-class professional.

Lim said he still gets nervous before going onstage.

In many cases, you cant see the audience, but you know that there are hundreds of pairs of eyes watching you, he said. Still, the payoff from hearing gasps or oohs and ahhs are incredibly satisfying.

Shryock, on the other hand, doesnt have any real stage fright unless its a new gig that he hasnt performed before.

I just finished a two-month run at a casino in Macau. I was nervous before the first show because it was a new venue, said Shryock, but I did 168 shows in two months so by the end it was like getting out of bed.

There is no doubt in my mind that I will do magic for the rest of my life.
Were fairly certain this is a first for Tucsons totally country nightclub the Maverick: On Wednesday, Aug. 24, Arizona heavy metal/big hair cover band Metal Head is taking the stage normally reserved for guys in tight Wranglers, close-cropped dos and Stetsons.

Its not quite a stretch, mind you. Rock and country have been friendly bedfellows for decades, and youd be hard-pressed to go to a country concert today and not hear the likes of 1980s rockers Journey, Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith in the pre-concert playlist. (Actually these days youre even likely to hear contemporary rap in the pre-concert rotation.)

According to the Mavericks GM Karen Markovich, the clubs clientele has been requesting a show for some time from Metal Head, arguably one of Arizonas most beloved and well-traveled tribute acts. The group pulls from a generation of music that most of the Mavericks key audience grew up on, the 80s, she said in a written statement.

Metal Head goes back to 2003, when a group of guys who just loved the big hair and big rock anthems from that decade decided to channel their inner Vince Neil. The group has made regular Tucson appearances, including at Casino del Sol and the old Cactus Moon country night club.

Perhaps if this show goes well, the Maverick will host other rock acts  although some country purists might argue that todays country music plays more like rock than twang.
Adopt A Friend: Happy

Happy, Beagle mix

Age:1 year, 9 months

Story: Her name is Happy and it fits her disposition perfectly! Happy is a lovable and affectionate Beagle mix who came to PACC as a stray. She is known for her sweet kisses, her smile and her jumping abilities, so it would be best if her new family had a 6-foot fence. Happy is friendly and playful and would be the perfect fit for an active family.

Fees: Because she has been waiting at PACC for more than 2 weeks, Happy has no adoption fee, and she will go to her new family with all her shots, her microchip, and a free vet visit, too! (Adult dogs like Happy do have a standard, $17 license fee.)
19th Amendment ratified

To call attention to the struggle for votes for women, these suffragettes are taking off from Midland Beach, in Staten Island, New York, on December 2, 1916, to distribute literature to the people of the island. The women in the plane are identified as Mrs. John Blair, chairman of the publicity committee of Woman's Suffrage in New York, and Mrs. Richberg Hornsby of Chicago. (AP Photo)
WHARTON PREFERS CHARGES AGAINST POLICE CHIEF CULLEN

Threatened to Kill Me, Says Editor of Weekly Newspaper, But Chief Says Charge Is FalseDesk Sergeant Suspended 30 Days Without Pay

Charges filed against Chief of Police James Cullen to the effect that he had threatened to kill F. J. Wharton, editor of the Tucson Signal, a weekly publication last Sunday at the Orndorff hotel, were made public at a meeting of the police committee held yesterday afternoon at 3 oclock in room 2 of the Postoffice building.

The committee, after hearing a statement from Desk Sergeant James Sullivan in reference to the release of Nick Brown, a United States revenue officer, charged with taking liquor into the restricted district, recommended that he be laid off the force for 30 days without pay. Acting Mayor Bernard, Councilmen Hohusen and Grosetta and City Attorney Dunseath were present.

The charges against Chief Cullen were not acted upon by will be taken up later by the city council. Copies of the charges were ordered to be made by the city clerk and transmitted to Chief Cullen. This is the procedure specified by the city charter whenever formal charges are made against an elective officer. It takes a vote of three fourths or five councilmen to remove an elective officer after a hearing on charges filed.

When informed of the charges yesterday afternoon, Chief Cullen declared that they were false and denied that he had ever threatened to kill Wharton.

It was brought out at the meeting of the police committee that Wharton had taken the matter up with County Attorney Hilzinger and that the latter had summoned Chief Cullen and informed him of the charges and that he had denied ever making threats to kill Wharton.

Chief Cullen has stated that his purpose in having an interview with Wharton was to correct statements appearing in the Tucson Signal which he considered unjust to himself and misleading. He has declared that he never had the slightest intention of offering any threats of personal violence to Wharton.

WHARTONS CHARGES.

The charges filed against Chief Cullen which were read at the meeting are as follows:

Tucson, Ariz., Aug. 16, 1916.

To the Mayor and Common Council of the City of Tucson.

Gentlemen: I desire to make the following report and complaint against James Cullen, chief of police of the City of Tucson, Ariz., under the provisions of the charter of the city pertaining to complaints against elected officers, and for the purpose of receiving your attention.

On Sunday afternoon of this week at the hour of 1:00 oclock, James Cullen came to my place of business at the Orndorff hotel and called me to the outside of the door, and on the sidewalk in front of the hotel office. He at that time in an angry and threatening manner made a statement to me which I am repeating as nearly as possible as follows:

 Wharton, I want to tell you that I am going to be a candidate for the office of city marshall at the coming election, and if I am defeated I intend to kill you. I am too old a man to go to work, and I have no money saved to take care of myself and I do not intend to let you take the bread and butter out of my mouth.

While making this statement, Mr. Cullen had his left hand in his hip pocket where I suppose he had his gun. I attempted to pacify him and stated generally that I was not taking any bread and butter out of his mouth, but that I believed it was my duty to call the publics attention to his inefficiency as a public officer, and his failure to perform his duties as he should perform them. He then stated that he was handicapped by being interfered with in his business by City Recorder Cowan and City Attorney Dunseath. I then stated to him that if I were chief of police I would not permit any person to interfere with my duties, and that if any man was interfering with him it was up to him to make charges against them and have the interference stopped. There was considerable conversation between us at that time, and I was in fear that he would make good his threat to cause me to suffer personal injury, and he might be foolish enough to draw his gun and start shooting at me. Mr. Cullen and myself were the only two persons present at the conversation just recited, but a few moments later my wife came out of the hotel office to get into my machine and we got away from Mr. Cullen without any further trouble or discussion.

I made these charges with the full knowledge of what it will mean of the charges are not correct and properly stated and request that you make such an investigation as you may deem advisable under the circumstances. As I informed Mr. Cullen, I believe that public officers are subject to criticism for their public actions and a man should not threaten the life and injury of a person who might criticize his official actions.

I await further action in this matter.

Respectfully yours,

F. J. WHARTON.

The matter of the release of Nick Brown, United States revenue officer, who was arrested buy Officer T. S. Sullivan at night and charged on the blotter with carrying liquor into the restricted district, was taken up first at the committee meeting.

Desk Sergeant James Sullivan was called to make a statement of the matter and also of a letter which he had written to the Tucson Signal accepting all responsibility for the release.

SULLIVANS STATEMENT

According to the statement of Sergeant Sullivan, he first saw Brown the morning after the latters arrest when he pounded on the door of the cage and asked to be let out near the stove to get warm (it was in November). Sullivan stated that he let Brown come to the fire to warm himself and listened to his story.

Brown stated that he was a government officer and wanted to get evidence against a negro prostitute in the restricted district whom he suspected of selling opium to inmates of the district. He stated that in order to do this he had played drunk and gone to her place and sitting on a trunk had suddenly toppled over on the floor to search a dresser for opium.

He declared that the whiskey found on his person was obtained by him in New Mexico for the purpose of making a test to ascertain as to whether a saloon keeper was not mixing water with his whiskey.

Sullivan declared to the committee that there was no city or state law against carrying liquor into the restricted district and he stated that he believed that Brown had been unjustly arrested. He declared that he had full authority to make the release.

City and state statutes were quoted by Acting Mayor Bernard to show that Brown had committed an offense and he then quoted a city ordinance to Sullivan in which it was stated that neither the chief of police or any police officer had any right to release a person arrested without orders form the city recorder.

Sergeant Sullivan then stated that he was acting under orders contained in Police Rules which gave the desk officer authority to release or hold a prisoner arrested.

Acting Mayor Bernard then read the rule appealed to, which stated that the booking officer must consult with the arresting officer before releasing the person arrested. When asked if he had done this, Sullivan admitted that he had not. Acting Mayor then stated that the police rules could not conflict with the city ordinances anyhow.

Further questioning by those present developed the fact that, notwithstanding his letter to the Signal accepting responsibility for the release, Sullivan had not actually released Brown. He stated that on going to breakfast he had left him sitting by the stove and when he had returned Brown was gone.

Acting Mayor Bernard in dismissing Sullivan stated that he must understand that there was no intention of questioning his honesty but that his position that the desk officer had the right to release or hold persons, was in question.

After discussion it was decided to recommend that Sullivan be laid off thirty days without pay.

Sullivan protested against City Attorney Dunseath asking him questions but was overruled by the mayor.

In the questions at the hearing, other facts relative to the matter were brought out. It was claimed that the whiskey in question had been purchased on Meyer street and not in New Mexico and that it was not in Browns pocket when he was arrested but was sitting on the dresser in the room of the negro prostitute opened and that Brown had been drinking in the room. It was also claimed that he was badly intoxicated and that Officer T. S. Sullivan had left a notation on the blotter to the effect that he wished to see the city recorder before Browns case was taken up. It was declared that Officer T. S. Sullivan could have made charges of drunkenness or indecent exposure against Brown. Another point brought out was that County Attorney Hilzinger had phoned Night Desk Sergeant Eseau Mills asking that Brown be held so that it could be ascertained where he purchased the liquor.
PHOENIX  Pressured by Gov. Doug Ducey, the president of the state Board of Education quit Wednesday.

Greg Miller said aides to the governor told him they wanted him out as the top board official. Miller said Ducey, who is due to make new board appointments as early as this week, believed the change would help smooth over what has been at best a rocky relationship between the board and state schools chief Diane Douglas.

Miller, however, said he saw no reason to stay on at all as a rank-and-file member. So he said he agreed to quit if he could control the wording of the press release, the timing of the announcement and got some assurances that the charter school he runs would get political protections that I no longer could provide.

We recently asked him if he was willing to step down as president (of the board) in order to provide fresh leadership, gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato confirmed. Millers tenure as president  as well as his term on the board  otherwise would have run through Jan. 15.

Scarpinato said his boss concluded the states education priorities were not going to get resolved with Miller at the helm of the board and the ongoing friction with Douglas.

Something thats critical to that happening is for the board and the department to have a productive relationship in order to achieve the goals that the board has and the superintendent and the governor share, he said.

Miller, for his part, noted that Douglas, by virtue of being elected, is here to stay, at least through the end of her term that runs through 2018. And he agreed with the governor that something had to give.

Shes going to be there another two-plus years, he said.

So Im the expendable piece, Miller said. She is not.

Scarpinato said while Ducey wanted Miller out as board president, his decision to leave the board entirely was one he made on his own, and one we respect.

The governor has three of his own appointees on the board, though one has to be the president of one of the three state universities, pretty much limiting his choices. He already had three slots to fill; Millers resignation gives him a fourth.

Douglas, in he own statement Wednesday about Millers resignation, makes no mention of him at all, nor of the more than year-long feud with the board under his direction.

The superintendents focus has been on helping Arizona students since she took office, said press aide Charles Tack. That focus has never shifted.

Douglas, who sits on the board, took a dig of sorts at Miller and the other members with whom she has been at odds since taking office: She reminded people she is the only elected member of the state Board of Education while the others are simply gubernatorial appointees.

Millers resignation could be the beginning of the end of what has been an ongoing feud between the school superintendent and the Education Board over control over the education agenda in Arizona.

Douglas, elected in 2014, claims she has a mandate from the public to pursue her agenda. That includes ridding the state of the Common Core academic standards.

By contrast the board has not only approved the standards but continued to implement them.

The differences erupted into a pair of lawsuits over control who controls the boards staff.

That issue was supposed to be resolved with a change in state law approved earlier this year and signed by Ducey.

But Miller said there have been ongoing issues, with Douglas continuing to refuse to provide the board with the staff necessary to do its own work.

Such as?

Just about everything, he said. Every time we try and get something moving, the resources arent available.

Some of the dispute is based in the strong personalities of both Douglas and Miller. But much of it traces its roots to state education laws.

The board is charged with setting the education policy of the state, at least within the confines outlined by the legislature. The governor appoints 10 of the members; the school superintendent is automatically on the board.

By contrast, the superintendent of public instruction runs the day-to-day operations of the Department of Education. And, by law, that person is supposed to execute, under the direction of the state board of education, the policies that have been decided on by the state board.

Douglas, however, has claimed that her 2014 election amounts to a mandate by voters to pursue her own policies. That includes the promise to repeal the Common Core standards.

The fight started a month after she took office when she attempted to fire the boards executive director and assistant, calling them two liberal staff who have publicly stated they will block all efforts to repeal or change Common Core. That move fizzled when Ducey told state personnel officials to keep the pair on the payroll.

Ongoing spats eventually led to the board moving its staffers outside of the Department of Education Building.

Douglas responded by filing suit, contending state law gave her control of board employees. And she argued that the board can hire an executive director only on her recommendation.

A trial judge sidestepped the question, calling it a political dispute.

Separately, the board sued Douglas after she refused to give its investigators remote computer access to teacher files. Douglas argued if the investigators want the files  necessary to doing their job of background checks and looking into allegations of teacher misconduct  they would have to come to her building where she said they belong in the first place.

The lawsuits were withdrawn earlier this year after Sen. Jeff Dial, R-Chandler, brokered a deal to revamp state law.

It now spells out that the Education Board and not the state schools chief has sole authority to hire, fire and control its own employees. In return, the board gave up control of the investigators.
PHOENIX  Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday tapped a Tucson-area school superintendent and a Paradise Valley teacher to serve on the state Board of Education.

Calvin Baker, who heads the Vail Unified School District, will fill the slot reserved for the superintendent of a high school district. He replaces Roger Jacks of the Kingman Unified School District who was put on the board in 2012 by Ducey predecessor Jan Brewer.

Janice Mak, a STEM teacher in the Paradise Valley Unified School District was named to the position that, by law, has to be filled by a public school teacher. She succeeds Amy Hamilton who had finished two terms on the board.

Both appointments are subject to Senate confirmation.

The move comes just a day after Greg Miller resigned not only as president of the board but entirely from the 11-member panel following more than a year of public disputes with state schools chief Diane Douglas. That creates another vacancy which Ducey will have to fill with someone who is the administrator of a charter school.

Dawn Wallace, the governor's education adviser, said the two actions are unrelated.

But Wallace told Capitol Media Services that the new appointees are part of Ducey's desire for "fresh leadership.'' And she said there are important new standards being developed in the next six months.

"You need to have collaboration with the department (of education), you need to have people talking and being thoughtful and getting public comment,'' Wallace explained. She said when there is tension between the board and the department, "none of that work happens.''

Wallace said Baker was chosen because of the record he created in Vail.

"His district is an A-rated district,'' she said.

And Wallace said Baker has distinguished himself in creating the "Beyond Textbooks'' program which creates curriculum, lesson plans and standards of what teachers should teach and students should learn. That not only help raised performance in Vail but has now gone online to where it is shared with more than 13,000 teachers throughout the region and 140,000 students.

Wallace said he has excellent relationships not just with the traditional education community but also with others outside the system because "he runs a bunch of charter schools.'' She also noted that Baker is part of a task force seeking to reform the system of funding schools.

Mak specializes in teaching science, technology, engineering and math, Wallace said, and was a finalist for "teacher of the year.'' She also chairs a subcommittee working with the Department of Education to create new math standards.

Wallace said Mak's STEM background was a key reason the governor chose her.

"This is a nice segue in where we want the board to go,'' she said.

"We really want to start to emphasize these programs that are linked to student success but also to economic development,'' Wallace said. She said the governor knows more children need to have STEM skills "because we know those are the jobs that are waiting for them.''

Douglas, who was informed by the governor of the new appointments, appeared pleased.

"I look forward to working with both of them as we consider several important policy decisions in the coming months and years,'' she said in a prepared statement.
*Enterprise Centers include the Asthma and Airway Disease Center; the Arizona Area Health Education Centers; the Arizona Cancer Center; the Center for Applied Genetics & Genomic Medicine; the Center for Biomedical Informatics & Biostatistics; the Center for Population Science & Discovery; the Hispanic Center of Excellence/Office for Diversity and Inclusion; and UA Health Sciences Centralized Support Units

Full Text of Dr. Skip Garcia's Aug. 17 statement

I am deeply troubled by the continued focus on third-party allegations that divert focus from our mission and threaten the morale of so many dedicated people. Having these issues play out through the media is inappropriate and ineffective.

I stand firm in defense of the UA Health Sciences accomplishments and I am proud of the overwhelmingly positive outpouring of support from UA faculty, students, and staff and our many community partners. We took seriously President Hart and ABORs expectation that we be attuned and responsive to various concerns and perspectives. In doing so, our recent Health Affairs Committee presentations thoroughly addressed ABORs questions.

The Regents were highly complementary in their response to our presentations, stating that our achievements over the last three years provide the best example yet of the success of the Never Settle strategic plan. In reflecting on specific action steps in response to the information presented, the Regents encouraged us to work together to improve the communication and flow of information.

We value this feedback greatly. We will be working actively over the next several weeks to provide additional communication forums for shared dialog with a wide range of stakeholders, both internal and external.

I encourage any concerned party or interested stakeholder to review the publically available materials covered in our Health Affairs Committee presentations. This information can be found on the ABOR website at: https://www.azregents.edu/board-committees/health-affairs. I believe that the presentations speak clearly and loudly to our successes and clear path forward.

At President Harts urging and with her support, I am pleased to provide this statement and remain deeply committed to advancing the mission of the UA Health Sciences in a collaborative and rich working environment. The two recently completed ABOR Health Affairs Committee meetings provided a public forum to address questions about the operation and the direction of the Colleges of Medicine. Together with Dean Chuck Cairns and Interim Dean Ken Ramos, the UA Health Sciences and the Colleges of Medicine made a compelling case for our current direction based upon a presentation of the facts and in thoughtful response to substantive questions.
A federal grand jury indicted a man in connection with an alleged multimillion-dollar real estate fraud scheme that operated out of San Diego and Tucson.

Peter Cash Doye, 40, of San Diego, was indicted on 17 counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the FBI said in a news release Wednesday.

The FBI is looking for other alleged victims. Authorities say the scheme diverted millions of dollars from renovations and asset sales into the pockets of Doye, Courtland Gettel, 42, and Tucson lawyer Jeffrey Greenberg, 66.

The indictment filed Aug. 10 in U.S. District Court in Tucson alleged Doye and Gettel took out a $65 million loan with Doral Property Finance in September 2013 to buy and renovate commercial properties through their real estate development firm Variant Holding Co. The following month, they entered into a $73.5 million financing contract with real estate firm Beach Point.

The alleged scheme included defrauding Beach Point of nearly $12 million in payments from escrow accounts for work that was never done and submitting $6.4 million in fraudulent invoices to Doral for renovation work that similarly was never done.

In the course of the fraud, the conspirators wired $17.7 million across state lines, prosecutors alleged in the indictment.

Prosecutors asked the court to order Doye to forfeit $18.4 million in connection with the fraud scheme.

Doye was senior managing director of Variant, which had offices in San Diego and Tucson, the FBI said.

A LinkedIn page registered under the name Court Gettel said he is the CEO of Variant and graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelors degree in psychology.

Gettel and Greenberg, who has practiced law in Arizona since 1983, pleaded guilty in May to charges of conspiracy and wire fraud in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California, as the Star reported May 26.

Federal prosecutors called the scheme an extraordinary fraud in which the conspirators took out $33.6 million in loans against multimillion-dollar homes in La Jolla and Del Mar and then forged documents to fool more lenders into believing the homes were debt-free.

The Department of Justice alleged they forged real estate lien releases and other records, wreaking havoc on the chain of title for these homes at the San Diego County Recorders Office. They then defaulted on the loans and caused millions of dollars in losses to lenders.

Gettel and Greenberg were ordered to forfeit $33.6 million by a federal judge in California on June 24.

Gettel and Greenberg previously pleaded guilty to their involvement in the scheme to defraud Beach Point and Doral.

Doyes next court date is scheduled for Aug. 26. The sentencing for Gettel and Greenberg was scheduled for early August, but was postponed until the after the sentencing in the southern California case, court documents show.
Help India!

BY TCN News,

Detroit: Giving a global voice to the ongoing protests against the caste atrocities committed in India against Dalits, the Ambedkar Association of North America (AANA) took out protest marches demonstrating support for #ChaloUna Freedom march at many places in USA.

Support TwoCircles



A mile-long protest rally was held on Saturday by Michigan Chapter of AANA from Hart Plaza to Detroit riverfront passing through Marriott Hotel, GM Plaza. Parallel protest marches were organized on Saturday and Friday in Boston, New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Fransisco, DC and Dallas.

The rally in Detroit was strategically organized here so as to draw maximum attention of Americans and Canadians, on the brutal and barbaric atrocities on Dalits in India and in solidarity with #ChaloUna Freedom march. The route of the rally is a major attraction area where American Canadians gathers for hart Plaza summer festivals and concerts.

The show of solidarity for #ChaloUna was witnessed by USA-Canadian border crossing traffic, the second busiest crossing between the United States and Canada.

The slogans  HE, HE HO HO, CASTE SYSTEM GOT TO GO, DALIT RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS, END CASTE APARTHEID NOW, ATROCITY NATION and END HINDU FASCISM were raised during the march along with some speeches by protesters.

Some protesters voiced questions such as COW HOLY, DALIT UNHOLY? COW PROTECTION OR DALIT OPPRESSION? and hash tags such as #DALIT NOT COWS, #MODI FAIL. Some statements aligning with #ChaloUna read : IF A COW IS YOUR MOTHER, THEN A BULL SHOULD BE YOUR FATHER, SURVEY IN 1600 VILLAGES SHOW THAT DALITS ARE DISCRIMINATED IN 98 DIFFERENT WAYS, WITH 45000 CASES OF CASTE ATROCITIES EVERY YEAR.

Members of AANA emphasized the importance of holding such a gathering in the important cross roads of USA and Canada like Detroit. Dalit rights activist brought attention toward the barbaric crimes against them and urged the Indian government to strictly implement the rule of Indian constitutional championed by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.

The members also showed their surprise and dismay at PM Modis reported suggestion to shoot him first before shooting the Dalits, as if shooting anyone in India is acceptable.

This is very dangerous signal to so called Cow Vigilantes terrorists, whos leader Satish Kumar seensporting an AK47 in his fb profile and was seen attending discussions in National TVs with pride, AANA said in a statement after the rally.

PMs statement suggests that there is an existence of brutal violence of which the PM is well aware of and that he is cognizant that Dalits are shot, a fact which is troubling and needs serious attention, the statement further reads.

The protest rally was concluded after four hours of rally, slogans and speech with a strong suggestion by members of Ambedkar Association of North America, Detroit chapter to continue their fight against fascism in India referring to Gujarat as the dent in Indian anti-caste sentiments.

More such protest rallies in solidarity with #ChaloUna are also planned in some more places in USA, Canada, Germany, UK, Poland, Italy, France, Japan, Australia, and Russia as a next phase.

Following are some of the placards that were displayed in Detroit during the protest:

AAZADI KOOCH

CASTE IS A CRIME

#DALIT NOT COWS

#DALIT WOMEN IN FROEFRONT IN UNA

DALITS DEMAND ALLOCATED PLANS + SUB PLAN MONEY BACK

DALITS DEMAND ALL THEIRALLOCATED AND LOOTED LANDS BACK

END CASTE APARTHEID NOW

END HINDU FASCISM

IF YOU MILK YOUR COW MOTHER DEAD THEN YOU SKIN YOUR DEAD COWS

IF A COW IS YOUR MOTHER, THEN A BULL SHOULD BE YOUR FATHER

IN SOLIDARITY WITH UNA DALIT ATYACHAR LADAT SAMITI

#MODI FAIL

ONWWARD TILL FREEDOM / DALIT SANGARSH

PROTEST IN SOLIDARITY WITH DALIT UPRISING IN INDIA FOR FREEDOM DIGNITY AND AN END TO EXPOLITATION

RECLAIM DALIT DIGNITY

STOP CALLING DALIT OPPRESSION AS COW PROTECTION

STOP CASTE ATROCITIES. PERIOD.

STOP FORCING 1,100,000 DALITS TO MANUALLY CLEAN YOUR SHIT AND GUTTERS

SURVEY IN 1600 VILLAGES SHOW THAT DALITS ARE DISCRIMINATED IN 98 DIFFERENT WAYS, WITH 45000 CASES OF CASTE ATROCITIES EVERY YEAR

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Xi offering nations 'ride' on Silk Road Updated: 2016-08-18 02:15 By AN BAIJIE(China Daily)

President urges proactive role in implementing projects along routes to provide a 'sense of gain'

China is willing to give other countries "a ride" as it renews ties, via the Belt and Road Initiative, with nations along the old Silk Road routes, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday.

As the second-largest economy in the world, China should be "more proactive" in dealing with other countries, Xi told a meeting attended by government officials, entrepreneurs and scholars.

The president encouraged Chinese companies to invest in countries along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative, also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

He also said China welcomes investment from those countries.

According to Xi, more than 100 countries and global organizations have participated in China's Belt and Road Initiative, and more than 20 countries have worked with China in production capacity cooperation in such areas as railway construction and nuclear power.

The president urged the implementation of Belt and Road projects to ensure that the countries involved have "a sense of gain".

The export of China's production and construction capacity could support the Belt and Road countries to push forward industrialization and will help to stabilize the world economy, he said.

The Silk Road Economic Belt is a land-based route from China through Central Asia and Russia to Europe. The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road is a strategic route through the Strait of Malacca to India, the Middle East and East Africa.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, began to take shape in 2014 with a focus on infrastructure.

Xi has made state visits to a number of countries, including the Czech Republic, Serbia, Poland and Uzbekistan, along the Belt and Road routes this year. More than 30 countries and international organizations have signed agreements and memorandums of understanding with China on jointly implementing the Belt and Road strategy.

As part of the Belt and Road projects, freight trains have made more than 2,000 trips from China to Europe and back on 39 rail lines, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Wang Licheng, board chairman of Hangzhou-based Holley Group, said at the meeting that the Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Zone, jointly developed by Wang and his partners in Thailand, has created more than 20,000 jobs for people in Thailand's east coastal region.

The company plans to build an occupational school near the industrial zone to train more skilled workers, a proposal that has been welcomed by Thai authorities, he said.

The entrepreneur suggested that the construction of industrial parks abroad should be set as China's national strategy, with supportive policies established to encourage private companies to expand business overseas.

Liu Weidong, director of the Belt and Road Strategy Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that through the Belt and Road strategy, China could allocate global resources and provide services for the whole world.

Wang Yiwei, an expert on European studies with Renmin University of China in Beijing, said that through the Belt and Road projects, China could share its development experience with other countries as well as find new markets for its production capacity.

Countries in the Central and Eastern Europe region are eager to develop ties with China to attract more Chinese investment, and President Xi's state visits to the CEE countries in March and June have brought results, he said.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn
Growth in Chinese market helps increase Finnish sawn wood export Updated: 2016-08-18 10:53 (Xinhua)

HELSINKI - The export of the Finnish sawn timber started to grow and the sales to China almost doubled in the second quarter of 2016, Finnish national broadcaster Yle has reported.

According to the Finnish Sawmill Industry Association, the export of saw timber has returned to the level of the last decade, and the growth rate in the first half of this year was 16 percent.

The major reason was the robust growth in the Chinese market with the export volume to China nearly doubling.

Jyri Nenonen, CEO of Kinnaskoski, a sawmill in western Finland, explained to Yle that the marketing efforts in China were strengthened and the demand of saw timber for the furniture industry in China was strong.

Because of the summer holiday season, the trend of growth will slow down in the rest of this year, but the export volume to China in the whole year of 2016 is still expected to surge by 60 percent to 70 percent.

The export to Japan also increased by 15 percent.

Meanwhile, the export to Britain was problematic as Brexit brought confusion to the British market and dramatically affected the Finnish forest industry, particularly the sawmill sector, said Nenonen.

About 10 percent of export of Finnish sawn timber was sold to Britain.

The export of Finnish sawn wood is the fourth largest in the world. Its export volume was 7.9 million cubic meters in 2015, making up 75 percent of its annual production of 10.6 million.
China's top legislature schedules bi-monthly session Updated: 2016-08-17 19:00 (Xinhua)

BEIJING - The top legislature of China will convene its bi-monthly session from Aug. 29 to Sept. 3, according to a statement issued after a chairpersons' meeting Wednesday.

Attendees of Wednesday's meeting, which was chaired by Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), suggested that at the upcoming 22nd session of the 12th NPC Standing Committee, legislators should deliberate on draft laws on national defense transportation, the movie industry, and traditional Chinese medicine.

Legislators will also study and discuss proposals, including a review of the draft amendments to the law on foreign-invested companies, the law on protection of marine environment, and the proposal to review and ratify the Paris Agreement.

Also, legislators will consider reports on national economic and social development, budget implementation, reform and development of higher learning, among others.
Suu Kyi's visit seen as bid to boost friendship Updated: 2016-08-18 07:54 By Zhang Yunbi(China Daily)

Aung San Suu Kyi, the chairperson of Myanmars National League for Democracy, attends the National League for Democracy Party's central comity meeting at a restaurant in Yangon December 13, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Beijing on Wednesday night to kick off her first China visit as her country's No 2 political figure.

During Suu Kyi's five-day visit, Premier Li Keqiang will host a welcoming ceremony and hold talks with Suu Kyi. She also will visit other cities.

A ceremony will be held for the signing of bilateral documents, according to the Foreign Ministry, although details of the pacts were not disclosed.

Currently, China is Myanmar's most important trade partner and one of the main sources of foreign direct investment.

Xu Liping, a senior researcher on Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Suu Kyi's visit signals the political will to cement the two countries' traditional friendship.

"Now Myanmar is faced with many issues, such as the domestic reconciliation process, and resolving them cannot be achieved without cooperation with China," Xu said.

Xu added that Myanmar "needs more investment from China" in light of China's role as one of its biggest investors.

Beijing has sent key diplomats to maintain close contact with Suu Kyi in recent months, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Song Tao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee.

Song visited Myanmar earlier this month and met with Suu Kyi on Aug 11 in Myanmar's capital, Nay Pyi Taw.

Suu Kyi told Song that Myanmar attaches great importance to developing China-Myanmar ties, and she expects her China visit could further promote bilateral cooperation.

Zhou Yongsheng, a professor of international relations at China Foreign Affairs University, said China and Myanmar now need talks to minimize their differences and expand common ground.

"They particularly should promote cooperation in connectivity and infrastructure construction, which are beneficial to the economy of both sides," Zhou said.

In June last year, Suu Kyi was invited to visit China for her first time as chair of the National League for Democracy.

Her party scored a landslide election victory earlier this year, and her new government was formed in March. Since then, she has visited Laos and Thailand. The China visit marks her first as state counselor outside Southeast Asia.
Innovation honor result of years of work Updated: 2016-08-18 10:30 By Amy He In New York(China Daily USA)

UN adds China to top 25 list of most innovative economies in world; experts not surprised

China's innovation comes from years of heavy investment, so its placement in the top 25 most innovative economies in the world is taken in stride, experts said.

The United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization said in a report released Tuesday that China moved up four places from 29th last year because it demonstrated consistent improvement in innovation.

A director of the organization said that in entering the top 25, China join upper-income countries that have traditionally dominated the top slots of the global innovation index.

To many, China's entrance into the top 25 is a long time coming, and various sectors in China have been leading the way in innovation far beyond what people outside of China may give the country credit for.

"It's the least surprising thing that China is an innovative country. It's way beyond the myth of 'they just imitate' - that has not been true for a long, long time," said Erik Gordon, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

"That's almost a form of orientalism at this point. To me, the surprising thing is the UN measure finally gotten into the top 25," he said.

Gordon said that China has been innovative in the medical and business sectors, particularly with medical devices and consumer banking, two areas where innovations are having an impact on large portions of the population.

China has been heavily investing in producing innovative medical devices to serve its aging population, and especially those who live in remote areas with poor access to healthcare, he said.

Medical costs have to be kept low, and China's innovation in the area may eventually be exported to other countries, such as Africa and even the United States, he said.

"China can plan over a long horizon, unlike in the US where every two years, or four years, or eight years, the Congress changes and (you) can't get a consistent anything. China can look ahead, and they did," Gordon said.

"They said, 'In order to be stable, we have to develop well. We have to make people's lives better.' You would think all politicians would think that way, but it was specifically on the table," he added.

Fu Xiaolan, a governing council member of the Technology Bank for the least developed countries, a UN establishment, said that China's placement is driven by the government's pursuit of innovation in the last 10 years. It's also important that many Chinese students who study overseas are now returning home to apply their knowledge domestically.

"China has a large pool of intelligent, bright people. China has the manpower. It also has a large market, and a large domestic market provides large advantages for innovators, because they can (get) larger returns (on those) innovations, and they can scale up their innovations in the domestic market," she said.

Edward Tse, founder and CEO of Gao Fend Advisory Company, said that China has made "leaps and bounds in innovation" to become the global epicenter of business innovation, particularly in tech-driven business innovation.

"Chinese entrepreneurs are very, very good in business model innovation. Look at [car-hailing app] Didi Chuxing. Uber China essentially said, 'You guys are so good that we have to give up China for you,' " he said, referring to the recent announcement that US car-hailing service Uber agreed to sell its China operations to Didi after the American company lost nearly $2 billion trying to establish a foothold in China.

"Another example is WeChat. Everybody in China is on WeChat. It's an innovation because it's so multifunctional that it's become the core of a lifestyle for so many people," Tse said.

Puneet Manchanda, a marketing professor at the Ross School of Business, also mentioned WeChat as an example, and said that the Chinese tech landscape has experienced the most notable rise in innovation over the last decade.

"I would say the last 10 years, in the age of innovation, where Chinese companies are producing stuff that Western companies have not thought of.

"So definitely, the rate is accelerating, and I think they'll keep getting better," he said.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com
Huawei unveils first smartphone for US Updated: 2016-08-18 10:30 By Shi Xi In San Francisco(China Daily USA)

Chinese tech conglomerate Huawei released a new line of smartphone, Honor 8, in San Francisco on Tuesday, and vowed to use its first "flagship" phone in the US to give the top industry players a run for their money.

Huawei's Honor 8 will target the millennial generation, said George Zhao, Honor's president, at the press conference. "We've defined and developed our product for young people," he said.

Huawei has become the world's third-largest phone manufacturer - behind Samsung and Apple - since the launch of its smartphone operation in 2013 and is now in 74 countries worldwide.

By the end of June, Huawei had clinched 9.4 percent global market share in the smartphone sector, according to Statista.

Yet Huawei occupies less than 1 percent of the US smartphone market and is dwarfed by major industry players, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

"We focus on the international market," said Zhao, "but for us the US market is the most important one."

TechCrunch, a popular review site for tech products, compared Honor 8 with the recently released Samsung Galaxy S7. However, Huawei lags behind US competitors in terms of cell phone bundle sales with carriers. Currently, it has not signed any contracts with major carriers in the US market.

Incorporating culture and fashion trends into product design, Honor 8 features a dual camera system and a 5.2-inch high-definition display. In sapphire blue, white and black, the back of the phone is made with a 15-layer process that makes the body reflective.

The camera system, the key element, features two 12 MP cameras that can capture two photos simultaneously in color and monochrome and then process the two together. The system is able to capture three-times more light than a single lens camera. The camera also has 17 shooting modes catering to different environments, including night and slow motion.

Honor 8 is slightly bigger than the Samsung Galaxy S7 and noticeably smaller than the Apple iPhone 6S Plus. It weighs about the same as the Galaxy S7 at 5.4 ounces.

The Honor 8's smart key and multi-purpose fingerprint sensor is located on the back of the phone. Users can designate different sequences, including single-click or double-click, to personalize the fingerprint sensor to gain quick access to specific apps.

Huawei has set the price of the unlocked 32 GB model Honor 8 at $399.99 and 64 GB model at $449.99, prices higher than the same models sell for in China, at $346 and $422 respectively.

Congjiang Wang contributed to the story
Suu Kyi's visit seen as bid to boost friendship Updated: 2016-08-18 07:54 By Zhang Yunbi(China Daily)

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Beijing on Wednesday night to kick off her first China visit as her country's No 2 political figure.

During Suu Kyi's five-day visit, Premier Li Keqiang will host a welcoming ceremony and hold talks with Suu Kyi. She also will visit other cities.

A ceremony will be held for the signing of bilateral documents, according to the Foreign Ministry, although details of the pacts were not disclosed.

Currently, China is Myanmar's most important trade partner and one of the main sources of foreign direct investment.

Xu Liping, a senior researcher on Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Suu Kyi's visit signals the political will to cement the two countries' traditional friendship.

"Now Myanmar is faced with many issues, such as the domestic reconciliation process, and resolving them cannot be achieved without cooperation with China," Xu said.

Xu added that Myanmar "needs more investment from China" in light of China's role as one of its biggest investors.

Beijing has sent key diplomats to maintain close contact with Suu Kyi in recent months, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Song Tao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee.

Song visited Myanmar earlier this month and met with Suu Kyi on Aug 11 in Myanmar's capital, Nay Pyi Taw.

Suu Kyi told Song that Myanmar attaches great importance to developing China-Myanmar ties, and she expects her China visit could further promote bilateral cooperation.

Zhou Yongsheng, a professor of international relations at China Foreign Affairs University, said China and Myanmar now need talks to minimize their differences and expand common ground.

"They particularly should promote cooperation in connectivity and infrastructure construction, which are beneficial to the economy of both sides," Zhou said.

In June last year, Suu Kyi was invited to visit China for her first time as chair of the National League for Democracy.

Her party scored a landslide election victory earlier this year, and her new government was formed in March. Since then, she has visited Laos and Thailand. The China visit marks her first as state counselor outside Southeast Asia.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn
Premier Li welcomes Aung San Suu Kyi Updated: 2016-08-18 19:18 By Hu Yongqi(chinadaily.com.cn)

China's Premier Li Keqiang and Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi (L) attend a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, August 18, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Premier Li Keqiang welcomed Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi to China during a ceremony at the People's Great Hall on Thursday afternoon.

Suu Kyi is on a five-day visit after taking the position in April, which is second only to the country's president.

During a meeting after the ceremony, both sides agreed to stick to mutual respect, consolidate political trust, and strengthen exchanges and cooperation based on Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence.
China, Myanmar agree to solve suspended dam issue Updated: 2016-08-18 19:54 (Xinhua)

BEIJING - China and Myanmar agreed on Thursday to enhance cooperation between energy departments to find a proper solution for the suspended Myitsone Dam project.

The agreement came during talks between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who started a five-day official visit to China on Wednesday.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters after the talks, held at the Great Hall of the People, that Aung San Suu Kyi said Myanmar's new government has decided to set up an investigation committee to find a solution that is in both countries' interests regarding the Myitsone Dam issue.

The Myitsone Dam is jointly funded by China and Myanmar, but was suspended by the Myanmar government in 2011.
Samsung has been dancing around the idea of adding a 2K display to a smartphone. We expected the Galaxy S5 to come with a QHD display and there are rumors the Galaxy S5 Prime will have the higher-end display, but right now Samsung has no device currently over 1080p.

The Galaxy Note 4 might be the first to adopt the new resolution, as it is already coming to the Oppo Find 7 and possibly to the LG G3. The 2560 x 1440 panels have been shown off at CES and MWC, but Samsung has shown no interest in adding it to its flagship device, possibly pointing to trouble on the manufacturing end.

Samsung normally announces the new Galaxy Note in September at IFA, and this would give Samsung enough time to build a good amount of units with the 2K display. Even if there are problems in the production end, we are sure a giant like Samsung will be able to fix that within a few months.

The Galaxy Note is also normally the higher-end of Samsungs two flagships in the year, coming with better internals, especially in terms of the battery. This could be another reason why Samsung is looking at adding a 2K display to the smartphone to please fans who look at the Galaxy Note as the high-end mark.

Samsung will not change the size of the display from last year, sticking with the 5.7-inch screen that worked last year. We agree that 5.7-inch might be too big for some users, but for people who are fans of phablets, its the perfect size, not straying into the 6-inch market but keeping enough size to keep fans happy.

The Galaxy Note 4 should also come with Samsungs Exynos octa-core processor or the Snapdragon 805 SoC depending on region, alongside 3GB of RAM, 16 to 64GB of internal storage, and a huge internal battery, possibly hitting 5000mAh.
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HA NOI  The Viet Nam Textile and Garment Association (VITAS) has suggested the Government and related authorities review and adjust the development planning for the industry as the planning to 2010 with vision towards 2030 is obsolete.

Under current planning, the industrys export value was targeted to reach US$20 billion by 2020, but the figure exceeded $27 billion in 2015 and is expected to hit $31 billion this year.

From 2010 to 2015, the industry had stable growth of export value of 15 per cent per year.

VITAS chairman Vu uc Giang said There is a big gap between what we achieved and what we planned.

Vietn Nams demographics  a population structure with more than double the number of working age than dependents  was advantageous for the expansion of the sector, so the Government should help the industry keep up with the countrys integration and make use of the abundant resources, he said.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa said that global textile and garment producers were moving production to areas with good labour forces and lower production costs.



Thoa endorsed VITAS recommendation, saying that the industry should make changes to its planning as it was enjoying opportunities stemming from the country joining free trade agreements.

To help textile and garment firms take advantage of opportunities and overcome challenges brought by free trade agreements, VITAS suggested the Government update the sector development strategy that was approved by the then Prime Minister in 2008 and the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2014.

The association proposed the Government create a development strategy to 2025 with a vision towards 2040.

It also asked the Government, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to group textile and garment enterprises in concentrated industrial parks.

This issue was important for the industrys sustainability and the environmental protection, Giang said, adding that the concentration would facilitate the treatment of wastewater from the enterprises.

Currently, there are several textile and garment industrial zones in the northern provinces of Hung Yen, Thai Binh and Nam inh and the southern province of ong Nai and Binh Duong, which cover a few hundred hectares each.

VITAS suggested the Government allow the establishment of textile and garment industrial zones with 500-1,000 ha to draw domestic and foreign capital.

Giang said that it was necessary to upgrade transportation infrastructure connecting the zones with logistics centres and ports.

On wastewater treatment, the VITAS chairman said that it was headache for the sector because building a wastewater treatment system was very costly.

He suggested the Government offer a preferential lending rate for enterprises which invested in wastewater treatment systems in the parks.

Giang also recommended the Government amend environment regulations applied to the sector.

Specifically, requiring a firm specialised in processing with more than 400 workers to build a wastewater treatment plant worth billions of ong was beyond its capability and a waste of money because processing companies did not discharge wastewater like dying ones.

Than uc Viet, deputy general director of the Garment 10 Corporation, said most firms in the textile and garment industry were small- and medium-sized enterprises with limited financial capacity, so they need support from the Government.

In China, India and Bangladesh which have a developed textile and garment sector, enterprises did not have to invest in wastewater treatment factories but the Government did, Viet said, adding that it would encourage investment in the sector.

Attracting investments in producing fabric and yarn, and dying would held address the shortage of materials supply to the sector, the CEO said.

Viet Nams garment and textile exports in the first half of this year reached $12.6 billion, representing a 4.72 per cent year-on-year increase and accounting for 41 per cent of the sectors target for 2016.  VNS
HA NOI  Shares advanced yesterday on the two national stock exchanges, buoyed by investor expectations of a specific roadmap for the Government to sell its capital proportions in many big listed companies.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index increased 0.4 per cent to 660.5 points. It was down 0.2 per cent on Tuesday.

On the smaller exchange in Ha Noi, the HNX-Index also added 0.4 per cent to close yesterday at 83.8 points.

The Government and ministries yesterday had a meeting to discuss the plan of divesting State capital in 10 enterprises in which the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) is representing and operating.

In May 2015, the Government requested SCIC draw a roadmap for selling State holdings in 10 big enterprises, of which eight businesses are listing shares on the two national exchanges with a combined market capitalisation of around US$4.5 billion.

Six of these eight companies gained value yesterday after the information. Shares in Binh Minh Plastic (BMP) and Tien Phong Plastic (NTP) were the biggest gainers, with each rising 7 per cent.

Others including dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), software producer FPT Corp (FPT), Vietnam National Reinsurance (VNR) and Bao Minh Insurance (BMI) each increasing between 1.2 per cent and 6.5 per cent.

Only Sa Giang Import Export (SGC) declined 9.4 per cent and Ha Giang Mineral and Mechinics (HGM) closed unchanged.

This is an investment for all investors, said Nguyen Minh Ngoc, director of the Corporate Finance Department at Bao Viet Securities Co.

Ngoc hailed the Governments policy of selling its holdings in the companies in which the State does not need to hold major stakes. This loosened State control on the companies and made them more appealing to investors.

Viet Nams stock market has rallied 13 per cent this year amid optimism the Government will ease regulations for foreign investment. Last month, the market watchdog State Securities Commission allowed Vinamilk to remove the 49-per-cent foreign ownership cap on its stocks, spurring speculation that more companies will follow.

Foreign investors purchased shares worth a total net value of $35 million on the local stock market in the first seven months of this year, supporting the market uptrend since the beginning of the year, data of the National Financial Supervisory Commission showed.

Liquidity decreased slightly from the previous session, totaling 166 million shares worth a total value of VN3.33 trillion, down 18.2 per cent in volume and 14.6 per cent in value from Wednesdays figures.  VNS
HA NOI  The Saigon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corp (Sabeco) may get permission to be listed on the stock exchange in the near future, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) said in a statement.

The statement was posted on the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) website early this week after the ministry responded to the associations previous complaints on the delayed divestment of the States capital from Sabeco and the delayed listing of the company.

The delayed divestment and listing of Sabeco on the stock exchange has recently raised public concerns as investors that are not Government agents own less than the required stake in the companys capital.

Under existing regulations, a joint stock company, which was shifted from a state-owned enterprise, must sell at least 20 per cent of its capital to other investors.

The ministry now holds 90 per cent of the company on behalf of the State.

During the past eight years, VAFI has repeatedly urged the ministry and the companys management board to sell all the States holdings in Sabeco and place the company on the stock exchange to improve the quality of corporate governance, however, the situation has yet to change.

The delay of listing Sabeco came after the ministry planned to sell its entire holdings in the company before asking for the Governments permission to put it on the stock market, the ministry said.

The listing of Sabeco on HoSE will be reported to the Government for approval, MoIT said, adding that the delayed listing had failed to meet expectations from the companys investors.

Regarding the divestment of the States capital from the company, the ministry said that it had proposed the Government approve the divestment of the States capital from Sabeco four times since 2012. The Government has yet to make the final decision on the plan.

The ministry was not obliged to hand Sabeco over to SCIC because SCIC had no right to take full control of the southern beverage company in accordance with the document 651/TTg-MDN issued by the Prime Minister on August 5, 2015.  VNS
HA NOI  The Anti-Dumping Commission under the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation and Science has initiated an investigation into dumping and countervailing duty on aluminium extrusions exported to Australia from Viet Nam and Malaysia.

The investigation follows an application lodged by Capral Limited, a manufacturer of aluminium extrusions in Australia.

The application alleges that the goods have been exported to Australia at prices less than their normal value and received countervailable subsidies from Viet Nam and Malaysia.

It said the dumping and subsidisation had caused material injury to the Australian aluminium extrusions industry in the form of price suppression, loss of profits, reduced profitability, reduced capital expenditure, reduced return on investment and increased closing stocks.

The investigation will examine exports in the period from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016 to determine whether dumping or subsidisation has occurred. Details of the Australian market from July 1, 2012 will be examined for injury analysis purposes.

Capral estimated dumping margins of Vietnamese products at 10.19 per cent while the subsidy margin for exports was negligible.

At present, the aluminium extrusions imported from Viet Nam and Malaysia were taxed a customs duty of 5 per cent.

The Viet Nam Competition Authority said this was the sixth lawsuit which included both anti-dumping and anti-countervailing for Vietnamese products exported to Australia since 2011. Previous products were PE bags, welded carbon-quality steel pipes, steel garment hangers, oil country tubular goods pipes and steel nails.

According to statistics from the Viet Nam General Department of Customs, Australia imported steel products worth more than US$10.5 million in the first six months of this year, marking an increase of 7.5 per cent compared with the same period last year.  VNS
HA NOI  Global luxury hospitality brand Regent Hotels and Resorts is looking for partners to develop world-class resorts in Viet Nam and turn them into lifestyle destinations.

As a member of Taiwan-listed multi-sector FIH Regent Group, with its foothold in Beijing , Berlin , Porto Montenegro , Taipei and Singapore , the brand has been eyeing ways to expand in Asia, especially Viet Nam .

With its pleasant climate, rich culture, wonderful food, fascinating natural sights and improved transport infrastructure, Southeast Asia is considered a popular tourist destination, Ralf Ohletz, the groups president of design and concepts, said in a speech at Vietnamese property developer BIMs media briefing on August 17 in Ha Noi.

Ohletz said rapid economic growth was transforming the region from a budget travelers must-visit hotspot to one of the top choices for luxury travelers, where Viet Nam is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered.

Ohletz said there was a shortage in hospitality products that were exclusive and classy in Phu Quoc and Ha Long, the countrys popular tourist destinations, however.

We are now looking for partners sharing the same vision and capable of providing top-notch equipment and devices to work closely with us and bring unique luxury accommodation experiences for all the guest traveling to Viet Nam , Ohletz said.

The participation of global brands in Viet Nam s hospitality market will boost competition and set new market benchmarks, according to Ohletz, who added that quality would become the decisive factor for the success.

Founded in the 70s by legendary hotelier Robert H. Burns, Regent became the first truly Asian-based global hospitality group. Besides five existing Regents in Bejing , Berlin , Porto Montenegro , Singapore and Taipei , the brand will open new hotels in Chongqing , Harbin and Jakarta . Our concept embraces the harmony of opposites: global yet local, simple yet elegant and modern yet timeless, Ohletz said.

Le Minh Dung, executive director of BIM Groups property business, said at the briefing that BIM Group was working with Regent Hotels and Resorts on the development of a luxury resort in Ha Long and in Phu Quoc.

BIM Group has partnered with many leading global hospitality brands, such as the InterContinental and Fusion Suites, on many of its developments.
KHANH HOA  People in central coastal Khanh Hoa Provinces Nha Trang City are protesting against a solid waste treatment system in the provincial General Hospital after it was launched recently, the Voice of Viet Nam (VOV) has reported.

More than 60 households located near the hospital have sent a petition to the city authorities complaining that the location of the system would affect the environment there, according to the VOV.

Most of them disagreed with the hospitals construction, when they attended recent talks with the investors, such as the hospital and the provincial health department.

Local residents opposed the plan because the hospital is located in the centre of the city that has a high population density, offices and tourist crowds.

They also protested that the investors did not publish anything about the project and also the environment impact assessment.

Nguyen Van ong, a local resident, said the hospital was built without leaving any space between it and other buildings, and so it would seriously affect the environment.

Medical waste from the hospital and other facilities earlier was transported to the Dermatology Hospital for treatment.

But four or five years ago, this waste furnace stopped working, causing difficulties in waste treatment.

The general hospital had to rent a unit to transport 250kg of solid waste each day to Binh Duong Province for treatment at a cost of VN200 million (US$8,960) a month.

To deal with the problem, Health Ministry permitted the hospital to build a treatment system that can handle 500kg of medical waste per day within its premises.

Mai Van Thang, Deputy Director of the provincial Natural Resources and Environment, said it would take waste samples for periodic monitoring and would shut down the system if its treatment process was found to be of poor quality.

The modern technique would not affect the environment, Bui Xuan Minh of the provincial health department said.

But the department has asked the peoples committees permission to shift the building project to the Dermatology Hospital to meet the demand of the local residents.  VNS
HCM CITY  Nguyen Anh Tu from HCM City brought home a cash prize of VN100 million (US$4,540) after winning the Vinh Long Televisions reality show Cuoi Xuyen Viet (TransViet Laugh) for amateur comic actors.

Tu received 100 points from the judges, including Peoples Artist Ngoc Giau and VietnameseAmerican comedy actress Kieu Oanh, for his performance in a short play about a mothers love at the finale last Saturday.

The 23-year-old student of the citys University of Theatre and Cinematography said after winning the contest that he wanted to gift my victory to my parents who devoted their life to raise three sons.

Tu was born in a poor family in HCM City. He had to quit school in the 10th grade and worked different jobs to help his family.

One year later, he returned to school to finish study in high school, and then passed the exam to the university. He has taken part in plays at coffee lounges and small theatres in the city.

Tu said: The competition gave me a chance to learn from experienced artists like Huynh Lap, Nam Thu and Diep Tien, as well as from competitors across Viet Nam.

Le Nguyen Tuan Dung of the city became the competitions runner-up.

Dung, 24, was born in a traditional family. His father worked for famous cai luong (reformed opera) troupes like Huynh Long and Minh To.

He began to perform in a cai luong video when he was four year old. He has played minor roles in several works by veteran artists.

Launched last year, Cuoi Xuyen Viet has two versions, one for unknown actors and another for famous artists. It has had the highest ratings of Vinh Long Televisions programme.  VNS
HA NOI  Cuban ballet artists Viengsay Valdes and Patricio Reve will stage their debut performances in Ha Noi and HCM City on August 19 and 31.

The shows will take place at Ha Nois Cong Nhan Theatre and HCM Dance School.

Prima ballerina Valdes is one of the most respected exponents of the Cuban School of Ballet in recent times.

Along with talented dancer Reve, she would perform sections from classical international repertoire such as pas de deux from Don Quixote, The Dying Swan, Les Sylphides and a more contemporary piece called Dan-Son, she told the Prensa Latina news agency last Saturday.

The lead role of Kitri in Don Quixote is one of the two most favourite roles of her ballet career. As Kitri in Don Quixote, she has danced beneath the gaze of the Sphinx.

Valdes was also invited as a guest artist by the Mariinsky Academy to perform as Kitri at the Ninth International Festival of Ballet in St. Petersburg, choreographed by Alexander Gorsky and based on the original adaptation by Marius Petipa. Her partner was Russian ballet star Leonid Sarafanov.

Don Quixote opened at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow on December 26, 1869. It was inspired by an episode from the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. The Cuban version premiered on July 6, 1988, in Havana.

The two artists will dance act 3, entitled The Square.

Valdes is a high-profile ballerina. Born in 1976 in Havana, she moved, at the age of three months, to Laos where her father was the first Cuban ambassador. Her name Viengsay means Victory in the Laotian language.

She graduated from the National School of Arts with a degree in dance and choreography. Legendary director Alicia Alonso spotted her talent and invited her to join the National Ballet of Cuba when she was 17.

She was named the most outstanding dancer at the 18th International Festival of Ballet of Havana in 2002, thanks to her starring role in Giselle and Don Quixote.

She was invited to perform at the World Stars of Ballet Gala in Budapest for the second time in 2002-04.

In April 2008, Valdes performed in front of the Giza Pyramids, Egypt, in the first-ever professional ballet performance on the open-air stage there. She is the second Cuban ballerina to perform with the Danish Royal Ballet, after Alicia Alonso in 1969.

She has performed as a guest artist with many theatres such as La Scala in Milan, World Gala on the Champs-Elysees, Sadlers Wells Theatre in London and the Ballet Gala of Prague.

Valdes was ranked sixth in an evaluation of the top 100 ballerinas in the world by Dance Europe magazine in 2011.

Her partner during performance tours is talented dancer Reve, who works at the National Ballet of Cuba.

The Cuban artists performances in Viet Nam will also include those by Vietnamese artists from the Viet Nam National Academy of Music. Veteran guitarists such as Le uc Son and Nguyen Van Phuc will play Cuban and Argentinean pieces at the performances.

After the show in Viet Nam, the artists will perform at the National Culture in Laos and Chaktomuk Conference Hall in Cambodia.

The Ballet National of Cubas performances in Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos are part of activities being carried out by Cuban embassies in these countries on the occasion of the 90th birthday of historic leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro.

Free tickets can be collected from 32, Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Ha Noi. -- VNS
CISNEROS LIMA  Acclaimed Belgian filmmakers Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne will tell the story of an Islamist "fanatic" linked to jihadist attacks in their next film, the latter said on Wednesday in an interview.

The brothers new film, to be shot next year, comes after their native Belgium was rocked by the March 22 airport and subway bombings in Brussels, igniting national debate over home-grown Islamist extremism and how to counter it.

But Luc Dardenne said the new project originated long before that.

"Weve been thinking about it for years," he said in Peru, where he was being honoured at the 20th edition of the Lima film festival.

"Were going to deal with a fanatical character, a character related to Islamist terrorism," he said, declining to go into further detail.

The Dardenne brothers have twice won the prestigious Palme dOr at the Cannes film festival  in 1999 for Rosetta and in 2005 for The Child.

They are known for minimalist movies focused on characters at the margins of society.

Dardenne said both Belgium and neighbouring France, which has also been hit by a string of Islamist attacks, were now immersed in "an unusual, uncommon war".

"For the past 20 years in Belgium weve had schools where people study Arabic through the Koran, we have Salafist mosques," he said.

"Theyre the ones that trained todays youth, telling them, On one side you have us, the true Muslims. On the other side, the Westerners, or the bad Muslims who are not the way they should be.

"That kind of education leads to what we have today." The phenomenon, he said, is "Islam reacting to globalisation".

"The Muslim religion, as a religion that organises society, senses that that is finished, and they see it on the internet," he said.

At 62, Dardenne is three years younger than his brother. They have been making films together since the 1970s.

Their latest, The Unknown Girl, premiered at Cannes in May.  AFP
COLOMBO  The UNs cultural agency expressed concern on Wednesday over the poor maintenance of a centuries-old cave temple in Sri Lanka, which risks being struck off the list of world heritage sites.

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said she raised the maintenance issue at the Golden Temple of Dambulla with local authorities during her visit to the island.

The Sri Lankan government is bound by international treaty obligations to protect the cave monastery which is home to 2,000-year-old murals and 157 Buddha statues, she told reporters in Colombo at the end of her four-day visit.

A team of experts who visited the site in central Sri Lanka last year found the site poorly maintained and warned that new constructions have affected its heritage value, she said.

A Buddhist monk at the temple has been resisting Sri Lankan government efforts to take over the maintenance of the temple, but Bokova said it was the responsibility of the Sri Lankan state to ensure that the property was well preserved.

"When the World Heritage Committee discusses a report of protection and preservation, it is the responsibility of the government," she said.

"We are talking about an international, legally binding document. The state party to the convention is the government of Sri Lanka."

The cave temple is one of eight World Heritage sites in Sri Lanka and Bokova said she visited three of them.

UN officials have expressed fears that the cave temple could be struck off the prestigious list of heritage sites unless immediate corrective action is taken to preserve frescoes and remove the new construction that has been added by resident monks.

The first site to be removed from UNESCOs World Heritage List was the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman in 2007 after the government decided to reduce the size of the protected area by 90 per cent  in contravention of the heritage convention.

The only other site to be removed was Germanys Dresden Elbe valley due to the building of a four-lane bridge in the heart of the cultural landscape which meant that the property failed to keep its "outstanding universal value as inscribed".  AFP
Free classical music concert at Southern Womens Museum

The Saigon Classical Music Group will hold a piano concert called o Quyen & Minh Trang: Musical Journey with pianist duo Thach Thai o Quyen and Le Thi Minh Trang at HCM Citys Southern Womens Museum on August 27.

The pianists will play solo and together with musicians from the group and guest artists cellist Lai Huy Hoang, violinist Ho ang Hoi and soprano Huynh Hoang Thu Thao.

They will perform compositions by Haydn, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Dvorak, Faure, Vivaldi, Rossini and Chopin.

Quyen and Trang, graduates of the HCM City Conservatory of Music, began playing together as a duo in 2009. They now work as piano teachers at the conservatory.

The concert will begin at 7 pm at 202 Vo Thi Sau Street in District 3. Free tickets are at info@saigonclassical.vn.  VNS
Vu Thu Ha

As children across the country return to school after the summer break, a little spoken about yet very real and imperative issue has come under the spotlight: unhygienic school toilets.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am made headlines two weeks ago when he raised the issue at a government meeting on education, telling participants that during his recent field trips to some schools in Ha Noi and neighbouring provinces, he found out that at many schools, while toilets for headmasters are very clean, those for students are awfully dirty.

I can even smell the stinking odour right at the entrance gate of some schools, he said.

What a sad piece of news to hear just as the new school year is approaching. What makes me feel worse is that the issue is nothing new. It has persisted this way for too many years.

Some 20 years ago, the same problem bothered my generation. Back then I was a student at a junior high school in central Hoan Kiem District of Ha Noi. Contrary to its fame as one of the best schools in the district, its toilet was without a roof and smelly all the time, especially during summer. Unexpectedly, I am still haunted by the nightmare of having to hold my breath each and every time I used the toilet back then.

I cant help but wonder why, after such a long time in which Viet Nam has seen remarkable achievements in economic and social development, the very basic necessity of having a proper toilet is still a dream for many of our children, often dubbed the countrys future.

A UNICEF survey has shown only 11.7 per cent of school toilets in Viet Nam met safety standards. Even in big cities like Ha Noi, HCM City, a Nang and Can Tho, many schools do not have adequate toilets. The situation is worse in rural areas, where 27 per cent of children have to practice open defecation or urination.

To a certain extent, I can understand the difficulties of many schools in impoverished rural areas, where just having classrooms is considered a success. But I cannot digest the fact that the situation is also alarming in localities where trillions of ong have been spent on imposing local authority offices, monuments, or lavish but not-so-meaningful ceremonies, as you may know.

But perhaps it is not that the education sector lacks money. We have seen the Ministry of Education asking for VN778 billion (US$34.9 million) from the Governments budget to renew school textbooks alone. We have seen schools being rebuilt and renovated one after another. On the long list of extra-fees that parents have to pay at the beginning of each semester (which make many lament) there are the so-called sanitary fee and school-building fee.

That says it all. What is lacking here is the due care and responsibility of educational leaders for their students health and benefits. Or perhaps it is this simple: they just think a toilet is not a big deal.

Wait! Isnt securing a comfortable and quality toilet one of the first things we think of when building our own house? Isnt access to a hygienic toilet a basic human right that we all deserve?

Doctors have pointed out that dirty restrooms are a source of gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases like diarrhoea and pneumonia. It does not only affect children; the disease could be carried home by them and then spread illness to their families. Unhygienic toilets also scare children, and trying to avoid using them can cause children constipation and urinary infections.

In July 2014, two children in HCM City died from digestion-related diseases caused by unclean school toilets. Four months later, a similar cause forced 220 students in an elementary school in the Citys District 12 to be absent from school.

A lack of toilets also contributes to an increase in drop-out rates, as shown by the case of India, which suffers from an even more serious situation.

And last but not least, it is the students feeling of being disrespected and uncared for that matters. Over the past years, many reforms have been carried out in the countrys education system with the aim of inverting the traditional teacher-centred to student-centred teaching and learning process. That means allowing students to play a bigger role in class, and to have their voices heard and respected more.

But only by looking at the stark contrast between the school headmasters toilets and those of the students as pointed out by Deputy PM ams comment, it is easy to tell that in many schools the centre has not been inverted much. Teachers are still prioritised and students basic needs remain uncared for.

Anyway, a piece of good news came last week when the Chairman of Ha Noi Peoples Committee Nguyen uc Chung pledged that in the next two years, the city would renovate toilets in 2,600 schools in the city with tailor-made facilities that the city has ordered from foreign producers.

It is encouraging that the issue is starting to be taken seriously by the citys leaders even though it is late in the day. Hopefully other provinces and cities will follow suit, so that we will have a sort of a nationwide campaign, something similar to the famous Clean India campaign initiated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his country.

Only then can I let go of the worry that my son, my nephews, and many other children will grow up being haunted by the same nightmare as mine.

After all, education is not just about knowledge, books, or exams. It is also about the excitement and comfort one can enjoy in a healthy environment that makes him or her grow up physically and mentally strong. Dont let a dirty toilet spoil it!  VNS
HA NOI - The 14th National Assembly (NA) plans to hold its second session from October 20 to November 18, according to the NA Standing Committee (NASC) yesterday.

At the second session, the law-making body will discuss and pass four bills and one draft resolution and comment on 14 other laws.

To prepare, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan agreed to a proposal to organise a conference of full-time legislators to debate several crucial law projects.

She stressed the need to ensure the prompt delivery of prepared documents to deputies before the session.

The documents should be supplemented with reports of public concerns, including the settlement of Formosa incident consequences and the monitoring of industrial development in four central provinces, Ngan said.

She suggested creating a group of female parliamentarians and a group of friendship parliamentarians with other countries at the second session.

In the closing meeting, the NA General Secretary Nguyen Hanh Phuc delivered a report reviewing the outcomes of the first session of the 14th NA which was held last month.

The first session of the 14th NA played created a premise for NA activities during its five-year term, said Phuc.

The eight-day meeting decided top leaders of the countries and discussed several important issues, he said.

In the first NA session, deputies reviewed the results of the socio-economic target implementation of the year 2015 and first half of this year.

The Government delivered reports showing shortcomings and hurdles for socio-economic development. The Government gave measures to overcome the shortcomings to reach economic targets by the end of this year, Phuc told the NASC.

Also, the State Audit of Viet Nams reports noted achievements and analysed weakness of financial and budget management.

During the meeting, deputies raised several issues including quality of economic growth, economic restructuring in line with supporting businesses development, and increasing production capacity and competitiveness, Phuc said.  VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made a trip to the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai this noon following a shooting targeting two local leaders the same day.

Before the opening of the provincial Peoples Councils second meeting, Director of the provincial Forest Protection Agency o Cuong Minh arrived at the office of Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Pham Duy Cuong, and shot him.

Minh then moved on to the office of Ngo Ngoc Tuan, Chairman of the provincial Peoples Council and head of the provincial Party Committees Organisation Commission, repeated the act and then shot at himself.

The two victims and the shooter were rushed to the local general hospital in critical condition. They died later at the hospital.

During a working session with the standing board of the provincial Partys Committee, the PM said it is a great loss and an especially serious incident for the country and the locality.

He asked the Ministry of Public Security to work with local police to investigate the incident.

The local public security and defence sectors were also assigned to prevent negative occurrences impacting political stability and social security and safety.

A press conference was held this noon by local authorities on the shooting incident.VNS
HA NOI  An official of the Yen Bai Provinces forest ranger team yesterday shot and killed two provincial leaders before turning the gun on himself in a shooting case authorities are calling especially serious and unprecedented in the country.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made a trip to the northern mountainous province to issue direct instructions for the investigation into the incident.

o Cuong Minh, head of the forest ranger unit of Yen Bai Province, shot Pham Duy Cuong, the provincial party secretary, and Ngo Ngoc Tuan, chairman of the provinces peoples council and head of the provinces personnel committee, before a regular meeting of the peoples council was to begin.

He then shot himself in the head. All three people were rushed to a local hospital but succumbed to their injuries.

A press conference regarding the case was held by local authorities.

Director of the provinces Police Department, Major General ang Tran Chieu said the incident happened quickly. Minh entered Cuongs office first, and after shooting him with a K59 gun left for Tuans room. After shooting Tuan, Minh shot himself in the same room. A total of eight bullets were used in the attack, Chieu said.

The two victims: Pham Duy Cuong (left) and Ngo Ngoc Tuan (right).

He added that Minh was legally equipped with a gun as he was a part of the forest ranger team.

Chairwoman of the provinces Peoples Committee Pham Thi Thanh Tra said the shooter was known to be of a calm demeanour.

Hes a nice person and always fulfills his tasks. Maybe there was one minute when he couldnt control himself, she said.

Regarding the question of whether a personnel organisational issue might be behind the shooting, Tra said she doubted it.

We do plan to merge the forest ranger unit with the forestry unit in the coming time, but its a totally normal policy. We have been strict with following correct procedures, and we do care about the feeling of our colleagues, she said.

Tra said the incident was a horrible one for the province.

Major General Chieu said according to the Criminal Code, since the shooter also died after killing the victims, there will be no prosecution procedures.

Pham Duy Cuong, 58, the provinces party secretary since 2010, had been re-elected to the position in 2015. He had served in a number of posts, such as director of the Yen Bai Cement Factory and of the provincial planning and investment department.

Ngo Ngoc Tuan, 52, was elected as chairman of the provincial legislature in June.

o Cuong Minh, 53, had been appointed head of the forest ranger unit of Yen Bai Province in 2014. In a ceremony to receive his title, he made a promise to local authorities that he would lead the forest ranger force to protect the forests in the province, which cover more than 400,000 hectares.VNS
BINH DUONG  A pregnant woman was killed instantly when a container truck crashed into her motorbike from behind in Di An town in Binh Duong Province yesterday morning.

Le Thi Quyen, 25, of Ha Tinh, who was in her seventh month of pregnancy, was on Song Than Flyover when the giant vehicle hit her, according to witnesses.

The truck driver fled the scene after the accident.

Since July there have been at least 10 traffic accidents involving container trucks in the province.

A large number of container trucks go through Di An to reach the numerous industrial zones in the highly industrialised province, causing many accidents in the town.

According to Tran Thanh Liem, vice chairman of the Binh Duong Peoples Committee, the province contributes 12 percent of the countrys exports.

It also accounts for 12 percent of all container trucks in the country.  VNS
PHU THO  The Viet Nam Road Administration has asked for the Transport Ministrys permission to use the central road maintenance fund to repair Viet Tri Bridge.

Cars with less than seven seats, motorcycles and non-motorised vehicles will be soon allowed to travel on the bridge in the northern Phu Tho Province after the repair work is completed, according to the administration.

The rest of the vehicles will use Hac Tri Bridge.

The cost of the repair work, to be finished before August 20, is estimated to be VN1 billion (US$44,840).

Nguyen Xuan Cuong, the deputy head of the administration, said even after the bridge was opened, they would continue to monitor and propose repair plans to be implemented in a timely manner to ensure smooth and safe transportation.

Earlier, the investor of Hac Tri Bridge sent a report to the Prime Minister and leaders of the Planning and Investment, Finance and Transport ministries, suggesting that the use of the new Hac Tri Bridge be suspended for a few days to find measures to protect the investors interest if people avoided travelling on the bridge.

The investor report came in the wake of an incident in which local residents broke the concrete platform being used to block the old Viet Tri Bridge. They did this so that they could use the old bridge instead of Hac Tri Bridge, in which case they would have to pay high toll, the BOT Joint-Stock Company, the investor said.

The old Viet Tri Bridge had been determined to be in very bad condition, the company said.

A signboard banning vehicles from using the old bridge had been installed, but the local authorities did not have any method to enforce the rule, it said.

According to the company, the toll revenue had fallen sharply after people started avoiding the new bridge from August 1.

Under the approved plan, the toll amounted to VN11.5 billion (US$515,600)per month, but the company collected only VN7 billion to VN8 billion ($314,000 to $358,700) per month, the company said.

Transport Minister Nguyen Hong Truong said the ministry was studying and reassessing the usability of Viet Tri Bridge and would prepare specific plans regarding the use of both bridges, as well as policies to safeguard the financial plans of the investor.  VNS
HA NOI  Vietnamese nurse Nguyen Thi Minh Hong has been honoured by the International Neonatal Nursing Excellence Awards for her efforts to save newborns in a poor work environment over the past 30 years.

Hong, a nurse from Tram Tau District, Yen Bai Province and Nigerian nurse Adeyemo Abass Kola were singled out for the prize among neonatal nurses nominated by their peers and employers in 14 countries.

The awards were presented at the opening ceremony of the ninth Conference of International Neonatal Nurses (COINN) in Vancouver, Canada.

Mr Kola and Mrs Hong have inspired us with their leadership and their passion. If more neonatal nurses were properly supported, trained, and supplied with essential medicines and tools, we could help ensure that every newborn  no matter where  had the chance to survive birth and get a good start on life, said Carole Kenner, COINNs chief executive officer.

Hong started working in the rural district of Tram Tau in 1982, one of the countrys 62 most impoverished districts, serving a primarily ethnic minority Hmong population. Poor roads, local customs, and language barriers have impeded access to and knowledge of good health practices around birth in the region.

Every day, she travels nearly two hours to her clinic each day, providing checkups to mothers and newborns, assisting with deliveries, and conducting family planning consultations.

Hong has helped drive a change in cultural beliefs that discourage expecting mothers from visiting health clinics. She has learned the Hmong language, which has increased trust in the nurses and doctors who interact with the patients. As a result, pregnant women are increasingly seeking antenatal care at clinics, and more births are being attended by skilled health workers.

The work is hard and travel is difficult, Hong said But I love this job. When a delivery is done I feel so happy to welcome a new baby. And if the baby is not well, we take care of them and they get healthy after our care and I feel so honoured about that.

In Viet Nam, the care for newborns and mothers has remarkably improved over the past few years. However, the mortality rate of newborns among regions and ethnic groups shows a significant gap. In 2014, the number of deaths of newborns under one month old in ethnic minority groups was three times higher than that in the majority group, says the UNICEFs 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys.

According to 2015 United Nations estimates, nearly half of child deaths under age 5 occur in the first month of life. The recently adopted United Nations Sustainable Development Goals include a commitment to reduce neonatal mortality to a rate of 12 or less per 1,000 live births by 2030 and for some countries this requires more than doubling their rate of current progress.  VNS
HCM CITY  The chairman of HCM City Peoples Committee has asked all city districts to strengthen enforcement of traffic laws as the number of accidents and fatalities rose dramatically in the first seven months of the year.

Speaking at a meeting on Tuesday about the situation, Nguyen Thanh Phong said that city districts had yet to ensure traffic safety, which was their main task.

As the head of traffic safety board in districts, do you (chairs of peoples committees) not see the seriousness of the problem? As many as 396 people have died due to traffic accidents in the first six months, he said.

 It is vital to have solutions right now, he added.

District authorities were told to speed up construction of traffic works and repair of roads, which often causes.

The citys population has increased to 12 million, but traffic infrastructure has not developed well, leading to accidents and jams, one of the major problems in the city, Phong said.

Phong approved the citys Traffic Safety Boards proposal to set up two teams including staff of relevant agencies for surveillance of traffic safety.

Communication on traffic safety issues will be broadcast on the citys television channel.

More cameras will be installed at the citys gateway districts where nearly 65 per cent of traffic accidents occur.

Accidents often occur in districts 2, 9, 12, Binh Tan, Thu uc, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi and Binh Chanh, many of which have narrow roads.

Nguyen Ngoc Tuong, deputy head of the city Traffic Safety Board, reported that more than 2,150 traffic accidents had occurred in the city the years first seven months, an increase of 79 cases compared to the same period last year.

The accidents killed 461 people, up 66 over the same period last year.

Illegal road and pavement encroachment also contributes to unsafe conditions, including the death of pedestrians.

Tuong said that the public had a poor awareness of traffic laws, a major contributor to accidents.

In the first six months of the year, about 1,000 motorbikes and 100 cars were added to city streets.

Speed limit

The Ministry of Transports Circular No.91, which took effect on March 1, led to an increase of traffic accidents on many streets, especially highways.

The circular raised driving speed of 40 kilometres per hour to 60 kilometres per hour for motorbikes. For cars, it was raised to 80 kilometres per hour from 60 kilometres per hour.

In a city with many vehicles and intersections, drivers find it difficult to keep a safe distance from vehicles that are now going faster, Tuong said.

For example, the number of traffic accidents on Vo Van Kiet Highway increased by 10 after the speed limit was raised.

He asked the committee to request permission from the government to adjust the speed limit. VNS
BINH INH - The Committee for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue in the central Binh inh Province has said three local fishing boats off Hoai Nhon District were in distress at sea.

The vessel B 96552 TS, headed by Truong Van Nam and manned by 13 crew members, was drifting in the sea following engine failure on Monday.

The vessel had not received any help as of yesterday morning, the committees office said.

The office has asked border guards, the fisheries department and the peoples committee of Hoai Nhon District to contact the boat and to ask for help from nearby vessels.

In another instance, a boat could not reach the shore after its engine failed, when the crew members were fishing on Tuesday.

Engine failure also prevented a third vessel from reaching the shore, while it was on the way to Tam Quan Port.

The committee reported the incidents to the national committee and called for help from agencies in neighbouring provinces. - VNS
AK NONG  People living around Ea Dier stream in this central highland (Tay Nguyen) province are concerned about the local environment, as the streams water has turned black, smells foul and has left many fish dead.

Dan Tri online newspaper reported on the situation in the area.

Ngo Ba Gon, Vice Chairman of the Peoples Committee in the provinces ak Nongs Cu Jut District, yesterday also confirmed the phenomenon after visiting the scene based on the reports of local residents.

The authorities also warned residents not to fish in or use the streams water, noting it would report the problem to the provincial agency.

Many residents suspected a pig farm of Green Farm Asia Co., Ltd, located upstream, is the source of the streams unusual condition.

On receiving the report, the provincial Natural Resources and Environment Department said it would work with the relevant agencies to inspect the area around the stream and the company.

The company revealed its wastewater had overflowed into the stream as a section of its sewage system was broken a week ago.

The company said it was trying to collect the wastewater and find a solution for the problem.

A department official said the company would be fined and forced to deal with the situation if its wastewater caused environmental pollution.  VNS
HA NOI  Ha Noi Police Department has proposed banning all vehicles from operating in the area around Hoan Kiem Lake during weekends to create more space for pedestrians.

Colonel ao Vinh Thang, head of Ha Noi Traffic Police Department, said Hoan Kiem Lake was a cultural and historical site that attracted both locals and tourists. Thus, the creation of a quiet environment for pedestrians, free from the noise and dust of vehicles, would help visitors enjoy the lake view.

inh Tien Hoang, Le Thai To and Hang Khay will be reserved for pedestrians accordingly.

Explaining the need for the ban on weekends, Thang said there was heavy traffic in the area from Monday to Friday, and it only decreased over the weekend. Thus, the ban should only be applied during the weekends to allow more foot traffic, he said.

The ban has received support from the citys police department. The proposal has been submitted to the citys Peoples Committee for approval.

Le Ngoc Lan, a resident of Hang Ma Street, said the ban was a great idea as it would create a peaceful environment for those who love walking around the lake like he does.

I walk around the lake every day as a way of exercising and reducing stress. However, the noise of vehicles and the smoke they discharge is really annoying, especially when I take a seat in front of the lake, he said.

The problem, Lan said, was to arrange for parking lots for visitors and to manage them well to avoid overcharging for tickets. This sometimes happened in the pedestrian streets of the Old Quarter due to the modest number of parking lots.

Ten pedestrian streets have been opened in the Old Quarter of Ha Noi since 2004, and these have become popular places for visitors to experience the street life of the capital.  VNS
The 12th International Travel Expo HCM City, to be held from September 8 to 10, will welcome travel bloggers from Denmark, France, Finland, Norway, and the UK, who will share their experiences of promoting tourism on social media.

In its 11 years, the Expo has opened up cooperative opportunities in tourism for five centres of Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, Yangon and HCM City.

This year the event is expected to attract over 30,000 participants, an increase of 20 to 30 per cent compared to last year.

Nguyen Bao Anh, Deputy Director of the HCM City Tourism Promotion Centre, said that the city was trying to improve the tourism environment, ensuring security and supporting visitors. -- VNS
ROME  Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on an Italian island on Monday to discuss the EUs way forward after Britains shock vote to quit the bloc.

The gathering on the island of Ventotene comes three weeks before an informal EU summit in Bratislava, which is to be held without Britain and is intended to map out a post-Brexit course for the European Union.

Renzi chose the small island off Naples as the meeting place for Mondays talks because of the role Ventotene played in the EUs founding history, the Italian government said in a statement Wednesday.

The island served as a prison for political opponents of the countrys fascist government during World War II, and it was there that inmates Ernesto Rossi and Altiero Spinelli co-wrote the "Ventotene Manifesto", considered by many to be a key driver behind the movement for European unification.

The 1941 manifesto called for a federation of European states which would create a bond between the member countries and prevent war.

Britain stunned Europe when it voted to leave the bloc in a referendum two months ago, triggering debate about the groupings future and the need for reforms.

At their first post-referendum talks in late June, Hollande, Merkel and Renzi  the leaders of the eurozones three largest economies  urged "a new impulse" for the EU.

Last month, Renzi said the Brexit vote was "a political defeat" for Europe and a "wake-up call" that showed urgent change was needed.  AFP
He weighs in on the condition of the markets since the lifting of the crude exports ban. We asked him:
The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors will hold its quarterly board meeting at 1:15 p.m., Monday, Aug. 29, in the Board Room of Torgersen Hall (Room 2100) on the Blacksburg campus.

On Sunday, Aug. 28, the boards Executive Committee will meet in closed session from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. in the 1872 Salon at the Inn at Virginia Tech. From 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., an open information session will be held in the Solitude Room at the Inn at Virginia Tech. The Research Committee will then meet in open session from 3:45 to 5 p.m. in the Duck Pond Room, also at the Inn at Virginia Tech.

On Monday, Aug. 29, the following committee sessions will be held at the Inn at Virginia Tech (unless otherwise noted):

The Academic Affairs Committee will hold a breakfast meeting in open session at 7:15 a.m. in the Old Guard Salon. The committee will meet in closed session at 8:30 a.m. in the Drillfield Room, followed by an open session at 9 a.m. at the same location.



will hold a breakfast meeting in open session at 7:15 a.m. in the Old Guard Salon. The committee will meet in closed session at 8:30 a.m. in the Drillfield Room, followed by an open session at 9 a.m. at the same location. The Buildings and Grounds Committee will depart from the Inn at Virginia Tech at 8 a.m. to tour of the New River Regional 911 Emergency Communications Center (1 East Main Street, Christiansburg, Virginia). The committee will meet in open session at 10 a.m. in the Solitude Room. At 11:15 a.m., the committee will meet jointly with the Finance and Audit Committee in open session in the Duck Pond Room.

will depart from the Inn at Virginia Tech at 8 a.m. to tour of the New River Regional 911 Emergency Communications Center (1 East Main Street, Christiansburg, Virginia). The committee will meet in open session at 10 a.m. in the Solitude Room. At 11:15 a.m., the committee will meet jointly with the Finance and Audit Committee in open session in the Duck Pond Room. The Finance and Audit Committee will meet in closed session at 7:30 a.m. in the 1872 Salon and will meet in open session at 8:30 a.m. in the Duck Pond Room before joining the Buildings and Grounds Committee at 11:15 a.m.

will meet in closed session at 7:30 a.m. in the 1872 Salon and will meet in open session at 8:30 a.m. in the Duck Pond Room before joining the Buildings and Grounds Committee at 11:15 a.m. The Student Affairs and Athletics Committee will meet in open session at 8 a.m. in the Smithfield Room.

During the two-day meeting, board members will receive a presentation on the proposed Virginia Tech Carilion Health Sciences and Technology campus in Roanoke located in the Roanoke Health Sciences and Technology Innovation District and resolutions on the demolition of two Corps of Cadets buildings as part of a project to upgrade corps facilities.

More information may be found at the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors website.
AirAsia India, owned jointly by Tata Sons and Malaysias AirAsia Bhd, is expanding its fleet to 20 aircraft, which would allow it to fly abroad. It board of directors approved new funding into the airline this month.
Power Grid Corporation of India beat the market estimate by a 33 per cent rise in net profit for the June quarter. I S JHA, chairman and managing director, talks to Sanjay Jog & Hamsini Karthik about what is ahead. Edited excerpts:



What will be your capital expenditure this financial year?



The target is Rs 22,550 to Rs 23,000 crore, of which Rs 7,000 was achieved till July (first four months). So, we are on track. The balance Rs 15,000 crore will be comfortably achieved. Nearly 70 per cent will be mobilised from debt.
Unequal Budget funding for the Yes vote wont give Australians equal say If you seek to ensure not all Australians get an equal say in the debate about an enshrined voice, then dont be surprised when millions of them cry foul about the integrity of the result.

Heartbreaking family update after mother-of-six was killed in horror crash Hannah Fraser's father and stepmother are trying to make it from the United Kingdom to Australia in time for their daughter's funeral.

Firefighter unions latest message to Andrews Government More than a hundred fire trucks in Victoria will carry pointed messages about the Andrews Government as part of a union campaign in the lead up to next month's state election.

Family of Aboriginal teen who died in apparent suicide after sexual abuse back calls for inquiry Police believe 15-year-old Layla Leering took her own life after being raped in the Northern Territory community of Bulla in 2015.
CEDAR FALLS  A longtime bar and restaurant operator said hes making way for the owners of a fire-damaged establishment to take over his restaurant on College Hill.

Darin Beck says the operators of Gingers Pub, 925 W. 22nd St., have bought out the remaining 16 months on his lease at Becks, 2210 College St., and some equipment.

The transaction will close next Wednesday, Beck said. Becks on College Hill will close Saturday night.

Gingers operator Kyle Dehmlow said he hopes to reopen in the 2210 College location by late September as an entirely new establishment.

Were going to spend some time and effort to bring a whole new concept to College Hill, Dehmlow said, noting it would be too difficult to recreate Gingers at the new site.

Gingers was damaged by an April fire that destroyed the adjacent Great Wall restaurant at College and West 22nd streets. The pub sustained smoke and water damage and has not reopened.

Our lease was going to expire next year, and I dont have any options left to renew my lease, Beck said.

Meanwhile he said, Gingers had pretty bad damage. Its a pretty big loss. Theyve been trying to find a way to relocate. And so they came and said, Would you consider leaving early? They bought the remainder of my lease and some equipment.

Dehmlow said he could not wait longer for insurance disposition on current Gingers property.

Asked if that Becks location reopen somewhere, Beck said. We havent ruled out that option. We enjoy being in Cedar Falls. There is a Becks Taproom & Grill at 3925 University Ave. in Waterloo.

Metro-area developer Brent Dahlstrom, who has several properties in the College Hill area, said he owns both the present Gingers and Becks College Hill locations.
WATERLOO  Jurors heard about the practice of gunshot residue testing as the retrial continued in the 2013 shooting death of a Waterloo teen.

Perquondis Holmes, 25, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old DaeQuan Campbell.

Prosecutors said Campbell was driving a Toyota Camry with three passengers that followed Ford Mustang driven by Dejoni Norris, a friend of Holmes, with the intention of fighting him.

The Mustang pulled into a parking lot behind an apartment building where Holmes family lived, and two Camry passengers said they were waiting and watching the Mustang when they saw Holmes walk up to the Camry and begin firing.

The Camry accelerated into a row of detached garages, and Campbell died of two gunshot wounds. A passing motorist testified she saw Holmes and Norris in the Mustang leaving the area moments after the shooting.

The defense alleges Norris, who wasnt charged, was the actual gunman and said he was acting in self defense when the Camry drove at him. The defense also suggested a gun inside the Camry may have accidentally fired.

Throughout much of the trial, defense attorney Robert Montgomery has been pressing police officers, crime lab technicians and investigators on the use of gunshot residue tests. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation quit processing such test kits years ago, and none were collected in the investigation into Campbells slaying.

Montgomery asked investigators why they didnt test Norris hands to see if he shot or test people in the Camry for the residue to see if there was a second gun involved.

Police said that while the science behind the tests is good, the results arent always of value to an investigation and do little to shed light on how why the residue is present.

On Wednesday, the defense called gunshot residue expert Robert S. White to the stand. White is a former West Virginia police officer and had been director of that states Crime Identification Bureau.

I think its extremely good evidence. Ive been in many cases where it saved peoples lives, White said.

Montgomery asked if investigators would expect to find gunshot residue inside an enclosed car that had been shot from the outside from a distance.

Shooting 15 feet away through a car, I would not expect to find any residue inside the car, White said.

White said gunshot residue can be transferred through handing off a recently fired gun, touching a gunshot victim or touching clothing with residue.

Interpretation about how it got there, whether it was shooting a gun or standing near a gun, you cant tell that, White said.

Whites testimony was taken before the state rested its case because of scheduling issues.
WATERLOO  Authorities are seeking the publics help in locating a man who walked away from the halfway house where he was serving time for theft and assault.

Mikal Dequavious Davis, 22, had been serving part of a 20-year sentence at the Waterloo Work Release Facility for assault causing serious injury, first- and second-degree theft, second- and third-degree burglary and possession of marijuana. He was released on a furlough and failed to return on Wednesday, according to the Iowa Department of Corrections

Davis is described as a black male with black hair and brown eyes. He is 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds with tattoos on his hands, forearms and neck.

Davis was convicted in a September 2013 incident where he and another person allegedly punched, kicked and stomped on a man before taking his cell phone. He began serving his prison sentence in June 2014 and was placed on work release on June 22, 2016.
WATERLOO -- Officers recovered a stolen handgun, stolen cell phone and a stolen vehicle following a brief foot chase Wednesday.

A Waterloo man told police someone took his 1999 Ford Crown Victoria when he briefly parked it with the keys inside to drop off his daughter at day care on West Fourth Street around 11:45 a.m. Wednesday. In place of the Ford was bike, according to police.

Officers later located the vehicle in the 1000 block of Mulberry Street and found Mopreme Vychon Todd-Harris, 17, in the front passenger seat, said Capt. David Mohlis with the Waterloo Police Department. Todd-Harris ran off and was detained a short time later.

Police found a Huawei smartphone that belonged to the Crown Victoria owner and had been inside the vehicle on Todd-Harris. They also discovered a Taurus handgun under the seat where Todd-Harris had been sitting in the Crown Victoria. The gun was reported stolen in Cedar Rapids earlier, Mohlis said.

Todd-Harris, of 252 Baltimore St., was arrested for second- and third- degree theft in connection with the stolen vehicle and the stolen cell phone. He was also arrested for interference for allegedly fleeing. He is charged as an adult.
WATERLOO -- A teen has been arrested on a firearms charge in connection with gunfire outside a Lafayette Street grocery store earlier this month.

Waterloo police arrested Gavin James Kime, 17, on Tuesday for felon in possession of a firearm. Kime is charged as an adult.

According to police, brothers London and Marquan Briner had just left Cork's Grocery at about 8:06 p.m. on Aug. 3 when a people in passing vehicle yelled at them, drove off and then returned. London Briner noticed Kime in the passenger seat with a 9mm Smith and Wesson pistol in his lap pointed toward Briner, court records state.

London Briner allegedly wrestled the handgun away from Kime, and the car pulled away. As the vehicle left, someone inside, apparently using a second gun, shot at the brothers, and London Briner returned fire with one shot.

The Smith and Wesson was then turned over to a store employee, who handed it to police when they arrived.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

While police were interviewing the brothers, Kime allegedly sent a Facebook message to Marquan Briner demanded the return of the gun and saying when he catches the person who took it, it will be over, court records state.

Kime is prohibited from handling firearms because of a 2015 adjudication for first-degree theft in juvenile court, according to court records.
WATERLOO  Reaction times took center stage as the defense continued its testimony Wednesday in the trial for a Denver man accused of killing a Waterloo resident last year.

Assistant Black Hawk County Attorney Brad Walz said Steve William Fordyce, 38, shot and killed an unarmed Donald Harrington, 43, on Locust Street following neighborhood dispute. Fordyce is charged with first-degree murder.

Defense attorney Christopher Kragnes said Fordyce, who had a permit to carry weapons, was defending himself and his sister when the larger Harrington threatened to kill him and rushed at him.

An attacker can run 21 feet in the 1.5 seconds it takes to react, draw a gun and fire, said Emanuel Kapelsohn, who took the stand Wednesday as the defenses second expert witness.

Kapelsohn  a Pennsylvania attorney who offers firearm and use-of-force training and consulting through his company, The Peregrine Corp.  said when a person carrying a gun is attacked, there is always the danger the assailant will seize the weapon and use it.

With Kragnes wielding an orange toy gun, Kapelsohn demonstrated for the court how from a short distance he could easily take control of a weapon before Kragnes could pull the trigger.

In training, we call things like fists, feet and forearms and elbows personal weapons. Its not necessary that the attacker have a weapon in the traditional sense of an object. It can be their own body as the weapon, to strangle someone, kick someone to death or beat someone to death, Kapelsohn said.

Earlier testimony in the trial showed there was evidence Harrington was shot from about four feet away, and Kapelsohn said a person is in danger being that close to an assailant.

Someone with a firearm is in great danger, great jeopardy, from someone four feet away for a number of reasons, Kapelsohn said. The person who moves first is already in motion when the defender sees that movement, and the person has to see that movement and process it  and then decide what to do about it.

Fordyce has waived his right to a jury, allowing a judge to determine guilt. Testimony is scheduled to continue today.
HAMPTON  Two men testified Wednesday Mark Retterath of Osage asked them to help him kill a man who had accused him of sexual abuse.

Retterath, 52, is being tried on charges of attempted murder, solicitation to commit murder and third-degree sexual abuse. The case was moved from Mitchell County to Franklin County.

A 20-year-old former Osage resident now living in Sioux City, who described himself as a recovering drug addict, said he has known Rettearth for several years.

The witness said Retterath began talking about killing his accuser in February 2015, not long after he bonded out of jail following his arrest.

The witness himself accused Retterath of sexual abuse several months later; a trial is pending. However, that information is barred from being mentioned to the jury during Retteraths current trial.

The witness said he told Rettearth about an episode of the TV series Breaking Bad in which a character killed someone by extracting the deadly toxin ricin from castor beans and mixing it with a drug.

Retterath allegedly later showed the witness instructions he got online for extracting ricin from castor beans.

He seemed pretty excited, the witness said.

The witness said he also saw the castor beans Retterath ordered.

The witness said he was supposed to get heroin so Retterarth could mix the ricin with it. Retterarth also allegedly asked the witness to take the ricin-laced heroin to the home of the addicted man he wanted to kill and leave it for him to find.

However, in June 2015 the witness told a Mitchell County sheriffs deputy about the castor beans.

When questioned by Retteraths attorney, Angela Campbell, the witness admitted the man who accused Retterath, who was an acquaintance of the witness, gave him money so he could get drugs for him. The witness said he took the money but never gave him drugs.

The witness also admitted he thinks Retterath told his father about his involvement with drugs.

Another witness, Stacyville resident Aaron Sellers, said after Retterath was arrested for sexual abuse in February 2015, he began talking to him about killing his accuser and asked for help.

Sellers said he told him, Ill think about it.

He said he didnt think Retterath was guilty at the time. Sellers also said he felt a sense of loyalty to Retterath, who had helped him out since he moved to Mitchell County after getting out of federal prison, where he served an 11-year sentence on drugs and weapons charges.

Sellers said during a phone conversation, Retterath asked him to write down a list of items for him. He later gave the list to Retterath.

The list, later found in Retteraths house, includes items such as duct tape, garbage bags, a power cord, five-gallon containers of gasoline and tarps.

Sellers, responding to a question from Campbell, denied the items on the list were things he wanted Retterath to pick up for him.

Officers also found castor beans and instructions for extracting ricin from them during a search warrant. Those officers were among the other witnesses who testified Wednesday.

Judge Gregg Rosenbladt denied a defense motion for a mistrial Wednesday after a witness alluded to a second alleged sexual abuse victim of the defendant.

Rosenbladt said the mention of a second alleged victim was brief and so vague that it would be difficult for the jury to even know what the comment meant.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Wendi Smith said she did not run out of her burning Evansdale home in 2015, the day two construction workers ran into her home and saved her children. She said she yelled for help from the door. The information was contained in a nomination for a valor award for the construction workers.

DES MOINES  Two construction workers were honored with state lifesaving awards for their efforts to save two small children from an Evansdale house fire in 2015.

Gov. Terry Branstad recognized 10 individuals for unselfish service to others at the Iowa State Fair on Thursday, including Travis Moen of Janesville and Ryan Siems of Waverly, who earned Lifesaving with Valor awards.

The two were working on a driveway on Bellefontaine Avenue in Evansdale on April 6, 2015. Wendi Smith yelled from her door that there was a fire and she needed help to get her children out of the home.

The two dropped their tools and entered the duplex, running upstairs in search of two children.

They found 3-year-old Cody hiding in a bedroom in the rear of the home. Unable to locate 5-year-old Callie, they returned to the main floor, despite the intense heat and smoke. Callie was located in the living room.

Both children were reunited with their mother as the Evansdale Fire Department arrived to respond to the significant structure fire.

Fire officials said without their acts the children likely would have not survived the fire.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 1965 Voting Rights Act provision calling for jurisdictions with histories of voter discrimination to get federal preclearance to change the means of registration and hold elections, much mischief has been afoot.

Preclearance was required because states and localities  primarily in the South, but elsewhere  systematically erected barriers to the right to vote, such as the infamous poll tax, which required a fee to register but was waived for anyone whose ancestors voted prior to the abolition of slavery.

Contrived literacy tests also denied minorities and poor whites the right to vote as well as many women following the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.

The Voting Rights Act aimed to remedy that, but nearly a half-century later many Southern states chafed at federal oversight, claiming the dawn of a new day.

In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed by a 5-4 majority in Shelby County, Ala., v. Holder, stating, The conditions that originally justified these measures no longer characterize voting in the covered jurisdictions.

Since then some Republican-controlled state legislatures have enacted voting restrictions federal courts have stated targeted minorities.

Democrats, meanwhile, have opened the voting floodgates with nary any restrictions.

Georgia is accused in a federal lawsuit of removing 372,000 voters from the rolls the past two years.

The Hancock County Board of Elections and Registration, according to The New York Times, was systematically questioning the registrations of more than 180 black Sparta citizens  a fifth of its registered voters  by dispatching deputies with summonses commanding them to appear in person to prove their residence or lose their voting rights.

Alabama closed 31 drivers license offices in predominantly rural African-American areas, ostensibly to save costs. After facing legal action claiming it was trying to reduce African-American voter registration, the state opened those offices for at least one day per month.

The 1993 federal Motor Voter Law requires motor vehicle and public assistance offices to provide voter registration.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently struck down North Carolinas Voter Information Verification Act, stating its provisions deliberately target African-Americans with almost surgical precision.

The lawmakers, the court wrote, requested data on the use, by race, of a number of voting practices.

In Wisconsin, federal district court Judge James D. Peterson ruled provisions in its 2011 reform law unconstitutional, writing, The Wisconsin experience demonstrates that a preoccupation with mostly phantom election fraud leads to real incidents of disenfranchisement which undermine rather than enhance confidence in elections.

In North Dakota, U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland overturned a 2013 reform law that reduced the IDs available for voters, potentially disenfranchising 3,800 Native Americans. Voter fraud in North Dakota has been virtually non-existent, he wrote.

In Texas, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos overturned a 2011 state law that went into effect in 2013 that would have made it mandatory to show an ID to vote in the November general election. Previously, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals found Texas voter ID law was racially discriminatory.

Voter fraud has been an ongoing Republican concern since supposed Chicago Democratic Machine shenanigans may have made the difference in Illinois in the 1960 presidential election, although Richard Nixon still would not have defeated John F. Kennedy for the White House.

While safeguarding the voting process is noble in intent, using the pretext of fraud to disenfranchise minorities is politics at its most devious. Indeed, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama are doing their best to show the U.S. Supreme Court its decision on preclearance was naive and ill-considered.

On the other side of the spectrum, liberal Oregon has taken the lead in sending postcards out for voter registration after issuing drivers licenses. Four other states have followed suit and 28 are considering it. They either have Democratic-controlled legislatures or Republican ones in predominantly white states (such as Vermont and West Virginia).

Delaware took the postal service out of the equation and registers voters when issuing drivers licenses, assessing the eligibility of the voter on site.

Oregon, Colorado and Washington have banished machines and cast ballots by mail.

All that sounds almost too good to be true.

While we support of efforts to have the walls that keep people from voting come tumbling down, were also wary of simplistic systems that could be targets for fraud without foolproof controls built in.
Vote for Vernon

CEDAR FALLS -- Iowa families deserve a representative in Congress who fights for what we have worked so hard to build. Im tired of empty promises and campaign rhetoric. I want real commitment and real action from our member of Congress. Monica Vernon is that person. She will work to protect the Social Security and Medicare benefits that so many of us worked hard to earn and now rely on. Monica Vernon will stop the endless chipping away of the middle class and fight to make the economy work for all of us, not just corporations and special interests. Iowans are hard workers and its time to elect a member of Congress in the First District who will put us first.
If you have opinions about the subject matter of posts on this blog please share them. Do you have a story about how the system affects you at work school or home, or just in general? This is a place to share it.
By Bill Hughes Aug. 16, 2016 | 06:14 PM | HOPKINSVILLE, KY





It's just over a year away, and excitement is building in Hopkinsville for the 2017 solar eclipse.On the morning of August 21, 2017, a full solar eclipse will darken the skies of North America, and its path will cross over our area. The greatest duration of the total eclipse - two minutes and forty seconds - will be in Hopkinsville, but it will be viewable for over two minutes in most of western Kentucky and southern Illinois.Hopkinsville Police Department's Public Information Officer Paul Ray said they have been planning for months, and the city government has been planning for years - since they knew the eclipse was going to happen.Ray said, "They have gone as far as contacting other places in other parts of the world that have experienced an eclipse like this in the past, just to find out what went right, what went wrong, just to make this as successful as we possibly can."Ray said their department has been planning with local city and county governments on logistics for that week. Hopkinsville PD has 78 sworn officers, but they will be working with the Christian County Sheriff's Department, Kentucky State Police, other agencies, and Community Emergency Response Teams of volunteers."Putting all of our efforts together, we feel in this planning stage that we not only can handle what is coming in, but also do what we do on a daily basis, and that is protecting the citizens of Hopkinsville," Ray said.Hopkinsville Police will be working twelve-hour shifts instead of eight, as well. Ray said the city has been discussing necessary budgeting to cover the increased payroll expense during that time.Other area cities are planning ahead, too. The Lake Barkley/Lyon County area has a meeting Wednesday at 10 am at the Lyon County Exceptional Center in Eddyville. Businesses and city leaders in Carbondale are also meeting Wednesday morning for breakfast and to discuss plans for next August.
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This website is all about The Beatles and the individual members of The Beatles. It is kept by Roger Stormo, who has been associated with the Norwegian Beatles fan club, "Norwegian Wood", since 1980. Feel free to quote from the site, but please give me credit and a link back to the original item. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This is not a news site per se, but if we hear about something that has yet to be reported by other Beatles news services, we tend to write about it. Apart from that, we will write stuff about the Beatles on an irregular basis at the whim of the author. A lot of our readers arrive at specific articles from internet searches or references to this site from forums and other Beatles sites. If you did, we encourage you to click here to access the main page, and also to indulge in our archives - you may find other posts that are interesting. You may also subscribe to news from the site and have each new issue delivered to your rss feed reader.

This is not a begging letter... but feel free to support me by donating money! It'll keep me in business... Or just buy a t-shirt! Or take a look at my Amazon wish list ...If you have Beatles related product to push, feel free to send us a copy, the address is:Roger StormoBaglergata 21BNO-2004 LillestrmNORWAYemail: roger.stormo@gmail.com We can't promise that your product will be featured on the site, but it stands a better chance than the ones we don't get...
After sixteen days touring the interior west and west coast of the United States with my family I am back in New York City. Well, actually, I got back a couple of days ago but between catching up on sleep, having to go to work, and dealing with a health issue this is my first chance to write about the trip at all. And, let me tell you, it was an amazing trip with gorgeous scenery, lots of cool mammals, and, of course, a whole big bunch of birds!

Ill give a brief rundown of where we were and what we did in this post and delve into details in later posts. We started our trip in Colorado where we spent the night and half a day exploring Denver before heading to Breckenridge where my aunt and uncle have a house they were kind enough to let us use for a few days. For an east coast birder that lives at sea level it was pretty exciting to wake up at 10,500 feet in the Rocky Mountains and see the stuff coming to the feeder.

This Pine Grosbeak was just one of the cool birds that came in to take advantage of the feeder.

From Colorado we headed north, west and north to our next destination, a rental in Teton Village, conveniently located just south of Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. Our time there was easily my favorite of the trip what with the breathtaking landscapes, amazing mammals, and our first ever geysers. The birds werent high on the agenda while we were in Wyoming but I still managed to see some.

I didnt have much light to work with but a male Western Tanager cant be ignored.

When we left Wyoming we headed west across Idaho making a stop at Craters of the Moon National Monument and spending the night further west still in Boise. I saw few birds in Idaho mostly because of our lack of time but a couple of rest stops did provide a few highlights.

I first saw Sage Thrashers in Colorado but this one at a rest stop in Idaho was the most cooperative one that I spotted.

From Boise we headed still further west, driving through all of eastern Oregon, racing to get to Shady Cove where my in-laws were meeting us. While in Oregon we explored Crater Lake National Park (pictured at the top of this post) and went rafting. We also did some plain old relaxing, you know, like normal people do on vacations?

Clarks Nutcrackers are one of my favorite birds. This one was at Crater Lake National Park.

Once we said our good-byes to Oregon we headed to Crescent City, California, in the northwestern edge of the state, from which we explored Redwoods National Park and the plethora of state parks in the area. My first looks at redwoods took my breath away and I dont think my brain has yet processed the ridiculousness of such huge trees. We made our way south after a couple of days and, after a hike in Muir Woods National Monument said farewell to the in-laws and our son who is spending a couple of weeks with his cousins. Then Daisy and I spent the afternoon being tourists in San Francisco before I dropped her at the airport that evening. I headed over to Steves to crash for a couple of nights sandwiched between a pelagic and a days shorebirding. Then I flew home on a red eye because I had to be at work the next morning.

You will be hearing a lot about birds I saw on the pelagic trip so I thought I would represent California with a Long-billed Curlew instead.

All-in-all it was an epic road trip around the west. Desi was remarkably well-behaved for a six-year-old who had to spend a lot of time in the car on long drives and we managed to avoid disasters except for a speeding ticket and my butt giving out on me from all the driving (the aforementioned health issue). I dont know if wed be so ambitious in terms of number of destinations in so short a time again but Im really glad we did the trip and I highly recommend a journey across the west to anyone who has yet to visit our national treasures out there.

Stay tuned for many more blog posts about this trip
The country of Mexico as a whole, is host to 27 different species of doves, with the California Baja Sur home to six. The Baja, as it is known, is a truly diverse area. There is of course the dry, cactus strewn desert areas, but with mountains up to 7000 feet, the habitat for our local birds is quite varied. We have expanse saltwater lagoons, Rocky ocean shores, and fresh water streams and lakes. This diversity allows for a nice group of doves to both live full time, as well as support a migratory population traveling down from the cold northern part of the US. With a large number of sub-species in many of these doves, I have listed the actual sub-species for this area.

Our most common, and largest dove, is the White-winged Dove, Zenalda asiatica mernsi. While the White-winged Dove is a resident of the southern half of the US and all of Mexico, in the past few years it has been expanding it territory north towards Canada.

The regal White-winged Dove with its beautiful blue orbital ring.

The second most common, is in fact the Common Ground Dove, Columbinia passerine pallescens. This is also, without a doubt, our smallest of our doves. It is often seen in company of the much larger White-winged Doves, where I am often asked if it is a baby. Weighing in at 30 grams, and less than 6 inch in over all length, this is a very small ground dweller. As of the last few days, I have a lovely young couple, with a nest right out side my gallery door, in a palm tree. The feature photo for this story is also of the Common Ground Dove

Here is a nice look at the rufous primaries of the Common Ground Dove

A common migratory species, is the Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura marginella. While considered a migratory bird for this area, we do have a few the summer over. I guess they like the area as much as I do! Many of the birds that do stay year round tend to congregate around the mangrove trees. It is possible that the dense growth allows for great protection and nesting areas.

A couple of our local resident Mourning Doves

In the southern half of the Baja, especially around the brackish water lagoons, you will find the Ruddy Ground Dove, Columbina talpaloti elute. Very similar to the Common Ground Dove, but with out the obvious scaling on the breast. They are slightly larger, and have a somewhat longer tail.

These Ruddy Ground Doves were found in the saltwater lagoon near San Jose Del Cabo.

A very rare visitor to the Baja, but worth mentioning, as I have seen them 3 or 4 times, is the Inca Dove, Columbina inca. The dramatically longer tail is the first point of recognition. In the photos below you can see the difference in the tails.

Of course, I will need to mention our local import, now spreading its way across North America, much like the English House Sparrow and the European Starling have, the Eurasian Collared-dove, Streptopelia decaocto decaocto. This lovely dove has been imported from Europe, and is found living mostly in the suburban areas of North America, and Mexico.
Aug 18, 2016 | By Alec

3D printing is becoming huge in Australia. Though not exactly known as a 3D printing hotspot a few years ago, in part thanks to shipping limitations, the country is quickly catching up. Among others, Aussie researchers are at the forefront of 3D bioprinting innovation (with the Aussie government supporting those efforts with a forthcoming research center), while Australian industries have become an important target for 3D printing companies as well. But its not just about importation, as Aussie 3D printing specialists are also making a name for themselves. This is perfectly illustrated by Aurora Labs, who commenced its first day of trading on the ASX on Aug 16, raising $2.8m AUD in its initial public offering.

This is not that surprising, as Aurora Labs has been a bright light in the Australian metal 3D printing sector since its foundation. Based in Perth, Western Australia, they have been working on a very promising large-format and hugely fast metal 3D printing system for some time now  which even caught NASAs eye about a year ago. The company itself was started when CEO and co-founder David Budge was tinkering with rocket systems. The company started two years ago when some friends and I were building rocket motors and we decided to make a 3D metal printer, Budge explains. After that I said to co-founders Jess Snelling and Wil Crisp, would you guys be interested in creating a start-up company, and they said yes. Fast forward two years, and theyre ready to take over the global metal 3D printing market.

Whats more, they are receiving a lot of attention. According to Budge, NASA is just one of many companies who have expressed interest in using the companys 3D metal printing technology  including rocketry startups (with an eye on micro-satellites, rocket engines and rocket vehicles) and mining companies. Aurora Labs appeal, he says, comes from the fact that their system is both cheaper (less than $50,000 US) and much faster than competing hardware. And the world market in metal 3D printing has heated up significantly from our perspective, he said. I think thats been shown in the strong interest were getting. We consider this a worlds best product now.

While the company has only just completed their beta testing phase, their confidence is reflected by their move to the ASX stock market earlier this week. And there, they were a quite a big success. 14 million shares were offered during the initial public offering (IPO), with a prospectus price of 20 cents. Opening at 54 cents per share, the value dropped to a low of 44 cent before closing at 49.5. Through this IPO, they managed to raise $2.8m AUD  much to the surprise of Budge who has a 43 per cent stake in the company. "We did investigate other avenues for raising capital which were not successful so we decided to go down the IPO route to successfully raise capital as a small company of Australia," he says. "Certainly everyone was very surprised at how well it has done. I think we have a very interesting production and an enormous blue sky as far as the company is concerned."

This could mean that a very bright future is ahead of them. Aurora Labs is currently valued at about $4.8 million AUD, and enjoy a lot of interest from clients as far away as US universities. Not bad for a company that wont go into production until the end of this year. So far, the company has only built nine machines (with the final models retailing for under $50,000 US), but Aurora Labs is clearly ready for a huge step forward.

Posted in 3D Printer Company

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Andrew Holden wrote at 11/28/2016 3:00:33 PM:David Budge, I read your company web site and your article in the Western Australian couple of weeks ago, well done. I am restoring a 1963 NSU PRINZ 3 sedan and the front emblem is damaged at one end and I am wondering if 3D metal printing can fab me a new one, only other option is trying to get a second hand one from Germany. If your company reply's to my email I will email photo and give the diamentions of chrome ornament strip.It's not bulky or large. Kind reghards Andrew Holden andola@bigpond.com 0438 983 013 Retired Engineer.smarter lol wrote at 8/21/2016 11:39:25 PM:Buy!lol wrote at 8/19/2016 3:03:21 AM:short!




Michael J. Barany in Scientific American:

Most people never become mathematicians, but everyone has a stake in mathematics. Almost since the dawn of human civilization, societies have vested special authority in mathematical experts. The question of how and why the public should support elite mathematics remains as pertinent as ever, and in the last five centuries (especially the last two) it has been joined by the related question of what mathematics most members of the public should know.

Why does mathematics matter to society at large? Listen to mathematicians, policymakers, and educators and the answer seems unanimous: mathematics is everywhere, therefore everyone should care about it. Books and articles abound with examples of the math that their authors claim is hidden in every facet of everyday life or unlocks powerful truths and technologies that shape the fates of individuals and nations. Take math professor Jordan Ellenberg, author of the bestselling bookHow Not to Be Wrong, who asserts you can find math everywhere you look.

To be sure, numbers and measurement figure regularly in most peoples lives, but this risks conflating basic numeracy with the kind of math that most affects your life. When we talk about math in public policy, especially the publics investment in mathematical training and research, we are not talking about simple sums and measures.

More here.
Isaac Chotiner in Slate:

One of the hopes that grew out of the Arab Spring was that a relatively moderate strain of Islamist politics could thrive in the region. Given the widespread prevalence of dictators and military-led regimes, and the violent radicals who oppose them in mirrored gruesomeness, groups like Egypts Muslim Brotherhood were seen as potential alternatives. Five years later, however, the Arab Spring has devolved into a collection of bloody failures everywhere from Egypt to Syria. Another proposed model of IslamismRecep Tayyip Erdogans Turkeywas already giving way to autocracy well before a quashed coup attempt further entrenched Erdogans demagoguery.

These failures have raised the fraught question of whether Islam itself is partially to blame. Shadi Hamid, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is the author of a new book, Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam Is Reshaping the World. The title gives some hint of his provocative analysis. As he writes, If Islam is, in fact, distinctive in how it relates to politics, then the foundational divides that have torn the Middle East apart will persist, and for a long time to come.

I recently spoke by phone with Hamid. During the course of our conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity, we discussed why liberals have trouble taking religion seriously, the future of Islamist politics in Turkey and Egypt, and what the rise of Donald Trump has meant for American Muslims.

More here.
This is way more of Donald Trump than we ever wanted to see. Gird your eyeballs.





Much to the glee of many city dwellers, this morning five identical statues of a naked Donald Trump were discovered on street corners in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Seattle, and New York Cityall titled "The Emperor Has No Balls." The San Francisco statue can be seen in Jane Warner Plaza outside of Twin Peaks Tavern. (Hurry! Who knows how long it will stay there.)





So, who has the *ahem* balls to do this? The Washington Post reports that the anarchist collective INDECLINE is responsible for the statues. An anonymous spokesperson from INDECLINE told the Post, "like it or not, Trump is a larger-than-life figure in world culture at the moment. Looking back in history, that's how those figures were memorialized and idolized in their time  with statues."









INDECLINE hired Los Angeles-based artist Ginger, who specializes in haunted houses and horror movies, to make the statues. You can check out her process in the video below.







And this isn't the first time that INDECLINE has taken on the presidential nominee. They've also claimed responsibility for an anti-Trump "Rape" mural on the U.S.-Mexico border.







No word yet on what Trump himself thinks of his new friends.




Craft Beer Fest + The Avett Brothers



Head to the Green Music Center on Thursday, September 15th for the inaugural Craft Beer Fest, featuring an amazing lineup of brews paired with folk rock favorites The Avett Brothers. Starting at 5:30 pm, guests will be able to sample beers and ciders from local breweries including 101 North Brewing Co., Anderson Valley Brewing Company, Berryessa Brewing Company, HenHouse Brewing Company, Lagunitas Brewing Company, Napa Palisades Brewery, Petaluma Hills Brewing Company, Sonoma Cider, Uinta Brewing Company and more. A portion of the proceeds go to support the Green Music Center's free Jazz for Young People Concert happening Saturday, October 1st at 1:00 pm., featuring Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, as part of the center's ongoing community engagement and outreach efforts.





At 7:30 pm that night, The Avett Brothers take the stage, blending folk, bluegrass, and southern rock to create songs that are honestjust chords with authentic voices singing real melodies. In 2001, banjoist Scott and guitarist Seth formed The Avett Brothers with standup bass player Bob. Growing up in Concord, NC, the boys immersed themselves in their musician dad's record collection, falling in love with Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. They rose to the status of genre stalwarts over the course of six albums, including 2007's acclaimed Emotionalism. Their energetic live performance is a celebration of songs that sing to the heart and dance with the soul. The show comes fresh on the heels of the chart-topping release of their ninth studio album, True Sadness, this past June. // Tickets are available at gmc.sonoma.edu or by calling 1.866.955.6040.
Weekend forecast: mostly drunk.





Art in a Glass at 1760

When Christopher Longoria uses the cocktail bar as his artist's palette and lets his adventurous palate guide his hand, he creates art in a glass. His summer cocktail offerings at 1760 feature unusual flavor and color combinations that look - and taste - like masterpieces. We're currently crushing on the Carrot and Chinato cocktail, a vividly-hued combination of Pimms No. 1, Angostura, Dimmi, and rum, garnished with a sprinkling of purple petals and a wispy sprig of green. // 1760 Polk St. (Nob Hill), 1760sf.com





Safety Third Party at Black Hammer Brewing

As they say on the Playa, "First fun, then fashion. Safety third." Black Hammer Brewing is bringing the same "Playatude" to its first birthday party, slated for Friday night. Expect fire spinners, live DJs, beer-related raffles, and blush-inducing treats from Pink n' Moist Cakes, all served up fresh and frisky with Black Hammer's craft beer. The party starts at 8pm, and there's no cover charge, so it's sort of like Black Rock City, but without the art cars. Feel free to bring your dog, your kids, and your outside food, 'cuz that's how they roll. // 544 Bryant St. (South Park), blackhammerbrewing.com





Marin French Cheese Company Hosts Summer Picnic

Speaking of four-legged friends, cheese lovers are invited to bring their own, or just pet the baby farm animals, at this Sunday's summer picnic on the gorgeous grounds surrounding the Marin French Cheese company (a.k.a. The Cheese Factory), west of Petaluma. Kids under 12 get in free, and adults pay $12.50 each for four hours of interactive cheesemaking and beekeeping demos, live music, access to local craft beers, fine wine and, of course, lots of local cheeses. Adult beverage purveyors include Carneros Brewing Company, Cline Cellars, Silverado Vineyards and Sonoma Portworks. Tickets are available online . // 7510 Point Reyes-Petaluma Road (Petaluma), marinfrenchcheese.com





Tuscany Comes to Barbacco

Barbacco Eno Trattoria is welcoming legendary Tuscan wine producer Castello di Ama this Thursday, August 18, for a special three-course menu with featured wine pairings. International Ambassador Janice Verrecchia will be on site to share inside stories from Castello di Ama while guests enjoy antipasti, primi and secondi courses paired with three-ounce glasses of 2015 Rosato (Sangiovese), 2013 "Ama" Chianti Classico (Sangiovese-Merlot), and 2011 "Il Chiuso" (Pinot Noir-Sangiovese) for $70. A flight of all three wines will be available separately for $22. Peruse the pairing menu and make reservations online . // 220 California St. (FiDi), barbaccosf.com





Wine Dinner at Camino with Scribe Winery
IndexBox Marketing has just published a new report EU: Paints And Varnishes  Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2020

The European market of paints and varnishes is largely focused on external exports, which have been declining in the recent years. The reduction in deliveries to Russia, which has long been a key overseas market for EU paints and varnishes, has been the most sensitive area. As a consequence, EU paint and varnish manufacturers have to expand supplies into other foreign markets, with China and Turkey growing the most rapidly.

Total EU exports of paints and varnishes slightly decreased after five years of consistent growth, amounting to 6,358 million EUR in 2015. Data on the EU trade with non-EU countries shows that the EU remains a net exporter of paints and varnishes.

Among the EU members, Germany was the main supplier of paints and varnishes, taking a 28% share of total exports in 2015. Italy had half of Germanys share size, followed by France and the U.K. The combined share of these countries came out to about 59% of total exports in 2015. All of these countries reduced the volume of exports in 2015 compared with the previous year, with Germany showing a -17% decline, France and the UK with a -16% drop each, and Italy with -13%.

Since the share of extra-EU exports in the total EU paint and varnish output amounted to about 35% in 2015, the EU paint and varnish industry is sensitive to the foreign markets conjuncture. Stable demand from the non-EU trade partners creates a strong support for the EU paint and varnish manufacturing industry. Extra-EU exports of paints and varnishes amounted to 2,256 million EUR in 2015, remaining constant with the previous years value.

Russia, which held a stable 23% share of total extra-exports of the EU over the past 7 years, was the main foreign market for EU Member States exports of paints and varnishes, However, EU exports to Russia have noticeably declined in the past two years, influenced by the stagnation of construction and industrial production in Russia, combined with the increased cost of European products in the Russian market due to the growth of the Euro against the ruble.

Besides Russia, the largest shares of EU paint and varnish exports were held by Turkey (9% of extra-exports) and China (7%). Shipments to these countries grew in recent years, somewhat offsetting the decline in exports to Russia. Exports to Turkey increased by +4.1% per year over the period under review, while deliveries to China grew at a healthy average annual rate of +7.7%.

EU exports must be reallocated to countries in Asia in order to compensate for the decline in Russias consumption. Despite the slowdown in the recent years, Chinas economy keeps expanding at a rapid rate, along with the ongoing urbanization process. This makes China a potentially promising market for EU paint and varnish industry.

Follow the link below to review a free sample or to buy the report:

http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/eu-paints-and-varnishes-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020/

EU: Paints And Varnishes  Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2020 focuses on the EU paint and varnish market, providing a comprehensive analysis and the most recent data on its market size and volume, EU trade, price dynamics, domestic production, and turnover in the industry. The market trends section reveals the main issues and uncertainties concerning the industry, while the medium-term outlook uncovers market prospects. The attractivity index (IB Index) summarizes the source of existing opportunities as they appear in this market, as well as an interpretation of the trade figures.

Countries coverage:

EU(28)  Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom.

Product coverage:

Paints and varnishes (including enamels and lacquers) based on synthetic polymers or Chemically modified natural polymers, dispersed or dissolved in a non-aqueous medium.

Paints and varnishes (including enamels and lacquers) based on synthetic polymers or Chemically modified natural polymers, dispersed or dissolved in an aqueous medium.

Data coverage:

 Market size and value;

 EU production, split by EU Member States;

 Production by type;

 Profiles of the leading companies;

 EU trade (intra and extra);

 Prices (producer, import and export);

 Trade structure and market channels;

 Market outlook to 2020;

 Per Capita Consumption.

Why buy this report:

This report will provide you with deeper insights into current market developments with the latest data and underlying market affecting themes, allowing you to rewire your business around them.

3 easy ways to order

Follow the link below to review a free sample or to buy the report:

http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/eu-paints-and-varnishes-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020/

Call us +44 20 3239 3063 to discuss your information needs and for special discounts on multi-report orders

Email your order to info@indexbox.co.uk

Price: 1490 EUR for Single License

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 REPORT DESCRIPTION

1.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2.1 KEY FINDINGS

2.2 MARKET TRENDS

3. MARKET OVERVIEW

3.1 MARKET VOLUME AND VALUE

3.2 TRADE BALANCE

3.3 MARKET STRUCTURE BY COUNTRIES

3.4 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES BY COUNTRIES

3.5 MARKET FORECAST TO 2020

4. DOMESTIC PRODUCTION

4.1 PRODUCTION IN 2007-2015

4.2 PRODUCTION BY TYPES

4.3 PRODUCTION BY COUNTRIES

5. IMPORTS

5.1 IMPORTS IN 2007-2015

5.2 IMPORTS BY TYPES

5.3 IMPORTS BY COUNTRIES

5.3 IMPORT PRICES BY TYPES AND COUNTRIES

6. EXPORTS

6.1 EXPORTS IN 2007-2015

6.1 EXPORTS BY TYPES

6.2 EXPORTS BY COUNTRIES

6.3 EXPORT PRICES

7. PRICES AND PRICE DEVELOPMENT

7.1 PRODUCER PRICES ON THE DOMESTIC MARKET

7.2 PRODUCER PRICES ON THE NON DOMESTIC MARKET

8. TRADE STRUCTURE AND CHANNELS

8.1 MAJOR TRADE CHANNELS

8.2 PRICE STRUCTURE

9. BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW

9.1 STRUCTURAL PROFILE

9.2 COUNTRY ANALYSIS

9.3 SIZE CLASS ANALYSIS

10. COMPANY PROFILES

Appendix 1: Trade and Prices by Countries

Media Contact

Company Name: IndexBox Marketing

Contact Person: Inna Ivonina

Email: info@indexbox.co.uk

Phone: +44 20 3239 3063

Country: United Kingdom

Website: www.indexbox.co.uk
IndexBox Marketing has just published a new report EU: Wooden Furniture Of A Kind Used In The Kitchen  Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2020

EU exports of wooden kitchen furniture recovered from the recessionary slump and reached their highest level over the recent years. The largest volume of trade occurs between the EU Member States, however, deliveries to non-member countries post solid gains. Despite the rising exports to countries outside of the EU, their share of the total EU output is relatively small. Therefore, domestic demand will continue to be the main driver of EU wooden kitchen furniture manufacturing.

Total wooden kitchen furniture exports by the EU Member States grew steadily over the last four years, soaring to their peak of 3,329 million EUR in 2015. Data on the EU trade with non-EU countries shows that the EU consistently remains a net exporter of wooden kitchen furniture.

Germany was the leading exporter of wooden kitchen furniture among the EU members, with a 51% share of total exports in 2015. Italy followed far behind with a 22% share. Other countries took a 5% or lower share of total exports. Germany strengthened its position in the European export structure by +5 percentage points from 2007 to 2015, while Italy saw its share reduced by -2 percentage points. The shares of other exporting countries remained relatively stable over the period under review.

Germany and Italy, together with the UK and France, are also leaders in the production of wooden kitchen furniture in the EU. However, while Germany and Italy made significant deliveries to the foreign markets, the UK and France did not export much of their output. This suggests that most of the wooden kitchen furniture manufactured in these countries was consumed at the domestic market.

The EU Member States engaged in the majority of the wooden kitchen furniture trade, while extra-EU exports accounted for about 41% of the total exports in 2015. Extra-EU exports of wooden kitchen furniture reached about 1,365 million EUR that year, which was 10% more than the year before.

Since the share of extra-EU exports in the total EU wooden kitchen furniture output amounted to about 11% in 2015, EU wooden kitchen furniture manufacturing is not very sensitive to the environment on the foreign markets. The rising domestic demand remains a key growth driver for this industry. At the same time, increasing exports to the foreign markets support the recovery of the EU wooden kitchen furniture manufacturing.

Switzerland, Norway, Russia, the U.S., and China have been the main foreign markets for the EU wooden kitchen furniture over the last 10 years. Shipments to these countries have traditionally occupied about 70% of total extra-EU exports. The structure of foreign exports has remained relatively stable in the recent years, with the exception of supplies to the U.S., whose share fell from 15% to 10% over the period under review. At the same time, the proportion of supplies to China has been gradually increasing.

Follow the link below to review a free sample or to buy the report:

http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/eu-wooden-furniture-of-a-kind-used-in-the-kitchen-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020/

EU: Wooden Furniture Of A Kind Used In The Kitchen  Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2020 focuses on the EU kitchen wooden furniture market, providing a comprehensive analysis and the most recent data on its market size and volume, EU trade, price dynamics, domestic production, and turnover in the industry. The market trends section reveals the main issues and uncertainties concerning the industry, while the medium-term outlook uncovers market prospects. The attractivity index (IB Index) summarizes the source of existing opportunities as they appear in this market, as well as an interpretation of the trade figures.

Countries coverage:

EU(28)  Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom.

Product coverage:

Wooden furniture of a kind used in the kitchen, other than seats.

Data coverage:

 Market size and value;

 EU production, split by EU Member States;

 Production by type;

 Profiles of the leading companies;

 EU trade (intra and extra);

 Prices (producer, import and export);

 Trade structure and market channels;

 Market outlook to 2020;

 Per Capita Consumption.

Why buy this report:

This report will provide you with deeper insights into current market developments with the latest data and underlying market affecting themes, allowing you to rewire your business around them.

3 easy ways to order

Follow the link below to review a free sample or to buy the report:

http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/eu-wooden-furniture-of-a-kind-used-in-the-kitchen-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020/

Call us +44 20 3239 3063 to discuss your information needs and for special discounts on multi-report orders

Email your order to info@indexbox.co.uk

Price: 1490 EUR for Single License

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 REPORT DESCRIPTION

1.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2.1 KEY FINDINGS

2.2 MARKET TRENDS

3. MARKET OVERVIEW

3.1 MARKET VOLUME AND VALUE

3.2 TRADE BALANCE

3.3 MARKET STRUCTURE BY COUNTRIES

3.4 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES BY COUNTRIES

3.5 MARKET FORECAST TO 2020

4. DOMESTIC PRODUCTION

4.1 PRODUCTION IN 2007-2015

4.2 PRODUCTION BY COUNTRIES

5. IMPORTS

5.1 IMPORTS IN 2007-2015

5.2 IMPORTS BY COUNTRIES

5.3 IMPORT PRICES

6. EXPORTS

6.1 EXPORTS IN 2007-2015

6.2 EXPORTS BY COUNTRIES

6.3 EXPORT PRICES

7. PRICES AND PRICE DEVELOPMENT

7.1 PRODUCER PRICES ON THE DOMESTIC MARKET

7.2 PRODUCER PRICES ON THE NON DOMESTIC MARKET

8. TRADE STRUCTURE AND CHANNELS

8.1 MAJOR TRADE CHANNELS

8.2 PRICE STRUCTURE

9. BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW

9.1 STRUCTURAL PROFILE

9.2 COUNTRY ANALYSIS

9.3 SIZE CLASS ANALYSIS

10. COMPANY PROFILES

Appendix 1: Trade and Prices by Countries

Media Contact

Company Name: IndexBox Marketing

Contact Person: Inna Ivonina

Email: info@indexbox.co.uk

Phone: +44 20 3239 3063

Country: United Kingdom

Website: www.indexbox.co.uk
Property trades above list price at historic low cap rate.

CORONA DEL MAR, CALIF.  Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, a nationally-recognized real estate brokerage and advisory firm specializing in retail property sales, in conjunction with Voit Real Estate Services, announced today that the two firms completed the sale of a single-tenant net-leased coastal property occupied by Petco at 537 North Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach, Calif. The sales price of $7,630,000 represented a cap rate of 4.5%, a record low cap rate for a single-tenant Petco in Los Angeles County.

Hanley Investment Group President Ed Hanley and Executive Vice President Bill Asher, along with the sellers exclusive advisor Joe Miller, a vice president at Voit Real Estate Services, represented both the seller and buyer in the 1031 exchange transaction. The seller was The Beacon Group, Inc., a California Corporation, based in Orange County. The buyer was a private corporation based in Los Angeles.

Built in 1981, the 17,160-square-foot Petco building sits on a 1.07-acre parcel in the King Harbor Plaza, shadowed anchored by Smart & Final. Petco has occupied the building for 22 years and recently signed a 10-year lease extension.

We generated over 10 offers in the first two weeks of marketing, providing clear evidence that a flight to quality is what investors are seeking in todays retail investment market, said Asher.

Due to the high level of demand based on the prime coastal South Bay location and Petcos long-term historical occupancy and recent lease extension at the location, we structured a best and final offer process that resulted in a final sales price 25 basis points better than the original list price, commented Hanley.

This property fulfilled many investors acquisition criteria requirements, said Hanley. It is a well-established, successful location with high traffic count, great co-tenancy and retail synergy in the area; stability of Income; excellent visibility and identity; and irreplaceable coastal location with strong demographics and nearby residential.

We negotiated a 14-day due diligence period with no loan contingency with a qualified 1031 exchange buyer based in Los Angeles that was familiar with the overall strength of the tenant and location, said Asher.

A flight to security for stabilized single-tenant net-lease properties in major metro markets across the country continues to be in high demand and those leased to credit retailers are continuing to trade at record pricing, Asher said.

About Voit Real Estate Services

Voit Real Estate Services is a privately held, broker owned Southern California commercial real estate firm that provides strategic property solutions tailored to clients needs. Throughout its 40+ year history, the firm has developed, managed and acquired more than 64 million square feet and completed more than $44.8 billion in brokerage transactions encompassing more than 43,000 brokerage deals. Voits unmatched expertise in Southern California brokerage, investment advisory, financial analysis, and market research enable the firm to provide clients with forward looking strategies that create value for a wide range of assets and portfolios.

See www.voitco.com

About Hanley Investment Group

Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors is a retail investment advisory firm with a $5 billion transaction track record nationwide, who works closely with individual investors, lending institutions, developers, and institutional property owners in every facet of the transaction to ensure that the highest value is achieved.

For more information, visit www.hanleyinvestment.com

Media Contact

Company Name: Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors

Contact Person: Bill Asher, Executive Vice President

Email: basher@hanleyinvestment.com

Phone: 949.585.7684

City: Corona del Mar

State: California

Country: United States

Website: http://www.hanleyinvestment.com
Albuquerque City Councilor Michael Cook is resigning after his arrest on suspicion of DWI last night, according to a public relations representative who contacted the Journal on Cooks behalf.

Heres the statement, sent by Gerges Scott on Cooks behalf:

I am resigning my position as the District 7 City Councilor effective today. I am a man that believes in personal responsibility and accountability. It is because of these beliefs I feel it is best for the city and my community that I step down as City Councilor, I do not want to distract any attention from the needs or goals of the city.

It has been a privilege to serve the constituents of District Seven and work to the improvement and advancement of the City of Albuquerque, I am thankful to all the wonderful people that I have met along the way.

Serving the citizens of Albuquerque is truly an honor I will appreciate for the rest of my life. My priorities now will be with my family and friends as I move past this regrettable incident in my life.

Michael Cook.

An Albuquerque police officer stopped Cook on the 2500 block of San Pedro NE, the records show, and booked him in to the Metropolitan Detention a short time later.

Cook was charged with DWI, first offense, failure to maintain a traffic lane, driving with no proof of registration and driving with no license plate, the records show.

According to jail records, Cook was released this morning on his own recognizance.

Cook, who represents District 7 on the council, announced earlier this week that he will seek reelection in October.

He works as a financial planner and formerly served on Albuquerques Police Oversight Commission.

The Journal has left a voicemail message for Cook this morning. He has not yet returned it.

Check back with ABQJournal.com for updates throughout the day, and pick up a copy of tomorrows paper for a complete report.
The annual New Mexico Outdoor Expo, featuring free, family-friendly activities including fishing, shooting, archery, kayaking, rock climbing and more, is back this weekend at the city of Albuquerque Shooting Range Park.

This is a great event where folks can learn skills that will provide years of outdoor enjoyment, said Alexa Sandoval, director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. And its all free; we supply the gear and lessons.

The Expo runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 20, and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 21, at the Albuquerque Shooting Range Park, on the West Mesa.

Staff and volunteers will be on hand to teach fishing basics, such as casting, knot and fly tying and the use of hooks, bait, lures and flies. Visitors can catch and release fish from one of three artificial ponds set up on site.

Spectators also can watch sport fish react to lures trailed through the water inside a 5,000-gallon aquarium. Department fisheries biologists will be available to answer questions about fish and all the great angling opportunities available in New Mexico.

Those interested in shooting will find several ranges staffed by certified instructors, where participants can learn to safely handle and fire .22-caliber rifles and pistols, shotguns and muzzleloaders.

There also will be a simulated duck hunting station, where participants can shoot blank shells at decoys launched into the air and watch as trained dogs retrieve them. And there will be a clay target shooting range, where participants can test their shotgun shooting skills on moving targets.

A rock-climbing wall, kayaking pool and all-terrain vehicles for kids to ride are also part of the event. Vendors will have food and beverages available for purchase.

Other vendors include shooting instructors, archery, firearms, kayak and sporting goods dealers. Numerous nonprofit, governmental, sporting and conservation groups also will be available to provide guests information about the states many great outdoor recreational opportunities.

Karl Moffatt is a writer, photographer and media relations coordinator for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Contact him at karl.moffatt@state.nm.us or 505-476-8007.
MIAMIIn an election rife with Never-Trumpers and Bernie Bros, the Libertarian presidential ticket traveled to Miami-Dade County Wednesday evening in search of disenfranchised voters and some badly needed media exposure.

Gary Johnson and Bill Weld, both former two-term Republican governors, spoke to a packed and excited house at Florida International Universitys Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center. They talked about abolishing income taxes, answered questions about relaxing immigration red tape, and left with two Arturo Fuente Presidente cigars  a gift from a supporter who asked them to smoke the stogies when they hit the 15 percent polling number needed to force their way into the presidential debates.

Whether theyll get there, though, remains questionable. A third party hasnt broken into the debates since Ralph Nader did it in 2000, and the Libertarian candidates are currently polling in the high single-digits.

Right now in America, 70 percent of people dont even know we exist, presidential candidate Johnson, 63, acknowledged Wednesday.

But theyre on the radar. And with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump plagued by high unlikability numbers, the former two-term Republican governors believe theyve got a shot. Theyre relying on discontent with Americas two-party system, and hoping to improve on a surge in fundraising that has helped their campaign raise about $3 million this month alone.

Theyre also banking on popularity with young voters, a stance that may or may not be buoyed by a pledge to legalize marijuana  which received one of the loudest cheers of the night.

If we cant pick up 5 percent in the month of September, Id be very surprised, said Weld, 71. There is a prairie fire here and people are coming to the fact that the two resident monopoly parties have not exactly covered themselves in glory the last 15 years.

Theyve already won over one notable South Florida Republican. Former Miami-Dade state representative J.C. Planas introduced them Wednesday night, arguing that voters who believe theyre throwing their vote away by choosing a third party are doing the opposite by voting for a candidate they dont actually support. Planas is among South Florida Republican pols whove sworn they wont vote for Trump.

The (Republican) Party has veered too far to the right on social issues, but weve also nominated someone whos unqualified to be president, said Planas, who still identifies as Republican. Im a die-hard conservative when it comes to economics but we need to be socially conservative. I think this is a time that really has come.

Johnson, wearing blue jeans, a pale, striped suit jacket and his trademark Nike sneakers, spoke against the death penalty and advocated for gun rights, although he evoked the recent Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in arguing for a debate about keeping guns out of the hands of potential terrorists and the mentally ill. He argued for a free-market approach to health care.

Missing: comments on climate change or Cuba.

Through it all he received loud cheers from an audience filled with the young and old, die-hard libertarians and the simply curious. Camilo Vilaplana, an 18-year-old senior at Immaculata-LaSalle High School who wore a Johnson-Weld T-shirt, said he refuses to vote for the lesser of two bad candidates.

Almost half the country is actually libertarian, they just dont know it, he said.

On Wednesday, Johnson sounded as if he really believed it.

This has been a crazy election. You know how crazy it is? he asked the audience.

When someone yelled back, How crazy? he answered: Im going to be the next president of the United States.
The Albuquerque metro area has gained a reputation for violent crime, so much so that its drawn the attention  and action  of federal anti-crime agents.

Last Friday, a multi-agency task force announced it had scooped up more than 100 violent offenders in a months-long undercover operation.

Whats unique about Albuquerque is the level of violence here  its wide open, one agent said after a news conference by law enforcement officials, including New Mexicos U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez and Thomas Atteberry, the special agent in charge of the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

ATF brought in the best of the best to deal with the worst of the worst, Atteberry said.

Nearly all of the 104 individuals who were arrested were charged with firearms and drug trafficking offenses. Four were indicted in connection with two homicides. A few suspects have been released, but most of the suspects are off the street  at least for now.

The crackdown netted 127 firearms, including a number of assault-type weapons, more than 17 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 2.5 pounds of heroin, 14 ounces of crack cocaine, over a pound of cocaine, some Ecstasy and four vehicles.

Based on violent crime rates published by the FBIs 2013 Uniform Crime Report, the Wall Street Journal ranked New Mexico the second most dangerous state in 2013. It noted that Albuquerque had an estimated crime rate of 775 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, more than twice the national rate.

Hopefully the feds giving local law enforcement a hand in taking more than 100 suspected violent criminals off the street will make a noticeable dent in the citys crime record  and help restore its reputation.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
SANTA FE  A New Mexico district judge this week ordered Corizon Health to release settlement agreements it made with inmates who have filed lawsuits against the company, ruling that they are public records subject to the Inspection of Public Records Act.

On Tuesday, Judge Raymond Ortiz sided with the Albuquerque Journal, the Santa Fe New Mexican and the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government in ruling that the for-profit provider of inmate medical services was not protected by confidential agreements made with the prisoners.

After a two-hour hearing in Santa Fe, Ortiz ruled that because Corizon performed a government function in providing medical care to the prisoners, the settlement documents were public records.

Until recently, Corizon held a $37.5 million-a-year contract with the Department of Corrections to provide medical services at 10 New Mexico prisons.

In June, Corizon settled claims filed by 59 inmates at two of the prisons for nearly $4.6 million.

The two newspapers and FOG filed a writ of mandamus against Corizon in which they sought release of the agreements.

Santa Fe attorneys Daniel Yohalem and Katherine Murray represented FOG and the newspapers.

According to a FOG news release, Yohalem argued: Corizon had no greater right to withhold records than the Department of Corrections would have had under IPRA.

Because of the sensitive nature of many of the claims, Ortiz ordered limited redactions. Plaintiffs did not object to the redaction of the names of the settling plaintiffs who sued using pseudonyms.

This ruling was a victory for open government, said Susan Boe, executive director of FOG. The public has a strong interest in the adequacy of medical care provided to the states prisoners. The fact the care was provided by a third party under contract to the state does not change the analysis.
SANTA FE  A potential sinkhole in Carlsbad is the focus of a new TV ad critical of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.

Put New Mexico First, a project of the ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund, is running an ad on broadcast, cable and satellite television in the Albuquerque and Las Cruces markets for the rest of the month. Theres also radio and social media advertising.

The progressive nonprofit says its not a one-time ad aimed at the election  Martinez isnt on the ballot this year  but rather part of a yearlong campaign to stir up interest in voting and make elected officials more accountable.

The ad criticizes Martinez for asking the Legislature to appropriate $150,000 annually to a group of local and state officials to oversee remediation of an abandoned brine well. The underground cavern threatens to collapse  affecting buildings, highways, a canal and a railway facility  and the cost to make it safe is estimated at $25 million.

The mining company that operated the brine well has gone bankrupt. The ad says the owners walked away and the governor asked lawmakers to cover the tab to clean up their mess  then points out that the owners gave Martinezs campaign more than $18,000.

Martinezs office responded that the brine well problem predated her administration and should have been fixed years ago, before the company went bankrupt. Its a public safety issued that needs to be fixed ASAP  which is why she called on the Legislature to do so, the statement said.

Her office also said the administration has collected more fines from polluters than any administration in state history.

Ballot battle

A minor party that wants to put a presidential candidate on the ballot in November is complaining that the Secretary of States Office wrongfully refused to certify it.

The Better for America Party of New Mexico has a challenge pending in state District Court in Santa Fe.

Secretary of State Brad Winters office said the party was 89 signatures short of the required 2,564 valid voter signatures. But the party says it has matched enough signers names and addresses with information on the statewide voter file that it can prove it has met the threshold.

Better for America says its trying to get ballot access to clear the way for an independent candidate who would provide an alternative to Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.

The party, backed by a Mitt Romney donor opposed to Trump, hasnt announced its candidates for president and vice president yet. If its certified, it would have until Sept. 13 to get those names on the New Mexico ballot. The party could go with independent Evan McMullin, a former CIA officer and Republican aide in the U.S. House, who recently qualified for the ballot in Utah.

In New Mexico, three other presidential candidates  Libertarian and former Gov. Gary Johnson, the Green Partys Jill Stein and the Constitution Partys Darrell Castle  are already on the ballot, and two other certified minor parties could still submit nominees.

Deborah Baker: dbaker@abqjournal.com
SILVER CITY  New Mexico State Police are investigating alleged threats made online by the daughter of 6th Judicial District Attorney Francesca Estevez.

The messages were sent to Brandi McCauley by Shoshana Estevez last Friday, according to a KRQE-TV report. Estevez claimed that its hard to stay silent after all the criticism that her mother is receiving amid a June incident that occurred where she was allegedly swerving all over the road and a witness video-recorded her driving until she pulled over in Silver City.

Many people in Facebook are cyberbullying my mother like children, Shoshana Estevez told the television station in a phone interview. Defaming her character and making it seem as if shes not a respectable lawyer for more than 30 years.

Facebook is one of the areas where the district attorney has been put on the hot seat, and Shoshana Estevez has lashed out at several comments about her mother.

Its hard to let someone just keep talking about you and lie down, because if you do, they bully you because thats what they do, Shoshana Estevez said.

But where law enforcement became involved was when a couple of private messages were sent to McCauley after she re-posted articles and video about the district attorney. The messages read, I dont know you, you dont know me  but I do know you run your mouth about my mom so keep it up old lady. I will catch you around Cliff so you can say everything to my face so I can hear your loud mouth talk.  Think Im playing? I live in Cliff, so do you so we will for sure be talking about the s you decide to talk about. Im not the one to play with.

McCauley took those messages to the Grant County Sheriffs Office and the New Mexico State Police. A State Police spokesperson confirmed that the department is investigating the alleged threats.

Shoshana Estevez told the TV station what she meant about that message.

Im not the one to play with means Im not the type of person you can play around with and talk s about their parents and their family and not expect them to confront you and ask why, she said. If Im going to threaten someone.  Im just going to threaten them.  If I wanted to say, I want to hurt her or fight you, I would just say that.

Shoshana Estevez apologized for the incident, saying she didnt want to make McCauley feel the way she feels.

The district attorney claimed she was swerving because of a flat tire, and her attorney, Jim Foy, had a news conference repeating that contention. Foy also said Francesca Estevez sped because she was being followed by an individual who didnt offer any assistance on the highway. Foy said Estevez was a district attorney who had put a lot of people in prison.

The Silver City Police Department announced it was not going to pursue any charges, but did apologize to the public for the way the incident was handled.
SANTA FE  Just a couple of weeks into his first term, then-Gov. Gary Johnson got crossways with the lowrider community when he recounted that he had felt threatened one night as a sunk-down car with tinted windows drove slowly by him.

The Republican governor smoothed it over later with a short spin in a red 67 Chevy Impala convertible  A great ride, he said  and praise for lowriders and their charitable efforts in their communities.

Now, lowrider car clubs are planning a show of support for Johnson, who is the Libertarian Party nominee for president, at a rally he has planned for Saturday in Albuquerque.

The details are still being worked out.

We obviously would love to have them involved somehow.  The lowrider folks are part of the fabric in Albuquerque, and its Garys home state and he understands that and appreciates that, said Joe Hunter, communications director for the campaign of Johnson and his running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld.

Fernando Ortega of Albuquerque, a founder of the Taking Over Car Club, said he and other lowrider car club members are organizing a car show outside the Albuquerque Convention Center, where Johnson has a rally scheduled for 2 p.m.

Rally-goers will be able to view the vehicles, talk to the owners, and perhaps be greeted by some of the signature bucking-up-and-down called hopping.

Were going to be waving with our cars, Ortega said.

The car show will be held from 1 to 4 p.m., followed by a lowrider cruise, he said. Johnson is expected to visit the display after the rally.

Weve always liked Gary Johnson and feel like hes always been there for us, Ortega said.

Members of Ortegas car club thought he could do something better for our state and our country than those other two, Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, he said.

Johnsons comments in 1995  which he later said had been misinterpreted and werent meant to offend lowriders  prompted Democrats to stage a lowrider rally and news conference at the state Capitol aimed at educating the new governor and the public about lowriders and their owners.

Ortega says theres still some educating to be done.

Were going to set up cars on display and prove to everybody that just because were lowriders, and Hispanics, and with tattoos, were not gangbangers, he said.

Johnsons rally had initially been set for Aug. 11. Hunter said it was rescheduled because of logistical challenges.
SANTA FE  The sun was beating down on Samuel Chavez as he began digging just before noon Wednesday in a far corner of the recreation yard of the inactive Old Main building at the Penitentiary of New Mexico.

Chavez, a former prison inmate who is suing the state for alleged abuse

and other wrongdoing, had only an hour to dig for evidence he said he buried there years ago  evidence he said would support sensational allegations of inmate body parts being sold by the Corrections Department.

I should have brought a bigger shovel for this, Chavez said shortly after he broke ground.

Chavezs inspection had to comply with an order from state District Court Judge Sarah Singleton granting him access but setting restrictions on what he could do. She allowed Chavez to bring his own shovel to dig in the old prison yard as well as take photos of cells in still-active housing units where Chavez once stayed.

Singleton also gave Chavez permission to inspect and dig in a crawl space in the basement of Old Main, a big house style facility which dates from the 1950s, but that area was inaccessible Wednesday.

In the rec yard, he found nothing in the dirt after vigorously digging for an hour.

He alleges as part of a 2007 civil suit that he buried evidence, including ledgers, in several locations throughout the prison that would show that prison officials were harvesting and selling dead inmates organs and other body parts. The suit also accuses prison officials of introducing toxins into inmate food and water.

Chavez was convicted of second-degree murder in 1988, served his time and was released in 2010.

He was known as an articulate jailhouse lawyer and served as the inmate representative working with attorneys monitoring prison conditions when Corrections was under federal oversight for many years, following the infamous 1980 riot at the penitentiary in which more than 30 inmates died.

In May 2015, Singleton granted Chavez permission to inspect the state penitentiary south of Santa Fe, but the specifics for the inspection  like what kind of shovel Chavez could bring, how much time he had to dig and which cells he could visit in the functioning prison wings  werent finalized until December.

On Wednesday morning, Chavez started his tour by taking photos of a cell in the occupied northern housing unit and was joined by prison officials and lawyers representing the Corrections Department in the case as well as a group of local reporters.

The cells current resident, Kevin Folse, a former FBI informant who terrorized Albuquerque last summer with a carjacking spree, was taken to a small holding cell while Chavez took photos.

Wearing a shirt and tie for this portion of the inspection, Chavez was visibly shaken up about visiting his old prison.

I told myself that I would never come back here, he said while getting past a security checkpoint. But this has to be done.

Chavez then took photos of a cell in the penitentiarys south unit before changing his clothes and heading for the Old Main, which these days houses movie productions instead of inmates and is open to public tours.

Thats when Chavez inspection plans encountered some hiccups. Singleton had ruled that Chavez could inspect a crawl space in the basement of Old Main, but the doors leading to the boiler room that leads to the crawl space had been welded shut.

Chavez said he was going to call Singleton and let her know about the situation. Im not being allowed to inspect, Chavez said. I do need access under the unit.

We didnt set out to thwart you, Corrections attorney Sean Olivas replied. This is the way the prison is.

Chavez and Olivas agreed to call Singleton after the dig in the recreation yard to see what could be done.

Its a little convenient, Chavez said to a Journal reporter of the area being blocked off. This way the damning evidence doesnt appear.

Chavez then took his shovel to the recreation yard, which is now a vast expanse of dirt and weeds. Chavez located a spot near the old bandstand in the northwest corner of the yard where he said he believes he buried the evidence and started digging.

Everyone in the group could only watch, as Singleton had ruled that no one could help Chavez dig. He started at a steady pace, but he slowed down as the heat and fatigue took their toll.

I know we buried it deep, but not this deep, he said shortly before time was up, wiping sweat from his brow.

Chavez, who currently lives in Las Cruces, has won against Corrections before. In 2003, a judge found that Chavez had been held illegally in restrictive administrative segregation for seven years despite a clean record and that the evidence tended to show prison officials were motivated by discomfort with jailhouse lawyers.

Jury selection for his long-running current case is scheduled for mid-October. Chavez had retained lawyers in the case before but now appears to be representing himself.
Venture capitalists used to say  maybe they still say it  that they bet on the jockey, not the horse. They mean that the success of their investment depends largely on the talent of the person running the company.

New Mexico has herds of horses. Great ideas are commonplace here. We have very few jockeys, so few, in fact, that STC.UNM, the organization that commercializes technologies invented at the University of New Mexico, has recruited executives from out of state to run a third of the companies it has helped set up.

And thats a good thing. It takes a special kind of person to launch successful companies, especially companies based on technology. That STC could recruit 12 chief executive officers from places like Pittsburgh, Boston and California speaks to the appeal of our state and the value of the horses we breed here.

STC President Lisa Kuutilla says there is a network of experienced executives who like to visit New Mexico, maybe even have a second home here. Some of them jump at the chance to live and work here full time.

Theres a whole bunch of them, Kuutilla said in an interview. They didnt come for UNM or STC. They came for New Mexico.

We could talk about our disadvantages all day, but we have an inherent advantage, she said. Kuutilla had a similar job at Iowa State University. When it came to recruiting in Iowa, unless they were alums, there was no way I could get them to move there.

That is not to say we dont have some excellent homegrown entrepreneurs. We do. We need more.

Transplanted executives will hire, train and mentor a number of New Mexicans who will learn how to take a startup from a glimmer of hope to a full-fledged enterprise. At some point, those people will be ready to run their own companies, and some of them are likely to start their own, according to Jason Wiens, policy director of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a Kansas City, Mo., charity that promotes entrepreneurship.

The research shows that exposure to an entrepreneur means you are more likely to be an entrepreneur yourself, Wiens said in a telephone interview.

New Mexicans are understandably frustrated by how long it takes to build what Wiens calls an entrepreneurial ecosystem, but he suggests we keep some perspective. There are very few places in the country with the kind of robust climate of innovation found in Austin or Boston or Pittsburgh, and it took years for those cities to become entrepreneurial hotbeds.

One reason is that even though the media celebrate the kid who launches a company in his dorm room (Michael Dell, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates), most entrepreneurs dont start a company until they are in their 40s, Wiens said. It takes that long to develop the skills required to succeed.

The successful entrepreneurs bring an industry knowledge to the startup. STC has brought in CEOs from Pittsburgh, for example, to run some of its biotech companies because Pittsburgh has produced several biotech companies. The transplanted CEOs cut their teeth in that market.

They have a network of contacts developed over years in the industry. They know which companies will make good partners and potential customers. They know which sales and marketing specialists to use. They know which law firms will best understand their companies intellectual property needs. They know which investors might be most willing to back their ventures. They know the suppliers and the contractors theyll need.

Communities can accelerate the evolution of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, Wiens said.

Kauffman studied 356 metropolitan areas in the United States to learn what determines entrepreneurial success. What mattered most was educational attainment, Wiens said. That includes good high school graduation rates, good apprenticeship and internship programs, good community colleges and universities.

UNM efforts like Innovation Academy, Central New Mexico Community Colleges Deep-Dive Coding Bootcamp and community-based efforts like ABQid are nurturing startups in a number of industries, including low-tech, no-tech and arts-based businesses. Kuutilla says such efforts are essential to give young people entrepreneurial skills and to nurture a culture of innovation and risk-taking.

UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Winthrop Quigley at 823-3896 or wquigley@abqjournal.com. Go to ABQjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.
La Promesa Early Learning Centers principal said he is working to address mismanagement that led the New Mexico Public Education Department to take over the charter schools finances, but he has yet to receive enough information to fully address the problems.

Chris Jones, who became principal last spring under executive director Analee Maestas, also expressed concern about not being given a copy of PEDs investigation of La Promesa until Friday, when Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera assumed control.

LPELC takes the Secretarys decision and the Audit Report very seriously and has requested that the NMPED provide all documentation upon which the audit findings rely in order to assess how to take immediate and appropriate action, Jones wrote in a prepared statement Wednesday. At this time the school has begun reviewing its own documentation to piece together the basis for the NMPEDs findings, but as of yet, without NMPEDs documents, it cannot make a complete assessment as to whether there were infractions of policy, rule or law.

Jones said he will send PED a response to each audit finding within 30 days.

Maestas refused to answer media questions about PEDs report or her future with the APS Board of Education.

The embattled administrator appeared calm and attentive during the regular APS board meeting Wednesday evening. She discussed teacher recruitment, the district transgender procedural directive and professional development classes, never mentioning the controversy at La Promesa, which she founded in 2008.

At the meetings end, Maestas left quickly without a word to reporters eager for her response to PEDs investigation detailing La Promesas sloppy and suspicious transactions.

PED publicly released the report Friday and took over the charters procurement and payment systems, an unusual step reserved for the worst cases of mismanagement.

The department also began investigating La Promesas former principal, Gloria Velasquez, who allegedly received several thousand dollars in reimbursement for library books and fencing materials that cant be found.

La Promesa came under scrutiny after PED flagged a suspicious receipt seeking reimbursement for carpet cleaning in February. The $340 invoice also was sent to the Office of the State Auditor, which found last month that Maestas had ducts cleaned at her home, then wrote over the receipt for it to appear school carpets had been cleaned.

La Promesas governing council placed Maestas on paid administrative leave from her executive director position a week after the auditor released his investigation.

In late July, Maestas attorney, Marc Lowry, told the Journal she is working diligently to resolve this issue. Maestas herself has never addressed the PED or State Auditor reports.
In a contentious encounter, New Mexico Public Regulation Commission hearing examiner Carolyn Glick presented her recommended decision to regulators in the Public Service Company of New Mexicos rate case. Glicks Aug. 4 recommendation cut PNMs rate hike request by two-thirds, from an increase of $123.5 million in annual revenue to $41.3 million. PNM customers would on average see their bills increase by 14.4 percent under the utilitys proposal instead of 6.4 percent under Glicks.

PNM declined a request for comment.

The commissions questions focused on Glicks decision to exclude certain PNM investments from the rate base calculation, particularly transactions involving the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona. On the grounds that PNM had not conducted an appropriate analysis of alternatives before purchasing 64.1 megawatts of power from the station and extending several other Palo Verde leases, Glick argued that the utilitys customers should not be held accountable for PNMs imprudent business decisions.

Any reasonable business, in particular a utility,when it had the opportunity to look at whether it was going in a direction that was going to impact customers, should have conducted a more thorough cost-benefit analysis, said Glick at the hearing. The Palo Verde transactions were made in part to replace power lost from a partial closure of the coal-powered San Juan Nuclear Generating Station. The closure was part of an agreement between PNM and the Environmental Protection Agency aimed at reducing air pollution in the Four Corners area.

PNM has said if the commission adopts Glicks proposal unchanged, it will sell off its interests in Palo Verde, leading to more reliance on coal- and gas-powered energy sources. The company has also said it will immediately appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, and likely lay off up to 300 employees if the decision remains unchanged.

Two of the commissioners in particular took issue with Glicks exclusion of the Palo Verde purchase from the rate base calculation, which decreased her recommended rate increase by $24 million.

Youve decided this case based not on what is on record, but what is not on the record, said Commissioner Karen Montoya.

Glick responded that there was precedent for making such an exclusion based on existing case law, and cited several cases where public commissions in other states had made a similar decision because they had deemed the utility had not conducted sufficient cost-benefit analyses.

I dont think one hearing officer should have the ability to take something out of the energy portfolio, said Commissioner Pat Lyons. There are five commissioners here elected to make sure something like this doesnt happen.

Lyons also said he felt PNMs suggested valuation for the nuclear power purchase was too high, and that he favored including a more moderate net book value  the value of the cost of an asset minus depreciation.

At one point in the back-and-forth between Montoya, Lyons, and Glick, commission Chair Valerie Espinoza intervened and asked Lyons and Montoya to be respectful of Glick.

Glick summed up her position by saying the commissions decision will come down to whether or not it concurs with her interpretation of the utilitys prudency in the Palo Verde transactions.

If you agree with me that PNM was not prudent because it did not consider alternatives, then you cannot look at incorporating the 64.1 megawatts into the rate base, said Glick. If you disagree with me, then you have a lot of decisions to make about net book values, double-counting improvements, and many other things.
New Mexico students earned slightly better PARCC scores this year, though the vast majority is still not meeting benchmarks.

Statewide, English proficiency is up 1.3 percentage points and math 2.5 percentage points, with every test posting gains except third-grade English, according to data released by the state Public Education Department on Thursday.

Of the 89 school districts in New Mexico, 57 improved in English and 77 in math.

But the big picture still shows a state struggling to pull itself out of 49th place in the country on educational attainment.

Only 19.9 percent of students met or exceeded expectations in math and 27.7 percent in English. Students with disabilities and English language learners fared particularly poorly, with less than 10 percent proficient in either subject.

Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera touted the gains but stressed that there is still a long way to go.

We established the baseline last year, and were on our way with good improvements, she told the Journal. We have never seen this kind of improvement across grade levels in our recent history.  We need to keep pushing for where we want to be next.

Skandera also praised the high participation rate in the controversial test, which drew protests and walkouts in 2015, the first year it was administered.

Ninety-seven percent of New Mexicos students in grades 3-11  217,000 kids  took PARCC in 2016, compared with 95 percent in 2015.

This years numbers again reveal widely different outcomes for students in different districts.

Las Cruces improved by about 3 percentage points on math and English, reaching 19.6 proficiency and 27.5 percent, respectively.

Skandera highlighted successes in Farmington and Gadsden, which she said have embraced reforms and tracked data to make instructional changes.

The two rural districts are performing better than most of the state and saw large gains. Farmington went up more than 8.5 percentage points in English to 36.3 percent proficiency.

If you push to improve, the skys the limit, Skandera said.

The states largest district had mixed results. Albuquerque Public Schools students scored slightly above the state average  20.4 percent were proficient in math and 28.1 percent in English  but they fell 1 percentage point in English compared with 2015 and only saw a 1 percentage point improvement in math.

The worst decline for APS was third-grade English: 21.4 percent met reading standards this year, a 10-point drop over the past year. Statewide, about 24.1 percent were on target in third-grade English versus 24.8 percent in 2015.

Skandera attributed that decline to APS students dragging down the average. APS has about 80,000 students total.

The results do show that both as a district and as a state we need to do more to help students achieve at a higher level, APS Superintendent Raquel Reedy said in an emailed statement. Proficiency rates below 50 percent are just not acceptable and we will be working with students, teachers and families to address deficiencies. We are committed to putting resources at schools and redesigning teaching and learning so that more students succeed.

Neighboring Rio Rancho Public Schools continued to do better than the state as a whole: 29.2 percent of its students reached the benchmark in math and 38.3 percent in English. Like APS, however, the district slid backward in English, falling 4 percentage points.

Santa Fe dropped below the state average in both English and math, hitting 25.7 percent proficiency and 16.5 percent proficiency, respectively. Los Alamos again was a standout  over 50 percent of its students met or exceeded expectations on many tests.

American Federation of Teachers New Mexico President Stephanie Ly said the overall results prove that PARCC is not working for students.

With the release of this years scores, Secretary Skandera is now championing minimal gains in PARCC scores, she said in an emailed statement. Despite small increases, the fact remains that across the board, New Mexico students are not proficient, according to PARCC.

Eleven states administer PARCC, which stands for the Partnership for Assessment and Readiness for College and Careers. The computerized exam is designed to align with Common Core and raise standards.

PARCC performance levels

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, divides students into five levels, from 1 to 5, based on test performance. On its website, the PARCC consortium defines each level as:

Level 1: Student did not meet expectations.

Level 2: Student partially met expectations.

Level 3: Student approached expectations.

Level 4: Student met expectations.

Level 5: Student exceeded expectations.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  The White Houses top drug control official is set to address the opiate crisis during a forum on Thursday in New Mexico  a state that most recent statistics show has the nations second highest overdose death rate.

Michael Botticelli, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, is expected to discuss programs aimed at preventing and treating prescription drug addictions during a forum in Albuquerque on Thursday.

His visit to New Mexico comes a day after the Obama administration announced it will spend $17 million to help law enforcement agencies deal with the rise in heroin and opioid addiction.

Heres a look at some issues that some say are at the center of the state and national opiate epidemic, and what officials are proposing:

WHATS FUELING THE PROBLEM:

New Mexico overdose deaths surged by 20 percent in 2014 over the year before, with about 27 deaths per 100,000 residents, according to the most recent federal figures available. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that rate is nearly twice as high as the national rate of 14.7 deaths per 100,000 people. Only West Virginia exceeded New Mexico in overdose deaths that year.

Experts say an increase in abuse of legal pharmaceutical opiates and the prevalence of heroin in more communities across the country have fueled the recent rise in overdose deaths. Prescription opiates, such as oxycontin and percocet, are chemically similar to heroin.

TREATMENT GAP:

Federal officials say comprehensive treatment for opiate addictions is seemingly scarce in United States at a time when a growing number of people are in need of help.

During a visit to Albuquerque this spring, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said only half of the 2 million people who need treatment that involves counseling and medication for addictions have access to it in the United States. The treatment gap has led to some bipartisan support in Congress for a bill that will address the issue, although there has been some disagreement about details amid the months-long discussion over a proposed bill.

The Obama administration is seeking $1.1 billion from Congress in funding that would help states expand access to treatment. Under the proposal, about $8 million could be appropriated to New Mexico.

REFORM UNDERWAY

The timing of Botticellis visit to New Mexico coincides with efforts to change how law enforcement and health professionals treat people coping with addiction.

Earlier this year, the CDC issued new guidelines for doctors prescribing opioid medications, saying they should consider steering patients toward non-addictive pain relievers and other treatment options, such as before writing a prescription for pills like oxycontin and percocet.

For his part, Botticelli emphasizes treatment over arrest and incarceration in cases where a person may be cited or taken into custody for drug possession. He has been director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy since February 2015.
The men of American Legion Post 79 failed to make their case that they should be sole owners of the Posts former headquarters, a 12th District Judge ruled Tuesday.

The judges decision after a day-long trial means the Post and its womens Auxiliary unit will continue to share ownership of their green concrete block building on U.S. Highway 70 at Spring Street in Ruidoso Downs.

The Post had filed a lawsuit in 2014 seeking exclusive title to the building so it could sell it and use the proceeds to buy larger premises at the former Greentree Solid Waste facility near the Ruidoso Downs town hall.

Post leaders had tried to persuade the women to sign over their interest in the Spring Street building, but the women refused and the suit to quiet title followed.

Post finance officer Gene Kurtz said Tuesdays court decision probably means the Post will have to give up the lease-purchase agreement under which it has been meeting since last year at the former Greentree facility, and return to the old headquarters as co-owners with the women.

Lifes like that, Kurtz said as he left the courtroom. But I know for sure that since theyre half owners, they get half the bills. Their sleigh ride is over.

I think God was with us, said Carol Rue, president of the Post 79 Auxiliary, and the judge was with us and he did the right thing.

The Post was represented by Ruidoso attorney William Griffin. The Auxiliary couldnt afford counsel, so its secretary-treasurer Anita Ordorica did her best to present the womens side of the case.

But Judge Jerry H. Ritters decision, delivered immediately from the bench when the trial ended, actually turned on points of law not directly addressed by either side and on the absence of many crucial facts because documents had been lost and key witnesses had either died or moved away.

The title dispute traces to the time of the purchase of the green building in 1982, when it was decided to put the Post and the Auxiliary on the deed as co-owners.

At that time, the Post was run almost single-handedly by Romeo Klein, and the chief of the Auxiliary was his wife, Katie. Both are deceased. Their female descendants, including daughters Rue and Ordorica, make up most of the Auxiliarys membership today.

In her testimony Tuesday, Rue said that when her parents were in charge the Post and Auxiliary decided and did everything as a single body without much regard to the formal rules and bylaws of their separate organizations.

We worked together. We got along together, she said.

But the Post argued Tuesday that the neglect of organizational formalities had caused both Post and Auxiliary to lose their status as legal corporate entities. As of 1982, neither one had a valid registration in the New Mexico Secretary of States office.

Since neither the Post nor the Auxiliary was a legal entity, Griffin argued that the court should find the deed void and then grant sole title to the Post because all the money to buy the green building came from the sale of the Posts prior headquarters in a metal structure at 1041 Mechem Drive.

Griffin said the Auxiliary had presented no evidence that it had paid anything toward buying the building or paying for its operation and upkeep.

He also suggested in his opening argument that Post members in 1982 never formally approved making the Auxiliary co-owners of the new headquarters, and that the Auxiliary had been placed on the deed through strange manipulation perhaps of real property evidence to achieve something quite unusual.

But Ritter rejected all of those arguments.

The judge pointed out that under New Mexico law since 1937, an unincorporated association can legally hold title to property and record it in the office of the county clerk.

The Auxiliary presented no evidence that it had actually done this, Ritter acknowledged, but he said it was up to the Post to offer proof that the Auxiliary hadnt done it. With little evidence from either organization regarding their legal existence, all the court had before it was the deed itself.

Ritter also said there was nothing to stop the Post from making a donation to the Auxiliary of a half share of its property whether the women paid anything for it or not. As for the suggestion that the Posts leaders at the time acted improperly in putting the Auxiliary on the deed, Ritter said there was no evidence to support such a conclusion.

Testimony showed that nearly all the Posts documents were destroyed when pipes froze and broke in the Spring Street building more than a decade ago, and none of the trial witnesses really knew anything about the 1982 purchase.

There was an awful lot of speculation in this case, Ritter said in wrapping up his ruling. We may have a bushel of evidence but only one or two good apples.



2016 the Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, N.M.)

Visit the Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, N.M.) at www.ruidosonews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

_____
Special To The Washington Post.

As poaching and habitat loss cause elephant populations in Asia and Africa to plummet, international conservation groups are desperately trying to rally support for protecting the animals. But one challenge is that the people who most often come into contact with the pachyderms are farmers who live near wild elephant reserves  and who view elephants as menaces that can lay waste to a years salary in a single night.

There are all kinds of stories . . . where a crazed elephant came in and destroyed a crop and killed 14 people, said Evan Bittner, a University of Melbourne researcher who studies human-elephant conflicts in Sri Lanka.

So in the interest of keeping human-pachyderm relations civil, Bittner and other scientists have embarked on a mission: create the perfect elephant repellent.

This is, unsurprisingly, not as simple as bug spray. Bittners work focuses on using noises to scare the animals away from sugar cane and other crops, which he and colleagues recently described in the journal Wildlife Society Bulletin. They tested all kinds of noises that they imagined elephants, which have a superior sense of hearing, would avoid.

Previous research in Africa had showed that putting beehives on posts around crops can keep the massive animals away. So Bittner used a speaker system connected to a laptop to play the buzz of Sri Lankan hornets, directed at elephants about 45 feet away. They also tried the sound of chain saws.

But when it came to repelling male elephants, which do almost all the crop-raiding, the most effective sounds were the trumpeting and calls of other elephants  females, in particular. Once Asian male elephants reach maturity, females often cast them out of herds due to their aggressiveness, Bittner said. Matriarchs do this by bullying and preventing them from accessing food and water.

Bittner found that broadcasting females calls kept 65 percent of males away from crops. Only the biggest, baddest elephants didnt react, he said.

We think that the noise of a big group of females is effective, he said. They just go, Its not worth it. 

In Africa, ordinary deterrent efforts often amount to a spear in the elephants and deaths for some farmers, according to Damian Bell. Bell, the executive director of Honeyguide, a nonprofit company that works to find affordable solutions for farmers on the front line of human-wildlife conflicts, said farmers who risk losing so much to a raid also sometimes turn a blind eye to illegal poaching.

If elephants carry on raiding crops, he said, farmers often either retaliate by killing the elephants or keeping very quiet when poachers go in to kill an elephant.

To prevent crop-raiding, Bells team in northern Tanzania has been developing a four-stage process that, improbably, involves condoms.

It starts with a high-powered flashlight, which often scares elephants attempting a night raid. If that doesnt work, Bell and community volunteers wield a loud foghorn that seems to confuse the elephants.

Step three: filling condoms with chili powder and a firecracker, then throwing them near belligerent animals  an idea that Bell said occurred to him when he read about smugglers who swallow drug-filled condoms. The spice can affect the elephants sense of smell, and the loud bangs frighten them.

Elephants that have withstood those three stages get treated to a larger firework called a Roman candle, which Bells crew sets off about 75 feet away from the animal. Bell said that almost always does the trick. The animals have excellent memories, so once theyve experienced the chili bombs or roman candles, the flashlight is usually enough to ward them off in future raids, Bell said.

The techniques involve some danger, of course, to elephant and human.

Youre talking about being very close to an animal that is huge, and youre tricking it to believe you are more powerful than it, Bell said.

But Bell said most villagers are willing to take risks to defend their livelihood. As for the elephants, causing them temporary discomfort or stress is far better than farmers throwing spears or tipping off poachers, he argued.

Farmers who are given cheap, accessible and legal deterrence tools are more likely to provide information about poachers in the area, Bell said.

Ultimately were trying to create tools that communities can invest in and take on with their own capacity, Bell said.



Podcast coding for test sounds:

Elephant trumpet 1:

<iframe width=100% height=450 scrolling=no frameborder=no src=https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/277727629&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true>

Elephant trumpet 2:

<iframe width=100% height=450 scrolling=no frameborder=no src=https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/277727762&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true>

Low grumble:

<iframe width=100% height=450 scrolling=no frameborder=no src=https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/277727321&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true>

elephants

_____

Keywords: elephants, wildlife, animals, poaching, crops, conflict, elephant firecracker, elephant condom, elephant chili powder, elephant conflicts, deter elephants, elephant poaching
The Washington Post.

When authorities arrived to Brocks Home Town Funeral Home in Callaway, Fla., on Sunday afternoon, they opened the door only to be greeted by the overpowering odor of death.

And when they ventured inside, they encountered a scene even worse than the stench.

Investigators counted six bodies being kept in the main part of the funeral home with no refrigeration at all, the Bay County Sheriffs Office said in a press release. Ten more were decomposing inside a cooler that was actually a balmy 62 degrees.

None of the bodies had been embalmed. Those remains whose families requested cremation had not been cremated, the sheriffs office said.

Flies were throughout the building.

Authorities arrested funeral director Gregory Dunphy along with the mortuarys manager, Felicia Boesch. They have been charged with six and 10 counts of unlawful preservation and storage of human remains, respectively.

The horrific find has shocked authorities in the small panhandle city.

Im not aware of us having a situation like this before, Sheriff Tommy Ford told WJHG. The funeral home industry in Bay County is very professional and it appears that this particular funeral home was having some business and financial issues.

The grim discovery has also outraged families who were led to believe their loved ones were being looked after.

We were told our grandmother was already cremated and we were just waiting on a special ordered urn to arrive, Shannon Dougherty Bailey wrote on Facebook. Instead her body was rotting away in a freezer.

Dunphy, 64, blamed the situation on Boesch, 39, whose father owns the funeral home, according to authorities.

I had no say or hand in anything, he told WJHG. A couple times she said, Ill be in tonight, Ill do cremations and make those remains go in the proper temperature controlled area. And I have to rely on her as a person of integrity to live up to her word, which obviously she did not.

Dunphy also claimed that he was the one who tipped off authorities.

Authorities contest both those claims, saying it was someone else who notified them of the decomposing bodies, although they admit Dunphy is cooperating with the investigation.

These charges were appropriate because of the time that the bodies had been there and he hadnt done anything to try to rectify that, BCSO Major Jimmy Stanford told WJHG. So because of that time, even if he had have called it in, he would have been charged.

Boesch could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday morning. She has declined to speak to local media. According to the sheriffs office, Boesch stated she did perform some cremations and then declined to answer additional questions.

Dunphy said he only recently started working for Brocks.

Felicia . . . asked me about three weeks ago to come over and babysit the funeral home while she was gone, he told WJHG. The trouble began, he said, in the past week, when bodies that were supposed to be cremated began to pile up.

She is the licensed crematory operator. I am not, he said of Boesch. I am strictly a licensed funeral director and embalmer.

Dunphy claimed it wasnt up to him where the bodies were kept and that he didnt even have access to either the crematorium or the cooler, a refrigerated room where bodies that have not been embalmed must be stored according to state law.

Just this last week things came to a head, he told WJHG. I went to her, as an employee to the manager, and said, Hey, this situation needs to be rectified. And she said she would try to go to Alabama where her dad has cemeteries and try to get body bags or supplies and would be getting gas so the cremations could be performed. And those remains where she had had somebody placed in the chapel would be going into the refrigerated area as the cremations took place. . ..

Turns out, she did not get gas. . . for the [furnace] to operate and because of that her refrigerated area became full, he said. She was responsible for the placement of the remains within the funeral home.

As the bodies piled up in the hallway and began to bloat, Dunphy felt trapped since calling authorities would shut down the funeral home and cost him his job, he said.

I said My God, Felicia. Its hell down here. Weve got to do something, he told News 13.

Defying her orders not to talk to rival funeral homes, Dunphy tried to borrow body bags or refrigerator storage space, he said.

By the third day, however, the situation inside Brocks had become intolerable.

At this point, you could not enter the building because there was a definite odor and there were some flies there, he told WJHG. It was not pleasant to be there.

Dunphy again defied Boesch and went to the rival funeral home for advice, he said. The other owner told him he had to report the situation.

I was torn in all kinds of directions, Dunphy told the television station. After a great deal of prayer, he said he called the sheriffs office.

Thats why it makes me wonder why I ended up in jail, he said. I initiated [the investigation]. I just couldnt stand it any longer.

Dunphy said none of the 16 bodies discovered Sunday were supposed to be embalmed. In Florida, bodies do not need to be embalmed if they are going to be cremated.

The funeral director said he believed authorities were trying to put together the pieces still and he would eventually be exonerated. I dont feel I was justly incarcerated, Dunphy said. I had to do the right thing. I had to make that call. It was really tearing me apart.

He said he was hurt by local radio hosts who called him a horrible person.

I would like people to know Im not some kind of monster, he told WJHG. I have always acted with full integrity and in the interests of the families over my interests and the funeral homes interests. I would never do something like this.

The charges against his boss, however, were absolutely justified, he claimed.There is no question what she did was reprehensible.

Online, some locals blamed both Brocks employees for the nightmarish scene inside the funeral home.

Whistleblower or not this man sat across the desk from me held my hand while I cried and told me he would treat my brother as if he were his own brother, Ashley Smith wrote on Facebook. This same man is just as responsible for those he worked for letting my brothers remains be left to decompose.

He spent hours explaining all of the documents and why they were necessary to be in accordance with state regulations, Smith continued. He knew exactly what rules he was breaking every time he broke them.

But most of the anger was reserved for Boesch.

Shannon Dougherty Bailey said she had been waiting for two months for her grandmothers ashes when she learned what really happened to the corpse.

The Bay County medical examiners office told us our grandmothers body had been there the LONGEST and is very very badly decomposed! she wrote. Our family has to relive her death all over again! My children cried themselves to sleep tonight over this! We now have to come up with the money to pay another home to take care of her remains and finally put her to rest!

This is a nightmare for us and many other families! she added. I hope Felicia rots in the jail just like she did to our grandmother.

My uncle passed away July 8, wrote Shannon R. Luck. They picked him up knowing they had no room for him. And now over a month later we find this out. I hope these people pay dearly for what they did.

How dare they treat my brothers body this way and put us through this! added Vera Smith Green.

Luck said she would make sure that the funeral home was shut.

Several people wondered where the money had gone, if not to properly storing and disposing the bodies.

They cheated me out of $2,000, wrote Joanne Whitaker Rhodes.

Authorities said Dunphy and Boesch could face further charges, including theft and fraud, according to WJHG.

Several family members of those found at the funeral home said they would make sure it never reopened. But it appeared as if Boesch and her father had already conceded as much. Authorities said Brocks had voluntarily surrendered its funeral home and cinerator, or crematorium, licenses. The owners have already begun to dismantle the business, WJHG reported.

Boesch faces 10 misdemeanor counts of unlawful storage of human remains: one for each body inside the refrigerator. Dunphy faces six similar counts, one for each body inside the funeral home.

Under Florida law, each count can be punished by up to a year in prison or a fine of $1,000.

Brocks had previously been hit with four complaints in the past five years, including several claims that the funeral home had been slow to deliver ashes or death certificates, WJHG reported.

The bodies are currently being held by the medical examiners office, according to the TV station.

They, at least, will now know for sure what happened to their loved ones.

Chrissy Flynn may never know. She paid Brocks to cremate her mother in January of 2015.

I got some type of remains back, she wrote on Facebook. But Sundays arrests had sown doubts about the ashes now sitting in her bedroom.

What if it wasnt even Mom?

florida-funeral

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Keywords: Brocks Home Town Funeral Home, Callaway, Florida, funeral, bodies, rotting, decomposing, embalmed, cooler, refrigerator, improperly stored, Sheriffs Deputies, arrest, charge, crime, dead, burial, cremation
DENVER  A universal health care proposal headed to Colorado ballots this fall has exposed some painful rifts among the states liberals.

The tension boiled over this week when the left-leaning activist group ProgressNow Colorado held a news conference to denounce the ColoradoCare measure . That drew angry shouts from some supporters of the measure, who showed up to deride ProgressNow as sell-outs.

ColoradoCare supporters held signs that crossed out ProgressNow and instead read, Big Pharma Now. Another sign asked, Progress  Really? And a third sign begged, Stop Being Corporate Hacks.

Amendment 69 would replace the current health care system with the nations first universal health care system. The $25 billion plan would eliminate private insurance in favor of a 10 percent premium tax, with the state covering health expenses. Employers would share employees costs.

The Durango Herald reports (http://goo.gl/kaEOF3 ) that Wednesdays dueling news conferences had one calling the infighting a civil war.

Democratic state Sen. Irene Aguilar backs the measure and turned out Wednesday to oppose ProgressNows position.

When organizations that are mislabeled as progressive choose to support the status quo, choose money influence over the lives of the 535 Coloradans estimated to die each year because of lack of access to health care, it makes the people angry and it makes me angry, Aguilar said.

ProgressNows executive director talked about the rift.

You think this is easy for us? This is not easy. This is tough. Doing the right thing is tough, Ian Silverii said.

His comments enraged Aguilar, who interrupted Silverii to say, I am insulted that you implied that Im spreading misinformation.

Colorados top-ranking Democrats  Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet  also oppose ColoradoCare. So does the abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, which fears the change could intrude on abortion rights because the state constitution bans the use of taxpayer dollars on an abortion.

One of the most disturbing arguments weve been offered is we should remain neutral, despite the severe policy issues surrounding this, said Karen Middleton, executive director of NARAL Colorado, told the newspaper. This amounts to nothing more than waiting our turn.

The Herald reported that Wednesdays ColoradoCare news conferences resembled Democratic shouting matches over the presidential nomination.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who won Colorados presidential caucuses but went on to lose the nomination to Hillary Clinton, favors ColoradoCare.

Conservatives in Colorado were cheering the progressive rift over the health measure.

What we are also seeing is people from every shade of the political spectrum turn red hot against government control over health care, Jonathan Lockwood, head of the conservative Advancing Colorado, said in a statement Thursday,

___

Information from: Durango Herald, http://www.durangoherald.com
BOISE, Idaho  A young Hunter S. Thompson went to Idaho to write about Ernest Hemingway and decided to take a piece of his hero home with him  a set of trophy elk antlers.

More than half a century later, the gonzo journalists wife returned the antlers to Hemingways house in the mountain town of Ketchum.

He was embarrassed that he took them, Anita Thompson told The Associated Press on Thursday, noting the deep respect her husband had for Hemingways work. He wished he hadnt taken them. He was young, it was 1964, and he got caught up in the moment.

He talked about it several times, about taking a road trip and returning them, she said.

She gave back the antlers Aug. 5 to Ketchum Community Library, which helps catalog and preserve items in the residence where the author took his own life. Its now owned by the Nature Conservancy.

In 1964, Hunter Thompson, then 27, came to Ketchum when he was still a conventional journalist. He had not yet developed his signature style, dubbed gonzo journalism, that involved inserting himself, often outrageously, into his reporting and that propelled him into a larger-than-life figure.

Thompson was writing a story for the National Observer about why the globe-trotting Hemingway shot and killed himself at his home three years earlier at age 61. Thompson attributed the suicide in part to rapid changes in the world that led to upheavals in places Hemingway loved most  Africa and Cuba.

Even Ketchum, which in the 1930s and 1940s attracted luminaries such as Gary Cooper, had fallen off the map of cafe society by the late 1950s, Thompson wrote.

In the story, later collected in his book The Great Shark Hunt, he noted the problem of tourists taking chunks of earth from around Hemingways grave as souvenirs.

Early in the piece, he wrote about the large elk antlers over Hemingways front door but never mentioned taking them.

For decades, the antlers hung in a garage at Thompsons home near Aspen, Colorado.

One of the stories that has often been told over the years is the story of Hunter S. Thompson taking the antlers, said the librarys Jenny Emery Davidson, who helped accept the trophy. These are two great literary figures who came together over the item of the antlers.

Davidson said historian Douglas Brinkley, who spoke at the library in May and was familiar with the antler story after interviewing the writer, contacted Anita Thompson. She called the library on Aug. 1.

Davidson said the antlers have since been shipped to a Hemingway grandson in New York who wanted them. Its not clear if the antlers came from an elk killed by the author, who was a noted big game hunter, or if they were a gift.

Sean Hemingway didnt respond to emails or phone messages seeking comment.

Like Ernest Hemingway, Thompson ended his own life by shooting himself, dying in 2005 at age 67 at his Colorado home.

His widow wants to turn the house where he lived and worked into a museum, planning to open it next year by invitation only. Like Hemingways home, its much the same as it was when Thompson was alive.

I couldnt open it with a clear conscious knowing theres a stolen pair of antlers, Anita Thompson said, noting the theft was unusual behavior, even by her husbands standards.
WASHINGTON  The Latest on Campaign 2016 (all times EDT):

11 p.m.

Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence has filed a personal financial disclosure form that shows his salary as Indiana governor is his main source of income.

Donald Trumps running mate filed the form required under federal law Thursday. It lists $173,860 in salary for Pence and says Karen Pences earnings from a towel charm business and her work as a self-employed artist each bring in less than $1,001.

Listed as Pences other assets and income are a bank account worth no more than $15,000 and two education savings plans each worth no more than $15,000.

The document also lists seven student loans totaling at least $95,000. The Pences have three children.

A statement announcing the filing says Pence will release his tax returns in the near future.

__

10:35 p.m.

A new book about Bill Clinton reports that former Secretary of State Colin Powell advised Hillary Clinton to use a personal email account when she took over the job.

Veteran political journalist Joe Conason writes that several former secretaries of state, including Madeleine Albright, Henry Kissinger and Condoleezza Rice, had dinner with Clinton early in her tenure, which began in 2009.

Conason writes that Powell, who served under President George W. Bush, told Clinton he had used personal email in the job, except for classified communications.

The description of the conversation appears in Conasons forthcoming book Man of the World: The Further Endeavors of Bill Clinton, about the ex-presidents life after the White House.

___

9:35 p.m.

Louisianas governors office says it has not been contacted by Donald Trumps campaign concerning a possible tour of the states flood damage.

A campaign official had said the GOP nominee and his running mate Mike Pence will travel to the state Friday. That person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans before they were officially announced.

Richard Carbo, spokesman for Gov. John Bel Edwards, says Trump hasnt called the governor to inform him of his visit.

Carbo says Trump is welcome to Louisiana, but not for a photo-op.

Instead, Carbo proposes Trump consider volunteering or making a sizable donation to the LA Flood Relief Fund to help the victims of this storm.

__

9:00 p.m.

Hillary Clintons campaign says Donald Trumps statement of regret for causing pain was just him reading words from a teleprompter.

Clinton spokeswoman Christina Reynolds said in a statement that Trumps speech only revealed that, his speechwriter and teleprompter knows he has much for which he should apologize,  adding that Trump should specify which of his offensive, bullying and divisive comments he regrets  and changes his tune.

Trump on Thursday told supporters in Charlotte, N.C., that he regrets words he has spoken that have caused people pain. He did not explicitly apologize or name the people he referenced.

The Clinton campaign statement listed hundreds of Trumps insults. They include Trumps feud with the Muslim American parents of an Army captain slain in Iraq, women and people with disabilities.

___

8:37 p.m.

Donald Trump will tour the flood damage in ravaged Louisiana Friday.

A campaign official familiar with the plans says the GOP nominee and his running mate Mike Pence will travel to the state on Friday.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans before they were officially announced.

At least 13 people have died as a result of the flooding, and at one point 11,000 were in shelters.

Trump said at a rally Thursday that his prayers are with the people impacted.

___

8:33 p.m.

A veterans group says Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton will appear next month at a televised forum to discuss national security, military affairs and veterans issues.

The sponsor of the forum, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, says the presidential candidates will appear back to back and take questions. The hour-long event will be televised Sept. 7 on NBC and MSNBC.

The veterans group says questions will come from NBC News and from members of an audience that will include military veterans and active-duty service members.

___

8:23 p.m.

Donald Trump is accusing rival Hillary Clinton of bigotry  a claim Clintons campaign has thrown back in Trumps face.

Trump says at a rally in Charlotte that Clinton sees communities of color only as votes and not as human beings worthy of a better future.

He claims that she and other Democrats have failed to do enough to improve the lives of minorities and those who live in inner cities.

Trump says that, if African-American voters give him a chance by giving him their vote, the result for them will be amazing.

He asks, What do you have to lose by trying something new?

Trump is trailing Clinton by vast margins among minority voters.

___

8:11 p.m.

Republican Donald Trump is doubling down on the outsider message that helped power him to victory in the GOP primary.

Reading from prepared remarks at a North Carolina rally, Trump says that he is running to be the voice for every forgotten part of this country that has been waiting and hoping for a better future.

In a nod to the continued frustration in his party over his unorthodox campaign and inability to stay on message, Trump says that hes glad that I make the powerful a little uncomfortable now and again  including some powerful people in my own party.

He says that means I am fighting for real change.

Trump has been denounced dozens of current and former GOP party officials, advisers, and White House staffers.

___

7:46 p.m.

For the first time, Republican Donald Trump says he regrets some of his most heated campaign statements.

The GOP nominee says at a rally in Charlotte that, sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you dont choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that. And believe it or not, I regret it, he says, particularly where it may have caused personal pain.

Trump says that, Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues.

Trump is reading from prepared remarks, using a teleprompter instead of his usually off-the-cuff rally style after re-shaping his campaign team.

___

7:37 p.m.

Donald Trump is addressing the devastating flooding in Louisiana.

He says that the country is united, and that when one state hurts, we all hurt.

He is sending his prayers to the people affected.

Trump has been striking a new, more unifying tone in recent days as hes shaken up his campaign leadership once again.

____

4:36 p.m.

Its Donald Trump like hes never been seen before.

Life-size naked statues of the Republican presidential nominee greeted passers-by in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Cleveland on Thursday. They are the brainchild of an activist collective called INDECLINE, which has spoken out against Trump before.

In a statement, the collective said the hope is that Trump is never installed in the most powerful political and military position in the world.

The statues were created by an artist in Cleveland. They are of a stern-faced Trump with his hands folded over a bulging belly. Some parts of male genitalia are visible while others seemingly are missing.

It is through these sculptures that we leave behind the physical and metaphorical embodiment of the ghastly soul of one of Americas most infamous and reviled politicians, INDECLINE said in its statement.

Trumps campaign declined to comment on the statues.

A statue in Union Square quickly drew the attention of people before it was removed by the citys parks department. INDECLINE said statues on the West Coast were still in place.

___

4:04 p.m.

Sen. Bernie Sanders has pushed hard for transparency on U.S. trade and campaign finance, but has been far less aggressive in disclosing his own personal finances.

Sanders presidential campaign got two deadline extensions on filing a candidate disclosure with the Federal Election Commission, and then was excused from doing so after he dropped out of the race. He recently bought a third house for nearly $600,000.

The independent lawmaker from Vermont ran unsuccessfully for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, often faulting the secrecy surrounding U.S. trade deals and saying sources of campaign money needed to be more transparent. Sanders also ran as an advocate for working people.

Spokesman Michael Briggs says the senator has filed the required disclosure as a congressman and senator. But Richard Skinner of the pro-transparency Sunlight Foundation says Sanders failure to make the usual disclosures as a presidential candidate was unfortunate.

___

3:20 p.m.

Donald Trump says hell take a very serious look at Congressional term limits if hes elected to the White House.

Trump was addressing local law enforcement officers in North Carolina Thursday when he was asked about the benefits, pensions and term limits of members of Congress. The questioner said he wanted to get these bums out.

Trump responded by saying the man was not the first person to voice those complaints.

He said, Were going to take a very serious look at term limits. Changing term limits would require a Constitutional amendment.

Trump also boasted about his popularity with police. He says their vote for him in November could be unanimous. That could be, no matter where you go in the country, we may get no negative vote.

He told the officers, Im on your side, 1,000 percent.

___

3:00 p.m.

Mike Pence says he wants to help New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat who recently struggled when asked whether Hillary Clinton is trust-worthy.

During a town hall event in Manchester on Thursday, Donald Trumps running mate played a CNN interview with Hassan. Three times, Hassan evaded direct the interviewers questions about whether her partys presidential nominee is honest or trustworthy. Hassans spokesman later clarified that Hassan believes Clinton is both.

Pence showed the video clip after saying Americans are sick of the pay-to-play politics he accuses Clinton of engaging in as secretary of state.

The Indiana governor sarcastically offered to help Hassan with her answers by saying simply no and put in a plug for U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican whose seat Hassan is trying to win.

___

2:50 p.m.

Donald Trump is getting in some target practice on the campaign trail.

The Republican presidential hopeful was scheduled to meet with law enforcement officers Thursday at a local FOP Lodge in Iredell County, North Carolina, but decided to stop by the lodges gun range first.

I gotta say, this man can shoot, said Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell, who accompanied Trump.

He said Trump used an M4 gun often carried by law enforcement.

Trump tells the gathered officers after that, We just went down to the range and we had a little shooting practice.

Trump is a staunch gun rights supporter and often talks about the issue on the campaign trail.

He is licensed to carry a hand gun in New York, but sometimes jokes that his eldest sons, both hunting enthusiasts, are better shots.

___

1:25 p.m.

Two Democratic senators are pushing legislation to require presidential candidates to release their tax returns.

Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Chris Murphy of Connecticut say their bill is specifically aimed at Donald Trump, who has refused to release his returns even though its standard practice for presidential candidates.

The lawmakers say Trumps returns could disclose his financial interests in foreign countries, among other things, and seeing them is a pressing national interest.

Trump claims he cant release his returns because hes being audited.

Wyden and Murphy are calling on GOP leaders to bring up their bill when Congress reconvenes next month.

A spokesman for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there are no scheduling announcements but there are certain to be lots of political messaging ideas raised in coming months.

___

1:05 p.m.

Hillary Clinton says the nation needs to work together to repair the bonds of trust and respect between police officers and communities and not stoke more divisions.

The Democratic presidential nominee was meeting with law enforcement leaders in New York City, joining with chiefs of police days after Republican Donald Trump accused her of being against the police.

Clinton said Thursday at the start of the meeting that deadly shootings in Dallas, Baton Rouge and Milwaukee show the need for respect between police officers and residents.

She said the country cant ignore the challenges and certainly we must not inflame them.

She told the group that the nation needs to work together to bridge our divides, not stoke more divisiveness.

___

1:00 p.m.

Republican Donald Trump has begun reserving television air time for the first time in the general election.

Trumps campaign will spend roughly $4.9 million over the next 10 days on ads to air in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to Kantar Medias political ad tracker.

The ads are expected to begin airing Friday.

Trump approved two different ads Wednesday that will begin airing in the coming days, his new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told CNN.

He is woefully behind: Clintons campaign has spent more than 75 million on ads in the weeks since she effectively locked up the nomination in early June, Kantar Medias political ad tracker.

___

10:45 a.m.

Donald Trump is predicting hell have a new nickname.

Trump tweeted Thursday They will soon be calling me MR. BREXIT!

He offered no further explanation and the post was widely discussed  and sometimes mocked  on social media.

But Trump appeared to be referring to comments he made Wednesday in an interview on Fox News. In that exchange, he was discussing the political movement fueling his campaign and the reporter noted that the world is changing and mentioned Brexit, the June vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.

Trump then said I think I will be called Mr. Brexit.

He supported the Brexit movement and suggested it was the people taking the country back. His self-appointed nickname likely was drawing parallels between his campaign and that outcome.

___

3:30 a.m.

Weary Republican leaders are accepting Donald Trumps latest staff shake-up, hopeful that a new leadership team can reverse the New York businessmans struggles even as some worry its too little too late.

The Republican National Committee has already conceded it may divert resources away from the presidential contest in favor of vulnerable Senate and House candidates if Trumps standing does not improve in the coming weeks.

RNC chief strategist Sean Spicer calls Trumps staffing changes the healthy growth of the campaign at a senior level at a key point.

Trump on Wednesday announced a staff overhaul at his campaigns highest levels, the second shake-up in the past two months.

A combative conservative media executive with no presidential campaign experience, Stephen Bannon, will serve as CEO of Trumps White House bid.
MONTPELIER, Vt.  A Vermont inmate who once hatched a plot in a New Mexico prison to kill pop singer Justin Bieber was behind an anthrax scare at a courthouse where he was sentenced for killing a 15-year-old girl, police said Thursday.

The courthouse in Barre received an envelope Wednesday containing white powder and a note claiming it was anthrax. The envelope was marked as inmate correspondence from a Delaware prison where Dana Martin is serving 35 years to life for the 2000 slaying.

When confronted by prison officials in Delaware, Martin acknowledged that the envelope contained foot powder, Police Chief Tim Bombardier said.

Martin, 48, is being held in Delaware as part of an interstate compact that allows states to send some inmates elsewhere. He previously was held in New Mexico.

This looks like his latest attempt to either change his living arrangements by getting transferred to another facility or returned to Vermont, Bombardier said. Quite honestly, in light of his underlying sentence and the motivations behind it, its unlikely were going to charge him with this.

It couldnt immediately be determined if Martin has an attorney. The last time he was in court in Vermont, he represented himself.

Bombardier said that while most inmate correspondence is monitored, correspondence with attorneys is not and that could be why the letter to a court did not receive more scrutiny.

Powders sent through the mail have been cause for concern since at least 2001, when anthrax-tainted letters were sent to media outlets and offices, leading to a handful of deaths.

Martin was arrested in October 2000 on charges he strangled DeAndra Florucci and dumped her body off a bridge on a remote dirt road in Plainfield. He pleaded guilty in 2001.

Mike Touchette, the director of facility operations for the Vermont Corrections Department, said it would be up to Delaware officials to monitor Martins actions in their prison.

We have no influence around the security practices of the Delaware Department of Corrections, Touchette said.

The Delaware Department of Corrections said it had been cooperating with Vermont officials in the investigation.

In 2012, when Martin was held in New Mexico, he sent two men to kill Bieber, Biebers bodyguard and two other people in Vermont. Martin, who was infatuated with Bieber and even had a tattoo of the pop star on his leg, later told investigators that he was upset with Bieber for not responding to any of his letters.

Martin persuaded a man he met in prison and the mans nephew to travel from New Mexico to the Northeast to carry out the killings. The plot ended when they inadvertently drove into Canada from Vermont and a check at a U.S. border post when they returned found that one of them was wanted by police in New Mexico.

Martin later pleaded guilty in that state to criminal solicitation to commit first-degree murder.

___

Associated Press writer Russell Contreras contributed to this report from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
ALAMOGORDO  The United Way of Otero County resumed its calendar firearms raffle sales this week after United Way Worldwide dropped its demand to cease and desist.

The United Way of Otero County had suspended the firearms raffle after receiving a letter from United Way Worldwide asking the local nonprofit to agree to stop the raffle immediately by signing a letter of agreement Aug. 3.

We are very excited to refocus our efforts towards raising money for the 13 partner agencies that United Way of Otero County supports, president of the United Way of Otero County Josh Beug said. Our partner agencies make a real difference in the lives of Otero County residents. We are proud to be able to continue to help them financially.

Beug said that, while the marketing efforts for the raffle will change slightly, the rules will stay the same, the prizes will stay the same and all tickets that have been sold will be honored.

He said United Way Worldwide dropped its previous demand.

Were fine with them, Beug said. Were back on track. Theyve allowed us to continue. Weve come to terms with them.

United Way Worldwide spokesman Ryan Powers said the organization has no more to add to the United Way of Otero Countys statement.

Its an internal membership discussion and wed prefer to keep it at that, Powers said.

The United Way of Otero County teamed up with Western True Value to sell 2017 calendars with a raffle entry ticket attached to the calendar for $50. The raffle gives the purchaser the opportunity to enter into a twice-weekly firearms raffle. The raffle is limited to 3,000 tickets or calendars being sold. It could net the organization about $150,000 minus the cost of background checks of the winners of the firearms.

The firearms being raffled are rifles, shotguns and handguns that include an AR-15 rifle, a 12 gauge Mossberg shotgun, and various caliber rifles and handguns.

Western True Value Store Manager Kerry Maupin said the raffle will be conducted according to firearm laws, including a firearm background check on each winner.

I think they realized that there were a lot of charters nationwide that were doing gun raffles, Maupin said. I am thrilled that were able to go forward.

He said hes sold a lot of calendars.

A lot of these gun raffles across this nation help a lot of people, Maupin said. Its our tradition. Its our heritage.

New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence Co-President Miranda Viscoli sent a letter to United Way Worldwide alerting the organization about the firearm raffle that led to the suspension of the raffle.

She said resumption of the raffle is unconscionable. It has nothing to do with what United Way is about. Theyre paving the road for other United Way branches to hold raffles.

She also said she believes firearm background checks are flawed and a seller could sell it to buyer without knowing if theyre a terrorist or a convicted felon or a teenager.
The Washington Post.

For much of the past year, Donald Trump proved uniquely untouchable, a political force of such mind-boggling invulnerability that he even bragged about attracting voters after hypothetically shooting someone on Fifth Avenue.

Hoping to strip away the Teflon Dons legendary confidence to reveal the fleshy mortal beneath the expensive suits and long ties, members of the anarchist collective INDECLINE decided they would showcase the aspirant president in the most humiliating way they could imagine: without his clothes.

The group unveiled a life-size statue of Trump in the nude Thursday in New York and reported that statues were also unveiled in public spaces in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Seattle.

The Emperor Has No Bs, as the project is called, arrives several months after the group covered stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with the names of African Americans who have been killed by police. In the past, the collective has also claimed responsibility for an anti-Trump Rape mural on the U.S.-Mexico border and a massive piece of graffiti art in Californias Mojave desert.

The groups latest project has been four months in the making and was inspired, in part, by The Emperors New Clothes, Hans Christian Andersens story about an overly confident leader without clothing, according to an INDECLINE spokesman.

Suggesting Trump is more of a (potential) ruler than a revolutionary, the statues also poke fun at the authoritarian tendency to erect large monuments in ones likeness.

Like it or not, Trump is a larger-than-life figure in world culture at the moment, said the spokesman, who discussed the project with The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity. Looking back in history, thats how those figures were memorialized and idolized in their time  with statues.

Unlike monuments of most political figures in cities across the globe, the Trump statues are far from flattering. Theyre oddly shaped, lack one key element of the male reproductive system and dramatically play down another.

The eyes scowl, the mouth pouts and the veiny, almost reptilian skin looks like it was torn off a human-size frog and dipped in bronzer.

The job of conceptualizing and creating the statues fell to a man who goes by the name Ginger, a Las Vegas-based artist. Ginger told The Post that he has a long history of designing monsters for haunted houses and horror movies.

In addition to doing makeup for a Busta Rhymes video, Gingers resume includes another source of great pride for the artist: Hes a regular keynote speaker at haunted house conventions across the country. (We checked and, yeah, theyre a thing.)

When the guys approached me, it was all because of my monster-making abilities, he said, referring to INDECLINE members. Trump is just yet another monster, so it was absolutely in my wheelhouse to be able to create these monstrosities.

And thats not the only reason the sculptor considered himself the ideal candidate. Gingers mother gave birth to him via C-section and  before doctors had time to remove him from the womb  his hand popped out of the slit in his mothers abdomen, covered in maternal slime, he said, prompting a nurse to faint.

Before I was out of the womb, I was scaring people, he said.

The artist, who has a full-time job, said he spent up to 25 hours each week working on the statues since they were commissioned in April. Ginger used 300 pounds of clay and silicone to create the statues and said the candidates mouth ended up being his biggest sculpting challenge.

The goal was to give him the slightest hint of a scowl  a constipated look  that hinted at Trumps implicit frustration with contemporary America, Ginger said. He has a very distinct little mouth, the way his chin meets the jowl, it had to look right, he said.

Also challenging was figuring out how to create unsettling body parts in a realistic fashion, a process that required extensive online research.

If somebody were to look at my browser history, it would be a little disturbing, Ginger said. Turns out theres not too many Google results for saggy old man butt. 

Included in the statues are subliminal jokes carved into the texture of the statues skin, he noted. On the right hand, the statue version of Trump is wearing a Masonic ring, a piece of jewelry emblematic of privilege, secret handshakes and cloistered groups of powerful people, the artist said.

Each statue weighs 80 pounds and was glued to the ground using industrial strength epoxy, an adhesive that dries within several minutes.

When Ginger began the process, he said, he was actually considering punching his ballot for Trump in the general election because the candidates message resonated with the middle class. The more familiar he became with Trump, however, the more that familiarity bred contempt.

Starting on the project and looking at his face day in and day out when Id come home, I began to build up some resentment, Ginger told The Post. The straw that broke the camels back was when he made fun of the disabled reporter from the New York Times.

I have family members that are physically and mentally handicapped and who need different types of care, he added. When I saw what he did, I was in such a rage. That rage, he said, is one of the reasons he wont mind seeing the statues destroyed by police or dismantled by angry Trump supporters like a silicone pinata.

In fact, INDECLINE members have placed bets among themselves about which city will destroy its statue first. Right now, the suspicion is that San Franciscos Trump will remain intact the longest, with local lefties coming to its rescue, the groups spokesman said.

I dont expect these things to last more than 30 or 45 minutes, he added. But I would love to watch some irate 65-year-old Trump supporter try to take the thing down with his bare hands.

trump-protesters

_____

Keywords: trump, statue, indecline, new york, artist
The Washington Post.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton met on Thursday in New York with leading law enforcement officers from around the country, including from some of its largest cities, for a discussion about policing and the racial tensions that have been exposed by high-profile killings in recent years.

Its obvious that recent events  from Dallas and Baton Rouge to Milwaukee and across the country  underscore how difficult and important the work is ahead of us to repair the bonds of trust and respect between our police officers and our communities, Clinton said. We have to be clear-eyed about the challenges we face. We cant ignore them, and certainly we must not inflame them.

The closed-door session comes at a sensitive time in relations between police and the communities they protect, as officers have recently been killed in targeted incidents in Dallas and Baton Rouge. At the same time, several high-profile police shootings of African Americans have also roiled the nation this summer, including this week in Milwaukee.

Clintons Republican opponent, Donald Trump, has cast himself as the law and order candidate in the race, including during a speech Tuesday in the predominantly white city of West Bend, Wis., about an hour outside of Milwaukee. Before that event, and again on Thursday in Statesville, N.C., he met with a group of police officers.

Im on your side a thousand percent, Trump said during the meeting with a Fraternal Order of Police chapter on Thursday.

Clinton has sought to walk a narrower line, expressing support for law enforcement but also sympathizing with the concerns of Black Lives Matter activists and others outraged by police conduct that has led to the deaths of African American citizens.

I want to support them  our police officers  with the resources they need to do their jobs, Clinton said. I believe supporting our police officers and improving policing go hand in hand. Everyone is safer when there is respect for the law and when everyone is respected by the law.

In a speech to a gathering of the NAACP last month in the immediate aftermath of the shootings that killed three officers in Baton Rouge, Clinton said this madness has to stop, declaring that those who take aim at police take aim at all of us.

She then suggested that the best way to honor fallen police is to work to improve policing  with the aim of avoiding the deaths of African Americans in police custody  and to take steps to reduce gun violence.

On Thursday, Clinton added that she believes there is an opportunity to work together to address legitimate questions in order to keep our communities safe, to protect lives and property while also respecting every single American.

Thursdays meeting has been in the works for several weeks, the Clinton aide said, and included eight law enforcement leaders from cities of different sizes: Charles Beck, chief in Los Angeles; Bill Bratton, commissioner in New York; James ONeill, chief in New York; Chris Magnus, chief in Tucson; Kathleen OToole, chief in Seattle; Charles Ramsey, former commissioner in Philadelphia and former chief in D.C.; J. Scott Thomson, chief in Camden County, N.J.; and Lupe Valdez, sheriff in Dallas County.

The officials present at the meeting with Clinton represent a group of about 200 current and former police leaders, prosecutors and attorney generals from across the country who advocate for policies that reduce crime and incarceration.

Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration also recently sent a letter to Clinton and Trump asking both candidates to advocate for policies that reduce crime and imprisonment.

The aide said the gathering will build on smaller sessions Clinton and her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, have had as candidates, as well as on Clintons past work.

clinton-police-1stld-writethru

_____

Keywords: hillary clinton, police shootings, donald trump
Public Service Company of New Mexico has filed a formal objection to a state hearing examiners recommendation in an increasingly contentious utility rate case.

PNM declined to comment for this story. But in a document filed with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Wednesday, PNM said hearing examiner Carolyn Glick ignored facts, law, and commission precedent in her decision to exclude several nuclear power transactions from PNMs rate base, as well as an investment in air pollution controls at the coal-powered San Juan Generating Station that some called excessive.

Adopting these unsupported findings, along with the recommendation that PNM try again in its next proceeding, would be unlawful, arbitrary, and financially destructive, PNM said in the filing.

The exclusions accounted for the majority of the difference between Glicks $41.3 million recommended annual revenue increase and PNMs $123.5 requested increase. PNM customers would on average see their bills increase by 14.4 percent under the utilitys proposal instead of 6.4 percent under Glicks.

Glick has said it is not appropriate for her to comment in the middle of a rate case. In her recommended decision, she said PNM had acted imprudently by purchasing 64.1 megawatts of nuclear power from the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station and extending several leases there without conducting an appropriate cost-benefit analysis. PNM maintains their analysis was sufficient.

The Palo Verde transactions were made in part to replace power lost from a partial closure of San Juan. The closure was part of an agreement between PNM and the Environmental Protection Agency aimed at reducing air pollution in the Four Corners area.

In their most recent filing, PNM railed against what they perceived to be Glicks legally and factually unsupported conclusions and punitive tone. PNM argued there is a legal precedent for the commission to allow for cost recovery in the absence of serious doubt about a transactions reasonableness, which PNM claims is the case for the costs Glick excluded from the rate base.

PNM took particular issue with Glicks exclusion of the Palo Verde transactions, which it called so obviously reasonable, arguing at length that it was not required to consider alternatives to replacing the lost San Juan energy with nuclear power under current statute. The utility also said a PRC adoption of Glicks recommendation would have serious repurcussions for similar businesses throughout the state.

If allowed to stand, the (recommended decision) sends a troubling message, not only to PNM, but to all of the utilities in New Mexico, that the Commission need not, and will not, consider whether its decisions cause financial harm to the utility, PNM wrote in the filing.

The Rio Grande Foundation, a free market think tank, and the New Mexico Business Coalition, a pro-business advocacy organization, echoed PNMs sentiment in a recent email warning of the potential impact of radical environmentalists on the PRC. The email asked recipients to sign a petition to the PRC in support of nuclear power.

Two of the nine intervening parties in the case that filed supplemental briefs on the Palo Verde transactions recommended complete exclusion of these events from the rate base: New Energy Economy, an environmental advocacy organization, and the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority. Both said PNM had not provided sufficient financial analysis to show the purchase was reasonable.

In a PRC meeting Wednesday, several individuals, including PRC commissioner Pat Lyons, publicly accused Glick of being biased against nuclear power, an accusation Glick denied. The encounter became heated enough that PRC Chairwoman Valerie Espinoza intervened several times on Glicks behalf.

PNM has said if the commission adopts Glicks proposal unchanged, it will sell off its interests in Palo Verde, leading to more reliance on coal- and gas-powered energy sources. The company has also said it will immediately appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, and likely lay off up to 300 employees if the decision remains unchanged.

The PRC is expected to make their decision in the rate case by Aug. 31.
Lekki Lagos, February 1st 2019. Rilla Web Hosting, one of the top players in domain registration and web hosting has announces its full ...
Becker Professional Education, subsidiary of theDeVry Education Group, announced on Thursday that Kenneth Koskay will be joining the company as senior director of Global Accounts. Koskay will lead a team of sales representatives focused on growing Beckers Continuing Professional Education (CPE) product line.

[IMGCAP(1)] Koskay is a CPA and a Certified Financial Planner with over 30 years in accounting, tax, financial planning and business consulting experience.

Before joining Becker, Koskay served as senior vice president and general manager of the Learning Solutions segment at Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting, creating the largest for-profit CPE provider in the U.S. He and his team also developed Checkpoint Learning, one of the leading online learning platforms for tax professionals. Koskay also served as Thomson Reuters senior director of business development and strategy as well as the VP of CPE and new market development. Koskay currently resides in Southlake, Texas, with his wife and sons

We are thrilled to have Ken join our Becker Professional Education leadership team, said John Roselli, president at Becker Professional Education, in a statement. Kens in-depth industry experience, long-standing relationships and outstanding leadership skills are unmatched in the industry and will be an incredible asset to Becker.

For more on Becker's CPE courses, head to their site here.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board identified deficiencies at 96 percent of the firms that audit broker-dealers, according to a new report Thursday.

The PCAOBs annual report on its interim inspection program for auditors of brokers and dealers details the results of inspections that the board conducted last year, the first inspection year in which all inspected engagements were governed by new rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission. A fact sheet is also available.

The SECs 2013 amendments to Exchange Act Rule 17a-5 include a new requirement that broker-dealer audits be performed in accordance with PCAOB standards. However, the report indicates high levels of deficiencies, no better than PCAOB inspection results in previous years.

At 96 percent of the audit firms inspected, the PCAOB found deficiencies. The main improvement appeared to be in the area of auditor independence, which seemed to be impaired in 7 percent of the inspected audits in 2015, compared to 25 percent in 2014. On the other hand, many audit firms continue to help their broker-dealer clients with bookkeeping and preparing financial statements.

While there were fewer independence findings, it is very troubling that we continue to find auditors assisting in the preparation of the financial statements they audit or providing bookkeeping services to their audit clients, said Robert Maday, deputy director of PCAOB Registration and Inspections and leader of the Broker-Dealer Audit Firm Inspection Program, in a statement. Auditor independence continues to be a focus of our inspections.

The annual report, the fifth that the PCAOB has issued for the interim broker-dealer auditor inspection program, covers inspections of 75 firms and portions of 115 audits and the related attestation engagements. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 gave the PCAOB expanded oversight of the audits of brokers and dealers registered with the SEC to include inspections, enforcement and standard-setting authority of their auditors.

However, there were some encouraging signs. PCAOB inspectors found deficiencies in 77 percent of the audits covered by the inspections during 2015, down from 87 percent in 2014.

Deficiencies in auditing revenue were identified in 70 percent of the audits, and deficiencies in auditing fair value measurements were identified in 44 percent of the audits where this audit area was reviewed.

The 2015 inspections also included the auditors examinations of broker-dealers compliance reports and reviews of broker-dealers exemption reports. PCAOB inspectors identified deficiencies in 78 percent of the examinations of compliance reports and in 34 percent of the reviews of exemption reports.

The identified deficiencies in audits, examinations and reviews included deficiencies in the related engagement quality review for 57 percent of the audits, 48 percent of the examinations, and 34 percent of the reviews. In seven instances, PCAOB inspectors discovered the auditor had not gotten any EQR for either the audit or the related review, which is a new requirement.

The report also includes inspection results since the beginning of the interim inspection program for auditors of broker-dealers, which started in 2011.

The PCAOB staff is now working on developing a rule proposal for the board to consider establishing a permanent inspection program for auditors of broker-dealers.
Barfield, Murphy, Shank & Smith plans to expand its footprint in Alabama by combining with Himmelwright, Huguley & Boles, a CPA firm in the Auburn-Opelika area, on January 1 next year.

The combined firm will include 140 employees and will consolidate under Barfields name.

BMSS ranked 13th on Accounting Todays 2016 Regional Leaders list for the Top Firm in the Gulf Coast region, with $16.8 million in annual revenue. It has also been named a Best Place to Work by several publications, including The Wall Street Journal and Accounting Today.

Himmelwright, Huguley and Boles has offered a variety of accounting, tax, and advisory services since 1998 to both businesses and individuals, including several that will broaden BMSSs services, including an outsourced bookkeeping service. HHB also specializes in furnishing accounting and auditing services to several industries such as medical practices, farming, timber and governmental entities.

We firmly believe that BMSS supports our mission in each area of how our firm operates as well as the culture that we have created for our employees, said HHB founding shareholder, Jim Himmelwright. We know that by joining our two firms, we will be stronger together.

Birmingham-based BMSSs expansion into the Auburn-Opelika area fits in with the firms strategic growth plan. Its familiar territory for founding member and managing partner, Don Murphy, who graduated from Auburn University in 1986 with a degree in accounting.

This merger is significant for all of us, said Murphy. We are excited to expand our reach into other parts of Alabama with the help of a new partner that shares our values and passion for making the client experience an exceptional one. I look forward to welcoming HHBs shareholders, employees and clients to the BMSS family.

Murphy founded the firm with Keith Barfield and John Shank in 1991 with the goal of providing a local alternative to national accounting firms, offering work/life balance to employees without compromising high-quality, client experience.

Barfield Murphy Shank & Smith is a great success story in the accounting industry and the story is about to get better, said Allan D. Koltin, CEO of Koltin Consulting Group, who advised both firms on the merger. They are already a Top 200 CPA firm nationally and this merger is the start of their geographic expansion throughout the state of Alabama. It will also make them a Top 10 CPA firm (amongst non-nationals) in the entire Gulf Coast region. They are all about being a best place to work firm and providing outstanding client service and now will be expanding their reach throughout the state.

The firm has done little M&A activity over the years. With the exception of a recent merger with a sole proprietor in 2014, the firms growth over the past quarter of a century has been organic. The firm focuses on servicing closely held businesses in various industries, including construction, manufacturing, credit unions, not-for-profit and technology. BMSS provides traditional accounting, auditing, and tax services as well as value-added services including payroll administration, wealth management and IT support.

Koltin noted that Himmelwright, Huguley & Boles was carefully selected after BMSS reviewed the Auburn-Opelika market. They had a similar culture, wonderful talent and leadership, and a great reputation of delivering awesome service to their clients, he said. We all met in Chicago this past May as part of BMSS's Annual Leadership Retreat and you could see the like-minded thinking, synergies, and chemistry right from the get go. There was a shared excitement and entrepreneurialism in the air and the only question that remained was, "When could we get married?
IMGCAP(1)]Although the tax positions of the two major candidates would face major hurdles before either one becomes law, interested observers have wasted no time in dissecting them, praising them or pointing out defects.

Here are some of the reactions:

Urban Institute Research Report: Hillary Clinton proposes raising taxes on high-income taxpayers, modifying taxation of multinational corporations, repealing fossil fuel tax incentives, and increasing estate and gift taxes. Her proposals would increase revenue by $1.1 trillion over the next decade. Nearly all of the tax increases would fall on the top 1 percent; the bottom 95 percent of taxpayers would see little or no change in their taxes. Marginal tax rates would increase, reducing incentives to work, save, and invest, and the tax code would become more complex.

John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of Small Business Majority: Its a myth that the very top tax rates have an impact on small business, because only a minuscule number of small businesses are paying taxes at the top rate.

Juanita Duggan, president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business (reacting to Trumps recently re-tooled tax plan): Mr. Trumps plan would eliminate the disparity between the way large corporations and small businesses are treated under the code and all businesses would be taxed at a substantially lower rate. Those reforms would encourage more small business investment, job creation, and economic growth.

American Enterprise Institute scholar Matt Jensen: If Trumps team is serious about cutting the cost of his tax plan from $10 trillion to $3 trillion, we should expect many more changes to be forthcoming, because the rate schedule tweaks will only get him down to $6.7 trillion, at best. He may need to pare back the large expansion of the standard deduction.

Dean Zerbe, national managing director of alliantgroup and former senior counsel on the Senate Finance Committee: To have Trumps tax plans emerging fully formed is pretty wild. He views his position as an opening bid. He likes to put down strong positions to make a point I get it, he wants to cut taxes.

Mark Luscombe, principal federal tax analyst at Wolters Kluwer: Trumps plan is short on the pay-fors, but the Clinton plan is short on details in some respects as well. Trumps plan goes beyond the House Republican plan in its concept of not just lowering the corporate tax rate, but lowering the business income tax rate to 15 percent. The fact that the ordinary income rate goes up to 33 percent under the plan creates a real incentive for a sole proprietor or pass-through to shift what would otherwise be ordinary income into business income.

Tom Wheelwright, founder and chief executive of accounting firm ProVision: Why does Warren Buffett want Trump to release his tax returns? Simply because Buffet knows that the way the tax law works, its unlikely that Trump pays much, if anything, in taxes. The tax law is set up to heavily reward real estate investors. So it is likely that Trump pays an even lower tax rate than Buffett or Mitt Romney.

Gary DuBoff, principal at MBAF: Taxpayers living in places such as New York City, and those in California, already have a higher tax burden than most of the country. The Clinton proposal would put those taxpayers at a combined federal, state and local income tax rate on ordinary income at almost 60 percent. Coupled with Social Security and Medicare, property taxes and sales taxes, living on one of those coasts would make wealthy citizens among the highest taxed people in the world.

Barbara Weltman, author of the J.K. Lasser tax manuals: I like the tax reform we had under Reagan when we had two brackets, then three. Simplification and lower taxes would be a boon to small businesses.

As the polling data changes and one candidate or the other appears closer to victory, there are those who might become overly concerned about the prospects of one or the other plan actually making it into law. For them, Roger Harris, president of Padgett Business Services, has comforting words: How many political speeches ever became tax law?
All India Radio (AIR) is all set to launch Akashvani Maitree, an exclusive service for Bangladesh and Bengali Diaspora, on August 23, 2016. President Pranab Mukherjee will be launching the channel, which will act as a bridge of amity between the two countries.

India and Bangladesh have also agreed to promote capacity building and training workshops for media persons, exchange programme for officers associated with Information and Broadcasting and exchange of programmes between Doordarshan and its counterpart in Bangladesh.

During the discussions, both India and Bangladesh agreed to cooperate on a range of issues. M Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, and Hasanul Haq Inu, Bangladeshs Minister of Information, agreed to collaborate to jointly produce a documentary on the 1971 War of Independence of Bangladesh. In this context, Naidu stated that the archival material available with Films Division, DD and other media units would be optimally utilised. This documentary proposed to be produced would commemorate the 50th year of Bangladesh Independence in 2021. Naidu also agreed to the proposal of Hasanul Haq Inu to facilitate the production of the mega movie by Bangladesh to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 2020.

Both sides also agreed to jointly workout a proposal for a joint AV co-production agreement between the two countries. It was also agreed to organise Film Festival of India in Bangladesh and a Bangladesh Film Festival in India. The Bangladesh Minister also agreed to the request of Naidu to provide the celluloid version of the film Devdas directed by Pramatesh Barua, the Bengali version produced in 1935. Bangladesh had earlier provided the DVD version of the film to NFAI.

Regarding the facilitation of Free Film Trade between the two countries, Naidu mentioned that Bangladesh could consider to relax the legal provisions which restricted the number of Indian films in that country. The easing of restrictions would have a positive impact on the local film industry. The Minister also offered to train the young film makers and entrepreneurs from Bangladesh at the Indian Film and Training Institutes. He also mentioned that collaborative measures would be initiated between NFDC and Bangladesh Film Development Corporation to promote joint production of films and also between NFAI and Bangladesh Film Archives for digitisation and archiving.
The global internet and technology conglomerate, LeEco has recently launched its first TV campaign for its second generation Superphones Le 2 and Le Max2. The TVC demonstrates the supreme specifications of the two Superphones including LeEcos patented and unrivaled CDLA technology.

We launched in India with focused digital and front page print strategy. This undoubtedly created a big impact and worked very well for the brand. Now, in tandem with our rapid growth we have expanded our marketing arsenal to include outdoor and Television. Our TVC rides on the basic insight that Millennials (our primary target audience), relate to a futuristic approach which aligns perfectly with the brands proposition. Through this TVC, we seek to communicate key differentiators of our disruptive Superphones, specifically our CDLA technology and the content ecosystem., said Manish Aggarwal, Vice President Marketing Communications, Smart Electronics Business, LeEco India.

The TVC has been conceptualized and created by J Walter Thompson India, one of Indias leading Advertising agencies in India. The TVC runs across a bouquet of channels targeted at the urban youth. The TVC first went on air on August 10, 2016 across 60+ channels.

Today's youth is constantly living in tomorrow and technology brands like LeEco are making it possible for them to do that seamlessly. Today, Content is the King and the youth its biggest consumer. The TVC mirrors the desire of today's youth and offers the perfect solution in LeEco Superphones with path breaking CDLA technology to enable them to live the future, said Joy Chauhan, Managing Partner, JWT Bangalore.

The TVC showcases some distinct features of Le 2 and Le Max2. Both Superphones pioneer the industry first CDLA (Continual Digital Lossless Audio) Standard and come with USB Type-C audio port, clearly demonstrated in the TVC. It also illustrates how users can immerse themselves in an ultimate experience that the ecosystem enabled superphones offer them.

Since their India launch, Le 2 and Le Max2 have received an overwhelming response in India given its pre-bundled LeEco Supertainment membership program, high-end specs and disruptive pricing.

Link to the TVC - https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Z-dvWruEE1g&feature=youtu.be
The iconic American brand signs on William Penn Pvt. Ltd. (WPPL) as key distributor for the Indian market.

Iconic lifestyle brand Zippo is excited to announce its partnership with William Penn Pvt. Ltd. (WPPL), the largest multi-brand retail store chain of premium and luxury mens accessories in India. As exclusive distributor, WPPL will ensure Zippos widespread availability of products at retailers throughout India, which will include new and iconic Zippo Windproof Lighter designs.

We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to distribute Zippo lighters across India, as well as sell them in all our own stores. said Nikhil Ranjan, Co-Founder and Managing Director of WPPL, The addition of an iconic brand like Zippo to the existing quality brands we distribute will enable us to work even closer and further strengthen our relationship with Indian retailers. We are always looking for ways to improve our performance and reach new customer bases, so I am confident that our association with Zippo will prove to be fruitful and one of immense success.

Zippo products are available in more than 160 countries, with India being a prominent focus for the brand. Customers in India will be able to choose from an extensive range of lighters offering the very latest designs and finishes.

WPPL plans to further develop the distribution base for Zippo products in India working with a variety of different retailers to ensure the brand has strong visibility in the key towns and cities across the country. Zippo products will also be available in the 28 William Penn stores and 3 shop-in-shop operations in 10 cities.

A multi-faceted nation like India is one of the most-sought after markets for global consumer brands like Zippo, said David Warfel, Vice President Global Marketing. WPPL have a proven track-record of distributing quality brands to other retailers. We believe they can have further success with Zippo products. The brand personality resonates with our own and were enthusiastic about reaching new and existing customers by offering them a fantastic range of products and designs.

WPPL will be present at this years GIFTS INDIA exhibition from 19th-22nd August at the Nehru Centre in Mumbai, with a wide selection of Zippo products on display at their booth (1P & 2P on the Ground Floor) allowing potential retailers to explore the range and discuss the potential to stock Zippo products

Zippo: more than a lighter

With over 80 years of history, Zippo has an influential and dedicated fan base. The brand has transcended its functional benefits to become a cultural icon and regularly features in films around the world.

The unique designs, date stamping, affordability and rich history of the Zippo lighters make them a great item to collect. The number of collectors and lovers of Zippo lighters continues to increase daily. In the United States alone it is estimated that there are around 4 million Zippo windproof lighter collectors and there are 11 official collectors clubs worldwide.
ACGM, Integra Associados, Felsberg Advogados, Morrison & Foerster, Joao Cox (former CEO of Claro Brasil) and Mario Cesar Araujo (former CEO of TIM) (the Team) announced today that they are working together on a financial and operational restructuring plan in respect of the Brazilian telecommunications company Oi S.A (Oi or the Company).

Oi, one of the largest players in the Brazilian Telecom market, with over 70 million customers and more than 15,000 employees, filed for judicial recovery (JR) before a court in Rio de Janeiro on June 20, 2016. The Company, which is burdened by debt with a face-value in excess of US$18 billion, must now present a restructuring plan to the bankruptcy court and have it approved by a majority of creditors.

The Team encompasses a seasoned group of restructuring practitioners, including legal and financial experts who have experience in the wide-range of jurisdictions relevant to the Oi restructuring such as Brazil, the U.S., the UK and the Netherlands. Thomas Felsberg, founding partner of Felsberg Advogados, one of the most prominent bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers in Brazil, has assisted in the development of the current Brazilian bankruptcy and restructuring law. Along with Mr. Felsberg, skilled restructuring partners Paulo Campana, Fabiana Solano and a multidisciplinary team comprised of partners and associates with a wide expertise in insolvency, corporate, regulatory and litigation matters will provide assistance in all matters related to Brazilian law. The Team is complemented by multiple lawyers from Morrison & Foerster, which has one of the strongest business restructuring and insolvency groups in the legal industry, having advised on many of the most complex matters. Morrison & Foerster lawyers on the team include the Hon. James Peck, a former United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York, as well as Sonya Van de Graaff and Peter Declercq, both highly recognized global restructuring and insolvency lawyers who provide comprehensive counsel to distressed investors and represent formal and ad hoc creditor groups.

Particularly important to the success of the Teams plan will be the operational restructuring, which leverages the expertise of former telecom CEOs Joao Cox and Mario Cesar Araujo. During Joaos tenure as CEO of Claro Brazil (controlled by America Movil, and the third largest mobile operator in Brazil), EBITDA rose from minus R$300 million to R$3.3 billion. Marios tenure as the CEO of TIM (controlled by Telecom Italia, and the second largest mobile operator in Brazil) was marked by a rise in the price of the firms ADRs from US$7.13 to US$39.65. The combined expertise of Joao and Mario is further enhanced by the turnaround expertise of Integra Associados. The Sao Paulo based firm of the leading Brazilian restructuring specialist Renato Carvalho Franco, has worked on some of the largest Brazilian restructurings to date, including Eneva (former MPX) and Parmalat.

New York based investment banking boutique ACGM, working alongside Integra Associados, has focused on the financial and capital markets aspects of the plan. ACGMs CEO Carlos Abadi has been involved in numerous international restructuring transactions, including the Refco bankruptcy resolution and the settlement of claims related to Allied Irish Bank. In 2013 ACGM worked on the first ever pre-packaged chapter 11 debt restructuring in Latin America  Newland International Properties, Corp.

The Team seeks constructive, non-adversarial dialogue with the Company and other stakeholders, in order to deliver a successful restructuring of Oi. The plan recognizes the importance of Oi within the Brazilian telecommunications sector and the wider economy. Although Oi faces major challenges, the Team also understands the companys strengths and growth potential.

About Integra Associados

Integra Associados is a leading Brazilian consultancy firm rendering advisory services on planning and implementing corporate change, including restructurings, with an experienced and hands-on team. Integra was founded in 2003 by Renato Carvalho Franco, former M&A director at Bank of America and CEO of Telesystem International Wireless in Brazil. During the last 10 years Integra has participated in several restructuring projects, with more than R$ 15 Bn in debt restructurings in Brazil. Integra has advised clients in several sectors including energy, food and beverages, auto parts forging and casting, services outsourcing, chemical distribution, wholesale distribution chains, sugar and ethanol, and consumer electronics, among others. The Integra team is comprised of a group of experienced professionals and associates with solid backgrounds in high-level company management, restructuring and corporate finance.

About Morrison & Foerster

Morrison & Foerster is a global firm of exceptional credentials. Its clients include some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, Fortune 100, and technology and life sciences companies. The Financial Times has named the firm in its lists of most innovative law firms in North America and Asia every year that it has published its Innovative Lawyers Reports in those regions.

In the past few years, Chambers USA has honored MoFos Bankruptcy and IP teams with Firm of the Year awards, the Corporate/M&A team with a client service award, and the firm as a whole as Global USA Firm of the Year.

Morrison & Foersters Business Restructuring & Insolvency Group has one of the strongest practices in the industry and has advised on many of the most complex matters in recent years. Some of MoFos team members most recent high-profile cases include representing:

The Dutch liquidator of the Dutch finance company OSX Leasing Group B.V., a group company in Brazilian OSX Brasil S.A.

An ad hoc group of noteholders in the insolvencies of Lehman Brothers Treasury Company B.V. in the Netherlands and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in the U.S.

The creditors committee in the chapter 11 case of Energy Future Holdings

The winding-up board of LBI (formerly Landsbanki) through its cross-border restructuring and its filed composition.

About Felsberg Advogados

Felsberg Advogados is a Brazilian full-service law firm with experience in complex business transactions, such as project finance transactions, corporate restructurings, and mergers and acquisitions, and a tradition of exceptional quality and personal service.

Well-known for its work in global transactions, Felsberg Advogados has a dynamic team of professionals with extensive international exposure, including working with foreign parties and issues and sensitive to foreign cultural matters in negotiations and transactions.

Felsberg Advogados is particularly known as one of the top tier law firms for matters related to insolvency and restructuring. The firm is representing or has represented debtors, creditors and investors in some of the highest profile cases filed in Brazil, such as Parmalat, Rede Energia, OGX/OSX, OAS and Sete Brasil.

About ACGM

Founded in 1991, ACGM is an investment banking boutique which specializes in three core areas, Emerging Markets, Financial Institutions and Restructuring & Special Situations. By focusing on these three areas of expertise, ACGM has built a team of independent specialistsFluent in Financewho serve as powerful advocates for clients, focused on protecting their financial interests and delivering practical, high-value financial solutions. The ACGM team prides itself on its ability to execute difficult and groundbreaking transactions, even in situations where the structuring complexities and executional challenges would have thwarted others.

ACGMs experienced team works on a range of transactions, including: Mergers & Acquisitions, Debt & Equity Capital Markets issues and Recapitalizations. It caters to a global client base which includes companies, governments and financial institutions across North America, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. The firms specialization approach means that it only takes on engagements if they fall within one or more of its core areas of expertise, allowing it to assign a strong team to every engagement, providing clients with the attention and intellectual capital they deserve. The firms clients appreciate having direct access to a senior banker 24/7; they value the discretion of ACGMs smaller team and are relieved of the conflict of interest concerns inherent in working with larger investment banks, which are often look to cross-sell other products and services.

The firms investment banking practice encompasses a sales and trading capability which provides ACGM with the ability to distribute securities which the firm originates for clients and to execute large block trades on their behalf. This execution capability adds value to ACGMs existing advisory work and exists solely to support advisory client mandates. In order to prevent conflicts of interest and to ensure the independence of the firms advice, ACGM does not conduct proprietary trading or manage investments.

For further information about ACGM please visit www.acgm.com

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ACGM

George Nixon, + 1 212-750-4232

Senior Director

gnixon@acgm.com
Legal action, filed as a Complaint in Original Action in Mandamus with the Supreme Court of Ohio today over improper rejection of voter signatures by Secretary Husted, seeks to restore the signatures on a ballot measure intended to lower drug prices for state programs in Ohio.

The Court had previously dismissed, without prejudice, a lawsuit seeking restoration of the voter signatures, writing at the time that the lawsuit was premature, pending the resolution of a separate, but related OSC lawsuit brought by PhRMA seeking to invalidate voter signatures on the ballot measure.

On Monday, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued a ruling in the PhRMA case denying most of PhRMAs claims and objections on the signatures; however, one part of the ruling now compels backers of the Ohio Drug Price Relief Act to collect an additional 5,044 voter signatures by August 25thmaking the backers prior legal action to restore the voter signatures urgent, and no longer premature.

Members of the citizens committee sponsoring the Ohio Drug Price Relief Act filed a new legal action (Case No. 2016-1235) today with the Supreme Court of Ohio against Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted over voter signatures in support of a ballot measure to lower drug prices for state programs in Ohio that backers allege were unlawfully invalidated by Secretary Husted earlier this year. The legal action was filed as a Complaint in Original Action in Mandamus with the Supreme Court of Ohio earlier today.

The Supreme Court of Ohio had previously dismissed (without prejudice) a lawsuit by members of the drug pricing ballot measure citizens committee that was seeking restoration of the voter signatures, writing at the time that the backers lawsuit was premature, pending the resolution of a separate, but related lawsuit brought in the SCO by PhRMA (the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, the lobbying association of large drug manufacturers) in conjunction with the Ohio Manufacturers Association seeking to invalidate voter signatures on the ballot measure.

On Monday, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued a ruling in the PhRMA case denying most of PhRMAs claims and objections on the signatures; however, one part of the ruling now compels backers of the Ohio Drug Price Relief Act to collect an additional 5,044 voter signatures by August 25thmaking the citizens committees prior legal action to restore the signatures urgent, and no longer premature.

In its lawsuit, the Ohio drug pricing advocates assert:

The instant action is a re-filing of State ex rel. Tracy L. Jones, et al. v. Jon Husted, et al., Case No. 2016-455, but is more limited in scope based on the Courts August 15, 2016 decision in Ohio Mfrs. Assn. v. Ohioans for Drug Price Relief Act, Slip Opinion No. 2016-Ohio-5377 which invalidated 10,303 signatures from the petition proposing the Ohio Drug Price Relief Act to the General Assembly (the Petition), leaving the Petition 5,044 signatures below the constitutionally required threshold. However, the Court in Ohio Mfrs. Assn. also held that it is improper to invalidate part-petitions because they contain signatures crossed out by someone other than the circulator, signer, or signers attorney-in-fact. The instant action seeks to recover such signatures that were rejected by Respondent and various county boards of elections. The recovery of these signatures would more than make up the deficiency and further would moot the portion of the Courts decision that [i]f the secretary certifies enough valid signatures, then he shall resubmit the initiative to the General Assembly, in accordance with the terms of the Ohio Constitution, Article ii, Section 1b. Id. at 47.

The Ohio Drug Price Relief Act will amend Ohio law to require state programs to pay the same or less for prescription medications as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs1. Backers intended to have the initiative appear on Ohios November 2016 presidential election ballot, but obstructionistand backers believe, illegalmoves by Secretary of State Husted have forced the ballot measure proponents to aim for the November 2017 Ohio ballot instead.

Secretary of State Jon Husted rode roughshod over local County Board of Elections that twice certified voter signatures for the Ohio Drug Price Relief Act when he eliminated those signatures, an act that thwarted attempts to get this measure before voters and on the ballot in Ohio, said Michael Weinstein, President, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the sponsor and primary funder of the measure. Now, Mondays Supreme Court ruling in the PhRMA case forces backers to gather an additional 5,044 signatures by August 25th in order to compel Secretary Husted to transmit the proposed law to the Ohio legislature, as legally required under the Ohio Constitution. However, the ruling also appears to overturn Husteds invalidation of more than 20,000 signatures previously thrown out by him. The committee is now suing to get further clarity from the court and restore those other signatureswhich are more than enough to force Husted to advance this measure for consideration and possible action by the Ohio legislature as the next step in the process of ultimately bringing this drug pricing issue before Ohio voters in ballot measure form in November 2017.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 614,000 individuals in 36 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare

1 V.A. pricing is generally believed to be 20% to 24% lower than for almost any other government program.

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OHIO:

McTIGUE & COLOMBO LLC

Don McTigue, 614-263-7000

Attorney at Law

or

CALIFORNIA:

AHF

Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications

+1.323.308.1833 work

+1.323.791.5526 mobile

gedk@aidshealth.org
Jill Waibel, MD Joins Integrated Dermatology of Coral Gables, LLC

Integrated Dermatology Group (IDG), a leading national dermatology practice, has expanded its presence in Florida with the acquisition of the former practice of Dr. James Cosmides. Dr. Jill Waibel has been named a partner in the practice now known as Integrated Dermatology of Coral Gables, LLC.

A specialist in cutaneous laser surgery as well as general and cosmetic dermatology, Dr. Waibel is currently the Medical Director of Integrated Dermatology of Coral Gables and the Miami Dermatology and Laser Institute as well as the Subsection Chief of Dermatology at Baptist Hospital. In addition, Dr. Waibel serves as a Clinical Voluntary Assistant Professor at the University of Miami. She is joined in her practice by Dr. Javier Alonso, a native of Spain and a skilled and experienced Mohs surgeon. With more than 20 years of clinical experience, Dr. Alonso is a provider of cosmetic, medical, surgical, and laser dermatology treatments and is a recognized expert in more complex dermatological subspecialties such as immunobullous diseases, connective tissue disorders and cutaneous lymphomas.

By partnering with or selling to IDG, the dermatologist can focus on providing high-quality patient care while IDG manages the infrastructure and back-office operations of the practice, ensuring best clinical practices, outcomes, and long-term profitability, said Jeff Queen, President of Integrated Dermatology Group.

For dermatologists who want to monetize all of their practices value, IDG has a program that allows them the opportunity to do so. These dermatologists are able to continue practicing dermatology while accruing additional income from the practices growth, said Andrew Queen, Co-Founder of Integrated Dermatology Group.

IDG is pursuing a systematic expansion. The Coral Gables, Florida announcement comes on the heels of the recent announcement of its partnership in Hickory, NC (Integrated Dermatology of Hickory, PLLC) and Ponchatoula, LA, and Covington, LA (Integrated Dermatology of Ponchatoula, LLC).

For more information about one of the nation's largest and fastest growing dermatology groups, with practices located across the country, please contact Integrated Dermatology Group at www.mydermgroup.com or call Jeff Queen at 561-314-2000, extension 1038.

About Integrated Dermatology Group

Headquartered in Boca Raton, FL, Integrated Dermatology Group is a leading national dermatology practice. The company has expanded its presence nationally by acquiring and partnering with dermatology practices across the United States. This exclusive model allows selling dermatologists to maximize the monetary value of their well-established practice while allowing them the choice of either retiring or remaining at the practice indefinitely. Simultaneously, IDG affords all dermatologists the unique opportunity of immediately joining an established private practice as a partner, not an employee, with the infrastructure, support, and resources the larger group provides.

IDG's mission is to improve the quality of practice life for its dermatologists while adding to their financial success. As part of IDG, dermatologists focus on providing high- quality patient care while IDG removes the stress of day-to-day management by implementing best practices in the areas of compliance, financial services, human resources, payers and more. For additional information, visit www.mydermgroup.com.

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Integrated Dermatology Group

Jeff Queen, 561-314-2000 ext. 1038

jqueen@mydermgroup.com
The sharp depreciation of the Russian Rouble has resulted in substantially lower sawlog costs for the sawmilling industry in Eastern Russia during 2015 and 2016, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. Lumber prices in Russia have also declined the past few years, but not at the same rate as prices for sawlogs, and as a result sawmills in Siberia have become some of the most profitable sawmills in the world.

Softwood lumber production in Russia was practically unchanged from 2014 to 2015, according to official statistics. Domestic consumption fell by almost ten percent, while export volumes were up from 21.7 million m3 in 2014 to 23.1 million m3 in 2015. The export shipments have continued to go up this year with volumes during the first six months reaching 12% higher than during the same period in 2015. By far, the biggest increases in exports have been to China, Japan and South Korea.

Higher production levels at the sawmills in Siberia and the Russian Far East have slowly increased sawlog prices (in Roubles) in this region over the past two years. In the 2Q/16, average log prices were over 20% higher in Rouble terms than in the 2Q/14, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ). However, since the value of the Rouble against the US dollar has plunged since early 2014, log costs in dollar terms has fallen by almost 50% making Russian sawmills very competitive in the global market place.

Very low production costs in Eastern Russia have resulted in major inroads for Russian sawmills in the Chinese market at the expense of particularly Canadian sawmills. Russian sawmills market share in China has reached 58% in 2016, up from 42% in 2014. It is important to note that lumber import prices to China have fallen quite substantially the past 12 months, as reported in the most recent issue of the WRQ (www.woodprices.com). A higher market share does not necessarily mean higher profitability. But the good news for the sawmills in Siberia and the Far East is that log prices have declined more (37% by the 2Q/16), than lumber prices (down 10%) the past two years so the profitability for many sawmills has gone up substantially.

The wood costs for larger sawmills in Eastern Russia as a percentage of the lumber export prices, have fallen from a range of 65-80% in 2012-13 to below 50% in 2016 making this regions sawmills some of the lowest cost producing mills in the world.

Global lumber, sawlog and pulpwood market reporting is included in the 52-page quarterly publication Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ). The report, which was established in 1988 and has subscribers in over 30 countries, tracks sawlog, pulpwood, lumber and pellet prices, trade and market developments in most key regions around the world. To subscribe to the WRQ, please go to www.woodprices.com

Wood Resources International LLC (WRI), an internationally recognized forest industry-consulting firm established in 1987, publishes two quarterly timber price reports and have subscribers in over 30 countries. The Wood Resource Quarterly, established in 1988, is a 52-page market report and includes sawlog prices, pulpwood and wood chip price and market commentary to developments in global timber, biomass and forest industry. The other report, the North American Wood Fiber Review, tracks prices of sawlogs, pulpwood, wood chips and biomass in most regions of Canada and the US.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

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Wood Resources International LLC

Hakan Ekstrom

info@woodprices.com (info@wri-ltd.com)

www.woodprices.com
I seldom create things to please other people; I normally create things with the mindset that Im making something that I would want to display in my own home, said the man with many accolades and awarding-winning pieces adorning the walls around his drafting table.





Before retiring in 2010, then Master Sgt. Cody Vance was the last active-duty Air Force graphic illustrator; the career field being eliminated three years prior. Today, he continues serving the Air Force as a medical illustrator at the 59th Medical Wing, and the community with his award-winning and still-emerging artistic abilities.





Despite winning the Defense Departments Graphic Artist of the Year for three consecutive years, the only person to accomplish such a feat since the DOD included the career field into its annual awards program in 2001, Vance believes he didnt really come into his potential until his mid-forties.





I was living in a vacuum, artistically. Ive always been able to draw what I could see but creatives need other creatives around them to help grow, he said.





The self-made artist and native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, started drawing at a young age. He recalled receiving art supplies every year for his birthday but he didnt have anyone around him to help develop his craft.





The grownups would ask if I was going to be an architect, Vance laughingly explained. Not knowing what that really meant, I would just agree and press on. You see cartoons on television growing up and think the sky is the limit. Then, as you get some maturity and experience under your belt, you realize art can be a very challenging way to make a living.

Vance started considering a career in the military after being laid off from a job as a night shift maintenance worker at a department store.





I wanted to see the world but I had no money. However, I knew I needed to go on my own, needed to see what was out there, he said. I had family members from other branches of the military but none had been in the Air Force, so I walked into the recruiters office one day and got the ball rolling.





Vance wanted to come in as a graphic artist but there was a year and a half waiting list at the time, so he told the recruiter to just give him a job where he can go anywhere in the world.





A few months later, he was sporting a beret, carrying an M-16 and heading off to his first duty station at Buchel Air Base, Germany. Within two weeks of his arrival, reality hit as the U.S. launched airstrikes against Libya in retaliation to its sponsorship of terrorist activities against U.S. service members and citizens.





It was 0530 on a morning scheduled for normal ABGD (Air Base Ground Defense) training. We were all gathered awaiting orders for the day when the training NCO walked in and said, Good morning everyone and congratulations, the United States has just bombed Libya and we are now in threat condition Charlie, Vance recalled. And then he said, Go exchange your blanks for live ammo and get yourselves ready.





Big reality check, I was no longer in the South Valley and this was no longer training. It was real, he continued.





Vance spent the first 12 years of his career as a security police Airman and worked various positions from patrol to alarm monitor for nuclear weapons sites. During his second assignment, while stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, only a few miles from where he grew up, he was instrumental in setting up the first underground munitions storage system.





Outside of his normal day-to-day responsibilities, Vance painted murals on buildings for the security forces squadrons, some date back to the late 80s and are still present today.





The best part of being an artist when working with cops is that it gets you time off from work to do special projects, he said jokingly. I really enjoyed being a cop, especially the camaraderie. Some of my best friends to this day are those made in the cops.





In 1997, Vance finally got the opportunity to do what he has excelled at since he was a youngster. He retrained to be a graphic artist.

After three months of training at the Defense Information School, Fort Meade, Maryland, he was sent to Brooks Air Force Base, Texas, to be a medical illustrator.





Vance retired from active duty in 2010, but he still uses his skills as a government civilian to produce medical illustrations for the largest medical organization in the Department of the Defense  the 59th Medical Wing. Now, 33 pieces of his artwork have been donated to the Air Force Art program at the Pentagon.





In his spare time, Vance is involved with the Open the Door Veterans pilot program. The program brings together veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.





Art is such a healing thing, Vance said. I really enjoy being involved in things that have meaning and a positive impact in peoples lives.





Vance, San Antonio program manager for the non-profit organization, and others like him, help veterans return to a civilian lifestyle by creating a support network that allows them to express themselves through art and aids the healing process.





Many of the veterans who attend these therapeutic workshops have experienced wicked things in combat, so for years they have shut themselves off from the rest of the world, said Vance. Its an amazing feeling seeing the veterans in a positive, non-threatening environment open up, laugh and interact as they learn new skills.





Today, Vance himself continues learning new skills after taken up a new form of art that occupies the majority of his weekends.





I started stone sculpting in 2008 and that has become my passion, explained Vance. It was completely different from the two-dimensional art I was used to.





He elaborated on how when working with stone, its a subtractive process so every action must be strategic and methodical since once you make a cut you cant take it back.





Its a whole different mindset; it was all my own design. It was my own everything, said Vance. Whenever I recreate a drawing or painting from a photograph, I can only claim it to certain point.





Working with stone has given Vance the opportunity to really test his artistic abilities.





Some sculptors want the perfectly cut block so they can draw on it, he said. I want the ones that have the twisted natural shape, the shape they come out of the ground with. It gets my creative wheels churning. So far, Ive completed around 100 sculptures since starting eight years ago.





Talking with Vance, one thing rings loudly, hes humble about his ability and talent. When talking with others, hes uncomfortable with praise or accolades and will usually deflect with a smile. It keeps me out of trouble, he says.





To see more of Vances work, visit his profile on the Air Force Art Collection website.
Air Force aims to hasten foreign military sales process

In remarks at the State Departments Foreign Press Center in New York Aug. 17, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James outlined the Air Forces multifaceted approach to expedite the services portion of the foreign military sales process.



Last year, James directed secretary of the Air Force International Affairs to examine how to streamline the FMS process, particularly in case development and contracting.



A dual-signature memorandum from James and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein directed acquisition and international affairs communities to implement a number of new initiatives.



We found the majority of cases are developed in under 90 days, but we could still work to improve the requirements development process for complex cases, James said.



Since building international partner air force capabilities is important to both mitigate U.S. Air Force operational risk and benefit its defense industrial base, the secretary has reached out throughout 2015 to hear and heed feedback in multiple nations, including appearances at the Paris and Dubai air shows. In addition, Goldfein received similar feedback during the recent Royal International Air Tattoo in England.



Secretary James and I have heard from both industry and partner nations about the desire that we speed up the process; we certainly take it to heart. But it's important to remember that in the United States, it's an interagency process, Goldfein explained. We have our part of it in the Air Force and pride ourselves on being great advocates within the rest of government to try to get these things moving because we appreciate the importance of these partnerships day in and day out.



According to James, the first challenge they will address follows the Defense Security Cooperation Agencys lead to establish a new and more extensive training program to prepare security cooperation officers more fully before going overseas.



The Air Force will better connect the Air Force Life Cycle Management, the Institute of Security Cooperation Studies, and the Defense Acquisition University to develop a new FMS curriculum.



Were going to establish and deliver an FMS training program for program offices, international partners and U.S. industry, which leverages best practices and better connects the major stakeholders of FMS, while linking these efforts with our professional military education institutions, James said.



As such, James said the second step will be to establish a new, service-specific oversight program to select and oversee the deliberate development of security cooperation officers involved in FMS, which has an annual portfolio of nearly $10 billion.



We're going to better prepare these officers for FMS planning responsibilities during their overseas tour, which includes better training on the time-consuming but critical process of helping the foreign partner define their defense requirements, she said.



James acknowledged that the inability to speak directly with the partner on their requirements hampers the Air Forces ability to generate a valid request needed to adequately begin the acquisition process. We need to ensure our Airmen have the training and skills to set them up for success in the international environment, she said.



Within the acquisition realm, the secretary said the Air Force plans to implement requirement classifications, specifically in the more challenging FMS cases, labeling them Category C, or complex. And, she added, these cases -- often involving major weapons systems sales such as the C-17 Globemaster III or F-16 Fighting Falcon with technological, political, and financial complexities -- are ones she and Goldfein hear about most frequently on air show ramps in United Arab Emirates, France and England.



Weve challenged our acquisitions team to achieve a 10 percent timeline reduction on these cases by the end of 2017, James noted. Were going to try to cut a month from the time the Air Force initially receives a partners request for a complex system to the time we can provide them a valid letter of offer and acceptance to purchase it.



James has also charged service officials to expand FMS program reporting so she and the chief of staff can better assess portfolio performance, including details of complex cases having trouble getting to the LOA and ongoing cases in which contracts are unable to get to the finish line. This review will shed light on the causes, and potential fixes, for industry or partner frustration, she said.



Ultimately, James emphasized that the Air Force used a very deliberate process to ensure the FMS program review was correct and thorough, with independent reviews at different levels within the Defense Department, to include a legal review.



We need to redouble our efforts and get the message delivered back home that it is important to give much more quick consideration if at all possible, but always guarding our most critical technologies, she said. We can't ever let that go.
Calm in the chaos: Aspiring combat controllers work under pressure in tactics exercise

Rumbling down a dirt road in a military cargo truck, a team of special operators quietly wait for any chaos to ensue.



The truck grinds to a halt in an intersection in the forest. A voice squawks over the radio, saying that a roadside bomb has rendered their truck useless. As the group offloads, gunshots ring out, smoke bombs bounce into the circle of trainees and tear gas leaves the Airmen choking. The team surges through the disorder to return fire and take cover in the tree line.



The ground combat team was not in battle; they were combat control students, enduring their tactics field training exercise Aug. 3 at the Combat Control School at Camp Mackall.



The FTX is a culmination of tactics learned in the first year of the combat control team pipeline, which entails weapons handling, team leader procedures, patrol base operations, troop leading and small unit tactics under fire in one mission.



"The Combat Control School curriculum is designed to overwhelm a combat control student's senses -- physically, mentally and emotionally," said Maj. Trent Joy, the commander of the 352nd Battlefield Airmen Training Squadron. "We train the students to be resilient, to have fortitude and the ability to function in high-stress environments to execute combat control missions around the globe."



The CCS, or 352nd BATS, is home to a 13-week course that provides CCT qualifications. The training includes physical training, small unit tactics, land navigation, communications, assault zones, demolitions, fire support and field operations, including parachuting. At the completion of this course, each graduate is awarded their 3-skill level, scarlet beret and CCT flash.



(Each student learns) to be a committed, hard-working quiet professional and team player, fully initiated into special tactics and combat control missions, said the operations superintendent for the schoolhouse.



The field training mission sounds simple enough: hike through the woods, evade capture, gather intelligence on a small village and setup a landing zone before extraction. But the instructors have their own plan: wreak havoc on the students.



The instructors have a plethora of career experience, including several combat deployments and extensive training in CCT. Acting as opposing forces -- riding on all-terrain vehicles with their MK249 light machine gun training weapons -- camouflaged in the terrain, they wait for the students to make a mistake. They provide this training up to six times a year.



"The training is as realistic as possible to show the students what they're up against in a combat environment," Joy said. "This means we're ambushing when they least expect it to disorient them and stress the students out. Lives and mission success often depends on a combat controller's ability to execute the mission in complete chaos."



Aspiring combat controllers hike up and down the rolling North Carolina hills, signaling quietly to each other to get down, keep their eyes open and do whatever they can to not get caught.



As darkness unfolds on the wooded landscape, students navigate the path with night-optics devices. A kilometer away, instructors shoot flares into the night sky to draw their pupils out into the open as they patrol a small training compound designed like an Afghanistan village. Donned in Afghan-native dress, they scour the brush and swamps looking for clues as to the teams whereabouts.



Their efforts are wasted, as the students radio in their mission as complete and communicate their extraction rendezvous point. But like the real-world situations these students will encounter, the mission is never over until theyre home. Instructors track the students down to ambush them once more before they announce the end of the exercise.



With the tactics FTX over, the real work begins. Instructors evaluate each students performance and leadership characteristics. At the end of the 13 months, only a few will earn the scarlet-red beret. On average, less than 50 percent of the students who walk into CCS will walk away with the title combat controller.



Although earning the scarlet beret is a proud moment in a combat controllers career, it is not the end of their rigorous training. After the Combat Control Schoolhouse, CCTs continue their pipeline to fine-tune operational skills at the Special Tactics Training Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida during a 12-month program for newly-assigned controllers, which provides mission-ready operators for the Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command.
Neighborhood Watch helps Navy investigate satellite out of target orbit

Air Force Space Commands Neighborhood Watch satellites, from the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program, recently responded to the Navys request for help with a satellite of its own.



The Joint Functional Component Command for Space officially tasked the 1st Space Operations Squadron to support the Navys ongoing Mobile User Objective System-5 anomaly effort after the satellite failed to reach its target geosynchronous orbit July 3.



Anomaly resolution in space is challenging for many reasons, one being its difficult to see whats going on with the satellite. Traditionally, engineers, analysts and operators comb through telemetry to come up with possible reasons for the anomaly; however, in cases like this, GSSAP is able to provide electro optical space situational awareness on the status of space objects to include location, orbit and size of the space object.



GSSAP crews conduct rendezvous and proximity operations to get the best possible vantage point for collecting SSA data when requested. In this case, the mission was to help rescue MUOS-5.



Once tasked, the 1st SOPS mission planning cell began deliberate, customized mission planning to determine how to execute the operation and maximize the probability for success. The satellites differing orbits and the various forces at play, including astrodynamics, reminded crewmembers that success was not inevitable.



Capt. Barbara Dyer, the 1st SOPS mission commander, led the crew that accomplished the command and control operations to collect MUOS-5 imagery on her 10th shift.



I knew we were prepared. We had completed the rehearsal of concept for the unique mission, she said. We recognized the newness of what were doing will drive new expectations.



Second Lt. Nathan Paddock is the satellite vehicle operator who executed the command and control for the operations.



There were a lot of different people on the operations floor during the shift, he said. Senior leadership was there encouraging us and reminding us that this was something very important. I am new to the Air Force and the job, but knowing leadership trusted me and expected excellence is something thats unique to this work.



The audience and mission importance added to the pressure to achieve success, but that didnt deter Paddock.



I liked it. I thrive under pressure, he said. The crew engineers gave us a lot of support and helped me stay calm and relaxed. I know they had my back.



The crew conducted SSA missions with other 1st SOPS assets, like the Space Based Space Surveillance system, in preparing for and during the mission.



While planning and operations were conducted at Schriever Air Force Base, another aspect of this unique mission occurred at Point Mugu, California.



Due to the complexity of the program, we wanted someone on site to provide context to Navy leadership, explain our operations, facilitate information sharing and ensure there was robust coordination during the operations, said Lt. Col. Casey Beard, the 1st SOPS commander.



The squadrons mission planning cell chief, Capt. Brett Kasischke, was just up the road at Vandenberg AFB, California, to participate in an exercise. He capitalized on the opportunity and extended his stay in California.



I quickly immersed myself into the missions requirements and served as an intermediary; I ensured data was sent at appropriate times as well as supported the team back at Schriever, Kasischke said.



The missions full impact is yet to be determined, but there are successes already to be celebrated.



I am proud of the team effort across the community, Beard said. From our crew here at Schriever to the Space and Missile System Center, the Joint Functional Component Command for Space, the Joint Space Operations Center, our Navy counterparts at Point Magu and the contractors who dedicated 800 hours to mission planning, it was a true team effort and couldnt have happened without everyone coming together.
ARPC members recognized at Air Force level

Four Air Reserve Personnel Center members were recently recognized at the Air Force level with awards in the Manpower, Personnel and Services, or A1, field.



Maj. Andrew Williams, assigned to the ARPC Force Development Division during the award period, and Capt. Avril Mitchell, assigned to the ARPC Pre-Trained Individual Manpower Management Division, were awarded Personnel Reserve Component Field Grade and Company Grade Officer of the Year awards, respectfully. Master Sgt. Carola Todd, assigned to the ARPC Directorate of Personnel Transformation during the award period, was named Force Support Non-commissioned Officer of the Year, and Gary Thurman, currently assigned to the ARPC Promotion Board Secretariat, was named Specialist of the Year.



In a message to leaders, Lt. Gen. Gina Grosso, Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., said, Im amazed by the unrelenting professionalism and hard work of our A1 team. While we recognize our exceptional performers, we also highlight their fine example for others to follow.



Williams, who is currently assigned to Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., to attend Air Command and Staff College, was recognized for his work as an assignment facilitator. Williams was responsible for planning and executing annual Development Teams for more than five Air Force Reserve career fields. Senior leaders use DTs to evaluate personnel records for mentorship, vectoring and career development purposes.



Although he was lauded for many accomplishments, he said planning and executing the final Reserve Officer Development and Education seminar, held last year, meant the most to him.



It involved a lot of work and planning with a lot of people, including several senior officers, and the results were excellent, Williams said. Not only was it educational for our participants, it was also a lot of fun for all who participated.



Williams said he is humbled by the recognition from the award and thankful to his leadership and mentors for their support.



This recognition isnt just for me, but also for those folks whove had a hand in my success; its our success, he said.



Mitchell, who serves as the Chief of Personnel Readiness, was recognized for many accomplishments, to include her leadership of a team who executed the Secretary of the Air Force-directed annual screening program for the Strategic Reserve. She was responsible for supporting wartime efforts through securing sustainable mobilization assets, codification of the ARPC Mobility Plan and execution of the Air Forces only face-to-face screening activity.



Mitchell said she is most proud that her team had the most successful IRR Muster Screening Cycle to date with 24 Total Force base events and $1M training dollars saved. Her team was also recognized as ARPC Team of the Year in 2015.



The work performed here at the center is vital to the success of the Air Force strategic and operational capability, Mitchell said. Im humbled by my supervisory support and nomination, as well as the acknowledgment of our accomplishments. Being recognized at the Air Force level affirms my confidence and pride in the Total Force mantra.



Todd, who is currently assigned to ARPC Promotion Board division and has since been promoted to master sergeant, was lauded for her work as the Non-commissioned Officer Evaluations and Appeals Boards during the majority of the award period. She was responsible for ensuring Airmen meeting the boards had all of the necessary documentation to support their case.



Todd was recognized for screening more than 150 cases and correcting 75 records. She processed more than 1.7 thousand evaluations, while cutting processing time in half. Her accomplishments led to her recommendation and selection in her current assignment in the Promotion Board Eligibility division.



Im honored and proud by the recognition. It also makes me a little nervous to have the bar set so high, but I am confident I will continue to succeed with the support of the ARPC team, Todd said. Its really not hard to be successful when you like what you do and love to learn.



Thurman, who serves as superintendent in Promotion Board operations, was recognized for his work in the promotion of every first lieutenant through colonel, assigned to the Air Force Reserve; Air National Guard Colonel Federal Recognition; and the Air Force Reserve Brigadier General Qualification Boards. Thurman and his team ensure the right information is provided to promotion board members, guaranteeing each member the opportunity to compete for promotion.



Of his many accomplishments, Thurman said he is most proud of how his team made a significant change to the promotion process for Reserve captains. After eliminating the Special Selection Boards, due to 100% promotion rate, and accelerating the promotion timeframe for eligible members, the team saved the Air Force time and money.



I am humbled to be recognized for this level of award. I know there were great packages and the competition was tough, Thurman said. I wouldnt have received this recognition without the support of all the men and women who work in the ARPC Promotion Board division. We have some incredibly talented people who work hard every day to ensure the right people are promoted to serve in our great Air Force.



Col. Ellen Moore, ARPC commander, praised the award winners in a message to all center personnel.



The hard work and dedication that we bring to the missing is second to none and obvious by the number of winners we had, Moore said. These individuals represent a portion of the talent we have here at ARPC and the great accomplishments were making every day.


In a shocking incident of its kind, BJP MLA slapped a cop on Wednesday night at Bhandara. A video shows Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ramchandra Punaj Avasare walking to a policeman in front of a police station and hitting him. While another policeman on duty tried to calm down the drunk politician, he is seen shouting at the cop.



The incident happened in Maharashtras Bhandara area. Further details in the incident re yet to be known. Avsare represents the Bhandara Assembly Constituency. Earlier, he was associated with Shiv Sena.

As a matter of fact, the BJP MLA had taken out a Tiranga Yatra on Wednesday from Bhandara. The Yatra was to culminate in Tumsar. During the Yatra, the driver of the MLA was stopping midway and clicking photos of the event by mingling in the participants. This act of the driver was irritating the policemen on security duty. The policeman Raju Sathavane had an exchange of words with the driver and could possibly be telling him to stop clicking photos in the middle of the Yatra. This action of the policeman, it seems, did not go down well with the MLA.

On the other hand, Avasare accused Sathavane of slapping his driver instead of polite words. After the rally was over, the MLA came to know about the behavior of Sathavane and he walked towards Police Station and slapped the policeman in a fit of anger. And he has no regrets about it, too. The MLA is lawyer by profession and still took the law into his hands.

At present, the victim policeman has lodged a complaint with Tumsar Police Station. According to police, the driver was under the influence of liquor and was advised not to create nuisance.

Police have registered a case against MLA under section 353.

Yesterday, AV has reported about Suresh Lad, Nationalist Congress Party MLA from Karjat in Raigad district had hit the deputy collector and an employee of a private firm on August 11 over the issues of the land acquisition for a gas pipeline project. The police have registered a criminal case against Lad also.
[dropcap]R[/dropcap]epublican Party of India (RPI) (Athawale unit) leader, Ramdas Athawale is not happy with the ministry alloted to him i.e. Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment because he feels that there is nothing much to perform or show potential in this department. Athawale also became disappointed because this post was offered to him just to appease Dalits in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, but the recent protest in Gujarat has changed the mindset of Dalits against BJP. If BJP is in illusion that Ramdas Athawale can really perform some magic then they should be careful as he can pull their carpet anytime.

In Maharashtra, Dalits constitute 10.8 per cent votes. In Mumbai, Dalit population is 16 per cent as the party feels will work to its advantage in the 227 wards in BMC elections. There are at least 60 BMC wards in Mumbai with a Dalit population ranging from 10,000 to over a lakh. Athawale is expected to help in vote transformation of Dalits in favour of BJP candidates in the BMC polls. He is a Dalit leader and is a member of the Rajya Sabha. Athawales party is an ally of the BJP in Maharashtra. Some are even speculating that he can merge his party with BJP in future. Anyways, Athawale has not proven his stand yet as a leader nor did he do much for his community or state.

He is a poet and very famous for his four liner stand-up comedy speeches. He is also known for his fashion statement of wearing gaudy colours and combinations, with all sorts of odds. His public speaking has generous spoons of laughter mostly due to his poetry. Athawale is an extempore at poetry; very promptly he cracks jokes on any contemporary topic. One good quality about Athawale is that he is fearless and always tell his alliance they are strong because he is with them. If they dont behave they are free to quit the party. He is good at mocking anyone.

Athawale represented the Pandharpur constituency of Maharashtra in Lower House of Parliament. He also represented Mumbai North Central in 12th Lok Sabha during 1998-99. He left the NCP-Congress alliance in 2011 after having lost the 2009 Lok Sabha election. Athawale led the RPI party, joined the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in 2011 and contested Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections together. He lost the Shirdi Lok Sabha constituency election in 2009. In 2014 again, he joined BJP and left Shiv Sena when both the parties decided to go solo in general elections of 2014. He is one political leader who has allied with all political parties, which he himself agrees too. Whichever party he feels strong at that point of time, he joins them.

In the 1970s, he was a firebrand activist who, under the banner of Dalit Panthers joined causes that are dear to the Dalit constituency. His mother wanted him to do some work or job but he refused. Athawale was one of the only two politicians in Maharashtrathe other being Sharad Pawarwho could call out his karyakartas (workers) and followers by their first name wherever they went in the state.

Athawale married to a Brahmin woman, and wants inter caste marriages to be encouraged by government. He appealed state government to give government jobs to a person who marries out of his caste and offer them some financial help to curb the caste discrimination in the society. He wants Dalit youth should marry Brahmin girls and Dalit girls should get married to Brahmin boys.

Athawale is arguably the most potent mass leader in Dalit politics in Maharashtra. His rivalsB.R. Ambedkars grandson Prakash Ambedkar and Vidarbha-based Jogendra Kawadenever came close to him in terms of popularity with the Dalit masses. Yet, political observers in Maharashtra who have followed Dalit politics insist Athawale has bargained a great deal on the Dalit cause for his own gains. His commitment to Dalit cause is always limited to symbolism and political exigencies of the day. Power politics has made him a white-collared politician unlike other Dalit leaders in Maharashtra. Still, he retains a rare personal warmth and openness, no other Dalit leader has. There is nothing much to talk about his achievements as leader or his contribution to society as Dalit neta. He always lived in his fancy world with his whimsies.

Athawale was one of the Dalit activists in 1972 when Namdeo Dhasal, a formidable revolutionary poet and Dalit activist, along with others, founded Dalit Panthers. Dalit Panthers later spilt into several splinter groups and Athawale went with Arun Kamble, a Buddhist scholar and one of the founders. It was the issue of renaming of Marathwada University after B.R. Ambedkar in 1977 that provided a boost to Athawale. In those days, he used to fight on street with Shiv Senas sainik, which was against the renaming. This was also the time, when Athawale travelled across Maharashtra to mobilise support. He still retains many of the followers and supporters he enrolled during this period. In the mid-80s, then Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar spotted Athawales talent as an organiser and leader of the Dalit masses. After much persuasion, Athawale became a minister for social welfare in the Pawar government. This was the beginning of his end as a raw, activist, politician.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has sought the help of Muslims to help root out terrorism, saying the community will be blamed if it does not assist in combating the menace.



The 70-year-old reality TV star-turned politician, who earlier drew flak for proposing a ban on Muslims entering the US, appealed to the community as they would know what is going on in their community.

Look, we have to be so tough and so smart and vigilant. And frankly, the Muslims have to help us, because they see whats going on in their community. We do not see it. They have to help us, Trump said in a Fox News town hall which was taped on Tuesday.

And if theyre not going to help us, theyre to blame also, Trump said and indicated favouring racial profiling otherwise.

In response to another question, he said he would throw out Siddique Mateen, father of Orlando shooter.

Id throw him out. If you look at him, Id throw him out. You know, I looked at him. And you look, hes smiling, he said.

The Republican nominee called for swift action against the ISIS, which he said is better than the US on social media.

We have to take them out very, very swiftly and viciously if necessary, he said, responding to a question on ISIS.

I mean theyre better at social media than we are. ISIS, if you look at what ISIS is doing with social, theyre recruiting over the internet. And I also said we have to end that. We have to knock it out, he said.








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Dezrin Carby-Samuels, an elderly Ottawa woman, [shown in photo] has been prevented from seeing her son and other visitors. As a result, this Kanata, Ontario woman can no longer walk, talk or write. Visitation access seems to have been blocked by people who act consistent with having been cloned. Notably, Dezrin Carby-Samuels has been subjected to invasive medical exams and procedures which have not been aimed at helping her get better but instead aimed at treating her as some kind of lab rat.



The first series of these dead-end exams not directed at any treatment was initiated by a Dr. Jerry Tenenbaum who poked and prodded this poor woman for his data. When Dezrin's son Raymond found a doctor who was actually making Dezrin much better, Dr. Jerry Tenenbaum through an operative prevented further treatment with this other doctor by using apparent mind control techniques against Dezrin. Upon Dezrin's return to Dr. Jerry Tenenabum her condition began to get bad again. One of Dr. Tenenbaum's apparent experiments resulted in Dezrin getting a chronic form of high blood pressure that she had never experienced in her life. Indeed, Dezrin has enjoyed a below average blood pressure that had consistently hovered reportedly around 90 over 70.



It is difficult to ascertain why Dezrin has been captured other than simply to be broadly targeted for medical research. However, our very future as a human species that is free and sovereign might very well depend on the speed at which we can come together to liberate Dezrin and other possible human captives from such physical and other apparent alien control through operatives. Our failure to form a resistance to free Dezrin Carby-Samuels may very well result in the further capture of human subjects by artificial entities cloned from abducted humans.



According to Alex Collier in the above video, manipulative aliens referred to by ancient Pagan Gnostics as the archons described by John Lash's research are abducting humans, and then bottling-up their soul energies for further experiments. Apparently, these archons then replace these human beings with artificial look-alikes that are then controlled by the alien creators of the clones.



These mind-controlled archons have been allegedly embedded across Earth's institutions [video below]. The archons have sought to subject targeted humans for the kind of horrific experiments that Dezrin Carby-Samuels who has been made a prisoner in her own home in Kanata has experienced.



Is it possible that the apparent capture of Dezrin, and blocked access to visitation rights for her to see her son, and others, foreshadow a New World Order? Some researchers and contactees of Ethical Extraterrestrials like Alex Collier suggest that a New World Order of cloned entities and highly oppressive manipulative aliens is being created in which humanity will become a slave race with no better of a life than Dezrin or the fish that humans have harvested in fish farms or the cows that are slaughtered in the meat industry.



Indeed. our world in which we inflict such exploitation against animals is an apparent projection of the manipulative alien mind which now seeks to subject humanity to the same fate. It is further rumoured that alien overlords have sought to hunt and consume human.



Although it is difficult to be more precise about the reasons for the apparent capture of Dezrin Carby-Samuels by a apparent network of embedded clones, we ought to assume that there must be an extremely important reason based upon the apparent determination of these apparent clones to prevent the liberation of Dezrin Carby-Samuels, irrespective of whether they expose their activities to the world.



Perhaps these puppet masters of these alleged and apparent clones are of the view that no one will believe that there are clones running lose on our planet Earth, and that their activities involve perpetrating abuse, neglect, exploitation toward the prospects of the eventual destruction of Dezrin and other humans?



Though medical experiments, it appears that aliens though their cloned operatives hope to gather the fullest range of data to ensure an ultimately sought totalitarian control of humans alongside the consumption of humans and their energies as a food sources.



Dezrin is an extremely empathic person who has given back to the community when she was able-bodied before having been subject to apparent alien-directed experimenters. Dezrin who is a retired and very hardworking Registered Nurse, may very well be among those of us humans who best exemplifies the human spirit and our capacity for altruism and self-sacrifice in the support of others.



If we, as humans, lack the will to free and liberate a truly loving person like Dezrin Carby-Samuels from having been captured and abused for more than 12 months, what hope would we have as a human race to resist the efforts by the regressive aliens described by Alex Collier and others which seek to create of a |New World Order.



In such a Brave New World humans as the ruling species of our planet Earth would be replaced by the kinds of apparent clones subjugating Dezrin that are, in turn, reportedly under the control of what Dr. Michael Salla described as a manipulative alien-military-political-industrial complex.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2016  The Environmental Protection Agency has been taken to the woodshed by its Office of Inspector General, which said the agency has failed to provide legally required reports to Congress.

In a report posted on the EPAs website on Thursday, OIG said EPA has not prepared reports on the environmental impact of the Renewable Fuel Standard, as required by the Energy Information and Security Act of 2007.

EPA is behind on compliance with three required reports: a triennial report to Congress on the environmental and conservation impacts of the RFS, a separate anti-backsliding report on the impacts of the RFS on air quality, and a determination as to whether mitigation measures are necessary.

The OIG report says EPA management admitted that they have not prioritized compliance with the required reports.

EPAs Office of Research and Development sent the last of the triennial reports to Congress in December of 2011, and the report says there have been no subsequent reports since. To top that off, ORD currently has no plans to issue subsequent reports to Congress as required.

ORD says that first report cost $1.7 million and the equivalent of four full-time employees for fiscal 2010 and 2011 to produce. The agency says it received little feedback from Congress about the report and that the three-year window leaves little room for new information.

OIG counters that the agency could have issued a report saying as much, saying that the lack of scientific advances does not eliminate the EPAs reporting requirement. Similar points were brought up about the anti-backsliding story, which would have determined if efforts to increase renewable fuels use could adversely impact air quality as a result of changes in vehicle and engine emissions of air pollutants.

EPA was also criticized in the report for failing to identify a process to update lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of renewable fuels to compare them to the fossil fuels they are designed to replace. Since a 2010 comprehensive report on the matter, the agency has made no changes to their methodology. While not a statutory requirement, OIG says EPA committed to updating its lifecycle analysis as the science evolves.

OIG closed out its report by formally suggesting that the agency follow through with the required triennial reports as well as complete the additional studies as required by the law.

Not having required reporting and studies impedes the EPAs ability to identify, consider, mitigate and make policymakers aware of any adverse impacts of renewable fuels, the OIG concluded.

In response, the EPA agreed to finalize a new triennial report by the end of 2017 and request fiscal 2018 funding to address the anti-backsliding and mitigation studies. The agency, however, disagreed with the need to revisit the greenhouse gas threshold determinations, saying EPAs Office of Air and Radiation does not believe that formal criteria are needed to determine whether the lifecycle GHG threshold determinations should be revisited.

As evidenced by a June congressional hearing on RFS implementation, the need for this information is a rare point of agreement from nearly all sides of the biofuels debate, albeit for different reasons.

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Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen says RFA has repeatedly asked the EPA to update its carbon scoring of fuels blended with ethanol.

We agree with the EPA Office of Inspector General that EPA needs to comply with requirements to assess the environmental impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard, Dinneen said in a statement. We are confident that once EPA conducts these required studies, they will show that biofuels like ethanol are significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, even above the threshold reductions.

Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor shared similar sentiments, saying that ethanol is beneficial to the environment and consumers and we are certain that any report will reflect that.

Were confident that when EPA reviews this program, they will see the significant benefits to consumers in lower gas prices, lower greenhouse gas emissions and decreased exposure to harmful pollutants known to cause cancer, pollution and smog, she said in a statement.

Chet Thompson, the president of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, was also critical of EPA's missed deadlines

The agency has repeatedly missed deadlines associated with this program," Thompson said in a statement. "EPA has sold the RFS as an environmentally-friendly program to the American public, but yet it has repeatedly failed to take the necessary - and statutorily required - steps to determine in fact this is true."

Controversy is nothing new for the RFS. Last year, the EPA had to set three years worth of renewable fuel blending requirements at once due to failure to do so in 2014 and 2015. Now, the agency appears to be on its congressionally required timeline, but is using infrastructure concerns to set blending requirements below statutory volumetric targets. A number of renewable fuels stakeholders are currently suing the EPA for that reason.

The agency published its 2017 proposed blending requirements in May. Public comment on that proposal expired in July, and final figures are expected by the end of November.

(Story updated at 5:10 p.m. EDT to include comment from AFPM)

#30

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2016 - From underwater fields to drowned cattle, the damage to Louisiana farmers and ranchers from the recent storms and continued flooding is extensive, but state officials say they are doing what they can to prevent losses.

The water is still rising in some areas of Louisiana and the priority is saving human lives  at least 20,000 people have been rescued from their homes by boat or truck  but officials are also working to minimize the damage to farms, Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain told Agri-Pulse.

Were trying to get the water out of our basins and into the Gulf of Mexico, he said. Were trying to operate our locks and dams in such a manner to expedite the water going out, but a lot of the backwater has not drained into the major systems yet so were having a slow retreat of the water. Thats a big thing.

Despite those efforts, the damage will still be extensive, Strain predicted.

Deep flooding rains over the weekend have the entire agriculture production sector wondering what the future holds for this years crop, said Vincent Deshotel, an agent for USDAs Cooperative Extension Service in Louisianas Saint Landry Parish, in a National Agricultural Statistics Service report released Monday. Many acres of maturing crops, some mature and ready to harvest under water. In many areas stored hay completely submerged. The truth will not really be known until any harvest attempt is made. Good weather days are needed.

Soybeans are the states biggest crop, and many farmers will lose their entire crop for the year, said Ron Levy, the top soybean agronomist for Louisiana State University.

There is significant damage to soybeans and other crops as well, Levy said in an interview. A lot of the fields were flooded and there are fields that will be flooded for another week. We still have water rising in some areas from floods in other areas.

The flooding came at a particularly sensitive time for farmers, many of whom were just starting to see their soybean plants sprout in the pods, said Levy. Those crops, especially in the worst hit areas of the state, will not survive.

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The water is moving out slowly because theres just so much of it, Strain said. And everything is inundated and were worried because our soybean fields are under water.

But even those farmers who have already harvested  some plant early so they can grow sugarcane  didnt escape the flood damage, Levy said.

Rice and soybeans that were in the process of drying were destroyed, he said. About 80 percent of Louisianas rice crop this year has already been harvested, but much of what remains is sustaining damage, according to the USA Rice Federation .

Dustin Harrell, an LSU rice specialist, estimated about $14.3 million in damages to Louisiana farmers, according to USA Rice.

As for livestock, it will take at least three weeks before an assessment can be made on losses, said Strain. But cattle are a major part of Louisianas agriculture sector and the commissioner said he already knows the floods have hurt ranchers.

I know of a couple herds that have been lost, Strain said. They were swept into rivers and drowned. Were trying to save as much of the livestock as possible. Those that are out of the water are being brought to shelters and holding facilities. Those that are in the water, were trying to get them to high ground. If we can get them to high ground, we can get some hay and feed in them.

Meanwhile, Strain said he has been in contact with USDA officials like Deputy Secretary Michael Scuse and the department has promised assistance.

Our hearts go out to the families and communities in Louisiana who have been devastated by flooding over the past several weeks, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement . USDA has offices in nearly every county or parish in the U.S., and we want to remind people that we have a variety of services that may be useful in challenging times like this one. Our employees are also members of the communities hit by flooding, and we want to help.

And a lot of help will be needed.

Its bad, but right now we dont know just how bad, Levy said. We cant even get out to assess how bad the damage is.

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August 18, 2016

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Fatah's internal disputes are back in the spotlight after a surprising revelation at a movement gathering in Nablus on Aug. 5. Jamal Muheisen, a Central Committee member, announced at the meeting that Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had signed off on a decision to dismiss four Fatah leaders on the grounds of having other allegiances, a not-so-veiled reference to Abbas rival and ousted Fatah member Mohammed Dahlan.

The decision was confirmed by a leaked document issued by Palestinian General Intelligence and addressed to Abbas in his capacity as leader of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Dated Aug. 7 and published by several Palestinian media outlets, including Pal Times, the document notes that six leaders were to be dismissed, not four as Muheisen had announced. Those named were Najat Abu Bakr, Naima Sheikh Ali, Adli Sadek and Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, while the identities of the other two were not disclosed.

A member of Fatahs Revolutionary Council who attended the Aug. 5 meeting told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, During the meeting held to discuss Fatahs internal affairs before the local elections in October, we were asked [by Muheisen] to suggest names from inside and outside Fatah to run as candidates in the elections for the governorate of Nablus. One of the attendees suggested putting forward the name of a figure who is socially acceptable in order to guarantee our win. He proposed MP Abu Bakr, as he believed she is best suited for the position, since she meets all the requirements.

The official continued, Muheisen was angered and said that the president had approved the decision to dismiss Abu Bakr along with Sheikh Ali, Sadek and Abu Khoussa, because they have other allegiances and maintain a relationship with dismissed leader Mohammed Dahlan.

The official said that figures close to Abbas revealed during the meeting that the decision to expel Abu Bakr came after she held a sit-in inside the Palestinian Legislative Council on Feb. 25 following an attempt by security forces to arrest her in conjunction with a lawsuit filed by the minister of local government, Hussein al-Araj, whom she had accused of embezzling public funds. In addition, she had met with Dahlan in Egypt earlier in February.

Those at the meeting were surprised at the timing of Muheisens announcement. Indeed, the bulk of analysis surrounding the dismissals has focused on the timing, because Fatah is preparing for local elections slated for October. Most expect that the movement will pay at the ballot box for its internal disputes.

Abu Bakr, who learned about her ejection from people who attended the meeting, told Al-Monitor that she has not been officially informed of the decision and that she will continue with her work in Fatah, noting that the movement is not a private company from which to be dismissed. Of her relationship with Dahlan, Abu Bakr said, If I am to be dismissed for this reason, then all members of the Revolutionary Council and the Central Committee and every person in the movement who has ever met or will meet with Dahlan should be dismissed as well.

Fatahs Central Committee had dismissed Dahlan at a Ramallah meeting on June 12, 2011, for criminal, financial and other issues. His case was referred to the Palestinian judiciary, after months of infighting between Abbas and Dahlan at the end of 2010 over influence and command of the movement.

Sheikh Ali told Al-Monitor, Some consultations are taking place to address the [decision], and we hope to see unity within Fatah again, especially since the local elections are close, and the movement should be united before entering the elections.

On Aug. 7, the newspaper al-Resalah reported Sadeq as saying, We will not recognize the decision to dismiss any member of the movement on the grounds of having other allegiances. We are not guests at Muheisens. We are not dependent on him or any other person in the movement.

He further asserted, The one [Abbas] who issued the dismissal decision believes he is popular and patriotic, but he is merely a passing person in the movement. He must believe we live in his own hotel to [try to] kick us out. Those running the Fatah movement are drifting. The decisions they are taking are worsening the crisis plaguing the Palestinian cause.

This recent batch of dismissals has stirred a dispute within Fatah, but they are not the first of their kind. In June 2014 Majed Abu Shamala, Nasser Juma, Abdul-Hamid al-Masri, Sufian Abu Zaida and Rashid Abu Shabak were also kicked out of the movement.

Masri, dismissed on the ground of alleged other allegiances, that is, to Dahlan, said, Dismissing leaders or members from the movement without legitimate reasons is provocative and illustrates the totalitarian mentality that controls the movement.

Masri told Al-Monitor that those ejected for having relations with the reformist current, headed by Dahlan, will earn points among Fatah supporters, because they are aware that those leaders were within their rights and calling for reform within a movement whose leaders are headed down the wrong path.

Masri warned that Fatah will be further weakened as a result of the recent decision. He hopes such disputes will soon end and Fatah unites to maintain its position at the forefront of the Palestinian national movement.

Fayez Abu Shammala, a political analyst and member of the Palestinian National Council, believes that certain parties, which he did not name, seek to weaken Fatah in order to influence Palestinian politics. He believes that talks of attempts to unify the movement are illusory because in reality, Fatah is divided between a current affiliated with Abbas and another affiliated with Dahlan.

Shammala explained to Al-Monitor that in light of the dismissals, should Fatahs Central Committee and Revolutionary Council stick to their decision and participate in local elections, there will be two electoral lists for Fatah instead of a unified one, contrary to a Revolutionary Council announcement of a unified list at a meeting in Ramallah Aug. 8.
August 18, 2016

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman is one of the busiest people in the world. Just two weeks ago, on Aug. 5, his office announced that Iran was still plotting to annihilate Israel. He is probably also busy preparing plans to make good on his promise from April to end Hamas' rule in Gaza within 48 hours, should he become defense minister (he became defense minister in May). Liberman is a man of his word. His desk is also literally covered with permit requests for new construction in West Bank settlements. While juggling all the above, the defense minister still took time out to deal with a handful of soldiers who had volunteered to play with the babies of status-less asylum seekers, ordering the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, to put an end to this outrage.

There are those who, like Liberman's predecessor, Moshe Yaalon, interpreted Libermans behavior as an attempt to showcase his 'leadership skills' over the IDF chief of staff. Liberman may well have found an opportunity to seat Eizenkot on a humiliatingly low chair, just as Danny Ayalon, Libermans one-time deputy when the latter served as foreign minister, did in 2010 to the Turkish ambassador, whom he had summoned for a reprimand. There is, however, another, far deeper and more disturbing explanation for kicking the volunteering soldiers out of the facilities dubbed childrens warehouses or babysitters, where asylum seekers leave their kids when they go to work. The explanation lies in an announcement by the defense ministers office, according to which, If soldiers have free time, let them help Holocaust survivors or the needy. The paupers of your city have priority. The reference to paupers alludes to Talmud Baba Metsia 71, meaning that charity for one's poor neighbors precedes charity for family in a distant city.

These words epitomize the xenophobia, separatism, racism and cruelty that are eating away at every value that Israel once held sacred. These toxic waters are trickling down from the top to the very roots of society, overflowing and flooding the environment. They began with Knesset member Miri Regev, the current culture minister, calling asylum seekers a cancer in Israels body in 2012, and then moved on to the group calling itself Students for Southern Tel Aviv, which a year ago ratted out soldiers who volunteered at daycare centers for the children of asylum seekers. At the time, the army spokesman issued a response to the right-wing Jewish Voice website that ran the item, stating that the activity was part of the armys encouragement of soldiers to contribute to their communities, that it was apolitical and that it was approved, as usual, by the commanders and education officers of their unit. Of note, IDF soldiers also assist Holocaust survivors, children with disabilities and charitable organizations that distribute food to the poor.

Indeed, in an enlightened society, the state bears responsibility for those less fortunate  the state, not soldiers and other volunteers, such as the nongovernmental organization Elifelet, which takes care of children of asylum seekers. The asylum seekers, who numbered 57,000 in 2012, cannot be deported because of the danger that would await them in their homeland. There is no doubt that they are needy, among other reasons because of draconian Israeli laws and regulations, and that they reside in Tel Aviv. Given this, why are they not worthy of consideration as paupers who have priority? After all, the Talmud's maxim does not refer to Jewish paupers.

Former Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch wrote in a February 2009 ruling on family reunification, The same sweeping generalization  according to which, by virtue of its sovereignty, the state bears no obligation of any kind toward a person because he is a foreigner, is no longer acceptable. She emphasized, In the current era, there is growing awareness that human beings have rights by virtue of being human, and many states, in discussing limitations on immigration, deal with problems stemming from the rights of those who enter its doors.

If the rights of human beings must not be violated by virtue of their being human, the same applies to an even greater extent to the rights of babies. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges its signatories, among them Israel, to respect and ensure the rights of each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the childs or his or her parents or legal guardians race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status. The text of the convention appears in its entirety on the web site of Israels Education Ministry.

Treaties are one thing, however, and treatment quite another. The state comptroller looked into the matter and found that in regard to the children of asylum seekers, there is almost no article of the convention that Israel does not violate. In a 2013 report, the comptroller wrote that these minors spend their days in some 50 so-called babysitting facilities in conditions of overcrowding, neglect and negligence. He warned that stays at these places constitute a real risk to the development of toddlers and children to the point of endangering their lives.

In 2015, five babies died in these makeshift kindergartens, some of which had 80 children stuffed into an area no bigger than 50 square meters (538 square feet), with one adult in charge of about 30 children. Compare that with the official Israeli standard of one adult for every five babies aged 3-15 months in groups not to exceed 15 children and one adult for every seven toddlers aged 16-24 months in groups limited to 21 kids. On Aug. 17, a 1-year-old baby of an asylum seeker was taken to a hospital in serious condition. The caretaker in a babysitting facility in Tel Aviv reportedly had not noticed that the child was distressed and suffocating.

The comptroller concluded his report with a demand that government ministries ensure the rights of minors who are devoid of status in accordance with the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child and as befits Israels fundamental values as a Jewish and democratic state. It turns out that in contemporary Israel, however, being Jewish means hating non-Jews, and democracy means populism. Throwing Africans into poor Tel Aviv neighborhoods and turning local residents against the infiltrators  as illegal immigrants are when translated from the Hebrew  is far more worthwhile than dispersing asylum seekers around the country and enabling them to find work and establish a roof over their heads. They are not members of the ruling Likud, they have not registered at the neighborhood branch of Libermans Yisrael Beitenu, and the name Liberman may not even mean anything to them.

So, kindhearted soldiers were forced to abandon the toddlers they took out of the darkness of the children's warehouses into the sunlight. It is a missed opportunity to substitute a photo of an Israeli soldier hugging a non-Israeli baby for the one that filled the pages of foreign media showing the IDF soldier who shot and killed a wounded Palestinian assailant in Hebron in March or of a politician comfortably ensconced in the Defense Ministry flexing his muscles at the chief of staff on the backs of miserable babies. All that really matters is that the Ministry of Strategic Affairs has appointed a special team to battle, so explained the ministry's general director Sima Vaknin, Israel's image as a pariah state.
Alan Gross / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Here are some stories about water.

I am fascinated by its absence; here in the high desert the dry earth is something I have both feared and revered. A dweller of mesas and arroyos, water remains elusive to me; it is a half-remembered dream.

My family moved to Albuquerque when I was twelve. Before that, we lived on the edge of the Navajo Nation. There was an arid beauty there, expansive and windblown. I remember being driven to small fishing lakes in Navajoland and not being able to believe that so much water could gather in one place.

Sometimes I would wander around the mesas and arroyos, almost drifting across them like a bird, finding waterholes and scratching up clay from the surrounding soil.

We went to Gallup often, shopped at place called Trademart and ate at various restaurants with names like "The Ranch Kitchen" or "Mucho Burger." On the weekends, the old man would drive us to Albuquerque, to visit friends and relatives.

Driving around the state with my father - who was oddly enough, a sailor - at the helm of a car he called a boat, my brother and I would hang our heads out the windows and scream in defiance of the water towers we passed.

They were monumental and mysterious and contained a force mostly unknown to us: the gathering together of powers we had only seen during the rare days of late summer thunderstorms, that we had only waded through, shin deep, in murky rivulets and ponds.

Here was that force, personified and unified, in mighty metal towers. The travels we took with the dude seemed to begin and end with those risen behemoths.

The towers loomed on this horizon and that. I suppose we imagined them to be a type of metallic creature, robots which might careen out of control at any time, drowning us with both malevolent size and watery contents.

The old man would glance in the rear view mirror and laugh and cuss when he saw one approaching; my mother would turn up the radio and prepare for the worst.

I grew older and stopped screaming. But water remained an elusory aspect of my world. By the time we finally moved to Burque, I remember standing at the edge of the Rio Grande, staring.

When I asked my father about this utterly strange phenomenon, a river that flowed, he said the world was a watery place, that my confusion was contrary to the way of nature. Water was a precious substance that made a difficult and dangerous magic, he warned.

And so, he also taught us to swim, mostly at pools around town. There was one at the Albuquerque Country Club. There was another at the Mountainside YMCA. Our favorite became a pool called the A-Pool. It was a public pool located near Pennsylvania and Menaul. It was shaped like a gigantic letter A.

To further pique our interest in the water, he would also make us watch the Val De La O show.

The Val De La O was a local teevee show that was broadcast live on Saturday mornings, from the KOB studios, in the 1970s and 1980s.

Besides providing entertaining Nuevo Mexicano music for my then young and beautiful parents to dance to, De La O featured a variety of fascinating celebrities as guests. One of his frequent visitors was Johnny Weissmuller.

Weissmuller was an Olympic swimmer who had risen to fame portraying Tarzan in the movies. By the time of my childhood, he had retired from his fictional vine-swinging, vicious lion and Nazi-fighting duties and often visited Albuquerque.

My father hoped that Tarzan's recollections of his watery exploits would encourage us to become safe and strong swimmers, despite the lack of water all around us.

He was mostly right.

Years later, long after De La O and his hilarious sidekick Mario Leyva (he was sort of like the Duke City version of Cantinflas, sabes?) had taken their leave of the studios on Coal Avenue, I nearly drowned in the Gila River.

My brother and I were camping with some other undergrads and decided to hike along the east fork of the river. The twin warned me that the spring rains spelled treachery, but I ignored his admonitions. I decided to cross the swollen river.

In transit, I slipped on a rock, fell and was pushed under the torrent. The current was swift. I could not lift myself against it, and became submerged in it. It was surprisingly quiet down there. I began to see pictures of my life being paraded around the backs of my eyelids.

When I had just about given up, I saw an image of a water tower rising above a dusty road. On that road, a super stock Pontiac roared along with kids screaming in the back seat and Jefferson Airplane blasting out of the open windows.

And like that tower, which held water, I decided to rise. Like that car which sought out water, I moved, somehow resurgent, somehow robotic. Lifting my head up out of the Gila River, I took a deep breath and did as I had been trained to do.

My brother was standing on the bank of the river, screaming.

This is what he shouted as I climbed up on a rock, loud enough to be heard over the din of the water, which was roaring like a beast: "Who in the hell do you think you are, Tarzan?"

That night, back in the student ghetto, I dreamt of clay, of arroyos and dust.
August 18, 2016

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Palestinian theater has been witnessing remarkable activity after several local plays were performed in early 2016, the last of which was called Akher al-Ankoud ("Last Grape in the Cluster"). The play is about a young man in the Gaza Strip who develops deviant behavior due to unemployment and poverty and whose father refuses to abandon him.

Director Ali Abu Yassin told Al-Monitor that many people watched the play, which premiered on June 7 and was last performed on July 22, at the Said al-Mishal Establishment for Culture and Sciences (SAMECS) in Gaza City. The turnout was quite high, although attendance was not free with one ticket costing 20 Israeli shekels [$5], he said.

Theater in the Gaza Strip has been suffering since the Palestinian split in 2007, which negatively affected all aspects of life in Gaza, including theater, as people have been worried about their safety.

In this regard, Abu Yassin said that nine years after the Palestinian split, Gazans are back attending theatrical plays that reflect their daily social and political concerns in a comic way. He explained that theatrical activity has resurged thanks to good directing and to scripts that tackle interesting issues, such as unemployment and the effects of the split on Palestinian society.

Palestinian theater never completely disappeared, but it has gone through highs and lows over the years. The activity of theatrical troupes performing successively in Gaza clearly sparked the interest of the audience, he said. Abu Yassin noted that the success of theater depends on the spectators attending a performance.

Ashtar for Theater Productions and Training, which Abu Yassin manages, has performed recently several plays that address the social and political situation in Gaza, such as "Romeo and Juliet" on April 14 and "Akher al-Ankoud" on June 7.

Abu Yassin noted, Theatrical work proliferates more in politically stable societies, but the Gaza Strip has stood out in this regard. Talented people have presented many artistic achievements in terms of novels, poetry and theater despite the ongoing Israeli blockade, the dire poverty and unemployment. They broke the condition of stability and luxury to produce art and proved to the world that suffering breeds creativity.

He said that actors in Gaza live in poverty and their wages per paid theatrical work do not exceed $200; each performance is performed 10 times at most. He added that the Gaza Strip lacks theaters and libraries and needs a higher institute for theatrical art.

The Palestinian government does not currently offer Palestinian theater in Gaza any financial support. All of the theaters' successes stem from personal initiatives and modest support from nongovernmental organizations, Abu Yassin noted.

Actor and director Akram Obeid started working in the field in 1985, when he was only 17. He told Al-Monitor that funding has always been a spoke in the wheel of Palestinian theater, which has been relying on the personal efforts of active theatrical troupes. He noted in this regard, As actors from Gaza, we would search for graduates who studied the profession abroad and returned to the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian Authority [PA] took control in 1994, to receive training from them. [Actor and director] Khalil Tafish and [producer] Hussein al-Asmar were among these professionals.

The Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) revealed in a report that the reasons theatrical plays have, since the 1980s, relied on amateurs alone is due to the lack of professors teaching theater, the lack of art institutes and the absence of foreign theatrical groups. However, when the PA took the reins of Gaza in 1994, it offered financial support through the Ministry of Culture to theaters, and thus alleviated the logistic and financial obstacles performers faced in Gaza, and facilitated their travel to study theater abroad.

Based on his 31-year experience in theater and television, Obeid said that Palestinian theater lacks funding and support and that theatrical plays are mostly performed through personal efforts exerted by directors and actors. He stressed that the recent activity theater has been witnessing in Gaza is due to the presence of experienced actors and academics who teach theater, as well as good stories that have helped revive theater.

Obeid said that after Hamas took control of the official state television in the wake of the Palestinian division in 2007, TV productions would only focus on problems caused by Israel. As a result, the first generation of actors in Gaza resorted to theater once again, as theater was a means to send out political and social messages about the daily problems Gazans faced.

According to Obeid, the main obstacles facing theatrical work in the Gaza Strip include the lack of funding and financial support. Consequently, theater work has declined in the past few years. Moreover, actors and theatrical troupes do not have travel opportunities to participate in Arab and international festivals due to the closing of the Rafah crossing.

Theatrical work in Palestine reached its peak after the PA took over the administration of Gaza in 1994, as Obeid and his fellow actors were able to present many plays such as "Ibriq al-Zayt" ("The Oil Pot") that was performed during the Global Forum for Arab theater in Cairo in 1994.

Atef Askoul, the director general of the Arts and Creativity Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Culture in Gaza, told Al-Monitor that his ministrys budget is almost nil and therefore cannot support theatrical work in Gaza. In fact, it can barely offer limited support to troupes participating in national occasions such as the annual commemoration of Nakba Day.

The Ministry of Culture is trying to eliminate obstacles facing theatrical troupes in the Gaza Strip such as granting them permits for their performances, honoring actors and solving logistics problems that theater employees face in Gaza, he said. He added that due to the absence of specialized art schools and institutes that aim to promote talent and skills of theatrical actors, some performances are not up to the level required. He also said that the amount of theatrical works has suffered amid the lack of professional directors and theatrical scriptwriters.

Askoul praised the positive reactions of the audience in Gaza to the theatrical performances of some troupes such as Bayader, which performed "Akher al-Ankoud." He noted that spectators in Gaza long for their social and political issues to be made public, in a style that is either comic or tragic.

Lina al-Tawil, a citizen who attends Palestinian theater performances in Gaza and who watched "Akher al-Ankoud," told Al-Monitor, The play was beautiful in every sense, whether the idea, the performance of actors or the audiences interaction. It is nice to tackle social issues in Gaza in a comic, heartfelt way.

Tawil said that she watched the performance on its third day, and even then it was a full house.

As theater performances have the ability to alleviate the burden of the political and social problems that Gazans face, it is important that these performances continue to be accessible in Gazan society.
August 18, 2016

TEHRAN, Iran  Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, hosted the presidents of Iran and Russia on Aug. 8 for the first trilateral summit of the three countries. The three leaders reached agreements on a range of issues, from efforts to pave the way for the development of the North-South Transit Corridor, to coordinating their fight against terrorism and extremism.

On the bilateral level, Iranian President Hassan Rouhanis visit to Azerbaijan could also be seen as the beginning of a new era in Baku-Tehran relations. Indeed, among other developments, the Azerbaijani government agreed for the first time to facilitate entry visa issuance for Iranian citizens.

If the achievements during the Baku summit are put in the context of Irans broader ties with its northern neighborhood, it appears that relations are entering an unprecedented phase. For instance, earlier this year the Georgian government removed visa requirements for Iranian citizens  restrictions that strikingly were imposed just years prior. Indeed, Iran and Georgia have in past years been engaged in serious negotiations to expand bilateral cooperation, especially in the energy sector. Armenia, another South Caucasus country, has also experienced a thaw in its relations with Iran. On Aug. 13, it was announced that the visa waiver agreement between Tehran and Yerevan has entered the implementation phase. To its northeast, Irans relations with the Central Asian republics have also been considerably growing in past years. The latter has been symbolized in the 2014 inauguration of the railroad connecting Iran with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

Irans diplomatic success in the Caucasus and Central Asia comes at a time when the situation in another neighboring region, namely the Arab Middle East and the Persian Gulf, is growing increasingly challenging for Tehran. Not only have past tensions in this region continued, but in some important cases  including ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia  there has been an unrelenting escalation of hostility. Thus, why has Iran been able to secure unprecedented diplomatic achievements in the South Caucasus and Central Asia but not in the Arab Middle East? There are five main answers to this important question.

First, it should be noted that almost all of Irans diplomatic focus during the first two years of Rouhanis presidency was on the nuclear negotiations with the six world powers, which ended in success. Thus, serious maneuvering on other dossiers was delayed. In fact, in the Rouhani administrations view, resolving the nuclear issue was seen as key to the greater aim of improving Irans relations with the world.

Second, the differing structures of the regional orders in the Middle East as well as Central Asia and the South Caucasus have played an important role in determining the success of Iranian diplomacy. Seen through the lens of the so-called regional security complex theory, it can be argued that the prevailing regional order in the Middle East is mainly pillared on Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey  each of which is continuously vying for the upper hand in a game focused on balance of power. In this fundamentally competitive environment, any type of cooperation is inherently difficult. In contrast, the structure of the regional order in the former Soviet Union is rather unipolar and greatly built on Moscow playing the role of a nexus for regional interactions. In this context, nations that enjoy favorable relations with Russia are predisposed to benefit from more room for maneuvering in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. In this equation, Irans increasingly positive relations with Russia in recent years have thus been an important factor in the improvement of Tehrans relations with former Soviet republics.

Third, Irans approach toward Central Asia and the South Caucasus has under Rouhani become greatly pragmatic and based on pursuit of economic interests. This is evident in the nature of the agreements and collaboration between the sides, which greatly focuses on boosting trade and economic cooperation. Meanwhile, Irans approach toward the Middle East is dominated by considerations related to ideology and security. For instance, the relationship  and rivalry  between Iran and Saudi Arabia is greatly driven by the two countries different agendas for the leadership of the Muslim world  a leadership position that they dispute. Iran also sees its actions in West Asia as geared toward preventing the collapse of the regional balance of power, thus making its perception of regional developments greatly security-oriented.

Fourth, the United States plays fundamentally different roles in the Arab Middle East compared to the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Indeed, US interests in the latter two regions are in no way comparable in terms of weight and strategic importance when contrasted with the Middle East. While one of the main goals of US policy in the Middle East is to contain the Islamic Republic of Iran, its primary focus in the former Soviet republics has been on the containment of Russia. As such, since the Iran factor does not play an independent role in the latter, Tehran faces less obstacles from Washington in its pursuit of engagement with its northern neighbors.

Fifth, cultural factors play an important role in the shaping of Irans relations with its neighbors. The nations in Central Asia and the Caucasus have strong historical and civilizational ties with Iran. In contrast to the Arab Middle East, there is an absence of historical and ethnic feuds, such as the Arab-Iranian rift. Thus, the social infrastructure in these countries  meaning the intellectual environment, general attitudes in the media and public opinion  is comparably rather conducive to the development of relations with Iran.

Expanding relations with Central Asia and the South Caucasus could indeed contribute to increasing Irans economic clout in the post-sanctions era while also offering Iran an opportunity to play an active and influential diplomatic role. Indeed, in the long term, the development of Irans relations with its northern neighbors may in itself become a tool that Tehran can use to further strengthen its broader international position  including in the Middle East. However, such a development remains far on the horizon given the many and varied obstacles to Iranian diplomacy in the Arab Middle East.
August 18, 2016

BAGHDAD  During an Aug. 6 meeting, the Sunni Iraqi Forces Alliance took steps to determine the fate of the Sunni community for the post-Islamic State period. The representatives called for the formation of a council to take the lead in the Sunni-dominated provinces and to establish bylaws.

Although the Sunni forces statement did not explicitly state the intention to form a Sunni region, it was received by politicians and the Iraqi public as a mobilization to revive the project of a region that includes all Sunni-dominated provinces: Anbar, Ninevah, Salahuddin, Kirkuk and Diyala. This understanding has been confirmed by Sunni Salahuddin Gov. Ahmed al-Jabouri, who spoke to the media Aug. 9 about some Sunni politicians actions to establish a Sunni region.

Hisham al-Suhail, a parliament member for the National Iraqi Alliance and Chairman of the Commission for Accountability and Justice, offered a Shiite point of view. He told Al-Monitor that the step by the Sunni forces aims to divide [Iraq] into regions, which does not serve the countrys unity. The meeting it held aimed to mobilize the leaders who speak on behalf of the Sunni Arabs in order to bridge the gap between them, and with the tribal sheikhs, religious scholars and businessmen in the Sunni areas to prepare for the project of the [Sunni] region.

Amid the different views regarding the Sunni forces' objectives, some will question the sustainability of regions similar to Kurdistan Regional Government that could be established in the post-IS phase. One must also wonder how these regions could finance themselves should they become independent from Baghdad, which would undoubtedly cut off their funding. There also would be a US objection to consider, as the United States tends to favor a unified Iraq. US Vice President Joe Biden has stressed that Washington supports the unity of Iraq.

Those who are enthusiastic about establishing a Sunni region claim that regional countries such as Saudi Arabia support this project and that Turkey is pushing for the establishment of a Sunni region by supporting Sunni Iraqi parties.

As the trend of disengagement from the central government in Baghdad spreads, many Sunni Arab leaders, politicians and tribal leaders are preparing for the post-IS phase. However, Shiites oppose any project that could weaken the central government, which they lead. The head of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, stressed as much on Nov. 26, 2015, when he expressed to the media his refusal to divide Iraq. Najafs Friday prayer leader Sadra Qabbanji also strongly criticized the project to establish a Sunni region on Dec. 25, 2015.

Meanwhile, the regional projects proposed at political meetings remain vulnerable to physical forces on the ground, most notably those represented by the Shiite-dominated Popular Mobilization Units. This group believes that those who free the Sunni areas should have entitlements there and play a part in determining their fate, according to Ali Mamoun, a researcher who specializes in Islamic movements in Iraq. He added that the PMU believes it has the duty to maintain national unity and stand against divisive agendas.

The entitlements demanded by the Shiites who have made sacrifices to liberate Sunni areas worry the Sunni forces. These concerns prompted them to reject the PMUs participation in the liberation of Mosul for fear of its leading to a sectarian war between Sunnis and Shiites, though Iraqi President Fuad Masum said June 13 that the PMU has maintained Iraqs unity.

In a pre-emptive step, the Sunni forces, ignoring the role of the central government and the Shiite forces in Sunni areas, have cited the legal right granted by the constitution to establish such regions.

In this context, Sunni parliamentarian for Mosul Abdul Rahman Alliwayzi told Al-Monitor, The calls to establish a Sunni region are not random. They hold partisan interests, adding, I have noticed through my conversations and interactions in the political scene that Sunni Arab leaders are afraid of losing the legitimacy to represent Sunnis in light of their inability to defend them against IS. This is why they were searching for a legal cover to remain in their leadership positions and they have found what they were looking for in the project of an administrative council for provinces, which they will maintain as an official platform to speak on behalf of Sunnis, as far as they are concerned.

Alliwayzi said, The post-IS phase will involve a conflict between the Sunni leaderships, and the project to establish a Sunni region will inflame internal conflicts, which will allow the KRG to annex areas in Mosul and extend its influence on them.

Alliwayzis point of view was echoed in an Aug.10 report published by Anadolu Press Agency that noted that the course of events in the post-IS phase indicates that the present stage is on the verge of creating a new political situation.

Still, his "new situation" can only come about through consultation and dialogue between all the political blocs regarding the future of the liberated areas to avoid the risk of new potential conflicts. However, the country could also be looking at a new sectarian war similar to the one that plagued Iraq between 2006 and 2008 that gave rise to the conflicts that led to IS invasion of Iraqi territory in 2014.
August 18, 2016

BEIRUT  A hotel in Beirut was the scene of a series of secret meetings Aug. 8-11 between a diplomatic delegation that included representatives from Western countries and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and a delegation composed of Iraqs Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) leaders. The meetings were not covered in the media and no press statements were issued; the outcomes of the discussions were not made public. However, Al-Monitor was able to meet with a PMU faction leader who participated in those meetings at a hotel he was staying at in Beiruts surroundings. The leader spoke on condition of anonymity about the meetings in Beirut and the situation in Baghdad.

The meetings were kept secret for several reasons, including security considerations so as to ensure the safety of the members of the Western delegation and Iraqi attendees that included military officials. Also, it is worth noting that the relations between the PMU and the countries represented in the delegation are not public.

The PMU delegation left Beirut feeling more confident about its position and its future. The PMU leader promised Al-Monitor more advanced political developments in the relationship between the PMU and the West after the liberation of Mosul. If liberating Fallujah brought us to Beirut, what will the liberation of Mosul bring? he said.

The text of the interview follows:

Al-Monitor: What can you tell us about the meeting?

PMU leader: This meeting was held as a result of efforts deployed by one of the UN organizations operating in Iraq today [which he did not disclose]. Several weeks ago, this organization suggested to the PMU leadership to meet with several Western diplomats involved in the Iraqi situation and its developments. After liberating Fallujah in June 2016, the diplomats exerted more pressure to meet with us. The only problem was the time and place of the meeting, but we finally agreed to meet here in Beirut.

Al-Monitor: Can you tell us who participated in the meeting?

PMU leader: The PMU was represented by a delegation of 12 people, representing most of the PMU leaderships in Iraq including brigades commanders, politicians and officials in charge of the various activities of our team. The other party was composed of a large number of Western diplomats from several countries, including Norway, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Italy and Germany, as well as representatives of NGOs and of course the UN organization that launched the initiative. Each of these delegations was composed of one or more officials from [the countrys] foreign ministry, as well as one or more diplomats from the countries embassies in Beirut or Baghdad.

Two main parties involved in our cause  namely the United States and Britain  were absent from the meeting, although we were asked when we were invited to the meeting whether we had any reservations about meeting them. We asserted that we had no reservations at all. But we later found out from some of the participants in Beirut that the Americans and the British preferred not to participate in this meeting, and rather test the waters [of this first meeting] and gather information from their allies [Western delegation] before holding a direct dialogue with us.

Al-Monitor: What did they [the United States and Britain] want to check, and what were the issues discussed at the meetings?

PMU leader: Discussions lasted for several hours [every day] and covered almost everything. The Western delegation wanted to meet with us for several reasons. First, the delegation members wanted to know how we see the future of the regulatory and institutional relationship between us [PMU] and the Iraqi government authorities. They know that a government decree was issued under No. 91, which approved the integration of the PMU into the official Iraqi authority. This is why they [Western delegation] wanted to know if we intend to fully merge within the Iraqi army. Our answer was clear. We will be a military force that is part of the Iraqi state, but not part of the Iraqi army. This is due to many reasons that we explained to them, namely the corruption spread within the Iraqi government institutions, and I think they understood our point of view. We made it clear that we will be an alternative army subordinated to the state, just like Iran's [Islamic] Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Second, the Western delegation wanted to know if we are ready to integrate into the political process in Iraq. We were also clear on this point; we asserted that we launched preparations to run in the upcoming Iraqi parliamentary elections in 2017. It seemed clear that the Western delegation expects us to score significant results in these elections and this is why they asked us about our vision of future alliances, the shape of power in Baghdad and the various scenarios after the elections. They also asked us about our perception on many issues related to the concept of governance, including our relations with the Iraqi internal parties and our stance on the regional and neighboring powers and entities.

Al-Monitor: What were your answers to those questions?

PMU leader: We were clear and firm. We asserted that we have no other enemy in Iraq but terrorism and extremist organizations represented by the Islamic State, and we have no problem with any other party. In terms of our relations with the various components of the Iraqi people, we stressed that the PMU emerged from all spectrums of the Iraqi people. The Western participants noticed from the start of our meetings that our delegation is composed of members representing the various spectrums of the Iraqi people, as we included Shiite officials, two commanders from the Sunni factions within the PMU as well as a commander of a Christian faction too.

As for the neighboring countries, we explained that we want our country to be sovereign and stable and to open up to its regional surroundings. This is what we will seek to achieve.

Al-Monitor: Is there something special that drew your attention during the meeting?

PMU leader: All of the members of our delegation agreed that the discussions with the German delegation were the highlight of the meetings. The Germans made sure to meet our delegation privately for an entire day and to rediscuss all of the issues [that were discussed with the rest of the delegation]. After hours of dialogue, the senior member of the German delegation told us, "We believe that you will win the next elections, and you will be key partners in the governance of Iraq. Therefore, the PMU and the West must be aware of the importance of this victory and start acting on this basis."

And because they insisted on meeting us alone and discussing the same issues, we deduced that the Germans were actually representing the United States  which was absent from the meetings  and that this meeting is a preliminary step that paves the way for subsequent direct or indirect contacts [with the United States].
August 18, 2016

"A dowry of 1,000 Israeli liras!" declares the enticing dating ad, spelling it all out underneath: "A good-looking masseuse from Germany, based in a large rural settlement, well educated and earning 10 Israeli liras a month, looking for a well-off, cultured man up to 36." This was one of 300 such ads, by men and women, published in in the 1938 booklet of the "modern, fast and famous, popular and celebrated matchmaker" Yosef Lieber, who operated a dating service in Israel in the years preceding and following the establishment of the state.

This booklet has been uncovered by Ilay and Alon-Lee Green, owners of the standalone bookstore Green Brothers in Tel Aviv. Just a few days before the Jewish holiday of love (Tu B'Av), they announced in a Facebook post: "We've found grandpa and grandma's Tinder!" They revealed that they had launched an investigation "to trace the people in the ads," saying, "We were looking for information about Yosef Lieber, but haven't come up with much."

Since making the post, they have managed to unearth a few details about Lieber, who was quite well known at the time. Yet they have a more ambitious goal. Ilay Green told Al-Monitor, "We would like to find his records and have a closer look at the matches arranged by him. We aim to reach the children and grandchildren of the couples that were brought together thanks to him." To this end, they appealed to Facebook users, seeking their help: "Please ask your grandparents if they know the matchmaker. Inquire if they ever used his services or heard about his exploits."

Their post has gotten enthusiastic responses from hundreds of readers who liked and shared it. "People identify their grandparents and tell stories," Green recounted. "I love stories like that and in fact our store [often] introduces stuff that offers a glimpse into another era. When I first saw the booklet, I thought it was just terrific."

As noted, it has not been hard to find out more about Lieber. Searching the Historical Jewish Press database of the National Library of Israel, they've gathered quite a number of press reports in various newspapers that mention Lieber the matchmaker. Haifa University historian and sociologist Oz Almog and Shay Rudin, who teaches literature and gender studies at Lewinsky College and Gordon College of Education, wrote a paper on the topic published on the sociology website People Israel "Dating Patterns and Spouse Choice in the Senior Secular Population." The authors point out that dating ads appeared in the Hebrew press very early on, although rather sporadically. Still, most references to Lieber appear in dedicated dating columns. In a January 1940 issue of HaMashkif, Lieber offered local young men a "26-year-old widow from Poland, in the country for years, nice and sympathetic, owning an established business based in central Tel Aviv as well as a plot of land and 300 Israeli liras in cash, looking for a single man or a widower, his financial standing immaterial  that could be taken care of."

Other reports in HaMashkif, as well as in HaTzofeh, announced the arrival of the matchmaker in various cities, alerting residents to rush and visit him discreetly and find a partner in life. It seems that Lieber started a new trend in the approach toward matchmaking in the country. In their paper, Almog and Rudin argued, "In the 1950s, matchmaking was seen as a sensitive, private issue, and as a rule, it was not publicly discussed.  In the 1960s the matchmaking industry expanded to a certain degree. Other dating agencies appeared on the scene and the number of dating ads in the press grew accordingly."

Another news item announced the establishment of a matchmakers organization, headed by Lieber. Another particularly intriguing report deals with the murder investigation of a young woman named Yehudith Osherov, whose body was recovered from the Yarkon River in July 1946. Lieber, who according to the report "is also a police corporal," was interrogated at length as the young woman appeared in his client records.

In February 1953, Bohemian journalist and writer Dan Ben-Amotz wrote on Lieber in his "What's Up?" column in Davar, "For 25 years now, Yosef Lieber and his wife Brunia have been trying to tackle the problem of matchmaking for the purpose of marriage. Within a single quarter of the twentieth century, some 15,000 women and 12,000 men were registered in their office." Ben-Amotz visited Lieber, who told him, "Lately, many Holocaust survivors have sought out my services. I don't charge the refugees much." Lieber noted that while he was "all for mixed-race couples," he took care to follow the customer's requirements: "If it's an Ashkenazi that you seek, an Ashkenazi you get, and if it's a Sephardic that you want, a Sephardic you take."

These days, no one would even think of specifying how much money he has or demand a dowry, not to mention any requirements regarding the desired origin of the potential spouse. At the time, wealth and origin were paramount requirements, explicitly and blatantly stated. "Today, it's the other way around," said Green. "We would rather say 'with 5,000 shekels overdrawn' or 'with a mortgage of a million shekels.' Back then, they were very practical. Nowadays, you cannot place an ad saying that you are looking for a tall, blonde nurse with a dowry."

Beyond the nostalgia, this contrast is apparently one of the reasons for the interest stirred in the booklet. Its content indicates that nothing much has really changed. Pragmatism in searching for a partner is nothing new. It characterized considerations then, as it does today. Only then, it was a different kind of pragmatism. The young generation of today is regularly criticized for its dating practices, which are condemned as promiscuous and insincere  at best taking place on dating sites and at worst through apps that glorify external appearances and more often than not end in one-night stands. But even back then, parameters for a good match were embedded in pragmatism, not romanticism. Given the blatant racism and classism in those dated ads, which never missed the opportunity to include good looks in the package, contemporary failings could be said to pale by comparison.

Green believes that compared to now, notwithstanding the apparent abundance of our time, in the past, it was easier to find a match. These days, he says, "You go through 100 Tinder profiles in a matter of minutes. The options are too confusing and you cannot make up your mind, because there will always be someone else. But then, once you've found someone who matches your requirements  then, bingo! That's it, and you are on your way to starting a family in Israel."
August 18, 2016

BAGHDAD, Iraq  As they seek to open new fronts in the region, Shiite militias continue to recruit Iraqi Shiite young people to fight in Syria. In this context, Sheikh Akram al-Kaabi, the leader of Hezbollah al-Nujaba, announced Aug. 1 his fighters' willingness to fight alongside the Houthis in Yemen. Also, right after the announcement of the establishment of "Jaish al-Mou'mal in Iraq and the Levant" on June 15, the militia expressed its intention to fight in Iraq, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen in a bid to defend Shiite holy sites. The new organization announced its desire to open battlefronts wherever Shiites exist in the region.

Since fighting broke out in Syria on March 18, 2011, young Iraqi Shiite fighters of several other militias, including the Brigade of Abu al Fadl al Abbas, the Zulfikar brigade and the Iraq Hezbollah brigades, have been flocking to Syria to fight alongside the Syrian army and its ally, Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah, against the mostly Sunni Syrian opposition factions.

The fact that the Islamic State (IS) seized control of Mosul on June 11, 2014, and Ramadi on May 15, 2015, has apparently failed to deter those Shiite young people from joining the fighting fronts in Syria, according to a report published by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Ali al-Yasiri, a 21-year-old Shiite fighter from Babylon, south of Baghdad, told Al-Monitor that defending the Shiite shrine of Sayyida Zeinab in Syria, after Sunni extremist organizations threatened to destroy it, "is as important as defending any Iraqi city."

Religious faith motivates Shiite young people to fight tooth and nail in Syria, in line with the comments of the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who said Jan. 22 that "thousands of fighters are defending the honor of Islam in Syria."

Yasiri, who has been fighting in the vicinity of Sayyida Zeinab's shrine since 2013 after he split from the Shiite Mahdi Army that year, added during his short one-month-visit to his family in Iraq that "Iraqi fighters are still going to Syria to defend Shiite holy sites."

This religious motive that is driving Iraqi Shiites to fight in Syria was confirmed by Ali al-Husseini, a commander in the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in Babylon, who told Al-Monitor, "international borders do not prevent young Shiites from defending their holy places wherever these might be outside Iraq." Husseini's view converges with that of PMU deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Mouhandes, who confirmed to the media on June 26 that "the PMU will hunt down IS at every point outside of Iraq."

Meanwhile, Nazir al-Asadi, a researcher in Shiite affairs, justified the rush to fight in Syria, telling Al-Monitor, "Those who volunteer to fight in Syria feel endangered by the armed groups' threat to Shiite shrines there."

This Shiite need to widen the conflict to places with Shiite holy sites led some to accuse Shiites of fighting a proxy war for Iran in Syria. This could be due to the fact that "a lot of Iraqi volunteers feel that Iran is defending Shiite sanctities with them while providing them with financial support," Mohammed Nasserite, one of the combat groups' commanders in Syria, told Al-Monitor.

Nasserite fought in Syria throughout 2014 and then returned to Iraq. "Iran is providing Shiite fighters in Syria with financial support," he revealed, and added that "the salary of a fighter amounts to a minimum of $700 [per month]."

For its part, IS does not recognize borders in the fight and says that it is supporting Sunnis everywhere. This entrenches the religious war at a time when volunteers are going beyond their country's borders to fight in other regions. While a Saudi belonging to a Sunni militant group would fight in both Iraq and Syria, an Iraqi fighter would not mind moving to Syria and even Yemen to defend Shiites there.

Based on this religious motivation, Sunni fighters from different countries are volunteering to support the Syrian Sunni opposition or join armed groups such as IS and Jabhat al-Nusra at a time when Shiite young people from different countries, including Iraq, are fighting alongside the Alawite Shiite regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

While the author Hamza Al Janahi, who volunteered to fight in the ranks of the PMU in Iraq in 2014, told Al-Monitor that "Sunni groups' threat to exterminate Shiites and destroy their sacred tombs has led young Shiites to volunteer to fight in Syria," writer and political analyst Mohammad Wani, a Sunni, told Al-Monitor, "What is going on is a sectarian strife as the armed conflict emerged after the fall of Saddam's regime in Iraq in 2003 and intensified with the outbreak of the Syrian crisis."

Expelling IS from Iraq will lead Iraqi Shiite militants to volunteer to fight in Syria, as the Syrian conflict continues to attract Sunni and Shiite fighters from around the world.
August 18, 2016

The Tunisian Parliament is getting ready to vote for confidence in the new government before Sept. 1, the legal deadline set for the government's formation under the Tunisian Constitution. On Aug. 3, President Beji Caid Essebsi appointed the leader of the ruling Nidaa Tunis, Youssef Chahed, to form a new national unity government after the parliament withdrew confidence from the former government led by Habib Essid on July 30, under accusations of inefficiency.

Essebsi launched an initiative during a June 2 interview on state television to form a national unity government whose priorities include the war on terrorism and corruption and the entrenchment of democracy. The government is to include parties and unions, unlike the deposed one, which was formed by four parties in the parliament: Nidaa Tunis, to which Essebsi belongs; the Islamist Ennahda; and two liberal parties, the Free Patriotic Union and Afek Tounes.

The new government will face major security and economic challenges, in addition to having to deal with corruption.

On July 13, the Tunisian presidency published the text of the initiative, called the Carthage Document, which includes the outline of the potential governments work schedule.

As designated prime minister, Chahed was already part of the decision-making circles in the country. Before his appointment, he was minister of local affairs for the deposed government. On the day of his appointment, he said that the new government will work on achieving five main priorities: winning the battle against terrorism, declaring war on corruption and the corrupt people, fostering development to create job opportunities, controlling the financial budgets and focusing on the environment and sanitation.

He further noted that the new government will give more chances for representation to the youths and women and will be honest with the Tunisian people from the beginning about their financial, social and economic situation. The country is at a critical stage and needs exceptional decisions and sacrifices.

But despite the optimism in his speech, Chahed will have a tough time on every level. The tasks he proposed in his governmental program require patience and wide governmental coordination as well as a stable security situation.

Journalist Mohamed Bettaieb told Al-Monitor, The realization of the five points that Chahed listed in his speech depends on the first point, which is fighting terrorism. The economic situation, fighting corruption and controlling the financial budget all require security and stability. The clashes with the terrorist groups are the main reason behind the deteriorating economic situation.

Since 2011, Tunisia has been the target of several terrorist operations executed by jihadi groups affiliated with al-Qaeda like the Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade and others supporting IS. The attacks have claimed the lives of more than 220 security and military personnel and 98 civilians, according to a survey by the local Inkyfada website.

Bettaieb added, Improving the security situation depends on improving the performance of the security apparatus, which has recently achieved remarkable success. For instance, the month of Ramadan this year was free of any terrorist operations, which hasnt been the case since 2012. Many terrorist operations targeted the army and police in 2013, 2014 and 2015, when the tourist resort of Sousse was attacked. In March 2016, IS attacked Ben Gardane to establish an Islamic emirate.

He noted, These successes  relative as they might be  must be maintained to preserve the current defense and security team. The ministers of defense and interior must also remain in their positions to save time and effort for the country, especially since they are technocrats and are not affiliated with any political party. This ensures that their ministries are not biased to any political party.

Bettaieb added, The new government is up against another challenge, which is the return of Tunisian youths fighting with jihadi groups in Syria and Libya, especially in the wake of the Islamic State defeats in these battlefields, and the challenge of fighting jihadi groups in the western mountains along the Algerian border.

Tunisians make up much of the ranks of IS in Syria, Libya and Iraq. According to most estimates, the number of Tunisian fighters in Syria and Iraq exceeds 3,000. In Libya, Tunisians constitute the majority of IS members at approximately 500 fighters.

This difficult security situation has led to economic decline, and Tunisia has been suffering a tough economic situation since 2011. The Tunisian Central Bank warned Aug. 12 that the rising trade deficit, which neared 6 billion dinars ($3 billion) in the first half of 2016, might worsen. Since the fall of the former regime led by Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the state has adopted a foreign-debt strategy. Tunisias debt has increased by 58% since 2011. Tunisias most recent debts are bonds worth $500 million issued on Aug. 5 with US guarantees.

Apart from the economic crisis and the war on terrorism, Chaheds new government will face rampant corruption in the state institutions. Corruption in the country is worse than it was before the fall of Ben Alis regime in 2011. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index published annually by Transparency International, Tunisia came in 59th in 2010, Ben Alis last year. In 2015, it occupied 76th place. This decline was a wake-up call for local civil society groups to launch initiatives to curb corruption. The May 2016 survey revealed that 62% of Tunisians believe that the government is not making enough efforts to fight corruption.

Political analyst Abdel Sattar al-Aidi told Al-Monitor, The new governments success in achieving the priorities that Chahed mentioned in his designation speech depends on a clear and accurate program and on the political parties willpower to form a government that would pull the country out of its crisis instead of power-seeking and engaging in an undeclared conflict. Most importantly, there should be public and union support from the Tunisian General Labor Union, but this will bank on the new governments economic vision. It is noteworthy that the Tunisian General Labor Union is the largest union in the country and can make the governments work successful by declaring a social truce, halting labor strikes and delaying salary increase demands. Chahed noted in his speech that the country needs exceptional decisions and sacrifices. We are afraid these sacrifices might affect the limited-income class through reducing basic material subsidies or freezing salary upgrades.

Each time a new government seeks the parliaments vote of confidence, Tunisians hopes rekindle, and they dream of improving their economic and social situations. The prime ministers make promises to fight corruption, save the economy and enhance the conditions of the marginalized. But these hopes soon disappear. Will Chaheds government be the exception to the rule? Or will it have the same fate as its predecessors?
August 18, 2016

A piece I wrote in October 2014 titled Is NATO membership shackling Turkey? was about the Turkish public opinion debate over NATO. Today's article asks whether NATO might find Turkey's membership burdensome.

There is a growing perception in Turkey that NATO has been apathetic in the aftermath of the July 15 coup attempt and hasn't shown the appropriate concern a member of the alliance deserves.

People wonder whether this silence means NATO is giving up on Turkey. Although belated and half-hearted support messages from NATO have surfaced recently, a perusal of foreign media shows a perceptible increase in comments that Turkey-NATO ties have weakened and  especially since the Aug. 9 summit between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin  this relationship is now in crisis. Some comments even suggest this may be the time for NATO to expel Turkey.

In Turkey, these comments are generally interpreted as NATO distancing itself from Turkey.

The latest crisis between Turkey and NATO is over Turkish Vice Adm. Mustafa Zeki Ugurlu, who was posted to NATO's Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Va. Turkey issued an arrest warrant for Ugurlu on charges that he is affiliated with the Gulenist movement's infiltration of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

On July 12, three days before the coup attempt, Turkey issued a warrant for Ugurlu and asked NATO to terminate his posting and return him to Turkey. NATO, however, ignored the warrant and Turkeys request. NATO did not even remove him from active duty. Ugurlu obtained a medical report from a Norfolk hospital saying that he suffers from vertigo and that it would be risky for him to fly across the ocean.

After the July 15 coup attempt, Turkey issued another warrant for Ugurlu on charges of plotting the coup. He was officially discharged from the TSK on July 28. In a July 28 news item on NATO's website, Ugurlu was seen representing Turkey in a July 26 meeting of the NATO Industrial Workshop. The photograph was removed from the website Aug. 13 after Turkish media got hold of it.

Ugurlu has applied for asylum in the United States and is now apparently missing.

The prevailing perception in Ankara is that NATO did not take the Ugurlu issue seriously enough. Turkey says Ugurlu has vital information on Gulenist operations in Turkey and finds it hard to accept that he simply disappeared in the United States. There is also a belief in Turkey that NATO was involved in the coup attempt because of the active roles played by military units that are part of NATO's Rapid Deployable Corps-Turkey.

Then there is information circulating that most of the staff officers in the WhatsApp coup group in Istanbul had served long stints in NATO.

Also supporting the allegations of a NATO connection are charges that most of the generals on the night of July 15 who were leading - or at least not challenging  the coup attempt from the chief of staff headquarters in Ankara were officers identified with strong pro-NATO and Atlantic Alliance views.

Some media outlets, especially those favoring the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), play on such ideas, whether they are realities or mere allegations. They never miss a day touting headlines about how July 15 was staged by Gulenists with the knowledge of NATO and support of the US Central Intelligence Agency. Pro-AKP columnists have not run out of conspiracies yet.

All the sources Al-Monitor spoke with in Ankara agree that NATO simply doesnt want to show any interest in events in Turkey.

According to a July 2015 report from the Ankara office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States on the Turkish publics perceptions of NATO, the three most trusted international institutions at that time were the European Court of Human Rights (44%), the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (39%) and the European Union (39%). Some 35% of respondents felt Turkey no longer needed NATO membership and 27% had no opinion. Only about 30% of Turks said they trust NATO.

There has been no poll taken on NATO perceptions in Turkey since July 15, but it's likely that if a poll is taken, the result will be much worse than pre-July 15.

Given the negative perceptions in Turkey, NATO has to take urgent, public diplomatic steps to tell its story, but so far there has been no serious response. Some ask if NATO has given up on Turkey or is simply fatigued by persistent crisis situations with Ankara.

The coup attempt has certainly opened a new existential fault line in Ankara-NATO ties, already made shaky by the Syrian crisis, refugees, combating the Islamic State and the Kurdistan Workers Party, and power balances in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. NATO appears to prefer a low profile in its relations with Turkey. In turn, Ankara interprets that as lack of adequate support. It's no surprise that the Turkish public has adopted the same position as the state.

The question therefore is, has Turkey given up on NATO or has NATO given up on Turkey? I believe the person who will be the most curious to find the answer is Vladimir Putin.
August 18, 2016

An Iranian delegation is heading to South America in hopes of capitalizing on the economic potential after the nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted Aug. 17 that an Iranian delegation will travel to six Latin America countries in order to strengthen political and economic ties. This will be the first trip to Latin America for Zarif, who also tweeted the news in Spanish.

According to Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi, a 60-person delegation consisting of business executives from the private sector will accompany Zarif. The trip will begin in Cuba on Aug. 21, then proceed to Nicaragua, Ecuador, Chile and Bolivia. The weeklong visit will end in Venezuela.

Takht-Ravanchi said the trip will be the beginning of a new chapter in relations between Iran and Latin America, adding, Latin America is very important for Iran, and despite the long distance there is various cooperation in many fields.

Iran has a good political relationship with many countries in Latin America, according to Takht-Ravanchi, who said he does not see any major problems in expanding [political] ties. Economically, however, he said, There exist many areas for cooperation and joint ventures, but until now we have not been able to benefit completely from these capacities.

Takht-Ravanchi said Latin Americas primary exports to Iran are meat, rice, wheat and vegetable seeds, and Iran exports nuts, rugs, pharmaceuticals and agricultural equipment to South America. One of the areas for growth, according to Takht-Ravanchi, is the export of Iranian technical and engineering services to Latin America, particularly in the fields of pharmacy, dam building, housing and the dairy industry. He said there will also be discussions about growing ties in the fields of oil and gas.

On the decision by Chile to reopen its embassy in Tehran after 36 years, Takht-Ravanchi credited the nuclear deal, which resulted in the lifting of international sanctions and opening the door for the improvement of ties between Iran and countries in Latin America. He added that Chile appointed a charge daffaires and will soon appoint an ambassador. In 1980, in protest of then-Chilean leader Augusto Pinochets repressive domestic policies, Iran severed diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Takht-Ravanchi also accused countries such as Israel of attempting to damage relations between Iran and Latin America. He called accusations of military cooperation between Iran and Latin American countries ridiculous and said that the post-nuclear deal will have an economic aspect.

On relations between Iran and Venezuela, Takht-Ravanchi said the Islamic Republic considers Venezuela a friendly country. He said it was natural for there to be objections to some of the policies of President Nicolas Maduro given there is a new parliament, but he added that Maduro is the constitutional leader of the country and that Iran does not interfere in the domestic or partisan affairs of Latin American countries.

On the $164 million debt Nicaragua owes Iran, Takht-Ravanchi said the two countries agreed on a payment the previous year. According to a Nicaraguan newspaper report in 2012, Iran had agreed to forgive the debt. Takht-Ravanchi also said that it is unlikely that Zarif will meet Fidel Castro during his Cuba visit.
Chicken Salad Chick

Stacy Brown (left) co-founded Chicken Salad Chick in 2008 in Auburn with her late husband, Kevin Brown (right). The eatery was Alabama's fastest-growing business and America's 37th overall on the 2016 Inc. 5000 list. (Courtesy/file)

Here are the top stories in Alabama business for Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. Read all of Alabama's business news here anytime.

Fifty-five companies across Alabama are celebrating a major milestone today after the release of Inc. Magazine's annual Inc. 5000 ranking. That's the list of America's fastest-growing companies.

Curse, the Huntsville-based gaming information company, will soon be under ownership by a subsidiary of Amazon.com. The company is finalizing an acquisition agreement with Twitch, a California social video platform and community for gamers.

Bridge Street Town Centre in Huntsville will welcome another market-exclusive tenant this weekend during the grand opening of Jared The Galleria of Jewelry.

The third annual Birmingham Innovation Week is associated with tech and entrepreneurship, but this year's celebration explores everything from virtual reality to Zika Virus.

Tyson Foods has responded following almost $264,000 in proposed fines by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration against a Tyson Foods chicken processing facility in Texas.
Amazon

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Ironstone Pizza rendering.JPG

This is an artist's rendering of the new IronStone Pizzaworks restaurant scheduled to open in early September in the Vestavia Hills City Center. (Photo courtesy of IronStone Pizzaworks)

A new restaurant concept featuring customized pizzas and salads has announced plans to open its flagship location in the Vestavia Hills City Center in early September.

IronStone Pizzaworks will be located at 632 Montgomery Highway and plans to hire about 50 employees, according to a media release from the company.

"We are excited to open our first IronStone location in the Iron City," Bill McPherson, president of IronStone Pizzaworks, said in the release. "Birmingham is a thriving city, especially in the restaurant industry, and we are thrilled to be a part of its growth by serving the community great food in an inviting environment."

The restaurant will be in the former Cokesbury Book & Church Supply space, near Stein Mart and Newk's Eatery. The 3,600-square-foot space will seat an estimated 82 people inside and another 24 outside.

The IronStone menu will feature a variety of pizzas, including barbecue chicken, Hawaiian and sausage and ricotta, as well as such salad selections as Caesar, Thai and Italian. Guests may also come up with their own pizza and salad combinations.

Jimmy Myrick, who has 25 years of experience in the restaurant business, will be the general manager.

IronStone plans to open additional locations across the Southeast, according to the media release.

For more information about Ironstone Pizzaworks, including a detailed menu, go here.
Birmingham-Southern College announced Wednesday that the college is moving to a test-optional application for prospective students.

Beginning this fall, students applying to BSC will decide whether to report their scores for standardized college admission tests such as the ACT or SAT. Those who do not include test scores will have their qualification for admission determined by an interview and an academic portfolio that will include graded papers or school projects with teacher comments, in addition to the regular measures of applicants such as grade point average, high school ranking, and extracurricular activities.

"This move will in no way compromise the caliber of our incoming class or reduce BSC's admission standards," said Sara Newhouse, Vice President for Admission and Financial Planning. "Rather, we hope it gives bright, engaged students who fear BSC is out of their reach another way to apply."

BSC will be joining other colleges in making the move to test-optional admission, a list that includes Bowdoin College, Bates College, Wake Forest University, Middlebury College, Colorado College, Beloit College, George Washington University and Colby College.

BSC said schools that have made the switch have found that doing so broadens their application pool and increases applications from students of color, women, first-generation students, and students with learning differences--all groups that have traditionally fared poorly on standardized tests even though they excel in college.



BSC is also adding Early Decision to its admission options: Early Decision requires students to commit to attending if they are admitted.

"There are already so many barriers to higher education that some of these students have to scale, and we're trying to ensure that everyone has access to the kind of high-quality educational experience we offer at BSC," Newhouse said. "None of our students are just a number to us--we judge all applicants as individuals with growth potential who will bring their own strengths to the Hilltop."




Montgomery Mosque Doctor

In this Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016 photo, Dr. Mahmood Zaied, a pediatrician in Montgomery, Ala., poses at the Montgomery clinic. Zaied's family is one of the families behind the proposed mosque in east Montgomery. (Mickey Welsh/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP)

(Mickey Welsh)

Dr. Mahmood Zaied has lived in Montgomery for 16 years.

Montgomerians might know him as a pediatrician who, besides being chair of the Pediatric Department at Baptist South and Chief of Pediatrics at Health Services Inc., practices at just about every local hospital and some private practices. Those who don't know Zaied from his health care work might know him as the man who wants to build a mosque in east Montgomery.

Zaied has been planning the mosque for the past five years since he, with the help of other donors, purchased the property on Vaughn Road.

For the past eight years, Zaied and other Muslims who live away from the mosques on the west and south sides of the city have been renting a private space to worship. The cost of the space is $52,000 a year, meaning Zaied and other Muslims have collectively paid more than $400,000 to practice their religion on the east side.

With Zaied set to go before the city's board of adjustment Thursday, his mission of building a place for Muslims to worship in east Montgomery is moving along.

"There's so many churches, and we don't have a place of worship in east Montgomery," Zaied said.

It has also drawn the ire of residents living near the proposed mosque site in the Deer Creek and Glynnwood neighborhoods.

Before Glynnwood held a residents' meeting to discuss the mosque on July 21, Glynnwood Homeowner's Association President Paul Hayner told the residents by email that the mosque "will have a drastic negative impact on property value in the surrounding neighborhoods."

Other residents told city councilmen that they opposed the mosque, because they were scared of radical Islam.

And yet, none of this has discouraged Zaied, himself a Deer Creek resident.

"People don't like change, and they're scared of something they don't know," Zaied said Wednesday. "They don't know us, but they will find us to be a very good neighbor. I came to Montgomery for a three-year commitment. We have stayed here for 16 years, and I plan to live in this city for the rest of my life. I love this city. I love the people."

And yet, he understands the fear.

When asked about how his religion has been painted with the same brush as radical terrorist organizations such as ISIL, Zaied said those groups have hijacked the name of Islam.

"These people who do these acts are full of hate. Killing innocent people, who can justify that?" Zaied said.

Zaied also pointed out that Muslims aren't exempt from fearing terror attacks on American soil.

"If there's someone who says he will harm Montgomery, we will point him out, because he will also harm us you know?" Zaied said.

On Aug. 11, Deer Creek residents held their own meeting at which a number of people spoke in favor of the mosque and religious freedom. Others remained opposed.

On Aug. 16, Zaied met with the Deer Creek Homeowner's Association Board of Directors.

Board President Mike DeLaura wouldn't comment about the meeting, but Zaied said it went "very well."

The board reportedly expressed some concerns to Zaied such as traffic, noise and lighting. Zaied promised to address each concern.

"Their concern was the noise, traffic and lighting, and we will address all of these to make them happy," Zaied said. "For the noise, we will do nothing at night. For the lighting, we will direct it away from Deer Creek. For the traffic, we will comply with all requirements of the city."

The mosque Zaied is proposing is 6,000 square feet and next to two other churches, Christchurch and Immanuel Presbyterian Church.

It is also being funded by other prominent Montgomery Muslims with many -- three cardiologists, two endocrinologists, and four Veterans Affairs doctors to name a few -- who are also involved in local health care.

Zaied's mother-in-law even donated 1,017 grams of gold worth more than $40,000 to the project.

For Zaied, the mosque is a community effort by Montgomerians for Montgomerians. Zaied hopes locals will see him as just that: a local.

"We want to build a good relationship with our neighbors. This is why we came to the community to ask them what we can do to make them happy," Zaied said. "I want my community to have a place."

ANDREW J. YAWN, Montgomery Advertiser
The Alabama House of Representatives again passed a bill Thursday requiring cities 30-day public notices before city councils can enact pay raises for themselves.

The original bill would have blocked a 233 percent pay raise for the Birmingham City Council passed by the council last year. But at the last minute an amendment was made that the act would not apply to any pay raise adopted before the effective date of this act - leaving the Birmingham pay raise in place.

The amended bill, approved 79-20 with two abstentions, now goes to the Senate for possible approval.The bill will now go to the Alabama Senate for approval.

The bill, by Rep. David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook, would require city councils provide a 30-day notice before voting on a pay raise. "I think we need to have transparency," he said during the House debate on the bill Thursday.

The House had approved the bill in the spring but it died in the Senate.

State Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, said he was concerned about the bill and was voting against it. But he wanted to make sure every other city had to do the same thing and this wasn't just an effort to "pick on" or single out Birmingham's council.

Rogers said he didn't believe the legislature should oversee city councils. The voters in those cities can take care of it, he said.

"They've got a right to make decisions," Rogers said.

Faulkner said the he has not heard from one city saying they are against the 30-day notice. He also said that county commissions already have the 30-day rule.

Faulkner had said before the amendment that if the bill is enacted, then the Birmingham City Council could provide notice and go back and reinstitute the raise.

In August 2015, the Birmingham City Council voted without advance public noticeto raise the salary of council members from $15,000 to $50,000, effective after the next election in 2017.
Jim McClendon on lottery bills August 16.jpg

Sen. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, answers questions after the Senate Tourism and Marketing Committee approved his lottery bills on Tuesday.

(Mike Cason/mcason@al.com)

The Alabama Senate voted against a procedure that would have allowed a vote on a proposed lottery bill sponsored by State Sen. Jim McClendon.

"Procedurally they killed the bill," at least for this session, McClendon said.

Senators voted 20 to 11 to reject a cloture motion to stop the debate on the lottery. McClendon said that if the motion was approved it would have meant a vote could be taken on the lottery and would likely have had the votes.

McClendon said that on Friday he will be back to push for passage of another bill, one that Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has proposed.

The Bentley proposal is "simpler," McClendon said. It doesn't include electronic lottery machines at dog tracks and other specific location like the one considered today, he said.

"We'll see what will happen with that bill," McClendon said.

At a press conference after the vote, Bentley said he was "cautiously optimistic" his bill would pass. He said he agreed with a couple of amendments that were added to his bill on Thursday.

Bentley said he had talked to senators who were against the bill debated on Thursday and said he believes they will support his bill. He did not name the senators.

Bentley's bill calls for all the money from a lottery to go into the state's general fund.

After the vote Sen. Rodger Smitherman said he didn't believe senators should come back Friday and vote now because senators will find a way to kill that one too. "They are not going to vote for it," he said.

"Do you think we'll even get a bill we can vote on?," State Sen. President Pro-Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, asked Smitherman.

Smitherman replied "no."

After the vote senators approved two amendments to the governor's proposed bill that will be dealt with on Friday.

One amendment approved, proposed by Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, was that the governor's bill would not allow any other form of gambling or do away with any current legal form of gambling.

McClendon had also proposed some amendments today to his bill that included the electronic lottery terminals in an attempt to gain support.

The amended bill included a call for a statewide special election on Dec. 20 rather than during the November general election, McClendon said. He said he did that at the request of Jefferson County Republicans.

Other changes made in an effort to drum up more support for his bill included adding more locations for the lottery terminals, including in Houston and Lowndes counties. According to a copy of the amended bill, the terminals could be in any facility in Lowdnes County authorized by the town of White Hall.

During the debate Sen. Paul Sanford said that the lottery is not the best economic policy. He said he believes the state will end up getting more money than those that play it. Under that model, money won't turn around in the economy, he said.

McClendon said his constituents are tired of having Alabama money being spent in other states.

Before the cloture vote, Marsh had said he didn't believe McClendon's bill would pass but he was going to push for a vote on it. "I think he deserves it and I'm going to give him a chance," he said.

The Senate has been considering two lottery bills.

One of them is Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley's proposal (SB3), also sponsored by McClendon, which calls for a lottery run by a seven-member commission, with members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. It also would allow the state to enter agreements with multi-state lotteries, like Powerball. Proceeds from the lottery would go to the state General Fund, which means legislators would determine how the money is used.

McClendon''s plan - SB11 -that expands on Bentley's proposal by allowing for electronic lottery terminals - devices similar to slot machines - to be installed in Birmingham, Mobile, and Greene and Macon Counties. The terminals would raise $127 million in revenue a year, while proceeds from a statewide and Powerball lottery would inject $285 million to $310 million a year into state coffers, the senator has said.

McClendon said that he was most interested in giving the people the right to vote on a lottery. "What that recorded vote will do will give these senators an opportunity to go on the record exactly where they stand on allowing the people to vote," he said.

McClendon said he has not been contacted by officials from the dog racing venues or the Poarch Creek Indians about putting the terminals at those places.

McClendon believes the people want to vote on it. He said he has messages from voters through calls, emails and social media, wanting a vote.

Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, said she was for the lottery bill but believed her colleagues were playing a "game" to change the bill so if approved the public vote on it would be in a special election on a date other than this year's general election. Putting it off to another date would put voters "to sleep" so they wouldn't come out to vote on it, which she said was "voter suppression," she said.

"This is a disservice and a disgrace and I am ashamed of this body," Coleman-Madison said.

"If the legislature won't approve a lottery bill, Coleman-Madison said, then "it is time to vote on real tax reform in this state."

"Let's redo the taxes. Let everybody pay their fair share of taxes," Coleman-Madison said.

There should be a re-evaluation on property taxes, Coleman-Madison said. Some people are paying pennies an acre on land, she said.
Norton.png

U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute will present its highest honor, the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award, to U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-DC, at its annual awards ceremony in November.

Norton, who has served 12 terms in Congress, is "an iconic torch-bearer for the legacy of the civil rights movement and as a hero to the powerless and disenfranchised," the institute announced today.

The Shuttlesworth award recognizes individuals for their service to civil and human rights causes around the world and is named for the leader of Birmingham's Civil Rights Movement, the Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth.

The awards ceremony is set for Saturday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. at The Lyric Theatre (1800 3rd Ave. N).

According to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Norton, nicknamed the "Warrior on the Hill," is one of the most effective legislative leaders in the House for her success in writing bills and getting them enacted.

Norton is the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit and serves on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Before her congressional service, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to serve as the first woman to chair the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Norton came to Congress as a national figure who had been a civil rights and feminist leader, tenured professor of law, and board member at three Fortune 500 companies. She has been named one of the 100 most important American women in one survey and one of the most powerful women in Washington in another.

The Congresswoman's work for full congressional voting representation and for full democracy for the people of the District of Columbia continues her lifelong struggle for universal human and civil rights, according to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

After obtaining her bachelor's degree at Antioch College, Norton received degrees from Yale University in American studies and law. She is also the recipient of more than 50 honorary degrees and continues as a tenured professor of law at Georgetown University, teaching a course there every year.
The City of Birmingham is hosting a food and donation drive at Boutwell Auditorium through Saturday for those affected by the Baton Rouge floods.

The Mayor's Office of Citizens Assistance Director Don Lupo said that the items most needed are children and adult-sized diapers, baby food, deodorant, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste, bleach, all-purpose cleaners, mops, gloves, and brooms.

The city is asking for bottles of water and canned food as well.

Lupo said that he has talked to Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden and that Holden is "very grateful for all the support."

"He is extraordinary... to work with," Lupo said.

The drive also needs volunteers to take and sort donations. Lupo said, "Volunteers can just show up, and we'll put them to work."

This morning, Firehouse Subs brought 80 cases of water to donate. In one day, Lupo said food drives usually collect two pallets of bottled water.

Yesterday, they collected 17.

Volunteers at Boutwell said another thing they need is packing boxes of any size, packing tape, and tape dispensers.

The donations will be transported to Baton Rouge on either Monday or Tuesday. Lupo said Ross Neely Systems trucks will bring one 53-foot trailer to load up the food and donations tomorrow, but he is hoping to fill more than one trailer.

"Everybody is joining in the effort."

Donations from various church groups, Jefferson State Community College, and Highlands School will be transported to Louisiana along with Birmingham's donations.

"You are making a difference," Holden said to Lupo in a text message.

The donation drive is at Boutwell Auditorium, located at 1930 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd. Donations will be taken from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. through Saturday.
A 31-year-old Graysville man suspected in a Wednesday-night Jefferson County carjacking is in critical condition after he crashed while trying to elude lawmen.

Just before 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jefferson County sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a robbery in the parking lot of the Taco Bell on Forestdale Boulevard. The victim, and adult male, told deputies he had been sitting in his white Chevrolet Trailblazer when a man pointed a gun at him and demanded his SUV.

The suspect, said Chief Deputy Randy Christian, hit the victim in the head. The victim got out of the car, and the suspect drove off in the Trailblazer heading west on Forestdale Boulevard.

A lookout bulletin for the SUV was broadcast to deputies, and surrounding law enforcement agencies. A short time later, an Adamsville police officer saw the SUV on Highway 78 near Main Street in Graysville, Christian said. When the suspect saw the officer, he sped away.

The suspect then turned off of Highway 78 onto Glasgow Hollow Road, lost control of the vehicle and wrecked. He was thrown from the vehicle and suffered life-threatening injuries.

Christian said a passenger in the stolen car suffered only minor injuries. The passenger, also an adult male, was treated and released from the hospital.

The name of the injured suspect is being withheld pending formal charges for first-degree robbery and attempting to elude. The investigation is ongoing.

"One minute you are committing a carjacking at gunpoint and the next minute you are fighting for your life. There is a better way - an education that leads to opportunity,'' Christian said. "It can be done and it is the answer."

"First and foremost we are glad the victim is ok albeit shaken up," he said. "I'm sure the suspect has a family that loves him. Our hearts go out to them. This will be tough on them."
collier.JPG

Robert Bentley behind Spencer Collier

A judge this morning ordered a stay - or hold - in the litigation of a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by former ALEA Secretary Spencer Collier.

Montgomery Circuit Judge Eugene Reese ordered the stay in the lawsuit filed against Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, current ALEA director Stan Stabler, Bentley's former advisor Rebekah Mason and her RCM Communications Inc., and the dark money group Alabama Council for Excellent Government.

Mason and her firm had asked for Collier's invasion of privacy and defamation claims be dismissed based on Collier's own comments or in the alternative a stay issued in the case. The judge granted that stay along with a stay for Bentley.

Attorneys for Bentley had recently filed a motion asking Reese to dismiss the lawsuit.

Collier, the state's top law enforcement officer who was fired by Bentley in March, filed his lawsuit against Bentley, Rebekah Caldwell Mason and others in April.

The day Collier was fired, he went public with allegations of an affair between Bentley and Mason - igniting the scandal that has engulfed the governor's office.

The suit claims defamation of character, invasion of privacy, wrongful termination and reckless conduct, among other things.

Mason worked for Bentley's re-election campaign before being hired as his senior political adviser.
Thomas Sims in January 2016.

A teen neighbor of an elderly Korean War veteran found burned to death in the back yard of his North Birmingham home is now charged in the brutal slaying.

Thomas Sims, an 18-year-old already awaiting trial in connection with an armed carjacking earlier this year, is charged with capital murder and held on no bond. He is charged in the killing of 85-year-old Gene Emory Dacus, affectionately called "Mr. Gene" by his neighbors.

Authorities said the capital murder charge stems from the theft of the victim's truck. Detectives are actively searching for a second suspect.

"We'd appreciate it if he would go ahead and turn himself in,'' said Birmingham police Lt. Sean Edwards. "This heinous act was totally senseless and totally unnecessary. Based on Mr. Dacus' reputation, he would have given you his last."

"It's disheartening to see someone this young go to this level of violence,'' Edwards said. "To me, what he did to that elderly gentleman is evil at its finest."

Birmingham police were called to Dacus' home on 33rd Avenue North Wednesday morning around 12:30 a.m. after receiving calls about a person on fire. When they arrived on the scene, they found the elderly man burned in the back of his home. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Edwards said witnesses told police they saw a fire in the yard before seeing a man running down a nearby alley with a red gasoline jug. Police arrested that man a short distance from the crime scene.

Edwards said that the preliminary investigation shows the suspect and the victim had an argument, before the victim was doused with gasoline and set on fire.

"This homicide shocks the conscience of any reasonable person. Our hearts are hurting for the victim, his family and our community,'' said Birmingham police Chief A.C. Roper. "The suspect actually confessed to this crime but we have not received any logical justification to explain what happened."

Neighbor Helen McComb said she was at her nearby home late Tuesday night when she heard a commotion outside and went on her front porch to investigate. "I could see something burning,'' she said. "Then a guy ran out yelling somebody had burned up Mr. Gene."

McComb said she ran to the crime scene and saw Dacus. "I lost it," she said. "He's been here forever. People here loved Mr. Gene."

Friends, neighbors and the victim's son, Gary Dacus, spoke with AL.com Wednesday about Dacus' life and his death. "He was the most kindhearted gentleman you ever met,'' said Gary Dacus, one of the victim's three sons. " He never met a stranger, and he helped anybody he could."

Even at 85, Dacus made it his priority to tidy the neighborhood. He cut his neighbors' grass, and they watched out for him. "He was very sweet to all of the children,'' McComb said. "He kept our neighborhood clean."

Dacus' car was stolen about three weeks ago. Neighbors said he then became worried about his truck also getting stolen so they advised him to pull it into his yard and close to his house, which he did.

That truck, however, disappeared about the same time he was killed. Police are now searching for his 1999 Dodge Ram pickup. It is white with a blue hood.

Gary Dacus said he received the heartbreaking news about his father's death and immediately drove to Birmingham. "I got the call, and I just broke down,'' he said.

He said the suspect hit his father in the head, left the scene and then returned and set him on fire to try to conceal the crime. "The only thing I can hope to God for is that he was dead before he was burned,'' the emotional son said. "You expect your parents to die before you, but to die a horrendous death like that is unimaginable. My father's death is a tragic loss. The community lost one of its pillars."

Sims, who lists an address in the 2200 block of 32nd Avenue North, was arrested in January on a felony charge and a misdemeanor. According to depositions in that case, Sims on Jan. 24 was in possession of a 2013 Toyota RAV valued at $13,725. The SUV was stolen in Jan. 14 carjacking in which the suspects hit the victim with a gun.

On Jan. 24, Birmingham police spotted the vehicle and realized it was listed as stolen. Because of the violent nature of the armed carjacking, police initiated a pursuit. The chase began on Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard, and eventually moved to Interstate 59. Police said the driver of the RAV was serving in and out of traffic without regard to the safety of others. The chase continued on to I-65, and then back onto the low roads. As the pursuit continued on 16th Avenue North, police saw that both front doors of the RAV were open.

Police then saw the RAV rolled slowly and hit a tree. When police got to the vehicle, it was unoccupied. Officers then launched a search on foot, where they found another 18-year-old, Deontae Jaquan Jackson, hiding in the bushes. "I wasn't driving,'' Jackson told the officers.

After more searching, police took Sims into custody. He was charged with buying and receiving stolen property and attempting to elude police. Jackson was charged with first-degree robbery in connection with the initial carjacking of the RAV. Both are still awaiting trial on those charges.
Miles Trio.PNG

A Jefferson County grand jury declined to indict Derrious Scott, Dre'Quan Tucker and Cameron Green in 2015 slaying of Miles College student Kennen Morris. All three were released from the county jail overnight.

( )

Three teens behind bars for the past 10 months in the shooting death of a Miles College student are now out of jail after a Jefferson County grand jury failed to indict them.

Capital murder charges against Derrious Scott, Dre'Quan Tucker and Cameron Green, all now 19, have been dismissed for lack of probable cause, court records show. Tucker and Scott were released from the Jefferson County Jail about 1:45 a.m. today, according to jail records. Green was released at 10:45 p.m. Wednesday.

The trio had been charged in the Oct. 27, 2015 slaying of 21-year-old Keenen Tajae Morris. Police say Morris, a junior communications major, was killed during a robbery attempt at his apartment that Tuesday night. All three were in custody within three days.

Police at the time said two witnesses identified Cameron Green as the driver of the vehicle all of the suspects arrived in. Witnesses told police the trio went to the apartment with the intent of robbing Morris of marijuana.

Morris was killed in the shooting at Lloyd Noland Apartments in an area known as North Campus Tuesday night. He was awake and inside his apartment when the gunman or gunmen arrived. Morris' roommate is the one who first called police, but authorities didn't say whether the roommate was home at the time of the shooting. The shooting happened about 10 p.m. Morris was pronounced dead on the scene at 10:56 p.m.

At a preliminary hearing held in December, Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff Circuit Judge David Hobdy found probable cause for the charges and sent the cases to a grand jury for possible indictment. However, an order of release was issued Wednesday after the teens were not indicted.

Court records show Green is still awaiting trial on an unrelated charge of unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle. Scott is also awaiting trial for an unrelated first-degree robbery charge in the carjacking of a 2001 Kia.

Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Bill Veitch said at least one witness in the case left the state and disappeared. Based on conflicting stories and inconsistencies, Fairfield police recommended a no-bill to the grand jury and the grand jury agreed.

Defense attorneys for Green - Michael Whisonant Jr. and Emory Anthony - released a statement to AL.com saying they are "pleased that the citizens of Jefferson County took the time to carefully review the evidence and came to the conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to amount to probable cause. Cameron is pleased to have this behind him and we hope that the true culprit of this crime is brought to justice."
A former Alabama Department of Revenue employee was arrested on Wednesday after being indicted on charges related to stealing multiple state checks and forging one of them.

Kimberly A. Perry, 32, of Hope Hull, surrendered to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday and released after posting $15,000 bond, according to the Alabama Attorney General's Office and court records.

Perry is charged with one count of theft first degree and one count of possession of a forged instrument second degree.

Her case was presented to a Montgomery County grand jury on July 22 after an investigation by the Alabama Department of Revenue and the Attorney General's Office.

Perry is accused of stealing multiple checks from the Alabama Department of Revenue and forging one of the checks in order to cash it.

The forged check was written for the amount of $1,019.19, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Perry faces a potential penalty of two to 20 years in prison for first-degree theft of property and one year and one day to ten years for the second-degree possession of a forged instrument.
A man arrested after posting his encounter with Wetumpka police officers to YouTube in June has filed a federal lawsuit claiming his constitutional rights were violated.

Lynwood Keith Golden, of Coosada, was arrested June 7, five days after filming outside the Wetumpka Police Department. He was charged with interference with public safety communications.

While standing on the public sidewalk with his video equipment, several Wetumpka police officers approached Golden and questioned what he was doing.

Golden, a retired U.S. Army staff sergeant, said he was exercising his First Amendment rights, and he refused to show officers his identification. One officer stated, "I don't care about your First Amendment right," according to the video of the interaction posted to Golden's YouTube channel Bama Camera.

Golden's charge was dropped in July when an Elmore County grand jury didn't indict him.

The civil rights lawsuit was filed today against the city of Wetumpka and the Wetumpka Police Department in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama-Northern Division. Golden is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alabama and Buntin, Etheredge and Fowler LLC in Dothan.

Golden, who seeks compensatory and punitive damages, claims officers illegally seized his camera equipment, falsely arrested him and used excessive force.

"This lawsuit involved speech at the very core of the First Amendment," Randall C. Marshall, legal director for ACLU of Alabama, said. "No one should have to face felony criminal charges just for exercising clearly established First Amendment rights. That a city police officer would tell a citizen, 'I don't care about your First Amendment rights' is unconscionable. Perhaps through this lawsuit, the city and its police officers will learn a lesson about the Constitution."

Wetumpka city attorney Regina Edwards said she was notified of the filing of the lawsuit today.

"I haven't had a chance to review the complaint," she said. "I am not in a position to comment."

Wetumpka police claim Golden asked his followers "to begin mass communications" against the department.

"This sparks computer generated calling to the parties filmed in the videos, social media attacks on the municipalities involved, family members of officers and civilians, emails to the local governments and threats to the officer's lives," the city of Wetumpka stated in a June press release.

Wetumpka police say the large volume of calls jammed the department's phone system blocking their "ability to notify ambulance and fire service of emergency calls."

This, in turn, caused "chaos" which crippled the police department's phone system for days, and forced the department to take down its Facebook page.

According to the ACLU, Golden didn't urge anyone to call the police department.

The group Photography is not a Crime did publish an article about Golden's arrest and provided the phone number to the Wetumpka Police Department and a link to the department's Facebook page.
Jimmy Walsh, president of the Alabama chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness

By Jimmy Walsh, president of the Alabama chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness

The wait before hearing the siren signaling the approach of an ambulance which could rescue your loved one can seem interminable, but it often comes in time to save your family member. Change the organ in medical crisis from a heart to the brain, however, and your loved one may or may not survive the wait to come, but that brain will certainly get sicker while waiting for treatment.

Our brains control our entire bodies, but to do so properly, the brain must be healthy. If the brain is not healthy, all manner of other medical issues can occur within one's body, but most importantly, we may lose judgment, rational thought, and impulse control. Unlike a sick heart, a sick brain gets no ambulance ride to the hospital. A person whose brain is so sick it does not recognize the problem must either be capable of self-help, or his or her medical treatment will depend upon the state, principally through the police and court system. Until the state acts, the family of a person suffering a mental health crisis must wait. Unfortunately, the only current viable mechanism for decreasing that wait time is arrest and jail for having a mental illness.

Obviously, any patient can refuse medical treatment, but, virtually all adults knowingly staring death or serious injury in the face, elect emergency treatment, and adopt the necessary continuing medical treatment necessary to live a relatively healthy life. The significant element in that choice to accept treatment or not is rational thought, an element missing when the brain is critically ill.

People do die because they prefer to think they have heartburn rather than a heart attack, or die of Stage Four cancer because they didn't want to know what caused their pain. To assume, however, as the law does, that a person with a critically sick brain can, nevertheless, rationally decide not to treat his or her sick brain is to accept the concept that a person suffering a mental health crisis will also make a rational decision to be homeless, to commit suicide, or to commit an act leading to an arrest and jail. All of these events are known consequences of a failure to treat mental illness.

Only if the state determines that a loved one is a threat to him or herself or to others does the law then authorize involuntary admission and retention in a hospital for treatment. Thus, the wait for something untoward to happen which will prove the risk of harm and can authorize involuntary hospitalization. In the interim, the brain gets sicker, but the sick individual retains his or her freedom. When he or she is sick enough to act in a manner detrimental to self or others, an arrest for "acting crazy" often precedes hospitalization. At that point, the state's concern for the individual's freedom from treatment immediately changes to jail and total denial of freedom.

Treatment of the brain is most successful when it is given promptly upon initial onset of mental illness. Just like the heart, prompt and early treatment increases the chances of success. Early treatment requires open and well-functioning mental health centers which are fully funded to provide community mental health services. Treatment close to home, early and often is preferable to remote hospitalization, and it is cheaper and matching federal funds apply to community treatment but not hospitalization. Hospitalization, unfortunately, will always be required for crisis treatment or longer term difficult cases. Nevertheless, early treatment works better, cheaper, and has a much higher success rate.

Alabama has not adequately funded its mental health treatment system. The community mental health centers are starved for appropriate funding, Medicaid is currently funded to fail, and we have refused to accept Expanded Medicaid and its ability to provide medical service to many more in need. We are failing to provide adequate community mental health services, and yet, we have a closed a significant number of hospital beds. Thus, it should come as no surprise to anyone that our mental health care system and many sick people and their families are in crisis.

Currently, in the Birmingham area, a person determined by law to be a serious threat to himself or others can wait for many days or even weeks because there are no beds available for urgently needed treatment. The agony family members go through while waiting for treatment for their loved ones, while at the same time trying to keep their loved one alive and/or out of jail is a horror no one would wish on their worst enemy. The pressure on families during a mental health crisis of their family member is enormous. Many families are destroyed in the process, leaving the loved one to fend for him or herself in the future. This process of delayed treatment and long waits occurs every day, and the refusal of Alabama to adequately shoulder its responsibility for the mental health care of its citizens suffering from mental illness is unconscionable.

Theoretically, our mental health system works; in actuality, it is in shambles, despite the incredible effort of so many who work in the system. But, our mental health workers cannot perform the miracles necessary without adequate funding, yet our funding priorities are directed to hospitalization and imprisonment, the most expensive choices available and often the result of having failed to fund a system for early intervention.

Alabama has closed several mental health hospitals, losing critical treatment beds in preference to a community based treatment system, which is, theoretically, a far superior method of treating our loved ones close to home. But, the money saved, which was to be diverted to community treatment was never committed to fully fund community mental health and preventative services and we are left to treat in crisis. Only the state can require mental health treatment or its current, more common replacement, imprisonment, so those critical services must be adequately funded by the state.

Since early treatment is cheaper than hospitalization, and far cheaper than imprisonment, it would seem that the legislature's duty is to adequately fund quality community mental health services.

Mental illness will affect one out of five of all Americans during their lifetime. By choosing to inadequately fund mental health services, the legislature is allowing a significant number of its citizens and voters to receive inferior treatment and expose all to unnecessary crisis and danger.

So, we wait: we wait for the legislature to adequately fund community mental health and Medicaid, we wait for a critical care mental health system which will speed critically ill patients to proper care instead of waiting for the patient to prove he or she is critically mentally ill, and we wait for the possibility that we will become critically mentally ill, not realize it, and sit around facing the real possibility of death or jail with little help from the state. Our legislature squabbles over some of the most infuriatingly unimportant issues in life, while a truly significant number of Alabama citizens with very critically ill minds go without adequate or timely treatment. Surely, the legislature does not think mental illness is only a disease that affects poor people, because it is not. The process for compulsory treatment is in the hands of the state, and is the same process for rich and poor alike.

Yes, the legislature should lead. Yes, they should assure that our state's mental health is adequately protected by adequately funding community mental health, adequate hospital beds and a much better commitment process. The legislature has failed miserably. They vote for inadequate funding, and wait for some magic trick which will allow them to go to the voters proudly proclaiming that they continued to cut taxes regardless of their failure to govern and to protect their own citizens. They wait, and then we wait for things to change.

We can afford to wait no longer. Talk to your legislators about this subject. Do you, as a person who might someday face a mental health crisis, want to go to the hospital in handcuffs, riding in the back of a police car? Even worse, do you want to go to jail for being sick? That is the system we offer for everyone, every day. We can do better; our citizens deserve better. If your legislator wants to wait, you should send him or her home to wait.

We should find legislators who understand the needs for a functioning mental health treatment system, and who have the courage to lead Alabama to become a mentally healthy state. If we do not, we, the voters are the problem because we continue to accept waiting for a day that will never come.
After Republican candidate for US president picks new man to run his campaign, expect more attacks on Hillary.

When political scientists and historians look back at the 2016 presidential race in the United States, they will remember August 17 as a pivotal day in the campaign.

This is the day that Republican nominee Donald Trump shuffled his campaign staff. He has basically demoted Paul Manafort, who had been in charge.

The new chief executive is a man named Stephen Bannon. You might be thinking its just a personnel shift, but in presidential elections, the person in that position is as responsible for a win or a loss as the actual candidate.

Donald Trump and the mouse that roared

This swap is about much more than just the name, it is what it represents.

Donald Trump was facing a choice. He could pivot as the Republican Party establishment had urged and appear more presidential, or he could do what he did in the primary, which is speak off the cuff and not worry about who it offends. He has made his choice and it is clear by picking Bannon he is going with the latter.

Bannon is a former banker turned Hollywood heavyweight who was responsible for running Breitbart News, a website known for attacking Democrats. His mission has been to take on the establishment regardless of political party. He has angered Republicans as much as Democrats in Washington.

By all reports, he got the top job by telling Trump he has to go back to doing what he did in the primaries. He wants him to run a blatantly nationalist, populist, anti-establishment campaign.

There is no question that since the conventions, Trump has been plummeting in the polls. He is losing to Hillary Clinton in national polls. But more importantly in many of the critical swing states that will determine the election, he is behind by double digits.

More attacks coming

Donald Trump has made it clear that he pays careful attention to polls, television ratings and vote totals.

Im sure he looked at the polls and asked himself why he was falling behind.

There could have been two answers. First, he could have decided that what works in a primary does not in the general election.





Since the convention he has caused controversy almost every single time he has spoken. He did everything from insult the parents of a fallen soldier to seemingly encourage gun violence against his opponent and her Supreme Court selections.

The second answer could have been that in recent days he seemed to be trying something new. His policies didnt change but he gave a few speeches using a teleprompter.

With this decision, Trump has decided that by not being himself he was losing.

So now expect what has been a controversial candidacy to become even more so.

The attacks on Clinton will become stronger and more frequent. He will attack all things establishment and Washington.

Trump plans to say things that will make headlines that will offend many. By making this choice he is choosing what kind of campaign he wants to run. At the very least it will be one that people will be talking about a lot.
Despite promises to fast-track rape cases, many victims and survivors in India must wait years for a glimpse of justice.

Delhi, India  Some tattered sheets of paper protected from the citys monsoon rains are all she has as proof of a rape case she filed against her landlord a year-and-a-half ago.

A mother of three, the 32-year-old wears thick vermillion on her forehead and keeps her head covered, her brown and green sari almost camouflaging her against the trees behind her.

She cant read any of the documents, but points to a stapled sheet of paper  her police complaint.

I mustered the courage to file a rape complaint in February last year, she says. I waited for something to happen after that, but the police dragged their feet on filing charges.



Outrage in India as gang-rapist freed

The woman must remain unnamed as Indian law prohibits the identification of a rape survivor.

After waiting for 10 months for the charges to be filed, she lodged a complaint against the polices inaction with the local Delhi government.

An official at the citys public grievance management system confirmed to Al Jazeera that after the local government intervened, the police finally filed charges in the womans case in April this year  nearly 14 months after the original complaint.

Al Jazeera has a copy of the paper trail maintained by the local government in this case.

The long wait has taken a toll on the woman. Sometimes she flies into fits of rage, she says. At other times she cries uncontrollably. Then there is the constant wrath of her husband.

I am lucky that he hasnt thrown me out. But he cant forgive me for reporting my rape, she says. He says I should never have gone to the police because there is no justice in sight for us.

Nearly four years after the fatal gang rape of Nirbhaya, a 23-year-old medical student, on a moving bus jolted the country into passing a tough new anti-rape law, sexual violence against women continues to make headlines.

Nearly 100 rapes are reported each day but only one in four rape cases leads to a conviction.

Another gang rape shook India on July 29  this time of a mother and her teenage daughter, who were dragged from their car in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and taken to a nearby field, where they were assaulted.

At around the same time, a 21-year-old woman was allegedly raped for a second time by the same group of men who had raped her in 2013  because she refused to accept their out-of-court settlement.

Promises of fast-tracking unfulfilled

One of the big ticket reforms after the 2013 Nirbhaya gang rape was the setting-up of fast-track courts for sexual assault cases. But for most rape survivors, the path to justice remains far from speedy.

Despite the intense media spotlight on the Nirbhaya case, her family is still waiting for justice. Six men, including a teenager, were arrested for raping and assaulting the medical student with an iron rod in December 2012. One of the accused committed suicide in jail. The teenager was released in 2015 after serving three years in a correctional home.

A trial court sentenced the remaining four men  a gym instructor, an unemployed youth, a fruit seller and a bus cleaner  to death within nine months. The case then moved up to the High Court, which also awarded them the death penalty in March 2014, saying the crime they committed was unparalleled in the history of criminal jurisprudence.

The convicts filed a plea against their sentence in the countrys top court, the Supreme Court, and the case has been stuck there for more than two years.

Even after all the changes to the law after my daughter's rape, rape cases are still being dragged in the country. As a result of this, no one is scared of either the police or the courts and girls are being dragged out of their cars in front of their families and being raped. by Asha Devi, mother of 'Nirbhaya', who died after being gang raped in 2012

Even after all the changes to the law after my daughters rape, rape cases are still being dragged in the country, says Asha Devi, Nirbhayas mother.

As a result of this, no one is scared of either the police or the courts and girls are being dragged out of their cars in front of their families and being raped, she adds.

The fast-tracking of rape cases is the biggest promise that has been broken. Lawyers are big culprits in this  they keep postponing appearances, explains Ranjana Kumari of the Delhi-based Centre for Social Research.

Rape trials in India can proceed at a glacial pace, dragging on for five to 10 years, if not longer. When a case is resolved relatively swiftly, it invokes stark comparisons with the many others that are not.

For instance, on August 4, a fast-track court in Delhi sentenced Mahmood Farooqui, a Bollywood film director, for raping an American woman in March 2015  a speedy judgment that came a little over a year after the crime.

But fast-tracking a rape case involving a foreigner is not a favour done to her, says Vrinda Grover, her lawyer.

She is at an acute disadvantage because she is not in her own country, is away from her family, friends, work. How long should she stay here to pursue her right to justice?

Grover says that she has asked for the fast-tracking of other cases of sexual violence as well. But this rarely happens.

The lawyer is representing seven women in cases of gang rape that allegedly took place during religious riots in 2013. A fast-track court in Muzaffarnagar, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, is hearing those. But after repeated adjournments, two of the women have refused to identify the accused, Grover says.

And one of the complainants in Muzaffarnagar will not see justice. She died shortly after giving birth on August 10.

Police and courts: Meagre legal understanding

Rape survivors filing complaints with the local Delhi governments public grievance monitoring system (PGMS) have reported delays in the police registration of their complaint, or an absolute refusal to register their complaint at all.

Any delay in this [registration] would significantly reduce the chances of finding biological evidence of rape during the medical examination, explains Vijaya Chandra, Delhis chief public grievance officer.

Even when the complaint is registered, survivors say the police can and sometimes do refuse to add certain charges  thereby reducing the seriousness of the complaint.

Chandra points towards rape cases in which the police initially only filed charges of kidnap or sexual harassment. The more serious charges of rape, gang rape and culpable homicide were added only subsequently, he says.

In one in five complaints received by the PGMS, women report receiving threats of retaliatory attacks by the accused. There are also cases of inordinate delays in filing of charges, says Chandra, leading some women to disown their complaints.

Ajitha K Anweshi, of the Anweshi Womens Counselling Centre, in the southern state of Kerala, says that both the police and courts are given very meagre understanding of the various aspects of the new laws.

A lot of corruption is involved in the process, which drastically affects the attainment of justice for the survivor.

READ MORE  Indias rape epidemic: The Stream follows the data on arrests and convictions

Victim-blaming is another obstacle many survivors encounter at the police station.

In nearly 90 percent of the cases, the accused is known to the survivor.

If there is any indication of the fact that the perpetrator was known to the victim, investigating agencies try and find a way to pin the blame on the girl, says Ravi Verma of the International Center for Research on Women.

By and large, when a woman goes to the police to report a rape, she is asked embarrassing personal questions, says Anuradha Kapoor of Swayam, a womens rights organisation based in Kolkata, in the eastern state of West Bengal.

She has to relive her rape through these intrusive questions.

Sanalembi Devi, of Women in Governance, in the northeastern state of Assam, says: There is a tendency to say that the girl has come with a fake case of rape to take revenge from a man. The police dont actually want to go searching for the accused.

Kumari, of the Centre for Social Research, says that while the police in Delhi have introduced several structural changes in how they deal with rape cases, police in other states remain lax.

The Delhi police is registering complaints even at the cost of doubling its caseload. But states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana need to do a lot more to sensitise their police force.

Al Jazeera made several attempts via phone and email to reach the Delhi police for comment and answers to submitted questions over a period of two weeks, but received no response.

Poked and prodded like a piece of meat

On paper, some of the literature dealing with forensic medicine and criminal jurisprudence has been revised and made more sensitive to rape survivors.

It used to draw on colonial stereotypes to examine rape survivors and propagated the idea that the victim is a liar, and her body must be read against her words, says Kavita Krishnan, the secretary of the All India Progressive Womens Association.

After the edits, she says, medical and law students who use this textbook will not be taught terribly sexist things about rape.

A survivor is to be looked at in terms of the medical care she needs, rather than catching her body out in a lie.

But in practice, forensic biases persist.

There is this notion that a woman who has been raped must carry some signs on her body that proves or disproves rape. In reality, there are no injuries in most cases of rape, says Padma Bhate-Deosthali of CEHAT, a health advocacy, training and research organisation in Mumbai.

Bhate-Deosthali points out that doctors carry out mechanical medico-legal exams. Even if a woman reports oral penetration, the doctor might insist on the mindless collection of swabs from the vagina.

In a recent paper she co-authored, she wrote that medical professionals continue to document details such as the size of a womans vaginal opening, old tears to the hymen and past obstetric history despite being prohibited to do so by law.

Many doctors tend to have their own guidelines for medico-legal exams in cases of sexual assault, agrees Kapoor, of Swayam.

Women are poked and prodded like pieces of meat. We often see that doctors dont want to sign properly on medical exams because they dont want to be called into court.

There is also the confusion about treating survivors if they dont come into a hospital with a police complaint.

By law, no hospital is allowed to deny treatment to survivors regardless of whether they have filed a complaint against the rape or not, says Trisha Shetty of She Says, a web portal that seeks to empower women against sexual violence.

But we have encountered cases of government hospitals denying entry to victims if they dont have a police complaint registered.
The air cargo markets deceleration this year had a greater impact on third-quarter cargo revenues at American Airlines than its primary rivals, Delta and United Airlines. But the best revenue quarter in company history and a $483 million profit painted a positive financial picture that could be replicated in the final quarter thanks to resilient []
A US military strike opens up the possibility of far greater bloodletting than what we have so far seen.

A little over a decade after September 11, 2001, the United States may find itself on the same side as al-Qaeda if it goes forward with an attack against Syrias Bashar al-Assad.

To be fair, al-Qaeda represents a minority of those fighting to topple Assad. The rebellion in Syria began as a popular uprising against decades of tyranny by the Assad family, which hails from the countrys Alawite minority. The governments swift and brutal suppression fractured the country, as well as the Middle East more broadly, and the rebellion quickly spread to other parts of Syria.

It changed into an armed rebellion. Fighters from other parts of the world flocked to join, more and more arms poured into Syria, and unspeakably merciless violence has ensued from all sides.

We are now at a point where a proxy war is being fought in Syria. The anti-Assad side includes  in addition to the United States and al-Qaeda  Qatar, Turkey, and unlikely bedfellows Israel and Saudi Arabia. Supporting the regime are Russia, Iran, China, and Hezbollah. The Syrian people are divided, with the overwhelming majority simply wanting an end to the carnage, even if it means keeping an unpopular dictator in power. For now, at least.

President Obama wants to directly involve the US military in Syria. His insistence on going forward with an attack in the wake of the Assad regimes likely use of chemical weapons has been stymied by the fact that the American people are overwhelmingly opposed to another war.

No evidence forthcoming



Britain, the US staunchest ally, has refused to join the US in an attack on Syria. World powers such as Russia and China are openly standing against a US attack on Syria, with Russia sending warships to the area and indicating that the Kremlin would interpret an attack on Syria as an aggression. Russian President Vladimir Putin had said he would consider backing a US request to get UN approval for military action against Syria  if the US could show proof that Assad had indeed used chemical weapons, which is Obamas stated reason for launching an attack. That evidence has not been forthcoming.





On Tuesday, President Obama indicated in a 16-minute speech that he is willing to delay an attack if Russia can convince the Assad regime to hand over all chemical weapons in its arsenal. This diplomatic effort began after an apparently offhand remark by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

It was clear, however, that Obamas address was meant to sway US public opinion in support of an attack. Obama spoke about morality, declaring that Americans must not stand by as innocents are gassed to death. Others have invoked the Jewish holocaust, such as Democratic congresswoman Deborah Wasserman Schultz. In an interview with Wolf Blitzer, she said, As a Jew, Wolf, I have to tell you, as a member of Congress who represents one of the largest Holocaust survivor populations in the country  to me, the concept of never again, has to mean something. And the United States, morally, cannot turn the other cheek.

Wolf Blitzer, himself a staunch Zionist, did not ask Wasserman Schultz why she expressed no such moral outrage when Israel indisputably used chemical weapons in Gaza, showering a defenceless civilian population with white phosphorous. It is also unlikely that any American journalist will ask President Obama what justifies moral outrage from the only country in the world to have used nuclear weapons against civilians; one that bathed Vietnam and Fallujah in Agent Orange and depleted uranium munitions, respectively; one that used biological warfare to erase the indigenous people of these lands; and one that supplied and encouraged the use of chemical weapons to other nations.

Although a conclusive report from the UN investigation has yet to be completed, Obama has made up his mind that Assad is the culprit and that the US must punish him, with or without UN or congressional approval, if necessary.

It should be noted that many former US military and intelligence officials have made it clear that they do not believe Assad was behind the chemical attack. It appears that the intelligence implicating Assad was obtained from Israel, and it is worth noting that Israel also contributed intelligence that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, which spurred the US into that terrible disaster.

Indeed, it is Israel and its supporters, who, along with the Saudis, are the most vociferous promoters of this war, with AIPAC deploying hundreds of lobbyists to push for an attack on Syria, just as they pushed for war against Iraq. Let us not forget the 1996 Clean Break advisory report, written by pro-Israeli think tanks for Netanyahu, and which called for programmes to overthrow, contain, destabilise, and roll-back various Middle Eastern countries  including Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon  rather than pursue a comprehensive peace initiative with Arab nations.

Syrias turn



It is now Syrias turn. Those misguided enough to believe an attack on Syria is meant to protect civilians, need only consider the likely consequences of such an attack. According to Obama, intervention would be limited in scope and duration and would not involve troops on the ground, yet. It could consist of an intense bombardment from air and sea, using Air Force bombers, five warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, cruise missiles, air-to-surface missiles, strikes from the Red Sea where the US has an aircraft carrier group, including a cruiser and three destroyers. The result will be to render Syria nearly defenceless, opening the possibility of far greater bloodletting than what we have so far seen.

What will follow then is precisely the reason for this attack, and it was most honestly articulated by Alon Pinkas, former Israeli consul general in New York. He said, You need both teams to lose  you dont want one to win  well settle for a tie. Let them both bleed, haemorrhage to death: thats the strategic thinking here.

Another major argument put forth for intervention is that the US will look weak if it does not attack Syria  because the president already said the US intends to take military action. Such schoolyard politics are being discussed in the halls of power as if it were rational  as if affirming that the fact that the US has the biggest stick in town is a legitimate reason to plunge Syria into further darkness and bloodshed.



Whether the latest diplomacy effort came about from a blundered remark by the secretary of state or not, it is at least worth something that a deal, however temporary, may provide space for diplomatic efforts. The region cannot afford to see another Arab nation disemboweled. We need cool heads to prevail  to push back the bullies, save lives, and carve out a viable path towards stability and national reconciliation in Syria.

This is not an impossible feat. A difficult one, surely  but not impossible, and certainly the most promising if preserving life is truly the objective.

Susan Abulhawa is a Palestinian thinker, essayist, and the author of the international bestselling novel, Mornings in Jenin (Bloomsbury 2010). She is also the founder of Playgrounds for Palestine, an NGO for children.

Follow her on Twitter: @sjabulhawa
We dont have to vote for him to appreciate the realities exposed by the US greatest reality TV star.

Hinting at presidential assassinations, asking Russians to hack the United States government and picking fights with gold star parents were certainly not the best ways for Donald Trump to build trust in his presidential brand.

But if it is becoming thankfully clear to the American public that Trump the candidate has no business possessing even a shred of political power, Trump the political provocateur is forcing us to confront some very inconvenient truths about the hypocrisies underlying US foreign policy, and could play a valuable role in upending an outdated and even absurd foreign policy status quo.

In a recent piece on the Foreign Policy website, Stephen Walt, a professor at Harvard Universitys John F Kennedy School of Government, argued that Trumps focus on advancing US interests, stopping free-riding by other countries, and scepticism of nation-building efforts could have encouraged a much-needed foreign policy debate about the scope and limits of American power.

Speaking the truth

Directly related to these three arguments are Trumps criticisms of NATO, at the heart of which is his argument that the US shouldnt continue to offer unqualified pledges to defend allies who arent paying their fair share to the NATO budget. He went even further, questioning the alliances continued raison detre.

The idea of the US not meeting its treaty obligations to the alliance sparked almost as much outrage as  and in policy circles far more than  Trumps feud with the Khan family.

In response, President Barack Obama during his Democratic National Convention speech declared that Americas promises do not come with a price tag. We meet our commitments.

Frontline NATO allies such as Poland and the Baltic states would certainly suffer if the US withdrew its commitment to defend them from a Russian attack.

But this doesnt change the reality that the US has been subsidising European NATO allies for decades even though the Cold War strategic logic surrounding a zero-sum contest with an expansionist Soviet Union no longer exists.

The truth is, Trump is doing the US and the world a service by holding a giant mirror up to our collective soul, forcing us to confront the ugliness, irrationalities and hypocrisies underlying so many of the policies we think are sensible, or at least inevitable. by

Moreover, the alliances increasingly offensive posture vis-a-vis Russia, which helps justify the US continuing massively disproportionate military spending, is considered by analysts to be a central reason for Russias own increasingly bellicose actions.

Trumps comments on Crimea, Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US-Russian relations are also far closer to the truth than many would like to admit.

Trumps claim to George Stephanopoulos that Russia is not going to go into Ukraine is obviously mistaken, given the invasion and annexation of Crimea.

OPINION: US elections  This is not a time for jokes

His willingness to consider recognising Russias annexation of Crimea generated even more condemnation. But the reality is that the US and its allies have already recognised Russias fait accompli in all but name.

Not only that, the US and other powers have a sordid history of acquiescing to conquest and effective annexation of territory, from Morocco to Israel. All Trump has done is say out loud what everyone already knows.

Who made the US a mess?

Similarly, we can criticise Trumps bromance with Putin, given the latters brutal and authoritarian policies towards his own people and support for the Bashar al-Assad regime.

But Putins actions are little different from those of a host of Western allies and client states, from Honduras to Turkey, Saudi Arabia to Uzbekistan, Egypt to much of Africa.

The same can be said about Trumps apparent praise for Libyas former President Muammar Gaddafi and Iraqs Saddam Hussein  men who were our sons of bitches, a phrase that was first used allegedly by Franklin D Roosevelt to describe Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza  before they had outlived their usefulness and were disposed of in highly profitable but strategically disastrous wars.

Simply put, if the mandarins guarding the gates of US foreign policy dont like Trump cosying up to Putin, then the whole edifice of US realpolitik needs to be done away with, in favour of a set of principles that actually supports human rights and democracy everywhere.

In that regard, it is worth pointing out that, however ugly Trumps rhetoric, it is former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton whose hands are stained with blood, not his.

OPINION: How Donald Trump could win  and why

In that sense, Trumps response to the warning from 50 senior Republican-appointed diplomats that he would be the most reckless president in history  these are the people that have made the US a mess  is hard to dispute.

Similarly, while his labelling of Obama as a most valuable player of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS)  let alone its creator  is classic Trump hyperbole, it is undeniable that the presidents drone policies, never mind massive arms sales to and support for Israel, Saudi Arabia and so many other brutal and oppressive regimes, significantly help the terror groups recruiting efforts.

Making America great again

Perhaps the most panic-inducing report comes from CNBC host Joe Scarborough, who revealed that Trump repeatedly asked at least one foreign policy expert brought in to advise him why the US cant use nuclear weapons since its gone to all the trouble to build them.

This might sound like a preposterous question, until we realise that the US is set to spend upwards of $1 trillion over the next 30 years  thats $1,000,000,000,000  to modernise its nuclear weapons programme.

This bit of budgetary insanity  which could literally lift most of the worlds poor out of poverty  is being proposed not by Republicans, but by the Obama administration (PDF). Lets get real: Do we think the US spends a trillion dollars on a weapons system it has no plans or scenarios to use?

The truth is, Trump is doing the US and the world a service by holding a giant mirror up to our collective soul, forcing us to confront the ugliness, irrationalities and hypocrisies underlying so many of the policies we think are sensible, or at least inevitable.

We dont have to vote for Trump or even like him to appreciate the importance of the political, economic and strategic realities exposed by the US greatest reality TV star.

If we can keep that mirror raised after he returns to The Apprentice, Trump will indeed have made America a better country than it was before he stormed the political arena.

Mark LeVine is a professor of Middle Eastern History at University of California, Irvine, and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Lund University.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
This is not an icon. This is Omran Daqneesh. He is a Syrian boy. He is alive.





The muddied, bloodied body of a Syrian boy surfaces like a wandering ghost from the rubble of a bombed building. He is carried like a lifeless doll from under the ruins of a home and placed, startled at the world around him, on an orange chair.

The intrusive camera zooms in on him. He wipes his muddied, bloodied face with his muddied, bloodied hand. His hand, muddy and bloody, has nothing to clean itself with. He wipes it on the chair on which he is sitting.

We should not be watching this.

But we are told that we should because this is an iconic image from Syria? Iconic of what?

The word iconic has become positively obscene. Syria has run out of icons. Syria is a pain with no barometer for measurement.

All we have is one politics, of blaming and chasing after another. Was this the Syrian regime bombing, or its opposition hiding? Was it the Saudi-backed rebels, or the Iranian-backed regime? Were these the Russian jets flying from Iran to bomb, or US jets flying from Israel or Saudi Arabia to bomb?

Who knows, who cares? What difference does it make when we try to look away from this boy in shame, in helplessness, in despair, in unspoken guilt?

The larger calamity we cannot see

An icon is the image of a saintly figure, say Christ or Mary for example, taken for the original it represents, and made subject of veneration and adulation, extending the flesh, the bone and the blood of the revered person thus made iconic for a posterity with no access to that flesh, bone, and blood.

Now we say iconic to encompass the enormity of the terror visited on Syria, or Iraq, or Palestine, which is so overwhelming that it takes the picture of a boy to represent the larger calamity we cannot see, or fathom.

But what do we exactly do with such iconic images? What did we do with that other iconic image of the lifeless Syrian boy, Aylan Kurdi, found dead by the Aegean Sea; or before it the Palestinian boy, Muhammad al-Durrah, shot and killed in his fathers arms; or, even before that, the raped, murdered and burned body of Iraqi girl Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi?

OPINION: Europes policy did not kill Aylan Kurdi

These icons lack any iconography. You can see the headlines the morning after. It was the Russian jets, no it was the rebels hiding, no, it was the Assad forces. No, it was the rebels. No, Iran. No, Saudi Arabia. No, ISIL. No  ad nauseam.

Who is to be held accountable? All of the above. Now what? Syria is a shooting gallery, presided over by a murderous Bashar al-Assad, sustained in power by Russia and Iran, opposed by even more murderous outfits armed to teeth by the United States and its regional allies. In this cacophony of wanton cruelty, what is an icon? What can an icon mean, or do, or be?

Memory for forgetfulness

The same media that brings us this icon today has the attention span of a schizophrenic baboon, and by tomorrow this icon will be forgotten for another. Can there even be any meaningful public to form any public opinion or public pressure occasioned by such icons?

Memory for forgetfulness, the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish called moments like this, when we are afraid of losing sight of something that must be remembered.

In the silent bewilderment and steady gaze of the Omran Daqneesh there is the indictment of the entire Earth on which he lives. No fingerpointing to a murderous president here, an obscene king there, or an indecent ayatollah elsewhere, will ever wipe that dusty bloody face or close those piercing, inquisitive eyes. by

But remembering it for what, for when, and towards what purpose exactly is that recollection to happen? We live a timeless cycle of normalised forgetfulness, numbed to vicious violence.

President Barack Obama cries openly when there are American children murdered by domestic violence, and yet he has not a tear for a Palestinian child murdered by the guns he gives to Israel with endless repetition and in astronomical figures.

OPINION: A portrait of the artist as a dead boy

Haunting video of bewildered Syrian boy goes viral, Al Jazeera reports. Images of five-year-old boy, confused after an air strike in Aleppo, spark revulsion across social media.

Social media? Social media looks like an Hieronymus Bosch painting; murder and mayhem everywhere screaming for attention for a second before this scream is lost in the next, in this echo chamber of hellish ferocity.

Omran Daqneesh

This is not an icon. This is Omran Daqneesh. He is a Syrian boy. He is alive. There have been enough remnants and relics of humanity left on this earth to dig that boy out, place him on a safe chair, inside an ambulance, go to rescue the rest of his family, and carry them to safety.

But behind him, before he was saved, and for a moment staring into the shameless lens of a camera, Omran Daqneesh has left a damning indictment.

In the silent bewilderment and steady gaze of Omran Daqneesh there is the indictment of the entire Earth on which he lives. No fingerpointing to a murderous president here, an obscene king there, or an indecent ayatollah elsewhere, will ever wipe that dusty bloody face or close those piercing, inquisitive eyes.

In front of that face and those eyes every god in every heaven and every creature on every corner of this earth, from the White House to the Kremlin, from Ankara to Riyadh, from Tehran to Cairo, stand accused.

No, this is no icon. This is Omran Daqneesh, a Syrian boy, for one split second shooting through a bare-faced lens to grab your throat  yes, your throat, as it does my throat  and will not allow you to turn away or point a finger at anyone else. That gaze is the look of our damned eternity on this Earth.

Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policies.
Ten years after the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, coffee vendors reflect on how decades of turmoil have affected their lives.

Beirut  A bored soldier, with his machinegun hanging from his shoulder, feeds bread to fat pigeons in Nejmeh Square in downtown Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Not far from here, the Chabaro and Saab families, Beiruts oldest working coffee roasters, once had a busy store  but today, few in the area can even remember their names. Beiruts downtown has morphed into something of a ghost town, with flashy, high-priced shops and posh restaurants that often sit empty.

But downtown was not always like this, said Rajab Chabaro. From 1922 to 1975, his father and grandfather  with whom he shares a name  ran the downtown shop, which was always packed with customers.

In 1922, when Beiruts central district still was the beating heart of the city, three ambitious Lebanese businessmen  the elder Rajab Chabaro, Abdul Qader Saab and Jamil Davoud  opened a small shop to sell freshly roasted coffee and spices. However, for reasons that the family cannot recall today, the three partners eventually split. While it is unclear what became of Davoud, Chabaro and Saab moved into two separate shops located near each other in the central quarter.

I remember my grandfathers shop, Rajab, 61, told Al Jazeera, his face glowing. All the racks were wooden, and the colour of spices and coffee beans made it beautiful, very beautiful. It was a small shop, but with the mirrors covering all the cupboards, it looked a lot larger.

Adnan Daou, 81, a loyal customer of the Chabaro family, also remembers the shop. I always had to wait 15 minutes for my turn, because there were lots of customers buying coffee, he told Al Jazeera.

READ MORE: Cultural cafe promotes unity in Lebanons Tripoli

In 1955, Daou went to Chabaros shop for the first time. I was working in an electrical shop, and one day my boss sent me to Chabaros shop to buy coffee for him. Since then, I was a regular customer, he said.

In 1975, however, Lebanons civil war broke out, and the fierce fighting in downtown Beirut forced Chabaros shop to shut down. Four years later, Rajabs father started from scratch, opening a new shop on Mar Elias Street in western Beirut. He died of natural causes just two months after the opening. I was the eldest child, and I had to take over the family business, Rajab recalled.

At the time, he had just graduated from university with a degree in business and computers. I didnt know anything about this job, and I had some other plans for my life, he said. I learned everything on my own; how to find the best beans, how to roast them, and how to grind them. For me, the most interesting part is the roasting. Thats like the magic.

Two doors down from Rajabs store, another shop offers roasted coffee beans in the same style. Saabs grandson, Mohammad, runs this one. When a new customer enters, Mohammad asks: Do you drink coffee with or without sugar? And do you prefer black coffee or brown coffee?

He carefully listens to the answers, then starts blending the coffee, before asking the final question: With cardamom or without? He has filled up the pages of a notebook with the description of his loyal customers tastes.

Small wooden camels standing on a desert of brown coffee beans decorate the showcase in Mohammads shop. The camels came from his grandfathers shop in downtown Beirut, which was also shut down in 1975 after the civil war broke out. Mohammads older brother set up the new showcase in 1982, before the Israeli occupation of western Beirut.

When this phase of the war started, my father  rented a place in the mountains and we fled our home, Mohammad told Al Jazeera. Days later, a neighbour went to the mountains and informed Mohammads father that their new shop had been damaged in a fire ignited by the ongoing battles.

That was the second time that my family lost the business in war, Mohammad said. The shop was partly destroyed and most of the stored coffee beans were stolen.

Mohammads father and elder brother brought the family business back to its feet again, at the same location on Mar Elias Street. But his brother soon opted to leave Lebanon for Europe, prompting Mohammad to step up and become his fathers right-hand man.

The shop was partly destroyed and most of the stored coffee beans were stolen. by Mohammad Saab, coffee vendor

My father taught me all that he learned from his father, from the secrets of roasting to the rules of keeping the customers loyal, Mohammad said. The most important lesson is to never cheat on your customer with the quality of the product. The second is to use your hands and honest feelings to examine the quality of the roasted beans.

The third generation of the Saabs and Chabaros are still in the same business, but with fewer and fewer customers, they are far removed from the successful days of their grandfathers. Even Amin Younes, whose family has been in the coffee business since 1935, knows nothing about the two families. Ive never heard of them. Really, from 1922? What were their names? he asked.

While the Younes family has gone through similar experiences and losses amid the protracted conflict in Lebanon, they have had a different fate. Prior to the civil war, they opened a second branch in the Hamra district. While their downtown branch was destroyed in the fighting, the second branch continued to thrive. Today, Cafe Younes has become a franchise of western-style coffee shops in Lebanon, with a branch in Saudi Arabias capital, Riyadh.

If I had continued the business in the same way as my father and grandfather, I would never have been able to compete with the big names in coffee shop franchises, said Younes, who travelled to Italy to take courses in coffee shop management. I kept our tradition of roasting, and I enhanced it with the new concept of coffee shop franchise.

In 2006, as the Israeli army pounded Lebanon from land, air and sea, Younes started to report on the war from the perspective of a coffee man, beginning his first blog post as follows: Lebanon is in the middle of a bloody war with Israel  And were sick of it, again.

Younes wrote the stories of his regular customers, describing what they had lost in the war. He also wrote about the influx of foreign journalists into Beirut and about the displaced residents of southern Beirut who sought shelter in Hamra.

By the end of the 33-day war, Younes stopped posting. There was no need to write any more. The war ended, he said. Thats enough.
Rights group says authorities are using torture, electric shocks, beatings and rape on a massive scale.

Almost 18,000 Syrians have died in government jails since 2011, with authorities using torture, beatings, electric shocks and rape against prisoners on a massive scale, a rights groups has said.

The UK-based Amnesty International said on Thursday that an average of 300 people were dying in the countrys prisons each month in a report it said was based on the experiences of thousands of former prisoners, including 65 survivors of torture.

They by Umm

was open and my undershirt was moved up. Everything was hurting.]

Interviewees said the abuse would often start from the day they entered prison with so-called welcome parties that involved beatings with silicone or metal rods.

Female prisoners said sexual assaults or rapes would start at their first security check.

They beat me until I was lying on the ground and then they kicked me  until I passed out, Umm Omar, who was held at a jail in the city of Aleppo, said.

When I woke up  my trousers had been opened and moved down a bit, my abaya [full length robe] was open and my undershirt was moved up. Everything was hurting.

Nicolette Boehland, one of the Amnesty researchers who worked on the report, told Al Jazeera that welcome parties were so intense that some prisoners died from their injuries.

One man said that when he arrived at Damascus Saydnaya Military Prison with 60 other people, the beatings were so brutal that by the time he reached his cell, he heard that 20 men had been killed, she said.

Other prisoners spoke of being flogged on their feet during interrogations, being forced into rubber tyres while being beaten with plastic pipes, being suspended by their wrists and having their bodies forcefully folded backwards while in stress positions.

They treated us like animals. They wanted people to be as inhuman as possible, Samer, a lawyer, said. I saw the blood, it was like a river  We used to always say here that there was no justice in Syria but I never imagined humanity would reach such a low level.

READ MORE: Syrias civil war  Speaking out on sadistic government jails

Most described witnessing at least one, if not several, deaths in custody, Amnesty said.

One former prisoner said when the ventilation system in a prison known as Military Intelligence Branch 235 in Damascus stopped working, seven out of nine people in one cell died of suffocation.





They began to kick us to see who was alive and who wasnt. They told me and the other survivor to stand up against the wall and that is when I realised that on that day seven people had died, that I had slept next to seven bodies, he said.

According to the report, access to food, water and sanitation facilities was severely restricted with diseases rife among the prison population.

The cell had no toilet, no water, Abu Anas, a businessman, told Amnesty.

They allowed us to use a bathroom after meals  we had about 60 seconds each time. Once I took longer than that. By that time I had a beard already, and the guard forced me to take my excrement from the toilet and cover my face with it.

READ MORE: Syrias civil war  On Syrias forgotten detainees

Amnesty urged foreign governments, in particular Russia and the United States, to pressure the Syrian authorities and armed groups to end the use of torture and other ill-treatment.

For decades, Syrian government forces have used torture as a means to crush their opponents. Today, it is being carried out as part of a systematic and widespread attack directed against anyone suspected of opposing the government, Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty Internationals Middle East and North Africa Programme, said.

Those responsible for these heinous crimes must be brought to justice.

The Syrian civil war started as a largely peaceful uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011, but quickly developed into a full-scale war.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, estimated in April that more than 400,000 Syrians had been killed, though he said that number was not an official UN statistic.

Almost 11 million people  half the countrys prewar population  have fled their homes.
Following a seminar on human rights abuses in Kashmir, the rights group is accused of promoting anti-India sentiments.

Amnesty International India has temporarily closed its offices and postponed events aimed at raising awareness of rights abuses over safety concerns for its staff after the charity was accused of sedition by protesters, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The prominent rights group held an event on Saturday that focused on human rights abuses carried out by Indian security forces in Kashmir, one the most sensitive national issues in India.

Police in the southern city of Bangalore, the city where the event was held, said they are investigating if anti-India slogans were raised at the event after receiving a complaint from the right-wing student organisation Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which has ties to the ruling Bharitya Janata Party.

Although Amnesty denied all allegations, calling them unsubstantiated, it admitted that slogans calling for Kashmirs independence were chanted by some of the attendees of Saturdays seminar.

READ MORE: Five killed in fresh Kashmir clashes

The organisation reaffirmed that none of its employees took part in those acts.

The allegations mentioned in the complaint are without any basis. The event was an open-door event and people were coming and going. No staff members were involved, said Himanshi Matta, Amnesty International Indias spokeswoman.

They are preventing the families of victims of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir from having their stories heard, she said, adding that preventing civil society organisations from enabling these families to exercise their constitutional right to justice.

Following protests by hundreds of right-wing activists in Bangalore on Tuesday and in Delhi on Wednesday, Matta said the charity had decided to temporarily close its main office in the city, as well as smaller ones in Pune, New Delhi and Chennai.

The seminar, which was aimed at raising awareness over the lack of justice for families of victims in Kashmir, was planned to take place in Mumbai and New Delhi next week, but has been postponed owing to security concerns for the families and staff, she added.

READ MORE: India marks Independence Day amid Kashmir unrest

For years, rights groups have accused Indian forces battling a separatist rebellion in Kashmir and parts of northeast India of violating civilian rights through the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act, a law that grants Indian forces sweeping powers to search, arrest or shoot people.

Authorities and the armed forces deny the charges, saying the law is essential to root out rebels.

Video footage of the event in Bangalore, which was recorded by Amnesty, has been handed over to the police, and is being studied by forensic investigators, said a police official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Kashmir, Indias only majority-Muslim region, has been the trigger for two of the three wars between India and neighbouring Pakistan, with both nuclear-armed nations laying claim to it.

Indian-administered Kashmir experiences its worst unrest in six years after security forces killed a young separatist commander last month who was idolised by some youth, provoking an outpouring of anger.

At least 64 people comprising both civilians and security forces have been killed in the past 40 days in violent street protests, and a strict curfew has been imposed on residents.
The offer comes following an announcement that one of the refugee detention facilities will be shut down.

The premier of Western Australia state, a member of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls Liberal Party, has offered to accept refugees from Australian-funded detention centres amid growing concern about conditions for the 1,350 people held in the camps.

Under Australian law, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to asylum seeker camps on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru or to Manus Island off Papua New Guinea.

They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia.

Australia and Papua New Guinea said on Wednesday that they would close the Manus Island facility, but gave no timeline, and did not say where the people held there would be sent.

We would certainly accommodate a number of them in Western Australia and wed certainly support them as a state government, Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Wednesday night.

Barnett has taken a similar position in the past, and his stand demonstrated a rare public split in the conservative Liberal Party over the governments controversial detention policy.

A spokeswoman for New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said on Thursday that an offer made in 2013 to accept 150 refugees, which Canberra has rebuffed, still stood.

Reports of abuse

Harsh conditions and reports of rampant abuse at the camps have drawn wide criticism at home and abroad. Australia says its hardline policy is needed to stop deaths at sea during the dangerous boat journey from Indonesia to Australia.



Assault allegations at Nauru facility

Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on Thursday stood by the governments policy ruling out settling the detainees in a third country, casting doubt over the fate of the remaining 850 refugees on Manus and 500 in Nauru.

Its never been about tearing down the fences, its about what to do with the people trapped behind them, said Daniel Webb, director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Center.

Theres absolute clarity about what should happen but no clarity whatsoever about what will happen.

There are no plans to close the Nauru camp, which is under renewed scrutiny after a newspaper published leaked documents detailing reports of more than 2,000 incidents of sexual abuse, assault and attempted self-harm, many involving children.

The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court ruled in April that the detention centre at Manus was illegal and ordered it to be closed. Next week it will hold a hearing into what progress has been made.
Italy will set up a shelter to host as many as 300 asylum seekers stranded near the Swiss border, after Switzerland cracked down on crossings, forcing hundreds to sleep on the ground in a city park, officials said Wednesday.

In mid-July, Switzerland began strict controls on people arriving by train from Como, an Italian city on Lake Como. Since then, Switzerland has turned away two thirds of those who tried to enter the country, compared with one in seven in June of this year.

Starting in mid-September, a city-owned car park near the local cemetery will house 50 pre-fabricated modules and showers, bathrooms and a small health clinic to accommodate as many as 300 people temporarily, prefect Bruno Corda said in a news conference broadcast on television.

Asylum seekers will be provided with legal aid on Italys asylum process at the camp, Corda said. Under European Union law, people who arrive in Italy by boat from North Africa must seek asylum there because it is the first European country they reached.

Im confident that the people who cannot go to Switzerland will want return to a system of legality, Corda said.

But many migrants do not want to stay in Italy, often because they have relatives or friends already living in other countries.

Non-governmental and human rights groups such as Amnesty International have called for clarifications from Switzerland over refugees claims that they were denied a chance to speak to border authorities and that requests to seek Swiss asylum went unheeded.

About 100,000 people, mostly from Africa, have landed on Italian shores this year, and more than 140,000 asylum seekers are already living in the nations shelters. In 2014 and 2015, more than 320,000 reached Italy by boat, the majority of whom have moved on to other countries.
The death raises the toll to 66 after troops killing of a popular rebel leader on July 8 sparked Kashmir protests.

A 30-year-old teacher has reportedly died in custody of the Indian army in Indian-administered Kashmir, residents have said.

Shabir Ahmed Moonga was among dozens who were injured and taken away during the late-night raid by the army and police on Wednesday at Khrew village in south Kashmirs Pulwama district, the locals said.

His body was handed over to his family early on Thursday, the villagers said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals.

Army spokesman Colonel Nitin N Joshi said the cause of death was being investigated, while police said Moonga was killed in a clash between the security forces and protesters.

The government uses fired bullets, pellets and tear gas to stop rock-throwing protesters at two places in northern Bandipore and Kupwara areas, police said.

UpFront  Reality Check: Who actually cares about the Kashmiris?

Indian-administered Kashmir has been in the grip of almost daily anti-India protests and rolling curfews sparked by the killing on July 8 of a popular rebel leader, Burhan Wani, in a gunfight with government forces.

With Moongas death, the death toll reached 66 in the protests.

Attacking our home

Dr Nazir Chaudhary, medical superintendent at the main SMHS hospital in Srinagar told the AFP news agency that 24 injured villagers had been admitted for treatment.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full.

Several rebel groups, including Wanis Hizbul Mujahideen, have fought for decades 500,000 Indian troops deployed in the territory, demanding independence for the region or its merger with Pakistan.
Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger hauled off flight after doubts raised about a claim they were robbed at gunpoint.

Brazilian police pulled two US Olympic swimmers off a plane about to leave the country to question them about a claim they made to have been victims of an armed mugging, according to US officials.

We can confirm that Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were removed from their flight to the United States by Brazilian authorities, Patrick Sandusky, spokesman for the US Olympic Committee, said on Wednesday.

Conger and Bentz were with star US swimmer Ryan Lochte and another squad member, James Feigen, when they said they were robbed at gunpoint on Sunday. Lochte is believed to be already in the US, having left before Brazilian authorities ordered the swimmers be questioned.

It was not yet clear if Feigen was still in Brazil or in the US.

Both Conger and Bentz were released from police custody early on Thursday after questioning, but their lawyer said they were not allowed to leave the country until an investigation was completed.

READ MORE: US swimmer Ryan Lochte robbed at gunpoint

Later on Thursday, reports emerged that the US swimmers had been involved in a fight with an armed gas station security guard on the night in question.

The unconfirmed reports on ABC News and Brazils G1 news site said an altercation occurred when the swimmers had been out partying and that the incident was caught on security camera footage.

G1 quoted Rio police saying that the athletes had stopped at the gas station in a taxi to use the bathroom. When they damaged the bathroom door, a security guard pulled out his weapon and made them stay until police arrived, prompting a confrontation, G1 reported.

ABC quoted an unidentified Brazilian police source saying CCTV footage shows a swimmer breaking down the door to the bathroom at the gas station and fighting with a security guard.

Some Brazilian officials have suggested that the swimmers may have made up their account of the mugging and could face charges for filing a false report, a serious crime in Brazil.

Bents and Conger boarded a flight here in Rio International Airport on Wednesday, but before the flight could leave for the US, federal police boarded the plane, took these two athletes out of the plane, and detained both of them and took both of their passports, Al Jazeeras Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from Rio, said.

These four Olympic swimmers left a party early on Sunday, said Elizondo. They were on their way back to the Olympic Village in a taxi  they all say that they were robbed at gunpoint on the side of the road.





They claim that perhaps the people robbed them at gunpoint were wearing police uniforms. A very, very serious claim by these four athletes.

At first, the International Olympic Committee denied that anything had happened.

Lochte, though, gave interviews in which he described the incident in detail and Brazilian Olympic authorities were eventually forced to issue a public apology for the security slip-up.

But, early on Wednesday, a Brazilian judge ordered an investigation saying their story was full of inconsistencies.

Judge Keyla Blank issued warrants for searches and the seizure of the passports for the US swimmers, a statement from her office said.

With this, they are banned from leaving the country.

Blanks office said the judge was investigating possible inconsistencies in the swimmers stories, including different accounts of how many muggers there were. Olympic officials said police were still looking for key witnesses, including the driver of the taxi the swimmers said they were in.

Touched a nerve

The judge also referenced footage caught on security cameras after the alleged robbery.

Its noticeable that the victims arrived back physically and mentally unshaken, even joking with each other, the judge said.

In the last 48 hours some video came to light. It shows these athletes arriving in the village after the alleged robbery took place, said Elizondo. They seem to have their cell phones, wallets. They seem to be joking with each other. That resulted in people asking if a robbery really took place or not.

The video in question, posted on the website of Britains Daily Mail, shows the four swimmers passing through an X-ray machine in the early hours of Sunday. The clip shows nothing out of the ordinary.

With some 85,000 police and soldiers guarding the Olympics  twice the number used in London  the apparently high-profile crime touched a nerve in Rio.

In addition to multiple incidents of thefts from Olympic athletes or media, a Portuguese government minister was recently mugged in the Leblon district.
UN spokesman says Machar is in the care of authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo after fleeing South Sudan.

South Sudans former vice president and opposition leader Riek Machar is in the care of the authorities in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations has said, several weeks after he withdrew from the capital Juba during fierce fighting with government troops.

The news on Thursday came after a statement by the leadership of the SPLA In Opposition party said Machar had left South Sudan on Wednesday to a safe country within the region, without giving any further details on his exact whereabouts.





We were aware yesterday of the presence of Riek Machar in DRC, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said on Thursday.

At that point the UN Mission contacted the authorities in the DRC who in turn requested MONUSCO [UNs mission in the DRC] to facilitate his extraction and his transfer to the care of the DRC.

We have undergone an extraction operation and so he is currently in the care of the authorities in the DRC.

A DRC government spokesman, however, told Al Jazeera later on Thursday that they had not been officially informed of Machars presence in the country.

They said they are aware that he is in one of the border areas of DRC but they have no official information of Machar being under their care, which is contradictory to the statement of the UN, Al Jazeeras Hiba Morgan, reporting from Juba, said.

Earlier on Thursday, a Machar aide told the AFP news agency that the former vice president was in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, and wanted to go as soon as possible to Ethiopia.

READ MORE: South Sudans ever-deepening cycle of violence

Machar led a two-year rebellion against forces loyal to his longtime rival President Salva Kiir before the two sides reached a peace deal in August 2015. Under the deal, Machar returned to Juba in April to resume his role as vice president.

But fighting flared last month, leading Machar to withdraw with his forces from Juba around mid-July.

Throughout that period, from July up to yesterday, nobody knew where he was, Al Jazeeras Morgan said.

Since the outbreak of fighting in July, Kiir has sacked Machar from his post and appointed Taban Deng Gai, a former opposition negotiator who broke ranks with Machar, as vice president.

The UN told Kiir that any political changes must be consistent with the peace deal, which stated that the vice president must be chosen by the South Sudan Armed Opposition.

READ MORE: South Sudan humanitarian situation could worsen: UN

Last week, the UN Security Council approved the deployment of an additional 4,000-strong peacekeeping force in South Sudan, after the July infighting threatened to send the country back to all-out civil war.





South Sudan initially rejected the resolution, claiming it seriously undermines its sovereignty, but later softened its stance.

South Sudans President Kiir told Al Jazeera on Sunday that it had not yet closed the door on a UN protection force.

Ateny Wek Ateny, the presidential spokesman, said the government will accept the force, but only if it can negotiate its size, mandate, weapons and the contributing countries.

The civil war in South Sudan began in December 2013 when government forces loyal to President Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, battled rebels led by Machar, a Nuer.

Tens of thousands of people were killed in the fighting and more than two million people were displaced.
South Sudans former vice president has left the country for a neighbouring state, according to opposition officials.

South Sudans former vice president and opposition leader Riek Machar has left the country for a neighbouring state, opposition officials said, several weeks after he withdrew from the capital Juba during fierce fighting with government troops.

Spokesman James Gatdet Dak on Thursday declined to disclose Machars whereabouts. A statement issued by the leadership of the SPLA In Opposition said he had left on Wednesday to a safe country within the region.

A Machar aide said later on Thursday that the former vice president was in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Riek Machar is currently in DRC, in Kinshasa, and wants to go as soon as possible to Ethiopia, the official told the AFP news agency.

READ MORE: South Sudans ever-deepening cycle of violence

Machar led a two-year rebellion against forces loyal to his longtime rival President Salva Kiir before the two sides reached a peace deal in August 2015. Under the deal, Machar returned to Juba in April to resume his role as vice president.





But fighting flared last month, leading Machar to withdraw with his forces from Juba around mid-July.

Spokesman Gatdet Dak, writing on his Facebook page, said opposition fighters had successfully relocated our leader to a neighbouring country where he will now have unhindered access to the rest of the world and the media.

Since the outbreak of fighting in July, Kiir has sacked Machar from his post and appointed Taban Deng Gai, a former opposition negotiator who broke ranks with Machar, as vice president.

The United Nations told Kiir that any political changes must be consistent with the peace deal, which stated that the vice president must be chosen by the South Sudan Armed Opposition.

READ MORE: South Sudan humanitarian situation could worsen: UN

Last week, the UN Security Council approved the deployment of an additional 4,000-strong peacekeeping force in South Sudan, after the July infighting threatened to send the country back to all-out civil war.





South Sudan initially rejected the resolution, claiming it seriously undermines its sovereignty, but later softened its stance.

South Sudans President Kiir told Al Jazeera on Sunday that it had not yet closed the door on a UN protection force.

Ateny Wek Ateny, presidential spokesman, said the government will accept the force, but only if it can negotiate its size, mandate, weapons and the contributing countries.

The civil war in South Sudan began in December 2013 when government forces loyal to President Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, battled rebels led by Machar, a Nuer.

Tens of thousands of people were killed in the fighting and more than two million people were displaced.
The eight troops who fled to Greece by helicopter after failed coup attempt fear they will not get fair trial in Turkey.

Turkey has officially requested the extradition of eight military officers who fled to Greece by helicopter and sought asylum there after Julys failed coup attempt.

Foreign ministry officials in Athens said they had received the request and passed it on to the Greek justice ministry for consideration, state radio reported on Thursday.

On July 15, a faction of Turkeys military tried to topple the government in a night of clashes that left more than 270 people dead. The government quickly crushed the attempted coup attempt and has since purged tens of thousands from the states military and judicial branches.

The absconding soldiers  two majors, four captains and two sergeants  fled in a military helicopter in the hours after the attempted coup to the Greek port city of Alexandroupolis, near the Turkish border, and immediately applied for asylum.

READ MORE: How will the military shake-up affect Turkeys future?

Ankara stressed in the formal extradition request that the soldiers tried to overthrow the government, according to the state radio report. The eight deny involvement in the failed coup attempt.

The troops asylum hearings are to begin on Friday, when two of the officers are scheduled to appear before a committee.

In late July, the court of Alexandroupolis sentenced the eight  who face a military trial in their homeland if sent back  to suspended two-month prison terms for illegal entry.

The men were subsequently relocated to Athens and are in police custody until their asylum applications are heard, a process expected to take a month.

READ MORE: Turkish prosecutors formally ask US for Gulens arrest

The eight claim they will not receive a fair trial in Turkey, where the authorities have detained thousands of people over the coup, including top generals.

If sent home, their lives could be in danger, one of their lawyers has claimed.

Rights group Amnesty International has said it has credible evidence of the abuse and torture of people detained in sweeping post-coup arrests  something Ankara has denied.

The case threatens to strain ties between the uneasy NATO allies, with Ankara labelling the eight terrorists.
At least six people, including a child, killed in two car bomb blasts near police stations in eastern Turkey.

Turkish officials say at least six people have been killed and scores wounded when two car bombs exploded in the eastern part of the country.

A large explosion rocked an area near a police station in the eastern Turkish town of Elazig and three police officers were killed, Turkish media reported, hours after a car bomb killed three people elsewhere in the region.

Video footage obtained by the private Dogan news agency showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area of the blast, the cause of which was not clear.

READ MORE: Police, civilians killed in Turkey car bomb blast

Mahmut Varol, the deputy mayor of Elazig, said vehicles in front of the building had been burned due to the detonation of a car bomb.

The first video coming from the scene shows that there are people injured, there are ambulances at the scene, taking the injured away, Al Jazeeras Reza Sayah, reporting from Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, said.

Based on the images, this was a powerful explosion. Much of the building is destroyed. We see smoke in the air and a lot of people surrounding the scene looking very distraught.

Only hours earlier, three people, including a child, were killed and more than 70 wounded in a car bomb attack in Turkeys eastern city of Van carried out by members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters, Turkish officials said.

The PKK attack targeted a police headquarters in the citys central Ipekyolu district, Mehmet Parlak, the deputy governor of Van, was quoted as saying by Turkeys state-run Anadolu news agency on Thursday.

Speaking to Anadolu, Zahir Soganda, the ruling AK Partys provincial head, said that 71 people were wounded.

Among the 71 injured, three of them are in a serious condition and 17 are police officers, Soganda said, adding that a child and a police officer were among the dead.

READ MORE: How could failed coup affect Kurdish peace process?

People of Van will not be discouraged by this incident, Soganda said.

These are the last stands by the terror organisation. They are trying to break the resistance of the people of Van, which they will never achieve.

The suspect, identified only as MO by the Turkish media, was caught in an air operation that was launched after the attack, according to authorities. He had been wounded and was taken to the main police headquarters in for questioning.

MO was prevented from getting close to the police station because of barricades and parked an explosives-laden vehicle approximately 40 metres away from the facility, according to national daily Hurriyet.

The suspect left his vehicle and activated the bomb from a safe distance using a remote control, the newspaper said.

The Turkish security forces have been hit by near daily attacks from the PKK since a two-and-a-half year ceasefire collapsed in 2015, leaving hundreds of police and soldiers dead.

Five police officers and three civilians, including a child, were killed on Monday in a powerful car bomb explosion outside a police station near Turkeys southeastern city of Diyarbakir.

The government has vowed to press on with its campaign to eradicate the PKK from eastern Turkey, despite the ongoing purge in the army to rid it of those connected to last months failed coup attempt.

More than 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK first took up arms in 1984 with the aim of carving out an independent state for Turkeys Kurdish minority, although it now focuses more on rights and demands for greater autonomy.

Turkey, the European Union and the United States have labelled the PKK a terrorist group.
Conflict heats up in eastern Ukraine as Moscow suspected of seeking to escalate 28-month unrest.

Ukraine has said that pro-Russian rebels had killed three of its soldiers in the worst violence seen in the separatist east for a year.

Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, the military spokesman, said on Thursday the rebel attacks had doubled from the previous day as tensions between Kiev and Moscow soared over Kremlin charges that Ukraine plotted to make armed incursions into Russian-annexed Crimea this month.

He said that six more Ukrainian soldiers were also wounded in the clashes across the 30km-wide buffer zone separating the two sides forces.

The rebels launched more than 500 mortar and over 300 artillery shells at our positions, Motuzyanyk said in Kiev. The last time we witnessed a similar intensity of fire using heavy armaments was a year ago.

READ MORE: Ukraine divided  stories from warring sides

Ukraine and its Western allies say that Moscow is simply trying to escalate a 28-month separatist conflict in the countrys east that has claimed more than 9,500 lives and began just weeks after Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula in March 2014.

French President Francois Hollande warned on Tuesday against any escalation of the conflict after telephone talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

EU President Donald Tusk on Wednesday said he and the Ukrainian leader both believed Russias account of recent events in the battle-scarred east and Crimea was unreliable.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow remained committed to a stalled European-brokered peace plan that was signed in the Belarussian capital Minsk in 2015.

But he also warned that Russia would take comprehensive measures to make sure any attempts to make incursions into our territory are nipped in the bud.
A new fire in drought-plagued Southern California spreads across more than 100sq kms in just two days.

A wildfire in Southern California raged virtually unchecked in thick brush on Wednesday after destroying dozens of houses and forcing the evacuation of more than 80,000 people from their homes, officials said.

The so-called Blue Cut Fire ignited on Tuesday in the mountainous Cajon Pass, near a highway corridor between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and has since covered more than 100sq km.

Firefighters had carved containment lines around only 4 percent of the blaze by Wednesday night, according to fire service officials.

They described the blaze as unusually fierce, even in a year of intense wildfires in the west, where years of drought have put a heavy burden on firefighting resources.

In my 40 years of fighting fire, Ive never seen fire behaviour so extreme as it was yesterday, Michael Wakoski, the incident commander, told a news conference on Wednesday.

As many as eight wildland fires were burning in California on Wednesday, three of them scorching thousands of hectares as firefighters sought help from emergency services in other states and the California National Guard.

READ MORE: A warming world  July marks hottest month on record

US government forecasters have said that Southern California faces a potential threat from major wildfires until December, given the dryness and warm weather.

The Santa Ana winds, which sweep desert air to Californias coast while driving the fires, are due to kick up next month, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal-Fire) spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff told the Reuters news agency.

September and October are often the peak of the states wildfire season.

The Blue Cut Fire, named for a narrow gorge north of San Bernardino where it started, threatened the town of Wrightwood near a ski resort and other communities in a partly rural area, authorities said.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Authorities said they were forced to close part of Interstate 15 on Wednesday and to order about 82,000 residents to evacuate their homes.

Thick columns of smoke blocked out the sky above mountain peaks as the fire overran a number of properties, leaving behind barren lots with blackened appliances and vehicles stripped of nearly everything but metal.

There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing, San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig told reporters.

READ MORE: California in a state of chronic drought

Despite dire warnings from authorities, hundreds of residents have refused to leave their homes, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Among them was Nico Santucci, who was standing sentry outside his home in Lytle Creek with his young son by his side.

If the first house catches on fire here or the fire breaks this mountain here, then Im gone, then were gone, Santucci said.

About 970km to the northwest, the so-called Clayton Fire was 40 percent contained after charring 1,600 hectares in and around the community of Lower Lake and destroying 175 homes and businesses.

California had spent $164m by August 12 to combat wildfires this year, Cal-Fires Tolmachoff said, not including the Blue Cut or Clayton fires.
The path to true love is never easy but in Japan, finding the one has never been harder. Only a third of the nations youth have been in a relationship.

Many consider a romantic partner bothersome in a country famous for maid cafes, herbivore men and pop idol shows. For the government, playing Cupid is now in the national interest. As the countrys population rapidly declines, its funding matchmaking events to help encourage marriage  and babies.

Such events are also being embraced by reality shows, small towns and even monks who need a partner for their temple to survive. 101 East asks: can love find a way in desperate and dateless Japan?

Join the conversation @AJ101East
Egypt stands accused of what Human Rights Watch is calling a premeditated massacre after a hard hitting report says security forces systematically and deliberately killed unarmed protesters on political grounds.

The group says authorities used excessive force against supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi in Cairos Rabaa al Adawiya and Nahda squares last August.

A year-long investigation has found that the action of senior figures likely amounted to crimes against humanity.

Those figures include the then defence minister, now president, Abdel Fattah el Sisi, as well as interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim and head of special forces, Medhat Menshawy.

The Egyptian government has rejected the Human Rights Watch findings.

In a statement it said the report was negative and biased, and ignored what it called terrorist attacks by Muslim Brotherhood elements and their supporters.

It said the report also ignored all political efforts to end protest sit-ins peacefully, and accused Human Rights Watch of working in Egypt without permission, in breach of international law.

Human Rights Watch has called on the world to take action. But will those responsible be held accountable?

Presenter  Fauziah Ibrahim

Guests 



Sarah Leah Whitson  executive director for the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch.



Rami Khouri  director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut.



Maha Azzam  a specialist on political Islam and the Middle East, and president of the newly formed opposition group, the Egyptian Revolutionary Council.
What can be done to help millions of people fleeing a brutal conflict in northern Nigeria and neighbouring countries?

The UN is warning that three million people are at risk of starvation in northern Nigeria.

About 1.2 million more are affected in countries neighbouring Lake Chad, in what officials say is the most devastating food crisis in years.

A seven-year conflict between regional military forces and the armed group Boko Haram has crippled food production and forced two million people to flee their homes.

What is being done to prevent hundreds of thousands of people at risk of starving to death? And is there a long-term solution to the regions problems?

Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault

Guests:

Arjan de Vet  head of nutrition at UNICEF Nigeria

Kayode Ogundamisi  commentator on Nigerian affairs

Mike Ejiofor  security consultant and former director of Nigerias State Security Service
We investigate the events leading up to the Fundao dam disaster. Is enough being done to avoid future recurrences?

Editors note: On January 25, 2019, another mine tailings dam burst in the same state of Minas Gerais  this time near the town of Brumadinho. At least 166 people were killed. Almost 200 more are still missing. It had been constructed in the same way as the Fundao dam. On February 15, prosecutors said they had arrested eight employees of Brazilian mining company Vale SA as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Last November, the Fundao mining dam in Southeastern Brazil burst, unleashing a 50 million cubic metre tsunami of mud and mining waste which flowed across the region.

Nineteen people died, 6,000 were displaced and entire towns were destroyed. It was the countrys worst ever environmental disaster.

Eight months later, we travelled to the state of Minas Gerais, the centre of Brazils mining industry, to investigate events leading up to the disaster and examine worrying claims that local government is not doing enough to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring again.

FILMMAKERS VIEW

By Leila Lak

I first visited the area affected by the Fundao disaster three weeks after the dam burst. I filmed devastated local fishing communities as well as residents of the town of Bento Rodriguez, then completely submerged in mud, who had fled their homes.

Their loss was so palpable and their story so in need of telling that I contacted Al Jazeera reporter Juliana Ruhfus and together we began work on an investigation into events leading up to the disaster. We were soon confronted by worrying claims that not enough was being done by local government to prevent a similar tragedy in the future, allegedly because of the huge influence mining companies have over both politicians and the economy in Minas Gerais. The results of our investigation would reveal that, in many ways, Fundao represents a microcosm of Brazils current political woes; a disaster borne from the influence of large companies over government and a lack of transparency in how both business and politics are conducted.

Our first discovery was that the company operating Fundao, Samarco, is co-owned by mining giant Vale, the fifth largest campaign donor to Brazilian politicians. This wasnt illegal under Brazilian law, until last year when the Supreme Court banned future corporate donations to politicians and political parties, but it made us question what mining companies had been receiving in return for their generosity.

The industry is the principal source of employment for much of the state of Minas Gerais and both industry insiders and many local politicians argue that development and jobs must come before concerns about the environment. These views shed some light on how it was possible for Samarco to gain a licence in the first place, allowing the company to build and begin operating the Fundao dam in 2007, without even submitting an evacuation plan for local residents in case of a dam burst.

This licence was renewed in 2014, again without an evacuation plan in place. Since the accident, Samarco operations have been forced to cease until the damage is cleaned up, but many politicians in the state have been lobbying to allow the company to reopen its sites immediately, claiming job losses are devastating the regional economy.

In response to mounting public pressure, legislators have put together an Extraordinary Commission on Dams, responsible for writing a report about the disaster and using the lessons learned as the basis for a series of new laws aimed at improving safeguards. But as we discovered, more than half of the legislators appointed to the commission had either received substantial campaign donations from mining companies or were facing corruption charges for their previous actions in office, all of which appeared to call their impartiality and suitability into question.

We also obtained copies of reports from the police investigation into the dam break. They revealed that the structure was built from cheap substandard materials and that the company had ignored warnings from one of its own engineers about the risk of a breach.

At present the Minas Gerais state mining authority, which is responsible for conducting dam inspections, only has four employees to cover 400 mining dams. As each dam takes 10 months to assess, its easy to see the deep flaws in this system of government oversight. And of those dams that have been inspected, many more are categorized as unsafe.

Yet mining companies are allowed to continue operating with little or no apparent intervention from the government and despite the considerable risks to nearby communities; communities like the town of Bento Rodrigues which was completely destroyed by the Fundao dam collapse.

There we met survivor Marinalva Salgado and her family. They told us they had heard rumours that the dam was unsafe but had never expected it to collapse in such a dramatic way. And when it did, they never imagined they would be left alone to run for their lives.

No siren sounded and no one came to their aid, Marinalva said. Her family has since been put up in rented accommodation, paid for by Samarco, in the nearby city of Mariana. But they long to return to their small community and rural way of life. Marinalva is deeply concerned that if the laws and the way they are implemented arent changed more communities will be affected and perhaps next time the death toll will be higher and the devastation even greater.
           2005     ..        
Rising Regulators: Federal and state regulators have been playing closer attention to the online-lending sector this year, particularly online small-business lending. Among key players to watch in the debate over how to regulate the industry are Jessica Rich at the Federal Trade Commission and Ann Marie Wiersch at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. "To be meaningful, [self-regulatory] types of efforts need robust procedures to monitor compliance and tangible consequences when the rules aren't followed," said Rich, director of the FTC's consumer protection bureau. Wiersch, a researcher at the Cleveland Fed, is helping to shape the policy agenda. Also keep an eye on Jan Lynn Owen, commissioner of the California Department of Business Oversight. "These online lenders are filling a need in today's economy, and we have no desire to squelch the industry or innovation," Owen said. "We have a duty, however, to protect consumers and businesses, and they have more and more at stake as this industry grows."

Not Fast Enough: There hasn't been enough progress curbing sexism against women in asset management. Elizabeth Corley, vice-chairwoman of Allianz Global Investors, says it's been years since she experienced sexist behavior but that her rank may insulate her from it. "The more senior you become, the more you are accredited gender-free status," she said. "If you are relatively senior in your [company], you may not see everything that is going on." Brenda Trenowden, chairwoman of the 30% Club, a group pushing for higher female representation on the boards of U.K. companies, said the culture is changing - but not fast enough. "I do think the culture in some of the asset managers is old style and I know anecdotally a lot of women who have found the culture has not suited them and ended up leaving the industry," she said.

Human Touch in a Machine World: As ATMs and newer technologies reshape branch banking, Desiree Dixon of Navy Federal Credit Union sheds light on the continuing (perhaps increasing?) importance of personal touch for tellers, still nearly half a million strong in the U.S. Navy Federal serves the military and their families and is the country's largest credit union. A military spouse and Marine Corps brat herself, Dixon says being able to relate to the members she works with has been one of the greatest factors in her success. "I can always find a way to relate, and being a military spouse, I'm able to give them some insight on my personal life," she said. "I can tell them what my husband and I have done when it comes to savings, purchasing a home, or buying a car. I'm able to relay that information to them. Our members trust what we're saying and what we're about."

Government Intervention: A panel of Indian members of Parliament says the government needs to enforce its recommendation that banks' female employees receive more flexible working hours. It has also recommended that the government ensure banks make at least 15% of their branches all-women centers, "especially in those parts of the country where discrimination against women has traditionally been on higher side than the rest of the country... It will make womenfolk feel comfortable to access a banking system that is devoid of gender biases as well as non-discriminatory towards them."

Optimistic Women: Bank of America released a study that suggests 54% of female entrepreneurs expect their revenue to increase in the next 12 months, compared to 48% of males; and 60% of female small business owners expect to grow their businesses over the next five years, versus 52% for the men. "Female entrepreneurs are excited about the future and focused on the success of their small businesses. They are demonstrating much greater levels of optimism than their male counterparts," said Sharon Miller, managing director and head of small business at Bank of America.

Role Call

Heather Cox, chief executive of Citigroup's fintech unit, is headed to USAA in the fall to take on the newly created role of chief technology and digital officer. She will oversee information technology, digital strategy and operations, and experience design. Yolande Piazza, the chief operating officer of Citi FinTech, will assume interim responsibility for Cox's duties. Cox joined Citi in 2014, also in a newly created role, from Capital One. In 2015, she was named American Banker's Digital Banker of the Year and was No. 7 on American Banker's list of The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking.

Old Dominion National Bank in McLean, Va., has hired Stephanie Lykins-Harvey, formerly of Cardinal Bank in McLean, as director of retail banking.

Susan Neilson will resign as chief operating officer of Patriot National Bancorp in Stamford, Conn., at the end of the week.

1st Mariner Bank in Baltimore has named Deborah Williams a vice president of commercial banking. She will lead commercial banking efforts in the Northeast and Harford County markets.

Beyond Banking

Binders Full of Women: Where are all the women in Congress? That Hillary Clinton won her party's presidential nomination last month is undoubtedly a welcome crack in the glass ceiling. But female representation in government more broadly is falling. In 1997, the U.S. ranked 52nd in the world for female representation in government. This year, it fell to 97th. Let Vox tell you why women don't run for office, why it matters and how to fix it. (If nothing else, be sure to check out the infographics and charts.)

The First Rule of Running Club...: Saudi Arabia sent four women to compete in the Olympics in Rio, but at home, women aren't allowed to drive, or even attend sporting events, much less compete in them. Enter the Jeddah Running Collective, a running club with more than 100 members of both sexes and a mission to promote an active lifestyle and fight for gender equality. "We stand on our belief that running has no gender and we strongly implement non-discriminatory acts in the group," said a cofounder of the group, who (understandably) was identified only by a first name, Rod. "We are all aware and know the consequences of the things that might happen... While we're out in public, we have several plans in case of the worst scenario." The club has broadened members' social circles, improved their health (studies show 44% of Saudi women are obese or overweight) and even helped them quit smoking. And it's given women a taste of freedom in a regime that controls many aspects of their lives. "I don't think about anything," one member said. "I don't see how people are looking, or staring, or what they are saying. I just feel proud to be a part of the change that's coming."

Please see our Women in Banking page and join our LinkedIn group.
Chad Ballard, who most recently served as BBVA Compass' director of mobility and new digital business technologies, has joined PNC Financial Services Group.

On Aug. 1, Ballard started his new role as the head of the $361 billion-asset Pittsburgh company's retail digital management information systems group.

"Chad is leading our digital technology development team in support of our retail online and mobile customers," a PNC spokesperson said.

At BBVA, Ballard was involved, among other things, in projects related to digital identity and authentication, including a partnership with the digital payments service Dwolla that used a jointly developed authentication and tokenization process called FiSync. The token spared BBVA account holders from having to provide sensitive bank account information or credentials when logging in to Dwolla.

"As the financial industry becomes increasingly digital, the competition for top talent is fierce and we've been fortunate to build a great team," BBVA Compass said in a statement sent to American Banker. "We're grateful for the years that Chad has spent helping us achieve our digital transformation goals, and we wish him well in the future."


The U.S. Department of Education has proposed regulations to strengthen a rule against predatory practices by post-secondary institutions.

The regulations ban the use of mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses and class action waivers and clarify and simplify current regulations that grant students loan forgiveness if they were defrauded or deceived by an institution. The proposed regulations also would hold financially risky institutions accountable for their behavior and ban schools use of legal clauses to sidestep accountability.

"We wont sit idly by while dodgy schools leave students with piles of debt and taxpayers holding the bag," said U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. "All students who are defrauded deserve an efficient, transparent, and fair path to the relief they are owed, and the schools should be held responsible for their actions."

Under the proposed regulations, schools participating in the Direct Loan Program would be prohibited from requiring, through the use of contractual provisions or other agreements, arbitration to resolve claims brought by a borrower against the school, as well as from obtaining agreement that a borrower waive his or her right to initiate or participate in a class action lawsuit regarding such claims.

The Education Department also is proposing to impose notification and disclosure requirements on a school regarding claims that are voluntarily submitted to arbitration after a dispute has arisen.

These regulations would prevent institutions from using these clauses as a shield to skirt accountability to their students, to the [Education Department] and to taxpayers, said U.S. Under Secretary of Education Ted Mitchell in a news release. By allowing students to bring lawsuits against a school for alleged wrongdoing, the regulations remove the veil of secrecy, create increased transparency and give borrowers full access to legal redress.

The proposed rules also include creating a streamlined process for "borrower defense for student loan borrowers who may have been fraud victims.

The proposed borrower defense regulations include:

Clarifying the process for relief for all current Federal Family Education Loan Program borrowers and current and future Direct Loan borrowers;

Streamlining, after the expected July 1, 2017 effective date, the standard by which Direct Loans can be discharged and the ways in which Title IV-receiving institutions will be held accountable for their actions;

Revising the closed school discharge regulations to ensure Direct Loan borrowers can benefit from their ability to receive the discharge; and

Streamlining the false certification regulation for FFEL and Direct Loan borrowers.

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will be published in theFederal Registeron June 16. Comments are due by Aug. 1. The Education Department indicated that it will publish a final regulation by Nov. 1.

The Education Departments proposed regulations to ban arbitration agreements by post-secondary institutions follows the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's announcement of its own proposed rulemaking to restrict the use of arbitration agreements by financial services companies, including debt collectors.

The CFPB is not proposing an outright ban on the agreements, favoring stopping financial service companies from including class action waivers in mandatory arbitration agreements, as well as requiring companies to submit certain arbitration information for monitoring and publication.
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.
Black Lives Matters' response to the shooting of a black suspect who allegedly pointed a firearm at a police officer is a declaration of open season on black people who act on BLM's less responsible advice.

Let's start with the incident that prompted riots in Milwaukee:

During the chase, [Sylville] Smith pulled out a stolen pistol that was fully loaded with stolen ammunition, and Smith raised the pistol to the officer. The officer ordered Smith to drop the gun and shot when he did not comply.

The police officer's restraint was excessive to the point where he jeopardized his own life. A demonstration at FrontSight showed unequivocally why he should have fired the instant Smith began to raise the weapon. A student asked whether one should order a suspect to drop his weapon if the suspect has the weapon down at his side and has not yet aimed it. An instructor made sure everybody was wearing hearing protection, drew his weapon, held it down at his side, and had somebody else order him to drop it. The other person did not complete the word "drop" before the instructor fired a round into a target in front of the backstop. That underscores how quickly somebody can kill you with a drawn gun. Nobody has a legal or moral obligation to find out, possibly the hard way, whether the bad guy's skills are comparable to those of an experienced firearm instructor.

It turns out, by the way, that the police officer also is black, which means that black lives seem to matter only if they are not the lives of black people whom BLM calls pigs, as in "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon." BLM has furthermore shown its true contempt for black lives by inciting situations in which far more black people will be justifiably killed.

When Words Equal a Deadly Threat: Disparity of Force

I cannot give legal advice, but the laws on armed self-defense are largely consistent from one state to another. You can use deadly force on another person only when you believe reasonably, as defined by law, that the individual has menaced you with death or serious bodily injury. You can never use deadly (or other) force due to mere suspicion, or to punish another person; the latter is the prerogative of the judicial system.

It is very easy to cross the line at which the law's hypothetical reasonable person believes his or her life to be in danger. The aggressor needs to do exactly two simple things to step over this line to be legally shot dead, or put in the hospital, on the spot. The first is to make a verbal or visual threat ("I'm going to kill you!," "Give me your wallet!," or menace another person with a deadly weapon), and the second is to display a credible means of putting that threat into effect.

As an example, the words "I'm going to kill you!" may constitute a crime such as menacing or a terroristic threat, but they do not justify a lethal response if the speaker has no credible way to put them into effect. An unarmed suspect, or even one who brandishes a knife from across a wide street, cannot carry out his threat. If he brandishes a gun as Sylville Smith apparently did, the threat and the means of carrying it out become one and the same, and the target of the aggression can open fire with no discussion or delay whatsoever.

The factor that could easily kill a lot of BLM people legally is what the law calls "disparity of force." Police instructor Massad Ayoob provides an excellent description of this concept. It means that the law assumes that a larger and stronger assailant does not need a weapon to kill or maim his intended victim, and the same assumption applies to multiple assailants. A 120-pound woman could easily be well within her rights to shoot a 180-pound man who assaults and batters her with nothing but his hands. A man might similarly be entitled to shoot two or more men who attack him with nothing but their hands.

Here are actual video and audio from the recent civil disturbances in Milwaukee. The chants of "black power!" are sanctioned and protected by the First Amendment. At about 0:39, however, a demonstrator says something about beating up every white person. At about 0:52, somebody yells, "He white! Beat his head." That's a violent threat, and the presence of more than one potential aggressor adds disparity of force. These are the two ingredients necessary for a justifiable homicide.

This doesn't mean that the white person in question should shoot if the mob lets him walk away, but the instant one begins to rush him, he could legally shoot that individual on the spot not only because of the reasonable prospect of support from other aggressors, but also because the attack's leader could disarm him and kill him with his own weapon. Somebody who is so deranged as to charge a drawn gun clearly means death or serious harm to its owner, which is why a police officer shot Michael Brown for allegedly trying to disarm him. That would be my decision as a juror if a prosecutor had the poor judgment to bring the case to trial, anyway.

"They beating up every white person" from these street thugs is meanwhile to any armed Caucasian what "they lynching every n-----" from a gang of Klansmen would be to any armed black person. While it might not, depending on the distance between the thugs and the armed citizen in question, justify gunfire, it would certainly justify a Condition Red response such as drawing and arming a weapon. Intelligent and responsible people don't put other people into Condition Red, because doing so is a good way to end up in the hospital or in the ground.

Fire Also Is a Deadly Weapon

In this video, Sylville Smith's sister counsels other black people to burn down not their own neighborhood, but the suburbs instead. The legality of deadly force to protect only property from arson varies from state to state. Don't mess with Texas if you're an arsonist, though, and even anti-Second Amendment New York State says a person "may use deadly physical force if he or she reasonably believes such to be necessary to prevent or terminate the commission or attempted commission of arson." When I took a gun safety class in New York some time ago, however, the instructor said the building had to be occupied to justify deadly force. This was clearly because arson of an empty building threatens only property unless the fire spreads, while arson of an occupied one menaces human life and safety. Even if the arsonist is not greeted with deadly force, however, he or she is still guilty of a serious felony that is good for a long prison sentence.

The takeaway is that any BLM people who act on this woman's incitement are asking to be greeted with handgun, shotgun, or rifle fire if they set occupied homes and businesses on fire. A firebomb through a window, unlike a prowler who lurks around a building but cannot enter, is a clear and present danger to the occupants.

Run Over Anybody Who Tries to Pull You from Your Car

Olaf Ekberg reports, "Several videos show white drivers being stopped in the middle of the street and the 'protesters' attempting to pull them out of their vehicles." Recall that a similar gang beating sent truck driver Reginald Denny to the hospital, so we again have a threat of death or serious bodily injury plus the means (disparity of force) to put it into effect. In this case, the law-abiding defender does not need a firearm; he needs only his car's accelerator pedal. Massad Ayoob advises in The Gravest Extreme:

"You are controlling a two-ton bludgeon. Put your car in gear, shout a warning, beep the horn, and drive. Start slowly unless the rocks are already flying through the windows. If that is the case, move. Don't try to deliberately run anyone down; that is, don't swerve out of the way to put your wheels to your assailants."

Somebody who is not blocking your path does not threaten your safety, so you are not legally justified in going out of your way to run him down. If, however, a rock-throwing attacker insists on blocking your path to prevent your escape, Ayoob adds, "[G]o over the man in front of you." This policy would have saved Reginald Denny from a beating, and it will save anybody else who finds himself or herself in a similar situation.

People who really believe that black lives matter will not encourage behavior that will legally get black people shot or run over. It is also to be remembered that Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee have both endorsed this organization, and that is something voters need to consider carefully in November.

William A. Levinson is the author of several books on business management including content on organizational psychology, as well as manufacturing productivity and quality.
You can have Milwaukee.

For the best example of black mob violence and media denial over the last few days, Ill take Cedar Rapids.

People outside of Milwaukee may be a bit surprised that last week hundreds of black people burned down businesses, threw bricks at cops, attacked white people, and created an enormous amount of mayhem. All because police killed a member of that citys black criminal elite after he pointed a stolen gun at them.

The New York Times certainly was -- it even dug up a few locals to say so.

But on the porches of Milwaukee, the home town crowd remember how hundreds of black people rampaged through a recent state fair, attacking white people in and outside of the fairgrounds -- with all the bloody carnage captured on 911 calls

Other locals remember the White Girl Bleed a Lot beatdown -- that inspired a best seller by the same name! -- and how black racial hostility and denial was on full display there as well.

And of course, just a few weeks ago, large groups of black people in the same area were rioting and throwing rocks at cops and destroying property. All on local TV, all attributed to the troublesome teens. Again.

Others talk about Juneteenth, Racine, Madison and even Green Bay, also sites of recent black mob violence all documented at the Dont Make the Black Kids Angry YouTube channel.

Every porch has a favorite. Aside from reporters and public officials, no one said it was new or even surprising.

Milwaukee did offer some fresh material for the aficionado of black mob violence and media denial: the video of the dead guys sister pleading with black people to only destroy the white suburbs because black people need their weave stores intact was memorable enough for pure malice and hypocrisy.

Then CNN took it to a new level: the network edited the sisters comments to make it seem as if she was calling for peace, not riots. And in case we missed the editing, CNN even reminded us with a helpful graphic.

Call it a reverse Zimmerman.

That is hall of fame quality denial, deceit and delusion. So thats in Milwaukees favor.

The rioters get full marks too. Much of the organized black mob violence we have seen in the last few years in Ferguson and Baltimore and Oakland and dozens of other cities has a whitewashed quality to it.

Thats because the PR bunnies on the ground are constantly reminding the rioters to talk with their inside voices: The riots are all about police brutality and how that has been happening a long time. So white people deserve it. Talk about black people hating white devils is discouraged.

The reporters merrily go along, referring to largely peaceful protests, even as Molotov cocktails fly through the air on B roll.

But in Milwaukee, the early black mob violence had a more authentic feel because much of it happened before the PR bunnies arrived. So the rioters were quite eager to talk about how they hated white people and how they would assault them if given the chance. Which they did.

But all in all, the script is getting a bit too familiar: Fake outrage from rioters -- they are actually having a great time, as videos demonstrate -- followed by real cowardice from public officials who allow destruction of private property, all accompanied by the denial, deceit and delusion from reporters.

It could have been Baltimore on an off night.

But Ill take Cedar Rapids.

The occasion was the St. Judes Sweet Corn Festival on Friday night. Up to 200 black people were rampaging through the fair, knocking over strollers -- with babies in them -- destroying property, fighting, creating mayhem, terrorizing neighbors, and of course, attacking police.

One paper got it right, the Cedar Rapids Defender. A few excerpts:

There was an air of violence at the St. Jude Sweet Corn Festival Saturday night in Cedar Rapids. What happened next was described as a nightmare and pure chaos by those at the scene. The event attracted mass hordes of teenagers, some claiming to be from Black Lives Matter, loitering about, bickering with rival gangs and threatening violence. A police officer attempting to detain a teenage youth, was subsequently ambushed by dozens of kids, who kicked and stomped, beating him on the ground. The officer who was assaulted, luckily, suffered only minor injuries. Police announced they had detained six juveniles on charges of disorderly conduct and assault on a peace officer. About 150 teenagers were seen running towards the fighting as the police fought back against the mob. The teens had been a disturbance all night as there are reports of racially motivated assaults and items being thrown at police. The words Black Lives Matter came across the CR police scanner according to our overnight crime reporter. One innocent victim was elbowed, stepped on and kicked during the stampede.

The rest of the media in Cedar Rapids stuck to the usual script of groups of racially ambiguous children doing all sorts of bad things for no reason whatsoever, other than that is just kids blowing off some steam.

My own favorite headline came from one of the TV stations: St. Jude Sweet Corn Festival Shut Down Due to Reckless Children.

This was the third year in a row where reckless children masquerading as black people rampaged through and ruined the Sweet Corn Festival.

And the same group of people do the same kind of things at other festivals in Cedar Rapids: The gang violence at the Sweet Corn Festival mirrors what we saw happen at Hog Wild Days, before escalating violence got the event shut down permanently.

And downtown Cedar Rapids is also a scene of regular black argy bargy.

Meanwhile, in the Montgomery County suburb of Washington, D.C., a few hundred black people did the same at their county fair, only add in a bit more violence and stabbing, and subtract a bit less media surprise.

They are way past offering excuses in D.C. -- even the ignorance and denial is half-hearted. After all, black mob violence has been happening at that fair every year for the last 15.

So Cedar Rapids may have a way to go -- but they are off to a great start.

Colin Flaherty is the author of the Amazon #1 Best Seller, Dont Make the Black Kids Angry: The hoax of black victimization. Check out his YouTube channel for new episodes of black violence and black on white crime at YouTube.com/ColinFlaherty712
In many Muslim-majority nations, particularly including those that self-describe as Islamic states, women cannot drive, or move freely in public spaces without a male escort or being veiled.

This is not the case in Azerbaijan, the Muslim-majority nation of Leyla Mammadbeyova. Leyla made history in 1931 in Azerbaijan by learning to fly. Dubbed the mistress of the skies, Leyla was the first female pilot to fly solo from Southern Europe to Central Asia. In her lifetime, Leyla would rise to the rank of squadron leader, parachute alone from a biplane, survive an assassination attempt, and raise six children with the love and support of her husband.

Leylas life highlights the literal and figurative unveiling of women from traditional patriarchal roles in Azerbaijan at a time when the honor system kept women otherwise secluded from public life, as many remain today in nearby Pakistan, Afghanistan, and throughout the Middle East. A source of great Azerbaijani national pride and a seminal point of reference to anyone on tour of Azerbaijans capital Baku, is the Statue of Women Suffrage, depicting a woman casting off her veil in an act of defiance and in homage to the freedom enjoyed by all women in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijans traditions of egalitarianism, democracy, and the rule of law for all, regardless of religion, ethnicity or gender transcends traditional interpretations of Islam, often used as a tool to reinforce patriarchy and honor codes that tie both men and women to narrowly defined roles in society.

Azerbaijans success today relies on its ability to integrate suburban and agrarian society, still infused with traditional notions of honor, with its urban centers to ensure greater economic development throughout the country. This requires maintaining the image of women like Leyla Mammadbeyova as role models, not outliers, especially at a time when Islamism -- a foreign ideology -- threatens the very ideals embodied in Azerbaijani citizenship.

The latter ideology is a political movement and should not to be confused with Islam in general or Islam as it has been practiced in Azerbaijan for centuries. As false prophets of true Islam, Islamists purport to present a fundamentalist interpretation for Muslims that violates all notions of universal human rights and basic democracy. Foreign-funded Islamists proselytize in Azerbaijan hoping to influence the countrys role in regional conflicts that benefit foreign powers and their political and religious agendas, rather than Azerbaijani citizens.

Potential victims of this foreign ideology in Azerbaijan are women first, who are being encouraged by some to return to a life of seclusion and honor. However, with a larger proportion of women in the Milli Majilis (Azerbaijans parliament) than in the U.S. Congress, women occupying powerful and high-level positions within government, a significant number of women as captains of industry and entrepreneurs, the threat remains, but a large army of powerful women, including the average Azerbaijani woman, exists to fight them.

In acknowledgement of the threat to its egalitarian, multicultural, and gender-equal society, Azerbaijan has passed numerous laws since its independence in 1991. In 1995, Article 25 and 34 were added to Azerbaijans Constitution guaranteeing full equality between men and women generally (Article 25); and equal status of men and women within marriage specifically (Article 34).

In 2006, another Gender Equality Law was passed guaranteeing equal pay in the workforce between men and women, and proscribing discriminatory hiring practices. Broader prohibitions against gender discrimination in employment, education, economic and social relations, advertisements, and politics were also outlined.

The legal strides in protecting women in Azerbaijan has not curbed a resurgence of veiling. As the head of a womans rights NGO noted in 2008, Ten years ago we really didnt think religion and Islam were an issue or a problem for our country. But today as we see all these recently veiled women we begin to fear a fate such as that of women in Iran. We certainly cannot afford to lose any of our gains. But if we are not careful, Islamism could creep up on us and well all be pushed back under the chador.

Possibly fearing that the growth of Islamism would reinforce outdated customs like child marriage, the legal age to marry for women was raised to 18 in 2011. Moreover, forced marriages were explicitly made illegal.

The importance of these legal actions is to maintain the Azerbaijani traditional norms of equality, ensure and enhance the personal development of half the countrys population, and to codify measures that help to guarantee the countrys economic growth at a critical stage in Azerbaijans development.

Supna Zaidi Peery is Executive Director of the prestigious Muslim World Today, a daily publication devoted to the accurate, truthful and fair reporting of news, analysis and perspective associated with the Muslim world. Ms. Peery is also an attorney and policy analyst specializing in human rights, and foreign policy.
Back in 2009, Rush Limbaugh was pilloried by the mainstream media for admitting he hoped that President Obama would fail. Today, we have #NeverTrump Republicans hoping that Donald Trump fails.

Although the media framed Limbaughs remark as a slur against Obama, Rush explained that it wasnt personal, it was business. As a conservative, he did not want Obamas stated plans to successfully transform the nation into a statist government.

But the NeverTrumps business about Trump is personal.

Obviously NeverTrumps personal careers as political strategists would be saved from failure in an I told you so, he could never beat Hillary sort of way, as in this recent tweet by NeverTrump Erick Erickson of The Resurgent: All you guys saying those opposed to Trump are helping Hillary ignore that we warned you as far back as January that Trump [could not] beat her.

But the NeverTrump personal vendetta goes much deeper than that. Take a look at this CNN clip and see NeverTrump Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol berate a Trump supporter that she should be embarrassed to support a bully, a man of genuinely bad character who is discrediting conservatism and needs to be severed from it.

Those comments about Trump werent part of a larger discussion on Trumps stated plans to Make America Great Again. They were about Trump the person, the feelings of Conservatives, and the reputation of Conservatism (and thereby the reputations of professional Conservatives).

It certainly seems that NeverTrumps want Trump to fail even if he accomplished nothing other than preventing Hillary from becoming President and completing Obamas transformation. Even if Trump or any of his policies truly would make America great again.

Because apparently to NeverTrumps, the reputation of Pure Conservative Principles, as they define and lecture on them, are more important than American Greatness, as defined and lived by impure, ordinary voters, most of whom consider themselves conservative.

Its a reputation that would be stained by a Trump administration, according to WSJ columnist Bret Stephens, in a way that would cripple the conservative cause for a generation and permanently laying to rest any claim conservatives might ever again make on the character issue. That was in a piece Stephens titled Hillary, the Conservative Hope.

Never mind that no Congress could stop a President Hillary Clinton, as noted by Dennis Prager, who would finish the job her predecessor started: fundamentally transforming the United States of America, perhaps forever.

Yet Stephens seems to think that his prescription of political hygiene and a freshly-cleansed conservative movement could wipe away a transformation solidified by a left-leaning Supreme Court and millions of new votes after a Hillary amnesty. As Daniel Henninger wrote, The idea that a President Cruz or Kasich will roll it all back in 2020 after 12 years of the federal cement drying is just not serious.

But NeverTrumps are seriously working to ensure that Trump fails. Hugely. Stephens hopes Trump is the biggest loser in presidential history.

Trumps voters, in the minds of NeverTrumps, need to feel the failure too.

NeverTrumps cant just settle for him being beaten in November, wrote NeverTrump Republican consultant and self-described principled conservative Rick Wilson. They must ensure that [Trump] is on the business end of a decisive, humiliating defeat -- so that the terribly divisive forces he has unleashed are delivered a death blow.

Its important, Stephens said on CNN, that Donald Trump and what he represents -- this kind of ethnic quote conservatism or populism -- be so decisively rebuked that the Republican party, the Republican voters learn their lesson.

So when it's over, Trumpkins, wrote Wilson, remember: You're not purging us. We're purging you.

To apply the wisdom of NeverTrump Kevin Williamson to the Trump voting community: It deserves to die, and those voters need to rent U-Hauls and get out of the party. Leaving only the purest of pure conservatives in the shrunken Republican tent.

Thats another revelation we have Trumps highlighter to thank: NeverTrump Republicans never really liked the majority of voters in their own party, much less the ones they were trying to win over from the other.

Prominent NeverTrumps who provide numerous anti-Trump diatribes for national publication and network news (i.e., the Hillary campaign) still insist that they will make no difference anyway in this election with their one vote.

I cannot see myself voting for Trump and I, me, mine are the common refrains noted by Breitbarts Joel Pollak in the tweets and articles of the self-obsessed NeverTrumps.

Ted Cruz, in his notorious non-endorsement speech at the RNC, spoke the magical words, vote your conscience -- music to the ears of moral narcissists.

Moral narcissism is the subject of Roger L. Simons new book, I Know Best. In his comments on Simons book, Peter Berkowitz described the phenomenon as intellectual rigidity, self-righteousness, and disdain for those who disagree.

Those words may explain the hundreds of pages against Trump and his voters penned by NeverTrumps at publications such as National Review.

In a piece published after his books release, Simon commented that he could have dedicated a chapter to the pure moral narcissism of, for example, the position of another famous NeverTrump, columnist George Will.

The mirror of a moral narcissist leaves no room for a reflection on strategy if it requires pragmatism or compromise. NeverTrumps see this election in all-or-nothing terms. To them, nothing Trump offers is justification to support him; likewise, they assume that Trump voters agree with everything Trump says and does, frequently writing about them bending the knee.

Read this assertion by NeverTrump Ben Shapiro in his National Review piece on conservatisms moral crisis and spot the moral superiority:

If you believe that the only solution to Americas problems is true conservatism, your greatest fear is not a Hillary presidency: Its the perversion of the conservative movement itself, the corruption of conservatism in favor of power. Hillary Clintons presidency does not snuff out conservatism, even though it provides a serious danger to the republic. Trumps presidency does.

The piece ended with this moral admonition: If [conservatives] embrace Trump, his stink will be on them and the conservative movement for generations to come.

What Shapiro fails to acknowledge, however, is the stink that comes from aligning with the Democrat-media complex against Trump and his voters.

Really, the only difference between Khizr Khans righteous waving of a copy of the Constitution at Trump at the DNC is that the NeverTrumps wrap their copy in a bundle of virtue-signaling articles.

National Reviews NeverTrump Jonah Goldberg, who once wrote that the purpose of conservative commentary was to help shape a conservative electorate, apparently believes that includes rhetorical beating of Trump supporters which will continue until their morality improves.

A few months worth of beatings by Goldberg et al was compiled by author Diana West in a list on her blog titled The Rights Donald Trump Lexicon. And yes, those nasties were from many of the same NeverTrumps who base their argument against Trump on character and morals.

Laura Ingraham argues that this election does represent a moral choice:

That's the choice the NeverTrumpers have made  a decision to do nothing, to wash their hands of the election, of the Republican Party, of the country itself. That may represent some people's version of morality. But it's not mine.

So while the NeverTrumps get their airtime on CNN panels and joke around with Democrat Trump-bashers, the Democrat-media complex knows it has the last laugh: After Hillary, constitutional principles will be irreparably damaged, along with the economy, national security, etc., etc.

But thats not what NeverTrumps worry about. As Stephens fretted: Come January, Mrs. Clinton will likely be president. Whether there is a GOP that can still lay a claim to moral and political respectability is another question.

Framed that way, such a question makes one wonder what it is exactly that the NeverTrump brand of conservatism is supposed to conserve, much less make great again.

Follow Cindy on Twitter @simpsonreport
Yesterday Trump called for the end to a 70+-year geopolitical "standard" adopted by the United States after WWII -- "Nation Building."

This is one of the many reasons why I support Trump: he is a change-agent in the extreme, a man who is not afraid of addressing a failed paradigm.

For those of you who need a nutshell-history refresher-course: after WWII the world's economies and geopolitical systems were a chaotic mess. With victory from the war, the USA was the dominant force-- it had almost all the gold, resources, military power, and was positioned to assist the former enemy-nations to rebuild while introducing democratic political systems that would replace Nazism, fight Communism, control certain oligarch nation-states, and create world-wide trade as a basis for peace.

Post-WWII nation-building was a noble philosophy and daunting challenge -- in a macro-view, to rebuild Europe, stop the march of Communist ideology (and territorial conquest), and induce trade and free markets around the world. In a micro-view, nation-building targeted nations replacing former fascist regimes with representative governments that were compatible with the local cultures.

And that was the key -- democratic nation building had to be "compatible with the local cultures." If it weren't, then nation-building would fail, falling back into former cultures of oligarch rule, tribal rivalries, or anarchy.

But that was then, and this is now. The U.S. has a near-$20 trillion-dollar debt which is intimately connected to the world-wide, post-Bretton Woods, post-gold-standard fiat monetary system(s) which are nearly exhausted in their abilities to induce economic growth through the exercise of global currencies borrowed into existence.

The New Fascism of Radical Islam is both state-sponsored and decentralized as a religious belief system, a cultural dictum, and a political philosophy. It now covers an ever-increasing geopolitical Earth-surface area, acquiring resources, slaves, and minions as it spreads.

The response from the West has been to cultivate global denial: ISIS is a JV team, we can print money forever, Islam is a religion of peace, any manifestation not peaceful cannot be Islamic in origin, nation-building can work in Islamic cultures, and other such nonsense.

In his introductory perspective on this global paradigm, Trump hinted weeks ago that NATOs mission had to change. Trump posited NATO, which was designed to respond to a global threat from the past, is no longer a viable mechanism to address the current threat to Western Civilization. These initial remarks sent shockwaves through the established group-think of the declining Western powers, whose bureaucraticly religious worldview had not changed since the last adjustment when Ronald Reagan introduced the notion that the Soviet Union could actually be defeated. (A notion they scoffed at, at the time, but later proved true.)

So Trump yesterday August 15, 2016, announced the second phase of the shockwave: the end of the Era of Nation Building coupled with the proposition that ISIS (and all radical Islam) must be, and will be, defeated.

Is he right? I think so.

There can be no doubt that the U.S., if put on a war footing with total victory the objective, could militarily defeat the military extensions of radical Islam. Of course, it will take a total-strategy dedication: the isolation of the terror funding, the crushing of state sponsorships, a total anti-radical Islam propaganda campaign where the U.S. makes clear that anyone who adheres to the anti-Western, anti-liberty dictates of Sharia law are also enemies of the West.

It follows that with this shift in war-footing, nation-building is an objective inconsistent with nation-destroying. Why? Because for nation-building to be successful there must be a compatible, cultural-contextual foundation for the new nation.

By stating the obvious, Trump has factually pointed out the very presence of radical Islams cultural elements prevent the possibility of nation building. Indeed, over the last 15 years we have experienced the opposite results; nation-building-processes supply radical Islam with resources from which it can continue to launch Jihad.

It remains to be seen how the Trump strategic world view translates into an amalgam of implementable tactics; but his ability to recognize to truth of shifting world politics, his vision of what a free America needs to do to survive, and his leadership to template a path to victory could not be coming at a better time.
Obama ushered in a new age of evil. Hillary Clinton will follow suit. Heres a recent snapshot of just how depraved things have become (as if we need more examples).

The AP recently reported on a four-hour rampage of violence directed against Americans (and others) in South Sudan when Sudanese troops attacked a residential compound last month.

The soldier pointed his AK-47 at the female aid worker and gave her a choice. Either you have sex with me, or we make every man here rape you and then we shoot you in the head, she remembers him saying. She didn't really have a choice. By the end of the evening, she had been raped by 15 South Sudanese soldiers.

The bloody attack singled out Americans as men, women, and at least one teenage girl were raped. People were forced to watch the execution of a local journalist. Some were beaten with fists, belts, and the butts of guns. Many were robbed. Some were tortured. One man had bullets fired at his feet and near his head, after which time soldiers said: You tell your embassy how we treated you. The man managed to make his way to the U.N. compound to ask for help.

To no avail.

The AP report continued:

The building shook as soldiers shot at the metal door and pried metal bars off windows for more than an hour, said residents. Once inside, the soldiers started ransacking the rooms and assaulting people they found. [snip] After about an hour and a half, the soldiers broke into the bathroom. They shot through the door, said Jesse Bunch, an American contractor who was hit in the leg. We kill you! We kill you! the soldiers shouted, according to a Western woman in the bathroom. They would shoot up at the ceiling and say, Do you want to die? and we had to answer No! The soldiers then pulled people out one by one. One woman said she was sexually assaulted by multiple men. Another Western woman said soldiers beat her with fists and threatened her with their guns when she tried to resist. She said five men raped her. From the start of the attack, those inside the Terrain compound sent messages pleading for help by text and Facebook messages and emails. All of us were contacting whoever we could contact. The U.N., the U.S. embassy, contacting the specific battalions in the U.N., contacting specific departments, said the woman raped by 15 men.

Although U.N. peacekeeping forces were stationed less than a mile away, they ignored pleas for help. So did embassies, including the U.S. Embassy. Eventually, South Sudanese security forces rescued most of the female Westerners and many others.

Sickening doesnt even begin to describe this. But if readers can stomach a slight detour related to this tale, please read on.

Among the refugees (aka colonizers) the left is so eager to import (more of) are the Sudanese. As such, Id like to give readers another snapshot of where Sudan meets America: Twin Falls, Idaho. You know, Twin Falls. Where the rape of women and girls by Muslim savages has begun, where the victims are vilified, and where our new friends from North Africa and the Middle East are protected.

In fact, the protection of and pandering to these newly arrived invaders know no bounds, including employers being incentivized to hire them. But if theyre going to hire them, in the P.C. world in which we now live, they need to brush up on their cultural competence because, Lord knows, we certainly dont want to expect any of these folks to actually assimilate, right?! (Not that I even believe they can. Its hopeless. Just dont bring them here. Period.)

So a shiny new brochure was created to help employers navigate the waters of third-world war-torn countries with cultural norms so far removed from our own that its simply breathtaking.

Heres a taste of the suicidal madness, summarized from a Breitbart report.

Prospective employers are given overarching tips such as the likelihood that many refugees suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder, which may be triggered by interviews or meetings because these events may be reminiscent of torture or interrogation sessions. Employers are also reminded that they will need to stress how critical it will be for new employees to be on time for work since many of the newly arrived have a dramatically different sense of time from Westerners'.

In addition to broad guidelines, the brochure also breaks down what to do and what not to do based on specific cultures. The thrust is not that refugees should assimilate to our culture, but instead that we must understand their cultural norms and accommodate them accordingly.

So in the case of Sudanese, employers are told that, among other things, this group does not accept the concept of no, and they will also need help managing time and making decisions. When dealing with people from Eritrea, prospective employers are urged to avoid eye contact as a sign of reverence. Dealing with Iraqis, a man should not inquire into how an Iraqi mans wife is. When dealing with Afghans, the stakes are even higher, because any expression by a man of concern about female relatives will be perceived as rude at best, or an occasion for the Afghan to seek revenge at worst.

And on and on it goes.

The state of affairs we find ourselves in is sickening and shameful. Its criminal, really. Our nation is being pulled down, our communities are being destroyed, and our lives are being put at risk.

We must make our voices heard every single day. And without fail on Election Day.

Hat tip: Atlas Shrugs, Front Page Magazine
With her Christian Democratic party facing a strong challenge from the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party in state elections on September 4, Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to tamp down fears that the refugees who have flooded the country have made Germany less safe.

Merkel denies a link between increased terror attacks and the new arrivals.

Associated Press:

German news agency dpa quotes Merkel as saying that "Islamist terrorism by IS isn't a phenomenon that came to us with the refugees, it's one that we had before too." Merkel was speaking late Wednesday at a political rally in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where her Christian Democrats face strong competition from the nationalist Alternative for Germany party in state elections on Sept. 4. The country has been shaken by a string of attacks, two of which were the first in Germany claimed by the Islamic State group. In those, only the attackers  both asylum-seekers  were killed. In an unrelated attack, a German teenager killed nine people in Munich.

French counterterrorism officials have admitted that as many as 600 ISIS fighters have arrived in the recent wave of refugees. Her own government has expressed concerns over ISIS infiltration among the refugees.

But ordinary Germans are feeling a lot less safe these days, and Merkel felt it necessary to deny the link between terrorism and the refugees. Technically, she is correct in saying that Islamic extremism existed in Germany before the refugees arrived. But to claim that there is no link between the two is to deny reality  and common sense.
Donald Trump has appointed Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway to run his campaign.

Conway, as manager of the campaign, should help Trump appeal to women and also conservatives. She worked for Ted Cruz.

Bannon has an interesting background. He served in the Navy as an officer, has a Harvard MBA, worked at Goldman Sachs, and ran Breitbart News since 2012. The media refers to him as a "street fighter" and "very conservative" and seems upset that Trump has hired him.

The media prefers that Trump run a "gentlemanly" campaign as did Romney, McCain, and Dole, all of whom lost. It is okay for Democrats to lie that Romney did not pay his taxes, that Romney was mean to his dog, and that Romney was responsible for the death of an employee. And it is okay for Candy Crowley to run interference for Obama during the debates. The Republicans are supposed to shrug it off and not respond, which the media terms presidential.

The media also believes it was presidential for McCain not to bring up Obama's association with Reverend Wright, and for Dole not to criticize Bill Clinton on his sexual harassment history.

What the media and Democrats call presidential is for the Republicans to act like a punching bag and not fight back. Trump fights back.

By appointing Bannon, Trump is telling us he will attack Hillary. He has to attack Hillary and tie her to the failed policies of Obama, and to her "husband" Bill Clinton.

Trump knows he has to attack Hillary because the Democrats are attacking him to try to destroy him. He has to in order to win. Fortunately, Hillary offers much material to attack, such as Benghazi, the emails, her role in Obamacare, selling pardons while co-president, covering up the sexual harassment of Bill and the rape of Juanita Broaddrick, and much more.

George H.W. Bush had Lee Atwater, who went after Dukakis, and Bill Clinton had James Carville and Paul Begala to attack George H.W. Bush. Bannon seems to be an aggressive partisan in the mold of Atwater, Carville, and Begala, which is what we need to win.

Bannon, with his experience in films and at Breitbart News, should help focus and sharpen the attacks on Hillary, and also clarify and push Trump's key issues of national security, immigration, and the economy.
Noses at the White House are growing longer by the day as new revelations about the ransom paid for our hostages come to light.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that there was a "tightly scripted exchange specifically timed to the release of several American prisoners held in Iran."

The White House continues to insist that the cash wasn't a ransom. That's their story, and they're sticking to it.

President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials have said the payment didnt amount to ransom, because the U.S. owed the money to Iran as part of a longstanding dispute linked to a failed arms deal from the 1970s. U.S. officials have said that the prisoner release and cash transfer took place through two separate diplomatic channels. But the handling of the payment and its connection to the Americans release have raised questions among lawmakers and administration critics. The use of an Iranian cargo plane to move pallets filled with $400 million brings clarity to one of the mysteries surrounding the cash delivery to Iran first reported by The Wall Street Journal this month. Administration officials have refused to publicly disclose how and when the transfer took place. Executives from Irans flagship carrier, Iran Air, organized the flight from Tehran to Geneva where the casheuros and Swiss francs and other currencieswas loaded onto the aircraft, these people said. Our top priority was getting the Americans home, said a U.S. official. Once the Americans were wheels up on the morning of Jan. 17, Iranian officials in Geneva were allowed to take custody of the $400 million in currency, according to officials briefed on the exchange. The payment marked the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration announced it had reached with Tehran in January to resolve a decades-old legal dispute traced back to the final days of Irans last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. His government paid $400 million into a Pentagon trust fund in 1979 for military parts that were never delivered because of the Islamic revolution that toppled him. Mr. Obama said on Aug. 4 the payment had to be in cash because the U.S. and Iran have no banking relationship, eliminating the possibility of a check or wire transfer.

The ransom may have encouraged Iran to scoop up more Americans. Most of them are charged with spying or trying to undermine the regime  trumped up charges that the Iranians now know can lead to a very profitable exchange.

No matter the evidence that emerges, the administration will continue to insist that people "move along...nothing to see here" with regard to the ransom. But at this point, the only people who believe them are Obamabots and the professional liars in the Democratic Party.
I found it hilarious when I read in an AP article that Hillary is bewildered about Trumps foreign policy and suggestions to improve national security. Here is an article that shows her bewilderment.

Hillary Clinton has vowed to conduct a national security and foreign policy that Americans could be proud of, adding that Donald Trump "just absolutely bewilders" her when he talks about his policies around the globe. The Democratic presidential candidate embraced the US Olympic team's success at a voter registration rally in Philadelphia, describing it as an example of an optimistic nation that runs counter to what she considers Mr Trump's pessimism and negativity. "It just absolutely bewilders me when I hear Donald Trump try to talk about national security," Mrs Clinton said, pointing to US vice president Joe Biden's dissection of Mr Trump's foreign policy at a Pennsylvania event on Monday.

Hillary seems bewildered by many things:



She didnt understand that a secretary of state is required by law to use a government email system instead of a personal non-secure server. She had so little understanding of national security laws that FBI director Comey couldnt tell if she intended to break the law.

Hillary seemed to have no idea that Bill Clinton and the Clinton Foundation shouldnt take donations from businesses, individuals, and foreign countries doing business with the State Department.

She doesnt understand the difference between personal emails and business emails.

She doesnt understand that as secretary of state, you would obviously receive and send some classified emails in four years.

She didnt understand that government officials are required to obey FOIA laws and cooperate with inspectors general.

She is so stymied by simple questions that she may short circuit instead of telling the truth.

She had no idea that Libya wasnt safe and was requesting additional security measures and therefore wasnt responsible for not protecting our people.

She doesnt understand the difference between a planned terrorist attack and a spontaneous demonstration. She doesnt understand why it makes a difference why or how Americans died.

She is bewildered about how to tell the truth to family members of those who died.

She had no idea that Egypt wasnt stable and that Assad wasnt a reformer.

The red reset button with Russia was especially confusing.

She doesnt know that a president should tell the truth when attempting to secure a deal with the greatest terrorist-sponsoring country to give it $100s of billions.

She doesnt understand that if you are required to give cash before the release of hostages, it is ransom and a violation of law.

She truly has a hard time understanding that a president is supposed to obey all laws, not just ones he likes.

She is bewildered that the Constitution allows free speech and freedom of association and prevents Congress from making laws that infringe on political speech.

I hope Hillary is never asked to debate with someone who will explain to her that the climate changed billions of years before humans and before fossil fuels.

She doesnt have any idea that businesses and corporations create jobs.

She is especially confused by the TPP trade agreement. She used to be 100% for it; now she is 100% against it. Somehow her writings supporting the agreement arent available. They probably are in the same place those Rose Law Firm billing records were.

She said she didnt know that businesses would cut hours when Obamacare punishes them for allowing workers to work over 30 hours per week.

Hillary is bewildered on so many things concerning the economy, domestic policy, and foreign policy that every headline about Hillary should just be:

Hillary is bewildered. Again.
Recently, our representative in Congress was the guest speaker at the Flower Mound Area Republican Club in North Texas. Congressman Michael Burgess (R-Texas, 26th District) took an impassioned stand in support of Donald Trump. Making it clear that Republicans have a binary choice, Dr. Burgess (M.D., ob/gyn) spoke of the stark differences between Hillary Clinton and the GOP standard bearer.

Yes, Burgess was originally was in support of Senator Ted Cruz, representing the Lone Star State, but once the nominee was chosen by the voters, his allegiance became clear. Outlining a dismal future with a Clinton presidency, Dr. Burgess talked about the need for someone who speaks candidly about the crucial issues facing our country.

Knowing how controversial the Trump candidacy is, Dr. Burgess could have spent his time at the podium speaking about recent legislation he's proposed or other issues he's addressed in the past. He could have decided not to step onto the minefield of current presidential politics. I admire him for numerous reasons, not the least of which is that he has the courage and integrity to take the lead when other, more timorous, officials would rather play it safe, lest they ruffle some feathers and risk some votes.

There's nothing so refreshing as hearing an elected official speak directly from the heart, without scripted notes or teleprompter assistance. I think it's important to remember that the public has gotten tired of hearing the politically correct stump speeches by those who have perfected the art of eloquent mendacity.

Rep. Burgess talked about a Trump rally he attended in Dallas a few months ago. He spoke of the enthusiasm at the huge gathering and the feeling one gets that a ground-shaking movement is underway in our country. Trump was late for his appearance, so, as a local elected official, Burgess was asked to mount the stage and talk to the massive crowd for a few minutes. It must have been an experience like no other as he received thunderous applause and cheers every time he mentioned the name of the man whose candidacy has energized the country like no one since Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980 to undo the damage of Jimmy Carter's failed presidency.

Burgess enumerated the manifold disparities between Clinton and Trump, such as higher taxes and bigger government from the former and the very opposite from the latter. He talked about the Clinton pattern of lies and deception regarding the 30,000 missing emails; the FBI investigation that pointed to her recklessness with national security; the Benghazi tragedy, which she completely mishandled; and the money trail to the Clinton Foundation from foreign governments while she was secretary of state. The congressman wants those Republicans who may not think Trump is their best choice to recognize that he offers a much better future for our country than a Barack Obama clone who will continue to appeal to the extreme left-wing base of the Democratic Party.

Hillary Clinton will give us more of the same disastrous policies that have produced rioting in our cities from coast to coast  terrorist bombings that inhibit our feelings of security and an economy being thrashed in a storm like the Wreck of the Hesperus. The only thing Clinton has going for her is a liberal media that has abandoned the principles of journalism in favor of an establishment candidate who has more baggage than Samsonite. As Trump often points out, Hillary is in bed with the lobbyists and mega-buck donors who are used to having elected officials in their pockets, like so much loose change. He represents the voice of the people, which has been systematically robbed by a crooked cartel that runs the country for their own personal gain.

This election will determine if the voters have been propagandized out of their ability to discern fiction from reality. If the mainstream media is able to pettifog with devious distractions and deceptive cover-ups for their chosen one, it will likely mean that we will never again have the chance to resurrect this country's greatness. Make no mistake about it: they want Hillary in the White House to prove they still control the thought process of the electorate. A Trump victory will mean that the media will be gobsmacked by a newly educated public who no longer allow it to foist corrupt candidates on them like tobacco companies selling cancer for a profit.

Dr. Burgess provided ample reasons for those who may still be on the fence to pull the lever for Donald Trump on November 8. I couldn't be more proud of having him represent me in Congress.
A pro-Iranian left-wing group received $750,000 from the George Soros group Open Society to create a media "echo chamber" that would overwhelm critics of the Iran nuclear deal while doing the bidding of the White House to push the agreement.

The Ploughshares Fund, cited by the White House as one of the main architects of the P.R. campaign to push for passage of the Iran nuclear deal, requested the funds in order to hire experts and "validators" to orchestrate the messaging.

Washington Free Beacon:

The March 2015 funding request was leaked online as part of a massive document disclosure that revealed Soross efforts to fund a large network of liberal nonprofits and political groups. The disclosure of the Ploughshares request shines further light on backroom efforts by the White House and its top allies to create what they called an echo chamber to galvanize public support for the nuclear deal with Iran. Ploughshares was cited by senior White House officials as a chief architect of this campaign, which flooded the media with various experts touting the deal. Ploughshares requested the $750,000 in order to solidify its pro-Iran network and bring others into the fold, according to the funding request. This included efforts to broaden and better coordinate circle of experts and validators who support diplomacy, including prominent US, European and Israeli military and diplomatic personalities, as well as Iranian human rights and civil society leaders, according to the document. Ploughshares raised concerns that opponents of the deal would scuttle negotiations before the administration achieved a final agreement. One potential risk is that unforeseen events or actions by opponents in the US, Iran, Saudi Arabia or Israel somehow make a deal impossible before the grant is fully implemented, the document states. Another potential risk is that negotiations on an accord or implementation phases extend beyond timeframe of the grant, and opportunities to derail diplomacy persist after resources might have been expended. The money would be used to facilitate mainstream and social media outreach by validators along with other public and private efforts to shape the debate in support of an agreement and continued diplomacy, the request states. Ploughshares also hoped to increase outreach by coalition members and validators to policymakers with focus on long-term impact of the deal on regional and global security issues where potential cooperation with Iran could be beneficial. The request provides a glimpse into efforts by the White House and its allies to strengthen its grasp on the media in order to prevent negative coverage of the Iran agreement.

NPR reportedly took money from Ploughshares in order to put pro-agreement commentators on while canceling appearances by lawmakers opposed. Needless to say, they didn't disclose this cozy arrangement.

Ploughshares helped sell the American people a bill of goods. And one of the true ironies of this P.R. campaign is that deal boosters were railing against all the money deal opponents were spending to defeat the agreement.

With Soros backing the boosters, there was little chance they would be outspent.
The Commerce Department is finalizing the transition of control of the internet from U.S. hands to a "multi-stakeholder" model that includes Russia and China.

None of this was approved by Congress. The administration is acting unilaterally to strip U.S. control of the internet and give it to totalitarians and religious fanatics.

Washington Examiner:

The move means the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, which is responsible for interpreting numerical addresses on the Web to a readable language, will move from U.S. control to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a multistakeholder body based in Los Angeles that includes countries such as China and Russia. Critics of the move, most prominently Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, have pointed out the agency could be used by totalitarian governments to shut down the Web around the globe, either in whole or in part. "The proposal will significantly increase the power of foreign governments over the Internet, expand ICANN's historical core mission by creating a gateway to content regulation, and embolden [its] leadership to act without any real accountability," Cruz wrote in a letter sent to Commerce and signed by two fellow Republicans, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. In the event any facilities are relocated to China, senators noted, they could go in the same building as the agency responsible for censoring that country's Internet. "We have uncovered that ICANN's Beijing office is actually located within the same building as the Cyberspace Administration of China, which is the central agency within the Chinese government's censorship regime," they wrote, noting that some of the American companies involved with the transition process have already "shown a willingness to acquiesce" to Chinese demands to aid with censorship. "While this is certainly not illegal, it does raise significant concerns as to the increased influence that governments  as well as the culture of cronyism," they added. Opponents similarly made the case that Congress has passed legislation to prohibit the federal government from using tax dollars to allow the transition, and pointed out that the feds are constitutionally prohibited from transferring federal property without approval from Congress. A coalition of 25 advocacy groups including Americans for Tax Reform, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and Heritage Action sent a letter to Congress making those points last week. A fourth, Americans for Limited Government, joined that letter and issued a separate statement calling for Congress to sue in the event the transfer moves forward.

Has there ever been a nation that voluntarily gave up a powerful tool that drives commerce and allows for the freest flow of information in the history of civilization? Probably not, because such a tool never existed before this. But some ideologies can't stand freedom. Russia, China, the Arab world, and others have tried for decades to wrest control of the internet from the U.S. Finally, they found their naive pidgeon in Barack Obama.

This is a radical change. I suspect we will see almost immediately that it was a mistake. But once the transfer is made, it will be too late to get it back, leaving us pretty much at the mercy of anti-freedom governments.
There's hypocrisy, there's double standards...and then there's this jaw dropping post at Wonkette by Rebecca Schoenkopf, for which there is no word in the dictionary.

The author rationalizes Bill Clinton's rape of Juanita Broaddrick:

I can absolutely see Bill Clinton doing this (then, not now) and not even thinking of it as rape, but thinking of it as dominant, alpha sex. I can see a LOT of men doing that during that time period, before we started telling them in the 80s, hey, that is rape, do not do that. I can see YOUR NICE GRANDPA doing that, back then.

In the Buzzfeed piece, Broaddricks precocious 13-year-old grandson  who sounds like a really sweet young man  has learned this year about his grandmothers complicated past, thanks to overheard conversations and gaps filled in by Google. He says to force sex on a woman means you are an evil person. I dont think this is true. I think you can do something horrible, realize later that it is horrible, be ashamed forever and try to keep it secret and never do it again. (Especially if youre, say, a teenager whose impulse control is still years away from being properly developed.)

Rape is about power, not sex. For those for whom its about power, those are the serial rapist guys, and they hate women and want to punish us. But I dont think thats in every case. I think good men can rape, and be sorry, and not do it again. This is very bad feminism.

While I (sort of? am leaning toward?) believe Juanita Broaddrick, her characterization of Hillary Clinton sounds irrational, maybe induced from PTSD:

Every single feminist shibboleth about rape is excused or spun by the author. To excuse Clinton of raping anyone because it was considered "alpha sex" in the 1980s to viciously attack a woman and force her to have sex and Bill didn't know any better is about as twisted as it gets.

And then forgiveness:

To sum up, I think Bill Clinton could very well have raped Juanita Broaddrick; that it doesnt make him an evil man, or irredeemable (Im Catholic; were all forgiven, if were sorry, and Broaddrick says Bill Clinton personally called her up to apologize). It doesnt even necessarily make him a bad feminist  you know, later, once he stops doing that.

I dont necessarily believe the woman who says Donald Trump raped her when she was a 13-year-old girl. (Im pretty sure he did rape his wife though, seeing as how she said so under oath.) It doesnt seem in character  to me  that he would threaten to have her disappeared. It seems a lot more Trumpy that hed send her off with a good girl and a smack on the ass, assuming shed be grateful to have hosted Trumps magnificent schlong. Hows that for fair and balanced?

I don't have the words to analyze this unspeakable rot. We've been listening to feminists for 40 years tell us that even consensual sex on the marriage bed is rape; that the woman is always to be believed; that rape is about power, not sex; and that men are beasts.

But apparently at least this one feminist can throw all that under the bus to get Hillary Clinton elected.

We knew during the Clinton impeachment that feminists had sold out  that if a Republican had done what Clinton did, he would have been tarred, feathered, and ridden out of D.C. on a rail. And now, at least some feminists have gone even farther. You almost expected the author to claim that Broaddrick was asking for it and actually enjoyed herself.

It may be true that some men in the 1980s believed that "no" means "yes" and acted in a beastly manner toward women. But rape is rape, and to excuse such attacks for political reasons should elicit outrage from real feminists.
As'ad's Bio

As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants.
Even as Google battles an antitrust probe launched by the European Commission led by no-nonsense Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, the company is faring no better in a similar battle in Russia. It all started back in 2014 when Yandex, Googles biggest Russian competitor, alleged that not only did Google force phone makers to install its services in their Android phones, but also blocked them from installing services developed by its competitors. The ensuing investigation found Google guilty as charged and the company promptly appealed the decision. Finally in March of this year, the earlier verdict, along with a fine equivalent to $6.86 million imposed on Google, was upheld. In the meantime, the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service suggested that if Google admitted to the violations as alleged, an out-of-court settlement could be reached on the subject.

Yesterday, it came to light that Google failed to reach the proposed out-of-court settlement with the FAS. The talks with Google on the issue of the settlement agreement have come to nothing. Now its up to the courts to draw a line in this case, said Elena Zaeva, the Head of the FAS Department for Regulation of Telecommunications and Information Technology. Earlier today, the case went back to the court which immediately turned down the appeal filed by Google without giving the company any concessions. It remains to be seen if Google will appeal the verdict in a higher court or if the company will accept it and change the way it drafts agreements with phone makers in Russia. If Google takes the latter approach, the verdicts fallout may have a bearing on how the antitrust proceedings against Google in Europe will pan out in the coming days.

The fate of Googles services not only hang in the balance in Russia as well as in the European Union, but are also not entirely safe in the United States. Back in April, Senator Richard Blumenthal along with former FTC commissioner Tim Wu asked for a closed antitrust case against Google to be reopened, claiming that the outcome of the previous hearing was unsatisfactory. Incidentally, Tim Wu was instrumental in the closure of the case earlier but his views changed after he worked on a research paper funded by Yelp where he discovered how Googles anti-competitive practices harmed the competition. While not so much has been heard about the case since, the fact remains that the company will continue to face allegations about its practices in the U.S. and elsewhere in the coming years.
In the Oracle case against Google, Oracle have told a federal court today that their lost copyright trial case against Google should be dismissed because they were denied evidence. In short, Oracles attorney, Annette Hurst, told the court that the launch of the Google Play Store for the Chromebook platform was a game changer the whole foundation for their case is gone. [Android] isnt transformative; its on desktops and laptops. Oracle believe that the Google Play Store running on the Chrome OS dramatically increases the amount of harm Oracle have experienced and that Googles plans should have been disclosed. One of Googles case foundations is that Android, built for smartphones and used on tablets too, used Java APIs for fair use and one of these pointers was that the Android platform did not compete with Java SE, used on desktop and laptop computers.

Googles attorney, Christa Anderson, responded by explaining that Oracle asked for information about the App Runtime for the Chrome platform (ARC) during the discovery phase of the trial. Google provided the information and therefore Oracle knew that Google was working on porting Android applications to the Chromebook platform. Oracle was at liberty to use this argument at any point during the trial but did not. Christa explained that No party had a duty to supplement discovery with matters beyond the scope of trial Our answers were appropriate and complete. Google was considering an update to the Chrome platform to be called ARC+ but this was not available in October during the discovery phase of the trial. Furthermore, even today the App Runtime for Chrome is still in a pre-release stage: it is not ready for the wider market.

US District Judge William Alsup decided to take Annettes comments under submission and will later rule by writing, but did tell the Google attorney, if I had been in your position, I would have disclosed. From the discussion, Google believe that Oracle had the information and decided not to use it, whereas Oracle believe Google did not explain their business plan for running Android applications on the Chrome OS platform. Unfortunately for Oracle, their attorneys have a track history of disclosing sensitive information about Google to the wider world.

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Although the discussions between the two attorneys was predominantly concerned with Google running Android applications on the Chrome OS platform, the discussion also included observations about Google presenting relatively little information during the trial. Oracle argued that there should be a new trial because of this and Nathan Shaffer, Oracle attorney, explained that Google was building a market replacement for Java-based phones, which would not be covered by fair use  and that Google copied the Java APIs in order to capture developers to the new platform. However, Judge Alsup did not agree with this statement and reminded Oracle that they had all of Googles emails and that a jury would have sided with Oracle if they felt this way. The Judge also told Oracle that enough evidence was submitted and presented but that the jury sided against them.

The final discussion point between the two sides was that of Google requesting their $3.9 million bill be paid by Oracle, which Oracle were arguing. This $3.9 million is only for the production of documents and fees for court-ordered experts but excludes lawyer fees and their own internal experts. However, Judge Alsup told both sides to talk about the costs between themselves and agree. To Googles attorney he said: Failing that, I may deny everything you want, because of greed and overreaching. It appears that the Oracle case against Google, which was started in 2012, is set to rumble on.
Huawei is one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world. This company is currently the third largest smartphone manufacturer out there, and only Samsung and Apple are still unreachable for this company. Huawei is also the largest smartphone manufacturer in China, and it seems like the company has big plans for India as well, the fastest growing smartphone market in the world. This company had unveiled their Huawei P9 smartphone in India yesterday, and along with that device, the company had also released a new version of Huawei Watch in India, a variant with the metal band. As some of you might know, the Huawei Watch was available in India, but only the version with the leather band. In any case, it seems like Huawei intends to increase their efforts in India, read on.

As you might know, many smartphone manufacturers already manufacture devices in India as part of the Make in India initiative, Xiaomi included. Well, Huawei intends to join that list of companies soon, which will certainly benefit the companys sales in the country. Now we already have licenses for manufacturing in place. In short term we will announce our local manufacturing plan in one month, said Peter Zhai, President for Huawei India Consumer Business Group. He shared this info during the Huawei P9 launch yesterday, and this more or less confirms Huaweis plans, and on top of all, Huawei expects India to be their second largest market for mobile devices, right after China. Zhai also added: As an international brand, we are interested in developing our India business at the right time. It is going to be second largest mobile devices market after China. We will be aggressive in India. Huawei will increase presence across 50,000 stores by the end of this year from about couple of thousands now.

Now, Huawei is definitely not new in India, theyve been selling devices over there for a long, long time, but this will give them a way to cut costs and quite probably offer their products faster to Indian consumers. In addition to all this, Huawei also plans to open branded stores in the country, but they still dont have everything planned out, so that might take some time to happen. That is more or less it, Huawei will start manufacturing devices in India soon, and final plans will be revealed within a month, if everything goes to plan, which are certainly great news for Huaweis fans in the country.
Earlier this week, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, together with General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, took the stage at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco and discussed the future of smart cities. Smart devices and the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) are gaining more popularity every day, but as years go by, the industry expects smart technology to become widely spread to the point where we might end up living in smart cities. During the conference, the two CEOs have explored this future and revealed some of the first steps that would lead to implementing smart technologies to such a large scale.

According to General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt We are at a line of demarcation where you embrace the future or you are unable to satisfy the needs of your customers. Every industrial company has to transform itself into a digital company. As such, the beginnings of smart cities will be traced back to smart buildings, specifically smart headquarters and smart factories belonging to companies. According to Intels estimates, every individual will use an average of 1.5 GB of data per day by the year 2020. At the same time, a smart hospital will use around 3,000 GB of data per day, and a smart factory could top 1 million GB of data in a single day. However and as previously mentioned, these smart buildings might represent only the beginnings of smart cities. General Electrics Current division has developed Predix; software that uses Intels Internet of Things platform to gather data from all the sensors in a smart city and analyze it for patterns. For example, the system could be used to better guide supply trucks, and in turn, this can potentially lead to a smarter infrastructure and reduced management costs across a smart city. Another example would be for General Electric to enhance their energy-efficient LED street lighting to use an array of sensors for collecting data, including gunfire locations, which could then be passed along to gunshot detection systems including ShotSpotter.

It should be noted that, according to the Chief Digital Officer of General Electrics Current division, John Gordon, Predix collects only metadata, and does not collect identity information. Metadata is the secret to this (smart cities), as it can be used for the aforementioned examples and ultimately, in a quest to improve city management, reduce costs, lower crime rate, reduce traffic congestions and so on.
In the mobile industry, there are actually only a handful of smartphone manufacturers that are actually making a profit. That would be Samsung and Apple. Other manufacturers like LG, Huawei, Sony, and Lenovo have been able to stick around because they do far more than just smartphones. For instance, LG makes appliances and Huawei is big into telecommunication equipment. Which help offset the cost of being in the mobile industry. However, for Lenovo, their PC business hasnt been doing so well in recent years. And thats likely due to many more people opting to use smartphones or tablets in place of a traditional laptop or desktop computer. Now they are looking to use Moto to offset that decline from their PC business.

This year, the company announced quite a few new smartphones. Both under their existing Vibe brand as well as Motos own brand. But it appears that they have some bigger and better plans set for the 2017 fiscal year. According to reports coming out of China, Lenovo is going to be targeting the high-end market a bit more aggressively. Now whether that means more high-end smartphones or even high-end smartphones at lower prices, is not known at this time. They are also planning to create more augmented-reality smartphones  likely using Googles Tango  in 2017. Lenovo did release their first Tango-powered smartphone this year at Lenovo Tech World in June, although it has not yet hit store shelves.

Lenovo bought Motorola Mobility from Google in 2014 for about $2.91 billion. Much lower than what Google had paid for the company a few years earlier. This is due to the fact that Google split the company into Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions, and the fact that Google kept all of Motorolas patents that way Android manufacturers would be able to use them. Lenovo bought Motorola Mobility with the hopes of becoming a competitor to Samsung. That hasnt happened yet, but it does take time to integrate an acquisition, and to build up that brand again. After all, Motorolas brand hasnt been strong since around the time the original Motorola Droid came out in 2009. However, Lenovo is hoping that will change and change soon.
After persistent rumors about a premium variant of the Galaxy Note 7 with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of built-in storage, the President of Samsung Mobile, Dongjin Koh, finally confirmed that such a model does indeed exist. However, much to the dismay of enthusiasts worldwide, the variant will be exclusive to China at the moment, although, the company hasnt yet ruled out the possibility of launching it elsewhere. However, even as the insanely well-specd Galaxy Note 7 looks all set to be unleashed upon buyers in the worlds largest smartphone market, its the pricing that has got people talking. The standard version, with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, is already fairly expensive, and costs around $850 without carrier subsidies in the U.S.

Elsewhere, though, the device comes with an even higher price-tag, with unlocked Galaxy Note 7 units currently listed online at 699 ($907) in the U.K. The device has also been launched in India at Rs. 59,900 ($896), and will retail at 5688 Yuan ($856) in China. However, if these prices seem a little on the high side for what is, after all, still just a high-end smartphone, the premium variant is expected to come with an even higher price-tag. While the company is yet to make any official announcements regarding the pricing of the premium version, rumor has it that the device may well cost a whopping 6088 yuan ($917) when eventually launched in China later this year.

What does all that mean to consumers outside of China? Well, seeing as Samsung isnt likely to take the premium version elsewhere any time soon, those wanting to get their hands on it will have to think about importing the Chinese version, provided it has support for the LTE bands being used by their carriers. With international freight and third-party retailers likely to inflate the price significantly, it is highly unlikely that anyone outside of China will be able to own the more premium Galaxy Note 7 for much less than $1,000, as things stand now. Even if Samsung was to give in to popular demand and launch the premium version in other regions, it will obviously come at a premium. With the standard version itself costing around (or even above) the $900 mark in places like the U.K. and India, it might be safe to assume that the 6GB RAM model will come with a sticker-shock that will be tough to digest.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is literally the newest smartphone in town. Which does mean in the coming days and weeks, it will be arriving in mailboxes throughout the world or being picked up in stores. If you are in the US then you do have your pick of the carriers when it comes to the Galaxy Note 7 with all the major players carrying the device and seemingly keen for you to shop with them.

Verizon is one of those carriers and they announced very early on that pre-orders for their Galaxy Note 7 would commence from August 3, with an expected delivery date of August 19  the same date you can also pick the Galaxy Note 7 up in Verizon stores. This also seems to be a date which is on target as reports already did come through days ago noting that Verizon pre-orders were being fulfilled and shipped out. As such, those who had pre-ordered through Verizon will be receiving their handsets imminently, if they have not already.

That said, if you do plan to head to Verizon store tomorrow and pick one up (or are expecting your delivery to arrive), it looks like you will have an update ready to install from the first day. Verizon has announced an update rolling out to the Galaxy Note 7 and while this is not a particularly significant update, it is one which brings with the it the latest security patches and fixes. Therefore, while not practically useful, it will be a welcomed update. According to the details, the update will arrive with software number MMB29M.N930VVRS1APH1 and does not list any additional content, besides the Android security patches.

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With Verizon looking to push out an update before the device even hits store shelves and mailboxes, it does look promising for the Galaxy Note 7 in terms of future updates. That is, providing Samsung and the carriers including Verizon, do maintain the same frequency for future updates, be they security or otherwise. Either way, if you are expecting a Galaxy Note 7 to arrive from Verizon in the next couple of days or heading out to the store to get one, make sure to apply the update as soon as the device is up and running.
In testing their self-driving cars and aggregating data for them, tech companies all use special test facilities. The cars memorize the lay of the facility, some of the obstacles and such, but always get a fresh challenge thrown at them in the end. If a self-driving car prototype can memorize the layout of a small test city, then why couldnt a self-driving bus memorize the layout and usual obstacles of an actual city? That is exactly the question that transit authorities in Helsinski, Finland posed, and promptly answered by saying, It can.

The Finnish capital is set to start up a month-long trial of a fleet of small self-driving buses. The mini-buses will only carry a few people at a time, and wont have to worry about the usual risks associated with a bus, such as wide turns and gigantic blind spots. Between the compact design of the buses and the smarts that they hold inside, authorities feel that the fleet is ready to prove itself among normal, human-driven traffic. In the one month trial, the Easymile EZ-10 buses, running fully electric, will shuttle up to 12 people at a time around the citys open roads, but will stay away from private roads, driveways, and the like, much like a normal bus. With the law of the land not requiring a driver, the usual legal song and dance that self-driving vehicles are facing worldwide is not part of the picture, meaning that the buses can hit public streets with impunity.

This public trial for the fleet of small buses comes after a successful round of testing on a closed part of the nearby town of Vantaa, albeit the testing did take place during a housing fair, forcing the buses to compete with the limited traffic drawn by the fair. During the trial, the buses will average around 10 kilometers per hour, with a maximum speed of 40. While this may make them easy targets for reckless drivers and a traffic jam magnet, this is a necessary evil of integrating the buses into real traffic. The buses fit in a supplemental position in the countrys larger transit framework, and are an integral part of Helsinskis plan to lessen the need to own a car, by giving citizens access to all kinds of transport, anywhere in the city, at any time.
Over forty five years ago, in what began in a motel lobby in Gallup New Mexico, with a display case full of turquoise, and a few other jewelry making supplies, Thunderbird Supply Co. was born. Back then, local Native American silversmiths and craftsmen would stop by the motel daily to buy turquoise and other items for the jewelry they created and are renowned for to this day. As word began to spread around the four corners area, Thunderbirds business began to grow and soon, customers from all over the Southwest came to Thunderbird Supply to buy and trade turquoise and a wide range of other supplies relevant to their trade.

Today, Thunderbird Supply employs over 75 people and serves a worldwide customer base with three locations (Albuquerque, N.M., Flagstaff, Ariz. and Gallup, N.M.). Thunderbird Supply serves its wide range of customers with an array of over 15,000 jewelry supply items including raw metals, turquoise, beads, findings, lapidary tools and display items.

Stop by the Albuquerque location at 2311 Vassar NE (Menaul and Vassar). See their wide range of jewelry-making supplies. Whether youre an experienced beader or silversmith or a beginner, Thunderbirds friendly and knowledgeable staff will be happy to assist you in finding the right items for that next project. If jewelry making is something youve always wanted to try but didnt know where to begin, Thunderbirds staff can show you how easy it is to get started.

Whether your interest is in Native American art or you are just one of those who simply like to create jewelry, Thunderbird continues to supply their customers imagination with new and exciting products.
In a market like China, there are tons and tons of customers thirsty for smartphones at every end of the spectrum. From the stalwart iPhone buyers who have to be convinced to look away by something truly spectacular and are willing to spend big on it, all the way down to the uber-budget consumers who want a smartphone to chat with friends and browse the web on the go, if you can think of a segment of the smartphone market, you can likely find consumers somewhere in China that fit in that segment. The country is also awash in technology of all sorts; drones are bought up in massive numbers, cheap VR headsets flow out of shops, and Shenzen-made goodies of all sorts find their way not just around the country, but around the globe.

In a climate like this, rising stars dont just rise  they shoot up, and it happens fast. In at least a few cases, however, they shoot down, too, and that seems to be whats happening to darling Android OEM Xiaomi. When they hit the scene in 2010, their MIUI ROM struck a chord with audiences worldwide and drove sales of the huge number of phones that they would go on to make. After having a great ride through 2014, the Apple of China posted a bit more than 70 million units shipped in 2015, far shy of their 100 million goal. Naturally, their financial numbers werent exactly to die for in the face of rising rivals like Samsungs Chinese presence and local acts like Huawei. The notion that the slump could have been a fluke seems to have been completely debunked with this quarters report.

Xiaomis big number for their Q2 2016 report, their total sales, are down about 36 percent year on year from the already far from stellar Q2 2015. While they didnt do as well as they had hoped that year, they at least managed to reclaim their formerly lost top spot in China. Now, to say that theyre having a bad year may be a bit of an understatement, though their heads are still above water for the time being. This year, theyve lost their spot in the top 3 for the country, replaced by the juggernaut Huawei, the longsuffering OPPO, and the relative newbie to the spotlight Vivo. Xiaomi is poking their heads into a variety of different hardware, but smartphones are their bread and butter, which means that these numbers could be a sign of troubles to come.
Tunisian forces searching for jihadists at Libyan border Media sources say at least two terrorists are wanted

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, AUGUST 18 - Tunisian National Guard units have been involved since Wednesday night in an anti-terrorism operation in the country's south, aimed at capturing at least two jihadists who illegally entered the country from Libya, according to local media sources. (ANSAmed).




Car bomb against Turkish police kills three, 40 wounded No group has yet claimed responsibility for attack

(ANSAmed) - ROME, AUGUST 18 - Three people were killed and 40 wounded after a car bomb exploded on Wednesday near a police station in the western Turkish province of Van, according to state broadcaster TRT citing local government sources.



At the moment it's unclear how many of the victims were police and how many were civilians.



Prime Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed the attack without adding other details.



No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing thus far, police stations and law enforcement in Turkey are often targets of Kurdish militants. (ANSAmed).




(by Michelle Ruelle).

ROME - Tunisian Abu Nassim, considered a jihadist recruiter in Italy, has been arrested by Libyan Zintan forces allied with General Khalifa Haftar, according to the Libya Herald on Thursday.



It said Nassim, whose full name is Moez Ben Abdulgader Ben Ahmed Al Fezzani, was fleeing Sirte and trying to reach Tunisia.



He was allegedly caught a few days ago together with 20 other ISIS members in a location between the western cities of Rigdaleen and Al-Jmail, but the news wasn't made known until Thursday.



Nassim is considered Tunisia's most-wanted terrorist by authorities there, who claim he is responsible for the ISIS raid last March on the Tunisian city of Ben Guerdane that left 58 people dead, the Libya Herald said.



Nassim had been previously arrested by the Americans, tried in Milan, acquitted, expelled, and returned to Libya.



He was held for seven years at the US military's Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, and then was held for more than two years in Italy prior to his acquittal in 2012 in Milan.



He was later convicted on appeal in Italy to six years in jail, but by that time he had already been expelled from the country.



He is allegedly also tied to the group that kidnapped four employees of Parma-based general contractor Bonatti in July 2015 near the Libyan oil and gas port of Mellitah.



Nassim was born in 1969 and allegedly joined the Libyan Salafist Islamist militia group known as Ansar al-Sharia before reaching Libya and taking command of ISIS headquarters in Sabratha.



Following US airstrikes last February on Sabratha, Nassim continued leading the group, first in Benghazi and then in Sirte, where he had been living until recent days, the Libya Herald said.



Tunisia thus far hasn't yet made any statement regarding the arrest.



Meanwhile, the Milan prosecutor's office is conducting new checks into Nassim in light of documents that were allegedly found in recent days in an ISIS hideout that supposedly refer to Nassim's role as a jihadi recruiter in Lombardy.



Although ANSA sources said the Milan investigators haven't yet seen the documents, they are also doing checks because Nassim was a figure who had a history in the Milan judicial system.


Libya: female suicide bombers in Sirte for first time 'Neutralized' by Serraj's soldiers. 1st aid enters city

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, AUGUST 18 - The spokesman for the forces under the Libyan Government of National Unity led by Fayez Al-Serraj, Mohamed Al-Ghasri, said Thursday that the Islamic State (ISIS) had for the first time tried to infiltrate female suicide bombers into Zone 2 of Sirte. Ghasri noted that the women had been wearing suicide vests but that ''they were neutralized when they tried to approach our men''. He added that four ISIS members had been arrested in the liberated areas of Sirte, where the corpses of 32 jihadists were found, and that demining operations were continuing in the area.



''The jihadists are currently blocked in Zones 3 and 1,'' he said. Meanwhile, the Libyan Red Crescent said that it had sent a humanitarian aid convoy towards the Sirte outskirts with the cooperation of the International Red Cross. He noted that he convoy consisted of six lorries with food, medicine, blankets and disinfectant. (ANSAmed).




Syria humanitarian aid meeting in Geneva next week 'Not a single aid convoy has reached besieged areas this month'

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, AUGUST 18 - UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said Thursday that he was planning on calling a meeting of the humanitarian aid task force next week in Geneva.



The announcement came after he suspended a meeting planned for the day due to relentless fighting that is preventing the sending of humanitarian aid to civilians. ''And in Syria what we are hearing and seeing is only fighting, offensives, counter-offensives, rockets, barrel bombs, mortars, hellfire cannons, napalm, chlorine, snipers, air strikes, suicide bombers,'' he said, visibly irritated, noting that not a single humanitarian aid convoy had managed to reach besieged areas this month.



The only supplies being delivered are by airdrops to Deir al-Zor, a government-controlled city of 200,000 in the east under siege by Islamic State, he added. (ANSAmed).




ANKARA - Just hours after a car bomb exploded near a police station in the eastern Turkish city of Van, another car bomb went off outside police headquarters in Elazig, killing at least three people and leaving about 100 injured, including civilians, according to Anadolu news agency, citing law enforcement sources.



The death toll in the Van car bombing has risen from the initially reported three deaths to at least six, with 120 wounded.



At the same time, two police were injured in an attack in Hakkari, also in eastern Turkey, where armed men open fire against the agents, said Anadolu news agency.



More than 219 people have been wounded in the attacks in Van and Elazig, according to the Associated Press, citing local officials.
BEIRUT - UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Thursday suspended the activities of his humanitarian task force, saying that continual fighting was preventing aid getting through to desperate civilians. De Mistura again asked for a ceasefire of at least 48 hours, particularly in Aleppo.



The envoy also said he was planning to call a meeting in Geneva next week.



"Everything we hear from Syria," a visibly irritated de Mistura said, "is only fighting, bombing, offensives, counter-offensives, rockets, napalm, chlorine, snipers, barrel bombs suicide bombers.



"And in a month not one single humanitarian convoy has been able to reach the besieged areas".
Migrants: Merkel calls burqa an 'obstacle to integration' Backs interior minister for partial bans

(ANSAmed) - BERLIN, AUGUST 18 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that burqas hinder integration and that Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has her full support for partial bans, DPA reported.



The news agency was quoting statements that the chancellor had made to RND. ''From my point of view a woman wearing a full Islamic veil has little chance of integrating in Germany,'' DPA quoted Merkel as saying, adding that Merkel had left open the possibility of bans in certain sectors. ''This is a political and judicial issue on which Interior Minister Thomas de Maizere has my full support,'' she added, referring to the member of her Christian Democrats (CDU) party who ruled out a total ban. Regional ministers from the CDU-CSU are discussing a document that is expected to be published on Friday that will request a ban on wearing burqas and other types of Islamic veils (like niqabs) that cover women's faces entirely in public offices, where it is necessary to allow oneself to be recognized, at protests and when driving cars. (ANSAmed).




The airline said the office has a larger space that will accommodate sales staff from both Air Seychelles and Etihad Airways and provide a more comfortable

Roy Kinnear, chief executive of Air Seychelles, said: Moving the Air Seychelles sales office to a central location at the airport will allow us to improve the level of service we offer our guests in Seychelles.

It is a contemporary and well-appointed office and we have a team of trained sales professionals who will make sure our guests are well looked after when booking air travel with Air Seychelles and Etihad Airways.

We are growing as a business and with this office we can better support our expanding customer base as well as the increasing number of walk-in customers and sales enquiries that we receive on a daily basis.
It has been widely hailed as an innovation that will have a hugely positive impact on the world by providing low carbon aviation and brand new capabilities in the sky.

Chief Test Pilot Dave Burns said, It was privilege to fly the Airlander for the first time and it flew wonderfully. Im really excited about getting it airborne. It flew like a dream.


Mossallam said there were no current plans to publicly list the EgyptAir Holding Company as there were for several other state-owned enterprises.

Egypt is seeking to raise a USD21 billion loan package from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the African Development Bank (AfDB), as well as through international sovereign bond issuance, to help kick start an economy currently struggling with a scarcity of US dollars as well as low investor confidence.

Preliminary talks with the IMF over a three-year USD12 billion loan have reportedly resulted in a tentative agreement but as with any IMF loan, it is presumed austerity, privatization, subsidy reduction, and higher taxation commitments will be required before any funding is disbursed.

As such, given its USD1 billion in total losses accumulated since the 2011 Arab Spring uprising and its dependency on government for assistance, the future of the EgyptAir Holding Co. is expected to feature, at some point, in the ensuing talks.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. As the Republican nominee for the US presidency, Donald Trump received a classified briefing on Wednesday, BBC reported.

The intelligence briefing ensures that regardless which candidate wins, that person will be prepared on day one for his or her role as the commander-in-chief.

Both candidates receive these briefings, usually within days of one another. Hillary Clinton hasn't said anything publicly about her schedule. It's possible that she's already spoken to the intelligence officials, or is in the process of being briefed.

The briefing serves as an introduction to a world that is insular and closed off. Officials describe methods of collecting intelligence - from signals intelligence, which looks at radio and radar clues, to human intelligence gleaned from agents and contacts - and what they know based on those methods.

The officials explain about dangers, ranging from the Islamic State group to despotic leaders around the globe.

"For someone like Trump, it may be his first exposure to the real intelligence community," says Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists.

If Trump is elected, he'll work with the intelligence officials closely, and the briefing meetings provide a foundation for that relationship.

So far, it's shaping up to be a rocky one. The evening before his briefing, Trump said he didn't trust US intelligence, citing past "bad decisions" on the part of the agencies. He said if he were elected president, he wouldn't rely on their reports.

President George W Bush asked the officials to make it clear which of the information they provided came from "highly classified sources," wrote David Priess in The President's Book of Secrets, so he wouldn't accidentally reveal the secrets.

Priess, a former CIA officer, told CNN earlier this year that he worried about Trump's difficulty "compartmentalizing" information he receives that "should not be spoken of outside of a certain room".

While the officials will talk about national security, they will not reveal information about covert operations - or "the ultimate secrets", as Priess describes them. That briefing comes later, after a president is elected.

Intelligence officials are nonpartisan and conduct a briefing for both nominees, Republican and Democratic. Still even intelligence officials sometimes show their feelings.

During a talk in June, CIA director John Brennan said that if necessary he'd provide a briefing for Trump.

"I will try to carry out my responsibilities," Brennan said. Yet it was clear from his facial expression that he was not happy about the prospect.

However you feel about Trump, though, he now knows a great deal more about national security, courtesy of the nation's best authorities on the subject.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The Special Investigations Service is currently in process of obtaining, clarifying and collecting evidence in the ongoing criminal case of the July 17 police station ambush in Yerevan, the SIS told ARMENPRESS.

A total of 87 expertise are in process, including forensic, ballistic, toxicology, chemical, criminological, genetic, fire and explosive etc.

The results of the expertise will be published additionally.
City of Albuquerque Public Art Program

Driving, walking, biking or bounding through town hunting certain mobile phone-manifested cartoon creatures, there is no doubt that you, dear reader, will have an encounter with public art. Ranging from mosaics to installations to behemoth-like sculptures rising above our city's and county's infrastructure, public art in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County has shaped the perception and visioninner and outerof a region noted for its enchantment and engagement with the arts.

The public art program in Albuquerque is the result of many years of advocating, organizing, planning and placing substantial work by significant artists within the purview of its citizens. While sometimes controversial, yet other times overlooked, the public art in the Duke City provides a glimpse into the deep well of creativity that our civic culture can access.

The story of public art in this area began in 1978 with the passage of the Art in Municipal Places Ordinance. The stated intention of this law was to promote and encourage private and public programs to further the development and public awareness of, and interest in, the visual arts and fine crafts. At the time the public art ordinance was enacted, it was also hoped that such awareness would lead to better local job opportunities in the arts as well as encourage local architectural projects to incorporate art into municipal structures. For twenty years, between 1985 and 2004, the program began much growth and expansion under the aegis of program manager Gordon Church.

In order to facilitate these plans to elevate art in Burque, an Arts Board was established to oversee the program, including making recommendations to city leaders about the acquisition and funding of work from the city's capital improvements program or other funding sources. The board also oversees the criteria used to select artists and art works for the public art program. In adverse circumstances, the board, which consists of representatives from all fields of the visual arts and fine crafts advises the mayor on the proposed removal, relocation or alteration of any public arts project or works of art in the possession of the city, but which are not [in] collections exhibitions of other city departments [like the Albuquerque Museum].

Finally, the board sets guidelines to carry out its mission as well as making recommendations to hizzoner Mayor Berry on the further development of the public art program. As a result of all this art action, the board is also tasked with seeking private donations to add to the program's efficacy.

While sometimes controversial, yet other times overlooked, the public art in the Duke City provides a glimpse into the deep well of creativity that our civic culture can access.

Funds of the city's public arts program comes mostly from bonds. According to the ordinance, one percent of each bond is set aside to fund the procurement and placement of public art.

The art chosen to be part of Burque's Public Art Program has to meet specific requirements. These include that it be an integral part of a structure, that it must be located in a public place with public visibility and that it be at least as permanent as the lifetime of the bond funding which precipitated its acquisition and placement.

Bernalillo County Art Program

Bernalillo County also has a substantive, though slightly newer and smaller public art program. The county ordinance overseeing this particular pathway to publicly funded, highly visible and durable art works was passed in 1992 and revised in 1997.

Nan Masland, the Public Art Project Coordinator for Bernalillo county told Weekly Alibi, Public Art has the power to inspire curiosity, encourage contemplation, facilitate dialogue, foster community engagement, and create a sense of place. Located throughout the county, the collection enhances quality of life through the acquisition of exceptional works of art by artists at various career stages. The Bernalillo County Public Art Collection includes 350 original works of art including large scale sculptures, paintings, photographs, prints and murals. Each piece is selected by a 10-member arts board with final approval by the Bernalillo County Commission. Two representatives are appointed from each of the five commission districts. The program is funded by one percent of voter approved general obligation bonds, with the exception of library bonds.

Sherri Brueggemann, the manager of the City of Albuquerque Public Art Urban Enhancement Program added, There are four levels of public art in the area. Besides city and county programs, there are programs administered by the state and federal government. All are specifically designed to bring art to the citizens of this area at a low cost with high visibility.

Though these schemes seem, on the surface, to be complex and somewhat burdened by bureaucratic priorities, it has actually resulted in an effectively enchanting art exhibition that spans the city from the Sandia Mountains east of town to the Seven Sisters that bound the city's westside, as well as encompassing locations throughout the county and state.

Some of the work has engendered controversynotably the legendary Cruising San Mateo, sometimes provocatively known as Chevy on a Stick, a sculpture by Barbara Grygutis that is notable for its wonderful use of ceramics as well as its evocation of Burque's active automobile culture.

For some reason, this piece outraged community members as well as former city councilor Hess Yntema when it was placed on the corner of San Mateo and Gibson in the early '90s. Yntema was quoted in an Associated Press article that was printed shortly after the work's unveiling that he viewed the sculpture as a monument to waste and frivolity in local government.

Gyrgrutis' response to the controversy speaks volumes about why the work is really important, artistically and civically, for our city's artistic growth and expression. Ultimatelywhether viewers are pleased or dismayed by interactions with public art in this areathe sculptor's words echo the almost universal need to include art as an intrinsic part of human experience. At the time of the controversy, she said, It's about the dreams and aspirations of our culture.  It's a very American image.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian side has never avoided high level meetings aimed at settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, if they can achieve any result  Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shavarsh Kocharyan told reporters after the Cabinet meeting, answering to a reporters question whether a new Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting is scheduled.

In this case the result is the realization of agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg meetings. Result can be both progress in negotiations process or realizing the Vienna and St. Petersburg meetings, meaning  strengthening ceasefire regime, adhering to the 1994 ceasefire agreement, expansion of Kasprzyks teams missions and introduction of investigative mechanisms of incidents on borders, Kocharyan said, adding that progress will be made in the agreements when those mechanisms are put to force.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. On August 18 Secretary of the National Security Council of Armenia Armen Gevorgyan received Defense Minister of Belarus Andrei Ravkov who is on an official visit to Armenia, press service of the NSC informed Armenpress.

Welcoming the guest Armen Gevorgyan said the Armenian-Belarusian cooperation in security and defense fields is an important component of relations between the two states, and it is necessary to carry out works aimed at fully using the existing opportunities in that field.

A wide range of issues related to the Armenian-Belarusian military and military-technical bilateral cooperation in the field of defense were discussed at the meeting. The sides also discussed the mutual cooperation of the two states within the framework of the CSTO. In this context, they underscored the decisions and agreements adopted during the regular council session of the CSTO Defense Ministers held in Yerevan on August 16.

The sides stressed the necessity of deepening the works of the Armenian-Belarusian inter-governmental commission within the framework of military-technical cooperation.

Armen Gevorgyan informed Andrei Ravkov that currently the draft cooperation plan between the Secretariats of the Armenian and Belarusian Security Councils is at the stage of coordination, and in this framework a necessary attention will be paid on issues related to the deepening of bilateral military-technical and military-economic mutual cooperation.

Other issues of bilateral interest were discussed during the talk.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The scandal over the NKR President Bako Sahakyans interview to the electronic newspaper of the French Parliament is a result of the active intervention of the Azerbaijani, perhaps, also the Turkish propaganda machine, NKR Presidents spokesman Davit Babayan said in an interview with Armenpress.

In fact, here we can see components of hybrid war. Starting from the April four-day war the worlds prominent media have paid a special attention on Nagorno Karabakh. A number of famous media were publishing various information and materials on Nagorno Karabakh. This process accelerated especially after the four-day war. Recently, the major Argentine TV company has dedicated extensive reports on Nagorno Karabakh. The leading Ukrainian TV channels also report on Nagorno Karabakh. We see this in Russia, the US, the French media. And recently the newspaper of the French Parliament has published the interview with the NKR President on its website which is a great political achievement, Babayan said.

He said Azerbaijan and its ally Turkey cannot put up with it since it is obvious that their caviar diplomatic methods do not work in the information field. They have now adopted cunning, insidious policy, but I should say it has showed certain results. The representatives of their propaganda special services have started to criticize that interview through fake accounts, as well as under the Armenian names. This is an absurd. For example, they cut various words from the context, make the word mutual concession to concession, in case when the President said the conflict cannot be solved based on concession. Now they are trying to use the Armenian environment, certain Azerbaijanis are spreading lies under the Armenian names. Unfortunately, they included people with certain Armenian non adequate ideas, he said.

Babayan said the major aim of this is that Azerbaijan, defeated in the four-day war and having numerous losses, understood that it could not win with its material advantage since we have a very strong ideological component.

Now Azerbaijan is trying to attack that ideological component, to undermine Armenia-Nagorno Karabakh-Diaspora trinity and create unhealthy atmosphere in our Armenian environment. It is necessary to analyze all this very seriously and make relevant conclusions since such a campaign is for the first time in our reality, Davit Babayan concluded.
By: Dezan Shira & Associates

Editor: Marquise Clarke

Malaysias recent addition of a Goods and Service Tax (GST), which was passed by the government during the third quarter of 2011 but delayed until April 2016, has been the cause of much confusion within ASEANs second most developed economy. The hope and purpose of GST is to replace the sales and service tax which has been used in the country for several decades. However, with the rollout of the tax seeing delays and numerous clarifications, questions remain over what GST is and how it will impact business costs.

What is GST?

GST is a brand new consumption tax and is similar to Value Added Tax (VAT) found in many other countries. In terms of its application, the tax is levied on the supply of goods and services at each stage of a given supply chain, from the supplier to the retail stage of distribution.

Even though GST is added on each part of the supply chain, the tax element does not become part of the cost of the product because GST paid on business inputs is claimable. Hence, no matter how many stages a good is through the supply chain, the input tax incurred at the previous stage is always deducted by the businesses at the next stop in the supply chain.

GST is to become a broad based consumption tax covering all the sectors of the economy. The basic fundamental of GST is its self-policing features which allow businesses to claim their input tax credit by automatic deduction in their accounting system.

Registration

Companies operating within Malaysia will be required to register for GST with the customs department. A business is not liable to be registered if its annual turnover of taxable supplies does not reach the prescribed threshold. In the event that registration is not completed or required, such businesses cannot charge and collect GST on the supply of goods and services made to their customers. Nevertheless, businesses can apply to be registered voluntarily.

The Scope & Change

GST is levied and charged at a proposed rate of 6 percent on the value of supply. These taxes can be levied and charged only if the business is registered under GST. The following aspects of the GST system should be noted for all companies registering for the new system.

Types of GST in Malaysia

Standard Rate  charged only on the taxable supply of goods and services by businesses in Malaysia. GST is also charged on imported goods and services and applied at the standard rate unless there is a provision which states that it can be treated differently. There are some reliefs and exemption for certain goods and services, and for small businesses. Exempt no GST is charged on the supply. This does not mean that you are GST-free. It means there is no entitlement to recover GST. If a wholly exempt supply is made, then you will not be able to register for GST. Therefore, GST would become an added cost to the business. Examples include private healthcare, private education and certain financial services. Out of scope  these supplies are outside of the GST system. Therefore, no GST is payable or recoverable. Examples include transfer of going concerns and supplies made by the government, such as issuance of passports and licenses, except some supplies of services prescribed by the Minister of Finance.

GST v. Previous Sales Tax

The following aspects and benefits of GST should be noted in their contrast to the previous system of sales based taxation that was employed in Malaysia:

Lower business cost  with the previous system, some businesses paid multiple taxes and higher levels of tax-on-tax (cascading tax). With GST, businesses can benefit from recovering input tax on raw materials and incurred expenses, thus reducing costs. Increase global competitiveness  Prices of Malaysia exports will become more competitive on the global stage as no GST is imposed on exported goods and services. Enhance Compliance  The previous system of taxation had many weaknesses making administration difficult. The GST system has a built in mechanism to abolish the tax administration system so that businesses can automatically offset GST on inputs in their returns. Reduces red tape  under the previous sales based taxation system, businesses were required to apply for approval to get tax-free materials and also for special exemptions for capital goods. Under GST, the system is abolished as businesses can offset automatically the GST on inputs in their returns. Equity  GST taxes are levied fairly among all business involved, whether they are in the manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing or service sectors. Fair pricing to consumers  GST eliminates double taxation. Consumers will pay fairer prices for most goods and services compared to the previous tax system. Greater transparency  unlike the sales tax, consumers would benefit under GST as they will know exactly whether the goods they consume are subject to tax and the amount they paid.

Outlook

As investors consider doing business in Malaysia, it is imperative that they understand GST to ensure compliance with tax authorities. The recent introduction of the tax makes amendments and official clarifications a distinct possibility . To prepare for this eventuality, it will be of critical importance for investors at all stages of the investment process to stay abreast of these developments and factor them into models for investment and operations. The associates at Dezan Shira & Associates will be closely following these changes and updating our clientele to ensure they have a successful business in Malaysia and the rest of ASEAN. For more information, please contact our tax specialists at asean@dezshira.com or visit us online at www.dezshria.com



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 asean@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. 

Annual Audit and Compliance in ASEAN

For the first issue of our ASEAN Briefing Magazine, we look at the different audit and compliance regulations of five of the main economies in ASEAN. We firstly focus on the accounting standards, filing processes, and requirements for Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. We then provide similar information on Singapore, and offer a closer examination of the city-states generous audit exemptions for small-and-medium sized enterprises.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership and its Impact on Asian Markets

The United States backed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) includes six Asian economies  Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, while Indonesia has expressed a keen willingness to join. However, the agreements potential impact will affect many others, not least of all China. In this issue of Asia Briefing magazine, we examine where the TPP agreement stands right now, look at the potential impact of the participating nations, as well as examine how it will affect Asian economies that have not been included.

An Introduction to Tax Treaties Throughout Asia

In this issue of Asia Briefing Magazine, we take a look at the various types of trade and tax treaties that exist between Asian nations. These include bilateral investment treaties, double tax treaties and free trade agreements  all of which directly affect businesses operating in Asia.
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 Christopher Sharma

Pollution, contaminated water, collapsing sanitation services and overcrowding are the cause of the disease. Monsoon rains are exacerbating the problem, as panic and fear spreads. Experts urge people to boil water rather than rely on government supplies.

Kathmandu (AsiaNews)  Pollution, contaminated water, collapsing sanitation services and overcrowding are the source of a cholera epidemic that has struck the Kathmandu Valley and reached the capital of Nepal.

So far at least 12 people have died and another 68 have been admitted to various hospitals for medical treatment.

Since the onset of monsoon, 68 cases of cholera (Vibrio cholerae Ogawa 01) have been reported in the Kathmandu Valley, this according to the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division of Nepals Department of Health Services.

The monsoons are fuelling the epidemic, said Dr Sherbahadur Pun, and spreading panic and fear among people. In an appeal to the population, the doctor urges people to go to medical facilities in case of symptoms to receive appropriate treatment.

Ministry sources have reported cases in different parts of the capital and in the neighbouring Lalitpur district.

At least half of the water samples collected in the valley are contaminated by E-coli and other coliform bacteria.

Every day, on average 15 people are hospitalised with dysentery, vomiting, nausea, and headaches, the Sukraraj Trophical and Infectious Disease Hospital reports.

Every week, there are at least 10 new cases of cholera. Since the first case in early July, the disease has spread to more than a dozen places.

Nepals Ministry of Health blames contaminated drinking water for the epidemic. "Even the water in bottles and jars is contaminated.

Kathmandu resident Nani Maharjan confirms that the infection occurred through water. Her husband is in hospital,

"We are concerned because we do not know what to drink, she said. The government provided water supplies in warehouses, but from the tests they were contaminated."

Doctors recommend drinking only boiled water and not bottled water provided by the government.
Senior editors at Yanhuang Chunqiu are suing the authorities that seized their magazine and published a fake issue. The matter is sensitive because the publication is loyal to the Communist party, the real one, not Xi Jinpings.

Beijing (AsiaNews)  Journalists ousted from Yanhuang Chunqiu, a history magazine, are suing the Ministry of Culture, which seized the publication in July 2016 and printed a fake issue this month.

The seven senior editors of the magazine, whose title can be loosely translated as China through the ages, are all descendants of early Communist leaders. Their journal is loyal to the values of the Communist Party, to the real party, not the current one.

Outside the courthouse where the case was filed, deputy editor Wang Yanjun held a copy of what he called the fake August issue put out by the Ministry of Culture and decried its new editorial direction.

The magazines new bosses convened a meeting this week that sought contributions from well-known neo-Maoist and nationalist writers that horrified the old guard, he said.

Wang said that he and his colleagues were also suing the two new editors, Hao Qingjun and Jia Leilei, demanding they return the magazine to its former staff and saying its current operations were illegal.

They hijacked our official website, cracked the password, and are publishing their own illegal views there, Wang said.

The Chinese National Academy of Arts, which is technically in charge of the magazine, did not answer calls.

Founded in 1991 by senior members of the Communist Partys liberal wing, Yanhuang Chunqiu examined sensitive historical periods such as the Cultural Revolution and Maoist campaigns.

The magazine has clashed with censors on numerous occasions but has survived until now, thanks to behind-the-scenes support from its sympathisers, including high-ranking military officials.

The last case concerned an article that questioned the veracity of a story of the war against the Japanese.

According to popular belief, five Communist soldiers chose to jump off a cliff rather than surrender to the enemy. Two survived to fight on.

Hong Zhenkuai, author of a critical appraisal of the case, collected evidence showing that the story was mostly invented. Sued, he lost the case against the soldiers descendants. However, he said he would not apologise and that he had defamed nobody.

Du Daozheng, the 93-year-old founder and director of the magazine, was himself a card-carrying member of the Party for almost eight decades and was, for a long time, a senior editor at Xinhua, the state-run news agency.

One of the magazine's senior editors, Hu Dehua, is himself the son of another reform-minded former leader, Hu Yaobang (whose death sparked popular protests that led to the Tiananmen Square massacre).

In recent years, the publication boasted a readership of some 200,000 a month.

"I had high expectations for Xi Jinping," Mr Du told the BBC.

"But in general I think he is going backwards. The consequences of this clampdown is not only about our magazine but it will harm the party and the country."
by Zhao Nanxiong

Later this year, all priests must register to receive a certificate that allows them to exercise their ministry. But the request has to go through the Patriotic Association, whose statutes are "incompatible" with Catholic doctrine. Many priests, official and unofficial, now face an enormous dilemma.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews)  Here at AsiaNews we have received and gladly publish this urgent appeal from a priest in South China.

Frequent appeals for help are arriving from the underground Catholic Chinese clergy, this year. They find themselves in a very difficult and serious dilemma: they are being forced to register by accepting the Catholic Patriotic Association with its three autonomy principles.

But, it seems that nobody cares for them. The public attention of all Catholics concerned with the Church in China is drawn elsewhere: it is focused upon the possible results of the ongoing negotiations between the Holy See and the Chinese Government. A lot of speculations have come out, either in favor or against them, but they kept mainly related to the issues of the election of Chinese Bishops and of the eventual diplomatic mutual recognition.

Card. John Tong, Bishop of Hong Kong, has intervened with a very balanced article emphasizing the need for dialogue and trying to solve all fears and critiques of those who do not agree with or oppose the negotiations. However, the main concern remains on top-level issues. The daily problems and difficulties of Chinese clergy and faithful do not seem to receive a proper attention. The above raised issue of the registration of the Catholic clergy deserves special attention, also within these official negotiations: it can pave the way for a solution of other issues. And it is rather urgent!

On February 13, the Global Times reported that China is now launching a massive campaign to check and register the identities of all religious workers: the certificate to be issued records the religious name, secular name, national ID card number and a unique number assigned to every individual religious operator. The campaign started with Buddhist monks but soon extended to Taoist and Catholic priests, who will have to apply for certificates by the end of this year. If a priest's, monk's or religious site's certificate application is rejected by the authorities, the applicant will not be granted a certificate by the concerned religious association. According to the State Administration for Religious Affairs regulations, those without certificates are forbidden from engaging in religious activities.

Following this, on February 25, in a meeting with officials from the State Administration for Religious Affairs and the Communist Party's United Front Work Department, Catholic leaders of the two government-controlled official organizations in China, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the so-called Bishops' Conference, have unsurprisingly endorsed the 2016 work plans that the countrys authorities laid out for them. They not only will ordain bishops under the leadership of the government but also register the official clergy and forced unregistered clergy into the open church, requiring them to apply for the identity certificate.

Consequently, all the underground priests find themselves in a serious dilemma, since, in order to be able to carry on pastoral ministry, they have to apply for the registration through the Catholic Patriotic Association, accepting its principle of the autonomy, independence and democratic administration of the Church. Many of them are really in trouble and in pain for such a situation, since it goes against their faith, and do not know out to get out of it. Even several official priests are not happy about such a measure, because it creates further troubles.

People can wonder why the negotiations between the Holy See and Beijing do not deal with such an issue. Their official registration of the clergy is indeed desirable, but why they should apply for the identity certificate through the Patriotic Catholic Association and not simply through the State Administration for Religious Affairs or through other civil organs, as in other nations? Possible solutions seem to be available.
by Kamran Chaudhry

During the Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan people tie a sacred thread on their friend's wrist. For the first time the Hindu community was able to celebrate in public, and many Muslims helped in the preparation. Eventually all those present signed a statement against religious hatred: "We must protect our multiculturalism".

Lahore (AsiaNews) - About 1,000 people, including many Muslims, yesterday celebrated the Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan in a Lahore hotel. It is the first time that the feast was celebrated in public, and organizers were not expecting the participation of so many people of different faiths. The Raksha Bandhan is the festival of the bonds of friendship and the people honor those dear to them encircling the wrists of loved ones with rakhi (sacred colored wires).

Taimur Rahman, a Muslim and famous musician and activist for human rights, was at the event. After receiving a rakhi from a Hindu girl, he began playing Sufi music with his band, for the hundreds of people present in the room. "So far I had only seen this in movies - he says - and this is the first time I have ever received a rakhi by someone in Pakistan. I was moved. Now it is our responsibility to stand up for the rights of those who have chosen us as friends now".

The activist explains: "Our society is infected by extremism. Hindus and Christians are threatened not only by terrorists but also by most of society. For decades our band has promoted the Sufis struggle for in favor of human rights and opposition to extremism".

Yesterday's event was organized by the Institute for Peace and Secular Studies (IPSS) in collaboration with the Hindu Sundhar Sabbha (HSS) movement. Hindus were surprised when many young Muslims offered to be volunteers for the festival. At the end of the day all participants signed a declaration: "We, the signatories, are committed towards our brothers of different religions and ethnic minorities. We are united against violence, discrimination and speading of hatred in the name of religion.

Kundnani Aroon Kumar, general secretary of HSS, says that usually "we Hindus celebrate our feasts in the temples, with a select audience. Confidentiality is vital in these difficult times, when for example in the province of Sindh many Hindu girls are forcibly converted. " Over the past two years, adds, "10 thousand Hindu families have been forced to migrate to India. In Lahore, the wall of one of our temples was demolished to make way for a new railway. Only two out of 12 places of worship are active in the city".

During the Seeda Deep celebration, the Muslim activist and founder of the IPSS, tied a rakhi to Khalil Tahir Sindhu's wrist, the Minister for Minorities in Punjab and also a Christian. "Unfortunately, the tensions between India and Pakistan - says the woman - have made life of the Hindus here very insecure. Today we participated in this event to honor their tenacity and to join in their joy. We must protect our multiculturalism.
President Duterte does not intend to raise territorial issues in the South China Sea during the next ASEAN summit. He wants to address the issue "face to face", avoiding open conflict. Jakarta reaffirms its sovereignty projects and is ready to change the name of the waters off the coast of Borneo. It will present its request soon to the UN.

Manila (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Manila does not intend to raise the old issue of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, which has pitted it against China alongside other countries in the Asia-Pacific (including Vietnam and the Philippines), during the next Asean summit . This was announced by the president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, ahead of the summit that brings together 10 countries in South-East Asia scheduled for next month in Laos.

During a press conference Duterte explained that he prefers to tackle the issue calmly and as a face to face confrontation with the Chinese side. This manner of negotiation has always been supported by China, which prefers to address territorial disputes in the seas in bilateral talks rather than in group summits.

"I will only bring the issue when we are together face to face," he told reporters late Wednesday night. "Because if you quarrel with them now and you claim sovereignty, make noise here and there, they might not just even want to talk".

This is a radical change of direction for Manila, after the arbitration promoted by the previous Aquino administration. The case eneded up in the International Tribunal which judged Beijing claims in the area "without any foundation".

Duterte has finally added that his special envoy to China, former President Fidel Ramos, pave the way for possible talks with Beijing. "Let us create an environment where we can sit down, talk directly, and that is the time when I would say, we proceed from here", he concluded.

If the Philippines seem to prefer the path of reconciliation, Indonesia seems to want to revive its territorial claims on some disputed areas by changing the name of the waters within 200 nautical miles that define the territorial limits. The idea is to change the name of the South China Sea to the Natuna Sea, in the portion of the sea that surrounds the famous islands in the north-west of the island of Borneo.

Ahmad Santosa, head of Task Force 115 that fights illegal fishing in Indonesian waters, confirms that the matter will be presented to the United Nations, adding that "if there are no objections ... the name will be changed in the Natuna Sea". For the mayor of the Natuna islands, Hamid Rizal, this change will help people understand that the area belongs to Indonesia and so combat illegal fishing.

Just yesterday, in conjunction with the National Day of Independence, the Indonesian authorities sunk 60 vessels, 58 of them foreign, for illegal fishing. According to data provided by the Ministry of Fisheries and Sea Affairs from December 2014 236 boats were intercepted intercepted and sunk.

Disputes over the seas are likely to deteriorate the bilateral and multilateral relations between China and the nations in the area, as well as undermine the unity of the ASEAN bloc (an association that brings together 10 countries of South-East Asia). It is made up of nations that oppose Chinese policy (Vietnam), other seeking to revive the relations (such as the Philippines, post arbitration), as well as Beijing's historical allies like Laos and Cambodia.

On July 24, the summit of Asean foreign ministers ended without mentioning the decision of the international arbitration and experts now doubt the birth of a unified movement partly because of China's policy of "divide and conquer" in the region.
Thae Yong-ho was number two at the North Korean embassy in London. Now he is in Seoul. It is unclear whether he will remain in the peninsula or move to a "third country". He is the highest-ranking political refugee to have abandoned the regime in Pyongyang. He and his wife are from elite North Korean political families. The diplomats father was General Thae, a hero in the war against the Japanese.

Seoul (AsiaNews)  The South Korean government confirmed that North Koreas deputy ambassador in London, Thae Yong Ho, had arrived with his family in South Korea. He had been in Britain for ten years.

It is not clear why he fled, but a South Korean government source said that Thae defected to the South due to disgust with the regime, his admiration for South Koreas free system, and for the future of his family,

Among his many responsibilities, Thae was well-known to the British press, acting as the Embassys main point of contact for British correspondents travelling to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

His measured tone was in contrast to the bombastic rhetoric often used north Korean propaganda.

During his stay in the United Kingdom, he spoke at events organised by the British Communist Party where he would make impassioned speeches in defence of North Korea.

The diplomats 19-year-old Thae Kum-Hyok ended high school on 22 July. Some his friends said that he had been due to attend Imperial College London in autumn, reading maths and computer science.

This is the greatest escape since the Korean Peninsula was divided. The diplomat is in fact a member of North Koreas ruling inner circle, directly connected to the countrys founder, Kim Il-sung, grandfather of the current dictator.

His father was Thae Pyong-Ryol, a four-star general and hero of the war against Japan. A close ally of North Korea's first president, he was buried with full honors in 1997 after reaching the top ranks in Korean People's Army (KPA).

Even the diplomats wife, O Hye-son, is a grandchild of the revolution. Her grandfather O Peak-ryong took part in anti-Japanese guerrilla activities. Her father, O Kum-chol, was deputy chief of the KPA General Staff.

North Koreas political, economic and military leaders all descend from allies of Kim Il-sung, and are called "grandchildren" to distinguish them from the fathers who instead served under the late Kim Jong-il.
by Nirmala Carvalho

The nun was raped and beaten during the anti-Christian pogrom of 2008. At the funeral of the archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar Sr Meena message sent a of gratitude for the support she received.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - "I always felt his pain for me, his suffering, his silent solidarity": Sister Meena Barwa describes to AsiaNews, the late Archbishop emeritus of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar , Msgr. Raphael Cheenath, whose funeral was held yesterday.

Sr. Meena was raped by a group of Hindu radicals during the early days of the anti-Christian pogrom in Orissa, in August 2008. By challenging social conventions and taboos, the religious also denounced her rapists and had the courage to testify at their trial and even before holding a press conference on the urgency of the trial.

Sr. Meena, a the Servite of Mary, said: "It was Msgr. Cheenath who organized the press conference in New Delhi, preparing everything, down to the smallest detail. He did not speak, but I could feel his pain, his suffering; he was always close to me, silent and full of solidarity and prayer.

Sr. Meena was unable to attend the funeral of Msgr. Cheenath, held yesterday in the Sacred Heart Church in Andheri East. The funeral service took place at 3pm, led by Card. Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, in the presence of Msgr. John Barwa, the current archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar and uncle of Sister Meena.

Msgr. Barwa read a letter sent by the nun, expression of the suffering Church in Orissa.

The letter in a blue envelope, was placed on the body of the deceased. Msgr. Barwa took it, opened it and began to read the text in odiya language, in which Sr Meena called the deceased "Bappa" ( "father" in odiya).

The letter, says the nun, is "my pledge of love, and homage to our leader, our father and our guide". "Thank you  she continues- for all you have done for the people of Orissa and especially for the suffering people of Kandhamal ... And thank you for walking with me in my struggles after the violence, consoling, guiding me towards the future and supporting me until now".

Sr. Meena had met Msgr. Cheenath last May. She had come to Mumbai - where the bishop found refuge, following threats received in Orissa - to thank him in person. The prelate prayed with her and blessed her saying, "You are a great woman".
The Lebanese Cardinal was welcomed by the Archbishop of the capital, Card. Andrew Yeom: "Here in Korea it's hot, but your welcome warms my heart so much more." Two days of meetings with Catholic leaders, peace activists and experts gathered to show Korea the path of unity.

Seoul (AsiaNews) - In Korea, "it's very hot, but your welcome warms my heart so much more, with this joke Card. Bechara Boutros Rai, Maronite Patriarch, thanked the archbishop of Seoul for the invitation to visit the country to talk about peace and reconciliation.

The primate arrived from the Middle East yesterday afternoon to attend the "Forum for Peace on the Korean Peninsula". The event will take place over two days (19-20 August): Along with Card. Rai Card. Vinko Puljic, Archbishop of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Msgr. Stanislav Hocevar of Belgrade and other bishops who have had to live with war and violence were invited.

In addition to the testimony of the bishops there will also be interventions by theologians, intellectuals, experts working in regions that suffer from civil war or terrorist attacks: the declared aim is to identify a viable path to peace and reconciliation in Korea. The Forum will be divided into three parts: "the role of the Catholic Church for peace"; "International efforts for the resolution of disputes"; "The reality of the Korean peninsula: diagnosis and solutions."

Card. Yeom went to welcome the Maronite Patriarch at Incheon airport: "Thank you for your generosity and for the decision to share the experience of suffering and of conflict. Thank you for sharing with us your thoughts on the role of peace".
Explorers, led by Piotr Koper from Poland and Andreas Richter from Germany, have begun digging at a site located in south-western Poland where they believed a train from the Nazis containing stolen treasure is located.

According to BBC News, with the "very promising" results from the ground-penetrating radar they used, Koper and Richter claimed that the train may have been hidden in a tunnel in 1945. Taking place near the city of Walbrzych, 10 days might be all it takes to finish the dig.

Since World War Two, the Nazis had constructed many tunnel complexes near Walbrzych. It was possible that the train containing the loot (gold, gems and weapons) would have been buried in one of those tunnels.

However, The Guardian reported last December that Prof Janusz Madej from Krakow's AGH University of Science and Technology mentioned in a press conference that there is no geological evidence of the train.

Before speaking at the press conference, Madej had a team of scientists from the mining academy spending a month at the site surveying the area with geological equipment to scan the spot where Koper and Richter claimed they had found the train. The treasure hunters, however, still insisted on the existence of the treasure train, claiming that the readings of the scientists are "different because the methodological approach was not the same" as theirs.

Madej respected the treasure hunters' dedication and work and even said that the research is "credible". However, he also added that there was a possibility that the presence of the power cables nearby may have affected their equipment.

No evidence of the Nazi gold trains have surfaced yet in any surviving documents, but locals in the area have made the legend survive today. Koper and Richter also claimed that they knew the location of the train thanks to the information of local resident who contacted them.

Around August last year, the men, with the help of their lawyer, wrote to Polish government to appeal for finder's fee of 10 percent of the treasure once it is found.

Additionally, Discovery Channel has also signed exclusive rights to film the revealing and opening of the train.

 Copyright 2016 AsiaStarz.com. All Rights Reserved.
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Australasian Lawyer magazines search for the nations fastest growing firms of 2016 is entering its final stages, with just one week left before entries close.



To be in with a chance of being featured on the 2016 Fast Firms report, you will need to submit an entry online. You will be asked to supply details on headcount, revenue figures, and new alliances as well as any other milestones hit during the 2015/16 financial year  all figures provided must relate to Australian operations only, please note all financial information will remain confidential.



Being featured on the report will provide firms with industry recognition for their efforts over the past year  each of the profiled firms will also receive official logos that can be used in their own PR and marketing.



The annual Fast Firms report will be featured in issue 3.05 in October.



Entries close on Friday 26 August.


A 90-year-old Melbourne solicitor sees his legal career come to an end after he took $25,000 held on trust for a client.



Alexander Koltay told a disciplinary tribunal that he will never again engage in legal practice.



The money came from $30,000 he received on behalf of a client, the husband in a family law proceeding.



He told his client in writing that he needs instructions on how to forward the cash which was part of a Family Court property dispute settlement in July 2007, less $5,000 as fees.



Koltay did not hear back from the client. It turns out the client was out of the country from July 2007 to March 2014 to take care of his elderly mother.



Upon the clients return to Australia, he asked Koltay for his money back. However, Koltay could not pay the money back and as of April 2014, only $36 was left of.



Koltay initially loaned the $30,000 to the Dar-Alawda (Wendel Street) Community Centre Inc (the Community Centre). That group repaid $25,500 of the loan.



Koltay then utilised that money for his own business purposes, such as covering his overdraft, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found.



Koltay, who has practised law for 69 years, agreed to never renew his practicing certificate which expired on June 30 or to ever practice law in any Australian jurisdiction at any time in the future.



Koltay also agreed to pay back his client the $25,000 he owed and the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner $9,000 in costs.



This is a sad way for his career to end, said Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal senior member Jonathan Smithers in the decision that found Koltay guilty of two professional misconduct charges.



He has never had any disciplinary findings made against him until now. His financial circumstances are not good. He is on a pension, Smithers said.



Smithers stressed that Koltays act undermined the trust which the community has in the legal profession and also deprived his client of $25,000.



Criminal charges were also filed against the senior but these were ultimately withdrawn.


By Paul McGorrery, PhD Candidate (Criminal Law), Deakin University

Shutterstock/Zurijeta

When it comes to identifying someone allegedly involved in a crime there can be risks associated with seeing photos of people on Facebook and other social media, as the recent case involving convicted killer Adrian Bayley highlights.

Bayley was arrested in 2012 for the rape and murder of ABC journalist Jill Meagher. He later pleaded guilty in 2013 and was sentenced to a minimum term of 35 years.

In 2014 and 2015, Bayley was found guilty of raping three other women. The first incident was alleged to have taken place in 2000 and the other two were in 2012, only months before he killed Meagher.

As a result of these new convictions his sentence was extended so he was ineligible for parole until 2058.

Beyond reasonable doubt?

But last month, the Victorian Court of Appeal overturned one of Bayleys new convictions and cut his minimum sentence by three years.

The victim of the attack in 2000, identified as GH to protect her identity, was a sex worker at the time.

The prosecution alleged that Bayley had picked up GH in his car, punched her to the side of her face and then sexually assaulted her. Bayleys defence was that it wasnt him, and the victim had made a mistake in identifying him as her attacker.

She initially identified Bayley during the media storm surrounding Meaghers death, 12 years after her attack. She was on Facebook and saw a missing persons page for Meagher when, according to her evidence:

[] all of a sudden Ive seen Adrian Bayleys face and I knew, a hundred percent, thats my guy.

Police then conducted a formal photo board procedure with her and showed her a board with around 12 photographs on it, one of which was Bayley. She positively identified him again during that procedure.

At trial, the jury accepted GHs evidence and convicted Bayley. He then appealed to the Court of Appeal, arguing that no reasonable jury could have found him guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

His argument was that the initial circumstances of the victim identifying him via Facebook were too unreliable, and that the later ID by police was therefore unreliable as well.

The displacement effect

The appeal court agreed, saying there was too great a risk that her ID was tainted by a phenomenon known as the displacement effect.

This effect is one of the ways in which post-event information can change how we remember an event happening, our brains subconsciously tricking our memory.

The American cognitive psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, famous for her research on false memories, has shown that hearing someone else describe a person a particular way can then cause us to describe that person the same way, even if that description isnt accurate.

The displacement effect more specifically involves visual misinformation: seeing a person after an event (in a photo, video or real life), linking them to that event for some reason, and then falsely remembering them as having been involved.

Imagine, for example, that you see a fight outside your local pub one night. You dont know anyone who was involved, but police want to interview you to see if you can identify anyone. You agree to attend the police station in a day or so.

Before you go into the police station, a friend comes over to your house, opens up their Facebook app on their phone, and shows you images of who they believe was involved in the fight.

From the moment that you see that photo, there is a risk  not a guarantee, but definitely a risk  that you have superimposed the face from that photo into your memory of the fight.

You might now confidently remember the person from the photo as being the person involved in the fight. And you might be right. The problem is that because you were expecting to see the culprit, your mind might have altered your memory without you realising it.

Our memory is not a perfect recording device. The displacement effect, a process whereby a new face is displaced onto an old memory, is like our brain Photoshopping our memory.

Facebook and the displacement effect

Prior to Facebook becoming such a daily part of our lives, the displacement effect wasnt a huge problem. We didnt have access to mass databases of photographs of people we may or may not know.

But thats all changed through social media. We now have access to photos of friends, photos of friends of friends as well as photos of strangers. There are exponentially more opportunities for us to go on our own amateur investigation and try to find the culprit.

This means that eyewitness identifications might be even more unreliable than ever, already accounting for more than two-thirds of wrongful convictions in the United States alone.

Courts need to be extra careful to scrutinise the circumstances in which someone has identified an accused. If the initial identification took place under suggestive circumstances, such as a witness trawling Facebook in the hopes of identifying the offender, their identification may not reach the standard needed to be used as evidence.

Using Facebook to find a culprit can be a double-edged sword, then. It offers us an entirely new way to identify who committed the crime, but it may be that the evidence becomes unusable in the process.

The circumstances in which the displacement effect will pose a particularly dangerous risk are when we actively try to find the person. The reason this is particularly dangerous is because, at least in part, we are expecting to succeed.

So a word of caution. Police have special procedures in place that help minimise the risk of mistakes during identifications. If you see a crime, dont look at Facebook or other social media until youve had a chance to work with police. Otherwise you might end up doing more harm than good.

Paul McGorrery does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.

Originally published in The Conversation.
Australia is proving to be most popular with people from New Zealand and China with these two nationalities making up the most short term arrivals, but numbers from the UK dropping in the last financial year.The highest number of international visitors came from New Zealand, with 1.3 million Kiwis taking short term trips in 2015/2016, over 246,400 or 23% more than 10 years ago, the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows. Visitors from China followed as the second most popular source of travellers to Australia, with 1.2 million visitors. This was almost four times the number, or 292.4% more than came to Australia in 2005/2006.The data suggests that Australia is becoming less popular with people from the UK with numbers in 2015/2016 reaching 700,000 a fall of 2.3% compared to 2005/2006 and numbers of Japan also fell, down 43% to 380,000.Numbers from India increased significantly, up 217% to 240,000 and from Malaysia they increased over the decade by 135% to 357,000, the data also shows.There was also a steep rise in numbers from Singapore, the United States and Hong Kong. Visitors from Singapore increased by 80.6% to 428,000, form the US by 46.7% to 657,000 and from Hong Kong by 52.1% to 235.4%.Overall a record 7.8 million short term visitors arrived in Australia in the year ending June 2016. The next highest recorded number of short-term visitor arrivals to Australia was in the year ended June 2015 when numbers reached 7.1 million. This is up from 10 years ago when there were 5.4 million short term visitor arrivals.People arriving are getting older and more women now visit Australia than men. The proportion of travellers aged 50 to 69 years age group increasing from 26.3% in 2005/2006 to 29.9% in 2015/2016.Conversely, the proportion travelling who were aged 25 to 49 years decreased from 46.8% to 43.1% in 2015/2016 and the median age for all short term visitor arrivals increased from 38.7 years in 2005/2006 to 40.4 years a decade later.Previously, more males than females arrived for short term stays but in 2015/2016 the number of male arrivals per 100 women was 94.3, down from 104 in 2005/2006.Almost half, some 49.9% of arrivals were for holidays in 2015/2016, with 26% arriving to visit friends and relative and 7.7% for business. This compares to 52.8%, 21.5% and 10.3% a decade ago.New South Wales was the most popular location for short term visitors, accounting for 37.9%, followed by Victoria with 24.7%, Queensland with 22.1%, Western Australia 10.3%, South Australia 2.6% and Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australia Capital Territory all around 1%.A decade ago the intended state of stay proportions for short term visitor arrivals were similar, with some differences recorded for specific states. They were New South Wales with 38.9%, Queensland 29.1%, Victoria 17.8%, Western Australia 9.1% and South Australia with 2.5%.
Immigration called today confirming that we can scan the AFP certificate and submit online, even though the request said they needed the original.



They also asked if we had the Form 80 ready yet.



I said we would upload it in an hour or so.



10 Minutes after I had uploaded it, we got the email granting the 820



820 Lodged: 14 May 2016 - 820 Granted: 18 Aug 2016



Now.... when do we do the 801 ???
hi



I am Ahmad national of Afghanistan holding a postgraduate subclass 573 student visa, July 2016 intake.



now i would like to bring my wife and newborn baby to Australia as dependent. could you please answer the following question.



what are the required documents?

how much fund do i need to show in my account?

where i can i lodge their visa application in Australia or in other countries as the Australian embassy in Afghanistan do not deal with visa issues.



thanks
New Civic hatchback to go on sale alongside the sedan and coupe internationally; 1.5-litre turbo-petrol motor standard.

Honda has revealed the new Honda Civic hatchback prior to the cars launch in the international markets. Sharing much of its styling with the sedan and coupe already on sale in North America, the hatchback is the third body style of the Civic to go on sale in international markets with the first markets set to receive the car in September.

Prior to its reveal ,the undisguised Civic hatchback was spotted being loaded on to a transporter in UK where the model will be built at Hondas Swindon plant prior to being exported to other markets. Swindon is also likely to produce a large number of the future Civic Tourer and Type R models, although the reveal of these versions is still some way off.

The car revealed in US-spec is exclusively powered by a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol motor in varying states of tune while the model for other markets could get the option of a 1.0-litre and 1.4-litre petrol motors as well.

The hatchback is set to launch in international markets later this year with Honda UK boss Philip Crossman also hinting that a hybrid version will be offered. The hatchback is also expected to form the next Civic Type-R towards the end of its production life-cycle.

The Civic hatchback will rival the likes of the Hyundai i30  an all-new model set to debut in Paris in September  in international markets.

For India, Honda is considering relaunching the Civic brand close to 2019, though for India, we are only likely to get the car in its sedan body style.
CVT

Model year 2017 add-ons are very, very few. To be honest with you, the most important change, if you can call it that way, is the addition of an exterior paint color christened Lunar Silver Metallic. Something had to give, though. Therefore, Alabaster Silver Metallic had to go.The entry-level Fit LX with the six-speed manual transmission is EPA-rated 32 mpg (7.3 l/100 km) combined. Compared to the previous MY, the 2017 Honda Fit LX 6MT boasts a higher spec than the previous equivalent trim . What sort of equipment comes as standard, though?Lets see. As it happens, all trim levels benefit from LED brake lights, auto on-off headlights, Bluetooth HandsFreeLink, as well as a center storage console with armrest. Available equipment for the MY 2017 Honda Fit includes a one-touch operated moonroof, smart entry push-button start, a 7-inch infotainment system , and heated leather seats.When it comes down to safety features, the standard list consists of side curtain airbags with rollover sensor, electronic brake distribution, vehicle stability assist, and more. As per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , the 2017 Honda Fit is a 5-star vehicle regarding crashworthiness. As for drive-assistive features, all models come with a multi-angle rearview camera with guidelines for easier parking jobs.The 1.5-liter four-pot engine is standard across the range. With 130 horsepower and 114 lb-ft (155 Nm) of torque at 4,600 rpm, this mill needs to be revved a lot if the driver wants to get the best out of whats available on tap. A continuously variable transmission is also available, starting from the LXtrim level (priced from $17,625 including $835 destination).Incidentally, the LX CVT is the most fuel-efficient Honda Fit of the lot thanks to an EPA-rated 36 mpg (6.5 l/100 km) combined. By comparison, the top-of-the-range EX-L Navi CVT only manages 34 mpg (6.9 l/100 km) combined.
SUV

MMI

The Ingolstadt brand will paint its smallestwith an exclusive paint finish, which is called Quantum Gray. The exterior will not end here, as the Audi Q2 also gets black and Manhattan gray exterior details, as well as a set of 19-inch alloy wheels. All of the above are standard features for the Audi Q2 Edition #1As those that are familiar with recent Audi models and their design elements have already observed, the Q2 Edition #1 features the full S line exterior package. The kit includes a set of sporty bumpers, side sills, and a distinctive air diffuser.The added parts are painted in a different shade of gray, as we have explained above. Another unique detail of the Q2 Edition #1 is the black C-pillar that features Audis four rings painted white.Audi has not been generous with photos when it comes to this particular edition of the Q2. The German brand only posted an image of the Q2 Edition #1. However, we must note that Audi has already explained that the Q2 will feature leather upholstery, but this does not appear as a wonder to most of us.The LED ambient lights can be set through theto light up in a particular shade, as long as it is one of the ten ambient colors pre-programmed. Audi has already announced that all of the engine options available in the Q2 range can be had with the Edition #1 model. Audi is not the first or only automaker to launch special editions of its cars shortly after market launch. Mercedes-Benz is known for its Edition 1 models, which are only available in the first 12 months of production for a newly-introduced car.In the case of the Audi Q2 , the German automaker has not specified how many versions like this will be available, or what will be the timeframe for their manufacturing.It is evident that Audi is not selling a limited edition with this version of the Q2, so the only question that remains is how long will it be offered on the market.
This week The Fast Lane Truck visited the shop of a company called Mastodon. Besides Land Cruisers and Land Rovers, they also convert a lot of German army vehicles into road-worthy ones that you can buy for less money than a used Honda Accord.Even though the Gelandewagen is still in production, the army is de-commissioning 10% of the fleet every year. So in a way, this is like buying an F-104 and turning it into a dragster... but with license plates and no jet fuel.If you just want a serviced army truck, you are a total badass and only have to pay about $15,000. That's way cheaper than any new car we'd ever buy. After that, the owner of the shop shows TFL a bunch of other cool projects. Right off the bat, he shows one that looks like a 461 series but with a Ferrari F430 red paintjob. It is a gorgeous little thing.Mastodon also does some engine swaps, but not of the LS variety. Instead, they install regular 4- and 5-cylinder diesel engines, usually from something like an old E-Class. With simple configurations, these will last forever and could even be powered by frying oil.Some people have even turned these into campers, and you need to check out the one based on an ambulance. It's got a full bed, a shower, and a cooker installed. Cummins swap? Not a problem.Thanks to the Kardashians, everybody thinks they know what a G-Wagon looks like. But they will be in for a shock when they see a stretched one or a 2-door model that was never sold in America.
According to the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, Bosch is being accused of playing a key role in the whole emissions scandal , and the supplier is even accused of being an active participant in a decade-long conspiracy with Volkswagen.Those are serious accusations, and Boschs representatives have stated that they take them seriously, although they have refused to make further comments.As Automotive News reports, the filing made by the plaintiffs in a San Francisco federal court claims to have evidence that shows that Bosch was an active part of Volkswagen s Dieselgate scheme.The accusation comes not only since Bosch was a longtime Volkswagen Group supplier, but also because the company is accused of both the development and cover-up of the defeat devices real functionality.The filing claims that Bosch provided the software that made the cars affected by Dieselgate operate. While Bosch was the supplier that manufactured the injection components per se, the software itself was developed by Volkswagen.At least, that is what Bosch said about the story when the Dieselgate situation was first uncovered, and it had been revealed that the supplier was the manufacturer of the ECUs and other components.The lawyers representing Volkswagen clients in the USA have also accused Bosch of taking advantage of the defeat device by marketing it in the country as  Clean Diesel technology, as well as lobbying with U.S. regulators to approve the vehicles for public roads in the USA.

Volkswagen representatives have refused to comment on the filing, but they did say that this has no effect on its settlement regarding the civil complaint about the diesel scandal. Bosch representatives have stated that the company is cooperating with several investigations, but declined to detail the subjects of those inquiries.Volkswagens lawyers have designated most of the documents regarding Bosch as being confidential, thus making the matters regarding Bosch secret until a verdict is reached. We will keep you updated on the issue, as usual.
Weekend-long events coming up on SocialFlight.com include everything from hot air balloons to F-16 flybys. Join EAA Chapter 55 for Mason Aviation Day in Michigan on Saturday, featuring a pancake breakfast, grilled steak lunch, and lots of aircraft plus helicopter and plane rides. Gift bags will go to the first 59 registered pilots.

In California, the Wings Over Camarillo show will run all weekend, featuring aerobatic performances from Vicky Benzing, flying warbirds from the Commemorative Air Force, rides in airplanes and helicopters, and a World War II re-enactment camp.

The Flying Circus Airshow Warrenton, Virginia, will host the Annual Hot Air Balloon Festival Saturday morning through Sunday evening with balloon launches starting at 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. and rides available during the event.

The 58th Annual Chicago Air and Water Show will take place all weekend along the lakefront, featuring the USAF Thunderbirds and U.S. Army Golden Knights, who will perform a tandem jump with retired Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Peanut Tillman to commemorate the USOs 75th Anniversary.
The Armenian government on Thursday endorsed a proposal to sign an agreement with the government of Belgium regarding air communications.

According to the Armenian government, the agreement is aimed at introducing the principles of the open skies policy and ensuring a level playing field for airlines of both countries.

The adoption of the draft will make it possible to expand Armenian-Belgian cooperation in the aviation sector and will contribute to the development of tourism and economic relations between the two countries, the government in Yerevan said in a statement.

The draft document mainly defines and regulates the authorities, rights and obligations of airlines designated for the implementation of international air transportation, the provisions on aviation maintenance and flight safety requirements, tariffs formation, fair competition and commercial cooperation between airlines, the applicable laws and procedures for resolving disputes.

The Armenian government first opted for the open skies policy, meaning a liberalization of the domestic civil aviation sector, in 2013, several months after the countrys national air carrier, Armavia, went bankrupt.

Air Armenia, a private carrier thereto engaged only in cargo transportation, attempted to replace Armavia as Armenias passenger airline amid the new government policy. It suspended its flights in late 2014 citing unfair competition from Russian companies.

Last month another airline, Armenia, whose majority stake is held by a local businessman, launched flights to several destinations, including Moscow, and plans to expand gradually over time.
18 August 2016 10:25 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Armenias armed forces have 11 times violated the ceasefire on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops over the past 24 hours, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported on August 18.

The Armenian army was using large-caliber machine guns.

The Armenian armed forces stationed in the Shavarshavan village of the Noyemberyan district and Berkaber, Vazashen villages of the Ijevan district of Armenia opened fire at the Azerbaijani positions located on nameless heights and in the Farahli and Ashagi Eskipara villages of the Gazakh district.

Positions of the Azerbaijani army also underwent fire from the Armenian positions located near the Garakhanbayli, Horadiz of the Fizuli district and near the Chilaburt village of the Terter district.

Moreover, Azerbaijani positions also underwent fire from the Armenian positions located on the nameless heights of the Goranboy 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.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
18 August 2016 15:51 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The more the Sargsyan regime stays in power, the more government requires loans to improve the economy. However, the attracted loans, which have already turned into a huge loan burden, do not yield any real benefit to ordinary Armenians.

The state debt of Armenia in late June 2016 made up $5,345 billion, according to official Armenian statistics. Hence, it increased by 5.3 percent from the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the total national debt of Armenia reached $4,470 billion by the end of June, increasing by $39.3 million compared to the previous month.

The office of National Statistics predicts that the size of the national debt will amount to $5,569 billion by the end of this year, of which 86.6 percent will make up the external debt.

But the attracted loans did not saved the economy, as the declining economic indicators lead to higher prices and unemployment in Armenia, as well as to the depreciation of the Armenian dram. Therefore, Armenians try by any means leave the country to find a better place to live.

It seems like the current economic crisis in Armenia will further be accompanied by even more demographic outflow from the country.

The official statistics show that 250,000 people left Armenia in 2008-2014, while the non-official data is 1.5 million. It is not surprising that the global demographers have included Armenia in the list of states that suffer from the elderly crisis because of a significant decrease in the proportion of youth in the total population of the country.

These are just a tiny part of all problems Armenians face nowadays, while the main responsibility here falls to the Armenian government, particularly President Serzh Sargsyan and his corrupt circle.

No wonder that 71 percent of Armenian citizens over 35 feel that the quality of life was significantly higher in the Soviet Armenia. These are the results of a survey conducted by Sputnik news agency among the residents of the former USSR countries.

But the most surprising is that Armenians who were born after the collapse of the Soviet Union also want to return to old days. Thus, only 48 percent of young Armenians believe that now their life is better. 47 percent of youth think that it was much better in the Soviet Union.

Apparently, the eight years of Sargsyans rule even more aggravated the situation in the country, making Armenian population come to such a conclusion and lose any faith in their corrupt and useless government.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
18 August 2016 11:34 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

Revenues of Azerbaijans state oil fund SOFAZ from the project on development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields totaled $119.779 billion from early 2001 to August 1, 2016, the Fund told Trend.

SOFAZ said its revenues from the project totaled $2.77 billion in January-July 2016 with some $465 million being acquired in July. A landmark agreement on developing the ACG oil and gas fields was signed with a consortium of 11 foreign energy companies representing six countries in Baku in 1994, while production at the field was launched in 1997.

The contract, which covered the development of three major oil fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea, including Azeri (113 km), Chirag (94 km) and Deepwater portion of the Gunashli field (82 km) became first offshore PCA agreement of the country. The agreement became known as a Contract of the Century.

The crude produced in this field is among the lightest in the world, which is considered to be an advantageous quality as it is less expensive to refine.

The term of the agreement is 30 years. The Azerbaijan International Operating Company is the operator of the agreement. The signing of this agreement marked the beginning of a new phase in the development of Azerbaijan's petroleum industry.

The proven oil reserves of the block amounts to approximately one billion tons. The Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field, which lies 120km off the coast of Azerbaijan is considered to be the largest oilfield in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. Investment in ACG had reached more than $32 billion by the end of the first quarter of 2016.

The shareholders in the project are BP (operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, 35.78 percent), Chevron (11.28 percent), Inpex (10.96 percent), AzACG (11.65 percent), Statoil (8.55 percent), Exxon (8 percent), TPAO (6.75 percent), Itochu (4.3 percent) and ONGC (2.72 percent).

SOFAZ was created in 1999, while its assets were equal to $271 million that time. The funds of the entity may be used for the construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructural objects as well as for tackling national problems.

Main objectives of the fund include accumulation of resources and the placement of the funds assets abroad in order to minimize the negative effects on the economy, to promote resource accumulation for future generations and to support current social and economic processes in Azerbaijan.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
18 August 2016 11:02 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

The 6th meeting of the Azerbaijan-China Intergovernmental Commission on trade and economic cooperation will be held in Baku on August 19, Azertac reported.

Chinese Deputy Minister of Commerce Qian Keming will be visiting Azerbaijan from August 18-20.

The meeting will be co-chaired by Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Abid Sharifov and Qian Keming.

Azerbaijan and China opened a new page in their relations after President Ilham Aliyev visited China in December 2015. During the visit, several meetings, negotiations were held and 10 documents were signed. Cooperation issues almost in all spheres were discussed.

China is a huge opportunity and a priority market for Azerbaijan. More than 50 agreements were signed between the two countries so far. Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) has recently opened a representative office in China to support and encourage relations between the two countries businessmen, as well as expand Azerbaijani goods export to the Chinese market and attract China's leading investment funds to the Azerbaijan economy.

The Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) signed a memorandum of understanding in August.

The memorandum stipulates expanding joint export and investment opportunities between Azerbaijan and China, as well as exchanging experience in the export and foreign investment promotion.

Trade turnover between the two countries amounted to 272.55 million manats in the first half of 2016, while the export of Azerbaijani goods to China accounted for 14.66 million manats, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
18 August 2016 15:03 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

Azerbaijans Taxes Ministry is sure that the tax reforms approved by the president will allow to make radical changes and reforms in the countrys tax system.

President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree in early August to approve directions of reforms, which will be held in the tax sphere in 2016, and on improvement of tax management. The approved reforms will make it possible to apply more favorable VAT rates for the socially vulnerable layers of the population, reduce the tax burden on small and medium-sized business, resolve problems during taxation of trade operations and etc.

The Ministry clarified that the decision aims to boost the development of small and medium entrepreneurship, as well as ensure competitive environment in the sphere of retail trade and optimize tax burden, oxu.az reported citing the ministry.

The changes envisage application of differentiated VAT rates in the country, while single VAT rate of 18 percent is currently applied in Azerbaijan.

Producers of agricultural goods are exempt of all kinds of taxes (excluding land tax) since 1999.

A special attention is attributed to the taxation during trade operations, as the VAT calculation will be made on the basis of trade relations, while currently the VAT in the retail trade sphere is calculated on the basis of annual turnover.

Criteria that clearly differentiate the concept of wholesale and retail trade will also be defined in accordance with the changes.

Today, in the retail trade, VAT is imposed on the production cost in accordance with the standard procedure. Moreover, goods, acquired from non-VAT taxpayers, are being sold by distribution networks with the application of 18 percent VAT. As a result, we face the artificial rise in prices, which can be seen in the market of agricultural goods. This, in turn, negatively influences the trade turnover of the goods. New reforms will regulate the sphere in favor of the population and entrepreneurs, the ministry said.

Consumption tax, which is imposed on final consumer, and application of VAT charge on trade margin is expected to lead to the reduction of prices in the market.

This will positively influence the increase of turnover and markup of profits of entrepreneurs. Therefore, individuals engaged in the retail trade should keep separate records of goods, which are exempted from VAT and those acquired with the VAT payment. In case of failure, VAT charge will be imposed on the total turnover, the Ministry explained.

The changes also envisage the application of Advance Tax Ruling system, which stands for clarifying and conforming particular taxation arrangements with the tax authorities prior to the appearance of legal consequences, as well as prohibition of office tax audits implemented by tax authorities after expiration of 30 days since the submission of tax declarations by tax payers.

The changes also include introduction of the Voluntary Tax Disclosure system, which allows taxpayer to disclose the information not previously reported to a tax agency on a voluntary basis and thereby avoid liability to penalty or prosecution normally associated with prior non-disclosure.

Overall, the changes are extremely important for the further improvement of business climate in the country and are expected to stipulate business doing in the country, lead to the creation of favorable business environment and increase the number of entrepreneurs.

Azerbaijan currently ranks 63 out of 189 countries in the World Banks ease of doing business index.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
18 August 2016 16:47 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

Azerbaijan has zeroed the customs duty for the import of gasoline AI-92 for 60 days and fixed excise tax for such import at the formal level.

The Cabinet of Minister made a decision to eliminate customs duty on imported gasoline with an octane rating of 92. The zero rate is also applied for gasoline with octane rating of 98, which the country does not produce, and on other types of gasoline is equal to 15 percent.

The Cabinet explained that it cancelled the customs duty upon the appeal of Azerbaijans state energy company SOCAR in connection with the maintenance operations that are currently underway at the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery, owned by SOCAR.

The excise rate on the import of benzene (excluding aviation gasoline) has been decreased from 200 manats to one manat ($ 124 - $0.6124) per ton.

The necessity to import AI-92 grade benzene is considered to be temporary, which is mainly connected with the halt of the production at the site since August 1. The operations, which are held in accordance with the schedule, envisage implementation of technical servicing operations, analysis of conditions of equipment, etc.

Chairman of the Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD), Vugar Bayramov said that the price of AI-92 is regulated by the Tariff Council, therefore the market will not be strongly influenced.

The changes envisage that benefits will be applied only in reference to benzene with octane grade less than 95, which means that the reduction of expenses will be observed only in the import of benzene with low octane grade, he said.

He added that the Tariff Council may revise the prices and consider their reduction, should the expenditures on the import of AI -92 and similar benzene grades sharply reduce after the changes.

Meanwhile, SOCAR reported that about 4,000 tons of AI-92 grade benzene will be imported to the country in the coming days. The output volume of AI-92 grade of benzene was sufficient before the launch of maintenance operations.

As of August 16, the average level of benzene consumption stood at 3,900 tons per day and the demand was met by means of reserves. Currently, SOCAR possesses benzene reserves, which will be sufficient for the consumption within 8-10 days. In this regards, the company appealed to the countrys Cabinet of Ministers with the request to cancel customs duties and excise tax to minimize financial losses of the company during maintenance period, SOCAR reported.

Maintenance operations at Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery are implemented within the modernization plan, which is expected to be completed by 2020. By that time, producing capacity of the refinery is expected to increase from 6 million up to 7.5 million tons per year.

Some 3.14 million tons of petroleum products were produced in January-July 2016 as compared to the volume of 3.67 million tons in the same period of 2015.

Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery which is focused on the production of light petroleum products, is processing 21 out of 24 grades of Azerbaijan crude and 15 different petroleum products, including automotive gasoline, aviation kerosene, diesel fuel, black oil, petroleum coke, and others. The plant is meeting the republics entire demand for petroleum products completely, while 45% of its petroleum products are exported.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
18 August 2016 18:43 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

The fourth meeting of Azerbaijan-Bulgaria intergovernmental commission for trade, economy, scientific and technical cooperation is planned to be held in September, 2016, Trend reported.

The top issues to be discussed during the meeting include exchange of opinions on strengthening of cooperation between the two countries, implementation of joint projects, expansion of commercial-economic ties and consideration of perspectives for cooperation in the spheres of energy, transport, culture and other priority areas.

The governmental delegation of Bulgaria will also include Bulgarian companies, engaged in different sphere of economy, and aimed to supply their production to Azerbaijan.

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev earlier told Trend that there are a lot of perspective areas for bilateral cooperation between the countries. He added that Azerbaijan may become an important market for the supplies of Bulgarian production, particularly mechanical engineering and agricultural products.

Bulgaria is also interested in cooperation in the sphere of energy and is ready to act as a transit-state for the supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Europe.

The IGB project, (Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria) is a gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field.

IGB is expected to be connected to the Trans Adriatic pipeline via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets. The 180-km pipeline is to be built by a Bulgarian-Greek joint venture that also includes Italian energy group Edison SpA.

Azerbaijan and Bulgaria have developed friendly relations after Bulgaria recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in January 1992.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in June 1992 and the embassy of Bulgaria in Azerbaijan was opened in December 1999.

Intergovernmental commission on commercial & economic and scientific technical cooperation between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria was established in 1995. Trade turnover between the countries amounted to $16.5 million in January-July 2016 as compared to the index of $6.6 million in the same period of 2015. The increase was triggered by the growth of import operation by 2.5 times.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
18 August 2016 12:28 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

YARAT Contemporary Art Space invites everyone to the screening of 'The Black Ribbon' film directed by Amil Mamiyev (Azerbaijan). The screening will be organized as an event of YARAT Film Club. The Black Ribbon is included in the parallel program of the 40th portmanteau film.

"The black Ribbon" is a dramatic story set in Baku and near the settlement of refugees of Hajigabul city in Qizilburun. The screenwriter and the production director of the movie, Amil Mamiyev is the winner of the youth competition "yenifilm.az" of "Azrbaycanfilm" film studio.

The director of photography Rauf Qurbanaliyev, production designer Aziz Mammadov and the artistic director Jamil Guliyev were the members of production group. "The Black Ribbon" was produced by Arif Safarov and Mushfig Gatamov.

Cast includes Vidadi Aliyev, Elkhan Abbasov, Rasim Jafar, Ayshad Mamedov, Mezakhir Gashimov and others.

The film will be shown in Azerbaijani language on August 23 at YARAT Contemporary Art Centre. Admission is free.

As Amil Mamiyev mentioned, the movie has been called "A black tape" not incidentally. The name of the movie is related to a tree of wishes, tied up by black tapes which can be seen as a metaphor of the sad events occurring in Karabakh, which was occupied by Armenia back in 1990th.

The movie describes the mode of life of the refugees, their sense of longing for Karabakh.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire 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.

YARAT is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally. Based in Baku, YARAT (meaning CREATE in Azerbaijani) was founded by Aida Mahmudova in 2011.

YARAT realizes its mission through an on-going program of exhibitions, education events and festivals. YARAT facilitates exchange between local and international artistic networks including foundations, galleries and museums. A series of reciprocal residencies further fosters opportunities for global cultural dialogue and partnership. Educational initiatives include lectures, seminars, master classes, and the Young Artist Project ARTIM (meaning PROGRESS in Azerbaijani).

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18 August 2016 17:54 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

A painting by well-known Azerbaijani artist Vugar Muradov called "Garnet" was sold for $50,000 at Tokyo International Art Fair, Azertac reported.

This year, the international art fair involved more than 8,000 art lovers.

Tokyo will be playing host to hundreds of talented artists from all around the world when it stages the second Tokyo International Art Fair by Global Art Agency on 26-27 May 2017, Hikarie Hall Shibuya.

Vugar Muradov got his education at Azerbaijan State Art School named after A.Azimzade, Baku. The artists paintings have been displayed in exhibitions in a number of countries.

Muradov usually says that he has everything there that an artist could want: plentiful light suffusing the space through a glass wall and an open view across a bay in the Caspian to a cascade of oil derricks on the horizon. Standing guard over the district for more than a century, they evoke romantic thoughts and feelings.

His canvases Mugham, Adam and Eve, Old Nodding Oil Derrick are made up of many different faces contained in small squares and they gave rise to his cycle Faces, which professionals have hailed as a new word in artistic craftsmanship.

Muradovs paintings are mainly bought by private collectors and the worlds most famous museums, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the same citys Museum of Modern Art, the Argentinean company Guevara Films, the Central and Eastern European Art Foundation in Washington, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (Japan).

They embellish the offices of the Baltimore Sun newspaper (USA), Turkeys Ministry of Defence, the Lambri International company (Holland), the Peace Foundation, the French embassy in Azerbaijan and many private collections around the world.

Currently, his other works are showcased at Expo 2016 in Antalya.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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18 August 2016 11:56 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijans Central Election Commission (CEC) has registered an initiative group of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) in connection with the upcoming referendum in the country.

CEC Secretary Arif Mukhtarov said that the issue of registering the initiative group "Yeni Azerbaijan" was discussed at the CECs meeting on August 17.

He went on to say that the initiative group has completed a campaign to collect signatures and submitted them to the CEC for registration. Under the signature campaign covering 124 constituencies, NAP collected signatures of more than 40,000 of voters, in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Electoral Code.

The group aims to participate as an agitation group in the referendum scheduled for September 26, 2016 in connection with the introduction of amendments and additions to the Constitution of Azerbaijan.

The question was put to the vote at the meeting and the agitation group was registered.

Amendments are proposed to 29 articles of the Constitution.

The changes envisage extension of the presidential term from five to seven years, establishment of the first vice-president and vice-president positions in the country as well as abolishment of minimum age limit for presidential candidates, dissolution of parliament by the President.

Additionally, according to the proposed amendments, persons who have the right to participate in the parliamentary elections (at the age of 18) can be elected to the Parliament. Previously, the age limit for being nominated for the participation in parliamentary elections was 25 years.

The Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan approved the draft amendments to the Constitution at its meeting on July 25. The Court concluded that the changes proposed by President Ilham Aliyev are in line with the requirements of the Constitution of Azerbaijan and may be put up for a nationwide vote.



President Aliyev has signed a decree on holding a referendum on amendments to the countrys constitution on September 26, 2016. Final results of the Referendum will be announced till October 21.

The last time changes to the Constitution were made seven years ago, following Constitutional referendum held in 2009.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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18 August 2016 14:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijani Youth Organization of Russia (AMOR) gives start to activities in Russia in support of the referendum on amendments to Constitution of Azerbaijan.

Round tables on "Constitutional Reforms in Azerbaijan" theme will be held in Moscow and St. Petersburg in support of the referendum.

Experts, diplomats, public figures, and representatives of the diaspora and youth organizations plan to give a speech as part of the events.

Students of colleges of law, political scientists and economists are invited to the discussion of the "Act on the referendum on amendments to Azerbaijani Constitution".

Events will be held in the first half of September.

President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on holding a referendum on amendments to the countrys constitution on September 26, 2016, which propose 29 articles of the Constitution.

AMOR was established on April 18, 2009. Since its inception, the organization chaired by Leyla Aliyeva has aimed to bring together the most active part of the Azerbaijani community in Russia into one large family to inculcate in young people the spirit of patriotism and encourage the preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan.

The organization's scope of activity covers culture, education, science and history of Azerbaijan; its realities and perspectives; outreach activities, sporting programs; and nurturing in young people a sense of responsibility for their future and the future of the whole world.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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18 August 2016 12:48 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Hasanova

Construction of Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) provides opening of new jobs in the Ipsala city of Edirne province in western Turkey, City Municipality Head Mehmet Kerman told Anadolu Agency on August 18.

The Ipsala municipality will support the construction companies during the installation of pipelines, he said.

TANAP project is a huge supply project intended to bring natural gas produced from Azerbaijans Shah-Deniz gas field, and other areas of Caspian Sea, primarily to Turkey, and onwards to to Europe. TANAP, along with the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) form the elements of the Southern Gas Corridor.

TANAP earlier reported that the European Commission will allocate 3.5 million euros worth financial aid for the project for construction of TANAP via which Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to Turkey and then to Europe.

These funds will be used for supporting the commercial activities and the integrated facility management system.

The gas will reach Turkey in 2018, and after the completion of the TAP construction, the gas will reach Europe around early 2020. The initial capacity of TAP will be 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year, which can be expanded to 20 billion cubic meters.

The completion of the TAP is expected in 2019. The gas will be transported from the Turkish-Greek border through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea and then coming ashore to Italys south.

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18 August 2016 11:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

World oil prices moderately decreased on August 18, as oil production in Saudi Arabia trends to increase to a new record level.

The price for October futures of the North Sea Brent oil mix decreased by 0,32 percent to $49.69 per barrel, while the price decline of September futures of WTI made up 0,36 percent, coming down to $46.77 per barrel.

Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia can set a new record of oil production in August. The current record was established in July  10.67 million barrels a day.

Meanwhile, market participants continue to assess the data of the U.S. Department of Energy about stocks of oil and fuel in the country. The Department has declared that commercial oil stocks in the U.S. (excluding strategic reserves) for the week, that ended on 12 August, unexpectedly fell by 2.5 million barrels (0.5 percent) to 521.1 million barrels.

The oil reserves at the countrys largest terminal Cushing fell by 0.8 million barrels to 64.5 million barrels. Gasoline stocks in the U.S. also dropped by 2.7 million barrels (1.2 percent) to 232.7 million barrels. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 1,638 million barrels.

In the meantime, oil production in the U.S. for the last week has risen by 1.79 percent or 152,000 barrels per day  up to 8,597 million barrels per day. Distillate stocks rose by 1.9 million barrels (1.3 percent) to 153.1 million barrels. Analysts predicted this figure to reduce by 0,742 million barrels.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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18 August 2016 11:00 (UTC+04:00)

A bill concerning an approval of procedural arrangements between Turkey and Israel for payment of compensation to Mavi Marmara victims was submitted to the Turkish Parliamentary Speaker's Office in Ankara, Anadolu Agency reports.

Under the agreement between the two countries, Israel will pay $20 million to Turkey as compensation to families of the victims.

Under the deal, in addition to agreeing to Turkeys humanitarian presence in Gaza, Israel will pay $20 million in compensation to the families of the Mavi Marmara victims.

According to the bill, Israel will pay the money in a single transaction through an account that will be opened by Turkey.

Turkey will convey the account to Israel through diplomatic channels.

According to the bill, Israel will send the money within 25 working days after the agreement comes into force.

The agreement will come into force when both sides report that they have completed their domestic law procedures.

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18 August 2016 12:36 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

Turkmenistan's national flag carrier, Turkmenistan Airlines has recently expanded its aircraft fleet through purchasing of a number of Boeing aircrafts, the Turkmen government reported.

The airline acquired as many as three Boeing  737-800 aircrafts in 2013 as well as two Boeing - 777-200 LR aircrafts in 2014. The airline took a decision on the purchase of some three Boeing -737-800 aircrafts in April, 2015.

Moreover, the Airline is carrying out a research in order to acquire aircrafts with the capacity of 50 and 100 passengers, manufactured by different companies for the use in domestic flights.

Currently, the company operates domestic and international passenger and cargo services mainly from its hub located at Ashgabat International Airport and the geography of its destinations is growing steadily.

The country has recently reached an agreement on the air traffic with Luxemburg. Cargolux Airlines International, one of the leading cargo airlines launched operation of cargo flights en route Luxembourg (LUX)  Turkmensbashi (KRW) in June, and Luxembourg (LUX)  Ashgabat (ASB) in July, 2016.

The company also in talks on the perspective of cooperation with the Turkish low-cost airline Pegasus, which is expected to operate flights en route Istanbul (IST) - Turkmensbashi (KRW) in the short run.

Construction of new International Airport in Ashgabat is underway. The airport is expected to become the largest in the Central Asian region. The country seeks to become one of the largest intercontinental transportation centers.

Another international airport is in under construction in the Turkmenabat city, a center of Lebap province that has borders with three provinces of Turkmenistan - Mary, Ahal and Dasoguz.

The construction of modern landing strip length of 3,800 meters has been recently completed in Dadhoguz Airport, which performs transportation of passengers, cargo, baggage and mail.

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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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18 August 2016 13:44 (UTC+04:00)

Turkish General Prosecutor's Office has sanctioned detention of prosecutors and judges, 84 people in total, suspected of having ties with Fethullah Gulens movement, the Sabah newspaper reported Aug. 18.

Gulen is involved in the organization of the July 15 military coup attempt in Turkey.

Police are currently carrying out operations in 34 provinces of Turkey to detain the prosecutors and judges.

Earlier, the Turkish High Council of Judges and Prosecutors temporarily dismissed 648 judges and prosecutors due to suspicion of their ties with the Gulen movement.

It was earlier reported that the supporters of Fethullah Gulen have penetrated into several government bodies in Turkey.

On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them.

However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people, excluding the coup plotters, and over 2,000 people were wounded.

Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20.

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Artisan hand-cooked potato crisp manufacturer Burts has unveiled that the winner of the ultimate crisp sandwich, as voted by the nation, is the Roasted Vegetable Picnic Roll.

The company partnered with TV chef Dean Edwards to encourage Brits to have a lunch to look forward to, and launched an eight-week campaign, which ran across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

A total of 10,877 snacking enthusiasts voted via the crisp companys election process, with the definitive ranking of crisp sandwiches as follows:

Roasted Vegetable Picnic Roll  combining fresh summer flavours with Burts Vintage Cheddar and Spring Onion Beef Yorkie  filling a Yorkshire pudding with Burts Devon Roast Beef flavour Steak baguette  a twist on the classic sandwich using Sea Salt and Crushed Peppercorns Lobster Cocktail  the 70s favourite gets a modern crunchy makeover with Burts Firecracker Lobster flavour Spicy Chorizo Chicken Club  a triple decker sandwich with extra texture, heat and flavour. Truffled Egg Mayonnaise  adding extra crunch, bite and luxury to this filling Sweet Chilli Quesadilla  cheese, guacamole, and bites of Spicy Thai Sweet Chilli crisps. Cheese and Pickled Onion  Deans childhood favourite, with added tang mixed with Sea Salt and Malted Vinegar flavour.

Simon Knight, Sales and Marketing Director for Burts Chips told British Baker: "We wanted to put the crunch back into lunch and show consumers that mealtimes dont have to be dull and sandwiches can be creative and delicious. Our fans love experimenting and we set out to inspire them to enjoy their favourite crisps in a new and exciting way.

He added: "We had an overwhelming number of responses to our campaign, with 10,877 votes on what the great British public deem the Ultimate Crisp Sandwich. Our bespoke videos demonstrating how to construct some of TV chef Dean Edwards recipes were viewed over 270,000 times, and the corresponding social campaign reached 1.5 million. Understandably we were thrilled with the results and the number of consumer and customers who got involved with our campaign."
Several strange letters were found throughout the popular Meow Wolf art exhibit in Santa Fe on Sunday afternoon. One of which made reference to a suicide bomb and was found in the mailbox of the House of Eternal Return exhibit by a guest who pulled the building's fire alarm. About 200 people were evacuated from the building, and the Santa Fe Police Department sent in a bomb squad. After searching the grounds, SFPD declared that no explosive devices were found. Police are now reviewing video surveillance footage but have not made any arrests. Due to the letter's vagueness, it is unclear as to whether or not any charges will be filed. Vince Kadlubek, Meow Wolfs executive director, told the Santa Fe New Mexican that its unclear whether the note was an actual threat or an attempt to play along with the interactive nature of the exhibit. Meow Wolf will offer refunds to any customers who were evacuated.

Hatch Residents Mourn Officer

The Village of Hatch is stunned after reports of the first officer killed there in the line of duty in 60 years. Around 4pm last Friday, Officer Jose Chavez pulled over a silver car on Franklin Avenue that police say was occupied by driver Jesse Hanes, 38, and passenger James Nelson, 36both of whom were fugitive suspects in the murder of a 62-year-old man in Londonderry, Ohio. An assisting officer arrived in time to witness Officer Chavez fall to the ground while standing near the passenger side of the vehicle. Another officer followed the two suspects, who were fleeing the scene, and was led on a high speed chase down I-25. The officer lost sight of them some time before they exited the highway at Radium Springs. At the rest area located there, eyewitnesses reported a man in a red shirt was approaching drivers and demanding their keys. The man allegedly shot one person in the torso after they refused to enter a vehicle with him. Dona Ana County deputies finally caught up to Hanes, who surrendered after having his tires flattened by police stop sticks. Nelson was found nearby, allegedly attempting to escape. One other passengerwho police say was a hitchhikeris being treated as a witness and not a suspect. Residents of Hatch held a vigil in honor of Officer Chavez Saturday night. Chavez was a two year veteran of the Hatch Police force and a graduate of the Dona Ana County Law Enforcement Academy.
Asia Pacific is forecast to account for 52% of global sales growth between 2016 and 2021.

While the majority of global salty snacks sales are derived from North America and Asia Pacific in 2016, a marked shift toward Asia Pacific as the key growth driver is increasingly apparent. North America has generated 33% of global sales in 2016, but only 23% of global growth between 2011 and 2016. By contrast, actual sales growth in Asia Pacific accounted for 42% of world growth over the same period, despite generating only 29% of the global sales in 2016.

As this trend is set to continue, sales in Asia Pacific are forecast to overtake that of North America by 2021. Asia Pacific is forecast to account for 52% of global sales growth between 2016 and 2021, with China predicted to become the single largest growth contributing market ahead of the US, thereby fueling a rise in PepsiCos sales. In North America, the Purchase, NY-based companys performance benefited from its dominance in tortilla chips, which recorded the strongest growth in actual terms among salty snacks categories, driven by the rising popularity of Mexican food.

China set to leapfrog Japan as largest market

Japan remained the largest salty snacks market in Asia in 2016, following a robust performance and a 2% CAGR in sales between 2011 and 2016. However, this was dwarfed by the 6% and 16% CAGR recorded in China and India respectively, and Japan is forecast to be overtaken by China by 2021 as the largest market in Asia Pacific. Growth in Asia is set to remain largely driven by the strong growth in potato chips and puffed snacks, while rice snacks, a more mature category present mostly in Japan, is set to see more modest growth, following a CAGR of only 1% over the 2011-16 period.

PepsiCos unchallenged lead in Asia Pacific

PepsiCo, the undisputed largest global player in salted snacks due to its dominance in North America, also ranks number one in Asia Pacific. PepsiCos strong performance in Asia Pacific between 2011 and 2016 was largely driven by the growth of the global brand Lays, which ranks number one in potato chips in China and India, and also benefited from the rise of its local puffed snacks brand Kurkure in India.

PepsiCos two main challengers in Asia Pacific  Want Want Holdings, Taiwan, and Calbee, Tokyo  only have a minor presence outside their domestic market and have failed to make inroads against their larger rival. Want Want Holdings, which generates the majority of its sales in rice snacks, is increasingly focusing on a higher growth category, puffed snacks. However, the companys share remained hindered by its absence from potato snacks, a faster growing category in China.

Calbees share in Asia Pacific has been eroded by its dependence on Japan, with a presence in the rest of Asia Pacific revolving mostly around smaller markets, notably Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. It would therefore need to focus on expanding in larger markets in order to be in a position to challenge PepsiCo. In early 2016, Calbee unveiled ambitious growth targets for China, with a focus on e-commerce to develop its presence, thanks to a partnership with Tmall, after failing to establish a solid presence through a brick-and-mortar based distribution. As Calbee plans to achieve 30% of its sales outside Japan in the longer term, it is also looking beyond Asia Pacific, the company becoming present in Western Europe in 2015 with the launches of Harvest Snaps in Spain and the Yushoi range in the UK.

Having built a dominant position in potato chips in China and India, PespiCo has been the major beneficiary of the rapid growth in salty snacks in Asia Pacific, where it is expected to continue enjoying strong growth. Among local companies, which also took advantage of these favorable conditions, no single player has emerged as a serious contender to PepsiCo, and none has built a truly pan-Asian presence matching that of the US giant.

Amid a fragmented salty snacks competitive environment in salty snacks in Asia Pacific, organic growth strategies such as those undertaken by Calbee in China may not be sufficient to fully seize opportunities in emerging markets, and medium-sized acquisitions would be necessary in order to attempt to bridge the gap in shares with PepsiCo.

While the latter company will continue capitalizing on rising sales in sales in Asia Pacific, notably in China and India it may also rely on acquiring brands with a health and wellness positioning revolving around organic and natural ingredients as part of strategies to maintain growth in North America.
Donald Dobbs usually has a long wait when he needs medical attention.



He's one of thousands of people without health care that uses the St. Petersburg Free Clinic on 3rd Avenue North in St. Petersburg.



Dobbs is one of many who doesn't make enough money to buy health insurance, but make too much for the health department to provide coverage.



He found out how big a hole he falls into when he needed an operation to remove an abscess on his back.



"Tampa General Hospital is one of the surgery centers that we use," Dobbs said. "So I went over there to see how much it would be out of pocket without insurance and they said, 'Well we can give you a 50 percent discount just because its out of pocket. Its only $26,000.'"



"That was 50 percent? That was 50 percent."



It is that type of financial gap Mayor Rick Kriseman and other Democratic politicians took to the steps of city hall on Wednesday, asking the state to expand Medicaid and fill in the gap.



"If Gov. Scott and the state legislature closed the coverage gap, the state could draw down as much as $71 billion," Kriseman said. "Thats a billion dollars over the next 10 years. And that cost would be greatly alleviated for our Tampa Bay hospitals."



According to a Pinellas County Health Department report in May of last year, Pinellas ranked 33rd out of Florida's 67 counties in health outcomes, quality of life and length of life.



And that adds to making the free clinic a last lifeline for some, according to clinic Executive Director Beth Houghton.



"The Health Department takes care of a certain number of patients up to 100 percent of poverty level," Houghton said. "There are other resources in the community, but for about 5,000 patients a year here in St. Pete, we are their last resort."



Dodd, meanwhile, was able to get emergency surgery to take care of his absess, but he added that expansion of medicaid would have helped him.



"I went so far as to already pay for my funeral arrangements," Dodd said. "How many 48 year olds do that? Especially when youre only making $20,000 a year."


Longtime Hillsborough County School Board member and educator Doretha Edgecomb will retire when her term ends in November.

Doretha Edgecomb has been at Hillsborough schools for 52 years

Edgecomb was teacher, principal and school board member



This has been my life for 52 years, Edgecomb said. Im a product of the school district. Ive seen it change over time.

Edgecomb is retiring from the school system where she started as a kindergartener at the defunct Harlem Academy in Tampa.

Her grade school experience was much different than today. Edgecomb grew up in the Jim Crow era.

*Doretha Edgecomb graduated from Middleton High School. (Courtesy of Edgecomb)



There was a water fountain that said 'black,' there was [one that said] 'white,'  Edgecomb recalled. You understood that before you went downtown to shop, you couldnt eat at the lunch counter.

Edgecombs classes were segregated, too. She said black students got the hand-me-down" school supplies from white children.

It was just the way it was, Edgecomb said. Did we challenge and ask questions? Absolutely we did. My parents, like most parents of children in that time, talked about how those were the laws of the land and we had to follow the rules.

But Edgecombs world changed when she graduated from Middleton High School in 1960 and left for college in Alabama.

I took part in the civil rights marches in my small college town with the dogs, the water hose, the clubs, that kind of thing, she said. I felt it was my responsibility and my obligation. If I wanted to see change, I had to be a part of that change.

Those ideas motivated her entire career. She rose from the ranks of teacher, to principal, to school board member. Amid that success was also personal tragedy.

Her husband, George, was Hillsborough Countys first black judge. He passed away from leukemia at only 33 years old. The courthouse downtown now bears his name.

*Edgecomb's husband, George, was the first black judge in the county. (Courtesy of Edgecomb)



Through the tough times, Edgecomb says she focused on her calling: helping students. Thats the legacy she hopes to leave behind.

I hope it is most of all that I made an impact on the lives of children and families in this community Ive served, Edgecomb said.

Edgecomb plans to remain active in the community even after her retirement.
The state of Florida is threatening to shutter the Nursing Center at University Village, a senior living facility in Tampa, after a lengthy controversy and court battle that alleges financial mismanagement by the owners.

Senior living facility in Tampa in danger of closing

Thousands sign petition to keep home open

Residents, staff, union leaders meeting with ACHA reps Thursday

Were hoping this can be resolved, said Ross McGillivray, whose 96-year-old mother, Jeannette McGillivray, lives in the nursing home.

For the rest of my life, I'm comfortable here, Jeannette McGillivray said. The thought of moving is very distressing. I have been very happy here.

Union leaders, staff and residents held a news conference at the nursing home Wednesday.

We are calling on the Agency of Health Care Administration now to keep the doors on this facility open, SEIU union representative Monica Russo said.

A dozen residents, staff and union leaders are headed to Tallahassee on Thursday morning to meet with ACHA representatives. If nothing changes, union leaders said 80 residents could be forced to move by Sept. 3.

I have been crying for weeks just thinking about how confused they are going to be, caregiver Martha Aziles said.

Its hard because a lot of them have been here for years, said Joy Streeter, also a caregiver. And weve been here for years with them.

As a way to put pressure on decision-makers, union leaders passed around a petition. Union leaders said about 2,000 people have signed on to keep the nursing home open.

About a dozen caretakers and residents will take the petition with them to Tallahassee on Thursday.

NOTE: In the past, when Bay News 9 contacted the company that took over the facility a couple of years ago for a response, they did not return our calls.


Three people from South Florida have been arrested in a string of 25 burglaries in the South Tampa area.



3 arrested in 25 burglaries in the South Tampa area

One of the suspects captured on home surveillance video

Stolen credit card used in South Florida

Two of the defendants were arrested in Miami-Dade County. One was arrested in Manatee County.

The trio, identified as Alejandro Blanco-Poza, 26, Diego Perera, 25, and Leyanet Morales-Torres, 24, is believed to be responsible for 25 burglaries in the South Tampa area dating back to late March.



Mike Puckett was one of the victims.

Our bedroom had been ransacked. Really, went for jewelry, didnt go for electronics, he said.

Police say the team stole upwards of $350,000 worth of jewelry and other expensive items, including family heirlooms.

My wifes got a pearl necklace, came from her grandmother, he said. Ive got a couple pocket watches passed down from my grandparents. All my dads rings pretty much all in one container, they were able to take that, put it in a pillow case and walk out with it. 



Diego Perera, 25, was identified from home surveillance video taken from two South Tampa area homes.

Police said it was the use of a stolen credit card that provided Tampa Police the lead they needed to identify the suspects.

"Two weeks ago, we learned that the credit card in one of the burglaries was used in a local store in South Florida," said TPD Maj. Eli Vasquez.

Police said Morales-Torres and Blanco-Poza were in possession of numerous pieces of jewelry at the time of their arrest in South Florida. Tampa Police are still working to identify additional jewelry in their possession.

Perera was identified from home surveillance video taken from two South Tampa area homes. Police released that video to the public last week but said since the suspects were not from the area the video did not lead to identification.



All three defendants are facing charges in South Florida and in Tampa. Police said additional charges are likely.

Morales-Torres and Blanco-Poza are from Homestead. Perera has a Naples address.

Police say they are currently searching for a fourth suspect in the robberies. Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477).


Warnings for Oregon Coast: Hot Weather Advisory, Fire Dangers

Published 08/17/2016 at 6:41 PM PDT - Updated 08/17/2016 at 6:45 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Oregon Coast)  Major hot weather advisories and warnings are going up not just for inland Oregon and places like Portland or Eugene, but the Oregon coast is now under a heat advisory and a red flag warning.

The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Portland issued these earlier today. The hot weather advisory is in effect from Thursday afternoon through Friday evening for the Oregon coast, saying temperatures could rise as high as the 90's in this area. The red flag warning is in effect for the same period, with the NWS saying critical fire conditions will require extra caution in coastal forests. (Note: finding lodging will be difficult this weekend - see Oregon Coast Lodging for possible openings).

While there is no official word yet, it is entirely possible there could be a campfire ban and a beach fire ban being issued along the beaches. These kinds of warnings have produced such a ban in the past, although the short length of these warnings may well not call for that.

The heat advisory starts at noon on Thursday and runs until 9 p.m. on Friday for the entire north and central Oregon coast, including the towns of Florence, Yachats, Newport, Lincoln City, Pacific City, Tillamook, Manzanita, Cannon Beach, Seaside and Astoria. Friday will be the hottest day, reaching into the 80's maybe even the 90's along the beach towns, while overnight lows may only be in the 60's.

Towns slightly inland, like Tillamook, Garibaldi, Astoria or Toledo, will likely see much higher temps, closing in on the same valley highs of 100 degrees.

This extended period of hot weather will increase the risk of heat related illnesses and injuries, the NWS said.

The NWS said an upper ridge of high pressure will settle over Oregon from Thursday through Saturday that will create extreme hot weather. Northeast to east winds will intensify the heating on Friday. It looks like Saturday and Sunday are predicted to drop into highs in the 60's and low 70's for most of the coastline. NWS forecasts seem to indicate the central coast will be hotter than the north coast on Friday.

Add to the heat some extra dry conditions and extremely low humidity for the coastline and you have the recipe that called for a red flag warning for the beaches. The NWS said critical fire conditions are expected to develop Thursday and may go beyond the warning's end of Friday night, lingering into Saturday.

The coast range forests are especially at risk, but hot, dry winds are expected along the beaches as well. This makes brush and forest areas right next to the beaches at an increased fire risk.

Due to elevated fuel conditions, any fire starts will have the potential for rapid spread, the NWS said. More Oregon Coast Weather. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours



















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Volunteers from First Baptist Church in Kountze made their way Wednesday to Lafayette, La. to help those affected by the historic flooding disasters.

The church along with Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief have coordinated with officials in Louisiana to deploy a laundry unit to the area hat the church maintains for disaster situations.
A woman who was missing from Cleveland, Texas was found dead in a wooded area of Wells Cemetery Rd. in north Liberty County on Sunday evening, according to a release from Liberty County Sheriff's Office.

Latasha Evette Rucker, 36, was reported missing earlier this week by the Cleveland Police Department, and was found after police received information from Gerard Dante Simmons, 28, about her death and whereabouts, according to the release.
GALVESTON  A body discovered last year by Wharton County investigators is that of a 15-year-old girl who disappeared in 1990 while working at a convenience store, a sheriff's detective said Thursday.

The Wharton County Sheriff's Office said it was notified Tuesday that remains found Nov. 24 had been identified as those of Rosemary Diaz, an honors student at El Campo High School, sheriff's Detective Scott Grosser said.

The determination was made by the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification.

Grosser said he had spoken with Diaz's family in El Campo, a city along U.S. 59 that's about 75 miles southwest of Houston. "It's the beginning of the healing process," Grosser said. "It's sad but now they have the ability to move forward."

The identification took nine months because the center has a waiting list of cases, Grosser said. "The day (Diaz's) remains were taken up there they had four others come in from all over the world," he said.

Diaz had worked at Dane's Country Store in the small community of Danevang, about 10 miles from her home in El Campo, for less than two weeks when she disappeared on the Saturday night after Thanksgiving 1990.

A couple stopped at the store and found no one in the building. They called police, who found no signs of a struggle. No cash or merchandise was missing. Rosemary's purse and the radio she listened to at work sat untouched, and the car she drove to the store was found parked nearby.

The disappearance stumped police. The evidence at the time didn't necessarily point to abduction.

A tip years later led Wharton County investigators to a remote area just over the county line in Matagorda County. Remains were found about 2 miles from where she was last seen. Investigators also discovered an amethyst ring with a heart-shaped stone believed to be one that was worn by Rosemary on the night she vanished. The ring had been given to her by family earlier that year for her quinceanera, a Hispanic tradition celebrating a girl's coming of age.

"Last night I cried, and it hurts and I know I will never be able to hug her, to touch her or speak to her again," Elia Diaz, Rosemary's sister, said last November as she and two other sisters gathered to grieve at their 78-year-old mother's El Campo home.

Police believe a deceased relative of the owners of the undeveloped property where the remains were found had abducted Rosemary, killed her and buried her there. They say the suspect - whose name has not been publicly released - died in July 2015, prompting the family to put together hints he had dropped over the years that he might have been responsible for Rosemary's disappearance.

The discovery closes the missing person's case for Wharton County, Grosser said. The Matagorda Sheriff's Office is handling the criminal investigation because the body was found in its jurisdiction. That office said there is an ongoing investigation in cooperation with the Texas Rangers.
Michael Browning is new to his position as CFO of Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica, starting the job Aug. 8. But with more than 25 years of experience in healthcare finance, he is not new to the industry.

Prior to joining ProMedica, he was CFO of WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, N.C. Before that, he was at Parkview Health in Fort Wayne, Ind., where he served as senior vice president and CFO from 2010 to 2015.

All of this experience prepared him to become CFO of ProMedica, a 12-hospital system with about $3 billion in annual revenue.

Mr. Browning recently spoke with Becker's Hospital Review about the greatest challenges facing health system CFOs today and how ProMedica is navigating the shifting reimbursement environment.

Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Question: What first piqued your interest in healthcare and set you on the track to becoming ProMedica's CFO?

Michael Browning: I workedin Northeast Indiana for about five years and knew ProMedica pretty well. I met with Randy Oostra, president and CEO of ProMedica, a few times and really liked his style and the way he did things. And ProMedica has an extremely strong reputation for being high-quality and cost effective. From a CFO perspective, that's very important to me. What sets ProMedica apart is they're very strategic and innovative. A lot of health systems provide good quality care and are very cost effective, but ProMedica is doing some real strategic and innovative things, and that's where I thought bringing all these pieces together would be a good opportunity for me to further develop and become a better leader.

Q: What is the greatest challenge facing hospital and health system CFOs today?

MB: There are many significant challenges facing CFOs in the healthcare industry today. The first major challenge is related to costs. We are seeing costs rise faster than revenues with three areas rising faster than most and they are technology, drugs and personnel. This challenge requires us to be much more innovative as CFOs and look at our investment in existing service lines as well as analyze new services we can offer to grow the revenue base at a faster pace than our expense growth or at a minimum, we must keep pace.

The second significant challenge is managing both volume and value-based models simultaneously. We've always been in a situation where we've been paid based on volume but now we also must mange the value side. And if this weren't challenging enough, we've got payers that are struggling to understand how to compensate us for value, and in most instances, we're not being compensated for value at all. The lack of reimbursement is especially challenging considering the amount of investment that it takes to manage the value-based model.

The third challenge is payers and employers are shifting costs to the consumer and this shift is significantly increasing the patients out-of-pocket cost. This additional burden is causing patients to struggle to pay their bills. So we're working with those patients to help identify sources of assistance for them, but in some instances, patients just can't afford their co-pays and deductibles. In many of those situations, it's unfortunately going to bad debt which means we're not being compensated for the care. To manage this challenge, we must continue to work closely with our patients to assist them to identify better options on how they can manage their healthcare debt.

Q: How is ProMedica navigating in the shifting reimbursement climate?

MB: ProMedica's been in the health insurance business since the early 1990s, so we have been dealing with the focus on value longer than most organizations. Understanding the value proposition helps ProMedica manage the change in reimbursement. But even with experience in this area, ProMedica still has its challenges because of the significant changes to reimbursement. Unfortunately, there's not a single strategy to deal with the reimbursement changes. Every transaction that we encounter is different and often requires more creative solutions. One thing that's certain is the changes in reimbursement are requiring us to be more innovative and flexible. Even though ProMedica's done this for many years, it's still a challenging environment for us that we're no different than other organizations  just a little bit more prepared.

Q: What is one goal you have for the next year and how will you achieve it?

MB: My main goal is to support our operating team to deliver safe, high-quality care in a cost effective manner for all the people we serve. It's a big goal and it takes a lot to get there. But if we're able to achieve this then we'll continue to be successful.

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Alabama's mental health commissioner is looking to reopen a former state-owned and operated psychiatric hospital in Mount Vernon, according to a WPMI report.

Searcy Hospital closed in 2012, leaving hundreds of workers without jobs and forcing patients to move to other facilities in central Alabama or into acute care, residential treatment and outpatient treatment programs in Mobile and Baldwin County. Many corrections officials said the closure was devastating for Mount Vernon, but also led to overcrowding in Alabama prisons and jails, according to the report.

But Jim Perdue, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Mental Health, has a plan to reopen the former hospital. He said he wants to repurpose Searcy Hospital to serve terminally ill and mentally ill prisoners and inmates, according to WPMI. He views it as a step toward improving mental health in Alabama.

Mr. Perdue's other plans to improve mental health in the state include moving the Alabama Department of Mental Health, from Montgomery to Tuscaloosa to save money and expand bed space, as well as improving and increasing patient care at Bryce Hospital, Mary Starke Harper Psychiatrics Center and Taylor Hardin Medical facility in Tuscaloosa, according to the report.
The Obama administration has pledged $17 million to fight opioid abuse. The funds will be distributed to several states considered to be drug trafficking hotspots.

The funding, which comes from the Office of National Drug Control Policy for High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, will support initiatives to combat heroin abuse in high-intensity areas in Atlanta, the Carolinas, Michigan and Ohio. The HIDTA program helps federal, state and local authorities target emerging drug threats by coordinating drug enforcement operations and bolstering prevention efforts.

The funding includes distributing $5.6 million among 13 projects to fight the trafficking of prescription opioids, fentanyl and heroin. It will also be used to train physicians on safe prescribing practices and the distribution of naloxone, which can reverse an opioid overdose.

Another $6.5 million will be used to fortify HIDTA investigative efforts and support centers. Another $1 million will support public health and public safety partnerships that work to prevent drug use.
There's no denying it: rural hospitals are in trouble.

More than 48 rural hospitals have closed since 2010, according to the National Rural Health Association, and another 283 are in danger of closing.

The malaise effecting rural healthcare comes from several vectors. Reduced populations, higher percentage of uninsured and elderly patients, equipment underuse, and the absence of high-margin specialty services makes for a bleak economic outlook. A shortage of doctors willing to work in remote areas creates quality of care and a staffing issues. Then, there is the challenge of getting patients into rural hospitals in a timely manner because travel distances sometimes are too great.

Many believe that telemedicine and mHealth offer a way out for struggling rural hospitals, however.

A 2012 report by the Institute of Medicine for the National Academies, entitled The Role of Telehealth in an Evolving Health Care Environment, found that telehealth drives volume, increases quality of care, and reduces costs by reducing readmissions and unnecessary emergency department visits for rural communities. Through telemedicine, rural hospitals can serve rural patients at better costs and help cut down on the time it takes rural patients to receive care, particularly specialty care.

"When rural patients know their hospital is using telemedicine, they have higher regard for that hospital and are less likely to bypass it for treatment at an urban facility," noted James Marcin, director of the UC Davis Children's Hospital Pediatric Telemedicine Program, a pioneer in remote medicine.

The ways that rural hospitals can take advantage of telemedicine and mHealth technology advancements are many, and include remote consultations, in-home monitoring, outsourced diagnostic analysis, and remote specialist consultations.

Instead of waiting days or weeks for a healthcare professional to travel to a remote area, or traveling into a hospital and waiting for an appointment, telemedicine enables remote physician consultations that are faster, cheaper and more efficient than traditional healthcare appointments. For consultations on simple health concerns, or follow up on existing conditions, remote consultations can dramatically improve the patient experience while helping rural hospital economics at the same time.

The Georgia Partnership for Telehealth, for instance, assesses and treats students so that they do not need to travel to a clinic for healthcare, and currently has replaced more than 350 locations where a traditional doctor's visit was formerly required.

A second way that rural hospitals are leveraging telemedicine is through in-home monitoring. One example is decreased hospitalization rates for seniors enrolled in the FirstHealth Home Care Chronic Disease model in North Carolina. Patients previously diagnosed with heart failure, diabetes, or COPD and who experienced frequent hospitalizations are monitored by telehealth at home between periodic visits from nursing staff. Response and intervention times have improved substantially, according to the program.

Another benefit to struggling rural hospitals is outsourced diagnostic analysis and access to remote specialists. It is difficult for many rural communities to staff their own diagnosticians, but mobile imaging centers and lab specimen kiosks that can take X-rays and perform collections can work in conjunction with remote analysis labs in larger urban areas to bridge the gap.

One study that looked at 24 hospitals in four rural states in the Midwest including Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas found that telemedicine brought an annual economic impact of at least $20,000 per year, with an impact of up to $1,300,000. The majority of these savings came from increased lab and pharmacy revenues due to additional work performed locally.

In addition to outsourced diagnostics, telemedicine also enables consultation with remote specialists at larger, urban hospitals instead of the need for having these specialists on staff. This can be particularly good for attracting doctors to rural hospital settings.

"Telemedicine fosters a collaboration that reduces the feelings of isolation that physicians may experience when they go to practice in a small town," noted Dr. Wilbur Hitt in a report, Telemedicine: Changing the Landscape of Rural Physician Practice. "With telemedicine, it's like having one foot in the city but being able to live and practice out in a rural area. It's also reassuring to know that you're on the right track with the treatment plan and are staying current."

Still, roughly 66 percent of rural hospitals had no telehealth services or were only in the process of implementing a telehealth application when the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Analysis reviewed 4,727 hospitals in the 2013 HIMSS Analytics database. Part of the reason comes from broadband access challenges.

Rural communities not only suffer from a population shortage and a lack of resources, they also typically have trouble with the necessary broadband infrastructure for telemedicine. The benefit of remote consultation by video conference for rural patients is clear, for instance, but these remote consultations amount to nothing if there isn't the broadband infrastructure to support it.

"The ability for physicians to connect with those in areas that don't have much of a wireless connection is the biggest problem when trying to treat these patients," noted Tony Zhao the CEO of Agora.io, a video SDK company that provides easy video conferencing with quality-of-service guarantees so telemedicine and e-learning initiatives work even in rural settings.

"With weak connections, video streams for telehealth are blurry, choppy or just won't work," he added. "Implementing technology that doesn't rely on the general internet but which relies on an infrastructure that strengthens signals in the most remote areas is crucial."

Another barrier for rural hospitals is the challenges that surround reimbursements. Medicare reimbursement is a major challenge for telemedicine, with states each having their own standards by which their Medicaid programs will reimburse for telemedicine expenses.

There is no single standard telemedicine reimbursement system for private payers, either. Some insurance companies value telemedicine and will reimburse for a wide variety of services while others do not.

These and other challenges put a drag on rural telemedicine at the same time as the need for it grows. Rural hospitals have a path toward recovery in the form of telemedicine, but obstacles still remain.

The views, opinions and positions expressed within these guest posts are those of the author alone and do not represent those of Becker's Hospital Review/Becker's Healthcare. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them.
Health system CEOs are asked to perform the highwire act of managing change in the industry while keeping operations steady and finances healthy. Whether the CEO of a large integrated system or a smaller regional organization, health system leaders are confronted with many of the same pressing issues.

Here are 10 issues leaving health system CEOs most concerned.

1. The speed of movement from volume to value and potential impacts. The rate at which an organization moves from traditional fee-for-service payments to novel pay-for-performance contracts is often compared to having one foot on the dock, one on the boat. Although CMS and commercial insurers have set clear deadlines for their progression to value-based payment, the transition is less clean-cut for many providers. This leaves executive teams grappling with certain questions.

The jury is still out on whether a health system needs its own health plan, thereby controlling more of the premium dollar, to succeed under value-based payments. CEOs are also struggling with risk assessment, an atypical skill for many executives who devoted their careers to the provider side of healthcare. As one CEO said, it's difficult to explain risk to an organization not accustomed to taking it on. For executive teams that aren't on the cutting edge of value-based payments, the magnitude of loss that could occur under an unfamiliar payment model remains a source of anxiety.

2. The cool-off as it relates to provider-sponsored health plans. Between 2010 and 2014, the number of providers offering one or more health plans grew from 94 to 106, according to McKinsey. Since this is the latest data available, it is too soon to say whether the number of providers offering health plans has decreased, although subjectively the fervor shared by a great segment of the hospital industry to launch a health plan has lost intensity.

For one, the performance of these plans remains mixed in all markets. Secondly, newly launched or acquired health plans produce large operating losses in their initial phases. Last summer, Standard & Poor's analysts noted the possibility of more volatile system-wide operating performance due to provider-sponsored health plans, although this forecast pertained more to organizations with newly launched or acquired plans versus those integrated systems that have long had health plans such as Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente and Pittsburgh-based UPMC.

As health insurance co-ops under the Affordable Care Act go under, major insurers pull out of the ACA exchanges and executives wait to see whether Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna or Indianapolis-based Anthem prevail against the government's challenges to the mega-mergers, it is safe to say the payer industry is tumultuous and markets are volatile. A couple of years ago, many healthcare providers looked to the option of health plans and vertical integration with excitement. Now enthusiasm is lukewarm and consensus is lacking on whether this is a wise business decision.

3. Traditional M&A continues while nontraditional alliances grow more prevalent. M&A is often compared to marriage, and in this spirit, health systems are increasingly finding value in dating several partners versus committing to one for life. In an effort to expand patient populations, double down on clinical strengths and grow brand awareness and market share, systems are working with payers and providers via insurance-related partnerships, direct-to-employer contracts, clinical affiliations, joint ventures and other arrangements that could be collectively called merger lite. "I hear more about strategic alignments than traditional M&A," said the CEO of an independent 168-bed hospital in the south.

When a health system is a partner to many, this changes the daily life of the CEO. One chief said he is out of the office four days a week to work with partners and better understand how to increase the patient population and align services under insurance products.

4. Growth in ancillary systems and alliance efforts with best-in-class operators. The phone practically won't stop ringing for the CEO of an independent specialty hospital. She noted her organization is inundated by other providers, who approach with interest to replicate and leverage her organization's clinical expertise for women's health. "Do one thing and do it well," the Zen-like proverb spoken by a software developer, rings true for hospitals that have secured an edge for certain clinical areas, research capabilities or operating functions. In a day and age where hospitals wear a dozen different hats, those that demonstrate excellence or market dominance for one thing remain sought-after partners.

5. The extent of risk being pushed to systems in each of core payer areas  commercial, Medicare and Medicaid. CMS says the shift to risk-based payment models is accelerating, with the agency announcing in March that it met its goal of tying 30 percent of Medicare payments to quality nearly 10 months ahead of schedule. CMS got the ball rolling with its valued-based programs, and commercial insurers followed suit, leaving health system CEOs to manage the uncertainty arising from the shift in the industry.

Some health system CEOs are skittish about taking on risk-based contracts, and it appears they have good reason to be. According to a recent survey by KPMG, a majority of healthcare providers expect their organization's finances to suffer with the move to value-based care. Risk-based contracts come in a variety of forms, from full capitation to lesser-risk contracts such as Medicare shared savings and bundled payments, providing systems some flexibility in how much risk they take on. However, with the creation of mandatory programs such as CMS' Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model, risk is being pushed to systems whether they are ready for the change or not.

6. A shrinking pool of acquisition candidates. In some markets, health systems are beginning to encounter the aftermath of five years of rapid hospital-health system consolidation and physician employment. In the south, one CEO says he sees systems that still have a large appetite for acquisitions, but the remaining organizations are too big or, if they are small, more selective about merging with a larger entity.

To avoid the challenges of acquisition, many systems are turning to affiliations. By providing a low level of integration, affiliations are oftentimes a more attractive option for smaller hospitals that wish to gain access to capital resources and enhance services, while retaining control of operations. Affiliations are also beneficial to the larger organization, which can leverage the smaller hospital to improve care coordination efforts.

7. The return to the basics of execution and business. Build or maintain a dominant system and market position. Know what exactly drives revenues and profits. Constantly recruit and retain talented people. Test new areas but double down on the winning areas. Apply the 80/20 rule to most opportunities, talent, revenues and costs. Agitate to constantly improve. And finally: Acknowledge that there is no single strategy, but define a few core plans and goals.

For CEOs, what once seemed old is new again. As executives come up for air from five years, give or take, of intensive strategizing with consultants and countless promises of the next Uber of healthcare, many are rediscovering the basic principles that drive countless successful companies and household brands. New strategies may be exciting, but they also run of the risk of resonating less and less with what is going on in the real world and what works.

Like any human being, a CEO has potential to fall for the next bright shiny object. Chief executives must constantly exert energy in the form of discipline. Sometimes it does take encounters with the wildly innovative and imaginative to make one again appreciate the tried, true and sensible rules that keep the core of the business healthy.

8. The impact of the cost of pharmaceuticals and impact on healthcare costs for systems. As hospitals strive to provide high-quality care at a lower cost, CEOs of health systems across the country are concerned about skyrocketing drug prices. Fueled largely by spending for new medicines, particularly specialty drugs, total prescription drug spending rose 12.2 percent in 2014, faster than the 2.4 percent growth in 2013, according to CMS. An analysis by Bloomberg Business of 3,000 brand-name prescription drugs revealed the price of 20 drugs had at least quadrupled since December 2014.

Health system leaders are deploying a number of strategies to combat rising drug costs, including negotiating better prices based on utilization by joining a group purchasing organization. A 2014 Healthcare Supply Chain study credited GPOs with cutting hospitals costs by as much as 18 percent. GPOs are expected to reduce overall healthcare spending by up to $864.4 billion by 2022.

9. The competition with private equity for high-margin business. Private equity firms made a strong showing in the healthcare market in 2015, and they're investing in lines that previously helped nonprofit systems' margin. Last year, $23.1 billion was reportedly invested in healthcare by private equity funds. Although that number is down slightly from $29.6 billion in 2014, the number of deals worth $1 billion or more grew from five in 2014 to eight in 2015, according to Bain & Co.

As health systems remain focused on inorganic growth opportunities and PE firms shift capital to healthcare, competition for assets that offer high reimbursement potential, such as medical groups that specialize in pain management, will continue. This trend will likely lead more hospital CEOs to consider partnerships with PE buyers.

10. The pushing of procedures out of hospitals and the efforts to backfill. In 2015, a group of the largest for-profit hospital operators in the U.S. recorded increased inpatient admissions for the first time since 2008. Don't bet on that occurring again, Fitch analysts were quick to advise. "A repeat performance of positive growth is unlikely in 2016, since the improving economy and Affordable Care Act provided a lift that can't overtake longer-term headwinds to growth, like pressure by payers to reduce short-stays and readmissions," Megan Neuburger, managing director with Fitch Ratings, said in a statement.

Overall hospital demand is not expected to increase like it has in the past. What was forecasted for years is beginning to noticeably play out at certain health systems. Improved care coordination and management is successfully keeping patients with chronic conditions out of the hospital, moving what was once appropriate for inpatient care to the outpatient or home setting. An Advisory Board analysis in 2014 suggested that aggressive population health management efforts could reduce inpatient volume growth by more than 6 percentage points over 10 years. As a result, hospital and health system CEOs are put on a highwire act to work with their executive teams, boards, physicians and payers to craft a growth plan that accounts for this change in revenue.

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Mark Richardson, MD, dean of Portland-based OregonHealth & ScienceUniversity's medical school, was critically injured over the weekend after falling from a high height while performing home repairs, according to the Portland Business Journal.

Dr. Richardson's prognosis is uncertain, as of 5 p.m. PDT on Aug. 17.

In a statement, OHSU officials said Dr. Richardson is receiving intensive care at a metro-area hospital, and given the nature of his injuries, he will be unable to serve as the medical school's dean "for a significant period of time," according to the report. During his leave, Joe Robertson, MD, president and former dean of the medical school, will serve as acting dean.

Dr. Richardson became dean of the School of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University in July 2007. In addition, he serves as president and chair of the board of directors of the Faculty Practice Plan.
Community leaders are getting involved n a contract dispute between nurses and Steward Holy Family Hospital at Merrimack Valley in Haverhill, Mass.

A delegation of community leaders from Greater Haverhill are slated to visit the hospital, part of Boston-based Steward Health Care, to hand-deliver a letter to hospital President Joseph Roach to "express concerns for the nurses who provide dedicated care at our hospital," and to appeal for fair treatment of the nurses in protracted negotiations for a new union contract.

The nurses' previous contract with the hospital expired last March.

The delegation delivering the letter Thursday will include the Rev. Ralph Galen of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Wakefield; Paul Georges, president of the United Teachers of Lowell and the Merrimack Valley Central Labor Council; Lisa Begley, president of the Haverhill Education Association; and Ed Adley, business agent with Teamsters Local 170, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents 145 registered nurses at HFHMV.

"As community leaders, we have a vested interest in the future of our community hospital and in the fair treatment of those dedicated caregivers who play such a key role in success of this facility and the health and safety of the patients under their care," Rev. Galen, who is helping lead the community effort to support the nurses, said in a statement. "In making this personal appeal, we want to ensure that Mr. Roach understands that this is more than an issue of a union contract, but an issue central to the public health of our community."

This latest letter is not the only support the HFHMV nurses have received. The state legislative delegation representing communities served by the hospital last month also sent a letter to Mr. Roach, urging him to "negotiate a fair contract with the nurses so they can continue to provide the best care to the people of our communities," the MNA said.

The nurses have been attempting for several months to negotiate a new union contract. However, the union claims the hospital "failed to engage in a good faith effort to negotiate with the nurses." As a result, the nurses filed two unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the facility, claiming the hospital bargained in bad faith, the MNA said.

Hospital spokeswoman Jean MacDougall-Tattan said in a statement that the hospital is "proud of the quality care provided by hospital doctors, nurses and staff to our patients every day" and "take[s] pride in the collaborative work we have done with multiple unions to continue improving care and jobs within the facility."

At the most recent negotiating session Aug. 3, Ms. MacDougall-Tattan said HFHMV continued to offer across-the-board raises and the preservation of existing step increases for MNA members.

To date, 15 negotiating sessions have been held with the next session scheduled for Aug. 23. Ms. MacDougall-Tattan said the hospital will review the letter and looks forward to continuing negotiations with nurses at that time.

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Three law firms are investigating the possibility of filing a lawsuit against Phoenix-based Banner Health over the data breach that affected 3.7 million individuals earlier this month, according to the Greeley Tribune.

New York City-based Weitz and Luxenberg, Seattle-based Kelelr Rohrback and Phoenix-based Gallagher & Kennedy are considering class-action lawsuits against the health system, alleging negligence following the breach.

An Arizona law firm has already filed a class-action lawsuit against Banner in MaricopaCounty on behalf of a Glendale, Ariz., physician whose information may have been affected by the breach.

Robert Carey, a partner at the Hagens Berman law firm in Ariz. said healthcare leaders should be at the forefront of the fight to keep patient information secure.

Health care people should be on the front edge of how to protect systems in leading the charge, and the lawsuit will help incentivize an improvement in security, said Mr. Carey. There has to be a great enough cost on the back end to motivate people to do the right thing on the front end.

An attorney at Weitz and Luxenberg also said the lawsuits ensure that the situation is remedied in a timely fashion, according to the report.

Banner officials said they cannot comment on potential litigation, according to the report.
A federal judge has granted class-action status to a lawsuit filed by three former employees of now-shuttered Yadkin Valley Community Hospital against the hospital's former operator, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

The Yadkinville, N.C.-based hospital unexpectedly closed May 22, 2015. Yadkin County owns the building the hospital operated out of, but privately owned CAH Acquisition 10 LLC in Kansas City, Mo., leased and operated the facility. The company was scheduled to run the hospital until July 31, 2015.

Last September, three former hospital employees brought a lawsuit under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act against CAH and its parent company. The WARN Act requires employers to give workers at least 60 days advance written notice of plans to close a facility or cut a large number of jobs. CAH never filed notice with city officials or the North Carolina Commerce Department as required by the WARN Act.

The employees asked the court to grant class-action status to their suit, and Judge William Osteen Jr. ruled in their favor Monday. There could be as many as 150 class-action members, according to the report.

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The following insurers made headlines this week. They are listed below, beginning with the most recent.

1. BCBS of Illinois won't credit deductibles paid to failing insurance co-op

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois said it will not credit deductibles for members of the closing insurance co-opLand of Lincoln Health.

2. BCBS of Louisiana selects Blue Health Intelligence to supply risk adjustment analytics

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana chose Blue Health Intelligence's risk adjustment solution to determine the insurer's commercial risk adjustment.

3. Highmark, Lehigh Valley Health Network collaborate for health plan

Highmark Blue Shield and LehighValley Health Network in Allentown, Pa., partnered to implement a health plan.

4. Aetna threatened to leave ACA exchanges if Humana merger was blocked

Aetna told the U.S. Department of Justice in July it would take immediate action to limit its presence on the Affordable Care Act exchanges if the DOJ sued to block its pending merger with Humana.

5. Aetna to leave 11 of 15 state ACA exchanges

Aetna will pull out of Affordable Care Act exchanges in 11 states next year, citing $430 million in losses incurred on individual plans since January 2014.

6. Medical University Hospital sues BlueCross BlueShield of SC for alleged nonpayment

MedicalUniversityHospital in Charleston, S.C., sued BlueChoice Health Plan of South Carolina for allegedly failing to pay reimbursement for services administered to BlueChoice Medicaid patients.

7. East Texas Medical Center, BCBS reach network agreement before trial

EastTexasMedicalCenter in Tyler and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas reached a network agreement Aug. 11, resolving a heated legal battle before it could reach trial.

8. Blue Shield of California to take 4-day hiatus to save $4M

Blue Shield of California will shut down for the four days following Labor Day to save on payroll expenses.
The federal government plans to use a new advertising campaign to boost enrollment in public marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act, The New York Times reports.

President Barack Obama's administration is looking at an advertising campaign featuring testimonials from newly insured consumers, along with direct appeals to young adults who faced tax penalties this year for failing to enroll, according to the report.

The push for enrollment comes as some of the large insurers say they will leave or scale back from online insurance exchanges. Aetna, which is in the process of a pending merger with Humana, has said it will pull out of ACA exchanges in 11 states next year, citing $430 million in losses incurred on individual plans since January 2014.

UnitedHealthcare and Humana also said they will, for the most part, exit ACA marketplaces next year.

Anthem, which is looking to acquire Cigna, said its losses also had been increasing, but that it does not plan to leave the marketplaces, according to the report. The U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys general from several states filed lawsuits against Anthem and Aetna out of concern their proposed acquisitions would impede health insurance competition. Anthem operates for-profit Blue Cross plans in 14 states and said it can't expand to other states unless the merger with Cigna goes goes through, The New York Times reports.

This is all occurring less than three months before the fourth annual open ACA enrollment period is set to begin Nov. 1.

This time around, federal officials said they would try to sign up more young adults, particularly those turning 26 and moving off their parents' plans, according to the report. Federal officials said they would also, for the first time, send letters about marketplace coverage to people who were hit with the tax penalty for being uninsured, the report states.

More articles on payer issues:

Oscar loses $52.2M in NY in first half of 2016

BCBS of Illinois won't credit deductibles paid to failing insurance co-op

7 things to know about Aetna's ACA exchange exit
An autopsy has confirmed that a fifth UPMC organ transplant patient had the same type of fungal infection that at least four other now-deceased UPMC patients did, according to a Tribune-Review report.

Daniel Krieg died in July after undergoing a kidney transplant in July 2015 and being readmitted to UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh in March for pneumonia. The autopsy lists "multiorgan failure due to sepsis due to pneumonia" as the cause of death, but also lists that Mr. Krieg had bacterial and fungal pneumonia. A lobe removed from his lung while he was still alive contained rhizopus, a type of mold, according to the report.

"The Krieg family feels vindicated that UPMC's own pathologists have confirmed what the family had said all along  a necrotizing fungal infection that Dan Krieg contracted while admitted to UPMC was a major contributing cause of death," his family's lawyer told the Tribune-Review.

A UPMC spokeswoman had previously said Mr. Krieg's death was due to pneumonia and was not directly related to the fungal infection. The Pittsburgh-based health system did not comment on the issue Wednesday, according to the Tribune-Review.

The family's lawyer is considering filing a lawsuit over Mr. Krieg's death, according to the report. One other lawsuit regarding the mold outbreak and subsequent patient deaths was settled in May for $1.35 million.
Cambridge, Mass.-based InVivo Therapeutics added Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine as a clinical site for its INSPIRE study.

Here are five insights:

1. Surgeons will execute the study at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which is an 894-bed Level 1 trauma center.

2. Nader Dahdaleh, MD, a neurological surgery assistant professor at Northwestern, will serve as the site's principal investigator.

3. With the addition of Northwestern Medicine, the INSPIRE study now has clinical sites in the top six most populated U.S. cities.

4. The INSPIRE study involves 23 clinical sites around the country.

5. The INSPIRE study tests the Neuro-Spinal Scaffold's efficacy and safety for complete thoracic AIS A spinal cord injury.

"Chicago, as with other major metropolitan areas, sees a disproportionally high number of acute, traumatic spinal cord injuries and unfortunately, with complete spinal cord injuries, trauma teams have limited tools at their disposal to treat this devastating condition," said Dr. Dahdaleh.
Here are eight things for spinal surgeons to know for Aug. 18, 2016.

Aetna to pull out of 11 ACA exchanges; expects losses reaching $300M

Aetna will stop acquiring individual Affordable Care Act plans in 11 state exchanges. This year, Aetna offered plans in 15 states. The company's latest decision to exit 11 exchanges will leave customers in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Florida left to seek coverage elsewhere. Aetna said it anticipated losses totaling $300 million on these state exchanges earlier this year.

Zimmer Biomet acquires CD Diagnostics; ramps up musculoskeletal diagnostic offerings

Warsaw, Ind.-based Zimmer Biomet is acquiring CD Diagnostics, a Claymont, Del.-based company developing immunoassays and biomarker testing. The two companies partnered in 2012 to co-develop musculoskeletal healthcare diagnostics. They did not disclose financial details of the transaction.

Louisiana ranks as likeliest place for physicians to face lawsuits

Zippia analyzed the National Practitioner Data Bank to discover where physicians are most likely to get sued in the United States. Louisiana had the highest rate of suits per residents, with the state having 44.1 suits per 100,000 residents. Hawaii had the least number of suits, with only 4.9 suits per 100,000 residents.

Medtronic dives deeper with $20M second tranche investment in Mazor Robotics

Dublin, Ireland-based Medtronic completed its second tranche investment in Caesarea, Israel-based Mazor Robotics. The second tranche investment totals $20 million. Medtronic has now purchased a total of 1.96 million ADS, accounting for 7.27 percent of Mazor's issued and outstanding share capital on a fully diluted basis. This totals $31.9 million.

Smartphones effective for spinal fracture telemedicine diagnosis

A new study published in The Spine Journal examines the reliability of smartphone-based teleradiology when examining thoracolumbar spine fractures. For the study, an iPhone 6 smartpone was used to capture CT scans from a computer screen displaying PACS. Then researchers used the WhatsApp instant messaging system to send video clips of the scan to five surgeons' personal smart phones. The smartphone evaluation is readily accessible, simple and inexpensive; the researchers believe it can be reliably used between emergency physician and orthopedic or neurological residents with offsite, on-call specialists.

Precision Spine to introduce MD-Vue Lateral Access System

Parsippany, N.J.-based Precision Spine plans to increase its MD-Vue Lateral Access System at the North American Spine Society Annual Meeting in October in Boston. The MD-Vue System includes a patented nested three-blade design that inhibits blade creep during insertion in lateral procedures.

Health benefit costs to jump 6% in 2017

Healthcare costs will likely increase next year, with rate hikes similar to those for 2016, according to a National Business Group on Health report. There is a 6 percent increase in health benefit cost to employers for 2017, the same as the past two years. But many employers are changing their plans so the costs will only increase 5 percent. Most employers  90 percent  will make telehealth services available in states where that's allowable next year, a jump from 70 percent in 2016.

Dr. Frank Vrionis to head Boca Raton Regional's Marcus Neuroscience Institute

Boca Raton (Fla.) Regional Hospital named neurosurgeon Frank K. Vrionis, MD, PhD, the director of the Marcus Neuroscience Institute. In his new role, he hopes to further research the causes of neurological diseases as well as develop new treatments. The $57 million Marcus Neuroscience Institute opened in 2014.
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Michael Roth: 'Given Britain's size, significance and its long membership of the European Union, there will probably be a special status'

The size of the United Kingdom and its long-standing membership of the European Union mean it could secure "special status" when it seeks to strike its post-Brexit deal with the trading bloc, according to one German minister.

What the UK's relationship with the EU could look like after a Leave vote was debated at length during the referendum campaign.

Many people suggested the UK could follow the so-called Norwegian model, with Norway in the European Economic Area but not a member of the EU.

However, Michael Roth, Germany's European Affairs Minister, told Reuters it was possible that the UK could be given its own unique deal.

He said: "Given Britain's size, significance and its long membership of the European Union, there will probably be a special status."
The psychological effects of Brexit are impacting the property market, a new report claims - with areas that voted Remain suffering from an activity slump compared to their leave counterparts in the wake of the vote.

A new survey conducted by haart estate agents compared registration and sales data across 20 of its branches in the wake of the EU referendum. It found that, overall, listings in remain strongholds fell six per cent after the vote, while leave areas saw a one per cent bump.

Registrations at haart branches did fall across both camps, but dropped 30% on average in remain areas, and about 23% at leave branches.

Remain supporters also abandoned sales at a striking pace in the weeks following the vote, up 50 per cent compared to the period before the referendum. That is compared with a two per cent drop in abandoned sales in leave areas.

"It's clear that the 'winners' of the EU referendum are feeling much more confident about the future of the property market than those who voted remain," haart CEO Paul Smith said.

"The reality is that we have a property market heavily driven by sentiment, and it's the confident leavers who are currently keeping the market afloat," Smith added.

Registrations in Bristol, a city which voted 62% to remain part of the EU, dropped 34% with a 42% increase in abandoned sales. Similarly, Great Shelford in South Cambridgeshire, which supported remain by 60%, saw a 42% drop in registrations.

Meanwhile, there was a 25% rise in listings in Doncaster, where voters supported the leave campaign by 69%.

Barnsley - another leave stronghold - saw dropped sales decrease by 39% after the Brexit vote.

London, haart explained, is bearing the brunt of post-Brexit uncertainty. Property prices dropped 5.6% in July, wiping 30,000 off the average property, valued at around 527,349. Sales in the capital slumped 16 per cent last month and new buyer viewings fell 3.3%.

Smith now says it's up to the government to steady the ship and prove to remain supporters that they have no reason to fear Brexit.

"If the government can continue to provide a strong vision for the UK's post-Brexit future and a clear timetable for an EU exit, greater stability and confidence will follow, which might reassure Remainers."
Cisco is aiming to change its focus to software

Irish jobs may be at risk as part of a global culling of Cisco's workforce as the tech firm looks to pivot towards a more software-centric organisation.

Cisco employs around 300 people in Ireland across its two bases in Galway and Dublin.

A spokesperson for Cisco said: "We are currently in our quiet period, and we do not comment on speculation and rumour."

Globally the company is laying off around 14,000 employees, according to a report from technology news site CRN.

Cisco is poised to axe between 9,000 and 14,000 workers from its global operations as part of a transition from a software to hardware-focused business, CRN reported, citing sources close to the company.

The move would mark the largest jobs cull in the company's history.

Cisco, which launched its UK operations in 1992, employs around 5,000 people in 14 towns and cities across the UK, including London and Manchester.
First Minister Arlene Foster, flanked by Dunbia's Jim Dobson and Michael Doran, samples some of the firm's award-winning pork

Northern Ireland's largest meat firms have claimed the top two positions in the Ulster Business Top 100 Companies.

Poultry giant Moy Park is number one in the Top 100, which is sponsored by law firm A&L Goodbody, boasting sales of more than 1.4bn for the last year.

Moy Park is also one of Northern Ireland's biggest employers, with around 6,300 staff.

Co Tyrone red meat company Dunbia came in second place on the list by the Belfast Telegraph's sister publication, with turnover of 826m for the last financial year.

Both companies are major home-grown successes, although Moy Park is now part of an international business. It was sold for $1.5bn (945m) to Brazilian firm JBS in 2015.

The Belfast Telegraph revealed in December last year that Dungannon's Dunbia was on the market and seeking buyers for its pork and red meat business.

Grain importer W&R Barnett is in third position with 815m in sales.

Ulster Business editor David Elliott said it was the first time in the 27-year history of the list that agri-food had claimed the top three. "It's a sign of the industry's growing dominance in the economy here," he added.

Economist John Simpson said the input of individuals had helped Moy Park's stellar growth, while Dunbia had also worked hard to achieve success.

"With Dunbia, the red meat industry in Northern Ireland, even with all the various health scares, has managed to make money," he explained. "It's partly because we produce red meat and sell it competitively."

Some of the other Northern Ireland firms making the list which have since been bought over include Co Antrim bike firm Chain Reaction.

Big names making the list for the first time include Bushmills Distillery and the Harland & Wolff group.

Other new businesses on the list include San Diego software firm Qualcomm Technologies.

Some of Northern Ireland's pharma giants - which remain independently-owned - are also included.

That includes Craigavon's Almac Group, which has a turnover of almost 400m and profits of close to 28m, along with Dr Peter FitzGerald's medical testing firm Randox, which came in at number 74 on the list.

Newcomers also include Firmus Energy, which had sales of 123m, according to its last set of accounts.

Others include Carbane House, the trading name for Newry-based construction giant O'Hare & McGovern, which boasted turnover of 79m and profits of 4.5m.

And United Dairy Farmers, which owns Dale Farm, came in at number 17, posting turnover of 420m.

Mr Elliott said the list continued to "shine a light on the engine room of the Northern Ireland economy".

"From cheese-makers to engineers, bus manufacturers to chemists, the list shows that the diverse nature of our businesses provide a strong foundation for future growth," he added.

"Although profits have been hit, turnover continues to grow and acts as a good indicator of how much each company contributes to the local economy."

Mark Thompson, head of A&L Goodbody's Belfast office, said: " The formidable companies continue to lead by example in proving that, with drive, determination and resilience, challenges can be overcome.

"Despite the uncertainty that lies in the months ahead, we look forward to seeing these companies continue to thrive."
Dairy giant Dale Farm has unveiled a 7m cheese-packing facility in Co Tyrone which it said would help boost its sales, as well as bringing 60 new jobs.

The business, which is part of the co-operative United Dairy Farmers, also revealed that it had increased the price paid to its farmers by 1.5p - around 8% - in July.

Outgoing chief executive David Dobbin said it was now paying 18.7p per litre, compared to the average of 17p.

He said the technology at the new plant at Dunmanbridge in Cookstown would allow it to process more cheese in portion packs, including its well-known Dromona brand.

The company has been enjoying increasing sales in the UK - including the production of own-label cheese for supermarkets including Aldi and Sainsbury's.

Its cheese sales in the UK more than doubled last year, Mr Dobbin said - and were up 40% in the most recent financial year.

Invest NI has provided just under 500,00 towards the jobs and new cheese-packing facility.

Mr Dobbin, who retires this month to be replaced by former Glanbia director Nick Whelan, said the growth of its sales in the UK meant that it was in a good position following the vote to leave the EU.

He said that if a trade deal with the EU was unfavourable to imports of dairy products, Dale Farm would be in a strong position to increase domestic sales of its products.

"When we look around, in relative terms we are in the best position in Britain and Ireland to face the uncertainties."

The company also sends its cheeses around Europe, including to Germany, Holland, France, Portugal, Spain and Poland.

And Mr Whelan said that he was feeling confident about the future of the business.

He explained that changes in previously strong export markets - including a fall in demand from China and a ban on imports into Russia - had resulted in a shift in strategy. "We've adjusted our model, though the Chinese situation is improving," Mr Whelan added.

"But Russia has indicated its ban will continue into mid-2017 and onwards, so we have more or less discounted Russia from our planning."

Economy Minister Simon Hamilton opened the facility yesterday and also welcomed the investment.

"Ultimately, this investment will enhance the company's competitiveness in global markets, enabling it to compete for national and international contracts," he said.

Last year saw tough times for the industry, with many farmers protesting over falling prices.

According to the latest figures from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, farmers here are receiving around 17.55p per litre, compared to a recent high in 2013 of 34.7p.

United Dairy Farmers recently announced a quadrupling in pre-tax profits to 6.8m during 2015.

Mr Whelan's former employer Glanbia yesterday announced half-year profits of 176.5m (153m).
A Co Tyrone machinery maker has landed a multi-million pound deal to supply its products throughout the UK.

Waste Systems, which is based in Plumbridge, has now entered into a distribution agreement with Cambridgeshire-based EPS Ltd.

It's the biggest single deal in Waste Systems' seven years.

The company makes equipment for separating industrial waste.

It will now sell its new Proflow system throughout England and Wales.

And while the firm would not reveal the value of the deal, it's understood to be worth several million pounds.

Waste Systems was founded by Nishi Ward in 2009 and employs 20 staff.

Aside from the UK, it sells across the Europe.

The business has received support from Invest NI and is a portfolio company of Kernel Capital and Whiterock Capital Partners.

Mr Ward told the Belfast Telegraph the new deal could open up regular new markets as far afield as the US and Middle East.

"I'm from a materials handling background, and we evolved from the quarrying industry," Mr Ward said.

"We realised that the machines on the market were from Germany and Holland, and were built for a purpose 20 years ago, and not for today's market."

He said the Proflow had evolved from another product, the Flex X.

The Proflow system - which is worth more than the cost of an average home - is one of the only machines that can separate a range of material, such as rubble and other construction-related waste, across a range of areas, including size, density and metal composition.

"The Proflow is the first that does it all together, and you can't compromise one or the other," added Mr Ward.

He said the deal with EPS gives the company distribution rights across England and Wales.

The company's current workforce of 20 is set to be boosted as a result.

"We have planned to grow anyway, and we expect it to go well. We held back our progression to make sure we get this right," he said.

"As well as employing our own people, we have a lot of people working as sub-contractors.

"We have other deals in the pipeline in other parts of the world.

"(The product) is very exportable. It goes on a ship, and lands where you want it to go."

He said other markets were likely to follow.

"You look at your own market first - we have orders in other markets," he added.

John Dunne, managing director of EPS Ltd, said: "Waste System's Proflow DST represents a revolutionary combination of processing actions in one modular unit."

He added: "It's something that we've never seen before and enables the diversion of valuable and usable waste streams from landfill."

In 2015 the company received a 500,000 cash boost from Invest NI's Growth Loan Fund to expand.
Seaniemac, the online betting group founded by Sean McEniff, the son of Donegal hotelier Brian McEniff, is in talks with potential investors after its accumulated losses hit almost $10m (7.6m).

The stock market minnow, which targets customers in Ireland and the UK, is listed on the over-the-counter market in the United States.

SeanieMac has warned that if it cannot raise more cash that it may cease operating. Mr McEniff is no longer directly involved in running the firm, but remains a shareholder of the group.

The former chairman stepped aside in 2014 to concentrate on the family's hotel business, which includes the Dublin Skylon and Great Northern in Bundoran.
The owner of several regional malls has seen profits go up.

Shopping centre specialist Capital & Regional has said that Britain's decision to quit the European Union has not affected leasing demand from retail tenants.

The asset manager, which owns seven shopping centres in the UK, said that it has experienced "positive leasing momentum since the referendum", with 29 permanent new leases or renewals exchanged or completed since June 24.

The company added that it has seen "little or no reference to Brexit from a pricing perspective" during discussions with occupiers.

Chief executive Hugh Scott-Barrett said: "Our letting activity remains robust and, while it is too early to point to any definitive trends, so far we have seen no sign of this abating post the EU referendum.

"Furthermore, encouragingly, as markets have stabilised in recent weeks we are seeing a number of opportunities to recycle capital on terms which will enable us to crystallise attractive returns."

Capital & Regional made the announcement alongside its first half results, which saw operating profit tick up from 11.8 million to 13.7 million in the six months to the end of June.

However, the firm said it has been stung by the government's stamp duty land tax to the tune of 10.3 million.

Mr Scott-Barrett also revealed that the firm is considering the sale of The Mall in Camberley following an unsolicited offer.

Capital & Regional owns seven shopping centres across the UK in Blackburn, Camberley, Hemel Hempstead, Luton, Maidstone, Walthamstow and Wood Green.
Unemployment fell in Northern Ireland in the weeks following the vote to leave the EU, latest figures show.

But the future robustness of the job market here will depend on whether access to the single market for labour continues, economist Richard Ramsey said.

There were 36,100 people signing on in July - down by 600 on June, said the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).

And the separate unemployment rate for April to June, contained in the labour force survey, also saw a slight decrease to 6%.

But the rate here is still higher than the UK-wide level of 4.9%.

And at 26.4%, the economic inactivity rate for Northern Ireland - monitoring those who are neither in work nor looking for work - was up 0.2% on the first quarter of the year, but down slightly on the same time a year before.

PwC NI chief economist Dr Esmond Birnie said the falling unemployment figures showed that jobs were still being created.

But he said July's claimant count was a "limited evidence base" for drawing any conclusions on the impact of the vote to leave the EU.

And Ulster Bank chief economist Mr Ramsey said a key influence on future job figures would be whether the UK could maintain access to the single market for labour.

"Indeed, last week the First and Deputy First Ministers wrote to the Prime Minister Theresa May stressing the importance of retaining access to labour," he said.

"Policies need to be sufficiently flexible to allow access to unskilled as well as highly skilled labour.

"Northern Ireland's recent record highs in employment and labour market recovery would not have occurred without access to labour from beyond these shores."

He said the number of workers here had grown by 83,000 since the depths of the recession - with 42% of those people born outside the UK.

Mr Ramsey said the claimant count in the province was at its lowest at 23,500 in 2007, and reached its peak of 64,700 in February 2013.
BBC Northern Ireland is stuck in the past and must do more to keep pace with our shifting society, a watchdog has said.

The broadcaster should showcase a wider range of stories reflecting contemporary and evolving life, according to a report by the BBC Audience Council.

The organisation said that BBC News NI should better reflect the region as it is today.

BBC trustee for Northern Ireland Aideen McGinley explained that the broadcaster was performing well, but also warned it must not become complacent.

"Audiences here are news-hungry and with high expectations," she added.

"They have made clear that while they value the BBC's services, they wish to see a wider range of subjects and voices to fully reflect life in Northern Ireland today."

The Audience Council advises the BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, on interests and issues of licence fee-payers.

Its review looked at services across the UK, assessing the performance of the BBC's news and current affairs output across TV, radio and online.

It found strong demand from audiences for services, and BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle was found to make a strong contribution to BBC NI's overall performance. Around 36% of adults listen each week - higher than any other nation's radio station.

But the review also heard from audiences that BBC News NI and current affairs needed to continue to develop to meet changing audience expectations, given the political, cultural and demographic changes taking place.

A wide range of people suggested that too much of the news agenda was reported through a political lens.

"As the political situation stabilises, many people think there should also be a wider range of stories reflecting this contemporary and evolving society," the Audience Council said.

"They particularly want more focus on other ways into stories about public policy areas which impact on everyday lives, such as education and health."

The report additionally flagged up concerns about some BBC content, with some listeners indicating that drivetime programmes Good Morning Ulster and Evening Extra were becoming "less compelling", with items perceived to be more suited to a magazine programme.

Some also complained that BBC NI's website and news app were not updated enough.

A BBC spokesperson said: "We're pleased that the review shows that audiences in Northern Ireland greatly value the quality and range of our radio and news services, as well as believing that we provide good value for money.

"We cover a wide range of stories about all aspects of life in contemporary Northern Ireland, and over the past two years have increased the number of our specialist journalists and dedicated correspondents who regularly cover a wide range of stories, including agriculture and the environment, health and social affairs, economics, education and the arts.

"New programming and features have also been added to our programmes and schedules."
Miranda Hart had been expected to return to the Sunday night show.

Miranda Hart will not be returning to Call The Midwife despite suggestions from producers that she would.

The actress had been due to reappear in the BBC period drama as loveable midwife Camilla "Chummy" Browne.

However, she tweeted on Thursday: "News: it's with a heavy heart that having shared Chummy's return to CTM, I've not been able to birth (pun) the schedule to make it work. xx"

The 43-year-old quit the show during series four due to work commitments, with Chummy being sent to a mother and baby unit to explain her absence.

Hart went on to star in action movie Spy alongside Jason Statham, Melissa McCarthy and Jude Law.

But the show's producers later said that she was returning to the show for series six.

Hart added: "Truly sad not to be playing Chummy this year but fans are in for a treat with Dame Harriet Walter as a new cast member and more besides."

Walter is set to play Sister Ursula when the series returns next year.
With her model looks, multiple beauty queen titles and numerous successful businesses, it is hard to believe that Julie-Anne Cairns was taunted by school bullies for being a geeky teen.

Just 10 years on from sitting her GCSEs, Julie-Anne is living the dream. About to turn 27 next month, just a few years since graduating from university, she has achieved the kind of success many aspire to in a lifetime and is in the enviable position of being able to design and build her dream home, mortgage-free.

But while her life is full and rewarding, Julie-Anne will never forget the four years of "hell" she suffered in her mid-teens at the hands of a gang of school bullies.

Today she has a defiant message for her tormentors - and an inspiring one for any young person who has found themselves on the receiving end of cruel taunts.

Julie-Anne says: "I was bullied at school because I was a 'nerd' and a 'geek'. I kept good company that would encourage me in life, rather than drag me down, and that was one of the reasons I was singled out.

"I wasn't part of that gang who had no interest in doing well at school. I was told I was 'ugly', because I didn't go to school plastered in make-up. I had fierce ambition and wasn't going to let them stop me from achieving my goals.

"It was hard and there were times when I was in tears and went home at night and wondered what was the point, but I just kept focused on my goals and believed there would be light at the end of the tunnel - and there was."

While Julie-Anne is running several successful businesses and is bursting with plans to continue to build her empire, she is aware that many of the gang who took pleasure in making her life at school miserable are now on the dole.

It is a measure of the impact those years had on her that she still thinks of the bullies today - and you can't blame her for feeling some satisfaction as she issues a direct message to her tormentors: "This 'geek' has her degree, started her first company at 23, and under that company now owns two successful businesses and a further two joint-businesses. I am an extensive landowner and am now in the process of building my own home, mortgage-free and with no help from anyone.

"As for being ugly, I am a five-times beauty queen, run my own successful model agency and have enjoyed a successful modelling career. I would just say to the bullies: how is your life now? I bet this 'ugly geek' has it better."

She adds: "To anyone smart and intelligent, who is being picked on for showing promise in life, I hope that what I have achieved gives you inspiration - you must learn to have a thick skin and realise it is only for a few years; you have the rest of your life to show them how it is actually done and you can thank them later for helping to make you the strong person you are."

Julie-Anne grew up in Broughshane, Co Antrim, the only child of David, a mechanic, and Heather, a special needs schoolteacher, and was inspired to go into business by two of her dad's cousins in Scotland, who own a wedding dress design business and a chain of bridal boutiques.

She studied fashion and textile design at Ulster University and graduated with a BSc Honours in fashion management.

After university, Julie-Anne took a year out before launching her own bridal boutique.

She is now owner and CEO of Julie-Anne Cairns Bridal Boutique, Julie-Anne Cairns Online Boutique and a joint-owner and director of Cumberland and Cairns Publications Limited, which is shortly to publish its first all-Ireland wedding guide, plus joint owner and director of her own model agency, Impact Management NI. She is also in advanced negotiations to launch her own perfume and fashion brands.

The Ballymena-based Julie-Anne Bridal Boutique has been recognised by world leaders in bridal and fashion and has been recommended by British Vogue five times. The Conde Nast group recommended the boutique in the UK's biggest bridal magazine, Brides, three times.

While she was always driven to succeed in life, Julie-Anne believes her experience of being bullied at school also drove her to achieve.

She says: "I was really inspired by my cousins and from about the age of 14 I always wanted to be a designer. I was focused at school, because I knew what I wanted to do and that's why I was bullied. I think I was looked upon as a Miss Goody Two Shoes, because I wanted to do well.

"I always had respect for myself and I learnt in school that comes at a price, as the bullying was very bad.

"Now I am glad I did have that respect, and while it was tough, at the same time I had this attitude of 'I will show you all', and that's what I have done.

"I was always brought up to treat people the way you want to be treated. I was so determined to prove them wrong, that I always knew I would open my own business. I was very determined. I now know that the majority of them are on the dole and one of them actually came into my business recently with his CV asking for a job."

As well as her entrepreneurial flair, the young teen, who was taunted for being "ugly", was just 15 when she took her first beauty title, Miss Teen Ballymena. She went on to win Miss Teen Ulster and also become a finalist in Miss Northern Ireland when she was 19.

This led to part-time modelling with leading Belfast agency ACA Models and eventually the launch of her own agency in Ballymena.

She says: "I'm very grateful for the modelling experience I got at ACA and the people I met, all of which has really helped me in my own businesses. It was a good start and a good springboard for what I am doing now."

Julie-Anne hopes her experience will inspire other young victims of bullying, as she knows just how difficult it can be.

She described her own experience as a nightmare and, although it was confined to school, it made her years at college in Ballymena "a living hell".

"Some violence was threatened, but it was mostly name-calling and trying to put me down," she says.

"I was called a nerd, a geek, ugly, it was horrible and I would have been quite scared to go into a room where they were, because I knew they would try and make a fool out of me.

"It started in second year and went on until fifth year. They did try to make you feel you weren't good enough and you weren't popular. It was made out to be a bad thing to be good in school.

"In school, the popular people were the ones who didn't care about their education.

"I was very stubborn, but I did worry why people didn't like me, and you are made to feel bad because you cared about yourself.

"Sometimes, it did feel like the end of the world, but I just kept thinking that, in a few years, I will never have to look at them again. I just kept focused and kept it in my head that I knew what I wanted to do when I left school."

After graduating Julie-Anne was determined to follow in her cousins' footsteps and open her own bridal boutique, which she did at the age of 23.

While having natural entrepreneurial skills, she says she was able to jump straight into the business world with help and advice from her family, who were already running successful companies.

"I just love it and we are currently getting ready to launch our first wedding guide and, this year, I have been in talks to launch my own perfume and fashion label, but that has had to go on the back-burner until the magazine is launched, but it will be something to focus on next year.

"In a way, the bullying gave me a purpose and I couldn't be happier now. I am currently building my own house, which I have designed to my own specifications, and it will be mortgage-free.

"I just hope what I have achieved can inspire other victims of bullies and let them continue to believe in themselves and know that it will come to and end."
Police have arrested two men after seizing more than 400,000 as part of a drugs investigation

More than 400,000 has been seized by police in Northern Ireland as part of a drugs investigation.

Detectives arrested two men during an ongoing probe into illegal drugs supply and money laundering.

The suspects, aged 30 and 32, were detained in the Armagh area on Wednesday night after police stopped a lorry on the Portadown Road.

A substantial amount of cash, estimated to be 215,000 and 225,000 euro (194,000), was uncovered in a holdall, a backpack and a plastic bag in the lorry's cab.

A subsequent search of a property in Armagh led detectives from the reactive and organised crime branch to seize four high-value watches and other items.

A search of a property in the Sixmilecross area of Tyrone is also taking place.

The two suspects are being interviewed at a police station in Belfast.

This is the latest stage in an investigation into illegal drugs supply and money laundering.

Last month, detectives charged four people with a range of offences after seizing vehicles, cash and watches in Armagh.

Detective Inspector Tom McClure said officers remained committed to making Northern Ireland a hostile environment for those involved in major drug crime.
The Dean's Vicar of St Anne's Cathedral has called on civic leaders to come up with a credible plan to solve the problem of Belfast's rough sleepers.

The 112-year-old place of worship in Donegall Street - a must-see venue for visitors and tourists - is regularly used as a place of shelter, and city fathers are worried that the sight of people bedding down in the porch of the west doors is sending out a negative image.

However, Rev Mark Niblock told this newspaper that despite cathedral staff's concerns over hygiene and aggression issues, removing rough sleepers from the premises would do little to ease the problem.

A recent survey revealed that the number of people using Belfast centre doorways for overnight shelter had passed 40. Over the past year, five died on the city's streets.

"You hear stories about people sleeping rough, but it brings it home when it is literally on your doorstep," said Rev Niblock, who was appointed Dean's Vicar of St Anne's in May.

"We used to have barriers up at the cathedral to prevent rough sleepers from coming in, but now we feel that we provide some sort of a shelter for them, and we didn't want to be pushing them on from us. That doesn't solve the problem.

"They're going to have to sleep somewhere. But fundamentally there's something wrong in society when this is happening."

Rev Niblock admitted that it could be difficult to balance "human compassion and understanding of the particular plight of individuals with the implications of what that involves" - such as litter and hygiene issues - "when the precincts of the cathedral are used as a toilet".

He added: "There have also been incidents in which staff and volunteers have been made to feel uncomfortable with verbal or physical aggression."

And he spoke of "a frustration" that the situation has not improved.

"There's a day-to-day operational thing, but at the bottom of it there's a human problem," Rev Niblock added. "We feel a certain amount of helplessness. There's a moral challenge, but there can be challenging behaviours as well."

Despite his fears, he said now was the time to act before the colder weather sets in. "We must avoid a recurrence of the recent deaths, which were scandalous," Rev Niblock explained. "We're coming into the autumn-winter period when we risk potentially the same statistics if not more."

Belfast High Sheriff Jim Rodgers said the situation was "disturbing". "Thousands of visitors and tourists come into Belfast every week and this sends out the wrong message," he added.

"It shouldn't be happening at St Anne's Cathedral, which is a massive tourist attraction, or in shop doorways. Having said that, my heart goes out to the poor, unfortunate people who are lying there, night after night. There is a challenge for all of us in society to bring this business to an end. I don't want to see anyone else dying."

Belfast city centre manager Andrew Irvine said he had recently contacted the Lord Mayor to ask for an update on the problem of rough sleepers.

"There are beds available for everyone who is sleeping rough, but there are people still not availing of them and sleeping in the street instead," he added.

"There are roughly 40 individuals. That is a low number for a city the size of Belfast, but I would like to see it drop."
Ulster rugby star Iain Henderson has met his match.

The 24-year-old Ireland flanker left his tough guy image on the pitch when he popped the question to childhood sweetheart Suzanne Flanagan on a Miami beach.

His meticulous preparations ahead of the surprise proposal, which included "always keeping the ring on my person", culminated in him getting down on one knee in the Florida sunshine.

And his plan was rewarded in style when the 25-year-old dentist from Jordanstown, whom he started dating as a 17-year-old schoolboy at Belfast Royal Academy, said yes.

"She was overly excited when I asked her to marry me on July 14 - and quite surprised too," the 26 times capped international revealed. "I think she knew that I was going to ask her at some point, but she didn't know when it would be or how I would do it."

The full-time professional player from Ballinderry whisked his bride-to-be off to America on his return from South Africa after a three-week rugby tour.

And, as you would expect from a seasoned sportsman, he went thoroughly prepared, having bought a sparkler for the special occasion ahead of the couple's summer holiday in America.

"We left for Miami on June 28 and we'd been enjoying ourselves and visiting a few theme parks in Florida before I asked her," Iain said.

"It had been on the cards. The ring had already been purchased beforehand and I had the proposal semi-planned out."

But was he not terrified that he might lose the ring before he got a chance to ask for Suzanne's hand in marriage?

"That was a worry, I admit," he said. "But most of the time it was on my person or stashed away in hotel safes. The night I ended up asking her, I didn't have a huge plan. It happened on a Miami beach after we had finished dinner.

"It wasn't overly thought out, but I got down on one knee and she said 'yes' at once."

The couple, who spent a further five days in the Sunshine State celebrating their impending nuptials, first began dating in school.

"We started seeing each other first when we were at Belfast Royal Academy -I was 17 and Suzanne was 18," said Iain, who is studying for a maths degree at the Open University.

"We stopped seeing each other when she went to Glasgow to study and I stayed in Belfast to play rugby, but we got back together again a year-and-a-half ago."

Iain said his parents, Gordon, a quantity surveyor, and Zoe, an occupational therapist, who are both in their 50s, were delighted when they heard the good news, as were his older brothers Stuart (31) and 26-year-old Richard.

"We didn't tell many people we were engaged when we were out there - just family and very close friends," he said. "But we've been drinking a lot of bottles of bubbly and celebrating with friends we've invited to the house since we've been back in Northern Ireland."

Now, the loved-up couple, who currently share a home outside Lisburn, are limbering up for a 2017 wedding once they finally settle upon date and a reception venue.

"There are wedding magazines everywhere," Iain said. "I didn't realise that there was so much to organise."

"It would need to be finalised sooner rather than later for my sanity."

The busy duo have also yet to pick a honeymoon destination.

"We haven't actually thought of anywhere yet, but maybe the Maldives or Mauritius, or somewhere like that," the rugby star told the Belfast Telegraph.
Teenage victims of online trolls suffer "devastating" consequences, a leading child psychologist has warned.

Dr Don McDwyer was giving evidence in the inquest into the death of 13-year-old Erin Gallagher, who took her own life in October 2012 at her home in Ballybofey, Co Donegal, after being taunted on the Ask.fm website.

Her sister Shannon (15) took her own life 45 days later.

At the inquest in Letterkenny yesterday, the girls' mother Lorraine Gallagher told Coroner Dr Denis McCauley that on the day of her daughter's death - a Saturday - she was working at McElhinney's department store in the town. She said Erin and her son Sean James were at home and had called to the shop to have lunch with her.

Ms Gallagher said Erin and her son had been laughing and joking with her and had stayed until about 3pm before walking to their home on the Silverwood estate. When she returned home just after 6pm, she noticed the house was in darkness except for a light coming from the TV.

As she walked into the hallway she saw her son sitting beside Erin.

"Sean James said to me, 'It's OK, Erin's just sleeping mummy'," said Ms Gallagher. "I realised something was wrong; that Erin had hanged herself."

Finn Valley College principal Alan Thompson said the school had become aware of online bullying on September 10, seven weeks before the girl's death.

"This had left her feeling upset," said Mr Thompson. A number of other incidents followed.

Dr McDwyer, child psychologist with the Irish health service, said he had been told of a previous attempt by Erin to take her own life on September 21.

Erin was assessed and her main complaint was about bullying on social media.

She had been due to have a review on November 1, but had died four days earlier.

Dr McDwyer said attacks on young people online can be "sudden and devastating".

He told the inquest: "Victims can feel overwhelmed and isolated and their self-esteem is undermined.

"The consequences can be devastating and a young person can go to pieces very quickly."

If you are affected by any of the issues in this article, contact the Samaritans on 084 5790 9090, or Lifeline (080 8808 8000)
An "unacceptable patchiness" in university standards is failing students, employers and taxpayers, a Government minister has admitted.

Universities Minister Jo Johnson promised to drive up the quality of degree courses in England, as thousands of students discover if they have secured a place at university.

He said the Government will reduce the fees of poorly performing universities, while those which can prove they are excelling will be allowed to increase theirs by 1,000.

The plans, first set out in a Government White Paper in May, also include placing a duty on universities to publish data on the backgrounds of their students and the introduction of a new regulatory body which will highlight inequality.

It comes as a survey reveals just a handful of universities are planning to charge tuition fees below the current cap of 9,000 a year.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson said: "There is an unacceptable patchiness that requires our attention and, if we are to make sure our university system retains its world-leading status, we simply cannot stand still."

He added: "In my past year as Universities Minister I've seen our higher education system at its best, driving innovation, nurturing debate and helping everyone, whatever their background, go as far as their talents will take them.

"However, I've also seen troubling signs that the system is falling short of its potential and failing to deliver what students, employers and taxpayers require from it.

He added that he wants universities "to wipe out mediocre teaching and drive up student engagement".

Out of 115 universities in England, all but four will charge the full permitted fee for all undergraduate courses to home and EU students in 2016-17.

The research by thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk found that only the University of Chichester, London Metropolitan University, Buckinghamshire New University and the University of Sunderland offered courses with fees below the 9,000 limit.

Fees start at 5,500 for at the University of Chichester but climb to 12,444 at the private University of Buckingham.

Universities in Scotland will continue to offer fees from 1,820 to Scottish students, paid for by the Scottish Government.

The two universities in Northern Ireland charge 3,925 for students from the province.

Dr Bernard Kingston, chairman of thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk, said: "With almost all English universities now charging the full 9,000 fee, the competitive market is no longer based on fees, but on other factors such as student satisfaction, employment prospects and facilities."

Maximum tuition fees at English universities will rise to 9,250 a year from September 2017.

However, only a small number of institutions have so far announced that they will increase fees to the new cap.
A Labour leadership candidate who claimed Islamic State (IS) should be part of peace talks after comparing Middle East negotiations to the peace process here has "got it wrong", a senior DUP MP claimed yesterday.

Owen Smith said his experience in Northern Ireland as a special adviser to former Secretary of State Paul Murphy between 2002 and 2005 had convinced him that "all parties to the conflict" in Syria and beyond should be involved in talks.

But his comments sparked an outcry, with Johnny Mercer, a Conservative member of the Commons' Defence Committee, saying they showed Mr Smith's "unfitness for leadership". A spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn also branded the remarks "hasty and ill-considered".

Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson said Mr Smith had "got it wrong" and there could be "no direct parallel between the Northern Ireland peace process and dealing with the so-called Islamic State".

Asked on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme if IS should be involved in peace talks, Mr Smith replied: "All solutions to these sorts of international crises do come about through dialogue, so eventually, if we are to try and solve this, all of the actors need to be involved. But at the moment IS are clearly not interested in negotiating."

A spokesman for the Labour leadership contender later clarified he believed there could be no talks with IS unless they "renounce violence, cease all acts of terror and commit themselves to a peaceful settlement".

"Owen's experience of helping to bring about peace in Northern Ireland is that eventually all parties who truly believe in delivering peace have to be around the table," the spokesman added. "At the moment that doesn't include, and may never include, IS."

But speaking to the Belfast Telegraph last night, Mr Donaldson said: "I don't believe what Owen Smith is advocating could be associated with the experience in Northern Ireland.

"Whilst I recognise that dialogue is an important part of peace-building, I just don't see that there's any prospect of that happening with IS.

"What we really need to do as an international community is to get behind those forces in Iraq and in Syria who are trying to uphold democracy and to protect their communities against this terror."

Mr Donaldson added that he only had limited dealings with Mr Smith during his time in Northern Ireland advising Paul Murphy, whom he called "an excellent Secretary of State."

Asked if he agreed Mr Smith was unfit for leadership, he replied: "I don't think that's fair. It's not unreasonable for Owen Smith to comment on these types of issues, even if I think on this occasion he's got it wrong."

When Labour leader Mr Corbyn was asked if he supported IS peace talks, he maintained: "They are not going to be round the table. No."

Mr Mercer said Mr Smith's comments were desperate.

"Everyone knows negotiation is far more desirable than violence in any conflict, but to suggest it in this case is to entirely misunderstand and fail to grasp the challenge posed by IS," he added.

"His desperate attempts to out-Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn have led him to the view that barbaric murderers who behead journalists and lynch homosexuals are now the sort of people that we should negotiate with."
A completely innocent Dublin man was shot dead in front of his partner and young children in a shocking case of mistaken identity.

Dad-of-three Trevor ONeill (40), from Drimnagh, was on holiday in Majorca with family when he was brutally shot dead at around 9pm yesterday.

His partner was wheeling their child in a pushchair when he was gunned down in front of his family in the resort of Costa de la Calma, an eye-witness revealed today.

It is understood Mr ONeill was shot five times, including at least twice in the back, by a three-man hit team wearing disguises who then fled from the scene.

Gardai believe the intended target of the savage murder is a very close associate of Gareth Hutch, who was shot dead in Dublins north inner city in May.

The intended target, who is a relative of Gerry The Monk Hutch, has been hiding out in the same apartment complex that Mr ONeill and his family were staying in.

Gardai also believe the botched murder was carried out by the Kinahan cartel as part of their deadly feud with the Hutch mob, which has directly led to eight murders since it kicked off last September.

Sources say that Mr O Neill has absolutely no involvement in the feud and has been described as a very decent family man. The tragic Dublin City Council employees children are aged 11, six and four.

This poor man had only been on holiday in Majorca a couple of days with his family when he was gunned down in front of his family as part of a feud that he had no involvement in, a source said.

The intended target is also not considered a criminal but has become a prime target for the Kinahan cartel because he is a member of the Hutch family.

The 37-year-old target has been warned by gardai about an active threat against his life because of the feud. It is understood he fled to Majorca earlier this summer because of the threats against him.

Sources say Mr ONeill may have been shot dead because he looks like the gangland target.

Drimnagh councillor Ray McHugh (SF) expressed his shock at the murder of Mr ONeill, who he described as an absolute gentleman and a family man.

I would have known Trevors family from the area, he was always a perfect and absolute gentleman and its very tragic that this has happened.

My condolences go out to the family, he was a good man who worked with Dublin City Council in the drainage department for years. He was on holiday with his family in Majorca and had only recently arrived, Mr McHugh told the Herald.

Today, a female eyewitness recalled how she held the victims hand as he lay dying while his children took refuge inside her premises.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said: There was a large group of them, the man who was shot, his wife, four of their children, and other adults including a male friend and two other women.

There must have been around eight to 10 of them in all. They were heading from a nearby hotel to a square where everyone congregates at night for an evening meal and a drink.

I saw the gunman walk past the shop and heard the shots seconds later. He ran back down the road past the shop towards the beach and a well-known beach bar. He had tracksuit bottoms on and a blue tracksuit top with the number 23 in white on the back and the hood on his tracksuit drawn up tightly round his face.

You couldnt really see anything of him because he was so covered up. It was pandemonium at first. People were screaming and running in all directions. The wife of the man that was shot had one of their children who must have been aged around seven in a pushchair that she was wheeling along when the victim was gunned down, the woman said.

He was walking slightly in front of them on his own.

That child and another with her must have seen what had happened. Another two of the children were behind them and wouldnt have seen it and the woman turned round and screamed at them as it happened and that gave them time to run for cover in a side street.

I know that lady was married to the victim because when we ran out to tend to the injured man she kept on repeating the word wife, wife.

We took her to one side and I got some water for her and held the mans hand to try to encourage him to keep his eyes from closing while we waited for the ambulance to arrive.

He had a bullet wound in his lower back and I couldnt see any other wounds. Another neighbour was trying to stem the flow o f blood from the wound. The ambulance took about 25 minutes to arrive.

The local police who were the first on the scene got there about three minutes earlier and started trying to revive him with heart massages. But it was all too late. When they took him away to hospital I knew he hadnt made it.

Speaking on the RTE News At One, Fianna Fail councillor for Dublin South Central, Daithi De Roiste said the community of Drimnagh are now in mourning.

He said: I suppose the first thing is shock and heartbreak right across this community at the moment that a young innocent man with a young family can be just taken away in such a heinous way by absolute thugs.

(I was) speaking to people right across Drimnagh this morning and everything they said about him is true. Trevor was a good guy. He worked for the Dublin City Council and the community is now saying that this can happen to absolutely anybody at any time. It doesn't matter whether you're in Dublin or on your holidays.

I seems to me like the Department of Justice just cant get a handle on this. We need something more, he added.
The victim was taken to the hospital in Palma, Majorca.

An Irish father-of-three shot dead in front of his family on a Spanish sun holiday is believed to be the latest mistaken target in a bloody gangland feud.

The man, named locally as Trevor O'Neill, 40, from Drimnagh, south Dublin, was gunned down outside a supermarket in Majorca.

It is reported his wife and three young children were with him at the time of the shooting in Costa de la Calma, near the popular tourist resort of Santa Ponsa, shortly after 9pm on Wednesday.

Council worker Mr O'Neill is believed to have stopped to talk on the street with the intended target of the botched attack when several shots were fired into his back.

Paramedics who arrived at the scene tried to resuscitate him but he died a short time later in hospital in the capital Palma, around 25 km away.

Local police, the Guardia Civil, are said to be hunting three suspects.

The latest killing is being linked a murderous feud involving the Kinahan and Hutch families, which has claimed 10 lives in less than a year.

In April, innocent bystander Martin O'Rourke died after being gunned down in Dublin's north inner city during an assassination attempt of another figure connected to the fall-out.

Irish police said in June the unprecedented spate of underworld-ordered killings was being directed from Spain, the Netherlands and the UK.

A special crime task force has been set up into the blood-letting but the Garda has admitted the international dimension is a challenge for their investigations.

Daithi de Roiste, chairman of Dublin's joint policing committee and a councillor for Drimnagh, said the feud has spiralled out of control.

"There is shock and heartbreak right across this community at the moment that a young innocent man with a young family can just be taken away in such a callous, heinous way by absolute thugs," he told RTE.

"Trevor was a good guy, he worked for Dublin City Council.

"We have a community now saying this can happen to absolutely anybody at any time whether it is in Dublin or whether you are on your holidays.

"I think it is really out of control now with this feud."

Dublin's Department of Foreign Affairs said it is providing consular assistance to an Irish national's family following the shooting in Majorca.

Brendan Kenny, chief executive of Dublin City Council, said colleagues were stunned by the killing.

"The management and staff of Dublin City Council are shocked to hear of the tragic death of Trevor O' Neill in Majorca last night," he said in a statement.

"Trevor was a hard-working and dedicated employee of Dublin City Council.

"On behalf of the management team, city councillors and staff of Dublin City Council, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to Trevor's family and friends."

Aengus O Snodaigh, Sinn Fein TD (MP) for Mr O'Neill's area in south Dublin, pleaded for an end to the feud.

"All reports point to this murder being a case of mistaken identity," he said.

"The man was completely innocent. He was on holiday with his wife and three children and his life was taken away from him by criminal thugs.

"I would appeal to these criminals to bring this feud to an end before more lives are lost."

Mr O Snodaigh added: "A woman has lost her husband and three children have lost their father in a despicable act of violence by criminals who are intent on taking each other out with no regard for innocent bystanders."
The Irish League of Credit Unions said college costs were becoming increasingly challenging for many people

Parents are forking out more than 400 euro a month to put a child through college, a survey has revealed.

The Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) said that its research found the yearly cost had come down slightly but that more than half of those asked said it was really hard to meet the expense.

It found mothers and fathers were saving for eight years on average to meet the bills, putting about 8,150 euro away.

Even with that the credit union research found almost two-thirds of parents were still getting into debt at about an average of 4,300 euro a child.

Sinead Butler from the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU), said college costs were becoming increasingly challenging for many people.

"Heading off to college is an exciting time. It can also be very stressful for parents and students alike, as the cost of third level education can be a significant burden," she said.

"Credit unions offer loans at fair rates with flexibility to meet members' needs.

"This helps make cover the costs of third level education as affordable as possible for students.

"We would advise parents and students looking to finance third level education, be it through a loan or a savings plan, to contact their local credit union."

The ILCU said 4% of parents admitted to using money lenders to cover the costs of putting their youngsters through third level education while one-third turned to savings and credit union loans and 40% said they added costs to monthly outgoings.

The research also showed about a quarter of students worked to pay their way through college.

And costs were soaring, particularly for those not living in their home town or city.

The credit union organisation said students who were away from home spent alm ost twice as much running up bills of 1,048 euro a month on rent, transport, living and college-related expenses.

It said almost one quarter of students were skipping classes to earn money.

The survey found students worked an average 17 hours a week and were getting paid an average of 12 euro an hour while men clocked more hours than women.

It also showed parents' biggest worries about their children achieving a third class degree was that they would not get a job after graduating and 17% worried about the difficulty of passing exams and m isuse of alcohol or drugs.

The survey by iReach was carried out in July using 1,000 responses from over-18s across Ireland.
Testing for the activity of two genes could help doctors identify women at an increased risk of dying from breast cancer.

Testing for the activity of two genes could help doctors identify women at an increased risk of dying from breast cancer, research suggests.

Women whose tumours displayed a specific activity pattern were three times more likely to die within 10 years than those with a different pattern, a study found.

The two genes, known as F12 and STC2, are thought to play a key role in freeing cancer cells to spread around the body.

The study, conducted by scientists at London's Institute of Cancer Research, focused on almost 2,000 women with HER2 positive breast cancer, who make up about a fifth of patients.

Their tumours produce high levels of the protein HER2, which fuels cancer growth.

Women whose tumours had highly active F12 genes and low activity in the gene STC2 were found to have a 32% chance of dying within 10 years.

Those with low F12 activity and high STC2 activity had only a 10% chance of dying.

Lead researcher Dr Paul Huang, head of the Protein Networks Team at the Institute of Cancer Research, said: "Survival rates for breast cancer are now much higher than they were a few decades ago, but the disease remains deadly once it has spread round the body.

"Our study sheds light on how cancer cells unstick themselves from healthy tissue, and it could help pick out women at high risk of their cancer spreading and becoming fatal.

"We found that the activity of two genes which may help control how tightly cells are glued together is linked to breast cancer survival.

"If the results are confirmed in larger studies, it could give us a new way of assessing women's survival chances in the clinic, and adjusting treatment accordingly."

Professor Paul Workman, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: "We have seen major strides in the treatment of breast cancer, but once it begins to spread round the body it is still often fatal.

"This new study helps us understand some of the processes that control how breast cancers spread, and identifies a pattern of genetic activity that could be used to pick out women particularly at risk."

The findings are published in the journal Oncotarget.

Catherine Priestley, clinical nurse specialist at the charity Breast Cancer Care, said: " This is a promising study which helps shed light on how specific genes in breast tumours can affect the cancer's ability to spread around the body.

"Anything that could assist in identifying those who are at an increased risk of their breast cancer spreading is a great thing.

"It is encouraging that this sort of research may help turn the tide in the treatment of breast cancer, and contribute to a future where more and more patients are treated in a way that is tailored to them."
German chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU 'must negotiate on the basis of our interests'

German chancellor Angela Merkel has reiterated that she considers Britain's decision to leave the European Union irrevocable.

Britain voted narrowly to leave the EU in a referendum June 23 but Prime Minister Theresa May has yet to formally trigger the process of negotiating the country's exit from the 28-nation bloc.

Mrs Merkel said in an interview released by her party: "The whole process of the exit still lies ahead of us, but the decision is irrevocable."

She added that the decision is a test for the EU, and said: "Now we must negotiate on the basis of our interests. And 'negotiate' means, above all, strengthening common projects."

Mrs Merkel said the EU offers its members a strong voice in the world that individual countries would not have.

AP
Three people, including two children, have died after their throats were slashed by glass-coated kite string used in competitions to bring down the kites of rivals, Indian police said.

A three-year-old girl travelling with her parents in a car had her head out of the sunroof when her throat was cut by a kite string, her uncle said.

The other victims were a four-year-old boy who was also looking out of the sunroof of a car, and a man who fell off a motorbike after his throat was cut by a string and it became tangled around his neck.

The man, Jafar Khan, suffered a fatal head injury, said his father, Ayub Khan.

The deaths occurred in New Delhi on Monday, which was India's Independence Day, when many people fly kites to celebrate.

Accidents involving kite string have been on the rise in recent years.

Popular among kite-flyers is a type of string imported from China that is almost invisible but is coated with glass or metal shards. The strings are used to cut the string of other kites.

The city government has banned the sale of glass-coated kite string following the three deaths, saying anyone violating the prohibition could be fined up to 100,000 rupees (1,150).

Several states have banned the use of glass-coated string but it remains available in shops.

AP
A total of 147 people arrived on three Greek islands in the 24 hours between Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning

Greece's coast guard has rescued 59 migrants from an inflatable dinghy off the island of Kos while a second vessel reported to be in trouble was picked up by Turkish authorities.

A total of 147 people arrived on three Greek islands in the 24 hours between Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning, including those rescued in rough weather off Kos.

Of the others, 44 reached the small island of Kalymnos and the remaining 44 were picked up by the coast guard from another inflatable dinghy off the island of Lesbos.

Also on Wednesday, Turkey's coast guard rescued passengers on a migrant boat who had called for help citing engine problems, according to Greek authorities.

The boat was found in Turkish waters following an initial search operation on the Greek side between the islands of Samos and Ikaria. The caller said there were about 53 people on board.

Greece's coast guard has rescued more than 300 people since August 8 on nine migrant boats that have run into trouble in the Aegean Sea.

With many islands close to the Turkish coast, Greece is a major entry point for hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees hoping for better lives in the European Union.

An EU-Turkish agreement and Balkan border closures have severely reduced the flow of people through the country this year.

Under the deal, new arrivals on Greek islands face being returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.

The measure has left more than 57,600 people stranded in Greece. More than 10,700 of those are on the country's eastern Aegean islands, many living in crowded camps that have long surpassed capacity, particularly on Chios, Lesbos and Samos.

The aid group Save the Children says those stranded on the islands include about 3,800 children, and has warned that refugee women and children are living in "demoralising and unsafe conditions".

AP
Russia is upping the ante in Ukraine with an eye on the 25th anniversary of Ukraines independence on August 24 and the G20 summit on September 4.

Russia has positioned thousands of troops to the north in Bryansk, to the east near Rostov, to the south in Crimea and to the west in the separatist Moldovan region of Transnistria.

Ukrainian intelligence agencies say a Russian air defence regiment has been embedded with the separatists in Donbass.

Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 after a hastily called referendum, and a conflict between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces flared up in eastern Ukraine weeks later.

As soon as Russia forced the last Ukrainian troops based in Crimea to leave in 2014, Moscow set up fortified border crossings and sent new weapons to the peninsula - from cutting-edge fighter jets to the newest missile systems.

Despite the military build-up, hardly any disturbances or let alone cross-border shootings have been reported in Crimea since the annexation.

The 2015 peace agreement for eastern Ukraine signed in Minsk has helped reduce fighting in eastern Ukraine, but peaceful settlement has floundered.

The deal obliged Ukraine to grant broad autonomy to the rebel regions before it can fully regain control of the border with Russia, but those provisions have not been implemented.

Independent Moscow-based military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said that if the Kremlin wanted to make gains or solidify its positions in Ukraine, now would be a good moment because the world's attention is elsewhere.

"The temptation is high to try and use this occasion to solve the Ukrainian problem once and for all," he said.

Expand Close A column of Ukrainian tanks moves towards the de-facto border with Crimea (AP) / Facebook

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"While America is right now not very operational because it's in a midst of a divisive election campaign, Europe is also divided - on Brexit, on refugees, on sanctions against Russia."

Moscow refused to recognise Ukraine's interim authorities after Ukraine's pro-Moscow president, Viktor Yanukovych, was driven from power by protests, but later recognised Petro Poroshenko.
Salterstown Orange hall was extensively damaged in an arson attack earlier this week  the latest in a long list of attacks on the institutions properties

Earlier this week, another Orange hall was the target for a sectarian arson attack. The little hall, at Salterstown in Co Londonderry, was badly damaged by the fire, and the lodge banner, collarettes and musical instruments belonging to a local band were destroyed in the blaze.

The hall has been there for more than 100 years and has been an important part of community life  just like so many other Orange halls across Northern Ireland and in the Irish Republic and Scotland.

The lodge will now set about repairing the hall, just as hundreds of other Orange lodges have had to do.

However, they will be deprived of their hall for a considerable period of time and may well have lost artefacts that cannot be replaced.

The activities in the hall will be disrupted and their energies diverted towards the restoration.

There will also be a cost to the brethren, as any money recouped may not meet the entire cost of the new building.

This was the 21st attack on an Orange hall in Northern Ireland this year and yet, apart from some coverage in the local media, many of these attacks pass almost unnoticed.

If there had been 21 attacks on Roman Catholic churches, or Presbyterian churches this year, it would have become a major headline and not just at a local level, but also at a national or international level.

Society has become so accustomed to attacks on Orange halls  because there have been so many attacks  that they pass almost unnoticed outside of the local community and the Orange family.

These halls are far more than just buildings. They are important to the Orange lodges, but they are also important to the wider community.

Many of them are used by community, cultural and historical groups, and they open their doors to churches, keep-fit classes, dance classes and musical tuition.

An attack on a hall is an attack on the life of the community, as well as the lodge.

During the Troubles, there were attacks on buildings associated with the Protestant community, including churches and Orange halls, as well as attacks on buildings associated with the Roman Catholic community, such as GAA clubs and churches.

Thankfully, those days are largely behind us, but the sectarian campaign against Orange halls has not come to an end.

This year, one Orange hall in Tyrone was targeted three times in a matter of weeks, with the first of the attacks being attempted arson.

In Co Armagh, an oil tank at an Orange hall was set alight in an attempt to destroy the hall and, in Dervock, a bus outside an Orange hall was destroyed by arsonists.

Other halls have been subjected to paint bomb attacks and covered with republican and sectarian graffiti.

The number and nature of the attacks demonstrates clearly that these are sectarian hate crimes.

They are also the outworking of the republican campaign of demonisation against the Orange Order.

According to Gerry Adams, 1992 was the year when Sinn Fein ramped up its campaign of opposition to Orange parades, and that year is very significant.

In the 25 years prior to July 1992, 39 Orange halls were burnt. But in the 10 years after July 1992, 192 Orange halls were burnt. That represented a 12-fold increase in attacks.

This situation is of such a scale that it requires a coherent and strategic approach. The PSNI need all the assistance they can get to apprehend the culprits, but policing alone will not stop this.

As a society, we also need to confront the sectarian attitudes against the Orange Institution, which lead on to sectarian attacks on Orange halls. That is something in which the good relations sector, politicians, the media, schools, commentators and many others have a role to play.

It is only through confronting the root problem of sectarian hatred towards the Orange Institution that we will be able to address these sectarian attacks, which are the result of deep-rooted hatred.
It is a regrettable confirmation that the upper echelons of unionism have a long way to go in the journey towards an inclusive society when the Belfast Telegraph allows its pages to be used by politician Nelson McCausland to compare the savage murder of Catholic priest Father Jacques Hamel with what he calls republican atrocities from the Troubles (Comment, July 28).

Mr McCauslands lengthy column focuses on several conflict-related killings in, or near to, churches.

All cases mentioned were carried out by various republican groups. Not a single one of the examples used relates to killings carried out by pro-British forces.

Many of the most brutal killings of civilians in Mr McCauslands own home area of north Belfast were carried out by unionist paramilitary groups. The vast majority of those victims were co-religionists of Father Hamel.

The people of north Belfast have grown well-used to Nelson McCausland, but for the Belfast Telegraph to sponsor this one-sided hypocrisy is nothing short of shameful.

It is ironic that Mr McCausland uses the column space at his disposal to accuse others of wanting to rewrite the past; worse still, the Belfast Telegraph allows him to do just exactly that.

EDDIE WHYTE

By email
I was delighted to read that junior minister Fearon said that the Executive was committed to removing all interface barriers within seven years. I wonder what has changed in the last year?

When I was on Belfast City Council some years ago I raised the need for normalising our city by removing barriers to normal city living. At the time of the first mention of the Towards Better Understanding programme and the stated goal of removing all peace walls, there was no coherent plan towards achieving that goal.

It is in the interest of all the citizens of Belfast that this programme of removing all barriers is progressed speedily, despite the protestations of some people who pretend that they have the interests of people at heart.

The success of developing Laganside was largely due to a body set up to do the job. Why not set up a body with the resources to remove all barriers? The people of Belfast deserve no less.

TOM EKIN

Belfast
P&O Ferries  the UKs largest ferry operator  and the Belfast Telegraph are helping students to celebrate their A-Level results by giving away 10 FREE return sailings to Scotland to help with their move across the water for college or university this autumn.

And for those starting university, or those who are returning students for the new term, entering the competition couldnt be easier! With no baggage restrictions, students can pack lots of home comforts into the boot of their car for their free crossing  ready to create their new home away from home.

Neal Mernock, sector director Irish Sea, P&O Ferries, says: P&O Ferries is delighted to offer 10 free sailings for students, whether theyre going onto higher education for the first time, or returning to university, or college, for the new term. After all their hard work, P&O Ferries wants to congratulate and reward students during this exciting time. With the shortest and most frequent crossings between Northern Ireland and Scotland, P&O Ferries is looking forward to welcoming students on-board this autumn.

Once on-board, students can relax on their two-hour crossing from Larne to Cairnryan by connecting their tablets, iPads and smartphones to the free wi-fi available throughout the sailing. The restaurant offers freshly-prepared meals, vegetarian options and tasty snacks so students can enjoy a meal before arriving at their student halls, or accommodation.

To be in with a chance of winning a return sailing from Larne to Cairnryan, click here.
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Red, white, and blue streamers and balloons fly through the air, mixing with the roars of the crowd as collective voices rise in a chant of U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A.. Political and military speakers take the stage, giving nods to and quoting such men as Ronald Reagan and John McCain, their speeches embracing Americas greatness, the American Dream, and a strong military, and their words emanating optimism for the future and the strength of our country. Sounds like the perfect Republican National Convention, right? Well, not quite.

Because this happened at the Democratic National Convention.

This is truly an election year unlike any other. Democrats, in their Philadelphia convention, seized upon some of the most successful themes of the Republican Party, weaving together messages of unity, empathy, and love with the optimistic American exceptionalism and might of the Reagan administration. Why were they able to do this? And why is this one of the smartest political moves weve seen in years?

Because the Republican Party, led by Donald Trump and his discontented multitudes, have abandoned those themes, effectively abandoning a huge swath of more moderate Republican voters. Donald Trump, at the Republican National Convention, painted with darkened strokes the portrait of a weakened America in a crisis from which only he can save us from the looming threats of terrorism and illegal immigration and economic disaster. If the Republican Convention could be summed up in a word, that word is fear. Democrats seized on this, welcoming that aforementioned swath of disaffected Republicans with open arms.

The tactic, sincere or not, is working. Major Republican figures, beginning with Republican congressman Richard Hanna, have begun defecting to the Clinton camp, to what they see as the more reasonable candidate. What has followed has been an unprecedented break from traditional party loyalty as these influential politicians denounce what they see as Trumps appeals to anger and fear. The traditionally Republican Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman, in an interview with the Times, summed the current sentiment up well in saying that To vote Republican out of party loyalty alone would be to endorse a candidacy that I believe has exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia, and racial division. Its becoming clear that Trump has missed a step in his political dance, and that the more charismatic Democratic Party has swept in and stolen his dance partner away.

Is Trump truly all the things hes accused of beinga racist, hateful xenophobe? Probably not. Those popular buzzwords, too, are part of the political dance, labels means to easily classify and categorize, and that ignore the complexity of a person in their entirety. But did Donald Trump open the door to these attacks? Certainly.

Psychologically speaking, when an individual wishes to change, its best to focus on what one wants, rather than what one wants to avoid being. By focusing the Republican Convention on what America shouldnt be, and what it should exclude, rather than focusing on what it should strive to be, and how to unify its people, Trump made himself vulnerable. He made himself, and his party, sound negative and bleak. He furthered this vulnerability by focusing much of his efforts on attacks against his political opponent rather than building up his own policy. It is precisely this vagueness of policy, in fact, that allows the media to shape his words in any way they wish, portraying him as a buffoon or that favorite, darling word of the media, a demagogue.

What Trump is, is a man who has little control over his words. He gives them up on a silver platter when he should be carefully selective, offering a buffet of his stream-of-consciousness thoughts and feelings that his political opponents can pick and choose from, selecting the very worst bits to serve to the public. The man simply cant seem to control his tongue, inviting the media and his opponents to control it for him.

The result is the appropriation of many Republican values by the Democratic Party, at least on the surface, and the subsequent exodus of both Republican voters and political figures, seemingly halting the revolution promised by Trump. But the man still has a possibleforgive the phrasetrump card that has yet to be played.

The anger that Trump taps into is real, as is the frustration and turmoil that seem to drive his campaign. If Trump can seize on this positively rather than in a bombastically negative way, he still has a chance. But he needs to embrace unity. He needs to learn tact and self-control, and he needs to manage his self-image rather than trying to portray himself as the candidate who is honest or simply speaks his mind. Because, Mr. Trump, there is a difference between honesty and a lack of self-control. Youve crossed it.

So is the Democratic party now, as it seems, truly the new Republican party? Not so much. This latest development is likely another carefully-selected step in the dance. Where Reagan might have said the American people are great because of what they can accomplish apart from the government, the Democratic version is still that the American people are great because of the help they can receive from the government. President Obama may have quoted Reagan, but the two mens words cover the surface of two very different sets of goals.

Is one set of goals intrinsically better than the other? Only time will tell, but for now, this unceasingly fascinating election year continues, and its going to continue to be one marked by the unprecedented. Its likely that well see the Democratic Party continue wearing Republican colorsperhaps even truly adopting those colorsas more and more voters defect from Trumps camp, and unless the Donald can truly change his tactics, the media will continue to roast him and lift up Clintons platform as the party of mainstream America.

The political dance continues, all of the players striving to be as masked, bewigged, and beautifully attired as the attendants of an 18th century ball. Its up to us to investigate, to peek beneath those masks and wigs and layers in order see the human beings which lie beneath. Despite the intensity of this years political machinations, strive to find the truth beneath the confusing mess, and vote accordingly. The next four years of our country is at stake.

Wesley Baines is a graduate student at Regent University's School of Divinity, and a freelance writer working in the fields of spirituality, self-help, and religion. He is also a former editor at Beliefnet.com. You can catch more of his work at www.wesleybaines.com.
Erwin Mappaseng, chief of Indonesian police detectives, holds a picture and map showing the route allegedly traveled by Hambali after a bomb exploded in North Sumatra in December 2000, Aug. 21, 2003.

Updated at 8:10 a.m. ET on 2016-08-19

An Indonesian linked to al-Qaeda masterminds Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammad said he had no ill will towards the United States when he appeared Thursday before a hearing at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The appearance by Encep Nurjaman, also known as Hambali, before a review board hearing to determine if he should be released from custody marked the first time he was seen in public since being locked up at Guantanamo in September 2006, the Associated Press reported.

A U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) profile of Hambali described him as an operational mastermind for Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asian militant group linked with al-Qaeda.

Hambali helped plan the Bali bombings that killed 202 people in 2002 and a series of Christmas Eve bombings at 30 churches across Indonesia two years earlier, the profile said.

After his arrest in Thailand in 2003, Hambali was eventually taken to the military prison at Guantanamo, where suspected al-Qaeda operatives and others who were linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have been incarcerated.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged planner of the 9/11 attacks, is also imprisoned at Guantanamo. Bin Laden, the former head of al-Qaeda, which was behind the attacks on New York and Washington, was killed in a raid by U.S. Special Forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011.

Hambali did not speak but a U.S. military officer representing him read an opening statement on his behalf, calling the 52-year-old Indonesian respectful and energetic, according to APs account of the hearing.

He always smiles and never hesitates to answer any questions we have, according to a copy of the statement obtained by BenarNews.

While at Guantanamo Hamabali has learned English, taught himself Arabic and has taught fellow detainees. He went so far as to have homework and tests for them, it said.

Hambali has stated he has no ill will towards the U.S. He believes America has diversity and sharing of power which is much better than a dictatorship. He states he wants nothing more than to move on with his life and be peaceful, the statement went on to say.

Hambali wore horn-rimmed glasses and a mostly gray beard, and was expressionless during the unclassified portion of the Periodic Review Board hearing, according to AP.

A steadfast extremist: U.S.

The U.S. government also read out a statement at Thursdays hearing. It called Hambali an ongoing security threat, by describing him as being steadfast in his support for extremist causes and his hatred for the U.S., AP reported.

He most likely would look for ways to reconnect with his Indonesian and Malaysian cohorts or attract a new set of followers, the U.S. statement added, noting that he has been heard promoting violent jihad while leading daily prayers and lectures at the prison on Guantanamo, by APs account.

Hambali served as a main liaison between JI and al-Qaeda from 2000 until his capture in 2003, according to the DOD profile.

Before returning to Southeast Asia in December 2001, Hambali discussed operations with senior al-Qaeda leaders regarding post Sept. 11 attacks against U.S. interests, the report states.

Hambali, who was born in Cianjur, West Java, left Indonesia for Malaysia in the 1980s where he met JI cofounders Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Bashir, and was exposed to radical Islamic teachings, the DOD said.

The review panel issued no decision on Hambalis status, the AP reported. He is one of 61 detainees housed at the prison in Cuba.

If he were freed, Hambali would not be allowed to return to Indonesia, according to a report in Singapores Straits Times newspaper.

They will not deport Hambali to Indonesia. Praise to God. Dont add more problems to this country, Luhut Pandjaitan, who was Indonesias top security minister at the time, told reporters in March.

An earlier version incorrectly reported that Hambali was arrested in Bangkok.
Turtle Pond, at Sam Poh Tong Temple, is another popular spot in Ipoh. People come here to release tortoises in the hope of balancing their karma, Aug. 13, 2016. [Haireez Azeem Azizi/BenarNews]

The Perak state museum, which is housed in a 90-year-old villa that was built for a local tin baron, features exhibits on Ipohs tin-mining and timber industries, Aug. 13, 2016. [Haireez Azeem Azizi/BenarNews]

Some of the items on sale are pictured at a stall in Pasar Karat, Aug. 13, 2016. [HaireezAzeemAzizi/BenarNews]

Pasar Karat, Ipohs Memory Lane, is popular shopping destination with tourists who like to collect antiques or other souvenirs, Aug. 13, 2016. [HaireezAzeemAzizi/BenarNews]

One of Ipohs most famous attractions is Tasik Cermin, a lake surrounded by lush hills that are mirrored in its waters, Aug. 13, 2016. [HaireezAzeemAzizi/BenarNews]

Many vistors to Ipoh arrive and depart from its railway station, which opened in 1917 and is known among locals as Ipohs Taj Mahal, Aug. 13, 2016. [HaireezAzeemAzizi/BenarNews]

Ipoh, the capital of Malaysias Perak state, is making a comeback as a tourist draw after its fortunes waned following a tin-mining boom in the 1930s and '40s.

Ipoh used to figure among Southeast Asias wealthiest towns, pulling its riches out of a mine in the nearby Kinta Valley. Now, it is undergoing a rebirth with parts of the city, such as Old Town, undergoing restoration. The town is named after the poisonous Ipoh tree that used to grow abundantly in the region.

The predominantly ethnic Chinese city of 1.1 million people, which lies 205 km (127.3 miles) northwest of Kuala Lumpur, features elegant buildings from Malaysias British colonial era and other attractions.

Ipoh offers visitors a peaceful escape from the bustle of Malaysias bigger cities, and is one of Malaysias lesser-known destinations among foodies.

I love it here. Even though Ipoh has changed and developed a lot, the peacefulness is far much better than other cities. The food, the people, the muhibbah, the streets are things that I dont want to leave behind, Long Kap Keng, 61, a hawker at the Pasar Karat market in Memory Lane, who has been living in Ipoh since he was born, told BenarNews.

The town recently regained some international prestige, when the travel guide Lonely Planet rated Ipoh as one of Asias top 10 tourist destinations. It was the only Malaysian city that made the list. Lonely Planet ranked Ipoh sixth, behind Hong Kong (No. 5), and ahead of Pemuteran, Indonesia (No. 7) and the Trang Islands in Thailand (No. 8).

The spark is finally returning to the time-worn neighborhoods of Ipoh. For too long, [it] was considered a faded and has-been of a city  and thats if travelers thought of it at all, the Lonely Planet says.
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Belong. Stand Out. Go Far.

The BGSU College of Arts and Sciences is a diverse and inclusive community of students, faculty, staff and alumni. Our graduates go on to careers that are as distinct as the programs we offer. From the study of the arts to the sciences and the humanities to the social sciences, we pride ourselves on personal attention and educating our students to think critically, analyze information effectively and think across disciplines. These are the foundations of a liberal arts education, and those skills that develop confidence and flexibility for a changing 21st century job market.
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When you're part of the Falcon Family, you'll get noticed. You'll be part of a Falcon network working in every state in the U.S., and in countries around the world. Our Business Career Accelerator, exclusively dedicated to the Schmidthorst College of Business, connects students with its 1,000+ employer network. And when top-employers like these are looking for talented professionals ready to make an impact in the business world, they know they can find it in the Falcon Family.


By Bob Cunningham

Samantha Sanson wanted to attend Bowling Green State University so she could experience the classic campus life with a community feeling before she headed off to the big city.

Sanson, who grew up in Bay Village near Cleveland, is sticking to her plan  shes headed to one of the most densely populated cities in the world: Hong Kong. Sanson majored in Spanish and minored in German, graduating Aug. 6.

She plans to stay in China for a year or two and teach English for American English Workshop, where she will be a full-time tutor working with children ages 3 through 9.

Sanson, no stranger to world travel, doesnt know a single person in China, but that wont stop her from taking on a new adventure.

Its the most populous country in the world so I should be able to make a friend somehow, right? she said, laughing. Ill have plenty of people to choose from.

Sanson plans to come back to the United States in the next few years to get a masters degree, but she couldnt pass up the opportunity to teach English in China.

Ive always wanted to go to Asia and teach English for a year or so, she said. If I like it, I might end up getting my masters to teach English to people who speak other languages, but probably with more of a focus on the Hispanic population though.

This will be Sansons fourth time living abroad. She lived in Mexico for a gap year before she started her freshman year at BGSU. Then she spent her sophomore year in Spain and junior year in Austria.

I always had the same interests growing up, like being friends with the foreign exchange students when they came to high school, Sanson said. I always wanted to travel and I always wanted to study abroad. So, I guess going into college I definitely wanted to do something foreign. That was kind of my mindset.

Living in Mexico after high school helped Sanson decide on a major.

I just loved the people and the language and the culture of Mexico, she said. Its funny because I studied French in high school and had never taken Spanish before, so I didnt know any Spanish except for a few words.

Sanson said she was able to pick up a lot of the language from living in Mexico. Plus, she had a private tutor to work with every week.

I was really confident verbally when I got back to Ohio, she said. I always wanted to do something multicultural or something that I eventually could turn into teaching or social work. I didnt really know what route to take, but I loved Spanish so I figured Id go with that.

Sanson said BGSU offered plenty of opportunities to learn foreign languages, both in and out of the classroom.

We have a large international population here, which is awesome for people like me who want to meet and learn from foreign students, she said. I think our foreign language programs are great, and its awesome we have the AYA (Academic Year Abroad) programs I participated in.

Sanson was able to attend universities in Madrid and Salzburg, Austria, directly through the AYA programs of Bowling Green  so there wasnt anything messy with transferring credits and stuff like that.
By Bonnie Blankinship

Drs. Allen Rogel and Kate Dellenbusch, in the Department of Physics and Astronomy , are normally found studying the stars. But this year they are bringing their sights down to earth to help forensic investigators solve crimes. The two are working with Gary Wilgus, special agent supervisor with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, to learn how bullets striking glass at an angle are deflected.

The idea for the study sprang from an actual homicide investigation where bullets were fired through double pane window glass, which is found in about 99 percent of residential buildings, Wilgus said. We know that theres a significant deflection when shots are fired through glass or drywall or other substrates, but no one had studied it. Our quest is to see how accurately we can place the general location of the shooter based on the data from this study.

Understanding the deflection of bullets through single and double pane glass will help investigators trace back the initial path of the bullet.

This will improve the accuracy of our crime scene shooting reconstruction, Wilgus said.

This will improve the accuracy of our crime scene shooting reconstruction, Wilgus said.

Rogel and Dellenbusch spent about 40 days last fall in the shooting range at the BCI facility on campus with Wilgus, firing hundreds of rounds through glass panes into foam boards and painstakingly marking, measuring and photographing the results for later analysis.

The study comprised both single- and double-pane glass and .45-caliber and 9mm regular and hollow point bullets.

Today, Rogel and Dellenbusch are just as painstakingly mapping and measuring on millimeter graph paper every shot fired and entering the results in a database, working side by side at a large table in Overman Hall, surrounded by bullet-ridden foam boards.

Were going to be doing some serious number-crunching when we get the database complete, Rogel said. That part of the process presents an opportunity for student engagement.

Wilgus worked with Dr. Jon E. Sprague, director of the Ohio Attorney Generals Center for the Future of Forensic Science, on a proposal to obtain one of the centers grants and find faculty experts with whom to partner. Part of the centers mission is to advance the profession and practice of the forensic sciences through cutting-edge research.

Dellenbusch and Rogel, both astronomers, were intrigued and responded to Spragues email requesting physics expertise. They were surprised by the lack of existing research on the topic. There is much more research about bullets going into windshields and tempered glass, Rogel found, so our goal is to expand upon the literature.

Crime scene analysts traditionally use a standard plus- or minus-5 degree deflection angle when calculating the trajectory of bullets hitting glass at an angle, but that is based on an old study that used much thicker glass than is typically found in homes and smaller, slower bullets than are usually used in crimes today.

The former study was optimized for maximum deflection, Rogel said.

Interestingly, when a shot is fired perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to glass, there is virtually no deflection and the glass shards scatter straight out, even with double panes. But larger angles seem to cause a significant change in the bullets trajectory after passing through the glass, while the glass shards still spray out perpendicular to the glass.

Although conducting the study centered on their physics expertise, Rogel and Dellenbusch became full-service researchers for the project.

We designed and constructed it from the ground up, Dellenbusch said. We made many trips to Home Depot for lumber and supplies and duct tape.

The first step was designing and building the bench that would hold the glass, and the frames that would support each sample. The researchers then installed foam boards on the sides and back of their experiment site in the shooting range at BCI. After passing through the foam board, the bullets were trapped in a box filled with Kevlar vest panels, which trapped the bullets for collection and later examination.

You need two entry points in order to calculate the deflection, Rogel said. These were the glass and then the foam board. In the case of the double-paned glass, they were actually three impact points, he added.

In cases where the bullet cannot be found lodged, its direction can be determined both by the glass shards and the beveling that occurs on the opposite side of the glass from where it was impacted.

The local company Bowling Green Glass and Mirror might have been surprised by the researchers order of 750 square feet of glass cut into 1-square-foot sections, the two noted humorously. Luckily, the company also provides disposal of broken glass, of which the study produced large amounts. In some cases the bullets impact virtually turned it back into sand, Dellenbusch said.

Rogel called upon his experience working with cold stained glass in devising a way to hold the glass panes. Any pressure on them would have caused stress that could have distorted the results. That old standby, masking tape, proved sufficient to hold the glass panels into the frame without warping them.

The guns were positioned and clamped into a mount, operated by Wilgus, which prevents movement during firing.

We spent an inordinate amount of time making sure everything was aligned and stayed in alignment, because even a slight change could significantly throw off our results, Rogel said. The positioning was rechecked and verified after each series of shots.

The researchers marked each entry point with duct tape to be able to distinguish them. That was only one part of the tedious process. They began each day by shooting several rounds to settle the gun into the mount. Then, to verify the alignment and provide a calibration for later measurements, they fired three shots into the foam board, and another 10 rounds through either single or double glass mounted at a fixed angle, followed by a final alignment check shot. After each shot, the locations of bullet impact were marked, measured and photographed, glass was cleaned up and the experiment was reset. The full process was repeated for five or six angles per combination of gun and bullet type. They averaged three data runs of a 10-shot group plus calibration shots a day.

By collecting so much data we could drive down the statistical uncertainty, Rogel said.

It was slow and methodical, and they were fantastic to work with, Wilgus said. He also expressed his gratitude to Sprague and the center for their support.

The marriage between the Center for the Future of Forensic Science and the University has been great, Wilgus said. It has made our study possible and I hope we can continue to publish our results. But also for its internships and externships and professional development. Ive already had members of our department decide to come to Bowling Green to get their masters in forensic science.
By Bob Cunningham

Even as a small child growing up in Nigeria, Valentine Ononye 03 was interested in style.

Ononye also dreamed of attending college in the United States, and he was able to achieve that goal by attending Bowling Green State University, where he studied computer science in the College of Arts and Sciences and graduated with a degree in information systems.

Soon after he graduated, Ononye moved to Chicago but he felt a calling to return to northwest Ohio and set down roots.

I soon realized that this was home, said Ononye, who lives in Perrysburg with his wife and four children. Its such an amazing community. I really wanted to build something here that would bring together my three great passions: business, style and connecting with people.

Once he was back in northwest Ohio, Ononye went about making his dream a reality.

As we launched our first store, I started to see that we were fulfilling a real need in the marketplace, he said. The response was overwhelming. People regularly tell me that before shopping with us, they had to travel several hours  and usually out of state  to find the kind of selection and service that we offer. We work really hard to personalize each clients experience and provide a comprehensive menu of services. Each of our stores even has a barber lounge inside so they can complete their look.

Our customers love that we are a locally owned and operated store with world class products and services.

Ononye, 39, operates two stores in the Toledo area: V Couture in Perrysburg and V Collection in Sylvania. His team recently launched V Style(d), a personal haberdashery service in which clients can work with a dedicated stylist to find the look and build the wardrobe that best suits their needs.

Ononye described V Couture, located at 123 W. Indiana Ave. in Perrysburg, as a custom clothier and purveyor of exclusive and classic designer lines for men.

We offer a rare class of service that empowers people to use their outward appearance to express their inner self, their best self, said Ononye, who recently returned from a lengthy tour of Europe, where he scouted the best mens clothing the industry has to offer.

Last year, Ononyes store at 5630 N. Main St. in Sylvania celebrated its fourth anniversary in an unusual way: by closing its doors and relaunching to more effectively meet its customers' needs.

We wanted to do something special to celebrate our customers, Ononye said. As they have shopped with us over these past four years, they have in fact helped us to test our concept. When we asked how we could refine what we offer to meet their needs even better, they said more great casual looks, things I won't see anywhere else.

So, we got busy working with new designers and vendors to curate that kind of collection and renamed and completely redesigned our store in Sylvania to flag our ongoing commitment. Fashion changes, but we will always have our customers at heart.

V Collection reopened in February after Ononye created a comfortable, cutting-edge space for customers, including a full-service bar and barber lounge.

Ononye said V Style(d) is the perfect option for the busy man who doesnt want to spend time shopping.

"Our personal haberdashers offer dedicated service and the very best products and selection in the industry," he said. "We make it convenient by working within your schedule at our showroom or a location that is convenient for you. We offer everything from sportswear to the very best made-to-measure and bespoke clothing so that you can build a wardrobe that meets your your lifestyle needs.

V Couture, V Collection and the new V Style(d) are not just businesses, but a commitment to our community. This is our home. Were building to last, and to make a positive impact on our city.

Ononye has developed a philosophy of style that is the cornerstone of his approach to working with customers.

I basically believe that people should dress to express and not to impress, he said. Style is about being and expressing your best self.

At his stores, Ononye promises to have you looking and feeling better than ever, to help you build the wardrobe thats best for you, to provide a relaxing environment that invites you back and to honor the relationships that keep us vital.

Ononye said his experience at BGSU really set the tone for his successful career.

My education at BGSU broadened my horizons by giving me the opportunity to interact with and work alongside a diverse group of people, he said. As a student at Bowling Green, I developed the discipline and tenacity to focus and stick with something no matter how difficult things became.

Through my journey there, I learned to believe in my dreams even when the circumstances around me made them seem impossible.

Building a strong brand and being committed to his client base is important to Ononye.

The V brand forges strong partnerships with our vendors so that we can consistently offer world class products that cannot be found anywhere else in this area, he said. Our customer relationships and delivery of rare class service create an experience like no other.

Ononye said that his stores partner with some of the worlds most distinguished fashion houses to form a unique collection, but its the relationship that he and his team have forged with customers that has galvanized the stores reputation.

We seek first to understand what individuals look for from a season in life in order to help them achieve it, he said. This leads our customers to describe their experience as transformative: moving them beyond wardrobe-building to a better base for living their dreams.

We believe that the world will be a better place when people allow the beauty of their dreams to power their journey.

For more information about Ononyes stores, call V Couture at 419-874-5000 or V Collection at 419-517-0509 visit them online at www.vcollectiononline.com.
3/30 NIOT Conversation on the Rise of Extremism (7:00pm - 8:00pm via Zoom)

Join Not in Our Town Bowling Green AND Detective Louis Espinosa from the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force for the second of a three-part series about the rise of extremism and domestic terrorism. Detective Espinosa will share information about strategies extremist organizations use to recruit new members, indicators that individuals may be engaged in extremist activities, and strategies that parents, caregivers, educators, and community members can use to identify and address potentially dangerous behaviors.

Visit HERE to register and receive Zoom links

Click HERE for a PDF View of the flyer!

*NOTE: This session will NOT be recorded due to the sensitive nature of this content.




First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain.





Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that.





And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details.





If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mewing is a TikTok trend that has blown up in the last few months. It is claimed that it can help shape your jawline as well as cure other ailments by actively pressing your tongue to the roof
South African locals Ryan Wolters and Will van der Merwe are making waves in Europe. The creative duo recently competed in the Cannes Young Lions Awards. As freelancers, they began entering creative advertising competitions and immediately knew they were on to something.

At the very first competition we entered (JongeHonden) we won Gold, says Vega School alumnus Wolters.

Van der Merwe and Wolters

Not long after, they were short-listed for an ADCN Lamp award. On the back of these two quick victories, the dynamic pair was handpicked to compete for the honour of representing the Netherlands at Cannes for a Young Lions award.

We were one of the few teams who didnt have a big agency behind us, so we felt a bit intimidated going in and I think people thought were a bit weird. South Africans tend to stand out in a crowd in Europe.

SA life inspires creativity

However, having lived in South Africa is inspirational for creativity, compared to Europe, where everything in life works so predictably, as a result you dont see as much raw creativity around you on a daily basis.

Wolters credits his training at Vega School as the factor that sets their ideas apart from everyone elses. Though both had a fascination with everything creative, both coincidentally had become strategists. Wolters explains that being in the European ad-scene put a commercial edge to their interests. They both quickly learned that becoming a creator is more important than being a creative. You have to be familiar with it all, when you continually get asked, What else can you show me besides your portfolio, says van der Merwe.

The word creativity has somehow become synonymous with innovation to us in the West: creativity means creating something new. In contrast, in Asia its rather: what can we learn from the past, and what can we improve on? continues Wolters. As a result, the two creatives are now playing with the idea of taking campaigns from 20 years ago and bringing them back in a better way.

Van der Merwe adds, Two heads are better than one; always. Creative teams do not have to consist of an art director and a copywriter. Advertising executives are crazier than you are, so stop pretending to be responsible around them. Collaborate the hell out of your career, become a creator, not a creative.
Univision has won the bidding for embattled Gawker Media, which recently filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $140 million to Hulk Hogan for releasing his sex tape.

SAN FRANCISCO - Gawker confirmed to AFP that a deal was made to sell the company to the Spanish-language media giant, but did not disclose the price. US media reports pegged the purchase at $135 million.

"I am pleased that our employees are protected and will continue their work under new ownership -- disentangled from the legal campaign against the company," Gawker founder Nick Denton said in an email to AFP confirming Univision as the top bidder.

"We could not have picked an acquirer more devoted to vibrant journalism."

In March, a US jury in Florida ordered that wrestling star Hogan be allowed to collect $140 million in total compensation after Gawker published a videotape of him having sex with a friend's wife.

Gawker filed for bankruptcy in June in an attempt to sidestep a shutdown from the judgment.

"For my part, I am proud to have contributed financial support to his case," tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who bankrolled the Hogan lawsuit, said in an op-ed piece in The New York Times Monday.

"It is ridiculous to claim that journalism requires indiscriminate access to private people's sex lives."

Denton earlier this month filed for personal bankruptcy protection in a bid to stop his assets from being seized because of the judgment.

Denton has slammed what he called a "personal vendetta" and said in a memo to staff that it was "disturbing to live in a world in which a billionaire can bully journalists because he didn't like the coverage."

While Gawker has come under fire for its no-holds-barred approach to celebrity coverage, the case also raised questions about whether powerful interests can use their resources to silence media for unfavorable coverage.

The case drew heightened attention when Thiel, a Silicon Valley titan, acknowledged that he had helped fund the litigation and others against Gawker, a company Thiel has feuded with for years since it "outed" him as gay.

A filing in federal bankruptcy court in New York lists Gawker assets in a range of $50 million to $100 million, and liabilities between $100 million and $500 million. German-born Thiel was a founder of the online payments firm PayPal, and served as its chief executive before it was sold to eBay. He was also an early investor in Facebook and has been active in venture investing in Silicon Valley.

Univision reportedly outbid US digital media company Ziff Davis for Gawker.

Source: AFP
TurnUp Music, in collaboration with WeChat and Endemol Shine Africa, is a new online music service, dedicated to helping undiscovered musicians build their careers by offering the platform to reach and grow their fan base.

The launch of the digital disruption platform that artists and fans alike will love, offers a gateway to local talent including various South African stars such as MiCasa, Nathi, Emtee and Vusi Nova. A dynamic pricing structure ensures that all artists fans are catered for.

Artists at the launch

Our core mission at WeChat is to make every day easier for everyone. From publishing, licensing marketing and distribution, the traditional music model was not built for the benefit of musicians or the fans. We are doing away with that. Firstly by making sure the musicians are well looked after by reaping maximum benefit from their work. Then we help them take their product to the fans who then can buy the music on our platform, says Brett Loubser, CEO of WeChat Africa.

What differentiates TurnUp Music is focus. Our aim is to create opportunities to grow artists and amplify their careers, by harnessing collaborative marketing reach and opportunities. Marketing and artist development equals longevity and longevity makes a career in music sustainable and potentially profitable. This focus has driven TurnUp to promote talent, provide opportunities for learning new skills and pay artists 70% of download revenue. TurnUp will further work with Endemol Shine Africa to support TurnUp artists and their music on TV and digital media platforms, says Thabiet Allie, COO of TurnUp Music.

For more information, go to www.turnupmusic.com and click here to view the launch.
Corporate investment and transactional advisory firm Jacobs Capital, and its partners Black Bird Capital (headed by Nkosinathi Nhlangulela and Siyabonga Mncube), have acquired wood manufacturer, Masonite.

Siyabonga Mncube (Black Bird Capital), Wessel Jacobs (Jacobs Capital), Nkosinathi Nhlangulela (Black Bird Capital) and Hilton Loring (Masonite).

The business rescue process, which started last year and officially ended this week, will see a recapitalisation programme and an investment of over R300m in the South African manufacturer based in Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal.

Creditors received 100 cents in the rand and shareholders will be paid a 35% premium on the list price. Most importantly, all employment contracts were saved. The board of directors is in the process of being reconstituted.

We have wasted no time, since the deal was approved by the Competition Commission in June. All the conditions of sale have been met. This is a very exciting time. We have teams in place looking at all aspects of the business and strategic planning sessions have produced short and longer term plans, said Wessel Jacobs, chief executive of Jacobs Capital.

The addition of the Masonite business to the Jacobs Capital portfolio marks the third large investment by the group in 12 months and it is expected to make a meaningful contribution to the annual revenue of the company, whose investments already exceeds R1.5bn. Since its establishment in 2002, it has completed over 50 restructuring projects, including the successful turnaround of Da Gama, one of the largest textile mills in South Africa.

Jacobs said Masonite is a strong company and the deal was structured to ensure that all creditors were paid out, leaving the company with a debt free balance sheet and working capital of R85m as well as R100m in stock holding.

Mill modernisation

Extensive recapitalisation of the production lines is necessary to ensure that the mill runs at full capacity, which will ensure that the company is able to return to sustainable profit as quickly as possible. A new product line is also among plans to ensure that Masonite keeps up with market trends.

We believe that the modernisation of the mill will prepare it for expansion into new markets and products. This will contribute towards the business maintaining its position as a leading producer of hardboard and timber products.

Nkosinathi Nhlangulela, director and shareholder added, The company is now 100% locally owned, with a new board that understands local conditions and imperatives. We see this as a long-term commitment to both the business and the KwaZulu-Natal region. The new Millco leadership team is well placed to ensure a sustainable, built to last business approach. It combines local management experience and expertise and offers access to strategies, systems and methodologies that have proven successful in turning around a number of South African manufacturing businesses.

Hilton Loring, Masonite chief executive, said the company was back on track. The lead management team is in place with renewed energy and entrepreneurial spirit. This combined with investment and a new product line will ensure the company meets growing demand and provides products of the same high quality and standards that customers expect.

JSE listing still suspended

Jacobs said he was confident that the oldest company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was poised to regain its place in the economy. We have an excellent team that can restore this business and take it to new heights.

In terms of the ratified transaction, the Millco Consortium has purchased the Masonite mill. The Masonite forestry assets have been sold to Forestco, which is owned by R&B Timbers, and an agreement is in place that secures the supply of timber for Masonite.

The Estcourt Mill, in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, which produces hardboard, soft board and door panels, was damaged in an explosion in June 2014. This, together with a difficult trading environment, saw the company apply for business rescue in December last year.

Because Masonite has been in business rescue, its trading on the JSE has been suspended. Details of the listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange are still to be finalised.

Unlike other potential private equity investors, Jacobs Capital is able to draw on extensive in-house expertise to implement a strategy that will see Masonite taken out of business rescue within a short period. For more information, go to www.jacobscapital.co.za.
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), the largest bottler of fizzy drinks on the continent, may backtrack on its commitment to invest R800m in enterprise development in SA if the Treasury imposes a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.

Such a reversal would undo the efforts of Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel to ensure the economy benefits from the three-way tie-up between The Coca-Cola Company, SABMillers soft-drinks business and operations of the Gutsche family.

Among many other pledges, CCBA, which supplies 40% of all Coca-Cola products sold in Africa, had committed to developing small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) to gain approval from SAs competition authorities for the merger.

But Phil Gutsche, the chairman of the bottling company, warned that the proposed tax would make it difficult for the group to deliver on these commitments as the levy would cause further financial strain in an industry where fixed costs were already high.

"As part of the CCBA merger, we made a commitment to invest R800m to develop SMMEs in the industry. We also committed to keep our employment numbers the same. This tax could undermine that commitment," Gutsche told Business Day this week.

The R800m fund was intended to support the development of local farmers and small suppliers, as well as create 20,000 jobs in the form of black-owned retailers of CCBAs products, which range from sweetened fizzy drinks such as Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite to energy drinks Play and Powerade, as well as branded mineral water.

The merging parties had also pledged not to reduce their current combined employment levels for three years.

Under South African competition law, the bottling company would have legal recourse not to make good on its promises if it can prove that changing market conditions have made it difficult to meet prior commitments.

"Generally, once the Competition Tribunal has approved a merger with conditions, the parties are expected to comply with the conditions imposed, unless they apply to the tribunal or the Competition Commission for an order that allows the alteration of the conditions," said commission spokesman Itumeleng Lesofe.

The Treasurys proposal to levy a tax of 2.9c per gram of sugar added to all sweetened beverages, barring 100% fruit juices, has been hotly debated since it was published for public comment in July.

Critics claim a tax on a single product is not the best way to rein in a surge in sugar-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes, which are costing SAs health system billions of rand a year.

The Beverages Association of SA, which represents most of the countrys soft-drink producers, said more than a third of jobs in the industry faced the chop if the proposed tax was implemented. About 240,000 workers are employed in the local beverages sector.

However, the Treasury has labelled the claim that the tax would cause mass job losses as mere speculation and said the industry should not jeopardise constructive engagement on the issue by resorting to "scaremongering".

"All stakeholders have until August 22 to comment on the draft policy paper and provide the Treasury with evidence-based comments and inputs, rather than speculation on the impact of the sugar tax on jobs," said Phumza Macanda, the Treasurys chief director of communications.
It's not about the low-hanging fruit or quick wins, effective customer experience management that results in happy returning customers is all about effective change now to improve the overall future customer experience (CX).

Customer Experience Management or CEM Africa Summit, the largest CX gathering in Africa, took place for the fifth time in Cape Town over 17 and 18 August 2016 at the Century City Convention Centre.

First up was a panel discussion moderated by professor Adre Schreuder, CEO of Consultant Research, founder and chair of SAcsi. Schreuder kicked off by quoting Peter Drucker who said the most valid definition of business is simply to create a customer.

If only it were this easy to create loyal customers!  Anyka  123RF.com

He pointed out that the focus of the local CX industry is complaints, and research proves that the CX industry is getting a handle on handling those customer complaints, but says businesses need to ask if that is actually taking us forward and are we getting customer loyalty out of that?

Next, Schreuder moderated a panel on next-generation CEM and its future, which provided thoughts on how the customer has evolved, as well as the latest trends in how businesses are exciting and delighting their customers.

CX is the entire company's responsibility

Eddie Moyce, former chief customer experience officer at MTN said what C-suite executives need to start thinking about is less marketing and sales and more that if they don't take care of customers in the short term, the business suffers in the long term, especially if customers start leaving in droves. Nothing profound or next-wave about it, but thinking carefully about how the customer is the entire company's responsibility. Without customers, we won't exist tomorrow.

The illusion of customer loyalty as the Holy Grail

Jean Ochse, head of benefits tracking and extraction at Standard Bank retail bank, said strategy is definitely an issue as different sections of the company try to achieve different goals. We forget the importance of emotion and humanness. Sometimes it takes a leap of faith to boost the bottom line. Is loyalty really the Holy Grail we should be seeking?

What 40 things do you want to do before 2020?

Chantel Botha, head of brand design and customer experience strategy at BrandLove, said there is a people capability side for CX of the future. 2020 is 40 months away. What 40 things do you want to do before 2020? She recommends looking to new generation leadership demands, collaboration and openness, letting employees manage themselves and allowing for a much higher level of collaboration. Organisations that do well don't obsess over competitors.

Future proof by getting the right thinking in place in the c-suite

Craig Lee, former executive customer experience and brand manager for Emirates Group, focused on just three things: people, business transformation and technology. Transformation is a difficult thing, customer transformation is not just another project, it's a c-suite change. Don't get hooked up in your own data, CX is a blend of art and science. Leverage the incredible talents you've already employed. Juniors can have a greater following than the CEO.

Are we properly listening to our customers?

Simon Cranswick, MD of Anana Africa, says it's not just instilling culture but also seeing a measurable return, the real dashboard isn't at c-level, it's with the customer. There is a need to put the customer at the centre of everything or go back to the boardroom and challenge on spend. It's difficult to put numbers to it, but that's the challenge. It's not about call centres, corporates are simply not embracing this properly.

Schreuder closed by summarising that all the panelists had addressed transformation, but if you're not actually doing anything different, how the hell do you expect things to change?

Follow the #CEMAfrica hashtag for more.
AngloGold Ashanti reported strong interim free cash flows, bringing the company closer to resuming dividends after halting payments to shareholders in 2013 as it turned its attention to reducing its large debt, restructuring the company and slashing costs to return to profit.

AngloGold was likely to make an announcement on a dividend policy based on a percentage of free cash flow and could make a payment early in 2017, CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan said on Monday, 15 August.

In the six months to end-June, AngloGold, the world's third largest gold miner, reported a $52m profit compared with a $143m loss in the same period a year earlier.

Gold production was 1.745-million ounces compared with 1.976-million ounces, but all-in costs fell to $982/oz from $1,010/oz. The received gold price for the period was $1,222/oz compared with $1,204/oz a year ago.

"This demonstrates pleasing trends in the overall direction of the business. Operational performance was fine with the international operations demonstrating their quality with all-in sustaining costs of just $873/oz," Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note.

AngloGold maintained its full-year production forecast at between 3.6million and 3.8-million ounces, citing a traditionally stronger operational performance in the second half of the year. Analysts cautioned that the target could be missed if SA continued to have high numbers of government-ordered safety stoppages of its mines.

Free cash flow was recorded for the third consecutive quarter to end-June and more than tripled to $108m compared with free cash flow of $31m in the interim period a year ago.

AngloGold cut net debt by a third to 2.098bn from $3.076bn at the end of June 2015, mainly by selling its Cripple Creek & Victor mine in the US to repay an expensive bond. There were no other expensive interest-bearing debt instruments, the CEO said.

"Dividends remain a key focus ... what we would look at is coming up with a sustainable dividend policy likely to be based on a percentage of free cash flow," said Venkatakrishnan.

"It's something that is focusing the board's attention and it's something " to be announced early next year."

The company had a number of growth projects and debt reduction strategies it wanted to tackle at the same time and this would attract spending, he said.

At the suspended Obuasi mine in Ghana efforts are continuing to remove hundreds of illegal mine workers from AngloGold's property, which has delayed a feasibility study into a new mining plan for the perennially underperforming operation.

Spending at the mine had dropped to about $50m this year from a planned 120m because all work there had stopped, Venkatakrishnan said.

AngloGold has expressed frustration at the slowness of the Ghanaian government's intervention to remove the workers, who the company says are damaging property and infrastructure. Asked whether AngloGold would exit the mine, Venkatakrishnan said much depended on the government's response and the outcome of arbitration to resolve the matter.

An attempt to bring Randgold Resources, its partner in two other African mines, into a joint venture at Obuasi failed in 2015 after Randgold walked away from the scheme.

Of all AngloGold's mines, this one is the most problematic.

AngloGold shares were the worst performer of the major gold producers on the JSE on Monday, falling 5% to R283.44, giving it a R116bn market capitalisation. The company has gained 251% in the past year, putting it a distant third behind the 394% and 375% gains made by Sibanye Gold and Harmony Gold, respectively, in the same time.

Source: Business Day
One of the most contentious issues in the South African mining industry took the spotlight again on Monday night, 15 August, when AngloGold Ashanti CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan called for a more considered approach to government-ordered safety stoppages that cost the company 44,000oz of gold in the first half of the year.

Venkatakrishnan said AngloGold could no longer forecast with accuracy its annual production from SA, which accounts for about a quarter of the company's total output, because of the implementation of safety stoppages by the Department of Mineral Resources through section 54 notices that demand a halt to a mine's entire operations to address safety concerns.

There has been a marked escalation in the cost of safety stoppages for the mining industry, according to a Chamber of Mines document. The total revenue loss amounted to R13.65bn between 2012 and 2015, with the loss in 2015 estimated at R4.8bn, up from R2.6bn in 2012, the document showed.

Platinum producers have spoken of a threefold increase in the number of stoppages ordered in 2016. The chamber is due to meet department officials in coming weeks to discuss the increase in safety stoppages.

AngloGold's lost production of 44,000oz at a time of a high rand gold price was about R834m in forfeited revenue in the first six months of the year.

While acknowledging safety stoppages were warranted in the case of fatal or serious accidents or of safety violations, it was the broad scope of the reasons behind the stoppages of entire mines that was causing concern for AngloGold, Venkatakrishnan said during an interim results presentation to analysts.

"We've seen an increase in the number of section 54 stoppages that don't necessarily arise out of a fatality or highfrequency, high-potential incidents. They come out of mass audits and routine inspections " a marked increase."

The department said companies such as AngloGold had the right to appeal against stoppages through a clause in the Mine Health and Safety Act, but the company had failed to do so.

"It's unfortunate that AngloGold Ashanti has chosen to engage with the department on this critical matter through the media. The rightholder is aware of all the channels to follow should they experience challenges in implementing laws and regulations meant to safeguard the health and safety of employees in the sector," the department's spokesman, Martin Madlala, said.

The fatality rate at South African mines fell to 77 in 2015, from 84 in 2014. So far 42 people have been killed in the first half of 2016.

Chris Sheppard, head of South African mines, said AngloGold had been served 77 section 54 notices by the end of July, with just six related to accidents. "Are they justified and related to safety? Categorically yes. We've no problem with section 54s, but the manner in which they're applied. It can take two to three weeks to ramp up from zero to plus 90% of production volume and that's debilitating for any business."

Source: Business Day
In the 1980s and 1990s, the term "artificial intelligence" became synonymous with The Terminator movies. And it was a bleak look at technology, too - capped off by a future where humankind struggled to survive after Skynet went rogue. Today's tech startups are a little more optimistic. They argue that AI technology will make life easier and more efficient in any number of industries - including agriculture. And "the future" may arrive sooner than you might think. Here are two recent examples of companies already making AI inroads in farming.

The first, Prospera, recently announced it had raised another $7 million in funding for its work surrounding in-field cameras and weather sensors. CEO Daniel Koppel says the agriculture industry is a great candidate for applying what he calls "pragmatic AI." "Recent breakthroughs have made it possible for us to develop field-analytics solutions that predict and improve performance in a new and revolutionary way," he says.

Using computer science and machine learning, the Israeli company says it can detect pests and diseases, optimize water and nutrients, predict and monitor yields, and analyze plant development.

Meanwhile, in tech-dense Silicon Valley, another ag startup is focused on AI and robotics to deliver an automated harvest to apple orchards. The company, Abundant Robotics, has built a prototype that is able to detect and pluck apples, according to CEO Dan Steere.

Our goal is to deliver robotic systems to ease the hardest jobs in agriculture, he says. The first automated apple-harvesting system that doesnt bruise or damage the produce will be a huge breakthrough in an industry that has been dependent on the challenges of seasonal labor.

Will robots displace farming jobs? Futurist Jack Uldrich says AI and other potentially disruptive ag technologies could create a bit of a paradox on the farm.

Read the full article on Agri Africa.
While smart cities have held a great deal of promise for many years, they are only beginning to come to fruition now. This is due to the fact that we now have the network connectivity and the backend storage and compute infrastructure to unleash their full potential. This bodes well for municipalities and governments and is equally good news for citizens, whose working and day-to-day lives alike are made easier by connected cities.

Not only are certain aspects of smart cities already a reality, but collaborative cities, in which independent developers and citizens work together creating apps and sharing information, could hold the key to more successful and efficient cities in the future.

The cloud is critical

Essential to enabling both smart cities and collaborative cities is a robust cloud backend. Put plainly, utilising the cloud makes implementing a smart city possible. This is particularly important as cities would likely generate petabytes of data in a month.

All this information needs to be securely stored and the scalability of a cloud solution mitigates having to constantly upgrade storage capacity to cater for the continuous influx of data. Just as important is cloud analytics, which can analyse myriad datasets, in near real-time, on a citys environment in order to enhance living conditions for its citizens.

A prime example of this can be found in the City of Chicago, which is one of the first to implement sensors throughout the city that permanently measure air quality, light intensity, sound volume, heat, precipitation, wind and traffic. The data from these sensors stream into the cloud where it is analysed to find ways to improve the life of its citizens. Collected datasets from Chicagos Array of Things are then made publically available on the cloud for researchers, developers and entrepreneurs to find innovative ways to analyse the data.

For those municipalities aiming to explore smart city implementation, a typical Internet of Things (IoT) enabled smart city scenario entails deploying numerous connected sensors and probes throughout the area to gather information. The problem with this approach is that it can require substantial investment in dedicated sensors. Instead, governments should be encouraged to consider using other alternatives, which can be leveraged to bring any city to life.

Parking made sensible

One such alternative would be to leverage existing sensors cities may already have at their disposal. An example of how this could work is smart parking, in which people can use a mobile app to view available parking spots nearby when navigating a city. However, the same result could also be achieved by using existing video cameras within a city.

As indicated by startup Park Smart it is entirely possible for a city to garner parking information based on analysis of video camera footage, and use this to determine whether there are parking spots that are occupied. Those bays are then displayed on a map, with occupied spots highlighted in red, and available spaces shown in blue. Users can access this information via a mobile app, enabling them to determine at any given time where in the city there is parking availability.

Information from everywhere

Another way to leverage existing infrastructure is by attaching a low cost, low power sensor to a bus or streetlight, for example, effectively turning it into an information gathering device in its own right. For example, in a large city like London, sensor equipped buses could gather data as they traverse the city on information such as traffic movement, CO2 levels, temperature and sound. With cloud analytics, this information can then be extrapolated and analysed to determine where traffic jams or accidents may be present or where pollution levels are rising to unsafe levels and citizens can be kept informed via a mobile app. People often talk about cities being living, breathing entities and this would effectively be like giving a city a real-time MRI scan.

South Africas vibrant taxi industry, which transports in excess of 15-million commuters a day, could be used in a similar fashion, gathering information about traffic flows, and other data, during particular times during the day and specific days during a week.

Innovation outsourced

Attaching sensors is not the only way to use the cloud to foster a smarter, collaborative city, it can also be achieved by publishing open datasets. Returning to our example of Chicago, the city publishes an Excel spreadsheet with the date, description and GPS coordinates of streets that are scheduled to be cleaned. In Chicago, cars parked on the street in question would be towed and their owners fined. With this in mind, independent developers use the dataset to create an app that allowed users to view when a specific street will be cleaned and receive an email alert should they live or work in the area.

One of the major advantages of sharing datasets is that it empowers individual developers or small businesses to design their own apps, which can either be sold for a small fee, or earn their creators revenue by supporting it with advertising. This then fuels an app ecosystem, which fosters continuous innovation. Already we are seeing examples of this outsourcing of innovation taking root.

A case in point is Peterborough City Council in the UK. The city council has installed weather stations in schools across the city. The sensors are simultaneously used to monitor meteorological and climate activity. The data sourced from these installations can be used at all levels of education and across subjects, from science to technology to social behaviour studies augmenting the curriculum in local schools and making learning near real-time.

The council also found that open sourcing the data from these weather stations, and enabling developers to leverage it, helped address their shortage of dedicated developers they had in-house. Sharing datasets in this manner also holds interesting potential. For example, by sharing datasets for weather stations and hospital admittances, a city could determine whether a temperature drop below a certain point correlated with increased hospital admissions during a particular time of year, and take precautionary measures.

Cloud advantages

A true smart city is a collaborative one which not only has sensors that are accumulating data, but also features engaged citizens who are aiding in the collection of data in order to add to a system that benefits others.

Clearly, smart cities and cloud technology are a natural fit; while the former is ever changing, and adapting to its citizens needs, the cloud is able to quickly adapt to the evolving needs of its users.

Governments and municipalities should not only think of smart cities in terms of deploying probes and sensors in order to capture information. Rather, they should pay attention to how existing infrastructure can be retooled to aid in gathering data.

Cities should also consider citizens not just as collectors of information but creators of applications themselves using open datasets. Then the information provided can be analysed using secure cloud technologies such as Amazon Web Services. This not only benefits a city, it also fulfills the promise that smart cities bring, enabling citizens to enjoy higher standards of living.
Crowdfunding is shaking up the financing industry in many places across the world, offering an intriguing and innovative option for prospective property investors. This could be South Africa's future, providing an appropriate regulatory environment is put in place.

Globally, crowdfunding is estimated by Massolution, a US-based consultancy specialising crowd solutions, to have been worth some $34bn in 2015. Crowdfunding for real estate stood at $2.5bn.

Financing property through crowdfunding, through sites such as The House Crowd or Crowd a House in the UK, has not made notable inroads in South Africa as yet. It faces numerous obstacles, but South Africans have used crowdfunding adeptly to raise funds for charity and for business finance. The country also has a tradition of cooperative, trust-based savings schemes, in the form of stokvels and burial societies.

No specific prohibitions

There appear to be no specific prohibitions on crowdfunding property purchases in South Africa. At present, however, South Africa lacks a dedicated regulatory system for crowdfunding. Legal and industry commentators argue that crowdfunding schemes and their participants are governed by a spread of commercial legislation. South African law places a high premium on the rights of consumers, and crowdfunding projects would need to operate with this in mind.

The type of crowdfunding scheme envisaged  raising funds as donations, as loans, or as equity, and whether the recipient is an individual or a company  would impact on what laws might apply.

For example, in a recent contribution, Kevin Allen of Wealth Migrate points out that equity-based crowdfunding would be subject to such legislation as the Consumer Protection Act and the Protection of Personal Information Act. Since crowdfunding has also shown itself able to draw funds from across borders, regulatory issues on cross border capital movement could come into play  both in South Africa and in investors home countries.

Other legislation with an impact includes the Companies Act, the National Credit Act, the Banks Act and the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act. Frequent changes in South Africas regulatory environment have been a long-standing grievance for businesspeople. The same might prove to be true of crowdfunders.

Lending thresholds

Concerns have been expressed that changes to lending thresholds in terms of the National Credit Act would require prospective crowdfunding lenders to register with the National Credit Provider.

Potential crowdfunders thus risk landing on the wrong side of laws that were not designed to deal with the business.

But crowdfunding holds significant potential to bring small-scale investors into the property game. This could be quite revolutionary, helping to broaden South Africas asset base. For this to happen, we urgently need a simple, dedicated legal and regulatory framework that both encourages crowdfunding, and protects against its abuse.
Telkom, the fixed-line operator in which the government owns 39%, has joined the opposition to the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) broadband auction, saying it is considering legal action to stop the process.

In July, Icasa issued an invitation for applications for spectrum licences needed for the roll-out of highspeed mobile networks.

The process has been strongly criticised by small telecoms operators, and is being challenged by Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Siyabonga Cwele, who has filed a court application for an interdict to stop the process and for it to be declared irrational and unlawful.

Cwele claims Icasa acted in contravention of state policy by opening the process just as the government was poised to set policy prescribing another process entirely. He has also said the regulator had failed to assess how competition within the mobile broadband market could be promoted through the licensing of spectrum.

Telkom spokeswoman Jacqui O'Sullivan said on Tuesday the company had "some fundamentally different views about the approach Icasa has adopted on the matter of spectrum."

"We are currently considering the legal merits of Icasa's approach and are exploring our own potential legal action with regard to the Icasa process."

The regulator has indicated its intention to oppose Cwele's case.

The case will halt the release of further spectrum for broadband services, seen as an important part of encouraging economic growth.

Icasa plans to auction the spectrum, which is bundled in four packages, for a minimum of R3bn each, with plans to complete the process in the first quarter of 2017. Companies such as Cell C and Smile Communications have accused the regulator of entrenching the big operators and discriminating against new entrants, given the high auction price.

Although Vodacom and MTN have welcomed the licensing process, they are "seeking clarity" on the minimum black equity requirement of 30%.

None of the large operators has black shareholding approaching this level.

The condition could result in the entry of new black investors into the market.

Black Lite Consulting MD Ajay Lalu said all operators had been aware of the 30% black economic empowerment requirement, which was also stipulated in the telecoms sector charter.

"Icasa is absolutely justified in wanting this requirement," he said.

"If telecoms companies want this valuable spectrum, which is a national asset, they have to sell equity to black investors," Lalu said.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge
Hein Pretorius, founder and CEO of Onpro Consulting, says he's not impressed when you use the F-word. "We're a more sophisticated society these days," he says, "and it's high time we stopped using that term."

Hein Pretorius

This specific F-word to is forecasting. According to Pretorius, reliance on forecasting prevents businesses from adopting more powerful approaches to supply chain management. Its a system based on guesswork, regardless of how educated the guess is, he says. Its also the reason so many companies lack the agility they need to compete at a global level.

Update planning approach for better supply chains

Pretorius reports that several advanced systems for efficiently managing the supply chain have arisen over the years, one of the newest being DDMRP  Demand Driven Materials Resource Planning. Im not an evangelist of any one approach, Pretorius admits. But Im a proponent of demand-driven methods because they free companies from rigid forecasting assumptions and empower them to respond to market needs as they occur.

He insists that basing ones output on previous sales and variables like seasonality is archaic in todays connected landscape. The technology exists to determine replenishment in real-time with a high level of confidence. In the demand-based world, each purchase by an end consumer is a pull signal to downstream vendors and manufacturers, with no need for forecasting at all. All it takes to achieve the right level of visibility is sufficient integration.

Wavebreak Media Ltd via 123RF

Think nationally

However, says Pretorius, companies need to lift their game above managing their isolated supply chains. If you aspire to become a force in the global economy, you must consider the supply chain not at a corporate level, but at a national one. That means being open to developing a unified platform by which retail demand can be consolidated and shared with vendors throughout the supply chain. They could then efficiently determine their output based on reality instead of forecasted consumption.

Some companies may see this as problematic because it suggests consolidating their data with that of competitors and possibly exposing their strategies. Nothing could be further from the truth, assures Pretorius. These days, encrypting and anonymising data is a trivial exercise. Companies can easily collaborate to promote efficiency in the national supply chain without jeopardising their competitive advantage.

Develop a new mindset

Pretorius explains that its not a lack of technology that prevents such a system from being developed. Rather, it requires a collaborative mindset, and that means a willingness to work together in a spirit of trust. We need to build a social supply chain, to start integrating systems and sharing information, not just inside our organisations, but across the board.

The fact is, he continues, if we dont look after our effectiveness as a country, it wont be long before our internal supply chains start to suffer. So my warning to South African companies is that its time to wake up to the reality that the days of forecasting and hoping for the best are over.
The creators of H2O who has pioneered the South African dance scene for the past 20 years now brings you Octopia FSTVL (pronounced "festival") which will take place at the well-loved party venue, Wild Waters in Gauteng on 8 October.

Boasting nearly 70 performers and DJs  eight of which are the finest on the international circuit - this electronic music festival with a fresh, future-forward approach to event decor, production, music and expression, creates the perfect paradise for house, hip hop, EDM and trance music lovers.

Paul van Dyk

Grammy Award-winning German DJ and producer, Paul van Dyk is the events main headliner, he will be gracing the 8 Energy System - main stage. This will be his first performance in South Africa since 2012 and one of the first after a life threating accident from which he has just recently recovered.

This main arena will also feature major international acts such as Dutch superstar duo Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano, House heavy weight Ferreck Dawn and Swiss based Psy-trance connoisseur Liquid Soul together with the likes of Armada Music's own South African DJ and producer, Protoculture, as well as local house music powerhouse, F.Eu (DJ Fresh and Euphonik).

The 3 Hearts Project stage

The 3 Hearts Project stage, which is powered by SAs dance floor elite; Truth Nightclub, Electric Circus and Vimo & His Ous, will feature Berlin-based DJ and producer, Oliver Dollar, local house DJ, Ricardo da Costa and Divas on Decks founder, Lady Lea.

Octopus Valley, a stage that is powered by Sunday Funk, is the place to be if you love techno and tech house. Catch the likes of local house maverick, Jazzuelle and Paris' own, Technasia.

The Illusions side stage, powered by Household Funk and the Deep Revival crew, presents artists like local vocal powerhouse, Timo ODV and Dutch deep house DJ, Alex Cruz.

Bass Union stage

Over on the Bass Union stage - which is powered by Lush and Hip Hop and High Tops  commercial house and hip-hop will be the order of the day. Here, your hosts with the most will be DJ Warras and Morgan Beatbox. You can expect to see DJ Switch, Sliqe, PH and more.

Nicci Beach powers the Blame It On The Dance floor stage where you can dance to commercial and deep house cuts courtesy of Bobstar Delux and more after 11pm. Don't miss this after party stage.

Octopia FSTVL promises to be an all-day event to remember. As brothers Paul & Dave Forbes and partner Itsik Bouhbot, owners and promoters of H2O and Octopia FSTVL, comment: We are pushing the boundaries with this event and are putting in a lot of effort to create something new and fresh for the SA dance scene, focusing on decor and production for something never seen before!

Event info:

Date: Saturday, 8 October

Venue: Wild Waters, Boksburg

Starts: 12 pm

Tickets: Early bird general access tickets are R299 while V-VIP tickets are R1,399.

Tickets and package deals are available at octopia.nutickets.co.za

www.octopiafstvl.com

www.facebook.com/Octopia-FSTVL
A delegation of Africa's foremost maritime industry professionals and a distinguished line-up of thought-leaders will be in Durban on 18 October 2016 to recognise, reward and celebrate women who have made great strides in the transport industry across the continent.

According to Stats SA, females comprised only 22% of the transport labour force in 2008. Six years later (2014), they comprised only 20%. African women are significantly under-represented in the transport sector. For example in South Africa there are currently no female ship owners or ship builders and given that only 7-12 % of African engineering students are women, it should not be a surprise that a very small percentage of marine engineers are female.

However, according to the Executive Director, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Ms Catherine Larkin: Women who have succeeded in the industry need to share their story and show others that it is possible. Larkin continues saying that inspite of the limited progress in improving female participation in transport, women can still manage to survive and thrive in the industry. There are many good news stories about women who although facing many challenges, have made it to the top.

According to Awards Director, Ms Athi Myoli, the Women in Transport Awards was created to honour our unsung heroines for their outstanding achievements in Africas transport sector. We will honour executives who have positively contributed to the development of the rail and maritime industry in Africa.

Master Mariner and Ship Surveyor at the port of Durban, Captain Thembela Taboshe believes recognition of effort in any platform has a profound effect in encouraging its people to always do more. Sometimes all one needs is just to know that their hard work and compromise, or maybe their idea- whatever it may be, is recognised and appreciated - the best of luck to all our nominees.

Larkin and Taboshe are both judges for the awards amongst other esteemed representatives from a cross spectrum of industry heavyweights, including the Mauritius Ports Authority, Transnet Freight Rail, Transnet Port Terminals, Namport, Port of Ngqurha and others. The awards are segmented into seven categories to cater for female contribution across the broad spectrum of the transport industry. The final deadline for accepting nominations is 1 September 2016 and nominations can be done online.

Event dates and location:

Co-located with African Port Evolution and African Rail Evolution

Date: 18 October 2016

Location: Durban International Convention Centre

Event website and nomination submissions: www.womenintransport.co.za




On Thursday, 18 August 2016, Biz Takeouts Marketing and Media Radio show host Warren Harding ( @bizwazza ) took a closer at the current state of e-commerce in South Africa with Emerce Commerce ( @EmerceCommerce ), a leading business-to-business partner in delivering world-class e-commerce solutions for the South African retail and e-commerce industry.

We were joined by Matt Roux, chief technical officer for Emerce Commerce. We spoke to Matt about:

 The history of Emerce Commerce  The services offered by the company

 The current state of e-commerce in South Africa

 We discuss the four step check-list for SMEs looking at getting into online retail  We also chat about what the future of e-commerce and Emerce Commerce

Check out Emerce Commerce here: www.emercecommerce.com/.

Emerce Commerce has also launched a fantastic competition in which one business will win the entire build of their online store. It is your last chance to enter so go to http://winastore.emercecommerce.com/ and complete the entry form before Monday 22 August.

Episode 185: Online retail with the CTO of Emerce Commerce.







Date: 18 July 2016 Length: 15:19min File size: 22MB Host: Warren Harding



The news roundup from Bizcommunity:

If you are interested in getting interviewed on Biz Takeouts, or want to suggest a show topic, email Warren Harding (@bizwazza) on moc.ytinummoczib@stuoekatzib.

Bizcommunity.com's Biz Takeouts Marketing & Media Show takes South Africa's biggest online marketing, media and ad industry platform to the airwaves and gives relevant, useful and interesting insights into all aspects of marketing in SA, Africa and beyond. Each week, the show features the movers and the shakers of the industry, current media trends, upcoming events and brand activities.

For more:
After the African Union (AU) launched the continent's Pan-African passport, there has been a lot of mixed reactions on the possible success or flop of the single African permit. The historic move by the AU aims at opening up borders to allow free movement of goods and people among the African countries.

The visa-free travel for all African citizens will provide for the creation of more jobs to the millions of unemployed Africans, especially the youth. In the Sub-Saharan region alone, the unemployment rate increased from 7.3% in 2014 to 7.4% in 2015, according to statistics from the International Labor Organization (ILO). Economists say reducing the unemployment rate will trigger further economic activity and a ripple effect of an increased intra-African trade, thus heightening economic growth in a continent whose economic progress has been termed significant.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa states that with an average rate of growth of 5% per annum since the late 1990s, Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world. AU targets to have all the African governments issue their citizens with the biometric passport by 2018; the choice of the electronic pass is meant to reduce possible fraud attempts.

The unification of Africa

With a United African Anthem already in place, the introduction of the Pan-African passport marks yet another major step towards the unification of Africa. Major progress has already been made towards ridding off all travel barriers within Africa, with countries like Seychelles having completely abolished visa requirements for all African countries.

Others have made impressive progress, with Ghana issuing visas on arrival, Zimbabwe abolishing visa requirements for members of AUs regional trading bloc SADC (Southern African Development Community), and Namibia scraping off requirements of visas for diplomatic and official passport holders from AU member states. Others making headway in opening borders to their African counterparts include Rwanda, Senegal, and Mauritius.

Sub-regionally, East Africa continues to hoist the flag high, as citizens of three East African countries - Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda - share a common East African Tourist Visa. Southern Africa follows closely as an open visa sub-region, with most of its countries abolishing visa restrictions for a large number of the worlds population - Africans included.

Free travel encourages growth in tourism

The tourism industry which UNWTO forecasts will grow to approximately 88 million international arrivals by 2030, is set to massively benefit from the Pan-African passport initiative. This is mostly because free travel will encourage more domestic tourism in Africa. In its report, Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 2016 Africa, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) indicates that the domestic travel spending for Africa generated 62.3% of direct travel and tourism GDP in 2015, compared to 37.7% for visitor exports. Domestic travel spending is expected to grow by 3.8% to USD 80.0bn and rise by 4.5% pa to USD 123.8bn in 2026.

An influx of domestic tourism in the continent means and increase in job creation, with the report further showing that in 2015, the travel and tourism industry in Africa generated approximately nine million jobs directly (3.0% of total employment) and a growth forecast of 0.3% in 2016 (2.9% of total employment). This includes employment by hotels, restaurants, travel agents such as Jumia Travel and airlines, among others. It is predicted that by 2026, the industry will account for about 11.7 million jobs directly, an increase of 2.5% pa over the next decade. This will go a long way in helping achieve one of AUs goals by launching the Pan-African Passport.

Major challenges still need to be tackled

That said, more need to be done to tackle the major challenges likely seen to impede the initiative. Estelle Verdier, the managing director for Jumia Travel East and Southern Africa, points out that lack of proper implementation policies may hinder the success of the single African passport, as is the case in many African projects that fail to see the light of day due to lack of execution frameworks. Besides, resistance by some countries to adopt the passport citing security concerns as it may encourage the unmonitored inflow of migrants and perhaps criminals from one country to another; is a challenge that needs to be addressed.

This follows increased political instability, social unrest, armed conflicts and terror attacks across the continent, by self-acclaimed militant groups such as the Shabaab. It will take a convincing solution for countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Principe, Sao Tome and Equatorial Guinea, to revoke their visa restrictions and adopt the Pan-African Passport. Otherwise, their doors would remain closed to citizens of other African countries who do not hold their passports.

Nevertheless, once again Africa remains under close watch by the rest of the world, as it starts rolling out one of its most historic move as a continent, towards achieving the African Union vision 2063. According to the AU, this new roadmap emphasizes the importance of Pan-Africanism, a sense of unity, self-reliance, integration and solidarity that was a highlight of the 20th century.
Pinterest on Wednesday introduced video ads as it moved to cash in on a growing appetite for videos at the popular online bulletin board.

SAN FRANCISCO - Marketing messages in the form of Promoted Videos paired with posts "pinned" at the social network will be served up in the United States and Britain, according to product manager Mike Bidgoli.

Pinterest has seen a 60 percent increase in videos ranging a gamut of topics from exercise and home improvement to beauty tutorials, Bidgoli said.

Pinterest is following in the footsteps of internet giants such as YouTube and Facebook, which early on tuned into rising interest in online video by tailoring ads to the format.

"While other platforms primarily offer video views, we've coupled Promoted Video with featured Pins below the video," Bidgoli said in a blog post.

More than 100 million people around the world visit Pinterest monthly, according to the San Francisco-based company.

Pinterest in June unveiled new features to facilitate shopping on the site, as the platform pushes to become an e-commerce hub.

The offerings included a virtual shopping bag that users can fill as they cruise bulletin boards.

Pinterest last year dove into e-commerce with "pins" in mobile applications that let people buy items they see on bulletin boards.

Other changes included revamping merchant profiles to make it easier for users to see what is new, on sale or popular.

Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board platform, with users decorating their boards with pictures showcasing interests in a variety of areas, including food, fashion and travel.

Pinterest sees itself as being positioned at the crossroads of social networking and online search, with users consulting it when seeking out products or services.

Instead of coming to Pinterest to see photos of friends, people come with "commercial intent" that puts the site in an ideal position to display native advertising for trips, clothing or other offerings, according to company president Tim Kendall.

Source: AFP
Got a question or tip? Contact us at bizmojoidaho@gmail.com.
Due to no state-owned commuter-boats, the Arakanese people have to face difficulties in their daily activities.

The government stopped the ferry service in the Arakanese coastal areas last year soon after a ship capsized. Since the ship, namely Aung-da-gun-3, sank in the Kyauk Pru Sea coastline, the authority banned the ferry service subsequently along the coastal area, informed Ko Aung Naing hails from Taung-gup.

The sinking of the ferry Aung-da-gun-3 on 13 March 2015 caused the death of 200 lives. There were some passengers still in the missing list. The authority declared that the ship was overweight and hence it sank.

As the government stopped the State-owned ferry services, the private-owned commuter boats replaced the ferry routes. The people complained that the private ferry services claimed more fares from the passengers.

Earlier we used to pay only 1000 Kyat for a ticket to cover a short distance and 5000 Kyat to cover long distances in the government run ferry ships. Now one passenger has to pay 23,500 Kyat for a ticket travelling from Sittwe to Taung-gup and Sittwe to Man-Aung in private ferry ships, said another Arakanese national U Win Shwe.

The residents of several towns like Taungup, Ram-bree, Mray-bon, Man Aung and Kyauk-Pru of Arakan State are still reliant on water ways. Sittwe, the capital of Arakanese State, is well connected with all these towns by water ways.

Arakan State Minister of Electricity, Industry and Transport U Aung Kyaw Zaw informed that the State Government was planning to build three ferry ships with the help of Myanmar Inland Water Corporation.

The Japan government is supposed to give the aid for the project, but the minister could not declare the time it would take for completion.
Significance Of Raksha Bandhan Faith Mysticism oi-Staff

Raksha Bandhan is a festival celebrating the special bond between brother and sister. The significance of Raksha Bandhan can be found in its very name.

Raksha means protection and bandhan means a bond hence it involves a 'bond of protection'. A thread is tied by a sister on her brother's wrist who pledges to protect her from all troubles.

Also Read: Best Gifts For Your Brother On Raksha Bandhan

Reasons behind celebrating Raksha Bandhan are many. There are a number of incidences in history and Indian mythology that show us the celebration of this beautiful bond between brother and sister.

Krishna and Draupadi: One of the very significant incidences that laid the ground for Raksha Bandhan was the special bond shared by Krishna and Draupadi.

When Krishna had hurt his finger Draupadi had torn a strip of her sari and tied to his finger. Her act of kindness stopped the bleeding and filled Krishna with gratitude. He declared Draupadi to be his sister and vowed to protect her life and honour under all conditions.

When Yudhishthir had lost his brothers and Draupadi to the Kauravas Draupadi was insulted in court. Duryodhan ordered the undressing of Draupadi in the court.

This was when Draupadi called upon the Lord to save her honour to which Lord Krishna did complete justice. He had said that he would repay the debt of every strand of string in Draupadi's sari that she had tied on his finger and he did exactly that.

He extended the sari indefinitely. Dushasana got tired of pulling the sari but it would not end thereby protecting Draupadi's self-respect and honour.

Yama and Yamuna: Yama, the Hindu god of death is brother to Yamuna, a river in north India. Yamuna had tied a rakhi on the wrist of Yama and bestowed upon him immortality. Yama was greatly moved by the incident and declared that whoever got a rakhi tied on his wrist will be protected against danger and ill fate.

Goddess Laxmi and Demon King Bali: Another mythological incident depicting the significance of Raksha Bandha revolves around Goddess Laxmi and Demon King Bali.

Bali was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, Goddess Laxmi's husband. Lord Vishnu had taken up the duty to protect Bali's abode. In doing so he had left his abode in Vaikunth. Goddess Laxmi wanted to get him back and hence went to Bali's abode disguised as a woman.

On the occasion of Shravan Poornima she tied a rakhi on Bali's wrist and prayed for his and his family's goodwill and protection. Bali was moved by her gesture and asked her what she desired in return.

Goddess Laxmi revealed herself and asked for the return of Lord Vishnu to Vaikunth to which Bali could not refuse.

Reasons behind celebrating Raksha Bandhan are found in history too.

Rani Karnavati and Emperor Humayun: Rani Karnavati of Chittor realised that her country was at danger of being invaded by Bahadur Shah. To protect Chittor she sought help from the Mughal Emperor Humayun.

Rani Karnavati sent the Emperor a rakhi and asked for help against Bahadur Shah. The Emperor was overcome and immediately set forth to help the Queen. Sadly he did not reach on time and the Queen with thousands other Mewar women committed jowhar.

Later Humayun defeated Bahadur Shah and restored power in Mewar.

India is a land of festivals and each one can be traced back to incidences in history or mythology or both just like the significance of Raksha Bandhan here.

Also Read: Different Varieties Of Rakhi For Your Brother

This day is special in every brother and sister's life and every year it is celebrated with great zeal and happiness.

Raksha Bandhan is a festival celebrating the special bond between brother and sister.

The significance of Raksha Bandhan can be found in its very name. Raksha means protection and bandhan means a bond hence it involves a 'bond of protection'. A thread is tied by a sister on her brother's wrist who pledges to protect her from all troubles.

Reasons behind celebrating Raksha Bandhan are many. There are a number of incidences in history and Indian mythology that show us the celebration of this beautiful bond between brother and sister.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 18, 2016, 8:00 [IST]


The Naval Strike Missile is operational on land and at sea, and can climb and descend according to terrain when it travels over land. Photo: Kongsberg.

LOUISVILLE (BNS): Raytheon Company has received an initial contract to produce Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launchers at its production facility in Louisville.



Kongsberg Defence Systems awarded the initial contract for qualification units. The award follows a July announcement that Raytheon will produce NSM launchers in the US.



The company also plans to perform final assembly, integration and test of the Naval Strike Missile at Raytheon's Tucson, Arizona facility.



"This contract is an important next step in our long-term partnership with Raytheon, and the historic first production contract for NSM in the US," Harald Annestad, Kongsberg Defence Systems president was quoted as saying in the news release.



With a range of more than 100 nautical miles, NSM is a long-range, anti-ship missile that provides superior strike capability against land and sea targets.



"Building NSM launchers at our Louisville facility is an excellent extension of our long-standing relationship with Kongsberg," added Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president.



The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is a long-range, anti-ship missile that provides superior strike capability against land and sea targets with a range of just over 100 nautical miles.



NSM provides excellent penetration capability against enemy air defence systems and has high survivability against modern and future air defence systems. The system can fly at extremely low sea-skimming altitude, and has terrain-following flight capability. It also has an advanced Imaging Infrared Seeker with Autonomous Target Recognition.



NSM is the best over-the-horizon missile for the US Navy's Littoral Combat Ship.


Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/08/2016 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With an accelerating manufacturing sector, steady construction and projected employment growth, the Wheat Citys economic outlook is favourable, according to a recent report from The Conference Board of Canada.

The Mid-Sized Cities Outlook predicts that Brandon will see GDP growth of 2.2 per cent this year, following 2015s temporary slowdown. This report comes at the same time as a Western Investor article ranks the City of Brandon as one of the Top 5 towns for investors on the Prairies.

Its great when you have two totally separate sources saying that despite the downturns in the oil sector, we seem to be holding our own, said Sandy Trudel, the citys director of economic development. Definitely attributing that somewhat to our diversified economy and the benefits that come with that.

The Mid-Sized Cities report explains how the low Canadian dollar, combined with a healthy U.S. economy, are creating a positive result for Brandons manufacturing sector, including the agri-food processing industry.

We expect manufacturing output to grow by 3.3per cent this year, according to the report. The outlook for the citys construction sector is also bright, thanks in part to the provinces plan to spend $5.5billion on infrastructure Manitoba-wide through 2018.

The citys services sector is forecast to remain stable at 1.9per cent this year, and employment is projected to climb by two per cent. Brandons population has grown by an average of 1.1 per cent per year over the past three years, which matches the national average. The trend is expected to continue.

The oil price slump continues to weigh heavily on the economies of Red Deer and Medicine Hat, with both cities on track to see total output shrink for the second consecutive year, Alan Arcand, associate director with The Conference Board of Canadas Centre for Municipal Studies, said in a press release.

On the other hand, Lethbridge, with modest exposure to the oil and gas industry, and Brandon, with a fairly diversified economy, can both expect decent economic growth this year.

Services sector output grew by 1.8 per cent last year in Brandon, outpacing the goods sector for the first time in six years. There were strong gains in non-commercial services, such as health care, education, finance, insurance and real estate.

Unlike many other Canadian cities, the median age of Brandons population is decreasing, according to the report. Brandon is also the only Canadian city with a population under 50,000 with a university, community college, and emergency services college.

This means, output in education services should remain healthy and offset slower gains in health care.

Meanwhile, the Western Investor article, published last month, has Brandon listed along with Martensville, Sask., Moose Jaw, Sask., Lethbridge, Alta. and Lloydminster, on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. The article dates back to November 2015, and offers a glowing report of the Wheat City.

Brandon is centrally situated and robustly diverse, with an economic base that includes more than 2,000 businesses involved in everything from agricultural food processing to farming, manufacturing and the service industry, states the article, written by Frank OBrien.

The article states Brandon is one of the most welcoming cities for immigrants in the West, and is the service and retail centre for some 180,000 people across southwest Manitoba.

Mayor Rick Chrest was pleased to see Brandons positive reviews.

I particularly like the fact that weve got two independent commenters about Brandons economy, so certainly that really makes it stronger in as much as its not just a one-off, he said. Now weve got two credible sources both taking a very good point of view.

Chrest highlighted the citys latest construction permit report. For the month of July, the citys planning department issued a total of 87 permits for various construction projects worth a reported value of approximately $10.15 million  including renovation for a new fitness centre at the Brandon Shoppers Mall and renovations at two Brandon high schools.

To date in 2016, there has been 493 permits issued for various construction projects worth a reported value of approximately $68.5 million.

On the residential side, the number of dwelling units is more than double the number for the same period last year, Chrest said, noting the strongest growth was in the multi-family dwellings. If youre having growth in economic development, youve got to have a place for people to live.

Both Chrest and Trudel hope the positive reviews will help their ongoing efforts in attracting investors, new business and industry to Brandon.

Our job as economic development or the city or the chamber of commerce, is always to be singing the virtues of Brandon, but of course in doing so, theres always somewhat of a perceived bias  because thats our job to do, Trudel said.

But when you get things like this  theyve looked at their own criteria and they have echoed what were saying, so thats really positive messaging on our end.

 jaustin@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @jillianaustin
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/08/2016 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Moving to a new country, newcomers face many challenges that include culture shock, language issues and the daunting task of finding employment and providing for their families both here in Canada but also back home.

Westman Immigrant Services Employment Facilitator, a provincially funded position, assists all newcomers, new Canadian citizens and those on open work permits to secure employment and build employment skills.

This service is provided to our clients in a number of different ways: one-to-one services, group presentations, networking with employers, developing bridging programs through the community college or university, and providing assistance to help them succeed.

The employment program offers a variety of employment services that are geared specifically to newcomers. Among those services provided are resume writing, cover letter, interview skills and job matching.

One of our daily tasks is to keep informed on the local job market and let our clients know when suitable jobs come up. We also assist internationally trained professionals in their quest to have credentials recognized.

Here newcomers are guided to regulatory bodies that will thoroughly assess the applicants previous education degree and provide the appropriate instruction needed for the applicant to eventually become a licensed professional.

Within the Welcome to Brandon program, we have the opportunity to present a Canadian culture workshop where newcomers get a quick look at how to find work in Canada. Furthermore, throughout the year we offer a variety of workshops, including resume development, cover letter, interviews, job search, career planning and Canadian workplace culture.

Our services are not confined to Brandon. Occasionally an invitation has been extended out to us to visit various communities in the Westman region to offer a credential recognition workshop.

Our office keeps in touch with local employers in order to find out what their labour needs are so that we can match clients skills and training with those needs.

We also invite employers to come in and offer presentations for our clients where they provide information about the skills needed at their particular company and language level required to get the job done well, and safely.

Some employers will also offer tips on how to have a successful interview  some of my clients were hired immediately during these presentations. We have worked closely with some employers by providing them a venue to address a large group of newcomers to discuss their employment needs and benefits of working for them.

In some of these sessions we had interpreters come in to ensure that the information was clearly understood and our newcomers could make informed decisions.

Part of our role is to meet with college and university officials to discuss the needs and skills that newcomers bring with them and then have the institutions develop bridging programs that recognize the newcomers previous education and work history and provide further training that will assist the newcomer to be in a better position to continue on in their particular career path.

Part of our mandate at Westman Immigrant Services is to help our clients succeed and we see them doing that every day.

We all know that the diverse richness of our community has flourished and that we are seeing many newcomers now either working in the city or starting and running their own businesses. It is apparent that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well among those that are new to our community.

Every indication is that we will see more new faces in business and employment as time goes by.

 Submitted
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/08/2016 (2264 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At first glance, a proposed declaration to join David Suzukis Blue Dot Movement seemed like a feel-good, innocuous value statement that would be a brief topic at Monday nights Brandon City Council meeting.

Instead, it sparked a lengthy philosophical debate, with several councillors concerned about potential legal ramifications in the future.

We have no idea what it binds us to legally, or what the economic costs may be to the city, said Coun. Jeff Harwood (University). In principle, I like the value statement, its something we certainly all can agree to  and we have  but that one paragraph causes me concern.

Harwood was referring to the Blue Dot Movements ultimate goal of seeing environmental rights enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

According to bluedot.ca, recognition in the charter is the final step in protecting every person in Canadas right to clean air and water, safe food and a stable climate. This ensures that we all benefit from a healthy environment, world-class standards and a say in the decisions that affect our health and well-being.

Coun. Lonnie Patterson (South Centre) brought forward the motion, following a recommendation from the citys environmental committee in June, which encouraged council to join the movement.

The proposed declaration, which was ultimately voted down, stated that all people have the right to breathe clean air; the right to drink clean water; the right to consume safe food; the right to access nature; the right to know about pollutants and contaminants released into the local environment; and the right to participate in the decision-making that will affect the environment.

Patterson pointed out that 142 other municipal governments in Canada have already endorsed it, including The Pas, Prince George, B.C., Thunder Bay, and Toronto, to name a few. More than 102,000 individual Canadians have joined the movement  including 90 in Brandon.

I think the Blue Dot Movement reflects the values that we hold, not only as a city council, but as city staff and as a community, Patterson said.

Coun. Jeff Fawcett (Assiniboine) called joining the movement a slippery slope and pointed out the city already has a strong focus on environmental issues without needing to join the movement.

The city has received accolades for its environmental initiatives and just this week Brandon East Progressive Conservative MLA Len Isleifson appeared before council to congratulate the environmental committee on its efforts.

Throwing rights around loosely, I think is a very dangerous game, Fawcett said.

Coun. Barry Cullen (Victoria) said the general Blue Dot goals are like motherhood and apple pie, but he, too, had concerns about the potential implications down the road.

I already think were doing amazing work, and I dont think we have to apologize at all for not supporting this piece when were leaders in what were doing, Cullen said.

Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Rosser) seemed flabbergasted when he heard his fellow councillors concerns.

I think were overthinking this, he said. This is basically an opportunity for the City of Brandon to get behind a growing movement in Canada  This is us lobbying the federal government to say, Hey, this is something that should be in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The debate continued, with Fawcett saying the declaration was too vague  wondering what the definition of clean air is, providing the example of air in the wide-open spaces of Nunavut versus downtown Toronto.

Desjarlais piped in again, saying it was a silly thing to argue over for half an hour, and expressed concern that Brandon may be the only municipality to vote against it.

When it came time for Mayor Rick Chrest to weigh in, he said it was ironic that a piece of philosophy is what sparked the robust debate.

The thing I find probably refreshing is that this is over a  philosophical statement, it doesnt require any action on the part of council, he said. When it does come time for council to take action on stuff, we are able to chime through those in a fairly unified fashion.

The motion to join the Blue Dot Movement was defeated 7-4. Only Patterson, Desjarlais, Chrest and Coun. Jan Chaboyer (Green Acres) voted in favour.

Certainly Im disappointed it didnt pass, but thats the way it goes sometimes at the council table, Patterson said. But what I take away from the discussion is that there was no debate on whether or not we thought that attending to environmental issues was an important part of what we need to do as a city.

 jaustin@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @jillianaustin
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/08/2016 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

To thrive economically, Manitoba needs young people. Fortunately, our relatively high birth rate  around 1.93 for every 1000 women  combined with favourable immigration trends means that Manitobas population will continue to grow.

However, if the success of a province can be captured by how well it prevents infant deaths, then statistics also tell us that we may be failing our children. For decades, Manitoba has consistently had the highest provincial infant mortality rate in Canada  5.9 for every 1000 live births in Manitoba versus 4.8 for every 1000 live births, nationally.

In public health, infant mortality is often viewed as a marker for a societys development, and Manitoba consistently falls to the bottom.

A report by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy highlights that Manitoba also has one of the highest rates of children being taken into care in the world  an alarming statistic that should signal to all policy makers and politicos that something needs to be done differently.

Poverty, limited education, historical trauma and colonization, to name just a few factors, can be linked to both Manitobas high rates of infant mortality and kids in care and puts children at risk for other negative health and social outcomes.

Clearly this is morally unacceptable  but whats less often discussed is that failing our provinces children also puts Manitoba in economic jeopardy. Unless something is done to turn around both our provinces troublesome rates of infant mortality and the disturbing number of children being taken into custody each year, Manitoba will eventually find itself lagging in economic productivity.

If we, as a province, continue to fail our children, we will quickly see our economic competitive edge dulled.

Fortunately, there are opportunities for change. Manitoba is also producing some of the richest evidence on what could work to turn things around.

A Manitoba study recently published in Pediatrics found that the provinces Healthy Baby Program, which gives low-income mothers a modest income supplement of $81 per month with no strings attached  is associated with several improved birth outcomes. This modest economic boost resulted in fewer low birth weight and premature births  both of which put infants at risk for dying before their first birthday.

Another Manitoba study found that the provinces Families First Home Visiting Program  which offers home visiting support to families with children from pregnancy to school entry, at no cost to the families  is associated with reductions in the number of children being taken into care, hospitalizations for child injury due to maltreatment and improved overall health outcomes.

Both of these programs provide us with a glimpse of what is possible. But we can still do better and we must do better. Unfortunately, these two programs do not reach all pregnant women and families in need. We need to expand these evidence-based programs to reach all families across the province.

Also, while these two programs do much to support families who are living on the margins, they are not able to address all of the numerous and complex challenges  like poverty, historical trauma and colonization  that these families still face. Both the new provincial and federal governments need to work together to implement programs that address such challenges and enact the Calls to Action outlined in the Truth and Reconciliation Report.

As a society, we must strive to ensure that all children have an equal opportunity to have a healthy and successful life.

We are at a critical junction as a province. We have the opportunity to make real changes to support childrens health. Our new government can leave a real and lasting legacy  significantly reducing the infant mortality rate in our province to at least the Canadian average and drastically reducing the number of children taken into care.

In short, our new government is poised to work to ensure that all children have an equal shot at life. By providing families with the right types of support, we can turn our province around and even become a leader in child health outcomes.

Its time Manitoba provided the supports that struggling families need to continue to care for their children. Not only would this be something that previous governments have failed to achieve, but it would result in a healthier workforce that is better able to compete in this global market.

We have the evidence for how we can make a real difference; we just need to start putting that evidence to work.

 Nathan Nickel is an expert with EvidenceNetwork.ca and a research scientist at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. He is also an assistant professor of community health sciences in the Max Rady College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. Michael Moffatt is a pediatrician and a professor in both community health sciences and pediatrics and child health at the University of Manitoba. He was formerly the head of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health and medical director for the Child Health Program of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
22,000 smuggled cigarettes have been seized at Dublin Airport.

The contraband, with an estimated retail value of nearly 12,000, was discovered in the luggage of a passenger arriving in Dublin from Sweden.

The 45-year-old Lithuanian man was arrested, charged, and remanded in custody to appear in court again next Tuesday.

The Revenue has said the smuggled Marlboro Gold cigarettes represent an estimated potential loss to the Exchequer of around 9,000 .
Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae has vowed to shoot any intruder who trespasses on his property, if left with no alternative, writes Juno McEnroe of Read More: the Irish Examiner.

The Kerry TD said it was ridiculous the way the law favoured a criminal in some incidents and he would shoot an intruders legs first.

In an interview with Hot Press magazine, the TD also said he believes that Noahs Ark is fact.

Asked should people be able to protect their properties by shooting intruders, the TD responded: Your home is your castle. When I see what happens to elderly people, when someone comes in and beats them and robs them  yeah, Id have no problem.

Id aim for their legs first. Id immobilise them first, or something like that, if there was no other way of dealing with them. Id have no problem with that. Its ridiculous where the law actually favours the criminal in some of these incidents.

A new law in 2012 allowed homeowners to defend themselves using reasonable force. But Mr Healy-Raes comments are likely to ignite fresh debate.

The Kerry TD also said, following recent reports of a gay culture in Maynooths seminary for trainee priests, members of the Catholic clergy should be allowed to marry.

I feel it would be more natural if they were allowed to get married. The Protestants allow their ministers to marry. I think it would be helpful in the recruitment of priests.

He also said that he was not in favour of abortion or repealing the Eighth Amendment.

He also stood by his recent remarks that God controlled the weather: Everyone is entitled to their view. Im basing my views on facts. The facts are there and history proves it. We had the Ice Age. We had Noahs Ark.

This article first appeared in today's Read More: Irish Examiner.
More than 400,000 (463,447) has been seized by police in the North as part of a drugs investigation.

Detectives arrested two men during an ongoing probe into illegal drugs supply and money laundering.

The suspects, aged 30 and 32, were detained in the Armagh area on Wednesday night after police stopped a lorry on the Portadown Road.

A substantial amount of cash, estimated to be 215,000 and 225,000, was uncovered in a holdall, a backpack and a plastic bag in the lorry's cab.

A subsequent search of a property in Armagh led detectives from the reactive and organised crime branch to seize four high-value watches and other items.

A search of a property in the Sixmilecross area of Tyrone is also taking place. The two suspects are being interviewed at a police station in Belfast.

This is the latest stage in an investigation into illegal drugs supply and money laundering.

Last month, detectives charged four people with a range of offences after seizing vehicles, cash and watches in Armagh.

Detective Inspector Tom McClure said officers remained committed to making the North a hostile environment for those involved in major drug crime.
The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) has confirmed that Pat Hickey has left the Samaritano hospital in Rio and has been accompanied to a police station, writes Shaun Cronin.

Hickey, who temporarily stepped down as president of the OCI yesterday following his arrest, will be questioned in relation to Olympics ticket touting scandal that has rocked Irish sport.
Update 7.55pm:The Lord Mayor of Dublin Brendan Carr has expressed his sincere condolences to the family of Trevor ONeill who was shot dead in Majorca.

Councillor Carr said: On behalf of Dublin City Council and the people of Dublin I extend my deepest sympathies to Trevors family and friends. Trevor was a man who served his community as a hard working employee of Dublin City Council and his death has left all those who serve our city in a state of shock.

The brutal and appalling manner in which his life was taken, while he holidayed with his family in Spain, must mark a watershed in the fight against the scourge of organised criminal violence in our city, which would now seem to even stalk its citizens when they are abroad.

If initial reports are correct and this murder is the result of an ongoing criminal feud that has already resulted in numerous deaths in Dublin it marks a new low in its growing list of atrocities.

In response we must unite together and resolutely stand up to the diabolical puppet masters and their craven henchmen whose actions are bringing such misery.

Update 4.30pm: Dublin City Council have issued a statement in honour of their recently deceased colleague Trevor O'Neill.

The statement said: "The management and staff of Dublin City Council are shocked to hear of the tragic death of Trevor O Neill in Majorca last night.

"Trevor was a hard working and dedicated employee of Dublin City Council.

"On behalf of the management team, city councillors and staff of Dublin City Council, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to Trevors family and friends."

Update 1.40pm: It has been reported that the Irish man, Trevor O'Neill, shot in Majorca was celebrating his birthday with his family.

Trevor was in Majorca with his partner and three children, celebrating his 42nd birthday.

The shooting, which is thought to have been a case of mistaken identity, occurred outside a restaurant in Costa de la Calma.

Media reports state Trevor (pictured) was shot in the back multiple times while celebrating his birthday with family.

Spanish Police are searching for up to three men.

Update 8.35am: Police on the holiday island of Majorca are hunting for an armed gang after murder of an Irish man.

The victim who was in his 30s is thought to be the latest death linked to the violent Kinahan Hutch feud.

However it is feared it could be a case of mistaken identity.

Earlier: An Irish man has been killed in an apparent gangland attack in Majorca.

The victim, thought to be an associate of the Hutch family, was shot in the back last night.

His death brings to eight the number of people killed in the ongoing criminal feud between the rival Kinahan and Hutch families from Dublin.

Police on the Spanish island of Majorca are understood to be hunting a number of possible assailants following the shooting of an Irish man in an area called Costa de la Calma, about 15 miles from the capital Palma.

Local reports say the victim, a man in his thirties, was with members of his family when the shooting happened around 9pm Spanish time.

Attempts to revive the man at the scene failed.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says it is aware of a shooting incident on the Spanish holiday island, and is providing consular assistance.

However they are not releasing any further details at this time.
Commuters in England were given a shock when a ceiling collapsed in a train carriage.

The incident happened on a service operated by embattled rail company Southern between Purley Oaks and South Croydon, south London, at around 8.25am on Thursday.

Passengers were left shaken but avoided injury.

Kate Baxter, who was on board the train, posted photographs on social media which showed a large section of the ceiling on the floor of the carriage.

She wrote: "Southern Rail trains are literally falling apart, right on top of us! Thankfully no-one hurt, just shaken."

A Southern spokesman said: "Reports have been received of a ceiling panel dislodging in one of the carriages on the 7.45am Southern service from Tattenham Corner to Victoria.

"Southern staff at East Croydon station boarded the train to attend to passengers and it was reported at the time that there were no injuries. The cause of this incident is currently unknown and will be investigated fully.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused."

It is the latest problem to hit Southern services in the UK, which have suffered delays and cancellations for months because of a dispute over changes to the role of conductors and staff shortages - blamed by the company on high levels of employee sickness.
Two car bombings targeting police stations in Turkey killed at least six people and injured at least 219 others, officials said.

An attack on a police station in the eastern province of Van late on Wednesday killed a police officer and two civilians. At least 73 other people - 53 civilians and 20 police officers - were wounded, officials said.

Authorities blamed the attack on the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has launched a campaign of car bombings targeting police stations or roadside bomb attacks on police vehicles.

Last week, PKK commander Cemil Bayik threatened increased attacks against police in Turkish cities.

Hours later, another car bombing hit police headquarters in the eastern city of Elazig, killing at least three police office officers and injuring 146 other people, Governor Murat Zorluoglu said. At least 14 of them were in a serious condition.

Mahmut Varol, the deputy mayor of Elazig, told Haber Turk television that the explosion happened in the grounds of the police headquarters early on Thursday and caused cars parked nearby to catch fire.

Video footage showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area. Cars were overturned and the windows of the four-storey building and its wings were blown out.

Fighting between the PKK and Turkey's security forces resumed last year after a fragile peace process collapsed. Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. Human rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also died in the clashes.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict since the PKK took up arms for autonomy in southeast Turkey in 1984. Turkey and its allies consider the PKK a terrorist organisation.
A student who scored 100% in each of her six mathematics exams will study in her home city - after being turned down by Oxford University.

Nuha Tumia, who scooped three A* grades, will start her degree in computer science at the University of Bristol in September.

The 18-year-old, from Whitchurch, Bristol, applied to study the course at Oxford but was rejected following an interview there.

She scored top marks in her core mathematics exam, two further mathematics exams, two statistics exams and decision mathematics.

"I almost dropped further maths at the start of last year," Nuha, who studied at state school St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School in Bristol, said.

"I thought I wasn't good enough - I couldn't be happier today. I was so shocked when I opened the envelope. I always knew I was good at maths but I never really enjoyed it until Sixth Form.

"I applied to Oxford to study computer science and I was rejected after interview. I'm happy to stay in Bristol though, I like Bristol and I'm going to stay at home."

Nuha was celebrating her success with fellow students including Justyna Dombek and Tom Bentley.

Justyna, 18, from Withywood, Bristol, will study medicine at Birmingham University after achieving two A* and one A.

"The exams were horrible this year," she said. "I thought they made them quite difficult but it turns out they didn't go that badly. I'm very happy with my results.

"It's a double celebration for my family tonight because it is my sister's birthday too."

Justyna's sister, Joanna, 20, is studying paramedic science at Birmingham University. Her mother, Maggie, is a nurse.

"I always knew I wanted to become a doctor," she added. "It was either this or nothing."

Tom, 18, from Bishopston, Bristol, will study medicine at Oxford University's Trinity College after scooping three A* grades.

"I'm delighted," he said. "I always hoped I would get the grades but it is a really nice thing to have them.

"I am really grateful to the school for all the help they have given me. It is great to have this opportunity because I never thought I would get it."

St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School had a 99% pass rate and an 80% pass rate at grade C or above.

Six students from the school, in the centre of Bristol, have places at Oxford or Cambridge while five will study medicine.

"Like Team GB in the Olympics it is great to see young people achieving personal bests when it matters and shedding tears of joy and sharing hugs," headteacher Elisabeth Gilpin said.

"We also feel we build on the good teaching that these students have had in their previous schools where they studied GCSEs and we want to pay tribute to the teachers there as well as our own staff."
THE HAGUE: Climate activists glued themselves to Johannes Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' at a Dutch museum on...

SAN FRANCISCO: US tech titans looking to the future are seeing growth take a beating in the face of foreign...
LONDON: OPEC is likely to maintain its view world oil demand will rise for another decade, longer than many other...
LONDON: Rishi Sunak on Tuesday became Britains third prime minister this year and the first person of colour to...
For Pankaj and Radhika Oswal, it was meant to be the "Taj Mahal on the Swan River".

But the building once destined to be their $70 million Perth palace is now a dilapidated eyesore which will be torn down within weeks.

Mrs Oswal wanted the Indian-style mansion in the luxurious suburb of Peppermint Grove to be her "absolute fantasy" home, boasting six bedrooms, a temple, observatory with revolving roof and parking for 17 cars.

However, it has sat unfinished since the Oswals fled Australia in December 2010 when the ANZ bank called in more than $US500 million in loans and appointed receivers to their Burrup fertilisers business.
Nowadays, if you're a smart uni graduate, the tech-startup scene is the hot place to be. But 10 years ago, it seemed like everyone with a brain and big ambitions wanted to go to Wall Street. The worlds of investment banking and trading were a golden ladder to the good life.

The numbers tell the tale as Ivy League schools saw substantial flows of graduates to Wall Street.

Why did so many smart kids go into finance - and why do so many still do so? One fairly obvious reason is that finance pays a lot of money. Maybe that's both cause and effect - talent could be drawn to the sector because of the high salaries, or the salaries could reflect the talent level.

This flow of smart people to finance inevitably spurs talk of a brain drain that leaves other industries begging for skilled workers. Some of this is because Wall Street doesn't really have the greatest reputation among an awful lot of people. Even before the 2008 crash, there was a widespread notion that finance doesn't contribute much to society. "I create nothing. I own," declared Gordon Gekko, the fictional buyout specialist in the 1987 movie "Wall Street." The stereotype is that finance is a parasitical activity, an artifact of a legal system that allows smart people to suck up what economists call rents from the rest of society by shuffling ownership of productive enterprises from person to person.
Australian Netflix users are being urged to delete a scam email that leads to a "very clever" website that can dynamically change as you punch in your details.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority detected the scam this week and immediately issued a warning, saying the email's subject line is: "Netflix Membership On Hold".

"These scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and the phishing websites very much replicate your experience when using the real website," said Bruce Matthews, manager of cybersecurity at the ACMA.
Boosting competition in energy markets while spurring the take-up of more renewable energy is the "delicate balancing act" facing new Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg as he musters state and territory energy ministers for their first joint meeting after the federal elections.

Mr Frydenberg told Fairfax Media he was aiming for "significant reforms" to be set in train at Friday's Council of Australian Government ministers' meeting in Canberra as governments seek to avoid a repeat of South Australia's recent spike in power and gas prices.

"South Australia was a wake-up call," he said. "It does sheet home the need to maintain the reliability of supply for energy security, as well as the affordability."

Among the issues to be discussed at COAG will be the introduction of daily auctions of gas pipeline capacity to increase transparency and competition.
Less than a year after the coal industry was declared to be in terminal decline, the fossil fuel has staged its steepest price rally in over half a decade, making it one of the hottest major commodities.

Cargo prices for Australian thermal coal from its Newcastle terminal, seen as the Asian benchmark, have soared over 35 per cent since mid-June to more than one-year highs of almost $US70 a tonne, pushed by surprise increases in Chinese imports.

Prices for Australian thermal coa have soared over 35 per cent since mid-June, thanks to a surprise rise in Chinese imports. Credit:Robert Rough

"Coal markets, after five years of declining prices, appear to have found a bottom in the first quarter," Sydney-based Whitehaven Coal said on Thursday, as its shares hit a three-year high on the release of its annual results.

"Reasons for the increase in prices include mine closures in Indonesia, United States and Australia and policy change by Chinese authorities," Whitehaven said, adding it was confident that coal prices will rise.
Proposals announced by Education Minister James Merlino to attract more talented teacher education candidates underline the importance of teacher quality to student learning.

We have allowed teaching to become a much less attractive career option for academically successful secondary school students. Allowing the current trend to persist would have a detrimental effect on school students and on education in the long term in Victoria.

Should there be a minimum ATAR for aspiring teachers? Credit:Louie Douvis

Future teachers can apply for undergraduate teacher education programs through two different pathways; through Tertiary Admissions Centres at the state level, or directly to a university.

Most of those applying through a Tertiary Admissions Centre come directly from year 12. From 2005 to 2014 the proportion with an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank above 70 fell from 79 per cent to 59 per cent.
US hunter Josh Bowmar impaled a black bear in Canada with a custom-made spear before leaving the animal to die The bear "died immediately", Bowmar told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the kill was "as humane and ethical as one could get in a hunting situation on big game animals". But critics disagreed, calling the act "barbaric" and "unnecessary". They have called Bowmar and his wife, Sarah, who is also a hunter, "psychos" and "worthless garbage", with one adding: "I hope you die a slow painful death." "This bear did not die a quick and painless death," Help Save the BC Black Bears wrote.

"It ran off after being mortally wounded and Josh decided to wait until the NEXT DAY to track his 'prey.' Disgusting." Bowmar did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday, but the 26-year-old Ohioan said in an email to The Canadian Press that people had been hunting with spears since the "dawn of man". Bowmar was an all-American javelin thrower at Heidelberg University, a Division III liberal arts college in Tiffin, Ohio. "A javelin is pretty much a giant spear," he said recently in a Q&A on his YouTube channel. "I was really good at throwing this javelin, so I naturally transitioned into spear-throwing."

His video-sharing channel is filled with footage showing him on bow hunting adventures with his wife. "I enjoy the challenge of the hunt more than the actual harvest," Bowmar said in the Q&A. "So for me, it's not about going out there and shooting everything I see ... I really like the pursuit, I really like finding an animal and studying that animal and getting as close as possible to be able to kill him. I'm not against gun hunters by any means but, for me, I get so much more from bow hunting than I did from gun hunting." In the Q&A, filmed in a vehicle around the time the bear-spearing footage went live, Bowmar was asked: "How savage are you?" "Well," he replied, "I did kill a bear with a spear on the ground. I guess that makes me pretty savage, right?"

His wife quipped, "You're pretty savage. I would say you're like a 9.5 on a scale of 10." He responded: "If I would have killed it with my bare hands, I think I would have been pure savage." The spear is thought to date back 20,000 to 25,000 years, according to a 2006 article in National Geographic. It was relied on heavily by Native Americans, who used spears for hunting and during war, according to the American Indian Heritage Foundation. "As long ago as 10,000 years ago, archaeologists believe that the earliest Native Americans inhabitants, known as Paleo-Indians, used very primitively made spears to hunt animals such as mammoths, mastodons, bison, and smaller animals," the foundation said. "They would chip away a large rock to make a spearpoint as sharp as a razor. Soon, they developed a new tool called an atlatl. This tool helped them launch spears very quickly and with great force, so they could kill the animals while still at a safe distance."

Bowmar told the Edmonton Journal that he never wastes the animals he hunts and kills. "In fact, it is even against the law to waste the animal's hide," he said in a statement to the newspaper. "We also eat the meat from our harvested animals including bear. On top of tasting amazing, it's extremely nutritious for our bodies." In Alberta, bear baiting - using food scraps to attract the animals, then hunting and killing them - is legal in some areas. So is spear hunting. But after Bowmar's video went viral, Alberta's Ministry of Environment and Parks said it was in the process of revising its hunting regulations.

"The type of archaic hunting seen in the recently posted video of a hunter spearing a black bear, allegedly in Alberta, is unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement to The Washington Post on Tuesday' adding: "We will introduce a ban on spear hunting this [autumn] as part of those updated regulations. "In the meantime, we have asked Fish and Wildlife officers to investigate this incident to determine if charges are warranted under existing laws." Alberta Fish and Game Association president Wayne Lowry told the Edmonton Journal that because spear hunting was so uncommon, "it's never really had to be dealt with in the legislation, but knowing that it is being done in other countries and other jurisdictions, we figured it would show up here sooner or later." He said weapons such as bows or firearms could lead to a speedier death to ensure the animals did not suffer needlessly. Loading
Why won't the media give Peter Dutton a break?

First there was the boom microphone that picked up his remarks about Pacific Islands being swamped by rising seas and a meeting running on "Cape York time". They were "light-hearted" comments made in a "private conversation", but if anyone was offended he was sorry.

Then there was the text message he inadvertently sent to a News Corp journalist describing her as a "mad f---ing witch." He apologised for the "robust language".

Then a Fairfax reporter tweeted a rather spooky photo of Dutton encased in shadow at a press conference. His team asked that the "unflattering" photo be deleted.
Ten Muslim women wearing burqinis to the beach have been apprehended by police in the southern French city of Cannes in the three weeks since it imposed a temporary ban on the full body swimsuit, a local official said.

Arguing that the burqini defies French laws on secularism, Cannes is one of three cities in France to have banned the garment amid tensions after an Islamist militant attack in nearby Nice killed 85 people on Bastille Day on July 14.

Nissrine Samali, 20, gets into the sea fully clothed in Marseille, southern France. The Cote d'Azur city of Cannes has banned full-body swimsuits dubbed 'burqinis'. Credit:AP

The moves have sparked an intense public debate, with Muslim groups calling them unconstitutional, divisive and Islamophobic. The Conseil d'Etat, France's highest administrative court, will rule on the legality of the burqini bans in coming days.
Everyone has a unique typing style  but cheaters type differently.

With this in mind, a Melbourne start-up has created anti-plagiarism software which is being trialled at four major Australian universities.

Herk Kailis, the co-founder of Cadmus. Credit:Jason South

It's called Cadmus and it tracks students as they complete assignments.

Some people's fingers linger on keys for longer, while others hover above the keyboard for shorter periods of time. Poor touch-typists might make the same error over and over again.
Hundreds of new train carriages for NSW's intercity fleet will be built in South Korea after the Baird government awarded a $2.3 billion contract to a UGL-led consortium, dashing hopes that they would be assembled in Wollongong.

The first of the 512 double-deck train carriages to be rolled off the assembly line in South Korea will begin services to Newcastle, the Central Coast, Illawarra and the Blue Mountains in 2019.

The deal is the biggest train contract since the state government awarded the troubled Waratah project to a Downer EDI-led consortium almost a decade ago to build carriages in China.

Downer is one of three bidding consortiums to have lost out to UGL Rail, an Australian engineering firm which will have a 15-year contract to maintain the new carriages at Kangy Angy on the central coast.
A man has been charged with attempted murder after a daylight stabbing in Tamworth that left another man fighting for life in hospital.

Police were called to the scene following multiple triple zero calls reporting a man being attacked in the street.

Police were on the scene within minutes of receiving several triple zero calls. Credit:Gareth Gardner

The man was allegedly stabbed more than 20 times, the Northern Daily Leader reported.

Officers locked down the area, arresting a 32-year-old man nearby. A 38-year-old man was taken to Tamworth Hospital with multiple stab wounds.
A man has been taken to hospital after his car went through a park and crashed into Sydney Harbour on Thursday afternoon.

Paramedics were called to Pirrama Park at Pyrmont, near the end of Harris Street, shortly before 3pm.

The car plunged into the water near the end of Harris Street in Pyrmont. Credit:Kate Geraghty

They found the car dangling from a walkway with its bonnet submerged in the water.

The man behind the wheel, whose age is unknown, was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
A British family is searching for a live-in Australian nanny to help look after their two children in an all-expenses-paid two-year job in New York.

The family is moving to the Big Apple and is looking for an Australian to fill the shoes of the previous nanny, who is staying on in the United Kingdom.

A British family looking for their own "Australian Mary Poppins".

Brisbane-based company My Minder have been tasked with the search for an "Australian Mary Poppins" who would be willing to start before the school year begins in September.

My Minder director Brianna Bright said the two children, a four-year-old boy and two-year-old girl, had grown up with Australian nannies and the family was hoping for that to continue.
Special thank you to every single one of my Brisbane Times colleagues, especially Danielle Cronin, for putting up with the madness and the members of the Queensland Media Gallery.

I have been honoured to work alongside. You may not agree with them, but never doubt their dedication. Steven Wardill, Sarah Vogler, Melinda Howells, Nick Wiggins, Jason Tin Chris O'Brien, Gail Burke, Michael McKenna, Mark Ludlow Sarah Elks, Katrina Blowers, Shane Doherty, Robyn Ironside, Kelmany Fraser, Patrick Condren,Tegan George, Cathy Border, Marty Silk, George Roberts, Nathan Paull, Jamie McKinnell, Geoff Breusch, Rae Wilson, Geoff Egan, and Brooke Wiley are some of the finest people I have ever had the honour of working alongside. And while we are all as competitive as hell, I couldn't have done this round without you.

And of course the MPs, past and present - thank you for being such great sports, for every single one of our "debates" and for the laughs when the dust settled.

But as I sign off from Hey, QT for the final time, please indulge me a moment longer for a special, heartfelt thank you to every single one of you who came along on this ride. Hundreds of thousands of you have joined us over the life of the blog and I want to extend a special thank you and express my gratitude to every single one of you - even those who didn't find the humour to their liking.

You have all made it a much more enjoyable day at work and, I hope, become a little more engaged with your parliament. Which was the point. This system of ours isn't perfect, but we're yet to come up with something better. And these people, they work for you. Never was this made more clear than the Newman Government years, where the mood of the people - the level of engagement in their parliament - saw a historic message sent. And I can tell you that both sides of the House still heed that message. As they should. I hope you keep reminding them. I hope you keep poking fun when they are being ridiculous and get angry when they don't listen. But mostly, I hope you stay in engaged.

You are the front line and the full stop to our democracy. It has been an honour, and a privilege to be your correspondent for part of it.
Labor's vegetation management legislation is dead.

Key independent Billy Gordon, who had given his support to the government, leaving Speaker Peter Wellington facing a difficult decision with the casting vote, has withdrawn his support.

The failure to pass its vegetation management laws is the Palaszczuk government's first legislative setback since it won office. Credit:Angela Wylie

In a statement released in the midst of the debate, Mr Gordon announced he did not believe the legislation achieved the balance he believed it needed to work.

"After months of consultation with a variety of people, groups and organisations around my electorate, and those adjacent to the Cook electorate, I am of the firm view that the proposed vegetation management reforms don't strike the necessary balance between Indigenous economic development, protecting the environment and supporting our farmers," he said.
The Queensland teenager charged over the hoax calls that sent a Cairns primary school into lockdown on Monday, has been charged over a similar incident at a school last week.

Police allege the 17-year-old boy made two calls to the school in Gordonvale, south of Cairns, just after midday on August 11, telling them explosive devices were on the school grounds.

Police say a 17-year-old made hoax bomb threats to two Cairns schools. Credit:Glenn Hunt

The school was declared safe after an extensive search and following an interview with the teenager on Wednesday, he was charged with two counts of falsely stating the presence of an explosive device.

He was also charged on Tuesday after making phone calls threatening to attack Balaclava State School on Monday.
On the plus side, we did get top scores for our temperature, which averages a maximum 19.9 degrees throughout the year. Funnily enough, sunny Brisbane and Sydney got marked down for being too humid. "We argue that higher temperature and high humidity reduce the comfort of life," explained The Economist Intelligence Unit's chief economist Simon Baptist. Well he said it, not us. Crime Police at the scene after a second carjacking in Malvern within 24 hours. Credit:Twitter/ABC News Victoria's crime rate has been rising steadily for a while now  it's up 10.3 per cent in the past year. The engine room has been theft, delivering Melbourne a "tolerable" rating for petty crime in the liveability survey. However, crimes against the person have also spiked, with assaults up 9.5 per cent. And while you're still unlikely to be murdered in Melbourne, a spate of brazen car jackings and aggravated burglaries has left sections of the community concerned violent crime could get much worse. For reasons of adequate comparison with other cities, The Economist used outdated 2013/14 crime figures in its latest report. The statistics have since worsened. This begs the question: Is Melbourne's liveability reign nearing its end? Education

Lara is just 13-years-old. Melbourne's education system gets an A+ from The Economist, with an "ideal" rating of 100/100. But according to other measures the performance of Australian schools has been slipping. In the most recent Program for International Student Assessment tests, which compares the academic performance of OECD countries, Australia is ranked 14th, behind Poland (11th), Vietnam (12th) and Germany (13th). The most recent NAPLAN results showed Victoria outranked all other states on writing and numeracy across all year levels, however, NSW was stronger in spelling, outranking most other states in grade 3 and 5 and year 7 and 9. Victoria ranked second in most year levels in reading, trailing the ACT. Culture Still Here, at White Night projection preview at the National Gallery of Victoria. Photograph Paul Jeffers The Age NEWS 19 Feb 2016 Credit:Paul Jeffers

It comes as quite a shock to find that Melbourne was rated just "tolerable" by the liveability survey in recreation and culture. Sure, some of our hundreds of annual cultural events have lost ground to their interstate competition (Sydney Writers' Festival and VividLive!, for example). But other Melbourne institutions such as the National Gallery of Victoria and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival punch well above their weight. That's not to say we can't do better: while the renovated Hamer Hall's interior is a stunner, the Arts Centre spire doesn't inspire quite the same affection as our northern neighbours' internationally recognised architectural icon, the Sydney Opera House.Yet one piece of empirical evidence The Economist cannot argue with is the numbers. Survey after survey has found the arts engage more people in Australia than our city's most ardently followed religion: sport. Health The state government's WA Meth Strategy will see 60 extra treatment beds open in January 2017 Credit:Louise Kennerly

The Economist gave us full marks for healthcare and we agree Victoria's health system has long been one of the best in the world. The geographic dimensions of the state mean most people live close to a range of public and private health services, and Victorians generally face shorter waits for hospital care than people in NSW, the most similar state for comparison. However, population growth in some parts of Victoria is putting serious stress on the public system, undermining access and quality of care for some people. The federal government's commitment to rein in health spending may also cause more people to pay for GP services from now on. This price hike could mark all Australian cities down in future when it comes to international comparisons. Housing and transport 'Market has lost its energy': Sydney enters spring with a whimper Credit:Erin Jonasson

The Economist doesn't consider housing affordability in their matrix, which comes as little surprise when you know the survey is designed to help companies to decide how much to pay executives deployed overseas. But it's becoming a growing problem for ordinary Melburnians. Just 6.4 per cent of rental properties in the city are considered affordable to low-income earners. Meanwhile, a recent Ernst & Young survey found that almost 40 per cent of Melbourne residents believed housing was not affordable in the city (compared with 56 per cent in Sydney). Growing numbers of people sleeping rough in Melbourne's CBD streets and parks underscore the fact the city is not a "liveable" place for all of its citizens. When it comes to other Australian cities, Melbourne has comparatively good transport infrastructure but investment has not kept up with booming population, leading to more crowded trains and congested roads. How do we compare to our old foe Sydney? At dawn on Tuesday 21st June, in Sydney, to celebrate World Yoga Day, BridgeClimb and The Hindu Council of Australia collaborated in hosting the world first Yoga event at the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Two certified Yoga teachers, from Isha Foundation and The Art of Living School of Yoga, led twelve enthusiastic participants through a series of yogic practices, 134 metres above the sparkling harbour, with the Opera House silhouetted by the rising sun. Photo: Bridgeclimb Credit:Bridgeclimb
A friendship with a homeless man has led a Melbourne IT consultant to start a social enterprise selling hoodies and T-shirts that reproduce the city's famous street art.

Ben Hoban could easily have cashed in on the pieces that have become famous tourist attractions in byways such as Hosier Lane.

Social entrepreneur Ben Hoban wears a hoodie with a print of actual artwork of a sea dragon by artist Facter on the wall of Flinders Court, a laneway between Flinders Lane and Flinders Street. Credit:Simon Schluter

Instead he will not get a cent from Hosier Hoodies, with proceeds going to the homeless who so often sleep under the wall art.

Mr Hoban, 41, says he was moved to act after "working in the city in the last two years and seeing the increase in the homelessness everywhere in Melbourne, and wondering what I could do about it".
An 18-year-old man has been charged with child stealing and another is on the run after a five-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped in a carjacking in Melbourne's south-west.

The girl was sitting in the back seat of a BMW at a property in Wyndham Vale about 6.30am on Thursday when it was stolen by two men.

A second man who fled the scene is still being hunted by police.

The girl's distraught father hugged his child in relief on Thursday morning as police reunited them.
Anti-family violence campaigner Rosie Batty has questioned the removal of the Minister for Women from her lead role in Victoria's fight against domestic abuse.

Fiona Richardson, the Minister for Woman and for the Prevention of Family Violence, resigned from chairing a committee which was implementing reform in the domestic violence sector because she would not be leading the government's response to recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Family Violence.

Premier Daniel Andrews' close ally, Special Minister of State Gavin Jennings, will lead the response through the new Social Services Taskforce, which the committee Ms Richardson had chaired will report to.

The decision, and Ms Richardson's response to it, has raised questions about whether the Premier is deliberately sidelining strong women, with the opposition accusing him of bullying the minister.
Two people are dead and three injured after two separate crashes that occurred within an hour in Victoria's north-west.

The fatal crashes occurred about 50 kilometres apart on Thursday afternoon.

The scene of the second fatal crash near Horsham. Credit:Paul Carracher, Wimmera Mail-Times

A truck driver was trapped in his rig for more than two hours, after it collided head-on with a truck on the Wimmera Highway at Marnoo East shortly after 1.30pm.

"It is believed the truck was travelling west when the oncoming car has veered onto the wrong side of the road and the two vehicles have collided," a police spokesman said.
A Perth woman has issued a warning to parents after the explosion of her brand-name baby monitor.

Georgia Chester said her partner was about to put their child to bed when they heard a "bang".

The monitor appears to have split in two. Credit:Georgia Chester

"He went to her room, and found it filled with smoke," she said.

The camera appeared to have exploded, and it had split in two.
Edinburgh: An Australian family battling to stay in the UK expect to meet lawyers next week about a job offer they hope will enable them to avoid deportation.

Gregg and Kathryn Brain need to find a job which satisfies Home Office visa requirements so they can remain in the UK.

They were due to meet lawyers in Glasgow on Thursday but said on Wednesday night a "hiccup with paperwork" means the meeting has been delayed.

Mr Brain said: "We're still making progress forward and a prospective employer is still keen to get this resolved."
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Want the top crime stories from Bristol? Sign up for our new email updates on Crime & Punishment

A failed asylum seeker and convicted sex offender tried to abduct a child from a Bristol supermarket and threatened to "kill every British person he saw".

Amin Husseine was moved from an immigration detention centre and ordered to reside at Home Office accommodation in the city.

Just ten days after his arrival he tried to take a 10-year-old girl from the Tesco store in Eastgate, Bristol Crown Court heard.

When the little girl told him she was not allowed to go with strangers he snarled "Just come", she screamed, and though he tried to grab her she was rescued by her mum and sister.

Husseine, 35, of Shamrock Road, Eastville, pleaded guilty to attempted child abduction and theft in March.

Judge Euan Ambrose jailed him for two-and-a-half years.

He handed Husseine an indefinite restraining order banning him Bristol and banning him from all contact with the victim, her mum and sister or youngsters aged under 16

The judge told Husseine: "The obvious inference to be drawn from what you said at the time is that your motive was either sexual or violent.

"It matters not from a sentencing point of view.

"Each is deeply abhorrent. No other motive has been put forward."

The child's mum told the Bristol Post that following the ordeal she and her family are re-locating in the city.

She said: "It was terrifying, I wish the sentence was more.

"She doesn't want to be around there no more.

"We have always told her about not going off with strangers. She is a star."

The court heard Somali national Husseine has been in the UK since 2009.

Though his application for asylum was refused all attempts to deport have failed as Somalia does not accept forcibly deported people, the court heard.

While in the UK Husseine amounted 10 criminal convictions for 20 offences, including three sexual assaults.

The court heard he sexually assaulted people in a hospital and bowling alley as well as sexually assaulting a child aged under 13, for which he was jailed for 10 months.

Ian Fenny, prosecuting, said in February Husseine was released from an immigration detention centre and sent to Bristol.

Just ten days later he stole alcohol from the Tesco store in Eastgate before returning and trying to snatch the girl.

He approached her as she looked at shoes, telling her to put the shoes back and come with him.

When she told him she couldn't he demanded "Just come" but she screamed and her mum and sister intervened.

He told shop security staff: "When I get back to Somalia I will kill every British person I see and come back and abduct another child."

Lee Mott, defending, said alcohol played a part in his client's offending and he accepted it had been his fault.

Husseine maintained his motive for trying to take the girl was not sexual and he would not harm a child.

Mr Mott said Husseine had worked to address alcohol issues in custody and wanted to make something of his life.
Phillies complete comeback with 10th inning HR to win Game 1 of World Series

Philadelphias catcher hit a go-ahead solo home run in the top of the 10th after his team had rallied out of an early 5-0 deficit.
American Gothics The Oxbow shows the aftermath of Garretts arrest and explains what hed been doing in the woods all those years. So is Garrett really the Silver Bells Killers accomplice?

Is Garrett Really The Accomplice?

American Gothics The Oxbow starts with Brady interrogating Garrett. Innocent people freak out when theyre arrested and guilty people go to sleep. Garrett stayed perfectly still but was awake all night. Brady has all the evidence that Garrett was involved now that he has Garretts knife, but he thinks Garrett didnt do most of the killing. He needs Garrett to come clean.

Madeline visits him in prison and tells him not to say anything. Shes hired him a lawyer, but he doesnt want her to. Its over. All of this was inevitable. We just postponed it 14 years. Thats all. It was nice, though. It was, being back in the fold, being part of the family again, he says. Madeline suggests that Garrett say that Mitch gave him the knife, but hes not playing along.

American Gothic Recap: Who Was Mitchs Accomplice? >>>

Garrett winds up meeting with the lawyer and shes completely confident shell win, especially since Mitch gave him the knife. If evil is inevitable, how are the wicked accountable? Garrett quotes. He always expected to wind up here. The lawyer says that Garrett shouldnt say anything and asks if hes sleeping okay. He can sleep anywhere.

Cam later calls Garrett and they talk about prison and rehab. Garrett apologizes to Cam. He feels bad because Cam got his drugs when he went to talk to Christina for Garrett, but Cam says its not his fault. Then Garrett tells him hes proud of him for staying true to himself.

Alison goes to visit Garrett in prison too and says that she doesnt buy Garrett being Mitchs accomplice. Im on your side, she says.

Tessa starts having doubts too. She tells Brady she thinks that the knife was planted. The DNA didnt even match. Brady gets frustrated though and tells her to ask Garrett herself, but she thinks hes trying to get her to do his bidding.

Eventually, Tessa does go to visit Garrett. They talk about the baby before she asks about the knife. He refuses to answer though. She needs him to say he never killed anyone. I cant do that, he says.

What Happened In Garretts Past?

So what happened? Throughout the episode, American Gothic flashes back to a younger Garrett. The first time, it flashes back to Garrett covered in blood and Madeline asking what he did.

Later, Garrett leaves Tessa a present while she sleeps. She opens it after hes left. Its a picture of them.

So it flashes back to Garrett waking up on a couch hes been crashing on. The family comes home and he runs out and makes his way through the woods just as they get in. A man winds up catching him trying to break into his cabin and tells him to go back to Boston. Garrett refuses because he couldnt take the people.

Garrett winds up running through the woods and hunting with that knife. Eventually, the man takes pity on him and invites him in and offers to help him. He even says that a man with no friends or family just died and nobody will come to claim his cabin. Now Garrett has a home. He starts planting and hunting with the man and builds a whole new life for himself and he and the man stay friends for years. The man asks if Garrett went hunting with his dad. A few times, he says.

The man notices how attached Garrett is to his knife. He also brings up Garretts family. Garrett says he was only close with his little sister Tessa. The man had a niece named Julie. He was only close with her, but she died in a car accident. The mans whole family died and he cant see them or Julie again, so he hints that Garrett should see Tessa again.

Eventually, Garrett starts keeping tabs on his family. He watches their house in the woods to see if they ever go camping there and he watches them on their trips from afar. He even sneaks in one night and leaves Tessa a note with his phone number. She calls him and they tell each other they miss each other. Tessa asks why he left and when hes coming home and all these other questions about his life, so he says he has to go.

Garrett tells the man about spying on his family. So much has changed. Hes an uncle now. He always thought hed get married and have kids first, but thats not possible now. Meanwhile, the mans illness has been getting progressively worse. He has congestive heart failure.

In the end, Garrett finds the man on the ground having a heat attack. The man says he came back to the cabin to die. He wants Garrett to help him die. I cant, Garrett says. Eventually Garrett suffocates him with a pillow while he cries. Then he watches from the woods as the police take the mans body away. So Garrett lives alone until he finds out his dad is in the hospital and decides to go home.

Brady and Tessa Work Together

After talking with Garrett, Tessa tells Brady shes been naAve. She believes Garrett was the accomplice. So she shows Brady the photo Garrett gave her of them and tells him to show it to people to jog their memories. Brady shows it to Garrett, and he just tells him that hes happy Tessa married him. Brady says that Tessa was his last supporter and he needs to make a deal. Theyre re-canvassing with this photo now.

American Gothic Recap: What Is Garrett Hiding? >>>

Is Garrett Going To Be A Dad?

Even Jack goes to visit Garrett in prison and brings him some creepy presents. He mentions that he saw Christina the other day when Tessa went to get an ultrasound. But Christina wasnt there as a doctor; she was a patient. Turns out, shes pregnant.

Garrett calls Christina and then his lawyer. He tells his lawyer that he needs to get out now. Hes going to be a father.

So the lawyer goes to the police department and points out that a cufflink from the David Morales case disappeared. This is evidence that the police have been mishandling the case. Meanwhile, Garrett asks Alison to help get him out too. He also asks her to tell Tessa he needs a chance to explain. Obviously, when Garrett said he couldnt say he never killed anyone, he meant his friend but Tessa doesnt know that. Why didnt he explain this before?

Will Jennifer Windham Crack The Case?

Alison goes to Jennifer Windham and blackmails her into helping her take the mayor down because her campaign is struggling.

Jennifer follows the mayor until she finds out that Detective Cutter has been secretly meeting with the mayor.

In the end, Jennifer makes an exclusive report on the Silver Bells case. Instead, shes held hostage and reads a statement. The statement is someone confessing to being the accomplice and saying to leave them alone or more people will die. Then the accomplice kills Jennifer and leaves a silver bell. Clearly, its not Garrett. Who could it be then? The mayor?

The final flashback shows Garrett covered in blood holding the knife again. Madeline asks Garrett what he did. He tried to kill me, he says. Okay. So its a he or it was his dad that tried to kill him.

American Gothic airs on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. on CBS





(Image courtesy of CBS)
On this episode of Suits, Spain, Kevins revelation leaves Mike confused and angry which complicates his and Harveys plans, Sutter throws Harvey a curve ball and Louis plan to woo Tara hits a snag.

Harvey continues to walk a razor thin line between legal and illegal as he defends Sutter. Cahill has sent down the indictments, and Harvey leaves his client to cool his heels and find out what Cahill thinks Kevin knows. Again, Cahill worries this is colluding, but Harvey clarifies that its simply discovery. You show me yours, Ill show you mine type of deal.

Too Close To Home

Kevin developed the trading programs that Sutter claims to use to get his superior returns. The program has to be bogus because if its not, then Sutter isnt inside trading, and Cahill knows thats not a possibility. So, Cahill needs Kevin to testify that the software is shit and Sutter knows it.

Harvey questions what Cahill put Kevin away for. Cahill gets cagey, but Harvey explains that knowing that piece of info might help them figure out his weak spot. When Harvey learns it was drunk driving, hes less than thrilled that Cahill didnt clue him in sooner. Of course, Cahill had no idea Mikes parents were killed by a drunk driver.

Mike and Kevin have quite the on-again, off-again thing going on. Now that Kevins warming back up, Mike is backing off. Hes probably feeling a lot less guilty about turning on his cellmate now that he knows the guy got behind the wheel while intoxicated. The fact he failed to kill anyone doesnt seem to be lessening the sting for Mike.

Suits Recap: The Long Con >>>

Mike had a nightmare that Kevin killed Rachel, and since he talks in his sleep, he has no choice but to come clean when Kevin starts asking questions about Mike muttering about someone not finding out and then calling out Kevins name.

Mike tells Kevin about his dream, and it clicks for Kevin about Mikes parents. Mike questions if Kevin is sorry for almost killing someone. Kevin confesses he feels horrible about what happened that night, and while the guy he hit is fully recovered, Kevins still in prison paying for his crime. But if Mike has to be pissed off at him to work out his own issues, Kevin says thats his roomies issue.

Jessica Plays Hardball

Things just got real for Sutter, and its time he starts confiding in his attorney. Cahill says Sutter cant make the returns that he does, but Sutter claims that he can, and Harvey wants to know how. Sutter sticks to his story about the program designed by Kevin. Harvey says all they have to do is hand it over to Cahill who just subpoenaed it-problem solved. Unfortunately, Sutter informs Harvey that the trades on which he makes the most money, have nothing to do with that program.

Harvey asks if Sutter is admitting to insider trading, but all Sutter will own is that sometimes he goes from the gut. Harvey says that sounds an awful lot like B.S.

Sutter asks Harvey to pick up a journal and choose a stock, any stock. Sutter proves hes got some legit mad skills when it comes to trading. Harvey loves a good parlor trick, but he promises his client its not going to help him with that subpoena. Sutter claims its no trick, and Harvey is going to have to find a way to stop Cahill from getting his hand on that program.

While Harvey is busting his ass to save Mike, Jessica is working to save the firm. She ambushes Sutter at lunch and demands that he agree to let Pearson Specter Litt represent his investment business. Sutter says the deal is that once Harvey gets him off, then the firm gets the rest of his business. Jessica doesnt care what the deal was. Now that the indictments have come down, Harveys going to be spending all his time on Sutter, and she wants something in return.

Either Sutter gives them all his business or they quit. It will look like they realized his case was a loser, and they want to distance themselves from it which Sutter cant afford. He questions if Jessica really wants to start off their working relationship this way, but Jessica doesnt care how it starts, she cares how it looks. Hence, the very public meeting. Score one for Jessica.

Truth or Consequence?

Mike goes to Julius for help. He wants therapy. Not real therapy, just enough so he can act normal around Kevin. Julius explains the goal of therapy isnt to act normal but to be normal. Mike tells Julius about his dream and how they fought over Kevins apparent lack of remorse.

Julius thinks Mike picked a fight because he doesnt want to think about the real reason he may have had that dream-Mike doesnt want to deal with the fact that hes betraying his friend. Julius informs Mike that his actions have consequences that extend beyond Mike getting out early. Once again, Mike leaves Julius office disgruntled and disappointed.

Love and Real Estate

Thanks to Donna, Louis is about to close on his new Hamptons house in just a couple of months. In the meantime, he gets to spend time with the woman of his dreams. His plan to woo her hits a hiccup when Tara requests that they take a look at the property in person. When Tara mentions that she thought they could have lunch as part of the excursion, Louis gets so excited at the prospect, he agrees to make the trip happen.

Of course Louis runs to Donna to perform a miracle. He needs access to his new home and all evidence of the previous occupants gone. Donna points out theres never been a one-day escrow in the history of escrows, but Louis wants his Girl Friday to get people to do things they would never be willing to do in an impossible time frame. Done.

The Clock Starts Ticking

In court, Cahill and Harvey are fighting over the program. Harvey argues that the minute Cahill gets his hands on it, everyone will know whats on the program, guaranteeing Sutters secret weapon will be a secret no more and guaranteeing his firm goes down. Harvey proves his point when he brings up a similar fishing expedition Cahill conducted six years ago. Cahill subpoenaed a proprietary trading program from Kessler Capital. It proved no wrong doing, and the company went under ten months later. The judge denies Cahills request.

Sutter isnt satisfied with Harveys win. He wants a motion to file for dismissal. This obviously doesnt work for Harvey because of Mike, but he cant tell his client that. Instead, he tries to convince Sutter that you only get one shot at dismissal, and now isnt the time. Sutter disagrees. He doesnt think Cahill has anything. Plus, hes still peeved about being strong-armed by Jessica and is taking it out on Harvey.

Harvey tells Jessica that Sutter is using what she did as leverage to get him to move for immediate dismissal, and theres a good chance it will work. If it does, Mikes chance of getting out goes with it, and it will be Jessicas fault.

Jessica believes Harvey is in this position because of Sutter, not her. Hed be demanding to have the case dismissed whether they had his other business or not. Jessica has been busting her ass trying to drum up clients for days and theyve been asking why the firm didnt have Sutters investment business. Sutter is their golden goose whether Harvey likes it or not.

Jessica suggests that instead of Harvey blaming her for the position hes in, he needs to figure a way out of it.

Rachel has a Problem Named Maria

Rachel is spinning her wheels when it comes to Leonard Bailey. It took some convincing, but Jessica offered to be the attorney on record, claiming shed like the firm to be remembered for something more than hiring a fraud. But shes so busy trying to save a sinking ship, shes had to put Rachel on hold, so Rachel goes to see Professor Dunbar. She uses those big doe eyes to convince him to file a motion to reopen his case. The bad news is that the motion wont work. The standard to reopen is higher than whats on the books. Rachel needs something undeniable.

Rachel goes to see Leonard to let him know her firm is taking his case. The bad news is they need to find the grounds to get it reopened. Rachel went through Leonards case file and discovered he was with a woman that night who can testify that he didnt kill the couple. It was never admitted because the woman, Maria Gomez, up and disappeared. He had an alibi witness, and his attorney let her get away. So Rachel needs to find Maria.

Rachel tracks down the public defender who handled Leonards case. She wants to know why the woman didnt put more effort into following up with Maria. The attorney defends her actions, stating she wasnt sure a drug addict with a prior conviction would help Leonards case. It turns out that Maria and Leonard were on meth at the time of the murders, and it wasnt the first time. The attorney tells Rachel shes wasting her time trying to reopen this case.

Rachel calls out Leonard for lying to her, but it wasnt for the reason she may think. Hes ashamed of how he used to be. Leonard knows hes done some bad things, but he swears murder isnt one of them. He promises Rachel hell never leave her out of the loop again.

Whatever it Takes

Harvey goes to see Cahill, offering to give him the program. Its the Hail Mary Cahill needs to keep the case going. Harvey doesnt come right out and say it because that would be illegal, but Cahill gets the gyst. He reminds Harvey that he promised to defend Sutter to the best of his ability. Harvey meant it, but he also knew that when push came to shove, hed do whatever he had to in order to get Mike out. Harvey also believes that this case means more to Harvey than hes letting on, and all this colluding talk is smoke and mirrors. Like it or not, theyre in this together. Cahill doesnt bend.

Youve Got to Give to Get

Julius finds Mike in the prison library and gives Mike a peek into his personal life. Julius dad was a criminal. At age 15, Julius was angry and messed up and started acting out. His mom made him see someone who helped the counselor realize that if he didnt change, Julius was going to ruin his life. Thats why Julius does what he does.

Julius hopes that by opening up to Mike, they might establish some trust, and Mike will let Julius help him.

Harvey is running out of time, but Donna informs him that Cahill is going to depose Miller and Sutter. This gives Harvey a stay of execution as long as the judge waits to rule on his motion until after Cahill conducts his interviews. Donna questions what happens if Cahill doesnt get enough from the depositions to keep the case alive, and Harvey tells her that Mikes chance for getting out of prison is gone.

Harvey has to use the depositions to his advantage, so he orchestrates a plan. He gets Sutter and Kevin in the same room to get them to practice what theyll say. Also on hand is Mike. Harvey tells Sutter that Mike is a great stand in for Cahill because he practices law around the guy, and he doesnt even have a degree. Harvey and Mikes real goal is to piss Kevin off.

Mike points out that while Kevin has been rotting away in prison, his father-in-law hasnt come to visit him once. Sutter claims to be grateful for everything Kevins done for him, but Kevin isnt convinced. Mike and Harvey are capitalizing on the bad blood between the two men. Sutters been living it up on the outside while Kevin hasnt been able to see his wife and kids.

Kevin declares that Sutter is completely self-involved, and then tells him that hes done with him and storms out. Harvey tells Sutter this display of aggression is exactly why he wanted Mike around. If Kevin gets any funny ideas, Mike will calm his down.

Mike goes to work on Kevin. Kevin got three years because when they offered him a deal, he turned it down. It turns out Sutter isnt the only one hes protecting. Kevins wife, Jill, knew the trading program he developed was no good and that her father had been insider trading the whole time. That was the catalyst for their fight, and why he went out and got drunk. He had to choose between serving for three years, or the mother of his children going away for much longer.

All Kevin wanted to do was win Sutters approval, and when he developed that program, he though he had. But he learned that his father-in-law got one over on him. Mike asks what Kevin would do if he could return the favor. Mike encourages him to take the deal but make sure Jill gets immunity first. Kevin doesnt want to take the risk, and he makes Mike swear he wont tell anyone what he knows.

Best Suits Quotes from Trust >>>

Score One for Louis

Despite their best laid plans, Louis gets busted trying to pass off his newly-purchased abode as an ancestral home. Tara thinks he was scamming her for free design work, so he has no choice but to admit his feelings for her. Shes blown away by Louis grandiose scheme to spend time with her and agrees to have dinner with him.

Colluding

Cahill reveals to Harvey why hes so invested in the Sutter case. His mother is a lifelong teacher, but she lost her pension when the state invested with William Sutter.

The judge decided to rule on the motion to dismiss which means Cahilll and Harvey are out of time, and Cahill wants that trading program.

Suits airs Wednesdays at 9pm on USA.

(Photo courtesy of USA)
Research News

UB spinoff, licensee to present at University Startups Demo Day

By JULIE MOLENDA

UB spinoff ZOETIC Pharmaceuticals and UB technology licensee Garwood Medical Devices are among the first 18 companies nationwide selected to present at the prestigious University Startups Demo Day.

The event, on Sept. 20 in Washington, D.C., brings together Fortune 500 and global 1000 companies, universities and entrepreneurs. It aims to spur partnerships that lead to new and innovative technologies.

A total of 35 companies  an additional 17 companies will be announced the week of Aug. 29  will be given six minutes in front of company executives, venture capitalists and angel investors. The startups also will visit congressional offices to showcase the role that universities play in the startup economy.

The event is organized by the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.

ZOETIC, founded by John J. Seman, chief executive officer, and Sven A. Beushausen, chief scientific officer, has licensed antigen-specific immune tolerance induction technology that significantly reduces the production of anti-drug antibodies to biologic drugs. It has the potential to reverse the debilitating effects of autoimmune diseases and considerably enhance the success rate of gene therapy.

We are pleased to have been selected to participate in the inaugural University Startups Demo Day, Seman said, and we look forward to making productive connections with angels, corporations and venture capital firms.

The licensed technology was pioneered by Sathy V. Balu-lyer, professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. ZOETIC is receiving support from UBs economic development and technology transfer teams.

Garwood, founded by chairman and CEO Wayne Bacon in 2014, is part of the START-UP NY economic development program at UB. Garwood recently received a $1.48 million grant from UBs Buffalo Institute for Genomics and Data Analytics to accelerate development and commercialization of its programmable, monitored medical devices. One device focuses on the eradication of biofilms and controlling implant infections  a technology based on intellectual property licensed from UB  while another device is for the treatment of chronic wounds.

Biofilm eradication is the holy grail to the implant surgeon. We are looking forward to presenting the innovative devices we have in development and sharing the story behind our strategic initiatives with UB, said Bacon. Its gratifying to be recognized among such a prestigious group of startups.

Garwood, a semifinalist in this years 43North business plan competition, recently moved into the downtown UB Gateway Building, where it projects to create 40 jobs in the next five years.
When begin, it's akin to Joseph Campbell's mythical hero's journey. Instead of battling hydras and gorgons alone, entrepreneurs often help each other face obstacles like entrenched markets, financing and abject fear of failure.
India has become the choice location for global technology firms such Google, Microsoft and Uber to open development centres, as the country provides a unique blend of massive market opportunity along with a low-cost and highly scalable workforce.
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Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's leading information technology (IT) services provider, and JetBlue, one of the leading airlines in the US, are ramping up their relationship to strategically optimise and transform key business channels and enhance digital customer touch points.

During a three-year relationship, JetBlue has leveraged TCS' airline expertise to develop new platforms, and for quality assurance and infrastructure services. As part of a recently signed strategic agreement, TCS will now manage several additional programmes alongside JetBlue, including modernisation of the airline's IT foundation platform to enhance data analytics and operational agility, and developing tools for customers and JetBlue crew members.
Oil marketing companies are increasing focus on their non-fuel retail business, with hopes of improving margins of their overall fuel marketing divisions. The attempt is likely to pay off in the long run, however, in the initial years it may just help fight growing competition.
was in Singapore yesterday. He came for PayPals Fintech Xchange event  a day-long shindig meant to draw attention to the work PayPal is doing with local start-ups.
Star Bazaar, a unit of Trent Hypermarket. Trent is the only company which applied for FDI in multibrand retailing and runs stores in Maharashtra and Karnataka, which had allowed foreign investment in the sector
In a bid to win the Indian market and overtake local rival Ola, ride hailing service is going beyond its well-to-do customer base and is targeting users of low-end smartphones in smaller cities.
Airline, low-cost and medium-haul arm of Singapore Airlines (SIA), has said that it is ready to double it flights between Indian cities and Singapore, but regulation in India is not allowing them to expand.

The airline said that it will start its service from Jaipur to Singapore from October this year, but it has identified many more cities in India, where the demand is high.

The airline claims that average load factor is around 90 per cent and it is seeing more demand and it is right time for the government to change its policy and be more liberal.

In May, SIA moved one step closer to merging short haul LCC Tigerair and medium/long haul LCC by creating a new holding company for its two budget airline subsidiaries. and Tigerair will remain separate airlines for now, with their own operator certificates, but will have a new joint management team.

The two airlines are now operating 46 flights a week in India.

Bharat Mahadevan, country head, India, Scoot Pte Ltd said that the airline is ready to double the service considering the demand is huge, however the airline could not expand due to the regulations.

"It is high time the government consider to be more liberal," said Mahadevan. Today, Scoot is operating between Chennai and Singapore, Amristar and Singapore, while TigerAir is connecting Bangalore, Hyderabad, Tiruchy, Kochi and Lucknow with Singapore.

The airline claims that it is operating at 90 per cent load factor on an average and many times it has to turn away the customers since it could not accommodate them.

"We are hoping that government will liberalise the traffic rights at some point," he added.

The airline claims it grew around 10-15 per cent compared to last year. The airline is comparing the TigerAir's traffic with Scoot's current traffic and claims a market share of around 25 per cent market share in Chennai-Singapore sector.

Scoot currently operates 11 flights a week, including seven from Chennai and four from Amristar. From October, the airline going to start fly in Jaipur-Singapore sector four times a week.

Tiger Airways operates from five cities, including Banglaore, Hyderabad, Tiruchy (twice a day), Kochi and Lucknow.

Today both the carriers comes under one entity, though brands continues to be different for now.

"We would like to double our service, we have the capacity also but we are not able to," Mahadevan said.
The death of 15 people in Gopalganj may have been due to consumption of either hooch or spurious substance mixed in some drink, the district administration today said as it mulled sending viscera and blood samples of the deceased for forensic test.

Meanwhile Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grave concern over the Gopalganj tragedy, the first major incident after was declared a complete dry state on April 5.

He told reporters that the incident was serious and expressed confidence that truth would come out in the forensic test of viscera and blood samples of deceased.

Gopalganj District Magistrate Rahul Kumar said post-mortem report of the deceased indicated death due to either consumption of hooch or some spurious substance mixed in some drink.

"The district administration would approach court to seek its permission to hand over viscera and blood sample of deceased for forensic test," Superintendent of Police Raviranjan Kumar said.

Nitish Kumar appealed to the kin of the deceased not to be scared and speak the truth so that the culprits behind the incident could be caught and severely punished.

He said if the deaths are due to hooch, compensation of Rs 4 lakh each would be given to the family members of the victims.

He said Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh and state police chief P K Thakur were keeping a close watch over the Gopalganj incident and there was no chance of culprits escaping from the law.

The chief minister said total prohibition in since April has taken shape of a social change under which some such unpleasant events would crop up which would be dealt with sternly.

SP Kumar said that six persons have been arrested in connection with death of 15 people on Tuesday. An FIR has been lodged against the six and some others with the town police station.

DM Kumar said a hectic search is on for two persons released recently after arrest under new Excise law. Even relatives of some of the deceased told us their names, he said but refused to disclose the names which might disturb the probe.

The SP said that during search operations in Khajurbanni locality, 45 gallons of 'mahua' (country liquor) hidden inside the earth have been recovered.

In addition, 25 empty bottles of a homeopathic medicine Dhuja which has alcoholic contents have been also found from the place of incident, the SP added.

The DM said that initially 13 people had died but later two more succumbed at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in Patna where four more are under treatment.

The Gopalganj incident has provided opportunity to opposition BJP and its NDA partners to attack the Nitish government.
The toll in the hooch tragedy in Bihar's Gopalganj district has risen to 16, even as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced tough action against those responsible for it, including manufacturers of liquor banned in the state.

"Two more people died on Thursday at Patna Medical College and Hospital during treatment, and one died late Wednesday night, while three more are still critical," a district official said.

Nitish Kumar told media here that if it was found that deaths in Gopalganj were due to spurious liquor consumption, the culprits will not be spared.

The Chief Minister said: "I have directed the state police chief, concerned department principal secretary and chief of the excise to examine all reports, including medical and viscera. Besides talking to the families of the victims and studying the reports in the media to reach a conclusion."

Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have continued to target the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal-United government for the tragedy and holds the much-hyped liquor ban in the state responsible for the deaths.

The administration on Wednesday morning had ordered probe after families had claimed it to be a hooch tragedy.

All victims were residents of Nonia Tola locality in Gopalganj. Families had reported that they had complained of uneasiness and breathlessness, followed by stomach pain and vomiting, after consuming "desi" alcohol on Tuesday evening.

Their condition had deteriorated on Tuesday night and they were rushed to hospital.

Rahul Kumar, Gopalganj District Magistrate, had constituted a three-member team on Wednesday and launched a probe. Gopalganj Superintendent of Police Ravi Ranjan had refuted the rumours of spurious liquor.

The incident exposed that despite total prohibition on liquor consumption in since April 5 this year, alcohol is available in the black market.

Additional Director General of Police Sunil Kumar had said at least 4,707 people were arrested during the last four months and 3,719 FIRs were lodged in connection with flouting of the liquor ban.
The Indian government on Thursday reiterated its stand that Pakistan has no locus standi with respect to Jammu and which is an integral part of India.

Briefing media in New Delhi, official spokesperson to the Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup said should Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar visit Islamabad, the talks would focus on cross border terrorism and Pakistan's illegal occupation of .

"Foreign Secretary conveyed that he accepts the invitation to visit Islamabad, but made it clear that discussions should focus on more pressing aspects of the Jammu and situation that include cessation of cross -border terrorism by Pakistan aimed at the state, incitement to violence from Pakistan to Jammu and Kashmir, detaining and prosecuting internationally recognised Pakistan terrorist leaders who have been active recently in exhorting and supporting such violence in that state," he said.

"Foreign Secretary also said that he looks forward to discussing with his counterpart, at earliest possible, the vacation of Pakistan's illegal occupation of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir," he added.

Swarup further said that should an Indian delegation undertake a visit to Islamabad in the near future, the intention would also be to bring to justice all those guilty in Pakistan for the Mumbai terrorist attack of 2008 and the Pathankot airbase attack, earlier this year.

Foreign Secretary Jaishankar yesterday conveyed his willingness to visit Islamabad for holding talks on terrorism rather than on Kashmir.

On August 15, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry called in Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Gautam Bambawale and handed over a letter addressed to his Indian counterpart, inviting him to visit Pakistan for talks on Jammu and Kashmir, which he termed "the main bone of contention between India and Pakistan".

The invitation came days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said in a statement that Pakistan is planning to invite India for a dialogue on the Kashmir issue.
Gujarat wants to take the lead in attracting investments from the UK as the post- scenario unfolds, according to leading bureaucrats and industrialists from the state who visited Britain to promote next year's Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

"Gujarat: Connecting India to World" was the slogan for a state government led delegation which made a visit to the UK recently as part of promotional road-show for Vibrant Gujarat Summit scheduled for January 2017.

"Our delegation's objective is to strengthen relationship between UK and India where Gujarat will play an important part and we have had a phenomenal response. Gujarat will assist investors in strengthening their business propositions and investments in India," said Mamta Verma, Gujarat industries commissioner, who led the delegation earlier this month.

Sunil Parekh, Zydus Group Advisor and a leading member of the delegation, said the UK's vote in favour of leaving the European Union (EU) was at the heart of their visit.

He said: "The tone and tenor of the meetings we had in the UK is that people are now looking at the post- situation for UK. They want to build aggressive relationships for trade and investment with non-EU groups and India is one of the major elements."



The aim of the visit was to attract participation in the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, held every two years, by highlighting the state's investor friendly policies and its No 1 rank in terms of 'Ease of Doing Business' in 2015 among all states of India in a joint study by the government of India and World Bank, he said.

Manu Srivastava, director, Gujarat Agro Infrastructure Mega Food Park, said: "The UK is at a very interesting juncture in a post- world. Vibrant Gujarat is one of the largest forums in India, where businesses from all across the world come and collaborate. It opens doors to not just Gujarat but to the whole of India."



Besides London, the team also visited Manchester and Birmingham to meet government representatives and businessmen.

Some of the focus sectors of the delegation included chemicals & petrochemicals, electronics, aerospace & defence, renewable energy, technology & start-ups, financial services, pharmaceuticals and textiles.

"The UK has good innovation in renewable energy. They also have done work in gas based equipment. The UK has good penetration of rooftop solar across villages as well. Given that we in Gujarat and at Urmi Solar see a lot of opportunity in collaborating with them," said Kiritkumar H Patel, CEO, Urmi Solar Systems Ltd.

Vikas Nath, CEO - UK and Europe, Adani Global PTE Ltd, added: "The scope for collaboration is immense, and the time has never been better for Gujarat to capitalise on business opportunities from the UK."



Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit will enter its 8th edition between 10 and 13 January 2017 at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.

In the June referendum on EU membership, 52 per cent of Britons had voted in favour of leaving the EU, leading into a complex process of withdrawal.

However, the timetable for withdrawal has not yet been announced.
on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi crossed the "red line" by talking about Balochistan and asserted that it will "forcefully" raise the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly session next month.

"The Prime Minister strongly pleaded the case of Kashmir during General Assembly session last year and we will again forcefully raise the issue," Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said.

Zakaria, in his weekly news briefing here, also took strong exception to the remarks by Prime Minister Modi on Balochistan.

Prime Minister Modi had brought up Pakistani atrocities on people of Balochistan and PoK in his Independence Day speech.

"It is the violation of the UN Charter...He (Modi) crossed the red line by talking about Balochistan," Zakaria said.

He alleged that India was involved in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi. Zakaria also claimed that India was referring to Balochistan to cover up its human rights violations in Kashmir.

Zakaria said Prime Minister Sharif will lead the official delegation at the General Assembly session. He said the UN Secretary General and most of the UN members had already been informed about the "precarious situation" in Kashmir.

Zakaria said the UN and international community should remind India that it must fulfil its commitment to give the right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as per Security Council resolutions.

He said the issue was still outstanding on the Security Council agenda for more than six decades.

" strongly condemns the continuing use of force by India and violation of human rights. The brutal use of force has killed at least 80 people and at least 100 have been blinded by use of pellet guns," Zakaria alleged.

He said the international community and human rights organisations should call upon India to stop use of "brute force" in Kashmir.

Asked about Indian taking action against Amnesty International, he said it showed how India was treating the issue of human rights in Kashmir.

Zakaria said had proposed to India to hold talks on Kashmir. However, he refused to confirm if India had responded to the proposal.

When asked about any conditions India had put before them for starting dialogue, the spokesman said Pakistan proposed that Kashmir should be the focus of the talks.

Zakaria also claimed that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was aimed at economic development of not only Pakistan and China but the entire region. He said India's objection to such a beneficial economic project was beyond comprehension.

Zakaria said Pakistan had invited finance ministers of SAARC countries for the next week meeting but so far was waiting for confirmation on Arun Jaitley's participation.
The Green Tribunal has ordered its experts committee to ascertain the cost of reparations needed to fix the damage caused to the Yamuna floodplain in Delhi by the earlier event by September 27, when the tribunal will hear the case again. At the same time, both, the organisation headed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the petitioners have been given time to send their views in favour or against the experts committee report, which held responsible for serious damage.
Brazilian police pulled two US Olympic swimmers off a plane about to leave the country for questioning in a row over their claim to have been victims of an armed mugging, US officials said on Thursday.

"We can confirm that Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were removed from their flight to the United States by Brazilian authorities," said Patrick Sandusky, spokesman for the US Olympic Committee.

The two were with star US swimmer Ryan Lochte and another squad member, James Feigen, when they said they were robbed at gunpoint. A Brazilian judge ordered a probe saying their story is full of inconsistencies.

Globo, a leading Brazilian news organisation, posted a video online showing the two swimmers walking into a police station.

The G1 news site, which is part of Globo, reported that Bentz and Conger were detained for questioning and that Feigen had been taken in earlier while still in the airport.

Police did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

Lochte is believed to be already in the United States, having left before the Brazilian authorities ordered the swimmers' questioning.

Earlier, Judge Keyla Blank "issued warrants for searches and the seizure of the passports for the US swimmers," a statement from her office said. "With this, they are banned from leaving the country," the statement said.

The court order was the latest twist in a story of a supposedly terrifying incident that embarrassed Rio authorities and ramped up the fear factor for hundreds of thousands of tourists in Rio at South America's first Olympics.

Now Brazilian officials are suggesting that the US swimmers may have made up their account  and could face charges for filing a false report.

Lochte says that he and three team-mates were held up by muggers posing as police as they left a late night party in central Rio.

Read our full coverage on the 2016 Rio Olympics



At first the International Olympic Committee denied that anything had happened. Lochte, however, gave interviews describing an incident in detail and Brazilian Olympic authorities later issued a public apology for the security slip up.

With some 85,000 police and soldiers guarding the Olympics  twice the number used in London  the apparently high-profile crime touched a nerve in Rio. In addition to multiple incidents of thefts from Olympic athletes or media, a Portuguese government minister was mugged in the swish Leblon district.

Lochte said he had a gun put to his forehead in the robbery, when the swimmers' taxi was pulled over by criminals who forced them to lie on the ground and stole money and other items.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Thursday said her government will file an interim petition in the Supreme Court to secure release of Cauvery river water from Karnataka.

Announcing this in the state assembly, Jayalalithaa said the petition will be filed in one or two days in the Apex court and, after appropriate court orders, the state will get its share of water as per the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.

The Chief Minister said Karnataka did not release water during June and July this year as per the tribunal award.

She also said that both Karnataka and the central government have not replied to her letters on the release of Cauvery water.

Moreover, owing to insufficient water at Mettur Dam, no water could be released for cultivation from there on June 12.

If the state does not get adequate water for cultivation by the end of this month the Tamil Nadu government has formulated subsidy schemes worth Rs 64.3 crore for the benefit of farmers.
On July 28, every single policeman in Gurgaon had to roll up his sleeves and get down to the flooded roads to clear hours-long traffic jams on National Highway 8 and sector roads that house offices of multinational companies. This was on the first of the three days when torrential rains had wrecked havoc in the so-called millennium city on the outskirts of the national capital.
Just two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to as a shining example of his governments focus on delivery to the poor, the sleepy little village, which is 300 km from Delhi, has become the centre of a row between the Union power ministry and the Uttar Pradesh government. While electricity continues to elude the village, which is contrary to Modis claim that electricity has reached it after 70 years, the power ministry has issued a showcause notice to the Uttar Pradesh governments power utility, accusing the latter of misuse of central grants and supporting illegal power supply.

Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) has shot off a letter to Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (DVVNL), asking it to respond on the status of energisation  infrastructure and supply  of the village, which falls in its jurisdiction.

I dont know how much liberty I have under the federal structure to take any action against a state utility. But this is prima facie a case of misappropriation of central grants. The state misled the Centre, and the local authorities are supporting illegal connections. The states ministers are politicising the issue, Piyush Goyal, minister of state for coal, power, renewable energy and mines, told reporters. Uttar Pradesh is bound for elections next February. Business Standard had reported earlier the focus of the Bharatiya Janata Partys election campaign would be infrastructure development, particularly rural electrification.

REC in its letter to DVVNL pointed out that illegal connection with a transformer was a violation of Section 135(1) of the Indian Electricity Act. Sanjay Agarwal, principal secretary, energy, Uttar Pradesh, did not respond to text messages and phone calls on Wednesday. You are hereby requested to file a detailed clarification on the above points within three days. You may also clarify why if the infrastructure work had been completed, as certified on October 30, 2015, as reported by DVVNL, no connection so far been released to households, including BPL households, and the infrastructure remained unutilised after spending public money, including the government of India grant. In case your reply is not received within three days, action as deemed appropriate will be initiated, said the letter dated August 17.

village in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh Photo: Dalip Kumar

The project in Hathras was tendered to a private contractor by the state government the same year. In October 2015, the state government informed REC and the ministry of power that electrification of seven districts encompassing 155 villages, including Nagela Fatela, was concluded.

A report submitted by DVVNL to REC said work was completed in . The report attached a detailed map of four transformers of 25 kilovolt (kV) each and one of 63 kV, a main 11 kV supply line across the village, and LT lines to be connected with households. REC executives said when they visited the village last October it was receiving close to 60 per cent power supply. Under the GARV programme for rural electrification, Gram Vidyut Abhiyantas (GVAs) visit villages and monitor electrification work. This is, in turn, shows up on the GARV website and mobile application launched with much aplomb in October by Goyal. When GVAs visited the village in October they found the necessary infrastructure in place. March was the last time any GVA visited the village and found some 80 households without power. They were told these were defaulters and their supply was disconnected, said an REC executive. We will now look into the system for approving state sanctions and if these can be made more stringent. The federal structure of power distribution does not allow the Centre to dictate terms to the state. But then consumers will be the best judge when the time comes, said Goyal.

Nagela Fatela village in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh Photo: Dalip Kumar

The Rajiv Gandhi Gram Vidyutikaran Yojana was renamed the Deendayal Upadhaya Gram Jyoti Yojana when the National Democratic Alliance came to power at the Centre in 2014.
Following the Supreme Court order last week lifting the ban on diesel vehicles with engine capacity above 2,000 cc in Delhi, the Union government has opened a bank account where the mandated environment protection charge (EPC) can be deposited.
As global dairy prices see an uptick (nearly 17 per cent) in the past four weeks or so after hovering at historically low levels for much of 2016, Indian exporters feel exports of (SMP) might become viable in the short term.
The (NGT) on Thursday issued bailable warrants of Rs 10,000 each against resident commissioners of states Gujarat, Karnataka, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, and Tripura, and Union Territories Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry, for failure to appear before it despite notices.
The (IR) has selected three insurance companies  Shriram General Insurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance and Royal Sundaram General Insurance  for insuring its passengers.



To begin next month, it would be among the cheapest in the world, at a premium of 92p a passenger for coverage up to Rs 10 lakh. The three were selected through competitive bidding, among 17 companies.



At first, insurance would be available for those who book tickets online. Later, the scheme could be extended to season ticket travellers, where for a premium of Rs 200-300, they will get annual coverage.



Irrespective of class, destination and distance to be travelled, the rate of premium and coverage would be uniform. Travellers who book tickets online through our website can opt for it giving a nominees name. Later, it might be extended to unreserved travellers and monthly season ticket holders, said A K Manocha, chairman and managing director of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), an IR subsidiary that handles online ticketing, catering and rail tourism.



In the case of death or permanent disability of the traveller, Rs 10 lakh will be provided. For permanent partial disability, the coverage extends to Rs 7.5 lakh; for hospital expenses, the coverage would be up to Rs 2 lakh. In addition, the insurance would provide Rs 10,000 for transportation of mortal remains. Apart from rail mishaps, the coverage would take care of terrorist attacks and accidental fall of a passenger from a train and normal accidents, riots, robbery and dacoity.



Of the three companies selected, each would get insurance policies on a rotation basis from an automated system.



Shriram General Insurance was the lowest bidder, quoting 92p. ICICI Lombard quoted 99p and Royal Sundaram Rs 1.15. The other two will have to match the lowest bid of 92p.


A file picture of a deserted office of a public sector bank as employees went on strike in New Delhi to protest against the proposed merger of associate banks with SBI and banking reforms announced by the government
Chancellor has dismissed suggestions that the influx of refugees over the past year has brought Islamic extremism to Germany.

German news agency dpa quotes Merkel as saying that "Islamist terrorism by IS isn't a phenomenon that came to us with the refugees, it's one that we had before too."

Merkel was speaking late yesterday at a political rally in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where her Christian Democrats face strong competition from the nationalist. Alternative for Germany party in state elections on September 4.

The country has been shaken by a string of attacks, two of which were the first in Germany claimed by the Islamic State group.

In those, only the attackers both asylum-seekers were killed. In an unrelated attack, a German teenager killed nine people in Munich.
Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri on Thursday said no one in the Pakistani province had supported Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that the Baloch people had thanked him for his support.

"We condemn Narendra Modi's statement on . No one in supported his statement. There is no comparison between the struggle for liberation in India-held Kashmir and the so-called Balochistan insurgency," Zehri asserted at a rally in Quetta, the provincial capital.

Modi in his speech on August 15, India's Independence Day, said "people of Balochistan, Gilgit and PoK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) have thanked me a lot in past few days, I am grateful to them".

According to media reports, Modi's comments sparked protests across Balochistan, with large numbers of tribesmen taking to the streets in protest in Dera Bugti, Khuzdar, Quetta, Chaman and other parts of the province. Angry protestors set ablaze the Indian flag and chanted slogans against the Indian Prime Minister at many places.

"We didn't ask the people to come out on the streets. They are on the streets themselves," the Pakistan Muslim League-N lawmaker said of the protests against Modi.

"The Kashmiris are agitating for their right to self-determination in accordance with UN resolutions, whereas in Balochistan there is only a small group working on the behest of the enemy country," Zehri said, referring to suspected Indian involvement.

"I swear on the blood of the dead, wherever these terrorists are, we will hunt them down."

"The Indian government fully supports the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan. It is deeply involved in sponsoring elements like Brahamdagh Bugti, Haerbyar Marri, Zamran Marri and Allah Nazar," he said.

"Balochistan is part of Pakistan and is run by a democratically elected government," he said. "The Pakistan Army is ours and we will not tolerate any Indian interference in our internal matters," he added.
Republican presidential nominee has sought the help of Muslims to help root out terrorism, saying the community will be blamed if it does not assist in combating the menace.

The 70-year-old reality TV star-turned politician, who earlier drew flak for proposing a ban on Muslims entering the US, appealed to the community as they would know "what is going on in their community".

"Look, we have to be so tough and so smart and vigilant. And frankly, the Muslims have to help us, because they see what's going on in their community. We do not see it. They have to help us," Trump said in a Fox News town hall which was taped on Tuesday.

"And if they're not going to help us, they're to blame also," Trump said and indicated favouring racial profiling otherwise.

In response to another question, he said he would throw out Siddique Mateen, father of Orlando shooter.

"I'd throw him out. If you look at him, I'd throw him out. You know, I looked at him. And you look, he's smiling," he said.

The Republican nomiee called for swift action against the ISIS, which he said is better than the US on social media.

"We have to take them out very, very swiftly and viciously if necessary," he said, responding to a question on ISIS.

"I mean they're better at social media than we are. ISIS, if you look at what ISIS is doing with social, they're recruiting over the internet. And I also said we have to end that. We have to knock it out," he said.

Responding to another question, Trump claimed that his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton is being shielded by the media.

"She is so protected. They (the media) are so protective," he said. "She doesn't really do that much. She'll give a speech on teleprompter, and then she'll disappear. I don't know if she goes home - she goes home and goes to sleep, I think she sleeps."

"Who do you want to be at that phone at 3 in the morning?"

"I'll be up, I will tell you that. She wasn't there," he said in reference to the Benghazi attacks.
Amid recent protests in Gilgit-Baltistan against crackdown by the Pakistani security forces, Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal has said that those protesting against the China- Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be charged under anti-terrorism laws.

Quoting the minister, Gilgit Baltistan National Congress Director Senge Hasnan Sering tweeted, "Those protesting in #GilgitBaltistan against China led #CPEC will be charged under anti-terrorism laws: Minister Dr Iqbal."

The people of Gilgit-Baltistan believe that CPEC will exploit its water resources which would only benefit . The locals are also worried about the increasing Chinese footprint in the region.

The leadership of Gilgit-Baltistan has been objecting to the controversial corridor for months.

The Gilgit-Baltistan based Awami Action Committee (AAC) had earlier called for an indefinite shutdown across the region, saying they will not be holding down their protest unless and until withdraws its security forces and also rollbacks the CPEC.

AAC, an alliance of around 23 religious, nationalist and political groups, also demanded a complete withdrawal of the Pakistani forces from its soil.

The alliance is also against the lack of share for Gilgit-Baltistan in the CPEC.

The strike call came days after a powerful senate committee, headed by Senator Taj Haider, visited the region to review the CPEC projects.

The committee members, who met several delegations during their three-day stay in Gilgit-Baltistan, confirmed that the region had no share in the CPEC.

Last week, the Pakistani Army arrested more than 500 young men in Gilgit-Baltistan who had come on to the streets protesting against them and asking them to vacate the occupation of the region.

So far, hundreds, including Gilgit's top political activist Baba Jan, has been arrested.

Baba Jan was arrested under Pakistan's Anti-Terrorism Act for raising his voice for displaced people of the Hunza Valley during a climate disaster in January 2010 and protesting against corruption and against the violent repression that had been unleashed against the victims demonstrating in August 2011.

Meanwhile, Iqbal while addressing the inauguration ceremony of two new blocks in University of Balochistan earlier on Tuesday said that CPEC will be complete till 2030 and all four provinces will get benefits from its positive impacts.

Due to delays in the development of CPEC, the authorities in Beijing had last month suggested Islamabad to formally rope in the Pakistan Army to ensure smooth execution of the project.

Security official privy to the development said the Chinese were "unhappy with the overall management of the project, particularly the involvement of various ministries", which were causing unnecessary delays.

They envisioned the creation of a separate ministry or authority to deal exclusively with the CPEC.

The project is currently being overseen by a special section set up at the Prime Minister's Office - with Iqbal's Ministry of Planning and Development serving as the focal ministry.

The army has already created a special division to provide security cover to the CPEC-related projects.

Earlier in January this year, China had openly expressed its concern over the lack of consensus on the CPEC across the political spectrum and the Chinese embassy in Islamabad had urged political leaders to "address their differences in order to create favourable conditions" for the completion of the project.

In the latest, the members of Corridor Front have said that Pakistan has dodged the Chinese Government regarding the CPEC and insisted the "peaceful completion" of the $46 billion mega project was only possible through its original route, reports The Express Tribune.

For India, given the political synergy between Beijing and Islamabad, the CPEC will be a disguised political disturbance.

The CPEC actually refers to various major infrastructure works currently underway in Pakistan, intended to link China's Xinjiang province to Gwadar deep sea port close to Islamabad's border with Iran.

Apart from infrastructure, it seeks to widen and deepen economic ties with its "all-weather friend" China. The Chinese firms will invest just under $46 billion in the project over six years.

However, reports also suggest that several projects have plagued the country due to stalled development, poor infrastructure and lost investment.
They pushed for women to get the vote in Australia's national elections. They brought down a central bank board member. And they helped convict a state official.
The Obama Administration withheld $400 million ransom that was paid to Iran in a plane 'till the time' its hostages were released by Tehran, a major US daily reported today in a potentially damaging report for the Democratic party campaign.

"US officials wouldn't let Iranians take control of the money until a Swiss Air Force plane carrying three freed Americans departed from Tehran on January 17. Once that happened, an Iranian cargo plane was allowed to bring the cash home from a Geneva airport that day," The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Obama Administration has insisted that the payment was part of its effort to sort out a long pending dispute with Iran and was not a ransom. However, the opposition Republican party does not seem to be convinced.

$400 million was the first instalment of the $1.7 billion settlement reached by the Obama Administration with Iran.

"It's time for the White House to drop the charade and admit it paid a $400 million ransom to the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," the Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Reince Priebus has said in a statement.

"President (Barack) Obama has foolishly put a price on the head of every American abroad and it should be no surprise that Iran has since detained more US citizens.

"Hillary Clinton's support for this dangerous blunder shows once again she does not have the judgement to be President," Priebus has said.

According to the report, executives from Iran's flagship carrier Iran Air, organised the flight from Tehran to Geneva where the cash - euros and Swiss francs and other currencies - was loaded onto the aircraft.

"Our top priority was getting the Americans home," a US official was quoted as saying.

Once the Americans were "wheels up" on the morning of January 17, Iranian officials in Geneva were allowed to take custody of the $400 million in currency, according to officials briefed on the exchange, the daily reported.
A 20 per cent drop within a quarter in the stock price of Infosys, an information technology (IT) firm, has made equity fund managers a worried lot. The stock is the third-most owned in their schemes' portfolios and accounts for 3.2 per cent of equity assets or about Rs 13,000 crore. A total of 480 mutual fund (MF) schemes from all categories have invested in Infosys.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has filed a petition in the Federal Court of Australia to restrain PACL Ltd from disposing off its assets in that country.
Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri on Thursday declared Brahamdagh Bugti, a traitor to the nation for thanking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making references to Pakistan's mistreatment of Balochistan and the atrocities meted out to the people in the region.

"By saluting Modi, Bugti has proved that he is a traitor. Bugti saluted the man who is responsible for the bloodshed in Balochistan," the Express Tribune quoted Zehri, as saying.

The self-exiled Baloch Republican Army (BRA) leader had hailed Prime Minister Modi for mentioning Balochistan in his Independence Day speech on Monday.

Bugti said, "I thank the Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi sahab for speaking about the Balochistan problem. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi sahab on behalf of the whole Baloch nation. And we hope that the Indian government and Indian media and whole Indian nation will not only raise voices for Baloch nation but also strive to help practically the Baloch independence movement."

Zehri had earlier on Sunday at an event held in connection with the nation's Independence Day claimed that the Indian Intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and other enemies of the country were involved in funding militants to disrupt peace and stability in Balochistan.

On Indian Prime Minister's statement, Zehri said that there was a huge difference between the situation in Kashmir and Balochistan.

Prime Minister Modi while addressing the nation on the occasion of 70th Independence Day said he was grateful to the Baloch people for reaching out to him.

"People of Balochistan,Gilgit and PoK have thanked me a lot in past few days, I am grateful to them," Prime Minister Modi said.

"This is the example of our humanitarian approach, but there are some countries who glorify terrorists. To the youth who have taken up guns, I urge them to return to their parents and shun violence," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The CPI (M) on Thursday said the allegations against former army chief and Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) V.K. Singh by incumbent General Dalbir Singh will send a very wrong message to the nation and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take cognizance of this case.

"Such condition has never occurred in the history of nation, that an ex-Army chief and the Current Army chief are accusing each other and have even approached the court in this regard," said CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat.

"Moreover, one of them is a sitting minister. The Prime Minister should take a cognizance of this case over the lines that is credible for our armed forces. That a Union Minister is being accused of false conduct by the incumbent Army Chief and he is still in office. What image of India will it give?" she added.

In an affidavit submitted in his personal capacity to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the Army Chief has said that in 2012 he was sought to be victimised by the then COAS General V.K. Singh "with the sole purpose of denying me promotion to the appointment of Army Commander".

"False, baseless and imaginary allegations of lapses were levelled against me in the show cause notice" of May 19, 2012 and consequent imposition of an "illegal" discipline and vigilance (DV) ban, the Army chief has stated in his affidavit.

The affidavit was filed in response to a petition moved by Lieutenant General (Retd.) Ravi Dastane, who alleged favouritism in Dalbir Singh's selection as the Army Commander, making him next in line to succeed General Bikram Singh.

Dalbir Singh was placed under a DV ban by V K Singh between April and May 2012 for alleged "failure of command and control" after a Court of Inquiry was ordered into an operation carried out in Jorhat, Assam, on the night of December 20-21, 2011 by the 3 Corps Intelligence and Surveillance Unit.

Dalbir Singh was then General Officer Commanding of the Dimapur-based 3 Corps.

Referring to the Jorhat operation in his affidavit, he has stated "on that day, I was away on part of annual leave and rejoined duty on 26 Dec 2011".

His promotion as GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, with effect from June 15, 2012, was cleared by General Bikram Singh, who reversed the DV ban after V.K. Singh retired on May 31, 2012.

This delayed promotion, after reserving the vacant Army Commander's post for 15 days, was challenged by Dastane in the Supreme Court. He contended he was eligible to be Army Commander but was denied the opportunity by General Bikram Singh, who favoured Dalbir Singh despite the latter being under a DV ban at the relevant time.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Dargah-e-Ala Hazrat on Thursday issued a fatwa against Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, declaring him anti-Islamic and a man of terrorist ideology.

The fatwa issued by Mohammed Saleem Barelvi, an Islamic seminary in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh has asked every Muslim not to follow Saeed and his idelogies.

The 'fatwa' was issued by Manzar-e-Islam Saudagaran, an institution associated with Dargah Ala Hazrat, in a reply to a question asked by Mohammad Moinuddin of Jaipur.

Barelvi, in his letter, had written that Saeed influences people in killing and terrorist activities and questioned whether such a person has the right to call himself a Muslim.

He asked whether such a person can be considered a Muslim and whether it is right to follow his preaching.

In his 'fatwa', Mufti Saleem said that having any type of connection with persons working against the dignity of Allah and the Prophet was illegal and 'haraam', an act that is forbidden by Allah.

It stated that any person who regards Saeed as Muslim is a coward.

It said that considering him as Muslim and listening to his words was also illegal and prohibited.

As per the fatwa, Saeed was a man with terrorist ideology, who with his acts has brought infamy to Islam and Muslims across the world. Therefore, it was compulsory for every Muslim not to follow him and keep away from his ideology.

Addressing a rally held under the banner of 'Defence Council of Pakistan' in Karachi on Sunday, Saeed said, "Kashmiris had announced before the partition that they wanted to remain with Pakistan. But after the partition, India forcibly sent Army to Jammu and Kashmir."

He said on this Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah ordered his commander-in-chief to respond by sending troops but he refused to obey his orders.

"Now, I ask Gen Raheel Sharif to send troops in (Jammu and) Kashmir as Quaid-e-Azam's order is pending," he added.

Saeed said he was not asking for a war with India but they (Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif) must form a strategy regarding the Kashmir issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
So what he is married? This 'committed' status does not affect his desirability even by a percent.

The girls out there might have had a chance, only if he was not married. That is how the actor revealed his hidden flirtatious nature in an interview with Cosmopoliton.

On being quizzed if the 34-year-old actor would have hit on his 'Khoobsurat' co-star Sonam Kapoor, if he hadn't been married, he said, "Of course! I would've hit on anything that moves if I wasn't married."

For the unversed, this hottie from Pakistan is happily married to his high-school sweetheart Sadaf Khan for over a decade now.

Talking about his marriage he further said, "When you live with a person, you get to know them in and out. You get to find out so much more, evolve together and learn each other's deepest darkest secrets, and still be okay with it-and that's the best part."

The couple already have a son together named Ayaan and is expecting their second child in November.

On the work front, the 'Kapoor and Sons' actor will next be seen in Karan Johar's 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil,' along with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, slated to release on October 28.

Recently reports have been doing the rounds that Fawad will be seen in Dharma Productions' upcoming venture, opposite Katrina Kaif.

Reportedly, the film, said to go on floor in Delhi this November and will wrap up by next January, is touted to be a fun love story which will unfold against the backdrop of a big fat Punjabi wedding.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
HostGator India, an Endurance International Group brand and leading provider of shared, reseller and Virtual Private Server hosting solutions, has announced its support for 'Make In India' with the launch of 'Host In India,' an initiative for Indian businesses.

Indian brands that are looking to establish their online presence can enhance their overall marketability through deploying Indian web hosting services powered by geo-based hosting from GPX- India's leading tier IV data-centre for faster website loading time and 99.99 percent uptime guarantee.

Through this initiative, HostGator India aims to drive adoption of local hosting solutions amongst web designers, developers, bloggers, startups, enterprise businesses, application hosts and ecommerce sites that experience high traffic in India.

Customers will have access to local language support with trained staff fluent in popular regional languages as well as the option to make transactions in local currency.

'Host In India' works in-sync with the 'Make in India', 'Startup India' and 'Digital India' initiatives of the Government of India, which are aimed at digitally and technologically empowering our economy.

Through local geo-hosting in India, customers will be able to boost their website latency speed in comparison to sites hosted in the United States, leading to minimal lag and quicker load times.

"India represents a tremendous growth opportunity for HostGator India considering that we've been quite focused on enabling startups, SMBs and new ventures to establish themselves online efficiently," said Shashank Mehrotra, Managing Director, Endurance India.

"The government of India has been making efforts towards enabling local language content and developing the digital ecosystem so that even non-English citizens can communicate online in their native language. We are thrilled to contribute to the Indian government's initiatives like 'Digital India' and 'Make in India' by imparting a local flavour in the digital ecosystem with the 'Host In India' initiative," added Mehrotra.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For the second year in a row, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has made it to the prestigious Fortune India Next 500 list of Indian companies, with the Railway Ministry PSU improving its ranking to 199 from 328 in 2015.

The awards, which recognize the outstanding contributions of the companies made during last year, will be presented on Friday (Aug. 19) as a part of Fortune India's The Next 500 summit at Leela Palace hotel here.

Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari will deliver the keynote address at the function, where Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das will be the guest of honor.

The latest award for IRCTC whose total turnover rose from Rs. 1141 crore in 2014 to 15 to Rs. 1503 crore (unaudited) in 2015-2016 comes after the mini-Ratna PSU received a special prize of Scope Corporate Communication Excellence Awards 2016 for Effective and Innovative use of Digital Communication last month.

The companies finding a place in the Next 500 list are mostly mid-sized and termed as the small wonders by the magazine.

These firms drawn from various sectors like food and agri products, pharma, Information Technology, iron and steel and financial services are capable of breaking into the Fortune India 500 the magazine had said last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nepal's Cabinet on Thursday decided to provide Rs. one million each to the families of those who died during the month-long anti-Constitution protest in the country's Tarai-Madhes region.

Fifty-two victims, including 10 security personnel, will be given the amount, reports the Himalayan Times.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government has also formed a high-level commission to investigate into violent incidents which occurred during the protests.

The commission is headed by former Supreme Court Justice Girish Chanda Lal.

In September last year, the Madhesis based in the Tarai lowlands launched the strike forcing major political parties to amend the new charter and give them a greater role in the power structure.

The four-month-old blockade along a major trading point with India was called off after the ethnic community said it didn't want ordinary people to suffer anymore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Questioning former home minister P. Chidambaram's remarks on the Kashmir unrest, Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said it appears that the grand old party leaders are not guided by the interest but by political opportunism.

Naidu said Congress has once again displayed its insensitivity on the Jammu and Kashmir issue as its own leaders are not in consonance.

"The Congress Party has once again displayed shocking carelessness on the sensitive Jammu and Kashmir issue. They have stirred a needless controversy... Its own leaders are not in consonance...One day, Kapil Sibal says something. The next day, Congress disowns it," Naidu told the media here.

The Union Minister said that the only thing that is consistent about the Congress Party's policy towards Pakistan and Jammu Kashmir is their inconsistency.

"The statements and contradictions by the Congress leaders smell of political opportunism to me. It appears that Congress leaders are not guided by interest but political opportunism," he added.

Appealing the Congress leaders to be sensitive, realistic and act and speak accordingly, he asked, "Why is Congress trying to exonerate Pakistan?"

"Why is the Congress trying to exonerate Pakistan? I appeal them to be sensitive, be realistic, understand the sentiments of the people and act and speak accordingly. The government is trying to work on this and things are coming to normalcy," he added.

Naidu's reaction came a day after senior Chidambaram said the Congress, Conference and the PDP should come together to find a solution on Jammu and Kashmir.

His party, however, did not agree or disagree. It instead targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad had earlier said that the Prime Minister was indulging in vote bank politics by talking about Pakistan and turning a blind eye towards the unrest in the Kashmir valley.

Chidambaram, who was home minister in the UPA government, blamed the PDP-BJP government for the deterioration in the situation in the Valley.

"I am afraid the way out of the crisis cannot be found by the present government. Congress, NC and, if willing, the PDP must come together to find a solution: firstly, an immediate solution to stop the violence and, then, a path forward that will bring hope, peace and prosperity to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has returned to the top five of the ICC Player rankings for Test bowlers after registering his seventh 10-wicket haul which helped Sri Lanka to win the third Test by 163 runs and the series 3-0.

Herath, 38, recorded figures of six for 81 and seven for 64 in the Colombo Test, which has helped him to move three places up to fifth in the latest rankings which were released on Thursday morning.

This is Herath's highest-ranking since he achieved fourth spot following the Wellington Test against New Zealand in January 2015.

The bowlers' list is headed by England's James Anderson, who leads India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin by 12 points. Dale Steyn, who will feature in the upcoming series against New Zealand, is third, 17 points behind the India off-spinner.

Colombo Test centurions Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva have also made significant gains in the ICC Player rankings for Test batsmen.

Chandimal has risen six slots to reach 17th spot in a list which is headed by Australia captain Steve Smith, while de Silva has shot up 30 places to 37th position. Kaushal Silva, who scored 115 in the second innings, has also moved up nine places to 39th on the rankings.

For Australia, opener David Warner has gained one place to share ninth spot with New Zealand's Ross Taylor, while Shaun Marsh, who struck the first century for Australia on the Sri Lanka tour in Colombo, has jumped 13 places to reach 33rd rank.

Smith, who scored 119 runs in the first innings, has retained his number-one ranking. He leads England's Joe Root by 28 points, with Kane Williamson aiming to move into second position when he takes the field against South Africa in Durban as he trails the England batsman by just five points.

Meanwhile, South Africa have their task cut out in the upcoming two-Test series against New Zealand starting on Friday, which it needs to win by any margin to overtake the opposition and move up two slots in the ICC Test team rankings.

South Africa, which have never lost a Test series to New Zealand, currently have 92 points and are placed seventh in the list led by newly-crowned India while New Zealand are fifth with 99 points. Sri Lanka, which completed a 3-0 whitewash over Australia in a home series on Wednesday, are in sixth position at 95 points.

A 2-0 win for South Africa in the series to be played in Durban and Centurion will lift them to fifth position with 98 points and will see New Zealand slip to seventh position with 94 points. Even a 1-0 win for South Africa will see them climb to fifth with 96 points, leaving New Zealand with 95 points and behind Sri Lanka on decimal points at seventh position.

On the other hand, a 2-0 win for New Zealand will carry them to 103 points and a 1-0 win to 102 points, but neither will be enough to take them above fifth rank. South Africa will remain on seventh position in either scenario with a tally of 86 and 88 points, respectively. Even a 1-1 draw will keep New Zealand in fifth position with 98 points and South Africa at their current 92 points.

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India produces about 4200 tons of cardamom annually, and with its agro-forestry system, Sikkim contributes 86 percent of cardamom of the nation.

Large cardamom is an ancient spice-cum-medicinal herb used by northeastern people.

Its cultivation is mainly confined to eastern Himalayas covering Sikkim, Darjeeling in West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh.

People of Lingchom and Geyzing in West Sikkim mainly cultivate large cardamom which is considered one of the most important spices in Sikkim. It is also the main source of income for the state.

Hari Lal Gurung, a farmer, said, "Cardamom is cultivated in abundance in the state of Sikkim which is provided by the nursery. We have been using the organic method of farming with the help of the nursery."

Ramsey, Golsey, Varlanegy and Sawney are some of the varieties of large cardamom which are found in the region.

Large cardamom is cultivated mainly in shaded areas and requires moist soil.

In organic farming, cardamom farmers mostly use dried cow dung as fertilizers.

Purna Bir Subba, another farmer, said, "From the very beginning, I was never interested in taking up a government job. I am doing what I love to do which is farming and by doing this farming, I've been looking after my family."

Cultivating cardamom has been a traditional practice and a way to earn livelihood for the people of Sikkim.

Youngsters in Sikkim are gradually taking up cardamom farming and yearn for better results.

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Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday celebrated Raksha Bandhan with Army Jawans deployed at the Siachen Base Camp Glacier, the highest battleground in the world.

"It is a great honour for me to celebrate this festival here with my brothers who guard the borders. Prime Minister Modi has always celebrated festivals with the jawans," Irani told ANI.

Meanwhile, General S.K Patiyal said that it was a great honour for them to celebrate this auspicious festival with the Union Minister.

"It's an honour for all of us. It boosts up our morale. I thank ma'am that she has come from such a long distance to tie rakhi," General Patiyal told ANI.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman will also be tying rakhi to the jawans at Lumla in Tawang region later in the day.

Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal yesterday tied rakhi to the BSF personnel deployed at the international border in Attari near Amritsar.

Girls from colleges and schools also tied rakhis to BSF troops at the Attari Border.

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'Winning a bronze medal on Raksha Bandhan is the biggest gift I had wished for,' says the cousin of Rio bronze medalist Sakshi Malik, who defeated Asian champion Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan in the freestyle 58 kg category.

Sakshi's cousins Deepak Malik and Sachin Malik expressed immense satisfaction on her achievement and said that their sister never got the time to celebrate Raksha Bandhan earlier as she was working hard for the Olympics.

"In the past four years, she became busy in her practice while preparing for the Olympics. During those years, we did not get the chance to celebrate Raksha Bandhan with her. Now that we have received a special gift, we feel really special this Raksha Bandhan," said Deepak.

The 23-year-old girl from Rohtak, Haryana, defeated Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday to clinch bronze medal for the nation in the freestyle 58kg wrestling.

Describing the bronze medal win at the Rio Olympics as the greatest feeling of her life, ace Indian wrestler Sakshi said, ""I am filled with pride and extremely happy that I have fulfilled the expectations of people and finally put India on the medal tally. It is truly the greatest feeling that I have ever had in my life."

Malik's residence was in festive mood after they saw their daughter stand on the podium. The family celebrated with dance, music and fireworks and emotions ran high during all the celebrations and cheers.

Sakshi's mother Sudesh Malik was relieved after her daughter's win and informed the 23-year-old was not at all tired after fighting back-to-back bouts.

"I asked her if she was tired, she said nobody feels tired after winning a medal for country. She (Sakshi) said I am grateful to the country as it gave me so much support. I had tears in my eyes and she was happy. I feel like decorating the whole Rohtak," she told ANI.

Sudesh said that it was a proud moment for the Malik household that their daughter ended the drought.

"India's daughter has stopped India's medal drought. So proud of her."

Sakshi's father Sukhbir Malik said he was short of words to express his feelings.

"She has won the first medal for the country. I got tears in my eyes. It's a big day for all of us. What can I say? Literally have no words to express my happiness," he said.

After going down 2-9 against Russia's Valeriia Koblova in the quarter-finals, Sakshi received another chance at a medal via repechage and made full use of the second life by outplaying Mongolian wrestler Orkhon Purevdorj 12-3 to advance to the bronze-medal match.

With the win, she also became the fourth Indian wrestler to win a medal in Olympics after Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt.

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Mr. R. Gandhi, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, exhorted banks to take full advantage of technological developments and tailor them to the needs of the customer. He called for a positive shift by banks towards becoming socially relevant entities, else the run the risk of being edged out.

Mr. Gandhi urged banks to pull up their socks and address the emerging trends in the banking sector which were being dictated by technology, regulation and customers.

He said technology and customer expectation have chunked away banking functions from banks.

This was because banks no longer do banking exclusively, non-banking institutions and fintech companies were getting into their domain strongly. This does not bode well as it had all the potential to de-grow banks and ultimately decimate them, he cautioned.

Mr. Gandhi said the millennials crave for instant gratification and have a 'no loyalty' approach. The banking industry would therefore have to change the way it conducts business to cater to the needs of Gen X. He said the solutions offered by fintech companies were effective and therefore they possess a disruptive power that banks would have to contend with.

The Deputy Governor's mantra was to make yourselves socially relevant to avert the onslaught of technology, regulation and customer preferences.

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Chromium is widely used in various industries like leather, steel, chrome plating, paint manufacturing, wood preservation etc. Untreated effluents from these industries cause widespread contamination of water as been reported in several parts of the country.

Chromium in the environment primarily exists as Trivalent Chromium Cr(III) and Hexavalent Chromium Cr(VI). The later is toxic and the World Health Organization has classified it as carcinogenic and can cause stomach ulcers and cancers and severe damage to kidneys and liver.

As per Indian standard IS10500 for drinking water, the maximum permissible concentration of Cr(VI) in drinking water is 50 microgram per litre. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends a still lower permissible concentration of 10 microgram per liter.

Detection of Cr(VI) at such low levels is not only technically challenging but also expensive and time consuming since it involves collection of water samples from affected areas, transport to laboratory, storage and finally analysis. The method can be used for limited water samples with errors due to conversion of Cr(III) to Cr(VI) and vice versa during transport and storage.

BARC has developed a simple, user friendly, quick and cost effective kit for onsite determination of Cr(VI), which meets IS10500 as well as EPA criterion. It provides the much needed solution to measure the level of Chromium contamination in drinking water and tap water, lakes, rivers as well as ground water.

The procedure involves adding a specified amount of specific reagents to the water sample and identifying the developed colour.

The colour develops within 5 minutes and the distinction can be made with naked eye. For ease of comparison a colour chart is provided with the kit. Water samples can be immediately categorized as being safe or toxic for drinking from Chromium(VI) point of view. The kit provides several advantages including onsite detection and instantaneous results, elimination of use of sophisticated instruments for analysis, low investment on infrastructure for production of the kit, easy availability of raw materials and very good accuracy for the intended purpose.

Existing kits for onsite detection of Chromium (VI) are currently imported and the cost of analysis is beyond Rs.100 per sample. In comparison, analysis using BARC kit costs Rs.16 per sample. This is yet another example of BARC's efforts towards 'Make in India' campaign of the Government of India.

The technology of the BARC kit for Cr(VI) detection has been transferred to M/s LTEK Industries, Nagpur.

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Bharti Airtel rose 1.38% to Rs 350 at 10:36 IST on BSE on reports that Singapore Telecommunications intends to acquire a stake in Thailand's Intouch Holdings and also raise its holding in Bharti Airtel's holding company Bharti Telecom.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 181.06 points or 0.65% at 28,186.43.

On BSE, so far 57,000 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 3.48 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 350.75 and a low of Rs 346.50 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 398 on 17 August 2015. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 282.30 on 29 January 2016. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 17 August 2016, sliding 8.78% compared with 0.61% rise in the Sensex. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, declining 1.78% as against Sensex's 8.66% rise.

The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 1998.70 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5.

According to reports, Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) intends to acquire a stake in Thailand's Intouch Holdings and boost its holding in Bharti Telecom, a holding company of Bharti Airtel, to take advantage of faster growth in emerging markets. SingTel plans to acquire a 21% stake in Intouch for 1.58 billion Singapore dollar and an additional 7.39% stake in Bharti Telecom for 884 million Singapore dollar, through wholly-owned subsidiaries, reports suggested. SingTel already owns a 39.78% stake in Bharti Telecom, as per reports.

Bharti Telecom held 45.09% stake in Bharti Airtel as per the shareholding pattern as on 30 June 2016.

On a consolidated basis, Bharti Airtel's net profit declined 30.8% to Rs 1462 crore on 7.9% growth in net sales to Rs 25546.50 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015.

Bharti Airtel ranks amongst the top three mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. The company has its operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.

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The existing pension scheme for Central freedom fighter pensioners and their eligible dependents has been restructured as per the table below:1. Ex-Andaman Political Prisoners/ spouses Rs. 24,7752. Freedom fighters who suffered outside British India/spouses Rs. 23,0853. Other Freedom Fighters/ spouses including INA Rs. 21,3954. Dependent parents/ eligible daughters (maximum 3 daughters at any point of time) Rs. 3,380 (dependent parents)

Rs. 5,070 (daughters)

The revised scale shall take effect from 15 August 2016.

The existing Dearness Relief system based on All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial workers, which was hitherto applied to freedom fighter pensioners on annual basis, is being discontinued and replaced by the Dearness Allowance system applicable to Central Government employees twice a year.

All freedom fighters and spouses and dependent parents/eligible daughter pensioners of deceased freedom fighters drawing pension under the SwatantrataSainikSamman Pension Scheme, 1980 would be benefitted by the decision.

So far, total 1,71,605 freedom fighters and their eligible dependents have been sanctioned pension under the scheme. At present 37,981 freedom fighters and their eligible dependent pensioners are covered under the scheme. Of these, 11,690 are freedom fighters themselves, 24,792 are spouses(widows/widowers) and 1,499 are daughter pensioners.

In 1969, Government of India introduced the 'Ex-Andaman Political Prisoners Pension Scheme' to honour the freedom fighters who had been incarcerated in the Cellular Jail at Port Blair. In 1972, to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of our Independence, a regular scheme for grant of freedom fighters' pension was introduced. Thereafter, with effect from 01.08.1980, a liberalized scheme, namely the 'SwatantrataSainikSamman Pension Scheme' is being implemented. Besides the freedom fighters, spouses (widows/widowers), unmarried and unemployed daughters (upto maximum three at any point of time) and parents of deceased freedom fighters are eligible for pension under the scheme.

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In State of Karnataka

Gammon India has been awarded the following project by National Highways Authority of India:

- Sector : Transportation

- Type of Contract : Civil Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC)

- Project & Scope of Work : Four laning of Hospet - Bellary - Karnataka / AP Border from Km.280.080 (Design Ch.) to Km.375.450 (Design Ch.), design length 98.370, NH-63 in the State of Karnataka under NHDP Phase-IVB on EPC mode.

- Value : Rs. 869,99,99,993 (Rupees Eight Hundred Sixty Nine Crores Ninety Nine lakhs Ninety Nine Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety Three).

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Power Grid Corporation rose 3.01% to Rs 179.80 at 12:56 IST on BSE after the company in its Q1 earnings presentation stated that it is implementing projects aggregating Rs 1.44 lakh crore.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 145.27 points or 0.52% at 28,150.64.

On BSE, so far 5.27 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 4.20 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 180.45 and a low of Rs 176.75 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 183.05 on 16 August 2016. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 120.75 on 10 September 2015. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 17 August 2016, advancing 6.24% compared with 0.61% rise in the Sensex. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, gaining 20.8% as against Sensex's 8.66% rise.

The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 5231.59 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Power Grid Corporation (PGCIL) in its post-result Q1 June 2016 investor presentation issued to the stock exchanges after market hours yesterday, 17 August 2016, said it had approved investment proposals worth about Rs 22874 crore in Q1 June 2016. The company awarded contracts worth about Rs 11433 crore during the quarter. The company has ongoing projects worth about Rs 1.13 lakh crore as of July 2016. The company has identified new projects worth about Rs 15000 crore as of July 2016. Total works in hand stood at about Rs 1.44 lakh crore as of July 2016.

PGCIL has a planned capital expenditure of Rs 22550 crore for the current financial year (FY 2017) of which it had spent Rs 5585 crore till June 2016.

PGCIL's net profit rose 32.9% to Rs 1801.77 crore on 29.4% growth in net sales to Rs 6069.06 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015. The company announced the results during market hours on 16 August 2016.

State-run Power Grid Corporation of India is an electric power transmission utility company. Government of India currently holds 57.9% stake in the firm (as per the shareholding pattern as on 30 June 2016).

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Army Chief General Dalbir Singh on Thursday briefed Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar about an affidavit in which he accused former Army chief General V.K. Singh, who is now a minister in the Narendra Modi government.

Parrikar had sought details about the affidavit, which was originally filed in the Armed Forces Tribunal in 2012, wherein Dalbir Singh said he was "victimised" by the then army chief V.K. Singh "with the sole purpose of denying promotion to the appointment of Army Commander".

Sources said the affidavit was filed by Dalbir Singh in his "personal capacity" when he was not the army chief, nor was V.K. Singh a minister.

The old affidavit was resubmitted by the present army chief after the matter came before the Supreme Court.

V.K. Singh slapped a discipline and vigilance ban on Dalbir Singh between April and May 2012 for alleged "failure of command and control" in an operation in Assam's Jorhat in 2011.

The ban was lifted in June 2012 after General Bikram Singh succeeded V.K. Singh as the army chief.

Dalbir Singh was then appointed commander of the army's Eastern Command.

--IANS

ao/tsb/bg

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The Coast Guard has rescued 31 crew members of two Bangladeshi fishing boats off the West Bengal coast after the vessels became non-operational due to engine failure in the mid-seas.

The boat 'Allar-dan' with 15 crew and 'Farhad' with 16 crew were evacuated on August 16-17 in inclement weather triggered by low pressure off the coast.

The Allar-dan crew was shifted to a local fishing boat whereas Farhad along with its crew was towed to Frazerganj (West Bengal) with the help of local fishing boats, a Coast Guard statement said.

The rescued fishermen were provided food and medical assistance by the Coast Guard.

The entire operation was coordinated by Coast Guard Regional Headquarters (North East).

"We are maintaining enhanced vigil in view of the extremely rough sea conditions. We are ever prepared to render any assistance to seamen in distress," Headquarters Inspector General K.R. Nautiyal said.

--IANS

ssp/tsb/bg

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Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav led the Raksha Bandhan celebrations in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

At a function held at the Raj Bhavan, girls from various walks of life tied rakhis -- sacred thread -- on Naik's wrist.

Among others, girls from Brahmakumari Ishwariya University and Princess Farzana of the royal family of Awadh also tied rakhis to the Governor.

Thanking all for coming to the Raj Bhavan on the occasion, Naik said he hoped that women and girls would get more security in society in days to come.

Later, a function was also held at Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's official 5, Kalidas Marg residence where a large number of girls from different schools and some party workers tied rakhis on him.

Akhilesh Yadav wished the people of the state on the Hindu festival and said the festival reminded people of sacrifice, love and affection towards sisters.

The festival is being celebrated across the state with traditional fervour.

--IANS

md/ask/bg

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Greece resumed returning refugees to Turkey for the first time since the failed military coup of July 15 in Ankara and the March 18 EU-Turkey refugee return agreement.

Greece returned two small immigrant batches to Turkish authorities in a day. The first group comprised eight Syrian men flown out from the Greek island of Lesbos to Adana airport in Turkey by a Frontex border protection agency aircraft, Efe news reported on Thursday.

This return was followed by another six immigrants who were deported from Lesbos to the Turkish port of Dikili on board a boat chartered by the EU Frontex agency.

According to the local media, police sources said four Pakistani and two Algerian nationals, who demanded their right to seek refugee status, would be sent to a refugee camp near Istanbul.

Since January, 1,055 people have been returned to Turkey under the bilateral Greece-Turkey protocols and 521 under the EU-Turkey agreement.

--IANS

ask/ahm/dg

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Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar has accepted his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Chaudhry's invitation for talks but has made clear that the agenda should concern only issues related to terrorism, a top official said on Thursday.

Accepting Chaudhry's invite, Jaishankar in his reply stated that the talks should focus on five aspects of terrorism.

"In a letter dated August 16, Foreign Secretary has first of all underlined that Pakistan's self-serving allegations made in their communication are rejected in their entirety by the government of India," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in his weekly media briefing here.

"Pakistan has no locus standi in respect of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of our nation," he said.

According to Swarup, Jaishankar in his letter "conveyed that he accepts his counterpart's invitation to visit Islamabad" but made it clear that the discussions should focus first on the more pressing aspects of the Jammu & Kashmir situation.

These include cessation of cross-border terrorism by Pakistan aimed at Jammu and Kashmir; ending incitement to violence and terrorism from Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir; detaining and prosecuting internationally recognised Pakistani terrorist leaders who have been publicly active recently in exhorting and supporting such violence in that state; closing down of Pakistani terrorist camps where terrorists such as Bahadur Ali, recently arrested in Jammu and Kashmir, continue to be trained; denying safe haven, shelters and support to terrorists in Pakistan who have escaped Indian law.

"Foreign Secretary also said that he looks forward to discussing with his counterpart the earliest possible vacation of Pakistan's illegal occupation of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir," the spokesperson said.

He stated that Jaishankar "also underlined the importance of bringing to justice all those guilty in Pakistan for the Mumbai terrorist attack of 2008 and Pathankot airbase attack (in January this year)".

"He said that his visit should provide the opportunity to receive a briefing from Pakistan's Foreign Secretary on progress in this regard," Swarup said.

He stated that the world was aware that Pakistan has a long history of violence and terrorism against India, as also in the broader region.

"The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has been its particular target. This record began with the government of Pakistan sending armed raiders into Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 and was repeated in 1965," Swarup said.

"More than three decades later, displaying a similar attitude, military personnel were infiltrated across the Line of Control in Kargil in 1999."

This approach to India, Swarup said, was reflected in support for terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir that continued to the present day.

"These acts were initially denied by the Government of Pakistan and attributed to local population, only to be admitted later by Pakistan's leaders who directed and organised such cross-border attacks on India, and assaults on the local people," he said.

The spokesperson said that the Pakistan government was aware that the framework for interactions between India and Pakistan was stipulated by the Simla Agreement of July 1972, wherein then Pakistani President Z.A. Bhutto agreed that the two countries should resolve to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations, as also the Lahore Declaration of February 1999 wherein Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reiterated Pakistan's determination to implement the Simla Agreement in letter and spirit.

"They are also based on the assurance given by (then Pakistani)) President (Pervez) Musharraf in January 2004 that he will not permit any territory under Pakistan's control to be used to support terrorism in any manner" Swarup added.

--IANS

ab/bg

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India has been "constructively engaging" with the UN's Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) to project the correct picture in violence-hit Jammu and Kashmir, a senior government official said on Thursday.

Stating that that there have been requests from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein to India and Pakistan for visits from his office to Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) respectively to ascertain the human rights situation, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said: "Through our mission in Geneva, the government has been constructively engaged with OHCHR to project the correct picture by highlighting the central role of cross-border terrorism and its glorification in the violent protests in Jammu and Kashmir.

At his weekly media briefing here, Swarup said that India has "also stressed to UNHCHR the efforts and undivided attention of all organs of the Indian state for restoring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir in the face of incitement and support to terrorism from across our border".

"We will continue to encourage international community to uphold promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the parts of Jammu and Kashmir under illegal occupation of Pakistan, and hold the concerned accountable for their violation," he stated.

At least 66 people have lost their lives in large-scale violence in Jammu and Kashmir following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani early last month.

--IANS

ab/bg

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At least three Afghans were killed and 49 injured on Thursday in a mortar attack in the country's eastern province bordering Pakistan during the country's Independence Day celebrations, officials said.

The mortar shells which struck a government building where a celebration was underway in Kunar province were fired by Taliban militants, Xinhua news agency quoted a provincial head as saying.

"Two children and a man were killed and 49 others wounded by the mortar shelling in Asadabad this morning," provincial Governor Wahidullah Kalimzai said.

War-torn Afghanistan on August 18 marked the 97th anniversary of its independence from British occupation by holding meetings and celebrations across the country.

--IANS

sm/ahm/bg

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will deploy single-stop inspections at border gates with neighbouring countries to prevent illegal trade, officials said on Thursday.

Minister of Commerce Than Myint told the House of Nationalities that discussions wereunderway with the two neighbouring countries  China and Thailand for the move, Xinhua news agency reported.

The system is aimed at preventing illegal trade and boosting the country's revenue collected from border trade, he said, adding that work was underway to set up customs checkpoints for border trade complete with X-ray machines to inspect containers.

He warned that unscrupulous businessmen and corrupt staff in illegal trade activities in border trade would be punished.

The ministry revealed that goods worth more than 52 billion kyats (about $43 million) were seized and inedible food worth more than 2.5 billion kyats were destroyed over the last three years until operation of previous mobile inspection teams were shut down in December 2015.
At least 11 militants were killed in joint aerial and ground operations in different parts of Pakistan's resistive Khyber-Agency, the army's media wing said on Thursday.

A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations said eight militant hideouts were also destroyed during the operations, which were conducted in Babar Kachkol and Toor Sapar and adjoining areas of the agency.

Khyber and North Waziristan are among Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown insurgents and foreign militants.

--IANS

ahm/dg

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It was hotter than normal in Vienna when US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived there late last month. He flew straight from an international meeting with 45 countries on IS-related terror in Washington to the meeting with more than 190 countries on exceptionally innovative negotiations related to climate change.

That demonstrated the unflinching commitment of the US to address, on top priority, two of the most defining challenges of our times -- terrorism and climate change.

He termed the negotiations in Vienna as "one of the single most important unitary steps that we could possibly take at this moment to stave off the worst impacts of climate change". That step was about the global phase-down of production and consumption of hydro-fluorocarbons (HFCs), one of the six green house gases (GHGs) thousands of times more powerful in warming our earth than carbon dioxide and now widely used in refrigeration and air conditioning -- including in nearly each and every car manufactured on the planet.

There is a strange similarity between ISIS and HFCs. Both are man-made. The world addressed the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but that resulted in a larger threat to mankind -- the IS. The world successfully addressed the threat to the stratospheric ozone layer by eliminating chloro-fluorocarbons (CFCs) but that resulted in the threat of HFCs. Like ISIS, the HFCs threat is growing steeply at over 10 per cent due to the demand from the refrigeration and air conditioning sectors.

The negotiators in Vienna faced a trying and simmering experience. Vienna was unusually hot. Last year had already smashed the record for being the hottest since reporting began in 1850. This year is on the way to break that record. Till June 2016, each month had been hotter than its precedent. The last decade was not only the hottest in history but 15 of the last 16 years were the hottest on the global record.

If successful, the phase down in production and consumption of HFCs can cumulatively avoid the equivalent of more than 100 billion tons of CO2 emissions by 2050. More importantly, warming can be brought down by 0.5 deg C by 2100, as per National Academy of Sciences and Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

But there are other magnetic reasons to focus on the control of HFCs. Unlike carbon dioxide, the most widely emitted GHG that has an atmospheric life of nearly 100 years, many of the HFCs have a very short atmospheric life. Reducing these emissions would effectively give early benefits and slow the near-term rate of climate change, a dire need in the wake of inaction on the Paris climate agreement.

That itself is a convincing reason to bring HFCs under the most successful Montreal Protocol, which effectively prevented the global burnout from UV rays penetrating the earth's depleted stratospheric ozone layer by phasing out production and consumption of man-made chemicals responsible for its depletion.

More than 98 per cent of such chemicals are now history. The world has succeeded in setting the ozone layer on a spectacular recovery path as per the joint scientific assessment of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released in 2014.

Global policy makers are more impressed with UNEP's 2015 annual that states that the Montreal Protocol, through halting the depletion of the ozone layer, could save an estimated $2.5 trillion in healthcare costs, including those due to avoided skin cancers, cataracts and avoided damage to agriculture and fisheries. This enormously effective implementation of the Montreal Protocol and hands-on experience in addressing the global environmental challenge prompted the world to take on HFCs.

Inspired by the success, the US, India, Canada and Mexico, along with the EU, and small island countries, have proposed unusual, uncommon but most welcome amendments to the Montreal Protocol to phase down the production and consumption of HFCs.

Unusual, because HFCs -- unlike the controlled substances under the Montreal Protocol --are not ozone-depleting chemicals. Uncommon, because the Montreal Protocol deals with the control that another international treaty -- the Paris climate agreement -- has been mandated to exercise.

Getting HFCs controlled by one international treaty into the control regime of another global treaty is an innovative initiative in international environmental diplomacy and is succeeding. The details, however, are being negotiated by discussions on the amendments proposed by the countries.

India's proposal stands out and has much wider support as it is the most comprehensive in terms of the financial and technological needs of the developing countries. It also preserves the principles of the Montreal Protocol by including common but differentiated responsibility. The global agreement on the amendments is expected by the end of 2016.

A creative diplomatic solution is also being found to keep the effective role of both the Montreal and Paris accords in phasing down of consumption and production of HFCs. This seems to be the only forward that is better than any other options to keep the temperature rise below 2 deg C while pursuing the efforts to limit it to 1.5 deg C.

(Rajendra Shende, an IIT-alumnus, is Chairman, TERRE Policy Centre and former director of the UNEP. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at shende.rajendra@gmail.com)

--IANS

rajendra/vm/ky/tb

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the Balochistan issue during his Independence Day speech as he was moved by the messages he received from the people of that Pakistani province, a senior government official said on Thursday

"The Prime Minister was sufficiently moved by these messages of gratitude to share it with the people of India in his Independence Day address," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in his weekly media briefing here.

He said this while responding to a question on India's policy following reports that several Baloch groups were seeking recognition from the Indian government and they were even trying to set up a government-in-exile with India's support.

Putting the scenario in context, Swarup said several people from Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, including Gilgit-Baltistan, had messaged Modi and had been writing to him following his comments at an all-party meeting on August 12 in which he had flagged the atrocities being committed on the people of Balochistan.

"Prime Minister had been thanked by these people for flagging their cause in the all-party meeting which represents all political segments in India," the spokesperson said.

As for India's policy on the issue, he said that the Indian government has made statements about the situation in Baluchistan in the past as well.

"The only difference this time was that the various messages the Prime Minister had received had sufficiently moved him to share it with the people of India," he said.

To a question on comments by Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, that Modi's reference to the Balochistan issue has crossed red lines, Swarup described it as an "extraordinary remark".

"I find this an extraordinary remark from a senior functionary of Pakistan that recognises no red lines in its own diplomacy," he said.

"Pakistan's record of cross-border terrorism and infiltration is at the heart of the problems in the region today."

In a first for any Prime Minister in an August 15 address, Modi referred to human rights abuses in Balochistan and the part of Kashmir that Pakistan controls.

"The world is watching. People of Balochistan, Gilgit, Baltistan and occupied Kashmir have thanked me a lot in the past few days. I am grateful to them," Modi said, referring to his comments last week on excesses in Pakistan's largest province and in the part of Kashmir it holds.

He said the way people from these Pakistani regions "wished me well, gives me great joy".

In thanking an Indian Prime Minister, "they have thanked the whole population of my country", he said. "I want to offer my gratitude to these people."

--IANS

ab/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal on Thursday alleged that the ACB raid at her office was due to the "extensive work" done by the women's body since she took over last year.

She also alleged that former DCW chief Barkha Shukla Singh in her nine-year long tenure took up just a single case whereas under her more than 400 cases had been taken up in a single year.

"The ACB (anti-corruption branch) had come to the office of the DCW and we were being questioned for several hours," Maliwal told reporters.

"Barkha Shukla Singh in her nine-year-long career just took up only one case; so we want to know that till today why no questions have been raised with her?" Maliwal asked.

She also alleged that Barkha Shukla Singh had been drawing salary from both places, one as legislator and another as chief of DCW.

"Why didn't she work in her long nine-year tenure? Why did she complete only one case? Isn't it corruption?" she asked.

Maliwal's remarks came after the office of the DCW was raided by ACB sleuths on Thursday morning following a complaint by Delhi Congress leader Barkha Shukla Singh alleging that it was indulging in illegal practices of appointing its party associates to plum posts.

Shukla had filed a complaint with the ACB on August 12.

In her complaint, Shukla alleged that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders were appointing their associates to the DCW and giving them financial benefits from the Delhi government.

The Congress leader has named Prabhsahay Kaur, daughter of senior AAP leader H.S. Phoolka, Advisor to DCW Raj Mangal Prasad, and 83 others as beneficiaries.

All the names have been obtained through an RTI inquiry, Shukla claimed and demanded a detailed inquiry into such activities.

Highlighting the work of the DCW in the last one year, Maliwal said, "In the last one year I have taken up more than 400 cases, made over 50 visits and also made over 50 recommendations in several cases."

"We are being questioned as we are working," she claimed.

Speaking on the appointments, the DCW chief said, "Earlier there were 42 people working with the DCW and now there are about 80 people working with the DCW out of which three such appointments are of those who are acid attack victims."

"Two girls belong to the Nari Niketan and were appointed in DCW following all the rules and regulations which were there since the time Shukla was here," she said.

The DCW chief also said the appointments were done as the commission was overburdened with complaints which weren't taken up during Shukla's tenure.

"One can imagine the pendency of cases here as in the last nine years only one case was taken up," she said, adding, "For the last five months all the staff of DCW are working, even on Saturdays."

"Now the DCW initiates at least one action in a week in every case. And as the 181 helpline has come to us so we have hired 22 vehicles which are plying in the city to rescue women in distress," Maliwal claimed.

"We have also brought 22 lawyers with us who represent the cases of women in different city courts," she added.

Taking a dig at Delhi Police, Maliwal said, "Delhi Police filed a false case against me for revealing the name of the 14-year-old rape victim."

"I have never revealed the name of any rape victim. What is more shameful is that the rape victim died after she was forcefully made to drink acid by the rapist," she said. "And when I highlighted the issue then a false case was filed against me," she added.

She said the ACB was raiding her office in a false case as the DCW is working for the first time in its history.

"The ACB team has come here again in a false case and questioning our officers. This is being done because for the first time in the history of the DCW it is working," she added.

After the raids, the ACB has summoned Maliwal's secretary to join the probe on Friday.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At a time when banking majors are finding it difficult to raise capital, Maharashtra-based RBL Bank is expected to hit the market with a premium initial public offer on Aug 19.

Formerly known as the Ratnakar Bank Ltd, the bank is hoping to raise over Rs.1,200 crore, basically to shore up its capital base.

According to the prospectus, the bank will pursue inorganic growth initiatives to strengthen its competitive position, including stakes in small finance and payments bank.

For instance, the bank is considering a purchase of a minority stake in Utkarsh Micro Finance Private Limited, an applicant for a small finance bank license, subject to regulatory approvals.

The bank acquired Royal Bank of Scotland's business banking, credit card and mortgage portfolio businesses in fiscal 2014.

The RBL Bank also acquired minority stake in Swadhaar FinServe Private Limited, a company acting as a business correspondent, facilitator, agent and distributor for financial services providers for the purpose of offering such products and services to inadequately served sections of businesses, households and enterprises for a consideration of approximately Rs.20.5 crore.

The IPO comprises a fresh issue of Rs.832.5 crore and an offer of sale of shares by existing shareholders up to 16,909,628 equity shares.

The public issue is the first by a private bank in the past couple of years.

Last fiscal, the bank's total income stood at Rs.3,234.85 crore up from Rs.2,356.49 the previous fiscal.

The RBL Bank last fiscal logged a profit Rs.296.80 crore up from Rs.208.45 crore the previous fiscal.

The bank's gross non-performing assets as on 31.3.2016 stood at Rs.208.05 crore, up from Rs.Rs.77.75 crore at the end of previous fiscal. The net NPA at the end of last fiscal was Rs.124.44 crore up from Rs.38.59 crore.

The bank said the increase in its NPA is due to difficult economic conditions in India in recent years.

According to the bank it had provided for Rs.93.19 crore during the fiscal ended March 31, 2016 towards provision for NPA, non-performing investments, depreciation on investments, write-off and sacrifice for restructured advances.

The bank said as a part of its growth strategy, it is moving from a traditional corporate-commercial relationship-led local bank to a mid-sized bank with a diversified corporate, commercial and retail banking portfolio.

As of March 31, 2016, the bank had 197 branches, of which 94 were located in Maharashtra and 23 branches were located in Karnataka, leaving it more exposed to issues in these regions.

--IANS

vj/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told the cabinet on Thursday that the projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were the top priority of the government and concerted efforts should be made to ensure timely progress.

The cabinet was given a detailed briefing on the progress of the CPEC projects and the prime minister directed the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform to ensure completion of the first batch of projects in energy and infrastructure sectors by 2017-18.

Sharif told the ministers that speedy progress on these projects was necessary for addressing the existing shortfalls and future demands, a statement from the PM House said.

"The completion of early harvest projects will go a long way in elimination of load shedding by summer of 2018," the statement quoted Sharif as saying.

He noted that significant progress was being made on the western route of the CPEC project. Employment opportunities would be generated for the local populace which would generate economic activity and enhance national wealth.

He further stated that the CPEC would ensure equitable benefits among different areas of Pakistan, including the most underdeveloped areas.

"It will not only connect 200 million people of Pakistan, but would also open up avenues of cooperation amongst people, communities and states across the region."

The cabinet was informed that a considerable part of the portfolio under the CPEC had been energized while the remaining was in the pipeline.

Meanwhile Foreign Office spokesman Nafeez Zakaria said the CPEC, which is broad-based economic cooperation between the two countries, would also benefit other countries.

"CPEC is a comprehensive and broad-based economic cooperation project between Pakistan and China. The project will contribute to economic development of the entire region and not only for Pakistan and China," Zakaria told a weekly briefing.

"It can be a catalyst for economic connectivity and integration in Central Asia, South Asia and the West Asia," he said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James has praised the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the "magnificent execution" of 'Operation Sankat Mochan' which evacuated Indian civilians trapped in South Sudan last month.

James, who is scheduled to visit India, told reporters here on Wednesday that she was "looking forward to congratulating the chief in particular on what I think is a magnificent execution of the C-17 operation where you were able to evacuate Indian citizens from South Sudan. Well done on that."

Operation Sankat Mochan, which brought back 156 civilians from South Sudan capital Juba, used C-17 Globemaster aircraft purchased from the US.

During her New Delhi visit, she is slated to meet Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, the Chief of Air Staff and Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee.

She described the as "a very effective fighting unit" and recalled its participation in Red Flag exercises with the US Air Force.

During the exercise, she said, "we get together with coalition partners and we train together and interoperate together and we go up sometimes against simulated threats so that we test ourselves on a high-end, very challenging, difficult environment."

Most recently the took part in a four-week Red Flag exercise in Alaska that concluded in May.

India deployed Sukhoi 30-MK and Jaguars fighter jets and IL-78 mid-air refuelling planes.
S S Ahluwalia, Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers welfare, has written a letter to the home ministry in which he has raised several demands for Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, including a new Army regiment from the district. The regiment, Narayani Sena, will represent the Cooch and Rajvanshi population of the district, which is part of Ahluwalia's parliamentary constituency, Darjeeling. The state administration fears that the move might spark fresh demand for a separate state among the indigenous population of the district. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked the director general of police to conduct a thorough investigation.
IN PURSUIT

Andrew NagorskiSimon & Schuster393 pages; Rs 699Among World War II's multiple legacies to politics and society the term "genocide" is probably the most significant. It entered the legal lexicon as a new category of international crime in the mid-1940s following more than a decade of lobbying by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish refugee and lawyer. Lemkin had been warning Europe's leaders since 1933 that Adolf Hitler was determined to exterminate an entire race. His appeals fell on receptive ears only after the tally of European Jews annihilated by the Nazi regime crossed six million.The work of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, instituted by the Allied victors after the war, is regarded as a valiant, if flawed, effort to bring Nazi leaders to book for these and other war crimes. The trials had noteworthy successes, sentencing to death 10 of the 12 top Nazis, and created a precedent in international law that endures today. In recording the evidence of thousands of victims, the trials also created an authentic historical record of officially sanctioned crimes against humanity, which principally involved killing Jews, in unimaginably cruel ways, simply because they were Jews.The widely publicised Nuremberg trials were cathartic in that they invested a European imperial war with a modicum of legitimacy for the Allies. But as the hot war congealed into the Cold War, the aim of justice for the victims of the Holocaust was rapidly subordinated to the new geo-strategic compulsions of the United States and its principal European ally, Britain. Realigned priorities meant that thousands of Germans who served the Nazi regime were now needed, first, to run a country decimated by the war and, more importantly, to provide intelligence on former ally and new enemy, the Communist regime of Russia.Thus, the Allies kept their eyes wide shut as many of the chief Nazis availed themselves of escape routes to havens in South America and West Asia. Millions of others hid in plain sight, blending in with the general population. The fact that many of the egregious representatives of the regime were brought to justice in spite of this unofficial pullback is courtesy a band of dogged, courageous and often eccentric men and women. Andrew Nagorski's In Pursuit tells their stories with all the compelling detail and drama that only a seasoned reporter can achieve.Thanks in no small measure to his own inexhaustible self-publicity, the story of Simon Wiesenthal and the role he played in the capture by Israel's Mossad of Adolf Eichmann, one of the chief architects of the Holocaust, has become the stuff of legends. But there were many others, either within the Allied administrative machinery or operating independently, who strove just as hard and managed equally spectacular successes. Wiesenthal features here, as he must, but Mr Nagorski has leveraged a long career as Newsweek bureau chief on both sides of the former Iron Curtain to trace the history of the less remembered "Nazi hunters", as this disparate group came to be known.Had it not been for them, some of the star criminals of the Nazi empire would never have been found. Among many others, they smoked out Klaus Barbie, the Gestapo chief known as the Butcher of Lyon; Rudolf Hoss, the longest-serving commander of Auschwitz; Josef Mengele, Auschwitz's "Dr Death"; Kurt Waldheim, who, bizarrely, rose to become UN Secretary General despite his questionable wartime record in the Balkans.Given this grisly roll call, it is no surprise that many of the Nazi hunters were Holocaust survivors like Wiesenthal and his Eichmann-hunting "frenemy", Tuvia Friedman. But many others were individuals with strong moral compasses. The American Benjamin Ferencz, for instance, was the 27-year-old chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg trial of commanders of the Einsatzgruppen, the special squads operating on the Eastern Front, who murdered Jews, Gypsies and civilian enemies. A Hungarian Jew by origin, he was part of the first wave of soldiers to land on Omaha Beach in northern France, and saw at first hand the camps at Buchenwald and Mauthausen.Then there was the Frenchwoman Beate Klarsfield, who famously slapped the German Chancellor Kurt Kiesenger, who had been a member of the Nazi Party. She and her husband Serge, whose father died in Auschwitz, worked meticulously to gather and publicise records of SS men guilty of deporting and murdering Jews in France. It was Jan Sehn, a Polish investigating judge, who persuaded Hoss to write his memoirs, providing for posterity a chilling account detailing how he improved the camp's death machinery.Not all the labours of these men and women resulted in satisfactory endings but, as Mr Nagorski writes, their efforts "also explored the nature of evil and raised profoundly troubling questions about human behaviour". In Pursuit, in fact, is set within this broad framework. The author explains his motive for writing this book: "Most of the Nazi hunters, along with the hunted, will soon exist only in our collective memories, where myth and reality are likely to become even more intertwined than they are today. Which is why their stories can and should be told now."

Mr Nagorski's effort may be in vain. Today, the cynical leveraging of the Holocaust for political ends has created another kind of tragedy in West Asia, that too in a way that certainly dishonours the memory of its victims.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has bought land to establish offices in around 250 organisational districts out of 525, said party president Amit Shah during the foundation stone laying ceremony for the BJPs new office complex in Delhi on Thursday.
In a brutal incident of cow vigilantism, a worker was killed and another person injured allegedly by VHP and Bajrang Dal activists who waylaid and attacked them near Hebri in this district last night.

Praveen Poojary (28) and Akshay Devadiga (20) were surrounded and attacked with sharp weapons by the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists as they were transporting three cows in a vehicle, Udupi district Superintendent of Police K T Balakrishna told PTI.

Poojary died instantly while Devadiga has been admitted to a hospital at Bramhavar, he said.

Seventeen people were arrested and a hunt was on to nab the others involved, he said.

The coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada have been reporting cases of cow vigilantism in the last several years.

The incident comes days after the Union Home Ministry had cracked the whip on cow vigilantism, asking all states not to tolerate anyone taking law into their hands in the name of protecting cow and to take prompt action against such offenders.

The Home Ministry advisory had come two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked cow vigilantes and asked people to beware of these 'fake' protectors trying to divide the society and the country.

He made these comments after his government and came under attack over incidents of violence against Dalits and Muslims by cow vigilantes in various states including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said prima facie cattle trade-related business dispute may be the reason behind the killing of the worker.

"Seventeen people have been arrested in connection with the incident, they (police) are suspecting some sort of a cattle trade-related business dispute," he told reporters in Bengaluru, adding police have taken up the case.

Noting that he does not see a communal angle to the incident "at this point of time", Parameshwara said "some reason must be there, we will find out".

He said "We don't know at this stage, but they are suspecting some sort of a dispute because of the trade, it is not definite, but they are suspecting. Investigation will give us the final picture."



Parameshwara also expressed concern over repeated incidents relating to beef and cattle trade in Karnataka.

"We are vigilant, we will definitely try and maintain peace and order. I appeal to the people who are trying to create this kind of disturbance not to do this because we are a tolerant society and we should not create these kind of issues," he said.
Government said on Thursday it is yet to decide on the level of India's participation at the Finance Ministers meeting later this month in Islamabad, amid indications that Arun Jaitley may skip the conference due to strain in ties between the two countries.

"No decision has been taken so far on India's level of participation at Finance Ministers meet in Islamabad," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters here at his weekly media briefing.

The conference is scheduled on August 25-26 in Islamabad.

Earlier this week, official sources had said that Jaitley may not visit Pakistan due to "political reasons".

"You all know what happened last time and what is happening," a source had said, referring to Home Minister Rajnath Singh's visit to Islamabad earlier this month, which was also for a Ministerial meeting.

Barbs were exchanged between Singh and Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who only had a tense and uneasy handshake during the SAARC meeting.

Pakistani authorities did not allow entry of Indian mediapersons, including those from PTI and Doordarshan, inside the venue of 7th SAARC Home Ministers Meeting in Islamabad.

Singh had informed Rajya Sabha that after the meeting was over, Pakistan's Home Minister, who was the host, invited the participants for lunch but left in a car soon thereafter.

"Keeping in mind the country's prestige, I did what I should have done. I have no complaints. I had not gone there for lunch," he had said.

India had yesterday rejected Pakistan's proposal to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks on Kashmir and made it clear that terrorism was "central" to its relations with Islamabad, whose different view and attitude has made it difficult for bilateral ties to grow.

That apart, in his Independence Day address to the nation earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that India will not bow before terrorism, and also brought up Pakistani atrocities on people of Baluchistan and PoK, saying that they have thanked him for doing so.

Though Modi did not make any reference to Kashmir valley, which is witnessing violence after the killing of Hizbul Commander Burhan Wani, he accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorists and celebrating the killings in India.

Pakistan's Finance Ministry in a recent statement had said the country would play the role of a "good host" and try to keep the overall ambiance positive.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation. Its member states include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
A string of bombings, blamed on Kurdish rebels and targeting Turkey's security forces, killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 220 others, officials said today.

Two of the attacks were car bombings that hit police stations in eastern Turkey, while a third a roadside blast targeted a military vehicle carrying soldiers in the southeast of the country.

Authorities say the assaults were carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has launched a campaign of car bombings targeting police stations or roadside bomb attacks against security force vehicles. Last week, PKK commander Cemil Bayik threatened increased attacks against police in Turkish cities.

The wave of attacks come as Turkey is focused on a clampdown on suspected followers of a movement led by US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, which the government accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup last month, that killed at least 270 people.

The first car bombing hit a police station in the eastern province of Van late yesterday, killing a police officer and two civilians. At least 73 other people including 53 civilians and 20 police officers were wounded, officials said.

Another car bombing hit police headquarters in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig early today, killing at least five people, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Officials said earlier 146 people were wounded and 14 of them were in serious condition.

Video footage showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area. Cars were overturned and the windows of the four-story building and its wings were blown out.

In the southeastern province of Bitlis meanwhile, five soldiers were killed after rebels detonated a roadside improvised explosive device as an armored military vehicle was passing by, officials said. Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack.

A government-paid village guard, helping the security forces battle the PKK was also killed in a clash with rebels in the province, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim traveled to Elazig to visit the site of the bombing as well as those wounded in the attack.

He told reporters there that both the PKK and the Gulen movement were directed by the same "intelligence" intent on causing Turkey harm, without elaborating.

"The (Gulen movement) has lost its assertiveness and has handed over the duty to the (PKK)," Yildirim said. "The intelligence that directs them is the same. When one's duty ends, the other takes up the duty."



Yildirim vowed to fight the PKK until it is "eliminated."



Speaking in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkey was jointly attacked by various organizations who he said were in close contact with each other and were "acting under the same motivations even if they have different names.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Names of 225 Sikhs, chronicled in the government's blacklist for their alleged involvement in subversive or anti-India activities, have been removed over the last four years.

The pruning has been done in a list of 298 Sikhs which was prepared at different levels by security agencies since 1980s.

Those Indian-origin people, who were allegedly involved in subversive or anti-India activities abroad, were included in the blacklist and such people were barred from visiting India.

"We have pruned the list in the last four years and recently removed names of 36 Sikhs settled abroad," a Home Ministry official said.

The names of remaining 73 people, whose names are in the blacklist, are expected to be removed in phases, the official said.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he assumed office in 2014 to direct the Home Ministry to evolve a mechanism for a regular review of all such cases.

Badal had said he wanted removal of the names of persons from the list against whom no cases or legal proceedings were pending.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal too had written a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to review the blacklist of Sikhs and delete names of the persons who were not wanted in any criminal case in the state.

A delegation of British Sikhs too had urged the Prime Minister to remove the names of Sikh individuals from the list.

During the 1980s and 1990s, a large number of Sikh families had migrated to the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and other countries seeking political asylum.

Many of the asylum-seekers were booked in cases in India and have not been allowed to visit India in the past decades.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the motto of last mile delivery, the government has connected by road 60 per cent of habitation in the 35 Naxal-affected districts in the country, while the remaining will be joined by March 2019.

The maximum of such habitation is in Bihar followed by Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra and Telangana.

"15,971 habitations in the 35 left-wing extremist districts were selected under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), out of which 9,573 are already connected by road," a senior government official told PTI.

Under this scheme, the government is connecting all habitations which have a population of 100 or above in these districts.

"We want last mile delivery, whether its government schemes or benefits. Therefore, rural roads are very essential as they are the basis of development," the official said.

Over 4.81 lakh km of roads connecting 1.192 lakh habitations across the country were constructed under PMGSY till June 30.

Rural road is a state subject and PMGSY is a one-time special intervention of the government to provide rural connectivity, by way of single all-weather road to the eligible unconnected habitations in the core network.

The programme envisages connecting all eligible unconnected habitations with a population of 500 persons and above as per 2001 census in plain areas and 250 persons and above in special category states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal will kick off a European election campaign as part of the party's "AAP Punjab 2017" agenda from next month.

Kejriwal will visit Italy in the first week of September along with party leaders Kumar Vishwas, Jarnail Singh and Adarsh Shashtri, it was announced by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) UK here today.

"Not only youth but the elders too want to be a part of a change in Punjab and eager to see corruption and drugs free Punjab. Moreover, each gurdwara committee (we visit) assure their prolonged support to AAP during upcoming Punjab 2017," an AAP UK spokesperson said.

The visit to engage with Italy's Punjabi-origin population will be followed by a visit to the UK by Vishwas to hold gatherings across the country's gurdwaras towards the end of September.

Meanwhile, AAP's team in the UK has been rallying support within the British Punjabi community with a series of events, including at the annual Leamington and Warwick Mela over the weekend.

"These energetic volunteers add value in social media, anti-drug awareness, membership drives, fund raising and other deeds. Few of them, very pro-actively are already in command of local social media with spreading manifesto, adding new members and events planned for the future," the spokesperson added.

Punjab will go to the polls to be held early next year.

AAP UK operates from a base in west London and has been engaging with the non-resident Indian (NRI) community for a few years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) need to put in place a mechanism for resolution of disputes through arbitration or any other framework mutually agreed between them and investors, Sebi said today.

Besides, the watchdog has a web-based centralised grievance redressal system 'SCORES' where investors can lodge their complaints against AIFs.

"For dispute resolution, the AIF by itself or through the manager or sponsor, is required to lay down procedure for resolution of disputes between the investors, AIF, manager or sponsor through arbitration or any such mechanism as mutually decided between the investors and the AIF," Sebi said.

Releasing a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs), the regulator said the FAQ is prepared with a view to guide market participants on AIF regulations.

AIFs are funds established or incorporated in India for the purpose of pooling in capital from Indian and foreign investors for investing as per a pre-decided policy. Under Sebi guidelines, AIFs can operate broadly in three categories.

Category-I AIFs are those funds that get incentives from the government, Sebi or other regulators and include social venture funds, infrastructure funds, venture capital funds and SME funds.

Category-III AIFs are those trading with a view to making short-term returns and includes hedge funds among others. Category-II AIFs can invest anywhere in any combination but are prohibited from raising debt, except for meeting their day-to-day operational requirements



The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) rules apply to all AIFs, including those operating as private equity funds, real estate funds and hedge funds among others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The 48-day annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas ended today, coinciding with the festival of Raksha Bandhan, with over 2.20 lakh pilgrims offering prayers to the naturally formed ice- shivlingam despite the ongoing unrest.

This year's figure is the lowest in the past decade.

The holy mace of Lord Shiva popularly known as 'Chhari Mubarak', carried by a group of sadhus and devotees led by its custodian Mahant Deepindra Giri, arrived at the holy cave in the wee hours for the day-long prayers, officials said.

The group of sadhus and devotees trekked 42 kilometres from Pahalgam to reach the cave shrine with night halts at Chandanwari, Sheshnag and Panchtarani.

After traditional rituals at the sanctum sanctorum, the holy mace would start the return journey before dusk today.

While officially the yatra ended today, 'pujan' and 'visarjan' (immersion) ceremonies for the journey of 'Chhari Mubarak' would be performed on the banks of Lidder river in Pahalgam on August 20. It will be followed by a traditional open kitchen, the last ritual of the pilgrimage.

The holy mace would return to its abode at Amareshwar temple at Dashnami Akhara here the same day, the officials said.

The yatra had commenced from Pahalgam and Baltal routes amid strict security arrangements on July 2, a week before protests erupted in the Valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by security forces on July 8.

The unrest has left 64 people, mostly young boys, dead and over 8,000 injured.

Twenty-nine people -- 21 pilgrims, a sage, three sevadars (community kitchen workers), two local Muslims and as many paramilitary troopers -- died during the yatra after suffering cardiac arrest, while 40 yatris and 10 local Muslims were injured after falling from steep slopes, the officials said.

A pilgrim and a Muslim driver were killed when a yatra bus collided with a truck near Bijbehara on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway on July 13. Muslim villagers had defied curfew to save the lives of the injured pilgrims.

Setting an example of communal harmony and brotherhood, the residents had also offered free meals to the pilgrims at various places including Nigeen Club and TRC in Srinagar during the yatra.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amnesty today advised its staff in India to work either from home or a different location in the wake of protests against the NGO for organising an event where anti-India slogans were allegedly raised.

"We were told by police to keep our staff away from office for a while as a precaution. So, we told our employees to either work from home or some other location.

"Apparently, there were protests outside our Bengaluru office...So police cautioned us in the morning," Amnesty International India's spokesperson said.

"By tomorrow, our employees would assume normal working mode. We are not shutting down our offices," the spokeswoman said when asked about reports of its offices closing temporarily.

Bengaluru Police have slapped sedition charges against Amnesty International India, which has said none of its employees had shouted any anti-India slogan during a discussion on Kashmir held in the city on Saturday.

The NGO rejected as "without substance" the allegations raised by the ABVP, the student outfit of the RSS.

"The allegations mentioned in the complaint are without substance. The event was an open door event and people were coming and going. No staff members were involved," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the video footage of the event was being examined by the police to identify those who allegedly raised anti-India slogans.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh had yesterday quoted Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as saying that no arrests would be made pending the probe into the event even as ABVP intensified protests across the state demanding immediate arrest of those who allegedly raised anti-India and anti-Army slogans.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government is unlikely to grant permission to Amnesty International, slapped with charge of sedition for hosting an event where anti-India slogans were allegedly raised, for opening a hub in India to look after its operations in South Asia.

The authorities have also decided to ask Amnesty India to get itself registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) after a preliminary inquiry found the organisation had "bypassed" laws while accepting foreign funds in the last 16 years.

The Amnesty International had in 2014 and 2015 issued statements to the media making it clear that it would not register under the FCRA, which it described as "much-abused".

"The act was, and is, a much-abused law, and NGOs have experienced the unfairness of it both in the bureaucratic sense of inordinate delays and in the more overt sense of it being used too often to curb the freedom of expression of NGOs, especially those that work on the issues that hold up the mirror and demand accountability from the powers that be," it had said.

The Amnesty has registered a non-profit organisation in the name of Amnesty International South Asia Foundation on May 8, 2015.

Soon after, it sought the government's permission to open a hub to look after its activities in South Asia, excluding India, and wanted to bring in foreign funds to the tune of Rs 18,61,92,688 under the prior permission category for its operations.

"The application (for setting up the hub) is under examination and in all likelihood we are going to deny the permission as we have found that the NGO has been getting foreign funds without registering under FCRA, thus bypassing laws," a senior Home Ministry official said.

During preliminary inquiry, the official said, the Home Ministry found that the NGO received Great Britain Pound (GBP) 3,52,057 (Rs 3,09,35,248) and Rs 2,23,99,226 in four separate instalments since 2000 without having registered under the FCRA.

"All NGOs whose expenses are Rs 10 lakh or more in three preceding years have to register under the FCRA. But the Amnesty has not applied for FCRA registration yet. We are going to tell them to register under the FCRA first," the official said.

At the Bengaluru event organised by the Amnesty on Saturday, anti-India slogans were allegedly raised during a discussion on Kashmir, prompting the authorities to book the NGO under various IPC sections including sedition.

Amnesty, on its part, has rejected as "without substance" the allegations made by ABVP, the students wing of RSS, which had also filed a police complaint in connection with the event and submitted a CD of the proceedings, and claimed that none of its employees shouted any anti-India slogans at any point.

(REOPENS DEL53)



On December 19, 2000, the Amnesty India was granted permission for the first time to bring GBP 1,30,629 and again on November 14, 2003, GBP 2,21,428 under prior permission category.

The Home Ministry granted permission again to Amnesty to receive Rs 54,40,000 on July 14, 2009 and it received foreign funds of Rs 1,69,59,226 on March 28, 2012.

However, Amnesty India's applications on March 29, 2010 to allow it to receive Rs 32,72,000 and for Rs 1,69,59,226 on November 2, 2012 had been rejected by the Home Ministry. Two other such applications for receiving of Rs 2,65,76,204 and Rs 80,00,000 were also rejected by the Ministry on November 9, 2012 and March 19, 2013 respectively.

"We have denied the three applications as we have found that Amnesty India's expenditure in preceding three years were more than Rs 10 lakh and the NGO has not registered under the FCRA, besides (there are) some other issues," the official said.

(Reopens DES38)



When contacted for its reaction, Amnesty International India said "We have not received any notice. When we do, we shall respond adequately".
Actress Amy Adams is humanity's ambassador to an alien race in the first extended teaser for "Arrival".

"Blade Runner 2" director Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi thriller imagines an alternate future where alien ships suddenly land all across the earth on one single day.

With no actual clues whether the aliens come in peace or war, the US government brings in language expert Louise Banks (Adams) to communicate with these beings.

Louise is thrust into a race against time, as rogue governments threaten to start a violent conflict before the aliens can strike first.

"Arrival" is based on writer Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life", the groundbreaking and Hugo Award-nominated 1999 short story.

Joining Adams in the ensemble cast are "Avengers" star Jeremy Renner and Rogue One's Forest Whitaker, as US government workers ordered to figure out the aliens' true intentions.

"Arrival" will release on November 11.

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Scientists have for the first time proven that the 5,000-year-old great circles - the earliest standing stone monuments in Britain that predate the Stonehenge - were constructed specifically in line with the movements of the Sun and Moon.

Researchers at University of Adelaide in Australia used 2D and 3D technology to construct quantitative tests of the patterns of alignment of the standing stones.

"Nobody before this has ever statistically determined that a single stone circle was constructed with astronomical phenomena in mind - it was all supposition," said project leader Gail Higginbottom, Visiting Research Fellow at University of Adelaide.

The researchers examining the oldest great stone circles built in Scotland - Callanish on the Isle of Lewis, and Stenness on Isle of Orkney - both predating Stonehenge's standing stones by about 500 years.

They found a great concentration of alignments towards the Sun and Moon at different times of their cycles.

Two thousand years later in Scotland, much simpler monuments were still being built that had at least one of the same astronomical alignments found at the great circles.

The stones, however, are not just connected with the Sun and the Moon. Researchers discovered a complex relationship between the alignment of the stones, the surrounding landscape and horizon, and the movements of the Sun and the Moon across that landscape.

"This research is finally proof that the ancient Britons connected the Earth to the sky with their earliest standing stones, and that this practice continued in the same way for 2000 years," said Higginbottom, who is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Australian National University.

Examining sites in detail, it was found that about half the sites were surrounded by one landscape pattern and the other half by the complete reverse.

"These chosen surroundings would have influenced the way the Sun and Moon were seen, particularly in the timing of their rising and setting at special times, like when the Moon appears at its most northerly position on the horizon, which only happens every 18.6 years," said Higginbottom.

"For example, at 50 per cent of the sites, the northern horizon is relatively higher and closer than the southern and the summer solstice Sun rises out of the highest peak in the north," he said.

"At the other 50 per cent of sites, the southern horizon is higher and closer than the northern, with the winter solstice Sun rising out of these highest horizons," he added.

"These people chose to erect these great stones very precisely within the landscape and in relation to the astronomy they knew," said Higginbottom.

"They invested a tremendous amount of effort and work to do so. It tells us about their strong connection with their environment, and how important it must have been to them, for their culture and for their culture's survival," he said.

The research was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

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Archaeologists have discovered three ancient tombs with colourful interior wall paintings, dating back about 1,000 years, in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, local officials said today.

The paintings were found in tombs in Jungar Banner in Ordos and are well preserved, featuring deer, mythical beasts, flowers and plants, said Yang Zemeng, head of the Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute of Ordos.

Painted red, white and reddish brown, the paintings show mysterious images in a plain style, Yang said, adding that paintings are rarely found in tombs from the same period in other places.

The tombs' location is about two kilometres away from the ruins of a Song Dynasty (960-1279) city, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

Judging from the structure and patterns of the tombs, archeologists have initially drawn the conclusion that the paintings date back to the early and middle period of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), Yang said.

The findings will serve as research material on the local history, culture, art and funeral customs of the Song Dynasty, Yang said.

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The Antwerp Port Authority of Belgium has offered its consultancy services to Indian ports for improving their inland waterways.

"In India, the ports are not well connected to the hinterland by inland waterways. In this area we can offer consultancy services to Indian ports," said Chief Commercial Officer of Antwerp Port Authority Luc Arnouts here today.

He was addressing a press conference where Ambassador of Belgium to India Jan Luykx was also present.

"Antwerp Port has gained great expertise in improving inland waterways. More than 30 per cent of its cargoes reach Antwerp port through such waterways, where logistics cost is cheap," Arnouts added.

He said a delegation from Belgium, led by its Ambassador to India, visited the Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) and its facilities here.

Arnouts said he was impressed with the facilities at the port and added in future Antwerp Port and VPT would cooperate to forge close ties.

Stating that relations between India and Belgium were excellent, Luykx said his country was first to recognise India after its independence.

He said Belgium wanted to improve trade ties with India, especially with the States located on the east coast.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In an unprecedented step of a serving Army Chief taking on one of his predecessors, General Dalbir Singh has alleged that he was "sought to be victimised" by Gen (retd) V K Singh, now an Union Minister, with the sole purpose of denying him promotion as Army Commander.

General Dalbir Singh made the allegation in an affidavit filed by him in his personal capacity while responding to a petition moved by Lt Gen (Retd) Ravi Dastane who had alleged "favouritism" during his selection as the Army Commander.

"I was sought to be victimised by the then COAS with the sole purpose of denying promotion to the appointment of Army Commander. False, baseless and imaginary allegations of lapses were levelled against me in the show cause notice (of May 19, 2012)," Gen Dalbir Singh said. is currently the Minister of State for External Affairs.

"Despite their being no evidence against me at the Court of Inquiry, the show cause notice was issued malafidely," he said, adding that, "no material whatsoever of attendant circumstances was provided to me. The show cause notice issued, beside suffering from vagueness, was premeditated and also against the principles of natural justice".

Dalbir Singh was placed under a discipline and vigilance (DV) ban by the then COAS in 2012 for his alleged "failure of command and control" after a Court of Inquiry was ordered into an operation carried out in Jorhat, Assam on the night of December 20-21, 2011 by the 3 Corps Intelligence and Surveillance Unit.

Dalbir Singh, who was the then General Officer Commanding of the unit, said that the imposition of DV ban upon him and issuance of show cause notice by the then COAS "was illegal and premeditated".

"It is thus established that I was victimised for extraneous reasons by the then COAS and hence the illegal imposition of DV ban by the then COAS could not be made the basis by the apellant to challenge my appointment as GOC-in-C, Eastern Command. In fact, it is the answering respondent who is the victim and not the appellant, as is sought to be made by him," he said.

The affidavit further said, "The passing of directions for initiating administrative action against me after about one month of having already finalised the Court of Inquiry smacks of a motivated, biased, arbitrary and malicious intent to punish me which the then COAS executed apparently as planned by him".

Regarding the Jorhat operation, Dalbir Singh has said in his affidavit that "on that day, I was away on part of annual leave and rejoined duty on 26 Dec 2011".

Dalbir Singh's promotion as GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, with effect from June 15, 2012 was cleared by General Bikram Singh who had reversed the DV ban after had retired on May 31, 2012.

Dastane has alleged in his plea that he was eligible to be the Army Commander but was denied the opportunity by General Bikram Singh who had favoured Dalbir Singh despite the fact that he was under a DV ban at the relevant time.

The Ministry of Defence, in its affidavit filed earlier in the apex court, had rejected Dastane's contentions and had also censured the manner in which V K Singh had placed Dalbir Singh under DV ban.
Even as unrest continues in the valley, 300 youth hailing from various parts of Jammu and Kashmir were today inducted as soldiers in the army to serve the nation.

The new recruits of Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) regiment took the oath to serve the cause of the nation at a ceremony held at the Bana Singh Parade Ground at Rangreth, nine kms from here.

The induction of the youth of J&K in the army comes at a time when the state has been making headlines for incidents of stone-pelting by some youngsters in the valley.

The highlight of the function was the sons of the soil and their families lighting candles as a mark of solidarity with the people of Kashmir and praying for return of calm and peace to the valley at the earliest, an army spokesman said.

Kashmir valley is on the boil since July 9 following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. The widespread clashes left 64 persons including two policemen dead and over 8000 others injured.

The passing out parade, depicting graduation of a recruit and his transformation into a young soldier, was overseen by Governor N N Vohra and was attended by over 1500 parents and other relatives of the young soldiers along with a number of civil and military dignitaries.

Vohra praised the young soldiers and said it will encourage more and more youth from the state to come forward to join the security forces.

He highlighted the vital role played by their parents in motivating their wards to join this noble profession, the spokesman said.

In the end, the spokesman said, proud parents and relatives pipped the soldiers ready to join their battalions and to tread the immortal path of glory, living up to the expectations and the best traditions of the army.

"As a mark of respect, gratitude and recognition of contribution made by the parents of these young soldiers, they were also presented with the 'Gaurav Padaks' (prestige medals) instituted by the army," the spokesman said.

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The Ayush Ministry will launch a National Campaign on Medicinal Plants in Jaipur this week, which will also witness an interactive meet cum seminar involving farmers, experts and various other stakeholders.

The campaign will be launched by National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) of the Ministry of AYUSH August 201-21 at Institute of Agriculture Management (SIAM), Durgapura, in Jaipur.

Approximately 500 farmers who are cultivating medicinal plants from across the country will participate in the two-day event.

During the event, an Interactive Meet cum Seminar will also be organised on Medicinal Plants involving farmers, experts, traders, industries and other stakeholders of medicinal plants sector. Most of the stakeholders will be benefited through this event.

NMPB has been working for the growth and development of medicinal plants in the country since its inception in year 2000.

At present, NMPB promotes medicinal plants conservation, cultivation, research, marketing, quality and other activities under Central Sector Scheme for "Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants".

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Five doctors, including the CEO of L H Hiranandani Hospital, were today granted bail by a local court in connection with the alleged kidney transplant racket.

The Andheri metropolitan magistrate court, which had on Tuesday reserved its order till today on their applications granted bail to CEO Sujit Chatterjee, medical director Anurag Naik, Mukesh Shetye, Mukesh Shaha and Prakash Shetye, on the condition that they attend Powai police station till September 26. They were also directed against leaving the country.

All the accused had moved for bail on August 13 after the court remanded them to 14-day judicial custody till August 26.

On Tuesday, their lawyers Aabad Ponda and Pranav Badeka had told the court that the case against the doctors and the hospital authorities was only of procedural lapses and negligence. Also, several other accused in the case including the donor and recipient are on bail.

They also told the court that the case against the doctors was not under Indian Penal Code but under the Organ Transplant Act and the money which allegedly exchanged hands for the transplant has been recovered.

The doctors were arrested under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act on the basis of a report by the Director of State Health.

The racket was exposed after the police were tipped off that a kidney transplant operation had been scheduled on July 14 at the privately-run Hiranandani Hospital in Powai, where donor and recipient were not related.

Following the bust-up, 14 people, including five doctors, the donor, receiver and agents were arrested.

The operation on Brijkishor Jaiswal, the recipient, was stopped at the last moment as police found that the woman who was donating the kidney to him was not his real wife, contrary to the papers submitted by the duo.

The woman had pretended to be Jaiswal's wife only to be able to donate him the kidney for monetary gains, according to the police.

Last week, a local sessions court had rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of two doctors - Veena Swelikar (a general surgeon) and Suvin Shetty (a consulting pathologist) in the case after Powai police said that their interrogation was needed to unearth the entire racket.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Orissa High Court today rejected the bail application of Indu Dewan, sister of Mumbai-based model Priti Bhatia, in a case of their alleged link with a tainted chit fund company.

Justice Shatrughna Pujahari rejected the bail plea of Indu who was arrested by CBI last year in connection with her alleged link to the tainted chit fund company Artha Tatwa (AT) Group.

Prior to Indu'a arrest, Priti was arrested by CBI but she was granted bail by the Supreme Court after the Orissa High Court turned down her plea.

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Nearly 5 lakh bank union workers and officers are set to join the strike called by trade unions on September 2 to protest against what they call anti-people policies of the Modi government and labour reforms.

"There have been increasing attacks in the banking industry and the government has been taking steps which are anti-people. It's attempting to privatise state-run banks and merge associate banks with State Bank of India. It is also looting the public money in the name of bad loans," All-India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C H Venkatchalam said here today.

"To protest against all these, we will be joining the national strike called by other labour unions on September 2."



On March 30, all central trade unions such as INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, UTUC and LPF had given a one-day national general strike call on September 2 to protest against the Modi government's "unilateral labour reforms and anti-worker policies".

The RSS-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) has, however, decided to keep away.

Last year too, the unions had gone on strike on September 2 to oppose the amendments in labour laws by the Centre as well as states, saying their 12-point charter of demands had not been met.

The unions have been opposing certain proposed labour law amendments that allow hire and fire, make it tougher to form labour unions and dilute existing social security available to workers at different fora.

Under the proposed Industrial Relations Code Bill 2015, companies with up to 300 headcount need not get government nod for retrenchment, lay off and closure. The government is also working on a Small Factories Bill that seeks to exempt units with under 40 workers from 14 labour laws.

These 10 unions claim a combined membership of 15 crore workers in public and private sector enterprises, including banks and insurance companies.

On the massive rise in bad loans, which have touched the Rs 13 trillion mark, he alleged that instead of taking tough measures to book culprits and recover the money, more and more concessions are being given to defaulters. He did not elaborate.

He went on to say that "in the name of cleaning the bank balancesheets, these bad loans are being taken out of public glare so that they could be silently written off".

Making the point that while regional rural banks are being privatised and a central law has already been passed, he said primary agricultural co-operative societies are under the threat of closure and urban co-operative banks face delicensing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Moving a step closer to creation of a global-sized bank with assets worth over Rs 37 lakh crore, the SBI board today approved merger of its five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with itself.

It also finalised the share swap ratio for three of the listed subsidiaries and BMB.

"The central board of directors today approved the merger of State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT) and BMB," the country's largest lender said in a regulatory filing.

As per the merger proposal, SBBJ shareholders will get 28 shares of SBI (Rs 1 each) for every 10 shares (Rs 10 each). Similarly, SBM and SBT shareholders will get 22 shares each of SBI for every 10 shares they hold.

In the case of Bharatiya Mahila Bank, 4,42,31,510 shares of SBI will be swapped for every 100 crore of BMB shares having a face value of Rs 10.

The two unlisted subsidiaries are fully owned by SBI.

The merger will create a banking behemoth of global scale with a balancesheet of Rs 37 trillion or over USD 555 billion, making it one of the top 50 global financial powerhouses. The merged entity will have 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs serving a customer base of over 50 crore.

SBI has close to 16,500 branches, including 191 foreign offices across 36 countries while the five subsidiaries have nearly 6,000 branches.

"The share swap ratio is favourable to minority shareholders. We are confident that the ratio would be largely acceptable to all shareholders," SBI Deputy Managing Director in charge of associates and subsidiaries Neeraj Vyas told PTI.

The board also approved merger of two unlisted associate banks -- State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Hyderabad -- with the parent, Vyas said.

Abizer Diwanji, Partner and National Leader for financial services at EY, which advised the share swap deal for SBI, said, "The ratio will be acceptable to all shareholders."



According to brokerage Religare Securities, barring SBM shareholders, the share allotment ratio is broadly even for all the holders.

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Hollywood stars Ben Affleck, Emma Stone, and Matthew Mcconaughey will be among the A-list stars standing up to cancer as part of this year's big US telethon.

The trio will be joined by the likes of Josh Gad, Anna Kendrick, Eric Stonestreet, and Ken Jeong at the fifth biennial Stand Up To Cancer broadcast live from Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles on September 9, reported People magazine.

Bradley Cooper, who is the broadcast's executive producer and will also appear during the big event, said, "We all have a reason to stand up. Stand Up To Cancer is a sustained movement that impacts millions of lives.

"We honour the personal stories that motivate individuals to fight, and that highlight the urgent need to get new methods of treatment to the patients who so desperately need them."



This year's telethon will feature skits and performances as well as films about cancer heroes, victims and sufferers.

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BJP today attacked NC leader Omar Abdullah for "absolving" Pakistan of its role in the current turmoil in the Kashmir Valley and accused the opposition parties of "aggravating the prevailing situation" to destabilise the coalition government in the state.

Hitting out at the opposition parties a day after their meeting to discuss the Kashmir unrest, BJP also said it was not the time to have dialogue with Pakistan or any other individuals or groups on the Jammu and Kashmir issues.

"Leaders like Omar Abdullah, Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami and Congress leaders who participated in yesterday's meeting of opposition parties in Srinagar are trying to fish in troubles waters," BJP state spokesperson Virender Gupta alleged.

He claimed that none of the leaders had played any effective role in pacifying the situation.

"Instead of playing a constructive role these leaders remained engaged in instigating the people and aggravating the prevailing situation.

"Omar Abdullah's tweets on a daily basis gave support to the ongoing agitation led by the extremists and terrorist groups at the behest of Pakistan," he alleged.

Targeting Congress, the BJP leader said, "It was obvious from the statements of Ghulam Nabi Azad and P Chidambaram that Congress was acting behind the scene in organizing the present meeting to take the benefit of the existing situation and destabilize the PDP-BJP coalition government in the state.

Gupta criticized Omar for "absolving" Pakistan and "downplaying" its role in creation of the present situation, "whereas it is well known and amply clear from the statements of Pakistan Prime Minister, its President, Army Chief and other functionaries, apart from the leaders of the terrorist groups, that Pakistan and terrorist groups operating from there are mainly responsible for the present situation in the Valley.

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In a gruesome incident of cow vigilantism, a BJP worker was killed and another person injured, allegedly by activists of a right-wing Hindu group near Hebri in this district last night.

Hindu Jagarana Vedike activists intercepted and attacked the duo with sharp weapons, suspecting they were transporting calves to an abattoir, a senior police official said.

Praveen Poojary (29) succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Bramhavar, where his friend Akshay Devadiga (22) has also been admitted but he is out of danger, Udupi Superintendent of Police K T Balakrishna told reporters.

Earlier, the hand of VHP and Bajrang Dal activists was suspected behind the incident by police.

Seventeen people were arrested and a hunt was on to nab the others involved, he said.

"Hindu Jagarana Vedike members stopped a vehicle transporting three calves and assaulted two persons, accusing them of taking the calves to a slaughter house. In this incident Praveen, Poojary has succumbed to the injuries at a hospital in Brahmavara," Balakrishna said.

He said Devadiga was injured but is out of danger.

A case of murder has been booked at Brahmavara police station, he said, adding Hindu Jagarana Vedike's Srikanth is the prime accused in the case.

In Bengaluru, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said prima facie cattle trade-related business dispute may be the reason behind the killing of the BJP worker.

They (police) are suspecting some sort of a cattle trade- related business dispute," he said, adding, he did not see any communal angle" at this point of time.

Parameshwara also expressed concern over repeated incidents relating to beef and cattle trade in Karnataka.

"We are vigilant, we will definitely try and maintain peace and order. I appeal to the people who are trying to create this kind of disturbance not to do this because we are a tolerant society and we should not create these kind of issues."



Coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada have been reporting cases of cow vigilantism in the last several years.

The incident comes days after the Home Ministry cracked the whip on cow vigilantism, asking all states not to tolerate anyone taking law into their hands in the name of protecting cows and to take prompt action against such offenders.

The Ministry advisory had come two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked cow vigilantes and asked people to beware of these 'fake' protectors trying to divide the society and the country.

He made these comments after his government and BJP came under attack over incidents of violence against Dalits and Muslims by cow vigilantes in various states, including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

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Boko Haram killed five traders in an ambush on a highway in northeast Nigeria that was recently reopened after coming under repeated attack from the Islamist group, a military source has said.

A convoy of vehicles carrying Nigerian immigration officials and a group of traders were travelling from Gamboru, on the border with Cameroon, to the city of Maiduguri when they came under fire on Monday.

"Three (immigration) officers were hit and injured in the fire exchange. The immigration men drove off towards Maiduguri, leaving the traders behind," an army officer told AFP yesterday on condition of anonymity.

The five traders had joined the official convoy thinking it would be a safer way to reach the Borno state capital than travelling the notorious road alone.

The traders' two trucks were looted and set alight, Gamboru resident Umar Ari told AFP by phone, also confirming the toll of five dead.

The Gamboru to Maiduguri highway is a strategic 140-kilometre trade route in the region, and provides an important link with neighbouring Cameroon.

The highway was closed for safety reasons at the height of the Boko Haram unrest some two years ago, but was reopened by the Nigerian authorities following a string of successes against the militants.

"Since the Maiduguri-Gamboru highway was reopened two months ago convoys of trucks carrying goods and other vehicles conveying traders have been coming to Gamboru under military escort without any incident," said resident Ari.

Boko Haram, which seeks to impose strict Islamic law in northern Nigeria, has been blamed for some 20,000 deaths and displacing more than 2.6 million people since 2009.

A counter-offensive spearheaded by Nigeria since January last year has recaptured swathes of territory lost to the Islamist militants in 2014.

But sporadic attacks continue and security remains a major concern in the region.

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Bolivian President Evo Morales has inaugurated a new "anti-imperialist" military academy, calling it a response to the former School of the Americas, a US program that provided training to Latin American military regimes.

The leftist leader yesterday said the new academy was needed to "confront the empire's cultural, ideological, political and economic domination and capitalist structure."



Morales, who has had rocky relations with the United States and expelled the US ambassador in 2008, told the inaugural class of 100 cadets that their mission would be "to defend the people, not the empire."



The head of the armed forces, General Gonzalo Duran, said the new school, located in the eastern town of Warnes, would teach about "de-colonization, gender equality, intercultural understanding and social inclusion."



The program will be mandatory for soldiers seeking to be promoted to captain.

Bolivia returned to democracy in 1982, after a series of coups.

Its Cold War-era military regimes received money and training from a United States alarmed over the emergence of militant leftist movements in the region.

A country of 10 million people, Bolivia today has an army of some 46,000 troops.

The idea of an "anti-imperialist" military academy was initially proposed by late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who wanted it to train officers from leftist countries around Latin America.

The new academy was born out of that project, but it will only train Bolivians.

Chavez said such a school was needed to counter the lingering influence of the School of the Americas, which was launched in 1946 and provided anti-communist counter insurgency training to Latin American officers.

Its alumni included top figures in some of the region's most brutal military regimes.

Originally based in Panama, it has since been renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation and transferred to Fort Benning in Georgia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
State-run telecom firm BSNL today signed a strategic business pact with Microsoft India for offering complete suite of telecom and IT solutions for enterprise businesses.

"BSNL today signed a strategic business MoU (memorandum of understanding) with Microsoft India offering complete suite of Telecom and IT Solutions for Enterprise Business," BSNL said in a statement.

BSNL has large share in landline network, including leased line connectivity to various enterprises.

The agreement has been signed under a request for proposal floated by BSNL to cater end-to-end needs of enterprise customers involving many allied services in the field of IT, software as a service, cloud infrastructure, audio-video solutions etc.

"Microsoft (India) Pvt Limited showed interest in this RFP and submitted its proposal. After scrutinisation, proposal was found to be suitable and an offer was sent to Microsoft to enter into the MoU," the statement said.

The agreement was signed and exchanged by BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava and Microsoft India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik.

"This strategic alliance would be non-exclusive and is aimed to leverage the domain expertise and strategic position in the Industry to garner more business either as a front runner or as a support associate to provide connectivity and telecom solutions as per the need and demand of the end customer," the statement said.

BSNL said that the initiative to have strategic MoU is without any commercial or legal commitments at this juncture and actual relevant business agreements on case to case basis would be done by the respective business verticals of BSNL by entering into bilateral or multilateral specific business agreements after following the necessary guidelines.

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Controversial IFS officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi has got a major relief, with the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) quashing orders passed by Health Minister J P Nadda and AIIMS President and its Director, indicting him for alleged indiscipline and lack of work ethics during his tenure as Deputy Secretary in the Institute.

The tribunal's bench, headed by P K Basu, quashed both the orders noting that these were passed without issuing show cause notice to Chaturvedi which was "against the principles of natural justice".

The adverse observation made in both the orders were also asked to be kept in Chaturvedi's Annual Performance Assessment Report (APAR) for period 2015-16, against which he had approached the CAT.

"The orders dated January 7 and March 30 passed by the respondents (AIIMS Director and its President) to the applicant (Chaturvedi) with copies to other concerned Ministries, including Chief Secretary, Uttarakhand, is without issuing a show cause notice to him. This being against the principles of natural justice (sic). Both these orders are quashed," the tribunal said.

In his January 7 order, the AIIMS Director had expressed "displeasure with his (Chaturvedi) insubordination, indiscipline and lack of work ethics during winter session of Parliament 2015". He had also ordered that a copy of the memorandum be kept in Chaturvedi's personal file for consideration in his APAR for period 2015-16.

Nadda had upheld and reiterated this memorandum with a direction that "this may be sent to the Seretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Cadre Controlling Authority."



Chaturvedi had then approached the CAT, claiming that these orders had sought to "taint" his service record and placed him at a very disadvantageous position regarding future periodical review of the service record.

He had claimed that these orders were passed with "personal mala fide" as he was "exposing corruption cases in AIIMS."



The Ramon Magsaysay Award winner officer has been at loggerheads with the central government over issues of promotion, work allocation, cadre transfer, deputation and APAR.

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The Bombay High Court today directed CBI to file its reply to a public interest litigation which seeks to know names of two persons referred to in the agency's remand applications in the Adarsh Society case.

Activist Pravin Wategaonkar has filed the PIL, claiming that CBI's charge sheet in the case is silent about two "high and mighty" persons. He has demanded further probe on this.

These persons dealt with the files related to the Adarsh Society -- located in the upscale Colaba area here and originally meant for the widows of the Kargil war heroes -- and were allotted four flats in the building, it said.

Arguing in person before a division bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka, Wategaonkar said CBI in its remand applications had said that two "high and mighty" persons were allotted four flats (in return for favours for the society).

But these people were not named in the supplementary charge sheet, and the agency should be asked to reveal their names, he said.

The court asked Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh to file a reply in four weeks in a sealed cover.

The multi-storeyed Adarsh Society allegedly violates several civic and environmental norms, and politicians and bureaucrats had obtained flats in it. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had to resign when the scam came to light.

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As many as 409 Chinese fugitives, including 15 listed in an Interpol red notice from China hiding overseas have been arrested as part a campaign, according to the government.

The "Fox Hunt 2016" campaign has seen the arrest of 272 fugitives and 137 others have been persuaded to return from 61 countries and regions, state-run Xinhua agency quoted the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) as saying yesterday.

The MPS has sent 33 work groups overseas and they have managed to capture fugitives in Madagascar, Thailand, Peru, the Philippines, Ecuador, South Korea, Cambodia and Spain, among others.

Of the 409 fugitives, 38 are implicated in duty-related crimes, and 14 in smuggling crimes.

Thirty-three of them were at large for more than five years, including 12 for over 10 years, the MPS said.

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China and Myanmar today agreed to find a solution for the stalled USD 3.6 billion hydroelectric dam as Beijing rolled out the red carpet for Myanmar's iconic leader Aung San Suu Kyi giving her a head of the government welcome reserved for Prime Ministers of foreign countries.

The agreement on Myitsone Dam project came during talks between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who started a five-day official visit to China yesterday.

As 71-year-old Suu Kyi kicked off her official visit, the first after her government took over power following two decades of struggle against the Beijing backed military regime, she was accorded head of the government welcome by Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of People.

Both Li and Suu Kyi inspected the guard of honour before settling for talks.

Explaining the high level protocol to Suu Kyi, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang said "as is known to all, State Counsellor is ranked second only to the President among all the posts in the state organs of Myanmar".

Officials said it was symbolic in recognition of Suu Kyi status as highest ranking political leader of Myanmar even through her designation is the State Councillor and Foreign Minister.

Though herNational League for Democracy (NLD) party swept the polls with massive majority, the Nobel Laureate could not take over as President due to constitutional constrains imposed by the previous military regime.

After extending a grand welcome, Li held talks with her during which the two sides agreed to find a proper solution for thehydropower dam project which was stalled since 2011 over public protests.

China reportedly paid 60 per cent of the project.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters after the talks that, Myanmar's new government has decided to set up an investigation committee to find a solution that is in both countries' interests regarding the Myitsone Dam issue, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

Opponents of the dam say the reservoir created by the Myitsone dam would create massive flooding on the Irrawaddy River, endangering ecologically sensitive areas and displacing thousands of people.

There was also criticism over China taking 90 per cent of the dam's power, while nearly 70 per cent of Myanmar has no access to electricity, according to the World Bank report.

Welcoming her, Li said China hopes the two sides could press ahead with the major cooperation projects, including a gas pipe line and the Myistone dam.

(Reopens FGN 34)



After the meeting of Suu Kyi and Li several agreements were signed, including one involving a bridge project in Myanmar and construction of two hospitals, state-run CCTV reported.

Chinese media regards her visit as a diplomatic victory as she is visiting Beijing before visiting US or Europe which backed her during her prolonged campaign against rule by Beijing backed military junta.

"It will be the first visit to China by a leader of Myanmar following the establishment of its new government, and thus is of great significance to promoting China-Myanmar comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation in the new era", Lu said.

"It is believed that the visit will help enhance strategic communication, deepen pragmatic cooperation, increase amity among the people, further advance the bilateral relationship and deliver more benefits to people from both sides," he said.

This will be Suu Kyi's second trip to China. She met with Xi the first time through a party-to-party channel in June 2015 before Myanmar's general election in November.

Suu Kyi's China visit also comes two weeks before the 21st Century Panglong Conference, a peace conference involving the Myanmar government, the military and ethnic armed groups.

China's support is seen as vital in resolving Myanmar's decade-long ethnic conflicts, state-run Global Times reported.

China-Myanmar share long volatile borders and Beijing has deployed military at the border last year after five people were killed several others wounded in firing from a Myanmar jet reportedly while pursing Kokoang rebels rebels.

In a commentary, state-run Xinhua agency said Suu Kyi's visit comes roughly one week after Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw decided to form a new commission for reviewing all proposed hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River, including the Myitsone Dam, which is jointly funded by China and Myanmar.
A top Chinese military officer visited Syria this week in a show of support for President Bashar Assad's embattled regime, official media reported Thursday, underscoring Beijing's backing of fellow authoritarian governments and concerns about the spread of religious militancy.

Rear Adm Guan Youfei met on Sunday with Syrian Defence Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij in Damascus, the Xinhua Agency said. He also met the following day with a Russian general who is coordinating his country's military assistance to Assad's fight against armed opposition groups, the agency said.

Xinhua said Guan expressed China's willingness to boost military cooperation with Syria, while the newspaper Global Times cited the Chinese Defense Ministry as saying that both sides agreed to expand personnel training and humanitarian aid via the Chinese military.

The Chinese military "is willing to strengthen cooperation with its Syrian counterparts," it quoted the ministry as saying.

Guan is head of the Office for International Military Cooperation under the Central Military Commission that oversees China's 2.3 million-member armed forces.

While China has followed Russia's approach in backing Assad, it hasn't directly contributed forces in keeping with its policy of opposing outside intervention in domestic conflicts.

During the early months of the 5-year-old civil war, China joined Russia in blocking motions at the United Nations calling for Assad to work for a resolution of the conflict.

Despite that, Chinese military advisers are on the ground in Syria helping train soldiers in the use of weapons purchased from China, including sniper rifles, rocket launchers and machine guns, reported the Global Times, which is published by the ruling Communist Party's flagship newspaper People's Daily.

Guan's visit illustrates Beijing's enduring recognition of the Syrian government and insistence that the warring parties reach a resolution among themselves, said Wang Lian of the School of International Studies at Peking University.

Although China wants to expand government-to-government and military-to-military cooperation, it's unlikely to provide substantial military support, much less send personnel to fight on behalf of the regime, Wang said.

"More likely, the Chinese military wanted to use Guan's trip to better understand the current state of the turmoil in Syria," Wang said. "In developing a closer relationship with Syria, one has to take into account the changes at hand in Syria and the region, including the fast recovering relations between Turkey and Russia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Uttam Group today said it has signed an investment agreement of up to USD 150 million with Chinese firm Tidfore Heavy Equipment Group Co Limited.

The investment will be in the form of equity for Uttam Group's Wardha Expansion Project undertaken in conjunction with POSCO.

The agreement was inked in presence of Sun Yin Sheng, Secretary, Hunan State and senior officials from steel giant POSCO and SBI, the company said in a statement.

Uttam Galva Metallics, part of the Miglani family-led Uttam Group and South Korea-based POSCO, had signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) in December 2015, it said.

This was to deploy fine ore reduction process (an alternative iron making technology using iron ore fines) and CEM (a process to replace a large portion among CR products with thin hot rolled products) technologies at the company's Wardha plant in Maharashtra.

As a result of the expansion, its Wardha Steel Complex will become an integrated steel unit with capacity of 1.50 million tonnes per annum, it added.

"I am glad to announce that we have attracted upto USD 150 million investment at our facility in Wardha," UGML Director Ankit Miglani said.

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A financially-distraught man in China has been caught while trying to sell his six-year-old daughter for USD 8,500 to raise money for his business.

The man has since been arrested, and the case is currently under investigation, state-run People's Daily Online reported.

The man's daughter was born in 2010. However, after her birth, the man and his then-girlfriend ended their relationship due to financial pressure and familial problems.

He then moved with his daughter to Yibin in southwestern Sichuan province, where his sister took charge of raising the girl.

Dissatisfied with his employment options, the man planned to open a shop, but did not have sufficient start-up capital.

In order to raise the money, he decided to see what kind of a price his own daughter would fetch, the report said.

On the Internet, he contacted a childless man surnamed Wu who lived in eastern Jiangsu province.

The two agreed to a price of 50,000 yuan (USD 8,500).

Fortunately, while the man and his daughter were en route to Jiangsu, his sister discovered the plan and reported her brother to the police.

The little girl is now in the custody of her aunt.

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A District Reserve Group (DRG) commando who was critically injured in a fierce encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, today died at a private hospital here.

Constable Aditya Pratap Tanwar (25), posted with DRG in Dantewada district died at around 8 AM at Ramkrishna Care Hospital here, a police official told PTI.

His body was sent to his native place Pali in Korba district where he will be cremated with full honours, the official added.

The jawan had sustained three bullet injuries in his stomach in the gun-battle with ultras that took place in the restive Dabba-Kunna hills under Katekalyan police station limits yesterday.

Four ultras, including a 'commander-rank' woman cadre, were also gunned down in the skirmish.

The operation was jointly launched by a team of CRPF, DRG and STF based on specific inputs about presence of ultras in the forests near Dabba and Kunna villages, located on top of a hill which lies along the Dantewada and Sukma districts border, about 500 kms from here.

Lauding the bravery of the martyred jawan, Station House Officer (SHO) of Katekalyan Police station Vijay Patel said, Aditya, armed with Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL), most of the time led the patrolling party from the front during their operations in the area.

Being a member of DRG, a locally raised specialised force to counter left-wing extremism, Aditya had face off with ultras many a time and every time he successfully thwarted the Maoists, the SHO said.

He had joined Chhattisgarh Police in 2008.

During yesterday's operation also Aditya was in the lead position, carrying UBGL, when security forces spotted a Naxal hideout in the forests close to Dabba village, he said.

On sensing security personnel, rebels opened indiscriminate fire on them following which Aditya immediately launched retaliatory action which was equally matched by his other colleagues, the SHO said.

According to his colleagues, Aditya's timely action caused maximum damage to ultras' camp giving them no opportunity to dominate further, said the officer.

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A baby girl born mid-air in a Manila-bound flight and forcing the plane to land at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on medical emergency is now healthy, stable and is recuperating in a private hospital.

A 32-year-old woman passenger, who was pregnant and travelling to Manila with her mother from Dubai on August 14, in the Cebu Pacific Air flight went into a labour on board the flight and gave birth to a premature but healthy baby girl mid-flight.

The plane's crew had to make an impromptu landing at Hyderabad after the flight was diverted due to a medical emergency.

The baby was completely blue and cold and had severe breathing difficulty when the specialised transport team first received her at the airport, a statement from Apollo Cradle here said, where the baby and her mother were admitted.

"Baby was estimated to be 32 weeks of gestation and weighed a mere 1.6 kgs when born. In the NICU, baby was rapidly rewarmed, connected to mechanical ventilation and given medications, which started to improve her blood pressure. The baby is now healthy, all the follow-up evaluations have been normal and mother is being trained for breastfeeding," said CVS Lakshmi, Chief Neonatologist, Apollo Cradle.

Speaking about the condition of the mother, Prameela Sekhar, Consultant Obstetrics and Gynecology, Apollo Cradle, said a team of gynaecologist, anaesthesiologist and radiologist ensure that she has a quick recovery from the complications post the unexpected delivery.

"She has been clinically discharged," Sekhar said.

"At present, the baby is stable and the mother is being trained in feeding and taking care of the baby as babies born pre-term require specialised care," said Sunil Kumar, Center Head Apollo Cradle (Jubilee Hills).

"The child is still recuperating in the hospital and will be discharged once it gains weight and mother is comfortable in handling the baby," Kumar said.

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Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave dedicated a number of facilities including a night shelter for people of Jahanpur Gram Panchayat in Sihor district in Madhya Pradesh.

The Minister dedicated the facilities to the village panchayat which houses around 100 families under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana yesterday.

"The Minister dedicated a night shelter, particularly for the benefit of people performing a circumambulation (Parikarama) of River Narmada. A toilet has also been constructed to prevent people from defecating in the open," an official statement said.

Dave also inaugurated a water filter plant which will provide 20-25 litres water per day per family and an auditorium to to encourage people to organize cultural activities.

He also inaugurated a Panchayat Bhawan. Dave also distributed school uniforms to children of the village and held discussions with women members of NGOs.

The Environment Minister also held a review meeting with officers of the concerned departments to review the various works being undertaken in the area, the statement added.

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MLAs led by Opposition leader MK Stalin Thursday staged a protest outside the Tamil Nadu Assembly, a day after they were suspended en masse for a week for allegedly creating ruckus in the House.

MLAs CVMP Ezhilarasan said the party legislators were denied access to their room inside the Secretariat which also houses the Legislative Assembly.

Stalin was stopped by Assembly marshals who also locked the entry point leading to the House. After they were denied entry, the MLAs, led by Stalin, sat on a dharna.

Meanwhile, security was stepped up in the Secretariat.

Yesterday, the Assembly witnessed uproarious scenes when DMK members protested remarks made by a ruling AIADMK member apparently ridiculing Stalin, culminating in their en masse eviction and suspension.

Speaker P Dhanapal ordered eviction of the DMK members by assembly marshals after they stood up and insisted on expunging of remarks even after he rejected their demand and asked them to cooperate for the smooth conduct of the House.

Later, the government moved a resolution suspending the DMK members for a week which was passed by a voice vote.
The Essential Services Maintenance (Assam) Act (ESMA) has been promulgated for six months in the oil and gas sector in Assam, which witnessed protests by Opposition parties against the Centre's decision to auction some oilfields.

A notification in this regard prohibiting strikes in the sector by officers, workmen, contract labourers, etc was issued yesterday.

The oil and gas sector includes any service in any oil field or refinery of any establishment or undertaking dealing with the production, supply or distribution of petroleum and petroleum products including natural gas, according to the notification.

The oil sector of Assam witnessed protests by Opposition parties since the Centre decided auctioning of 67 oilfields of the country, including 12 in Assam, last month.

Meanwhile, Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) today expressed disappointment at the promulgation of ESMA at the oilfields of Assam in view of the protest against the move to auction the marginal oil fields.

"This is another move of the BJP-led governments at the Centre and state to gag the voice of protest," AJYCP president Biraj Talukdar said in a release here.

People in this country are denied the right to protest even after the country celebrated its 70th Independence Day "but we will never bow down to any suppressive tactic of the state and we will intensify it", he added.

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A farmer was electrocuted after he came in contact with a high voltage electrical line in Dabal village under Mansurpur police station area, police said today.

The victim, Vikram Singh (24), seated on top of a loaded bullock cart died on spot after he accidentally touched the live power line, police said.

Following the incident, villagers and Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) activists staged a protest at the police station and demanded compensation for the victim's family.

They alleged power officials had lowered the line for maintenance and did not switch off the electricity.

Police has registered a case of negligence against some officials and has sent the victim's body for postmortem.

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Islamic seminary of Barelvi sect today issued a 'fatwa' (edict) against Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed declaring him anti-Islamic.

The 'fatwa' was issued against the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief by Mufti Mohammed Saleem.

It dubbed Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who carries a USD 10 million bounty on his head, as "outcast" from Islam and declared those following him or considering as Muslim as "illegal".

A 'fatwa' is a legal pronouncement in Islam which is given by a mufti, a Muslim scholar of a recognised authority, who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law.

The ruling came close on the heels of Saeed asking Pakistan Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif to send troops to Kashmir to "obey" the pending order of Pakistan founder M A Jinnah.

The 'fatwa' was issued by Manzar-e-Islam Saudagaran, an institution associated with Dargah Ala Hazrat, in a reply to a question asked by Mohd Moinuddin of Jaipur.

It said Saeed has no connection with Islam.

Moinuddin had mentioned in his query that Saeed considered those writing against Allah and Prophet Mohammad as Muslims. Besides, he publicised anti-religious ideology and points of view and provoked people to create terror.

He asked whether such a person should be considered as Muslim.

In his 'fatwa', Mufti Saleem said that having any type of connection with persons working against the dignity of Allah and the Prophet was illegal and 'haraam', an act that is forbidden by Allah.

It said since Saeed was having contacts with such persons, he has been outcast from Islam.

It said that considering him as Muslim and listening to his words was also illegal and prohibited.

As per the fatwa, Saeed was a man with terrorist ideology, who with his acts has brought infamy to Islam and Muslims across the world. Therefore, it was compulsory for every Muslim not to follow him and keep away from his ideology.

Addressing a rally held under the banner of 'Defence Council of Pakistan' in Karachi on Sunday, Saeed had claimed, "Kashmiris had announced before the partition that they wanted to remain with Pakistan. But after the partition, India forcibly sent Army to Jammu and Kashmir.

"On this Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah ordered his commander-in-chief to respond by sending troops but he refused (to obey his orders). Now, I ask Gen Raheel Sharif to send troops in (Jammu and) Kashmir as Quaid-e-Azam's order is pending," Saeed said.

He said he was not asking for a war with India but they (Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Raheel) must form a strategy regarding the Kashmir issue.

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India today said the ball was in Pakistan's court on holding Foreign Secretary-level talks as it was for Islamabad to decide on readiness to discuss issues of cross-border terrorism, vacation of illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir and closing down terror camps.

In a response to his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry's offer for talks on Kashmir, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said discussions should focus on cessation of terrorist activities in J&K and ending incitement to violence and terror in the Valley.

Briefing reporters, MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Jaishankar conveyed that he accepts his counterpart's invitation to visit Islamabad but made it clear the discussions should focus first on the pressing aspects of the J&K situation flagged by him.

"In a letter dated August 16, Foreign Secretary has first of all underlined that Pakistan's self-serving allegations made in their communication are rejected in their entirety by the Government of India. Pakistan has no locus standi in respect of J&K, which is an integral part of our nation," said Swarup.

Deliberations should also focus on denying safe haven, shelters and support to terrorists in Pakistan who have escaped Indian law, Jaishankar said in his letter.

"The ball is in Pakistan's court now. They had made an offer, We have responded to the offer. It is up to them to carry it forward," said Swarup.

The response also conveyed that detaining and prosecuting internationally recognised Pakistani terrorist leaders who have been publicly active in exhorting and supporting such violence in that state should be part of the talks besides closing down terrorist training camps, Swarup added.

The Foreign Secretary said he looked forward to discussing with his Pakistani counterpart the "earliest possible vacation of Pakistan's illegal occupation of the Indian state of J&K".

In his letter, the Foreign Secretary also underlined the importance of bringing to justice all those guilty in Pakistan for the attacks in Mumbai and at Pathankot airbase.

"He said that his visit should provide the opportunity to receive a briefing from Pakistan's Foreign Secretary on progress in this regard," said Swarup.

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Food regulator FSSAI is tightening safety standards for packaged drinking water and plans to come out with norms for spring natural water, a top official said.

"There is some gap in the safety standards for packaged drinking water. At present there is no standard for spring natural water. We are working on that," FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal told PTI.

The move comes two months after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued notices to state authorities asking them to crack down on mineral water packaging units that are operating without its licence.

Out of total 5,842 registered water packaging units, 1,495 have both BIS and FSSAI licences, while 4,347 units have only BIS certification, the regulator had said.

Last month, the food regulator gave a clean chit to PepsiCo, Coca Cola and Bisleri for their packaged water facilities, while crackdowns are underway on some smaller players operating without valid manufacturing licences.

Packaged water processors need to have BIS certification and FSSAI licence to start their operations.

The regulator is also taking steps to ensure safety and quality in manufacturing of breads. It recently removed potassium bromate from the list of food additives, following a CSE report which claimed that the chemical causes cancer.

FSSAI came into limelight after it banned Maggi noodles as it found excess level of lead in samples. Nestle relaunched Maggi in Indian markets in November 2015.

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Pre-schoolers who have a good grasp of their native language may experience significant improvements in their English skills, new research on Spanish-speaking children suggests.

Researchers from the University of Missouri in the US found that Spanish-speaking preschoolers experience significant improvements in their English skills when they have a good grasp of Spanish letters and numbers.

In another study, the researcher found that behaviour traits play a role in English learning.

"For most Spanish-speaking children, preschool is the first time that they are exposed to an English-speaking environment," said Francisco Palermo, assistant professor at Missouri's College of Human Environmental Sciences.

"Spanish-speaking children who enter preschool with limited English proficiency rely on the classroom setting to build their English skills.

"They may have parents who are not comfortable with the English language and worry how their children will do in school without their help in English. Now there is evidence that early reading and math skills learned in Spanish can support the learning of those skills in English," said Palermo.

For his research, Palermo examined the associations between skills that preschool-aged children already possessed in Spanish, understanding the alphabet and identifying numbers, and their gains in those English skills over the course of the school year.

Children were assessed on their vocabulary, letter and math abilities in the fall and again in the spring.

The assessments were conducted in both English and Spanish to study associations between skill-sets with set controls to account for gender, parent education and children's cognitive abilities.

Looking at the assessments, Palermo found that preschoolers who had strong letter and math abilities in Spanish experienced gains in those English skills.

Building on Spanish skills appears to improve English proficiency during preschool, thereby maximising their ability to enter school ready to learn.

Palermo also tested how children's ability to control their behaviour, such as knowing how to wait your turn, impact English learning.

In that study, he found that enhanced behaviour regulation abilities, which parents can model and teach children, appeared to increase children's likelihood of exhibiting vocabulary and literacy skills in English and Spanish by the end of preschool versus exhibiting them mostly in Spanish.

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A special CBI court here today discharged senior Gujarat Police officer Narendra K Amin in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter killing cases.

Special CBI Judge M B Gosavi while discharging Amin observed that there was no sufficient evidence against him.

According to CBI, the doctor-turned-policeman, who is at present serving as SP, Mahisagar district in Gujarat, was involved in the conspiracy.

The court has so far discharged BJP President Amit Shah, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria, Rajasthan-based businessman Vimal Patni, former Gujarat police chief P C Pande, Additional Director General of Police Geeta Johri, Gujarat police officer Abhay Chudasama, besides Yashpal Chudasama and Ajay Patel, both senior office-bearers in the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank in the case.

Sohrabuddin, a gangster whom Gujarat Police claimed had links with Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, and his wife Kausar Bi were allegedly abducted by Gujarat ATS from Hyderabad on their way to Sangli in Maharashtra.

He was killed in a fake encounter near Gandhinagar in November 2005 after which his wife disappeared and was believed to have been done to death.

Tulsiram, an aide of the gangster and an eyewitness to the encounter, was killed allegedly by police at Chapri village in Banaskantha district in Gujarat in December 2006.

The Sohrabuddin killing case was transferred to Mumbai in September 2012 at CBI's request for a fair trial. In 2013, the Supreme Court had clubbed Tulsiram Prajapati's encounter killing case with that of Sohrabuddin.

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Haitian electoral authorities has released details of a USD 55 million budget to organize a redo of an annulled presidential election that will not be underwritten by the US or monitored by EU observers.

With money cobbled together from Haiti's transitional government, the troubled country's Provisional Electoral Council hopes to organize two rounds of voting for president, some members of parliamentand numerous municipal seats. A first-round presidential redo is scheduled for October 9, the authorities said yesterday.

The impoverished Caribbean nation has relied on the US and other international partners to fund much of its balloting costs. This time around, they are trying to go it alone after international partners disagreed with the decision to annul last year's disputed presidential vote.

Uder Antoine, the council's executive director, said they are requesting some USD 48 million from the caretaker government though he acknowledged they could get allotted less.

They currently have some USD 6.5 million in an election fund. He said he didn't foresee problems organizing a redo vote in October.

"We are doing the best we can to have a different kind of election than we've had in Haiti over the past 29 years," Antoine told The Associated Press. He said a Haitian electoral council never publicly released an election budget before.

Last month, Washington announced it had suspended funding assistance for the redo balloting in Haiti. US taxpayers already contributed USD 33 million for a three-round Haitian electoral cycle that was supposed to be resolved months ago.

US officials have framed the decision as a simple budgeting matter by Washington, which is Haiti's largest donor. Officials say the US requested the return of nearly USD 2 million of unspent assistance left in an election trust fund.

Kenneth Merten, the State Department's special coordinator for Haiti, said the US was disappointed with the decision to redo the vote because drifting Haiti could have avoided its latest leadership muddle if it had stuck to earlier timetables.

In an interview this week, Merten said he thought it was ultimately "a good thing for Haiti to take full ownership of its electoral process."



"Although we may not be supporting the elections financially, we certainly support the fact that they're having elections," he said.

As far as US officials can glean, Merten said, the revamped Provisional Electoral Council appeared to be "diligently working" to get the elections done on the latest timetable.

Merten said Washington regretted that the European Union has decided not to send an observer mission. The Organization of American States still plans to send monitors.

Analysis by international observers found that last year's presidential vote had various organizational shortcomings but that those problems didn't have an impact on the outcome. That contrasted sharply with local observers who alleged rampant fraud.

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When Syed Haider Raza's family moved to Pakistan after the 1947 Partition, the iconic painter chose to stay back, not just for the sake of his loyalty for his motherland, but for his admiration for Mahatma Gandhi.

The veteran artist, who passed away last month at the age of 94 revealed this to writer and poet Ashok Vajpeyi who recollected the tidbit about Raza last evening at a function organised at the Indian Women Press Corps here to remember the artist.

Raza was merely eight, when he first saw the 'Father of the Nation' at a public meeting in Mandla in Madhya Pradesh.

"He used to say, 'This is my country. Where would I go from here?' But, I was never convinced with this argument. After lots of pestering, he once told me, 'When the Partition happened, my family left. But I used to feel that if even I leave, I would be betraying the man who I saw at the age of eight for the first time," Vajpeyi recalled.

Raza who is best remembered as the creator of the iconic 'Bindu' grew up in Barbaria in Madhya Pradesh to a forest ranger father and was trained in art at Nagpur and Bombay.

He was also a stalwart of the Progressive Modern artists group with other greats like M F Husain, F N Souza and K H Ara.

According to Vajpeyi, Raza perennially felt indebted to the society and as a token of gratitude he believed it was his duty to "help" budding artistes in their times of need.

"Raza was one person who touched the lives of thousands of artists, dancers, musicians. He helped them when they needed that aid in their respective careers by showcasing his work alongside a lot of young emerging artists," he said.

Sharing one such incident, he said at an exhibition here, the painter had expressed his desire to purchase a painting but only on the condition that the entire proceeds would be given to the artist with the gallery would not take any commission.

At another exhibition in Mumbai, after of Raza buying one of the artworks started doing the rounds, the entire show was sold out by next morning.

"This was one of his ways to help other artists," Vajpeyi said.

In his desire to give back to the society for whatever he had achieved, the painter set up the Raza Foundation that provides for spaces for various art and culture programs, publications and fellowships to the younger talent.

"He used to say, 'I will get so much money, what will I do? I want to do something for others.' He suggested that we create a foundation.

"Throughout his lifetime he had given nearly Rs 20 crores and in his will too, he has given everything to the foundation. No other artist in the history of Indian art, has given such a great gift to others," Vajpeyi said.

Although, Raza had spent nearly 60 years in France, the



Indian in him remained unaltered, for his paintings which often have a couplet or a phrase written on them, are like a call back to the miniature paintings like 'Kavikapriya' and 'Ragamala', from the past where the text was often inscribed into the paintings and sculptures.

"In a way, he revived the dying art of miniature paintings. He used texts from Upanishads and Vedas, from writings of Ghalib, Surdas, Tulsidas and even my poems in his paintings," Vajpeyi said.

It was perhaps for the same reason that Raza was often called "a painter of the mother tongue" by his friends and contemporaries.

Vajpeyi says how he was "extremely loyal" to Hindi.

"He spoke and wrote such good Hindi that great titans of the language would be put to shame. Having lived for so long in Paris, he spoke French very well, English was conspicuously good, but if he received a call from anybody from India, he would talk to them in nothing but Hindi."



The writer who had known Raza for over 40 years compares him with river Narmada, which unlike other rivers has two banks.

In Raza, he said, "On one side was India, on the other was France; on one hand was his greatness, on the other was generosity and on one hand was faith, on the was diffidence.
Tech major IBM and IIT Bombay today announced the opening of the first OpenPOWER Research Facility (OPRF) at the institute to help drive further education, innovation and research with the country's National Knowledge Network.

The network aims to interconnect all institutions of higher learning and research with a high-speed data communication network, facilitating knowledge sharing and collaborative research and innovation.

Open POWER Foundation was born out of a collaboration by IBM, NVIDIA and Mellanox, and supports open development on the POWER architecture.

OPRF has been established to provide the country's large research and development community with technical assistance and infrastructure to further indigenous research.

"Open collaboration is driving the next wave of innovation across the entire system stack, allowing clients and organizations to develop customized solutions to capitalize on today's emerging workloads," Monica Aggarwal, Vice President, India Systems Development Lab (ISDL), IBM Systems told PTI.

"The OPRF will enable Indian companies, universities and government organizations to build technologies indigenously using the high-performance POWER processor, helping to drive the national IT agenda of India," she added.

The OpenPOWER Foundation is a global, open development membership organization formed to facilitate and inspire collaborative innovation on the POWER architecture.

So far, it has 230 members across 24 countries, and is looking at aggressively expanding its network in top tier institutions in the country, Aggarwal said.

OpenPOWER members share expertise, investment and server- class intellectual property to develop solutions that serve the evolving needs of technology customers.

With the opening of OPRF, scientists, students, developers and enterprises who are a part of the National Knowledge Network initiative can tap into the latest and best available OpenPOWER-based infrastructure, IBM said here.

To begin with, PhD scholars, MTech and engineering students will tap into OPRF to develop new age applications and solutions around eGovernance, healthcare, education, agriculture and high-performance computing.

"OPRF at IIT Bombay supports an open technology ecosystem for high-performance computing and its applications.

OPRF gives opportunities to students, faculty, and researchers to gain familiarity with OpenPOWER system features, and make contributions to the OpenPOWER foundation in terms of power processor, GPU acceleration, network adapters/switches and application codes," PSV Nataraj, Professor and Principal Investigator, IIT Bombay said.

In terms of its objectives and activities, OPRF aligns well with the recently-launched National Supercomputing Mission of Government of India, he added.

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu will hold wide-ranging talks on a range of bilateral and regional issues which may include deliberations on situation in West Asia and ways to counter threat of terrorism.

Earlier this month, Turkey had asked India to act against the institutions affiliated to the network of Fethullah Gulen, blamed for last month's failed coup to topple President Tayyip Erdogan, and the issue may figure in the discussions between the two foreign ministers.

"The entire gamut of bilateral relations as well as multilateral and regional issues are likely to be discussed during the talks,' External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

Cavusoglu will also call on Vice President Hamid Ansari tomorrow. During his three-day visit, the Turkish Foreign Minister is also scheduled to visit Hyderabad on August 20 to open the Turkish Consulate building.

Relations between India and Turkey have witnessed steady progress. The bilateral trade is also increasing and touched USD 6.3 billion last year.

"We hope the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister will further strengthen our bilateral ties," said Swarup.

This Cavusoglu's first official visit to India. He was in India on a transit halt last year and had met Swaraj.

President Erdogan has vowed to take strong action against those linked to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who he had blamed for the July 15 coup attempt.

Tens of thousands of troops, civil servants, judges and officials have already been detained or dismissed in a massive crackdown following the failed coup.

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Shares of India Cements today surged to its 52-week high level after the company reported a 16 per cent jump in standalone net profit for the April-June quarter.

India Cements today posted a 16.34 per cent jump in standalone net profit to Rs 43.98 crore in the quarter ended on June 30. The company's net profit during the same quarter a year ago stood at Rs 37.8 crore.

Reacting to the situation, the numbers shares of the company touched an intra-day high of Rs 130.80, which was also its 52 week high level and finally settled for the day at Rs 125.60, up 1.17 per cent on the BSE.

On NSE as well, similar trend was witnessed as the stock opened at Rs 124.95, then jumped to its 52-week high level of Rs 130.85 and closed at Rs 125.70.

Meanwhile, total income from operations decreased from Rs 1,225.7 crore in the year-ago period to Rs 1205.72 crore in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal, the company in a regulatory filing said.

The financial results were approved by the company's Board of Directors in a meeting held today.

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India today signed a short-term route agreement with Bangladesh to allow transport of petroleum goods from Assam to Tripura through Bangladesh after heavy monsoon damaged roads and made the transportation between the two states difficult.

This is a short-term deal and Bangladesh side agreed to the Indian proposal to grant validity of the MoU till September 30, officials in Dhaka said.

"Based on the request by the Government of India, the Government of Bangladesh has granted permission for the movement of petroleum goods on humanitarian grounds through the territory of Bangladesh till September 2016," High Commission of India here said ina statement.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), a Public sector unit under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of the Government of India, and the Roads and Highways Department of the Government of Bangladesh (RHD) signed the deal.

India made the request following heavy monsoons and extremely bad road conditions of NH44 have resulted in the disruption in the supply of Petroleum Goods from Assam to Tripura, The Daily Star reported.

Diplomatic sources said the MoU will facilitate India to carry Petroleum Goods (Motor Spirit, High Speed Diesel, Superior Kerosene Oil & Liquefied Petroleum Gas) from Assam to Tripura through Bangladesh territory as the normal Indian roads for oil transportation have been badly damaged by the recent flood.

Trucks carrying the petroleum goods will ply in the Dawki (Meghalaya) - Tamabil (Bangladesh) - Chatlapur (Bangladesh) - Kailasshar (Tripura) route.

Bangladesh and India allowed each other to use their respective territories to transfer goods to their one place to another and to a third country in the past in addition to existing transit and transhipment deals arrangements.

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India Post Payments Bank has come into existence after it received certificate of incorporation from the Registrar of Companies, setting the stage for the new bank to begin operations in 2017.

This will be the first PSU under the Department of Posts which expects to complete the rollout of its branches all over the country by September 2017.

"The India Post Payments Bank received the Certificate of Incorporation from the Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, yesterday under the Companies Act, 2013," an official release said here.

The board of the India Post Payments Bank is likely to be constituted soon and the bank will now begin hiring of professionals.

"This could be the fastest rollout for a bank anywhere in the world," it added.

The India Post Payments Bank aims to become the most accessible bank in the world, riding on advanced banking and payments technology. Coupled with physical presence across 1.55 lakh post offices and the reach of the postman, the India Post Payments Bank plans to become a powerful and effective vehicle of real financial inclusion in the country.

"It is poised to create a national payments architecture riding on a modern payments platform and ubiquitous information and communication technologies that can be accessed by all users and service providers like never before," it added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence day address, had stated that steps have been taken to convert post offices into payments banks. Through this, a network of banks will be established across villages, he had said.

Reserve Bank of India gave in-principle nod to 11 entities to set up payments banks in August 2015, but three have already opted out since.

Payments bank allows mobile firms, supermarket chains, and others to cater to banking requirements of individuals and small businesses. It will be set up as a differentiated bank and will confine its activities to acceptance of demand deposits, remittance services, Internet banking and other specified services.

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An 18-year-old Indian-origin girl in the UK who went partially-blind after she was hit by Glaucoma in her left eye today passed all her exams even though she was unable to attend all her classes.

Simran Kaur from Villiers High School in Southall, west London, was advised to take a year off but decided to complete her A-Levels, thesecondary school leaving qualification in the UK.

Kaur said: "It started pretty much as soon as I started my A-levels so you could say it was really bad timing. The teachers tried to convince me to take a break and do it next year".

"They were looking out for me but I was so determined I even went to the head-teacher to convince him I could do it. He believed in me, which I am so grateful for," she said.

Kaur was able to undergo corrective surgery on her eye only in July, after her exams.

"My friends thought I was crazy taking the exams without being able to see. I suppose it was but it all worked out. I was way behind in my studies and obviously studying was quite hard without being able to see. My sight is good now and everything is ok but it will always be a time I remember as a real challenge," she told 'Daily Express'.

Kaur has now been offered admission to Hertfordshire University but is weighing up her options for university.

"I couldn't be more pleased for Simran. She is a real example to everyone - students and teachers," said her teacher Patrick Cootes.

"She has showed that there are no barriers to success at Villiers High School - if you work hard and follow your dreams anything is possible," he added.

A-Level results were declared across the UK on Thursday with girls once again getting better results than boys, with 79.7 per cent of girls getting grades A* to C, compared with 75 per cent for boys.

The year 2016 also marks a record one for students being offered university admissions.

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The Indian-origin population in the UK tends to be more educated and less unemployed when compared to other ethnic minorities, according to a new report released today, even as it warned that Britain must tackle the problem of an "entrenched" race divide in the country.

In some cases, Indians out-performed even the white British population with a higher percentage increase in those with degree level qualifications.

"Since 2008, all ethnicities have seen an increase in the proportion with a degree-level qualification, however compared with the increase for white people (5.9 percentage points), Indians saw the largest increase (18.1 percentage points)," says the report by the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission.

"The lowest unemployment rate was among Indians (9.2 per cent) and the highest among Pakistanis/Bangladeshis (17.3 per cent), African/Caribbean people (15.5 per cent) and mixed ethnic minorities (15.2 per cent)," it said.

The report titled 'Healing a divided Britain: The need for a comprehensive race equality strategy' warned that the UK must tackle the problem of an "entrenched" race divide up and down the country.

"We must redouble our efforts to tackle race inequality urgently or risk the divisions in our society growing and racial tensions increasing," said David Isaac, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

"If you are black or an ethnic minority in modern Britain, it can often still feel like you are living in a different world, never mind being part of a one nation society," he added.

(Reopens FGN 27)



Among the key findings of Issac's commission's report, based on existing census data and other evidence, include that black people in Britain are much more likely to be victims of crime and three times more likely to be prosecuted than whites and that ethnic minorities are still "hugely under-represented" in positions of power, such as judges and police chiefs.

The commission recommended that responsibility for race equality strategy be brought under one government minister and new targets to improve opportunities and outcomes for ethnic minority communities be introduced.

A UK government spokesperson said "real progress" was being made - with black and ethnic minority employment rates at their highest levels for 15 years.

"But there is clearly more to do, which is why we are delivering a comprehensive race equality programme on employment, university places, apprenticeships, start-up loans and recruitment to the police and armed forces," a spokesperson said.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKON), a Vaisnava group known for the Hare Krishna Movement, Mayapur, will celebrate its golden jubilee on August 21.

The day will be celebrated with spiritual discourses and other activites, ISKON officials said.

The construction of the gigantic 'Temple of Vedic Planetarium' (Chandradaya Mandir), which was scheduled to be inagurated on the eve of the golden jubilee, has been delayed and cannot be opened now, they said.

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Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today expressed grief at the martyrdom of sepoy Shakti Singh who was among three security personnel killed in an attack on a security convoy by Hizbul Mujahideen militants in North Kashmir's Baramulla district.

Shakti Singh who died yesterday was a resident of Chatra in Jharkhand.

Condoling the death, the chief minister said the state was proud of its martyr and his sacrifice would not go in vain.

He prayed that the martyr's soul rest in peace and God give strength to his bereaved family members, an official release said here.

Governor Droupadi Murmu also mourned the death of Singh.

Not only the state but also the whole county is proud of Singh's bravery, she said, adding the soldiers were guarding the borders with alertness and dedication.

"History has been proof that whenever such destructive elements hurt the country our gallant soldiers had faced the challenge bravely and emerged victors," she said in an official release.

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Kerala Tourism Minister A C Moideen today sought a "relook" on closure of liquor bars in tourist hotspots in the state which has seen a fall in arrivals causing a loss to the tourism industry.

The previous UDF government had decided to close down 700-odd liquor bars attached to hotels below five star categories in 2014.

Kerala has seen a severe dip in tourist arrivals and fall in revenues following the closure of bars.

"The present excise policy has dealt a severe blow to the tourism industry in Kerala," Moideen told reporters here.

"There has been a severe fall in the growth of tourist arrivals in the state. With hotels not serving liquor, conferences have come down and the state is losing out," he said, adding, liquor should be made available in bars in tourist hotspots.

Tourism Department's report has been submitted to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, he said.

In Kerala, while the domestic arrival of tourists touched 124,65,571 in 2015, a growth of 6.59 per cent, figure for foreign tourist arrival was 9,77,479 (5.86 per cent growth), he said.

In 2014, domestic tourist arrivals stood at 116,95,411 (7.71 per cent) against 9,23,366 (7.60 per cent) of international visitors, while in 2013 it was 108,57,811 (7.75 per cent) and foreign tourists 8,58,143 (8.12 per cent).

During 2014, the state earned Rs 6,398.93 crore in foreign exchange earnings showing a 15 per cent increase, while it was Rs 6,949.88 crore last year with a dip of 8.6 per cent.

The total revenue generated from tourism (direct and indirect) in 2014 was Rs 24,885.44 crore (12.11 per cent) while in 2015 it was Rs 26,689.63 crore (7.25 per cent).

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KIMS Hospitals, a city-based healthcare multispeciality chain, is in the process of enhancing bed capacity by about 2,300 from the existing 1,800, with an investment outlay of Rs 800 crore over the next three years.

The healthcare chain is also chalking out plans to expand footprint outside Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and has already identified lands in Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar, Indore and Bengaluru, where it plans hospitals with a combined capacity of 1,100 beds, company's vice president (strategy and marketing) Abhinay Bollineni said.

"The group runs five hospitals across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with combined bed capacity of 1,800. KIMS Hospitals' bed strength in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will go up by over 1,000 shortly.

"Similarly, KIMS Hospitals is spreading its footprint across the country by establishing hospitals in Guwahati (250 beds), Bhubaneshwar (350), Indore (250) and Bengaluru (250)- total 1100 beds," Bollineni told PTI.

At present, KIMS Hospitals is operating five hospitals, including in Secunderabad and Kondapur (Hyderabad), Nellore, Rajahmundry and Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. It is also operating a medical college in Srikakulam.

In addition to 150-bed hospital in Rajahmundry, KIMS is acquiring 350-bed hospital which will be operational in next two months. Besides, KIMS is establishing 250-bed hospital in Dilsukhnagar (Hyderabad).

Besides, KIMS is also planning to increase the bed strength in Nellore and Kondapur hospital by 100 each and 150 at Srikakulam hospital.

"Expansion plans need an investment of Rs 800 crore in which Rs 300 crore will be raised through internal sources and Rs 500 crore through loan component," he further said.

The debt-equity ratio stood at 1:1. ICICI Ventures owns 28 per cent stake in KIMS while the promoters hold about 60 per cent and the rest with some of the doctors working with the healthcare chain.

KIMS Hospitals turnover increased to Rs 650 crore for the financial year 2015-16 as against Rs 400 crore in the previous year (2014-15).

Replying to a query, Bollineni said the company is not against inorganic expansion and also looking to acquire assets abroad if they fit into the KIMS's philosophy.

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Lin-Manuel Miranda has joined "The Little Mermaid" live action adaptation as a producer and songwriter.

The "Hamilton" star is teaming up with Alan Menken, who scored the original 1989 cartoon film, to create songs for the new movie.

Lin-Manuel will also produce the film and supervise the storyline alongside Marc Platt. Moviemakers are currently seeking a screenwriter, reported Deadline.

The 36-year-old star has long admired the animated film.

"It's the movie that's probably most responsible for me being here.

"I started taping the Oscars because I wanted to see Geoffrey Holder's performance of 'Under the Sea'. That was the beginning of the end. Or, the beginning of the beginning, depending on how you look at it... I could sing you not only the songs in Little Mermaid but the music to the score. That's how important those scores are in my life and in my upbringing."



The actor is making his Disney songwriting debut on animated film "Moana", which is due out in November.

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In a bid to promote organ donation, the Maharashtra government is considering to formulate a law which would make it mandatory for private hospitals to provide lifetime medical assistance to the donar's family.

State Ministers Deepak Sawant and Girish Mahajan were addressing reporters here today after inaugurating the website 'http://www.Dmer.Org/new/organ.Htm' which allows people to pledge organ donation online.

"Private hospitals gets ranking based on the organ donations they receive and the number of organ transplants they undertake. Though at the nascent stage, we are considering to formulate a law that would make it compulsory for private hospitals, where a person has donated his organ, to provide lifetime medical assistance to the donor's dependents," said Sawant, who holds the Health portfolio.

According to the senior Shiv Sena Minister, this may boost people's morale for donating their organs.

Meanwhile, Mahajan, who holds Medical Education portfolio, announced the state government's initiative to conduct a 3-day organ donation campaign from August 30, where people, up to the tehsil level, will be taught the benefits of donating their organs.

Mahajan said after the Human Organ Transplant Act, 1994 came into effect, 11,364 kidney transplants, 468 liver transplants, 19 heart transplants, 3 lung transplants and 479 cornea transplants have taken place till date.

He also said presently across the nation, around 5 lakh people suffering from kidney ailments, 50,000 people suffering from liver ailments and 2,000 people suffering from serious heart ailments are waiting for a donor to undergo an organ transplant.

The website has been developed with the help of the Tata Trusts, Mahajan said.

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Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan today said contractors, who constructed the gravity-based Temghar dam, which has started developing serious leakages, will be taken to task.

"The government would recover the damages caused from the contractors Ms Progressive constructions and Ms Srinivasa constructions," Mahajan told reporters at the state Secretariat here.

"The contractors had given an assurance on affidavit that they would bear the cost of any damages to the dam," said the Minister.

"The dam has been constructed using sub-standard quality material. Soon after the reports about the leakage surfaced I ordered an inquiry and asked the department to submit a detailed report," Mahajan said, adding to plug the leakages, the government will require Rs 103 crore.

The Temghar dam, is an earth-fill, gravity-based dam on the Mutha river near Mulshi in Pune district. It is one of the dams which supplies water to the Pune city.

Fears were raised about the possibility of a dam burst like the Panshet dam in Pune district in 1961.

Construction work on the Temghar dam began in 1997 and it was completed in 2012 at a cost of Rs 237 crore.

Temghar dam has a total storage capacity of 3.71 TMC.

As per the Minister, orders have been issued to file criminal cases against the contractors and officials.

Mahajan further said if the contractors were found to be still engaged in any construction activity their work will be stopped immediately.

"Since the contractors had not applied for renewal of their licenses and hailed from Andhra Pradesh, it is difficult to blacklist them," he said.

Meanwhile, Mahajan clarified that Pune-based builder Avinash Bhosale was not involved in the construction of the dam.

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Maharashtra Youth Congress will organise a convention 'Hum Me Hai Rajiv' here on August 20 which will be attended by top leaders.

The convention is a part of the nationwide campaign which began on May 21, the 25th death anniversary of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. It will conclude on August 20.

Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan, former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot, national general secretary Gurudas Kamat and Youth Congress national president Amrinder Singh Brar would address the event.

Youth Congress sources said the convention is aimed at apprising the common people of Rajiv Gandhi's vision of modern India.

It will be followed by the national executive meeting of Youth Congress on August 21 and 22.

Vishwajeet Kadam, president of state Youth Congress, said, "Mumbai is also the birthplace of Rajiv Gandhi. As a part of 'Hum Me Hai Rajiv' campaign, we have organised several programmes like seminars, blood donation camps, tree plantations, etc., throughout the state. The aim is to introduce Rajiv Gandhi's ideas which were far ahead of times to the new generation."



City Congress leaders said the event is a part of party's attempt to revive its fortunes in the BMC elections, where it is facing an uphill task against the incumbent Shiv Sena and BJP.

"We want to inspire party youths to take on both the parties in the polls," a senior leader said.

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Expressing its "vulnerability", Maldives has sought India's assistance in key area of counter- terrorism and the chief of its National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) will travel to India from August 29 to discuss the specific requirements in this regard.

Maldivian Foreign Minister Mohamed Asim also described India as a "solid friend" and assured that Maldives will not undertake any activity that will jeopardise security of the Indian Ocean.

The request by Maldives for intelligence sharing, capacity building and skill development assumes significance in view of increasing threat from Islamic State and reports of radicalisation of Maldivian youth with the government there maintaining that about 50 locals have joined ISIS.

"The issue was discussed in detail during the visit of Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Counter-Terrorism Asif Abrahim to Maldives last month and will be taken forward during the visit of NCTC chief's visit here," Maldivian Foreign Minister Mohamed Asim told PTI in an interview.

"Because of our small size, we are very venerable and we have sought India's help in strengthening our mechanisms to tackle threats of terrorism," Asim said.

The two countries have already inked the Defence Action Plan during Abdulla Yameen's visit here in April. Cooperation in counter terrorism is one of key component of the pact.

Apart from cooperation in counter-terrorism, the minister, during his wide-ranging interview, talked about Maldives' efforts to get foreign investments and his country's relationship with China.

Asked about apprehensions in India over increasing Chinese presence in various projects in Maldives including infrastructure sector, he said they were purely economic engagements and "Maldives will not undertake any activity which will jeopardise security of the Indian Ocean.

Asim, who recently concluded his visit here during which



he held discussions with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj, said his first official trip was to "take stock of bilateral ties, explore new areas of cooperation and articulate his government's position on several domestic developments".

The Maldivian minister also talked about various steps taken by his government including setting up of domestic arbitration law and establishing special economic zones to boost investors confidence.

Maldives and Indian infrastructure company GMR are currently fighting an arbitration case in Singapore after Maldives cancelled the over USD 500 million contract unilaterally.

In a bid to woo Indian investors, Maldives is also holding an investment forum later this year in India, Asim said, adding before the meet, economic affairs minister of Maldives will travel here.
A fast food seller, who hails from Bihar, has been arrested in Jajpur district for his alleged involvement in an inter-state fake currency racket, the police said today.

The man has been identified as Amarjeet Sahni, a resident of Pabara village under Begu Sarai district of Bihar.

A special team of Jajpur district intelligence bureau nabbed him from Dolipur area under Jajpur Road police station limits while he was selling fast food yesterday, Jajpur SP Anup Kumar Sahu said.

Based on the information provided by Bihar police, Jajpur district police had formed a special team and had kept an eye on Amarjeet for some time.

Police said Amarjeet was allegedly a member of an inter-state fake currency racket and had been declared absconder by the Bihar police earlier.

"Amarjeet had left Bihar to evade arrest. He was in hiding in Dolipur and was selling fast food for the last four months," the SP said.

The police suspect Amarjeet of having links with terror groups and are interrogating him at the Jajpur Road police station.

Bihar police were on their way to Jajpur to take Amarjeet in their custody in connection with the pending cases against him there, the police said.

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The person arrested at the airport here on Aug 16 for illegally possessing passports was a travel agent and had genuine documents, police sources said.

Immigration officers at the airport had detained Abdulla Pallakkan who was on his way to Dubai and handed over to the Bajpe police.

He had with him 26 passports including that of two US residents.

On investigations it was found that Abdullah was a travel agent and was busy arranging Haj travels for his customers, which is why the passports were with him.

Abdullah managed to clear airport security at Kozhikode and met a travel agency in Kanhangad to book travels to Haj.

But he was forced to return as he could not complete the work. He was on his way back to Dubai in this connection when he was caught at Mangaluru.

Though Abdulla did not want to cheat anyone it was illegal to possess another person's passport. Hence he was later booked with charges under the Passport Act, the sources said. Investigations are on.

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The Madras High Court today said it saw no development in the investigation into the case relating to missing film producer Madhan and observed that if no forward movement is shown before the next hearing, it may be constrained to transfer the probe to an independent agency.

"We see no development in the investigation. It is the last chance for Tamil Nadu Police and if no development is shown before the next date of hearing, we may be constrained to transfer it to an independent agency, which may not be desirable to police," a division bench comprising Justices S Nagamuthu and V Bharathidasan said.

The matter was posted for hearing to August 30.

Madhan of Vendhar Movies was reported 'missing' sinceMay 28, when he left Chennai leaving behind a 'suicide note' stating that he would kill himself in Varanasi.

He reportedly went missing after an alleged failed business transaction with the SRM group.

Madhan had allegedly acknowledged receipt of several crore of rupees from students and parents, promising them MBBS seats in the SRM group of institutions.

On June 6, his mother filed a habeas corpus petition after she suspected foul play in her son's disappearance.

Subsequently, the court had entrusted the probe with regard to alleged receipt of money by Madhan, to Additional Deputy Commissioner of Central Crime Branch, Radhakrishnan.

At the hearing yesterday, the bench had questioned the Investigating Officer (IO) about the whereabouts of Madhan and whether he was alive, to which the IO had submitted that the probe revealed he was very much alive.

"Why Crime Branch in Tamil Nadu is unable to track down film producer Madhan, in spite of lapse of 70 days since it was handed over the case," the bench had said.

The court had asked the IO appointed by it to produce all documents relating to the probe.

The IO was not present in the court today.

When the matter came up for hearing, Public Prosecutor R Rajarathinam submitted that the probe would be expedited and the status report filed on the petition, which drew the comments from the court.

The bench recorded his submission that the IO was hopeful of securing Madhan soon and posted the matter to August 30.

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Mexico's federal police arbitrarily executed 22 people on a ranch in the western state of Michoacan last year, the country's human rights commission has said.

National Human Rights Commission President Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez yesterday said there were also two cases of torture and two more deaths caused by excessive force.

"The investigation confirmed facts that show grave human rights violations attributable to public servants of the federal police," Gonzalez said.

One police officer was killed in the confrontation on May 22, 2015. The government said the dead were drug cartel suspects who were hiding out on a ranch in Tanhuato near the border with Jalisco state.

The commission also threw doubt on the government's explanation of what led to the clash in the first place. Federal police had said they encountered a truck and took fire from its passengers before being led to the ranch. The commission's report said the government did not produce evidence that supported that account.

The lopsided death toll of 42 to 1 had led to suspicions of extrajudicial killings.

The commission's investigation found that 40 of the civilians killed were shot. One died in a fire and another was run over.

The government had refused to release the autopsy reports of the victims. The government's transparency watchdog earlier said there was no evidence to indicate human rights violations.

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Karnataka State Minorities' Commission would take "suitable action" against those who recently 'raided' a school in Bondantila near here allegedly for teaching Urdu and Arabic languages.

Sri Rama Sena (SRS) activists had raided St Thomas Aided Higher Primary School on July 30 alleging that Urdu and Arabic were being 'forcibly' taught to students.

Cases of trespass and rioting were registered against the right-wing activists and several SRS members were arrested.

The Commission which had judicial powers would take action against persons who raided the school for allegedly taking Arabic and Urdu classes, Commission's Chairperson, Balkis Banu said in a release here.

Action would be taken after receiving reports from the Deputy Commissioner and the City Police Commissioner.

Banu who visited the school yesterday had gathered details from the management, teachers and parents.

The school management was teaching Arabic, German and other foreign languages to equip them with a variety of skills.

Arabic was taught since the language would help students who go to the gulf in search of jobs, she said.

The state government had recently conferred judicial powers on the commission, Banu said.

It had the powers of a civil court and can summon people to appear before it.

The commission was aware of the issues faced by schools run by minorities in obtaining recognition certificate.

If 25 per cent of the students in such institutions were from minority communities, they should get minority status, she said.

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Two unidentified bike-borne men snatched a Chilean woman's bag containing her cell phone and papers in Daryaganj area in central Delhi, police said today.

The incident took place when Pavla Beten Osolio, who was staying in a Paharganj hotel, was returning to the hotel in an auto last night when two bike-borne snatchers intercepted the auto near Asaf Ali road and snatched away her bag, they said.

Osolio has filed a complaint with Daryaganj police station.

A case has been registered and the CCTV footage of the incident was being screened to nab the snatchers, police said.

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Branding the foreign policy of the Narendra Modi government as "knee jerk diplomacy", CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury today said the Centre should immediately send an all-party delegation to Kashmir and start talks with Pakistan to address the issue of terrorism.

"The Indian government is pursuing a policy on Kashmir which will have further ramifications. We must address the issues within Kashmir. A delegation of Indian Parliament should be sent to Kashmir led by the government to look into the ground level situation," he told reporters here.

"They are saying that the last time an all-party delegation went, nothing fruitful came up. We are saying that now you have reports of all the working groups, including that of the interlocutors who were appointed last time. On that basis, the government should prepare certain proposals. And we have been saying to stop the use of the inhuman pellet guns," he said.

Yechury said the government was not undertaking the course which could solve the unrest in Kashmir.

He criticised the recent statement of Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar who had said terrorism was "central" to its relation with Islamabad, whose different views and attitude have made it difficult for bilateral ties to grow.

The CPI(M) leader said the Foreign Secretary stated nothing new.

"This Modi government announced a package of Indo-Pak dialogue, but later on they withdrew the talks. Then all of a sudden Prime minster Modi dropped in to Pakistan to have lunch and said talk would again resume. Now they are saying there will be no talks," Yechury said.

"What is the government now planning to do? Is it



planning to start Indo-Pak dialogue? You need to start it for our sake, to restore normalcy in Kashmir. We have to expose Pakistan, shame Pakistan in international arena. But the foreign policy that Modi government is pursing is classic knee jerk diplomacy," Yechury said.

He noted that there was confusion about which course to follow, whether to follow the course of "56 inch sarkar or dropping by all of a sudden to have biryani".

India had yesterday rejected Pakistan's proposal to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks on Kashmir and made it clear that terrorism was "central" to its relation with Islamabad, whose different views and attitude have made it difficult for bilateral ties to grow.

Yechury also said Modi's reference to atrocities in Baluchistan would prove to be another mistake in terms of foreign policy.

"We all know about the human rights violation in Baloochistan. But Baloochistan is an integral part of Pakistan, as we have said that Kashmir is an integral part of India. Nobody has any right to interfere in that. So if you raise the issue of Baloochistan, Pakistan gets the opportunity to raise the issue of Kashmir," he said.
A senior Muslim cleric in Russia has prompted controversy by urging universal female genital mutilation after a rights group released a report on the practice in the country's North Caucasus region.

Mufti Ismail Berdiyev, who heads a Muslim association for the North Caucasus region, said yesterday that if FGM "could be applied to all women, that would be very good" in an interview with Interfax agency.

The practice, which ranges from pricking of the clitoris to its complete removal, causes infections and loss of sensation.

The procedure has come under massive international scrutiny in recent years, with UN chief Ban Ki-Moon in 2014 launching a global campaign to end it.

Berdiyev, who was decorated by President Vladimir Putin in March, said FGM does not stop women from fulfilling their ordained role of motherhood and if all women were mutilated, "there would be less fornication".

He later retracted his comments, claiming that he had been joking and Islam does not call for FGM.

A controversial Russian Orthodox cleric and blogger, the Church's former spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin, backed Berdiyev saying that Muslims had a right to a "time-honoured tradition".

"You probably don't need to 'circumcise' all women, there's no need with Orthodox women as they don't fornicate anyway," he added.

The head of the health ministry's public health department Oleg Salagai insisted FGM is "mutilating and not positive in any way," quoted by RIA Novosti agency.

Berdiyev spoke after rights NGO Russian Justice Group released a report Monday on the ritual cutting of young girls' genitals in some mountain villages in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan.

The report said that in Dagestan the practice has gone "without any attention whatsoever from the authorities".

"In Dagestan, most of society is still not ready to admit that this problem exists," it said, adding that FGM has "almost total support" in certain villages where it is seen as a "compulsory ritual" to control sexual desire.

The group said it managed to talk to 25 women aged 19-70 who underwent FGM, who spoke of the pain and trauma of the operation.

UNICEF figures published this year indicate that some 200 million girls in the world are subjected to genital mutilation, 44 million of whom are younger than 15-years-old.

More than half of the total figure are living in Indonesia, Egypt and Ethiopia, though data is incomplete in many countries.

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Amid row over electrification of Nagla Fattela village in Uttar Pradesh, state discom Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Ltd today said it will soon send reply to the showcause notice of central PSU Rural Electrical Corporation.

"The reply will be sent soon," a senior official of Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam (DVVNL) said here today.

Rural Electrical Corporation, which comes under Union Power Ministry, has sought clarification from DVVNL on reports about no connection having been given to households (of the village), though the discom in October 2015 certified the village as electrified after laying of infrastructure using central funds.

While talking about his government's achievement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech claimed of huge success in bringing electricity to more villages and cited example of Nagla Fatela, three hours from Delhi, getting electricity after more than 70 years.

Countering the Prime Minister's claim, Uttar Pradesh government, however, said the village had already been electrified in 1985. However, some reports suggested that the village is yet to get fully-electrified.

Also, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal yesterday made public documents to show the Prime Minister's electrification claim for Nagla Fatela village was based on information from the state and alleged that the government there was hiding its own "inefficiencies by blaming the Centre."



Goyal said if the village in Hathras district was electrified way back in 1985, how come the village was in a series of reports from the state dating up to November 2013 identified among unelectrified ones and proposed to be provided with power using central fund.

A letter was sent by Managing Director of DVVNL to central government nodal agency REC for inclusion of Hathras in the Rural Electrification Scheme. Nagla Fatela was shown as unelectrified village with zero households electrified, he said.

Modi had said that "out of 18,000 unelectrified villages, more than 10,000 villages have been electrified (during NDA regime). The village of Nagla Fatela is only three hours from Delhi, but it took more than 70 years for it to get electricity. I have been told they are with us, watching this celebration of Independence Day."



The notice sent by REC to DVVNL sought explanation on media reports that quoted chief engineer VS Gangwar as saying that the village was electrified many years ago, but only through "katia" (illegal) connections.

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The Centre will soon come out with a national programme for injury control to provide emergency care to trauma victims, Union Minister on Thuesday said.

Every year nearly 16 lakh people die in road mishaps with more than 3,000 such deaths daily worldwide, he said.

"The government is ready and intends to go forward for a national injury control programme. We need the inputs of experts on this," Nadda told the third World Trauma Congress, 2016 here.

He said it is generally the "productive age or the younger generation" which is involved in accidents because of which there is a economic burden attached to it. As much as 1.5 per cent of the worldwide gets affected because of this trauma. In India it is three per cent of the .

This is because we are not able to give solutions at the level in which trauma is taking place and there is huge gap, the Union minister said.

"We want to initiate national injury control programme. It will be a holistic view and this programme will focus on how all types of trauma can be addressed. How to develop human resource, fulfilling of gaps, providing financial help to address trauma, all these issues will be worked out through a multi-dimensional approach," Nadda said.

Ruing non-availability of trauma systems and absence of pre-hospital care, he said the present in-hospital trauma care infrastructure cannot cater to the needs of 'multiply injured patients' while Emergency Medical Services Legislation also needs to be addressed and adapted uniformly.

Referring to a recent accident in which a man died after being hit by a vehicle in Delhi as none of the passersby came to his rescue, Nadda said that there is a need to develop the culture of being a good samaritan.

Noting that finance is not a problem and the government is ready to spend on healthcare, he said 11 new are being set up with a cost of more than Rs 1,000 crore right input should be given at the right time.

Asserting that working in silos has become a habit, the Nadda said there is a need for inter-departmental cooperation and understanding as far as policy on trauma care is concerned.
The Centre will soon come out with a national programme on injury control to provide trauma healthcare services to lakhs of road accident victims, a move which comes after latest data showed that 52 people die every hour in India due to road accidents.

Noting that road traffic injuries are among the three leading causes of death of people between 5 and 44 years of age, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said that such injuries are predicted to become the fifth leading cause of death in the world, resulting in an estimated 24 lakh deaths each year unless immediate steps are taken.

"The government is ready and intends to go forward for a national injury control programme. We need the inputs of experts on this," he told the third World Trauma Congress, 2016 here.

He said it is generally the "productive age or the younger generation" which is involved in accidents because of which there is a economic burden attached to it. As much as 1.5 per cent of the GDP worldwide gets affected because of this trauma. In India it is 3 per cent of the GDP.

This is because we are not able to give solutions at the level in which trauma is taking place and there is huge gap, the Minister said.

"We want to initiate national injury control programme. It will be a holistic view and this programme will focus on how all types of trauma can be addressed.

"How to develop human resource, fulfilling of gaps, providing financial help to address trauma, all these issues will be worked out through a multi-dimensional approach," Nadda said.

An official Health Ministry statement quoting latest statistics said that in India 52 people died every hour in various accidents in 2014 and the major causes of accidental deaths are 'traffic accident, drowning, poisoning and accidental fire'.

It also said that India has the highest road crash mortality in the world.

Nadda said that every year nearly 16 lakh people die in road mishaps with more than 3,000 such deaths daily worldwide.

He said that about 2 to 5 crore more people sustain non-fatal injuries from a collision and these injuries are an important cause of disability worldwide while ninety per cent of road traffic deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, which claim less than half the world's registered vehicle fleet.

He also rued that in India there is non-availability of trauma systems and absence of pre-hospital care.

Nadda said the present in-hospital trauma care



infrastructure cannot cater to the needs of 'multiply injured patients' while Emergency Medical Services Legislation also needs to be addressed and adapted uniformly. He said that rehabilitation facilities were practically "non existent".

He hoped that the Trauma Congress will provide an opportunity to assess the lead taken so far and the road ahead.

He said that to meet the challenge of trauma care and to better meet the needs of trauma patients, there is a need to advance not only clinical practice and medical technology, but also the organisation of our healthcare system and resources.

Referring to a recent accident in which a man died after being hit by a vehicle in Delhi as none of the passersby came to his rescue, Nadda said that there is a need to develop the culture of being a good samaritan.

Noting that finance is not a problem and the government is ready to spend on healthcare, he said 11 new AIIMS are being set up with a cost of more than Rs 1,000 crore. Right input should be given at the right time.

Asserting that working in silos has become a habit, Nadda said there is a need for inter-departmental cooperation and understanding as far as policy on trauma care is concerned.

Health Secretary C K Mishra said that the 3rd World Congress was a call for action to all stakeholders to end all deaths due to trauma.

"Not only their effective treatment, but it is important to think about ways and means to rehabilitate the patients so that they continue to add to the productivity of their own communities and the nation as a whole.

"As policymakers it is time to think of building capacity of individuals also that that injury and trauma can be prevented through enhanced levels of awareness and better capacity to deal with them," he said.

The Congress is being organised by the J P N Apex Trauma Centre of AIIMS in New Delhi and co-hosted by the Indian Society for Trauma Acute Care (ISTAC) and the World Coalition for Trauma Care (WCTC).

It aims at exchanging ideas, experiences and lessons learned about the role of internationally accepted systems and protocols in the field of trauma care, mass causality incidents and disasters.
: A senior DRDO official today stresed the need to create awareness about Intellectual Property Rights among various stakeholders and said they had taken efforts to improve the standard and importance of IPR in new fields.

"There is a need on awareness about IPR among various stakeholders. DRDO has taken efforts to improve the standard of research and importance of IPR in new research fields," Director of the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, DRDO," Ajaykumar Singh said.

He was speaking after an IPR cell was inaugurated at Bharathiar University here today.

Listing out the role of the Central Government, Dr S P Subramaniyan, Patent Officer, Government of India, explained the rules and ways to filing the patent and its benefits.

University Vice-Chancellor Dr A Ganapthi stressed on protecting the knowledge at global level, a University release said.

He detailed about the role of IPR cell in university premises.

A special website was launched for IPR cell (www. ipr.B-u.Ac.In) with details about vision, objective, IPR forms and procedure for filing a patent and to help young researchers and students to know more about on IPR.

Various aspects of IPR, its importance, basic concepts and procedures relating to registration of patents,copyrights, Trademarks and Geographical Indications were highlighted at the inaugural, in which 400 persons attended.

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Nepal's Prime Minister Prachanda is likely to make India his first foreign trip destination after assuming office unlike in 2008 when he visited China first as his special envoy arrived in New Delhi today to prepare the ground for his visit.

The Maoist chief, who was elected by lawmakers to the top post for the second time earlier this month, had rubbed India the wrong way when he chose China as his first destination after taking over as the premier in 2008 and attended the Beijing Olympics that year.

Prachanda's predecessor, K P Oli too visited India as his first official foreign destination. But the run up to his visit was surrounded by intense speculation that the Communist leader might visit China ahead of India.

It is learnt that Prachanda will visit India ahead of China this time, Nepalese sources said.

The indication about Prachanda's maiden foreign visit came as Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Bimlendra Nidhi arrived in New Delhi for a two-day visit during which he will hold talks with Indian leaders.

His visit is aimed at preparing ground for Prachanda's forthcoming visit to India, Nepalese foreign ministry sources said.

Nidhi is also expected to discuss the possible visit by President Pranab Mukherjee to Nepal and the proposed visit by Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari to India, they said.

The visit is also aimed at normalising and improving Nepal's relations with India, which were at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation.

Prachanda has sent a special envoy to China as well. Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara's visit to China comes following anxieties in Beijing over the fate of projects connecting China and Nepal to reduce dependence on India.

"India shares unique centuries old ties with Nepal. Our age-old ties have been nurtured by regular high-level exchanges," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in New Delhi.

The visit of special envoy Bimalendra Nidhi is the first high-level visit from Nepal to India after the formation of the new government in Nepal under Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', he noted.

Special Envoy Nidhi's visit provides an opportunity to



understand the priorities of the new government and to discuss ways in which India's multi-faceted ties with Nepal could be strengthened, Swarup said, adding that India attaches the highest priority to its relations with Nepal and looks forward to working closely with the new government.

Prachanda's predecessor Oli, viewed by many as pro-China, visited India in February, when the agitation by Madhesis -- inhabitants of the southern plains who share strong cultural and family bonds with Indians -- over Nepal's new Constitution was at its peak.

The protesters had blocked trade transit points with India, creating a huge shortage of essential goods and fuel in the landlocked Nepal.

The usual practice of new prime ministers in Nepal is to visit to India, ahead of China. Prachanda's China trip in 2008 was the only departure from that practice.
Prachanda is likely to visit India on his first official foreign trip as Nepal's prime minister, in a departure from his earlier practice when he visited Beijing ahead of New Delhi in 2008.

The Maoist chief, who was elected by lawmakers to the top post for the second time earlier this month, had rubbed India the wrong way when he chose China as his first destination after taking over as the premier in 2008 and attended the Beijing Olympics that year.

Prachanda's predecessor, K P Sharma Oli too visited India as his first official foreign destination. But the run up to his visit was surrounded by intense speculation that the Communist leader might visit China ahead of India.

Oli, viewed by many as pro-China, visited India in February, when the agitation by Madhesis - inhabitants of the southern plains who share strong cultural and family bonds with Indians - over Nepal's new Constitution was at its peak.

The protesters had blocked trade transit points with India, creating a huge shortage of essential goods and fuel in the landlocked .

The usual practice of new prime ministers in is to visit to India, ahead of China. Prachanda's China trip in 2008 was the only departure from that practice.

It is learnt that he will visit India ahead of China this time, sources said.

The development comes as Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Bimlendra Nidhi begins his two-day visit to India as Prachanda's special envoy.

His visit is aimed at preparing ground for Prachanda's forthcoming visit to India, foreign ministry sources said.

Nidhi is expected to discuss the possible visit by President Pranab Mukherjee to and the proposed visit by Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari to India, they said.

The visit is also aimed at normalising and improving Nepal's relations with India, which was at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation.

Prachanda has send a special envoy to China as well. Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara's visit to China comes following anxieties in Beijing over the fate of projects connecting China and Nepal to reduce dependence on India.
Nepal's new government today announced a compensation of Rs 1 million each to families of 52 people, including 11 security personnel, who were killed during the Madhesis' protests over the new Constitution.

The Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Prachanda decided to provide the compensation to 41 civilians and 11 security personnel, who were killed in the months-long anti-Constitution protests, minister for environment Jaya Dev Joshi told PTI.

At least 50 people were killed during the six months-long protests in southern Nepal districts last year following the promulgation of the new Constitution.

Earlier this month, the Cabinet had decided that Nepali Rs 1 million will be given to the families of those killed in the protests. It also decided to provide free medical treatment to those injured in the agitation.

Meanwhile, the government today formed a seven-member probe committee led by former Supreme Court justice Girish Chandra Lal to investigate into violent incidents occurred during the protests.

Prime Minister and CPN Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" and coalition partner Nepali Congress had recently signed a pact with the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front and other ethnic groups which agreed to provide compensation to families of the Madhesi unrest and form a commission to probe into the violent incidents during the protest.

The Madhesi parties had led the six months-long agitation, mainly to protest against the seven-province federal model enshrined in the new Constitution.

The protests by Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, had also disrupted the supplies of petroleum products and cooking gas among other essentials to Nepal, creating massive shortage of essential goods.

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Author J K Rowling is bringing out a series of short ebooks that delves deep into the world of boy wizard Harry Potter with stories about some of the characters from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry



Beginning September 6, three short e books will be released, Pottermore, the digital publishing and e-commerce world founded by Rowling for fans of Harry Potter announced.

The series of byte sized ebooks, approximately 1000 words long each, are being brought out under 'Pottermore Presents' and offers Harry Potter fans added insights into the stories, settings and characters.

"Pottermore Presents is intended to supplement the Harry Potter book series with short-form content that is entertaining and thematically curated by the Pottermore editorial team," Susan L Jurevics, Chief Executive Officer, Pottermore, said in a statement.

Most of the stories have already been published on the Pottermore website.

'Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide' dives into the nooks and crannies of the beloved wizarding school itself, unfurling everything from details about the Hogwarts ghosts, to what happens when the Sorting Hat can't decide on a student's house.

'Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Political and Pesky Poltergeists' explores the darker roots of the wizarding world. You'll learn more about the troubles that faced the Ministry of Magic, the horrors of Azkaban prison and enjoy an entirely new original piece of writing by Rowling on Horace Slughorn.

In 'Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies', Pottermore celebrates the colourful staff of Hogwarts.

There's more to discover about Care of Magical Creatures teacher Silvanus Kettleburn, as well as another new piece of writing from Rowling on Minerva McGonagall, and her involvement in the second wizarding war.

The ebooks will be available on the Pottermore website as well as via digital booksellers in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish.

"J K Rowling's writing in these collections reveals intricate details of her characters' lives, their histories, as well as her inspiration," Jurevics said.

The Harry Potter franchise, includes 7 books, 8 films, 3 theme park attractions and a London stage play 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.'



'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,' the first of three Potter spin-off movies, is scheduled for release worldwide this November.

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The Nigerian navy has foiled a pirate attack on a British-flagged merchant vessel off the coast of the oil-rich west African country, a hotbed of piracy and militancy, a spokesman has said.

Commodore Christian Ezekobe said in a statement yesterday the navy deployed a warship after receiving a distress call on Wednesday that pirates were about to hijack the MT Vectis Osprey 20 nautical miles off Bonny in southern Rivers state.

"NNS Nwamba engaged the attackers on approaching the vessel which made them abandon their mission due to superior fire power," he said.

"To this end, naval special forces onboard the warship embarked and rescued the crew who locked up themselves in a citadel in the merchant tanker," he said.

Ezekobe said both the crew and cargo of the vessel were safe while an investigation had been launched into the incident.

Ship hijackings have become more frequent since President Muhammadu Buhari took office in Nigeria last year and announced plans to wind down an amnesty to former militants in the delta region.

Previously, payments were offered in exchange for an end to the violence, which included the kidnapping of oil workers and sabotage of pipelines that plagued the region in the 2000s.

A new militant group the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), however, has been blamed for a wave of deadly attacks on pipelines since the beginning of the year.

The NDA says it wants more wealth for residents of the region in addition to self-determination and political autonomy.

Yesterday, the Avengers, who have rejected a government peace offer, threatened to secede by pulling the oil region out of Nigeria.

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Union Commerce Minister celebrated Raksha Bandhan by tying rakhis to Army jawans at Tawang bordering China.

Expressing her gratefulness to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "unique initiative" to honour jawans deployed at the borders, she told the gathering at Lumla, "Interest of Arunachal is the priority of the Centre and we are fully committed for development of the state."

She assured her full cooperation in all matters related to the development of the border district, an official communique said.

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, who was also present on the occasion, spoke about plans chalked out by the Centre to pay tribute to the martyrs of the Freedom movement.

He said the main objective of such a programme was to infuse patriotism especially within the younger generation and showcase plurality and diversity.

On steps being taken for development of Tawang district, Rijiju said the BRO road inspection from Dirang to Tawang which is to be conducted during September along with DG (BRO) would also include Zemithang, the release added.
US President Barack Obama will travel to China next month to attend the G-20 Summit which will also be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This would be Obama's 11th trip to Asia after he became the US President in January 2009.

Two of these trips have been to India in November, 2010 and January 2015.

"This trip will highlight the President's ongoing commitment to the G-20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation as well as the US Rebalance to Asia and the Pacific," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement.

On the sidelines of the G-20 Summit, Obama among others is likely to meet Modi, which would be the eighth meeting between the two leaders after he became Prime Minister in May 2014.

While there has been no word of confirmation from the White House on this, Modi during his joint White House media interaction in early June had said that the two leaders would be meeting in China in September.

Earnest said, in China, Obama will participate in his final G-20 Leaders' Summit, where he will emphasise the need to continue building on the progress made since 2009 in advancing strong, sustainable, and balanced global economic growth.

"He will underscore the importance of G-20 cooperation in promoting a level playing field and broad-based economic opportunity. The President will also conduct in-depth meetings with President Xi Jinping of China in Hangzhou, where the two leaders will discuss a wide-range of global, regional, and bilateral issues," Earnest said.

During his week-long Asia trip from September 2 to 9, Obama would become the first US President to visit Laos, where he will participate in the US-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit.

Additionally, he will have bilateral meetings with President Bounnhang Vorachith and other key officials to advance US-Lao cooperation on economic, development, and people-to-people ties, among other areas.

Obama will participate in the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative Summit, where he will hold a town hall meeting.

"During the ASEAN Summit, the President will discuss ways to strengthen our economic cooperation with the countries of Southeast Asia, which collectively represent America's fourth largest trading partner and further enhance our collaboration on regional and global challenges," Earnest said.

"At the East Asia Summit, the President will coordinate with the region's leaders on efforts to advance a rules-based international order," he said.

The visit also will support Obama's efforts to expand opportunities for American businesses and workers to sell their products in some of the world's fastest-growing markets.

"Central to this effort is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the high-standards trade agreement that will unlock key markets to American exports and cement America's economic leadership in the Asia-Pacific," Earnest said.

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In a tragic incident, a state Agriculture Department official's pleas for a half day leave to attend his depressed son were turned down by his superior who nudged the official to continue working, following which the boy allegedly committed suicide.

The incident took place last week and the Maharashtra government has ordered an inquiry into it.

Sources in the Agriculture Department said in the afternoon of August 12, department Joint Secretary Rajesh Ghadge (posted at department office in Mantralaya here) got a panic call from his son, who was suffering from depression, asking him to come home in Navi Mumbai as soon as possible, failing which he (the son) would end his life.

Panicked by the threat, Ghadge requested Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Bhagwan Sahay to let him go home early. But Sahay turned down his requests and made him work till regular office hours.

"Ghadge's 23-year-old son was desperately calling him to come back home and had threatened to commit suicide if he did not turn up," the source said.

"So Ghadge approached Sahay with a permission for a half day leave. Sahay, known for his whimsical ways not only denied the permission, but asked Ghadge to work as per the regular office hours," he added.

A distraught Ghadge was virtually on his knees as he got a second frantic call from his son. He once again approached Sahay pleading for mercy, but his pleas fell on deaf ears, the source said.

"All that he got to hear again from Sahay was a 'no'. At the end of the day, Ghadge's worst fears came true as he got the from his home that his son had committed suicide," he said.

Speaking to reporters here, state Minister for Agriculture Pandurang Phundkar today said he has ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident.

"I have spoken to Ghadge and had also asked state Chief Secretary to order an inquiry into the incident," Phundkar said.

Following the directions, Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya has ordered an inquiry into the entire episode.

The incident sparked outrage in the department, with officers and Ghadge's colleagues staging a demonstration today.

According to sources in the department, Ghadge is now contemplating applying for Voluntary Retirement.

The body was taken to Solapur, the native place of the Ghadge family, for the last rites. Other officers in the department rushed to meet Ghadge at his Solapur residence.

Efforts to contact Sahay did not yield results as he turned away media persons.

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On the occasion of Rakshabandhan, Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) today offered free ride to women in its buses of all categories.

No fair is being charged from female passengers from midnight. It is for 24 hours, an RSRTC spokesperson said.

The RSRTC has 4,500 buses in which 9,50,000 passengers travel in normal days of which over 30 per cent are female. However, the number of women travelling in buses increases on the occasion of Rakshabandhan, he said.

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A lecturer was killed and 18 others were injured in clashes between security forces and protesters who were opposing a search operation in Khrew area of Pulwama district in Kashmir where curfew and restrictions remained in force for the 41st day on Thursday.

Shabir Ahmad Monga, a contractual lecturer, died when he and several others were beaten up at Khrew late last night, a police official said.

He said 18 other persons, mostly youths, have been admitted to a hospital here.

According to the locals, army conducted house to house searches for the youths who were leading protests in the area late last night which was resisted by the residents of Khrew.

In the ensuing clash, 30-year-old Monga died.

An army official said they were collecting details about the incident and will soon issue a statement.

Curfew remained in force in entire Srinagar district, Anantnag town and Pampore police station, which includes Khrew area, while restrictions continued on the movement of the people in rest of the Valley.

Normal life has been paralysed in the Valley due to street protests since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8.

Heavy deployment of security forces has been carried out in Srinagar city with all roads leading to the local office of United Nations Military Observers Group (UNMOG) at Sonawar sealed.

The authorities strictly imposed night curfew in the city in view of the separatists' call for march to the UN office over a 72-hour period beginning yesterday.

Schools, colleges and private offices remained closed while public transport remained off the roads due to the strike called by the separatists.

The attendance in government offices was thin.

Mobile Internet and mobile telephony services across the valley remained suspended.

However, broadband services were restored early this morning after five days.

Broadband services and mobile telephone services were snapped Saturday evening.

As many as 64 persons including two police personnel have been killed and several thousand injured in the clashes that began on July 9.
A debt-ridden man in Pakistan's Punjab province allegedly drowned his four-year-old daughter into a canal and reported a false complaint of kidnapping to get 500,000 rupees as "compensation" from the government.

Shahbaz Ahmad, struggling under a 700,000rupees debt, planned to kill Sabiha to secure the compensation from Punjab government, a senior police officialtold reporters.

After throwing his daughterinto thecanal, Ahmad lodged a false complaint with the police on Tuesday that his daughter had been kidnapped while going to school at Jakhar village near Kotla, some 150 kilometres from Lahore.

The police found the girl's body floating in the canal near Randheer village.

The official saidthat after fishing out the body from the canal, the police grilled Ahmadwho confessed to have killed his daughter, hoping he would get the compensation the Punjab government was offering to famililies of kidnapped children.

Ahmad told the police that he needed the amount to pay off his debts.

"On Tuesday, Ipicked Sabiha from thehouse on the pretext of dropping her at school, but instead took her to the canal bank and threw her into deep waters," he said.

A murder case has been registered in this connection.

There has been a surge in cases of child abduction in the province and "special compensation" has been announced by the Punjabgovernment for the families of the victims.

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Fourteen years after he killed his first wife, a Pakistani man has murdered his second wife by repeatedly stabbing her before slitting her throat with a knife, in the latest case of "honour killing" in the country.

Rahim Daad killed Farzana, 35, inside their home in Sindh's capital Karachi early yesterday, police said. Daad has been arrested and a knife was seized from him.

He repeatedly stabbed Farzana before slitting her throat, Dawn reported quoting a top police official.

During interrogation, Daad confessed to murder his wife in the name of honour, the official added.

Early Wednesday night, the couple had an argument over some issue following which Farzana wanted to leave the house and Daad. In an ensuing scuffle, Daad took out his knife and killed her.

He stabbed her in the abdomen and then slit her throat.

The suspect had killed his first wife, a mother of three, citing that she too had shamed the family, the police said.

In Pakistan, the victims of "honour killings" are overwhelmingly women, with hundreds killed each year. The crime came under the international spotlight after social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was killed by brother.

Baloch's murder sparked an international uproar forcing the Pakistani government to announce strict action against those involved in her murder.

Rights groups have for years called for tougher laws to tackle perpetrators of violence against women in Pakistan.

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A 12-year-old Pakistani-American special needs student was forced by a school here to sign a false confession stating that he was part of ISIS and wanted to blow up the school fence, according to a USD 25 million lawsuit filed by his family.

The Muslim family from Long Island has sued the East Islip Union Free School District for USD 25 million, saying their son Nashwan Uppal was taunted by his classmates as a "terrorist" and then was asked repeatedly by school officials if he was a terrorist, if he made bombs, if he knew who "Osama" was and if he was part of ISIS.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Brooklyn federal court on Monday, claims Uppal, a Pakistani-American student, was sitting in the lunchroom of the East Islip Middle School on January 6 when other kids started asking him what he was going to "blow up next", the New York Post reported.

Uppal, who has severe learning and social disabilities, attempted to move to another table as adults in the lunchroom did nothing, according to the lawsuit, but the bullies followed him and continued their Islamophobic taunts.

The suit says, the next day, Uppal was pulled from gym class by Superintendent John Dolan, Principal Mark Bernard and Assistant Principal Jason Stanton, and interrogated.

"Stanton repeatedly asked Nashwan if he was a terrorist, and if he made bombs in his house," the suit says. When he said no, an increasingly irate Stanton allegedly bellowed, "Don't lie to us!"



A trembling Uppal was forced to write a confession saying he was "part of ISIS, knew how to make bombs, that he had bombs in his house, and that he was going to blow up the school fence," the suit alleges.

Officials eventually let him call his mother, Nubaisha Amar, who was told her son had pledged allegiance to ISIS and was going to blow up the school.

Police escorted mother and son back to their home before searching the entire house and concluding he was no threat. However, Uppal was suspended for a week for "criminal activity".

Attorney David Antwork said the boy was emotionally scarred.

"The defendants trampled on...Nashwan's civil rights, berated and humiliated him by forcing Nashwan to confess to crimes which he did not commit while ignoring the fact that he was incessantly bullied and had known social, language and learning disabilities," Antwork was quoted as saying.

The lawsuit also claims that Uppal suffered from "severe and extreme emotional distress" including "nightmares, sleeplessness, crying, fear, humiliation and stress" as a result of the incident.

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Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has released two new varieties of wheat and celery for general cultivation in the state.

During the meeting of State Variety Approval Committee, where after a thorough discussion on salient characteristics of these varieties they were approved, under the Chairmanship of Jasbir Singh Bains, Director of Agriculture, Punjab, an official release said.

The variety PBW 725 of bread wheat has been released for cultivation in the Punjab state under irrigated timely sown conditions.

The variety possesses a combination of several desirable traits like high grain yield, resistance to yellow and brown rusts, and good grain quality.

"It is a double dwarf variety with an average plant height of 105 cm. Its ears are medium dense and tapering in shape with white smooth glumes. Its grains are amber, hard, medium bold and lustrous. It matures in about 154 days. Its average grain yield is 22.9 quintals per acre which is 7.6 per cent higher than that of the pre-dominant wheat variety," it said.

The variety Punjab Celery 1 is the first celery variety developed by PAU and has been released for cultivation in the Punjab state.

"Its seeds are brown in colour with characteristic odour and pungent taste. These contain 1.9 per cent essential oil with a total oil content of 20.1 per cent. The variety starts bearing flowers in the month of March and matures in 140-150 days after transplanting. Its average seed yield is 4.46 quintals per acre," it said.

R K Gumber, Director of Research, PAU said that very positive feedback on new wheat variety PBW 725 was received from the farmers of the state during last crop season.

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Amid a debate over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments on Balochistan in his Independence Day address, External Affairs Ministry today indicated that the remarks did not constitute a policy shift as being construed.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the Prime Minister had been thanked by people of Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, including Gilgit-Baltistan, for flagging their problems at an all-party meeting here last week and, moved by their messages, he talked about them in his speech from the Red Fort.

At the same time, he said, Modi also gave "certain instructions" on the next course of action but refused to divulge details or how those instructions will be implemented.

"I cannot at this stage share with you. However, MEA will do what it has to because after all people of PoK are also our people," he said.

On Modi's mention of Balochistan he said, "As to whether this constitutes a policy shift, let me say that Government of India has made statements about the situation in Balochistan in the past as well.

"My own predecessor had commented on this issue. The only difference this time was that the various messages the Prime Minister had received had sufficiently moved him to share it with the people of India."



In his Independence Day speech on Monday, Modi had talked about the situation in PoK, Gilgit and Balochistan and said people from there have thanked him for raising their issues.

"The Prime Minister had been thanked by these people for flagging their cause in the all-party meeting which represents all political segments in India. Prime Minister was sufficiently moved by these messages of gratitude to share it with the people of India in his Independence Day address."



When asked about certain Baloch groups seeking recognition from India, the MEA spokesperson said,"Don't jumpt the gun".

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Police today arrested a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) engineer in connection with the death of a 9 year old boy who had fallen into a rainwater filled ditch on a land under his "supervision" in north Delhi.

"The arrest was made following reply of Delhi Jal Board regarding official responsible for the land where the ditch was situated. The name of the engineer Sher Singh was given to us by the Board in reply to our communique," said a senior police officer.

The engineer was, however, released after bail from the Burari police station where a case was registered in the matter, as the offence was bailable, he said.

The victim Jastin Masih, a class III student who lived with his parents at Himgiri apartment near Burari Authority office, had died after falling into the ditch, while trying to catch a stray kite on July 20.

Delhi Water Minister and chairman of DJB Kapil Mishra had also recommended a magisterial probe into the incident.

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Police in Maine are investigating after notes urging violence against Muslims were found at an apartment complex where Iraqi residents live.

An Iraqi man went to police yesterday morning after finding a typewritten note saying "All Muslims are Terrorists should be Killed."



Police canvassed the complex in Westbrook, just outside of Portland, and found a second identical note. They also were told that two other notes had been found by Iraqis living there.

Authorities say they don't know if the threats are related to recent reports that 38-year-old Adnan Fazeli, an Iranian who came to Maine as a refugee in 2009, was fighting for the Islamic State group when he was killed in Lebanon last year.

They say Fazeli had previously lived in the Westbrook apartment complex.

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Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said the 2017 Assembly election in the state will be a "fight between pro and anti-Punjab forces".

Addressing a gathering here on the occasion of 'Rakhar Punia', he said the election would be between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the "enemies of the state such as the AAP and the Congress".

Badal claimed if the ruling "pro-people" SAD-BJP alliance was voted to power again, then Punjab's development would get a major boost. "But, god forbid, if anti-Punjab forces such as the Congress and the AAP get a chance, then the situation will be worse," he warned the people, adding that this time around, they would have to choose between "the foes and the friends" of the state.

Reminding the people of the "notorious" past of the Congress, the Chief Minister accused the party of "irrelevantly meddling" in the social, political, economic and religious affairs of the state.

He alleged that successive Congress governments at the Centre had "deliberately denied" the state of Punjabi-speaking areas, its capital Chandigarh and its legitimate share in river waters.

Training his guns on the AAP, he said the party was nothing but a "band of gossip-mongers" which was "good for nothing".

He claimed that the AAP leadership was "promising moon" to everyone but in reality, they have proved that they cannot deliver anything.

The veteran SAD leader urged the people not to get swayed by the "malicious propaganda" of those who were "anti-Punjab" from the core of their hearts.

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Mohammed Ali Khan, the founding member of Al-Umma, abanned terrorist organisation, and prime accused in a 2013 bomb blast near BJP office here, has been arrested.

Khan (45) was arrested from Sathyamangalam in Erode district of Tamil Nadu on August 15 where he was in hiding, police said.

They said Khan was allegedly involved in planning the Malleswaram bomb blast on April 17, 2013 and had also supplied explosive materials for it.

At least 16 people, including 11 policemen, were injured in the blast near the bustling Karnataka BJP office in a crowded residential area ahead of the state assembly election. The bomb was strapped to a motorbike parked between avan and a car.

Khan was earlier convicted in the 1998 serialblasts at a Coimbatore rally of veteran BJP leader L K Advani in which about 50 people had died.

Accused of supplying materials in this case, he was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released in 2010 afterserving 12 years sentence.

Involved in several terror acts carried out by Al-Umma, Khan had gone into hiding after the Malleshwaramblast, police said.

Stressing that there are 20 accused in the Malleswaram blast case and 17 have been arrested so far, officials said Khan has been taken to police custody and an investigation is underway.

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Union Home Minister on Tuesday reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir as the unrest in Kashmir Valley continues unabated for more than one month.

During the hour-long meeting, the Home Minister took stock of the situation in the state along with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Senior security officials briefed the top Ministers the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley and steps taken to restore peace, sources said.

The Ministers also reviewed various aspects in the implementation of Rs 80,000 crore package announced by the Central government for Jammu and Kashmir in November last year.

Kashmir Valley has been witnessing unrest after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani more than a month ago.

As many as 64 people including two police personnel have been killed and several thousand injured in the clashes that began on July 9.
The authorities in Saket District Courts here have appointed four officers to spread awareness about the adverse impact of tobacco consumption, while declaring the complex as a tobacco-free zone under the 'tobacco-free Delhi' initiative of the local government.

A circular issued by the office of District and Sessions Judge (South district) has declared Saket Courts Complex in South Delhi as tobacco-free in compliance of Tobacco Control Legislation under Tobacco free Delhi initiative.

The court authorities have also appointed four nodal officers to spread awareness about tobacco and promote 'No Tobacco Use', it said.

"All concerned visiting the Saket Courts complex are hereby informed that District Court complex Saket has been declared 'tobacco free zone' in compliance of Tobacco Control Legislation under Tobacco free Delhi initiative.

"Use of any kind of tobacco products like Gutkha, Zarda, Pan Masala having nicotine/tobacco as ingredients in Delhi in premises of Saket court is prohibited," the circular signed by District and Sessions Judge Neena Bansal Krishna, who is also the Chairperson of Environment and Horticulture Committee of Saket court complex, said.

The Delhi government has already banned sale, purchase and storage of chewable tobacco products, but was not able to implement it because of court cases filed by some tobacco manufacturers which are still pending.

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State Bank of India's board today approved merger of three associate lenders and Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMBL) with SBI, a move which will make the state owned lender a bank of global size.

"The central board of directors of SBI has accorded their approval to the scheme of acquisition of the State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT) and Bharatiya Mahila Bank Limited ( BMBL) by the State Bank of India," SBI said in a BSE filing today.

The proposal does not include merger of State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Hyderabad with SBI.

As per the merger proposal, SBBJ shareholders will get 28 shares of SBI (Rs 1 each) for every 10 shares (Rs 10 each). Similarly, SBM and SBT shareholders will get 22 shares of SBI for every 10 shares.

In the case of Bharatiya Mahila Bank, 4,42,31,510 shares of SBI will be swapped for every 100 crore of Rs 10 each.

Last month, the Union Cabinet had cleared merger of all the five associate banks of SBI with the parent and acquisition of BMBL.

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Eminent space G Madhavan Nair has said India must take steps to undertake human space flight mission without delay, stating such a venture would give a new "life and vigour" to entire research activities in ISRO.

Nair termed as "very unfortunate" the government's stand on the mission. He said the goverenmnet is yet to give a formal approval to the mission, even a decade after a meeting convened by ISRO which was attended by 80 senior scientists who favoured initiation of such a project.

The gathering of scientists on November 7, 2006, was unanimous in suggesting that the time is appropriate for India to undertake such a mission. The preliminary estimated cost for the venture was Rs 10,000 crore spread over a period of eight years.

In the recent Parliament session, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Jitendra Singh had said that as of now, the mission is not an approved programme and that currently, ISRO is developing critical technologies relevant for such a spaceflight for building future capacity.

"It (human spaceflight mission) is the next stepping stone which will pitch our position much higher in the global space community", Nair, former Indian Space Research Organisation chairman, said.

"We missed the opportunity. But I will say that even now it's not late. And the money we are taking is peanuts; something like Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 15,000 crore spread over five-six years, is completely affordable for India.

"That will give a new life and vigour to the entire research activities in ISRO. It's not just that we roll out PSLVs and satellites. Yes, that has to be there. That even industries can do. Our R&D needs to be strengthened," he said.

Nair claimed that in the last two years, there is no new initiative from ISRO. "In any R&D sector, unless you set the goals high and work towards something which is challenging, you lose the whole culture of the organisation.
Edible oils industry body SEA has launched a pilot project in Gujarat to help farmers increase the productivity of castorseeds to 2,000 kg per hectare from the current average yield of 1,200-1,400 kg a hectare.

There is a potential to increase the productivity of castorseeds to over 2,000 kg per hectare, provided the farmers follow 'good agronomy' practices along with proper usage of good quality seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, Solvent Extractor's Association of India (SEA) said.

"To create awareness, the association this year has launched a pilot project for castorseed yield improvement in the state of Gujarat and declared to establish Model Farms in Banaskantha and Aravali District of North Gujarat to showcase the farmer, how to achieve the higher yield and thereby higher returns per hectare of castorseed production," SEA said.

The model farm would be supervised by the agriculture scientists and progressive farmers. The beneficial results will motivate many farmers to replicate good practices demonstrated at the model farm and achieve higher yield.

"SEA has provided free of cost quality seed obtained from Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University,Dantiwada, fertiliser, pesticides and other inputs to the farmers and about 50 farmers have joined in this project and agreed to develop the model farms during the current season," the association said in a statement.

In November, when the castorseed crop will be ready, SEA plans to organise 'Kisan Mela' inviting farmers to showcase the benefit of good agriculture practices for achieving higher yield.

On success of this project, SEA said it plans to expand and cover all districts of Gujarat and Rajasthan under this project for increasing productivity and production of castorseed.

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In a "hate incident", a Sikh holy book was "maliciously" thrown over the locked gates of a gurdwara in the West Yorkshire region of England.

West Yorkshire Police have recorded the attack at Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara on Gobind Marg in the Barkerend area of Bradford last week as a "hate incident".

"Clearly this is an extremely distressing incident for the whole congregation and the wider Sikh community and we have recorded a hate incident,"said Police Constable Mercer from the Bradford East Patrol Team.

"I would appeal to anyone who was in and around the area near to the gurdwara between 10pm and 10:20 PM on Friday (August 12) evening, who may have seen or heard anyone acting suspiciously around the entrance to the gudwara to come forward with any information," Mercer said.

"I would also appeal to anyone who may have seen a white rental van near to the location around the time of the incident to speak to police. Our enquiries, including examination of CCTV, are ongoing," he said.

A white rental van was seen in the area and it is believed the suspect or suspects may have used this to try and conceal their identity.

Sikh Council UK, one of the largest representative bodies for Sikhs in the UK, has urged "calm and solidarity" after it dubbed the incident as "beadabi (insult) of Guru Granth Sahib Ji".

"Due process is being followed in getting to the bottom of the matter and for those responsible to be held accountable," a spokesperson said.

The council is also working with the gurdwara's committee to begin restoration work on the holy text found on the premises.

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Congress chief has been admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for a minor treatment procedure, two days after she was discharged following treatment for fever, dehydration and a shoulder injury.

"Mrs has been admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for a minor treatment procedure as per previous plan. She is doing well and undergoing physiotherapy and rehabilitation," Dr S P Byotra, Vice Chairman (Board of Management) of the hospital said today.

In a medical bulletin, the hospital said, she was admitted yesterday "as planned at the time of her discharge from the hospital" on August 14.

The Congress president had visited the hospital yesterday for removal of her stitches from the surgery that she had undergone during her 11-day stay there.

"She is likely to stay at the hospital for a couple of days," sources said.

"At the time of her discharge from the hospital last week, doctors had said that she was likely to revisit the hospital for further evaluation of her condition. So, she is here for that," the hospital source said.

Party sources also said she has been admitted again and will be at the hospital for a couple of days.

The 69-year-old leader was admitted to the hospital on August 3 after she had fallen ill during a roadshow in Varanasi. Doctors treating her at the hospital, during the time of discharge, had said she had recovered from her illness and injury to the left shoulder and was stable.

"Mrs Gandhi is likely to visit the hospital for further evaluation of her condition in the coming week," D S Rana, Chairman of Board of Management of the hospital, had said the day she was discharged.

Gandhi was admitted under the care of Arup Basu, senior consultant, Department of Pulmonology and Chest Medicine and his team.

She was operated upon for a shoulder injury by Prateek Gupta, senior consultant and his team from Department of Orthopaedics and Sanjay Desai from Mumbai.

Gandhi was shifted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital from Army Research and Referral Hospital, where she was rushed soon after her arrival from Varanasi around midnight of August 2.
A two-day special session of the West Bengal Assembly will be convened on August 26 to discuss the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Amendment Bill and the proposal to rename West Bengal as Bengal.

After an all-party meeting at the Assembly, Speaker Biman Banerjee today said the Centre's step-motherly attitude towards the state would also be discussed during the special session.

The House would also discuss another resolution on the spread of dengue as proposed by the opposition parties in the Assembly, the Speaker said.

The GST bill will now have to be ratified by at least 15 of the 29 state Assemblies, which the Prime Minister hoped would be done at the earliest.

Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand have already ratified the GST Bill. The Prime Minister wants the GST to kick in from April, 2017.

During the all party meeting, state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee apprised the members about the state government's proposal to rename West Bengal as 'Bengal', the Speaker said.

On August 2, the Cabinet decided to rename the state as "Bengal" after its earlier proposal of 'Paschim Bango', made in 2011 when the Trinamool Congress took over power in the state, failed to get a green signal by the Centre.

The Cabinet took up a proposal to rename the state as "Bengal" in English and "Bango" or "Bangla" in Bengali, Chatterjee said.

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Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the state government will open more than two thousand free medical centres within one month in the stare.

He stated this while addressing press conference here.

The Deputy Chief Minister alleged that the "Mohalla Clinics" opened by AAP in Delhi are nothing but a sham.

The Deputy CM was here to lay the foundation stone of Rs 75.87 crore Railway over Bridge (ROB) (Number A-54/2-E) at National Highway-95 (Ludhiana-Moga-Ferozepur Road).

Later the Deputy CM addressed a huge congregation of Akali workers at Grain Market Ferozepur Cantt.

Sukhbir claimed that after Independence, the state has never seen such kind of development which has taken place in last nine years.

The Deputy Chief Minister listed the various welfare schemes launched by the state government like shagan scheme, pension scheme, atta-dal scheme, free bicycles for school girls, free health insurance scheme, free power to farmers, free power worth 200 units to the SC/BC families, etc.

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will visit Myanmar next week during which she will meet with the top leadership of the country including State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.

This would be India's first high profile visit after Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won a historic landslide election last year that finally brought an end to five decades of military rule.

Swaraj will be in Myanmar on August 21 on a one-day visit. She was earlier scheduled to visit the country in May but the trip was cancelled at the last moment because the minister was not well.

She would be aiming to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Act East Policy'.

In recent years, both countries have have worked on their bilateral ties on several fronts.

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Seventeen people detained after last week's bombings and arson in southern Thailand are being charged with belonging to a criminal gang, but authorities have not publicly linked them to the attacks that killed four people and wounded dozens.

A military court late today approved arrest warrants for the 17, who are to hear the charges in court tomorrow. It is unclear how many are in custody.

The authorities have hinted, but not publicly stated, they are suspects in the attacks at seven tourist destinations.

Thai reporters were told by officials on an anonymous basis that the 17 had confessed to being in a previously unknown anti-government group called Revolution for Democracy but denied carrying out the attacks.

Many analysts believe the attacks were carried out by Muslim separatists who have waged an insurgency in the deep south since 2004 that has left more than 6,000 people dead.

A search of the house of one of the 17 suspects turned up an AK-47 assault rifle, according to the anonymous sources, who released the names and home provinces of all of the suspects. Most are from the north and northeast, though all the attacks took place in southern provinces.

Col Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for the country's ruling junta, said the detentions were unrelated to last week's attacks. He said without elaborating that the 17 were involved in a national security case.

However, the names of some of those detained match earlier information leaked by police as being suspects in the attacks.

The crime with which the 17 are being charged is membership in a secret society, punishable by up to seven years in prison. The crime, which is also called criminal association, was originally applied many decades ago to criminal gangs such as Chinese triads. Other charges can be lodged against them at a future time.

Information about the investigation of the attacks has been vague and contradictory. At various points, the authorities have said the attacks were similar to style to those carried out by southern militants; that they were acts of local sabotage rather than terrorism; and that a single figure known to them had directed them.

Many of the statements implied that the attacks were carried out by supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006 after being accused of abuse of power, corruption and disrespect to 88-year-old constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The website of the newspaper Khao Sod identified some of those being arrested as supporters of Thaksin or opponents of the military government.

Thaksin's supporters and opponents have since his ouster carried out a sometimes-violent struggle for power. The army in 2014 toppled an elected government that had been led by Thaksin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.

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Targeting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump over rejigging of his campaign for the second time in two months, his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has said the move will not change his personality.

"I think it's fair to say that Donald Trump has shown us who he is, he can hire and fire anybody he wants from his campaign. They can make him read new words from a teleprompter," Clinton said at an election rally in Cleveland yesterday.

"But he is still the same man who insults Gold Star families, demeans women, mocks people with disabilities, and thinks he knows more about ISIS than our generals," she said amidst laughter from the audience.

"There is no new Donald Trump. This is it. And you know, I hope you will talk to any of your friends who are flirting with the idea of voting for Donald Trump. Friends don't let friends vote for Trump," Clinton said hours after the real estate tycoon from New York made a major shake up in his campaign, which political analysts said is aimed to boost his electioneering.

After the two back-to-back conventions last month, Clinton has maintained a sustained lead in all the major national polls. According to RealClearPolitics, which keeps track of all major national polls, Clinton is leading Trump by more than six percentage points.

Addressing a major election rally in this key swing State of Ohio, Clinton said under his economic proposals unveiled last week, Trump wants to give tax cuts to big corporations, millionaires, Wall Street money managers.

"He's even created a new tax loophole that we call the Trump Loophole, because it's really good for Trump. It would let millionaires and billionaires cut their tax rate in half on a lot of their income. Under his plans, Donald Trump would pay a lower tax rate than middle-class families," she said.

"Of course, we have no idea what tax rate he pays, because, unlike everybody else who's run for president in the last four or five decades, he refuses to release his tax returns, so the American people can't really judge," she said.

Taking a dig at Trump, Clinton said she is proud that she has run a campaign of issues, not insults.

"That's what I'm going to continue to do for the next 83 days. Because I think the details actually matter. That's why I sweat the details," she said.

"I really care a lot about what happens to the young people and the families and our seniors. That's why I'm going to do everything I can to raise the national minimum wage so that it is a living wage," Clinton said.



Meanwhile, a confident Clinton Campaign has said the latest restructuring of his team only shows that Trump Campaign has doubled down on small, nasty and divisive instincts.

"After several failed attempts to pivot into a more serious campaign, Donald Trump has decided to double down on his most small, nasty and divisive instincts," Robby Mook, the Clinton Campaign manager, said.

In a major shake up, Trump appointed Breitbart News executive chairman Stephen Bannon as his campaign's CEO and GOP campaign strategist Kellyanne Conway his campaign manager.

"This latest shake-up turns the?? campaign over to someone best known for running a so-called news site that peddles divisive, at times racist, anti-Muslim, and anti-semitic conspiracy theories," Mook said.

"What's become clear from this is that no matter how much the Republican party wants to clean Donald Trump up, get him on a teleprompter and get him on message, he has officially won the fight to let Trump be Trump. He keeps telling us who he is, it's time that we believe him," he said.

Mook alleged that the Southern Poverty Law Center noted that Breitbart News under Bannon's leadership had, "Undergone a noticeable shift towards embracing ideas on the extremist fringe of the conservative right, racist ideas, race-baiting ideas, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant ideas, all key tenants making up an emerging racist ideology known as the "alt-right".

The Breitbart organisation has been known to defend white supremacists, he alleged.

"Like Trump who has refused to apologize to Gold Star father Khizr Khan, Bennan himself has said, relentlessly going after Khan. Breitbart has compared the work of Planned Parenthood to the Holocaust," Mook said.

"They've also repeatedly used anti-LGBT slurs in their coverage. And finally, like Trump himself, Breitbart and Bannon have frequently trafficked in all sorts of deranged conspiracy theories from touting that President Obama was not born in America to claiming that the Obama Administration was importing more hating Muslims," he said.

"So, it's unfortunately not surprising to see this happen, coming from Trump after weeks of stories about his need to pivot to a more serious campaign. It's clear that his divisive, erratic, and dangerous rhetoric simply represents who he really is," Mook said.

However, the Republican leadership and several of Trump aid rallied behind the party's presidential nominee on his campaign restructuring.

"Steve (Bennan) fully understands the pulse of the grassroots. That's what is largely driving this Trump campaign and that's what's at the frustration that is going through this country right now," Republican National Committee chief strategist Sean Spicer told CNN in an interview.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said "the shake-up has strengthened the Trump campaign. Well, I think they're very good for Trump because it strengthens it," Gingrich told the Fox News Radio.
Three workers were killed and three others were injured in a blast in the oven of a bakery at Khurenji in east Delhi's Jagatpuri area early this morning.

The Fire Services received a call about the blast in the large steel oven of the bakery situated at Aflatoon Market at received around 5.20 am, said a Delhi Fire Service officer.

The police and fire service personnel rushed to the spot and started rescuing the workers who were lying injured on the first floor of the building where the oven was kept.

Police rushed six workers to the Hedgewar hospital where three were declared dead by the doctors. Three others were admitted for treatment of injuries inflicted by the metal pieces.

The deceased workers were identified as Zainul (22), Sajid (21) and Lifaqat (20). A case has been registered under Sections 304 A(causing death by negligence), 287(negligent conduct with respect to machinery) and 337(causing hurt) based on a statement by one of the injured worker Nazar Alam, said Rishi Pal, DCP(east).

Two other workers Afsar and Irfan were also injured in the blast of the oven. All the workers hailed from Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh.

The oven measuring about 5X5 foot suspectedly blasted either due to malfunction or due to overheating, police and fire officials said.

"As the oven blasted, metal pieces including iron bars shoot out like bullets and hit the workers who were baking items there. There was no fire as it was an electric oven but the fatal injuries were caused by the sharp edged metal pieces," said the Delhi Fire Service officer.

"Prima facie negligence in operating the bakery oven was noticed but no arrests have been made so far and investigation is on. No arrests have been made so far," said a police officer.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three workers were killed and as many injured in a blast at a bakery in Jagatpuri area in east Delhi early this morning.

The Delhi Fire Service received a call about the blast in the steel oven and the resulting blaze at the bakery in Aflatoon Market at around 5.20 am.

Police and fire fighters immediately started rescue operation. Six workers were admitted to Hedgewar Hospital.

Three workers, identified as Jainul, Sajid and Rafaqat, were declared dead by doctors while three others are being treated for injuries, a police officer said.
Turkish police launched a vast operation today against businesses suspected of financing US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of masterminding last month's attempted coup, media reported.

Prosecutors issued 187 arrest warrants as part of the operation in the country's economic capital of Istanbul and other provinces, CNN-Turk reported.

It said around 1,000 police took part in the operation in 15 provinces, which included simultaneous raids in about 100 addresses in several districts of Istanbul.

The suspects are accused of financing the activities of Gulen, blamed by authorities for orchestrating the July 15 putsch.

In a similar operation on Tuesday, Turkish police raided dozens of companies in Istanbul in search of 120 suspects. Around 100 people were detained.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said late yesterday that 40,029 state employees have been detained in the crackdown on alleged Gulen supporters in the wake of the failed July 15 coup, of whom 20,335 have been remanded in custody.

More than 5,000 civil servants have been dismissed and almost 80,000 others suspended, he said in an interview with TRT public television.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to eradicate businesses, charities and schools linked to Gulen, calling them "terror organisations" and "nests of terror".

Gulen, a reclusive cleric who has lived in the US since 1999, has been repeatedly accused of running a "parallel state" since a corruption scandal embroiling then premier Erdogan and several of his ministers erupted in 2013.

Gulen, in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, has denied the government's accusations.

Ankara wants Washington to extradite Gulen to face trial back home, indicating that any failure to deliver him will severely damage ties.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two Venezuelan journalists who work for foreign media outlets said they were detained by the army while reporting near the presidential palace, triggering condemnation and calls for their release.

Andreina Flores, a correspondent for Radio France Internationale and Colombia's RCN Radio, and Jorge Perez Valery of Colombian network Red Mas sounded the alarm on Twitter after being detained near President Nicolas Maduro's offices yesterday.

"First they detained us in El Calvario (in central Caracas). Then they took us to an army post. Now we're at Fort Tiuna," the largest military installation in the Venezuelan capital, Perez Valery wrote.

The national journalists' union, SNTP, said the journalists had been taken to military intelligence headquarters.

They are accused of recording in a "presidential corridor," the union said in a statement.

SNTP "demands these journalists' immediate release and holds Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez and army commander Antonio Benavides Torres responsible for anything that happens to our colleagues," it said.

Government rights ombudsman Tarek William Saab said he had sent a delegation to "verify (the journalists') legal status."



Media rights groups frequently criticize Venezuela for violating the freedom of the press. One local group, Espacio Publico, registered 286 incidents last year, mainly in the form of intimidation and harassment.

Reporters Without Borders ranks the country 137th out of 180 on its worldwide press freedom index.

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Base-jumping, regarded as one of the world's most dangerous sports, has claimed two more victims after a Briton and an Italian plunged to their deaths in central Switzerland, police said today.

Both accidents occurred yesterday near Lauterbrunnen in the Alps.

Police in the Swiss canton of Bern said a 30-year-old Italian man jumped from the "Black Line" peak at Stechelberg but lost control of his route before hitting the cliffside and dying.

Italian media identified him as Uli Emanuele. Profiling Emanuele last year, Vice magazine said he worked as dishwasher and had attempted a series of increasingly dangerous jumps.

The other fatality was a 49-year-old Briton who jumped from the "High Ultimate" peak at Muerren and who also crashed into a cliff. Police said he had not yet been identified.

Base-jumpers typically wear wingsuits as they plunge, reaching speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour before deploying a parachute.

The American daredevil Johnny Strange died in the Swiss Alps while attempting a wingsuit jump last October.

Perhaps the most prominent wingsuit-related casualty was the August 2013 death of Mark Sutton, the James Bond parachutist from the opening ceremony at the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

Swiss police said investigations were ongoing into the latest deaths.

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UK-based anti-caste discrimination groups today asked British Prime Minister Theresa May to call on the Indian government to take "stern action" against caste-based violence in the country.

Nearly a dozen groups led by the Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance submitted a joint statement to the UK government, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Secretary General asking them to intervene and send a team to investigate.

"We strongly condemn the increasing violence against Dalits and minorities in India. We also condemn the rise in the so-called 'cow vigilantism' in a country paradoxically the top exporter of beef in the world, the rise in 'Hindu nationalism' and the failure of the authorities to provide legal justice and redress to victims and to eradicate caste-based discrimination," the statement reads.

"We stand in solidarity with protests in Una, Gujarat and around the world including the UK and the USA against these rising atrocities," it adds.

The statement comes ahead of a protest planned outside the Indian High Commission in London on Saturday to protest against caste discrimination and violence in India.

The protest, organised by Castewatch UK and South Asia Solidarity Group, will include handing over a memorandum and a charter of demands to the High Commission addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The organisers said the demonstration is being held in solidarity with Dalit protests in India followingan attack on four Dalit men in Una, Gujarat, on July 11.

Some of the other UK groups involved include AWAAZ South Asia Network, Dr Ambedkar Buddhist organisation Birmingham UK, Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations UK, IndiaMattersUK, India Workers Association GB and Indian Scheduled Caste Welfare Association UK.

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A special women's team of the United Nations was on a visit here to observe and study the initiatives taken up by the Hyderabad City Police towards the safety and security of women.

As part of the visit, the six-member UN Women team went to the 'Bharosa Centre' and 'SHE Teams' offices here.

The team comprised Nora Allgaier from UN Women, Ovais Sarmad from International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and four other delegates from different countries.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Crimes & SIT) Swati Lakra gave a detailed power point presentation about the "women-friendly" initiatives of Hyderabad Police, like SHE Teams, Hawk Eye mobile App and Bharosa Centre, among others.

The team studied the working of Bharosa Center by going through its sections, including family-counselling, video-conference, legal-counselling, child-counselling, medical, and also the SHE teams office.

"They interacted with the staff and the complainants to know about the action taken by the Police. They were happy to know about the City Police initiatives and appreciated the efforts of the Police," Lakra said.

'Bharosa', an integrated support centre for distressed women and children, an initiative of Hyderabad City Police, is a state-of-the-art centre to support women and children, who are victims of violence. The centre was launched in May.

The roving 'SHE Teams', which keep an eye on eve-teasers, have been operating across Telangana since April, 2015.

The officers of SHE Team are deployed near colleges and other public places in civil dress. A single SHE Team consists of a male or female sub-inspector, a woman police constable and three police constables, who carry hidden cameras for video recording.

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Union Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa today reviewed the progress of the proposed roll out of the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), administered by the Controller General of Accounts, with Chief Secretaries of the States of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

M J Joseph, Controller General of Accounts (CGA) and other senior officials attended the meeting, said an official release.

PFMS provides an end-to-end solution for processing payments, tracking, monitoring, accounting, reconciliation and reporting of transactions. The system provides scheme managers a unified platform for tracking releases of funds to implementing agencies and monitoring their last mile utilization.

The objective of Government of India is to promote fiscal discipline in both the Union and State Governments and greater transparency in the fund flow management of various schemes implemented by States.

"Efficient utilization of resources and establishing a transparent mechanism to transfer resources and track the transactions till the benefits reach the target recipients is the objective of the PFMS", the Finance Secretary said.

At various review meetings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized on the need for better utilization of central funds transferred to the state governments and their implementing agencies.

In this context, it has been decided that PFMS will be tasked to develop and implement a system that facilitates 'Just in Time' (JIT) release of funds and complete monitoring of end usage of funds up to the last beneficiary, a release said.

The state governments play an important role in attaining these objectives through integration of their state treasuries with PFMS.

During the review meeting, States indicated the level of preparedness of treasury integration with PFMS.

Gaps in implementation were also identified and necessary support mechanisms for full roll out in a time bound manner were discussed, it said.

Central Government would provide financial assistance for computerisation of State treasuries and training of personnel.

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Union Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain today cancelled his programme to felicitate Mizo warrior Khuangchera as an Indian freedom fighter after meeting agitating student leaders at Lengpui Airport here.

A joint press statement issued by Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) or Mizo Students Federation and Mizo Students Union (MSU) said the leaders of the student bodies deliberated the issue with Gohain at the airport and the minister agreed to cancel his programme.

Gohain was quoted as saying that he understood the sentiments of the Mizo people and did not want to hurt their sentiments by attending the programme at Khuangchera's native village Ailawng near here.

The programme was organised by the BJP Mizoram unit this afternoon.

The minister, however, said he would pay a private visit to the village tomorrow which was accepted by the student bodies.

The Mizo student bodies, the Young Mizo Association (YMA) and other political parties had condemned the Centre's reported move to portray Khuangchera, who was killed by the British army in 1890, as an Indian freedom fighter.

The student bodies also sent a letter by fax to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue yesterday.

The ruling Congress in the state has kept a silence on the issue.

Meanwhile, BJP Mizoram unit president John V Hluna denied that Khuangchera was being depicted by the Centre as an Indian freedom fighter as alleged by the student organisations.

Hluna told PTI the BJP state unit regarded and portrayed Khuangchera as Mizo freedom fighter and had never once said the warrior was an Indian freedom fighter.

"There has been a misunderstanding that Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain is coming to Aizawl to give an award posthumously to Khuangchera.

"It is not so. Gohain was only planning to attend a function where the great Mizo warrior would be glorified and declared as the Mizo freedom fighter," he added.

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In a move aimed at circumventing the Supreme Court order on eviction of former chief ministers from state bungalows within two months, Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has approved crucial changes in a legislation allowing them to occupy the accommodation for life.

The proposed amendments would now be placed before the Assembly during the upcoming session which starts on August 22, an official spokesman said here today.

The apex court had on August 1 directed six former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh to vacate their official bungalows in Lucknow in two months and pay the rent at market rate for the period falling under unauthorised occupation.

The affected ex-CMs were Union Home Minister and BJP leader Rajnath Singh, Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, BSP supremo Mayawati and Congress leaders ND Tiwari and Ram Naresh Yadav. All of them have bungalows in Lucknow.

In view of the court orders, the state cabinet at its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav yesterday gave its nod to certain amendments in the UP Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1981 so that they could occupy the government accommodation for life.

The apex court had passed the order after it found the 1997 rules of allotment, introduced by the state, were in contravention of the 1981 Act.

Under the 1981 Act, CMs were supposed to vacate their official residences in 15 days after demitting office, while the rules framed in 1997 allowed them to retain the bungalows for life.

Any rule framed in violation of the Act was bad in law, the apex court held while quashing the 1997 rules.

The SC clarified that ex-CMs could not be equated with former Presidents and Vice-Presidents who were allotted government accommodation for life or with the ex-Prime Ministers who were entitled to official bungalows for 10 years.

No other constitutional functionaries such as Governors, chief justices, or Union ministers were allowed to enjoy government accommodation post-retirement or two bungalows (one in their home state and another at the place of their present office), the three-member bench headed by Justice Anil R Dave had noted.

The bench, which included justices NV Ramana and R Banumathi, had also rejected the state's contention that it had to allot the bungalows as most of the ex-CMs were getting Z-plus security.

Official sources said the government plans to come up with a separate Act to define the process of allotment of government houses to individuals and trusts, but the preparation of the draft might take some time.

(REOPENS DEL22)



The judgement came on a plea filed by a UP-based NGO Lok Prahari, which had sought a direction against allotment of government bungalows to ex-CMs and other "non-eligible" organisations under the state rules.

The NGO, comprising retired civil servants, journalists and other UP residents, had alleged that despite the direction of the Allahabad High Court, the UP government had framed the 1997 Rules which is not "statutory" and rather "executive" in nature and meant to allot bungalows to ex-chief ministers.

On the plea that the NGO has no locus standi on the issue, the court said it was formed by retired civil servants, journalists and other UP residents and they have no malafide intention in filing this petition and none of them has any personal grudge against any of the occupants of the government premises or any of the former chief ministers.

"So far as the first issue is concerned, in our opinion, the petitioner has locus standi to file the writ petition....

"In our opinion, when the petitioner society is challenging the validity of the 1997 Rules, whereby government bungalows have been allotted to former chief ministers, especially when there is an acute shortage of government premises, it cannot be said that the petitioner has no locus standi to file the present petition," it said.

The bench said if any allotment was not made in accordance with a statutory provision at the relevant time, it must be discontinued and must be treated as cancelled.

It said the state shall take possession of such premises as soon as possible and at the same time, the state should also recover appropriate rent in respect of such premises which had been allotted without any statutory provision.
Top US lawmakers and political leaders have paid glowing tributes to Pramukh Swami, the spiritual head of the Swaminarayan sect, who passed away last week, saying his service touched the lives of millions around the world.

Several lawmakers said Swami, the creator of Akshardham and spiritual leader of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, was a man of character and commitment whose spiritual personality and humanitarian services profoundly touched society.

"My condolences to the BAPS (Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Sansthan) community on the passing of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj who inspired us with his life of selfless service," said Senator Mark Kirk.

"Saddened to hear of the passing of HH Pramukh Swami Maharaj whose service touched the lives of millions around the world," said Delaware Senator Christophe Coons.

In a separate statement, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie offered his deepest condolences over his demise.

"New Jersey had a special connection with Pramukh Swamiji, who visited the state during every US tour, spreading a message of unity and uplifting countless lives. He will be remembered by all for his selflessness and service to others," he said.

Offering heartfelt condolences to Swami's disciples, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said he reminded people that a life dedicated to service of God and the spiritual upliftment of humanity is a life that can be considered truly successful and forever remembered.

Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick in a statement said, "Pramukh Swami Maharaj was a man of character and commitment. He led campaigns against addictions, inspiring many to seek an addiction-free life. His spiritual personality and humanitarian services profoundly touched society."



Congresspersons Grace Meng and Chris Van Hollen said Swami was an inspiration to millions of people around the world and spread peace throughout his long and inspiring life.

Swami also consistently emphasised inter-faith harmony and the collective uplifting of the moral and religious life of mankind. His life, devotion and teachings will grace our world for centuries to come, said Pramila Jayapal, who is running for US House of Representative seat from Washington State.

"We cherish Pramukh Swami Maharaj and his devotees in our thoughts and prayers, and we hope that now, more than ever, we can continue to live by the profound principles of love, faith, and service that he represented," said Congressional candidate from Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi.

Ro Khanna, who is looking to enter the US House of Representative from California, said after terrorists attacked Swaminarayan Akshardham in Gandhinagar, Gujarat - killing numerous visitors and saints in their path - Swami had advocated for love and compassion to prevail, not bigotry or hatred.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
References to Baluchistan, Gilgit and PoK by Prime Minister Narendra Modi signals a change in India's Pakistan policy, top American experts on South Asia have said as they sought more clarity on New Delhi's new approach towards disturbed areas in Pakistan.

"He's (Modi) either appeasing hardliners at home or deliberately signaling to Pakistan in an effort to strengthen India's hand in future discussions," said Vikram J Singh, a former Obama Administration official who served in key positions in State Department, playing an important role in shaping its Af-Pak policy and later in the Defense Department.

"If the latter, it could backfire but be viewed as worth the risk," cautioned Singh, vice president, national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress, a top US think-tank based in Washington DC.

So far, Modi has demonstrated both a willingness to work with Pakistan and a willingness to take a hardline stance, he said.

However, Singh felt Modi's deeper challenge is ensuring India has the allegiance of the majority of Kashmiris rather than growing resentment and resistance, much as Pakistan needs the Baluch to have a stake in the Pakistani state.

"In the long term, the local people matter more to long term stability than do the far right political and chattering class. Appeasing hardliners for political ends leads to bad policy outcomes," Singh said in response to a question.

"The reference to Balochistan in this year's Independence Day speech certainly signals a change in tone in the Modi government's Pakistan policy," said Lisa Curtis of The Heritage Foundation, a top Americana think-tank, which is considered close to the Republican establishment.

The attack on Pathankot air base earlier this year by Pakistan-based terrorists just six days after Modi's goodwill visit to Lahore seems to have convinced Modi and his advisors of the futility of pursuing dialogue with Pakistan, Curtis noted.

While the previous Manmohan Singh government persevered with dialogue in the face of terrorist attacks, it can be argued that such forbearance paid few dividends for India, she said.

"Still, it's unlikely that the Balochistan reference heralds any significant new actions on the ground by India. Modi seems instead to be laying down a marker that his government will be less patient than its predecessor when it comes to Pakistani terrorist provocations," Curtis said.

The Obama Administration, however, has refrained from making any comments on Modi's Independence Day speech with regard to PoK, Baluchistan and Gilgit.

Refusing to be drawn in the Kashmir debate, State Department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters at a conference on Monday, "Our position, as you well know, on Kashmir has not changed. The pace, the scope, the character of any discussions in Kashmir is for the two sides to determine," she said.

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The US is set to cede power of the Internet's naming system to a non-profit organisation on October 1, ending the almost 20-year process to hand over a crucial part of the Internet's governance.

The Domain Naming System, DNS, is one of the Internet's most important components.

It pairs the easy-to-remember web addresses with their relevant servers. Without DNS, one would only be able to access websites by typing in its IP address, a series of numbers such as "194.66.82.10".

More by circumstance than intention, the US has always had ultimate say over how the DNS is controlled - but not for much longer, the BBC reported today.

The US will give up its power fully to Los Angles-based ICANN - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - a non-profit organisation.

The terms of the change were agreed upon in 2014, but it wasn not until now that the US said it was finally satisfied that Icann was ready to make the change.

ICANN will take charge of Internet's naming system on October 1, 2016, the report said.

Users of the web will not notice any difference because ICANN has essentially being doing the job for years.

But it's a move that has been fiercely criticised by some US politicians as opening the door to the likes of China and Russia to meddle with a system that has always been "protected" by the US.

"The proposal will significantly increase the power of foreign governments over the Internet," warned a letter signed by several Republican senators, including former presidential hopeful, Ted Cruz.

ICANN was created in 1998 to take over the task of assigning web addresses. Until that point, that job was handled by one man - Jon Postel. He was known to many as the "god of the internet", a nod to his power over the internet, as well as his research work in creating some of the systems that underpin networking.

Postel, who died not long after ICANN was created, was in charge of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

Administration of the IANA was contracted to the newly- formed ICANN, but the US's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), part of the Department of Commerce, kept its final say over what it was able to do.

It is that final detail that is set to change from October 1. No longer will the US government - through the NTIA - be able to intervene on matters around internet naming.

From October, the "new" ICANN will become an organisation that answers to multiple stakeholders who want a say over the internet. Those stakeholders include countries, businesses and groups offering technical expertise.

"It's a big change," said Prof Alan Woodward from the University of Surrey.

"It marks a transition from an internet effectively governed by one nation to a multi-stakeholder governed internet: a properly global solution for what has become a global asset," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India and Venezuela today held "substantive" talks to explore deepening of ties in a range of areas including in trade and investment and hydrocarbons sector as the two countries agreed to finalise a number of key pacts including double tax avoidance agreement.

During talks with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, her Venezuelan counterpart Delcy Rodriguez personally handed over an invitation for India's participation in the 17th edition of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Venezuela next month.

It is understood that the invitation is for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The two sides agreed to move ahead for an early finalisation of a number of agreements in different areas, including Extradition Treaty, Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) on Criminal Matters, Air Services Agreement etc, said External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

About NAM, he said Swaraj underlined the importance India attaches to it, particularly as one of its founder members and confirmed India's participation.

She conveyed to Rodriguez that the details of India's participation will be worked out and intimated soon.

Earlier asked whether Modi will attend the summit, Swarup said decision on India's level of participation has not been taken yet. The last time an Indian Prime Minister stayed away from attending NAM was Chaudhary Charan Singh in 1979.

Rodriguez is here to personally hand over the invitation for India's participation at the NAM summit to be held in Margarita Island from September 17-18.

The Venezuelan Foreign Minister is accompanied by a 14- member delegation including Minister of Petroleum Eulogio del Pino and Vice Minister for Asia, Middle East and Oceania Felix Plasencia.

"They discussed the whole gamut of bilateral issues and views were exchanged on various multilateral issues, including UNSC Reform, UN Peacekeeping and terrorism," said Swarup.

He said it was agreed that there is huge potential on both sides on the trade front and that the basket needs to be diversified.

"India raised the issue to pending payments of both public and private sector companies with the Venezuelan side. They assured that they will look into the matter for an early solution," Swarup said adding the ministers also agreed that the next Joint Commission Meeting should be held soon in Venezuela.

A luncheon meeting was also hosted for Rodriguez by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan during which both sides agreed to step up cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector.

In the cultural sector, it was agreed that programmes of symphony, film festivals and youth orchestra etc should be exchanged, Swarup said.

The Venezuelan minister invited Swaraj to visit Venezuela which she accepted, said Swarup.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Under pressure from top Australian officials, lifted its sudden ban on veterans who had travelled to the country to mark the 50th anniversary of Australia's most costly battle of the War, with the government allowing low-key commemorations.

More than 1,000 Australian veterans and their families travelled to to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan at a cross marking the site where 18 Australian soldiers and hundreds of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops died in a rubber plantation on August 18, 1966.

The reversal over the ceremony, which drew some Australian veterans back to the Communist country for the first time since the war, comes after Vietnam told Australia late Tuesday that the event was cancelled.

That decision prompted urgent talks between foreign ministers of both countries, with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaking to his Vietnamese counterpart by phone.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement that small groups of people would be allowed into the site, but visitors were banned from wearing medals or uniforms and from carrying banners or flags.

Groups of up to 50 people were taking turns entering the site, and were allowed to stay for no longer than 15 minutes. The Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Craig Chittick, and two other embassy officials were scheduled to lay a wreath at the cross.

"Our hope is now that our veterans and their families will be able to travel to the site and pay their respects to the fallen and to all those who served in a very dignified way," Veterans' Affairs Minister Dan Tehan told Australia's Nine Network.

Australian Ernie Gimm, who served at Long Tan as an air controller in 1966 and 1967, planned to visit the cross on Thursday, saying he felt it was still worthwhile for him to pay his respects despite the strict conditions.

"We are not here to celebrate, but to remember those who died at war, from both sides," said Gimm, of Queensland state.

On Wednesday, Tehan said Vietnam's abrupt cancellation of the ceremony was "a kick in the guts." He told reporters the veto reflected "deep sensitivities" within Vietnam and was not a response to problems in the bilateral relationship.

The Long Tan anniversary is Australia's official Vietnam Veterans Day and has been commemorated by Australians at the battle scene since 1989.

In the fighting, a company of 105 Australian soldiers plus three New Zealanders supported by artillery survived a rain-drenched, three-hour battle by driving off wave after wave of attacks by more than 2,000 enemy troops.

Hundreds of veterans and their families gathered in the Australian capital to mark the anniversary at the Australian War Memorial.

Australia deployed more than 60,000 military personnel to Vietnam between 1962 and 1973, of whom 521 were killed.
Women wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who was stretchered off during her quarterfinal bout at the Rio Olympics, has suffered a ligament tear and will take atleast a week to recover, India's chef de mission Rakesh Gupta said here today.

"She does not have a bone injury. Only ligament tear in right knee. She has to take support. But there's no dislocation. Hopefully she will recover in one week," Gupta said.

Read our full coverage on the 2016 Rio Olympics



"But she will take about two-three days' to walk properly. She will take the help of a support."

Vinesh's campaign was cut short after she hurt her right knee half-way into the first period of her 48kg quarterfinal fight against China's Sun Yanan.

The 21-year-old, who was touted as a medal prospect for India, was seen grimacing in pain as she was treated for about five minutes before being stretchered off for medical treatment.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu today said there is no clarity on the Centre's stand on according special status to his state and demanded that it keep the promises made during bifurcation.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of Krishna Pushkaram river festival, he said the Centre today released about Rs 1,800 crore fund whereas the state was to get Rs 16,000 crore on account of revenue deficit.

"We got only Rs 1000 crore on account of revenue deficit today. The rest was for other purposes including backwards area development. The state was promised this fund as after bifurcation, revenue-generating capital Hyderabad went to Telangana.

"We are having a problem of finances. We came here (the present situation) carrying debt on our head," he said.

He also said there were problems between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and the Centre should intervene to solve the issues.

"We are waiting for the solutions," he said.

He rued that educational and other institutions have remained in Hyderabad and his state does not have enough funds for building these here.

Naidu evaded a question as to why the NDA has gone into hibernation.

Naidu's TDP is a part of NDA at the Centre.

On the Constitution amendment bill on GST, he said Andhra Pradesh will ratify it soon.

Krishna Pushkaram is a 12-day festival that comes once in every 12 years. Over three crore devotees are expected to take a holy dip in the river Krishna across Andhra Pradesh.

(REOPENS DES 45)



"In the last two years, we had two Pushkarams. One is Godavari, another is Krishna... People are associating with this river... We are using technology in a big way in this Krishna Pushkaram... We are using CCTV (cameras) in a big way. Not only for law and order and traffic, but even in crowd management," Naidu said.

The authorities have also employed drones for surveillance.

"We are running 18 drones," he said.

"I also want to use technology in governance," Naidu said and reiterated his demand of central financial assistance.

"We are carrying debt on our heads. We have to build a new capital and also the state... We are going in that direction," he said.
Yemen troops today launched a bid to break a rebel siege of third city Taez, with fierce fighting leaving five soldiers and 13 insurgents dead, military sources said.

Soldiers attacked positions of the Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels from the east, west and north of the flashpoint southwestern city that has been under siege for more than a year, they said.

One military source said the troops made "a relative breakthrough" by driving the Huthi rebels from several positions around the city.

A pro-government activist, Abdel Majid al-Dhababi, confirmed that troops had made progress after months of trying to break the siege of Taez.

He told AFP the army "practically succeeded in breaking the blockade from the west.

"But the road leading to Aden is still unsafe and this is preventing civilians from fleeing south," said Dhababi.

Yemen has been hit by unrest since the Huthi rebels and allied loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014.

The violence increased after a Saudi-led Arab coalition launched a military campaign in March last year to help shore up the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The government had fled to Saudi Arabia after the Huthis seized Sanaa and pushed south to second city Aden.

But with help from the coalition authorities have recaptured Aden, where the government has set up temporary headquarters.

In March, loyalist forces backed by Saudi-led air strikes managed to break the rebel siege of Taez after fierce clashes but the insurgents later re-imposed a blockade on the city.

Tens of thousands of civilians are said to be caught in the fierce and protracted battle for Taez.

Saud-led aircraft meanwhile pounded rebels positions around Sanaa on Thursday, scoring hits on three military camps held by the insurgents, military sources said.

Violence on Thursday also rocked the southern Abyan province where an Al-Qaeda suicide bomber killed four Yemeni soldiers and wounded four others, a military official told AFP.

The attack comes after government forces launched an anti-jihadist operation in Abyan.

The bomber rammed his car into two military vehicles parked on a road linking the towns of Loder and Moudia, the military official said.

The attack came after troops recaptured both towns from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the official added.

He said the bombing was apparently in retaliation for the capture Sunday of provincial capital Zinjibar by the army backed by Saudi-led air strikes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Silke Koltrowitz

ZURICH (Reuters) - Nestle , the world's largest packaged foods maker, is counting on new products and price increases in the second half of the year to meet its full-year sales growth target after a weaker than expected first half, the company said on Thursday.

The company has missed its long-term target of 5-6 percent annual sales growth for three years but it said it still expects organic growth this year will be in line with the 4.2 percent seen last year.

The shares were up 1 percent at 79.1 Swiss francs by 1000 GMT.

Organic sales growth, which excludes the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and currency, slowed to 3.1 percent in the second quarter, hit by weakness in China and deflation in Europe, while growth in the first half was 3.5 percent.

Analysts had been expecting a rise of 3.6 percent in the second quarter and 3.8 percent for the full six months, according to a poll.

But Chief Financial Officer Francois-Xavier Roger said he thought pricing had hit the bottom in the second quarter and, to underscore the importance of innovation, explained that a third of Nestle sales came from products new to the market in the last two years.

New products often fetch higher prices, which in turn boost profit margins.

The maker of Kitkat chocolate bars and Maggi noodles has also been cutting costs, shedding underperforming businesses and expanding its presence in the more profitable and faster-growing market for healthcare products.

Liberum analysts, who have a "hold" stock rating, said that "may lead to upside surprise although current progress is slow" and the shares remained "an attractive defensive haven".

HEALTH DRIVE

Faced with more demanding consumers asking for fresh, healthy products, makers of packaged foods are reformulating recipes, cutting sugar, salt and fat.

To accelerate its health push, Nestle recruited Ulf Mark Schneider from German healthcare group Fresenius as its next chief executive.

"In our view, the Nestle investment case hinges on incoming CEO Ulf Mark Schneider, who takes over on 1 January 2017. In the meantime, though, we regard this as a competent set of results," RBC Europe analyst James Edwardes Jones said in a note.

Asked whether Nestle would increase its dividend this year, Roger only said Nestle had done so in the past despite the strong Swiss franc.

($1 = 0.9609 Swiss francs)

(Additional reporting by John Revill and Angelika Gruber; Editing by Michael Shields, Greg Mahlich.)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd is investing a total of S$2.47 billion ($1.8 billion) to increase its stakes in the top mobile operators of Thailand and India as part of its strategy to boost exposure to emerging markets.

"Thailand, India and Africa continue to be attractive, high-growth markets for us," Singtel's group CEO, Chua Sock Koong, said in a statement on Thursday.

has built a portfolio of stakes in regional mobile associates as it hunts for growth outside its small and mature home market of Singapore.

said it had entered into conditional shares purchases with state investor Temasek Holdings to acquire 21 per cent of Thai telecoms firm Intouch Holdings PCL .

Intouch is the largest shareholder in Advanced Info Services PCL , the country's biggest mobile operator, in which currently holds 23.3 per cent.

It will also acquire 7.39 per cent of India's Bharti Telecom Ltd , the holding company of Bharti Airtel Ltd, the country's largest telecoms firm and Singtel's existing partner.

The transactions will be funded through internal cash, short-term debt and proceeds from a share placement of 386 million new Singtel shares to Temasek totalling S$1.605 billion.

Singtel, 51.1 per cent owned by Temasek, said the acquisitions and share placement are interdependent and have to close at the same time.
By Barbara Lewis

LONDON (Reuters) - Debt in the world's top 30 steel companies totals a record $150 billion, international accountancy firm EY said on Thursday, adding governments' action to support the sector would work only if matched with more radical industry restructuring.

Overcapacity and weak steel prices have piled pressure on firms such as Tata Steel , which is in merger talks with German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp .

EY said in a report published on Thursday steel firms took on debt as they fought for market share, notably the Chinese steel sector has added about a billion tonnes of capacity since 2000, helping to take global excess capacity to about 700 million tonnes.

The debt of the top 30 companies is dwarfed by China's steel sector debt, estimated at $500 billion.

"Many steelmakers are in some form of distress with some teetering on the verge of bankruptcy," Anjani Agrawal, EY global steel leader, said, adding government efforts would only work if the industry had viable business models.

Reforms are underway.

Thyssenkrupp, the world's 16th largest steel producer by tonnage, has announced the sale of real estate assets as well as embarking on merger talks with Tata.

At the end of June, the firm had gearing of 175 percent, versus 124 percent a year earlier, and debt of 4.77 billion euros compared with 4.39 billion the previous year.

It aims to reduce its gearing to less than 150 percent by the end of September and told an analysts' call last week it should meet that target.

The world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal has tackled its debt with a $3 billion rights issue.

It also sold a $1 billion stake in a Spanish automotive steel group Gestamp in April. Net debt was $12.7 billion at the end of the first half of 2016, down from $17.3 after the first quarter. The group guides for positive cash flow in 2016.

China has promised to reduce steel capacity by 45 million tonnes this year, but cuts in the first seven months were only 47 percent of the annual target.

To protect Western firms from Chinese steel, which the United States and Europe says is sold at less than cost price, Washington and Brussels have imposed duties, prompting criticism from China.

European steel representatives say Chinese firms should carry out most of the restructuring, given the size of their debts, but they are not assuming that will happen and all measures will be needed for the sector to survive.

"For the next 5 to 10 years there will be substantial pain. It should be principally in China, but it will be principally here unless we have effective trade measures," Brussels-based lawyer Laurent Ruessmann, a partner at Fieldfisher, said by telephone. He represents steel firms and is specialised in China and trade law.

(Additional reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek in Brussels, Georgina Prodhan and Tom Kaeckenhoff in Frankfurt, editing by David Evans)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ISTANBUL/ZURICH (Reuters) - Turkey's investigation into Novartis is "ongoing", a Turkish health ministry official told on Thursday, after the Swiss drugmaker said last week it was not under investigation over bribery allegations in Turkey.

The Ankara chief prosecutor's office had said in April it was investigating the Turkish unit of Novartis after allegations were made that the company benefited from bribery.

Novartis said last week that it had determined the allegations were unsubstantiated and was not aware of any government authority investigating it. It said it considered the matter "closed".

However, an official at Turkey's health ministry in Ankara told that an investigation into Novartis was still "ongoing". The official declined to give further details.

In Switzerland, a Novartis spokesman said it considered the matter closed and is no longer seeking information from Turkish authorities.

It maintains the allegations were "unfounded" and based on a past complaint.

reported in March that an anonymous whistleblower accused the company of paying bribes in Turkey through a consulting firm to secure business advantages worth an estimated $85 million.

(Reporting by Can Sezer in Istanbul and Michael Shields in Zurich; Additional reporting by John Miller in Zurich; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Patrick Markey and Toby Chopra)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Global economic crisis will continue to drive the demand for gold and silver worldwide, with appetite for the yellow metal likely to pick up in India in the second half of 2016 on the back of festive season and Pay Commission award, industry experts said.

The demand for gold in the domestic market is expected to pick up in the second half of 2016 after a dismal first half, they said.

High unofficial imports, elevated price, imposition of excise duty and subsequent strike by jewellers had impacted gold demand in the first half.

ALSO READ: Five Tips on Buying Gold Jewellery



"Demand is expected to come back and price discounts are expected to narrow from October.

"The overall demand is expected to remain around 380 to 400 tonnes for the second half of calendar year 2016 on account of increase in farmer incomes, salary arrears to Central government employees under 7th Pay Commission and festive demand," Foretell Business Solutions, Head of Bullion Research, Debajit Saha said in a statement here.

He added that gold demand remained extremely poor in the first half of the current year. Market had entered into deep discount zone, impacting official supply of gold. Discounts increased the moment government announced levy of excise duty, which prompted jewellers to go on a long strike, he said.

Announcement of excise duty and the subsequent strike lead to destocking at jewellers' end. Unanticipated increase in price of gold in early 2016 pushed domestic prices and drove demand out further, besides increasing scrap flows, the statement added.

Sudheesh Nambiath of Thomson Reuters GFMS said gold price in India could decline and find support at Rs 29,000/10 gm and later rise towards Rs 33,500 by middle of next year.

Lack of physical demand from Asia, increased scrap selling at higher price levels and stable Indian rupee will be key factors that can help put some pressure on domestic prices, he added.
The spiralling growth of Indian automobile industry has also led to an increase in the notorious counterfeiting business. Every year, the country bears a taxation loss of approximately Rs 2700 crore as spurious parts make Rs 11,000 crore of the Rs 40,000 crore Indian auto component market. Despite government checks, this parallel illegal industry is growing at an alarmingly pace.

We spoke to the president of Authentication Solution Provider's Association (ASPA), Mr U.K Gupta, to understand the reasons:

What is the current status of counterfeiting in Indian automotive industry?

Measuring counterfeiting is methodologically challenging for various reasons. First, it is an illegal activity and illicit traders attempt to remain invisible and are unlikely to record their activities. Also, for security reasons, data on illicit trade is usually difficult to obtain, as law enforcement agencies often prefer not to publicize the scope of their activity. Furthermore, all methods to estimate illicit trade have their limitations and not all studies clearly describe their methodology of these limitations.

However, according to a recent study by FICCI "Illicit Market: A Threat to Our National Interest" the gray market has a substantial presence in auto and has also shown a big increase from 29.6 per cent in 2010 to 33.7 per cent in 2012, which is highest among major industries. The loss to the industry on account of this gray market is estimated to be Rs 10,501 crore in 2014, up from Rs 9,198 crore in 2012. The total loss to the government estimated for 2014 on account of illicit markets in the auto components industry is Rs 3,113 crore, up from Rs. 2,726 crore in 2012. This loss is only on account of tax revenues.

How are automotive parts counterfeited?

Largely auto parts can be counterfeited in the following manner; Fake pitman arms come with misspelt name and do not meet the minimum requirement of OEM fatigue tests. Brake pads made of poor quality steel backing plates, weak or no shim bonding to the back plate. Also, brake pads made of inferior products like compressed wood chips and sawdust. Counterfeit windshields fit poorly causing wind noise, leakage, and appearance problems. They are often made without safety shatterproof glass. And unsuccessful testing fuel filters can be sold in good packing.

What are the measures and technologies currently employed to prevent counterfeiting in India? How effective are they?

Some of the most effective technology that is used to combat counterfeiting is by application of Optical Variable Devices (OVDs)/Security Holograms and Security Labels.

They provide three levels of security - Overt, those that can be easily identified by naked eye. Covert security features are those features that are helpful to brand owners is meant for immediate visual authentication by a common man. The overt security features include optical features, such as, 3D effect, 4 channel effect, slip effect etc., and printing features, such as, colour changing inks and water marks. These features can be detected only with an aid of authentication tools.

The covert security features include optical features such as concealed texts, nano texts, raster texts etc., and printing features such as UV ink, thermochromic ink etc. can be verified only at Forensic laboratories.

The most critical are 'Forensic' features that are meant for enforcement agencies to enhance the security. Non-optical security such as barcode, mirror effect and taggant effect can also be provided. The taggant effect consists of a special coat of nano particles in certain specific combination on the OVDs or Security Labels, and the presence of the taggant particles can be detected only with an aid of hand-held taggant reader which is aligned to read these specific combination of nano-particles, thereby verifying the genuineness of the product on the spot by a simple field test.

How do counterfeiters manage to make such perfect duplicates and fool people?

The counterfeiters are becoming successful because we are not making their task difficult or in another way we are not making this business less profitable. In most of the cases, the product packaging is easily copied due to availability of required packaging raw materials in the neighbouring countries. Further, the non-adoption of authentication solutions, inadequate surveillance efforts by brand owners to identify counterfeit products and lack of consumer awareness is also helping them.

What's kind of value an automotive manufacturer can derive from using authentication solutions?

Authentication solutions have multiple benefits. Firstly, they provide an easy to identify visual tool that protect consumers from counterfeit products. Authentication solutions such as Optical Variable Devices (OVDs) offer a multilevel security system comprising of Overt, Covert and Forensic features. Overt features are for consumer verification, Covert features can be verified by the brand owner and his team/partners, and the Forensic level of features can only be verified at hi-tech laboratories and can be used as evidence in a Court of Law.

In today's business context, a Brand is one of the most valuable assets of a company. Brands are under attack not just from known or visible competitors but even from invisible enemies in form of product tampering, counterfeiting and pilfering. Each of these lead to erosion of brand value, loss of market share, profit and above all - dissatisfied customers.

Authentication solutions enable a brand owner and his consumers to identify a genuine product. This increases the consumer's confidence in the product quality and leads to product loyalty. The direct benefit of this is huge enhancement in the brand value. Thus authentication solutions help the brand owner derive values like higher consumer loyalty, enhanced market share and increased brand valuation.

How do you see the future growth of domestic automotive industry without the prevalence of counterfeiting?

It will be quite a challenge to have a world without any counterfeiting. ASPA and its members will certainly contribute in the fight to reduce the crime rate by being innovative and continuously developing solutions with new technologies and strategies to deploy them to desist, catch and prosecute a criminal.

We are working with International Hologram Manufacturers' Association in developing IS0 global standard for authentication tools to be used in anti-counterfeiting of material goods. These standards have been designed to help the brand owners in identifying most relevant anti-counterfeiting solution to meet the company / organization strategy. It is estimated that the anti-counterfeit packaging market is expected to grow to about $128 billion by 2019 at a CAGR of 14.1 per cent (source: http://www.packworld.com/trends- and-issues/traceability- authentication-serialization/anti- counterfeiting-packaging- market)

We see sectors like Pharmaceutical, Auto Components and FMCG as big growth areas. In the government sector, there is a lot of scope for holograms on banknotes, and id documents like passports, visas, driving licences etc. Internationally, more than 100 countries now have a hologram on their banknotes, while our country is yet to adopt this proven technology.


The Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) have today published research which looks at cost of third level education in Ireland.

The research asked both parents and students about how they meet the costs of third level education and the financial challenges facing families around the country.

The results highlight what the impact of sending children to college (in financial terms) has on family spending and budgets as well as the challenges and concerns parents have in relation to finance, debt, accommodation, course choice and job prospects.

The study found that 87% (down from 94% in 2015) of parents in Ireland support their children with college related cost by contributing an average of 447 per month per child.

In terms of how parents cover the costs - monthly income (40% v 44% in 2015) followed by credit union loans (37% up from 32% in 2015) and savings (34% down from 40% in 2015) are the most common ways in which parents pay for college.



The research shows that 62% of family budgets have been adversely affected by the increased registration fee. Parents are saving for an average of 8 years to ensure they have enough savings to cover the cost of sending their children to college. The average amount being saved is 8,150.

Worryingly, 60% of parents expect to get into debt in order to finance the cost of third level education for their children. The figures show 4,300 is the average debt per child, per annum that parents will incur.

For those students funding their college education, paid employment is the most common method used by 26% of students (down from 29% in 2015). Existing savings are the next most popular way in which students pay for their college experience (22%). This is followed by the grant (17%), money from parents (14%) and a credit union loan (9%).

Not surprisingly, students living away from home are spending almost twice as much as those living at home. On average those living away from home are spending 1,048 per month on rent, transport, living and college related expenses. Students living at home are spending on average 530, up from 474 in 2015.

The research shows that 68% of students will work through the college term. Students are working an average of 17 hours per week, getting paid an average of 12 per hour. Male students are working longer hours at 21 hours per week compared to females who are working an average of 15 hours per week. Male students are earning an average of 252 per week, (down from 336 in 2015) and female students are earning an average of 180 per week, down significantly from 262 per week in 2015.

According to the figures, 23% (down from 33% in 2015) of students skip lectures to work during the college term. More females students (25%) than male students (19%) are doing so.



Commenting on the research, Sinead Butler from the Irish League of Credit Unions said, "Heading off to college is an exciting time. It can also be very stressful for parents and students alike, as the cost of third level education can be a significant burden. Families are already struggling with the wider impact of austerity and paying for college has become increasingly challenging for many."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

About us
LOGAN  Campers and hunters may notice a large group of National Guard personnel in Logan Canyon this weekend. Soldiers from the 142nd Military Intelligence Battalion are conducting training and operations near Temple Fork Canyon, Friday morning through Sunday afternoon.

Lt. Col. Brent Baxter said his troops are setting up a command post, similar to what is used in combat or natural disasters.

So what we are going to do as a battalion headquarters, and subordinate elements is to deploy out, learn how to set up a command post and subordinate units and how we would array forces, so that we could operate in an environment that we are not used to, said Baxter.

Officers will then evaluate what troops did right and wrong, and correct any mistakes.

Lt. Col. Baxter said people in the canyon can expect to see military vehicles along US-89. Soldiers will also be camped out near the Mud Flats area.

The way Im looking at it, we have got over 20 vehicles that will be going up along with trailers. So some of those vehicles will be pulling trailers.

We wont be all consolidated right there at the Temple Fork area. Looking at the plans, we will be spread out up and down the road. It will be a pretty good sized element but we wont all be consolidated in one area.

The mountainous region of the Cache National Forest is similar to Afghanistan and provides a comparative environment with its terrain.

With school beginning next week and archery season starting, Lt. Col. Baxter said he knows there will be a lot of people in the mountains this weekend.

We want to assure the people out there, our soldiers are mindful that we do have campers up there. I know the bow hunt is going on, they are mindful of that. So we dont want to interfere with peoples activities this weekend but we do want to make them aware that we are in the area.

The 142nd Military Intelligence Battalion has over 400 soldiers with units from Draper to Logan. Fifteen of their members have recently returned from deployment and another group will be leaving this year, supporting combat commanders around the world.

<hr /><p style=text-align: center;>will@cvradio.com
Edinburgh Fringe 2016: Erik Satie's - Faction

Published on August 18, 2016

Story by Morelle Smith

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Alistair McGowan is the perfect Satie, humorous and surreal, and plays his music with great skill and tenderness in this delightful production from the Edinburgh Fringe.

The scene is set, with minimal props, in the Pleasance Courtyard. The shiny piano, complete with ticking metronome, contrasts with a small wooden table and chair which looks scruffy and well-used. Beside it is a birdcage. A few pieces of screwed-up paper are scattered on the floor, along with a couple of open umbrellas close to the piano. The lighting is muted and intimate and there's a large audience, almost a full house.

Alistair McGowan, dressed in a dark suit and bowler hat, plays Erik Satie to perfection. He reads his words, taken from poems and journals, and plays his most well-known piano pieces, incluign the Gymnopedies, with all the lyric tenderness of a lover of his music. However, we learn that Satie did not always want his music to be played with the gentle, wistful kind of tone that it often evokes. Some of his musical prompts are rather unusual: "with amazement"; "like a nightingale with toothache"; "with tears in your fingers"; and "go away!"

But Satie was an unusual man. Early on in his career as a musician (though he prefered to describe his work as "phonometrics") he "developed a reputation for being original", and later was described as being a "misanthrope", a "hypochondriac" and "most unhappy."

According to his journal he kept a precise timetable of his daily activities, which included thinking, fencing, reading, walking and a very short time for eating. This is possibly because, as he tells us later, he has so little money that he cannot always afford to eat. Not that he spends time feeling sorry for himself, but he does indulge in a brief reminiscence about lunches he used to enjoy with Debussy, particularly relishing his eggs and chops.

But his memories of Debussy are laced with a painful bitterness, as it was he, Satie, he assures us, who was responsible for Debussy's Impressionism. It was he who said that "we French must break away from 'Wagner and sauerkraut!'" But Debussy did not acknowledge him. He simply called him "the Precursor". "He wouldn't even grant me," Satie said, "a small place in his shadow." Other brief and sparky little diatribes were vented against music teachers, critics, and the lack of education for animals ("we don't even teach geography to carrier pigeons!").

Satie, the champion of Impressionism, is by turns nostalgic, melancholic, irreverent, surreal, absurd and self-mocking as if he is determined to evade any definition and to dodge any emotion that might stick to him long enough to become part of his personality. Except perhaps for one. He offered his heart to Suzanne Valadon, the painter, but their liaison only lasted a few months. Every so often, he remembers her, and appropriate background accordion music nostalgically reminds us of a bygone era, the days of the Chat Noir cabaret in Montmartre, where Satie used to play piano.

Alistair McGowan brilliantly personifies Satie, this quirky and singular musician and writer. His treatment of Satie's tender and evocative music shows the contrast between his sense of the absurd, exemplified in his words, and the language of his music, a rippling tenderness, like the dusky light on a summer's evening.

This is a heartfelt production, spirited and funny, melancholic and uplifting. I particularly liked its monochrome effect, the black piano, Satie dark suit, his sartorial elegance, the black umbrellas on floor and ceiling, the moving black and white images on a background screen  of stars, snowflakes, and musical notes and scores  which all contribute to the dream-like atmosphere of Paris at the time of the surrealists and impressionists.

---

Erik Satie's-Faction plays at The Pleasance Courtyard, daily at 12:50 (except 9, 16 and 23 August) until 28 August 2016. Click here for more info on the Edinburgh Fringe, which runs throughout the month of August.

Story by Morelle Smith
When is hurricane season? Here's what you need to know in South Texas
Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Nueces County District Clerk Kara Sands answers questions during a League of Women Voters Corpus Christi Area's meeting on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, at the Del Mar College Center for Economic Development.

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By Matt Woolbright of the Caller-Times

Not long after his 87-vote defeat in the May Democratic Primary runoff election for constable precinct 5, Gilbert Gomez was on his way to meet his mother when a would-be supporter stopped him.

Juan Castellanos told Gomez he had wanted him to win the election, but when he went to turn in his ballot during early voting on May 18 at the county building in Robstown he wasn't able to support his candidate  his ballot had already been filled in supporting Constable Frank Flores III, Gomez recalled Thursday.

Nueces County lead clerk Patricia Franklin, 74, was working the Robstown election that day, and she remembers the events vividly. Castellanos came in wanting to support Gomez, but his ballot had been filled out in favor of Flores, Franklin recalled Castellanos telling her that day. Election workers do not look at ballots once they are filled out, she added.

Castellanos could not be reached for comment.

"Once you have a ballot and you've filled it out, it can't be changed," she said.

The Texas Attorney General's office is investigating potential voter fraud in Nueces County during the May election, Nueces County Clerk Kara Sands revealed Thursday. Sands declined to confirm or deny if the Robstown incident is part of the state's investigation.

"When we receive complaints I'm not going to ignore them, but it's not my place to investigate," Sands said. "So I turned the information over to the state and they will determine which complaints had merit."

Sands declined to detail specific facts of this investigation because it is ongoing, but she said it was spurred by complaints to her office, an anonymous letter sent to some political leaders in the county and a police report from May. Sands said she would not be able to release the complaints until the investigation is complete. The anonymous letter states voter fraud occurred in Robstown.

On May 18, Castellanos told Franklin he had received a ballot with the help of a Cynthia Gonzalez, but he had not been asked how he wanted it filled out, the clerk recalled. When Franklin confronted Gonzalez about the accusation, she said Gonzalez became irate, prompting Franklin to call the police, who then filed a report.

"He said he had a mail in ballot, but it had already been filled out," Franklin said. "I asked if (Gonzalez) had helped him, and he said, 'No, she took it from me and she filled it out the way she wanted to.'

"There's so much fraud there it's unbelievable," she added.

Franklin, who has been working Nueces County elections for about 15 years, said a relative of Flores "brought in people every day that she didn't seem to know."

A message left with Flores' constable office staff seeking comment for this story was not returned.

A review of the Constable Precinct 5 runoff election results shows absentee ballots were for Flores nearly twice as often as Gomez, but early and Election Day voters went slightly more often for Gomez. The results were similar in 2012 when Flores bested Dionicio "Don" Ysassi in the same runoff election.

"People have a right to exercise their right to vote, but they should be able to choose who they want to vote for," Gomez said. "I don't know if that cost me the race, but I know we heard very concerning complaints, and we know there was a very large number of mail-in ballots."

It's at least the second time in 10 years the state has investigated voter fraud in Robstown. In 2006, a 65-year-old Robstown woman pleaded guilty to two counts of felony voter fraud in Robstown for voting for residents.

Twitter: @reportermatt
Columnist Dave McNeely

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Ted Cruz probably wishes he was still on the presidential stump, in Nevada and North Carolina, and other swing states.

Instead, he's using the senate's August break to tour Texas: speak at a chamber of commerce breakfast in San Antonio; a roundtable discussion in Tyler; tours of the Johnson Spaceflight Center near Houston and Space-X project in McGregor, southwest of Waco; and other stops including Amarillo, El Paso, Laredo, Abilene, Lubbock and Dallas.

You get the picture. Having had to bank the fire of his presidential ambitions until 2020, amid hopes that his nemesis Donald Trump loses to Democrat Hillary Clinton this year, Cruz at least wants to hang onto his bully pulpit: his seat in the U.S. Senate, which is up in 2018. No matter that most of his fellow senators don't like him.

Already, Democrats are at least idly looking at the race. And a Republican congressman  Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security  is reportedly being encouraged by top Republicans who don't like Cruz to take him on.

Democrats mentioned are Joaquin Castro and Wendy Davis.

Of the politically ambitious Castro twins of San Antonio, Joaquin is the one who is a congressman. Twin, Julian, former mayor of San Antonio, is President Obama's secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

At the Democratic National Convention in late July, Congressman Castro indicated an interest in the senate seat. "I'm going to take a look at it in 2018," he said in a CBS interview.

Should he run for the senate, however, he would be relinquishing his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives  as would McCaul if he runs. Although Texas allows an officeholder to run for president or vice president while also seeking re-election, that doesn't apply to a race for the senate  or governor.

Davis, the former state senator and City Council member from Fort Worth, was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014.

Her national notoriety for her 2013 filibuster against an anti-abortion bill still buzzed during her appearance at the Democratic National Convention, even though she had lost the governor's race to Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott by 20 points.

Davis's latest political venture is starting an Austin-based organization called "Deeds Not Words," to help young Democratic women become active in the gender-equality movement.

When Davis, who's been a surrogate for Hillary Clinton's campaign for the past few months, was asked at the convention if she might run for Cruz's senate seat, she didn't rule it out.

"I don't know. I honestly don't know," she told the Washington Examiner. She smiled, and added, "We'll see what the future holds."

Democrats' Dream ... There's growing hope among Democrats that the impossible could happen: that Donald Trump is such a heavy-as-lead cross for the Republicans to bear that Texas could turn blue again.

Democratic presidential nominee Tim Kaine expressed that hope during a recent Austin appearance.

Speaking to a sweat-drenched crowd in a sun-baked warehouse that's a Democratic phone bank headquarters, Kaine said the presidential ticket hopes to carry a state it hasn't since 1976.

"This team, the Clinton-Kaine team, we are serious about Texas," Kaine said. "We are very serious because we know the kind of work that you do."

He acknowledged that it wouldn't be easy, without going so far as to say it would be a miracle if the Democrats won the state, as most observers say.

"Texas Democrats know tough," Kaine said. "This is not a territory where it's always smooth sailing."

There used to be an adage that no Democrat could be elected president without carrying Texas. And indeed, Republicans carried Texas in 1980, 1984, and 1988, and won the presidency.

But in 1992, Democrat Bill Clinton  with the help of Ross H. Perot's maverick Independent candidacy  denied George Bush the elder's bid for a second term, despite losing Texas. Clinton again won without Texas in 1996.

And Democrat Barack Obama won without Texas in 2008, and again in 2012.

It has now become the case that the Republicans can't win without Texas, which now has the second-most electoral votes of any state  38.

Less than three months now until the election, and it will be very interesting to see whether the Democrats even come close to carrying Texas.

Not to mention what it might  or might not  mean for Cruz's ability to hang onto his senate seat in 2018.
| BY Ricki Green |

The governments 2016 Census campaign was lazy, uninspiring and filled with errors, according to marketing expert and Pulse Collective founder and managing director Lauren Fried.

Fried (left), who appeared on the ABC hit show Gruen last night, which looks at everything about advertising, examined the 2016 census ad campaign and the problems surrounding the execution of the data gathering exercise.

Dubbed #censusfail, the Gruen panel agreed the advertising campaign had little to do with Australians taking a pause, the campaigns tagline, and should have been more about it going online. However, there was no mention of the online component until two thirds into the television advertisement.

Its as if the government was still trying to justify why Australians should give out their information rather than telling us how to log online and do it, the panel concluded.

Says Fried: This is a very lazy and uninspiring campaign. This was an opportunity to make Australia really optimistic about the future, to make them excited and not scared, and its not what happened.

When you see the imagery in the ad, its so boring. Its like McDonalds showing you the transaction of paying for the burger or getting your rego papers in the mail. Show me how Im going to feel when Ive eaten the burger or driving my car down the street with people looking at me.

The 2016 census was plagued with problems when its online platform was taken offline for more than 40 hours after being inundated with requests.

Says Fried: Every single person that ever touched that campaign  should have been sitting in a room together  its one day, if anything was going to go wrong it was that one day. They should have had 50 different landing pages for the website in case it went down so it goes up quickly. This is basic 101 about how to talk to customers.

Before Census even began there were questions about data safety and the government has since denied the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) website was hacked or attacked and any data lost.

Fried said data is a very sensitive space and every day in the newspapers: We are seeing at least one red flag about data protection. So its ludicrous to think this was well and truly not on their radar and a priority and a critical component of their campaign. Where it becomes a bit tricky is when the people you are handing your data over to you dont trust. Government and businesses that normally we dont trust are always on the defensive. They are not on the front foot when it comes to talking about data because they want to pretend the problem doesnt exist.

If you want to be a member of say Priceline you have signed that off and you know they have your data. In return you get discounts and stuff for free. With the government, because we havent agreed to it, thats the problem.

Meanwhile, the Census colour and branding was always orange but this year the government changed it to green.

Fried said businesses and brands dont change their colours without good reason, and when they do it is based on a core value of the business. The ABS also announced they went green because it reinforced the digital and environmentally friendly approach.
| BY Ricki Green |

The CEO Magazine has revealed its top 102 finalists for the 2016 Executive of the Year Awards. Ranging over 24 categories, the awards will honour and acknowledge some of the finest business leaders and professionals in Australia.

Finalists with two nominations include Pete Bosilkovski (top left), CEO, Leo Burnett Sydney, Jaimes Leggett (centre), Group CEO Australasia, M&C Saatchi Group, Jason Dooris (top right), CEO, Atomic 212 Group and Rob Atkinson (bottom left), CEO, Adshel in the Media Executive of the Year category and CEO of the Year category. Barry OBrien (bottom right), chairman and chief commercial officer, Atomic 212 has also been nominated in the Chairperson of the Year category.

Says Bosilkovski: I am honoured to have been named a dual finalist at The CEO Magazines highly coveted Executive of the Year Awards. Over the past year in my role as CEO, I have focused on transforming our business from an advertising agency to a creative solutions company, with innovation at its core.

I strongly believe in the power and value of our innovation-centric evolution strategy and I am exceptionally proud of our entire team for all that we have achieved as a business.

Says Dooris: Im very humbled and honoured to be named a finalist.

Says OBrien: This is a great honour.

Host Eddie McGuire will return for his fifth consecutive year to MC the event, and to gather more than 550 guests on 24 November at Four Points by Sheraton, Darling Harbour, Sydney.

Says Chris Dutton, CEO and co-founder of The CEO Magazine: We are continuously impressed with the high-calibre and quality of entrants the Executive of the Year Awards attracts. And we are proud and honoured to highlight these individuals for their contributions in their respective categories.
| BY Ricki Green |

Vision Super has launched its latest campaign via The Fuel Agency called Theres a lot to love.

Launched throughout Victoria, across press, digital, OOH and social media channels, Fuels Theres a lot to love campaign for Vision Super is much like the offer. Simple, direct and a big, bold statement of happy facts.

Indeed, with its sustainable mix of investments, some of the lowest fees available and a proven track record, theres a lot to love about Vision Supers new offer love.visionsuper.com.au.

Says Sean Ellis, general manager, strategy and growth, Vision Super: Vision Super has been a community focused fund since 1947, so we know super inside out. And as an industry fund, were only here for the benefit of our members. And with the help of Fuels Theres a lot to love campaign, is designed to welcoming many more.

Says Tim Kidman, CEO, The Fuel Agency: Many people dont want to think about their super; it can be confusing, confronting and something they dont want to worry about. Visions low cost, direct option, eliminates the worry and confusion  so the campaign messaging gets straight to the point. You can switch in seconds, save money on fees, and ultimately retire happier.
| BY Lynchy |

Leo Burnett China has boosted the creative firepower of its Shanghai office with four new Group Creative Directors: Jazzy Chan (pictured far left), Eric Sun (left), Kevin Wu (right), and Kevin Zhu (far right).

Danny Mok, CEO of Leo Burnett said, At Leo Burnett, our investment in our creative power is always an un-compromising commitment. Thanks to our recent business expansion, were happy to welcome four creative veterans on board. They will work closely with Victor Manggunio our Chief Creative Officer for Leo Burnett China, and our two Heads of Creative Rocky Hao and Takho Lau.

At this moment, Zhu will be in charge of the creative work for LB client Pfizer. Wu will mostly focus on Huawei, Chan will be the creative head of LBs P&G Whisper business, while Sun will take care of two major brands under the Uni-President label: Xiaomingtongxue (a beverage brand), and Soup Daren (a fast noodle brand).

These four extremely capable senior creatives bring with plenty of trackable successful records, enabling us to provide an even higher level of creative quality to our clients, Manggunio said.

Zhu believes creative work is all about touching people, to keep the brands image at the top of their minds to drive sales. Zhu has built up over 18 years of experience with McCann Erickson, TBWA, and LOWE, and gained digital marketing experience in an internet company and at Wunderman.

Wu has worked in leading agencies in Taiwan, Beijing and Shanghai over the past 18 years, and spent 8 years at Leo Burnett from 2006  2014 before returning home. He was also Group Creative Director of NIM Digital. Drawing on this digital experience, Wu will work with his team to build up effective and creative integrated communication solutions.

Chan has solid regional experience in creating communication solutions for the Asia market, as well as strong leadership and communication skills. She believes that it takes accurate strategic planning and charming ideas to create good advertising. From 1992 till 2014, Chan worked in Malaysian advertising agencies, before coming to Shanghai to join McCann-Erickson as Creative Director and now Leo Burnett.
Suspect charged with attempted murder in attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband

Paul Pelosi, 82, suffered blunt force trauma to his head and body. The suspect was in search of the speaker, calling out "Where is Nancy?"
By Will Dunning, Special to CMT

The bottom line: Statistics Canadas estimate that Canada lost 31,200 jobs in July is probably wrong. The agency could improve the reliability of its employment numbers by increasing the survey sample sizes, particularly in Toronto and Montreal.

*****

On August 4, we were told that Canada lost 31,200 jobs in July. It would be much more accurate to say Statistics Canada has estimated that Canada lost 31,200 jobs in July.

This countrys employment data comes from a sample survey, and like others (such as political opinion polls) there is a margin of error. The numbers produced by this survey are estimates , they are not reality .

Consider the following:

Statistical theory tells us that 5% of the time, the estimate of monthly job growth will be off by two standard errors (or more). The standard error for July was 29,000.

As a result, while Julys estimate was -31,200, the true figure is probably somewhere in the range of minus 91,000 to plus 28,600.

Alternatively, a more simplified way to view this is that 95% of the time the estimates are accurate. On this basis, we (the public at large, the media, and indeed the vast majority of economists) accept the monthly numbers as objective truth. It is exceptionally rare for economists to publicly state that Canadas monthly job creation numbers are unbelievable.

Statistical theory, however, also tells us that 32% of the time, the estimate will be off by one standard error, or 29,900. In other words, given Julys estimate of -31,200, there is a 68% chance that reality is somewhere in a range from -1,300 to -61,100. There is also a 32% chance that the reality is either a loss of 61,100 jobs (or worse) or a loss of 1,300 jobs (or better, and possibly an actual gain).

To put this into further perspective, in a healthy economy (in which employment might grow at the same rate as the population), we should currently expect to see job creation at approximately 23,500 per month. If there is a 32% chance that the reported estimate will be off by plus or minus 29,900, there is a big risk that StatsCans monthly reports will give us highly misleading pictures. Jobs might, in reality, be created at the healthy rate of 23,500 per month, but one third of the time the estimates will show either job losses or very strong growth.

On this basis, whenever we see surprising numbers on job creation, we should always ask ourselves how much we should trust that data. The July number of -31,200 was indeed surprising, and there are strong clues that this estimate should not be trusted.

Too Many Surprises in Canadas Three Biggest Cities

In the Labour Force Survey, Statistics Canada publishes estimates for Canada, the provinces, and the largest urban centres (Census Metropolitan Areas, or CMAs), as well as for various economic regions.

The three largest CMAs (Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver) account for 36.3% of the population that is covered by the survey. Therefore, any significant changes in the numbers for these three urban centres have a big influence on the estimates for Canada.

Correspondingly, when there are significant statistical anomalies in their data, they often result in statistical anomalies for all of Canada.

Since the start of 2012, these three CMAs have created jobs at an estimated average rate of 10,800 per month. This is 81% of the estimated rate for all of Canada (13,300 per month). But, as can be seen in Figure 1, the reported data is highly variable from month to month. Many of these estimates are so high or so low that they appear quite unlikely.





Figure 2 contrasts the growth estimates for the three large CMAs with the entire country. In this chart there are 55 months of data. Of the 55 estimates for Canada, 17 are surprising: eight are surprisingly high (being above 40,000) and nine are surprisingly low (below less than -15,000).

All told, 31% of the estimates for Canada are surprising, which is similarinterestingly enoughto the 32% we expect based on statistical theory.

The data in Figure 2 shows that out of the 17 surprising employment numbers in Canada, 10 are associated with unusually large changes in one or more of the three CMAs.

The most recent example of this was last month. For all of Canada, there was an estimated loss of 31,200 jobs. For the Toronto CMA, there was an estimated loss of 24,300 jobs, which would be a drop of 0.7% in just one month. This is an enormous change for such a short period, and it is not believable.

The previous case where one of the CMAs distorted Canadian data occurred in October 2015. In that instance, StatsCans estimate was for a rise of 43,100. Vancouver CMA had a reported gain of 22,800, (1.7% in just one month). Again, this was not believable.

The Implications

If Statistics Canada could reduce the erroneous variations in the employment data for Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, they could improve the data for all of Canada.

The way to reduce the variation is to increase the sample size. As it stands, the sample sizes for the three CMAs are too small. The table below shows that in combination, they account for 12.5% of the national sample (which is about 56,000). Their combined share of the sample is only one-third of their actual proportion of the population (the 36.3% shown in the table below). Moreover, Toronto and Montreal are more under-represented than Vancouver, and correspondingly they more frequently distort the national numbers.

It isnt necessary for each CMA to have a sample share that matches its share of the population  the largest of them can reasonably be under-represented to some extent. The point here is that their under-representation is too severe and this is unnecessarily diminishing the data quality for all of Canada.

Will Dunning is the Chief Economist for Mortgage Professionals Canada, as well as operating his own consulting firm, which specializes in analysis of housing and mortgage markets. For Accredited Mortgage Professionals, his presentations on Analyzing and Understanding Canadian Housing and Mortgage Markets qualify for 1 CEU credit in the compulsory category.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016 at 7:56PM

The Microsoft vs. Apple debate has been going on for as long as we can remember. So, when Apple market the iPad Pro claiming its a full computer, it was almost certain Microsoft wouldnt take that lying down. True enough, a new Surface ad has surfaced mocking the full computer claims of the iPad Pro. This time they have Siri and Cortana talking to each other with Siri saying, I just got a keyboard. Im a computer now, like you. Cortana fires back by talking about how the Surface Pro 4 tablets have trackpads, full desktop versions of apps, external ports, and an Intel Core i7 processor. And ends the commercial with Surface does more, just like you. Were pretty sure were not hearing the end of this.
Mr Dawes' approval of the contract as the agency's chief executive also meant it was exempted from the ACT's usual "quotation and tender threshold requirements" under the ACT's Government Procurement (Principles) Guidelines 2002, exemptions that could be given if only limited suppliers were available or the contract was issued with a strict delivery timeframe, among other criteria.
Egypts telecom regulator has given the go-ahead on revised terms for 4G mobile broadband network licences which will be sent out to operators on the 21st August.

In June the government offered licenses to Telecom Egyptand three mobile services providers, Orange Egypt , Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat. However, only Telecom Egypt accepted the terms. The regulator, which was keen to be seen to be inclusive, decided to revise the terms.

The National Telecom Regulatory Authority has issued a statement confirming it has approved the final terms and that the companies now have until 22nd Sept to accept.

A senior official at the Telecommunications Ministry told Reuters on Wednesday that the new terms added new frequencies but there is no change in the pricing or the condition that 50% of the payment for the licenses must be made in US dollars.
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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.

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You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
Imperial College London, a university dedicated to expanding the frontiers of knowledge in science, medicine, engineering and business, and translating their discoveries into benefits for society, has joined edX.

Imperial brings an expertise in research and teaching designed to tackle real world challenges in business to edX. Imperial also shares the edX mission to help learners everywhere gain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the evolving workplace.

The first courses are offered from Imperial College Business School. The series of courses, Essentials for MBA Success, has been developed to provide learners with the knowledge necessary to prepare for pursuing an MBA. The four-part series will cover math, finance, data analysis and accounting.

The courses are designed to both help learners already enrolled in MBA programs to identify any additional knowledge they may need to succeed in their degree and to provide learners considering an MBA a meaningful insight into the experience of a full MBA program.

These courses will also give you analytical skills applicable to the workplace.

Each course offers a tailored personalised learning plan highlighting the areas you need to focus on to give you a competitive edge on an MBA program or within your company. Guided by experts in the field, you will use real world examples, interactive exercises and the support of your peers to learn the fundamentals of:

Accounting

Finance

Maths

Data Analysis

Courses in this series of programme:

This XSeries has been designed with maximum flexibility in mind. You can take the 4 courses in any order. Each course starts with a diagnostic test to provide a personalised learning pathway to suit your needs.

Accounting Essentials for MBA Success

An introduction to the financial and management accounting skills needed to succeed in both MBA study and in business. [For further information, click here.]

Data Analysis Essentials for MBA Success

Discover and acquire the quantitative data analysis skills that you will typically need to succeed on an MBA program. This course will cover the fundamentals of collecting, presenting, describing and making inferences from sets of data. [For further information, click here.]

Finance Essentials for MBA Success

Discover how to use fundamental finance tools in both management and MBA learning contexts and understand common financial situations faced in everyday life. [For further information, click here.]

Maths Essentials for MBA Success

Discover and acquire the fundamental maths skills that you will need to use while studying an MBA program, from algebra to differentiation and geometric series. [For further information, click here.]
Want to catch a glimpse of the new Aston Martin DB11? For that and so many other reasons, Pebble Beach will be the place to be this week.



Astons latest marks its official North American debut at Monterey Car Week, which opens today on Californias Central Coast. It will give those in attendance to see where the company is going with the debut of its first new car in decades to be built on an all-new chassis and with a completely new engine.

The DB11 is powered by a 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12, designed by Mercedes-AMG but built by Aston Martin at its own engine plant in Cologne, Germany  a carryover from its time under the Ford umbrella. With 600 horsepower and 516 lb-ft on command, the DB11 will rocket to 60 in under four seconds. It replaces the long-serving DB9 that was introduced way back in 2003 powered by Astons ubiquitous 6.0-liter naturally aspirated V12.

The new DB11 wont be the only Aston on display, though. The automaker has erected a pop-up showroom called Aston Martin On Ocean. Located in downtown Carmel, it will also display James Bonds DB10 from Spectre, a classic DB5, and the full range the company currently offers in the United States  including the Vanquish, Rapide S, V8 Vantage GTS and V12 Vantage S.

PHOTOS
After announcing that their larger Tivoli XLV would make its UK debut this summer, SsangYong has now released both pricing and specs for this ultra-practical and budget-friendly SUV.



UK buyers will need to spend 18,250 for the Tivoli XLV 1.6 diesel manual (with 2WD), 1,000 more than they would on the equivalent Tivoli ELX.

Getting the automatic version would require 19,250, whereas the 1.6 diesel manual 44 and the 44 automatic cost 19,500 and 20,500 respectively.

The Euro 6 compliant 1.6-liter e-XDi160 diesel engine is good for 115 PS and 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) of torque, achieving a CO2 emission level of just 117g/km and averaging up to 62.8 mpg (4.5 l/100km) in the combined cycle.

Because SsangYong made passenger safety a priority with this car, the Tivoli XLV comes with 7 airbags, multi-function ESP, Active Rollover Protection, Brake Assist, Hill Start Assist and ESS (Emergency Stop Signal), a tire pressure monitoring system and a warning reminder on all five seat belt positions.

In terms of practicality, the Tivoli XLV features digital-dual zone automatic air conditioning, an infotainment system with RDS radio, 7 high-res touchscreen, USB/AUX port, iPod & Bluetooth connectivity, Tom-Tom navigation and rear view camera. Theres also cruise control, parking sensors (front & back), rain sensing wipers, automatic headlights and roof rails.

Compared to the regular Tivoli, the XLV comes with a lengthened body from behind the C-pillar, which makes for an increase of 238mm (9.4 in) over the standard car  expanding load capacity to 720 cubic liters (25.4 cu.ft) of space.

Tivoli has been praised universally for meeting a number of customer requirements, not least its ability to carry five adults in comfort, and for having one of the largest boot capacities in its class, said SsangYong Motor UK CEO Paul Williams. Now SsangYong has gone a step further by launching an extended car to provide even more carrying capacity and practicality, and we believe that this will enable us to compete with SUVs such as the Nissan Qashqai, but also station wagon style cars like the MINI Clubman, Skoda Yeti & Roomster and other small estates.

PHOTO GALLERY
A trademark filed with the European Union Intellectual Property Office for the Arona moniker gives Seat the rights to use it throughout the EU.



Received in late March and registered a couple of days ago, the nameplate seems to be in line with the brands recent naming scheme, one that started with the Ateca earlier this year, but could it be used by the upcoming Ibiza-based SUV?

It could sound like a plausible scenario, but its nearly impossible to determine if thats the case, since the Spanish firm isnt eager to divulge any data on the subject just yet. Nevertheless, one thing is certain: a small Seat-badged SUV is coming to rival the likes of the Nissan Juke, as it was confirmed by the companys President Luca de Meo this May.

Sharing its underpinnings with the next-generation Ibiza, which could debut as early as this falls Paris Motor Show, and putting the smallest version of the MQB platform to the test, it will be the Spanish cousin of the upcoming Volkswagen Polo-based SUV, and it will offered with a wide choice of petrol and diesel engines.

Seats foray into the SUV segment is expected to continue with an even smaller vehicle, one that could resurrect the Marbella moniker, sharing the architecture of the Seat Mii, VW Up! and Skoda Citigo, and the lineup could come to an end with a large model, previewed by the 20V20 Concept, according to the brands Strategy 2025 plan.

Note: Seat IBX Study pictured

H/T To AutoEvolution

PHOTO GALLERY
With only ten examples to be made and each priced at 1 million (Stirling, naturally), your chances of seeing a Lister Knobbly Stirling Moss edition are pretty slim. But if youre in Monterey this week, you can check it out in person at the Pebble Beach Concours dElegance.



The revived Knobbly is a continuation version of the Jaguar-powered roadsters Lister made back in the 1950s  like the rare magnesium example that Stirling Moss drove to victory at Silverstone in 1958. Earlier this summer, Lister revived that both in spirit and practice with a special edition that featured the same low-drag, lightweight magnesium bodywork and a lighter tubular steel chassis.

Power comes from a 3.8-liter inline six thats a reproduction of the Jaguar D-Type engine used in the original. It produces 337 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque, and with just 1,850 pounds to motivate, itll rocket to 60 in under four seconds and top out over 180 mph.

The Moss edition also features a mattering of other magnesium components, a special green and yellow livery, and Sir Stirlings own endorsement. In fact the 86-year-old retired racing driver will be on hand to show off his namesake roadster himself at Pebble Beach over the weekend at the Inn at Spanish Bay.

Photo Gallery
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

A high-profile Penticton kidnapping case will go to trial, following a brief preliminary inquiry this week at the Penticton Courthouse.

The inquiry for the four men charged in the matter, John Szanto, Carey Anderson, Kerry Ellis and Albert Fontaine, was supposed to last for two weeks, but only went for Tuesday and part of Wednesday.

It concluded after court heard from the alleged victim in the case, who is currently in custody in Alberta on unrelated charges.

All parties subsequently agreed there was sufficient evidence for the case to go to trial in Supreme Court.

The four men are facing charges including kidnapping, aggravated assault and unlawful confinement or imprisonment, stemming from an incident on May 21, 2015.

There was a publication ban on the inquiry.

But, according to RCMP reports, a Penticton man was kidnapped and seriously assaulted during the incident.

The victim was found by a motorist in a ditch on Shingle Creek Road with a broken leg and restraints on his hands.

Szanto was arrested the same day and charged with kidnapping, forcible confinement and aggravated assault.

A warrant on the same charges was issued for Ellis and Fontaine. Ellis was arrested in Summerland on May 22 and Fontaine was arrested in Abbotsford on July 1.

On Aug. 26, a warrant, with the additional charge of choking, was issued for Anderson. He was arrested in Osoyoos on Aug. 28.

In September, Szanto was sentenced to three years behind bars for a separate incident in which he assaulted a Penticton man in March.

Szanto had turned himself in on the March assault and was out of custody when he was allegedly involved in the kidnapping.

On Tuesday, Szanto, Ellis and Fontaine appeared by video, while Anderson was there in person. The four are represented by different defence lawyers.

There was also a heavy security presence at the courthouse for the start of the inquiry.

Outside the courtroom, a security screening station was set up, with sheriffs doing a search of bags and purses.

Crown counsel also filed a report containing DNA evidence in the case.

A meeting to fix a date for trial is scheduled for Sept. 12. There was also discussion in court on arranging a bail hearing for Anderson.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

Penticton RCMP arrested two men at the same West Wade Avenue location last week after a short bike chase.

Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth said at 9:30 a.m. Thursday that the Targeted Enforcement Unit spotted a man on a bicycle who was the suspect in a break and enter from a couple months prior.

When the police attempted to arrest him, he took off on his bike, falling off of it at one point.

He then ran away on foot. Meanwhile at the scene, officers found credit cards and bank cards belonging to a person whose Lakeshore Drive residence had earlier been broken into.

One of the credit cards had already been used to purchase a laptop online.

The man ended up being arrested at a home on West Wade Avenue.

While police were there, they were given information another man, who had a warrant for his arrest, was hiding in the crawl space.

A police dog attended and the man was arrested. The same man, when released from custody, pointed a gun at someone and threatened to kill them on the weekend. He was later located and found to be in possession of a pellet pistol.

Richard Meier, the man involved in the bike chase, was slated to appear in Penticton court on Wednesday on break and enter and possession of stolen property charges.

Ryan Luscombe, the man arrested with the pellet pistol, was also scheduled for a Wednesday court appearance on several charges.
Photo: Google Street View

Traffic will be affected on a portion of Clement Avenue overnight next week for demolition of an old building.

Crews will be at the site of the former BC Tree Fruits packinghouse all next week tearing down the old building.

It's part of site remediation by the current owner as he prepares the property for sale.

In order to facilitate the building's removal, Clement Avenue between Ethel and Richter streets will be limited to single-lane traffic.

The traffic delay is from Sunday, Aug. 21 to Saturday, Aug. 27 from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m.

Machinery and construction noise can be expected during this time, as a contractor removes the old packinghouse structure from the privately-owned lot.

The City of Kelowna and construction workers appreciate the patience of residents, businesses and motorists during the construction season.
Photo: Getty Images

I was once told it is important to recognize 100,000 scheduled flights take off and land each day without drawing any media attention.

The flights that do not successfully take off and land become the focus of media stories, and often speculation, very quickly.

The context of this analogy was that in public office it is the scandals and failures that receive far more media attention than projects or policy that work as intended.

I mention this because this week it was particularly rewarding to participate in a media event profiling some of the more positive local initiates for public engagement.

CPAC, which many believe is the taxpayer-funded Canadian Parliamentary Access Channel, is a privately owned Canadian Public Access Channel that is owned and funded by Canadas private broadcasters.

CPAC was in our riding of Central Okanagan Similkameen Nicola earlier this week to profile, among other events, the Summerland pilot project that involves my shared constituency office with MLA Dan Ashton.

Aside from considerable cost savings, this shared office also better serves local residents who are often unaware of what services are provincial or federal and as such are not bounced between two different offices that may be located in different communities.

As much as it makes sense for an MLA and an MP to share an office, this pilot project is the only identified shared office of this kind in Canada, hence the interest from CPAC in profiling this unique arrangement.

I hope this idea of a shared office will catch on in other regions, and the added exposure of our beautiful region on CPAC will also draw visitors to our riding.

I would also like to publicly thank the mayors and councils in Princeton, Merritt and Keremeos for also making space available so that citizens in these communities can have access to their member of Parliament on a monthly basis to assist in matters of concern.

Operating budgets do not allow for an MP or an MLA to open an office in every community in a geographically large riding, but when different levels of government work together to find efficiencies, services can become available on a more economical basis.

Citizens deserve to be heard and the ability to meet face to face with elected representatives is critically important.

I would like to thank the many citizens who have taken the time to stop in and attend the mobile constituency offices as well as my regular office to provide input and ask questions. This information is very valuable to take back to Ottawa in late September when the house resumes.

Just a reminder that the mobile constituency office schedule is as follows  Merritt City Hall on the first Tuesday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon, Princeton Town Hall on the second Wednesday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon and Keremeos Village Hall on the secnd Wednesday of each month from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

To schedule an appointment or share your comments or concerns with me I can be reached at [email protected] or call toll free at 1-800-665-8711.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
The Vernon Public Art Gallery is hosting its 8th annual Riot on the Roof this weekend.

More than 700 people attended last year's party, and gallery staff hope for a similar turnout this year.

There will be a lot happening.

Entering the parkade will be immersive: music, dancing, fashion, video, art installation, painting, performance, and poetry will consume the senses.

"Riot on the Roof is a very good representation of some of the cultural phenomena that Vernon has to offer," said Carmen Winther, who is organizing the event.

The idea of doing this came from the idea that 'we were tucked under this parkade, we are kind of lost, there are so many people who don't know where we are' so we wanted to embrace the fact that we were tucked under the parkade, said Dauna Kennedy Grant, the gallery's executive director, adding that people attending the event have more than doubled since that first year.

The event relies each year on the creativity of young, emerging artists, as well as support from local businesses including A&W, Davids Tea, Wentworth Music and Roko Service Ltd.

We are so pleased with the exceptional work being done by our youth ambassadors this year to make Riot on the Roof a diverse showcase of emerging young artists working from various platforms and cultural backgrounds. This year promises to be one of our best yet and we look forward to filling the parkade with people enjoying all there is to offer, Kennedy Grant said.

Riot on the Roof is happening Saturday, Aug. 20, from 7-11 p.m. Tickets are $10 and available at the Vernon Public Art Gallery 3228 31 Ave, online or by calling 250-545-3173.
Health professionals in the North Okanagan want big changes to the long-term care of senior citizens and money directed at regions that do things best.

A number of groups concerned about medical care attended a roundtable discussion Wednesday hosted by North Okanagan Shuswap MP Mel Arnold and the Canadian Medical Association. They included officials from First Nations communities, hospice care, homecare delivery and physicians.

It's the longterm care system that really needs to be looked at, the long-term care for seniors, said Arnold, following the roundtable talks. The way the system was developed years ago just doesn't work anymore. Hospitals aren't really meant to be longterm care facilities.

We need different long-term healthcare facilities, not hospital beds that are costly at a thousand dollars a day.

Arnold said ideas that were pitched included more care in the home and more care in different types of facilities.

Funding was also discussed.

Some of the provinces have a higher demographic of seniors within their population. Should those provinces receive a slightly better compensation? Should there be incentives for better care?

The discussion is one of many across Canada as the federal government seeks to negotiate a new health accord with the provinces and territories.

Arnold acknowledged a need to change the archaic accord now in place.

The last health accord was developed over 50 years ago, so who would have thought we'd be dealing with the things we have now, Arnold said. The international travel that takes place now, the communicable diseases. Not only that but also the issues around healthcare and personal privacy, the technology changes, the drug cost changes, there's no way anyone could have anticipated that 50 years ago.

Arnold said the information gathered from the meeting will be submitted to the federal health minister or the standing committee on health.
Photo: Twitter

A 31-year-old man faces multiple charges after leading police on a chase going the wrong way on a highway east of Toronto.

Durham Regional police say they received a call from provincial police about a possible drunk driver in a van on Highway 401 around 10 p.m. Wednesday in Whitby, Ont.

Sgt. Bill Calder says officers found the van, which was reported stolen, in a Tim Hortons parking lot.

Calder alleges the driver took off and got on the highway as police cruisers followed, but turned around on an off ramp and began driving the wrong way as he spotted police.

Video from the Ministry of Transportation cameras along the highway show the van driving on and off the shoulder as squad cars chased.

Calder says the van finally came to a stop in a swampy area after it hit a guard rail, but says the man allegedly took off before being arrested nearby.

An Aurora, Ont., man will be charged including dangerous operation of a vehicle, possession of stolen property, failing to stop for police and driving without a licence.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

MP Richard Cannings is hosting town hall meetings in Penticton and Castlegar in early September.

According to Cannings, the House of Commons has asked the Special Committee on Electoral Reform to lead a national consultation process on Canadian federal electoral reform.

So he is hosting the meetings to bring South Okanagan/West Kootenay residents' suggestions to Ottawa.

"The government has asked all MPs to consult with their constituents across Canada, and I'm happy to do that," he said.

The first is from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Sept. 1 at the Sandman Inn, 1944 Columbia Ave. in Castlegar.

For more information, call 1-800-667-2393.

The other is from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Sept. 12 at the Penticton Public Library, 785 Main Street.

For more information, call 1-844-241-0018.
Photo: Contributed

The School District 53 board held a meeting Thursday morning to discuss a by-election to replace trustee June Harrington.

Harrington resigned on July 19, and her resignation is effective once the by-election is complete and the new trustee has taken oath of office.

Harrington was often the only trustee to vote for keeping Osoyoos Secondary School open when it was threatened with closure in recent months.

Thursday morning, the board appointed their secretary treasurer as the chief election officer and their executive secretary to the board of education as deputy election officer.

Nominations are slated to close on Sept. 30, with a vote set to take place on Nov. 5.

According to board chair Marieze Tarr it was a virtual meeting, as a few trustees are away and others are at meetings.

She thanked Harrington for her dedication and tireless work for the students of the district of the almost last three decades.

"We will miss her voice and passion at the board table," said Tarr.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to travel to China for an official visit at the end of the month.

During the Aug. 30-Sept. 6 trip, Trudeau will also take part in the G20 leaders' summit in Hangzhou Sept. 4-5.

The Prime Minister's Office says the visit comes at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

The tour includes stops in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Hong Kong.

The PMO says the trip will provide an opportunity for Trudeau to connect with Chinese leaders in government, business and the public at large.

At the Hangzhou Summit, G20 leaders will consider measures to lift global economic growth and investment, create jobs, strengthen the middle class, reinforce the resilience of the global financial system and increase trade and investment.

Trudeau says a stronger relationship with China will create new opportunities for Canadian business and the economy.

"On this trip, I will strive for a closer, more balanced relationship between Canada and China, one that unlocks the untapped potential in our two countries' commercial ties, and advances important issues like good governance, the rule of law and the environment," he said in a statement.

He said Canada views the work of G20 as an key factor in promoting global growth and prosperity.

"We place great importance on working with our G20 partners to help address some of the world's most pressing challenges, like climate change, migration, and sustainable development."
Photo: Contributed

Vernon city councillor Bob Spiers' effort to win a tax credit for auxiliary RCMP constables still has some life in it.

Spiers started an e-petition last year calling for the auxiliary constables to be given the same tax credit as other volunteer first responders.

It was tabled in the Commons in May by North Okanagan Shuswap MP Mel Arnold.

The government recognizes the contributions of all volunteers and the important roles they play in their communities, says a government response to the e-petition. In light of this, reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by volunteers in the course of their duties may generally be reimbursed on a non-taxable basis.

The federal government also promises a review of federal tax expenditures in the coming year to ensure that they are fair, efficient and fiscally responsible.

I interpret the government's response as  that they may review the possibility of extending the credit in their next budget for 2017, Spiers says. Not what I wanted but still a glimmer of hope.

A total of 783 people signed the e-petition, mostly from B.C. and Ontario.
Photo: School District 22

Clarence Fulton Secondary in Vernon is among the ten fastest declining secondary schools in B.C., according to the annual rankings released by the Fraser Institute.

In this years report, 28 schools experienced declines in performance since the school year 2010/2011, while 21 schools improved their performance.

For the schools with declining performance, turning that trend around should be a top priority for the teachers and parents of these schools, said Peter Cowley, director of school performance studies at the institute.

The institute's so-called 'report card' is an overall rating of each schools academic performance. Building on data about student results provided by the Ministry of Education, each school is rated on a scale from zero to 10.

Clarence Fulton had a 6.5 rating in 2011 but shows a 5.2 rating in 2015, the survey shows.

Top of the class in the district is Vernon Christian School which ranks 20th out of 293 schools in the province, tied with Vancouver College and King David Secondary in Vancouver, with an 8.5 rating.

Detailed results of all schools can be found online.

A call to the district superintendent of schools has not yet been returned.
Good job Trudeau, whos paying for all of this?



A recent Syrian family arrived in Canada as a government sponsored refugee family of 11 children between the ages of 1 and 16.

They are immediately entitled to the Canada Child Tax Benefit which amounts to $5,400 annually for each child age 6-17 and $6,400 annually for each child age 0 - 5. Therefore, the family will automatically receive approximately $60,000 tax free per year, which is $5,000 per month.

This family is living very comfortable in Mississauga without having to work. They are also entitled to HST and Ontario tax credits as well free dental and health care. Furthermore, they never contributed one cent to Canada and most never will.

According to the news media, many more refugee families (Middle East, Somalia, Lebanon) with 10 or more children have arrived in Canada in the last 8 months settling in other parts of Canada such as Winnipeg, Edmonton, Whitehorse, etc. What is interesting that most of the refugee families have 7 - 10 children.

We the Canadian taxpayer have to pay for all of this through our taxes. This is why the majority of politicians who have never had meaningful work, think it quite OK to give freely with our taxpayer dollars. When are Canadians going to wake up before it is too late. Our debt level keeps climbing.

This is totally outrageous. I am totally appalled. The liberal government has gone completely mad!

Our grandchildren and great grandchildren will be paying for this stupidity!

Jim Sutherland
I am just writing to address the concerns that the Kelowna Right To Life Society had in regard to their mayoral denial of their application of a proclamation.

While the puppy-killing comparison is naive, even though in bad taste, the overwhelming stop-the-presses issue is with the organization's repetitive comparison between their cause and that of the American American civil rights movement. They actually have the gall to state that unsurprisingly, we and all those who believe life is sacred from the moment it begins until the moment it naturally ends have been relegated to the back of the bus once again".

For those without historical insight, society executive director Marlon Bartram is effectively comparing the organization to American hero Rosa Parks, who protested against lack of civil rights of African Americans by refusing to be seated at the back of an Alabama city bus, as local laws dictated. I daresay that the fact that as a group you can put up an unsightly billboard on a public highway, and the only unwanted result be graffiti, as opposed to Martin Luther King Jr. being shot and killed for his dedication to the Civil Rights cause are two very different scenarios.

I very much hope that the society analyzes and retracts their comments once they realize that they are in possession of many civil rights as well as legal protection, something that Rosa Parks did not enjoy at the time of her dissent; as a matter of fact, she was arrested for her efforts.

The fact that the Society is comparing unborn fetuses to the long suffering American slaves, is not only mind blowing, but utterly outrageous and to use their own word "vitriolic". How dare they use the countless many wasted lives spent in pain, fear and hopelessness, entire lives of human beings spent being beaten, starved, demeaned and deprived of the most basic rights and comforts in life, to further their own political agenda? American slaves spent their days being worked to death for a master that treasured their farm animals more than them, who had their children torn away from them and sold in a public market to the highest bidder, and who saw their wives warm the bed of the same master who would whip them if they dared but say a word.

Someone needs to speak up to this ridiculous comparison that the Kelowna Right To Life Society are themselves inviting, and put a stop to the "martyrdom" that they feel they are entitled to. You are full citizens of a wealthy nation, privileged to live in one of the most expensive and exclusive cities in Canada, in possession of all rights and freedoms that the Charter entitles citizens to. Your "struggle" is nothing compared to slavery.

Please do everyone on this planet a favour, and keep your issue in perspective.

Daniela Platon
If beagle dogs can smell drugs, termites, etc., why are we not training them to sniff out zebra mussels, that could totally ruin our lakes.



The cost of training a few dogs to do due diligence, in a heart beat, would far out way the cost down the road, if our lakes were infested.



Time to cut to the chase the fastest. A dog's nose could save all us taxpayers, thousands of times and dollars over and over!



It is summer time, invest in our lakes, train several beagles to be stationed at the most heavily populated lakes, roads, etc., and save all of us taxpayers years and years of debt to combat any infestation!

Catherine Knox
To see Rory Murtland run around the playground, one would never guess that just 12 months ago he was given only a 15 per cent chance of survival.

The two-year-old had been diagnosed with cancerous brain tumours, and the prognosis was grim.

Rory's mom, Daylene Bowlby, said her son was taken to a doctor days after his first birthday when she noticed something wrong with his right eye.

The child was then sent to a specialist.

He took a look and noticed right away it was not eye related and that there appeared to be masses behind the optic nerve. We were sent for a CT scan in Kelowna and it showed he had tumours all throughout his head, so we left the next day for Vancouver's Children's Hospital, said Bowlby.

A battery of tests revealed Rory had stage-four neuroblastoma.

It was hard...it happened fast. There was no explanation why. We never saw it coming.

The following months were a blur of tests, treatments and hospitals as doctors fought to save Rory's life.

Along with the chemo and other modern medical techniques, Bowlby started Rory on an intensive naturopathic regimen consisting of a blend of mushrooms, cannabis oil and other natural ingredients.

He had about 11 supplements a day plus CBD (cannabis) oil. It was not always pretty, but he took it, she said. It supported him through immunity health, sleeping, eating. He just stayed very healthy and strong through his whole treatment.

Bowlby said doctors noticed how healthy and happy Rory was so they did another biopsy on a tumour in his head.

That's how they found out it was benign, it had stopped growing. We just found out last week all of his tumours have gone benign, said Bowlby, adding the tumours are still there, but they are no longer a threat to him.

Bowlby said the journey was long and hard, and she could not have done it without the support of family, friends and total strangers.

A Go Fund Me page raised thousands of dollars, which helped cover expenses such as the naturopathic remedies.

The Okanagan really is an amazing community, she said. I can't thank everyone enough.
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(TNS)  Objections from parents have caused Hinsdale High School District 86 to scale back a new $250 technology fee the district planned to charge this year as it prepares to have a laptop available for every student.The District 86 Board has not yet set a lower amount, but will consider a fee that is higher for freshmen and lower for seniors, to "soften the blow," board President Kay Gallo said.Board member Jennifer Planson acknowledged the district underestimated the impact the cost would have on parents, especially if they have more than one student in District 86, and apologized."We missed it," Planson said. "We did not intend to cause hardship."But that is what parents, a few at board meetings and more via email and phone calls, told district officials."Not every student can afford $250. It's too much," Joyce Nkansah of Darien told the board at its meeting Aug. 15.Some parents said their children have told them they will not have the Chromebooks in the classes they are taking this year.Some courses will have Chromebooks in the classroom all the time. In other courses, Chromebooks will be brought in for specific projects, said District 86 spokesperson Karen Warner. And some classes may not use them at all, but Chromebooks will be available for use in computer labs, she said.The first year the initiative is launched, there will not be a Chromebook for every student.The district received 1,546 new Chromebooks for this school year and will get another 2,000 next year, said chief financial officer William Eagan.Administrators said students will benefit from the technology upgrades the district is making, such as better internet access and more charging stations, even if they don't receive a Chromebook for their individual use.Board member Bill Carpenter proposed a tiered fee schedule with seniors paying $50 for technology this year, juniors $100 and on up. The board members were favor of a $50 difference each year, with the freshmen paying the highest fee of $200.The board will discuss the amount students would pay the following year and other details, such as whether students can use their own laptop, instead of a district-provided one. The board is expected to vote on the fee schedule at its Sept. 6 meeting.Teachers and their students tested four different kinds of Chromebooks in a pilot program last school year to determine which was most suitable for District 86 needs. Based on their feedback, the district administrators recommended students use a Lenovo Yoga ThinkPad that cost $400, plus $25 for a Google management license for a four-year lease.At the end of the four years, a student could purchase the Chromebook for a nominal amount, Eagan said.The 1:1 initiative requires more expenses than simply leasing the devices, such as increasing the internet bandwidth at each school and installing fiber optic cable and Wi-Fi access points in every classroom.The student fee also would have covered the estimated cost of paying for additional staff to help teachers and students use the technology. Over five years, Eagan forecasts the district will spend an average of $500,000 more a year on personnel for technology support positions, including a person to help teachers incorporate use of the Chromebooks in their curriculum.District officials will use savings from non-technology expenditures that have been lower than budgeted to pay for some of the expenses the district was asking the parents to cover.Eagan expects the district can reallocate $300,000 to the technology program due to the cost of roof work at Central this summer being lower than budgeted, the savings of positions that were not filled for a portion of the year and lower interest on the district's unfunded pension liability as the district pays down that debt.Carpenter, who was a member of the Cass School District 63 Board when that district launched a 1:1 computer per student program in 2014, warned the costs of going 1:1 mobile device per student are likely to be higher than expected.
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BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has promoted Andrea Cooling to director of pharmacy operations.

Ms. Cooling will oversee clinical and business functions for commercial, ACA Marketplace and Medicare business. In this role, she will also be responsible for pharmacy benefits management and the specialty pharmacy network.

Andrea brings more than 30 years of experience within BlueCross to this role, said Dr. Natalie Tate, vice president of pharmacy management for BlueCross. The breadth of knowledge from her pharmacy, commercial and government positions make her well-suited to lead our pharmacy teams as they work to serve our members.

Ms. Cooling joined BlueCross in 1984. She was most recently pharmacy operations manager and has experience in several BlueCross business areas, including business engineering, marketing and Medicare.

She earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the UTC.
An online quota application for a Georgia deer hunt must be received before midnight Sept. 1, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division.

Some of the best deer hunts in the state are on Georgias well-managed public lands, said John Bowers, chief of Game Management. To have a chance at one of these outstanding opportunities, you better get that application in before the deadline.

Deer quota opportunities include hunts on wildlife management areas and state park lands, dog-deer hunting and adult/child hunting opportunities.

To apply, go to www.gohuntgeorgia.com/hunting/quota. The quota hunt system allows applicants to sign up for a chance at a quota hunt using their existing license purchase account. If you dont have an existing account, you can create one. Those applying should be sure to keep their email and mailing address current in order to receive quota updates, confirmations and any notices about quota hunts.

For more information on the upcoming deer season, hunters can review the 2016-2017 Georgia Hunting Seasons and Regulations guide, available at www.georgiawildlife.com/hunting/regulations.



For more information, visit www.georgiawildlife.com/hunting/quota.
A federal appellate court has upheld a ruling that Illinois manufacturer Amglo Kemlite Laboratories unlawfully retaliated against workers protesting low wages by transferring some work to Mexico.

In a decision issued Wednesday, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an order by the National Labor Relations Board against Bensenville-based Amglo, which makes specialty lights such as those found on airplane wings.

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The NLRB had found Amglo engaged in unfair labor practices when it responded to a strike by threatening to fire employees and transferring work from Illinois to its facility in Juarez, Mexico.

It ordered Amglo to return the transferred work to Illinois, to offer full reinstatement to all employees who lost a job as a result of the transfer and to repay them for wages and benefits lost.

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The three-judge panel of the appellate court, in upholding the NLRB's order, said: "We are satisfied that substantial evidence supports the board's finding that the strike was a motivating factor in Amglo's transfer of some work to Mexico."

Nearly all of Amglo's 94 plant employees, who were not unionized, went on strike on Sept. 20, 2011, to protest frozen wages. According to the charges filed against the company, a supervisor told the striking workers about globalization and the ability to move production to the company's plants in China or Mexico. A week later, when the workers agreed to return to work without a raise, the supervisor told them she didn't know when and how many could return to work because some work was being transferred to Mexico "because of the situation."

All but 22 of the workers were called back to work by the end of the month. Those 22 received a letter a month later stating that there were no jobs available in part because of the transfer of some work to Mexico.

Amglo had argued the layoffs were for economic reasons, unrelated to the strike and that the amount of work transferred to Mexico was minuscule. But the company had increased its workforce in the nine months prior to the strike, undercutting the economic argument, the appellate judges wrote. And, they wrote, this stage of the proceedings needed only show the existence of a violation, not the extent of it.

Amglo did not respond to a request for comment.

It is not uncommon for companies to be accused of transferring work because of hostility to organizing activities, said Darren Mungerson, an attorney in the Chicago office of Littler Mendelson, which typically represents management in employment cases. Mungerson is not involved in the Amglo case.

The takeaway, at least for employers, is "if you are planning on relocating work from one facility to another, you should really have that firmly documented," Mungerson said. "Otherwise, if there's a strike then there will be some presumptions that the transfer is the result of the strike, at least the timing if not the ultimate decision."

aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com

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File: AT&T announced Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, that the company is joining Verizon in raising the prices of some of its data plans in what the wireless company terms a simplification. (Matt Rourke / AP)

New York  AT&T is joining Verizon in raising the prices of some of its data plans.

As with Verizon, AT&T is going to great lengths to avoid calling the changes a price hike, as the higher prices come with more data, reducing the cost per gigabyte for many customers. Indeed many customers will benefit, and those who won't can keep their existing plans.

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The price increase underscores how wireless companies see data as a way to boost revenue. Most plans now come with unlimited calls and texts.

The new rates take effect Sunday. AT&T customers who want to keep their existing plans don't need to do anything. They can still add lines to their account, but won't be able to change data levels without switching to the new rates.

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AT&T's efforts to simplify its plans include standardizing the "access charge" that customers pay on top of data charges. That's the voice and text portion of the monthly service bill. Now, customers will pay $20 a month per line, unless they still have a discounted phone under two-year contracts, which wireless companies are phasing out. Before, the access charge was $25 for smaller data plans and $15 for larger ones.

Customers on larger data plans will now pay more for access, but will get comparable or greater reductions in the data rates. In fact, families on plans of 20 gigabytes or more will likely see significant reductions in their phone bills.

That's not the case with smaller plans, as phone companies try to push customers into larger tiers to boost revenue. Those on smaller data plans will generally pay $10 a month more for data, offset by a $5-per-line reduction in the access charge. That's a net increase of $5 for individuals, though those prices come with at least 20 percent more data.

But there's one case where customers get less. For $30, customers used to get 2 gigabytes of data. Now, that price comes with 1 gigabyte. Those customers will still benefit from the $5-per-line reduction.

Regardless of the data level, Dallas-based AT&T is eliminating charges for exceeding monthly data caps, at least for those who do switch to the new rates. The charge was typically $15 per gigabyte over. Now, after the cap is reached, AT&T will slow down speeds instead. The slower speeds will be fine for email and basic status updates on Facebook, but photos will be difficult and streaming video nearly impossible.

Verizon also eliminated charges for exceeding caps when it raised prices last month, though for those on smaller data plans, customers have to pay a $5 a month "safety" fee to avoid such charges. There's no extra fee with AT&T. Sprint and T-Mobile also slow down speeds instead of charging for exceeding caps, without imposing any safety fee.

Last year, T-Mobile raised its rates as well, while calling them greater values with more data.

Associated Press
Chicago Ideas booking director Mel Safford talks about the best mistake she's ever made, her admiration for female CEOs and more. (Corilyn Shropshire / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Mel Safford's mantra is late nights and early mornings.

That's in part because of her work: As the director of booking at Chicago Ideas, the Elgin native, 27, spends her days and many nights recruiting the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Theaster Gates and Bang Bang Pie founder Michael Ciapciak to host adult versions of "show and tell" with the public.

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Safford's fingerprints are on some of Chicago Ideas' hottest events  Paltrow discussing her lifestyle website Goop, Pie Making 101 with Bang Bang Pie Shop and a cheese-making seminar with the cheese monger at Eataly Chicago. All for $15 per ticket. And in true millennial style, she has more than one gig  she also serves as the Chicago producer for the crack-of-dawn sober rave known as Daybreaker.

She previously was talent coordinator at Harpo Productions. The Tribune recently talked to her about what's next for Chicago Ideas and how she squeezes it all in. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Mel Safford, director of labs at Chicago Ideas Week, photographed at Spinning J, at 1000 N. California Ave., in Chicago, on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)

Q: What's the idea behind Chicago Ideas Week?

A: Our speakers are unpaid and our budgets are tight. We rely on partners and members to support us. A lot of it is really communicating that we're unique and you shouldn't have to pay all this money to hear from a world-class speaker. Across the board it's about setting up a relationship.

Q: How did you land your job?

A: I left Harpo in the spring of 2015. I was trying to figure out what's the right next step. A former co-worker talked to me about Chicago Ideas since another former Harpo booker was looking for someone in an admin role. I talked to her, she said this is just a lower-level job and I thought, "That's OK, I'll make it what it can be. ... It buys me a little more time in Chicago before I decide to move on." Of course, then they came back and said, "You're grossly overqualified." They broke up with me and then a day later, asked me if I wanted something else. (The next day) they called and said, "What do you think about being the director of our labs program?" I started the next week. (She was named director of booking earlier this month.)

Q: What does your job entail?

A: I have been tasked with finding who are the innovators at the top of their game across every industry in every neighborhood in Chicago and how can we bring a small group of people to do a behind-the-scenes, hands-on experience you couldn't do under this umbrella of Ideas Week. We go to North Side, South Side, West Side, every little pocket. The fact that we can do that at such an affordable and accessible level is something that I fell in love (with). I feel like I've struck gold again.

Mel Safford, Director of Labs at Chicago Ideas Week, photographed at Spinning J, at 1000 North California Avenue, in Chicago, on Monday Aug. 15, 2016. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)

Q: What was is the biggest "get" or accomplishment you've had so far at Chicago Ideas?

A: I oversee a group Chicago Ideas put together called the Co-op. It's like a social chamber of commerce. It's about how do we connect all of these leaders from Chicago in the same room, have them talk to each other and have that spawn new pieces? Put a cocktail in their hand or a great piece of food or art on the wall? How do we get Josephine Lee (president and artistic director of Chicago Children's Choir) in the same room as Ted Souder from Google? (Kickstarter co-founder) Charles Adler from the Center for Lost Arts as Tanner Woodford from the Chicago Design Museum?

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Q: What is the most challenging part of your job?

A: I'm sure any nonprofit would say the budget. I have a zero budget for labs. Everything is donation-based, generously so.

Q: You have to have a conversation with everyone you talk to about donating their time, talent and space?

A: I get to have that conversation with everyone. (Laughs.) I'm so lucky. So far the response has been great. They see it's such a city collective and that its something cool to be a part of.

Q: Is this what you planned to do when you grew up?

A: Frankly, I watched a lot of television as a kid and I thought, "Samantha Jones (a character on the television show 'Sex and the City') is a publicist, maybe I can be a publicist." (Laughs) I didn't have a basis for what I wanted to do. I just knew that I liked people and I wanted to be powerful and independent.

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Q: How did you get the job at Harpo Studios?

A: Growing up here, I was a huge Oprah Winfrey fan and looked up to her. I was die hard. I was working and my boss asked me what would be my dream job and I said, "Well, you know, Oprah, obviously." And she said, "You know, I worked for Oprah." A month later I saw an opening for an assistant position and I sent it to her. She sent my resume. I got a call an hour later. I'm shaking and freaking out and having a very physical reaction. A week later I got a call and got an offer for it. And my whole world changed.

Q: What did you learn working at Harpo?

A: Grace under pressure. I learned to underpromise and overdeliver at all times. I learned honesty. I learned to be thorough. That no small task is too small. And answering the phones well matters.

Q: What are you excited about right now?

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 13 Chicago Ideas Week's Eric Becker and Brad Keywell introduce the "The State of the Union" talk. (Kristen Norman, Blue Sky / Oct. 12, 2015)

A: Bringing the Co-op and the Chicago Ideas initiative to another pocket of the city  the Arts Block  to see the work that Theaster Gates and his team at the University of Chicago is doing.

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Q: What can we expect from Chicago Ideas Week (Oct. 17-23) this year?

A: A range of world-class speakers, including chief technology officer of the United States Megan Smith; the first person to sequence the human genome, Dr. J. Craig Venter; Hollywood producer Will Packer; and 16-time Grammy Award-winning producer David Foster.

Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?

A: I take everything one day at a time. The dream was Oprah. And now I'm trying to figure out what do you do after the dream. The dream happened early.

Q: What is Daybreaker?

A: It was founded in New York. The founders (Matthew Brimer and Radha Agrawal) had the idea to turn nightlife on its head, to take the good: The energy, the light show, the quality music and the crowd, and put it in the morning when people are usually doing their monotonous activities, going for a run, doing yoga, not waking up, hitting the snooze button and having this energy and collective experience. They wanted to start in other cities. It's become this amazing thing in Chicago. It's once a month and we hold it on Monday mornings, and we take over various spots throughout the city. It's sober but full of spirit.

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crshropshire@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @corilyns
Target said Wednesday that it is preparing to spend $20 million in coming months to add single-stall bathrooms along with men's and women's restrooms in its stores, a move meant to accommodate shoppers concerned about the retailers' policy of allowing customers and employees to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender they identify with.

"Some of our guests clearly are uncomfortable with our policy, and some are really supportive," Cathy Smith, Target's chief financial officer, said during a conference call with reporters.

Earlier this year, Target weighed in during a national debate over a law in North Carolina requiring people to use public bathrooms that correspond to their gender at birth. In April, the company issued a statementsaying that the company stands for inclusivity and welcomes people to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity.

There had been some backlash to that move on social media, and an online petition was created encouraging shoppers to boycott Target. Some opponents protested outside their local store.

When asked whether boycotts or other dissatisfaction over the bathroom policy had contributed to weak sales growth in the most recent quarter, Smith said, "It's difficult to tease out one thing that's driving results." She added that based on the evidence the team has today, the impact of the bathroom issue has "really not been material."

Most of Target's stores already have a single-stall bathroom, but this latest investment will ensure every store in the fleet offers that option to shoppers.

Target spoke about this issue as it reported quarterly earnings results, which showed the store's turnaround hit some turbulence this summer. The big-box store said that traffic declined in its locations for the first time in nearly two years.

Sales slid 7.2 percent, which the company said was fueled by several factors: Consumer electronics sales were dismal, and executives said its grocery departments need improvement. Executives also referred repeatedly to a need to "rebalance" their message to attract value-oriented customers.

Target has been focused lately on spiffing up such categories as fashion and home goods, the kinds of products that they think can help them rekindle an upscale reputation. But the talk of rebalancing suggests it swung the pendulum too far toward these style products and neglected to emphasize essentials that are often the impetus of a trip to the store.

Target also offered a fairly gloomy forecast for the rest of 2016, slashing its earnings forecasts and saying it expects flat-to-lower sales at stores open more than a year.

Brian Cornell, Target's chief executive, contended on a conference call with investors that the retailer was hampered during the quarter by a "difficult retail environment" and a "cautious" consumer. That doesn't quite align, though, with how others in the industry have characterized the recent consumer climate. Home Depot reported robust earnings results Tuesday, and executives at the home-improvement chain said shoppers appeared to be eager for big-ticket items. Consumer spending was the key driver of economic growth in the second quarter, and the National Retail Federation recently revised its forecasts upward for industry-wide growth this year, citing high consumer confidence and the expectation of improved consumer spending.

Target's stock was down nearly 7 percent in early morning trading.

Softness in the electronics department contributed heavily to Target's sagging sales this quarter. In fact, Cornell said sales of Apple gear nose-dived some 20 percent in the quarter. On a conference call with investors, one analyst asked whether this particularly reflected weakness in the iPhone, since the latest version of that device has been on shelves for a while now. But Cornell said weakness was seen across the stable of Apple products.

Online sales grew 16 percent at Target this quarter, a slowdown from the 23 percent year-over-year growth seen the previous quarter. The retailer stressed, though, that it continued to see improvement in its conversion rate - the rate at which people go from browsing to buying. That suggests customers are finding it easier to use its website and app.

Target's earnings did offer some reasons for optimism. Categories such as baby, kids, wellness and higher-end "style" products delivered comparable sales that outpaced results overall. Grocery sales, too, proved stronger at some Los Angeles area stores where it is testing a new layout and merchandising, suggesting they might be rolled out more broadly.

Overall, though, Target's revenue for the quarter slipped to $16.17 billion, while profit tumbled 9.7 percent to $680 million, or $1.16 per share.
United Airlines Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz filled a top finance spot that had been vacant for 12 months and replaced the longtime chief revenue officer, bolstering his management team almost a year after taking the helm.

Andrew Levy, 47, was named chief financial officer, joining the third-largest U.S. carrier from discounter Allegiant Airlines, United Continental Holdings Inc. said in a statement Thursday. The role had been unfilled since last August, when John Rainey resigned to take the same position at PayPal Holdings Inc. Senior Vice President Gerald Laderman served as interim CFO and will remain with United.

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The airline appointed Julia Haywood, a partner at Boston Consulting Group, as chief commercial officer. She fills the role of Chief Revenue Officer James Compton, 60, who is retiring at year-end. Haywood, 37, most recently served as managing director at the consulting firm, working with United on revenue and network initiatives.

Munoz has pledged to reshape the executive corps he inherited when he became CEO last September and has been under pressure from investors to improve profit and labor relations. He suffered a heart attack a month into the new job and went on leave. Munoz subsequently had a heart transplant and returned to work in March.

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"Julia and Andrew bring a powerful combination of industry perspective and experience to our leadership team," Munoz said in the statement. Levy served as president, chief operating officer and CFO at Allegiant, which he left in 2014. Haywood has worked with more than a dozen airlines.

In Levy, Munoz selected a veteran airline executive who filled a range of network planning, finance and operations roles at Allegiant over 13 years. When he left in 2014, CEO Maurice Gallagher credited Levy with helping the airline emerge from bankruptcy protection and with helping develop its low-cost approach and focus on leisure travel.

Allegiant has had safety incidents over the past couple of years that drew regulatory scrutiny. In July 2015 a pilot said he was so low on fuel that he needed to make an emergency landing, despite rules requiring that planes carry enough fuel to fly beyond their destinations. A Federal Aviation Administration review found only "minor" and "nonsystemic" issues.

Allegiant's safety issues mostly came after Levy's departure, said Wolfe Research analyst Hunter Keay, who called the new CFO a "smart, blunt, no-nonsense guy."

"They did not have the luxury of making a safe choice," Keay said. "They're in a position where they need to start thinking about shaking things up."

Compton departs as United Continental's second-ranking executive. He was a fixture at Continental Airlines, which he joined in 1995, before the 2010 merger. As chief revenue officer, Compton supervised functions including sales, revenue management, marketing and planning the hub and route network.

Investors have urged Munoz to close United's profit gap with competitors, which developed on Compton's watch. United's operating profit margin was 13.6 percent last year, behind Delta Air Lines Inc.'s 19.2 percent, and American Airlines Group Inc.'s 15.1 percent. Much of that wasn't Compton's fault, Keay said, explaining that after its merger, United lacked the market-share dominance in its major hubs that other carriers had in their main locations.

"Jim Compton was in a very difficult position in the industry in trying to price a product that was inferior," Keay said.

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United reached major agreements last week with flight attendants and mechanics. The carrier's approximately 25,000 attendants on Friday approved a contract joining United and Continental groups that had been prevented from working together since the two airlines merged six years ago. The carrier and its mechanics union also reached an agreement in principle on a contract that awaits approval by the Teamsters-represented membership.

Munoz said in June that he was reviewing United's operations, including whether its hubs and its route network were fulfilling their mission. He is trying to find $3.1 billion in extra revenue and savings to match the airline's U.S. peers in profitability.

Associated Press
Norridge School District 80 will ask taxpayers in November to support a $2.5 million annual tax hike to help pay for a new combined building to house both Giles and Lee schools.

The District 80 School Board voted Aug. 16 in favor of a $60.6 million plan to ask the community to fund a major project to demolish the schools and rebuild a new combined school in a yet-to-be-determined location. The vote was 5-2. Cynthia Stec, Srbo Radisavljevic, Pasquale Biondo, Mike Bellafore and Warner DeJulio voted in favor of the plan. Jennifer Paoletti and Christian Giacalone voted against it.

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If the referendum question is approved in November, Norridge homeowners would pay about $479 more in taxes per year based on a $100,000 home, according to information provided by the school district on Aug. 16.

The board's approval of the referendum question Tuesday night came after a months-long push by District 80 Superintendent Paul O'Malley to get the community behind his plan for a permanent tax hike that would give Leigh and Giles schools a $2.5 million annual boost.

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Officials had weighed three options for a referendum question, including an option to renovate both schools at a cost of $37.5 million  the most popular option chosen by respondents of a survey that was sent in June to more than 3,000 registered voters.

Eighteen percent of the 572 voters who responded to the school district's survey supported the option to renovate, while the option school officials ultimately chose for the district  to demolish both schools and build a new consolidated one  was supported by 14 percent, according to the district. The third choice that was considered, to rebuild both schools separately, was supported by 4 percent of respondents.

"Quite a few people chose option one, but we have to put the survey results into context and consider that 78 percent of the people who answered don't have kids in the school district," O'Malley said. "We talked about what would be best for the people using the facility, and we want to avoid putting in more money (toward repairing both schools)."

O'Malley, who has made numerous public appearances at village board and school district meetings since June, says he needs taxpayers' support of the referendum to raise taxes that would pay for a funding shortfall that threatens the safety of both schools' infrastructures and programming, including band, full-day kindergarten and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), among other academic programs.

O'Malley provided a nine-district comparison, which included Norridge District 80, Mannheim School District 83, Franklin Park School District 84, Rosemont School District 78, Rhodes School District 84.5, Union Ridge School District 86, Schiller Park School District 81, River Grove School District 85.5 and Pennoyer School District 79. In the comparison, District 80 had the second-lowest tax rate, 2.37 percent, ahead of only Rosemont at 1.6 percent, in a comparison of district finances in the area. Mannheim ranked first at 5.05 percent.

The list also shows Norridge District 80 ranks third-lowest on "operating expense per pupil," or the annual cost to educate each student. It lists Norridge as spending $10,145 per student, ahead of River Grove and Pennoyer. Rosemont ranks highest at $16,810.

The chart shows District 80 spends $2,489 less on each student compared to the average of all nine districts, $12,634.

O'Malley's annual salary  $173,840  ranks second-highest among the seven school districts that posted administrative salary information online, according to information appearing on their websites. A request for salaries of the superintendents from Franklin Park District 84 and River Grove District 85.5 was still pending.

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Among the 572 voters who responded to the school district's survey, 58 percent said they didn't support any of the three options the district has laid out for addressing age-related infrastructure issues at the two schools.

Survey demographics show 31 percent of people who answered the questionnaire were over age 65, with another 19 percent being between 55 and 64 years old. A total of 78 percent of people who answered the survey have no kids under age 19 living at home.

Whether a taxpayer has kids enrolled in the district or will in the future, compared to respondents without kids in the schools, made a significant difference in whether there was support for a combined school, with 10 percent of people without kids supporting it compared to 29 percent who have kids.

Resident Natalia Zanayed, one of about 90 or so taxpayers who attended the board meeting, said her family has talked about moving to another school district if the referendum fails.

"A lot of parents have spoken about leaving Norridge if something doesn't pass," Zanayed said. "There's no point in staying in this neighborhood if [residents] don't want to invest in our children."

O'Malley said the survey was sent only to households with registered voters to save money on mailing costs. The general election will take place Nov. 8. According to the Cook County Clerk's website, the last day to register to vote is Oct. 11. Grace-period registration and voting runs from Oct. 12 to Nov. 8.

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After the District 80 school board voted to place the referendum question on the ballot, board members voted against a separate measure to spend about $8,000 to fix a broken air conditioning unit at Giles School and tabled another decision on whether to pay for roof repairs at Leigh School.

Some parents asked the board how the school planned to address potential health issues that could arise if there is hot weather when students are back in school. Stec, the board secretary, mentioned her child has asthma and said high temperatures can trigger health problems.

"We do not have this money. It's not budgeted," O'Malley said.

One parent asked what the school would do if a student passed out from the heat, and O'Malley said, "my recommendation would be to call a paramedic."

Natalie Hayes is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Many of my clients and their parents ask me for advice about the all-important college course selections that are made in the freshman year of college. Those pesky General Education classes, that most schools require for a degree can leave you with a "so what" feeling or provide you with an opportunity of a lifetime to learn from some of the most esteemed educators on the planet.

I can speak to such an experience. As a freshman at the University of California-Berkeley I was required to take a science class and found that a physics course designated for non-majors fit the bill. I asked the smartest student I knew which of my class options was best. He said, without hesitation, "Take visiting professor Richard Feynman's class that uses his textbook 'Lectures on Physics.' " Feynman was from Caltech, a Berkeley rival, and he was considered to be the best physics educator in the country. I have never been happier with my decision to take his class.

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Feynman's textbook was based on his freshman lecture series at Caltech. The class was a huge eye-opener, and I learned a great deal more about physics than I could have ever imagined. I found that I could identify with the Nobel Prize winner. He appeared to struggle with problems the same way I did.

He said his IQ was only 125, but he always tried to be creative when solving problems, often playing bongo drums at parties to help himself relax, and even sketching out theoretical problems at a strip club near the Caltech campus. He said the latter experience helped him discover his famous "Feynman Curves" that won him the Nobel Prize.

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Perhaps it was his love of learning that helped me identify with him. He hardly ever attended world conferences on physics or hobnobbed with the world-famous scientific establishment. Feynman would rather spend his time working with local high-school science classes in Pasadena and Los Angles. He was always interested in the most fundamental of questions  not what we learn, but how we learn. He made the subject of learning seem important. He made you feel important. His lecture series gave me an appreciation for science that I have kept all my life.

Years later, I ran across him again. This time, he was on the Rogers Commission investigating the cause of the Challenger Space Shuttle crash. He made everyone look like a fool as debates raged among members of the blue-ribbon panel. Was it mechanical failure or human error? Feynman said it was human error. He said the shuttle should not have been launched that day because the sub-zero temperatures at the launch pad made the rubber O-ring gaskets on the engines too brittle to seal properly. He explained the brittleness of the seal allowed hot gases to spew out between the two sections of the engine and pierce the shuttle's external fuel tank. The charts and graphs provided by NASA officials on the blue ribbon investigative panel proved inconclusive on this point.

Finally, in exasperation, Feynman decided to do an experiment to prove his point. He dunked a strip of rubber O-ring material into a champagne bucket filled with ice water. He pulled it out and twisted it into various shapes. It never sprung back to its original profile. This simple demonstration proved his point. Many in the audience gasped at the truth of its simplicity. It was pure Feynman as I remembered him  always down to earth.

I can honestly say that my college career and yes, my life, was shaped by his intellect.

My advice to college freshmen is that it is important to take every opportunity to expand your horizons as a college student. You never know when you will encounter a course or professor who will make a profound difference in your life.

NOTE: For those interested in Feynman's place in the history of science, a collection of Feynman's letters, "Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard Feynman," was published in 2005.

Gerald Bradshaw is an international college admission consultant with Bradshaw College Consulting in Crown Point.

gerald_bradshaw@post.harvard.edu
South Shore to add trains for Air and Water Show

The South Shore Line will run additional trains to and from Chicago on Saturday and Sunday to accommodate people going to the Chicago Air and Water Show, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District said.

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An extra train into Chicago will leave the Portage/Ogden Dunes station at 9:57 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, along with the regular train at that time. It will make all stops on the route.

An extra train from Chicago will leave the Millennium Station at 4:28 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It will run non-stop to Hegewisch and make all regular stops before ending in Michigan City.

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Bikes will not be allowed on South Shore trains this weekend because all seats will be needed for passengers.

Exhibitions open at Brauer Museum of Art

An opening reception for two new exhibits at the Brauer Museum of Art will be at 2 p.m. Aug. 28 at the museum, 1709 Chapel Drive, Valparaiso. Admission is free with donations welcome. The exhibitions are External Reflections  Internal Wars: Photographs by Louise Witkin-Berg and True to Form: Works from Chicago Sculpture International. More information on the exhibits, museum hours and other events associated with the exhibits such as coffee hours is at www.valpo.edu or 219-464-5365.

Tribute to Elvis, Diamond set in Portage

The Portage Summer Music Series wraps up with The Diamond and Elvis Tribute Show from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Oakwood Grand Hall in Woodland Park in Portage. The concert features performances from Joe Zirconia as Neil Diamond and Dave "Elvis" Thomas. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. The concert is free but donations of nonperishable food, personal items and paper products will be collected for the Portage Food Pantry and Gabriel's Horn Women's Shelter. More information is at www.portagemusic.com.

Valpo library offers slow flow yoga

Certified yoga instructor Rich DeLuca offers Yoga Slow Flow Classes from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Sept. 9 and from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Valparaiso Public Library, 103 Jefferson St. The sessions are for high school age and adults and cost $3 per class. Bring exercise mat, towel and bottle of water. Register at rdc46341@comcast.net. Walk-ins welcome the day of class.

Clay shoot event offered in Wheatfield

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The scholarship committee of the don Quijote Education Fund presents its fourth annual Fun Shoot at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 11 at the Oakwood Gun Club in Wheatfield. A $60 entry fee includes a 100-round sporting clays shoot, lunch and competitive prizes and drawings. Participants must provided their own shotguns and ammunition, which can be purchased at the club. Proceeds from the event will benefit the don Quijote Education Fund, which was created to promote and develop Spanish language and cultural enrichment for Porter County students through study or travel. More information and reservations are with Greg Costakis at gcostakis56@gmail.com.

Bishop Noll sets alumni Homecoming Mass

Bishop Noll Institute invites all alumni to attend Mass together at 11 a.m. Sept. 18, at Our Lady of Grace Church, 3205 Highway Ave. in Highland. Alums from Bishop Noll and Catholic Central are invited, whether or not they are celebrating reunions this year. The Bishop Noll Choir, under the direction of Mr. David Herr, will join in the celebration. More information is at 219-932-9058.

Staff report
The Hammond South Shore station would be moved if a plan proposed by Hammond for the commuter rail's West Lake extension is approved. (Joe Puchek / Post-Tribune)

It's taken more than 25 years, but the pieces may be falling into place for the West Lake plan to build a new commuter rail service in Northwest Indiana.

West Lake  a proposed 9-mile South Shore Line extension from Hammond to the Munster-Dyer border  received a major boost Aug. 8 when the Hammond City Council voted to support the project with $27 million over 30 years.

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On Thursday, the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority is expected to roll out a regional plan that includes concepts for development around each new station on the West Lake line.

Bill Hanna, the RDA's president and CEO, said the West Lake project is crucial to the RDA's vision for Northwest Indiana "to become the gateway to Chicago for Indiana."

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Hammond is the latest of the 16 Lake County communities, plus the county itself, that have said they support the project; 15 of them have made 30-year financial commitments.

Hammond had withheld its support earlier because the plan's original version "didn't really make sense for Hammond," Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said. "It was just going through Hammond."

Hammond then proposed building a "gateway" station in North Hammond that would serve both the new West Lake line and the existing South Shore service.

In the original plan versions, West Lake riders would just travel between the West Lake stations and Chicago.

With the Gateway Station, a rider could get on in Munster and transfer in Hammond to a South Shore train going east  say, to the Indiana Dunes or South Bend.

"NICTD realized that what we were saying is true," McDermott said, "that you could use the railroad to get around Northwest Indiana."

If the Gateway Station were built, the current South Shore station in Hammond would be closed, and the city would begin redeveloping that neighborhood with the goal of enticing new residents and businesses.

"The goal is to have Chicago people living there," McDermott said. "It's the kind of place that, 10 years from now, might get a Starbucks."

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McDermott also wanted West Lake's train maintenance facility to be at a former industrial site in North Hammond, instead of farther south in Hammond or across the Illinois border.

Hammond's proposal became one of the three options discussed in drafting the project's environmental impact statement  a key part of the process in getting a Federal Transit Authority grant to pay for half of the cost of building the West Lake line.

All three potential routes are still part of the environmental study, NICTD General Manager Mike Noland said. NICTD staff will recommend a preferred route in the next couple of months, the agency will ask the public for comments, and then the NICTD board will vote.

"The Hammond alternative has a lot of advantages, and the mayor is excited about the extra investment in Hammond," Noland said.

He added it would also add more than $30 million to the earlier-estimated $571 million construction cost for West Lake.

The costs are higher because the Hammond plan calls for moving the South Shore tracks through Hammond slightly south to the Gateway Station. Also, the Gateway Station would be on two levels, with the South Shore tracks on ground level and the West Lake line, already elevated to cross the CSX tracks, on the top level. Stairs and escalators would connect the two levels.

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Hanna likes McDermott's proposal.

"It's a more expensive proposal," he said, "but it's a more high-value proposition."

The Gateway Station, Hanna said, "would be the only place in the region where you could go north, south, east or west by train."

Hanna was particularly eager to see the Hammond plan's transit-oriented development  building a community intended for train commuters and their interests.

Younger people now tend to be more attracted to cities and public transportation instead of car-oriented suburbs, he said.

Hanna and McDermott acknowledged that redeveloping would mean relocating people in the neighborhood around the current South Shore station. One Hammond City Council member voted against the proposal for that reason.

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"It's our job to make decisions that might be tough," McDermott said.

He said his father, former Hammond mayor Thomas McDermott Sr., was criticized a quarter-century ago when he proposed building a marina along Hammond's Lake Michigan shoreline. But later, that marina became the site for the floating casino that's one of Hammond's biggest economic engines.

Plenty of steps, and potential pitfalls, remain for the West Lake project.

The Hammond City Council and McDermott have said they won't support the project if the Gateway Station isn't in it. Also, federal funding isn't assured.

But the current proposal appears to be closer to the finish line than previous ones.

The concept of building a West Lake line began in the late 1980s, when the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District bought a stretch of the former Monon Railroad right of way through Hammond. Originally, planners envisioned a rail line running from Hammond to Lowell, passing through Dyer and St. John.

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In 2014, NICTD proposed the current version of the West Lake corridor plan  a shorter line ending at Main Street, the Dyer-Munster border.

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, urged cities and towns in Lake County to participate financially in the project to build the line by committing part of their County Economic Development Income Tax income for it for the next 30 years. Most agreed, though the West Lake line doesn't even touch most of the communities. Merrillville, for example, committed 22 percent of its CEDIT income, or $153,685 a year; Schneider, far to the south, committed 20 percent, or $1,611. The RDA has promised that the money would be returned if the project doesn't get federal backing.

"I am heartened that 16 of the 20 political jurisdictions, including Lake County, have seen the future and acted," Visclosky said in a statement released by his office. "I am confident that as the remaining four jurisdictions continue to study the value of the project, they also will act to invest in the future of our children and following generations."

Hanna noted that the project's funding this time does not depend on any new taxes. And, he said, it would boost the whole region, not just western Lake County.

"You don't have to ride the train to benefit from this," he said. "Everyone who rides the train is coming back to the region and spending money here."

Tim Zorn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
What's Quickly? It's where readers sound off on the issues of the day. Have a quote, question or quip? Call Quickly at 312-222-2426 or email quickly@post-trib.com.

This is to the commenter who said taxes are for public schools, not private charter school. That, my friend, is a noble thought but in a state like Indiana where profits trump anything the people need, the profitable industry of charter schools is going to continue to thrive, starving public schools of funding and allowing for-profit schools with a Wall Street moniker to come in their place. It's a sad, sad reminder that education is getting poorer and poorer in this state.

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There has been page after front page of stories about Eric Holcomb, the nobody that's replacing Gov. Mike Pence on the Republican ticket now that he's running for vice president with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Honestly, Post-Tribune, could we be a little more balanced please?

Food for thought: When purchasing a used car, always remember this axiom: Good cars are not cheap. Cheap cars are not good.

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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump keeps shouting false accusations and insults about Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and encourages his supporters to do the same. The tragedy is that there are so many foolish and gullible people he's counting on to believe these lies and to jump on his bandwagon.

There was an article in the Post-Tribune recently that said Sullivan, Indiana, man Johnus Orr got 120 years for killing his stepsister, Tiffanie Adams, and her fetus, Brynsten Edward, since she was pregnant. Why is he getting 120 years for killing a fetus? Isn't that considered abortion? Then maybe all these mothers who abort their babies and the doctors who perform the service should be getting 120 years in prison.

In response to a Quickly comment on a recent Saturday about the bombings that went on in April of 1983 at the embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, and also the 241 U.S. Marines who were attacked in the barracks and killed by bombers in Beirut: Very well done. I forgot about that. You are very correct and I wonder who was negligent.

Hey, Valparaiso, when you look carefully at the drawings for that downtown transit-oriented district with its newly hatched canal plans, you will notice in at least two places that the water will have to run uphill. Whoops.

Someone needs to send Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump a dictionary so he could learn the meaning of the word "sacrifice."

Congressional Republicans are blocking funding for fighting the Zika virus by tying it to efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. And they try to convince us that they are not like Donald Trump.

Anyone that is making millions of dollars in political donations isn't doing so because they have too much money. They want some political control and that amount of money will buy it for them.

If you're thinking you might vote for Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Candidate for president, you'd better first take a look at the Libertarian party platform, which includes the complete elimination of Social Security.

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Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Anybody who identifies as a Christian (or any other faith) above all else is unfit to serve in government. That's how you wind up with a theocracy. The U.S. is a secular state with a secular government, it's been that way since day one.

Obama says no man or woman, not him or Bill, ever has been more qualified to be president than Hillary. If she's so great why didn't Obama step aside in 2008?

I loved David Rutter's column on guns. I don't have a problem with guns, but I have a huge problem with stupid people owning guns. If only there was a way to prevent stupid people from having guns we would all be much safer all the way around.

White Sox fans really don't have any room to be complaining about the Cubs. It's nothing more than jealousy. Besides, nobody is forcing you to watch them or read about them.

Instead of repudiating Donald Trump and all he stands for, Mike Pence has become his water carrier. It's humiliating for all Hoosiers.

Candidate Trump does tend to make some bonehead statements but I would sleep much better with him running the country than candidate Hillary Clinton.

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Read more at www.post-trib.com/quickly
An example of work by artist Robert Proce, which will be on display at his upcoming exhibit Aug. 26 at the Nixie Gallery in downtown Skokie. (Robert Proce / Handout)

Inspiration for artist Robert Proce's upcoming one-man show at the Nixie Gallery in downtown Skokie stems from his own nightmares.

Proce, a longtime Oak Park resident, said Nixie Gallery owner Gloria Iverson expressed an interest in his darker work after meeting the artist at a recent exhibit at the Oak Park Public Library. Iverson said her first introduction to the artist was through his "50 over Fifty" series, which is Proce's years-long effort to profile aging in America through portraits of individuals aged 50 and older. The series, which in total comprises 72 paintings, has been shown in part at galleries including the Narrow Gallery in Oak Park, the Elmhurst Art Museum and Chicago Cultural Center. Though she found his portrait series intriguing, it was Proce's surrealist and darker material, both his paintings and sculptures, that captivated Iverson.

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"He showed me some of his other work, and it has a darker feel to it, and it really explores religion and Catholicism, and I thought that was very interesting and topical," she said.

The upcoming exhibit, dubbed "Into the Abyss," opens at the Nixie Gallery, at 7925 N. Lincoln Ave., on Aug. 26. The show will feature about 32 pieces by Proce, including acrylic and oil paintings and several cage-like sculptures, he said. The sculptures, which range in size from about 2 to nearly 8 feet tall, will be "the main thrust" of the exhibit, Proce said.

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"I call it 'outsider art' because you can't really classify these pieces," he said, referring to his sculpture work. "It took me many years to build these."

The stained glass scenes found inside his church and his own bad dreams provided the fodder for his latest exhibition, Proce said.

"When I get nightmares, that's where I get the idea for these paintings," he said.

Iverson said the work is an expression of both Proce's "demons and his redemption."

The pieces on display at the exhibit range in price from several thousand to several hundred dollars, she said. Prints of several of the paintings will be available for purchase at a much lower cost for "those who like the work, but the originals are out of reach for them," Iverson said.

Thirty percent of the proceeds from the show will go to support stipends for young adults with autism who work at Iverson's adjacent nonprofit candy store, Mini Man Monkey Brains.

She said Proce's show will mark one year since the community art gallery first opened.

Proce, 76, began his professional art career in earnest a decade ago after he and his wife gave up their costume business. His son, Chicago-based artist Vincent Proce, is known for his work illustrating Magic the Gathering cards.

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Proce described himself as a self-taught artist who takes an immense amount of pleasure in his craft.

"If you like it, it's really not work. It's a labor of love. I don't really work on my paintings, I just do what I do and I have a lot of fun at it," Proce said.

Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press. Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report.
China's Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shen Danyang speaks at a press conference in Beijing on August 17, 2016. [Photo: mofcom.gov.cn]

China's Ministry of Commerce says the move by Australia to block the sale of AusGrid to Chinese firms is another sign of growing trade protectionism in that country.

On August 11, the Australian government announced it was not going to allow the State Grid Corporation of China and Hong Kong-listed Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings from buying AusGrid.

The joint bid was worth 7.7-billion US dollars.

Unspecified national security concerns were cited, but the companies were given one week to amend their bids to mitigate risks.

Shen Danyang with China's Ministry of Commerce notes State Grid had been allowed to enter the binding bidding stage before the decision was made.

"The MOC also notices that this is the second time this year the Australian government has made decisions to block Chinese applications to conduct business investments in Australia. This decision clearly shows a trend toward trade protectionism, which will severely hurt Chinese enterprises' enthusiasm in investing in Australia."

Shen Danyang also says Australian officials need to back up their promises with action.

"The Australian side has said many times that it welcomes investment from Chinese companies, but then reverses their decisions. The Commerce Ministry hopes Australia's government works to create a fairer, better and more transparent trade and investment environment for Chinese enterprises."

This is the second time this year that Australian authorities have rejected bids by Chinese companies for the purchase of major Australian assets.

An offer by a China-led consortium to purchase the country's largest agricultural land owner, cattle company Kidman & Company, was rejected by Australia's government over national security concerns.

For his part, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been critical of what he views as a growing protectionist mood among Australian lawmakers.

"Protectionism and inward-looking policies are starting to gain a foothold. Political divisions in advanced economies, particularly where there is high unemployment or a high risk of unemployment, are feeding on a sense of disenfranchisement among many people who feel the rapid economic changes of our time have left them behind. Political responses to this mood of disaffection can have the potential to destabilize global growth, perhaps even reversing some of the spectacular gains we have made over recent decades through open markets and free trade."

China is a critical trade and investment destination for Australia, with much of the country's mineral wealth being sold to China.

China has also become a major investor in Australia in recent years.

The overall relationship has been reflected through the upgrading of their official ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership at the end of 2014.

A free trade agreement signed by the two countries officially took effect last year.
China is willing to give other countries "a ride" as it renews ties, via the Belt and Road Initiative, with nations along the old Silk Road routes, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday.

As the second-largest economy in the world, China should be "more proactive" in dealing with other countries, Xi told a meeting attended by government officials, entrepreneurs and scholars.

The president encouraged Chinese companies to invest in countries along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative, also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

He also said China welcomes investment from those countries.

According to Xi, more than 100 countries and global organizations have participated in China's Belt and Road Initiative, and more than 20 countries have worked with China in production capacity cooperation in such areas as railway construction and nuclear power.

The president urged the implementation of Belt and Road projects to ensure that the countries involved have "a sense of gain".

The export of China's production and construction capacity could support the Belt and Road countries to push forward industrialization and will help to stabilize the world economy, he said.

The Silk Road Economic Belt is a land-based route from China through Central Asia and Russia to Europe. The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road is a strategic route through the Strait of Malacca to India, the Middle East and East Africa.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, began to take shape in 2014 with a focus on infrastructure.

Xi has made state visits to a number of countries, including the Czech Republic, Serbia, Poland and Uzbekistan, along the Belt and Road routes this year. More than 30 countries and international organizations have signed agreements and memorandums of understanding with China on jointly implementing the Belt and Road Initiative.

As part of the Belt and Road projects, freight trains have made more than 2,000 trips from China to Europe and back on 39 rail lines, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Wang Licheng, board chairman of Hangzhou-based Holley Group, said at the meeting that the Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Zone, jointly developed by Wang and his partners in Thailand, has created more than 20,000 jobs for people in Thailand's east coastal region.

The company plans to build an occupational school near the industrial zone to train more skilled workers, a proposal that has been welcomed by Thai authorities, he said.

The entrepreneur suggested that the construction of industrial parks abroad should be set as China's national strategy, with supportive policies established to encourage private companies to expand business overseas.

Liu Weidong, director of the Belt and Road Initiative Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that through the Belt and Road Initiative, China could allocate global resources and provide services for the whole world.

Wang Yiwei, an expert on European studies with Renmin University of China in Beijing, said that through the Belt and Road projects, China could share its development experience with other countries as well as find new markets for its production capacity.

Countries in the Central and Eastern Europe region are eager to develop ties with China to attract more Chinese investment, and President Xi's state visits to the CEE countries in March and June have brought results, he said.
Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, sits in a newly launched sedan model of the Roewe RX5, an internet-connected SUV, jointly made by Alibaba and SAIC Motor Corp, last month in Hangzhou. [China Daily]

China's biggest iPhone maker, largest e-commerce company and leading internet-video producer are all in the hunt to build electric vehicles or EVs -- and to grab the small pool of available talent to build them.

All of this is great news for marketing professional Ronan Lu, 32. The bidding wars see some workers earning double their peers' salaries and others landing jobs with minimal experience, according to recruiters.

"Many companies offered me job opportunities with good payment, but I chose LeEco because I believe it has great potential," said Lu, who left Toyota Motor Corp to join LeEco's auto division in Beijing last month.

"Startup EV companies usually can offer a higher salary than traditional automakers. You can get good rewards from stock holdings in such companies."

More than 200 Chinese companiestheir backers include Terry Gou, Ma Huateng, Jack Ma and Jia Yuetingare developing 4,000 models of new-energy vehicles or NEVs and unveiling prototypes at motor shows and home-electronics expos.

Traditional automakers and a bevy of startups see opportunity in the government's commitment to boost yearly sales of NEVs by a factor of 10 in the next decade.

China surpassed the United States last year to become the world's biggest market for NEVs, a fleet comprising electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell cars. Domestic automakers sold 331,092 units in 2015, according to the State-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The Chinese government has set a sales target of 3 million units a year by 2025. China also is accelerating construction of charging stations to serve 5 million EVs by 2020.

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
China will levy anti-dumping duties on imports of iron based amorphous alloy ribbon from the United States and Japan by requiring deposits for such imports, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

The move came after the initial findings of an investigation launched late last year showed evidence of dumping, according to the ministry's website.

Importers will be required to pay customs deposit fees ranging from 25.9 percent to 48.5 percent according to the level of dumping.

The ministry did not specify when the measure will take effect.

In November, when China announced its investigation into the sales of iron based amorphous alloy ribbon from U.S. and Japan, it said the probe was likely to end before Nov. 18, 2016, but could be extended to May 18, 2017.
Chinese police have nabbed 409 fugitives hiding overseas as part of its "Fox Hunt 2016" campaign, including 15 listed in an Interpol red notice, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said Wednesday.

The campaign has seen the arrest of 272 fugitives and 137 others have been persuaded to return from 61 countries and regions, according to the MPS.

The MPS has sent 33 work groups overseas and they have managed to capture fugitives in Madagascar, Thailand, Peru, the Philippines, Ecuador, the Republic of Korea, Cambodia, and Spain, among others.

Of the 409 fugitives, 38 are implicated in duty-related crimes, and 14 in smuggling crimes. Thirty-three of them were at large for more than five years, including 12 for over 10 years, the MPS said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for steady advance of the country's Belt and Road Initiative to benefit people along the routes.

The Belt and Road Initiative should help promote policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and mutual understanding among the people, Xi said at a symposium on the initiative held in Beijing.

Priority areas for the initiative include building a platform to advance cooperation as well as a green, healthy, intelligent and peaceful Silk Road, Xi said.

The conference was also attended by Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, National Development and Reform Commission's head Xu Shaoshi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Communist Party chiefs of Fujian, Xinjiang, Guangdong and Shaanxi, as well as experts from think tanks.

The initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, refers to building a Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.

Xi said more than 100 countries and international organizations have participated in the Belt and Road Initiative. China has signed agreements with more than 30 countries along the routes to jointly build the Belt and Road, and more than 20 countries have teamed up with China in industrial cooperation.

The progress and results of the Belt and Road Initiative have been greater than expected, Xi noted.

The Belt and Road can be seen as an opportunity to promote transnational interconnection, improve trade and investment cooperation, advance cooperation in international capacity and equipment manufacturing to rebalance and stabilize the world economy, said Xi.

Against the backdrop of a sluggish global economy, the initiative will help stabilize the world economy through industrial capacity cooperation between China and countries along the routes, to advance their industrialization and modernization, as well as improve their infrastructure, Xi said.

Xi stressed that more specific Belt and Road policies should be worked out and major support should be focused on strategic projects including facilities cooperation, energy resource use and core technology research and development.

Domestic enterprises are encouraged to invest in countries along the Belt and Road and countries along the routes are welcome to do business in China, Xi said.

Xi also advocated financial innovation and cooperation in building the Belt and Road, adding the initiative should include a stable, sustainable and risk-controllable financial security system.

The Belt and Road Initiative should also be integrated with China's regional development plans such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development plan and the Yangtze River economic zone development plan, Xi said.

More efforts should be spent on pilot projects to generate benefits as early as possible, he added.
China has so far demonstrated poor awareness of its Internet vulnerabilities, a cyber security expert said on Aug. 16.

The warning came from Yan Hanbing, a senior engineer and deputy director of the National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center, at a Tuesday forum on the sidelines of the 2016 China Internet Security Conference in Beijing. The conference was organized by IT company Qihoo 360, the Internet Society of China and the Cyber Security Association of China.

Citing data from China's National Vulnerability Database (CNVD), a government-backed Internet security monitoring platform, Yan said that over 200,000 vulnerabilities in general software or individual cases were found between 2009 and 2016. That number saw an especially steep rise between 2009 and 2014.

Yan added that non-governmental security monitoring platforms have been especially active in recent years, as the top three monitoring platforms were not associated with the government.

In April 2015, Qihoo 360s monitoring platform, butian.360.cn, discovered that tens of millions of Chinese residents registered in the national social security system were at risk of personal information leaks due to system vulnerability, Global Times reported.

Meanwhile, a report published by a security center affiliated with Qihoo 360 showed that 43.9 percent of 2.3 million monitored websites were found to have vulnerabilities, and 12.3 percent had high-risk vulnerabilities as of November 2015, according to Global Times.

"It should be noted that the rising numbers do not indicate a less safe cyberspace, but rather demonstrate that China is now paying more attention to cyber security, dedicating more effort and investment to detecting vulnerabilities," Yan noted.

However, many experts believe that the response to this large-scale detection of vulnerabilities has been inadequate. According to Yan, many Chinese Internet users and operators are slow to take action to fix the detected problems. Specifically, some 40 percent of government websites high-risk vulnerabilities were left unprotected even one month after their detection.
An inspector team composed of 10 monks have helped expose more than 600 fake monks at Mount Wutai in order to curb impostors and fraud at the holy mountain.

The famous Buddhist sanctuary in north China's Shanxi Province draws millions of believers and tourists every year. It is also known for fake monks who hustle for money by fortune telling, begging for alms and performing street shows.

"We've tried ways to crack down on the scams, and the monk inspector team has proved to be the best way," said the office director with the religion affairs bureau of Mount Wutai, who only gave his surname as Lyu.

According to Lyu, the team was established in March and the members, wearing special badges around their necks while on duty, performed regular patrols or surprise checks over the following months.

Master Yiliang, head of the team, said they recognize the local monks, and they ask unfamiliar monks their identities and details about their visits.

"If they cannot show us the Buddhist certificate, we will take away their robes, ask them to leave and report to the police," he told Xinhua, adding Mongolian and Tibetan monk inspectors have helped communicate with visiting monks from minority regions.

To date, the team has discovered over 600 fake monks and confiscated over 500 monk robes since it was established.

The team also discovered more than 100 cases of monks who have violated religious codes of conduct, according to Master Yiliang.
On May 31, 2016, the Embassy of the People's Republic of China celebrated China-Philippines Friendship day by co-hosting the opening ceremony of the Chinese Film and Food Festival with De La Salle University, Manila.

It was such a great honor and privilege to be chosen to represent my country the Philippines for this year's ASEAN Media Officer and Journalists Seminar. Among all of the participants, I was the only one who has been to China for the second time. However, everything that I had experienced here in Beijing and in Kunming was uniquely incomparable in all forms. Indeed, learning Chinese culture cannot be done in just two weeks even if you've been to China a couple of times.

Learning the media ethics of my Chinese counterparts made me realize that I have little knowledge about China. Without a doubt, the Philippine media is really different from the Chinese media practices. Nevertheless, as media practitioners, both cultures are similar in being the voice of the public, educating the people, disseminating information, connecting worlds and preventing corruption in the government by exposing extortion, promoting transparency and pushing for accountability to create reforms that will benefit the people. This is what journalism is all about; our role in society extends beyond cultural differences.

Furthermore, being the sole-representative of the Philippines in this short-course program it was no doubt that the relationship between China and my country at the present stage were mentioned whenever the South China Sea issue was discussed. And being a journalist, it is my job to be objective and open-minded, and to listen to the other side of the story to create balanced and unbiased reporting. Moreover, as a citizen of the Philippines, I myself also wanted peace not just for my family but for the next Filipino generation. Clearly, China and the Philippines have differences but these differences are not sufficient reasons to prevent a harmonious relationship within the region. Like what my father said, the best way in settling a conflict is to listen. I am one of the million Filipinos who are hoping for a peaceful settlement and to be more united with our neighboring countries in Asia through people-to-people relationships and cultural exchange.

In line with this, we all may have our own opinion about the Chinese culture, Chinese political system and China's geopolitics, but at the end of the day, who are we to judge and who am I to judge? Like the Chinese saying, even if the shoes are small it is only the owner who would know if they suit her. It is not me or any single person who can tell the Chinese people what is good for them because they already know what is right for them far beyond the shallow judgments of others. No doubt, you can never fully understand China if you do not experience China.

Therefore, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to China International Publishing Group, the Ministry of Commerce, the State Council, the Provincial Government of Yunnan and the Chinese Embassy in Manila for the opportunity they have given me, the additional knowledge that I have gained these past two weeks and the chance to see the wonderful sights in Kunming. Furthermore, this seminar will never be memorable without the people who are involved.

Confucius once said, never establish friendship with people who are not more virtuous than you. I guess I'm just fortunate. I have not just established new contacts but I have gained new friends who aren't only more virtuous than I, but value the core essence of respect. Respecting each other's differences in terms of religion, practices, tradition and culture is paramount. Therefore, I am very much humbled that I managed to be part of this circle even though I am the youngest in both age and professional experience.

As we part ways and get back to our respective countries and continue with our daily routine, I just want you to know that there is a young female journalist in the Philippines who cherished you all in the sincerest definition of the word. Thank you for teaching me about your culture. Thank you for accepting me, my perfectly imperfect personality and please accept my apologies to all the shortcomings I have committed or if I offended anyone during the process. Nevertheless, the memories that we've shared here in China will remain as a handprint on my heart; so, in whatever ways each of our stories ends, I know you all have rewritten mine by being my friends.

Jhemmylrut Teng (Carla Lim) is a TV5 correspondent for foreign affairs in the Philippines.

This post is part of her speech at the closing session of the ASEAN Media Officer and Journalists Seminar which China recently hosted.
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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday slammed the United States for causing a nuclear arms buildup in the Asia Pacific.

A man from Seongju county holds a banner to protest against the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), during a rally in Seoul, capital of South Korea, on July 21, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry denounced the United States in a statement for dispatching strategic bombers like the B-1B and B-2A in early August to the Anderson Air Force Base in Guam for the first time in ten years, according to the state news agency KCNA.

Sending more strategic nuclear bombers to Guam right after the joint decision by Washington and Seoul to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in South Korea proves that the "U.S. plan for a preemptive nuclear strike at the DPRK has entered a reckless phase of implementation," the statement said.

"Such military moves of the United States are part of its sinister strategy to contain Russia and China in the Asia Pacific and maintain its military hegemony in the region, not just aiming at a surprise preemptive nuclear strike at the DPRK," the statement added.

The statement warned that the DPRK, instead of being an on-looker to U.S nuclear threats, will "whet more sharply the treasured sword of nuclear weapons" to defend the sovereignty and security of the country.

On July 8, South Korea and the United States announced the deployment of one THAAD battery in South Korea by the end of next year. Five days later, the deployment site was designated at Seongju county, some 250 km southeast of Seoul.

The decision has triggered widespread criticism and strong opposition in the country and from neighboring countries China and Russia. China has voiced resolute opposition to the THAAD deployment on the grounds that it will harm its security interests and disrupt the region's security balance, while Russia has indicated a military response by deploying a missile unit in the Far Eastern region.

In early August, the DPRK fired two ballistic missiles into eastern waters in an apparent protest against the anti-missile shield.
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The Africa Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Wednesday refuted reports that its peacekeeping troops fired rounds of mortars on residential areas near the southern port city of Marka.

In a statement, AMISOM said its routine weapon testing exercise had the impact site pre-determined and was carried out far away from residential areas.

"The local administration was also aware of the planned weapons' testing," it said.

The statement comes after residents in Marka claimed that AMISOM troops shelled residential areas on Tuesday. There were reports that AU forces stationed at Ayub camp bombed villages located on the outskirts of Marka, causing casualties and property damages.

AMISOM forces, alongside the Somali army, has been battling the Al-Shabaab Islamist group. They have recently stepped up the fight against the militants believed to have been hiding in remote regions in southern Somalia.
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French President Francois Hollande met with security officials and army chiefs to outline adequate ways to ensure calm in the country at the start of the new academic year, his office said Wednesday in a statement.

Via a package of measures based on the military forces' availability and mobility, the president wants to ensure security two weeks before schools start in a context of the state of emergency.

Speaking after the meeting, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the council targeted to "prepare the beginning of the new academic year in a climate of continued very high threat."

"Since terrorists can attack at any time and in any place, it is important to have dynamic teams circulating throughout the national territory," said French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve at a joint press meeting.

France has been on high terror alert after a series of deadly attacks rocked Paris on Nov. 13 and killed 130 people. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks and several others that followed.
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South Sudan's government said it will complete the process of merging government and opposition troops by the end of May 2017.

First Vice President Taban Deng Gai made the remarks on Wednesday during his visit to Kenya where he briefed President Uhuru Kenyatta on the progress of the implementation of the South Sudan peace agreement.

"South Sudan President has directed that the government and Sudan People's Liberation-In-Opposition (SPLM-IO) armies to be organized as one army and this will be a big achievement for us," Gai told a media briefing in Nairobi.

Renewed fighting erupted in early July in South Sudan's capital Juba between government troops led by President Salva Kiir and SPLM-IO forces loyal to former First Vice President Riek Machar.

Gai said the existence of two parallel armies was what caused the latest crisis in South Sudan.

He said the government would set up cantonment sites to integrate members of the SPLM-IO forces.

It however remains unclear whether Machar and his followers will heed the directive from the government.

Machar disappeared from Juba following the July fighting. He was later replaced by Gai, his former chief peace negotiator, after Machar failed to obey a 48-hour ultimatum demanding his return to Juba.

Machar said he would only return to Juba after a regional protection force proposed by the African Union was deployed to the capital city to buffer the rival factions.

Early this month, the South Sudan government agreed to the deployment of the protection force after a crucial regional summit held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa attended by East African leaders including President Kenyatta.

Gai said details on the size of the protection force and the countries that will contribute troops "will soon be discussed in Juba."

Kiir and Machar had fought a civil war which broke out in December 2013 and left tens of thousands dead. The peace agreement signed by Kiir and Machar last August under UN pressure ended the war but failed to quell the renewed violence.
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Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday signed a decree to approve a state program to develop its Far East and the Baikal region.

The total funding for the program from the federal budget in the period of 2016-2025 amounts to 466.52 billion rubles (about 7.3 billion U.S. dollars), according to a document published on the Russian government's website.

The program will be carried out in two stages, with the first stage until 2020 and the second from 2021 to 2025.

It aims to improve the socio-economic development of the Far East and the Baikal region, meet the needs of the labor force and keep the population in the Far East, said the document.

Moreover, the program will create more than 100,000 jobs in the Far East.

The Baikal region has three federal subjects including Zabaykalsky Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatiya while the Far East lies between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean with nine federal subjects.
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A Taliban key commander Qari Zabihullah is among 19 militants have been killed in the northern Kunduz province on Wednesday, Interior Ministry said in a statement released.

Afghan policemen search a car on the Kunduz-Takhar highway in Kunduz province, Afghanistan, Aug. 17, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

"Security forces in crackdown against militants in Khan Abad and Chardara districts of Kunduz province on Wednesday have killed 19 rebels including notorious Taliban commander Qari Zabihullah," said the statement.

Qari Zabihullah, according to the statement, was a key Taliban commander who had organized subversive activities, roadside bombings and attacks on government forces across the embattled Kunduz province and his murder could be a major setback to the fighting militants.

Taliban militants are yet to make comment on the report.

However, locals said that the fighting erupted in Khan Abad and Chardara districts early morning is still going on.
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African Union and Somali forces on Wednesday killed at least three Al-Shabaab militants during a security operation in southern Somalia.

Joe Kibet, spokesperson of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), told Xinhua by phone that the forces carried out an ambush and killed the three militants in Abdala Birole, some 60 km southwest of the port city of Kismayo.

AMISOM troops and Somali Special Forces carried out the operation without sustaining any casualties, Kibet said, adding that other militants fled without resistance.

AMISOM has been helping the Somali government battle the Al-Shabaab Islamist group, which carries out periodic attacks, mostly in the capital Mogadishu.
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About 37,200 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are seeking protection at one of the two UN bases in South Sudan's capital Juba, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Wednesday.

Citing a population count conducted at the UN House protection of civilians (PoC) site on Saturday, the IOM said that the majority of the 37,200 IDPs living at the UN House PoC site were those fleeing the civil war that erupted in December 2013.

"Thousands more fled to the base when fighting resumed in the capital between government and opposition forces in July," IOM said in a statement.

Renewed fighting between troops led by President Salva Kiir and those loyal to his former deputy Riek Machar that broke out in Juba in early July has displaced at least 15,000 people.

Facing insecurity and hunger, more than 190,000 people continue to seek protection at PoC sites across the country -- in Juba, Bentiu, Malakal, Wau, Bor and Melut, the IOM said.

The IOM said the population count was important for the delivery of humanitarian services, particularly for the UN World Food Programme to provide food for the full population registered at the site.
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Alarmed by preliminary findings on the 11 July attack on a hotel in Juba, South Sudan, in which one person was killed and several civilians were raped and beaten by men in uniform, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has decided to launch an independent special investigation to examine this and other incidents and evaluate the overall response by the UN mission there.

According to a statement issued last night by Mr. Ban's spokesperson, the Secretary-General is alarmed by the preliminary findings of a UN fact-finding investigation into the attack on Hotel Terrain in the nation's capital, and concerned about allegations that UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) did not respond appropriately to prevent this and other grave cases of sexual violence committed in Juba.

The statement said that the Secretary-General has decided to launch the special investigation "due to the gravity of these incidents, related allegations and the preliminary findings by UNMISS."

Also in the statement, the UN chief reiterated his outrage over the acts of violence committed by the government and opposition forces in Juba from 8 to 11 July, during which many South Sudanese civilians and two UN peacekeepers were killed.

"The Secretary-General urges, once more, the Government of South Sudan to investigate these human right violations and to prosecute those involved in these unspeakable acts of violence," the statement said.
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Alarmed by escalating airstrikes and ground fighting in Yemen and along the Saudi Arabia-Yemen border since, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon repeated his call on all the parties to the conflict to immediately cease all hostilities and for the Yemeni parties to return to the recently-ended direct talks facilitated by his envoy.

"Civilians, including children, are paying the heaviest price in the ongoing conflict, as civilian infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, continue to be hit," said a statement issued by his spokesperson, citing Mr. Ban's ongoing concern at the escalation of violence in the country since the Yemeni talks ended on 6 August.

"The Secretary-General condemns the reported attack from the direction of Yemen that hit a workshop, killing at least seven civilians in Najran, Saudi Arabia yesterday, as well as the reported airstrike that hit a home in Nehm, east of Sana'a, in Yemen, which killed at least nine civilians," said the statement.

Through the statement, the UN chief reminded all parties of the utmost necessity to protect civilians and to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.

"He repeats his call on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease all hostilities and for the Yemeni parties to return to direct talks facilitated by his Special Envoy for Yemen," the statement concluded.

This is the Secretary-General's third call this week for an end to the violence, having earlier condemned a reported airstrike on a school in northern Yemen that killed at least 10 children and injured many more over the past weekend. He called for a swift investigation into the incident. This was followed by condemnation of the reported coalition airstrike Monday on a rural hospital supported by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Hajjah, in which he noted that the parties to the conflict in Yemen have damaged or destroyed over 70 health centres, including three other MSF-supported facilities.

Following nearly 16 months of conflict in Yemen, the cessation of hostilities was declared on 10 April. While peace talks between a Yemeni Government delegation and a delegation of the General People's Congress and Ansar Allah continued, serious violations have occurred in Marib, al Jawf, Taiz and in the border areas with Saudi Arabia.

On 6 August, the UN Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed announced a one-month break for the talks, during which "the focus will be on working with each side separately to crystalize precise technical details."
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China and Myanmar agreed on Thursday to enhance cooperation between energy departments to find a proper solution to the suspended Myitsone Dam project.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) holds talks with Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 18, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

The agreement came during talks between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who started a five-day official visit to China on Wednesday.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters after the talks, held at the Great Hall of the People, that Suu Kyi said Myanmar's new government has decided to set up an investigation committee to find a solution to the Myitsone Dam issue that is in both countries' interests.

Li called on the two sides to properly promote major projects including the Myitsone Dam and the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline to improve infrastructure construction and connectivity, according to Liu.

The Myitsone Dam is jointly funded by China and Myanmar, but was suspended by the Myanmar government in 2011.

Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw decided a week ago to form a new commission for reviewing all proposed hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River, including the Myitsone Dam.

Although the move does not necessarily lead to a final resumption of the project, it is a positive signal that the new leadership in Naypyidaw is handling its relations with Beijing in a prudent and pragmatic manner, analysts said.

Suu Kyi is the first Myanmar leader to visit China since the Southeast Asian nation's new government was formed in late March. She visited China in June 2015 as chair of the National League for Democracy (NLD).

"Choosing China as the first country to visit outside ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) after taking office as the State Counsellor shows the high importance you and the Myanmar government have attached to relations with China," Li said to Suu Kyi at the beginning of the talks.

Expressing China's appreciation, Li spoke highly of the deep "pauk phaw" ("fraternal" in the Myanmar language) friendship between the two countries and said he hopes the visit will help drive development of bilateral ties.

During the talks, Li said China and Myanmar have always respected each other and treated each other as equals on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

China supports Myanmar's choice of development path and its efforts to promote national reconciliation, economic growth and well-being, Li said.

"We are willing to work with Myanmar to consolidate political trust and strengthen communication and cooperation in various fields to promote bilateral ties in the new era," said the premier.

The pragmatic cooperation between China and Myanmar aims to benefit the people of two countries and gain win-win results, he said, noting that China is ready to integrate development strategies with Myanmar and plan cooperation in key areas.

He called on the two countries to boost cooperation in the economy, trade and agriculture, and to expand exchanges in culture, education and health.

Echoing Li's remarks, Suu Kyi said the Myanmar-China friendship has a strong foundation among the public.

The new government highly values ties with China and is committed to consolidating bilateral relations, said Suu Kyi, who is also foreign minister.

Myanmar is willing to maintain high-level contacts with China, enhance political mutual trust, promote energy cooperation, expand exchanges in border trade, agriculture, health, education and other areas, maintain stability in border regions and boost people-to-people ties to realize common development, she said.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the China-ASEAN dialogue relationship. Li said China supports the building of the ASEAN community and values Myanmar's role as an important member of the association.

China is ready to cooperate to create a closer China-ASEAN community of shared destiny, he said.

Suu Kyi said Myanmar wants to promote continued development between ASEAN and China.

After the talks, the two governments signed an agreement on bilateral economic and technological cooperation and an exchange of feasibility research notes for the Kunlong Bridge in Myanmar. The two leaders witnessed the signing ceremony.

Prior to the talks, Li held a welcoming ceremony for Suu Kyi in the north lobby of the Great Hall of the People.
By Trung Hieu, Thanh Nien News | Aug. 18, 2016

A business-class passenger was fined VND15 million (US$700) for slapping a flight attendant during a domestic Vietnam Airlines flight last week, authorities said Wednesday.

The incident happened at 8:00 p.m. on Aug. 13 when the plane arrived in Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City after a flight from Hanoi, according to a report by the Southern Airports Authority.

When the plane was taxiing, the passenger, identified as Mai Thanh B., 46, told flight attendant Chu Thi Tho that he had lost an iPhone 6 Plus.

He said he had left it on the table before dozing off during the flight. He woke up when the plane was landing and saw his table had already been folded, and his phone gone, B. said.

When Tho told him that she had folded the table but had not seen his phone, B. slapped Tho in her face.

Other flight attendants later found the phone under the seat in front of B's.

According to a report on the Phu Nu news website, the flight attendant said she could smell alcohol on B.'s breath.

She said she had worked in business class for more than 10 years but never seen such a "brutal passenger."

The report quoted B. as saying that he had drunk before boarding the flight "but not so much as to lose control of myself."

He said he slapped the flight attendant because he suspected that she had stolen the phone.




China's Global Newspaper





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Zhao Chenying is an inspector for the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Team. It's a demanding job, because the companies he deals with cover a wide range of sectors, from restaurants to chemical companies to power plants, which requires Zhao to understand technicalities in a number of fields.

On July 21, Zhao reviewed the validity of emissions data provided by the Huadian Thermal Power Plant in Beijing, a branch of China Huadian Corp.

He inspected the entire process, starting by collecting and measuring pollutants in the 100-meter-high chimney, where he measured the emissions data with portable equipment before comparing the results with those supplied by the company.

Similar crosschecks are applied to follow-up processes, including checking data readings from both the host machines and the boxes that upload the data to the municipal platform on pollutant emissions.

"If the two groups show large discrepancies in any of the processes, the company will be required to review and fix the facilities to guarantee data validity," Zhao said.

Crosschecking is an uncomfortable job because most of the facilities installed near pollutant-discharging outlets are situated in high, wet or noisy positions, such as the host machine installed near the thermal plant's steam boiler, where the temperature was around 50 C.

In addition to quarterly reviews of data validity, Zhao and his colleagues are responsible for monthly inspections at businesses known to be large emitters, such as Huadian, while other companies are subject to random monitoring.

There are about 500 inspectors for the capital's downtown and suburban districts, but there are more than 10,000 pollutant-discharging companies. "It's impossible to inspect them all frequently," said Li Bin, Zhang's colleague.

Beijing's emissions-monitoring platform, which became operational in 2012, covers 172 major companies with high levels of emissions, supplementing the work of field inspectors, Li said.

The platform allows inspectors immediate access to hourly emissions data, he added.

In the past two years, only 12 companies have been exposed as having excessive levels of emissions or failing to install monitoring facilities in accordance with their own schedules.

"The companies have gradually realized the importance of auto-monitoring facilities, which provide a good way of proving their performance in reducing pollution," Li said, adding that strict controls mean companies must become environmentally friendly if they want to continue operating in the capital.

In the first months of operation, when an alert was sounded the inspectors had to call companies to discover the reason, but now, companies voluntarily notify the inspectors of the causes of abnormal readings and the measures they will take to rectify the problem, Li said.
Li Bin, an official with the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Team, introduces the city's automonitoring system to visitors via a screen that displays the locations of major pollutantdischarging companies in the capital. Zou Hong / China Daily

Environmental authorities have strengthened the laws to crack down on companies that falsify or distort emissions data. Zheng Jinran reports from Wuhan and Beijing.

China is intensifying efforts to fight falsified emissions-monitoring data supplied by companies that ignore national standards and illegally discharge pollutants in pursuit of profits.

On Sept 11 last year, environmental inspectors from Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, discovered that Gansu COFCO Coca-Cola Beverage Co had tampered with data related to treated wastewater by redirecting a sample-collection pipe from a wastewater pool to a water container, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said.

Field monitoring by inspectors showed the level of chemical oxygen demand - a major indicator of pollution - in the outlet was 16 times that of the water container, and the actual concentration exceeded the national wastewater standards.

Although the company's internal investigation found that the anomaly was the result of irregularities with the monitoring equipment, the environmental department determined that a manager from the company had been forging monitoring data since Oct 15, and ordered that he be held at a detention center for five days.

Since 2014, a large number of companies have been found guilty of pollutant-emissions violations, and last year environmental watchdogs uncovered problems with emissions-monitoring equipment at 2,658 companies nationwide.

"Environmental-monitoring data are the inspectors' eyes and ears and a crucial element in scientific decisions about environmental protection," said Chen Jining, the minister of environmental protection, when he inspected a monitoring center in Guangdong province on April 15.

A tough task

The revised Environmental Protection Law, which came into effect in January last year, and the laws on control of air and water pollution, stipulate that major pollutant-discharging companies should release information about their main pollutants, the methods of discharge, the concentrations of pollutants and the volume of emissions either hourly or once a day.

Despite that, the environmental ministry said many companies still have a long way to go to meet the targets.

Two years ago, 14,410 major companies were listed with the national monitoring service, but only 10,270 have installed auto-monitoring facilities.

The remainder only keep daily emissions records compiled by staff members, said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing.

Ma said the pursuit of profits is the main reason that a large number of companies falsify emissions data.

"Some senior officials in charge of environmental protection told me the cost of falsifying the data is very low, around 80 to 100 yuan ($12 to $15). That means they can save half a million yuan by reducing investment in monitoring facilities and technologies," he said.

Moreover, companies that require emissions supervision far outnumber staff members at environmental watchdogs, rendering the authorities powerless.

"We only have a team of 219 in the downtown and suburbs. They are responsible for inspecting more than 1,000 large companies scattered across 14,000 square kilometers, and there are also more than 10,000 small companies that discharge pollutants," said Liu Mingchun, head of the Environmental Protection Bureau in Jingzhou, Hubei province.

In addition, most of the inspectors lack sufficient knowledge to deal with inspections at specialty companies, such as chemical plants, so they find it difficult to uncover falsified data, he said.

Many leaders of environmental watchdogs in the province voiced similar concerns at the Trans-Century Tour of Chinese Environmental Protection in June, an event organized by the Environment and Resources Committee of the National People's Congress.

A shortage of inspectors is common in China's environmental bureaus. In 2014, there were just 6.3 inspectors per 10,000 people nationwide, according to the annual national environmental monitoring bulletin.

"We have to focus on companies that produce significant amounts of emissions, records that contain falsified data or plants with excessive emissions levels," said Xiang Weian, head of the Jingzhou Environmental Supervision Brigade.

Technology and law

Environmental authorities in many cities have built emissions-monitoring platforms, which allow them to check real-time data from companies with high levels of emissions and keep records.

"We immediately send inspectors to companies that trigger warnings to check whether they have excessive emissions levels or if their auto-monitoring facilities are malfunctioning. That makes our targeted inspections more efficient," said Zhao Aihua, head of the Environmental Supervision Brigade in Zhijiang, Hubei.

Zhou Shuihua, chief engineer at the Hubei provincial Environmental Protection Bureau, urged improved use of auto-monitoring platforms to provide hard-pressed inspectors with backup.

"We will give full support to the platform and other technologies, such as portable equipment, and we hope improved technologies will solve the problems caused by staff shortages within three years," he said.

However, some experts have warned that auto-monitoring platforms should be improved to ensure that companies release real-time emissions data.

Ruan Qingyuan, an expert in auto-monitoring facilities at the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, said she has noticed some provincial platforms only release data for a limited number of days.

"It gives companies time to change their emissions data, which could make the data supplied to monitoring platforms virtually useless," she said.

The central government has revised the laws to better support emissions-monitoring via tougher punishments designed to deter potential polluters.

The Regulation on Identifying and Treating the Falsification of Pollutants Emission Data - which targets violations, and complements the revised Environmental Protection Law - came into effect on Jan 1.

The environmental protection ministry said the new regulations will bolster emissions monitoring by providing a range of administrative punishments, such as denying promotion to officials with poor records, and through legal strictures that mainly target polluting companies.


China and the Philippines have agreed to restart the joint commission on commerce and trade to increase trade between the two countries, after their ties were jeopardized by an arbitration case over the South China Sea dispute.

"Even though both countries have disagreements on other issues, it doesn't mean they are incapable of building better business ties, especially in the fields of trade and investment," Shen Danyang, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said on Wednesday.

The mechanism is a dialogue that addresses commercial and trade issues between the two countries.

Shen's comments came after Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng met Ramon M Lopez, the Filipino secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry, in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, earlier this month.

Both sides agreed to restart a dialogue between governments about economics and trade as soon as possible and to enhance cooperation on trade, investment, tourism and infrastructure development, Shen said.

The Filipino secretary of trade and industry also accepted his Chinese counterpart's invitation to visit China in the near future.

This is the first time for the two ministers to meet since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took office at the end of June.

China and the Philippines also reached consensus to speed up the negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Shen said.

Even though the total trade volume between China and the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations dropped 7.1 percent year-on-year to $173.57 billion between January and May, trade between China and the Philippines grew 5.9 percent during the same period, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

Trade between China and the Philippines amounted to $45.65 billion in 2015, up 2.7 percent on a year-on-year basis.

The Philippines mainly ships semiconductor and agricultural products including bananas, coconuts, rice, mining and aquatic products to China. Transport equipment, construction machinery, electronics, garments and lighting products are China's main exports to the Philippines.
FDI in China fell 1.6 percent year-on-year in July to $7.71 billion, compared with a 9.7 percent growth in June, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed. [Photo/VCG]

Foreign direct investment in China will remain stable for the final five months of this year despite the drop that occurred in July, experts said on Monday.

FDI in China fell 1.6 percent year-on-year in July to $7.71 billion, compared with a 9.7 percent growth in June, data from the Ministry of Commerce, which were released on Friday, showed.

"The decline is only temporary, because of the long-term attractiveness of investment opportunities," said researcher Bai Ming.

"The limited drop does not indicate any wider signs of decline because there were no major changes to global markets that occurred last month," added Bai, a researcher at Beijing-based Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, the think tank of Ministry of Commerce.

"What we are concerned about for the rest of the year are major events such as the US election between November and December, and potential changes in European economies and global oil and commodity prices," said Bai.

"These factors are capable of affecting the flows of global FDI."

FDI to China reached 49.76 billion yuan ($7.71 billion) last month. The decline came as a slew of economic indicators showed downward pressure in China's economy.

"The FDI decline in July may show that global investors have different views on whether China's ongoing supply-side reform will be steady and sustainable," said Feng Yaoxiang, a spokesman for the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

The supply-side reform includes a series of policies to improve the manufacturing and agricultural sectors, public services, environmental protection, the quality and scale of production and the further opening up of the Chinese markets to foreign investors.

In the meantime, Feng said foreign companies were also considering whether further investment in China would bring the same rewards as in the past.

China's gross domestic product grew 6.7 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, which was flat against the first quarter. But fixed-asset investments, industrial output and retail sales all slowed in July.

From January to July, FDI to China rose 4.3 percent year-on-year to $77.13 billion, down from the 5.1 percent gain recorded for the first six months.

Services and high-tech manufacturing continued to attract more foreign investment from January to July.

Overseas investments in the services sector went up 7.7 percent year-on-year - more than 70 percent of the total investment, while high-tech manufacturing climbed 1.5 percent.

FDI from the United States surged nearly 130 percent in the seven months, and from both the United Kingdom and Germany it jumped more than 96 percent.

Altogether 15,802 new foreign-funded enterprises were established in China in the first seven months, up 9.7 percent on a year-on-year basis.
An aerial view of a land parcel sold at arecord-breaking price of 11.01 billion yuan ($1.66 billion) in central Shanghai,August 17, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

A land parcel in central Shanghai sold at a record-breaking price of 11.01 billion yuan ($1.66 billion) on Wednesday.

This means the housing price will be estimated at more than 150,000 yuan per square meter when the residential project is completed.

Rongxin (Fujian) Investment Group Co Ltd became the new "Land King" when it won a bid on the land parcel in Jing'an district, which is just two kilometers from the Bund, which borders the Huangpu River and People's Square in the city center, and three kilometers from Lujiazui, a financial hub.

Rongxin is the fifth developer to win the title of "Land King", meaning a developer which purchased a land parcel at the highest price on record in Shanghai.

The city's limited land supply for residential development and developers' growing appetite to refill their land reserves for future development, after they gained good liquidity from robust sales revenue in the first half of 2016, are the main rationale behind the land fever, said analysts.

The land auction was completed after 18 developers competed in more than 460 rounds of bidding. The final price was 1.40 times the minimum bid price.

"In the first 10 minutes, you might think they are crazy, but all you would feel is the eagerness for a piece of land in central Shanghai. This could be the last chance for a long time for many developers to include a land parcel at a premium location, due to the limited supply of land in the city center," said Wang Yuanchen who witnessed the bidding on Wednesday morning.

Lu Wenxi, an analyst with Shanghai Centaline Property Consultancy Ltd, said recent moves by regional authorities in Suzhou and Nanjing to cool the land markets in those cities have also made developers to cast their sights on Shanghai, which has already experienced authorities' adjustment and controls.

Even though recent land supply in Shanghai is rising, the supply in the central area remains limited, so bidding for a land parcel in central Shanghai is going to be fiercer in the future.

More than four parcels of land in suburban Shanghai have been auctioned in the past three months, while only two parcels of land in central Shanghai were available.

Zhang Hongwei, an analyst with Shanghai Tongce Real Estate Consultancy Ltd, said policies on financing for bidding on land parcels might get stricter in the next few months to reduce risk exposures amid the land fever, and more measures to cool down the land market are likely to be introduced after September.
A view of Exchange Square in Central, Hong Kong. [File photo/China Daily]

Move opens up $6.6 trillion domestic share market to overseas investors

China has taken another major step toward opening its financial markets after approving a program that will allow investors in Hong Kong to trade equities on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, analysts said on Wednesday.

By further opening its $6.6 trillion domestic share market to foreign traders, they said China was addressing limitations to mainland trading flagged by the global index compiler MSCI when it rejected the stocks in June.

"The Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect should move China further along the road to MSCI inclusion and we see this announcement as a significant catalyst for Chinese markets, particularly at a time where fundamental strength and industrial profitability are building," said Douglas Morton, head of research at Northern Trust Capital Markets Asia.

"I am sure the stock connect is an important component of MSCI," said Charles Li, chief executive officer of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd.

"Now it's actually happened, so that's among many things that incrementally will make the A-share market more and more accessible to international investors."

The long-anticipated Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which allows mainland investors to buy Hong Kong stocks and vice versa, had been expected for more than a year following a similar program between Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2014.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission on Tuesday night also lifted restrictions on asset flows, saying it wouldn't impose an aggregate quota for the Shenzhen link, and that it would remove the existing cap on the Shanghai program.

The daily limits for the stock connect will be the same as for Shanghai's, 13 billion yuan ($1.97 billion) for orders going north to the mainland and 10.5 billion yuan for southbound traffic.

"The removal of the overall quota marks the further opening up of China's capital account and I am surprised it came now," said Hong Hao, chief strategist at Bocom International Holdings Co.

Niu Huayong, dean of the Business School at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the stock connect was positive as it was an institutional and long-term move to promote the development of Chinese capital market.

"The stock connect makes the financial markets of Hong Kong and mainland closer and it's also good for the Chinese government to accumulate experiences for further opening up the capital market," said Niu.

Investors buying into Shenzhen will have access to any stock in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index and Shenzhen Stock Exchange Small/Mid Cap Innovation Index that has a market value of no less than 6 billion yuan, according to Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission.

Any company that's dual listed in the city as well as Hong Kong will also be available, while buying shares traded on Shenzhen's ChiNext small-cap gauge will be limited to institutional investors at the initial stage of the stock connect.

There are more than 1,800 companies listed in Shenzhen, with a combined market capitalization of $3.2 trillion, compared with $3.4 trillion in Shanghai.

While the Shanghai exchange is mostly composed of large enterprises such as banks and oil firms, private tech firms dominate Shenzhen, which is 17.7 kilometers from Hong Kong.

The Shanghai Composite Index declined by 0.02 percent on Wednesday, closing at 3,109.6 points. The Shenzhen Component Index rose by 0.07 percent, while the ChiNext startup index edged higher by 0.32 percent.

Bloomberg contributed to this story.
The headquarters of snack food maker Mondelez International Inc in Deerfield, Illinois the United States on August 9, 2014. [Photo/IC]

Global snack leader Mondelez International Inc is investing more than $100 million in the next three years in China to manufacture and launch its new chocolate brand to cash in on the country's growing $2.8 billion market.

Europe's much-loved Milka brand will hit shelves in China in September as Mondelez's first chocolate brand in the country, with taste and flavor adapted to local customers.

Mondelez has spent four years preparing its Chinese products to stand out from Mondelez's global chocolate brands portfolio, which include Cadbury Dairy Milk, Lacta and Toblerone, said Manu Anand, president of chocolates Asia Pacific at Mondelez.

He added market research has shown Chinese consumers prefer Milka's characteristics of quick-melting, rich chocolate quality and an Alpine milk taste.

"The investment is ongoing and the first three years will be more than $100 million," said Anand.

The investment also includes capital to create jobs, manufacturing, marketing and upgrading its new distribution system of cold chains, said Cesar Melo, president, global chocolate team at Mondelez.

"Almost all Milka chocolate sold in China will be made in China with Alpine milk imported from Europe," said Anand.

According to Euromonitor International, Mars Inc's Dove brand tops chocolate market shares in China in 2016 at 26.2 percent, followed by Ferrero Group's at 13.4 percent and Nestle SA at 8.7 percent.

Du Jiaqi, research manager of Euromonitor, said the chocolate category has had soft growth in China in the past year, falling 3 percent year-on-year.

"Chocolate is an impulse purchase," said Du. "The weakened gifting behavior combined with impact of e-commerce, where consumers don't notice chocolate like in a store display, has lowered consumption in the category."

However, China still has huge potential to grow the demand to match the level of Europe in terms of consumption per capita.

Jason Yu, general manager of Kantar Worldpanel China, said: "Through smart demand segmentation, Milka can find some unique space in consumers' minds. Of course, it cannot be a 'me too' brand."

Having operated in China for more than 30 years, Mondelez has had to deal with the issue of its aging brands by introducing fresh categories in the past several years.

"With Mondelez's biscuit business experiencing saturation, it is critical for the company to look for new business drivers," said Yu. "The addition of Milka is expected to improve its profit margin."
QUITO - Ecuador's Vice President Jorge Glas has inaugurated Ecuador's first fiber-optic cable, built with Chinese assistance, in the southern province of Guayas.

The plant, named Latamfiberhome, is the result of a joint venture by Ecuador's Holding Telconet and China's Fiberhome Technologies.

"With the infrastructure ready, we only need to begin using the plan to set up the brilliant future which awaits us," said Holding Telconet's Executive President Tomislav Topic, at the plant's opening ceremony Tuesday.

Glas said this plant "strengthens cooperation between China and Ecuador," helping to change the country's production matrix.

"Starting from today, we will be able to export fiber-optic cables made in Ecuador, with Ecuadorian talent and manpower as well as Chinese technology," added Glas.

Wang Yulin, China's ambassador to Ecuador, and leading Ecuadorian government figures were also in attendance.

The plant is projected to manufacture 1 million kilometers of fiber-optic cable a year once it is fully operational in 2019.

Ecuador, which currently imports cables worth around $15 million a year, estimates that it will export cables worth $20 million a year.
Employees demonstrate a Lenovo TAB2 A8 tablet device in the Lenovo Group Ltd pavilion at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. [Photo / Agencies]

Lenovo Group Ltd saw a 64-percent jump in its net profit in the quarter ended June, beating analysts' estimates, as the Chinese tech giant benefited from the better-than-expected global PC market and a one-off asset sale that helped offset its declining smartphone business.

The Hong Kong-listed company said on Thursday that its net profit hit $173 million in the quarter, outperforming the $130.1-million average analysts estimated, who were polled by Thomson Reuters.

The profit was boosted by a $132 million gain from the sale of a Beijing office property.

Yang Yuanqing, CEO and chairman of the world's largest PC maker, said that the slowing global PC market fared better than the company had expected. Its PC shipments fell 2.3 percent year-on-year during the quarter, compared with the average 4.1 percent decline in the entire industry.

Zhao Xiaolei, an analyst at research firm International Data Corp, said China's enterprise-oriented PC market, especially the government procurement niche, has started to revive and that gave Lenovo a boost.

In August, Lenovo won a bid worth around 285 million yuan ($42.9 million) to supply the National Bureau of Statistics more than 285,000 tablets, according to ccgp.gov.cn, the official website for government purchasing projects.

However, the company posted a pretax loss of $206 million in its mobile unit, as it is struggling to integrate the Motorola handset business, which it bought from Google Inc for $2.8 billion in 2014.

The loss also came as Lenovo is ramping up its efforts, even at the expense of profits, to regain the share of the smartphone market it is losing to rivals such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Oppo Electronics Corp.

The company said it hopes its money-losing mobile division is expected start making profits in the next fiscal year, and it will focus more on the premium sector and step up its marketing efforts.

Xiang Ligang, a telecom expert and CEO of the industry website cctime.com, said Lenovo has made significant progress in reviving its faltering smartphone business in recent months.

In June, the company unveiled Phab2 Pro, the world's first smartphone to host argumented reality applications, and the Moto Z modular series, whose high-powered magnets can allow users to upgrade the handset with additional equipment such as speakers and projectors.

"These efforts demonstrate Lenovo's innovative capabilities. The two phones won't boost revenue too much in the short term because it takes time to educate consumers, but they have big long-term potential," Xiang added.
A property construction site in Huai'an, Jiangsu province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

China's property market has shown signs of cooling, posing a dilemma for policymakers who need to shore up the slowing economy. In July, the property sector continued to moderate, with fewer cities reporting monthly rises in new-home prices.

Of 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed in July, 51 saw new-home prices climb month-on-month, down from 55 in June and 60 in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, 16 cities reported month-on-month price declines, up from 10 in June and four in May.

Official data last week showed that property investment in the first seven months rose 5.3 percent from a year earlier, slowing from a growth of 6.1 percent in first six months, and 7 percent in the first five months.

Growth in property sales in terms of floor area slowed to 26.4 percent in the first seven months, down from 27.9 percent in the first six months, and 33.2 percent in the first five months.

The cooling should come as relief to authorities who have been worried about asset bubbles, but there are concerns that the property sector is losing steam.

A recovery in the property market starting from late last year partially helped prop up growth in the Chinese economy, which has been weighed down by cooling investment, the cutting of industrial overcapacity and weak demand.

However, sharp increases in home prices have fanned fears of overheating.

On an annual basis, Shenzhen saw home prices rise 41.4 percent in July.

Prices in Shanghai and Beijing rose 33.1 percent and 22.7 percent year-on-year.

Less-developed areas and smaller cities have been reporting falling prices and huge inventories of unsold houses.

Jinzhou and Dandong in Liaoning province, and Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang provinces saw year-on-year declines of 3.8 percent, 2.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively, in July.

"The property market is becoming increasingly polarized," said Ni Pengfei of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In upper-tier cities where the economy is vibrant, abundant job opportunities, an inflow of peopwle and money, and a lack of housing supply combine to push up prices.

The NBS put the inventories of unsold homes, mainly in smaller cities, at 714 million square meters at the end of June, only 21 million sq m less than the previous quarter.

It may take nearly five years to destock if homes are sold at the average speed of the past three years, said Huang Yu from China Index Academy.

The split picture creates a thorny task for the government, which must strike a balance between curbing asset bubbles in big cities and boosting sales in the smaller cities.
The Hike Messenger app on a mobile phone. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

App is highly localized, similar to China's WeChat

Hike Messenger became India's newest internet unicorn after securing a round of funding at a valuation of almost $1.4 billion from investors including Tencent Holdings Ltd and Foxconn Technology Group.

The app, which seeks to compete with Facebook Inc's WhatsApp, raised more than $175 million via a series D round in which existing backers Tiger Global, SoftBank Group Corp and Bharti Enterprises also participated, founder and Chief Executive Officer Kavin Bharti Mittal said.

Hike's round was one of the largest to emerge in recent months, as investors grow wary of outsized valuations and begin to focus on profitability over topline growth.

The company, which has now raised more than $250 million overall, will lean on Tencent's experience serving up content and games to more than half a billion WeChat users, Mittal said.

Hike integrates news, shopping coupons and gaming and its users send 40 billion messages on the platform each month, Mittal said.

The money raised will bankroll bets on artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality and virtual reality, he said without outlining specific plans.

The app gained popularity through a heavy emphasis on localization. It also comes with privacy features that competitors later sought to copy. For instance, users can hide last-viewed times and status updates, or chat in "hidden mode."

Mittal said 90 percent of its 100 million-plus users are between 15 and 24 years of age and reside mainly outside India's biggest cities.

"Ours is a messaging app born for India's young internet generation, whose need for privacy is even more because in many families, a single device is shared between members," said the 28-year-old executive, whose billionaire father Sunil Bharti Mittal is chairman of Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's biggest telecommunications operator.

The app is available in seven languages and provides stickers in 40 languages. "India is a sight and sound market," Mittal said.

"It is a country with dozens of languages where keyboard standardization is not possible, so audio and video rule."

An alliance with China's largest social media service will prove crucial in the longer term.

Hike wants to carve out its own niche in India, much as Tencent's WeChat has done with China, Line in Japan and KakaoTalk in South Korea, Mittal said.

India is already the second-largest as well as the fastest-growing market for messaging services, according to New York-based research consultancy eMarketer.

"India's internet market resembles China's more rather than any Western markets," Mittal said.
HARBIN - The northeastern province of Heilongjiang is experiencing a severe drought, authorities said at an anti-drought meeting Wednesday.

More than 15 million mu (1 million hectares) of crop fields have been affected by drought in the province, which produces about 10 percent of China's grain, according to the meeting.

Most of the province has experienced exceptionally low rainfall and high temperature since July. In the first half of August, the average temperature reached 23.1 degrees Celcius, 1.7 degrees higher than the average at the same time in previous years.

To cope with the severe drought, the province has allocated 260 million yuan ($39 million) and mobilized 417,000 people for drought relief, with a total of 4,300 new wells being dug.

Meteorological authorities predict that in the following 10 days there will be little rain in the west of the province, where the drought is the severest.
The former commander of the People's Liberation Army's 12th Group Army has become chief of the Beijing Military Garrison, according to local media.

During an inspection tour in Beijing on Monday by General Chang Wanquan, minister of defense, who checked the capital's air defense network, Major General Wang Chunning was introduced to Beijing officials as the new commander of the Beijing Military Garrison, according to Capitalnews, the WeChat account run by Beijing Daily.

The garrison was established in 1959 and takes orders from the PLA Central Theater Command and the Beijing municipal government. It is responsible for guarding the capital, training militia forces, managing PLA military police in the city and assisting with law enforcement upon request, according to information published by the PLA.

The former chief of the garrison, Lieutenant General Pan Liangshi, is now deputy commander of the PLA Army, the People's Army reported earlier this month. Pan was appointed the garrison's head in December 2013 from his pervious post as the commander of the PLA 39th Group Army.

Wang had been the commander of the PLA 12th Group Army since 2014. Before that, he spent many years in the PLA 1st Group Army, moving up through ranks from the unit's equipment head to chief of staff and finally to deputy commander, Capitalnews said.

Wang wrote in the April 23, 2014, issue of PLA Daily that officers must pay attention to studying their enemies' strategies, tactics, thoughts, cultures and histories so they can win a war.

In another development, Major General Zhang Xiaoming was named commander of the Shanghai Military Garrison after serving as the top officer of the Jiangxi Provincial Military Command. He replaced Major General He Weidong, who has been promoted to commander of the PLA Western Theater Command's ground force, Jiangxi newspaper Information Daily reported.
Chinese police have busted underground banks that handled 200 billion yuan ($30.2 billion) in illegal money transfers this year, the Ministry of Public Security said on Wednesday.

Police said they arrested 450 suspects involved in 158 cases of underground banking and money laundering, according to the ministry's website.

Beijing has been fighting illegal cross-border outflows in an attempt to slow capital flight as the yuan currency weakened to near six-year lows.

A special task force, launched by the MPS, the central bank and the foreign exchange regulator, uncovered illicit banking services in 192 locations this year, the notice said.

On Wednesday, China state broadcaster CCTV reported that police in the southern city of Shenzhen recently busted an underground bank that handled 30 billion yuan in transactions over a six-year period.

Police arrested 26 major suspects in four different cities, the report said. The underground bank was disguised as a trade company.

"The key problem is that underground banks have become channels for drug dealers, smugglers and economic criminals to transfer funds," Shu Jianping, head of the anti-money laundering unit at the Ministry of Public Security, told CCTV.

Beijing started a campaign against illegal banking in April last year and uncovered more than 170 cases of money laundering and illegal fund transfers involving more than 800 billion yuan as of last November.

The crackdown included an investigation into the country's biggest underground banking case, which involves $64 billion of illegal transactions.

Although the crackdown has curbed underground banking to some extent, illegal activities using those "gray capital" networks are still spreading and becoming more elusive. Collusion between banks in different regions is rife, the notice said.

Underground banks are channels for transferring money obtained through illegal activity, including embezzlement of public funds by corrupt officials, an earlier Xinhua News Agency report on the crackdown said.
When Ding Yuhua, 62, was first introduced to milu deer, the acquaintance was not a happy one.

But things have changed. Three decades on, he regards them as family, and his work has won him nationwide acclaim. He is known as the Guardian of Milu Deer.

Milu, also known as Pere David's deer, is a species native to China. Over hunting and loss of habitat led to its near extinction in the early 20th century.

In 1986, the British government gave 39 of the deer to Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve in Jiangsu province, starting a revival of the population, which has existed largely in captivity.

The gift also started Ding's 28-year career as a milu keeper. With his care and years of research, the population has grown to 3,223.

Ding recalls being less than happy when he was assigned to the job three decades ago. A skilled veterinarian accustomed to tending cattle and sheep, he found the milu to be strange.

He knew it by its informal Chinese name, sibuxiang, which translates as "the four dislikes", referring to the animal's incongruous features: the neck of a camel, the hoofs of a cow, the tail of a donkey and the antlers of a deer.

The milu, which are naturally semi-acquatic, were not accustomed to the water and land in China. Many suffered severe diarrhea and dyspepsia. With no references or instruction, Ding and his colleagues could only rely on their past veterinary experience to treat them. During the first three months, he watched the animals around the clock, sleeping just two or three hours a day.

It was dangerous work, too. He suffered snakebites and heat stroke, and was once almost killed by a frenzied milu deer. His colleagues were scared away from the job, and some advised him to quit, but Ding refused.

"I have spent so much time with the milu, I think they are part of my life," Ding said.

One day, he discovered that a large, antlered buck had escaped over the wire fence. Ding was worried and began searching the vast swampland that covered more than 1,300 square kilometers.

The search lasted from summer to autumn. During the day, Ding walked for miles, crossing rivers and marshes, suffering insect bites and injuries from tree branches. At night, he climbed the trees with a flashlight, hoping to spot the shining eyes of the deer. He once woke from a nap to find himself hanging from a tree.

Finally, by following hoof-prints and droppings, Ding found the runaway by a river.

"I will never forget the scene," Ding recalled. "I was so relieved that all my efforts had paid off."

But he hesitated and stepped back.

Milu were kept in captivity for centuries. They should be free to roam, he thought.

From then on, Ding gave up fencing and began observing the milu through binoculars in a natural habitat. He always took a notebook and a flashlight, recording details of their feeding and other activities.

Keeping his distance resulted in a lot of discoveries. For example, milu prefer to stand against the wind to keep out the cold; they can eat about 100 kinds of plants, both land and aquatic; and their short cries signal fear.

His discoveries enabled the release of more captivebred milu deer into the wilderness. Soon, the first wild milu was born in the Dafeng reserve. On that day, Ding celebrated with a few cups of wine to welcome a "new family member".

Ding's real family often complained about his obsession.

"For the past 30 years, he has spent more time there than in his home," his wife, Cao Caiping, said.

His biggest regret is missing his father's funeral because of his work.

In 2014, Ding retired, but he continued writing essays and books, and sharing his experience with younger generations. His daughter studied milu conservation for her doctorate.

Ding said he is deeply grateful that people have joined him to care for the species. The team of milu keepers has grown from nine in 1986 to 80 this year, including a dozen with university degrees.

Plus, millions of students have learned about milu deer through their textbooks.

After the death of the buck, Ding and a colleague wrote a poem:

The beautiful land, your ancestors' home, Lives do not end, left for a long time, Fun in the wild, unforgettable days, My dear friend, rest in peace.
Extreme weather patterns, pests and diseases are impacting food security in China and the world, according to experts at the 7th International Crop Science Congress being hosted in Beijing this week.

Earth's overall temperature rose by about 0.75 C over the last century, according to Zhang Weijian, the chief scientist of agro-ecology at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

The world's agricultural sector is feeling the heat. A 6 percent decline in global wheat production can be expected for every 1 degree rise in the Earth's temperature, said Senthold Asseng, an agricultural engineering professor of agricultural engineering at the University of Florida.

"The amount lost is more than Africa's entire wheat imports," Asseng said.

China experienced a 5.5 percent decrease in wheat production between 1980 and 2008, but global warming's effects may differ based on location and the particular crop, Zhang said.

Rising temperatures can increase yields of winter wheat in northeast China because it reduces frost damage. On the other hand, the single-season rice fields in the south and along the Yangtze River may suffer losses due to flooding, which may be tied to changes in the water cycle, Zhang said.

"As a result, crops like winter wheat and rice are moving north, which requires new seeds and production methods in the new environment," he said.

But crops can't run from extreme climate events. Last year, an estimated 21.8 million hectares of farmland were destroyed by natural disasters, with direct economic losses exceeding 270 billion yuan ($40.8 billion), according to the China National Commission for Disaster Reduction.

"Extreme climate events are one of China's toughest agricultural challenges," said Hu Shuijin, an ecology professor at Nanjing Agricultural University. "Many plantations are at the mercy of the fragile and sensitive ecosystem."

In Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, where temperatures during the rice blossom period have been critically high, the delicate pollination process can be disrupted and seriously damage the yield, Hu said.

Warming also encourages pests and plant diseases. In some regions, winter is no longer cold enough to kill insect larva. When summer comes, pests can migrate to areas that once were too cold to survive.

"This is a big headache for scientists and farmers," said Song Bo, a research supervisor at Liaoning East Asian Seed Co.

Diseases can also worsen as rising temperatures disrupt the water cycle, creating unpredictable rainfall.

"Densely planted crops like corn may experience over-humidity near its stalks and roots, allowing diseases to spread rapidly," he said.

In August, China's Ministry of Agriculture predicted that pests and disease would affect 161 million hectares of autumn crops, a 14.3 percent increase over 2015.

"It is extremely important to adapt or mitigate damage in the face of today's climate challenges," Zhang said.

Breeding new resistant crops, improving production methods, increasing soil fertility and utilizing big data in warning and post-disaster analysis are some ways of ensuring China's food security, he said.
Premier Li Keqiang called on Wednesday for top advisers to contribute thoughts and suggestions on how to improve the government's policymaking.

During a ceremony, Li granted certificates to six new counselors of the Counselors' Office of the State Council and to four newly recruited researchers at the China Central Institute for Culture and History. Both are think tanks of the central government.

Li said he hoped counselors would closely follow China's social and economic development and conduct in-depth research on major issues, amid a sluggish world economy and the country's efforts to restructure and cultivate new economic momentum.

According to its website, the the Counselors' Office of the State Council was initiated in November 1949, two years before the institute's establishment. Now the two bodies are housed in the same building and under the leadership of the Party committee of the COSC. The office has established ties with 46 think tanks from 26 countries and regions.

Before the accreditation ceremony, the office had 57 counselors and 34 research fellows, and the institute had 65 researchers, the COSC website said. Most of these advisers are members of eight democratic parties or have no party affiliation. Some of them are members of the Communist Party of China, ranging from scholars to leading researchers with macro management expertise.

At a meeting after the ceremony, the premier called on government departments to improve their work by absorbing research achievements and suggestions made by the advisers, who the premier said are knowledgeable and have broad vision.

"Development is the top priority for the government, which must be a key area for counselors and researchers," he said.

China has shown steady performance in economic growth, with people's livelihoods improved, but it still faces challenges, both domestically and from the international community, the premier said.

Li said he hoped the advisers would strengthen research in key areas, such as how to balance the stabilization of economic growth with restructuring, promote supply-side economic reform and improve China's competitiveness through innovation.

The premier said he expects research achievements from the advisers to be insightful, clearly targeted and applicable.
Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Beijing on Wednesday night to kick off her first China visit as her country's No 2 political figure.

During Suu Kyi's five-day visit, Premier Li Keqiang will host a welcoming ceremony and hold talks with Suu Kyi. She also will visit other cities.

A ceremony will be held for the signing of bilateral documents, according to the Foreign Ministry, although details of the pacts were not disclosed.

Currently, China is Myanmar's most important trade partner and one of the main sources of foreign direct investment.

Xu Liping, a senior researcher on Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Suu Kyi's visit signals the political will to cement the two countries' traditional friendship.

"Now Myanmar is faced with many issues, such as the domestic reconciliation process, and resolving them cannot be achieved without cooperation with China," Xu said.

Xu added that Myanmar "needs more investment from China" in light of China's role as one of its biggest investors.

Beijing has sent key diplomats to maintain close contact with Suu Kyi in recent months, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Song Tao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee.

Song visited Myanmar earlier this month and met with Suu Kyi on Aug 11 in Myanmar's capital, Nay Pyi Taw.

Suu Kyi told Song that Myanmar attaches great importance to developing China-Myanmar ties, and she expects her China visit could further promote bilateral cooperation.

Zhou Yongsheng, a professor of international relations at China Foreign Affairs University, said China and Myanmar now need talks to minimize their differences and expand common ground.

"They particularly should promote cooperation in connectivity and infrastructure construction, which are beneficial to the economy of both sides," Zhou said.

In June last year, Suu Kyi was invited to visit China for her first time as chair of the National League for Democracy.

Her party scored a landslide election victory earlier this year, and her new government was formed in March. Since then, she has visited Laos and Thailand. The China visit marks her first as state counselor outside Southeast Asia.
Wang Zhousong, 71, looks dapper in trendy clothes. [Photo/Weibo.com]

A 71-year-old man has become an internet celebrity, or Wanghong, after photos of him wearing trendy clothes were posted online.

Wang Zhousong, who raises geese in two farms in Luoyang, Central China's Henan province, called the celebrity status "unexpected".

After serving in the army for 14 years, Wang retired from the People's Procuratorate of Luoyang in 2007. He then travelled across the big cities in the country, and decided to raise geese four years ago.

He said early this month, some young men found him and wanted to take photos of him. These images were posted online and became popular among internet users who were attracted by his cool expression and attitude.

Some users said that Wang has a relaxed attitude toward life, something other senior people should also strive for.

An internet user Azhe said there is no age limit for people to live a fashionable life. "If you have a young heart, it is not late to do anything."

Another internet user Qinaidekui said Wang's life will set an example for other retired people. Many people take care of their grandchildren when they retire instead of pursuing life's pleasures.




A 9-year-old girl in Lu'an, Anhui province, was shot dead when three men who were hunting mistakenly believed the girl to be a rabbit, police said on Wednesday.

According to Lu'an police, the case occurred at about 6 pm on Aug 14 when the three suspects, surnamed Zhang, Wu and Luo, all residents of Lu'an, went hunting in a pick-up truck with a high-pressure air gun and saw the girl, surnamed Wu, playing on farmland.

"Zhang shot the girl in the head with the gun from the pick-up truck. The men then found the 'prey' was a girl and fled. The girl's parents later took the girl to hospital, but she died of serious injuries that evening," police sources said.

The three suspects turned themselves in to police on Aug 15 and confessed that they mistakenly shot the girl, thinking she was a rabbit.

The suspects were detained and the case is under further investigation.
A new study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that previously frozen and then thawed embryos might lead to higher live-birth rates than fresh embryos.

In a randomized trial of 1,508 women aged 20 to 34 with polycystic ovary syndrome undergoing in vitro fertilization for the first time, researchers found that 49.3 percent of those who used frozen embryos successfully gave birth, compared with 42 percent who used fresh embryos.

Led by Shandong University deputy head Chen Zijiang, who specializes in reproductive studies, the research team collected data from 14 reproductive centers throughout China from 2013 to last year. All participants were followed throughout their pregnancy.

The study also suggested that frozen embryos might lead to an increase in a baby's weight at birth.
The Institute of Tibetan Medicine and Astrology in the Tibet autonomous region is this year celebrating its 100th anniversary since it founding, it said at a news conference on Thursday.

The institute was formed from an existing facility, the Mentsekhang (Tibetan Traditional Hospital), which was established in 1916.

Yeshi Yangzom, deputy head of the hospital, said it has been focusing on inheriting the theory, cuture and practices of Tibetan medical science. Last year the hospital treated more than 344,000 patients. Tibet autonomous region has a population of more than 3 million.

The central and regional governments have attached great importance to the development of Tibetan medicine, with more than 256 million yuan (US$34 million) being invested in the hospital in 2014 alone.
KUNMING - The former head of a hospital in Southwest China's Yunnan province stood trial on Thursday, accused of accepting 116 million yuan ($17.5 million) of bribes in property and 80,000 dollars in cash.

Wang Tianchao, former head of Yunnan No 1 People's Hospital, was accused of accepting 100 apartments worth 83 million yuan from a real estate developer, heard the Pu'er Intermediate People's Court.

Wang allegedly took the bribes from companies and individuals in exchange for hospital construction projects, procuring medical equipment, medicine procurement and doctor promotions from 2004 to 2014 when he was president of the hospital.

The trial ends Thursday, with a verdict announced soon.
GUANGZHOU - Typhoon Dianmu landed in Dongli township, city of Leizhou, southern China's Guangdong province, at 3:40 pm on Thursday.

The typhoon is moving westward at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour. It is expected to sweep across the Leizhou Peninsula to the waters of the northern Beibu Gulf, according to the provincial weather service.

Dianmu is already bringing heavy downpours to provinces in the south.

In the island province of Hainan, more than 40,000 people were evacuated by 6 am Thursday, according to the provincial headquarters against droughts, floods and typhoons.

Trains in and out of the island as well as island-looping high-speed trains have all halted services. Shipping services across the Qiongzhou Strait have been suspended, while some flights have also been canceled.

In Hainan's capital Haikou, local meteorological authorities issued a red alert at 8 am on Thursday. Strong rain has caused city flooding, with most public transport suspended.

In Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, the regional meteorological authorities have issued a blue alert for the typhoon and a blue warning for downpours.

Many cities and counties in Guangxi are already experiencing downpours, and more are forecast to hit the south of the region.

China has a four-tier color-coded warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Leaked documents have detailed 2,000 incidents of sexual abuse and assaults

Australia and Papua New Guinea said on Thursday that they had agreed to close a controversial Australian-funded asylum seeker detention center on Manus Island, although the ultimate fate of 800 refugees held in the camp remained unclear.

Under Australian law, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to camps on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru or to Manus Island off Papua New Guinea. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia.
France's Socialist prime minister is expressing support for local bans of burkinis, saying the swimwear is based on the "enslavement of women" and therefore incompatible with French values.

The burkini, a wetsuit-like garment that covers the torso, limbs and head, has prompted a growing national discussion about Islam and women's bodies, even though it's only worn by a handful of Muslims.

Three French Mediterranean towns have banned the garment on beaches this summer, citing security concerns after a season marred by deadly extremist attacks. Critics say the bans are discriminatory and could inflame religious and social tensions.
The World Anti-Doping Agency announced on Tuesday that it has lifted the suspension of China Anti-Doping Agency, which was closed because of technical mistakes.

"WADA is pleased to confirm that the Beijing laboratory's accreditation has been reinstated just ahead of the maximum four-month suspension that was issued in April," said WADA Director-General Olivier Niggli.

"We are confident that the laboratory has corrected its deficiencies and will now be operating to the high standards required by WADA."
Matt Damon and Swedish actress Alicia Vikander promote the upcoming film Jason Bourne in Beijing. The film will premiere on the Chinese mainland on Aug 23. JIANG DONG/CHINA DAILY

A legendary spy returns, with his full name in the film title. In Jason Bourne, the fifth action spy thriller from the Bourne series, Matt Damonwho plays the protagonist, a former CIA assassinnot only has to escape CIA hit squads but also look for hidden truths about his father.

Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday while promoting the film, which opens on the mainland on Aug 23, the 46-year-old says he believes that Bourne is a spy who represents the current generation.

"It (the film) is not related to James Bond, who has values from another time."

He says that Bourne's relevance is what persuaded him to be the protagonist, and that is why the franchisewhich hit the big screen in 2002has become one of the most-acclaimed spy series in cinematic history.

The first three episodesThe Bourne Identity (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)are all listed among the all-time best 250 films by China's major film website, Douban.com, based on user ratings.

Damon did not participate in the fourth installment, The Bourne Legacy, in 2012. Feedback for that film was lukewarm. It got 6.7 out of 10 points on Douban.

Interestingly, Damon keeps saying the "last three" instead of "four" when he refers to the previous Bourne films in the interview.

Speaking of the latest film, Damon says: "It's a completely different world we're living in, compared with nine years ago. The landscapes, characters running through, are entirely new."

A key part of the new story is a fictional social-media website.

"We want to have characters that are relatable to everybody," he says.

"In 2007, some social media companies didn't exist, but privacy versus (national) security is a major issue now."

Some news events from recent years also find a place in the plot.

For instance, in Jason Bourne, the story is set in an era after Edward Snowden leaked classified information on US national security. The European debt crisis is also portrayed through a massive protest in Athens.

"We had a complete script on Day 1 (of filming ), which we never had before," he says.

He adds that there were no complete scripts when filming for the previous Bourne films began.

The team this time comprised many of those who had worked with the series before.

"It felt very lucky ... that we got back to do this together," he says.

Paul Greengrass, the director of the second and third films, was also back for the new installment.

In a previous interview, Damon had said that he would not do any film related to Bourne if the director was not Greengrass.
Those who suffer from vertigo look away now.

The world's longest and highest glass-floored bridge is set to open to the public in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province on Aug 20, with many either excited or nervous visitors ready to cross the gaping chasm, complete with a mindboggling view beneath.

It is not the first, nor will it be the last of what has become an obsession for tourism bureaus across China, aiming to provide an element of excitement and danger to what are already truly unique and awe-inspiring landscapes.

The world's longest and highest glass bridge is set to open at the Grand Canyon in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Hunan province on Aug 20. [Xinhua/Long Hongtao]

The latest glass-bottomed bridge, spanning the Grand Canyon Scenic Area in Zhangjiajie, is a whopping 430 meters long, 6 meters wide, and paved with 99 panes of three-layered transparent glass. The bridge, set among the scenery that inspired the blockbuster movie "Avatar", strides across a 300-meter gorge, has set 10 different world records, and will accommodate 8,000 visitors a day when it opens.

And if those figures aren't enough to get you trembling, a bungee jump platform is to be built at the center of the bridge at a later date.
The population of milu deer has seen a revival at the Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve in Jiangsu province.[Photo by Zhou Gukai/For China Daily]

When Ding Yuhua, 62, was first introduced to milu deer, the acquaintance was not a happy one.

But things have changed. Three decades on, he regards them as family, and his work has won him nationwide acclaim. He is known as the Guardian of Milu Deer.

Milu, also known as Pere David's deer, is a species native to China. Over hunting and loss of habitat led to its near extinction in the early 20th century.

In 1986, the British government gave 39 of the deer to Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve in Jiangsu province, starting a revival of the population, which has existed largely in captivity.

The gift also started Ding's 28-year career as a milu keeper. With his care and years of research, the population has grown to 3,223.

Ding recalls being less than happy when he was assigned to the job three decades ago. A skilled veterinarian accustomed to tending cattle and sheep, he found the milu to be strange.

He knew it by its informal Chinese name, sibuxiang, which translates as "the four dislikes", referring to the animal's incongruous features: the neck of a camel, the hoofs of a cow, the tail of a donkey and the antlers of a deer.

The milu, which are naturally semi-acquatic, were not accustomed to the water and land in China. Many suffered severe diarrhea and dyspepsia. With no references or instruction, Ding and his colleagues could only rely on their past veterinary experience to treat them. During the first three months, he watched the animals around the clock, sleeping just two or three hours a day.

It was dangerous work, too. He suffered snakebites and heat stroke, and was once almost killed by a frenzied milu deer. His colleagues were scared away from the job, and some advised him to quit, but Ding refused.

"I have spent so much time with the milu, I think they are part of my life," Ding said.

One day, he discovered that a large, antlered buck had escaped over the wire fence. Ding was worried and began searching the vast swampland that covered more than 1,300 square kilometers.

The search lasted from summer to autumn. During the day, Ding walked for miles, crossing rivers and marshes, suffering insect bites and injuries from tree branches. At night, he climbed the trees with a flashlight, hoping to spot the shining eyes of the deer. He once woke from a nap to find himself hanging from a tree.

Finally, by following hoof-prints and droppings, Ding found the runaway by a river.
People visit Sprouting Spring (Baotu Spring) in Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province, Aug 17, 2016. All the 72 well-known springs spray water again thanks to continuous rainfalls in Jinan. The Sprouting Spring (Baotu Spring) and Black Tiger Spring (Heihu Spring) are among the most famous springs in Jinan, dubbed as "City of Springs".[Photo/Xinhua]
JAKARTA - Maritime authorities from Indonesia and Malaysia continue searching for a missing Malaysian fuel tanker, which was previously reported to be hijacked after it left a port in the country, Indonesian navy said here on Wednesday.

The captain of MT Vier Harmoni tanker contacted his agent at 12:00 am local time Wednesday, but did not tell the position of the vessel, commander of the Indonesia's western naval command Admiral S. Irawan said.

"Until now, WFOR (Indonesian maritime authorities) and MMEA (Malaysian maritime authorities) continuously coordinate and search for the missing MT Vier Harmoni tanker," he said in a statement.

Vier Harmoni tanker carrying 900,000 liters of diesel fuel reportedly disappeared from a seaport in Kuantan of Malaysia on Tuesday.

After coordinating with the Malaysian maritime authorities, Admiral Irawan said that the tanker operated by PT Vierlines has not been hijacked, but it has been likely taken over by its own crew in a dispute with the management of the company.

"(Our) temporary conclusion is that the tanker was not hijacked, but it has been taken over by its own crew, and was turned back to Batam Island (Indonesia)," the admiral disclosed.

"The captain of the vessel has twice contacted Malaysian maritime authorities, saying that the tanker will be taken back into Batam because of an internal management problem," Irawan added.

For years, small fuel tankers sailing off Southeast Asian coast have been targeted by groups of armed thieves, with the aim of stealing and selling the oil, and recently abduction perpetrated by Abu Sayyaf group in the Southern Philippines has also been on the rise in the area.

This year, a total of 25 Indonesian seamen have been kidnapped by the group, which always demand ransoms; so far only 14 have been released.
A series of muggings of Chinese students in the UK may be part of what one social justice expert calls the "deteriorating situation" of violent attacks, discrimination and hate crimes against Chinese people living in Britain.

Anecdotal reports of as many as eight break-ins and muggings of Chinese students since early July at the University of Birmingham have led to suspicions they are being targeted for their perceived wealth and are seen as easy marks. One confirmed attack of a male student in the Selly Oak district resulted in severe facial injuries.

A Birmingham student told China Daily that she and her roommate are scared to venture out by themselves after an attempted break-in of their room and having been followed home at night by strangers on a different occasion.

"My roommate was at home, she heard violent knocking before someone outside started to pick the lock. She waited until I came back to call the police. It took about 20 to 30 minutes before the police came," Yang Zidan, 21, said. "Now I'm afraid to go out alone."

The University of Birmingham issued a statement after the attack on the male student warning students to remain on their guard against violent robbery.

The incident in England occurred days after textile-designer Zhang Chaolin was violently mugged in the Parisian suburb of Aubervilliers. Zhang went into a coma after his head struck the pavement and he died five days later.

The Mayor of Aubervilliers, Meriem Derkaoui described the attack as a murder "with a racist targeting." Members of the Chinese community in Paris gathered to mourn Zhang last Sunday. A student told media outlet Le Parisien the attack was "based on prejudices that the Chinese are weak, docile and rich."

Aubervilliers, northeast of the centre of Paris, is home to a sizeable Chinese community, many of whom work in the cut price fashion outlets in the area.

Reported cases of violence against Chinese people are just the tip of the iceberg, according to Gary Craig, Professor of Social Justice at the University of Hull. Craig says that working-class Chinese  often from the service industry  across the UK are frequently subject to violent crime and racist abuse that goes unreported as the Chinese community has a documented lack of confidence in the police.

"The two projects I've worked on both showed very high levels of racism against Chinese people in the UK," Craig said. "If they are subject to racist attacks or abuse, Chinese people tend to be very wary of the police, either because they have had a bad experience in the past or because they don't trust the police will take it seriously. So they don't report it. The whole issue of racism against Chinese people tends to be somewhat hidden."

Craig contributed to a 2016 study by Zhifeng Tong of the Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou, into the social and economic issues faced by the Chinese population in the UK's North East. Seventy percent of those interviewed said that reports to the police were not followed up.

He also worked on a 2009 study conducted by anti-racist charity The Monitoring Group which concluded that the Chinese community suffers from levels of racial harassment that are perhaps even higher than those experienced by any other minority group. A 2012 survey of over 9,000 students across the UK conducted by the National Union of Students delivered similar findings. Thirty percent of the Chinese students surveyed said they had been victims of hate crimes or incidents, more than any other ethnic group.

Addressing crime is made harder due to severe under-reporting of incidents. A 2013 report by the British Chinese Project and the All Party Parliamentary China Group found a "lack of confidence" in the police within the Chinese community. Half of the 520 surveyed said they did not trust the police to "deal effectively with their cases."

Manchester's Chinese Community Centre (MCCC) set up a hate crime reporting center in 2005 in response to rising levels of bigotry toward Chinese and the murder of restaurant owner Mi Gao Huang Chen. In April that year, Chen was beaten to death by a large group of youths outside his takeaway in Wigan, Greater Manchester.

An MCCC report states that Chinese people are verbally or physically harassed on a daily basis in the northern city. The center found that while 61 percent of Chinese in Manchester had been victims of hate crimes, three quarters said they chose not to report incidents to authorities.

This year, hate crimes across the UK surged by 42 percent on the same period in 2015 in the fortnight following the Brexit vote, fuelled by anti-immigrant sentiment.

"Hate crimes have come under greater scrutiny in recent times," Craig says. "One structural problem is in the data collection of hate crimes. When you look at the way data is collected in terms of ethnic origin, you get black African, Afro-Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, but Chinese fall under other.' So the Chinese are invisibilized' by public policy. The police collect the data but don't disaggregate it to show the impact on Chinese people."
YANGON -- Myanmar will deploy single-stop inspections at border gates with neighboring countries of China and Thailand to prevent illegal trade, official media reported Thursday.

Minister of Commerce Than Myint told the House of Nationalities that discussion are underway with the two neighbor countries for the move.

The system is aimed at preventing illegal trade and boosting the country's revenue collected from border trade, he said, adding that work is underway to set up customs checkpoints for border trade complete with X-ray machines to inspect containers.

He warned that unscrupulous businessmen and corrupt staff in illegal trade activities in border trade would be punished.

The ministry revealed that goods worth more than 52 billion kyats (about $43.77 million) were seized and inedible food worth more than 2.5 billion kyats were destroyed over the last three years until operation of previous mobile inspection teams were shut down in December last year.
China, Japan and the Republic of Korea are "undertaking liaison and coordination for the relevant matters" concerning the eighth trilateral meeting of foreign ministers, the Foreign Ministry told China Daily on Thursday.

Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported on Wednesday that the trilateral meeting is planned to be held on Aug 23-24 in Tokyo.

The annual meeting was postponed in 2013 because of Tokyo's worsening ties with Beijing and Seoul over historical and territorial issues. It was resumed last year and the seventh meeting was held in Seoul in March 2015.

In response to China Daily's request for comment, the Foreign Ministry's Spokesperson's Office said in a written reply that "China attaches importance to China-Japan-ROK cooperation, and hopes the trilateral high-level meeting could be held successfully".

"All the parties should make joint efforts for this, meet halfway, and create an ideal atmosphere for the relevant meeting," the office added.

Normally, a trilateral leaders' meeting will be held in the wake of the foreign ministers' meeting later in the year.

Japan has the rotating chairmanship this year for the trilateral cooperation meetings.
China's Premier Li Keqiang and Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi (L) attend a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, August 18, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Premier Li Keqiang welcomed Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi to China during a ceremony at the People's Great Hall on Thursday afternoon.

Suu Kyi is on a five-day visit after taking the position in April, which is second only to the country's president.

During a meeting after the ceremony, both sides agreed to stick to mutual respect, consolidate political trust, and strengthen exchanges and cooperation based on Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence.
Premier Li Keqiang welcomes Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi during a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on Thursday in Beijing. Wu Zhiyi / China Daily

Premier Li says Beijing willing to link strategies with its neighbor and advance major projects

China and Myanmar vowed on Thursday to further enhance political trust with mutual respect, to advance major investment projects and to realize peaceful settlement of hostilities in northern Myanmar.

Premier Li Keqiang hosted a ceremony on Thursday to welcome Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's No 2 leader, who started a five-day official visit to China on Wednesday.

"China is the first country you've visited outside the Association of Southeast Asia Nations after taking office as state counselor, showing the importance the government of Myanmar and you yourself have attached to the bilateral relations," said Li.

The premier said China and Myanmar are closely connected by extensive mountains and rivers, and the two peoples call each other baobo (brothers and relatives).

Li said that bilateral cooperation should focus on the benefit of both peoples and achievement of win-win outcomes.

China is willing to link its strategies with Myanmar's, to cooperate in key areas and to advance major projects such as the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project and Myitsone Dam, he said. The dam, a joint project to build a large hydropower station, began construction in 2009 but was halted by Myanmar over environmental concerns in 2011.

Li said he hoped that Myanmar can resolve the issue of the dam, and Suu Kyi said Myanmar will set up an investigative commission to find a solution, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin.

Suu Kyi said Myanmar's new administration highly values its ties with China and is committed to strengthening relations. Myanmar will continue high-level exchanges with its neighbor, enhance political trust, boost cooperation in such fields as cross-border trade and agriculture, and maintain stability in border areas, she added.

China supports Myanmar in choosing a path suitable for its own national condition and backs its efforts to develop its economy and improve people's livelihoods, Li said.

Li also said China respects Myanmar's sovereignty and territorial integrity and will continue to play a constructive role in promoting peaceful settlement of hostilities between armed ethnic groups and the national government in northern Myanmar.

Deputy Minister Liu said that China and Myanmar agreed to promote the peaceful settlement by strengthening communication and exchanges.

After the meeting, two agreements were signed on economic and technological cooperation between the two countries.

Suu Kyi is to visit Shaanxi and Yunnan provinces after her trip to Beijing, and she has invited Li to visit Myanmar, Liu said.

China is Myanmar's biggest source of investment, and both countries have historically forged a deep-rooted friendship, said Ruan Zongze, executive vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies.

China is willing to see a peaceful and stable Myanmar and will take a responsible and constructive role in helping to achieve that goal, Ruan said.

"Myanmar has started to open up to the outside world," Ruan said.

"China should get used to new changes and work with the neighbor to achieve pragmatic and win-win cooperation."

huyongqi@chinadaily.com.cn
The ability to solve problems is declining in most industrialized countries, with the trend becoming obvious in the past two years, according to the Sustainable Governance Indicators, a study conducted annually by Germany's Bertelsmann Stiftung, a respected think tank.

Although China is not part of the study, which was made public on Thursday, Qi Ye, director of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy at Tsinghua University, said China had made significant progress in enhancing governance capability since the end of 2012, when the current leadership took power.

President Xi Jinping's administration has focused on economic restructuring, poverty alleviation and radical anti-corruption measures at home and a cooperative win-win global strategy.

The German study is published at a crucial time as China prepares to host its first-ever G20 summit in Hangzhou in September, a forum which groups the world's largest economies plus the European Union.

The SGI showed the United States governance performance fell below the average of the 41 industrialized nations of the OECD and EU, with Scandinavian countries overall achieving the best results.

Sweden ranked first, followed by Switzerland and then Germany. Of the largest national economies, only two G7 countries, Germany and the United Kingdom, are among the top ten.

The SGI study applied 136 indicators to assess the government actions and reforms of all countries of the EU and OECD. More than 100 international experts took part in the study, which has been published every year since 2009.

"If the OECD and EU countries wish to improve their future viability, they must focus on strengthened cooperation and coordination as well as policies aiming for long-term solutions rather than national isolationism," said Aart De Geus, Chairman and CEO of the Bertelsmann Stiftung.

De Geus also said the political systems in the Nordic countries and New Zealand were particularly well-placed in this respect and the fact that they are at the top of the SGI Governance Index means they could serve as models of good governance and accountability for other countries.

Although the Nordic countries still have the best scores in future viability, even their position is beginning to waver in light of the growing social inequality in the region.

According to the study, the global debt crisis remains unresolved, especially in the southern countries of the Eurozone, and an alarmingly high number of people are at risk of poverty.

"The divisions in the EU are also hardening given the biggest flow of refugees since World War II, and the European integration project is in danger of failing, with national populism gaining ground in many EU and OECD countries, from Hungary, Poland, and France to the UK, Germany, and the US," the report was cited as saying.

A woman sits by a wire fence with laundry hanging on it, while children play around her outside of disused Hellenikon airport, where stranded refugees and migrants are temporarily accommodated in Athens, Greece, August 10, 2016. (Photo/Agency)

The research team also pointed out that from the financial and economic crisis to climate change, terrorism, and international migration flows, problems are becoming increasingly global.

"Yet, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for mutual problem solving because (right-wing) populist movements are gaining ground in a number of OECD and EU countries and placing particular national interests ahead of the objective of joint international policy solutions," the report was cited.

It also warns that in light of these developments, the EU faces the greatest test in its history and is miles away from finding mutual solutions and even outside the EU, the trend toward right-wing populism can clearly be seen, citing the election campaign in the United States as an example.

Daniel Schraad-Tischler, a senior analyst at Bertelsmann Stiftung, said the decline in problem-solving capacity, due to political polarization in many countries, represents a massive challenge, given the growing number and intensity of transnational problems and crises.

"With regard to transnational challenges such as terrorism, global migration flows, climate change, resource scarcity, and growing social inequality we would need governments that are capable and willing to act in a long-term oriented, internationally coordinated manner," said Schraad-Tischler. "But unfortunately, we often observe the contrary to such an approach."

With the Hangzhou summit only days away, he said the G20 governments bear a strong responsibility to act together in order to promote global public goods. "The trend of nationalist populism in some of the leading OECD countries should thus be seen as a serious cause for concern," said Schraad-Tischler.

Tsinghua's Qi said progress in China was down to four achievements at home and abroad.

First, the nationwide anti-corruption campaign has built political solidarity between the people and leadership, and to a large degree the ruling party has regained the trust of the citizens.

Secondly, China has maintained an enviable economic growth at an annual rate close to seven percenthigher than almost all major economies, despite the economic slowdown. Thirdly, environmental regulation is at its best, with more stringent legislation, tougher enforcement and better compliance.

"And fourthly, China's capacity in global governance has been enhanced significantly," said Qi.

He said that the development of a joint agreement with the US on Climate change helped set an important foundation for the success of the Paris Agreement; G20 Presidency is seen as offering a significant step towards agenda setting and consensus building; even the turbulent South China Sea situation seems to have calmed since the controversial arbitration decision, now that China and ASEAN countries have found more common ground and a willingness to cooperate.

However, Qi also named three challenges facing China.

First, Central-local relations seem to be deteriorating due to sluggish responses from local officials to calls and mandates from the central government.

Secondly, reform on government-market relations has been slower than anticipated; special interests, especially in some of the state-owned enterprises, have been resistant to many of the reform measures.

"Thirdly, civil society remains weak in its role in governance of public affairs. Legislation on international NGO's has drawn criticism from the international community," he said.

To contact the reporter: fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
(Photo : Getty Images) Apple has reportedly removed all Withings products from its online and retail stores after Nokia filed a patent infringement case on several courts across the world.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed the company's plan to boost its investment in China, including establishing the first Asia-Pacific research and development center in the country.



The planned research center, which is set to be built by the end of the year, is aimed at creating new products and services and strengthening the company's "relationships with local partners and universities," a spokesperson for Apple said. "We look forward to expanding our operations in China with a new Research and Development center as we continue to grow our talented team here."



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Apple, which made its commitment to Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, refused to provide further details about its proposed research center.



According to Reuters, the announcement comes after the head of China's industry, and technology regulator told Cook in May that he hopes Apple would extend its cooperation in the country in terms of research and development and emphasized information security. The country has been dependent on US technology firms such as Apple to store local data, share source code, and accept reviews to ensure that their products are secured, The Wall Street Journal reported.



Apple continues to face hurdles in China, including the decline of its revenue by 33 percent on the first quarter of this year, the shutdown of its iBooks and iTunes on China, and the copyrights cases for its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.



However, CCTV reported that Cook would continue to support China's plan to switch from traditional manufacturing industries to automation and internet technologies.



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(Photo : Getty Images) Indonesia burns a foreign fishing boat.

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Indonesia sank 60 foreign fishing boats during its Independence Day on Aug. 17 in a dramatic message to China and neighboring countries to stop illegal fishing in Indonesian waters.



Susi Pudjiastuti, Indonesia's Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said the ships were sunk near eight islands to create artificial reefs. In contrast, Indonesia blew-up captured ships in 2014 and 2015 to send a chilling message to their countries of origin. Malaysia also turns sunken foreign fishing vessels into artificial reefs.



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The mass sinkings across Indonesia reinforce Indonesian President Joko Widodo's vow to get tough on foreign boats fishing unlawfully in waters within the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Indonesia also sank several Chinese boats captured off the Natuna Islands archipelago and elsewhere.



Many of the boats were seized off the Natunas where Indonesia's EEZ extends into the South China Sea.



China claims ownership of the Natunas based on its "nine-dash line" declared illegal last July 12 by the Permanent Court of Tribunal in The Hague. The court ruled that China has no legal basis to claim historic rights within the nine-dash line in the South China Sea. It also said none of the land features in the Spratlys meet the criteria for an island that China -- or any other country -- can use to claim a 200-nautical-mile EEZ.



The case filed by the Philippines has been labeled a "sweeping victory" against China.



In 2015, also on its Independence Day, Indonesia sank 41 fishing vessels from China, Vietnam, the Philippines and other nations after Widodo promised to get tough on illegal fishing in Indonesian waters by foreign fishing vessels, especially those from China.



The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said it had caught 29 ships illegally fishing across Indonesia in July, including off the Natunas owned by Indonesia but claimed by China.



Widodo made a highly publicized visit to the Natunas last June in response to frequent incursions by Chinese vessels. China responded to Widodo's visit by issuing an official statement saying the waters off the Natuna's were China's traditional fishing ground.



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TagsIndonesia, fishing boats, President Joko Widodo, Natuna Islands archipelago, china
(Photo : China Photos/Getty Images) People walk past a new IKEA store on Aug. 28, 2008 in Nanjing of Jiangsu Province, China. IKEA launched a new store in Nanjing, the sixth shop in China, covering an area of over 30,000 square meters.



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With the advent of technology, Ikea is finally joining the bandwagon of offering services online in Shanghai.



Along with the launching of the Swedish home furnishings retailer's e-commerce initiative, the company will finally start selling their products online before August ends.



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This move by the company was welcomed by Lu Zhenwang, an internet expert and chief executive of Wanqing Consultancy in Shanghai, who said that with the demand it is receiving, going online is certainly a good decision.



"The physical stores of Ikea are very big and require large areas," Lu said about the e-commerce business of Ikea in Shanghai. "The stores in first- and second-tier cities are nearly saturated."



"There aren't any Ikea physical stores in third- and fourth-tier cities though the demand is emerging, so it's essential for Ikea to launch e-commerce services and to serve those places easily in the future," the internet expert added. "It would be convenient to set up some pickup and order points in smaller cities."



As Ikea's first attempt at online selling in the Asia-Pacific region, the delivery services for its ready-to-assemble furniture products, appliances and home accessories (except for food and green plants, though), will only be available in Shanghai initially.



However, when the model proves to be successful, the delivery services will be offered as well throughout the country.



"This business model, with small investments, is suitable for smaller cities, where they don't have physical stores," the company said. "Ikea will launch more such pickup and order points in China."



Before Ikea opened its online business in Shanghai, it has already launched it in Europe, particularly in northern Europe and the United Kingdom.







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(Photo : Youtube) The Xiaomi Mi Pay is only available for the companys Mi 5 flagship smartphone for a limited time.

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Xiaomi has unveiled a NFC-based payment service in China called Mi Pay.



The payment system works the same as the Samsung Pay, Android Pay, and Apple Pay. It uses NFC for wireless transmission of payment information via smartphones and aims to remove the use of physical credit/debit cards. Xiaomi has also announced a list of banks that support Mi Pay.



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Currently, the Mi Pay is only available for the companys Mi 5 flagship for a limited time, Mobile World Live reported. Furthermore, there is a possibility that the companys upcoming smartphones, like the Redmi 4 and Mi Note 2, will support the Mi Pay out of the box.



Currently, a limited number of Chinese banks support the service, including China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, China Merchants Bank, Huaxia Bank, Minsheng Bank, Ping An Bank, and Industrial Bank. Xiaomi has confirmed that the Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank, China Everbright Bank, Beijing Bank, and Guangdong Development Bank will start supporting the service next month.



Like all other NFC payment services, Mi Pay will allow users to store their details  be it credit, debit, loyalty, gift or membership card details  on their smartphone. Payments can be done by just placing the NFC-enabled smartphone against a compatible reader at the retail outlet. Users only need to tap the phone next to a store's payment reader to charge a credit or debit card. Xiaomis wireless payment system also works with some loyalty, gift, and membership cards, according to Android Authority.



The Xiaomis Mi Pay was first announced in April. In July, reports mentioned the service would be branded Xiaomi Pay.



Xiaomi recently also unveiled its Mi Washing Machine as part of the companys ever expanding home appliance range. The washer can be controlled by a companion Mi app and offers customers 14 different laundry modes to choose from.



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TagsXiaomi, mobile payment service, Mi Pay, Xiaomi Mi Pay, apple pay, Mi washing machine
(Photo : Getty Images) The Huawei Mate 9 is expected to hit the market soon.

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Huawei has overthrown Xiaomi to become the leading smartphone vendor in China.



According to a report released by Market research firm IDC for the Chinese smartphone market, Xiaomi saw a significant 38 percent drop in shipments, from 17.1 million units to 10.5 million units, enough to move the tech giant to fourth position, making Huawei the number one vendor in the country.



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Huawei recorded a 17.2 percent market share and shipped 19.1 million smartphone devices in Q2 2016, an increase from the 16.6 million units shipped same time last year, according to Tech Crunch.



Oppo and Vivo followed in second and third place after registering a 16.2 percent and 13.2 percent share of the market respectively. Oppo's shipments saw a twofold increase when measured up against last year's numbers, while Vivo registered a 75 percent growth.



"The success of Huawei, OPPO, and vivo in the market can be attributed to their concerted effort to build their brand and aggressive marketing to attract the consumers, along with the focus on product differentiation," said IDC's Xiaohan Tay.



"In the past, Xiaomi started the trend of selling its phones online and other vendors soon followed suit and created their own online brand," Tay added. "After vendors witnessed OPPO's success with its R9, they also started riding on the trend of hiring celebrity endorsers to represent their brand and appeal more to the young crowd."



Even though Xiaomi has dismissed IDC's statistics, stating that other, more prominent research firms have published higher estimates, the numbers are still dramatically lower than the Q2 2015 figures.



Apple Inc. comes in at No. 5 in the Chinese smartphone market. Local players have been dominating the market over the last few quarters by offering handsets with improved quality, features and value for money, because of which Apple's sales in China slumped 32 percent.



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TagsHuawei, china, smartphone market, Chinese smartphone market, Xiaomi, Oppo, vivo, apple, IDC
(Photo : Getty Images) President Rodrigo Duterte said he does not want to antagonize China by bringing up the South China Sea conflict before the ASEAN

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Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday that he has chosen to directly talk to China about their territorial issue over the South China Sea instead of bringing up the dispute before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).



Duterte said his decision to have a one-on-one talk with Beijing officials would be the safer thing to do following the recent ice-breaker talks between Manila's special envoy for negotiations with China, Fidel Ramos, and high-ranking Chinese officials, in Hong Kong.



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Duterte said bringing up the territorial conflict with the ASEAN would antagonize Beijing and would jeopardize the current groundwork being worked on by Ramos and other high-ranking officials for formal talks between the two nations.



Face to face



"I will only bring the issue when we are together face to face," Duterte said in a press briefing held in Manila last Wednesday.



Duterte said hyping up its dispute with China on the contested islands and reefs in the South China Sea by discussing it during the ASEAN meeting might push Beijing not to hold any talks at all with Manila.



"If you quarrel with them now and you claim sovereignty, make noise here and there, they might not just even want to talk," he pointed out.



Special envoy



Ramos, who was on a recent five-day trip to Hong Kong, held initial talks with high-ranking Chinese officials to de-escalate the rising tension between the two countries over the issue of sovereignty of the disputed South China Sea.



Ramos and the Chinese officials have agreed to push for joint fishing rights between the two nations in the contested Scarborough Shoal when formal talks begin.



"We maintain good relations with China. Let us create an environment where we sit down and talk directly. That is the time we would say we proceed from here," the president said.



Last month, an international arbitral court ruled that there no legal basis for China's massive territorial claims in the South China Sea under its nine-dash line.



The court said Beijing violated international law and the Philippines' rights to explore resources in its exclusive economic zone.



Arbitral court ruling



Duterte said the ruling would form the basis of its talks with Beijing despite Chinese President Xi Jinping's statement that China will not accept any actions or future propositions based on the 'illegal' ruling.



Duterte said that if Beijing refuses to hold talks with Manila, there is nothing he can do. Declaring 'war' on China, he said, would be the most 'stupid' thing to do



China has dismissed the tribunal ruling as 'illegal' and 'null and void.' Beijing has refused to accept the verdict despite calls from the international community for it to do so.



Beijing had said that it does not recognize the tribunal's ruling and boycotted the entire three-year-long court proceedings.



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TagsASEAN, President Rodrigo Duterte, Sino-Philippine formal talks, Fidel Ramos, President Xi Jinping, South China Sea, china
(Photo : Getty Images) Chinese airlines are offering attractive salaries to foreign pilots in an attempt to lure them and meet domestic demand.

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China is offering high salaries to lure foreign pilots in a bid to meet the increasing demand of air travel in the country.



China, which is the fastest-growing aviation market in the world, is expected to have 7,210 commercial planes and 100,000 pilots in a span of 20 years, according to Business Insider.



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A Bloomberg report published on Wednesday pointed out that China needs to hire close to 100 pilots every week over the next two decades in order to satisfy the growing demand.



"When we ask an airline, 'How many pilots do you need?,' they say, 'Oh, we can take as many as you bring.' It's almost unlimited," said David Ross, the president of Las Vegas-based recruiting company, Wasinc International.



The recruitment company caters to several China-based carriers including Chengdu Airlines and Qingdao Airlines. Many such airlines are willing to pay five times more than its Asian competitors for recruits and start-ups are offering nearly 50 percent more than what senior captains made at Delta Airlines.



According to Ross, one month's pay for a pilot he provided to Beijing Capital Airlines was $80,000 while U.S. airlines offer a first year salary in the range of $25,000, as per a March 2016 release from the Air Line Pilots Association, International.



"They can't attract people through any other means," another New Zealand-based recruiter, told Bloomberg. "They think money's the only answer.''



Many Korean pilots also prefer working for Chinese airlines and Korea is the biggest source of foreign captains for Chinese companies. In addition to the higher compensation, the geographical and cultural similarities are some of the reasons why Korean pilots find China attractive.



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Tagschina, Chinese airlines, Airlines, pilots, foreign pilots, salaries, compensation, recruitment, Chinese air travel
(Photo : Getty Images) India's new airfield in Arunachal Pradesh is about 100 kms away from the Indo-China border

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The Indian Air Force is set to get a new airfield in the disputed state of Arunachal Pradesh, located barely 100 km away from the Indo-China border, NDTV reported.



The airfield, which is located at Pasighat town in Southeast Arunachal Pradesh, has been named 'Pasighat ALG.' It was refurbished from an operational forward airfield and will become operational from August 19. This is the fifth airfield that has been refurbished for operation in recent times in the disputed state, which is claimed by both China and India.



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The move is seen as a strategy to counter's China's deployment of airfields across the border. China has deployed 15 small to medium airfields in the autonomous region of Tibet. According to reports, India's latest airfield in Arunachal Pradesh can support heavy fighter jets like Su-30MKI and heavy lift transport planes like the US-built C-130J.



"Pasighat ALG is a strategic asset it is capable of operating all types of aircrafts and helicopters. It improves our response time. Besides it will also increase our air operations in the eastern frontier," Group Captain Amit Mahajan told NDTV.



China's Claim over Arunachal Pradesh



China and India have competing territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh. Arunachal Pradesh became part of China by virtue of the Simla Accord of 1914, signed between the Tibetan government and British India.



However, China does not recognize this treaty and claims sovereignty over the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh.



New Delhi often accuses Chinese army of incursion into Arunachal Pradesh, but Beijing has denied these allegations.



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(Photo : Getty Images) A student acts as a slaughtered pig during a performance art activity to promote animal protection in Changchun of Jilin Province, northeast China.

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A Chinese group has irked animal rights activists for broadcasting the slaughter of wild animals for cash donations.



The online streaming sessions had been shut down earlier this week but the group from eastern China has started broadcasting its atrocious activities again, according to the South China Morning Post.



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Police fined the group with "administrative penalties" and stopped the stream on Wednesday but the group, which is based in China's Jiangxi province, has resumed its broadcast.



The gang has been live streaming the slaughter of animals, including snakers, rabbits and wild boars. on the Six Rooms online video broadcasting website since June.



They also performed inhumane and cruel acts on the poor animals such as butchering them and skinning them while they were still alive or shoving burning cigarettes into their mouths, according to the report.



One of the group members with the username "Mengzi" even accepts gifts and cash online in exchange for killing live animals. He has made more than 95,000 yuan since he started the broadcast in June.



"I won't slaughter the animals if the gifts are not enough," he was quoted as saying during one of his live stream sessions.



A Chinese charity against animal cruelty has filed a complaint against the group with the customer service department of Six Rooms, but the broadcasts have still not been shut down.



Six Rooms denied having knowledge of the animals' protected status, according to the report.



In China, hunting or killing a protected species requires a special license from authorities. Police are still investigating the case.



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Tagschina, animal cruelty, Six Rooms, Livestream, animal slaughter, wild animals, Animals, Broadcast, Live Stream, animal rights
(Photo : Getty Images) China and Myanmar will sign deals to construct a strategic bridge near their border region and two state-of-the-art hospitals in two of the largest states in Myanmar.

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China and Myanmar are due to sign deals to construct a bridge and two hospitals in Myanmar during Ang San Suu Kyi's historic visit to China, Reuters reported.



"Grant agreements will be signed on the construction of two hospitals and a bridge between the two sides," Aye Aye Soe, the ministry's deputy director-general, told Reuters.



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Soe added that two hospitals would be constructed in Yangon and Mandalay, the two biggest cities in Myanmar. However, Soe refused to shed light on the details of the financial terms and the timeframe of the project.



China's previous big project in Myanmar, a $ 3.6 billion hydroelectric dam, has been stalled for five years. The ambitious project got suspended due to widespread protest on environmental grounds. There are speculations that the Chinese leadership is going to take up the issue with Suu Kyi, requesting her to restart the ambitious project as soon as possible.



Earlier in the day, Suu Kyi met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and is scheduled to meet President Xi Jinping on Friday. "I believe your visit will give new impetus to the development of China-Myanmar relations," Li said after the meeting.



Suu Kyi landed in China on Wednesday, starting her first official visit to China since her party stormed into power in Myanmar with a landslide victory last year.



Although Myanmar's junta-drafted constitution bars her from becoming president, she is widely considered as the de facto and most important leader of Myanmar. She holds various posts in the government including the foreign minister.



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TagsChina and Myanmar, china, Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, Suu Kyi
(Photo : Getty Images) Alipay has inked a deal with France's Ingenico Group to serve Chinese tourists visiting European countries.

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Alipay, China's leading online-payment platform, has inked a deal with French-based company Ingenico Group, in a bid to increase it's foothold in the European market, Bloomberg reported.



"With this partnership, Aliplay will be embedded into Ingenico's in-store payment gateway," Ingenico said in a statement. The agreement was signed on Wednesday.



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A strategic partnership with Ingenico will help Aliplay to cater to Chinese tourists visiting European countries. Every year, Chinese tourists visiting European countries spend billions of dollars on shopping, representing a huge market for Alipay. Ingenico has thousands of merchants and retailers, and its customers are spread across 150 countries.



Jacques Behr, Ingenico's head of Europe and Africa, described the partnership as a "must have" in the current market conditions. However, he refused to comment on the expected revenue that Ingenico would get from this partnership.



In recent months, Alipay has been striking partnership deals with many companies to consolidate its presence in the European market. In June, Alipay bought a 25 percent stake in German banking software company Wirecard AG, while it is already said to be in talks with several other European financial companies.



Alipay, which is a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is also betting big on its investment in emerging markets. One of its prominent investment in emerging markets in Paytm, one of India's biggest and leading e-commerce players.



Alipay boasts of over 450 million active users and enjoys an 80 percent market share of China's online payment market. Alipay's domination has left US online payment giant Paypal struggling in the lucrative Chinese market.



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TagsAlipay, Alibaba, china, Ingenico
(Photo : Getty Images) An Air Koryo plane arrives at the Beijing International Airport in Beijing, China.

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China is set to limit the operations of North Korean airline Air Koryo after one of its planes made an emergency landing in northeastern China last month.



The plane, Air Koryo Flight 151, heading from Pyongyang was heading to Beijing on July 22. However, the airline was forced to divert its route and landed in Shenyang after smoke appeared in the cabin.



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Investigations carried out by Air Koryo found that the smoke was caused by burning in an audio speaker found under a luggage rack, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Wednesday.



The CAAC said the situation was classified as a "serious incident" and warranted punishment in the form of demerit points and "corresponding measures to limit operations," the statement said. No other specific details were given.



The Air Koryo aircraft, which was a Russia-built Tupolev 204, landed safely, and all passengers and crew aboard were unharmed.



"The North Korean airline would likely be a very resource-deprived airline, operating a number of older airplanes. And often, that older equipment is difficult to maintain. By international standards it would not be a great airline," Greg Waldron told BBC.



Now, Chinese aviation regulators are demanding that Air Koryo improves its training and maintenance including in-flight contingencies like engine-fire warnings, cabin depressurization, and air-traffic control communication.



Air Koryo is currently flying passengers from Pyongyang to three Chinese destinations (Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenyang) and the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok.



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(Photo : Twitter) The Meizu Pro 7 is expected to hit the market soon.

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The Meizu Pro 6 was released in April and currently stands as the company's flagship device. However, based on latest leaks, this will not stand for too long as Chinese smartphone manufacturer Meizu is already gearing to release the successor of the Pro 6. Recent leaks reveal that the Meizu Pro 7 will sport a curved display design and a dual camera setup.



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Meizu fans have been waiting for quite some time already for the company to reveal the details of its upcoming flagship smartphone. Although Meizu has kept silent about the current status of the Pro 7 smartphone, several leaks already revealed some interesting specs of the device.



A newly leaked render reveals that the Meizu Pro 7 will sport a curved display, much like the Galaxy S7 Edge and the Galaxy Note 7 from Samsung, according to Giz China. The Meizu Pro 7's display curves on both sides, and it has a single physical Home button on the bottom part of the device.



Aside from its curved display, the Meizu Pro 7 is rumored to sport a dual camera setup, a camera configuration that is getting a lot of attention lately. Although major smartphone manufacturers like Samsung and Apple are yet to embrace the idea, Chinese smartphone giants like Huawei, and now Meizu, are starting to incorporate the design on their flagship devices.



A previously leaked Antutu benchmark result believed to be that of the Meizu Pro 7 also revealed that the smartphone would feature a 5.7-inch Quad HD display, 4GB of memory, and 32GB of storage space, according to Android Headlines. The Meizu Pro 7 is expected to run on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system with the company's Flyme user interface.



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TagsMeizu, Meizu Pro 7, Meizu Pro 7 smartphone, Meizu Pro 7 specs, Meizu Pro 7 leak, Meizu Pro 7 news, Meizu Pro 7 update, Meizu Pro 7 curved display
Air Force officer faces review over Bible Guest Columnist | 18 August, 2016 by Todd Starnes / Fox News

COLORADO SPRINGS (Christian Examiner)  The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is demanding an Air Force major be "aggressively punished" for having an open Bible on his desk at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"It [the Bible] is very obviously a statement of Christian preference, Christian primacy," MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein told me. "Had that been the Book of Satan or the Koran there would be blood in the freaking streets."

Click here for a free subscription to Todd's American Dispatch: a must-read for Conservatives

He accused Maj. Steve Lewis, a supervisor at the Reserve National Security Space Institute, of "harboring and encouraging a truly abhorrent example of First Amendment civil rights violations."

Mr. Weinstein is a fussy little fellow, isn't he?

Col. Damon Feltman, the commander of the 310th Space Wing, told me they are reviewing the incident involving the Good Book.

"He has removed the Bible voluntarily because he didn't want this to cause attention or disruption to his unit," Col. Feltman said. "I've performed a walk-through of the office and everything seemed to be in compliance with Air Force regulation."

So when will Maj. Lewis be able to return the Bible to his desk?

"I'm waiting on the unit commander's review of the situation before making a final assessment," the colonel said.

He stressed that Air Force personnel are free to exercise their constitutional rights to practice their own religion "as long as it is respectful of other individual's rights to follow their own belief system in ways that support good order and discipline and don't detract from (the) military mission."

"As long as he's not doing something excessive, the existence of a Bible or the Koran or the Torah or some other religious article is not prohibited," Col. Feltman said. "It's what you do with it when you have it."

Weinstein, who earns a paycheck by trying to eradicate Christianity from the Armed Forces, accused Maj. Lewis of committing a "repulsive violation of USAF regulations" as well as the U.S. Constitution.

"It's not his desk," he told me. "That desk belongs to the American people, to the U.S. military. If that desk was in his home or his car it would not be a problem."

Weinstein fired off a nasty, adjective-laden letter to the base commander after receiving complaints from 33 unnamed Air Force personnel.

"We have 33 very scared Air Force families," Weinstein told me.

Just a brief aside: If those Air Force personnel are terrified of a Bible  how in the world will they be able to muster the courage to fight the enemy?

Click here to read the book that's driving liberals nuts  "God Less America."

Apparently one of Weinstein's gentle snowflakes managed to conquer his fear long enough to sneak up on the open Bible and take several photographs  which were then submitted as evidence.

"Major Lewis has created an around-the-clock Christian Bible Shrine on his official USAF workstation desk that has been in prominent static display for years," Weinstein said. "The pages in his open Bible on his USAF desk never change, ever."

One of the airmen who reached out to Weinstein complained that the officer's Bible is a "blatant case of Christian defiance and Christian discrimination."

"I am intimidated by the display, and I am a practicing Christian," the unnamed airman wrote. "This open Bible is discrimination at the highest level."

The airman went on to say that he wasn't just offended by the Bible  he was "outrageously offended."

Travis Weber, the director of the Center for Religious Liberty at Family Research Council, said every service member has a right to the free exercise of religion.

"It should be beyond clear that they are protected by the Constitution, statutory authority and regulations," Weber told me.

He pointed to a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces that reaffirmed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act "applies in the military context."

"Men and women signing up to defend our country do not give up this right  especially when, of all things, they are fighting to defend the very Constitution which contains this protection," Weber said.

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin said the problem is that militant secularists see the Bible as a threat.

"Indeed it is a powerful weapon, but it is not a threat to America," he said. "The military should be focused on the real threats to this nation."

For the record, there is no evidence that any of Weinstein's clients spontaneously combusted or converted after glancing at the Holy Bible.

Published at toddstarnes.com and used with permission
Biographer claims Bush was religious zealot, fulfilling prophecy by invading Iraq 18 August, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |

AUSTIN, Texas (Christian Examiner)  A distinguished professor of history, legal scholar and national security expert is blasting the "specious judgments" and "negligent research" of a new biography that depicts former president George W. Bush as a religious zealot who wanted to invade Iraq to fulfill God's plans for the world.

Wil Inboden, executive director of the William P. Clements Jr. Center for National Security at the University of Texas at Austin and associate professor at the LBJ School for Public Affairs, writes at Foreign Policy that Bush, by Jean Edward Smith, is "so replete with factual errors and specious judgments that an extended set of corrections and remonstrances seems warranted for the sake of the historical record."

Inboden should know. He worked at the U.S. State Department and National Security Agency for five years during Bush's administration.

Cautiously optimistic at first, Inboden said in his unusually lengthy essay about Smith's biography that he based his optimism on Smith's earlier biographies on presidents including Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

"Informed readers will know that the primary tools that we historians bring to our craft are original research  most often in archives, and sometimes through interviews in the case of more recent history  and the passage of time, which cools partisan passions and lends perspective and insight. Smith avails himself of neither of these tools."

In general, Inboden writes, the book creates a "profoundly distorted caricature" of Bush based on the author's poor research, faulty accounts of the events that took place, and "wildly implausible judgments."

But, in particular, it is the claim that Bush was obsessed with an apocalyptic view of his invasion of Iraq  the view of a "warmongering religious zealot"  that should be resoundingly rebuked.

In the biography, Inboden writes, Smith recounts a 2003 phone call between President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac, in which Bush is seeking French support for the invasion of Iraq  after its failure to comply with multiple United Nations resolutions on its WMD program.

According to Smith, citing an unsourced Internet rumor, Bush allegedly told the French president that "Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East."

"This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase His people's enemies before a new age begins," Bush supposedly said. Smith goes on to say that the biblical impetus for the war turned off Chirac to joining the coalition, because it was clear "biblical writings were determining Bush's decision about war in the Middle East."

Inboden's assessment?

"The conversation is utterly and completely false. Bush never said these words to Chirac or anything of the sort to any other world leader. I have checked with multiple senior people with firsthand knowledge of the call Bush had with Chirac, and all confirmed that Bush never said anything remotely resembling those words," Inboden writes.

Inboden also notes that Bush, while he often spoke about his faith in public, never spoke of biblical prophecy in any of his conversations or while making national security decisions.

"Here is the deeper tragedy of Smith's book. Having spent many hours reading secondary sources on Bush, Smith never developed enough of a familiarity with the man to intuit that the Chirac story did not ring true. Rather, it seems that Smith's partisan contempt for Bush so distorted his perceptions that he became willing to believe even the most outlandish fabrications about Bush  as long as they were negative and conformed to Smith's biases," Inboden claims.

Inboden also writes that Smith makes other mistakes in the biography, from the location of Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch to his position as a twice elected Republican governor of Texas. Smith claims Bush was the first (he was not the first, or the second).

In addition to the inadequate research, Smith seems to have a particular disdain for Christians. He claims Bush was the only candidate to publicly declare himself a "born-again Christian" in the 2000 presidential primaries. The claim is false, as both Elizabeth Dole and Gary Bauer were also running.

Smith even criticizes Bush's invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by al Qaeda. He calls the Afghan war a "war of choice" and a "war of aggression." The author even says Bush sought no alternative to war in Afghanistan, when  in fact  he did, according to Inboden.

Bush offered the Taliban a chance to give up al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, but they refused.

"As such, Bush's consequent decision to pursue military action against the Taliban-al Qaeda regime was entirely justified on strategic, legal, and moral grounds, endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, affirmed by NATO, authorized by overwhelming bipartisan votes in Congress, and supported by virtually the entire body politic of the American people," Inboden writes.

He then critiques the claim that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were part of Bush's effort to reshape the world by expanding Christian territory, "structuring another Crusade against the evildoers of the Muslim world."

Inboden instead claims the only goal was to defeat the enemy. If more jihadists joined the fight against the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan, they would also be decimated. The strategy was to draw them out and give them a place to fight  a sort of "flypaper effect," as Inboden calls it.

He then cites Bush's efforts to work in and with the Muslim community to fight against terrorism, determined "to avoid the sordid mistake F.D.R. had made in interning Japanese-Americans during World War II." Smith ignores this fact, Inboden writes.

Inboden holds a Ph.D, in history from Yale University. In addition to his roles at the LBJ School and the Clements Center, he is an associate scholar with Georgetown University's Religious Freedom Project. He also worked previously as a State Department advisor to the Office of International Religious Freedom.

He is the author of Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945-60: The Soul of Containment (Cambridge University Press).
Group demands removal of Bible from desk on Air Force base, punishment of Christian officer 18 August, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |

COLORADO SPRINGS (Christian Examiner)  The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) is demanding that an Air Force officer who displayed an open Bible at his work station at Peterson Air Force Base, as well as his superior who allowed it, be "swiftly, visibly and aggressively punished" for the display.

In a letter to Col. Damon Feltman, commander of 310th Space Wing, MRFF's president Mikey Weinstein, himself a former Air Force officer, wrote that Maj. Steve Lewis has kept the open Bible "replete with yellow-highlighted verses" on his desk for years  and that carries the imprimatur of the official's endorsement of Christianity.

Weinstein, who claims his organization is protecting the military against a right-wing, Christian fundamentalist takeover, said the open Bible is an "egregious" violation of the Constitution and Air Force regulations which prohibit personnel from imposing their views on others. He also called it "a brazen display of sectarian Christian triumphalism and exceptionalism" that threatens to destroy the morale and discipline of the unit.

According to MRFF, 33 Air Force personnel  some Christian  contacted the foundation to seek its assistance after the officer directly over Maj. Davis (Col. Lisa Johnson) did not order the Bible removed after several of them complained in a unit "climate survey" that they felt threatened by the display. That inaction also constituted a command endorsement of the display, Weinstein claims.

Weinstein also wrote there would immediately be "limitless, overflowing blood in the streets" if  instead of a Bible displayed at the desk  there was a different sectarian work open and highlighted, such as the Satanic Bible, the Quran, or any one of several atheist texts by Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens.

"Can you seriously not see MRFF's crystal clear, rational and reasonable point here, Colonel Feltman?" Weinstein asked in the letter.

After Col. Feltman's receipt of the mercurial complaint from Weinstein, the Bible was removed from the desk, though it isn't clear if an order was given to Maj. Davis or if it was removed by a superior officer. Col. Feltman has also ordered an internal investigation into the matter to resolve the issue.

Feltman told the Colorado Springs Independent that Air Force officers have a right to the free exercise of their religious beliefs under Department of Defense policy, but that exercise has to be conducted in the right way  "within boundaries."

Personnel, he said, have "freedom to be left alone."

"It's finding the right balance. The challenge of the commander is to be sure both people are treated fairly," Col. Feltman told the paper.

Col. Feltman also said his command would take corrective action if the "display" was out of line with Air Force regulations governing the free exercise of religion.

The commander did, however, address Weinstein's claim that blood would flow "in the streets" if another religious text other than the Bible was on display. He said an airman who had a Muslim holy book or a Satanic book would be allowed to "display and read it as long as they're not proselytizing, trying to entice someone to their particular viewpoint."
SHOCK! On teaching boys to be men - instead of momma's boys Guest Columnist | 18 August, 2016 by Todd Starnes / Fox News

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Christian Examiner)  Let's say your tenth-grader forgets his lunch. So you receive a telephone call at work.

"Mom, I left my baloney sandwich on the kitchen counter," he tells you. "Can you bring it to me, pretty please?"

Click here to join Todd's American Dispatch: a must-read for Conservatives!

So, what would you do? I'd be willing to bet a Moonpie that many parents would drop everything and rush to the school to personally deliver their little snowflake's brown bag lunch.

But that sort of coddling is not allowed at Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock, Arkansas. As a matter of fact  it's outright banned.

Catholic High School prides itself on teaching reading, writing, arithmetic and problem-solving.

"Come, Boys, so that you can become men," is their challenge  engraved in a monument attached to the school's bricks.

There's also a big sign plastered on the front door  a message to moms and dads:

"If you are dropping off your son's forgotten lunch, books, homework, equipment, etc., please turn around and exit the building. Your son will learn to problem-solve in your absence."

Brilliant!

Those Catholic school educators don't mess around.

Click here to read the book that's driving liberals nuts  "God Less America."

The school also posted the message on Facebook  and as they say  it's gone viral. Television station KARK reports the posting has been shared tens of thousands of times.

And parents from coast to coast are giving the Catholics a thumbs-up for teaching boys about self-reliance and personal responsibility.

 "This is beyond awesome! I find it hilarious that anyone's bellyaching about a Catholic school encouraging parents to cut the umbilical cord and force their kids to develop self-reliance."

 "Treating your high schooler son like a baby will make him soft and weak."

 "It's called learning through natural consequences. A child doesn't learn responsibility when mommy or daddy comes running to the rescue."

 "Those Catholics are one tough bunch."

 "You can't learn responsibility always depending on someone else."

But not everyone was thrilled with the school's methods.

 "This is disgusting."

 "Surely this is just a suggestion and not a rule. No way, no how would any school person tell me what I could or could not bring to my child."

 "If a school refused me being able to bring a forgotten lunch or a book he left because he was in a rush, I would find a more understanding school."

Personal responsibility and self-reliance are lessons that seem to be lost in public schools  where children are coddled.

Catholic High School teaches young boys how to become men  instead of momma's boys.

This article published at toddstarnes.com and used with permission
Woman shot and left for dead fights back 17 August, 2016 by Philip Timothy/Louisiana Message , |

JACKSON, Miss. (The Message)  'What an awesome God we serve' is such a simple yet profound statement.

Shane and Kelly Kiper Longoria can attest to it.

In mid-July, 22-year-old Kelly was abducted at a convenience store on her way to work, shot in the head by her assailant and left for dead in a Winnsboro graveyard.

When she was airlifted to the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit at Jackson Memorial in Jackson, Miss., the doctors told the family the chances were very high Kelly would not make it as they could not remove the bullet. They were concerned what the adverse effects would be by leaving the bullet.

Word quickly spread about the tragedy and people immediately began to pray. The prayer chain began slowly, just in the community, but it quickly expanded through family and friends to small groups, Sunday school classes and entire congregations. In less than two days, hundreds and then thousands were lifting the couple up in prayer.

"So many people know Shane and Kelly. They are both great kids ... well liked and well loved. And, so many people know Miss Lisa (Lisa Kiper is Kelly's mother) and the Kiper family," said Craig Beeman, pastor of First Baptist Church in Winnsboro. "They, especially Lisa and her business, have done so much for so many in this community.

"So I can understand the community rallying around this family, wanting to give back and lifting them up in prayers," said Beeman. "But I am in awe of just how many others  complete strangers  also have joined with us to pray for this family. Wow. This is big ... huge."

And God is answering those prayers like only He can.

"There are Gospel conversations happening at the hospital and in their community," said Ben Hackler, a close friend of the couple and pastor of First Baptist Church Sterlington. "The Gospel is being shared and God is using this situation to show He is still in control.

"The doctors and nurses are the tools and hands of the One that ultimately has the final say in all things," Hackler continued. "And Shane knows exactly where Kelly's healing is coming from. They can feel and sense His power."

Faced with so many obstacles when she was first brought to Jackson Memorial, Kelly has overcome much so far. Since Sunday evening, however, things are rapidly happening and the news has been so encouraging.

Getting off the ventilator, out of ICU and into a private room were three major hurdles.

"The doctors told us the chances of survival were slim," Shane Longoria posted on Facebook. "The Lord had other plans.

"We were in ICU for nine days and were moved to a regular room last night (July 25). She has movement on her right side, she can say simple things, and is completely off of sedation and pain medication," he continued. "The Lord has shown his faithfulness in this whole process. There's a chance we might be in rehab by the end of the week. Her left side is immobile at the moment and she's only making unintentional movements. Pray that her left side is fully restored."

Hackler was able to visit with the couple July 25 and saw first-hand how well Kelly is coming along.

"As part of her therapy, they were getting her to toss and catch a stress ball with her right hand and Shane told her to toss it to me," Hackler said. "I was standing at the end of her bed and she threw it right to me. It was amazing to see.

"She is alert and answers simple questions when asked," he said. "Every day she makes small strides ... baby steps. She is getting better and stronger."

For the first time since the shooting, Kelly spoke Shane's and Lisa's name Tuesday, July 26. On that same day, she was able to stand up with assistance, brushed her teeth, and even ate a couple bites of pudding. She is working well with physical and speech therapy.

"I've heard it said the greatest sound a human can hear is their name from the person they love the most," Shane posted on Facebook. "We have a long road ahead, but today has been a great day."

Kelly's mother posted this to Facebook, "She said "mama" yesterday ....made my heart smile! She makes gestures with her hands ("I love you", "bye", "a little bit", thumbs up, and so on.) Praise God!"

Kelly's story has captured the hearts of thousands and so many are lifting them up in prayer and longing for any news they can get on her progress.

"They are aware people are concerned about them and they feel the love and prayers," Hackler said. "It is overwhelming right now but they are strong in their faith and believe in God's healing power. In due time, they want to thank everyone and tell their story. Right now, though, they need their privacy. I am thankful I was able to get to see them and I am especially thankful I was able to pray for them before I left."

Beeman said he is proud the way the community has pulled together and rallied around the family but not surprised.

"It matters not what denomination," he said. "People are praying ... people are doing. This tragedy is helping the community realize what is important and that is God. What is huge is the fact so many people are acknowledging the power of God and He is in control of the situation."

Last Sunday, July 24, Beeman called the congregation to the altar to pray for God's continued blessings on the family.

"The altar was filled," said Beeman. "The situation, while tragic, has made a huge impact on people. I have only seen this type of outpouring of faith and prayer once before. It is amazing to watch and to be a part of something like this."

While many in Winnsboro are standing behind her in prayer, others, including First Winnsboro, plan on donating gas cards, cards for meals and other gift cards to help the family.

A 'gofundme' account has been set up. T-shirts are being sold and there are numerous bake sales taking place daily throughout the community and the parish with the proceeds going to Kelly and her family during this time. The most popular item is a wrist band that simply says "Pray for Kelly." The account had collected $15,130 of a $1 as of Aug. 17.

Still, what the couple covets the most is continued prayer.

"They have no idea how long it will take before Kelly can come home," said Hackler. "It could be six months. It could be a year. No one, except God, really knows. We all need to pray for continued healing, strength and discernment for Shane and Lisa and God's continued blessing on this family."

This post on Facebook by Kayla Giska Whatley seems to sum it up best.

"Her life is a miracle of God and her progress is remarkable," Whatley posted on Facebook. "Please keep praying, and we will continue to give God all the glory! We can't wait to see what God has in store for Kelly and Shane."

UPDATE: Shane Longoria published a blog post August 12 which he said is evidence of "how God can move in the middle of what seems like a hopeless situation."

After doctors first asking why his wife was alive, Shane said he's not sure he will ever understand what has occured, but this is what he has experienced:

"This is what I know. 27 days later, my wife is walking. 27 days later, my wife is moving the left side that the doctors said may never move again. 27 days later, her beautiful smile and contagious laugh are back. 27 days later, my wife is telling me she loves me. 27 days later, my wife is alive."

This article first published in The (Louisiana) Baptist Message and used with permission. With additional reporting by Joni B. Hannigan, Christian Examiner.
Anglican churches in South Africa are considering blessing same-sex marriages. The issue will be discussed in the church's upcoming synod next month.

ChristianToday.com reports that the motion to allow same-sex marriages within the church was proposed by the Diocese of Saldanha Bay. The motion would not fully embrace and encourage same-sex unions, but would welcome same-sex couples into the church, would equip church leaders to minister to them, and would offer prayers of blessing for such couples.

The Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, said that the proposal affirms the assurance already given by our bishops that church members who identify as LGBTI are loved by God and share in full membership of our Church as baptised members of the Body of Christ.

Makgoba admitted that this is a controversial issue, but that it must be discussed:

"Without anticipating what Synod will decide, this debate is overdue in the top councils of our Church, and I welcome it, he stated.

The Anglican Church of South Africa (ACSA) is generally more liberal than Anglican churches in other African nations. The upcoming synod, however, governs church law in other African countries besides South Africa.

Publication date: August 18, 2016
We want to be a church that represents the city, a church that reflects the diversity of the city, says Pastor Charles Choe of Tapestry LA.

Tapestry LA is a church of about 400 members located in Los Angeles, CA that was started in July 2014.

Were mostly Korean Americans and Chinese-Americans, but there is a growing non-Asian population, Choe said, adding that becoming more multicultural is the goal. I would say were about 80 percent Asian, and 20 percent non-Asian right now.

Choe had long encountered people from diverse backgrounds throughout his career, though he hadnt always served in a multiethnic context. Previously, he served in a Korean American church, but he had also been bi-vocational for quite some time as he worked as a teacher in the inner city for 10 years. This not only exposed him to diverse people ethnically, but also socioeconomically. He saw the needs of the city.

One of the things I have a passion for is being a city church, much like Tim Kellers model, Choe expressed. L.A. is the most densely populated region west of the Mississippi, and I felt like God was strategically placing us here.

Choe said he hopes he and the members of Tapestry could become a church for the city by embodying three values: first as a family member of the church; second as a missionary both locally and globally; and third as a servant by reflecting the servanthood of Jesus.

When it comes to teaching members about these values of the church, Choe acknowledged that people are at different levels. In order to accommodate these differences, the church hosts an informational meeting for newcomers every month called Tapestry Connect, during which they go over these values and explain what it means to be a member of the church. Also, for one week in January at the start of the new year, the church spends a week fasting together. Following that week marks the beginning of Tapestrys discipleship training which is organized into two different tracks based on the material used in the program: Alpha, a 12-week course for new believers, and Experiencing God, a 15-week course for a more intense training.

Its during the 15 weeks of the Experiencing God discipleship track that Choe elaborates on the three values of family member, missionary, and servant, and tries to impart the values of the church to the members.

During these sessions, I would talk about everything that this church values, the DNA that we want them to have, Choe said. This discipleship course is basically a chance for us to talk about the things we value as a church and to impart the things that I believe are important for them as disciples. I teach on these values and I hope that people are convicted to practice them.

Of these values, the value of servanthood is the one which Choe hopes his congregants will live out as they interact with the neighboring community and serve the city in practical ways. He and the church leaders try to provide opportunities for the members to practice that servanthood on a regular basis.

One of the most regular ways the church reaches out to people in the community is by going out to the Westlake area in Los Angeles once every month, engaging with strangers, and asking if they would like to be prayed over, an outreach that the church calls Love Westlake. Choe and Tapestry LAs leaders also encourage the members to walk to lunch on Sundays to support local businesses, and make the churchs presence known as the members become regulars at surrounding restaurants.

Tapestry LA also holds an annual school supply drive to provide new school supplies to children whose families may not be able to afford buying new supplies for them each year.

The church has also been in touch with the local government. Choe said he reached out to Los Angeles City Council Member Gilbert Cedillo to let him know that the church is in his district, and Tapestry LA has worked with the Los Angeles Housing Project on low-income housing projects.

For one of our projects with the LAHP, one of our members who is a chef went to one of the low-income housing buildings once every month. She would cook in the first floor kitchen and invite the people in the community to join, and taught them how to cook healthy meals, Choe said. Some of our other church members also came along and volunteered.

Choe described one of the proudest moments he has had as the pastor of Tapestry LA; a time when the church partnered with a non-profit called Aztec Rising to hold a taco social with gang members in the community.

There were 12 gang members at the social, and I didnt think many of our church members would show up but actually about 300 of our members were there, he said. I had a chance to shake hands with the gang members and give them Bibles. And I remember thinking, This is what it means to be a part of Westlake.

We talk a lot about what it means to be a city church in our sermons, Choe explained. That means were here not to plunder the city, but to bless it. We cant be suburbanites who simply go to church in the city. We have to engage the people who live here, and really be a part of the community.
If you heard a Christian rap song over the past 15 years and thought, That sounds like a hit, theres a good chance DJ Official was involved.

Since 2001, the hip-hop artist acted as a pioneering DJ and producer for two of the genres best-known labels, Cross Movement Records and Reach Records. He collected Stellar, Dove, and Grammy Awards by crafting songs for artists like Lecrae, Da T.R.U.T.H., Flame, Shai Linne, Tedashii, Ambassador, and Urban D.

DJ Official, whose real name was Nelson Chu, left this world Sunday, dying at age 39 due to complications from a recent double lung transplant. After being diagnosed with multiple myeloma six years ago, Chu cycled between serious health issues and crowdfunded treatments. The collaborators, fellow artists, and fans who rallied around his music also became his biggest supporters throughout his illness.

Weeks after posting prayers for Chus July 30 surgery, the heartbroken Christian hip-hop community shared their condolences for the beloved DJ, who leaves behind a wife and two daughters.

Many dont realize DJ Official was one of my biggest advocates when I first started. He made sure my music was heard, Lecrae said in Reachs post on his passing. On Instagram, Lecrae wrote, I wouldnt be here without @DJOfficialDJ #restinparadise we miss you.

DJ Official, nicknamed Fish, helped shape the Christian hip-hop sound and raise the quality of production to what its become today. He leaves behind a massive legacy: a music ministry career that bridged generations, credits on nearly 160 hip-hop songs that exalted Jesus, and a spirit that embodied a Job-like faith in Gods will.

Fish began ...

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I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up.
More than 120,000 same-sex couples have tied the knot since the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide last year. (The number of American weddings in 2014, by comparison, was more than 2.1 million.)

For preachers, requests to officiate a same-sex wedding remain rare. Just 11 percent of the 1,000 Protestant senior pastors surveyed by LifeWay Research have been asked to perform a same-sex wedding.

Baptist pastors (1%) are the least likely to say they were asked to perform a same-sex wedding. Presbyterian/Reformed pastors (26%) are most likely. Lutherans (19%), Methodists (9%), Christian/Church of Christ (7%), and Pentecostals (6%) fall in between.

Overall, pastors who identify as mainline were three times more likely to have been asked than evangelical pastors (18% vs. 6%). Pastors 55 and older (14%) are twice as likely to have been asked than those 54 and younger (7%).

And those who have a Masters degree (13%) are twice as likely to be asked than those with a Bachelors ...

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home World Christians in Egypt defy ban on public protests to fight for their rights

Egyptian Christians defied the ban on public protests and took to the streets in Cairo on Saturday to demand their equal rights as citizens in the predominantly Muslim country.

Some three dozen Christian demonstrators held signs demanding for their legal rights as they stood defiantly outside a courthouse in downtown Cairo.

"I am an Egyptian citizen above all," Michael Armanious, one of the protestors, told AP. "We pay taxes, we serve in the army, we are dealing with all the same economic problems in Egypt with the rest of our countrymen, why should we have fewer rights?"

Coptic Christians, who make up 10 to 15 percent of the country's 90 million population of Islamist majority, become victims of unprovoked sectarian attacks. This prompted Coptic Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria to meet with the state's lawmakers last month to speak out against the increased attacks and urge for national unity.

He cited a report that revealed 37 cases of sectarian attacks against the Coptic Christian minorities since 2013 which averaged to one incident in every month.

"The incidents we heard about are very painful. On my part, I'm patient and enduring, but there have been incidents that warn of danger," a Coptic Church statement quoted the 63-year-old leader of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church as saying, according to the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA).

Parliamentarian Saad El-Gamal, also the head of the Support Egypt coalition, responded by reporting that the religion committee already undertook to draft a legislation which would recognize such sectarian attacks as "crimes against national unity."

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who enjoys the support of the Coptic Christians, also met with the Coptic Pope and praised the Coptic citizens for proving their "wisdom and a spirit of patriotism" despite the attacks by those who "try to exploit religion as a means of fomenting division and spreading extremist ideas." Sisi declared all citizens regardless of religion "have equal rights and duties as established by the Constitution."
home US Donald Trump vows to defeat ISIS by partnering with NATO

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced Monday his plan to partner with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to defeat the Islamic State terrorist group.

Trump spoke at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio where he shared his plan to wage a "military, cyber and financial" war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS or Daesh) militant group by tying up with defense organization.

"We will also work closely with NATO on this new mission," said Trump, according to Reuters. "We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism just as we have defeated every threat we've faced at every age and before."

As president, Trump he'll not just use his presidential powers to impose immigration ban on Muslims but also to intensify the screening process by ordering the U.S. State Department and Department of Homeland Security to screen out regions across the globe that posed a terrorist threat to America.

He also blamed President Barack Obama for tolerating the rise of the extremist group and undermined his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as incapable of launching the war on terrorism.

"Importantly, she also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS and all of the many adversaries we face," said Trump.

Clinton's camp shot back by criticizing Trump's plan as "a cynical ploy to escape scrutiny of his outrageous proposal to ban an entire religion from our country and no one should fall for it."

The conservative group American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) also blamed Obama for failing to carry out concrete steps against the radical terrorism and for undercutting its real threats.

ACLJ presented five concrete "common-sense steps" to destroy ISIS and Islamic jihadists. This includes naming the enemy for what it truly is, fixing broken intelligence as shown by the FBI's failure to recognize radicalized American citizens, ramping up undercover stings to further recognize local jihadists, enforcing full-on military force and urging the U.S. Congress to add the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in its War on Terror.
home World Hong Kong Christian student activist Joshua Wong acquitted

Joshua Wong, one of the student leaders for Hong Kong's pro-democracy Umbrella Movement in 2014, avoided jail sentence after a court found him guilty of unlawful assembly.

The Eastern Magistrates' Court did not sentence the 19-year-old Christian activist on Monday of five years imprisonment, but instead, handed him a punishment of doing 80 hours community service, according to the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP).

Wong confirmed on social media the court's sentence as well as his continued commitment to the cause.

"I will not regret for my commitment in the Umbrella Movement," Wong tweeted.

He also admitted during a live Facebook broadcast Sunday evening that he, along with other members of the Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism (HKFS), planned their forced entry at the Civic Square and "knew what was going to happen before taking action."

"We were prepared to bear legal consequences after participating in civil resistance," HKFP quoted Wong as saying.

He also claimed he's been passing around pamphlets for the Legislative Council elections on Sept. 4. Wong and 23-year-old Nathan Law, who headed HKFP with 25-year-old Alex Chow, formed the political party Demosisto.

The court also sentenced Law with 120 hours of community service for the unlawful assembly while Chow received a three-week sentence and a one-year suspension for incitement.

The student leaders mobilized thousands to a peaceful sit-in on Sept. 26, 2014 that lasted for 79 days to protest the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress's motion ruling to screen out presidential candidates. This allowed China to interfere in the nation's universal suffrage.

Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, condemned Hong Kong as one that "increasingly resembles that of their counterparts in Beijing" and that the prosecution for the student leaders of "should unnerve anyone who cares about the fate of basic rights in Hong Kong."

Wong pointed to his Christian faith in his ongoing fight for political justice.

"The Bible teaches us that we need to fight for justice, and Christians bear the responsibility to be salt and light in society," Wong told Christian Today. "We have more obligation and a more important role in the world other than being just a normal citizen in society who wants to earn money."
home US Louisiana flood victims offered relief from local churches

Several churches in Louisiana canceled worship services to extend assistance to flood victims while one local church paid back its community by serving as a designated relief center.

The state of Louisiana suffered Aug. 11 more than 12 inches of flood water in just eight hours. According to the Weather Station, the calamity resulted from the combination of tropical moisture and low-pressure area, which it described as "like an inland tropical depression." It added that the heavy rainfall in the southeast parts of Louisiana exceeded the amount of rain that's fallen in other U.S. cities over the past recent years.

The First Methodist of Denham Springs saw this historic flooding as their "time to pay it forward." The local church survived various calamities in the past such as flooding in the 1920s, fire in the 1970s and another fire in 2011. Since then, it positioned itself on the forefront of providing assistance to its supportive community.

The Red Cross designated the church on Aug. 12 as a relief and staging area for the south Louisiana flooding.

"Our church quickly did the work to position itself as a disaster relief center as a way to pay it forward. In the fall of 2014, we arranged to become a local Red Cross shelter," Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church quoted Rev. Jacqueline King as saying.

Rev. King also spoke of the selfless acts of his church members.

"Some of the church members themselves are dealing with their own flooding issues; either in their subdivisions or homes," he said. "Yet, they've risen from those challenges to help. I couldn't be more proud. It is difficult and challenging but so incredibly rewarding to be the hands and feet of Christ."

According to KPEL, several church leaders decided to cancel both their Saturday and Sunday services because of the flooding in Acadiana. These churches include Crossroads Church, Faith Lutheran Church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and First Presbyterian Church.
home World New militant group suspected in Congo sectarian attacks, killing of 36 Christians

At least 36 Christians, possibly more, died from Saturday's sectarian attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo suspected to be carried out by a new yet unknown militant group.

According to World Watch Monitor, a rising jihadist group, other than the infamous Islamist militia Allied Democratic Forces-National Association for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU), might be behind the attack on the Rwangoma village, near the town of Beni, considered the deadliest sectarian attack since November 2014. The suspected new rebel group tied up their victims and hacked them to death.

Omar Kavota, executive director of the Centre of Study for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy, and Human Rights, reportedly said that sources accounted the dead to be at 50.

Meanwhile, Congo's military points the blame to the ADF and suspects that the attack might have been carried out as retaliation for the recent military operations in the area. Congolese President Joseph Kabila declared the successive three days since Saturday night's massacre as national days of mourning.

Hundreds of Beni residents reportedly took to protest afterward to decry Kabila's failure to prevent the massacre and protect the people. The crime happened only three days after Kabila visited the region and vowed to ensure peace and security.

"We do not understand why this is happening to us," a local pastor named Jean told an aid worker for Open Doors International (ODI). "The rebels just take people into the bush to kill them or kidnap them. They attack one place for a while and cause people to run away. Then they strike the places people run to."

A local pastor named Awuzo described how he and his wife with their seven children keep going back and forth from their home to an Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp.

"When it is [tense], we are forced to leave, and when things get calm we return," Awuzo said. "That's how we live now. We are always alert, always ready to leave at a moment's notice."
home US Thousands of Christians gather in Oklahoma to rival Satanic 'Black Mass'

Christians in Oklahoma City Monday night gathered together in masses and prayer rallies to rival a Satanic black mass event held simultaneously inside a public building.

The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property led local Christians to a large prayer rally outside the Civic Center Music Hall, where the satanic Dakhma of Angra Mainyu or Church of Ahriman held its ceremony called The Consumption of Mary, attended by a small group.

"I came down here today to not really protest the satanic mass, but to represent my father, Jesus Christ," Lyndon Price told Fox25.

Hundreds of Christians also showed up during a mass service held by the local Catholic Church on the lawns outside the small theater.

"What the Satanists are doing is a public offense to God and a public offense requires a public act of reparation and atonement," attendee Brian McCall said.

Thousands of diverse Christians took on Oklahoma Archbishop Paul Coakley's invitation to the Unity Prayer Service and Walk to counter the satanic event, which also fell on the day of the feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven.

Religious leaders from the local Roman Catholic Archdiocese, Southern Baptist, United Methodist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, non-denominational, Presbyterian and Pentecostal Holiness walked in unity with the crowd from the "Jesus Wept" statue at St. Joseph Old Cathedral to the First United Methodist Church in Oklahoma.

They prayed the rosary, sang the songs "Amazing Grace" and "Victory in Jesus" and shouted "Hallelujah!"

"We are all brothers and sisters unified in peace and in prayer. It is why we are here today to stand against evil," Rev. William Novak of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, told NewsOK.

Adam Daniels, a registered sex offender and religious leader of the satanic church, blamed the simultaneous Christian events for the low attendance of the black mass ceremony.

"When you have the whole Roman legion out there, how likely are they to come and buy tickets?" Daniels told Fox25.
home US More Christian refugees have entered the U.S. than any other religion over past decade, says State Dept. data

State Department data has suggested that Christian refugees ranked top of a list among those entering the country and resettling in the United States over the past decade.

According to the international relief and development agency World Relief, the State Department Refugee Processing Center accounted that Christians made up 46.5 percent of refugees who resettled in the U.S. from Jan. 1, 2006 to Dec. 31, 2015. That's 291,285 Christians in contrast to 192,606 Muslims, 52,423 Hindus, and 43,044 Buddhists.

These numbers come in contrast to the 35 Christians among the 7,551 Syrian refugees admitted to the country more recently, according to the CNS News.

Rights activist Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom in Washington, also accused the U.S. of being "absolutely indifferent" and that it doesn't want to be labeled a "crusader army" as it "keeps its distance from oppressed Christian minorities."

Matthew Soerens, the U.S. director of church mobilization for World Relief, refuted such claims stemming from the fact that the current government under President Barack Obama took in more Muslims than Christians among the Syrian refugees.

Soerens explained that the U.S. started taking in Syrian refugees even before the Islamic State came into the picture and started attacking Christians. He also added that the vetting process for refugees takes 18 months.

"What we are seeing with ISIS now, that didn't exist in 2011," Soerens told The Christian Post in last week's interview. "I would expect to see the number of Christians increase over time. But they are in this pipeline of vetting."

The co-author of the book "Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis" also pointed out that the U.S. resettled refugees in Turkey or Jordan instead of Lebanon, where many Syrian Christians fled to, and that it relied on referrals from the United Nations. Again, the Syrian Christians stayed away from the U.N. refugee camps.

"I think it would appropriate to look at if Christians are being excluded," said Soerens. "If they are vulnerable and meet the definition of a refugee, we should make sure that they are included. If there are problems in that process, that is something that needs to be looked at."
Australia ends 'Pacific Solution' for refugees

Australia ended on Friday its controversial policy of sending asylum seekers into often-lengthy detention on small Pacific island nations, with the last refugees leaving Nauru to live in Australia.



Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who won victory for centre-left Labor in November, fought the election on a pledge to end the heavily-criticised "Pacific Solution", introduced by the former conservative government in 2001 to turn back boatpeople after almost 5,000 arrived the year before.



"This is the end of a long and fairly painful chapter in Australian asylum policy and practice," said Richard Towle, the regional head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).



Former Prime Minister John Howard introduced the policy in late 2001, splitting the nation between critics and supporters, after a standoff involving 439 mostly-Afghan refugees blocked from landing in Australia by special forces soldiers.



The Afghans had been rescued at sea by a Norwegian freighter, the MV Tampa, after their fishing vessel sank in international waters en route to Australia.



During the next six years, more than 1,300 asylum seekers were processed on Nauru, while others were sent to Manus Island in Papua New Guinea in return for millions of dollars in aid from Australia's government.



But the policy was criticised by the UNHCR and Amnesty International, who both accused Australia of breaching its responsibilities under international refugee conventions.



Rudd's Labor said the policy had wasted more than A$300 million (138 million pounds) since its introduction and shut the door on it with the departure of 21 Sri Lankan refugees for settlement in Australia.



"We're delighted that Nauru finally will have no more refugees on it from now on," the UN's Towle told local radio.



Canberra said it would retain a tough border policy through a purpose-built detention centre on remote Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean between Australia and Indonesia.



Nauru's cash-strapped government has asked Australia to increase aid to make up for the blow to its economy caused by the loss of income from the detention centre.
Australian state leader offers to house stranded asylum seekers

The premier of Western Australia state, a member of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Liberal Party, has offered to accept refugees from Australian-funded detention centres amid growing concern about conditions for the 1,350 people held in the camps.

Under Australian law, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to asylum seeker camps on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru or to Manus Island off Papua New Guinea. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia.

Australia and Papua New Guinea said on Wednesday that they would close the Manus Island facility, but gave no timeline, and did not say where the people held there would be sent.

"We would certainly accommodate a number of them in Western Australia and we'd certainly support them as a state government," Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Wednesday night.

Barnett has taken a similar position in the past, and his stand demonstrated a rare public split in the conservative Liberal Party over the government's controversial detention policy.

A spokeswoman for New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Thursday said that an offer made in 2013 to accept 150 refugees, which Canberra has rebuffed, still stood.

Harsh conditions and reports of rampant abuse at the camps have drawn wide criticism at home and abroad. Australia says its hardline policy is needed to stop deaths at sea during the dangerous boat journey from Indonesia to Australia.

Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on Thursday stood by the government's policy ruling out settling the detainees in a third country, casting doubt over the fate of the remaining 850 refugees on Manus and 500 in Nauru.

"It's never been about tearing down the fences, it's about what to do with the people trapped behind them," Daniel Webb, director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Center, told Reuters.

"There's absolute clarity about what should happen but no clarity whatsoever about what will happen."

There are no plans to close the Nauru camp, which is under renewed scrutiny after a newspaper published leaked documents detailing reports of more than 2,000 incidents of sexual abuse, assault and attempted self-harm, many involving children.

News of the closure of the Manus Island facility did not immediately generate much hope amongst the refugees there, many of whom have spent years in detention and suffer from mental health issues.

"Everybody is tired, people think this news will make us happy but everyone is same like before," Kurdish Iranian refugee Benham Satah told Reuters from Manus Island.

"I want to believe there is something good happening but I can't. I just focus on seeing tomorrow."

The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court ruled in April that the detention center at Manus was illegal and ordered it closed. Next week it will hold a hearing into what progress has been made.

Webb, the lawyer, said that Australia may have announced the closure of Manus Island as a means of deflecting the court's attention from the lack of progress it has made in implementing the ruling.

Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish Iranian journalist and refugee, pleaded with Australia to recognize the court's decision and facilitate the refugees' resettlement.

"We don't know what will happen on the next step and this is a big torture for us," he told Reuters from Manus Island.

"We are really tired from their political games with our souls and bodies and need to start a normal life."
Choudary conviction proves 'dangerous' counter-terror laws are not needed, say free speech campaigners

The conviction of Anjem Choudary is proof the government's counter-extremism plans are unnecessary, according to free speech campaigners who have labelled the proposals as "dangerous".

The Defend Free Speech coalition unites the normally polarised The Christian Institute and The National Secular Society to oppose home office policy targeting non-violent extremism. The campaign warn the proposals will target legitimate people who have not broken the law.

Simon Calvert, campaign director of Defend Free Speech and deputy director of The Christian Institute, said the successful conviction of hate preacher Choudary proves the government already has legislation to prosecute extremists.

Calvert said: "But what this case does not demonstrate is why the Government needs yet another law, which will be so widely drawn as to potentially criminalise many ordinary people who hold traditional or strong views.

"As we have already highlighted, this could include pro and anti-religious groups, trade unionists and environmental campaigners. Indeed we have already seen police urging teachers to report on parents who go to anti-fracking protests."

Choudary was watched by counter-terrorism for almost 20 years staying "just within the law" before he was finally arrested in 2014. He was convicted of inviting support for ISIS and will be sentenced to up to 10 years in jail on September 5.

David Anderson QC, a legal expert and the government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said the length of time it took to arrest Choudary showed there was "room for improvement" in the UK's counter-terror laws.

He said the law had "barely touched" Choudary for years.

"We do need to look at what might be done if there are impediments, technical reasons why it's not as easy to get convictions under these laws as it should be."

He told BBC Radio 4 it was "very difficult to craft a law that can clearly distinguish people who are dangerous from people who are simply revolting".

He added: "If you go back 10 or 12 years you had home secretaries saying the criminal justice system is broken, it couldn't deal with terrorism.

"I think we've shown now that that is wrong but of course there is room for improvement."

The government is committed to introducing Extremist Disruption Orders (EDOs) which will clampdown on extreme or hateful speech. Former Chancellor George Osborne said they would "eliminate extremism in all its forms".

He added EDOs would target "harmful activities of extremist individuals who spread hate but do not break laws".

But the Defend Free Speech campaign said the failure to define what constitutes extremism shows means the suggestions are dangerous.

Calvert concluded: "Day by day, the Government's argument for a draconian and invasive law unravels. The complete absence of safeguards, the lack of a clear definition of what is deemed to be extreme, and a plethora of legislation that can already be used against those inciting hatred, promoting violence or encouraging terrorism make the case for ditching this policy all together."
Clinton accused of favouring 'extremist' policies that would 'punish' Catholics

An article by Hillary Clinton in a local Utah newspaper in which she promotes herself as a defender of religious freedom has provoked criticism from Catholics and senior academics in the US.

The Catholic News Agency (CNS) said that the Democratic presidential candidate's article, published last week in the Deseret News, was aimed at the large Mormon population in Utah and skirted over the clash between her party and Catholics on healthcare in Catholic institutions.

"I'm running for president to make sure our country continues to live up to our founding principles. Those timeless ideas teach us that we're stronger together when we work in unison to solve our problems, no matter what we look like, where we come from or how we pray. That last one is important," Clinton wrote. "As Americans, we hold fast to the belief that everyone has the right to worship however he or she sees fit. I've been fighting to defend religious freedom for years. As secretary of state, I made it a cornerstone of our foreign policy to protect the rights of religious minorities around the world  from Coptic Christians in Egypt to Buddhists in Tibet. And along with Jon Huntsman, our then-ambassador in Beijing, I stood in solidarity with Chinese Christians facing persecution from their government."

Thomas Farr, director of the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs told CNS: "Anyone who believes that a President Hillary Clinton will support the religious freedom of Catholic elementary and high schools, colleges, refugee services, adoption agencies, homes for the aged poor, or any other private organization, is making a mistake...Her own words suggest that even churches will not evade her understanding of the kind of 'compelling government interest' that she considers abortion and same-sex marriage to be."

Meanwhile, Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org, claimed that Clinton "favours extremist policies that would punish charities like the Little Sisters of the Poor along with thousands of similar Catholic-inspired charities."

The dispute comes amid a lengthy row between the Church and the Barack Obama administration, which wants Catholic organisations to be included in those that provide coverage of contraception and sterilisation, and some drugs that can cause abortions, alongside ongoing disagreement over the freedom of Catholic adoption agencies to, say, avoid gay adoption.

The row centres on a provision of Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which stated that all insurers will be required to provide "preventive health services", along with the place of religious educational institutions and whether they can gain exemptions from equality legislation.

Burch claimed that Clinton was "hiding" behind the term "freedom of worship" which is non-controversial. "She publicly opposes the long understood definition of religious freedom by hiding behind the euphemism of 'freedom of worship'," he said. "What this means is she supports the freedom of Catholics to pray inside of our churches, at least for now. But once outside we must embrace the orthodoxy of secular anti-Catholic progressives."

Farr, who is also Associate Professor of the Practice of Religion and World Affairs at Georgetown's Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, agreed about the use of the term. "Her use [of it], and its deeper meaning, are quite consistent with her attacks on churches and religious organisations that oppose the progressive agenda of abortion on demand and same-sex marriage," he said. "Last year she told an international conference that religious groups who oppose abortion are going to have to change. Some commitment to religious freedom."

He added of Clinton and Obama: "Their approach was highly rhetorical and programme-poor. Under her watch, the National Security Strategy's discussion of fundamental American values virtually ignored religious freedom". He said that the Clinton State Department "accomplished virtually nothing (other than a few fine speeches and reports) in the arena of religious freedom."

Farr went on: "While there are other reasons for State's ineffectiveness under Secretary Clinton, one is quite clear: it is difficult to sell to others a product which you no longer understand, and in which you do not believe".

CNS said that Utah, where Clinton pitched her argument, is a traditional Republican bastion where most residents are adherents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, colloquially known as Mormons.

However, Clinton could take advantage of Mormons' lack of support for the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Clinton has spoken at length during this presidential campaign about her Christian faith. She has come under fire for softening her party's stance on abortion.
Evangelicals and Catholics oppose Franklin Graham's upcoming appearance in Vancouver

Evangelical and Catholic leaders in Vancouver, Canada, have come together to oppose an upcoming visit by the televangelist Franklin Graham, calling him "incendiary and intolerant" as well as "ungracious and bigoted".

Graham, the son of Billy Graham, is due to participate in a 'Festival of Hope' event next March, which is supported by many of the area's mega-churches, according to the Vancouver Sun.

But a statement from five prominent Catholics and evangelicals said: "Rev Graham is a polarizing figure ... His ungracious and bigoted remarks have the potential to generate serious negative impact on the Christian witness in Vancouver".

The letter went on: "We ... denounce the frequent incendiary and intolerant statements made by Rev Graham, which he unapologetically reiterates,"

It was signed by Marjeta Bobnar of the Catholic archdiocese, City in Focus president Tom Cooper, Tenth Church pastor Ken Shigematsu, Calvary Baptist pastor Tim Dickau and First Baptist pastor Tim Kuepfer.

Graham has previously said homosexuals are "the enemy" and will "spend eternity in hell" if they don't repent.

The frequent critic of President Barack Obama has also called Islam a "very wicked religion" and backed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's call for a ban on Muslims coming to the US.

Graham reportedly earns more than $1 million a year as an evangelist and head of the charity Samaritan's Purse, and led a 'crusade' in Toronto in 2014 that was attended by 40,000 people.

The Vancouver Sun said that after the Toronto event, Samaritan's Purse sacked a Canadian volunteer because she refused to sign a statement opposing abortion and same-sex marriage.

George Wong, head pastor at Evangelical Chinese Bible Church in Burnaby in the region, one of the congregations training volunteers to work at Graham's crusade, said "the last thing we want to do is promote hate."

Wong added that Graham "is not coming to Vancouver to preach against homosexuality, but to preach the gospel".

In North Vancouver, Owen Scott, the Valley Church Pastor who is endorsing the Festival of Hope, said: "I know Franklin is not the same as his dad. His dad is a pretty gracious person."

A spokesman for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association headquarters in Calgary said it "never expects 100 per cent support for one of our festivals" adding: "I wouldn't want a few people who are opposed to the festival to overshadow the wide support for it."

Earlier this month Graham opposed Pope Francis's claim that the world is at war - but that it is not a relgious war.

"It is most certainly a war of religion," he said on his Facebook page. "Religion is behind the violence and jihad we're seeing in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and here in this country. It's a religion that calls for the extermination of 'infidels' outside their faith, specifically Jews and Christians...It's a religion that calls on its soldiers to shout 'Allahu Akbar' ('God is Great' in Arabic) as they behead, rape, and murder in the name of Islam. Radical Islamists are following the teachings of the Quran. We should call it what it is."
France targets foreign funds for mosques to stop radicalism

The French government is planning to ban foreign funds from being funneled to mosques after the country got hit by three major terrorist attacks in the last year and a half.

Last month, a cargo truck rammed a crowd on Bastille Day in Nice that resulted in the death of 85 people.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced the move to stop foreign funds for mosques "for a period to be determined," the Washington Post reported.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve revealed that since December last year, 20 Salafist mosques have been closed.

"There is no place in France for those who call for and incite hatred in prayer halls or in mosques," said Cazeneuve

But French Muslims are crying foul over the move.

"It gives the idea that mosques have something to do with terrorism," said Marwan Muhammad, director of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France. "It's a way of problematising Muslims once again."

In France, there are about 2,500 Muslim "houses of prayer," not all are classified as mosques. Only about 120 of these are associated with radical Salafism.

The French Parliament, in a committee report released last month, showed that funding for new French mosques comes from individual donors in France and not from foreign governments.

It revealed that the bulk of foreign funding came from Morocco and Algeria, which have sent a total of 8 million euros so far this year.

In France, mosques, like other houses of worship, are not entitled to get state funding. The only way they can receive funds is through individuals and charity organisations.

"On the one hand, there is the intent to organise Islam in France in order to have greater control," the report said. "On the other hand, [Islam] cannot be touched because of the 1905 law. The equation is unsolvable." That law provides the separation of church and state in France.

The report recommended that the French government should have a foundation to monitor foreign funds going to French mosques.

Lawmaker Nathalie Goulet told France 24 that the idea is "not to ban foreign financing but to make it transparent and conditional."

The government announced the establishment of the Foundation for Islamic Works, which will monitor foreign funds and oversee the training of foreign-born imams.

It will be supervised by former interior minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement, according to the announcement, which drew protests from French Muslims.

"The first is that they chose someone who doesn't represent anything to the Muslim community  it's like they're confiscating Muslim opinion," Muhammad said. "It's also saying that of the 4 million Muslims in France, none of them is capable of holding this position. Among all this wealth of people, not one of them  man or woman  is capable."
French Prime Minister shows support for ban on so-called 'burkinis'

The French Prime Minister appears to have thrown his weight behind the ban on so-called 'burkinis' on the beach at Cannes.

The exclusive resort on the French Riviera took the step of banning the full body swim suits.

The ban comes a decade ofter full face veils were banned in France as a result of the country's strict secularist system which disallows much religious expression in the public square.

The Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, has now spoken out for the first time since the local ban on burkinis. The garments are, "not compatible with the values of the French Republic," he said, "in the face of provocation, the nation must defend itself."

France has been rocked by a series of terror attacks over the last 18 months and is in the midst of an urgent national debate over how to react.

The murder of a priest while saying Mass in Normandy last month has raised the temperature even further.

Several smaller towns have now followed Cannes in banning the burkini, and although no national ban is proposed at the moment, the Prime Minister's seeming endorsement of the policy is a step in that direction.

The debate of freedom of expression in the face of such bans will carry on  but there is no sign of an imminent repeal of the existing local legislation.
Homeless people given 'meaningless' advice, say MPs

Homelessness is even more widely spread than statistics suggests and "undoubtedly increasing", a committee of MPs said on Thursday.

A report by the communities and local government select committee urged ministers to back a bill to force local councils to provide up to two months' emergency accommodation for homeless people. The MPs said people without a home were too often given ineffectual advice and called on the government to impose a legal duty on councils to provide "meaningful support".

Figures from the government suggest local authorities accepted 14,780 applications for homelessness assistance between 1 January and 30 March 2015. This was a rise of nine per cent on the same quarter in 2015. But the MPs' report warned the statistics did not capture the full scale of homelessness.

The committee said there were many "hidden homeless" people who have not sought help or may be staying with friends.

The MPs went on to say they had "received too much evidence of councils and their staff treating homeless people in ways that are dismissive and at times discriminatory".

They called for an action plan to help the "hidden homeless" and urged the government to support Conservative MP Bob Blackman's private members bill to impose a stricter duty on local councils to support people on the streets.

Councils in England currently have a duty to find accomodation for "unintentionally homeless households" who are in the "priority need" category.

But government papers in the House of Commons library said: "There is no statutory duty to secure housing for homeless single people and couples without children, who are not deemed to be vulnerable for some reason."

Committee chairman Clive Betts said: "No-one should be homeless in Britain today, but the reality is that more and more people find themselves on the streets, in night shelters or going from sofa to sofa to keep a roof over their heads."

Nick Forbes, a vice-chairman at the Local Government Association (LGA) said "councils cannot tackle this challenge alone".

He said that councils needed to given more funding and powers to tackle the issue.
Huge increase in Islamophobic tweets in July

Terror attacks carried out by Islamists likely contributed to a huge spike in 'Islamophobic' tweets in July, according to the BBC.

Data showed that across the world, almost 7,000 anti-Islamic tweets were sent in English every day last month.

More than 21,000 were sent on July 15, one day after the Nice attack, during which 85 people were killed when a gunman drove a heavy lorry into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the French Riviera city.

ISIS subsequently claimed that suspect Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, was "one of the soldiers of Islamic State".

Other days that saw a spike in the number of 'Islamophobic' tweets were July 26, when Catholic priest Fr Jaques Hamel was murdered by Islamists in Rouen, and the period following an ISIS attack in Baghdad on July 3.

According to think tank Demos, which analysed the data, these events "were the most likely causes" of the increase in anti-Islamic tweets.

Research director Carl Miller described the posts as "damaging, harmful, and tremendously problematic".

They were examples not of people "being angry at Islamic State, [but] people who are being angry at the wider Muslim world," he told the BBC.

However, only a minority of the tweets sent were illegal.

"Only when there's an actual threat to life are people actually breaking the law, and therefore the people that are in the online space are actually far less protected than the offline space when it comes to receiving that kind of abuse," Miller said.

A spokesperson for Twitter said the site is "continuing to invest heavily in improving our tools and enforcement systems to better allow us to identify and take faster action on abuse".
ISIS boils 6 men alive in vats of tar

Last time, they used nitric acid. This time, it's boiling tar.

In its latest act of sheer savagery, the Islamic State (ISIS) executed six men in Iraq accused of collaborating with the U.S.-led coalition and Kurdish forces by placing them in vats of boiling tar, Iraqi News reports.

A source told the news agency that the ISIS officials decided on the new torturous execution method to intimidate local residents, hundreds of whom watched the brutal act outside the ISIS headquarters in Mosul.

According to witnesses, an ISIS official read the charges against the men before the execution was carried out.

"Those mercenaries have cooperated with the crusader coalition and the Peshmerga in order to destroy the Caliphate territory and kill innocent Muslims in the name of freedom and democracy," the ISIS official was quoted as saying. "The Caliphate [ISIS] will show no mercy to such traitors."

Last May, the ISIS reportedly executed 25 people accused of spying by dissolving them alive in nitric acid.

"ISIS put the citizens in a large tub containing nitric acid inside one of its headquarters," a source told Iraqi News, adding that the victims were tied with ropes and lowered into the acid "till the victims' organs dissolved."

That same month, Kurdish commander Hasan Khala Hasan told the Iranian-based AhlulBayt News Agency that ISIS executed a number of its own commanders for failing to "accomplish their chief duties."

Hasan said the leaders were tied to trees before they were savagely ripped apart and killed by ferocious dogs let loose on them.

The barbaric group has also used water, guns, knives, wire and fire to execute its victims.

Lately, however, ISIS officials appeared to have taken a liking to boiling their helpless victims to death, according to the Christian Post.

Just last month, the militant group reportedly executed seven of its own fighters who fled the battlefield in Iraq by tying them up and boiling them alive in a giant cauldron of water.

About 33,000 deaths have been linked to ISIS and ISIS-affiliated groups since 2002, according to a recent report from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland.
Kazakhstan: Elderly Christians faced with fines, church raids and property confiscations

Seven members of a Baptist congregation in East Kazakhstan face being fined later this month for meeting to worship without state permission, Forum 18 reports.

A judge in the region will decide on 25 August whether to punish the group, whose small congregation was raided twice by the authorities earlier this month. Two of those facing possible fines  Olga Berimets and Zoya Tobolina  are 79 years old.

On 22 May, a former Soviet-era Baptist prisoner of conscience, 89-year-old Yegor Prokopenko was given a large fine for leading a meeting for worship in Zyryanovsk in East Kazakhstan.

Similarly, in 2006, Yakov Skornyakov  another Baptist and former Soviet-era prisoner of conscience  was 79 when he was fined for religious activity, two years before he died.

Kazhakstan introduced strict restrictions on practising non-recognised faiths and in 2012 cut the number of recognised faiths from nearly 50 to just 17.

Those most affected are Muslims, Protestant Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses who can be punished for offering religious literature the state has not approved in places the state has not permitted, talking about their beliefs with other people without state permission, or meeting for worship without state permission. The power to impose summary fines without initial due process was first given to police in 2015.

The latest potential fine comes weeks after two Baptist churches which belong to the Baptist Union in West Kazakhstan were last month raided by officials as they held summer camps for local children.

Officials claimed that children might have been present at a religious event without their parents' consent and that foreigners were present as "missionaries" without having the required state permission. The pastor complained that the raids left the children feeling "frightened".

Forum 18 said that more than 25 individuals are known to have been fined in the first half of 2016 for religious ctivity without state permission, with the known victims being Muslims, Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses and others.

The Council of Baptist Churches has adopted a policy of "civil disobedience," refusing to pay the fines.

Prokopenko has refused to pay his latest fine and the seven Baptists in East Kazakhstan are also reportedly likely to refuse to pay.

But the consequences for Baptists who refuse to pay are that they can be placed on a black-list disallowing them to leave the country, have property confiscated or have restraining orders placed on property such as homes or cars.

Article 490, Part 1 of the region's Administrative Code punishes "Violation of the demands established in law for the conducting of religious rites, ceremonies and/or meetings; carrying out of charitable activity; the import, production, publication and/or distribution of religious literature and other materials of religious content (designation) and objects of religious significance; and building of places of worship and changing the designation of buildings into places of worship".

The court chancellery confirmed to Forum 18 yesterday that seven church members are facing cases brought by the District Internal Policy Department.
Media and 'culture warriors' allowed Anjem Choudary to thrive, says UK's biggest Muslim group

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has blamed the media  not Muslims  for giving Anjem Choudary the "oxygen of publicity" and allowing him to spread his message of hate far wider than he could in mosques.

In an article for the Guardian, Miqdaad Versi, spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) on security issues, said: "His pulpit was not to be found in mosques but on the television screen and in national newspapers".

The leader of the extremist group al-Muhajiroun is believed to have influenced at least 100 people into terrorism.

Versi added: "Choudary's notoriety allowed him to reach the impressionable and vulnerable young people who felt alienated from the rest of society."

The representative of Britain's biggest Muslim umbrella group went on criticise the government's counter-extremism strategy as counter-productive. "Choudary's imprisonment is also a reminder of the shoddy state of counter-extremism in Britain," Versi wrote. "For years successive governments have struggled to define what extremism is and who they are trying to confront. Hasty and ill-thought-through measures have alienated the very Muslims who have kicked out extremists such as Choudary from their mosques."

Versi also hit out at "ideologues" who influenced government and pursued a divisive "culture war", misunderstanding the nature of conservative Islam. "The counter-extremism fight has become a casualty of an ongoing culture war pursued by ideologues with the ear of the government, bent on denying public space to Muslims who organise themselves," he said.

"It is one that wrongly paints the life and practice of many Muslims as 'conveyor-belts' to violence with the assumption that the more conservative you are, the more prone you are to extremism."

Choudary, 49, and his close associate Mizanur Rahman, 33, were convicted at London's Old Bailey of using online lectures and messages to encourage backing for ISIS, which controls large parts of Syria and Iraq.

Prosecutors said that in postings on social media, Choudary and Rahman had sought to validate the self-proclaimed "caliphate" declared by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and that Muslims had an obligation to obey or provide support to him.

Both men were found guilty last month, but their convictions could not be reported until this week for legal reasons. The men, who denied the charges, are due to be sentenced in September.

Following years in which he avoided arrest despite his apparent sympathy for extremism and links to some of Britain's most notorious terrorists, Choudary was convicted after jurors heard he had sworn an oath of allegiance to ISIS.

Choudry had links to one of the men who killed Lee Rigby in 2013, Michael Adebolajo, and the Islamist militant Omar Bakri Muhammad.

Choudary and Rahman face up to 10 years in jail for inviting support for a proscribed organisation.

Fears over Choudary's ability to radicalise fellow inmates mean that he could be held in an isolated cell.
Nigeria: Fulani herdsmen kill 10 in Christian-majority area

Ten people were killed in a Christian-majority area of Kaduna state, Nigeria, on Tuesday, the latest in a string of attacks by Fulani herdsmen.

The attack took place early in the morning of August 16, according to World Watch Monitor.

The Fulani community is a group of nomadic cattle herders made up of mostly Muslims. They are involved in an ongoing dispute with mainly Christian farmers in Nigeria's central states, and hundreds have been killed in the conflict. Thousands more have been displaced.

In March, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered an investigation after an attack in Benue state left between 100 and 300 dead.

At least 500 people were reported to have been killed in a subsequent attack in northern Nigeria in April.

Angele Dikongue-Atangana, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said that in 20 years of working in humanitarian relief, she had "never seen such a level of destruction".

In 2014 the herders murdered more people than the Somali terror group al-Shabaab, rendering them the fourth most deadly terrorist outfit in the world, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace's Global Terrorism Index.

"This is another jihad like the one waged by Boko Haram in the north-east of the country," Rev Augustine Akpen Leva, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Benue State, earlier told World Watch Monitor.

"The attackers carry sophisticated weapons, sometimes they even used chemical weapons on our communities. They just come, often overnight when people are sleeping. They attack defenseless people and go away. They clearly have an agenda: to wipe out the Christian presence and take over the land."
Should Christians be buried or cremated?

Another day, another survey...

It usually best to let these things wash over you. It's silly season, where journalists are desperate for stories and will puff up any old piece of ropey research into a story to keep the hungry beast of the 24-hour news cycle satisfied.

Occasionally, though, a survey or a poll will throw up something genuinely interesting. New statistics from YouGov are a case in point.

The stats reveal that 58 per cent of British people favour cremation when they die, with only 17 per cent keen for burial.

On one level, this is unsurprising  since it was legalized in the laste 19th Century in the UK and US, cremation has been steadily gaining in popularity. We have no doubt all been to cremation services of friends and family.

As burial space has become more in demand in cities, cremation has been presented as the solution.

Does this stat indicate something more than a change in our preferences, or a merely pragmatic response to the lack of space for vast graveyards? Maybe so...

The history of cremation in the West speaks not just of practicality, but of the spiritual significance of the practice. The Cremation Society of Great Britain says, "by the time of the ancient Roman and Greek civilizations cremation had been generally adopted as a method of disposing of the dead. With the advent and spread of Christianity, however, and its concomitant belief in the resurrection of the dead, cremation fell into disfavour and by the fifth century the practice had become almost completely obsolete."

In this, the society is correct. Mainstream Christian belief in the resurrection of the body meant that burial was not only the favoured method of treating a corpse  it was felt that cremation was in some way an interference with God's plan.

When cremation began to be legalised, Christians responded in different ways. The Christian Burial and Cremation Society argues that it makes no difference whatsoever whether we are buried or cremated after death. "When the body is buried, given enough time, it will completely disintegrate. So, cremation and burying ultimately lead to the same." The society suggests, "there is nothing to prevent God from accomplishing His promises to raise us."

Many Christians now adhere to this viewpoint and opt for cremation for themselves and their families in a reflection of the culture. Yet this position is still contested by Christians of all denominations.

Leading Reformed voice John Piper spoke out against cremation earlier this year. He said, "I am arguing that God-centered, gospel-rooted burial is preferable to cremation. Preferable. Not commanded, but rich with Christian truth that will become a clearer and clearer witness as our society becomes less and less Christian."

He is joined in his preference by the Roman Catholic Church whose canon law allows, yet discourages, cremation: "The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying the bodies of the deceased be observed; nevertheless, the Church does not prohibit cremation."

The Eastern Orthodox Church remains opposed to cremation altogether. Anglican theologian NT Wright picks up on this is his book Surprised by Hope. He talks about the 'implicit theology' of cremation, saying, "Reasons of hygiene and overcrowding led reformers... to propose this step, which, as not all Western Christians know, is still firmly opposed by the Eastern Orthodox (despite the shortage of land in Greece at least) as well as by Orthodox Jews and Muslims."

Wright goes onto suggest that the increase in popularity in cremation in the West has come about as we have become a less Christian society. He argues, "cremation tends, classically, to belong with a Hindu or Buddhist theology, and at a low-grade and popular level... that is the direction toward which our culture is rapidly moving... the underlying implication, of a desire simply to be merged back into the created world, without any affirmation of a future life of new embodiment, flies in the face of classic Christian theology.

Wright though, stops short of suggesting that cremation is sinful. "I am not of course saying that cremation is heretical" he writes, "I am merely noting that the huge swing toward it in the last century reflects at least in part some of the confusions, both in the church and in the world." He suggests this is because Christians have become unfamiliar with the biblical teaching that we all have bodies which will be resurrected. Instead, he says, the Church is at risk of slipping into Platonism  which taught that we have disembodied souls, which float up to heaven  and that the body doesn't matter.

So where should Christians come down on this issue?

It seems agreed by many theologians that burial is preferential. Of course God is able to do anything, so resurrecting a cremated body does not present a problem to Him. The issue at stake is more one of orientation. In other words, do we believe in resurrection of the body, and therefore will we act in life, and in death in accordance with our beliefs that the body will be raised? As Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 15, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

Follow Andy Walton on Twitter @waltonandy
Southern African churches to consider blessing gay unions

Southern African churches may begin blessing same-sex unions after the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) announced it would consider the move in its upcoming synod next month.

The motion, proposed by the Diocese of Saldanha Bay, rules out permitting same-sex marriages but says "prayers of blessing" should be offered to those in gay unions. And although it calls for clergy to be "especially prepared for a ministry of pastoral care for those identifying as LGBTI" it also makes clear that "any cleric unwilling to engage in such envisioned pastoral care shall not be obliged to do so".

The motion also calls for those in same-sex unions to be licensed "for ministry of clergy" and to "lay ministries on Parochial, Archidiaconal and Diocesan levels".

The Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, announced the proposal on Wednesday and said it "affirms the assurance already given by our bishops that church members who identify as LGBTI are loved by God and share in full membership of our Church as baptised members of the Body of Christ".

He admitted the suggestion of licensing clergy in gay civil unions and a prayer of blessing for people in same-sex partnerships was controversial.

But he added: "Without anticipating what Synod will decide, this debate is overdue in the top councils of our Church, and I welcome it."

Members of the synod will debate and vote on the motion in its meeting next month.

Although South Africa was one of the first countries in the world to legalise same-sex marriage in 2006, many Anglicans are strictly opposed to the idea. And while South African Anglicans are perceived as more liberal than their neighbours, the synod governs church law in other states including Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Angola, which may prove more reluctant.

Recently Desmond Tutu's daughter, Mpho Tutu van Furth, was forced to resign from her ministry after she married her female partner.
Synagogue discovered from Jesus' time confirms accuracy of New Testament, says archaeologist

The ruins of an Israeli synagogue allegedly confirms New Testament portrayals of Jesus' life as accurate.

The discovery at the Tel Rechesh site near Mount Tabor in lower Galilee was made in a temple dating back to the first century, shortly after Jesus was alive. The findings confirm that Jesus once preached at the synagogue, according to a senior researcher at the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology.

Motti Aviam told Ynet News: "This is the first synagogue discovered in the rural part of the Galilee and it confirms historical information we have about the New Testament, which says that Jesus preached at synagogues in Galilean villages."

He added the find was "very important for Christians" and hoped the remote site could become a tourist attraction for Jews and Christians alike.

The synagogue was discovered by an excavation team of archaeologists and suggest a synagogue laid out for reading and preaching, rather than for sacrifice and worship, making it the sort of place suited to Jesus' teaching ministry.

Simon Edwards from the Zacharias Trust said the find was "fascinating news" because it showed "how research can reinforce the Biblical narrative".

Edwards told Christian Today: "Archaeological finds, such as this latest discovery of remains of a first century synagogue in Galilee, point to the fact that not only is the Bible a good story, it's also a true story. One good reason for trusting the Bible is that it passes every test that historians can throw at an historical document; and correspondence with the archaeological evidence is one of those tests.

"If the Bible was simply a made-up story, then we would expect as we keep discovering more about the ancient world from archaeology, that eventually something is going to show the Bible to be wrong. But what we find is the exact opposite."

Edwards went on to quote a former professor of archaeology at Yale University, Millar Burrows, who said "archaeological work has unquestionably strengthened confidence in the reliability of the Scriptural record". Brown said a number of achaeologists found their respect for the Bible increased by excavating sites in Palestine.

Edwards continued: "In light of the historical evidence, the Bible cannot be lightly dismissed as just a collection of nice religious stories that have no contact with real life. As this latest discovery suggests, Christianity concerns real events in human history.

"Verified new finds should give readers of the Bible more confidence in the story of Jesus and help Christians as they share the gospel."
Synagogue ruins in Israel lend further credibility to New Testament records of Jesus teaching in villages around Galilee

New synagogue ruins recently discovered at a site called Tel Rechesh, near Mount Tabor in the Nahal Tavor Nature Reserve in lower Galilee lend further weight to the belief that Jesus Christ taught in villages around Galilee during His lifetime here on earth.

The said synagogue dates back to 79 A.D., during the time when the Romans attacked Jerusalem, according to the Express.

Motti Aviam, senior researcher at the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology at the Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, said the new discovery will be "very important for Christians" because the New Testament says Jesus delivered sermons in a synagogue in Capernaum and other synagogues in Galilee.

"This is the first synagogue discovered in the rural part of the Galilee and it confirms historical information we have about the New Testament, which says that Jesus preached at synagogues in Galilean villages," he told YNet News.

Aviam said Jesus was a Jew who observed Jewish rituals and requirements, and just like many rabbis, He also delivered sermons in synagogues. "Christianity, which developed after this, placed an emphasis on His sermons at synagogues in the Galilee," he says.

There were some inscriptions found at the synagogue which showed that it was used for the study of Torah (the central reference of the religious Judaic tradition) and meetings rather than worship, therefore making it the ideal place for Jesus to preach His thoughts on Judaism.

The synagogue was described as "huge and impressive," with a room nine metres high and eight metres wide. Its walls were lined with benches and made of limestone blocks. Diggers were able to discover one of the synagogue's foundational pillars, which support its roof.

"This is a simple synagogue, but it is not simple to build a synagogue. The benches that we discovered are made of beautiful white Ashlar stone and the large foundational pillars required considerable investment and were expensive," Aviam said.

Aviam said he believes that once work on the ruins is done, the place "will constitute a tourist attraction for Jews and Christians alike."
Theresa May urged to reinstate full time Minister for Faith

Theresa May has been urged to reinstate a Minister for Faith after the role was relegated in her cabinet reshuffle.

Jonathan Reynolds, the Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde and chair of Christians on the Left, has called for the position to return to being a full ministerial job after reports faith was being sidelined within May's cabinet.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth was made a junior minister in the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in July. One of his responsibilities is "faith and intergration" but he also oversees community cohesion, race equality, troubled families, domestic refuges, travellers policy and is in charge of the Syrian Refugees Programme.

On top of that Bourne's time is divided between DCLG and the Wales Office where is also junior minister with responsibilities for energy, environment, defence, local government, localism, education and law and order in Wales.

Reynolds told Christian Today he would like to see "Minister for Faith returned to a stand alone role".

He said: "Understanding and valuing faith communities is paramount to a successful, cohesive, inclusive society. Faith communities deliver positive social change through pastoral support, youth activities, and welfare provision such as foodbanks, yet too frequently come under fire when tensions rise.

"Engaging with them is a big job and should be seen as such."

Under the coalition government Baroness Warsi was Minister for Faith between September 2012 and August 2014. As a senior government figure in the Foreign Office she attended Cabinet meetings. After her resignation over the government's response to the Gaza war, the role was given to Eric Pickles, another Cabinet minister and then Secretary of State for Communities.

But after that the role was abandoned and responsibility for faith given to a junior minister in DCLG, Baroness Williams of Trafford. Now the position has been sidelined further with Lord Bourne's already extensive responsibilities divided between two government departments.

A spokeswoman for DCLG told Christian Today: "The government remains committed to both faith and integration.

"That has clearly been shown by Lord Bourne, who just weeks into the role has already met with dozens of faith communities to celebrate their contributions and discuss their concerns."
Tim Kaine promotes Hillary Clinton's Christian faith: 'That is the root of everything she does'

Because of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's staunch support for abortion service provider Planned Parenthood, many evangelical leaders have been questioning the veracity of her Christian faith.

But as far as Clinton's vide president Tim Kaine is concerned, there should be no more doubts about Clinton's faith. Speaking before the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.'s annual meeting last week in New Orleans, Kaine discussed how Clinton's Methodist background helped shape her life's choices.

"Some of you know this story. She was a Midwestern Methodist church kid. Now, I know a lot of those Midwestern Methodist church kids growing up. And there is a beautiful sense of duty," said Kaine, according to The Christian Post.

"I think a lot of you know Hillary very well, either from her time in Arkansas, her time as first lady, her time as senator, time as secretary of state. That Methodist connection, that beautiful sense of duty, the obligation to others, that is the root of everything she does," he added.

When she was just a young girl, Clinton's youth pastor even took her to Chicago to meet with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "who talked to her about migrant worker issues beyond what she had experienced."

Because of that encounter, Kaine said Clinton became aware that there were a lot of issues in America that she needs to help address.

"So as a law student, she went to work for Marian Wright Edelman at the Children's Defense Fund," Kaine said. "She went to Dothan, Alabama to expose and investigate school segregation after she graduated. She went to Yale. She could have gone to Wall Street. She could have gone anywhere, but she went to work for the Children's Defense Fund to defend the right of young people in South Carolina's juvenile justice system."
We must go to war on Climate Change - failing to do so is appeasement

You'd think a calamitous, life-threatening issue would be easy to spot. But it isn't always the case.

When the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the gravity of the situation wasn't even grasped by those at the heart of it. "We came very, very close" former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara told The Observer, "closer than we knew at the time."

Less than a year before the start of the bloodiest conflict in history  The Second World War  British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was hailing "peace in our time." He'd agreed a deal with Hitler in Munich. Not only was he catastrophically wrong, many across Europe, the UK and America agreed with his approach and he was hailed as the "saviour of modern Europe." History judges him differently now.

We stand on the precipice of another disaster. And yet, like Europeans in the 1930s going about our lives as if nothing was under threat, we ignore the existential crisis that is before us.

Make no mistake, this is an existential crisis, and if you think that terminology is over the top, maybe scaremongering, then you simply haven't grasped the level of the problem. The problem is, of course, climate change.

There are three reasons why we are yet to even acknowledge, let alone tackle climate change.

The first is vested interests. Too many companies stand to gain far too much money by their investment in fossil fuels.

The second is a more psychological issue. Because the problem is so vast and tackling it will require such monumental effort, we're suffering from Willful Ignorance. This phenomenon has been studied by psychologists. Broadly speaking, our biases and our comfort zones make it difficult to see the problem. "When we are blind to the flaws and failings of what we love [our lives as they are], we aren't effective either" argues one expert.

Thirdly, and this is difficult to hear, we can't even begin to tackle climate change because we are selfish. We in the rich West aren't yet directly affected by climate change so it is down our priority list. More perniciously, we aren't willing to give up our carbon guzzling habits for the good of those who already are suffering.

These three factors lead us to the place where one economist says we are already in dire straits. "Climate change is exacerbating more risks than ever before in terms of water crises, food shortages, constrained economic growth, weaker societal cohesion and increased security risks," says Cecilia Reyes.

So, what must be done?

This week a Christian activist Bill McKibben wrote a piece, which outlines how we need to behave. He says we have to put ourselves on a war footing. We must act as if climate change is the equivalent to the threat posed by the Nazis.

"This is no metaphor," he argues, "It's not that that global warming is like a world war. It is a world war. Its first victims, ironically, are those who have done the least to cause the crisis. But it's a world war aimed at us all."

Strong words, maybe. But is McKibben going overboard? No. He's a prophet  telling us what we need to hear. "The question is not, are we in a world war?" says McKibben, "the question is, will we fight back?"

What might this fight back look like? Well, McKibben has his own ideas, but let's deal with the three areas identified above.

Firstly we must tackle those corporate interests which rapaciously extract fossil fuels. It makes far more long-term sense to leave these fuels in the ground  we must persuade governments to legislate this.

Secondly, we have to open our eyes to the problems in front of us. Climate change is happening  don't put your head in the sand and let someone else worry about it. Read this Daily Mail report on how thousands of people are set to die in the UK and US as a result of extreme heat. Don't turn away. We have got the power to stop this.

Finally, our own selfishness. We rich westerners seem to feel we have the 'right' to fly wherever we like, whenever we like. We don't. Air travel is a major contributor to climate change. One round trip flight from coast to coast in the USA (or, to Europe) is the equivalent of a quarter of an average European's carbon emissions for the whole year.

While it might be nice to have a holiday in the sun, we simply can't carry on flying numerous times every year. We have to stop. Some business travel and some family-related flights could of course be continued. So it would be perfectly reasonable for a progressive flight tax to rise steeply after each flight you take  meaning one or two per year are possible but after that, they become very expensive.

We can also vastly cut our carbon emissions by eating no meat. How could you live without it? Well plenty of us do  it's possible. But if the thought of giving up altogether terrifies you  try cutting right back and only eating meat at the weekend. Remember  we're on a war footing here  rationing is normal.

"People in industrialized countries consume on average around twice as much meat as experts deem healthy," according to a report at The Scientific American. This isn't just liberal hand wringing  former Republican Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger says, "28% of the greenhouse gases come from eating meat and from raising cattle, so we can do a much better job."

Climate change is killing hundreds of thousands of people every year. Right now a thousand children die every day so that we can live our extravagant western lifestyles. If it continues unchecked, we will have unprecedented wars for water and other resources, vast migration crises and other as yet unknown calamities. There is already talk of this week's devastating floods in Louisiana being the result of climate change.

Some evangelical Christians deny that climate change is real or that it is a man-made phenomenon. This is despite an overwhelming scientific consensus. I worry that these Christians are at risk of one day being viewed in a similar light to Neville Chamberlain and the other appeasers, who limply sat by while the world was engulfed in chaos. They think they are doing the right thing, but ultimately, it will lead to disaster.

These Christians will decry this article as liberal propaganda. They'll say I'm letting my political agenda get in the way. They'll accuse me of being a leftist stooge who wants to stifle business. They say God wouldn't let the world burn up and that we will all be fine. But God has given us science to see what is happening and the knowledge to do something about it. Whether we choose to do so is up to us. Fortunately, many evangelicals are getting the message and acting  it's not too late, we can stop the world from burning.

So, it's time to suit up and go into battle on climate change. Let slip the dogs of war! It's our only choice.

Follow Andy Walton on Twitter @waltonandy
The special gifts of critic and collector Brian Sewell

Christies chairman Noel Annesley recalls the life of Brian Sewell, whose deeply informed passion for art is reflected in his wide-ranging and erudite collection, offered for sale at Christies on 27 September

When I first met Brian Sewell in 1964, to be considered as a possible assistant to him in the Picture Department at Christies, the interview took place over dinner in his flat off Kensington High Street. It was festooned with pictures and drawings of all schools, and I felt anxious lest I be quizzed about them, and my woeful ignorance exposed. I saw his office at Christies a few weeks later, his desk jostling for room with those of junior members of the department, the youthful Charlie Allsopp and Christopher Wood, and John White the administrator (probably not so described then) and Brians very own secretary. It occupied the space to the left of the top of the main staircase at 8 King Street, which today serves as a small viewing room for special pictures or works of art. Again I was struck by the number of pictures hanging there, many belonging to him, seemingly an overflow from home, whether Neapolitan ceiling bozzetti, or nudes by Etty, still lifes of different periods and everything in between. Disappointingly in the current context, Brians autobiographical writings devote little space to recounting his aims and activities as a collector. His development as an art enthusiast and budding art historian are, however, well documented.

He was encouraged by his mother, from when he was a little boy, to accompany her every week to the National Gallery, and after various diversions, with an interruption for National Service, his precocious interest in art was wonderfully served at the Courtauld Institute where he was inspired in particular by the teaching of Anthony Blunt, the then Director, Johannes Wilde and Michael Kitson. The syllabus Brian studied covered the Renaissance from Giotto to Michelangelo and their northern contemporaries, English art from 1550 to modern times, as well as the great French artists from Poussin and Claude through to Impressionism, plus Breughel, Rubens and Rembrandt, and the Italian baroque. Nor was architecture neglected. After several false starts, including an attempt to become a painter  which he never quite abandoned  and a serious intention to become a Roman Catholic priest, Brian helped organise and catalogue two significant international loan exhibitions before being recruited in 1958 by his friend Bill Martin, a partner at Christies, who hoped that he would bring a more scholarly approach to the firms somewhat perfunctory picture cataloguing. He swiftly made his mark, and even though his career at Christies lasted only nine years, his influence lasted far longer.

Readers of Brians trenchant reviews of the British art scene may be surprised by the empathy he showed for more traditional artists working in the last century

Brian was no stranger to auctions. Even as a teenager he had spent many spare hours sifting through great parcels of prints and drawings and miscellaneous pictures, loosely described, at all the London salerooms, large and small. This experience, his keen eye, and what he had learnt at the Courtauld and through assiduous visits to the museums in the United Kingdom and on the continent, gave him an exceptionally broad base of knowledge and often led him to make discoveries. Some of these he kept for his own enjoyment, others he sold on to supplement his meagre income. In this way his instincts as a collector were born. The contents of this sale will serve to demonstrate the breadth of his interests, extending from 16th-century Renaissance Italy to our own day. He may have become famous for his denunciation of many contemporary artists and fawning fellow critics, but he also found much to admire in the art of the 20th century. Brians ability to buy the things he coveted was of course restricted by his means, and from time to time he had to relinquish long-held treasures such as a Sargent watercolour of a rocky stream, or exquisite drawings by Parmigianino and Pontormo. Yet the collection as we now present it includes many works of which he felt quietly proud  for instance, among the Old Masters there are no fewer than three pictures by Stomer.

The Stomers were a key element in Brians collection. Through the Courtauld he encountered the enthusiasm of Benedict Nicolson, long-serving editor of The Burlington Magazine, for Caravaggio and his followers, including northerners such as Terbruggen, Honthorst, and indeed the Flemish Stomer, who migrated south to Sicily and painted glowing candlelit compositions of religious subjects. The 1950s and 1960s saw a renewed appreciation of 17th-century baroque painting, in part through the efforts of Ellis Waterhouse, a much admired mentor of Brians, Denis Mahon, and of course Anthony Blunt, with his lifetimes dedication to Poussin. For the most part, however, pictures of this kind remained comparatively cheap, and Brians much-admired Sacchi is a case in point.

Readers of Brians trenchant reviews of the British art scene of the recent past may be surprised by the empathy he showed for more traditional artists working in the last century, such as John Craxton, Harold Gilman, Charles Ginner, Duncan Grant, Augustus John (whose two studio sales he catalogued at Christies), John Minton, Walter Sickert or David Jones. He also assembled a beautiful group, predominantly exquisite still lifes in tempera, by his friend and loyal supporter Eliot Hodgkin. As an artist manque himself, Brian was fascinated by the technique and skill of his fellow practitioners, and the variegated and often succulent textures of paint  a word which he pronounced with a unique tenorial relish.

Earlier British art attracted him too, but here the emphasis was on drawings. Excellent, long underrated figure studies by Burne-Jones supplement outstanding nude studies by Fuseli and James Barry  the respective Swiss and Irish origins of these a reminder of the international character of art in 18th-century London  and a lovely grey wash drawing by Romney.

Brian worked hard to screen his friend Anthony Blunt from media persecution, was quite frequently interviewed and in the process became a public figure himself

The international flavour of his collection is also expressed by John Ruskins sensitive copy of a young girl in a Van Dyck portrait. From the time I knew him, however, Old Master Drawings were Brians chief delight as a collector, and it was in this area that I gained most from him as an apprentice cataloguer. I have talked elsewhere of his generosity (and considerable patience) as an instructor.

A notable discovery of Brians, and a demonstration of his flair for spotting rarities, is a meticulously drawn view from 1794 of the Schmadribaca waterfall near Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, a favourite subject of Joseph-Anton Koch. I do not know how it was previously described, but Brian recognised its authorship because of his interest in German Romantic art. This had been quickened many years before at the Courtauld, and then through visiting an extensive Arts Council exhibition in 1963 devoted to Koch and other members of the so-called Nazarene School which had previously been neglected in Britain.

The earliest drawing in his collection, of around 1528, is the Peruzzi (above), his pride and joy. As significant a rarity, however, is the splendid Dido by Daniele da Volterra (below), which was identified only quite recently after it had arrived at Christies. Brian had acquired it in the early 1960s as a work by a good follower of Michelangelo, and its a shame that he was not able to enjoy its recent identification as one of Danieles most beautiful drawings.

Domenico Tintoretto is another highlight and has just been associated with a series of pictures in the Frari, one of Venices greatest churches. There is a powerful drawing of the nude Hercules by Guercino. And a long-standing puzzle  a beautiful study on blue paper of a soldier carrying a ladder towards a besieged town  has been brilliantly solved by a young museum curator in the United States. The Florentine Agostino Ciampelli may not be a household name, but how pleased Brian would have been to know that this carefully squared drawing has at last been securely connected, after a wide range of attributions from the Carracci to (bafflingly) Lanfranco. Other puzzles remain.



After Brian left Christies in 1967 there followed some comparatively unproductive years as an art dealer and art adviser to museums and collectors, until his life was transformed in 1979. His sometime art history teacher and friend, Anthony Blunt, was unmasked as the fourth man in the Cambridge Spy Ring, to a blaze of publicity. Brian worked hard to screen him from media persecution, was quite frequently interviewed and in the process became a public figure himself. In part as a result of these performances he was hired as art critic by Tina Brown, who was revitalizing Tatler.
File this under "really odd news."

An Ohio man was arrested on Tuesday after being accused of trying to have sex with a parked van, according to a report.

WDTN in Dayton says police found Michael Hensen walking along a street and dressed in only black gym shorts and shoes; he appeared to be intoxicated.

A woman told officers she saw Hensen pulling his shorts down and placing his genitals in the front grill of a parked van.

He appeared to have passed out afterward, she reportedly said.

WDTN says Hensen was arrested on a charge of public indecency.
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Firefighters responded to a three-alarm blaze at a northwest Harris County apartment complex Wednesday evening.

According to the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department's Facebook page, firefighters were en route to the Yorktown Crossings Apartments at about 7 p.m. Wednesday. The department reported heavy fire was coming from a third-floor unit at the complex located at 15903 Yorktown Crossing Parkway.

Fire crews from departments in Houston, Jersey Village, Spring and Tomball were at the scene.

Authorities told KTRK that it is believed that a lightning strike caused the fire.

According to the TV station, all 26 units in one of the complex's buildings were destroyed.

No one was injured, the report says.
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A Conroe man who was convicted in the 1998 suffocation of his girlfriend's toddler was released from state custody Thursday after the Montgomery County prosecutor agreed to drop all charges.

Neal Hampton Robbins, 41, did not answer questions from reporters following his release from the Montgomery County jail.

District Attorney Brett Ligon moved Thursday morning to dismiss charges against Robbins because of a lack of evidence, defense attorney Brian Wice said. District Judge Michael Maye granted the motion, according to court records.

A state appeals court had ordered a retrial in the case, and prosecutors filed notice last month that they were retesting DNA evidence from the case. Robbins had been serving a life sentence and spent nearly 18 years in prison.

Ligon emphasized that charges were dropped because of insufficient evidence, not because prosecutors believed Robbins was innocent.

Instead, his prosecutors heard earlier this month from the county's new medical examiner that there was "no way" the infant's death could be ruled a homicide.

They could prove Robbins was alone with the baby but, Ligon said, "it was not enough evidence to proceed on with any hope of a conviction."

The prosecutor said he informed the infant's mother, Barbara Hope, of the decision on Tuesday and met with her in person on Wednesday for "an emotionally difficult conversation."

She still believes Robbins committed the murder, Ligon said, and he could hear her sobs in court on Thursday when he filed the motion to dismiss charges. "I feel the same emotion as everyone else in that courtroom," Ligon said, "(but) I did the right thing legally."

The move came almost exactly eight years after a Harris County associate medical examiner, Dr. Patricia Moore, recanted testimony that had helped secure Robbins' conviction, Wice said. "We're talking about a (medical examiner) who was a little bit quick off the draw to call this for the prosecution," he added.

Robbins was convicted in February 1999 of capital murder in the May 12, 1998 death of 17-month-old Tristen Skye Rivet, the child of Robbins' then-girlfriend. Robbins was babysitting, and Hope had returned home to check on Trisent, who was lying lifeless in her crib. After Hope and first responders performed CPR for nearly a half-hour, a doctor determined she had been dead for some time after arriving at the hospital. Robbins told authorities he put the child down for a nap and had no explanation for her death, the Conroe Courier has reported.

After three trips to the state's highest criminal court over five years, Ligon moved Thursday to dismiss the charges instead of pursuing the retrial ordered by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

The defense attorney praised the district attorney as "the gold standard" for prosecutors.

The ruling comes more than a year after the state's highest court for criminal matters took up the issue of whether a state law that allows for new trials in cases where forensic science is flawed also covers mistakes by expert witnesses.

The wrongful-conviction law was motivated in part by Robbins' case, Wice said. "Neal's case was really the benchmark," he said. "It's the ultimate fail-safe mechanism to ensure that the law keeps up with science."

The law allows for retrials if newly available science can discredit expert or scientific testimony, Wice said. Clearly divided on the issue after it ruled in November 2014 for a new trial, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals made it clear then that Gov. Greg Abbott might decide the issue - if he signed into law a recently passed bill intended to affirm its earlier decision. Abbott signed the bill into law in June 2015.

The complicated case could have significant impact on future cases - and was being watched nationally as one of the first such decisions on so-called "junk science" writs.

At issue was whether Robbins, serving a life sentence for capital murder in the killing of the child, should get a new trial because Moore changed her autopsy decision from homicide to undetermined eight years after Robbins was sent to prison in 1999.

Texas' initial law allowing new trials in cases where junk science was confirmed - the first in the nation, passed in 2013 - did not cover instances where witnesses later recanted their testimony, as in Robbins' case.

Even so, Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Bill Delmore said last year that what should be a clear case had been complicated by the fact that the Legislature approved the new law.

Under House Bill 3724, designed to codify the court's November decision, defendants could have their convictions re-examined if an expert who testified at their trial later recanted testimony, casting doubt on the integrity of the conviction. A bill analysis of the legislation stated that it was to cover "not only discredited science but also the testimony" based on it.

Thursday's developments were the latest in Robbins' long-running appeal of his conviction.

In 2007, another medical examiner reviewed Moore's initial findings in the case and found that none of the toddler's injuries would definitively point to homicide - asphyxiation - as the cause of death. Robbins and his attorneys say the girl was found unconscious and that bruising on her body was simply evidence of unsuccessful attempts to revive her.

Robbins had been taking care of the toddler. When she returned home from errands, her mother found her unconscious.

After the second opinion on the cause of death, Moore recanted her decision, saying in a letter to prosecutors that she should have ruled the cause of death as "undetermined." A district judge subsequently characterized her original testimony as "expert fiction calculated to attain a criminal conviction," and said she was biased in favor of the prosecution. The Chronicle first investigated Moore in 2004.

In its 5-4 ruling in November 2014, the court granted Robbins a new trial, based on a 2013 state law that allows for new trials if the underlying forensic science for a conviction turns out to be flawed. In that ruling, Wice successfully argued that even though the forensic science was not flawed in the Robbins case, the testimony of a key witness had been discredited.

Judges appeared split on that issue during a hearing in June 2015

"There's a big difference between a bad scientist who may screw up a test and a change in forensic science," said Judge Barbara Hervey, as judges questioned whether the new law or the old one should be applied in Robbins' case.

If it's the new one, then that could require a new trial - "torpedoes your case," as Judge David Newell suggested to Delmore. But if the 2013 law is applied, other judges asserted, then the court could still back up and decide not to give Robbins another trial.

Delmore insisted then that other testimony besides that of Moore "was sufficient to support the verdict," including evidence that Robbins had injured the child several times previously. "The child suffered a great deal of injuries," he said.

Judge Elsa Alcala, citing the November 2014 decision for a new trial, said the court's conclusion was that Moore's about-face on the cause of death was "incredibly harmful to this case."

Judge Michael Keasler shot back that the child clearly died of trauma. "The jury was convinced that this guy did it and there was a past history. ... For crying out loud, come on," he said.

Wice urged the court to err on the side of justice, in a case where testimony has turned out to be misleading.

"The search for the truth is not always easy," he told the judges.

Robbins's defense attorney said Thursday that Robbins looked forward to learning how to use smartphones and the internet after his release -- and to eating breakfast whenever he wants.

andrew.kragie@chron.com
We looked at some of the best travel deals available just in time to make your Labor Day plans.

Frontier Airlines offers some one-way fares with prices starting at $28.10.This sale includes flights to Las Vegas, NV (LAS); Austin, TX (AUS); Orlando, FL (MCO); Denver, CO (DEN); and more. Book this travel deal by August 19 for flights from August 25 through February 8, 2017. All prices, dates, and booking details were valid at the time of publication.

Hipmunk offers Labor Day Stays in Chicago, IL with prices starting from $68 per night. (We found this rate on September 4.) That's $2 less than booking any such Labor Day stay in Chicago elsewhere. Additional fees may apply.





Vacations to New Zealand from $669 per person. (We found this rate on September 4.) This sale includes hiking packages, whale-watching packages, guided glacier packages, and more. Note that not all packages include airfare. Book this travel deal by August 31.(Price is based on two people sharing.)

United Airlines Fares to Europe from $527 roundtripThis sale includes flights to Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, France, the UK, and more. Book this travel deal by August 19 for travel from October 30, 2016 through March 31, 2017.

Let us know if you find any better deals out there, and check back every day for the latest deals our shopping partner, DealNews, published for you to check out.
Within moments of Tootsies' doors swinging open on Wednesday evening, a swell crowd dashed into the West Ave. shopping destination for the 13th annual "Sizzling Summer Soiree."

Women of Wardrobe president Susan Oehl hosted more than 300 members from Dress for Success Houston's young professionals group. Despite torrential rain, attendees flashed summer whites and on-trend ensembles, though none popped more than event emcees Mia Gradney and Chita Craft; the KHOU-duo dazzled in coordinating one-shoulder looks.
When I first began dating a birder, I noticed a trend. Many, it turned out, only dated and married each other. After a while, this case of sexual selection began to make sense to me, as most birders require travel companions with an incredible amount of patience for staring into the tree canopy. I have never been a birder, and I eventually came to grips with the fact that most outdoor activities - hiking, for example - would forever take second place to avian pursuits. For the arrangement to work, it became clear that traveling together would necessitate breaks between periods of birding. One of these breaks, Jessie and I discovered this summer, was jumping into the ocean with some scuba gear.

Tropical birding and scuba diving both entail observation of colorful animals in the world's most biodiverse ecosystems: the tropical rain forest on land, the coral reef in the sea. The means of observation, however, could not be more different.

The former requires hiking for hours in saunalike heat for brief glimpses of rare species. The latter, on the other hand, stresses weightlessness - neutral buoyancy - in warm, comfortable water, with schools of fish swimming all around you. There are required breaks to avoid decompression sickness, and the less effort (and therefore oxygen) you use, the better recreational diver you are said to be. Tropical birding provides a stark contrast again here: The better tropical birder you are, the more willing (and sometimes even excited) you should be by the prospect of enduring physical misery, subjecting yourself to periods of heat, humiliation and exhaustion in pursuit of an elusive sighting. They are different kinds of searches, with different kinds of payoffs.

A few tropical hot spots in the world provide this kind of marine and terrestrial combination. Since we live in Beijing, Southeast Asia was the obvious option. The Indonesian archipelago, in particular, is a paradise for such travel, and we eventually settled on Sabah, a province in the Malaysian half of Borneo known for its national parks both on land and in the water.

The Danum Valley, one of Borneo's most famous lowland rain forests, lies just a five-to-six-hour drive from Semporna, a fishing town and dive mecca in the Coral Triangle that features many coral reefs, most notably the one at Sipadan Island. On the west coast of Sabah lies another pair of marine and terrestrial animal havens: Kota Kinabalu and Kinabalu Park, home to one of Southeast Asia's highest peaks and a wide variety of endemic animal species. The Kinabatangan River winds in between the two coasts, which planes can traverse in an hour. Given a few weeks, it's possible to visit each site and obtain basic dive certification with some of the most affordable prices in the world. Travelers must only decide which world to visit first - the jungle or the ocean?

We chose the ocean, enrolling in a standard three-day course with Scuba Junkie, one of the larger outfits in Borneo. Our instructor, Rachel, was patient and enthusiastic, and was unexpectedly joined by juvenile yellow trevally fish, each about the length of a lemon, on a few training dives. While the three-day course can be tiring at times - clearing masks of water, swimming blindly or managing air failure- training dives off Mabul Island provide glimpses of what's to come. On one simple training dive, we swam by a green sea turtle on top of a wreck, a group of juvenile spotted eagle rays and a crocodile fish, all while the trevally continued to swim beneath Rachel.

Diving around Mabul was rather like trying chocolate for the first time - in Belgium. The Coral Triangle, an area of tropical seas surrounding Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines, is one of the most biodiverse marine areas on the planet. With more than 600 species of coral and 2,000 species of reef fish alone, diving felt like floating through a living jewelry shop. The most tasking part of the experience came during coffee and tea breaks, when I struggled to identify all that we had seen.

Jessie took to the exercise quickly, transforming her bird-watcher's eye to a diver's. In just two days of underwater training and two days of full diving, our list continued to grow, from sea turtles to frogfish and all sizes in between. And that was without ever making it to the permit-limited Sipadan, a 2,000-foot coral tower in open sea where hammerheads and barracudas school and where whale sharks are not an uncommon sight. At some point, I gave up trying to identify the fish and just floated with the current.

We returned to land by flying to Kota Kinabalu, gazing at the land below, overwhelmed by palm-oil plantations. Featured in documentaries such as the BBC's "Planet Earth," Borneo is famous for its rain forests and coral reefs, but its national parks are more akin to islands floating in a sea of monoculture that dominates the landscape and much of the Malaysian economy. A picture of the oil palm graces the Malaysian 50 ringgit bill.

Driving from Kota Kinabalu to Kinabalu Park took less than two hours, and we arrived in mist to the only cold weather we experienced in Borneo. The skies eventually cleared, revealing the high-elevation rock faces of Mount Kinabalu, shooting up from the jungle. The next few days were spent catching glimpses of birds endemic to the mountains as well as a spectacular blood-red sunset. Of Borneo's 52 endemic bird species, 37 are found only in the island's mountain areas. I spotted my first on the ground: a family of red-breasted hill partridges foraging in the dirt, extending my layman's streak of sighting jungle fowl. While I traversed the wide range of trails at Kinabalu, Jessie moved slowly, catching birds in her binocular lenses.

We returned to the lowlands after a few days, flying to Sandakan and then journeying on to the Kinabatangan River, home to monkeys, elephants and crocodiles. There had been reports of a herd of rare Bornean pygmy elephants, of which there are only about 200 left in the area, moving upriver. On our first day, we got lucky: a group of five emerged from the forest, bathing and roughhousing in the water. The next day, 27 elephants emerged, chomping down on elephant grass at the water's edge. As we sped down the river, leaf monkeys, hornbills, serpent eagles and troupes of proboscis monkeys lounged in trees by the riverside, their long noses visible from the boat. In late afternoon, thunderstorms pounded the water and relieved the afternoon heat. Dusk emerged into crisp skies, and the river canopy lit up in deep, spotlighted green. Our first night walk revealed a variety of insects; on our second, a Western tarsier - an ancient, miniature primate about the size of a clenched fist - fled our headlamps, hopping between tree trunks near the forest floor.

On our way into Danum Valley, our final stop, we shared a van with two Spaniards, Carla and Alex. It was a fortuitous meeting: Like me, Carla was a fair-weather birder accompanying an avian fanatic. When heat and humidity outweighed our dedication for spotting wildlife, Carla and I retreated to reading on the lodge deck while Alex and Jessie pushed on.

This went on for days, with Alex and Jessie spotting a wide range of birds while Carla and I tagged along intermittently. Dinner on the field station patio - a comfy assortment of lounge chairs and tables - quickly became an exercise in comparing notes with other guests. Two Texans, Amy and Jay Packer, joined the four of us at dinner each night to discuss the day's sightings. Over the next few days, birding around the lodge became a team effort among Amy, Jay, Jessie and Alex. When a helmeted hornbill was spotted in the fig tree near the lodge, birders fetched deck loungers with the enthusiasm of kindergartners who had glimpsed an ice cream truck.

On the other hand, non-sightings drew despair. Bird watchers and animal seekers tend to have a few dream species; for Alex, that meant orangutans and Borneo's endemic pittas - small, elegant, colorful birds that scavenge for insects and leeches on the forest floor. The pittas proved elusive, and Alex grew dark at times. "I hate the pitta," he muttered at dinner one night, with the air of a spurned lover. At one point, he compared Danum's birding to the Vietnam War: In the hot, dark jungle, he could hear the birds everywhere - but though they could see him, he couldn't see them. When the Texans lent me an extra pair of binoculars, Jay told me that after he and Amy were married, the gift of binoculars had converted her to bird watching. Alex told me to exercise caution. "Birding is a vice," he warned. I held the lenses with trepidation.

With binoculars in hand, I joined Alex and Jessie more often, and our persistence in searching for an orangutan eventually paid off. At the end of a long day, a ways up the access road, we glimpsed a figure clambering up the trunk of a tree in the distance, scratching its belly. When it reached the top of the canopy, a loud cacophony of crashing limbs commenced as it constructed a nest for the night. Eventually, the crashing stopped. It lay down, carefree, and scratched its arms. Alex danced a jig of happiness, and we watched until the light grew dim.

- - -

A look at the varieties of life on and around the island of Borneo

Selected marine sightings:

Green and hawksbill turtles; false clown anemonefish; angelfish; masked butterflyfish; chocolate chip and blue sea stars; moorish idol; giant moray, black-finned snake, white-eyed moray, honeycomb moray and yellow margin moray eels; triggerfish; pipefish; boxfish; pufferfish; bumphead parrotfish; giant grouper; raggy and devil scorpionfish; broadclub cuttlefish; and giant and painted frogfish.

Selected bird sightings:

Temminck's sunbird; chestnut-hooded and Sunda laughingthrush; golden-naped, gold-whiskered and blue-eared barbets; Bornean flowerpecker; Bornean whistling and everett's thrush; pygmy blue-flycatcher; Bornean forktail; pale-faced bulbul; fruithunter; whitehead's and black-and-red broadbills; whiskered treeswift; purple-throated sunbird; spectacled spiderhunter; blue-crowned hanging parrot; Blyth's hawk-eagle; Bornean falconet; crested fireback; Bornean bristlehead; oriental pied and Asian black hornbills; thick-billed green, large green, rock and green imperial pigeons; greater racket-tailed, bronzed, hair-crested and ashy drongos; and asian fairy-bluebird; zebra, spotted, emerald and little cuckoo doves.

- - -

Ford is a writer based in Beijing.

- - -

If you go

Where to stay

Mabul Beach Resort

Block B 36, 458 Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia

011-60-089785372

scuba-junkie.com/accommodations

Scuba Junkie has its own lodging in Semporna, but also runs a small beach resort of bungalows on Mabul Island. Though a bit more expensive, the amenities are comfortable and the lodge is cozy. Guests who spend four days and three nights at the resort qualify for Sipadan diving permits, which are limited in the area. Private rooms for divers start at $37 a person.

Danum Valley Field Center

Danum Valley Conservation Area

Block 3, MDLD 3286

Ground Floor, Fajar Centre

Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia

011-60-089880441

danumvalley.info

There are two lodging options in Danum Valley: Danum Valley Field Center (DVFC) and the Borneo Rainforest Lodge. DVFC is by far the more affordable option, but it has nice, simple accommodations. The main office can be a little hard to reach by phone, so sometimes a third-party tour agent can help. Transport via van can be arranged from the DVFC office in Lahad Datu leaves three times per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), and private rooms start at $44, not including food.

Kinabalu Mountain Lodge

The lodge is located a kilometer from the entrance of Kinabalu National Park.

011-60-0163374909

bit.ly/kinabalumountainlodge

The area surrounding Mount Kinabalu is dotted with guesthouses, lodges and hotels, but this one might have one of the best views for an affordable price and is also family friendly. It's located just up the road from the park entrance, down a mixed dirt and paved road. Vistas from the balcony are stunning. Private rooms start at $27 a night.

Where to eat

Kedai Kopi Lotus

Jalan Damai, Kota Kinabalu (just down the street from Queen Elizabeth Hospital)

bit.ly/KedaiKopiLotus

Made up of multiple stalls, this local haunt is a cheap but delicious find in KK and boasts the best chicken wings in town. Pork satay, fried and steamed dumplings and its famous barbecued stingray are just some of the highlights. A basic meal will set you back $5.

Kedai Kopi Yee Fung

127 Jalan Gaya, Kota Kinabalu

011-60-88312042

yeefunglaksa.com

This is a great spot to sample Malay laksa noodles. The curry laksa is also especially well-known, as well as the claypot chicken rice. Enjoy - it'll all cost you less than $3.

Fat Mom's Seafood Restaurant

Lot B4, Ground Floor, Semporna, Malaysia (on the waterfront)

011-60-146752883

bit.ly/fatmomsseafood

Semporna isn't exactly the gourmet capital of Southeast Asia, but there are quite a few seafood restaurants around, and this is one of the best. Overlooking the waterway into the docks in Semporna, it's a great place to relax after a day of scuba, and perhaps sample some of the marine life you just saw! A standard dinner should cost no more than $8.

What to do

Scuba Diving

Block B 36, 458 Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia

011-60-089785372

scuba-junkie.com

Sabah has many diving spots, but the most exciting are located around the islands off its east coast, near Semporna. Many scuba operations run out of Semporna and Scuba Junkie is one of the largest, with a wide range of affordable certification courses and an international staff. The coffee, cake and tea during breaks aren't too shabby either. Diving around Mabul (the minimum two dives in one day) starts at $62.49.

River Tour in Kinabatangan

011-60-088255816

river-junkie.com/kinabatangan-river1.html

While a lot of wildlife watching requires trekking through lowland jungle trails, tour by motorboat offers a more relaxed option. A wide range of tour companies run packaged tours in Kinabatangan, and the wildlife hanging over and along the riverbanks is well worth it. For an efficient three-day experience, check out Scuba Junkie's sister company, River Junkie. Standard three-day tour with a private room in a river lodge starts at $160.44.

Gomantong Caves

These caves were featured in one of the more famous shots from the BBC's "Planet Earth" documentary, and for good reason. Colonies of echo-locating swiftlets and bats nest in the caves (the swiftlets' nests, constructed from mucus, are a local delicacy), and their droppings are digested in enormous mounds on the cave floor by teeming clusters of cockroaches and other scavengers including crabs. Truly a creepy-crawly ecosystem unto itself, the ammonia-scented caves are worth a visit on the way from Kinabatangan to Danum Valley (south) or Sandakan (north). Most tour operators in Kinabatangan can help book a car there. Admission to Gomantang Caves is $7.50. To arrange taxi transport, contact Best Borneo Tours Sdn Bhd (sabahtourism.com, 011-60-88262780).

Information

sabahtourism.com
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A Houston police officer charged with intoxication manslaughter in a fatal head-on crash this month is free on bond following his release Wednesday from the Fort Bend County jail.

A family member of Officer James Combs, of Richmond, posted the $100,000 bail Wednesday afternoon, said Caitilin Espinosa, a spokeswoman for the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office. Combs went before a magistrate judge that same day. He faces a felony charge of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle in connection with the two-vehicle wreck, court records show.

As conditions of the bond, Combs must submit to and pay for random alcohol and drug testing, court records show. He also must install at his own expense a deep-lung breath analysis mechanism with a camera in his vehicle within 30 days of his release, using an approved company.

The defendant, who lives in Richmond, cannot have firearms, surrendered his passport and is limited to travel only within Fort Bend and contiguous counties, according to additional bond conditions listed on the warrant for his arrest. He will be monitored by satellite and cannot communicate with the victim's family.

Combs was off-duty and driving a Chevrolet Tahoe around 6:30 a.m. Friday on Beechnut near Westmoor when he collided with a Chevrolet Corvette driven by Brian Manring, 36, also of the Richmond area, according to Fort Bend County authorities.

A gofundme site established by Manring's family said they mourned his loss but celebrated his life, and that "the life he treasured most was that of his 8 year old daughter, Holly."

"Everyone who knew Brian, knew that he lived for his daughter. She was his life!!" said a statement from the Manring family, who is seeking donations to support her.

Deputies said that when they detected the presence of alcohol on the off-duty officer, they asked him to take field sobriety tests, but he refused. Then a warrant was obtained and the officer was taken to Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital for a blood test as well as for treatment for his minor injuries.

According to the Houston Police Department, Combs was relieved of duty Friday, meaning he would be on paid leave pending an internal investigation. Combs, a patrol officer with the Midwest division, has spent six years on the force.

Combs was released around 7 p.m. Wednesday. His next court date is Sept. 26.
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SHELTON  The 23-year old woman charged with vehicular homicide in the head-on crash that killed a local woman in May had cocaine and morphine in her system, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Samantha Monacos cell phone records showed that she had just ended a call to a friend when her BMW crossed the center line of River Road at 1:30 p.m. on May 6, slamming into the Honda Accord being driven by Rosemarie Dwyer, 69.

The affidavit filed in Derby Superior Court by Det. Richard Bango notes that he and several patrol officers at the scene knew Monaco from several prior police encounters.

In fact, Monaco has five Superior Court files, including two speeding tickets, a charge of engaging police in pursuit and an Oct. 17, 2014 charge of failure to drive in the proper lane on Long Hill Road in Shelton.

She also has pending charges of sixth-degree burglary, larceny and tampering with evidence in a Jan.28, 2015 case, in which she allegedly stole a friends wallet and two cell phones after allegedly breaking into his Shelton home.

According to court documents, Monaco had been undergoing opioid replacement therapy at the APT Foundation on Long Wharf in New Haven. She had been attending weekly sessions since Feb. 5, 2015 as part of a court-ordered program, but was discharged last month due to lack of engagement, according to a letter in her file from the therapist.

A Shelton firefighter at the scene of the May 6 crash told detectives that he had been at the Pine Rock Grocery on River Road, owned by Monacos parents, a few minutes before the crash and had talked to Samantha Monaco, who seemed fidgety and said that she was anxious to get home, according to the affidavit.

Detectives executed three search warrants for Monacos blood and urine samples taken at Bridgeport Hospital after the crash, for her cell phone and for the phone records. The records indicate that Monaco had called a friend in Shelton and asked him to meet her at her home on Sharon Court, and that the call ended moments before the crash.

Dwyer was given CPR at the scene, but was pronounced dead when she arrived at the hospital. Dwyer lived on Kyles Way in a condominium development on the site of the former Pinecrest Country Club , a short distance from where the accident occurred.

Monaco received facial injuries from the crash.

Monaco would not answer investigators questions at the hospital, the affidavit states, telling detectives this is not the time. Bango wrote that the young woman seemed vague and did not seem to understand the questions being asked.

She turned herself in to Shelton police on Aug. 11 after being told they held a warrant for her arrest, and was released after posting a $25,000 cash bond.

According to the warrant affidavit, the road was wet, but it wasnt raining, and investigators could find no reason for Monacos BMW to have crossed the center line. They talked to the young man that Monaco had called from her car, and the man told them that the two had talked for 90 seconds.

She had said goodbye to him before the call ended, the man told police, theorizing that Monaco was hanging up the phone when the crash occurred. Her AT&T ZTE black cell phone was found on the passenger seat.

Monacos father, Adriano, came to the scene and dialed his daughters number, causing the phone on the BMW seat to ring.

Monacos mother, Joanne, declined to speak to a reporter when contacted at the grocery and deli on Wednesday. The business is also on River Road, a short distance from the crash site.

The familys attorney, Michael Meehan of Bridgeport, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Monaco will be arraigned Aug. 25 at Superior Court in Derby on charges of second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol, using a hand-held cell phone while driving and failure to drive on the right.

A status conference on the larceny and burglary charges in the unrelated case is also scheduled for the same day.

fjuliano@ctpost.com;
University of Houston Chancellor Renu Khator will be inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in October, among of a group of inductees that includes Tejano Queen Selena Quintanilla-Perez.

Khator, who is also president of UH's main campus, is largely credited with pushing the university once known as "Cougar High" toward the nation's top-tier of research universities. During Khator's eight-year tenure, the university has lured numerous members of the prestigious national academies of science and engineering. Incoming undergraduates are making better grades and are returning at a higher rate, a sign that the university's sluggish graduation rate could pick up.
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At a time when Houston didn't even have an official ambulance system, the idea of medical helicopters swooping into urban mayhem and whisking away patients fighting for their lives might have seemed impossible.

But Army veteran and trauma surgeon Dr. James "Red" Duke knew military helicopters saved lives on the battlefields of Korea and Vietnam, and he wanted to bolster survival rates by getting civilians who had been shot, stabbed or in car accidents to a hospital as quickly as possible.

PREVIOUS: Colleagues remember "Red" Duke as humble, dedicated

Now, 41 years after that first flight took to the air on Aug. 1, 1976, Memorial Hermann Life Flight has notched more than 150,000 missions. It has served as a model for programs across the country, been portrayed in three television shows - including a docudrama - and helped train NASA astronauts.

More Information Memorial Hermann's air ambulance program 1 First flight took off Aug. 1, 1976 1 Flown more than 150,000 missions 1 Administered morethan 1,600 units of blood since 2011 1 Uses 275,000 gallonsof jet fuel annually 1 Service available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year 1 Operates six helicopters 1 74 people make up the flight crew 1 80 percent of flight crew members have military experience 1 Travels within a 150-mile radius Life Flight TimeLine 1973: Philanthropist John Dunn funds construction of a helicopter landing pad atop Emergency Center. 1976: Dr. James "Red" Duke, with Houston Fire Department's Lester "Whitey" Martin, asks the hospital to fund an air medical transport system, and starts the first air ambulance program in Texas and the second in the U.S. 1978: It becomes the largest civilian air rescue system in the U.S. 1983: Three TwinStar helicopters replace the original Alouette IIIs used by the Life Flight fleet. 1986: In its first 10 years, the program flies more than 28,000 patients. 1991: Paramedics join crews. 2001: Crews evacuate patients from flooding during Tropical Storm Allison. 2005: Life Flight helicopters touch down in New Orleans to help after Hurricane Katrina. 2010: Ultrasound is added to helicopters to help diagnose patients. 2011: Program begins stocking liquid plasma on helicopters. 2015: Docudrama "Life Flight Trauma Center Houston" premieres on Lifetime TV. 2015: Duke dies at age 86. Source: Memorial Hermann Hospital Dr. James 'Red' Duke Who: Acclaimed trauma surgeon who helped create Life Flight, now the largest air ambulance system in the U.S. Born: Nov. 16, 1928, in Ennis, south of Dallas, but grew up in nearby Hillsboro Education: Texas A&M University, UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, surgical training at Parkland Hospital in Dallas Television: "Dr. Red Duke Texas Health Reports," which aired in 30 states; hosted PBS series "Bodywatch"; was the basis for the "Buck James" TV series starring actor Dennis Weaver Died: Aug. 25, 2015, of natural causes See More Collapse

"In the '50s and '60s, you got to the hospital either by private car, a taxi or they came by a hearse driven by a funeral home driver who knew nothing about live people," Duke, who died in 2015, said in a documentary prepared by the hospital.

"If you shortened the time between the incident and definitive intervention, you got a better chance, and that concept still applies," he said.

Duke, who was born in Ennis and grew up in nearby Hillsboro, went on to become a Houston medical icon known not only for his bushy moustache and round glasses but also for his passion, demand for excellence and down-to-earth manner.

RELATED: James 'Red' Duke, iconic surgeon who started Life Flight, dies at 86

In 1963, as a surgical resident, Duke was in the emergency room at Dallas' Parkland Hospital when President John F. Kennedy was shot, and he helped tend to wounded Texas Gov. John B. Connally. He later spent two years in Afghanistan as a professor before joining the University of Texas Medical School in Houston as a professor of surgery in 1972.

It was there, in the mid-1970s, that he began studying - along with Deputy Houston Fire Chief Lester "Whitey" Martin - the nation's first air ambulance program in Denver.

Life Flight began with one helicopter, which was built on 1950s technology and carried all the lifesaving equipment that could fit in a single medical bag.

By 1987, Houston would be home to the largest civilian air rescue program in the United States and was making a name nationwide.

Today, a fleet of six Eurocopter EC-145 twin-engine helicopters fly within a 150-mile radius of the Texas Medical Center - a reach that includes not only all of Houston, but pulls in Austin, Corpus Christi and parts of Louisiana. One of the busiest private heliports in the world is perched atop the hospital on the northern edge of the Medical Center.

SAVING LIVES: The Texas Medical Center through the years, looking forward

The Life Flight aircraft, all painted red, have an average cruising speed of 150 mph, and have the instrumentation for pilots to zip into weather so soupy they can't see through it.

They fly around the clock in what is known as the Golden Hour - the crucial 60 minutes following a traumatic injury during which a person's survival rate is about 80 percent if they can reach proper care.

The EC-145s are considered state-of-the-art. They have two engines, two navigation systems and two autopilot systems - each a backup in the name of safety.

They can carry two patients at a time, along with a paramedic, a flight nurse and a pilot. In many ways, they are mini-emergency rooms in the sky. Blood products and oxygen can be administered. An ultrasound check can be used to determine if a person has internal bleeding.

It is up to first responders at the scene to decide if Life Flight is needed.

"Every flight is unique - you don't know what to expect, what the patient will be like," said Eric von Wenckstern, who started with Life Flight nearly 35 years ago as a pilot and is now administrative director. "There are very few flights that are textbook."

In addition to handling weather and navigation challenges, Life Flight helicopters have touched down in fields, parking lots and in the middle of interstates packed with rush-hour motorists.

LOOKING FORWARD: Texas Medical Center hospitals see major shifts in leadership

Von Wenckstern recalled Duke's advice: "We didn't shoot 'em. We didn't stab 'em. We didn't tell them to drink that alcohol and get in their car and crash into a pole, so if you don't think it is safe, don't go."

Countless stories of humanity have rolled across the floors, and the walls preserve the rich history.

"You have in me a friend for life of Life Flight along with my sincere gratitude," states a framed letter from Rodney Meadows, a Conroe police officer whose cruiser was hit by a stolen vehicle on July 24, 1981.

"Thank you, Life Flight," reads a plaque, "from the Family of Chris W. Helton."

Helton's father, John Helton, said it was 1981 when he got a phone call from Duke himself telling him that his son had been in a motorcycle accident on Highway 146 near Baytown. Life Flight saved his son's life, Helton said. "He wouldn't have made it," Helton said.

There's also a salute to Life Flight's darkest day - July 17, 1999, when a helicopter carrying a crew crashed just outside Houston while landing for refueling. The crash was caused by a defective part that caused the main rotor blade to detach.

There was no patient aboard during the crash, but the three crew members were killed. A large bouquet marking the anniversary sits beside photos of pilot John Pittman, flight nurse Lynn Etheridge and paramedic Charles "Mack" Atteberry. It is a sacred place.

MEDICAL WONDERS: Texas Medical Center grew from small hospital that rose up in swampland

Tom Flanagan, chief operating officer at Memorial Hermann-The Texas Medical Center, said Life Flight has been a pioneer in the air medical industry, helping establish nationwide standards for safety in terms of when to fly and when not to fly, and how to keep patients and crew safe.

"We look at (Duke) as the grandfather of trauma," Flanagan said. "He moved trauma care in this country to something no one ever anticipated or expected."

Duke went on to become a television personality, with the syndicated "Dr. Red Duke Texas Health Reports" and as the inspiration for the TV series "Buck James" with actor Dennis Weaver.

Duke's daughter, Sarah Duke, said that her father gave Life Flight his all but never sought to take credit from anyone else. She recalled how even when he was sick and living in her home, he used Skype to sit in on Life Flight meetings, she said.

"I've heard him say over the years it took a lot of people to make it happen," she said. "He was the one at the beginning and he was pushing the idea of how to get people to medical care more quickly and effectively."
U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal declined Thursday to rule on whether Harris County should be dismissed from a lawsuit intended to force officials to reform a tough bail system in which more than 70 percent of jail inmates are being held pretrial.

Maranda Lynn Odonnell, a single mom jailed for driving without a valid license and held for two days because she couldn't afford $2,500 bail, has been put forward as the plaintiff in the civil rights lawsuit as a representative of thousands of poor people who suffered undue hardship because of their inability to pay bail in Harris County.

Her claim was consolidated Thursday by Rosenthal with similar complaints by a pregnant woman and a man arrested for shoplifting cosmetics who were both jailed because they could not pay for bail.

But lawyers for Harris County have argued that the county itself - and its elected county commissioners - don't control decisions made by judges. Under the current system, only about 8 percent of misdemeanor offenders were released without having to pay bail in 2015, according to county statistics.

In court, Rosenthal questioned whether lawyers representing poor former detainees are pursuing the right parties by targeting the county sheriff, county hearing officers and the county itself when it is county court at law judges who act as policymakers and set the bail bond schedule that's been challenged.

She gave Odonnell's attorneys a week to decide whether to add judges as additional defendants and hinted that she considered it a "dicey proposition" to hold the sheriff responsible for bail-driven injustices.

The lawsuit was filed by the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit Equal Justice Under Law, the Texas Fair Defense Project and the Houston law firm Susman Godfrey. They and their supporters have argued that those held pretrial who can't afford to post bond are punished for being poor and are more likely to face harsher sentences as well as lose jobs, apartments and relationships while they are behind bars.

The suit is one of a series of federal court challenges that the group has made to what it calls money bail practices across the United States.

Currently, most defendants in Harris County have their bonds in video-link hearings by judges who never meet them. Prosecutors attend, but no defense attorneys are present. The homeless are routinely denied bond because of their lack of a permanent address.

Outside of court, Harris County judges have generally defended their use of a strict bond schedule that sets the amount defendants must pay based on the offense type and on criminal history.

But other county officials say they have sought grants and are already working on reforms they say will improve their process without requiring any federal court intervention.

Rosenthal is expected to weigh Harris County's arguments to dismiss the case against the evidence so far collected by the nonprofit about the county criminal justice system's alleged treatment of poor criminal defendants in misdemeanor cases, such as driving without a license and possession of marijuana.

Though the Harris County lawsuit challenges bond practices only in misdemeanor cases, the American Bail Coalition put out a press release this week describing the nonprofit's efforts in the case as having the potential to remove "all money bail, and in the process, eliminate the single most vital component of the criminal justice system: accountability."

"If an individual knows that he or she is getting out of jail for free  and that if they don't show up for court, no one is coming after them  there is little to no incentive for them to be answerable for their actions," said Jeff Clayton, policy director of that coalition, according to a press release distributed by the group.

Overcrowding is a perennial problem in the Harris County jail, which was singled out in a 2009 investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice because of persistent in-custody deaths, beatings, reports of abuse and overcrowding fed in-part by the strict pretrial detention practices. Compared to other urban counties, judges release very few misdemeanor inmates on so-called personal bonds because of hardships or an inability to pay even when the county's pretrial services personnel find defendants to be "low risk."

But an attorney for the county, Katharine David, told Rosenthal on Thursday that the percentage of misdemeanor offenders winning release on no-cost bond has increased in 2016 to as high as 20 percent. David did not immediately provide further details or documentation.

Alec Karakatsanis has asked for an injunction to force further changes in the process. Rosenthal set a hearing date for late September to review evidence from both sides.

The Houston Chronicle found that 55 pretrial inmates died in Harris County custody from 2009-2015, including some held for misdemeanor crimes like trespassing.The sheriff's office has reported additional deaths and suicides of pretrial inmates in the last year, including the April death of a man who'd been jailed because he could not afford to post bond after allegedly stealing a guitar and was then beaten to death by other inmates.
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More details have emerged after a 22-year-old woman died and two children were rushed to the hospital from a three-vehicle crash in southeast Houston, according to the Houston Police Department.

The collision happened around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 137000 block of Scarsdale, HPD Sgt. C. Williams said.

The woman was driving a black Kia Forte at a high rate of speed when she hit the back of a gray Honda. The Kia then veered into oncoming traffic where it slammed head-on into a white Ford F-150 pickup.

The Kia driver was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her name has not been released. Two young children who were passengers in the Kia were taken to Memorial Hermann hospital. Details of their possible injuries and conditions were not released. Police did not disclose the children's ages or the relationship between the woman and the children.

The 34-year-old man driving the pickup was taken to Memorial Hermann Southeast hospital. Details of his possible injuries and condition were not released.

The 29-year-old man driving the Honda was treated at the scene and released.

A resident in the neighborhood where the crash occurred said the roadway is very poorly lit and unsafe for drivers. He fears for the safety of his family and others who drive on the street and questions why city leaders have not installed street lights to make the road safer.

Police are investigating the crash.
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Calling all space fans and robot enthusiasts: NASA is looking for your help to navigate their robot on Mars.

Titled "The Space Robotics Challenge," winners will help NASA's Valkyrie build infrastructures and power systems on Mars and get a stake of the $1 million purse.

READ MORE: NASA releases thousands of trippy images of Mars' surface

The program challenges participants to create software that will help NASA's iron lady (also known as R5) successfully work through a scenario similar to the one Matt Damon found himself in during The Martian, a movie where he's a lone NASA astronaut left on Mars.

"In the not too distant future, R5 has arrived on Mars along with supplies ahead of a human mission," the challenge rules read. "Overnight, a dust storm damaged the habitat and solar array, and caused the primary communication antenna to become misaligned. R5 must now repair an air leak in the habitat, deploy a new solar panel and align the communication antenna."

Thankfully, Valkyrie doesn't need to eat, so there's no need to write a program that'll help her plant potatoes like Damon did.

Valkyrie was created at Johnson Space Center in Houston in 2013. She was created as part of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency competition to create a robot that could go where no human could go. NASA built the robot to go to Mars.

READ MORE: 'Skeletal remains' spotted in NASA Mars rover Curiosity photo

The competition arena will have a rover, solar panels and a communication dish on a simulation of the Martian plain. Finalists will be provided practice environments similar to the one that will be used in the final competition, according to the rules.

Each task will have a number of fixed checkpoints. Teams are awarded points only for checkpoints that are successfully completed.

NASA didn't say if and when it will send Valkyrie and astronauts to Mars but this competition is an indication the agency is working toward the big adventure.

Registration for the competition opened Tuesday and closes Sept. 16. Finalists will be announced in December and get a crack at the simulation in June 2017.




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.
Tuesday evening, in the wake of rioting in Milwaukee, Donald Trump held a rally in a nearby suburband made a direct appeal for black votes. Hes not likely to get many. His central appeal to blacks, up to now, has been based on law and order. Terrible violence and other crimes plague too many urban black communities; reducing crime is a fundamental precondition to progress. Still, some observers felt that, on crime, anyway, Trump was trying to rally his white base more than he was trying to reach new black voters.

On other issues, however, Trump made a genuine appeal to blacks. He questioned whether voting overwhelmingly for Democrats, as blacks do, has delivered the expected benefits. He touted the virtues of his economic-nationalist policies, arguing that NAFTA and other trade deals helped destroy urban manufacturing jobs once held by blacks. Similar economic rhetoric has resonated with white working-class voters. And Trump pushed his immigration policies. No community in this country has been hurt worse by Hillary Clintons immigration policies than the African-American community, he said.

Indeed, if theres one group with a prima facie, legitimate gripe about immigration, its urban blacks. The white working class largely lives in areas with relatively few immigrants, but many blacks live in cities with substantial immigrant populations. Less-educated black urban dwellers are more directly exposed to competition from immigrant labor. In Chicago, for example, Latinos dominate many residential construction crews. Black men could be doing many of these jobs. Some employers clearly prefer immigrants over blacks. Going back more than a century, fear of this race-tinged displacement led African-American leaders like Frederick Douglas and WEB DuBois to view immigration ambivalently.

Immigration has also badly diluted black voting power and political influence in many cities. In 1980, Chicago was about 40 percent black and 14 percent Hispanic. Blacks and lakefront liberals formed an electoral alliance to elect Harold Washington as the citys first black mayor in 1983. Today, after black population losses and a doubling of Latino population share, the citys one-third white, one-third black, and one-third Latino population produces a divide-and-rule dynamic benefiting white mayors like Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel.

Immigrants come to the United States with no sense of responsibility for slavery or Jim Crow, no guilt over white privilege. They often have their own narratives of colonial or other oppression, and feel no compulsion to put black aspirations and social-justice claims over their own. And many countries around the world are highly ethnocentric. While some have their own indigenous concept of multiculturalism, they are very different societies from the United States, with their own problematic legaciesincluding, often, negative views of blacks. The Washington Post recently reported on the huge problem with racism against Africans in India and China. An AP story noted that blacks in India experience a daily battle in a country where their dark skin places them at the lower end of a series of strictly observed social hierarchies. A writer for Al-Jazeera pointed to her cultures racism problem, saying, The Arab slave trade is a fact of history and anti-black racism is a fact of current reality, a shameful thing that must be confronted in Arab societies. The Los Angeles Times reported that Africans found life in Russia to be hell on earth. Why would anyone believe that coming to the U.S. would magically change these dispositions?

Members of the American intelligentsia pride themselves on interacting with people from around the globe, but theyre usually dealing with the most cosmopolitan, highly educated citizens. The typical technology company looks like the United Nations, for example (albeit without many blacks). Many in the white-collar knowledge economy come to assume that their international coworkers are the norm in those countries, but this is far from the case.

As far back as 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a far-left advocacy group, examined the rising conflict between blacks and Latinos, saying, Around the country, evidence of a growing divide between blacks and Hispanics is mounting. Its a split few want to discuss. In the wake of Baltimores riots, NPR covered the tensions between blacks and Koreans. In California, legislation to repeal Proposition 209, which banned affirmative action in state college admissions, died in the legislature after a backlash from Asians, who realized that they would be the biggest losers. Tensions have even broken out among native-born American blacks and black immigrants from Africa.

As ethnic groups multiply and grow in America, often borrowing the template of the civil rights movement for their own goals, they dilute the claims of black Americans. A study by sociologists Mary C. Waters, Philip Kasinitz, and Asad L. Asad argued that the increasing racial diversity of the population owing to immigration means policies that aim to promote racial equality but that are framed in terms of diversity often do not address the needs of native African Americans who, arguably, need such policies the most. Diversity used to mean black. Now it can mean anything from a Mexican small-business owner to a Chinese software developer to a Pakistani doctor. Major Silicon Valley firms actually employ a lower share of whites than the population as a wholeand virtually no blacks.

The Democratic Party continues to rely heavily on the urban black vote, despite its support for untrammeled immigration, along with other liberal policies that make it hard for blacks to afford living in many American cities. None of this is terribly new: though the warning signs have been flashing for years, blacks remain largely sympathetic to immigration, and they dont seem inclined to desert the Democrats, at least for the time being. But if large-scale immigration continues, and the GOP, post-Trump, becomes the party of a soon-to-be white minority, black political clout will face an inevitable downgrade. Trumps speech was interesting, then, for its context if nothing else. Blacks may not vote for him, but they should ponder his warning about the effect of unlimited immigration on their future prospects.

Photo by Darren Hauck/Getty Images
A city councilman is resigning following charges he filed a false accident report and repeatedly changed his explanation for what happened.

Lebanon councilman Tony Matula, 59, faces charges including insurance fraud, false reports to law enforcement and hit and run, The Lebanon Daily News reported.

Police say he reported in June 2014 that someone hit his car, which had been parked outside his home. Investigators questioned his story based on the evidence they gathered, including damage to his car and a nearby utility pole.

Police say he later changed his story and said his friends husband fell asleep at the wheel and hit his car.

Matula then changed his story again and said a friend moved the car without his knowledge and hit the pole. She corroborated the story, then recanted and said Matula asked her to lie.

Police say Matula then admitted he hit the pole and submitted a fraudulent hit-and-run insurance claim.

Matula, a councilman since 2010, said he had a lapse in judgment that resulted from him wanting to hurt his insurer for high rates he has been paying following two previous accidents.

I accept the fact that I made a false report, he said. I understand the implications that go with it, and I accept them. I regret doing it. There was no malice or intent to hurt anyone.

Mayor Sherry Capello said Matulas resignation could become official as early as Thursday.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Ford Motor Co., which put the world on wheels a century ago, is now taking the driver out of the drivers seat. The company said it plans to have a fully autonomous vehicle  no steering wheel, no gas or brake pedals  available by 2021 for ride-hailing services.

We see the autonomous car changing the way the world moves once again, Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields said today at Fords research lab in Palo Alto, California. They address a whole host of safety, social and environmental issues.

Like Alphabet Inc.s Google, Ford will skip the interim steps of driver-assisted technology as a way to evolve toward full autonomy. Its plan to deploy self-driving cars in ride-hailing and ride-sharing fleets is similar to what General Motors Co. aims to do with Lyft Inc. Fords 2021 scheduled start matches BMWs ambitious timeframe.

We believe in our plan that taking the driver out of the loop is really important, Fields said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The automaker couldnt find a sensible way through the no-mans land  determining exactly when a robotic car should to try to re-engage a human driver in an emergency.

The second-biggest U.S. automaker didnt say how many autonomous cars it plans to produce by 2021. Earlier Tuesday, Ford said its doubling the number of people at the Silicon Valley lab to 260 while expanding to two more buildings. It also invested $75 million in the leading maker of an advanced radar system to accelerate its development of self-driving cars.

Theres some catching up to do: Googles self-driving car project has already amassed 1.8 million miles of public road testing. Ford said today its investing in or collaborating with four startups on autonomous vehicles, bringing its roster of such partnerships to 40.

Fords plan lacks specifics of how it will make this great leap to full automation, said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst for researcher Autotrader.

Im not seeing all the pieces of the puzzle in place because they dont have a relationship with a ride hailing service like Uber or Lyft, Krebs said. Its a first step and at least Wall Street will see that theyre working on this.

Lidar Investment

Ford and Chinas top search engine company, Baidu Inc., are each investing $75 million in Velodyne Lidar Inc., the automaker said today in a statement. Lidar bounces light off objects to assess shape and location, giving self-driving cars a 360-degree view of their environment with the help of cameras and traditional radar. Morgan Hill, California-based Velodyne said the money will help it improve design and expand production, making the sensors more affordable for mass adoption.

Ford wants to do as much as they can internally, but also acknowledge that its best to partner with those who have the leading technology, Jeff Schuster, an analyst at research firm LMC Automotive.

Ford also said it acquired SAIPS, an Israel-based computer vision and machine learning company, to boost its capabilities in artificial intelligence. The automaker also struck an exclusive licensing agreement with New York-based Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC, founded by neuroscientist Sheila Nirenberg. Ford said she has developed a machine vision platform that it hopes can bring humanlike intelligence to autonomous cars. Ford didnt disclose financial details of either deal.

Ford also reiterated last months announcement that it was among five investors providing $6.6 million in seed funding for Civil Maps, a California startup that creates three-dimensional maps for driverless cars.

GM Acquisitions

GM has spent almost $600 million  and will spend more  acquiring self-driving software maker Cruise Automation and invested $500 million for a 9 percent stake in ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV has teamed with Google to develop 100 self-driving minivans. Ford conducted unsuccessful negotiations with Google prior to the Chrysler deal.

Since GM announced its acquisition of Cruise Automation in March, the staff at the company has grown to 100 from 40, said Kevin Kelly, a GM spokesman. GM is testing Cruises self-driving software on Chevy Bolt electric cars in Scottsdale, Arizona. GM also has a research lab in Palo Alto that employs about 12 people, Kelly said.

Our goal is to use our autonomous technology in an on-demand ride-sharing network, Kelly said. Cruise paired perfectly with Lyft.

Velodyne said it expects an exponential increase in lidar sensor deployments and that it will continue to work with top automotive and ride-sharing companies worldwide.

We want the cost to be low enough to be used for all cars, Marta Hall, Velodynes president of business development, said in the statement.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
From 5,000 feet up, its difficult to make out where Louisianas coastline used to be. But follow the skeletal remains of decades-old oil canals, and you get an idea. Once, these lanes sliced through thick marshland, clearing a path for pipelines or ships. Now theyre surrounded by open water, green borders still visible as the sea swallows up the shore.

The canals tell a story about the industrys ubiquity in Louisiana history, but they also signal a grave future: $100 billion of energy infrastructure threatened by rising sea levels and erosion. As the coastline recedes, tangles of pipeline are exposed to corrosive seawater; refineries, tank farms and ports are at risk.

All of the pipelines, all of the things put in place in the 50s and 60s and 70s were designed to be protected by marsh, said Ted Falgout, an energy consultant and former director of Port Fourchon.

Louisiana has an ambitious  and expensive  plan to protect both its backbone industry and its citizens from this threat but, with a $2 billion deficit looming next year, the cash-poor state can only do so much to shore up its sinking coasts. That means the oil and gas industry is facing new pressures to bankroll critical environmental projects  whether by choice or by force.

The industry down there has relied on the natural environment to protect its infrastructure, and that environment is now unraveling, said Kai Midboe, the director of policy research at the Water Institute of the Gulf. They need to step up.

Every year in Louisiana, more than 20 square miles of land is swallowed by the Gulf. At Port Fourchon, which services 90 percent of deepwater oil production, the shoreline recedes by three feet every month. Statewide, more than 610 miles of pipeline could be exposed over the next 25 years, according to one study by Louisiana State University and the Rand Corporation. Private industry owns more than 80 percent of Louisianas coast.

The land loss exacerbates another natural threat: storm-related flooding, like that affecting Baton Rouge now. As days of heavy rainfall caused water to overrun levees along several tributaries this week, Exxon Mobil Corp. began shutting units at its Baton Rouge refinery, the fourth-largest in the U.S. About 40,000 homes in southeastern Louisiana have been affected by the devastating flooding, and at least 11 people have died.

In Louisiana, marshes, swamps and barrier islands can mitigate flooding, soaking up rainfall like a sponge and reducing storm surge. But as the land erodes, storms advance without a buffer, and Louisianas flood protection systems become less effective. The state estimates that damage from flooding could increase by $20 billion in coming years, if the coastline isnt reinforced.

Midboe, with the Water Institute and the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development, is leading an effort to get companies to invest in restoration projects that directly affect their infrastructure. This month, over a lunch of fresh Gulf shrimp at Port Fourchons headquarters in Galliano, Midboe made his pitch to a group of about 20 industry representatives.

The problems are real. We need to deal with them now, Midboe told the executives. The public funding needed to protect this infrastructure is going to fall far short.

The task force, Midboe explained, would identify restoration projects that could protect the industrys hard assets. Member dues would cover operational costs, and companies that would benefit from projects would share the cost of construction.

The oil and gas sector is already losing an average of $14 billion a year to environmental threats to its infrastructure, according to a study by Americas Wetlands Foundation and Entergy Corp. By 2030, those losses could exceed $350 billion.

The Americas Wetlands Foundation has already partnered with ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp. and CITGO Petroleum Corp. to build a one-mile, $1 million pilot project mitigating erosion along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, a shipping route used by oil and gas companies.

I would think that the larger investors in Louisiana would be willing to look at this as part of their long-term business plan, Val Marmillion, managing director of Americas Wetlands, said. We can figure out a way to do these projects.

But so far there is little sign that companies are clamoring to spend the millions  or billions  of dollars needed. BP Plc., Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. declined to comment on the extent of their investments in environmental projects.

ConocoPhillips, the largest private wetlands owner in the state, said a combination of public and private funding was used to pay for 77 restoration projects enhancing 177,000 acres of its own wetlands. An additional 18 are underway, spokesperson Andrea Urbanek said.

Theres another model for getting a company to pay up.

On the southern tip of Louisiana, state contractors are working 24 hours a day on a narrow strip of beach island along the Gulf of Mexico that will shield nearby Port Fourchon  and its more than $1 billion of infrastructure  from storms and flooding.

The project is being paid for out of the nearly $9 billion Louisiana is receiving from BP Plc and others for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The state has earmarked the bulk of those funds for rebuilding its coastline. While other Gulf states affected by the oil spill must use their settlement money on projects that directly remedy harm caused by the disaster, Louisiana fought to spend its share on unrelated coastal restoration projects.

Louisiana asked for very specific language in the plea agreement, said Tanner Johnson, director of the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund responsible for dispensing $2.5 billion of the BP payout.

That decision has jump-started Louisianas efforts, but even those billions wont be enough. Saving Louisianas coastline could cost between $50 billion and $100 billion, according to the states Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. That has prompted some state and local officials to press other oil and gas companies for even more cash.

Those responsible for the Deepwater Horizon spill are paying, but we are still tens of billions short in paying for the coastal restoration plan, New Orleans Mayor Mitchell Landrieu said at a conference in June. Its time for a new covenant, between the leaders of the oil industry and the people of Louisiana: We want you to drill and explore, but only if we repair what you have broken.

Landrieus remarks touch on a sensitive issue for Louisianans: The BP settlements are funding a good deal of the states coastal restoration plans. To what extent should the rest of the oil and gas industry do the same? Its not just a theoretical question.

Four parishes  Jefferson, Plaquemines, Cameron and Vermilion  are suing dozens of oil companies for money to fund coastal restoration projects in their vicinity. The suits allege that, over decades, the companies violated their coastal land use permits by not remediating the areas in which they operated.

The industry has been contending with similar legacy suits for at least 15 years. New this time around is the establishment support this effort has received from politicians as high as Governor John Bel Edwards. In April, Edwards moved to make the state of Louisiana a plaintiff in the litigation.

If there are any financial proceeds that come out of this, we want to make sure they are appropriately used to restore the coast, said Patrick Courreges, a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources, which intervened in the litigation on the governors behalf.

BPs payments should not be a model, others in the industry argue.

Thats a situation where money was obtained because a companys conduct caused a problem. Thats not a license to sue all oil companies, Bobby Meadows, an attorney representing Chevron, said about the lawsuits.

Industry representatives argue that oil and gas companies are already paying for coastal restoration through offshore oil and gas royalties. However, low oil prices and related production cuts have dramatically reduced the revenues that Louisianas receiving from offshore royalties. In 2015, the state pulled in just $816,728.

That could change within a few years. If production increases, Louisiana could receive a maximum of $176 million in 2018.

Thats a lot of money thats going to be going into the coastal program, said Don Briggs, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association. Those revenues, he argues, are a sufficient contribution from the industry. As such, There is absolutely no talk among industry of any settlement to the lawsuits, Briggs said.

Settling would be tantamount to shouldering responsibility for a crisis that has many causes.

From the passenger seat of a Cessna 185 sea plane, some of the thousands of miles of canals cut through the delta are still visible as straight lines of green jutting out into the murky Gulf waters. The canals played a role in todays coastal crisis, enabling salt water from the Gulf to infiltrate the freshwater wetlands, deteriorating them, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

While many Louisianans are frank about the damage that oil production has done to coastal lands, they hesitate to lay the blame on industry alone.

Unquestionably, oil and gas activity has impacts, said energy consultant Falgout, who owns large swaths of marshland affected by erosion and subsidence. But oil and gas did what government let it do, like everyone else.

Another culprit is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which made the fateful decision to levee the Mississippi River after the Great Flood of 1927, thus preventing the river from naturally depositing its sediment across the delta. Also, shipping lanes were dredged over decades, and agriculture played a role.

Chris Dalbomb of the Tulane University Water Institute says: I dont think any of us can say we are not responsible to some extent.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Who says Amazon should have all the fun?

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of its first store, Best Buy is throwing a "birthday bash" celebration for its customers. For 50 hours starting at 11 p.m. Eastern Thursday, the electronics chain will offer Black Friday-like deals on a swath of products available both online and in stores.

Discounts include $150 off certain Apple MacBook Pro computers, $400 off a 65-inch Samsung 4K ultra-high-definition TV and $180 off Beats Studio wireless headphones. Online shoppers will be given free two-day shipping on most items included in the sale.

Best Buy said its sale is "just in time" for back-to-school shoppers to stock up on their technology needs. The event also comes more than a month after Amazon's second annual Prime Day, which was the online retailer's biggest sales day ever. The inaugural Prime Day event was created to mark the company's 20th anniversary.

The first Best Buy store opened in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Aug. 22, 1966, under the Sound of Music name. The retailer's name was changed to Best Buy in 1983.
China home price growth sped up in July, but it may not be able to keep up the pace.

The cost of a house across China rose around 7.9 percent on-year in July, accelerating from 7.3 percent in June and 6.9 percent in May, marking the fastest growth since February 2014, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing its own calculations.

In top tier cities, the gains were much larger, with Beijing new home prices jumping 20.7 percent in July, up from 20.3 percent in June, Reuters reported. In Shanghai, new home prices rose 27.3 percent in July, up from June's 7.3 percent, Reuters reported.

But analysts expected the rally wouldn't have much further to run.

Alan Jin, a property analyst for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho Securities, said the rally in prices in tier-one cities was way above sustainable levels.

"We think this rally is purely driven by liquidity, excess liquidity. It's a global phenomenon, but in China this is happening together with very weak macro-economic growth backdrop so we are quite concerned. In the next year, we think the GDP data, etc, will be pretty weak," Jin told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
China announced plans to open its Shenzhen stock market for foreign investors, but it wasn't clear the new "through train" would see any more traffic than the lackluster Shanghai one.

Under the so-called Stock Connect, investors in Hong Kong will be able to buy stocks listed on China's Shenzhen stock exchange, home to many of the country's tech and consumer companies. In return, investors on the mainland will be able to buy stocks listed in Hong Kong. The arrangement was expected to be operational in around four months' time.

The new Shenzhen ties would be similar to the existing Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which was launched in late 2014. The main difference between the two channels would be that the Shanghai one was launched with a quota on both daily and yearly trade totals, while only a daily quota was planned for Shenzhen. Regulators have also scrapped an existing aggregate limit of 300 billion yuan ($45.25 billion) on the Shanghai bourse , potentially paving the way for overseas investors to buy more Chinese stocks.

But analysts said removing that restriction likely wouldn't matter much as Shanghai's "northbound" quota ceiling for funds headed to the mainland was only reached once, on the program's first day.

Capital Economics noted that after nearly two years in operation, investment via the Shanghai-Hong Kong connect was less than 1.0 percent of the total market capitalization of both exchanges.

Opening up the stock market wouldn't necessarily change the fundamentals much, analysts noted, particularly as Shenzhen-listed stocks were considered expensive, often trading at 40-50 times earnings. Goldman Sachs noted that Shanghai trades around 26 times earnings.

"China still hasn't understood the value of building trustworthy markets. That's not changed. The fact that you can access it doesn't solve that fundamental problem," Fraser Howie, an independent analyst and the author of several books on China's financial system, told CNBC's "Street Signs."

"The pickup [of the Shanghai-Hong Kong connect] has never been that strong because I think the regulatory environment in China is still a very dangerous one. A very uncertain one, and therefore people hold back," he said.

But some analysts pointed to reasons foreign interest in Shenzhen's market might outstrip Shanghai.

For one, the types of stocks available differ significantly.
Looking to move to a new city? Try Australia or Canada.



According to the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Global Liveability Ranking, which scores 140 cities on five lifestyle categories, six of the top 10 livable cities in the world are in Australia and Canada.

Melbourne ranked first, Vienna was second and Vancouver third, with Toronto, Calgary, Adelaide and Perth rounding up the top seven, though the scores differentiating the quality of life in the top 15 to 20 cities were marginal.



Cities were ranked on categories including stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure, but cost of living wasn't taken into account.

What the top ranked cities had in common was being situated in relatively wealthy countries with good health and education systems, good quality infrastructure and they tended to be medium-sized, and had low population densities.

For example, the report pointed out the population densities in Australia and Canada are 3.1 and 3.9 people per square kilometer.



Simon Baptist, chief economist at the EIU, told CNBC by phone that these cities were able to provide the necessary amenities needed for a higher standard of living, without suffering from congestion.
watch now

Five years after the housing recovery began, 5.9 million borrowers still owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. The so-called negative equity rate in the U.S. is falling, now at 12 percent of all mortgaged homeowners, according to Zillow, down from more than 14 percent a year ago and more than 30 percent at the worst of the crisis. The numbers, however, are still well above normal levels and equally spread across urban and suburban communities.

It would seem like negative equity should have evaporated by now, given how fast home prices have been rising. Several metropolitan markets have even reached new record highs in median home prices, but it hasn't been enough to lift all borrowers.

AydAn Mutlu | E+ | Getty Images

"At its worst, negative equity touched all kinds of homeowners in all kinds of markets," said Zillow's chief economist, Svenja Gudell. "The type of community a given home was in  urban or suburban  mattered little. Fast-forward a few years, and the relative vibrancy of a given community and how it has performed over the past few years, and not necessarily its location in the city or suburbs, matters a great deal."

Markets in the West, like San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, Denver and Dallas, have the least borrowers in a negative equity position. That is due to strong employment and competitive housing markets. These markets have also seen the biggest price gains over the past few years. In Seattle, for example, there is almost no difference between the negative equity rate in the city and in the suburbs. The same is true in Phoenix.

Others, like Cleveland and Detroit, have more bifurcated markets, with negative equity higher downtown and lower in suburban neighborhoods. Detroit's urban rate is twice that of its suburban rate.

Chicago and Las Vegas share the dubious honor of carrying the highest negative equity rate in the nation, with Cleveland and Kansas City not far behind. San Jose, California, San Francisco and Portland have the lowest.




Wall Street's top banks face a growing chorus of activist investors with which they must contend.

But certain CEOs probably need not worry  as long as they have Warren Buffett in their corner.

Activist investors have nudged companies in other sectors to bump up dividends and make management changes for years, emboldened to take on increasingly bigger targets.

More recently, as expected, they have turned to Wall Street banks to see if they can juice returns.

This week, ValueAct Capital revealed a position in Morgan Stanley , sending the stock up. Activists cannot force Wall Street banks into dividends or buybacks (as those moves must be approved by the Federal Reserve)  so changes to the C-suites are one potential route for activists to take.

Bank of America , according to a Wall Street Journal report, may also be targeted by activist investors.

Buffett isn't a major stakeholder in Morgan Stanley, but he has a keen interest in Bank of America, after he put up a $5 billion bet on the bank in 2011 that proved wise. Further, Buffett has supported chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan through thick and thin, including last year's successful campaign to appoint the CEO to the chairman role  a vote which ran into opposition with some of the bank's other investors.

"Buffett has a lot of leverage because he owns a lot of stock," said Christopher Whalen, senior managing director at the Kroll Bond Rating Agency. "They don't want him to sell. It would take the stock down, so he can exercise significant influence on management."
President Barack Obama speaks before signing a memorandum on reducing the burden of student loans on June 9, 2014 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

If you have student loans, you may have seen advertisements online touting "Obama's New Loan Forgiveness Program." Companies using these advertisements offer to help borrowers  for a fee  apply for the government program to lower monthly payments and consolidate their federal student loans. The problem is that the program doesn't exist. Companies are charging unaware borrowers for assistance that they can receive for free on federal student loans from the Department of Education. "There's no such thing as 'Obama student loan forgiveness,'" said Andy Josuweit, co-founder and CEO of Student Loan Hero, a website that provides free tools to help borrowers manage their debts.



Regulator action

Nine percent of student loan borrowers have used debt-relief companies, according to a recent survey by borrower advocacy group Student Debt Crisis and personal finance website NerdWallet. Consumers who used student loan debt-relief services paid an average of $613 for income-based repayment plans and loan consolidation that they could receive at no cost from the federal government, the survey found. Sixty-five percent said the services did not improve their financial situation, according to the survey. Sixty percent of the 6,363 borrowers surveyed had seen advertisements for student debt-relief firms and 44 percent were pitched directly by the companies. Among borrowers who had seen ads for student debt relief, more than two-thirds were familiar with "Obama's New Loan Forgiveness Program." It's no wonder why student debt relief companies are appealing to borrowers. Americans collectively owe nearly $1.3 trillion in student loans, more than any other type of consumer debt except mortgages.

Student debt-relief companies provide document preparation services for borrowers. These companies run into legal trouble when they pressure borrowers to pay fees upfront, claim they can negotiate immediate loan forgiveness or lower payments from the federal government, and request "power of attorney" to access borrowers' accounts with the Department of Education. Regulators have taken action against such companies. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has shut down three companies and the Department of Education has sent cease-and-desist letters to five this year. State attorneys general in Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington have filed complaints against student debt relief companies in the past year, and officials in California, Kentucky and Minnesota have warned consumers about student debt-relief scams. "These are fly-by-night companies, you shut down down one and five more pop up," said Natalia Abrams, executive director of Student Debt Crisis, a borrower advocacy group.



Repayment plans

Though the "Obama's New Loan Forgiveness Program" ads are fake, the administration did expand repayment options for federal student-loan borrowers. In 2012, the Department of Education offered the pay-as-you-earn plan that reduced monthly payments to 10 percent of a borrower's discretionary income, which was lower than the 15 percent required under the original income-based repayment plan. Last October, the administration rolled out the revised-pay-as-you-earn plan, which gave more than 1.6 million borrowers more affordable loan options. The percentage of borrowers enrolled in income-based repayment plans has quadrupled over the past four years from 5 percent in 2012 to roughly 20 percent in 2016.

Room for improvement
At present, there are a handful of state bar associations or professional conduct boards that have warned attorneys that marijuana (medicinal or otherwise) remain illegal under federal law and that counseling marijuana clients could violate professional conduct rules, reports Marijuana Business Daily .

"I don't think you take it lying down," said Norton Arbelaez, owner and general counsel of Denver-based RiverRock Cannabis, operator of a chain of dispensaries in Colorado. "You force the issue," he said, explaining that it sometimes requires working within the current system and having a dialogue with the bar association and members to bring about change.

Attorneys are learning sometimes it may be difficult to represent medical marijuana firms due to a haze of issues involving professional ethics rules.

The publication said "the warnings given in New Mexico and Ohio  and earlier in Connecticut  have triggered alarm bells among some lawyers and cannabis entrepreneurs."



"This is indicative of the first wave of issues that a jurisdiction has to deal with when they decide to regulate cannabis," said Arbelaez.



In several states  including California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Arizona, and Maine  there have been the different state bar associations "looking at this issue of whether or not one can give counsel to an entity that is arguably breaking federal law," Arbelaez said.

In Colorado, a 2014 order from the State Supreme Court made that state the first U.S. jurisdiction to formally recognize the right of lawyers to counsel pot industry clients. Other U.S. states or territories that have since followed Colorado's lead include Washington State, Oregon, Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon, Arizona and Guam.

"For the most part, after the issue is really looked at they come on board through the practical necessity that people need counsel and that this is legal under state law," he added.



Yet, there also have been cases where warnings led to local attorneys severing ties with cannabis-related businesses.



"It's already affected the way I do business," Greg Miller, the owner of cannabis processor X-Ray Pharms in New Mexico, was quoted as telling MJBizDaily. "My New Mexico lawyers cut me off last week. What happens if I need legal representation on something as mundane as a property line dispute?"



State Bar of New Mexico Executive Director Joseph Conte told CNBC in an emailed statement that he stands by the recent opinion of the state bar's Ethics Advisory Committee.



"They give careful consideration to the issues, conduct through research and set forth reasoned opinions for members of the bar to consider when undertaking any representation in an area with apparently conflicting laws or complex ethical and/or legal issues," Conte said.

He explained that the broader issue is essentially states' rights and federal supremacy, and he believes it will be up to the courts and Congress to resolve the conflict.

"I would be purely speculating on whether [New Mexico] attorneys will be discouraged by [New Mexico's] recent Ethics Advisory Opinion on the subject and would not presume to know how individual attorneys would approach such representation," he said.

In Ohio, the State Supreme Court's Ohio Board of Professional Conduct earlier this month announced that attorneys who counsel marijuana entities will violate professional conduct rules. That follows Governor John Kasich signing a medical marijuana legalization bill into law in June.



Elsewhere, an opinion issued by the Connecticut Bar Association's Professional Ethics Committee in 2013 advised that "a lawyer shall not counsel a client to engage, or assist a client, in conduct that the lawyers know is criminal or fraudulent, but a lawyer may discuss the legal consequences of any proposed course of conduct with a client."

CNBC reached out to the Ohio and Connecticut state bars but had not heard back at deadline.



The State Bar of California has not taken a formal position on lawyers representing marijuana-related entities, but a spokeswoman said some local bar associations in the Golden State have issued ethics opinions detailing how attorneys may ethically represent clients with respect to a medical marijuana enterprise.



In 2014, the Supreme Court of Nevada took a position that attorneys can represent cannabis entities but required them to advise clients about federal law and policy.



Several states, including Nevada and California, have voter initiatives on the ballot this fall to legalize recreational use of marijuana.

In California, a poll released Wednesday found nearly 64 percent of the respondents in the state support Proposition 64, a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana use, according to the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley, which released the findings.

In all, there are nearly 10 states with measures on the ballot this year involving cannabis use.
The insinuation that Cisco may have leaked news of layoffs was "insulting" and "irresponsible," CEO Chuck Robbins told CNBC on Thursday.

The enterprise technology company announced on Wednesday it would cut 5,500 jobs, or 7 percent of its global workforce, starting in fiscal year 2017, as it restructures to focus on key priority areas such as security, internet of things, collaboration and cloud services.

Though the layoffs were fewer than the 14,000 some had speculated, the stock tumbled as much as 1 percent in extended trading, after closing more than 1 percent lower in Wednesday's regular session. In early trading Thursday, it was down less than 1 percent.

"Any time we make these decisions, we do not make them lightly," Robbins said in an interview on "Squawk on the Street."

"I think that for the reports to get out ahead of our announcement, frankly, I think, are a little irresponsible. We're talking about people's lives here," he added. "I think there was even an insinuation that we may have leaked that, which is just insulting, frankly. We would never do that before we had an opportunity to speak to our own employees."
For many people around the world, a reliable supply of electricity remains very hard to come by. In Nepal, already struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake last year, power cuts are a harsh reality of life.



Some schools there are looking to clean energy  specifically the sun  to boost the education of students. One such institution is Malika Higher Secondary School, where solar power is helping to transform the educational experience of young people.

"It used to be very difficult for us to teach children when there was no light," Udaya Bahadur Khatri, headmaster of the school, told CNBC's Sustainable Energy. "We were not able to use visual methods to teach the children, except in the day time," Khatri added.

The installation of solar panels has had a significant impact. "Now we are providing evening classes for our students. Our students are able to operate computers and laptops easily," Khatri said.

Since the earthquake struck last year, killing more than 8,000 people and injuring over 22,300, efforts have been ongoing to rebuild the areas worse affected.

This has proved to be a challenging process, with everything from logistical issues to a fuel crisis hampering efforts. In April, the Disasters Emergency Committee said that the focus was now on "livelihood restoration to enable self-sufficiency and supporting shelter reconstruction."

It is not only in education that solar power is helping to transform lives. Earlier this year, Sustainable Energy looked at the work being done by SunSaluter in India.

There, the non-profit has developed a "solar panel rotator" which follows the sun during daylight hours, boosting efficiency and producing clean drinking water simultaneously.

Back in the field of education and learning, the importance of a reliable electricity supply is deemed to be crucial.

"Education and energy are critical for sustainable development overall," Bahareh Seyedi, from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), told Sustainable Energy. The UNDP works in around 170 countries and territories and aims to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality and exclusion.

"The importance of education in expanding opportunities for jobs, for growth, for overall wellbeing is well recognised and obvious."

"But what is not talked about as often is how energy impacts education and why is it so critical to invest in sustainable energy and education for sustainable energy."

Access to electricity enables students to study beyond daylight hours, Seyedi said, and helps broaden opportunities for whole communities.

"Teachers have the means to improve the quality of the teaching by using audio visual equipment or information technology devices like computers and internet," she said.

"There's also other evidence that shows in electrified schools there is a higher attendance rate and better opportunities to retain qualified staff," she added.
One of the sources and two U.S. security officials said that like hackers who targeted the Democratic National Committee, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democrats' congressional fundraising committee, the hackers appear to have used "spear phishing" techniques to gain access to the foundation's network.

So far, no message or document hacked from the New York-based Clinton Foundation has surfaced in public, the sources said.

Bill and Hillary Clinton's charitable foundation hired the security firm FireEye to examine its data systems after seeing indications they might have been hacked, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton looks at a computer screen during a campaign stop at Atomic Object company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, March 7, 2016.

These techniques include creating bogus emails or websites in an effort to gain access to Clinton Foundation staffers' emails and then to the foundation itself.



Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the U.S. officials said the hackers used the same techniques Russian intelligence agencies or their proxies employed against the Democratic Party groups, which suggests that Russians also attacked the foundation.



Kremlin officials dismissed as absurd the allegations of Moscow's involvement, which were made last month amid political party nominating conventions for the Nov. 8 election.



Neither former White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, the Clinton Foundation's principal lawyer, nor a spokeswoman for the foundation responded to requests for comment on the hacking and the precautions the organization has taken.



Officials with FireEye said the company could not discuss its clients.



Although no documents have emerged, the attacks have left some Democrats and Clinton campaign officials worried that the hackers might have obtained emails and voice messages that could be used to reinforce Republican charges that donors to the Clinton Foundation were rewarded with access to Clinton and her aides while she was secretary of state or to her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Another concern: hackers or outlets such as the anti-secrecy WikiLeaks website could release documents and emails damaging to her presidential campaign, several people familiar with the foundation's activities said.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee convened a closed-door meeting on Wednesday to discuss best cybersecurity practices.

The meeting, according to people familiar with it, included a recommendation that staff and lawmakers change their phone numbers and email addresses if that information was published online by hackers believed to be working for or with Russian intelligence agencies.

One of the U.S. officials said, however, that the spear phishing pattern used against several organizations, appears to reinforce the intelligence community's "preliminary assessment" that the attacks were intended more for espionage than for trying to influence the U.S. presidential election.

So far, said a third U.S. official familiar with the attacks, there is no evidence that the hackers were able to follow any of the hacked emails into the State Department's classified email systems.

Anxiety in Washington over the possibility that a foreign power might be using hacked information to meddle in the U.S. election has prompted some Democrats and cybersecurity experts to urge the Obama administration to blame Russia publicly.

Rep. Jim Himes, a Democrat on the House of Representatives intelligence committee, said the United States should carry "a big stick" in cybersecurity matters. "The U.S. government needs to be very clear, very direct, and hold these people accountable."

Current and former White House and intelligence officials said the Obama administration is unlikely to blame Russia publicly, given the difficulty of attributing the attacks without revealing American sources and methods, the geopolitical concerns at play, and a fear that doing so could risk aggravating cyberconflict.
WHEN: Today, Thursday, August 18th

WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk Alley"

Following T-Mobile CEO John Legere's comments regarding Marcelo Claure this morning, the Sprint CEO spoke with CNBC's "Squawk Alley" (M-F, 11AM-12PM ET) today, Thursday, August 18th. Following is the unofficial transcript of the interview and a link to the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000544132 and http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000544135.

All references must be sourced to CNBC.

CARL QUINTANILLA: WELCOME TO "SQUAWK ALLEY" FOR A THURSDAY. KAYLA IS OUT TODAY, BUT WITH US THIS MORNING, JON FORTT OF COURSE AND SARA EISEN AT POST9, ON A DAY WHERE THE MARKETS AREN'T MOVING A WHOLE LOT.

SARA EISEN: FUN DAY.

QUINTANILLA: DOW IS UP 25. BUT AN INTERESTING SKIRMISH IN THE TELECOM WARS. MOMENTS AGO, T-MOBILE CEO JOHN LEGERE JOINED US ON THIS PROGRAM. TALKED ABOUT A NEW UNLIMITED DATA PLAN AS WELL AS THE ON GOING RIVALRY WITH SPRINT. TAKE A LISTEN.

SOUND FROM JOHN LEGERE INTERVIEW ON "SQUAWK ON THE STREET": MARCELO NEEDS TO WAKE UP AND REALIZE THAT THE MOTHER OF ALL CUSTOMER LOADS IS SITTING IN VERIZON AND AT&T. 77% OF MY CUSTOMER ADDS COME FROM THOSE TWO. AND I THINK HE SHOULD FOCUS ON FIXING HIS COMPANY AND, YOU KNOW, JUST COPY PASTE EVERYTHING I DO AND YOU'LL BE FINE.

QUINTANILLA: SPRINT CEO MARCELO CLAURE JOINS US THIS MORNING ON THE PHONE TO RESPOND. MARCELO, IT'S GREAT TO HAVE YOU BACK. GOOD MORNING.

MARCELO CLAURE: GOOD MORNING, HOW ARE YOU?

QUINTANILLA: WE ARE GOOD. WE ARE WATCHING THIS BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN YOU TWO, BOTH AS INDIVIDUAL CEOS AND AS COMPANIES. THEY CAME OUT WITH THEIR PLAN, WE HAD LEGERE ON AND AS WE WERE TALKING TO JOHN, YOUR RELEASE CAME OUT. ARE YOU IN FACT TRYING TO RIDE JOHN'S COAT TAILS?

CLAURE: NO, NO, NEVER. WHAT HAPPENED IS SOMETHING PRETTY SIMPLE. WE STARTED TESTING THIS A WEEK AGO. WE WERE GOING TO START TOMORROW. SO WHAT JOHN DID UNFORTUNATLEY IS HE BASICALLY COPIED OUR RATE PLANS AND CALLED FOR AN EMERGENCY PRESS RELEASE. AND HE'S NOT EVEN READY TO LAUNCH UNTIL SEPTEMBER 6TH. WE'RE LAUNCHING OUR UNLIMITED PLAN TOMORROW. IT IS LAUNCHING TOMORROW AT ALL OF OUR STORES. SO WE HAVE BEEN READY FOR THIS FOR AWHILE. SO OBVIOUSLY SOMEBODY THAT DOES AN EMERGENCY PRESS RELEASE AND SAYS HE'S NOT READY TO LAUNCH THE SEPTEMBER 6THIS BLATANTLY LYING. BUT WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT IS THE FACT THAT IT IS A VALUE THE AMERICAN CONSUMERS ARE GETTING UNLIMITED FOR  IF YOU ARE A PARTY OF TWO FOR $100, IT IS THE BEST UNLIMITED DATA PLAN ON THE PLANET.

JON FORTT: AND SO, I MEAN, IT IS UNLIMITED IN THE SENSE OF THE VOLUME OF DATA, BUT THERE ARE LIMITS ON THE QUALITY OF DATA, PARTICULARLY VIDEO AND AUDIO STREAMING. DOES THAT JUST GO TO SHOW THAT IT IS REALLY VIDEO PRIMARILY THAT IS LOADING THE NETWORKS THESE DAYS? AND YOU ARE CONFIDENT THAT AS LONG AS THE VIDEO THAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE TO PUSH THROUGH THE NETWORK ISN'T THAT THICK? YOU'LL BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN QUALITY?

CLAURE: NO, WHEN YOU ARE SITTING AT A SPRINT AND YOU ARE SITTING WITH OVER 200 MGHZ OF SPECTRUM, WHICH MAKES US THE LARGEST SPECTRUM HOLDER IN THE WORLD, WE HAVE THE CAPACITY TO OFFER UNLIMITED 4G LTE FOR PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING. AND IF SOME OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE STREAMING, WE WILL NEVER COMPROMISE OUR QUALITY. WE WILL  UP TO MAKE SURE THAT THE QUALITY IS IDENTICAL WHEN THEY ARE STREAMING VIDEO, STREAMING MUSIC. SO YOU CAN DO THIS WHEN YOU HAVE A LOT OF SPECTRUM. WE BUILD OUR NETWORK TO BE A HIGH CAPACITY NETWORK AND WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT TO BASICALLY MOVE ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS WHO ARE MOVING TO AN UNLIMITED DATA PLAN.

SARA EISEN: LET'S TALK ABOUT THE PRICE, MARCELO. T-MOBILE HAS IT STARTING AT $70 PER MONTH, SO IT SOUNDS GOOD WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORD UNLIMITED. BUT WHY WOULDN'T A CUSTOMER JUST GO TO A REGULAR AT&T FOR INSTANCE 1G PLAN STARTING AT $50 PER MONTH. IS THIS AN INCREASE FOR THE CONSUMER?

CLAURE: I MEAN, FOR US AT SPRINT, IT IS QUITE SIMPLE. THE FIRST LINE IS 60, THE SECOND LINE IS 40 AND AN ADDITIONAL LINE IS 30. MEANING WE WILL USUALLY GET COUPLES WHO COME WHO JOIN SPRINT SO, YOU HAVE A COUPLE WHO IS GOING TO BE PAYING $100. IMAGINE THAT FOR $50 YOU PRETTY MUCH GET UNLIMITED. YOU NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DATA OVERRAGES. YOU NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING. YOU'LL KNOW THAT YOUR BILL WILL BE $50, WHICH I THINK, MAKES IT THE MOST ATTRACTIVE UNLIMITED DATA PLAN IN THE PLANET.

QUINTANILLA: MARCELO, I WONDER, WHEN YOU TOOK THIS JOB IF YOU WERE AWARE HOW MUCH OF A ROLE YOU, YOURSELF WOULD PLAY IN THE MARKET. THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TO HAVE THIS BACK AND FORTH WITH ONE OF YOUR COMPETITORS. AND HOW MUCH  ALL OF THIS MOVES THE SUB NEEDLE. YOU MUST HAVE DONE SOME PROJECTIONS ON THAT.

CLAURE: I MEAN , OF COURSE. IF YOU LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE WE HAD WHEN I CAME IN TWO YEARS AGO, WE WERE DEAD LAST. IF YOU FOLLOW THE INDUSTRY, YOU NOTICE THAT WE SURPASS THE AT&T AND VERIZON IN THE LAST TWO QUARTERS, MEANING WE'RE ALREADY SECOND IN THE NUMBER OF HANDSET CUSTOMERS THAT ARE COMING TO OUR NETWORK AND NOW THE DIFFERENCE WITH T-MOBILE WAS 1.7 MILLION CUSTOMERS TWO YEARS AGO, NOW IT'S LESS THAN 300,000 PER QUARTER. SO WE'RE CATCHING UP AND ANTICIPATE THAT IN LESS THAN A YEAR WE'RE GOING TO CATCH UP TO T-MOBILE IN THE HANDSET. WHICH IS THE PART THAT MATTERS IN THE BUSINESS WHERE YOU PRETTY MUCH GO TO PROFITABILITY.

EISEN: WELL THE OTHER THING THAT WE WERE TALKING TO JOHN ABOUT WAS, HE SAID IN HIS WORDS ISN'T IT SAD, SOME OF THE STUFF YOU WERE SAYING GIVEN THAT YOUR PARENT COMPANY, SOFTBANK, ACCORDING TO REPORTS, WOKE UP YESTERDAY ACCORDING TO JOHN, THINKING ABOUT T-MOBILE. AND THRE HAVE BEEN REPORTS THAT MASAYOSHI SON STILL WANTS TO DO THIS DEAL, POTENTIALLY WAITING FOR A BETTER REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT. COULD YOU EVER SEE A FUTURE WHERE T-MOBILE AND SPRINT ARE UNDER THE SAME UMBRELLA AND THE SAME COMPANY?

CLAURE: I MEAN, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE BEEN VERY PUBLIC. AS YOU KNOW, WE HAD A DEAL BEFORE. AND THE GOVERNMENT DIDN'T GIVE US REGULATORY APPROVAL AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S ALWAYS IN OUR MIND. THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE HAVE ANY CONVERSATIONS AND NEGOTIATIONS WITH T-MOBILE. WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN VERY CLEAR THAT WE BELIEVE THAT THE COMBINATION OF TWO SMALLER CARRIERS WILL MAKE A FORMIDABLE COMPETITIOR. NOTHING HAS CHANGED. I DON'T THINK IT IS SAD. I MEAN, IT MIGHT BE SAD FOR HIM BECAUSE IF THAT WERE TO HAPPEN HE'LL PROBABLY GET PUT OUT.

FORTT: MARCELO, JOHN LEGERE HAS TURNED HIMSELF INTO A PRETTY INTERESTING MARKETING VEHICLE FOR T-MOBILE. HE'S VERY ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. GETS A LOT OF ATTENTION FOR THAT. MEANWHILE, AT&T AND VERIZON HAVE MONEY FOR MARKETING WHICH WE SEE THESE COMMERCIALS OUT NOW WITH JAMIE FOXX COUNTERING SOME OF YOUR MARKETING WHERE YOU TOOK VERIZON'S OLD PITCHMAN AND HAD HIM COMING OUT FOR SPRINT. WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE IN MARKETING BEYOND PRICE, THAT'S GOING TO GET YOU THE ATTENTION YOU NEED IN ORDER TO GROW THE SUBSCRIBER BASE AND ACTUALLY MONETIZE THIS NETWORK?

CLAURE: I MEAN, IT'S QUITE SIMPLE. LET'S START WITH OUR MAIN PRODUCT WHICH IS OUR NETWORK. YOU CAN SEE IF YOU LOOK AT EVERY SINGLE NETWORK PUBLICATION, THE U.S. STORY IS SPRINT IS BACK, OUR NETWORK IS BETTER THAN T-MOBILE. PER METRICS, PER NIELSEN, THE TWO LEADING FIRMS THAT ARE ON THE PLANET THEY BASICALLY MEASURE NETWORK PERFORMANCE. AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VERIZON AND US NOW IS LESS THAN 1%, AGAIN ACCORDING NIELSEN, WHICH IS THE WORLD'S LEADING ANALYTICS FIRM. SO THE DIFFERENCE IS TODAY WE HAVE A VERY COMPETITIVE NETWORK, WE ARE GOING AFTER VERIZON. WE HAVE THE BEST UNLIMITED DATA PLAN ON THE PLANET. SO THIS IS WHY, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID ON MY LAST EARNINGS CALL, INCLUDING THIS MONTH, WE ARE HANDSET NET POSITIVE AGAINST THE THREE CARRIERS. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? IF WE HAVE MORE CUSTOMERS COMING FROM VERIZON, AT&T AND T-MOBILE COMING TO SPRINT THAN CUSTOMERS LEAVING. WHEN I TOOK THIS JOB WE WERE NEGATIVE 3. FOR EVERY CUSTOMER WE GOT, WE HAD THREE CUSTOMERS LEAVING. THAT HAS COMPLETELY CHANGED AND WE'RE CATCHING UP DAY BY DAY. AT THE SAME TIME, WE'RE GROWING PROFITABLE. AS YOU KNOW, WE HAD THE FIRST TWO QUARTERS IN MANY YEARS THAT SPRINT HAS AN OPERATING INCOME PROFITABLE. AND IT IS STARTING TO GENERATE POSITIVE FREE CASH FLOW. SO WE LIKE WHAT WE'RE DOING. WE'RE CATCHING UP TO T-MOBILE. WE'RE GOING TO OVERTAKE HIM IN THE NUMBER ONE HANDSET POSITION. AND WE ARE DOING REAL GOOD. WE HAVE A LOT OF CUSTOMERS JOINING. OUR IS THE ABSOLUTE LOWEST IN SPRINT'S 20 YEAR HISTORY AND WHAT THAT TELLS YOU IS IF CUSTOMERS COMING IN THEY'RE LOVING THE PRODUCT AND THEY'RE STAYING. WHICH I THINK IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SERVICE.

QUINTANILLA: I'M SORRY TO GO BACK TO THE SOCIAL MEDIA THING. I KNOW, WE'RE HITTING THIS PRETTY HARD. BUT ABOUT AN HOUR AGO, LEGERE ACCUSED SPRINT OF TAKING FIVE MINUTES TO COPY PASTE AS HE SAID. YOU RESPONDED AND I'M QUOTING. YOU TRULY ARE A CON ARTIST NO DOUBT. GOOD LUCK. DO YOU MEAN THAT? AND IS SOFTBANK, HAVE THEY GIVEN YOU FREE REIGN TO SAY WHATEVER YOU WANT ABOUT YOUR COMPETITION?

CLAURE: I MEAN, LET'S START WITH THE BASICS. SOMEBODY WHO BASICALLY STEALS AN IDEA BECAUSE WE ARE RUNNING TESTS AND HE KNOWS EXACTLY THAT WE ARE LAUNCHING THIS TOMORORW, CALLS FOR AN EMERGENCY PRESS RELEASE, BECAUSE IT IS THE FASTEST PRESS CONFERENCE EVER, AND BASICALLY COPY CATS WHAT WE ARE DOING, SORRY. TO ME THAT'S A CON ARTIST. IT'S OKAY. IT'S OKAY FOR SPRINT TO LAUNCH FIRST AND IF WE WERE COPYING HIS IDEA, HOW IN THE WORLD COULD WE BE READY TO LAUNCH THIS TOMORROW WHILE HE CANNOT LAUNCH UNTIL SEPTEMBER 6th? HE GOT A HOLD OF AN IDEA, HE CALLED AN EMERGENCY PRESS CONFERENCE AND NOW HE HAS TO GET HIS SYSTEMS READY AND EVERYTHING READY. WE'RE LAUNCHING THIS TOMORROW. WE'RE READY TO LAUNCH. WE'RE READY TO GO. SOMEBODY WHO DOES THAT TO ME AND WHO BASICALLY HAS THE AUDACITY TO SAY WE'RE COPYING AND PASTING IS A CON ARTIST. AS IT RELATES TO SOFTBANK GIVING ME THE AUTHORITY, I THINK THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MASA AND MYSELF IS A PRETTY OPEN ONE. THIS GUY HAS BEEN CALLING AT&T AND VERIZON DUMB AND DUMBER SO HE'S THE KING OF INSULTING EVERYBODY. HE JUST DOESN'T LIKE WHEN SOMEBODY PLAYS HIS OWN GAME.

QUINTANILLA: AND I WONDER WHETHER OR NOT YOU THINK LEGERE WHO HAS SORT OF THIS MAVERICK QUALITY AND HE HAS NURTURED THAT IMAGE FOR A LONG TIME. IF HE HAS ANY IDEA WHO HE IS MESSING WITH IN YOU?

CLAURE: I MEAN, I JUST HAVE A VERY SIMPLE PHILOSOPHY. WHEN YOU ARE FIGHTING SOMEBODY LIKE LEGERE, YOU NEED TO GO DOWN TO HIS LEVEL AND FIGHT AT THE SAME LEVEL. THAT'S THE ONLY WAY HE WILL UNDERSTAND. BUT LET ME JUST ADD ONE MORE THING. THIS IS NOT ABOUT LEGERE. THIS IS ABOUT US PRETTY MUCH HAVING THE BEST COMPETITIVE RATE PLAN IN THE INDUSTRY. THIS IS ABOUT OFFERING UNLIMITED TO THE AMERICAN CONSUMERS. THIS IS ABOUT SOMETHING THAT NEITHER AT&T OR VERIZON CAN GET TO IT. AND IF THERE IS ONE THING JOHN IS RIGHT IS 73% OF CUSTOMERS SIT ON THE OTHER TWO NETWORKS. THE BEAUTIFUL THING IS NOW WE'RE CATCHING CUSTOMERS FROM ALL THREE NETWORKS.

EISEN: YEAH. THAT'S WHAT I KEEP WONDERING. JUST WHAT ARE YOU GUYS FIGHTING FOR? IT DOES FEEL LIKE THIS IS NOT THAT MUCH OF A GROWTH MARKET ANYMORE IN TERMS OF SATURATION, EVERYBODY HAS SMARTPHONES. SO IT'S ABOUT TAKING SHARE FROM AT&T AND VERIZON, CORRECT?

CLAURE: ABSOLUTELY AND LEVERAGING SPRINT'S MAIN PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION, WHICH IS OVER 200 MGHZ OF SPECTRUM, WHICH MEANS WE HAVE CAPACITY TO BE ABLE TO OFFER UNLIMITED. AND THAT IS SPRINT'S MAIN DIFFERENTIATOR. WHILE MOST OF THE NETWORKS ARE GETTING CHOKE, THAT'S WHY THEY HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE SPECTRUM. WHEN YOU ARE SITTING ON 200 MGHZ OF SPECTRUM, YOU HAVE CAPACITY AND SPEED. AND THAT'S WHAT THE AMERICAN CONSUMER IS STARTING TO REALIZE.

QUINTANILLA: WELL, CERTAINLY IT IS A NET BENEFIT FOR CONSUMERS. THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT. AND PROBABLY FOR US AS WE WATCH YOU TWO GO AT IT. MARCELO, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

CLAURE: THANK YOU AND HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY. BYE BYE.

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Oil prices are ultimately going to trade up to the $60 to $65 level, and that means it's a good time to buy some oil stocks, strategist David Katz said Thursday.



"You're getting a good yield in a number of these companies. They're cheap relative to their earnings and they're very cheap relative to their price-to-book value," the chief investment officer for Matrix Asset Advisors said in an interview with CNBC's "Closing Bell."

Earlier this week, Bank of America Merrill Lynch told clients to buy energy stocks, predicting the price of oil could jump to $69 per barrel by next June.

Katz believes supply and demand are moving toward being in balance in the upcoming year, and cautioned that if investors wait until oil hits $65, the energy stocks will have already moved a lot.
A statue is seen next to the logo of Germany's Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Germany.

Eric Ben-Artzi, a whistleblower who exposed Deutsche Bank's false accounting, has declined the Securities and Exchange Commission's multi-million dollar reward, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

Ben Artizi rejected his share of a $16.5 million payout in protest of the SEC's failure to discipline executives of Deutsche Bank.

"This goes beyond the typical revolving-door story," the former Deutsche risk officer wrote in an opinion article for the Financial Times. "In this case, top SEC lawyers had held senior posts at the bank, moving in and out of top positions at the SEC even as the investigations into malfeasance at Deutsche Bank were ongoing."

The newspaper reported that Ben-Artizi was unable to refuse parts of the reward that his ex-wife, lawyer and outside experts claimed.

Read the Financial Times story here.
watch now

College dropouts like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates made billions, but if you plan to complete your studies, Harvard University may offer the best chance of becoming a millionaire afterwards. That is according to a report on Thursday from data provider WealthInsight and Elite Traveler magazine, which ranked colleges across the world by how many millionaire alumni they had produced.

Harvard University

Lisi Cai | Getty Images

U.S. colleges dominated the list, with 31 of the top 50 universities producing millionaires.

The U.S.'s University of Pennsylvania ranked second after Harvard and Stanford University ranked third. "The U.S. has more millionaires than anywhere else in the world, so it is no surprise to see the Ivy League schools on this list," head of WealthInsight, Oliver Williams, said in a news release accompanying the report on Thursday.

University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania Ann Hermes | The Christian Science Monitor | Getty Images

Strictly speaking, Stanford University in California is not part of the Ivy League of top U.S. colleges, but is viewed as academically on a par.

"Since most institutions on this list also rank highly in academic merits, there is evidence here of how intellect often breeds wealth. Entrepreneurial ideas are nursed at these schools, while they prove fertile recruiting grounds for some of the world's leading corporations," Williams said.

Stanford University

Source: Leah Fasten

England's ancient Oxford University was the top-ranking university outside the U.S., at number four. U.K. rival Cambridge University followed at number 11.

After the U.S., U.K. universities were next best at producing millionaires, with six U.K. colleges making WealthInsight's top 50 rankings.

Oxford University

University of Oxford Peter Spiro | Getty Images

University of California, Berkeley was the top U.S. public university for producing millionaires and ranked fifth in the world.

University of California, Berkeley

University of California Berkely Feargus Cooney | Getty Images
A traditional law degree can cost over $100,000 and three years of your life. Is it worth it? Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who attended Harvard Law and practiced law for five years before getting into finance, seems to think not. "Of course, you get a lot out of law school  you learn a lot  but the most you get out of law school is debt," Blankfein recently told a group of Goldman interns.

There are numbers to back his claim. "Law school student debt has ballooned, rising from about $95,000 among borrowers at the average school in 2010 to about $112,000 in 2014," Noam Schieber of the New York Times reported. Part of this trend is due to the increasing cost of tuition, which is now over $40,000 a year on average for private institutions. Additionally, there are fewer jobs available for lawyers, meaning more grads may not even be able to put their expensive degree to use. "While demand for other white-collar jobs has grown substantially since the start of the recession, law firms and corporations are finding they can make do with far fewer in-house lawyers than before, squeezing those just starting their careers," Schieber explained.

Part of the reason law firms are facing smaller headcounts is because of "growing efficiencies created by technology and business systems and increased competition from nontraditional legal services providers," James G. Leipold, the executive director of the National Association for Law Placement, told the Times. That said, top law school graduates at major firms are doing better than ever  and making more money than ever.
A carnival float mocking U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stands on display near city hall on Feb. 8, 2016 in Duesseldorf, Germany.

FRANKFURT  Eight years ago, a U.S. presidential candidate named Barack Obama captivated hundreds of thousands of cheering supporters at Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate with a promise to tear down walls between races and nations.

Over the last year, however, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has provoked ire from German quarters after repeatedly disparaging the country.

On Monday, Trump sought to insult Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton by comparing her to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying incorrectly that crime had skyrocketed under Germany's refugee policies. Those comments, and others, have left Germans  from the highest pinnacles of business to the grungiest parks  transfixed on the U.S. presidential election.

Unlike in 2008, many report confusion and fear in the face of a candidate who vows to build a wall and shut out allies if he wins the White House in November.

Thilo Brodtmann, executive director of VDMA, Germany's engineering federation representing more than 3,000 companies including giants Siemens and Bosch, said he sees widespread concern among German enterprises that Trump's anti-trade policies could pose a threat to their businesses.

"We have been worried because the U.S. traditionally was very open-minded toward free trade and was a good partner in developing any trade agreements," Brodtmann said.

Trump has regularly emphasized that he supports "fair" trade policies as opposed to those that he says allow for trading partners to take advantage of the United States. The problem, Trump says, is that many of the current U.S. agreements  including the North American Free Trade Agreement  should be renegotiated to make them more favorable to American interests.

The United States is VDMA's largest trading partner, accounting for more than $18 billion in machinery exports last year. Trump's positions, Brodtmann said, could be especially difficult for small and medium-sized exporters who would struggle to adapt to new trade standards.

Even Germans who oppose the same global trade deals as Trump are fearful of the GOP nominee. Many German cities are plastered with posters and stickers contesting a proposed trade deal between the European Union and the U.S., but that campaign's most ardent supporters are not backing the candidate.

"Some of [Trump's] claims and fears look very similar to ours, but they come from a different place entirely," said Maritta Strasser, a lead trade campaigner for the nongovernmental organization Campact  which helped form an alliance to collect more than 3 million signatures against the EU-U.S. deal.

"I'm really terrified: I'd think he'd be of great harm to the world," she said, explaining that Trump's "us against them" mentality differs from her organization's progressively oriented approach toward policy.

Still, some experts said the outlook for the U.S. role in global free trade looks dimmer regardless of a Trump or Clinton victory.

"Neither one have this great free trade aura around them," Societe Generale economist Stephen Gallagher told CNBC. "They're both speaking to a strongly populist movement in the U.S. and it's hard to figure out what their real intentions would be."

That's especially true for Trump, Gallagher said, as Clinton's positions are better known on other global agreements concerning defense and diplomacy, thanks to her long-standing presence on the international stage.

"There's a tremendous uncertainty on Trump given some of the comments he's made," Gallagher said.

This uncertainty is already playing out in opinion polls in Germany. In a study published July 19 by research firm Allensbach Institute, 76 percent of representatives from German businesses said German-American relations would be jeopardized if Trump were elected president.

VDMA's Brodtmann said some German companies are also worried a Trump presidency could result in heightened geopolitical risks if the U.S. takes a more hands-off role in world affairs.
The Indian government is on the verge of announcing the next head of the country's central bank as early as Thursday, according to an article on the FirstPost website.



Quoting a subscription news service, Cogencis, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is meeting with Prime Minister Narenda Modi Thursday to make a final call on who should succeed Raghuram Rajan as governor of the Reserve Bank of India.



According to FirstPost, the government has a shortlist of three possible candidates:


The CEO of the Puerto Rico Hotel & Tourism Association on Thursday challenged warnings by the U.S. government that Zika virus infection could spread widely throughout the island.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projects the Zika virus could infect a quarter of Puerto Rico's 3.5 million residents by the end of this year. The U.S. government on Friday declared a public health emergency on the island.

But PRHTA Chief Executive Clarisa Jimenez said the CDC forecast does not reflect what is happening on the ground, and the warnings have contributed to a drop in tourism.

"From the very beginning the numbers that were given were based on projections. The reality is that as of today, less than half of 1 percent of the population has the virus," she told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday.

The United States declared the state of emergency as the number of cases of Zika virus infection in Puerto Rico reached 10,690 since the first instance was found December, The Associated Press reported.

In setting its estimate for Zika infections, CDC officials have cited the example of a 2014 outbreak of chikungunya, which is spread by the same mosquito that carries Zika. The outbreak eventually affected about 25 percent of Puerto Ricans between May and October of that year.

Jimenez argued that Zika has not spread as quickly in Puerto Rico as chikungunya did. She credited action taken by the central government, municipalities and private businesses to halt the spread of the mosquitoes and educate residents and visitors about prevention.

To be sure, the CDC estimates 80 percent of people infected with Zika do not show symptoms. Jimenez said the virus is easily avoided by taking simple measures like spraying with repellent and wearing proper clothing.

She acknowledged it is reasonable for pregnant women or couples trying to have children to avoid places with documented cases of Zika, which has been linked to microcephaly and a number of other birth defects.

The CDC did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

The agency's director, Tom Frieden, on Thursday told NBC News the CDC is not overstating the Zika threat in Puerto Rico

"Unfortunately when babies start to be born with microcephaly, that will change perceptions," he told NBC.

"We projected, based on our chikingunya experience, that Zika might infect a quarter of the population in the first year (in Puerto Rico) and it is very much on track to do that."
Samsung shares hit an all-time closing high on Thursday as investors cheered the company's turnaround plan, helped by what has been hailed as a return to form in the smartphone sector. The South Korean electronic giant's stock is up nearly 30 percent year-to-date, closing at 1,640,000 won a share, giving it a market capitalization of 232 trillion won ($210 billion). CNBC looks at some of the reasons for renewed investor bullishness:

Smartphone revival

The Galaxy Note 7 can scan a person's eyes to unlock the phone. Samsung

In 2014, the company struggled with falling market share and intense competition from the likes of Apple and Chinese brands such as Xiaomi. Its Galaxy S5 flagship phone that year was met with lukewarm reception. But the release of the S6 and S6 Edge in February 2015 marked a turnaround in Samsung's smartphone business. And the S7, S7 Edge and Note 7 have continued that process and the company considers it is now in a position to challenge Apple. Following this shift in focus, operating profit in its IT and mobile communications division  of which smartphone sales are a large chunk  were up 56 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2016. Samsung said consumer interest in the Note 7, its phablet device released earlier this month, "has already exceeded that seen with the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge", adding that it intends to limit pre-order supply to meet demand when it goes on sale next month.



Strong component business

While smartphones are its biggest business, Samsung also makes a number of smartphone components and panels for TVs.

It has been investing heavily in its semiconductor unit where it supplies components to companies including Apple. It also produces organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays used in televisions. Sales in its semiconductor business were up 6 percent year-on-year in the second quarter. "They are industry leaders in plastic OLED, and everyone else is trying to catch them in this new space, obviously Samsung has unbeatable tech. That is why the market is getting excited about Samsung outlook," Daniel Kim, equity analyst at Macquarie Research, told CNBC by phone.



Restructuring

watch now
Rajoy, whose conservative People's Party (PP) came first in both ballots, said he was now ready to face a parliamentary vote to form a government.

Spain has been mired in a political limbo after elections in December and June left all parties short of a majority and unable to agree on terms to govern together.

Spain's acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy said on Thursday he had taken a "decisive step" towards forming a government by agreeing to a pact with a smaller rival, but still lacks the majority he needs for a second term.

He still lacks the backing he needs from the second-placed Socialists, but he told a news conference he had agreed to terms demanded by the smaller centrist Ciudadanos ("Citizens") party to win their support.

"We have taken a decisive step towards forming a government so that there will not be another election," Rajoy told journalists after meeting Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera.

Rajoy said he would ask the speaker of Spain's parliament later on Thursday to set a date for the investiture vote.

Ciudadanos came fourth in the Dec. 20 and June 26 elections.

It had set out a a six-point pact of anti-corruption and political reform measures as a condition of its support.

Even with Ciudadanos, the PP will still be seven seats short of a majority in the 176-seat lower house of parliament, meaning Rajoy needs at least an abstention from the Socialists to win an investiture vote.

The Socialists reiterated on Thursday they would oppose him, but pressure is expected to mount on the center-left party to allow the PP to form an administration.

"As is well-known, the Socialists' vote will be a negative one in the investiture session," the party said in a statement.
"We have to stop thinking that the federal government knows best because it doesnt. Over half the country wants marijuana to be legalized. Just to put that into perspective: We havent seen that kind of universal agreement on who we want as the next president!"

Meanwhile, the majority of Americans with those same conditions don't have access to medical marijuana as a treatment approach, even though American taxpayer money went to fund Dr. Mechoulam's studies! It's not the NIDA or the NIH deciding the value of marijuana, it's the DEA, and clearly the organization is too biased. And why wouldn't they be? They naturally want to keep the war on drugs going strong  otherwise, they'd be out of a job.

See, it comes down to job security. Why on earth would they reverse their position on marijuana? That would mean for the past 45 years, they've been prosecuting American citizens unjustly, ruining lives, and for what? Nothing. Literally nothing. Imagine if the DEA did reclassify marijuana. Would everyone with a marijuana conviction then be able to sue the DEA? Would their sentences be commuted? Would we see amnesty for marijuana offenders?

The DEA has requested a budget of $2.1 million for 2017. That's a pretty significant budget considering public enemy number one  namely, marijuana  is now being grown legally in 25 states. I mean, come on, this is just getting ridiculous. But I guess that's the American way. We allow our federal government to spend trillions on ridiculous wars  the Afghanistan War, the Iraq War, and the War on Drugs. If only there were a war on health care or a war on education or a war on infrastructure or a war on solar power. Imagine what we could accomplish!

So, how do we fight back on the DEA's War on Drugs?



There are 14 states with marijuana measures on the ballot for 2016. There are 25 states and Washington, DC that have legalized medical marijuana in some way.



If you want to rebuild our economy and really create new jobs, then we need a new industry. We don't need promises from presidential hopefuls; we in the private sector can do it on our own.



In 2015, Colorado earned more than $135 million in taxes and fees thanks to the marijuana industry. More than $35 million of that money will go toward school-construction projects. Washington state is projected to earn more than $270 million in taxes by the end of 2016. If you want to think about that on a national level, there are approximately 21,000 to 33,000 businesses in the U.S. that are tied to the marijuana industry, and that number will clearly increase if more states legalize it. How's that for rejuvenating the economy?



We have to stop thinking that the federal government knows best because it doesn't. Over half the country wants marijuana to be legalized. Just to put that into perspective: We haven't seen that kind of universal agreement on who we want as the next president!



To me, that means it's time for the government to stop opposing marijuana because it's the government's job to carry out the will of the people. The people have clearly spoken. Scientific research, though conveniently ignored, has also spoken.



If the DEA won't step aside, we'll just have to make them obsolete. Imagine if every state legalized marijuana. That could very well happen within our lifetimes. See, right now, Americans aren't equal. Some Americans can grow marijuana in their back yards, and some Americans go to jail for doing the same thing. How long will we allow such hypocrisy to continue? Step one starts at the state level. Step one starts with showing the DEA that We the People are the boss.



Commentary by Jesse Ventura, the former governor of Minnesota and the author of "Jesse Ventura's Marijuana Manifesto" (Sept. 6 2016). He was a Navy SEAL and is a Vietnam veteran. He was also a professional wrestler from 1975 to 1986 under the ring name Jesse "The Body" Ventura. Follow him on Twitter @GovJVentura.



For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures on Thursday finished up 3 percent at $48.22 after touching a session high of $48.38, the highest since July 5. Stocks have been supported by the gains in oil, but the market was flattish Thursday. The rose 4 points to 2,187.

The rapid rise in oil prices defies many analysts' expectations, but it has been driven in part by comments from OPEC members and other producers about a meeting in late September that could involve discussion on freezing production or other actions.

Bubbling oil prices  up 23 percent in 15 days  will be a focus Friday as traders watch the latest U.S. rig count data for more signs that U.S. production could pick up with rising crude prices.

"We're pricing a more constructive market. We think the price is about right now," said Edward Morse, global head of commodities research at Citigroup. Morse said he believes the market is rebalancing, meaning demand is more in line with supply after a massive global oil glut.



"There really is a finely balanced market, with historically untested swing capacity of the U.S. producers really now being tested for the first time," Morse said. There was a pickup in U.S. production last week of about 150,000 barrels a day, the largest weekly increase in 17 months, but production is still about a million barrels a day below last year's level.

Baker Hughes' rig count is expected at 1 p.m. EDT Friday. Drillers have added rigs in each of the last seven weekly reports, with 15 added in the week of Aug. 12. More are expected this week. According to Reuters, that is the longest streak of positive rig growth since April 2014. Drillers have added 66 oil rigs since July 1, for a total last week of 396, well below the 672 a year ago.

Morse said while the OPEC talk is helping lift oil prices to a level he sees as reasonable, he does not expect the cartel to take any action. "It's a market misreading what's going to happen or not happen," he said.

OPEC in November 2014 pursued a strategy of letting the market set prices, and that drove U.S. crude prices sharply lower to a bottom in the $20s per barrel this past February. During that shakeout, a number of producing nations continued to increase output, but the industry in North America actually cut back after an initial surge.

New longs have been flooding the oil market but that does not mean the shorts, at record highs this month, are leaving. "The market is certainly talking out of both sides of its mouth," Morse said.

The bullish argument is that some producers, like Iraq and Iran, are getting close to the limit of what they can produce. Libya is expected to bring some oil back on line, while Nigeria still has many barrels shut in. Venezuela could also see production decline. That leaves the U.S. shale producers as one wild card.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, pumped a record 10.7 million barrels a day in July and says it can do more, though it is viewed as being close to its peak. New data was released for June, showing it was able to export 7.5 million barrels a day, the highest level for a month of June since 2012.

"The forward [futures] curve is saying the price of oil is going to be in the low $50s next year, and we think it's going to be in the high $60s. At the end of this year, it should be sitting in a $50 range," he said.

The oil glut has led to a glut in refined products like gasoline and diesel fuel.

Oil analysts have been expecting the product glut to add to an already-anticipated dip in oil prices as refineries undergo seasonal maintenance, usually between late August and October. The demand for oil drops at that time, and so can the price.

But Morse said the flooding in the Gulf Coast, which seems to have affected some operations at ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge refinery and others, could have helped that situation.

"It should help accelerate the rebalancing of the gasoline market," he said.
You don't have to say you're the "Airbnb meets Uber of " to get your good business idea funded. Credit, not venture equity, is the most important form of capital for most entrepreneurs. Ninety-nine percent of small businesses will never have access to VC equity, said Rohit Arora, CEO of Biz2Credit, a New York City-based online platform that matches small-business borrowers and lenders. For many start-ups, VC money wouldn't even make sense. "There are millions of start-ups and a few thousand that get venture capital," Arora said. But there is a select list of cities around the United States where access to credit is among the country's best, and that can be a difference maker for entrepreneurs looking to fund a new business or take their current business to the next level.



To compile this exclusive CNBC ranking, Biz2Credit reviewed 261 metro areas across America to find the top 25 when it comes to accessing credit (the ranking is based on the total dollar value of business loan applications approved, not solely the number of individual applications). Even when it comes to debt, Silicon Valley came out on top. The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, region  home to firms such as Google and Facebook and famous venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Khosla Ventures  tops the list of CNBC's top 25 metro areas for access to credit. Here's where it gets interesting. After the obvious Silicon Valley pole position, other regions that scored high on access to credit were Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, in second place; Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Indiana, and Philadelphia-Camden, New Jersey and Wilmington, Delaware, tied for third place; and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas, in fourth place.

The 25 best metro areas for access to credit

Metro/Micro City Access to Credit Rank San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 1 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 2 Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN 3 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 4 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 5 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC 6 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 7 Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA 8 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 9 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 10 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 11 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 12 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 13 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 14 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 15 Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO 16 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 17 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV 18 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI 19 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA 20 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 21 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 22 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 23 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL 24 San Diego-Carlsbad, CA 25



Source: Biz2Credit



Since the recession, many small-business owners have found banks less willing to lend; some have turned to other sources, such as private investors known as angels, and alternative financing. But for small business, getting loans approved is a big deal. "Banks have kind of retrenched," said Rocco Totino, partner in the New York City office of the accounting firm Grassi & Co. "Small business seems to be a little bit more vulnerable to the lack of access to capital. They need it to grow the existing business, to expand into other areas and to pay expenses during periods of growth and of slowdown. They also need it to purchase inventory and replace equipment." Even when banks are lending, not all business owners qualify for a loan. "There are dozens of new alternative lenders popping up, but at the end of the day, credit still holds most of them back," said Levi King, co-founder and CEO of Nav, a website based in San Mateo, California, that helps small-business owners improve their credit and matches them with loans.

"All of the capital in the world can be available, but if you are not qualified for it, you are not going to get your hands on it," said King.

Totino said banks now require a great deal more collateral and frequent financial reporting for small-business owners. Banks used to require annual updates on borrowers' debt-to-equity ratio; some now ask for data quarterly or every six months, he said.



Why these cities are business-loan hubs

Arora said it's not just the tech effect that helped the Silicon Valley area land the top spot when it comes to credit access. The region is part of the largest state in the country, with the healthy economy creating a strong foundation for access to capital. "There are many federal contracts that have gone to companies in that area," he said.

Access to capital in the Orlando area, specifically, benefits from Florida's business-friendly, low-cost environment, according to Arora. In Indianapolis, businesses in the thriving logistics and transportation industry have healthy access to capital, contributing to the region's high ranking on the list. "It was not really impacted by the recession as deeply as other parts of the country," Arora said.

At the same time, money has been flowing to entrepreneurs in Philadelphia and the Wilmington area as a result of the rejuvenation of the city's downtown and growth of the state's oil industry. It doesn't hurt that Wilmington has a strong financial services industry, as well. "It's a very unique combination of old-school and new-school industries," Arora said.

Meanwhile, Houston has become more of an IT hub, which has led to an influx of capital into local start-ups. "Houston has old money, oil money.  A lot of its companies  even oil companies  are investing a lot more in technology," Arora said.
It is too soon to know whether the U.K.'s decision to leave the European Union (EU) will have a long term impact on Danish wind energy company Vestas, its CEO told CNBC on Thursday.



"In or out of (the) EU, the energy is still needed in the local U.K. market, so short term we don't see anything changing there," Anders Runevad said.

In June, 51.9 percent of Britons voted to leave the EU in a move that shocked many.

"Of course longer term it's harder to predict, we are of course dependent on an overall macro economy and an overall energy consumption, and I think that it's too early to have an opinion if the Brexit will have any impact on us," he added.

Runevad's comments come after the company saw second-quarter EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) reach 399 million euros ($524 million) on revenues of 2.6 billion euros. The business has also raised full-year guidance and announced a share buyback program of 400 million euros.

"I would say that we actually see very good growth in all our regions, so delivery was up 56 percent year-over-year in the quarter, and it comes from all our regions," he said.

"And revenue also increased 46 percent year-over-year and again it comes from a wide range of markets, we took new orders in 24 markets for the first six months."

Wind energy is becoming an increasingly important part of Europe's energy mix. In July, industry group WindEurope said that a total of 3.7 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity has been financed this year, with almost 75 percent of new investments in the U.K.

The size of the wind turbines being installed is also getting bigger, now averaging 4.8 megawatts, a 15 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Donald Trump's racial rhetoric and poor business acumen make him unfit to occupy the Oval Office, a former aide to President Ronald Reagan told CNBC's "Worldwide Exchange" on Thursday.

Frank Lavin, Reagan's political director from 1987 to 1989, said he has voted Republican in presidential elections for 40 years, but will cast his ballot for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton this year because "she's just got a better approach to America's role in the world."

In recent weeks, dozens of Republicans including former national security officials have said they will not support Trump.

Lavin, now CEO at trade consulting firm Export Now, also served as an undersecretary in the Commerce Department and ambassador to Singapore under President George W. Bush. He said it is difficult for Republican politicians to break with Trump, but for him, the choice to support Clinton over his party's candidate was easy, citing the twin issue of his rhetoric and record of bankruptcies.

"If he's not actually a bigot, he certainly consorts with bigotry and plays to that sentiment," Lavin said.

Trump drew accusations of bigotry early in his campaign. When he announced his bid, he said many Mexican immigrants were criminals and rapists. He later angered fellow Republicans by saying a Mexican-American judge presiding over a lawsuit against Trump University could not be impartial because of his heritage.

The GOP nominee has said he would ban Muslims from entering the United States following a series of terrorist attacks in the United States and Europe orchestrated or inspired by Islamic State militants. Trump has slipped in the polls after publicly feuding with the father of a fallen Muslim-American Army captain who spoke out against him at the Democratic National Convention.

Lavin said "that denigration of Muslims, of Mexicans and so forth, I thought that's unbecoming, and there should be no place for that kind of bigotry in public life. There should be no place for that kind of bigotry in our hearts."

Trump's trips to bankruptcy court show there "is something terribly wrong with this fellow's business judgment, his management, maybe even his ethics, if he's got four bankruptcies like that and he's still scooting around in a private jet," Lavin added.

Four of Trump's hotel and casino companies filed for bankruptcy between 1991 and 2009.

Trump has said bankruptcy protection is a common business practice, and he claims he exited Atlantic City, New Jersey, as the gambling destination entered decline. The New York Times and other news outlets have reported he funded his Atlantic City properties with unsustainable debt and his casinos underperformed competitors long before the city's fortunes turned.

Trump campaign officials did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Lavin said he previously worked with Clinton on New York's Olympic bid and a past Shanghai Expo and called her capable, bright, diligent, and hard-working. He said he was disappointed she withdrew her support for a trade deal among 12 Pacific Rim nations.

Critics have alleged Clinton's past support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership as secretary of state shows she is flip-flopping to score political points with liberal voters.

"I'll tell you no matter where she is on trade, and moving American companies ahead, Donald Trump is that much worse," Lavin said.
Could a little bit of homework have stopped a $100 million scam? And what lessons does it hold for you when you are thinking about making an investment? As dastardly as Deepal Wannakuwatte's fraud was, it basically boiled down to a single lie. The Sri Lankan immigrant  who came to California and built a business importing and selling surgical gloves  conned investors, attorneys, banks and even a whole town by claiming to have lucrative contracts with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. "He indicated to investors that because of his unique position of being a minority-type business, he had access to government contracts upwards to $150 million per year," FBI Special Agent Paul Artley told CNBC's "American Greed." Wannakuwatte did have a contract with the VA; that much was true. But it was worth a tiny fraction of what he claimed: just $25,000 per year. When the truth finally came out, 150 investors and lenders were left holding the multimillion-dollar bag. In the little Northern California town of Olivehurst, where Wannakuwatte had purchased a shuttered plant to turn into a $30 million manufacturing facility, hopes for 175 badly needed jobs he promised were dashed. Wannakuwatte, 65, is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy. As tragic as the losses may be, they are made even more so by the fact that there is a slim possibility Wannakuwatte could have been stopped by some of the very people he eventually conned. The story, told on the latest episode of"American Greed," is a cautionary tale to consider any time you are asked to put down money now in hopes of a payoff down the road.

Deepal Wannakuwatte

"It's imperative that people do background checks on any kind of person they are going to do business with," said David Schassler, a licensed private investigator in New York. In some cases, that means hiring a professional like Schassler who knows how to do the legwork. "I personally go into people's lives. I personally go by where they live. I personally look into them, I knock on doors, I talk to ex-business partners," he said. But before that, there are some steps you can take on your own, with more online resources available than ever to do your own due diligence. Deepal Wannakuwatte bolstered his claims by showing prospective investors his purported contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs. And when he started running into trouble paying investors back, he produced what turned out to be a fake letter from the VA saying it had changed its terms for paying contractors. Both documents would certainly be useful to investors and lenders in vetting Wannakuwatte's claims, but it appears no one took the added step of verifying the contract  something anyone can do online. The federal government maintains an online database of all its contracts  those up for bid and those awarded in the past year. The search engine can be cumbersome at times (this is the federal government after all), but you can learn things like the amount of the contract and the payment terms  both of which would have been useful for anyone trying to check out Wannakuwatte or anyone else claiming to have big government contracts. If the company you are researching claims to have military contracts, the Department of Defense puts out a daily list of every contract worth $7 million or more. You can search the archive as far back as 1994. A spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs told "American Greed" that while the agency does not put out its own list of awarded contracts, it does issue press releases on large awards. Indeed, a search of the VA website shows press releases on contracts as small as $568,000, awarded to an Oklahoma firm in 2000 to design a military cemetery.

There's more to it than just getting online and looking somebody up and saying, 'Oh, OK, this must be the right guy. David Schassler Private investigator
Uber and Lyft abruptly left Austin, Texas, in early May, angry over a city regulation forcing drivers to be fingerprinted in order to work. While the two ride-hailing services remain deadlocked with Austin city regulators over the issue, new companies have wasted no time setting up shop to fill the void. The new services may not yet be as good as Uber or Lyft, but they don't have to be. The two ride-hailing giants left Austin on May 9 after losing an expensive campaign to prevent drivers from being subjected to fingerprint-based criminal background checks. Austin is an important market for the companies to be in. A rapidly expanding economy and population  plus the fact that it's a major tech hub  mean the greater metropolitan area of Austin punches outside its weight class in terms of growth.



Austin, Texas David Sucsy | Getty Images

There are 10 licensed services that have filled the void the companies have left. All 10 met an Aug. 1 benchmark of having at least 50 percent of hours or miles driven by drivers who have been fingerprinted, said a city of Austin Transportation Department spokeswoman. (The data is self-reported.) The companies must be in full compliance with the new law by Feb. 1 2017. On Tuesday, Uber's public affairs lead for Texas met with key Austin City Council staffers and urged them to consider amending the law, while city staffers urged the company to return in compliance. (The meeting was first reported by the Austin Business Journal.) Despite the ongoing discussions, neither side is budging. "We have maintained communication with city officials and we are hopeful of being able to return, but nothing at this point is fundamentally different since we have left," a Lyft spokesman said.

Uber and Lyft strongly oppose fingerprint-based criminal background checks, which they have said do nothing to improve safety, unfairly penalize minorities and limit the supply of drivers, degrading the service. Many of the laws developed years ago to regulate incumbent taxi and limousine companies should not be applied to ride-hailing companies, the companies have said. If anyone thought there would be a transportation apocalypse or an uptick in criminal behavior after the companies left, so far it hasn't happened.

Early data from the Austin Police Department suggests that there's been no significant impact on the number of sexual assaults, something both nonprofit advocates including Austin's The SAFE Alliance and the companies' opponents, including organizations funded by the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association said increased with the arrival of the ride-hailing giants. Nor does the data show an increase in drunk driving since the two companies left town, something Uber has said it helps prevent. (Of course, the fact that some 50,900 University of Texas students are out for the summer break might be part of the reason.)

Uber driver Mark Ralston | AFP | Getty Images

Austin's new transportation network companies are still working out kinks in the system, but they are enabling people to get around, reporters at the Austin American-Statesman found. They road-tested seven apps vying to replace Uber and Lyft and found that they were generally more expensive, harder to use and suffered from a shortage of drivers. That said, the drivers were generally professional and knowledgeable of ride-hailing, many of them having worked for Uber and Lyft in Austin, and continuing to do so outside the city's limits, the reporters found. Austin's new crop of ride-hailing services  many of which popped up as Uber and Lyft left  say they are more than willing to comply with Austin's new law. They consistently emphasize safety and the fair treatment of drivers. For example, Wingz is a San Francisco-based start-up backed by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Now in 12 U.S. cities, the company launched in Austin the day Uber and Lyft pulled the plug. Austin has quickly emerged as one its biggest markets, said CEO Chris Brandon. As of the beginning of August, 75 percent of its drivers are fingerprinted, said Brandon. It handpicks drivers and provides them with $1 million in liability coverage, something some states have started to require of ride-hailing companies.

Another, Fasten, is a Boston-based start-up, with experience servicing college towns. It launched in Austin on June 1. 70 percent of riders who have tried the service become repeat customers and the average wait time is less than five minutes, said CEO Kirill Evdakov. "The way Uber treats their drivers makes them want to switch to anything just to have an alternative," he said. "That's what accelerates our growth." At least 50 percent of its driver hours or miles are completed by drivers who have been fingerprinted, he said. At least one non-profit has jumped in to pick up some of the slack. RideAustin, which launched on June 16, sends all of its profits either to drivers or reinvests them in the business. 89 percent of driver hours are performed by a fingerprinted person, said Joe Deshotel, RideAustin community engagement director. The service has won support from riders and drivers for its community-based approach, said Deshotel. "We don't think that having rock bottom prices is the key to success," said Deshotel. "We are hearing that from the drivers too  they are starting to drop off some of the other platforms because of that." Drivers are also finding work via private Facebook groups, not all of which are operating entirely legally. The biggest  Arcade City Austin which has more than 39,000 members  has been subject to fines for failing to obtain a city license, the Statesman has reported. Smaller Austin Underground has more than 8,000 members. Riders post their location, destination and contact information and driver's scoop up rides, often sharing their defunct Uber and Lyft profiles. The groups have developed their own hashtags with riders sometimes including #needaride and drivers replying #resolved when they have connected. Payments are made in a variety of ways including PayPal, Venmo, Square and cash and vary widely. Of course, there is no middle man to skim off drivers profits, and no one is checking anyone's background on the unregulated networks.
UTICA, N.Y.  Uticas thINCubator on Monday formally opened its new 8,500-square-foot space at 326 Broad St.

The new space is located across Baggs Square from its previous 1,300-square-foot space at 106 Genesee St., according to a news release from the Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC).

The thINCubator, which is short for the home for innovative new companies, is a business incubator and student accelerator.

The new space features two breakout rooms, a conference room, mobile workstations that provide several different types and sizes of seating, and a production space.

It also houses lockers, file cabinets, a 3D printer, wireless microphones, iMacs and PCs, and seating for more than 100 people.

The thINCubator expansion also provides a co-working space, which will allow small, existing companies can use the space for a fee, the MVCC said.

Designated as a New York innovation hot spot in 2015, the thINCubator has hosted four community cohorts, which included 43 teams or individuals pursuing new businesses.

Additionally, the thINCubator has provided consulting and introductions for more than 40 student and community entrepreneurs on topics such as entity formation, marketing, equity share, manufacturing, and protection of intellectual property.

The thINCubator holds community and business events, workshops, networking nights, and programs about entrepreneurship.

As the regional innovation hot spot, it has partnered with organizations including Wasabi Ventures, Upstate Venture Connect, Leadership Mohawk Valley, the Griffiss Institute, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, MVCC, Hamilton Colleges Levitt Center, and the Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties.

It held more than 25 events in the past year that attracted hundreds of attendees from students to small-business organizations to community leaders, the MVCC said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com






"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."

- Homer







Hi! Did you faced any challenge in javascript?



any calendar html code











But seriously, if you want to ask a question, you need to provide enough details for someone who can't read your mind to be able to answer it.



You also need to put some effort into finding the answer yourself first. Google[^] seems to have a lot of suggestions.





"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."

- Homer







C# In a vb.net 2010 webform application, I am going to display a popup javascript alert message for the user when there are 2 records in the database for the current school year for each unique student. This popup message is displayed since the user needs to update the database using vendor software. For the javacript alert message, I have the following questions: 1 . At the top the alert message, it says ' Message from Web Page' since that is probably the default value . Is there a way that I can change this message to something I want? If so, how can I change the message? 2 . I am wondering what if there maximum length that I can display in the error message? If so, what is the maximum length? 3 . Can I extend the maximum size of the message and if so, can you show me how to extend the size of the error message? 4 . Can I change the display icon to be an error instead of a warning? If so, how would I accomplish this goal?



Can someone assist me on how to do a mouse over on a hyperlink that shows what the user selected on the page they just left or saved. For example, the user clicks a link that says 'Add' and it opens a popup window where they select a list of items that have checkboxes, they check the items they want and then they click save to close the popup and they return to the original page. The user then hovers over another link that says 'Edit' and it shows them what they selected on the popup page. Can this be done and if so how?



I tried using LabelHover function but I get a LabelHover() is error. Here is my code. What do I need to do to get rid of this error. This is on the page that has the link to the popup page.



<%@ Page Language =" C#" AutoEventWireup =" true" CodeBehind =" WebForm3.aspx.cs" Inherits =" NASA_LoD_Phase_1.WebForm3" %> < !DOCTYPE html > < html xmlns =" http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" > < head id =" Head1" runat =" server" > < title > < script language =" javascript" type =" text/javascript" > function LabelHover() { var text = " event" ; document .getElementById( " EditHyperLink" ).innerHTML = text; } < / script > < /title > < style type =" text/css" > . auto-style1 { width : 100% ; } . auto-style2 { text-align : left ; } . auto-style4 { text-align : right ; } </ style > < /head > < body > < form id =" form1" runat =" server" > < div > < table class =" auto-style1" > < tr > < td class =" auto-style2" colspan =" 2" > < asp:Label ID =" lblProgram" runat =" server" Text =" Program:" style =" text-align: left" > < /asp:Label > < asp:HyperLink ID =" AddHyperLink" runat =" server" NavigateUrl =" javascript:var w=window.open('addprogramcode.aspx','','width=640,height=450');" CssClass =" style19" ForeColor =" #A90D39" > Add Program Code < /asp:HyperLink > < asp:HyperLink ID =" EditHyperLink" onmouseover =" LabelHover()" runat =" server" NavigateUrl =" javascript:var w=window.open('serviceset.aspx','','width=640,height=450');" CssClass =" style19" ForeColor =" #A90D39" > Edit < /asp:HyperLink > < asp:HyperLink ID =" DeleteHyperLink" runat =" server" NavigateUrl =" javascript:var w=window.open('newdonors.aspx','','width=640,height=450');" CssClass =" style19" ForeColor =" #A90D39" > Delete < /asp:HyperLink > < br / > < asp:DropDownList ID =" DropDownList1" runat =" server" Width =" 400px" > < /asp:DropDownList > < /td > < /tr > < tr > < td class =" auto-style7" > < asp:Button ID =" BackButton" runat =" server" OnClick =" Button2_Click" Text =" Back" / > < /td > < td class =" auto-style4" rowspan =" 2" > < asp:Button ID =" NextButton" runat =" server" Text =" Next" OnClick =" SearchButton_Click" / > < /td > < /tr > < /table > < /div > < /form > < /body > < /html >



Oh I'm terrible at math this summer.



I have this horizontal row, filled with items that overflow.

I have these radio buttons under them, that show the page number.



I'm trying to make it where your on a mobile phone, and you slide left, the correct radio button is selected.



I have a left, remaining left, and a total of pixels

I just can't figure out the math to say, this is in the range of 1, 2, 3 and so on.



I wrote some code function run_touch_pagination() { var $e_sliderFrame = $( " .slider ul" ), $e_sliderSlide = $( " .slider-slide" ), _sliderSlide_width = $e_sliderSlide.css( ' width' ), _sliderFrame_maxWidth = $e_sliderFrame.width(), _sliderSlide_count = $e_sliderSlide.length, _sliderSlide_left = 0 ; _sliderSlide_index = 0 , _sliderSlide_pageCount = 0 ; $( " .slider ul" ).filter(function () { _sliderSlide_left = Math.abs($( this ).position().left - 23 );<br /> }); _sliderSlide_pageCount = Math.ceil(_sliderSlide_count / sliderSlides); var x = _sliderSlide_left; var y = _sliderSlide_count * parseInt(_sliderSlide_width); var z = y - _sliderSlide_left; $( " #slideLeft" ).val(x + ' , ' + z + ' , = ' + y); $( " #slideNumber" ).val(); }

Now I know looking at the function above won't tell you much, and my description as well

So this is a link to the program.

Program Demostration[^]



You have to reduce the size of your browser so just 4 items show. The frame will appear and turn gray.

There are 2 textboxes on the bottom of the frame under the radio buttons,

Left Box, is x, z and y, the right box is suppose to be the radio button index.



I'm wondering if this slider program is worth it. but that's what people want when they shop.







What do you think?

function run_touch_pagination() { <pre> var $e_sliderFrame = $( " .slider ul" ), $e_sliderSlide = $( " .slider-slide" ), _sliderSlide_width = $e_sliderSlide.css( ' width' ), _sliderFrame_maxWidth = $e_sliderFrame.width(), _sliderSlide_count = $e_sliderSlide.length, _sliderSlide_left = 0 ; _sliderSlide_index = 0 , _sliderSlide_pageCount = 0 ; $( " .slider ul" ).filter(function () { _sliderSlide_left = Math.abs($( this ).position().left - 23 ); }); _sliderSlide_pageCount = Math.ceil(_sliderSlide_count / sliderSlides); var x = Math.floor(_sliderSlide_left); var y = Math.round(_sliderSlide_count * parseInt(_sliderSlide_width)); var z = Math.round(y - _sliderSlide_left); var p = Math.round(z / x); var page = (p <= _sliderSlide_pageCount ? p : _sliderSlide_pageCount); var idx = _sliderSlide_pageCount;

$(".slider-paginator-item i").each(function () {

if (x < z) { // This elimates the first and last radio from going blank or hollow

if (page === idx) {

$(this).removeClass('fa fa-circle-o').addClass('fa fa-circle');

}

else if (page !== idx) { // do nothing if no match

$(this).removeClass('fa fa-circle').addClass('fa fa-circle-o');

}



}

idx--;



});



$("#slideLeft").val(x + ', ' + z + ', = ' + y);

$("#slideNumber").val('page:' +page + ' idx:' + idx);



}







Project Demostration[^]



Don't forget the squeeze the width of your browser down to show 4 items to see the results.



modified 14-Aug-16 16:36pm.



So I have this code that I copied and modified for horizontal use.

I load all the items on page load, 7 of them for testing, but just the first 6 shows

When I run the code the first time, I get 6 items which is correct.

Then I slide the items left to show items 2 - 7 and run the code again, and I get 7 instead of 6

I suspect that the code is operating correctly, and it's designed to show me 7



I really wanted the value 6. Could you just double check the code for me.

var $e_sliderFrame = $( " .slider ul" ), $e_sliderSlide = $( " .slider-slide" ), _sliderSlide_width = $e_sliderSlide.css( ' width' ), _sliderFrame_maxWidth = $e_sliderFrame.width(), _sliderSlide_count = $e_sliderSlide.length, _sliderSlide_visible = 0 , _sliderSlide_pageCount = 0 , _sliderSlide_x = 0 ; <pre>

_sliderSlide_visible = $(".slider ul li").filter(function () {

return $(this).position().left + $(this).width() < _sliderFrame_maxWidth;

}).length;



Working Example

Shop the Project Indigo! store[^]







I'm guessing that your last LI is being ignored because it's right side lies on the right edge of the UL, which lies on the right edge of .slider.



Therefore: JavaScript return $( this ).position().left + $( this ).width() < _sliderFrame_maxWidth;

Should be: JavaScript return $( this ).position().left + $( this ).width() <= _sliderFrame_maxWidth; "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

- Benjamin Disraeli





Now I realize it's because the width of all the li's are wider now, so the hidden li's on the left are being included.



So I made a global var and ran the function on Dom Ready to get a snapshot first, and then on window resize, take another snapshot, which is probably a bad idea, since they may not be on the left slide.



I did implement your suggestion just now, god idea!



Maybe I should scrap the idea and start again, and make it ajax loading.

I have a better version of it today, in the link on the first post.





I m new to javascript and I want to filter specific elements into new array. Eg ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f'] to [' c', 'd', 'f']



JavaScript var input = [ ' a' , ' b' , ' c' , ' d' , ' e' , ' f' ]; var filter = [ ' a' , ' b' , ' e' ]; var output =[]; for ( var i = 0 ; i < input.length; i++) { if (filter.indexOf(input[i]) == -1) output.push(input[i]); }



Customise it depends on your need


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Boone County high school football district scores and roundup

Heres who survived and advanced, and who finished for the season, on Friday.
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By Kevin McKenzie of The Commercial Appeal

A Memphis taxi cab company is suing Uber and Lyft in federal court, alleging that the ride-hailing companies are violating Tennessee laws and city ordinances regulating passenger transportation services.

The federal district court lawsuit seeking class-action status filed this week marks the second time that Southern Transportation Inc., which operates Yellow and Checker taxi cabs and Premier Transportation in Memphis, has targeted the San Francisco-based companies.

Southern withdrew a similar lawsuit filed last year. Uber and Lyft had asked a federal judge to dismiss that lawsuit, contending that there were no legal grounds for it, particularly following the states adoption in May 2015 of a state-wide regulatory system for transportation network companies.

This lawsuit is merely an attempt by plaintiffs to use the courts to beat back a legitimate business, which provides a useful service to consumers frustrated with outdated transportation options, so that plaintiffs can cling to the status quo, an attorney for Uber wrote in seeking dismissal of the case last year.

In its new lawsuit filed Tuesday, Southern contends that the ride-hailing companies have illegally operated since April 2014, violating state laws and city ordinances that traditional passenger transportation services businesses follow.

Despite the states enactment of the Transportation Network Company Services Act in 2015, Southern maintains that state law regulating entry into the passenger transportation business and parts of the citys code of ordinances apply to Lyft, Uber and an Uber-related company, Raiser LLC.

At all times relevant to this complaint, defendants and/or their drivers have failed and refused to comply with the statutes and ordinances set out herein, but have operated illegally in defiance of these statutes and ordinances, the lawsuit contends.

The lawsuit seeks class-action status to represent other companies like Southern and seek damages for all in the class.

Memphis attorneys Nicholas Bragorgos and Paul Berry Cooper III filed the lawsuit and Bragorgos said by e-mail that we have no comment at this time.

Media representatives for Uber and Lyft said by e-mail that the companies declined to comment.

In January, the taxi cab companies led by Ham Smythe IV reported they were down from about 85 cabs on the streets of Memphis to 75.

Smythe is president of the local Yellow Cab, Checker Cab and Premier Transportation Services companies.
SHARE Stevie Wonder. The Stax Musuem will be celebrating the history of another iconic soul label with the exhibit Motown: Black & White, featuring images from collection of former label PR director Al Abrams. Marvin Gaye. The Stax Musuem will be celebrating the history of another iconic soul label with the exhibit Motown: Black & White, featuring images from collection of former label PR director Al Abrams. Marvin Gaye. The Stax Musuem will be celebrating the history of another iconic soul label with the exhibit Motown: Black & White, featuring images from collection of former label PR director Al Abrams. Al Abrams.The Stax Musuem will be celebrating the history of another iconic soul label with the exhibit Motown: Black & White, featuring images from collection of former label PR director Al Abrams.

By Bob Mehr of The Commercial Appeal

Memphis' Stax Records has long been seen as the grittier Southern cousin to Detroit's Motown Records. While both turned out hits in the '60s and '70s that would define soul music and redefine pop, the aesthetic and cultural distance between the two labels has lingered. This week, however, a key connection between the labels will be highlighted as the Stax Museum of American Soul Music unveils a new exhibit titled "Motown Black & White."

The exhibit is based on the private collection of the late Al Abrams, who was Motown's first employee, hired back in 1959. "He was their head of PR," says Stax Museum director Jeff Kollath. "After he left Motown in 1966, he did some independent consulting, and one of his clients was Stax Records."

Abrams consulted with Stax in '66 and '67, helping train the label's future publicity majordomo, Deanie Parker. "I wanted to become a publicist for Stax," says Parker. "Fortunately (Stax co-owners) Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton determined I had the potential and could be so much better if I had someone who could mentor and tutor me. And Al Abrams was that person."

Parker recalls learning the ropes of the PR biz from Abrams long-distance. "Al Abrams became my on-the-job trainer via USPS and ATT," says Parker, chuckling. "He would show me how to write a press release, would critique what we were doing, and from him I understood how to recognize a publicity opportunity. That's how I learned publicity 101  it was from Al Abrams.

"When I think back, without Al Abrams, certainly without someone as patient, we would not have gotten anywhere in publicizing (Stax) and its artists," says Parker. "At the time, neither The Commercial Appeal nor the Press-Scimitar acknowledged we even existed. We were able, with Al Abrams' help, to get first press from publications outside Memphis, and that finally caused Memphis to take notice."

Adds Kollath: "Abrams was not just showing how to promote records but how to get stories in newspapers and really try and promote the label beyond the music, and talk about the people making it. From his time working with Deanie, (Abrams) always had a fondness for Stax."

In 2011, Abrams published a book called "Hype & Soul: Behind the Scenes at Motown." The volume, an insider account of the company's early years, included a selection of documents Abrams saved and photos he shot of the label's stars. In the wake of the book's release, Abrams put together an exhibit that would eventually premiere at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville.

Around that time, Abrams reconnected with Stax through Soulsville publicist Tim Sampson. When Kollath took over as museum head last year, talks began in earnest about bringing an exhibit of Abrams' material to Memphis. "He was working with us and putting it together," says Kollath. "But, sadly, he passed way last fall from cancer  it was a very short illness. Since then, we've been working with his widow, Nancy, to secure the items for the exhibit."

Since its debut in 2013, "Motown Black & White" has been displayed in several other cities including Detroit, and it will head next year to Tel Aviv, Israel, though not before a scaled-down version of it comes to Stax. The exhibit, which opens Friday and runs through Nov. 8, features 20 large-format images of the Temptations, the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Miracles, and Marvin Gaye, among others. "There's also two good-size display cases with artifacts, as well as some Motown artists' costumes," says Kollath. "And there's also a functional jukebox that plays Motown hits."

A free public reception will be held at 6 p.m. Friday evening. Abrams' widow, Nancy, and his onetime protege Deanie Parker are set to attend. "This exhibit is really personal for me," says Parker. "It's strange, but in all the years that I knew Al Abrams, if we met each other face to face one time, I can't remember when it was. My lessons from Al were by mail and phone, but in that short period of time, I learned so much. Whatever success I had in marketing or publicity, it's a credit to Al Abrams, believe me. So it means a lot to have his legacy given its place at Stax."

As part of the Abrams exhibit, the Stax Museum will also offer some complementary programming. The second edition of its Soul Cinema series will be devoted to Motown-related movies. The program kicks off Aug. 29 with "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," director Paul Justman's 2002 film examining the origins, careers and legacies of the studio musicians known as "the Funk Brothers."

Kollath says the Abrams exhibit will wrap up just as Stax's plans for 2017 ramp up. Next year will mark the 60th anniversary of the label's launch (initially as Satellite Records), as well the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Stax-Volt European tour, 50 years since Otis Redding's death, and the 100th birthday of label legend Rufus Thomas. "We're still finalizing our plans," says Kollath, "but we expect a yearlong effort to commemorate all those events and anniversaries."

Motown Black & White Friday through Nov. 8 at the Stax Musuem of American Soul Music, 926 E. McLemore. Admission is $13 for adults, $12 for seniors and military, $10 for children, Free for kids 8 and younger. staxmusuem.com
By Katie Fretland of The Commercial Appeal

A 40-year-old Whitehaven man was convicted this week of raping a child beginning when she was under 13 years old.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Mark Ward sentenced Gabriel Dotson to 25 years for rape of a child.

Dotson sexually assaulted the girl starting in June 2009 when the victim was approximately 11 until March 2014, according to an affidavit.

Sentencing on additional counts, including aggravated sexual battery and rape, is set for Sept. 22.
August 18, 2016 - Memphis Public Works employee Lee Crawford uses an excavator to knock down one unit of the former Pendleton Arms apartments during a ceremony marking the start of demolition of the 9.6 acre 168 unit blighted complex. The move is the culmination of joint anti-blight efforts between the Shelby County Environmental Court, City of Memphis, and the University of Memphis School of Law. Clearing the structures is expected to take up to 90 days to complete at a cost of $330,000. (Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE August 18, 2016 - Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland talks with media in front of the former Pendleton Arms apartments during a ceremony marking the start of demolition of the 9.6 acre 168 unit blighted complex. The move is the culmination of joint anti-blight efforts between the Shelby County Environmental Court, City of Memphis, and the University of Memphis School of Law. Clearing the structures is expected to take up to 90 days to complete at a cost of $330,000. (Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal)

By Linda A. Moore of The Commercial Appeal

A long-vacant apartment complex visible to travelers on Interstate 240 will soon be gone.

On Thursday the city of Memphis began the demolition of the massive Pendleton Arms Apartments, which encompassed 15 two-story buildings with 168 apartment units stretching over 9.6 acres near picturesque Charjean Park and Airways Middle School.

"People do not deserve to live next to these facilities. And that's why we're very happy to make a big deal out of tearing these down," said Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.

Fighting blight is a major priority for his administration, said Strickland, who also gave credit to former mayor A C Wharton for setting up the process that led to the demolition.

But the "heroes" of the project, Strickland said, are the students at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law who, through the Neighborhood Preservation Clinic there, prosecute for free the cases that result in the demolitions.

It's the only such program in the country, said Danny Schaffzin, a law school assistant professor and director of Experiential Learning.

"The curriculum is training in how to handle these cases, all the law in the area that governs this, all the policies," Schaffzin said. "They understand the law, the Neighborhood Preservation Act in Tennessee. They understand the approaches available us to pursue cases against key owners."

Also present for the demolition were law school Dean Peter Letsou, police department representatives and Memphis City Council members Martavius Jones and Jamita Swearengen, who represent the district.

The apartments have been vacant for about 10 years, said attorney Steve Barlow, executive director of Neighborhood Preservation Inc. and an adjunct professor with the Neighborhood Preservation Clinic.

The city will spend $335,000 to tear the buildings down, an amount that will be attached in a lien against the property. The owner, Multifamily Restoration of Sandy, Utah, also has a $90,000 tax bill.

The property is scheduled to be included in the county's Sept. 7 tax sale, but the tax debt on top of the lien might be foreboding for buyers.

That's why the tear-down is just the next step, Barlow said.

"The land is highly visible from the interstate, it's located near a church and other apartments," he said. "How do we come up with an interim that gets it used in a way that's appropriate or at least beautifies it? We need somebody thinking interim and somebody that's got a long-term view."
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By Linda A. Moore of The Commercial Appeal

Shelby County government plans to look at pay scales for all of its 400 job classifications now filled by about 5,200 employees and make adjustments where needed.

On Monday the County Commission approved a $100,000 contract with Segal Waters Consulting to compare the county with both the private sector and similarly sized governments.

The county's last compensation study was done 10 years ago, said Kim Hackney, deputy chief administrative officer.

"If people are not properly classified and compensation is not what it should be, then we want to correct that because happy employees make good employees and productive employees," Hackney said. "We want to make sure that we can recruit and we can retain employees."

During the budget talks, corrections officers who work at the Correctional Center petitioned the County Commission for pay parity with the deputy jailers who are employed by the sheriff's office and work at the county jail.

The commission set aside $1 million in the budget for future pay adjustments.

But the county won't know how much, if any, of those funds will be needed until Segal Waters submits its recommendations later this year, Hackney said.

She expects some adjustments will be phased in over a period of time, and there won't be pay cuts.

"It will not be our recommendation to decrease pay. However it is very possible that we would recommend freezing pay for someone who is paid outside their pay grade," Hackney said.

The study was requested by county Mayor Mark Luttrell, who was concerned that some lower-paid employees weren't adequately compensated and because of the difficulties in recruiting in some categories, like health care and information technology.

The county should not be a training ground for workers who come in, gain experience and only stay a short while, Luttrell said.

"We want to be a destination for professionals, where people come, people have fair benefits and fair salaries and where good people stay," he said.

Although the intent is to create a fair pay structure for employees, some are skeptical of the effort.

Dan Chapman, president of the Shelby County Deputy Sheriff's Association, said past studies have compared Shelby County with smaller sheriff's departments in Macon, Georgia or Mason, Tennessee.

"It is our position that if a local government doesn't employ 500 commissioned officers or at least a total of 500 employees or more, that local government is not a fair and equable comparison to us," Chapman said.

In May the county provided each employee a "Total Rewards Statement" which detailed base pay, overtime and other pay along with medical and retirement benefits.

Chapman, a sergeant with the sheriff's office, shared his W-2 wage statement and his county statement, which indicated he was paid $7, 630 more than he actually received in pay and benefits.

He said everyone he's talked to across the county had similar discrepancies.

"Every time we go through this they screw the numbers up and then they can't understand why we are unsatisfied," Chapman said. "Bad data in. Bad data out."

However, Segal Waters won't be reviewing each employee's compensation, but the classifications and scales, Hackney said.

She said no one, including Chapman, has raised an issue about their benefits statements.
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By Maranda Faris, USA TODAY NETWORK  Tennessee

COUNCE, Tenn.  Danny Pirtle of Hardin County has been identified as the man killed in a Monday shootout with U.S. marshals in Counce.

Pirtle, 42, had a long history of drug and theft charges, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Marshals were assisting the Hardin County Sheriff's Office in serving a capias warrant when Pirtle shot at police, the TBI said.

Counce is near Pickwick Lake, about 115 miles east of Memphis.

Leslie Earhart, spokeswoman for the TBI, said Pirtle shot at marshals while they tried to arrest him near Blackberry Way, and marshals returned fire. Pirtle later died from his injuries.

Police said two other men were arrested in the incident after a car chase. Earhart said the TBI is only investigating the officer-involved shooting, but not the car chase, and charges against the other two men were not immediately available.

Hardin County Sheriff Sammy Davidson could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but he told The (Hardin County) Courier newspaper that the initial warrant against Pirtle was for failure to appear in court to face a drug charge.

Jessica Hunt, a friend of Pirtle's, said Pirtle's friends want answers to why he was shot.

"He did fire a couple shots, but they gunned him down at the lake," Hunt said. "We don't know how it happened or why it happened."

The TBI has not confirmed how many times Pirtle was shot or how many times he fired at police. Records show Pirtle has a criminal history that includes theft, drug charges, evading and resisting arrest, weapons charges, and driving charges beginning in 1999. His most recent charge came in December 2015 for theft of a motor vehicle, sale of methamphetamine, resisting arrest, and evading arrest.

Court documents also show that Pirtle had charges in April on introduction of contraband to a penal facility after he was accused of attempting to sneak suboxone strips into the jail in a Bible a friend brought to him.
SHARE Defendant Jason Autry is escorted out of the Decatur County Courthouse on Wednesday after a status hearing in the Holly Bobo murder case. (Photo: KENNETH CUMMINGS/The Jackson Sun) Holly Bobo (AP Photo/Tennessee Bureau of Investigation)

By Maranda Faris, USA TODAY NETWORK  Tennessee

DECATURVILLE, Tenn.  Judge Creed McGinley still expects to have a trial in the Holly Bobo murder case in April 2017, but who goes to trial then depends on the outcome of motions to suppress statements made by the three defendants.

He also said the trial or trials likely will be moved to another county.

At a scheduling hearing Wednesday morning in Decatur County, McGinley said he expects defense attorneys to file motions seeking to exclude statements that defendants Zachary Adams, Dylan Adams and Jason Autry made to investigators. The judge said the defendants may have separate trials but that won't be determined until motions are heard in court.

McGinley also said it is likely the case will be moved out of Decatur County closer to the trial date in April.

"At this point, I don't know if I'll be trying once, twice or three times. Whether we can proceed with multiple defendants really is concerned on motions that have yet to be filed," McGinley said. "I will say on the front end that there have been motions for a change of venue from all three defendants, which is no great surprise."

McGinley said venues that could be used were discussed between himself and attorneys prior to Wednesday's hearing. Those locations were not mentioned in court.

"There has been a significant amount of emotion in Decatur County and, as a result, this case  I anticipated it would be impossible to secure a jury that had not been affected by local emotion," McGinley said. "Parties can safely say at this point that a change of venue will occur."

Michael Scholl, attorney for Autry, noted the Justice for Holly stickers on cars that surrounded the courthouse, green and pink ribbons tied to the courthouse doors, and the ribbons and Justice for Holly signs that still decorate areas of Decaturville five years after Bobo's disappearance.

"They are throughout the county on just about every phone pole," Scholl said. "There's just too much feeling and publicity around this area, surrounding this particular case. That's why we're trying to move it to a different area."

Special prosecutor Jennifer Nichols said she and other prosecutors were not surprised when McGinley said a change of venue would be likely.

"I don't think it's a surprise to any of us that the judge made that statement," she said.

McGinley said the case has taken longer than he had hoped to go to trial due to the lengthy investigation and number of people involved.

Nichols said that a year and a half after she took over prosecution of the case, she is ready for trial.

Bobo, a 20-year-old nursing student, was kidnapped from outside her rural Decatur County home in April 2011. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has said her partial remains, including her skull, were found in the woods of Decatur County in September 2014.

All three suspects have been charged with premeditated murder and murder in the perpetration of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
By Grace Tatter, Chalkbeat Tennessee

Schools taken over by Tennessee's turnaround district were never meant to remain under state control forever.

So when Achievement School District officials said Wednesday that it could be at least a decade before they allow local districts to run the schools again, officials from the local districts were dismayed.

The 2010 state law that created the ASD to take over low-performing schools and improve them provided some instructions for returning schools to local districts  but the law didn't specify a specific process, and is hard to understand. What's clear is that after five years of operation, Shelby County Schools, the district most affected by the initiative, is eager to run its schools again.

"The plan on how schools should come back is opaque, to put it generously," Brad Leon told state lawmakers during a hearing about the ASD's future. As Shelby County Schools chief innovation officer, Leon oversees charter schools in the Innovation Zone, a district-run turnaround effort that has received national attention for its success.

ASD superintendent Malika Anderson told lawmakers that she and state education officials worked all summer to interpret the law and create an exit plan for schools according to it. The plan they generated: Charter schools cannot exit the district until they've shown improved results for nine years, and schools that the ASD runs directly can't exit until they've shown improved results for five years.

"We wanted to make sure that it wasn't just a single year or two and [schools] wouldn't slide back if they were returned back to local oversight," Anderson said.

Officials with Shelby County Schools, where 31 long-struggling schools have been assigned to the ASD  taking students and funding with them  are questioning that approach. (The district includes two schools in Nashville and could take over schools in Chattanooga next year.)

It doesn't make sense that the longer a school under the ASD's supervision fails to post test score gains, the longer the ASD controls it, Leon said.

"The ASD should be held accountable just like Shelby County Schools is held accountable, and should be relinquishing schools when they are not performing," he said.

He and other Shelby County officials want legislators to change the law so that the ASD can run schools only for five years, the amount of time that they originally said it would take to propel schools in the bottom 5 percent in the state into the top quarter.

"If you have done the work you needed to do, if you have improved those schools, bravo, you've done the work, schools should return to the district," Leon told lawmakers. "If you haven't done the work in five years and schools are still underperforming, than you need to be held accountable, too."

Anderson said she is optimistic that at least some schools in her district are already on the trajectory the district promised. Two ASD charter schools, Brick Church College Prep in Nashville and KIPP University Middle in Memphis, have exited the lowest-scoring 5 percent of schools statewide. Whitney Achievement Elementary, a Memphis school that the district runs directly, is on the bubble.

"I'm really confident that probably about 40 percent of [schools] are well on their way to getting out on the timeline we've identified," Anderson said.

Read more about Tennessee education news at tn.chalkbeat.org.
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By Ron Maxey of The Commercial Appeal

A lawsuit against Southaven police filed by the family of a man killed in 2014 has been dismissed.

In an order entered Aug. 10 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, Judge Michael P. Mills agreed with the city that the suit by Jeremy Vann's family lacked merit.

Vann was shot and killed in May 2014 by Southaven officers during a drug deal in the parking lot of the Big Lots store on State Line Road at Interstate 55. He and another suspect were attempting to sell an ounce of marijuana to a person who was actually a confidential informant for Southaven police, according to the court documents.

The other suspect was arrested, but Vann was shot by a police officer after Vann attempted to drive away. Vann died en route to the hospital.

Mills determined officers acted properly, citing a Mississippi Bureau of Investigation report that found the use of deadly force was justified.

The MBI reported concluded that officers responded with deadly force because of "an apparent and immediate threat of great bodily harm and/or death ..."
SHARE Ken Hoover

By Clay Bailey of The Commercial Appeal

Ken Hoover, a Germantown school board member involved in the municipal schools effort from its start, will not seek re-election to the suburban post in November.

Hoover confirmed his decision Thursday afternoon as the noon deadline passed to qualify for the Nov. 8 elections in a quartet of suburbs.

"It's time to take a break," said Hoover, who first became involved with education in the suburb almost a decade ago.

Hoover would be the second of the Germantown Municipal School District's original board members to leave the body. Mark Dely resigned earlier this month to take a job in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The suburb is in the process of naming a replacement to serve the last two years of Dely's term.

Meanwhile, two suburban mayors drew challengers in their re-election bids.

Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner will face town alderman Tom Allen, while Millington Mayor Terry Jones is challenged by Alderman Chris Ford. Most of the suburban elections in Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown and Millington are for aldermen and school board seats. Joyner and Jones are the only mayors up for re-election.

In a number of cases, incumbents drew no opposition and can go ahead and prepare for their new terms. The most prominent example of incumbents waltzing into office is in Bartlett, where all six incumbents on the ballot  three aldermen and three school board members  are unopposed.

Allen's run for Collierville mayor is not unusual. The alderman has lost four previous elections for the town's top elected position, including twice to Joyner. In the last mayoral race, Joyner captured 73 percent of the vote to defeat Allen.

Outside of the Joyner-Allen contest, most Collierville races are uncontested. Aldermen John Worley in Position 3 and John Stamps III in Position 5 return to office without a challenger. All three school board incumbents  Kevin Vaughan, Mark Hansen and Wright Cox  also escaped opposition.

The situation is a bit different in Germantown. Three aldermen  David Klevan, Forrest Owens and Rocky Janda  are on the ballot, with only Owens avoiding a contested race. Dean Massey will face Klevan, who was appointed to office in January, 2015 when Mike Palazzolo, the former Position 3 alderman, was elected mayor. David Nischwitz qualified to face Janda.

In the Germantown school board races, Laura Meanwell will try to unseat Linda Fisher, and incumbent Natalie Williams faces Suzanne Jones. Amy Eoff and Mindy Fischer will face off to replace Hoover.

The mayor's race is only one of a number of contested races in Millington. The city doesn't stagger its election for aldermen, meaning all seven position are on the ballot.

The only incumbent to emerge unopposed was Position 7 Alderman Mike Caruthers. Jon Crisp and Don Lowry will run for the Position 6 office currently held by Ford.
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By E.J. Dionne

WASHINGTON  If you thought the old Donald Trump campaign was wild and crazy, just wait for the new one now that Breitbart's Steve Bannon is in charge.

The new leadership  with Bannon and pollster Kellyanne Conway displacing Paul Manafort of the Ukrainian Connection at the top of the heap  is likely to steer Trump even more in the direction of the European far right. It also tells you something that Bannon sees Sarah Palin, about whom he made a laudatory documentary, as a model for anti-establishment politics.

Bannon is close to Nigel Farage, the former head of the right-wing UK Independence Party, who offered "massive thanks" to Breitbart News for supporting the party's successful campaign on behalf of Britain's departure from the European Union. "Your UKIP team is just incredible," Bannon told Farage during an interview after the June Brexit vote.

Judging from Bannon's history, Trump's campaign will become even harsher in its attacks on Hillary Clinton and work hard to insinuate anti-Clinton stories into the mainstream media. Bloomberg Businessweek's Joshua Green quoted Bannon proudly declaring in mid-2015: "We've got the 15 best investigative reporters at the 15 best newspapers in the country all chasing after Hillary Clinton."

And count on Trump to ramp up his appeals to Bernie Sanders' supporters and the left. Pushing his anti-Clinton film "Clinton Cash" in May, Bannon said he wanted progressives to "understand how the Clintons, who proclaim that they support all your values, essentially have sold you out for money." In his conversation with Farage, Bannon expressed great interest in the role played by left-of-center voters in Brexit's victory.

A Trump press release Wednesday bragged about the headline on Green's important Businessweek article describing Bannon as "the most dangerous political operative in America." The new CEO poses dangers not only to Clinton, but also to Republicans like House Speaker Paul Ryan who have been tiptoeing around their party's nominee by simultaneously criticizing him and endorsing him. Bannon has no use for Ryan. A December piece Bannon co-wrote began: "Paul Ryan's first major legislative achievement is a total and complete sell-out of the American people masquerading as an appropriations bill."

Bannon could thus speed the defection of longtime GOP officeholders, while Senate and House campaigns are likely to become even more distant from Trump. In his past endeavors, Bannon targeted not only Clinton, but also Jeb Bush. Trump's relations with the Bush wing of the party could hardly be worse, but Bannon is likely to make them impossible.

There is a lot of good news but one piece of bad news for Clinton in the Trump shakeup: She is likely to have to play more defense, especially if Bannon builds on his success in enticing reporters at non-conservative media outlets to work on stories damaging to her.

The good news is that Trump seems determined to fight through the campaign on his own terms. This reduces the chances he will drop out, which, in turn, means that Clinton is more likely to avoid what would be the biggest blow to her chances: a Trump withdrawal and the naming of a new GOP candidate.

Trump's campaign is also likely to look more extreme, which cannot help the flailing candidate in the suburban, highly educated precincts in states such as Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado and North Carolina where he is hemorrhaging more upscale Republican votes. Bannon's fascination with Palin, who turned off many such voters to John McCain after he chose her as his running mate in 2008, could aggravate rather than ease this problem.

And if the theme of this latest bit of Trump court intrigue is a return to the "Let Trump be Trump" philosophy, Clinton's operatives will only cheer. Trump being Trump is precisely what led him to this crisis point.

Bannon's rise dramatizes the catastrophe GOP establishmentarians brought upon themselves by imagining they could use the far right for their own purposes while somehow keeping it tame. Bannon's European interests suggest he is far more impressed by right-wing third parties than by traditional Republicanism. He believed the anti-establishment rhetoric Republican politicians deployed but never really meant when they were attacking President Obama. Now, the GOP faces the possibility of a real split.

E.J. Dionne's email address is ejdionne@washpost.com.
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By Eli Lake

For the past year, Secretary of State John Kerry has worked and worked to get Russia to help end Syria's civil war. He has cajoled. He has sniped. He has spent countless hours in meetings and on the phone with his counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. And he pretty much has nothing to show for it.

This point was driven home Tuesday when Russia announced it had started bombing missions from a base inside Iran.

It was the latest in a series of humiliations for Kerry. As soon as the Iran nuclear deal was concluded last July, the Russians and Iranians began plotting a surge for Syria on behalf of the dictator, Bashar al-Assad. As Kerry made plans for talks in Geneva, the Russians set up air bases in Syria. Once their campaign started, they bombed U.S.-backed Syrian rebels. In June, Russian planes bombed a U.S. and British special operations base near the Syrian border.

But the announcement of the bombing from Iran stings Kerry the most. Kerry himself, only a year ago, told the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg that Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, had told him after the completion of the nuclear deal, "I am now empowered to work with and talk to you about regional issues."

Now the Iranians can't stop working with the Russians about regional issues. Meanwhile, Iran keeps detaining and arresting American dual-nationals, testing missiles and threatening American allies.

The Russian flights out of Iran should not come as a surprise. The American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project observed what appeared to be Russian aircraft at an Iranian base back in December.

But on Tuesday the Russians made it official and announced that its Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter-bombers had taken off from the Hamadan airfield, about 200 miles west of Tehran.

None of these developments is likely to persuade Kerry to end his quest for a Syria deal with the Russians. While this may seem to meet a definition of insanity (doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result), there is an opportunity now for the secretary of state to advance U.S. interests.

It will require Kerry to face some hard truths about Iran. He needs to stop thinking of Zarif and Rouhani as moderates he must empower against their country's hard-liners. Instead, he should see Russian bombers in Iran as a chance to undermine his old negotiating partners and turn them against each other.

This sounds like a long shot, and in many ways it is. But it's unprecedented for Iran to allow a foreign military to operate on its soil. Iran's constitution, following the 1979 revolution, specifically prohibits this kind of thing. It's one of the reasons revolutionaries took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran, which they saw as a den of spies that secretly controlled their country.

Hence Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary, Ali Shamkhani, spoke about the Russian announcement euphemistically, telling the Fars News Agency that Iran and Russia had an agreement to share facilities, not an agreement for the Russian Air Force to occupy a military base.

"There are a lot of optics the Iranians have to worry about because of this," Matthew McInnis, a former Defense Intelligence Agency Iran expert and scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, told me Tuesday. "They don't like to admit the Russians are doing this right now." He added, "The Iranian leadership will have to spin this in a way that doesn't look like the country is inviting foreign forces on its soil, which it has not had since 1979."

Kerry should exploit this. He could deliver a speech at the U.N. General Assembly congratulating Iran on finally getting over its inordinate fear of imperialism and seeing the value of a great power's military generosity. The State Department could produce Farsi materials on the 19th-century treaties of Gulistan and Turmenchay, in which the Russian empire humiliated the Persians.

This public diplomacy should also be backed up with a campaign of leaks and misinformation about current U.S. diplomacy with Russia. As anyone who has ever read through the Twitter feed of Iran's supreme leader knows, the regime is a sucker for a good conspiracy theory. U.S. diplomats should try to get the Iranians to believe that Russia at any moment could cut a separate deal with Washington. It's not so far-fetched. As I reported in June, the Russians have a side deal in Syria with Israel.

The best news about all of this is that Kerry really doesn't have to change much of his outward behavior. He can still try and try to get Russia to work with him on a political deal for Syria. Such a deal remains a long shot. But with a little luck, this charade could blow apart a burgeoning Iranian-Russian alliance and perhaps even turn the Iranian regime upon itself. It's no less crazy than Kerry's current plan to end the war in Syria.

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg View columnist.
Nicholas Boys Smith is the Director of Create Streets.

It is now six years since the Conservative Party published its policy green paper, Open Source Planning (which first proposed the concept of collaborative planning) and five years since the Localism Act 2011 created the concept and procedural reality of Neighbourhood Plans. A political century ago, back in May of this year, the Government proposed a new Neighbourhood Planning and Infrastructure Bill, among other things, to strengthen neighbourhood planning.

So its not a bad moment to ask: is Neighbourhood Planning working? And what could make it better? Is it delivering what the then Decentralisation Minister, Greg Clark, was aiming for  a substantial and lasting shift in power away from central government and towards local people. reform to make the planning system more democratic and more effective? Is it allowing communities, as was intended, to say where they think new houses, businesses and shops should go  and what they should look like?

Based on research to date, and Create Streets experience working with communities, admittedly mainly in London, the answer so far is yes but theres more work to do.

One thing is certain. Neighbourhood planning is finally taking off. The Government does not appear to have published any figures since the end of last year (why?) but by the end of 2015, over 1,700 communities, representing over 8 million people across the country were neighbourhood planning. 126 neighbourhood planning referendums had taken place with another four happening in January. Whatever way you cut it thats a success for community engagement and participation (what is the Big Society called now?) which, most research tells us, is correlated with wellbeing and community cohesion.

So far, so good. However, look a little more closely and a few wrinkles emerge.

Neighbourhood Planning first started to get somewhere in smaller communities where parish and town councils are formally able to initiate the process. About 80 per cent of neighbourhood plans have been started by parish or town councils according to one study. For example, people living and working in the Upper Eden valley area in Cumbria were the first in the country to take to the polls and vote on a neighbourhood plan produced by local people for local people. This was approved in March 2013. This was a pattern that was very much repeated in the early years with other early neighbourhood plans including Thames in Oxfordshire.

However, it has proved harder to get neighbourhood planning going in larger towns and cities. That may be because urban communities can be more transient and less integrated with fewer ties to a specific place. Its certainly because towns and cities have fewer civil parishes.

Of the first 130 plans approved only 12 came from non-parished areas. Its only since the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 outside London and the Local Government Act 2007 within London that residents in unparished areas have had the right to demand a new parish. The first civic parish in London since 1965 only came into being, in Queens Park, in May 2012. Although there are others in the offing, such as at Bankside or the Isle of Dogs, there is no sign that urban Parish councils will become widespread any time soon.

The problem is that absent parish boundaries and parish councils, even getting to the start line is very complex and time-consuming. You need to define and create both a Neighbourhood Area and a Neighbourhood Forum. Not needing to adhere to traditional ward boundaries these can be difficult to set. And Local Authorities need to approve them.

To put it kindly, many local authorities have struggled to prioritise this. To put it less kindly, some have seemed to delight in using slow turnarounds and procedural minutiae to stall and discourage the entire process. As neighbourhood plans are such a nascent tool, it is not difficult to see why increasingly understaffed and overworked planning officials may choose to devote less rather than more time to something whose purpose and value has not always been obvious to them. However, several neighbourhood planners we know feel that they have been the victim of protracted passive aggression.

As one very impressive and self-confident neighbourhood planner said to us the other day:

We are taking away their power arent we? Of course theyd like us to go away.

To further complicate things Neighbourhood Areas can span across two or even more boroughs, and the process requires fitting in with two (or more) different sets of processes.

The mooted Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood Neighbourhood Forum is located across five boroughs and six wards. Some forums (for example the St Quintin and Woodlands Neighbourhood Forum) have even been rejected by one borough and approved by another.

However the outlook for urban neighbourhood planners is slowly improving. From early on the government placed a particular focus on helping communities in less prosperous, usually urban, areas develop neighbourhood plans. That seems to have worked. By the end of 2015 about 18 per cent of completed plans were in poorer areas. More widely, urban community groups are starting to learn from each other how create neighbourhood forums and areas and an eco-system of smaller consultants who can support them are learning how to do so. (A declaration of interest: that lists includes Create Streets which I run).

More and more neighbourhood plans in urban areas are starting and, with a lag, completing. In London for example there are now five completed Neighbourhood Plans: Norland, Fortune Green & West Hampstead, Sudbury Town, St Quintin & Woodlands and Kentish Town. There are many more underway. In total 96 Neighbourhood Areas have either been set or applied for designation in London. A similar pattern is building up, perhaps more slowly, in some other cities.

So neighbourhood planning is now happening. But that brings us to real question: is it working? Are neighbourhood plans allowing communities, to go back to the original intent, to say where they think new houses, businesses and shops should go  and what they should look like?

The critics of neighbourhood planning come from two directions. Some housebuilders contend that neighbourhood plans are merely NIMBYist fronts fighting a rear-guard action against desperately needed new houses. By contrast some, more often on the left, have seen neighbourhood planning as a spray on fig leaf of meaningless community influence while real powers were stripped from local planners and strategic planning was deconstructed. Self-evidently both these positions cannot be entirely true. And a look at the data is reassuring.

A DCLG study into early neighbourhood plans found a ten per cent increase in the number of houses being planned compared to the councils local plan. The number of plans studied was quite modest but certainly many plans are focusing on new housing. The Winsford Neighbourhood Plan identifies room for 3,362 new homes, 200 more than in the emerging Cheshire West and Chester Local Plan.

There are also many examples of community-planning which even the most cynical would be hard-pressed to dismiss as superficial. One theme that comes through strongly is a popular emphasis on a strong sense of place, on co-housing, self-build, brownfield, local builders and building on smaller sites rather than housing estate style developments from volume housebuilders. For example neighbourhood plans in Slaugham, Petersfield, Frome, Arundel and Allendale all emphasised this in different ways  often throwing in rigorous criticism of what was built be volume housebuilders along the way.

This seems pretty hopeful. However, a review of what neighbourhood planners themselves think leads to less sanguine conclusions. A study of 120 neighbourhood forums and plans completed in 2014 by Locality and the University of Reading was not reassuring. Amongst its key findings were that many participants feel oversold on the plenipotentiary powers of neighbourhood planning and that participants do not see neighbourhood plans as radically changing the culture of planning system.

Further emerging research into these communities by one of the studys authors, Matthew Wargent at the University of Sheffield, backs this up. It finds that;

participants do not see neighbourhood plans as radically changing the culture of planning system; and that

planning system; and that participants at the heart of planning forums reported episodic empowerment and increased community capacity, but this was often curtailed by contact with experts.

More positively however, participation has increased communication between communities and planning authorities. I fear that these rather negative findings match our own experience that individuals who have helped lead neighbourhood planning exercises are often worn down by the complexity, bureaucratic enmity and frustration of it all. They often do not feel that they have had the impact they expected or wished. Perhaps this reflects the key constraints that have been put around the process. Neighbourhood Plans have to be in general conformity with the strategic policies of the Local Plan, they cannot promote less development than it and they have to have regard to national policies. This is particularly problematic in areas without a clear five year supply leading to several developers attempting to judicially review neighbourhood plans.



The frustration however also reflects neighbourhood plans not using the right tools or being sufficiently smart or ambitious about what they can do. Some new research is revealing that local authorities advice sometimes incorrectly constraints what residents feel they are able to do. We are aware of one example where a neighbourhood forum was told (almost certainly incorrectly) that it could not insist on building height limits.

One senior planning inspector very supportive of neighbourhood planning (yes they do exist) expressed his frustration to us in a meeting a few months ago:

Half of them are barely worth writing. They just parrot the local authoritys plans. I am giving up examining them it is so pointless.

How we can make for more effective plans? Some of the answer lies at the local level. The most powerful and effective neighbourhood plans have a very strong sense of place, of what will get built and where. The two most powerful, yet insufficiently used, tools in the Neighbourhood Planning armoury are allocating sites for development and setting out a clear and predictable Design Code for what that development should be and look like.

In a Neighbourhood Plan communities can allocate sites for development. But only about half do. This means identifying land in their Neighbourhood Area for future development and to what purpose (residential, commercial, business, leisure or, normally best of all, a mix), as well as safeguarding land the community wants protected (such as green open space). It means that communities are more likely to protect areas they want to see remain the same, by constructively suggesting alternative areas to be developed. When this is done it has real teeth as at least three housebuilders have discovered to their cost when they challenged neighbourhood plan allocation decisions in the courts  and lost.

One excellent example is the Thame Neighbourhood Plan which allocated 770 new homes to six sites dispersed around the town as opposed to the single site the local authority had been proposing. More plans should allocate specific land for development.

A Design Code is a set of illustrated design rules and requirements which instruct and may advise on the physical development of a site or area. The graphic and written components of the code can be detailed and precise, and build upon a design vision for a site or area. This is potentially a powerful tool for the community to have an input into what kinds of buildings and typologies they want to see built in their local area. Absent this, even Neighbourhood Plans which are very explicit about their desire for new development to fit in with their neighbourhood are very frustrated by the inability to influence what actually gets built. We are aware of one proposed development (on council-owned land) in London where some local residents feel their neighbourhood plans demands for harmonious developments are being all but ignored by both the local council and the not-for- profit developer.

Design Codes are not a panacea but they can help prevent this. They have been associated in the UK and the US with a greater sense of place, with more development, with more local support for development and with greater value. We recently set out some detail on how communities can maximise their impact within the current framework  Love thy Neighbourhood. To the best of our knowledge no completed Neighbourhood Plan has used a design code though several are now working on one. More should start.

But communities cannot do it all themselves. Some of the answer to making more effective plans lies at the statutory level. Neighbourhood Forums and Plans should be simpler to create and manage  above all in urban areas. Where necessary they should be better funded and the use of techniques, such as design codes, which can maximise local support for new housing and speed and certainty of what will receive planning permission, should be encouraged

Unfortunately influential individuals within the bodies meant to be supporting neighbourhood planning are actively opposed to their use. In private they admit to favouring architectural innovation over maximising community support for new housing. This sort of nonsense needs to stop. We set out a range of ideas for how to give Neighbourhood Plans more teeth in the non-partisan Direct Planning Bill which we helped draft with Lord Lexden in 2015.

So Neighbourhood Plans are happening. And they can have real impact. But that does not mean that they are always worth the candle. By being ambitious, by allocating sites, by defining with certainty what development is, and is not, acceptable communities can maximise their chance of both supporting development but guarding their (very legitimate) sense of place.

The new Government, too, should continue to promote and encourage Neighbourhood Planning. The Direct Planning Revolution is a necessary step in meeting the British housing need and in shifting the question from the procedural how do we build more homes to the fundamental how do we make new homes more popular.
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Presently, the Zika virus has experienced a new trend - the spread of the virus from one state to another. Recently a Texas resident was found to be infected with the Zika virus.

Notably, the cause of Zika virus has been due to travel to Texas, according to Texas Department of State Health Services.

Although there has been no specific evidence about the spreading of the virus, evidence shows that other states are also vulnerable to spreading of the virus, reported Daily Record.

"This is the first Texas case to be linked to travel within the continental United States. The case will be classified as 'travel-associated' and is being investigated for more details," the department said.

The resident of El Passo tested himself after becoming ill. The health officials of Texas linked the case to Miami after examining the dates of travel and the symptoms. This is Texas first reported case of Zika Virus infection.

Notably, the Zika Virus is usually spread by the bite of mosquitoes. It can also be passed genetically from pregnant mothers to newborn babies, and through sexual contact and blood transfusions.

The mosquitoes, which spread the Zika are known as Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, both of which are present in the states of Texas and Florida.

Infectious-disease expert Peter Hotez notes that travelers infected with Zika have been returning to Texas for months.

"It's probably not a huge story, given that on any particular day there may be many people from Zika-endemic areas of Central America coming into El Paso," said Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Houston's Baylor College of Medicine.

Previously, Texas has reported more than 100 cases of Zika associated with travel to areas with the active transmission. There haven't been any reported cases of Zika transmitted by mosquitoes in Texas.

Thus, it seems that the spread of Zika Virus due to travel is the first case in Texas and Florida.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
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A fatal outbreak of yellow fever in Congo might spread to Europe and America in the absence of a newly launched emergency vaccination, health officials mentioned on Wednesday.

The outbreak, which has already killed more than 500 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is the biggest reported one in more than 30 years, reported New York Daily News.

Notably, there is no known cure for this mosquito-spread virus of yellow fever. Once infected, patients suffer from fever, along with muscle pain for a few days. The fatal stage includes symptoms like possible bleeding from the eyes, ears, and nose, jaundice and organ failure.

In order to combat the epidemic, aid groups will be targeting 10.5 million people in the next 10 days, starting with Congo's capital Kinhasa, the epicenter of the outbreak. However, due to insufficient supply of vaccines, the focus groups have been forced to use one - fifth of the standard dose, which will be effective for only a year.

"Protecting as many people as possible is at the heart of this strategy. With a limited supply, we need to use these vaccines very carefully," said William Perea, WHO's Coordinator for the Control of Epidemic Diseases Unit.

Save The Children, which is sending a rapid reaction unit to support vaccinations in Congo, warned the epidemic could soon spread to the Americas, Asia and Europe and other cities in Africa.

"There is no known cure for yellow fever and it could go global," said Heather Kerr, Save the Children's country director for Congo.

The outbreak has already spread to China, as it has been carried by workers returning from Angola. However, WHO Spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic is confident that the outbreak can be contained.

"The WHO Emergency Committee will reconvene in coming weeks [and] will re-evaluate the situation but we think that the outbreak is manageable if we can protect enough people with the vaccine," he told reporters in Geneva, on Tuesday.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Benin was an important empire in the history of Nigeria because it rose to international fame for its artworks (Benin Bronze) which were exported to different parts of Europe and the rest of the world. It was also the first Nigerian territory that rivaled any contemporary European power in terms of governance and function.

Benin Bronze figures which served as royal ornaments are the indigenous cultural art of the Benin people in Edo State, Nigeria, dating back to as far as the 13th, 15th & 16th centuries. Bronze casting in Edo was established in the 14th century by Oba Oguola. It was referred to as Court Art hence Court Art of Benin because it was only commissioned and used for royal affairs, though technically speaking, they are all brass.

While producing their works, the Benin craftsmen paid more attention to the Oba, his royal apparel, his slaves, his warriors and the numerous ceremonies held in the Obas palace.

See Also: 5 Cultural Marvels By Africans That Other People Get Credit For

Even though the Oba could give his subjects gifts of bronze, the metal was considered to be precious and therefore, could only be possed by the Oba (King) who had some super talented men responsible for producing bronze, wood, and ivory works as bronze smiths, wood and ivory carvers. The bronze-smiths were allowed to manufacture their works only for the Oba and were forbidden from either producing their art pieces for anyone outside the palace or trading it. Going contrary to this attracted a death penalty. However, in 1914, Oba Eweka II lifted the ban on the sale of bronze artworks to members of the public.

The ancient bronze casters of Benin served an important capacity for the royalty. They could be described as the royal photographers and historians who documented important images and events for the Oba of Benin. Through bronze casting, the casters could also relay/share coded messages to the Oba.

According to Benin oral tradition, the Kings were the center force in Benin Artworks and therefore, determined the kind of figures to be produced by the craftsmen. Sculptures like the ceremonial stools, terracotta heads, and swords were common in the early dynasty of kings called Ogisos, who possibly ruled before the 14th century, but in the dispensation of Oranmiyan, he introduced horses to Benin which is presented in the Benin Art as a warrior on a horseback. Figures of these horse warriors were kept on ancestral altars.

Upon their arrival in Benin City, the British forces were shocked to find large quantities of cast brass objects and because the technological sophistication and naturalness of these artworks were contrary to the numerous 19th-century Western suppositions about Africa, the bronze works were wrongly believed to have been brought into Benin by the Portuguese. This probably emanates from the fact that the first white people who came to Benin were the Portuguese missionaries who under the direction of Prince Henry the Navigator, undertook the exploration of West African coast in the 15th century.

It is also a historical fact that Benin was one of the first missionary outposts in West Africa when the European commerce kicked off and until about 1530, the Portuguese were the only Europeans that dominated West Africa as a whole. Thus, some of the Benin signature head bronze works were representations of the Portuguese sailors as a result of their activities and early contact with the people of Benin and also because they were buying the Benin Art.

Unfortunately, the legendary Benin Bronze figures and sculptures were forcefully taken by the western imperialists and transported to Europe after an austere expedition during the colonial era, in 1897 to be precise. Brass, ivory and wooden objects numbering about three thousand were moved to the Western world, including over 1,000 brass plaques appropriated from the Obas palace. It is recorded that while a huge number of these art pieces were shipped off; some were sold in the 1950s & 60s and even till date are displayed in British Museums.

The Benin Bronze figures are a significant cultural heritage in Nigeria. For instance, Nigeria used original mask head of the Queen Mother, Idia, during World Festival of Arts and Culture, FESTAC, in 1977.

In 2016, black Cambridge students demanded that the school authorities sent a bronze cockerel belonging to the ancient Benin empire back to the rightful owners.
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Demystifying Jazz Jennings Real Name, Boyfriend & Family Of One The Youngest Transgenders Jazz Jennings is an unusual personality who became famous as a transgender activist and was recorded as the youngest documented public figure to be seen as transgender. She is also a YouTube personality and spokesmodel for brands, her fans, and other transgenders. She fought for acceptance in her high school with her super supportive family for over ...

Inside Fred Armisens Life  Ethnicity, Romantic Relationships and Gay Rumors Fred Armisen is an award-winning American comedian, he is also a writer, an actor as well as a musician. He was a cast member of the legendary comedy show, Saturday Night Live for 13 years and also one of the brains behind the successful satirical show Portlandia. Find out more about this incredibly talented guy ...

Ed and Lorraine Warren Biography: Cases, Kids, and Family Life Have you ever woken up with fear you could not explain, or felt a strange presence that made the hair at your nape rise or even experienced strange occurrences around you? Well, these were some of the promptings that made the well-known paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren delve into trying to explain the ideas ...

Truth About Tony Romos Wife, Kids and Life Since His NFL Retirement Tony Romo grew from the field as a quarterback to the screens as an American Football Analyst. He was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in the richest football league in the world (NFL) before retiring. As a junior, he was honored as an All-Ohio Conference Member, an Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and ...

Who is Brittany Venti, The Controversial Game Streamer and YouTuber? In recent times, many people live stream themselves playing video games. This has become a popular pastime on the internet and many highly skilled gamers have become internet celebrities through this means. However, some of them rather than becoming renowned for their gaming skills and great commentary, have become controversial and infamous. A good example ...

Rob Dyrdeks Family: His Kids And Relationship With Wife Bryiana Noelle Flores A multi-talented star and an elite pro skateboarder, Rob Dyrdeks success story began at a remarkably young age. Yet another proof that schooling doesnt always correlate with success, Rob has established himself not just as a phenomenal sportsman but also as a successful entrepreneur. Besides perfecting his skill as a natural talent on the board, ...

xChocobars  Biography and Everything You Should Know About Her Having distinguished herself and recorded massive successes in an industry notably dominated by men, it is very safe to say that Xchocobars deserves all the attention and cash she makes from her career. A household name on Twitch (a smart live streaming video platform), the online-gamer is popularly known for streaming classic games such as Stardew ...

Everything To Know About Mary Padian, Her Boyfriend and Net Worth Mary Padian is a famous American television reality personality best known for her involvements on the Reality show Storage Wars. She also has her own shop called Mary finds where she displays her antique collections. Since her childhood, Padian has been a creative learner. At the time, she used to create new items out of reusable ones and ...

Betsy Woodruffs Family Life: Is She Married or Related To Bob Woodruff? An old name in the world of journalism, Betsy Woodruff has warmed her way into the hearts of many with her impressive talents. Through hard work, Woodruff has carved a niche for herself in a very competitive field. Betsy has strong family and work values and is also an advocate for equal opportunities for everyone ...

Matpat (Matthew Patrick)  Wife, Height & Net Worth As far as internet business is concerned, Matpat remains one of the most dynamic and seasoned figures. He boasts a wealth of experience that has helped him in growing his business from one level of greatness to another. Like most successful people, MatPat started out small but today, he makes millions of dollars from his ...

Facts About Ricegum  His Girlfriend, Real Name & Net Worth Ricegum is an online gamer and YouTube sensation who ditched college; took advantage of the digital era, and made a name for himself on the internet. Though he began as a gaming YouTuber, Ricegum soon gained recognition as a controversial internet star following his many diss tracks. Here is everything you need to know about the youngster ...

Joy Taylor Once Married MLBs Richard Giannotti  Inside Look At Her Love Life and Family The erosion of the sexist idea that women have no business in sports broadcasting created a host of women celebrities who attained fame outside of modeling and acting. One of them, Joy Taylor, a radio personality and TV host for Fox Sports 1, has been in the industry since 2009, becoming one of the most ...

What To Know About Conan OBriens Wife, Kids & Family Today The name Conan OBrien is one that jumps right at you almost immediately you start talking about the most popular television hosts in the USA and this is no surprise because the man behind that name has risen to become one of the most admired men in the business. Known for hosting the late-night talk ...

David Letterman  Net Worth, Wife & Son In all of American, one man whose face has been seen frequently by late night TV talk show lovers is none but David Letterman. The comedian and TV show veteran has been hosting late night talk shows for more than three decades. His Late Night with David Letterman show began on February 1st, 1982 aired ...

Demystifying Sssniperwolfs Family Background And The Boyfriends Shes Had Since she launched her eponymously named channel in 2013, Sssniperwolf has been on the rise when it comes to video game influencers. She is one of the biggest names in the online gaming subgenre of YouTube videos. Real name Lia Shelesh, she started with Call of Duty: Black Ops II but has diversified with other ...

Lester Holt  Wife, Family & Net Worth Lester Holt is a multiple award-winning journalist, newscaster, reporter, and actor who has worked for notable media houses like WCBS TV, CBS, MSNBC and among others. His remarkable feat in journalism has endeared him to the hearts of many and earned him some awards and recognitions. Read on to get acquainted with his biography, ethnicity, ...

What Is Louis C.K. Doing Now, Where Are His Family And How Much Is His Net Worth? It is not easy to make it in comedy. It takes more than a funny bone and the ability to elicit a few giggles from a listening audience. For all the complexities that go into making a successful career in comedy, Louis C.K, the Washington D.C-born comedian, did it. For years, he was at the ...

The Progression of Hoda Kotbs Career, Her Ancestry and Family Life Hoda Kotb gained fame as a television host and news anchor for NBC. She anchors the shows signature show Today, and it has been an excellent vehicle for her skills in front of a camera. Kotb has won several awards, including Daytime Emmys and Peabody Awards. Simply put, she is one of the most successful ...

Jerry Seinfelds Family: All About The Amazing Comedians Wife and Kids Apparently one of the highly important entertainers in America, Jerry Seinfeld is a man of many talents. A very funny man, he is considered to be one of the most successful comedians in the USA who has been in the business as a professional rib-cracker for more than 40 years. As an actor, he has ...

The Rigors Of Sarah Silvermans Rise To Prominence And Rundown Of The Men She Has Dated A comedian, writer, and actress, Sarah Silvermans art and craft is as unique as you would ever find. Her poignant use of comedy to discuss social issues such as race, sexism, politics, and religion has gained her an impressive following. As unorthodox as her style is, so is her life experiences. She previously suffered from epiglottitis ...

Who Is Hannibal Buress, Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend & Why Was He Arrested? Making people laugh when they are tense or not in the mood is a tough order and to ply the trade, it must indeed take some guts and expertise, this is what the humor maker, Hannibal Buress has been able to achieve and sustain after his inital teething process. The African-American is a screen writer, stand-up ...

The Success of John Mulaneys Career Efforts Since His Work On Saturday Night Live and Facts About His Wife John Mulaney had been working as a professional comedian for years before Saturday Night Live changed his status for life and like many who are now his fans, you probably did not know of him then. However, that changed when he joined the sketch comedy show in 2008. Since then, he has been one of ...

Jeff Dunham  Wife, Children and Net Worth Ventriloquism is a very subtle method of making an inanimate object (like a puppet, doll or dummy) appear to be saying words which are actually coming from the person (holding the inanimate object). In effect, the individual throws his/her voice to the puppet and can even appear to be having a conversation with it. Not ...

Ellen DeGeneres  Net Worth, Wife  Portia de Rossi & Parents Ellen DeGeneres is an American female standup comedian who has proven that whatever a man can do, a woman can also do. Since her journey as a standup comedian started in 1981, she has held swirl as one of the finest comedians America and the world at large has seen. She is often referred to ...

Revisiting Joan Rivers Death  The Daughter, Husband & Net Worth She Left Behind Joan Rivers was a renowned American comedian, TV host, writer, and actress. Her brand of comedy consisted of scathing one-liners and no individual or topic is spared. She hosted her own talk shows in the 80s and 90s and was a pioneer for women in stand up comedy. She was the first woman to host a late night ...

The Struggles of Margaret Chos Childhood, How It Influenced Her Career Growth and Love Life Margaret Cho is best described as a comic star who knows how to maneuver everything related to life into a rib-cracking joke. She is also known to criticize every social and political problem, especially those involving race and sexuality. Apart from her talents as a comic actress, she does amazingly well as a singer and ...

Where Is Eric Bolling Today? Who Is His Son & What Is His Net Worth? Eric Bolling who was once a notable figure on Fox News, is an American TV personality, an author, and versatile Journalist. As a political and financial analyst/commentator, he anchored discussions bothering on finance for Fox Business Channel. Here is everything there is to know about his career, family, and allegations that led to his exit ...

Who Is Chelsea Handler and Does She Have A Husband or Boyfriend? Chelsea Handler is one of Americas top female comedians. She is also an actress, writer, television host, producer, and activist. She is known to be very outspoken even with things that are very personal. In separate interviews with The New York Times, Handler revealed that she had an abortion twice when she was 16. She has authored five books ...

How Did Laura Lee Achieve Fame, How Much is She Worth and Who is Her Husband? Laura Lee is a popular American YouTuber, make-up artist and beauty blogger. From posting videos of her makeup routines on Instagram, Lee has transformed into a beauty influencer and a YouTube sensation. Today, her YouTube Channel has over 630 million views and 4.5 million subscribers. Asides having millions of followers across all social media platforms, ...

Madison Gesiotto Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Measurements Madison Gesiotto is no ordinary woman; although she excelled in quite a number of pageants and competitions while she was in school, it is her views on politics and issues in America that has made her name known to most people. She possesses beauty and intelligence in a seemingly equal measure and has been able ...

Who Is Lil Tay? Parents, Brother, Sister, Age, Net Worth, Ethnicity Child stardom is nothing new in the entertainment world. With the advent of social media, we have seen more stars made from the internet than ever before, and Lil Tay is one of them. Her uploaded rap videos trademark is cursing, swearing, cash-throwing, and use of obscene languages. Her fame went wild after she dropped ...

What To Know About Tig Notaros Wife, Kids and Family Today Tig Notaro is an American stand-up comic star, writer, actress, and radio analyst. Since she started her career in 2001, she has become one of Americas best comedians, particularly when it comes to observational comedy. One prominent aspect of her routine involves her family, which includes a wife and two children. Interestingly, Tig Notaro is part ...

Who Is Chantel Jeffries? What To Know About Her Age, Ethnicity & Net Worth Chantel Jeffries is a lady of many talents. Beyond being celebrated as a DJ, she has fared well as a model, an actress, musician, and as an artist. She first rose to fame on Instagram where she has a large following. However, in recent times, she has hit the spotlight for her rumored relationships with some ...

Is Ellen DeGeneres Married, Who Is The Brother  Vance DeGeneres and Family Members? Ellen DeGeneres is one of a kind celebrity in todays world as she has used her wealth for the greater good for many people. She has served a host of famous awards shows like the Grammy, Primetime Emmy and Academy Awards. Moreso, she is probably one of the most decorated entertainment personalities around the world and ...

Carli Bybel Bio  Height, Boyfriend & Net Worth Video blogging is now on the rise and YouTube is the place where most of it happens. If you are a lady who cares about her looks or a guy who likes to help his woman out with her looks, then one person whose name rings a bell when it comes to giving beauty tips ...

Who Is Lexy Panterra? What To Know About Her Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth Lexy Panterra is one of the YouTube personalities whose breakout came through the Twerk dance videos she posted on her social media handles and YouTube which has so far generated over 13 million views for her. From there on, she created her LexTwerkOut workout program in 2014. She is sure very talented as she as moved ...

Who Is AnneMunition? What Is Her Ethnicity & Does She Have A Girlfriend or Boyfriend? AnneMunition is a professional gamer and content creator of American origin. She is one of the most sought-after streamers on Twitch  a popular online platform for watching and streaming videos, especially video games. AnneMunition has almost half a million followers on Twitch and her channel has accumulated at least 13 million views. Her favorite games ...

Norm MacDonald  Former Wife, Son & Net Worth Recently, 59-year-old former Saturday Night Live stand-up comic Norm MacDonald caused a not-so-funny stir when he expressed his personal opinion about the #MeToo movement speaking in defense of Louis CK and Roseanne Barr. Following the backlash of his actions, he is diligently doing damage control for his questionable opinion by posting a public apology on ...

Inside Iliza Shlesingers Life With Husband and How Much She is Worth Now Witty, spontaneous, and truly humorous, Iliza Shlesinger is an American comedian who is clearly proving that the stereotypical claim that women are not really funny is not only incredibly wrong but completely outrageous. Having been in the game for more than 10 years, Shlesinger has grown bigger with each step, stunning fans with her incredible ...

Who Is Nessa Diab? Details of her Parents, Ethnicity & Relationship With Colin Kaepernick Nessa Diab has gained more fame as the girlfriend of different footballers than in her career. She is currently with the popular National Football League (NFL) player, Colin Kaepernick, and has stood by his side during his most trying times. Also known for her mononym, Nessa, she recently engaged in a tweet battle with the ...

Samantha Bee  Inside the Life of Full Frontal Comedian and Presenter We have over the decades seen various brands of humor and personalities who have walked the ropes. One of the formidable forces in the world of comedy is no other than the iconic Samantha Bee of the Daily Show who now runs her own television show on TBS channel. She is a Canadian-American political commentator, ...

What Happened To Jessica Williamss Boyfriend And Which Are Her Best Works? Jessica Williams is a woman who has a lot of feathers in her cap  and keeps acquiring more. The former senior political correspondent of the comic Daily Show, who is also a comedian and actress whose recent movie appearance include starring as a playwright just recovering from a recent split with her boyfriend, Damon, and ...

Who is Nicole Byer? Here are 5 Facts You Need To Know About The Comedian Nicole Byer, an American comedian, actress, and writer, made a name for herself after she played supporting roles on MTVs prank show Ladylike and the reality show Girl Code. The latter was a series that featured comedians who analyzed in minute details, all the issues that young women deal with daily, from period to dating, to weird friendship dynamics and questions about sex. Currently, ...

A Closer Look At Bart Kwans Ethnicity, Height & Personal Life Bart Kwan is one of few Asians who is known for being successful in the comic industry at an international level. His fame broke out after the YouTube channel which he created with his close pal Joe Jo garnered up massive followings. The talented duo has been running the channel since 2007 and their success ...

Heres How VanossGaming Achieved Fame Online, His Worth and Other Facts About The Gamer For many years, the decision to drop out of college to pursue an online career was considered to be foolish and self-destructive by conventional wisdom. It was no different when Evan Fong, popularly known as VanossGaming, dropped out of college to pursue a YouTube career. However, that radical move paid off, and he stands shoulder to ...

Desi Perkins  Ethnicity, Net Worth & Husband YouTube is littered with videos of makeup tutorials by different people but if you are interested in learning how to do your makeup like a pro, there is just one person on that platform who you must follow. She is none other than Desi Perkins! She is a popular make-up artist, Instagram star, and vlogger. Desi, ...

The Phases of Casey Neistats Pursuits and His Love Story With Candice Pool YouTuber, vlogger, filmmaker, and creator extraordinaire; these are just a few hats that Casey Neistat wears and the story of how he got here is incredible. A native of Connecticut, Neistat started out by making refreshingly-authentic short films and videos that featured content that was based on everyday life and called attention to serious issues. He ...

Connor Franta  Inside The Life of American YouTuber YouTube has produced a lot of young celebrities in modern times and Connor Franta happens to be one of them. Apart from being a YouTuber, the young American is also an entrepreneur, entertainer, and writer. His journey to fame began almost a decade ago when he started a self-named YouTube channel where he uploads content ranging ...

Rhett and Link  Bio, Who are Their Wives, Net Worth and Family Facts Rhett and Link refer to an American comedy duo who are very popular on YouTube. They are known for their comic songs, viral commercials, skits and the daily show, Good Mythical Morning. Good Mythical Morning is the most watched daily show online, averaging 100 million views in a month. The show has featured guests such ...

A Walk Through The Maze of Ryan Higas Career Pursuits And Relationship With Arden Cho Ryan Higa is not only celebrated as a YouTube star, but he is also famed for appearing on television screens as an actor and comedian. Nigahiga, his Youtube channel, has gathered over 20 million subscribers and billions of views with his different comic acts, short films, and music videos uploads. With the rise in his career, ...

What to Know About The Shows That Made Craig Ferguson a Star and His Family Ties Rising to the top of your profession can sometimes be a hard and difficult process. It requires days and nights of working consistently hard to be better than what you were yesterday. It requires not giving up when all of your experiences seem to be pushing you to quit. It is because of these challenges ...

David Dobrik Married Liza Koshy for One Month  Inside His Family and Relationships David Dobrik is a YouTube sensation who has garnered fame not just for his vlogs but his love life too. Given his career as a YouTuber, his channel is one place where he shares his romantic escapades. With a cute boyish look like his, this Slovakian young man is definitely a good catch, and not ...

Merrell Twins Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Boyfriend One of the beautiful things about modern life is social media. As rudimentary as it might seem, it could turn out to be the greatest thing that would be invented in the next 50 years because of its impact on human life. Very few tools have revolutionized human behavior and culture as much as social ...

Who Is Bunny Meyer, Is She Married & What Is Her Net Worth? Bunny Meyer is a YouTube celebrity who has amassed over 8.8 million subscribers with 1.5 million viewers on her channel. She is popularly known as Grav3yardgirl and is one of the highest-paid YouTubers in the world. She initially started out as a fashion designer and later chose the path of a YouTuber. Grav3yardgirl has used her knowledge on fashion, makeup, ...

Ninja  Inside The Life of The American YouTuber and Internet Personality Ninja is a talented video game player known for his mastery of Fortnite and other seemingly difficult games he plays with ease. The video gamer made a career out of what is ordinarily the hobby of many people and has since then amassed a huge online following. Find out about him here, including the controversies that ...

What Is Eva Gutowskis True Sexuality and How Did She Rise So Fast As an Influencer? Ever since Eva Gutowski joined YouTube in 2011, it has been an interesting journey for her, moving from one milestone to the other. Backed by an army of young women and teenage girl fans known as Evanators, she has risen to become one of the most-talked-about personalities in the digital stratosphere. She has also leveraged ...

Emma Chamberlain Biography  Age, Height & Net Worth Before now, people in the entertainment industry could only achieve popularity after many years of dedication and hard work but since social media came into the scene, massive success and overnight popularity became possible. That is the story of Emma Chamberlain who encountered fame as a fifteen-year-old. Emma is one of the many young people who became ...

Anna Akana  Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth There is a new crop of YouTubers known by their different contents with a very strong uniqueness that stands every one of them out, some upload video games, some fashion while some others have comedy video contents to showcase on their channels. Anna Akana has used her platform to showcase her comedy contents to the ...

Revealing Truths About Lilly Singhs Ethnic Background, Family and Her Relationship With Yousef Erakat Lilly Singh is an Indian-Canadian YouTube personality, actress, and comedian also known as Superwoman. She kicked off her YouTube career in 2010 with the launch of her channel IISuperwomanII and followed it up with a vlog channel in 2011. This paved the way for her fame and success which led to a world tour. The ...

Who Is Andrea Constand, Is She Married and What Is Her Connection With Bill Cosby? Many people got sexually molested but could not voice out due to the stigma victims suffer and what will become of them thereafter. Very few of the victims danm every consequence to seek justice and bring the perpetrator to the book, like Andrea Constand. She never got any media buzz, not until her friend cum molester; ...

Who Is Lazarbeam (Lannan Eacott)? Here Are Facts You Need To Know Lannan Eacott became a person of interest after his YouTube channel, LazarBeam pulled him to the limelight. Initially, he started with uploads of Madden Challenge videos before deciding to build his own channel in January 2015. Within the space of three years, his YouTube channel had gathered over 7 million loyal subscribers. Today, he has not ...

Puzzling Facts About Wengies YouTube Success and More About Her Fiance Among the many YouTubers who have succeeded in winning the hearts of millions of people is Wengie. She is a Chinese-Australian YouTube personality, vlogger, singer, and voice actress. Wengie is famous for a lot of things, from her simple life hacks, DIYs, craft ideas to fun experiments, tricks and pranks. Her content portfolio also includes hair tutorials, diet & fitness tips, lookbooks, ...

Is Jeffree Star A Billionaire and How Much Does He Make On YouTube? If looks can be deceptive then theres no other person who proves this maxim better than Jeffree Star. A quick look at Stars pictures would likely leave you wondering whether or not to tag him a male or female. But who says being controversial has to be a curse? For Star, his looks have caught ...

The Place of Rosanna Pansinos Career Hats In Her Rise To Fame and Facts About Her Personal Life There are a few phrases that could summarize Rosanna Pansinos rise to fame. None of them can do it better than the famous axiom, no knowledge is lost. Her popularity YouTube comes out of her foray into other professions, specifically acting. Although acting now occupies one of the major professional hats in Rosannas resume, it was ...

Muselk (Elliott Watkins) Biography  Age, Girlfriend and Net Worth The new and best in-thing in terms of career is video gaming and we have over time seen young men and women make massive income from an activity that was purportedly designed to serve as a hobby or a relaxation activity. One of such individuals is the Australian-born YouTube Celebrity and Twitch streamer, Muselk, whose ...

PopularMMOs Biography: 5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know We have over the years seen social media millionaires, especially on the YouTube social platform. These celebrities cum millionaires have made names for themselves after carving out niches on the internet, and a typical example of one of such exciting media personality on the YouTube is American Minecraft gamer and YouTube star, PopularMMOs whose channel ...

Jason Nash Once Married Marney Hochman  What To Know About His Ex-Wife and Kids The now-defunct video-sharing app Vine was the path that led Jason Nash to fame. With it, he built an audience of over two million followers, which he parlayed into a significant YouTube career. That move has seen him become one of the most popular personalities on the internet, with the cash income to go with ...

Where Does Dantdm Live? What Do We Know About His Net Worth, Wife and Brother? Most parents buy video games for their kids to occupy their time leisure, while other parents frown at their kids when they play video games. Despite the disparity, every parent would be proud of their child if he/she eventually turns a celebrity or millionaire through playing video games like Dantdm. Biography of Dantdm Dantdm was born Daniel ...

LaurDIY  Biography: 5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTuber LaurDIY is the YouTube channel of Lauren Riihimaki which she created on December 1, 2011, when she was still a college undergrad with the sole aim of giving Do It Yourself (DIY) as well as practical fashion and beauty tips to her followers. She has used the channel to establish herself as a YouTube personality ...

Lachlan Ross Power  Bio And Family Life Of Australian The YouTube Star It is amazing the varied sources of income that the internet has made possible in this day and age. Internet fame can get its holder a whole lot of monetary and social benefits, but it must be noted that it does not come easy or cheap. For those who desire fame, content is the sacrifice ...

Alfie Deyes  Bio and Net Worth: Everything You Need To Know Alfie Deyes is one internet personality you definitely would like to know about. He boasts of over 10 million subscribers on three of his YouTube channels and has three bestseller books to his name. He is probably the most renowned young personality on YouTube today and his vlogging empire continues to grow by the day. ...

Colleen Ballingers Love Story With Husband Erik Stocklin and How Much She Is Worth Now Colleen Ballinger is an American comedian and YouTuber who is a very funny, adventurous, and highly talented woman. She is also an actress, singer, and writer. Collen is widely known for her work on YouTube where she posts content on her channel, Miranda Sings. The comedian has gained many subscribers over the years and has ...

Who Are The Dude Perfect Members and How Much Are They Worth? Entertainment in the 21st century can be digested in many forms and with platforms like YouTube, the creators and purveyors of entertainment have been democratized. Today, one of the most popular platforms to exhibit ones creative talents is YouTube, even though there are other platforms like Twitter, Facebook, who suffer in comparison to YouTube because ...

Who Is Rudy Mancuso, What Is His Earning Power and What Do We Know About His Girlfriend? Rudy Mancuso started his internet journey on Vine. He would later transition to YouTube where he solidified his place among the internets most beloved comedic creators. He is now regarded as one of the renowned internet personalities in the world, with a presence in mainstream TV and film projects like Comedy Centrals Drunk History and ...

Vsauce (Michael Stevens) Biography and Net Worth: All You Need To Know The advent of YouTube and the internet as a whole revolutionized how human beings consume information. With each passing year, the percentage of learning that is done in a traditional classroom decrease as a seismic shift to internet-based learning happens in our education industry. From open courses online to YouTube classes and videos, there are ...

How did Jake Paul Make His YouTube Big Break and Who is His Wife? One of the most interesting Social Media personalities of the 21st century is the young and popular Jake Paul whose elder brother is the famed Vine star, Logan Paul. Jake has utilized the power of the internet to bring himself to the limelight with a channel named JakePaulProductions that has amassed up to six billion ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About Reaction Time (Tal Fishman)  The American YouTuber Before 2015, the leading meaning of reaction time was the amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus, until Tal Fishman started his channel, Reaction Time on YouTube and the dominant meaning changed. Today, a google search of Reaction Time would deliver Tal Fishmans videos and YouTube channel link with a few physics ...

Grace Helbig  Net Worth, Boyfriend and Family Life of The YouTuber Grace Helbig is an American internet personality, comedian, actress, and writer. She became popular due to her daily vlog series, DailyGrace, which ran on My Damn Channel from 2008 to 2013. Helbig is also popular for her own indie series on YouTube, ItsGrace, which she launched in 2014. Her vlogs which feature random stuff such as ...

Mark Wiens Bio  Ethnicity, Wife and Parents Food is a great way to connect with people. We all love to eat, if not for the pleasure of food, the satisfaction of quenching hunger, and the very process of providing and sharing that food is part of the strongest bonds that bind humanity together. Maybe it is our historical connection to food, where ...

Is Filthy Frank Dead, What Happened To Him and How Much Is He Worth? As George Kusunoki Miller, he was a nobody. However, as Filthy Frank, George was one of the most famous internet personalities on the planet. The Filthy Frank Show, a sketch series on his YouTube channel, TVFilthyFrank, was one of the platforms most influential creations. He is the reason a crazy dance song, Harlem Shake, made it ...

CaptainSparklez Bio  Net Worth, House and Cars of The Famous YouTuber Sometimes, what society wants from its citizens is quite different from what the citizens want for themselves. This is evident in the life and career of video blogger and American YouTube personality, Jordan Maron famous for his YouTube channel CaptainSparklez. He dropped out of school after discovering his talent in playing an online game called Minecraft. ...

Who is Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg)? Here are Facts You Must Know Canadian Youtube personality, Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg) originally started out polishing and designing nails even before it became a trendy culture in the social media. Simply Nailogica started out her showbiz career in her early days as a child actress, acting in commercials for game and toy companies. Aside from acting, she is blogger, vlogger, specializing ...

5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know About Huda Beauty In the world of entrepreneurship, it is interesting when an individual has a mentor who he/she looks up to, this yield more productivity on the part of the individual. The iconic and rich American beautician and makeup artist Huda Kattan nicknamed Heida is the founder of the Huda Beauty blog which is number one Instagram beauty blog ...

Is Dino MasterChef Gay? Details About His Ethnicity, Girlfriend, Where He Is Now Food, for the better part of the early years of human life, was nothing more than what we needed for survival. There was no artistry or curation to the method of cooking. The scarcity of food left no room for artistic expression until we figured out agriculture and we could make as much as we ...

Who Is Gabbie Hanna And How Did She Become Famous? As the world shifts to digital media and depends more and more on streaming services for its news and entertainment content, YouTubers have become one of the leading creators in the new media world. Their understanding of the online audience: how to create, maintain, and increase followers, are all handy skills that have primed them ...

Jacksepticeye  Height, Girlfriend & Net Worth Jacksepticeye is a YouTuber and actor who gained popularity with a series of gaming videos he uploads on his channel to the delight of millions of his subscribers. He is Known primarily for his comic video game series titled Lets Play and his vlogs. His channel was formerly ranked 46th in the list of most subscribed ...

Chris Heria Personal Details: About His Wife, Height & Ethnicity Background In this generation, keeping fit has become one of the major criteria for being hale and hearty. In fact, most occupations these days are majorly concerned with ones body mass, weight and looks. Unlike the past where most people have to register in a gym to keep fit, social media has made it quite easy ...

Everything You Need To Know About Game Grumps Gaming is becoming incredibly popular on YouTube these days with game vloggers make millions of dollars out of them yearly. One of the most popular up-coming gaming YouTube channels is Game Grumps. The Lets Play series was created in 2012 and celebrated its fifth anniversary on July 18th, 2017. In six years of its existence, the ...

Daithi De Nogla Biography, Girlfriend and Net Worth YouTube has created an avenue for many to make wealth and become famous from the comfort of their homes while having fun. Many have built a career out of the platform, uploading numerous videos that have earned them the admiration of viewers across the globe. For Daithi De Nogla, he is loved for his humorous commentary on ...

Does Phoebe Robinson Have A Boyfriend or Husband and What Do We Know About Her Family? Phoebe Robinson is a New York-based comedian, writer, and actress. She is best known as the co-creator and co-host of the WNYC Studios podcast 2 Dope Queens. Just like some other female comedians, she never had any original plans of becoming a stand-up comedian even though, according to her, she took a class on a whim at Carolines on Broadway. After ...

Who Are Lex and Alana from Listed Sisters? What Is Their Ethnicity & Is the Show Cancelled? America is a country built on diversity. Everywhere you look all over the country, a countless number of immigrants or children of immigrants have become an integral part of the fabric of the country. From entertainment to business, immigrants are creating a niche for themselves and climbing to the summit of their respective professions. One ...

Riveting Facts About Danielle Lombard And What She Is Best Known For The American entertainment industry is one that provides many avenues for aspiring hopefuls to express their talents and become famous. From films to television shows and game shows, there is no shortage of ways for men and women who desire fame to pursue and earn it in the United States of America. Another tested medium ...

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The Gist On Elise Jordans Marriages And Her Rise To Prominence Political commentaries tend to be boring when it is handled by someone who does not have a knack for it. However, when you see the likes of Elise Jordan run the same commentary, you will have a lot of reasons to look forward to watching her again as the journalist is well-versed in the field ...

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Media Platforms Charlamagne Tha God Has Explored and All The Controversies He Has Courted Charlamagne Tha God is an American on-air personality, radio presenter, and more recently, author. He is popularly known as a co-host on New York radios nationally syndicated show, The Breakfast Club, a program he has been hosting alongside DJ Envy and Angela Yee since 2010. However, his early years had no connection to his current career ...

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Is Jordan Schlansky Just A Character or a Real Life Person and What Does He Do? The world of late-night television is an interesting one. Shows during that time are geared towards giving viewers comedic relief from a long day at work through interviews and comedy sketches. The often charismatic host of this show requires the balancing talent of a producer whose primary job is to deliver great episodes. It is ...

Heres How Wealthy Jimmy Kimmel Is From All The Phases of His Career, Marriages and Sons Health Jimmy Kimmel is a renowned late-night talk show host known for his charm, wit, and the A-list guests he features on his show. As the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! On ABC, Jimmy has been serving comedy to television viewers for years which played a pivotal role in launching him into mainstream fame and enabled ...

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What Happened to Shane Kilcher? His Injury Update, Net Worth and More Shane Kilcher is well-known thanks to the Discovery Channel series Alaska: The Last Frontier. It is a show that documents the daily lives of the extended Kilcher family, people who live without plumbing or modern heating. The episodes follow their routines as they rely on hunting and farming for their nutritional needs as well as ...

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5 Interesting Things You Need To Know About Kelly Nash Ever heard of the lady who gained national prominence for taking a selfie with a dangerous ball just a few inches away from hitting her? Its no other person than Kelly Nash, an American sports broadcaster currently working as host of The Rundown show which airs on MLB Network every weekday at 2 pm ET. ...

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Who is Josina Anderson of ESPN? Her Husband and Family Facts There has been a gradual paradigm shift in the world of sports which has today produced the likes of Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and other female athletes that are pulling great feats in different sporting fields. Their achievements have also been followed by the emergence of female sports journalists such as Jillian Mele, Eboni Williams, ...

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That is, until Yang Zhifa came along. In China in 1974, Yang was digging a well for a nearby farm when he unearthed a casually headless life-size statue of a man. He figured he'd stumbled upon the site of an old potter's workshop and thought, "Hey, maybe I'll find some cool-ass pots I can sell."

At first, the scattered bronze items and broken statues he was digging up seemed as exciting and valuable as finding a bunch of old LEGO bricks in your backyard. But Yang kept digging, loaded up several carts full of junk, and skipped down to the nearest museum to see if he could sell them. He figured if they didn't want his haul, he could always chuck the statues into the river.

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The museum recognized the samples as being from the time period of Emperor Qin, otherwise known as the emperor who united the entire country, standardized the language, and from whom China gets its name, and paid him the equivalent of three years' salary for the three carts he'd brought. Unfortunately, Yang immediately had to hand the cash over to his employers, who reduced his cut of the booty to a half-day's pay (because, y'know, communism). After that, a museum was built on top of the discovery, displacing Yang and his fellow villagers, who at this point were presumably wishing he had gone with the "Let's throw these statues in the river" option.
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After firing his whole thief crew and getting a far better one.

Naturally, there's a lot of sex in the movie, mostly between Belfort and his wife (played by Robbie). At one point they even do it on top of a huge pile of money, because a scene where they copulate on a bed full of electric bills and soiled pizza boxes would be too depressingly familiar for most of us.

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

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That money is now worth twice as much from having touched the butts of attractive people.

Behind the scenes, though, things were decidedly unsexy. Sure, life could be worse than being paid to simulate sex with an Oscar-winner and former Growing Pains cast member (as long as his name doesn't contain the words "Kirk" or "Cameron"). It obviously wasn't too bad a deal for Leo either. But for Robbie, the scene had an unintended consequence -- when she got up to get dressed, the crew gasped because her back, they said, was covered in "a thousand red scratches," as if she'd been whipped. Or like she'd been having sex on top of a pack of rabid cats, we guess.

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It seems that, while it may look cool (and might be some kind of complex allegory for America), sex on top of money is super unpractical, as it leaves you with more paper cuts than a bloodthirsty Kinko's employee. Robbie definitely didn't recommend it; even the back seat of an antique car on a doomed steamship sounds more comfortable. We should note that, in the interest of journalistic accuracy, we carefully examined every available photo of Robbie taken thereafter and couldn't find any permanent scars, so there's that.
Last weekend's Austrian MotoGP was definitely one to forget for the Aprilia team, with both Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista receiving jump start penalties.

Things then got even worse for Bradl when, instead of a clear message about a jump start, he saw confusing 'signals and alarms' on his dashboard, which made him fear he was on the verge of repeating an engine problem in warm-up.

"I got the biggest chaos you can have," he said. "Basically I made a jump start, like a few other riders as well. I don't know who made the first reaction, actually the lights were on quite a long time and somebody moved a little bit. It's not normal that five people jump the start. So there was something strange.

"Anyway, we got the ride-through and directly when I crossed the line to start the fourth lap I got a signal that shows an alarm and shows something crazy. We had a technical problem with the engine in warm-up, so we had to change the engine and then I thought 'oh shit, probably something wrong'.

"You go up the hill at more than 300km/h and with all the signals and alarms on the dashboard it's not a comfortable feeling. So I decided to slow down a bit to see what was happening. I was just taking care of everything [in case] something exploded.

"So anyway, the people were gone in front. I slowed down and saw Alvaro was doing the same. I saw that we had already lost contact with all the other guys, so I think 'f**k, the race is basically over now for us'. So I decided to pit in and stop the engine. Then the mechanics told me you have to go keep going and restarted the engine."

While the mechanics may have realised there was not actually a fault with the engine, it still wasn't the end of Bradl's woes. Because he had stopped at his pit box, he had not technically served the ride through penalty.

"Alvaro was about to stop as well, but the mechanics showed him 'keep going', so he did his ride-through. I stopped and had a conversation with the mechanics so it was not a pure ride-through," he said. "So at the end I got the same message again, exactly the same alarm, but this time I understood what's wrong and made my ride through."

Bradl finished the race in 19th and last.

The German, moving to WorldSBK next season, is now keen to put two bad events behind him at Brno this weekend - where he also hopes to have an Austria engine upgrade available.

"We got an engine upgrade. It was not so bad. Unfortunately, that was the engine that I couldn't use for the race because there was a technical issue. I think that we will get the same upgrade in a new engine this weekend. The engine here is important and we are okay I think, at least with one bike.

"I've had two very unlucky races. Sachsenring I missed my home race and now Austria, which was very unfortunate. I'm looking forward to finishing a race in normal conditions and then we will see. But deep in the points would be good after a difficult time."
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Data center News

Lenovo To Make Key Channel Investments As Part Of Plan To Drive Growth After Q1 Sales Drops

Matt Brown

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Lenovo will refocus its PC business, concentrate on higher-priced smartphones and expand its presence in the market for hyper-convergence as it struggles with revenue declines and fierce competition, the company said Thursday.



The China-based PC giant is a go-to brand in its home territory, but sales declined there in its fiscal first quarter, which ended June 30, and all the while, competitors such as Dell and Cisco are expanding in that market.



Competitive pressure will force Lenovo to make adjustments to its go-to-market strategies and accelerate sales with large-scale, transformation-centric customers, said Krista Macomber, an analyst with Technology Business Research.



[Related: 5 Things We Love About Lenovo's Yoga 900S (And One We Don't)]



Lenovo said in a statement that its data center group would make strategic investments in its channel programs, sales force and marketing to drive growth and improve its financial footing.

Still, Lou Giovanetti, co-founder of CPU Sales, a Waltham, Mass.-based reseller that works with Lenovo, said Lenovo servers remain a tough sell and continue to struggle for traction in a market in which Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise dominate.

Our Lenovo server business has been flat, as in zero, Giovanetti said. Dell and HPE have such a strong foothold in the corporate world that I see it as hard to displace. We are selling a lot of Lenovo notebooks, but the margin is slim and we have to use every program Lenovo has available to make up margin. Added services is the margin-maker.

In a statement, Lenovo Chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang said the company would refine its focus in key markets to spur growth. In PCs we will focus on high-growth segments and leverage industry consolidation to resume growth, Yang said. In smartphones, we will leverage innovative, differentiated products and continue to shift to higher-price bands to drive growth and turn around this business. In data centers, we will continue to expand in hyper-converged technology, and improve profitability in the hyper-scale business.

In its first quarter, Lenovos sales challenges were global. The company reported revenue of about $10 billion, a 6 percent year-over-year decline compared to the same quarter a year earlier.



Sales in the Americas declined 6.6 percent to about $3 billion. In China, sales fell 9.8 percent to $2.9 billion.



The company saw a 7 percent year-over-year decrease in PC sales; a 6 percent decline in its mobile business; and a 1 percent increase in its data center business.



The PC group booked an operating profit of $370 million, a 2.4 percent year-over-year increase. But the data center group saw its operating losses deepen to $64 million from $40 million a year ago, while the mobile business operating loss widened 12 percent, to $206 million.

Overall, Lenovo reported a profit of $173 million, up 64 percent from the same period a year ago, when profits were impacted by restructuring costs. In the most recent quarter, the company drove down operating expenses 17 percent to $1.3 billion, and pocketed $132 million on the sale of an office property in Beijing.


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Verizon Combines Wireline, Wireless Communications Through New One Talk Service

Gina Narcisi

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Verizon on Thursday introduced its mobile-first communications solution for small business customers. The offering, called One Talk, is an integrated wireline and wireless voice service that will be available through the channel immediately.

One Talk, which is available on Verizons nationwide 4G LTE network, combines business calling features that work seamlessly over desk phones or mobile devices, and will appear on one bill for customers. The new service will provide a mobility offering to solution providers that haven't tapped into the wireless market yet, Alex Doyle, director of unified communications and collaboration for Verizon, told CRN.

Our [agent] partners have an amazing expertise in communications, he said. We are giving them a way to leverage those capabilities and also come into the wireless space to deliver mobile solutions  the next leap forward.

[Related: Alliance Partners Consortium Extends Verizon Relationship For Access To Next-Gen Solutions]

SOVA, a Plains, Pa.-based master agent and Verizon Platinum Partner has already run the One Talk service by several of its partners and has never seen such a high level of interest for a new product, according to Gene Esopi, SOVA's president.

This mobility-first, integrated solution offers nationwide coverage, and we think this is finally the product that will help us move those traditional wireline agent partners into the wireless space, Esopi said.

Many small business customers today use both traditional wireline phone systems for employees on desk phones, as well as wireless plans for mobile users. As a result, voice strategies are often fragmented, with employees having multiple phone numbers and often no easy way to switch between their office lines to their mobile devices, said Catherine Sugarbroad, executive director of enterprise product management for Verizon.

One Talk lets employees move between their desk and mobile phones by pushing one button. It also allows a user to have one phone number rather than sharing their personal cell phone numbers. The service is available on both Android and iOS mobile devices. Users will have access to all of One Talk's business features, such as conference calling, executive assistant line sharing, and hold and transfer functions from their mobile devices.

This mobile-first [offering] was designed to give small businesses an elegant unified communications solution with all the features they need to appear bigger than they are, Sugarbroad said.

Employees using a competing wireless service provider can also take advantage of One Talk. These users can make calls and access One Talk's features through the One Talk mobile app.

One of the most compelling features of One Talk for both partners and customers is the fact that the service combines all mobile and fixed communications into one bill, which will help many businesses cut costs. The combination is also a win-win for partners that have had to manage multiple wireline and mobile plans for their users, Sugarbroad said.

Verizon's reseller partners can hold the paper for the One Talk service, while Verizon will bill end customers for the service on behalf of its telecom agent partners, Doyle added.

Alongside the One Talk service, Verizon is rolling out a new line of desk phones that can be used with it. Verizon partners can also sell the newly released One-Talk desk phones along with the One Talk service, Doyle said.

SOVA plans to resell the new One Talk desk phones along with the One Talk service, Esopi, of SOVA, said.

We will be providing this total solution to our partners and their clients, he said. We think its a great opportunity for channel partners to reach into their existing clients, and we expect the offering to be super sticky.
Republicans are slamming Democratic congressional candidate Colleen Deacon for a scheduled appearance this weekend at a Democratic conference in California.

According to event details obtained by The Citizen, Deacon, D-Syracuse, will attend a lunch and wine pairing Saturday at Quintessa Winery, a lavish estate in California's Napa Valley owned by Valeria and Agustin Huneeus.

Agustin and Valeria Huneeus have given thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates and larger sums to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats' campaign arm.

The event also will feature remarks from U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, and U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, an Illinois Democrat.

Deacon and two other Democratic congressional candidates are also scheduled to speak at the gathering.

Chris Pack, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Deacon's attendance at the event is another example of her connection to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi, whose district is in California, is also scheduled to appear at the event. The top House Democrat has been supportive of Deacon's campaign. Her campaign and political action committees donated $7,000 to Deacon ahead of the June primary.

"We truly hope that Colleen Deacon enjoys her time out in California hobnobbing with Nancy Pelosi," Pack said. "While Colleen Deacon is out drinking fancy Napa Valley wine with Nancy Pelosi, John Katko will continue his bipartisan fight on behalf of his central New York constituents."

Erin Fleck, a spokesperson for Deacon's campaign, fired back in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

"What the NRCC doesn't want you to know is their own Congressman John Katko is America's new PAC man  taking over 50 percent of his money from the same special interest PACs he criticized his predecessor for taking money from," Fleck said. "With more than half his campaign funded by out-of-state PACs, the real question is who is John Katko beholden to  his special interest money or the people of central New York?"

Deacon is challenging Katko, R-Camillus, in the 24th Congressional District and the source of campaign funds has been an issue in the race.

Last week, Democrats launched a radio ad campaign targeting Katko over his acceptance of donations from political action committees and other special interests.

Katko's July fundraising report showed he received $177,633.16 from PACs and other committees from June 9 through June 30.

It's not uncommon for party leaders to raise money for candidates, especially those in competitive races like the 24th Congressional District campaign.

When Katko was a challenger in 2014, then-House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy headlined fundraisers for him. Both of the events were held in central New York. The fundraiser with McCarthy, a California Republican, was held in Auburn.

In August 2015, Boehner, an Ohio Republican, returned to central New York and headlined a fundraiser for Katko in Cazenovia, which is outside of the 24th District.
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STRATFORD  Henry Bruce, the frequent critic of Town Hall who was a leader in the fight over the sale of the towns waste treatment plant, is in prison in Vermont while awaiting trial on a driving under the influence charge.

Bruce, 62, was involved in a crash on the night of Jan. 17, when his Subaru Outback drifted into the oncoming lane on Route 100 near Weston, Vt., according to Vermont State Police.

His car struck a pickup truck nearly head on, injuring two people in the truck, who were transported to Springfield (Vt.) Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

He has been incarcerated at the Southern State Correctional Facility near Springfield since Aug. 6, according to the Vermont Department of Corrections.

Its not unusual for those charged with DUI offenses to begin serving time prior to their court date because a prison sentence of several months is a near-certainty. Bruce is also charged with gross negligent operation of a motor vehicle.

Henry is a guy who really cares about Stratford, and this rough patch hes going through has nothing to do with the way the town is being run, said Ed Goodrich, who, like Bruce, has been critical of the administration of Mayor John Harkins.

On May 5, 2015, Bruce delivered an impassioned speech on the steps of Town Hall in which he ripped into Harkins for a then-planned sale of the towns sewer system and waste treatment plant to the Greater New Haven Water Pollution Control Authority.

Bruce, and others, managed to get the sewer sale on the ballot in November of that year, and the sale idea was defeated by a wide margin.

The sewer scrap was also instrumental in electing a town council that was not as friendly to the mayor as the previous one was.

Harkins had argued at the time that the town would see $16 million in cash and the removal of $37 million in Stratford's bonded debt if the treatment plant sale were approved.

By all accounts, the town has been on less secure financial footing since the sale was scuttled, and taxes went up 2 mills this year to help recover from this episode.

Bruces next appearance in court, at the Windsor District Courthouse in White River Junction, will be for a pre-trial conference Aug. 23.

His attorney is listed as Elizabeth A. Kruska of White River Junction. There will be a victims advocate at that session.

Kruska declined to comment Thursday on the case.

In Vermont, a DUI conviction carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison for a first offense, although the sentences handed down from the bench are usually less than that. Those convicted can be fined for as much as $750 and have their Connecticut operators license suspended for 45 days.

Bruce has no prior convictions.

His most recent posting on his Facebook page was the inspirational message: Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.

That was on Aug. 5.

jburgeson@ctpost.com
Two environmental groups are supporting Colleen Deacon's bid to unseat U.S. Rep. John Katko in the 24th Congressional District race.

The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and the New York League of Conservation Voters endorsed Deacon, D-Syracuse, Thursday. The organizations cited her work as U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's central New York regional director and said she has a "long history of protecting" the region's environment.

"Colleen Deacon understands that clean air and water is a right, not a choice, which is why she will work hard to safeguard the air we breathe and the water we drink for our children and grandchildren," LCV Action Fund President Gene Karpinski said. "In Congress, she will also work tirelessly to combat climate change and create good paying jobs in the clean energy and energy efficiency sectors."

Specifically, the groups said Deacon focused on Brownfield redevelopment and cleanup of contaminated sites throughout central New York and she worked to address invasive species impacting Owasco Lake. The League of Conservation Voters also highlighted her involvement with efforts to restore Onondaga Lake and establish Lake Ontario as a national marine sanctuary.

Deacon has committed, the environmental organizations said, to addressing climate change in Congress. She pledged to defend the Clean Air and Clean Water acts and supports investments in clean energy technology.

LCV leaders also outlined her support of infrastructure projects in the region, namely at the Port of Oswego.

"I'm so honored to have the support of the New York League of Conservation Voters and the LCV Action Fund on this campaign," Deacon said in a statement.

"Here in central New York we have seen firsthand what happens when we pollute our natural resources. We are still trying to clean what was one of the most polluted lakes in the country  Onondaga Lake  and just down the way we have one of the cleanest lakes in the country, Skaneateles Lake. I am eager to go to Congress to fight for policies that combat climate change and leave the Earth in good shape for future generations."

While praising Deacon, the League of Conservation Voters didn't offer a critique of Katko, R-Camillus, who is seeking a second term in Congress.

Katko received a 14 percent score in the League of Conservation Voters' annual assessment of pro- or anti-environmental votes in Congress. Other Republicans also earned low marks from the group.

The freshman congressman was praised by another environmental group, the Syracuse chapter of the Citizens' Climate Lobby, for signing on to a resolution sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, a New York Republican, that acknowledges the risks of climate change.

During the 2014 campaign, Katko told reporters that he wasn't sure if climate change was man-made.

In that race, the League of Conservation Voters endorsed Katko's opponent, then-U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei.

This year, the LCV and its New York chapter again view the Democratic candidate as a better option than Katko.

"Central New York has the potential to emerge from its industrial path and realize a bright and environmentally sound future," New York League of Conservation Voters President Marcia Bystryn said. "Colleen Deacon has demonstrated she knows how to get us there and that she also has the experience and skills to get things done."
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STAMFORD, Conn.  Two Boots Pizza of Stamford held its grand opening Tuesday night, serving slices of free pizza to guests and officially introducing itself to Stamford's Harbor Point neighborhood.

Stamford is the company's latest Connecticut venture, after the pizza pioneers ran another location in Bridgeport for eight years until their lease ended.

Leon Hartman, son of Two Boots co-founder Phil Hartman and owner of the Stamford location, said the company put a lot of work into their Bridgeport location, but the time was right to embark on a new path in the state.

"We put in some real good years in Bridgeport. It's a shame we couldn't keep the party going any longer," Hartman said. "One door closes one door opens. We're definitely expecting to continue growing in Connecticut."

Local fans of the unique pies haven't abandoned Two Boots either, Hartman said.

"We've already seen a lot of chatter online and on social media of people making the trek down [to Stamford]," Hartman added. "We have a lot of fans in Bridgeport that are coming out and that's been exciting to see. We're definitely counting on Connecticut being a pretty broad audience."

Stamford as a perfect fit

The Stamford location sits on Atlantic Street and Henry Street in the area's developing Harbor Point neighborhood. As residents flock to new dining options and new residents move into the area, Hartman said the area is ripe for making an entrance.

"There's a lot going on here in Harbor Point. We have some really good peers here in the neighborhood. We know that it's early and it's going to take a few years to keep evolving so we wanted to be here a little early and plant out flag," Hartman noted.

Above and around Two Boots are numerous affordable housing units, both new and older. A big part of the location's appeal was to keep with the company's original of bolstering the communities it serves, according to Hartman.

"The original mission of Two Boots has been to be a pioneer in the neighborhoods we come into. To bring some color, some flavor, and a place where the community can gather. That's always been a point of pride for us," Hartman said.

"Pizza in itself is a food that's very egalitarian, everybody gets a piece of the pie. It's a very good fit. South Stamford kind of represented an opportunity to carry that mission forward," he added.

Making Two Boots one with the community

Every Two Boots location is curated with unique art and design customers will only find at that select location, as a way to honor local culture and community.

Hartman's father, Phil, said the preference to craft each location accordingly is hard work but speaks to local customers beyond their signature pies.

"We always like to work with local artists, so we have a mosaic artist who built the mosaics here. We have 15 locations but every location is totally unique and handmade," Phil said.

Customers are sure to take notice. Along the tables colorfully decorated in collages crafted by Hartman, mosaic artfrom local artist Anne Edrisclimbs the restaurant's columns and Louisiana folk art lines the walls around patrons. Phil purchased vintage 1960s lighting fixtures, as well, that sit above the counter.

"We pay a lot of attention to the details. We wanted to do something really special for Stamford, not a cookie cutter," Phil said. "Everything is handmade and handpicked. It took a couple years."

In addition to the restaurant's artistic flair, Two Boots establishes a "home pie" that is only offered at each location. Stamford's is "The Conehead," a Mets-Yankees themed pie and the pizzeria's first "split" pizza.

Back to the basics

Two Boots's return to southwestern Connecticut also offered a chance to return to the company's roots, according to Hartman. While fans of the Bridgeport location are sure to fondly remember a large, bustling restaurant and live music venue, the Stamford location is smaller and more in line with Two Boots's New York locations.

"We feel like this is our natural model. We do pizzerias. We think this is a way to get back to our roots," Hartman said. "A good ole pizzeria, beer, pile into a booth with your friends. I think this is going to speak to Connecticut in a fresh way."

Phil agreed and thinks their pizzas will contend well in the area.

"We feel like what we do is really unique. We combine the cuisines of Italy and Louisiana, so we have cajun ingredients on our pizza," Phil said. "We use cornmeal in our crust, so we have a very unique, crunchy crust that has kind of a cult following."

"[After Bridgeport] we looked around again and thought [Stamford] would be nice to transition to a space more like our Two Boots's in New York," Phil added.

Working with family

As customers packed the modest pizzeria, Phil looked around observing locals mingle and enjoy fresh pizza. He said he had no doubt the Stamford location will speak to the company's New York roots and that his son will surely instill those ideals in Stamford.

"Leon has been working in some aspect for 15 years. He helped us open the store in Bridgeport, he helped us open a store in Baltimore, he moved to Los Angeles and helped us out there. For the last year and a half he's been my partner here," Phil said. "He gets Two Boots 100 percent. It's an incredible privilege to work with your son."
Jon Ritter, a retired Greece police officer, is one of five candidates vying for the Republican nomination in the 54th Senate District.

The GOP primary will be held Tuesday, Sept. 13.

Ritter recently responded to questions submitted by The Citizen. The exchange covered a handful of topics, including one of the state's key economic development initiatives, the controversial SAFE Act and the construction of a casino in Seneca County.

Here is the Q&A with Ritter:

The Citizen: What are a few things we need to do to create jobs in this region?

RITTER: I think the first thing we need to do is to encourage businesses that are already here to stay here and expand to keep the jobs we have and create some new ones. We can't keep losing businesses and then trying to attract new ones. Once we have solidified those businesses then we should start to draw new business to the area. When we do, we need to make sure that these businesses are viable and will stay here for a long time not just come for a deal and then move on.

The Citizen: Start-Up NY has been in the news a lot lately. Should this program, which is one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature initiatives, continue?

RITTER: I don't think for the investment that this program has really provided any viable business to New York. I hear a lot about promises of more things coming, but at this point it doesn't seem to be working. Wouldn't that $53 million have been better spent on giving breaks or aid to current businesses already here to expand and create more jobs? There are many businesses that are currently struggling to stay in New York. Let's help them stay and be successful and not move creating more economic strife.

The Citizen: What proposals do you support to address public corruption, especially in Albany?

RITTER: Any elected official who is convicted of corruption should automatically lose their pension. I also support term limits, which will reduce the amount of time one could hold office and wield their power. Whatever is done, the rules should be very clear and they should send a message that if you engage in corruption your punishment will be severe and swift.

The Citizen: Del Lago Resort & Casino is scheduled to open in February 2017. What are your thoughts on this project and do you think it will benefit the Finger Lakes region?

RITTER: Any project that creates jobs I am for. I think it will draw people into the local economy and the casino itself will also draw off the local economy for support.

The Citizen: All the candidates in the GOP primary race seem to agree that the SAFE Act is bad policy. But what can be done about it to either weaken it or get rid of it?

RITTER: The SAFE Act should be slowly and methodically disabled via amendments or changes. We should also determine if the costs to administer this law, specifically an ammunition database, is even feasible. The question that needs to be asked is, are the benefits of the SAFE Act worth the costs to administer it? I will also continue to fight for a full appeal.
MONTEZUMA  It was less than a decade ago that the locks and canals of Montezuma were rubble ruins hidden by brush and trees. Mike Riley, a canal historian, said it took a while, wandering around the woods to find some of the landmark remains of the end of the Erie Canal.

Today, however, visitors can walk a clear towpath along the Seneca River with trees creating an archway overhead. Remains of the important waterway, which officially opened in 1825, are visible now, largely due to the work of volunteers.

Arthur Cohn, director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vermont, made Montezuma one of his stops while traveling by tugboat along the canal in celebration of its 200th anniversary next year. Cohn is stopping at 30 communities along the way. This week he parked his boat, the C.L. Churchill in Weedsport to see the canal from a different view  by land.

Thursday more than a dozen people came to walk part of the Seneca River with Cohn and Riley, to see a place where in 1825, an Episcopal minister named John Adam Hopkins on a journey to find more support for his Pennsylvania congregation, painted the very river scene visible today.

"You guys have done such a service to your community in bringing this back and making this accessible," Cohn said. "If it wasn't for people like you in the community, this stuff would get forgotten, pulled away and destroyed, and you are preserving a very important part of your history and our collective history, and I really appreciate it."

Cohn first discovered Hopkins' paintings when doing research in the Clements Library at the University of Michigan. They depict scenes from the Eerie Canal soon after it opened. Cohn had five of them reprinted, and one showing the Seneca River scene in Montezuma, he presented to Cheryl Longyear, Montezuma's town historian, along the very banks it was painted. The presentation was also sponsored by the New York State Canal Corporation.

The painting, titled "Montezuma, the canal and elevated tow path across the Cayuga Marsh," was completed sometime in November 1825.

"I often come down here and wonder what it would have been like with this picture being painted right here on site," Longyear said. "It almost seems too real."

What was particularly compelling about the picture, Cohn said, is there were no photographs back then, and Hopkins' paintings are a rare visual record of what things looked like 200 years ago.

For Longyear and the volunteers that helped bring this part of Montezuma's history back to life, the recognition from Cohn, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, the University of Michigan and the New York State Canal Corporation, was overwhelming.

"It's absolutely very rewarding to finally see that Montezuma is finally being recognized," Longyear said.
Section of GAP closed during bridge work

"The last time the bridges were re-decked was in 1995. They have become almost unsafe to be used," said Lindsay Baer.
The Cayuga County Health Department is investigating reports of people developing an itchy rash after swimming in an isolated part of northern Owasco Lake last weekend.

Eileen O'Connor, the county's director of environmental health, said about 40 reports have come in from people who were in the water in an area where boats often anchor south of the Deauville Island beach. Most of the cases involve people who were in that area of the water on Sunday, when the area was busy with the annual Great Race and related festivities.

O'Connor said the health department has collected water samples and sent them to the state Department of Health's testing facility in Albany to see if they can determine whether the rashes were a result of exposure to the lake water, and if so, what might be causing it. She said there was nothing visible in the water, such as the presence of blue-green algae, to suggest what could be causing the problem.

In the meantime, the health department is encouraging people who may have experienced a rash after swimming in the lake to contact Andrea Simmons, director of community health, at (315) 253-1560.

Descriptions of the rash have varied, although most described it as itchy. O'Connor said most people also reported that the rash is clearing up with the use of over-the-counter products.

O'Connor said no rash reports have come from people who swam at the island beach at Emerson Park, but as a precaution, that area has been closed off to swimming. The county has opened its other beach on the pavilion side of the park.

O'Connor stressed that the reports are not widespread. "This is really localized," she said. "We're not getting calls from all over the lake."
Check it out: Fun things to do this weekend in Lake County
Justice has finally been done. The notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary has been forced to pay for his record of vicious divisiveness and dangerous extremism, and faces a jail term of up to ten years under anti-terrorism legislation.

It is the sentence he deserves. Choudary is not some foolish clown or irrelevant loudmouth, as some like to pretend. He is a cunning propagandist for a warped but increasingly influential brand of militant Islam.

Through his violent rhetoric and bogus religious justifications for conflict, he is believed by the security authorities to have inspired 15 terror plots and more than 500 British Muslims to join the cause of jihadism in Iraq and Syria.

The notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary has been forced to pay for his record of vicious divisiveness and dangerous extremism, and faces a jail term of up to ten years

Choudary is a self-styled preacher without any recognised credentials in Islam who has done severe damage to Muslim communities by promoting a bleak, negative and brutalised image of the religion.

He might pose as a true Muslim, but his bigotry causes as much harm to Islam as the racists in the English Defence League or Britain First. He is the ultimate enemy of tolerance and integration and now he is behind bars, Britain might become a more harmonious society.

But I have two hopes about his imprisonment. The first is that he has to serve out his time, a minimum of ten years, given that he has been a potent apologist for some of darkest crimes known to modern humanity.

Lavish

My second hope is that he is kept isolated. There is already too much Islamic radicalisation in our jails, not least because more than 20 per cent of the inmates in high security are Muslims. Allowing Choudary to associate with other prisoners would be a recipe for trouble.

Choudary (pictured) is believed to have inspired at least 110 Britons into committing terrorist acts

But, while his incarceration might be welcome, Choudarys case also raises profoundly disturbing questions for Muslim communities and the British political establishment.

It cannot be right that he was allowed to roam across the airwaves and in the streets for two decades, spreading his toxic dogma. Why was he not challenged more effectively by other Muslims or the security forces?

Why did parts of the British media present him as a spokesman for mainstream Muslim opinion, given that he neither held any public office nor had any proper theological qualifications?

Why did the British state continue to lavish him with welfare and legal support?

On the issue of Muslim collusion with Choudary, part of the answer lies in the nature of British Islam, which has come to be dominated by the austere Wahhabi-Salafi creed imported from Saudi Arabia.

Barbarous

Heavy funding from the Saudi regime ensures Wahhabism is now the most powerful force in most British mosques, faith schools, Muslim organisations and pressure groups like the Muslim Council of Britain.

The outward symbols of this primitive doctrine, like the burka and the niqab and bushy beards, are increasingly seen as integral to British Islam, though they stem from archaic Arab life and have no theological basis in the Koran.

Yet, tragically, it is the stranglehold of Wahhabism that has enabled figures like Choudary to flourish in our midst.

While most Muslims are decent and peace-loving, characters like Choudary long went unchallenged by Muslim organisations because so many of them shared a similarly doctrinaire outlook, reflected in dress codes, the need for Sharia courts, the rejection of womens equality, and disdain for liberal values.

Police also think he helped encourage up to 850 fanatics to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS, but Dr Taj Hargey wonders why more Muslims didn't challenge him

Groups like the Muslim Council of Britain do not do nearly enough to root out extreme versions of Islam here because they too have come under the influence of Wahhabism, whose logical progression is to end up with a barbarous theocracy not dissimilar to that of Isis.

Rather than doing more to confront extremists, the MCB acts defensively whenever the all-too-valid link between terrorism and Islam is made. When Eric Pickles, then Communities Secretary, wrote to 1,100 Imams and Muslim leaders after the terror attacks in Paris on the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine in January last year, saying they should do more to expunge men of hate, the MCBs ludicrous response was to accuse ministers of behaving like the far Right. David Cameron, in turn, was robust and correct to say the council had a problem with extremism.

Yet there is an entirely different point of view of Islam from that of the MCB  and one to which I subscribe  which holds that Wahhabism is antithetical to the faith, and that Muslims should integrate and embrace Western liberal values.

Groups like the Muslim Council of Britain do not do nearly enough to root out extreme versions of Islam preached by Choudary

There is no foundation in the Koran to prop up Wahhabisms theological extremism. The concept of Sharia, for example, is just the concoction of Medieval clerics which is now well past its sell-by-date.

Similarly, the idea of the caliphate  so beloved of Choudary and ISIS  is barely mentioned in the Koran, while the term Jihad is not a call to war, as the extremists pretend, but a reference to the inner, personal quest for true spirituality.

Nor is there anything anti-Islamic about democracy. Chapter 42 Verse 38 of the Koran stipulates that governments are required to consult the people they rule, the very essence of democracy.

So it is Choudary and his ilk who are the real phonies. They should have been confronted on the basis of their perverted theology. Their pretence to religious expertise is a sham.

But this brings us to the disgraceful role of Britains civic institutions in raising Choudarys profile. Through the irresponsibility of key players in the state and media, he was given the unmerited position as a spokesman for British Islam.

The BBC and other major stations gave him huge amounts of airtime, rarely confronting him with a competent Muslim theologian who could tear apart his pretensions. I have hundreds of interviews with the BBC, CNN, you name it, Choudary once proclaimed.

That boast should be a badge of shame for broadcasters. Even when confronted with evidence of his crimes, the media colluded with him.

After the murder of Lee Rigby, the BBCs Today programme granted him a 12-minute interview in which he would not condemn the murder, while Twitter refused to comply with police requests to remove his account, with 30,000 followers.

After the murder of Lee Rigby, the BBCs Today programme granted him a 12-minute interview in which he would not condemn the murder

This has nothing to do with freedom of speech. Twitter has proved in the past willing to shut down accounts of neo-Nazis and racial extremists. The same failure to act against Choudary could also be found on Facebook and YouTube.

Just as disturbing was the supine approach of the Government, which gave Choudary benefits, legal support, education allowances and police protection, on top of reluctance to prosecute him despite evidence of his criminal extremism.

At one stage, his immediate family was reputed to be taking more than 25,000 a year in social security

At one stage, his immediate family was reputed to be taking more than 25,000 a year in social security, while he lived in a subsidised 320,000 house in London and ran several cars.

Collusion

So great was the financial backing, so absent any sign of prosecution, that many critics, including large numbers of Muslims, felt Choudary must be in the pay of MI5, as an informer or agent provocateur.

His conviction may have confounded this theory, but the stench of collusion remains.

Some argue the state should deport Choudary, but he was born in Britain. Others say he should be paid to go and live in the ISIS-controlled parts of Syria or Iraq.

But no, the best place for him is solitary confinement in prison. And after his conviction, the strongest proof of the Governments willingness to take on radical Islamic fundamentalism would be to challenge the lethal Wahhabi philosophy and ideology.

This is the only practical way to neutralise the odious cancer of Choudary and his cronies and promote a tolerant and inclusive Islam in the UK.
An 8-year-old Homer girl who lost her left arm and leg in a boating accident on Skaneateles Lake, has left Upstate University Hospital and arrived at a hospital in Boston, according to reports from her family on social media.

Kaelynne Driscoll had been tubing with her father, Christopher Driscoll, on the lake July 6, when they had been ejected from the tube after the boat struck a wake. Jamie Wheeler, Kaelynne's stepmother, circled the 17-foot Bayliner back around, causing the propeller to strike both her husband and stepdaughter.

Both Kaelynne and Christopher were transported to Upstate University Hospital. Christopher was released July 9, but Kaelynne underwent multiple surgeries. For weeks she needed assistance to breath, but she has since been off the machines and is now breathing on her own.

Kaelynne and her mother, Amber Oursler, arrived in Boston on Aug. 15, according to friends and family on her Facebook page, Kaelynne's Army. There, she will undergo rehabilitation. Kaelynne had started physical therapy at Upstate University Hospital, Oursler said in an email to The Citizen on Aug. 6.

"Kaelynne deserves the world and those close to her will do anything that they can to make sure that she always has a smile on her face, fire in her soul, and love in her heart," Oursler wrote.
She was the indomitable monarch in black with a devoted German husband, nine children, 42 grandchildren, and the power (and eagerness) to tell any man how to behave: Queen Victoria  all 411 in height and, later in life, 50 in circumference  was not a woman to be messed with.

The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them, she was famous for saying. And she meant it.

During her fiercely independent 63 years and seven months on the throne  a reign topped only by Elizabeth II in length - she revolutionised the monarchy, survived six serious assassination attempts, aided the expansion of the British Empire, and encouraged enormous advancements in industry, science, politics, culture and the military.

Queen Victoria is revealed as a feisty, energetic young monarch in ITV's sumptuous new drama, Victoria, starring Jenna Coleman

But she wasnt all iron fist, stern word and humourless efficiency: as a girl, Queen Victoria had a youthful, gregarious, vivacious, passionate side - plus a whole host of very human vulnerabilities and insecurities.

And its these traits that are the subject of a sumptuous new ITV period drama documenting the young Queens vibrant, exciting, loved-up, often joyful days as a teenager suddenly taking her place on the throne, at just 18 years old, following the death of her uncle, William IV.

Queen Victoria is always considered the moody woman who wore black for 40 years after the death of her husband Prince Albert, but a new ITV drama tells a very different story

Victoria is a beautifully shot eight-part drama starring Jenna Coleman (she of Doctor Who fame) as the energetic young queen, Rufus Sewell as Lord Melbourne, Victorias first prime minister and confidante, and Tom Hughes as her beloved husband (and first cousin), Prince Albert.

The series writer Daisy Goodwin fell in love with the monarch while studying history at Cambridge University and reading the diaries Queen Victoria kept throughout her life.

The way the diaries were written  particularly the way in which certain passages were underlined or stamped in shouty capital letters  helped Goodwin understand that the stern monarch had a more human, passionate, girlish side.

Victoria, the beatiful new ITV drama written by Daisy Goodwin, will touch the hearts of everyone

A painting of Queen Victoria, from 1855, when she was 36 years old

I've been fascinated by Victoria since I started reading her diaries at university, says Goodwin. She's a woman whose personality leaps off the page - a tiny, 4ft 11in teenager who overnight became the most powerful woman in the world, and her candour and spirit makes for an irresistible heroine.

Victoria was the first woman to have it all; she had a passionate marriage, nine children and was grandmother to most of Europe's royalty, but she also had a job, being Queen of the most important nation in the world.

It wasn't easy; her reign was beset by scandal and sleaze and it was only by sheer force of personality that she prevailed. Her diaries, all sixty two million words of them, give an astonishingly vivid picture of her transformation from rebellious teenager into, to my mind, our greatest Queen.

The young Queen's close relationship with Prime Minister Melbourne, played by Rufus Sewell, is dramatised in Victoria

The new drama shows the excitable, fiery side of the young queen, here pictured as a young woman with her new husband Prince Albert at Windsor Palace

Victoria portrays the Queen as an impulsive, spirited teenager, nervous but excited about her future after being crowned in 1837, and determined to break free from the shackles of her controlling mother, the Duchess of Kent, by whom she was raised under impossibly strict rule after the death of her father, Prince Edward, when she was a baby.

We witness the 18-year-old girl accepting the crown and immediately revelling in her new power, declaring she no longer wishes to be known by her given name, Alexandrina, and insisting, with a slightly trembling smile, that she now be called Victoria.

The new Queen - a beguiling mix of vulnerable yet powerful, timid yet headstrong, innocent yet mischievous, flanked by people and yet utterly alone - finds a sudden ally in Britains charming Prime Minister Melbourne, who helps her navigate the courts and gain independence from her mother and her mothers wickedly ambitious advisor, Conroy.

Jenna Coleman plays the young teenage Queen with beguiling exuberance

Queen Victoria as she is better known: frowning, wearing black, and surrounded by her children

Victoria reminds us that the young royals reign occurred during an overwhelmingly male age, and that her ability to stand up to the most powerful men of her court  many of whom were plotting against her - was a truly remarkable feat.

And when Victorias dashing first cousin Albert Francis Charles Augustus Emmanuel of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha arrives on the scene from Germany, we witness the excitable young Queens intensely passionate, romantic side, and begin to understand why, 21 years of marriage and nine children later, she sunk into 40 years of mourning and a deep depression that lasted until the end of her days, when her beloved prince died, aged just 42.

Far from being the fusty, grumbling, dreary, controlling monarch we are often told she was, Victoria reveals the remarkable Queen as a courageous, impulsive young woman who developed an astonishingly tough sense of self as quickly as her new role demanded.

Tune into ITV next Sunday, 28th August, at 9pm, for the feature-length first episode of Victoria.

Get a sneak peek here.
But Melinda missed out on winning the USD$10,000 prize money

Her father said she was cooking to make her 'grandfather proud'

She was living with her mother in New York when she auditioned

While many kids were outside having fun or playing video games - one young girl was taking on the culinary world and the clock, on a popular TV cooking show.

Melinda Stokes, 12, from Auckland was featured as a contestant on Food Network's Chopped Junior, coming in as runner-up in the competition.

Her father Peter Stokes told Daily Mail Australia that he was proud of his daughter's achievement.

In the Chopped kitchen: Melinda Stokes is all smiles in front of the mystery basket

TV chef-to-be: Melinda signed up for the kids' cooking show hosted by Ted Allen (in poster) while living in New York with her mother Sarah Bradley,

Mr Stokes explained that Melinda had been living with her mother Sarah Bradley, a former TVNZ presenter currently working in New York City, for the past 18 months when she heard about the cooking competition at her school.

'She went through a pretty extensive selection process. The network asks you to post videos of your signature dishes and yourself cooking, and that progressed to doing Skype interviews,' he said.

'[I think] the fact the she's Kiwi helped her  just something different with the accent,' he added.

In preparation, Mr Stokes said that Melinda had been watching past episodes of the show to get an idea of what to expect.

Hosted by Ted Allen, Chopped Junior works in a similar way to the adult version of the show but with four kids picked from across the US to cook an appetiser, entree and dessert.

Each course must include four mystery ingredients and take no longer than 30 minutes to create. At the end of each course, one contestant gets knocked out of the competition.

Competition: Kiwi Melinda (second from the left) in the Chopped Junior kitchen with the other contestants

Celebrity judges: The celebs on Melinda's episode include singer Austin Mahone (left), cookbook author Raquel Pelzel (centre) and chef Aaron Sanchez (right)

Luckily Mr Stokes, an Auckland-based financial advisor, was able to extend his New York visit to watch his little chef cook.

'You feel the pressure as a parent watching. I would hate to do their challenge in that supplied time frame. Melinda said that the most pressure was with the time,' he said.

In the appetiser round Melinda made a spicy meat potato fritter with a snapped snow pea salad using the four mystery ingredients; bird's nest pasta, cherry peppers, sugar snap peas and an antipasto platter which just got her through to the next round.

For her entree she made cracker-encrusted poussin with kale and bell pepper salad which got her mixed reviews from the judges.

Making it through to the third round, Melinda used a cookie mix gift jar, blood orange chips, kiwi and flaxseed milk to a create cocoa cupcake with kiwi whipped cream and blood orange topping which got her rave reviews from the judges.

Cooking enthusiast: Melinda at home in the kitchen mixing batter for a cake

Behind-the-scenes: Mr Stokes said that the parents watched filming via monitors

In the judges' seat: Mr Stokes says Melinda spent hours watching past episodes of the kids' cooking show in preparation for filming her episode

But based on her overall performance, Melinda lost to 12-year-old Camryn McLelland from Massachusetts who won the USD$10,000 in prize money.

Mr Stokes said he was impressed with the way the kids handled the pressure, in particular stepping up to the 30-minute time challenge.

'Melinda had no problem with the winner but was just disappointed she didn't win,' he added.

'It was such a thrill to get in to the show. As a parent I just wanted her to get through one round and she experienced two wins.'

Sweets: Melinda showing off a delicious kiwi chocolate cake

Supportive parents: Melinda with her mum Sarah Bradley (left) and her dad Peter Stokes (right)

Had Melinda won the prize money, she said she wanted to buy a cat and donate the rest of the money to an animal shelter to the surprise of Mr Stokes.

The proud dad said that Melinda had been cooking since she was about eight or nine with her grandfather, making omelettes and from there developed an interest.

'Her grandfather flew up to New York last year and passed away up there from a heart attack, so she was cooking for him. She was cooking to make her grandfather proud,' Mr Stokes said.
Mums-to-be often find themselves scrolling through the social media pages of inspirational 'fit mums' and photos of their seemingly perfect lives.

But when they eventually have their baby, they find out that there is far more going on behind the snaps of fashionable prams and flawless make up looks.

Brooke McGlinn, a 22-year-old mother from Canberra, has written a blog post explaining how having her baby Tahlia, one, wasn't quite the 'walk in the park' she expected it to be.

Realistic? Mums-to-be often find themselves scrolling through the social media pages of inspirational 'fit mums' and photos of their seemingly perfect lives

Truth: Brooke McGlinn, a 22-year-old mother from Canberra, has written a blog post explaining how having her baby wasn't quite the 'walk in the park' she expected it to be

'I pictured myself being that fit as f**k mum who had the trendiest pram while I sipped decaf lattes everyday on my morning walk while my highlight & contour was on fleek,' she wrote on Facebook.

'Just like the ones I saw on Instagram & I wondered who the f**k was there to take that photo of them & how were they so photogenic?'

'Don't get me wrong being a mum is the t**s 85% of the time but that other 15% makes you wonder if chewing broken glass is really actually as bad as it sounds.'

'Being a mum is the t**s 85% of the time': Ms McGlinn's entire post can be read here

Not so perfect: Ms McGlinn now uses her 'parents' second hand scabby looking baby jogger mini GT' which 'works just fine'

Ms McGlinn said that she 'rocked' her pregnancy and managed to perfectly maintain her appearance, belly and 'rock hard perky boobs.'

'I felt like a goddess. I bought the trendiest of all trendy, expensive as f**k baby s**t. My pram was a robot. No joke you pushed a button & the thing stood up by itself,' she continued.

'It had a speedo & told me the temperature & it even charged my phone. It was solar powered - it was a show stopper! I was always secretly chuffed every time I over heard someone in the carpark say "OMG did you just see that pram?"

'That is until the piece of s**t started collapsing one day because the battery hadn't charged.'

Rocking it: Ms McGlinn said that she 'rocked' her pregnancy and managed to perfectly maintain her appearance, belly and 'rock hard perky boobs'

This is how you do it: 'I felt like a goddess. I bought the trendiest of all trendy, expensive as f**k baby s**t. My pram was a robot,' she said

Ms McGlinn now uses her 'parents' second hand scabby looking baby jogger mini GT' which 'works just fine.'

Ms McGlinn said the thoughts that her partner would love her more after they shared a child together were also 'crazy.'

'In reality you mutter sadistic s**t under your breath like "you lazy, selfish, piece of s**t" while they sleep ever so peacefully next to you & somehow sleep through the screaming coming from the baby monitor,' Ms McGlinn wrote.

'You actually contemplate what your life would be like if you smothered your so call beloved with a pillow right then & there.'

Not so easy: Ms McGlinn said the thoughts that her partner would love her more after they shared a child together were also 'crazy'

Ms McGlinn followed a number of 'brand rep mums' on Instagram and always admired their 'trendy' babies with their 'cool dribble bibs' and 'overrated teething toys.'

'Oh how I wanted that to be me & my kid,' she wrote.

'I'm now 12 months into it & every time I finally manage to shove her into an over priced boutique outfit to take a photo, the knees are already stained & dirty because I'd failed to sweep the floor in my "spare" time.

'I guess point of the story is mother hood isn't always what you see in the pictures.'

Real life? Ms McGlinn followed a number of 'brand rep mums' on Instagram and always admired their 'trendy' babies with their 'cool dribble bibs' and 'overrated teething toys'

Ms McGlinn said some days she feels as though she is 'killing it as a mum' but on other days, she gets 'baby s**t' on her hands and has food thrown in her face and feels less inspired.

'So let's face it I'm not the fit as f**k mum with perfect make up because I'm just to [sic] tired and my tummy no longer has abs but instead has a few stretch marks,' she concluded.

'I no longer have my perky boobs & pierced nipples but rather saggy t***ies fighting gravity, in skin tone coloured bras with next to nothing sex appeal & minimal lace.

Honesty: 'So let's face it I'm not the fit as f**k mum with perfect make up because I'm just to [sic] tired and my tummy no longer has abs but instead has a few stretch marks,' she wrote

'I still wear maternity tights because skinny jeans cut into my baby bearing hips. My beautifully smooth lasered vagina disappeared when the pregnancy hormones kicked in & now I'm back to a 5'oclock shadow shaving stubble.'

But despite it all, Ms McGlinn is proud of her beautiful baby and feels lucky to have her partner who loves her as she is.

'Maybe my child will grow up to see I tried my bloody hardest and maybe just maybe that's good enough for her. (But if she's anything like me then I'm sure that's another story). Stay tuned,' she wrote.

Happy family: But despite it all, Ms McGlinn is proud of her beautiful baby and feels lucky to have her partner who loves her as she is

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Ms McGlinn said she wrote the post when she was feeling 'tired, stressed and all round frustrated.'

'My daughter had been sick, I'd had to cancel her 1st birthday party after a busy week at work and a lack of sleep as she was waking every 20 minutes,' she said, adding that she was frustrated at more than her husband.

'It was the whole motherhood situation in general. I went from being such an organised person and as I looked at my messy room and thought "this is actually bulls**t".'

Not alone: 'I wanted other queens out there to know they weren't alone in their struggles and it was okay to write off your day before 9am and just give it the finger,' she told Daily Mail

Ms McGlinn said she was unsure whether to post on Facebook but after sharing it in a parenting group and receiving a positive response, she decided to take the plunge.

'I wanted other queens out there to know they weren't alone in their struggles and it was okay to write off your day before 9am and just give it the finger,' she said.

'I started "Me and Tahlz" on a mission to help women and even men laugh about motherhood and all the other s**t life throws at us in general.'

'You don't need a K-Mart white faux fur rug to take "perfect" pictures': Ms McGlinn wants women to know that they don't need to be 'perfect' to be a good parent

Ms McGlinn wants women to know that they don't need to be 'perfect' to be a good parent.

'You don't need a K-Mart white faux fur rug to take "perfect" pictures of your children. They aren't the photos you'll look back on and love. You'll look back at the ones of their cheesy grins with random teeth,' she said.

'You'll look back and think "I wasn't doing as s****y of a job as I thought".
When Olympic athletes are charging toward the finish line, twisting their bodies in mid-air or nailing a spike, shot or kick, the very last thing they need to worry about is their hair.

Its our job, however, to notice their hair, and what weve seen over the past two weeks are practical tight buns, swingy ponytails and braids of every variety.

'This year at the Olympics, the women are loving braids. Its the top request I receive once an athlete arrives to the P&G Salon, said celebrity hairstylist Gabriel Samra, who is stationed at the Olympic Village in Rio to glam up the competitors. 'Its such a stylish and polished look, but also really functional for athletes by keeping hair out of their face.

Feeling inspired by the athletes to not only to kick our workouts up a notch, but our gym hair game, too, we asked Gabriel and other top stylists to share their tips for achieving hairstyles with Olympian-level hold that will also transition easily for post-gym plans.

From the games to the gym: Get inspired by Olympians like American beach volleyball players Kerri Walsh Jennings (left) and April Ross (right) to step up your gym hair game

All of the pros agree that you can't go wrong with braids (but more on exact styles later) and that dry shampoo is a gym bag necessity.

Freshening up sweated-on strands with dry shampoo may seem like a no-brainer, but have you considered applying it beforehand? Max Gierl, senior stylist at New York's Mizu salon, told FEMAIL that the product 'absorbs sweat while working out' so you can spend less time in front of your gyms badly-lit mirrors afterward.

Celebrity hairstylists Chad Wood and Laura Polko both swear by Klorane Dry Shampoo With Oat Milk while Max reaches for Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo.

Read on below for more tricks and product recommendations, as well as six expert-approved and exercise-friendly styles to try with inspiration from both the competitors and celebs.

The Style: The Loose Braided Ponytail

Pro tip: A voluminous braided ponytail, like this one seen on actress January Jones, 38, will keep sweat off of your mid-lengths

'Keep volume in your braid during your workout,' said Max. 'This will keep the sweat off the mid-lengths so all youll have to do afterwards is hit the roots with a dryer and maybe follow up with some dry shampoo.'

Another functional option is to wrap a low, loose braid into a bun. 'It keeps hair from getting creased like it would with a ponytail and the ends from tangling. It also provides a nice texture,' Max added.

Shop products to get the look from left: Tigi Bed Head Big Head Volume Boosting Foam ($23, ulta.com) and Byredo Gypsy Water Hair Perfume ($62, byredo.com)

The Style: Double French Braids

Pro tip: Create a look like model Josephine Skriver's, 23, by braiding sections under instead of over each other

'Boxer braids are really big right now and I think they are the perfect way to keep the hair in place and out of your face, said Chad, whose clients include Hailey Baldwin and Chrissy Teigen. The key to achieving the style, he says, is to French braid your strands under instead over each other.

Shop products to get the look from left: Ouai Texturizing Spray ($26, theouai.com) and Garnier Fructis Extreme Hold Sheer Hairspray ($5, target.com)

The Style: The Messy Top Knot

Pro tip: Don't worry about flyaways post-class; as Jennifer Lopez, 47, proves, roughed-up texture can look chic

The best thing about this style? There is no right or wrong way to do it, said Chad.

He advises placing a ponytail high on the head and then wrapping the lengths around it in the shape of your choosing and securing with a handful of bobby pins.

Shop products to get the look from left: KMS California Hair Play Dry Wax ($21, ulta.com) and IGK Intern Flexible Hairspray ($29, sephora.com)

The Style: The Front Braid

Pro tip: Keep bangs or short layers out of your face by French braiding the section back like gymnast Simone Biles, 19

As champion gymnast Simone Biles demonstrated this Olympics, a small French braid is a polished way to secure bangs or short front layers.

If youre in a time crunch, you can also push the hair back with a headband. Max likes Lululemon's Cardio Cross Trainer Headband because it has grips on the sides that keep it from budging.

Shop products to get the look from left: Oribe Matte Waves Texture Lotion ($42, barneys.com) and Frizz Ease KeraFirm Firm Hold Hairspray ($9, target.com)

The style: The Sleek Low Ponytail

Pro tip: A sleek ponytail like Kim Kardashian's, 35, is a no-fuss way to go from the gym to happy hour without washing your hair

'I think the style that transitions best post-gym is a ponytail,' said Chad. 'With some dry shampoo and hairspray, you can create a sleek, middle-part low pony in seconds.'

If you want to remove the ponytail after your sweat sesh, Laura, who works with Kim Kardashian and Olivia Munn, recommends lightly wetting lengths with your fingers and then shaking strands out to get rid of a hair-tie crease.

Shop products to get the look from left: Evo Water Killer Dry Shampoo ($33, evohair.com) and Pantene Pro-V Airspray Hair Spray ($5, walmart.com)

The Style: The High Ponytail

Pro tip: Use a bungee elastic instead of a regular hair tie to get a high ponytail, like 27-year-old Olympic soccer player Alex Morgan's, to stay in place

The secret to achieving a no-budge high ponytail is to use an s-hook bungee instead of a regular hair tie.

'First, pull all the hair up to where you would like your pony to sit and hook the bungee into the bottom of the pony right under you hand. Then proceed to wrap it around the pony until tight and hook the end into the base of the pony,' advised Chad.

If the crown of your head feels greasy after your workout, Judy McGuiness, senior stylist at New York's Mizu salon, said that you can take just the front section of your hair ( roughly a 4" by 4" square on the top front of your head), wash it in the sink and restyle. 'It falls over everything else, creating the illusion that you have cleaner hair,' she said.
Kristina Clarke found her daughter's toes were purple and bleeding

A baby girl could have lost her toes if not for a humble tube of hair removal cream.

Kristina Clarke, from Sydney, was changing her daughter Bryleigh's nappy when she noticed her toes were bright purple and swollen.

Panicking, Ms Clarke realised the five month old's foot was tangled in hair so tightly it had cut off the circulation to her toes.

What a relief: Kristina Clarke and her daughter Bryleigh after a painful ordeal with the five month old's foot

Tangled toes: Bryleigh's toes became purple and swollen after a loose hair wrapped itself around them

The mother-of-three tugged at the hair to yank it loose but that only pulled it tighter.

Next, she used nail clippers to cut the hair away but was forced to stop when baby Bryleigh's foot started bleeding.

Kristina says: 'I was getting her ready for her bottle and, a little bit unusually, I had dressed her in socks and tights.

'I took her sock off and her toes were swollen and purple  hair was tangled around them.

'I freaked out. We tried to cut it off with nail clippers but it just made it worse. Her toes started bleeding.'

Happy baby: The hair was wrapped so tightly around Bryleigh's toes they turned bright purple and started bleeding. She is pictured at home after the hair was removed

The nervous parents rushed their daughter to Blacktown Hospital where doctors also struggled to loosen the tangled hair.

'At Blacktown they used a stitch cutter to try and get it loose,' Kristina says.

'We waited for four hours after they cut some of the hair loose but one of her toes was still swollen.

'We thought about going home but I could never forgive myself if we did and she ended up losing a toe.'

Welcome home: Five-month-old Bryleigh was taken home safe and sound after doctors removed the tangled hair from her foot

A mother's warning: In 18 years of parenting Kristina says she had never come across hair tourniquet syndrome. She says all mums should keep a can of hair removal cream handy just in case

After a nervy four-hour wait the swelling in Bryleigh's foot had worsened and the couple were sent to Westmead Children's Hospital to see an orthopaedic surgeon.

HAIR TOURNIQUET SYNDROME IS RELATIVELY COMMON IN INFANTS Hair tourniquet syndrome is relatively common in infants and toddlers. It happens when tightly-wrapped hair cuts off the blood supply to a child's digits. It is usually loose hair lodged in socks but can also be threads of fabric from bedding or clothes. It typically affects fingers or toes but can also affect earlobes and even genitals. Swollen, purple digits are a common and easy to spot symptom of the syndrome. It is easy to remove tangled hair although in rare cases digits may need to be amputated. Source: NCBI Advertisement

Finally, the surgeon hit upon the idea of using hair removal cream to get rid of the pesky hair.

'I was absolutely baffled when they brought the cream out,' Kristina says.

'I thought it was numbing cream or something for an operation.'

Although the incident baffled Kristina, doctors told her it was the third case of hair tourniquet syndrome they had seen that week.

'I honestly thought she was going to lose her toe. I've been a mum for 18 years and it has never even crossed my mind.

'But doctors said it was the third case they had seen that week.

'It seems everyone knows about this but no one knows what to do about it.'

Kristina has a simple message for any mums that find themselves in a similar position.

'Trust your instincts.

'Don't panic - but if you feel like your child needs to go to hospital there is nothing wrong with taking them there.
When Laura Trott took to the podium in Rio's velodrome this week, she took her place in history as Britain's most decorated female Olympian, in more than one way.

For along with her growing collection of gold medals, the cyclist's earrings twinkled in the glare of photographers' flashbulbs.

The 24-year-old's triumphant smile was accessorised with this summer's status symbol for style-conscious women: multiple ear piercings.

When Laura Trott took to the podium in Rio's velodrome this week, she took her place in history as Britain's most decorated female Olympian, in more than one way - her earful of jewellery

With her long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, she revealed her right ear has double piercings in the lobe and a diamond-encrusted 'helix ring' further up, while her left lobe is decorated with two different sized diamond studs.

While few of us will ever hang an Olympic medal around our necks, style-conscious, middle-class women are going for multiple gold in their ears, emulating other high-profile stars who are no longer satisfied with two simple hoops or studs.

Where once a modest tattoo was the status symbol for professional 40-something women hoping to prove they still had 'it' (think Samantha Cameron's ankle dolphin), middle-class dinner parties are now peppered with women sporting backswept hairstyles that show off ears embellished with twinkling stars, gemstone flowers and glittering hoops.

No longer the preserve of rebellious, gothic teenagers, the multiple ear piercing has gone upmarket with several high-end fine jewellers attracting a glittering clientele.

Celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Emma Watson and Scarlett Johannson have all trodden the path to New York's piercing queen Maria Tash, whose delicate fine jewellery caters for the luxury end of the market.

Last week Tash opened her second studio in London's Liberty, where specially trained piercers act as ear designers to help customers create the look they want.

Laura revealed her right ear has double piercings in the lobe and a diamond-encrusted 'helix ring' further up, while her left lobe is decorated with two different sized diamond studs

Kevin, head piercer at the Maria Tash Liberty London studio (like many who are 'legendary' in their fields, he goes by only his first name), says that the majority of his clients are professional, designer-clad women looking for something pretty and feminine, with diamond-set jewellery proving the most popular.

With prices running into thousands of pounds for an individual earring, it's not a throwaway trend.

'Over the past two or three years, multiple piercing has definitely become more of a fashion statement among middle-class women wanting an individual look they can also wear to the office,' he explains.

'Women often come in with a fixed idea of what they're after, but we are there to help them create a look that works with the anatomy of their ear and is flattering to their proportions.

'So we design piercings with that in mind, choosing jewellery that sits properly in their ear.'

Multiple piercing opens up a whole new set of options for those of us only familiar with traditional lobe piercing.

Actresses Cate Blanchett is a fan of ear candy, choosing to wrap 'cuffs' around the rims of her ears

Thanks to a host of celebrities choosing to decorate their ears with ever-more intricate piercing patterns, even normally conservative women are becoming braver in their choices.

Actresses Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence and M & S model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley are all fans of ear candy, choosing to wrap 'cuffs' around the rims of their ears. Others, including Doctor Who actress Jenna Coleman, hang chains and gems from their lobes.

Thanks to a host of celebrities choosing to decorate their ears with ever-more intricate piercing patterns, even normally conservative women are becoming braver in their choices

Meanwhile, Brooklyn Beckham's girlfriend Chloe Grace Moretz and actress Emma Watson are fans of 'crawlers', earrings designed to fit from the lobe up around the rim of the ear, to create the illusion of an earful of jewellery.

Then you have Kate Moss, Sienna Miller, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus who like to display hoops and studs on their inner ear as well as their lobes and helixes (the rim of the ear).

There are many places where an ear can be pierced. First there is the helix, the outer rim of cartilage. Then there is the outer conch (the next layer of 'rim'), which Jennifer Aniston has pierced. Then comes the conch - the third 'step' into the ear - and the tragus, the tiny 'flap' of cartilage in the middle of the ear, where it joins your face.

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini likes to display hoops and studs on their inner ear as well as their lobes and helixes (the rim of the ear)

Then, believe it or not, is the rook and the daith. The rook is a diagonal ridge of flat cartilage that runs across the ear and the daith is the ear's innermost cartilage fold.

Therapists say all procedures are safe and relatively painless if carried out by a qualified therapist.
But the outspoken comedian has been widely mocked for his post

Twitter users are mercilessly mocking a comedian who posted a tweet about the 'ideal male body'.

Steven Crowder, a radio host and former Fox News contributor, has ruffled feathers in the past for his contentious views on everything from religion to feminism.

And now a tweet he posted back in January, lauding a Russian MMA fighter as having the 'ideal male body' has gone viral, with hundreds of Twitter users posting memes mocking him.

Steven's tweet hailing a Russian MMA fighter as having the 'ideal male body' has gone viral with hundreds of Twitter users posting memes mocking him

His original post showed a picture of a shirtless Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko in the gym, showing off his stocky build.

In the typo-ridden tweet, Steven wrote: 'This is the ideal make body. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like (sic).'

The actor and comedian came under fire earlier this year for calling Amy Schumer a 'fat feminist' after she stripped off for an Annie Leibovitz calendar in ablog entitled 'being naked while unattractive is not "brave"'.

So perhaps it's no surprise that his latest post drew widespread ridicule, with Twitter user Kevin sharing his very own version of the 'ideal male body', Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander reclining on his bed in nothing but a pair of boxers.

Twitter user Kevin shared his very own version of the 'ideal male body', Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander reclining on his bed in nothing but a pair of boxers

Gabe shared an image of a topless Jeff Goldblum photoshopped as a centaur, with the caption: 'Believe in yourself'

Ralph Douthat used a picture of Homer SImpson gorging on a chicken drumstick

While Gabe shared an image of a topless Jeff Goldblum photoshopped as a centaur, with the caption: 'Believe in yourself'.

Ralph Douthat used a picture of Homer SImpson gorging on a chicken drumstick, while Vladinka shared an image of a man wearing mind-bogglingly wide-legged jeans which give the appearance of thick legs.

While Steve The Rememer's offering was a man with an abnormally thick neck and bulbous head - a creature dreamed up by Australia's Transport Accident Commission to show what humans would look like if they had evolved to survive car crashes.

Vladinka shared an image of a man wearing mind-bogglingly wide-legged jeans which give the appearance of thick legs

The Rememer's offering was a man with an abnormally thick neck and head - a creature designed to show what humans would look like if they had evolved to survive car crashes

Eric's 'ideal male body' was a creepy Leg-inspired costume from Comic-Con 2016. He even tagged Steven Crowder in the tweet, which has been shared and liked hundreds of times

John shared a picture of a a terrifyingly muscular stuffed lion sporting a six-pack and what appears to be a pair of wings

Eric's 'ideal male body' was a creepy Leg-inspired costume from Comic-Con 2016. He even tagged Steven Crowder in the tweet, which has been shared and liked hundreds of times.

John shared a picture of a a terrifyingly muscular stuffed lion sporting a six-pack and what appears to be a pair of wings.

While one Twitter user shared a picture of the video game character Toad, sporting a pair of impossibly long legs and some high-heeled boots.

One Twitter user shared a picture of the video game character Toad, sporting a pair of impossibly long legs and some high-heeled boots

Rahcel jumped on the bandwagon, with her 'ideal male body' being a bizarre Incredible Hulk-inspired Cosplay outfit with a gaping mouth and drawn-on six pack

One Twitter user known only as Gasai photoshopped the popular 'Shirley' baby-face meme onto th ebody of a fully-grown man, creating a terrifying result

Alola Form Bidoof tweeted an image which has been shared by hundreds of people, showing a deformed radish that looks suspiciously like a reclining woman with her legs crossed

Rahcel jumped on the bandwagon, with her 'ideal male body' being a bizarre Incredible Hulk-inspired Cosplay outfit with a gaping mouth and drawn-on six pack.

One Twitter user known only as Gasai photoshopped the popular 'Shirley' baby-face meme onto th ebody of a fully-grown man, creating a terrifying result.

Meanwhile Alola Form Bidoof tweeted an image which has been shared by hundreds of people, showing a deformed radish that looks suspiciously like a reclining woman with her legs crossed.

Yuppers Puppers! decided that a mound of jelly perfectly represented the ideal male body

While Kel-C tweeted an image of what appears to be an extremely obese cat reclining

'Peak performance': One man simply tweeted a selfie covered in a thick face mask

Johnny tweeted what appears to be a baby wearing a plastic egg cup on his head

Other 'ideal male bodies' included a mound of jelly, an obese cat, a man wearing a face mask and, bizarrely, what appears to be a baby wearing a plastic egg cup on his head.
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Over 30 outfits representing key moments in the Queen's life and reign, including family celebrations and State and ceremonial occasions, have been brought together in the third of the trilogy of exhibitions marking Her Majesty's 90th birthday year.

The selection of outfits are to go on display at Buckingham Palace as part of an exhibition marking the monarch's 90th birthday this year, which has seen over 150 outfits worn by The Queen presented across the three Palaces, with each special exhibition displaying a selection of outfits chosen because of their close association with the location.

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.

A hacking jacket and jodhpurs made by livery tailors Bernard Weatherill in the 1980s, right, is going on display. Queen Elizabeth ll wore the riding gear as she visited the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May 1988, left

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.

Among the latest outfit to be unearthed is a riding jacket, jodhpurs and riding hat made for Princess Elizabeth by the equestrian and livery tailors Bernard Weatherill in 1947.

There's also a hacking jacket and jodhpurs made by livery tailors Bernard Weatherill in the 1980s for the avid horse fan.

Elsewhere, a silk tunic and silk-satin embroidered trousers worn by Princess Elizabeth as 'Aladdin' in the 1943 production of Aladdin at Windsor Castle will be displayed.

There's also a piece worn by Princess Margaret - a crimson silk-satin jacket trimmed in gold and crimson brocade with a matching sleeveless long silk dress worn by Princess Margaret as 'Princess Roxana' in the 1943 production of Aladdin at Windsor Castle alongside her sister.

A Crimson silk-satin jacket trimmed in gold and crimson brocade with a matching sleeveless long silk dress, left, worn by Princess Margaret as 'Princess Roxana' in the 1943 production of Aladdin at Windsor Castle, right, is on display

Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth, both in costume, pictured during a royal pantomime production of 'Aladdin' at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, Great Britain, 15 December 1943

A silk tunic and silk-satin embroidered trousers worn by Princess Elizabeth as 'Aladdin' in the 1943 production of Aladdin at Windsor Castle, left. A riding jacket, jodhpurs and riding hat made for Princess Elizabeth by the equestrian and livery tailors Bernard Weatherill in 1947, right

A tunic with draped sleeves and a cloak with a long train worn by 'the Emperor' in the 1943 production of Aladdin at Windsor Castle, part of the Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from The Queen's Wardrobe

A label sewn into the back of the jodhpurs dated 1947, by livery tailors Bernard Weatherill, is part of the Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from The Queen's Wardrobe' exhibition at Windsor Castle

The most recent collection of outfits, which opened to the public from July 23, featured 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.

A piece of the set designed by Claude Watham for the 1943 production of Aladdin at Windsor Castle

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 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 also featured 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
Tiffany Trump is back in New York City after visiting her family in Georgia over the weekend, but her mom Marla Maples is still reminiscing about the special time they spent together.

The 52-year-old mom took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a photo of her and Tiffany celebrating her father Stanley's 75th birthday alongside their family members Danielle and Kim.

'Daddy's 75th Birthday Love shared w/his sweet girls @TiffanyATrump @daniellenmaples Kim Maples [sic],' Marla captioned the image, which sees them with Stanley before he blew out the candles on his birthday cake.

All smiles: Tiffany Trump (far left) celebrated her grandfather Stanley's 75th birthday with her mom Marla Maples (second from left) during their weekend trip to Georgia

Heading south: Marla and Tiffany posed for this scenic photo while enjoying a quiet vacation in the 52-year-old's home state

While Marla has her hands on her father's shoulders in the picture, her half-sister Danielle has her arms wrapped around her and her 22-year-old daughter Tiffany.

Tiffany, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania this spring, looks relaxed in a spaghetti strap floral top and jeans as she smiles for the camera, and Marla seems ecstatic to be celebrating her dad's birthday in her home state.

The mother-daughter duo headed south to spend time with their friends and family over the weekend, and on Sunday afternoon Marla shared a photo of herself posed with her Tiffany outside.

'So good coming home! Thank you #Georgia #southernlife #southernfamily me & my girl @TiffanyTrump #farmlife with lifetime friends [sic],' Marla captioned the image, which sees her and Tiffany standing in front of a body of water that appears to be a lake.

Already missing home: Marla shared this photo of herself watching the sunset before leaving Georgia

Marla, who grew up in Dalton, Georgia, looked youthful in a low-cut white and blue jumpsuit that highlighted her slender figure.

Meanwhile, Tiffany showed off her tan in a short floral dress that she paired with matching maroon flats. Although she grew up with her mom in California, Tiffany appeared to be right at home in the south.

Marla and her daughter both left their blonde hair loose around their shoulders, and Tiffany also took to Instagram over the weekend to share a picture of the scenic view, including the small red barn they posed in front of.

Look of love: Last week, college grad Tiffany was busy splashing around in a pool with her boyfriend Ross Mechanic

Rest and relaxation: A few days ago, Marla was enjoying a yoga retreat in Tulum, Mexico

Tiffany, who has four half-siblings, is Donald Trump's only child with his second-wife, Marla, whom he divorced in 1999.

On Monday, Marla posted a photo of herself enjoying a sunset during her trip.

'Leaving #Georgia with a perfect sunset on my mind & the love of friends & family in my heart - thanks @karenkbutler and family for the moments of love, friendship, & the great photos!! [sic],' she captioned the snapshot.

Meanwhile, Tiffany revealed on Instagram that she was back in New York, writing: 'I spy NYC #backhome.'

Home sweet home: Tiffany also took to Instagram on Sunday to share a scenic photo of the barn and lake they posed in front of

Support system: Marla and 21-year-old Ross traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, last month to support Tiffany during her speech at the Republican National Convention

But before they ventured to Georgia together, Marla and and Tiffany were on their own separate summer vacations. While Marla was on a relaxing yoga retreat in Tulum, Mexico, last week, Tiffany was enjoying some fun in the sun with her boyfriend Ross Mechanic.

Tiffany's 21-year-old beau shared a photo of himself playing in the pool with his love, who is all smiles as they hold on to a shark-shaped raft.

Ross, who still has one year left at the University of Pennsylvania, seems to be dedicated to spending as much time as possible with his girlfriend since she left the Philadelphia campus for good this summer.

Loving beau: Despite coming from a family of Democrats, Ross happily posed with Tiffany throughout the RNC

Family obligations: Tiffany, who is pictured at the RNC with her father Donald and her half-sister Ivanka, has been busy campaigning for the Republican presidential nominee

Although Ross comes from a family of Democrats, he happily attended the Republican National Convention with Tiffany last month.

Marla was unbelievably proud of her daughter, who gave a heartfelt speech about her 70-year-old father at the RNC.

During the convention, Marla posted a snapshot of her and Ross posed with Tiffany backstage after she addressed the crowd.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Irina dyed her

Irina Shayk is showing off her international appeal after stripping down to pose completely naked for a stunning new photoshoot for GQ Italia  which debuted just a few days after it was revealed she went blonde to cover Vogue Russia.

The 30-year-old Russian model, who covers the magazine's September issue, flaunts her assets in a hauntingly beautiful black and white spread that was shot by Mario Sorrenti.

The cover sees Irina topless and lying on a plush couch as she gives the camera a come-hither stare.

Flawless figure: Irina Shayk stripped down and posed naked for her latest spread in GQ Italia

Natural beauty: The 30-year-old Russian model casually covered her bare breasts with her hand during the stunning black and white shoot

Pure seduction: In one provocative photo from the shoot, Irina can be seen kneeling in front of a couch and resting her breasts on the cushion while looking at the camera

Inside the magazine, the brunette beauty is posed in various stages of undress where her breasts and back are partially exposed.

In one image, Irina is completely naked and sprawled across a couch, leaving her pert derriere exposed while she lies on her stomach.

Other artful shots see her covering her bare breasts with her hands as her dress slips past her shoulders and exposes her chest.

Come-hither stare: Irina, who was photographed by Mario Sorrenti, scored the magazine's highly-coveted September issue

Fan club: Irina gushed that Mario makes the women he photographs look 'confident, sexy and beautiful'

The cover star looks lithe and elegant throughout the spread, and in one particularly provocative photo from the shoot, she can be seen kneeling in front of the couch and resting her breasts on the cushion while turning over her shoulder to look at the camera.

To coincide with the shoot, Irina was interviewed by Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci, and she had nothing but nice things to say about speaking with him and being photographed by Mario.

'Mario makes women look so confident, sexy and beautiful. It was such a fun day, and being interviewed by Ricky was so much fun as we are like family,' she said.

Nearly naked: Throughout the spread, the brunette beauty is posed in various stages of undress

Social media star: The risque images scored thousands of likes from many of her 6.4 million Instagram followers

Simply stunning: Irina looks lithe and elegant in the haunting photos that highlight her natural beauty

And on Thursday, she took to Instagram to give a 'big thank you' to Riccardo, Mario, and the rest of the team on the shoot  and, of course, the steamy photos scored thousands of likes from her 6.4 million followers.

Earlier this week, Vogue Russia debuted its September issue, which sees the lifelong brunette sporting golden blonde locks  proving that her beauty has no bounds.

'It's such a honor to be on the September Vogue cover of my home country,' the supermodel said in a statement. 'I shot with Mert and Marcus in LA, so it was truly a dream team and once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Glamorous friends: The cover star was also interviewed by Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci for her profile in the magazine

Making memories: 'Being interviewed by Ricky was so much fun as we are like family,' she said

'After over 10 years in the industry it's a milestone in my career I will never forget, plus my mom and family can read the entire magazine!'

In one of the images from the shoot, she exposes a whole lot of leg while lying on a ping pong table as two Speedo-clad men with six-packs attempt to play.

'When u learn that #blondeshavemorefun,' she joked on Instagram of finding herself in the enviable scenario, surrounded by hunky, nearly-nude men.

Change up: Earlier this week, Vogue Russia debuted its September issue, which sees the lifelong brunette sporting golden blonde locks

Nothing beats an original: Although Irina dyed her hair for the shoot, she quickly returned to being a brunette, sharing this photo on Instagram last week

Much as she liked the new 'do, though, it doesn't seem like she felt it was a keeper. According to the magazine, hairstylist Shay Ashual dyed her hair especially for the shoot  meaning the model really committed to the color instead of opting for a wig.

Afterward, though, she immediately went back to brown, and was pictured with dark locks as recently as this weekend.

While this is her first time on the cover of her home country's cover of Vogue, Irina is actually a Vogue cover veteran.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.Tuesday's New York Times, in its "Science Times" section, related an interesting fact regarding the 2016 presidential election: the American Psychiatric Association, in 1973, had adopted what it termed "the Goldwater Rule," which stated that it would be unethical for any member of the organization to attempt to diagnose a public figure's mental condition "unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement."

The reason for adopting the Goldwater Rule, as one might guess, had to do with the Republican Party having made then-Sen. Barry Goldwater its candidate for president of the United Statesand the almost simultaneous publication, just one month before the election, of an issue of Fact magazine, whose cover read, in large, bold letters, "1,189 Psychiatrists Say Goldwater Is Psychologically Unfit To Be President."

Goldwater, of course, lost that election, and though it's unlikely that Fact had played much of a role in that loss, Goldwater nonetheless sued Fact Publisher Ralph Ginzburg and Editor Warren Boroson for libel in 1968.

Now, by almost any standard, Goldwater would have made a poor president. For instance, he had openly refused to sign the Civil Rights Act which struck down official segregation laws nationwide, wanted to privatize Social Security (if not get rid of it altogether), and spoke positively about the concept that the Vietnam War could be ended "by one impulse act; you could press a button and wipe out 300 million people before sundown."

Nonetheless, Goldwater won his lawsuitbut the reason for that win may have had as much to do with Fact's publisher as it did with the words that were published.

The year was 1962, and then-U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy had just indicted Ralph Ginzburg in Philadelphia for distributing obscene literature through the mailsbut in fact, what Ginzburg was convicted of was a form of pandering: sending out advertisements that implied that the works for saleGinzburg's EROS magazine, his Liaison newsletter and his publication of Rey Anthony's memoir, The Housewife's Handbook on Selective Promiscuitywere sexier and more physically revealing than they actually were.

Among the words that got Ginzburg convicted were claims like, "EROS is a new quarterly devoted to the subjects of Love and Sex. In the few short weeks since its birth, EROS has established itself as the rave of the American intellectual communityand the rage of prudes everywhere! And it's no wonder: EROS handles the subjects of Love and Sex with complete candor." Also, "Are you a member of the sexual elite?" read a Liaison ad. "That is, are you among the few happy and enlightened individuals who believe that a man and woman can make love without feeling pangs of conscience? Can you read about love and sex and discuss them without blushing and stammering? If so, you ought to know about an important new periodical called Liaison." Ginzburg was also accused of seeking to bulk-mail his publications from the towns of Intercourse and Blue Ball, Pa. (yes, they're real towns) and finally did send them from post offices in Middlesex, N.J.

From a 21st century point of view, it seems incredible that Ginzburg could be convicted for suggestive comments like that, but his case was first tried in district court in Philly in 1962, with the conviction affirmed by the Third Circuit, and later by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1966.

By that time, Ginzburg had gotten the idea that maybe making his living with sexually suggestive materials wasn't his best option, so he started Fact magazine, described as a "scathingly satiric journal of comment on current society and politics," in January of '64, and he continued publishing it monthly for the next three and a half years.

But the point is, Ginzburg's conviction was big news across the countryafter all, what "obscenity" conviction isn't?and that loss at the Supreme Court level may very well have influenced the jurors in the Goldwater libel suit two years later ... which in turn definitely did influence the American Psychiatric Association, which named its rule after the libel suit's victor.

And that's why you won't see many psychiatrists weighing in on Donald Trump's mental state over the coming monthsand the American voting public therefore won't have the benefit of their insights into this clearly disturbed individual.
Australia's best restaurants were named at the annual Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards, and one of the standouts is modern Vietnamese-Australian restaurant Anchovy in Melbourne.

But chef Thi Le, who won the Best New Talent Award on Wednesday night at the awards dinner in Sydney, almost didn't open the popular eatery.

The rising star revealed to Daily Mail Australia that she originally intended to open a chicken shop - but serendipitously, a set back with the all important rotisserie set her on a different path.

Hot new chef: Thi Le (above) won the Gourmet Traveller Best New Talent award on Wednesday night

Hot spot: Her restaurant Anchovy (above) serves modern Vietnamese-Australia fusion in Melbourne

'I couldn't find a cheap rotisserie on eBay': Ms Le said she almost opened a charcoal chicken shop instead of the restaurant

'I was going to open a charcoal chicken shop, but couldn't find a cheap rotisserie on eBay,' Ms Le said. 'From there it just evolved in the space we are in now.'

Anchovy is far from a charcoal chicken shop, taking South East Asian inspired dishes and adapting them, describing its cuisine as 'Modern Asian. Modern Australian. A little bit in between.'

Despite its popularity, Ms Le said opening the restaurant had been a big learning experience, and that winning the best new talent award was 'surreal'.

Anticipated: The Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards were held at David Thompson's new Sydney venture Long Chim (above)

Delicious: The chef hasn't had a restaurant in Sydney for 14 years, so Long Chim's street food is hotly anticipated

Incredible ingrediants: Chefs served up complex, fresh and spicey food on the night

It would certainty be surreal to win the award, especially given the company she was in at the event.

As well as attendees that included Neil Perry and Kylie Kwong, the awards were hosted by David Thompson at his new Sydney restaurant Long Chim.

Thompson, who opened one of the world's best restaurant, Bangkok-based Nahm, served up traditional Thai food with complex flavours, fresh ingredients and a kick of chilli.

The food was so spicy in fact, that one of the tables nearest the kitchen was seen coughing and sneezing from the chilli as chefs cooked up a storm next to them.

Famous faces: Neil Perry (above), whose restaurant Rockpool has been listed as number 11 on Gourmet Traveller's top 100 list, was at the chef's night of nights

Thumbs up: The Sydney boys from Restaurant Hubert (above) won both new restaurant of the year and wine list of the year

Delectable: Food highlights of the night included crunchy prawns (above), minced prawn and pork soup, and grilled ocean trout

Despite this, attendees seemed to be having a ball, devouring the food and cocktails in between announcements for the other categories of the awards.

Igni in Geelong took out the regional restaurant of the year award, whilst Pink Moon Saloon in Adelaide won bar of the year.

Restaurant Hubert in Sydney, just around the corner from where the awards were being held in Martin Place, scored two prizes, new restaurant of the year and wine list of the year.

The big award of the nightrestaurant of the yearwent to Momofuku Seiobo, the fine-dining Barbadian food mecca in Sydney.

All awards, bar one, were judged by the Gourmet Traveller team including editor Anthea Loucas Bosha and chief restaurant critic Pat Nourse.

Whos who of Sydney: Kylie Kwong (left), Ronni Khan (centre) and John Susman (right) were among the faces in the crows on Wednesday night

Perfectly paired: Food was served with delicious cocktails like the rum-based Vittoria-tini (above)

Nice guy of the industry: Ben Shewry (above) won the peer-voted chef of the year award

The exception to this was the chef of the year award, which was voted on anonymously by the chefs from 2015's top 100 restaurants.

It went to Ben Shewry from Attica in Melbourne, who is well known not only for his food but for being one of the nicest chefs in the business.

Even as he was being interviewed after winning, other chefs were congratulating Mr Shewry and telling Daily Mail what a great guy he was.

'I treat all my guests with respect,' he said. 'Whether they're a food critic, or a regular, or a one off customer, they get treated the same.'
People with HIV are not infectious if they consistently take antiretroviral drugs that suppress the virus, according to a groundbreaking new consensus statement.

For years, doctors have insisted that medication merely minimizes the risk of transmission.

And many hit out at HIV-positive Charlie Sheen as 'reckless' last year when he claimed he could not pass the infection to a partner because his drugs eliminated the risk.

But now, in an historic move, New York's assistant commissioner for the Bureau of HIV/AIDS has become the first US health official to back the notion that effective treatment removes the risk of transmission.

Groundbreaking: For years, doctors have insisted that drugs merely minimize the risk. But now health officials have come together to say antiretroviral drugs make the risk 'negligible'

WHO IS NYC'S TRAILBLAZING HIV/AIDS EXPERT? Dr Demetre Daskalakis, New York City's assistant commissioner for the HIV bureau It is hardly the first unconventional move from Dr Demetre Daskalakis. A physician, LGBT activist, and spin class instructor, he was drafted in by the health department two years ago. His brief was to help state officials connect with a community that has long felt marginalized and ignored by authorities. He did just that. In 2014 there were fears meningitis could become the next big health scare after HIV. Dr Daskalakis took to sex clubs, gay clubs, and late-night venues with a briefcase of vaccinations. Mingling with the revelers, he spoke to them about the concerns, and persuaded them to let him inject a vaccination. Advertisement

'Stigma runs deeper than data in so many way,' Dr Demetre Daskalakis told Daily Mail Online on Thursday, days after signing the consensus with counterparts in Australia, Denmark, and Switzerland.

'Several strong lines of evidence indicate that consistent viral suppression is truly HIV prevention.

'I hope that this consensus will address the long-running tendency to look at people with HIV as vectors of disease.'

The document declares that peer-reviewed medical studies prove a person with HIV who is on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and has an undetectable viral load for six months has a 'negligible risk' of transmitting the virus.

Since the development of ART in the mid-nineties, treatments have become much more tolerable with fewer side effects and easier regimens of once-a-day pills.

A person with HIV becomes 'undetectable' when ART suppresses the virus to a level so low in their blood that it cannot be detected by measurements.

The consensus is the first of its kind to bring together leading researchers, HIV activists and communications experts to share the groundbreaking evidence with the public.

It is not a new concept: studies have been reaching this conclusion for years.

But recent years and months have seen the release of far more detailed studies, including a more accurate balance of homosexual and heterosexual participants.

And so, for the last few months, Dr Daskalakis and other scientists in the field have been working on a statement to promote the data.

He explains that 'negligible' does not mean 'impossible'. Science can never conclude zero risk.

It does mean, however, that people with HIV and an undetectable viral load can be confident the risk is so low it's not worth worrying about.

When someone is virally-suppressed, the chance of them transmitting HIV to a partner is so close to zero it is almost nothing.

To put it in context, Dr Daskalakis describes a scenario: imagine going into a bar and seeing two identical twins who are equally attractive.

One is virally-suppressed on ART the other is untested. Which do you go for?

Obviously, he says, go for the virally-suppressed twin.

'People need to know that any HIV test result - whether positive or negative - is a good result,' he told Daily Mail Online.

'If the result is positive, you know where you stand. Then you get treatment, and - importantly - stay in treatment. Then you are in a much better position than if you were untested.

'Being sure about your own health by taking HIV medications means playing and staying sure for your entire community.

'The challenge is to sustain viral suppression by maintaining a relationship with an HIV healthcare provider who can support continued and consistent antiretroviral adherence.'

In New York, health officials have made great and rapid strides in viral suppression.

The most recent surveillance data indicates that 72 per cent of New Yorkers with HIV are undetectable.

However, only an estimated 30 per cent of people with HIV in the U.S. are undetectable.

This points to the need for much greater awareness about the prevention benefits of ART and improved access to HIV testing treatment and care.

The consensus has been hailed as a breakthrough by HIV-prevention activists.

Bruce Richman, executive director of the Prevention Access Campaign, which led the initiative, told Daily Mail Online: 'The consensus from the world's experts is important to clarify the confusing and inaccurate messaging about transmission risk and the benefits of treatment.'

Richman, who has HIV, speaks from experience.

'It can be frustrating to say the least when people with HIV and our partners are seeking accurate information online and even from our healthcare providers about our sexual and reproductive health and we find conflicting and exaggerated descriptions of the risk.

'Despite being highly trained, my HIV doctor here in NYC greatly overestimated the transmission risk.

'Understanding the risk from an undetectable viral load is actually negligible is transformative on many levels for people with HIV.

'It means that people with HIV can date, have healthy sex lives and can conceive children without the fear of passing on the virus.

'This news can help lift decades of HIV-related stigma and discrimination,' Richman says.

Many hit out at HIV-positive Charlie Sheen as 'reckless' last year when he claimed he could not pass the infection to a partner because his drugs eliminated the risk. Now doctors are coming forward to support his claim

Richman and the researchers hope that it will also provide an additional incentive for people with HIV to initiate and adhere to a successful ART regimen.

Dr Myron Cohen, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UNC School of Medicine and the Principal Investigator of HPTN 052 the first landmark clinical study on the subject, also signed the consensus.

He said: 'I'm pleased that Dr Daskalakis and the NYC Health Department joined the consensus on the dual benefits of early treatment to protect the health of people with HIV and prevent HIV transmission to their sexual partners.

'We hope that bringing the leading experts together will clear up mixed messages about the subject'.

In addition to Dr Daskalakis and Dr Cohen, the consensus statement was endorsed by principal investigators and experts from each of the leading studies that examined this issue.
US researchers are appealing for healthy people to be deliberately injected with Zika.

It is part of a desperate bid to find a cure for the mosquito-borne virus as it spreads in Florida, the only place with local infections in mainland America.

As of Thursday, there were 35 people being treated for Zika caught from local mosquitoes in Miami and Palm Beach, with the figure rising every day.

If government regulators give approval to the medical team in Baltimore, Maryland, they hope to infect thousands of nonpregnant people with the virus.

They will then watch them and track how their bodies react.

Desperate times...! Medics are calling on healthy Americans to get injected with Zika so they can see how their bodies react and learn more about the virus. It comes as research teams race to develop a jab. In this photo from last month, the first volunteer receives a trial jab

The bizarre experiment would be carried out in winter, when mosquitoes aren't biting, to prevent the deliberate infection from starting an epidemic.

If a mosquito were to bite one of the participants, they would become infected and would then be able to spread Zika.

The quest for a vaccine began less than a year ago as Brazil's massive outbreak revealed that Zika, once dismissed as a nuisance virus, can harm a fetus' brain if a woman is infected during pregnancy.

Now, researchers in the United States have begun safety testing of two vaccine candidates, and more experimental shots are poised to enter that preliminary testing soon.

Any that seem promising will have to be tested in thousands of people in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean that are hard-hit by the mosquito-borne virus  the only way to prove if an experimental vaccine really protects.

Even if all goes well, a vaccine wouldn't be available for general use any time soon.

But a different kind of research also can offer clues for vaccine development.

It's called a human challenge study, when healthy  and nonpregnant  people agree to be injected deliberately with a virus, mimicking natural infection while scientists track how their bodies react.

Jabbing someone with Zika is faster than waiting around for a mosquito to bite them to see if an experimental vaccine provides protection. Miami officials still haven't found Zika positive mosquitoes, despite clear evidence that people are catching the virus from local insects

The first question is even more basic: How much of the virus does it take to infect someone?

If government regulators agree, researchers could find out by injecting paid volunteers with different amounts of lab-grown Zika virus as early as December in a Baltimore hospital.

That information will help the researchers later, when they're ready to test an experimental Zika vaccine.

'We're looking at these human challenge protocols not only as an important step in vaccine development but as a means to learn more about Zika,' said Dr Anna Durbin of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who is leading the work.

'We can look at things that you just can't do in someone who's naturally infected.'

Amid the development of Zika vaccines, here are some key questions answered:

WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL VACCINES?

Two so-called DNA vaccines have begun preliminary safety testing, one made by the National Institutes of Health and the other by Pennsylvania-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals.

They mark a new kind of technology.

Traditionally, vaccines are made using a dead or weakened virus to train the body's immune system to recognize that infection and fight it off. DNA vaccines may be easier to make.

Scientists used a circular piece of DNA, called a 'plasmid,' to carry genes that prompt the body itself to produce certain Zika virus proteins, alerting the immune system.

That piece of trickery worked in animals. The phase 1 studies in dozens of people will check for safety, and whether the vaccinations rev up human immunity enough to justify further tests.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER OPTIONS?

'We are right now in a race of time to get the best vaccine,' said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Multiple candidates are important as there's no way to predict which kind will work best.

The DNA vaccines simply were ready for human testing first.

In October, safety tests are set to begin using the more traditional killed-virus vaccine, developed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

The NIH also is developing a vaccine using live-but-weakened virus, the type thought to trigger particularly long-lasting immune protection.

That's the kind used to protect against rubella, which back in the 1960s caused an epidemic of birth defects.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE TRIALS GO WELL?

Fauci expects to open next-step studies in January, enrolling 2,400 to 5,000 people in areas where Zika still is spreading widely to test if the vaccinated are less likely than the unvaccinated to become infected.

ARE THE VACCINES AIMED AT PREGNANT WOMEN?

Not at this point.

It's hard to test new products during pregnancy.

Plus, a fetus can be vulnerable to Zika even before a woman realizes she's pregnant.

The goal instead is to vaccinate women of childbearing age and their sexual partners  because Zika also can be transmitted through sex  well before pregnancy ever occurs.

WHY THIS NEW HUMAN CHALLENGE STUDY?

Jabbing someone with Zika is faster than waiting around for a mosquito to bite them to see if an experimental vaccine provides protection.

But first Durbin must find what dose of Zika causes infection, to be sure she's giving a vaccine enough of a challenge.

That's what the study planned for December would do.

Volunteers given different amounts of Zika would be kept in a Hopkins hospital unit for 12 days, to be sure the virus had cleared the bloodstream, and would have to agree to use condoms for a while afterward to avoid any possibility of sexual transmission.

The second round of the research would recruit volunteers who'd received an experimental vaccine, trying to infect them with Zika six months after their shot.

The extra benefit: Tracking people from the moment they're exposed to Zika also could shed important new light on how the virus affects the body  such as how long it's infectious in blood, semen and other bodily fluids, and just how the immune system fights it off.

HAS THIS BEEN DONE BEFORE?

Human challenge studies are rare because they're difficult to perform and expensive.

But Durbin recently did just such research to test a potential vaccine against dengue, a dangerous cousin of Zika, and doesn't expect difficulty recruiting volunteers for the Zika study once regulators are satisfied it can be conducted safely.

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH FEDERAL FUNDING?

In February, the Obama administration requested $1.9 billion for the nation's fight against Zika, including vaccine development, but Congress hasn't approved any of it.

With existing money running out, federal health officials are taking funds meant for other diseases to get by until the end of the year  but Fauci said NIH alone will need $196 million more in 2017 to avoid delays in the vaccine research.
HISTORY

LONDON IN FRAGMENTS

by Ted Sandling

(Francis Lincoln 16.99)

When Ted Sandling tells people that his hobby is mudlarking, they often assume he spends his weekends mud-wrestling wearing budgie smugglers in a paddling pool.

In fact, the word mudlark was coined in the 18th century as a malicious description for the scavengers who scoured the banks of the River Thames for scraps.

Some 150 years ago, there would certainly have been wrestling involved, as the desperate poor fought over tiny finds of coal, old iron, rope and copper rivets, which they would sell for around fourpence a day.

When Ted Sandling tells people that his hobby is mudlarking, they often assume he spends his weekends mud-wrestling wearing budgie smugglers in a paddling pool

Writing in 1851, anthropologist Henry Mayhew described these men, women and children as a tattered tribe grimed with the foul soil of the river who notice no one; they never speak . . . but splash their way through the mire, their bodies bent down while they peer anxiously about.

Today, mudlarking is a jolly day out for amateur archaeologists, metal detectorists and casual walkers who wait for low tides to potter along the pebbles in search of prehistoric tools, smooth Roman jugs and shiny shards of Edwardian tableware.

The first time Sandling slipped down the steps to the empty, derelict, rotting foreshore at Blackfriars, he felt he was crossing a boundary into a wilder and more illicit London. He was in the one place where ancient litter outnumbers the contemporary.

As he picked up a dozen white, chalky stems from the cheap pipes given away free with tobacco in the 18th century, Sandling wondered if what he was doing was legal.

Are you allowed to be down there? (You are.) And are you allowed to keep the artefacts you find? (Yes, in most cases, but interesting treasures must be reported to a Finds Liaison Officer.)

Sandling was hooked from the second he found his first pipe bowl, elegantly shaped like a horses hoof, complete with a fetlock and fine coat of hair.

In this beautiful book, the human magpie presents the treasures gleaned over a decade rummaging through the rivers trinket box.

S andling is not a professional historian  just an eagle-eyed amateur enjoying the adventure of discovery and the detective work of identification.

He groups his artefacts roughly by theme, shuffling chronology like the river.

This makes turning the pages as delightfully random as the act of foraging itself: you flip from a fossilised sea urchin (65-80 million years old and fetishised by humans as far back as 2000 BC, inspiring the original five-pointed star of ancient art), to the decapitated torso of a popular 19th-century ceramic doll branded a Frozen Charlotte.

LONDON IN FRAGMENTS by Ted Sandling

Industrial relics from the audacious engineering projects of Isambard Kingdom Brunel wash up alongside intimate possessions, such as bone-handled Georgian toothbrushes.

And the words Sandling unearths are as delightful as the objects he describes.

We meet the spandrel (two triangles of wall above an archway), the pipkin (a Tudor slow cooker), the porringer (a single-handed bowl of the sort probably held out by Oliver Twist) and the torpedo bottle used for soda.

Sandlings favourite find is a raspberry prunt, an inset of green glass from the stem of a 17th-century Dutch glass or rummer (from the Dutch term for making a toast). Its purpose was to help the greasy-fingered wealthy grip their wine before the adoption of the fork.

It is tactile beyond belief, sighs Sandling. To rub a thumb across its dimples is like caressing a rosary . . . It is talismanic. If it is out of its cabinet, I cant take my hands off it.

Alongside the wine flagons, gin bottles and beer jugs, Sandling shows off a cobalt-blue piece of a mid-17th century drug jar, one of the most common sorts of Delftware found on the foreshore. He wonders if it contained a hangover cure. The Pharmacopoeia Londinensis was published around the time his vessel was made, suggesting morning-after remedies brewed from lettuce, cabbage and ivy: Your best way is to boyl them in the same liquor you got your surfet [hangover] by drinking.

But who knows what Sandlings jar contained?

Ingredients also listed in the Pharmacopoeia include the horn of harts or unicorns, the skull of a man who was never buried, vultures if you can catch em and a broad range of animal faeces.

No wonder a doctor friend of Sandlings (with a penchant for spittoon collecting) recommends cleaning all discoveries in Miltons sterilising fluid, then scrubbing with a toothbrush.

Although mucky, Sandling is a compelling advocate for his hobby.

Londoners need only a pair of decent boots, a rucksack, a low tide and a healthy curiosity to embark on the adventure of their lives.

He gives aspiring mudlarks three final bits of advice.

First, turn everything over, because like buttered toast, pottery always lands patterned side down.

Secondly, piles of rusty nails are a good sign, because metal gathers together and youre in with a shot of uncovering one of the Tudor coins Sandling still hasnt found.

And finally, kick your toe in the gravel.
24 HOURS AT AGINCOURT

by Michael Jones

(WH Allen 9.99)

24 HOURS AT AGINCOURT by Michael Jones

To visit the battlefield at Agincourt is to find a typically northern French scene of rural calm.

The place where Shakespeare imagined Henry V giving his great rallying speech  We few, we happy few, we band of brothers . . .  is now a tree-lined ploughland, the distant landscape punctuated by poplar trees and Gothic church spires.

Yet here, on October 25, 1415, a bedraggled English army, weakened by dysentery and heavily outnumbered, cut down the flower of French chivalry.

In his hour-by-hour account of the battle, the military historian Michael Jones creates a fascinatingly detailed image of the conflict, drawing on contemporary chronicles for a vivid evocation of the terror unleashed by the English bowmen, who let fly arrows into the enemy in such quantities that their density obscured the sun.

As Shakespeare put it: From this day to the ending of the world/. . . we in it shall be remembered.

THE NATURE OF SEX

by Dr Carin Bondar

(Weidenfeld 9.99)

THE NATURE OF SEX by Dr Carin Bondar

The Egyptian goose apparently mates for life. A pair have set up home on the riverbank outside my window and, having read Dr Bondars entertaining book on animals mating habits, I cant help speculating about their relationship.

According to Dr Bondar, human sex is boring by comparison with the goings-on in the animal world.

Certainly, there seems no shortage of variety, from the male sea slug who pierces his partners forehead with his phallus, to the male chimpanzee who used a frog as a sex toy and the fur seal who attempted to rape a penguin (the penguin, Bondar reports, was subdued but appeared to be physically unscathed).

Racy in tone, and full of the sort of lurid detail with which you can reduce a dinner party to silence, this is a lively read with a heavyweight scientific bibliography.

FRANCIS BACON IN YOUR BLOOD

by Michael Peppiatt

(Bloomsbury 9.99)

FRANCIS BACON IN YOUR BLOOD by Michael Peppiatt

Francis Bacon became a father figure for me, writes Michael Peppiatt  a claim that would surely have come as a surprise to that most riotously Bohemian of artists.

Peppiatt was a Cambridge undergraduate when he first met Bacon in 1963. Hoping to interview him for a student magazine, he visited the Soho pub that Bacon and his friends frequented.

Bacon took a fancy to the young man and invited him to his studio, and a friendship began that would last for more than 30 years.

Peppiatt became Bacons confidant, and the assiduous recorder of his conversation, drunk and sober.

This memoir reproduces their discussions as though Peppiatt had total recall of what was said  something of a miracle, given the quantity of alcohol that fuelled Bacons genius.
WILDE LAKE

by Laura Lippman

(Faber 12.99)

WILDE LAKE by Laura Lippman

THE newly elected first female states attorney of Howard County has a hard act to follow.

Luisa Brants sainted father famously served in the job, and now she has to make her mark.

The first case she takes on is trying a mentally disturbed drifter who has apparently broken into a womans home and beaten her to death.

But Lus investigation causes uncomfortable childhood memories to surface concerning her beloved elder brother, AJ, who was feted, aged 18, for saving the life of his best friend  but at the cost of another youths life.

The more she remembers, the more Luisa comes to realise that the concept of truth is problematic: The truth is not a finite commodity that can be contained within identifiable borders.

The truth is messy, riotous, overrunning everything.

You can never know the whole truth of anything. And if you could, you would wish you didnt.

Its hard to categorise Laura Lippman. She is not just a crime writer or a psychological thriller writer (although she excels at both of those genres),  she is much more than that.

When you reach for one of her books, you know you will be lost to your world for a bit, and totally immersed in hers.

WATCHING EDIE

by Camilla Way

(HarperCollins 10)

WATCHING EDIE by Camilla Way

When needy, lonely, frumpy Heather is unexpectedly befriended by the new girl at school, she cannot believe her luck.

Edie is not only the friend she has always dreamt of having, she is also impossibly beautiful and cool. Quickly, Heather becomes obsessed with Edie.

Both girls have dysfunctional families but Heather makes it her mission to look after Edie, especially once she takes up with a bad boy, Connor.

Until one night, when everything goes horribly wrong, destroying both their lives.

Sixteen years later, Edie is pregnant, alone and eking out a miserable existence in London when Heather turns up again with no intention of leaving, and Edie learns the hard way that betrayal has consequences.

This is a slow-burning but well-executed tale of a toxic female friendship.

Both Edie and Heather are utterly believable, and Camilla Way cleverly manipulates the reader into taking sides, first one way, then the other.

The suspense is nicely judged, too, and, for once, I didnt feel let down by a scratchy ending.

THE OTHER WIDOW

by Susan Crawford

(Faber 7.99)

THE OTHER WIDOW by Susan Crawford

This is a disappointing follow- up to Crawfords debut, The Pocket Wife, last year. While that fairly raced along, this is clumsily constructed, with poorly realised characters who are difficult to care about  and actually a bit dull.

That said, it starts well.

Its an icy day in Boston and Joe is driving with his mistress, Dorrie. He is telling her that they have to stop seeing each other when his car goes into a fatal skid.

After that, the narrative revolves around three women: Joes widow Karen, Dorrie and Maggie Brennan, an insurance investigator and ex-cop.

Maggie is suspicious of the circumstances of the crash and gradually unravels a sordid tale of marital infidelity, corrupt business dealings and thwarted love.

It should work but, somehow, nothing about this story gels.
HARMLESS LIKE YOU

by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

(Sceptre 14.99)

HARMLESS LIKE YOU by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

After the death of his father, troubled art dealer Jay Eaves travels to Berlin to find the mother who abandoned him when he was a baby: Japanese-American artist Yuki Oyama.

Their separate stories are subsequently unpicked to show what led up to her desertion and the lasting impact it has had on him.

Years before, 16-year-old Yuki opts to stay in New York to complete her education, while her parents return to Japan. Lodging with her only friend, aspiring model Odile, Yuki struggles to find her place in the world.

When she becomes involved in an abusive relationship with an older man, things begin to unravel further.

This elegant and moving novel burns slowly, building in intensity as it develops to explore the subjects of identity, alienation and desire.

HIDE

by Matthew Griffin

(Bloomsbury 16.99)

HIDE by Matthew Griffin

When young Frank Clifton, a veteran of World War II, returns to his hometown in southern Carolina, he meets Wendell Wilson, a taxidermist. The spark between them is immediate.

At a time when homosexuality was a criminal offence, the two men are forced to conduct their love affair in secrecy.

After the death of Franks mother, they move to a house on the outskirts of town where they lead a life of quiet domesticity, forgoing family relationships, friendships and careers.

The novel opens years later as Wendell finds 83-year-old Frank collapsed with a mild heart attack, and their life together changes as Franks mind and body begin to fail him.

Griffin brilliantly captures the crotchety intimacy of this long-term relationship as Wendell struggles to care for his partner.

Past and present intercut in this tender, exquisitely observed love story that demonstrates the sacrifices made in the name of commitment.

CONSTELLATION

by Adrien Bosc

(Serpents Tail 12.99)

CONSTELLATION by Adrien Bosc

In his prize-winning debut, Bosc recreates the final flight of Air France F-BAZN, a Lockheed Constellation that took off from Paris en route to New York on October 27, 1949.

On board were 37 passengers, including the boxer Marcel Cerdan, travelling to fight Jake LaMotta; the violin virtuoso Ginette Neveu; and Kay Kamen, Disneys marketing guru.

Their first refuelling stop was to be on the island of Santa Maria in the Azores, but the plane never arrived. Instead, it smashed into Redondo Mountain, just five miles from the airport. There were no survivors.

Cleverly treading a fine line between fact and fiction, the novel has the feel of a documentary, but it is also written with the empathy and imagination that distinguishes the best novels.

Bosc has constructed a haunting memorial to all involved by reimagining their lives.
NEVERNIGHT

by Jay Kristoff

(Harper Voyager 12.99)

NEVERNIGHT by Jay Kristoff

Mia Corvere is a darkin, blessed with a fear-drinking familiar and the power to manipulate shadows.

It all comes in handy when her aristocrat father is executed in a failed plot, her mother and brother buried in the city of Godsgraves deepest dungeon  and she discovers a talent for killing.

In this brain-churning, gore-spattered monster of a book, we follow Mia across seas and deserts to the Red Church, a neo-Hogwartian assassins school, where her skills are honed and her capacity for murder tested to the limit  and beyond.

The world-building is delightfully detailed, its baroque flourishes supplied by sarcastic footnotes, but we are drawn through the narrative by Mias triple quest: to rescue her family members, to avenge her fathers death and to survive her education at the church, where the ultimate test is to avoid being killed by the training.

THE LAST DAYS OF JACK SPARKS

by Jason Arnopp

(Orbit 8.99)

THE LAST DAYS OF JACK SPARKS by Jason Arnopp

When someone jeers at an exorcism, you just know the devil will have the last laugh. Said jeerer is Jack Sparks, a sociopathic and self-deluding writer.

Hes travelled by pogo stick from Lands End to John O Groats and has addicted himself to drugs, all in the cause of self-promotion. His latest stunt, to debunk the supernatural, will naturally involve attending an exorcism, trapping a demon and then moving on to a Californian group to conjure up a thought-spirit. What could go wrong?

Short answer: everything. In this savagely humorous and very spooky modern morality tale, Jacks debunking mission is played out over social media, but hes so bound up in his image that he fails to see the truth in front of his face.

Ultimately, his quest to uncover the source of a wickedly sinister YouTube video teaches him one vital lesson: conquer your own demons before you take on Old Nick.

SEPTIMANIA

by Jonathan Levi

(Overlook Duckworth 18.99)

SEPTIMANIA by Jonathan Levi

Malory is a perpetual student, a cloistered scholar of Sir Isaac Newton who only ever leaves his college to tune organs in country churches. Then, his life takes an unexpected turn.

After losing his virginity to Louiza, an eccentric maths genius, and then his place at Trinity College, Cambridge, an expected bequest takes him to Rome.

In the Eternal City, he discovers that he is heir to the throne of Septimania, a mysterious virtual kingdom created by Charlemagne, that makes him King of the Jews, Holy Roman Emperor and  why not  the Caliph of all Islam.

If thats not enough, he is a descendant of Sir Isaac himself, and set on the trail of Newtons holy grail: a unifying theory of everything.
 are you reading now?

William Ryan is currently reading Wings Over The Arctic by Mikhail Vodopyanov

Wings Over The Arctic by Mikhail Vodopyanov. My next novel is set on a Thirties Soviet icebreaker marooned over an Arctic winter, and Vodopyanovs experiences as an early Russian pilot are proving useful. Its a bit like a Stalinist Biggles and an easy read.

 would you take to a desert island?

Not long after I met my wife, she spent some time in hospital and I wooed her with a parcel of books. I think Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons was the clincher (right, Kate Beckinsale as Flora Poste in the 1995 film). If it cheered her up in hospital, itd be invaluable on a desert island.

 first gave you the reading bug?

The book Ive treasured since I was ten years old is Count Belisarius by Robert Graves. Its beautifully written and just a rattling good tale.

 left you cold?

Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. The best thing about this book is its title  but, for a novel, Id rather read a real manual on motorcycle maintenance. Preferably one that didnt manage to sound quite so smug.
Darwin's supporters liked his theory of environmental mutation - but mutation has never proven natural selection

Pulitzer Prize-winning Siddhartha Mukherjee is a scientist by training, yet he writes with the natural flare of a seasoned novelist.

His new book, The Gene: An Intimate History, is a pleasure to read and raises an interesting question about the return of Darwinism.

This Darwinism is really a re-worked Lamarckian Adaptation (passing on characteristics gained in life to your offspring), and its return to intellectual and university circles has been more subtle than its continued existence in public culture.

What does the public make of Darwins theory of evolution nowadays?

Two pillars of his thought remain popular: survival of the fittest, and natural selection.

Now, lets not get into scholastic debates about the extent to which Darwin talks of survival of the fittest, or what he really meant by natural selection.

As any culturally unprejudiced scientist working in the area knew by 1920, if not earlier, Darwins theory had posited no mechanism of evolution.

The Pulitzer-winning Siddhartha Mukherjee is a scientist by training, yet he writes with the natural flare of a novelist

How does the organism adjust to external factors, how are these factors communicated to the micro-organismic and molecular levels, and vice versa?

There were many questions.

Not to mention some evidence that not all pressures led to evolutionary adaptations, or by now kittens and mice would have been able to breathe under water.

There was also some evidence that not all evolutionary changes are superior or beneficial ones, and that hereditary factors are not synonymous with class (or caste and race) superiority.

Survival of the fittest? There is little scientific evidence to suggest that we gain wealth merely because we are best adapted to the environment

We know now that the 19th century bourgeoisie doctored Darwinian evolutionary theories in order to justify its own privileges and give a false biological basis to its political ideology of a deserving meritocracy.

In short - we are rich because we are best adapted to the environment.

Siddhartha Mukherjee's latest book The Gene: An Intimate History

But the scientific evidence on the ground was fairly thin.

The thinnest of the facts on the ground, before genetic mutation was understood, owed to Darwins inevitable failure to identify the actual mechanism of evolution.

But with the discovery of genes and mutation - bingo, we suddenly had a mechanism for natural selection.

Certain sections of the bourgeoisie - not to mention white colonisers - were overjoyed, but they had jumped the gun.

Mutation did not really prove natural selection. One could say it proved natural rejection instead.

For one, mutations are random: a number of mutations take place, only some are transferred on to the next generation, and of these only some are beneficial - in a certain context.

Skeleton of Mylodon Darwinii from the book 'Journal of Researches' by Charles Darwin

Secondly, evolution plays Russian roulette with us.

I wrote two years ago that: there is an argument that diversity is necessary for our survival because evolution does not manufacture the characteristic we need, or not when this characteristic is a significant and sudden development.

"Evolution just throws up a number of random changes, via mutation, and some of these happen to fit changes in the natural environment.

"Hence, the more diversity we have, the more likely life is to survive major natural catastrophes.

I must concede that I found my basic lay-mans understanding of evolution and genes (as in the paragraph quoted above) confirmed by Mukherjees 'The Gene', and that no doubt added to my enjoyment of the book.

But Mukherjee has much more to say, tracing the story of the gene from an obscure abbey in Moravia in 1856, through Nazi horrors, and into our own age of genetic mapping.

This is an exceptional book, and I thoroughly recommend it to every inquisitive person.

Kashmir protests have a communal tint

The latest disturbances in Kashmir are sad and troubling.

But they are - or at least they should be - all the more troubling to Indian Muslims.

It is easy for other Indians to stand up for human rights in Kashmir, but if a Muslim does so, he or she can easily be accused of being motivated by factors other than a concern for the rights of all Indian citizens and the welfare of all human beings.

Part of the blame for Kashmir's problems must rest with the Kashmiris themselves

It is not just prejudice on the part of Hindutva ideologues that is to blame for this conundrum.

The recent history of Kashmir is even more of a problem, and that part of the blame rests with Kashmiris themselves.

For the fact remains that the agitations in Kashmir have a clearly communal colour: Kashmiri separatists are not just fighting for their rights as human beings, but for a state defined by ethnicity and even religion.

If that was not so, the plight of Kashmiri Brahmins could have been avoided.

And, if cultural Kashmiriyat and not religio-political Islamism is the motivating factor, then one cannot understand why there is nothing like a similar agitation for Kashmiriyat in the Pakistan-occupied part of the state.

Kashmiri separatists are not just fighting for their rights as human beings, but for a state defined by ethnicity and even religion

This is what puts the secular Indian Muslim in a dilemma. He or she would like to stand up for human rights in Kashmir (and elsewhere), and sometimes does so.

As an Indian citizen, he or she would also like to ensure that governmental agencies and forces are neither misused nor exposed to needless hostility in the country because of political convenience.

But then there rises for the secular Indian Muslim the spectre of an Islamic insurgency, which is also what the Kashmiri problem seems to be.

Every secular Indian Muslim has realised and borne the consequence of a religious partition in the past, and no sensible Indian Muslim wants to face that situation again.

Moreover, how can one defend a basically religious demand from a secular and democratic perspective?

By not rigorously separating religion from human rights, Kashmiri agitators - or at least their leaders - are very much a part of the deterioration of civil life in the state.

No amount of leftist bleeding-heart proselytising can change that now.

But the risk remains for the loony Hindutva fringe to hold this over the entirety of India.
PHOENIXSex educator and TV personality Sunny Megatron and Ken Melvoin-Berg will present Foreplay Friday: Fetish and Bondage 101 7-10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26, at Castle Megastore Phoenix.

The event is described as great for beginners, where they can learn about the world of BDSM and more.

All attendees will receive a free gift after the workshop, valued at $30.00. Castle Megastore is also offering a buy one/get one free deal on specific brands and products.

Melvoin-Berg and Megatron, who are married, are the co-producers of Showtimes Sex with Sunny Megatron. Their workshops have included BDSM 101, Prostate Milking for Beginners, Ethical Non-Monogamy, Sex Toys 101, ZAP! Electric Play: Wands, Tens and More, G-Spots and Squirting, and How to Give a World Class Blow Job.

Castle Megastore Phoenix is located at 21815 N. 26th Ave.

For more information on Megatron, visit her official website or follow her on Twitter or Instagram.

For more information on Melvoin-Berg, follow him on Twitter.

For more information on Castle Megastore, visit their official website or follow them on Twitter.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that he had received a flurry of complaints about liquor shops in Delhi

The AAP government has empowered residents associations (mohalla sabhas) to decide if nearby liquor stores should be permanently closed or moved from the area.

According to the Delhi government, there have been a flurry of complaints against liquor stores.

It is alleged that people consuming alcohol in public is a nuisance for local residents and there is an ongoing concern for womens safety.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told a press conference: If people are upset with liquor shops, then mohalla sabhas will decide whether to shift them or shut them down".

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the process to decide on shutting a shop will be initiated once 10 per cent of a mohalla sabhas voters submit a written complaint.

After this a public meeting will be called, with a minimum quota of 15 per cent of the total number of voters of that area, including at least 33 per cent women.

If two-thirds of members present in a meeting decide to shut down a shop then it will have to be shifted. But even then, the members of the area where it is to be shifted will have to approve any such move, said Sisodia.

No government liquor shop will be opened this year in Delhi, Sisodia added.

Cases of illegal encroachment by these shops and street vendors have gone up in recent times.

Sisodia said the owners and managers of liquor shops have been informed that strict action will be taken if there are reports of trouble being caused in the vicinity of their stores.

Residents associations (mohalla sabhas) will be able to decide if nearby liquor stores should be permanently closed or moved from the area

The Delhi government approved the formation of 2,972 mohalla sabhas in June, describing it as a step towards strengthening local governance.

The new groups will coordinate with different government agencies to carry out developmental work, identify beneficiaries for different social sector schemes such as old age pensions, and address grievances with the help of local officers.

While the AAP administration has initiated strict measures to curb the nuisance caused by liquor stores, it is not in favour of a complete ban like the one introduced in Bihar last March.

Even Tamil Nadu has promised to introduce prohibition in phases. Three other states  Gujarat, Nagaland and Manipur  already have liquor bans in place.

The excise department is one of the major revenue generators for the Delhi government, which has also come on the radar of rivals as the Swaraj Abhiyan attacked Kejriwal this month, saying he had failed to fulfil his poll promise to reduce drinking in the capital.

A senior Swaraj Abhiyan leader told Mail Today: Kejriwal had made similar promises to the voters of Delhi which he never honoured and we saw how at least 72 new liquor shops were opened and 217 licences for bars were granted since the party coming to power in Delhi."

The question still remains why the Delhi government, which came to power on the promise of nasha-mukt Delhi, has shown such enthusiasm and alacrity in encouraging alcoholism in the national capital, he added.
New Delhi has rejected Pakistans proposal to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks on Kashmir, and said cross-border terrorism should be the focus of any dialogue between the two countries.

India's Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar expressed his willingness to travel to Islamabad after the invitation from his Pakistan counterpart, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.

But he maintained that Pakistan has no right to address any aspect of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), which is an internal matter for India, except to put an end to cross-border terrorism and infiltration.

Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry had invited India for talks on Jammu & Kashmir - but New Delhi rejected the offer

The response was handed over to Pakistan by the Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad Gautam Bambawale.

Sources said: 'Since aspects related to cross-border terrorism are central to the current situation in J&K, we have proposed that discussions between the Foreign Secretaries be focused on them.

'We have also conveyed that the Government of India rejects in their entirety the self-serving allegations regarding the situation in J&K, which is an integral part of India where Pakistan has no locus standi.'

On Monday Pakistan had invited India for talks on Kashmir, saying it is the international obligation of both countries to resolve the issue.

New Delhi told Islamabad that cross-border terrorism should be the focus of any talks between the two countries, and that Pakistan has no right to address the J&K issue

The invitation was extended amid tension in bilateral ties due to the war of words between the two nations over the issue.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said: 'India would welcome a dialogue on contemporary and relevant issues in India-Pakistan relations.

'At this time it includes a stoppage of Pakistani support for cross-border terrorism, infiltration of terrorists like Bahadur Ali, incitement to violence and terrorism across the border, parading of internationally-recognised terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin, and a sincere follow-up on the Mumbai attack trial and the Pathankot attack investigation in Pakistan.'

India and Pakistan have been engaged in a war of words over the statements by Islamabad on the situation in Kashmir, which is witnessing unrest following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
India and Bangladesh are set to collaborate on a number of movie projects to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1971 War of Independence.

A big-budget documentary looking at the social and historical circumstances that led up to the formation of Bangladesh will be released in 2021.

And a second movie is set to be produced in Bangladesh to mark the 100th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

India and Bangladesh have agreed to cooperate on a range of issues at a meeting between Minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu (left) and his Bangladesh counterpart Hasanul Haq Inu (right)

India and Bangladesh agreed to cooperate on a range of issues at a meeting between Minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu and his Bangladesh counterpart Hasanul Haq Inu on Wednesday.

Naidu told reporters: Information dissemination is critical to counter terrorism which is a common issue plaguing both India and Bangladesh.

"Timely and correct dissemination of information will prevent rumours and falsehood, while at the same time, build the spirit of cooperation and understanding between people.

India and Bangladesh are set to collaborate on a documentary commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1971 War of Independence. (Pictured: Bangladesh commandos sing their battle song)

Naidu conveyed to his Bangladesh counterpart that All India Radio (AIR) would be launching an exclusive service for Bangladesh and the Bengali diaspora titled Akashvani Maitree on August 23 this year.

The President of India will launch the channel as a sign of friendship between the two countries.

Naidu said that this new cultural relationship between the two countries will promote the commonality of their heritage and culture.

Sheik Mujibur Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh, was killed in a dawn coup in 1975.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has reiterated its position on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) a matter of days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his Independence Day speech on the issue.

A top RSS functionary told Mail Today: PoK must be liberated from Pakistan at any cost".

The RSS believes that India has taken the initiative after Modis mention of PoK and Balochistan, and the alleged human rights violations by the Pakistani army.

The RSS has reiterated its position on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his Independence Day speech on the issue

Manmohan Vaidya, the RSS Rashtriya Prachar Pramukh, told Mail Today: The RSS position on PoK is the same as Parliament declared in its unanimous resolution in 1994.

Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India; the only thing remaining is to liberate it from Pakistan and amalgamate it in India. The Indian government should try to implement that resolution.

Vaidyas reference is to the parliamentary resolution moved on February 22, 1994, under the Congress government led by the late Narasimha Rao.

The resolution stated that 78,114 sq km of Jammu & Kashmir was under illegal occupation by Pakistan and demanded the Indian government re-conquer the PoK".

The resolution, unanimously adopted, read: The State of Jammu & Kashmir has been, and shall always be an integral part of India. Any attempts to separate it from the rest of the country will be resisted by all necessary means".

The RSS claims Modis mention of PoK and Balochistan and the alleged human rights violations by the Pakistani army has pushed Pakistan onto the back foot

Pakistan must vacate the areas of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, which they have occupied through aggression".

Vaidyas views were seconded by RSS ideologue and Delhi University professor Rakesh Sinha.

The RSS believes in the undivided map of India and thus considers PoK an integral part of India, he told Mail Today.

The Baloch freedom movement thanked Modi for his support

Sinha said the RSS has been categorical in its stance that India has to claw back the occupied territory from Pakistan.

The more time we waste in not acting against Pakistan and taking our territory back, the more we are losing it. Because Pakistan is consequently institutionalising its position there in the same measure, Sinha said.

Parliament has clubbed the Chinese with Pakistani occupation of the state, and in the context of its liberation stated in the 1994 resolution: It will be decisive blow to security threat to Republic of India from Communist-Islamist alliance Pakistan has substantially changed the demography of POK and attempts are under way to do the same in Gilgistan-Baltistan.

"Shia majority of the area is being routinely terrorized by Pak army backed Sunni Islamist groups. Forced conversion, abduction of girls has reached alarming new heights.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Vietnam early next month - his third substantive tour of the South East Asia region - will possibly be the most momentous of them all.

Modis first visit was to Myanmar in November 2014 to take part in the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits (EAS).

During this visit, Modi unveiled the transformation of the 'Look East Policy', launched by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao in 1992, as the 'Act East Policy'.

Chinese warships in the South China Sea conducting naval exercises near the Paracel Islands in May 2016

This was designed to infuse the initiative with greater energy, expand geographical coverage under its ambit, and invest in Indias engagement with ASEAN, as well as other East Asian countries including Japan, Australia, South Korea, and Pacific Island nations.

His second visit took place in November last year to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for ASEAN-India as well as EAS.

From there he travelled to Singapore to elevate the bilateral partnership to a strategic level, as well as commemorating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

He also paid a one-day visit to Singapore in March 2015 to attend the funeral of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Vietnam early next month - his third substantive tour to the region - will possibly be the most momentous of them all.

Modis forthcoming bilateral visit to Vietnam is likely to take place after his participation in the G-20 Summit in China on September 4-5, and in ASEAN India and EAS in Vientiane, Laos on September 6-7.

The Prime Minister's tour of Hanoi is expected to significantly augment the bilateral partnership in the strategic, defence, economic and commercial spheres.

It will provide a vigorous impetus to the 'Act East Policy' which has been expanding rapidly since its launch.

Modis visit would have been decisive and pivotal just for these reasons alone. But it is the critical timing of the visit that will make it momentous.

Union Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, has been involved in negotiations with Vietnam and visited in September 2014

On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hague, under the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), gave its judgment on the complaint filed by the Philippines against Chinese claims and activities in the SCS.

The court declared that China did not enjoy any historical rights in SCS as it had been claiming under the nine-dash line, and also that it could not claim any Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around the small artificial structures it had created.

It was a clear, comprehensive verdict against China.

The verdict was largely along expected lines, perhaps more favourable to the Philippines and more detrimental to Chinese interests than anticipated.

Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, pictured here at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, visited China in October 2014 before he stepped down earlier this year

China did not participate in the proceedings of PCA as it did not consider it competent to adjudicate on the issues of sovereignty in SCS.

PCAs judgment, however, did not address the sovereignty issue - but coverage and usage of the waters of the SCS as per provisions of UNCLOS.

China declared the judgment 'null and void'. It has resorted to some aggressive posturing while simultaneously indulging in bellicose and intimidatory statements from the highest level of government.

It has also sought to open channels of communication with the Philippines to solve the issue on a bilateral basis.

Although Vietnam was not party to the dispute, its position on the legal status of the South China Sea (SCS) and exploitation of its fishery and energy resources is as strong as that of the Philippines.

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee travelled to Hanoi in September 2014 to discuss relations with Vietnam

It has been facing frequent and aggressive harassment from the Chinese navy in areas it rightly considers under its jurisdiction, in accordance with provisions of UNCLOS.

Tension has erupted in the open over the past several years with clashes and skirmishes in the sea. This has driven Vietnam to strengthen its ties with India and other powers like the US and Japan.

The last two years have seen an intense exchange of visits between India and Vietnam. President Pranab Mukherjee and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj travelled to Hanoi in September and August 2014, respectively.

Protesters take to the streets of Vietnam's capital Hanoi in an anti-China demonstration

During Mukherjees visit, India clearly enunciated its position on maritime security, freedom of navigation, and peaceful resolution of the SCS dispute in accordance with provisions of UNCLOS.

A far-reaching visit by former Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to India took place in October 2014, during which PM Modi stated that defence relations with Vietnam were quite significant for India.

May 2015 witnessed the visit of the Vietnamese Defence Minister to Delhi, and June this year saw the return visit by Indias Raksha Mantri to Hanoi.

During Vietnamese Defence Ministers visit, Modi assured him of 'Indias full commitment to the strategic partnership between the two countries.'

A Joint Vision Statement, outlining the trajectory of bilateral defence cooperation through 2020, was signed.

This heightened exchange will be capped by Modi's forthcoming tour.

In 1992, India and Vietnam established extensive economic ties. Defence ties benefited hugely from Indias Look East policy.

Military cooperation includes the sale of military equipment, sharing of intelligence, joint naval exercises, and training in counter-insurgency and jungle warfare.

India regularly deploys its warships for goodwill visits to Vietnamese seas.

India is providing a $100 million credit line to Vietnam, which will be used to buy four large patrol vessels that will enable it to secure its waters.

Bilateral trade and investment are likely to receive special attention.

ASEAN-India free trade agreement came into effect in 2010. Bilateral trade expanded significantly to $3.92 billion by the end of 2012.

As of 2015, bilateral trade stood at $7 billion. The target for 2020 has been set at $15 billion. This appears eminently achievable.
Amitabh Bachchan is all set to return as the schizophrenic maniac obsessed with looting, in the sequel of his 2002 hit Aankhen.

The superstar confirmed the news at an event in Mumbai on Wednesday, to mark the first look launch of the sequel.

Aankhen 2 will be directed by Anees Bazmee.

While the first film had Big B training three blind men to rob a bank, this time he will create a team to loot a casino.

However, Big B apart, only Arjun Rampal returns from the original cast.

Anil Kapoor, Arshad Warsi and Ileana DCruz will star in the sequel, while southern diva Regina Cassandra makes her debut in the film.

Bazmee, however, said this was not the complete cast, and that more big ticket names would be added. Meet brothers have been signed to compose the music.

Meanwhile, Bazmees announcement that Aankhen 2 aims to release on Dilwai 2017 was met with curiosity.

The buzz around B-Town is that Rohit Shettys Golmaal 4 might open on that day, too.

While Big B, Bazmee, and company shied away from revealing much about Aankhen 2 at the trailer launch, we found out a few details.

While the first film had Big B training three blind men to rob a bank, this time he will create a team to loot a casino.

The idea naturally raised questions of similarities with the Hollywood hit Oceans Eleven, or the Shah Rukh Khan number Happy New Year.

Bazmee insisted Aankhen 2 is an original script.

We also discovered that Anil Kapoor would be playing the man with no face, an enigmatic character, while Ileana DCruz has a high-voltage action role.

Aankhen 2 will follow the same pattern of storytelling, with a couple of new twists

Aankhen, released in 2002, was a Vipul Shah film that had Big B as a slighted bank manager who decides to take revenge on his bank colleagues for insulting him by robbing his own bank, using three blind robbers.

Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, and Paresh Rawal played the three blind men, while Sushmita Sen was the person brought in to train them for the robbery.

Bachchan apart, only Arjun Rampal returns from the original film's cast. Anil Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, and Ileana DCruz will star in the sequel.

Aankhen 2 will follow the same pattern of storytelling while setting up the thriller quotient, though with a few twists.
She may be best known for her glossy roles, but actress Jacqueline Fernandez says she now wants to try her hand at playing the villain in films.

The 31-year-old Dishoom star, who has starred in films like Aladin, the Housefull series and Kick among others in her seven-year-long Bollywood career, feels it is time to try something new.

I would love to play a villain, because this year I have done movies where my roles are either very glamorous or of the girl-next-door. I feel now I want to get into more villain kind of roles, Jacqueline said.

Jacqueline Fernandez spoke about her plans to 'turn a villain' at a press conference for A Flying Jatt in New Delhi

When asked about her favourite genre of cinema, the Sri Lankan beauty, who will be seen next in superhero film A Flying Jatt, says she enjoys fantasy the most.

I love fantasy genre and enjoy anything that has the story revolving around a superhero or fairy tales, or takes us to a magical world.

Directed by choreographer-turned-filmmaker Remo D'Souza, A Flying Jatt will see Tiger Shroff in the role of a desi superhero.

Hollywood actor Nathan Jones also stars in the film, which will hits theatres on August 25.

Jacqueline praised her co-star Tiger for being supportive on the sets and called him a professional actor.

Ive learnt a lot from Tiger. He is very professional and talented. So, it was a fantastic experience for me to be able to work with him.

The actress says she is open to Hollywood projects and it is her dream to work with The Revenant star Leonardo DiCaprio, who has been her childhood crush.
While 50-year-old policemen are not usually considered unfit to guard ordinary folks, they just might be too old for the bigwigs.

Older policemen struggling to stay in shape are likely to make way for the younger, more agile men to protect dignitaries including the Prime Minister and the President, as the Delhi Police chief has received a proposal from the security wing to remove senior officers from VIP duties.

Almost 40 per cent of the police in this wing are above 45, and sources say that those below this age will be preferred for VIP security.

Almost 40% of cops in the security wing are above 45 years of age. Those under 45 may get preference for VIP duties from now on. (Picture for representation only.)

Police commissioner Alok Verma recently pitched a proposal to form two groups of cops based on age, while sending them to cyber cell training sessions. Verma said the older sleuths are unable to grasp knowledge in that area.

Delhi Police are responsible for the security of foreign dignitaries as well as VIPs.

Last year, the police were involved in as many as 354 high-level events which involved visiting presidents and prime ministers of foreign countries, while there were five visits by vice-presidents.

Delhi Polices security wing was also responsible for the safety of the VVIPs during the Republic Day function, when US President Barack Obama was the chief guest.

According to a senior police officer, the security wing requires more young blood to counter and avert any terrorist attacks.

The department does not plan to replace all the older police officers, as a few of them will 'guide the young brigade'.

A list was received by the commissioners office this month, a senior police officer told Mail Today.

This list has names and other details of 1000 policemen who have crossed the age of 50 or more. It is expected that 1000 young and fit men will be sent to the security wing to replace the older ones.

Policemen working in this unit are exposed to new technology and the latest security techniques with the help of elite agencies like the National Security Guard (NSG) and Special Protection Group (SPG).

Senior officers including district heads will be roped in to select the young brigade of police.

The group is expected to have a large number of female police as well, though top officers did not reveal any details.

The young officers will be drawn from various units, including districts, sources said.

When Mail Today tried to contact the department, no senior officer agreed to speak on record.

A reason for getting younger team to the security wing is that the new crop will be more energetic. The youngsters will be deployed under the supervision of experienced seniors. The security of VVIPs cannot be handed over completely to those who have no experience, as it is one of the most sensitive jobs of the Delhi Police, said an officer.

A proposal has been sent. It will be examined and then the commissioner will take the final call. There are already young cops working in the security wing. All possibilities, pro and cons will be examined before replacing seniors with the younger lot.

The departments security wing is responsible for keeping safe a slew of dignitaries including the President, Prime Minister, Vice-President and cabinet ministers.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has once again embarrassed his party, this time by referring to Jammu and Kashmir as "India-occupied Kashmir".

When prompted by a reporter, he corrected himself and said Kashmir is an integral part of India. But the damage had been done.

He said: Narendra Modi thinks more about Pak-occupied Kashmir. He congratulates people from Balochistan. But he is not ready to talk to the people of Kashmir in India. First, we have to create confidence in Kashmir, be it India-occupied Kashmir or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. If we have to build trust in people, then it is only possible through talks. The situation will not improve with this confrontationist remarks of the Prime Minister. It will only worsen.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has previously called terrorist Osama bin Laden Osama ji, and Hafiz Saeed Hafiz Sahab, causing discomfort to his party

When Singh had finished giving his reply to the media, a reporter reminded him that it was wrong to say "India-occupied Kashmir". The Congress Rajya Sabha MP realised his faux pas and corrected himself.

He said: "No, I meant the Kashmir in India. I said he does not think about the Kashmir in India, only about Pak-occupied Kashmir. Kashmir is an integral part of India."

This is the third time that Singh has been caught in a foot-in-mouth moment.

He has previously called terrorist Osama bin Laden "Osama ji" and Hafiz Saeed "Hafiz Sahab", causing immense embarrassment to the Congress.

Digvijaya Singh later tried to clear the air after addressing dead Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden as 'Osama ji'.

Speaking to newspersons, Singh said he had sarcastically called the world's most wanted terrorist Osama ji as he had been living safely near Pakistan's military establishment and was thus respectable for that country.

Dubbing the entire episode a "media creation", Singh had asked: "What can I do when the media did not understand my sarcasm regarding Osama being found near the Pakistan military academy?"
A senior doctor from AIIMS was left baffled by a phone call on August 9, after a man posing as a policeman said he had orders to arrest him.

Dr NK Mehra, who is the former Dean (Research) of AIIMS, was told that his house would be sealed and if he wanted to settle the matter he should pay Rs 72,000 immediately.

And Dr Mehra is not the only one. A gang operating in Delhi has been targeting high-profile people whose addresses and contact details are easily available on the internet.

The gang targets high-profile people whose addresses are easily available online - including a senior doctor from AIIMS (pictured).

This makes it easier for them to access their whereabouts.

The police acted on a complaint lodged by a well-known Kathak dancer, who was told that she owed Rs 67,051 to the Reserve Bank of India, and that a case had been filed against her in the Tis Hazari court.

Dr Mehra said that the man on the phone introduced himself as sub-inspector Dharm Pal Singh from Delhi Police.

Dr Mehra said that the man on the phone introduced himself as 'sub-inspector Dharm Pal Singh' from Delhi Police. (File picture)

The man claimed that a senior magistrate in Patiala House Court had passed orders for a non-bailable arrest warrant against him.

I could not react. I was frightened and started wondering what had gone wrong. He asked me to get in touch with a lawyer who was handling the case for the RBI.

Realising that the whole conversation was suspicious, Dr Mehra decided to speak to his friends - who told him that the phone call could be fake.

He approached the crime branch and an FIR was registered under Sections 170 for impersonating a public servant, 385 for putting a person in fear, and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

Ravinder Yadav, Joint Commissioner, Crime Branch told Mail Today: There are several small gangs that use this modus operandi to con people. However, it is difficult to say which gang is behind this. The matter is being investigated.

In his police complaint, Mehra said: The caller had my complete address and other details and I was told to speak to a person named Prakash Agnihotri, who was a public prosecutor in the case.

"I was scared and called Agnihotri. He told me that I owed an amount of Rs 72,000 to the RBI. He said such finance cases are handed over to the Delhi Police, who makes immediate arrests.

When Mehra asked him for a way to resolve the issue, he was told to immediately deposit the said amount in Patiala House Court and try to settle the matter out of court.
PHOENIX -- Pressured by Gov. Doug Ducey, the president of the state Board of Education quit Wednesday.

Greg Miller said aides to the governor told him they wanted him out as the top board official. Miller said that Ducey, who is due to make new board appointments as early as this week, believed that the change would help smooth over what has been at best a rocky relationship between the board and state schools chief Diane Douglas.

Miller, however, said he saw no reason to stay on at all as a rank-and-file member. So he said he agreed to quit if he could control the wording of the press release, the timing of the announcement and got some assurances that the charter school he runs would get "political protections that I no longer could provide.''

"We recently asked him if he was willing to step down as president (of the board) in order to provide fresh leadership,'' gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato confirmed. Miller's tenure as president -- as well as his term on the board -- otherwise would have run through January 15.

And Scarpinato said his boss concluded that the state's education priorities were not going to get resolved with Miller at the helm of the board and the ongoing friction with Douglas..

"Something that's critical to that happening is for the board and the department to have a productive relationship in order to achieve the goals that the board has and the superintendent and the governor share,'' he said.

Miller, for his part, noted that Douglas, by virtue of being elected, is here to stay, at least through the end of her term which runs through 2018. And he agreed with the governor that something had to give.

"She's going to be there another two-plus years,'' he said.

"So I'm the expendable piece,'' Miller said. "She is not.''

Scarpinato said while Ducey wanted Miller out as board president, his decision to leave the board entirely was "one he made on his own, and one we respect.''

But the move also ensures that Ducey will have a firm grip on the 11-member board.

The governor now has three of his own appointees on the board, though one has to be the president of one of the three state universities, pretty much limiting his choices. He already had three slots to fill; Miller's resignation gives him a fourth.

Douglas, in her own statement Wednesday about Miller's resignation, makes no mention of him at all, nor of the more than year-long feud with the board under his direction.

"The superintendent's focus has been on helping Arizona students since she took office,'' said press aide Charles Tack. "That focus has never shifted.''

But Douglas, who sits on the board, did take a dig of sorts at Miller and the other members with whom she has been at odds since taking office: She reminded people she is "the only elected member of the state Board of Education'' while the others are simply gubernatorial appointees.

Miller's resignation action could finally be the beginning of the end of what has been an ongoing feud between the school superintendent and the education board over control over the education agenda in Arizona.

Douglas, elected in 2014, claims she has a mandate from the public to pursue her agenda. That includes ridding the state of the Common Core academic standards.

By contrast the board has not only approved the standards but continued to implement them.

The differences erupted into a pair of lawsuits over control who controls the board's staff. That issue was supposed to be resolved with a change in state law approved earlier this year and signed by Ducey.

But Miller said there have been ongoing issues, with Douglas continuing to refuse to provide the board with the staff necessary to do its own work.

Such as?

"Just about everything,'' he said. "Every time we try and get something moving, the resources aren't available.''

Some of the dispute is based in the strong personalities of both Douglas and Miller. But much of it traces its roots to state education laws.

The board is charged with setting the education policy of the state, at least within the confines outlined by the legislature. The governor appoints 10 of the members; the school superintendent is automatically on the board.

By contrast, the superintendent of public instruction runs the day-to-day operations of the Department of Education. And, by law, that person is supposed to "execute, under the direction of the state board of education, the policies that have been decided on by the state board.''

Douglas, however, has claimed that her 2014 election amounts to a mandate by voters to pursue her own policies. That includes the promise to repeal the Common Core standards.

The fight started a month after she took office when she attempted to fire the board's executive director and assistant, calling them "two liberal staff who have publicly stated they will block all efforts to repeal or change Common Core.'' That move fizzled when Ducey told state personnel officials to keep the pair on the payroll.

Ongoing spats eventually led to the board moving its staffers outside of the Department of Education Building.

Douglas responded by filing suit, contending state law gave her control of board employees. And she argued that the board can hire an executive director only on her recommendation.

A trial judge sidestepped the question, calling it a political dispute.

Separately, the board sued Douglas after she refused to give its investigators remote computer access to teacher files. Douglas argued if the investigators want the files -- necessary to doing their job of background checks and looking into allegations of teacher misconduct -- they would have to come to her building where she said they belong in the first place.

The lawsuits were withdrawn earlier this year after Sen. Jeff Dial, R-Chandler, brokered a deal to revamp state law.

It now spells out that the education board and not the state schools chief has sole authority to hire, fire and control its own employees. In return, the board gave up control of the investigators.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday gave the Congress a lesson in history as he asserted that the BJP faced more adversaries than the Congress during the British Raj.

Modi stung the Congress once more as he hinted that the party had concentrated more on writing its own history, while the BJP and its leaders dedicated themselves to social welfare.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone of the new BJP headquarters office at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, near ITO, the PM said: Even during the British rule, the Congress party would not have faced that adversities that we have over the last 50 to 60 years. [Sic].

PM Modi (left) said it was the need of the hour to keep a record of everything the BJP is doing for India

He also added that all the efforts made by his party had come to be seen in bad light as the world knew the BJP only through hearsay.

Talking about how the BJP struggled during its way up, Modi said party leaders and workers did not abandon their ideology even if they had to be the Opposition for years.

Addressing a large gathering, including party chief Amit Shah, LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, and Arun Jaitley among others, Modi said the BJP did not even care to keep records of its activities in the past as its leaders and workers did not pay much attention to such things.

It was not a mistake. They were more concerned about the welfare of the people and the work being done in that regard, he said, adding that if one looked for a picture of Atal Bihari Vajpayee doing something for the people, it would be hard to find.

Modi said it was the need of the hour to keep a record of all that is being done by the party for the country.

Not many know us in the world. And those who do, know us through what others have said about us, Modi said, urging party leaders and workers to keep up the record of good works done by the party.

He said the BJP, while growing, would find it difficult to hire an office.

It was difficult for BJP candidates to have an office in Kolkata during the recently held state Assembly elections as anybody willing to give them space would face trouble, Modi said, in an apparent attack on the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal.

The new office is not just a building or a structure, but a symbol of the sacrifices of our party leaders, Modi said.

Our aim is to work for everyone. Nation building is our priority, the Prime Minister said.
Theresa May's tour of Europe to pay her respects to the EU's leaders after she came to power was a masterstroke in statesmanship.

Now her visit is proving to have been a brilliant exercise in realpolitik as well. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the first to cave in after meeting May in July, giving Britain more time to leave the EU. Italy's Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, is the latest to join her.

It's a big about turn from Renzi, who, together with Merkel and France's Francois Hollande, had demanded originally that Britain finalise its Brexit plans pronto.

Charm offensive: Theresa May's tour of Europe to pay her respects to the EU's leaders after she came to power was a masterstroke in statesmanship

Renzi has changed his mind for selfish reasons  he needs Merkel's support to end Italy's stagnation, which can only be done by bending deficit spending rules and shoring up his banking system. Only Merkel can help.

Giving the UK time suits Merkel too. She has elections next year and anti-EU sentiment is on the march. Always the populist, Merkel knows that playing hard-ball with the UK might strengthen those feelings rather than quell them.

Now Renzi and Merkel have to persuade Hollande, who they are due to meet this weekend, ahead of next month's Bratislava summit being held to discuss Brexit timing.

Hollande has been the most intransigent of the EU leaders to date, demanding a brisk Brexit. Flanby, as the president is nicknamed after the caramel custard style of his politics, also has elections next year.

Big support for Marine Le Pen's Front National party and the centre-right favourite Alain Juppe in next spring's election are making him wobble more than usual, so putting Brexit on the back-burner could give him backbone.

The latest French unemployment figures have provided a soupcon of respite, but Hollande is under severe pressure. Unemployment is below the 10 per cent level for the first time in four years. But it remains stubbornly high, particularly among the young.

Renzi is crossing his own Rubicon. As my colleague, Ruth Sunderland, reports, Italy's banks are at crisis point with non-performing toxic loans of 310billion  a fifth of all bank lending.

National debt stands at 2trillion euros. As well as persuading Merkel to allow Italy to exceed agreed EU budget deficit levels, Renzi needs support bailing out the banks.

Under Brussels rules, there can only be a public sector rescue if investors take a haircut. But nearly half of Italy's bond holders are private investors and they prefer to keep their hair long rather than Caesar-style.

Renzi also has his own referendum  one he called on constitutional change to reform the Senate and speed up legislation. He said he would resign should the vote go against him.

Not surprising, the populist Five Star Movement and the Liga Nord are whipping up a frenzy and hoping to turn the referendum into a vote of no confidence.

The Five Star politicians promise a referendum on pulling out of the euro, while the Liga says it will return to the lira.

With the economy teetering on recession, high unemployment and the banks on the brink, the referendum is going to be on a knife-edge.

If Renzi were to go, leading to a Five Star majority government, the eurozone could easily tip into a full-blown crisis, and maybe 'Quitaly'. By staying strong and demanding more time, May has done the EU a favour.

Brexit bruises

Once again it is the economists getting the kicking from Brexit and not the economy. After record jobs figures came more good news yesterday with retail sales up 1.4 per cent in July.

City economists had been predicting a rise of as little as 0.1 per cent. Year-on-year, sales were nearly 6 per cent higher across the board with clothing, footwear and jewellery walking off the shelves.

It's curious how shoppers took so little notice of the doomsayers forecasting so much gloom ahead of the vote. The shopping public are fickle, but they are also intuitive.

They knew there was no reason  politically or economically  for the country to immediately fall off the cliff.

That's why they ignored the most pessimistic Remainers before the vote, too. They felt the economy was trundling along pretty well before so why would that change? Economists should stick to analysing rather than proselytising.

Asda down

As I said, shoppers are fickle. Asda's latest collapse in sales looks like a simple case of shoppers sniffing out better bargains from rivals Aldi and Lidl, which now have a tenth of our food market.

Asda's owner, Walmart, is blaming food deflation as well as undercutting by Aldi and Lidl, and promises 1.5billion of price cuts.

It's true that Aldi and Lidl have fantastic bargains, but they are also clean-cut places to shop with the feel of the continent about them.
Riddle: Who's been making changes to Antonio Horta-Osorio's Wikipedia page?

Lloyds Bank lothario Antonio Horta-Osorio's Wikipedia page is the subject to some intriguing editing. Someone has removed all references that were recently added concerning his alleged dalliance with kittenish blonde Wendy Piatt.

Who could that have been? Impossible to say. Whoever it was has also made edits recently on the pages on the Wallace Collection, the London art gallery where Antonio, 52, is currently chairman. Curiouser and curiouser!

Dome-headed ex-Barclays boss Roger Jenkins, 60, is reported to be investing in (an entirely legal) cannabis venture in California. What became of his Bosnian refugee ex-wife Diana, 43, I wonder?

A pneumatic blonde, she claimed that London's grandes dames treated her like 'an Eastern European mail order bride'. During their 2011 divorce, she nabbed half her hubby's 300million fortune. Enough to turn anyone to drugs.

Sir Philip Green's amusing clash with a camera crew this week occurred off Ithaca, the Ionian island which was famously home to Odysseus.

Due to Greece's dire financial predicament, a much-visited cave where the ancient Greek king is said to have hidden has fallen into disrepair.

Odysseus expert Harry Mount remarks: 'There is no-one there guarding it any more so the empty gatehouse is now covered in lewd graffiti.

If Sir Shifty won't reimburse BHS pensioners, perhaps he could make a small contribution to the cave's upkeep?'

Swotty ex-government apparatchik-turned BlackRock strategist Rupert Harrison, 38, better known as 'George Osborne's brain', tells Channel 4 News the Government has room to cut taxes in the Autumn Statement.

Odd. Only two months ago his former boss was telling us he would have to hike taxes to the hilt following a Brexit vote. Of course it's possible that after the pair parted company last year George simply developed a mind of his own.

Reassuring words from gruff Scots gym magnate and Dragon's Den star Duncan Bannatyne, 67, to yesterday's A-Level results students: 'If your results are bad don't be too despondent.
French unemployment rate has fallen back below 10%

FRENCH WOE Unemployment in France has fallen back below 10 per cent to 9.9 per cent, but remains more than twice as high as the UK, where the jobless rate is at an 11-year low of 4.9 per cent.

GOLDEN HELLO David Lockwood, the new chief executive of troubled aerospace firm Cobham, is to receive a 3million golden hello.

The 54-year-old will leave electronics business Laird to take up his 690,000-a-year post and will receive the windfall to compensate him for loss of share options.

TALKSPORT TAKEOVER The attempt by Rupert Murdochs News Corp to buy talkSPORT in a 221million deal has moved a step closer.

Some 92 per cent of shareholders in TalkSPORT owner Wireless Group have now backed the proposed deal. Wireless shares fell 1.6 per cent, or 5p to 310p.

JOBS THREAT Up to 350 production staff could be axed at The Pizza Factory in Nottingham after a contract to make chilled pizzas for Tesco came to an end. Unite said it would hold talks with the East Midlands firm  owned by 2Sisters Food Group  today.

FUNDS BOOST Pensions and investment giant Royal London announced a 20 per centrise in operating profits to 138million in the first half of 2016. Funds under management increased 11 per cent to 93.8billion and new life and pensions business was up 39 per cent to a record 4.2billion.

SHOPPING SPREE Demand for retail units is still strong and there has been no sign of a Brexit slowdown, shopping centre manager Capital & Regional has said.

Its operating profits rose 16.1 per cent to 13.7million and it increased the interim dividend by 8 per cent 1.62p per share. Shares rose 1.7 per cent, or 1p to 59.5p.

JAPANESE SLUMP Japanese exports were down 14 per cent in July on the same month last year  the worst performance since October 2009 in the depths of the global financial crisis.

BUDGET CUT Energy regulator Ofgem has put forward plans to slash National Grids budget by 185.4million  meaning it will fall to around 16.7billion by 2021.

The watchdog sets the amount of money granted to National Grid to look after the UKs gas and electricity networks.

PROFITS MELT Swiss chocolate maker Nestle, which produces Kit Kat, said first-half profits fell from 3.6billion to 3.3billion as sales edged up by less than 1 per cent to 34.2billion.
Lloyd's of London insurer Lancashire Holdings was in focus on a quiet day in mid-August.

The talk in the market is that a massive Canadian pension fund, thought to be Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, approached the business before Britain's referendum on leaving the European Union about taking the company private.

It is said that before Brexit, the fund had indicated it could be willing to offer about 1.3billion or 618p a share for Lancashire Holdings.

It's not clear, however, whether talks between the FTSE 250 company and its suitor are still 'live'.

Lloyd's of London insurer Lancashire Holdings was in focus on a quiet day in mid-August

Still, reliable sources suggested other parties are interested in Lancashire Holdings, which insures properties, planes and boats, and a takeover deal could be brewing. Shares rose 0.7 per cent, or 4.5p to 610p.

Elsewhere in the sector, car insurance company Admiral bounced 2.4 per cent, or 50p to 2131p.

The shares were sold off a couple of days ago following a warning that excess capital returns would be about 50million lower than expected.

The FTSE 100 hardly moved, with the blue-chip index eventually closing up just 9.81 points at 6868.96.

Copper mining group Antofagasta topped the blue-chip leaderboard, increasing 5.3 per cent, or 28.5p to 571p as the price of the red metal rose by almost 1 per cent.

STOCK WATCH - Entertainment One was in focus as it announced a deal to buy the remaining 50 per cent it doesnt already own of digital studio Secret Location. The deal comes as blue-chip ITV and US private equity firm KKR weigh 1billion-plus takeover bids for Entertainment One, the producer of Peppa Pig. City sources reckon ITV will soon submit a revised takeover proposal of up to 280p a share after an offer of 236p per share was rejected by Entertainment One, whose shares ticked up 2.7 per cent yesterday, or 6.6p to 249.1p.

Kaz Minerals, another copper producer, was also chased higher after it unveiled an unexpected increase in profit in the first half of the year. The shares jumped 10 per cent, or 16.3p to 180p.

Supermarkets were in demand as rival Asda said it had seen falling sales amid a price war. Sainsbury's perked up 3 per cent, or 7.2p to 241.6p and WM Morrison gained 2.5 per cent, or 4.7p to 192.2p.

Publisher RELX, formerly known as Reed Elsevier, put on 0.8 per cent, or 12p to reach 1454p as JP Morgan gave the stock a push by reiterating its 'overweight' rating.

AstraZeneca slid 0.5 per cent, or 23p to 5046p amid chatter it had dropped out of the auction for Medivation, a US drug maker that is being pursued by some of the world's largest pharmaceutical businesses.

Reports yesterday suggested the suitors for Medivation, whose current market capitalisation stands at 8.4bn, are Merck, Sanofi, Celgene and Pfizer.

Among the smaller companies, holiday operator Thomas Cook increased 7.5 per cent, or 4.6p to 66.1p after it said it had signed a 21million deal with Webjet to outsource some of its hotel hunting.

Electronic components business Laird, which earlier this week saw its chief executive David Lockwood leave to join Cobham, drifted 2.9 per cent, or 9p to 299p as Berenberg took up coverage of the business with a 'sell' rating. The broker is worried Laird won't be able to meet market expectations in the second half of the year.

Russian steel producer Evraz took the wooden spoon, tumbling 11.2 per cent, or 19.4p to 153.5p, after figures for the first half of the year missed market forecasts.

Premier Farnell dipped 4.2 per cent, or 8p to 184p after Swiss bidder Daetwyler said it wouldn't outbid US rival Avnet for the Raspberry Pi mini-computer manufacturer.

William Hill declined 1.5 per cent, or 4.7p to 303.1p as Rank and 888 Holdings said they no longer planned to pursue a takeover of the bookie.

In the oil sector, Tullow Oil advanced 2.4 per cent, or 5.5p to 239.6p as it said it had begun producing oil from some fields off the coast of Ghana. Premier Oil climbed 2.6 per cent, or 2p to 78.5p following interim results.

The company said it made a post-tax profit of 127million, compared with a loss of 285million in the first six months of 2015. The highly indebted oil explorer said it had made 'good progress' over a new deal with its lenders.

Small cap Prospex Oil and Gas leapt 11.8 per cent, or 0.14p to 1.38p on heavy volume as investors picked up on a bullish note from Beaufort Securities.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Tuesday he was willing to meet with Donald Trump, months after comparing the Republican presidential candidate to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

'Yes, I would meet with him,' Pena Nieto said, referring to Trump in a pre-taped television interview broadcast on Tuesday night.

'I have never met him. I can't agree with some of the things he has said, but I will be absolutely respectful and will seek to work with whomever becomes the next president of the United States.'

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Tuesday he was willing to meet with Donald Trump, months after comparing the Republican presidential candidate to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini

Trump has sparked outrage in Mexico with his campaign vow to build a wall along the southern U.S. border to keep out illegal immigrants and drugs, and to make Mexico pay for it.

In a Mexican newspaper interview in March, Pena Nieto said Mexico would not pay for the proposed wall under any scenario, likening Trump's 'strident tone' to the World War II era dictators.

But at a June summit in Canada, Pena Nieto said he only drew the comparison as a reminder of the devastation wreaked in the past.

At a White House news conference following a meeting with President Barack Obama in July Pena Nieto also said he'd work with 'whomever is elected' to the highest office in America and do so 'in a very constructive manner.'

Trump has sparked outrage in Mexico with his campaign vow to build a wall along the southern U.S. border to keep out illegal immigrants and drugs, and to make Mexico pay for it. Pena Nieto says he will work with 'whomever' is elected though

That press conference coincided with the end of the nominating convention that solidified Trump as the Republican candidate for president.

Pena Nieto claimed that his previous statements about Trump had been 'taken out of context.'

'And let me also say that never before have I said anything, have I given any adjective to any of the candidates in the democratic competition here in the United States,' he stated.

The Mexican leader said, 'Any issue, anything that I have said has been taken out of context...if you see everything that I have said, invariably I have expressed absolute respect for this process.
Team GB sailors Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark finally won gold today after an agonising wait to get their hands on the medals.

The Brits should have sailed in the women's 470 class yesterday afternoon but couldn't because there was a lack of wind.

Mills and Clark were kept bobbing on the water for more than three hours as officials waited in vain for the breeze to pick up - with one commentator remarking that the conditions were more suited to jet skiing.

But today there were incredible scenes at the finishing line as the two women punched the air and embraced to finally clinch gold.

Hannah, 28, said: 'I can't believe it's actually happened. Right now we've forgotten all about London...we're so proud to have come back and have worked so hard to get the upgrade to gold.

'It's all we've ever dreamed of and we're just so proud.'

Great Britain's Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark celebrate after finally securing the gold medal

Hannah Mills, left, and Saskia Clark celebrate after winning gold - GB's 21st of the Games

The British sailors celebrate with their families on the beach after securing gold

Saskia, 36, who was competing in her last Olympics, added: 'It's insane, it's amazing. The first time I met Hannah I knew the partnership could be special and we've been there for each other and I hope she can sing [the National Anthem]!'

The duo, who won silver at London 2012, only needed to avoid sinking their boat or being disqualified today to secure gold.

The pair had arrived in Rio de Janeiro with unfinished business after missing out on the gold on the home waters of Weymouth and Portland four years ago.

Mills and Clark first teamed up 18 months before the London Games.

Clark finished sixth in the 470 class in Beijing but struggled to find a new partner for London before joining up with Mills.

There were jubilant scenes in Rio as the British duo finally secured gold this evening

British sailors Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills celebrate after securing Team GB's 21st gold

Two years ago they were mugged at knife point as they prepared for the event in Rio.

On their 470 Girls Facebook page they wrote: 'Two guys wielding seven inch knives ran at us, pushed us around and grabbed everything we had'.

Their victory capped Team GB's second gold sailing medal after Giles Scott's victory in the men's Finn, and their third overall with Nick Dempsey's silver in the RS:X windsurfing.

Team GB remain second in the medal table, with this their 21st gold of their most successful ever overseas Games.

New Zealand's Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie, the 2012 gold medalists, rallied for the silver medal after two disqualifications in the preliminary series.

Camille Lecointre and Helene Defrance, of France, won the bronze.
St. Anthony Police Chief Jon Mangseth (pictured) described officer Jeronimo Yanez as a level-headed member of the force

The Minnesota police officer who killed Philando Castile in a shooting whose bloody aftermath was live streamed on Facebook was defended by his chief on Wednesday.

St. Anthony Police Chief Jon Mangseth described officer Jeronimo Yanez as a level-headed member of the force with 'a real sound ability when it comes to communicating and relating to people.'

His portrait is at odds with the image of the officer screaming expletives while pointing his gun at the dying man in the video.

Yanez fatally shot school cafeteria worker Philando Castile during a traffic stop in nearby Falcon Heights on July 6.

Castile's girlfriend Diamond Reynolds streamed the gruesome aftermath live on Facebook.

She said Castile was shot several times while reaching for his ID after telling the officer he had a gun permit and was armed.

Scroll down for video

St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez (left) fatally shot school cafeteria worker Philando Castile (right) during a traffic stop in nearby Falcon Heights, Minnesota, on July 6

More than a month later, Yanez was expected to return to work for the first time Wednesday, Mangseth said in an interview with the Associated Press.

Yanez will perform desk duties and other administrative work until the investigation is completed and charging decisions are made, the chief said.

But Mangseth wouldn't discuss any details of the shooting, including what prompted the traffic stop that preceded Castile's death, citing the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's ongoing review of the incident.

He also wouldn't say whether he thinks his officer should be charged or exonerated in the case.

But he said the 28-year-old, who is Latino, has had a sterling reputation in St. Anthony's police ranks since joining the force in late 2011.

The chief described Yanez as energetic and intelligent, a skilled officer whom he chose to join the department's special crime prevention program.

'He has a real sound ability when it comes to communicating and relating to people,' Mangseth said. 'He showed me that he could shine in that public eye.'

Castile's girlfriend's live streamed of the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook in July

In Castile's girlfriend's archived video of the aftermath of the shooting, Yanez is shown occasionally yelling expletives and pointing his gun at Castile as he lies bleeding in the driver's seat of the car.

'I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand off it!' he screams. The chief called Yanez's reaction common in a high-stress situation.

Through an attorney, Castile's family declined to comment on the chief's assessments.

Castile's death set off weeks of protests and calls for Yanez to be charged.

It stoked the outcry following the death of another black man, Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the hands of white police officers the day before.

It also put the sleepy collection of St. Paul suburbs that St. Anthony police serve in the group of communities dealing with officer-involved shootings of black men, along with Baltimore, Ferguson, Baton Rouge, and most recently Milwaukee.

'There's been no time in my career where we've ever had this type of dynamic at work, this national stage, so to speak,' said Mangseth, who joined the department in 1995 and took over as chief earlier this year.

That scrutiny eventually revealed Mangseth's department has disproportionately arrested African Americans.

Castile's girlfriend Diamond Reynolds (left, with his mother) said he was shot when he reached for his wallet during the traffic stop

While just seven percent of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area is black, nearly half of the St. Anthony police's arrests in the first half of 2016 were of black people, according to an AP analysis of arrest data provided by the department.

Members of Minnesota's black community said the statistics were proof of racial profiling.

Mangseth called those arrest rates a societal issue that extends far beyond law enforcement, St. Anthony's police department or the neighboring communities of Falcon Heights and Lauderdale that it also serves.

He said it merits a discussion in their area of 16,000 people, and said he'd consider implementing bias training for his 23-member department.

'I am open for that training,' he said.

Mangseth said he spoke to Yanez a handful of times while he was on administrative leave.

The chief said he made sure to offer counseling or psychological services, though he couldn't say whether Yanez had used them.

'He's concerned for his future and for his family,' the chief said.

Mangseth (above) wouldn't discuss any details of the shooting, including what prompted the traffic stop that preceded Castile's death

'This has put him and his family front and center in our metro area, not to mention the nation.'

Castile was a longtime school cafeteria worker who family members described as loving and laid-back.

He worked at JJ Hill Montessori School in St. Paul. Quick with a high-five for students and always eager to sneak kids extra graham crackers and other treats, Castile was known simply as 'Mr. Phil.'

He was days shy of his 33rd birthday when he was shot.

Castile and his girlfriend were driving through Falcon Heights on July 6 when they were pulled over for what his girlfriend has said was a broken tail light.

Castile's death came a day after Alton Sterling (pictured) was killed at the hands of two white police officers in Baton Rouge

Castile told officers that he had a gun in the car and a permit to use it, but was shot when he reached for his wallet, his girlfriend said.

Court records show he had been stopped or ticketed more than 50 times.

Yanez had worked for the St. Anthony Police Department for nearly five years when he pulled Castile's car over and, within minutes, fatally shot him several times.

The officer's attorney, Thomas Kelly, has said that one of the reasons Yanez pulled Castile over was because he thought he looked like 'a possible match' for a suspect in a recent armed robbery.

The convenience store holdup happened less than two miles down the same street from where Yanez stopped Castile.

Yanez graduated from Minnesota State University-Mankato in 2010 with a degree in law enforcement.
An elderly woman has been seriously injured after she was struck by a train after falling from a platform at a station in Sydney's west.

It is believed the 70-year-old woman fell onto the tracks at Granville train station at about 7.45am on Thursday.

She has been taken to Westmead Hospital where she is in a stable condition.

A 70-year-old woman fell from a train platform and onto the tracks in Sydney's peak hour

She suffered serious head injuries when struck by a train at Granville Station

'We were called to Bridge Street at Granville after reports of a patient falling,' a NSW Ambulance spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

'The 70-year-old female has suffered a head injury.'

Commuters should prepare for delays on western lines after the incident, according to Sydney Trains.

The elderly woman was transported to Westmead Hospital after being treated on scene

A NSW Ambulance spokesperson says she remains in a serious but stable condition

'Passengers travelling in both directions on the T1 Western Line and Blue Mountains Line and away from the city on the T1 North Shore Line are advised to allow plenty of additional travel time due to a person being injured by a train at Granville,' a Sydney rail spokeswoman told Yahoo Seven.

Two platforms remain closed and passengers are being told to expect significant delays throughout the morning.

The woman was badly hurt after toppling from a platform at Granville Station
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump got his first classified briefing from U.S. intelligence officials Wednesday, notwithstanding his dim view of U.S. intelligence and some of the people who provide it.

Trump got the classified briefing for the first time now that he is formally his party's nominee. The normally routine function is getting additional attention this year because of Hillary Clinton's issues with handling of classified material and Trump's recent statement encouraging the Russians to probe her emails, in a comment he said was sarcastic.

Trump blasted the intelligence community in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.

Scroll down for video

Donald Trump indicated he has a skeptical view of intelligence and some of the people who provide it in an interview Wednesday, when he got his first classified briefing as party nominee

Asked whether he trusted intelligence, he replied, 'Not so much from the people that have been doing it for our country. I mean, look what's happened over the last 10 years. Look what's happened over the years  It's been catastrophic.'

Then Trump suggested he would clean house if he got into office as far as intelligence advisors.

'In fact, I won't use some of the people that are sort of your standards, you know, just use them, use them, use them, very easy to use them, but I won't use them because they've made such bad decisions,' he said.

Trump brought Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn along to the briefing, in part to make sure he was getting valuable information from the feds.

Trump brough along Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (left) to make sure he got good information his camp said

Trump got the briefing at a secure federal building in New York

LOCKDOWN: Police and security officers patrol the Javits Federal Building in Manhattan where Trump got briefed

NEW BLOOD: During a separate meeting with security officials, Trump's new campaign CEEO Stephen Bannon was in attendance

IN CONCERT: New champaign chair Kellyanne Conway was also there, as was campaign chairman Paul Manafort on a day a campaign shakeup was announced

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (left) trumpeted the idea of bringing Flynn to the briefing

Trump advisor and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani said it was a good idea for Trump to bring Flynn.

'He should take Gen. Flynn with him to be able to ask critical questions. This is the art of being a good executive,' Giuliani said, Politico reported.

Trump continued to send signals of his vow to restore law and order by meeting with security officials at Trump tower Wednesday.

Trump met with Giuliani and former George W. Bush administration attorney general Michael Mukasey at Trump Tower in New York, a day after he vowed to crack down on looting and disorder during a tough speech in Wisconsin.

The Trump campaign allowed a press contingent in to hear a snatch of dialogue and get pictures of a picture of the event, in a presidential-style stage-managed photo op that is a departure from Trumps typical means of getting his message out: fiery rallies and freewheeling TV interviews.

In attendance were Flynn, Representative Pete King of Long Island, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, and others.

We now that that the local police feel theyre not getting the information that they need, said Giuliani during a stretch of the meeting reporters were allowed to witness.

The FBIs gotta and this is something that we need leadership from a president like Donald Trump, he continued. This is something that has to come from the top so that the FBI is told youve got to share with local police. Youve got to give them the information, he said.

Mukasey chimed in about surveillance policy. Allow FBI or local police to monitor any place with reasonable suspicion of terrorist extremism, he said.
Elected officials, law enforcement executives and the public need to acknowledge the lessons learned from another scathing report exposing the root of distrust between minority communities and the police: zero-tolerance policing.

Released last week, the Department of Justices investigative report on the Baltimore Police Department connects the long-simmering distrust of Baltimore law enforcement to a legacy of government-sanctioned discrimination dating back to citys founding in 1729: These tensions hardened during the 1990s and 2000s as the city responded to increasing violent crime rates by emphasizing an aggressive, zero tolerance police strategy that prioritized making large numbers of stops, searches and arrests  often for misdemeanor street offenses like loitering and disorderly conduct.

Lets use Baltimore to explain how zero-tolerance policing largely came to be. When Baltimores violent crime rate jumped 53 percent between 1987 and 1994, the city planning committee identified 266 distinct neighborhoods to be the focus of a new city ordinance vigorously pushed by the mayors office to reclaim public spaces by arresting the panhandlers and homeless. Soon after came the case of Patton v. Baltimore City (1994) in which the zero-tolerance arrest policy was ruled unconstitutional as it infringed on the homeless First Amendment right to freedom of association by attacking their status as opposed to their acts.

Whether police executives of the 1990s and onward considered a zero-tolerance strategy detrimental to crime control efforts in the long-term is irrelevant. Police work for elected officials, who saw the short-term gains in crime reduction offered by a zero-tolerance strategy as a potential electoral advantage. Whether zero-tolerance policies disenfranchised poor minority communities was irrelevant because their voice was small and their vote smaller.

Sadly, elected officials put poor minority communities at odds with the police, who ironically were best positioned to see how the general failure of structural solutions disproportionately affect these communities.

This predicament is known as the democratic policing dilemma. Scholars suggest a democratic policing dilemma will persist so long as the potential for an electoral advantage clashes with technical expertise within the police profession. Knowing this dilemma exists, we must use the DOJs latest report as an opportunity to learn about one another.

Elected officials need to know that shaping police policy for an electoral advantage undermines police expertise and is an overreach that can have devastating consequences. Law enforcement leaders need to understand the power of legitimacy to lead the exercise of social authority needed to make up for where and when instrumental crime control measures fall short. Fellow citizens need to recognize how the democratic policing dilemma has left police with some unwarranted blame.

As we move forward amid an abundance of passion for police reform, its important we understand the limitations of more police oversight: The more police conduct improves, the harder it is to improve by good intentions alone. Perhaps evidence-based policing is the technical solution capable of compensating for where structural solutions fall short.

The inherent transparency and empirical validity of evidence-based practices may reduce the gap between democratic deliberation and decisive deployment of force.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Jack Wagstaff of Durham, North Carolina, is a law enforcement officer, a member of the Society of Evidence Based Policing and an executive staff member for the D.L. Forbes Youth Foundation. He wrote this for the News & Observer.
The Army is losing 400 soldiers a month amid concerns the Iraq war legal witch-hunt is damaging morale and creating a state of fear.

Shock figures reveal that 4,770 soldiers quit in the 12 months to April  6 per cent of the total force and an increase of 20 per cent from six years ago.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, who led the charge against spurious claims being made against soldiers, raised concerns about the impact on morale.

The Army is losing 400 soldiers a month amid concerns the Iraq war legal witch-hunt is damaging morale and creating a state of fear

Former soldiers have spoken of how they were treated like murderers and made to feel ashamed of their years of service after facing multiple probes into front-line incidents that happened a decade ago.

But Whitehall sources said it was hoped the news that Public Interest Lawyers  the main law firm hounding soldiers  is to close this month, will boost morale.

Overall, 7,850 personnel left the Army, Navy and RAF in the year 2015-16  the equivalent of 654 each month. This was an increase of 240 from the 7,610 voluntary departures in the previous year, the figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats show.

It comes as this years Armed Forces Attitude Survey found that 76 per cent of personnel feel proud to be in the military  down 11 per cent from 2011.

Baroness Judith Jolly, defence spokesman for the Lib Dems, said: The success and capability of our Armed Forces is dependent on having the best soldiers, sailors and airmen, and the steady increase in resignations is deeply concerning. It follows concerns on the damage mounting legal cases against soldiers has had on the morale of troops.

In January, David Cameron chaired a National Security Council meeting to address the issue of law firms hounding soldiers following a series of revelations by the Mail.

Former soldiers have spoken of how they were treated like murderers and made to feel ashamed of their years of service after facing multiple probes into front-line incidents that happened a decade ago

A serving Army officer said last night that ambulance-chasing law firms had created a state of fear. He added: Soldiers come back from a stressful operation and are confident they have done everything by the book.

But with firms seeming to randomly accuse soldiers, they have a fear hanging over them.

Most of the accusations seem to be completely unfounded with questionable evidence, but as soon as a soldier is accused, they are tarnished in the same way as someone who is accused of rape.

The long-term effect of this is that soldiers will start doubting what they can and cant do.

Those who are guilty should be punished, but the blame culture creates a genuine state of fear and doubt that is detrimental to the Army as a whole.

The expectation of fewer deployments and brightening prospects in the civilian world are said to have also contributed to the rise in the numbers wanting to quit.

Major Charles Heyman, a defence analyst, said: It is something the MoD needs to keep an eye on. The figure is not excessive but there is a trend, and if that trend gets worse that could be really dangerous.

In a bid to boost numbers earlier this year, defence minister Penny Mordaunt announced a shake-up of the rules for Commonwealth recruits wanting to serve in the military. Under previous rules they could join the military only if they had lived in the UK for five years but she waived the residency requirements.

Campaign group UK Veterans  One Voice, which helps serving and former personnel, said: We hear on a regular basis that our troops no longer feel confident in doing their jobs for fear of prosecution years down the line.
Extra ships and planes have been deployed into Australia's northern waters in recent months in preparation for the closure of Manus Island detention centre.

Border Force surveillance was ramped up in May ahead of the announcement the offshore processing centre in Papua New Guinea would shut, Daily Telegraph reported.

The boats needed to be stopped before Manus Island could close, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said, with the possibility people smugglers would test the borders during the election period and a surge of boats would come.

Extra Border Force ships (stock image of Cape-class patrol boat at the Port of Darwin in May) have been deployed in recent months

There was a possibility people smugglers would test the borders during the election period and a surge of boats would come (stock image of Border Force ship)

Australia's detention of men at Manus Island was found to be illegal by the PNG Supreme Court in April this year.

Mr Dutton on Wednesday announced the offshore processing centre would close.

He said none of the 854 remaining men would be resettled in Australia.

They will all be offered permanent resettlement in PNG or will be returned to their home country, even though 98 per cent of the men have been found to be genuine refugees.

A Border Force ship is viewed from the deck of an asylum seeker boat in May, 2015

The Western Australian premier Colin Barnett on Thursday said the state would be prepared to take asylum-seeker families should the government change its position to allow people to resettle in Australia.

But Mr Dutton has said 'people from Manus will not be settling in Australia', he said on Wednesday after holding talks with PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.

Labor has called on the Coalition government to find third-party settlement options, and if refugees were to be settled in PNG, to detail which services like education and housing they'd get.

'We need a viable option  the government needs to process these people,' immigration spokesman Shayne Neuman told AAP.

But Mr Dutton shut the suggestion down.

'There is no third-country option available for people out of Manus at this point in time. That's the reality that we deal with,' the minister told ABC radio on Thursday.

The Greens want the men on Manus to be relocated to Australia, saying the decision spells the end of offshore detention.

'Manus has to close, Nauru is in meltdown and offshore detention is in freefall,' immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young told AAP.

There's no official timeline for the closure with Mr Dutton saying it's an issue for PNG, which is set to get a substantial payment to wind it down.

'It will take years to clean up this mess,' Mr Dutton said, adding he hoped the centre was shut as soon as possible.

Asylum seekers at the Manus Island detention centre in March, 2014

Australia's detention of asylum seekers at Manus Island (stock, March 2014) was found to be illegal by the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court in April this year

Mr O'Neill said he's satisfied officials from both sides were making progress but stressed the closure shouldn't be rushed.

Mr Dutton said the government agreed to the closure because asylum seeker boats have stopped.

'One of the dividends of stopping boats is that we can close detention centres,' he said.

A boat with six Sri Lankans was turned back earlier this week.

Mr Dutton said Australian officials found the boat after Sri Lanka passed on intelligence about the people-smuggling venture.

He said the processing centre on Nauru would remain open as an important deterrent to boat arrivals.

'We need a regional processing centre because we know it is one of the main tools that helps to stop people smugglers selling tickets,' the minister said.

Two Afghan refugees at Manus Island were verbally abused, robbed and beaten by locals on Wednesday.

They were taken to a local police station and CPR was performed on one of the men after he collapsed on the station floor.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Border Force for comment.

Two Afghan refugees at Manus Island were verbally abused, robbed and beaten by locals on Wednesday. One collapsed on the floor after they were taken to a local police station (pictured)

One of the men held his arm up to stem the blood gushing down his wrist
An air conditioning company has come under fire after posting a sexist advert warning contractors that prospective clients would likely be 'fat Australian chicks.'

The advert, posted on classifieds site Gumtree on August 12, also said 'young dudes who don't know sh**' would be put on a starting salary of just $10 an hour.

Air Conditioning Expert Brisbane posted the controversial notice in the hopes of recruiting in the lead-up to the summer period, but have since taken it down, according to the Brisbane Times.

A Brisbane air conditioning company has come under fire after posting a notice which warned contractors that prospective clients would likely be 'fat chicks' (stock image)

The advert began by describing the physical nature of the work, which involved 'crawling in roofs, getting dirty' and 'working through the hottest days of summer.'

It then started describing the typical clientele.

'Fat Australian chicks will sit inside in the air conditioning, not offer you a drink or lift a finger to help clean up while you get sunburnt, dehydrated and disorientated outside installing air conditioning for her comfort,' the advert stated.

'Then she will tell us we are all equal. That's our life. We are men. We wouldn't trade places with her anyway.'

The advert then went on to reach out to students looking for an apprenticeship or workers with a trade certificate hunting for a summer job.

'Trades assistants anywhere from 15 - 25 depends on what you know.

'Young dudes who don't know s***t can start on 10 - 15. Most likely 10 but you'll go to 15 if you are good.'

A man from the air conditioning company told Daily Mail Australia he 'hadn't had a good look' at the advert yet.

'As far as all these offended fat chicks go - I couldn't care less. Nobody has a 'right ' not To be offended,' he said.

'If they weren't offended or angry at me they would be finding someone else to complain about. They have to make a living somehow.'

'We are men. We wouldn't trade places with her anyway': The advert has been slammed for being overtly sexist, as well as offering illegal pay rates for apprentices

Electrical Trades Union Queensland spokesman Scott Reichman told the Brisbane Times that the pay rates being offered were illegal.

'These are the kind of dodgy companies we have to protect apprentices from,' he said.

'Under the modern award a First Year Apprentice should be paid at least $12.66 and a Grade 1 Electrical Worker at least $18.72.'

Air Conditioning Expert Brisbane's Facebook page, which has just 11 likes, displays similar language to that seen in the contentious advert.

One post on the page describes fridge installers as 'plastic tradies' who do nothing but 'throw mud on our work.'

'Bye fellas. Ever need any advice on air con you know who to call...Your mum, she's at my house washing dishes,' the post concludes.

The business page says it specialises in installation of Mitsubishi air conditioning units.

Daily Mail Australia has tried contacting Air Conditioning Expert Brisbane for comment.
Stretched out on her bed 60 miles away from where Sadie Hartley lay dead in her hall, Sarah Williams was happily watching Mamma Mia! with her close friend Katrina Walsh.

As they hummed along to the strains of Abba, the odd couple with a 20-year age gap sat back thinking they had got away with the perfect murder.

It had taken 17 months of meticulous planning  using trackers, dummy runs, unregistered cars and disposable phones  but they had finally managed to get rid of the evil bitch.

Friends: Sarah Williams and Katrina 'Kit' Walsh on holiday in Thailand

Just two nights before, Williams had paralysed her love rival with a stun gun before fatally stabbing her 40 times in her five-bedroom home in Helmshore, Lancashire.

So convinced was the 35-year-old ski worker that she would get away with murdering her love rival, she had already booked her next two snow trips to Canada. Hours later  at 3am  she was awoken dazed and confused and confronted by detectives.

John McDermott, prosecuting, detailed the horrific plot that led to Mrs Hartley opening her door to find Williams lunging at her with a stun gun.

Murder mission: CCTV footage of a pair on a ferry to Rotterdam

Crime scene: Their victim's 800,000 five-bedroom home in Helmshore, Lancashire

She pressed it against her  Sadie Hartleys head  and incapacitated her, said the QC. Then with what can only be described as almost demonic savagery, she attacked her with a knife.

She stabbed and slashed at this unfortunate woman  blow after blow, causing appalling and fatal injuries.

She left her victim in a pool of blood in the hallway, closed the door, walked back to the car she had used on her murderous mission and set off back to her home in Cheshire.

It was a premeditated, planned assassination of an innocent woman.

Pictured is Williams, left, and her fellow plotter Kit Walsh on a vacation in Thailand

Williams was today found guilty of murdering Sadie Hartley after lying to the court for weeks, denying that she had killed her love rival

But despite using disguises, attempting to dodge police number plate recognition cameras and wearing over-sized boots at the murder scene to throw police off, there were fatal flaws.

Detectives used CCTV and mobile phone data to track the killers both on the night of the murder and exactly a week earlier when they carried out a macabre test run.

This involved Walsh handing the victim a 3 bunch of supermarket flowers and saying: Mrs Hartley? These are for you. Mrs Hartley recounted the incident to a colleague, describing it as a bit creepy really.

Now, revelations about her past reveal that Williams (pictured) showed behaviour typical of a pathological liar

Upon her arrest Walsh gave police two leather-bound diaries she had kept detailing the entire plan.

Detectives were able to cross-reference events Walsh had written about with footage of the killers on reconnaissance trips and shopping for the murder weapon. The 6 knife from Tesco was bought using a Clubcard. The diaries revealed that a trip, partly by ferry, to Colognes Christmas markets had been a cover to travel to Darmstadt and buy a 500,000-volt stun gun.

Giving evidence via video link, Anna Schanz, who sold the pair the weapon and bottles of pepper spray, said she had showed them how to use it. Over several weeks, the prosecution at Preston Crown Court destroyed Williamss alibi with incontrovertible evidence that placed her at the scene of almost every stage of the plot.

She and Walsh had bought a GPS tracker they attached to the car owned by Ian Johnston, Mrs Hartleys partner, to work out where he and Mrs Hartley lived.

Theyd fancied themselves as Batman and Robin for years  but on the wrong side of the law, said Mr McDermott.

Forensics had found DNA on Williamss bath where, covered in blood after returning from the murder, she had tried to scrub herself clean. They also found it on her spectacles.

CCTV footage showed her buying the size 10 steel-capped workboots used on the night of the murder.

Mr McDermott said the killers, believing themselves to be clever, had bought a Renault Clio for 430 so as not to be traced. They used throwaway burner mobile phones for the same reason.

Yet police traced their movements on the mobile phone network and through number plate monitoring. Mrs Hartleys DNA was found in the abandoned Clio despite attempts to scrub the vehicle clean.

Following her arrest the day after Williams while she was giving a riding lesson, Walsh told officers: I might have done something. I just dont remember.
A black teenager who was killed by Chicago police suffered a single gunshot wound to the right side of his back, according to an autopsy report which ruled his death a homicide.

Paul O'Neal, 18, did not have drugs in his system when he was fatally shot by police on July 28, said the report by the Cook County medical examiner's office.

O'Neal was not armed when he crashed a stolen car into a police car and ran into a backyard where he was handcuffed after being shot. Parts of the incident were captured on police dashboard and body cameras.

WARNING: GRAPHIC FOOTAGE

Paul O'Neal, 18, was fatally shot by Chicago police in a South Shore neighborhood

In this frame grab from a body cam provided by the Independent Police Review Authority, Chicago police officers fire into a stolen car driven by O'Neal on July 28, 2016

Police handcuff O'Neal in a yard after several gunshots were fired at him during a pursuit

'We knew he didn't have any drugs in his system,' Michael Oppenheimer, a lawyer for O'Neal's family, told Reuters. 'We're pleased for that.'

Unidentified police officers fired gunshots during the foot chase with O'Neal.

The autopsy repeated a police claim that an officer believed 'the shots being fired were coming from O'Neal'.

That officer 'fired his Glock 9mm handgun five times in an attempt to stop the threat,' said the autopsy report.

Authorities released videos that captured the moments before and after police shot O'Neal, but not the shooting itself because a police officer's body camera was not recording.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has said that the officer had only received the body camera about a week earlier and may not have been proficient in using it.

Some community leaders have expressed doubts about the police account, saying they suspect the body camera was left off on purpose by the officer.

Footage captured by an officer's bodycam shows officers handcuffing the dying teen

A police officer fires at a stolen Jaguar car driven by O'Neal shortly before he was killed

Officers fire several shots at the stolen car, which crashed into a police car up the block

Footage from police dashboard and body cameras showed a chaotic sequence of events as officers pursued the stolen Jaguar and O'Neal on foot.

Officers fired several gunshots at the car as it sideswiped a police car and blew a stop sign before crashing into a police SUV up the street.

O'Neal exited the car and ran into a backyard, where he was shot.

Video shows police handcuffing the mortally wounded O'Neal.

No firearms were found on the teen.

Chicago police at the scene where the stolen Jaguar crashed head-on with a police vehicle

Three Chicago police officers have been stripped of their law enforcement authority, a more severe step than a mere suspension, for their roles in the shooting.

Their names have not been revealed.

Race relations in the US were under immense strain when O'Neal was killed, and his death sparked protests in the streets.

His death came just weeks after the police shooting deaths of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota and the killings five Dallas police officers, who were working at a Black Lives Matter protest.

The Chicago Police Department is currently facing a federal probe of allegations of racism and abuse against minorities.
A rule which prevents careful women drivers from paying lower premiums could be scrapped after Brexit, one of the nations top insurers has said.

The British insurance industry lost a hard-fought battle to prevent the European Unions so-called gender neutrality rules which mean men and women of the same age pay the same rate.

Critics of the ruling argue that it hits young female motorists in the pocket because they are forced to pay the same rate as boy racers.

The British insurance industry lost a hard-fought battle to prevent the European Unions so-called gender neutrality rules which mean men and women of the same age pay the same rate

Women are statistically less likely to have an accident than men  a factor which kept their costs down before the changes in 2012.

The same logic meant male pensioners were paid better annuities because of their traditionally shorter life expectancy.

However, judges at the European Court of Justice decided this was unfair and stopped it from happening.

Now, insurance giant Admiral is calling for a rethink after Britain has quit the EU and is once again free to set its own standards.

Chief executive David Stevens said: We do feel its unfair that young women pay more than they deserve to pay for car insurance.

It will be interesting to see if the UK government reverses that as a result of Brexit.

The issue  which Mr Stevens admitted was not likely to be a top priority for ministers  is one of several where an EU decision could be reversed to boost businesses.

Politicians such as Brexit Secretary David Davis and trade minister Lord Mark Price have said they will prioritise cutting red tape.

Action has also been made by Sir James Dyson, who battled the EU over regulations affecting Dyson vacuum cleaners, and JCB owner Lord Anthony Bamford.

Most large businesses, which tended to back the Remain side, have been much more reticent about the opportunities to reduce regulatory burdens.

Few chief executives of firms on the blue chip FTSE 100 index have spoken out, so Mr Stevens intervention is an unusual one.

But Conservative MP John Redwood, a veteran Eurosceptic, said he expected others to follow suit.

This gender neutrality rule was one which was very unpopular with a lot of people at the time the EU did it, he said.

Once weve taken back control, its something we can make a decision about.

There are some silly rules which hurt the customer as well as the business and they deserve another look.

EU gender neutrality rules were introduced after a decade-long row with UK firms.

The Association of British Insurers warned they would lead to less accurate prices and its members echoed those concerns individually.
Turkey's failed coup has led to a fresh migrant surge, raising fears that the countrys agreement with the EU is crumbling.

The number of refugees fleeing to Greece from the country has soared since the bloody attempt to topple President Erdogan last month.

A total of 1,367 arrived in Greece in the first two weeks of August, compared with 1,721 in the entire month of May, figures show.

Turkey's failed coup has led to a fresh migrant surge, raising fears that the countrys agreement with the EU is crumbling. Above, before the EU-Turkey deal

Aid agency Save The Children said that arrivals to the Greek islands during the past two weeks were up by 144 per cent compared with the same period in the previous month

Aid agency Save The Children said that arrivals to the Greek islands during the past two weeks were up by 144 per cent compared with the same period in the previous month.

Average daily arrivals on the islands have risen sharply from 56 in May to 90 in August, the charity said. It added that the increase was partly down to insecurity since the abortive coup in Ankara.

The figures had dropped dramatically from a daily average of about 2,500 arrivals before the deal between Turkey and the EU in March.

But charities say the new rise means the migrant crisis is in danger of going back to square one.

It underlines growing fears that Ankara is failing in its agreement to stem the tide of illegal migration passing into EU countries through its borders.

More than a million people have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe in the past year, sending shockwaves across the region.

Including those on the islands, there are now 57,679 migrants stranded in Greece, up from about 42,000 in March. More than 10,700 of those are on the countrys eastern Aegean islands.

Many are living in heavily overcrowded and squalid camps. Around 3,800 of those stranded on the islands are children. Save The Children warned that refugee women and children were living in demoralising and unsafe conditions.

Katie Dimmer, the charitys director of operations in Greece, said: Were nearly back at square one.

As the number of arrivals creeps up again, were starting to see scenes reminiscent of last summer.

Since the EU signed a deal with Turkey to halt the influx, the numbers have dropped dramatically but there are fears the reduction may not be sustainable

Except this time, most asylum seekers are trapped on the islands in overcrowded facilities.

Only 20 of the 88,000 unaccompanied child refugees across Europe have so far been allowed to the UK, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said yesterday.

This is despite pledges by the Tory government to rescue many children living in squalid camps.

Mr Farron added: This is a stain on the conscience of Theresa May and it is a stain on Britains reputation.

Spyros Mitrisakis, head of the Lifeguard Hellas mission, said of the soaring figures: The numbers are growing again and were concerned.

Were considering setting up an additional rescue zone.

In March, the EU pledged to work towards visa-free travel for Turks to Europes Schengen zone in exchange for Turkeys assistance in curbing the number of migrants crossing from the country over to the Greek islands.

Since the EU signed a deal with Turkey to halt the influx, the numbers have dropped dramatically but there are fears the reduction may not be sustainable.

Concerns have been raised that if Turkey fails to stem the flow the EU will refuse to relax visa rules by October, threatening the whole deal.
The British Red Cross has been chided by watchdogs for its aggressive fundraising practices following a Daily Mail investigation.

The Information Commissioners Office condemned the charity for hounding donors on the phone despite the fact they were on no call lists.

It was accused of a major failing for not giving the public an easy way to opt out of begging calls. And the charitys chief executive received a scathing email from the information commissioner, reminding him of the stark reality that the public have a right to be left alone.

Supervisor Glyn told staff they had to care about the charity's cause 'whether you do or don't' at the GoGen call centre, which handles fundraising calls for the Red Cross

The crackdown comes after an undercover Mail investigation revealed fundraisers working for the British Red Cross were hounding elderly people  including dementia sufferers  for money using boiler room tactics.

But while the ICOs action has been welcomed, it is also facing criticism for initially failing to publish the results of its probe, with damning emails only revealed by a Freedom of Information request.

The British Red Cross was the biggest customer of the disgraced GoGen call centre exposed by the Mails Investigations Unit last summer. Callers representing the charity were found to be targeting people who were registered with the official no call list, the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). They were pestering targets for up to three years after they had cancelled their donations.

The Mail also uncovered pictures of British Red Crosss executive director of fundraising Mark Astarita dressed as a post box covered in charity appeals and the sign: No junk mail ever  appearing to ridicule the notices used by homeowners plagued by begging letters. Following the expose, the ICO launched its own probe. In emails to the British Red Cross, the ICO accused it of phoning people on the TPS without consent and failing to screen numbers against the no call list.

It said the charity did not give supporters a simple way to opt out of receiving marketing  a major failing on which we require you to take action.

Charities were already in the spotlight following an outcry over the death of 92-year-old Olive Cooke (pictured), who had been swamped by fundraising appeals

In another email last October, chief executive Michael Adamson wrote to then information commissioner Christopher Graham suggesting a meeting on or off the record.

He wrote: We have recognised from the beginning of this episode that things need to change ... we are trying to balance off the rights of donors and the wider public with the interests of beneficiaries of charitable services.

Mr Graham replied: The right way is to comply with the law which exists to safeguard a fundamental right to privacy. This is not a right to be balanced off or traded away. I should be glad to meet you, but such a meeting would not change the stark realities.

In February, the British Red Cross signed a written undertaking promising to stop aggressive fundraising.

Bosses agreed only to call supporters who have given unambiguous and affirmative consent. At the time, the ICO praised the British Red Cross for wanting to get things right, but it did not reveal the detail of its damning emails, which have only come to light because of a Freedom of Information request from charity news site Third Sector.

Last night, an ICO spokesman said: We did find some areas of concern, and were pleased that the charity committed to addressing these in a formal undertaking to follow best practice.

The British Red Cross said: We are committed to maintaining the highest standards in fundraising. The ICO review found that British Red Crosss fundraising practices are compliant with the law and current guidance.

The Mails award-winning investigation followed the suicide of Olive Cooke, 92, a poppy seller who had been hounded by charities.
Theresa May was urged to push ahead with Brexit last night as new figures revealed record numbers of migrants working in Britain.

The Office for National Statistics yesterday said foreign-born workers now hold one in six jobs  a record 5.4million of the total labour force of 31.8million.

The statistics also showed that the number of foreign workers from Poland and seven other eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004 has soared past one million for the first time.

Prime Minister Theresa May (pictured) was urged to push ahead with Brexit last night as new figures revealed record numbers of migrants working in Britain

The figures piled pressure on Mrs May before Brexit negotiations begin, when curbs on the free movement of workers from the EU is set to be the major issue.

The failure of David Cameron to secure restrictions in his EU renegotiation deal was a key reason millions of people voted to quit the swollen Brussels bloc on June 23.

According to the ONS, foreign citizens accounted for 60 per cent of the 614,000 increase in employment in the year to June. Some 285,000 were from the EU.

The most dramatic rise was for Romanians and Bulgarians working in the UK. Their numbers increased by 86,000 over the year  or 45 per cent  to a record 276,000.

Campaigners said the statistics showed Britain needed to regain control of its borders.

Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of the MigrationWatch think-tank, which calls for balanced migration, said: These figures represent a milestone in EU migration to Britain.

Labour MP Frank Field (pictured), chairman of the cross-party Parliamentary group on balanced migration, said: The figures on the surge of eastern European migration show how crucial it is that one aspect of Brexits success must be the control of our borders'

We now have over one million workers who were born in the EU8 countries of Eastern Europe, nearly a million from the EU14 and already a quarter of a million from Romania and Bulgaria.

The pressures that this massive migration has placed on communities go a long way to explaining the outcome of the referendum.

The new statistics underline why it is essential not just to regain control of our borders but also to reduce net migration significantly.

Labour MP Frank Field, chairman of the cross-party Parliamentary group on balanced migration, said: The figures on the surge of eastern European migration show how crucial it is that one aspect of Brexits success must be the control of our borders. This can best be done by introducing a points system and accompanying this with active measures to build up the skill levels of our existing labour force.

Tory MP Charlie Elphicke said: It is increasingly clear that these startling statistics underline the concerns of the British people about the level of migration.

It is also increasingly clear that as we leave the EU we cannot continue with freedom of movement.

Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: There have been steady increases in the numbers of foreign-born people who are in work, driven by a combination of net migration and a higher share of non-EU migrants who are already living in the UK finding work.

'It is too early to know how attractive a destination post-Brexit UK will be, or to identify any evidence of a rush of people coming to the UK while free movement rules still apply.

The figures show that for the first time workers from Poland and seven other former Eastern Bloc countries that joined the EU in 2004  Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia  reached one million, an annual rise of 5 per cent.

The number of citizens from the so-called A8 nations has almost doubled from 561,000 since June 2010 when the Tory-led Coalition came to power. Workers from the 14 old EU states such as Spain, Italy and Greece increased by 145,000  or 17 per cent  as they fled stagnant eurozone economies.

The 2.3million EU-born workers in the UK is one million up on 2010 and 1.5million higher than 2004 when Tony Blair threw open the UKs doors by axing employment restrictions.
GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has lost his appeal with the city of New York and must pay $10,000 for ripping out a public park bench in Trump Tower and replacing it with kiosks that sold Trump-branded merchandise.

The Trump Organization has been ordered on Wednesday to pay a $10,000 fine by the Environmental Control Board after the organization yanked a bench in the swanky lobby of the building to make room for kiosks selling Trump stuff, including ties, shirts, books, hats, and teddy bears.

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Trump Tower must pay a $10,000 fine for replacing a public bench in its lobby with a kiosk selling Trump-branded merchanise

The Trump Store in the Trump Tower, which isn't supposed to be there, sells Trump books, hats, shirts, ties, books, and cufflinks - and teddy bears

The organization paid a $2,500 fine ten years ago but continued to keep the kiosk in place of the public bench

The building agreed to have a public portion of the lobby of the Fifth Avenue building in exchange for the tower being built larger than would have been otherwise allowed, reports The New York Post.

But ten years ago, the bench that was used by the public was ripped out and replaced with a counter of merchandise.

Trump was fined $2,500 but kept the kiosks, according to DNA Info.

Donald Trump's organization ripped out a public bench and replaced it with merch

In June, Trump's lawyers never showed for a hearing to refute the city's charges, said the outlet.

The lobby is a privately-owned public space, which means anything inside of it must serve the public good - and apparently city officials were not convinced that Trump-branded hats, shirts, and other merch were doing that, says the outlet.
An Australian man has been thrown into one of Dubai's most notorious prisons without charge after authorities accused him of promoting a charity.

Scott Richards, a father-of-two originally from Adelaide, was arrested under new laws introduced last year which prevent promotion of charities outside the UAE.

Mr Richards, who lives and works in Dubai as a economic development advisor, was allegedly promoting a GoFundMe page for a charity that distributes blankets and tarps to refugee children in Afghanistan.

Australian father-of-two Scott Richards was arrested in Dubai as part of the UAE's strict new charity laws introduced last year

According to Detained in Dubai, a group set up to help expats in UAE, Mr Richards had been 'working tirelessly at Camp Qambar, Afghanistan coordinating the logistics of distributing UN-standard tarpaulins in a bid to avert a growing humanitarian crisis'.

He was then arrested at his home on July 28 and taken to Dubai's Al Muraqqabat police station where he remains after being denied bail three times.

Mr Richards had been living in Dubai with his wife and two children at the time.

'Holding an Australian-British National in detention for weeks without charge, is a breach of international human rights standards,' Radha Stirling, founder of Detained in Dubai, said.

He was arrested at his home on July 28 and taken to Dubai's Al Muraqqabat police station (pictured)

'It can be months before he is officially charged, and a court date will only be assigned once they agree to Prosecute.

'The courts are congested now and lengthy delays are to expected. If he is not given bail in the meantime, he could be arbitrarily detained for a very long time.'

The jail where he is being held - Dubai's Al Muraqqabat police station - does not allow prisoners access to a mattress or blankets, nor give inmates toilet paper.
He posted a picture on Instagram, saying meeting was 'informative'

Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka sat in on a national security meeting hosted by the Republican nominee on Wednesday.

The billionaire businessman gathered several advisers, including former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, for a roundtable at Trump Tower in New York.

Trump, 70, later posted a picture on Instagram which showed his eldest daughter was present, adding that the meeting had been 'informative.'

'I assure you  with a Trump Administration, we will make the #safety & security of our nation a top priority,' he captioned the image. 'We will MAKE #AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!'

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Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka was pictured sitting in on a national security meeting hosted by the Republican nominee on Wednesday

At the meeting, the advisers encouraged the GOP nominee to press for more surveillance and more information-sharing with local police departments to fight terror threats if he's elected president.

The FBI does share with local police agencies through Joint Terrorism Task Forces.

Hours after the discussion, Trump received his first classified intelligence briefing, meeting with national security officials for more than two hours.

The real estate mogul became entitled to the briefings once he officially became the Republican nominee for president.

The briefing was delivered by career staffers from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and was expected to cover major threats and emerging concerns around the world.

Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka (pictured left, with Trump, and right, with husband Jared Kushner) has been at her father's side during the pivotal moments of his campaign

Trump (center) gathered several advisers for a roundtable discussion on national security in his offices in Trump Tower in New York on Wednesday. Pictured left, Ret. Army Gen. Mike Flynn and right, Ret. Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg

The Wednesday afternoon briefing was held at an FBI field office at a federal building in New York City, a facility which has the secure rooms required for such sensitive briefings.

Trump did not speak to reporters upon entering or exiting the building and a campaign spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the briefing.

But in an interview that aired just hours before the briefing, Trump suggested he would be skeptical of its contents when he was asked if he trusted the nation's intelligence materials.

'Not so much from the people that have been doing it for our country,' Trump told Fox News. 'I mean, look what's happened over the last 10 years...it's been catastrophic.'

At the meeting, the advisers encouraged the GOP nominee to press for more surveillance and more information-sharing with local police departments to fight terror threats

Former New York City mayor Rudy Guiliani was at the roundtable at Trump Tower

Trump brought along some top advisers, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, to the briefing.

A U.S. intelligence official said that generally, advisers who attend the briefings must have appropriate security clearances.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose information about the candidates' intelligence briefings.

Defense Intelligence Agency says that the agency maintains security clearances for all its former directors, including Flynn, who served in the post from 2012 to 2014.

The briefing came two days after Trump delivered a speech on national security.

It wasn't clear whether trump's opponent for the presidency, Democrat Hillary Clinton, has received an intelligence briefing.

Hours after the roundtable, Trump received his first classified intelligence briefing. above, he is pictured arriving in the parking garage of a federal building in New York for the briefing
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Usain Bolt is one step closer to completing the triple-triple after he sailed through his semifinal heat in the 200m - and did it with a smile.

Bolt powered out of the blocks and took a clear lead out of the curve before he characteristically began to slow down, knowing the race was his to lose.

But the Jamaican sprinter laughed as his friendly rival Andre De Grasse of Canada, who shared the podium with him in the 100m, started to speed up.

Usain Bolt smiled at his friendly rival Andre De Grasse as the Canadian sprinter sped up to catch the Jamaican superstar, who characteristically slowed down as he neared the finish line

Bolt clearly appreciated the effort, pointing and laughing at De Grasse in the last 50 meters of the race

Usain Bolt won the semifinal in 19.78 seconds, with De Grasse following close behind at 19.80, setting a new national record for Canada

The two men smiled at each other with 50m to go, not even looking ahead as they crossed the finish line.

Usain Bolt won the semifinal in 19.78 seconds, with De Grasse following close behind at 19.80, setting a new national record for Canada.

'I don't think he expected me to do that,' De Grasse said after the race. 'I had to push him a little bit, you know, see what he has left in the tank.'

But the 21-year-old, who attends the University of Southern California, also admitted there was a strategy behind the sweet moment.

'My coach told me to race him to the line, try and tire him for tomorrow's final,' De Grasse told reporters.

'I'm younger and can recover faster, we'll see tomorrow.'

Bolt, 29, admitted to being a little thrown off by De Grasse's tactic, even saying he did that 'unnecessarily' as it forced the sprinter to run faster.

'It wasn't cool but it was just one of those things,' Bolt told 7News.

'I was asking him what was he doing. He said: "Aw, I had to put on some pressure, and I said: 'Why, it's a semifinal you know what I mean?" He's young so.'

Bolt did admit to reporters that he was being 'a bit lazy' during the race, but that he was looking forward to facing off against De Grasse in the finals.

'He has a lot of talent so I'm looking forward to the competition in the finals,' Bolt said. 'He means business.'

The sprinters were clearly enjoying themselves during the semifinal heat, saving their game faces for Thursday's final

Bolt's famous smile was on full display as he continued his domination of the Rio games

Bolt and De Grasse shared a sweet embrace after their semifinal race on Wednesday

WHO WILL RUN THE 200M FINAL ON THURSDAY? Usain Bolt (Jamaica) Andre De Grasse (Canada) LeShawn Merritt (USA) Adam Gemili (Great Britain) Christophe Lemaitre (France) Churandy Martina (Netherlands) Ramil Guliyev (Turkey) Alonso Edward (Panama) Advertisement

USA's Justin Gatlin surprisingly failed to qualify for the final, after placing third in his semifinal heat with a time of 20.13 seconds.

Bolt said he wasn't 'fully surprised' when he saw Gatlin had been eliminated.

'I thought he would have made it. But I could tell in the 100m he was feeling the pain and he was slowing down,' Bolt told The Telegraph.

'It's just the fact you're getting old. To double at a championship where the young guys are stepping up is really hard.'

Bolt's teammate Yohan Blake, who won silver behind him when the Jamaicans swept the podium during the London 2012 Olympics, also failed to qualify.

It was the second disappointment in Rio for Blake, who just missed the podium and placed fourth in the Men's 100m on Sunday.

LeShawn Merrit will be the sole sprinter representing the United States in the 200m on Thursday, easily winning his semifinal heat and cruising ahead of his competitors with a time of 19.94 seconds.

Bolt's qualification puts him one step closer to completing the 'triple triple', winning three consecutive gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay final.

If Bolt wins the final on Thursday it will be his eighth Olympic gold medal.

The Jamaican legend won gold in the 100m on Sunday, with Gatlin grabbing silver and De Grasse nabbing the bronze medal.

Bolt's dominance only continued on Tuesday, as he sailed through his first qualifying heat for the 200m and won in 20.28 seconds.

Gatlin had his eye on Bolt throughout the race, a cheeky smile already spreading to his face as he began to catch up

The sprinters were still laughing as they crossed the finish line, with Adam Gemili of Great Britain following close behind

Bolt and De Grasse were nearly neck and neck as they edged toward the finish line and the Canadian sprinter sped up

Bolt's qualification puts him one step closer to completing the 'triple triple', winning three consecutive gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay final

Bolt couldn't keep the smile off his face as he soaked in the Roaring Rio crowd, and as always took off his gold shoes

USA's Justin Gatlin surprisingly failed to qualify for the final, after placing third in his semifinal heat

Gatlin couldn't maintain his early lead, later telling reporters that his ankles began to stiffen up mid-race

Gatlin placed third at 20.13 seconds, losing out to Panama's Alonso Edward and Churandy Martina of the Netherlands

Bolt's teammate Yohan Blake, who won silver behind him when the Jamaicans swept the podium during the London 2012 Olympics, also shockingly failed to qualify

Gatlin also took first in his heat on Tuesday morning with a time of 20.42, and was seen as a podium contender before the surprising semifinals.

The American sprinter said his ankles began stiffening up mid-race during the semifinals and that all he could do was make 'the best of it'.

It seems the biggest drama of Thursday night won't be if Bolt wins, but whether he breaks his own world record and achieves his goal of running his favorite event in under 19 seconds.

Bolt already owns both the world record at 19.19 and Olympic record at 19.30, which he ran in the 2008 Beijing games.

In addition to the 200m final, Bolt will also be competing in the 4x100 relay. Heats for the relay start Thursday morning, with the final scheduled for Friday.

Bolt's dominance only continued on Tuesday, as he sailed through his first heat for the 200m and won in 20.28 seconds

Coming out of the curve, Bolt was firmly in first place and maintained that lead for the rest of the race

Bolt became meme-worthy after he casually smiled at the camera during his winning 100m mens final sprint
Huge crowds of sneaker enthusiasts waited outside of a Sydney shoe store for hours on Thursday morning to get their hands on the new adidas NMD trainers.

Shoppers were more than happy to wait their turn in an enormous queue that trailed from inside the Hype DC store all the way down Market Street.

Buyers were not allowed to purchase more than two of the adidas NMD sneakers, released internationally in two colours on Thursday at the price of $199 a pair.

Huge crowds of sneaker enthusiasts lined up outside a Sydney HYPE DC shoe store on Thursday morning to buy the latest adidas trainers

The new adidas NMD trainers (pictured) were sold out in-store and online in less than an hour

But the wait wasn't worth it for everyone, with some Sydney shoppers complaining they stood outside in a line for over an hour only to be told the shoe had sold out.

'Here's an idea, how about you get one of the three staff not doing anything to tell those in the line when you've sold out so we're not standing in the cold for over an hour like morons,' Daniel wrote on the Hype DC Facebook page.

The frenzy at the physical store was matched online, with the shoe selling out in less than an hour and buyers reporting that the website kept crashing on them.

'Your site kept crashing as I was trying to pay! I got as far as putting my shipping address in and now they are out of stock When is the next drop?' wrote Emma.

Others complained that money had been taken from their account but they had not received confirmation emails - a problem that was quickly rectified by Hype DC.

'Orders via PayPal or Credit Card where funds have been withdrawn have been successful. Order Confirmation emails have been delayed and will be sent out shortly,' Hype DC wrote.
A man who was high on ice when he crashed his car and killed his wife and two children has again been caught drug driving while unlicensed.

Joshua Leigh Taylor was given a partially suspended sentence over the 2013 deaths of his wife Lisa Ramsay, their 18-month-old daughter Sophie, and their four-year-old son George when he drove into a power pole in outer Darwin.

Taylor, now 25, was released from jail in May last year but was still under the terms of his suspended sentence when he was caught driving while high on ice.

He pleaded guilty at the Darwin Local Court on Wednesday, NT News reported.

Joshua Leigh Taylor was 'exhausted' after a meth-binge when he killed his wife Lisa Ramsay (pictured together in 2010) and two of their children in 2013. He was caught drug driving again in April this year

Ms Ramsay and their two children George (left) and Sophie (right) were killed in the smash

The court heard he had been pulled over by police in April near the Coolalinga Village Shopping Centre, just around the corner from where he crashed three-years-ago in Girraween.

Ms Ramsay is pictured

Judge Alan Woodcock on Wednesday said 'under the circumstances' Taylor should face more time behind bars.

He was sentenced to an extra two months in prison for drug driving and fined $1,000 for driving unlicensed.

Taylor had already been sent back to jail after he was found to have breached the terms of his suspended sentence.

Taylor was 'exhausted' after a meth-binge in 2013, and fell asleep at the wheel of a borrowed silver Toyota Corolla.

He fell asleep at the wheel and the car veered off the road to smash into a power pole at 70 km/h.

Ms Ramsay is pictured with a tattoo on her back which features the name of their son George who was killed in the crash, as well as her husband Josh and their surviving child Jason (the picture is understood to be taken before their daughter Sophie, now dead, was born)

Ms Ramsay, Sophie and George were killed. Taylor and their son Jason, now six-years-old, were the only survivors.

None of the children were wearing proper child restraints, the court heard.

Just last month, Ms Ramsay's mother wrote on Facebook of her grief: 'Still love and miss them, always in our hearts.'
The teen's family yelled at Novakovich as he was released from custody

Her body was never recovered but he was charged for her death in 2013

in 1990 after getting a lift from Novakovich

The last person seen with a 16-year-old girl police believe was raped and killed after a disco almost three decades ago has been found not guilty of her murder.

Nikola Novakovich, 43, pleaded not guilty to killing Karen Williams in the South Australian Supreme Court after a cold case investigation led to his arrest in 2013.

The 16-year-old girl vanished after getting a lift home with him from a disco at the Coober Pedy Hotel on 4 August, 1990 and her body has still not been found.

Karen Williams (pictured), 16, vanished after getting a lift home with him from a disco at the Coober Pedy Hotel on 4 August, 1990 and her body has still not been found

Justice Tim Stanley found Novakovich not guilty of murder and acquitted him of the lesser charge of manslaughter on Thursday after months of deliberations, with the 43-year-old smiling and shaking hands with his lawyers as he walked from the dock.

Justice Stanley said he would publish his reasons for the verdict later on Thursday.

Family members of Ms Williams hurled abuse at Novakovich - who had always been the prime suspect in the prolific disappearance - as he was released from custody, the ABC reported.

'20-odd years we've been waiting and that was a 10-second verdict, just like that, so how do you guys think we feel,' brother Kim Williams told reporters outside court.

Police prosecutors had earlier alleged Novakovich shot or strangled the teen after he was left alone with her on the night of the disco, once he had dropped her friends off at their homes.

It was believed her body was dumped by Novakovich and another man in a disused mineshaft on the outskirts of the town.

Family members of Ms Williams hurled abuse at Novakovich - who had always been the prime suspect in the prolific disappearance - as he was released from custody

The court heard witnesses testify he had admitted to the murder while raping another woman, and after asking someone if DNA could be taken from a body if it had been decomposing for 20 years, according to the Adelaide Advertiser.

It was also alleged Novakovich was motivated to kill the young girl as she had witnessed his involvement in the robbery of an opal miner in the days before her disappearance.

Police have offered a $200,000 reward for information on the cold case and searched the surrounding areas, including several mine shafts, for her remains.

Detective Inspector Greg Hutchins reportedly said the family were extremely disappointed in the result but police would not stop searching for Ms Williams in the hopes of one day giving them closure.

'We do not consider the case closed and will continue (to see) opportunities to recover Karen,' he said

Police earlier offered a $200,000 reward for information on the cold case

They also searched the surrounding areas, including several mine shafts (pictured), for her remains

Family friend Lavene Ngatokorua confirmed the the verdict offered little comfort.

'We're not happy,' she said outside court.

'We haven't stopped our grieving. We will continue to think about where Karen is and we want her back.

'We don't understand the law and how it works but we know that people that have been involved in bringing the case to the courts have done a really fantastic job.
A Good Samaritan helping rescue people in the deadly flooding of Louisiana is earning praise for rescuing a dog just in the nick of time from drowning.

Josh Pettit wrote on Facebook that he was in his boat skimming over several feet of water on Monday after flash flooding when he spotted a 'bush shaking' and looked over and all he saw was a gray muzzle and a pair of frightened eyes staring up at him, the rest of the dog submerged underneath the muddy waters.

'The dog could barely tread water anymore she was so worn out and had the saddest eyes I ever seen so scared for her life! We saved her and she came laid her head on my lap and cried and moaned like a big baby! She was thanking me. I thank God for letting me notice her,' Pettit posted on Love What Matters' Facebook wall.

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Sadie the dog looked like she had very limited time left when Josh Pettit came by on his boat and happened to see her

Sadie on Pettit's boat - the kind-hearted rescuer said she 'cried and moaned like a big baby' when she was rescued

Josh Pettit has been driving around in a boat rescuing people and animal alike

Pettit posted video of the grateful pooch inside the boat with him as he drove down the flooded streets around Baton Rouge. The pup was found on Ponderosa Drive.

At least 11 people have died in the massive flooding that hit southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi, reports the Weather Channel.

Another neighbor said she thinks Sadie was at her place days before - and took a snap of this dog who looks remarkably like Sadie

Coffins washed down the road from graveyards in Denham Springs when severe flooding hit Louisiana

Baton Rouge (above) was one of the worst hit areas of Louisiana

Members of the Coast Guard wade through the water with a boat in order to rescue residents of Baton Rouge, in many cases, they were finding pets too

Pettit said after saving the dog, he found a veterinarian's office that was flooded and helped the vet get all of his animals out.

He then left the dog with the vet on dry land.

However, later, the dog's owner was located. The pup is named Sadie, and the owner said she got spooked and ran off as they were loading another dog into the car. Unable to find her and having no choice but to leave, they did.

Pettit said that often people were so quickly flooded that they left their pets behind in a panic or the pets ran off or they couldn't move them.

Another woman posted that she is sure Sadie is the dog who came by her house earlier and she gave her food and water, but then she took off.

The rains started August 12 and dropped four billion gallons of water, hitting low-lying areas of the south most harshly, especially Livingston Parish.

The flooded has destroyed at least 40,000 homes, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference, while 30,000 people and 1,000 pets have been rescued. 70,000 people have registered with FEMA for disaster assistance, said the Weather Channel.

There are at least 8,000 people in shelters. Half of the parishes in the state have been flooded.
A Florida husband who disappeared nearly 16 years ago while duck hunting was initially believed to have fallen in a lake and drowned before he was eaten by alligators.

Years after he vanished without a trace in December 2000, 31-year-old Jerry Michael 'Mike' Williams was then considered a suspicious missing person, Fox News reported.

Today, investigators believe the Tallahassee real estate appraiser was the victim of foul play, and his mother, Cheryl, is still determined to get answers.

Following recent events involving her son's then-wife, Denise, and his close friend Brian Winchester, she hopes it might finally lead to a break in the cold case.

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Jerry Michael 'Mike' Williams disappeared on December 16, 2000 while on a solo duck-hunting trip on Lake Seminole in Florida. His mother, Cheryl, holds a sign with his photo

Williams, 31, (pictured) was initially believed to have fallen in a lake and drowned before he was eaten by alligators. Today, investigators believe he was the victim of foul play

'They're the only two people that profited from Mike's disappearance,' Cheryl said of her daughter-in-law, 46, and Winchester, 45, whom Denise later married in 2005.

Months before Mike Williams' disappearance, he was sold a $ 1 million life insurance policy by Winchester, according to Fox News.

About six months later, on the early morning of December 16, Williams set out on a solo duck-hunting trip on Lake Seminole.

That same day, the father of a then 18-month-old daughter was to celebrate his sixth wedding anniversary with high school sweetheart Denise, Fox News reported.

Williams and Denise married in 1994 and had a daughter five years later, who is now 17 years old.

When he failed to return home, his boat was found in a cove on the western side of the lake and the boat's motor, still full of gasoline, was dead.

Following recent events involving her son's then-wife, Denise, and his close friend Brian Winchester (left), Cheryl (right) hopes it might finally lead to a break in her son's cold case

Wildlife officials at the time considered Williams a missing hunter and investigators surmised his boat had hit an old tree stump, causing him to fall out and drown.

Following a 44-day search, his body was never found and officials said he must have been eaten by alligators.

His mother recalled how when officials told her he had drowned and been eaten by alligators, she believed otherwise.

'I knew from day one he was not in that lake,' she told Fox News.

Six months after his disappearance, waders believed to belong to Williams were found floating in perfect condition in the search area, and reportedly showed no signs of an alligator attack.

Williams' body was never found following a 44-day search and officials surmised he must have been eaten by alligators

Not long after, his wife had Williams declared dead and collected at least $1.5 million in death benefits, according to The Tallahassee Democrat.

And then in 2005, Denise and Winchester who have reportedly known each other since preschool marred.

Denise and Winchester, who have have long declined to comment on the case, ended up separating in 2012 and last year Denise filed for divorce.

Court documents indicate Winchester opposed the divorce, according to The Tallahassee Democrat.

While they have never been named persons of interests or suspects in the case, Williams' mother is hoping that might change soon, according to Fox News.

Earlier this month, Winchester was arrested and charged with kidnapping, domestic assault and armed burglary.

Denise told deputies her estranged husband hid in the back seat of her car on the morning of August 5 and held her against her will for about an hour at gunpoint.

As the ordeal unfolded, Denise told authorities Winchester sat in the passenger seat behind her, grabbed her cell phone and told her to drive to a remote location.

She said she initially ignored his demands and noted he then brandished what looked like semi-automatic pistol, pushing it into her her ribs.

Cheryl Williams described her son as a devoted father who had many friends and said he loved his daughter 'more than life itself,' who she has not seen in more than 10 years

Instead of driving to an unknown location, Denise drove to a CVS parking lot where she calmed him down and convinced him not to hurt her.

She told deputies he said he did not want a divorce and 'had to do this' because she had been ignoring his calls and messages.

Denise also told deputies he had gotten the gun so that he could kill himself.

When she asked him if 'today was the day the two of them died,' she told deputies Winchester replied, 'just me,' according to the police report.

After calling him down and driving him back to his truck, Winchester reportedly got out of her SUV after gathering a plastic tarp, a sheet and spray bottle of bleach and a tool from the back compartment.

Wildlife officials at the time considered Williams a missing hunter and investigators presumed his boat had hit an old tree stump submerged in Lake Seminole (stock photo pictured), causing him to fall out and drown

After her son vanished, Cheryl convinced authorities to launch a criminal investigation into her son's disappearance in 2004. A missing person billboard for Williams is pictured in 2015

She then promised him she would not tell police what happened and noted he drove off after pulling up to her at a light and saying sorry.

Denise then drove to the Sheriff's office and in petitions of domestic violence filed on Monday, she told deputies she believed her daughter would be in danger if Winchester was let out of jail.

'I believe and know that Brian will kill me and/or my child if he is released,' she wrote, according to The Tallahassee Democrat.

Following the incident between the estranged married couple, Williams' mother is hoping one of the will crack soon with information about her son's disappearance.

'There is the hope that one of them might crack,' she told Fox News.

'Sooner or later, one will turn on the other.'

After her son vanished, Cheryl convinced authorities to launch a criminal investigation into her son's disappearance in 2004.

She has also written hundreds of letters to Florida Governor Rick Scott since he took office in 2011, asking him to appoint a special prosecutor to the case.

As of last year, she had not received a response, according to WCTV.

She described her son as a devoted father who had many friends and said he loved his daughter 'more than life itself,' who she has not seen in more than 10 years.

'She was the only thing I had left of Michael,' the mother said.
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A wildfire with a ferocity never seen before by veteran California firefighters raced up and down canyons, instantly engulfing homes and forcing thousands to flee, some running for their lives just ahead of the flames.

By Wednesday, a day after it ignited in brush left bone dry by years of drought, the blaze had raged across more than 30,000 acres - with more than 34,000 homes and about 82,000 people told to evacuate.

Though by the end of the day, the first foothold was gained and more than 1,500 firefighters had the blaze four percent contained.

Authorities could not immediately say how many homes had been destroyed, but they warned that the number will be large.

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Flames close in on cars parked along a country road at the Blue Cut Fire near Wrightwood, California, on Wednesday

An unknown number of homes and businesses have burned and more than 80,000 people are under evacuation orders as the out-of-control wildfire spread beyond 30,000 acres. Above, the damage in Devore, California

What began as a small brush fire along a freeway in drought-stricken Southern California morphed into a massive blaze fueled by gusty winds and dry vegetation.

Swift-moving flames gutted a historic Route 66 diner, burned homes to their foundations and forced tens of thousands of people to flee the Cajon Pass, a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains.

The blaze, dubbed the Blue Cut Fire, is named for a narrow gorge carved by the Cajon Creek, known as the Blue Cut.

'There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing,' San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig said after flying over a fire scene he described as 'devastating.'

'It hit hard. It hit fast. It hit with an intensity that we hadn't seen before,' he said.

No deaths were reported, but cadaver dogs were searching the ruins for anyone who was overrun by the flames.

The cause of the fire wasn't immediately known.

A firefighter prepares to battle a wildfire in the Cajon Pass in San Bernardino county, California, on Tuesday

A day after the fire ignited in brush left tinder-dry by years of drought, the flames advanced despite the efforts of over 1,000 firefighters. Above, firefighters battle the fire in Devore on Wednesday

What began as a small brush fire along a freeway in drought-stricken Southern California morphed into a massive blaze fueled by gusty winds and dry vegetation. Above, flames sweep through a rural community near Wrightwood, California

Destroyed cars are pictured smoldering after the Blue Cut Fire burnt a small community near Wrightwood, California

By the end of the day, the first foothold was gained and more than 1,500 firefighters had the blaze four percent contained. Above, a hand crew prepares to clear a hot spot at the Blue Cut Fire near Wrightwood

Firefighters stand ready as the Blue Cut Fire burns along Highway 2 near Wrightwood, California, on Wednesday

The remains of a destroyed home after the Blue Cut Fire passed through a rural community near Wrightwood, California

Five years of drought have turned the state's wildlands into a tinder box, with eight fires currently burning from Shasta County in the far north to Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego.

'In my 40 years of fighting fire, I've never seen fire behavior so extreme,' Incident Commander Mike Wakoski said a day after the latest blaze broke out in Cajon Pass, a critical highway and rail corridor through mountain ranges that separate Southern California's major population centers from the Mojave Desert and Las Vegas.

Residents like Vi Delgado and her daughter April Christy, who had been through a major brushfire years before, said they had never seen anything like it either.

'No joke, we were literally being chased by the fire,' a tearful Christy said in a voice choked with emotion as she and her mother sat in their minivan in an evacuation center parking lot in Fontana.

They did not go inside because their dogs, three Chihuahuas and a mixed-breed mutt, were not allowed.

'You've got flames on the side of you. You've got flames behind you,' she said, describing a harrowing race down a mountain road.

The Blue Cut Fire, located some 80 miles (around 126km) from Los Angeles, has burned over 30,000 acres destroying dozens of homes. Above, fire crews monitor the burning hill near Wrightwood

The blaze has forced the evacuation of over 80,000 people in the San Bernardino County. Above, firefighters monitor the Blue Cut Fire as it burns along Highway 2 near Wrightwood

Flames from a wildfire flare up near a Riverside City Fire Department water tender truck and Cal Fire brush engine truck in Devore, California

Cal Fire firefighters Josh Bates, left, and Justin Ware rest after fighting a wildfire in Spring Valley, California, on Wednesday

The burned remains of a rural home are seen at the Blue Cut Fire near Wrightwood, California, on Wednesday

She was led by a sheriff's patrol car in front while a California Highway Patrol vehicle trailed behind and a truck filled with firefighters battled flames alongside her.

She and her mother, onsite caretakers at the Angels and Paws animal rescue shelter in Devore Heights, said it was only moments after they smelled smoke that flames exploded all around them.

They grabbed their pets and tried to rescue nine other shelter dogs and three cats, but a sheriff's deputy told them there was no time.

'You won't make it. Save yourself. Take your truck and leave,' Delgado said the deputy shouted at her, adding that he and others would try to rescue the animals.

She learned later that authorities did save the animals, but officials could not tell her if her home survived.

The Summit Inn, a popular roadside diner at the crest of historic Route 66 in Oak Hills, California, burns to the ground

The diner, a popular pit stop between Los Angeles to Las Vegas, opened in 1952 and boasted celebrity guests such as Elvis

People look at the remains of the historic Summitt Inn after the Blue Cut Fire burnt the historic diner to the ground

A post from the Summit Inn's Facebook page read: 'It is beyond comprehension how this could possibly happen!'

More than 34,000 homes and about 82,000 people were under evacuation warnings as firefighters concentrated their efforts on saving homes in the mountain communities of Lytle Creek, Wrightwood and Phelan.

They implored residents not to think twice if told to leave, but it appears many were staying.

'From reports that we were hearing, possibly up to half didn't leave,' said Lyn Sieliet, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman.

'It does change the way that we can fight fire,' she added. 'Now we have to worry about the people in there as well as trying to protect the structures and trying to build a line of defense as the fire comes toward that area.'

Six firefighters were briefly trapped by flames during the fire's early hours, when occupants of a home refused to leave and the crew stayed to protect them.

Hundreds of cars packed with belongings and animals left the town. The air for miles around the blaze was filled with smoke.

Although there was no official count on how many homes were lost, Eric Sherwin of the San Bernardino County Fire Department said on Tuesday that he had seen at least a dozen buildings go up in flames, some of them homes.

A San Bernardino County Fire captain looks for a better place for his crew while fighting the Blue Cut Fire on Wednesday

The wildfire that began as a small patch of flame next to Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass had by Tuesday's end turned into a 28-square-mile monster that burned an untold number of homes

Firefighters spray water while battling the massive Blue Cut fire near Wrightwood, California, on Wednesday

Among them was the Summit Inn, a historic Route 66 diner near Interstate 15. Countless big rigs were parked along both sides of the highway on Wednesday, waiting for it to reopen.

The diner, a popular pit stop between Los Angeles to Las Vegas, opened in 1952 and boasted celebrity guests such as Elvis Presley, Clint Eastwood and Pierce Brosnan.

Several staff members returned to the restaurant on Wednesday to sort through charred valuables from a safe.

A post from the Summit Inn's Facebook page read: 'It is beyond comprehension how this could possibly happen!'

Less than 24 hours after the blaze began 60 miles east of Los Angeles, authorities had assembled a fleet of 10 air tankers, 15 helicopters and an army of 1,500 firefighters, many of them just off the lines of a wildfire that burned for 10 days just to the east.

The blaze, dubbed the Blue Cut Fire, is named for a narrow gorge carved by the Cajon Creek, known as the Blue Cut

A CalFire firefighter begins clearing Highway 138, east of the Interstate 15, as a wildfire burns in California

A Jesus statue stands among a burned out home off Highway 138 as the Blue Cut Fire rages through San Bernardino County

At a dawn briefing, half the firefighters raised their hands when asked how many had just come from one of the other infernos burning across California. In all, 10,000 firefighters are fighting the eight ongoing blazes.

One major fire, north of San Francisco, was fading, and about 4,000 people in the town of Clearlake were allowed to return home.

Their relief was tempered by anger at a 40-year-old man authorities believe set the blaze that wiped out several blocks of the small town of Lower Lake over the weekend.

That fire destroyed 175 homes and other structures in the working-class community.
Do you know more? Daniel.Piotrowski@mailonline.com

Ryan Trevor Clegg's bail was found to be within 100m of childcare centre

The family home was across the road from a secondary school

Daily Mail Australia can reveal he was bailed to address in Perth's north

A paedophile pastor who admitted drugging and raping a young girl being pimped out by her own father was bailed to live across the road from a high school for up to four months.

Child sex offender David Volmer  one of the members of the alleged ring dubbed the Evil Eight  last July pleaded guilty to 'stupefying' the girl with the muscle relaxant amyl nitrate and sexually abusing her.

The South African-born pastor was then bailed to an address in Banksia Grove, north of the city, which was across the road from the newly opened Joseph Banks Secondary College, Daily Mail Australia can exclusively reveal.

It is understood Volmer remained there with his family until he was jailed for ten-and-a-half years on November 5.

The revelations follow community outrage over claims another self-confessed sex abuser, Ryan Trevor Clegg, 43, was bailed to an address near a childcare centre and a primary school.

Dawid Volmer, known as David (pictured) was sentenced to ten-and-a-half years jail last November. The girl he abused was aged 12 and 13 at the time of the offences

Ryan Trevor Clegg fled the media after being bailed on August 4, 2016

Clegg was jailed this week after his father revoked his surety following the controversy.

A photograph of Clegg was even posted on the gate of the daycare centre by residents.

OUTRAGE OVER 'EVIL EIGHT' BAIL RELEASE Clegg (pictured) pleaded guilty to 61 charges, including four counts of sexual penetration of a child and 48 counts of indecently recording a child Ryan Trevor Clegg - who pleaded guilty to child sex offences - was bailed to a home in North Fremantle earlier this year. But local parents claimed he was living within 100m from a childcare centre and a short drive from a school. Clegg was taken into police custody this week after his father revoked his surety. He is due to appear in court again next month. Advertisement

The controversy led the states Attorney-General Michael Mischin to announce he would amend WA legislation to create a presumption against the release of serious sex offenders into the community before they were sentenced.

Volmer was bailed in July 2015 with a $20,000 surety to live at the family home.

The property is close to the entrance of a school which began welcoming students in February 2015.

Volmer's bail conditions banned him from having unsupervised access to any children aged under 16, from using the internet and social media whatsoever, from carrying out child-related work and ordered him to surrender his passport.

There was no bail condition explicitly barring him from living near a school and there is no suggestion of impropriety while Volmer was on bail at his family home.

The findings were seized upon by the WA State Opposition who said it raised a number of questions.

'The government needs to confirm if they knew whether Volmer was living opposite a school and whether they even checked,' said Labor Corrective Services spokesman Paul Papalia.

A spokeswoman for Mr Minschin was approached for comment but was travelling interstate.

The Education Department said it was referring inquiries to the police. A police spokeswoman said there were no breaches recorded while Volmer was on bail.

During his sentencing hearing in November, Volmers lawyer Nick Scerri said his client's family had gone through a horrific experience in the last 'three of four months'.

Volmer, from Perth's north, was jailed last November. He pleaded guilty to 12 offences in July 2015

'They have been subject to a fair bit of vigilantestyle sort of actions towards them.

'Theyve had a very difficult time. Theyve all lived under the same roof and hes the cause of it.

'So I think in one sense what I would say is that he started serving his sentence in July because hes not been able to go anywhere safe for attending appointments and hes had to live under the I suppose - live under the same roof as the family that he has entirely placed in that position, given his actions'.

Mr Scerri said his client wanted to shout that he was sorry 'from the rooftops'. 'He accepts the consequences and he asks that the community might one day forgive him'.

Volmer, the former manager of Christian rehabilitation charity Prison Fellowship WA, faces being deported back to South Africa when he completes his sentence.

His lawyer was contacted for comment on Wednesday.

The father of the victim, who cannot be named, was jailed for 20 years and six months in June. He is appealing his sentence.

Two other men accused of being part of the paedophile ring are on bail: Nicholas Adam Beer is bailed awaiting sentencing in September.
images and video of the child have gone viral

The horror and tragedy of the war in Syria has been captured in a single photograph of a wounded child.

A young boy, aged five, sits on a chair inside an ambulance after an airstrike in his hometown of Aleppo, the whereabouts of his parents unknown.

Covered in dust from the rubble which was once his home, one side of Omran Daqneesh's face is drenched in blood, his expression dazed.

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Young Syrian boy Omran Daqneesh, aged five, was injured during airstrikes in Aleppo

Alone: The whereabouts of the boy's parents is unknown

Footage shows him wiping his dusty forehead with his hand, before realising he is bleeding, and he rests his hands back in his lap

The child is not crying, but waits quietly as his rescuers leave the ambulance to save the lives of four other children, before taking them all to the hospital

He is wearing a T-shirt with the popular cartoon character CatDog on it, barely visible through the blood and dust

Footage shows him wiping his dusty forehead with his hand, before realising he is bleeding, and he rests his hands back in his lap.

The child is not crying, but waits quietly as his rescuers leave the ambulance to save the lives of four other children, before taking them all to the hospital.

He is wearing a T-shirt with the popular cartoon character CatDog on it, barely visible through the blood and dust.

Photos and video of the little lost boy quickly went viral after being taken on Wednesday night, people horrified at what is unfolding each day in full view of the world.

Omran and three other children were taken to the M10 hospital for treatment

A fighter in Aleppo fires a heavy machine gun that's resting on a metal battle

Fighters from the Free Syrian Army fire rockets at the regime's positions

The Aleppo elite forces battalion, one of them in bare feet, advancing towards the battle of Saif al-Dawla against the Syrian regime army in Aleppo

A civilian receives treatment after a rocket attack in the As Sukkari area of Aleppo

At least 25 people were killed and many more injured by a rocket attack in Aleppo

A young boy, covered in blood and dust, awaits treatment in Aleppo

A doctor sees to an injured young man in Aleppo after the rocket attack

The ABC reported that Omran suffered head wounds when his home in the rebel-held eastern suburbs of Aleppo was hit in an airstrike.

Volunteers from Syria's Civil Defence group - known as the White Helmets - rescued the five-year-old along with three other children.

They were taken to the M10 hospital and Omran has since been discharged. Doctors do not know where the child's parents are.

A building burns in Aleppo following fierce fighting between the Syrian regime and rebel factions

This image shows how fighting has left medical facilities in a state of ruin in Aleppo

The rocket bombardment badly damaged the Al-Shaar neighbourhood

The rebel-held suburbs of eastern Aleppo have been flattened by airstrikes in recent years

Smoke and flame rise after alleged US-led air strikes on the mills of Manbij where Islamic State militants are positioned, in Aleppo

A aerial view shows a damaged buildings in Al-Maysar nighbourhood of Aleppo

Thousands of people have reacted to the images online since they were released on Wednesday night, expressing their heartbreak over the boy's plight.

'My heart is broken', Dena wrote.

'Looking at the little Syrian boy's traumatised stare at the chaos, how do we end their torture? When does it stop?

'Still can't get over that video of the Syrian boy from #Aleppo', Absar posted.

'Our only marker of a successful life is how we leave it for the next generation.'
Court documents suggest he then went to a brothel and a sex shop

to the home and stole $53,000 from a pillowcase

A man bludgeoned his stepfather to death before he stole over $50,000 from his frail mother's pillowcase, a court heard.

Jeffrey David Lee, 47, bashed Neal Keith Wilkinson, 61, at his mother's house in Wanniassa, Canberra after the pair got into an argument on March 10 last year.

Lee left the McWhae Circuit home after the fight but soon returned and took $53,000 from a pillowcase as his bedridden mother slept in a room nearby, according to court documents.

Jeffrey David Lee (pictured), 47, bashed Neal Keith Wilkinson, 61, at his mother's house in Wanniassa, Canberra after the pair got into an argument on March 10 last year

Mr Wilkinson's (pictured) body was found lying face down near the front door by police the next day, and Lee was arrested

He allegedly snuck into his mother's room and told her 'Neal's dead, I killed him,' before bringing her a cup of tea and a hot cross bun, The Canberra Times reported.

After Lee fled again his mother struggled out of bed to find her partners body and began screaming for help. A concerned neighbour called the police.

Mr Wilkinson's body was found lying face down near the front door by police the next day, and Lee was arrested.

Lee pleaded guilty to theft and murder in ACT Supreme court on Thursday.

According to court documents tendered at his committal, police allege Lee was having financial problems and drove to his mother's house the night of the murder.

He allegedly had an argument with Mr Wilkinson before inflicting blunt force trauma to his head.

Lee allegedly snuck into his mother's room and told her 'Neal's dead, I killed him,' before bringing her a cup of tea and a hot cross bun (stock image)

According to court documents tendered at his committal, police allege Lee was having financial problems and drove to his mother's house the night of the murder (stock image)

A marble door stop was found close to the body, police said.

On the night of the killing Lee later went to brothel, a sex shop, and a friend's house, court documents suggest.

It is alleged he told his friend: 'I've f...ed up, I've killed someone, I've killed my stepdad,' the publication reported.
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Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is spitting out enough 2,000-degree molten lava to create an area the size of eight football pitches.

The stunning display of liquid lava has attracted scores of tourists to the area who have been warned the newly-formed black rock that stretches out to sea is unsteady underfoot.

The billowy, bright-orange lava crackles and hisses, and reeks of sulfur and scorched earth, as it oozes across the rugged landscape and eventually off steep, seaside cliffs on Hawaii's Big Island.

When the hot rocks hit the water, they expel plumes of steam and gas - and sometimes explode, sending chunks of searing debris flying through the air.

But the rugged terrain can be extremely dangerous, officials have warned as they instructed visitors to keep their wits about them.

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For the first time in three years, lava from a volcano on Hawaii's Big Island has crept down miles of mountainside and is dripping into the Pacific Ocean

The billowy, bright-orange lava crackles and hisses, and reeks of sulfur and scorched earth, as it oozes across the rugged landscape and eventually off steep, seaside cliffs

Tourists have been warned to stay safe after thousands of visitors flocked to a volcano in Hawaii that has spewed tonnes of molten rock into the sea, creating eight extra acres of land

Thousands of people from around the world have swarmed Volcanoes National Park by land, sea and air to view the lava

They reach the volcano by boat, helicopter and on foot to hike to the entry point, where the lava meets the sea, is 10 miles roundtrip on a gravel road surrounded by miles of treacherous, hard lava rock.

The chunks of new land may look safe, but 'they are deceptively stable looking', Hawaiian Volcano Observatory spokeswoman Janet Babb told West Hawaii Today.

Pablo Aguayo, of Santiago, Chile, took a sunrise boat tour of the flow earlier this month.

'It's pretty amazing,' he said. 'You start in the middle of the ocean in the darkness, and you end up in these beautiful lava falls.'

Aguayo said he could feel the lava's heat, and it smelled 'super funny.'

'It's like welding something,' he said. 'We have many volcanoes back home in Chile. We have plenty. But nothing like this.'

His tour boat was a 42-foot aluminum catamaran operated by Lava Ocean Tours owner Shane Turpin, who said he navigates to within a few yards of the entry point for the best view.

When the hot rocks hit the water, they expel plumes of steam and gas - and sometimes explode, sending chunks of searing debris flying through the air

Spectacular sight: The 2,000-degree molten rock is from Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes

A small home sits on private property atop a former lava flow from Kilauea, an active volcano on Hawaii's Big Island

Reaching the flow requires a boat, a helicopter or strong legs - the hike to the entry point, where the lava meets the sea, is 10 miles round trip on a gravel road surrounded by miles of treacherous, hard lava rock

On August 9, a second branch of lava started to spill into the ocean, giving Turpin's passengers a look at two lava flows about 200 yards apart.

'Just to have one drip (of lava) touching the ocean is awesome,' Turpin said as people snapped photos of the dual flows. 'But to get a show like you're getting this morning, well, it sets the bar pretty high for a second trip.'

Volcanoes National Park has seen an increase of about 1,000 to 1,500 visitors per day since the current lava flow reached the sea, boosting attendance to about 6,000 people daily, officials said.

Molten lava dries and the rock becomes as sharp as glass

Park spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane warns the area can be dangerous.

Hikers can get close enough that the soles of their shoes get hot. Also, the area is flanked by hardened lava rock as sharp as glass. Many people have suffered lacerations while trying to cross the jagged landscape, Ferracane said.

'Everybody wants to see the lava flow, but not everybody should be hiking out there,' she said.

Additionally, when the lava reaches the ocean, it reacts with the saltwater and produces harmful hydrochloric acid, which wafts into the air, said Janet Babb, a U.S. Geological Survey geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

As it streams into the water, the lava creates a new landscape in a matter of moments. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Puu Oo flow alone has created about 500 acres of new land since it began erupting. The flow that began in May has created about 8 new acres.

Most of Kilauea's activity has been nonexplosive, but a 1924 eruption hurled ash and 10-ton rocks into the sky and left a man dead.

The 1983 Puu Oo vent eruption resulted in lava fountains soaring over 1,500 feet high. In the decades since, the lava flow has buried 48 square miles of land and destroyed many homes.

In 2008, after a series of small earthquakes rattled the island, Kilauea's summit crater opened and spewed lava and rock over 75 acres of the mountain, damaging the nearby visitor overlook.
A Mexican judge has issued an injunction that could send drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman from a prison in a border state back to the maximum security prison from which he previously escaped outside Mexico City, one of his lawyers said late Wednesday.

Lawyer Jose Refugio Rodriguez said the government could appeal the decision and it could take three months to resolve.

Guzman was recaptured in January and initially placed back in the Altiplano prison.

However, authorities transferred him in May to a federal prison in the northern state of Chihuahua, saying security measures were being improved at Altiplano.

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Jose Refugio Rodriguez, one of the lawyers representing Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, said his client is going bald and suffering from anxiety while being kept in jail (pictured last month)

World-renowned Mexican journalist Carlos Loret de Mola took a photo of El Chapo when he was first returned to Altiplano prison in January

The cartel leader is awaiting extradition to the U.S. and his lawyers complained that the new location made it difficult for them to remain in contact with their client.

Guzman heads Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel. On Tuesday, authorities in Jalisco state announced that his son was among six people abducted from a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta.

Guzman's lawyers have not spoken with their client since last Thursday, Refugio said. So they had not informed him of his son's abduction, but he could not say whether other relatives had told him.

Mexico has already cleared the way for Guzman's deportation, the appeals process could mean it takes months or even years before he is finally moved.

Mexican authorities have given up on the idea of holding Guzman permanently on their side of the border - where the death penalty has been abolished - after he broke out of jail twice.

Rodriguez said that Chapo's usual head of thick black hair (pictured during his arrest in January) is now 'visibly bald', while he is also being subjected to 'physical torture' and 'psychological hell'

Audacious: In July 2015 El Chapo fled Altiplano prison from a one mile long tunnel (pictured) underneath the jail

The head of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel bribed his way out of jail once in 2001, and then used more bribes and an extensive tunnel dug by his henchmen to break out a second time.

He was first arrested in Guatemala back in 1993 and brought back to Mexico where he was locked up in the Puente Grande in Jalisco.

He was later indicted on drug charges in California and was awaiting extradition to the U.S. when he bribed virtually every official inside the jail in order to bust out in 2001.

El Chapo, whose real name is Joaquin Guzman, was let out of his jail cell and slipped into a laundry basket before being wheeled out of the front doors of the jail and into a waiting car.

Dozens of people, from guards to maintenance workers and even the prison director were eventually implicated in the escape.

El Chapo is currently being held in the maximum security Ciudad Juarez jail just across the border from El Paso, Texas, as he awaits extradition to the U.S.

Waiting: The Mexican government is trying to extradite El Chapo to the United states but that process may take six years, leaving the drug lord with plenty to time to plot his escape (pictured, Altiplano prison)

After a lengthy manhunt he was recaptured in 2014 in a hotel in the beach town of Mazatlan and sent back to jail, this time at Altiplano.

He spent just a year in that jail however, breaking out for a second time in 2015 after members of his cartel dug a mile-long tunnel which came up under his cell shower block.

With guards paid to turn the other way, El Chapo escaped by crawling through the bottom of his shower and into the tunnel, where he used a motorbike affixed to a rail to drive to a nearby building site, where the underground passage emerged.
The Victorian Governor enjoyed a trip to London that included a taxpayer-funded midday feast at a lavish Gordon Ramsay restaurant with a bill in excess of $800.

Governor Linda Dessau was joined by her judge husband and two other officials at the swanky eatery, after an official trip to visit the Queen in November last year.

But according to the Herald Sun, Ms Dessau was enjoying the full financial perks of her position - amidst allegations of rampant overspending and a $700,000 budget blowout in just four months last year.

Victorian Governor Linda Dessau (pictured) flew to London in November last year for an official trip to meet the Queen. She is accused of using taxypayers money to pay for an $800 lunch bill, which included $55-a-glass Bollinger champagne

Ms Dessau (pictured right, sitting with US Vice President Joe Biden and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews) enjoyed a three-course banquet as well as two blocks of cheese and wine

The group dined at Gordon Ramsay's modern French 'Petrus' restaurant. Just two days earlier, two Victorian officials reportedly enjoyed a $300 seafood spread at Harrods

Receipts uncovered by the publication show Ms Dessau's group indulged in $55-a-glass Bollinger champagne at Ramsay's modern French 'Petrus' restaurant.

'Two of your most expensive please': Ms Dessau's group enjoyed two glasses of the 2005 $55-a-glass Ballinger champagne, the most expensive on offer (menu pictured)

Their boozy lunch also included two blocks of cheese worth over $40 and a three-course banquet - washed down with glasses of other exotic wines.

And just two days before the extravagant lunch at Petrus, two Victorian officials reportedly enjoyed a $300 seafood spread at Harrods, topped off with oysters.

Ms Dessau's acting official secretary, Brooke Mitchell, enjoyed both the Petrus and Harrods lunches.

In a statement to the Herald Sun, Ms Mitchell said expenditure on the trip was in line with 'previous trips of governors of Victoria.'

'The trip was organised by the Office of the Governor with the support of the Department of Premier and Cabinet,' she said.

'Nevertheless, from the beginning of this year the governor instituted changes to official travel arrangements to reduce expenditure.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' office for comment.

Ms Dessau (pictured with tennis legend Novak Djokovic after winning the Australian Open), is currently in the middle of allegations that the Government House has a culture of rampant spending and went $700,000 over budget in four months last year

The group enjoyed 2005 Bollinger champagne during their lunch on November 10, on the same day that Ms Dessau met the Queen
23 hours a day and has no contact with other inmates

He is in

The son of gangland widow Roberta Williams is being held in protective custody 23-hours a day amid fears the prisoner could meet the same bloody fate as his stepfather, Carl Williams.

Tye Stephens, 29, has been detained in the secure Charlotte Unit at Port Phillip Prison, west of Melbourne, since he was arrested and charged with a string of drug and firearm offences in May, the Herald Sun reported.

His lawyer Theo Magazis said prison authorities were concerned with his safety given his family ties to Williams who was beaten to death with part of an exercise bike in 2010 while he was serving a 35 year sentence in Victoria's Barwon Prison.

Tye Stephens (pictured) is being held in protective custody 23-hours a day amid fears the prisoner could meet the same bloody fate as his stepfather, Carl Williams

Stephens, who started abusing the highly addictive drug ice at the age of 14, has not been allowed to mingle with any other inmates since his arrival at Port Phillip, according to the Herald Sun.

The 29-year-old was arrested on May 28 after police pulled him over for a random search in Melbourne's west.

They allegedly found a de-identified Colt .45 calibre pistol with ammunition, stolen computer equipment, a crow bar and $2,380 in cash suspected to be the proceeds of crime, the Age reported.

Police also allege they found 3.6 grams of ice stuffed down his pants after he offered them a glass pipe.

Prison authorities fear for Stephens' safety given his family ties to Carl Williams (pictured) who was beaten to death in 2010 while he was serving a 35 year sentence in Barwon Prison

Stephens is the eldest son of gangland widow and drug trafficker Roberta Williams (pictured)

Defence lawyer Theo Magazis argued for leniency as the 29-year-old had been exposed to a life of violent crime growing up around Williams and his criminal associates

Stephens has been detained in the secure Charlotte Unit at Port Phillip Prison (pictured), west of Melbourne, since his arrest in May

His mother Roberta did not attend his hearing when he pleaded to guilty to twelve offences at the Sunshine Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The court heard Stephens suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and that he felt he needed the pistol to protect himself.

His lawyer argued for leniency as the 29-year-old had been exposed to a life of violent crime growing up around Williams and his criminal associates.

'He grew up in a milieu of crime and witnessed the most horrific events with police constantly raiding the premises,' Mr Magazis reportedly said.

Stephens will be sentenced next week.

Roberta Williams did not attend Stephens' hearing in Melbourne on Thursday morning
He claimed his addiction to the drug ice caused memory loss

He originally lied to police providing a fake alibi before pleaded guilty

In a second offence in February he raped a girl, 16, in her bedroom

The 30-year-old assaulted a woman in her 30s in December at her home

A man has pleaded guilty to violently raping a woman in her 30s and a 16-year-old girl after breaking into her bedroom while masked in a random attack.

Davut Bulduk, originally lied to police by providing them with a false alibi after he was charged following the brutal attack at the teenagers home on February 26 in Roxburgh Park, Melbourne.

But the 30-year-old changed his story on Thursday claiming his drug addiction to ice caused memory loss, reported the Herald Sun.

Bulduk allegedly sexually assaulted the young girl for 25 minutes. Pictured is vision of Bulduk fleeing the scene captured on CCTV in February

Bulduk who is charged with two counts of aggravated burglary and six counts of rape is expected to receive a lighter sentence as a result of his plea because his witnesses no longer need to attend trial.

Bulduk initially broke into the Coolaroo home of a woman in her 30s on December 31 and repeatedly raped her before he committed his second offence at the teenagers home.

In February police allege Bulduk entered through an open kitchen window before entering the young girl's bedroom.

Bulduk, who police allege was caught on CCTV fleeing the 16-year-old's home in February, has been charged with two counts of aggravated burglary and six counts of rape

The girl claimed to have been woken up by a man kneeling beside her bed wearing a balaclava and told to 'be quiet' before she was raped for around 25 minutes.

CCTV cameras which captured the 30-year-olds escape over the neighbour's fence as he fled aided police in making an arrest.

A court has previously been told police had DNA evidence linking Buldulk to the rapes.

He has been remanded in custody and will front a plea hearing on October 25.

A court has previously been told police had DNA evidence linking Buldulk to the rapes. Pictured a police sketch of the man after the CCTV footage was released
The son of a notorious Sydney underworld figure has been caught with hundreds of grams of ice and thousands of dollars in cash after police pulled him over for speeding.

Adam Henry, 34, could face more than 20 years behind bars for supplying the drug after he pleaded guilty at Newcastle Local Court via videolink on Wednesday, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

He is the son of 1970s and '80s Sydney underworld figure Graham 'Abo' Henry, who knew convicted killer and armed robber Arthur Stanley 'Neddy' Smith.

Adam Henry (pictured), 34, could face more than 20 years behind bars for supplying the drug after he pleaded guilty at Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday

He is the son of 1970s and '80s Sydney underworld figure Graham 'Abo' Henry (left), who knew convicted killer and armed robber Arthur Stanley 'Neddy' Smith (right)

Henry admitted to supplying 690 grams of meth between May and August last year.

The Warners Bay man also dealt with $22,500 in cash for the proceeds of crime, according to court documents.

He had been pulled over in August last year when police spotted a black Holden Cruze speeding at Richard Road in Rutherford.

Police searched his car when officers noticed his hands were shaking and he avoided looking at them.

Adam Henry (right) could face 20 years in jail for the supply charge. His father (left) also spent time in prison

A black backpack was found pushed under the front seat, a police statement said.

Inside it was a plastic bag marked '13 grams', which police said had 15 grams of meth inside, and three further bags containing 28.9, 85.4 and 141.5 grams of ice.

Police also found $4,750 of cash.

Henry will be sentenced for supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of a crime in Newcastle District Court on September 15.
A Nebraska dad mistakenly ate four marijuana brownies and then proceeded to insult his family's cat before telling paramedics he felt like 'he's trippin'.

The ordeal unfolded when the 53-year-old father was unloading groceries on Tuesday night and found brownies in the backseat of a car his adult children used earlier in the day, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

The man ate four of the brownies and said he was getting 'bad anxiety' before officers were called to the family's house for a report of an accidental overdose.

A Nebraska dad mistakenly ate four marijuana brownies (file photo of regular brownies above) and then proceeded to insult his family's cat before telling paramedics he felt like 'he's trippin'

His wife tried to call their children to ask what was in the brownies, but was unable to reach them.

Paramedics at the scene said the man exhibited rather odd behavior, crawling around on the floor and calling the family cat a 'b****.'

They also said the man, who declined to be taken to hospital, told them he felt like 'he's trippin.'

While officers were at the home, one of the couple's children arrived and told officers he was 'pretty sure it was just marijuana in the brownies,' authorities said.

He also noted the marijuana brownies belonged to his siblings.

The man's vital signs were said to be normal after he was checked at the scene by paramedics.

The father was then taken to his bedroom where he got into bed.

The woman declined to provide her children's names because she thought they could get in trouble, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

Police said the investigation into the incident has concluded.
Eighteen seconds. That is all it took for James Porritt's (right) world to be irrevocably changed in a way that he still struggles to comprehend. That is the timeframe in which the 42-year-old business consultant was savagely attacked in the packed carriage of a London Underground train by a man wielding a machete who had picked him entirely at random. 'This is not a terror attack,' the assailant told terrified onlookers. 'I want only him.' What followed next was an onslaught of extraordinary savagery: as James tried to flee for his life, the attacker - 35-year-old Ricky Morgan (left and inset)- hunted him down, slashing at his head, hands, elbow and legs. That James survived at all is little short of a miracle: the few seconds of security footage from the incident released to the public show scenes akin to a horror film. 'When I saw the footage, all I could think was how the hell I walked away from it,' says James today. 'I know I'm lucky to be alive.' The impact has nonetheless been catastrophic: alongside bone-deep cuts to his head and shin, James's right and once dominant hand was so severely injured that it is of little use now. 'I can't dress myself, I have to eat from a bowl with my left hand, I've had to give up my driving licence and I am now registered disabled,' he says quietly. 'I can't even hold my girlfriend's hand as it hurts too much. All the basic things I used to take for granted I can no longer do.'
He was sensationally axed from Theresa May's cabinet after a tumultuous Brexit campaign which resulted in him stabbing Boris Johnson in the back.

But it seems Michael Gove has wasted no time in kicking back and relaxing during his time away from politics.

Stepping out for a run in central London this week, the former chief whip, justice and education secretary displayed a fuller face and figure.

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Michael Gove, 48, appears to have wasted no time in relaxing during his time away from politics, after stepping out in central London with a slightly fuller figure and a ginger beard

The former chief whip, justice and education secretary displayed a fuller face and figure as he went for a jog in central London following the Brexit campaign which saw him axed

Mr Gove, 48, showed off a new feature on his face  a slightly ginger, greying beard  which comes just days after former UKIP leader Nigel Farage showed off a questionably bushy moustache.

His unkempt appearance during his daily training routine is in stark contrast to the tailored look he offered when in government  always turning up to key meetings in a smart suit and cleanly-shaven face.

It suggests he has been making the most of his time away from the politics' limelight, following the ruthless Brexit campaign which saw him alienate many of his former allies.

Mr Gove was axed from his Justice Secretary job by new Prime Minister Theresa May after upsetting not only her team but many Eurosceptics who accused his antics during Brexit as treachery.

His public betrayal of Boris Johnson in deciding at the last minute not to back the former mayor's Tory leadership campaign and instead run for the top job himself was one of the shocks of the post Brexit fall out.

Mr Gove's bloated, dishevelled appearance was in stark contrast to the tailored look he offered when in government  always turning up to key meetings in a smart suit (seen above)

He paid the price for his betrayal of Mr Johnson in the Tory leadership race, as well as his previous clashes with Mrs May, as she banished him to the backbenches.

Known for his reforming zeal, Mr Gove had been a key member of David Cameron's inner circle for more than a decade  first in opposition and then, from 2010, in the Coalition government.

He won plaudits for his education reforms, which saw the creation of hundreds of 'free schools' across the country, a drive to improve standards and a return to a more traditional curriculum.

However his combative style alienated some teachers and headteachers, and he was demoted to chief whip by Mr Cameron after polls showed he was unpopular with parents.

In 2014 a furious row erupted with Mrs May after he briefed anonymously against her in The Times over the so-called 'Trojan Horse' plot by Islamists to infiltrate schools in Birmingham.

Mr Gove's new beard comes just days after former UKIP leader Nigel Farage showed off a questionably bushy moustache (pictured) as he made his last official visit to Kent

Michael Gove was seen running near his west London home at the beginning of last month (pictured) just 24 hours after being knocked out of the race for leadership of Number 10

He accused the Home Office of failing to 'drain the swamp' of extremists and criticised Charles Farr, Mrs May's counter-terrorism adviser. Mr Gove was eventually forced to apologise, but Mrs May lost her close adviser, Fiona Hill, in the fallout.

After last year's election, Mr Gove was moved to Justice Secretary and set about making radical reforms to Britain's prison system. He faced down the Tory Right, pledged to rehabilitate thousands of offenders and secured hundreds of millions of pounds to build modern jails.

Then at the end of February, he made what he called 'the most difficult decision of my political life' to campaign for Britain to leave the EU, and convinced Mr Johnson to join what became the Vote Leave campaign group.

Mr Gove and his wife Sarah Vine were branded 'the Macbeths' after an email was leaked in which she urged him to seek 'assurances' from Mr Johnson about his commitment to Brexit

After winning what seemed an unlikely victory, Mr Gove initially threw his weight behind Mr Johnson in the race to succeed David Cameron on what would have been a powerful Brexit ticket.

Then on the day nominations closed two weeks ago, he turned on his former ally, declared him unfit to lead the country and launched his own campaign.
The police officer who found a little boy wandering in downtown Ohio looking to sell his teddy bear so he could buy some food has become a minor celebrity.

Officer Steve Dunham found a barefoot seven-year-old boy wandering around Franklin on August 7 trying to sell his toy so he could buy something to eat - he told the officer he hadn't eaten in several days, according to his report.

Dunham brought the child to a Subway and bought him some food. The kind-hearted cop says he's been inundated with messages of support since the incident - and even one marriage proposal. Sorry, ladies, he's married.

'She's got a good sense of humor,' he says of his understanding wife.

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Police Officer Steve Dunham (above) says he's been overwhelmed with positive messages since he found a seven-year-old boy wandering the streets of Ohio looking to sell his teddy bear for food

Tammi Bethel (above), mother of the little boy found wandering the streets of Franklin, reportedly to sell his teddy bear for food, denies child endangerment charges

Dunham told the Journal-News that his heroics made it across the pond. 'It was in the news in Germany because I had a friend who emailed saying he had seen the story,' he said.

Messages of praise blanketed the Franklin Ohio Police Department's Facebook page.

'This kind act was a very big deal for that little boy, and Officer Steve has positively impacted this boy's life and future in a big way. A very big thank you to Officer Steve!!!' wrote one commenter.

But the humble officer says he's no hero, just a Christian who believes 'we're all supposed to help each other out.'

But he also said the attention has been a bit 'awkward' since the little boy and his four siblings, ages eleven to seventeen, who were taken from their homes and are staying with relatives while their parents, Tammy and Michael Bethel, face five counts of child endangerment charges, was a team effort.

He makes sure to give equal credit to fellow Officers Amanda Myers and Kyle ONeal and Dispatcher Lindsay Alvarez, who went to the boy's home, where they said the children were living in a home filled with garbage, cat urine and liquor bottles.

'Hes got a big heart for people and little kids  Steve was put in the right place at the right time to help that little boy,' City Manager Sonny Lewis told the outlet.

But Dunham said this type of thing isn't uncommon and he's seen worse in his 20 year career as a cop.

'By and large, this kind of thing happens in every community, everyday and theyre sad situations. I think law enforcement officers everywhere step up to the plate and show compassion and take care of people. I think its common and this particular case is getting a lot of attention for whatever reason,' he said.

'Starving': Five Ohio brothers, aged 7-17, were rehomed after on was found trying to sell his teddy bear for food. Mom Tammi Bethel (pictured with sons) denies child endangerment

He added that he has had calls from numerous states to ask how they could help the boy and his siblings.

However, mom Tammi Bethel is adamant that she does not need the help, and neither do her children.

She recently posted a photo of a pantry stock full of canned goods, claiming they were there when police were, and wondering why they didn't post of a photo of it.

After Saint Vincent De Paul society at a local Catholic church launched a donation drive, she said her children 'are not in need' and claimed she spent $2,000 on clothes and school supplies for them.

On the police department's Facebook page, she told people to instead donate to the oncology department of a children's hospital.

In one post which appears to have later been later deleted Bethel says: 'U got jokes!!!!! Officer Meyer promised me this info would not be released. And what exactly do my kids need!?

'I just spent $2000 on school clothes, supplies, and shoes. They didn't even eat the McDonald's u bought!!!!'

She added that her deep freezer was full and she has 'good credit'.

Bethel replied to a comment on Franklin Ohio Police Department's page which informed people of the donation drive at St Mary's Church

'You have managed to p*** CPS off and now because mine and my husbands name was released they won't even be able to start school because they are afraid the kids will mess them up with them good job! My A***!'

In another post she writes: 'People my children are not in need if you would like to donate on behalf of my children I would ask that you donate to Children's Hospital in Dayton specifically the oncology department.'

Facebook user Mary E. Davis then shares a previous dailymail.com story asking her 'you're kidding, right???'

Bethel replies: 'No I am not'.

The boy was found outside a drug store on August 7. Police say that he and his four older brothers, aged 11, 12, 15 and 17, had been living in squalor surrounded by garbage and cat urine.

In another post she writes: 'People my children are not in need if you would like to donate on behalf of my children I would ask that you donate to Children's Hospital in Dayton specifically the oncology department.' This is met with a number of responses in which she tries to defend herself

'Squalor': Cops said the boys lived in squalor (pictured: their home). Now a church in their city of Franklin is accepting donations to help the boys

'There was also 'a large amount of bugs,' according to two officers who investigated the scene. The kitchen is seen above

On the Facebook thread another user then accuses Bethel of deleting a post but she denies that and says 'just stating facts! My kids don't need anything if they did I wouldn't give a damn'.

In another response she adds again how much money she claims to have spent on her children saying: 'And someone please explain to me if I can afford $2000 to spend on school supplies and clothes do you really think my kids were hungry? If we were without food I would've only spent half of that and filled my deep freezer up but wait it was already full but no you didn't see those pictures.'

In other responses on the thread Bethel says she has 'good credit' and that her 'deep freezer is full'

She also says she 'doesn't drink or do drugs' and she also thanks one commenter who says that she does not judge the mother, though the vast majority of commenters were negative towards her.

Photographs that emerged of the home show floors and shelves littered with containers and detritus, and a mostly bare uncleaned fridge.

'There was also 'a large amount of bugs,' according to two officers who investigated the scene.

Bethel along with the boy's father Michael Bethel, have pleaded not guilty to five counts of child endangerment, although they admitted that they hadn't realized their son had walked out of the house.

Their pre-trial hearing is set for September 16.
Li blames his 'tiger mum' for the porn habit as it was his 'only escape'

One of the videos showed the brutal abuse of a 12-year-old by an adult

A convicted murderer blames the mother he bludgeoned to death with a metal rod for his confessed child pornography habit.

Wei Li, 23, who is serving a nine-year jail sentence for manslaughter, insisted the stash of obscene material did not make him 'deviant', according to The Advertiser.

He claimed he was driven to downloading the videos, one of which included 21 children and another the brutal abuse of a trumatised 12-year-old, to escape his overbearing 'tiger mum'.

Wei Li, 23, (pictured) who killed his mother could face more jail time after admitting to downloading child porn

'He is not a deviant individual, hes a person who is basically a normal man but (was) subjected to a lot of pressures,' his lawyer Michael Hegarty told the Adelaide District Court on Thursday.

Li had given the same excuse for the brutal killing of his mother Emma Mae Tien, 41, in 2011, claiming he had acted in self-defence when she 'came at him' angry that he had not be practicing piano.

The then-18-year-old is facing up to an extra seven years jail for possessing the material, which he watched just five days after beating his mother to death before wrapping her body in bed sheets and fleeing to China.

In the sentencing hearing, Mr Hegarty said Li had 'a lot of promise' but his life had been 'derailed' by 'events outside his control'.

He argued the former elite high school student's life was 'totally controlled' by his mother and going online to make friends was his only escape.

The body of 41-year-old Emma Tien was discovered at the family's Burnside home after the murder in 2011

'He had a single opportunity to escape from what he was required to do and his lifestyle, and that was late at night, after his mother had gone to bed,' Mr Hegarty said.

The defence claimed he was 'introduced' to pornography by friends and had no sexual interest in children.

Mr Hegarty asked the judge not to add more years to his client's sentence, but prosecutor Lisa Lakatos rejected that idea.

'Theres an alarming lack of remorse... he has not once said hes contrite or remorseful for this offending, she said.

Ms Lakatos said this meant he had low prospects of rehabilitation and was likely to reoffend.

Li Will be sentenced for the pornography charges in October.

The images and videos were discovered on a portable hard drive Li had left behind in his Melbourne hotel room  where he had also engaged the services of a male prostitute.

They were allegedly downloaded by Li before and after he killed his mother, though the defence disputes any more were obtained after the murder.

The law student was 18 years old at the time when he beat his mother to death with a metal rod

At his trial, the South Australian Supreme Court heard Li claimed he acted in self-defence when his mother had 'come at him', yelling and screaming after becoming angry because he was not practising piano.

Justice Trish Kelly rejected the claim but did accept that Li's mother had subjected him to verbal, mental and physical abuse.

Li, a law student at the prestigious Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, told the court he was under immense pressure from his mother.

'If I don't get a straight A in a school report that would result in a beating,' Li said, according to the ABC.

But during his trial police argued his online activity in the days leading up to the murder indicated it was premeditated.

The court heard that Li had used his laptop to search 'where to stab with knife causing quickest death' only days before his mother's body was found on March 19, 2011, ABC News reported.

Wei Li was a student at the prestigious Prince Alfred College in Adelaide before he murdered his mother

Other search terms included how to use a knife to 'instantly' kill someone, how to 'commit suicide by biting tongue', how to avoid police detection and ways to make the potentially fatal substance arsenic.

After the killing Mr Li flew to Melbourne, then to Singapore and finally China.

Ms Tian's body was not discovered for several days until a family friend found her body wrapped in sheets on the lounge room floor of their Burnside home.
An Iranian refugee who stole a pair of scissors and stabbed his estranged wife 56 times told police he 'could not tolerate' her decision to walk away from their marriage.

'[I stabbed her] in her heart, and in her neck, because she did not obey the rule of marriage,' Mokhtar Hosseiniamraei told police in Sydney after her murder.

'When we marry we have a commitment, moral commitment towards one another. In this country this means nothing.'

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Mokhtar Hosseiniamraei (left), from Auburn, Sydney, stabbed his estranged wife Leila Alavi (right) 56 times

Leila Alavi was just 26 when she was killed in an underground car park in Sydney's west

Hairdresser Leila Alavi was just 26 when she was killed in an underground car park in Sydney's west in January 2015.

Hosseiniamraei, a refugee who fled Iran because of religious persecution, met his bride in Turkey and travelled with her to Australia in 2010.

By late 2014 the relationship had broken down and Hosseiniamraei was abusing drugs daily.

Ms Alavi had taken out an AVO against him after he threatened to kill her.

Fewer than three months later Hosseiniamraei went to her workplace in Auburn and demanded she met him at her car

There, inside her Holden Astra, she was stabbed 22 times in the head and neck, 27 times in the legs and torso and seven times in the shoulder and arms, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

'This was an anger that simmered,' Crown prosecutor Craig Everson told a NSW Supreme Court sentencing hearing on Thursday.

'It was to do, essentially, with her not meeting his expectations as to what a wife should do.'

Hosseiniamraei told police after Ms Alavi's murder that he stabbed her because she 'did not obey the rule of marriage'

Ms Alavi was killed in this underground car park in Auburn in Sydney's west in January 2015

Ms Alavi's sister Mitra said in her victim impact statement that the two of them had emigrated for a better life.

'I saw that she was abused both physically and psychologically by him. I believe this man was cruel and dangerous,' the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Defence barrister Craig Smith SC urged Justice Robert Allan Hulme to find that Hosseiniamraei had 'reasonable prospects' of rehabilitation and that he only formed an intention to kill Ms Alavi a short time before the murder.

Ms Alavi arrived with Hosseiniamraei in Australia from Iran. In 2014 the relationship had broken down

'He was still affected by a mental condition, by the breakdown of the relationship, by the relative lack of certainty as to where he was living,' Mr Smith said, adding that Hosseiniamraei had been sleeping rough in what he described as a 'jungle' after leaving the marital home.

This was a reference to bushland surrounding Parramatta Lake, in the city's west, although the court heard Hosseiniamraei's relatives had opened their homes to him.

Justice Hulme will sentence Hosseiniamraei next Thursday.
A 19-year-old biochemistry student who was leading a double life as a prostitute and a drug dealer has escaped a prison sentence after she was found with cocaine, ice and MDMA in her home.

Madeline Sawyer's double life in Sydney began to unravel when police intercepted text messages about drugs between the young drug dealer and a man.

The court heard she first started selling drugs to clients she had met by working as a prostitute.

Madeline Sawyer, 19, has escaped a prison sentence after she was found with MDMA, ice and cocaine in her home

The student who lived a secret double life would work as a drug dealer and prostitute at night

'What are you doing bags at?' a message from the man read, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

'Generally $300 a bag,' she said.

Two days after those messages were sent police pulled over a car Sawyer was travelling in.

Her driver Fadhil Al Khafaji was unlicenced - and in possession of two capsules of MDMA, according to police documents.

Police checked Khafaji's phone and found additional drug orders - when they searched her home they found a range of drugs stored in individual bags and an electronic scale.

They also found $3660 in cash, which Sawyer claimed was money she had made through sex work while she was studying at the University of Western Sydney.

During the trial Sawyer revealed she was working in the sex industry to fund cosmetic surgery and dental work, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Judge John Pickering said the fact she was dealing three types of drugs showed she was 'extremely reckless' in her selling.

When handing down her punishment for the drug charges Judge Pickering said while he didn't judge her on her job as a sex worker he was concerned it attracted drugs.

The young woman burst into tears when she was told by the judge that she wouldn't be going to jail

Police found 28 capsules of MDMA, 11 grams of cocaine and 11 bags of methamphetamine inside her home, as well as $3660 in cash

'When she was just 18 she turned to performing sex work in Kings Cross, she just jumped on a train and went to the riskiest place.

'Money was the motive, to make money out of the industry but also risk-taking to make her feel better,' Judge Pickering said.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald , Sawyer's early guilty pleas, remorse and participation in rehabilitation helped reduced her sentence. Her exit from prostitution also contributed to her avoiding jail.

Judge Pickering felt the community would be better off if she stayed of prison.

She was given an 18-month intensive corrections order - and must go to counselling and have regular drug tests.

The judge told the teenager to 'stay off the drugs' and that she now had the ball in her court.

Sawyer is no longer working as a prostitute.
Egypts state broadcaster has caused outrage after suspending eight of its female TV presenters and telling them they can return to work only after theyve slimmed to an appropriate appearance.

Womens rights groups slammed the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) over the move, with one declaring that it violates the constitution.

The ERTU, whose female director is former newsreader Safaa Hegazy, has given the women one month to shed weight.

One of the eight presenters is Khadija Khattab, an anchor on Egypts Channel 2

One of the eight presenters is Khadija Khattab, an anchor on Egypts Channel 2, and she told the Al-Yawm al-Savi website that she wants to people to judge for themselves whether they think shes fat, according to the BBC.

Other presenters have criticised the ERTU for making the directive public, insisting that the matter should have been an internal one, the BBC said.

The outcry against the order has been led by The Womens Centre for Guidance and Legal Awareness, which said that not only does it violate the constitution, but that it constitutes violence against women.

Eman Beibers, chairwoman of the Cairo-based Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women, added her voice to the backlash.

She told Gulf News: Judging anybody on the basis of his or her body weight is not the right criterion.

Khattab told the Al-Yawm al-Savi website that she wants to people to judge for themselves whether they think shes fat

Our problem is that we judge people by appearance rather than performance and content. Id have appreciated the suspension decision if those presenters were suspended because they did their job badly or appeared with excessive make-up.

It does not matter if the presenter is fat or thin as long as he or she does not use nasty words on the air and knows well how to deal with guests.

Social media users in Egypt appear to be split over the issue, with some praising Hegazy for being determined and others backing the plight of the presenters.
Selfie queen Karen Danczuk was spotted in Spain with a bandage on her chest following a furious row with her husband Simon over a local waiter.

The Rochdale MP and his wife were believed to have travelled to Spain for a family holiday with their children when they had a row.

Spanish police arrested the MP who later walked free from court after his estranged 33-year-old wife refused to press charges.

Simon Danczuk, left, and his wife Karen, right, were on holiday with their two sons at the MP's holiday retreat in Algorfa, Costa Blanca when an incident happened on Sunday night

MP Simon Danczuk, pictured here in a Spanish bar, appeared in a Spanish court earlier this week after his arrest on Sunday night following a dispute with his estranged wife Karen

Karen, pictured here at a London train station in July, was photographed yesterday in Spain sporting a large bandage on her chest and several butterfly stitches on her arm

Danczuk was brought before a judge in the Costa Blanca town of Orihuela.

The MP is currently suspended by the Labour Party.

Neighbours near the MP's sunshine retreat in Algorfa were woken up following the row on Sunday night.

Local police are understood to have arrested him just before 10pm on Sunday and held him in cells overnight before he was rearrested by Civl Guard officers who escorted him to court in Orihuela.

Karen was taken by ambulance to Orihuela's Vega Baja Hospital for a small cut officers said she had sustained in a fall.

Danczuk, pictured, is believed to have thrown his wife's mobile phone into a swimming pool

Reports said the MP snatched his estranged wife's phone and threw it in a swimming pool after screaming 'Karen, Karen, I just want to talk to you' as he was taken away.

A neighbour said Karen appeared to have a cut to her chest and her estranged husband was led away from his house in handcuffs with no shirt on.

Karen, who rose to fame after sharing a number of racy photographs of herself online, married Mr Danczuk following his election as Rochdale MP in 2010.

She served as a councillor in Rochdale but resigned in autumn 2015 during the couple's break-up.

The MP was suspended by the Labour party in December for allegedly sending suggestive messages to a teenager.

He is also embroiled in an expenses row after he was ordered to pay back 11,500 he claimed for extra accommodation costs for two children who did not 'routinely' live with him. He insisted he had made an honest mistake.

Danczuk recently said he needed therapy for sex addiction and admitted romping with a 22-year-old woman on his constituency office desk.

A neighbour told The Sun: 'Karen has been seen at the apartment with David. They are obviously very close to each other.

'Simon and Karen are separated now so it was no surprise to us to see Karen with David.

'He kept shouting at her about her phone and then threw it in the swimming pool. I think they had both had a bit to drink.'
A video has emerged of British hate preacher Anjem Choudary meeting a chief ISIS executioner linked to terror attacks in Brussels.

Choudary, who faces jail after he was convicted of inciting support for the terror group, met Hicham Chaib in Holland in 2012 before Chaib fled Belgium for Syria.

Chaib has since become a notorious figure in ISIS and is responsible for countless beheadings. He is chief of the group's feared religious police.

The video, which has since been screened on TV news on the continent, is further evidence of the extent of Choudary's influence in radical circles.

This is the moment Anjem Choudary met Hicham Chaib (right), now a senior figure in ISIS

The meeting between Choudary (left) and Chaib (right) came when he was trying to spread his influence across Europe and helping to establish radical groups abroad

In the video, Choudary is seen standing next to Chaib and shaking hands with his group, which called themselves Sharia4Belgium.

He then tells them: 'My name is Mr Anjem Choudary and I am going to be delivering a lecture on the methodology of how to overthrow the regimes.'

Chaib, 32, is one of a number of men sitting on a sofa writing notes as Choudary begins his speech to the group.

The footage was filmed at a time when Choudary was attempting to export his Islam4UK group to other parts of Europe, including Belgium and Holland.

Since his meeting with Choudary, Chaib, who grew up in Antwerp, has fled Europe and set himself up as a key figure in ISIS in Syria.

Based in Raqqa, he has appeared in dozens of sickening propaganda videos and photographs and is idolised by Belgian extremists.

Since meeting Choudary, Chaib has become one of ISIS's most feared executioners

Chaib (left alongside ISIS commander Abu Wahib) has made videos threatening the West

Earlier this year, he released a video claiming terror attacks in Brussels which killed 32 were 'just a taste' of what was to come.

It is also believed that a band of terrorists plotting to attack the main train station in his home city of Antwerp with guns and explosives were in contact with him. Four suspects were arrested earlier this year.

Earlier this week, it emerged that Choudary, 49, and his deputy had been convicted of encouraging support for ISIS and face up to 10 years in prison when they are sentenced.
Martyn Galvin, above, told friends he had terminal bowel cancer while fleecing them out of nearly 8,000

A best man conned the groom and his closest friends out of thousands of pounds and pretended he had cancer to get away with it, a court heard.

Martyn Galvin, 30, pocketed 7,945 for organising stag trips to Prague and York races but spent the cash on himself and gambling.

As Dino Carters wedding approached, Galvin excused himself from meetings to discuss the stag plans by claiming he had been told he might have bowel cancer and had to visit hospital, or was too ill.

The stag group only discovered something was wrong with the arrangements when they reached Newcastle Airport to find the flights to the Czech Republic and hotel rooms they paid for had not been booked.

When challenged, Galvin reduced Mr Carter  a friend for 18 years  to tears by telling him that his cancer was terminal. But it was a lie, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Jailing Galvin for 20 months, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC, told him: This fraud is perhaps one of the nastiest and meanest Ive encountered.

The fraud involved a string of dreadful lies  lies to your best friend, a man who entrusted in you the task and the honour of being his best man. To lie as you did so brazenly, so persistently and in such detail about your health, only you know how you could do that. You were spending extravagantly, flashing the cash on yourself.

The 30-year-old used the stolen cash to fund his gambling habit and spent 'extravagantly' the court in Teesside heard. Judge Simon Bourne-Arton said it was the nastiest fraud he had ever seen

Galvin, of Yarm, Stockton-on-Tees, admitted fraud by false representation between January and October 2015. He was ordered to fully compensate the 23 victims within one month. Prosecutor Jenny Haigh said Galvin was asked to be best man even before Mr Carter had proposed to fiancee Emma.

Sports teacher Mr Carter, 30, said in a statement read in court: It was a big decision to choose my best man and I was honoured when Martyn accepted. But when he told me he had suspected cancer I was devastated for him and his family.

I offered to take over the organisation but he insisted, stating a groom should never have to organise his own stag do.

He said Galvin repeatedly distracted him from the wedding plans over problems with cash payments for the stag trips, and at one point gave people five days to pay in full. Even after the Prague trip failure the conman claimed the travel agent had got the dates wrong.

Galvin's mother eventually told the groom the truth, that he did not have cancer. The groom said he was devastated by the con and could not believe it had been carried out by the man he chose to be his best man

Mr Carter said in his statement: When I was told by his mum that he did not have any sort of cancer I was beyond devastated. I couldnt believe that Martyn had done this to me.

He said it sickened him to think his fiancee had been to Galvins home crying with him over his supposed terminal illness.

The groom chose a new best man and said his wedding day was the happiest of his life.

Galvin has a 2008 conviction for a fraud where he staged a robbery to steal 600 from his employer.
Shocking photographs have emerged of the moment three Indigenous detainees were threatened by a vicious dog after jumping in a swimming pool.

The young girls had attempted to run away from staff members at a Queensland youth detention centre in August 2015.

When one of the girls tried to get out of the pool, a guard allowed an un-muzzled dog on a leash to closely approach her in an 'aggressive manner'.

The incident comes on the heels of several disturbing allegations of abuse and mistreatment at two Queensland youth detention centres between 2010 and 2015.

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Three Indigenous girls were allegedly threatened with an un-muzzled dog after they jumped into a swimming pool in an attempt to run away from staff members

An Indigenous girl was allegedly confronted by a dog after she refused to leave the pool

When the girl attempted to leave the pool, she was confronted by the vicious dog

Human rights organisation Amnesty International has uncovered distressing scenes of alleged abuse at Townsvilles Cleveland Youth Detention Centre (CYDC) and Brisbane Youth Detention Centre (BYDC).

'We've shone a light into the dark corners of these detention centres, and found a culture of abuse and secrecy going back many years,' Roxanne Moore, Indigenous Rights Campaigner at Amnesty International Australia, said.

'It shouldn't take the probing of an international human rights organisation for the public to hear about terrible abuses suffered by children in detention.'

In January 2013, a 17-year-old detainee was allegedly handcuffed, stripped naked then taken to an isolation room after he refused to take a shower at CYDC.

CCTV photo shows a 17-year-old boy being held down on the floor by staff, handcuffed and ankle-cuffed after he refused to take a shower in January 2013

The boy, who was placed on high suicide watch, was asked to return to his room but when he refused, up to 14 staff members responded to the situation

The child was then taken to an isolation cell where they cut his clothing and underpants off with a knife

When the boy, who was placed on high suicide watch, refused to return to his room, up to 14 staff members responded to the situation.

He was allegedly pinned to the ground, handcuffed and ankle-cuffed, then taken to an isolation cell where his clothing and underpants were cut off with a knife.

The boy was left naked in the cell for more than an hour before being given a gown to wear.

And despite the nature of the event, it was not reported as an 'incident of concern'. The child never lodged a complaint.

'This case demonstrates both the failure of care for vulnerable children, and the lack of accountability in the detention system,' Ms Moore said.

'It should not be left to a traumatised, suicidal boy to report the abuse carried out against him, in order for people to be held responsible for serious violations against a child in their care.'

DISTURBING ALLEGATIONS FOUND IN THE DOCUMENTS  In 2014, a child on a roof threatened to self-harm or suicide by hanging. A security guard and his dog were deployed to the scene, which was found to increase the young person's anxiety.  In March 2012, eight Indigenous children were held in isolation for 10 days in 'near-continuous cell confinement' (approximately 22 hours a day). For the first two days of isolation, they were not allowed to leave their rooms at all.  Last year saw 31 incidents of children in CYDC attempting suicide by 'tying ligatures around their necks'. This number rose from 20 instances at CYDC in 2014.  In 2010, at CYDC there were four incidents when children suffered fractured wrists as a result of control and restraint techniques.  Children were asked to squat, with young girls asked to lift their breasts and young boys to lift their genitals prior to squatting - despite practices of squatting and lifting being prohibited in adult prisons Source: Amnesty International Advertisement

The teenage boy was allegedly mistreated at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre (pictured)

Amnesty International has unveiled more than 1,000 pages of secret documents detailing the alleged abuse and mistreatment against children, including incidents at Brisbane Youth Detention Centre and Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.

The organisation is calling on an independent inquiry - separate from the Queensland Government - to investigate all allegations of abuse in detention centres.
Olympic cyclist Callum Skinner has hit out at a pro-Brexit group for using his gold medal win to promote leaving the European Union.

The athlete responded to a video montage posted on Twitter by Leave.EU which detailed all of Team GB's medals won so far at Rio 2016.

The video opens with quotes such as 'We're too small' and 'We need to be in the EU', seemingly mocking the view of Remain supporters.

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Olympic cyclist Callum Skinner (left) has hit out at a pro-Brexit group for using his gold medal win to promote leaving the European Union

The athlete responded to a video montage posted on Twitter by Leave.EU which detailed all of Team GB's medals won so far at Rio 2016

Alongside images of medallists such as Mo Farah and Sir Bradley Wiggins, the video then exclaims 'We may be small, but we truly are Great Britain'.

Skinner, who picked up both a gold medal in the men's team sprint and a silver medal in the men's sprint, replied to the group's post from Brazil.

He said: 'Thanks for the support... But I wish you wouldn't use my image to promote your campaign.'

The cyclist signed off his post by tweeting both the flag of Great Britain and of the European Union.

The Scot tweeted on the day of the EU Referendum detailing how his landlady had asked for a European Union flag hanging from his balcony to be taken down.
Amine Husseine, from Somalia, attempted the abduction of the terrified girl

A failed asylum seeker and convicted sex offender tried to kidnap a 10-year-old girl from a Tesco store and threatened to 'kill every British person he saw'.

Amine Husseine, from Somalia, attempted the abduction of the terrified girl as she looked at shoes in the supermarket in Eastgate, Bristol.

He told her to put the shoes back and go with him and when she told him she was not allowed to go with strangers he snarled 'just come' and the girl screamed.

The 35-year-old tried to grab her but she was rescued by her mother and sister and he fled.

While he left the premises, he told security staff: 'When I get back to Somalia I will kill every British person I see and come back and abduct another child.'

Bristol Crown Court heard that Husseine arrived in the UK in 2009 and has committed 20 offences since then, including three other sexual assaults.

Two involved attacks on people in a hospital and bowling alley and the third was on a child under 13, for which he was jailed for 10 months.

But although his application for asylum has been refused all attempts to deport him have failed as Somalia does not accept forcibly deported people.

A moratorium, on the deportation of foreign criminals to Somalia, that was in place at the time of Huesseine's crimes, has now been lifted. But the country is running a case-by-case system on accepting them.

Husseine, of Eastville, Bristol, admitted attempted child abduction and theft of alcohol from the Tesco and was jailed for two-and-a-half-years.

Judge Euan Ambrose told him: 'The obvious inference to be drawn from what you said at the time is that your motive was either sexual or violent.

'It matters not from a sentencing point of view. Each is deeply abhorrent. No other motive has been put forward.'

Amine Husseine, from Somalia, attempted the abduction of the terrified girl as she looked at shoes in the supermarket in Eastgate, Bristol (pictured)

Husseine was also given an indefinite restraining order banning him from all contact with the victim, her mum and sister or youngsters aged under 16

After the case the child's mum said she and her family were moving to another part of Bristol.

She said: 'It was terrifying, I wish the sentence was more. She doesn't want to be around there no more.

'We have always told her about not going off with strangers. She is a star.'

Lee Mott, defending, said alcohol played a part in his client's offending and he accepted it had been his fault.

Husseine maintained his motive for trying to take the girl was not sexual and he would not harm a child.

Mr Mott said Husseine had worked to address alcohol issues in custody and wanted to make something of his life.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she sees no connection between the unregulated flow of refugees into Germany and a spike in Islamic terrorism in her country.

Despite warnings from intelligence chiefs about terrorists smuggling themselves into Germany disguised as migrants - and two terror attacks last month including an Isis suicide bomber - Mrs Merkel seems determined to ignore public opinion about her 'open door' policy towards asylum seekers.

At a political meeting on Wednesday in her home state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ahead of a regional poll next month she was asked if 'terrorism had come to Germany with the refugees'.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she sees no connection between the unregulated flow of refugees into Germany and a spike in Islamic terrorism in her country

The chancellor, whose approval ratings are dwindling on the back of public fears about increased terror risk, said: 'The phenomenon of Islamic terrorism of IS not a phenomenon that has come to us through the refugees but one we already had.'

This goes against the grain of what the country's own domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, states.

Only days ago, as well as fears over the number of potential terrorists who have come to Germany amidst the wave of 1.2 million refugees, it was revealed that Jihadist recruiters are hard at work trying to radicalise young men among them.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution says it has concrete knowledge of over 340 cases of attempted Jihadist recruitment among migrants.

'There are more than 340 cases which have become known to us,' said Hans-Georg Maassen, president of the agency.

But he warned: 'These are only the ones we know about. There are probably more cases.'

An Isis-controlled migrant blew himself up with a DIY bomb in the town of Ansbach. Pictured are police securing the area after the explosion

Germany is in the midst of trying to toughen up its anti-terror laws in the wake of recent events, which included a refugee attacking people on a train with an axe and another Isis-controlled migrant blowing himself up with a DIY bomb in the town of Ansbach.

Maassen said that refugee homes were being given information about how to spot radical Islamists at their recruitment work and to report them to authorities.

He added: 'It gives us concern if the Salafists and other Islamists are allowed to recruit in this way.'

German politicians are under increasing pressure to speed up the deportation process for tens of thousands of migrants who have been denied asylum but who have managed to work the system to stay in the country.

Ansbach bomber Mohammed Daleel was one such person: he was declared unfit to be deported because of two suicide attempts.

As tensions about refugee numbers continue to rise the leader of the hard right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) came up with a new plan for refugees at the weekend.

Frauke Petry wants to deport rejected and illegal asylum seekers to islands outside of Europe.

Frau Petry demands the setting up of a 'return migration authority' which will 'bring illegal migrants and rejected asylum seekers on to two islands protected by the United Nations outside Europe'.

Petry, who did not specify which islands she had in mind, added: 'Unaccompanied men should be separated from women or families. This is more secure than the current practice, less expensive and above all safer for women.'

Chancellor Merkel, at the political rally in the town of Neustrelitz, tried to allay fears among the public by saying that she wants more security personnel 'with more powers to intervene'.

Mrs Merkel added: 'Through digitialization, through social media, through the so-called Darknet that played a role in the gun rampage in Munich, we must adapt constantly and permanently adapt our strategies.

'What used to be just video surveillance will soon be including face detection technology.'
Food inspectors shut down 36 restaurants in Brisbane this year after they discovered mould on meat pie filling, dirty baking dishes and bugs nestled in bowls of noodles.

Inspectors with the Brisbane City Council visited more than 6,300 businesses last year for surprise inspections, temporarily suspending licenses for three dozen restaurants who were not up to code and issuing 400 fines, according to The Courier Mail.

A bakery in the city's north received a $15,000 fine for its inappropriate handling of food.

Brisbane food inspectors shut down 36 restaurants after they found food covered in mould (pictured) and dirty cooking dishes

One of the highest fines of $20,000 was issued to a Vietnamese restaurant for not properly storing and processing food, failing cleanliness codes and for animals and pests (pictured)

Inspectors also found a metal pot of meat pie mince covered in mould in the restaurant's cold room.

Another bakery in a south suburb was fined $14,000 after dirty dishes were found in storage.

A Chinese restaurant was fined $24,000 for violating several codes, including cleanliness and animals and pests.

Insects were found in a bowl of rice noodles at a Vietnamese restaurant (pictured)

Layers of grease and dirt were found caked on the store's floor and on the walls of the kitchen.

A $20,000 fine was given to a Vietnamese restaurant for not properly storing and processing food, failing cleanliness codes and for animals and pests.

Insects were found in a bowl of rice noodles at the restaurant.

A Chinese restaurant was fined $24,000 for violating several codes, including cleanliness and animals and pests (pictured)




An aristocrat who faced calls to be lynched after he killed two black Kenyans on his African ranch has died of a heart attack aged 48.

Tom Cholmondeley, the heir of Lord Delamere was pronounced dead at MP Shah hospital in Nairobi after suffering a cardiac arrest while recovering from hip replacement surgery on Tuesday.

Friends said the old Etonian had gone to the hospital for the planned surgery and appeared to have been healthy.

Tom Cholmondeley, the heir of Lord Delamere, who has died at the age of 48 after suffering a heart attack

But chief executive of MP Shah hospital, Anup Das, confirmed the death of the aristocrat.

He said: 'The death was around 2.15pm.

'At this point in time, we don't know exactly what went wrong.'

Cholmondeley was part of one of Kenya's wealthiest white families and after being accused of killing two Kenyans in separate incidents, it stirred up fierce resentment over race and land.

In 2005, he claimed self-defense and was cleared without trial in the killing of undercover wildlife ranger Samson ole Sisina, who was arresting Cholmondeley's workers suspected of poaching.

He was accused of killing two Kenyans in separate incidents stirring up fierce resentment over race and land in the African country

Cholmondeley in court in 2009. He died after going to a hospital in Nairobi for hip replacement surgery

Cholmodeley is the only son of his father Hugh, the 5th Baron of Delamere, pictured during his son's trial

Cholmondeley has claimed he thought ole Sisina was an armed robber, leading to the case being dismissed.

Cholmondeley's partner Sally Dudmesh, pictured during his trial. He also leaves behind ex-wife Sally Brewerton and sons Hugh and Henry

However, he was then convicted of manslaughter in the 2006 shooting of black poacher Robert Njoya and was jailed for eight months.

Njoya a stonemason has snared a gazelle on his 48,000 acre Samsoya ranch and the aristocrat faced calls to be lynched with many saying he killed the victim 'in cold blood'.

The judge reduced the charge from murder, saying that Cholmondeley's attempts to give first aid proved that he accidentally shot the poacher when aiming at his dogs.

The cases enraged Kenyans, who said he received special treatment because of his relation to Lord Delamere.

They also exposed deep tensions about the British presence in Kenya, with many locals resentful that the most precious land was taken over by the British government during colonial times.

After independence in 1963, many departing settlers transferred land to Africans, with Britain underwriting some of the costs.

The killings received intense media scrutiny because of Cholmondeley's aristocratic heritage

The aristocrat faced calls to be lynched with many saying he killed the victim 'in cold blood'

Some settlers, including Cholmondeley's family, kept their land and became Kenyan citizens and their freewheeling ways inspired the book 'White Mischief.'

The killings received intense media scrutiny because of Cholmondeley's aristocratic heritage.

His great-grandfather Baron Delamere was one of the most prominent white British settlers, who colonised Kenya.

The family ranch was acquired in 1906 and became a nature reserve in 2007.

The Soysambu family ranch in Kenya was acquired in 1906 and became a nature reserve in 2007

Cholmodeley is the only son of his father Hugh, the 5th Baron of Delamere and his mother Phyllis Anne Montagu Douglas Scott, granddaughter of both The 6th Duke of Buccleuch and The 7th Duke of Rutland.

In 1998, he married Sally Brewerton and the couple had two sons Hugh and Henry.
Shocking footage has been released showing a man punching and kicking a dog outside a north London supermarket.

People who witnessed the beating outside the Co-op in Islington on Monday were so concerned they called the RSPCA.

The start of the video shows the man, wearing a bright blue T-shirt and navy jeans, punch the bull terrier on the back to get it to sit down.

Distressing: The man is so desperate for the dog to sit down, he starts to punch the animal

The animal quite clearly wants to stay stood up, but the man is not taking no for an answer

As the dog stands up again, the man delivers another punch to the animal's body.

He then continues his attempts to make the dog sit, raising his hand as the animal cowers.

Finally with the animal sat on the ground, the man takes some time to check his hair is in place.

But two more punches are delivered to the dog, before the most sickening part of the clip shows the man deliver a hard kick to the animal.

More punches are thrown at the animal outside the Co-op store in north London

The animal is then seen cowering in fear as the beating continues, shocking passers-by

So concerned were fellow shoppers in the area, they contacted the RSPCA and sent in the footage

The RSPCA is now appealing for information after being alerted to the incident.

A spokesperson said: Witnesses reportedly saw the man hitting the dog on the back, then stamp on the dog's tail and twist his ear.

'The dog is described as a brown medium sized bull terrier type, and the man was wearing a bright blue t-shirt, navy jeans and had short dark hair.'

The animal was then seen moving towards one man who was walking on the path

And in the sickening footage, the man delivers a hard kick to the animal

RSPCA inspector Clare Dew added: 'We received a call and have been sent footage showing a man repeatedly punching a dog in the back, trying to get him to sit down, outside the Co-op supermarket on Benwell Road in Holloway around midday on Monday.

'This behaviour is completely unacceptable, the dog is clearly frightened of the man who is attempting to get him to sit while he waits outside the shop.

'I'm keen to speak with the man as soon as possible and check on the welfare this dog and make sure he is alright.'
The North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea has said that he was 'sick and tired' of Kim Jong-un's rule and worried about paying London's Congestion Charge.

Thae Yong-Ho, the number two at the North Korean embassy in Britain, is one of the highest ranking diplomats ever to defect to the South - gifting Seoul a major propaganda coup at a time of rising tension on the divided Korean peninsula.

Any defection by a ranking member of an overseas North Korean mission would make waves, but London is considered a particularly prestigious posting that puts Thae's move on a whole different level.

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The defection of a top North Korean diplomat to the South is the latest strain on relations

A diplomatic car drives away from the office and residence of the North Korea Embassy which opened in a residential area in Ealing, west London in 2003

Jeong Joon-hee, a spokesman at South Korea's unification ministry, said that Thae was 'sick and tired of the Kim Jong-un regime' and hankered after a life in a democracy, The Guardian reported.

And the newspaper revealed that during a talk he gave at a bookshop in 2014 in London's King's Cross, he admitted to having concerns over money and having to pay for the congestion charge.

'When I drive out from my embassy I have to think - what about congestion charges?' he said.

A privileged background and powerful connections with the ruling elite back in Pyongyang appear to have provided the springboard for Thae's successful defection to South Korea, analysts said Thursday.

'The embassy in London is reserved only for some of the foreign ministry's top officials,' said Victor Cha, director of Asian studies for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Kim Jong-un visits the Taedonggang Pig Farm in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency

Previous ambassadors to Britain include North Korea's recently appointed foreign minister, Ri Yong-Ho.

'In this regard, Thae's defection represents the flight of some of the North's best and brightest - their diplomatic cream of the crop,' Cha said.

Prior to his defection, Thae had worked at the embassy for 10 years - an unusually lengthy period of time in such a high-profile posting.

Overseas diplomats are generally recalled to Pyongyang every three or four years and undergo a period of 're-education' before being posted abroad again.

Thae's defection was also eased by having his wife and children with him. Some diplomats have to leave family members in the North, precisely to deter flight impulses.

Fed up: Thae Yong-Ho said he was 'sick and tired' of Kim Jong-un and his regime

Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul also noted reports that one of Thae's sons had already graduated from university, while another was due to take up a place at Imperial College London.

'That's unusual, because diplomats' children are normally called back to the North after they graduate high school,' Yang said.

'All of this suggests he had impeccable credentials and must have been considered very loyal and trustworthy in Pyongyang,' Yang added.

According to South Korean media reports, both Thae and his wife were of blue-blooded North Korean revolutionary stock.

Thae's late father was believed to be a four-star general, Thae Pyong-Ryol, who fought with North Korea's founder leader Kim Il-Sung against Japanese colonial forces, the Yonhap news agency reported.

And his wife Oh Hae-Son was also related to a senior ranking member of the anti-Japanese guerrilla campaign, Oh Baek-Ryong.

The JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, which had broken the original story of Thae's defection, published a grainy black-and-white photo Thursday, purportedly showing Oh Baek Ryong standing next to Kim Il-Sung in 1947 and holding Kim's son and eventual successor, Kim Jong-Il, in his arms.

During his stint in London, a large part of Thae's duties involved countering criticism of North Korea's human rights record and other negative media coverage.

British journalists who met him, described Thae as likeable, urbane and highly articulate.
Turkish police issued 187 arrest warrants and raided some 200 homes and workplaces on Thursday as their investigation into last month's failed military coup shifted towards the business community, media reported.

President Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to choke off businesses linked to the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for the coup attempt, describing his schools, firms and charities as 'nests of terrorism'.

Police from a financial crimes unit launched dawn raids in Istanbul and 17 other provinces to root out supporters of Gulen's movement, the privately run Dogan news agency reported.

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President Tayyip Erdogan (pictured) has vowed to choke off businesses linked to the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for the coup attempt

Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen speaks to members of the media at his compound in Saylorsburg, America. Erdogan said his firms and charities are 'nests of terrorism'

An undisclosed number of people were detained at their homes and offices, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.

Gulen, formerly close to Erdogan but now living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, has denounced the coup attempt, and denied any responsibility for it.

Dogan said prominent businessmen were among the suspects being sought by police on suspicion of belonging to and financing a terrorist organisation. Turkey classified Gulen's movement as a terrorist network in July 2015.

Earlier this week, police searched the offices of a nationwide retail chain and a healthcare and technology company.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday that 40,029 people had been detained since the coup attempt, and about half had been formally arrested pending charges.

Pro-government supporters protest on the road leading to Istanbul's iconic Bosphorus Bridge after the failed July coup

He also said 4,262 companies and institutions with links to Gulen had been shut, and that 79,900 people had been removed from public duty in purges of the military, police, civil service and judiciary.

The European Union and the United States have expressed concern about the scale of the crackdown, and human rights groups have said a lack of due process will ensnare innocent people who had no role in the abortive coup.

Turkish officials say they have to act fast to prevent further attempts to destabilise the government from within the bureaucracy and the business community.
New Zealand police dogs respond to more than 30,000 incidents a year and are trained from puppy-age

Dogs seen sinking their teeth into officer's arms and disarming criminals during mock scenarios

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Dramatic images of police dogs performing training drills show just how fearsome canine cops can be in the line of duty.

Photographs show patrol and detector dogs from the Auckland Police Dog Unit disarming a man as officers swoop on the offender during a drill.

In other images the dogs can be seen sinking their teeth into an officer's protection gear during a tactical training demonstration.

Fagan the patrol dog bares his fangs during training drills in in Auckland, New Zealand

Brew the dog sinks his teeth into Colin's arm protection during a dramatic drill

Karl and patrol dog Iso and Andrew and patrol dog Lee work to contain and disarm an offender during an armed offender drill in Takanini

Other images show explosive detective dogs scouring around a factory for another drill, or other dogs holding a scent he tracked down.

New Zealand police dogs respond to more than 30,000 incidents a year. They are trained from when they're puppies before graduating at 18-months-old.

The unit was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year when 4-year-old police dog Gazza was shot dead in an armed siege in Porirua.

Gazza was set to become a TV star and feature in the New Zealand television series 'Dog Squad' with his handler, Constable Josh Robertson

Ross and his explosives detector dog Kia search a premises during another drill

Ross plays with his explosives detector dog Yale after he caught a scent
Hillary Clinton told a group of top law enforcement leaders today the country needs 'to bridge our divides, not stoke even more divisiveness.'

'I think it's obvious that recent events in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Milwaukee and across the country underscore how difficult and important work there is ahead of us to repair the bonds of trust and respect between our police officers and communities,' Clinton stated in remarks that were open to the press.

Clinton said the country cannot ignore its challenges and 'certainly we must not inflame them.'

The meeting in New York included the retiring New York City police commissioner who said Donald Trump's candidacy 'scares the hell' out of him.

Hillary Clinton met today with a group of top law enforcement leaders, including the retiring New York City police commissioner who recently said Donald Trump's presidential candidacy 'scares the hell' out of him

Clinton top law enforcement leaders today the country needs 'to bridge our divides, not stoke even more divisiveness'

Exiting NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton sat to Clinton's left. She thanked him for a 'lifetime of service'

Campaign aides said eight top law enforcement officials were at the table.

Exiting NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton sat to Clinton's left. His successor, James O'Neill, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charles Beck and former Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey were also present.

The meeting was closed to press except for Clinton's opening remarks.

She told participants as it began she wanted to hear from those in the 'trenches' about 'what's working and how we can do more of that and try to create a better dialogue in our communities.'

Other attendees were from Tucson, Arizona, Seattle, Washington, Camden, New Jersey and Dallas, Texas.

Trump is also meeting with law enforcement today, in North Carolina. The focus of his meeting will be on ISIS and protecting the country from terrorists.

He yesterday held a national security meeting with lawmakers and advisers in New York.

The 'Roundtable on Defeating Radical Islamic Terrorism' included former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, New York Congressman Peter King, Pennsylvania Congressman Lou Barletta, Chairman of the House's Homeland Security Committee Mike McCaul and former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, his campaign says.

Tuesday, in Wisconsin, he sat down with Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and Inspector Edward Bailey.

Clinton's meeting follows Trump's claim in Wisconsin this week that she is 'against the police. ' He promised to restore law and order to the country if he's elected in November.

'She's more of the same, he's the law and order candidate,' Giuliani said at the Tuesday event, in West Bend, where Trump addressed the riots in Milwaukee.

Clinton told participants as it began she wanted to hear from those in the 'trenches' about 'what's working and how we can do more of that and try to create a better dialogue in our communities'

A campaign aide said Thursday that Clinton's meeting been in the works for weeks.

The official also stressed that Clinton and running mate Tim Kaine have personally met with or called law enforcement after tragedies and protests in their area and that the former cabinet official has engaged regularly with police throughout her campaign.

'Immediately after the horrific events in Dallas, Clinton spoke about the need to bring our nation together,' a campaign aide said. 'She asked Americans to walk in each others shoes and listen to each other.'

Her campaign said that message was also on display at the Democratic National Convention when families of officers killed in the line of duty came on stage to pay tribute to the men and women in blue.

Law enforcement officials also spoke at the convention in Philadelphia. Ramsey was among them.

'I particularly appreciate his service on President Obama's policing study, which has a lot of good ideas,' she told the round table today.

Trump is also meeting with law enforcement today, in North Carolina. The focus of his meeting will be on ISIS and protecting the country from terrorists. He is pictured yesterday holding a national security meeting with lawmakers and advisers in New York

In mid-July when three police officers were killed in a Louisiana gas station shooting Clinton said in a speech before the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 'Anyone who kills a police officer and anyone who helps must be held accountable.'

'There can be no justification, no looking the other way,' she said.

Both candidates called Bratton after the Dallas shooting. He's described the conversations as 'very productive.'

The NYPD head is leaving the force after 40 years to join the newly formed risk management division of New York-based global consulting firm Teneo Holdings.

Teneo President and co-founder Doug Band is a former aide to Bill Clinton who continued to serve the former president after he left the White House and formed the Clinton Foundation. Band left Bill's service in 2012, his Teneo bio says, after a decade at the family's charity.

The NYPD head is leaving the force after 40 years to join the newly formed risk management division of a New York-based global consulting firm with ties to the Clintons. Bratton is pictured outside of Trump Tower last week

Bill Clinton and right-hand Hillary aide Huma Abedin have also worked as paid consultants for Teneo. Abedin's work at the organization - while she was still on staff at the State Department - is the subject of an ongoing court case brought by a conservative government watchdog group.

Bratton told the Wall Street Journal in an Aug. 2 interview that Teneo made him an offer 'that couldnt be refused.'

His future secure at the Clinton-affiliated company, Bratton berated Trump the following day on national television.

'Mr. Trump scares me, scares the hell out of me, to be quite frank with you,' he said on CBS. 'I just don't get it in terms of the support for him.'

The military veteran said he was appalled that Trump had accepted a Purple Heart and commented on how much 'easier' that was than going to war for one.

'I just watched this whole campaign, and I just shake my head,' he said.

Bratton derided Trump for his 'shoot from the hip' management style and said he showed a 'lack of depth' on policy.
A never-before seen letter penned by legendary gangster Al Capone from his Alcatraz prison cell has emerged to reveal his rarely seen tender side as he boasts of losing 60lbs while in jail.

The mobster wrote to his son Albert 'Sonny' Capone, the three-page note sent in 1938 where he describes his day-to-day life at the infamously brutal island-based jail in San Francisco.

His time at Alcatraz completed a remarkable fall from grace, with him entering as a feared, violent and ruthless mob chief to eventually becoming a figure of ridicule who was bullied by his fellow inmates.

Legendary mob boss Al Capone, pictured, claimed he lost more than 60lbs while in jail

In a remarkable letter to his son, Sonny, right, Capone advises the youngster on life

And this historic letter, valued at $70,000 and which has emerged after the death of a collector whose estate is being sold by RR Auction in Amhurst, New Hampshire, gives fresh insight into his character seven years into his sentence.

As well as offering Sonny some fatherly advice, it also sees him talk of a passion for music which grew rapidly following his 1931 tax evasion conviction.

Capone begins the letter: 'Well Son, here is your dear dad, with a letter for you, and pray to God, it will find you, in perfect health Junior keep up the way you are doing, and don't let nothing get you down.

'When you get the blues, Sonny, put on one of the records with songs I wrote you about to Ma, to you, which I sure go to town playing them and about 500 more on my mandola.'

Capone, who first rose to prominence for bootlegging during the Prohibition era before later moving in darker circles and ordering the bloody 1929 Valentines Day massacre, spent a year lobbying guards to be allowed to play musical instruments.

After prison officials agreed to the request, his family sent top of the range guitars, banjos and sheet music imported from Europe to the jail.

The letters provide a remarkable insight into the mind of one of America's notorious felons

The letter was written in 1938, just months before the mob boss was released from prison

The letter is believed to be worth in the region of $70,000 and will be sold at auction

Capone was jailed on Alcatraz in 1931 after being convicted of mass tax evasion

This led to him forming the The Rock Islanders with a group of other musical prisoners and developing a passion for playing the mandola, an instrument similar to a mandolin.

But the prison band famously ended in violent acrimony when Capone accused kidnapper Harmon Waler of blowing his saxophone too close to his face. Waler proceeded to smash the saxophone into the back of Capone's head and a bitter feud ensued.

After describing his musical progression in the letter, Capone focuses his attention on allaying any concerns his son, who had just started studying at the University of Miami, may have had for his welfare and reaffirming his love for wife Mae, affectionately referred to as Maggie.

The Miami home of Al Capone. The pool cabana is seen during a tour of the former home of Al Capone on March 18, 2015 in Florida

Capone, who is believed to have weighed around 250lbs when he entered prison, continues: 'I am sure happy to hear about you and your pals had nice holidays at Miami and that you all had a good time.

'Sonny keep up your chin, and don't worry about your dear dad, and when again you allowed a vacation, I want you and your dear mother to come here together, as I sure would love to see you and Maggie

'Now Son about me please do not worry, as when you see me again, you sure will be surprised, in fact Junior I am 7 1/2 pounds under 200 Ha Ha, and in good shape.'

Capone, pictured here in Florida, was only released out of prison on compassionate grounds

Capone, pictured right with his lawyer Abe Teitelbaum, left, died in January 1947

Robert Livingston, RR Auction's executive vice president, said: 'This is a very rare piece and shows us a completely different side to Al Capone's character.

'It opens this great window into the past that has been closed for 80 years.

'There are moments when he is laughing at himself, and my favourite part is him recommending that Sonny read Fortune magazine.

'He may have been a syphilis-ravaged mobster but he wanted his son to do well and learn about business.

'He also shows a tenderness when he mentions the song he wrote for Sonny's mother, and there are so many bits that show a human side to him that you never hear of.'

Capone was released from prison early in 1939 for good behaviour after spending long period in hospital suffering with syphilitic dementia.

He spent the last six years of his life at his mansion in Palm Island, Florida, before dying in 1947 after a long period of ill health.

Sonny went on to open a restaurant with his mother. He lived a largely law-abiding life but was arrested in 1965 for shoplifting some aspirin and batteries.

Sonny died at the age of 85 in 2004.
Police also seized a backpack from Cooper containing two digital scales and a black ski-mask

Cooper was found sleeping at Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School with a loaded gun tucked under his arm

, charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm on school property

A Massachusetts teenager has been arrested on weapons charges after police say they found him sleeping with a loaded gun in a Boston schoolyard.

Rodney Cooper, 18, was taken into custody Tuesday morning and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm on school property and several other weapons offenses.

Officers responded to Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School in Dorchester just before 6am after getting reports about an unconscious man who appeared to have a gun next to him.

No child's play: Rodney Cooper, 18, was arrested on weapons charges after police in Dorchester, Massachusetts, found him sleeping in a schoolyard with this loaded gun

After arriving on the scene at 40 School Street in Dorchester, officers observed the suspect sleeping on his back with the firearm tucked under his arm. They quickly removed the weapon before waking Cooper up.

According to police, the 18-year-old became startled and attempted to get up. After a brief struggle, the officers were able to put Cooper in handcuffs.

Cooper was apprehended after a brief struggle at Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School in Dorchester (pictured)

The gun seized from Cooper was loaded with several rounds of ammunition. The teenager was unable to produce a license to carry.
A holidaymaker reckons she has captured the Loch Ness Monster on camera.

Gobsmacked Calley Tulleth, 28, was having lunch on the balcony of her holiday let when she saw a mysterious ripple on the surface.

She said her eyes 'popped out' of her head and she grabbed her camera to capture a few snaps yesterday.

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Calley Tulleth, 28, was on her holiday home balcony in Loch Ness, when she claims she spotted the Loch Ness Monster

The mother-of-three quickly grabbed her camera to capture the moment

She admitted she can't stop thinking about it as it 'looked some much like the Loch Ness Monster'

The mother-of-three said: 'I was having my lunch on the balcony looking over Loch Ness and all of a sudden I saw this blue thing swimming across.

'I wasnt scared but my eyes popped out of my face.

'I quickly took my phone out and started snapping away - I tried to zoom in and get a better view but then it just disappeared.

'It looked so much like the Loch Ness monster.'

Mrs Tulleth, a housekeeper from Fife is on holiday at Loch Ness with her husband and three children.

'I cant stop thinking about it,' she added. 'Its not often you see a monster while on holiday.'

According to The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Registers website there have been more than 1000 sightings of the aquatic being. Five sightings have already been recorded so far in 2016. The site believes that Nessie isnt just ancient folklore.

Many people have searched the loch in the Scottish Highlands including this one organised by the Morar Project (pictured)

Many programmes have been made about it, including The History Channel's In Search of History: The Loch Ness Monster which made this model of the creature from the deep (pictured)

According to The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Registers website there have been 1018 sightings but experts argue most have been hoaxes or shown little evidence

The legend of the Loch Ness Monster has been around since the sixth century.

The monster is named after its alleged home the Loch Ness which is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately 23 miles (37km) southwest of Inverness.

In June this year tourist Tony Bligh captured what he thinks could be the mythical creature lurking beneath the waters on his mobile phone.

Mr Bligh shot the video which racked up more than 22,000 views on YouTube after it was filmed from the Wellington lay-by on the A82 overlooking the famous Highlands loch.

But locals dismissed the footage of the five-humped figure as an 'optical illusion' caused by waves left behind by a passing boat.

Despite sightings, experts and locals argue there is still not enough evidence.
A city lawyer who once rowed for England is accused of lifting up a woman's skirt and slapping her bottom before calling her an 'Australian slut'.

Alastair Main, 35, from Kingston-upon-Thames, is alleged to have sexually assaulted the 27-year-old woman at London Rowing Club in Putney.

During the incident, on December 12 last year, it is also claimed that he poured a pint of beer over the woman's head.

Alastair Main, 35, from Kingston-upon-Thames, is alleged to have sexually assaulted the 27-year-old woman at London Rowing Club in Putney

Main, who was a national rowing champion in 2003 and represented England at that year's Home International Regatta, denied the allegations at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court.

Prosecutor Ruth Alabaster told the court: 'The defendant pulled up her skirt and hit her on the bum.

'There is an allegation of pouring a drink over her head and pushing and shoving and earlier in the evening he called her an: 'Australian slut.'

'CCTV is to be relied upon in this matter. I'm sure this case will turn on that.'

Main, attended the 30,000 a year Oratory School in Reading, does not deny pouring the drink over her, but insists it does not constitute an assault.

He joined the London Rowing Club (LRC) during the 2004/5 season after rowing competitively for Nottingham University, Notts & Union and Britannia Boat Club.

He was elected captain for the 2013/14 season, but retired from competitive rowing in 2006, having won the Thames Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta.

Former rowing champion Main denied the allegations at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court

His wife Rebecca, with whom he shares a 900,000 detached home, will give character evidence at the trial.

Main, who is privately funding his defence, only spoke to confirm his name, date or birth and address and enter his not guilty pleas.

He was not arrested, but summonsed for the offences and was bailed unconditionally to return for trial.
Hundreds of Italians have joined a protest after plans were revealed to build a mosque next to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Almost 1,800 signatures were collected on a petition meaning a vote will have to take place for the proposal to build the place of worship to be approved.

The petition was set up by Italian journalist and politician Magdi Allam, who called the number of signatures collected 'the Italian revolution'.

Hundreds of Italians have joined a protest after plans were revealed to build a mosque next to the Leaning Tower of Pisa

And the committee set up to fight plans for building the mosque say they will continue to get as many signatures as they can.

Vice chairman Gianluca Gambini told Italian media: 'We will not stop here - because we expect to get to a higher number of signatures, at least two thousand, to avoid problems with the council.

'The collection of signatures will close next Saturday at the city market, where Daniela Santanche will support us.'

Ms Santache is an Italian politician and entrepreneur.

The petition comes less than a week after Italian authorities ordered the expulsion of a Tunisian national suspected of planning an attack at the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Bilel Chiahoui, 26, was arrested last Thursday after posting messages on social media praising those behind the jihadist attacks in Europe and saying he would attack the Tuscan city's famous monument, a huge tourist attraction.

The petition comes less than a week after Italian authorities ordered the expulsion of a Tunisian national suspected of planning an attack at the Leaning Tower of Pisa

His expulsion order was signed by a judge last Friday according to a police report, which said there was 'evidence the Tunisian sympathised with jihadist extremism and ISIS.

The police statement did not provide details on the target of the suspected attack.

There has been mounting concern about the possibility of Italy being hit by 'lone wolf' terror attacks of the kind seen in neighbouring France and Belgium.
A motorist driving on a rural road tried to extinguish what was believed to be a burning log on Thursday morning but was horrified to discover it was actually a body that had been dumped and set on fire.

The driver was heading down Pollards Road, southwest of the Gold Coast, at 7.30am when they saw the fire and pulled over, according to NSW police.

After extinguishing the flames, the upset driver realised they had found a burnt human body and called police.

A motorist driving on rural Pollards Road (pictured), southwest of the Gold Coast, on Thursday morning stopped to extinguish a burning log but was horrified to discover it was actually a body

The person has not been identified but police believe it could be female remains

The person has not been identified but police believe it could be female remains.

The area has been roped off by police for an investigation and police are asking for help from the community.

'It is a horrible thing for anyone to come across, (the motorist) has assisted us greatly, which I am very appreciative of,' Tweed/Byron Local Area Command Detective Inspector Brendon Cullen told the Daily Telegraph.

'If anyone saw anything in early hours of this morning, in that area, we urge them to come forward.'
A gang of Eastern European squatters have trashed a GP surgery but police have insisted they could not arrest them.

The group of 20 people caused thousands of pounds of damage to Lime Tree Surgery, in Leytonstone, east London, after staying for just one night on Sunday.

Dr Liaquat Ali is also furious that police told him they could take no action saying that squatting in a non-residential property is not illegal.

One witness said officers called to the surgery did not arrest anyone and even accompanied some inside as they collected their possessions.

Shocking: This is some of the damage caused by squatters who trashed a GP surgery in just one night

Crime: The group ripped off out the alarm and broke through the doors but police said they could not act because the building is non-residential

Upset: Dr Liaquat Ali, pictured with patients Nazir Patel and Jeremy Hare at the Lime Tree Surgery, says he is furious police say that they could not act

The squatters, who also had at least one dog with them, tore the alarm system from the wall and entered treatment rooms after breaking code locks off the doors.

Food and rubbish was left scattered across computer keyboards, empty beer cans and food were strewn across the reception area and carpets were left destroyed by cigarette butts.

Scotland Yard has refused to say why the 20-strong group were not being targeted for breaking and entering, criminal damage or trespass.

Criminal damage: Dr Ali clutches the numbered door locks the squatters broke off to enter treatment rooms

Dr Liaquat Ali, who has worked at the surgery for over 20 years, described the scene of chaos when he arrived at work on Monday morning.

The 48-year-old said: 'I was absolutely shocked, disgusted and very angry at the state that they left the building in.

'They have walked out and I have been left with it. I spent all morning cleaning and gathering rubbish and my patients were helping me.'

He was left furious after ringing the police, who told him they could not help because squatting in a non-residential property is not illegal.

But while causing damage to the property can lead to a criminal conviction, he claims the emergency services failed to take action.

He added: 'The police said they could not do anything even though there was clear evidence of criminal damage.

'So squatters can just break into commercial properties and prevent people from working? It's just not right. The law should definitely be changed.'

Damage: Food and rubbish was left scattered across computer keyboards, empty beer cans and food were strewn across the reception area and carpets were left destroyed by cigarette butts

Disrespectful: Graffiti was also left on the walls but the culprits are set t avoid any punishment

Dr Carolin Kumana, 41, who has worked at the surgery for 10 years, said: 'I am very upset.

'It is unbelievable that this can happen. It is an appalling situation.

'This is the patients' community surgery and it is being violated.'

The squatters were unable to gain access to the 8,000 patients' medical records, which were secured in locked cabinets.

They departed with their furniture and luggage yesterday after police told them they had to leave when patients staged a protest outside.

One of the squatters, who gave his name as Martin and said he was from Slovakia, said he recently became homeless after losing his job.

Another, a Polish man named Adam, said he took the day off work from his kitchen porter job to pack up his things and move out of the surgery.

Filthy: Dr Ali inspects some of the mess and detritus left strewn across his surgery on Sunday night

Shafi Syed, whose five children are patients at the surgery, said he is angry that when the police arrived last night they did not prevent the squatters from going back into the building.

He said: 'I am very angry that our surgery has been taken over by squatters.

'The police did not help at all when they came last night.

'They escorted the squatters back inside. It is complete rubbish'.

Javed Latif, 49, who is a patient at the surgery and lives in Cann Hall Road, said it is bad for the image of the area to have people squatting in a building.

He said: 'As a parent I don't want squatters in my area. It is not a good image for the area.

'It makes us feel terrible that they can just take over our working surgery.

'The law should be changed and the police should have the powers to evict squatters.'
A 25-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday on first-degree murder charges in the death of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter.

Just 22 hours before his arrest, William McCullen made a frantic call to police to report Jordyn Dumont missing.

That 911 call launched a search and rescue operation that ended in sadness on Tuesday when the toddler's remains were found wrapped in a sheet just 500 yards from the family's home in Bessemer City, North Carolina.

Police have not revealed how the girl died, but they say evidence points to McCullen as her killer.

The home has been the source of nearly 50 911 calls in the past three years - many of them for domestic violence. Multiple neighbors have also spoken out to local reporters, saying McCullen beat his girlfriend and her eldest daughter.

McCullen was officially charged with first-degree murder on Tuesday and is being held without bond at the Gaston County Jail.

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William McCullen (right) has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend Jaylene Dumont's (left) three-year-old daughter Jordyn (center)

McCullen was watching Jordyn and his 1-year-old daughter on Monday, when he reported the toddler missing. Her body was found on Tuesday, wrapped in a sheet about 500-yards from the family's home. McCullen is pictured in court on Tuesday

Jordyn's mother, Jaylene Dumont, left Jordyn (her daughter from a previous relationship) and her 1-year-old daughter (with McCullen) in her boyfriend's care Monday morning so that she could go to her job at Whiskey Mill Bar & Grill.

The search effort for little Jordyn started Monday afternoon, when McCullen placed a frantic call to 911 to report the little girl missing.

In audio of the call released Wednesday, McCullen is frenzied as he explains how he put the girl down for a nap around 1pm, and then woke up a little more than two hours later to find her gone and the front door open.

The 911 dispatcher tells McCullen to search the house again, saying it's possible that the girl could have fallen asleep somewhere.

A brief silence is heard before he comes back on the phone crying and saying 'She's not here'.

'My wife's at work - she's about to be home and I don't know where my daughter is,' he says.

'Please come out! I don't know if she's just hiding or what,' he continues.

Soon after, crews arrived on the scene and the search for the girl started.

McCullen (left) said he put Jordyn (right) down for a nap at 1pm and woke up to find her missing and the front door open two hours later

Emergency crews searched all day Monday, and then suspended the search overnight. The search was picked up again the following morning and that's when the girl's body was found in a wooded area just 500 yards from the home.

Authorities have not released many details about what state the girl's body was in when she was found, other than to say her body was intact and there wasn't any blood visible.

In court on Tuesday, District Attorney Locke Bell said he couldn't be sure if the girl was suffocated or if her death appeared intentional. The cause of death has not been released, pending an autopsy.

However, investigators did say that it appeared the girl was killed 'prior to being placed where she was found' and that the death likely happened within 24 to 36 hours of when her body was discovered on Tuesday.

Police say evidence points to McCullen causing the girl's death but they have released few details about how they believed she died. Above, the family's home during the search

The girl's body was found wrapped in a sheet in a wooded area about 500 yards from the home. The district attorney said in court on Tuesday that the body was intact and there did not appear to be blood on Jordyn

The cause of death is under investigation. The DA said he could not yet comment on whether the death was intentional or not

Police have also revealed the fact that they have been called to the home 49 times in the past three years, many of those cases stemming from domestic-related incidents.

It's unlikely that all of the calls were related to McCullen and his girlfriend though, as McCullen's sister says they only moved into the house last October.

Kimberly Espinoza told the Gaston Gazette that the home had been the setting of much tragedy for the extended family, with one family member's 6-month-old son dying of SIDS there. It's also where McCullen's father died in 2013.

'I told them "You shouldnt go back to the house because it seems like bad things happen there,"' Espinoza told the newspaper.

While she hadn't been close with her brother in recent years, Espinoza believes the multiple deaths in the family - including the death of their mother in April - has weighed heavily on him.

But she's still surprised that he would be accused of killing Jordyn, a little girl he considered his own child.

'He just always talked about them with so much love. Every time I talked to him, it was always about his girls and what he was doing with them,' Espinoza said. 'I really dont think he could have done anything intentionally. I dont know what to do. I dont know what to think.'

Multiple neighbors have spoken out to claim that McCullen (pictured left and right) was abusive with both his girlfriend and her eldest child

But neighbors saw a different side of McCullen, who they call 'Billy'. Since the girl's death, multiple neighbors have told local reporters that McCullen was abusive - not only to his girlfriend but to her eldest daughter.

Neighbor Dusty Connard told WBTV that she has personally called 911 several times after hearing the couple fighting in the home.

'You could hear her screaming through the house, "Stop, stop Billy. Don't hit me". It was not a pleasant house up there,' Connard said.

Keleigh Connard says she has personally seen McCullen hit little Jordyn.

Jordyn's biological father (pictured) said he is going to petition for a DNA test on his ex-girlfriend's 1-year-old daughter, and will ask for full custody if the girl is his biological child

'I was sitting on the front porch and Jordyn and Billy was outside, and she as crying, and he hit her in the chest and she fell off the porch,' Keleigh recalled.

Another neighbor told WSOC-TV that Jaylene had recently come running to his house after being beaten by her boyfriend.

'His (McCullen) wife come over here. He had busted her upside the head with an ashtray. She was bleeding profusely all on the floor and everywhere,' the neighbor said.

And a couple who lives near the house spoke about seeing little Jordyn with two black eyes recently. The couple, named Nicole and Michael, asked that their last names not be reported. In their interview, Nicole broke down in tears as she described her regret at not calling police after seeing the injuries.

Hundreds fathered for a candlelight vigil to mourn the death of three-year-old Jordyn this week

McCullen is being held without bail at the Gaston County Jail. Above, a scene from the candlelight vigil

'There's no way possible I could put into words what Im feeling right now except I wish I could turn back time,' Nicole said.

Her husband said that they saw the girl's eyes blackened about a month ago and that the injuries appeared 'fresh'.

When asked why they didn't call police, Michael said: 'Let me explain to you and tell you why we didn't, because I said "Man, what's wrong with that kid? Something isn't right'. He said the kid fell down. I gave him the benefit of the doubt'.

But Nicole said she spoke to the little girl personally and that Jordyn said her mother hit her 'because she was mad at her daddy'.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services refused to comment on whether they were monitoring the family before the little girl's murder.But they did release a statement saying they were 'heartbroken' by Jordyn's death.

'We are heartbroken to hear about the death of this young child. Any loss of life is a tragedy, but when a child dies it causes a feeling of loss in the entire community,' DHHS officials said in a statement. 'We want the public to know that our professionals stand ready to assist in any way possible.'

Meanwhile, Jordyn's biological father Josh Kinnett has claimed to Fox 46 that he is the biological father of his ex's 1-year-old daughter too. He says he has obtained a DNA kit and is going to petition for full custody if he turns out to be the girl's real father, and not McCullen.

During his first court appearance on Tuesday, McCullen did not speak about the case at all, but when the judge said he would be held without bond, he said 'I understand'.

McCullen's next court appearance is set for September 6 and he has been assigned a public defender.
Said it'd be like Japanese visiting Darwin to commemorate bombing it

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull talked to them and they softened rules

Made the decision one day before the 50th anniversary of the battle

Vietnam decided to cancel the battle of Long Tan commemorations

Former war journalist Mike Carlton has defended Vietnam's decision to restrict Australian commemorations of the battle of Long Tan.

The controversial media commentator compared Australia's 50th anniversary commemorations of the battle to Japanese soldiers visiting Darwin to remember bombing it in World War II.

Carlton, who reported on the Vietnam war twice, told The Project: 'How would we as Australians think if the Japanese turned up to commemorate the bombing of Darwin, and would we welcome that? I don't think so'.

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Former war journalist Mike Carlton (pictured) has defended Vietnam's decision to restrict Australian commemorations of the battle of Long Tan

Eighteen Australians died in the Battle of Long Tan - the enemy death toll likely exceeded 500

Australian soldiers during the Battle of Long Tan in Vietnam on August 18, 1966

Mike Carlton said he could understand the Vietnamese point of view - but also empathised with Australian veterans

On Wednesday, the night before 50th anniversary of the 1966 battle of Long Tan, Vietnamese officials placed a blanket ban on people attending a memorial, but after contact from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, reduced the ban.

They'd cancelled a ceremony which would have been attended by 1000 Australian veterans, and a gala dinner and concert had also been planned.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Vietnamese officials decided to cancel because of the large numbers of veterans who had travelled there for the event.

Previously, it insisted only groups of up to 40 attend commemorations, but this week, as many as 3000 people arrived in the area for the 50th anniversary.

Mr Carlton told Daily Mail Australia the event would have been like Germans marching down Paris' Champs-Elysees to remember the invasion of France, or their Luftwaffe going to cities in England they bombed.

He pointed out there would be families still living in the area who had lost relatives in the battle.

'They would be, I would think, quite upset at the scale of the Australian commemorations.'

He said in the past, the Vietnamese had welcomed smaller numbers of veterans to commemorate the battle in a 'spirit of camaraderie', and likely cancelled this year's event when they realised how big it had become.

Australian veterans and family members wait on a bus to visit Long Tan Cross in Vung Tau, Vietnam, on Thursday, August 18

Australian tourist Bob Bury drinks a beer while waiting on a bus to visit Long Tan Cross in Vung Tau

Anniversary lapel pins are worn on the shirt of Australian veteran Keith Payne as he waits on a bus to visit Long Tan Cross

Australia was lucky it had a memorial at Long Tan at all - the only other country to have war memorial in Vietnam was France.

Although he said Australia 'didn't have the right to call the shots on this one', he did empathise with the veterans.

'[They] feel really saddened and angered that they can not go to the site where so many of their mates died.'

Many veterans agreed with the comparison he'd made of Japanese visiting Darwin, he said.

After the debacle, Australia flagged entering into a formal agreement with Vietnam on future Long Tan commemorations, to ensure access for veterans to the battle site.

Vietnamese and Australian veterans pose for a photo during a gala dinner commemorating the 50th anniversary of Long Tan battle in Vung Tau city, Vietnam

Vietnamese and Australian veterans toast during a gala dinner commemorating the 50th anniversary of Long Tan battle

Vietnamese veteran Pham Van Mien, second from left, shows Australian veteran Alister McCoy a photo he just took, together during a gala dinner

The idea was suggested by the Veterans Affairs Minister Dan Tehan - although he's yet to raise it with the Vietnamese government.

'Rather than a review... we need to look at some sort of memorandum of understanding... which is very clear about how things should proceed into the future,' he told ABC radio.

Overnight Mr Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop held talks with Hanoi officials after Vietnam cancelled a ceremony at the site.

WHAT WAS THE BATTLE OF LONG TAN? It was a battle fought between Northern Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces against Australian troops Took place in a rubber plantation Occurred on August 18, 1966 About 2000 Vietnamese and Viet Cong attacked just over 100 Australians 18 Australians died in the battle The opposing forces are thought to have lost more than 500 men Despite being a short battle in the afternoon, the Australian infantrymen fired about 10,000 rounds Advertisement

Mr Turnbull spoke to his Vietnamese counterpart by phone and urged him to show empathy for those who had made the journey.

As a concession, a wreath-laying ceremony was to go ahead while small groups of 100 or less would be able to visit the Long Tan battle site.

Mr Tehan, who had labelled the initial ban 'not the act of a friend', offered his heartfelt thanks for the change of heart.

'I think that is the act of a friend - I think they have realised they've made a mistake and they've sought to address that.'

He acknowledged sensitivities in Vietnam around loud music, flags and displays of medals.

Australian war veterans wear their medals at the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Service in Sydney

A gun salute is given next to a recplica Long Tan cross during a service remembering the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan at the Shrine of Rememberance in Melbourne

A children's marching band salutes as they pass a display of 521 crosses representing those killed in action during a service remembering the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan at the Shrine of Rememberance

A friendship dinner for Australian and Vietnamese veterans was held in Vung Tau City on Thursday.

In Canberra, hundreds of veterans and their families gathered for morning services at the Australian War Memorial to honour the 18 diggers killed in one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Governor-General Peter Cosgrove were among the dignitaries.

Mr Turnbull said the bravery and determination shown throughout Australia's service in the Vietnam War was etched into the national story.

'We acknowledge today the many servicemen and women who were wounded, often in ways we have been too slow to recognise and help.

'Your sacrifice has continued long after your service.'

Sir Peter told a stand-to service in Canberra that Long Tan was both a simple and complex battle.

'The simplicity is that it quickly became a battle for survival,' he said.

'It was complex in that the indefatigable efforts of others, particularly the artillery, kept those men from being over run.'
Morgan Miles Morris (pictured) was charged in murder-for-hire plot after he tried to pay an officer to kill two people

A 17-year-old high school student was arrested and charged in a murder-for-hire plot after he tried to pay an undercover officer to kill two people.

Pickens High School student, Morgan Miles Morris, was charged as an adult for criminal solicitation to commit murder, the Pickens County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Authorities said the Georgia student 'offered to pay an undercover officer to kill two different individuals'.

The sheriff's office initially received a tip about the plot stating that he had tried to 'hire other individuals to commit this crime'.

Authorities then arranged for undercover law enforcement officers to meet with Morris.

'During the meeting with the undercover officer, Morris provided the officer with information on how to carry out the murder,' the statement read.

The sheriff's office initially received a tip about the plot stating that the 17-year-old high school student (pictured) had tried to 'hire other individuals to commit this crime'. Police then arranged a meeting with him

Detectives issued a search warrant for the teen's residence, where 'additional corroborating evidence was located'.

Morris was then taken into custody without incident.

Police said there's 'no evidence to indicate a threat against any others'.

But the sheriff's office has contacted all potential victims and made them aware of the plot, according to the statement.

Morris remains in custody at the sheriffs office.

No bond has been set.

Authorities said that during the meeting with the undercover officer, Morris (pictured) 'provided the officer with information on how to carry out the murder'
A five-year-old girl who was strapped in the back seat of a car when it was stolen from her family's driveway has been reunited with her distraught father.

The girl's parents contacted police at about 6.30am on Thursday when their black BMW was stolen from their Wyndham Vale driveway, in Melbourne's south-west.

An hour-and-a-half later she was found abandoned in the car after the thief dumped the car 40km southwest from her home following a police chase and fled on foot, according to Nine News.

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A five-year-old girl who was strapped in the back seat of a BMW when it was stolen from her family's Melbourne driveway on Thursday morning has been reunited with her distraught father (pictured)

The girl's parents contacted police at about 6.30am on Thursday when their black BMW (pictured) was stolen from their Wyndham Vale driveway, in Melbourne's south-west

The young girl was seen clutching onto her father, Manik Sharma, with her head buried in his chest as they were reunited at the scene.

'It was terrible, I'm still in shock but I'm relieved I have my daughter back,' Mr Sharma said.

'She was happy to see me, I was happy to see her.'

The young girl was found abandoned in the car after the thief dumped it 40km southwest from her home following a police chase (pictured) and fled on foot

It is believed the young girl was left alone in the car after Mr Sharma forgot something inside their house and ran in to get it.

The thief allegedly made off with the car while a second offender fled the scene in a white Toyota Supra, according to police.

The driver of the BMW crossed six lanes of traffic on a major highway and became airborne as they tried to shake police during the chase.

An 18-year-old man has been arrested and charged with 11 offences, including child stealing

Police said a man dumped the car on Plume Street, Norlane, and fled the scene on foot.

An 18-year-old man was arrested after locals noticed him loitering 'suspiciously' in Norlane and was charged with 11 offences, including child stealing, false imprisonment, theft of a motor vehicle and dangerous driving.

He will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court next week.

Police are still searching for the second man in the Toyota Supra.
A beloved Korean war veteran has died after being beaten, doused with gasoline and set on fire in the back yard of his own home.

Gene Emory Dacus, 85, affectionately known as Mr Gene in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, was found dead in the early hours of Wednesday.

Neighbors, friends and family of Mr Gene say they are devastated by the loss - describing him as a kind-hearted man who welcomed people to the neighborhood, helped to mow lawns, and was still caring for his 60-year-old disabled son.

Gene Emory Dacus, 85, a beloved Korean War veteran, was found beaten and burned to death in the back yard of his Birmingham, Alabama, home on Wednesday morning

Police say a teen seen fleeing the property with a can of gasoline has been arrested and confessed to the crime, but has yet to explain his motive

Police say a teen suspect seen fleeing the scene with a can of gasoline has been arrested and confessed to the crime, but has been unable to explain his actions.

Gary Dacus, one of Mr Gene's three sons, told AL.com: 'My father's death is a tragic loss. The community lost one of its pillars.

'He taught me good rules and I have a lot of my father in me. I'm a successful person for that. When I got the call, I just broke down.'

Dacus said his father, an Army veteran and aircraft mechanic, was a Georgia native but had moved to Alabama in the 1950s to help care for his ailing parents.

After they died Mr Gene, his wife Earnestine and his disabled son stayed in the family home where they became universally loved members of the community.

Earnestine passed away in 2005, and Dacus said he had tried to persuade his father to move away from the neighborhood, but he had refused.

Dacus said he had even set up a property for the elderly man and his son to move into, but he would not leave.

Todd Ahmed, who moved to Alabama from Sudan, said Mr Gene was one of the first people he befriended and had always felt a close connection to him.

He said: 'I have a lot of friends but none like him. I'm really shocked. He was nice, nice, nice. He always told me if I needed help to come to him.'

Birmingham police Chief A.C. Roper (pictured) said that the crime 'shocks the conscience', while neighbors, friend and family praised 'Mr Gene' as loving and kind-hearted

Meanwhile others praised him for helping to keep the area clean, and for being kind to children around the neighborhood.

Police say concerns were raised for Mr Gene's safety after his car was stolen three weeks ago, leading him to pull his truck up on to the grass in front of his house.

That truck, a 1999 Dodge Ram pickup, also went missing around the time of his death, and cops are now hunting for the vehicle.

Birmingham police Chief A.C. Roper told WBRC6: 'This homicide shocks the conscience of any reasonable person. Our hearts are hurting for the victim, his family and our community.

'The suspect actually confessed to this crime but we have not received any logical justification to explain what happened.'

Investigators say Mr Gene and the teen suspect had got into an altercation before the attack, but have not released any further details.

Dacus said it appears that his father was hit in the head by the suspect who then returned with a can of gasoline to burn evidence of his crime.

He said it is unclear whether his father was alive or conscious at the time he was set on fire.

Dacus is also preparing to take custody of his disabled brother. It is unclear whether he was at home at the time of the crime.

Charges are expected to be filed against the suspect, who has not been identified, later today.
A gang of drifter bullied an elderly former lawyer out of 80,000 by repeatedly turning up at her 1.5million home begging for cash over a 20-year period.

Sylvia Moynihan, 81, from Kensington in London, was targetted by the men after handing the ringleader 5 when she spotted him begging near her house.

The man, who has not been caught yet, later offered to carry bags of shopping for to 'return the favour'.

He then began passing her address to his friends at the St Mungo's homeless shelter in Earl's Court.

He told them Mrs Moynihan - who was nicknamed 'the Tiger of the City' during her career - was a 'soft touch'.

Sylvia Moynihan, 81, from Kensington in London, was targetted by the men after handing the ringleader 5 when she spotted him begging near her house

Tom Lonsdale, 44, was jailed for seven weeks after duping Mrs Moynihan into handing over 1,690 claiming he needed the money for tools.

He also told her he needed 300 to buy a ticket to visit his mother's grave in Scotland. In reality, the majority of the cash went on drink and drugs.

Lonsdale attended Mrs Moynihan's address repeatedly between January and May this year.

Despite being given an official warning by police attended a further three times, he pestered her a further three times between May and July before being arrested.

He admitted one count of harassment at City of London Magistrates Court on the first day of trial yesterday.

Prosecutor Kunal Dave said: 'Mr Lonsdale was introduced to the complainant by someone else who was also borrowing money from her.'

'Because of the harassment she's now scared and vulnerable.'

'In interview, the defendant said at the time he didn't realise he was harassing her.'

Lonsdale, who had over 50 convictions for similar offences, was subject to a 12 week suspended sentence for shoplifting at the time of harassing Mrs Moynihan.

Naushad Ahmed, for Lonsdale, said: 'She's a known person in the area she resides, she's a good person. She's helped a lot of homeless people.'

'It wasn't his intention to stress the lady. He has the greatest respect for the lady - she willingly helped him and she's helped a lot of people.'

Addressing the bench himself, Lonsdale said: 'I'd like to apologise for my actions - I was astonished when I read my convictions had gone over 50. I couldn't really believe it.

'I'm looking forward to my release - there's too much time I've been sitting wasting away in prison. It's not the best conditions to detox in.'

'I've got all sorts of support in my hostel and the staff are fantastic. I need to progress not regress.'

Jailing him for seven weeks, Magistrate Jacqueline Jenkins said: 'You visited this lady and you borrowed money, and your record has many similar offences.'

'Let's hope that when you are released you make progress in terms of staying off drugs and staying out of prison.'

Lonsdale was told he had only three days left to serve of the custodial part of his sentence as he had already spent three weeks in jail.

He was also ordered to pay back the full 1,690 to Mrs Moynihan from his benefits at a rate of 20 per-month, as well as 115 victim surcharge.

Lonsdale admitted one count of harassment at City of London Magistrates Court (pictured) on the first day of trial yesterday

Lonsdale was barred from attending her address or contacting Mrs Moynihan by any means in definitely.

Speaking today, Mrs Moynihan said: 'He said that he needed some money to buy brushes and paint in order to do a painting job and I gave him 300.

'About a month later he came and he said he had a major job and he needed 3,300 and I didn't have that on me, so I gave him part of it.

'Then I checked him out with the police and I found out that it wasn't true.

'He came around, and I said 'you're lying to me, you're not going to get any more' and he became very aggressive.'

'They all come for me because I'm on my own,' she said.

'They all say it's to buy tools for a job and they're all spending it on drugs. It's very sad.'

Mrs Moynihan spent her career with several international law firms, including Withers and Lovell White, as well as spending seven years in France with the French interior ministry.

It first started after she lost her stockbroker husband Donald more than 20 years ago when the first homeless man, who she had met before, offered to carry her shopping home.

She said: 'It all started more than 20 years ago when I moved into this flat.

'The first man approached me when I moved into this flat and now he owes me about 50,000.

'He lied to me and said he had an inheritance coming and would pay me back.

'But all along he was a homeless man living in a hostel up the road. It wasn't true at all.

'He's the one that began it all and introduced all these others to me.

'I first used to see him when he used to beg outside Boots, when I used to have a big house in Sheffield Terrace and I used to give him a bit of money every now and then.

'But after I moved he saw me with my shopping basket going down the road, and offered to help me with my shopping.

'Then he knew where I lived and he kept coming to my door.'

The man, who was known to police, would regularly turn up at Mrs Moynihan's door pleading for money and quickly spread the word.

Another man, of Indian origin, also used to come to her house to get money, with the excuse he needed the money for a driving licence, while all the time he would use the money for drugs.

Between all three of them Mrs Moynihan estimates she gave away aroun 80,0000 to the drifters.

She said: 'They all went for me because I'm a widow living alone and well off.

'Looking back at it all now, I was stupid and gullible, but I've learnt my lesson. Nobody will ever get a penny out of me again.'

Asked why she would hand over the cash, she said: 'Well Tom Lonsdale said he needed the money for tools to get a job and he kept lying to me about a garden he was designing, and I was just trying to help him get work.

'But it wasn't true at all, he was just spending it on drugs. I think I was just too gullible But not anymore.

Most of the time she would give them small amounts of money between

20 and 50 cash on the doorsteps, but Lonsdale received 300, claiming it was to visit his mother's grave in Scotland.

He then demanded 3,000 for tools but Mrs Moynihan said she didn't have the money and could only give him 1,690.

She said: 'He came back for the rest but the police were here with me at the time and they sorted it out.'

'I'm not known as 'The Tiger' for nothing. I'm not frightened of anyone Sylvia Moynihan

Asked how she feels now she said: 'I feel very relieved now it's all over. It is important to get the message out there to warn other people about this sort of thing.

'There are people out there that lie. They want the money for drugs, and they will say anything they can to get it off you. They are just taking advantage of older people.'

'I think there might be a generational aspect to it, of just being too trusting in people.'

During Lonsdale's trial, she had been described as a soft touch, to which she said: 'I have been a soft touch, because I was gullible at the time. But not anymore though.'

She said she had been looked after by the police who were now looking for the main suspect and said they had been 'brilliant'.

She said: 'I'm not going to let it happen again now. I have learnt my lesson. The hard way.

'And that's why I want people to know about it, to help them and warn them.'

Commenting on her old nickname, she said: 'I may be an ancient tiger, but I still have the fight in me. I'm not known as the tiger for nothing.'

Before she moved into the world of banking, where she owned her own financial services company, she worked in Paris for eight years and was employed by French Interior Ministry.

While in the French capital she worked for film producer and musical writer Alan Jay Lerner on the script for the musical Camelot in 1959.

Mrs Moynihan has one step daughter who she told about the beggars coming to her doorstep.

She said: 'I told her what had happened and she thought I was stupid really.

'But not anymore. But they knew I was alone and they knew I was wealthy, and they took advantage of me.'

When asked if she had been frightened by the gang's demands, she replied: 'I'm not known as 'The Tiger' for nothing. I'm not frightened of anyone.

'I was just stupid enough and gullible enough to believe what they said, but I'm never going to be got like that again.'

'People need to know that people like that exist and not to give them any money - they say they will pay you back but that's a load of old codswallop.

'They say they're going to get a job but that's not true either. They're all on drugs.'

'If my husband had been alive he would have banged the door in their faces. You need to warn elderly widows to be on the lookout.'
Davis was sentenced to 65 years in jail - 55 without possibility of bail

22-year-old later told police he killed her after arguing with her mother

His girlfriend called 911 when she found her baby

A man who murdered his girlfriend's five-week-old baby girl by slamming her head on the sidewalk has been jailed.

Dalton R. Davis, of Jay County in Indiana, was sentenced to 65 years in jail for the murder of Lillian Grace Lloyd on September 29, last year.

The 22-year-old had been arguing with his girlfriend, Courtney Lloyd, on the night of the tragedy, when he walked outside with the baby in his arms, Washington Post reports.

With no-one outside to witness the horrific crime, he grabbed the newborn by her legs and slammed her head against the pavement two or three times, police say.

Dalton R. Davis (pictured left, on social media, and right, in his arrest mug shot) was sentenced to 65 years in jail for the murder of Lillian Grace Lloyd on September 29, last year

Davis - who is not the father of the young victim - then returned home with the child and placed her back in her cradle.

When the girl's mother, who had been asleep during the incident, went to check on her daughter she found her unresponsive.

She called 911 and Lillian Grace was taken to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Davis later admitted that he believed the girl was dead when he put her in the crib.

The 22-year-old had been arguing with his girlfriend, Courtney Lloyd, on the night of the tragedy, when he walked outside with baby Lillian Grace (pictured) in his arms

With no-one outside to witness the horrific crime, he grabbed the newborn (left and right) by her legs and slammed her head against the pavement two or three times

An autopsy found the child had died from severe blunt-force trauma and that the five-week-old had a skull fracture and bruising across her chest, back and head.

The 22-year-old Davis was arrested just two days later and charged with murder, according to the Jay County Prosecutor's Office.

When questioned by police, Davis initially told officers that he had checked on his daughter just half an hour before she was found by her mother and she was 'fine and did not appear ill,' the Indy Star reported.

But when police confronted him, saying his version events did not match the child's injuries.

Davis then changed his story, claiming that he had taken Lillian Grace outside with him for a cigarette break but had accidentally dropped her on her head. But once again, his story did not match the severity of his newborn's injuries.

Eventually he admitted that he had slammed the infant's head on the concrete because he was angry that his girlfriend had got drunk.

Lillian Grace Lloyd was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead later that same day

An autopsy found the child had died from severe blunt-force trauma and that the five-week-old had a skull fracture and bruising across her chest, back and head (pictured is a memorial post on her mother's Facebook page)

Jay County Prosecutor Wes Schemenaur had sought a life sentence without the possibility of parole for Davis, saying he's never seen a case 'as senseless or barbaric' before.

However, on July 14, Davis took a plea deal to avoid a life sentence and was jailed for 65 years, with no possibility of bail until 55 years.

Davis, who attended court via a video link, showed no remorse for the murder and made no apology to his former girlfriend and her family.

When asked if he had any comment to make to the court, or the victim's loved ones, he replied 'no.'

Lillian Grace's heartbroken mother Lloyd made no comment in court.

But in a recent post on Facebook, after she shared a link to a story about her ex-boyfriend's sentencing, she said she was relieved that the ordeal was finally over.

She has made numerous posts about the devastating loss of her child.

'I love you soooo much lilliann grace,' the store assistant wrote recently.

Lloyd also made a touching post on Mother's Day, writing: ' Just to think about mothers day it sucks.... knowing my baby girl isn't here to spend it with me kills me.
The chilling moment a terrified mother called 911 after a woman tried to kidnap her two-year-old son has been released.

In the phone call, a mother is heard saying, 'somebody, uh, steal my son', before handing the phone to her older son who fought off the would-be child snatcher.

'It didn't happen to me, it happened to my little brother. It was guy and he had long hair, and he said, "You have a beautiful kid",' the eight-year-old said on August 10, according to KTLA.

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Lisa A. Arnold (pictured) has pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping, after a 911 call made by a desperate mother has been released by police

'He was walking, sneaking past us and trying to get the baby out of our hands. And then she hit my mom, and I said "let my brother go" very strongly.

'Then I pushed my little brother so strongly and then hit her on her finger and they let go and then she ran and she put her speed at 100 percent.'

The person the boy described is actually a woman, Lisa A. Arnold, who was arrested on August 12 and pleaded not guilty to attempt kidnapping on Tuesday.

On the same day as the above incident outside John Marshall Elementary School in Glendale, California, Arnold allegedly tried to snatch a woman's 14-month-old daughter from a stroller.

She was unable to do so because the mother intervened to save her child.

Police released surveillance video of the first confrontation at Chevy Chase Drive and Adams Street.

The eight-year-old brother of a two-year-old who was almost snatched outside John Marshall Elementary (pictured) told 911 Arnold was: 'sneaking past us and trying to get the baby out of our hands. And then she hit my mom, and I said "let my brother go" very strongly'

Arnold was described at the time as a female with short thick hair wearing winter clothing, who could be seen getting out of a white or silver compact car before approaching the mother.

According to police, she unbuckled the child from the stroller and struggled with the mother before fleeing empty-handed in her car.

Arnold's bail was set at $100,000, and she could face nine years in prison if found guilty.

On the same day, Arnold (circled, right) allegedly attempted to take a 14-month-old girl out of her mother's stroller
Morris' mother said Cory suffered from anxiety and depression, and his family had sought mental health treatment for him

the door to police with blood on his hands and shirt; more blood was found on wall and floor near the changing table

A 21-year-old Minneapolis man has been charged with murder after he admitted to punching his baby daughter nearly two dozen times with a closed fist because she was making noises.

Cory Morris was arrested Saturday evening after he called 911 and confessed to beating to death his 4-month old daughter, Emersyn Morris.

When police and paramedics arrived on the scene at Morris' Franklin Avenue home, they found the young father with blood on his hands and bloodstains on his shirt, according to a criminal complaint.

Vile crime: Cory Morris, 21 (left), has been charged with murder after he admitted to punching his baby daughter, Emersyn Morris (right) nearly two dozen times

Mother's worst nightmare: Morris was watching baby Emersyn on August 13 while his girlfriend, Jennifer Anderson (pictured with baby) was at work

The document, cited by CBS Minnesota, states that there was more blood splattered on the wall and floor near the changing table inside the duplex.

Emersyn Morris was discovered lying unconscious on the changing table in the nursery.

Paramedics performed CPR on the baby and then rushed her to the Hennepin County Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead from blunt force trauma. Hospital staff observed that the infants face and chest were badly bruised and swollen.

According to the complaint, Cory Morris told police officers that he was taking care of his daughter while his girlfriend, Emersyn's mother, was at work. According to her social media account, she is employed as a personal care assistant.

Morris said he was watching TV when the 4-month-old began making baby noises. He removed her from the baby swing, carried her into her bedroom and placed her on the changing table.

Confession: The young dad told police he punched the 4-month-old 15 times in the face and hit her seven times in the chest because she was making baby noises on the changing table

The infant continued cooing, so Morris punched her in the face 15 times with a closed fist and hit her seven times in the chest 'to quiet her,' according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. Morris also squeezed the girls chest with his hands.

Morris' girlfriend, Jennifer Anderson, told police she tried calling her boyfriend throughout the day but received no response. When she finally reached him at 4.45pm, Morris told her that he was going to jail because he did something to their baby.

On Monday, Ms Anderson, posted a heart-breaking tribute to Emersyn on her Facebook page, writing that her heart was 'shattered' after losing 'the sweetest little girl the world has ever seen.'

Cory Morris' mother broke her silence on Tuesday, saying that her son suffered from anxiety and depression, but she claimed that at no point did the family feel he could pose a danger to his child, only himself.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Morris told police after his arrest that he was schizophrenic and heard voices.

'Unhinged': Morris' mother said Cory suffered from anxiety and depression, and his family had sought mental health treatment for him

Relatives had sought mental health treatment options for Morris, and his girlfriend even took him to see a doctor last week, reported the station KSTP.

Jennifer Anderson told investigators that her boyfriend experienced dramatic mood swings, and has grabbed her or hurled things in the past.

Cory Morris is being held in the Hennepin County Jail on $22million bail. If convicted of second-degree murder, the 21-year-old could face up to 40 years in prison.
A poignant ring made from a shard of glass that struck a First World War tank commander when his periscope took a direct hit has been unearthed 100 years later.

Lieutenant Sir Basil Henriques was peering into the viewpoint during the first outing of the Mk I tank on the battlefield when artillery fire struck a glass prism that shattered, sending splinters into his face.

Medics later removed the pieces and the officer kept the largest part and had it mounted in a gold ring which he then gave to his new bride, Rose Loewe.

Lieutenant Sir Basil Henriques' (left) ring from WWI has been uncovered after 100 years and is to go on show at the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, says curator David Willey (pictured right)

Lieutenant Sir Basil Henriques gave the ring to his new bride, Rose Loewe, who donated it to the museum

Lieutenant Sir Basil Henriques was peering into the viewpoint during the first outing of the Mk I tank on the battlefield when artillery fire struck a glass prism that shattered, sending splinters into his face

Lt Henriques, who was knighted in 1955 for his dedicated work for the social welfare of children, died in 1961 aged 71.

His widow later donated the treasured ring to the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, where it has been held in their archives ever since.

This year marks the centenary of the first use of the tank in action at the Somme and archivists stumbled upon the delicate item while trawling through their collection to research early tank pioneers.

The unique ring has now been given a polish and put on display at the museum and will also be on show at Trafalgar Square in London on September 15 when a fully working Mk IV tank will be driven to mark the 100th anniversary.

Medics removed the glass and he kept the biggest piece to be mounted in a gold ring for his wife

David Willey, the curator at the museum, said: 'Our tanks are always going to have a presence and draw but objects like this ring help tell the personal stories of the men and their experiences.

'For us now it seems amazing that after a day of such terror, confusion and loss Henriques was able to think of his new wife and make a present to her out of something that had nearly blinded him.

'This is one of our smallest objects on display but certainly one of the most moving and is proving to be one of the most popular.'

Lt Henriques came from a prominent Jewish family and was educated at Harrow and Oxford University.

He served in the Tank Corps in the First World War and took part in the Battle of Flers on September 15, 1916. The action was part of the greater Battle of the Somme but was known for the first time tanks were used.

The British invented the land ships a year before as a solution for getting troops across shell holes, trenches and quagmire of No Mans Land.

This year marks the centenary of the first use of the tank in action at the Somme and archivists stumbled upon the delicate item while trawling through their collection to research early tank pioneers

One of the men inside the first tanks was Lt Henriques

Military top brass pretended the hulking vehicles were large water carriers and called them tanks as a result to hoodwink German spies as they thought the name land ship was too obvious.

When the huge machines first appeared in the battlefield a terrified German soldier is said to have shouted the devil is coming upon seeing them for the very first time.

One of the men inside the first tanks was Lt Henriques who suffered severe facial wounds when it took a direct hit. Despite his injuries he managed to get the tank back to base.

The ring will also be on show at Trafalgar Square in London on September 15 when a fully working Mk IV tank will be driven to mark the 100th anniversary

He had married Rose Loewe two months earlier in July and presented her with the ring after he recovered.

Lt Henriques went on to serve with distinction at the Battle of Cambrai and on other fronts.

After being demobbed in 1919 he dedicated his life to social work, and particularly the social welfare of children.

He set up boys clubs for deprived Jewish children and from 1923 until 1950 the philanthropist sent youngsters to his country home in Buckinghamshire for rest and recuperation.

He was also a magistrate and the former Berner Street in Whitechapel, East London, was renamed Henriques Street in his honour.

Mr Willey added: 'Basil Henriques joined the new tank unit with his old school friend George Macpherson who was killed on the day of the first attack.

'He later wrote movingly about how lonely he was without George who was a marvellous companion and he felt blank and empty without him.

'Tanks were developed in great secrecy and the first volunteer crews - including Henriques and Macpherson - didnt know what they were actually volunteering for.

The Mk I tank marked the dawn of armored warfare

The tanks were developed in great secrecy and the first volunteer crews, including Henriques, didnt know what they were actually volunteering for.

Conditions were awful inside with eight men to operate them in temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius

'Conditions were awful inside with eight men to operate them in temperatures of 50 degrees C (122F) with a deafening noise, a top speed of three mph at the very best - and drawing German fire.

'Carrier pigeons were taken on board to relay messages but often the carbon monoxide in the fumes left them too debilitated to fly.

'Two out of every ten tank crew were killed and many others were wounded and its important we remember their contribution.

'The first tank attack was not a great success, many tanks broke down and others lost their way, but a few made a real difference.
Tim Kaine lauded Bill Clinton on the campaign trail as someone with his 'values straight' as they traveled together on a bus tour to promote the Democratic ticket.

The Virginia politician didn't always have such affection for the philandering ex-president, however, a newly unearthed interview from Kaine's local paper affirms.

Kaine told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2002 that Bill Clinton should have resigned after he copped to having a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

The Democratic vice presidential candidate confirmed Wednesday that the report was accurate but said 'there is no reason to re-litigate problems of 20 years ago.'

Tim Kaine has lauded Bill Clinton on the campaign trail as someone with his 'values straight' and showered him in boyish admiration. The Virginia politician didn't always have such affection for the philandering ex-president, however

Kaine and the Clintons are seen here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the first leg of their three-day bus tour last month. On the tour Kaine said the Clintons are people who have their 'values straight'

However, Kaine said in 2002 that Bill should have resigned when America found out he cheated on Hillary with an intern in the Oval. Above, Kaine and Clinton converse on stage at their first joint ally

The Daily Beast on Wednesday uncovered Kaine's old remarks about Bill Clinton.

Kaine was commenting on a sexual harassment scandal involving Vance Wilkins, then the speaker of Virginia's House of Delegates. He said Wilkins should resign and Clinton should have, too, in 1998 during the Lewinsky drama.

He separately told the Associated Press, 'My reaction was the same I had when I read about the Clinton-Lewinsky affair: this is not appropriate conduct. Its beneath the dignity of the office.'

Kaine did not disavow the comments on Wednesday when they came up during an interview with Iowa television channel KWWL.

'It was not inaccurate. That's true,' the Hillary Clinton running mate admitted.

He told the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, station, '20 years ago I was disappointed like a lot of folks were but I tell ya, there is no reason to re-litigate problems of 20 years ago when Americans want to talk about is what do we do today and tomorrow.'

'So past controversies aren't really important to the voters they want to know what we are going to do tomorrow,' Kaine said.

Kaine was not pressed in the interview that aired on KWWL to say whether he stands by his 2002 remarks.

Another Iowa television station, KCRG, did ask if he still feels that way. Kaine said, 'It was a feeling I had at the time, but now I'm thinking about what do we do to help this country be strong. Past controversies don't have anything to do with that question.'

Kaine now says, 'It was a feeling I had at the time, but now I'm thinking about what do we do to help this country be strong. Past controversies don't have anything to do with that question'

Former President Bill Clinton and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine are seen arriving on the convention floor before Hillary's speech to the DNC last month in Philadelphia

Kaine and Clinton were like old friends during a three-day bus tour after the convention to promote Hillary's candidacy at the end of July that Kaine said he and his wife Anne, back right, had a 'wonderful, wonderful time' completing with the former first couple

The Virginia senator's spokeswoman Amy Dudley told the Daily Beast that it was true 'Kaine characterized President Clintons actions as "not appropriate" conduct, but he had previously been on record criticizing the impeachment effort.'

'He believes this election is about Hillary Clintons vision to make historic investments to create good paying jobs, make college debt free and build an economy that works for everyone, not re-litigating personal issues from the distant past,' she said.

To Bill Clinton's face, Kaine has offered him boyish admiration.

They were like old friends during a three-day bus tour to promote Hillary's candidacy at the end of July that Kaine said he and his wife had a 'wonderful, wonderful time' completing with the former first couple.

'How great is this to be campaigning with President Clinton?' Kaine said at a Youngstown, Ohio rally, 'I mean  I started my career in elected office 22 years ago, and Ive learned more on the bus in the last eight hours  about politics than Ive learned in 22 years.'

To Bill Clinton's face, Kaine has offered him boyish admiration. At a stop on the bus tour, Kaine complimented his new boss and her husband, saying, 'She's got just about the best life partner that you could imagine if you're trying to serve others'

At a stop in Johnstown, Pennsylvania that weekend, Kaine complimented his new boss and her husband, saying, 'She's got just about the best life partner that you could imagine if you're trying to serve others.

'Please give a great round of applause to President Clinton,' he told his audience at the private event that press were also allowed in to.

Kaine said, 'For all of us on stage and frankly for anybody who's got their values straight, it's not about title, it is not about money, it is not about prestige, it's not about popularity it's about what you can do to help folks out.

'And that's why I'm so excited to be here on this tour with Hillary, Bill and my wife Anne.
ordered police to carry out executions and urged citizens to kill drug users and dealers

Nearly 1,000 people killed by police or vigilantes since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power

with a pledge they will not use or sell illicit drugs

More gruesome images emerge of suspected drug dealers lying dead in the streets of the Philippines

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The war of words between Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and the United Nations has escalated after he said he would 'whack' any observers sent to the country 'in the head'.

During an interview the president was asked about the suggestion the UN could send observers to the Philippines, to which he replied: 'While I really do not know who's going to come here for that, I am going to whack him in the head.'

'Do not investigate us as if we are criminals,' he added. 'I will not receive you warmly in this country. But if you come here, explain or maybe hear about the happenings on criminals or see (for) yourselves.'

He spoke as fresh images surfaced of suspected drug dealers lying dead in the streets of Manila as the Philippine government rolls on with its reign of terror.

The war of words between Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and the United Nations has escalated after he said he would 'whack' any observers sent to the country 'in the head'

He spoke as fresh images surfaced of suspected drug dealers lying dead in the streets of Manila as the Philippine government rolls on with its reign of terror (Pictured: A body is removed from a street)

Members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) walking to conduct investigation at a crime scene following a police operation against illegal drugs in Manila, Philippines

Filipino policemen standing at the site of a crime scene following a police operation against illegal drugs in Manila

A Filipino funeral parlor worker waiting at the site of a crime scene after an alleged drug dealer was killed on the street

Relatives are seen howling in shock as they cradle the body of a family member draped in a brown bag, after he was gunned down by police in a methamphetamine bust.

Elsewhere, large crowds of residents are shown surrendering with a pledge they will not use or sell drugs, in the wake of 1,000 suspected drug dealer killings tied to the government's bloody war on narcotics.

The residents in the meeting can be seen wearing 'Manila says no to drugs' T-Shirts while raising their hands in a vow to save their lives.

Other images show men carting the corpses of men killed by police after they resisted arrest during meth busts shootouts.

Relatives can be seen howling in shock as they cradle the body of a family member gunned down by police in a meth bust

The body of a man whom police said was killed during a drug bust operation on meth in Manila

Nearly 1,000 people have been killed by police or vigilantes since President Rodrigo Duterte waged a bloody campaign against illegal drugs.

Pictures emerged on Monday of slain drug dealers and users on the streets of Manila, investigators taking photographs of the corpses and placing them into body bags.

Duterte has publicly named hundreds of politicians, military and police personnel, and other influential people allegedly involved in the drug trade and has ordered them to surrender or be hunted down.

The president won a landslide election victory in May, a largely based on a pledge to kill tens of thousands of criminals.

Large crowds of residents are shown surrendering with a pledge they will not use or sell drugs

Nearly 1,000 people have been killed by police or vigilantes since President Rodrigo Duterte waged a bloody campaign against illegal drugs

The president won a landslide election victory in May, a largely based on a pledge to kill tens-of-thousands of criminals.

A police investigator takes pictures of the corpse of a suspected drug pusher and victim of a vigilante-style execution with his hands tied and head wrapped with tape on a street in Manila

The corpse of a suspected drug pusher lies outside a house after he was shot dead following a police operation at a slum area in Manila

Police investigators find an empty bullet shell next to the corpse of a suspected drug pusher after he was shot dead following an encounter with police

'These sons of w****s are destroying our children. I warn you, don't go into that, even if you're a policeman, because I will really kill you,' the president told an audience during a speech in Manila.

He vowed on one occasion during the election campaign that 100,000 people would die, and so many bodies would be dumped in Manila Bay that the fish there would grow fat from feeding on them, according to the South China Morning Post.

The latest images emerge after a man was pictured lying bloodied and motionless on the streets of Manila after he reportedly fought back during a drug bust operation. It is thought he died at the scene.

Nearly 1,000 people have been killed by police or vigilantes since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power and embarked on a bloody campaign against illegal drugs

Workers from a funeral parlour load into an ambulance a corpse collected from the Paranaque city jail, where a grenade blast killed 10 inmates, 8 of whom were awaiting trial for drug-related cases

Duterte has made it clear he would pardon police if they were charged with human rights violations

Graphic images show a suspected drug dealer lying dead in the streets of Philippine capital Manila after he resisted arrest

President Duterte has made it clear he would pardon police if they were charged with human rights violations for carrying out his merciless orders.

The continuing bloodshed in the Philippines has begun to inflame diplomatic tensions, with the US embassy warning the Duterte government military aid allotted to the country was tied to adherence to the rule of law, due process and respect for human rights.

'We are concerned by reports regarding extrajudicial killings of individuals suspected to have been involved in drug activity in the Philippines,' the embassy said.

'We strongly urge the Philippines to ensure its law enforcement efforts are consistent with its human rights obligations,' the embassy added.

A man lying bloodied and motionless on the streets of Manila after he reportedly fought back during a drug bust operation

Mr Duterte said he would pardon police if they were charged with human rights violations for carrying out his orders

Two women cry in grief after armed assailants in a motorcycle shot their loved one in a main thoroughfare on July 23, in Manila

A Philippine foreign department statement said that Manila was focused on the eradication of drugs in society.

'Nevertheless, while pursuing this objective, the Philippine government is committed to the rule of law, and the protection of human rights for all.

'We do not condone any unlawful killings and Philippine authorities have been instructed to immediately look into these incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice.'

One of the nation's top human rights lawyers, Jose Manuel Diokno, warned that Duterte had 'spawned a nuclear explosion of violence that is spiralling out of control and creating a nation without judges'.

A crime scene shows where an alleged drug dealer was killed last month. Philippine police said they had killed 550 drug suspects while arresting nearly 8,000 others since the May election

A young alleged drug dealer pictured in July with his hands and feet bound and his head wrapped in tape besides a road
A company director died of hypothermia while walking his dog in the Scottish Highlands on his first ever holiday - and was discovered without his clothes on, an inquest heard today.

Jason Gates, 36, from Bedhampton, near Portsmouth ran a recruitment agency with his family and was ordered to take a break from work as business was his life'.

Mr Gates, who had not had time off work in years, chose to visit Scotland in March for his first proper holiday with his dog Max so he could enjoy long walks and clear his head.

Jason Gates, 36, from Bedhampton, near Portsmouth was on a walking holiday with his spaniel Max (pictured) in March this year when he started suffering from hypothermia

Portsmouth Coroners Court, in Hampshire, heard Mr Gates suffered from hypothermia while walking his spaniel in the Highlands and stripped off his clothing.

Coroner David Horsley told the inquest that a post mortem examination revealed that the 36-year-old, described by his family as a gentle giant, had died of hypothermia.

He explained that paradoxical undressing was a symptom of the condition which leads people to take their clothes off as it makes them feel hot despite them actually suffering from the cold.

Mr Horsley said: When people start to develop hypothermia they are actually cold but they feel hot and take their clothes off.

The alarm was raised over his disappearance on March 17 when police in Scotland caught his white and brown coloured dog after it killed three sheep on a Highland farm.

They tried to trace its owner, and searches began in Loch Ness and the surrounding area.

Later, it emerged they were looking for 6ft 3in tall Mr Gates, who had short cropped greying hair and stubble.

The company director was persuaded to take a break after 'business was his life' and he was suffering with mental health issues

The inquest heard Mr Gates was found six weeks after he went missing beside his boots and clothes in farmland in Cnoc ABhuachaille near Loch Ness, Scotland.

Mr Horsley said: [Jason] has gone up to Scotland to help clear his head, he had been having some mental health problems.

He had been enjoying walking his dog when he has developed hypothermia and he has died. His death is due to a tragic accident.

I am so awfully sorry, what a terrible shock for you and to have it drawn out for so long in the time it took to find him. I am entirely satisfied that Jason has died due to an accident.

His father, Malcolm Gates, told the inquest that during his trip his son came back home for business purposes, but went back to Scotland shortly after to continue his holiday.

His body was found six weeks after he was reported missing when his dog was found and his sister Alison Ware (pictured) said he was a 'gentle giant' and it was a 'tragic accident'

He said: We wanted him to go on a break as he had not had a break in years. He needed to clear his head.

He had never been to Scotland but he heard about how beautiful it was and he liked walking his dog.

He liked it so much he went twice in a few weeks, he came back to sort some business and because his house was being renovated.

Business was his life, he had never had a proper holiday. He went up there and came back for business and for his house, but after that went back up there.

Pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer told the inquest: Its important to recognise hypothermia can happen even when it is not too cold and when it does happen, paradoxical undressing can occur.

The inquest heard that Mr Gates had a history of depression and had been seen by mental health services in recent months.

After the inquest, Mr Gates sister Alison Ware paid an emotional tribute to him.

Holding back tears, she said: He was a lovely guy, not many people knew him but he was a lovely, lovely guy.

He was a gentle giant, this was a tragic accident.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders almost giddily hit Hillary Clinton for giving paid speeches to Wall Street during the Democratic primary, but yet he never filed a personal financial disclosure form of his own.

The non-profit Center for Public Integrity discovered that Sanders, amid a tough primary campaign, asked for an extension twice and then never provided the documents to the Federal Election Commission as his presidential campaign wound down.

Meanwhile both Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump filed their forms by the mid-May deadline.

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BUSTED: Sen. Bernie Sanders never filed his personal financial disclosure form to the Federal Election Commission while running for president, the Center for Public Integrity discovered

Sen. Bernie Sanders will eventually release more details about his 2016 finances to the public, as a sitting member of the U.S. Senate - but he didn't as a presidential candidate

Federal candidates, like those running for the White House, are required to file annual reports disclosing their personal finances.

But on April 24, Sanders' lawyer Brad Deutsch wrote the FEC and asked for a 45-day extension beyond the May 15, 2016 deadline to file the forms.

'There is good cause for this extension due to Senator Sanders' current campaign schedule,' Deutsch argued.

The extension was then granted.

Then on June 30, after the Democratic primaries had concluded, but Sanders had yet to drop out, Deutsch wrote the FEC and asked for a second 45-day extension citing Sanders' 'current campaign schedule and officeholder duties.'

That request was also granted.

Now, the Center for Public Integrity confirmed, the Sanders camp doesn't plan to file the forms at all.

'We were told that since the senator no longer is a candidate there was not requirement to file,' Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs told the outlet.

FEC spokesman Christian Hilland verified to the Center for Public Integrity that Sanders hadn't submitted the disclosure form, nor did he need to now, since he was no longer seeking the office.

Sanders' working of the system allowed him to simultaneously bash his opponent for making money off of paid speeches that she booked because of her influence while not letting the public pry into how he was making his own cash.

As a sitting senator, Sanders had already disclosed his 2015 finances to the public, which showed that his main source of wealth came from his wife Jane's mutual funds. Beyond that, he received a small pension from the city of Burlington, Vermont, as the town's former mayor.

Then he held two mortgages, with outstanding debt topping at $1 million.

Sanders stated that he was also in credit card debt between $15,0001 and $50,000, as the documents only ask lawmakers to disclose by range.

The public will eventually get to see what Sanders' finances looked like through 2016, as he'll have to submit a financial disclosure form next year because he remains a member of the U.S. Senate.

But as of now, there's no paper trail indicating whether Sanders 'revolution' put additional money into his personal coffers, or if the campaign made Sanders, generally one of the poorest members of the Senate, even worse off.

One indicator that it might be the former is that Sanders just closed on a third property, a lake front home in North Hero, Vermont.
An Amazon driver ended up at the scene of a special delivery when he arrived with a parcel at the very moment a woman was giving birth.

Zoe Loker, 38, went into labour three weeks early and didn't have enough time to get to hospital before baby Roschelle was born.

But she was offered some light relief when the courier arrived at the very moment the newborn came into the world.

Mother-of-five Ms Loker said: 'I was surrounded by paramedics, giving birth in my hall, with everything on display for the whole world to see.

'It was all really dramatic, but even I saw the humour of it when a delivery driver calmly walked up the door and asked my partner to sign for a package.

'I think he got a bit of a shock, but by that time I was past caring who saw. It brought a whole new meaning to the term delivery man though.'

Zoe Loker is pictured here just moments after she gave birth to little Roschelle in the hallway of her home. She was only in labour for an hour and the baby came before she had chance to get into an ambulance. Just as the Roschelle arrived though, a deliveryman rang the doorbell

Ms Loker with her other four children, partner Kevin Millington, and their 'special delivery' who arrived into the world with great haste on July 7

Ms Loker gave birth at her home in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire on July 7, after being in labour for around an hour.

After calling emergency services, she didn't even have time to get into the ambulance that the Amazon driver pulled up next to.

Kevin Millington, the baby's father, said the whole experience was a blur but remembers the Amazon driver trying to get his attention.

Among all the drama, he asked him to sign for a neighbour's package, while Ms Loker was sprawled on the floor.

Mr Millington, 48, said: 'To be honest I could have been signing for anything at that point, I was just in shock at how everything was happening so quickly.

'The chap said he had a 'special delivery' after realising what he had just walked in on.

'He only popped by to get a quick signature, I don't think he expected to find what he did. He looked pretty shocked.'

Roschelle was three weeks early and weighed a healthy 6lb 1oz. An 'amazing' team of paramedics helped deliver her safely as her mum lay sprawled on the floor of her home

Ms Loker kept quiet when she first felt contractions because she didn't want to wake her partner Kevin up. But she soon realised things were moving fast and yelled at him to call an ambulance.

Ms Loker, who is also mother to Georgia, 14, Lucas, 11, five-year-old Alfie and 14-month-old Tre, thanked the 'amazing' paramedics for their help.

Roschelle, who was born shortly after 6am, weighed a healthy 6lb 1oz after arriving three weeks early. Ms Loker said her labour progressed very quickly after she woke up with contractions and had a bath.

'I didn't think it was worth waking Kevin and the children. But suddenly things started hotting up and I yelled for Kevin to call an ambulance,' she said.
Australian sprint kayaker Ken Wallace has won his third Olympic medal after teaming with his inexperienced partner Lachlan Tame to win bronze in the men's K2 1000m in Rio.

Wallace won gold and bronze in Beijing, while Thursday's bronze is Olympic debutant Tame's first medal.

Wallace and Tame trailed world champion German duo Max Rendschmidt and Marcus Gross down the Lagoa Stadium course, with Serbia's Marko Tomicevic and Milenko Zoric winning the silver medal.

Australian sprint kayaker Ken Wallace has won his third Olympic medal after teaming with Lachlan Tame to win bronze in the men's K2 1000m in Rio

The Australians were in second spot at the half-way mark

Germany's Marcus Gross and Germany's Max Rendschmidt celebrate with Australia's Lachlan Tame and Australia's Ken Wallace after the race

The Australians were in second spot at the half-way mark, but by 750m had faded to fourth and looked like they might miss the podium before a final surge to the line.

Tame only started kayaking in 2010. His Olympic journey began in unusual circumstances over a few beers at Avoca Surf Club on the New South Wales Central Coast.

A mate bet him $5,000 that he would never make it to the Olympic Games, according to The Australian.

Wallace and Tame trailed world champion German duo Max Rendschmidt and Marcus Gross down the Lagoa Stadium course

At one stage in looked like the pair would miss the podium before a final surge to the finish line

'So, the next thing you know I go to my first kayaking regatta  and I fell out of the kayak with the first stroke,' he told the publication.

Six years on, the 27-year-old was understandably thrilled to take home a bronze medal.

'To get up on to the podium with one of my best mates, I couldn't ask for anything more,' Wallace said.

'You can't expect anything going into that race, so to come out with a little surprise at the end is awesome,' Tame said.

Lachlan Tame, right, only started kayaking in 2010. His Olympic journey began in unusual circumstances over a few beers at Avoca Surf Club on the New South Wales Central Coast
Pauline Cafferkey, pictured above, faces allegations she lied about her health when she returned from Sierra Leone. She survived Ebola after contracting the deadly virus helping others

Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey has been accused of concealing her temperature during medical checks on her return to the UK.

The Scottish medical worker, who was infected with the deadly virus while working in Sierra Leone in 2014, is alleged to have given dishonest answers to medical staff during screening at Heathrow on her return.

She is now facing a fitness to practise hearing with a date set for next month in Edinburgh.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council, which has been investigating Miss Cafferkey's conduct, alleges that she 'allowed an incorrect temperature to be recorded' on December 29, 2014 and 'intended to conceal from Public Health England staff that you had a temperature higher than 38C'.

A high temperature is one of the first signs of the presence of the virus.

Registered nurse Miss Cafferkey, 40, travelled to the West African country at the height of the Ebola crisis to help the sick.

Miss Cafferkey, left, will face a fitness to practise hearing with the Nursing and Midwifery Council in September. She was put in isolation for a month, right, when she returned from Sierra Leone and was found to have contracted ebola

She returned to London and then travelled on to Scotland before being diagnosed, and spent almost a month being treated in an isolation unit at London's Royal Free Hospital.

The volunteer recovered but was readmitted to hospital twice after suffering complications linked to the disease, and at one stage fell critically ill.

The NMC alleges she did not tell Public Health England screening staff who took her temperature at the airport that she had recently taken paracetamol and she left the area without reporting her true temperature.

The NMC has the power to strike workers off the professional register.

Miss Cafferkey told the Daily Record that she was unable to comment on the allegations.

Nurse Pauline Cafferkey arrives at the Royal Free hospital, Hampstead in February after complications from ebola. She was treated three times for the virus

Pauline Cafferkey, pictured right, with Breda Athan, left, senior matron and high level isolation unit lead and Dr Michael Jacobs, centre, consultant in infectious diseases at the Royal Free Hospital in London after her treatment for ebola

It was first announced that Miss Cafferkey faced the possibility of being struck off in February 2015.

When the allegations first came to light, a spokesman for Miss Cafferkey said: Since she returned from Sierra Leone, Miss Cafferkey has fully co-operated with all investigations being undertaken by the relevant bodies and she will continue to do so.

WHAT IS EBOLA? Ebola is a viral hemorrhagic fever that can be contracted by humans and other primates. Symptoms start between two to three days after the sufferer comes into contact with the virus. Initial symptoms include fever, sore throat and headaches. The ebola outbreak in West Africa started in March 2014. The epidemic killed 11,315 people across Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the US and Mali. Liberia declared it was free of ebola in June 2016, which meant there were no known cases in any of the affected West African countries. Advertisement

'These are ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate for her to make any public comment at the present time.

Speaking about the investigation last month, she said: 'I don't know why it has not been finished. It's very stressful. It would be nice to have closure.'

Miss Cafferkey is currently prevented from driving because of seizures caused by meningitis - which was triggered after contracting ebola - and cannot perform her old job as a community nurse.

She refused to accept a medal given to staff who had treated ebola patients while the investigation was ongoing and hopes to return to Sierra Leone to continue health work.

The NMC said conversations were ongoing with Miss Cafferkey.

A spokesman for the NMC said: 'Since these proceedings began the NMC has worked closely with Ms Cafferkey and her representatives to reach an outcome that is fair and meets the public interest in this case.

'Since the NMC's case examiners considered the allegations and drafted charges, we have received further evidence. The final charges the panel will consider will be determined in light of this new material.

'A process of ongoing review is part of our normal practice in all cases.

'Ms Cafferkey and her representatives have cooperated fully throughout this process. Currently we are working towards scheduling the case for a panel to consider on September 13.'

Will Pooley, a nurse from Suffolk, also survived the deadly virus after working with sufferers in west Africa. He went on to speak at conferences about beating ebola

Miss Cafferkey is not the only British nurse to survive the deadly virus. Will Pooley, from Suffolk, also beat the virus in 2014 after working in West Africa.
The partner of slain Lindt Cafe hostage Tori Johnson has slammed the police's bungled handling of the Martin Place attack, as the public hearings into the deadly siege wraps up.

Thomas Zinn has spoken of his disappointment after a series of police equipment failures, unanswered calls and other lapses were uncovered in the inquest.

'God help Australians if we ever face a terrorist with more than a sawn-off shot gun,' Mr Zinn said.

As the public hearings of the long-running inquest into the deadly siege draws to an end, Daily Mail Australia has rounded up the failings of the police operation.

Thomas Zinn (left), the partner of slain Lindt Cafe hostage Tori Johnson (right) has slammed the police's bungled handling of the Martin Place attack

Mr Zinn (right) has spoken of his disappointment after a series of lapses were uncovered

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and his deputy Catherine Burn finished their evidence at the coronial inquest into the 2014 siege on Wednesday

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and his deputy Catherine Burn finished their evidence at the coronial inquest into the 2014 siege on Wednesday.

On Thursday - what would have been Mr Johnson and Mr Zimm's 16th anniversary -Mr Zimm slammed the top police offices for not recalling certain conversations they had during the siege and accused them of 'betraying the community'.

'They could remember attending briefings where snacks and water were discussed, but cannot recall content of telephone conversations about DAs and the threat to the lives of innocent citizens,' Mr Zinn said.

'We are not talking about the officer on the street here. We are talking about commanders in charge of thousands of armed officers meaning to protect the community from harm.

'They have betrayed their own system that they are employed to protect and by doing so betrayed the community.'

STATEMENT FROM TORI JOHNSON'S PARTNER THOMAS ZINN I am very disappointed with the accounts of Burn and Scipione. They were given the opportunity to present their credible approach to the inquest and Lindt Cafe siege; to differentiate from the previous accounts heard and to save the reputation of the NSW Police. Unfortunately, the opposite was the case. Both of them joined the lower ranking commanders suffering memory loss of critical elements of the siege. They could remember attending briefings where snacks and water were discussed, but cannot recall content of telephone conversations about DAs and the threat to the lives of innocent citizens. Scipione declared prior to entering the court how important it is for the truth to come out so this does not happen again. The police witnesses have contributed very little to the truth (at least not voluntarily) but made apparent significant gaps in our security procedures. He also said in court how much the police depends on the support of the community. How can anybody trust our Police when they are reluctant to give evidence, suffer from amnesia, serve non-publication orders and contradict their own evidence. We are not talking about the officer on the street here. We are talking about commanders in charge of thousands of armed officers meaning to protect the community from harm. They have betrayed their own system that they are employed to protect and by doing so betrayed the community. Tori may have died whatever decision would have been made that night. What adds to the pain is the lack of a plan that night. In Scipione's own words an "action plan was never approved nor authorised". God help Australians if we ever face a terrorist with more than a sawn-off shot gun. It would have been our 16th anniversary today. May Tori rest in peace. Advertisement

On Thursday was supposed to be the 16th anniversary of Mr Johnson and Mr Zimm

Police kept their guns raised on the fire exit after an employee unexpectedly ran from cafe

An entire city stood frozen in anguish and horror as gunman Man Haron Monis with a sawn-off shotgun and a backpack sprouting wires proclaimed allegiance to Islamic State and trapped 18 hostages inside the cafe.

For 17 excruciating hours, snipers trained their weapons on the Martin Place cafe and tactical officers stood ready to pounce.

It wasn't until the Monis, out on bail for violent and sexual crimes, executed Mr Johnson at 2.03am that police were forced to launch an assault.

Officers stormed inside the stronghold and killed Monis in a hail of bullets in the early hours of December 16, 2014.

Barrister and mother-of-three Katrina Dawson was fatally wounded after being hit by at least seven police bullet fragments as she hid under a chair during the bloody shoot-out.

NSW Coroner Michael Barnes must now piece together exactly what happened and what could have been done differently.

Harrowing evidence at the inquest provided a glimpse into hostages' ordeal, while two key areas of evidence have emerged as the most embarrassing and controversial for police.

Elly Chen escaped from the cafe hours after 18 were held hostage inside the cafe

Customers and employees were among those standing with their hands against the window

Triple-0 operator didn't know where Martin Place was

Mr Johnson was told by a police dispatcher to 'hang on' when he attempted to read out a message while being held at gun point.

The cafe manager was heard saying Australia was under attack from Islamic State and there were three bombs in Sydney's CBD as he relayed the deadly intentions of the gunman.

'I have a gun in front of me. Australia is under attack by Islamic State, there are three bombs in different locations,' the cafe manager can be heard saying in the chilling recording,' he said.

Mr Johnson was told to 'hang on' and 'stay on the line' several times by the police dispatcher as she tried to gather information on the hostage situation and find the location of the cafe. Initially she did not know where Martin Place was.

'Lindt Chocolate Cafe, that's where I am,' Mr Johnson said.

Despite having a gun pointed at him, Mr Johnson calmly told the dispatcher after several minutes on the phone that he needed to 'finish reading this message... sorry I have a gun in front of me'.

A terrfied cafe employee ran out of the cafe shortly and was sheltered by waiting police

Frantic calls from hostages to police went unanswered

Desperate calls from hostages went unanswered by police because their negotiations truck was out of action with a flat tyre.

Negotiators had missed crucial calls because they were crammed into a tiny space at the NSW Leagues Club with only one landline, no whiteboards and no live feed of the siege.

They missed calls from hostages as they were diverted elsewhere in the club when the line was busy.

The state's only hi-tech communications truck was never repaired after being taken off the road following a flat tyre in 2011.

The inquest heard how one of the hostages rang the landline three times with demands from the gunman just an hour before he killed Mr Johnson.

The primary negotiator had never handled a hostage situation before. His boss worked for more than 30 hours straight and was simultaneously overseeing other high-risk incidents across NSW.

Hostages are pictured running from the Lindt cafe during the siege in December 2014

Police radios failed moments before siege ended

As the commander of the Tactical Operations Unit made the critical call to storm the cafe after the gunman executed Mr Johnson, their radios failed.

When snipers reported 'hostage down', the commander had 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.

But there was no movement at the front line nor confirmation over the airwaves.

Police officers wearing armoured suits walk with a robot to check for booby traps after the siege ended

Police were plagued by technical problems which hampered the flow of critical information, including shots fired inside the stronghold and sightings of Mr Johnson on his knees, and shadowed their response to the stand-off.

Officers stormed the cafe from several directions in an 'emergency action' after Monis shot Mr Johnson dead from point blank range.

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.

The forward command post was never told that Mr Johnson had been seen on his knees at 2.06am because of the radio issues.

Officers appeared to be temporarily stunned by the flashbang intended to immobilise Monis after the grenade hit the glass doors of the cafe and bounced back towards the group

Police stand around the door before the misfired flashbang was thrown, preparing to storm the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place, Sydney during the 2014 siege by Monis

The flashbangs, or stun grenades, are used to disorient an enemy's senses with a bright flash of light and create a loud 'bang' noise

Sniper's warning was not received

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.

One of the three snipers, who was positioned in the Westpac building, saw Mr Johnson being forced to his knees with his hands on his head.

But when he tried to warn Tactical Operations Unit that an execution appeared imminent, the message was not received.

Tactical officers blinded themselves with grenades

Tactical officers have been accused of blinding themselves with their own flashbangs just moments before they stormed the cafe.

CCTV footage played at an inquest in July showed two officers throwing grenades at the glass doors instead of going into the cafe.

The flashbangs, or stun grenades, are used to disorient an enemy's senses with a bright flash of light and create a loud 'bang' noise.

A hostage taken away in a stretcher after the deadly siege ended after a 17-hour ordeal

Detectives knew identity of gunman - but did not pass it on to police at the scene

Homicide detectives recognized Monis within hours of him storming the cafe, but the tip-off was never passed on to officers at the scene.

The commander of the Terrorism Intelligence Unit told the inquest that the information should have been brought to his attention.

When pressed on why he wasn't clued in on the information, he replied that he was 'not sure why that was done.'

However, an hour after detectives suspected Monis, the commander was included in an email pointing to Monis as a suspect - one of six or seven suspects being evaluated at the time.

But by 4pm on December 15, around six hours into the siege, their entire intelligence summary was focused on Monis.

His identity wasn't formally confirmed until after the 17-hour siege reached its deadly end, when officers stormed the stronghold and killed Monis.

Gunman's demands were not meant

Key demands by the gunman - including securing media coverage, organising a meeting with the prime minister and being given an Islamic State flag - were delayed in reaching top commanders and none were ever granted.

Paramedics treated hostages at the end of the siege after police stormed the cafe

During the deadly siege, hostage Marcia Mikhael spoke to police negotiators and was asked by Monis to get the Prime Minister on the phone.

'I didn't understand why it was so difficult for the prime minister to get on the phone,' she told an inquest.

'You don't tell someone who had a gun pointed at their head that,' she said, describing her anger when she was told that Tony Abbott was too busy to speak.

She criticised the police response, saying there were no negotiations with Monis.

'It was just me on the phone,' she said. 'Monis wasn't on the phone with (the police negotiator). There was no negotiation.'

Psychiatrist clocked off before siege ended

The psychiatrist on call during the siege clocked off just an hour before Mr Johnson was executed because he though the gunman was 'going to bed'.

'It looks like they appear to be going to bed. Putting their heads down. Lights out. Calm,' the psychiatrist said.

The psychiatrist, who specialised in human behaviour, said the manner in which the gunman dealt with his hostages showed signs he did not intend to kill.

'When you are in the frame of mind to kill, you don't give them food and water,' the psychiatrist said.

Police raided the cafe in December 2014, bringing a dramatic end to a 17-hour siege

Two senior officers left work early

Commissioner Scipione and Deputy Commissioner Burn left work several hours before authorities stormed the cafe to bring the siege to an end after 17 hours.

The two senior officers left the command post at around 11.30pm after hours of emergency meetings and briefings.

As the standoff stretched through the day, the pair had travelled to the State Crisis Command Centre in Redfern where they met with NSW Premier Mike Baird.

They then headed to the Police Operations Centre in the city where the siege response was being managed by the tactical operations unit commanders.

Deputy commissioner Burn checked out at 10pm at the direction of commissioner Scipione.

Police should have acted after first shot

Counsel Gabrielle Bashir SC, acting for the Johnson family, claimed police should have acted after Monis fired his first shot just 10 minutes before Mr Johnson was killed.

She claimed the shots indicated an imminent danger for the hostages and should have triggered an emergency response.

One of the most critical issues revolves around a so-called deliberate action plan - or DA - which would have seen police stage a surprise assault on the cafe at a time of their choosing.

Several senior tactical officers argued in favour of launching such an action, but commanders in overall charge refused to approve the plan, believing it too risky.

Police were terrified to think Monis was carrying up to four kilograms of explosives in his backpack which they believed was attached to a "dead-man switch" that would detonate if Monis was killed.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn told the inquest she deleted texts received during the siege because she was told she wasn't an 'involved officer'

Deputy police commissioner deleted evidence

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn said she didn't believe text messages that she deleted after the siege needed to be kept.

Deputy Commissioner Burn told the inquest she deleted texts received during the siege because she was told she wasn't an 'involved officer'.

She also insisted she 'did not need to know the detail' of the siege.

Among the content of the text exchanges, were requests to return calls, updates on coming briefings and words of support during the siege.
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As the new host of Access Hollywood, Natalie Morales typically spends her time prying into the glamorous lives of the rich and famous.

But it seems she also likes to inject a touch of glitz into her own life after snapping up a $6.8million Brentwood mansion along with banker husband Joe Rhodes as the pair complete their move to the West Coast.

The stunning property, which the power-couple will share with their sons Josh, 12, and Luke, eight, features six bedrooms, five bathrooms, a swimming pool and even a wine wall in the formal dining room.

Natalie Morales, the new host of Access Hollywood and West Coast anchor for Today, has completed her move to California after snapping up a $6.8million LA mansion

Morales bought the home after offloading her previous family pad in New Jersey for $3.1million back in July after it spent just six days on the market

The new home is more than double the size of her previous townhouse, with more than 7,000sq ft of living space and a quarter of an acre of grounds

Morales' new Brentwood digs comes with an al fresco dining area, spa, swimming pool and patio dining area for her to enjoy with banker husband Joe Rhodes and their two children

Morales had been splitting her time between West and East Coast before announcing back in May that she was relocating to California permanently to host Access Hollywood

The home came on the market back in June for $6.795million, according to the LA Times, having been listed the year before for just $2.7million.

That was the same month that Morales, 44, offloaded her family townhouse in New Jersey for $3.1million after locking down a buyer in just six days, NJ.com reported at the time.

Rhodes had already been working in California before the move, with Morales splitting her time between the coasts, hosting a regular reporting slot from the West Coast while also working on Today in New York.

But back in May Morales announced she was relocating to California permanently, joining the Access Hollywood team in a trade for Billy Bush, while also serving as Today's West Coast anchor.

Morales will be swapping positions with former Access Hollywood host Billy Bush, who will join the Today team

The master bedroom has a balcony overlooking the grounds, along with its own fireplace and plenty of closet space

The boutique-style, walk-in closets contain enough space for even the most fashion-conscious of televisions hosts

Downstairs the property is equipped with a full chef's kitchen and oversized island, perfect for hosting celebrity parties with her new Hollywood friends

The beautifully decorated formal dining room features a 'wine wall' set behind glass for guests to admire as they eat

In July ugly rumors began to circulate via Page Six of an affair between her and long-time Today host Matt Lauer, with an anonymous source suggesting that 'awkwardness' between the pair was the reason for the move.

But Morales, Lauer, colleagues and network executives were quick to pour cold water on the allegations, saying they were 'patently false' and 'sexist', adding that Morales was being promoted on her own merit.

Now it seems that Morales and Rhodes are determined to put all that behind them as they settle into their new lives and home.

In total the property spans 7,020sq ft, quite a step up from their previous home which only toalled 3,600sq ft after they added a four-story extension to it.

Breaking with the home's clean white interior is the upstairs library which comes with built-in bookshelves

Downstairs the living room features a full fireplace for the family to huddle up in front of, with folding doors leading out into the beautifully maintained gardens

The interior dining area also backs on to the exterior patio space, allowing for large gatherings to be catered for with ease

One of the living rooms also flows out into the outdoor seating space, making the most of the property's grounds

The two-story entrance hall features a sweeping staircase leading upstairs to the property's six bedrooms

The new home also comes with a two-story entrance hallway, a full chef's kitchen with oversized island for entertaining in, a beautifully furnished living room with fireplace, and a library with built-in bookshelves.

Upstairs the master suite has a fireplace, a boutique-inspired closets and a balcony that overlooks the grounds.

Outside Morales and her family will enjoy a patio complete with a fireplace and al fresco dining area, a swimming pool and a spa set in around a quarter acre of landscaped grounds.

Rhodes (center) had already been working in California before Morales made a permanent move there along with the couple's two children Josh (left) and Luke
The humiliating prospect of Labour having to cancel its annual conference came closer today after efforts to resolve a stand-off with a security firm collapsed.

Showsec is thought to be the only company bidding for the contract to protect the key gathering in Liverpool.

But an agreement has yet to be signed amid a row over whether it will recognise the GMB union, one of the party's biggest backers.

The leadership battle between incumbent Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) and Owen Smith is due to reach a climax on the eve of party conference

Talks have now broken down between Showsec and the GMB, and union officer Roger Jenkins warned it would be 'intolerable' for Labour to use the firm.

'This is by no means sorted,' he said. 'We have repeatedly asked Showsec to agree to sign up to a standard recognition agreement that recognises GMB to negotiate pay and conditions, seeing its workers treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.

'The clock is ticking fast ahead of next months conference and the companys continued refusal to recognise GMB is intolerable.

'Those employed in the private security industry must be allowed the choice to be represented by GMB - an independent, professional and forward-looking trade union working to better terms and conditions.

'If Showsec continues to show such disregard for unions then it has proven itself totally unsuited to the task of providing security for this event - and the Labour Party leadership must immediately put an alternative in place to avoid the conference being scuppered.'

The 2016 annual conference is due to begin on Saturday September 24 in Liverpool.

The winner of the current leadership contest between veteran left-winger Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith is due to be decided on the eve of the gathering.

The new leader would then want to use the platform to try and establish themselves and attack the Tories.

However, there have been warnings that the Home Office and police will not allow the gathering to go ahead without adequate security.

Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) voted to boycott G4S last year over commercial links to Israeli prisons.

The party has since approached five other security firms, but three declined the contract and one withdrew after a risk assessment.

Labour sources have conceded that a deal with Showsec has yet to be agreed.

But they insist the party is 'absolutely confident that arrangements for security will be in place'.
authorities found her purse next to the body of a traffic cop

Indonesian authorities are searching for an Australian woman for questioning over the death of a local traffic policeman whose body was found badly beaten on a busy Bali beach.

First Inspector Wayan Sudarsa's body was discovered lying on Kuta Beach in front of the Pullman Hotel around 3.30am on Wednesday by hotel security officers, police said.

Police are now hoping to interview Sara Connor, from Byron Bay, after her black leather purse, her driver's license and a credit card were found at the crime scene, according toThe Daily Telegraph.

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Sara Connor, from Byron Bay, is wanted for questioning by Bali police over the murder of traffic officer Inspector Wayan Sudarsa, who was found badly beaten on Kuta Beach on Wednesday

Ms Connor's black leather purse, her driver's license and a credit card were found at the crime scene (pictured)

Security guards discovered the body of Insp Sudarsa (pictured), 53, who police believe was hit in the head with beer bottles

Police searched what is believed to be her number three room at Kubu Kauh Beach Inn on Thursday - the day after she checked out - and claim to have found blood on the bed, doors, walls and floor.

A towel was also found in the hotel with a blood stain on it, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Investigators are also scouring through CCTV footage taken by Pullman Hotel cameras.

Insp Sudarsa had a wound to his forehead and leg, while his shirt was unbuttoned and bloodied (pictured)

Police searched what is believed to be her hotel room (pictured) on Thursday after the couple checked out

Officers claim to have found blood on the bed, doors, walls and floor (pictured)

Ms Connor has not been named as suspects but immigration officials have been asked to stop her from leaving the country, police said.

Posters picturing Connor have been plastered at police stations and hotels in the area.

Insp Sudarsa, 53, suffered deep wounds to his head which ranged from 2cm to 6cm long and a number of bruises to other parts of his body.

He was found with shirt unbuttoned and bloodied.

'Based on physical examination he suffered severe wounds that may led to his death,' Dudut told The Daily Telegraph.

A full autopsy would be carried out of Insp Sudarsa's body on Friday.

The smashed remains of a beer bottle, which police say were used to kill the officer, and a broken surfboard were also discovered at the crime scene.

Insp Sudarsa's motorcycle was parked in the Pullman Hotel car park and his walkie talkie and hat were found 20 metres away, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Witnesses claim a group of four tourists were involved in the attack, according to Seven News.

Insp Sudarsa's motorcycle was parked in the Pullman Hotel car park and his walkie talkie and hat were found 20 metres away

Tourists watch as police investigate the policeman's murder on Thursday (pictured)

A security officer at Pullman Hotel told police he heard screaming at about 1.15am and went down to the beach.

There he allegedly saw a man being set upon by a group of women but thought they were 'just fooling around' and went back to the hotel.

More than an hour later Insp Sudarsa's body was discovered.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was 'aware of media reports of a tourist or tourists possibly being implicated in the death of a Balinese policeman in Indonesia.'

'We stand ready to provide consular assistance, in accordance with the Consular Services Charter,' it said in a statement.

Witnesses claim a group of four tourists were involved in the attack
A British man is one of two daredevils who plunged to their deaths while BASE jumping in central Switzerland this week, say authorities.

The 49-year-old man was jumping from the 'High Ultimate' peak near the Alpine village of Murren when he crashed into a cliff.

The man, who has not yet been formally identified by police, died the same day an Italian wingsuit BASE jumper was killed in the same region.

A BASE jumper with a wingsuit during a stunt in the Swiss canton of Bern (file photo)

Both accidents occurred near Lauterbrunnen on Wednesday, nearly a week after British skydiver David Reader, from Newnham on Severn in Gloucestershire, was fatally injured in the French Alps.

Reader, 25, was taking part in a BASE jump near the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps when his parachute failed to open.

Police in the Swiss canton of Bern said the 30-year-old Italian man - identified by Italian media as Uli Emanuele - jumped from the 'Black Line' peak at Stechelberg but lost control of his route before hitting the cliffside.

Emanuele made international headlines last year when bodycam footage showed one of his jaw-dropping jumps.

Base-jumpers typically wear wingsuits as they plunge, reaching speeds of up to 120mph

The footage showed him jumping off a rugged mountain in Lauterbrunnen, soaring through the sky and passing through a mountain hole just 6.5ft wide.

Before the jump, he told the camera: 'I think that is the largest section of the hole so it will probably be two metres and 60 to 70 centimetres.

'I'm not sure. After yesterday's problem, I will try again from the other side of the mouth.'

David Reader was taking part in a BASE jump in France when his parachute failed to open

Profiling Emanuele last year, Vice magazine said he worked as dishwasher and had attempted a series of increasingly dangerous jumps in and around Lauterbrunnen, considered a mecca for BASE jumping.

Swiss police said investigations were ongoing into the latest deaths.

BASE jumping is one of the world's most dangerous sports, with several deaths reported every year.

Base-jumpers typically wear wingsuits as they plunge, reaching speeds of up to 120mph before deploying a parachute.

Murren's tourism bureau said the Lauterbrunnen valley is an ideal spot for BASE jumping thanks to its sheer cliffs.

It said there are more than 20,000 jumps a year in the valley.

The American daredevil Johnny Strange died in the Swiss Alps while attempting a wingsuit jump last October.
An Obama appointee in the Department of Education allegedly insulted, spat on and savagely beat an autistic Native American man for wearing a Redskins sweater.

Barrett Dahl, 28, says he was at a Native American gathering in Washington, DC in October 2015 when appointee William Mendoza spotted him wearing the sweater.

'He comes to me and says you're a "weetard" for wearing a Redskins shirt,' Dahl told KFOR. 'He says where are you from that you're such a "weetard," you don't understand that you're offending me?'

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Autistic: Barrett Dahl (pictured) says he was assaulted by a White House appointee in October after the man saw him wearing a Redskins sweater. Dahl is autistic

Fight: William Mendoza allegedly insulted, spat on and assaulted Dahl. Mendoza is a Native Affairs expert in the Department of Education; both he and Dahl are Native American

Hospitalized: Dahl said he had to have three operations after the fight that have cost him $40,000 - and left his parents at risk of foreclosure. Mendoza says Dahl started the scuffle

Mendoza is of the Oglala-Sicangu Lakota people, and an appointee dealing with Native American affairs in the Department of Education.

He is an opponent of organizations like the Redskins using Native American people as mascots.

Dahl, from Oregon, is part of the Sac and Fox Nation. He said he wore a sweater with the team's controversial logo because he felt 'cultural pride' while at the Pow Wow on October 30 last year.

But for Mendoza, Dahl claims, it was a step too far. 'He spits right in my face,' Dahl said.

'The boy sitting next to me sees it. He doesn't say anything. So, I get up and leave the ballroom to get the police.'

Dahl says that's when Mendoza approached him on an escalator and beat him so savagely he wound up with a fractured arm, broken teeth and a black eye.

Medical bills - including three surgeries - came to $40,000, he said, and now his parents are facing foreclosure.

Fracture: Dahl was left with a fractured arm, broken teeth and a black eye. Mendoza says he verbally confronted Dahl about the sweater but later apologized - then Dahl attacked him

Bruise: Dahl says he was left with this bruise on his chest after the fight. Dahl says he feels 'cultural pride' about the controversial Redskins logo, which Mendoza opposes

'What bothers me the most about this, first off, we've lost everything we have and he's lost nothing,' he said. 'He's kept his job, his home, his family.

'And, second off, there's not a doubt in my mind that this person would do the same thing to a young child who was wearing a Redskins shirt.'

But Mendoza told News9 that he politely asked about the words 'INJUN PIMP' on the back of Dahl's shirt, and that Dahl responded violently.

According to the appointee, Dahl said: 'I don't have to (expletive) explain (expletive) to you. If you want to step outside and take this outside, I'd be happy to explain it to you.'

Dahl says his shirt said 'INJUN PLAYER.'

Mendoza says he offered Dahl his hand after seeing him on the escalator and apologized for upsetting him, but Dahl then attacked.

Punch-up: Mendoza (pictured after their scuffle) says that Dahl threw coffee in his face before attacking him, and that Dahl received his injuries after they fell over together

Black eye: Dahl had a black eye after the fight. He is planning to sue Mendoza

'He was holding a cup in his hand,' Mendoza wrote, 'at which point, he threw its contents that was the smell of coffee and was hot, but not scalding.

'He then punched me in the face (right cheek). I tried to grab him but we both fell.'

Dahl says he plans to sue Mendoza for medical expenses. Mendoza's lawyer says his client will sue Dahl if he 'continue(s) to malign' him.

Mendoza became the executive director of the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education in December 2011, when it was created by executive order by President Barack Obama.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has warned he will wipe out US military bases across Asia if Washington takes 'an insane step'.

Paranoid Kim issued his threat as US forces in the region prepare for annual war games with their South Korean allies.

President Barack Obama has deployed strategic B-1 bombers to Guam in a move which has angered Kim.

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Kim Jong-un has been angered by the presence of B-1 bombers on the Pacific Island of Guam

Kim, pictured, warned he was looking out for any signs of US aggression and would respond

The B-1s are replacing a squadron of B-52s which are being rotated out of Guam

According to a report on the Russian news service RIA Novosti, the hermit state warned: 'The situation on the Korean peninsula is entering a very dangerous stage because of the continuous US intrigues to increase the capacity of its nuclear weapons aimed at the DPRK.

'In case the United States  dares to take an insane step, all the US military bases in the Pacific Operations region, including the island of Guam, will not escape destruction by our army's comprehensive and real attack.'

North Korea has accused Washington of planning a pre-emptive nuclear strike, after the US announced it would deploy its B-1 bomber in the Pacific for the first time in a decade.

Kim is angered that the United States is planning its annual war game with South Korea

Kim has warned he will use his nuclear arsenal to wipe out South Korea and US bases

The US Air Force described the deployment of the B-1 as 'routine', claiming they are rotating the aircraft with the veteran Cold War B-52 bombers.

Tensions have been running high since North Korea carried out its fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a barrage of missile launches that this month reached Japanese waters directly for the first time.

Pyongyang accused Washington of 'becoming all the more pronounced in their moves to topple down the DPRK by mobilizing all nuclear war hardware.'

A North Korean official claimed: 'The enemies are bluffing that they can mount a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the DPRK by letting fly B-1B over the Korean peninsula within two-three hours in contingency.

'Such moves for bolstering nuclear force exposes again that the US imperialists are making a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the DPRK a fait accompli.'

North Korea has threatened 'physical action' over the planned deployment of a sophisticated US anti-missile system in South Korea, known as THAAD.

Tensions on the divided Korean peninsula are also building ahead of an annual South Korea-US military exercise later this month.

On July 29, the US Air Force said it would upgrade its hardware on Guam, a US territory in the western Pacific, by sending the B-1 for the first time since April 2006.

'The B-1 will provide US Pacific Command and its regional allies and partners with a credible, strategic power projection platform,' it said in a statement.

Pyongyang has repeatedly warned it may carry out pre-emptive nuclear strikes against the South and US targets, domestic and abroad. Ultimately, the North wants to be able to strike on the continental US.

The secretive state, led by supreme leader Kim Jong-un, warned it would respond to any aggression by reducing the US to a 'sea of flames'.
The gang ambushed Scott Calder (pictured), 25, in a drive-by hit whilst he was dropping off Marie, 58, who was meeting friends inside the hall

A gang who gunned down an underworld 'Mr Big' and his mother outside a bingo hall, after stealing a kilo of their cocaine, have been jailed for a total of 62 years.

The gang ambushed Scott Calder, 25, in a drive-by hit whilst he was dropping off Marie, 58, who was meeting friends inside the hall in Manchester.

Both were hit by bullets from a Smith and Wesson 38 revolver but Calder managed to drive away from the car park to hospital and both and his mother were treated for wounds to their arms.

The victim - himself a hoodlum nicknamed 'The Demon' - became the target of a vendetta after he stole a haul of cocaine worth 40,000 from a rival crime family.

Five days after the shooting his brother was kidnapped, stripped and held for a 110,000 ransom before being freed.

Today at Manchester Crown Court, Mark Barker, 45, was jailed for 25 years, James Instone, 33, got 22 years and James Henry, 29, got 15 years after all were convicted of intent to cause GBH, attempted kidnap and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Instone and Barker were also convicted of blackmail.

Judge Patrick Field QC told them: 'The behaviour described by the evidence in this trial, was ruthless, arrogant and lawless. Not the acts of noble rogues, rather quite shocking acts of dangerous and desperate men, driven ultimately, I conclude, by greed.

'All of this arose because of a desire to seek redress and compensation for the loss of a significant quantity of cocaine stolen by Scott Calder.

'I was asked in mitigation to give some credit for the attempt to negotiate an amicable settlement of this dispute before resorting to wanton violence.

'I decline to do so - these offences were cynically and ruthlessly planned.

'Let me make one thing plain at the outset. Anyone who participates in crime that involves having a loaded firearm in the streets with intent to endanger life, and using that firearm to injure two people, can look forward to nothing less than a long time in jail.'

The feud arose out Calder leading a drugs gang which used James Bond-style spying technology to turn the tables on their underworld enemies.

He and his accomplices would plant tracking devices on the cars of their rivals so they could follow then to their hideouts before robbing them of the stashes of cannabis.

Linked to various drugs gangs across the UK, musclebound Calder, from Moston, Manchester, would posting warning messages on Facebook reading: 'Stab me in the back, I'll blast ur spine.' with others vowing: 'In this game there's only one don' and 'Even if I died young who cares.'

The feud arose out Calder leading a drugs gang which used James Bond-style spying technology to turn the tables on their underworld enemies

But Calder fell foul of Barker in January 2014 after he took a kilo of cocaine during a raid.

Barker and his accomplices followed him as he drove his Audi A4 car to the Gala Hall in Harphurhey, Manchester - then opened fire as Mrs Calder was getting out of the vehicle.

One bullet hit Mrs Calder's watch-strap as she held onto her son during the attack. Calder declined to cooperate with a police investigating into the shooting, but officers discovered Barker was behind the hit after demanding he be 'compensated' over the loss of the cocaine haul. Inquiries revealed Mrs Calder had been offered a 50,000 bribe in a bid to buy her silence.

Officers eventually arrested Calder himself after a car driven by one of his accomplices was stopped and police found evidence nine trackers had been used during the course of an underworld 'taxing' operation against local hoodlums.

They seized a laptop which showed one of the gang had a business account with a tracking company and had trackers placed on cars registered to known cannabis farmers, drug dealers and even innocent people who associated with them.

Barker and his accomplices followed him as he drove his Audi A4 car to the Gala Hall in Harphurhey, Manchester - then opened fire as Mrs Calder was getting out of the vehicle

Calder admitted conspiracy to burgle at an earlier hearing and was jailed for three and a half years

During the various searches of the suspect's homes, officers seized tracking devices and software, a meat cleaver, a sword, machetes, drugs paraphernalia and mobile phones.

Calder admitted conspiracy to burgle at an earlier hearing and was jailed for three and a half years.

Barker, Instone and Edwards all denied wrongdoing during their six week trial.

Howard Gough, Head of the CPS North West Complex Casework Unit said after the case: 'These violent men have been jailed for 62 years for taking the law into their own hands, causing fear within the communities of Greater Manchester.

'Their target, Scott Calder, was believed to have stolen drugs and money from them, leading them to make violent attempts to both retrieve what he had stolen and to seek retribution.

'They followed Scott Calder (pictured) to a public car park in a two car convoy where they attempted to kidnap him'

'They arranged the shooting in a determined and well planned operation. They followed Scott Calder to a public car park in a two car convoy where they attempted to kidnap him.

'When this failed they fired a number of bullets at him and his mother. They managed to drive to safety whilst bullets were fired at them.

'Only a matter of days later, James Instone and Mark Barker kidnapped Scott Calder's brother and took him to a flat where they stripped him and held him hostage whilst making demands for money for his release. They only released him when their ransom was paid.
A grandfather proved you are only as old as you feel by dancing like a teenager in front of a stunned crowd on a public square.

The elderly man was unable to keep his feet still when he came across the percussion band while out in the German city of Hamburg.

A video showed the watching crowd encouraging the man and cheering him on as he conducted the buskers with his umbrella.

The watching crowd encouraged the man as he danced in the middle of a public square

He later put it down and showed some remarkably nimble footwork.

With his glasses, grey jacket and hat, the grandfather looked like any other elderly citizen but his vitality suggested he was someone decades younger.

And the man's energetic dancing soon had most of the crowd reaching for their smartphones to film his performance.

Footage of the man dancing notched up hundreds of thousands of views on social media and video sharing websites.

The elderly man showed some remarkably nimble footwork after coming across the buskers

The man's dancing soon had most of the crowd reaching for their smartphones to film him

Professor Dr Klemens Skibicki, a consultant from Cologne who was visiting the city, was one of the cameramen.

He said: 'I was standing in front of two cool percussion artists, when suddenly an old man spontaneously started dancing to the music.

'He staggered the onlookers with his vitality and sunny outlook on life. I directly shared the video on social media as I thought my friends just had to see this.'

Footage of the man dancing notched up hundreds of thousands of views on social media

The man looked like any other elderly citizen but he had the vitality of someone younger

At one point, the dancing pensioner handed his own camera to a bystander so they could record his moment in the limelight for him.

And, as he showed off his best moves, one of the drummers was so impressed that he left his instrument to join him for a dance.

At the end of the tune, the senior citizen danced off into the crowd which rewarded him with a thunderous round of applause.
while still suspended and let out an expletive

This is the moment a tourist experiences the thrill of a lifetime by bungee jumping from a bridge - only to lose his phone from his pocket on the way down.

Mairtin Farragher was on a high after he plucked up the courage to leap from Bloukrans Bridge in Western Cape, South Africa - one of the highest bungee jumps in the world.

A video showed him taking deep breaths to try and compose himself while being carried towards the very edge by two safety instructors.

Mairtin Farragher takes a breath as he is walked to the edge of the bridge by two instructors

The daredevil films himself celebrating and shouting in delight while making his descent

After settling his nerves, he is then seen throwing himself from the bridge and shouting in excitement on the way down.

Everything appears to be going well for Mairtin until his iPhone slips from his pocket and disappears.

It plummets to the ground at high speed before presumably smashing into a million pieces.

But initially Mairtin is completely unaware of this fact as he cheers for the camera and enjoys the rest of the bungee jump.

He then spots a coin from his pocket fall past his head and quickly checks to make sure that is all he has lost.

Disaster strikes as the man's phone suddenly slips from his pocket and hurtles to the ground

Initially the daredevil is unaware that he has lost his iPhone until he checks his pocket

Realising his handset is gone he bemoans his bad luck. He shouts at the camera: 'Oh no, I dropped my phone,' before letting out an expletive.

Since the incident, Mairtin posted his footage to Facebook, where it went viral with more than 25,000 views.

Writing alongside the clip, the daredevil said: 'Remember that time I lost my phone in Italy and the undercover police got it back and all that jazz?

'Well unfortunately that famous phone is no more. Yesterday I learned a valuable lesson, don't do a bungee jump with your phone in your pocket.

'It's at the bottom of a canyon now in South Africa! Apologies for the bad language!'
McDonald's is removing its Step-It fitness bracelets from Happy Meals.

The fast food giants chose to remove the activity trackers as free giveaways in the United States and Canada after parents claimed the device was giving their children skin irritations.

One mother posted a picture of her son with what appear to be burn marks on his wrist after wearing the gift.

McDonald's confirmed reports of complaints were 'limited' but would not elaborate on how many they had received.

McDonald's is removing its Step-It fitness bracelets from Happy Meals following complaints over skin irritations. Casey Collyar, a mother from Arkansas, raised the issue on Facebook with a picture of her son's arm after he wore the tracker

Company spokeswoman Terri Hickey said in the statement: 'We are voluntarily removing the Step It! Activity Band Happy Meal toys in our restaurants in our United States and Canadian markets.

'It will no longer be offered as part of our Happy Meals. We have taken this swift and voluntary step after receiving limited reports of potential skin irritations that may be associated from wearing the band.

'Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our customers and we are fully investigating this issue.

'Our restaurants are now offering our youngest guests an alternative Happy Meal toy.

McDonald's confirmed reports of complaints were 'limited' but would not elaborate on how many they had received. They were removed from circulation in the United States and Canada where they were available

It is not known exactly how many people complained.

Casey Collyar, a mother from Arkansas, raised the issue on Facebook in a post that was shared 100,000 times.

She wrote: 'If your kids have this happy meal toy do not let them play with it. Cason has a burn after playing with the toy for about eight minutes.

'The toy has a red light in it that is powered by the battery on the back that possibly is the cause of the burn. '

The fitness trackers, which come in six colors, were already being distributed.

The fast food giants said they would be offering customers an alternative toy. McDonald's has tried to improve their health-conscious image in recent years. In 2011 they added packets of fruit, such as apple slices (pictrued), to Happy Meals

Advertisements said they were going to available for four weeks in the United States and Canada.

The plastic wrist-worn pedometer measures steps and blinks quickly or slowly depending on the pace of the person wearing it.

In a promotional video for the gadget, two girls are trying out several different physical activities to increase the number of their step counts.

McDonald's has tried to improve their health-conscious image in recent years.
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Russia has said it will support a 48-hour ceasefire in the Syrian city of Aleppo on the same day it released a video of warplanes dropping bombs over the country.

The country's Ministry of Defence said the Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 tactical bombers were targeting ISIS in the Deir Azour region of the country - which borders Iraq in the south east.

Fighting has intensified in Aleppo in the last weeks as the Russian-backed Syrian army besieged the city and cut off Castello Road - the main supply route into the rebel held area.

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Russia has said it will support a 48-hour ceasefire in the Syrian city of Aleppo on the same day it released a video of warplanes dropping bombs over the country

The Russian Ministry of Defence said: Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 tactical bombers carried out a group air strike on ISIS in the Deir ez-Zor province

The bombers took off from airbases on the territories of the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran

But in a counter attack, rebels affiliated with the Free Syrian Army and Jabhat al-Fateh al-Sham (formerly known as Al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra), have fought through government held areas in the south west.

Airstrikes on civilian areas in rebel held Aleppo have continued - resulting in the heartbreaking picture of five-year-old Omran Daqneesh who was filmed bleeding and in shock after he was rescued from his bombed out apartment.

Up to two million people on both sides lack access to clean water after infrastructure was damaged in bombing.

Speaking after a closed-door meeting of the cessation of hostilities task force in Geneva, a Western diplomat said it was important for the United Nations to lead the effort to deliver aid to some two million civilians in the divided northern city.

The Russian defence ministry said on Twitter it was ready to introduce the first 'humanitarian pause' next week.

Up to two million people on both sides lack access to clean water after infrastructure was damaged in bombing

The Russian defence ministry said on Twitter it was ready to introduce the first 'humanitarian pause' next week

Fighting has intensified in Aleppo in the last weeks as the Russian-backed Syrian army besieged the city and cut off Castello Road - the main supply route into the rebel held area

'It is not a Russian operation, it has to be a U.N. operation to be a good and credible operation,' the Western diplomat told Reuters.

'It would start at the beginning of next week on condition that there is an agreement between the U.N., Russia and the (Syrian) regime on modalities.'

There was no immediate comment from the office of the U.N. special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, who has sought a 48-hour halt in fighting each week to allow aid delivery and medical evacuation of the sick and wounded from both rebel-held eastern and government-controlled western Aleppo.

Earlier, he said aid convoys had been unable to reach civilians trapped in besieged areas across Syria this month. He suspended a Thursday meeting of the international humanitarian task force after eight minutes to pressure big powers to agree a ceasefire.

'I again insist on behalf of the Secretary General of the U.N. and of all the Syrian people (on having) a 48-hour pause in Aleppo to start with,' de Mistura told reporters.

'That would require some heavy lifting from not only the two co-chairs (Russia and the United States) but also those who have an influence on those who are fighting on the ground.' Russia and the United States back opposite sides in the civil war.

The European Union's top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, also called for an immediate halt to fighting in Aleppo to allow for medical evacuations, aid deliveries and necessary repairs to water and electricity infrastructure.

Airstrikes on civilian areas in rebel held Aleppo have continued - resulting in the heartbreaking picture of five-year-old Omran Daqneesh who was rescued

Around 590,000 people are now living in besieged areas of Syria, according to U.N. figures

There are crucial shortages of medical and humanitarian supplies

Escalating violence in what was Syria's most populous pre-war city and biggest commercial hub has caused Geneva peace talks overseen by De Mistura to break down.

Around 590,000 people are now living in besieged areas of Syria, according to U.N. figures.

It comes as Syrian government warplanes bombed Kurdish-held areas of the northeastern city of Hasaka on Thursday for the first time in the five-year-old civil war, the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and a monitoring group said.

The YPG, a crucial partner in the U.S.-led war against Islamic State, said it would 'not be silent' over what it called it an act of flagrant aggression. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government.

People's Protection Units (YPG) spokesman Redur Xelil said the air strikes had hit Kurdish districts of the city, which is mostly controlled by Kurdish groups, and positions held by a Kurdish security force known as the Asayish.

'There are martyrs and wounded,' he told Reuters.

Government forces were also bombarding Kurdish districts of Hasaka with artillery, and there were fierce clashes in the city.

It comes as Syrian government warplanes bombed Kurdish-held areas of the northeastern city of Hasaka on Thursday (pictured, Aleppo)

The fighting marks the most significant violence between the YPG and government forces since several days of fighting in Qamishli in April (above, Aleppo)

The YPG and Syrian government have mostly left each other to their own devices in the multi-sided Syrian war, during which Kurdish groups have exploited the collapse of state control to establish autonomy across much of the north.

The Syrian government, which routinely uses its air force against rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad in western Syria, still has footholds in the cities of Qamishli and Hasaka, both in Hasaka governorate.

The fighting marks the most significant violence between the YPG and government forces since several days of fighting in Qamishli in April.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the war using a network of activists, said warplanes had targeted Kurdish security forces' positions in the northwest and northeast of Hasaka city.

It said clashes were also taking place in a number of places around Hasaka.

Syria's complex, multi-sided war has created a patchwork of areas across the country controlled by the government, rebels, Kurdish forces or Islamic State.

The YPG makes up a significant portion of the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish and Arab alliance fighting Islamic State insurgents in Syria.
Oscar Pistorius' lawyers will argue 'enough is enough' when his case continues in court next week as prosecutors seek to lengthen his six year sentence for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp.

State prosecutors have appealed the convicted killer's six-year sentence on the grounds it is too lenient.

But in court papers filed by Pistorius' lawyers on last Friday, his defence team says it will argue 'a continuation of this matter is inimical to the interests of justice, patently unfair and that enough is enough.'

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Oscar Pistorius' lawyers will argue 'enough is enough' when his case continues in court next week as prosecutors seek to lengthen his six year sentence for murder

The National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku said the case would be heard at the High Court in Pretoria next Friday before the original trial Judge Thokozile Masipa.

Pistorius is not expected to attend the hearing.

The Paralympic gold medallist was sentenced in July for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013.

The state said last month it would appeal the jail term, which was less than half the 15 years it had sought.

A Pistorius family spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment.

The track star was treated in hospital for wrist injuries earlier this month, but prison officials said Pistorius denied trying to kill himself. The incident coincided with the first day of competition in the Rio Olympic Games

State prosecutors have appealed the convicted killer's six-year sentence on the grounds it is too lenient

But Oscar Pistorius' lawyers have said the appeal is 'patently unfair' and 'enough is enough'

South African media reported that he had been put on suicide watch following the wrist injuries.

Prison officials told City Press newspaper that the athlete who is serving a six- year sentence for murdering his girlfriend was under 24-hour monitoring, with increased cell visits by warders.

The National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku said the case would be heard at the High Court in Pretoria next Friday before original trial Judge Thokozile Masipa (above)

Some inside sources told the paper that razor blades were found in the disgraced athlete's cell last Saturday afternoon, and that his wrist injuries, described as 'severe', were self-inflicted.

Prison authorities have launched a probe into the incident.

'Our internal investigation is at an advanced stage,' said Correctional Services spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo.

The 29-year-old double-amputee, who is being held at the Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in Pretoria, had told prison officials he sustained the injuries falling off his bed.

According to the newspaper, the injury occurred soon after he had an altercation with prison officials over medication prescribed by state doctors. The Paralympian had refused to take the medication, saying it was 'toxic' and demanded to be given medication prescribed by his private doctor.

He alleged that the prison official wanted to kill him and demanded to be transferred to another jail.

Warders also raided his cell and found a pair a scissors, prescription drugs and 'toxic pills'.

Pistorius's family has rubbished reports that the 'Blade Runner' who made history by being the first disabled person to compete with able-bodied athletes in the 2012 London Olympics had tried to kill himself.

Pistorius initially escaped a murder conviction for shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door three years ago.

An appeal by prosecutors saw his manslaughter conviction upgraded to murder, and in July he was sentenced to a six-year jail term.

But prosecutors have said they would push for a longer sentence, saying six years was 'shockingly lenient'.




Ukraine is preparing for a 'full scale Russian invasion' after Putin sends thousands of troops to the border and rebels launch the heaviest rebel shelling attack for a year.

President Petro Poroshenko warned that: 'The likelihood of the conflict's escalation remains very high', after he sent his top commander to survey the attacks.

While the Ukrainian premier has made these warnings before, he added that a further escalation may force him to introduce 'martial law and a mobilisation' of reserve troops.

Ukraine is preparing for a 'full scale Russian invasion' after Putin sends thousands of troops to the border and rebels launch the heaviest rebel shelling attack for a year

President Petro Poroshenko warned that: 'The likelihood of the conflict's escalation remains very high', after he sent his top commander to survey the attacks

'The rebels launched more than 500 mortar and over 300 artillery shells at our positions,' military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told reporters in Kiev.

He added that insurgent strikes had doubled from the previous day as tensions between Kiev and Moscow soar over Kremlin charges that Ukraine plotted to make armed incursions into Russian-annexed Crimea this month.

'The last time we witnessed a similar intensity of fire using heavy armaments was a year ago.'

Motuzyanyk said three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and six wounded in clashes across the 30-kilometre-wide (19-mile-wide) buffer zone splitting government forces from the pro-Russian militias.

Kiev and its Western allies accuse Moscow of trying to escalate a 28-month conflict in Ukraine's rust belt that has claimed more than 9,500 lives and began just weeks after Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March 2014.

Military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk (not pictured) told reporters in Kiev. He added that insurgent strikes had doubled from the previous day

Tensions between Kiev and Moscow soar over Kremlin charges that Ukraine plotted to make armed incursions into Russian-annexed Crimea this month

The Crimea episode has thrust back into the spotlight a conflict that has effectively ground to a stalemate but remains one of Europe's bloodiest since the 1990s Balkans wars.

Analysts remain divided about whether Ukraine is about to enter an even deadlier phase of the war or if Russian President Vladimir Putin is simply adopting a tough posture that could give him the upper hand in any final peace deal.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow remained committed to a stalled European-brokered truce deal that was signed in the Belarussian capital Minsk in 2015.

Analysts remain divided about whether Ukraine is about to enter an even deadlier phase of the war

Kiev and the West accuse Russia of supporting the rebels and deploying troops across the border - claims Moscow denies

But he also warned that Russia would take 'comprehensive measures to make sure any attempts to make incursions into our territory are nipped in the bud'.

Kiev and the West accuse Russia of supporting the rebels and deploying troops across the border - claims Moscow denies - in order to keep at least a part of its western neighbour within its geopolitical orbit.

Poroshenko attended a summit of NATO leaders in Warsaw last month in which the alliance agreed to bolster its eastern flank in order to calm fears of Russia in both Ukraine and among other east European states.




A midwife faces sanctions over her fitness to practice relation to her role in the care of a baby who died at a scandal-hit maternity unit.

Premature Joshua Titcombe, from Dalton-in-Furness, was one of 11 babies to die after being treated at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust over a nine-year period.

Holly Parkinson, one of the midwives caring for him at Furness General hospital after his birth in 2008, is one of a number to be investigated after an inquest five years ago heard staff repeatedly missed chances to spot and treat a serious infection which led to Joshua's death.

Premature Joshua Titcombe (pictured) was one of 11 babies to die after being treated at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust over a nine-year period

She apologised to the newborn's family and appeared remorseful but, eight years later remains in denial about her role in what happened, a panel at the Nursing and Midwifery Council in London heard.

Baby Joshua died nine days after he was born, after suffering pneumococcal septicaemia and a lung haemorrhage.

A hearing last month found Mrs Parkinson, who had been working as a midwife for five years at the time, failed in her duty to look after him properly, causing him to lose a significant chance of survival.

She did not get a doctor when she recorded Joshua's low temperature, and admitted failing to document the paediatrician's advice that observations should be carried out on the newborn.

Holly Parkinson, one of the midwives caring for him at Furness General hospital (pictured) after his birth in 2008, is one of a number to be investigated

The failures 'denied baby A any opportunity to be seen, assessed and treated by a paediatrician', the panel heard.

Chairman Stuart Gray said, after hearing further evidence from her this week, she appeared to still be in denial and 'not fully accepting' of the impact of her actions.

Mrs Parkinson, who has worked as a quality and safety midwife within the maternity risk management team for almost two years, was at times 'evasive, controlled and detached' when explaining what happened, Mr Gray said.

She now faces being sanctioned after the panel decided her fitness to practice is impaired.

Reading their ruling Mr Gray said: 'There is a risk, albeit a low risk, of repetition which could once again place patients at risk of harm.'

He added that Mrs Parkinson's 'fitness to practice both on the grounds of public protection and in the public interest is currently impaired by reason of your misconduct'.

Mrs Parkinson, who has worked as a quality and safety midwife within the maternity risk management team for almost two years, was at times 'evasive, controlled and detached' when explaining what happened, Mr Gray said

The hearing for Mrs Parkinson was adjourned until Friday.

Her former colleague, Lindsey Biggs, is due to hear in October whether she is to be sanctioned.

At a hearing last month she was found to have failed to make sure observations were conducted on the newborn, failed to get a paediatrician when she saw he had a low temperature and failed to properly record notes on his mother Hoa, who was also being cared for at the hospital.

Earlier hearings in relation to Joshua's care cleared two midwives, Gretta Dixon and Catherine McCullough, of any wrongdoing.

Another, Joanne Watts, is scheduled for a hearing expected to take place later this year, and another midwife, who has not been named, is currently being investigated, the NMC said.

Marie Ratcliffe was struck off in 2015 in relation to the deaths of two other babies who had been cared for within the trust.
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So many people have died in Syria's bloody civil war that towns are being forced to bury their dead in six-tiered layers because they're running out of space.

In Douma, a rebel-held town on the outskirts of Damascus, the turning point came when more than 100 people died in a single day.

'There are no longer enough white burial shrouds,' Abu Muhammad Marouf, a Douma-based human rights activist told Syria Direct.

'We have started to use colored fabric. In the August massacre, we had to use plastic bags.'

The macabre design layers six bodies on top of each other, and has to be measured precisely to ensure the individual graves don't collapse on top of each other.

While official counts of the number of people that have died in Syria stalled at 200,000 when it was deemed impossible to accurately keep track of those killed, some estimates put the death toll at more than 400,000.

The graveyard always contains at least 40 empty graves in case of mass killing.

There are eight stairs, and is organized to bury the unknown on top in case they were identified later.

Syrian towns are being forced to bury their dead in six-tiered layers because they're running out of space

In Douma, a rebel-held town on the outskirts of Damascus, the turning point came when more than 100 people died in one day

The Local Council of Douma started digging multi-layered graves after the massacre in August of 2015

According to activists, 60 people were buried in the mass grave after an airstrike on the city

Now the graveyard always contains at least 40 empty graves in case of mass killing

The macabre design layers six bodies on top of each other, and has to be measured precisely to ensure the individual graves don't collapse on top of each other

While official counts of the number of people that have died in Syria stalled at 200,000 when it was deemed impossible to accurately keep track of those killed, some estimates put the death toll at more than 400,000

Above a worker digs a grave with another filled with water used in creating the mud bricks in the multi-layered graveyard of Douma city, outskirts of Damascus, Syria

People carry a body to be buried in the multi-layered graveyard of Douma city - last November a local activist said sometimes they ran out of shrouds - white sheets used in Muslim burials

A woman is buried in the multi-layered graveyard in Syria, where the unknown are buried on top for later identification

Mud bricks are used to build the multi-layered graveyard of Douma city, outskirts of Damascus, Syria

After burial the grave is sealed with mud bricks and covered with dirt before another layer can be added
A new home in Beatrice will be built in part by Beatrice High School students.

The Beatrice Public Schools Board of Education and BPS attorney Rex Schultze discussed early plans for a spec house during the boards monthly meeting in August.

The project is a partnership between BPS, the city of Beatrice and local contractors. It will likely come to fruition at the start of the 2016-2017 school year in the form of a building construction class available to qualifying BHS students.

The idea is that the students are involved with everything from the very beginning, Schultze said. It involves the entire building process. It isnt just bricks and mortar and shingles and things like that. Its how do we start building a house from the very beginning, including city and government requirements.

The class would be the length of the entire school year and would be split between classroom time and on-site building and learning. BPS Superintendent Pat Nauroth said BHS students who have previously passed construction classes will qualify to be a part of the building team.

Were hoping to have something in place by mid-year, Nauroth said, referring to the middle of the current school year. That being having a construction company or a construction management group in place and knowing what we want to build and having a lot bought so well be able to start the project in the fall of 2017.

The project leader, which Schultze refers to as construction delivery method, could come in the form of a contractor, a construction manager or an owners representative. That person could obtain a career education permit through the Nebraska Department of Education, which would allow the leader to work with the students in an instructional capacity, Schultze said.

They would hire out all the subs, Nauroth said. The 'subs' would be people who help students or fill in for students during the 9-month building process, with tasks like drywalling, framing and masonry work, he said. Our kids dont have enough time to actually build the whole house. We would coordinate with them so our kids could see all of that and participate while keeping with the timeline.

BPS is in the process of finding and purchasing a lot through the city of Beatrice, hiring a project leader and developing curriculum before moving on to further details associated with building.

I think its a great project, Beatrice City Administrator Tobias Temelmeyer said. It gives students the opportunity to build a house and learn from the ground up how the project works and put it all together. I hope they can get it up and running soon.

Nauroth called the project a great learning opportunity for BHS students and a prime example of community partnership.

We have kids who maybe want to get into the construction trade business, Nauroth said. Thats a good occupation and you can make good money with that. And hopefully, they would stay local.

Nauroth said the idea sprouted from an NGage (Gage Area Growth Enterprise) board meeting in which he and other board members were talking about how to get local students more interested in construction.

Erich Tiemann (of R.L. Tiemann Construction) was there and said theyre struggling to find people to hire for construction, Nauroth said.

Nauroth said ongoing conversations between he and Tiemann led to the current idea.

Schultze listed facets of construction students will learn include everything from plans and specifications of a project, to obtaining a building permit, to working with a fire marshal, to site preparation, all the way through to when they finish it and put it up for sale.

Schultze said the project would occur between August 2017 and May 2018 and that BPS would try to sell the house to a public buyer as soon as it is complete. He described the project as exciting and said that work-based learning is a focus of the Nebraska Department of Education and a growing trend in schools across the state.

In response to questions at the meeting from board member Doris Martin, Schultze said he knows of one school district in Nebraska that is in the process of creating a similar program and that, yes, BPS is starting from scratch on the idea.

Were trying to find a program that works for Beatrice, Schultze said. We want to do it right.

Board member Andy Maschmann wanted to know: How do we ensure what is taught is what BPS wants? Schultze said the curriculum is driven by the BHS construction instructor and that concern is addressed by plans for ongoing meetings about the project.

Board members also asked about the pace of the project and what happens if progress is slow. Schultze said substitute crew members would need to be available to help move the project along or finish it entirely.

It will take a lot of communication. It will take a lot of cooperation, Schultze said. We have to make sure everyone is on the same page and has the same intent.

There are no assurances. We would have to try to get it done in time, get it sold and start another. Its a good concept in terms of curriculum. The issue is how to deliver it with resources in Beatrice.

Board members Jon Zimmerman and Lisa Pieper said the idea is a great project and an excellent form of community partnership.

Schultze said he and Nauroth worked on plans for the project throughout this summer in hopes of making the class available starting this school year. BHS Principal Jason Sutter said 10 students signed up for the class, with a backup class lined up.

Schultze is an attorney out of Lincoln, representing several school districts throughout Nebraska, with work history also in construction law.
US Shotputter Darrell Hill's first Olympic bid ended in defeat today when he failed to qualify - but at least his dad, Ellis, was there to comfort him.

Ellis Hill watched from the stands in Rio while his 23-year-old son represented the US for the first time, ultimately coming 23rd out of 34 and failing to make it to the final.

But even that was a minor triumph, as Ellis Hill had only made it there at all because one of his Uber passengers crowdfunded a ticket for him.

Competitor: US shot putter Darrell Hill failed to qualify for the finals today after coming 23rd out of 34. He scored 19.56m, while top scorer Ryan Crouser (US) scored 21.59m

Support: His father, Uber-driver Ellis Hill, was there for support -and might not have been at Rio at all if it wasn't for the kindness of one of his passengers

The Hills: Darrell Hill Tweeted this image of him and his pop reunited in Rio Wednesday. Ellis had told one of his passengers he couldn't afford to fly out, so she crowdfunded a ticket

Photos show Ellis cheering on his son from the stands, and then looking on in disappointment as his son strikes out.

The young shot putter, who was entered into Rio after scoring a personal best of 21.63m during Olympic trials, only managed to score 19.56m in the qualifying rounds.

That put him well behind Ryan Crouser, another US competitor, who took the top spot with 21.59m. O'Dayne Richards of Jamaica was the lowest-scoring qualifier with 20.40m.

It's a blow for Hill, who was competing in his first Olympic Games, but he later Tweeted that 'my confidence has not wavered and my chin is still high.'

Perhaps having his dad on hand for moral support helped - the result of a crowdfunding effort by a very kind Uber customer.

Ellis, who lives in Darby, Pennsylvania, gave an Uber ride to Liz Willock at the end of July.

Willock discovered that the proud father would have to watch his son's Olympic debut from home as he couldn't afford a ticket.

She then set up a crowdfunding effort to buy Ellis a ticket, which reached its $7,500 goal after just two days.

Passenger: Liz Willock (left) was a passenger in Ellis Hill's car for an hour in late July. He told her he couldn't afford to see Darrell in action, so she raised $7,500 to send him out there

'I was ecstatic,' Hill told People magazine at the time. 'I feel really grateful and overcome by the knowledge that there are good people out there.'

And he wasn't the only one giving support to Hill after the qualifier. Al Joyner, who has taken 12 Olympic track and field medals - including seven golds - Tweeted his support.

'It's not over!' He said. 'This was your learning Olympic Year. Take this lesson and build on it from this U R AN OLYMPIAN.'
Osama Bin Laden's son Hamza Bin Laden has called for Mulisms to unite against Saudi Arabia in his latest attempt to establish himself as his father's heir.

In his latest audio message, which was released by Al Qaeda's propaganda arm Al Sabaha, he rails against the Saudi government and calls them 'great criminal thieves' and 'agents of the Americans'.

Hamza, who is believed to be aged 23 or 24, has followed his father's footsteps in attacking his home nation of Saudi Arabia and condemns its relationship with the US.

Osama Bin Laden's son Hamza Bin Laden has called for Mulisms to unite against Saudi Arabia in his latest attempt to establish himself as his father's heir

In his latest audio message, which was released by Al Qaeda's propaganda arm Al Sabaha, he rails against the Saudi government and calls them 'great criminal thieves' and 'agents of the Americans'

He also blames them for betraying Yemen by attacking Al-Qaeda jihadis fighting against the Shia Houthis in the civil war.

Saudi Arabia has bombed rebel groups fighting in the country, which is largely a conflict Sunni-Shia factions.

Bin Laden slams the Saudis for bombing Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) jihadis and slowing their fight against the Shia Houthis - who Saudi Arabia is also attacking.

Osama Bin Laden was killed in 2011 and was behind the attacks that killed 3,000 people on September 11

Unlike slickly produced ISIS propaganda videos, the recording is screeds of Arabic text interspersed with photographs

'Our brothers there presented great sacrifices and gave enormous efforts in serving the Muslim public in Mukalla, as witnessed by the near and far,' Bin Laden says, according to a translation produced by jihadi tracker SITE Intelligence.

'But [the House of Saud] did not leave them alone, neither in fighting the Houthis, nor in establishing the sharia of Allah among the Muslims and serving their needs.

'[The Saudis] attacked them [AQAP], thus protecting the transgressing Houthis from the strikes of the mujahideen.'

The audio message has been distributed on social media channels and is more than 26 minutes long.

Unlike slickly produced ISIS propaganda videos, the recording is screeds of Arabic text interspersed with photographs.
The waters may be starting to recede in Louisiana but it seems the disaster is far from over as residents are now faced with a monumental clean-up operation.

In heartbreaking scenes, coffins have been left high and dry across cemeteries after floating up from graves that have been filled with water in the downpour.

Officials also raised the official death toll to 13 and warn it could raise further as emergency crews probe areas previously cut off by the waters.

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Coffins have been left scattered across graveyards as the floodwaters across Louisiana have started to recede, with residents facing a massive clean-up operation

Much of Louisiana sits close to sea level, meaning water backs up quickly through the ground during heavy rains, filling the graves and causing coffins to float away

Parts of Louisiana, including New Orleans, have a history of burying people above ground in mausoleums to avoid floodwater damage, though this is not common everywhere

The true scale of devastation across Louisiana is starting to be laid bare as floodwaters begin to ebb, though some places have been warned to expect more rain

The highest number of confirmed fatalities is in East Baton Rouge, close to where the rains began on Friday, where five people have so far been confirmed dead.

Because most of Louisiana sits close to sea level it means in heavy rains water backs up quickly through the ground, filling graves and causing coffins to float up.

To combat this Louisiana has a history of burying the dead in overground mausoleums, though the practice is not common everywhere.

Hundreds of coffins were pictured floating through the streets of New Orleans and elsewhere after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Across the state more than 8,400 people are now in shelters, 40,000 homes have been damaged, and 30,000 people rescued in what the Red Cross has dubbed 'the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since Superstorm Sandy.'

Coffins pictured floating among floodwaters in the city of Sorrento yesterday will be left scattered around the graveyard now the waters are dropping

As well as repairing their homes, many Louisiana residents will also have to rebury their dead after historic rainfall across the state

The scenes of coffins floating through the streets echoes images from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when similar devastation was wrought across New Orleans

The Louisiana National Guard said it has so far distributed 32,000 ready-to-eat meals and 2,200 cots to survivors.

For most residents the worst has now passed, but others have received fresh flood warnings as rain continues to fall across the state.

The National Weather Service said that while most of the rain will be 'hit and miss', the problem is that it has nowhere to run off to, causing flash floods.

Ascension parish, which is further south from Baton Rouge and also one of the hardest hit areas, has been warned that further flooding could be on the cards.

Parish officials said flood waters there were receding at a rate of one inch per hour in some places, while holding steady or still slightly rising in others.

Now that the worst of the rainfall is over, residents of Sorrento are returning to their homes in order to salvage what they can before mold sets in

Baron Leblanc (left) and George Snyder help to move a refrigerator from Snyder's flooded home in St Amant, just to the south of Baton Rouge where the rainfall was heaviest

Elsie Lazarus weeps as she sits in her flooded living room in St Amant, one of the worst affected communities in the Louisiana flooding

Lazarus is just one of an estimated 30,000 people who were evacuated during the flooding over the weekend as up to 30 inches of rain fell in some communities

While the water is steadily flowing away from most communities in Louisiana, others have been told to expect showers and flash floods throughout today

Where the land had dried out, residents picked through what was left of their sodden homes and belongings, trying to salvage what they could before mold sets in.

The Louisiana National Guard said it has so far distributed 32,000 ready-to-eat meals and 2,200 cots to survivors.

Electricity was slowly being restored. The number of customers without power was less than 16,000, down from a peak of 40,000.

While many areas were drying out, the National Weather Service forecast that all waterways would not fall below flood stage until as late as Friday.

Megan Schexnayder and David McNeely sit on the porch of their home in Sorrento, to the south of Baton Rouge, as they attempt to defend it from flooding with sandbags

Others attempted to retrieve supplies from a Shell gas station on board boats in Sorrento. Rescue workers say they have given out more than 30,000 emergency meals so far

Gonzales, another town to the south of Baton Rouge, was also badly affected - with cars submerged and residents having to navigate by boat

Twenty-two of the state's 64 parishes, Louisiana's equivalent to counties, have been declared disaster areas, designations that free up federal disaster assistance.

Almost the entirety of the state has seen at least a foot of rainfall since Friday, with some areas getting up to 30 inches.

Despite the extent of the flooding, President Barack Obama has announced he will not be cutting short a scheduled vacation to New England in order to visit victims.

The Advocate newspaper had called on Obama to travel to the state, saying his presence was long overdue but would be 'better late than never'.

The White House insists Obama is not indifferent to the suffering of victims, and has been receiving daily briefings.

Obama also approved a federal disaster declaration for affected areas of the state.

Aerial images show the true extent of the devastation in Baton Rouge, with at least five people perishing in East Baton Rouge Parish, with 13 dead overall

Denham Springs, a community to the east of Baton Rouge, was also very badly affected by the flooding with homes and streets submerged
Lauren Pratt, who beat a brain tumour, has set her sights on Cambridge University after achieving a string of top A-level grades

A teenager who beat a brain tumour has set her sights on Cambridge University after achieving a string of top grades.

Lauren Pratt received A-level A* grades in business studies, English language and media studies at the John Cabot Academy in Kingswood, South Gloucestershire.

At 12 she underwent brain surgery and initially returned to her school in a wheelchair, which made her even more determined to succeed.

The 18-year-old, from Hanham, near Bristol, is flying to China on Friday to begin a gap year teaching English for five months before travelling around Asia.

Lauren said she had done better than she expected and said she planned to apply to Cambridge to read linguistics.

'I just cannot believe it. I had to double-check my results in case my eyes were deceiving me and it was all a mirage,' she said.

'I still can't believe it. It's a weird feeling, I'm still amazed and it hasn't sunk in yet.'

Describing her operation, she said: 'I underwent 10-hour surgery to remove the tumour and that left me with lasting effects.

'I can't write and I had to use a laptop in my exams and my thought processes are slower, so I need extra time.

'I have a really bad memory and I used prompt cards and read them over and over again.

'I had about 80 cards in total and read them three or four times a day. I was also writing four or five essays a week on past exam questions.'

The teenager added: 'I was just really motivated to do well. When I first had my tumour and I came back to school I was in a wheelchair and only there part-time.

Future: Lauren said she had done better than she expected and said she planned to apply to Cambridge University (pictured) to read linguistics

'The school was talking about keeping me back a year but I was determined not to fall behind and that gave me an added drive to succeed.

'I wanted to make everyone proud and that was my motivation to do really well.'

The teenager said she would be celebrating her results but would not be going over the top as she has to be at Heathrow Airport on Friday morning.

'I will probably have a few but I won't be going crazy or I might miss my flight,' she said.

'I am leaving tomorrow to go and teach English in China for five months and then to do some back packing around Asia for a bit afterwards.

'I am then going to come back and do a linguistics degree at university. Now I have my grades I don't know what to do.

'I think I will apply to Cambridge next year. We'll see what happens.'

Meanwhile, another student who battled cancer also found out she got two A*s and an A in her A-levels.

Meanwhile, another student who battled cancer also found out she got two A*s and an A in her A-levels. Shannon Thompson, 19, from Formby, Merseyside, is pictured

Shannon Thompson, 19, from Formby, Merseyside, now intends to go to university and then work for Cancer Research.

She was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma in 2015 and received the all-clear earlier this year after undergoing gruelling chemotherapy.

Her struggle against the disease didnt stop her achieving a place at Edinburgh University to study chemistry.

Shannon, who did her A-levels at Liverpool Life Sciences University Technical College, said: 'I cant believe it, I am so happy.

'I wouldnt have got here without the amazing support of the UTC and my family right the way through my diagnosis. I honestly couldnt have asked for more.

'I am now going on and will hopefully work in Cancer Research one day, which is my dream.'

Shannon got her A-levels in biology, chemistry and maths.

Throughout her studies, the teenager took part in many fundraising activities, including the Race for Life and Liverpool Life Sciences UTCs Brave the Shave event.
This is the moment a Muslim woman is interrupted during an interview on Islamophobia by a man making an Islamophobic comment.

Student Ruqaiya Haris was talking about her negative experiences on social media with Catrin Nye for The Victoria Derbyshire Show.

Sat in Altab Ali Park in Whitechapel, London, the 23-year-old discussed some of the Tweets she had received when the man interrupted her with a sudden remark.

Student Ruqaiya Haris was discussing Islamophobia on social media for The Victoria Derbyshire Show

He shouts: 'There's no Sharia law here,' prompting Ruqaiya to confront the man, named Paul, and ask him to explain why he made the comment.

She replies: 'If you've got something to say, you can say it. Do you want to talk about Sharia law?

'You want to talk about Sharia law to me? We can talk about Sharia law. You obviously said it for a reason.'

The man, who was apparently sat on a wall behind the pair throughout the interview, claims that he was not talking to the student.

Ruqaiya then asks him who he was talking to if he had not aimed the remark at her and Catrin can also be heard questioning the man.

The man, named Paul, interrupted the interview by saying: 'There's no Sharia law here'

Paul continues: 'We're losing our right to freedom of expression. We are. We're being told to be politically correct when we don't want to be politically correct.'

According to a report, featured on the BBC show, nearly 7,000 tweets deemed Islamophobic were sent in English every day in July - increasing around the time of the Nice attacks.

Ruqaiya addressed the issue during the interview and said that she does not think the public opinion of Muslims would change if she was to condemn the attacks.

She said: 'It doesn't really matter what I say, or what I'm writing about, or what I'm posting about.

The 23-year-old talked about some of the negative Tweets she had received with Catrin Nye

'The responses after some kind of terrorist attack will always be slating Islam in some kind of way - or insulting Islam, or insulting me, or insulting my hijab.

'Even if I'm talking about something totally unrelated. Even if I'm sending condolences to the victims.'

Speaking to the Mirror, Catrin said the man was making comments that were affecting the sound of their recording while the interview was taking place.

He was asked to keep his voice down but replied that he had a right to 'freedom of speech'. He agreed to have his face shown on camera.
Donald Trump fired off an M-4 rifle on Thursday as he took his 'law and order' appeal to a gun range at a North Carolina police lodge.

But his campaign team wouldn't release a photo he took with police officers who joined him at the shooting range, and individual officers weren't allowed to shoot their own pictures with the presidential candidate, an officer told DailyMail.com.

Early reviews are that Trump was right on target when he aimed and fired.

'He fired several shots. I saw two for-sure bullseyes. At the distance we were I couldnt tell you there wasnt more,' Ron 'Duck' Wyatt, the mayor of nearby Troutman told DailyMail.com.

'It was excellent marksmanship,' the former firearms instructor for police and civilians added.

Iredell County sheriff Darren Campbell vouched for Trump's skills while introducing the mogul to a supportive crowd of police officers. 'I gotta say this man can shoot,' he said.

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Cops' backing in the bag? 'I know how well we're doing with law enforcement. That could be unanimous,' Trump predicated after saying he had shot an M-4

But the Trump-backing cops weren't thrilled that they weren't allowed to snap photos with Trump on the shooting range itself.

'There was no photos done down there. That was kind of like a QT thing,' Ken Shawyer, the retired assistant police chief of nearby Statesville explained. 'We were all kinda like  They didnt want anybody taking photos or nothing. I dont know what thats about.'

The Trump camp declined to release a photo Trump took with a small group of officers who accompanied him during the target practice.

Trump himself boasted about the shooting practice at the top of his remarks to the officers. ''We just went down the range and had a little shooting practice,' he said.

Praise: 'I gotta say this man can shoot,' Iredell County sheriff Darren Campbell said introducing Trump.

Sheriff Campbell told reporters Trump shot an M-4 at the rural range, off a gravel road near Lake Norman, where Trump mentioned he owns property.

'I can tell you he shot quite well. He did a good. He is obviously proficient. It showed,' Campbell told DailyMail.com afterward.

During his brief remarks, Trump predicted he would clean up among cops  perhaps not losing a single vote from law enforcement.

'I know how well we're doing with law enforcement. That could be unanimous,' he predicted, two days after he gave a fiery law and order speech in Milwaukee.

'No matter where we go in the country we may get no negative vote,' Trump said.

He also expressed confidence in how he was doing in North Carolina, even as his campaign is going up with ads in a state where Hillary Clinton is leading him.

SUMMER READING: Magzines such as Guns & Ammo were featured at the police lodge where Trump spoke

'They didnt want anybody taking photos,' said retired assistant chief Ken Shawyer of Trump's trip to the shooting range

Trump is greeted by Iredell County, N.C. Sheriff Darren Campbell as he arrives to speak to retired and active law enforcement personnel at a Fraternal Order of Police lodge

'It looks like it's going very well. North Carolina is going to be very important,' Trump said.

Before Trump showed up, Iredell County GOP chair, Ron 'Duck' Wyatt announced: 'We've been delayed he decided he wants to go and shoot guns before he talks to us.' He added: 'He wants to be an adult American and shoot a gun first  I don't blame him for that.'

By the door was a welcome table with copies of Handguns magazine and Guns & Ammo, American Rifleman, and Popular Mechanics. Hot dogs and other food was available for donations.

'We have a terrific property right on Lake Norman you folks know about that,' Trump noted.

Along for the ride: Eric and Lara Trump were part of the candidate's entourage as he campaigned in North Carolina

'I'm a big supporter of law enforcement and our police,' said Trump.

Ken Shawver, retired assistant chief, described the range as having a main A range, with additional berns to shoot from a variety of angles.

'I'm a supporter,' said Shawver. He said he believes Trump's claims that Hillary Clinton will do away with the 2nd Amendment.
Shocking footage that shows police officers laughing after shooting a mentally ill man they believed was using cocaine with a taser and tackling him to the ground before he died in custody has been released.

Vachel Howard, 56, was taken into custody on June 4, 2012, after officers stopped him because they believed he was driving under the influence.

While inside the Los Angeles Police Department 77th Street Jail, the grandfather-of-seven was strip-searched, despite him telling officers he suffered from schizophrenia.

Now, for the first time, security camera footage of what happened inside the police station in the moments leading up to Howard's death have been published by ProPublica.

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Police officers were seen laughing after shooting mentally ill man (middle) they believed was using cocaine with a taser and tackling him to the ground

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Shocking footage that shows the moment Vachel Howard (pictured), 56, died after being taken into custody in a Los Angeles police station has been captured on camera

The video, which was at the center of a legal claim by the 56-year-old's family that saw the City of Los Angeles pay $2.85million in a wrongful death case in October last year, Howard's tragic final moments.

The video starts by showing officers lead Howard inside the station, before they sit him down on a bench and handcuff him to it.

The grandfather, whose shirt is still open after he was searched, then becomes upset and waves to get someone's attention.

After uncuffing him and walking him towards a nurses office, an altercation breaks out just out of view of the camera.

Court documents say he refused to be treated by the nurse, and started flinging his arms around wildly when officers tried to restrain him.

Howard then comes back into the frame while being tackled by four police officers, one of whom shoots him in the back with a taser.

The video started showing Howard handcuffed to a bench (left), before he became upset and stood up (right) to get someone's attention

The video then showed officers leading the grandfather to a nurses office (left), before he allegedly refused to be treated and had to be tackled by officers (right)

He is then slammed to the ground, with one of the cops, officer Juan Romero, appearing to have the 56-year-old locked in a chokehold.

A short time after, Howard has stopped moving and the officers smile and laugh with each other, according to ProPublica.

Nearly four minutes after he was first seen motionless on the floor, a staff member who appears to be a doctor is filmed desperately trying to resuscitate Howard.

Nurses and doctors worked on the man for nine minutes before an emergency services team arrives.

He was then taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. A coroner's report said the 56-year-old had hemorrhages and fractured cartilage in his neck.

Four cops fought to get the grandfather to the ground (left), before they ultimately were able to subdue him (right)

After he was taken to the ground Howard remained motionless (left), prompting officers to call for a nurse (right)

During an investigation into the death, Officer Romero said he applied the chokehold for just a few seconds, because Howard 'seemed impervious' to the taser, according to CNN.

Romero also said Howard tried to bite him, and that he believed the grandfather posed a deadly threat.

However, that belief was rejected by the city's police commission, which ruled he broke protocol in applying the hold.

An emergency services team arrived after about nine minutes to treat Howard

The deadly incident took place inside the Los Angeles Police Department 77th Street Jail (pictured)

The death was officially deemed a homicide, however Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lace decided not to bring charges against Romero.

Howard's family said their father, who had cocaine in his system when he died, had a history of drug use in his past but believed he was no longer using.

'He said his family was more important, and he wanted to be there for my kids,' his daughter, Tushana, told ProPublica.

'Someones past doesnt determine who they are in the present and people shouldnt assume the worst.'
Bowing to pressure: Twitter has finally taken down the account of hate preacher Anjem Choudary (pictured)

Twitter has finally bowed to pressure and removed the account of hate preacher Anjem Choudary  a year after he was charged for inviting support for ISIS.

The social media site had previously ignored repeated requests from UK authorities to take down his offensive material, jurors at the Old Bailey heard during his trial.

By contrast, it has taken Twitter a matter of minutes to tackle potential copyright infringement of Olympics coverage  sparking criticism from its own users.

Choudary faces up to 10 years in jail after he was convicted of inciting support for the terror group.

But it has taken till now for Twitter to act, last night removing the account where Choudary posted 10 tweets a day in an attempt to radicalise his 32,000 followers.

The decision comes as many of the site's users hit out at how quickly GIFs of the action in Rio have been taken down when harassment and abuse is commonplace.

Although Twitter has finally removed Choudary's account, YouTube is still refusing to take down all of his videos  which police deemed were inciting support for ISIS.

A YouTube spokesman said a number of his videos had been removed, but others featuring the hate preacher posed no risk of inciting violence.

She said: We have clear policies prohibiting terrorist recruitment and content intending to incite violence, and quickly remove videos violating these policies when flagged by our users.

We also terminate accounts run by terrorist organisations or those that repeatedly violate our policies.

Outrage: By contrast, it has taken Twitter a matter of minutes to tackle potential copyright infringement of Olympics coverage  sparking criticism from its own users (pictured)

Criticism: The decision comes as many of the site's users hit out at how quickly GIFs of the action in Rio have been taken down when harassment and abuse is commonplace

We allow videos posted with a clear news or documentary purpose to remain on YouTube, applying warnings and age-restrictions as appropriate.

Meanwhile, Twitter said on Thursday it has suspended 235,000 accounts for promoting terrorism in the past six months.

Earlier this year, the social media giant announced it had suspended more than 125,000 accounts since mid-2015 for violating its ban on violent threats and the promotion of terrorism.

The company said in a statement posted online: 'While our work is not done, today we are announcing that we have suspended an additional 235,000 accounts for violating our policies related to promotion of terrorism in the six months since our February 2016 post.

'This brings our overall number of suspensions to 360,000 since the middle of 2015. As noted by numerous third parties, our efforts continue to drive meaningful results, including a significant shift in this type of activity off of Twitter.'

Choudary is in a unit used to hold the most dangerous inmates until sentencing next month

Twitter said there has been an 80 per cent rise in suspensions with spikes immediately following terror attacks, while its global public policy team has formed partnerships with organisations working to counter extremism online.

'We continue to work with law enforcement entities seeking assistance with investigations to prevent or prosecute terror attacks,' the statement added.

The announcement comes as hate preacher Anjem Choudary faces jail for drumming up support for Isis.

His official account is no longer visible online after his conviction was reported for the first time on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old amassed 32,000 followers and his Old Bailey trial heard how British authorities tried and failed to get his posts taken down in August last year and the following March.
Growing apart from a child can be tough for any parent, but Monalisa Johnson, 48, has it harder than most: her daughter is serving ten years without parole for armed robbery.

Johnson, 48, of New York, watched her daughter Sierra grow from a sweet-natured kid into an ecstasy-taking party girl who was imprisoned in Georgia in 2012, aged 19.

So when A+E show '60 Days In' gave her the opportunity to go undercover in a prison and see how her daughter lives she jumped at the chance, the NY Post reported.

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Mom: Monalisa Johnson (left, and right after entering prison) was imprisoned in Indiana for two months as part of A+E's '60 Days In' show to grow closer with her convicted daughter

Distanced: Johnson hoped that experiencing prison life would help decrease the distance between her and her daughter, whose prison stories had seemed 'far-fetched'

Convict: Sierra Johnson (left before, and right during prison), 23, was arrested for armed robbery in 2012. She is serving ten years without parole in Georgia

Sierra, 23, was arrested for armed robbery in 2012 because, Johnson says, she fell in with a bad crowd.

But the distance from New York to Georgia made regular visits hard, and the pair began to grow apart.

Johnson explained that 'it became very difficult to relate to my daughter because some of the things she told me seemed so far-fetched and so unreal that at times I almost did not believe her.

'I just could not imagine that some of the things she told me were really happening.'

So she signed up to documentary show, in which members of the public pose as inmates in Clark County Jail in Jeffersonville, Indiana for two-month stretches.

They are there to spot crimes and corruption that officials might miss, and only a few staff know they're not convicts.

And so Johnson found herself seeing some of the worst sights prison had to offer.

Undercover: The show puts civilians undercover in prisons and asks them to report crime and corruption that might otherwise not be seen. Only a few staff know they're innocent

'I was in the bathroom when I saw the three women,' she told the NY Post. 'One tied up the others arm while a third tapped the veins and pierced the skin with a needle.

'I tried to keep my cool, as if Id seen this before, but I was thinking, "Is this really happening right in front of my own eyes? ... Has my daughter done this?"'

She also suffered sleep deprivation, paranoia and a staph infection, and gave herself a homemade enema when she suffered severe constipation.

But she says she also learned that many of those in prison had 'a good heart' but were brought low by circumstances or addiction.

Suffering: Johnson suffered paranoia and sleep deprivation, and saw prisoners taking heroin. But she also made friends and appreciated some 'good' people she met there

And it left her with a dim view of the prison system.

'I saw with my own two eyes that human rights are being violated every day in jail,' she said, 'so I know its happening to her. That was very devastating to come to that realization.'

But she says the experience has brought her and her daughter closer together, and they now bond over their 'war stories'.

'Now, Sierra tells me all the time how much she loves me, and how shell never forget my sacrifice,' she said.

The second season of '60 Days In' premieres on A+E at 9pm tonight.
The Obama administration said Thursday that a $400 million cash payment to Iran seven months ago was contingent on the release of a group of American prisoners.

It is the first time the U.S. has so clearly linked the two events, which critics have painted as a hostage-ransom arrangement.

State Department spokesman John Kirby repeated the administration's line that the negotiations to return the Iranian money  from a decades-old military-equipment deal with the U.S.-backed shah in the 1970s  were conducted separately from the talks to free four U.S. citizens in Iran.

But he said the U.S. withheld the delivery of the cash as leverage until Iran permitted the Americans to leave the country.

Speaking on CNN Thursday night, Kirby pushed back at those who interpreted what he said today as confirmation that the U.S. paid 'ransom' to Iran.

'First of all this is Iran's money,' he said. 'No. 2 I think the way ransom works is you have to pay first and then you get your hostages back, and that's not what happened here.'

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Admission: John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, said Thursday that paying $400 million to Iran had been 'contingent' on release of prisoners held by the regime

Four Iranian hostages were released on January 17, including a journalist, a pastor and a U.S. Marine, in a cash deal that Republicans are describing as a quid-pro-quo

Pastor Saeed Abedini had linked the two events. He said that as the prisoners waited for hours at an airport to leave Iran

Iranian state television broadcast this image of a shipping pallet stacked with cash in February, a month after the January 17 drop

Both events occurred Jan. 17, fueling suspicions from Republican lawmakers and accusations from GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump of a quid pro quo that undermined America's longstanding opposition to ransom payments.

Trump created a firestorm by suggesting he had seen footage of the cash drop, something he later had to retract, though he may have inadvertently been right.

Responding to the admission, Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas issued a withering statement, dripping with sarcasm and a warning that it could be open season now on the US with regards to terrorist ransoms.

'The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ransom as 'money that is paid in order to free someone who has been captured or kidnapped', said Cotton.

'President Obama, Secretary Kerry, and the rest of the Obama administration ought to write that definition down and consult it the next time they broker the release of hostages from our enemies so they don't have to spend so long explaining themselves afterwards.

'I dearly hope there is not a next time. But the president has greatly exacerbated the chance that there will be. Terrorists and our other enemies around the world now know that President Obama pays ransom for hostages.'

Iranian state-run media videotaped the arrival of the flight carrying the $400 million, judging from a documentary that aired the following month in the Islamic republic, which Dailymail.com reported on first.

The Iranian video was aired February 15 on the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting television network, as part of a documentary called 'Rules of the Game.'

A narrator, speaking in Persian, describes a money-for-hostages transaction over video clips of a plane on an airport tarmac in the dead of night and a photo of a giant shipping pallet stacked with what appear to be banknotes.

The federal government shipped what many are calling a ransom payment in Euros and other non-U.S. currencies.

The copy of the documentary footage DailyMail.com obtained is not of high enough quality to determine which nation's banknotes are depicted.

None of the footage is stamped with a date or time, making it impossible to know when it was shot.

And the broadcaster blurred out one portion of the screen, covering up something resting on top of the mountain of money.

But the documentary begins with a narration saying: 'In the early morning hours of January 17, 2016 at Mehrabad Airport, $400 million in cash was transported to Iran on an airplane.'

The film describes the Obama administration's prisoner swap and Iran's cash windfall from Tehran's point of view as 'a win-lose deal that benefits the Islamic Republic of Iran and hurts the United States,' according to two English-language translations DailyMail.com obtained.

The documentary described this plane as arriving in the dead of night with the money, exactly the scenario that Donald Trump was criticized for describing

Donald Trump linked his rival Hillary Clinton to the deal to pay back Iran, labeling it on Twitter a 'Scandal!'

Donald Trump had claimed to have seen footage of the plane carrying the $400 million to Iran, but then later retracted that statement - however he may have been right

It outlines what Iran's mullahs promoted at the time as a one-sided transaction loaded with perks for Tehran.

'The Islamic republic made an expensive offer to the equation: the release of seven Iranian prisoners in the United States, $1.7 billion, and the lifting of sanctions against 16 Iranians who were prosecuted by the U.S. legal system with the unjust excuse of sanctions violations,' the narrator intones.

'But this was not all the Iranians' demands. Lifting sanctions against Sepah Bank was added to Iran's list. All of this, in return for the release of only four American citizens: a win-lose deal that benefits the Islamic Republic of Iran and hurts the United States.'

Kirby spoke a day after The Wall Street Journal reported new details of the crisscrossing planes on that day.

U.S. officials wouldn't let Iran bring the cash home from a Geneva airport until a Swiss Air Force plane carrying three of the freed Americans departed from Tehran, the paper reported.

The fourth American left on a commercial flight.

RANSOM OR NOT RANSOM? A TIMELINE OF EVENTS January 17: Four American hostages are freed from Iran. A plane carrying $400 million in money owed to the Islamic republic arrives. January 21: A Wall Street Journal report says the timing of the payment 'raises questions of ransom' February 15: A documentary airs in Iran that details a money-for-hostages transaction between the country and the United States. August 3: Donald Trump tweets that Hillary Clinton 'was the one who started talks to give 400 million dollars, in cash, to Iran. Scandal!' He also claims to have seen footage of the plane that held the cash. State Department spokesman John Kirby tweets that, 'Reports of link between prisoner release & payment to Iran are completely false.' August 4: Both President Obama and Josh Earnest say that the White House did not pay 'ransom' to Iran. August 5: The Dailymail.com publishes details about the documentary which seemingly shows the cash arriving in Iran. August 17: The Wall Street Journal publishes more details about the 'tightly scripted exchange' that was 'specifically timed.' August 18: Kirby says the U.S. withheld the delivery of the cash as leverage until Iran permitted the Americans to leave the country. Advertisement

Earlier this month, after the revelation the U.S. delivered the money in pallets of cash, the administration flatly denied any connection between the payment and the prisoners.

'Reports of link between prisoner release & payment to Iran are completely false,' Kirby tweeted at the time.

The money comes from an account used by the Iranian government to buy American military equipment in the days of the shah.

The equipment was never delivered after the shah's government was overthrown in 1979 and revolutionaries took American hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

The two sides have wrangled over that account and numerous other financial claims ever since.

President Barack Obama has said his negotiators secured the U.S. a good deal on a busy diplomatic weekend that also included finalizing the seven-nation nuclear accord.

But he and other officials have consistently denied any linkage.

'We actually had diplomatic negotiations and conversations with Iran for the first time in several decades,' Obama said Aug. 5, meaning 'our ability to clear accounts on a number of different issues at the same time converged.'

'This wasn't some nefarious deal,' he said.

The agreement was the return of the $400 million, plus an additional $1.3 billion in interest, terms that Obama described as favorable compared to what might have been expected from a tribunal set up in The Hague to rule on pending deals between the two countries.

U.S. officials have said they expected an imminent ruling on the claim and settled with Tehran instead.

Some Iranian officials immediately linked the payment to the release of four Americans, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who had been held in Iranian prisons.

Another of the prisoners, pastor Saeed Abedini, also had linked the two events. He said that as the prisoners waited for hours at an airport to leave Iran, a senior Iranian intelligence official informed them their departure depended on the plane with the cash.

U.S. officials had pinned the delays on difficulties finding Rezaian's wife and mother, and ensuring they could depart Iran with him.

Trump's campaign jumped to attention at news of a connection, linking what happened to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, as she's campaigned on the administration's triumphs.

'Today's admission by the State Department that they paid a $400 million ransom to release American hostages from Iran further cements Hillary Clinton's role in crafting disastrous policies that have led to a more dangerous world,' said Trump's senior communications adviser Jason Miller in a statement to reporters.

'Already under fire for lying to the American people about her illegal email server, Clinton is continuing to align herself with an Administration that has continually lied to Americans as well,' he continued.

'By helping put together a deal that ultimately sent $400 million to Iran that was likely used to fund terrorism, Clinton has proven herself unfit to be president of the United States,' Miller concluded.

House and Senate Republicans have peppered the Obama administration for more details about the transaction.

'For months, the president and his spokespeople denied that he had reversed decades of U.S. policy by ransoming the freedom of American citizens,' House Speaker Paul Ryan's spokesman Doug Andres said in a statement, noting how today Kirby 'finally admitted it.'

'As the president once acknowledged, paying random 'risks endangering more Americans and funding the very terrorism that we're trying to stop,'' Andres added.

'He owes the American people a full and honest accounting of the ransom payment made in January,' Andres said.

Additionally, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said Thursday he sees congressional hearings 'as the only way for the American people to fully know whether their tax dollars went directly to Iran's terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.'

Kirk is chairman of the Senate Banking national security subcommittee. No hearing dates have been set. Congress returns from a lengthy recess after Labor Day.

The House Financial Services Committee hasn't yet decided whether to hold hearings.

Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., who chairs the Financial Services oversight and investigations subcommittee, asked the Treasury and Justice departments and the Federal Reserve last week to provide all records related to the $400 million payment as well as the names of government officials who authorized the payment and those who objected to the cash transfer.
A Nebraska inmate is asking a judge to take him off death row because a three-judge panel and not a jury sentenced him to death for raping and killing a Gering newspaper carrier in 2003.

Jeffrey Hesslers motion, filed Wednesday in Scotts Bluff County, cites a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year that struck down part of Floridas system because jurors didnt play a great enough role in determining whether defendants were sentenced to die.

In Florida, a jury considers evidence before making a recommendation on whether the death penalty is appropriate, but the decision ultimately falls to a judge. In January, the nations high court found that sentencing scheme violated the Sixth Amendment.

Nebraska has a similar method: A jury must determine whether certain aggravating circumstances existed to make the case eligible for the death penalty, then a three-judge panel weighs mitigating factors and makes a decision.

The move comes as Nebraska nears a Nov. 8 referendum on whether to undo the Legislatures 2015 repeal of the death penalty here.

In Hessler's motion, Omaha attorney Alan Stoler points to the Hurst v. Florida decision in which the high court found that the Constitution requires a jury to find each fact necessary to impose a death sentence.

The Nebraska statutes, which allow a panel of judges, not a jury, to make findings authorizing a death sentence, violates this central constitutional tenet repeated in Hurst, Stoler wrote.

He argued that Nebraskas procedures for imposing a death sentence violate the Supreme Court holding, and he asked Scotts Bluff District Court Judge Randall Lippstreu to declare the states death penalty laws unconstitutional and vacate Hesslers sentence.

In 2004, a Scotts Bluff County jury found Hessler guilty for raping and killing 15-year-old Heather Guerrero after he abducted her while she delivered newspapers.

Suzanne Gage, a spokeswoman with the Nebraska Attorney General's Office, said Hesslers motion makes no claim that he is innocent or was wrongfully convicted for his kidnapping, sexual assault and murder.

The jury also found that the killing was "especially heinous, atrocious, cruel, or manifested exceptional depravity," she said in an email Thursday.

"The Attorney General's Office will defend the motion, which we expect will be as unsuccessful as Hesslers other two failed post-conviction cases," Gage said.

If the motion is successful, it could mean each of the 10 men on death row in Nebraska would need to be resentenced.
British gold medallist Helen Glover celebrated her hen do in Rio by learning Samba with her girlfriends from Team GB's rowing team.

The 30-year-old celebrated with champagne and wore a 'hen' sash as she partied more than a dozen friends ahead of her wedding to TV presenter Steve Backshall.

Surrounded by her pals and sat around a table with empty bottles, she posted a photo with the caption 'a hen do in Rio with the rowing girls...what could go wrong?!'

Helen Glover (wearing a sash, right) was pictured holding a Champagne flute with a 'hen' sash, sitting with more than a dozen of 'the rowing girls' around a table full of empty bottles

On seeing the hen do pictures, Mr Backshall replied: 'I see your hen night doing samba in Rio, and raise you...,' and posted his own with the boys paddleboarding

Fun-loving Helen shot back with a snap posing with her dance instructor and said: 'Ain't no competing with Samba!'

She and partner Heather Stanning became the first women to successfully defend an Olympic title with their stunning victory last week.

Moments after the race, Helen kissed her finance in one of the most touching scenes from the Rio games.

On seeing the hen do pictures, Mr Backshall replied: 'I see your hen night doing samba in Rio, and raise you...,' and posted his own with the boys paddleboarding.

Fun-loving Helen shot back with a snap posing with her dance instructor and said: 'Ain't no competing with Samba!'

Some commentators joked that it was an 'audition for strictly' - which Mr Backshall appeared in in 2014 - as the rower looked very at home on the dance floor.

Glover and Stanning are unbeaten on the international stage since 2011 and became household names in 2012 when they stormed to victory in the 2,000m in London.

Glover was pictured kissing her fiance Steve Backshall moments after winning the historic gold in the 2,000 metres last week

Glover (left) and and partner Heather Stanning became the first women to successfully defend an Olympic title with their stunning victory last week

But despite the empty bottles scattered on the table during the hen do, Glover looked as fresh as ever in a photo she posted of herself talking to BBC presenter Claire Balding

This gold will be added to three World and one European titles, but asked if they would go for a third, they laughed.

Glover said: 'You never know. We've got our families to think of. And now I have to think about a wedding  it's less than a month!'
A North Carolina teenager accused of plotting a terror attack in the United States communicated with a member of ISIS known as 'Mr Terror' as he developed his plans, a federal indictment alleges.

Justin Nojan Sullivan, 19, spoke with Junaid Hussain in June last year through social media about making a video of a terrorist attack in the United States to be used by ISIS, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte on Tuesday.

The original indictment, which was unsealed in February, accused Sullivan of killing his neighbor and stealing his money so he could buy an assault rifle to carry out an ISIS-inspired shooting at a concert or club.

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Justin Nojan Sullivan (left) spoke with Junaid Hussain (right) in June last year through social media, a federal indictment alleges

Sullivan, who was arrested in June 2015, 'planned to carry out his attack in the following few days at a concert, bar or club where he believed that as many as 1,000 people could be killed using the assault rifle and silencer.'

A grand jury indicted Sullivan on a murder charge in the death of 74-year-old John Bailey Clark, who lived a few doors down from him, in February.

The indictment also said Sullivan offered an undercover FBI employee money to kill his parents, who he believed would interfere with his plans.

It charged Sullivan with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State and trying to use social media to have his parents killed.

He also faces firearms charges.

Sullivan, who lived with his parents in Morganton, a foothills town of about 17,000, converted to Islam and was watching videos of Islamic State beheadings by the fall of 2014, the indictment said.

Hussain (pictured), a young computer hacker from Birmingham, England, fled to Syria in 2013 and joined ISIS

Authorities said he pledged his allegiance to the terror group.

In December 2014, he used a .22-caliber rifle stolen from his father's gun cabinet to shoot Clark in the head, according to the federal indictment.

Forensic testing shows the rifle was used to kill Clark.

Sullivan hid the rifle, a black ski mask, muddy clothes and a lock-picking kit in his parents' crawlspace, investigators wrote in the indictment, adding that he later told FBI agents that $689 in his possession had come from Clark.

He believed the money was enough to buy a rifle and ammunition for the attack, the indictment said.

By the following June, investigators said, he was planning an attack in the U.S. He began having social media conversations with an undercover FBI employee whom he wanted to recruit, saying an attack in the U.S. was the best way to support the Islamic State because travel was risky.

He said during one of the conversations that he planned to buy 'an AR-15 assault rifle' at a gun show, and he attempted to buy hollow point ammunition from a gun dealer, the indictment said. He researched how to make silencers and asked the undercover operative to make one for each of them.

'Our attacks need to be as big as possible,' Sullivan is quoted as telling the person.

Hussain was married to Sally Jones (pictured), a former punk rocker from Kent, England, who fled to join Hussain in Syria after an online romance

The FBI then sent a silencer to his home, where investigators say his mother opened the package.

'When Sullivan's parents questioned him about the silencer, Sullivan, believing that his parents would interfere with his plans to carry out an attack, offered to compensate the UCE to kill them,' authorities wrote, referring to the undercover FBI employee.

Federal authorities have said they began investigating Sullivan after his father called 911 in April saying his son was destroying religious items in their home.

He was arrested at the family's home without incident on June 19, and later told investigators that he planned to carry out an attack in the coming days when his parents were expected to be out of town, investigators have said.

Hussain, a young computer hacker from Birmingham, England, fled to Syria in 2013 and joined ISIS.

Under the nom de guerre of Abu Hussain al-Britani, he was believed to be leading the 'Cyber Caliphate' - the terror group's own branch of hackers - as well as acting as a key recruiter.

He was killed in a joint US airstrike in Raqqa in August last year at the age of 21.

In Syria, he was married to Sally Jones, 47, a former punk rocker from Kent, England, who fled to join Hussain in Syria after an online romance.
Friends of Ryan Lochte are mounting a defense of the 'robbed' swimmer, saying that his version of events will be proven essentially true.

Sources close to his camp told DailyMail.com that a 45-minute police press conference which set out the official version of what happened was 'riddled with inconsistencies'.

They offered no suggestion that Lochte would apologize or back down about the incident which now threatens to tarnish his reputation as the U.S.'s second most-decorated Olympic swimmer ever.

Lochte, 32, has not been seen since he posed for a picture with a member of cabin crew on a flight to Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Fracas: CCTV footage of the gas station fight with security has been released by police - but friends of Lochte claim a missing sequence is 'highly significant'

Exactly the opposite account: Police in Rio on Thursday said Lochte had lied to them - but friends of the swimmer claim their version was riddled with inconsitencies

He has a home close to the city and was seen with his apparent girlfriend, Playboy Playmate Kayla Rae Reid at its airport, but has not been seen since.

His last public act was to speak to the NBC Today show's Matt Lauer on Wednesday evening in an unrecorded, off-camera, conversation in which he altered some details of what had happened, but stuck by his claim he was robbed.

Now friends of Lochte have jumped to his defense after the dramatic police statement, taking issue with a series of the police's claims and conclusions.

In particular sources close to his camp said there were just short of three minutes of the time he spent in the gas station missing from the security footage released by police.

A source said it was a 'highly significant' omission, and said it was therefore unclear what had happened between 6.09.32 and 6.12.03.

The source also highlighted a series of what they said were other inconsistencies in how police characterized what had happened.

The source suggested that in the course of today the police had altered their story on the use of guns during the incident.

'First they said no guns, then two guns, then that they weren't used, then that they were used,' the source said.

Lochte's central assertion, the source said, is that he had a gun pointed at him by someone he thought was a robber posing as police, and handed over money.

The Lochte camp tells DailyMail.com that the police version of events has broad vindication of that theme: that he did have a gun pointed at him; that someone was wearing a uniform; and that the group handed over money.

Also there: Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were escorted into a police station Thursday in Rio

Dramatic account: 'The guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, 'Get down,' and I put my hands up, I was like 'whatever',' Lochte told Billy Bush on Sunday. Friends say he 'dramatized' details but stands by the claim he was robbed

'Having a gun pointed at you and being told to hand over money is a pretty good definition of robbery,' a source said.

'There are pictures of him with his hands up. You only put your hands up if you have a gun pointed at you.'

Lochte's friends said that the statements he and Jimmy Feigen gave to police were entirely consistent.

They also questioned the police's claim to have statements from Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz.

A source said that they had spoken to all four and that at the time, they were consistent in their version of events.

Lochte's changing story is clearly a problem for his camp.

They admitted that his public version of what had happened, given to NBC's Billy Bush, was 'dramatized' but told DailyMail.com it was not 'embellished'.

The defense being offered by Lochte's friends gives some indication of how he will fight a possible extradition case, and fight to get his reputation back.

Among the details he is expected to stand by are his claim that he and the other swimmers feared they would be in trouble for being out drinking in the early hours of the morning - and therefore why they did not report the 'robbery' to police.
He honorably discharged from the Army in September 2014

Dallas police shooter Micah Johnson had his gun confiscated while in the Army because his sergeant thought he might be a threat, newly emerged information has revealed.

In a report from a sexual harassment claim made against Johnson in May 2014, an officer wrote: 'I asked if for safety reasons we should relieve Johnson of his firearm and any bladed weapons in his possession.

'The (first sergeant) said that was a good idea so I had (redacted) retrieve all weapons,' the officer concluded, according to USA Today.

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Confiscated: Micah Johnson (pictured left and right) had his weapons confiscated 'for safety reasons' while being investigated for sexual harassment in 2014, an Army report revealed

Officers noted that he did not appear agitated or a threat to himself or others when his weapons were taken, an unnamed source told the site.

Johnson had been accused of sexually harassing the woman, Sgt Ana Christine Ma, while serving in Afghanistan in 2014.

He had known Ma for five years, and had previously shown aggressive and possessive attitudes towards her.

'In one (disagreement),' Ma wrote, 'PFC Johnson had gotten quite upset over my leaving for college (six hours away) and punched his hand through a car window, severing an artery and having me bring him to the hospital because of blood loss.'

Victim: Johnson stole underwear from Sgt Ana Ma. He also punched a car window when he found out she was leaving for college six hours away

The pair were separated 'as soon as possible' after she complained that he had harassed her and stolen her underwear.

In a section of the report that had previously been made public, it was revealed that Johnson had tried to hide four pairs of her underwear in a dumpster.

When they were found and identified, she began crying.

Also in May 2014, Johnson's personal belonginger were found to include an M169 round and a plastic bag filled with prescription medicine belonging to another soldier.

Johnson was ultimately given an honorable discharge and placed on the reserve list, which means he might have been eligible to be called back up at the time of the Dallas shootings on July 7.

Johnson killed five Dallas police officers in the massacre as they were providing security for a demonstration against police violence.

He was subsequently killed by police using an armed robot.
She was found on Friday morning when she showed up to school

The girl was meeting friends at a nearby skate park but never made it

She was last seen wearing her maroon school uniform at about 4.40pm

The mother of an 11-year-old girl who was missing for more than 14 hours have breathed a sigh of relief after she turned up safe at school.

Chyanne was last seen in her maroon school uniform walking on Pilbi Street, Woodridge, south east of Brisbane, at about 4.40pm on Thursday and was reported missing at 9pm when she did not return home.

She was meant to be meeting up with a group of friends at a nearby skate park but she never made it - prompting concerns for her safety.

Police launched a desperate search for 11-year-old school girl Chyanne

Police launched a desperate search - door knocking neighbours and scouring nearby parkland - but the girl turned up at Mabel Park Primary School on Friday morning.

A police spokesperson said the young girl slept over at a friend's house and had shown 'remorse' for causing police and her parents so much worry.

He said the Amber alert was issued after police learned she had $50 and became concerned she could have travelled out of the area.

'We had a lot of concerns earlier this morning when we realised she had come into possession of a quantity of money and we had to widen the search, hence the amber alert,' the spokesperson said on Friday.

'An 11-year-old child out by herself without any real means at the time, still in her school uniform is cause for concern for us and as the public would expect we call in all stops.'

Her stepfather earlier told the Today show it was a 'horrendous' night for him and the girl's mother but held out hope she would be found safe.

The girl was described as Caucasian in appearance, slim build with bright red hair, brown eyes and is 150cm tall.
The Democratic National Committee's massive data breach is causing the political committee's donors to spend money protecting themselves from identify fraud.

Politico reporters talked to nearly two dozen DNC donors and staffers who were affected by the hack and found that many are seeing hackers try to use their personal financial information and many are also angry that the Democrats didn't better protect that sensitive date in the first place.

'I already got a call that someone was trying to use my Social Security number,' DNC donor Eric Schoenberg, an adjunct professor at the Warren School of Business told Politico. 'The answer is: Nobody is safe.'

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The hack that rocked the Democratic National Committee exposed the political party's donors to identity fraud

The hack forced Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (left) out of the DNC's leadership, with Donna Brazile (right) stepping into the top job to do damage control

Another major donor, who didn't give his name to the online publication complained that, 'all my shit was hacked.'

'Now, I've got to have LifeLock on my 6-year-old daughter's Social Security number,' the donor added.

With Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz pushed out at the DNC amid the hack, it's been interim party chair Donna Brazile's job to do damage control with the donors.

Politico reports that Brazile's been holding one-on-one meetings trying to keep donors calm.

Democrats need those pocketbooks to remain open with the election only 81 days away.

Schoenberg, for instance, got a personal call from Brazile and told Politico that the interim head was 'very apologetic.'

Brazile has also held several conference calls  including one that had over 1,000 participants  to help ease any worries.

Additionally, the DNC sent around a memo announcing the new Cybersecurity Advisory Board, which said, according to Politico, that the DNC's legal counsel had 'thoroughly reviewed' the hacked information to ascertain whose accounts were affected.

As for donors, some are disappointed by the response, though not enough to walk away from the Democrats, mostly because of the threat of Republican hopeful Donald Trump.

'We're highly motivated, and much like anything else you've committed to, you have to overcome the unwanted obstacles and you move forward,' Jay Jacobs, a DNC member from New York told Politico. Jacobs' information was leaked in the hack.

A DNC official also told the publication that there hasn't been a chilling effect from the hack.
The victim and his son had been walking on 79th Street and Broadway

Police are searching for the suspect after a Good Samaritan was stabbed on New York City's Upper West Side while trying to help a man and his child on Thursday.

The 46-year-old victim and his son had been walking on West 79th Street and Broadway near Central Park in Manhattan at around 1.35pm when the incident occurred, an NYPD spokesman told Daily Mail Online.

He saw the suspect in a verbal dispute with another man and his child.

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Police are searching for the suspect after a Good Samaritan was stabbed on New York City's Upper West Side while trying to help a man and his child on Thursday

When the man, who has not been identified, stepped in to help them, the suspect stabbed him before fleeing the scene.

The victim sustained a minor laceration to his left arm, but refused medical assistance at the scene.

The suspect ran into Riverside Park, witnesses told responding police officers.

However, police were unable to locate him and are continuing to canvas the neighborhood.
Asylum seekers in Germany are said to be refusing work and instead insisting they are 'guests of Angela Merkel'.

They have declined voluntary jobs offered to them since arriving in the country and used the hospitality of the German Chancellor as an excuse, a town mayor said.

Bernd Pohlers said asylum seekers in the eastern town of Waldenburg, Saxony, were refusing to take on work as a way of counteracting their boredom.

Claim: Mayor Bernd Pohlers (left) said asylum seekers in the eastern town of Waldenburg, Saxony, were refusing work and instead insisting they are 'guests of Angela Merkel (right)'

The local council is said to have spent 600 arranging for the men to have uniforms, according to the Daily Express, but was left shocked at being told the jobs wouldn't be done because they were 'guests'.

Under EU immigration rules, asylum seekers are not allowed to work but can carry out voluntary jobs.

Officials in Waldenburg came up with an idea of encouraging those without employment to get back to work and integrate with their local community.

The opportunity for voluntary work, which included a nominal payment of 18 for 20 hours, was initially accepted - but the male asylum seeker residents quit after finding out there was a minimum wage of 7.30 (8.50) in Germany.

Refusal: The asylum seekers have declined voluntary jobs offered to them since arriving in Waldenburg (pictured) and used the hospitality of the German Chancellor as an excuse

The local council is said to have spent 600 arranging for the men to have uniforms but was left shocked at being told the jobs wouldn't be done. Two refugees are pictured in Germany

Mayor Pohlers said: 'It was subsequently argued by these people that they are guests of Mrs Merkel and guests do not have to work.

'Furthermore, they were of the opinion that there is a minimum wage (8.50) in Germany, and that this had to be paid by the City Waldenburg.'
The father of the Queens woman who was murdered while out for a jog says that detectives are closing in on her killer.

Karina Vetrano, 30, was sexually assaulted and strangled to death while she was on a 5pm run in Spring Lake Park in the Howard Beach area near her home on August 2.

While speaking to reporters on Thursday, her father, Philip Vetrano, seemingly directly referenced a specific female relative of the killer.

'We know there is a family member of the killer that we need for them to come forward, to finalize this very quickly,' Philip said according to The New York Post.

'She is in great distress. We know she wants to make that call. Make that call.

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New York jogger Karina Vetrano, pictured, was murdered on August 2 while out for a run in the Howard Beach area

Her father, Philip Vetrano (pictured together above) says police are closing in on her killer

Philip (above) referenced a specific female relative of his daughter's killer and asked her to come forward offering the $250,000 reward money

'The [reward] money is there. I guarantee the money. If she waits any longer, someone else is going to claim that fund.

'The time is now to make that call and get that money. '

The heartbroken 60-year-old man discovered his daughter's body near the secluded jogging trail when she didn't return home.

He insisted that detectives have 'a number of very strong leads.'

'We feel that it's only going to be a matter of days before this can come to an end,' the father said.

He added that if the killer turned himself in to police, he would pay the killer's family the reward fund, which is now more than $250,000 thanks to a GoFundMe campaign.

The victim's mother, Cathy Vetrano, also spoke and reminded reporters of how her beautiful daughter was viciously murdered.

'Until this moment, I haven't even been able to say these words out loud. That my baby, my little baby, was brutalized by this person, by this evil coward,' Cathy said.

Karina Vetrano's mother, Cathy (above), also spoke and reminded reporters of how her beautiful daughter was viciously murdered

'Her last moments were horrible. I know that anybody that's listening can only imagine.

'I ask you to imagine if that was their loved one. It could be their sister, someone they once knew.

'Just imagine that was your loved one and that's how they ended their life here on Earth.'

Since her body was discovered in the park, police detectives have been working tirelessly to find her killer.

According to the Post, a police source said the killer used 'such force that he left the imprint of his hand around her neck.'

The NYPD is offering a separate $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in Vetrano's case.

Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
A 49-year-old mother-of-four has spoken of her shock after claiming that a cashier refused to sell her a bottle of cider because she was with her teenage son.

Gini Dellow, from Lincoln, says she was not allowed to purchase alcohol during a grocery shop at Lincolnshire Co-operative on Navenby High Street because she was with her son, Kit.

Staff at the store continued to ask Kit for proof of ID as part of their Challenge 25 policy even though Mrs Dellow told them she was the one buying it.

Gini Dellow (pictured) says she was not allowed to purchase alcohol during a grocery shop at Lincolnshire Co-operative on Navenby High Street because she was with her son, Kit

However, the male checkout assistant called for a supervisor and once again the mother was told they would not allow her to purchase the 1.50 bottle of Old Mout cider.

'I thought it was ridiculous that I was not allowed to buy alcohol with my grocery shopping,' said Mrs Dellow, a mature student.

'Does that mean every person shopping with children cannot buy alcohol. I think there needs to be some common sense used in this situations or they are just implying that parents are buying alcohol and giving it straight to their children.

'If that is the case, it should still be up to the parent anyway and the Co-operative should not be the ones to judge.'

Mrs Dellow ended up leaving all her grocery shopping and travelled to the Ancaster Co-operative, which is operated by a different company with a similar name, and successfully purchased her shopping and alcohol without a problem.

Staff at the store asked Kit (pictured) for proof of ID as part of their Challenge 25 policy but Mrs Dellow said she was buying it

She even asked staff at the store why she was not challenged for the Challenge 25 policy, which was displayed around the store.

Mrs Dellow was told that they knew she was the one buying the alcohol and did not need to ask for ID.

Following the incident, Mrs Dellow took to social media to express her annoyance and felt insulted by the ordeal.

Mrs Dellow wrote: 'Clearly parents can only shop there (Lincolnshire Co-operative) without their children and ask them to come and help with the shopping trip because you feel below par is out of the equation!'

She is now calling for Lincolnshire Co-operative to review the way they approach the Challenge 25 policy and asked for common sense to be used.

The Challenge 25 scheme allows stores to refuse to sell alcohol to anyone of any age, if they believe it may ultimately be consumed by someone who is underage.
DeWITT  A Minnesota tool company plans to bring new life to a central DeWitt building thats been vacant almost eight years.

Malco Products Inc. has announced plans to purchase the former Vise-Grip factory.

More than 300 jobs were cut in 2008 when Newell Rubbermaid, the owner of the Vise-Grip brand and its plant in DeWitt, a town of just over 500, announced production would be transferred to China.

Malco Products is based in Annandale, Minn., a town of around 3,300 residents.

Company President and CEO Mardon Quandt said it was important that the company chose a rural area to expand, and added Nebraska is a good fit.

Were excited about starting a manufacturing operation and we think that theres a good fit with the culture and the work environment in Nebraska, he said. The state just seems to have a real desire to get good manufacturing jobs back in Nebraska.

According to the companys website, Malco got its start in 1950 when Mark W. Keymer, a young steel supply salesman, began to manufacture and market a pipe crimper he invented for use in sheet metal ductwork used with forced air heating systems.

More tools followed, including a first hand seamer to employ compound leverage, a time-saving hand notcher and a hand operated, snap lock punch to complete the basic sheet metal tool set.

The early product line of crimpers, seamers, notchers and punches has since been joined by hundreds of other specialty tools.

In addition to HVAC equipment, the company makes tools for automotive, fence and roofing work.

Quandt declined to say what would be produced at the plant and added the purchase of the building is still being finalized.

Fliers from the company have been posted around DeWitt and mailed to business owners inviting the community to an event Monday to celebrate a major milestone in this process and learn more about the company.

Quandt said around 12 company officials will be in DeWitt next week.

He added the company is around two years away from producing at the plant, and declined to estimate how many Nebraska jobs will be created.

Quandt stressed the Nebraska Department of Economic Development was helpful throughout the decision process.

We have been working with the state of Nebraska on this project and they have influenced our decision to come to Nebraska, he said. We appreciate that the state has been very cooperative about different programs and is easy to do business with.

The announcement that Newell Rubbermaid was moving Vise-Grip production to China in 2008 shook the town of DeWitt. Six years prior, upgrades were made to some of DeWitt's utility services, such as sewer infrastructure, to better handle the needs of the plant, according to Daily Sun archives.

Larry Wattjes, a member of the DeWitt Village Board, said the announcement will be a major boost to the town in more ways than the accompanying jobs.

Its a big boost to DeWitt to have some manufacturing going back in there, he said. We sell our own electricity and so we took a great big hit on that. Over the last eight years the cash flow has been really going down.

The plants roots can be traced to Danish immigrant Bill Petersen patenting a pair of locking pliers in 1924 and starting production at his blacksmith shop in DeWitt.

In 1985, the Petersen family sold to American Tool Company Inc. Newell-Rubbermaid bought the plant in 2002 and it has operated under the name of Irwin Industrial Tools, a company American Tool bought in 1993.
To those who know about the traumas of war, it is the thousand-yard stare  that blank look from unfocused eyes that have seen too much but cannot comprehend the horror they have witnessed.

The phrase was coined in World War II to describe the haunted faces of shell-shocked soldiers coming out of battle. An artist who captured it back then asked plaintively: How much can a human stand?

And here it is again, on the face of a five-year-old boy, an innocent pulled from the rubble of the battle-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo after an air strike by government forces, just the latest casualty in that benighted countrys blood-soaked civil war.

The face of a five-year-old boy, an innocent pulled from the rubble of the battle-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo after an air strike by government forces, has shocked the world

It has shocked the world, appalled at war being waged on children. And raises again that question from World War II  how much indeed can a human stand, especially one so small and fragile?

The little boys name is Omran and he lived with his family in an apartment building in the rebel-held eastern quarter of the city.

On Wednesday, as he sat at home with his mother, father, two brothers (one a baby) and 11-year-old sister  the planes came without warning.

The rebels had been winning ground, with 10,000 fighters threatening the government lines around Aleppo. The forces of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, flew in to force them back. Their rockets and bullets hit the building, which crumbled into an empty shell with its terrified occupants still inside.

Omran  arms, legs and CatDog cartoon T-shirt covered in dust, blood streaming from his head  was pulled out by a rescue worker, carried to an ambulance and plumped down into a seat several sizes too big for him to be driven to hospital.

He sits, bemused, shocked, passive, staring into the distance, not even able to cry. Pale, barefoot and bloodied, he is like a tiny ghost against the vivid orange of the ambulance seat.

The little boys name is Omran and he lived with his family in an apartment building in the rebel-held eastern quarter of the city

A second after this main picture was taken, his left hand went up to his eye, as if to brush away a tiny tear. To his anguish, it came back covered in blood from the open wound in his head.

He stared at the blood on his palm, then instinctively tried to rub it away on the fabric of the seat, like any child might do to get rid of a stain of chocolate on his fingers.

For children like Omran this is a war seemingly without end  and he cannot remember what peace was like.

According to International Red Cross president, Peter Maurer, the battle for Aleppo has become one of the most devastating urban conflicts in modern times.

No one and nowhere is safe. Shellfire is constant, with houses, schools and hospitals all in the line of fire. The scale of the suffering is immense. People live in a state of fear. Children have been traumatised. Eight people died in this particular air raid, five of them children, according to the anti-government media group who circulated Omrans picture. But he survived, and so did his family. His head bound in a large white bandage, he has been discharged from hospital.

Nothing more is known about his whereabouts as he and his family resume what passes in Aleppo for ordinary life, cowering away from the fighting as best they can, hoping simply to survive.

Omrans face may well become the defining image of the hopelessness and the senselessness that is the Syrian civil war  just as that haunting picture last September of a dead Syrian child washed up on the beach at Bodrum in Turkey became the image of the migrant crisis.

Omran  arms, legs and CatDog cartoon T-shirt covered in dust, blood streaming from his head  was pulled out by a rescue worker, carried to an ambulance and plumped down into a seat several sizes too big for him to be driven to hospital

While Omran didnt weep, the huge international response to his picture shows that many seeing it could not hold back their own tears.

Will this make any difference? Dont hold your breath.

Ancient Aleppo, one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world, is now a killing ground with ever-increasing levels of violence as rebel commanders try to break out of a government siege which has slowly been tightening its grip. More and more civilians like Omran and his family are caught in the crossfire.

The four-year battle for this strategically crucial city may be reaching its end-game.

If the Islamist rebel militias (a motley bunch which have included Al Qaeda and Islamic State) fail to break the siege, President Assad will eventually secure control of his countrys second largest city, and  with the help of his Russian allies  take a huge step towards winning the war. The Assad government forces now control the west of the city, and have cut off crucial supply lines which provided food and weapons for other rebel fighters from Turkey in the north.

Meanwhile, the east of the city is dominated by a series of rebel groups, many of them militant jihadis who enforce sharia law and make women wear burkas.

They have brought misery and terror to the citizens of Aleppo, who face brutal punishment for perceived contraventions of ISISs harsh laws.

Acts of terrifying brutality have been carried out by both sides  and much of the remaining population of Aleppo now faces starvation because there is no way for food to reach them in the city.

For children like Omran this is a war seemingly without end  and he cannot remember what peace was like

An estimated 400,000 civilians have died in the Syrian civil war, though the final figure could be higher.

Rebel forces are desperate to lift the siege of the city and claimed earlier this month to have done so, although government sources denied this. While the UN Security Council has called for humanitarian access to the civilians in Aleppo, the Syrian government has instead said that humanitarian corridors will be created to allow civilians to leave the city.

The trouble is that no one trusts the regime to allow them to leave unhindered  only yesterday, Amnesty International claimed that those suspected of supporting the rebels could be thrown into Assads jails and tortured.

The civil war began in the aftermath of the so-called Arab Spring in the summer of 2011, with street protests in Syria against President Assads dictatorial regime.

Rebel forces soon secured significant victories, and by 2013, only one-third of Syria was still in the hands of the regime. At that stage most Western analysts were certain that President Assad was doomed.

However, the Syrian president has seen his fortunes revived, largely thanks to the help of his ally in Moscow, Vladimir Putin who is implacably opposed to Islamist jihadis, but also wants to establish a navy base on the Syrian coast to project Russian power in the Mediterranean.

Russia sent a large force of men and aircraft which have relentlessly attacked rebel positions  killing many civilians in the process  and helped Assad to make major gains in the battle for Aleppo.

Assad is a member of the Alawite sect of Shia Islam. This means he is supported by the Shia leaders of Iran  which has offered military assistance during the war. But he is bitterly opposed by states such as Saudi Arabia, whose Sunni Islam rulers have a history of enmity with Shia Muslims stretching back many centuries.

Though the extent of Saudis support for Isis is opaque at best, there is no doubt it shares the same extreme interpretation of Islam.

While the Assad government projects the war as a battle between its own relative religious tolerance and the forces of militant jihad, many observers see the Syrian conflict as a proxy war between the two greatest regional powers in the Middle East, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Today, the shattered streets of Aleppo bear witness to the savagery of that conflict.

Nobody can say for certain how many of Syrias 18 million population have been killed and injured in the conflict. However, the scale of the humanitarian horror is not in doubt.

According to reports, at least ten million civilians, more than half the population, have been displaced. Many of these have fled abroad to neighbouring countries (above all Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan) and, increasingly, to Europe.

The bitter irony is that they have been caught between the brutalities of the two warring sides. Many people have fled the bombing from Syrian and Russian jets. Others have run from the incursions by Al Qaeda and Islamic State fighters.

Today, an estimated 300,000 civilians are trapped in eastern Aleppo. Their situation is desperate  and many are undoubtedly being held as human shields by rebel fighters.

Life is hard even in the government-held areas of the city where there is often no water supply or electricity.

Is there an end in sight? That is unclear. If the rebel forces can break the siege, then the battle for Aleppo could yet rage on for years as the civilian population slowly bleeds to death.

But if the regime army, with Russias help, can close in and crush their enemy, then President Assad will be a big step closer to victory in the wider civil war.

While America has sought a diplomatic solution, the hatreds in this conflict are surely too visceral for any peace treaty to be agreed. It is a fight to the death.

Ultimate victory for Assad will be seen as a humiliation for the West, which has been sympathetic to some of the rebel groups. It will also be seen as confirmation that Russia, in alliance with Iran, has re-established itself as a great power in the Middle East.
The ex-husband of shamed Baby P boss Sharon Shoesmith was convicted after being caught with a haul of child porn.

Geoffrey Shoesmith, 67, was given a suspended 16-month jail term after he admitted making and possessing indecent images of children.

It comes as Ms Shoesmith plans to cash in on the scandal that got her sacked from her role with Haringey Council, launching a book called Learning From Baby P.

Baby P, real name Peter Connelly, died in Haringey, north London, in 2007 after suffering more than 50 injuries.

Geoffrey Shoesmith, the ex-husband of shamed Baby P boss Sharon Shoesmith (right) was convicted after being caught with a haul of child porn

He was just 17 months old when he was killed by Steven Barker, the partner of Baby P's mother, and his paedophile brother Jason Owen.

The case provoked a national scandal after it emerged that social workers, police and doctors missed a series of warning signs that could have saved the child's life during the eight-month period of abuse.

Ms Shoesmith, the former boss of Haringey Childrens Services department, was eventually sacked in 2008 after refusing to step down over the scandal.

It is thought that she was married to Geoffrey for 25 years but that the two split before she was sacked in December 2008.

The offences are thought to have taken place between October 2008 and August 2014, after the pair split and there is no suggestion Ms Shoesmith knew about his offending.

Today, a relative of the child told The Sun: 'Geoffrey Shoesmiths conviction is ironic given her role at Haringey was meant to be to protect kids.

'The family is already very angry about her book.

'What gives her the right, given how Haringey failed Peter, to write about it and make money?'

Baby P, real name Peter Connelly, died in Haringey, north London, in 2007 after suffering more than 50 injuries

In the aftermath of Baby P's death, his mother, Tracey Connelly, her boyfriend, Steven Barker, and their lodger, Jason Owen, were all jailed.

But it later emerged that Baby P had seen a number of social workers, police and health workers before he died, but all had failed to place the toddler into care.

A serious case review that investigated the conduct of social workers, GPs and police involved in the case found: The practice of the majority, individually and collectively... was incompetent, and his death could have been prevented.

Ms Shoesmith, 63, has never publicly apologised for the toddler's death, despite a damning report that exposed deep failings in Mrs Shoesmith's department.

She even claimed previously that she was herself a 'victim' of the Baby P scandal, because she had not managed to find a job since 2008.

Last year, she received a 680,000 payout from Haringey Council after winning an unfair dismissal case over her sacking by then children's minister Ed Balls.

He was just 17 months old when he was killed by Steven Barker (left), the partner of Baby P's mother, and his paedophile brother Jason Owen (right)

Piers Morgan (centre) said many people would find it 'distasteful' that she was making money from sales of a book about the case

Now she has been accused of cashing in on the tragic death by releasing a book on Saturday and even appeared on Good Morning Britain to promote it.

The book, Learning From Baby P, written after the former council boss - who now calls herself Dr Shoesmith after finishing a PhD - was part of her academic work, she said.

My book contributes to knowledge about this whole issue of child homicide, she told the programme, its more of an academic book.

But former newspaper editor Piers Morgan said: You are basically profiting from talking about the death of Baby P among other stories.
A woman claims she has been pregnant for 17 months and has yet to give birth.

The expectant mother from Hunan, central China, told People's Daily Online her due date was in November 2015 but when she went to doctors, they told her the placenta was 'under-developed'.

However, while the woman looks to be well into her pregnancy and is desperate to give birth, doctors are finding the claims hard to believe.

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Waiting: The expectant mother from Hunan said her due date was in November 2015 but when she went to doctors, they told her the placenta was 'under-developed'

Proof? Wang shared a document (left) issued by a local government official (right), which she says proves she was due to give birth last year

The woman, named as Wang Shi, has been in the news in China after making her claim.

To support her claim, she shared an official document issued to her by the local government giving her permission to give birth - a standard procedure in China.

The due date on the document was shown as November 2015.

Wang claims she became pregnant in February 2015 and by the time November came, she was ready to give birth.

However, according to the report, her water never broke and the baby never arrived.

Suspicious: Medical experts (left) have arrived at Wang (centre) and her husband's (right) home to check her pregnancy

Happy: Wang (above) says that she plans to give birth at 18 months no matter what happens

In fact, Wang claims that she went for over 30 check ups and spent more than 10,000 Yuan (1,000) on various procedures.

At 14 months, she claims doctors still said that the placenta was under-developed and had not 'moved to the correct position' so she can't have a caesarean section.

Now, at almost 18 months, Wang says she's ready for the baby no matter what.

She told reporters that she's been pregnant for so long she's too embarrassed to go out.

However, since her story emerged, a number of medical experts have refuted Wang's claims.

Reporters from QQ sought out doctors who had treated Wang.

Exam: Doctor Huang (left) said the baby looks to be about 38 weeks and normal according to her check up

Documents: Doctors, including Huang (pictured), say that Wang needs to prove her pregnancy with documents

A doctor named Huang said: 'According to my check up the baby is about 38 weeks.

'Everything seems normal.'

When asked about the 17 month pregnancy, Dr Huang said that it's impossible to tell from the pregnancy but Wang did not have the necessary documents to prove her case from early on in her pregnancy.

Dr Huang said: 'When I spoke to the doctor who did the initial checks, she said that there were no checks done. All the documents were produced according to what the patient said.'
Space is getting more and more crowded.

Thousands of satellites, associated debris and random pieces of space junk are hurtling around the Earth, and that may include rogue satellites that could be used to damage other spacecraft.

To keep track of it all, Germany is expanding its Space Situational Awareness Center, an installation that monitors objects flying through space - and the new threats it says are emerging each day.

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The German military is set to expand a facility to monitor the growing problem of space junk (illustrated) and the potential threat it poses to satellites. Expansion at the site will include the use of a new experimental radar, which will be operational by 2018

The German military set up the centre in 2009, after China fired a missile from Earth that destroyed one of its own ageing satellites.

Every country that had launched a satellite understood the missile could just as easily have destroyed one of theirs.

'That was just the tip of the iceberg,' said Gerald Braun, a senior official with the civilian German Aerospace Center, which joined with the military to run the monitoring centre in 2011.

He said European authorities have also seen troubling attempts to jam military and commercial satellites, as well as cyber attacks on ground stations, Braun told Reuters in an interview at the centre in Uedem, near the Dutch border.

Air Force Colonel Thomas Spangenberg, who heads the monitoring centre, said a new experimental radar, which will become operational in 2018, will help Germany keep tabs on what is happening in the vast reaches of space, including potential launches of hidden 'orbit-servicing' satellites.

MONITORING SPACE DEBRIS Space trash is a growing problem as debris accumulates in Earth's orbit. The junk is made up of defunct satellites, debris and and used launch stages of rockets. As this junk remains in space it can pose a threat to satellites in orbit, with small pieces of junk travelling at high speeds potentially punching a hole right through a satellite. The Germany military set up the Space Situational Awareness Center in 2009 after a satellite broke up. It is now set to expand the facility to monitor the growing problem, including the use of a new experimental radar, which will be operational by 2018. Advertisement

'If you're not watching carefully, these smaller satellites just peel off during the launch (of a larger satellite) and no one ever knows,' Spangenberg said. 'I think that's happened frequently in the past.'

US and international space officials are increasingly concerned about small satellites that are being developed to repair commercial satellites in orbit, but which could also be used to sabotage a military satellite.

'We have to assume that other countries, besides China, have the capability to carry out military operations in space,' Spangenberg said, citing reports that Russia had tested an anti-satellite missile as recently as May.

German authorities now use US data to do their own analysis of potential threats in space, but they say the new German Experimental Space Surveillance and Tracking Radar, or GESTRA, being developed by the Fraunhofer Institute will dramatically boost their capabilities.

During his recent stint on the International Space Station, British astronaut Tim Peake (pictured left) snapped a photo of the damage done to one of the windows on the ISS by a fleck of paint (right), a tiny piece of space trash which illustrates the threat to satellites

Officials hope to add three more radars to the new GESTRA system over the medium term, but Spangenberg said the military would see how the new radar performed and decide on a way ahead by around 2020.

The U.S. military now monitors about 30,000 objects in space measuring 10 cm (4 inches) or larger, but an estimated 700,000 additional objects as small as 1 cm are also flying around that could damage or even destroy a satellite, said Braun.
In June, Professor Stephen Hawking warned that AI, disguised as helpful digital assistants, could one day spell the end for mankind.

But not everyone agrees  including Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg.

In a recent interview, Zuckerberg made a bid to reassure the world that AI is a force for good, and will destroy humanity.

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Mark Zuckerberg recently spoke to The Macro, saying that we should not see AI as a technological development which will bring about out species demise

CONTROLLING ROBOTS FROM YOUR MOBILE PHONE A team from the University of Texas have created a new software that integrates humanoid robots and web-based tele-operation to provide humanoid robotic learners more access to the hardware. The software, named 'Cloud-based Advanced Robotics Laboratory' (CARL), detects the movements of a human controller's body, mimicking the actions in the robot. The system runs through the internet, so could even allow users to control their robots through their mobile phone. Advertisement

Mark Zuckerberg recently spoke to The Macro, saying that we should not see AI as a technological development which will bring about out species demise.

In the interview, he said: I get a little bit frustrated, I think, when people fear-monger about AI and how it could end up hurting people because I think in many real ways around diseases, around driving more safelyI mean this is going to save peoples lives and push people forward.

I heard this story recently at this conference where someone has built a machine learning application where you can take a picture of a lesion on someones skin, and it can detect instantly whether its skin cancer with the accuracy of the best dermatologists and doctors in the world.

So who doesnt want that, right? Now youre going to be able to put the power in your doctors hand to become the best doctor in the world at that thing.

Everybody will be the best doctor in the world.

Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg revealed he is dedicating his year to making a home AI butler.

Last month, he has revealed the project is already coming to fruition - and promised to reveal it soon.

He told The Verge it can already control his home, and even makes his breakfast.

Despite Mr Zuckerbergs optimism about the future of AI, renowned physicist, Professor Stephen Hawking does not agree with him, saying that 'artificial intelligence has the potential to evolve faster than the human race'

Professor Hawking added that 'once machines reach a critical stage of being able to evolve themselves we cannot predict whether their goals will be the same as ours.' Pictured is scene from The Terminator, in which robots take over

Despite Mr Zuckerbergs optimism about the future of AI, renowned physicist, Professor Stephen Hawking does not agree with him.

On the Larry King Now show, Professor Hawking spoke of his fears about the future of the human race.

'I don't think advances in artificial intelligence will necessarily be benign,' Professor Hawking said. The physicist has previously been outspoken on his beliefs.

'Once machines reach a critical stage of being able to evolve themselves we cannot predict whether their goals will be the same as ours.

'Artificial intelligence has the potential to evolve faster than the human race.'

Additionally, SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk has his worries about AI, likening it to summoning the demon.
Researchers believe they were erected on early astronomical knowledge

Standing stones would have been carefully placed in their surroundings

with the paths of the sun and moon

The mystique of the ancient stone circle of Stonehenge has long stoked peoples imaginations.

Theories as to what the Neolithic monument was used for include everything from a burial site to a place of healing.

But a team of Australian researchers believes that the bluestone circle and similar formations of standing stones in the UK may actually have been built to track the movements of the sun, moon and stars thousands of years ago.

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Australian researchers believe the bluestones of Stonehenge (pictured) and similar formations of standing stones in the UK were built to track the movements of the sun, moon and stars thousands of years ago

LINKING ANCIENT STONES WITH THE STARS A team from the University of Adelaide analysed ancient standing stones on the Scottish isles. They found strong alignments between the placement and orientation of the stones with the paths of the sun and moon and other features in their surroundings. Experts believe the analysis provides the first evidence to support theories that stone circles were used to measure or track the movement of heavenly bodies. They believe such accurate placement indicates the stones were erected based on astronomical knowledge of the time and shows their ancient architects had a strong connection with their environment and the skies above. Advertisement

The UK has its fair share of ancient stone formations, stretching from Stonehenge in Wiltshire to standing stones on the Orkney Islands off of the Scottish mainland.

By looking at their positions and orientation and comparing this against the astronomical alignments around the time they were built, researchers at the University of Adelaide have provided evidence to support the theory that these stones were placed in relation to the movement of celestial bodies.

Nobody before this has ever statistically determined that a single stone circle was constructed with astronomical phenomena in mind - it was all supposition, said Dr Gail Higginbottom, project leader at the University of Adelaide Visiting and who is also a visiting fellow at the Australian National University.

This research is finally proof that the ancient Britons connected the Earth to the sky with their earliest standing stones, and that this practice continued in the same way for 2,000 years.

The team looked to some of the most ancient stone formations on the British Isles, including Callanish, on the Isle of Lewis, and Stenness, Isle of Orkney.

It is believed that some of these sites could predate Stonehenge, where construction was thought to have begun around 3,100 BCE.

The study looked at the position and orientation of standing stones in Scotland, including the those at Stenness on the Orkney Islands (pictured) and analysed their positions in relation to their surroundings. They found strong alignments between their position and the paths of the sun and moon

Researchers believe standing stones were erected using early astronomical knowledge, with 2D and 3D computer modelling of sites indicating a strong alignment with celestial movements (stock image)

BRITAIN'S ANCIENT STONE CIRCLES The UK has its fair share of ancient stone formations. some of the oldest include: Stonehenge - Wiltshire, 3,100 BCE Stenness - mainland Orkney, 3,100 BCE. Ring of Brodgar - Orkney, 2,500 BCE Callanish - Isle of Lewis, c.2,900 BCE Avebury Circle - Wiltshire, c.3,000 BCE Advertisement

Using computer modelling, the researchers were able to reconstruct the position and orientation of the standing stones within their surroundings.

The analysis revealed that the stones were strongly aligned with the movements of the sun and moon.

But beyond this, they found a relationship between the horizons and how the sun and moon passed across the landscape and surrounding markers.

The choice of location would have been key to how the stones were ordered, affecting the observations that could be made from the site.

These chosen surroundings would have influenced the way the Sun and Moon were seen, particularly in the timing of their rising and setting at special times, like when the Moon appears at its most northerly position on the horizon, which only happens every 18.6 years, Dr Higginbottom says.

Researchers believe the Scottish standing stones, such as those at Stenness and Callanish on the Isle of Lewis (pictured) - some of which could predate Stonehenge - were erected using early astronomical knowledge

For example, at 50 per cent of the sites, the northern horizon is relatively higher and closer than the southern and the summer solstice Sun rises out of the highest peak in the north.

'At the other 50 per cent of sites, the southern horizon is higher and closer than the northern, with the winter solstice sun rising out of these highest horizons.'

The researcher added: These people chose to erect these great stones very precisely within the landscape and in relation to the astronomy they knew.

They invested a tremendous amount of effort and work to do so. It tells us about their strong connection with their environment, and how important it must have been to them, for their culture and for their culture's survival.

The findings are published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
The white dwarf hibernated for thousands of years before explosion

Now for the first time astronomers have captured the lead up to the event

Usually the aftermath is studied by telescopes, but the build up is not

Nova explosions happens when white dwarfs suck gas from another star

When a white dwarf and a parent star become wrapped up in each other's gravity, the white dwarf sucks gas from its parent star until it blows up in a spectacular explosion.

This kind of event, known as a classical nova, happens about every 10,000 to one million years.

Now a team of astronomers have caught the before and after of one of these events in the act, revealing clues that white dwarfs might 'hibernate' in the time leading up to these events.

When a white dwarf and a much bigger parent star become wrapped up in each other's gravity, the dense white dwarf sucks gas from its parent star until it blows up in a spectacular explosion. Known as a classical nova, this happens about every 10,000 to one million years

WHAT IS THE HIBERNATION THEORY? Mr Mroz and his colleagues said their results indicate a 'hibernation' model for classical novae. This theory predicts the explosion comes after a long wait,between a thousand and a million years. During this lengthy wait between explosions, the system goes almost completely dark and the white dwarf stops stealing gas altogether. Then, the nova awakes again, which leads to a new nova explosion. Unlike supernovae, the white dwarf is not destroyed in a nova event. This means the whole process works in a cycle, and after the explosion leaves the star bright for thousands of years, it will hibernate again before another explosion. Advertisement

Using a telescope in Chile, astronomers at Warsaw University were looking as part of a long-running experiment searching for dark matter when the distant binary system called V1213 Cen caught their attention.

In 2009 the binary system exploded in a classical nova event, where a white dwarf sucks gas from its parent star until it blows up.

The researchers had monitored V1213 Cen since 2003.

This meant they could go back and watch the build up to the white dwarf's explosion in 2009 and what has happened since.

The results have been published in the journal Nature.

Being able to watch what leads up to this kind of event is a rare opportunity.

This means the astronomers were able to provide the first confirmation of how a star system evolves before and after a classical nova.

'When novae or supernovae go off, they are usually followed up with many telescopes, and therefore we know a great deal about the 'after' of these explosions,' Carles Badenes, an astronomer at the University of Pittsburgh, who was not involved in the study told The Verge.

Using a telescope in Chile (pictured) astronomers at Warsaw University were looking as part of a long-running experiment searching for dark matter when the distant binary system called V1213 Cen caught their attention

The researchers had monitored V1213 Cen since 2003. This meant they could go back and watch the build up to the white dwarf's explosion in 2009 and what has happened since

'But it is of course very hard to know...which star is going to do something interesting, so the 'before' is very much a mystery.'

When the researchers looked back at the star before the event, they found evidence for a series of mini outbursts leading up to the nova.

The key observations came from studying the light emitted by the system - which is an indication of the mass being stolen by the white dwarf - before and after its dramatic brightness spike in 2009.

Classical novae take place in binary star systems, in which two stars orbit each other. In a classical nova, a thermonuclear explosion occurs on the surface of a small star. Artist's impression pictured above shows a binary system containing a stellar-mass black hole

'What we observed is that before the eruption, the mass transfer rate in the binary was very low and was unstable. After the eruption, it appears that the mass transfer is much higher and is stable,' Mr Mroz said.

'That means that the explosion we observed changed the properties of the binary.'

Mr Mroz and his colleagues said their results point to a 'hibernation' model for classical novae.

During the long wait between explosions, the system goes almost completely dark and the white dwarf stops stealing gas altogether.

That model predicts a slow, sputtering transfer of matter between the stars before the explosion, and a relatively fast and bright transfer afterwards.

'The hibernation hypothesis predicts that nova eruptions strongly affect the mass-transfer rate in the binary, keeping it high for centuries after the event,' the researchers wrote in the paper.

'This is something every researcher in the field of binary stars thought might happen, but the probability of observing it was considered very low,' Mr Mroz told Gizmodo. 'We believe our data supports it.'

But some others are not convinced.
They may look more like small caravans, but these four wheeled vehicles are really driverless buses.

A pair of the vehicles will be hitting the streets of Helsinki, thanks to Finland's laws allowing cars to roam without a driver.

The EasyMile autonomous mini-buses will be navigating the city from mid-September.

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They may look more like small caravans, but these four wheeled vehicles are really driverless buses. A pair of the vehicles will be hitting the streets of Helsinki, thanks to Finland's laws allowing cars to roam without a driver

EASYMILE SPECIFICATIONS Capacity: 12 persons (six seating and six standing) Cruising speed: 20 km/h (12.4 mph) Maximum speed: 40 km/h (25 mph) Propulsion engine: Electric asynchronous Autonomy: up to 14 hours of operations Battery: Lithium-ion Length: 3.928 metres Width: 1.986 metres Height: 2.750 metres Advertisement

The buses are amongt the first in the world, which have recently been given the go-ahead by transport safety authorities.

Speaking to Finnish news site, YLE, Harri Stamala, test project lead from Metropolia University, said: 'This is actually a really big deal right now.

'Theres no more than a handful of these kinds of street traffic trials taking place, if that.'

The bus is an EZ10, which is an electric people mover.

It can transport up to 12 people (six seating positions and six standing positions) and can cater to reduced mobility passengers.

The buses are among the first in the world, which have recently been given the go-ahead by transport safety authorities

The shuttle has no steering wheel and neither dedicated front nor back.

This means that at any point on its route it can easily change its direction without needing a short turn.

While the buses will be functioning in Helsinki, they won't be doing extensive journeys.

The shuttle has no steering wheel and neither dedicated front nor back. This means that at any point on its route it can easily change its direction without needing a short turn

Instead, the EasyMile bus will ferry passengers between a metro station and bus stop, at a maximum speed of twelve miles per hour.

If the trial goes well, the autonomous vehicles will supplement but not replace existing public transport systems.

As well as Finland, Dubai had signed a deal EasyMile to test the vehicles, while a Japanese mall began using them to shuttle shoppers around this month.


At first glance they appear to be the crumbling remains of a long-dead sea creature.

But a collection of shells found in a cave in East Timor are transforming our view of early humans in Asia.

The shells have been found to be the oldest jewellery to have been discovered in South East Asia, suggesting the first inhabitants of the region were more culturally advanced than first believed.

Tiny holes at the top of the shells along with wear and traces of red staining them suggest they were worn as part of necklaces or bracelets.

Researchers found sea snail shells (pictured) with small holes drilled near the top, wear on the sides and red staining that suggest they had been worn as jewellery. These 37,000-year-old shells are the oldest examples of jewellery to be found in South East Asia

DID THE NEANDERTHALS INVENT BLING? Neanderthals may have created and worn the world's first jewellery 130,000 years ago, according to a recent discovery by scientists. Researchers examining eight talons taken from a white-tailed eagle found at Krapina in Croatia claim they were used to create necklace or bracelet. The claws bear multiple cut marks, notches and signs that they had been polishing by the Neanderthals that once inhabited the site where they were found. The findings have added to mounting evidence that Neanderthals were not the slow-witted and primitive creatures they are often portrayed as. The talons may have had a symbolic purpose - something that some anthropologists have argued Neanderthals did not possess or copied off modern humans. Advertisement

Researchers have found some of the ornaments could be up to 42,000 years old while other date to around 37,000 years old.

This is around the time that modern humans are first thought to have migrated from Asia into Australasia.

Dr Michelle Langley, an anthropologist at the Australian National University in Canberra, told New Scientist they suggest these early inhabitants were far more sophisticated than believed.

She said: It was not a cultural backwater as once thought.

The shells were found in the Jermalai cave on the eastern tip of East Timor where other early human remains have been found.

One shell belonged to an Oliva sea snail and was dated to 37,000 years ago. A hole in the top of the shell suggests it had been strung as part of a necklace, they report in the journal Public Library of Science One.

Marks on the side also appear to indicate it had rubbed against other shells. Tests on modern shells by the Dr Langley and her colleagues showed the hole could not have occurred naturally.

They also found traces of red ochre, which may have been used as body paint and rubbed off onto the shells while they were being worn.

The researchers also found a Nautilius shell in the same cave that they claim could be as much as 42,000 years old.

The shell jewellery were found in the Jerimalai cave on the eastern tip of East Timor (shown)

The researchers also found nautilus shell (pictured) that had been drilled and worked, that is thought to be around 42,000-years-old

Writing in the Journal of Human Evolution, they say it shows signs of drilling, grinding and staining with red ochre. The shell had been worked into flat plates that appear to have been worn as jewellery.

Previous research in the cave has also revealed tuna bones along with one of the oldest fish hooks ever discovered.

Also dated to around 42,000 years ago, these suggest that the early human inhabitants were already fishing in the deep ocean.

The researchers say the discovery of the shell jewellery shows these people were not only exploiting the sea for food cut also had a cultural connection to the ocean.

The Jerimalai cave (pictured) is thought to have been inhabited by some of the very earliest humans to arrive in East Timor. Previous excavations have found huge collections of fish bones and even some of the earliest fish hooks in the world

They wrote in the journal: These artefacts provide the first material culture evidence that the inhabitants of Jerimalai were not only exploiting coastal resources for their nutritional requirements, but also incorporating these materials into their social technologies, and by extension, their social systems.

In other words, we argue that the people of Jerimalai were already practicing a developed coastal adaptation by at least 42,000 before present.

In the past, the relatively few cultural artefacts found at ancient human sites in South East Asia compared to other areas like Europe has led some to claim the people who migrated there had a relatively primitive culture.

The new findings are suggest this was not the case.

However, the shells are far from being the oldest shell jewellery ever found. One set of shell found in Morocco date back at least 82,000 years.
Scientists believe they have found evidence of Australias violent geological past.

Analysis of rocks from beneath the Australian soil suggest that supervolcanoes -which dotted the continents east coast millions of years ago - exploded, throwing sand-sized particles of sediment into the atmosphere.

These super-eruptions were so powerful that the rock was launched thousands of miles away, landing on the western coast.

Rock samples from Western Australia have led geologists to believe huge volcanoes which dotted the continents east coast millions of years ago violently exploded, throwing sand-sized zircon crystals into the atmosphere. Pictured are zircons found in Western Australia

SUPER ERUPTIONS Geologists analysing rock samples in Western Australia found unique zircon crystals, unlike anything else in the area. Analysis of the samples and surrounding rock suggest they may have originated from ancient volcanoes on the other side of the continent. Lead researcher Dr Milo Barham believes that violent super-eruptions 106 million years ago would have spread millions of tonnes of volcanic material over thousands of kilometres. This could explain why the zircons appear in the geologcial record on the West coast. The researchers believe such an enormous expulsion of ash and dust into the air would have affected the global climate, affecting plants and animals around the world. Advertisement

Researchers drilled bore holes into the rock sediment of the Nullarbor Plain, a remote area on the enormous countrys West coast.

The samples brought back from the depths revealed unique zircon crystals, the size of a grain of sand, unlike anything else seen on the coast.

Analysing the zircons and their surroundings, the geologists revealed that the crystals may have originally come from volcanoes on the other side of the country, some 2,300 km (1,430 miles) away.

According to Dr Milo Barham, a geologist from Curtin University of Western Australia and who led the research, a string of volcanoes on the eastern coast are thought to have erupted millions of years ago, around the same time the continent was breaking off from Antarctica.

The 'super-eruptions' were so powerful they launched the particles of rock and minerals into the atmosphere, spreading them far and wide, assisted by strong winds.

Such distal projection of a unique volcanic mineral population demonstrates that super-eruptions were occurring in eastern Australia approximately 106 million years ago, during the break-up of the supercontinent Gondwana, said Dr Barham.

A study of rock samples and their surroundings revealed that mineral particles may have originated in volcanoes on the other side of the country, some 2,300 km (1,430 miles) away. Pictured is an eruption near Iceland's Bundarbunga volcano

Researchers drilled bore holes into the rock sediment of the Nullarbor Plain, a remote area on the enormous countrys West coast (pictured)

The arrangement of land masses and atmospheric circulation at the time indicates that the recorded eruptions occurred during the southern hemisphere winter, when strong winds from the east would have pushed volcanic ejecta towards the west.

The far-reaching impact of volcanic eruptions has been seen in recent years, when the unpronounceable Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupted, spewing ash into the atmosphere.

The resulting ash cloud covered millions of square miles and grounded commercial flights for days.

More than 180 million years ago, Earth's landmasses were divided into supercontinents. Fragments of one of these ancient supercontinents, called Gondwana pushed northwards from the until it collided with the Eurasian supercontinent

The far-reaching impact of volcanic eruptions has been seen in recent years, with the ash cloud from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull (pictured) grounding flights for days. Geologists believe a super eruption like the one 100 million years ago would cause devastation today

Dr Barham believes that super-eruptions from the Australian volcanoes would have spread millions of tonnes of volcanic material over thousands of kilometres.

Such an enormous expulsion of ash and dust into the air would have affected the global climate, affecting plants and animals around the world.

These super explosions are well known from the relatively recent past and have even been implicated in the evolution of our species, said Dr Barham.

'If an event of this magnitude were to happen today it would have devastating effects on our society and likely would drive massive crop failures, famine and war.'
A Beatrice man was sentenced to two years of prison in each of two cases involving a pursuit and illegal weapon possession.

Charles A. Rothman, 25, was sentenced for flight to avoid arrest and possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person. The two sentences will be served concurrently.

Beatrice police arrested Rothman in June after finding a weapon while responding to a fight.

Three people witnessed the dispute, and both involved parties had left the scene when officers arrived.

Witnesses said both parties threw punches and Rothman was identified as one of the people involved.

Court documents state when police located him, he initially gave officers a false name, and said there was no physical assault.

Rothman was placed under arrest for domestic assault and was placed in handcuffs.

During a search, officers found a knife with a handle in the shape of brass knuckles they were unable to see before the search. The knifes blade measured 3.5 inches.

In another case in July, police were dispatched to a domestic disturbance involving a vehicle occupied by a male and female. Officers attempted a traffic stop near Fifth and Court streets. The vehicle fled officers, gaining excessive speed and nearly hitting multiple vehicles.

The vehicle also ran two red lights.

The pursuit was terminated due to safety concerns. Rothman was identified as the driver and a warrant was issued.
Next month Nasa will launch a spacecraft on its journey towards an asteroid, where it will collect and return samples that experts believe may hold the building blocks of life.

Nasa's OSRIS-REx spacecraft will travel for two years to reach Bennu, and plans to return to Earth in 2023.

Fitted with sensors, the craft will map out the surface of the asteroid in order to address basic questions about the composition of the very early solar system.

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Next month Nasa will launch a spacecraft on its journey towards an asteroid, where it will collect and return samples that experts believe may hold the building blocks of life. Nasa's OSIRIS-REx will travel for two years to reach Bennu (illustration pictured)

'This mission exemplifies our nation's quest to boldly go and study our solar system and beyond to better understand the universe and our place in it,' said Geoff Yoder, acting associate administrator for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

'Nasa science is the greatest engine of scientific discovery on the planet and OSIRIS-REx embodies our directorate's goal to innovate, explore, discover, and inspire.'

The 4,650-pound (2,110-kilogram) fully-fueled spacecraft will launch aboard an Atlas V 411 rocket during a 34-day launch period that begins on 8 September.

It will reach its asteroid target in 2018.

Bennu is one of more than 700,000 asteroids traveling through our solar system at the moment and was chosen as the target for this mission because it is the closest carbonaceous asteroid.

Mapping the surface will not only help scientists sample rocks that could hold clues about the origin of our solar system, but it will also help them better predict the asteroid's future movements and plan ways to deflect it away from Earth

HOW WILL THE MISSION WORK? OSIRIS-REx is the first U.S. mission designed to return a piece of an asteroid to Earth. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch on September 8 at 7:05 p.m. EST aboard an Atlas V rocket. The University of Arizona-led mission has a 34-day launch window beginning on that date. After a careful survey of Bennu to characterize the asteroid and locate the most promising sample sites, OSIRIS-REx will collect between 2 and 70 ounces (about 60 to 2,000 grams) of surface material with its robotic arm and return the sample to Earth via a detachable capsule in 2023. To capture samples on the surface, the craft will hover over a specific area and 'will be sent down at a very slow and gently' 4 inches (10 cm) per second. The spacecraft will also carry a laser altimeter, a suite of cameras provided by the University of Arizona, spectrometers and lidar, which is similar to radar, using light instead of radio waves to measure distance. Advertisement

After a careful survey of Bennu to characterize the asteroid and locate the most promising sample sites, OSIRIS-REx will collect between 2 and 70 ounces (about 60 to 2,000 grams) of surface material with its robotic arm and return the sample to Earth via a detachable capsule in 2023.

To capture samples on the surface, the craft will hover over a specific area and 'will be sent down at a very slow and gently' 4 inches (10 cm) per second.

It will only be in contact with the surface for five seconds as it vacuums up the targeted area.

'The launch of OSIRIS-REx is the beginning a seven-year journey to return pristine samples from asteroid Bennu,' said OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson.

'The team has built an amazing spacecraft, and we are well-equipped to investigate Bennu and return with our scientific treasure.'

Mapping the surface will not only help scientists sample rocks that could hold clues about the origin of our solar system, but it will also help them better predict the asteroid's future movements and plan ways to deflect it away from Earth.

In addition to a touch-and-go sample acquisition mechanism and a sample return capsule, the spacecraft will carry a laser altimeter, a suite of cameras provided by the University of Arizona, spectrometers and lidar, which is similar to radar, using light instead of radio waves to measure distance

'Our upcoming launch is the culmination of a tremendous amount of effort from an extremely dedicated team of scientists, engineers, technicians, finance and support personnel,' said project manager Mike Donnelly.

The OVIRIS, which is short for the OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer, will be used to measure visible and near-infrared light reflected and emitted from the asteroid and split the light into its component wavelengths similar to how a prism splits light to into a rainbow.

'OVIRS is key to our search for organics on Bennu,' said Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for the OSIRIS-REx mission at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

'In particular, we will rely on it to find the areas of Bennu rich in organic molecules to identify possible sample sites of high science value, as well as the asteroid's general composition.'

The cutting edge spectrometer will work alongside the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES), which will pick up the thermal infrared while OVIRS maps the asteroid.

To capture samples on the surface, the craft will hover over a specific area and 'will be sent down at a very slow and gently' 10 cm per second. It will only be in contact with the surface for five seconds as it vacuums up the targeted area. Pictured is the craft in April

The information gathered from both OVIRS and OTES will also help scientists study the Yarkovsky Effect, or how Bennu's orbit is affected by surface heating and cooling throughout its day. Pictured is an early stage of spacecraft assembly

THE YARKOVSKY EFFECT The cutting edge spectrometer will work alongside the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES), which will pick up the thermal infrared while OVIRS maps the asteroid. The information gathered from both OVIRS and OTES will also help scientists study the Yarkovsky Effect, or how Bennu's orbit is affected by surface heating and cooling throughout its day. The asteroid is warmed by sunlight and re-emits thermal radiation in different directions as it rotates. This asymmetric thermal emission gives Bennu a small but steady push, thus changing its orbit over time. Understanding this effect will help scientists study the asteroid's orbital path, improve their understanding of the Yarkovsky effect and predictions of its influence on the orbits of other asteroids. Advertisement

This collaboration will help the team map the entire surface over a range of wavelengths that scientists feel will be more successful for finding organics and water  this will also help the find the best sites to harvest samples.

Because minerals and other material in the visible and infrared spectrum has their own unique signatures, like fingerprints, the team will be able to identify various organic materials.

This includes carbonates, silicates and absorbed water that lay on the surface of the asteroid, and all the returned data will be used to map the relative abundance of various materials across Bennu's surface.

'I can't think of a spectral payload that has been quite this comprehensive before,' said Reuter.

OVIRS will be active during key phases throughout the mission.

As the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft approaches Bennu, OVIRS will view one entire hemisphere at a time to measure how the spectrum changes as the asteroid rotates, allowing scientists to compare ground-based observations to those from the spacecraft.
An unusual rural ancient synagogue that dates back to shortly after the time of Jesus has been unearthed in Galilee.

The rare find  a huge 29 feet long and 26 feet wide room with walls lined by limestone benches  promises to add weight to stories about Jesus in the Bible.

Most synagogues dating from around this time  known as the Second Temple Period - are found in urban centres and this is the first to be found in what was an ancient Jewish village.

The ruins of a synagogue dating back to the First Century AD have been found at the site of an ancient Jewish village. The building features limestone benches that lined the walls (pictured) and large foundation pillars that would have supported the roof

JESUS'S VISITS TO GALILEE According to the New Testament, Jesus established his ministry at the city of Capernaum on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Hundreds of Jewish villages were spread though out Galilee. At several points in the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke, there are references to Jesus visiting these villages to preach the gospel in thei rsynagoges. Matthew 9:35, for example, states: 'Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness.' Advertisement

According to the New Testament, Jesus travelled from towns and villages preaching in their synagogues.

But until now no rural synagogues have been found from around the time.

The building, which archaeologists have dated to the First Century AD, appears to have formed part of a Jewish village at a hilltop site known as Tel Reches, near Mount Tabor in lower Galilee, Israel.

Dr Mordechai Aviam, an archaeologist at Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee who has been leading the excavations, told MailOnline that he believes the synagogue was built between 20-40AD and was in use until midway through the second century.

He said: 'This is the first 1st century synagogue in rural Galilee of the first century.

'This find, reflects the life of 1st century Galilee, which was almost totally rural.

'The site is 17 km (10 miles) as crow flies east of Nazareth, and 12 km from Nin (Naim), and although we don't have its name in the New Testament, it is in the area in which Jesus acted.

'Therefore it will give scholars of the New Testament another view of the life in the villages in which Jesus was active.

Speaking to Ynetnews, he added: 'Christianity placed an emphasis on his sermons at synagogues in the Galilee. This makes the place very important for Christians.'

Excavations at the site not only unearthed the limestone benches and walls to the synagogue but also two large pillars that may have supported the building's roof.

The site (pictured) is thought to sit within a rural estate that probably housed the workers and families of a large agricultural estate

The design is common in Sephardic synagogues, where worshippers sit along the wall facing the centre of the room.

The prayer reader would stand in the centre of the room and read lessons of the Torah. Higher rituals were carried out at the Temple in Jerusalem.

It is thought that Jesus may have visited such smaller synagogues to teach during his life.

Following the Bar Kokhba revolt, which saw the Jews of Judea rise up against the Roman Empire before they were brutally put down, synagogues were built to face the direction of Jerusalem and became more formal places for prayer.

The ruins were found at Tel Reches, also known as Tel Rekhesh, close to Mount Tibor in lower Galilee (shown on map)

It is thought that many of the villages in Galilee, including Tel Reches escaped relatively untouched in the retribution and destruction by the Romans following the revolt.

This means buildings, including the synagogue, remained in tract for some time afterwards.

Dr Aviam believes the synagogue at Tel Reches was built by an agricultural estate owner for his family and workers.

He said: 'This is a simple synagogue but it is not simple to build a synagogue.

'The benches that we discovered are made of beautiful white Ashlar stone and the large foundational pillars required considerable investment and were expensive.

Hundreds of fragments of rare frescoes from the Roman Period have also been discovered at Zippori in Galilee. These show floral patterns, images of animals - such as the back of a tiger with its tail (pictured) - and geometric patterns

The discovery comes as a separate group of archaeologists have uncovered rare frescoes from the Roman period in the Zippori national Park in Galilee.

Hundreds of fragments contain floral patterns, images of animals and geometric motifs.

It sheds light on how Zippori was an important urban centre for the Jews during the Roman and Byzantine periods, explained Professor Zeev Weiss, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University.
The Battle of Jutland was the largest naval battle of the First World War involving

HMS Famlouth survived the Battle of Jutland but was sunk months later by torpedoes in Bridlington Bay

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A wrecked British ship which fought in the Battle of Jutland has been brought 'back to life' with digital technology to mark the centenary of its sinking.

HMS Falmouth fought in the famous First World War naval clash which took place from 31 May to 1 June 1916, but sank in Bridlington Bay, East Yorkshire, just a few weeks later on 20 August after being torpedoed by U-boats.

A century on, government heritage agency Historic England has used 3D technology and a new seabed survey of the wreck to recreate the ship in its final resting place and bring heritage lost beneath the waves back to life.

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HMS Famlouth survived the Battle of Jutland in 1916 but was sunk by torpedoes from German U-boats off the Yorkshire coast just two months later. Now Historic England has used 3D computer modelling to bring it back to life a century after it sank (pictured)

The new seabed survey of the site, the only substantial wreck of a Royal Navy warship which fought in the Battle of Jutland now lying in English waters, was carried out in partnership with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Results from the survey have been combined with a digital 3D image of a builder's model of HMS Falmouth, held by the Imperial War Museum at Chatham Historic Dockyard, to produce the 3D image of the ship underwater.

Historic England has also commissioned new research into the history and significance of the ship, which has uncovered personal recollections and photographs and collected together official documents which had been split between archives.

HMS Falmouth fought at Jutland, a clash which saw the loss of 6,094 British seamen and 2,551 Germans, as part of Vice Admiral David Beatty's battle cruiser fleet, engaging several German light cruisers and torpedoing the battle cruiser Lutzow.

The HMS Falmouth (pictured at sea shortly before she was commissioned in September 1911) was one of 250 warships to take part in the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of the First World War. During the battle between the German and British fleets in the North Sea, more than 25 ships were sunk and thousands of sailors were killed

Despite surviving the battle, the ship was sunk just a few months later, on 20 August 1916, torpedoed by a German U-Boat, sinking to its final resting place in Bridlington Bay. But experts have used 3D digital modelling to bring it back to life, in an effort to remember the forgotten battle

The battle was a pivotal moment in the war, as the Germans failed to break the blockade of the North Sea by the British.

HMS Falmouth sank a few weeks later after being struck in two separate torpedo attack by German U-boats, with 12 crew members losing their lives.

Wayne Cocroft, senior investigator at Historic England, said: 'Throughout the First World War the sea off our coast was an intensely-fought battlefield with many casualties lost within sight of the shore.

'Aside from war memorials to those lost at sea, the traces of maritime battles are invisible to all but a few.

'Modern technology is now being used to make our underwater heritage accessible to all.

Researchers carried out a sea floor survey of the warship's resting place in Bridlington Bay to create the digital model. Historic England hopes the digital recreation will boost remembrance of the forgotten naval battle

'Digital 3D modelling and computer visualisation can recreate the appearance of lost vessels aiding our understanding and remembrance of this largely forgotten conflict.'

Dr Antony Firth, director of Fjordr Limited, which carried out the new research into HMS Falmouth's history, said: 'The wreck of HMS Falmouth is a key feature of the First World War heritage of England's East Coast and is important for being the only known survivor of all the Town Class light cruisers.

'As well as being a memorial to those who served and died, it is a reminder of the UK's industrial and maritime prowess in the early 20th century.'

The digital 3D model of the wreck can be viewed on the Historic England website.

THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND During the First World War, commanders of the German fleet tried to catch out the Royal Navy with an ambush in the North Sea. German Admiral Reinhard Scheer faced off against two Royal Navy fleets, commanded by Adminral Sir David Beatty and Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. Over the course of two days in the summer of 1916, the resulting confrontation was the largest naval battle of the war. It involved an estimated 250 ships, including many dreadnought class warships, and 100,000 men, and sent thousands of British and German sailors to their graves. In the fighting which ensued, the British lost 14 warships and more than 6,000 men, with the German fleet losing 11 ships and 2,500 men of its own. Despite the pounding the British received, the two Royal Navy fleets eventually forced the Germans to turn tail and head back to harbour, proving British Naval dominance. Source: Imperial War Museum Over the course of 31 May to 1 June in 1916, the Battle of Jutland proved to be the largest naval battle of the First World War. It involved an estimated 250 ships, including many dreadnought class warships, and 100,000 men, and sent thousands of British and German sailors to their graves. Pictured is a German illustration of U-boats attacking the British fleet with torpedoes Advertisement




If the man in your life cant remember the plot of the slushy film you watched together last night, it may not be because he fell asleep.

Research shows women have a better memory for romantic comedies, while men excel at recalling details of action films.

The German scientists say this isnt necessarily because they like them more.

Instead, they think that life conditions the sexes to find different movie genres easier to follow, and so remember.

Research shows women have a better memory for romantic comedies such as Notting Hill (pictured), while men excel at recalling details of action films. The German scientists say this isnt necessarily because they like them more

IS THE GENDER STEREOTYPE TRUE? Females are generally expected to be emotional, gentle and understanding from a young age, while males are encouraged to be confident and competitive, the researchers said. When watching a film that matches our gender we find it easier to follow the plot and remember the details. For instance, if men know more about cars, weapons and fighting styles, they will find it easier to absorb the ins and outs of an action film than decode the emotions of a romance. Advertisement

Some 160 men and women were shown 30-minute clips of Notting Hill, the Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts rom-com, and Die Hard with a Vengeance, an action film starring Bruce Willis.

Afterwards, they were given a surprise test about what they had seen.

The 30 questions covered facts from characters names and the colour of their eyes to plot details and locations.

The volunteers were also asked how much they had liked the films.

The experiment was repeated with the French romance Amelie and action film Payoff.

The men remembered more details of the action movies than the romances, while the women did better on the rom-coms.

Some 160 men and women were shown 30-minute clips of Notting Hill, the Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts rom-com, and Die Hard with a Vengeance, an action film starring Bruce Willis (pictured)

REMEMBERING FILMS EASILY IS NOT LINKED TO LIKING THEM MORE It might be easy to assume men remember action movies and women remember rom-coms because they prefer them, so become more interested. But the new research in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology reports that how much a participant liked a film was not linked to how much of it the remembered. Nor did it seem to be due to the women paying more attention to the rom-coms than the action films. The finding also could not be explained by the volunteers being more familiar with some of the films than others. Advertisement

The finding could not be explained by the volunteers being more familiar with some of the films than others.

Nor did it seem to be due to the women paying more attention to the rom-coms than the action films.

The journal Applied Cognitive Psychology reports that how much a participant liked a film wasnt linked to how much of it the remembered.

The researchers, from the Technical University of Dortmund, say the answer may lie in gender conditioning.

Females are generally expected to be emotional, gentle and understanding from a young age, while males are encouraged to be confident and competitive.

As a result, when watching a film that matches our gender we find it easier to follow the plot and remember the details.

For instance, if men know more about cars, weapons and fighting styles, they will find it easier to absorb the ins and outs of an action film than decode the emotions of a romance.

Commenting on the research for the British Psychological Society, psychologist Alex Fradera said: Whatever the reason, the research suggests that our minds are conditioned in a gendered way to process different kinds of story differently.

This is consistent with the idea that our existing interests and history prepare us to capture and remember personally relevant information more easily.
Twitter has revealed it has shut down over 235,000 accounts in just six months for 'for violating our policies related to promotion of terrorism'.

Earlier this year the firm said it was using spam-fighting technology to seek out and automatically flag accounts that might be promoting terrorist activity.

Now, it has revealed a dramatic rise in the number of accounts banned.

A member loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) waves an ISIL flag in Raqqa: Twitter is now using spam-fighting technology to seek out and automatically flag accounts that might be promoting terrorist activity.

TWITTER'S QUALITY FILTER Twitter is making a "quality filter" available to all users, allowing them to hide tweets that contain threats, appear to be automated or spammy. The feature was previously only available to users with "verified" accounts, which are typically celebrities, public figures or journalists, and who can be identified by a blue checkmark next to the username. The filter does not hide content from users that a person is following or has interacted with on Twitter. Users will also have the ability to only see notifications from accounts they follow on the service. This might help people, for example, who don't want to see a barrage of abusive tweets directed at them. But it won't actually delete the tweets themselves. Advertisement

'Earlier this year, we announced we had suspended more than 125,000 accounts since mid-2015 for violating our longtime prohibition on violent threats and the promotion of terrorism and shared the steps we are taking as a company to combat this content.

'Since that announcement, the world has witnessed a further wave of deadly, abhorrent terror attacks across the globe.

'We strongly condemn these acts and remain committed to eliminating the promotion of violence or terrorism on our platform.

'While our work is not done, today we are announcing that we have suspended an additional 235,000 accounts for violating our policies related to promotion of terrorism in the six months since our February 2016 post. '

Daily suspensions are up over 80 percent since last year, with spikes in suspensions immediately following terrorist attacks, it said.

The firm claims its response time for suspending reported accounts, the amount of time these accounts are on Twitter, and the number of followers they accumulate have all decreased dramatically.

'We have also made progress in disrupting the ability of those suspended to immediately return to the platform,' it said.

'We have expanded the teams that review reports around the clock, along with their tools and language capabilities.'

This brings the overall number of suspensions to 360,000 since the middle of 2015.

The firm also said it cooperates with law enforcement entities 'when appropriate' on the project.

100,00 TERROR TWEETS A DAY Last year Europes police chief warned Jihadis are sending up to 100,000 Twitter messages a day to plot terrorism. In a chilling account of how IS is exploiting technology, Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol and ex-MI5 officer, urged social media firms to help authorities stem the terrorist threat, saying that encrypted communications were the most significant challenge to tackling terrorism. IS is known to use encrypted tweets to recruit fighters and jihadi brides, including the three British girls who fled to Syria earlier this year. Advertisement

In July 2015, FBI Director James Comey recognized Twitter's commitment to blocking terrorist content, praising us as 'very good and thoughtful and hardworking at trying to shut down [terrorism-related] accounts.'

The firm said it has 'always sought to strike a balance between the enforcement of our own Twitter Rules covering prohibited behaviors, the legitimate needs of law enforcement, and the ability of users to share their views freely  including views that some people may disagree with or find offensive.'

HOW ISLAMIC STATE USES TWITTER Web-savvy militants fighting for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq could control as many as 90,000 Twitter accounts worldwide, allowing them to spread their sickening propaganda with ease. The terror group is able to 'exert an outsized impact on how the world perceives it' because of its shrewd use of social media and sheer number of online followers, terror experts have concluded. Recommendations in the report by the Washington-based Brookings Institute report last year include governments and social media companies working together to find new ways to tackle the problem of pro-ISIS accounts spreading horrific murder videos and images and jihadist rhetoric. Advertisement

'As many experts and other companies have noted, there is no magic algorithm for identifying terrorist content on the internet, so global online platforms are forced to make challenging judgement calls based on very limited information and guidance.

'In spite of these challenges, we will continue to aggressively enforce our Rules in this area, and engage with authorities and other relevant organizations to find solutions to this critical issue and promote powerful counter-speech narratives.'

Last year Europes police chief warned Jihadis are sending up to 100,000 Twitter messages a day to plot terrorism.

In a chilling account of how IS is exploiting technology, Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol and ex-MI5 officer, urged social media firms to help authorities stem the terrorist threat, saying that encrypted communications were the most significant challenge to tackling terrorism.

ISIS VS ANONYMOUS ISIS militants have hit back at hacking collective Anonymous' attempts at declaring a cyber war, branding them 'idiots'. The hacking group promised to hunt down militant jihadists online following the terrorist attacks in Paris last week which left 129 people dead. However, ISIS jihadists, who use a number of encrypted apps an internet services to communicate and use social media under the radar, are clearly unimpressed with Anonymous' efforts. In response to the declaration of war, ISIS affiliate the Islamic Cyber Army took to encrypted smartphone-messaging app Telegram to dismiss Anonymous as 'idiots'. 'What they gonna hackall they can do is hacking twitter accounts, emails, etc,' the Islamic Cyber Army wrote according to New York Magazine. 'Do not make your email same as your username on twitter this mistake cost many ansar [users sympathetic to ISIS] their accounts and the kuffar [non-Muslims] published their IP, so be careful.' Advertisement

IS is known to use encrypted tweets to recruit fighters and jihadi brides, including the three British girls who fled to Syria earlier this year.

Saying that IS has 50,000 Twitter accounts, Mr Wainwright told a BBC radio investigation: Weve built our counter-terrorist capability in recent years very much on the basis of being able to monitor their communications.

'As the communications of terrorist networks and criminal groups have moved increasingly [online], its opened up a whole new wave of problems for us even in the open internet, let alone the Darknet.

Last year Europes police chief warned Jihadis are sending up to 100,000 Twitter messages a day to plot terrorism.

Earlier this year, ISIS militants have hit back at hacking collective Anonymous' attempts at declaring a cyber war, branding them 'idiots'.

The hacking group promised to hunt down militant jihadists online following the terrorist attacks in Paris last week which left 129 people dead.
Netflix has taken over streaming with its recommendation algorithm that suggests movie and television shows based on previous title selections.

However, with just one click on a title you normally wouldnt watch, your recommendations can be ruined, and go from romantic comedies to anime cartoons.

Luckily Netflix keeps a log of everything you viewed from the start of your membership, letting users stop their bad choices from wreaking havoc on their accounts - if you know where to look.

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Netflix keeps a log of everything you viewed from the start of your membership. Accessing activity on the streaming site isnt just a way to save your recommendations, but it also helps users find titles they may have lost among the other thousands

HOW TO FIND YOUR HISTORY 1.Log into Netflix on a desktop computer 2. Hover over your profile name towards the right and a drop down box should be displayed 3. Select 'Your Account' 4. Once you are on a new page, click 'Viewing Activity' which should be listed towards the bottom The next page should display a list of everything youve streamed since signing up for Netflix. This page lets users report any problems they may have had with a one of the titles and there is an X shown that when clicked, will wipe that title from your list. Advertisement

Accessing activity on the streaming site isnt just a way to save your recommendations, but it also helps users find titles that may have lost among the thousands of other movies and television shows.

Locating your viewing history is a simple process, reports Matt Brian from Engadget, who was the first to reveal this trick.

First head over to Netflix.com on your desktop, login and pick the account youre interested in scrolling through- if it is not the default.

Next, hover over your profile name to see a drop down box and select Your Account from the menu.

This will take you to a new page where you should see a few options towards the bottom, but you just need to click Viewing Activity.

The next page should display a list of everything youve streamed since signing up for Netflix.

This page lets users report any problems they may have had with a one of the titles and there is an X shown that when clicked, will wipe that title from your list.

'My Activity' lists every movie and television show users have watched from the moment they started streaming. This page lets users report any problems they may have had with a one of the titles and there is an X shown that when clicked, will wipe that title from your list

The third-largest streaming site in the world, Amazon Video, does not make this process so easy.

Users' viewing history is buried inside numerous links that they may not think to check otherwise.

OUR NETFLIX ADDICTION Cordcutting.com calculated numbers from Netflix earlier this month and found members spend even less time reading, relaxing or exercising. The average subscriber spends one hour and 40 minutes a day binge watching, which is compared to the 38 minutes a day they are 'socializing and communicating'. This statistic suggests that Netflix fans are spending twice as much time cuddled on the couch with their remote than they do hanging out with friends. The average American works out for just 17 minutes a day, so, according to the calculations, Netflix members spend about six times more surfing through movie and show titles. Advertisement

To get start, access your Amazon account using a desktop computer.

Once logged in, hover over Your Account on the top bar and when the drop down list is displayed, select Your Recommendations.

This will take you to a new page that list recommended products, how any orders you have coming, the next deliver day and credits you have yet to use.

The third-largest streaming site in the world, Amazon Video (pictured), does not make this process so easy. Users' viewing history is buried inside numerous links that they may not think to check otherwise

Travel up to the top bar and select Improve Your Recommendations, this option displays your product purchasing history.

Although this works similar to Netflix, as you can remove items and locate previously purchased ones, it will not display shows or movies you have watched.

On the left hand side is a box titled Edit Your Collect, simply click the second option Videos youve watched and Amazon will present your viewing history.

Here, you will have the power to rate television shows and movies so Amazon can learn how to better serve your likes and dislikes.
A jagged bolt of lightning streaked across the night sky over Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park, creating a stunning and rare display.

Captured in 2013, the bolt is said to resemble the shape of a Tyrannosaurs rex showing its ferocious teeth.

The U.S. Department of the Interior recently released the image, and says this spectacular sighting was caused by monsoons ushering in summer lightening.

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The bolt of lightning was captured streaking across the sky of Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park that is said to resemble 'a Tyrannosaurus rex getting ready to chomp'.

WHAT CAUSES LIGHTNING? Previous research from the University of Reading suggested that high-energy particles from the sun, known as the solar wind, creates a pathway need for lightning to travel. They say that the solar wind  in which the particles are propelled from the suns atmosphere at around a million miles per hour  charges the air, meaning a lesser current is needed for a lightning bolt to strike. Cosmic rays  another source of charged particles from exploding stars on the other side of the Universe  are thought to be another trigger for lightning. The results could prove useful for weather forecasters, since solar winds synchronize with the rotation of the sun, sweeping into Earths atmosphere at regular intervals. Advertisement

The US Department of the Interior posted the stunning image on Twitter and Facebook, where it has been 'liked' and shared thousands of times.

'Have you ever seen lightning makes such crazy shapes,' reads the US Department of the Interior's post on Facebook.

'This bolt looks like a Tyrannosaurus rex chomping a formation at Blue Mesa in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park.'

The lightning was captured by park ranger Hallie Larsen on June 26, 2013, reports FOXNews, and was recently shared with the rest of the world.

While the US agency suggests a Tyrannosaurus rex, Twitter users have shared their own creative ideas.

One said it could be the outline of the US presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Another suggests it resembles a gorilla and someone else shared a side-by-side picture of Godzilla.

Captured in 2013, the bolt is said to resemble the shape of a Tyrannosaurs rex showing its ferocious teeth. 'This bolt looks like a Tyrannosaurus rex chomping a formation at Blue Mesa in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park,' says the US Department of the Interior

Whether you see a dinosaur or something else, the US Department of the Interior included a more important message with this sighting.

'Monsoons usher in summer lightning, so explore safely and be sure to check the weather,' the agency shares.

The lightning was captured by park ranger Hallie Larsen on June 26, 2013, reports FOXNews, and was recently shared on the internet Wednesday. While the US agency suggests a Tyrannosaurus rex, Twitter users have shared their creative ideas, as one shared a pictured of Republican nominee Donald Trump with the lightning bolt

Another suggests it resembles a gorilla. The US Department of the Interior posted the stunning image on Twitter and Facebook, where it has been liked and shared thousands of times

Monsoon season begins on June 15 and ends on September 30 in Arizona, however the desert state is currently in the weeks when storms peak.

And about half of the state receives its entire annual rainfall during monsoon season.

One Twitter users shared a side-by-side picture of Godzilla. Whether you see a dinosaur or something else, the US Department of the Interior included a more important message with this sighting. 'Monsoons usher in summer lightning, so explore safely and be sure to check the weather,' the agency shares

Storms occur very quickly during this time occur very quickly, which pose threats such as flash flooding, wind-blown debris and lightning.

From 2006 to 2015, 313 people were killed by lightning in the US and 16 of these incidents occurred in Arizona, according to the National Weather Service.

Park rangers said the lightning bolt resembles a Tyrannosaurus rex ready to chomp

These displays of lightning have yet to be fully explained, but a rare, powerful type of lightning is helping scientists to unravel how such strikes begin during a thunderstorm.

When storm clouds develop they become highly charged, with the uppermost layer accumulating more positively charged ions, while the lower parts of the clouds become more negative.

As the charges separate it creates an electric field, with the air acting as a buffer stopping the flow from negative to positive.

The charge builds until it overcomes the insulator, forming lightning either within the cloud, known as sheet lightning, or striking the ground, known as fork lightning.

However, a rare type of lightning called narrow bipolar events (NPE), which can be far more powerful than typical lightning strikes, is caused by the flow of positive charge.

The bolt of lightning was captured by rangers at teh Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona (pictured) on June 26, 2013

It typically occurs when charge jumps from the positive top of the storm clouds to pools of negative charge on the ground.

By studying this lightning, scientists at the Institute of Mining and Technology in New Mexico discovered the spark which kicks off these ferocious strikes are caused by a 'relatively unknown' type of discharge called fast positive breakdown. These sparks are fast, travelling at up to 100 million metres per second.
Changes in the Earth's biosphere, caused by human activity, are now starting to become evident in rock and soil strata

The human impact on Earth's chemistry and climate has cut short the 11,700-year-old geological epoch known as the Holocene and ushered in a new one, scientists said Monday.

The Anthropocene, or "new age of man," would start from the mid-20th century if their recommendation - submitted Monday to the International Geological Congress in Cape Town, South Africa - is adopted.

That approval process is likely to take at least two years and requires ratification by three other academic bodies.

But after seven years of deliberation, the 35-strong Working Group has unanimously recognised the Anthropocene as a reality, and voted 30-to-three (with two abstentions) for the transition to be officially registered.

"Our working model is that the optimal boundary is the mid-20th century," said Jan Zalasiewicz, a geologist at the University of Leicester.

"If adopted - and we're a long way from that - the Holocene would finish and the Anthropocene would formally be held to have begun."

Scientists refer to the period starting from 1950 as the "Great Acceleration", and a glance at graphs tracking a number of chemical and socio-economic changes make it obvious why.

Concentrations in the air of carbon dioxide, methane and stratospheric ozone; surface temperatures, ocean acidification, marine fish harvesting, and tropical forest loss; population growth, construction of large dams, international tourism - all of them take off from about mid-century.

One of the main culprits is global warming driven by the burning of fossil fuels.

A telltale surge in the spread of invasive plant and animal species is also a legacy of our species.

But the working group is not allowed to take any of these measures into consideration unless they show up in the geological record.

If it can't be measured in rocks, lake sediments, ice cores, or other such formations - the criteria used to determine dozens of distinct eons, era, periods and ages going back four billion years - it doesn't count.

This, however, is not a problem when it comes to the Anthropocene, said Zalasiewicz.

"We are spoiled for choice," he told AFP. "There's a whole array of potential signals out there."

Micro-plastics, for example - a synthetic, man-made substance - "are now components of sediment around the world, both in land and in the sea."

And the rise in atmospheric CO2 shows up in ice cores reaching back tens of thousands of years.

- Golden spike -

Past shifts in the biosphere - the realm of the living - show up in sediment and rock, especially mass extinctions marking boundaries when up to 95 percent of all lifeforms disappeared within the geological blink of an eye.

The wipeout of non-avian dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period is one such die off, though far from the most dramatic.

The word "Anthropocene" - first proposed in 2002 by Nobel chemistry laureate Paul Crutzen - has been adopted by environmentalists as a rallying cry against Big Oil, and is viewed by some conservatives as a stalking horse for what they see as aggressive, economy-choking policies to combat climate change.

There are sceptical scientists too.

"The drive to officially recognise the Anthropocene may, in fact, be political rather than scientific," said Stanley Finney, a professor at California State University at Long Beach and chair of the International Commission on Stratigraphy - one of the bodies that must validate the new epoch.

Finney's main objection is that not enough time has elapsed for a new epoch.

"It's duration is that of an average human lifespan," he wrote in a pointed commentary, published by the Geological Society of America.

If the Anthropocene is voted into existence, scientists will have to pick a "golden spike" to mark the transition.

The spike nails down a date, but also pinpoints a primary "signal" at a specific location.

The working group was divided on what that essential signal might be, but traces of nuclear bomb explosions emerged as a favourite.

As for what form the evidence will take, Zalasiewicz said it is still early days. "Fast-growing coral form a layered archive that traps chemistry nicely," he noted.

To mark the start of the Holocene, scientists chose an ice core sample drilled in 2003 from the central Greenland ice sheet at coordinates 75.10 degrees N/42.32 degrees W.

The core is archived in a freezer at the University of Copenhagen.

Humans have tipped the planet into a new era - and scientists want to find out exactly when it happened.

Later this month they will reveal their initial findings - and begin work on pinpointing the the moment in the geological record, known as a 'golden spike' that shows where one epoch changed to another.

The expert working group will present its latest findings to the 35th International Geological Congress (IGC) in South Africa later this month.

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These dramatic changes in the Earth's biosphere, caused by human activity, are now starting to become evident in rock and soil strata, geologists claim

WHAT IS THE ANTHROPOCENE? The Anthropocene is the name of a proposed geological epoch that may soon enter the official Geologic Time Scale. It refers to a time in which human permanently changed the planet. According to the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), we are officially in the Holocene epoch, which began 11,700 years ago after the last major ice age. Some experts argue we should now change the name to 'Anthropocene'. This is from from anthropo, for 'man,' and cene, for 'new'. Experts remain divided on when mankind caused a lasting impact on the Earth's geology but seem to have settled on a time near 1950. The atomic bomb is a popular marker. Advertisement

It then plans to search for what is known as a 'golden spike'  a physical point in the geological record that shows where one epoch changed to another.

This would begin the process of a formal declaration that we are living in the Anthropocene by the International Union of Geological Sciences - which could happen in just two years.

Dr Colin Waters, secretary of the Anthropocene Working Group who will address the IGC, told The Independent: 'The key thing to us is the scale of the changes that have happened.

'It's of comparable scale with what happened with the Holocene and the transition from the last ice age.'

In a paper in the journal Science earlier this year, Dr Waters and others said an age range of 1945 to 1964 had been proposed for the start of the Anthropocene.

'The feeling is that it would be better, most geologists would be more comfortable, if there was a 'golden spike' a physical reference point in the strata,' the working groups convener, Professor Jan Zalasiewicz, a palaeobiologist at Leicester University, said.

'We'll suggest [to the Congress] that we begin the process of looking around the world for a set of sections that could be sediments in lake beds, peat bogs, glaciers  where there are a set of signals to show the beginning of the Anthropocene.

'And then we'll choose one of these to say 'this is the reference point, this marks the beginning of the Anthropocene'.'

Writing in the journal Nature on Wednesday, Professor Clive Hamilton, an ethicist at Charles Sturt University in Australia, spelled out how drastic the changes were that were prompting scientists to think about declaring a new epoch.

'The Anthropocene was conceived by Earth-system scientists to capture the very recent rupture in Earth's history arising from the impact of human activity on the Earth system as a whole. Read that again. Take special note of the phrases 'very recent rupture' and 'the Earth system as a whole'. Understanding the Anthropocene, and what humanity now confronts, depends on a firm grasp of these concepts,' he wrote.

Earlier this year researchers said humans had created a 'striking new pattern' in the planet's global energy flow.

That's according to new research that reveals how unprecedented human consumption and production has transformed our planet.

These dramatic changes in the Earth's biosphere, caused by human activity, are now starting to become evident in rock and soil strata, geologists claim.

Humans have created a 'striking new pattern' in the planet's global energy flow, according to new research. Pictured is the produced energy and the pattern of human population growth from 1750. Dark blue, shows coal; dark brown, oil; green is natural gas; purple shows nuclear; light blue is hydro; orange brown is biomass.

A previous study published in the journal Earth's Future, was also led by Professors Mark Williams and Jan Zalasiewicz of the University of Leicester.

Researchers spotted the pattern when studying the Anthropocene phenomenon - a proposed epoch where humans dominate the Earth's surface geology.

When measured against the billion-year old patterns of planet Earth, human activity forms a striking new pattern, the found.

Professor Zalasiewicz said: 'Very big changes in our planet's pattern of biological production and consumption do not happen very often.

'The appearance of photosynthesis was one, about two and a half billion years ago.

'Then, a little over half a billion years ago, animals like trilobites appeared, to add scavengers and predators into a food web of increasing complexity.

'Other major events have happened since, such as five major mass extinctions, but even measured against these events, human-driven changes to production and consumption are distinctly new.'

Dr Carys Bennett, co-author, added: 'It is without precedent to have a single species appropriating something like one quarter of the net primary biological production of the planet and to become effectively the top predator both on land and at sea.'

Humans are accelerating the trend by digging phosphorus out of the ground and by fixing nitrogen out of the air to make fertilizers.

As a result, we are increasing productivity well above natural levels - and directing much of it towards animals that have been re-engineered to suit our purposes.

Professor Zalasiewicz added: 'This refashioning of the relationship between Earth's production and consumption is leaving signals in strata now forming, and this helps characterise the Anthropocene as a geological time unit.

Examples of fossils that provide evidence for the evolution of production and consumption over geological time. A shows Stromatolites, an early example of ecosystem engineering from the late Mesoproterozoic Era. B is fossil arthropod from the 525 million-year-old deposits in China

'It also has wider and more fundamental importance in signaling a new biological stage in this planet's evolution'.

The latest research follows a study earlier this year that claimed humans have tipped the Earth into a new chapter of geological history that began around 1950.

It is the latest date considered for the beginning of the Anthropocene epoch.

Geoscientists say they have gathered 'overwhelming evidence' for the proposed epoch, when they say humans didn't just leave traces of their actions, but began to alter the whole Earth system.

Dr Colin Waters of the British Geological Survey said: 'Humans have long affected the environment, but recently there has been a rapid global spread of novel materials including aluminium, concrete and plastics, which are leaving their mark in sediments.

'Fossil-fuel combustion has dispersed fly ash particles worldwide, pretty well coincident with the peak distribution of the 'bomb spike' of radionuclides generated by atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons.'

The starting date for the Anthropocene is still under review by the working group and suggestions of when it began have varied widely, from the 18th century when the Industrial Revolution began, to around 300 years later.

Pictured is the pattern of global migration exhibited by Homo sapiens from the Paleolithic culture to present. The latest research follows a study earlier this year that claimed humans have tipped the Earth into a new chapter of geological history that began around 1950

Last year the working group suggested the date of the first atomic bomb test in July 16, 1945 should be the beginning of the Anthropocene.

The proposal was signed by 26 members of the group, created by the body that oversees changes to the geological timeline.

The beginning of the nuclear age marks the historic turning point when humans first accessed an enormous new energy source - and is also a time level that can be effectively tracked within geological strata  layers of rocks and soil.

Speaking this time last year, Dr Zalasiewicz said: 'Like any geological boundary, it is not a perfect marker  levels of global radiation really rose in the early 1950s, as salvoes of bomb tests took place.

'But it may be the optimal way to resolve the multiple lines of evidence on human-driven planetary change. Time - and much more discussion - will tell.'

Previous 'divisions' between geological eras have been marked by 'spikes' in the geological records, caused by global catastrophes such as the asteroid strike thought to be responsible for wiping out the dinosaurs, or a wave of volcanic eruptions.
They include a pool overlooking Venice and a restaurant with views of the Faraglioni rocks of Capri

MailOnline Travel has rounded up some of the best rooftops from venues across the world

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The luxury hotel game has become increasingly competitive over the last few years, with both contemporary and classic establishments working harder than ever to stand above the crowd.

But one way to really make yourself appear head and shoulders above the rest, quite literally, is with a swanky roof terrace.

No matter how discerning a hotel guest or passing tourist, it's hard not to be seduced by panoramic rooftops - whether there is a chance to watch the sun set with a cocktail in hand or to cool off with a dip in an infinity pool.

With the summer holidays now in full swing, what better place is there to spend the evening than at hotels across the world, watching a landscape transform from day to night, as the heat of the day burn off.

MailOnline Travel has rounded up some of the best rooftops from hotels across the globe, for those who like a view with their vino.

From a bar with 360 views of Bangkok and a pool that overlooks Venice lagoon, to a restaurant that towers above the iconic Faraglioni rocks of Capri - the following roof terraces really have it all...

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The Scarlet, Cornwall

For views of Britain's glorious coastline, try the 37-bedroom Scarlet Hotel in Cornwall. It has a relaxation terrace overlooking the golden sands of Mawgan Porth, complete with two cliff top hot tubs

Banyan Tree, Bangkok

Banyan Tree Bangkok has a roof top open-air grill and bar, Vertigo, with breathtaking 360 degree panoramas of the city

The Peninsula, Beverly Hills

Glamorous address: The Peninsula Beverly Hills has a 60ft outdoor rooftop pool and Jacuzzi, as well as an outdoor restaurant that uses locally sourced ingredients. The roof has panoramic views of the Los Angeles skyline

Four Seasons, Dubai

The Mercury Lounge on top of the Four Seasons hotel in Dubai overlooks the city's skyline, as well as the Arabian Gulf

Punta Tragara, Capri

Perfect for sundowners: Punta Tragara, Capri, is a 44-bedroom boutique hotel that overlooks the iconic Faraglioni rocks of Capri. Guests dining at the rooftop restaurant or in the neighbouring pool have incredible sea views

Kasbah Tamadot, Morocco

Arabian nights: The 28-room Kasbah Tamadot hotel is magical walled complex near Asni in the High Atlas mountains, with a dining room that looks over the mountain range

JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa

Set on its own private island, minutes away from the iconic St Marks Square is JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa. It has a rooftop restaurant, bar and adults-only pool with a view over the lagoon city of Venice

Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona

Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona, has a rooftop pool and bar with 360 degree views of the city. Guests can also dine on authentic Peruvian cuisine from Gaston Acurio while they soak in the scenery

Swissotel Kolkata, India

Swissotel Kolkata in India is a five-star luxury hotel, located in the Rajarhat district of Kolkata. The rooftop infinity pool and lounge bar has panoramic views of the city

Nikki Beach at the Fairmont Monte Carlo

Nikki Beach has a pop-up beach club and restaurant on the rooftop of the Fairmont Monte Carlo hotel, with panoramic views of the city and the Mediterranean Sea

Bayerischer Hof, Munich

Bayerischer Hof is one of the oldest hotels in Munich, with a terrace that offers views over the Cathedral Church of Our Lady and St Peters Church, and the distant Bavarian Alps. The rootop features a spa, pool with retractable roof, bar and restaurant

Kameha Grand, Zurich

The 245-bedroom Kameha Grand Zurich hotel in Switzerland has a spa on its roof terrace, where guests can enjoy views of the city after indulging in a wellness treatment

Gansevoort Meatpacking NYC

A great place to see New York from on high is at the Gansevoort. Ascend to the rooftop bar where youll find a big swimming pool and superb views over the Meatpacking District

W Hotel, Amsterdam

The W Hotel in Amsterdam has a WET Deck, featuring a pool and bar tables overlooking the rooftops of the city centre

ME by Melia Radio Bar, London

The Radio Rooftop Bar, part of the ME London Hotel, offers views of St. Paul's Cathedral and the London Eye

Memmo Alfama, Lisbon
It is estimated that he would have carried around 130lbs in the load

three on his back

He took 11 chairs under each arm and a

A beach club worker has astounded the internet with his time-saving method of clearing up deckchairs.

A picture has surfaced online of a young man carrying a minimum of 25 chairs as he finishes work at the end of the day at Sea Colony near Bethany Beach in Delaware.

With at least 11 chairs hooked under each arm and a further three chairs on his back, the man is bent over with the weight of the furniture as he heads to the storage cabins.

An employee at Sea Colony resort near Bethany Beach in Delaware was pictured carrying 25 chairs in one go during a party clean-up

The man's resolve was witnessed by a Reddit user called TwitterInc, who posted a picture of the incident online.

He captioned it: 'We watched this guy cleanup after a party on the beach.

He added: 'He refused to make another trip.'

Bethany beach is a quaint seaside resort in South Delaware

It is estimated that he would have been carrying around 130lbs of chairs in the load.

Many internet users likened his approach to the attitude many men have while carrying in groceries from the car.
Robert Taylor, one of Gage Countys most treasured historical figures, is being honored this weekend at the Community Players Theater in downtown Beatrice for what would have been his 105th birthday. The former actor will be recognized through his films and accomplishments as film historians, authors and family members attend and speak at the two-day event.

Born in Filley and a graduate of Beatrice High School, Taylor has been the focus of several books over the years, as the he was at one time one of the most celebrated actors in Hollywood.

He participated in about 80 films between 1924-1969, before his death in 1969, said E.A. Kral, who wrote the biography "Robert Taylor: Nebraska Years," which gives a look into Taylors life. When you are talking about the movie industry, Robert Taylor is among the most famous Nebraskans to keep their ties to the state following their departure to Los Angeles.

What separates Taylor from other actors from Nebraska is that he never abandoned his roots once moving to Hollywood.

There was no one else that kept their ties to Nebraska like Robert, Kral explained. Robert visited Nebraska dozens of times after Word War II and out of the major actors and actresses with Nebraska ties, hes the one that maintained his connection to the state after going to Hollywood.

Its not just the Nebraska ties that make Taylor such an interesting subject, but also his award-winning career and personality that stood out among other popular Hollywood figures.

He was named among the 50 most unforgettable actors of the studio era by Turner Classic Movies.

When I learned about him, I just was fascinated by him and I decided I wanted to write about him, said Linda Alexander, an Alabama resident, who recently completed the re-issuing of her book "Reluctant Witness," which describes Taylors testimony at the House on Un-American Activities Committee.

I became enthralled with Taylor and the town that he grew up in," Alexander said. "The people of Beatrice and the small town atmosphere that Taylor grew up in just fascinates me. ... He was just a very fascinating man. Very conscientious and an exceptional subject to write a novel on.

The weekend celebration will begin Friday at 7 p.m. with a showing of one of Taylor's films, "Public Property." Saturday events are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and will go all day until 9 p.m., which will close with another showing of a Robert Taylor film, "Many Rivers to Cross."

Kral and Alexander are scheduled to speak in the morning on Saturday and there will be a book signing and banquet at The Kensington at 5 p.m., with keynote speaker and fellow author Charles Tranberg, who has written several film-related books, including a biography on Taylor. Tranberg gave up an opportunity to be honored in California to be at this event, according to program information provided by the Gage County Historical Society and Gage County Classic Film Institute.

Both organizations are sponsoring the celebration this weekend.

I think it is important to recognize the talent that comes from here, said Jeanelle Kleveland, a film historian that was born and raised in Beatrice and a member of Gage County Classic Film Institute. It encourages others when they are growing up here to pursue their dreams.

Other Saturday activities include a Q&A lunch at 11:30 a.m. with Taylors cousin, David Thornburg, and Omaha Film Event host Bruce Crawford at Centenary Methodist Church, as well as a matinee showing of the film "Escape" featuring Nebraskan actors Robert Taylor and Janet Shaw.
No reports of any casualties and passengers disembarked safely

Airline confirmed the incident was caused by a bird strike

The Airbus A330, flight QR240 had been headed for Doha, Qatar

Aircraft forced to land at Ataturk Airport with one of its engines on fire

A Qatar Airways passenger jet with over 300 people on board was forced to make an emergency landing at Istanbul's main airport today (Thursday) after an engine caught fire, the airline said, blaming a 'bird strike' for the blaze.

The Airbus A330 had been headed for Doha, Qatar but had to turn back to Ataturk International airport less than 30 minutes into its journey.

Shocking videos have captured flames shooting out of the passenger jet's engine as it returns to the Istanbul hub.

Raging flames were captured spilling out of the passenger jet's left engine

The Airbus A330 had to turn back to Ataturk airport less than 30 minutes into its journey

A passerby captured the plane on fire on their mobile phone

The plane was carrying 298 passengers and 14 crew and all were evacuated safely, according to the airline.

However, local Turkish news agencies reported one woman on board was hospitalised after suffering a fainting spell.

The airline blamed the fire on Flight QR240 on what it described as a 'bird strike' .

A spokesperson for Qatar Airways told MailOnline: 'Qatar Airways can confirm that QR240 from Istanbul to Doha experienced a bird strike, which resulted in its safe return to Istanbul.

'All 298 passengers and 14 crew disembarked normally and the airline is sending a replacement aircraft to Istanbul.

'Customer needs, including onward travel, will be taken care of by the airline. The safety of our passengers is our most important responsibility. The pilot followed all safety procedures.'

Turkish media said the airline would send a replacement aircraft to Istanbul to ferry waiting passengers onward to its hub in the new Hamad International Airport in Doha.

A Qatar Airways aircraft is seen after making an emergency landing at Ataturk International Airport after a 'bird strike' caused a blaze

The smoke seen at the aircraft's wheels is due to its landing

Turkish media said the airline would send a replacement aircraft to Istanbul to ferry waiting passengers onward to its hub in the new Hamad International Airport in Doha

Typically, such strikes can see birds sucked into a passenger plane's jet engine, sparking a fire and shorting it out.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the emergency landing was ordered after flames came out of the plane's left-side engine.

Mehmet Kirazoglu, who first reported the plane landing on Twitter said: 'I was in Turkish Airlines Technology building nearby the IST airport we heard a strange engine sound over us.

'When [we looked] up we saw a Qatar Airways plane whose left engine was flaming out.

'It turned round towards sea, I suppose it drained its fuel [in the] Marmara Sea. Thank god, we have learnt that it landed safely.'

Airport workers in high-vis jackets peering into the Airbus A330's left engine

According to Turkish news site, AirportHaber there was 'damage to the blades'

At noon after the aircraft had landed at Ataturk International airport, airport staff inspected the plane's engines.

According to Turkish news site, AirportHaber there was 'damage to the blades'.

The site has shared pictures of airport workers in high-vis jackets peering into the Airbus A330's left engine.

HOW DANGEROUS IS A BIRD STRIKE? 'Strikes are occasionally dangerous,' author and pilot Patrick Smith wrote in Cockpit Confidential. 'This is especially true when engines are involved, as we saw in 2009 when US Airways flight 1549 glided into the Hudson River after colliding with a flock of Canada geese.' In this incident Captain Sullenberger courageously landed an A320 in the Hudson River after the plane lost thrust in both engines following the bird strike, which occurred moments after take-off. 'Modern turbofans are resilient, but they don't take kindly to the ingestion of foreign objects, particularly those slamming into their rotating blades at high speeds,' said Smith. 'Birds don't clog an engine but can bend or fracture the internal blades, causing power loss.' Advertisement

The passenger jet had been heading to Doha, Qatar from Istanbul when it was forced to turn back on itself

A Qatar Airways aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at Istanbul's Ataturk (stock image)

Passengers on board the Airbus A330 have disembarked as normal back at Ataturk Airport

Qatar Airways has issued a statement on their twitter account to confirm that the plane has landed safely

Qatar Airways is one of the Mideast's three biggest carriers, alongside the region's biggest carrier, the Dubai-based Emirates Airline, and the Abu-Dhabi based Etihad Airways.

The three have increasingly challenged Western airlines in long-haul flights.

Qatar Airways flies out of its hub in the vast new Hamad International Airport in Doha, which is preparing to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
She's been spending quality time with her two-year-old son as she eagerly awaits the arrival of her second child.

And Teresa Palmer looked every bit the doting mother hand-in-hand with her little boy Bodhi Rain as they stepped out in Los Angeles to run errands on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old was glowing in a chic spotted summer dress, which complimented her blossoming pregnant figure.

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Glowing and gorgeous! Teresa Palmer (pictured) steps out in Hollywood with son, Bodhi Rain, to do some errands and spend quality time with her two-year-old

Her honeycomb locks flowed freely and draped over her shoulders, rocking subtle waves to give it that post beach look.

The Adelaide born actress paired her outfit with tortoiseshell sunglasses and plain black flats, opting for a low-key makeup-free look and sporting a nude lip.

Bohdi looked in good spirits as he bounced happily alongside his mother, wearing a maroon tie-dye shirt, shorts and black sandals.

Burgeoning baby bump: Teresa showed off her blossoming pregnant figure in a maroon-coloured spotted summer dress paired with tortoiseshell shades (pictured)

Two peas in a pod: Teresa and her son Bodhi complimented one another with matching colour combinations as they walked hand-in-hand down the street (pictured)

Teresa announced her happy news to the world in May and has been documenting her pregnancy journey through a series of video blogs on her website.

In June the Los Angeles-based actress almost let her unborn child's name in one of her video blogs and revealed she would be having baby number two in Australia.

'It's cool we get to be in Australia, meet the midwife, get our house in Australia all ready because that's where we will be birthing.

Fine form: The blonde bombshell showed off her long athletic legs as she ran down the street with her hair flowing freely rocking subtle waves to pull of a post beach look

Mother son outing: Bohdi looked in good spirits as he bounced happily alongside his mother, wearing a maroon tie-dye shirt, shorts and black sandals

'We'll be bringing our new son home to our house in Adelaide,' she added.

The blond beauty shared a picture of herself and never-before-seen pictures of herself with her eldest on Thursday in a bid to share parenting advice based on her own experiences with being a mother.

This will be the third outing of the week for the pair and unborn child she affectionately named 'bumpy' in an Instagram photo of the family taking a scenic hike.

Doting mother: Teresa and Bodhi were all smiles on their Wednesday outing in Los Angeles

Blossoming belly: Teresa announced her pregnancy to the world in May and is expecting her second child in the coming months

On Sunday the duo were spotted breaking a sweat hiking up to the iconic Hollywood sign.

In a post to Instagram she wrote: 'We made it! Me, bumpy and Bodhi hiked up to behind the #hollywoodsign.

'Nothing like a 6 month preggo sweating up a scenic nature hike.'

From mother-to-mother: Teresa has documented her pregnancy in a series of video blogs on her website to share her experience and share advice
She was left disappointed after being eliminated from Wednesday's edition of The Bachelor.

And Georgia Tripos appeared to be dreading having to relive her elimination from the show ahead of episode seven as she was pictured looking downcast while heading to a Melbourne gym last week.

The often cheerful 24-year-old artist from Victoria failed to crack a smile as she made her way into a training session, while sporting black leggings and a white T-shirt.

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Disappointed: Georgia Tripos appeared to be dreading having to relive her elimination from The Bachelor as she was pictured looking downcast while heading to a Melbourne gym last week

The slender beauty looked red-faced and puffy-eyed during the solo outing.

Her makeup-free face and messy top knot was a complete contrast to her made-up appearance during Wednesday night's rose ceremony.

Georgia became the latest to be sent packing by Bachelor Richie Strahan and she did not hold back during a backseat rant, hours after the addition of three intruders.

Makeup-free: The slender beauty looked red-faced and puffy-eyed during the solo outing

Axed: Georgia looked downcast when she was left standing without a rose at the end of the evening's rose ceremony

She wont go quietly! After being eliminated at the rose ceremony, the outspoken Bachelor contestant unleashed a tirade against the three new intruders, who had entered the competition just hours before

'Who the f*** are they? Like...', grumbled Georgia as she drove away from the Bachelor mansion in a huff.

'Like to be chosen against people that he doesn't even f****** know, yet he has spent more time with them than he has with me.'

'They all look like f****** skanks,' she snapped, scratching her head in a flustered rage.

Not happy! 'They all look like f****** skanks,' she snapped, scratching her head in a flustered rage

Last week, a report claimed the reality TV star once worked as a stripper at a Melbourne club however a source close to Georgia told Daily Mail Australia that this is untrue.

'In regards to an article about Georgia being a stripper - it is totally false,' the source said firmly.

They added that the photos of her clad in lingerie that were published in a bid to support the stripper claims, were actually part of a professional shoot.

Stripper reports: Last week, a report claimed the reality TV star once worked as a stripper at a Melbourne club however a source close to Georgia told Daily Mail Australia that this is untrue

'They are using lingerie photos she took in a photoshoot.'

There are currently 11 contestants still vying for Richie's heart.
Skies Above Britain

Rating:

Great Canal Journeys

Rating:

Dangling by a scrap of cotton from a drawing pin in the ceiling at NATS, the air traffic control nerve centre in Hampshire, theres a tatty plastic cherub  a guardian angel for Britains guardians of the skies. Somehow, that doesnt breed much confidence.

The operations room of the National Air Traffic Service in Hampshire is a neon-lit warehouse, filled with people on swivel chairs staring at blodgy dots on screens. Probably this is state-of-the-art tech, but it did all look like table-top computer games from an Eighties theme pub.

The controllers main qualification appears to be an ability to intone, very quickly in a nasal voice, Jersey Five Echo Bravo, cancel the hold, leave Lambourne 265 degrees, while tweaking a series of buttons.

Chopped up: The documentary Skies Above Britain was split into too many pieces

There may be more to it than this, but we didnt get a chance to find out on Skies Above Britain (BBC2)  a documentary with an attention span so short, it was apparently directed by a hyperactive schoolboy.

Like many BBC2 facts-and-stats shows, this one consisted of interlocking segments. But every item had been chopped into bits and all the pieces shuffled. The effect was like looking in a broken mirror instead of a coherent picture, all we saw were fragments.

The air traffic controllers got het up because a light aircraft had drifted into controlled airspace over Gatwick, but before we could understand what was going on, the action switched to RAF Coningsby, where a Typhoon fighter jet was being scrambled. The pilot didnt go to Gatwick, though: instead, he intercepted an airliner over Bristol.

A message direct from Downing Street came over the airwaves, telling the pilot to shoot it down. This had escalated rather alarmingly. The Typhoon waggled its wings but, instead of loosing off an air-to-air missile, it turned for home. That had been just an exercise.

JEDI OF THE NIGHT Luke Skywalker from Star Wars (Mark Hamill) played a cameo in the finale of Man Down (C4), as henpecked cafe owner Bob. Actor-director Steven Berkoff and Blackadders Sir Tony Robinson popped up, too. Say what you like about this hit-and-miss sitcom, it does attract big names. Advertisement

We met the fighter pilot, briefly, but he said he had to go for a wee-wee and we were left looking at a grey door on Coningsby air base as it slowly swung shut.

By now I was starting to worry that somehow Id contracted jet lag and was hallucinating. But the show zig-zagged on: a vintage aircraft enthusiast talked about the crash that killed his father, a coastguard search-and-rescue helicopter was called out, and an RAF trainee pilot used a simulator that generated so much G-force, his eyebrows crossed.

It lacked a team of presenters to tie the disparate bits together, the way Coast or Countryfile can. Only one segment at the end really worked  a hillside rescue in heavy fog, with the helicopter flying blind within a few feet of rockface. That was terrific television, but too many viewers will have given up in confusion long before.

The value of good presenters was proved by TVs most adorable travellers, Prunella Scales and husband Timothy West, in their latest series of Great Canal Journeys (C4).

The couple are a joy to watch  teasing, quibbling and, during this romantic trip to Venice, flirting, too.

Timothy West and Prunella Scales are a joy to watch in the latest series of Great Canal Journeys

Do you love canals more than me? Pru asked her boat-mad hubbie. He just chuckled. Fifty-three years of marriage have taught him that its safer not to answer some questions. But she kept probing: Would you allow me a lover or two if we were Venetian?

Tim thought it over. This was the city of the great roues Byron and Casanova, after all. Youre a bit of a snob, he conceded, so go for it  have Lord Byron!

As ever, 81-year-old Tims confidence at the helm occasionally outstripped his ability to steer. They pootled along the Grand Canal as barges and gondolas jostled past: Im scared out of my socks, Pru muttered.

In the winding back-canals it got worse. The boat bumped off every wall and bridge, with Tim crying out cheerfully, Oh fart! and That was a balls-up!
She was caught on camera during an angry tirade against the new intruders during The Bachelor on Wednesday night.

And now newly evicted Georgia Tripos has revealed what really happened during the incident, claiming producers lied to her and told her the cameras were off so they could capture her rant.

In a no holds barred interview, the 24-year-old said it wasn't the only time producers had manipulated a situation, claiming she was 'threatened' with eviction if she didn't gossip about her fellow contestants.

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Lied to: Bachelor contestant Georgia Tripos says a producer told her the cameras were off when she called the three intruders 'skanks'

The 24-year-old said her mother was 'mortified' when she saw the scene on television on Wednesday night

Georgia had been upset to discover the three new contestants had each gone on a single date with Richie, while she had never been asked

Georgia told Newscorp the same producer also forced her to gossip about fellow contestant Kiki Morris.

'The same producer that was in the car with me  he tried to get me to b***h about someone [Kiki] for an hour and then he turned the camera off and threatened I'd go home if I didn't b***h about people,' she said.

Georgia said following her eviction on Wednesday night, a producer had asked her how she really felt about the day's events, which included the entrance of three new intruder contestants.

'I just had a bit of a moment of frustration,' she said. 'I was told we were done filming. That was quite a shock seeing it on national TV.

The raven-haired beauty claims producers had also threatened her with eviction if she didn't 'b****' about the other contestants

Her emotions were most likely running high from the pressure of hearing the new girls had each enjoyed a coveted single date with Bachelor Richie before arriving at the house.

The raven-haired beauty was never given a chance to spend time with Richie one-on-one, something she expressed concern about just hours before she was evicted.

Georgia said she was filled with regret at her choice of words, and denies the harsh language was directed at the new contestants.

She also said the other girls 'don't care' about Alex's white rose, and the complaints on screen are manufactured

After being eliminated at the rose ceremony, the outspoken Bachelor contestant unleashed a tirade against the three new intruders.

'Who the f*** are they? Like...', grumbled Georgia as she drove away from the Bachelor mansion in a huff.

'Like to be chosen against people that he doesn't even f****** know, yet he has spent more time with them than he has with me.'

Georgia said, after her eviction, that the new intruders 'look like f****** skanks'

'They all look like f****** skanks,' she snapped, scratching her head in a flustered rage.

Georgia also claims the Bachelor contestants were forced to complain about Alex's white rose, which allowed her one-on-one time with Richie in their own private area during any cocktail party.

She says the other girls 'don't care about it, really', and were constantly asked to mention it during their interviews to the cameras.

Warner Bros released a statement to News Corp which said Georgia's claims were lies, and she could just be bitter.
His catchphrase 'cool bananas' became a series talking point on The Bachelorette.

And Richie Strahan has once again caused a social media meltdown with yet another old school idiom 'By Jingo'.

As soon as the cringe-worthy one-liner was blurted out to intruder Khalia on Wednesday night's episode, viewers of the show were quick to take to their social media to make fun of the 31-year-old ropes technician and his sayings.

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Social media meltdown: Fans erupted on Twitter as Richie Strahan comes up with a new catchphrase

One Twitter user wrote: 'Did he just say by jingo.'

Another tweeted: '"By jingo" is the new "cool bananas".'

One more added: 'By jingo, I wanna give it a crack and just like that I was back on #teamrichie #coolbananas #thebachelorau.'

One Twitter user wrote: 'Did he just say by bi jingo'

Osher Gunsberg help: While others questioned if Richie struggled with the English language and made-up words as a result

Winning over the public: Fans said his newest one-liner won them over again

While others questioned if Richie struggled with the English language and made-up words as a result.

One social media user said: 'That's not a real word right?'

Others were inspired to come up with their own catchphrases as a result of Richie's odd choice in words.

'Boyfriend's latest catchphrase: "I'm getting itchy for Ritchie" #BachelorAU,' a Twitter user wrote.

Motivation: Others were inspired to come up with their own catchphrases as a result of Richie's odd choice in words

'Boyfriend's latest catchphrase: 'I'm getting itchy for Ritchie' #BachelorAU': A Twitter user wrote

Fans of the show were also quick to point out that the lovelorn star used the words 'beautiful' and 'amazing' on numerous occasions, as well as nervously giggled at himself.

But the new phrase is unsurprising as Richie one over the hearts of millions of Australians with his adorable gaffes on The Bachelorette last year.

After The Bachelorette wrapped up filming, the serial reality TV star revealed the story behind his famous 'cool bananas' catchphrase, telling News Corp last year: 'I panicked, I hit the panic button'.

Overuse of words: Fans of the show were also quick to point out that the lovelorn star used the words 'beautiful' and 'amazing' on numerous occasions

Defending his rather goofy reputation, Richie also claimed the public got a little over-excited about him saying 'normal stuff'.

'I am a passionate Aussie,' he said. 'Crikey, I think I just say normal stuff but then everyone loses their mind.'

The Perth tradie became a fan favourite on The Bachelorette last year due to his endearing shyness around women.

He also notably struggled to find the words to say 'I love you' to Sam Frost and instead blurted out: 'I am falling in you'.
She's known for flaunting her killer curves on the catwalk for Victoria's Secret.

And once again Shanina Shaik looked red hot on Wednesday evening, wearing a leather minidress during a night out in New York City.

A keyhole at the front of the frock provided a hint of cleavage and the beauty flashed plenty of flesh in the halter neck design, which also featured a low back.

Red hot woman! Shanina Shaik looked red hot in a leather halter neck minidress at the W Dubai launch in New York City on Wednesday

The Australian-born beauty of Lithuanian, Pakistani and Saudi Arabian descent, also showed off her long limbs in the thigh-skimming number.

Elongating her legs further, the 25-year-old donned metallic stilettos with clear plastic straps to give the illusion of her foot magically staying put inside the shoe.

This strappy design showed the model's pedicure matched her outfit, while her hands appeared to have a nude manicure as she grasped at her clutch.

Flashing the flesh: The halter neck design featured a low back, while the thigh-skimming design kept the 25-year-old's slender pins on show

Arriving solo: The brunette beauty arrived solo at the event, having spent the weekend with her fiancee DJ Ruckus in Las Vegas, where he was playing a number of gigs

Attending the launch of The W Hotel's new Dubai property, the brunette beauty dolled up for the evening at the Manhattan W Hotel with cascading curls falling over one shoulder.

Shanina also opted for a dramatic make-up look, which included boldly defined eyebrows, heavily lined eyes, plenty of blush and a dark red pout.

The leggy lady arrived solo at the event, having spent the weekend with her fiancee DJ Ruckus in Las Vegas, where he was playing a number of gigs.

Strike a pose! The model beauty certainly wasn't short of a few friends once inside, as she posed with the likes of (L-R) Hannah Ferguson, Chanel Iman, Joan Smalls and Nina Agdal

Fun and games! The girls played up to the cameras, kicking up their heels quite literally, while Shanina made a peace sign with her fingers standing side-on in the shot

But the model beauty certainly wasn't short of a few friends once inside, as she posed with the likes of Hannah Ferguson, Chanel Iman, Joan Smalls and Nina Agdal.

The girls played up to the cameras, kicking up their heels quite literally, while Shanina made a peace sign with her fingers standing side-on in the shot.

Later, the photogenic beauties even stopped to take selfies on Shanina's phone.
Giada De Laurentiis and her daughter Jade beamed with delight as they landed back home at LAX on Wednesday.

The celebrity chef - who turns 46 on Monday - could not stop smiling alongside her pink-clad, eight-year-old princess.

The grinning Daytime Emmy winner dressed her petite 5ft2in frame in a sheer white blouse, skinny blue jeans, and a grey jacket.

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Cheerful: Giada De Laurentiis and her daughter Jade beamed with delight as they landed back home at LAX on Wednesday

De Laurentiis shielded her fully made-up complexion with large sunglasses and wore her light brown locks down.

Unsurprisingly, Giada put her adorable mini-me in a festive pair of ice-cream sandwich-themed leggings for their six-hour flight.

The mother-daughter duo had just returned from a Hamptons-style getaway in Montauk where they paddleboarded, swam, and rode horses together at the beach.

Little Jade appears in her famous mother's docuseries Giada in Italy, which airs Sundays on the Food Network.

Baring their teeth: The celebrity chef - who turns 46 on Monday - could not stop smiling alongside her pink-clad, eight-year-old princess

Casually clad: The grinning Daytime Emmy winner dressed her petite 5ft2in frame in a sheer white blouse, skinny blue jeans, and a grey jacket

Glammed up: De Laurentiis shielded her fully made-up complexion with large sunglasses and wore her light brown locks down

Sweet tooth: Unsurprisingly, Giada put her adorable mini-me in a festive pair of ice-cream sandwich-themed leggings for their six-hour flight

The Rome-born restaurateur shares joint custody of the darling girl with ex-husband Todd Thompson, who receives '$9K a month' in child support - according to TMZ.

The 53-year-old Anthrologie designer began dating Giada when she was a 19-year-old anthropology student at UCLA, and they finalized their divorce on September 3.

During her 11-year marriage, De Laurentiis was forced to deny cheating allegations with no less than three men - Bobby Flay, Matt Lauer, and John Mayer.

But for the last year, the Triscuit spokesmodel has been romantically linked to FABLife producer Shane Farley - even before his divorce from Jennifer Giamo was finalized.

'Sat afternoon ride #mommymoments': The mother-daughter duo had just returned from a Hamptons-style getaway in Montauk where they rode horses together at the beach

Been on the channel since 2003! Little Jade appears in her famous mother's docuseries Giada in Italy, which airs Sundays on the Food Network

Pictured in 2014: The Rome-born restaurateur shares joint custody of the darling girl with ex-husband Todd Thompson, who receives '$9K a month' in child support - according to TMZ

11 years: The 53-year-old Anthrologie designer began dating Giada when she was a 19-year-old anthropology student at UCLA, and they finalized their divorce on September 3

'I have someone new!' the Food Network Star judge confirmed to E! News in March.

'I had a rough year and a half, no question. But I think that all of us go through stuff. I checked out for a little bit. I tried to stay under the radar to protect my family and my daughter, mostly. But now I feel like I've turned the corner.'

Giada also happens to be the nepotistically-privileged granddaughter of Oscar-winning film producer Dino De Laurentiis - who oversaw projects helmed by Federico Fellini, Roberto Rossellini, and David Lynch.

Rumours: During her 11-year marriage, De Laurentiis was forced to deny cheating allegations with no less than three men - Bobby Flay, Matt Lauer, and John Mayer

'I have someone new!' But for the last year, the Food Network Star judge has been romantically linked to FABLife producer Shane Farley - even before his divorce from Jennifer Giamo was finalized (pictured February 26)
PR queen Roxy Jacenko has posted a happy snap of herself and 60 minutes presenter Allison Langdon on social media just days after slamming the reporter.

The pair are seen pictured in the back of a car both posing with their hands shaped in the peace symbol and appear to be all smiles despite the clash.

Roxy hit back at Allison after she was questioned whether there may be 'cynicism' over her breast cancer battle.

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Peace: PR queen Roxy Jacenko (right) has posted a happy snap of herself and 60 minutes presenter Allison Langdon (left) on social media just days after slamming the reporter

Defiant: PR queen Roxy Jacenko hit back at 60 Minutes presenter Allison Langdon after the journalist suggested there was 'cynicism' over her breast cancer diagnosis

The defiant mother-of-two snapped at the reporter to 'change your friends' in a preview for the fiery interview, which is due to air this Sunday.

Her outburst came after Allison told Roxy some 'normal' people may have questioned the timing of her cancer battle - just weeks after her husband Oliver Curtis was jailed.

'Well they're not normal Alison, change your friends,' Roxy said.

'You've got too much time on your hands if you say that. I don't really give a f*** what they think on my timing.

'They can say that, the reality is, it's not something that I ever thought I would face.'

Fiery: Roxy snapped at 60 Minutes presenter Allison Langdon (pictured) to 'change your friends'

The founder of Sweaty Betty PR, 36, insisted she did not think she had an image problem.

Last month she revealed that she had discovered a lump in her breast - three weeks after Curtis was sentenced to two years in jail for insider trading.

Roxy has since confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that she will undergo radiation therapy.

In the 60 Minutes clip, Roxy was seen being pushed through a ward on a hospital bed before the camera panned to an operating theatre.

Heated exchange: Her outburst came after Allison told Roxy many 'normal' people questioned the timing of her cancer battle

Battle: In the 60 Minutes clip, Roxy was seen being pushed through a ward on a hospital bed

She also opened up about how her investment banker husband's jail-term has left her as a single mother.

Despite her turbulent past few months, Roxy said she is determined to keep life as normal as possible for her five-year-old daughter Pixie and two-year-old Hunter.

'It is what it is. I'm unfortunately the person who has got the cancer, my husband is in jail and I'm now a single mother,' she told the program.

'I can't believe I'm even in this position. I don't want to let down the children.

Treatment: She revealed the news of her breast cancer diagnosis last month and has since confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that she will undergo radiation therapy

Challenge: She also opened up about how her investment banker husband Oliver Curtis' jail-term for insider-trading has left her as a single mother

'There is me and only me. So if got an obligation to all of those people to keep running, in heels.'

Roxy also discussed her husband's conviction and two-year jail sentence.

When asked what Curtis had told her about what happened, she replied: 'We don't discuss it.

'He's got no reason to lie to me.'

Jailed: Curtis, 31, is serving a two year sentence in Parklea Prison alongside the likes of Brothers 4 Life gang members

Curtis, 31, is serving a two year sentence in Parklea Prison alongside the likes of Brothers 4 Life gang members.

Roxy is not thought to have been paid for the story, according to reports.

She is currently enjoying a luxury getaway in Hong Kong with her two children.

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting that Roxy took advantage of the timing of her breast cancer announcement.

PR maven: The founder of Sweaty Betty PR, 36, insisted she did not think she had an image problem
She's only 24 but already she's nabbed lucrative modeling deals and Hollywood A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio as a boyfriend.

Nina Agdal was glittering with confidence on Wednesday as she attended the model-packed W Hotel party in New York City celebrating the opening of W Dubai.

The tawny-haired beauty rubbed elbows with Joan Smalls and Chanel Iman, all wearing an array of unique, midriff-revealing ensembles that complimented their slender curves.

Blue fire: Nina Agdal captured hearts in a sexy sapphire-blue midriff-baring number as she attended the W Hotel party celebrating the opening of W Dubai in NYC on Wednesday

Nina opted for a silky saphhire-blue halterneck number featuring a cut-out in front that put her toned, tanned stomach on display.

A thigh-high split in front showed off Nina's long, lean legs and taupe ankle-strapped high heels.

Turning, Nina allowed spectators a glance at the outfit's crisscrossing details in the back that were secured by many long laces.

Toned tums: Chanel Iman and Joan Smalls delighted in their own belly-revealing creations at the model-packed bash

Famous: The fantastically fit Nina - who is dating Hollywood A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio - displayed fine tone in her silky ensemble

Laces: Nina turned to reveal the outfit's other side and a network of long laces

Tawny: Nina had that tawny lioness look as she took long strides down the street

Sultry: Joan strolled to the venue showing off her legs in a white Agata Corset and slim-fitting Agata skirt along with a pair of furry high heels

She wore her light golden-brown hair pulled back tight into a ponytail that allowed the long tresses to tumble back down again.

Her skin glowed with natural-toned make-up with strokes of brown and beige eye shadows, a hint of blush and a swipe of nude gloss.

Chanel Iman was both glamorous and relaxed in a two-piece ensemble that included a sparkly embellished crop top and white flaring trousers with the same sequin details running down the sides.

Isn't she lovely: Chanel displayed tone and confidence in her sparkly top and trouser set as she high-heeled her way to the party

Models unite: Hannah Ferguson, left, and Shanina Shaik, centre, were also in attendance

Sheer dating: The 24-year-old Hannah wore a black and sheer Stylestalker Underway Midi Dress that showed off plenty of cleavage

Red hot: Shanina went with a vivid red leather dress featuring a keyhole split in front

She wore her raven-dark hair parted off-centre with a portion tucked behind one ear and the other side freely cascading passed her shoulder.

The 25-year-old Victoria's Secret Angel paused to pose by the W Hotel display that featured shimmery silver-painted palm fronds and W glass sculpture.

In walked Joan Smalls wearing a fitted white Agata Corset with futuristic flair and a tight white Agata skirt with thigh-high split in front.

Black and scarlet: Hannah gave spectators a peek at her dress' zippered back while Shanina turned to reveal more plunging dress details

Take a picture: Chanel, Hannah and Shanina wanted this moment to last longer

Music for the masses: DJ Leigh Lezark of The Misshapes spun tunes at the event

The two-piece outfit enabled Joan to show off her arms, legs and her fantastically toned midsection.

Joan added a pair of furry, whimsical high heels with crisscrossing ankle straps while her waist-length hair was combed straight and falling evenly from a centre part.

Others to attend the glittery gathering included model Hannah Ferguson, who turned up the heat in a black and sheer, cleavage-baring Stylestalker Underway Midi Dress.

Shanina Shaik captured hearts, no doubt, in her skintight red halter mini-dress.
LINCOLN -- A 2008 graduate of Fairbury Senior High School competed in the 33rd Annual David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition held April 15-17 at Fort Benning, Ga.

Staff Sgt. Luke Katz, an infantryman with the Nebraska National Guard's Company C (Long Range Surveillance), 1-134th Cavalry, was the first Nebraska Army National Guardsman to compete at and finish the Army's Best Ranger Competition.

Katz and his partner, Sgt. 1st Class Jon Knea of the California National Guard, finished 17th out of 50 teams in the competition.

Katz trained for three weeks before his four-day audition for the competition in November 2015. After being selected, Katz reported to Fort Benning in January 2016 for three months of preparation training for the competition.

The three-day competition's events included weapons firing, night orienteering, the Darby Queen obstacle course, a swim across famous Victory Pond, a combat water survival obstacle course, a helocast and an 18-mile ruck march while carrying a 60-pound rucksack. In all, Katz and the other Rangers competed 60 continuous hours and covered more than 50 miles of Fort Benning terrain.

Now that he has completed his first Best Ranger Competition, Katz said in a press release he now has the experience and motivation to prepare for next year.

The son of Lyle and Tamara Katz of Steele City, Neb., Katz enlisted in the Nebraska Army National Guard in 2007, and has completed a deployment to Afghanistan. He currently serves as a team leader and training non-commissioned officer for Company E (Long Range Surveillance), 1-134th Cavalry in Beatrice.

On Aug. 6, Katz also participated at the Leapfest International Static Line Parachute Competition in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Leapfest is the largest, longest standing international static line parachute training event and competition. Katz' team placed fifth out of 30 state teams and 30 international teams.
He's best known for having his head splattered by The Mountain in Game Of Thrones.

But actor Pedro Pascal was looking full of life at the premiere of the second season of his Netflix drama Narcos in Mexico City on Wednesday.

The Chilean-born actor seemed to be relishing the atmosphere as he posed up with his costars at the screening of the acclaimed show, which tells the story of cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.

Star turn: Pedro Pascal, right, joined his Narcos co-stars at the show's premiere in Mexico City on Wednesday

The 41-year-old, who plays Drugs Enforcement Agency agent Javier Pena, cut quite the dash in a smart-but-casual combo of black jacket, shirt, slacks and black shoes.

He was joined by his 40-year-old on-screen nemesis Wagner Moura, who plays the man known as the Tsar Of Cocaine, and who opted for a more dressed up look of black suit jacket, shirt and trousers.

The quartet was rounded off by Mexican star Damian Alcazar and actress Paulina Gaitan who plays the mobster's wife Tata Escobar.

Narcos' first season charted the rise of the notorious Colombian drug kingpin, who became a billionaire through the production and distribution of cocaine.

A not-very-close shave: Pablo wore trendy designer stubble to the exciting event

Pretty vacant: As his co-stars grinned at the camera Pablo mysteriously stared into the distance

The show followed his interactions with rival drug lords, DEA agents as he built his drug empire.

But the chickens come home to roost for the criminal in the second season, which iends with Escobar's spectacular rooftop shootout death at the hands of a US special forces-trained Colombian police task force in 1993.

The graphic scenes filmed were filmed in the infamous city of Medellin, which was once known as the most violent city in the world.

Often called The King of Cocaine, by the early 1990s Escobar had risen to become the wealthiest criminal in history.

Latina lovely: Actress Paulina Gaitan added a much-needed dash of feminine elegance

He's behind you: Wagner looked a little uncomfortable after his on-screen nemesis put his hand on his shoulder

During the height of its operations, his Medellin Cartel brought in more than $60 million per day, smuggling fifteen tons of cocaine a day into the United States.

It is estimated to have supplied 80 per cent of the cocaine smuggled into the United States at the time.

The staggering total of the cartel's annual turnover is estimated to have been in the region of $22 billion. Indeed, so much money was being made it cost $1000 per week just to purchase rubber bands to wrap the stacks of ill-gotten cash.

The first season is currently available to subscribers, and the second will begin streaming on September 2 at 12:01am PST.

Hunter: Pedro plays Drugs Enforcement Agency agent Javier Pena in the show

Hunted: The first season charted the rise of Wagner's true-life character Pablo Escobar
Amy Schumer found herself in a difficult spot after one of her writers went on a social media rant about women rape victims who don't report the crimes to police.

The 35-year-old comedienne left many wondering on Wednesday when she insinuated on Twitter that she'd cancelled Inside Amy Schumer.

Amy tweeted that 'we aren't making the show anymore,' which followed an earlier tweet that seemed to hint that she had fired Kurt Metzger from her Comedy Central show.

Wondering: Amy Schumer (pictured on Tuesday) seemed to suggest on Wednesday she was canceling her own show after one of her writer's made inflammatory comments about women rape victims

What just happened: Although Comedy Central has renewed Inside Amy Schumer for a fifth season, perhaps the star herself has other plans

'I didn't fire Kurt,' Amy tweeted, adding: 'He isn't a writer for my show because we aren't making the show anymore. There are no writers for it.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to Schumer's representative for comment.

Schumer also re-posted a fan's message that read: 'You're the best, and we'll miss your show. And Twitter sucks sometimes.'

Although Comedy Central has renewed Inside Amy Schumer for a fifth season, Amy's recent tweets suggests she's got other plans.

Amy just wrapped a film with Goldie Hawn, 70, that's going under the working title of Mother/Daughter Action Comedy Project.

Something to crow about: The comedienne turned her back on the drama when she posted a picture of her and her dad enjoying her new memoir

She's been promoting her new memoir The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo, which was released on Tuesday.

Amy took a moment out of her hectic day by sharing a tender photo of her with her father who appeared to be in stitches as she shared portions of her new tome.

'My dad was a great audience at this private reading of #TheGirlWithTheLowerBackTattoo,' the stand-up comic wrote in the caption.

Outcry: The drama started when comedian Kurt Metzger - a writer for Inside Amy Schumer - made his thoughts on sexual assault known via social media

The drama started when comedian Kurt Metzger took to Facebook and Twitter over the last couple of days to clearly, and quite aggressively, make his thoughts on sexual assault known.

And since the 39-year-old is credited as a writer for Inside Amy Schumer, the leading lady finally responded on Wednesday after an outcry from fans.

Amy, who has spoken out about her own experiences with rape, assured fans that she does not support Kurt's beliefs, posting: 'His words are not mine.'

Setting the record straight: Amy took to Twitter earlier on Wednesday to share her thoughts on comedian Kurt Metzger's insensitive remarks on sexual assault

'Please stop asking me about it': The comedian tried to distance herself from Kurt, who had sparked ire with many by being a 'rape apologist'

After sending her love to Elite Daily writer Katie Corvino, who had written an article thanking the comedian for helping her come forward as a rape survivor, she addressed the scandal.

'I am so saddened and disappointed in Kurt Metzger. He is my friend and a great writer and I couldn't be more against his recent actions,' Amy posted.

She followed the first tweet by sharing: 'Kurt does not work for me. He is not a writer on my show. Please stop asking me about it.'

Kurt is listed on IMDb as a writer for 39 episodes of Inside Amy Schumer, between 2013 and 2016.

'Disappointed': First the star had shared her disappointment in the comedian, later clarifying that she absolutely did not agree with what he was saying

He had been posting on Facebook for days regarding a comedian who was allegedly banned from performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade theaters following rape allegations from multiple women.

In one (of many) posts, Kurt scolded women who say they were raped, but do not go to the police.

'Don't f***king complain about the police not helping if you didn't bother going to the police at all. "Why aren't the rape kits being tested??" Because instead of actually educating women with useful information on what to do if they are victimized, you blather nonsense about "culture" and then tell them being weak is being strong,' he wrote.

Victim blaming: Kurt's hurtful comments saw him lashing out, using expletives as he scolded women who say they were raped but do not go to the police

After Medium posted an article titled 'Kurt Metzger Needs to Shut Up,' the comedian continued to respond aggressively, reposting it and adding: 'I could not be prouder of this article trying to smear me for being right.'

'Having this written about me is better than receiving a f**king emmy,' he posted, later adding: 'Im supposed to just f**king say "guilty" without even a detail of what supposedly happened? Or what, Goddess will be angry? F**k u.'

Along with a continuing barrage of Facebook and Twitter posts, Kurt changed his Twitter bio amid the row, to: 'Proud cuck and rape apologist. If u use those words it means u are pure s**t and I want u to HATE me. Please continue to feed me, cows.'

Solidarity: Following Kurt's harsh words, comedian Cameron Esposito shared an inspiring message on Twitter, saying 'we are each other's responsibility'

Meanwhile, comedian Cameron Esposito posted a note 'To female comics in New York & everywhere. Re: Kurt.'

It read: 'Voices can get so loud that they appear omnipresent when they are, in fact, a dying breed in our field. This doesn't mean they cannot harm. But safety, compassion and understanding are winning.'

'Stand your ground. Do your job. Speak out when you sense danger. We are each other's responsibility. Together we can make comedy a safer workplace. #iamtoo,' she concluded.

Speaking: She shared a second tweet after noting that she had failed to call out Kurt by his full name in her first mention, likely because of fear

Cameron followed that message with a second tweet reading: 'I don't know why I didn't say his last name. Actually I do. Fear. I'm talking about Kurt Metzger.'

Amy revealed in her new memoir, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, that she is a victim of sexual assault herself.
She's previously expressed her interest to dabble into acting.

And it looks like Zilda Williams' career dreams are coming true.

The 33-year-old former Bachelor Australia contestant was spotted spilling out of a skimpy bikini while on the Sydney set of Channel Nine drama Here Come The Habibs on Thursday.

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On set: Former Bachelor Australia Zilda Williams contestant was spotted spilling out of a skimpy bikini while on the set of Channel Nine drama Here Come The Habibs on Thursday

The tightly fitted navy coloured bikini top featured a plunging neckline and string detail, allowing onlookers a generous glimpse of her ample cleavage.

She teamed it with a patterned sarong, splashed with a navy and orange print throughout, which she tied up to reveal her curvy thighs.

With her golden locks pulled back in a messy topknot, she completed her look with a pair of sassy shades and simple black thongs.

Bigger bikini required? The tightly fitted navy coloured bikini top featured a plunging neckline and stringed detail, allowing onlookers a generous glimpse of her cleavage

Mix and match: She teamed the bikini top with a patterned sarong, splashed with a navy and orange print throughout, which she tied up to reveal her curvy thighs

Blonde bombshell: The television personality had her golden locks pulled back in a messy topknot on this occasion

Casual footwear: She swapped her red carpet ready heels for a pair of simple black thongs

Oozing confidence as she walked through the outdoor set, it would be hard to believe that the blonde bombshell was new to acting.

Zilda is believed to be an extra on the Channel Nine show's second season.

Earlier this year Zilda confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that she's already shot a pilot with a major Australian network for a comedy series, but is unsure yet whether or not it will be picked up.

She's a pro! Oozing confidence as she walked through the outdoor set, it would be hard to believe that the blonde bombshell was new to acting

Shady lady: Zilda also slipped on a pair of sassy sunglasses for her scene

Action: The media personality was seen strutting across the pavement as the camera focused on her

Career aspirations: Zilda is believed to be an extra on the Channel Nine show's second season

The Christchurch-born beauty has also been attending auditions in between working as a professional extra after leaving her last job as a swimwear saleswoman in Bondi.

The starlet also confirmed that she was offered a spot on another reality TV dating show, but turned it down after finding romance with a mystery boyfriend.

Zilda shot to fame with a brief but memorable appearance on season three of The Bachelor.

Not alone: She was also seen walking along the beach alongside a mystery male

There's another one: Another male extra was seen walking with Zilda at one stage

Beach babe: No doubt the blonde bombshell was enjoying the great outdoors

Inked: She also showed off the tattoos splashed across her feet and ankles

Since appearing on the series, the former glamour model has become a professional party animal and one of Sydney's most talked-about socialites.

In October, she had her mammoth FF breast implants reduced to a more modest set of DDs.

She also cut off her long blonde hair around the same time, re-emerging with a conservative blonde bob cut similar to Jennifer Lawrence and Taylor Swift.

The former Zoo magazine vixen has been romantically linked to a string of male celebrities over the past year, including House Husbands actor Firass Dirani, Bondi Rescue star and surf champion Rod Kerr, and former Gold Coast Titans player-turned-actor Kevin Gordon.

Shirtless hunk: The blond heart throb with Zilda wore a pair of light shorts and had a towel slung over his shoulder

Production: Filming of the show takes place in Sydney
She left the Bachelor mansion in a fiery exit on Wednesday night, calling the intruders who took her place on the Channel Ten show 'f****** skanks'.

But Georgia Tripos appeared to have calmed down on Thursday, the day after the drama unfolded on television, spending some time with her mother in Melbourne.

The 24-year-old cut a relaxed figure in a loose-fitting white T-shirt, which highlighted her bronzed glow.

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Winding down: Georgia Tripos appeared to be enjoying some time with her mother away from the throes of the Bachelor mansion on Thursday

And it appears the artist from Victoria has kept her raven tresses long since her time on the show wrapped, as they were styled straight before cascading over her shoulders.

During the outing, Georgia sported a full face of make up, with a flick of black eyeliner and a layer of subtle pink lipstick.

The brunette was sipping on a berry smoothie as she chatted and laughed with her blonde-haired mother and a friend in the eatery.

Bye! She left the Bachelor mansion in a fiery exit on Wednesday night, calling the intruders who took her place on the Channel Ten show 'f****** skanks'

Not happy: She failed to receive a rose from Richie, but the three intruders - Steph, Sarah and Khalia - all remained in her place

Georgia was sent packing after Bachelor Richie Strahan chose to not give her a rose on Wednesday night.

It was the same night the three intruders, Steph, Sarah and Khalia, entered the mansion, much to the dismay of the original ten ladies.

With Megan Marx refusing to accept a rose, Georgia was then sent home and she failed to keep her emotions in check during her departure interview in the limousine.

Happier place: It appears the artist from Victoria has kept her raven tresses long since her time on the show wrapped, as they were styled straight

Dolled up: During the outing, Georgia sported a full face of make up, with a flick of black eyeliner and a layer of subtle pink lipstick

The outspoken Bachelor contestant unleashed a tirade against the three new intruders.

'Who the f*** are they? Like...' grumbled Georgia as she drove away from the Bachelor mansion.

'To be chosen against people that he doesn't even f****** know, yet he has spent more time with them than he has with me.'

Down time: It seemed as though the raven-haired star had had some time to process the events of her final rose ceremony

Not for her: She did not receive a single date throughout her time on The Bachelor which led to much of her frustration

'They all look like f****** skanks,' she snapped, scratching her head in a flustered rage.

At the beginning of the episode, Georgia complained about not having been picked for a single date.

'I feel like, you know, time's running out and so many girls have gone on dates,' she complained.

Adding: 'I don't know where I stand. I really want my time with Richie.'

Uneasy: At the beginning of the episode, Georgia complained about not having been picked for a single date

Tumultuous: She was visibly annoyed at the arrival intruders, asking: 'Who the f*** are they?
They just enjoyed their honeymoon in gorgeous Bora Bora after a lavish wedding.

And Shark Tank star Robert Herjavec and Dancing With The Stars vet Kym Johnson were back to real life in Los Angeles with a trip to outdoor mall The Grove.

The 53-year-old Canadian businessman and 40-year-old dancer Kym looked very much in love, beaming and staying close as they indulged in some retail therapy.

Newly married: Kym Johnson and Robert Herjavec went to an outdoor mall in Los Angeles on Wednesday after recently returning from their honeymoon

Kym showed her fresh tan from the couple's honeymoon in the South Pacific in a two-piece sleeveless outfit.

The Australian Dancing With The Stars pro glowed in the pale floral print ensemble with long skirt and lowcut cropped top.

Kym accessorised with sunglasses and completed her outfit with sandals.

Robert also kept it casual in a white Polo shirt, dark blue jeans and brown loafers.

Fresh tans: The couple were at The Grove after a honeymoon in the South Pacific

The Shark Tank star accessorised with sunglasses and a thick watch.

The couple met during season 20 of DWTS when Robert was paired with Kym in the ABC dancing competition show.

Robert proposed to Kym in February and presented her with a 6.5 carat diamond ring.

Kept it casual: Kim and Robert kept it casual for their trip to the mall

They tied the knot on July 31 during a ceremony held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.

The guest list included Kym's two-time dance partner Joey Fatone, as well as DWTS veterans Lance Bass and Donny Osmond as well as TV personality Carson Kressley.

The couple honeymooned in Bora Bora before returning to Los Angeles.
Her mother landed her first magazine cover aged 16.

And Kaia Gerber has gone one better than her beautiful mum Cindy Crawford, scoring her first solo cover shoot at the age of 14.

The teenager wows on three covers for POP magazine, while revealing how excited she is to see her modelling dreams come true.

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It's in the genes: Kaia Gerber is following in her model mum Cindy Crawford's footsteps, scoring her first solo cover shoot at the age of 14

Kaia's cover shoot with POP comes hot on the heels of her joint French Vogue cover with mum Cindy last year.

The three covers and inside editorial, shot by British photographer Charlotte Wales and styled by Fashion Editor/Stylist Charlotte Collet, see Kaia modelling a series of colourful looks and pulling off some playful poses.

Each cover sees the teenager flaunting her fresh-faced beauty, and those famous Crawford eyebrows, while dressed in a simple white tee.

She's a natural: The teenager wows in the shoot for POP magazine, while revealing how excited she is to see her modelling dreams come true

The inside shots show off Kaia's model figure, with the teen beauty modelling a polka dot crop top and leopard print trousers.

Alongside the stunning shoot, Kaia was interviewed by Misty Heath, the 14 year old daughter of POP star Sharleen Spiteri and POP's Founder / Editor-in-Chief Ashley Heath.

As well as declaring her love for Drake and Rihanna and Snapchat filters, Kaia gushes that she knew 'from a super young age' that she wanted to model.

Cover girl looks: Kaia's cover shoot with POP comes hot on the heels of her joint French Vogue cover with mum Cindy last year

'Its not like I never dreamed it could happen because its really all I dreamed about,' she explains.

'But I never thought itd happen this early. It didnt hit me until Mum and I got the French Vogue cover  even after that I was like, "wait is this really happening?" Im still kind of shocked.'

The teen adds that while she loves top designers like Balmain and Versace, 'I live in Re/Done and stuff which in my everyday life makes more sense. Im not going to go walking around every day in a Balmain dress!'

She's also keen to spill a secret about her famous mother, dishing that the world famous model is 'a super fast typer!'

Rising star: The three covers and inside editorial, shot by British photographer Charlotte Wales see Kaia modelling a series of colourful looks and pulling off some playful poses

'Like she can type without looking at the keyboard, which Im really into. She will be like talking to me and typing some essay without even looking down.'

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of POP Ashley Heath says that it's Cindy's guidance which is really helping Kaia make her way in the tough fashion industry.

'It's no secret that after Cindy and Kaia did that Vogue Paris cover last year, literally every glossy magazine in the world wanted her,' he says. 'But they're both being smart and very selective.'

'Cindy felt it was best Kaia did two separate shoots for POP, the cover story shot in studio in LA and then a more informal fashion story done at their family home in Muskoka, Canada. They let us into their home and agreed to an interview with another teenager.'

Simply stunning: Each cover sees the teenager flaunting her fresh-faced beauty, and those famous Crawford eyebrows

Speaking out: Alongside the shoot, Kaia was interviewed by Misty Heath, the 14 year old daughter of POP star Sharleen Spiteri and POP's Founder / Editor-in-Chief Ashley Heath

'Is Cindy Crawford pulling all the strings? Sure, she's keeping a very close eye, but she's a great mum and that's what you should do when you have a 14-year-old shooting star prodigy in your family.'

'Kaia literally cant take a bad picture, she's incredible. You see in the POP shoots how she's learnt all the moves and expressions from Cindy. She also works really hard and is focused on being totally professional.'

'She turns up on set with her own nude undergarments and accessories. It's not another Instagram brat moment. She's much better than all that. Kaia Gerber will be the biggest model in the world within 5 years.'

The A/W 2016 issue of POP is on UK stands from Friday August 19th.
Fans flocked to Twitter on Wednesday to bid farewell to TOWIE original Billie Faiers after six years on the show.

The 26-year-old blonde beauty made a final appearance on the ITVBe hit series with her two-year-old daughter Nelly.

Taking to Twitter as her last scenes aired, the mother-of-two wrote: 'Awww my last episode with my little lady... What an amazing 17 series I'v had , going to miss everyone xxxx (sic)', adding unhappy faces.

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Faier-wel! Fans flocked to Twitter on Wednesday to bid farewell to TOWIE original Billie Faiers after six years on the show

And fans quickly took to Twitter to express their sadness over her leaving.

'What's next for you will there me a billie and Greg show?(sic)', one user wrote.

'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO gonna miss you so so much. My fave TOWIE cast member xxxx (sic)', another fan tweeted.

'Awww my last episode with my little lady... What an amazing 17 series I'v had , going to miss everyone xxxx (sic)': The 26-year-old blonde beauty made a final appearance on the ITVBe hit show with her two-year-old daughter Nelly

And one fan clearly couldn't get enough of the stunning reality star.

'Was a bit sad tonight was yours and nelly's last episode on towie I hope you do pop back thou not gone forever (sic)', they tweeted hopefully.

And others felt Billie, who has been in the show since its debut episode in 2010, didn't get the exit she deserved.

' Final thoughts on TOWIE - @billiefaiers didn't get the farewell she deserved after 17 series compared to others who have left #justsaying#, one fan wrote.

'What's next for you will there me a billie and Greg show?(sic)': Fans quickly took to Twitter to express their sadness over her leaving

Billie bid farewell to the show which made her famous on Wednesday night's episode, announcing her departure to her co-stars during a circus themed bash.

The boutique owner was joined by her adorable daughter Nelly as she revealed to her fellow reality stars that after appearing on 18 series, it would be her final one.

Billie initially entered the show in its first series as a minor cast member to her sister Sam, who departed the show in series 11 after four years, now only estranged lovers James Argent and Lydia Bright remain as original stars.

'Final thoughts on TOWIE - @billiefaiers didn't get the farewell she deserved after 17 series compared to others who have left #justsaying#, one fan wrote

The stunning star dressed up as a sexy clown for the circus party held in honour of Bobby Norris' 30th birthday.

Speaking to Lydia, the blonde beauty revealed she is moving on with her career, as sweet Nelly larked around sporting a tutu before the duo left the bash hand in hand while the adorable tot gave a final wave to the cameras.

Earlier this month, a Lime Pictures spokesperson confirmed to MailOnline: 'Billie has recently made us aware that she would like to prioritise family life and little Nelly for the rest of the year.

Goodbye! TOWIE's Billie announced her departure to her co-stars during a circus themed bash

The end of an era: The boutique owner was joined by her adorable daughter Nelly as she revealed to her fellow reality stars that after appearing on 18 series, since the ITVBe show's inauguration in 2010

The last hurrah: Speaking to Lydia, the blonde beauty revealed she is moving on with her career, as sweet Nelly larked around sporting a tutu before the duo left the bash hand in hand while the adorable tot gave a final wave to the cameras

'We are in full support of this decision and will continue discussing with her how best to move forwards.

'Billie is a much loved and valued member of the TOWIE team and we are happy she wants to continue working with us.'

The blonde beauty, who shares Nelly with her fiance Greg Shepherd, has never been involved in any of the love stories on the show yet has become locked in fiery rows while also lending her support to a host of co-stars.

Way back when: Billie initially entered the show in its first series as a minor cast member to her sister Sam, who departed the show in series 11 after four years, now only estranged lovers James Argent and Lydia Bright remain as original stars

She is said to be determined to focus on her family and wedding plans - particularly as she has voiced a desire to have more children before she and Greg tie the knot.

Since Nelly arrived in 2014, Billie has shown off daughter's life on-screens, including birthday bashes and many celebrations, making the tot the youngest and most beloved cast member.

While motherhood was certainly a high for her TOWIE career, Billie saw a number of lows including the devastating unprovoked attack she suffered with her sister Sam outside a London nightclub in 2011.

A bundle of joy: Since Nelly arrived in 2014, Billie has shown off daughter's life on-screens, including birthday bashes and many celebrations, making the tot the youngest and most beloved cast member

As ever with reality stars, they laid their woes for the public to see, with the girls showing their recovery stint on the programme while Sam's former love interest Mark Wright visited them with flowers and teddy bears in sweet memorable scenes.

Another memorable storyline for Billie was her bitter feud with Chloe Sims, the cousin of Sam's former fiance Joey Essex.

The girls became embroiled in a dramatic screaming match as they sat in a beauticians before the row boiled on for some time.
They own a sprawling $20million Hidden Hills mansion.

And while Kanye West also owns a luxury New York apartment, it seems that's not enough for the superstar and his wife Kim Kardashian.

Page Six report that the couple are trying to score a free $30million apartment in Manhattan through Airbnb to stay in for a few months later this year.

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Freebie? Page Six report that the couple are trying to score a free $30million apartment in Manhattan through Airbnb to stay in for a few months later this year

It's thought Kim and Kanye are keen to follow in Kylie Jenner's footsteps, with Kim's little sister negotiating a deal with the holiday rental company to stay in a plush villa in Turks and Caicos during her 19th birthday celebrations last week.

While it's reported that Kylie didn't have to pay for the rental, Airbnb scored plenty of publicity as the teen, her sister Kendall and their pals posed for endless bikini photos in and around the villa which were promptly posted to Instagram.

Kim and Kanye are thought to be keen to follow suit when they relocate to the East coast in the autumn for Fashion Week and dates for Kanye's Saint Pablo Tour.

This is the life: It's thought Kim and Kanye are keen to follow in Kylie Jenner's footsteps, with Kim's little sister negotiating a deal with the holiday rental company to stay in a plush villa in Turks and Caicos during her 19th birthday celebrations last week

The report claims Kimye's staff have been busy viewing a number of options which are currently up for sale and hover around the $25-30million price tag and can command more than $100K a month in rental.

An Airbnb source has told Page Six: 'The plan would be for Kimye to live there for a few months for free, and Kim will post on social media about the apartment, like her sisters did from Turks and Caicos. Airbnb would pick up the tab for the rent.'

Kanye does have a base in New York, but the one-bedroom apartment is thought to be too small for the couple and their two children North and Saint.

A representative for the couple has been contacted by MailOnline for comment.

Publicity: While it's reported that Kylie didn't have to pay for the rental, Airbnb scored plenty of publicity as Kylie and her pals shared pics on social media

Meanwhile, back on the West Coast, Kim and Kanye have been renovating their Hidden Hills, California home since purchasing the sprawling mansion in 2014.

Back in June the area around the couple's reported $20 million mansion was pictured looking heavily bare, with the grass ripped up and pool gone after it was reported Kanye wants to have a pond built on his land, which he would also be able to swim in.

As the couple wait for the completion of their dream home, they're currently living in a Beverly Hills mansion.

Prior to their makeshift residence, Kim, Kanye and their two children, North and Saint, were living with the reality star's mother Kris.
She will welcome her first child in less than three months.

And heavily pregnant model Laura Csortan, 39, looked positively glowing as she stepped out to meet her friend, fitness star Leah Simmons, on Thursday in Sydney.

The expectant mother showcased her large baby bump in a skin-tight striped mini dress while layering up from the cold in a black waterfall-style vest.

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Bumping along nicely! Laura Csortan, 39, (left) looked positively glowing as she stepped out to meet her friend, fitness star Leah Simmons (right), on Thursday in Sydney

Going makeup-free for the off-duty occasion, the blonde beauty completed her look with a leather tote bag, a pair of sassy heeled booties and some retro-inspired cat-eye sunglasses.

She also wore a delicate silver ring on one finger and a large pear-shaped cocktail ring on another.

Laura immediately hugged Leah upon their meeting on the sunny sidewalk, before stepping back so that her friend could eyeball her large bump in all it's glory.

Under wraps: The expectant mother showcased her large baby bump in a skin-tight striped mini dress while layering up from the cold in a black waterfall-style vest

Laura has been gearing up for life as a single mother after it was revealed that she has split with the mystery father of her unborn child.

Opening up to Woman's Day, the statuesque beauty shared the difficulty she has faced in having to explain that she is going to be a single mother.

'I didn't know how it would go down, I was terrified but it's certainly been received really well,' she said of sharing her unexpected pregnancy news with friends and family.

Going makeup-free for the off-duty occasion, the blonde beauty completed her look with a leather tote bag, a pair of sassy heeled booties and some retro-inspired cat-eye sunglasses

Take a look! She then stepped back so that her friend could eyeball her large bump in all it's glory

'I will be a single mum and there's a lot of single mums saying, "I went through it and these are the things you might find difficult or not," so that's really fabulous as well.'

Laura has not publicly revealed who the father of her unborn child is or whether she is expecting a boy or girl although she recently referred to the baby as 'her.'

'When the baby's older I'm happy with her finding out who her father is. I'm going into this with an open mind,' she said.

Catching up: Laura immediately hugged Leah upon their meeting on the sunny sidewalk

Her former flames include retired AFL player Chad Cornes, who she was linked to last year and American model Joshua Slack, 28, who she dated the year prior.

Speaking of her and Joshua's 11-year age gap, she previously told Daily Mail Australia that age is 'just a number.'

'I think it's great and there are a lot of really great girls in the industry that have younger boyfriends as well. It's just a number. Whatever makes you happy, whatever works,' she said.

New beginnings: Laura has been gearing up for life as a single mother after it was revealed that she has split with the mystery father of her unborn child

Blast from the past: Her former flames include retired AFL player Chad Cornes, who she was linked to last year and American model Joshua Slack, 28, who she dated the year prior
She released her own swimwear collection earlier this year, to great success.

So it is no wonder that Imogen Thomas wants to exhibit her own beloved designs on her upcoming weekend in Las Vegas.

The former Miss Wales, 33, took to her Instagram on Thursday to document herself trying on various two-pieces for her mini break - showing off her gorgeous womanly curves in the process.

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Bikini babe: Imogen Thomas, 33, took to Instagram on Thursday to document herself trying on various bikinis for upcoming break to Las Vegas, flaunting her curves in the process

Posing in the mirror, the mother-of-two looked incredible in an extremely low-cut white two-piece with glitzy gold embellishment on the bottoms and straps.

The top, held together by a single string, plunged straight down the centre of her bust, showcasing her ample breasts.

Keeping her hair away from her face in a tight plait, Imogen ensured all eyes were on her enviable hourglass figure and slender legs.

Opting for flattering white, the Big Brother star enhanced her deeply bronzed skin, having already holidayed in Ibiza last month.

What an eyeful! Dressed in a burgundy bikini top with gold discs in another selfie, Imogen displayed her plentiful assets and endless cleavage in full-frontal view

Clearly wanting to show off the skimpy number from her range, Imogen wrote: ''I'm off to Vegas for the wknd, this is the new south beach bikini #Vegas #vivalasvegas'

She also posted a selfie in a second bikini, giving fans a proper eyeful in the close-up shot.

Dressed in a burgundy bikini top with gold discs on the straps, Imogen displayed her plentiful assets and endless cleavage in full-frontal view of the camera.

In similar style, she wrote to followers: 'Trying on some bikinis for my wknd away! love this from @chasingsummeruk Of course'

Covering her face with different pairs of aviator sunglasses in the shots, Imogen gave a flavour of the complete beachwear outfits she will be rocking by the pool in Sin City.

Hot mama: Imogen combines her time as a businesswoman with raising her two daughters Ariana and Siera, wearing one of her designs on a recent swimming trip with her girls

Imogen excitedly shared her new designs with her followers, having released her swimwear range Chasing Summer in time for summer.

The TV personality founded the company last year, on the basis of her own struggle during bikini shopping.

Her website explains that she decided to launch the range after failing to find a well-fitting bikini for a curvier woman.

It reads: 'The dream came true when she started jotting down different designs at night and making them into a reality today!'

Jet-setter: The Big Brother star showed off her deeply bronzed skin, having already holidayed in Ibiza last month, as she geared up for her Vegas getaway

The former Big Brother contestant is taking the Stateside break after a busy year, combining her time as a businesswoman with raising her two young daughters - Ariana, three, and Siera, nine months - who she shares with Australian businessman boyfriend Adam Horsley.

The star recently compared her changing shape after having two children to that of Kim Kardashian's in an interview to promote Bio Oil.

She said: 'I think all of my pregnancy weight has gone on my hips and bum.

'I feel like I have a similar shape to Kim Kardashian when she was pregnant, all in the hips and bum! My breasts have become bigger as well, they are really heavy!'
The Nebraska agency that oversees branding of most of the state's cattle took a step toward modernity Tuesday by agreeing to a contract to get its bookkeeping computerized, a move that comes in response to a searing state audit.

The five members of the Nebraska Brand Committee met via telephone and voted unanimously to approve contract terms with Nebraska Interactive, the state's computer application designer, to develop web-based software that will track the work of brand inspectors, keep records, accept payments in the field, improve checks and balances, as well as provide other features.

A few details of the contract, which is expected to be signed early next month, have yet to be finalized but the committee agreed to cost, scope of the work and some timeline parameters.

David Wright, president of Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska, questioned whether the meeting by telephone for a nonemergency purpose violated state open meeting statutes.

Committee member Jaclyn Wilson of Lakeside said in an interview following the meeting that an attorney is checking into the accusation and said a revote will happen if needed. The committee held the special meeting Tuesday afternoon in a push to get the contract finalized before the Sept. 28 meeting of the Nebraska Records Board, which oversees and manages electronic access to state government information.

Created in 1941, the Brand Committee keeps records of cattle brands, inspects cattle to verify ownership and investigates missing and stolen livestock. The committee's board is appointed by the governor to four-year terms.

The committee says the new computer program will make its employees more efficient and address numerous clerical and accounting deficiencies noted in a recent report from Nebraska's Auditor of Public Records, Charlie Janssen. The audit took the Brand Committee to task for procedures its nearly 100 employees follow, including handling check deposits, employee vehicle mileage, payroll issues and lack of controls for handling the sale of animals with no known owner.

The audit report noted thousands of dollars worth of checks had been lost by committee employees. Tyson Fresh Meats earlier this year wrote the Brand Committee to let it know of several uncashed checks, which the agency hadn't realized were missing until receiving the letter.

The committee eventually asked Tyson to reissue $20,000 in checks that couldn't be found.

A significant portion of the audit focused on Shawn Harvey, who resigned as the Brand Committee's executive director earlier this month but was immediately offered another position with the same salary, $70,932 plus benefits, as interim chief investigator and director of field operations.

The audit report raised concerns about Harveys management of the agency and alleges he drove a state-owned pickup for personal business, backdated an employee's disciplinary form and approved the sale of livestock without proof of ownership by a man with a criminal record. Possible violations of state law have been forwarded to the Nebraska Attorney General's Office, which is reviewing the information.

Regarding the new computer system, committee members agreed that once it's launched, tentatively set for July 1, 2017, Nebraska Interactive will begin receiving 6 cents for every head of cattle the Brand Committee inspects, which was 3.43 million in fiscal year 2014-15.

The Committee inspects cattle when they move in or out of the brand area, which covers roughly the western two-thirds of the state, or are sold. It charges $1 a head for the inspection, which will not change.

The Committee negotiated the price for the software down from a previously proposed $.07 per head. The price will revert to the higher number if the Brand Committee fails to meet certain deadlines for providing Nebraska Interactive with information needed to create the system.

"It puts the pressure on us to make sure we get everything to them on time," said Wilson. There are no upper or lower criteria related to the number of cattle inspected.

Nebraska's cattle numbers have increased the past couple years, and officials based cost estimates on the assumption of 3.6 million being inspected each year. At that rate, the brand committee would pay the software company $216,000 annually. The contract lasts through Dec. 31, 2021, and likely will cost the committee about $1 million over that time.

"Rather than have us pay up front and have all that money on hand, we're able to pay as we go," Wilson said.

Also included in that cost is maintenance and support for the system, more than 90 iPads with protective cases for the committee's inspectors and 27 business printers to be housed at sale barns.

Brand Committee Chairman Jerry Kuenning previously said other software companies had been contacted about bidding on the project but Nebraska Interactive is the only one that chose to do so.

The proposal includes the creation of a database system that will house data about inspections, producers, sales barns and violation data. It will also modernize certification processes, internal tracking of data, audit reporting, as well as manage all brand-related tasks, including new brand applications, transfers and renewals.

During the conference call, Wright also criticized the Brand Committee for what he said is lack of diversity on a five-person work group that is evaluating needed policy and state legislative changes related to brand issues.

The work group he criticized includes two members of the Brand Committee, Wilson and Jeff Metz; Melody Benjamin of the Nebraska Cattlemen; a Brand Committee employee, Harvey; and Nebraska Legislative staff member Rick Leonard.

Wright questioned why none of the members are from the Independent Cattlemen and the Nebraska Farmers Union, groups that have been critical of the committee's decision to keep Harvey as an employee.
Their relationship hit a rocky patch earlier this month when nude pictures of him leaked online.

But now Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen are proving theyre stronger than ever as they packed on the PDA as they arrived at Sheesh restaurant in Chigwell on Wednesday night.

Putting on a very busty display for their date night, the 23-year-old Essex girl sizzled in a skin-tight denim mini dress as she puckered up to her hunky beau.

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Loved-up: Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen are proving theyre stronger than ever as they packed on the PDA as they arrived at Sheesh restaurant in Chigwell on Wednesday night

Looking sensational for their date night, Olivia flaunted her ample assets in the curve-inducing thigh-grazer that featured gold button detail beginning from her buxom bust down to the hem.

The saucy dress made the best of her incredible figure as the short hemline allowed her to exhibit her toned lengthy legs while teasing her perky posterior.

With her never-ending pins, Olivia challenged the British chill with a chic white long-line blazer where she stylishly pushed up the sleeves.

Keeping her outfit crisp, the reality star opted to accessorise her look with a tote bag which she casually draped over her slender shoulder.

Pucker up: The 23-year-old Essex girl sizzled in a skin-tight denim mini as she puckered up to her hunky beau

Style factor: The saucy dress made the best of her incredible figure as the short hemline allowed her to exhibit her toned lengthy legs while teasing her perky posterior

Styling her shoulder skimming blonde into a centre parting, Olivia worked her tresses into a sexy bedhead wave.

Opting to let her radiant natural tan take centre stage, the ITV2 star applied lashing of mascara as she plumped up her pout with a swipe of nude lipgloss.

Meanwhile, Alex looked devilishly handsome wearing a stylish peach corduroy jacket as he towered over his love.

Letting his jacket take centre stage, the 24-year-old, who has won a legion of female fans since entering the show, added a white tee and black skin-tight jeans to his ensemble as he flaunted his intricate inkings.

Swit swoo: Olivia flaunted her ample assets in the curve-inducing thigh-grazer that featured gold button detail

Handsome: Alex looked devilishly handsome wearing a stylish peach corduroy jacket as he towered over his love

Despite going from strength to strength, the couple were rocked earlier this month when nude pictures of the hunk leaked online.

An explicit naked picture of Love Island hunk Alex sent his fans into meltdown when it began doing the rounds on Twitter.

Olivia was quick to shoot down reports of a split, nonetheless, tweeting on Friday: 'Don't worry my beautifuls, @ab_bowen and I are perfectly fine'.
Her fiance recently described her as 'the most unbelievable bundle of joy.'

And Kylie Minogue, 48, looked bright and radiant as she stepped out in London on Wednesday in a casual yet stylish ensemble.

The Australian pop star wore a billowing white vest over a plain top which she tucked in to a pair of torn jeans turned up at the ankles.

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Class act: Kylie Minogue, 48, looked bright and radiant as she stepped out in London on Wednesday in a casual yet stylish ensemble

The petite star slipped her feet into a pair of dainty gold pumps and accessorised with a black scarf, despite the high temperature, a brown pair of shades and a black over-the-shoulder bag.

Age-defying Kylie wore her blonde locks tied back neatly and her lips had a slick of pink.

It was easy to see why Kylie's toyboy beau Jashua Sasse, 28, is so taken with the songstress.

Forever stylish: The Australian pop star wore a billowing white vest over a plain top which she tucked in to a pair of torn jeans turned up at the ankles

The actor told the Mirror: 'I love her  thats it. As anyone who has met her will attest, she is just the most unbelievable bundle of joy.'

Discussing their 20-year age gap, Joshua said: 'I dont think love has a boundary... I am in love with an older woman, and vive la difference.'

Kylie and Joshua started dating last September, getting engaged just five months later.

Youthful: Age-defying Kylie wore her blonde locks tied back neatly and her lips had a slick of pink

The London-based pop icon is said to have her sights set on her home city of Melbourne when the couple say 'I do' later this year, according to NW magazine.

The publication also revealed the Spinning Around hit-maker's sister Dannii is set to be her maid of honour.

The bride-to-be is believed to have enlisted the help of British designer Ralph and Russo - who designed the exquisite beaded gown Kylie wore during her performance for Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday.

She's a natural: It was easy to see why Kylie's toyboy beau Jashua Sasse, 28, is so taken with the songstress as she showcased her effortless beauty
The Bachelor's resident villain Keira Maguire labelled Kirralee 'Kiki' Morris a 'peasant' after finding out she had called her 'ungrateful' on Wednesday's episode.

And tension continued to rise on Thursday night as the reality stars discussed who would be going on the next group date.

After singling out Keira and Noni as the girls who would hate to be selected, Kiki declared to the camera, 'Catch me if you can Richie.'

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Fiery: Tension continued to rise on Thursday night's episode of The Bachelor as the girls discussed who would be going on the next group date

As the girls were grouped around a couch discussing who would be singled out on a group date, glamour model Kiki did not hold back by shooting her quite the look.

'Keira and Noni, I'm sure, definitely don't want to be on this group date card.

'They're hoping to be on a single date. Catch me if you can Richie,' the stunning personality shared directly to the camera, which did not go down well with competitive Keira who shot daggers her way.

Vocal: As the girls were grouped around a couch discussing who would be singled out on a group date, glamour model Kiki did not hold back

'I'm so over the group dates,' retorted Keira. 'I don't want to go on a date with other girls. I'm used to having my men to myself.'

Thursday night's comments came after Keira may have gone a step too the previous night, by labelling Kiki a 'peasant' after finding out she had called her 'ungrateful.'

The reality TV starlet had a meltdown during the cocktail party after Georgia informed her that some of the girls had been talking about her behind her back.

Not hiding: Keira Maguire did not look pleased when Kirralee brought up the group date situation

She's had enough: Confident Keira did not let Kiki's comments get to her

Keira immediately went on the rampage and could be heard screaming for Kiki to come and speak to her.

'How dare you? Who do you think you are, saying that I'm ungrateful, which is the worst thing that you can say about me, which she knows,' she said.

'I'm really annoyed. I'm quite annoyed. I'm annoyed.'

After hearing Keira screaming for her to come here, Kiki retorted: 'I'm not going anywhere. Here we go.'

Rude: Keira may have gone a step too far when she she labelled Kiki a 'peasant' after finding out the glamour model had called her 'ungrateful'

Gossip: Earlier in the episode, Kiki had spoken to the other girls about Keira

Clearly having a change of heart, Keira then said: 'Go away, peasant. Don't come near me.'

Kiki replied: 'You just asked me to come and talk.'

Keira could then be heard slamming a door as she said: I'm going to the toilet. Don't come near me.'

Determined not to be bullied by the outspoken TV star, Kiki asked her: 'Are you a psycho?'

But Keira bit back: 'Yes, I am, right now. Get away from me. Go away. Peasant.'

Kiki was not impressed, saying: 'I'm sorry, what? Peasant? Really? I prefer to be called a bitch.'

'You've asked me to come speak to you so I've come to speak to you.'

Summoned: After hearing Keira screaming for her to come here, Kiki retorted: 'I'm not going anywhere. Here we go'

Shouting match: Clearly having a change of heart, Keira then said: 'Go away, peasant. Don't come near me'

Keira then confronted her love rival, saying: 'What did you say about me to the new girl?

'All I said was, she asked me about who's had fights in the house, about something that someone else brought up to her.'

Earlier in the episode, Kiki had spoken to one of the new intruders, Steph, about Keira.

She had said: 'She's very ungrateful and I hate ungrateful people. Keira is a very complex person and we've had a few run-ins.'

Fighting back: Determined not to be bullied by the outspoken TV star, Kiki asked her: 'Are you a psycho?'

Confrontation: Keira then confronted her love rival, saying: 'What did you say about me to the new girl?

Outspoken: Keira has ruffled more than a few feathers in the Bachelor house with her no-nonsense attitude
She made her final appearance on her hit show TOWIE on Wednesday night.

And despite her emotional exit, Billie Faiers was looking on fine form the morning after, beaming as she made her way to ITV studios in London for an appearance on This Morning.

The blonde beauty flaunted her incredible figure in a summery mini skirt for her strut to the studios, where she teased viewers about her future TV plans.

Turning heads: Billie Faiers was looking on fine form the morning after, beaming as she made her way to ITV studios in London for an appearance on This Morning

Billie, 26, showcased her tanned and toned legs in the thigh-grazing polka dot skirt.

She tucked a chic navy shirt into the skirt, and accentuated her long legs further with a pair of ankle strap sandals.

Billie accessorised with a pretty pale pink shoulder bag and slipped on some aviator shades for the sunny stroll.

Beaming: The star flashed a big smile despite her emotional final scenes being shown on TOWIE the night before

Leggy: The blonde beauty flaunted her incredible figure in a summery mini skirt for her strut to the studios

Summer style: She tucked a chic navy shirt into the pretty skirt to complete her outfit

She left her long blonde locks loose and styled into loose waves and completed her camera-ready look with a full face of makeup.

Billie told This Morning hosts Eammon Holmes and Ruth Langsford that she was excited to see what's next after TOWIE, hinting that she could be competing on this year's Strictly Come Dancing.

When asked by Eammon if she was planning to take part in a dancing show, Billie paused and refused to confirm or deny, but did insist she would turn down I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here and Celebrity Big Brother.

Finishing touches: Billie accessorised with a pretty pale pink shoulder bag and slipped on some aviator shades for the sunny stroll

Ready for her close up: She left her long blone locks loose and styled into loose waves and completed her camera-ready look with a full face of makeup

Hot stuff: Billie, 26, showcased her tanned and toned legs in the thigh-grazing polka dot skirt

'I don't want to fizzle out and not do anything. It's a massive risk but I wanted to end on a high. I didn't want to get pregnant and have time off and fizzle out.'

Mum of one Billie was more keen to speak about her plans to have another baby and get married to her long-term partner Greg now her TOWIE commitments are behind her.

'I want to keep the wedding more private,' she said, confessing she was keen to escape the glare of TOWIE but did admit she'd consider a magazine deal.

Moving on: Billie told This Morning hosts Eammon Holmes and Ruth Langsford that she was excited to see what's next after TOWIE, hinting that she could be competing on this year's Strictly Come Dancing

Not one for the jungle: She said she would turn down I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here and Celebrity Big Brother

'I don't want to fizzle out and not do anything. It's a massive risk but I wanted to end on a high. I didn't want to get pregnant and have time off and fizzle out' she told them

Next stage of life: Mum of one Billie was more keen to speak about her plans to have another baby and get married to her long-term partner Greg now her TOWIE commitments are behind her

Confessing she'll probably be a 'bridezilla,' Billie added she was keen to get pregnant again before walking down the aisle. 'I want to have the baby and get married in that order so the kids will be close in age,' she explained.

Fans flocked to Twitter on Wednesday to bid farewell to the TOWIE original after six years on the show.

The 26-year-old blonde beauty made a final appearance on the ITVBe hit series with her two-year-old daughter Nelly.

'I want to have the baby and get married in that order so the kids will be close in age,' she explained

'I want to keep the wedding more private,' she said, confessing she was keen to escape the glare of TOWIE but did admit she'd consider a magazine deal

Taking to Twitter as her last scenes aired, the mother-of-two wrote: 'Awww my last episode with my little lady... What an amazing 17 series I'v had , going to miss everyone xxxx (sic)', adding unhappy faces.

And fans quickly took to Twitter to express their sadness over her leaving.

'What's next for you will there me a billie and Greg show?(sic)', one user wrote.

'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO gonna miss you so so much. My fave TOWIE cast member xxxx (sic)', another fan tweeted.

Looking back: Billie is now ready for the next stage in life

Faier-wel! Fans flocked to Twitter on Wednesday to bid farewell to the TOWIE original after six years on the show

'Awww my last episode with my little lady... What an amazing 17 series I'v had , going to miss everyone xxxx (sic)': The blonde beauty made a final appearance on the ITVBe hit show with her two-year-old daughter Nelly

And one fan clearly couldn't get enough of the stunning reality star.

'Was a bit sad tonight was yours and nelly's last episode on towie I hope you do pop back thou not gone forever (sic)', they tweeted hopefully.

And others felt Billie, who has been in the show since its debut episode in 2010, didn't get the exit she deserved.

' Final thoughts on TOWIE - @billiefaiers didn't get the farewell she deserved after 17 series compared to others who have left #justsaying#, one fan wrote.

'What's next for you will there me a billie and Greg show?(sic)': Fans quickly took to Twitter to express their sadness over her leaving

Billie bid farewell to the show which made her famous on Wednesday night's episode, announcing her departure to her co-stars during a circus themed bash.

The boutique owner was joined by her adorable daughter Nelly as she revealed to her fellow reality stars that after appearing on 18 series, it would be her final one.

Billie initially entered the show in its first series as a minor cast member to her sister Sam, who departed the show in series 11 after four years, now only estranged lovers James Argent and Lydia Bright remain as original stars.

'Final thoughts on TOWIE - @billiefaiers didn't get the farewell she deserved after 17 series compared to others who have left #justsaying#, one fan wrote

The stunning star dressed up as a sexy clown for the circus party held in honour of Bobby Norris' 30th birthday.

Speaking to Lydia, the blonde beauty revealed she is moving on with her career, as sweet Nelly larked around sporting a tutu before the duo left the bash hand in hand while the adorable tot gave a final wave to the cameras.

Earlier this month, a Lime Pictures spokesperson confirmed to MailOnline: 'Billie has recently made us aware that she would like to prioritise family life and little Nelly for the rest of the year.

Goodbye! TOWIE's Billie announced her departure to her co-stars during a circus themed bash

The end of an era: The boutique owner was joined by her adorable daughter Nelly as she revealed to her fellow reality stars that after appearing on 18 series, since the ITVBe show's inauguration in 2010

The last hurrah: Speaking to Lydia, the blonde beauty revealed she is moving on with her career, as sweet Nelly larked around sporting a tutu before the duo left the bash hand in hand while the adorable tot gave a final wave to the cameras

'We are in full support of this decision and will continue discussing with her how best to move forwards.

'Billie is a much loved and valued member of the TOWIE team and we are happy she wants to continue working with us.'

The blonde beauty, who shares Nelly with her fiance Greg Shepherd, has never been involved in any of the love stories on the show yet has become locked in fiery rows while also lending her support to a host of co-stars.

Way back when: Billie initially entered the show in its first series as a minor cast member to her sister Sam, who departed the show in series 11 after four years, now only estranged lovers James Argent and Lydia Bright remain as original stars

She is said to be determined to focus on her family and wedding plans - particularly as she has voiced a desire to have more children before she and Greg tie the knot.

Since Nelly arrived in 2014, Billie has shown off her daughter's life on-screen, including birthday bashes and many celebrations, making the tot the youngest and most beloved cast member.

While motherhood was certainly a high for her TOWIE career, Billie saw a number of lows including the devastating unprovoked attack she suffered with her sister Sam outside a London nightclub in 2011.

A bundle of joy: Since Nelly arrived in 2014, Billie has shown off daughter's life on-screens, including birthday bashes and many celebrations, making the tot the youngest and most beloved cast member

As ever with reality stars, they laid their woes for the public to see, with the girls showing their recovery stint on the programme while Sam's former love interest Mark Wright visited them with flowers and teddy bears in sweet memorable scenes.

Another memorable storyline for Billie was her bitter feud with Chloe Sims, the cousin of Sam's former fiance Joey Essex.

The girls became embroiled in a dramatic screaming match as they sat in a beauticians before the row boiled on for some time.
She has expressed her excitement at the release of her new single Rise this week.

And it seems Catherine Tyldesley's joy at the venture is reflecting through her sartorial choices too, projecting a truly sunny disposition on Thursday.

The Coronation Street star, 32, looked absolutely stunning in a bright yellow sundress as she headed home beaming from the Key 103 studios in Manchester.

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Bright beauty: Catherine Tyldesley, 32, looked stunning in a yellow sundress as she headed home from the Key 103 studios in Manchester on Thursday after promoting new single Rise

The soap actress looked radiant in the pretty canary yellow frock, which was adorned with blue and red florals and dainty white dots.

The dress perfectly clung to her waist, flattering her enviably slender frame, before flowing out loosely to the knee.

Featuring a line of buttons all the way down the middle, the blonde beauty left the top two undone to tease a hint of her ample bust.

The dress fastened in bows at the shoulders, adding to its feminine feel.

Naughty and nice: Featuring a line of buttons all the way down the middle, the blonde beauty left the top two undone to tease a hint of her ample bust

Catherine paired the outfit with some chunky tan heeled sandals, maintaining her classy appearance from top to toe.

She also added a black leather Mulberry cross-body handbag and some dark oversized sunglasses, which she carried in her hands.

While the weather may have clouded over however, there was nothing shielding Catherine's bright mood, as she smile outside the radio station having just promoted her new single, Rise.

Glamorous: She also added a black leather Mulberry cross-body handbag and some dark oversized sunglasses, which she carried in her hands

Catherine even took to Instagram to express her excitement, posting a shot of her behind a microphone, preparing to sing her new tune for the Breakfast Show listeners.

The actress captioned the snap: 'Lovely time @key103manchester playing my new song #RISE!'

The release of her single Rise was announced on Monday's episode of Loose Women.

Singing for the people! Catherine took to Instagram to express her excitement as she prepared to sing her new tune for the Breakfast Show listeners

Talking to the panel, she said: 'I've always sung but it's been on the back-burner for a while, it was a bit out of the blue.'

'It's predominately jazz but a bit of a mixture. Rise has salsa and r 'n' b vibe.'

The Corrie actress signed to United Agents back in June, and is set to release her debut album this November.

However it was also revealed this week that this is not Catherine's first attempt to crack the music industry.

Soap star to popstar: Having signed to United Agents back in June, her debut album is set for release this November after Rise was premiered on Monday

An old music video of Cath from 2010, years before her Corrie fame, was unearthed on Tuesday.

The seductive song's video, entitled Mad About the Boy, featuring a scantily-clad Catherine in her younger years as the star.

The jazz crooner made a sexy appearance in the video, sporting a low-cut white shirt and tousled bed hair at one moment, before locking lips with her co-star Jim Whitley, ex Manchester United player, at another.

Yet, Catherine has come a long way since these raunchy days, turning instead to acting as she landed the role of Eva Price in Coronation Street in 2011.

Young and sexy: Rise is not Catherine's first attempt to crack the music industry however, with an old music video of Cath's from 2010 being unearthed on Tuesday

She also found success in her personal life as well as career, tying the knot with personal trainer beau Tom Pitfield in May, who has subsequently helped her maintain her sexy, slender frame.

Despite famously losing six stone after embarking on an intense fitness regime, Catherine also admitted on Loose Women it can be a 'struggle' to upkeep.

The blonde said in the interview there are times when she just wants to relax her regime.

'It's a struggle,' she said. 'At Christmas time, Fat Cath is dying to make a comeback.

'I eat that clean now that when I eat junk food I feel awful.'

The only way is up: She tied the knot with personal trainer beau Tom Pitfield in May, who has subsequently helped her maintain her sexy, slender frame
She proudly showed off her new inking on Wednesday.

And Lottie Moss matched her edgy tattoo to her rock star style as she was seen leaving a London tattoo shop.

The 18-year-old model dressed in a leather jacket for a trip to get inked with her pal, before unveiling her new design in a SnapChat post later in the day.

Freshly inked: Lottie Moss matched her edgy tattoo to her rock star style as she was seen leaving a London tattoo shop with a pal on Wednesday

Lottie kept things casual but cool for her outing to Tattoo 13 in London's Soho, layering her leather jacket over a tight black dress.

She ditched the heels in favour of black trainers, while mixing up her style by accessorising with a picnic basket.

Lottie was joined by a male friend for moral support as she got inked at the London store, but seemed relaxed as the pair left the shop together.

Tattoo fan: The 18-year-old model dressed in a leather jacket for a trip to get inked with her pal, before unveiling her new ink in a SnapChat post later in the day

All black: Lottie kept things casual but cool for her outing to Tattoo 13 in London's Soho, layering her leather jacket over a tight black dress

No sweat: Lottie was joined by a male friend for moral support as she got inked at the London store, but seemed relaxed as the pair left the shop together

The 18-year-old revealed she had taken some more inspiration from half-sibling Kate, 42, as she showed off her new tattoo later on Wednesday.

Taking to Snapchat, the teenager flashed a hint of underboob as she revealed her new bird inking.

The tattoo bore a significant resemblance to Kate's iconic lower back tattoo.

Finishing touch: She ditched the heels in favour of black trainers, while mixing up her style by accessorising with a picnic basket

Inked: Lottie seemed in good spirits after getting a brand new tattoo on her chest

Taxi! The up and coming model jumped in a car after her inking session

Support: The blonde teen was joined by a pal for her time in the tattoo chair

Clad in pink dressing gown with a black lace trim, she pulled the garment open to expose her new design, which featured three small swallows.

Protecting her modesty with her hand, the Vogue covergirl wore her golden tresses swept back into a messy bun.

She captioned the snap with three needles to confirm the tattoo was freshly inked that day.

Tatt looks familiar: Lottie revealed she had taken some more inspiration from half-sibling Kate, 42, as she showed off her new tattoo on Wednesday

Cheeky! Lottie's elder sister Kate, 42, has a similar inking on her lower back, with two swallows visible just above her perky derriere

The design bore a striking resemblance to her elder sister Kate - who has two swallows inked just above her derriere.

However, the mum-of-one's tattoo is undoubtedly worth more than her little sister's as it was inked on by renowned artist Lucian Freud.

Kate befriended Freud  widely considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century  when he painted her in the nude in 2002 while she was pregnant with her daughter Lila Grace.

Tatt's nice: Lottie is currently following in her elder sister's footsteps by pursuing a career in modelling, and now the similarities between them are even more visible

The sheer cheek of it! Lottie's tattoo resembles Kate's - but the mum-of-one's tattoo is undoubtedly worth more than her little sister's as it was inked on by artist Lucian Freud

Speaking about the design, Kate told Vanity Fair that the artist offered to work on her after he learnt how to give homemade tattoos using permanent ink and a scalpel during a brief stint in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War.

She explained: 'I said I liked birds and he replied, I've done birds. I've got it in my book. And he pointed down at a painting of a chicken upside down in a bucket. And I said, No, I'm not having that.

'And then he said, Maybe I should just do you. And I thought, I'm not going to have a girl on my a***. So we decided to do a flock of birds.'

Great minds: Kate's lower back tattoo was designed and inked on by renowned artist Lucian Freud (pictured) who is widely considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century

Firm friends: Kate befriended Freud when he painted her in the nude in 2002 while she was pregnant. His paintings are worth millions, so in turn so is her tattoo

She added: 'I mean, it's an original Freud. I wonder how much a collector would pay for that? A few million?

'If it all goes horribly wrong I could get a skin graft and sell it! It's probably the only one on skin that's still around, because when he was in the navy he was about 19. Can you imagine?'

Kate has several other tattoos including a heart on her left wrist, a small anchor on her right wrist and a small star on her ankle.

Inked up: Kate also has several other tattoos including a heart on her left wrist, a small anchor on her right wrist and a small star on her ankle

Meanwhile, whilst Lottie may bear several resemblances and share some personality traits with her big sister, she revealed she feels under no pressure to live up to Kate's career.

She told French magazine, L'Officiel: 'I am who I am and I do what I want, whether that is modelling or anything else. The success of my sister does not affect me in my choices. I feel no pressure in that respect.'

She explained that Kate was 'simply someone other than me' and added it's 'my turn to tell my own story'.
They found fame as two of the main players of Australia's answer to One Direction - 5 Seconds Of Summer.

But Ashton Irwin, 22, and Calum Hood, 20, made sure to give back to one dedicated fan as they posed for photos at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday.

The drummer and bassist were seen embracing a female fan, who was keen on savouring the moment with a selfie.

Part of the 5SOS Fam! Ashton Irwin (L) and Calum Hood (R) made sure to give back to one dedicated fan as they posed for photos at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday

Popular drummer Ashton sported a form-fitting round-neck T-shirt, pair of skinny-leg black jeans and coordinating trainers as he held onto a large oversized carry bag.

Accessorising with a pair of trendy dark sunglasses and delicate silver jewellery, the young hunk appeared to be at ease while listening to music through a pair of headphones.

Meanwhile, bassist Calum cut a relaxed figure in a khaki form-fitting T-shirt with a series of text emblazoned on the front, a pair of dark skinny-leg jeans, black combat style boots and Le Coq Sportif black cap.

Low-key: Popular drummer Ashton sported a form-fitting round-neck T-shirt, pair of skinny-leg black jeans and coordinating trainers as he held onto a large oversized carry bag

Content: Accessorising with a pair of trendy dark sunglasses and delicate silver jewellery, the young hunk appeared to be at ease while listening to music through a pair of headphones

Accessorising even more with a pair of stylish dark sunglasses, the star showed off his growing tattoo collection including a picture of a Native American Indian and the word 'alive'.

The Sydney-based band - which also includes Luke Hemmings and Michael Clifford - have been enjoying continued success.

Apart from undertaking a 101-stop megatour and recording a new song Girls Talk Boys for the all-female Ghostbusters reboot film, they've also been nominated for Best International Group on BBC's Radio 1 Teen Awards.

Calm and collected: Meanwhile, bassist Calum cut a relaxed figure in a khaki form-fitting T-shirt with a series of text emblazoned on the front, pair of dark skinny-leg jeans, black combat style boots and Le Coq Sportif black cap

While the band members are all good friends after working together for more than four years, Ashton and Calum are particularly close and are going on holiday together after the tour.

'We live together and do most things together,' he shared on KIIS 1065's Kyle and Jackie O program.

'It's our five year anniversary in November...not me and Calum, the band.

Spotlight: The band - which also includes Michael Clifford (far left) and Luke Hemmings (second left) - have been enjoying continued success
She recently revealed that her beloved teenage son had found a girlfriend.

And on Thursday, Katie Price, 38, talked about how sweet the bond is between her eldest boy Harvey, 14, and his girlfriend Tia during a discussion on Loose Women on Thursday.

She said: 'Hes been with his girlfriend for two years. They hold hands, she kisses him on the cheek and he may go "mwah". But its all very innocent.

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Sweet love: Katie Price discussed son Harvey's 'innocent' relationship with his girlfriend of two-years Tia during an appearance on Loose Women on Thursday morning

She said: 'Hes been with his girlfriend for two years. They hold hands, she kisses him on the cheek and he may go "mwah". But its all very innocent'

'For his birthday she bought him some aftershave and before he goes to school, he has a spritz.

'I say who is that for Harvey and he replies, "Tia".'

Harvey is Katie's son from her relationship with Dwight Yorke - and her children Junior, 11, and Princess, nine, also talked about dating on the show.

She added: 'For his birthday she bought him some aftershave and before he goes to school, he has a spritz. 'I say who is that for Harvey and he replies, "Tia"'

During a pre-recorded segment, Junior revealed that he likes dating older girls as he's struggled to find a girlfriend his age who understands love.

'I haven't had that many girlfriends, I've had lots of friends that have been girl-friends, but my girlfriends how many have I had,' he pondered.

'It's over twenty that's for sure,' his little sister claimed, only for an insistent Junior to say: 'No it isn't! I've lost count.'

'Most of the girls have been my age 11, ten, and they don't actually know what love is, but I do,' he explained. 'That's why I'm looking for older people.'

Revealing all: Katie's children Junior, 11, and Princess, nine, also spoke about dating and the cute kids spoke about their girlfriends and boyfriends during a pre-recorded segment

On the hunt: Junior revealed that he likes dating older girls as he's struggled to find a girlfriend his age who understands love

Heartbreaker: Princess meanwhile gave her thoughts, telling the show as her mum looked on: 'I have had a boyfriend before and I have one now'

Princess meanwhile gave her thoughts, telling the show as her mum looked on: 'It's better to be a little bit older than ten [when dating]. I have had a boyfriend before and I have one now.'

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Katie shared a 'gorgeous' picture of the two teenagers cuddling each other.

Sharing the snap with her 1.2million followers, the proud mother-of-five gushed: 'How gorgeous is this picture Harvey and his girlfriend today.'

Stood next holding hands with his girlfriend, Harvey can be seen planting a tender kiss on Tia's cheek.

Clearly delighted with the affectionate display, the teen can be seen beaming at the camera as Katie snaps the sweet shot.

Proud: Taking to Instagram earlier this month, the 38-year-old TV presenter shared a 'gorgeous' picture of the two teenagers cuddling each other - whom she revealed were dating last month

'They're so cute together': Last month Katie revealed the two teens were dating, explaining they'd been together 'for a few years'

Talking to OK! magazine, the former glamour girl explained Tia and Harvey met at his south London school.

'They're so cute together,' Katie said of the two teen, who she said have been together 'for a few years'.

'She bought him some aftershave and body lotion for his birthday.'

'I don't think they kiss or anything like that, but I think they sit next to each other at school': She added that the teens relationship is cute more than anything else

'Physically he could have kids but mentally he couldn't': Katie said that she felt Harvey shouldn't have children due to his Prader-Willi syndrome, autism and ADHD

Concerned for his well-being: She explained her decision, adding: 'It wouldn't be fair as he can't even fully look after himself, let alone a child or wife'

Katie, who met Tia when she attended Harvey's recent birthday party at the family's Sussex home, added of the young pair:

'I don't think they kiss or anything like that, but I think they sit next to each other at school.'

However, while she's thrilled for her eldest offspring's 'cute' pairing, she doesn't believe that his future should ever include children, due to his Prader-Willi syndrome, autism and ADHD.

She explained: 'Physically he could have kids but mentally he couldn't. It wouldn't be fair as he can't even fully look after himself, let alone a child or wife.'

Katie is also mother to 11-year-old son Junior and nine-year-old daughter Princess Tiaamii from her marriage to Peter Andre, as well as Jet, three, and two-year-old Bunny from her current marriage to Kieran Hayler.
Shes currently enjoying sunshine break with boyfriend Paul Knightley and their baby son on the Italian coast.

But Sam Faiers has taken time out from her idyllic holiday for a series of brand new shots in which her impressive post-baby figure takes centre stage.

The former TOWIE star commands attention in her latest shoot courtesy of a thigh-skimming sheer dress with a plunging front that fully exposes her cleavage.

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Strike a pose: Sam Faiers has taken time out from her idyllic family holiday for a series of brand new shots in which her impressive post-baby figure takes centre stage

With her tousled brunette locks swept away from her face, Sam reveals naturally pretty features and a fresh, golden tan - the result of her protracted family holiday.

Natural make-up and clever contouring draw further attention to Sam's nicely defined cheekbones and distinctive green eyes.

Gazing coquettishly into camera the TV personality is on fine form as she stands side on, revealing a nicely toned leg beneath the hem of her striking dress.

Another shot captures the star with her hands behind her head as she stands in front of a lush Mediterranean backdrop.

Don't mind me: In one shot the TV personality reveals her cleavage while standing with her hands behind her head

Looking good: The former TOWIE star, currently enjoying a holiday on the Italian coast, commands attention in her latest photo-shoot

Simply stunning: With her tousled brunette locks swept away from her face, Sam reveals naturally pretty features and a fresh, golden tan - the result of her protracted family holiday

Meanwhile, it's been reported that Sam's beau Paul is reluctant to appear on the former TOWIE star's new TV project The Mummy Diaries.

A source said Paul is refusing to take part in the show following criticism of the affectionate moment in the one-off special earlier this year.

The insider told The Sun: 'At the moment he is dead against taking part but bosses are still hoping he can be persuaded to make a few appearances to whip up some interest.'

The Mummy Diaries is expected to hit screens later this year and will document 25-year-old Sam's journey into motherhood and the first chapter of the life of her baby, Paul Jr, born in December.

Ravishing: Gazing coquettishly into camera the TV personality is on fine form as she stands side on, revealing a nicely toned leg beneath the hem of her striking dress

Look into my eyes: Another shot captures the star as she stands in front of a lush Mediterranean backdrop

Centre stage: Sam looks terrific while striking another sultry pose

The show also plans to show his first family holiday in Spain, his christening and his first word.

Paul made his TV debut on The Baby Diaries back in February, and his appearance immediately divided fans, with some branding him 'controlling' and a 'man child'.

He was criticised for refusing to move in with Sam when she was six months pregnant, or cook for himself.

Pretty lady: Natural make-up and clever contouring draw further attention to Sam's nicely defined cheekbones and distinctive green eyes
She was portrayed as The Bachelor's series 'villain' because of her cruel remarks and heated arguments with rival contestants.

But Keira Maguire is unrepentant after being rejected by Richie Strahan during their flop first date on Thursday night's episode.

'That's exactly how I felt at the time,' she told The Daily Telegraph, adding: 'Were all dating the same guy, and were not there to make friends.'

'That's exactly how I felt at the time': The Bachelor's Keira Maguire (pictured) has defended her 'TV villain' status after being dumped by Richie Strahan on Thursday's episode

The 29-year-old also expressed no remorse about her fiery showdown with Eliza St John or calling Kirralee 'Kiki' Morris a 'peasant'.

Meanwhile, Keira addressed the media scrutiny she faced after Woman's Day magazine revealed she was born into a polygamous cult.

Earlier this month, it emerged Keira is the daughter of a convicted paedophile who fathered 64 children with nine wives.

Who's laughing now? Keira had no regrets about her parting words to the other contestants

'I don't feel like there is a future with us': Keira was eliminated from The Bachelor this week after failing to impress Richie on their first single date

She escaped the cult aged five and was raised in a normal environment by her mother and grandmother in Brisbane.

Speaking of the national attention her family received, Keira said: 'It is what it is... at the time it was very overwhelming.'

On Thursday, Keira was eliminated from The Bachelor after failing to impress Richie during their yoga date.

'Theyre all nasty pieces of work': After being rejected by Richie, Keira had harsh words for the remaining contestants

'Are we a good match?' Richie asked her. 'I'm a bit unsure if we are compatible.

' I really feel that we're both on two different paths. We're two different people. I don't feel like there is a future with us.'

After being flatly rejected by Richie, Keira had harsh words for the remaining contestants.

'Theyre all nasty pieces of work,' she said. 'If I was guy, I wouldnt even date half of those girls.'
Gov. Pete Ricketts and Speaker of the Legislature Galen Hadley appealed again Wednesday for Sen. Bill Kintner to resign now so District 2 voters can have their say.

In a letter, the two said if Kintner resigns now, he could petition to stand for election in November and see if he still has the trust of constituents in Cass, Sarpy and Otoe counties.

Kintner, who has been fined by the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission for using his state laptop to have cybersex, has stubbornly refused to quit. He says God and his wife have forgiven him, and he believes God wants him to stay in the Legislature.

"As you know, if you resign before Sept. 8, the governor is required to appoint a replacement within 45 days, but the voters would have the opportunity to vote for the person they trust to represent them ... ," Ricketts and Hadley wrote in the letter to Kintner.

After Sept. 8, a person appointed by the governor will not be able to run in November.

"We believe everything possible should be done to restore the faith of voters in the system, and encourage you to let your voters be heard by giving them the chance to vote," the letter says.

A resignation now would give anyone who wants to run in November until Sept. 1 to submit the approximately 1,300 petition signatures required to get on the ballot, they said. Ballots must be certified by Sept. 16.

"You have repeatedly said you feel called to remain in office to serve the people of your district," the letter says. "Current law would not prohibit a senator who has resigned from seeking the same office by petitioning onto the ballot."

In their appeal, Ricketts and Hadley said public service is a noble profession and high calling and that Kintner's misconduct violated the trust voters placed in him.

"This incident continues to be a distraction for individuals who serve taxpayers and Nebraska residents, and will consume additional time and resources this week as the Legislature's Executive (Board) prepares to meet," they wrote.

The board meets Friday, and its chairman, Sen. Bob Krist, has asked Kintner to step down before then. When it meets, the board could discuss sanctions including taking away his staff, office, parking and committee memberships.

Kintner had no comment on Wednesday.
She was set to reprise her role as lovable nurse Camilla 'Chummy' Browne in the next series of BBC One's Call The Midwife.

But Miranda Hart, 43, has revealed she's no longer able to fulfil the part due to her busy work schedule.

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, she wrote: 'News: it's with a heavy heart that having shared Chummy's return to CTM, I've not been able to birth (pun) the schedule to make it work. xx ... Truly sad not to be playing Chummy this year but fans are in for a treat with Dame Harriet Walter as a new cast member and more besides (sic)'

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Change of plan: Miranda Hart, 43, has revealed she's no longer returning to Call The Midwife due to her busy work schedule

Although she's been unable to balance her schedule so that she can shoot the new series, producers of the show haven't ruled out a chance for her return at a later date.

A Neal Street Productions spokesperson told the Daily Mirror: 'We can confirm that Chummy will now not be returning in series six of Call the Midwife.

'Filming has been going brilliantly over the summer, and we look forward to bringing our fans exciting and emotional new stories from Nonnatus House at Christmas, and in early 2017.'

Never say never: Although she's been unable to balance her schedule so that she can shoot the new series, producers of the show haven't ruled out a chance for her return at a later date

Miranda joined Call the Midwife in 2012 but quit the show after series four in order to focus on other acting roles.

However, fans were filled with excitement earlier this year when it was announced she would be returning for the Christmas special and the forthcoming sixth series.

While Miranda is unable to return, Dame Harriet Walter recently landed the role of Sister Ursula in the popular period drama.

Having become a household name for her hilarious TV antics, largely on her eponymous comedy series Miranda and appearances on other shows such as French and Saunders and The Vicar of Dibley, the comic actress branched out into Hollywood and also spent much of 2014 touring with her one-woman show.

From Hollywood to home: The 43-year-old comedy star has dabbled in Hollywood, appearing in 2015 movie Spy, but will return to the BBC period drama for this year's Christmas special and next year's sixth series

Her busy Hollywood schedule - which saw her appear in 2015's action flick Spy alongside Jason Statham, Melissa McCarthy and Jude Law - meant she was unable to film Call The Midwife for series five and last year's Christmas special.

She was also forced to miss most of series four, meaning her absence had to be written into the storyline, her disappearance being explained with her move to a mother and baby unit.

Miranda confirmed she would not be returning to the show - based on a group of midwives in the East End of London in the 1950s and 1960s - for the fifth series in November 2015.

Lovable star: Miranda has starred as the affable Chummy since the BBC show's inception in 2012

'I am very sad not to have been able to be involved in series five but, on the plus side, maybe Chummy can come back in the next series an enlightened, crazed 60s hippy, having an affair with Paul McCartney.'

With her career on a steady trajectory, Miranda is also said to be penning two new secret projects and lining up a West End role.

'Im at a bit of a career crossroads, but Im putting out feelers and seeing what happens', Miranda explained to The Telegraph last year.

Movie stardom: Miranda starred in 2015's comedy-action flick Spy, alongside Melissa McCarthy (pictured), Jude Law and Jason Statham

She also revealed she had enjoyed her first taste of Hollywood, joking, 'It was like, "Im a spy! This is the best job ever. I am in a helicopter with 50 Cent. Whats happened to my life?"'

The next series will see the nurse midwives lend a helping hand to babies in South Africa, and the stars of the hit show have already begun filming in Cape Town.
She officially left TOWIE after 18 seasons for pastures new on Wednesday nights dramatic series finale.

And Billie Faiers has now spoken about life after the ITVBe reality show that propelled her to television fame, while addressing Strictly Come Dancing rumours and reports of her own spin-off in an interview with MailOnline.

Discussing her decision to bow out of the series, the mother-of-one, 26 - who raises daughter Nelly, two, with fiance Greg Shepherd - insisted she ended things on a 'high note' and is looking forward to seeing what the future holds.

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Pastures new: Billie Faiers has now spoken about life after the ITVBe reality show that propelled her to television fame, while addressing Strictly Come Dancing rumours

Speaking in an interview to discuss her new clothing collection for InTheStyle, she said: 'It's the end of an era really. It was a little bit emotional when I watched the show back last night and I saw Nelly waving and stuff.

'I think Ive left on a really high note. I get on with everyone so its been brilliant and its such a massive part of my life but it was time for me to move on.

'I just feel like this is a new chapter of my life, hopefully I wont be fizzling out anytime soon. Hopefully something else TV wise will come around.'

As she closes her chapter on TOWIE after five years, the boutique owner revealed she is looking forward to new TV opportunities.

Moving on: The 26-year-old mother-of-one revealed it was the perfect time for her to leave TOWIE  insisting she ended things on a 'high note'

Considering what her next move will be, Billie previously hinted about an appearance on BBC One smash hit, Strictly Come Dancing.

Addressing the rumours, the Essex beauty said the dancing show would 'be a brilliant challenge' for her to tackle.

She told MailOnline: 'I always say, the one I think most girls would love to do is Strictly. I dont think Id be great in Big Brother or the jungle. Id find it really difficult.

'But Id love to do a more dancing [show] like Strictly. It would be a brilliant challenge. It would be completely new.

'Brilliant challenge': The Essex beauty said Strictly Come Dancing would 'be a brilliant challenge' for her to tackle

Spin-off? Billie admitted she's not opposed to breaking out on her own for a reality spin-off with her beau Greg Shepherd

'I did dance when I was younger, but I wouldnt say Im a professional dancer at all. I would give it a good go.'

Setting her sights on staying in TV, Billie admitted she's not opposed to breaking out on her own for a reality spin-off with her beau Greg Shepherd.

The clothing designer, who has got engaged during a romantic Maldives babymoon back in 2014, revealed a reality show about the couple is something she'd definitely consider.

Billie said: 'I mean theres always kind of talks and interest around that sort of thing. Its something Id definitely consider. Maybe it could be something in the future with us.'

On the cards? The clothes designer, who has been engaged to Greg since 2014, revealed a reality show about the couple is something she'd definitely consider

Busy bee: Although she has now left TOWIE, the blonde beauty has been kept busy with her new transitional collection with In The Style

While being kept busy with her fashion ventures and being mum to two-year-old Nelly, Billie admitted she still makes time for her closest gal pals - revealing she was a rock for friend Ferne McCann, 25, following her recent nose job.

Ferne previously opened up about her lifelong insecurity and bouts of online trolling that lead to her final decision to go under the knife.

Although admitting Ferne 'didn't need' to go to such drastic measures, Billie couldn't gush enough about how 'amazing' she looks.

She told MailOnline: 'Ive seen it. I was there when the bandages came off. She looks amazing, shes so beautiful anyway.

'I didnt think she needed it but shes so much more happier and confident, so shes done it all for the right reasons which Im happy about.

Old school: Billie revealed she was a rock for friend Ferne McCann, 25, following her nose surgery - pictured before they were in the public eye

Supportive: Although admitting Ferne (pictured on Wednesday night) 'didn't need' to go to such drastic measures, Billie couldn't gush enough about how 'amazing' she looks

New look: Ferne unveiled the results of her nose job on This Morning on Monday

'I think the main thing is, it hasnt changed her face, she still looks like Ferne. She just has less of a bump on her nose. It was amazing, I have to say I was impressed. She looks amazing.'

'She was always quite open about that she had Trolls on social media saying nasty things but as her friend Ive always helped her and said to her "Ignore it, its just stupid people sitting on their computers and phones".

'That would always knock her confidence, so now I feel like shes going to be so much happier.'

While Billie looks ahead to the future, the reality star opened up about former castmate Lewis Bloor, who once dated her sister Sam, and his controversial appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.

She told MailOnline: 'I think hes doing really well. Ive known Lewis for years so I know what hes like and I know that some of them in the house are getting a bit annoyed with him but thats just how he is.'

Honest: The stylish star opened up about former castmate Lewis Bloor's (pictured) controversial appearance on Celebrity Big Brother

Positive: The fashion designer said she's positive about Lewis' and Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson's future together

'Hes got so many good sides, like all of us. Hes sort of all loved up with Marnie but I do think hes doing well.'

Weighing in on the Essex boy's romance with Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson, 24, the fashion designer said she's positive about their future together.

'Hopefully for them it does, they seem really loved up, Im quite positive that theyll continue it. Obviously she lives far away so theyll see what happens I guess.'

Now putting her focus firmly on her fashion career, Billie opened up about her new transitional collection with online retailer In The Style which she shot with sister Sam.

Bombshell: Billie opened up about her new transitional 13-piece collection with online retailer In The Style

The fashionista's 13-piece collection features a number of glamorous statement pieces in pale pink, greys and her favourite prints.

Known for her incredibly glamorous outfits, Billie revealed there's one big name that she would love to see in her range.

She said: 'Khloe Kardashian because I feel like she always looks amazing and she dresses for her figure so well. I think shes a real inspiration to girls, shes got curves, and she just always looks great. I love to see her in something [of mine].

Opening up about the line, which boasts a number of high-waisted palazzo pants and saucy double split maxi-dress, the stylista insisted fans will feel body confident when wearing her designs as she believes in dressing for your figure.

Stylish: The fashionista's line features a number of glamorous statement pieces in pale pink, greys and her favourite prints which she would love to see Khloe Kardashian wear

Billie added to MailOnline: 'We do a wraparound dress for people that might not be as confident with their arms and legs.

'Women tend to worry about their stomachs. But Im always great believer that you have to dress for what suits your figure.

'I just think to feel confident you just have to be comfortable in what youre wearing so theres no point in you wearing something thats tight and making your boobs fall out so you just have to wear something that cuts in the right places.'

Billie Faiers' Midsummer Romance collection with In The Style is available now.
He was spotted grocery shopping in Montreal, Canada, where he's filming The Death & Life Of John F. Donovan on Thursday.

But Kit Harington's thoughts are never far from Game Of Thrones, HBO's blockbuster medieval fantasy epic in which he plays Jon Snow.

'I feel like one of the safest people on Thrones now,' the 29-year-old Brit dished to The Wrap in an interview published on Tuesday.

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Grabbing groceries: Kit Harington was spotted out shopping in Montreal on Thursday, where he's filming The Death & Life Of John F. Donovan

Unlike many of the lead characters who have been ruthlessly killed off, his Jon Snow was miraculously raised from the dead by a witch - and he survived the bloodfest Battle of the Bastards at the end of Season Six.

That makes him a cert for the upcoming season, which kicks off next June - but in the meantime he's busy working on The Death & Life of John F. Donovan in the Canadian city.

Kit was spotted grabbing some groceries on a shopping trip on Wednesday.

The hunky star showed off his pecs and six-pack in a tight vest that he wore under a grey shirt that he left unbuttoned.

Well built: The 29-year-old Game Of Thrones hunk showed off his pecs and six-pack in a tight vest that he wore under a grey shirt that he left unbuttoned

He pulled on comfy blue jeans and sneakers and he wore earphones around his neck.

Kit is still sporting Jon Snow's wild, curly hair - the actor is not allowed to change his look between seasons.

In The Death & Life Of John F Donovan he stars as the titular character, a movie star whose correspondence with an 11-year old actor is exposed by a journalist, played by Jessica Chastain, at the fictional Gossip magazine.

Staying hydrated: The Brit drank from a can as he carried his goodies away from the store

Staying connected: Kit was glued to his phone as he walked to the supermarket, smoking

The drama also co-stars Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Natalie Portman, Michael Gambon, Thandie Newton, Bella Thorne and Adele.

It's directed and produced by French Canadian Xavier Dolan in his English-language debut.

Principal photography began on July 9 in Montreal, and is due to move Prague and London in September and October before heading to New York in November.

It's due out on September 27 in Canada and France but has yet to set a U.S. release date.
Bethenny Frankel left Luann de Lesseps devastated after a confrontation on Wednesday's episode of The Real Housewives Of New York City.

The Countess stormed out of the room after the Skinnygirl founder broke the news that her fiance Tom D'Agostino was caught 'making out' with another woman.

But instead of unleashing her anger towards her soon-to-be-husband, the former model labeled Frankel as simply 'bitter over her divorce.'

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Blamed: Luann de Lesseps lashed out as Bethenny Frankel defended her decision to confront The Countess over her allegedly cheating fiance Tom D'Agostino

'Would you tell your girlfriend if you saw her man with another woman?' Luann questioned readers on her Bravo blog.

'I think I would, yet its the way you tell your friend that matters,' the 51-year-old explained.

The cocktail creator sat Luann down and divulged the news that she received a photo of Tom kissing a mystery woman.

'Tom was making out': Bethenny broke Luann's heart on Wednesday's episode of The Real Housewives Of New York City

Shaken up: The Skinnygirl founder was trembling as she divulged the news that she received a photo of Tom kissing a mystery woman

Overwhelmed: Before the photo was shown, a hysterical Luann stormed out of the room and ordered the Bravo crew to 'stop filming'

'Devastated': Luann tweeted during the episode and explained her pain in those moments

Before the photo was shown, a hysterical Luann stormed out of the room and ordered the Bravo crew to 'stop filming.'

Luann continued in her blog: 'Obviously the person taking the photograph had an agenda and was all too happy to share that information with my buddy Bethenny.'

'Was I hurt when I found out that she had a photo of Tom and a girl at the Regency?' she added. 'Yes I was. I was devastated to the point of not knowing what to do next.'

Conspiracy: Luann wrote in her Bravo blog that she believed whoever took the photo 'had an agenda'

Fake friends? The Class With the Countess author wrote that the photographer was 'all too happy to share that information with my buddy Bethenny'

'Agenda': Luann tweeted that she felt set up by Bethenny to publicly announce the news

The Class with the Countess author married French entrepreneur Alexandre de Lesseps in 1993 but divorced in 2009.

'Im going to go on record to say that my marriage to my first husband was incredible, and even though we divorced, I wouldnt trade a minute of it for the world.'

Bethenny married pharmaceutical sales executive Jason Hoppy in 2010 and gave birth to a daughter, Bryn, aged six, the same year.

She filed for divorce from Hoppy in January 2013 but it was not finalised until last month due to years of property division negotiations.

'She's bitter': The former model blamed Bethenny's ongoing divorce from ex-husband Jason Hoppy for her wanting to break up Luann's relationship

PDA: [Tom was] in the Regency Hotel Midtown...making out at the bar for two hours,' Bethenny told UsWeekly

'Would do it exactly the same': The cocktail creator defended her decision to reveal the news to her fellow RHONY cast member

'Decency': The mogul called out Luann as it was revealed that Tom dated RHONY cast member Sonja Morgan for a decade, not a 'fling' as previously believed, as well as Ramona Singer

'I think that Bethenny is bitter over her divorce...and its hard for her to see that some marriages, even though they end, were meant to happen and to be appreciated.'

And while Luann blames Bethenny for her delivery, the cocktail creator defended her decision to tell her fellow RHONY cast member that her fiance had allegedly been unfaithful.

Crazy in love: Luann and her fiance Tom D'Agostino are clearly still going strong despite the alleged cheating scandal, as they were pictured together earlier this month

Bethenny's beau: Meanwhile the mother-of-one has been enjoying a new romance with her banker boyfriend Dennis Shields who she was recently spotted house hunting with; here they are pictured on June 14

'It wasn't like this person was in a back alley doing a drug deal. [Tom was] in the Regency Hotel Midtown on their popular night, making out at the bar for two hours the night before [LuAnns] engagement party a week and a half after her engagement,' she told UsWeekly.

'That's the story, and I don't know what else to say. To each their own.'

Meanwhile the mother-of-one has been enjoying a new romance with her banker boyfriend Dennis Shields, who she had been spotted house-hunting on Wednesday.
The debt seems to just keep on mounting for reality stars and convicted felons Teresa and Joe Giudice.

It has been reported that the couple have been slapped with another federal tax lien in the amount of $219,804.38.

It follows another lien filed against the Giudices in April for $243,425.50 which Radar Online confirmed has not yet been released.

Mounting debt: Teresa and Joe Giudice (pictured in 2013) have had another federal tax lien filed against them for $219,804.38

The latest lien was filed on June 15 and Radar reports a Morris County clerk told them the case was still open.

It was reported earlier this year that the couple's lawyer was working on getting them a repayment schedule for their other debts.

And the liabilities from their unfortunate financial oversights are rather sizable, with TMZ revealing Teresa, 44, landed a tax lien for $23,365 in February.

And in May it emerged the mother-of-four is facing more legal drama after a judge made the decision to reopen the reality television personality's bankruptcy case.

Money trouble: The latest tax lien follows another for $243,425.50 that the couple were slapped with in April. They are pictured in 2014 at a court appearance for bankruptcy fraud

A federal judge made the ruling on despite her lawyers arguing she was in the process of paying back the Internal Revenue Service and over 20 creditors owed money by her and her incarcerated husband Joe.

Teresa had hoped that because she had repayment plans in place she would be able to pocket the money she received from a pending lawsuit against one of her lawyers and keep it out of the hands of her creditors.

Meanwhile Joe, 44, started a 41-month prison sentence in March.

Teresa is pictured during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live on Wednesday where she talked about her stint in prison

Forgetting her financial woes: Teresa had a night out with girlfriends on Wednesday night and shared this snap on Instagram

Joe was convicted of bankruptcy fraud in October 2014 and will be facing the possibility of deportation back to Italy when he is released from prison.

Teresa was convicted on similar charge and began serving her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut in January of last year, being released two days before Christmas.

The judge ruled that the couple did not have to report at the same time for the well being of their four daughters - Gia, Gabriella, Milania, and Audriana.

Teresa and Joe share four daughters (L_R) Audriana, Milania, Gabriella and Gia. The reality star is pictured with her girls last month

Teresa has high hopes for her financial future as she revealed to People in January: 'I want to make $40 million this year.

'I hope that happens  for real, I made a vision board,

'I want to come out with my own yoga DVD tape, my own yoga line,' she continued.

'If you put out what you want, sometimes you get it. Never say, "I can't do that," because then you're already bringing yourself down.'
She looked stunning when she wore her white suit in New York on Monday.

And Natalie Portman looked great in it again when she turned up for an interview about her new movie, A Tale Of Love And Darkness, at AOL Build in the city on Wednesday.

The thrifty 35-year-old actress is on a promo tour for the indie film, which she also directed and adapted from Israeli author Amos Oz's bestselling memoir.

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Twice as nice: Natalie Portman looked elegant in the white suit she first debuted on Monday for her Wednesday interview with AOL Build in New York

She looked both chic and businesslike in the brocade two-piece that featured a raised pattern of daisies. Unusually, the round-necked, long-sleeved top buttoned down the back while the matching mini-skirt showed off her slender legs.

Natalie also stepped out in the elegant black mesh stilettos she was seen in on Monday.

The main difference was her dark blonde hair, which was centre-parted and styled in soft waves that framed her beautifully made-up face for the AOL Build chat, rather than Monday's side-parted look.

The actress, who has dual American and Israeli citizenship, was delighted to talk to host Ricky Camilleri about her passion project, 10 years in the making.

Suited up: The 35-year-old actress, who recently moved from Paris to Los Angeles, is on a promo tour for A Tale Of Love And Darkness and may have been running out of clothes

Elegant style: The white brocade outfit featured a raised pattern of daisies

The mother-of-one revealed she first approached the author for permission to make his story into a film after reading it in 2006.

'Who knew it would take this long,' she joked with Ricky.

The memoir describes Amos's childhood in the nascent State of Israel in the 1940s and '50s.

Though she first read the book in English, it was originally written in Hebrew, a language the Jerusalem native retained for her movie.

Passion project: Ten years in the making, Natalie directed and starred in the movie, which she adapted from Israeli author Amos Oz's bestselling memoir.

Director's chair: The Oscar-winner wrote, directed and stars in the film, which is in Hebrew

'My father's side is from Israel, and so I had heard so many stories about my grandparents as refugees from Europe in the '30s, late '30s, coming to Israel, which was then British Mandated Palestine' she told Good Morning America on Monday.

A Tale Of Love & Darkness is set for a limited release in the US on Friday.

The actress later slipped into a pretty black dress as she arrived for an appearance at the 92nd St Y.

Glammed up: The actress changed into a pretty black dress with a silver sparkling design as she headed to an appearance at the 92nd St Y later on Thursday

Best foot forward: The director added strappy silver heels as she continued to promote her writing and directing debut

The star appears to be on a solo trip to New York.

She is married to dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millipied, whom she met in 2009 on Black Swan - the role that won her a Best Actress Oscar.

The couple, who share five-year-old son Aleph, moved back to Los Angeles this summer after two years in France while Benjamin was director of the Paris Opera Ballet.

First outing: Natalie Portman wore the white brocade two-piece while out in New York's Soho district on Monday
Ricky Norwood has revealed that he suffered from depression after being caught in a sex scandal that saw him fired from EastEnders.

The 29-year-old actor, who played Arthur 'Fatboy' Chubb in the BBC series, made the revelation during Thursday night's episode of Celebrity Big Brother as he spoke candidly about his struggles with fellow housemate Renee Graziano.

Revealing that he didn't know at the time he was suffering from depression, he confessed that his anxiety was so high that he didn't want to leave the house.

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Confession: Ricky Norwood has revealed that he suffered from depression after being caught in a sex scandal that saw him fired from EastEnders

'I went into deep depression,' he explained. 'I didn't know it was depression. I didnt want to leave my house, I had all the blinds drawn.'

Discussing his two-month suspension, he reasoned: 'I held my hands up. At the end of the day - was it me? Yes!

'I'm an East London boy, when you're wrong, you say you're wrong.'

Revealing all: The 29-year-old actor, who played Arthur 'Fatboy' Chubb in the BBC series, made the revelation during Thursday night's episode of Celebrity Big Brother

He added that despite leaving the soap after the scandal, he was pleased with the work he had achieved and what could come in the future.

'When it came to the end of the contract, it was end of the contract,' he reasoned. 'Normally Id get a renewal

'I was happy. I was only supposed to be there for three months, I was there just under six years.'

Brave: Ricky spoke candidly about his struggles with fellow housemate Renee Graziano, revealing that he didn't know at the time he was suffering from depression

Ready to work: He added that despite leaving the soap after the scandal, he was pleased with the work he had achieved and what could come in the future

Ricky was suspended from EastEnders in 2014 after a video was leaked of the star smoking marijuana and performing a sex act on Skype.

BBC bosses decided to suspend Ricky from filming for two months when the incriminating pictures of him first came to light, while the London-born actor apologised for his actions.

Ricky had starred in online spin-off show E20 before finding fame on the long-running soap.

Moving on: Ricky was suspended from EastEnders in 2014 after a video was leaked of the star smoking marijuana and performing a sex act on Skype

Elsewhere on the programme, Ricky comforted Stephen Bear who was upset after being confronted by his ex-girlfriend Lillie Lexie Gregg.

Explaining that he knew exactly how his housemate was feeling, the actor explained: 'That was serious, and I saw your heart sink and your stomach fall to your a**e, I know that feeling.'

He added: 'Whether I agree with you or not that was some serious s**t.'
Australian actress Cate Blanchet's Sydney mansion is back on the market after it was previously sold for a sum of $20 million in August last year.

According to Domain, the previous buyer 'was forced to default given problems getting their funds out of China'.

When sold last year, 47-year-old Cate made a whopping profit of $9.8million from the swift sale after purchasing it for $10.2 million in 2005.

Back on the market: Australian actress Cate Blanchet's Sydney mansion is back on the market after it was previously sold for a sum of $20 million in August last year

Furthermore, it had only been listed for three weeks before the sale was made.

When the 1877 Gothic architecture sandstone home was first put on the market in August last year, Domain said the property was gutted by Cate and her husband Andrew Upton before they moved in six years ago.

Located in the exclusive suburb of the North Shore region, the mansion, named Bulwarra, features luxurious interiors and open plan living, with a focus on bringing the outdoors indoors.

Price tag: The 47-year-old made a profit of $9.8 million from the sale after purchasing the property for $10.2 million in 2005

Obstacle: According to Domain , the previous buyer 'was forced to default given problems getting their funds out of China'

It's said the celebrity couple bought the property after looking at 20 other mansions across the eastern suburbs and lower north shore.

Cate was said to be squeezing viewings into her schedule between work commitments but wasn't impressed with what was on offer at the time.

A real estate agent, who showed the Oscar-winning star several properties in the Eastern Suburbs, told The Sydney Morning Herald at the time that the much-loved personality was very particular.

Revamping: Cate and her husband Andrew Upton reportedly gutted their home and renovated it before moving in six years ago

'She is fussy as anything,' the unnamed agent said, adding: 'She is too fussy and nothing suits her. 'She was in no rush to buy because she is not coming back to Sydney permanently for three years.'

However, others were well and truly taken by the actress.

Bill Bridges from Cassim Real Estate told the publication: 'I thought she was quite charming and she charmed some vendors so much that I think they reduced the price'.

Cate and Andrew have relocated their family to the United Kingdom, and purchased a 3million mansion in the English countryside in January.

Over looking: The North Shore mansion features luxurious interiors and open plan living, with a seeming focus on bringing the outdoors indoors

Relocation: Cate and Andrew have relocated their family to the United Kingdom, and purchased a 3million mansion in the English countryside in January
Jared Leto is fresh off his uniquely imagined role as the Joker in Suicide Squad.

Now comes word that the 44-year-old actor is joining the star-heavy cast of the as-yet-untitled Blade Runner sequel that already includes Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling and Robin Wright, Variety reported.

Jared's role in the sci-fi tech-noir action flick hasn't been disclosed, but one can imagine him as a brilliant Nexus-6 replicant, the 'more human than human' synthetic person with super strength and agility.

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All aboard: Jared Leto - pictured on August 3 - has joined the star-heavy cast of the Blade Runner sequel, Variety is reporting

The one thing replicants lack is emotion and feelings of empathy, which made them easier to recognize.

In the original 1982 Blade Runner, the Nexus-6 'replicants' were genetically manufactured by the Tyrell Corporation and put to work in off-world mining colonies.

A few escaped back to Earth and had to be hunted down by world-weary Blade Runner Rick Deckerd, played by Harrison Ford.

'Replicants are like any other machine': Harrison Ford starred in the original 1982 Blade Runner as the world-weary replicant hunter and will star in the sequel

Uniquely imagined: Jared is fresh off his role as the Joker in Suicide Squad

Not much is known about the sequel's plot other than it takes place several decades after the first film.

In addition to Ford, 73, Ryan Gosling, 35, has a leading role along with Robin Wright, 50, and Mackenzie Davis, 29.

The film has begun shooting in Budapest, Hungary, and will move around to other locations in the Eastern European country.

'More human than human?' The role that the 44-year-old is playing hasn't been disclosed but he would certainly make an exceptional 'replicant' with super strength and agility

Seeing stars: Ryan Gosling (pictured May 20) and Robin Wright (pictured in 2014) round out the star-packed cast in the film to be directed by Denis (Sicario) Villeneuve and executive produced by Ridley Scott who directed the original 1982 sci-fi tech-noir

Ridley Scott, who directed the original, is serving as executive producer.

Denis Villeneuve, who helmed last year's Sicario, is directing the movie and bringing his Sicario cinematographer Roger Deakins along for the ride.

Hampton Fancher and Michael Green wrote the screenplay for the sequel.

The first Blade Runner was based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick, and was scripted by Fancher and David Peoples.

The film is slated for a US release on October 6, 2017.
She takes the management of her make-up line very seriously.

So perhaps it's no surprise that Kylie Jenner decided to buy an entire house to essentially serve as an office.

Back on Tuesday, the 19-year-old reality star dropped a cool $4.5 million on her third home in Hidden Hills, California, which will serve as a 'work space,' according to Us Weekly.

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A whopping write-off: Back on Tuesday, the 19-year-old reality star dropped a cool $4.5 million on her third home in Hidden Hills, California, which will serve as a 'work space'

Her real estate agent, Tomer Fridman, described the deal as a 'rarity' and complimented his client's property prowess.

'She turned this into a trophy estate,' he told the publication, 'because it's two separate houses, but she owns both of them and they are next to each other in a private drive. It's ubertrophy, one of the most trophy properties out there.'

He went on to gush about the details of the recently remodeled home.

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Savvy investor: Kylie's real estate agent, Tomer Fridman, described the deal as a 'rarity' and complimented his client's property prowess (Kylie pictured on July 14th, 2016)

Generous host: In addition to a work space, the new ranch-style home will also be used as a massive guest house for her pals when they are in town

Mogul: The 19-year-old reality star now owns three properties in the area

'The house has been extensively redone from the backyard through the interiors, it's a total showpiece.'

In addition to a work space, the new ranch-style home will also be used as a massive guest house for her pals when they are in town.

The four bedroom, four bath estate sits on 5,000-square-feet and features include a pool and jacuzzi.

Pretty: There is a definitely ranch theme to the home

Wide-open spaces: Much of the downstairs area features hardwood flooring

Pretty in patterns: No doubt Kylie will change up the decor of the home

Stunning: The estate sits on 5,000-square-feet

Lounging: The bedroom comes complete with a fireplace

Great view: The windows and glass door give a wonderful perspective to the rolling hills and greenery

Tidying up: The spacious bathroom comes complete with his and hers sinks, bathtub and shower

Wardrobe: The master closet is huge and has plenty of wood shelving

There are also many other amenities that you wouldn't be able to find in most home offices like a custom closet and stone fireplace.

The home built in 2013 features high ceilings, 8 feet doors and a four-car garage.

The outside of the home also includes a free-standing entertaining patio with fireplace, covered patio with BBQ center and fenced vineyard.

Home cooking: There is a very warm vibe to the kitchen area as it features an island with marble tabletop

Cosy: It is definitely a home that would be perfect for social events but TMZ reports that Kylie will be using it as a home office

Party time: There is a bar area perfect for guests

Spacious: No doubt this would be a nice place for Kylie to conduct business in her home

Cookout: Most home offices likely would not have a pool or covered BBQ area

Compound: The estate neighbours a property that Kylie has been living in since May

Kylie also owns a property in a gated Calabasas community close to where the rest of her famous family live. Reports say she has listed it for $3.9 million.

She also took to her Snapchat on Wednesday to share a short clip of herself rocking a little black dress.

The teenage star is certainly on the go as she shared a short clip of herself trying to decide what heels to wear with her Balmain mini dress.

Time to celebrate: Kylie took to her Snapchat to share a video of herself in and LBD on Wednesday after reports that she had bought the new property

Curvaceous: She showed off her figure in the clingy Balmain dress

Leggy lady: She shifted the camera toward her bottom half

'Do I want to wear these velvet bow shoes?': She asked her fans what footwear she should wear

Quite the wardrobe: She settled on these plain Saint Laurent Paris heels

Life isn't ruff: She made her way to the Snapchat offices and made use of their filters while heading there

Flower power: She also used another favourite filter featuring a flower crown

In one of the clips she said: 'So I'm wearing this Balmain dress today but I'm just trying to figure out what shoes. Do I want to wear these velvet bow shoes?'

Ultimately she decided on wearing plain black velvet Saint Laurent Paris heels.

In the series of clips she could be seen standing in front of her 10 foot tall glamor mirror with light up frame.

Home owner: She previously showed off a key to her new home on the same social network on Tuesday

Knock on wood: She gave fans a sneak peek at her new property

Home cooking: She seemed excited about her recent big purchase

The younger sister of Kendall Jenner also paid a visit to the Snapchat offices in Venice.

A day before those posts, she showed off the key to her new home and even a bit of a hallway and kitchen area on the same social network.

The teen has been dating rapper Tyga on and off for a year.

Her man: Kylie's boyfriend Tyga shared this shirtless photo of himself likely from Kylie's recent birthday celebration in Turks and Caicos
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Trade helps grow Nebraska. From commodities like corn and soybeans to beef and pork, Nebraska reaps the benefits of international trade to the tune of about $10 billion.

We didnt achieve this level of success overnight  it has been the product of a lot of hard work in building trade relationships with countries around the world. With low commodity prices right now, it is particularly important we work to expand trade opportunities and open up new markets across the globe.

Last week, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) and I announced that Nebraska would be signing letters of intent with Taiwan to expand our trade relationship with the country. Taiwan has historically been a very important trade partner with our state.

During a visit to the country this month, the Nebraska Ag Director signed letters of intent on behalf of the state with Taiwan to purchase more than $405 million in Nebraska corn, soybeans, wheat, beef, pork, and distillers grains. The letters outline Taiwans intent to purchase over $100 million each of wheat, corn and soybeans as well as a total of about $20 million of pork and beef products.

These letters of intent build on our successful trade missions last year. Our efforts to build relationships during international trade missions have led to several successful investments from companies including Morio Denki, Geist, and Worldlawn.

In addition to these successes, Kawasaki announced in January that it would establish its first U.S. aerostructures production line in Lincoln. Kawasaki leadership said last falls trade mission to Japan played a part in their decision-making to expand Kawasakis presence in Nebraska. This expansion is great news for Nebraska, and builds on Kawasakis current production lines that produce railcars and all-terrain vehicles and employ 2,000 people in Lincoln.

Another tool that could help Nebraska expand overseas trade relationships is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is currently under consideration in Congress. TPP would bring down tariffs and help expand markets for Nebraskas commodities along the Pacific rim. Earlier this year, I partnered with the Nebraska Farm Bureau to unveil an analysis of TPPs economic impact on Nebraska. The analysis released by the Farm Bureau showed that TPP had the potential to add $378 million in cash receipts for Nebraska in ag products alone.

Trade agreements like the letters of intent Nebraska is signing or TPP, which the federal government is negotiating, require a great deal of relationship building over time. To this end, I will be leading a trade mission to China later this fall. China is Nebraskas fourth largest trading partner after Mexico, Canada and Japan, and its a country with a growing economy and middle class, who have an increasing demand for quality food products. During this trade mission, we will highlight Nebraskas quality commodities and manufacturers.

Nebraska businesses and ag producers who do business in China, or those that are hoping to enter this market, should contact the Department of Economic Development or NDA to express their interest in joining the trade mission. Departmental contacts include Cobus Block at 402-480-5806 or cobus.block@nebraska.gov or Stan Garbacz at 402-471-2341 or stan.garbacz@nebraska.gov. You can also download the form for yourself at http://opportunity.nebraska.gov/trademission.

Space is limited, so contact the departments soon!

Trade has been and continues to be a great way to grow Nebraska. As we continue to look for new ways to expand trade relationships, I will to share success stories with you.

If you have questions about this topic or any other, I hope that you will contact my office by emailing pete.ricketts@nebaska.gov or by calling 402-471-2244. We look forward to hearing from you!
Vietnam allows cancelled battle commemoration: Australia

Vietnam will allow an Australian war commemoration to go ahead on the site of the Battle of Long Tan on Thursday's 50th anniversary, reversing an earlier ban, a minister said.

Canberra announced Wednesday that Vietnam had cancelled the ceremonies at the last minute describing the surprise move as "a kick in the guts".

More than 1,000 veterans and their families have travelled to Vietnam to remember the most costly single battle fought by Australian soldiers in the Vietnam War, 18 of whom died as a result of the encounter.

More than 1,000 Australian veterans and their families have travelled to Vietnam to remember the Battle of Long Tan, the most costly single confrontation fought by Australian soldiers in the Vietnam War Greg Wood (AFP/File)

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appealed to his Vietnamese counterpart late Wednesday to understand Australia's position, Veterans Affairs Minister Dan Tehan told Sky News.

"That message has thankfully hit a chord.

"We will now... be able to conduct a wreath-laying ceremony today in Vietnam and also there will be access given to the Long Tan site to groups of up to 100 at a time," Tehan said.

"This is a welcome change of heart from the Vietnamese government."

The Australian and New Zealand ambassadors will lay wreaths along with a representative of the veterans affairs department.

Tehan stressed that Australia was very aware of Vietnamese feelings about the war.

"There was huge loss of life on the Vietnamese side as a result of the Vietnam war, we have always remained sensitive to that."

A force of just 108 Australian soldiers held off an assault by around 2,000 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese fighters at Long Tan on August 18, 1966.

Seventeen Australians were killed in action and 25 wounded, one of whom later died from his injuries while at least 250 Vietnamese fighters perished.

With commemorations marking Long Tan under way in Australia, Tehan said Canberra had gone out of its way to ensure the Vietnam event was low-key.

It appeared the decision to halt the ceremony was based simply on the sensitivities relating to Long Tan, and did not relate to any other aspect of Australia's relationship with Hanoi, Tehan said.
Amnesty denounces 'appalling abuse' in Syrian jails

Syrian authorities are committing torture on a "massive scale" in government prisons including beatings, electric shocks, rape and psychological abuse that amount to crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said Thursday.

More than 17,700 people are estimated to have died in custody in Syria since the country's conflict began in March 2011, an average of more than 300 each month, the watchdog said in a report.

Anyone seen as an opponent of the government is at risk of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and death in custody, according to Amnesty.

Since the Syria war began in 2011 more than 17,000 people are estimated to have died in custody Fadi Dirani (AFP/File)

It said the report was based on interviews with 65 torture survivors, mostly civilians, who described "appalling abuse and inhuman conditions" in intelligence agency detention centres and the Saydnaya Military Prison near Damascus.

Most described witnessing at least one, if not several, deaths in custody, Amnesty said.

Detainees are frequently subjected to a beating, known as a "welcome party", after their arrival at a prison by guards using tools such as silicone bars or hoses.

"They had to break us; they treated us like animals. They wanted people to be as inhuman as possible," according to a former detainee identified as Samer, who Amnesty said was arrested while transporting humanitarian supplies.

"I didn't see anyone die but I saw the blood, it was like a river," he said.

- 'Getting rid of the weak' -

Omar S, who was a 17-year-old high-school student at the time of his arrest in 2012 after taking part in demonstrations, said the detainees were asked upon their arrival if they were ill.

"It felt like the purpose was death, some form of natural selection -- to get rid of the weak as soon as they arrive," he said.

"They first asked my friend and he said, 'Yes, I have breathing problems -- I have asthma.' They started beating him until he died, right there in front of me."

The rights group said it had documented cases of rape and sexual violence against both men and women.

They include Said, a pro-democracy activist, who said that he was suspended by one hand while blindfolded.

"While I was hanging ... they used an electroshock baton to hit my penis. Then they took the electroshock device and inserted it into my anus and switched it on. This was my first experience of rape. Then one of the guards asked for my face to be uncovered and I saw my father there. He had witnessed all of it."

Access to food, water and sanitation facilities is often severely restricted in regime prisons and infestations of scabies and lice thrive along with diseases, according to the report.

Amnesty urged world powers, in particular Russia and the United States, to pressure the Syrian authorities and armed groups to end the use of torture and other ill-treatment.

"For decades, Syrian government forces have used torture as a means to crush their opponents," said Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director Philip Luther.

"Today, it is being carried out as part of a systematic and widespread attack directed against anyone suspected of opposing the government in the civilian population and amounts to crimes against humanity. Those responsible for these heinous crimes must be brought to justice."
Swim, IOC scandals overshadow Bolt's advance

Brazilian police detained two US swimmers and arrested a top International Olympic Committee official on Wednesday as scandal overshadowed the Rio Games and Usain Bolt's progress toward a new gold.

Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were taken off a flight leaving Rio de Janeiro by authorities investigating doubts over their claim of having been mugged.

That came hours after top European Olympic official Patrick Hickey was arrested in an investigation into black market Olympic ticket sales.

American swimmers Gunnar Bentz (L) and Jack Conger leave the police station at Rio de Janeiro International Airport on August 17, 2016 Tasso Marcelo (AFP)

Conger and Bentz, along with star US swimmer Ryan Lochte and squad member James Feigen, said they were held up at gunpoint in the early hours of Sunday.

However Brazilian judge Keyla Blank ordered the passports of all four to be seized to prevent them leaving the country. Lochte had already gone home.

The Globo media organization posted a video online showing Conger and Bentz walking into a police station on Wednesday.

They were released late at night "with the understanding that they would continue their discussions about the incident on Thursday," Sandusky said.

Lochte, who returned to the US before Brazilian authorities ordered the swimmers' questioning, and Feigen, who remains in Brazil, will cooperate with the investigation, US broadcaster NBC reported.

The four made headlines with their terrifying account while returning from a party.

Lochte said they were held up by muggers posing as police as they left a party just after 4:00am. In interviews, he described how he had a hand gun put to his head and handed over his money and wallet.

- Victims laughed -

However, the judge said their story was full of inconsistencies.

NBC quoted witnesses as saying the swimmers were at the party until daybreak.

And Britain's Daily Mail obtained video surveillance showing the four laughing as they returned to their accommodations at 6:56am on Sunday.

Speaking to NBC late Wednesday, Lochte strongly denied that the swimmers fabricated their story.

"I wouldn't make up a story like this nor would the others -- as a matter of fact we all feel it makes us look bad," he was quoted as saying.

Hickey, an IOC executive member, head of the European Olympic Committees and the Irish national committee, spent Wednesday night in hospital after being detained at his luxury hotel.

Accused of ticket scalping, ambush marketing and conspiracy after tickets were seized from another Irish businessman, Hickey has "temporarily" stood down from his posts.

Following a raid similar to the arrest of seven top FIFA officials at a Zurich hotel last year, Hickey was shown in media video answering his hotel room door unclothed before putting on a bath robe.

Police said they suspect he had changed rooms to try to evade arrest.

Hickey's wife was in another room and at first told them Hickey had left the country, police told reporters.

Brazilian police have launched a widening investigation after seizing more than 1,000 premier tickets for Games events, including the opening ceremony.

Tickets with a face value of about $1,000 dollars were sold for $8,000, in a racket prosecutors said yielded profits of $3.0 million.

The head of a sports ticketing firm, THG Sports, was detained with the tickets on August 5.

Hickey's son once worked for THG, but the sports powerbroker denied any wrongdoing in an interview with Irish television last week as the scandal mounted.

The arrests diverted attention from the sporting action as Usain Bolt reached the final of the 200m -- the second of his targeted three-gold-medal sweep of the Olympic sprint titles.

While Bolt ran the season's best 19.78 sec, his American arch-rival Justin Gatlin, 34, failed to reach the final.

Gatlin, who won the 100m silver behind Bolt at the weekend, said he had not fully recovered from an ankle injury suffered in November.

"I definitely think I can try for the world record, I definitely feel that," Bolt said.

Drug-tainted Russia's only competitor in the track and field, Darya Klishina, failed to reach the final medal battle in the long jump. The 25-year-old blamed the turmoil of the doping scandal for her disappointment.

The IAAF gave her the green light for Rio and then banned her because of "new" doping information. She went to the sports tribunal to reverse the ban.

Brazil's suffering sports fans got some good news when football star Neymar scored twice -- including the fastest Olympic goal after 15 seconds -- in a 6-0 win over Honduras in the Olympic semi-final.

In the final they will take on Germany in a revenge repeat of their disastrous 7-1 loss in the World Cup semi-final two years ago.

US swimmer Ryan Lochte said he and three teammates were held up by muggers posing as police in Rio, but Brazilian officials have cast doubt on their account Martin Bureau (AFP/File)

Ryan Lochte of the USA competes in the men's 200m individual medley heats at the Rio 2016 Olympics on August 10, 2016 Martin Bureau (AFP/File)

Around 85,000 police and soldiers have been guarding the Olympi Games in Rio -- twice the number at London 2012 Adrian Dennis (AFP/File)

Patrick Hickey, an IOC executive member, head of the European Olympic Committees and the Irish national committee, spent the night in hospital after being detained at his luxury hotel Jack Guez (AFP/File)

Police patrol cars are parked up in front of the Samaritan Hospital in Rio on August 17, 2016, where top International Olympic Committee member Patrick Hickey was admitted under police custody Tasso Marcelo (AFP)
Children in Syria's Madaya await urgent medical help

Eyes closed against the searing light, a 10-year-old with meningitis writhes in agony on a bed in Syria's besieged town of Madaya as his parents look helplessly on.

Yaman Ezzedin is one of several desperately ill children in the rebel-held town under regime siege outside Damascus in need of immediate evacuation to a well-equipped hospital.

And he is one of some 40,0000 residents who have been affected by food and medicine shortages inside Madaya since the regime encircled the town two years ago and besieged it completely last summer.

Food and medical shortages have hit children in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya Louai Beshara (AFP/File)

The town grabbed international attention in late 2015 after reports its residents were starving to death because of a lack of food.

A 10-year-old Syrian girl shot in Madaya was evacuated on Sunday to a Damascus hospital after an online campaign, but another dozen children remain inside the town in urgent need of medical care.

This week, activists inside Madaya posted a video of Yaman on social media as part of a plea for help for the children.

"He won't stop crying the pain is so unbearable," his father Alaa tells AFP by phone.

Cold compresses have done nothing to bring down his temperature, Alaa says, or alleviate convulsions, hallucinations and an intolerance of sunlight.

The young boy is so consumed by the pain, "he no longer recognises us," his father says, his voice breaking.

"I don't know who to ask... I call on the whole world, the United Nations, the Red Crescent to save my son."

- One field hospital -

Some 86 people have died in a year-long government siege of Madaya, including 65 from starvation and malnutrition, two NGOs said last month.

The Syrian American Medical Society and Physicians for Human Rights blamed the deaths on the government's "stranglehold" on the town.

The United Nations says nearly 600,000 Syrians are living under siege, mostly imposed by the government, though the tactic has also been used by rebel fighters and the Islamic State group.

Thirteen children including Yaman -- as well as a semi-paralysed, blind 22-year-old -- urgently need to be evacuated out of the town, according to medics.

Madaya only has "one field hospital, which offers modest services owing to the lack of medication and equipment," a group of health professionals said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

"Everyone without exception suffers from a lack of calcium... and many are malnourished," they said.

The group said 45 cases of typhoid had been recorded, "most... among women and children, with no medication or antibiotics to assist in treatment.

"These cases are in dire need of hospitalisation outside of Madaya somewhere equipped and capable of offering treatment before time runs out," they said.

On Thursday, the UN's Syria envoy called for 16 people -- mostly children and the youngest just six months old -- to be allowed out of Madaya for medical treatment.

Staffan de Mistura also called for the evacuation of another two people from Fuaa, a rebel-besieged village in the northwestern Idlib province.

- Two dentists, one vet -

Under a deal signed last September, any evacuation from the regime-encircled towns of Madaya and Zabadani must be matched by a similar operation from the rebel-besieged Shiite villages of Fuaa and Kafraya.

Dentist Mohammad Darwish is one of just three acting doctors left in Madaya.

Under blockade, the 25-year-old, another dentist and a vet have had to become surgeons, performing operations including caesarians and amputations to help the town's ailing residents.

One of the worst cases he has seen is that of Bissan al-Shamaa, not yet one year old, whose parents unknowingly fed her milk formula that had been mixed with plaster powder.

"She's suffering from septicaemia," a blood infection, he says.

Activists inside the town this week posted a picture of Bissan among a series of images of children in urgent need of medical help.

On the local council's Facebook page, nine-month-old Bissan appears with her large eyes lifeless and tiny body emaciated.

The caption says she is suffering from severe malnutrition after her mother mixed her milk powder with starch.

"May God prevent all parents from seeing their child in such a state," Yaman's father says.

Healthworkers have treated children in the beseiged Syrian town of Madaya for typhoid and malnourishment STRINGER (UNICEF/AFP/ho/File)
Cold War echoes as inter-Korean diplomacy goes back to basics

One year after North and South Korea vowed to resume a constructive dialogue, they have instead resurrected a spirit of Cold War-era antagonism, complete with cross-border propaganda shouting matches, spy messaging and defection dramas.

Official contact between the two Koreas has never been easy, but the current situation, with all official lines of communication severed and a host of flash-point issues raising tensions, appears to be particularly volatile and fraught with risk.

"The relations between North and South Korea have never been as tense as they are now since the Cold War period of the 1970s", said professor Kim Yong-Hyun, a North Korean expert at Dongguk University.

The defection of a top North Korean diplomat to the South is the latest strain on relations Katie Schubauer (AFP/File)

High-profile defections are suddenly back in vogue, with the North Korean deputy ambassador to Britain, Thae Yong-Ho, handing Seoul a propaganda coup this week by defecting to South Korea with his family.

Although Thae's motives were probably as much personal as ideological -- he has two children, one of school age -- South Korean officials attributed his decision to a straightforward choice between good and evil.

On his reasons for defecting, Thae "cited disgust with (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-Un's regime and admiration for South Korea's free, democratic system," said Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee.

- Communications cut -

This sort of old-school diplomatic baiting has become increasingly common at a time of almost zero cross-border contact.

As tensions rose in the wake of North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January, Pyongyang shut down the two existing hotlines with South Korea -- one used by the military and one for government-to-government communications.

And last month it severed its only direct communications link with the United States when it shut down the so-called "New York channel" which had previously served as a key point of contact between North Korean and US diplomats at the United Nations.

"The total absence of channels for dialogue between the two Koreas as well as between Pyongyang and Washington is a real cause for concern," Kim Yong-Hyun said.

Inter-Korean communication has now gone back to the basics, with both sides effectively reduced to shouting across the heavily militarised border.

Banks of loudspeakers have been dusted off and brought up to the frontlines, blasting music and propaganda messages into each other's territory.

In another nod to Cold War methodology, North Korea appears to have resumed the transmission of coded messages over state radio -- presumably meant for spies operating in the South.

The short-wave transmissions -- the first of their type for around 20 years -- were picked up by the South's intelligence agency in mid-June and comprised a female announcer reading long lists of numbers for several minutes.

- False starts -

It wasn't meant to be this way.

In August last year, a top North Korean negotiator was trumpeting a "dramatic turning point" for inter-Korean relations after the two sides agreed to defuse a crisis that had pushed them to the brink of an armed conflict.

The accord, which the lead South Korean negotiator also hailed as providing a "new momentum" for cross-border cooperation, included a commitment to resuming a regular, high-level dialogue.

But just two weeks later, the two sides were back in familiar territory, trading insults and accusations of insincerity.

They did finally manage to hold vice-ministerial talks in December, but the discussions went nowhere and the prospect of further dialogue was then wiped out for good by the North's nuclear test the following month.

The strong international reaction to the test emboldened the South to take a hard line and match the Norths brinkmanship, instead of turning the other cheek as it had often done in the past

The diplomatic fallout was toxic enough to kill off the sole remaining North-South cooperation project -- the Kaesong joint industrial zone, which had managed to ride out pretty much every inter-Korean crisis thrown up since it opened for business in 2004.

"Inter-Korean peace-time relations are really at their worst... with trade, and exchanges of people and dialogue all severed," said Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies.

- Flashpoints -

The North's state media, meanwhile, has become a vehicle for abusing South Korean President Park Geun-Hye -- often employing coarse and highly sexist language.

Tensions are expected to spike again next week when South Korea and the US kick off a joint military exercise involving tens of thousands of troops.

The two week-long Ulchi Freedom drill is one of a number of annual exercises viewed as provocative rehearsals for invasion by Pyongyang, which often test fires missiles in a mark of protest.

Yang said the North might opt for a low-key response this time around so as to avoid undermining a Cold War-flavoured stand-off that has built up over South Korea's recent decision to deploy a sophisticated US anti-missile system on its territory.

While Seoul and Washington insist the deployment is purely defensive in nature, it has been sharply criticised by Beijing and Moscow.

North and South Korea use loudspeakers to broadcast propaganda messages into each other's territory Kim Jae-Hwan (AFP/File)

North Korea's January nuclear test wiped out chances for dialogue with the South Jung Yeon-Je (AFP/File)
Myanmar's Suu Kyi in China with dam project on agenda

Myanmars de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday met with China's premier, discussing a stalled dam project and the prospect of building a bridge near the countries' troubled joint-border.

Suu Kyi's first major foreign trip since her administration took power in March showed "the Myanmar government and you yourself pay great attention to China-Myanmar ties", Li Keqiang said at the start of talks in Beijing, adding: "China approves of this".

Myanmar sees its giant neighbour -- and largest trading partner -- as its biggest foreign policy preoccupation.

Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (L) meets with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on August 18, 2016 Rolex Dela Pena (Pool/AFP)

Unfreezing the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam -- stalled since 2011 -- is a priority for China, while officials said Suu Kyi was seeking Beijing's cooperation for peace talks with armed groups operating near the countries' shared border.

Beijing was instrumental in shielding Myanmar's former junta rulers from international opprobrium while Suu Kyi, now State Counsellor, languished for years under house arrest as a democracy activist.

At the time Myitsone was seen as emblematic of China's economic dominance over Myanmar. In 2011 a quasi-civilian government halted the project -- originally designed to supply most of its electricity to China -- in a surprise move after local protests.

Both the dam and border peace talks were discussed by the two leaders, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters.

But he indicated that there had been no breakthroughs, merely an assurance from Suu Kyi that she would "set up an investigation committee to appropriately solve" the dam issue.

Li and Suu Kyi oversaw the signing of an agreement to study the feasibility of building a bridge in Kunlong, 32 km (20 miles) from the border in Myanmar's Kokang region where an ethnic Chinese rebel group has recently fought Myanmar's military.

As well as Li, Suu Kyi is due to hold talks with China's President Xi Jinping and visit the province of Yunnan bordering her country during the five-day trip, which began Wednesday.

- 'Significant weight' -

On her first visit to China last year, she faced calls to raise the case of her fellow Nobel laureate Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo -- sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for circulating a petition calling for democratic reforms -- but did not do so.

Beijing staunchly objects to foreign leaders criticising its rights record, and few expect her to do so this time.

Analysts said the choice of China for Suu Kyi's first trip to a major foreign capital shows the relationship is a priority after Myanmar's historic November elections saw a landslide vote to end military domination.

With a total of $15.4 billion of approved investments in Myanmar, China is by far its largest foreign investor, despite reforms in recent years that have seen Western firms surge back. Its interests range from a huge oil and gas pipeline and special economic zone, to dams and mining.

Chinese firms have continued to win major contracts in recent months.But the Southeast Asian nation has drawn closer to the US during its transition to civilian rule.

At the same time Myanmar needs to get Beijing onside as it pursues historic peace talks with armed groups who cross over the border into China to find sanctuary and to trade in illicit items.

Fighting in the border region of Kokang has seen residents flee into China, and shells occasionally landing on its territory, straining relations.

Communist-ruled China launched a diplomatic charm offensive after the November elections, dispatching foreign minister Wang Yi for talks with Suu Kyi soon after her party's victory.

China's state-run media portrayed the current trip as a sign that Myanmar's ties with Beijing remain stronger than its links to Washington.

"Contrary to the subjective view that a democratic Myanmar will lean toward the West, Suu Kyi's visit to China carries significant weight," commentator Wang Wenwen wrote in the Global Times newspaper.

Several commentators said Chinese investment was still essential for Myanmar, but signalled that Beijing might be willing to make concessions on dam projects by consulting more with locals.

Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to China is ger first major foreign trip since her administration took power in March Rolex Dela Pena (Pool/AFP)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi review a military honour guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on August 18, 2016 Fred Dufour (AFP)
Thai military detains 15 over tourist town attacks

Thailand's junta on Thursday detained at least 15 suspects at military barracks on suspicion of launching a string of deadly bomb and arson attacks against tourist resort towns last week.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing spree, which hit tourist towns in the country's south last Thursday and Friday, killing four and wounding dozens, including European visitors.

The attacks were highly unusual in a country where foreigners and tourist towns are rarely caught up in the country's frequent bouts of political violence.

Thai forensic specialists collect evidence from the crime scene after a bomb exploded in the tourist town of Hua Hin on August 12, 2016 Munir Uz Zaman (APF/AFP/File)

Investigators have been under huge pressure to make quick arrests. Tourism accounts for as much as 10 percent of Thailand's GDP and is one of the kingdom's few economic bright spots under junta rule.

On Thursday, investigators confirmed they had detained multiple suspects.

"Authorities have detained 17 suspects at the special 11th Army Circle barracks in Bangkok but we released two of them," Colonel Burin Tongprapai, the junta's top legal advisor, told reporters on Thursday.

He added that authorities were now looking to re-detain those two released suspects and that the entire group were likely to be charged on Friday.

Colonel Burin's comments highlight the primary role the military have played in the investigation and is the first official admission that scores of suspects have been held since the bombings on army barracks.

Local human rights groups had previously said more than a dozen suspects were being held without access to lawyers and called for greater transparency in the investigation.

Thailand is currently ruled by the military, which seized power in 2014 and awarded themselves widespread powers to hold suspects.

- Murky motives -

Authorities have remained tight-lipped on the motive of the perpetrators of last week's attack or the identities of anyone detained.

But police and the military quickly ruled out international terrorism, saying the perpetrators were "local saboteurs".

The assaults struck on the Queen's birthday -- a national holiday -- just days after a controversial military-crafted constitution was passed in a referendum vote where independent campaigning was banned.

A number of analysts say the most likely culprits are therefore ethnic Muslim militants who have fought a lengthy but local insurgency in Thailand's three southernmost provinces.

The attacks bore many hallmarks of the southern insurgents, who never claim their operations, including coordinated multiple strikes and the type of devices used.

But the junta leadership has been adamant that the deep south conflict has not spread north, fearful that such an admission might harm tourism.

Instead they have hinted at involvement of factions within the so-called "Red Shirt" movement loyal to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The military toppled Thaksin in 2006 sparking years of debilitating protests culminating in a second coup against an elected administration run by his sister Yingluck in 2014.

The Red Shirts have denied any suggestion of involvement and accused the junta of using the bomb blasts to roll out a fresh crackdown against them.

No details were given on Thursday about the identity of the 17 suspects, their faith, their alleged motives or what they will be charged with.

The army barracks where the suspects are being detained is controversial.

A special military prison was set up there after the junta seized power to hold high value suspects.

Two former aides of Thailand's Crown Prince who were arrested for royal defamation died in custody at the barracks and were quickly cremated in yet to be fully explained circumstances.

A third suspect in that investigation remains incarcerated there.

Two Chinese nationals accused of involvement in last summer's bomb attack against a Bangkok religious shrine -- an attack that left 20 dead -- are also being held there.

The motives for that attack remain murky although the pair's trial begins next week.

Anthony Davis, a security analyst at Janes IHS, said regardless of whoever was behind last week's bombings, they were a "watershed moment" because they singled out the tourism trade.

"Whoever is responsible for this may well come back," he told AFP.

"And if that's the case, then the tourism industry is at very serious risk."

Blasts in Thailand

Police tape cordons off burned buildings at the site of a bomb blast and arson attack on Bang Niang market, Takua Pa, near Khao Lak, Thailand on August 12, 2016 Jerome Taylor (AFP/File)
Soldiers raid village in Indian Kashmir, one dead

Soldiers raided a village in restive Indian-administered Kashmir overnight in an attempt to quash ongoing protests, leaving one civilian dead and dozens injured, police and witnesses said Thursday.

Villagers said soldiers from a nearby Indian army camp ransacked homes in Khrew village and beat residents with bamboo sticks, leading to the death of a teacher.

"They beat up men, women and children and took away many young men with them. We discovered the battered body of Shabir Mangoo on a village street in the morning," said one villager who asked not to be named, fearing reprisals.

Indian paramilitary troopers stand guard during a curfew in the Batmaloo area of Srinagar on August 17, 2016 Tauseef Mustafa (AFP/File)

Army spokesman Colonel N.N. Joshi confirmed the raid on the village 25 kilometres (16 miles) south-east of the main city of Srinagar, saying "the incident is being investigated".

Indian-administered Kashmir has been in the grip of almost daily anti-India protests and rolling curfews sparked by the killing on July 8 of a popular rebel leader, Burhan Wani, in a gunfight with government forces.

"One person was also found dead after the raid," a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that around 28 villagers were taken away by the soldiers.

The army raid -- the third in recent days -- comes after five weeks of unrest that have left more than 60 people dead.

India has clamped down hard on protests, with the army accused of using brutal tactics to suppress demonstrators.

"First the electricity went off and soldiers soon started attacking our home, beating up all of us including my 10-year-old niece," villager Ghulam Hassan told AFP from his hospital bed in Srinagar.

Dr Nazir Chaudhary, medical superintendent at the main SMHS hospital in Srinagar told AFP 24 injured villagers had been admitted for treatment.

A daytime curfew in place across the territory was extended to night-time Wednesday, with police forcing shops to close and soldiers setting up additional roadblocks and checkpoints to restrict residents' movement.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full.
Philippines receives first Japanese coast guard vessel

The Philippines received the first of ten coast guard vessels from Japan Thursday, the coastguard said, as the two countries boost security ties in the face of their separate maritime disputes with China.

The 44 metre (144 foot) BRP Tubbataha has arrived in Manila, the Philippines coast guard said in a statement, adding that it will be used for search and rescue, law-enforcement and transport purposes.

They did not specify where it would be deployed.

Philippine Coast Guard's first ever multi-role response vessel, the BRP Tubbataha, arrives at the port in Manila on August 18, 2016 Noel Celis (AFP)

This is the first of 10 Philippine coast guard ships being built in Japan, supported by Japanese aid money, as the former World War II foes seek to boost defence ties in the face of growing Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

Japan -- the Philippines' top source of development aid -- said this month it would give Manila two additional patrol vessels, and that it was discussing the possible lease of surveillance aircraft.

Japan and China are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea. Manila and Beijing have overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

The Philippines has been seeking closer defence ties with Japan as well as traditional allies like the United States and Australia in a bid to boost its capabilities against regional giant China.

The Philippine military and coast guard are among the region's weakest.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his Philippine counterpart Perfecto Yasay last week called on China to observe the rule of law in settling maritime disputes.

This came after a UN-linked tribunal ruled in July that China's claim to most of the South China Sea was invalid, handing a sweeping diplomatic victory to the Philippines.
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."
Israel defence chief has 'carrot and stick' West Bank plan

Israel's hardline defence minister Avigdor Lieberman has a new "carrot and stick" policy for the West Bank that will penalise the hometowns of Palestinian attackers while rewarding others, his ministry said Thursday.

Under the policy, Palestinian families, villages and towns that are linked to attackers will face extra punitive measures, while those that are not will receive increased economic support.

"Anyone who is ready for coexistence will profit, and anyone who takes the route of terrorism will lose," Lieberman said, according to Israeli newspapers.

Israel routinely demolishes homes of Palestinian assailants in what it says is a means to deter further attacks Jaafar Ashtiyeh (AFP/File)

Lieberman described the policy as a "carrot and stick" approach, his ministry confirmed to AFP.

The policy is dependent on support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which Lieberman said he had already received.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, which is home to more than two million Palestinians, since 1967.

More than 400,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements which the international community considers illegal and sees as one of the largest obstacles to peace.

According to Israeli media reports, Lieberman, whose ministry leads Israeli policy in the West Bank, has divided the region in two -- with Palestinian hometowns of attackers marked green and others in red or yellow.

Those marked as threats could see increased arrests or raids and tighter restrictions on access, while those seen as accepting of Israel's presence could see increased state investment.

In Beit Sahour, south of Jerusalem, the "carrot" could include a new hospital, Israeli newspapers reported.

A wave of violence since October has killed 220 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP tally.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say, with the majority of them from the West Bank.

Last month the Israeli army closed off the Fawwar refugee camp close to the flashpoint city of Hebron for 26 days after a gunman fired on an Israeli car on a nearby road, causing a crash that killed the driver.
Is Texas about to execute for murder a man who killed no one?

Jeffery Wood did not fire the gun that killed a Texas store clerk during a robbery gone wrong, nor did he even witness the shooting. But that didn't stop the most active death penalty state in the US from scheduling his execution next week.

On the morning of January 2, 1996, Wood was sitting in a pickup truck outside the convenience store at a gas station in the city of Kerrville while his friend Daniel Reneau went inside to rob a safe.

Reneau had planned to stage an unarmed robbery before escaping into the hills with Wood's help. But the plan went awry when Reneau shot the store employee in the head after he refused to comply.

Mark Clements (C), imprisoned for 28 years before being released and exonerated, delivers a speech calling for commuting of Jeffrey Wood's sentence outside of the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas on August 18, 2016 Tamir Kalifa (AFP)

Hearing the gun go off, Wood rushed into the store to find a blood-soaked scene. He helped Reneau remove a video surveillance recorder before the two men fled, taking the safe and a cash box.

They were arrested the following day, quickly identified by witnesses.

- Child's IQ -

Wood, who turns 43 on Friday, was sentenced to death under Texas's so-called law of parties, under which anyone involved in a criminal plot resulting in death is equally responsible, regardless of actual involvement or intent.

Prosecutors have argued that Wood could have anticipated that a murder would take place.

But activists, along with Wood's attorneys, are fighting to halt the execution or at least obtain a reprieve.

Reneau was put to death in 2002.

But even in Texas -- which executes far more inmates than the other 30 states that exercise capital punishment -- Wood's case is an outlier.

"I have never seen an execution in the United States with this low of a level of culpability as Mr Wood has," his defense attorney Kate Black told AFP.

"I think that this case is a really strong example of the problem with the law of parties and I think that the (Texas) Court of Criminal Appeals will take that very seriously."

She claims that Wood, who is said to have the IQ of a child, was unaware that Reneau -- whom he had met just two months earlier -- would carry a firearm into the convenience store.

Wood's family and activists have worked hard to stop the lethal injection set to take place on August 24.

"Jeffery Wood only has one child and that is me!!!" his daughter Paige wrote on a website supporting her father.

"I have been deprived because of somebody else's crime. Should I continue to be punished?" she added.

"Please do not kill him... He did not kill anybody. He is a kind, gentle man and I need him! If you kill him... you are killing me!!!!!!!"

Several dozen evangelical leaders have also written to Texas Governor Greg Abbott demanding clemency.

Graphic showing death row inmates by US state and by race and executions since 1976 Gal Roma, Adrian Leung (AFP/File)

Jeffery Wood was sentenced to death under Texas's so-called 'law of parties'
Syria regime aircraft hit Kurd-held area for first time

Syrian government aircraft bombed Kurdish positions in the divided northeastern city of Hasakeh on Thursday, the first such strikes against a Kurdish-held area of Syria, an AFP correspondent reported.

The strikes hit three Kurdish-manned checkpoints and three Kurdish bases, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

They came after heavy clashes broke out on Wednesday between Kurdish fighters who control two-thirds of the city and pro-government militia who control the rest.

Fighters from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) sit in the back of a vehicle in the al-Zohour neighbourhood of the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh Delil Souleiman (AFP/File)

The clashes have left 11 people dead -- four civilians, four Kurdish fighters and three government loyalists, a medical source told AFP.

The two sides share a common enemy in the Islamic State jihadist group which controls most of the Euphrates valley to the south but there have been tensions between them in Hasakeh that have sometimes led to armed clashes.

The Kurds, who control much of northeastern and northern Syria along the Turkish border where they have proclaimed an autonomous Kurdish region, recently demanded that the pro-government National Defence Forces disband in Hasakeh.

A government source in the city told AFP that the air strikes were "a message to the Kurds that they should stop this sort of demand that constitutes an affront to national sovereignty."

The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) are a key US ally in the fight against IS.
Yemen army launches bid to break rebel siege of Taez

Yemen troops on Thursday launched a bid to break a rebel siege of third city Taez, with fierce fighting leaving five soldiers and 13 insurgents dead, military sources said.

Soldiers attacked positions of the Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels from the east, west and north of the flashpoint southwestern city that has been under siege for more than a year, they said.

One military source said the troops made "a relative breakthrough" by driving the Huthi rebels from several positions around the city.

Tens of thousands of Yemeni civilians are said to be caught in the fierce and protracted battle for Taez Ahmad Al- Basha (AFP/File)

A pro-government activist, Abdel Majid al-Dhababi, confirmed that troops had made progress after months of trying to break the siege of Taez.

He told AFP the army "practically succeeded in breaking the blockade from the west.

"But the road leading to Aden is still unsafe and this is preventing civilians from fleeing south," said Dhababi.

Yemen has been hit by unrest since the Huthi rebels and allied loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014.

The violence increased after a Saudi-led Arab coalition launched a military campaign in March last year to help shore up the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The government had fled to Saudi Arabia after the Huthis seized Sanaa and pushed south to second city Aden.

But with help from the coalition authorities have recaptured Aden, where the government has set up temporary headquarters.

In March, loyalist forces backed by Saudi-led air strikes managed to break the rebel siege of Taez after fierce clashes but the insurgents later re-imposed a blockade on the city.

Tens of thousands of civilians are said to be caught in the fierce and protracted battle for Taez.

Saud-led aircraft meanwhile pounded rebels positions around Sanaa on Thursday, scoring hits on three military camps held by the insurgents, military sources said.

- Qaeda 'revenge' bombing -

Violence on Thursday also rocked the southern Abyan province where an Al-Qaeda suicide bomber killed four Yemeni soldiers and wounded four others, a military official told AFP.

The attack comes after government forces launched an anti-jihadist operation in Abyan.

The bomber rammed his car into two military vehicles parked on a road linking the towns of Loder and Moudia, the military official said.

The attack came after troops recaptured both towns from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the official added.

He said the bombing was apparently in retaliation for the capture Sunday of provincial capital Zinjibar by the army backed by Saudi-led air strikes.

Jihadists fled into the mountains as the army entered, the military official said.

Abyan lies east of the province of Aden, where authorities have trained hundreds of soldiers over the past two months to retake Abyan.

Al-Qaeda and Islamic State group jihadists have exploited a power vacuum in Yemen to expand their presence in the country's south and southeast.

The United States considers AQAP to be Al-Qaeda's deadliest franchise and has conducted a drone war against the group in Yemen.

The UN says more than 6,600 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since last March and more than 80 percent of the population needs humanitarian aid.
Syrian regime pounds rebel route to Aleppo

Syrian and Russian aircraft have launched intense air strikes on opposition strongholds in northern Syria to prevent rebels sending reinforcements to a crucial battle in Aleppo, a monitor said Thursday.

Air strikes on Idlib city, 60 kilometres (35 miles) southwest of Aleppo, killed 25 people including 15 civilians on Wednesday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Regime aircraft continued to pound rebel positions across Idlib province on Thursday as well as parts of Aleppo province, it said.

A resident of the Tariq al-Bab neighbourhood of Aleppo inspects the damage caused by reported air raids targeting rebel-held areas on August 16, 2016 Thaer Mohammed (AFP)

"Regime and Russian aircraft are carrying out dozens of raids every day on Idlib province and the west of Aleppo province to prevent reinforcements reaching rebel positions," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

Idlib is dominated by the same alliance of rebels and jihadists that is fighting in Aleppo, including the former Al-Nusra Front, which has renamed itself Fateh al-Sham Front after renouncing its status as Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate.

Southern Aleppo has been the scene of intense fighting since July 31, when the "Army of Conquest" alliance launched a major offensive to break a regime siege of opposition-controlled districts in the city's east.

It took the southern district of Ramussa on August 6, linking up with opposition-held neighbourhoods. But neither side has achieved a decisive victory despite hundreds dead on both sides.

Each side is now trying to cut off the other's supply routes.

Despite its air power, the regime has been unable to gain headway in street-to-street battles, said Abdel Rahman.

"The rebels have put all their forces into this battle and regime forces have been exhausted," said Abdel Rahman.

Aleppo has been roughly split between opposition control in the east and government forces in the west since mid-2012.

Analysts say a decisive breakthrough by one side in Aleppo is unlikely for the time being.

On Thursday, the regime continued to pound the east of Aleppo city, where 146 civilians including 22 children have died in air strikes since 31 July.

More than 290,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the beginning of Syria's civil war, which started in 2011 with anti-regime protests.

Syrian civilians capture the scene on the mobile phones after a reported air strike by Syrian government forces on the rebel-held city of Idlib in July 2016 Omar Haj Kadour (AFP/File)
US officials grapple with recovery from Louisiana flood

With massive floodwaters receding in Louisiana, officials in the southern US state grappled Thursday with the next stage of the disaster response -- how to help affected residents recover.

Officials continued to search tens of thousands of homes and countless cars for victims and survivors of the severe flooding that began Friday after heavy rains.

The death toll climbed to 13, officials said.

A Louisiana National Guardsmen convoy travels to a boat launch to conduct search-and-rescue missions near Maurepas, Louisiana on August 17, 2016 1st Sgt. Paul C. Meeker (Louisiana Army National Guard/AFP)

More than 86,000 people have registered for US government emergency assistance.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, who is in charge of the department that will dole out the aid, visited areas affected by the historic flooding and met with local officials to discuss the nascent recovery effort.

"I will be briefing the president on the situation that I see here at some point very soon," Johnson told a news conference, adding that President Barack Obama has been receiving daily briefings about the ongoing emergency.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which reports to Johnson, began Thursday to assess the estimated 40,000 homes that were affected by floodwaters. Some people could receive financial assistance in as soon as 48 hours, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said.

"We are working again today to formulate a more complete plan for transitioning from response to recovery," Edwards said, noting the urgent need for temporary housing.

Some areas of southern Louisiana do not have enough hotel rooms and rentals, he said.

Meanwhile, more residents were leaving shelters and heading home to begin the cleanup process. Overnight, shelters housed 8,000 people and by midday Thursday that number had dropped to about 4,000, officials said.

Many people were gutting their homes, ripping out drywall and insulation and removing furniture, light fixtures and appliances.

Gail McGovern, the president of the American Red Cross who called the scale of the disaster "absolutely enormous," cautioned residents to be careful of electrical fires -- known to be the next hazard following flooding.

The relief agency will begin fanning out into neighborhoods, distributing items such as pails, mops and bleach, along with food and water, she said.

"It's very important that you clean out your homes, and as soon as possible restore electricity and air conditioning, to make sure that you don't suffer mold contamination," Edwards said, addressing Louisiana residents.

Electricity was restored to most of the 40,000 customers that lost power, though 7,800 remained without it.

While many areas were drying out, the National Weather Service forecast that all waterways would not fall below flood stage until Friday.

"We are certainly not out of the woods," Edwards cautioned. "We still have floodwaters. And in fact, in some cases, record floodwaters as they move south."

Twenty-two of the state's 64 parishes, Louisiana's equivalent to counties, have been declared disaster areas.
South Africa agrees to pay Marikana damages

The South African government is to pay damages to victims of a 2012 police shooting that left 34 mineworkers dead and dozens wounded, the presidency said Thursday.

In a victory for the victims and their families, the government said it was "ready to make an offer to settle these claims in the next few months".

The announcement comes two days after the four-year anniversary of the killings in which the miners were gunned down after police were deployed to break up a wildcat strike that had turned violent at the Lonmin-owned Marikana platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg in August 2012.

The Marikana mine workers were gunned down on August 16, 2012 after police were deployed to break up a wildcat strike that had turned violent at the Lonmin-owned platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg Mujahid Safodien (AFP/File)

It was the worst police violence in South Africa since the end of apartheid 21 years ago.

"Government is currently in the process of determining the quantum and will make offer of payments in full settlement of claims," said a statement issued by the president's office.

Presidential spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga told AFP that there were 34 claims for loss of support, 81 for injuries suffered during the shooting, and 275 for unlawful arrest. Some of the claims overlap, he added.

Last year families of the victims lodged compensation claims against the government, listing a total of 326 dependents as having been affected by the violence.

An official inquiry established by President Jacob Zuma put much of the blame for the massacre on police tactics used to disperse the strikers, but it did not go as far as recommending compensation.

George Bizos, one of the lawyers that represented the affected families during the Marikana inquiry would have preferred for the families to receive "temporary relief" while the compensation amounts were being finalised.

"We welcome the statement, but I am concerned that it's going to take another few months for the widows that have had nothing for the past over years," Bizos told AFP.

"I appeal to those responsible that the matter is a matter of urgency and I hope that they take immediate steps of a temporary nature," said Bizos, who represented Nelson Mandela during the Rivonia Trial that sentenced the anti-apartheid icon to life in prison.
US swimmers fought with security guard: reports

Reports emerged Thursday that the US Olympic swimmers claiming to have been mugged in Rio in fact got into a fight with an armed gas station security guard.

The unconfirmed reports on ABC News and Brazil's G1 news site said an altercation occurred when star swimmer Ryan Lochte and three other team members had been out partying and that the incident was caught on security camera footage.

G1 quoted Rio police saying that the athletes had stopped at the gas station in a taxi to use the bathroom. When they damaged the bathroom door, a security guard pulled out his weapon and made them stay until police arrived, prompting a confrontation, G1 reported.

American swimmers Gunnar Bentz (L) and Jack Conger leave the police station at the Rio de Janeiro International Airport on August 17, 2016 Tasso Marcelo (AFP)

ABC quoted an unidentified Brazilian police source saying CCTV footage shows a swimmer "breaking down the door to the bathroom at the gas station and fighting with a security guard."

Lochte, Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and James Feigen have said they were robbed by someone claiming to be a policeman early on Sunday. The incident caused an uproar and forced Olympic authorities into an apology.

However, police have since raised doubts over the veracity of the report and the swimmers could face charges of filing a false claim.

Lochte is in the United States. Conger and Bentz were detained by Brazilian police late Wednesday just as they were about to take off from the international airport for home.
Pakistan military kills 11 militants

Pakistan's military said Thursday it had killed at least 11 militants in air strikes in a restive tribal region near the Afghan border as part of an ongoing offensive.

The latest operation in the Khyber district came just after the military said it had killed at least 14 militants in the same area Tuesday.

"Eleven terrorists were killed and four others injured when eight terrorist hideouts close to the Afghan border were destroyed in precision air strikes and synchronised ground operations," the military said in a statement.

Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency since 2004 A Majeed (AFP/File)

The army offensive took place in the mountainous terrain of Babar Kachkol, Naray Nao and Tor Sapar areas of Khyber.

The conflict zone is remote and off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to verify the army's claims, including the number and identity of those killed.

Khyber is one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal districts where the military has been fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants for over a decade.

Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency since 2004, following the US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in 2001 and the subsequent spillover of militants into its territory.
Trump to 'sharpen message': new campaign manager

Donald Trump's new campaign manager went on the offensive Thursday, saying that the Republican presidential nominee would "sharpen" his message after a major personnel shake-up that would let Trump be Trump.

"I think it helps us to be a little bit behind," Kellyanne Conway told CNN the day after the campaign's second restructuring in two months as the billionaire tanks in the polls to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

"It lights a fire under us and reminds us what we need to do to get this done."

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has appointed the first woman manager of a Republican presidential run Darren Hauck (Getty/AFP/File)

"We're going to sharpen the message. We're going to make sure Donald Trump is comfortable about being in his own skin -- that he doesn't lose that authenticity," she added.

Weeks of self-inflicted errors have alienated establishment Republicans and seen his own supporters tear their hair out. Conway said the emphasis going forward would be on policy.

She praised Stephen Bannon, a former banker turned colorful, right-wing news executive whom Trump appointed campaign CEO, as a "brilliant tactician."

The Clinton campaign criticized the appointment, saying they expected it to see the Trump campaign "double down on more hateful, divisive rhetoric."

Conway, the first woman manager of a Republican presidential run, said she would rather lose an election campaign based on substance than win it on style.

"I'd rather lose a campaign where we put it all in the field substantively, where people saw the difference on the major issues of the day, than win a campaign based on style," she told CBS News.

She said she was confident Trump "can stay on message" and accused Clinton of waging "disappointing and unbecoming" attacks on her Republican opponent.

"There's not a single job that gets created from that, there's not a single uninsured American who gets health care from that kind of nastiness," she said.

Trump's poll numbers among women are notoriously slack and he has been accused of making sexist remarks about women and for sexist critiques of Clinton.
Curfew slapped on eastern DR Congo towns after deadly clashes

Authorities slapped a dawn-to-dusk curfew on two towns in northeast DR Congo Thursday, following deadly clashes over the government's failure to prevent repeated civilian massacres.

Interior Minister Evariste Boshab announced the 7:00 pm to 6:00 am curfew on Butembo as well as Beni were he flew into following the massacre of 51 civilians in the town last weekend.

The slaying in which victims were the latest in a string of massacres that has left more than 700 dead since 2014.

Image grab taken from AFPTV footage on August 18, 2017 shows police trying to contain a protest on August 17 in the town of Beni, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Charly Kasereka (AFP)

The gruesome Saturday night killings prompted an angry march by hundreds of people from Butembo to Beni on Wednesday, which ended in tear gas, gunfire and clashes, leaving a policeman and a protester dead.

In a separate incident, a woman was beaten to death with stones and sticks and her body set alight on suspicion of being a member of the rebel group believed to be behind the civilian massacres.

- 'What did he come for?' -

The violence added to the existing tension in Democratic Republic of Congo, where fears are mounting that President Joseph Kabila plans to hold on to power after his second mandate expires in December.

The United States has warned of the threat of more violence in the mineral-rich nation of 70 million people.

In Beni on Wednesday, an effigy of Kabila was burned in the town's main market, as were flags of Kabila's ruling People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD).

The deadly protests came a day after Prime Minister Augustin Matata was booed by hundreds outside Beni's town hall, after he visited the massacre site.

"What did he come for? We don't need humanitarian aid, but peace," said Germain Katembo, a survivor of the massacre who lost three members of his family.

The killings have been blamed by the government on the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a partly Islamist armed group of Ugandan origin.

The group has been present in DR Congo for more than two decades and is accused of a litany of human rights abuses.

The ADF, opposed to Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, is thought to be heavily involved with criminal networks funded by kidnappings, smuggling and logging.
Uighur fighting with Indonesian radicals shot dead: police

Indonesian security forces have shot dead a suspected Uighur radical, an official said Thursday, the latest member of the mostly Muslim Chinese minority killed fighting with militants in the archipelago.

Police said the man, who died in a shootout on a mountainside Wednesday, was the last of a handful of Uighurs who had joined extremist group the Eastern Indonesia Mujahideen on central Sulawesi island.

Several members of the minority, who allege decades of religious and political repression in China, had already been shot dead by security forces while four others were caught on the island as they sought to join the group.

Indonesian police stand guard at a local hospital in Palu, Central Sulawesi province, on July 19, 2016, after a firefight between suspected Muslim extremists and security forces in the nearby village of Tambarana the day before Olagondronk (AFP/File)

The group's leader Santoso was killed in a firefight with troops last month, ending a years-long hunt for the Muslim-majority country's most wanted militant and best known Islamic State (IS) group supporter.

National police chief Tito Karnavian announced the latest death Thursday, saying the militant "was killed in a shootout and we found an M16 (rifle) on him".

Another suspected militant escaped, he said.

Indonesian militants fighting with IS in Syria are believed to have plotted with extremist networks back home to send Uighurs in Southeast Asia to Indonesia to join up with Santoso, according to analysts.

Santoso, whose group was known for launching attacks on domestic security forces from jungle bases around the city of Poso, was killed after authorities sent thousands of police and soldiers to track him down in a major operation.

Authorities are now hunting the remnants of his group, with just 14 members still believed to remain.

Indonesia suffered a string of Islamic extremist attacks in the early 2000s, including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed more than 200, prompting authorities to launch a crackdown that weakened the most dangerous networks.
Canada PM to visit China, attend G20 summit

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will travel to China for an official visit at the end of August aimed at boosting diplomatic and trade ties, his office announced Thursday.

The August 30 to September 6 trip will include stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong where Trudeau will meet with political and business leaders. His staff did not identify the people he will be meeting.

Trudeau will also travel to Hangzhou for the summit of leaders of the Group of 20 economic powers on September 4 and 5.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will travel to China for an official visit, and the August 30 to September 6 trip will include stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong Brendan Smialowski (AFP/File)

In addition, he will try to mingle with the "public at large" in China, likely posing for selfies with locals as he has done everywhere he has gone since being elected to Canada's highest office last year, according to his staff.

"On this trip, I will strive for a closer, more balanced relationship between Canada and China -- one that unlocks the untapped potential in our two countries' commercial ties, and advances important issues like good governance, the rule of law and the environment," Trudeau said in a statement.

The trip is being made at the invitation of Premier Li Keqiang.

It comes less than two months after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's berating of a Canadian reporter while visiting Ottawa provoked a public outcry and led Canada to lodge a formal complaint with Beijing.

A visibly irritated Wang Yi told a reporter during a news conference that she had "no right" to question Beijing's human rights record.

The reporter had asked Canada's foreign minister about what Canada was doing to pressure China over human rights and its holding of a Canadian man on espionage charges.

Despite an apparent eagerness on both sides to grow their trade relationship, Sino-Canadian ties have been strained by the detention of Canadian citizen Kevin Garratt in 2014 on espionage charges. He had run a Christian-themed coffee shop near the North Korean border.

According to Canadian government figures, China is Canada's second-largest trading partner after the United States, with exchanges topping Can$85 billion ($66.5 billion) last year.
Twitter axes 235,000 more accounts in terror crackdown

Twitter announced Thursday that it had cut off 235,000 accounts during the past six months in a heightened crackdown on use of the global messaging service to promote violent extremist causes.

The suspensions raised to 360,000 the total number of accounts sidelined since the middle of 2015 and was helping "drive meaningful results" in curbing the activity, according to the San Francisco-based company.

Twitter has been striving to balance protecting free speech at the one-to-many messaging service with not providing a stage for extremist groups to spread violent messages and enlist people to their causes.

The latest Twitter suspensions raises to 360,000 the total number of accounts sidelined since the middle of 2015 Leon Neal (AFP/File)

In February, Twitter said that it had neutralized 125,000 accounts for violating rules against violent threats and promotion of terrorism.

"Since that announcement, the world has witnessed a further wave of deadly, abhorrent terror attacks across the globe," Twitter said in a blog post.

"We strongly condemn these acts and remain committed to eliminating the promotion of violence or terrorism on our platform."

Daily suspensions of accounts are up more than 80 percent since last year, and spike in the immediate aftermath of terror attacks, according to Twitter.

Twitter said that it is getting quicker at identifying extremist content and shutting down accounts involved, resulting in dramatic decreases in the number of followers attracted while posts are active.

- Enlisting software -

Moves have been made to make it tougher for people behind suspended accounts to immediately return to Twitter, and teams reviewing reports of suspected terror content have been expanded.

Like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube rely heavily on users to point out posts that violate standards or policies.

Tech titans have been increasingly dabbling with enlisting software to battle extremist propaganda.

"There is no one 'magic algorithm' for identifying terrorist content on the Internet," Twitter said in the post.

"But, we continue to utilize other forms of technology, like proprietary spam-fighting tools, to supplement reports from our users and help identify repeat account abuse."

During the past six months, automated tools have helped Twitter identify more than a third of the accounts suspended for promoting terrorism, according to the company.

Twitter said that it collaborates with other online social platforms in the fight against terror content.

Since dreadful attacks in Paris and the city of San Bernardino in California, pressure has been growing for online social networks to thwart extremist groups from taking advantage of their platforms.

- Legal shield -

A US judge last week tossed out a lawsuit accusing Twitter of abetting terrorism by allowing Islamic State (IS) group propaganda to be broadcast using the messaging platform.

District Court Judge William Orrick granted a motion by Twitter to dismiss the case, reasoning that providing a platform for speech is within the law and that the company did not create the content.

The Communications Decency Act (CDA) protects online platforms from being held responsible for what users post.

The suit was filed in San Francisco federal court by the families of two government contractors killed late last year while working at a police training center run by the United States in Amman, according to court documents.

A Jordanian police captain studying at the center fatally shot the two men, and IS later claimed the captain was a "lone wolf" working for the group's cause, the judge recounted in his ruling.

"As horrific as these deaths were, under the CDA Twitter cannot be treated as a publisher or speaker of ISIS's hateful rhetoric and is not liable under the facts alleged," Orrick said in the decision, using another name for IS.

The suit accused Twitter of providing "material support" by letting accounts spread the message of the extremist group.
Syria photographer captures image of dazed, bloodied boy

Photographer Mahmoud Rslan has taken many pictures of children killed in Syria's war but none as haunting as the one showing Omran, four years old, dazed and covered in blood.

Shot after an air strike that hit a rebel-held district the battlefield northern city of Aleppo, the picture of Omran shows the brutality of Syria's five-year conflict and the suffering of people trapped by fighting.

"I've taken a lot of pictures of children killed or wounded in the strikes that rain down daily," Rslan told AFP on Thursday, the day after he captured the image that has gone viral on social networks.

Omran, a four-year-old Syrian boy covered in dust and blood, sits in an ambulance after being rescued from the rubble of a building hit by an air strike in the rebel-held Qaterji neighbourhood of of Aleppo late on August 17, 2016 Mahmoud Rslan (AFP)

"Usually they are either unconscious or crying. But Omran was there, speechless, staring blankly, as if he did not quite understand what had happened to him," he said by telephone.

A video filmed by the Aleppo Media Centre, a network of activists in the divided northern city, shows Omran sitting still in an ambulance, his face, arms and legs caked with blood and dust.

He stares into space, raises his arms to touch his bloodied forehead, looks at his hand then wipes it on the ambulance seat.

Omran has a head full of hair that fall into his eyes.

He is wearing a T-shirt and shorts but his feet are bare, having apparently lost his shoes when he was pulled out alive but in shock from the family apartment destroyed in an air raid.

Wednesday night's air strike hit the Qaterji neighbourhood in rebel-held east Aleppo, Syria's former economic hub which is divided between insurgent and regime control.

Rslan was nearby when he heard the raids at 7:15 pm (1615 GMT).

"It was dark already but I saw a building that had totally collapsed and another half destroyed," he said.

He and rescuers rushed to the buildings to search for survivors.

When they reached the first building, they had to step over three bodies before they could go inside and once there they could not go any further because the staircase had collapsed.

Rslan and the rescuers went next door and found Omran and his family, wounded but alive.

- 'Symbol of innocence' -

They were plucked out of the building one by one, brought down through balconies.

Omran was the first to be carried to an ambulance, followed by his 5-year-old brother, his sisters, 8 and 11, and finally the rescuers took out the parents.

"When we placed Omran in the ambulance there was some light, so I was able to take pictures," Rslan said.

"Omran was in a state of shock, a wall had collapsed on him and his family," he said.

"This child like all children in Syria is a symbol of innocence. They have nothing to do with wars."

Syrian and Russian aircraft have been carrying out intense air strikes this week on opposition strongholds across northern Syria to prevent rebels sending reinforcements to Aleppo, a monitoring group has said.

Aleppo has been the scene of fierce fighting since July 31, when the "Army of Conquest" alliance of rebels and jihadists launched a major offensive to break a regime siege of opposition-controlled districts

The haunting image of Omran reverberated around the globe, much like the photo of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi whose drowned trying to reach Europe with his family last September.

Aylan's body washed ashore on a Turkish beach.

Thousands of Syrian asylum seekers have continued to attempt the deadly crossing to Europe in rickety boats, joining thousands others from Africa and other Arab countries hoping for a better life.

The Syrian conflict has killed more than 290,000 people and displaced millions since it began in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations.

Omran and his family were plucked out of the building one by one, brought down through balconies. The four-year-old was the first to be carried to an ambulance, followed by his 5-year-old brother, his sisters, 8 and 11, and the parents
Schalke's Uchida jets to Japan after injury set-back

Japan defender Atsuto Uchida is set to fly home on Friday to be treated by a specialist doctor after suffering with on-going knee problems, his Bundesliga club Schalke 04 confirmed.

The 28-year-old, who missed the whole of last season with injury, has been blighted by knee problems for two years and has been out since a relapse in April 2015.

Schalke will start their new Bundesliga season at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday August 27 without Uchida, who has made 74 appearances for Japan.

Atsuto Uchida, pictured on July 20, 2016, has been blighted by knee problems for two years and has been out since a relapse in April 2015 Patrik Stollarz (AFP/File)

After a period of rehab in Japan, Uchida flew back to Gelsenkirchen last month to take part in Schalke's pre-season training, only for the injury to return and now he will fly east again to be treated by his specialist Japanese doctor.

"He arrived back here with a lot of hope and euphoria," Schalke's director of sport Axel Schuster told magazine Kicker.

"During our camp in Austria, he took part in some Under-23 team training.

"But unfortunately, we have to sum up that he is not quite that far along and has suffered a set back.

"There (in Japan) he will have a fixed time scale of treatment, we think about 14 days, with special measures, courses of injections and similar," added Schuster.

The right-back played his last game for Schalke in March 2015 and travelled to Japan last year, against the advice of his club's doctors, for an operation on his knee.
Gawker.com to shut down next week

Gawker will shutter its flagship website next week, after a court order to pay $140 million to retired wrestling star Hulk Hogan over a sex tape drove the company to bankruptcy.

The announcement on Thursday came two days after Spanish-language broadcast television network Univision made a winning bid of $135 million for Gawker's other assets.

Gawker founder Nick Denton broke the news to staff members on the same day that a bankruptcy court judge in Manhattan approved the Univision deal.

TV personality Terry Bollea aka Hulk Hogan (R) and his attorneys David Houston (front, left) and Charles Harder (back, left) after a press conference to discuss legal action being brought on his behalf October 15, 2012 in Tampa, Florida Gerardo Mora (Getty/AFP/File)

Those working at Gawker.com will be given jobs at the websites being sold to Univision or elsewhere in that company, according to the post.

Gawker Media websites include Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, and Jezebel, which are devoted to interests ranging from games and cars to sports, technology and women's empowerment.

Not included in the Univision deal is 14-year-old Gawker.com or Denton, who had hoped the bankruptcy auction would keep the website alive.

"Sadly, neither I nor Gawker.com, the buccaneering flagship of the group I built with my colleagues, are coming along for this next stage," Denton said in a farewell message to employees posted online.

"We have not been able to find a single media company or investor willing also to take on Gawker.com. The campaign being mounted against its editorial ethos and former writers has made it too risky. I can understand the caution."

In a sign that Gawker.com might plan to go down swinging, a post there late Thursday invited people to send tips worth pursuing.

Univision confirmed the Gawker deal on Thursday, saying it will take over the six websites, which reach nearly 50 million readers monthly.

Gawker assets will be integrated into a Fusion Media Group division at Univision to join The Onion and other offerings aimed at young, diverse audiences it considers to be "the rising American mainstream."

"I expect the addition of these digital-first media assets will help FMG exceed the demands of the young, cross-cultural influencers we serve," Univision Communications Inc. chief news, entertainment and digital officer Isaac Lee said in a release.

- Tech billionaire target -

In March, a US jury ordered that wrestling star Hogan be allowed to collect $140 million in total compensation after Gawker published a videotape of him having sex with a friend's wife.

Gawker filed for bankruptcy in June in an attempt to sidestep a shutdown from the judgment.

Denton earlier this month filed for personal bankruptcy protection in a bid to stop his assets from being seized because of the judgment.

The case drew heightened attention when tech billionaire Peter Thiel acknowledged that he had helped fund that and other litigation against Gawker, a company Thiel has feuded with for years since it "outed" him as gay.

"For my part, I am proud to have contributed financial support to his case," Thiel, who bankrolled the Hogan lawsuit, said in an op-ed piece in The New York Times this week.

"It is ridiculous to claim that journalism requires indiscriminate access to private people's sex lives."

Denton has slammed what he called a "personal vendetta" and said in a memo to staff that it was "disturbing to live in a world in which a billionaire can bully journalists because he didn't like the coverage."

While Gawker has come under fire for its no-holds-barred approach to celebrity coverage, the case raised questions about whether powerful interests can use their resources to silence media for unfavorable coverage.
US to end use of privately-run federal prisons

The US Department of Justice on Thursday announced it was ending the use of private prisons to detain federal inmates, severing itself from a practice that had become increasingly controversial.

The decision will affect only a small share of the detainee population within the United States, which represents one in four prisoners held around the world.

In an internal memo released by the department, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said her agency would begin the gradual process of reversing the privatization of some US prisons, a practice which had proved more problematic but no less costly than the use of government-managed correctional facilities.

Since peaking in 2013 at nearly 220,000 inmates, the US federal prison population has declined in recent years to fewer than 194,000 Justin Sullivan (Getty/AFP/File)

"They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs and resources; they do not save substantially on costs," Yates wrote.

Yates also cited a recent report by the department's internal watchdog, the Office of the Inspector General, which found that private prisons were more dangerous than those in public hands.

- Rising scrutiny for private prisons -

The decision will affect 13 privately run prisons housing just over 22,000 people, or about 11 percent of the federal prison population. Most are foreign nationals, mainly Mexicans incarcerated for immigration violations.

The prisons are run by three companies: Corrections Corporation of America, GEO Goup and Management and Training Corporation.

Shares in CCA and GEO Group nosedived on the news, both down nearly 39 percent by midafternoon.

In the United States, the federal government detains a relatively small share of the overall prison population, currently about 1.6 million people, according to the Prison Population Initiative.

Since peaking in 2013 at nearly 220,000 inmates, the federal prison population has declined in recent years to fewer than 194,000.

The news was quickly hailed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a former presidential candidate in 2016.

"Due in large part to private prisons, incarceration has been a source of major profits to private corporations," Sanders said in a statement.

"We have got to end the private prison racket in America as quickly as possible."

However, Peter Wagner, executive director of the Prison Policy Initiative, said private prisons received outsized attention for their relatively small share of the prison population.

"This is a small black eye to the private prison industry, which is a very small corner of the prison system in this country, which is overwhelmingly publicly run," Wagner told AFP.

"The federal prison population is declining and they have concluded the obvious, which is that private prisons are not as good," he added.

"They are going to have to close some prisons and they're choosing to close the ones that are not performing."

The changes will not be immediate.

According to Yates, the Bureau of Prisons will not renew existing contracts to the private operators as they expire, or reduce them in scope as allowed by law as the inmate population declines.

The total population of federal inmates housed at privately run facilities will drop to 14,200 by May of next year, Yates said.

Calls for criminal justice reform have gained favor in recent years among both Democrat and Republican lawmakers.

The Justice Department's decision comes as the private prison industry has fallen under increasingly critical scrutiny.

The magazine Mother Jones in June published the results of an undercover investigation during which a reporter worked at a CCA-run prison in Louisiana. The report exposed widespread violence among inmates and poor medical and mental care, among other conditions.
Morocco cleric blasts 'nudity' among immodestly dressed women

A senior Moroccan cleric has lashed out at what he called "nudity" in the Muslim kingdom, claiming that more and more women are immodestly dressed, sparking criticism in the media.

Morocco is seen as promoting a more tolerant form of Islam than some Arab countries, and woman in cities and towns often eschew the Islamic veil in public.

While the countryside is somewhat more conservative, attitudes to female dress vary according to local social and cultural customs and in the cities many women don Western-style clothes.

Women leave a demonstration against the arrest of two Moroccan women in Casablanca on June 28, 2015, after their outfits were deemed inappropriate as they strolled through an open-air market in Inezgane Fadel Senna (AFP/File)

Omar al-Kazabri, imam of Casablanca's Hassan II mosque, Morocco's largest house of worship, said there is a growing trend among women across the country to go about "unclothed".

"Nudity is no longer confirmed to season, it is spreading before our eyes in winter and summer," he said on his official Facebook page earlier this week.

"Look at the streets. It breaks your heart to see the situation we find ourselves in. Obscene nudity (is an) affront to God's commandments and an insult and an outrage to the population," he wrote.

"Young women, unclothed, smoking cigarettes. Where are their guardians?" he asked.

And he warned that "impudent women could go to hell".

Kazabri said what he calls "nudity" is part of a "conspiracy" against Morocco by people who wish to "kill modesty, values and principles".

The outburst from one of Morocco's most prominent clerics was criticised in the media.

"What's gotten into him?" the private news site Media24 asked on Thursday.

It said such remarks are "scary" coming from a top cleric.
After drought, southern Africa threatened by floods

UN agencies warned Thursday that southern African countries were at risk of another year of food shortages as the drought-hit region is expected to be hit by above-average rainfall likely to trigger floods.

The region is still reeling from the effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon which devastated crops leaving some 18 million people in need of food aid, according to the World Food Programme.

Meteorologists forecast the region will this year experience more rainfall than normal due to an extreme weather pattern known as La Nina.

Southern African countries are still reeling from the effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon which devastated crops, leaving some 18 million people in need of food aid, according to the World Food Programme Ziniyange Auntony (AFP/File)

"What La Nina brings is both good news and bad news," Lewis Hove, regional agricultural coordinator with the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation told AFP.

"The good news is that we are going to get above average rainfall -- which normally means good production from our farmers," said Hove.

"But above average rainfall is going to bring with it floods and water logging in some areas of the region," said Hove, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting on drought-resilient agriculture in Johannesburg.

To ensure farmers benefit from the rains, the UN officials said they needed to plant early to avoid the floods.

But most farmers have little or no capital to buy farming inputs having been hit by two successive droughts.

Their governments will struggle to bail them out with cash for seeds and fertilisers.

Many of the regional economies are heavily dependent on commodities, prices for which have slumped on the international markets.

"If you look at Zambia, they lost something like 47 percent of their income because of the drop in copper (prices)... so the capacity of government is weakened," Chris Nikoi, WFP southern African director told AFP.

"You take Zimbabwe for example, if the government is struggling to pay its civil servants -- its ability to ensure that seeds are in the hands of rural farmers on time, obviously is going to be challenged."

"The international community needs to step in and help," said Nikoi.
Obama to become first US president to visit Laos

President Barack Obama will visit Laos next month, a first for a US president, in a trip that begins with a G20 summit in China, the White House said Thursday.

The September 2-9 tour will be the president's 11th visit to Asia since he took office in 2009.

Obama has made a "pivot" to the region a pillar of US foreign policy. Next month's swing will come about five months before the Democratic president steps down after two four-year terms.

President Barack Obama will visit Laos next month, in a trip from September 2-9 that begins with a G20 summit in China Brendan Smialowski (AFP/File)

In Laos, which this year holds the presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Obama will participate in the US-ASEAN Summit and East Asia Summit from September 6 through 8.

The East Asia meeting will include the major regional powers such as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Russia.

"President Obama will be the first US president to visit Laos," the White House noted.

Secretary of State John Kerry has visited Laos, which has strained ties with the US, twice this year -- in January to prepare for Obama's arrival and in July for ASEAN meetings.

Kerry raised issues related to the devastation caused by US bombings during the Vietnam War and the future of Southeast Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China.

Laos became the world's most-bombed country per capita from 1964 to 1973 as the United States tried to cut supplies flowing to North Vietnamese fighters during the Vietnam War.

More than two million bombs were dropped. About 30 percent did not explode and some 50,000 people died by the end of the war.

In January, Washington and Vientiane discussed beefing up a US program to clear mines and disarm unexploded devices.

Before the Laos visit, Obama will attend his last meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 economic powers, on September 4-5 in Hangzhou in eastern China.

There Obama will also hold "in-depth" meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the White House said in a statement.

The leaders of the world's superpowers will discuss "a wide-range of global, regional, and bilateral issues," it said.
MSF evacuates staff from 6 Yemen hospitals after air strike

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Thursday said it was evacuating its staff from six hospitals in northern Yemen after 19 people were killed in an air strike on one of its facilities earlier this week.

Monday's Saudi-led coalition strike on Abs hospital in the rebel-held province of Hajja was the fourth and deadliest attack yet on an MSF facility in war-torn Yemen, according to the charity.

The decision to pull staff out "is never taken lightly", the Paris-based aid agency said in a statement, accusing the coalition of "indiscriminate bombings and unreliable reassurances".

Yemeni workers clean at a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital, on August 16, 2016 in Abs, in the rebel-held northern province of Hajja, a day after the hospital was allegedly hit by an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition

"Given the intensity of the current offensive and our loss of confidence in the SLC's (Saudi-led coalition's) ability to prevent such fatal attacks, MSF considers the hospitals in Saada and Hajjah governorates unsafe for both patients and staff," it added.

The hospitals will continue to be manned by local workers and volunteers, MSF said.

Yemen has been gripped by unrest since Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels and allied loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014.

The violence increased after a Saudi-led Arab coalition launched a military campaign in March last year to help shore up the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The coalition stepped up its air strikes this month after UN-mediated peace talks between the rebels and Yemen's internationally backed government were suspended.

- 'Indiscriminate attacks' -

Monday's bombing of Abs hospital drew international condemnation, prompting the coalition to announce an independent investigation into the attack.

MSF said it had shared the hospital's GPS coordinates with all parties involved in the conflict.

"Coalition officials repeatedly state that they honour international humanitarian law, yet this attack shows a failure to control the use of force and to avoid attacks on hospitals full of patients," it said.

"MSF is neither satisfied nor reassured by the SLC's statement that this attack was a mistake."

It also accused all sides in Yemen's war of "indiscriminate attacks without any respect for civilians".

One MSF worker was among those killed in the Abs hospital attack, while another 24 people were wounded.

The group's emergency coordinator Laurent Sury told AFP that "several dozen" international and Yemeni MSF workers were affected by the decision to pull out of the six hospitals.

"Our aim is to open programmes, not close them, especially considering the enormous needs in the north," he said. "But today, the minimum security conditions can no longer be guaranteed."

He said that civilians were paying a heavy price in the conflict.

"Today in Yemen, you risk your life when you seek out care, whether you are a pregnant woman needing a Cesarean or child requiring antibiotics."

The hospital strike was the latest in a series of coalition raids that have allegedly hit civilian facilities -- including a school in the rebel stronghold of Saada on Saturday where 10 children were killed.

The UN says more than 6,500 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since last March and more than 80 percent of the population needs humanitarian aid.
Niger delta militants threaten to secede from Nigeria

The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) militant group on Thursday threatened to pull the oil region out of Nigeria, accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of fuelling divisions in the country.

"The Buhari-led government has failed Nigerians with their misdirected policies that have divided the country, as such nobody wants to be part of that failed state not even the Niger delta," the NDA said in a statement.

Since the start of the year, the Avengers have carried out a string of devastating attacks on Nigeria's oil pipelines and facilities.

The Avengers claim to seek a fairer share of Nigeria's oil wealth for residents of the region as well as self-determination and political autonomy Stefan Heunis (AFP/File)

The oil rebels said the Niger Delta, home to the country's multi-billion-dollar oil and gas resources might declare an independence on October 1.

"The October 1st declaration of independence is still sacrosanct. If the Nigerian government fails to retrace its step by restructuring this country," it warned.

Nigeria marks October 1st as the anniversary of its political independence from colonial power Britain in 1960.

The Avengers said they wished that northern Nigeria could also strike crude oil.

"Our prayer for Buhari and the northern hypocrite (northern Governors) is that oil should be found in commercial quantity in the north, so they can let the Niger delta go," it added.

Buhari, a northern Muslim, came to power in May 2015 following his victory over former president Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the Niger delta.

Oil majors including Shell, Exxon, Chevron, Eni and the state-run oil group NNPC have been targeted in the attacks this year.

The attacks have reduced Nigeria's output by a third, hammering government revenue at a time of global low oil prices.

The oil sector accounts for 90 percent of the nation's foreign exchange earnings and 70 percent of government revenue.

The Avengers claim to seek a fairer share of Nigeria's oil wealth for residents of the region as well as self-determination and political autonomy.
Nigeria foils hijacking of British-flagged merchant tanker

The Nigerian navy has foiled a pirate attack on a British-flagged merchant vessel off the coast of the oil-rich west African country, a hotbed of piracy and militancy, a spokesman said Thursday.

Commodore Christian Ezekobe said in a statement the navy deployed a warship after receiving a distress call on Wednesday that pirates were about to hijack the MT Vectis Osprey 20 nautical miles off Bonny in southern Rivers state.

"NNS Nwamba engaged the attackers on approaching the vessel which made them abandon their mission due to superior fire power," he said.

Ship hijackings have become more frequent since President Muhammadu Buhari took office in Nigeria last year and announced plans to wind down an amnesty to former militants in the delta region

"To this end, naval special forces onboard the warship embarked and rescued the crew who locked up themselves in a citadel in the merchant tanker," he said.

Ezekobe said both the crew and cargo of the vessel were safe while an investigation had been launched into the incident.

Ship hijackings have become more frequent since President Muhammadu Buhari took office in Nigeria last year and announced plans to wind down an amnesty to former militants in the delta region.

Previously, payments were offered in exchange for an end to the violence, which included the kidnapping of oil workers and sabotage of pipelines that plagued the region in the 2000s.

A new militant group the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), however, has been blamed for a wave of deadly attacks on pipelines since the beginning of the year.

The NDA says it wants more wealth for residents of the region in addition to self-determination and political autonomy.
Thousands flee homes as California burns

Firefighters battled to douse a series of wildfires fueled by high winds, scorching temperatures and dry vegetation, which have forced tens of thousands of Californians to flee their homes.

A blaze scorching sections of the Angeles National Forest, in southern California, two huge infernos in the central part of the state and another fire further north have displaced entire towns.

"Our fire activity has definitely picked up in past weeks in number and severity," said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The Angeles forest fire -- dubbed "Blue Cut" -- has devoured 31,000 acres (12,545 hectares), an area more than twice the size of Bermuda, and is just four percent contained Ringo Chiu (AFP)

The Angeles forest fire -- dubbed "Blue Cut" -- has devoured 31,000 acres (12,545 hectares), an area more than twice the size of Bermuda, and is just four percent contained.

The fire has been spreading at such an alarming pace that it appears as if it were "running at you," according to Michael Lopez, a spokesman for fire information website Inciweb.

More than 82,500 people potentially in Blue Cut's path are under evacuation orders, including the entire populations of Wrightwood and Lytle Creek, towns of a few thousand people, and most of those in nearby Phelan.

On Thursday evening some people in the towns of Hesperia, Oak Hills and Phelan will be allowed to return home, the San Bernardino sheriff's office said.

Many had sought refuge with family or friends but motels in the area are full. Many businesses have doubled their prices, leading to a warning from the authorities that "price gouging" is against the law.

Colette Martinez, 50, fled with her husband and son to a Red Cross center hastily installed at a school in Hesperia.

"We don't know if we'll have a home to go back to," she told AFP, in tears.

No deaths have been reported, although two firefighters surrounded by flames on Tuesday sustained minor injuries.

Some 1,600 firefighters are committed to Blue Cut, while 5,000 are battling the larger Soberanes fire, which has charred 79,000 acres in the Big Sur tourist region, further north.

Near Santa Barbara, north of Los Angeles, a new fire broke out Thursday afternoon and spread quickly, charring more than 500 acres.

Meanwhile 4,000 people have fled the Clayton fire, started by an arsonist, according to police, in the northern Clear Lake area, near the wine regions of Sonoma and Napa.

Since the beginning of the year, some 4,600 fires have ripped through some 300,000 acres of Californian scrub and forest.

California fires Philippe Mouche (AFP)

A blaze scorching sections of the Angeles National Forest, in southern California, two huge infernos in the central part of the state and another fire further north have displaced entire towns Josh Edelson (AFP)
US judge rejects settlement deal in Uber driver suit

A US judge on Thursday rejected a $100 million deal cut by Uber to settle class-action litigation challenging the treatment of drivers as contractors instead of employees.

US District Court Judge Edward Chen denied a motion to approve the settlement on grounds that, overall, it is "not fair, adequate, and reasonable."

Uber in April announced an agreement to settle class-action litigation from drivers in two US states.

The lawsuits challenged a pillar of the Uber business model of the pioneer of the so-called gig economy -- relying on workers with no set schedule and only a loose affiliation with the ridesharing giant STR (AFP/File)

San Francisco-based Uber agreed to pay up to $100 million to settle the suits from drivers in California and Massachusetts. The deal enabled the global ridesharing giant to keep using independent contractors.

"The settlement, mutually agreed by both sides, was fair and reasonable," Uber said in an email response to an AFP inquiry.

"We're disappointed in this decision and are taking a look at our options."

The lawsuits challenged a pillar of the business model of the pioneer of the so-called gig economy -- relying on workers with no set schedule and only a loose affiliation with the ridesharing giant.

A draft of the proposed settlement indicated that Uber would pay money into a compensation fund for drivers, who would continue to be considered independent contractors.

Uber could risk taking a big financial hit if it goes to trial and jurors side with drivers side against a global on-demand car ride company valued at billions of dollars.

A major legal ruling against Uber in the case could threaten the "sharing economy" business model that lets companies enlist a broad labor force while not having to provide employee benefits.

Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick praised the settlement after it was announced, saying it recognized that drivers should remain independent contractors.

The deal only applied to drivers in two states and is not binding elsewhere, but could set an important precedent for Uber.

Under the deal, Uber would have paid a guaranteed amount of $84 million to the plaintiffs, with an additional $16 million if the startup went public and its valuation increased beyond a certain level.

Uber had also agreed to provide drivers with more information about their individual rating and to create and fund a driver's association in both states.

Shannon Liss-Riordan, the attorney for the plaintiffs, had praised the deal as "a historic agreement, and one of the largest ever achieved on behalf of workers claiming independent contractor misclassification."
Home Depot rides housing boom to record sales, profit

NEW YORK (AP)  Home Depot posted record sales and earnings during its second quarter and raised its profit expectations for the year as the U.S. housing market continues to warm up.

The home improvement retailers have been a bright spot as other shops like department stores are seeing sales slow, hurt by consumers who've shifted away from buying clothing and more toward experiences, fixing up their houses and services like spas.

Atlanta-based Home Depot's profit jumped 9 percent to $2.44 billion, or $1.97 per share, edging out Wall Street expectations by a penny, according to analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

In this Wednesday, May 18, 2016, photo, people approach an entrance to a Home Depot store location in Bellingham, Mass. Home Depot reports financial results Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Sales surged 6.6 percent to $26.47 billion, also slightly better than expected. Revenue at stores opened at least a year rose 4.7 percent. The measure is a key indicator of a retailer's health.

The solid report came as government data showed continued health in the U.S. housing sector. The rate of home construction grew 2.1 percent in July, mostly because of an increase in apartment construction. It was the strongest pace of new home starts since February. New home construction had jumped 4.8 percent in June.

Still, future gains may be limited because current housing starts are outpacing permits to build in the future. Authorized permits slipped 0.01 percent in July to an annual rate of 1.15 million.

This week, the National Association of Home Builders with Wells Fargo released its builder sentiment index, showing that optimism among homebuilders is on the rise.

"We continue to see positive signs (from) the housing data, which we believe serve as a tail wind for our business," Home Depot CEO Craig Menear told investors Tuesday.

He noted that business was strong across the board, led by appliances, which enjoyed double-digit percentage sales increases in sales at stores opened at least a year. One key reason for Home Depot's confidence: Transactions over $900, which represent about 20 percent of its U.S. sales, rose 8.1 percent in the quarter.

Home Depot also has seen notable strength from its professional customers like plumbers and electricians. Sales from this segment grew faster than the average company's sales at stores opened at least a year. Furthermore, the gap between the highest- and lowest-spending professional is narrowing.

The company is also expanding its online services and sprucing up its mobile features. Online sales rose 19 percent and represented 5.6 percent of total sales in the latest quarter. Home Depot said more than 50 percent of online traffic came from mobile and tablets in the latest quarter. Forty-two percent of online orders are now picked up at the stores. And 90 percent of its online product returns are processed at the stores. That's good news since customers are more likely to buy something when they're in the store.

For several years, Home Depot has been offering services like allowing online customers to order online and pick items up at the store. But now it's shipping products from the store directly to online shoppers. It's in 700 stores and will be rolled out to all stores by year-end. Home Depot operates more than 2,200 stores. The change has helped tighten the delivery time to a two-hour window, a service that is helpful for professionals looking to have items dropped off at their work sites.

Home Depot has also enlarged mobile images and added live mobile chat. It also simplified the check-out experience.

The Home Depot Inc. boosted its full-year profit outlook to $6.31 per share from a previous per-share projection of $6.27. Its shares, up almost 4 percent this year, edged down 3 cents to $137.03 in midday trading Tuesday.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on HD at http://www.zacks.com/ap/HD

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Keywords: Home Depot, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings

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Rights group: More than 17,000 killed in Syrian state jails

BEIRUT (AP)  The young Syrian activist was beaten, prevented from going to the toilet and saw her cellmates taken for rounds of whipping when she was held for more than a month in several government detention facilities.

Still, Lama is considered lucky, as more than 17,000 detainees have died in the government's custody over the past five years as a result of torture, diseases and other causes, according to a report released Thursday by the London-based Amnesty International.

The report, titled "'It breaks the human," includes interviews with 65 torture survivors who described abuse and inhuman conditions in security branches operated by Syrian intelligence agencies and in Saidnaya Military Prison, near Damascus.

FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012, file photo, Syrian prisoners sit in a courtroom before their release in Damascus, Syria. The Amnesty report highlights new statistics from the Human Rights Data Analysis Group, or HRDAG, an organization that uses scientific approaches to analyze human rights violations, which indicate that 17,723 people died in custody across Syria between March 2011 and the end of 2015. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)

It said common methods of torture included forcibly contorting the victim's body into a tire and flogging on the soles of the feet. The authorities also used electric shocks, rape and sexual violence, the pulling out of fingernails or toenails, scalding with hot water and cigarette burns.

"The catalogue of horror stories featured in this report depicts in gruesome detail the dreadful abuse detainees routinely suffer from the moment of their arrest, through their interrogation and detention behind the closed doors," said Philip Luther, director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa program.

"This journey is often lethal, with detainees being at risk of death in custody at every stage," he said. He urged the international community to bring these abuses to the top of the agenda in talks with both the government and armed groups.

The abuses date back to the start of the Syrian uprising against President Bashar Assad in March 2011. The government's harsh crackdown on dissent and the rise of armed opposition groups eventually ignited a civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people, displaced half the country's population and generated more than 4.8 million refugees.

Lama, who now lives in Europe and asked to be identified only by her first name for fear of retribution, told The Associated Press by telephone that she was hit with a thick stick five times on her shoulder during her 41-day detention that ended on Jan. 7, 2015. She said a fellow detainee was repeatedly whipped, leaving marks on her back, and another was raped by her interrogator.

"I consider myself lucky," she said, adding that one detainee who shared the small cell with her and others had an 18-month-old daughter. Lama was moved through four detention facilities, including Saidnaya, before being released. Her only crime was taking part in anti-government protests.

Lama said some days she received bread, boiled potato and a tomato, and other times was given rice with boiled carrots and cauliflower. Lama said infants had to eat the same food as adults and if anyone got sick there were no doctors to check on them.

She said that a diabetic woman who had to frequently go to the toilet used a bucket to urinate.

The Amnesty report highlights new statistics from the Human Rights Data Analysis Group, or HRDAG, an organization that uses scientific approaches to analyze human rights violations, which indicate that 17,723 people died in custody across Syria between March 2011 and the end of 2015.

"With tens of thousands of people forcibly disappeared in detention facilities across Syria, the real figure is likely to be even higher," Amnesty said.

FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012, file photo, Syrian prisoners sign their papers of release at the Damascus Police Command headquarters in Damascus, Syria. The Amnesty report highlights new statistics from the Human Rights Data Analysis Group, or HRDAG, an organization that uses scientific approaches to analyze human rights violations, which indicate that 17,723 people died in custody across Syria between March 2011 and the end of 2015. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012, file photo, Syrian prisoners file out of a bus before their release from custody at the Damascus Police Command headquarters in Damascus, Syria. The Amnesty report highlights new statistics from the Human Rights Data Analysis Group, or HRDAG, an organization that uses scientific approaches to analyze human rights violations, which indicate that 17,723 people died in custody across Syria between March 2011 and the end of 2015. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)
A Hawaii woman who had been accused of killing her twin sister after their vehicle plunged off a Maui cliff was arrested in upstate New York on drunken driving charges.

Alexandria Duval, 37, of Maui, was arrested in the Village of Stamford in Delaware County on Monday, according to state police. She has family in upstate New York.

Police said she was pulled over after almost striking a vehicle operated by a state police investigator.

Her blood alcohol content was 0.26, more than three times the legal limit, police said.

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Alexandria Duval (pictured in her latest mugshot), 37, of Maui, was arrested in the Village of Stamford in Delaware County on Monday

Information on her lawyer wasn't immediately available. She was ordered held on $5,000 cash bail after her arraignment in Stamford.

Alexandria Duval is due in court in Stamford on August 23.

Duval and her sister were in a Ford Explorer traveling on Hana Highway in May when they crashed into a rock wall, plunging about 200 feet onto a rocky shoreline.

The crash happened during what was described by witnesses as a hair-pulling fight over the steering wheel.

Anastasia Duval was killed and Alexandria was arrested and jailed on a second-degree murder charge, accused of deliberately causing her sister's death.

A judge later ordered Alexandria's release after determining there was no probable cause for a murder charge.

But prosecutors in Hawaii said they planned to see what other evidence they could find to further their investigation.

Alison Dadow, pictured left in 2013, before changing her name to Alexandria Duval. Ann Dadow is pictured right, in 2014, before she changed her name to Anastasia Duval

Anastasia, left, is pictured with her sister Alexandria Duval, known as Alison and Ann Dadow before they changed their names and moved to Hawaii

The sisters were traveling south on Hana Highway in Maui in May when their Ford Explorer crashed into a rock wall last week, plunging about 200 feet onto a rocky shoreline below

The sisters, known as the 'terrible twins' of yoga, ran two popular Twin Power studios in Palm Beach County, Florida, from 2008 to 2014 before they changed their names from Alison and Ann Dadow.

And their history of problems with alcohol dates back to their teenage years, when their promising future was ruined as drinking took hold of their lives.

'When they drink, their personalities change,' friend Federico Bailey told the Maui News after Ann was killed.

The girls had grown up comfortably in New Hartford, New York. Their mother Maureen died in 1983.

While their sister Amy went to public school in neighboring Utica, their father sent the twins to the local Roman Catholic school, Notre Dame.

They both loved to party in high school, smoking cigarettes and marijuana and drinking heavily.

Their father would let his daughters use his Cadillac and charge thousands of dollars on his credit card to buy designer clothes for school.

Anastasia, left, and Alexandria Duval, known as Alison and Ann Dadow before they changed their names, stand in the window of their yoga studio in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2011

As they grew, alcohol became more of a problem, especially for Alison, said one school friend.

Eventually the family moved to Florida, the twins going to college in St Petersburg and Tampa.

Then they relocated to the Palm Beach area, where Ann and Alison opened Twin Power Yoga studio in Palm Beach Gardens in 2008, followed by another in downtown West Palm Beach three years later. They planned a third in Boca Raton.

Business seemed to be booming and the twins lived the high life, driving matching Porsches and going on lavish spending sprees on Worth Avenue, Palm Beach's millionaires' row.

Alexandria Duval is pictured in her booking photo after being arrested on a second-degree murder charge, accused of deliberately causing her sister's death

They moved into a 16th floor apartment in West Palm Beach's fancy City Place development.

But they were living beyond their means and the final straw came when a reality show project that promised to make them enough money to maintain their lavish lifestyle fell through.

They were left with a lease they could not afford and were so in debt they decided to shutter the business and flee town in 2014 without paying employees or offering rebates to studio members.

After disappearing from Palm Beach, the twins resurfaced in another tony location, the upscale ski resort of Park City, Utah.

Their time there was fraught with legal problems - including arrests for five separate incidents linked to alcohol.

They opened another yoga studio offering a slew of yoga disciplines, including 'doga'  yoga for dogs.

Again their lives were inextricably linked - Alison filed for bankruptcy in November, 2014, public records show. Her sister filed five weeks later.

Between them they had credit card debts of some $200,000.

In Utah, their drinking got even more out of control. Cops were called to a crash after their vehicle slid into a ditch and found them fighting and pulling each other's hair.

Alison's criminal record in Utah includes arrests on suspicion of driving under the influence, fleeing the scene of an accident, driving without insurance, disorderly conduct and public intoxication.

Ann - the older twin by 42 minutes - was arrested near Ogden, Utah, in 2014 for public intoxication, assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct and interfering with an arrest.

Soon they were on the move again, resurfacing in Hawaii in January this year, where they reinvented themselves as the Duval twins, with Alison taking the name Alexandria and Ann calling herself Anastasia. Their Hawaii drivers' licenses are under those names.
Japan's trade shrinks in July, exports sink 14 percent

TOKYO (AP)  Japan posted a trade surplus of 513.5 billion yen ($5.1 billion) in July, though exports sank 14 percent from a year earlier as the yen surged against the dollar, the government reported Thursday.

The fall in exports by the world's third-largest economy was outpaced by a nearly 25 percent drop in imports, suggesting persisting weakness in domestic demand. Both were the sharpest monthly year-on-year drops since 2009.

Japan posted a trade deficit of 261.4 billion yen in July 2015.

In this Feb. 18, 2016 photo, a port worker walks through the piled containers in Tokyo. Japan posted a trade surplus of 513.5 billion yen ($5.1 billion) in July, though exports sank 14 percent from a year earlier as the yen surged against the dollar, the government reported Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

The recent rise in the value of the Japanese yen, to about 99 yen per U.S. dollar, has helped reduce costs for oil and gas imports. Japan's imports of fuels, the biggest category of imports for this resource-scarce nation, fell 42 percent in July from the year before.

The strong yen also has pinched exports, hobbling efforts to keep the economic recovery on track. But in volume terms the decline for both was milder: export volumes fell 2.5 percent while import volumes fell 4 percent from a year earlier, Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in an analysis.

"Looking ahead, we expect the yen to weaken against the dollar toward the end of the year, so the annual growth rates of export and import values should start to recover in coming months. But with external demand sluggish, trade volumes are unlikely to stage a strong rebound," he said.

Japan's exports to China fell 13 percent in July from the same month in 2015, while its exports to the U.S., its biggest overseas market, dropped 12 percent, driven mainly by a drop in shipments of vehicles and electronics.

The economy barely grew in the April-June quarter, as weaker exports and business investment weighed on the faltering recovery.

Stronger exports, a pillar of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's strategy for revitalizing growth, have been crimped by lagging demand. A report issued last week by the Japan External Trade Organization estimated that world trade declined in 2015 by 12.7 percent, the first decline in six years.

Overall, Japan's exports fell 10 percent and imports dropped nearly 21 percent last year, measured in dollar terms, the report said.

Trade has been declining overall as Japanese manufacturers shift a growing share of their production overseas, closer to faster growing markets, especially in Asia. However, exports of farm products and tourism have gained: Japan posted a net tourism surplus of 1.1 trillion yen ($10 billion) in 2015  its first such surplus since 1962, JETRO said.
Tom Campbell

Let us settle for all time the question whether there is bias in the media. Of course bias exists and anyone who tells you differently is prevaricating. Reporters, along with the rest of us, are a product of where we were raised, our family environment, education, life experience, economic situation and other elements including our age, sex, nationality and race. These factors form our worldview and are reflected in whatever we undertake. This includes reporters.That said, it has been my experience that most, and I underscore most, reporters work hard to put their biases aside in covering news stories. Some stories, however, are obviously biased and we can see the slant if we read and listen carefully, which is why I close out every NC SPIN program cautioning viewers to stay informed and watch out for the spin.Truth be told, we think anyone is biased if they don't agree with us. Today viewers and listeners can self-select news voices with which they agree, given the many cable TV and radio talk shows available. Anyone who doesn't believe Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity and most others on the Fox News Network are biased conservatives is clearly not attentive. The same can be said for liberal personalities like Chris Matthews, Donna Brazile, Rachel Maddow, Al Franken and others on MSNBC. Republicans and those on the right have long accused those in the media of biased reporting, curious charges since most radio talk shows are decidedly conservative.For Donald Trump to say that he isn't running against Hillary Clinton but against the media is highly amusing, since it was this same media who made Trump into a national persona, allowing him to march through the Republican presidential primaries without spending hardly any of his or his campaign's money on paid advertising. His trump card (pun intended) has been to dominate the news and no one can deny he's succeeded. Another famous showman, P.T. Barnum, verbalized the strategy saying it didn't matter what people said about him so long as they spelled his name right.But one has to wonder what Trump expects when he constantly calls those who oppose him names, makes unsupported and undocumented claims and bombastic statements. His claims that the media is not paying as much attention to Clinton is accurate, but perhaps reporters might pay more attention to her if they didn't have so much of Trump to report.It is the job of reporters to question. True, many journalists are products of schools where professors, more often than not, lean liberal, but the bedrock foundation of journalism has always been to uncover the "who, what, when, where, why and how" of a person or a story to which they are assigned. After Watergate their focus increasingly turned to investigative reporting, questioning those in authority and sometimes sensationalizing stories.We won't and don't feel the need to defend the media. Sometimes they are biased. Sometimes they get the story wrong or overplay its significance, but our job, as citizens, is to listen, read and judge balance and bias through our own filters. The best advice we would offer Trump came from another beleaguered public figure, Harry S. Truman, who famously said, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."
Wyoming's top court weighs judge's same-sex marriage case

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP)  Removing a Wyoming judge from the bench because she won't perform same-sex weddings would violate her constitutional rights, her lawyer told the state's top court Wednesday.

But a lawyer for the Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics told the state Supreme Court that Judge Ruth Neely clearly violated the state code of judicial conduct by saying she wouldn't preside over weddings for people of the same gender.

The Wyoming Supreme Court says it will issue a written opinion. The case has similarities to legal action against a Kentucky clerk of court jailed briefly in 2015 after refusing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

FILE - In this Oct. 21, 2014, file photo, Marvin Witt, left, and Mike Romero are married by nondenominational chaplain Pamela RW Kandt in downtown Casper, Wyo. The Wyoming Supreme Court must decide after hearing arguments Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, whether to remove from office a Pinedale judge who says her religious beliefs would prevent her from presiding over same-sex marriages. (Alan Rogers/The Casper Star-Tribune via AP, File) MANDATORY CREDIT

Neely, who's not a lawyer, is a municipal judge in Pinedale and has been suspended from her position as a circuit court magistrate in Sublette County.

The ethics commission investigated Neely after she told a reporter in 2014 that she wouldn't preside over same-sex marriages. Her lawyers said no same-sex couples have asked her to perform their marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that same-sex couples nationwide may marry.

Lawyer James Campbell of the Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona religious advocacy law firm, spoke for Neely at Wednesday's hearing.

"This case presents significant First Amendment issues," he told the five judges.

Campbell said Neely only had expressed her opinion about the institution of marriage and hadn't done anything to show bias or prejudice.

"In 21 years on the bench, Judge Neely has never faced allegations that she's been unfair to anyone," he said.

Many prominent judges as well as major world religions share Neely's opposition to same-sex marriage, Campbell said.

But commission lawyer Patrick Dixon countered that while Neely has a right to private religious beliefs, the court must remove her from office for violating the code of conduct. He said the code prohibits all state judges  from magistrates through supreme court justices  from displaying through their words or actions bias against people on the basis of sexual orientation or other factors.

Dixon said Neely's case amounted to, "a low point and a black mark in the history of the judiciary in Wyoming."

The Kentucky case against clerk Kim Davis, a conservative Christian, sparked a national debate over the religious freedom of civil servants versus the civil rights of same-sex couples. Davis ultimately agreed to alter the licenses to remove her name and title.

In Neely's case, the Wyoming Supreme Court rejected attempts from a group of current and former Wyoming lawmakers as well as national religious organizations to file "friend of the court" briefs in support of Neely. Neely and Campbell declined comment after the court hearing.

Jason Marsden, executive director of the Denver-based Matthew Shepard Foundation and a former Wyoming resident, said Wednesday that society sets standards of judicial conduct for a reason.

"It's meant to assure the public that everyone that sits on the bench is impartial, and handles cases on their merits, and on the facts and not on any other basis," Marsden said. "For (Neely) to make the statement that a big chunk of the public is simply not welcome to exercise their constitutional rights in her courtroom flies in the face of everyone's First Amendment protection that we don't have an official state religion."

The foundation is named after the University of Wyoming student who was beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead in 1998. His slaying became a rallying cry in the gay rights movement and a federal hate crimes law now bears his name.
Massive dam project at center of China-Myanmar talks

BEIJING (AP)  Efforts by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week to bolster ties with her country's dominant northern neighbor China may hinge on whether she can resolve the fate of a massive, Chinese-funded dam project blocked by overwhelming local opposition.

Suu Kyi was to be greeted with a formal welcome ceremony on Thursday as part of a visit ending Sunday that will include talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. It's her first trip to China since her party won a historic majority last year.

Now leading Myanmar with the title of state counselor, Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who spent 15 years in house arrest under Myanmar's former military junta, which was supported for years by the authoritarian Communist Party-led government in Beijing. But analysts say Suu Kyi has shown pragmatism and a desire to re-order Myanmar's relationship with China, its top trading partner and a major investor, while also reaching out to the United States, Europe and Japan.

FILE - In this July 29, 2016, file photo, Myanmar's Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi greets leaders of armed ethnic groups during their meeting at a hotel in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Suu Kyi on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, began a formal five-day visit to China to bolster ties with her country's dominant northern neighbor. It's her first trip to China since her party won a historic majority in 2015. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File)

Key to both sides is the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam project in northern Myanmar, funded by Chinese power interests but suspended in 2011 by Myanmar's former military-backed president, Thein Sein. A spokesman for Myanmar's foreign affairs department said China was expected to raise the dam dispute this week.

China sees the dam as an important part of a national strategy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and meet its targets to cut pollution. It has pursued a charm offensive in Myanmar partly to push for construction to resume.

But opponents in Myanmar, also known as Burma, say the reservoir created by the Myitsone dam would create massive flooding on the Irrawaddy River, endangering ecologically sensitive areas and displacing thousands of people. They also question the previous arrangement of China taking 90 percent of the dam's power, while nearly 70 percent of Myanmar has no access to electricity, according to the World Bank.

The dam is one of several Chinese-backed projects stalled due to protests from Myanmar citizens newly emboldened to speak out following democratic reforms, part of a larger backlash against China's economic domination of its poor southern neighbor.

Suu Kyi's government recently announced a commission to review all hydroelectric projects along the Irrawaddy. Zhao Gancheng, director of the Asia-Pacific Center at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said that announcement might be a signal that a compromise was possible.

"To handle it well will help create a favorable condition for future trade and economic development between the two countries," Zhao said. "Otherwise, obstacles will emerge in attracting investment from China in the future and that is not what the new Burmese government and Aung San Suu Kyi want to see."

Aaron Connelly, a research fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, said Suu Kyi could offer an alternative plan that mollifies China and at least some of the opposition in Myanmar.

"That would be the question on the Myanmar side," Connelly said. "Is there something that can be offered that meets the expectations, but does not create a lake the size of Singapore on the Irrawaddy?"

Suu Kyi remains an icon to many of the people of Myanmar, and that may give her the standing to seek a deal that allows the dam to go forward under different circumstances, Connelly said.

She is also likely to seek more cooperation from China as her government begins a peace conference at the end of August with ethnic minorities from the region where the dam is planned, and may tie the two issues together, Connelly said. China has been involved previously in negotiations between the government and Kachin rebels, who have fought for decades in regions near the Chinese border.

"She constantly surprises in what she's willing to do in terms of political agreements that she's willing to strike, and because she's such a singularly popular figure," he said. "She can potentially make a deal here that would be very unpopular and bounce back from that."

Beijing supports the peace process because "a politically stable and economically prosperous Myanmar is in China's best interests," China's official Xinhua News Agency said in an editorial Wednesday.

"Given the fact that a strong China-Myanmar partnership is important for both sides, it is welcome that Suu Kyi, a key figure in the Myanmar government and the leader of the ruling party, plays a greater role in helping secure a healthy Myanmar-China relationship," Xinhua said.

China considers Myanmar strategically important as a gateway to the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, and wants to secure oil and gas pipelines running across the country to the Chinese border.

Along with stalled projects, friction between the countries has erupted over fighting between Myanmar's military and ethnic minority rebels along the border that has killed Chinese farmers and sent a flow of refugees into China.

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Manila will not raise sea row with China at ASEAN meeting

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he will not raise long-simmering maritime disputes with China at a meeting of Southeast Asian nations in Laos next month, preferring to talk quietly with Chinese officials.

"I will only bring the issue when we are together face to face," he told reporters late Wednesday night. "Because if you quarrel with them now and you claim sovereignty, make noise here and there, they might not just even want to talk."

In July, a Hague-based arbitration tribunal ruled heavily in the Philippines' favor in a case challenging China's claims and aggressive actions in the South China Sea. China ignored the decision and continued to block Filipino fishermen from a disputed shoal and build new islands.

The arbitration case was filed by Duterte's predecessor. Duterte has been lukewarm in his support for the action and has said he was adopting "a softer approach" to resolving the disputes.

He said Wednesday that his special envoy to China, former President Fidel Ramos, is paving the way for possible talks with China.

"Let us create an environment where we can sit down, talk directly, and that is the time when I would say, we proceed from here," he said.

Ramos flew to Hong Kong last week to meet the Chinese legislature's foreign affairs chief, Fu Ying, and a leading government-backed scholar on the dispute, and they agreed on the need to reduce tensions through talks.
Diplomat's defection poses major PR problem for Pyongyang

TOKYO (AP)  The defection of a North Korean senior diplomat in London poses a major problem for Pyongyang on a number of fronts  not least of which is how to publicly respond.

As of Thursday, Pyongyang hadn't made a public statement about the defection. But when  or if  it does, its response will likely be ferocious and accusatory.

Seoul's Unification Ministry announced Wednesday that Thae Yong Ho, minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, has arrived in South Korea with his family and is under the protection of the South Korean government. Thae was the second-highest official in North Korea's embassy and is the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to the South.

A man watches a TV news airing a file image of Thae Yong Ho, minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. Thae has defected to South Korea, becoming one of the highest Northern officials to do so, South Korea said Wednesday. The letters read "He was the No. 2 man at the embassy". (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Seoul, which doesn't always divulge defections, was quick to seize on this one as evidence of growing dissent within the North's ruling elite.

Its Unification Ministry claimed Thae defected because of his disgust with the Kim Jong Un regime and worries about the future of his children. A spokesman for the ministry further said that the defection is a sign of weakening unity within the North's ruling class.

Extrapolations about the bigger significance of individual defections should be taken with a grain of salt.

Seoul and Pyongyang have strong political and propaganda motivations for the way they handle announcements about defections. Analysts generally agree there are no significant signs Kim Jong Un's regime is weakening. Moreover, previous defections of officials from the North have by and large been isolated incidents that did not lead to a chain of more choosing to flee.

Thae himself has not yet spoken in public about his motives and details about the context of his defection remain sketchy.

Defectors are referred to by the North in the harshest of terms. "Human scum" is a common epithet, along with "criminals" or "traitors." Pyongyang often accuses the South of tricking or paying its citizens to defect, or claims that they have simply been kidnapped.

In April, 13 North Koreans working at a North Korean-operated restaurant in China defected to South Korea in the largest group defection since Kim Jong Un took power in late 2011.

The North responded furiously to the South's account of the flight of the restaurant workers, alleging repeatedly that the women  12 waitresses and their manager  were tricked into thinking they were being transferred to work at another restaurant in Malaysia. It has also presented the colleagues and parents of the waitresses to North Korean and international media in Pyongyang to appeal for their release.

Seoul categorically denies any wrongdoing.

Thae's case presents a more difficult conundrum for Pyongyang.

Though South Korea doesn't always make high-level defection cases public, its announcement of Thae's flight comes as ties between the rivals are at one of their lowest points in decades. North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and Seoul been working hard to apply more international pressure on the North.

Thae, 55, is a veteran diplomat who is experienced in dealing with countries in Western Europe. He led a North Korean delegation that held talks with European Union representatives over the North's human rights situation in Brussels in 2001, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

He had worked at the London embassy for about 10 years, Yonhap said. Previously, he worked at the now-closed embassy in Denmark and spent a short period of time at the embassy in Sweden, it said.

In 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled, but he resettled in the United States.

___

Talmadge is the AP's Pyongyang bureau chief.

People watch a TV news showing a file image of Thae Yong Ho, minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. Thae has defected to South Korea, becoming one of the highest Northern officials to do so, South Korea said Wednesday. The letters read "Thae defected due to his disillusionment with the North's regime under Kim Jong Un ". (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Praise surprises cop who fed boy trying to sell toy for food

FRANKLIN, Ohio (AP)  A southwest Ohio police officer who bought a meal for a 7-year-old boy who authorities say was trying to sell a stuffed animal to buy food says he's surprised to get so much praise and even a marriage proposal.

Franklin police say they have been inundated with emails and phone calls praising Officer Steve Dunham's actions. One call included a marriage proposal. Dunham told the Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News (http://bit.ly/2bApJxf ) that one gave his wife a good laugh.

Dunham found the boy wandering downtown earlier this month and took him to a restaurant after the boy said he hadn't eaten in several days.

Franklin, Ohio, Police Officer Steve Dunham speaks, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016, in Franklin, Ohio. Dunham who bought a meal for a 7-year-old boy who authorities say was trying to sell a stuffed animal to buy food says calls praising him and even proposing marriage surprised him. Franklin police say they have been inundated with emails and phone calls praising Officer Steve Dunhams actions. (Ed Richter/The Journal-News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Police say other officers went to the boy's home and found four older boys living amid garbage and cat urine.

The boy's parents have pleaded not guilty to child endangerment charges.

___

This story has been corrected to show authorities say the boy was trying to sell a stuffed animal, not a teddy bear.

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Convicted felon gets prison for having gun, illegal re-entry

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  A Jamaican national who is a convicted felon has been sentenced to prison for carrying a loaded gun and re-entering the country illegally.

Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha says 45-year-old Marlon Straw, of Hyde Park, Massachusetts, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Providence to 46 months behind bars followed by three years of probation. Straw will be subject to deportation proceedings following his sentence. He pleaded guilty May 23.

Prosecutors say Rhode Island State Police stopped a car being driven by Straw's wife in Exeter on March 31, 2015, for speeding. Straw provided troopers with false names and was arrested. Troopers later found a loaded pistol in his long underwear and sock.
Anti-Muslim threats in Maine investigated as hate crime

WESTBROOK, Maine (AP)  A civil rights group is calling on authorities to look into written threats against the Islamic community in Maine.

Typewritten notes urging violence against Muslims were discovered Wednesday at a Westbrook apartment complex, where several Iraqis live. At least four paper notes with the phrase "All Muslims are Terrorists should be Killed" were found on the ground and a car windshield.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations on Thursday called on local, state and federal authorities to hold whoever made the threats accountable.

"Families that were forced to flee Iraq because of such threats should not be subjected to them in America," said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.

Westbrook police began investigating Wednesday and said they are treating the threats as a hate crime. They stressed, however, that they don't have evidence of any immediate threat to any resident. They said they are taking the matter seriously and set up a meeting Thursday evening with Iraqi community members to address their concerns.

"The people who have come forward have all been Iraqi," Westbrook Police Chief Janine Roberts said at a news conference Wednesday. "We have done a canvas of the complex and of those people that we've made contact with, only the Iraqi community has any information in relation to the threats."

The threats came two days after federal court documents unsealed in Portland revealed that former Maine resident Adnan Fazeli was fighting for the Islamic State group when he was killed last year in Lebanon, the Portland Press Herald reported. Fazeli was an Iranian who came to Maine as a refugee in 2009, and had lived in the Westbrook apartment complex at one time.

Police said they don't know if the threats are connected to the recent media coverage on Fazeli.

"Other than the timing, we have no information other than that," Roberts told reporters.

Police had no suspects and were urging anyone with information about the notes to come forward.
South Sudan rebel leader has fled country, spokesman says

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP)  South Sudan's rebel leader and former vice president has fled the country and was expected to emerge after weeks in hiding to speak to the press, a spokesman said Thursday, as the United Nations announced it had assisted him on part of his journey.

The U.N. involvement was likely to further anger a South Sudanese government that has accused the world body of interfering in its affairs after renewed fighting last month veered the country back toward civil war.

Riek Machar crossed the border into neighboring Congo and was airlifted to the capital, Kinshasa, spokesman Mabior Garang said, adding that he was planning to travel to Ethiopia soon. In a Facebook post, the spokesman said Machar left South Sudan after a "botched attempt to assassinate" him.

FILE--- In this file photo of Monday, Aug. 31, 2015. South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar. Sudan's rebel leader Machar has fled the country, a spokesman for his party said Thursday Aug. 18. 2016 . The former First Vice President Riek Machar has gone to a safe country in the neighboring East African region, Mabior Garang, a spokesperson for the SPLM-IO party, said in a posting on Facebook..(Photo/Mulugeta Ayene-file)

The U.N. indicated that Machar had been in danger.

It learned Wednesday that Machar was in Congo, near the South Sudan border, and arranged on humanitarian grounds for the U.N. peacekeeping force there to airlift him, his wife and 10 others, deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said. He wouldn't say where they were Thursday, only that they had been handed over to Congolese authorities.

"We have been providing him with whatever medical assistance he needs," Haq said, without giving details. "He needed to be moved safely from one spot to another," he added.

A South Sudan presidential spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, said President Salva Kiir had no reaction to the U.N. helping Machar.

Machar had returned to South Sudan in April in a major step toward realizing a peace deal reached in August 2015 under intense international pressure. He immediately took up the vice president post under Kiir that he'd had before the civil war. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, called his return "the best hope that South Sudan has had in a very long time."

But tensions remained as the recently warring camps were pushed to work together under the peace deal.

In early July, dozens of Machar's bodyguards were shot dead after gunfire erupted outside the presidential compound where Machar was meeting with Kiir. Machar and fighters supporting him left the city, putting the country's peace deal in limbo. Hundreds of civilians died in the fighting.

In his absence, Machar last month was replaced as first vice president after a disputed change of leadership in his party. He has said he would not return to Juba until a regional force is deployed in the capital to help restore calm.

Last week, the U.N. Security Council approved a U.S.-sponsored plan to send 4,000 regional peacekeepers to Juba. South Sudan has not yet accepted the force, saying that deploying it without government approval would be a violation of the country's sovereignty.

In a new report , the International Crisis Group says South Sudan likely will not accept international mediation again and will try to "manage the ongoing conflict on its own." The report adds that "Machar is unlikely to be welcomed back in Juba."

South Sudan's civil war began in December 2013 and has killed tens of thousands of people. The peace deal has been violated repeatedly by fighting. Both sides in the fighting have been accused of human rights abuses.

___

Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.

___

This version corrects to say the press conference was expected later Thursday, not Friday.
Evacuated residents in limbo as wildfire burns in California

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP)  Twisted metal gates and rusted mailboxes remained where houses once stood. Flames had turned a lot full of cars  including some vintage models  into a junkyard of hollowed-out shells. Countless trees were scorched or gone.

Scenes of destruction were everywhere Thursday after a huge wildfire sped through mountains and high desert 60 miles east of Los Angeles so swiftly that it took seasoned firefighters off guard.

An aerial flyover revealed significant property loss, but crews were just beginning to comb through the rubble to document the devastation.

A burned out residence stands amid rubble on Highway 138 after the Blue Cut Fire burned through Phelan, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

"Most of the areas where there was structural damage, they're still smoldering," U.S. Forest Service spokesman Jake Rodriguez said.

Many residents remained in limbo, unable to go home and wondering whether anything would be left when they can.

"I want it to be over, but more than anything I just want to know, 'Is my house still there?'" Lisa Gregory said as she sat in a lawn chair under a tree at an evacuation center.

The fire has blackened more than 49 square miles and was just 4 percent contained since erupting Tuesday in hot, gusty conditions and spreading with extraordinary speed. At its height, more than 34,000 homes and some 82,000 residents were under evacuation warnings.

There was some good news Thursday: People living near a corner of the area that didn't burn were cleared to return home.

During five years of drought, California's wildlands have seen a continuous streak of destructive and sometimes deadly fires. No deaths have been reported in the latest fire, but crews assessing property damage were using cadaver dogs during searches.

The dry vegetation is like firewood, said fire information officer Sean Collins.

"It burns that much quicker, that much hotter. The rate of travel is extremely fast," he said.

Wildfires across the country in recent years have grown more ferocious and expensive to fight.

Last year's fire season set a record with more than 15,625 square miles of land charred. It was also the costliest on record with $2.1 billion spent to fight fires from Alaska to Florida.

Experts have blamed several factors including rising temperatures that more quickly dry out forests and vegetation. Decades of aggressively knocking down small fires also have led to the buildup of flammable fuel. On top of that, more people are moving into fire-prone regions, complicating firefighting efforts.

In the Southern California fire, air tankers spent Thursday bombarding rugged slopes with fire retardant, and a squadron of helicopters dropped load after load of water to corral flames. On the ground, firefighters and bulldozers worked to protect the ski town of Wrightwood and other areas high in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Authorities estimated that only half of the 4,500 residents of Wrightwood had heeded evacuation orders.

The fire unleashed its initial fury on a semi-rural landscape dotted with small ranches and homes in Cajon Pass and on the edge of the Mojave Desert before climbing the mountains.

Travel was returning to normal in the pass  a major corridor for trucking, rail and commuter traffic  after Interstate 15 was fully reopened.

In mountains north of San Francisco, fire crews gained more ground on a wildfire as damage inspectors surveyed the area to determine how many structures were destroyed or damaged.

The 6-square-mile blaze was 55 percent contained after destroying at least 268 structures, including 175 homes and eight businesses, in the working-class community of Lower Lake.

Damin Pashilk is charged with 14 counts of arson in connection with 12 separate fires dating back to July 2015 and one count of attempted arson. The 40-year-old construction worker appeared in court Wednesday, but he did not enter a plea.

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Associated Press writers John Antczak, Amanda Lee Myers and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles and Kristin Bender and Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco contributed to this report.

A DC-10 drops fire retardant on a wildfire as southbound Interstate 15 remains closed in the Cajon Pass, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. The California Highway Patrol reopened I-15 late Wednesday night, while the southbound side remained closed. Reopening the south side Thursday depended on repair of guardrails. (David Pardo/The Daily Press via AP)

Seen in a long exposure nighttime photograph, a burned van rests in a lot while a wildfire glows on the horizon in Phelan, Calif., early Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016 2016. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Embers from a wildfire smolder along Lytle Creek Road near Keenbrook, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Five years of drought have turned the state's wildlands into a tinder box, with eight fires currently burning from Shasta County in the far north to Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Smoke from a wildfire rises above I-15 in Keenbrook, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Five years of drought have turned the state's wildlands into a tinder box, with eight fires currently burning from Shasta County in the far north to Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Firefighters battle a wildfire on Cajon Boulevard in Keenbrook, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Five years of drought have turned the state's wildlands into a tinder box, with eight fires currently burning from Shasta County in the far north to Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A helicopter drops water on a wildfire as it burns through Keenbrook, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Five years of drought have turned the state's wildlands into a tinder box, with eight fires currently burning from Shasta County in the far north to Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Firefighters battle a wildfire on Cajon Boulevard in Keenbrook, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Flames from a wildfire rise above a Cal Fire vehicle in Keenbrook, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The California Highway Patrol planned to reopen I-15 late Wednesday night, while the southbound side remained closed. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

The moon rises over burnt earth along Cajon Blvd. off the I-15 freeway after a wildfire burned through Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, near Keenbrook, Calif. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. (Kevin Sullivan/The Orange County Register via AP)

A Cal Fire firefighter sprays a hot spot along Cajon Blvd. off the 15 Freeway after a wildfire burned through the area Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, in Keenbrook, Calif. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. (Kevin Sullivan/The Orange County Register via AP)

Cal Fire battles a wildfire along Lytle Creek Road, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, near Keenbrook, Calif. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. (Kevin Sullivan/The Orange County Register via AP)

Cal Fire's Steve Rodberg, of Laguna Niguel, sprays water on flames while battling a wildfire along Lytle Creek Road Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016 near Keenbrook, Calif. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. (Kevin Sullivan/The Orange County Register via AP)

Cal Fire Capt. Gretchen Gonzales keeps an eye on a wildfire along Lytle Creek Road Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, near Keenbrook, Calif. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The fire was 4 percent contained on Wednesday. (Kevin Sullivan/The Orange County Register via AP)

Cal Fire firefighter Jorge Rivera hoses the remaining hot spots left from a brushfire in Spring Valley, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Hayne Palmour IV/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)

A helicopter flies overhead after dropping water as firefighters work to put out a brushfire in Spring Valley, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Hayne Palmour IV/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)

Firefighters work to put out a brushfire in Spring Valley, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Hayne Palmour IV/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)

Cal Fire firefighters Josh Bates, left, and Justin Ware rest after fighting a wildfire in Spring Valley, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Hayne Palmour IV/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)

A wildfire burns through the dry trees in the Greenhorn Mountain range, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, west of Wofford Heights, Calif., (Casey Christie /The Bakersfield Californian via AP)

A dish towel hangs in front of a burned out residence on Highway 138 after the Blue Cut Fire burned through Phelan, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A burned out residence stands amid rubble on Highway 138 after the Blue Cut Fire burned through Phelan, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Private security guards begin patrols in downtown Denver

DENVER (AP)  Denver has stepped up public safety efforts by adding security guards to patrol the city's downtown.

The Denver Post reports (http://dpo.st/2b2AELX ) that the guards, who are employed by Allied Universal Security, will monitor Denver's 16th Street Mall 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They will be unarmed, but equipped with pepper spray and handcuffs to detain people until police arrive.

The guards are part of a larger plan, introduced this summer, to boost the city's security. City officials had called for enhanced security on the mall in July to address what Mayor Michael Hancock called a "scourge of hoodlums."

CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, Tami Door, says the guards' tasks will include spotting rule breakers, directing homeless people to social services and serving as ambassadors to visitors.

___
Merkel: Germany had Islamic extremism before refugee influx

BERLIN (AP)  Chancellor Angela Merkel has dismissed suggestions that the influx of refugees over the past year brought Islamic extremism to Germany.

Merkel said late Wednesday that "the phenomenon of Islamist terrorism by IS isn't a phenomenon that came to us with the refugees, it's one that we had before too."

She conceded, however, "it can be seen that there are attempts to win over refugees (for terrorism), or we had the case of Paris, where refugees were deliberately smuggled in by IS."

In this Aug. 17, 2016 picture Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks next to Lorenz Caffier, left, leading candidate of Merkel's Christian Democrats for the regional elections, scheduled for Sept. 4 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania during an election campaign in Neustrelitz, Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel has dismissed suggestions that the influx of refugees over the past year has brought Islamic extremism to Germany. German news agency dpa quotes Merkel as saying that "Islamist terrorism by IS isn't a phenomenon that came to us with the refugees, it's one that we had before too." (Bernd Wuestneck/dpa via AP)

Merkel was speaking at a campaign event in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where her Christian Democrats face strong competition from the nationalist, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party in state elections on Sept. 4.

The country was shaken by a string of attacks in July, two of which were the first in Germany claimed by the Islamic State group. In those, only the attackers  both asylum-seekers  were killed. In an unrelated attack, a German teenager killed nine people in Munich.

Last week, Germany's interior minister unveiled proposals to boost security  among them creating several thousand jobs with federal security services, making it easier to deport foreigners deemed dangerous and stripping dual nationals who fight for extremist groups of their German citizenship.

"I can understand that security has very, very high significance for people at the moment, that's completely clear," Merkel said in a video released Thursday by her party. "We are doing everything humanly possible to ensure security ... and wherever gaps arise, we must readjust and consider new variations of security."

Merkel said it's important to prevent people-smuggling and ensure that refugees can live in "humane conditions" near their homelands  for example, through arrangements such as the European Union's deal with Turkey to cut migrant flows.
After years of war, Afghans wary to talk of mental health

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  Soheila Hashemi has hardly slept since a suicide bomber targeted a rally in the Afghan capital last month, killing more than 80 people and wounding scores in the deadliest attack in Kabul since the war with the Taliban began 15 years ago.

She is tormented by feelings of guilt for surviving the carnage and for encouraging fellow Hazaras to come to the protest that called for an end to discrimination against their community, Afghanistan's poorest ethnic and religious minority.

Hashemi says she needs "professional help" but with the dearth of psychologists in the war-ravaged country, she feels there really isn't anyone she can turn to.

In this Sunday, July 17, 2016, photo, an Afghan mental health doctor, center, talks with patients in the Mental Health and Drug Addicts' Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. After almost 40 years of conflict and crisis, experts say the vast majority of the Afghan population suffers from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder, yet arcane societal attitudes on mental health are holding back many from seeking help. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

"I encouraged people to attend the demonstration and yet I wasn't there when the explosions happened," said the 23-year-old university student. Many of her close friends were killed or wounded in the July 23 bombing.

Hashemi had already left the rally when the bomber struck. As the explosion shook Kabul, she ran back to Demazang Square, only to faint at the horrific scene of dead bodies, scattered body parts and pools of blood.

For days afterward, she was quick to lose her temper and felt herself becoming aggressive for no reason. Even if she found a psychologist, Hashemi believes she'd be branded as "crazy" for admitting to psychological and emotional problems after the attack.

After almost 40 years of conflict and crisis, experts say the vast majority of the Afghan population suffers from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder, yet arcane societal attitudes on mental health are holding back many from seeking help.

Hundreds of psychologists have been trained over the past decade to work at clinics across the country, many funded by foreign donors  but the stigma associated with "being crazy" remains a barrier.

Hashemi says she has been able to use social media to express some of her feelings. She said others who went through similar experiences wrote back, encouraging her to "talk it out." It's the simplest solution, she said, in a country where "if you ask a person to visit a psychiatrist, they will get angry and tell you they are not crazy."

With all the wars, violence has become embedded in the fabric of Afghan society.

The Soviet invasion of 1979 lasted for 10 years, followed by three years of war against the installed communist authorities. Then came a civil war in which warlords destroyed much of Kabul. An estimated 80,000 people were killed in the city between 1992 and 1996.

The Taliban ruled for five years  a time when women were stoned to death for disobeying their strict version of Islamic law, or Shariah, and severed hands of alleged criminals were hung up in bazaars. The 2001 U.S.-led invasion ousted their brutal regime but also marked the start of a 15-year Taliban insurgency.

Now, new players have emerged, such as Afghanistan's branch of the Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility for the July attack on the Hazara protest. Unlike most Afghans who are Sunni, the Hazaras are Shiites and IS regards them as apostates.

The U.N. mission in Afghanistan, which began tracking Afghan civilian casualty figures in 2009, says almost 23,000 civilians have been killed by the war and another 41,000 have been wounded. In a population of around 30 million, that means very few have been unaffected by the violence in one way or another.

Khalil Rahman Sarwary, who teaches psychology at Kabul University, says war "has the most destructive effect on human behavior, conduct and life." His research, he says, has found that up to 75 percent of Afghan people suffer "from stress and other psychological pressures because of the war and insecurity."

"Around 25 to 30 percent of Afghans have very high stress, anxiety and other psychological issues  the toll is getting higher day by day," Sarwary said.

Also, ancient superstitions prevail, with many across Afghanistan still attributing mental illnesses to being possessed by demons. An afflicted person can be locked up in a cage or left chained at a shrine for days on end.

Families often call in mullahs when they think a loved one has become "possessed by a djinn"  a mythical spirit in Islam, similar to an angel, which can take human or animal form and influence behavior for either good or bad.

Many of the hundreds of counsellors who were trained by a variety of organizations  with the aim to have at least two to each of Afghanistan's 34 provinces  have left the profession to return to their hometowns, said Fareshta Qudees, managing director of the International Psychological Organization in Afghanistan.

Qudees says there are plans to train 250 more in the coming months. Around 200 clinics nationwide provide counselling  though most treat drug addicts, whose numbers are rising in the country responsible for producing most of the world's heroin.

"The Afghan society is still very traditional and mental health problems are a taboo subject," said Khetab Kakar, director of the Mental Health and Drug Addicts' Hospital in Kabul's western suburb of Kart-e-Sei.

"Psychology is new to Afghanistan," Kakar said. "If a person becomes sick, they will be advised against going to a doctor, rather than to a shrine or a mullah." But there are signs modern psychology is making inroads, especially among women, who are among the hardest hit by the fallout of war in this male-dominated society, their suffering compounded by discrimination, widespread restrictions on their movement and domestic violence.

Zia Jan, 45, says she has benefited from counselling she received at Medica Afghanistan, a non-profit, non-governmental organization helping traumatized women across Afghanistan.

After the Taliban killed her son, wounded her husband and burned her uncle alive, Zia Jan sank into a deep depression. Her family decided she had been possessed by a djinn.

"People started saying I had a djinn, my family took me to the mullah a few times, and he said I had a djinn," she said. The mullah even performed an exorcism, but she only got worse.

After years of torment, she finally found her way to Medica Afghanistan.

Psychologist Yalda Ahmad said Jan was unable to talk when her treatment began: "She could only cry."

Now, after eight years of regular sessions, Jan says she feels she is finally able to cope with the memories, though they will "always burn" in her mind.

In this Sunday, July 17, 2016 photo, Afghan patients are treated in the Mental Health and Drug Addicts' Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. After almost 40 years of conflict and crisis, experts say the vast majority of the Afghan population suffers from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder, yet arcane societal attitudes on mental health are holding back many from seeking help.(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

In this Sunday, July 17, 2016 photo, Afghan patients are treated in the Mental Health and Drug Addicts' Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. After almost 40 years of conflict and crisis, experts say the vast majority of the Afghan population suffers from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder, yet arcane societal attitudes on mental health are holding back many from seeking help.(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

In this Sunday, July 17, 2016 photo, a member of Medica Afghanistan, center, talks with patients in the Medica Afghanistan center in Kabul, Afghanistan. After almost 40 years of conflict and crisis, experts say the vast majority of the Afghan population suffers from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder, yet arcane societal attitudes on mental health are holding back many from seeking help.(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
New plight for Louisiana flood victims: Find a place to live

DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (AP)  Keisha Taylor, a 37-year-old mother of four, has spent three nights in two different shelters since her family fled the flooding at their Baton Rouge apartment complex. She doesn't know how much longer they will be sleeping on cots inside the downtown arena where hundreds sought shelter.

Taylor probably could stay with relatives in White Castle, a town about 30 miles west of Louisiana's capital city, but three of her kids are enrolled in Baton Rouge schools that could reopen next week.

"This is where I live. I need to be home," she said.

Crosby, Miss., Mayor William Hall sits on the steps of his flooded house on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Ernest Herndon/The Enterprise-Journal via AP)

Taylor is among thousands of people across southern Louisiana displaced by catastrophic flooding and now struggling with where to live.

With an estimated 40,000 homes damaged by deadly flooding, Louisiana could be looking at its biggest housing crunch since the miserable, bumbling aftermath of Hurricane Katrina a decade ago.

For the Baton Rouge area, the blow added to what has already been a tough summer starting with the shooting death of 37-year-old Alton Sterling on July 5. The death of Sterling, a black man, at the hands of two white police officers incited widespread protests in which nearly 200 people were arrested.

Then on July 17, a lone gunman killed three law enforcement officers and wounded three others outside a Baton Rouge convenience store. The suspect, Gavin Long, an Army veteran from Kansas City, Missouri, was killed by police. The dead officers all had lived in the area of Denham Springs, a quiet bedroom community near Baton Rouge.

Then the rains hit.

People now are staying in shelters, bunking with friends or relatives or sleeping in trailers on their front lawns. Others unable or unwilling to leave their homes are living amid mud and the ever-present risk of mold in the steamy August heat.

Many victims will need an extended place to stay while they rebuild. Countless others had no flood insurance and may lack the means to repair their homes.

"I got nowhere else to go," said Thomas Lee, 56, who ekes out a living as a drywall hanger  a skill that will come in handy. His sodden furniture is piled curbside and the drywall in his rented house is puckering, but Thomas still plans to stay there, sleeping on an air mattress.

State officials are urging landlords to allow short-term leases and encouraging people to rent out any empty space available.

Terri Ricks, deputy secretary for the Department of Children and Family Services, which helps organize local sheltering efforts, said the state is talking with parishes about possibly running a long-term shelter to give people a place to stay while they repair and rebuild.

"Nobody wants to do a long-term shelter," she said. "We want to get people in a more permanent situation."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose very name became a punchline during Katrina, said it will look into lining up rental properties for those left homeless and will consider using temporary housing units.

But FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate gave assurances that the temporary units won't be the old FEMA travel trailers  a reference to the ones brought in after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that were found to have toxic levels of formaldehyde.

FEMA aid has started flowing to people with damage, according to the governor's office, which said nearly 1,400 houses have been inspected by the federal agency. About $900,000 has been paid to homeowners in FEMA individual assistance so far, of $7.6 million that has been approved for disbursement.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson visited Louisiana on Thursday to review the federal government's response to the flooding. But the White House says President Barack Obama is unlikely to break from a New England vacation to survey Louisiana flood damage, despite calls for him to visit.

While some have criticized Obama's decision, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday he is "not complaining in any way about our federal partnership."

He added that while the President can visit whenever he'd like, he'd prefer him to wait "a week or two" because such visits require local police and first responders to help block roads and provide security.

Obama has not commented on the flooding. The White House says he's being updated regularly and has approved a federal disaster declaration for the affected areas.

The flooding that struck the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas left at least 13 people dead. More than 30,000 have been rescued, and at least 70,000 have registered for federal disaster assistance. At the height, 11,000 people were in shelters, though that figured dropped to 4,000 by Thursday.

The few with flood insurance will be in a much better place to begin rebuilding.

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said it was shocking that only 12 percent of the homes in hard-hit Baton Rouge were covered by flood insurance, and only 14 percent in Lafayette. Donelon, however, said he understands why the state's "large population of working poor folks" wouldn't pay for flood coverage when lenders tell them it's not a requirement.

David Ellis is among the homeowners with flood damage but no flood insurance.

He and his wife closed on their new house in a Livingston Parish subdivision last Thursday afternoon. It started flooding the very next day, water ultimately rising above 3 feet inside his home. Like many of his neighbors, Ellis had no flood insurance. He said he was told he didn't need it.

Friends have launched an online fundraising campaign to help repair the new home.

"I hate asking for help, but having somebody do that for us is awesome," he said.

___

Kunzelman and Deslatte reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

In this Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016 photo, Dexter Smith stands outside of his flooded home in Crosby, Miss. The home was also flooded in 2014. (Matt Williamson/The Enterprise-Journal via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

In this Tuesday, Aug., 16, 2016, photo, Bayou View Elementary School second grader Ethan Borderon, 8, and other classmates load cleaning supplies at the Gulfport, Miss., school for flood victims in Louisiana. The city of Gulfport collected three truck loads of supplies and delivered them on Wednesday. (John Fitzhugh/The Sun Herald via AP)

In this Tuesday, Aug., 16, 2016, photo, Gulfport, Miss., firefighters load water and cleaning supplies donated by Bayou View Elementary School families in Gulfport for flood victims in Louisiana. The city of Gulfport collected three truck loads of supplies and delivered them on Wednesday. (John Fitzhugh/The Sun Herald via AP)

A growing pile of debris sits outside the flood-ravaged home of Carolyn and James Smith in Denham Springs, La. on Wednesday, Aug 17, 2016. Smith says she and four other adults will live for the time being in the travel trailer that one of her sons towed to the driveway after weekend flooding inundated the area. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill)

Terry Brewer, left, and Timothy Harris pile up debris outside a flooded auto parts store in Albany, La. on Wednesday, Aug 17, 2016. The U.S. Small Business Administration plans to open several south Louisiana locations to help businesses damaged by record flooding. Louisiana's economic development office is encouraging business owners to register for federal disaster aid and to look at other available support services at www.OpportunityLouisiana.com. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill)

Dylan Heinan, among other volunteers, piles sandbags in an effort to stop flood waters from rising in Lake Arthur, La., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Scott Clause/The Daily Advertiser via AP)

Lake Arthur residents receive help from the Army National Guard to build sandbag wall to keep flood waters from Lake Arthur, La., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Scott Clause/The Daily Advertiser via AP)

Second Lt. Dakota Jude and Army National Guard members help place sandbags to protect the city hall in Lake Arthur, La., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Scott Clause/The Daily Advertiser via AP)

Lake Arthur, La., residents receive help from the Army National Guard to build sand bag wall to keep flood waters from the city on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Scott Clause/The Daily Advertiser via AP)
Chinese admiral visits Syria in show of support

BEIJING (AP)  A top Chinese military officer visited Syria this week in a show of support for President Bashar Assad's embattled regime, official media reported Thursday, underscoring Beijing's backing of fellow authoritarian governments and concerns about the spread of religious militancy.

Rear Adm. Guan Youfei met on Sunday with Syrian Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij in Damascus, the Xinhua News Agency said. He also met the following day with a Russian general who is coordinating his country's military assistance to Assad's fight against armed opposition groups, the agency said.

Xinhua said Guan expressed China's willingness to boost military cooperation with Syria, while the newspaper Global Times cited the Chinese Defense Ministry as saying that both sides agreed to expand personnel training and humanitarian aid via the Chinese military.

The Chinese military "is willing to strengthen cooperation with its Syrian counterparts," it quoted the ministry as saying.

Guan is head of the Office for International Military Cooperation under the Central Military Commission that oversees China's 2.3 million-member armed forces.

While China has followed Russia's approach in backing Assad, it hasn't directly contributed forces in keeping with its policy of opposing outside intervention in domestic conflicts. During the early months of the 5-year-old civil war, China joined Russia in blocking motions at the United Nations calling for Assad to work for a resolution of the conflict.

Despite that, Chinese military advisers are on the ground in Syria helping train soldiers in the use of weapons purchased from China, including sniper rifles, rocket launchers and machine guns, reported the Global Times, which is published by the ruling Communist Party's flagship newspaper People's Daily.

Guan's visit illustrates Beijing's enduring recognition of the Syrian government and insistence that the warring parties reach a resolution among themselves, said Wang Lian of the School of International Studies at Peking University.

Although China wants to expand government-to-government and military-to-military cooperation, it's unlikely to provide substantial military support, much less send personnel to fight on behalf of the regime, Wang said.

"More likely, the Chinese military wanted to use Guan's trip to better understand the current state of the turmoil in Syria," Wang said. "In developing a closer relationship with Syria, one has to take into account the changes at hand in Syria and the region, including the fast recovering relations between Turkey and Russia."

China's ruling Communist Party brooks no political opposition and is constantly on alert for signs of popular uprisings of the sort that flared across the Middle East during the "Arab Spring" that ultimately led to Syria's fragmentation.

The government has also warned of the potential threat posed by Chinese Muslims returning to the country after fighting alongside radical groups such as the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Those allegedly include members of the Uighur ethnic minority, some of whom have waged a yearslong campaign against Chinese rule in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

___
Donald Trump rattles Republican consensus in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  When it became apparent that Donald Trump would win the Republican presidential nomination, Andy Rasmussen's path seemed clear: he resigned his GOP leadership position in northern Utah and left the party to become an unaffiliated voter.

Now Rasmussen and thousands of Utah Republicans wary of Trump are left scrambling to settle on a candidate of choice come Election Day.

Utah is one of the most homogenous states in the nation with a predominant religion  Mormonism  which often inspires some level of political conformity. Yet Trump has shattered the Republican consensus here, activating fault lines under even the most stable-looking electorate.

This April 23, 2016, file photo, a person displays their t-shirt outside of the Utah Republican Party 2016 convention, in Salt Lake City. Donald Trump has shattered the normal Republican consensus in Utah even more so than he has nationwide, activating fault lines under a normally stable electorate largely unified by a single religion. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Rasmussen and other Republicans who outnumber Democrats nearly five-to-one among the state's 1.3 million active voters are grappling with whether they distrust Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton more, and trying to assess two long shot candidates.

"I think Trump represents a clear and present danger to the republic where she does not," Rasmussen, a former legislative chairman and member of the Cache County Republican Party Executive Committee said, dubbing Trump "a prepubescent megalomaniac with no morals."

The billionaire businessman is still expected to win the six electoral votes in Utah, which hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. But even Trump acknowledged last week that he's "having a tremendous problem in Utah." About seven in 10 Mormons lean Republican  more than any other major religion in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center. Evangelical Protestants are the next closest religious group with 56 percent of their members leaning Republican.

Some Utah Republicans are already exploring alternatives like Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, who's based his campaign in Salt Lake City, or Evan McMullin, a relatively unknown ex-CIA officer and Brigham Young University graduate who has managed to get on the ballot in Utah and a few other states. Some Republicans also are toying with the unfathomable  a vote for Clinton.

Democrats in Utah have already seen an 18-percent increase in voter registration from early March to mid-August  compared to a 5-percent decrease in that time period in 2012.

Republican voter registrations are also up, with an 11-percent increase this year compared to a 5 percent rise four years ago. But that jump in GOP voters could also be explained by a closely-watched primary race for governor this past June in which only registered Republicans could participate.

Trump's inability to connect to Mormon voters, who are more accustomed to cordiality than his famously brash temperament, has extended to Mormon strongholds in the West, including Arizona, swing state Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming. But it is most pronounced in Utah, headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Beyond his in-your-face demeanor, Trump's call for a temporary ban of foreign Muslims didn't go over well either. Mormons say it harkens to past efforts to persecute members of their own faith.

Former Republican nominee Mitt Romney, among the most high-profile Mormons in America, has been a persistent critic of Trump, and delivered a speech in Utah earlier this year where he ripped into the candidate as a "phony" who is unfit for office.

Clinton doesn't have a glowing track record in Utah either  losing the state's March caucus to Bernie Sanders by a landslide  and political professionals don't expect her to win the state.

The race has even split Utah's normally-unified political hierarchy. Some prominent Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and Gov. Gary Herbert, endorsed Trump, but others, including Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, find it difficult to ignore the barrage of tweets, speeches and interviews that make them cringe.

David Irvine, a former Republican state legislator and retired brigadier general, said voting for Johnson or McMullin is as useful as voting for "Donald Duck." He's instead risking scorn by crossing party lines to vote for Clinton because he thinks Trump is temperamentally unsuited and woefully unqualified to make vital national security decisions.

"He could do more damage in 90 minutes as president than most other people would be able to accomplish in a much longer period of time," Irvine said. "Whatever baggage Hillary Clinton brings, his is worse."

Clinton has done little to court Utah voters outside of a guest editorial laced with Mormon themes in the Deseret News. Trump followed with his own guest editorial in the Mormon-owned newspaper this week, touting support from Herbert and Hatch and asserted that it is a top priority for him to earn the trust of Utah voters. The piece made no mention of Mormonism or his call for Cold War-style ideological tests.

Greg Hughes, the speaker of the state House of Representatives and a Trump supporter, said his fellow GOP voters just need to get used to Trump's frankness.

"His bluntness and his candor is not what Utahns are used to in elected officials, but I think that there's nothing wrong with candor," Hughes said. "I think that we've had too many candidates that say nothing to offend no one."

___

What political news is the world searching for on Google and talking about on Twitter? Find out via AP's Election Buzz interactive. http://elections.ap.org/buzz

FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2013, file photo, Spencer Cox, left, shakes hands with Gov. Gary Herbert after he was announced as the state's new lieutenant governor during a news conference in Salt Lake City. Cox said he won't support Donald Trump unless the GOP nominee dramatically changes his tone, The Salt Lake Tribune published Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

This Jan. 25, 2016, file photo, the Utah State Capitol is shown in Salt Lake City. Donald Trump has shattered the normal Republican consensus in Utah even more so than he has nationwide, activating fault lines under a normally stable electorate largely unified by a single religion. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Villagers: Kashmir teacher killed in Indian army's custody

SRINAGAR, India (AP)  A young college teacher in Indian-controlled Kashmir was killed while he was in the custody of the Indian army after soldiers took dozens of people from their homes in the tense Himalayan region, residents said Thursday.

The villagers said army soldiers and counterinsurgency police officers raided Khrew village late Wednesday and took Shabir Ahmed and around 30 other people into custody.

They handed over Ahmed's body to his family early Thursday, the villagers said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals.

Gulzar Ahmed, allegedly beaten up by Indian soldiers who picked him along with several others at Khrew village, recovers at a local hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Residents of Khrew, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, say a young college teacher has been killed while he was in the custody of the Indian army after soldiers picked up dozens of villagers from their homes in the Himalayan region. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

A police official confirmed Ahmed's death but said the troops were responding to anti-India protests in the area.

The police official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, said at least 25 people, including Ahmed's brother, were reported injured.

Army spokesman Col. Nitin N. Joshi said the cause of the death was being investigated.

Large protests against Indian rule in Kashmir and violent clashes with police and paramilitary soldiers have occurred daily since government troops killed a popular rebel leader nearly six weeks ago. A strict curfew and a series of communications blackouts have failed to stop the protests, even as residents have struggled to cope with shortages of food, medicine and other necessities.

At least 20 civilians were reported injured as government forces fired bullets, pellets and tear gas to stop rock-throwing protesters at two places in northern Bandipore and Kupwara areas, police said.

As part of the intensified security clampdown, fuel depots have stopped petrol and diesel supplies to dealers in Srinagar, the region's main city, and other towns, said Bilal Ahmed, a spokesman of the Kashmir Valley Petroleum Dealers Association.

Dealers were already facing a shortage in supplies due to the curfew and lockdown, he said.

Government authorities refused to comment.

"It is a sensitive issue and (we) can't discuss it publicly," said Hari Anupam, a senior official of Indian Oil Corporation.

As protesting crowds have grown sometimes to tens of thousands, the protesters have resorted to pelting soldiers, and police with rocks and government forces have responded with bullets and shotgun pellets. At least 62 civilians and two policemen have died, and thousands of civilians and hundreds of members of various government security forces have been injured.

Police and soldiers have been accused of ransacking houses and beating residents to intimidate Kashmiri protesters. Authorities say the troops only respond to restore law and order.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed in its entirety by both. Most Kashmiris are Muslim and want an end to rule by Hindu-majority India, instead favoring independence or a merger with Pakistan.

More than 68,000 people have been killed since rebel groups began fighting Indian forces in 1989 and in the subsequent Indian military crackdown.

Sameer Ahmed, allegedly beaten up by Indian soldiers who picked him along with several others at Khrew village, recovers at a local hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Residents of Khrew, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, say a young college teacher has been killed while he was in the custody of the Indian army after soldiers picked up dozens of villagers from their homes in the Himalayan region. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Wounded Kashmiri men, allegedly beaten up by Indian soldiers who picked several inhabitants of Khrew village, recover at a local hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Residents of Khrew, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, say a young college teacher has been killed while he was in the custody of the Indian army after soldiers picked up dozens of villagers from their homes in the Himalayan region. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Volunteers show marks of an injury on the body of Riyaz Ahmed, allegedly beaten up by Indian soldiers who picked him along with several others at Khrew village, as he recovers at a local hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Residents of Khrew, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, say a young college teacher has been killed while he was in the custody of the Indian army after soldiers picked up dozens of villagers from their homes in the Himalayan region. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

A Kashmiri labourer carries a sack of rice on his shoulders for a family during curfew in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Protests and curfew continue across the valley amidst outrage over the killing of a top rebel leader by Indian troops in early July, 2016. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Fate of crumbling DC subway rests with 'nuts-and-bolts guy'

WASHINGTON (AP)  Paul Wiedefeld stood on an overcrowded platform at Union Station, watching as trains came and went, too full to pick up more commuters. Metro was making him  the general manager of Washington's subway system  late for a meeting about customer service.

Wiedefeld was just another rider that day, angered by Metro's inability to perform basic functions. He was even more frustrated about the apparent apathy of subway workers and police officers who watched the situation unfold. When he finally reached Metro's headquarters, he stormed into the meeting and demanded changes.

"What concerned me was, it was business as usual  the whole response," Wiedefeld told The Associated Press in an interview. "It was just being handled as a normal day. I let them know that was not acceptable."

In this photo taken July 25, 2016, Metro general manager Paul Wiedefeld inspects maintenance work being done in a tunnel on Metro's orange line in northern Virginia. Wiedefeld ordered a 9-month maintenance blitz that requires sections of track to be closed for weeks at a time. He said Metro can't catch up on critical maintenance by doing work only on nights and weekends. (AP Photo/Ben Nuckols)

Wiedefeld, 60, is determined to do what many observers say is impossible  improve safety and reliability while reversing a slide in ridership, all without the added funding advocates say Metro needs to survive.

The nation's second-largest transit network opened 40 years ago as a point of pride for Washington and its suburbs, but after decades of deferred maintenance, it has deteriorated into an example of failing infrastructure in America's cities.

Wiedefeld says he's confident he can fix things with his $1.8 billion operating budget.

Congress made it clear in a hearing on Metro's safety woes this spring that the system won't get another dime until he does.

"He really has, more than anyone imaginable, the capability and the experience and the vision to make this work," said former Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening, a Democrat and longtime advocate for transit and smart growth.

Providing more than 700,000 daily trips, Metro is governed by an unwieldy board of directors with competing interests in the federal government, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, which contribute operating funds based on where riders live and how much they use it.

All jurisdictions must agree on any changes to the governing structure or funding formulas, making an overhaul unlikely, although Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said he wouldn't rule out seeking more federal money if Wiedefeld produces results.

"I believe very strongly that the challenges facing the whole Metro system are too great for any one person under the current structure," Glendening said.

Persuading federal, state and local governments to cede control to an entity as powerful as, say, New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority, isn't part of Wiedefeld's portfolio  that job goes to board Chairman Jack Evans, who also serves as a D.C. Council member.

Wiedefeld's moves have been bold, if not glamorous: Shutting down the entire subway system for daylong emergency inspections and repairs, a nine-month maintenance blitz that paralyzes stations for weeks, firing operators who run red lights, and proposing a permanent end to late-night service on weekends.

Unfortunately for the unassuming public servant, these decisions have raised his profile. Now he's recognized constantly around the capital.

"The goal here is to be as boring as possible," he said.

He wants to run Metro like a public works department, not a construction company. Previous bosses were mainly focused on expansion, rather than operations, maintenance or safety, Wiedefeld said.

That inattention to maintenance has had catastrophic consequences. Eight passengers and an operator were killed in 2009 when two 1970s-era rail cars collapsed into each other on impact. Those outdated cars still haven't been completely phased out.

In January 2015, an electrical fire in a tunnel filled a train with smoke, killing one passenger and sickening dozens. Metro's general manager had already announced his retirement, and left four days after that disaster.

Choosing a replacement took months. Some board members wanted a traditional transit executive; others, a corporate turnaround specialist. After their first choice withdrew, they turned to Wiedefeld, who twice ran Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and had led the Maryland Transit Administration.

"He didn't come in from somewhere else around the country to sort of make his mark and move on. He's grounded in making this region successful," said Beverley Swaim-Staley, Maryland's former transportation secretary and a friend.

The second choice turned out to be the better one, Evans said.

"He's a real nuts-and-bolts guy," Evans said. "We don't need a turnaround financial specialist as much as we need someone, first of all, to do what Paul's doing: Oversee the reconstruction of the system."

Wiedefeld's grasp of details was evident during a sweltering summer day's tour on the orange line, where he interacted easily with workers replacing worn-out rail fasteners and rotting ties.

The visit bolstered his argument that temporarily closing tracks is essential: Otherwise, crews spend most of their time moving heavy equipment between midnight and 5 a.m., when trains aren't running.

One worker cleaned debris from a concrete trough by hand. "That's what we want to see," Wiedefeld said, pointing his flashlight over a grate. "The water's flying down."

Another looming challenge is negotiating a contract with Metro's 13,000 workers. Wiedefeld and the union haven't been outwardly antagonistic, but he's trying to draw the line against a union effort to reinstate a worker fired for falsifying records about a fan in the tunnel that filled with smoke in January 2015.

Metro riders who frequently gripe on social media have been giving Wiedefeld the benefit of the doubt. Stephen Repetski, an engineer and regular rider who blogs about Metro, said he's has been a solid leader but that Metro needs to give riders more information about repairs and unexpected problems.

"The communication of the organization really hasn't improved," Repetski said.

Wiedefeld is one of six children of a Baltimore firefighter and considered becoming one himself, but he wore glasses and recruits with poor vision usually weren't taken. He studied political science at Towson University and earned a master's in urban planning at Rutgers.

Now, his wife and family stay in Towson while he spends weeknights in a northeast Washington apartment.

The youngest of their three children  23, 20 and 16  was on his mind when he ordered the daylong shutdown in March, after a fire similar to the fatal one last year.

Wiedefeld applied his "Alice rule": If his daughter shouldn't ride the trains, nobody else would, either.

"It was the right thing to do," he said. "My children ride the system, my wife rides the system. Why would I put your children at risk?"

___

Follow Ben Nuckols on Twitter at https://twitter.com/APBenNuckols .

___

This story has corrected the name to New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority.

In this photo taken July 25, 2016, Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld, right, chats with an employee during a tour of track work being done on Metro's orange line in northern Virginia. Wiedefeld ordered the track work, which requires trains in both directions to share a single line, as part of his effort to make the deteriorating system safer and more reliable. (AP Photo/Ben Nuckols)

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld talks in his office in Washington, Thursday, July 7, 2016. Wiedefeld is determined to do what many observers say is impossible _ improve safety and reliability while reversing a slide in ridership, all without the added funding advocates say Metro needs to survive. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Trump says he regrets comments that may have caused pain

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  For the first time since declaring his presidential run, Republican Donald Trump acknowledged that his caustic comments may have caused people pain, saying that he regrets some of what he's said "in the heat of debate."

A day after announcing a campaign shake-up and as he trails in the polls, the GOP nominee said that he recognized that his comments  which have angered minorities and alienated large swaths of the general election electorate  may have been ill-advised.

"Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that," the GOP nominee, reading from prepared text, said at a rally in Charlotte, N.C. "And believe it or not, I regret it  and I do regret it  particularly where it may have caused personal pain."

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reacts after delivering a campaign speech in Charlotte, N.C. Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

He added that, "Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues." As the crowd cheered, Trump pledged to "always tell you the truth."

The remarks came as Trump was trying to rescue a campaign that has struggled since the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions from a series of self-created distractions. Early Wednesday, Trump announced that he was overhauling his operation, bringing in a new chief executive and appointing a new campaign manager.

Rarely do presidential campaigns wait to advertise, or undergo such leadership tumult, at such a late stage of the general election.

Yet Trump has struggled badly in recent weeks to offer voters a consistent message, overshadowing formal policy speeches with a steady stream of self-created controversies, including a public feud with an American Muslim family whose son was killed while serving in the U.S. military in Iraq.

Trump's decision to tap Stephen Bannon, a combative conservative media executive, as his new campaign chief, suggested to some that he planned to double down on the playbook he used in the primary, playing to his angry rally crowds and bouncing from one controversy to the next.

Instead, a new Trump emerged on Thursday: a less combative, more inclusive candidate who said he was running to be the "voice for every forgotten part of this country that has been waiting and hoping for a better future" and for those who "don't hear anyone speaking for them."

Earlier Thursday, Trump moved to invest nearly $5 million in battleground state advertising to address daunting challenges in the states that will make or break his White House ambitions.

The New York businessman's campaign reserved television ad space over the coming 10 days in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to Kantar Media's political ad tracker. While Democrat Hillary Clinton has spent more than $75 million on advertising in 10 states since locking up her party's nomination, Trump's new investment marks his first of the general election season.

Election Day is 81 days away, with early voting in the first states set to begin in five weeks.

In his remarks, Trump struck a new, inclusive tone and tried to appeal directly to non-white voters, shown by polls to an overwhelmingly unfavorable view of the candidate.

"I will not rest until children of every color in this country are fully included in the American Dream," Trump told his audience, again accusing Democratic Hillary Clinton of "bigotry."

Clinton, he claimed, "sees communities of color only as votes and not as human beings worthy of a better future."

He urged African-American voters to give him a chance, saying: "What do you have to lose by trying something new?"

Clinton's campaign, meanwhile, brushed the speech off as just words he read from a teleprompter.

"Donald Trump literally started his campaign by insulting people. He has continued to do so through each of the 428 days from then until now, without shame or regret," said spokeswoman Christina Reynolds in a statement.

"We learned tonight that his speechwriter and teleprompter knows he has much for which he should apologize. But that apology tonight is simply a well-written phrase until he tells us which of his many offensive, bullying and divisive comments he regrets_and changes his tune altogether," she said.

It remains to be seen whether Trump's reboot comes too late, and whether he has the discipline to maintain it.

Trump now trails Clinton in preference polls of most key battleground states. And his party leaders, even at the Republican National Committee, have already conceded they may divert resources away from the presidential contest in favor of vulnerable Senate and House candidates if things don't improve.

But Trump supporters largely accepted the change of tone, even if some saw it as unnecessary.

"It takes a lot of strength to say, 'I'm sorry, ' to admit  not that he was wrong, but he wished he hadn't done it," said Cindy Ammons, 70, a Trump supporter from Spindale, North Carolina,

"I think he's evolving," she said.

___

Peoples reported from Washington. AP writers Julie Bykowicz and Lisa Lerer in Washington contributed to this report.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump smiles as he participates in a roundtable discussion on national security in his offices in Trump Tower in New York, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump participates in a roundtable discussion on national security in his offices in Trump Tower in New York, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. From left, are, Ret. Army Gen. Mike Flynn, Trump, Ret. Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump participates in a roundtable discussion on national security in his offices in Trump Tower in New York, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. From left are, Ret. Army Gen. Mike Flynn, Trump and Ret. Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
2 top local officials shot dead in northern Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam (AP)  Two top provincial officials in northern Vietnam have been fatally shot by a fellow official in a rare such incident in a communist country where guns are strictly controlled, state media reported Thursday.

The Tuoi Tre newspaper said that Pham Duy Cuong, head of the Communist Party organization in Yen Bai province and Ngo Ngoc Tuan, chief of the provincial legislature, were shot in their offices Thursday by Do Cuong Minh, chief of the provincial forest protection bureau, who then killed himself by a shot to the head.

The two victims were shot two to three times in the chest and stomach, it said.

The newspaper said the incident took place before the opening of a meeting of the provincial legislature.
Moldova opposes Russian troop exercises in separatist area

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP)  Moldova's foreign ministry has summoned Russian diplomats to protest recent military exercises involving Russian troops in a separatist region of Moldova.

The ministry called the exercises illegal in a statement Thursday, adding that they were "provocative and inadmissible ... and undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Moldova.

Diplomats were called to the ministry late Wednesday after Moldovan separatists and Russian troops staged joint military exercises this week in the breakaway republic of Trans-Dniester.

It was the second time separatists and Russian troops have staged military exercises there this month.

Pro-Russia Trans-Dniester broke away from Moldova in 1990, fearing it would reunite with neighboring Romania. Separatists fought Moldovans in a war in 1992, leaving 1,500 dead.
The Latest: Governor defends Obama's response to flooding

DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (AP)  The Latest on flooding in southern Louisiana (all times local):

3:05 p.m.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is defending the Obama administration's response to the severe flooding in his state.

In this Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016 photo, Dexter Smith stands outside of his flooded home in Crosby, Miss. The home was also flooded in 2014. (Matt Williamson/The Enterprise-Journal via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

President Barack Obama has received criticism for staying on vacation rather than traveling to Louisiana to see the damage first-hand.

But Edwards said Thursday that he's spoken with the White House daily and has received quick responses for each request he's made to the administration. He noted that FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate visited the state Tuesday and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was in-state Thursday.

Edwards said he is "not complaining in any way about our federal partnership."

He added that while the President can visit whenever he'd like, he'd prefer him to wait "a week or two" because such visits require local police and first responders to help block roads and provide security.

Both Obama and Edwards are Democrats.

___

3 p.m.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says it plans to help alleviate severe flooding in parts of southern Louisiana by making two 50-foot cuts in the southern protection levee on Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Cameron and Vermilion parishes.

Both cuts should be completed by late Thursday and will help relieve flooding in Calcasieu, Cameron and Vermilion parishes in the Mermentau Basin.

Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge, located in eastern Cameron and western Vermilion Parishes, is owned and maintained by the state and LDWF. It encompasses about 76,000 acres and borders the Gulf of Mexico for 26.5 miles and extends inland toward the Grand Chenier ridge, a stranded beach ridge, six miles from the Gulf.

___

2:30 p.m.

After a tour of flood-ravaged southern Louisiana, the nation's Homeland Security secretary is pledging that the federal government "will be here as long as it takes to help this community recover."

In a news conference Thursday with Gov. John Bel Edwards and other officials, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said he expects to brief President Barack Obama soon, and said the president is getting daily briefings on the situation in Louisiana. Obama is currently on vacation in New England.

Johnson said more than 900 Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel are on the ground in Louisiana and hundreds more are expected. He and the governor urged those affected by flooding to apply for government assistance.

Edwards said more than 40,000 homes were affected by the flooding and more than 30,000 people have been rescued. At least 13 people have died.

___

Noon:

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards' chief financial adviser says catastrophic flooding has made it more likely the state will need a short-term bank loan to keep paying for government operations.

Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne told a panel of state officials Thursday the need for the loan was "more probable than not."

The Edwards administration was worried about cash flow problems even before the storms, because his predecessor and lawmakers heavily drained state treasury reserves to patch together prior year budgets.

With Louisiana's flood response costs mounting  and the timeline for receiving federal disaster aid not certain  that heightens cash flow concerns. Dardenne said the state has documented about $13 million in disaster spending so far, and he expects that figure is low.

___

11:45 a.m.

President Barack Obama is unlikely to break from a New England vacation to survey Louisiana flood damage, despite calls for him to visit.

The White House says Obama is not indifferent to the suffering of thousands who were washed out of their homes in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas of the state. At least 13 people have died because of the flooding.

The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge on Wednesday called on Obama to visit "the most anguished state in the union."

Obama has not commented on the flooding. The White House says he's being updated regularly and has approved a federal disaster declaration for the affected areas.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate visited Louisiana on Wednesday, followed by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Thursday.

___

10:45 a.m.

The number of people staying in shelters after the massive flooding across south Louisiana continues to drop.

The state estimated about 4,000 people remained in shelters Thursday, as more people found temporary housing with family and friends or returned to stay in their homes as they repaired them.

At one point during the height of the flooding shelters across several parishes housed an estimated 11,000 displaced by the storms.

More than 2,000 animals remain evacuated Thursday to a special animal shelter housing livestock and pets in Ascension Parish.

As the water continues to drain in most flooded areas, more than 85,000 people have registered for federal disaster aid with FEMA.

___

10:30 a.m.

Federal officials plan to speed federal disaster assistance to flood-stricken Louisiana.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro said in a news release Thursday that his agency will provide support to homeowners and low-income renters displaced by severe storms and flooding.

President Barack Obama has issued a disaster declaration for 20 parishes: Acadia, Ascension, Avoyelles, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Livingston, Point Coupee, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Tammany, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Vermilion, Washington and West Feliciana. It allows HUD to offer foreclosure relief and other help to certain families in the parishes.

Castro said the disaster declaration gives city and state officials the flexibility to redirect millions of dollars in annual formula funding to address critical needs, including housing and services for disaster victims.

___

7:15 a.m.

Dogs displaced by flooding in southern Louisiana are going to a shelter in Florida.

WFTS-TV in Tampa reports (http://bit.ly/2bfkCBI) the Humane Society of Tampa Bay agreed to take 18 dogs from Acadiana Animal Aid shelter in Lafayette.

The dogs will be available for adoption Thursday.

About 60 dogs from the Vermilion Parish shelter took a trip Wednesday to St. Tammany Parish.

Toney Wade with the Animal Cruelty Task Force tells KATC TV (http://bit.ly/2b6x3hD) the Abbeville shelter got a couple of inches of water inside.

He said the St. Tammany shelter plans to adopt out the dogs.

Wade said he plans to empty out other shelters in the Acadiana area in the coming days. He said they're expecting to refill the shelters with dogs that got trapped by flood waters.

___

4 a.m.

Authorities in a community in southern Louisiana are calling for residents to evacuate amid rising waters there.

Gueydan Fire Chief Evans Bourque says there's an area in Vermilion Parish that's outside the levee system and residents there are urged to evacuate. Bourque says the evacuation affects about 60 to 70 homes. He didn't know how many people that included but said it was less than 100.

The flooding that struck the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas has left at least 13 people dead and damaged an estimated 40,000 homes.

___

1:55 a.m.

Louisiana residents have begun clearing mud and debris from flood-damaged homes while trying to line up alternate housing as the scope of the catastrophe becomes clear.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson visits Louisiana on Thursday to review the federal government's response to the flooding, which has damaged tens of thousands of homes and businesses.

More than 70,000 people have registered for individual assistance and more than 9,000 have filed flood insurance claims. Many are just trying to figure out where to live.

Keisha Taylor, a 37-year-old mother of four, has spent three nights in two different shelters since her family fled their flooded Baton Rouge apartment. She doesn't know how many more nights they'll be sleeping on cots inside a downtown arena.

The flooding that struck the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas has left at least 13 people dead.

Members of the Louisiana Army National Guard help place sandbags to protect the city hall in Lake Arthur, La., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Scott Clause/The Daily Advertiser via AP)

Crosby, Miss., Mayor William Hall sits on the steps of his flooded house on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Ernest Herndon/The Enterprise-Journal via AP)

In this image made from video, Willie Brooks III says speaks about the grave of his grandmother and how it's gone due to flooding, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Plainview Cemetery in Denham Springs, La. With an estimated 40,000 homes damaged by deadly flooding, Louisiana could be looking at its biggest housing crunch since the miserable, bumbling aftermath of Hurricane Katrina a decade ago. (AP Photo/Joshua Replogle)

Terry Brewer, left, and Timothy Harris pile up debris outside a flooded auto parts store in Albany, La. on Wednesday, Aug 17, 2016. The U.S. Small Business Administration plans to open several south Louisiana locations to help businesses damaged by record flooding. Louisiana's economic development office is encouraging business owners to register for federal disaster aid and to look at other available support services at www.OpportunityLouisiana.com. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill)

A growing pile of debris sits outside the flood-ravaged home of Carolyn and James Smith in Denham Springs, La. on Wednesday, Aug 17, 2016. Smith says she and four other adults will live for the time being in the travel trailer that one of her sons towed to the driveway after weekend flooding inundated the area. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill)

Dylan Heinan, among other volunteers, piles sandbags in an effort to stop flood waters from rising in Lake Arthur, La., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Scott Clause/The Daily Advertiser via AP)

Lake Arthur residents receive help from the Army National Guard to build sandbag wall to keep flood waters from Lake Arthur, La., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Scott Clause/The Daily Advertiser via AP)

Second Lt. Dakota Jude and Army National Guard members help place sandbags to protect the city hall in Lake Arthur, La., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Scott Clause/The Daily Advertiser via AP)

Lake Arthur, La., residents receive help from the Army National Guard to build sand bag wall to keep flood waters from the city on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Scott Clause/The Daily Advertiser via AP)
Germany charges 22-year-old man with joining IS in Syria

BERLIN (AP)  German prosecutors have filed terrorism charges against a 22-year-old man accused of joining the Islamic State group in Syria and appearing in propaganda videos.

Federal prosecutors said Thursday that the German national, identified only as Tarik S. because of German privacy rules, was charged with membership in a foreign terrorist organization, disturbing the peace of the dead and deprivation of liberty among other things.

He's alleged to have joined IS around January 2014, fighting and manning a checkpoint where he held a truck driver for a day because he was transporting large quantities of cigarettes. He's also accused of appearing in IS videos, in one of which he mocked a decapitated corpse.
S. Korea holds largest artillery drills near N. Korea border

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  South Korea's army on Thursday conducted its largest-ever artillery drills near the tense border with North Korea, but there was no immediate military response from the North.

A total of 300 artillery systems deployed by dozens of military units along the border began firing shells simultaneously in multiple directions on Thursday afternoon, an army official said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.

He said North Korea's military did not show any signs of unusual activities in response.

A South Korean army's K-55 self-propelled howitzer fires during a military exercise in Yeoncheon near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. South Korea's army says it has conducted its largest-ever artillery drills near the tense border with North Korea. (Lim Byung-shick/Yonhap via AP)

South Korea's front-line army units regularly conduct live-fire drills. But the number of artillery mobilized in Thursday's drills was the biggest ever, and the simultaneous shooting in all major front-line areas was a departure from previous exercises, the army official said.

The border between the Koreas is the most heavily fortified in the world, and the two countries occasionally exchange gunfire along the frontier. Thursday is the 40th anniversary of a 1976 "ax murder incident" in which two U.S. soldiers were hacked to death by North Koreans during a border area clash over U.S. efforts to trim a tree.

Thursday's drills also marked what South Korea describes as an artillery exchange between the Koreas in August 2015 following land mine explosions that maimed two South Korean soldiers.

There were no reports of injuries in last year's artillery firing. Seoul said North Korea fired first, but North Korea denied firing and responded with anger.

The latest drills came a day after Seoul said a senior North Korean diplomat based in London defected to South Korea. The announcement is expected to infuriate North Korea, which typically calls high-profile defectors traitors and accuses South Korea of abducting or luring its citizens to defect.

A South Korean army's K-9 self-propelled howitzer fires during a military exercise in Yeoncheon near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. South Korea's army says it has conducted its largest-ever artillery drills near the tense border with North Korea. (Lim Byung-shick/Yonhap via AP). KOREA OUT

A South Korean army's K-55 self-propelled howitzer fires during a military exercise in Yeoncheon near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. South Korea's army says it has conducted its largest-ever artillery drills near the tense border with North Korea. (Lim Byung-shick/Yonhap via AP)
Judge hears more arguments over 911 calls from mass shooting

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)  An attorney for media companies seeking the release of dozens of 911 calls from the mass shooting at a Florida nightclub argued before a U.S. District judge Thursday that it's a matter for the state courts to decide.

Rachel Fugate, representing The Associated Press and several other media groups including the New York Times and CNN, argued before U.S. District Court Judge Paul G. Byron that the FBI and Department of Justice have no place in the case. Fugate argued that the fight between the media and the City of Orlando over the 911 calls should be returned from the federal system to the state level.

Byron listened to all sides Thursday, including the U.S. Department of Justice. He didn't immediately rule on whether he would hear the case or send it to the state level, only saying his decision would come "in short order."

The recordings sought also include communications between gunman Omar Mateen and the Orlando Police Department during the attack on Orlando's Pulse nightclub, which killed 49 people and wounded 53 others. Mateen was killed by police early on June 12 after a lengthy standoff at the club.

"I thought the judge asked some great questions and he was very interested in the issues," Fugate said after Thursday's proceedings. "We will have to wait and see."

Fugate was posed challenging questions Thursday from the judge, who made her defend her position.

Separately, Darryl M. Bloodworth, the attorney for the City of Orlando, was allowed to speak uninterrupted for 15 minutes in the proceedings in U.S. District Court.

The city, which is the custodian of the recordings, claims they are exempt under Florida public records law and that the FBI insists releasing them may disrupt the continuing investigation. Bloodworth argued that the city is caught in the middle of the dispute between the federal investigation and the news media's demand to have all of the 911 records.

"A crime would be committed if the city were to release material that involves a federal investigation," Bloodworth argued.

The media groups argue that those and the 911 recordings would help the public evaluate the police response to the shooting. The city, which is the custodian of the recordings, claims the recordings are exempt under Florida public records law and that the FBI insists releasing them may disrupt the ongoing investigation.

The media groups filed a complaint in state court about 10 days after the shooting, seeking the release of the recordings. Less than hour after that, the city filed a complaint in state court, asking that the recordings be declared exempt from public records law.

In a legal maneuver, the city filed an amended lawsuit, naming the U.S. Department of Justice as a defendant, and Department of Justice attorneys moved for the case to be transferred to federal court  where Florida's Public Records Act isn't applicable.

In court papers, the Department of Justice argues the recordings are federal records and not subject to Florida's public records law.

The media companies argue that the Department of Justice is "one of perhaps many parties standing on the sidelines" and aren't a proper party to the lawsuit.
West Ham record signing Ayew out for 4 months

LONDON (AP)  West Ham's record signing Andre Ayew is out for four months with a thigh injury.

Club chairman David Gold tweeted Thursday: "Sad news. Ayew has injured his quadriceps and will need surgery. He will be out for 4 months. Good luck Andre."

Ayew was injured 35 minutes into his debut in West Ham's 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on Monday in the English Premier League.

The 26-year-old Ghana forward signed for West Ham for a club record of 20.5 million pounds ($27 million) on Aug. 8.
Cambodians ask spirits to help recover statues from river

KEAN KHLANG, Cambodia (AP)  People in a Cambodian village held a religious ceremony Thursday to ask spirits to help them recover Buddhist statues that their ancestors said were buried in a nearby riverbed.

Buddhist monks joined about 500 villagers in the ceremony by the Tonle Sap River, where divers have recovered eight small statues of Buddha and say they spotted another that is about 2 meters (6 feet) tall. They asked the spirits of water and earth to help them raise any statues still buried as much as 20 meters (66 feet) underwater.

Ceremony organizers said stories passed down by villagers' ancestors tell of the statues being buried in the riverbed hundreds of years ago to hide them from marauders from other areas or neighboring Siam, now called Thailand.

Cambodian Buddhist monks and their followers sit during the Buddhist ceremony pray before they search for missing Buddha statues in the Tonle Sap river at the Kean Kleang village in Kampong Chhnang province, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Some five hundred Cambodians lead by several Buddhist monks on Thursday held a rare ceremony to appease the spirits of water and land to help them recover missing Buddha statues that had disappeared from their community and are believed to be hidden under the Tonle Sap River over 500 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

"Not only me, but several villagers were told by our ancestors that those statues were buried several hundred years ago under the river opposite the site where we held the ceremony," said Sieng Chan Heng, one of the organizers.

She said that when divers last month collected two small statues from the river, they also spotted the larger one, but were unable to bring it up. She explained that some villagers believed they were unable to recover it because they had not held the proper religious ceremony, which is Hindu in origin, a reflection of the diverse cultural influences in Cambodia.

"That is why today we did this ceremony and hope that the spirits of the water and earth that control the statue would pity us and grant us all those buried statues," she said.

Senior Buddhist monk Duong Phong, who led the ceremony, said six more statues were recovered Thursday, and that divers also found clay objects used in everyday life presumed to be from the same era as the statues. All the materials are being kept at his temple, and the diving team of about a dozen people was to resume the search on Friday.

The village, 40 kilometers (24 miles) north of Phnom Penh, is in an area that historians refer to as Longvek, the capital of ancient Cambodia after the Siamese sacked Angkor in the 15th century. The statues are believed to date from the Longvek kingdom.

It is not unusual for valuable or sacred objects to be hidden in times of crisis, a practice that continued even in the 1970s, when the communist Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia. Rumors of valuable buried objects sometimes set off frenzied treasure hunts.

___

Sopheng Cheang reported from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Cambodian dancers perform during a Buddhist ceremony to pray before searching for missing Buddha statues in the Tonle Sap river at the Kean Kleang village in Kampong Chhnang province, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Some five hundred Cambodians lead by several Buddhist monks on Thursday held a rare ceremony to appease the spirits of water and land to help them recover missing Buddha statues that had disappeared from their community and are believed to be hidden under the Tonle Sap River over 500 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian dancers perform during a Buddhist ceremony to pray before they search for missing Buddha statues in the Tonle Sap river at the Kean Kleang village in Kampong Chhnang province, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Some five hundred Cambodians lead by several Buddhist monks on Thursday held a rare ceremony to appease the spirits of water and land to help them recover missing Buddha statues that had disappeared from their community and are believed to be hidden under the Tonle Sap River over 500 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian dancers perform during a Buddhist ceremony to pray before they search for missing Buddha statues in the Tonle Sap river at the Kean Kleang village in Kampong Chhnang province, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Some five hundred Cambodians lead by several Buddhist monks on Thursday held a rare ceremony to appease the spirits of water and land to help them recover missing Buddha statues that had disappeared from their community and are believed to be hidden under the Tonle Sap River over 500 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian dancers perform during a Buddhist ceremony to pray before they search for missing Buddha statues in the Tonle Sap river at the Kean Kleang village in Kampong Chhnang province, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Some five hundred Cambodians lead by several Buddhist monks on Thursday held a rare ceremony to appease the spirits of water and land to help them recover missing Buddha statues that had disappeared from their community and are believed to be hidden under the Tonle Sap River over 500 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A Cambodian Buddhist follower prays during a Buddhist ceremony before searching for missing Buddha statues in the Tonle Sap river at the Kean Kleang village in Kampong Chhnang province, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Some five hundred Cambodians lead by several Buddhist monks on Thursday held a rare ceremony to appease the spirits of water and land to help them recover missing Buddha statues that had disappeared from their community and are believed to be hidden under the Tonle Sap River over 500 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian Buddhist monks hold plastic trays loaded with candles and incense sticks during the Buddhist ceremony as they search for missing Buddha statues on the Tonle Sap river at Kean Kleang village, Kampong Chhnang province, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Some five hundred Cambodians lead by several Buddhist monks on Thursday held a rare ceremony to appease the spirits of water and land to help them recover missing Buddha statues that had disappeared from their community and are believed to be hidden under the Tonle Sap River over 500 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian Buddhist followers hold trays loaded with candles and incense during a Buddhist ceremony before searching for missing Buddha statues in the Tonle Sap river at the Kean Kleang village in Kampong Chhnang province, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Some five hundred Cambodians lead by several Buddhist monks on Thursday held a rare ceremony to appease the spirits of water and land to help them recover missing Buddha statues that had disappeared from their community and are believed to be hidden under the Tonle Sap River over 500 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian Buddhist followers hold plastic trays loaded with candles and incense sticks during the Buddhist ceremony as they pray before searching for missing Buddha statues in the Tonle Sap river at the Kean Kleang village in Kampong Chhnang province, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Some five hundred Cambodians lead by several Buddhist monks on Thursday held a rare ceremony to appease the spirits of water and land to help them recover missing Buddha statues that had disappeared from their community and are believed to be hidden under the Tonle Sap River over 500 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Mortar attack strikes Afghan independence day celebration

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  An Afghan official says that a mortar attack killed two people and wounded more than 50 in the eastern province of Kunar.

Abdul Ghani Musamim, spokesman for the Kunar provincial governor, says two mortar shells hit Thursday morning in the provincial capital, Asad Abad. Musamim says the shells struck a market where crowds had gathered to celebrate Afghanistan's independence day.
Judge will allow officer's joke about shooting at trial

NORFOLK, Va. (AP)  A jury in Virginia will be allowed to hear testimony that a police officer joked about shooting to death a mentally ill black man.

The Virginian-Pilot reports (http://bit.ly/2b22riw) that a judge is allowing the testimony at the officer's upcoming trial on manslaughter charges.

Norfolk officer Michael Edington Jr. is charged with shooting and killing 35-year-old David Latham in 2014. Latham suffered from schizophrenia and had a knife when he answered the door to his home. Court documents allege that Edington joked about the shooting a month later at a party with fellow officers.

Edington's lawyers tried to block the information from coming out at trial, saying it was immaterial to the case.

A police department spokeswoman says that Edington still works for the Norfolk Police Department at a desk job.

___
Germany leader Merkel: British EU exit decision irrevocable

BERLIN (AP)  German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reiterated that she considers Britain's decision to leave the European Union "irrevocable" though regrettable.

Britain voted narrowly to leave the EU in a referendum June 23. New Prime Minister Theresa May has yet to formally trigger the process of negotiating the country's exit from the 28-nation bloc.

Merkel said in an interview released by her party on Thursday: "The whole process of the exit still lies ahead of us, but the decision is irrevocable."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and German Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel attend a cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday Aug. 17, 2016. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)

Merkel added that the decision is a test for the EU and said: "Now we must negotiate on the basis of our interests. And 'negotiate' means above all strengthening common projects."
Israel punishes troops who appeared to attack Palestinians

JERUSALEM (AP)  The Israeli military said Thursday it has disciplined three soldiers after a video emerged that seemed to show them hurling a stun grenade at Palestinian men smoking a water pipe in the northern West Bank.

In the video, captured by a surveillance camera, an Israeli military jeep pulls up to the four Palestinians, stops briefly, then drives away as a stun grenade explodes in the frame, sending the Palestinians fleeing. The military said a platoon sergeant was sent to jail for 10 days and two other soldiers were also disciplined for acting "contrary to military standards."

The video was the latest footage filmed during a recent wave of violence that has been widely circulated in both Israeli and Palestinian media.

Since mid-September, Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis and two visiting Americans in stabbing and shooting attacks, as well as attack in which cars were used to ram into Israeli troops and civilians. At least 206 Palestinians have died by Israeli fire in that period, most said by Israel to be attackers. The attacks have tapered off in recent weeks.

Palestinians have accused Israelis of using excessive force against assailants who have already been wounded or stopped, and quickly circulate videos which they say back up their claims.

In the most high-profile case, Sgt. Elor Azaria is facing charges of manslaughter after he was filmed fatally shooting a wounded Palestinian attacker in the West Bank city of Hebron in March.

Earlier this month, another video appeared to show border police officers seizing a bicycle from an 8-year-old Palestinian girl in Hebron. The video then cuts to an officer walking away from bushes, where the bike lies in the dirt. A Palestinian volunteer with the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem filmed the incident. The Justice Ministry said it was unprofessional but did not warrant criminal proceedings.

The two most recent videos highlight the daily frustrations of living under Israeli military rule in the West Bank.

B'Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli said that without the video, there was little chance the bicycle incident would have been investigated.

"No one would have known about it," she said. The military said soldiers are expected to report instances where troops fail to act in accordance with the army's "strict code of laws and values," regardless of whether the incident was caught on video.

The Israeli watchdog group Yesh Din said that between 2010 and 2013, only 1.4 percent of Palestinian complaints led to indictments against soldiers. The military insists its justice system works, saying the low indictment rate does not signal lack of effort. They say the system is independent and that proper measures are taken if there are legal grounds to try and punish a soldier.

Occasionally, video supports Israeli claims of Palestinian incitement.

In July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video to his Facebook page that showed a Palestinian man holding up a toddler and urging Israeli forces to shoot him in the West Bank village of Nilin. Netanyahu called on Palestinian leadership to stop encouraging parents "to call for the death of their own children." The man shown on film said he was demonstrating against Israel's seizure of his village's land when he saw Israeli forces pointing guns at children and held his son up in protest.
Authorities search for man who posted threats to schools

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)  Authorities in Florida are looking for a man they say posted a series of messages on Twitter, threatening to shoot students and put pipe bombs inside some schools in the Orlando area.

The Orlando Sentinel (http://bit.ly/2bAqZ0k ) reports officials with the FBI, Orlando police and the Orange County Sheriff's Office don't believe the threats are credible. But they're looking for a 23-year-old transient who's lived in Florida, California, Virginia and Maryland.

Officials say the threats started July 24 and targeted four high schools and a middle school. The posts also encouraged people to "shoot up" the schools.

Orange County Schools sent messages to parents letting them know about the messages.

FBI Special Agent Amy Pittman says "every investigative lead is being aggressively followed" to locate the suspect.

___
Wal-Mart raises annual profit outlook, reports strong sales

NEW YORK (AP)  Wal-Mart's vast fleet of stores and its online business are starting to click together.

The company raised its earnings outlook for the year on Thursday and delivered strong profit and sales for the second quarter, as moves to improve the store and online experience are winning over customers.

Wal-Mart has launched a flurry of changes, from making sure vegetables look good to cleaning up the stores to being sharper on keeping prices low. It's melding online services with the stores  rolling out a mobile payment system to speed checkouts. And it's pressing ahead with online grocery and pick-up services.

FILE - In this Friday, June 5, 2015, file photo, Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon speaks at the company's shareholder meeting in Fayetteville, Ark. Wal-Mart reports financial results Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)

As a result, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company reported its eighth consecutive quarterly increase in comparable-store sales, and the seventh straight quarterly gain in customer traffic at its Wal-Mart U.S. namesake business.

"We've got existing customers who are visiting stores more often and putting an extra item in their basket," Greg Foran, CEO of Wal-Mart's U.S. business told reporters on a call Thursday. Wal-Mart is also picking up some new customers, but that will take some time, he added. And growth was solid and consistent across all types of merchandise from toys to clothing.

Wal-Mart shares rose 1.3 percent to $74.29 in late morning trading.

Like its direct store rivals, Wal-Mart is reinventing itself to be more nimble as it tries to fight off competition. In particular, it's trying to compete with online leader Amazon.com, whose Prime shipping program is swiftly converting members into loyal shoppers. And it faces competition from dollar stores and traditional grocers like Kroger, which are ramping up promotions and lowering prices.

The report contrasts with results from Target Corp., which cut its profit forecast Wednesday as customer traffic fell for the first time in a year and a half. Target blamed a number of factors. That included that it focused too much marketing on its stylish merchandise and didn't do enough to bring in customers looking for essentials like detergent. It's also struggling to reinvent its food section and it also cited weak electronics sales. Target CEO Brian Cornell also noted sales varied widely from region to region.

Wal-Mart, meanwhile, is vastly expanding the items available on its website, and global online sales rose 11.8 percent in the second quarter. That's up from the 7 percent pace of the first quarter but still far weaker than the 20 percent increases from less than two years ago. It's also spending $3 billion to acquire fast-growing online retailer Jet.com, which it says will help it grab higher-income and younger customers. It will incorporate some of Jet.com's technology that lowers prices in real time.

Chief Executive Doug McMillon said in a pre-recorded call that the growth in global e-commerce came from the improvement in the U.S. market, fueled by its rollout of Wal-Mart Pay and the online grocery and pick-up services that it's rolling out. The company added grocery pickup service to 30 more markets in the second quarter, bringing the total to more than 60.

The grocery business showed improvement from the first quarter despite inflationary pressure. Both general merchandise and health and wellness items showed solid sales growth.

Second-quarter net income jumped nearly 9 percent to $3.77 billion, for $1.21 per share, in the quarter ended July 31. That compares with $3.47 billion, or $1.08 per share in the year-ago quarter. Earnings adjusted for non-recurring gains were $1.07 per share, a nickel better than Wall Street had expected, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research. Revenue was $120.85 billion, also edging out analyst forecasts.

Revenue at U.S. Wal-Mart stores opened at least a year rose 1.6 percent, its best performance since 2012. Customer traffic rose 1.2 percent, marking the seventh straight quarter of gains. The U.S. Wal-Mart division accounts for 62 percent of total sales.

The company now estimates that for the current fiscal year, adjusted per-share earnings will be $4.15 to $4.35. Analysts had expected $4.27.

Wal-Mart is also spending $2.7 billion on higher wages and other investments for its hourly workers over a two-year period. The company also just rolled out a new system in about 650 Neighborhood Market stores that gives hourly workers more certainty about their schedules. Wal-Mart says lifting wages, which has turned into a contentious issue for a number of major U.S. restaurant chains and retailers, will lead to a more solid workforce that can better serve their customers.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on WMT at http://www.zacks.com/ap/WMT

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Keywords: Wal-Mart Stores, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings

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Spain's PM says he's ready for parliament investiture vote

MADRID (AP)  Spain's acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy will try to persuade Parliament to let him form a government in a debate scheduled to begin Aug. 30, officials announced Thursday.

Ana Pastor, the Speaker of Parliament, announced the date after conservative Popular Party leader Rajoy clinched a deal with a smaller party to support his bid to return to power.

But Rajoy's attempt to collect enough votes from lawmakers to end eight months of political deadlock following two inconclusive elections looks doomed. His own party and the business-friendly Ciudadanos party together don't have enough seats in Parliament to get him the majority he needs so Rajoy still requires the abstention or support of other parties to get through, and the parliamentary debate could last days or weeks.

Spain's acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, left, speaks to Ciudadanos party leader Albert Rivera during a meeting at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Rajoy is meeting with the head of a minor party that says it might support his bid to form a new government, and end an eight-month political deadlock following two inconclusive elections. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Describing Thursday's talks with Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera as "a decisive step" toward forming a government and avoiding a third round of elections, Rajoy said the two parties would begin Friday negotiating legislative reforms demanded by Ciudadanos as part of its deal to support Rajoy.

Rajoy said he had also accepted a package of six conditions presented by Ciudadanos last week as a prerequisite for any negotiations. The conditions included an electoral law reform, and anti-corruption and transparency measures, including scrapping legal immunity for deputies and a commission to investigate allegations that former Popular Party treasurers ran a slush fund.

Rajoy's Popular Party, in power since 2011, won a June election with 137 seats, 39 short of a majority in the 350-seat parliament. The Socialist party was second with 85 seats, the left-wing alliance, Unidos Podemos, was third with 71 seats and Ciudadanos fourth with 32 seats.

The Socialists, Unidos Podemos and other smaller parties have pledged to vote against Rajoy, which would scuttle any chance of him taking power.

The June election followed a December ballot which also failed to produce a government.

If Rajoy fails in his latest attempt, Spain will likely face months more of his caretaker government and possibly a third election.

____

Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal contributed to this report.

Spain's acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, center background, talks with Ciudadanos party leader Albert Rivera during a meeting at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Rajoy is meeting with the head of a minor party that says it might support his bid to form a new government, and end an eight-month political deadlock following two inconclusive elections. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
Cyprus court rejects testimony in Egyptian hijacker case

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)  A Cyprus court on Thursday refused to hear testimony from a Cambridge University professor in defense of an Egyptian hijacker fighting an extradition request by his country over fears that he could be tortured or killed.

Emile George Howard Joffe's testimony was inadmissible because his expertise wasn't specific to Egypt's current domestic situation and his academic research pertained to regional foreign relations in general, Judge Dona Constantinou ruled.

State attorney Eleni Loizidou argued that a report Joffe prepared in which he concludes that extraditing admitted hijacker Seif Eddin Mustafa would put him at risk of torture or death was biased because of information he received from the defense team.

Joffe said he has submitted dozens of reports on asylum cases involving Egyptians for British courts.

Mustafa claims he hijacked a domestic EgyptAir flight in March and diverted it to Cyprus to underscore the wrongs done by Egypt's military-backed government and that he meant no harm to anyone. The hijack ended peacefully after all 72 passengers and crew were released and Mustafa arrested.

Mustafa also claims to have seen an Italian doctoral student in an Egyptian prison before he was found dead on a Cairo road.
Turkey requests extradition of 8 military staff from Greece

ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Greece has received an official extradition request from Turkey seeking the return of eight Turkish military personnel who fled to northern Greece by helicopter after an abortive coup in Turkey, the foreign and justice ministries said Thursday.

The foreign ministry said it received the request Wednesday and forwarded it to Greece's justice ministry the same day. For its part, the justice ministry said it had received the extradition request and was examining its legality and relevant procedures. If all was found to be in order, the request was expected to be sent to a prosecutor on Friday, the ministry said.

The eight  six helicopter pilots and two engineers  deny involvement in Turkey's July 15 attempted coup. They flew to the northeastern Greek city of Alexandroupolis the following morning and have applied for asylum in Greece, saying they fear they wouldn't face a fair trial if returned to Turkey and that their lives would be endangered.
Netanyahu spokesman who insulted Obama begins job

JERUSALEM (AP)  The Israeli prime minister's office says a former conservative commentator who has spoken derisively about U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry has taken up his post as a government spokesman after months of delays.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Thursday confirmed that Ran Baratz began work as director of communications several weeks ago.

Baratz was appointed last November, but his appointment was delayed after the emergence of earlier social media posts in which he suggested Obama is anti-Semitic and said Kerry could not be taken seriously.

Netanyahu disavowed the comments, and Baratz apologized. But the affair became another chapter in the uncomfortable relationship between the Israeli and American leaders.
Deputies: Baby Sitter charged after infant breaks 4 bones

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP)  Authorities in Georgia say a woman has been taken into custody after an infant she was baby-sitting suffered four broken bones over the course of a month.

Multiple news outlets report that the Hall County Sheriff's Office says 38-year-old Robin Carter Capulin of Gillsville was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree cruelty to children.

Deputies say the 5-month-old baby fractured three leg bones and an arm bone between May 11 and June 11 at Capulin's home.

Officials say Capulin never told the child's mother about the baby being hurt and did not seek medical attention for the infant.

Sheriff's office spokesman Lt. Scott Ware says the child's arm injury was consistent with someone twisting the arm.

He says the child is healing and doing fine.
Somali-American primary winner clarifies marital status

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  A woman on the brink of becoming the nation's first Somali-American state legislator has clarified questions about her marital status that arose following her victory in a primary election last week.

Ilhan Omar, a 33-year-old community activist, defeated a 44-year incumbent  evidence of the Somali community's growing influence in Minneapolis and Minnesota. Omar's victory in a heavily Democratic district makes her a likely winner in the general election.

After initially rebuffing a response to conservative bloggers who questioned her marital history, Omar issued a statement Wednesday.

FILE - In this Aug. 9, 2016, file photo, Somali activist Ilhan Omar is greeted by supporters in Minneapolis after her primary win over 22-term state Rep. Phyllis Kahn in the heavily Democratic Minneapolis district. Omar, who is on the brink of becoming the nation's first Somali-American state legislator, is clarifying questions about her marital status that arose following her primary victory. (Carlos Gonzalez/Star Tribune via AP, File)

"I will offer clarity and share a difficult part of my personal history that I did not consider relevant in the context of a political campaign, so that we can put these rumors to rest and return to what really matters  how we join together to build a more prosperous and equitable district and state," Omar said in the statement.

Omar said she was never legally married to Ahmed Hirsi, the father of their three children and a man she listed as her husband in campaign literature. She said they had an Islamic marriage that ended in 2008 when they reached "an impasse."

She then met and married British citizen Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009.

"Our relationship ended in 2011 and we divorced in our faith tradition. After that, he moved home to England. I have yet to legally divorce Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, but am in the process of doing so," Omar said.

Omar and Hirsi reconciled in 2011.
Obama, Holder, Sharpton, Farrakhan Incited Race War, Says Former DOJ Prosecutor

The rioting in the Wisconsin city of Milwaukee - that resulted from an alleged shooting death of an African American armed-suspect by a black police officer - is yet more evidence of the racial disharmony that's intensifying under the current government and civil-rights leaders.



In fact, a former prosecutor from the U.S. Department of Justice was already in the process of suing President Barack Obama, former Attorney General Eric Holder, civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, for inciting what amounts to a race war that led to a number of cop killings including Dallas police shootings.



The founder of two top government watchdog groups - (Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch) Larry Klayman filed the class-action lawsuit in federal court. Klayman is seeking more than $2 billion dollars in damages from all thos those named as defendants.



"That amount of damage is for everybody who's been harmed here," Klayman told the Fox Business Network's anchorwoman Deirdre Bolton. "It's law enforcement across the board-whether it's black, white or whatever color, race or creed-police have been trashed, law enforcement trashed... it's a severe crisis. This President would like to think that he's king, but he's no Martin Luther King. In fact, he's closer to Louis Farrakhan and Al Sharpton in terms of the way he does things."



Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, while not listed as a defendant in the Klayman lawsuit, has made a name for herself in the Black community by bashing law enforcement officers by calling them racists. During one speech, she likened local police in minority neighborhoods to the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.







Klayman is also quoted as saying, "[The lawsuit] is about racial equality, it's not about prejudice. Meaning everybody should be treated equally." Klayman claims that President Obama has not been representing all of the American people.



Besides this latest lawsuit, on August 8, Klayman appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with the heartbroken parents of Benghazi victims (Tyrone Woods and Sean Smith) Charles Woods and the outspoken but ignored Pat Smith, and filed lawsuit against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who is in the midst of a presidential campaign.



Woods and Smith are seeking justice against Clinton for her allegedly causing the death of their sons at the hands of Libyan Islamic terrorists. They are also charging her with defamation as well as intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.



Besides her allowing former Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, who served as a contract security agent in Libya, and Sean Smith, a foreign service officer with the State Department, to be killed by Islamists, the plaintiffs claim Clinton blamed the attack and the killings on a U.S. filmmaker's movie denigrating the Muslim religion and its leader Mohammed. She later denied she told the family members about a film and insinuated they were liars.



Upon filing suit, Klayman made a statement to the news media on behalf of the aggrieved parents of the brave men who died for their country in what the survivors call The Battle of Benghazi. "Having used a secret private email server that we now know was used to communicate with Ambassador Christopher Stevens with confidential and classified government information, and which we also now know was likely hacked by hostile adversaries such as Iran, Russia, China and North Korea aligning with terrorist groups, it is clear that Hillary Clinton negligently and recklessly gave up the classified location of the plaintiffs' sons, resulting in a deadly terrorist attack that took their lives," said Klayman.



"To add insult to deadly injury, Hillary Clinton told the plaintiffs that their sons were killed as the result of a video mocking the Islamic prophet Mohammed when she knew that they were murdered by Muslim terrorists. When the families exposed her lies, she called them liars to protect her reputation and to further her own presidential ambitions. She thus defamed the parents of fallen heroes Tyrone Woods and Sean Smith, as well committed other wrongful acts, as alleged in the complaint.," declared the experienced attorney.


Eroding Alaska island village votes to move to mainland

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  Residents of a tiny island village in Alaska that has been ravaged by erosion blamed on climate change have voted to move to the mainland, but there likely isn't enough money for the impoverished community of just 600 people to follow through on the decision.

The Inupiat Eskimo village of Shishmaref, which sits just north of the Bering Strait, has been identified as one of Alaska's most eroded communities.

Officials held a special election Tuesday asking residents if they should develop a new community at a nearby mainland location or stay put with added environmental protections. Unofficial ballot returns show 89 voted for the move, while 78 opted to stay. A city clerk said the count does not include absentee or special needs ballots.

FILE - In this Dec. 8, 2006, file photo, Nathan Weyiouanna's abandoned house at the west end of Shishmaref, Alaska, sits on the beach after sliding off during a fall storm in 2005. Unofficial ballot returns from a special election held on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016, show a majority of Shishmaref's residents have voted in favor of relocating the community to the mainland amid erosion concerns. (AP Photo/Diana Haecker, File)

Either option comes with a daunting price tag. A 2004 Army Corps of Engineers study put the cost of relocating to the mainland at $180 million. Staying in place would cost $110 million.

The village has been exploring relocation since the mid-1970s. It also voted to move in 2002, but money also was an issue then.

Tuesday's vote likely amounts to an advisory opinion. A feasibility study released in February looked at all potential options. It suggested the vote would allow agencies that may provide funding to move forward with further research on how best to save the community.

Shishmaref Mayor Howard Weyiouanna Sr. told The Associated Press last month that some sort of solution must be found.
The Latest: Major gains against Southern California wildfire

SANTA YNEZ, Calif. (AP)  The Latest on California wildfires (all times local):

7 p.m.

Firefighters in Southern California have made their biggest gains yet against a powerful wildland blaze that raged out of control for much of the week.

A burned out residence stands amid rubble on Highway 138 after the Blue Cut Fire burned through Phelan, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

San Bernardino County fire officials say the fire is 22 percent contained on Thursday night, up from 4 percent at the beginning of the day.

County fire spokesman Eric Sherwin says the new figure represents a big step forward in the firefight. The containment lines were established on the east side of the fire in an area where evacuees were already allowed to return in the afternoon, so it's unlikely to lead to more canceled evacuations.

The fire that broke out Tuesday in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15 east of Los Angeles has now burned 56 square miles.

Many homes have burned, but Sherwin says there are still no specific figures on how many.

___

6:40 p.m.

Authorities say three people have been arrested on suspicion of grand theft auto and looting for attempting to steal a flatbed truck and other items from a house that was evacuated because of a Southern California wildfire.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said deputies responded to a call Thursday morning reporting three suspicious people, who told the deputies they were picking up property for the owner.

Deputies called the homeowner who told them he made no such request.

Authorities say they arrested 27-year-old Daniel Mervine of Jurupa, 27-year-old Natasha Rovinsky of Diamond Bar and 29-year-old Trevor Sanchez of Riverside. They did not know if any of the three had yet hired attorneys.

___

6 p.m.

The equipment manager of the U.S. Olympic fencing team was among those who lost their homes to a Northern California wildfire.

Matthew Porter, the so-called armorer for the team, had bought the house in the small rural community of Lower Lake just days before he left to accompany the team to the games in Rio.

It was destroyed while he was there. Porter and his wife Karen lost everything except their pets.

Greg Massialas, head of the U.S. Olympic men's foil team that won a bronze medal in Rio, said in a statement Thursday that Porter was a critical member of the team, and it's a shame he lost so much himself while assuring that the fencers prospered.

Team members and friends have set up a gofundme page to help Porter pay for his losses.

Porter's was one of 175 homes lost to the blaze, which is still burning north of San Francisco. Authorities say it was set by a serial arsonist.

___

5:45 p.m.

A wildfire has broken out in rural Santa Barbara County along California's Central Coast.

The blaze quickly surged Thursday to about 500 acres and prompted the evacuation of a public campground and a camp for boys.

The cause was unknown and there were no reports of injuries.

Another blaze near Lake Isabella in Kern and Tulare counties in the center of the state had burned more than two square miles and prompted calls for voluntary evacuations of homes in sparsely populated rural communities.

It is 5 percent contained.

___

2:05 p.m.

Some evacuation orders have been lifted for residents living near a huge wildfire in Southern California.

It's the first good news for residents since authorities put more than 34,000 homes and 82,000 people under evacuation warnings in the region 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

The area where evacuations were lifted Thursday is in the Mojave Desert adjacent to the northeast corner of the 49-square-mile fire.

The semi-rural area is lightly populated, and it's unclear how many people will be able to return home.

___

11:30 a.m.

A major highway near Southern California's huge wildfire has fully reopened.

The southbound lanes of Interstate 15 in Cajon Pass reopened late Thursday morning.

The northbound side reopened late Wednesday.

The interstate was shut down Tuesday when the fast-moving fire erupted 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

Interstate 15 is a major route for travelers and truckers between Southern California's population centers and Las Vegas. It also carries significant commuter traffic.

___

7:10 a.m.

Southern California's big wildfire continues to grow.

The fire command says the destructive blaze has scorched more than 49 square miles as of Thursday morning, up from 40 square miles Wednesday night.

Firefighters continue to battle flames that have climbed the rugged flanks of the San Gabriel Mountains, threatening communities including the ski town of Wrightwood at an elevation of nearly 6,000 feet.

The fire erupted Tuesday morning in Cajon Pass, 60 miles east of Los Angeles, and spread rapidly.

Firefighters have yet to tally property losses but indicate there have been many.

___

6:30 a.m.

Firefighters battling a 40-square-mile wildfire in the mountains and desert of Southern California face another day of hot and dry weather with gusty southwest winds.

The National Weather Service says red flag warnings for dangerous fire conditions will remain in effect through Thursday evening.

A bit of improvement is expected Friday, with lighter winds and some increase in relative humidity  moisture that helps suppress fire activity.

The fire in the Cajon Pass region 60 miles east of Los Angeles is just 4 percent contained and evacuation orders remain in effect for more than 82,000 people.

Firefighters continue to try to defend communities including Wrightwood and Lytle Creek in the rugged San Gabriel Mountains above Cajon Pass.

San Bernardino County fire officials are uncertain how many homes have burned.
Thai authorities issue 17 arrest warrants after bombings

BANGKOK (AP)  Seventeen people detained after last week's bombings and arson in southern Thailand are being charged with belonging to a criminal gang, but authorities have not publicly linked them to the attacks that killed four people and wounded dozens.

A military court late Thursday approved arrest warrants for the 17, who are to hear the charges in court Friday. It is unclear how many are in custody.

The authorities have hinted, but not publicly stated, they are suspects in the attacks at seven tourist destinations. Thai reporters were told by officials on an anonymous basis that the 17 had confessed to being in a previously unknown anti-government group called Revolution for Democracy but denied carrying out the attacks.

Many analysts believe the attacks were carried out by Muslim separatists who have waged an insurgency in the deep south since 2004 that has left more than 6,000 people dead.

A search of the house of one of the 17 suspects turned up an AK-47 assault rifle, according to the anonymous sources, who released the names and home provinces of all of the suspects. Most are from the north and northeast, though all the attacks took place in southern provinces.

Col. Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for the country's ruling junta, said the detentions were unrelated to last week's attacks. He said without elaborating that the 17 were involved in a national security case.

However, the names of some of those detained match earlier information leaked by police as being suspects in the attacks.

The crime with which the 17 are being charged is membership in a secret society, punishable by up to seven years in prison. The crime, which is also called criminal association, was originally applied many decades ago to criminal gangs such as Chinese triads. Other charges can be lodged against them at a future time.

Information about the investigation of the attacks has been vague and contradictory. At various points, the authorities have said the attacks were similar to style to those carried out by southern militants; that they were acts of local sabotage rather than terrorism; and that a single figure known to them had directed them.

Many of the statements implied that the attacks were carried out by supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006 after being accused of abuse of power, corruption and disrespect to 88-year-old constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The website of the newspaper Khao Sod identified some of those being arrested as supporters of Thaksin or opponents of the military government.

Thaksin's supporters and opponents have since his ouster carried out a sometimes-violent struggle for power. The army in 2014 toppled an elected government that had been led by Thaksin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.

Last week's attacks came several days after a national referendum approved a constitution proposed by the junta which is supposed to bring elections in 2017 but which critics says is undemocratic and meant to keep the army in power.

The attacks also coincided with the 84th birthday last Friday of Queen Sirikit.

Aside from the southern separatists, there has been no known organized armed opposition to the military government since it took power in 2014. However, several individuals and groups of people have been charged with sedition and other crimes for their words, often posted on the internet.
Irishman killed in shooting on Spanish island of Mallorca

MADRID (AP)  Spanish police say an Irishman has been shot and killed on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca.

A Civil Guard spokeswoman said the man died after receiving several bullets in the back while walking in a street in the town of Calvia on Wednesday evening.

He died from the wounds after being taken to a hospital on the island.

The officer said the case is under investigation but no arrests have been made.

She spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity as she was not authorized to be identified publicly.
The Latest: UN Syria envoy looks to Russian help on Aleppo

BEIRUT (AP)  The Latest on the developments in Syria's civil war (all times local):

8:55 p.m.

The U.N. envoy for Syria says the United Nations will "count on" Moscow to help ensure that Russia-backed forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad will hold to a hoped-for 48-hour pause in fighting in Aleppo.

In this frame grab provided by Russian Defence Ministry press service, a technician prepares a Russian long range bomber Tu-22M3 for an an air strike over Syria on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service photo via AP)

The office of Staffan de Mistura welcomes Russia's readiness  expressed earlier on Thursday  to support a pause in fighting in the northern Syrian city, starting next week, so that humanitarian aid can get in.

De Mistura said the U.N. would also count on the United States and other backers of Syria's armed opposition to ensure that it too adheres to the long-sought pause in fighting.

Earlier, he abruptly called off a U.N. humanitarian task force meeting in Geneva to protest a lack of aid convoys to priority areas of Syria this month amid new fighting.

___

8:20 p.m.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq says a 48-hour humanitarian pause in the Syrian city of Aleppo would be "a welcome first step" if all combatants agree.

But he says that what's needed most to ease the suffering of the people there and across Syria is a cease-fire.

Haq says the United Nations is in touch with the parties on the ground and is calling on them "to allow safe, unimpeded, impartial humanitarian access."

Speaking at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Thursday, shortly after Russia expressed its support for 48-hour weekly cease-fires in the embattled Syrian city, Haq said that "trucks with food, water and medicine are ready to move immediately."

He said "ambulances to evacuate urged medical cases are on standby," adding that the U.N. hopes that a 48-hour pause can help produce "the right atmosphere" for U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura to resume political talks with the Syrian government and opposition by the end of August.

Otherwise, Haq said, "there's no point in holding the talks."

___

6:25 p.m.

Syrian opposition activists and a Kurdish spokesman say that Syrian government warplanes have bombed Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria, a first in Syria's civil war.

Redur Khalil, a spokesman for the main Kurdish fighting force, says in a statement that Thursday's bombs struck residential areas and positions belonging to the Kurdish police force in the northern city of Hassakeh.

He says the attack resulted in multiple casualties and sent residents fleeing from the city. Khalil added that government forces will be held accountable for these "brutal, blatant attacks against our people."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported government warplanes had struck Kurdish positions in the city.

The two sides have clashed before on several occasions but it was the first reported aerial bombardment of Kurdish positions in the city by the government.

___

5:20 p.m.

The Russian military says it's ready to back a U.N. call for weekly 48-hour cease-fires to allow humanitarian aid deliveries to the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov says that Russia would back the initiative on condition that the aid convoys should travel to both rebel-controlled and government-controlled parts of the city.

He says Russia was ready to support aid deliveries starting next week.

Konashenkov on Thursday also added that specific dates could be determined upon coordination with the United Nations and after receiving guarantees of safe passage of the convoys from the U.S.

He says aid could be sent from Gaziantep in Turkey to the eastern part of Aleppo via Castello road. He says another route to the western part of Aleppo would run from Handarat and further along the Castello road.

___

5 p.m.

The Russian military says its warplanes have flown from Iran for a third straight day to strike targets in Syria.

The Russian Defense Ministry says the Tu-22M3 and the Su-34 bombers flew from bases in Russia and Iran on Thursday to target the Islamic State group's facilities in Syria's eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

It said that the raid struck five ammunition and fuel facilities, six command facilities and "destroyed a large number of militants, artillery and armor."

Russia first announced on Tuesday that its planes started flying combat missions from Iran against targets in Syria, a move that represented a historical rapprochement between Moscow and Tehran that could rile U.S.-allied Gulf neighbors, strengthen Syrian President Bashar Assad and impact the war against the Islamic State group.

___

9 a.m.

Syrian opposition activists have released haunting footage showing a young boy rescued from a partially destroyed building in the aftermath of a devastating airstrike in Aleppo.

The image of the stunned and weary-looking boy, sitting in an orange chair inside an ambulance, covered in dust and with blood on his face, encapsulates the horrors inflicted on the war-ravaged northern city. Photographs of the boy were widely shared on social media.

An hour after his rescue, the building the boy was in completely collapsed.

In this frame grab provided by Russian Defence Ministry press service pilots fly a Russian long range bomber Tu-22M3 during an air strike over Syria on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Russia's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday Russian warplanes have taken off from a base in Iran and in Russia to target Islamic State fighters in Syria. (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service photo via AP)
Light plane makes emergency landing in western Indonesia

BANDUNG, Indonesia (AP)  A light plane made an emergency landing Thursday on Indonesia's main island of Java and the three people on board survived, police said.

Col. Yusri Yunus, a spokesman for West Java police, said the Cessna plane landed on a paddy field in Tasikmalaya District.

He said the plane developed engine trouble and the pilot sought a non-residential area to land.

The plane was flying from Pangandaran, a West Java town about 60 kilometers (37 miles) to the southeast, Yunus said.

Local media quoted a district chief as saying two people on board were badly hurt and were taken to a health center.

In December, a jet fighter taking part in an aerobatic show crashed and burst into flames in Central Java, killing the two pilots.
German leader Merkel: full veils an obstacle to integration

BERLIN (AP)  German Chancellor Angela Merkel has described full-body veils used by some Muslim women that cover the face as an obstacle to integration.

Some members of Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats, notably the interior ministers of two states holding regional elections next month, recently have urged a ban on the burqa and other full-body veils. Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere opposes an overall ban, which he says would probably be thrown out by Germany's supreme court.

Merkel weighed in on the issue in comments to the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland newspaper group published Thursday. She was quoted as saying: "From my point of view, a fully veiled woman in Germany has barely any chance of integrating."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel , right, and German Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel arrive at the Chancellery for a cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday Aug. 17, 2016. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)
The Latest: Pence files personal financial disclosure form

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Latest on Campaign 2016 (all times EDT):

11 p.m.

Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence has filed a personal financial disclosure form that shows his salary as Indiana governor is his main source of income.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, joined by New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton, left, and others, meets with law enforcement leaders at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Donald Trump's running mate filed the form required under federal law Thursday. It lists $173,860 in salary for Pence and says Karen Pence's earnings from a towel charm business and her work as a self-employed artist each bring in less than $1,001.

Listed as Pence's other assets and income are a bank account worth no more than $15,000 and two education savings plans each worth no more than $15,000.

The document also lists seven student loans totaling at least $95,000. The Pences have three children.

A statement announcing the filing says Pence will release his tax returns "in the near future."

__

10:35 p.m.

A new book about Bill Clinton reports that former Secretary of State Colin Powell advised Hillary Clinton to use a personal email account when she took over the job.

Veteran political journalist Joe Conason writes that several former secretaries of state, including Madeleine Albright, Henry Kissinger and Condoleezza Rice, had dinner with Clinton early in her tenure, which began in 2009.

Conason writes that Powell, who served under President George W. Bush, told Clinton he had used personal email in the job, except for classified communications.

The description of the conversation appears in Conason's forthcoming book "Man of the World: The Further Endeavors of Bill Clinton," about the ex-president's life after the White House.

___

9:35 p.m.

Louisiana's governor's office says it has not been contacted by Donald Trump's campaign concerning a possible tour of the state's flood damage.

A campaign official had said the GOP nominee and his running mate Mike Pence will travel to the state Friday. That person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans before they were officially announced.

Richard Carbo, spokesman for Gov. John Bel Edwards, says Trump "hasn't called the governor to inform him of his visit."

Carbo says Trump is welcome to Louisiana, "but not for a photo-op."

Instead, Carbo proposes Trump "consider volunteering or making a sizable donation to the LA Flood Relief Fund to help the victims of this storm."

__

9:00 p.m.

Hillary Clinton's campaign says Donald Trump's statement of regret for causing pain was just him reading words from a teleprompter.

Clinton spokeswoman Christina Reynolds said in a statement that Trump's speech only revealed that, "his speechwriter and teleprompter knows he has much for which he should apologize, " adding that Trump should specify which of his "offensive, bullying and divisive comments he regrets  and changes his tune."

Trump on Thursday told supporters in Charlotte, N.C., that he regrets words he has spoken that have caused people pain. He did not explicitly apologize or name the people he referenced.

The Clinton campaign statement listed hundreds of Trump's "insults." They include Trump's feud with the Muslim American parents of an Army captain slain in Iraq, women and people with disabilities.

___

8:37 p.m.

Donald Trump will tour the flood damage in ravaged Louisiana Friday.

A campaign official familiar with the plans says the GOP nominee and his running mate Mike Pence will travel to the state on Friday.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans before they were officially announced.

At least 13 people have died as a result of the flooding, and at one point 11,000 were in shelters.

Trump said at a rally Thursday that his prayers are with the people impacted.

___

8:33 p.m.

A veterans group says Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton will appear next month at a televised forum to discuss national security, military affairs and veterans issues.

The sponsor of the forum, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, says the presidential candidates will appear back to back and take questions. The hour-long event will be televised Sept. 7 on NBC and MSNBC.

The veterans group says questions will come from NBC News and from members of an audience that will include military veterans and active-duty service members.

___

8:23 p.m.

Donald Trump is accusing rival Hillary Clinton of "bigotry"  a claim Clinton's campaign has thrown back in Trump's face.

Trump says at a rally in Charlotte that Clinton "sees communities of color only as votes and not as human beings worthy of a better future."

He claims that she and other Democrats have failed to do enough to improve the lives of minorities and those who live in inner cities.

Trump says that, if African-American voters give him a chance by giving him their vote, "the result for them will be amazing."

He asks, "What do you have to lose by trying something new?"

Trump is trailing Clinton by vast margins among minority voters.

___

8:11 p.m.

Republican Donald Trump is doubling down on the outsider message that helped power him to victory in the GOP primary.

Reading from prepared remarks at a North Carolina rally, Trump says that he is "running to be the voice for every forgotten part of this country that has been waiting and hoping for a better future."

In a nod to the continued frustration in his party over his unorthodox campaign and inability to stay on message, Trump says that he's "glad that I make the powerful a little uncomfortable now and again  including some powerful people in my own party."

He says that "means I am fighting for real change."

Trump has been denounced dozens of current and former GOP party officials, advisers, and White House staffers.

___

7:46 p.m.

For the first time, Republican Donald Trump says he regrets some of his most heated campaign statements.

The GOP nominee says at a rally in Charlotte that, "sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that. And believe it or not, I regret it," he says, "particularly where it may have caused personal pain."

Trump says that, "Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues."

Trump is reading from prepared remarks, using a teleprompter instead of his usually off-the-cuff rally style after re-shaping his campaign team.

___

7:37 p.m.

Donald Trump is addressing the devastating flooding in Louisiana.

He says that the country is united, and that "when one state hurts, we all hurt."

He is sending his prayers to the people affected.

Trump has been striking a new, more unifying tone in recent days as he's shaken up his campaign leadership once again.

____

4:36 p.m.

It's Donald Trump like he's never been seen before.

Life-size naked statues of the Republican presidential nominee greeted passers-by in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Cleveland on Thursday. They are the brainchild of an activist collective called INDECLINE, which has spoken out against Trump before.

In a statement, the collective said the hope is that Trump "is never installed in the most powerful political and military position in the world."

The statues were created by an artist in Cleveland. They are of a stern-faced Trump with his hands folded over a bulging belly. Some parts of male genitalia are visible while others seemingly are missing.

"It is through these sculptures that we leave behind the physical and metaphorical embodiment of the ghastly soul of one of America's most infamous and reviled politicians," INDECLINE said in its statement.

Trump's campaign declined to comment on the statues.

A statue in Union Square quickly drew the attention of people before it was removed by the city's parks department. INDECLINE said statues on the West Coast were still in place.

___

4:04 p.m.

Sen. Bernie Sanders has pushed hard for transparency on U.S. trade and campaign finance, but has been far less aggressive in disclosing his own personal finances.

Sanders' presidential campaign got two deadline extensions on filing a candidate disclosure with the Federal Election Commission, and then was excused from doing so after he dropped out of the race. He recently bought a third house for nearly $600,000.

The independent lawmaker from Vermont ran unsuccessfully for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, often faulting the secrecy surrounding U.S. trade deals and saying sources of campaign money needed to be more transparent. Sanders also ran as an advocate for working people.

Spokesman Michael Briggs says the senator has filed the required disclosure as a congressman and senator. But Richard Skinner of the pro-transparency Sunlight Foundation says Sanders' failure to make the usual disclosures as a presidential candidate was unfortunate.

___

3:20 p.m.

Donald Trump says he'll "take a very serious look" at Congressional term limits if he's elected to the White House.

Trump was addressing local law enforcement officers in North Carolina Thursday when he was asked about the benefits, pensions and term limits of members of Congress. The questioner said he wanted to "get these bums out."

Trump responded by saying the man was not the first person to voice those complaints.

He said, "We're going to take a very serious look" at term limits. Changing term limits would require a Constitutional amendment.

Trump also boasted about his popularity with police. He says their vote for him in November "could be unanimous. That could be, no matter where you go in the country, we may get no negative vote."

He told the officers, "I'm on your side, 1,000 percent."

___

3:00 p.m.

Mike Pence says he wants to help New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat who recently struggled when asked whether Hillary Clinton is trust-worthy.

During a town hall event in Manchester on Thursday, Donald Trump's running mate played a CNN interview with Hassan. Three times, Hassan evaded direct the interviewer's questions about whether her party's presidential nominee is honest or trustworthy. Hassan's spokesman later clarified that Hassan believes Clinton is both.

Pence showed the video clip after saying Americans are sick of the "pay-to-play" politics he accuses Clinton of engaging in as secretary of state.

The Indiana governor sarcastically offered to help Hassan with her answers by saying simply "no" and put in a plug for U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican whose seat Hassan is trying to win.

___

2:50 p.m.

Donald Trump is getting in some target practice on the campaign trail.

The Republican presidential hopeful was scheduled to meet with law enforcement officers Thursday at a local FOP Lodge in Iredell County, North Carolina, but decided to stop by the lodge's gun range first.

"I gotta say, this man can shoot," said Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell, who accompanied Trump.

He said Trump used an M4 gun often carried by law enforcement.

Trump tells the gathered officers after that, "We just went down to the range and we had a little shooting practice."

Trump is a staunch gun rights supporter and often talks about the issue on the campaign trail.

He is licensed to carry a hand gun in New York, but sometimes jokes that his eldest sons, both hunting enthusiasts, are better shots.

___

1:25 p.m.

Two Democratic senators are pushing legislation to require presidential candidates to release their tax returns.

Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Chris Murphy of Connecticut say their bill is specifically aimed at Donald Trump, who has refused to release his returns even though it's standard practice for presidential candidates.

The lawmakers say Trump's returns could disclose his financial interests in foreign countries, among other things, and seeing them is a pressing national interest.

Trump claims he can't release his returns because he's being audited.

Wyden and Murphy are calling on GOP leaders to bring up their bill when Congress reconvenes next month.

A spokesman for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there are no scheduling announcements but there are certain to be "lots of political messaging ideas" raised in coming months.

___

1:05 p.m.

Hillary Clinton says the nation needs to work together to "repair the bonds of trust and respect" between police officers and communities and not stoke more divisions.

The Democratic presidential nominee was meeting with law enforcement leaders in New York City, joining with chiefs of police days after Republican Donald Trump accused her of being "against the police."

Clinton said Thursday at the start of the meeting that deadly shootings in Dallas, Baton Rouge and Milwaukee show the need for respect between police officers and residents.

She said the country can't ignore the challenges and "certainly we must not inflame them."

She told the group that the nation needs to work together "to bridge our divides, not stoke more divisiveness."

___

1:00 p.m.

Republican Donald Trump has begun reserving television air time for the first time in the general election.

Trump's campaign will spend roughly $4.9 million over the next 10 days on ads to air in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to Kantar Media's political ad tracker.

The ads are expected to begin airing Friday.

Trump approved two different ads Wednesday that will begin airing in the coming days, his new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told CNN.

He is woefully behind: Clinton's campaign has spent more than 75 million on ads in the weeks since she effectively locked up the nomination in early June, Kantar Media's political ad tracker.

___

10:45 a.m.

Donald Trump is predicting he'll have a new nickname.

Trump tweeted Thursday "They will soon be calling me MR. BREXIT!"

He offered no further explanation and the post was widely discussed  and sometimes mocked  on social media.

But Trump appeared to be referring to comments he made Wednesday in an interview on Fox News. In that exchange, he was discussing the political "movement" fueling his campaign and the reporter noted that "the world is changing" and mentioned Brexit, the June vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.

Trump then said "I think I will be called Mr. Brexit."

He supported the Brexit movement and suggested it was "the people taking the country back." His self-appointed nickname likely was drawing parallels between his campaign and that outcome.

___

3:30 a.m.

Weary Republican leaders are accepting Donald Trump's latest staff shake-up, hopeful that a new leadership team can reverse the New York businessman's struggles even as some worry it's too little too late.

The Republican National Committee has already conceded it may divert resources away from the presidential contest in favor of vulnerable Senate and House candidates if Trump's standing does not improve in the coming weeks.

RNC chief strategist Sean Spicer calls Trump's staffing changes the "healthy growth of the campaign at a senior level at a key point."

Trump on Wednesday announced a staff overhaul at his campaign's highest levels, the second shake-up in the past two months.

A combative conservative media executive with no presidential campaign experience, Stephen Bannon, will serve as CEO of Trump's White House bid.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers a campaign speech in Charlotte, N.C. Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Iredell County, N.C. Sheriff Darren Campbell, right, introduces Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, as he arrives to speak to retired and active law enforcement personnel at a Fraternal Order of Police lodge, during a campaign stop in Statesville, N.C., Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

An employee of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation removes a statue of a naked Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016 in New York's Union Square. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

FILE - In this July 25, 2016 file photo, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Sanders presidential campaign got two deadline extensions on filing a candidate disclosure with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and then was excused from doing so after he dropped out of the race. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, flanked by New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, left, and Clinton campaign senior adviser Maya Harris, right, pauses as she meets with law enforcement leaders at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Iredell County, N.C. Sheriff Darren Campbell, right, introduces Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, accompanied by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, as Trump arrives to speak to retired and active law enforcement personnel at a Fraternal Order of Police lodge, during a campaign stop in Statesville, N.C. Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Iredell County, N.C. Sheriff Darren Campbell, right, introduces Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, as he arrives to speak to retired and active law enforcement personnel at a Fraternal Order of Police lodge, during a campaign stop in Statesville, N.C., Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talks with media as she meets with law enforcement leaders at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, flanked by New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, left, and Clinton campaign senior adviser Maya Harris, talks to media as she meets with law enforcement leaders at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Chicago's police superintendent said Thursday that he will recommend the firing of seven officers who filed false reports in the fatal police shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.

Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a statement that after reviewing documents, video and other evidence, he was accepting the recommendation of the city's inspector general to fire the officers.

Evidence shows the officers violated Rule 14, which prohibits "making a false report, written or oral," Johnson said. He received the inspector general's report this week.

In October 2014, Officer Jason Van Dyke shot Lacquan McDonald (left) 16 times. Superintendent Eddie Johnson, right, speaks after being sworn in as the new Chicago police superintendent in Chicago

Johnson will take his recommendation to the city's police board, which will make the final decision on whether to fire the officers.

In October 2014, Officer Jason Van Dyke shot McDonald 16 times. The next year, when a judge forced the city to release the explosive police video that documented the shooting, Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

The subsequent release of police reports raised serious questions about other officers' accounts of the shooting, which seemed to contradict what was on the video and portrayed McDonald as more of a threat than he appeared to be in that footage.
Amtrak police chief under investigation for fraud, conflict

WASHINGTON (AP)  Amtrak's inspector general has launched a fraud and conflict of interest investigation involving the system's police chief.

Media outlets report that affidavits filed in federal court state Chief Polly Hanson was involved in preparing a contract that ABS Consulting won in 2014, but didn't disclose the nature of her relationship with ABS' Kerry Thomas. Court records state Thomas and Hanson have apartments in the same building and co-own a Delaware condo. The investigation, first reported by WTTG-TV, is also examining whether Thomas and ABS violated the False Claims Act and contract terms.
Puerto Rico associations file suit to block power rate hike

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  Some of Puerto Rico's largest business associations announced Thursday that they have joined forces to file a lawsuit aimed at blocking an electricity rate hike they say will worsen the island's economic slump.

The lawsuit takes aim at a recently imposed transition charge of 3.1 cents per kilowatt hour that will pay for new bonds issued under a proposed $9 billion debt restructuring at Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority. That new charge is a key requirement of the proposed restructuring.

Customers have also been hit with a provisional rate increase of 1.299 cents per kilowatt hour aimed at covering a $222.25 million annual revenue shortfall. A regulatory board is still considering whether to make that increase permanent or adjust it up or down.

The hikes translate into a 23 percent increase over current rates for residential customers for early 2017. Commercial and industrial businesses could face a 22-24 percent permanent increase depending on the company's size.

"If the increases take place, I am very concerned that we may lose a good percentage of companies," said Rodrigo Masses, president of Puerto Rico's Manufacturers Association, among the groups represented in the lawsuit.

The groups' representatives acknowledge some sort of rate hike is needed to cover the debt, but reject a proposed fee on those who generate renewable energy and worry there will be no cap on increases.

Many Puerto Ricans have complained that the increased costs will scare away investors, noting that high power bills already have forced businesses to close during the economic crisis.

Many people are also angry about paying bills that are on average double those on the U.S. mainland.

"We are being held hostage by a utility that is not being well managed," said Tomas Torres, coordinator of the nonprofit Institute for Competitiveness and Economic Sustainability of Puerto Rico, which is also part of the lawsuit.

Electric Power Authority officials did not immediately return a request for comment.
Montana college expels students 4 years after Saudis cheated

BUTTE, Mont. (AP)  Fifteen summer school students have been expelled for cheating at Montana Tech, the same college that dismissed several Saudi students and revoked the degrees of others after discovering a former employee altered their transcripts four years ago.

Doug Abbott, vice chancellor for academic affairs, declined to release any other information about the 15 students, including how they cheated, if it was a coordinated effort or if they were international students.

"Montana Tech has high academic standards, and we take academic dishonesty very seriously," he told The Montana Standard newspaper Wednesday (http://bit.ly/2b3UQgl ). "I think the permanent dismissal of these 15 students is evidence of the quality education that we give at Montana Tech."

FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2003, file photo, Butch Schelin guides the new Montana Tech archway into place above Park Street in Butte, Mont. Montana Tech has expelled 15 summer school students for cheating. School officials declined to release any information about the students, including how they cheated. The expulsions come four years after 18 students were expelled and others had their degrees revoked after a former employee altered their transcripts. (Lisa Hornstein/ The Montana Standard via AP,File)

The school's website says academic dishonesty includes plagiarism, helping another student or copying from another student while taking a test, and using unauthorized aids to pass an exam.

Abbott characterized the cheating and expulsions as a one-time incident at the small, four-year college in the mining city of Butte. It is known for its metallurgy, mining and engineering specialties.

Scores of Saudi students, many of them sponsored by their embassy's cultural section or the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., attend Montana Tech every year to study for degrees in fields such as petroleum engineering.

In January 2012, the school said a former employee had made hundreds of alterations to the transcripts of 36 students by changing grades, giving them grades for courses they didn't take and deleting some grades, apparently in exchange for small gifts.

Saudi Embassy memos published by WikiLeaks revealed, and school officials confirmed, 33 of the students were Saudis and their government booked flights home for them after a meeting between college administrators and Saudi diplomats.

The meeting in Washington, D.C., occurred before the transcript alterations became public. At the time, Abbott said the college had been advised by legal counsel that the Saudi Embassy should be informed.

Seven of the 36 students were allowed to return to college, including two who said their grades were changed without their knowledge, according to the Saudi memos. It's not clear how many degrees were revoked.

___
Froome has 'unfinished business' at Spanish Vuelta

BARCELONA, Spain (AP)  Chris Froome has some "unfinished business" when the Spanish Vuelta starts on Saturday.

The Kenyan-born British rider enters the grand tour as the undisputed favorite after winning his third Tour de France title, followed by a bronze medal in the individual time trial at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

"The Vuelta is a race I really enjoy and where I guess you could say I have unfinished business," Froome said. "It's already been a great summer for both myself and the team, but the Vuelta is another big challenge for us."

While Froome has put his stamp on the Tour, the one title that has consistently eluded him is the three-week Vuelta.

Not that he hasn't come close. In four appearances, Froome has twice finished runner-up.

The now 31-year-old Froome made a name for himself as an up-and-coming talent when he came second to Juanjo Cobo in 2011. In 2014, he was edged out by Alberto Contador.

Froome gave it another shot last year in search of a rare Tour-Vuelta double, but was forced to withdraw after breaking a bone in his right foot after crashing during the 11th stage.

Froome's Sky team, which helped him dominate the Tour in June, will be without both Mikel Landa (hip injury) and Nicholas Roche (illness).

Jacques Anquetil (1963) and Bernard Hinault (1978) are the only riders to win both the Tour and the Vuelta in the same season, and they did so when the Vuelta was still held in the spring.

Here is a look at the course and Froome's toughest competition:

___

THE ROUTE

Besides again offering a route fashioned for climbers, the 71st edition of the Spanish Vuelta will avoid the hot southern sun with action taking place in the greener north before the last week in the Mediterranean region of Valencia.

The race begins on Saturday with a 27.8-kilometer (17.2-mile) team time trial in Ourense and concludes 3,315 kilometers (2,059 miles) later with the traditional arrival in Madrid on Sept. 11.

In between, riders face 12 hill and mountain stages.

The race will feature a trip into France on the 14th stage for a climb to the l'Aubisque peak used in the Tour.

"The tough course and stiff competition is bound to make for some aggressive racing," Froome said.

___

CONTADOR

If Froome has a rival at the Vuelta, it is three-time winner Alberto Contador.

But the Spaniard has had a disappointing summer after crashes and a fever forced him out of the Tour and sidelined him from the Olympics.

"I will fight for the victory," Contador said. "We will go day by day and I hope to have more good luck than I have had recently. I just hope for a better start than the one I had in the Tour."

This will be the seven-time grand tour winner's last race with his Tinkoff team.

___

QUINTANA

The biggest threat to Sky as a team should come from a Movistar squad led by Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde, although the Spanish outfit was unable to muster much of a challenge during this summer's Tour.

Quintana has twice finished second to Froome at the Tour, and the Colombian climber won the 2014 Giro d'Italia. He arrives at the Vuelta after wins this year at the Tour of Catalonia and the Tour of Romandie.
US Air Force to change fire foam due to water contamination

The U.S. Air Force is changing the foam it uses to fight fires because of concerns the substance has contaminated groundwater and spread to drinking water at some military sites.

The Air Force said it awarded a $6.2 million contract on Monday to replace the firefighting foam with an "environmentally responsible foam" to reduce the risk of possible contamination of soil and groundwater.

The current foam is used where potentially catastrophic fuel fires can occur, such as in a plane crash, because it can rapidly extinguish the flames. It contains perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOS and PFOA, which are both considered emerging contaminants by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and have been linked to cancer and other illnesses.

The EPA issued stricter guidelines for human exposure to these chemicals in May, after years of pressure from public health experts and advocacy groups. The agency said the new limits were prompted by recent scientific studies linking the chemicals to testicular and kidney cancers, as well as birth defects and liver damage.

The chemicals have been detected in water at some current and former bases where the military has conducted fire or crash training. In Colorado, health officials said Wednesday that it's highly likely that trace amounts of toxic chemicals found in three drinking water systems came from firefighting foam used at nearby Peterson Air Force Base, where firefighters used the foam in training exercises.

The new formulation does not have PFOS and contains little or no PFOA.

Mark Kinkade, spokesman for the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, said the Air Force has completed preliminary assessments at all of its sites and is now sampling groundwater and soil. He said the Air Force still has "a lot of work to do" but at the same time it's working to protect human health and the environment by changing foams and taking other steps to ensure that foam is used safely.

Air Force fire chief James Podolske Jr. said the service must continue to use foam in its defense operations to protect people, weapon systems and infrastructure, but it will "do so in a more environmentally responsible way that also makes our operations safer for the public."

The Air Force will no longer use the foam in training exercises, and the service plans to replace all foam in fire vehicles and at fire stations with the new formula by the end of this year. It also is retrofitting its aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicles with equipment that lets firefighters conduct vehicle operational checks and required annual foam tests without discharging the foam into the environment.

The Defense Department said earlier this year it's examining hundreds of sites nationwide for potential contamination from the foam. It wasn't immediately clear Thursday whether the Navy and Army are changing foams, too.

A Defense Department spokesman said the department is disposing of older foams, wherever possible, buying new foams that do not contain PFOS and investing in research to develop a foam that doesn't contain the chemicals and can be certified to meet military standards.
Hemingway home gets back antlers taken by Hunter S. Thompson

BOISE, Idaho (AP)  A young Hunter S. Thompson went to Idaho to write about Ernest Hemingway and decided to take a piece of his hero home with him  a set of trophy elk antlers.

More than half a century later, the gonzo journalist's wife returned the antlers to Hemingway's house in the mountain town of Ketchum.

"He was embarrassed that he took them," Anita Thompson told The Associated Press on Thursday, noting the deep respect her husband had for Hemingway's work. "He wished he hadn't taken them. He was young, it was 1964, and he got caught up in the moment.

TAKES OUT REFERENCE TO ASSISTANT REGIONAL LIBRARIAN - Anita Thompson, left, is joined by Library Executive Director Jenny Emery Davidson, middle, and Program Manager Scott Burton as they pose with trophy antlers while returning them to the former home of writer Ernest Hemingway Aug. 5, 2016, in Ketchum, Idaho. Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson so admired the set of trophy elk antlers when he visited the central Idaho home of Hemingway, that he stole them. More than half a century later, The Community Library has returned the antlers.(Christina Jensen/The Community Library via AP)

"He talked about it several times, about taking a road trip and returning them," she said.

She gave back the antlers Aug. 5 to Ketchum Community Library, which helps catalog and preserve items in the residence where the author took his own life. It's now owned by the Nature Conservancy.

In 1964, Hunter Thompson, then 27, came to Ketchum when he was still a conventional journalist. He had not yet developed his signature style, dubbed gonzo journalism, that involved inserting himself, often outrageously, into his reporting and that propelled him into a larger-than-life figure.

Thompson was writing a story for the National Observer about why the globe-trotting Hemingway shot and killed himself at his home three years earlier at age 61. Thompson attributed the suicide in part to rapid changes in the world that led to upheavals in places Hemingway loved most  Africa and Cuba.

Even Ketchum, which in the 1930s and 1940s attracted luminaries such as Gary Cooper, had fallen off the map of cafe society by the late 1950s, Thompson wrote.

In the story, later collected in his book "The Great Shark Hunt," he noted the problem of tourists taking chunks of earth from around Hemingway's grave as souvenirs.

Early in the piece, he wrote about the large elk antlers over Hemingway's front door but never mentioned taking them.

For decades, the antlers hung in a garage at Thompson's home near Aspen, Colorado.

"One of the stories that has often been told over the years is the story of Hunter S. Thompson taking the antlers," said the library's Jenny Emery Davidson, who helped accept the trophy. "These are two great literary figures who came together over the item of the antlers."

Davidson said historian Douglas Brinkley, who spoke at the library in May and was familiar with the antler story after interviewing the writer, contacted Anita Thompson. She called the library on Aug. 1.

Davidson said the antlers have since been shipped to a Hemingway grandson in New York who wanted them. It's not clear if the antlers came from an elk killed by the author, who was a noted big game hunter, or if they were a gift.

Sean Hemingway didn't respond to emails or phone messages seeking comment.

Like Ernest Hemingway, Thompson ended his own life by shooting himself, dying in 2005 at age 67 at his Colorado home.

His widow wants to turn the house where he lived and worked into a museum, planning to open it next year by invitation only. Like Hemingway's home, it's much the same as it was when Thompson was alive.

"I couldn't open it with a clear conscious knowing there's a stolen pair of antlers," Anita Thompson said, noting the theft was unusual behavior, even by her husband's standards.

TAKES OUT REFERENCE TO ASSISTANT REGIONAL LIBRARIAN - Anita Thompson pulls trophy antlers out of her car trunk while returning them to the former home of writer Ernest Hemingway Aug. 5, 2016, in Ketchum, Idaho. Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson so admired the set of trophy elk antlers when he visited the central Idaho home of Hemingway, that he stole them. More than half a century later, The Community Library has returned the antlers.(Jenny Emery Davidson/The Community Library via AP)

FILE - In this July 30, 2007, file photo, the house formerly owned by Ernest Hemingway sits in the wooded landscape outside Ketchum, Idaho. Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson so admired a set of trophy elk antlers when he visited the central Idaho home of literary icon Hemingway, he stole them. More than half a century later, the antlers have been returned, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, file)

FILE - This July 30, 2007 file photo shows an interior view of the house formerly owned by Ernest Hemingway outside Ketchum, Idaho. Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson so admired a set of trophy elk antlers when he visited the central Idaho home of literary icon Hemingway, he stole them. More than half a century later, the antlers have been returned, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Governor's attorney general pick is Kane's ex-chief deputy

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday nominated Kathleen Kane's former top deputy to step in as attorney general for the remaining months of her term on the heels of her conviction and resignation from the state's top law enforcement job.

Bruce Beemer would take over the beleaguered 800-employee attorney general's office after two years of infighting, firings and scandal under Kane. While Beemer was promoted into the top lieutenant's job under Kane, he later clashed publicly with her and provided testimony that helped prosecutors convict her.

Senate confirmation of Beemer was expected but still at least a couple of weeks away. A permanent successor to Kane will be chosen by voters in November and sworn in Jan. 17.

FILE  In this Dec. 7, 2015, file photo, Pennsylvania First Deputy Attorney General Bruce Beemer leaves a hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa. Following former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane's conviction and resignation, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf nominated Kane's former top deputy Bruce Beemer on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, to assume the state's top law enforcement job for the remaining months of her term. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Wednesday was Kane's last day in office, leaving it to be run by recent Kane hire Bruce L. Castor Jr., who had emerged as a central figure in the Bill Cosby sex assault case and who lacked support from Wolf or top state lawmakers. Castor also became a target of criticism that he was an extension of Kane, a characterization he has rejected.

Kane was convicted Monday of abusing the powers of her office by leaking secret grand jury information to smear a rival and lying under oath to cover it up. She faces prison time when she is sentenced Oct. 24.

Wolf called Beemer the "right fit" for the office and said Beemer has the respect of the agency's employees.

Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, said he expected Beemer would be confirmed swiftly, potentially by the end of August.

"We're going to try to do it as quickly as possible to try to restore some stability over there," Corman said.

Beemer left his post as Kane's top deputy last month to become Wolf's inspector general, an office that investigates complaints about fraud, waste and misconduct in state agencies.

Beemer, a former Allegheny County prosecutor, joined the attorney general's office in 2011 as chief of staff under a Kane predecessor and was promoted after Kane took office in 2013 to first deputy attorney general.

Beemer, 47, took on some of the office's major legal decisions and openly clashed with Kane over the agency's operations after the state Supreme Court suspended her law license last fall.

He also gave unflattering testimony about Kane at her trial last week, including the contention that Kane told him it was "no big deal" when a 2014 article in the Philadelphia Daily News contained information he deemed to be protected by investigation secrecy laws.

For her part, Kane blamed the investigation into her on her exposure of a government email scandal involving sexually explicit images and derogatory jokes that cost the jobs of several high-ranking government officials, including two state Supreme Court justices.

In the meantime, the office remains seeded with controversial hires or promotions under Kane.

They include her twin sister, her cousin, a chief of staff who was the target of sexual harassment complaints and a supervisory special agent who is appealing a contempt of court conviction for snooping on the investigation into Kane.

It also is awaiting a report from a law firm on its review of millions of internal emails, a contract signed by Kane after she failed to make good on a promise to release all the pornographic or offensive emails from the agency's servers.

FILE  In this Dec. 7, 2015, file photo, Pennsylvania First Deputy Attorney General Bruce Beemer leaves a hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa. Following former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane's conviction and resignation, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf nominated Kane's former top deputy Bruce Beemer on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, to assume the state's top law enforcement job for the remaining months of her term. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
FBI investigating noise that caused panic at NC mall

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  North Carolina police are asking the FBI to analyze a noise that caused mass panic at a Raleigh mall last weekend.

The Raleigh Police Department said in a news release Thursday that it hasn't found any indication the noise was a gunshot, as witnesses described. But it also hasn't been able to rule out the possibility.

A recording of the noise from Saturday has been sent to an FBI lab for analysis. Investigators have interviewed people who called 911 to report seeing someone with a gun and ruled out that those sightings were related to the noise.
Donald Trump will tour the flood damage in ravaged Louisiana as President Barack Obama stays on his New England vacation amid historic flooding in the state.

Running mate Mike Pence will accompany the GOP presidential nominee as he tours some of the devastated streets and views flooded homes after intense flooding.

Trump's social media director Dan Scavino tweeted Frida morning, 'En route to [La Guardia airport] for an early wheels up with @RealDonaldTrump to Louisiana. Our thoughts & prayers are with everyone effected.'

Richard Carbo, spokesman for Gov. John Bel Edwards, said Thursday Trump was welcome to Louisiana, 'but not for a photo-op.'

Instead, Carbo proposed Trump 'consider volunteering or making a sizable donation to the LA Flood Relief Fund to help the victims of this storm.'

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GOP nominee Donald Trump and his running mate Mike Pence (pictured together) will tour the flood damage in ravaged Louisiana as President Barack Obama stays on his New England vacation amid historic flooding in the state

President Barack Obama (pictured earlier this month) has come under fire for staying on his New England vacation rather than traveling to Louisiana amid historic flooding in the state

Despite calls for him to visit and meet with responders and victims, Obama is unlikely to break from his New England vacation to survey flood damage (pictured)

Trump said at a rally on Thursday that his prayers are with the people affected in Louisiana, 'a state that is very special to me.'

We are one nation. When one state hurts, we all hurt  and we must all work together to lift each other up. Working, building, restoring together, Trump said in Charlotte at an event where he also apologized for having caused 'personal pain' with some of his harsh language.

Our prayers are with the families who have lost loved ones, and we send them our deepest condolences, he continued.

Though words cannot express the sadness one feels at times like this, I hope everyone in Louisiana knows that our country is praying for them and standing with them to help them in these difficult hours. We are one country, one people, and we will have together one great future.

Meanwhile, despite calls for him to visit and meet with responders and victims, Obama is unlikely to break from his New England vacation to survey flood damage.

The president is currently on his annual summer vacation with the first family on Martha's Vineyard.

On Thursday, the president was joined by comedian Larry David and businessmen Robert Wolf and Jonathan Lavine for a round of golf, according toThe Hill.

One group who didn't make it along with Trump was the candidate's traveling press corps, who are getting sent ahead to a campaign event in Michigan despite please from network bigs to have them accompany the candidate.

The White House insists Obama is not indifferent to the suffering of thousands who were washed out of their homes in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas.

At least 13 people have died as a result of the flooding, and at one point 11,000 were in shelters. That number has dropped as water levels have receded.

In an editorial published on Wednesday, The Advocate in Baton Rouge called on Obama to visit 'the most anguished state in the union.'

'It's past time for the president to pay a personal visit, showing his solidarity with suffering Americans,' the newspaper wrote.

Trump pictured at a rally on Thursday in North Carolina. A spokesman for Louisiana's governor said his office had not been contacted by the Trump campaign and said Trump is welcome to Louisiana but not for a 'photo-op'

Obama pictured last year golfing on Martha's Vineyard with Larry David and Cryus Walker. On Thursday, he was joined by David and businessmen Robert Wolf and Jonathan Lavine for a round of golf

The editorial noted that Obama interupted his two-week vacation on Martha's Vineyard earlier this week to attend a fundraiser for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on the Massachusetts island.

'The optics of Obama golfing while Louisiana residents languished in flood waters was striking,' the editorial said.

'It evoked the precedent of the passive federal response to the state's agony in 2005, a chapter of history no one should ever repeat.'

It also said Obama can and should visit now that the once-raging floodwaters are receding.

'The president's vacation is scheduled to wrap up on Sunday. But he should pack his bags now, and pay a call on communities who need to know that in a national catastrophe, they are not alone,' the editorial said.

'The president's presence is already late to this crisis, but it's better later than never.'

In 2005, then-President George W. Bush was faulted for flying over but not touching down in Louisiana in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The federal government's response to that natural disaster, in which more than 1,830 people were killed and millions more along the Gulf Coast and New Orleans were left homeless, haunted Bush for the remainder of his presidency.

Obama has issued no public or written statements about the flooding.

Baron Leblanc (left) and George Snyder move a refrigerator out of George's flooded home on Thurday in St Amant, Louisiana. Last week Louisiana was overwhelmed with flood water causing at least 13 deaths and thousands of homes damaged by the flood waters

Tray Blazier pulls a boat as he helps a friend check in on his flooded home on Thursday in Sorrento

A flooded baseball field at the Gonzales Civic Center pictured above. The White House insists Obama is not indifferent to the suffering of thousands who were washed out of their homes in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas

Contaminated floodwaters impact an area in Ascension Parish where some 40,000 homes have been impacted by the recent flooding, as seen in an aerial view on Wednesday

The White House said he has been receiving regular updates and briefings on the situation throughout the vacation, including from Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Obama also approved a federal disaster declaration for affected areas of the state.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate visited Louisiana on Wednesday, and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was visiting on Thursday.

'As the president told Gov. Edwards over the weekend, the community of Baton Rouge has faced a difficult, even tragic, summer but can count on the ongoing prayers and unwavering support of the president and their fellow Americans in their time of need,' White House spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman said.

Edwards, defending the administration's response on Thursday, said he has spoken daily with the White House and has received quick responses to each request he has lodged with the administration.

He said he would prefer Obama hold off on visiting because such stops pull local police and first responders into providing security.

Elsie Lazarus is overcome with emotion as she sits in her flooded living room while retrieving what she can from her home on Thursday in St Amant

Tommy Gallagher retrieves items from his flooded home on Wednesday in Sorrento

'Quite frankly that is not something that I want to go through right now,' Edwards said in Baton Rouge while accompanying Johnson.

'And so while the president is welcome to visit, I would just as soon he give us another a week or two, get back to a greater sense of normalcy here.'

The White House also noted that Louisiana's top elected Republican, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, on Thursday also praised the federal government's response during an interview with NPR.

With massive floodwaters receding in Louisiana, officials in the state grappled on Thursday with the next stage of the disaster response - how to help affected residents recover.

Officials continued to search tens of thousands of homes and countless cars for victims and survivors of the severe flooding that began Friday after heavy rains.

Residents survey flooding in Sorrento on Wednesday. With massive floodwaters receding in Louisiana, officials in the state grappled on Thursday with the next stage of the disaster response - how to help affected residents recover

Cattle are taken by boat through a flooded street to dry land on Tuesday in Sorrento

Caskets are seen floating in flood waters near a cemetery on Wednesday in Gonzales

More than 86,000 people have registered for US government emergency assistance.

Johnson, who is in charge of the department that will dole out the aid, visited areas affected by the historic flooding since last Friday and met with local officials to discuss the nascent recovery effort.

'I will be briefing the president on the situation that I see here at some point very soon,' Johnson told a news conference, adding that President Barrack Obama has been receiving daily briefings about the ongoing emergency.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which reports to Johnson, began on Thursday to assess the homes that were affected by floodwaters.

Some people could receive financial assistance in as soon as 48 hours, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said.

Meanwhile, more residents were leaving shelters and heading home to begin the cleanup process.

Overnight, shelters housed 8,000 people and by midday on Thursday that number had dropped to about 4,000, officials said.

Members of the Louisiana Army National Guard help place sandbags to protect the city hall in Lake Arthur on Wednesday

Gulfport, Missississippi firefighters load water and cleaning supplies donated by Bayou View Elementary School families in Gulfport for flood victims in Louisiana

Many people were gutting their homes, ripping out drywall and insulation and removing furniture, light fixtures and appliances.

Gail McGovern, the president of the American Red Cross who called the scale of the disaster 'absolutely enormous,' cautioned residents to be careful of electrical fires - known to be the next hazard following flooding.

The relief agency will begin fanning out into neighborhoods, distributing items such as pails, mops and bleach, along with food and water, she said.

Electricity was restored to most of the 40,000 customers that lost power, though 7,800 remained without it.

While many areas were drying out, the National Weather Service forecast that all waterways would not fall below flood stage until Friday.
No jail time for Missouri Capitol clergy protest

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP)  Twenty-two religious leaders were spared from jail Thursday but still could face fines after being convicted of trespassing during protests in the Missouri Senate in support of expanded Medicaid coverage for low-income adults.

The religious leaders, many of whom are black, were among hundreds of clergy and other activists who filled the Senate gallery in May 2014, singing hymns and chanting for lawmakers to expand Medicaid eligibility as envisioned by Democratic President Barack Obama's health care law. Missouri's Republican-led Legislature has declined to do so.

Police arrested 23 protesters, who became known as the "Medicaid 23," when they failed to leave the chamber. One person wasn't present for jury selection earlier this week and will be tried separately.

Attorney Nimrod Chapel Jr., who is president of the Missouri NAACP, speaks to reporters Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, at the Cole County Courthouse in Jefferson City, Mo. Nimrod helped represent 22 faith leaders, some of whom are standing behind him, who were convicted of trespassing for a 2014 protest in the Missouri Senate in support of expanded Medicaid eligibility for low-income adults. (AP Photo/David Lieb)

Jurors on Wednesday convicted the 22 religious leaders of first-degree trespassing but acquitted them of charges of disrupting government operations. They could have faced up to six months in jail and up to a $500 fine. But it took jurors only about 10 minutes Thursday to decide against jail time and instead recommend a fine.

Cole County Circuit Judge Dan Green said he would determine the amount of that fine at an unspecified future date. A typical fine for trespassing in Jefferson City is about $100, said attorney Nimrod Chapel Jr., president of the Missouri NAACP, who helped represent the defendants.

The religious leaders gathered for a group photo Thursday on the steps of the Cole County Courthouse but deferred questions to their attorneys. Chapel said they were considering whether to appeal.

"This tough-on-crime stand, that we've got to hammer down on traditional American values, is ridiculous," Chapel told reporters. "There's no need for us to impose a stiff sentence, to prosecute people talking about their First Amendment rights."

Chapel denounced the prosecutor as "out-of-touch" with the community, considering that Missouri has been a "touchstone" for racial issues.

The Medicaid protest occurred three months before the fatal Ferguson police shooting of Michael Brown sparked local riots and a national debate about the way police interact with black residents. The white officer was cleared of wrongdoing by a state grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice.

A little over a year later, a protest by black students at the University of Missouri-Columbia over perceived indifference to their concerns culminated with a threatened boycott by the football team and the resignation of university leaders.

This year, Republican candidates for governor and other top state offices have been running on a law-and-order theme of cracking down on protesters.

Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson, who is a Republican, declined to comment Thursday about the case against the faith leaders. He had told jurors during closing arguments that the protesters had "all the chance in the world" to leave but did not.

Republican state Rep. Jay Barnes, who is one of their defense attorneys, blasted Richardson for bringing the charges. Barnes said he hadn't heard from a single lawmaker saying it was appropriate to charge them.

"For him to stand in the courtroom and pretend that he is the caped crusader defending the Capitol is a complete, utter farce," said Barnes, one of the few Republicans who had proposed bills to expand Medicaid coverage to more low-income adults.

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon said any frustration should be directed at GOP lawmakers, not at the protesting pastors.

"People certainly have the right to come, to be there in an open public place," Nixon told reporters at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia. "These clergy on the front lines of the working poor, they're passionate about this for the right reasons."

___

Associated Press writer Summer Ballentine contributed to this report from Sedalia.

Follow David A. Lieb at: http://twitter.com/DavidALieb
Medical aid group withdraws from north Yemen after attacks

CAIRO (AP)  Doctors Without Borders announced on Thursday that it's withdrawing from northern Yemen due to what the international aid group called "indiscriminate bombings and unreliable reassurances" from the Saudi-led coalition that's fighting Shiite rebels in the country.

The group, known by its French acronym MSF, said an attack on a hospital it supported in the area on Monday had killed 19 people and wounded 24  a higher death toll after some of the wounded had died. Earlier, 11 were reported killed.

"The airstrike on Abs Hospital was the fourth and the deadliest attack on an MSF-supported medical facility during this war, while there have been numerous attacks on other health facilities all over Yemen," the Geneva-based group said in a statement.

A hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders is seen after was hit by a Saudi-led airstrike in the northern town of Abs, Yemen, Tuesday, Aug.16, 2016. Yemen's Houthi rebels condemned the Saudi-led military coalition on Tuesday over an airstrike that hit a hospital, killing several people. (AP Photo)

MSF also said that airstrikes in northern Yemen  a stronghold of the rebels known as Houthis  have intensified since peace talks collapsed earlier this month.

The conflict in Yemen pits an internationally-recognized government backed by a Saudi-led coalition against the Shiite Houthi rebels, who captured the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014. The Saudi-led coalition, supported by the United States, has been carrying out airstrikes in Yemen since March 2015.

MSF said that aerial bombardment had continued despite its sharing of its hospitals' GPS coordinates with the parties involved in the conflict, including the one in Hajjah governorate attacked on Monday.

"Coalition officials repeatedly state that they honor international humanitarian law, yet this attack shows a failure to control the use of force and to avoid attacks on hospitals full of patients," MSF said, urging an independent investigation.

Doctors Without Borders, which operates in conflict zones around the world, has had a number of its facilities attacked over the past year.

The group said in May that at least 100 staff members, patients and caretakers were killed, and another 130 were wounded, in aerial bombing and shelling attacks on more than 80 MSF-supported and run health structures in 2015 and early 2016.

The war in Yemen has left a security vacuum throughout parts of the country. Both al-Qaida and its main rival, the Islamic State group, have exploited the turmoil and expanded their footprint in the country's southern region.

Rights groups and U.N. agencies say that more than 9,000 people have been killed since the Yemen war escalated with the Saudi-led airstrikes. The conflict has also pushed the Arab world's poorest nation to the brink of famine.

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This story has been corrected to ... Updates with quotes, background; adds photos, byline.

A hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders is seen after was hit by a Saudi-led airstrike in the northern town of Abs, Yemen, Tuesday, Aug.16, 2016. Yemen's Houthi rebels condemned the Saudi-led military coalition on Tuesday over an airstrike that hit a hospital, killing several people. (AP Photo/STR)

Tribesmen loyal to Houthi rebels hold their weapons as they chant slogans during a protest against Saudi-led airstrikes that hits a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders in northern Yemen, in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)
Marital harmony leads to musical bliss at symphony orchestra

BOSTON (AP)  These married couples really do make beautiful music together.

Seventeen married couples are scheduled to perform Saturday at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home at Tanglewood in western Massachusetts in what's being touted as the most wedded pairs to perform together in the orchestra's 134-year history.

The couples performing the first two acts of the Verdi opera "Aida" include the orchestra's music director, Andris Nelsons, and his soprano wife, Kristine Opolais, in the title role.

In this Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, photo provided by Hilary Scott, sixteen of seventeen married couples who are to perform Saturday, Aug. 20 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the first two acts of the Verdi opera "Aida," pose for a photograph on stage during a rehearsal break at the orchestra's summer home at Tanglewood, in Lenox, Mass. The upcoming performance is being touted as having the most wedded pairs ever to play together in the orchestra's 134-year history. (Hilary Scott via AP)

Two members of the cast  Violeta Urmana, a mezzo-soprano who plays the role of Amneris, and her husband, Alfredo Nigro, a tenor who plays the messenger  are also joined in matrimonial bliss.

Six of the couples perform with the orchestra, and eight are in the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the orchestra's all-volunteer choir. The BSO's associate concertmaster and his freelance violinist wife are also performing.

"I think it's pretty cool," said Cathy Basrak, a viola player with the BSO who's been married to timpanist Tim Genis since 2003. "But it's not surprising. I always knew there were a lot of married couples in the BSO, and it makes sense that the chorus has so many married couples as well."

Chorus members Livia Racz and her husband of nearly 20 years, Bruce Kozuma, estimate they have shared the stage hundreds of times. But they've never been part of something like this.

"Everything just sort of came together for this weekend," Racz said.

Like most couples, shared interest is what brought the pair together, and it's what helps keep their marriage strong. They know the dedication each has for what is essentially a hobby, as both have demanding jobs  Kozuma as a systems analyst with the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard and Racz as a research group director at MIT.

It can also be the source of some minor marital tension.

"If we happen to be driving in the car together and discussing a piece, sometimes she'll say, 'No, no, no! You're not doing it right!'" Kozuma said with a chuckle.

Getting so many married couples on stage together wasn't planned, BSO officials said. While going over the roster of more than 240 performers, several staffers noticed that the event was also a celebration of conjugal bliss.

Music is better when it's a family affair, Nelsons said.

"This family feeling generally is something that we value so highly," he said. "Without question, such a family-like atmosphere adds levels to our music-making together."

___

Online: https://www.bso.org
Officials: US, Russia to seek Syria deal in Geneva next week

WASHINGTON (AP)  The United States and Russia will try again to stop Syria's civil war and forge a new counterterrorism partnership when their top diplomats meet next week in Geneva, U.S. officials said Thursday.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will gather on Aug. 26, with the talks possibly lasting for two days. At the meeting, officials said, the sides will try to secure a cease-fire between Syria's government and rebels and a new U.S.-Russian arrangement to share intelligence and coordinate military to defeat the Islamic State group and al-Qaida.

The diplomacy comes amid fierce fighting in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, and new Russian bombing operations in Syria originating from an Iranian air base.

In this frame grab provided by Russian Defence Ministry press service Russian long range bomber Tu-22M3 flies during an air strike over Syria on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Russia's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday Russian warplanes have taken off from a base in Iran and in Russia to target Islamic State fighters in Syria. (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service photo via AP)

Russia and Iran have backed Syrian President Bashar Assad's government in its five-year conflict against opposition groups that range from Islamist extremist groups such as the Nusra Front, an al-Qaida spinoff, to forces purporting to support a secular, inclusive country. The U.S. supports what it calls the "moderate" opposition.

Despite sharp differences in their interpretations of the conflict, the former Cold War foes have been weighing a partnership against their mutual enemies: IS and al-Qaida.

As part of the deal, U.S. officials said Russia would have to halt offensives by Assad's government, something it has failed to do over months of diplomatic efforts. They said the U.S. must get rebels to break ranks with Nusra, a task that may be more difficult after its fighters successfully broke Aleppo's siege earlier this month.

The officials weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity. They cautioned that the time and place of Kerry's meeing with Lavrov may yet change.

Syria's civil war has killed as many as a half-million people since 2011. Millions have fled as refugees, contributing to a global migration crisis. IS has seized on the instability to become a worldwide threat.

The Russian military said Thursday it was ready to back a U.N. call for weekly cease-fires in Aleppo, as haunting footage of a young boy's rescue from a bombed-out building shook global media. The U.S. wants a long-term truce that allows not only humanitarian aid into the city, but the possibility for U.N.-brokered peace talks to resume and the start of peace process.

Thursday also marked the fifth anniversary of President Barack Obama's call for Assad to leave power. With Russia protecting Assad's position, the U.S. has backed off from demanding his ouster in any early phase of a political transition.

Last month, Kerry met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lavrov in Moscow, hoping to finalize the new strategy. After two days of talks, each side spoke vaguely of steps they would take to try to stop the Arab country's relentless bloodshed.

The discussions came shortly after a leaked proposal showed the U.S. offering Russia a broad new military partnership against IS and Nusra. Several conditions would apply, including Russia committing to grounding Syria's bombers and starting a long-sought political transition process.

But the talk of intelligence and targeting sharing, and even joint bombing operations, quickly prompted significant dissent within the Obama administration.
Clinton: Nation needs to bring together police, communities

NEW YORK (AP)  Hillary Clinton said Thursday the nation needs to work together to repair rifts between police officers and the communities they serve and guard against more discord  a veiled reference to rival Donald Trump.

The Democratic presidential nominee was meeting with law enforcement leaders in New York City, joining with chiefs of police in the days after Trump, her Republican opponent, accused her of being "against the police" following a police shooting in Milwaukee.

Clinton made no mention of her opponent at the start of her meeting with eight law enforcement leaders but her comments appeared aimed at pushing back against Trump's claims that he was the best candidate to restore law and order following a rash of deadly police shootings.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talks with media as she meets with law enforcement leaders at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

"We have to be clear-eyed about the challenges we face. We can't ignore them and certainly we must not inflame them," Clinton said at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "We need to work together to bridge our divides, not stoke even more divisiveness."

Clinton has made criminal justice reform a central piece of her candidacy and has been frequently joined by a group of black women who lost a child to gun violence or amid allegations of police brutality. She has urged "white Americans" to put themselves in the shoes of "black Americans" to understand the harms of profiling and similarly said everyday Americans should understand the daily challenges faced by members of law enforcement and their families.

Trump spokesman Jason Miller said after the meeting that Clinton "and her allies' anti-police rhetoric show she cares more about protecting criminals over keeping America safe."

Clinton said at the start of the meeting that the deadly shootings in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Milwaukee show the need for the nation "to repair the bonds of trust and respect between our police officers and our communities."

Clinton was joined at the round-table discussion by retiring New York City police commissioner Bill Bratton, who said earlier this month in an interview with CBS News that Trump's "shoot from the hip" style and "lack of depth" on police issues scared him.

The meeting also included Bratton's successor, New York City Police Chief James O'Neill; Los Angeles Police Chief Charles Beck; former police chief Charles Ramsey of Philadelphia and law enforcement leaders from Seattle; Tucson, Arizona; Camden County, New Jersey; and Dallas County, Texas.

Aides said Clinton's meeting had been planned for several weeks and was building upon her outreach to law enforcement during the campaign and following up on law enforcement officials who spoke at the party's summer convention, including Ramsey.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talks with media as she meets with law enforcement leaders at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, flanked by New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, left, and Clinton campaign senior adviser Maya Harris, talks to media as she meets with law enforcement leaders at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, flanked by New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, left, and Clinton campaign senior adviser Maya Harris, right, pauses as she meets with law enforcement leaders at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Report details man's arrest outside Kendall Jenner's home

LOS ANGELES (AP)  A man arrested outside Kendall Jenner's Los Angeles home in a stalking case told police he has frequently waited for the model and reality television star to try to talk to her, a police report shows.

Shavaughn MacKenzie, 25, followed Jenner's car into her driveway on Sunday night, banged on her window and told her that he didn't have a gun, the report states.

Jenner remained in the car, called her manager and waited for police to arrive, the report states.

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2016 file photo, Kendall Jenner attends the world premiere of "Zoolander 2" in New York. A report by Los Angeles police states that transient arrested outside Jenner's home on Aug. 14, told officers he had frequently waited for the model and reality television star outside her residences in attempts to meet her. The report led a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to issue a temporary restraining order on Aug. 17, that requires Shavaughn McKenzie, who remains jailed, to stay away from Jenner and not attempt to contact her. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

A judge on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order at Jenner's request. McKenzie, a transient from Florida, remained in custody after pleading not guilty to misdemeanor stalking and trespassing charges filed earlier this week.

Jenner, 20, told police she has seen McKenzie multiple times and he had to be escorted away from her former home. He once ran into traffic to try to get her to stop, she said.

"I fear for my life and have suffered, and will continue to suffer, emotional distress," Jenner wrote in the restraining order application.

Jenner is the daughter of Kardashian family matriarch Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner and appears on the family's reality series "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."

McKenzie acknowledged he had waited for Jenner outside her residences multiple times, the police report states.

"I just wanted to have a conversation with her, but everything just went wrong," McKenzie told police, according to the report. "If she could just see what a chill guy I am, I know she'd want to be with me."

Records show McKenzie pleaded no contest to a pair of trespassing cases in May. Neither of the cases was related to Jenner.

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Pilot out of hospital after fighter jet crashed near Vegas

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP)  A veteran pilot has been released from the hospital after he was hurt when a fighter jet went down after completing an exercise with a military weapons school at an Air Force base near Las Vegas, officials say.

The pilot had just finished a combat training exercise when he self-ejected Thursday as he was returning to Nellis Air Force Base, Draken International's Scott Poteet said. The exercise typically lasts about an hour and a half.

By Thursday afternoon, the pilot had already been treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital. The company declined to identify him but said he is not from the Las Vegas area.

Air Force representative Scott Poteet speaks with media at Las Vegas and Hollywood Boulevards near Nellis Air Force Base on Thursday morning, Aug. 18, 2016. The briefing detailed the crash of an Air Force plane earlier this morning during training exercises. An official says a veteran pilot had just completed an exercise with a military weapons school at an Air Force base near Las Vegas when he ejected as the plane went down. (Daniel Clark/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

The man who has more than two decades of fighter pilot experience was alone in an A-4 Skyhawk jet opposite Nellis' weapons school trainees. The fixed wing single-engine aircraft was built in 1970. This fighter jet model was used by the military in the Vietnam era as a sub-sonic fighter-bomber aircraft with a top speed of more than 670 miles per hour.

A base spokesman said the crash involving the civilian contractor aircraft happened about 7:40 a.m. Thursday on public land adjacent to the base.

Draken is based in Lakeland, Florida. Draken pilots are civilian contractors who role-play with the trainees by pretending to be enemy pilots. Poteet said the six-month weapons school is akin to "getting your Ph.D in flying," with a focus on honing combat skills.

The jet in Thursday's crash was a two-seater and had no ammunition on board. Nothing was hit on the ground and no one else was injured. There have been no reports of damage to any facilities.

The other aircraft involved in the training landed safely.

The 57th Wing manages all flying operations at Nellis, about 15 miles northeast of downtown Las Vegas.

The wing supports the Air Force warfare test-and-evaluation activities, runs a graduate-level U.S. Air Force weapons school and serves as home to the Thunderbirds air demonstration team. Since 1975, the base has hosted periodic "red flag" and "green flag" training exercises involving military air units from U.S. allies in mock battles over the vast Nevada Test and Training Range.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says the agency was notified that a military aircraft was involved in the crash.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said he had no immediate information about his agency's involvement.

___

Associated Press writer Ken Ritter in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

Scott Poteet, Draken Internationals director of business development for U.S. Air Force Programs, speaks to the media at the intersection of North Las Vegas Boulevard and North Hollywood Boulevard after an aircraft crash near the area on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Las Vegas. An official says a veteran pilot had just completed an exercise with a military weapons school at an Air Force base near Las Vegas when he ejected as the plane went down. (Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
Ryan Evans takes lead after 1st round of Czech Masters

VYSOKY UJEZD, Czech Republic (AP)  Ryan Evans shot a 6-under 66 to take the first round lead at the Czech Masters on Thursday.

The 29-year-old Englishman, who is seeking his first European Tour title, birdied the 18th to finish one stroke ahead of defending champion Thomas Pieters of Belgium and Peter Hanson of Sweden at the Albatross Golf Resort near Prague.

"There's a first time for everything," Evans said. "I'm not going to think about it too much tomorrow, I'm just going to stick to the game plan."

Coming off a fourth-place finish at the Olympic course in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, Pieters opened with four birdies on the back nine and surged to a 7 under after two straight birdies on the fifth and sixth holes. But he fell back after a double bogey on the eighth.

"I'm little disappointed how I finished. But all in all it's a good score," Pieters said.

Hanson, who produced a flawless round with five birdies, said: "I'm very happy with my game, it felt solid today."

A group of seven  Craig Lee and Scott Jamieson of Scotland, Jeff Winther of Denmark, Welshman Bradley Dredge, England's Robert Coles and Graeme Storm, and Swede Robert Karlsson  was one stroke back after carding 68.

Englishman Lee Westwood, who hopes to be a wildcard pick for the European Ryder Cup team, shot 70.

Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick, who is currently in the last spot for the automatic Ryder Cup qualifying, finished with a 3-under 69.
Early voting begins in Oklahoma after voter ID law upheld

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Oklahomans began early voting Thursday ahead of next week's primary runoff elections, even as attorneys pledged to challenge a judge's recent ruling upholding the state's voter ID law.

Attorneys for a Tulsa voter who challenged the law said they will appeal a ruling by Oklahoma County Judge Aletia Haynes Timmons that upheld the law requiring voters to present a valid photo identification card from the state, tribal or federal government before they can cast a ballot.

Voter Delilah Christine Gentges sued the Oklahoma State Election Board in 2012 after voters approved the measure in a statewide election in 2010, alleging it creates a "new barrier" for voters. The statute took effect in July 2011.

"Any condition that affects the right of suffrage is unreasonable in our minds," said Tulsa attorney William Thomas, who represents Gentges. "I think ultimately it's going to keep voters from voting. It's a barrier to voting similar to the poll tax, which is unconstitutional."

Thomas said attorneys will appeal Timmons' ruling on the law's constitutionality, which was handed down on Monday, as well as her ruling that the issue could be heard in Oklahoma County instead of Tulsa County, where Gentges lives.

"I think the judge basically asked us to present certain evidence, and then when we presented it she altered what she was asking for," Thomas said.

Early voting will continue through Saturday in counties that have state or federal elections but will end Friday in those that don't.

The Oklahoma voter ID measure requires voters to present a valid photo identification card from the state, tribal or federal government, though the elderly can use photo IDs without an expiration date. Voters who do not have photo identification can show their free voter registration cards, and those without a proper identification card can sign a sworn statement and cast a provisional ballot.

Those without a proper identification card can sign a sworn statement but are only allowed to cast a provisional ballot.

Supporters have said the measure will reduce voter fraud. More than 30 states have some kind of voter ID requirement at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. And voters have challenged some of those states' voter ID laws.

Just last month, a federal appeals court blocked North Carolina's law that limited to six the number of acceptable photo IDs. The court said the provisions targeted African Americans with "almost surgical precision."

In Wisconsin, a federal judge limited the requirements of that state's voter ID law and ordered the state to issue valid voting credentials to anyone trying to obtain a free photo ID but lacking underlying documents such as birth certificates.

And in Texas, a federal appeal court ruled that a strict voter ID law discriminates against minorities and the poor and must be weakened before the November election.

Oklahoma's Republican-dominated Legislature approved voter ID requirements in 2009, but former Democratic Gov. Brad Henry vetoed the plan. Henry said at the time that the proposal conflicted with the Oklahoma Constitution, and in his veto message warned lawmakers to be "especially careful when tinkering with this fundamental right."

Legislators then opted to place the measure, State Question 746, before voters on Nov. 2, 2010, and it passed with 74 percent of the vote.

A spokesman for Attorney General Scott Pruitt, whose office defended the law, said the law does not infringe on any citizen's right to vote.
Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva has been elected as an athletes' representative on the International Olympic Committee, despite being banned from competing in Rio.

Isinbayeva, 34, saw her election as a sign she retains the trust of her fellow athletes despite being part of a doping-tainted track and field team.

Isinbayeva and 66 other Russian track and field athletes were barred from the Rio Games by the IAAF following a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation detailing state-sponsored doping in Russia.

Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva claps during the IOC Athletes Commission Election Result Press Conference at the Olympic Village on Thursday

Thumbs up: Isinbayeva, who is in Rio, says the vote is a vote of confidence by the international sporting community after Russian track and field were banned

The athlete, an outspoken critic of the decision to ban the Russian athletics team, appealed but failed to overturn the ruling.

Isinbayeva, who has never failed a drug test, was in Rio as she secured an eight-year term as one of four candidates elected to the IOC athletes' commission. There were 23 candidates for the posts.

TRACK RECORD! ISINBAYEVA'S MEDAL HAUL Athens 2004 - Gold Beijing 2008 - Gold London 2012 - Bronze Rio 2016 - Banned Advertisement

'I am very thankful to all athletes who voted for me here in Rio,' Isinbayeva said in the Olympic Village. 'Thank you so much for your trust, for your belief, for your support. For me it was very, very important. Today we won all together.

'Now I will work very hard for the Olympic movement. Of course I will protect the rights of clean athletes all over the world.'

Isinbayeva, the world record-holder in the women's pole vault, won gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2008 Beijing Games. She took bronze four years ago in London.

Active fan: Isinbayeva, despite not competing in Rio has been a cheerleader for the team and has been pictured at several events including synchronized swimming

Elena Isinbaeva of Russia competes in the Women's pole vault final during Day Four of the 14th IAAF World Athletics Championships Moscow 2013

Now she will have a say in how the Olympic movement is run.

'It is very important for me because I was preparing for this Olympics for a long time and unfortunately I was not able to participate,' she said. 'It is kind of compensation for my competition here in Rio so I am very, very thankful.'
A festival to remember a riot? New York event stirs debate

NEW YORK (AP)  It was the most searing racial clash in a generation in the nation's biggest city, spiraling out of the deaths of a black child and a Jewish doctoral student. Yet the 25th anniversary of the Crown Heights riot is being marked with games, rides and "fun for all ages."

It's meant to showcase unity in an area shaken by four days of violence in 1991. But the plan has opened a painful rift between the slain Jewish student's family and organizers, and it has raised questions about when celebration and commemoration can mix.

Promoted by a roster of elected officials, community groups and Jewish organizations, Sunday's "One Crown Heights" event starts with a commemoration ceremony. But the ensuing "neighborhood festival" galls relatives of Yankel Rosenbaum, who was stabbed to death as the riot began after a car in a prominent rabbi's motorcade fatally hit 7-year-old Gavin Cato.

FILE - In this Aug. 21, 1991 file photo, New York City Police Department officers, in riot gear, walk past a police car that was overtuned by rioters in the Crown Heights section of the Brooklyn borough of New York. A plan to mark the 25th anniversary of the Crown Heights riot with a family-friendly street festival has drawn criticism from the brother of a rabbinical student who suffered a fatal knife wound during the unrest. Organizers say the idea of the festival is to foster a sense of unity in the neighborhood. (AP Photo/David Burns, File)

"It's insensitive," said Rosenbaum's brother, Norman, who notes that the event's flier alludes to "the events of Aug. 20, 1991," not to rioting or deaths. "It's a trivialization of a very, very serious period of time, of a series of incidents culminating in my brother's murder."

His disapproval dismays one of the organizers, Devorah Halberstam, who stresses her empathy for the Rosenbaums. Her 16-year-old son, Ari, was killed on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1994 in a shooting aimed at a vanload of Jewish students.

"My total intention in this was to do right by Yankel and Gavin Cato" and show their families the community remembered and cared about them, said Halberstam, who helped establish the neighborhood's Jewish Children's Museum. To her, bringing children of different backgrounds together to have fun is a positive, forward-looking way to observe the anniversary and years of efforts to create more cohesion in Brooklyn's Crown Heights.

Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Lubavitch Jews, African-Americans and black Caribbean immigrants had long been neighbors there when a car in the entourage of the Lubavitchers' spiritual leader, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, jumped a curb and hit Gavin. Three hours later, black people shouting, "Get the Jew!" fatally stabbed Yankel Rosenbaum, 29, an Australian Jewish scholar who was in New York doing research.

Days of rioting by black Crown Heights residents followed in what a 1993 state report called "the most extensive racial unrest in New York City in over 20 years." Nearly 200 people were injured.

Now, Crown Heights is a gentrifying area where rising housing costs and an influx of newcomers stir some gripes of their own. But since the riot, residents have worked to foster communication and familiarity between blacks and Jews, from forming organizations together to speaking up when violence strikes either community.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a black former police officer, feels the atmosphere in Crown Heights has changed since the riot, and so should the commemoration.

"We should not spend our lives doing solemn ceremonies over and over again and not recognizing things that we should celebrate," he said.

The Anti-Defamation League, a group that fights anti-Semitism and bigotry, agrees there's room for "both commemorative and celebratory components." So does Gavin's father.

"I have no problem with that," said Carmel Cato.

But Rosenbaum's family isn't alone in condemning the event's tone.

"You can't have a fun festival commemorating a tragic event," and there are other days to celebrate unity, says Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, who runs a drug-prevention program and serves on a community board in Crown Heights. Isaac Abraham, who lives elsewhere in Brooklyn and has advocated for the Rosenbaum family for years, calls the festival "an insult and an embarrassment."

There have been disagreements before over whether solemn anniversaries can include festive notes. During a 2010 commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, a group of young people angered the mayor of Selma, Alabama, by dancing on the bridge where a bloody confrontation between police and peaceful protesters helped spur the legislation.

Back in Crown Heights, Carmel Cato and Norman Rosenbaum have developed their own way of commemorating the riot. They got together in New York this week, as they have periodically since the 10th anniversary.

"Two families that suffered losses of loved ones in a terrible situation have come together" and hope others can do the same, Rosenbaum said.

"We might be different, but we're one people."

___

Reach Jennifer Peltz on Twitter @ jennpeltz.

FILE - In this Aug. 21, 1991file photo, employees clean up a sneaker store that was vandalized during violence between residents and police in the Crown Heights section of the Brooklyn borough of New York. A plan to mark the 25th anniversary of the Crown Heights riot with a family-friendly street festival has drawn criticism from the brother of a rabbinical student who suffered a fatal knife wound during the unrest. Organizers say the idea of the festival is to foster a sense of unity in the neighborhood. (AP Photo/Mario Cabrera, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 21, 1991, file photo, the casket of Yankel Rosenbaum, a rabbinical student visiting from Australia, is carried through the streets of the Crown Heights section of the Brooklyn borough of New York. A plan to mark the 25th anniversary of the Crown Heights riot with a family-friendly street festival has drawn criticism from the brother of a rabbinical student who suffered a fatal knife wound during the unrest. Organizers say the idea of the festival is to foster a sense of unity in the neighborhood. (AP Photo/David Burns, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 27, 1991 file photo, the casket of Gavin Cato passes the crowd of mourners outside St. Anthony's Baptist Church in the Brooklyn borough of New York. A plan to mark the 25th anniversary of the Crown Heights riot with a family-friendly street festival has drawn criticism from the brother of a rabbinical student who suffered a fatal knife wound during the unrest. Organizers say the idea of the festival is to foster a sense of unity in the neighborhood. (AP Photo/Joe Major, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 21, 1991 file photo, New York City Police Department officers scuffle with a protester during a march through the Crown Heights section of the Brooklyn borough of New York. A plan to mark the 25th anniversary of the Crown Heights riot with a family-friendly street festival has drawn criticism from the brother of a rabbinical student who suffered a fatal knife wound during the unrest. Organizers say the idea of the festival is to foster a sense of unity in the neighborhood. (AP Photo/Joe Major, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 29, 1992, file photo, Norman Rosenbaum, center, brother of slain rabbinical student Yankel Rosenbaum, leaves state Supreme Court in the Brooklyn borough of New York, following the jury's verdict in the Crown Heights murder trail. A plan to mark the 25th anniversary of the Crown Heights riot with a family-friendly street festival has drawn criticism from the brother of a rabbinical student who suffered a fatal knife wound during the unrest. Organizers say the idea of the festival is to foster a sense of unity in the neighborhood. (AP Photo/Richard Harbus, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 19, 2002 file photo, Carmel Cato, center, reaches out to embrace Norman Rosenbaum, right, as they walk together in a show of unity into a New York restaurant on the 11th anniversary of the 1991 Crown Heights riots sparked by the deaths of Cato's seven year old son Gavin Cato and the murder of Rosenbaum's brother Yankel, an Australian student. Though Cato and Rosenbaum again lunched together on Wednesday, Rosenbaum has said a plan to mark the 25th anniversary of the riots with a family oriented neighborhood festival is insensitive, though Cato says he's OK with it. (AP Photo/Beth A. Keiser, File)

FILE- In this Jan. 18, 1995 file photo, Devorah Halberstam, left, gestures as she and her husband, David Halberstam, meet with reporters outside the State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York. Devorah Halberstam is among the organizers of "One Crown Heights," a family oriented festival with games and rides taking place on the Crown Heights Riot's 25th anniversary. Their son, Ari Halberstam, was killed in a drive-by shooting on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1994. (AP Photo/David Karp, File)
Obama administration to phase out some private prison use

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Obama administration announced Thursday it will phase out its use of some private prisons, affecting thousands of federal inmates and immediately sending shares of the two publicly traded prison operators plunging.

In a memo to the Bureau of Prisons, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told it to start reducing "and ultimately ending" the Justice Department's use of private prisons. The announcement follows a recent Justice Department audit that found that the private facilities have more safety and security problems than government-run ones.

The Obama administration says the declining federal prison population justifies the decision to eventually close privately run prisons. The federal prison population  now at about 193,000  has been dropping due to changes in federal sentencing policies over the past three years.

FILE - In this June 15, 2010 file photo, the Idaho Correctional Center is shown south of Boise, Idaho, operated by Corrections Corporation of America. The Justice Department says its phasing out its relationships with private prisons after a recent audit found the private facilities have more safety and security problems than ones run by the government. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates instructed federal officials to significantly reduce reliance on private prisons. (AP Photo/Charlie Litchfield, File)

The policy change does not cover private prisons used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which hold up to 34,000 immigrants awaiting deportation.

"Private prisons served an important role during a difficult period, but time has shown that they compare poorly to our own Bureau facilities," Yates wrote in a memo to the acting director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. As private prison contracts come to an end, the bureau is not to renew the contract or it should at least "substantially" reduce its scope, Yates wrote. She did not specify a timeline for when all federal inmates would be in government-owned facilities.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says the country should move away from using private facilities to house inmates. The Clinton campaign has said it no longer accepts contributions from private prison interests, and if it receives such a contribution, it will donate that money to charity. The private prison industry is a major contributor to Republican political campaigns, particularly in recent years. GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he supports the use of private prisons.

The private prisons on the chopping block are operated by three private companies  Corrections Corporation of America, GEO Group Inc., and Management and Training Corporation. After the announcement Thursday, Corrections Corp. stock dropped $13.22, or 48.6 percent, to $14 and Geo Group tumbled $13.80, or 42.7 percent, to $18.49. Both companies get about half their revenue from the federal government.

The Management and Training Corporation and Corrections Corporation of American issued statements saying they were disappointed with the decision. They also said they disagreed with the conclusions of an inspector general's audit that preceded the Justice Department's decision.

The federal government started to rely on private prisons in the late 1990s due to overcrowding. As of December 2015, private prisons held about 12 percent of the total federal prison population, or 22,500 inmates, according to the inspector general report released earlier this month. Many of the inmates are foreign nationals who are being held on immigration offenses, the audit said.

Immigration and human rights advocates have long-complained about the conditions in privately-run prisons. Amnesty International, on Thursday, urged states to follow suit. Some states, such as Kentucky, already have.

Before Thursday, the Bureau of Prisons had been working toward the goal of phasing out private prison contracts when, three weeks ago, it did not renew a contract for 1,200 beds, Yates said. Thursday's policy change also included direction to change a current solicitation for a private prison contract, cutting the maximum number of beds required by 66 percent.

.___

Associated Press writers Josh Lederman and Alicia A. Caldwell and Charles Sheehan in New York contributed to this report.
Raccoons caught after evening romp through Oklahoma Capitol

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Two masked intruders were captured after entering the Oklahoma Capitol, rummaging through a senator's office and splashing around in a second-floor bathroom.

The intruders? Raccoons.

Senate officials say security footage shows the pair sneaking down a Senate hallway on Wednesday night and exploring an office. A cleaning crew trapped the raccoons in a bathroom and called animal control officers.

Oklahoma City spokeswoman Kristy Yager says the two raccoons are being taken to a wildlife sanctuary south of Oklahoma City.
NYC Muslims grapple with surveillance after imam's killing

NEW YORK (AP)  At an emotional funeral service for a New York City imam and his assistant who were gunned down on a Queens street, one friend of the victims took the microphone and demanded that the city install security cameras outside mosques citywide to help protect Muslims from harassment or violence.

"Each street corner should have security cameras around our places of worship," said Anwar Hussein Khan, a teacher.

But in the days following that impassioned plea, the city's Muslim community has since backed away from that request.

Saif Akonjee, front row third from left, son of slain Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee, joins with representatives of Islamic groups and leaders of the interfaith community for a news conference, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, at City Hall in New York. The imam and Thara Uddin were gunned down Saturday after leaving a mosque in Queens. Oscar Morel has been charged in the murders. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Muslim activists and civil liberties groups here have spent years opposing police surveillance of mosques.

At a meeting Wednesday night, representatives of dozens of Muslim community groups said surveillance of mosques shouldn't be handled by the government.

"We must look within to safeguard our houses of worship," said Debbie Almontaser, of the Muslim Community Network, said Thursday at a news conference outside City Hall.

The killings of Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee and his friend Thara Uddin have forced Muslims in New York to grapple with the push-and-pull of wanting police protection, but also being nervous about exposing themselves to more scrutiny by law enforcement.

In a series of stories that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2012, The Associated Press reported on efforts by the New York Police Department to seek out potential terrorists by infiltrating Muslim student groups, putting informants in mosques and sending operatives into Muslim businesses to listen to conversation.

The tactics, when revealed, left many in the Muslim community feeling distrustful of the police. In 2014, the police department's so-called Demographics Unit was disbanded and a pair of lawsuits over the intelligence-gathering practices have been settled.

"For our community we are also a target of police surveillance," said Linda Sarsour, the executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. "It's a difficult predicament to be in as a Muslim community right now."

Surveillance cameras are omnipresent in New York. Police regularly monitor areas of downtown and midtown Manhattan. In the boroughs, some religious groups and local government officials have used state and federal funds to put cameras around synagogues and Jewish neighborhoods.

But whether the cameras deter crime is unclear. Many are not monitored until after a crime has already occurred.

For their part, police say they regularly advise businesses, places of worship and others on security practices, but can only do so much.

"Ultimately at any private facility, whether it's a religious institution, a school or a consulate, the physical security of the site is really the prime responsibility of site management," said Stephen Davis, the police department's top spokesman.

Authorities have not said what prompted the Aug. 13 killings, which occurred a few blocks away from a Queens mosque. They've declined to label the slayings a hate crime despite a feeling among some in Akonjee and Uddin's largely Bangladeshi community in Queens that the killer was motivated by anti-Muslim political rhetoric.

Prosecutors have called the killings an "assassination," and charged a man of Hispanic origin, Oscar Morel, with murder. He has, through his lawyer, denied the charges.

___

AP writer Deepti Hajela contributed to this report.

Kobir Chowdhury, bottom, Rev. Chloe Breyer, center, and Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum join with members of the Islamic and interfaith community for a news conference regarding the murders of Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee and Thara Uddin, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, at City Hall in New York. The pair were gunned down Saturday after leaving a mosque in Queens. Oscar Morel has been charged in the murders. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Debbie Almontaser, left, with the Muslim Community Network, and Rev. Chloe Breyer, join with members of the Islamic and interfaith community for a news conference regarding the murders of Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee and Thara Uddin, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, at City Hall in New York. The pair were gunned down Saturday after leaving a mosque in Queens. Oscar Morel has been charged in the murders. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Members of the Islamic and interfaith community gather for a news conference regarding the murders of Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee and Thara Uddin, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, at City Hall in New York. The pair were gunned down Saturday after leaving a mosque in Queens. Oscar Morel has been charged in the murders. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

FILE - This undated file photo provided by Abdul Chowdhury, Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee is shown. Akonjee and his assistance died in a shooting Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, as they left the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in the Queens borough of New York after prayers. The daytime slayings of the imam and his friend has forced New York City's Muslim community to confront issues of surveillance and privacy. (Abdul Chowdhury via AP, File)
Baton Rouge's summer of pain: Shootings, unrest, now floods

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Anger. Sorrow. Vengeful glee. Guilt. Terrence Carter has experienced it all during Baton Rouge's summer of pain. And on Thursday, as he walked through the dirty water on the floor of his home, Carter said he was experiencing, of all things, hope.

"A couple of weeks ago, it seems like everybody was pulling apart. Now it's no black and white thing. Everybody's just got to help everybody to come out of this," Carter said.

Baton Rouge, the unassuming Louisiana capital city that is often overshadowed by jazz-loving, hard-partying New Orleans, has endured a string of tragedies this summer: the July 7 shooting death of a black man at the hands of two white police officers, the July 17 ambush killings of three officers by a black man, and now, the rains that have triggered catastrophic flooding.

Rosalyn Scott hugs a community member as people aid in cleaning after flooding Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Crosby, Miss. Mississippi officials say heavy rains last week and through the weekend damaged roads in six counties in the southern part of the state. (Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

And yet, amid this latest crisis, Carter and others have seen people pull together  white and black, officers and civilians  in ways that give them hope.

"We had so much division and hate in this city, but it's kind of a cleansing and a washing and God letting us know that all the things that we are fighting over and that are dividing us, that he's in control of everything," Cleve Dunn Jr., a businessman and leader in the black community.

The waters are largely receding across southern Louisiana. At least 13 people have died, and authorities are going door to door looking for more. Over 85,000 people have registered for federal disaster assistance, more than 30,000 have been rescued, and an estimated 40,000 homes have been damaged.

Carter, who is black, knew Alton Sterling, the black man who was killed outside a Baton Rouge convenience store after a struggle on the pavement. Angered by Sterling's death, the soft-spoken Carter protested at police headquarters. He confesses he was happy when he first heard about the deadly assault on the officers.

Then he felt guilty: "Their families lost them. They had kids who'll be growing up without a father."

Then came the flood, which brought 4 feet of water to his home. The stench is overpowering and the task ahead daunting.

One sure sign of how the city has unified has been the "Cajun Navy," a corps of regular citizens who have gone out on boats to rescue people stranded in their houses. One of those rescuers was Sterling's aunt, Sandra.

When floodwaters began rising near her Baton Rouge home last Saturday, she stayed to help her neighbors get out, first by school bus, then by boat. Sterling estimates she and others helped more than 200 people reach dry ground over the weekend.

While pushing for justice for the nephew she helped raise, Sterling also has helped lead the calls for peace in the grief-stricken city.

"I couldn't save his life, but I can probably save a lot more now. That's what really motivated me to go out," Sterling said Thursday.

The anti-police rhetoric seems to have quieted somewhat, as officers who were once viewed with suspicion are now often the ones risking their lives to rescue people. They are also struggling with flooding of their own. Roughly 20 percent of East Baton Rouge's sheriff's deputies have been driven from their homes.

Capt. Darryl Armentor, whose team of deputies has rescued countless of people in recent days, said he has learned a few things about himself during the crisis, like the fact that he can go three days without sleep before he starts to hallucinate.

For Armentor, the city's summer of pain has been personal. He knows the parents of one of the officers involved in Sterling's shooting. He knew the sheriff's deputy killed in the ambush and the one who was critically wounded. And then the flood left 6 inches of water inside his house.

Armentor said he hasn't had time to fully process this summer's events or express the toll they have taken on police and other emergency workers.

"There's no time for stress now. We just work," he said. "It hasn't stopped."

There is, of course, fear that as the floodwaters recede, so will this sense of unity. That will be the test.

"This is a critical juncture where communities can decide to go one direction or another," said Albert Samuels, a professor at the city's predominantly black Southern University. "The issues that existed before the storm will exist after the storm. It will be interesting to see how the city handles this."

___

Associated Press reporter Melinda Deslatte contributed to this report.

In this Aug. 15, 2016, photo, provided by the U.S. Army National Guard, Sgt. Chad McCann of Deville, Louisiana, crew chief with F Company, 2-135th MEDEVAC, brings a young child to the waiting UH-60 Blackhawk to be taken to safety after flood waters threatened his home in South Louisiana. Over 3,000 Louisiana National Guardsmen are still engaged in flood response efforts, to include rescues, evacuations, security patrols, engineering missions, and commodities distribution. (Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jesse Curtis/U.S. Army National Guard via AP)

In this Aug. 17, 2016, photo provided by the U.S. Army National Guard, soldiers with the 1023rd Engineer Company, 528th Engineer Battalion, attach supersac sandbags to a Louisiana National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk to be dropped at Alligator Bayou Control Structure by Elayn Hunt Correctional Facility at St. Gabriel, La. Mississippi National Guard supported the operation with 10 personnel and two CH-72 Chinooks, and together dropped 303 sandbags. (Sgt. 1st Class Glenn Childress/U.S. Army National Guard via AP)

Brandon Scott, left, helps Dexter Smith move furniture out of his home after flooding Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Crosby, Miss. Mississippi officials say heavy rains last week and through the weekend damaged roads in six counties in the southern part of the state. (Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Community members gather alongside mounds of ruined furniture from flooding Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Crosby, Miss. Mississippi officials say heavy rains last week and through the weekend damaged roads in six counties in the southern part of the state. (Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

The Rev. Robert Scott, center, leads community members in prayer Thursday, Aug. 18, in Crosby, Miss. where almost half the town's population has been displaced due to the historic flooding. Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Crosby, Miss. Mississippi officials say heavy rains last week and through the weekend damaged roads in six counties in the southern part of the state. (Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Ayzat Mardan, right, and Clarence Smiley load linens into a limousine from 654-LIMO, Thursday Aug. 18, 2016, at the Hampton Inn on Okaloosa Island in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Area hotels donated linens, soaps and other items that will be delivered to storm victims in Louisiana. (Nick Tomecek/Northwest Florida Daily News via AP)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016 photo, Dexter Smith stands outside of his flooded home in Crosby, Miss. The home was also flooded in 2014. (Matt Williamson/The Enterprise-Journal via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

American Red Cross member Michelle Wilson hands food out to residents Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Crosby, Miss. Mississippi officials say heavy rains last week and through the weekend damaged roads in six counties in the southern part of the state. (Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Volunteers with Christian Aid Ministries gut a flood-damaged home Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Crosby, Miss. Mississippi officials say heavy rains last week and through the weekend damaged roads in six counties in the southern part of the state. (Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Rhiannon Reynolds, general manager at the Hampton Inn on Okaloosa Island in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., reacts in her office on Thursday Aug. 18, 2106, to the pile of linens and soaps collected by area hotels that will be donated to flood victims in Louisiana. (Nick Tomecek/Northwest Florida Daily News via AP)

In this image made from video, Coffins lie unearthed Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Plainview Cemetery in Denham Springs, La. With an estimated 40,000 homes damaged by deadly flooding, Louisiana could be looking at its biggest housing crunch since the miserable, bumbling aftermath of Hurricane Katrina a decade ago. (AP Photo/Joshua Replogle)

In this image made from video, Willie Brooks III says speaks about the grave of his grandmother and how it's gone due to flooding, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Plainview Cemetery in Denham Springs, La. With an estimated 40,000 homes damaged by deadly flooding, Louisiana could be looking at its biggest housing crunch since the miserable, bumbling aftermath of Hurricane Katrina a decade ago. (AP Photo/Joshua Replogle)
AP EXPLAINS: Why Trump can't shut down the internet

NEW YORK (AP)  Donald Trump is repeating calls for the U.S. and its allies to cut off internet access to the Islamic State group and other extremist organizations.

Problem is, there isn't a way to do it.

Trump first made the demand during a debate in December. He said the government should work with "brilliant people" in Silicon Valley to keep violent extremists offline, even if that means shutting down parts of the internet.

FILE - In this Monday, Aug. 15, 2016, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks in Youngstown, Ohio. Trump is again calling for the U.S. and its allies to immediately cut off the internet access of the Islamic State group and other extremist organizations. But from a technical standpoint, the U.S. still cant just turn off the internet in other parts of the world. And even if it could, such a move would likely hurt more than potential attackers, and it would hinder the government's ability to keep tabs on them. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

But that's not possible from a technical standpoint. The U.S. can't turn off the internet in other parts of the world. And even if could, such a move would likely hurt more than potential attackers, and it would hinder the government's ability to keep tabs on them.

Here's a look at Trump's idea and why it won't work:

___

WHAT TRUMP SAID (THIS TIME)

In Monday's speech, in which Trump also blamed Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama for the rise of the Islamic State and instability in the Middle East, Trump pledged to pursue military operations to "crush and destroy ISIS." He added that internet attacks and financial warfare will be essential in dismantling Islamic terrorism.

"We cannot allow the internet to be used as a recruiting tool, and for other purposes, by our enemy," Trump said. "We must shut down their access to this form of communication, and we must do so immediately."

The actions wouldn't be limited to the Islamic State. Trump also singled out Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah as necessary targets.

___

FIRST OBSTACLE: THE INTERNET ITSELF

For one thing, the U.S. doesn't control the internet. No one does.

Because the internet is a global web of networks that are all owned by different governments, companies or individuals, no single entity has the ability to turn it off in parts of the world that it doesn't control. The only recourse is to destroy the electric grid and other infrastructure in that region  but that's extreme, and it still might not work with the availability of power generators and such.

Even within the U.S., ferreting out extremist groups and kicking them off the internet isn't realistic, given how rapidly the internet grows and changes.

And people have a long history of finding their way around internet restrictions, whether it's democracy activists in China or Iran, or tweens looking to circumvent their school's firewall.

___

THE PROBLEM WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

Groups such as the Islamic State have mastered social media for recruiting and spreading their message.

Both Twitter and Facebook say they don't tolerate posts that promote violence and will remove such posts when reported by users. Accounts linked to such activity are shut down.

Twitter said Thursday that it's suspended 235,000 accounts for the promotion of terrorism over the past six months.

But there's nothing stopping banned users from opening new accounts under different names, turning such efforts into the equivalent of "Whac-A-Mole."

So far, internet companies have resisted pre-emptively blocking posts, partly because that would require judgment calls about what constitutes terrorism  a definition that differs around the world.

___

THAT PESKY FIRST AMENDMENT

Civil libertarians say any attempt to filter out the online activities of extremist groups would inevitably infringe on the free-speech rights of Americans, because it's impossible to block out that speech without blocking legitimate speech, too.

While First Amendment protections don't extend to people in other countries, the law enforcement and intelligence communities have mixed feelings about shutting down terrorist chatter online. They say such chatter can help them monitor terrorist activities and prevent a future attack.

___

THE RISE OF CYBERWARFARE

Trump said Monday that cyberwarfare is one of his key strategies for destroying extremists, but it's not an entirely novel concept.

In theory, hackers for the U.S. or its allies could mount an internet attack to shut down a terrorist group's recruiting or communications operations, or they could just hack in to surveil the group.

While they may not admit it, most countries that have spies now have state-sponsored hackers, too. Many of them see cyberwarfare as a cheaper and safer alternative to traditional military action, sanctioned or otherwise.

China is widely thought to be behind last year's hack of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. And some experts believe Russia is behind the recent breach targeting the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and other Democratic Party entities.

Many experts say the U.S. and Israel fired the first shot of the cyberwarfare age. They're believed to be behind Stuxnet, a computer virus that disrupted an Iranian uranium-enrichment facility beginning in 2010 and set back Iran's nuclear ambitions. Neither the U.S. nor Israel has acknowledged any involvement.

____
California congressman's father sentenced to year in prison

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  The father of a California congressman was sentenced Thursday to a year and a day in federal prison after prosecutors said he illegally funneled nearly $270,000 in contributions to his son's campaigns.

A federal judge also fined Babulal Bera $100,000 for violating federal election laws, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ami Bera of Elk Grove was not charged and has denied knowing about his father's activities. Prosecutors said they have found no evidence that he was involved.

Babulal Bera, the father of Democratic Congressman Ami Bera, walks to the federal courthouse for sentencing for election fraud, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Sacramento, Calif. Babulal Bera, 83, who had pleaded guilty to illegally funneling nearly $270,000 in contributions to his son's campaigns, was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $100,000 for violating general election laws. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Bera is running for a third two-year term against Republican Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, who has suggested his rival must have known about the scheme.

Babulal Bera of La Palma pleaded guilty in May to making excessive campaign contributions and making contributions in someone else's name.

He acknowledged that he arranged for friends, relatives and acquaintances to contribute more than $225,000 to his son's failed 2010 campaign for a House seat and then illegally reimbursing the donors.

He did it again with more than $43,000 for his son's successful 2012 campaign, when Ami Bera defeated Republican Congressman Dan Lungren on the second try.

"This is one of the most difficult moments my family has ever experienced," Ami Bera said in a statement. "Of course I'm absolutely devastated and heartbroken for how today's decision will impact our entire family. But my father's accepted what he did was wrong, he's taken responsibility, and I love him more than words can express."

Investigators found more than 130 improper campaign contributions involving about 90 contributors, according to a plea agreement in the case. Campaign officials said they reimbursed the U.S. Treasury for the amount of the illegal donations, as required by law.

Prosecutors sought the one-year prison term, while probation officers and defense attorneys said the 83-year-old Bera should be spared incarceration because of his age, poor health and because his 82-year-old wife could not live without him.

"That sentence, which is significant given this defendant's age, sends a clear message that campaign finance crimes are serious offenses that will result in real consequences," Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert said in a statement.

Prosecutors said a prison sentence was needed because of the seriousness of the crime and noted they sought a shorter sentence than the maximum 2 1/2 years allowed under Bera's plea agreement in May. The maximum prison sentence on each of his two felony counts is five years.

As part of the plea deal, the U.S. Attorney's Office agreed not to charge his wife.

Jones called it "a very serious crime committed to further Ami Bera's political ambitions. I am sorry to hear that at 83 years old, Mr. Bera will be going to prison for a crime I do not believe he alone is responsible for."

Babulal Bera's attorney, Edward Loya, declined comment.

Democrats hold a 5 percentage point advantage in voter registration in the suburban Sacramento 7th Congressional District.
Detective accused of hitting handcuffed woman put on leave

CLEVELAND (AP)  A Cleveland police detective accused of striking a handcuffed woman in the face after she spat at officers has been placed on administrative duty.

Cleveland.com (http://bit.ly/2bB06JN ) reports police Chief Calvin Williams said the detective will be restricted to paperwork and other in-office tasks until investigators determine what happened. Williams says other officers involved in the woman's Aug. 11 arrest also were put on administrative duty.

Cellphone video of the woman's arrest shows her spitting at a detective and then being hit in the face by another detective and falling to the ground. A police report says she threw a soda can at officers before spitting.

The detective accused of hitting the woman wrote in his report that he grabbed her face to stop her from spitting at others.

___
Nadal knocked out at Cincinnati, Steve Johnson moves up

MASON, Ohio (AP)  Right from the start, Rafael Nadal was running on empty.

Nadal showed the effects of his long layoff from a wrist injury Thursday, losing to Croatia's Borna Coric 6-1, 6-3 at the Western & Southern Open. The 30-year-old Spaniard has a lot of work to do before the U.S. Open.

He was sluggish and well off the mark on his shots Thursday and had a trainer visit between games to check his shoulder and elbow, which were feeling the effects of a lot of tennis at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and two days in Cincinnati's heat and humidity.

Borna Coric, from Croatia, returns with Rafael Nadal, from Spain, during a match at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Mason, Ohio. (AP Photo/Frank Victores)

"Too tired," he said. "Elbow, shoulder. Two and a half months without competing and especially without practicing, and to do what I did in the Olympics and come here  too much."

The 19-year-old Coric reached the quarterfinals of a Masters tournament for the first time and ended his streak of 10 straight losses against top-10 opponents.

The upset left only one member of the Big Four still in the running. Andy Murray beat Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday night to win his career-best 20th match in a row despite a head cold.

"I picked it up in Rio and only started feeling it on the flight coming over after the match," Murray said. "I sound worse today but I feel better."

Defending champion Roger Federer and top-ranked Novak Djokovic are missing the tournament because of injuries. Murray is playing, but feeling the effects of a grueling week in Rio de Janeiro where he won the gold medal Sunday. Along with Nadal, those four have combined to win 54 of the last 58 Masters events.

Nadal missed two months because of an injured left wrist and returned to the courts in Rio, where he lost in the semifinals and won the doubles title. The lack of matches showed in Cincinnati: Nadal double faulted five times and had 27 unforced errors. Coric surged ahead 4-0 in the second set and closed it out in an hour and 11 minutes.

Murray had hoped for some rain in Cincinnati, giving him time to recoup from Rio. He got rain only two points into his match on Thursday night  a downpour forced an hour-long delay. Murray was steady throughout, committing only 11 unforced errors.

Steve Johnson also advanced to the quarterfinals Thursday and put himself in position to become the top American in the ATP rankings heading into the U.S. Open.

Johnson beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6 (6) and raised his index finger in celebration. He'll move into the ATP's top spot next week, knocking John Isner out of the slot that he's held every week since July 29, 2013. Isner lost in the second round in Cincinnati.

"Hasn't sunk in yet," Johnson said. "I just found out. So it's an honor, it really is. John has held that spot for a while, and I'm just glad that there are a bunch of Americans pushing toward the top."

Second-seeded Stan Wawrinka wasted a chance to take advantage of the wide-open draw on Thursday, losing to Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4. Wawrinka smacked his racket on the ground as he fell behind in the first set, the start of a frustrating match overall. Tied 3-3 in the second set, Wawrinka committed two unforced forehand errors and Dimitrov got the break he needed to take control.

Wawrinka had one of those few Masters titles that wasn't claimed by the Big Four, winning in Monte Carlo in 2014.

In the women's bracket, Karolina Pliskova became the first woman to reach the quarterfinals, defeating Misaki Doi 7-5, 6-3. Doi was a "lucky loser" who replaced defending champion Serena Williams when she withdrew with an inflamed shoulder on Monday.

Second-seeded Angelique Kerber moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Barbora Strycova. She'll end Williams' streak of 183 consecutive weeks at No. 1 if she wins the tournament.

___

AP freelance writer Mark Schmetzer contributed to this report.

Andy Murray, from Britain, hits a return to Kevin Anderson, of South Africa, at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Mason, Ohio. (AP Photo/Frank Victores)

Borna Coric, from Croatia, returns with Rafael Nadal, from Spain, during a match at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Mason, Ohio. (AP Photo/Frank Victores)

Borna Coric, from Croatia, returns with Rafael Nadal, from Spain, during a match at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Mason, Ohio. (AP Photo/Frank Victores)

Borna Coric, from Croatia, returns with Rafael Nadal, from Spain, during a match at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, in Mason, Ohio. (AP Photo/Frank Victores)
Mexico's rights agency says police executed 22 at ranch

MEXICO CITY (AP)  Federal police executed at least 22 people on a ranch last year, then moved bodies and planted guns to corroborate the official account that the deaths happened in a gunbattle, Mexico's human rights commission said Thursday.

One police officer was killed in the confrontation in the western state of Michoacan on May 22, 2015. The government has said the dead were drug cartel suspects who were hiding out on the ranch in Tanhuato, near the border with Jalisco state.

The National Human Rights Commission said there were also two cases of torture and four more deaths caused by excessive force. It said it could not establish satisfactorily the circumstances of 15 others who were shot to death.

FILE - In this May 22, 2015, file photo, Mexican state police stand guard near the entrance of Rancho del Sol, where a shootout with the authorities and suspected criminals happened near Vista Hermosa, Mexico. Mexico's National Human Rights Commission said on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, that it has concluded that 22 people were arbitrarily executed by federal police during the event. Commission President Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez said their investigation revealed a range of human rights abuses on the part of government forces. (AP Photo/Refugio Ruiz, File)

"The investigation confirmed facts that show grave human rights violations attributable to public servants of the federal police," commission President Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez said.

Mexico's national security commissioner, Renato Sales, who oversees the federal police, denied the accusations, holding his own news conference before the rights commission had finished its own.

Sales said federal police ordered the suspects to drop their weapons and surrender, but were answered with gunfire.

"The use of weapons was necessary and proportional against the real and imminent and unlawful aggression," Sales said. "That is to say, in our minds they acted in legitimate defense."

The lopsided death toll had led to suspicions that officers might have arbitrarily killed people during the operation against suspected members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel.

The rights commission questioned the government's explanation of what led to the clash in the first place.

Federal police had said they encountered a truck and took fire from its passengers before being led to the ranch.

The commission's report said the government did not produce evidence supporting that account and it said witness statements suggested 41 federal police had sneaked onto the ranch as early as 6 a.m. Officers started their assault at least an hour earlier than they maintained in reporting on the incident, the commission said.

According to the agency's report, after the federal police officer was shot, police called for backup. Fifty-four more federal police officers arrived along with a helicopter.

The helicopter fired some 4,000 rounds at the ranch house and a nearby warehouse, which caught fire. The helicopter was also hit by gunfire, the report said. One victim died of burns that the commission believes came after he was shot but still alive.

In total, five people were killed by the helicopter, the commission found. One victim was hit by a bullet that entered around his left pectoral muscle and exited his groin, but there were no bloodstains on the jeans he was found wearing, the commission said.

Thirteen of the 22 people the commission said were executed had been shot in the back, it said.

Two witnesses interviewed by the commission said federal police officers told one heavily tattooed man to run outside the ranch house and then the witnesses heard gunshots.

By the time investigators from the state Attorney General's Office arrived at the scene, "the Federal Police had approximately four hours to manipulate the scene," the report said.

Eighteen of the victims were found barefoot and one just in his underpants, leading the commission to conclude most were asleep when police arrived. The commission's investigation said 40 civilians were killed by bullets, one died in the fire and one was run over.

The government had initially refused to release autopsy reports on those killed. The commission criticized the autopsies performed by the Michoacan Attorney General's Office as being sloppy and incomplete and said the morgue turned over the wrong body to a family.

The case is reminiscent of a 2014 incident in which the commission found that soldiers executed at least a dozen suspected criminals after they surrendered in a warehouse in Tlatlaya west of Mexico City.

The army's version was that 22 suspects died in a gunfight in which only one soldier was wounded. But The Associated Press found evidence at the scene did not match that account. The warehouse wall showed signs that suspects were lined up and shot.

In that case, three women who survived were tortured by agents of the state prosecutor's office to corroborate the army's version.

On Thursday, the commission said two survivors of the bloodshed in Tanhuato had been forced to watch three executions and were then tortured. Police threatened their lives and the lives of their families, it said.
Man who stole watches from outlets must serve time in prison

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  A man who committed a string of outlet store break-ins that targeted watches in Connecticut and elsewhere will have to serve time in prison.

Forty-year-old Cuban national Alionis Perez pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in May and was sentenced Thursday to five years in federal prison.

Prosecutors say he led a group that in 2013 broke into Fossil and other outlet stores at night, stealing time pieces. They say he and his partners got away with more than $1.8 million in watches from burglaries in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida and Pennsylvania. They say the gang also broke into a store in Maine but failed to get any merchandise.

Perez also pleaded guilty to a separate conspiracy involving thefts of cash and sunglasses in 2014 from stores in Kansas and Tennessee.
Italy expels another imam to prevent radicalization

ROME (AP)  Italy has expelled a second imam within a week as it seeks to prevent extremist preachers from radicalizing others.

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano announced the expulsion of Khairredine Romdhane Ben Chedli on Thursday. The 35-year-old Tunisian was recently absolved of terrorism-related charges by Italy's highest court but Alfano said his support for jihad rendered him unfit to stay, the ANSA news agency reported.

The Interior Ministry announced Aug. 13 the expulsion of another imam arrested in the same 2013 sweep as Ben Chedli. The two expulsions bring the number of suspected extremists kicked out of Italy in 2016 to 44, with another 110 expelled last year.
National Gallery returns drawing to heir of Holocaust victim

WASHINGTON (AP)  The National Gallery of Art has returned a 200-year-old drawing to the heirs of an Austrian woman who had to sell it during World War II and later died in the Holocaust.

"A Branch with Shriveled Leaves" by the German artist Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld had been owned by the artist's descendants until Marianne Schmidl sold it under duress in 1939. Although Schmidl was a Christian, her father was born Jewish and she was declared Jewish by the Nazis after they annexed Austria. Her family last heard from her in 1942 after she was deported to a holding point for a concentration camp in Poland, and she was declared dead in 1950.

Over the last few years, museums have returned roughly 15 pieces of art to Schmidl's heirs, said her grand-nephew Johann Schiller, who represents the family in negotiations over its lost artwork. The exquisite drawing of decaying leaves was one of the most important works the family has reclaimed, Schiller told The Associated Press.

Dr. Johann Schiller holds a replica of a nearly 200-year-old drawing, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, in Washington, after the original was returned to his family from the National Gallery of Art's collection decades after his relative was forced to sell it during World War II because of her Jewish heritage. 'A Branch with Shriveled Leaves' by the German artist Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld had been owned by the artist's descendants until Dr. Marianne Schmidl sold it under duress in 1939. Although Schmidl was a Christian, her father was born Jewish and she was declared Jewish by the Nazis. Her last known whereabouts was the holding point for a concentration camp in Poland, and she died in 1942. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

"My mother would sometimes say, 'I wonder where the shriveled leaves are,'" he said.

National Gallery representatives handed the drawing over to Schiller on Wednesday. The gallery has also reimbursed the family for a similar drawing in its collection that Schmidl sold  "Shriveled Leaves" by Friedrich Olivier, which like the other piece dates to 1817  and it will remain in Washington. Both artists are among Schiller and Schmidl's ancestors.

It's just the second time the National Gallery has given back a work of art that it had unknowingly acquired because of Nazi looting. Most Nazi-confiscated art remained in Europe, and U.S. museums have returned roughly 50 pieces over the last two decades, said Anita Difanis, director of government affairs for the Association of Art Museum Directors.

"What has wound up in the United States are relatively few, and of those few, all of them may not be in museums. Most of them are probably in private collections," she said. "We don't know how many they are; we don't know where they are."

Schmidl grew up amid the lively culture of turn-of-the-century Vienna and was highly educated, earning a doctorate in ethnology, a branch of anthropology. She was working at Austria's national library when Nazi Germany annexed the country in 1938 and forced residents to prove their Aryan heritage. After she was declared Jewish, she was no longer able to work and had to sell her assets.

"The letter that is basically her death sentence is an official notification by the Vienna police, saying, 'Your application, Marianne Schmidl to be categorized as a Jew of mixed origin second class is being refused," Schiller said. "Had it been granted, she would have been regarded as a half-Jewish person and therefore would not have been deported."

Schiller said his wife wept and he, too, became emotional, thinking about his great-aunt, when he received the drawing. He'd like to keep it for sentimental reasons, but he said it will be sold in keeping with the family's wishes.

"What is important is that her dignity was restored, and what is absolutely fantastic: It was restored by the state," Schiller said. "Here, the state is doing in effect, something which we can call the rule of law indeed enacted in the most noble way."

___

Follow Ben Nuckols on Twitter at https://twitter.com/APBenNuckols.
Feds, law professors say judge wrong to block fracking rules

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP)  A federal judge in Wyoming was wrong to block rules for hydraulic fracturing on federal land, a group of law professors and lawyers for the federal government said in new court documents.

U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl of Casper ruled in June that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management lacks the authority to regulate fracking  a technique of injecting materials underground to increase energy production.

The agency released rules last year that could require energy companies to disclose the materials they inject to free up the surrounding oil and gas. The BLM said it was acting in response to public concern that fracking could cause contamination of groundwater.

The Obama administration filed a brief last week with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver arguing the BLM has the power to regulate fracking. John Powell, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Wyoming, declined to comment on the case Thursday.

In the ruling, Skavdahl pointed to an article by Florida State University law professor Hannah Wiseman, saying it supported his conclusion that Congress removed fracking from federal regulation in 2005.

Wiseman and 35 other law professors from around the country filed a brief with the appeals court Wednesday saying they disagree with the judge's ruling and claiming it "fundamentally misinterprets the article."

Wiseman said it should be a slam-dunk for the BLM to get the ruling overturned.

"The agency clearly has the authority  indeed, a duty  to regulate hydraulic fracturing under several of its enabling statutes," she said in a statement.

Skavdahl's decision came in response to legal challenges to the federal rules from Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, Utah and the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation in Utah. A number of environmental groups also joined the case to argue in favor of the rules.

Wyoming Attorney General Peter Michael said Thursday that he has not yet reviewed the new filings. The state and others must file their responses in mid-September.

"Obviously, we're always confident when we've won below," Michael said of the lower-court ruling.

John Robitaille, vice president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, said oil and gas producers are already regulated by the state and that the BLM rules amounted to unnecessary and duplicative oversight.

Some 90 percent of new oil and gas wells use hydraulic fracturing techniques to improve production, said Robitaille, whose group supported the state's legal challenge.
Former Dallas Cowboy Joseph Randle to stand trial in Kansas

WICHITA, Kan. (AP)  A Kansas judge has ruled there's enough evidence to try former Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle on charges from two different cases.

KSN-TV reports (http://j.mp/2b7lKpt ) that Judge John Kisner said after a preliminary hearing Thursday in Sedgwick County that there's enough evidence to bind Randle over for trial in an aggravated battery case for allegedly backing his car into three people while leaving a party.

The judge also bound Randle over for trial on one count of interfering with law enforcement for allegedly dodging a warrant.

Court dates weren't set.

Kisner did not rule on whether Randle will stand trial in a third case involving a criminal threat against a Sedgwick County detention deputy.

The Cowboys released Randle last year.

___
Sanders' wife defends non-disclosure, vacation home buy

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP)  Sen. Bernie Sanders has pushed hard for transparency on U.S. trade and campaign finance, but has been far less aggressive in disclosing his own personal finances.

Now his wife and campaign confidante, Jane O'Meara Sanders, is defending the senator's decision not to file a candidate personal finance disclosure and talking about the purchase of a new vacation home.

Sanders and his campaign asked the Federal Election Commission for two 45-day extensions, in mid-May and late June, on filing the personal finance disclosures candidates are usually required to produce, and then decided not to file at all once he dropped out of the race and endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Jane Sanders confirmed Thursday.

FILE - In this July 25, 2016 file photo, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Sanders presidential campaign got two deadline extensions on filing a candidate disclosure with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and then was excused from doing so after he dropped out of the race. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

"I guess our campaign just said 'why bother'," said the wife of the Vermont independent senator who challenged Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

FEC officials confirmed Sanders was excused from filing after dropping out of the race.

Jane Sanders said the disclosure would have been very similar to personal finance reports Sanders has filed annually as a U.S. senator. "There's no new information," she said.

Sanders, a champion of transparency in other realms, came under some criticism Thursday for not applying the same principle to himself.

Richard Skinner, a policy analyst with the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington-based pro-transparency group, said the FEC "may have been a little too generous" with the deadline extensions it allowed for Sanders. "It sure looks like the Sanders campaign abused this," Skinner said.

On another financial matter, Jane Sanders said she and her husband paid cash  $575,000  for the four-bedroom summer house they recently bought in North Hero, Vermont, on the Lake Champlain shore. She said she sold her share of her family's long-time vacation home in Bridgton, Maine, to her brother for $150,000, added some money from her retirement account and from an advance her husband got on a book he is writing to come up with the money to buy the couple's third home.

They also own property in Burlington, Vermont, and Washington, D.C.

___
Gawker's Nick Denton out of the 'news and gossip business'

NEW YORK (AP)  Gawker.com, a nearly 14-year-old blog being shut down following the sale of its parent company to Spanish-language broadcaster Univision, will mark its last post Monday.

In a memo to its staff, Gawker founder Nick Denton, the acerbic, outspoken former financial journalist, said he's also getting out of the news business.

The blog's parent, Gawker Media, was sold following a $140 million judgment against it in an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit filed by former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan over a sex tape. It was later revealed Hogan's lawsuit was backed by Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel. Excerpts of the memo, which was sent to The Associated Press, are below.

___

Sadly, neither I nor Gawker.com, the buccaneering flagship of the group I built with my colleagues, are coming along for this next stage. Desirable though the other properties are, we have not been able to find a single media company or investor willing also to take on Gawker.com. The campaign being mounted against its editorial ethos and former writers has made it too risky. I can understand the caution.

___

Even if the appeals court overturns this spring's Florida jury verdict, Peter Thiel has already achieved many of his objectives.

___

I will move on to other projects, working to make the web a forum for the open exchange of ideas and information, but out of the news and gossip business.

___

Gawker.com may, like Spy Magazine in its day, have a second act. For the moment, however, it will be mothballed, until the smoke clears and a new owner can be found. The archives will remain, but Monday's posts will be the last of this iteration.

___

Our bloggers  and the alumni now dispersed through the media from the New Yorker to The New York Times  have introduced a new style of journalism, sometimes enthusiastic, sometimes snarky, but always authentic. We connect with a skeptical and media-savvy generation by giving them the real story, the version that journalists used to keep to themselves.

___
The Latest: Widow: Hunter Thompson regretted taking antlers

BOISE, Idaho (AP)  The Latest on the return of antlers that Hunter S. Thompson took from Ernest Hemingway's Idaho home (all times local):

4:20 p.m.

The wife of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson says her husband was young and caught up in the moment when he took a set of elk antlers from Ernest Hemingway's Idaho home more than 50 years ago.

TAKES OUT REFERENCE TO ASSISTANT REGIONAL LIBRARIAN - Anita Thompson pulls trophy antlers out of her car trunk while returning them to the former home of writer Ernest Hemingway Aug. 5, 2016, in Ketchum, Idaho. Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson so admired the set of trophy elk antlers when he visited the central Idaho home of Hemingway, that he stole them. More than half a century later, The Community Library has returned the antlers.(Jenny Emery Davidson/The Community Library via AP)

Anita Thompson returned the antlers earlier this month. She told The Associated Press on Thursday that her husband was embarrassed he swiped them.

In 1964, the 27-year-old Thompson came to the mountain town of Ketchum to write about why his hero shot and killed himself at the home three years earlier at age 61.

In his story, Thompson noted the antlers over the front door but never mentioned taking them. They hung in his garage in Colorado for decades.

Representatives of the Ketchum Community Library, which helps catalog and preserve items in the Hemingway home, accepted the antlers.

They've since been sent to a Hemingway grandson.

___

10 a.m.

Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson so admired a set of elk antlers at the Idaho home of literary icon Ernest Hemingway, he took them.

More than half a century later, the antlers have been returned.

Jenny Emery Davidson of the Ketchum Community Library says Thompson's widow, Anita Thompson, gave back the antlers earlier this month, saying her husband regretted stealing them.

The library helps catalog and preserve items in Hemingway's Ketchum home.

In 1964, Thompson came to Idaho to write about why his hero shot and killed himself at the residence three years earlier at age 61.

In the story, Thompson noted the antlers over the front door but never mentioned taking them. They hung in his garage in Colorado for decades.

They've since been sent to a Hemingway grandson.

FILE - In this July 30, 2007, file photo, the house formerly owned by Ernest Hemingway sits in the wooded landscape outside Ketchum, Idaho. Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson so admired a set of trophy elk antlers when he visited the central Idaho home of literary icon Hemingway, he stole them. More than half a century later, the antlers have been returned, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, file)
Nurse Pauline Cafferkey accused of concealing temperature in Ebola checks

Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey has been accused of concealing her temperature during checks on her return to the UK.

The Scottish medical worker, who was infected with the deadly virus while working in Sierra Leone in 2014, is facing a fitness to practise hearing over allegations she gave dishonest answers to medical staff during screening at Heathrow on her return.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which has been investigating Ms Cafferkey's conduct, alleges that she "allowed an incorrect temperature to be recorded" on December 29, 2014 and "intended to conceal from Public Health England staff that you had a temperature higher than 38C".

Pauline Cafferkey contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone in 2014

Registered nurse Ms Cafferkey travelled to the West African country at the height of the Ebola crisis to help the sick.

She returned to London and then travelled on to Scotland before being diagnosed, and spent almost a month being treated in an isolation unit at London's Royal Free Hospital.

The volunteer recovered but was readmitted to hospital twice after suffering complications linked to the disease, and at one stage fell critically ill.

The NMC alleges she did not tell Public Health England screening staff who took her temperature at the airport that she had recently taken paracetamol and she left the area without reporting her true temperature.

A hearing on Ms Cafferkey's fitness to practise is set to take place in Edinburgh next month.

The NMC has the power to strike workers off the professional register.

After details of the charges emerged, an NMC spokesman said: "Since these proceedings began the NMC has worked closely with Ms Cafferkey and her representatives to reach an outcome that is fair and meets the public interest in this case.

"Since the NMC's case examiners considered the allegations and drafted charges, we have received further evidence.

"The final charges the panel will consider will be determined in light of this new material. A process of ongoing review is part of our normal practice in all cases.
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri sets bar high for Riyad Mahrez

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri has told Riyad Mahrez he must improve after the winger committed his future to the east midlands club.

The Algeria international penned a new four-year deal on Wednesday to end transfer speculation having been heavily linked to Arsenal.

The Gunners come to the champions on Saturday having also failed to persuade Jamie Vardy to quit Leicester and move to north London.

Leicester's Riyad Mahrez won the PFA Player of the Year as the Foxes clinched the Premier League title last season

Mahrez scored 17 goals and won the PFA Player of the Year award as the Foxes won the Premier League by 10 points, but Ranieri wants more.

He said: "We are now in the Champions League and we need something more to play against the big teams. Now he knows very well what I want and my expectations are higher. Not only for Riyad but for all my players.

"I was so sure (he would stay), it was only speculation with first Vardy and then Mahrez and we only lost (N'Golo) Kante. Now it's important to stay together.

"We spoke together last season and in pre-season and he told me he wanted to stay. Speculation is normal.

"I want to keep our big players, that's normal. Our owner is very ambitious, he wants to maintain the same squad. It's normal other managers are looking at Leicester players, there's no message - we are building and want to stay together.

"He signed for four years, me too because I want to build. He wants to build something , Jamie wants to, Kasper (Schmeichel), everybody. It is good."

But Leicester could still lose Jeff Schlupp to West Brom with Albion refusing to give up the chase for the wide man, despite having a 12million bid rejected. The Baggies are preparing another offer for the Ghana international.

He wants more playing time after starting 14 league games last season and is keen on a switch to The Hawthorns but Ranieri remains adamant he will remain at the King Power Stadium.

He said: "He stays with us, he is very happy. It is always good news. I am happy when I have this position, a lot of players. It is important to have a lot of quality players to choose from."
Alistair Brownlee hails historic Olympic gold as brother Jonny seals silver

Alistair and Jonny Brownlee's first words to each other at the moment their family dream was achieved were simple - "we've done it".

The brothers lay exhausted on the Copacabana beach front, clasping hands after dominating the Olympic triathlon to win gold and silver.

Alistair became the first triathlete ever to retain an Olympic title but more important was their status as the first British brothers to finish one and two in an individual event.

Alistair Brownlee won gold in the men's triathlon with brother Jonny taking silver

They were the first from any country at a summer Games since Piero and Raimondo D'Inzeo of Italy in equestrian in 1960 and only the sixth ever.

Alistair, at 28 the older by two years, made sure he took in the moment, grabbing a Union Flag and a Yorkshire flag as he sauntered down the finishing straight.

At one stage he stopped and turned to the crowd, holding his arms aloft, before crossing the line a few seconds ahead of Jonny.

"You train so hard and you race so hard and you don't give yourself a chance to think about crossing the line while you're racing," said Alistair.

"I got onto the blue carpet, I knew I was going to win it. In London I didn't have that luxury of really being able to enjoy it so I thought this time, it's probably never going to happen again, so I'm going to enjoy it.

"When we crossed the line, I can't remember which one of us said it first, but it was very much, 'we've done it'. It was fantastic."

Four years ago they also shared the podium, with Jonny taking bronze behind Spain's Javier Gomez.

But the five-time world champion missed out on Rio after fracturing his elbow in a training fall and, from the moment the Brownlees set off on the bike, gold and silver looked inevitable.

Fourth and sixth out of the 1.5 kilometre swim in the waters off Copacabana, the brothers immediately pushed hard on the tough, hilly course and only eight other athletes could keep up.

Spanish duo Mario Mola and Fernando Alarza and South Africa's Richard Murray, who were fancied to challenge the Brownlees, were not among them.

Soon the gap grew to more than a minute and never came down.

Only France's Vincent Luis attempted to keep up with the brothers at the start of the 10km run but he paid for his efforts and it was Henri Schoeman of South Africa who came through to take bronze.

From the moment Alistair made his break on the third lap of the run it was clear that once again it was going to be his day.

Those days have not come as often over the years since London, with injuries an all-too-frequent occurrence.

Last August he made the decision to have ankle surgery and it has been a long road back.

Alistair said: "I had that ankle surgery not even 12 months ago. Still through November I wasn't really running and probably didn't really run pain free until the new year.

"I'm not really one to question whether you can do it but I was questioning whether I could do it. I put on quite a lot of weight.

"But once you start training, training at the end of the day is what I love and the only thing that holds me back is not being able to do what I love.

"There's been a lot of sessions which have been harder than races, just absolutely killing myself. Going to bed and not being able to sleep because my legs hurt so much, getting up in the morning and not being able to walk.

"I love finishing a session and thinking, 'I've killed myself here'. That's actually the easy part of it."

For Jonny, seemingly destined always to be the bridesmaid, the feelings were bittersweet, especially because he thought this time he might get the better of his older brother.

He said: "In training I've probably been a little bit better than Alistair but maybe the short stuff suits me a bit more. W hen it got to the run, Alistair was a bit stronger than me.

"A bit of me thought, 'here we go again', but you have to be positive. I was pretty confident I was going to hold onto second and I thought maybe Alistair would tire but he got his gap pretty quickly and it just stayed at that."

As Alistair soaked up his moment on the finishing straight, Jonny admitted he thought his brother might wait for him before watching him turn and hold up the finishing tape.

But overall the emotions were positive, and there were plenty of them.

The 26-year-old said: "I'm not a very emotional racer normally but maybe because last year was so tough or because we've gone through a lot more together this year, that was a lot more emotional than I've ever been before.

"In London there was a lot of pressure going into the race, we were there to do a job if you like because of that whereas here we'd been written off more, people might not have expected that but we achieved the aim.

"Gold and bronze was incredible but it wasn't gold and silver. You could do no better."
FARGO  Cass County deputies have answered a call for help from Morton County at the site of protests against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Reservation in south central North Dakota.

Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney and 11 of his deputies are there to supplement county deputies and state troopers on scene, Laney said Wednesday, Aug. 17.

Laney said hes serving as the deputy incident commander. He said Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier asked him Saturday to put out a statewide call for mutual aid from other sheriffs departments.

Mercer and Stutsman Counties also sent deputies who were on scene Wednesday, Aug. 17, and Grand Forks County is planning to send at least a handful of deputies to replace others in a few days.

Were working on it, said Lt. Gary Grove of the Grand Forks County Sheriffs Department. Its either going to be Sunday or Monday morning.

Laney said officers are trying to keep a low profile at the scene of the protest near Cannonball, which has drawn hundreds. However, he said some situations have become tense, with protesters pushing troopers back with horses and throwing bottles and rocks. He said theyre hearing that militant groups have arrived or will soon and are making threats toward law enforcement.

This is really dangerous down here, Laney said.

Ongoing protests that began last week near the Missouri River north of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation have shut down construction of the $3.8 billion pipeline, which would transport crude oil from the North Dakota Oil Patch to Illinois.

Standing Rock opposes the pipelines Missouri River crossing because tribal members fear a pipeline leak would threaten their water supply and other sacred sites. The tribe has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which issued a permit for the pipeline, and a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 24 in Washington, D.C.

Laney said he plans to bring the first group of deputies back to Fargo Saturday night, but he and a few others may stay longer.

We dont want to overreact  at the same time, we dont want to underreact and not have enough manpower, Laney said.

Meanwhile, state transportation officials announced they were temporarily closing Highway 1806 to southbound traffic about six miles south of Mandan Wednesday afternoon due to congestion. The DOT said a large number of people are gathered and vehicles are parked on the shoulders of the road.

Our biggest fear is if people wander into the protest environment unaware of whats happening, Laney said.
Mills and Clark toast end of 470 partnership with Olympic gold

Great Britain's Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark enjoyed a fairytale ending to their 470 partnership by wrapping up Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro.

Four years on from taking silver on the home waters of Weymouth and Portland, the duo arrived in Brazil determined to go one better - and were all but assured of doing so with a race to spare.

An opening series as impressive as it was consistent meant they merely had to avoid disqualification and complete the double-point medal race, yet light winds saw gold put on hold for the British duo.

Saskia Clark (left) and Hannah Mills are Olympic champions

The medal race - and their celebrations - was put back 24 hours until Thursday afternoon, when they eased home in eighth to rubber-stamp glory.

Elation and relief were all bundled into one as they crossed the line, before making an impromptu stop-off at the beach.

"Emotional," Mills said. "I just wanted to come and see my mum.

"She has made it out here, bless her, all the way to Rio and she's been there the whole time supporting me with my family back at home.

"It's just such an amazing moment to share with everyone. You're out on the water doing it on your own and it was nice to be able to come in and see everyone."

Clark, who was greeted by her boyfriend, added: "It got a bit hot yesterday, a bit boring and frustrating.

"I am so glad today was a glamorous sailing day for everyone. It was great."

It was a special day that drew the curtain on Clark's fine Olympic sailing career. She always planned to retire after her third Games.

"That's it for me," she said. "As things stand right now, that was my last competitive 470 race.

"A bit of downtime is up next, then Han and I are actually going to New York with some friends to do a sailing event, which we are excited about.

"I've got a job with a charity that's pretty close to all of our hearts, the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation. I start that in October so I am really looking forward to that."

Simpson won Star silver with Iain Percy at London 2012 and died the following year during America's Cup training, with the foundation set-up in his name aimed at helping improve the lives of young people through the provision of sailing opportunities.

"At this point in time I feel really privileged as an athlete to go and work for a charity that's all about getting kids involved in the sport that we all love," Clark, who knew Simpson from the age of eight, said.

"I really agree with its values that they have of doing that and I really passionately think that sailing is an amazing sport for kids to do, for independence, for being out-going, for confidence and stuff."

It looks a fitting new chapter for the affable Clark, whose journey to glory with Mills started during her supposed retirement do in February 2011.

"The girl I was sailing with at the time decided she was retiring," Clark, who turns 37 next week, said.

"Han and her sort of house mates all took it upon themselves to give me my first retirement do.

"So we're there, having my retirement do, and it was 'hang on, this is stupid - let's give this a shot, we've still got a shot for London here' so that's what we did."

The London 2012 silver medallists have certainly had their ups and downs together, with Rio alone witnessing the chastening experience of a knife-point mugging in December 2014 and the peak of Olympic gold.

It is success they plan to toast with friends, family and British Sailing team-mates after their coronation was finally confirmed to the backdrop of Sugarloaf Mountain.

"Nothing could beat this for me, especially doing it with Sas who is my best friend," Mills, 28, said when asked about the future.

"But in a couple of months' time maybe I will feel, actually... maybe a different boat. Who knows? We'll see."

Clark added: "If I think about it, that this is the end, I might start crying.

"But at the moment I can't stop smiling. It's been amazing, winning a gold medal with one of your best mates."

After the pair wrapped up gold, there was frustration for Great Britain in the 49er medal race.

Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign started the day in fourth and put themselves in a position to grab a medal, only for an untimely capsize to see them finish the event sixth overall.

Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth were unable to secure a 49erFX medal and finished the regatta eighth overall.

Meanwhile, London 2012 silver medallist Luke Patience and Chris Grube finished the medal race third to end fifth overall.

"We dug so deep and stayed interested in moving up and solving a problem," Patience said. "We approached it with intensity.

"I know it wasn't for medals but we treated it like it was and showed our true qualities because we had a bad start and we fought and fought.
Striker Kelechi Iheanacho signs two-year contract extension at Manchester City

Kelechi Iheanacho has signed a two-year contract extension to commit himself to Manchester City until 2021.

The 19-year-old Nigerian hit 14 goals in his breakthrough campaign at the Etihad Stadium last term, and now looks set for a pivotal role under new boss Pep Guardiola.

City's new boss has already made headway on a rapid overhaul of his squad, but fresh terms for Iheanacho suggest the teenager will continue to command regular first-team action.

Kelechi Iheanacho is staying with Manchester City until 2021

"I can't express how I'm feeling, I'm very happy to sign my deal for this club, I'm excited," Iheanacho told City's official website.

"I just need to keep working hard and express my feelings on the pitch, and work really well and do great things for the team.

"I'm happy and I appreciate everything the club has done for me so far at this point so I really need to help and work for them as well."

City boss Guardiola admitted Iheanacho has already impressed with his approach since the former Barcelona manager arrived in the north west over the summer.

"Kelechi is a natural goal-scorer," said Guardiola.

"I knew about him before, but I've been really impressed with him since I arrived.
Liverpool accept Crystal Palace offer for striker Christian Benteke

Christian Benteke's short-lived Liverpool career is set to come to an end after the club accepted Crystal Palace's bid of 27million plus add-ons for the Belgium striker.

Press Association Sport understands the Eagles will pay a potential further 5million dependent on certain criteria being met during the 25-year-old's stay at Selhurst Park.

Benteke is scheduled to travel to London for a medical on Friday.

Liverpool striker Christian Benteke looks to be on his way to Crystal Palace

The deal should mean Liverpool recoup most of the 32.5million they spent on the striker last summer in bringing him to Anfield from Aston Villa.

Unlike Palace's failed offer earlier in the week of 23million plus 7million of add-ons, which Reds officials felt were unrealistic, the targets in the latest agreement appear much more attainable and satisfactory to the selling club.

Benteke was brought in by manager Jurgen Klopp's predecessor Brendan Rodgers, who regarded the striker as a key signing in his plans for the future.

However, Rodgers' sacking in October, combined with injuries and a loss of form for the player, saw the Belgian slip down the pecking order behind Daniel Sturridge, Danny Ings, Divock Origi, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.

He did not feature in any pre-season matches, having returned from extended leave following Belgium's involvement in Euro 2016, but when compatriot Origi did the writing was on the wall for the target man.
Labour needs to win over people 'tempted to vote Tory', says Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn has conceded he will have to win over people who have previously been "tempted to vote Tory" to have a chance of forming a Labour government.

The Labour leader stressed the importance of engaging young people and energising the party's supporters to win the next general election.

But he admitted during the party's latest leadership debate that Labour will have to appeal to people who have previously considered voting for the Conservatives.

Jeremy Corbyn stressed the importance of engaging young people and energising the party's supporters

His challenger for the leadership, Owen Smith, went further and said Labour needs to win over two million people who voted Tory at the 2015 general election.

Speaking at the event in Birmingham, Mr Corbyn said: "We win over people to support us by the policies we put forward.

"Yes, we do have to win over some people that have been tempted to vote Tory.

"We win them over on the basis that we can create a society where we do provide decent housing for all, where we do provide real security for all in work.

"We also say to those people who are relatively well off, 'are you happy walking past the homeless and the starving on the streets of our country when there is no need for that, when we could do things very differently?'.

"But we also, I think, win an election by inspiring our own supporters, inspiring those that have supported other parties, but above all reach out to young people in our society, only 47% of whom voted in the last election to come on board with us and try and create that decent society."

Mr Smith replied: "I don't just think we have got to win over some people who have been tempted to vote Tory, as Jeremy put it. I think we have got to win over two million people who voted Tory just a few months ago.

"We got nine million, they got 11 million. I want a Labour government in order to put into practice my principles and in order to do that we have got to get the best part of two million people who voted Tory to vote for us."

There are due to be nine official leadership debates between the pair as they battle it out for the party's top job.

The event in Birmingham was the fourth.

It came a day after Mr Smith was accused of being unfit for high office when he suggested Islamic State would have to be brought into peace talks to end the Syrian civil war.

Mr Smith was jeered by some members of the audience as he referred to "170 socialist MPs" who lack confidence in Mr Corbyn's leadership.

Debate moderator Carl Dinnen, of ITV News, sought to calm tensions while Mr Smith said: "This is what is going wrong with the Labour Party. We are beginning to look at one another as though we are each other's enemies, we are beginning to treat one another in a deeply uncomradely fashion.

"The suggestion that Jeremy is the only socialist in our party is an insult to many of us who are socialists. We're not red Tories or anything else that we're branded on Twitter, we're people who want to create a more equal Britain."

Mr Corbyn asked the audience for a debate in a "comradely manner", adding he was "very disappointed" when Mr Smith and others resigned from the shadow cabinet and called for a leadership change.

He said he will seek to "reach out" if re-elected as leader to develop a "coherent, cohesive" Opposition.

Mr Smith claimed Mr Corbyn only met him once during his nine months as shadow work and pensions secretary, with the incumbent leader countering that they met every week in the shadow cabinet.

On the prospect of Republican nominee Donald Trump becoming US president, Mr Smith said: "I'd be prepared to work with whoever the president was of America, that would be in the interests of the British people and we want a serious Labour government that would always act in the interests of the British people."

Mr Corbyn criticised Mr Trump's "simplistic statements" as being "quite often beyond belief", adding he hopes he is not elected president.

He also said he "would have to negotiate with the USA" should Mr Trump be elected.

Mr Smith reiterated his strong support for keeping the UK in the EU, telling the debate: "I would fight for us to stay in the European Union. Every day I was the leader, I would fight for it."

Mr Corbyn in his remarks noted: "We've got to recognise a referendum took place and while the result wasn't one either Owen and I wanted, it was a result we obtained or achieved or was there.
Not so SWIFT: Bank messaging system slow to address weak points

By Tom Bergin

LA HULPE, Belgium, Aug 17 (Reuters) - More than a dozen current and former board directors and senior managers of SWIFT, the bank messaging system that helps transmit billions of dollars around the world every day, have told Reuters the organisation for years suspected there were weaknesses in the way smaller banks used its messaging terminals - but did not address such vulnerabilities.

The sources said that until February, when hackers tried to steal nearly $1 billion dollars by breaking into the messaging system at Bangladesh's central bank, SWIFT had not regarded the security of customer terminals as a priority. Top executives either did not receive information from member banks about specific attempts to hack the messaging network, or failed to spot those attempts themselves, the managers said.

In SWIFT's annual reports and strategy plans from the past 17 years Reuters could find only one reference to SWIFT helping its users to secure their systems. That reference - to helping "our community to strengthen their own infrastructure" - was in the 2015 annual report published in June this year, months after the Bangladesh heist, in which the fraudsters ended up making off with $81 million.

"The board took their eye off the ball," said Leonard Schrank, who was chief executive of SWIFT from 1992 to 2007.

"They were focusing on other things, and not about the fundamental, sacred role of SWIFT, which is the security and reliability of the system."

Schrank said he was broadly aware that users' terminals were a weak link in SWIFT's overall security, but paid too little attention to it. "So I am partially responsible," he said.

The messaging business failed to act in part because the risks were not properly appreciated, the former directors and managers said.

SWIFT did not comprehensively track security incidents or monitor the extent of sloppy security practices among users. It saw smaller banks as a potential - but not immediate - threat to the security of the network, according to the former managers and directors.

SWIFT never acted, former board member Arthur Cousins said, because the organisation believed bank regulators - rather than SWIFT - were responsible for ensuring smaller banks' security procedures were robust enough to repel hackers.

A spokeswoman for SWIFT, a cooperative owned by banks, defended the organization. "SWIFT and its Board have prioritised security, continually monitoring the landscape and responding by adapting the specific security focuses as threats have evolved. Today's security threats are not the same threats the industry faced five or ten years ago - or even a year ago - and like any other responsible organisation we adapt as the threat changes."

SWIFT was, and still is, dominated by large Western banks, including Citibank, JP MORGAN, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas, that built the network decades ago. That contributed to the lack of concern over security, said the former directors, because the larger banks tend to have sufficient defences to prevent criminals from hacking into their SWIFT systems. But since the 1990s, many smaller banks in emerging markets have joined SWIFT, and some may have weaker computer security. In all, more than 10,000 institutions are now connected to SWIFT.

Gottfried Leibbrandt, CEO since 2012, said it was only with the benefit of "hindsight" that one could see that SWIFT needed to put more focus on security at customer terminals. "Hindsight is always a wonderful thing," he said. "Sometimes it takes a crisis to change things."

RISE IN SMALL USERS

In the Bangaldesh heist, hackers broke into a computer interface called Alliance Access, a piece of software sold by SWIFT for accessing its central network. It is still unclear exactly how the thieves gained entry. Bank Bangladesh has alleged that a botched upgrade of its system left vulnerabilities in it. SWIFT has rejected any responsibility for the way Bangladesh Bank upgraded its systems.

Whatever specific weakness the thieves in the Bangladesh case exploited, former SWIFT directors and managers said the system became more vulnerable as it got bigger.

Alessandro Lanteri, a former executive with Italian bank Unicredit who served on SWIFT's board between 1995 and 2000, said security challenges increased when smaller banks in emerging markets joined the SWIFT network. "The difficulty is always to keep the security system very effective when you deal with little banks and emerging countries," he said. "There, it is very difficult to be sure that all the procedures of security are managed in the correct way."

The number of countries and territories covered by SWIFT swelled from 126 in 1994 to 200 in 2003 and 212 now.

Bigger western banks considered SWIFT more cost effective and secure than alternative means of communication, Cousins said, and encouraged smaller banks to become members.

But despite the rise in the number of smaller institutions as members, the big banks continued to dominate SWIFT. The organisation's revenues, which hit 710 million euros last year, are driven by a concentrated number of large western correspondent banks like Citigroup and HSBC, former SWIFT staff said.

Traditionally, 90 percent of messaging revenue comes from banks in just 25 countries - almost all developed nations - data in the decade to 2011, the last year for which SWIFT published a breakdown, shows.

Some people working at the coalface spotted evidence of deteriorating security well before this year's Bangladesh case.

Two years ago, Martin Ullman, a Prague-based SWIFT consultant, was browsing a LinkedIn forum for SWIFT users when he saw a posting from a recently-appointed technician at the Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI). The technician needed to install an upgrade to the bank's SWIFT messaging system but didn't know how. He wanted advice.

Ullman emailed the man and told him that raising such issues in a public forum could endanger security and advised him to seek expert help. The technician said the bank couldn't afford it, and said he finally managed to install the system himself. CBSI declined to comment. Reuters was unable to contact the technician to confirm the incident.

Yet security was vital: Six former directors of SWIFT said any breach of the broader system could put the bedrock of SWIFT - the willingness of banks to accept messages at face value - at risk.

TRAIL OF INCIDENTS

Hugh Cumberland, a former SWIFT executive who now advises banks on payments technologies, said he first saw security risks in 1993. He told Reuters that, when he was working as a technology contractor with BZW, an arm of BARCLAYS, in London. Cumberland arrived for work one day to be met by policemen carrying Heckler & Koch submachine guns. Two staff members had been arrested for attempting to use their access to a SWIFT terminal to send 10 million pounds of "unnamed client money" to accounts controlled by them. Cumberland did not know the outcome of the case. Both SWIFT and Barclays declined to comment.

Another incident occurred in 1995, when officials at Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) began sending fraudulent payment instructions to Citibank, telling it to pay money from DIB's account at the U.S. bank into the account of a fraudster, according to a lawsuit DIB filed against Citibank in New York in 1999. More than $150 million was allegedly stolen by DIB executives in collaboration with Foutanga Dit Babani Sissoko, a West African businessman previously jailed for trying to bribe U.S. customs officials. Sissoko was deported from the United State before the DIB allegations were made in court. Reuters could not contact him.

A lawyer involved in the case confirmed the messages were sent via SWIFT, which has a near monopoly on such international payment instructions. The court dismissed the claim of negligence against Citibank. The banks declined to comment on the case. (Swift was not involved in the legal proceedings.)

More recently, thieves exploiting SWIFT systems stole $250,000 from Bangladesh's Sonali bank in 2013 and more than $12 million from Ecuador's Banco del Austro in 2015. Later in 2015, Vietnam's Tien Phong Bank foiled an attempt to steal money via SWIFT, which was reported by Reuters in May. SWIFT officials said the banks involved in these three cases did not immediately inform it of the incidents, though the banks did confirm them later.

The senior management at SWIFT appears to have been unaware of the events. Leibbrandt told Reuters in May that, before the Bangladesh heist in February, he had not been told of any successful or unsuccessful attempt to steal money using SWIFT.

Asked why SWIFT had not logged the incidents described above, a spokeswoman said: "SWIFT has always maintained an uncompromising focus on security as evidenced by our track record."

CHANGING ATTITUDES

Some former SWIFT executives and directors said the failure to spot the security risks around user terminals reflects weaknesses in SWIFT's board. Schrank, the chief executive from 1992 to 2007, said some directors lacked the experience needed to help steer such a big and important enterprise.

"Generally the SWIFT board, with very few exceptions, are back-office payments people, middle to senior management," he said.

Of 48 current and former non-executive SWIFT directors for whom Reuters could find career histories, only two sat on their employer's management board. Only one sat on the board of a listed company other than their employer.

Fritz Klein, a former Credit Suisse banker who served on SWIFT's board from 1998 to 2002, said an even greater concern was the length of tenure of some members, which he said did not encourage fresh thinking. At any time, a third of members had been there for "very long, perhaps too long," he said.

A spokeswoman for SWIFT said: "SWIFT's large and diverse group of Board members have decades of experience in operations, management, IT, risk assessment, and various other disciplines. SWIFT's Board composition includes long-standing members with a deep understanding of how SWIFT works, as well as newer members who contribute with a fresh outside view."

The board is dominated by larger banks: the six countries which have the greatest messaging volume have the right to appoint two directors each. The next 10 largest user countries can appoint one each.

Lanteri, the former Unicredit banker who used to be a SWIFT director, said: "When I was on the board I had no direct contact with the little countries." Board members came from all over the world, he said, but "from the most important banks."

The Bangladesh heist has changed attitudes. In May, SWIFT published a new "customer security plan," promising to strengthen security on software tools such as Alliance Access; to develop new tools to spot when an account has been compromised and when a payment instruction deviates from normal patterns; and to allow banks to issue "stop payment" orders quickly.

In July, SWIFT announced the creation of a "Forensics and Customer Security Intelligence team," in conjunction with cyber security firms BAE Systems1 and Fox- IT2. The team will gather information on any attempts to commit thefts through SWIFT, analyse the risks these attacks highlight and share the lessons with the wider SWIFT community.
Italian city on Swiss border to set up camp for blocked migrants

ROME, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Italy will set up a shelter to host as many as 300 migrants stranded near the Swiss border, after Switzerland cracked down on crossings, forcing hundreds to sleep on the ground in a city park, officials said Wednesday.

In mid-July, Switzerland began strict controls on migrants arriving by train from Como, an Italian city on Lake Como. Since then, Switzerland has turned away two-thirds of the migrants who tried to enter the country, compared with one in seven through June of this year.

Starting in mid-September, a city-owned parking lot near the local cemetery will host 50 pre-fabricated modules and showers, bathrooms and a small health clinic to accommodate as many as 300 people temporarily, prefect Bruno Corda said in a news conference broadcast on television.

Migrants will be provided with legal aid on Italy's asylum process at the camp, Corda said. Under European Union law, migrants must seek asylum in Italy, where they arrived by boat from North Africa, because it is the first European country they reached.

"I'm confident that the people who cannot go to Switzerland will want return to a system of legality," Corda said.

But many migrants do not want to stay in Italy, often because they have relatives or friends already living in other countries.

Non-governmental and human rights groups like Amnesty International have called for clarifications from Switzerland over migrants' claims that they were denied a chance to speak to border authorities and that requests to seek Swiss asylum went unheeded.
Three killed, 40 wounded in car bomb near Turkish police station -state media

ANKARA, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Three people were killed and 40 were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a police station in Turkey's eastern province of Van near the Iranian border on Wednesday, state broadcaster TRT said, citing the local governor.

Police and ambulances were seen rushing in, according to another broadcaster, the privately owned Dogan news agency.

The station also serves as a police barracks, TRT said, citing a statement from the local governor. It was not immediately clear how many police and civilians were among the dead and wounded.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on live television there had been an attack on a police station in Van but did not elaborate.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Kurdish militants frequently target police stations and other security force outposts with car bombs.
Nigeria central bank says Skye Bank safe, no need for panic withdrawals

LAGOS, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank is seeking to reassure Skye Bank depositors that the lender is safe and there is no need for them to rush to withdraw their funds in response to speculation that it has liquidated the bank, it said late on Wednesday.

The central bank injected more than 100 billion naira ($312 mln) into Skye bank last month after sacking its top management for failing to meet minimum capital requirements. It subsequently replaced Skye's top management.

Skye's non-performing loans had mounted to 13 percent of total loans at the end of last year, well above the central bank target of less than 5 percent while its capital ratio was 10.4 percent last year, compared with an industry standard of 16 percent, prompting the central bank to step in.

"The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to the content of a malicious message urging customers of Skye Bank to withdraw their deposits or transfer them to other banks based on the vile allegation that Skye Bank has been liquidated by the CBN," spokesman Isaac Okorafor said in a statement.

After replacing Skye's executives last month, depositors rushed to withdraw their funds. But the regulator has said Skye was able to meet its obligations and that the central bank would provide support until the new management could bring in fresh funds.

Skye is the only Nigerian bank to report a loss in 2015. The central bank stepped in after depositors started withdrawing funds and avert wider problems within the banking sector. Africa's top oil producer is struggling with one of the most severe economic crises it has had in decades.

In July, central bank director of banking supervision, Tokunbo Martins, said "one or two" other commercial banks had failed liquidity tests but that they were not in the same situation as Skye.

Nigeria's central bank governor Godwin Emefiele has urged people not to panic about the banking system, saying he is on top of any problems resulting from the economic crisis.
As technology shifts more layoffs loom at tech companies

By Malathi Nayak and Deborah M. Todd

NEW YORK, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc's announcement on Wednesday that it plans to lay off 5,500 employees is unlikely to be the last round of Silicon Valley pink slips as hardware companies struggle to keep up with rapid technology shifts, analysts and recruiters said.

Companies that traditionally have made most of their money selling computers, chips, servers, routers and other equipment are especially vulnerable, analysts say, as mobile applications and cloud computing become increasingly important.

The Cisco layoffs come in the wake of Intel's announcement in April that it was laying off 12,000 workers. Dell Inc said in January it had shed 10,000 jobs and is expected to make further cuts after it closes a $67 billion deal to acquire data storage company EMC Corp.

So far this year, technology companies in the United States have shed about 63,000 jobs, according to outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

"The hi-tech industry is going through a serious deconstruction," said Trip Chowdhry, an analyst at Global Equities Research. "There is more pain to come."

Chowdhry said he expects job cuts to rise drastically as more companies subscribe to "super cloud" services from the likes of Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp. These services manage hardware, software, networks and databases and eliminate the need for workers to manage various technology layers, Chowdhry said.

In January, Chowdhry estimated that layoffs in the tech industry would hit 330,000 this year. On Wednesday, he said he had raised his estimate to 370,000. Some other analysts said that forecast was too bleak.

IBM Corp, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co, Oracle Corp and Dell Inc could be the next to shed workers, analysts said.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Dell and Oracle declined comment and IBM could not be immediately reached for comment.

'TREMORS OF CHANGE'

"Tech incumbents are all bracing for the tremors of change. said Glenn O'Donnell, an analyst at Forrester Research. "We fully expect a lot of collateral damage as this plays out - not just with Cisco."

Cisco and other old-guard technology companies have been pursuing a challenging shift to software-oriented services. Margins in software services are higher than hardware because they bring recurring revenue and there are "fewer people involved on the cost side," said Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates.

That could mean more job cuts. Silicon Valley job recruiters offered mixed views about the fate of hardware engineers laid off at Cisco and other tech firms.

"Nobody wants to be laid off but if job elimination is going to happen, 2016 is not a bad time for it to happen," said John Reed, Senior Executive Director of the tech recruitment firm Robert Half Technologies.

Still, recruiters said, hardware engineers may need to be flexible and willing to retrain if they want to find work.

"Nobody wants hardware designers and engineers," said Andy Price of executive search firm SPMB. "There was a moment in time when devices were hot and (action-camera maker) GoPro made everyone excited about devices, but a lot of those types of companies died on the vine."
FBI documents viewed in secure areas of the U.S. Capitol

WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - FBI documents about the agency's investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state were being reviewed on Wednesday in secure rooms of the U.S. Capitol.

There, in large binders labeled "secret," lawmakers and select staff from some congressional committees could page through the material, parts of which are redacted, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation turned over to Congress on Tuesday.

Republican lawmakers had requested the information last month after the FBI recommended no criminal charges against Clinton.

"Last I heard, my colleagues had their turn with the documents at 1:30 p.m.," said a Senate Judiciary committee aide. "There's only one set of documents for all the interested Senate committees, as I understand it."

She said those viewing the material were allowed to take notes, but if notes were taken on the classified parts, those notes had to be left in the secure area with the documents.

Clinton has for over a year been dogged by questions about her use of a private email account while she was the nation's top diplomat.

Republicans have repeatedly hammered Clinton over the issue, helping to drive opinion poll results showing that many U.S. voters doubt her trustworthiness.

The FBI said on Tuesday that it had provided "relevant materials" to congressional committees looking into the matter.

"The material contains classified and other sensitive information and is being provided with the expectation it will not be disseminated or disclosed without FBI concurrence," the agency said in a statement.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican, said in a statement on Tuesday that an initial review of the material showed most of it was marked unclassified, and urged the FBI to make as much of it public as possible.

Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon in a statement also called for the public release of the documents, "rather than allow Republicans to mischaracterize them through selective, partisan leaks."

The documents on the Senate side of the Capitol are under the control of the Office of Senate Security, Senate aides said. In the House of Representatives, another set were being viewed in a "Secure Compartmented Information Facility," an aide with the House Oversight and Government Reform committee said.

"Our investigators with (security) clearances have gone down there and looked at the documents," the Oversight committee aide said.

It was unclear how many lawmakers had actually seen the material so far. Most members of Congress were not in town because of a congressional recess.

The documents were made available to the Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Appropriations committees in the Senate, and the Oversight, Judiciary and Appropriations committees in the House, aides said.
When Sherry Daly was first approached by a buyer for her Montana Vintage Clothing building at 112 N. 29th St., she said no way.

Business was going well at the spot shes occupied for four years, and she didnt want to end her total 18-year stretch in downtown Billings.

But the more she learned about the proposed $120 million One Big Sky Center and developers plans for a new conference center, hotel, apartments and pedestrian mall, the more she liked. So, with mixed emotions, Daly said she decided to sell.

But if you look at the big picture, its good. It really is," she said Wednesday. "If you look at how this is going to revitalize downtown, its good  You have to take the emotional side out of it. She declined to disclose the sales price for the 4,800-square-foot structure.

Montana Vintage Clothing is among the retail shops that would likely be displaced if the development proposed by Skip Ahern of MontDevCo LLC is built as designed.

The plan, unveiled Monday at a news conference and before the Billings City Council, includes a 70,000-square-foot convention center, a 160-room hotel, downtown residences for seniors and millennials, and additional retail and office space.

Financing  which developers acknowledge is the biggest hurdle  includes a mix of private and public investment, some of it to come through the downtown tax-increment financing district.

Plans also call for closing North 29th Street to create a pedestrian walking mall, surrounded on either side by two high-rise towers, and buying property between First and Second avenues north. Developers have said they hope to break ground next fall and finish construction in 2019.

While some shop owners worry about being forced out, most say the project could be a great stimulus for the growing downtown. Some question whether such a complex development involving multiple acquisitions, partnerships and financing will fall apart in downtown Billings.

Colleen Rooke, who owns YesterYears Antiques next to Montana Vintage Clothing, said her building has been sold to the Downtown Billings Alliance as part of the project, and shes uncertain of her next step.

Rooke has expanded seven times since she moved into the downtown space in 2005, and she said finding a new home would be a disruption. Already one of her 50 vendors said hes looking to sell elsewhere because of the uncertainty, she said.

Any time you lose your customer base, or where youre at, then youre starting all over again, Rooke said, adding shes unsure if shell sell the business or relocate if shes forced to move.

Nevertheless, she said she likes the concept of One Big Sky  just not the location.

Its a wonderful thing thats going to happen downtown. I just wish it wouldve been a different building, she said.

A block away at Pug Mahons Irish Pub and Restaurant, outside of the One Big Sky footprint, owner Bill MacIntyre said the 900-seat convention center would attract a lot of hungry visitors.

Oh my God, you know what that would do for downtown? Its what the downtown needs to really grow Theres not a restaurant downtown thats not going to cheer for this, he said.

The project has already been a boon for some businesses. Swank Enterprises bought the former Cook Travel building at 2925 First Ave., in April for its own headquarters and were quickly approached by developers, regional construction manager Mark Qualman said.

The building was the "last piece" of the puzzle, so they worked out a deal for Valier-based Swank to keep the building as an equity partner and do some of the construction work, Qualman said.

Owner Alan Arthur of B-Town Grills Famous Phillies said he wasnt aware of the project when he decided to move into the vacant spot at 115 N. 29th St., but hes excited for the opportunity when he opens next month.

Great luck on my part, Arthur said in a message Wednesday.

Other downtown businesses say they wonder if the project will be finished.

Im skeptical, Id say. Its a major undertaking, said Kermit Creek, manager of the Leather Factory, a downtown fixture at 115 N. 30th St.

Next door, Scott Wetzel of Wetzels Quality Cleaners said hes reserving his judgment until hes heard more details. The potential for more downtown residents and visitors is positive, he added.

People coming is good. People living in the neighborhood is good for business, and dry cleaners need people, said Wetzel, whose family has owned the business for a century.
Brent crude oil prices dip on prospect of record Saudi output

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped in early trading on Thursday as the prospect of record Saudi output weighed on markets and as traders cashed in on profits following an almost uninterrupted price rally this month of nearly 20 percent.

International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $49.67 per barrel at 0050 GMT, down 18 cents from their last close.

Traders said the price dip was due to profit taking following a strong rally this month, and as traders priced in the prospect of another production record from top exporter Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is sending signals that it could boost its crude oil supplies in August, even higher than its record 10.67 million barrels per day reached in July, as it gets ready for tough talks next month for a global output freeze pact.

Yet prices remain 20 percent higher than in early August and hit almost $50 a barrel the previous day, supported by a potential freeze or even cut in output following a meeting between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers like Russia, scheduled for next month

Analysts at Citi warned of the risks of a price rally based largely on potential future talks, given that similar meetings failed to reap results earlier this yerar.

"OPEC cooperation hopes should be treated with caution, as this is shaky ground to base a bull rally on," the U.S. bank said.

In the United States, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $46.79 a barrel, flat with its last close.

The relative strength of WTI in Thursday trading was a result of a flood of new orders to ship U.S. crude to Europe in order to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities resulting from the WTI/Brent price spread.
After years of pain, coal becomes one of the hottest commodities of 2016

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Less than a year after the coal industry was declared to be in terminal decline, the fossil fuel has staged its steepest price rally in over half a decade, making it one of the hottest major commodities.

Cargo prices for Australian thermal coal from its Newcastle terminal, seen as the Asian benchmark, have soared over 35 percent since mid-June to more than one-year highs of almost $70 a tonne, pushed by surprise increases in Chinese imports.

"Coal markets, after five years of declining prices, appear to have found a bottom in the first quarter," Australia's Whitehaven Coal said on Thursday, as its shares hit a three-year high on the release of its annual results.

"Reasons for the increase in prices include mine closures in Indonesia, United States and Australia and policy change by Chinese authorities," Whitehaven said, adding it was confident that coal prices will rise.

Goldman Sachs, reversing a gloomy outlook it issued last September, said this week restrictions on domestic production by Chinese regulators had turned coal "into one of the best performing commodities so far this year."

Global mining majors like Glencore and Anglo American, but also regional Asian players like Whitehaven and Thailand's Banpu, are reaping the benefits.

All four have seen their shares rise sharply, particularly since China in April cut mine operating days by 16 percent in a bid to help meet its target of reducing capacity by 250 million tonnes this year.

Banpu, which operates several export mines across Asia-Pacific, said this week that it expects to sell its 2016 coal supplies at an average price of over $50 a tonne, up from a previous target of $47 to $48 per tonne.

The price recovery is an unexpected boon for miners, who were hit hard by a years-long downturn, and stands in sharp contrast to previous calls by Goldman and the International Energy Agency (IEA), who said last year that coal was in terminal decline.

As a result of China's surprise move, Goldman said there was now "support (for) global prices for the foreseeable future."

The bank raised its three, six and 12 month price forecasts to $65/$62/$60 per tonne for Newcastle coal, up as much as 38 percent from its previous outlook.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Coal has also been garnering support from Asian industrial powerhouses Japan and South Korea, while demand remains firm in India, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Japan and South Korea have both said they want to expand future coal imports while reducing more expensive imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

China's power consumption has also risen against expectations, jumping 8.2 percent from a year ago in July to reach 552.3 billion kilowatt hours.

While almost all thermal coal miners were hit by the previous price decline, and most shut or sold assets, those left with the best assets now stand to benefit from the rebound.

The biggest winners are those with mines in Australia, thanks to the high average quality of its coal.

Whitehaven said it was confident its high quality coals will continue to attract a premium price.

Shares of Anglo American, a major thermal coal miner in Australia, have also recovered from record lows earlier this year of around 2.2 pounds to around 8.7 pounds.

Glencore, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter with huge Australian operations, has also seen its shares soar from around 70 pence early this year to nearly 2 pounds.

Glencore was not available for comment ahead of reporting its half-year results on Aug. 24.

Other miners have not been able to benefit from coal's 2016 boom.

Indonesia, the world's biggest exporter of thermal coal, has seen its output fall during the lull, and its miners are unable to raise production due to debt constraints. ($1 = 0.7762 pounds)
El Salvador court denies extradition of former colonel to Spain

SAN SALVADOR, Aug 17 (Reuters) - El Salvador's Supreme Court has denied an extradition request from Spain for a former military colonel to face charges related to the 1989 murder of a group of Jesuit priests including five who were Spanish born, a magistrate said.

The court ruled unanimously to send former Colonel Guillermo Benavides to prison in El Salvador, Supreme Court magistrate Leonardo Ramirez said.

Benavides could now be judged in the Central American country after an amnesty law for crimes committed its 1980 to 1992 civil war was struck down this year.

Ramirez added that deliberations over three other retired military personnel were ongoing.
By Matt Siegel

SYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The premier of Western Australia state, a member of conservative Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Liberal Party, has offered to accept refugees from Australian-funded asylum seeker detention centres amid growing concern about conditions at the camps.

Under Australian law, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to camps on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru or to Manus Island off Papua New Guinea. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia.

Australia and Papua New Guinea said on Wednesday that they would close the Manus Island facility, but gave no timeline. New Zealand has offered to take in some of the refugees but Canberra has long resisted the offer.

"We would certainly accommodate a number of them in Western Australia and we'd certainly support them as a state government," Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Wednesday night.

Harsh conditions and reports of rampant abuse at the camps have drawn wide criticism at home and abroad. Australia says its hardline policy is needed to stop deaths at sea during the dangerous boat journey from Indonesia to Australia.

Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on Thursday stood by the government's policy ruling out settling the detainees in a third country, casting doubt over the fate of the remaining 850 refugees on Manus and 500 in Nauru.

"It's never been about tearing down the fences, it's about what to do with the people trapped behind them," Daniel Webb, director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, told Reuters.

"There's absolute clarity about what should happen but no clarity whatsoever about what will happen."

There are no plans to close the Nauru camp, which is under renewed scrutiny after a newspaper published leaked documents detailing reports of more than 2,000 incidents of sexual abuse, assault and attempted self-harm, many involving children.

News of the closure of the Manus Island facility did not immediately generate much hope amongst the refugees there, many of whom have spent years in detention and suffer from mental health issues.

"Everybody is tired, people think this news will make us happy but everyone is same like before," Kurdish Iranian refugee Benham Satah told Reuters from Manus Island.
Australia, Hanoi at odds over 50th anniversary of Vietnam War battle

SYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - An Australian ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a Vietnam War battle has soured into a diplomatic spat after the Vietnamese government restricted access to the site at Long Tan.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made an 11th hour appeal to his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc on behalf of about 1,000 Australian veterans and their families who had travelled to Vietnam but found themselves barred by authorities, who said the ceremony might offend residents.

"I thank the prime minister of Vietnam for agreeing last night to arrangements which will, after all, enable our veterans and their families who have travelled to Vietnam, reverently to commemorate the battle as they honour all those who fought and died in those fields so many years ago," Turnbull said in an address in Canberra on Thursday.

The commemoration had long been planned in coordination with Vietnamese authorities but was cancelled on Wednesday.

Australian Veterans' Affairs Minister Dan Tehan said the formal ceremony at the Long Tan site remained cancelled but Nguyen had agreed to ease the restrictions so that smaller groups of veterans could visit the site.

Tehan called the cancellation "a kick in the guts".

More than 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1972 and more than 500 Australians were killed during the deeply unpopular war between the Soviet-backed Communist government of North Vietnam and South Vietnam's U.S.-backed regime. The war ended with the fall of the former Saigon in 1975.
China's Alipay deepens push into Europe with Ingenico partnership

By Cyril Altmeyer

PARIS, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Ingenico Group has signed a deal with Alipay, China's biggest online-payments platform, that will allow Chinese consumers to use the mobile payment app widely across Europe, the French company said on Thursday.

The agreement, signed on Wednesday, marks an opportunity for Alipay, a unit of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, to deepen its mobile-payment push into Europe.

"With this partnership, Aliplay will be embedded into Ingenico's in-store payment gateway," Ingenico said in a statement.

Alipay boasts over 450 million active users, while Ingenico processed more than 3.5 billion transaction in 2015. China's 10 million visitors to Europe in 2014 represented a total purchasing power of $21 billion, Ingenico said.

Jacques Behr, Ingenico's head of Europe and Africa, described the partnership as a "must have" but declined to quantify Ingenico's expected additional revenue.

"It's a bit like not offering air conditioning in a car. If you're a serious player in the world of payments you cannot say 'No, I won't do that, it doesn't interest me'."

Behr said he also expected Ingenico to benefit from Alipay's ambitions in Africa, where payments are frequently made on mobile platforms such as Kenya's M-pesa.

Ingenico already has a presence in China after buying terminal supplier Landi in 2008. A quarter of its staff is employed in China.

The next phase for Ingenico in China would be to focus on managing transactions made by Chinese traders using its terminals, Behr said.

In May 2015, the group sold a 20 percent stake in its holding company Ingenico Holdings Asia Ltd to Chinese investment fund Fosun in order to accelerate its growth strategy in the country.
Japan's PM Abe considering visiting Cuba next month - Kyodo

TOKYO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering visiting Cuba next month to strengthen ties and promote Japanese investments there, Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday, but the foreign ministry said no such plan was being made.

The trip, if confirmed, will coincide with Abe's planned attendance at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, Kyodo said. It would be the first ever visit to Cuba by a Japanese prime minister.

"There is no such fact. That is all I can say," an official at the foreign ministry's Latin American and Caribbean Affairs division said, referring to the Kyodo report.
Australian state leader offers to house stranded asylum seekers

By Matt Siegel

SYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The premier of Western Australia state, a member of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Liberal Party, has offered to accept refugees from Australian-funded detention centres amid growing concern about conditions for the 1,350 people held in the camps.

Under Australian law, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to asylum seeker camps on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru or to Manus Island off Papua New Guinea. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia.

Australia and Papua New Guinea said on Wednesday that they would close the Manus Island facility, but gave no timeline, and did not say where the people held there would be sent.

"We would certainly accommodate a number of them in Western Australia and we'd certainly support them as a state government," Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Wednesday night.

Barnett has taken a similar position in the past, and his stand demonstrated a rare public split in the conservative Liberal Party over the government's controversial detention policy.

A spokeswoman for New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Thursday said that an offer made in 2013 to accept 150 refugees, which Canberra has rebuffed, still stood.

Harsh conditions and reports of rampant abuse at the camps have drawn wide criticism at home and abroad. Australia says its hardline policy is needed to stop deaths at sea during the dangerous boat journey from Indonesia to Australia.

Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on Thursday stood by the government's policy ruling out settling the detainees in a third country, casting doubt over the fate of the remaining 850 refugees on Manus and 500 in Nauru.

"It's never been about tearing down the fences, it's about what to do with the people trapped behind them," Daniel Webb, director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, told Reuters.

"There's absolute clarity about what should happen but no clarity whatsoever about what will happen."

There are no plans to close the Nauru camp, which is under renewed scrutiny after a newspaper published leaked documents detailing reports of more than 2,000 incidents of sexual abuse, assault and attempted self-harm, many involving children.

News of the closure of the Manus Island facility did not immediately generate much hope amongst the refugees there, many of whom have spent years in detention and suffer from mental health issues.

"Everybody is tired, people think this news will make us happy but everyone is same like before," Kurdish Iranian refugee Benham Satah told Reuters from Manus Island.

"I want to believe there is something good happening but I can't. I just focus on seeing tomorrow."

The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court ruled in April that the detention centre at Manus was illegal and ordered it closed. Next week it will hold a hearing into what progress has been made.

Webb, the lawyer, said that Australia may have announced the closure of Manus Island as a means of deflecting the court's attention from the lack of progress it has made in implementing the ruling.

Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish Iranian journalist and refugee, pleaded with Australia to recognise the court's decision and facilitate the refugees' resettlement.

"We don't know what will happen on the next step and this is a big torture for us," he told Reuters from Manus Island.
Nestle bets on innovation, price hikes to revive sales growth

By Silke Koltrowitz

ZURICH, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Nestle, the world's largest packaged foods maker, is counting on new products and price increases in the second half of the year to meet its full-year sales growth target after a weaker than expected first half, the company said on Thursday.

The company has missed its long-term target of 5-6 percent annual sales growth for three years but it said it still expects organic growth this year will be in line with the 4.2 percent seen last year.

The shares were up 1 percent at 79.1 Swiss francs by 1000 GMT.

Organic sales growth, which excludes the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and currency, slowed to 3.1 percent in the second quarter, hit by weakness in China and deflation in Europe, while growth in the first half was 3.5 percent.

Analysts had been expecting a rise of 3.6 percent in the second quarter and 3.8 percent for the full six months, according to a Reuters poll.

But Chief Financial Officer Francois-Xavier Roger said he thought pricing had hit the bottom in the second quarter and, to underscore the importance of innovation, explained that a third of Nestle sales came from products new to the market in the last two years.

New products often fetch higher prices, which in turn boost profit margins.

The maker of Kitkat chocolate bars and Maggi noodles has also been cutting costs, shedding underperforming businesses and expanding its presence in the more profitable and faster-growing market for healthcare products.

Liberum analysts, who have a "hold" stock rating, said that "may lead to upside surprise although current progress is slow" and the shares remained "an attractive defensive haven".

HEALTH DRIVE

Faced with more demanding consumers asking for fresh, healthy products, makers of packaged foods are reformulating recipes, cutting sugar, salt and fat.

To accelerate its health push, Nestle recruited Ulf Mark Schneider from German healthcare group Fresenius as its next chief executive.

"In our view, the Nestle investment case hinges on incoming CEO Ulf Mark Schneider, who takes over on 1 January 2017. In the meantime, though, we regard this as a competent set of results," RBC Europe analyst James Edwardes Jones said in a note.

Asked whether Nestle would increase its dividend this year, Roger only said Nestle had done so in the past despite the strong Swiss franc. ($1 = 0.9609 Swiss francs)
Lenovo Q1 profit leaps, helped by asset sale, but smartphone losses linger

By Yimou Lee

HONG KONG, Aug 18 (Reuters) - China's Lenovo Group , the world's biggest PC maker, said first-quarter profit jumped nearly two-thirds, helped by a one-off asset sale, but its mobile arm lost money again as a $3 billion bet on buying Motorola to diversify has yet to pay off.

Lenovo said on Thursday net profit climbed 64 percent to $173 million for the quarter ended June compared with a year earlier, when profit was hit by restructuring costs. A $132 million gain from the sale of a Beijing office property boosted profit well beyond the $130.1 million average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters SmartEstimates.

But the company, which bought the Motorola handset business in 2014 to reduce exposure to a shrinking global PC market, said global smartphone shipments plunged 31 percent in the quarter from a year ago. It said the mobile division - housing Motorola and other operations - won't make a profit before the fiscal half beginning October 2017.

"We can completely turn the business around," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing told Reuters in an interview. Lenovo is eyeing the more lucrative premium smartphone sector, he said, while ramping up marketing expenses.

Lenovo previously said it expected a turnaround by this quarter in Motorola's mobile operations, bought from Google . On Thursday, Yang said Motorola "has made a lot of progress", though the company declined to give numbers for the operations, saying they're now merged into its overall mobile business.

At 0540 GMT, Lenovo shares were up 3.2 percent, outperforming a 1.2 percent gain in the broader market.

The firm's drive into smartphones comes as growth in the global market slows while competition intensifies. According to researcher TrendForce, Lenovo had a 4.5 percent share of the global smartphone market in April-June, making it a distant seventh after top player Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's 24 percent and Apple Inc's 15 percent.

Like Chinese peer Xiaomi Inc, Lenovo has been focusing on diversifying away from intense competition in low-margin devices in China - still the world's largest handset market but affected by the slowing Chinese economy.

Lenovo has an "urgent need to formulate a sustainable strategy in smartphones, particularly in China," said Jefferies analyst Ken Hui, citing competition from domestic rivals with extensive sales networks in China such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

The company said its share of the global PC market grew over the quarter as it performed "slightly better than expected" thanks to a stronger performance in mature markets. PC shipments fell 2 percent year-on-year, compared with a 4 percent decline in the broader industry.

Across the whole company, first-quarter revenue dropped 6 percent to $10.05 billion from a year earlier, beating an average of $9.63 billion estimated by analysts.
CANNON BALL, N.D.  The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe called for peace Wednesday as protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline continue north of the reservation.

Chairman Dave Archambault II said hes spreading the word among the estimated 2,000 tribal members and out-of-state protesters that violence diminishes the power of their message.

Theres no place for threats, violence or criminal activity, Archambault said in a call with reporters Wednesday. That is simply not our way. The tribe will do all that it can to see that participants comply with the law and maintain peace.

Pipeline construction has been halted in the area of the protest as law enforcement officers have encountered weapons, threats of pipe bombs and assaults on private security, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said in a news conference Wednesday. Its unclear when it will be determined safe for work to continue.

Things have been taken a little bit further and further every day, Kirchmeier said.

Archambault said he expressed concerns Wednesday to Sens. Heidi Heitkamp and John Hoeven about Dakota Access and said that tribes have always endured the costs when it comes to economic development and national security.

We havent been heard and it only creates trauma, Archambault said. Our senators who got to hear me today hopefully take the message back and say you can no longer do this to tribes.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, claims the federal agency failed to follow the law and consider the impacts of the pipeline on the tribe. A hearing is set for Aug. 24 in Washington, D.C.

The pipeline presents a threat to our land, our sacred sites, our water and to the people who will be affected, Archambault said.

Heitkamp, D-N.D., said in a statement to Forum News Service that oil pipelines are an important part of energy infrastructure as North Dakota reduces its reliance on moving crude by rail. But Dakota Access and other pipelines need to be thoroughly vetted, reviewed and include proper safeguards, she said.

Ill keep meeting with North Dakotans both for and against the Dakota Access Pipeline  including tribal members, producers, and any others who want to discuss this project, Heitkamp said. Its critical that as federal agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers review energy infrastructure projects, they follow all applicable environmental requirements, and respect treaty rights as well as the need for proper consultation with tribal nations.

Heitkamp added she plans to closely monitor the federal court proceedings to make sure the federal government meets its responsibilities, including giving tribal concerns a full and fair consideration.

Hoeven, R-N.D., said in a statement his office requested in April that the corps consult with the tribe regarding Dakota Access. In response, the corps sent Col. John Henderson to do site visits with the tribe, and the corps allowed the tribe to submit additional comments on the project, Hoeven said.

People have the right to safe and peaceful protest, but everyone must follow the law, Hoeven said. If the tribe feels that their input was not adequately addressed or they feel the Corps did not follow proper procedures, they have remedies available to them through the courts.

Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said in an interview with Forum News Service that he was in regular contact with the corps to make sure the process was moving along properly and the environmental assessment was getting done right.

I really do understand the tribes concerns, he said. But I am very comfortable that the legal process has been very thorough and the consultation has been appropriate.

Cramer, who considered pipeline applications as a former member of the North Dakota Public Service Commission, said the pipeline is being constructed with several safeguards, including horizontal directional drilling at river crossings.

Frankly, a river crossing is probably the safest pipe in the pipeline because there are so many contingencies they prepare for, he said.

Tribal leaders have also reached out to President Obama, who visited the reservation in 2014.

If theres any way that he could intervene and move this pipeline off our treaty lands, Im asking him, Archambault said.

Public Service Commission members defended the Dakota Access Pipeline review process during their Wednesday meeting in Bismarck.

This was something of high concern to the commission. Nobody wants to jeopardize our water resources in this country. We all depend on water, said Chairwoman Julie Fedorchak. This was carefully reviewed by us and carefully reviewed by the Corps of Engineers in providing the permits that were necessary to construct this line.

Commissioner Brian Kalk said state regulators didnt hear concerns being raised by the protestors during the public hearing process, which included a hearing in Mandan.

These groups didnt come to our hearings, Kalk said.
Poland - Factors to Watch Aug 18

Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Thursday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours):

DATA

Poland's statistics office to publish industrial output, PPI and retail sales data for July at 1200 GMT.

TAURON

Poland's second biggest utility Tauron said on Wednesday it booked a net profit at 3.4 million zlotys ($891,000) in the first half of 2016, after earlier estimating it had made a net loss of 10 million zlotys in the period due to asset value impairment.

KGHM

Poland's KGHM on Wednesday reported a bigger than expected fall in net profit in the first half of 2016 to 296 million zlotys on the back of losses on its foreign assets driven by rising costs and falling copper prices.

ZALANDO

Zalando' new distribution centre in Gryfino in north-western Poland, built for 150 million euros, will start operations in the second half of next year, Puls Biznesu daily quoted Zalando's senior vice president as saying.

BOGDANKA

Polish coal miner Bogdanka, controlled by state-run utility Enea considers cuts in miners' salaries in 2017 at the earliest, in order to lower costs, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily said quoting unnamed sources.

JSW

Poland's troubled coking coal producer JSW reported on Thursday a net loss of 149 million zlotys in the first half of 2016 compared to 624 million zlotys last year on the back of a cost cutting programme.

MBANK

Poland's financial regulator KNF has asked the country's macroeconomic stability body KSF to give an opinion on whether to recognise Polish mBank as a "systemic ally important institution" and require it hold a capital buffer equal to 0.5 percent of its risk exposure, the bank said late on Wednesday.

MILLENNIUM

Poland's financial regulator KNF has asked the country's macroeconomic stability body KSF to give an opinion on whether to recognise Poland's Bank Millennium a "systemic ally important institution" and require it hold a capital buffer equal to 0.25 percent of its risk exposure, the bank said late on Wednesday.

****Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.****
Will it matter? That's the question to ask of any oil producers' deal: Russell

By Clyde Russell

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Asking whether the world's major crude oil-exporting countries can reach a deal to limit output is probably the wrong question. Asking whether it matters if they do is more relevant.

Once again the speculative "will they, won't they" merry-go-round has been fired up ahead of a planned meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers.

As in the run-up to previous meetings, investors and traders will hang on every twist and turn in the words of oil ministers in the six weeks between now and the meeting at a forum in Algeria on Sept. 26-28, trying to work out if a deal is likely.

While this is interesting and will keep the media and analysts occupied, it's likely only to exert short-term influences on oil prices and increase volatility.

It's a more pertinent exercise to ask what will happen if the producers do manage to reach a deal, having failed in their previous six attempts.

There is certainly increased motivation for a deal to be reached, as the ongoing weakness in oil prices is causing rising fiscal pain for many producers. Some, such as Venezuela are teetering on the brink of social collapse, and others are eating through monetary reserves.

Still, given the inherent tensions between even fellow OPEC members such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the disparate nature of a group that includes outsiders as well, achieving a workable consensus in Algeria will be a challenge.

The price of global market Brent crude has jumped 20 percent since hitting a four-month low on Aug. 2 to close near $50 a barrel on Wednesday, reflecting some optimism the producers will be able to agree on limiting output.

The price is still below the peak so far this year of $52.86 on June 9, and is less than half of what it was in June 2014, when the last big downturn started.

However, assuming that some sort of agreement is reached in Algeria, what becomes important is the nature of the deal.

The consensus view is that any agreement would likely be a weak pact that did little to alter the supply-demand balance in the short to medium term, but that may tighten the market from late 2017 onwards on the basis that supply would remain flat while demand eventually rises.

Any agreement that allows major oil producers to continue pumping at current rates - near records for some - will merely serve to confirm that supply will remain robust.

MIDDLE EAST PRODUCERS PUMPING MERRILY

The top producers in the Middle East have all been ramping up output recently, with industry sources quoted by Reuters saying number one exporter Saudi Arabia may pump record volumes in August.

Saudi Arabia's oil shipments, as tracked by Thomson Reuters Supply Chain and Commodities Research, are likely to be around 33.22 million tonnes in August, equivalent to about 7.82 million barrels per day (bpd).

This figure is still subject to the possibility of more vessels departing, but even if it stays the same, the final number will be similar to what was shipped in July, which was the second-highest monthly total since the beginning of 2015.

Saudi Arabia's average monthly exports since the start of 2015 are around 31.1 million tonnes, and the six months from March to August have all seen totals higher than this average, according to the Thomson Reuters data.

Iran's August shipments have been estimated at 10.477 million tonnes, the highest since Western sanctions against the Islamic republic were lifted in January and about 60 percent higher than the average since the beginning of 2015.

Regional rival Iraq is slated to ship 14.457 million tonnes in August, the most since April and above its average of 13.43 million since January 2015.

The United Arab Emirates is expected to ship 12.43 million tonnes in August, the third-highest since January last year and above the 11.56 million average of the last 20 months.

Thus, the overall picture that emerges from the major Middle East producers is one of plentiful and rising supply, meaning that merely freezing output is unlikely to do much to remove the overhang of crude in the market.

Also, the gains in output ahead of the September meeting are unlikely to sit well with those who have been battling to keep up their production, such as Venezuela and Nigeria, or those who have been largely steady, such as Russia and Angola.

Even if an agreement is reached in Algeria to freeze output, it may be self-defeating as any increase in crude prices will merely encourage producers not party to the deal, such as U.S. shale and Canadian oil sands companies, to boost output.

Unless the OPEC and non-OPEC producers can come up with an agreement that changes the structural dynamics of the oil market, it's hard to see anything more than a fleeting impact, deal or no deal.
Malaysia will take action if proven that 1MDB funds embezzled - minister

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Malaysia will take legal action against individuals named in civil lawsuits filed by U.S. prosecutors last month if there is proof that they defrauded a Malaysian state-owned fund, a government minister said on Thursday.

More than $3.5 billion was allegedly misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), founded by Prime Minister Najib Razak, according to civil lawsuits filed by the U.S. Justice Department.

Minister Senator Paul Low, whose portfolio covers governance and integrity, said criminal prosecution "must be instituted" against all involved if funds were "stolen from us".

"Our enforcement agencies and the attorney-general must cooperate fully with all international agencies to deal with the matter in an appropriate manner in order to allay negative perception and restore the trust and confidence of the people for the government," he said, according to the official text of a speech at a function on Thursday.

The U.S. lawsuits named several individuals, including Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, popularly referred to as Jho Low.

The civil suits also seek to seize $1 billion in assets believed to have been bought using money stolen from 1MDB, the largest case to date in the U.S. Justice Department's Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

Prime Minister Najib has weathered persistent calls for him to step down over his handling of the 1MDB scandal, which is also being investigated by at least five other countries.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing and has said the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit does not involve him.
Dubai's DP World says delaying Jebel Ali port expansion

By Hadeel Al Sayegh and Tom Arnold

DUBAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - DP World, one of the world's largest port operators, is delaying the expansion of Dubai's Jebel Ali port, its main facility, because of softer market conditions, the company said on Thursday.

A plan to add 1.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) of annual capacity to Terminal 3 at Jebel Ali will be delayed into 2017, while expansion of Terminal 4 will also be slowed, DP World said without giving details.

The company had announced in July 2015 that it would invest $1.6 billion in Terminal 4, which was to be completed by 2018. Jebel Ali handles shipments not only for the United Arab Emirates but for much of the region.

Since last year, however, growth in the oil-rich economies of the Gulf has slowed because of low oil prices. Saudi Arabia's imports, for example, shrank 20 percent from a year earlier in May, according to official data released this week.

"After the 2009 financial crisis, trade helped support Dubai in part thanks to government stimulus in the region," said Dima Jardaneh, head of regional economic research at Standard Chartered. "Now Dubai's trade is feeling the impact of a contractionary economic environment and the absence of stimulus."

DP World's decision also reflected a subdued outlook for global trade flows. Expansion in the volume of world trade is expected to remain sluggish at 2.8 percent in 2016, unchanged from 2015, the World Trade Organisation forecast in April.

"(The) global trade environment remains challenging including for Jebel Ali port," DP World said on Thursday, adding that the company handled 7.4 million TEUs of cargo in the UAE during the first half of 2016, down 6 percent from a year ago.

The company had previously disclosed that its consolidated throughput for the first half - volumes at ports which the company controls around the world - was 14.6 million TEUs, down 1.4 percent.

DP World's decision may be a negative omen for several other ports in the region, which launched multi-billion dollar expansion plans when oil prices were high several years ago in efforts to become trans-shipment hubs for the Gulf.

Abu Dhabi has said it aims to increase the capacity of its new Khalifa Port, only about 50 kilometres (30 miles) down the coast from Jebel Ali, to 15 million TEUs by 2030 from 2.5 million TEUs at present, depending on demand. Qatar and Oman are expanding their ports.

Also on Thursday, DP World reported a 50 percent jump in net profit attributable to shareholders during the first half to $608 million, helped by the acquisitions of Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone and Canada's Fairview Terminal.
Australia's Treasury Wine taps China's millennial drinkers

By Tom Westbrook and Jonathan Barrett

SYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The world's largest standalone winemaker, Australia's Treasury Wine Estates Ltd, on Thursday said annual profit more than doubled thanks to growing consumption of mid-market wine by Asia's young middle-class.

As the froth drains out of Asian economies like China, Treasury has found a lucrative market in selling $10-plus bottles of wine to millennial drinkers instead of relying on prestige sales to older, wealthy customers.

"The millennial consumer tends to be a very good target for us," Treasury Chief Executive Michael Clarke told Reuters in a phone interview.

"What we are finding is that a lot of those consumers are moving away from other beverages like beer, spirits and baijiu in China and moving to wine."

The Melbourne-based company, owner of brands such as Penfolds and Wolf Blass, posted annual net profit growth of 131.2 percent to A$179.4 million ($138 million), underpinned by a 76 percent surge in sales by volume to China, Korea and Japan.

Revenue from Asia as a whole, where volume sales rose 40 percent, comprised 14 percent of Treasury's total revenue in 2015-16. Outside Asia, volume sales jumped in Europe by 26.4 percent, but volume growth was more subdued in Australia, New Zealand and the Americas.

Shares in Treasury leapt 11.5 percent on Thursday and are trading at a lofty price-to-earnings multiple of around 67, signalling both the popularity and risks associated with the stock.

"We're dealing with a stock that already trades at a significant premium to the rest of the market. It's good foothold into Asia probably has to do with that good valuation," said Ben Le Brun, a Sydney-based analyst at OptionsXpress.

"In such a fast-growing area of the market it does look as if that's what's underpinned the result."

Winemaker Neil Howard, from Whicher Ridge in Western Australia's Margaret River region, said he was preparing plans to produce a slightly cheaper wine to export to China's young middle-class.

"Most of our product retails for between $25 and $40," Howard said.

"But it's well known here that Asian consumers want something a bit cheaper. If that's what the market is after, that's what we'll produce."

Since a troubled foray into the U.S. mass market made Treasury Wine a takeover target in 2014, it has been taking its portfolio away from low-end wines to widen its margins. This included the A$754 million purchase of Diageo Plc's U.S. assets last year, and the company's sale in July of some of Diageo's downmarket brands.

Treasury recorded earnings before interest and tax of A$342 million for the financial year, compared with its guidance of A$330 million to A$340 million.
Large blast rocks area near police station in eastern Turkey, several wounded - media

ISTANBUL, Aug 18 (Reuters) - A large explosion shook an area near a police station in the eastern Turkish town of Elazig on Thursday and several people were wounded, the Dogan news agency reported, hours after a car bomb killed three people and wounded 40 elsewhere in the region.

Dogan video footage showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area of the blast, the cause of which was not clear. Kurdish militants have carried out frequent bomb attacks in southeast Turkey in recent months although Elazig has not been an area of significant conflict.
New Zealand launches water supply inquiry after thousands fall sick

WELLINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The New Zealand government launched an inquiry on Thursday into the contamination of a regional water supply that has left thousands of people sick with vomiting and diarrhoea.

The outbreak of campylobacter bacteria, a form of gastroenteritis, has affected around 3,000 people, officials said.

About half of those are in the town of Havelock North on New Zealand's North Island, about 250 km (155 miles) northeast of the capital Wellington, where schools have been closed and medical facilities overloaded.

"The situation in Havelock North is concerning," Minister for Health Jonathan Coleman said in a statement. "It is important that the public has confidence in their water supply."

Such outbreaks are rare in New Zealand, where tap water is usually safe to drink. Officials said chlorine was being hastily added to the water supply for North Havelock and the surrounding region.

New Zealand touts its clean, green image abroad under a "100 percent pure" campaign to attract tourists, as well as to highlight its food and water safety as a hallmark of its premium export products.
South Sudan opposition leader Machar seeks safety in neighbouring DRC

By Denis Dumo and Michelle Nichols

JUBA/NEW YORK, Aug 18 (Reuters) - South Sudan's opposition leader, Riek Machar, is in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations said on Thursday, several weeks after he withdrew from the capital, Juba, during fierce fighting with government troops.

The world body said its peacekeeping mission in the DRC became aware of Machar's presence in the country on Monday and contacted the Congolese government, which then asked the mission to pick up Machar. That operation took place on Wednesday, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters in New York.

"Riek Machar has been handed over to the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We're not in a position to confirm his location," Haq said.

A spokesman for the DRC government, Lambert Mende, denied it had been in touch with any party on helping the former South Sudanese vice president, but Haq said Machar was removed from an area close to the border with South Sudan.

"We can confirm that an operation was undertaken by MONUSCO (U.N. mission) on humanitarian grounds to facilitate the extraction of Riek Machar, his wife and 10 others from a location in the DRC in support of the DRC authorities," Haq said, adding MONUSCO was considered the best-suited party to move Machar safely.

A statement issued by the leadership of the SPLA In Opposition (SPLA-IO) said he had left on Wednesday to a "safe country within the region".

Machar led a two-year rebellion against forces loyal to his longtime rival, President Salva Kiir, before the two sides reached a peace deal in August 2015. Under the deal, Machar returned to Juba in April to resume his role as vice president.

But fighting flared last month, leading Machar to withdraw with his forces from Juba around mid-July.

Opposition spokesman James Gatdek Dak, writing on his Facebook page, said opposition fighters had "successfully relocated our leader to a neighbouring country where he will now have unhindered access to the rest of the world and the media."

Machar had sustained a leg injury from weeks of walking in the bush but not serious enough to require medical attention, Gatdek Dak said.

Since the July fighting, Kiir has sacked Machar from his post and appointed Taban Deng Gai, a former opposition negotiator who broke ranks with Machar, as vice president.
Turkey's Erdogan links coup suspects, PKK to bomb attacks

By Humeyra Pamuk

ISTANBUL, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused followers of a U.S.-based Islamic cleric he blames for last month's coup attempt of being complicit in attacks by Kurdish militants in Turkey's southeast which killed 10 people.

His linking of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants to those suspected of being behind the July 15 coup attempt came as Turkish authorities arrest or dismiss tens of thousands in a post-coup purge that some Western allies worry that Erdogan is using to target broader dissent.

Erdogan has blamed a network led by Fethullah Gulen, a cleric in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, for the failed rebellion launched by rogue soldiers.

His remarks were prompted by bomb attacks on Wednesday and Thursday that left 10 dead, mostly police and soldiers, and wounded 300 in southeastern Turkey in an escalation of violence that officials blamed on Kurdish PKK militants.

"You don't have to be fortune teller to see that the FETO is behind the latest PKK attacks in terms of sharing information and intelligence," Erdogan said.

FETO is the term Ankara uses for Gulen's network.

In the largest blast, a car bomb tore through a police station in the city of Elazig early on Thursday as officers arrived for work. Three officers were killed and 217 people were wounded, 85 of them police officers, officials said.

A plume of black smoke rose above the city after the blast which uprooted trees and gouged a large crater outside the police complex. Offices in the police station were left in ruins and filled with smoke after the bomb exploded in front of the complex, destroying part of the facade, CNN Turk footage showed.

"We have raised the state of alarm to a higher level," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said at the scene of the attack, where a crowd chanted "Damn the PKK!"

Less than four hours later, a roadside bomb believed to have been planted by the PKK blasted a military vehicle in Bitlis province, security sources said. The blast killed three soldiers and a member of a village guard militia and wounded another seven soldiers, they said.

In Van province, two police officers and one civilian were killed and 73 people were wounded on Wednesday when a car bomb exploded near a police station, the local governor's office said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings, but Yildirim said there was no doubt they were carried out by PKK militants, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

The White House condemned the attacks in a statement on Thursday. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said U.S. officials "are in close touch with Turkish authorities", and the two countries will continue to work together to combat terrorist groups.

EXTRADITION DEMAND

Authorities have arrested or suspended tens of thousands of police, troops, officials, judges and bureaucrats it says are linked to Gulen's movement.

Several thousand companies and institutions suspected of having financed Gulen have been shut. A total of 40,029 people have been detained in investigations following the coup, and 20,355 of them formally arrested, Yildirim said in a speech late on Wednesday.

Erdogan on Thursday again called on U.S. President Barack Obama to extradite Gulen. U.S. officials say they need to see clear evidence of the cleric's involvement.

"I personally asked Obama to extradite Gulen a year ago. I have asked him again after the latest events," Erdogan said. "Things are moving in a different direction in our country, and a strategic partner should not make its partners work harder."

Turkey's southeast has been scorched by violence since the collapse of a 2-1/2-year ceasefire with the PKK in July last year.
Western governments welcome panel to run Libyan wealth fund-Germany

BERLIN, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Britain and the United States welcomed the appointment in Libya of an interim panel to run the country's sovereign wealth fund, Germany's foreign ministry said on Thursday.

"The governments (of those countries) call on all Libyans to support the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in preserving and protecting the independence and integrity of the Libyan Financial Institutions for the benefit of all Libyans," the ministry said in a statement.

Libya's U.N.-backed government said on Monday it was appointing a five-member caretaker committee to run the $67 billion sovereign wealth fund.
Top Christian music touring artist Big Daddy Weave is making a tour stop in Billings on Aug. 24 for a show at the Alberta Bair Theater.

The 7 p.m. show will feature special guest artists Plumb and We Are Messengers. Tickets range in price from $25 to $55.

Big Daddy Weave is known for the No. 1 song, "My Story," which is the first single from the most recent album, "Beautiful Offerings."

Big Daddy Weave is one of the top artists in Christian music, becoming the second most played artist at Christian AC-Monitored radio in 2014 and the recipient of multiple industry awards and nominations.

Big Daddy Weave has career album sales of more than one million. Formed in 2002, Big Daddy Weave includes Mike Weaver, Jay Weaver, Jeremy Redmon, Joe Shirk and Brian Beihl.
Hong Kong shipping group calls for aid to crew on arrested coal ship

By Keith Wallis

HONG KONG, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The Hong Kong Shipowners Association (HKSOA) on Thursday called on the city's authorities to provide assistance to the crew of a Hong Kong-flagged coal ship off the east coast of Australia that is running out of food and fuel.

Local Australian media and Great Britain's Guardian newspaper reported this week that the Five Stars Fujian, a 180,000 deadweight tonne capsesize class coal carrier, has been sitting in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef for the past month with supplies diminishing and salaries going unpaid.

The HKSOA said in a statement that the ship was under detention by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), off the port of Gladstone, for breaches of the Maritime Labour Convention relating to lack of provisions and unpaid wages.

"The Hong Kong Shipowners Association, while recognising that Hong Kong has not yet had ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention extended to it by China, is extremely concerned about the welfare of the seafarers on the ship, and urges the Hong Kong Government... provide all necessary assistance to the seafarers," the statement said.

It added that the ship's crew "have effectively been abandoned by the owner of the ship, including the immediate supply of provisions and fuel, as well as the repatriation of the seafarers to their homes if requested by the seafarers."

It was not immediately clear who the owner or manager of the ship were.

Arthur Bowring, HKSOA's managing director, said "there might not be a legal obligation for Hong Kong to provide such facilities, but there is an extremely strong moral and ethical obligation to do so" as Hong Kong has the world's fourth-biggest merchant fleet.

Several shipping companies, especially in the dry bulk sector which includes coal and iron ore vessels, have gone bankrupt in what is considered the worst downturn in at least 30 years. An oversupply of ships amid slowing demand for dry bulk commodities pulled down freight rates to record lows earlier this year.
PRESS DIGEST - RUSSIA - AUG 18

MOSCOW, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

VEDOMOSTI

www.vedomosti.ru

- Russia's government will have to tap state-controlled companies for money after it delayed the privatisation of the Bashneft oil company, the daily says. It writes that the company's share price dropped by 7.5 percent as a result of the decision to delay the sell-off.

- Russia's state space agency Roscosmos has started preparations for a manned flight to the Moon which aims to land on its surface by 2030. Russia is already testing a device to explore the surface of the planet, the daily says.

KOMMERSANT

www.kommersant.ru

- Four militants were killed and three arrested in St Petersburg on Wednesday after the National Guard and FSB security service forces stormed an apartment where a group of extremists from the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria had holed up. Police said one of the men killed was a leader of the outlawed Caucasus Emirate, the daily says.

- A Moscow district military court has began hearing a case involving a 20-year-old student, Patimat Gadzhiyeva, who is accused of "supporting extremism" after she posted remarks supporting Islamic State on the VKontakte social network. The girl could face a 7 year jail sentence, the daily says.

IZVESTIA

www.izvestia.ru

- Energia, Russia's rocket and space corporation, has reached agreement with Boeing on settling a dispute over the so-called Sea Launch project and will conduct joint space research from the sea platform, the daily says.

- Ukrainian parliamentarian and former soldier Nadezhda Savchenko may meet the leaders of the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in the next two months, the daily says.

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA

www.ng.ru

- Senator Anton Belyakov suggested on Wednesday that parliament should ban the destruction of illegally imported food and distribute it among people with low incomes instead.

Russia has banned various European foodstuffs in retaliation for Western sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis. Russians' revenues fell by 7 percent in July year-on-year, according to official statistics.
Thailand's PTT to boost LNG imports in 2017 as local fields fade

By Khettiya Jittapong and Manunphattr Dhanananphorn

BANGKOK, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Thailand's largest energy firm PTT Pcl plans to import at least 5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2017, up from 3 million tonnes this year as local gas production fades.

State-controlled PTT expects to conclude in September talks with several suppliers including Royal Dutch Shell and BP to buy LNG under long-term contracts, chief executive Tevin Vongvanich told a news conference on Thursday.

Thailand, which uses natural gas for nearly 70 percent of its power generation, has become increasingly reliant on LNG imports as its own domestic gas fields are slowly being depleted. PTT is the nation's sole gas provider.

"As domestic resources decline, we are at the last phase of gas production," Tevin said, adding that PTT aimed to buy at least 3 million tonnes of LNG via long-term contracts, as well as making purchases in spot markets.

Thailand currently has a long-term contract with Qatar for supplies of up to 2 million tonnes of LNG per year.

Hit by the decline in global oil prices, PTT has cut its 2016 investment budget to 43.31 billion baht ($1.25 billion) and will focus more infrastructure including LNG terminals and gas pipelines, Tevin said.

PTT is in process of doubling the intake capacity of its 5-million tonne per year LNG import terminal at Map Ta Phut in the country's east, which is expected to be completed in 2017, Tevin said.

To boost revenue from non-oil businesses, PTT is seeking partners to open budget hotels at its petrol stations in Thailand and to open more coffee outlets at facilities in neighbouring Southeast Asia, he said.

The company also plans to spend about 50-100 million baht supporting clean energy technology, chief financial officer Wirat Uanarumit said.

PTT expects to continue to make profit in the second half of the year, with lower feed gas costs supporting its core gas business, Wirat said.

Unlike the first half, PTT has no major shutdowns planned for the latter half of the year, he said.

On Monday, PTT reported a 4.8-percent rise in second quarter net profit as its strong gas business outweighed the weak performance of its petrochemical and refining businesses.
China blames Taiwan for suspended communications channel

BEIJING, Aug 18 (Reuters) - China said on Thursday that the suspension of a communication channel with Taiwan would have a large impact on relations between the two sides, but blamed the self-ruled island for the breakdown.

China said in June that it had stopped a communication mechanism with Taiwan because of the refusal of the island's new government to recognise the "one China" principle.

China, which regards Taiwan as wayward province, is deeply suspicious of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who took office in May, as it suspects she will push for formal independence.

Tsai, who heads the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, says she wants to maintain the status quo with China and is committed to ensuring peace.

"The two sides currently cannot engage in talks on new issues, or come to new agreements. This is inconvenient for handling some sensitive cross-Strait issues," Zhang Zhijun, the head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said, according to the state-run China News Service, referring to the narrow stretch of water between the island and the mainland.

"But the responsibility for this does not lie with mainland," Zhang told reporters in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, according to the news agency.

Zhang said that economic cooperation had not ceased and that he hoped cultural and youth exchanges would not be affected by politics.

China has insisted Tsai recognise the "1992 consensus" reached between China's Communists and Taiwan's then-ruling Nationalists, under which both agreed there is only one China, with each having their own interpretation of what that means.

The regular communication mechanism had been ushered in following a rapid improvement of ties under the rule of Taiwan's then-president Ma Ying-jeou, who took office in 2008 and signed a series of landmark trade and tourism deals with China.
NY Fed, Bangladesh central bank to resume normal money transfers- sources

By Krishna N. Das and Serajul Quadir

Aug 18 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Bangladesh's central bank have agreed to withdraw additional payment security measures put in place after one of the world's biggest cyber heists, the theft of $81 million from Bangladesh Bank's account at the Fed, two sources said.

The decision comes after SWIFT, the global financial messaging platform, promised in May to strengthen security on software tools used by its clients and to develop new tools that would spot a compromised account and raise a red flag when a payment instruction deviates from normal patterns.

The decision was taken at a meeting in New York this week between officials from Bangladesh Bank, the New York Fed and SWIFT, said a source close to Bangladesh Bank who has direct knowledge of the matter. They have agreed on a tentative timeline to withdraw the additional security measures but the source declined to give details.

"(The New York Fed and Bangladesh Bank) want to use (only) SWIFT for secure communication," said the source, declining to be named as he was not authorised to brief the media. "We are talking about normalising our communication channels as soon as possible."

The New York Fed and SWIFT could not immediately be reached for comment.

In early February, hackers used stolen Bangladesh Bank credentials to send three dozen SWIFT messages to transfer nearly $1 billion from its Fed account, eventually managing to route $81 million to a bank in the Philippines. Most of the money was laundered through casinos in Manila and remains missing.

Following the heist Bangladesh Bank initiated a new protocol under which the Fed could only clear any SWIFT request from Dhaka after a voice authentication. Fed officials had to call one of two or three Bangladesh Bank officials whose voice samples were shared with the Fed.

A senior Bangladesh Bank official in Dhaka, who declined to be named, said more time was needed "to improve the system" before moving back to a SWIFT-only transfer mechanism.

Both sources said the New York Fed wanted to do away with the additional measure as it delayed genuine transfer instructions. SWIFT has told Bangladesh Bank its system was secure and that the Asian bank needed to tighten its own defences to prevent criminals from hacking into their computer systems.

Bangladesh Bank spokesman Subhankar Saha said he was not aware of the agreement and would comment only after the bank's delegation came back from the United States.

The bank said in a statement on Wednesday that its officials discussed with the New York Fed and SWIFT "certain technical details" of the heist to enhance their understanding of how the fraud occurred and "steps that have been and will be taken to remediate the event".

The Bangladeshi delegation also requested the New York Fed to put more pressure on the Philippines' Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC), to recover the rest of the stolen money, said the source close to Bangladesh Bank. The funds were routed to four accounts at the bank before they disappeared into casinos in the city.
Rwandan police kill man described as terrorism suspect after shootout

KIGALI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - A Rwandan man described as a "terror suspect" was shot dead in the capital Kigali late on Wednesday after a three-hour shootout with police, a police statement said.

The suspect, identified as Channy Mbonigaba, barricaded himself in a house and injured one police officer during the battle in the Nyarutaramahe district, police said.

They said that, since last year, the Rwandan National Police had been investigating "individuals suspected of being radicalized and linked to foreign terrorist organisations", and that several had appeared in court, but gave no details of the organisations involved.

In January, police said they had killed a Muslim imam as he attempted to escape police custody while under investigation for encouraging young Rwandans to join the jihadist militant group Islamic State.

Subsequently, 23 men and women were arrested on suspicion of links to the preacher. Last week, a high court in Kigali granted police more time to keep them in detention.
Myanmar's Suu Kyi assures China of solution to stalled dam

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi told China's premier on Thursday that her new government is willing to look for a resolution that suits both countries to a suspended Chinese-funded hydropower project in northern Myanmar, a senior Chinese diplomat said.

Finding a solution to the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam project is important for Suu Kyi who needs China's cooperation in talks with Myanmar's ethnic minority armed groups operating along northern borders with China.

Former Myanmar President Thein Sein angered China in 2011 when he suspended work on the hydropower dam, in the Ayeyarwady river basin, after it drew widespread environmental protests.

About 90 percent of the dam's power would have gone to China. At the time, Suu Kyi also called for the project's suspension.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters after a meeting in Beijing between Suu Kyi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that Li had said China hopes Myanmar can come up with an appropriate resolution.

"Aung San Suu Kyi said that the Myanmar government has already set up an investigation committee to look for an appropriate resolution to the Myitsone dam issue," Liu said.

"She also said that she is willing to look for a resolution that suits both sides' interests via both sides' energy administrations' cooperation."

China has been pushing for work to restart on the dam, which under the original plans would have sent 90 percent of its power to China.

A Myanmar government commission reviewing the project - as well as other proposed hydropower dams, including several on the Thanlwin river - is expected to report by Nov. 11.

Suu Kyi did not mention the dam in remarks to Li made in front of journalists, but said she hoped her visit would "further consolidate and develop" relations.

The two countries also signed a deal to build a strategic bridge near their border.

A Myanmar foreign ministry official said China had also agreed to build two hospitals in Myanmar's two largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay.

The bridge will be built in Kunlong, 32 km (20 miles) from the border in northeastern Myanmar and near the Kokang region where an ethnic Chinese rebel group fought Myanmar's military last year.

Liu said Premier Li reaffirmed China's support for efforts to bring peace to northern Myanmar.

Suu Kyi, who is barred from the presidency by a junta-drafted constitution but holds several government posts including that of foreign minister, will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday.
Australia, Hanoi at odds over 50th anniversary of Vietnam War battle

SYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - An Australian ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a Vietnam War battle has soured into a diplomatic spat after the Vietnamese government restricted access to the site at Long Tan.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made an 11th-hour appeal to his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc on behalf of about 1,000 Australian veterans and their families who had travelled to Vietnam but found themselves barred by authorities, who said the ceremony might offend residents.

"I thank the prime minister of Vietnam for agreeing last night to arrangements which will, after all, enable our veterans and their families who have travelled to Vietnam, reverently to commemorate the battle as they honour all those who fought and died in those fields so many years ago," Turnbull said in an address in Canberra on Thursday.

The commemoration had long been planned in coordination with Vietnamese authorities, but was cancelled on Wednesday.

Australian Veterans' Affairs Minister Dan Tehan said the formal ceremony at the Long Tan site remained cancelled but Nguyen had agreed to ease the restrictions so that smaller groups of veterans could visit the site.

Tehan called the cancellation "a kick in the guts".

In Vietnam, police blocked roads leading to Long Tan and allowed a small group of veterans and diplomats to lay a wreath at the site.

"Very, very sad that the Vietnamese government has taken the attitude they have toward a fairly peaceful commemorative service to honour the dead," Australian veteran Peter Wyldey told Reuters in the nearby seaside resort of Vung Tau, where some veterans had gathered for a private ceremony.

A local government official told Reuters that Hanoi feared the service would turn into a victory celebration and put the Australians at risk because families of Vietnamese soldiers killed in the battle still lived nearby.

More than 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1972 and more than 500 Australians were killed during the deeply unpopular war between the Soviet-backed Communist government of North Vietnam and South Vietnam's U.S.-backed regime. The war ended with the fall of the former Saigon in 1975.
Serbia intercepts over 3,000 illegal migrants in a month - spokesman

BELGRADE, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Serbia detained over 3,000 migrants illegally entering into the country in one month, a military spokesman said, suggesting many were still trying to make their way along a Balkan corridor to the European Union despite border closures.

Balkan countries along the route processed hundreds of of thousands of migrants over their borders last year, but clamped down in February to stop the mass influx and many migrants now resort to people smugglers to try to reach the EU.

With a steady trickle of migrants mainly from conflict- and poverty-wracked areas of Asia and the Middle East continuing, Serbia on July 16 decided to form joint police and army patrols to intercept them.

"Since July 22, the Joint Force of the Serbian Army and the Ministry of Interior have uncovered 3,112 people attempting to illegally cross the state border," Defence Ministry spokesman Jovan Krivokapic said in a statement.

Two people were arrested overnight in Serbia's south as they tried to slip 30 migrants across the border.

After entering Serbia, most migrants become stranded as EU member Hungary to its north cut the maximum number of daily entries to 30 in June, creating a bottleneck.

According to Serbia's commissariat for refugees, about 4,000 migrants were in the country on Thursday, with about three quarters of them in government-run refugee centres.

The remainder either sought shelter in parks in the capital Belgrade or were awaiting entry into the EU in camps at the Horgos and Kelebija border crossings with Hungary.

More than 100,000 people have entered Serbia en route to sought-after destinations in the EU so far this year. More than 650,000 people passed through Serbia last year.

More than one million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere arrived in the EU last year, the vast majority asking for asylum in Germany.

An EU deal with Turkey in March halted a huge migrant influx by sea from that country but an inward flow has continued by other means, mainly by sea into Italy from Libya.
Philippines gets first coastguard boat from Japan to boost security

MANILA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Japan on Thursday delivered to the Philippines the first of 10 coastguard vessels to help it improve its maritime security and law enforcement in the South China Sea where tension has been rising over a territorial dispute with China.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea where about $5 trillion worth of seaborne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas.

Japan has no claims in the waterway but worries about China's growing military reach across sea lanes through which much of Japan's trade passes.

Philippine coastguard chief Rear Admiral William Melad said the 44-metre (144-foot) vessel from Japan would be sent out to sea on patrols and law enforcement operations.

"It can be used for maritime security operations but it's not for combat," Melad told reporters.

The boat would also be used for humanitarian work and disaster relief operations. Japan will supply nine more of the vessels under a 7.3 billion peso ($158 million) soft loan agreement.

Melad did not mention China but its increasingly assertive claims in disputed South China Sea waters pose for the Philippines its most pressing security concern.

China has dredged up sand and built up reefs to make seven islands in the Spratly islands, some with port facilities and air strips.

China says is has the right to do whatever work it wants on its territory, and its aims are entirely peaceful, but an arbitration court in The Hague last month rejected China's historic claim to the South China Sea.

China did not participate in and has refused to accept the July 12 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Japan and the Philippines are in talks about two more large coastguard ships worth about 10 billion pesos ($215 million) and the lease of four TC-90 surveillance aircraft.

Japan has also warming relations with Vietnam, promising to help strengthen its coastguard with training, vessels and other equipment.
Dry fly fishing is in full swing on the Bighorn River with hatches of caddis, yellow Sallies and pale morning duns all flittering over the water.

Don't expect to have the place to yourself, though, as the dry flies bring out plenty of anglers  the annual bumper boat season. Be patient, considerate and polite because everyone is trying to have a fun time at the same time.

Crowds are also gathering at Fort Peck Reservoir along the face of the dam to fish for chinook salmon that can tip the scales at up to 20 pounds. It's going to take a fish much bigger than that to topple the state record, set in 1991, when Carl Niles pulled a 31.13-pounder out of Peck. But it's fun to try, and possible given the great forage fish situation at Fort Peck.

For information on other waters close to home or your vacation spot, here's the Gazette's weekly fishing report.

Top picks

Bighorn River  The water flow and temperature jumped slightly to 2,250 cfs and 56.7 degrees. Water clarity is 9-10 feet. Trico's are the most consistent and hottest hatch on the river. Although we are also getting very good hatches of PMDs, yellow Sallies and black caddis. Some psuedos are appearing, as well. The hopper hatch has just not become much of an issue this year. Darn! Fish early with Trico Perfect Spinners in sizes 18-22 trailed by a CDC RS2 Trico. The spinner fall is best from 8:30 a.m. till about 10 a.m. and some days as late as noon. For the dry fly fisherman imitating the black caddis hatch try a black Hemmingway Caddis or black Slow Water Caddis trailed by a black Diving Caddis or Bighorn Caddis Emerger, all in sizes 16-18. Our guides have been having good success also using a size 16 or 18 Poodle Sniffer for a caddis emerger. For the PMDs hot patterns have been Orange Stimulators or PMD Parachutes sizes 12-14 as well as Rusty Biot Spinners sizes 14-16. Yellow Sally dries are being imitated with Yellow Sallies or Eric's Yellow Sally in sizes 14-16. For those fishing subsurface all the usual sowbug patterns work.  Bighorn Fly and Tackle Shop, Fort Smith.

Boulder River  The hopper bite has come on hot. Recommended dry fly patterns include Spruce Moths (14), tan or brown Caddis (14), ant or beetle patterns (12-16), Dave's or Parachute Hopper's in (8-12), Pink Pookies (8), Chubbies in gold or purple (8-12), as well your standard Stimulator or Parachute Madam X in yellow, orange or royal (8-12). Attractor dries like a Purple Haze, Royal Wulff, Royal Humpy or Royal Trude are all excellent bugs. Best time to fish dries is from 8 a.m. until noon, and the last 90 minutes before dark. For nymphs throw your standard stoneflies like Rubber Legs in a multitude of colors (8-10), a North Fork Special (10-14), beadhead Copper Johns, Hare's Ear, Flashback Pheasant Tails, standard Prince Nymphs as well as the Batman nymph (10-16). Black or red Zebra Midges (16-18) make a fantastic dropper fly.  East Rosebud Fly Shop, Billings.

Fort Peck Reservoir, dam area  Salmon are the big draw, with about 100 boats off the face of the dam trolling green flashers and squids or green flashers with a white squid 80 feet deep over 120 to 165 feet of water this weekend. A couple of salmon topped 21 pounds with a 16.5-pounder taken on Sunday. One boat of three walleye anglers landed their limit of fish using Slow Death rigs and a crawler behind spinner blades in 9 to 35 feet of water. A 21 -inch smallmouth was taken off the face of the dam by an angler using a slip bobber and minnow.  Lakeridge Motel and Tackle.

Montana

Ackley Lake  Troll with leaded line and crankbaits or soak a worm from shore.  Dons, Lewistown.

Beaverhead River  The flow has dropped to 403.6 cfs. The fish are looking up for smaller bugs like trico spinners. Wade anglers can easily get around and fish the heaviest runs. PMDs are still around, now predominately smaller (Extended Body PMD #18) but there are still the larger ones (Sparkle Spider #16) and even some #20s. BWOs are swinging back into the mix and on a cloudy or cool day you can expect to see them (Extended Body BWO #18, Quigley's Hackle Stacker #20). The tricos are also going and the fish have been eating a few duns in the afternoon and evening (Hen Wing Trico Dun #20). There will be spinners in the mornings (Trico spinner #20). There are still lots of caddis flying and reports of crane flies up top. Streamer fishing has been strong with baby Zonkers (inverted Zonker #8 copper). Sometimes the big meat flies really grab them (Sundell's Screamer, Silvey's Sculpin Leech). We always try the little buggers as well (BH New Age Buggers #8-10 Midnight Fire, Black Pearl). It's essential to use enough weight to slow your bugs down to match the current on the bottom.  Frontier Anglers, Dillon.

Big Hole River  The flow was down to 226 cfs at Maiden Rock. Great dry fly fishing. In the mornings you'll see large trico spinner mating swarms (CW Crystal Midge #20, Trico spinner #20) and with them the late summer BWOs (Quigley's Hackle Stacker #20, Parachute Adams #18-22). It can be difficult to discern which ones the fish are eating so have both. You may also see some PMDs and a few others. The spruce moths are back. (Elk Hair Caddis #12-16, PMX, Twisted Sister). They make a very good searching fly. It's generally a good idea to fish two dry flies, and we always like the Purple Haze. Other good ideas are ants (LRO Purple Para Ant #14-16, Stenersen's CFO ant) and now some hoppers (White Cloud Hopper #12 in olive or peach). A Pheasant Tail, red Copper John, Lightning Bug, etc. are good droppers. Other hot flies have been our olive Chubby #12 and soft-hackle Lightning Bugs. Yellow is always a top streamer color and nymphing the riffles is very productive.  Frontier Anglers, Dillon.

Canyon Ferry Reservoir  Anglers targetingrainbow trout are few and far between, but some fish are being caught using cranks or worm harnesses, tipped with a worm, in 15 to 40 feet of water. Shore fishing for rainbows continues to be slow, but some fish are being caught in Confederate Bay using worms. Walleye fishing continues to be excellent throughout the reservoir tolling worm harnesses or Slow-Death rigs, tipped with worms or leeches, in 15 to 50 feet of water. Fishing a jig, both standard and floating, tipped with a worm continues to produce walleye reservoir-wide in 5 to 50 feet of water. A fair number of yellow perch continue to be caught from while trolling for walleye or using jigs, tipped with a worm, from shore.  FWP, Helena.

Cooney Reservoir  Trout and perch are hitting worms and marshmallows. Walleye anglers fishing the south shore near Willow Creek are having success using crawlers and leeches. Unconfirmed report of a 19.6-pound walleye pulled from the lake last week.  Boyd Store and Trading Post.

Deadmans Basin  The lake is low.  Cozy Corner Bar, Lavina.

Fort Peck Reservoir, Big Dry Arm  Lake trout, 16-20 pounders, have been caught near the face of the dam and along the island in about 80 feet of water trolling squids. Northerns are being caught in 15-20 feet of water pulling firetiger and crawdad-colored crankbaits. Walleye anglers are using leeches and worms with a bottom bouncer rig with blue and pearl Smiley Blades in 27 to 30 feet of water.  Rock Creek Marina.

Fort Peck Reservoir, Fourchette Bay  Fishing remains good for walleyes, northerns and crappie. Bottom bouncers and cranks seem to be the most productive in the 15- to 25-foot range.  Westside Sports, Malta.

Gallatin River  An hours drive will get you above Big Sky where the fish have been pressured much less. Best to fish very early in the morning or late in the evening. The fish are starting to wise up to some of the patterns that mimic the spruce moth. It has been best to land one or two and then move to the next hole. Water is gin clear so downsizing your leader and tippet and making stealthy approaches to holes and runs will be important. We're also still seeing nocturnal stoneflies at first and last light. Darker Chubbies are perfect for imitating this hatch because you can skate and twitch them to imitate the bugs skittering across the water. There are also PMDs and caddis coming off throughout the day.  Montana Troutfitters, Bozeman.

Hauser Reservoir  Rainbow action has slowed with some trout being caught in the mornings while trolling cowbells 20-30 feet deep around the Black Sandy and White Sandy area. Shore fishing is fair while using worms or PowerBait near Riverside and the Causeway Bridge. Boat anglers are catching walleye in the Causeway Arm on jigs and worms in 10 to 15 feet of water. A few walleye are being caught from shore at the Causeway Bridge on jigs and worms. Some perch are being caught in the Causeway, also on jigs.  FWP, Helena.

Hebgen Lake  Callibaetis have been hatching on every arm of the lake. Tricos and trico spinners have provided early morning fishing on the Madison Arm. If you're headed to the lake, you might arm yourself with a few Callibaetis nymphs. Hebgen is lower than usual for this time of year, and many of the weedbeds have grown close to the water surface. If you're using a boat or a float tube, be mindful of them. Ants have also been falling on the lake, and nothing makes for more exciting lake fishing than an ant fall.  Blue Ribbon Flies, West Yellowstone.

Holter Reservoir  Rainbow fishing has improved with trout being caught trolling cowbells in the mornings from Split Rock to Holter Dam at depths of 20 to 30 feet. Shore fishing for rainbows has been fair around Gates of the Mountains on worms. A few walleye are being caught around Gates of the Mountains, Split Rock, Cottonwood Creek and the bays by Holter Dam. Most walleye are being caught on jigs and a worm or leech in 15 to 20 feet of water. Perch are being caught throughout the reservoir in small bays and around weedbeds in 12 to 18 feet of water while using jigs and worms.  FWP, Helena.

Madison River, Lower  The only reason to fish the river is if you're on at daybreak and done fishing by 10 a.m. It's very warm and fighting fish once water temps reach 68 degrees results in a high mortality rate. If you do venture here, throw a Chubby with a soft hackle or a crayfish underneath. Fish have been holding in the fast water and in front of boulders.  Montana Troutfitters, Bozeman.

Madison River, Upper  Hoppers, ants and spruce moths are doing well during mid-day. Droppers of either Spankers, Lightning Bugs or caddis nymphs are getting fish. Soft hackles are also working, have a variety of colors. Nocturnal stones are still around, try a purple Chubby. In the evenings there are trico hatches starting. Streamers in black and white have also been productive. Head hunting tricos or PMDs is always a good option if you are willing to be patient and wait for the fish to show. This is a good time of year to head upstream from Raynolds bridge to target fish that don't see many anglers for most of the year.  Montana Troutfitters, Bozeman.

Missouri River, below Holter  Nymph fishing has been good using a Green Machine or Two Bit Hooker (16-18). Hopper and a dropper is a good option from Craig downstream. Try royal and purple Chubbies, Ms Hopper in tan or pink (10-12). Tricos are hatching in the morning as well as caddis. Caddis patterns working include a Cornfed and Double Duck (14-16). Ant patterns are taking fish as well, try a Blooms Purple Flying Ant or para-Ant (12-14).  Montana Fly Goods, Helena.

Nelson Reservoir  Anglers are still having success for walleyes northerns and perch, even with low water levels. Bottom bouncing, jigging and crankbaits have all been working. Boaters are launching off the state park ramp.  Westside Sports, Malta.

Rock Creek  The top water action is solid. Try casting hoppers, Pink Pookies, and Chubbies (10). Stimulators in orange, yellow or royal in sizes (12-14), a Parachute Madam X in yellow or orange in a (10), as well as tan or olive Caddis dry fly patterns in (14-16) will cover your stonefly adult and natural patterns perfectly. Don't forget your attractor dry's like an H&L Variant, Royal Wulff, Adams Irresistible, Parachute Adams or the ever popular Purple Haze in sizes 12-16. For nymph fishing use standard beadhead nymph patterns like Montana Princes in blue, Batman, Psycho Princes in yellow, green or purple, as well as Lightning Bugs in silver, blue or red. A Hare's Ear, Flashback Pheasant Tail, or a simple stonefly pattern like a Girdle Bug can be extremely effective. Most of nymph patterns on Rock Creek can be fished in sizes 10-16.  East Rosebud Fly Shop.

Spring Creek  Waiting for the hopper action to take off.  Dons, Lewistown.

Stillwater River  Hoot owl hours are in effect below Cliff Swallow. Flows are running in the 350 cfs range making float fishing extremely challenging. Surface action has been sketchy, with some action on hoppers like a Fat Frank. Fish hoppers with a long dropper nymph. Various big attracter dry patterns, like a Jack Cabe, Stimulator or PMX, along with a standard Stillwater nymph pattern of some sort are usually a successful combination. Good nymph choices are beadhead and flashy patterns such as a Prince Nymph, Hares Ear, Pheasant Tail, Batman or Copper John. Soft hackle patterns have been working well too. Hopper patterns like the Straight nymphing with rubber leg patterns with a smaller beadhead nymph trailer fly has been productive and will produce, particularly in heavier water. Streamer action has been fair with dark-colored buggers and the Grinch. Trail a nymph off of the back and dead drift as well as strip. Look for fish to be moving into deeper, colder water as well as more oxygenated riffles and runs.  Stillwater Anglers, Columbus.

Tongue River Reservoir  Smallmouth bass fishing is good, with a few northerns and crappie mixed in. Try bottom bouncers, tube baits and a drop shot with a minnow.  Minnow Bucket, Huntley.

Yellowstone River, Columbus  Hoot owl hours are still in effect below Springdale. The best fishing is usually mid-morning to early afternoon. Bright sunny afternoons along with warm water temperatures have the fish much less active. Dark-colored bugger patterns dead drifted have been taking fish. Nymphing using a big rubber leg pattern like a Girdle Bug, Bitch Creek, Yuk Bug or Pats Rubber Leg, with a beadhead nymph trailed behind it is getting flies down to where the fish are. There are trico spinners in the morning and fish are rising to them. A small trico pattern trailed off of a Purple Haze is a good combination. By late morning and into the afternoon there is some activity fishing big dry flies like Chubby Chernobyls, PMXs and Jack Cabes with dropper nymphs. Fish are eating hoppers, too. Try a Yeti Hopper, Yellowstoner Chubby, or Fat Frank in peach, purple, pink or olive. If fishing a dry/dropper setup try a fairly long dropper. Prince Nymph, Hares Ear, Copper John, Pheasant Tail, or Batman are good dropper nymphs. Also try fishing a double dry fly rig with a smaller dry like a Purple Haze trailed 10-12 inches off of a larger dry fly or hopper pattern.  Stillwater Anglers, Columbus.

Yellowstone River, Huntley  Catfishing is fair on cutbait and live minnows. Bass are hitting tube baits and live minnows. Reports of sauger hitting minnows, also.  Minnow Bucket, Huntley.

Yellowstone River, Livingston  Anglers have been using a variety of dry flys to entice fish, from hoppers and Chubbies to caddis and PMDs. Smaller stimulator flies like a Hippie Stomper or Trudes deserve a cast during mid-day. Ants and beetles are starting to pick up some fish, as well. Over the last couple days fish have been eating beetle patterns during the afternoon. You can drop a small Lightning Bug or some nocturnal stonefly imitators off the back of your Chubby for a solid dry/dropper rig.  Montana Troutfitters, Bozeman.

Yellowstone River, Miles City  The river is low and clear. People are catching sauger and bass on jigs and crankbaits.  Red Rock Sporting Goods, Miles City.

Wyoming

Bighorn Lake, Horseshoe Bend  Crappie were the main fish taken on jigs this week in the North Narrows. Sauger numbers are coming up as well with several reports of success using minnows. Bass anglers are doing well at Barrys Landing using worms and jigs.  Horseshoe Bend Marina.

Bighorn/Wind River  Weeded up. Stick to dry flies.  North Fork Anglers, Cody.

Lake DeSmet  Bank anglers are catching fat walleye soaking leeches and worms.  The Lake Stop, Buffalo.

Lower Shoshone  Probably the best fishing around. Use a hopper and dropper, but fish the dropper shallow to avoid the grass. Scuds and sowbug imitations make good droppers.  North Fork Anglers, Cody.

North Fork of the Shoshone Fish are pooled up in the deep water. Try a hopper or other attractor pattern.  North Fork Anglers, Cody.

Yellowstone National Park  The fishing action is great on hoppers and ant patterns during mid-day. In the mornings and evenings there are thick amounts of tan caddis. Fish spruce moths in places where the forest comes down to the river. If youre fishing one of the park's lakes it's time to have a sink tip line to get down deep. The cutthroat in Yellowstone Lake will be about 20 to 30 feet down during August.  Montana Troutfitters, Bozeman.
Hungarian MP agrees to waive immunity in graft probe

By Gergely Szakacs

BUDAPEST, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Hungary's chief prosecutor has asked parliament to lift the immunity of a ruling-party lawmaker who is suspected of corruption involving public funds, a move the legislator himself said he would support.

Prosecution spokesman Geza Fazekas told reporters Roland Mengyi was suspected of an attempted misuse of public funds and abuse of the powers of his office. The case involves five other suspects, none of whom hold public office, Fazekas said.

Shortly afterwards, Mengyi issued a statement that said, in full: "I will cooperate with the authorities fully and ask Parliament to lift my immunity in order to clarify the reality as soon as possible." Mengyi has previously denied wrongdoing, according to a statement by the ruling party, Fidesz, published in local media.

Since coming to power in 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has redrawn hundreds of laws and taken control of state media and several public institutions, which critics say has eroded democratic checks and balances.

Hungary's ranking has gradually deteriorated in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index in the past years, dropping to 50th in a 2015 survey from 47th a year earlier, on a par with central European peers Slovakia and Croatia.

A Median survey published last month in the weekly HVG showed 60 percent of people believed corruption in Hungary was "systemic" and centrally-driven. Some two-thirds suspected the ruling elite of foul play to a "large" or "very large" degree.

Prosecutors say Mengyi said he would use his influence as a lawmaker to ensure that a programme devoted to social co-operatives received 500 million forints ($1.83 million) worth of European Union funds when it was launched.

The prosecutors said Mengyi had asked for 5 million forints as a "constitutional expense" to ensure that the co-operatives involved would receive the funds and for a further 5 million forints after they got the funding.

"The parties involved had no intention of implementing the objective of the application," a statement by the prosecutors said. "On the contrary, their intention was to use part of the awarded funds to boost their private wealth."

The two offences Mengyi is suspected of being involved in are punishable by up to eight and 10 years in prison.

Under the scheme developed by the suspects, prosecutors said the social co-operatives involved would have received just 10 percent of the funds awarded. The rest would be paid as kickbacks to the suspected ring leaders.

The prosecutors said in the end no funds were lost under the programme, because applications were rejected for formal errors and missing criteria. Mengyi had also paid back the 5 million forints through an intermediary, the prosecutors said.

Fazekas added that two suspects were detained and three more were under house arrest. Prosecutors can quiz Mengyi as a suspect only if parliament lifts his immunity.

PM Orban's chief of staff, Janos Lazar, told a weekly news conference that lawmakers would probably lift Mengyi's immunity after the MP had also requested this to happen.

"I will of course vote in favour of lifting his immunity, no doubt. The situation must be cleared, this is in the interests of my fellow lawmaker, Fidesz as well as the government," Lazar said.

He said the government launched an internal probe to establish whether any decisions about the contents of the funding programme in question had been unduly influenced.
Sierra Leone urged to ban FGM after death of teenage girl

By Kieran Guilbert

DAKAR, Aug 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The death of a teenage girl in Sierra Leone during a female genital mutilation (FGM) procedure performed by a women-run secret society should spur the West African nation to ban the practice, anti-FGM campaigners said on Thursday.

Fatmata Turay, 19, died earlier this week after undergoing FGM as part of her initiation rites for entry to the Bondo, a powerful society that carries out the practice and wields significant political clout, according to several campaigners.

Three members of the Bondo society and a nurse have been arrested. Rights groups which campaign against FGM, including FORWARD and Equality Now, urged Sierra Leone to carry out a thorough investigation into Turay's death, and ban the practice.

Sierra Leone has the one of the highest rates of FGM in the world, with nine in 10 women and adolescent girls cut, according to the data from the United Nations children's agency UNICEF.

"This is one death too many - too many lives are blighted by FGM," said Adwoa Kwateng-Kluvitse of FORWARD, adding that it was unclear how many women and girls die from FGM in Sierra Leone.

"There are lots of rural girls who would have died and been buried without anyone taking any notice," she added.

FGM affects an estimated 140 million girls and women across a swathe of Africa and parts of the Middle East and Asia, and is seen as a gateway to marriage and a way of preserving purity.

It involves the removal of the external genitalia, and causes numerous health problems that can be fatal.

While FGM is legal in Sierra Leone, a government ban on the practice enforced during the Ebola outbreak - introduced as part of a drive to stamp out the virus - is still in place.

Sierra Leone last year became one of the last West African nations to ratify the Maputo Protocol, which addresses a range of issues including FGM, violence against women, child and forced marriage, and women's economic empowerment.

"We cannot afford to continue to let girls die and undergo extreme violence and discrimination because of FGM," Mary Wandia of Equality Now told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
EUROPE POWER-Spot narrowly down, curve ignores firmer fuels

FRANKFURT, Aug 18 (Reuters) - European spot power prices eased on Thursday on weaker pre-weekend demand and improved thermal plant availability, outweighing the impact of reduced renewables output.

German baseload for Friday delivery eased by 10 cents to 30.4 euros ($34.42) per megawatt-hour (MWh) while the equivalent French contract was 25 cents down at 32.25 euros.

German wind output will likely decline by 500 megawatts to 1.5 gigawatts (GW) on Friday and that of solar panels by 1.2 GW to 6.5 GW, Thomson Reuters data showed.

But German nuclear availability is back to 100 percent after two reactors restarted and in Switzerland, Beznau 2 also ended its maintenance period.

Next week temperatures will rise by 1.9 degrees Celsius in Germany over Thursday's levels and those in France by 1 degree, the latter being likely to prompt more air conditioning demand in the more southerly country, Thomson Reuters data showed.

German met office DWD said in a daily note that some regions might have gusty wind and rain over the weekend but early next week, "the height of summer will attempt a new start", bringing temperatures of possibly 32 degrees by Wednesday.

Power forwards prices eased, tracking declining coal prices, although gas, oil and carbon prices were higher.

Brent crude oil traded above $50 a barrel for the first time in six weeks as the world's biggest producers prepared to discuss a possible freeze in output levels.

German baseload power for delivery next year was down 10 cents at 26.55 euros/MWh.

The equivalent French contract shed 10 cents to 32.15 euros.

European coal for 2017 delivery traded 1.4 percent down to $58.45 a tonne.

Front-year EU carbon allowances prices rose by 1.8 percent to 4.57 euros per tonne.

In eastern European power, the Czech year-ahead position was untraded after a 27.5 euros/MWh close while the day-ahead price edged 5 cents higher to 30.3 euros.
Qatar Airways says plane lands safely in Istanbul after emergency

DOHA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Qatar Airways said that an aircraft that was forced to make an emergency landing at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on Thursday landed safely and that passengers had disembarked as normal.

"Today's QR240 from Istanbul Ataturk Airport to Doha has returned to Istanbul and has landed safely. The passengers have disembarked as normal. The pilot followed all QR safety procedures," said a statement by the Gulf carrier.
UK supermarket Asda suffers worst quarterly sales fall

By James Davey

LONDON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Supermarket chain Asda warned on Thursday a recovery under its new boss would take time after Wal-Mart's British subsidiary suffered its worst drop in quarterly sales and lost customers to rivals.

Sean Clarke, former boss of Wal-Mart's China business, took the helm at Asda last month after CEO Andy Clarke was fired.

He has been tasked with defending a UK market share that has slipped nearly 1 percentage point over the last year to 15.5 percent.

Asda needs to win back shoppers from German discounters Aldi and Lidl and from traditional rivals Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons, who have all upped their games.

Asda said sales at stores open more than a year, excluding fuel, tumbled 7.5 percent in its second quarter, which ended on June 30.

The company's eighth consecutive quarterly fall comes a year after a 4.7 percent fall which its then-CEO deemed Asda's "nadir".

The 7.5 percent like-for-like sales fall was made up of a 6 percent decline in customer numbers and a 1.5 percent fall in average spending.

"The competitive environment and food deflation continued to challenge the market, significantly impacting traffic and comp sales. Our strategy to turn things around is focused on improving the retail basics," Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon said.

"While our turnaround will take time, I'm confident in the new leadership team there and want to assure you we're addressing this with urgency," he said.

NO 'RETAIL ARMAGEDDON'

Shares in Asda's rivals were sent higher by its statement that maintained, rather than increased, a commitment to price cuts of 1.5 billion pounds ($1.97 billion) over five years which began in November 2013.

Shares in Tesco were up 2 percent, Sainsbury's up 2.8 percent and Morrisons up 2.5 percent.

"There has been much market speculation about what Asda may or may not do to solve its trading woes with some suggestions that a form of retail Armageddon was about to strike the UK," said Clive Black, analyst at Shore Capital.

"Today, we believe that Wal-Mart dispels such a possible expectation, doing as we felt it would. That is outlining a rational plan within existing price parameters."

Wal-Mart's McMillon said Asda would also improve product availability and reduce costs.

CEO Clarke was optimistic.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the culture that has always been at the heart of our success is still there," he said. "I feel positive about the future."

While Asda has lagged peers in sales performance for two years, it has been Britain's most profitable supermarket.

Asda said its gross profit was up in the second quarter but did not provide details nor any guidance for the full year.

Wal-Mart raised its annual profit forecast on Thursday after beating quarterly earnings expectations.
Zambia's Lungu says to cut spending, boost economic growth

LUSAKA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Zambia will control expenditure and take measures to boost economic growth, President Edgar Lungu who was re-elected to the helm of Africa's second-largest copper producer at a vote on Aug. 11, said on Thursday.
Turkey seizes assets as post-coup crackdown turns to business

By Ayla Jean Yackley

ISTANBUL, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Turkish authorities ordered the detention of nearly 200 people, including leading businessmen, and seized their assets as an investigation into suspects in last month's failed military rebellion shifted to the private sector.

President Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to choke off businesses linked to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for the July 15 coup attempt, describing his schools, firms and charities as "nests of terrorism."

Tens of thousands of troops, civil servants, judges and officials have been detained or dismissed in a massive purge that Western allies worry Erdogan is using to crack down on broader dissent, risking stability in the NATO partner.

In dawn raids on Thursday, police from a financial-crimes unit entered some 200 homes and workplaces after a chief prosecutor issued 187 arrest warrants, state-run Anadolu news agency said. TV channel CNN Turk said 60 people were detained.

Gulen, formerly close to Erdogan and living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, has denounced the attempted coup, when rogue troops commandeered tanks and jets to attack government installations. He has denied any responsibility.

Police in Istanbul and 17 other provinces were searching for supporters of Gulen's movement, including prominent businessmen, suspected of belonging to and financing his organisation, CNN Turk said. The Istanbul prosecutor demanded the assets of the 187 suspects be confiscated, Anadolu said.

Turkey classified Gulen's movement, which espouses philanthropy, interfaith dialogue and science-based education, as a terrorist network in July 2015. It says Gulen's followers spent four decades infiltrating the bureaucracy and security forces in a bid to eventually take control of the state.

FORTUNE 500

Among the businesses targeted were two Fortune 500 companies, CNN Turk said, naming clothing makers Aydinli Group and Eroglu Holding, which both run large retail chains.

No one answered calls to Aydinli, which had sales of 928 million lira ($317 million) in 2015, nor to Eroglu, which reported revenue of 490 million lira last year.

Eroglu said it had no links to any company providing finance to Gulen's movement, according to the Hurriyet news website.

Nejat Gullu, chairman of baklava maker Gulluoglu, was detained, his company said in a statement on its website.

Gullu "would never stand with a terrorist organisation or civic group that supports a terrorist organisation," it said and expressed confidence he would be cleared of any charges.

Earlier this week, police searched the offices of a nationwide retail chain and a healthcare and technology company, and detained key executives.

Turkey authorities said 4,262 companies and institutions with links to Gulen had been shut. In total, 40,029 people had been detained since the coup attempt, and about half had been formally arrested pending charges.

In purges of the military, police and civil service 79,900 people had been removed from public duty.

Turkey also wants other nations to crack down on Gulen-affiliated organisations, including schools and businesses.

European Affairs Minister Omer Celik called on Germany to shut businesses that have links to Gulen and are operating there, according to Wirtschaftswoche magazine.

The EU and the United States have expressed concern about the scale of the crackdown, and human rights groups have said a lack of due process will ensnare innocent people who had no role in the abortive coup.

But officials say they have to act fast to prevent further attempts by Gulen's "parallel state" to destabilise the government from within the bureaucracy and business community.

It has demanded Washington extradite Gulen so he can face charges in Turkey, drawing a cautious reaction from U.S. officials who say they need to see clear evidence linking Gulen to the military putsch.

A faction of the military attempted to seize power on July 15, killing some 240 people, mostly civilians, and wounding 2,000. About 100 people backing the coup were also killed, according to official estimates.
India air pollution death rate to outpace China - researcher

BEIJING, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The increase in people dying in India from air pollution will outpace the rate of such deaths in China, as India drags its heels over environmental rules while opening more coal mines, the head of a U.S. research group said on Thursday.

"India's situation is getting worse at a much faster speed than China," Dan Greenbaum, president of Boston-based Health Effects Institute (HEI), told Reuters in Beijing.

"It is definitely the case because India has not taken as much action on air pollution."

HEI and a group of Chinese and Indian universities recently said that over half of world's air pollution-related deaths were in China and India. In China, coal-fired plants have been the worst source of pollution. But India has lagged behind in implementing stringent environment policies for coal emission.

From now until 2020, China aims to cut coal output by 500 million tonnes, or about 19 percent of its current annual output, and reduce emission of major pollutants in the power sector by 60 percent. By contrast, India has just only launched an emission standard for coal-fired power plants this year.

India is also ramping up coal production as Prime Minister Narendra Modi races to meet election promises to provide electricity to a population of 1.3 billion.

"Chinese actions to control emissions from coal power plants and from industries are considerably more strong than the ones in India," Greenbaum said.

Indian Coal Secretary Anil Swarup did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has previously said India is setting a higher target for renewable energy and growing more trees than are being uprooted by coal mining.

He has also said coal can't be wished away because it is the cheapest form of energy in a country where millions of people still go without electricity.

Research from HEI and Tsinghua University in Beijing released this week shows coal burning caused 366,000 premature deaths in China in 2013, out of a population of 1.35 billion. Comparable HEI data for India is due out next year.

In China, coal will remain the biggest contributor to mortality related to the super-fine particulate matter PM2.5, according to the latest HEI-Tsinghua study.

Chinese coal consumption more than tripled between 1990 and 2013, while air pollution deaths jumped 67 percent during the same period, the research showed.
Norway's PM softens stance on Britain joining EFTA

By Joachim Dagenborg

ARENDAL, Norway, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said she saw some advantages if Britain joined the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) after quitting the EU, qualifying past doubts about British membership.

Solberg also said in an interview with Reuters that Britain's 65 million people would radically change EFTA, which now comprises Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein with a combined population of just 14 million.

Prime Minister Theresa May is undecided about her country's future role in Europe after Britons voted to leave the European Union in a June referendum.

One option could be to join EFTA, which Britain helped found but quit to enter the EU in 1973, though it is far from clear that is a path that Britain wants to follow.

"It's easy to see some advantages of British membership. It's a big country with a big economy," Solberg said.

But that benefit of more clout also means Britain might demand conditions that would mainly help it - rather than its putative EFTA partners - when negotiating trade deals.

"Some countries will probably think it's fine to have a free trade deal with us (EFTA), but won't necessarily think that it's equally simple to have a free trade deal with Britain," she said.

EFTA has about 30 free trade deals with nations including Canada, Chile, Morocco and Singapore.

Solberg cited farming as one example of a possible conflict of interest. Britain exported food and drink worth 18 billion pounds ($24 billion) in 2015 while Norway imposes high import barriers to protect farmers in a country that stretches into the Arctic.

"I don't think that the EFTA path is necessarily the way Britain should be interested in going," she said.

She said her Conservative Party was in "continuous dialogue" with their peers across the North Sea led by May, whose first weeks in office have been dominated by a debate over the terms and timing of Britain's divorce from the EU.

Overall, Solberg's comments were less sceptical about British membership than shortly after Britain's vote, when she stressed that it would "change the balance of power in EFTA".

That variable picture has parallels within the EU, where Germany has held out the prospect of granting Britain a special status in its post-Brexit relationship while France has pushed for a more hardline approach.

Within EFTA, all member countries have to approve new members, giving each a theoretical veto.

"It would be wrong to flag a veto or no veto now, and I believe anyway that we will find good solutions to these problems," Solberg said.

She said it was important for all countries to set out their national interests in the debate. "Then all must be prepared for anything, if it turns out that Britain joins EFTA," she said.

Alongside being members of EFTA, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein also have free movement of goods, services and people with the 28-nation EU. Switzerland is outside that deal.
Poland wants post office to expand in consumer finance, insurance

WARSAW, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Poland wants state-run postal group Poczta Polska to expand in consumer finance and insurance to revive revenues, but has no plans to privatise it, a deputy minister overseeing the company said.

The group has seen revenues decline over the last few years as its traditional business of delivering letters has been undercut by the rapid growth of parcel delivery services and other private competitors.

"We want to develop the services offered by the post, that is Bank Pocztowy (Post Bank), insurance," Kazimierz Smolinski of the infrastructure and construction ministry told Reuters in an interview this week.

"There is huge potential in Poczta Polska. No bank, no insurance company has so many outlets as Poczta Polska, especially in smaller towns," he said.

Poczta Polska currently has a small exposure to consumer finance and insurance.

The previous government, which left office in October, had considered privatising the group but Smolinski said that was not on the cards for now and Poczta Polska should try to emulate its state-run Italian peer, which offers a wide choice of financial services to the public.

"The market for parcel services is a big challenge for Poczta Polska," Smolinski said.

Moving more aggressively into consumer finance would mean stronger competition for British lenders Provident and Wonga, among the biggest providers of small consumer loans in Poland.

Poczta Polska, which owns a 75 percent stake in Polish mid-tier lender Bank Pocztowy, has more than 7,200 outlets and affiliated agencies across the country. It employs about 77,000 people.

In comparison, Poland's largest privately managed bank, Bank Pekao has about 1,000 outlets nationwide.

Smolinski said there was no need to list either Poczta Polska or Bank Pocztowy on the stock market.
A fire that damaged a storage shed on Grand Avenue on Tuesday night is being investigated as arson by the Billings Police Department.

The fire occurred at around 10:30 p.m. and caused $500 of "heavy damage" to a small storage shed located behind the Mattress King on the 1700 block of Grand Avenue, according to a press release from Billings Fire Department Fire Marshal Jaime Fender.

The case has been assigned to the detective division of the Billings Police Department, according to Lt. Neil Lawrence. "Detectives and the fire department are in the process of trying to interview some possible witnesses," Lawrence said.

The Gazette reported in early July that a string of seven fires that occurred over the course of three days in the area along Grand Avenue were being investigated as arson by the Billings Police Department.

When asked about a possible connection between those fires and the Tuesday night fire, Lawrence said, "There is no evidence relating the fires at this time."

Anyone with information on the fire can call the BPD Detectives Division at 406-657-8473 or Crime Stoppers at 406-246-6660.
Monte dei Paschi CEO, former chairman under investigation - source

By Silvia Ognibene

FLORENCE, Italy, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The chief executive of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Fabrizio Viola, and the Italian bank's former chairman, Alessandro Profumo, are under investigation for alleged false accounting and market manipulation, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

The investigation, which started in 2015 following complaints filed by small shareholders and consumer associations, comes as the Tuscan bank prepares to launch a 5 billion euro ($6 billion) stock sale after emerging as the weakest bank in Europe in industry stress tests in July.

A spokesman for Monte dei Paschi said the decision to investigate Viola and Profumo followed a proposal by two shareholders to seek damages from the two executives which was rejected by other shareholders at an April meeting.

"(Under Italian law) prosecutors are bound to open an investigation when they receive a complaint," the spokesman said in an emailed comment.

This comment reflects Profumo's position, a separate spokesman for Profumo said.

Being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt and does not automatically lead to charges being laid.

The source said on Thursday prosecutors in Siena alleged the bank did not correctly book two derivatives trades known as Alexandria and Santorini between 2011 and 2014.

The inquiry was transferred to prosecutors in Milan in July. They now have 18 months to decide whether to shelve the investigation or seek trial for Viola and Profumo, the source said.

Siena prosecutors could have chosen to close the case, the source added.

Reuters' calls to the prosecutors' offices in Milan and Siena went unanswered.

The health of Italy's third-largest lender poses a threat to the wider banking system, the savings of thousands of small savers and also to the weakening political standing of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who faces a make-or-break constitutional referendum in the autumn.

Viola and Profumo were drafted in at Monte dei Paschi in 2012 to turn it around after it wrecked its balance sheet by overpaying on the purchase of rival Antonveneta in 2007 and engineering risky derivatives trades.

Profumo, a veteran Italian banker formerly at UniCredit , stepped down as Monte dei Paschi chairman in August last year after overseeing two cash calls in 2014 and 2015 which raised a total of 8 billion euros.

Shares in Monte dei Paschi are trading at record lows, after losing around 86 percent of their value since the bank completed its last share sale in June 2015.

In January, Milan prosecutors sent to trial 13 former managers at Monte dei Paschi, Nomura and Deutsche Bank in a separate investigation into the two derivatives as well as a hybrid financial instrument used to partly finance the 2007 acquisition.

All the managers involved and the banks have denied any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors have said the bank's former management entered Alexandria and other derivative trades to conceal losses after stretching its finances to buy Antonveneta for 9 billion euros.

In December, Italy's market watchdog Consob told Monte dei Paschi it had inaccurately booked the Alexandria derivative trade in its 2014 and first-half 2015 accounts.
Austrian politicians call for a ban on full body veil

VIENNA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Austrian conservative politicians called for a ban on full body veils on Thursday, saying the veils would hinder women to integrate into the mainly Catholic Austrian society.

Public debate about a ban on full body veils was ignited in several European countries after three French Mediterranean cities banned body-covering Muslim burkini swimwear, saying the burkini defies French laws on secularism.

France, which has the largest Muslim minority in Europe, estimated at 5 million, in 2010 introduced a ban on full-face niqab and burqa veils in public.

Austria's Foreign and Integration Minister Sebastian Kurz from the centrist People's Party, who plans to introduce a new integration law next year, said religious symbols such as the burqa were an issue that needed to be discussed.

"A full body veil is hindering integration," Kurz told broadcaster ORF, adding that the burqa was "not a religious symbol but a symbol for a counter-society".

In Austria, Islam is the second most widely professed religion, practised by 7 percent of the population or around 600,000 people, according to the Islamic Religious Community.

The country has been spared the kind of Islamist attacks suffered by Germany, France and Belgium. But fears and tensions have been growing over the past months, fuelled by anti-migrant campaigns of the popular right-wing Freedom Party (FPO).

The head of the FPO, which hopes to provide the first far-right head of state in the European Union after the re-run of the presidential elections on October 2, said it was about time to ban the full body veil.

"We want to be able to look into peoples faces in our society," Heinz-Christian Strache said at a press conference on Thursday.

Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka - as fellow party member Kurz seen as a hard-liner regarding migrant policy - said he would expect a full ban as problematic in terms of constitutional law. But he could imagine a partial ban as when driving a car, when crossing the border or at demonstrations, Sobotka was quoted by Oesterreich daily.
Hong Kong-Shenzhen stock link no quick fix for MSCI entry

By Michelle Price

HONG KONG, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Connecting the giant stock markets of Hong Kong and Shenzhen is unlikely to fast-track the inclusion of Chinese shares in a major investment benchmark index as foreign access to China's markets is still restricted.

Approval this week for the long-awaited extension of the Shanghai-Hong Kong stock trading link to Shenzhen's $3 trillion market - and the scrapping of overall investment caps - advanced China's cause to have yuan-denominated Chinese A shares included in MSCI's Emerging Markets Index, but hurdles remain.

China wants its stocks included in the MSCI index as this is tracked by $1.5 trillion in global assets and could draw up to $400 billion into China's stocks over a decade. It has said that any global benchmark that doesn't include China A shares is incomplete.

Eighteen months after the Shanghai-Hong Kong Connect was launched, many foreign fund managers still can't invest through the link due to operational hurdles and legal issues with the way assets are safeguarded under its custody arrangements. China shares have to be held onshore by the Hong Kong exchange on behalf of beneficial owners.

Tuesday's approval for the Shenzhen link reaffirms China's commitment to reform, but is unlikely to be a deal-maker for MSCI, a New York-based index provider, investors and analysts said.

"It's getting China A shares one step closer, but there are other issues that MSCI needs to look at," said Arthur Kwong, head of Asia-Pacific equities at BNP Paribas Investment Partners. "The stock link market mechanism is not yet working perfectly, and there could be challenges launching products."

MORE WORK

For a third year running, MSCI declined in June to add Chinese A shares to its emerging markets benchmark, saying China had more to do to open up its market.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing CEO Charles Li said this week the approval for the Shenzhen link put A shares "on the right track" for inclusion, but acknowledged it did not solve all MSCI's issues. He said additional features and products may have to be added.

MSCI said in June it would not include China A shares in its benchmark index until China allows foreign investors to freely repatriate capital under its cross-border Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) investment scheme.

It also wants China to scrap a rule requiring foreigners to seek Chinese regulatory approval before launching investment products that include yuan-denominated shares.

And MSCI is watching to see if recent rule changes to share trading suspensions in China and the granting of investment quotas are actually effective.

The launch of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Connect doesn't immediately fix any of these issues. China's regulators have met several of MSCI's demands over the past two years, but have not indicated if or when they may address the index company's outstanding concerns.

"Concerns over capital mobility, share suspensions and restricted availability of A-share products are still being addressed," said Wilfred Son Keng Po, a Hong Kong-based portfolio manager at global asset manager PineBridge Investments.

A spokeswoman for MSCI in New York did not respond to requests for comment, while representatives in Hong Kong could not be reached.

OPERATIONAL ISSUES

MSCI has been in discussions with Chinese regulators and the Hong Kong exchange over the past year and knew of the deal being negotiated on Connect quotas prior to June, said a person with knowledge of those talks.

While daily trading quotas for participants buying Shanghai and Shenzhen shares in the scheme are capped at 13 billion yuan ($1.96 billion) for each market, Hong Kong and China have agreed to scrap an aggregate quota, meaning investors could have unlimited access to Chinese shares over time.

Many U.S. and European investors can't benefit though because the scheme's operational and custody arrangements breach their legal mandates.

"Hong Kong-Shenzhen Connect is an add-on factor for MSCI, rather than a pre-requisite," said Ivan Shi, head of research at Shanghai investment consultancy Z-Ben Advisors. "No mention on Tuesday of any potential change to the beneficial ownership structure probably won't help big managers and institutional investors to use Connect."

Asked by Reuters in June if extending the Connect scheme to Shenzhen and removing the quotas would see MSCI move to include A shares, Remy Briand, global head of research at MSCI, said it would be positive, but added that many investors did not want to use the scheme due to these problems. "Hence it's not something that at this stage would be resolving the accessibility issues," he said then.

MSCI operates an annual review for A share inclusion, but has said it could hold an ad hoc review if the situation changes.

"The launch of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Connect would have little impact, if any, on MSCI's consideration to include A-shares, since accessibility is no longer its top concern," said Qi Wang, CEO of asset manager MegaTrust Investment Hong Kong, and a former head of MSCI China research.
Obama to head to China, Laos for last visit in his 'rebalance' push

EDGARTOWN, Mass., Aug 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama next month will make what is expected to be his final trip to Asia, a region at the center of his administration's foreign policy, to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders, the White House said on Thursday.

During his time in the White House, Obama has sought to "rebalance" America's defense and economic policy to counter China's rising influence.

During the trip from Sept. 2-9, Obama will attend the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, where he will also meet privately with Xi, the White House said in a statement.

He also will travel to Laos to participate in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit and East Asia Summit, where leaders have grappled with China's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Obama will be the first U.S. president to visit Laos. He will have a bilateral meeting with Laos President Bounnhang Vorachith and attend a town hall with young leaders, the White House said.

The trip will also be a chance for Obama to promote the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, a key part of his Asia strategy that he hopes the U.S. Congress will approve before his term ends on Jan. 20.
Iraq resumes pumping oil through Kurdish pipeline

BAGHDAD, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Iraq has resumed pumping oil from fields operated by state-run North Oil Company (NOC) via a Kurdish pipeline to Turkey, a spokesman for the oil ministry in Baghdad said on Thursday.

About 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) are being pumped through the pipeline controlled by the Kurdish regional authorities, spokesman Asim Jihad told Reuters, giving no further details.

Pumping stopped in March due to a dispute between the government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over the control of Kurdish oil exports.

The resumption of crude flows through the Kurdish pipeline should ease the financial burden on the Kurdish government that was hard hit by the collapse of oil prices two years ago.

Kurdish officials in February warned that the economic crisis could increase desertions from their Peshmerga fighters that battling Islamic State group which controls vast swathes of territory just west of their region.

The new oil minister in Baghdad, Jabar Ali al-Luaibi, expressed optimism on the day of his appointment on Monday that the problem with the Kurds could be resolved.

Kurdish forces took control of the long-disputed Kirkuk and its oilfields in June 2014 after the Iraqi army's northern divisions disintegrated in the face of Islamic State's advance.

The Peshmerga and the Iraqi army have taken back territory from the militants in northern Iraq and are preparing the final onslaught on their capital Mosul, with the backing of a U.S.-led international coalition. Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi'ite militias are also fighting Islamic State near the Kirkuk fields.

Former oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi in March demanded that the Kurds return to a previous oil agreement or sign a new agreement in order to resume pumping through their pipeline.

The previous agreement provided for the KRG to transfer to Iraq's central state oil marketing company 550,000 bpd produced in their region, in return for a 17 percent share in the federal budget. The Kurds stopped oil transfers to the government last year, at which point they also stopped receiving federal funds.

OPEC's second-largest crude producer after Saudi Arabia, Iraq produces 4.6 million bpd, of which about 500,000 bpd from the Kurdish region and the rest from the oil-rich south.
Germany extols Turkish security cooperation to ease row over Islamists

BERLIN, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Germany's interior minister praised Turkey on Thursday for excellent cooperation in fighting terrorism in an apparent effort to defuse a dispute with Ankara after a leaked government memo accused Turkey of being a hub for Islamist militants.

The memo is a headache for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who been criticised by some German and European lawmakers for appearing to cosy up to Ankara to help stem a migrant flow into Europe, despite concern about its human rights record.

Just one year before a federal election, the leak of the report earlier this week by German public broadcaster ARD also unleashed recriminations within her right-left coalition.

Interior Minister Thomas De Maiziere said on Wednesday he did not regret the leak but on Thursday struck a conciliatory tone, saying exchanges of information with Turkey on movements of supporters of Islamic State militants were good.

"I can say that the cooperation with Turkish colleagues, security services, police and my colleagues is excellent," he said at a news conference about domestic security.

He also said it was "close to his heart" to emphasise how well Turkish authorities dealt with the investigation of a militant attack in Istanbul in January in which German tourists were killed.

The leaked government report said Turkey had become a hub for Islamist groups and that President Tayyip Erdogan had an "ideological affinity" to Hamas in Gaza, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and groups of armed Islamist opposition in Syria.

The report was prepared by the Interior Ministry after a parliamentary request by the opposition Left party.

Turkey was incensed by the report; its Foreign Ministry said the allegations were "a new manifestation of the twisted mentality" that for some time has been targeting Erdogan and his government.

Relations with Germany are already strained due to parliament's adoption of a resolution declaring the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces a genocide. Earlier this year, Erdogan launched legal action against a German comedian who broadcast a satirical song about him on television.

De Maiziere, a conservative Christian Democrat, played down tensions within Merkel's coalition over the leak, although the Social Democrats have demanded that the government explain the report to parliament.
Congo opposition leader denied bail

BRAZZAVILLE, Aug 18 (Reuters) - An opposition leader in Congo Republic, detained since June on charges of violating state security and illegally possessing weapons of war, was denied bail on Thursday by an appeal court in the capital Brazzaville, his lawyer said.

Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, the former army chief and a power broker in the former French colony's 1990s civil war, finished third to long-serving President Denis Sassou Nguesso in a March election criticised by opposition parties and foreign powers for irregularities.

Sassou Nguesso's government has accused Mokoko of involvement in an alleged coup attempt in 2007. Mokoko's supporters say the president is trying to stifle dissent, a charge the government denies.

Mokoko's lawyer, Yvon Eric Ibouoanga, told Reuters the court's decision "lacked a legal basis". Additional charges of incitement of public disorder were also brought against Mokoko on Thursday, apparently in connection with his calls for civil disobedience after the election results were announced.

Sassou Nguesso, 72, has ruled the small oil-producing nation for 32 of the last 37 years. He successfully pushed through changes to the constitution last year that allowed him to stand for a third consecutive term, triggering violent protests that killed at least 18 people.
Pistorius case set for next week; defence says "enough is enough"

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Oscar Pistorius' lawyers will argue that "enough is enough" when his case resumes in court on Aug. 26 to hear an appeal by state prosecutors against his six-year murder sentence on the grounds it is too lenient.

In court papers filed by Pistorius' lawyers on Aug. 11 and seen by Reuters on Thursday, his defence team says it will argue "a continuation of this matter is inimical to the interests of justice, patently unfair and that enough is enough."

The National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku said the case would be heard at the High Court in Pretoria next Friday before the original trial Judge Thokozile Masipa.

Pistorius is not expected to attend the hearing.

The Paralympic gold medallist was sentenced in July for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013.

The state said last month it would appeal the jail term, which was less than half the 15 years it had sought.

A Pistorius family spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment.
Kinross to retreat from Chile, puts unit on the block -sources

By John Tilak and Rosalba O'Brien

TORONTO/SANTIAGO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Canada's Kinross Gold Corp is looking to retreat from Chile and has put its main assets in that country up for sale, according to people familiar with the process.

The world's fifth-largest gold miner by output has hired Bank of Nova Scotia to help find buyers for its two main Chilean gold mines, the sources said. They requested anonymity because the matter is not public.

Interest has been very strong, with bids coming from mining companies from Canada, Chile and other parts of the world, the sources said.

"We have received expressions of interest for Maricunga and La Coipa, as we do for our other assets from time to time, and we continue to keep our options open," said Kinross spokesman Louie Diaz. He declined to comment on whether the company has begun a formal process to sell its Chilean mines.

The company has suspended operations at both the Maricunga and La Coipa mines.

Citing environmental damage that has been disputed by Kinross, Chile's environmental regulator shut down the water system linked to the Maricunga mine in March.

After a suspension in May, mining resumed in July, subject to ongoing regulatory proceedings. Diaz said the mine was suspended again that month, following pressure from the regulator.
British Ebola nurse 'concealed temperature' on return from Sierra Leone - media

LONDON, Aug 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Scottish nurse who contracted then recovered from Ebola is facing disciplinary action over allegations she concealed her temperature on her return from Sierra Leone, according to charges from a nursing watchdog seen by British media.

Pauline Cafferkey, 39, contracted Ebola in December 2014 when she was working in a treatment facility in Sierra Leone at the height of the epidemic which swept through West Africa.

The nurse is alleged to have given dishonest answers to medical staff when she returned to Heathrow airport that month.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) alleged in a case hearing published on their website that was later deleted, that Cafferkey "allowed an incorrect temperature to be recorded" on December 29, 2014 and intended to conceal from Public Health England staff that she had a temperature higher than 38C.

The NMC said an investigation into Cafferkey's conduct was underway, with a case hearing scheduled for next month.

"Since these proceedings began the NMC has worked closely with Ms Cafferkey and her representatives to reach an outcome that is fair and meets the public interest in this case," an NMC spokesperson said.

Cafferkey initially recovered from the Ebola hemorrhagic fever and was sent home in January 2015.

But in October she fell ill again and doctors found the virus was persisting in tissues in her brain. They later said she had developed meningitis caused by the Ebola virus - the first known such case.

Cafferkey was readmitted to hospital for a third time earlier this year after falling ill.

Ebola killed more than 11,300 people and infected some 28,600 as it swept through Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea from 2013 in the world's worst outbreak of the disease.
Fire destroyed a home, shed and garage in Ballantine early Thursday and threatened two other homes, according to the Worden Volunteer Fire Department.

The fire was called in by a passerby at 4:39 a.m. and had engulfed the home at 1556 Pacific Ave., by the time Worden Volunteer Fire Department Chief Lance Taylor and his firefighters arrived at 4:45 a.m., Taylor said.

It doesnt appear anybody was in the house, said Yellowstone County Sheriffs Deputy Rich Hoffman.

The fire burned along a hedge and neared an abandoned chicken coop sitting within five feet of a second home, Taylor said. Had the coop caught fire, the blaze likely would have spread to the second home, he said.

"We were probably about five minutes away from losing a second house, he said.

A garage and a shed also were destroyed, Taylor said. Along with the house near the chicken coop, another house was threatened by the fire, Taylor said.

The cause of the fire was unknown, Taylor said, but investigators from the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office will be sent to the scene.

The Shepherd Volunteer Fire Department also assisted, Taylor said.
Kinross to retreat from Chile, puts unit on the block -sources

By John Tilak and Rosalba O'Brien

TORONTO/SANTIAGO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Canada's Kinross Gold Corp is looking to retreat from Chile and has put its main assets in that country up for sale, according to people familiar with the process.

The world's fifth-largest gold miner by output has hired Bank of Nova Scotia to help find buyers for its two main Chilean gold mines, the sources said. They requested anonymity because the matter is not public.

Interest has been very strong, with bids coming from mining companies from Canada, Chile and other parts of the world, the sources said.

"We have received expressions of interest for Maricunga and La Coipa, as we do for our other assets from time to time, and we continue to keep our options open," said Kinross spokesman Louie Diaz. He declined to comment on whether the company has begun a formal process to sell its Chilean mines.

The company has suspended operations at both the Maricunga and La Coipa mines.

Citing environmental damage that has been disputed by Kinross, Chile's environmental regulator shut down the water system linked to the Maricunga mine in March.

After a suspension in May, mining resumed in July, subject to ongoing regulatory proceedings. Diaz said the mine was suspended again that month, following pressure from the regulator.

Operations at La Coipa were suspended in 2013.

Located in northern Chile, Maricunga produced 212,155 gold equivalent ounces last year, making up about 8 percent of the company's total production.

Chile produced 40,829 kilos of gold in 2015, according to government statistics, or about 1.4 million ounces.

On a conference call on July 28, Kinross Chief Executive Officer Paul Rollinson said the company was "not in a situation where we need to sell assets", but no decision had been made on a sale.

According to the Chilean government's lobbying transparency website, two representatives from Kinross - Bob Musgrove, VP of operations in South America, and Jose Letelier, VP of external affairs in Chile - visited with Mining Minister Aurora Williams on April 12 to discuss 'information on the mine's situation'. Letelier told Reuters on Thursday that the meeting concerned the environmental issue.

Toronto-based Kinross also has mines and projects in Brazil, Russia, Mauritania, Ghana and the United States.
Zimbabwe women take to the streets to demand free education

By Marko Phiri

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Aug 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - T housands of women took to the streets of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe on Thursday to demand free education for their children as protests against the government mount across the country.

The protest dubbed #BoycottSchoolFees was organised by Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) who presented a petition to the resident minister ahead of the new school term early next month.

The protest, involving about 2,000 women, follows about a dozen protests in the past two months over a series of issues, including the planned introduction of controversial bond notes to curb a long-running cash shortage crisis.

"We want government to honour its constitutional obligation to provide education for all," Jennie Williams, WOZA coordinator, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

According to parent associations, thousands of children have been thrown out of classes around the country for failing to pay tuition at a time when millions are without jobs in the country.

Labour unions estimate that up to 90 percent of Zimbabwe's 14 million people do not have jobs but there is no clear data on the jobless rate with so many Zimbabweans working in the informal sector.

UNICEF said in a recent report that regular monitoring continued to show a downward trend in terms of school attendance but it did not have exact figures on numbers in classrooms.

However the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Committee reported last month that up to 15 percent of rural school children were out of school because they cannot afford tuition fees.

The march came as pressure mounts against 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe amid the continuing economic crisis.

Police have arrested more than 100 protesters across the country over the past two months during which Zimbabwe has witnessed almost weekly protests, some which have ended in clashes with police, against economic hardship.
NY Fed, Bangladesh central bank to resume normal money transfers -sources

By Krishna N. Das and Serajul Quadir

Aug 18 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Bangladesh's central bank have agreed to withdraw additional payment security measures put in place after one of the world's biggest cyber heists, the theft of $81 million from Bangladesh Bank's account at the Fed, two sources said.

The decision comes after SWIFT, the global financial messaging platform, promised in May to strengthen security on software tools used by its clients and to develop new tools that would spot a compromised account and raise a red flag when a payment instruction deviates from normal patterns.

The decision was taken at a meeting in New York this week between officials from Bangladesh Bank, the New York Fed and SWIFT, said a source close to Bangladesh Bank who has direct knowledge of the matter. They have agreed on a tentative timeline to withdraw the additional security measures but the source declined to give details.

"(The New York Fed and Bangladesh Bank) want to use (only) SWIFT for secure communication," said the source, declining to be named as he was not authorised to brief the media. "We are talking about normalising our communication channels as soon as possible."

The New York Fed declined to comment. SWIFT could not be immediately reached.

In early February, hackers used stolen Bangladesh Bank credentials to send three dozen SWIFT messages to transfer nearly $1 billion from its Fed account, eventually managing to route $81 million to a bank in the Philippines. Most of the money was laundered through casinos in Manila and remains missing.

Following the heist Bangladesh Bank initiated a new protocol under which the Fed could only clear any SWIFT request from Dhaka after a voice authentication. Fed officials had to call one of two or three Bangladesh Bank officials whose voice samples were shared with the Fed.

A senior Bangladesh Bank official in Dhaka, who declined to be named, said more time was needed "to improve the system" before moving back to a SWIFT-only transfer mechanism.

Both sources said the New York Fed wanted to do away with the additional measure as it delayed genuine transfer instructions. SWIFT has told Bangladesh Bank its system was secure and that the Asian bank needed to tighten its own defences to prevent criminals from hacking into their computer systems.

Bangladesh Bank spokesman Subhankar Saha said he was not aware of the agreement and would comment only after the bank's delegation came back from the United States.

The three parties that met in New York this week said in a statement on Wednesday that officials discussed "certain technical details" of the heist to enhance their understanding of how the fraud occurred, as well as "steps that have been and will be taken to remediate the event."

The Bangladeshi delegation also requested the New York Fed put more pressure on the Philippines' Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) to recover the rest of the stolen money, said the source close to Bangladesh Bank. The funds were routed to four accounts at that bank before they disappeared into casinos in the city.

Since the heist, the New York Fed has launched a 24-hour hotline for emergency messages from its banking clients.
U.N. remarks on Haiti cholera a "groundbreaking" step to justice, say lawyers

By Anastasia Moloney

BOGOTA, Aug 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Lawyers seeking compensation for Haitians killed or sickened by cholera that they blame on United Nations peacekeepers said the U.N.'s admission on Thursday of its possible involvement in the outbreak was a breakthrough in their legal battle.

Human rights lawyers from the Boston-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), filed a lawsuit in November 2011 against the United Nations demanding a public apology and compensation on behalf of 5,000 cholera victims.

They say U.N. peacekeepers were responsible for introducing a cholera epidemic in Haiti in October 2010, following the massive earthquake that hit the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Cholera, a water-born disease, which continues in Haiti today, has killed more than 9,000 Haitians and infected over 770,000 since the cholera outbreak began, U.N. figures show.

The U.N. had denied any responsibility or involvement in causing the cholera outbreak, lawyers say.

But in response to reporters' questions on Thursday, Farhan Haq, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "... over the past year the U.N. has become convinced it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera."

Lawyers said the remarks were a victory for victims of cholera in Haiti.

"This is a groundbreaking first step towards justice," Beatrice Lindstrom, a lawyer at IJDH, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview.

"Up until now, the U.N. had refused to engage in any kind of conversation about their role in the cholera outbreak. It is still, though, far from being a formal apology."

An independent panel appointed by U.N. chief Ban to study the epidemic did not determine conclusively how cholera was introduced to Haiti.

Its May 2011 report concluded that while the cholera bacteria did not originate "from the native environs of Haiti", the outbreak was "not the fault of, or deliberate action of, a group or individual."

However, a June 2011 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal, where cholera is endemic, were the likely cause of the outbreak. The peacekeepers were stationed near a river and discharged raw sewage.

The lawsuit filed by IJDH lawyers was rejected by the U.N. in 2013.

In response, the rights group filed a class action lawsuit in a federal court in New York. But in January 2015, a judge dismissed the lawsuit saying the U.N. has legal immunity that only it can waive.

Lawyers then appealed the ruling and are now awaiting a decision from the court.

"We will continue to fight to get financial compensation for cholera victims, a formal public apology that victims are demanding and ensure the U.N. does much more to support water and sanitation efforts to eradicate cholera in Haiti," Lindstrom said.

If the judges deny the appeal, Lindstrom said they would seek to bring the case before the United States Supreme Court.

Health experts say cholera, which had not been documented in Haiti in almost 100 years prior to the outbreak, will continue to kill and infect Haitians as long as they lack access to clean water and sanitation.

Since the outbreak began in 2010, the U.N. has said it has worked to tackle cholera in Haiti and the neighbouring Dominican Republic, through a multi-billion donor aid programme to improve sanitation and an oral vaccine programme against cholera.

The U.N. has struggled to raise donor funds to eradicate cholera as part of a 10-year programme. Less than a quarter of the $2.1 billion the U.N. is seeking has been raised so far, U.N. figures show.
MSF to evacuate staff from Yemen hospitals after Saudi-led air strikes

DOHA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it was evacuating its staff from six hospitals in northern Yemen on Thursday after a Saudi-led coalition air strike hit a health facility operated by the medical aid group killing 19 people.

"Given the intensity of the current offensive and our loss of confidence in the Saudi-led coalition to prevent fatal attacks, MSF considers the hospitals in Saada and Hajjah governorates unsafe for both patients and staff," the group said in a statement.

Countless attacks on health facilities in Yemen have endangered patients and staff and displayed a failure by warring parties to control the use of force, the group said.

MSF is one of handful of international medical aid groups operating on the ground in Yemen where a 16-month civil war between a Gulf Arab coalition and an Iran-allied militia has killed over 6,500 people and brought one of world's poorest countries close to famine.

On Tuesday a Saudi-led coalition air strike hit a hospital operated by MSF in the northern Hajja province injuring 24 and killing 19 people including one of its staff members, the group said.

Another air attack on Saturday hit what MSF described as a school in neighbouring Saada province, killing 10 children.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the air strike and called for a investigation, which the coalition said it would conduct.

MSF said it had met with officials from the Saudi-led coalition and shared GPS coordinates of the hospital it operates in with parties involved in the conflict but aerial bombings had continued.

"The decision to evacuate the staff from a project is never taken lightly but in the absence of credible assurances that parties will respect the protected status of medical facilities there may be no other option," said the statement.

Dozens of Saudi-led air strikes and shells launched by the Houthis have hit civilians in Yemen since the Arab coalition began military operations in March 2015 to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.
Islamic State suicide bombings hit Libyan forces in Sirte

SIRTE, Libya, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Suicide bombings against Libyan forces battling to oust Islamic State from their former North African stronghold of Sirte killed at least 12 fighters and wounded about 60 there on Thursday, a hospital spokesman said.

Forces, mainly composed of fighters aligned with a U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, have been closing in on the centre of Sirte, where militants now control a shrinking residential area.

Since Aug. 1 the United States has been conducting air strikes to support them. As of Wednesday it had carried out 62 strikes, most recently against fighting positions and a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, the U.S. Africa Command said.

Last week the forces, who are directed from Misrata about 230 km (143 miles) from Sirte, made big gains, securing a number of large buildings and complexes in the town that had been used by Islamic State snipers.

They claimed control over one of the final neighbourhoods where Islamic State was present earlier this week, but as they have tried to advance further forward they have faced multiple suicide bomb attacks.

The casualties in Sirte on Thursday came from two separate suicide vehicle bombings, Misrata hospital spokesman Akram Gliwan said.

Islamic State imposed its rule over Sirte last year, extending its presence along 250km (155 miles) of Mediterranean coastline and creating its most important base outside Syria and Iraq.

Misrata-led forces began their campaign to capture Sirte three months ago, counter attacking after Islamic State advanced to within 100km (60 miles) of Misrata.
At least two people infected with the Zika virus in Florida have reportedly had their cases traced to Miami Beach, one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.

One of the people who was infected by local mosquitoes is a tourist who visited the city two weeks ago, while the second person is a resident who works on the beach, NBC 6 reported.

Zika cases are on the rise in southern Florida, and this latest development could scare tourists away from hotspots including South Beach, a hangout for the rich and famous.

Miami Beach is a popular tourist destination, attracting millions last year (file photo)

A Miami-Dade County mosquito control worker sprays around a school in the Wynwood area of Miami on August 1

Evaristo Miqueli, a natural resources officer with Broward County Mosquito Control, inspects the backyard of a home in Pembroke Pines on June 28

Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine told reporters that state and federal health officials have not confirmed whether the transmissions occurred in the tourist mecca.

'We don't know the exact link, one could be a tourist, one could be someone who may have worked on Miami Beach,' Levine said. 'If it was confirmed we'd be able to talk about that, but it's not.'

In its most recent update on Thursday, the Florida Department of Health said there were two new non-travel related cases and both were outside the one-square mile area of Wynwood in Miami-Dade County where two dozen transmissions have occurred.

Health officials did not reveal a location for either of the two new cases of the mosquito-borne virus.

There have been at least 35 non-travel related Zika infections in Florida.

'While the department is continuing to investigate areas in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties where local transmissions of Zika may have occurred, the department still believes active transmissions are still only occurring in the area that is less than one square mile in Miami-Dade County,' said health officials on Thursday.

A microbiologist sorts mosquitos collected in a trap while investigating Zika virus

Miami police officer James Bernat hands a can of insect repellent to Barbara Betancourt and her baby Daniel Louis Valdes in the Wynwood neighborhood on August 2

Police officers went through Wynwood to hand out cans of insect repellent to residents

Health officials are deciding whether to include additional areas in updated travel guidance, a source told Reuters.

An announcement was expected to be made as early as Friday.

Zika virus can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus and it can result in devastating birth defects such as abnormally small heads.

There is currently no vaccine or medicine for the virus, which has spread rapidly through the Americas and infected tens of thousands of people.

Pregnant women have been told not to travel to areas where people have become infected after being bitten by local mosquitoes, and all other travelers have been told to take precautions.

If Zika-infected mosquitoes are present in Miami Beach it could deliver a blow to an economy that depends on domestic and international tourists.

In 2015, a record-breaking 15.5 million people spent at least one night in the Miami area, delivering an economic impact of $24.4, said the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau in its latest annual report.

Of those, 48 per cent stayed in Miami Beach and 19 per cent stayed in downtown Miami.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, an expert in infectious diseases at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told Reuters it would not be surprising to see new clusters of Zika cases in new areas.

He said people should be alerted as soon as possible if local transmission is occurring so pregnant women can take precautions and get tested.

But he cautioned that people should not jump to conclusions that could cause panic or stigma for an area that doesn't have local transmission.

Counties in southern Florida have taken precautions such as aerial spraying of insecticides.
Mexico says police executed 22 on ranch, in 'grave' rights abuse

By Lizbeth Diaz and Frank Jack Daniel

Aug 18 (Reuters) - Mexican police arbitrarily executed nearly two dozen suspected gang members on a ranch last year, the government's National Human Rights Commission said on Thursday, one of the worst abuses by security forces in a decade of grisly drug violence.

In May last year, federal police ambushed suspected members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNG) holed up at Rancho El Sol near the small town of Tanhuato in the violent western state of Michoacan and killed 42 men.

Only one policeman died in the fight, in which police backed by a Black Hawk helicopter attacked the cartel, a kill rate way higher than international norms, but not uncommon in Mexico's drug war. Only one injury was reported.

The one-sided toll was one of the highest since President Enrique Pena Nieto took office in 2012, pledging to end years violence.

"We established facts that imply grave human rights violations attributable to public servants of the federal police," Raul Gonzalez, the president of the CNDH, told a news conference.

Gonzalez said police lied about their role during the incident, moved 7 bodies and shifted weapons to manipulate the scene. Police tortured two people they arrested, and burned two bodies, Gonzalez added.

The CNDH was unable to clarify how another 15 of the victims were killed, he said.

The report is a fresh blow to Pena Nieto, whose approval rating is at an all-time low over perceptions he has not tackled rampant crime and corruption.

Rights groups say that although Mexico's security forces face grave dangers fighting often brutal cartels, it is vital they hold themselves to higher standards.

Earlier this year the Open Society Justice Initiative, a private human rights body, said incidents including Tanhuato constituted crimes against humanity.

It said the International Criminal Court should step in if Mexico fails to resolve such cases.

"They should have been arrested, not murdered ...even if some of them were members of the cartel, that is no excuse." said Margarito Romero, father of one man who died that day.

In a news conference, Renato Sales, Mexico's national security commissioner, did not accept police carried out executions. He said the investigation was continuing, and urged Congress to pass laws on when security forces can fire weapons.

"In our view, the use of arms was necessary and proportional to the very real, imminent and lawless aggression," he said. "They acted in legitimate defense."

Mexico's federal police, the army and the navy have long been implicated in abuses since a drug war that has claimed more than 100,000 lives began in 2006.

"It's systematic and hopefully this will put a brake on the excesses and abuses by the federal police," said a senior Mexican law enforcement official who declined to be named. "This is very serious, and a massive blow to the government."

Police killed 17 people for every officer lost in gunbattles in 2014, according to a study by Mexico's National Autonomous University, a number the study said was consistent with excessive force.

And in shootouts involving Mexican police between 2007 and 2013, the number of people killed for each person injured rocketed from 1.6 to more than 20, the study said.

In June, at least eight people died in confrontations between rebellious teachers and police in southern Mexico.

Most notoriously, 43 trainees from the Ayotzinapa teaching college in south-western Mexico were apparently massacred in 2014 after police snatched them.

The same year, soldiers killed 22 suspected gang members. The army argued they acted in self-defense and three soldiers were acquitted of murder charges.

CHAOTIC AFTERMATH

Almost all of the men who were killed in Tanhuato, more than 30 of them, came from the town of Ocotlan across the state border in Jalisco and less than an hour's drive from the sprawling 112-hectare (277-acre) alfalfa farm the JNG cartel had recently seized.

Photos released within hours of the early-morning massacre showed partially dressed men face down in fields surrounding the main house. Family members and forensic experts believe some were gunned down as they tried to escape.

Most appear to have been sleeping on a verandah and then scattered when the police showed up.

On a recent visit, Reuters witnesses saw the tin roof of a large barn, where several of the men died, riddled with hundreds of bullet holes, possibly fired from the helicopter which TV images that day showed hovering over the building.

The abandoned ranch house was pocked by high caliber ammunition, some penetrating thick walls. Shattered glass surrounded a stagnant swimming pool.
Goldman seeks to force ex-employee in Fed leak case to arbitrate

By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to force a former managing director to arbitrate his claim for legal fees stemming from probes into his alleged use of confidential Federal Reserve documents.

The lawsuit was filed in New York state Supreme Court in Manhattan against Joseph Jiampietro, an ex-Goldman employee whom the Federal Reserve Board this month brought an enforcement case against.

Goldman's lawsuit came after Jiampietro in July sued the bank in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to force it to cover at least $350,000 in legal expenses stemming from probes by the Federal Reserve and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in 2015.

Adam Ford, a lawyer for Jiampietro, in a statement called Thursday's lawsuit "a classic example of inappropriate forum shopping" by Goldman Sachs to delay advancing his client's defense fees.

The Fed brought enforcement proceedings against Jiampietro on Aug. 3, the same day it announced a $36.3 million settlement with Goldman Sachs for the unauthorized use and disclosure of confidential information.

The Fed alleged that Jiampietro in 2014 on multiple occasions asked Rohit Bansal, a Goldman associate who previously worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to obtain confidential information from a New York Fed employee.

The information was then used by Jiampietro and Bansal in connection with Goldman Sachs' regulatory advisory work for current clients and pitches to potential clients, the Fed said.

The Fed is seeking to fine Jiampietro and bar him from the banking industry. Jiampietro denies wrongdoing.

Bansal and the former New York Fed employee, Jason Gross, both pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanor charge of theft of government property, and were sentenced to probation in March.

The criminal case came after an earlier related $50 million settlement by Goldman Sachs in October with the New York Department of Financial Services.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Vietnam early next month, his third substantive tour to the region, will possibly be the most momentous of them all.

Modis first visit to the region was to Myanmar in November 2014 to take part in the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits (EAS). During this visit Modi declared the transformation of the "Look East Policy" launched by prime minister Narasimha Rao in 1992 to "Act East Policy".

This was designed to infuse greater energy in this initiative, expand geographical coverage under its ambit, and invest strategic content to Indias engagement with ASEAN as well as with a broader canvas encompassing other East Asian countries including Japan, Australia, South Korea, Pacific Island nations, etc.

Partnership

His second visit took place in November 2015 to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for ASEAN-India as well as EAS, from where he travelled on a bilateral visit to Singapore for elevation of bilateral partnership to strategic level, as also to commemorate the 50th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations.

He also paid a one-day visit to Singapore in March 2015 to attend the funeral of former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Modis forthcoming bilateral visit to Vietnam is likely to take place after his participation in the G-20 Summit in China on September 4-5, and in ASEAN-India and EAS in Vientiane, Laos on September 6-7.

Modis tour to Hanoi is expected to significantly augment bilateral partnership in strategic, defence, economic and commercial spheres. It will provide a vigorous impetus to the "Act East Policy" which has been expanding rapidly since its launch. Modis visit would have been decisive and pivotal just for these reasons alone. What, however, will make the sojourn momentous is the critical timing of the visit.

On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hague under the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) gave its judgment on the complaint filed by the Philippines against Chinese claims and activities in the South China Sea (SCS). The court declared that China did not enjoy any historical rights in SCS as it had been claiming under the nine-dash line and also that it could not claim any Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around the small artificial structures it had created.

Vietnam has been facing frequent and aggressive harassment from the Chinese navy in areas it rightly considers under its jurisdiction in accordance with provisions of UNCLOS.

It was a clear, comprehensive verdict against China. The verdict was largely along expected lines, perhaps more favourable to the Philippines and more detrimental to Chinese interests than anticipated. China did not participate in the proceedings of PCA as it did not consider it competent to adjudicate on the issues of sovereignty in SCS.

PCAs judgment, however, did not address the sovereignty issue but coverage and usage of the waters of SCS as per provisions of UNCLOS.

China declared the judgment "null and void". It has resorted to some aggressive posturing while simultaneously indulging in bellicose and intimidatory statements from the highest level of government. It has also sought to open channels of communication with the Philippines to solve the issue on a bilateral basis.

Dispute

Although Vietnam was not a party to the dispute, its position on legal status of SCS and exploitation of its fishery and energy resources is as strong as that of the Philippines. It has been facing frequent and aggressive harassment from the Chinese navy in areas it rightly considers under its jurisdiction in accordance with provisions of UNCLOS.

Tension has erupted in the open over the past several years with clashes and skirmishes in the sea. This has driven Vietnam to strengthen its ties with India and other powers like the US and Japan. Last two years have seen intense exchange of visits between India and Vietnam.

President Pranab Mukherjee and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj travelled to Hanoi in September and August 2014, respectively.

During Mukherjees visit, India clearly enunciated its position on maritime security, freedom of navigation and peaceful resolution of SCS dispute in accordance with provisions of UNCLOS. A far-reaching visit by Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Van Dung to India took place in October 2014 during which PM Modi stated that defence relations with Vietnam were quite significant for India.

Defence

May 2015 witnessed the visit of the Vietnamese defence minister to Delhi and June this year saw the return visit by Indias raksha mantri to Hanoi. During Vietnamese defence ministers visit, Modi assured him of "Indias full commitment to the strategic partnership between the two countries."

A Joint Vision Statement, outlining the trajectory of bilateral defence cooperation through 2020, was signed. This heightened exchange will be capped by Modi's forthcoming tour. In 1992, India and Vietnam established extensive economic ties. Defence ties benefited hugely from Indias Look East policy.

Military cooperation includes sale of military equipment, sharing of intelligence, joint naval exercises and training in counterinsurgency and jungle warfare. India regularly deploys its warships for goodwill visits to Vietnamese seas. India is providing a $100 million credit line to Vietnam which will be used to buy four large patrol vessels that will enable it to secure its waters.

Bilateral trade and investment are likely to receive special attention. ASEAN-India free trade agreement came into effect in 2010. Bilateral trade expanded significantly to $3.92 billion by the end of 2012. As of 2015, bilateral trade stood at $ 7 billion.

Target for 2020 has been set at $15 billion. This appears eminently achievable.
It didnt make the funding cut last year, but the Billings YWCAs $4.6 million Gateway Vista Affordable Housing proposal has new life following this weeks meeting of the Montana Board of Housing.

Merry Lee Olson, YWCA Billings chief executive officer, said the Gateway Vista project is one of seven approved by the board Monday to apply for Low Income Housing Tax Credit funding for 2017. The boards total allocation of $40 million covers all of the seven proposals invited to apply, Olson said, although theres no guarantee that all the projects will receive funding.

Nineteen qualified entities statewide make presentations before the board. Gateway Vista was the only area project invited to undertake the formal application process. The board is scheduled to announce which projects will be funded during its January 2017 meeting.

Olson plans to hold an informational meeting on the Gateway Vista project at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the YWCA office, 909 Wyoming Ave.

If state tax credits are approved, Gateway Vista, a 24-unit affordable housing complex, will be constructed on the YWCA campus. The project will include a local match of at least $800,000, some of which has been raised already. The remainder will be raised from private donations and foundation grants after the funding announcement is made in January, Olson said.

Construction is scheduled to begin around May 1, 2017, and will be completed about a year later.

Gateway Vista will house women and children who are the victims of domestic abuse. The new shelter, which will augment the existing 10-unit Gateway Shelter, will also include case management, legal services, job training and employment counseling, financial and credit counseling, child care and other services  all under one roof.

We believe the Gateway Vista project is uniquely qualified for the tax credits in that it goes beyond offering a roof over peoples heads to providing numerous wrap-around services to help them truly get on their feet and become financially independent and break away from the cycles of violence and poverty, Olson said.

The Billings YWCA went through a similar process last year only to learn that Gateway Vista had not been selected. The selection process is always highly competitive, Olson said.

Mountain Plains Equity Group, a Billings-based organization with experience in Low Income Housing Tax Credits, is partnering with YWCA Billings to develop the project. Michael and Sherril Burke of HGFA Architects designed the three-story apartment building at no cost to the YWCA.

During the 2015-16 fiscal year, the YWCA provided 7,900 nights of shelter and respite from violence to 133 women and 96 children. Staff answered nearly 1,500 calls coming into the YWCAs 24-hour Help Line.

Learn more by visiting www.ywcabillings.org or by calling 406-252-6303.
The Governors Conference on Aging is partnering with the Home and Community Based Services Conference and will be Sept. 13-15 at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center.

Attendees will receive information and education on issues affecting seniors, adults with disabilities, families and caregivers.

Lance Robertson, director of Aging Services at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and Dr. Whitney Bailey, a professor at Oklahoma State University, will present a talk called: The Fast-Moving Train: How Families Can Get Ahead Of Care Choices.

Michael Smull, of the Learning Center for Person Centered Practices in Annapolis, Md., will address How To Have Positive Control Over Your Life. Julie Beckett, an Ohio-based advocate and author, will present One Person Can Make A Difference: The Importance Of Advocacy.

More than 20 breakout sessions are offered throughout the conference. Topics include healthy aging; guardianship issues; protecting elders from fraud and scams; the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren program; workshops to motivate people struggling with limited mobility, Alzheimers, dementia and other related disorders; Lifespan Respite and caregiving; peer supports; suicide prevention; and mental health.

The conference also includes several special events, such as a Kickoff Mini Walk to End Alzheimers; the annual luncheon honoring Montana centenarians with Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney; a special Nordic walking clinic with Dr. Pam Roberts, program physician of Journey to Wellness in Kalispell; and an evening awards banquet to honor caregivers and direct support programs.

Online registration is available until Sept. 2 at dphhs.mt.gov/sltc/aging/GovernorsConferenceonAging.aspx

For more information, contact Jackie Stoeckel at 444-6061 or jstoeckel@mt.gov.
Things are looking up financially for Rocky Mountain College, President Bob Wilmouth told staff Wednesday during the annual all-campus meeting.

Wilmouth presented his state of the college to faculty and staff at the gathering held the day before new student orientation kicks off on campus. Classes begin Tuesday.

The vision for the college is just to get better, and were doing it from year to year, Wilmouth told The Gazette. "We have seen improvements all over the campus.

Financially, the private colleges endowment is up over $30 million, which includes everything, including annuities, he said.

We have $1.7 million in cash reserves, Wilmouth said. We have an extremely strong cash flow, and a positive net revenue in the budget for the first time in about seven years.

Wilmouth, president of the college since 2013, also pointed to the new additions to the campus, the $2 million enhancement to the Herb Klint Field, including artificial turf, and the yet-to-come $8.5 million three-story science building. The campus also has added a new Yamaha piano lab and a new student resource center.

Academics is at the core of the college, Wilmouth said. The school puts a lot of resources into helping students, he said, such as the resource center.

The campus is also introducing a new first-year student experience this year, aimed mainly at freshmen and other new students. It will, in part, focus on self and society, Wilmouth said.

Its about responsibility and relationships, he said.
MISSOULA  The Missoula County Attorneys Office is in full compliance with an agreement made two years ago to improve the way sexual assault cases are handled by local prosecutors, Montana Attorney General Tim Fox announced Wednesday.

His office's oversight of the issue has ended, Fox said.

In June 2014, Foxs office entered into an agreement with then-County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg and the U.S. Department of Justice, ending a feud between the county prosecutor and the federal agency.

This is a big day for her and the team," Fox said of County Attorney Kirsten Pabst, elected after Van Valkenburg retired. "I think this is a big day for the community. This all began in a way that felt like the black cloud. We found the silver lining.

In 2012, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into the way the county attorneys office, as well as the Missoula Police Department and University of Montana, responded to sex assault reports.

On Wednesday, Fox said news stories about rape and sex assault cases originally drew the federal agencys attention to Missoula. The issue became the subject of a 2015 book by Jon Krakauer Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town.

In 2013, UM and the city police department entered into agreements with DOJ that listed a series of stipulations, trainings, procedure overhauls and audits they were required to undergo. Last year, the DOJ announced both agencies had fulfilled their obligations.

Since signing onto the agreement the county prosecutor's office, under Pabst, has developed better policies for handling sexual assault cases, participated in additional training for its attorneys, formed a special victims unit to prosecute sex crimes and hired additional staff to better communicate with victims.

With all of its changes and reforms, Fox said he believes the Missoula County Attorneys Office represents the model for the rest of the country, not just Montana.

Pabst said the special victims unit, which she formed after taking office at the start of 2015, will add a fifth attorney in October.

These cases take exponentially more time and preparation to handle, Pabst said. Its a skill set nobody is born with, you have to learn that.

Since starting the special victims unit, Pabsts office has located one of its attorneys at the Missoula Police Department, helping investigators in the early stages including meetings with victims and writing search warrants.

The police have gone out of their way to commit to doing things right, Pabst said.

One of the victims unit attorneys, Suzy Boylan, also compiled a guide for handling of sexual assault cases that Fox said has since been distributed to prosecutors offices across Montana. Attorneys in the victims unit are also taking part in training sessions for law enforcement and prosecutors in the state.

As part of the agreement, Pabst hired an investigator and a victim witness coordinator who connects victims of sex crimes with services and acts as a point of contact.

Jenny Daniel, coordinator of the multi-agency JUST Response program that focuses on sex assault, domestic violence and child abuse in Missoula, said Pabsts office has been a very active contributor.

Theyve been really involved, they are at all of our meetings and work on training and providing a prosecutor's perspective on these important issues, she said.

In a letter sent to Fox at the end of June, Anne Munch, hired to assess the progress made by the Missoula prosecutors office, congratulated Pabst and her staff on their efforts and accomplishments, in particular saying they have dramatically improved the way they treat victims.

In 2014, during the first quarter Munch monitored cases in Missoula, she found prosecutors took an average of 35 days to contact a victim after a case was referred to them. In her most recent quarterly report, issued in February, Munch said that time period had shrunk to less than a day.

Under the agreement, the county attorneys office was required to undergo an independent review by Foxs office, a process Pabst and the attorney general said they intend to continue.

Pabst said her office has also contracted with a trauma counselor both to help them better understand the behaviors of the victims of sexual violence and to work with attorneys on how to handle the stress of working on such cases.

While the attorney general and county attorney said Wednesdays announcement was a milestone they added there is still a lot of work to be done.

Today is truly a celebration but its also the starting line, Pabst said.

Fox said a continued focus on outreach and education, as well as reexamining sex crime laws in Montana, are paramount, points Munch also highlighted in her letter as areas Pabst's office should continue to work on.

Societal bias, misconceptions and victim blaming make these hard to prosecute, Fox said.

Pabst said the prosecutors in her office take every opportunity they get to go to schools and social organizations to discuss domestic violence and sex crimes.

Fox said his office will support bills in the next Legislature to reform criminal laws, including a better definition of consent in sexual assault and rape cases. Pabst said it would be helpful to change the law from having to prove a negative to simply having to show that affirmative consent was given.

She said her office also supports changes in what it means for a person to be incapacitated and therefore not able to provide consent. Under the current statute and how courts have interpreted it, Pabst said to show a person was incapacitated due to drugs or alcohol, We have to show essentially that they are passed out.
HAMILTON  On a lonely stretch of the Bitterroot Valleys Eastside Highway, David Merrick once again is taking a stand.

As cars zoom by, the 74-year-old waves a two-sided sign that proclaims Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson to be The Peoples President.

A few drivers honk their horns as they drive by. Some offer him commentary in the form of a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Others simply wave.

There are some who dont use all their fingers when they wave, Merrick said, with a smile.

The vast majority drive by without any sort of sign that theyve even noticed this man who can trace his support for the libertarian philosophy back to 1964. That was the year Barry Goldwater lost in a landslide to Lyndon Johnson, leaving Merrick disillusioned about the Republican Party and in search of something different.

Ever since then, Merrick said hes made it a point to live according to his principles.

Those principles drive him out of his comfortable home to stand along a road and wave a sign at people with a name that many dont even recognize.

On Monday, a woman stopped. She wanted to know just who is this Gary Johnson person?

I told her, Merrick said. She looked at me and said, Oh. A third-party candidate.' And then she drove away.

People ask him why he spends hours upon hours standing there waving a sign at people who often dont care to learn anything more about third-party candidates.

Its really a matter of principle for me, he said. Ive always voted my principles. Hardly anyone I ever voted for has ever won, but that doesnt matter.

For decades, Merrick has often conceded early that his choice for a presidential candidate really had no chance of winning.

But this year is different.

In some of the polls that hes checked recently, Gary Johnson is running at 12.5 percent.

If he can get to 15 percent, he can get in the debates, Merrick said. If he can get in the debates, people will hear what he has to say.  All he has to do is get 34 (percent) or 35 percent of the vote and he could win.

In a year when many of the electorate arent thrilled with either the Republican or Democratic candidate, Merrick feels hopeful.

Its really the first time that I felt that way, he said.

Merricks wife, Leona, said she thinks Johnson is an exciting candidate. He served two consecutive terms as governor of New Mexico. I think that the choice this year between (Republican Donald) Trump and Hillary (Clinton, the Democratic nominee) has made people stop and think a little more.

When a local judge made a point to stop them at a recent parade to say that he believed Johnson was the best bet this year, Leona said she walked away feeling very surprised.

I think people are thinking more about it this year, she said. He did do great things while he was the governor in New Mexico.

The biggest challenge facing any third-party candidate is getting his name in front of people.

Merrick said he has called all of the national television networks to complain about the fact that none of the morning news shows has had Johnson on their programs.

After calling several times, Merrick was told that he should check with the networks local affiliates.

The local stations told me that they had no idea why they would do that, Merrick said. The local stations told me that everything they use on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton comes from their national affiliates.

Thats left Merrick with only one choice.

I need to be out here, he said. Even if people dont wave or even appear to notice me, my hope is that some will notice the name on this sign. If their internet skills are better than mine, they might get online and learn something about him.

While he would like to know that hes part of a small army of volunteers taking to the streets to spread the word about the Libertarian presidential candidate, Merrick knows thats not the case.

I think Im it, Merrick said. I havent heard of anyone else standing out on the highway and waving a sign, but that really doesnt matter. Its something that I have to do.
A woman who admitted she was driving drunk when she crashed her vehicle into a tree and injured herself and two grandchildren will spend five years on federal probation.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters on Wednesday sentenced Terry Malene Seminole, 55 of Lame Deer, to the term for her guilty plea to assault resulting in serious injury.

There was no plea agreement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sullivan recommended an 18-month sentence saying in court records that Seminole had at least one DUI offense and a history of alcohol abuse.

Assistant Federal Defender Gillian Gosch asked for a probationary sentence saying Seminole was seeking treatment through the Northern Cheyenne Recovery Center.

Prosecutors said in court records that the crash happened on Nov. 9, 2015, when Seminole, her two granddaughters and another person left Billings at about 6:15 a.m. and drove to a residence Busby. Seminole drank to the point of intoxication at the residence then left later that morning in a Ford F-150 pickup with her granddaughters to go to Lame Deer on Highway 212.

Seminole drove off the road, down an embankment and hit a tree.

Seminole and her two granddaughters all were injured. One granddaughter suffered minor injuries and was released, while the Seminole and the other granddaughter, who suffered a fractured spine, were transferred to St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings.

Seminoles blood-alcohol concentration was 0.131 percent. The legal limit is .08 percent.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP)  The Wyoming Supreme Court must decide whether to remove from office a Pinedale judge who says her religious beliefs would prevent her from presiding over same-sex marriages.

The court heard arguments Wednesday on Judge Ruth Neely's appeal of a removal recommendation from the Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics.

Neely, who's not a lawyer, is a municipal judge in Pinedale and was suspended as circuit court magistrate in Sublette County.

The commission investigated Neely after she said she wouldn't preside over same-sex marriages. Her lawyers say no same-sex couples have asked her to do so.

Neely's lawyer James Campbell argued that removing her would violate her constitutional rights.

Commission lawyer Patrick Dixon argued she violated the state code of judicial conduct.

The court will issue a written decision later.
RICHMOND  Virginia State Police have identified a Surry County man as the motorcyclist who led a trooper on a high-speed chase through Louisa County last week.

Police are searching for Justin Eugene Abney, 28. He is wanted on charges of eluding police, reckless driving, improper registration, lack of motorcycle endorsement, and failing to pay an uninsured motorist fee.

At 5:23 p.m. Aug. 8, Trooper Martin Kriz was monitoring radar on Interstate 64 in Louisa County near mile-marker 147 when a Honda CBR1000RR with a Repsol paint scheme was clocked going 102 mph, according to a statement from state police. The posted speed limit is 70 mph.

Kriz turned on his emergency lights and attempted to stop the motorcycle. The motorcyclist sped away at 120 mph, police said. Kriz pursued the motorcycle but quit after 12 miles as it continued east on I-64.

State police received more than a dozen tips identifying Abney, the statement said.

He is 5 feet 5 inches tall and 125 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information on Abneys whereabouts should call the Virginia State Police Richmond Division at (804) 553-3445 or by dialing #77 on a cellphone, or email questions@vsp.virginia.gov.

Ali Rockett reports for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
RICHMOND  Seven of the 11 members of Virginia's U.S. House delegation, including Democrat Don Beyer, have written to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, urging the Justice Department not to retry former Gov. Bob McDonnell on corruption charges.

"Many of us have known Bob McDonnell for decades," the seven write. "He is an honorable and dedicated public servant who committed his entire adult life  both in the U.S. Army and in Virginia government  to the benefit of others.

"Also, the McDonnell family has suffered greatly over the past three years, both financially and emotionally. Governor Terry McAuliffe so aptly explained last month when asked if DOJ should bring another case, 'It is time to move on. The man has paid the price.' We agree completely."

Rep. Scott Rigell, R-2nd, is the main signer of the letter. Printed beneath his signature are the names of Beyer, D-8th; and Reps. Randy Forbes, R-4th; Dave Brat, R-7th; Morgan Griffith, R-9th; Barbara Comstock, R-10th; and Robert J. Wittman, R-1st.

The two Republicans who did not sign the letter are Reps. Robert Hurt, R-5th, and Robert W. Goodlatte, R-6th. Goodlatte is chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Before a luncheon Wednesday in Bedford, Goodlatte told The Roanoke Times that as head of the Judiciary Committee, he's made it a policy to abstain from weighing in with prosecutors on these types of decisions.

"I haven't done it in the past and so didn't do it in this case, as well," he said. "But it doesn't mean I don't have great sympathy for Bob McDonnell. I think the court's decision in throwing out that case was the correct one."

The two Democrats who did not sign it are Reps. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, D-3rd, and Gerald E. Connolly, D-11th.

The U.S. Supreme Court vacated McDonnell's 11 corruption convictions on an 8-0 vote June 27, narrowing what it called the government's "boundless" interpretation of federal bribery law.

There is no doubt that this case is distasteful; it may be worse than that, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion for the court. But our concern is not with tawdry tales of Ferraris, Rolexes, and ball gowns.

It is instead with the broader legal implications of the governments boundless interpretation of the federal bribery statute. A more limited interpretation of the term official act leaves ample room for prosecuting corruption, while comporting with the text of the statute and the precedent of this court.

The justices found that the jury received erroneous instructions and that the definition of "official act" should be narrower. They sent the case back to the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to determine if, under the new definition, the evidence was still sufficient for a jury to convict McDonnell.

The signers from the Virginia delegation say they "believe it would be unwise and unfair to seek re-prosecution of Governor McDonnell and his wife under the Supreme Court's new standards."

They say they think the initial prosecution "served important purposes" because Virginia's legislative and executive branches enacted "stricter ethics standards" and because the U.S. Supreme Court "sharpened the line between criminal and noncriminal conduct."

The signers also quote a letter that Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., now the Democratic nominee for vice president, wrote to trial Judge James R. Spencer before sentencing, in which he said McDonnell's "merciful attitude ... is characteristic of him as an individual."

The prosecution and defense have asked the appeals court for 30 days, until Aug. 29, to either set up a new briefing schedule or to give the court a status report on McDonnell's case.

The appeals court has agreed to hold off on any action in the case of former first lady Maureen McDonnell's corruption convictions until Aug. 29.

Her lawyers have asked the appeals court to vacate her eight convictions in light of the vacating of her husband's convictions.
Get ready for the afterBern, Montana. Get ready for Libertarian Gary Johnson, too.

Third party candidates hoping to capitalize on the sagging likability numbers for both Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, are promising the pack Montanas presidential ballot.

Libertarian Johnson has qualified for the Montana ballot and opened a campaign office in Billings, while the campaign for Green Party candidate Jill Stein has submitted nearly three times the number of signatures required to qualify.

Both campaigns say Montana voters are independent enough to deliver significant returns for presidential candidates outside the mainstream.

Honestly, I personally think Montana is one of the few states she could realistically win with all the environmentalists here and with all the Berniecrats, said Ryan Moore, Montana state field director for Jill Stein.

It didnt take long for Montana for Bernie Facebook pages to morph into Montana for Jill Stein, Moore said. He and other Sanders supporters say theyve qualified the Green Party presidential candidate for the Montana ballot. And because Sanders supporters handed the Vermont senator a victory over Clinton in Montanas June primary election, they like their chances of winning a fragmented general election for Stein, a physician turned politician from Massachusetts.

Weve turned in 12,000 signatures, right now, said Ryan Moore, Steins Montana State field director. Most of it in Missoula. I turned in 5,000 signatures alone in that area, about 1,000 in the Great Falls and Billings areas, abut 1,000 each and about 2,000 in Bozeman.

A minor party candidate needs 5,000 signatures from registered Montana voters to make the Montana ballot. The deadline for getting those signatures to county election offices was Tuesday. Stein will be the first Green Party presidential candidate on the Montana ballot since Ralph Nader in 2000, though there have been unsuccessful attempts to qualify Green Party candidates since then.

For Libertarian Gary Johnson, the path to the Montana ballot was much easier. The Libertarian Party, because of past performance in statewide Montana races, is a recognized major party in the state, which means it didnt have to submit signatures.

Johnson has already opened a state office in Billings, epicenter of Yellowstone County, home to one in eight Montana voters. Yellowstone County has also been favorable to Libertarians in the past elections, said Andrew Forcier, who staffs the Johnson Campaign office in Billings.

When we look at the population distribution across the state, and particularly election results, theres a tendency of certain metropolitan areas to lean more Libertarian than others, Forcier said. Billings has been fairly favorable for Libertarian candidates overall.

Johnson has other advantages, as well. The former Republican governor of New Mexico is within striking distance of a 15 percent approval rating in political polls. Thats the threshold for getting on stage for presidential campaign debates. The candidate needs to move the polls about 3 percentage points more in the next few weeks to qualify for a schedule Sept. 26 debate. Stein isnt as close to qualifying.

Montana voters have responded favorably to third party presidential candidates in the past. In 1992, Libertarian candidate Ross Perot won 26 percent of the Montana vote, eroding Republican George H.W. Bushs support and enabling Democrat Bill Clinton to win the state with 37.6 percent of the vote. In Yellowstone County, Perot won 23.4 percent of the vote, his third best showing in Montanas most populous counties. Perot did best in Flathead County, where he won 29 percent of the vote. His second best showing was 25 percent in Cascade County.

Ralph Nader won 6.1 percent of the Montana vote in 2000, the year in which 58.4 percent of Montanans voted for Republican George W. Bush. Naders best showing was 15.2 percent in Missoula County, which is were Stein support appears strongest.
As a sovereign nation, the United States government has always had undoubted authority to decide who may enter the country, and the conditions for entry by those who seek it, declares the Constitution Daily (blog.constitutioncenter/2015/12/constitution-check-would-a-ban-on-all-muslims-entering-the-u-s-to-be-valid/).

The U.S. Constitution says in its Preamble, We the People of the United States, and later, in Article I, Section 8, that The Congress shall have Power to  establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization.

Article I, Section 9 says: The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight.

Do you read these passages to mean that citizens of the U.S., acting through their elected representatives in Congress, can prohibit immigration of persons that any of the States now existing (Virginia among the original 13 and perhaps others) do not think it proper to admit? (I do.)

Do you construe the Constitution to guarantee its enumerated rights and privileges to non-citizens before they become naturalized? (I dont.)

We have the upmost sympathy in their grief for our Charlottesville neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Khizr Khan (the circumstances are now widely known), and it is usually refreshing to be referred to the U.S. Constitution for guidance.

But it puzzles me that Mr. Khan, an immigration lawyer, believes a temporary ban on Muslim immigrants would be unconstitutional. It might be undesirable, but that is a judgment to be made, it would seem, principally on grounds of public safety, and, ultimately, an issue for Congress to decide.

Roger L. Barron

Greene County
Seven of the 11 members of Virginia's U.S. House delegation, including Democrat Don Beyer, have written a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, urging the Justice Department not to retry former Gov. Bob McDonnell on corruption charges.

"Many of us have known Bob McDonnell for decades," the seven write. "He is an honorable and dedicated public servant who committed his entire adult life - both in the U.S. Army and in Virginia government - to the benefit of others.

"Also, the McDonnell family has suffered greatly over the past three years, both financially and emotionally. Governor Terry McAuliffe so aptly explained last month when asked if DOJ should bring another case, 'it is time to move on. The man has paid the price.' We agree completely."

Rep. Scott Rigell, R-2nd, is the main signer of the letter. Printed beneath his signature are the names of Beyer, D-8th, and Reps. Randy Forbes, R-4th; Dave Brat, R-7th; Morgan Griffith, R-9th; Barbara Comstock, R-10th and Robert J. Wittman, R-1st.

The two Republicans who did not sign the letter are Reps. Robert Hurt, R-5th, and Robert W. Goodlatte, R-6th. Goodlatte is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

The two Democrats who did not sign it are Reps. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, D-3rd Gerald E. Connolly, D-11th.

The U.S. Supreme Court vacated McDonnell's 11 corruption convictions on an 8-0 vote June 27, narrowing what it called the government's "boundless" interpretation of federal bribery law.

There is no doubt that this case is distasteful; it may be worse than that, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., wrote in the opinion for the court. But our concern is not with tawdry tales of Ferraris, Rolexes, and ball gowns.

It is instead with the broader legal implications of the governments boundless interpretation of the federal bribery statute. A more limited interpretation of the term official act leaves ample room for prosecuting corruption, while comporting with the text of the statute and the precedent of this court.

The justices found that the jury received erroneous instructions and that the definition of "official act" should be narrower. They sent the case back to the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to determine if under the new definition the evidence was still sufficient for a jury to convict McDonnell.

The signers from the Virginia delegation say they "believe it would be unwise and unfair to seek re-prosecution of Governor McDonnell and his wife under the Supreme Court's new standards."

They say they think the initial prosecution "served important purposes" because Virginia's legislative and executive branches enacted "stricter ethics standards" and because the U.S. Supreme Court "sharpened the line between criminal and noncriminal conduct."

The signers also quote a letter that Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., now the Democratic nominee for vice president, wrote to trial Judge James R. Spencer before sentencing, in which he said McDonnell's "merciful attitude ... is characteristic of him as an individual."

The prosecution and defense have asked the appeals court for 30 days - until Aug. 29 - to either set up a new briefing schedule or to give the court a status report on McDonnell's case.

The appeals court has agreed to hold off on taking any action in the case of former first lady Maureen McDonnell's corruption convictions until Aug. 29.

Her lawyers have asked the appeals court to vacate her eight convictions in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling vacating her husband's convictions.
RICHMOND  Virginia State Police have identified a Surry County man as the motorcyclist who led a trooper on a high-speed chase through Louisa County last week.

Police are searching for Justin Eugene Abney, 28. He is wanted on charges of eluding police, reckless driving, improper registration, lack of motorcycle endorsement, and failing to pay an uninsured motorist fee.

At 5:23 p.m. Aug. 8, Trooper Martin Kriz was monitoring radar on Interstate 64 in Louisa County near mile-marker 147 when a Honda CBR1000RR with a Repsol paint scheme was clocked going 102 mph, according to a statement from state police. The posted speed limit is 70 mph.

Kriz turned on his emergency lights and attempted to stop the motorcycle. The motorcyclist sped away at 120 mph, police said. Kriz pursued the motorcycle but quit after 12 miles as it continued east on I-64.

State police received more than a dozen tips identifying Abney, the statement said.

He is 5 feet 5 inches tall and 125 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information on Abneys whereabouts should call the Virginia State Police Richmond Division at (804) 553-3445 or by dialing #77 on a cellphone, or email questions@vsp.virginia.gov.
Nathan Ludwig is excited about this weekends GenreBlast Film Festival, which will bring 100 or so feature and short films ranging from action to sci-fi and from fantasy to horror to the State Theatre in Culpeper.

But the one outcome the festivals director doesnt want can be found in a film he made a few years back with Charles Hill and Chad Farmer. The men are the two other principals of FarmWig Hill Films and also fellow organizers of the new film festival that kicks off Friday.

That film, Super 8, is a tongue and cheek look at film festivals, said Ludwig, who lived in Stafford County and went to Brooke Point High School before moving to Culpeper with his family in 1999. Before its over, the director of the film festival gets kidnapped and all sorts of other craziness ensues.

Ludwig, Hill and Farmer are hoping for much better outcome with this film festival and script-writing competition, which theyve created from the ground up.

The trio, who met in film school at Full Sail University in Orlando years ago, have been putting their heads and hearts together in recent years to write, film and produce short films and other projects.

Last summer, after having some experience with taking films and scripts to film festivals, they decided to create their own for the sort of films they enjoy.

The result is GenreBlast, a festival that describes itself as the best features, shorts, music videos and screenplays in the categories of horror, action/adventure, sci-fi, fantasy, martial arts, exploitation, grindhouse, international, experimental and more.

Beyond that, says the festivals website, the gathering aims to be a party for filmmakers and film lovers that will strive to become one of the best new independent film festivals around.

Tickets for the festival, which runs from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon, can be purchased for each film or in the form of passesfrom $10 to $40that get buyers into all the films on a specific day or for the entire festival.

Tickets can be purchased at the theater or online at http://culpepertheatre.org/event/genreblast-film-festival.

Ludwig noted that the opening nights film is Dinner with the Alchemist, a supernatural murder mystery set in New Orleans with heavy helpings of voodoo and the history of that great city.

Much of it was filmed in Northern Virginia, he said, and the director and some cast members are expected to be at the screening to discuss the film.

He said the other highlighted feature films include Capsule, a historical sci-fi thriller about Britains Cold War space program and The Village of Middlevale, a comedy mockumentary about misfits trying to build and run a medieval village in modern times.

Aside from the feature films, which will be shown in the main, 493-seat theater at the State, short films in several different genres will be shown in the smaller, more intimate Black Box theater.

Those shorts will screen in blocks that focus on horror, animation, science fiction, action and more.

Ludwig, who noted that films and scripts were solicited online, said a jury of several filmmakers, writers and others will decide on a range of film and writing awards given out at a closing ceremony on Sunday afternoon.

Ludwig said he and his film company and festival partners know that creating GenreBlast is a tall order, but hope it can become a niche festival for those who like films in the horror/sci-fi/action/fantasy field.

Outside of the festival, the three partners are always coming up with a new script, a new movie or some other new project to forward their film careers, the scriptwriter said.

He now lives in Midlothian, for example, but said he and his wife are planning to move soon to Culpeper where his other two partners already live.

Our hope is to grow the festival and our film careers here, he said, noting that the partners also hope to do video work of all kinds for those who need that service.

While Ludwig said he thinks there will be enough diversity in GenreBlast to attract a wide range of film fans, he warned that many of the films on the schedule arent exactly family friendly.

Some of our featured films are in the PG-13 range, but many arent for younger viewers, he said, wanting parents to be forewarned.

Ludwig, who holds the title of festival director, said he and his partners were thrilled to be able to offer the festival at the State Theatre, which after its extensive renovation is indeed the premiere venue of Virginias Piedmont.

For more information about the festival, go online to facebook.com/GenreBlastFF/posts.
Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault said Thursday hes asking state authorities to remove a barricade on Highway 1806 and declared reports of weapons at the Dakota Access Pipeline protest are not valid.

"I dont believe this is necessary, and I am asking them if they will remove this barrier, Archambault said in a brief conference call open to media.

As popular recreation sites south of the barrier point were closed, Archambault said he went back to the protesters to re-emphasize the peaceful, non-violent atmosphere he wants on the scene and reiterated that no weapons, alcohol or drugs are allowed.

Archambault said protesters have not had any illegal items or activities as alleged by Morton County Sheriff's Office reports.

"When there is this much media and interest, this slight statement causes rumors to spread," said Archambault, of the reports of weapons.

Highway 1806 was blocked off Tuesday south of Mandan just past the Veterans Cemetery because of unlawful activity at the week-old protest, according to Kirchmeier, who said his officers have been threatened and he has received reports of pipe bombs, assaults on private security hired by Dakota Access, fireworks and vandalism.

The control point is about 25 miles north of where hundreds of protesters are staged along the highway closest to the pipeline construction route. Archambault said thats an unnecessary inconvenience to tribal members, residents who live in the area and people who want to use the several public recreation sites located between Mandan and the reservation.

No one is in any danger. This (protest activity) is no different than a construction project where traffic is slowed. Not once has property or life been in danger on Highway 1806, Archambault said.

From the traffic control site, travelers are directed to take Morton County Road 138A, which is a link to Highway 6 further west. That highway has a paved link through Solen back over to Highway 1806 to reach Prairie Knights Casino or other destinations on the reservation.

Gov. Jack Dalrymple provided a statement later Thursday morning regarding the road closure.

Following reports of heavy pedestrian traffic and numerous vehicles parked along Highway 1806, we restricted travel 6 miles south of Mandan to local traffic and emergency response vehicles only. Alternate routes are available for through traffic. Additionally, we established a traffic control point at the intersection of Highway 6 and Morton County Road 138A to provide information regarding protest activities along the highway," he said.

While we are concerned about some cases of unlawful activity, we are pleased that no one has been injured and it is our top priority to keep it that way, Dalrymple said.

Recreation sites managed by the Morton County Parks Department south of the barrier point are closed for the duration, said parks director Tim Nilsen. Nilsen said he was not part of the decision, but he supports the command decision to close Graner Park, the Little Heart boat ramp, Schmidt Bottoms rifle range and the Fort Rice Recreation area and boat ramp.

He said the lost camping fee revenue will affect the county park budget and nearly $3,000 in fees were collected at Graner Park last weekend.

Id like to see the issue resolved today, but I know thats not possible. The longer it goes on, the more it hurts us, he said.

Morton County Emergency Manager Tom Doering said the detour off Highway 1806 is so far north because county 138A is the shortest cut over to Highway 6.

The tribes want an injunction imposed while the courts decide if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should conduct a full environmental impact statement, including consultation with the tribe, rather than a less rigorous environmental assessment on the easements it issued a few weeks ago allowing the pipeline to bore the 500,000-barrel pipeline under the Missouri River near the reservations drinking water intake.

In a statement made during the press call, Archambault said the tribe is taking legal steps to curtail pipeline construction until its grievances are resolved in court and supports the rights of tribal members and others to engage in peaceful, non-violent opposition.

We gather near the Cannonball River in prayer  these demonstrations are grounded in the shared belief that we must protect current and future generations that rely on our rivers and aquifer to live, he said.
LIVINGSTON, Mont. -- Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks crews are still searching for answers to what killed more than 10,000 mountain whitefish in the Yellowstone River south of Livingston last week.

The fish kill was detected Friday. Since then crews have documented more than 1,000 dead fish, but the figure could be more than 10 times that with the possibility of scavengers eating the remains or fish sinking to the bottom of the river.

Although the dead zone initially was noted between Loch Leven and Pine Creek fishing access sites in the Paradise Valley, by Monday FWP had received reports of dead whitefish as far upstream as Point of Rocks (south of Emigrant), to as far downstream as Grey Bear (east of Springdale), according to Andrea Jones, FWP information and education manager in Bozeman.

"Crews will be out again today floating farther downstream," from the Highway 89 bridge to Springdale, Jones said.

On Saturday, FWP took tissue samples from the dead fish to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fish Health Center in Bozeman, but Jones said it would be at least three days until results would be available.

"I do know theyre working on five of the samples today," she said.

"Tomorrow we're hoping to do some water quality testing, but to this point we dont know whats causing the fish kill," Jones added.

The fish kill was reported to FWP by fishing outfitters and guides.

Whitefish are an indicator species when it comes to the health of a waterway and are more susceptible to "stressors," Jones said.

A large whitefish die-off was documented in Idaho's Upper Snake River drainage  including the Henry's Fork, South Fork of the Snake and Teton rivers  in 2012. That incident affected mostly young whitefish and was possibly caused by a liver parasite, Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, also called PKD or Proliferative Kidney Disease, according to an Idaho Department of Fish and Game statement.

"This rare parasite has not been documented in Idahos wild fish before, although it has been reported in both wild and hatchery trout and salmon in North America and in Europe," IDFG reported. "This may be the first time the parasite has been detected in any whitefish species. The life cycle of the parasite is not well understood, but involves a freshwater sponge as well as a fish."

Transmission and disease signs are linked to elevated water temperatures, IDFG said. But cold weather and water does not necessarily kill the parasite.

In June 1988, warm water was blamed for the death of an estimated 2,000 to 5,000 fish on the lower Madison River, 90 percent of which were whitefish. At the time of the die-off water temperatures were estimated to have ranged from 76 to 83 degrees  lethal temperatures for many coldwater fish species.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey's water gauge at Livingston, temperatures on the Yellowstone River did not exceed 68 degrees between last Wednesday and Sunday and were even a couple of degrees cooler at the next gauge upstream at Corwin Springs.

Mountain whitefish are native to Montana, inhabiting cold-water streams mostly in the western half of the state. Although some anglers don't value the silvery member of the trout family, others prize them as prime smoked fish fare in the winter.

A decline in juvenile whitefish prompted a cooperative research project on the Madison River between 2012 and 2014 in an attempt to understand if the fish are struggling with problems with reproduction.
Dayton Ohio - 2016 Meeting Celebration of The Dayton Foundation

Past Event - Thursday, September 22, 2016

This page may be updated if the event is repeated

$30

The Dayton Foundation will host its evening Meeting Celebration at the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center on Thursday, September 22, 2016.

2016 Meeting Celebration of The Dayton Foundation





The event will include performances by local arts groups and a presentation by The Dayton Foundation, followed by a light supper social. Reservations are required for this invitation-only event. For more information, please contact Gina Sandoval at (937) 225-9974 or at gsandoval@daytonfoundation.org.

RELATED EVENTS
The University of South Alabama Odyssey, USA is a program for adults interested in continued learning. The classes run on a quarterly basis at the University on Friday afternoons. Members pay annual dues and select from the course offerings in each of the four terms. There are no tests or grades, and anyone can join.

Members comprise the Executive Board and serve on a variety of committees, including the Curriculum Committee planning topics of study for each term. There are also quarterly luncheons with a guest speaker, and field trips are offered throughout the year.

Currently, there are 179 members. We are having a Discover Odyssey presentation on September 9th at the West Regional Library at 2:00 p.m. Several teachers will discuss classes they will be offering to the students. This program will give potential members a way to see firsthand what Odyssey is all about. We think Odyssey is the best kept secret, and we would like to get the information out to others in the community who would benefit from our program. For more information please contact USA at aplatt@southalabama.edu or call 251-460-7200 and speak with Alma Platt.
Natural language processing and machine learning enable IBM Watson to derive insights from various types of digital communication. For example, its text analysis services can help users to understand the sentiment and concepts of content, get personality characteristics of individuals based on textual information, or develop human-like conversations with virtual agents.

For a hands-on session on a Bluemix day at the IBM Finland office, we prepared a microservice-based app that analyzes text and provides emotion scores for customer feedback. This post shares the details on how the app was implemented using several Bluemix services and reveals some lessons learned.

Description of the application

The demo application provides functionality for importing customer feedback messages and audio recordings; for audio files, speech is then also converted into text. Its internal services analyze the text and calculate emotion scores. In case of negative feedback, a customer relations manager receives an SMS notification.

To implement such a solution, we used Node.js and the following IBM Bluemix services:

The application architecture

When designing the application architecture, we decided to split it into microservices, which can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently:

The dashboard service visualizes the current state of feedback records. It is also possible to add new feedback records using a form.

The change-listener service provides a change feed for the database. Other services should subscribe to the feed to react to changes.

The analyzer service analyzes feedback content and calculates emotional scores.

The sms-notifier service notifies the customer relations manager if a feedback record is negative.

The text-extractor service extracts text from audio samples. It allows other parts of the system to process the resulting text and to provide an emotional score.

How the microservices work

For executing the application logic, we chose OpenWhisk since its scalable nature makes it suitable for microservice-based architectures. This event-driven compute platform runs code in response to events provided from Bluemix services and from external sources or to direct invocations. In our case, initial events are added to the Cloudant database when users give their feedback.

Once a user submits a feedback form, dashboard inserts a document into Cloudant. The document looks similar to the following:

{ type: 'event', name: 'TextAdded', aggregate_type: 'feedback', aggregate_id: '14141-12312312-412412414-123123', timestamp: 1463629152101, attributes: { text: 'Sample Text' } }

The change-listener service sets up an OpenWhisk trigger and feed. Basically, it calls all attached OpenWhisk actions when the Cloudant database is updated; in our casewhen we insert an event into the database.

The analyzer service is an OpenWhisk action that is subscribed to the change-listener feed. Each time we insert an event, analyzer is executed. The action generates another event EmotionsAnalyzed .

The sms-notifier and text-extractor services are also implemented as OpenWhisk actions.

The sms-notifier service:

Waits for the EmotionsAnalyzed event

event Checks the level of negative emotions (for example, anger)

Sends an SMS message to the customer relations manager phone

Emits the SmsNotificationSent event

You will see the Manager Has Been Notified status if the anger score is above 50% as in the image below.

The text-extractor service:

Waits for the AudioUploaded event

event Downloads associated files

Converts speech to text employing Watson APIs

Emits the TextAdded event so that the system can perform emotion analysis using the existing code

After extracting text from an audio file, you should see something similar to this:

BTW, in Bluemix, it is really convenient to view the audio files uploaded to Object Storage:





Lessons learned

While working on the application, we made several observations:

The most common errors are typos in the .env and config.env files. Make sure you have specified your credentials correctly.

and files. Make sure you have specified your credentials correctly. If your text does not seem to be analyzed, you can check the logs using either the OpenWhisk dashboard or the OpenWhisk CLI with this command: wsk activation poll .

. One of the current limitations of the OpenWhisk and Cloudant integration is that you cannot specify a filter for a trigger.

It is easy to mix up Twilio developer credentials with the ones that actually send an SMS. Make sure you can send messages from the Twilio dashboard.

Bluemix provides a management panel for many services. For example, you can inspect the uploaded audio files by opening the corresponding service on the dashboard.

Do not expect lossless, one-to-one conversion of speech to text. Even for Watson, this is a hard thing to achieve.

Not all WAV files can be processed. Pay attention to the error logs on the OpenWhisk dashboard.

The detailed explanation of the application architecture, source code, and troubleshooting recommendations are available in our GitHub repository. You can follow the steps of the hands-on training described there to create your own microservice-enabled application using IBM Bluemix services, such as IBM Watson and OpenWhisk.

This application was presented on May 31, 2016 during the IBM Bluemix day at the IBM Finland office, which had Cloud Foundry, microservices, and the Internet of Things as main topics on the agenda. In addition to the hands-on demo, the meeting featured a session by Kimmo Kaskikallio (Senior Architect and Cloud Advisor at IBM Finland) about the IoT capabilities of Bluemix. Ari Mutanen, CEO at Altoros Finland, shared his vision of Bluemix and Cloud Foundry as development platforms, presenting a couple of use cases.

Related reading
Under new rules, domestic airlines can fly overseas as long as they deploy 20 aircraft or 20 per cent of capacity in India.

Bengaluru: Budget airline AirAsia India said on Wednesday that it planned to gradually expand its fleet and network in India as it seeks to boost its small share of a fast expanding domestic market.

The airline, a tie-up between Malaysian carrier AirAsia Bhd and India's Tata Sons conglomerate, said it planned to add a seventh Airbus A320 jet to its fleet and bring the south Indian city of Hyderabad into its network of destinations by September.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, AirAsia India's Chief Executive Amar Abrol said the airline was looking to expand further and that it would be investing significant sums of money in the future.

The company also has international expansion in mind, but its focus for now is to increase its fleet size to 20, Abrol said in an interview with Reuters.

"We are evaluating right now, we are in the midst of finalizing a roadmap for 20. As soon as that's done, our team will work on international plans," he said.

Under new rules, domestic airlines can fly overseas as long as they deploy 20 aircraft or 20 per cent of capacity in India, whichever is higher. Airlines previously had to wait five years before they were permitted to fly on foreign routes.

AirAsia India and its rival Vistara - a tie-up between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines Ltd - are rushing to expand fleets so that they can fly overseas sooner and vie with local rivals such as Jet Airways (India) Ltd and state-owned Air India Ltd which already fly internationally.

He said a natural fit for the company would be to expand to destinations in the east within around four hours flying time of India's major cities.

Low-cost carriers in India such as SpiceJet and InterGlobe Aviation Ltd's IndiGo also fly overseas but mainly on short-haul routes.

Wadia Group-owned GoAir earlier this week also won government clearance to fly on some overseas routes.
New Delhi: Retirement fund body EPFO has introduced a simplified Universal Account Number based form, 10-D, for its subscribers for fixing their pension without employers' attestation.

At present, the subscribers seeking pension under the Employees' Pension Scheme 1995 has to get his pension claim application attested from the employer to fix the retirement benefit after superannuation.

"A simplified UAN-based pension claim Form 10-D-UAN has been introduced," the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) said in press release.

According to statement, the claim form can be used by members whose AADHAR number and bank details have been seeded in the Universal Account Number (UAN) and have been duly verified by the employer using digital signature and the employee details are available in Form 11 (New).

The new form does not require attestation by employer and can be submitted directly to concerned EPFO offices. So far, more than 7.34 crore UAN have been allotted to EPF members.

The body also talked about implementation of its earlier decision of providing higher pension to those subscribers deferring pension beyond the age of 58 years.

It said, "EPF members now have an option to enhance their pensionary benefits. The benefits are available to those members who opt to defer their pension beyond 58 years up to 60 years of age with or without contribution after the age of 58 years. The option when exercised increases original pension by 4 per cent in case of completion of one year and 8.16 per cent in case of completion of 2 years after 58 years. When members opt to defer the pension with contribution, the additional contributory service after 58 years of age will be included while calculating pensionable service and pensionable salary."

The members completed at least 10 years of pensionable service on attaining the age of 58 years, are eligible for this option.
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today held an hour-long discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over appointment of new RBI Governor, a post that will fall vacant on September 4.

The high-profile meeting, which took place at the Prime Minister's residence here, is believed to have deliberated on various names who could succeed Raghuram Rajan, who demits office early next month on completion of his 3-year tenure.

Asked about the announcement of next Governor, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: "We will let you know when we decide. You will come to know about the conclusion, not the process."

Traditionally, the Prime Minister picks the RBI Governor after consultation with the finance minister. In June, Rajan surprised the markets when he in a letter to the RBI staff announced that he would return to academia and not seek a second term. Top contenders for the RBI Governor's post are current Deputy Governor Urjit Patel and former deputy governor Subir Gokarn.

Gokarn is currently an Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund while Patel was given a 3-year extension as RBI Deputy Governor in January. Others who are said to be in the fray include World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik Basu, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya and Finance Ministry's Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian.

Rajan, who will have the shortest tenure as RBI Governor since liberalisation began in 1991, decided not to seek a second term after unbridled political attacks on him were led by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy.
Mumbai: Moving a step closer to creation of a global-sized bank with assets worth over Rs 37 lakh crore, the SBI board on Thursday approved merger of its five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with itself. It also finalised the share swap ratio for three of the listed subsidiaries and BMB. The central board of directors today approved the merger of State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore and BMB, the countrys largest lender said in a regulatory filing.

As per the merger proposal, SBBJ shareholders will get 28 shares of SBI (Re 1 each) for every 10 shares (Rs 10 each). Similarly, SBM and SBT shareholders will get 22 shares each of SBI for every 10 shares they hold. In the case of Bharatiya Mahila Bank, 4,42,31,510 shares of SBI will be swapped for every 100 crore of BMB shares having a face value of Rs 10. The two unlisted subsidiaries are fully owned by SBI. The merger will create a banking behemoth of global scale with a balance sheet of Rs 37 trillion or over $555 billion, making it one of the top 50 global financial powerhouses. The merged entity will have 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs serving a customer base of over 50 crore.

SBI has close to 16,500 branches, including 191 foreign offices across 36 countries while the five subsidiaries have nearly 6,000 branches. The share swap ratio is favourable to minority shareholders. We are confident that the ratio would be largely acceptable to all shareholders, SBI Deputy MD in charge of associates Neeraj Vyas said.
Mumbai: Jaya Bachchan has had frequent run-ins with the media before for asking questions out of event or for calling her daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan by her name, among several other such incidents.

This time, along with the media, even the students had to face the brunt of her grandmother advice.

The actress-MP was present at the NM College in Mumbai for their fest, when she left the discussion she was in, for another 'discussion'.

Please stop taking pictures. I hate it because its right into my eyes. These are basic manners which we Indians have to learn. Just because you have a camera and a mobile, you have the freedom of take anyones picture anytime, without asking that person! These are basic educations that all colleges and schools and parents at home should teach their children. Its very annoying. I have a freedom to say no from being photographed. I am trying to chat here. You are sitting right in front of me, clicking right into my eyes. I hate indiscipline, Jaya snapped.

After a point, she got so irritated that she dropped her mic in the middle of a conversation and said, Aap photo kheech lijiye phir main baat karungi.

She continued, Thats why I never go to such functions because I am an extremely outspoken person... You have to show how professional you are by organizing it in a simple but in a good way. Basic courtesy is you ask, do you mind if we call the press, do you mind if the pictures are taken. Im not against the media, Im not against the media taking pictures. But theres time for everything. Im sorry for sounding like a great grandmother but thats what I am.

Watch the video below:
Shabana Azmi, who is in the US to shoot for a Hollywood film, was subjected to some racial scrutiny at Chicagos OHare International Airport recently, when she was asked to state the purpose of her visit.

Very innocently I said that I had come for shooting. The immigration officer was shocked. Whom have you come to shoot? he asked me. I calmed him down, corrected myself and said that I meant that I was filming. Only slightly relieved, he said Why did you say shooting? I told him its a cultural thing. Really, are we actors supposed to stop saying were shooting merely because the word has alarming connotations, an indignant Shabana exclaimed.

The actress is having a ball in the US shooting with like-minded women. She says, It is an almost all-womens crew for a film called Signature Moves. I play the protagonists mother who has a complicated relationship with her daughter in spite of the immense bond they share. The film is directed by Jennifer Reeder and produced by Brian Hieggelke. Academy and Emmy nominated actor Michael Shannon has invested in the film. The Tribeca Film Institute founded by Robert De Niro has mentored the production.

Fawzia Mirza who plays the protagonist says, Its important for our stories to be told and our voices to be heard.
Looks like actor Arulnithi is in no hurry, and he is being picky with his scripts. After giving a solid performance in Aaradhu Sinam, he is back and has signed a movie titled Brindhavanam with none other than accredited filmmaker Radha Mohan, known for his emotional, soft romantic films. Tanya, granddaughter of yesteryear star, Ravichandran, is debuting as the female lead. Comedian Vivekh teams up with Radha Mohan for the first time, and if sources are to be believed  he appears as himself, an actor, in the film.

The movies shoot commenced recently at Sakleshpur in Karnataka. Vivekh, who is working towards the Green India Movement after he was inspired by our former late President APJ Abdul Kalam, planted a sapling before the first shot was canned, which added to his goal of planting one crore saplings. While Vishal Chandrashekar of Jil Jung Juk fame composes the music, Vivek, a former assistant to PC Sreeram is the cinematographer.
The assailants pumped four bullets in the body of Jaiswal in Gola Road area. (Representational Image)

Patna: A district level BJP leader Ashok Jaiswal was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Danapur area in the district on Wednesday evening.

The assailants pumped four bullets in the body of Jaiswal in Gola Road area, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Danapur, Rajesh Kumar said, adding he died in a private hospital.

Two persons have been taken into custody in connection with the killing, he added.

Union Minister of State Ramkripal Yadav, who visited the home of the deceased, said the murder was a reflection of deterioration in law and order situation in Bihar.

The party has called Danapur bandh in protest against the murder, he said.

"Murder of Jaiswal in a busy place is enough to prove that criminals do not have any fear of law in the state under the Grand Secular Alliance government," he said.

Yadav, BJP MP from Patliputra, Danapur MLA Asha Devi and Digha MLA Sanjeev Chaurasia hit the streets in protest against the killing of Jaiswal.
VIJAYAWADA: With the Krishna Pushkaralu just a few days away, the officials expedited works and plans for the smooth conduct of the river fete. The city has been illuminated to give a festival look during the 12-day river festival. The Vijayawada municipal officials also arranged route maps at all thoroughfares in the city to guide the pilgrims, who are expected to come in lakhs, to the Pushkar ghats and other important places.

The devotees coming from Eluru side will get information about Pushkar ghats through a route map erected at Ramavarappadu ring road. Arrow marks are painted to indicate the directions of important junctions. Another route map has been set up at the government hospital junction, followed by a third one at Ramesh Hospital junction and at Benz Circle. The officials set up route maps on the Bandar Road for the convenience of pilgrims coming from Bandar side. The pilgrims coming from Guntur can get information through the map set up immediately after entering the city at Kanaka Durga Varadhi. Another map was set up at Prakasam barrage.

The officials set up a route map at Ibrahimpatnam for the convenience of pilgrims coming from Hyderabad. Similarly, route maps have been arranged at all junctions for the convenience of pilgrims. Minister for water resources Devineni Umamaheswara Rao inspected the river confluence point at Ferry village near Ibrahimpatnam and inaugurated high mast lights erected at a cost of Rs 5.50 crore. He said that the Pavitra Sangamam point would be developed as a tourist centre.

Meanwhile, officials are planning to conduct a trial run on services provided to pilgrims on August 4. The officials decided to inaugurate the command control centre at Durga ghat on August 4. As many as 15 work stations will be controlled from CCC command control centre.
New Delhi: Congress on Monday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of "ruining" India's case on Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) by raking up the issue of Balochistan in his Independence Day address.

"PoK is our right. Our entitlement. We will support it. But by bringing in Balochistan, you are ruining our case. We are going to ruin our own case on PoK," Congress leader and former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.

This would give an "additional handle" to Pakistan to target India as "we don't speak about atrocities in neighbouring countries", he told reporters at the Congress headquarters here.

Disapproving the "wild pronouncements about Balochistan", he said the government should ensure that its borders are secured and people are safe.

"I do not know who advised the Prime Minister for raising Balochistan. It will dilute our claim on PoK. It will give an additional handle to interfere in our internal affairs."

Suggesting that Modi should learn from former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on foreign policy, Khurshid said, "Balochistan is a different kettle altogether. We have no business (there)."

He said the problem with Modi, who speaks of "56-inch chest", was that he "talks too much and does very little. In modern times, we have to act with brains.

Khurshid said the address of Modi was not like a Prime Minister addressing the nation on a national day but as a politician during an election campaign.

In his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of 70th Independence Day, Modi talked about the situation in PoK, Gilgit and Baluchistan and said people from there have thanked him for raising their issues.
Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regimental Centre at Rangreth on the outskirts of the summer capital showcased its latest batch of 308 graduating recruits from the state. (Photo: DC)

Srinagar: Even as Kashmir Valley continues to boil over the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, as many as 308 youth from different parts of the State joined the Indian army at an attestation parade in Srinagar on Thursday.

A statement issued by the army said that the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regimental Centre at Rangreth on the outskirts of the summer capital showcased its latest batch of 308 graduating recruits from the state.

Under the armys recruit course serial number 106, these recruits, after completing one year of strenuous training attested in a solemn parade at the Bana Singh Parade Ground of JAK LI regimental centre.

Their graduation parade, depicting graduation of a recruit and his transformation into a young soldier, was attended by Jammu and Kashmir Governor Narendra Nath Vohra. Over 1500 parents and relatives of the young soldiers, as well as senior civil and military officials were also present, the statement said.

"This attestation parade also formed a part of the regimental reunion of the JAK LI and was, therefore, attended by many serving and retired officers of the Regiment including Lieutenant General Satish Dua, GOC of Srinagar-based 15 (Chinar) Corps and Colonel of the JAK LI Regiment. As a mark of solidarity with the people of Kashmir these sons of the soil and their families lit candles and prayed for calm and peace to return to the Valley at the earliest," the statement said.

It added, The dauntless young soldiers of the Regiment hailing from all regions and religions of the state of J&K, marching in precise unison with a singular aim of devoting their life in service of their nation, singing their Regimental song Balidanam Veer Lakshnam, inspired one and all as their voice echoed in the Valley. Their ceremonial ardour and salute to the tricolour with the national anthem playing, inspired patriotic vigour in all present.

The Governor congratulated the young soldiers for their immaculate parade and impressed upon them selfless service towards the nation. He praised their contribution towards encouraging more and more youth from J&K to come forward to join the security forces, and also highlighted the vital role played by their parents in motivating their wards to join this noble profession, the statement said.

It further said that the young soldiers who distinguished themselves in varied facets of training were also felicitated by the Governor. Recruit Rishu Sambyal of J&Ks Samba district received the Sher-e-Kashmir of Honour and Triveni Singh Medal for being adjudged Over all Best Recruit. Recruit Muhammad Razzaq of district Udhampur bagged the Bana Singh Medal for being Best in Drill.

As a mark of respect, gratitude and recognition of contribution made by the parents of these young soldiers, they were also presented with the Gaurav Padaks instituted by the Army, the statement concluded.
Mumbai: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday alleged a Rs. 525-crore scam in Jalna Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) under the chairmanship of Maharashtra Minister Arjun Khotkar, who rejected the charge.

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, AAP national spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon accused the Shiv Sena leader of "looting" Jalna APMC and treating it like his fiefdom.

As Chairman of the APMC since the last nine years, Khotkar ran the committee like his private empire and made huge profits illegally, she said and demanded his ouster from the Council of Ministers, where he was inducted last month.

Ms Menon alleged there was a scam of Rs. 525 crore in the APMC, where 'galas' (shops) were sold, leased and sub-leased illegally.

She said galas were sold with inflated price and alleged nepotism in their ownership.

"Out of 1,500 galas, 250 are illegally owned by Khotkar's 40 relatives and his business partners in the two markets of APMC."

"The real value of the galas comes to around Rs. 600 crore, but only Rs. 75 crore went to the APMC and the rest Rs. 525 crore was pocketed by Khotkar and his cronies," the AAP leader said.

Menon said figures and information provided by her were based on replies received from authorities concerned in response to RTI applications filed by her.

Showing a few purported sting operations to the media persons, she claimed the entire APMC market, where farm commodities were sold by traders, was riddled with corruption.

She said, "flouting all rules, the galas are used to stock and sell non-agricultural items like steel, pipes, furniture, automobiles, textiles."

The APMC market in Purana Monda area, which is called Arjun Khotkar Business Centre (AKBC), boasts of a string of textile showrooms, the AAP leader said.

Besides the financial scam, APMC also violated audit norms, she said.

"Annual audit reports are replete with remarks about malpractices and misappropriations but no corrective action has been taken," Ms Menon said.

The AAP spokesperson asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to sack Khotkar and said she will file a case against him with Anti-Corruption Bureau and also write to the Chief Justice of India.

Khotkar, a four-time Sena MLA from Jalna in North Maharashtra, termed the allegations as completely baseless and politically motivated, and said "rules and regulations were strictly followed while carrying out business of the APMC".

The Minister of State for Textile, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries claimed Ms Menon's allegations were based on incomplete information and said he will address a press meet tomorrow and reply to her charges.
New Delhi: Amnesty International India has temporarily closed its offices in Bengaluru, as well smaller ones in Pune, New Delhi and Chennai and postponed events aimed at raising awareness of rights abuses over safety concerns for its staff after the charity was accused of sedition by protesters, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Political activists held demonstrations against the rights group on Tuesday and Wednesday, accusing it of inciting hatred against the state during an event it hosted on alleged abuses by the security forces in Kashmir Valley.

Police said they were investigating if anti-India slogans were raised at the event after receiving a complaint from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Amnesty said the allegations against the organisation were unsubstantiated, but admitted that slogans calling for Kashmirs independence were chanted by some people attending Saturdays seminar in Bengaluru.

The allegations mentioned in the complaint are without any basis. The event was an open door event and people were coming and going. No staff members were involved, said Himanshi Matta, charitys spokesperson.

They are preventing the families of victims of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir from having their stories heard. And preventing civil society organisations from enabling these families to exercise their constitutional right to justice.

Following protests by hundreds of right-wing activists in Bengaluru on Tuesday and in Delhi on Wednesday, Matta said the charity had decided to temporarily close its offices.

The seminar - aimed at raising awareness over the lack of justice for families of victims in Kashmir - was planned to take place in Mumbai and New Delhi next week, but has been postponed due to security concerns for the families and staff, she added.

Rights groups have for years accused security forces battling a separatist insurgency in Kashmir and parts of northeast India of violating civilian rights through Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which gives them sweeping powers to search, arrest or shoot people. Authorities and the armed forces deny the charges, saying the law is essential to root out militants.

Video footage of the event in Bengaluru which was recorded by Amnesty has been handed over to the police, and is being studied by forensic investigators, said a police official, who declined to be named.

The investigation comes as the Kashmir Valley experiences its worst unrest in six years after security forces last month killed Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, who was idolized by some youth, provoking an outpouring of anger.

More than 60 people - civilians and security forces - have been killed in last 40 days in violent street protests, and a strict curfew has been imposed on residents.
Naidu rued that educational and other institutions have remained in Hyderabad and his state does not have enough funds for building these in Vijayawada. (Photo: File)

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday said there is no clarity on the Centre's stand on according special status to his state and demanded that it keep the promises made during bifurcation.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of Krishna Pushkaralu river festival, he said the Centre on Thursday released about Rs 1,800 crore fund whereas the state was to get Rs 16,000 crore on account of revenue deficit.

"We got only Rs 1000 crore on account of revenue deficit today. The rest was for other purposes including backwards area development. The state was promised this fund as after bifurcation, revenue-generating capital Hyderabad went to Telangana.

"We are having a problem of finances. We came here (the present situation) carrying debt on our head," he said.

He also said there were problems between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and the Centre should intervene to solve the issues. "We are waiting for the solutions," he said.

He rued that educational and other institutions have remained in Hyderabad and his state does not have enough funds for building these in Vijayawada. Naidu evaded a question as to why the NDA has gone into hibernation.

Naidu's TDP is a part of NDA at the Centre. On the Constitution amendment bill on GST, he said Andhra Pradesh will ratify it soon.

Krishna Pushkaralu is a 12-day festival that comes once in every 12 years. Over three crore devotees are expected to take a holy dip in the river Krishna across Andhra Pradesh.
Hyderabad: The TS government on Wednesday transferred T. Padmavathi, an AP origin woman employee who was working as personal secretary to finance secretary Navin Mittal. She was allotted to TS as part of bifurcation of employees between AP and TS. TS employees had staged a flash demonstration, demanding her repatriation to AP. They stormed into her chambers, threw files and papers kept on the table, switched off her computer and forced Ms Padmavathi to leave the office.

They sat on dharna in front of Mr Mittals chambers in the Secretariat and raised slogans against allotment of AP employees to TS. The TS employees alleged that Ms Padmavathi was harassing TS staff and obstructing their promotions in the finance department. They also accused her of securing posting in TS on spousal grounds against the norms, though she was originally allocated to AP cadre earlier.

Bowing to the pressure, the government transferred Ms Padmavathi and appointed her as PS to finance advisor G.R. Reddy with immediate effect. TS employees also protested and complained against her on Tuesday, demanding her repatriation. As there was no response, they resorted to flash demonstration on Wednesday.

The employees also met special secretary, finance, K. Ramakrishna Rao and lodged a complaint against Ms Padmavathi. Later, Mr Mittal invited TS staff for talks in vain. The employees were adamant that they would not come for talks unless she was transferred. She harassed TS staff and not allowing us to meet senior officials. She bluntly refused our requests for appointment with senior officials. She threw our petitions into the dustbin and did not forward them to senior officials. She blocked all our petitions written to top officials on postings and promotions. She is now trying to get promoted as assistant secretary. We will oppose this and demand her repatriation to AP, said N. Mangamma, TS finance employee.

However, Ms Padmavathi refuted these allegations. I never denied appointment of senior officials to anyone. I am ready to face any inquiry and if proven guilty, I am ready to quit my job, she said.
New Delhi: India on Thursday said the ball was in Pakistan's court on holding Foreign Secretary-level talks as it was for Islamabad to decide on readiness to discuss issues of cross-border terrorism, vacation of illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir and closing down terror camps.

In a response to his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry's offer for talks on Kashmir, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said discussions should focus on cessation of terrorist activities in J&K and ending incitement to violence and terror in the Valley.

Briefing reporters, MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Jaishankar conveyed that he accepts his counterpart's invitation to visit Islamabad but made it clear the discussions should focus first on the pressing aspects of the J&K situation flagged by him.

"In a letter dated August 16, Foreign Secretary has first of all underlined that Pakistan's self-serving allegations made in their communication are rejected in their entirety by the Government of India. Pakistan has no locus standi in respect of J&K, which is an integral part of our nation," said Swarup.

Deliberations should also focus on denying safe haven, shelters and support to terrorists in Pakistan who have escaped Indian law, Jaishankar said in his letter.

"The ball is in Pakistan's court now. They had made an offer, We have responded to the offer. It is up to them to carry it forward," said Swarup.

The response also conveyed that detaining and prosecuting internationally recognised Pakistani terrorist leaders who have been publicly active in exhorting and supporting such violence in that state should be part of the talks besides closing down terrorist training camps, Swarup added.

The Foreign Secretary said he looked forward to discussing with his Pakistani counterpart the "earliest possible vacation of Pakistan's illegal occupation of the Indian state of J&K".

In his letter, the Foreign Secretary also underlined the importance of bringing to justice all those guilty in Pakistan for the attacks in Mumbai and at Pathankot airbase.

"He said that his visit should provide the opportunity to receive a briefing from Pakistan's Foreign Secretary on progress in this regard," said Swarup.

"The world is aware that Pakistan has a long history of violence and terrorism against India, as also in the broader region," Swarup said, adding the talks between the two countries must be held as per the framework of the Simla agreement of 1972 and Lahore Declaration of February 1999.

"The Indian state of J&K has been its particular target.

This record began with the Government of Pakistan sending armed raiders into J&K in 1947 and was repeated in 1965.

"More than three decades later, displaying a similar attitude, military personnel were infiltrated across the Line of Control in Kargil in 1999. This approach to India was reflected in support for terrorist activities in Jammu & Kashmir that continues to the present day.

"These acts were initially denied by the Government of

Pakistan and attributed to local population, only to be admitted later by Pakistan's leaders who directed and organised such cross-border attacks on India, and assaults on the local people," he said.

Referring to the Lahore Declaration of February 1999, he said then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had reiterated Pakistan's determination to implement the Simla Agreement in letter and spirit.

He also talked about the assurance given by then President Musharraf in January 2004 that he will not permit any territory under Pakistan's control to be used to support terrorism against India.

Asked about Pakistan Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nafis Zakaria's statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi crossed the "red line" by talking about Balochistan, Swarup said he finds it an extraordinary remark by a country which recognizes no red line in its diplomacy.

"I find this an extraordinary remark from a senior functionary of Pakistan that recognizes no red lines in its own diplomacy. Pakistan?s record of cross-border terrorism and infiltration is at the heart of the problems in the region today. And this not just India?s view. You can ask some other countries in the region too," he added.
New Delhi: BJP has faced more adversities in independent India as compared to what Congress would have during the British rule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday and lamented that every effort of his party was seen in "bad light".

Asserting that BJP has made more sacrifices than any other party, Modi, who laid the foundation stone of the new party headquarters here, said fissiparous forces have become more active as the country's strength has grown and it is now more imperative to ensure that the society is strengthened and becomes more harmonious.

Underlining his party's commitment to take everybody along with the motto of 'sabka saath, sabka vikaas', he asked party workers to present to the country and the democratic world an example of how a party "devoted to ideals and devoid of dynasty" functions as the world knows the saffron outfit "not the way it is but based on hearsay".

"BJP will be the only party which has faced adversities since its birth. It faced difficulties at every turn and its every effort was seen in bad light.

"Even during the British times, the Congress party would not have faced so much adversity that we, our dedicated workers have gone through in 50-60 years," he said at the event attended by top BJP leaders including party chief Amit Shah, L K Advani, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley among others.

During the recent West Bengal assembly polls, it was difficult for the BJP candidates to even hire an office in Kolkata as anybody willing to given them space would face trouble, he said in an apparent attack on the ruling Trinamool Congress.

"No party has perhaps made more sacrifices than us (BJP) after freedom," he said, adding that "hundreds of" its workers were killed because they were not associated with the prevalent ideology of those times.

BJP workers do not work for crowd but for organisation as "anybody can collect a crowd by talking about populist issues but what is more important is to stick to ideology", he said.

In a lighter vain, he said election candidates of no other party would have forfeited more deposits than those of BJP as they kept fighting for their ideology irrespective of the results.

Modi used the occasion to congratulate grappler Sakshi Malik for bringing glory to the country by winning a bronze medal in the Rio Olympics.
People affected by the BBMPs demolition drive take away their belongings in Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bengaluru on Wednesday (Photo: DC)

2,300 residential and commercial complexes, 29 tech parks and 30 malls are sitting on lake buffer zones and storm water drains on properties that are worth over Rs 1.2 lakh crore at present valuation. Even as the BBMP is bulldozing its way through targeting the poor and throwing them on the street, it is sparing big-ticket builders and influential personalities. BJP city spokesman N.R. Ramesh alleged that among these biggies are top leaders of the Congress, whose properties have escaped the hammer.

The BJP broke its silence on the BBMP's ongoing demolition drive with its senior leader, N R Ramesh on Wednesday accusing the Congress government of turning a blind eye to properties of its own partymen encroaching on storm water drains and lake beds in the city while targeting the poor and leaving them homeless.

Speaking to reporters here, Mr Ramesh claimed former minister and Sarvajnanagar MLA, K. J. George, Chamarajpet MLA, R. V. Devaraj, former minister, Shamanur Shivashankarappa and MP, M. V. Rajiv Gowda were guilty of encroaching on drains and buffer zones around lakes, but were facing no action from the authorities.

Whatever the law is, it should be followed. There is a judgement, which should be adhered to

Prof. M. V. Rajeev Gowda, MP

Launching a blistering attack on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, he alleged the BBMP and the state government had deliberately avoided taking action against these politicians, and major builders and developers.

Claiming that Mr George, until recently city development minister, who was a promoter of the Embassy Group, was already facing charges of encroaching on a SWD for one of his projects in the Challaghatta valley, he regretted no action had been taken against him still despite this.

It is ironical that Congress MLA, N. A. Harris, who is a member of the lake committee, has himself encroached on the Miller Tank bund near Queens Road. Shamanur Shivashankarappa supported the encroachment of a raja kaluve and a buffer zone at Kenchenahalli in Rajarajeshwarinagar zone to build the SS Hospital, he charged, also accusing leaders like B. Gurappa Naidu and M. R. Seetharam of being guilty of encroaching on lake beds and drains.

If it is an encroachment it should be demolished

Shamanur Shivashankarappa, former minister

If the Chief Minister fails to act against these politicians and major builders we will file a criminal case against him. The services of officers, who supported the encroachers must be terminated and criminal cases filed against them too, he demanded.

Asked why he was not targeting BJP leaders also guilty of encroachments, he claimed he had no information about their properties, except the Garuda Mall, which was built on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis by the BBMP and a BJP leader, Uday Garudachar.

But the BBMP itself permitted this project, he noted, adding that if received any complaint about the involvement of BJP leaders in encroachments he would ferret out more information and make this public too.

BBMP has already started demolishing buildings built illegally on drains. If the encroachments are not cleared there is bound to be flooding in heavy rain and we will all be in trouble

N. A. Haris, MLA

People shout slogans, obstruct demolition

The BBMP, which targeted encroachments in Mahadevapura, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Yelahanka and the south zone on Wednesday, had to call a halt to the demolition drive in Doddabommanahalli as people stood in the way of its bulldozers, shouting slogans and demanding justice.

Despite the protests in some parts, a senior BBMP official said the demolitions would continue as planned in RR Nagar, Yelahanka, Mahadevapura and other zones of the city.

BMP Demolition

Meanwhile, the bulldozers went to work and recovered vacant land in Kyalasanahalli and Horamavu in KR Puram under the Mahadevapura zone. A commercial complex with 25 shops built by the BBMP itself was also brought down.

While officials had marked 15 encroaching buildings in Panchasheelnagar, Halagevaderahalli in Rajarajeshwarinangar with red paint, the people here offered to carry out the demolitions or take corrective measures themselves.

A retired deputy tahasildar, M. L. Gowda, who was among those targeted, argued the earthmovers would damage the stability of his house and offered to hire a private team to demolish the offending portion.

The house was built in 2010 on the basis of an approved building plan. The authorities lack clarity on the extent of demolition, which varies from 2 to 6 meters, which is not right, he said. Also facing BBMP heat was a former BEML director.

In Doddabommasandra, Yelahanka zone, where the demolitions were carried out under the guidance of executive engineer, Yerrappa Reddy, as many as 120 buildings were marked for clearance along the storm water drain running from Vidyaranayapura to BEL layout.

Portion of four-month-old house razed

It was only four months ago that the family had moved in after a house warming ceremony. But on Wednesday a portion of the house was brought down. It was heart-wrenching, said Mr Amarnath, who built the two-storied house in BEML Layout with his hard earned money and a loan.

Had I known it was encroaching on a drain, I would not have built the house. The BBMP and the government must be organised and ensure that the public does not fall prey to cheaters. The survey is so unscientific. Who will compensate us for this loss? he demanded, adding it was unfortunate that he had to spend from his own pocket for the demolition too.
Hyderabad: Congress leader D. Yadgiri, who narrowly escaped an attempt on his life in Bowenpally here on Saturday, had owed money to the shooter Dhakuri Babu for executing a murder on a previous occasion. Babu had been hired to kill a target in 2009, which he did but was not paid the money promised for the killing.

This led to the attempt on Mr Yadgiri, according to a confession he made to the police. Yadagiri had promised payment on behalf of two others.

Mr Babu had been arrested and tried in the case, but was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Now, however, he has told the police that he did the 2009 killing. Police said they are likely to reopen the case based on the present confession, though a confession before police as such has no legal validity.

According to police officials, Mr Babu was hired by two persons, Narsing and Kanaka Raju, to kill their rival Shivraj Yadav. Mr Yadgiri was the mediator for the entire act, between Babu and Narsing.

Babu was promised by Yadgiri a payment of a few lakhs and a 100-yard plot in the city. Babu was asked to kill rowdy sheeter Shivraj Yadav because Yadav had a land dispute with Narsingh, said a senior police official.

After the murder, Mr Yadgiri gave neither the promised money nor the land to Babu. With the murder of Yadav, Mr Babu earned notoriety in Alwal. Later, he went absconding in another case, and Yadgiri allegedly misused Babus name to scare his rivals and settle some land disputes, but no benefits from these deals had come to Babu, said North Zone DCP B. Sumathi.

The police officials will investigate the confession made by Dhakuri Babu as also the suspected shady deals of Yadgiri.
Searches carried out in connection with complaints by former panelists of DCW. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: Delhi's Anti-Corruption Branch on Thursday, carried out searches at Delhi Commission for Women office in connection with complaints by a former Chief Secretary and an ex-Chief of the panel.

ACB officials claimed that they had intimated the DCW about coming to the office to collect certain documents regarding the complaints.

Former DCW chief Barkha Shukla Singh, an ex-MLA from Congress who was heading the panel till last year, had filed a complaint with ACB recently alleging "nepotism and favouritism" by its current chairperson Swati Maliwal in

appointing employees to DCW.

She had claimed that several AAP supporters were given plum posts in the women's panel, an allegation strongly denied by Maliwal.

In another complaint, former Delhi Chief Secretary Omesh Sehgal had alleged that Maliwal was misusing her official position by issuing a showcause notice to a club of which he is a member.

A woman had claimed that Sehgal had harassed her by bumping into her constantly in the club's swimming pool. The woman had claimed that she and her husband were suspended from the club after they filed an FIR against Sehgal.

DCW had sought a reply from the club on the suspension of the couple's membership and the club's failure to forward the woman's complaint to the local complaints committee.

Maliwal could not be reached for her reaction on the ACB searches.
New Delhi: Whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Pakistan to attend the SAARC summit later this year will be a "policy decision" a call on which will be taken at the "right time", government sources said on Wednesday night.

"It is something on which we will take a call at the right time," they said.

There has been an escalation in war of words between India and Pakistan over the ongoing unrest in Kashmir and on Wednesday India rejected Islamabad's proposal to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks on the issue.

The 19th SAARC summit is scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November.

Asked whether Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will travel to Pakistan to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Finance Ministers' meeting, the sources said a decision on it has "not been firmly made".

On reports that the Prime Minister may not travel to Venezuela next month to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, the sources said it has not been decided who will represent India at the conclave.

At the same time, they added there was no change in India's policy towards NAM. The last time an Indian Prime Minister stayed away from attending NAM was Chaudhary Charan Singh in 1979.

Asked about PM Modi's comments on situation in Balochisthan, the sources said it was an expression of concern by the Prime Minister and did not come out of the blue.

They said the PM was troubled by the human rights violations and excesses done by Pakistani army in Balochistan.

Questions like with whom India will coordinate and what New Delhi was going to do in Balochistan are "premature and irrevalent", the sources said.

About discussion with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi here last week on NSG issue, the sources said the leader of the Chinese delegation at the plenary meeting of the 48-nation grouping in Seoul in June will soon come to India.

They said all related issues will be discussed during his visit.
Mangaluru: Former Kudligi DySP Anupama Shenoy has shot off a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh requesting action against DG&IGP Om Prakash for not standing by his subordinates and coming under pressure from politicians.

Ms Shenoy, who wrote the letter on July 19, has approached Mr Singh as only the Centre can act against the DG&IGP, who is an IAS-ranked official, her supporters said.

She has stated that Mr Prakash, coming under pressure from politicians, transferred her and this is not what is expected of the top-most police officer of the state, sources close to Ms Shenoy said.

She mentions the suicides of DySPs M.K. Ganapati and Kallappa Handibag, and lists the names of those who allegedly pushed Mr Ganapati over the edge. She has stated that these incidents prove the pathetic state of the police force in the state and the necessity of Mr Singh to intervene, they said.

Ms Shenoy met Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Digvijay Singh and Oscar Fernandes in Delhi in June this year. She expects action from Mr Singh and also Mrs Gandhi, and that is why she has not approached the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal, they said.

Her supporters want to know who were behind her transfer. The DG&IGP might not have transferred only because of pressure from (former minister) Parameshwar Naik. There could be many others behind this, they said.
The Dalit team was thrashed by angry spectators when they took a lead. (Photo: Videograb)

Gurgaon: A friendly game of kabaddi held to promote inter-caste harmony in Gurgaon went horribly wrong after the Dalit team was thrashed by upper caste men, when they outperformed the rival team.

According to reports, trouble began when the Dalits took a lead against the team of Yadavs and soon angry spectators started firing shots in the air and assaulting them with bamboo sticks.

The kabaddi tournament was organised by the community head to promote friendly ties between various castes on the occassion of India's 70th of Independence Day.

Close to 40 teams from across Delhi-NCR region were invited to play and the teams included other castes like Gurjars, Jats and Agarwals, to name a few.

Eyewitnesses say that the men beat up even those who tried to intervene and stop the violence. Four Dalits were seriously injured in the scuffle.

"They said, 'how can you low cast people win against us? We'll leave you in such a state that you can never play again'," Raju, a Dalit player who was thrashed by the men was quoted in a report.

While some residents said that inter-caste clashes between Dalits and Yadav are not uncommon in the area, the local councillor claimed that caste had nothing to do with the violence.

According to the councillor it was just a unfortunate co-incidence that the members who were beaten up were from the same caste.

A complaint has been filed over the incident and the police are investigating the case. No arrests have been made so far.
New Delhi: Government on Thursday said it is yet to decide on the level of India's participation at the SAARC Finance Ministers meeting later this month in Islamabad, amid indications that Arun Jaitley may skip the conference due to strain in ties between the two countries.

"No decision has been taken so far on India's level of participation at SAARC Finance Ministers meet in Islamabad," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swaroop told reporters in New Delhi at his weekly media briefing.

The conference is scheduled on August 25-26 in Islamabad. Earlier this week, official sources had said that Jaitley may not visit Pakistan due to "political reasons".

"You all know what happened last time and what is happening," a source had said, referring to Home Minister Rajnath Singh's visit to Islamabad earlier this month, which was also for a SAARC Ministerial meeting.

Barbs were exchanged between Singh and Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who only had a tense and uneasy handshake during the SAARC meeting.

Pakistani authorities did not allow entry of Indian media persons, including those from PTI and Doordarshan, inside the venue of 7th SAARC Home Ministers Meeting in Islamabad.

Singh had informed Rajya Sabha that after the meeting was over, Pakistan's Home Minister, who was the host, invited the participants for lunch but left in a car soon thereafter.

"Keeping in mind the country's prestige, I did what I should have done. I have no complaints. I had not gone there for lunch," he had said.

India had on Wednesday rejected Pakistan's proposal to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks on Kashmir and made it clear that terrorism was "central" to its relations with Islamabad, whose different view and attitude has made it difficult for bilateral ties to grow.

That apart, in his Independence Day address to the nation earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that India will not bow before terrorism, and also brought up Pakistani atrocities on people of Baluchistan and PoK, saying that they have thanked him for doing so.

Though Modi did not make any reference to Kashmir valley, which is witnessing violence after the killing of Hizbul Commander Burhan Wani, he accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorists and celebrating the killings in India.

Pakistan's Finance Ministry in a recent statement had said the country would play the role of a "good host" and try to keep the overall ambiance positive.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation. Its member states include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday kicked up a storm by paying tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his supposed death anniversary.

Jaitleys Twitter account paid tribute to Bose, but the tweet was quickly deleted. However, it failed to escape the attention of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who quickly described it as a hurtful tweet and claimed that were all hurt.

Meanwhile, Netaji's grand-nephew Chandra Bose, who joined the BJP just before the Bengal election earlier this year, demanded an apology from Jaitley for the tweet.

Jaitleys tweet is probably the first acknowledgement by the BJP government that Subhas Chandra Bose indeed died in a plane crash on August 18, 1945.

Jaitley's tweet, which was deleted soon, kicked up a storm with Mamata Banerjee quickly labelling it hurtful.

The subject of Netajis death has become a big controversy in India, with three separate inquiries reaching two different conclusions. While two government inquiries concluded that Bose had died in an air crash, a third one disagreed.

Many historians believe that Bose died in the plane crash, but some members of Boses family as well as many people from Bengal believe he escaped and was silenced by the Congress after Independence.

For a long time, a certain Gumnami Baba living in Faizabad in UP, was believed to be the Indian freedom fighter Bose. He died in 1985 but his identity as Bose was never confirmed.

The debate intensified recently when some secret files on Netaji became public and indicated that the Jawaharlal Nehru government spied on his family after his 'disappearance'.

In September last year, Mamata Banerjee made public 65 files on Netaji. Soon after, the Centre started making public files on Netaji.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with members of the Bose family last October and assured them he would seek cooperation from other countries to obtain more secret files on the freedom fighter.
he government was aware of his two separate jail terms but had decided to release him for his good conduct. (Representational image)

BELAGAVI: After undergoing 14-year life sentence, a prisoner from Hindalga jail in Belagavi was all set to be released on compassionate grounds on Independence Day, but fate willed otherwise. Moments before he could receive his release letter from jail authorities, he was told to continue his stay. In addition to life term for murder, he was also sentenced to two years for escaping the prison.

A resident of Chennagiri, Davangere district, Ramesh (name changed) was one among 34 prisoners from Hindalga jail whom the government decided to release on August 15. The government was aware of his two separate jail terms but had decided to release him for his good conduct.

Along with other inmates, he was also in the queue to receive his letter of release on August 15 at the jail, but the jail authorities dragged him away before he received it, according to jail sources.

According to jail sources, he was sentenced to life term for murder and had initially served his jail term in Ballari jail and later at Hindalga. While in Ballari jail he escaped, but was soon caught by the police following which he was sentenced to two years of imprisonment.

He would have been a free bird by now had the court sentenced him for jail terms in the same murder case he committed. Now, the Prison Department can exercise its powers to reduce his two-year life sentence by 120 days in a year, sources said, hoping that the prisoner may be free after facing at least 12 months from now.
Kerala has seen a severe dip in tourist arrivals and fall in revenues following the closure of bars. (Photo: Representational Image)

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Tourism Minister AC Moideen on Thursday, sought a "relook" on closure of liquor bars in tourist hotspots in the state,which has seen a fall in the arrival of tourists, causing a loss to the tourism industry.

The previous UDF government had decided to close down 700-odd liquor bars attached to hotels below five star categories in 2014. Kerala has seen a severe dip in tourist arrivals and fall in revenues following the closure of bars.

"The present excise policy has dealt a severe blow to the tourism industry in Kerala," Moideen told reporters. "There has been a severe fall in the growth of tourist arrivals in the state. With hotels not serving liquor, conferences have come down and the state is losing out," he added.

Tourism Department's report has been submitted to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, he said.

In Kerala, while the domestic arrival of tourists touched 124,65,571 in 2015, a growth of 6.59 per cent, figure for foreign tourist arrival was 9,77,479 (5.86 per cent growth), he said.

In 2014, domestic tourist arrivals stood at 116,95,411 (7.71 per cent) against 9,23,366 (7.60 per cent) of international visitors, while in 2013 it was 108,57,811 (7.75 per cent) and foreign tourists 8,58,143 (8.12 per cent).

During 2014, the state earned Rs 6,398.93 crore in foreign exchange earnings showing a 15 per cent increase, while it was Rs 6,949.88 crore last year with a dip of 8.6 per cent.

The total revenue generated from tourism (direct and indirect) in 2014 was Rs 24,885.44 crore (12.11 per cent) while in 2015 it was Rs 26,689.63 crore (7.25 per cent).
Hyderabad: Hopes of Telangana TD leaders, who were expecting gubernatorial posts, were dashed on Wednesday with Central government going ahead and filling up all the existing vacancies at various Raj Bhavans barring Tamil Nadu. TD president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had proposed senior TS TD leader Motkupalli Narasimhulus name to Prime Minister Narendra Modi almost a year ago. Mr Naidu, during the last Mahanadu, revealed this by saying that if Mr Narasimhulu is made the Governor of a state, what would happen to the TD in TS. Mr Naidu had also given another name, apart from Mr Narasimhulu, to the PM, expecting their appointments to two different states, TD sources said.

However, with Wednesdays appointments of BJP men to the four vacancies at Raj Bhavans, the TD has, as of now, lost the chance. However, one vacancy will be created on August 30 when the five-year term of UPA appointee K. Rosaiah ends. However, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has already put a word to the PM to continue with him for another term.

If that happens, there will be no vacancy left in any Raj Bhavan. I dont know about my appointment as Governor, last year I was told by my bosses that it was expected anytime. Why are TD men not getting the post is something I cannot answer, Mr Narasimhulu told DC.
Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has informed the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court that it could not find any evidence against former chief minister Oommen Chandy in the palmolein case. The stand taken by the special public prosecutor in the court on Wednesday is contrary to that adopted by the LDF and CPM leader V.S. Achthuanandan earlier.

Though Mr Chandy was not an accused in the palmolein case, his name got involved in it after Thrissur Vigilance Court judge S.S. Vasan observed that Mr Chandy was aware of the palmolein deals.

The judge said this while considering the discharge petitions of the then chief secretary S. Padma Kumar and additional chief secretary Zacharia Mathew.

The then chief secretary S. Padma Kumar and additional chief secretary Zacharia Mathew were accused in the palmolein case. Oommen Chandy, who was the then finance minister, had seen the files. The additional secretary had written the note that the finance minister should see the files, the judge observed.

Meanwhile, the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court has made it clear that it would pronounce the verdict on the plea of P.J. Thomas, former secretary of food department and eighth accused, seeking exemption in the palmolein corruption case on August 27. The court while taking up the case had said that there was a deliberate attempt to delay the cases involving politicians and higher officials.

Former chief secretary Jiji Thomson, the then food and civil supplies minister T.H. Musthafa, P.J. Thomas and two representatives of the company involved in the import of palmolein are the five accused in the case.

A deal was signed to import palmolein from Malayasia after flouting the rules by the K. Karunakaran cabinet in 1991-92. This led to a loss of Rs 2.32 crore to the government.

Eight, including K. Karunakaran, were accused in the case. Karunakaran died and S. Padma Kumar and Zacharia Mathew were exempted in the case. With this, the number of accused has come down to five.

The palmolein import scam was first brought to light officially by a report of the Accountant- General, Kerala, in July 1993, a Comptroller and Auditor-General report in February 1994 and subsequently by a report of the Public Undertakings Committee of the Kerala Legislative Assembly in March 1996. After the Left government came to power in May 1996, a Vigilance case was registered against Karunakaran and six others on March 21, 1997.
Mumbai: MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday expressed reservations over the Supreme Court banning participation of minors in the 'Dahi Handi' festival, saying that courts should refrain from meddling in matters of tradition and culture.

"The courts should not interfere in festivals, which have been happening for years together. The courts are taking all the decisions. If this goes on, why have the Assembly or Lok Sabha elections? Let the courts decide on everything,"

Thackeray said.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to relax conditions put by the Bombay High Court like barring youths below 18 years of age from participating in 'Dahi-Handi' ritual of the Janmashtami festival in Maharashtra and capping

the height of the human pyramid at 20 feet.

"The judiciary has been harsh on Hindu festivals," the MNS chief said. He questioned why no action was taken on the issue of children participating in 'Muharram'.

"Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is not being serious enough on the Dahi Handi issue. The government should have given good lawyers in the

Supreme Court to argue our case. The Chief Minister is responsible for this," he further added.

The 'Dahi-Handi' festivals in Mumbai have been a huge draw for crowds as politicians cutting across all parties promise crores of rupees for the pots to be broken, however they are kept at impossible heights.

Many people die every year after falling off the pyramid and suffer serious spinal injuries.
Hyderabad: TPCC on Wednesday described Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Raos redesigning of irrigation projects as one the biggest scam in the country, aimed at looting thousands of crore of public money. KCR is a liar and making bogus claims. Every person in Telangana should get drinking water and for irrigation, but we will not allow loot of public money. Existing irrigation projects and water supply to Hyderabad city is only due to Congress efforts, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, TPCC president said.

Mr Reddy, along with party spokesman Sravan Dasoju made a detailed PowerPoint presentation on Wednesday. Mr Reddy reeled out data on completed and pending projects and said there was no need to redesign projects as this will cause more harm than good. KCR said the total area under irrigation in 1956 was 19 lakh acres and showed similar figure in 2016, indicating not one additional acre was brought under cultivation. The total area brought under irrigation from 1956 to 2004 was 47 lakh acres and from 2004 to 2014 it was 51.47 lakh acres, totalling 98.47 lakh acres. Irrigation is now required for just 12.53 lakh acres. For a mere 12.53 lakh acres, KCR plans to spend Rs 1.50 lakh-crore. Is it justified? Is it not a looting? Will he increase land area, he asked.

AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, former Union minister S. Jaipal Reddy and others were present. Mr Sravan questioned increase in the Kaleswaram project cost from Rs 38,000 crore to Rs 83,000 crore, Palamur-Ranga Reddy project from Rs 35,200 crore to Rs 50,945 crore without DPR and before work has begun. Congress has said that by spending this Rs 8,971.28 crore, several pending projects could be completed in Mahbubnagar and other districts, but the CM has ignored us for obvious reasons, he said.

Some are 95 per cent complete. Though Rs 25,000 crore is earmarked in the Budget for new projects, there is nothing for the pending projects. Why? Mr Sravan asked. He alleged that the CM took Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a ride by launching water in Gajwel from pipeline linked to Yellampally reservoir built by Congress. We brought Krishna and Godavari waters to Hyderabad city, but KCR and KTR claim credit, he alleged. He also questioned the CMs dumping national project status for Pranahita-Chevella and pitching for Kaleshwaram.
The kin of critically-ill patients in private hospitals usually are kept in the dark regarding treatment. (Photo: Representational Image)

New Delhi: Are there any guidelines for private hospitals to make attendants aware of the treatment being provided to the patients admitted in ICUs or CCUs?

The Supreme Court has asked this question to the Centre, states and Medical Council of India (MCI) following a petition by a man who lost his daughter-in-law due to alleged negligence on the part of doctors treating her at a private

hospital in West Bengal.

Relatives or friends of patients, who spend hours outside the Intensive Care and Critical Care Units of private hospitals, many a times do not have any idea as to what treatment was being administered to their loved ones.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit took note of the plea that the kin of critically-ill patients in private hospitals usually remained clueless about the

treatment and care being administered.

The bench issued notice to the Centre, MCI and state governments and sought their responses within six weeks, saying those who suffer due to negligence on part of the doctor or hospital administration, can move consumer forums for compensation if information about the treatment is available with them.

The court's order came on the plea of one Asit Baran Mandal, a resident of West Bengal, who alleged negligence on part of a doctor in treating his daughter-in-law. Mandal lost his daughter-in-law on account of alleged medical negligence in post-operation care.

The plea alleged that the treating physician did not ask for a Liver Function Tests (LFT) soon after Mandal's daughter -in-law was operated upon for her pregnancy.

She died three days after the operation as her bilirubin levels touched alarming levels, it said adding that the death could have been avoided had the levels been checked on the first day itself.

"Medical negligence is writ large in a number of private hospitals and there is no check on it," the petition filed by Mandal stated, adding that no proper care is given post-operation which is crucial to a patient's recovery.
New Delhi: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has been admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital again for a medical check-up, two days after she was discharged following treatment for illness and a shoulder injury.

She had visited the hospital on Wednesday for removal of her stitches from the surgery. Sources, however, on Thursday said she was admitted again last evening, for "routine" medical check-up.

"At the time of her discharge from the hospital last week, doctors had said that she was likely to revisit the hospital for further evaluation of her condition. So, she is here for that," a hospital source said.

"She is likely to stay at the hospital for a couple of days," the source said.

The 69-year-old leader was admitted to the hospital on August 3 after being taken ill during a roadshow in Varanasi.

She was discharged on August 14 and doctors treating her at the hospital had then said she had recovered from her illness and injury to the left shoulder and was stable.

"Mrs Gandhi is likely to visit the hospital for further evaluation of her condition in the coming week," DS Rana, Chairman of Board of Management of the hospital, had said the day she was discharged.

Gandhi was admitted under the care of Arup Basu, senior consultant, Department of Pulmonology and Chest Medicine and his team.

She was operated upon for a shoulder injury by Prateek Gupta, senior consultant and his team from Department of Orthopaedics and Sanjay Desai from Mumbai.

The Congress chief was shifted to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital from the Army Research and Referral Hospital, where she was rushed soon after her arrival from Varanasi around midnight of August 2.
Hyderabad: Commenting on the recent manhole tragedy at Ayyappa Society, the states minister for municipal administration K.T. Rama Rao said this week that focus must return on the use of equipment for the job.

I have directed the officials from the citys Sewerage Board not to permit manual cleaning of manholes; they should instead use equipment to avoid such unfortunate incidents, necessary precautionary measures should be taken.

The board had announced Rs 10 lakh for the deceased and has assured to provide one outsourced job to the family members of the deceased.

On August 16, a sensitising training programme was conducted for sewerage workers of HMWS&SB on the use of safety equipment and the need for taking safety measures while dealing with sewerage problems. On August 13, three people died inside a manhole near Ayyappa Society in the city.
A delegation of Bajrang Dal on Thursday met the police officers and demanded strict action against those involved in cow slaughter. (Photo: File)

Baghpat (UP): Nearly 150 kg meat suspected to be of cows was seized and two persons, including a 60-year-old woman, were arrested at a village here, triggering tension in the area as right wing Hindu groups staged protests.

Acting on a tip off about cow slaughter, a police team raided the house of Nazim in Gauspura village in Singhavali Ahir police station area on Tuesday and recovered 150 kg meat, Additional Superintendent of Police Aziz-ul Haq said in Baghpat on Thursday.

Haq said veterinary doctors suspected it to be meat of "cow or its progeny" and a sample has been sent for laboratory test.

He said the equipment used in cow slaughter were also recovered from the spot. Haq said that during raid two persons - Wakeela (60) and her neighbour Talib (22) - were arrested, while three persons escaped.

Read: BJP worker killed by VHP, Bajrang Dal activists for transporting cows

The ASP said a case has been lodged under Uttar Pradesh Cow Slaughter Prevention Act against them.

"The arrested accused have disclosed the names of their three accomplices and efforts are on to nab them," he said. The remains of the animal have been buried, he said.

Members of Bajrang Dal and other Hindu organisations protested against the incident. A large group led by local Bajrang Dal leaders reached the village, which is Muslim dominated, and raised slogans against cow slaughter following which heavy police force have been deployed to maintain peace.

A delegation of Bajrang Dal on Thursday met the police officers and demanded strict action against those involved in cow slaughter. They have threatened to launch an agitation "if incidents of cow slaughter were not checked".

Police said they were tipped-off about a stolen cow being slaughtered in a house at Gauspur village following which they conducted the raid. Blood-stained butcher knives were recovered, they added.

Modi government and BJP have been facing flak over cow vigilantes in various states including Uttar Pradesh, where a man, Akhlaq, was beaten to death by a mob in Bishada village in Dadri on September 9 last year following rumours that his family had stored and eaten beef.

The fresh incident came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked people to beware of fake cow protectors trying to divide society and the country and asked the states to severely punish them.
Hyderabad: Dashing hopes of the Andhra Pradesh government, the Centre on Thursday announced Rs 1,976.50 crore as a special development package for the state.

There is nothing special about the package, which only announced funds for regular schemes. Of the Rs 1,976.50 crore, the Centre has announced Rs 1,176.50 crore as revenue gap funding, Rs 350 crore for the development of seven backward districts and Rs 450 crore as assistance for the capital.

The expectations that the package, in lieu of special status, would give AP huge incentives has been dashed.

The Centre has also laid down some conditions to release the funds for the development of seven backward districts (Rs 350 crore) and assistance to capital city (Rs 450 crore).

In its communication to the state government, the Centre said these funds would be released only after receiving the utilisation certificates for the funds already released for that purpose.

The Centre had released Rs 700 crore during 2014-15 and 2015-16 for the seven backward districts, and Rs 1,050 crore for the construction of capital city.

The Centre had repeatedly asked the state government to submit the utilisation certificates.

The AP government claims that the Centre has to release outstanding arrears of revenue gap to the tune of Rs 13,400 crore.

The report submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said that the total revenue gap in the 2014-15 financial year, was Rs 16,200 crore. The Centre has already released Rs 2,800 crore.

According to sources, the Centre has estimated the revenue gap at Rs 7,300 crore against the state governments claim of Rs 16,200 crore.

With the latest release of Rs 1,176.50 crore, the Centre has so far released Rs 3,976.50 crore as revenue gap assistance. Officials said the Centre will release another Rs 3,323.50 crore in phases.
Bengaluru: Karnataka is not going to receive more rains this season to help fill reservoirs in the Cauvery basin. So, whatever water is available in the reservoirs must be used judiciously at least till next monsoon, according to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) sources.

The situation is grim. There is no hope left for the reservoirs to fill up at least this year. Though rains are expected in the south interior region comprising Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar, it will help only agriculture", sources told DC.

The monsoon began on a promising note in June but weakened subsequently in the catchment areas. Kodagu and Waynad in Kerala-the catchment areas of the Cauvery basin reservoirs like Krishnaraja Sagar, Kabini and Harangi, failed to receive normal rains resulting in poor inflow into reservoirs.

While Kodagu received less than 50 per cent of the usual quota, it was minus 60 per cent to 70 per cent in Waynad. The prediction for this month is dismal except mild showers in coastal and Malnad districts. We are expecting some change...but that is not going to ensure water flow into our reservoirs in the Cauvery basin, sources said.

Unfortunately, the state, this time, did not receive rains that would have helped good inflow of water into the dams in Cauvery basin. If the monsoon was good, almost all reservoirs in this basin would have filled to the brim and would have helped in the release of water into canals.

This time, even a small dam like Kabini did not fill up indicating the grim situation, sources said adding that the state had to be content with whatever water was available in the reservoirs. Release of water for agriculture may result in a severe drinking water scarcity in major cities like Bengaluru and Mysuru.

Beacon of hope: Sources said rains are expected during the North-East monsoon during October-November in south interior districts which may help the standing crops but not the reservoirs. This would help in recharging the water table. In Karnataka, only two reservoirs-Almatti and Narayanapur in N Karnataka are full, thanks to heavy rain in Maharashtra.

An officer in the CMs office said the state, so far, had released 20 tmcft of water to TN as against 94 tmcft stipulated for June, July and August. The Tribunal had fixed 192 tmcft to be released to TN from June-May.

"The water available in KRS is not sufficient even to meet the drinking water needs of our people. When this is the ground reality, how can the TN government expect Karnataka to release water?
New Delhi: India on Thursday read the riot act to Pakistan with foreign secretary S. Jaishankar saying that he looks forward to discussions with his Pakistani counterpart in Islamabad on the issue of the earliest-possible vacation of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

India also made it clear that its foreign secretary expects a briefing from his Pakistani counterpart  if he visits Islamabad  on the progress made in bringing to justice Pakistanis involved in the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot terror attacks.

The MEA said the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad handed over a letter to the Pakistan foreign office listing five points of concern on terrorism, including cessation of cross-border terrorism, ending incitement to violence, prosecuting terrorist leaders, closing down terror camps and denying safe haven to terrorists.

In a letter dated August 16, foreign secretary has first of all underlined that Pakistans self-serving allegations made in their communication are rejected in their entirety by the Government of India. Pakistan has no locus standi in respect of J&K, which is an integral part of our nation, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

The ball is in Pakistans court now. They had made an offer, we have responded to the offer. It is up to them to carry it forward, he added.

Given Indias clear focus on terror, and its firm stand that there will be no talks on the Kashmir issue, the MEA said that whether India accepts Pakistan foreign secretarys invitation for talks or not now depends on Pakistan.

The Indian response also conveyed that detaining and prosecuting internationally recognised Pakistani terrorist leaders, who have been publicly active in exhorting and supporting violence in J&K, should be part of the talks besides closing down terrorist training camps.

On denial of permission by the Indian government to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) to visit J&K, New Delhi said that it has been constructively engaged with the UN body to project a correct picture of the state.No decision has been taken so far on Indias level of participation at the Saarc finance ministers meet in Islamabad, the MEA said.

The Indian mission in Geneva has been constructively engaged with the UN body to project a correct picture of J&K by highlighting the central role of cross-border terrorism and its glorification in the violent protests in the Valley. We have also stressed to UNHCHR the efforts and undivided attention of all organs of the Indian state for restoring normalcy in J&K in the face of incitement and support to terrorism from across our border. We will continue to encourage international community to uphold promotion, he said.
Hyderabad: The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, while dealing with a revision petition, upheld a judgement of the Chandigarh State Commission and ordered Panasonic India Limited to pay compensation to a consumer.

Panasonic had filed a revision petition against an October 2015 order of the State Commission of Chandigarh, which had directed it to refund the cost of a TV to Mohali, Punjab, resident Harbinder Singh.

The District Forum had directed Panasonic and its dealer to pay the complainant Rs 3,05,000, the price of a Panasonic plasma TV, along with Rs 25,000 as compensation for deficiency in service, unfair trade practice and causing mental agony and harassment, and costs of Rs 10,000.

In January 2012 Mr Harbinder Singh had booked a TV priced at Rs 3,05,000 with the authorised dealer of Panasonic by paying an advance of Rs 1,00,000. It was agreed that since the complainant was residing in a rented accommodation, the TV would be delivered in April 2013, when the construction of his own house would be completed.

The balance of Rs 2,05,000 was paid in December 2012. The dealer delivered the TV at the rented residence of the complainant on December 17, 2012 stating that there was no space in the storehouse.

After shifting to his own house, the complainant called for a company technician to install the TV. When the seal was opened, the technician found that the TV was damaged. Accordingly, on the installation slip he recorded: Piece found broken; opened in front of technicians of the company; to be sent back to the dealer/not satisfied.

The District Forum opined that since the product was within the warranty period and it amounted to deficiency in service on the companys part, which had resulted in immense mental and physical harassment to the complainant.

Panasonic had argued that the TV had been with the complainant for almost four months and there was the possibility of it being damaged in that time.

The National Commission agreed with the District and State forums that when the packing of the TV was opened by the Panasonic technician it was found to be damaged and therefore it could not be held that the complainant was responsible for the damage. It dismissed the revision petition and asked Panasonic to pay costs to the consumer and also to withdraw the amount deposition with the forum.

The National Forum noted that 50 per cent of the amount awarded by the District Forum stood deposited by respondent in execution proceedings and, therefore, the actual liability of Panasonic towards the complainant would be Rs 1,70,000.
Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has directed the energy department not to go for power-cuts even though the state is facing a drought-like situation.

Mr Siddaramaiah gave this direction during the energy department review meeting held on Thursday.

Quoting Mr Siddaramaiah, energy minister D.K. Shivakumar, who briefed reporters, said consumers interest was paramount for the department. He directed the department not to adopt load-shedding in rural areas where farmers received three -phase seven hours power every day.

We are ready to face any eventuality. People, farmers and industries will not be disturbed and efforts will be made to give quality power to them, Mr Shivakumar said. Though the government made plans to buy power, barring an emergency situation, this would not be done. But the emergency situation has not arisen yet. We are distributing the power as we get it from the central grid, he said.

Siddaramaiah apprises Modi of impending crisis

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi explaining to him the poor storage of water owing to failure of the South-West Monsoon in Karnataka.

He said during the prevailing monsoon from June 1 to August 15, 2016, the State had an overall rainfall deficit of 10 per cent. The deficit rain in the catchment area of the Cauvery basin as well as the catchment area of the main reservoirs which provides hydel power is a matter of grave concern. Low water level in reservoirs has impacted farming in the command area. Poor storage in the Cauvery basin reservoirs is likely to affect drinking water availability in Bengaluru, he said.

The CM said, My government is very closely monitoring the situation and our cabinet has taken a decision not to allow any further release for irrigation, except in exceptional cases and utilise the existing water only for drinking purposes. Since there is a general perception that the South-West Monsoon has been almost normal in Karnataka, I thought it necessary to bring the above facts to your attention.
Bound by hills and canals, Vijayawada has grown into the worlds third most densely packed city.

Hyderabad: Vijayawada has been ranked third in the world in urban population density per square mile or square km of urban built-up area.

Demographia, a US-based international urban agency, in its 12th edition of Demographia World Urban Areas: 2016, revealed that Vijayawada had a projected population of 17.7 lakh living in 57 square kilometres of land area  31,200 people in every square km.

The city ranks third after Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Hyderabad, Pakistan, out of the 1,022 urban areas across the world that were considered for the study.

Vijayawada ranked 278 among the worlds built up areas. Tokyo stood at the top of the list in built-up area.

Demographia World Urban Areas is the only annually published inventory of population, corresponding land area and population density for urban areas with populations of more than 500,000.

The total population of the 1,022 cities that were studied is estimated at 2.12 billion in 2016, 53 per cent of the worlds urban population. According to Demo-graphia, new census data and estimates as well as later satellite imagery have led to some substantial revisions in the 2016 edition of Demographia World Urban Areas.

Infographic

An urban area is defined as the urban footprint  the lighted area that can be observed from an aeroplane (or satellite). Prof. Abdul Razzak Mohammed of the department of planning in the School of Planning and Architec-ture, Vijayawada, said, Vijayawada is a low-rise and high-density populated area unlike some cities which are high-rise. It is populated in a few clusters. People have a close attachment with the land and till recently tended to live in independent houses.

There are more than 110 slums which are densely populated, including water canal encroachments. He added, With Amaravati coming up, labour camps will be set up and the density will increase. Transit houses, housing for urban poor and satellite townships are the solutions.

School of Planning and Architecture in-charge director Sirikonda Ramesh said, Vijayawada is compact with barriers like hillocks and canals. Gandhi Hill, Indrakeeladri, Gunadala Hills and Eluru, Ryves and Bandar canals and the Budameru rivulet are all barriers for the expansion of the city.

He said that with new bridges being built, the Inner Ring Road, the new master plan and Outer Ring Road coming up in the future, things may change and Vijayawada in future will become less densely populated.

Hyderabad has better space ratio

Hyderabad fares far better than many other cities when it comes to urban density; it also has a reasonably large built-up area. According to Demo-graphia, Hyderabad stands 48th in large built-up areas in the world after Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru. The ranking is based on the urban built-up area based on the figures provided by the governments or through satellite imagery.

Hyderabad ranks 463 in urban density among 1,022 cities worldwide. The citys urban built up area has a population of 77.5 lakh  6,300 people per sq km.

Cities with populations of above 5 lakh were considered for the study. Guntur stands 24 and Nellore 75 in urban density. Warangal has been ranked 250, Tirupati 272, Visakha-patnam 504 and Rajah-mundry 266.
The landowners would get annual compensation for 10 years and landless farmers are also eligible for Rs 2,500 monthly pension. (Representational image)

Vijayawada: The state government has issued notification for acquisition of land from landowners under Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) for Machilipatnam Area Development Authority (MADA) to construct Deep Water Port and Industrial Corridor purposes.

As per government order GO MS No.185, the government will pool the lands in the same lines of Amaravati capital city Land Pooling Scheme. The government has identified the 426.16 square kilometers in the limits 27 mandals in Machilipatnam and Pedana mandals in the Machilipatnam Urban Development Authority Area.

Now the government would collect the lands in the area but the GO did not reveal how many acres of land is required for the needs of the port and industrial development establishment. The government announced a development package and compensation for all the owners and affected persons in categories.

The landowners will get 1,000 square yards residential and 450 square yards commercial space for wetlands and 1,000 square yards and 250 square yards residential and commercial spaces simultaneously for dry lands under the LPS.

Similarly, ex-servicemen, political sufferers owning assignment lands before 1954 will get 1,000 square yards residential plots and also get 450 square yards of commercial space and 1,000 square yards and 250 square yards commercial space for dry and wet lands proportionately.

The LPS will be applicable for landowners who are having assignment lands after 1954 can get 800 square yards residential and 200 commercial spaces for dry lands and 800 square yards residential and 200 square yards for wetlands.

The farmers who are cultivating government lands which are in unobjectable condition will also get 500 square yards residential and 100 square yards commercial space. The government will pay Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000 for annual compensation of farmers of wet and dry land basis.

The landowners would get annual compensation for 10 years and landless farmers are also eligible for Rs 2,500 monthly pension. As per plans, the government would complete the draft plan within 190 days and the entire area would be developed in three years.
Mumbai: Five persons, including a woman, were killed when their car rammed into a tree on the Western Express Highway in Vile Parle area here in the early hours of Thursday.

"The accident happened at around 5.20 am when the speeding Honda City car's driver lost control resulting in the vehicle ramming into a tree along the roadside near Shastri Nagar area in Vile Parle", a police official said.

"We have seized the mangled car and are investigating the matter," he said.

As per preliminary information, the deceased were friends and had planned to go out for a drive. Driver Junaid Soni lost control over the wheels following which the accident occurred.

The process of conducting the panchnama was on after which the bodies will be sent for postmortem. The autopsy report will make it clear if the driver

was under the influence of alcohol, the official said.

Out of the five deceased, four have been identified as - Muzzamil Makhnujia, Muzzamil Mukhtar Kanosiya (22), Rashida Yusuf Sheikh (25) and Junaid Sheikh Soni (22), all residents of Mira Road in neighbouring Thane district, he added.
East Delhi Mayor Satya Sharma claimed to have also found many buffaloes and sheep suspended upside down from hooks while they were still conscious, during a surprise inspection. (Photo: AP/Representational)

New Delhi: In a shocking case of animal rights violation, cattle at a slaughterhouse in east Delhi were found to be allegedly electrocuted rather than being 'stunned' before their slaughtering.

In a surprise inspection at the Ghazipur slaughterhouse, East Delhi Mayor Satya Sharma has also claimed to have found many buffaloes and sheep suspended upside down from hooks while they were still conscious.

"In slaughterhouses, 'stunning'  a process of rendering the animals unconscious before killing them  is followed, but not in this case. Buffaloes were being electrocuted by placing a live wire on their body, before slitting their throat," Sharma said.

During the inspection on August 10, the mayor was accompanied by Additional Commissioner EDMC, C A Dhan, Delhi Slaughterhouse Monitoring Committee member Gauri Maulekhi, and a few animal rights experts.

"Besides, we also found that buffaloes and sheep were suspended upside down from hooks even while they were conscious. There was no provision to separate sick animals from the rest of the herd," Sharma said.

The abattoir, said to be the country's largest mechanised slaughterhouse (for domestic and export purposes), functions under the supervision of EDMC and is leased to a major private company.

"It was my first inspection and truly shocking what we saw. Such brazen cruelty to animals is unacceptable, and I have already written to the EDMC Commissioner seeking action against the Director of Veterinary in this connection.

"We have also sought a proper counting of animals kept there and installation of CCTV cameras there," Sharma said. Delhi Slaughterhouse Monitoring Committee member Maulekhi said, "Ghazipur slaughterhouse has so far been a public liability. The facility costs over Rs 5,000 crore to the Delhi government and is leased at a mere Rs 4 crore per annum to the contractor company."

"The contractor is flouting all laws with impunity and compromising food safety and animal welfare, right under the nose of the EDMC," Maulekhi alleged.

Manilal Valliyate, also a member of Delhi Slaughterhouse Monitoring Committee, said, "Ante-mortem examination was conducted on all animals which were slaughtered."

"Strangely, all buffaloes which had been brought for slaughter were found to be females, discarded by the dairy industry and many could be pregnant. Pregnancy tests were not being conducted on all animals," he alleged.
All the accused had moved for bail on August 13 after the court remanded them to 14-day judicial custody till August 26. (Photo: Facebook)

Mumbai: Five doctors, including the CEO of L. H. Hiranandani Hospital, were on Thursday granted bail by a local court in connection with the alleged kidney transplant racket.

The Andheri metropolitan magistrate court, which had on Tuesday reserved its order till Thursday on their applications granted bail to CEO Sujit Chatterjee, medical director Anurag Naik, Mukesh Shetye, Mukesh Shaha and Prakash Shetye, on the condition that they report to Powai police station till September 26. They were also directed against leaving the country.

All the accused had moved for bail on August 13 after the court remanded them to 14-day judicial custody till August 26.

On Tuesday, their lawyers Aabad Ponda and Pranav Badeka had told the court that the case against the doctors and the hospital authorities was only of procedural lapses and negligence. Also, several other accused in the case including the donor and recipient are on bail.

They also told the court that the case against the doctors was not under Indian Penal Code but under the Organ Transplant Act and the money which allegedly exchanged hands for the transplant has been recovered.

The doctors were arrested under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act on the basis of a report by the Director of State Health.

The racket was exposed after the police were tipped off that a kidney transplant operation had been scheduled on July 14 at the privately-run Hiranandani Hospital in Powai, where donor and recipient were not related.

Following the bust-up, 14 people, including five doctors, the donor, receiver and agents were arrested.

The operation on Brijkishor Jaiswal, the recipient, was stopped at the last moment as police found that the woman who was donating the kidney to him was not his real wife, contrary to the papers submitted by the duo.

The woman had pretended to be Jaiswal's wife only to be able to donate him the kidney for monetary gains, according to the police.

Last week, a local sessions court had rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of two doctors - Veena Swelikar (a general surgeon) and Suvin Shetty (a consulting pathologist) in the case after Powai police said that their interrogation was needed to unearth the entire racket.
Policemen recoverd poisonous liquor in a field at Harkhua Khajurbari Village in Gopalganj district of Bihar on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI)

Patna: The death of 15 people in Gopalganj may have been due to consumption of either hooch or spurious substance mixed in some drink, the district administration on Thursday said as it mulled sending viscera and blood samples of the deceased for forensic test.

Meanwhile Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grave concern over the Gopalganj tragedy, the first major incident after Bihar was declared a complete dry state on April 5.

He told reporters that the incident was serious and expressed confidence that truth would come out in the forensic test of viscera and blood samples of deceased.

Gopalganj District Magistrate Rahul Kumar said post-mortem report of the deceased indicated death due to either consumption of hooch or some spurious substance mixed in some drink.

"The district administration would approach court to seek its permission to hand over viscera and blood sample of deceased for forensic test," Superintendent of Police Raviranjan Kumar said.

Nitish Kumar appealed to the kin of the deceased not to be scared and speak the truth so that the culprits behind the incident could be caught and severely punished.

He said if the deaths are due to hooch, compensation of Rs. 4 lakh each would be given to the family members of the victims.

He said Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh and state police chief P K Thakur were keeping a close watch over the Gopalganj incident and there was no chance of culprits escaping from the law.

The chief minister said total prohibition in Bihar since April has taken shape of a social change under which some such unpleasant events would crop up which would be dealt with sternly.

SP Kumar said that six persons have been arrested in connection with death of 15 people on Tuesday. An FIR has been lodged against the six and some others with the town police station.

DM Kumar said a hectic search is on for two persons released recently after arrest under new Excise law. Even relatives of some of the deceased told us their names, he said but refused to disclose the names which might disturb the probe.

The SP said that during search operations in Khajurbanni locality, 45 gallons of 'mahua' (country liquor) hidden inside the earth have been recovered.

In addition, 25 empty bottles of a homeopathic medicine Dhuja which has alcoholic contents have been also found from the place of incident, the SP added.

The DM said that initially 13 people had died but later two more succumbed at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in Patna where four more are under treatment.

The Gopalganj incident has provided opportunity to opposition BJP and its NDA partners to attack the Nitish government.
Chennai: A 23-year-old man with a push cart ironing shop was killed when he was trapped under the debris from the partial collapse of a compound wall in Goudiya Mutt road, Royapettah. Two others squatting on the platform adjacent to the wall were injured on Wednesday afternoon.

The deceased was identified as Dhanasekar(23), resident of Ambedkar Nagar, Royapuram. The injured are his neighbours Kalaiselvi (23) and Kuppan (50).

The incident was reported at Nagappa Centre, which houses several IT and ITES companies. The wall of the complex facing Lalithapuram street, which is at least 7 ft high and 40 ft wide, came down crumbling at around 1 pm, trapping the three under the debris.

Since Dhanasekar was standing close to wall with his back facing it while he was ironing clothes, he was trapped completely while the other two were partially buried and were pulled out by the staff working in the complex.

The two were rushed to the Government Royapettah Hospital(GRH) for treatment. The staff also alerted the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services Personnel and three emergency response vehicles from Guindy, Egmore, and Mylapore rushed to the scene. Since they could not do much about removing the debris, the TNFRS personnel roped in an earthmover from the neighbourhood and cleared the debris to pull out Dhanasekar. On arrival at the GRH, the doctors declared Dhanasekar dead. The body was subsequently moved to the GRH morgue.

Dhanasekar's push cart, Kalaiselvi's shop from which she was selling idlies on the platform Kuppan's push cart were crushed under the debris. A Chevrolet Beat car parked near the compound wall was also damaged. Sources said the cops were investigating the stability of the compound wall. They have registered a case and are on the lookout for the building owner.
New Delhi: When Syed Haider Raza's family moved to Pakistan after the 1947 Partition, the iconic painter chose to stay back, not just for the sake of his loyalty for his motherland, but for his admiration for Mahatma Gandhi.

The veteran artist, who passed away last month at the age of 94 revealed this to writer and poet Ashok Vajpeyi who recollected the tidbit about Raza at a function organised at the Indian Women Press Corps here to remember the artist.

Syed Haider Raza was merely eight, when he first saw the 'Father of the Nation' at a public meeting in Mandla in Madhya Pradesh.

"He used to say, 'This is my country. Where would I go from here?' But, I was never convinced with this argument. After lots of pestering, he once told me, 'When the Partition happened, my family left. But I used to feel that if even I leave, I would be betraying the man who I saw at the age of eight for the first time," Vajpeyi recalled.

Raza who is best remembered as the creator of the iconic 'Bindu' grew up in Barbaria in Madhya Pradesh to a forest ranger father and was trained in art at Nagpur and Bombay. He was also a stalwart of the Progressive Modern artists group with other greats like MF Husain, FN Souza and KH Ara.

According to Vajpeyi, Raza perennially felt indebted to the society and as a token of gratitude he believed it was his duty to "help" budding artistes in their times of need. "Raza was one person who touched the lives of thousands of artists, dancers, musicians. He helped them when they needed that aid in their respective careers by showcasing his work alongside a lot of young emerging artists," he said.

Sharing one such incident, he said at an exhibition here, the painter had expressed his desire to purchase a painting but only on the condition that the entire proceeds would be given to the artist with the gallery would not take any commission.

At another exhibition in Mumbai, after news of Raza buying one of the artworks started doing the rounds, the entire show was sold out. "This was one of his ways to help other artists," Vajpeyi said.

In his desire to give back to the society for whatever he had achieved, the painter set up the Raza Foundation that provides for spaces for various art and culture programs, publications and fellowships to the younger talent. "He used to say, 'I will get so much money, what will I do? I want to do something for others.' He suggested that we create a foundation.

"Throughout his lifetime he had given nearly Rs. 20 crores and in his will too, he has given everything to the foundation. No other artist in the history of Indian art, has given such a great gift to others," Vajpeyi said.

Although, Raza had spent nearly 60 years in France, the Indian in him remained unaltered, for his paintings which often have a couplet or a phrase written on them, are like a call back to the miniature paintings like 'Kavikapriya' and 'Ragamala', from the past where the text was often inscribed into the paintings and sculptures.

"In a way, he revived the dying art of miniature paintings. He used texts from Upanishads and Vedas, from writings of Ghalib, Surdas, Tulsidas and even my poems in his paintings," Vajpeyi said.

It was perhaps for the same reason that Raza was often called "a painter of the mother tongue" by his friends and contemporaries.

Vajpeyi says how he was "extremely loyal" to Hindi. "He spoke and wrote such good Hindi that great titans of the language would be put to shame. Having lived for so long in Paris, he spoke French very well, English was conspicuously good, but if he received a call from anybody from India, he would talk to them in nothing but Hindi."

The writer who had known Raza for over 40 years compares him with river Narmada, which unlike other rivers has two banks. In Raza, he said, "On one side was India, on the other was France; on one hand was his greatness, on the other was generosity and on one hand was faith, on the was diffidence."
Names of the remaining 73 Sikhs are expected to be removed in phases, a Home Ministry official said. (Photo: Pixabay/Representational)

New Delhi: Names of 225 Sikhs, chronicled in the government's blacklist for their alleged involvement in subversive or anti-India activities, have been removed over the last four years.

The pruning has been done in a list of 298 Sikhs prepared at different levels by security agencies since 1980s.

Those Indian-origin people, who were allegedly involved in subversive or anti-India activities abroad, were included in the blacklist and such people were barred from visiting India.

"We have pruned the list in the last four years and recently removed names of 36 Sikhs settled abroad," a Home Ministry official said.

The names of remaining 73 people, whose names are in the blacklist, are expected to be removed in phases, the official said.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he assumed office in 2014 to direct the Home Ministry to evolve a mechanism for a regular review of all such cases.

Badal had said he wanted removal of the names of persons from the list against whom no cases or legal proceedings were pending.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal too had written a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to review the blacklist of Sikhs and delete names of the persons who were not wanted in any criminal case in the state.

A delegation of British Sikhs too had urged the Prime Minister to remove the names of Sikh individuals from the list.

During the 1980s and 1990s, a large number of Sikh families had migrated to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries seeking political asylum.

Many of the asylum-seekers were booked in cases in India and have not been allowed to visit India in the past decades.
Anjali Mental Health Rights NGO posted the photos on Twitter of the thin patients living in what appear to be appalling conditions at the health facility in Baharampur. (Photo: Twitter)

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the West Bengal government over reports of an NGO finding some mentally-challenged men and women patients lying naked on dirty floor at a government hospital on Independence Day.

"They had not bathed or shaved for months, had visible signs of various diseases. The toilets were so filthy that nobody could use them. The bed sheets were full of bugs," the NHRC on Thursday said.

In a statement, the Commission said it has taken a suo motu cognisance of a media report that "a team of NGO Anjali visited Berhampore Mental Hospital on Independence Day and found naked men and women, all mentally-ill patients, lying on dirty floors in a very bad condition."

Read: Mentally disabled found naked, filthy at govt hospital

The NHRC has issued the notice to the Chief Secretary of the West Bengal government and sought for a detailed report on the state of affairs in that hospital along with the status of other mental hospitals run by the state government.

It has also asked its Special Rapporteur, East Zone, Domodar Sarangi, to assess the situation on the ground and submit a report to the Commission. The state government as well as the Special Rapporteur have been given eight weeks to respond, it said.

Reportedly, the Hospital Superintendent of Berhampore Mental Hospital refused to make any comments on it when approached by the NGO team. The Chief Medical Officer also denied the calls made by the NGO, the NHRC statement said.

The Commission, reiterating its commitment towards the promotion and protection of rights of mentally ill persons, has observed that the contents of the news report are "distressing".

According to the media report, carried on August 17, there are about 430 patients, including men and women, staying at the Berhampore Mental Hospital at present.

"There is no facility of laundry, no barber and bathrooms are in such a bad condition that the patients often fall on the ground and hurt themselves," it said.
In a Tuesday speech in West Bend, Wisc. tailored for the African-American community , GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump expanded on his brief mention of K-12 at the Republican National Convention by mentioning a few teacher-related policies and his thoughts on charter schools. In fact, since the convention, he seems to be putting a little more emphasis on school choice policy in particular.

Trump first criticized the performance of schools in Milwaukee, which is about 40 miles from West Bend, saying the city has only a 60 percent graduation rate and that 55 city schools are rated as failing. Despite Trumps record of stretching facts, these two particular claims are based on data. Politifact Wisconsin reported in May that 61 percent of Milwaukee students graduated after four years in 2014 . And the state did rate 55 Milwaukee schools as fails to meet expectations on the state report card, based on data from the 2013-14 school year.

He then pivoted to K-12 policy questions, which he has largely neglected during the 2016 race.

On education, it is time to have school choice, merit pay for teachers, and to end the tenure policies that hurt good teachers and reward bad teachers. We are going to put students and parents first, Trump told the audience.

In the past, Trump has been critical of teachers unions impact on school and their fear of competition. Hes also argued that Democrats protect the unions in exchange for political backing.

He also took a shot at his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, saying she would rather deny opportunities to millions of young African-American children in order to prop up the education bureaucracy. And he said that Democrats in charge of cities have ruined the schools.

Thats similar to his RNC speech, in which he backed parental choice of schools and blasted Clintons support for bureaucrats.

And Trump said he would allow charter schools specifically to thrive. Its worth noting that since the RNC, hes worked support for school choice into at least three August speeches: in West Bend, during his economic policy speech in Detroit , and during a speech in Wilmington, N.C . He also brought up child care last week.

Have you made it this far? Then you can keep going by checking out our comparison of Clinton and Trump on key K-12 policy issues , like testing, teaching, and school safety.

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
Chennai: Top wildlife and Chennai airport officials are worried about the surge in seizure of illegal wildlife produce in Chennai. If confidential sources are to be believed, the city, dormant for the past three years, is now back as a notorious transit point for illegal wildlife trade.

As many as 10 cases of illegal wildlife trade have emerged from Chennai and Puducherry area in the past eight months, said a state wildlife official pointing out that the situation with marine animals is worse.

Star tortoises and sea horses poached from south India are now making their way to Asian countries. There are seizures at Chennai airport and at the same time exotic animals including python, scorpion and primates have been smuggled in to Chennai and then deported back to Malaysia and Thailand in 2016, he said.

In case of star tortoises, the smuggling had stopped since 2013 due to stern action taken by customs and central investigative agencies such as CISF, which issued a circular promoting suspensions, if there was any slack in baggage checking and this worked out, but now the illegal trade has returned. In the past two months alone more than 700 star tortoises have been rescued and 5,000 red eared turtles smuggled from Malaysia on July 29 were deported back to foreign airport, said a Chennai airport source adding that last month also witnessed a deporting case of reticulate python to Taiwan.

Chennai is already a notorious place for shark fining and in 2015, the union ministry made an appeal to the airlines not to encourage export of shark fins from TN and subsequently a ban on such marine produce was brought in.

Chennai is also infamous for collecting peacock feathers from different parts of the state.

WWF  Traffic India an investigating agency on wildlife crimes has now started a study on the trail of illegal peacock feathers from TN to Malaysia and other foreign countries, a senior biologist with TN forest department said.
Muzaffarnagar: A farmer was electrocuted after he came in contact with a high voltage electrical line in Dabal village under Mansurpur police station area, police

said on Thursday.

"The victim, Vikram Singh (24), seated on top of a loaded bullock cart died on spot after he accidentally touched the live power line", police said.

Following the incident, villagers and Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) activists staged a protest at the police station and demanded compensation for the victim's family. They alleged power officials had lowered the line for maintenance and did not switch off the electricity.

Police has registered a case of negligence against some officials and has sent the victim's body for postmortem.
Hyderabad: Assembly Speaker S. Madhusudana Chary has convened a meeting for Saturday with advocate-general K. Ramakrishna Reddy to take stock of the notices issued by the Supreme Court in the defection of MLAs case filed by Congress MLA S.A. Sampath Kumar.

The apex court on Thursday issued notices to the Speaker and to the seven Congress MLAs who had defected to the ruling TRS to reply within three weeks on the contents of an appeal petition filed by Mr Kumar alleging that the Speaker was not taking any action against the petitions seeking disqualification of the Congress MLAs despite a lapse of two years.

The petitioner had also sought the courts intervention in directing the Speaker to consider and dispose petitions within a specific time frame.

This is the first time that the Speaker has got notices from the Supreme Court though he had ignored earlier notices by the Hyderabad High Court on the same case.

The petitioner had challenged the High Court order dismissing the petition and had filed an appeal in the apex court.

According to sources, the Speaker now cannot ignore the notices sent by the SC. Though earlier the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Speaker of the united AP Assembly had refused to receive notices citing that Parliament or Legislature was supreme, in this case any attempt to disregard the notices might invite fresh conflict, which at this stage should be avoided.

Sources say if the Speaker decides to receive the notices, he will have to file an affidavit in the apex court. They said the Speaker might convey to the apex court that the rules governing the Legislature or the 10th Schedule of Constitution do not provide any time limit for disposal of the petitions.

Congress predicts bypolls to 25 assembly seats

Reacting to the Supreme Court notices to the Assembly Speaker over the defection of 25 MLAs to the TRS, the Telangana Congress on Thursday was confident that they would be disqualified and by-polls would be held early next year.

Disqualification of 25 MLAs who defected to TRS is almost certain. The Congress cadre should be prepared for elections early 2017. The Congress has put the entire cadre on alert in view of possible by-elections in early 2017, said Leader of Opposition in the Telangana State Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir.

Four MPs, 25 MLAs and 18 MLCs had defec-ted from the Congress, Telugu Desam and the BSP to the TRS. The Congress had lost seven MLAs and one MP.

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has made a mockery of Parliamentary democracy. He engineered 47 defections in 27 months. The new state beg-an with repeated violations of Constitution and law," he said.

He added, By not taking action against the MLAs, the Speaker has proved that he was functioning under the influence of the Chief Minister.
Bengaluru: The much anticipated core committee meeting of the state BJP on Wednesday failed to resolve the crisis within the party with its president, B S Yeddyurappa refusing to modify the list of office bearers despite the pleas of the members present to rectify it.

Sticking to his guns on the list , Mr Yeddyurappa only offered to hold one to one meetings with the district office bearers to hear their grievances and then went on the offensive, pulling up senior party leaders, K.S.Eshwarappa and C.T. Ravi for holding a meeting of  dissidents at the party office recently.

You could have brought up these matters at a party platform instead, he told them sternly. The two leaders, however, defended holding the meeting, saying it was not an anti-party activity and was only meant for hearing the complaints of party cadres across the districts on the appointment of office bearers.

Former Chief Minister, Jagadish Shettar, meanwhile, made a futile attempt to convince Mr Yeddyurappa to give an opportunity to party workers, who had been ignored despite their many years of service to the BJP and suggested the constitution of a sub-committee to hear what the cadres in the districts had to say.

He said the core committee could tweak the office bearers' list based on the report of the sub-committee, but was shot down by Mr .Yeddyurappa, who categorically refused to constitute any such body.

We dont expect the entire office bearers list to be overhauled, but only some modifications to give a chance to deserving party workers, especially from Koppal, Raichuru, Yadgir, Bidar, Ballari and Gadag districts, where there is most unrest, but Yeddyurappa refused to revisit the list, said a core committee member.

Another senior leader found it very disturbing that the BJP chief was not willing to compromise or even talk to upset workers. Although we have openly endorsed his leadership and he will be our Chief Ministerial candidate, Yeddyurappa is not ready to believe there is no threat to him. He is not confident and so its not possible to resolve differences, he regretted.

Cant have separate forums of this kind: BSY

Leaders of the BJP conducting separate conventions in the name of communities is unfair. Hence I have instructed party workers not to take part in such conventions, State BJP President B.S. Yeddyurappa told Deccan Chronicle in Shivamogga on Wednesday.

He continued that one can participate in different community conventions but it was not fair for party leaders to organize such conventions. If the convention organizers invite us. it would be right to participate, he clarified, adding, I have asked party workers not to attend the convention.

Meanwhile, senior leader K.S. Eshwarappa justified the launching of Sangolli Rayanna Brigade and the proposed Hinda convention in spite of State BJP In-charge Muralidhar Raos instructions not to launch the Brigade. The Hinda convention and launching of the Brigade will benefit the party and me too, he reasoned.
The MLAs were suspended en masse for a week for creating a ruckus in the house. (Photo: ANI)

Chennai: DMK MLAs led by Opposition leader MK Stalin staged a protest outside the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday, a day after they were suspended en masse for a week for allegedly creating ruckus in the House.

The protesting MLAs, who staged a dharna, alleging that they were denied entry into the Assembly premises.

DMK MLAs CVMP Ezhilarasan said the party legislators were denied access to their room inside the Secretariat which also houses the Legislative Assembly.

Stalin was stopped by Assembly marshals who also locked the entry point leading to the House. After they were denied entry, the DMK MLAs, led by Stalin, sat on a dharna.

Meanwhile, security was stepped up in the Secretariat. On Wednesday, the Assembly witnessed uproarious scenes when DMK members protested remarks made by a ruling AIADMK member apparently ridiculing Stalin, culminating in their en masse eviction and suspension.

Speaker P Dhanapal ordered eviction of the DMK members by assembly marshals after they stood up and insisted on expunging of remarks even after he rejected their demand and asked them to cooperate for the smooth conduct of the House.

Later, the government moved a resolution suspending the DMK members for a week which was passed by a voice vote.
Thiruvananthapuram/Kozhikode: Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran on Wednesday requested Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to remove Transport Commissioner Tomin Thachankary from the post for not discussing major policy decisions with him.

The minister made the request even as Mr Thachankary expressed regrets over his birthday celebrations in the presence of the minister at a function held in Kozhikode.

The NCP to which the minister belongs had asked him to seek the removal of Mr Thachankary. NCP state president Uzhavoor Vijayan said that the demand was reasonable and that it was for the cabinet to take a final call on the issue. The next cabinet meeting is likely to consider it.

The minister told the chief minister that Mr Thachankary was taking major decisions on his own. He cited the order on making helmet mandatory for supplying petrol. He also expressed displeasure over the birthday celebrations of Mr Thachankary in the RTO offices of the state which had triggered a controversy.

The minister had earlier asked Chief Secretary S. M. Vijayanand to inquire into the circular directing officials to celebrate Mr Thachankarys birthday in all RTO offices.

Mr Thachankary apologised to the minister while speaking at the district-level launch of the road safety awareness campaign in Kozhikode.

According to Mr Thachankary, he distributed sweets using his money with good intentions, but respected the suggestion of the transport minister and the chief minister, who indicated it was inappropriate and could have been avoided. They have also told me that my actions would be misinterpreted by the people. Hence, I respect their words and express regrets, he said.

He also pointed out that the move to provide petrol only to helmet-wearing two-wheeler riders had create a good impact in urban areas. This will be expanded to rural areas also, he said.
Leader of Opposition M.K. Stalin is being physically removed from the Assembly by the marshals on Wednesday. (Photo: DC)

Chennai: The Leader of Opposition and DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin and his party MLAs were evicted en masse from the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Wednesday after the House witnessed pandemonium over a remark made by an AIADMK MLA on Mr Stalins Namakku Nammae campaign ahead of the state assembly polls.

Immediately after their eviction, the Leader of the House and finance minister O. Pannerselvam moved a resolution seeking suspension of all the DMK MLAs for a week for continuously disrupting the Assembly proceedings. After a voice vote, Speaker

P. Dhanapal ordered their suspension amid loud sloganeering by DMK members who were resisting the eviction by marshals. Stalin, who was physically removed, staged a brief sit-in before being finally taken out of the House.

Interestingly, the initial bonhomie witnessed in the House between the ruling AIAMDK and the principal opposition DMK started withering as the Budget session progressed. After the DMK members present in the House blocked the proceedings, the Speaker for the first time ordered eviction of the opposition members by marshals.

Condemning the behaviour of the DMK members, the Speaker said since the DMK was not cooperating with the Chair in conducting the proceedings of the House smoothly, he was forced to order their eviction. He ordered adjournment of the House proceedings for the day and announced that IT minister R. Manikandan and Housing minister K. Radhakrishnan would give their replies to the discussion on the demands for grants for their departments on Thursday.

Trouble began when AIADMK member S. Gunasekaran, without naming Stalin, made snide remarks that those who bemoaned Namaku Naame could not capture power. His remark triggered a strong protest from DMK members who wanted the speaker to expunge them.

Mr Dhanapal, however, said the MLA had not made any pointed reference to anyone and therefore there was no need to expunge the remarks.

DMK Deputy Leader Duraimurugan argued that Namakku Naame was an initiative of Stalin and therefore the remarks refer only to him and sought their expunction.

At one point, Stalin himself rose and said he was proud that Namakku Naamme had featured in an Assembly debate. He also made some remarks about Chief Minister.

The DMK members then resumed their seats and the AIADMK legislator continued his speech. However, the Speaker ordered expunction of Stalins remark on the CM.

This led to a new round of protest by DMK members with Mr Stalin insisting that his remarks remain, which were later expunged by the Speaker. The DMK members stood up and opposed the Speaker's action even as Mr Dhanapal asked them to cooperate in the smooth conduct of the House. Since the DMK members did not heed his repeated pleas, he summoned the marshals to evict all the agitating MLAs.

Eviction was planned: Stalin

The Leader of Opposition M.K. Stalin on Wednesday alleged that the eviction and suspension of the DMK MLAs was a planned action to prevent them from raising issues during the demand for debate on September 22 for grants to the Home Department, which is being handled by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

Speaking to reporters outside the Assembly, he said the DMK was playing a proactive role in the Assembly by participating in debates. "We had staged walkouts on a few occasions when we had disagreements with the Speaker. But eventually we had returned to the House to take part in the debates. We acted true to our conscience," he said.

However, DMK leader said that every day the ruling party members and minister has made it a habit to make provocative remarks to force his party members to protest.
Bhopal: In what may give the ruling dispensation fresh ammunition to target, the Opposition, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Thursday used the term Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) for Kashmir while attempting to corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the current state of affairs in the Valley.

Narendra Modi ji is more concerned about Pakistan occupied Kashmir. He thanks the people living in that area and that of Balochistan. But he is not ready to talk with people living in Kashmir. If we have to bring trust in the region, whether its Indian occupied Kashmir or Pakistan occupied Kashmir, we have to do that through talks, Singh told reporters.

#WATCH: Digvijaya Singh addresses J&K as India occupied Kashmir, later clarifies that it's integral part of Indiahttps://t.co/6XC28a2q5T  ANI (@ANI_news) August 18, 2016

The Congress leader, however, went in damage control mode and said that the Prime Minister is least bothered about Kashmir, which is an integral part of India.

I said that Prime Minister is not concerned about Indias Kashmir but about PoK. Kashmir is an integral part of India, he said.

On Wednesday, Senior Congress leader and former Home Minister P Chidambaram had blamed the PDP-BJP government for the unrest in Kashmir Valley and said the statements of Narendra Modi have "exacerbated" the crisis.

Chidambaram said he was deeply concerned over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, which is "sliding into total chaos". "The PDP-BJP government is squarely responsible for the sharp deterioration in the last 6 weeks," he said in a statement.

The former Home and Finance Minister in the UPA government said the statements of the Prime Minister, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar have "exacerbated" the crisis. "Moderation in words and actions alone can retrieve the situation. The loss of lives -- of protesting youth, other civilians and security forces -- has devastated all of us. This must stop," he said.

Normal life in Kashmir Valley has been affected due to protests against the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8. 63 persons have been so far killed in the ongoing unrest.
Chennai: Public works department minister Edappadi K. Palaniswamy on Wednesday allayed fears of the delta farmers by saying all legal steps would be taken to thwart construction of new dams across Cauvery river at Mekedatu in Karnataka and establish the rights of Tamil Nadu.

He informed the Assembly that the states petition pending in Supreme Court against construction of the new dams is expected to be taken up by the apex court soon.

After DMK deputy leader Durai Murugan raised the Mekedatu issue in the House urging government to organise an all-party meet and lead a delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the matter, he said, The petitions related to the issue are pending in Supreme Court and it is expected that the court will soon take them up for hearing.

Congress legislature party leader K. Ramasamy demanded that all parties unitedly voice Tamil Nadus concerns to the Centre. The minister recalled that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had written to Prime Minister Modi, central water resources department and Karnataka government in November 2014 against new dams in Mekedatu.

He said that since there was no reply to such letters, Tamil Nadu government approached the Supreme Court on November 18, 2014 seeking status quo and a direction to Karnataka to withdraw its expression of interest, inviting qualified firms for the Mekedatu dam works.

Following this Karnataka told the state government twice, first in November 2014 and later in March this year that it does not intend to construct new dams in Mekedatu without apprising Supreme Court vis-a-vis Tamil Nadus plea in this regard. Also, Jayalalithaa had in this June urged Modi to prevail on Karnataka not to proceed against new dams in Mekedatu.

He said, against such a background, the media has reported that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah in his Independence Day address had said `5,912 crore was estimated cost for building a dam in Mekedatu.

Through the initiative, the Karnataka Chief Minister has said drinking water would be supplied and 400 MW power generated, he said. The government of Amma (Jayalalithaa) will take all legal steps to uphold the rights of Tamil Nadu if Karnataka intended to implement any project without the consent of Tamil Nadu and against final award of the Cauvery Tribunal, he said.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will visit Myanmar next week during which she will meet with the top leadership of the country including State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.

This would be India's first high profile visit after Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won a historic landslide election last year that finally brought an end to five decades of military rule.

Swaraj will be in Myanmar on August 21 on a one-day visit. She was earlier scheduled to visit the country in May but the trip was cancelled at the last moment because the minister was not well.

She would be aiming to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Act East Policy'.

In recent years, both countries have have worked on their bilateral ties on several fronts.
Advocates for Floridas largest private school choice program notched another court victory, but it remains unclear if the legal fight is over, according to the Associated Press.

Under the program, corporations receive tax-credits in exchange for funding scholarships for low-income students to attend private schools, including religious ones.

Explainer: Whats the Difference Between Vouchers, Tax-Credit Scholarships, and Education Savings Accounts

A Florida appeals court agreed with a lower court ruling to toss out a lawsuit brought by the states largest teachers union, the Florida Education Association, among other groups, saying that plaintiffs are not being harmed by the program.

The Florida Education Association argued in its lawsuit that the tax-credit scholarship program is unconstitutional because it directs money toward religious schools and creates a private, parallel education system. Both those arguments were used successfully in 2006 to strike down Floridas traditional voucher program in which the state directly funded private school tuition vouchers.

The FEA has not yet said whether it will appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.

Related stories:
The dog barks up the wrong tree

While behind him whole forests grow

His indulgence in fantasy

Means there are things hell never know.

From Dhoka Kola by Bachchoo

This week, the Old Bailey announced a verdict of guilty against Islamist preacher and activist Anjem Choudary and one of his associates. The verdict of the Old Bailey jury was passed in July when the case ended, but the judge put a restriction on its release because another trial of nine defendants on similar charges was in progress at the court. The juries in each of the trials were carefully kept segregated and unaware of each others cases. Choudary, a notorious public figure was found guilty of encouraging terrorism and practically supporting ISIS or Daesh, or whatever you want to call the death-cult Caliphate active in Syria and Iraq. He has been accused of sending somewhere around 500 men, women and children to join ISIS by urging them to go and providing them, through communication with the death cult, practical support for the migration. He and his associate Mizanur Rahman will be sentenced in September.

Choudary has for several years been, at the least, a negative presence in the UK. His activities and the British states reaction or reluctance to react to them demonstrate the dilemmas that a democracy such as Britains faces. He has, for years, preached in person and on social media about jihad and the conversion of Britain and the world to Islam, about the immediate implementation of Sharia law and about his support for the vandals who murdered thousands in the 9/11 incidents in New York, for the July 2005 suicide bombers in London who murdered people on the underground and for the two Africans who knifed and beheaded a British soldier on the streets of Woolwich in open daylight. Choudary had preached hatred and jihad to these fellows and British intelligence traced his connection to the underground bombers.

Choudary was a founder of the now outlawed organisation Al Mahajiroun and of several other organisation taking on different fantasy names after Al Mahajiroun was banned. He is 49 years old and was born in Britain into the family of a Pakistani market trader. In keeping with the ambitions of second-generation immigrants everywhere, he enlisted in a medical college but failed his first year exams and had to leave. He switched to studying law, worked in a law firm and several years later qualified as a lawyer and became the chairman of the Society of Muslim Lawyers. He doesnt really practice law or believe in it as he demonstrated at his recent trial. You cant be a lawyer and insist that you dont recognise the courts or think the laws, which are those passed by the British Parliament and not Sharia, to be illegal. Nevertheless, till July 28, Choudary used his knowledge of the liberal laws of Britain to stay just this side of being successfully prosecuted.

He leads small demonstration of followers to jeer at the coffins of dead British soldiers at their funerals. These demonstrations, protected from the reaction of grieving friends and families of the dead servicemen and women and the wrath of the public who gather to pay their condolences, by cordons of British police are not illegal. The British law allows the right to demonstrate and shout slogans and carry placards which may be distasteful and insulting, as long as they dont advocate racial hatred or violence. To give speeches supporting Al Qaeda, to repeatedly praise Osama bin Laden and the mass murderers who flew hijacked planes into the Twin Towers, to say you support the actions of the deluded murderers who killed 53 people and themselves in London, or to demonstrate in support of the killers of Charlie Hebdo cartoonists and journalists is not illegal. Thats not a legal loophole, thats the protection of the sacred right of people in Britain to exercise their right to freedom of opinion. It is a freedom that the British people and legislators will defend, even in the face of characters such as Choudary and his hapless fantasy-outfit followers.

Choudary lives off proceeds from the British welfare state. No doubt his organisations are funded by international regimes favouring his stances, but he, his wife and four children live in a house which they own and whose mortgage is paid for by the British state. Choudary claims 25,000 a year in what the government hands out as unemployment benefit, renamed under the last government as job-seekers allowance. Very recently Choudary made a recorded speech urging his followers to become unemployed and live off this British welfare benefit and regard it as jihad seekers allowance. He later said it was a joke and, this may be regarded as funny, depending on your sense of humour or irony, or it may appeal as appropriately encapsulated by our Urdu phrase namak haram. Now, of course, after he and his mate are sentenced for their active support of a terrorist organisation, he will in all probability be living off a jail seekers allowance  again at the expense of the British taxpayer.

Soon after Al Baghdadi declared himself the Caliph of Islam, Choudary sought the advice of his mentor Omar Bakri Mohammed, at present in jail in Lebanon and volunteered his support for this Caliphate. Despite his cautionary strategy of using British liberality to get away with the most provocative acts and propaganda, he then overstepped the mark. He was convicted of actively supporting Daesh, though he has made no moves to join the Caliphs jihad personally and journey to Syria. Let no one conclude that Choudary is a popular figure amongst Britains Muslims. A network of 4,000 people calling themselves Muslims Against Choudary welcomed his conviction. He has been denounced by imams, leaders of opinion in the British Muslim world and by former jihadists who were once his disciples but now characterise his Salafi-Wahhabi and improvised medievalism as non and even anti-Islamic.
Since early this year, India-Pakistan relations have quick-marched to a point of near-freeze, and Islamabad has done what it could to ensure that result. When Prime Minister Narendra Modis Christmas Day surprise drop-by visit to greet Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif on his birthday in Lahore was followed within days by a terrorist assault from Pakistan on our Air Force base at Pathankot  and Pakis-tans refusal, in effect, to allow Indian investigators to examine Pakistani suspects in reciprocation of New Delhi allowing ISI personnel to study the scene of the crime at the sensitive base  the message was writ large.

The Pakistan Army desired to quash the faintest prospect of India-Pakistan conversations re-commencing on any issue at all  not just terrorism and Kashmir, even the latter on which Islamabad harps all the time. To drive the point home, Pakistan kept sending infiltrators into Kashmir Valley in record numbers this year, finding the Indian response against them flat-footed. This build-up of terrorist assets in the Valley was to preposition its evil-doers to take advantage of any situation, and that opportunity came following the spontaneous public protests after the killing of the Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. The Pakistani terrorists are now spreading daily mayhem in the Valley.

A sensible and practical Indian riposte has to be two-pronged  to hit the ideology of Pakistan where it hurts and to calm Kashmiri fears and assuage aggrieved and bitter feelings. Questioning Pakistans moral integrity  as a country that gloats over terrorist strikes and extols terrorists  as Mr Modi did on Independence Day is valid. Reiteration of our rights over Gilgit, Baltistan and PoK was also overdue. The sustained violation of human rights in Balochistan has been raised by India before, but not by a PM from the Red Fort.

The likely effects of this can be debated. Nevertheless, a question needs to be asked: Did Balochistan ever accede to Pakistan or did Muhammad Ali Jinnah just grab Kalat, which sits on the mouth of the proposed Gwadar Port being built with Chinese assistance for strategic reasons in March 1948? The Pakistanis got hyperactive on India in 2014 when the Chinese promised to pump in $46 billion for infrastructure and the US promised to hand Islamabad the golden key to Afghanistan. At the moment, the Americans are holding back, though. Their troops moghul in Afghanistan  Gen. John Nicholson  urged India to supply defence hardware to Kabul. The US has also withheld $300 million aid to Islamabad. It is time to probe Pakistan all round.
On pressing the panic button, the app will trigger up to 60-second audio and video recording mode, which will be relayed to the Police Control Room and to the victims guardians.

Womens safety is now an important topic and there are many industry segments that are working towards the safety of women in India, and around the world. In India, while the government agencies are working their bit, the tech segment is not far behind. Since technology is gaining speed, and smartphones are one of the most personal devices that everyone carries, the device is now considered as one of the topmost safety tool that one can use towards security. With internet and GPS already available to almost 90-percent smartphone users in India, a smartphone can be of huge help where safety is concerned.

A simple app can now help save a lifebe it a child, a senior citizen or anyone for that matter. There are several safety apps available out there and anyone can use it today. Safety apps are highly advised for women, children, senior citizen and those with severe health issues.

Most safety apps feature a simple panic button scenario, which either uses a physical or soft button (or combination of buttons) to send out an alert. The alert system of most apps include sending out an SMS, email, call and GPS location of the victim to a set number of friends or family numbers. However, most apps do not have the police involved in the scene and one would have to rely on the friend or family saviour to inform the police.

Of the plethora of apps available on various smartphone platforms, EyeWatch is one app that emerges as a top player, which involves the police control room in a panic scenario. The app is free to use and has a set of unique features that can help save lives.

EyeWatch, a mobile application that allows women to send alert messages to their friends/relatives as well as police authorities, in case of emergency, was launched in India a while back. While the app is not new, there are many out there who have not yet heard about the service.

The app caters to housewives, employed women as well as children and senior citizen, who use smartphones. EyeWatch works on mobile devices running Googles Android, Apples iOS, BlackBerrys BBOS and Nokias Symbian operating systems.

Simple to use and operate, EyeWatch is free to download and register. Once done, a few settings and parameters need to be completed and you are all set to be safer.

Once the user registers, he/she will receive a verification link on the registered email ID. After this, the app will ask the user to feed in the contact details of at least two guardians along with details of a doctor and security personnel. The app allows users to register up to eight guardians. The app finally needs permissions to access your microphone and camera in order to work efficiently. This is just a one-time process.

EyeWatch features multiple alerts medical, security, personal and travel. The app has a few settings, which allows a user to set the panic button accordingly. For now, older smartphones can use the power button as a panic button by pressing it four times in a set sequence. All newer smartphones from 2017, after the governments order, will start featuring a panic button, and the app will be updated to make use of it accordingly. The app also has optional soft buttons for respective panics. On opening the app, there are around four buttons, each representing the type of panic featuremedical, travel, personal and security.

In terms of medical emergencies, the app can be set to send out an alert even without the user pressing the button or opening the app. This is where EyeWatchs unique feature comes into play. If you are a senior citizen, or suffer from a major health issue, the app can be set to sense a strong shake on the smartphone. The gyro and accelerometer sensors, within the smartphone, sense the change in the smartphones behaviour to sense a possible panic. This could be scenario where a person with a health related issue happens to trip or fall or if the phone has been thrown to the ground. The app will automatically send out a panic alert in such cases. However, we inquired with the app developers that the feature could cause false alerts since people tend to drop their smartphones pretty often or if a child is playing with it. In reply, they said that the alert will definitely be sent out, but can also be cancelled in cases of a false alarm. In case of a child handling the phone, the app can be paused or the feature can be temporarily turned off.

As for another feature of EyeWatch, on pressing the panic button, the app will trigger up to 60-second audio and video recording mode, which will be relayed to the Police Control Room and to the victims guardians. However, this needs the internet to be available. In case the internet, GPS and mobile network is unavailable, the panic alert will be sent out as soon as there is an available network. As for the GPS, the nearest traceable location (via GPS or mobile tower) or the last available location will be sent out to the guardians, and police control room.

The alert sent out to the guardian has a set number of information that can help him track you down. This information consists of a GPS location and a url, which the user can tap and locate you in real-time. Additionally, the audio and video will also be available. The police control room also gets the same information. Once your panic alert has been turned off by you, the guardians will get another alert whether it was a false alarm or an I am now safe mode. Turning off the panic alert will also stop your guardians and the police control room to get your real-time geo-location, so that they cannot track you anymore. To turn off an alert/alarm or a false panic alert, the user would be asked to confirm the app password, which is an added security feature so that the attacker does not have a chance to turn it off. And for the highlight featureif you are pressing the panic button in case of an emergency, the phones display goes completely blank, and none of the buttons will work, making your attacker think that the phone has been switched off. But the phone is actually secretly recording a video and audio of the surroundings, allowing you to use it as proof of incident.

EyeWatch, with its unique set of features, sets it completely apart from existing panic apps. We recommend everyone to use the app, especially women and senior citizen. The founders at EyeWatch are also working continuously to improve the app, its ability to do more and keep us safe. Additionally, they are also working on a separate portable GSM-based GPS-enabled safety device for children. However, they havent given us any more information on the device or the date for release of the same.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Five years of drought have turned the state's wildlands into a tinder box, with eight fires currently burning from Shasta County in the far north to Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego. (Photo: AP)

San Bernandino: A wildfire with a ferocity never seen before by veteran California firefighters raced up and down canyons, instantly engulfing homes and forcing thousands of people to flee, some running for their lives just ahead of the flames.

By Wednesday, a day after it ignited in brush left bone dry by years of drought, the blaze had raged across 40 square miles, though by the end of the day the first foothold was gained and more than 1,500 firefighters had the blaze 4 percent contained.

Authorities could not immediately say how many homes had been destroyed, but they warned that the number will be large.

"There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing," San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig said after flying over a fire scene he described as "devastating."

"It hit hard. It hit fast. It hit with an intensity that we hadn't seen before," he said.

No deaths were reported, but cadaver dogs were searching the ruins for anyone who was overrun by the flames. The cause of the fire wasn't immediately known.

Five years of drought have turned the state's wildlands into a tinder box, with eight fires currently burning from Shasta County in the far north to Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego.

"In my 40 years of fighting fire, I've never seen fire behavior so extreme," Incident Commander Mike Wakoski said a day after the latest blaze broke out Tuesday in Cajon Pass, a critical highway and rail corridor through mountain ranges that separate Southern California's major population centers from the Mojave Desert and Las Vegas.

Residents like Vi Delgado and her daughter April Christy, who had been through a major brushfire years before, said they had never seen anything like it either.

"No joke, we were literally being chased by the fire," a tearful April Christy said in a voice choked with emotion as she and her mother sat in their minivan in an evacuation center parking lot in Fontana. They did not go inside because their dogs, three Chihuahuas and a mixed-breed mutt, were not allowed.

"You've got flames on the side of you. You've got flames behind you," Christy said, describing a harrowing race down a mountain road. She was led by a sheriff's patrol car in front while a California Highway Patrol vehicle trailed behind and a truck filled with firefighters battled flames alongside her.

She and her mother, onsite caretakers at the Angels and Paws animal rescue shelter in Devore Heights, said it was only moments after they smelled smoke that flames exploded all around them. They grabbed their pets and tried to rescue nine other shelter dogs and three cats, but a sheriff's deputy told them there was no time.

"You won't make it. Save yourself. Take your truck and leave," Delgado said the deputy shouted at her, adding that he and others would try to rescue the animals. She learned later that authorities did save the animals, but officials could not tell her if her home survived.

More than 34,000 homes and about 82,000 people were under evacuation warnings as firefighters concentrated their efforts on saving homes in the mountain communities of Lytle Creek, Wrightwood and Phelan. They implored residents not to think twice if told to leave, but it appears many were staying.

"From reports that we were hearing, possibly up to half didn't leave," said Lyn Sieliet, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman.

"It does change the way that we can fight fire," she added, "Now we have to worry about the people in there as well as trying to protect the structures and trying to build a line of defense as the fire comes toward that area."

Six firefighters were briefly trapped by flames during the fire's early hours, when occupants of a home refused to leave and the crew stayed to protect them.

Hundreds of cars packed with belongings and animals left the town. The air for miles around the blaze was filled with smoke.

Although there was no official count on how many homes were lost, Eric Sherwin of the San Bernardino County Fire Department said Tuesday that he had seen at least a dozen buildings go up in flames, some of them homes. Among them was the Summit Inn, a historic Route 66 diner near Interstate 15. Countless big rigs were parked along both sides of the highway on Wednesday, waiting for it to reopen.

Less than 24 hours after the blaze began 60 miles east of Los Angeles, authorities had assembled a fleet of 10 air tankers, 15 helicopters and an army of 1,500 firefighters, many of them just off the lines of a wildfire that burned for 10 days just to the east.

At a dawn briefing, half the firefighters raised their hands when asked how many had just come from one of the other infernos burning across California. In all, 10,000 firefighters are fighting the eight ongoing blazes.

One major fire, north of San Francisco, was fading, and about 4,000 people in the town of Clearlake were allowed to return home.

Their relief was tempered by anger at a 40-year-old man authorities believe set the blaze that wiped out several blocks of the small town of Lower Lake over the weekend. That fire destroyed 175 homes and other structures in the working-class community.

Damin Pashilk is charged with 14 counts of arson in connection with 12 separate fires dating back to July 2015 and one count of attempted arson. He appeared in court on Wednesday, but he did not enter a plea.
Deborah Lee James, Secretary of the United States Air Force, during a media interaction on Wednesday in New York about her upcoming visit to India next month. (Photo: AP)

New York: India and the United States will discuss co-producing military aircraft including the F-16s during US Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James' upcoming visit to New Delhi later this month that would look at ways to deepen bilateral partnerships and take it to the next level.

Indo-US cooperation in defence technology and trade initiatives will be the focus of her visit to India which is part of her maiden visit to four Asian countries that would also take her to Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines.

She will also discuss the situation in the South China Sea besides the growing threat of terrorism.

During her visit to India, she will meet Chief of Air Staff Marshal Arup Raha and Defence Secretary G. Mohan Kumar and will also discuss with her Indian counterparts proposals to co-produce aircraft in India in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Make in India' campaign.

"We will be looking to see how can we deepen our partnerships and how can we take it to the next level," James said in response to a question at a press briefing on Wednesday on what her focus will be during her visit to India.

She said she will discuss defence technology and follow up on the trade initiatives, which were launched during US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter's visit to India in April.

James replied in the affirmative when asked if she will follow up on American defence major Lockheed Martin's proposals to assemble F-16s in India as well as on discussions to collaborate in bolstering India's fighter jets and the jet engine technology working group.

"I will be following up on all of those topics, discussing these counterpart to counterpart on a bilateral basis. I will be seeking the views of my counterparts, what their opinion is on the various proposals on the table and what more needs to happen to advance the ball on some of these proposals.

"I am also aware of the Prime Minister's push for Make in India and the importance of creating new jobs in that sector.

One of the proposals would be to co-produce certain aircraft in India and that might be one example of something that will be useful from a military standpoint but also might play into the Make in India campaign," she said.

57-year-old James, who is only the second woman to hold the post, said she would also follow up on the initiatives launched during Carter's visit and the possible outcomes of it from the Air Force perspective.

She, however, noted that while some proposals will move forward, others may not if they are not the right fit.

Describing the Indian Air Force as a "very effective fighting unit", she said it has been a participant over the years in "red-flag" exercise series, where the US gets together with coalition partners to train and inter-operate and "test ourselves in a high-end and very challenging difficult environment".

James added that she also looks forward to congratulating India on the "magnificent execution" of the operation undertaken to evacuate Indian citizens from South Sudan.
Salt Lake City: When it became apparent that Donald Trump would win the Republican presidential nomination, Andy Rasmussen's path seemed clear: he resigned his GOP leadership position in northern Utah and left the party to become an unaffiliated voter.

Now Rasmussen and thousands of Utah Republicans wary of Trump are left scrambling to settle on a candidate of choice come Election Day.

Utah is one of the most homogenous states in the nation with a predominant religion - Mormonism - which often inspires some level of political conformity. Yet Trump has shattered the Republican consensus here, activating fault lines under even the most stable-looking electorate.

Rasmussen and other Republicans who outnumber Democrats nearly five-to-one among the state's 1.3 million active voters are grappling with whether they distrust Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton more, and trying to assess two long shot candidates.

"I do believe her to be almost hopelessly corrupt," said Rasmussen, a former legislative chairman and member of the Cache County Republican Party Executive Committee. "However, in comparison, I think Trump represents a clear and present danger to the republic where she does not," he added, dubbing Trump "a prepubescent megalomaniac with no morals."

The billionaire businessman is still expected to win the six electoral votes in Utah, which hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. But even Trump acknowledged last week that he's "having a tremendous problem in Utah." About seven in 10 Mormons lean Republican - more than any other major religion in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center.

Evangelical Protestants are the next closest religious group with 56 percent of their members leaning Republican.

Some Utah Republicans are already exploring alternatives like Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, who's based his campaign in Salt Lake City, or Evan McMullin, a relatively unknown ex-CIA officer and Brigham Young University graduate who has managed to get on the ballot in Utah and a few other states. Some Republicans also are toying with the unfathomable - a vote for Clinton.

Democrats in Utah have already seen an 18-percent increase in voter registration from early March to mid-August - compared to a 5-percent decrease in that time period in 2012.

Republican voter registrations are also up, with an 11-percent increase this year compared to a 5 percent rise four years ago. But that jump in GOP voters could also be explained by a closely-watched primary race for governor this past June in which only registered Republicans could participate.

Trump's inability to connect to Mormon voters, who are more accustomed to cordiality than his famously brash temperament, has extended to Mormon strongholds in the West, including Arizona, swing state Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming. But it is most pronounced in Utah, headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Beyond his in-your-face demeanor, Trump's call for a temporary ban of foreign Muslims didn't go over well either. Mormons say it harkens to past efforts to persecute members of their own faith.

Former Republican nominee Mitt Romney, among the most high-profile Mormons in America, has been a persistent critic of Trump, and delivered a speech in Utah earlier this year where he ripped into the candidate as a "phony" who is unfit for office.

Clinton doesn't have a glowing track record in Utah either - losing the state's March caucus to Bernie Sanders by a landslide - and political professionals don't expect her to win the state. She'd have to convert large numbers of anti-Trump voters while also hoping Johnson and McMullin siphon off a significant slice of other disaffected Republicans.

The race has even split Utah's normally-unified political hierarchy. Some prominent Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and Gov. Gary Herbert, endorsed Trump, but others, including Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, find it difficult to ignore the barrage of tweets, speeches and interviews that make them cringe.

Cox, an up-and-coming politician, says he doesn't know who he will vote for, only that it won't be Clinton.

David Irvine, a former Republican state legislator and retired brigadier general, said voting for Johnson or McMullin is as useful as voting for "Donald Duck." He's instead risking scorn by crossing party lines to vote for Clinton because he thinks Trump is temperamentally unsuited and woefully unqualified to make vital national security decisions.

"He could do more damage in 90 minutes as president than most other people would be able to accomplish in a much longer period of time," Irvine said. "Whatever baggage Hillary Clinton brings, his is worse."

Clinton has done little to court Utah voters outside of a guest editorial laced with Mormon themes in the Deseret News. Trump followed with his own guest editorial in the Mormon-owned newspaper this week, touting support from Herbert and Hatch and asserted that it is a top priority for him to earn the trust of Utah voters. The piece made no mention of Mormonism or his call for Cold War-style ideological tests.

Greg Hughes, the speaker of the state House of Representatives and a Trump supporter, said his fellow GOP voters just need to get used to Trump's frankness.

"His bluntness and his candor is not what Utahns are used to in elected officials, but I think that there's nothing wrong with candor," Hughes said. "I think that we've had too many candidates that say nothing to offend no one."
Guzman is awaiting extradition to the U.S. and his lawyers complained that the new location made it difficult for them to remain in contact with their client. (Photo: AP)

Mexico City: A Mexican judge has issued an injunction that could send drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman from a prison in a border state back to the maximum security prison from which he previously escaped outside Mexico City, one of his lawyers said late Wednesday.

Lawyer Jose Refugio Rodriguez said the government could appeal the decision and it could take three months to resolve.

Guzman was recaptured in January and initially placed back in the Altiplano prison. However, authorities transferred him in May to a federal prison in the northern state of Chihuahua, saying security measures were being improved at Altiplano.

The cartel leader is awaiting extradition to the U.S. and his lawyers complained that the new location made it difficult for them to remain in contact with their client.

Guzman heads Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel. On Tuesday, authorities in Jalisco state announced that his son was among six people abducted from a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta.

Guzman's lawyers have not spoken with their client since last Thursday, Refugio said. So they had not informed him of his son's abduction, but he could not say whether other relatives had told him.
Marcus Gottsche shot a friend for eating his leftover sandwich has been sentenced to 22 years in prison. (Photo: Twitter)

Buffalo, New York: A New York man who fatally shot a friend for eating his leftover sandwich has been sentenced to 22 years in prison.

The Erie County district attorney's office says 34-year-old Marcus Gottsche was sentenced Wednesday in the death of 28-year-old Jasmine Armour, of Buffalo.

Prosecutors say Gottsche and Armour spent a night drinking in February 2011 before returning to his Buffalo home. That's where a fight started after she started eating his sandwich.

Gottsche grabbed his rifle and shot Armour in the back as she tried to flee from the home.

He was convicted of murder in December 2011, but the verdict was vacated last year when a court ruled he was denied effective legal representation.

Gottsche pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in June.
Hot Springs, Arkansas: In a horrifying incident, a four-year-old girl was rescued by police officials from a house in the US State of Arkansas after she was repeatedly zip-tied to a bed and beaten up by her mother and her boyfriend.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, when police discovered the minor at a home in Hot Springs, Arkansas, she was covered with bruises all over her body, severely injured right eye, ligature marks on her wrist and scars on her back.

During investigation, when police asked her name, she responded by saying 'idiot'.

Following the incident, police arrested the victim's mother, Jennifer Denen, 30, and her boyfriend Clarence Reed, 47.

Police said that when they found the girl, she had dried blood stains in and around her mouth, which pointed out that the girl was brutally thrashed by the accused. Medical examination of the victim revealed that she had also been starved for days.

In her statement to the police, another juvenile confirmed that the victim was often tied up, beaten and was referred to as an 'idiot'.

Confessing to the crime, Reed said that he had hit the girl with a wooden paddle and tied her to a bed after he found her climbing on one of the cupboards at their home.

If convicted, the victim's mother and her boyfriend face up to 32 years in prison. Both the accused in the case have been held on a bond of $500,000 and are due to appear in court on August 23 for the next hearing.
USD 400 million was the first instalment of the USD 1.7 billion settlement reached by the Obama Administration with Iran. (Photo: Representational Image)

Washington: The Obama Administration withheld USD 400 million ransom that was paid to Iran in a plane 'till the time' its hostages were released by Tehran, a major US daily reported on Thursday in a potentially damaging report for the Democratic party campaign.

"US officials wouldn't let Iranians take control of the money until a Swiss Air Force plane carrying three freed Americans departed from Tehran on January 17. Once that happened, an Iranian cargo plane was allowed to bring the cash home from a Geneva airport that day," The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Obama Administration has insisted that the payment was part of its effort to sort out a long pending dispute with Iran and was not a ransom. However, the opposition Republican party does not seem to be convinced.

USD 400 million was the first instalment of the USD 1.7 billion settlement reached by the Obama Administration with Iran.

"It's time for the White House to drop the charade and admit it paid a USD 400 million ransom to the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," the Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Reince Priebus has said in a statement.

"President (Barack) Obama has foolishly put a price on the head of every American abroad and it should be no surprise that Iran has since detained more US citizens.

"Hillary Clinton's support for this dangerous blunder shows once again she does not have the judgement to be President," Priebus has said.

According to the report, executives from Iran's flagship carrier Iran Air, organised the flight from Tehran to Geneva where the cash, euros and Swiss francs and other currencies was loaded onto the aircraft.

"Our top priority was getting the Americans home," a US official was quoted as saying.

Once the Americans were "wheels up" on the morning of January 17, Iranian officials in Geneva were allowed to take custody of the USD 400 million in currency, according to officials briefed on the exchange, the daily reported.
Earlier this month I read about a school district in Lincoln, Neb., that was extending its high school library hours to provide Internet access to students who didnt have it at home. The move followed the districts decision to provide Chromebooks for all students in 3rd through 12th grades. Now all of the districts high school libraries will stay open at least until 5 p.m. with a couple of schools providing this service until 8 p.m.

That made me wonder if this was part of some new trend. It seems like it would be a great way to help students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. So I decided to ask an expert in school libraries. Audrey Church is the president of the American Association of School Librarians . We recently talked by phone, and below is a lightly edited version of our conversation.

So is this Lincoln, Neb., program unique or is it something youre starting to see become widespread?

We had seen instances of this in the past, but it is my understanding that this is not currently widespread. Certainly, all school librarians want to provide access to books and information to their students, but the ability to have those extended hours is difficult when you dont have the funding and the support to do so.

Do you think that as more schools start to provide students with devices like Chromebooks this will become more commonplace?

I would hope so. One of our nine common beliefs is that equitable access is a key component to education. When we think about that probably 25 (percent) to 30 percent of our children do not have reliable or broadband Internet access in their homes, if were not providing that access to them in the school library that Chromebook is not going to be useful to them. If they dont have that Internet access at home then theyre not having access to information, and it really is an equity issue.

What about opening school libraries in the morning before school starts? Have you seen schools doing that?

There are perhaps isolated instances. There are a lot of issues involved. One, of course, is staffing if you have a library open and you want to have the services of a certified school librarian so that the children can have the access to that expertise that they need in order to use those devices and find and evaluate information.

Another issue, along with the staffing is funding for that staffing. In the morning, perhaps not so much, but if youre extending hours in the evening theres the issue of the building being open and security can come into play. Where I have observed this happening most, and its not common in any way, but I work in Virginia, and in Virginia, we do have a requirement that every school has a certified school librarian. At the middle and high school levels, when you reach 1,000 students, youre required to have a second, certified full-time librarian. So I have seen cases where, with two people on staff, they can do staggered hours, and its easier in a situation like that because you can have one person coming in in the morning and opening the library early and perhaps leaving earlier and another person coming in a bit later and staying in the evenings so that you provide that certified librarian the entire time the librarys open. But thats not commoneven in Virginia, it would only be in the larger schools. I know that its not common in a lot of other states where they dont even have one certified librarian in a school.

Five or 10 years from now do you think the majority of school libraries will have extended hours?

Our focus is on student learning, and so anything that school libraries can do to contribute to student learning is what well see in the future. Weve always talked about the digital divide, but Im afraid that that divide is increasing rather than decreasing precisely because of the issues that weve talked about today. Were putting the devices in the childrens hands, but if they dont have the capability of using those devices outside of the school building, were doing a disservice to those who are less affluent.

As school librarians, we want to provide both physical and virtual access to our libraries. Once upon a time it was only physical access. Students had to come to the library in order to use our resources. Then when we started to expand into the virtual realm, we were able to provide services with our web pages. But as weve moved more into that digital realm, that virtual realm, the equity issue is becoming larger and larger. And as more and more of our resources are available only in that format, the gap is increasing rather than decreasing.

See also:
Harrouff stormed out of a restaurant where he was having dinner with his family on Monday night, apparently agitated over slow service. (Photo: Videograb)

Tequesta: A 19-year-old Florida State University student charged with fatally stabbing a couple outside their home and then biting the dead mans face remained under surveillance early Wednesday with guards nearby at a West Palm Beach hospital.

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said Austin Harrouff was incoherent and making animal-like noises when he was taken to St. Marys Medical Center after the Monday night attack in a quiet neighborhood north of Jupiter.

On Tuesday, Snyder told reporters that Harrouffs condition was life-threatening. West Palm Beach television station WPTV reported on Wednesday that Harrouff is sedated and on a ventilator with guards stationed nearby.

Snyder said Harrouff stormed out of a restaurant where he was having dinner with his family on Monday night, apparently agitated over slow service.

A short time later, Michelle Mishcon, 53, and John Stevens III, 59, were attacked outside their home. Neighbours said they had a habit of sitting in their garage, where they often kept the door open while they watched television.

Neighbor Jeff Fisher, 47, tried to help but was stabbed during the attack. He was breathing heavily on the 911 call, which was released Tuesday. He told the operator that the assailant had attacked a woman and then him when he tried to intervene. Fisher was bleeding profusely and taken to a hospital. His father, Steve Fisher, told WPTV that his son was stabbed once in the neck, three times in the back and once in the side. Hes expected to survive.

When a deputy arrived at the couples home, she used her Taser on Harrouff, but it didnt faze him, Snyder said. She tried pulling him off Stevens body, but couldnt. Other deputies arrived shortly along with a dog and it took all of them to subdue Harrouff. Snyder said they didnt shoot, fearing their bullets would strike the victim.

The suspect in this case was abnormally strong, Snyder said, making him think Harrouff was on drugs. He said hospital blood tests showed no signs of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin or other common drugs; it will take longer to test for less common hallucinogenic drugs such as flakka or bath salts.

Dr. Wade Harrouff, a dentist, declined to comment about his sons arrest.

Attorney Michelle Suskauer told WPTV shell be representing Austin Harrouff if he survives. She told the television station that his parents have not been able to see him, but shes continuing to request permission for them to be by his side.

She said he is in serious condition in the hospitals intensive care unit.

Obviously we dont know what predicated these acts. But certainly, there are mental health issues that are going to have to be investigated here. We dont know if anything is going to show up on toxicology or not, Suskauer said.
People watch a TV news showing a file image of Thae Yong Ho, minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, who defected to South Korea. (Photo: AP)

Seoul: A privileged background and powerful connections with the ruling elite back in Pyongyang appear to have provided the springboard for North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-Ho's successful defection to South Korea, analysts said on Thursday.

Thae, the number two at the North Korean embassy in Britain, is one of the highest ranking diplomats ever to defect to the South  gifting Seoul a major propaganda coup at a time of rising tension on the divided Korean peninsula.

Any defection by a ranking member of an overseas North Korean mission would make waves, but London is considered a particularly prestigious posting that puts Thae's move on a whole different level.

"The embassy in London is reserved only for some of the foreign ministry's top officials," said Victor Cha, director of Asian studies for the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Previous ambassadors to Britain include North Korea's recently appointed foreign minister, Ri Yong-Ho.

"In this regard, Thae's defection represents the flight of some of the North's best and brightest  their diplomatic cream of the crop," Cha said.

Prior to his defection, Thae had worked at the embassy for 10 years  an unusually lengthy period of time in such a high-profile posting.

Likeable, urbane and articulate

Overseas diplomats are generally recalled to Pyongyang every three or four years and undergo a period of "re-education" before being posted abroad again.

Thae's defection was also eased by having his wife and children with him. Some diplomats have to leave family members in the North, precisely to deter flight impulses.

Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul also noted reports that one of Thae's sons had already graduated from university, while another was due to take up a place at Imperial College London.

"That's unusual, because diplomats' children are normally called back to the North after they graduate high school," Yang said.

"All of this suggests he had impeccable credentials and must have been considered very loyal and trustworthy in Pyongyang," Yang added.

According to South Korean media reports, both Thae and his wife were of blue-blooded North Korean revolutionary stock.

Thae's late father was believed to be a four-star general, Thae Pyong-Ryol, who fought with North Korea's founder leader Kim Il-Sung against Japanese colonial forces, the Yonhap news agency reported.

And his wife Oh Hae-Son was also related to a senior ranking member of the anti-Japanese guerrilla campaign, Oh Baek-Ryong.

The JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, which had broken the original story of Thae's defection, published a grainy black-and-white photo Thursday, purportedly showing Oh Baek Ryong standing next to Kim Il-Sung in 1947 and holding Kim's son and eventual successor, Kim Jong-Il, in his arms.

During his stint in London, a large part of Thae's duties involved countering criticism of North Korea's human rights record and other negative media coverage.

British journalists who met him, described Thae as likeable, urbane and highly articulate  qualities that come across in a series of talks posted on YouTube in which, among other things, he compares life in Britain and North Korea.
Around 80 rescue workers deployed to the scene, where access is very difficult. (Photo: AFP)

Montpellier: A train crashed into a tree that had fallen onto the tracks in a hailstorm in southern France on Wednesday, leaving eight people seriously injured, rescue workers said.

The regional service carrying some 250 passengers was travelling at 140 kilometres an hour (87 mph) between Nimes and Montpellier when it hit a tree that had been uprooted by a hailstorm.

One of the seriously injured was rushed to hospital by helicopter in an "absolutely urgent" state, according to the head of local rescue services, Christophe Risdorfer. Another 50 people suffered minor injuries or were in shock, he said.

National rail operator SNCF said in a statement, "At Lunel at around 3:45 pm, a TER (regional train) going at 140 kmh hit a tree which had fallen on to the track after extremely violent storms in the region."

Around 80 rescue workers deployed to the scene, where SNCF said "access is very difficult."
Police imposed a fine of 32 each on four women of the 10 women who were found wearing burkinis on a Cannes beach. (Photo: AP/Representational Image)

Cannes: For the first time since the ban on burkinis on Cannes beaches, the French police on Wednesday issued warnings to 10 women and fined four of them for violating the ban.

According to a report in Daily Mail, some of the women, aged between 29 and 57, were accompanied by their children to the French beach, while others were spotted swimming in the sea in burkinis.

Police imposed a fine of 32 each on four women before asking all 10 of them to leave the Riviera resort of Cannes. The warnings would mean all the 10 women would have a criminal record.

The French authorities took action against these women on the basis of new rules imposed last weekend by Cannes Mayor David Lisnard.

Access to beaches and for swimming is banned to anyone who does not have bathing apparel that respects good customs and secularism, the new ruling states.

Later, Mayors of three more resorts in France expressed their interest in following Lisnards footstep and imposing ban on burkinis.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls had also supported the ban on burkinis, saying the swimwear is based on the "enslavement of women" and therefore incompatible with French values.

The burkini, a wetsuit-like garment that covers the torso, limbs and head, has prompted a growing national discussion about Islam and women's bodies, even though it's only worn by a handful of Muslims.

Three French Mediterranean towns have banned the garment on beaches this summer, citing security concerns after a season marred by deadly extremist attacks. Critics say the bans are discriminatory and could inflame religious and social tensions. Many also see the bans themselves as sexist, decrees from male mayors telling women what they can and can't wear.
The procedure has come under massive international scrutiny in recent years, with UN chief Ban Ki-Moon in 2014 launching a global campaign to end it. (Representational Image)

Moscow: A senior Muslim cleric in Russia has prompted controversy by urging universal female genital mutilation after a rights group released a report on the practice in the country's North Caucasus region.

Mufti Ismail Berdiyev, who heads a Muslim association for the North Caucasus region, said Wednesday that if FGM "could be applied to all women, that would be very good" in an interview with Interfax news agency.

The practice, which ranges from pricking of the clitoris to its complete removal, causes infections and loss of sensation.

The procedure has come under massive international scrutiny in recent years, with UN chief Ban Ki-Moon in 2014 launching a global campaign to end it.

Berdiyev, who was decorated by President Vladimir Putin in March, said FGM does not stop women from fulfilling their ordained role of motherhood and if all women were mutilated, "there would be less fornication".

He later retracted his comments, claiming that he had been joking and Islam does not call for FGM.

'Compulsory ritual'

A controversial Russian Orthodox cleric and blogger, the Church's former spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin, backed Berdiyev saying that Muslims had a right to a "time-honoured tradition".

"You probably don't need to 'circumcise' all women, there's no need with Orthodox women as they don't fornicate anyway," he added.

The head of the health ministry's public health department Oleg Salagai insisted FGM is "mutilating and not positive in any way," quoted by RIA Novosti news agency.

Berdiyev spoke after rights NGO Russian Justice Group released a report Monday on the ritual cutting of young girls' genitals in some mountain villages in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan.

The report said that in Dagestan the practice has gone "without any attention whatsoever from the authorities".

"In Dagestan, most of society is still not ready to admit that this problem exists," it said, adding that FGM has "almost total support" in certain villages where it is seen as a "compulsory ritual" to control sexual desire.

The group said it managed to talk to 25 women aged 19-70 who underwent FGM, who spoke of the pain and trauma of the operation.

UNICEF figures published this year indicate that some 200 million girls in the world are subjected to genital mutilation, 44 million of whom are younger than 15-years-old.

More than half of the total figure is living in Indonesia, Egypt and Ethiopia, though data is incomplete in many countries.
Turkish authorities search outside the damaged building of the police headquarters after an explosion in Elazig, eastern Turkey, on Thursday. (Photo: AP)

Ankara: Twelve people were killed in a spate of bombings against Turkish security forces blamed on Kurdish rebels who appear to have ramped up their campaign of attacks in the aftermath of the failed coup.

Turkish officials accused the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) of carrying out three bloody attacks in less than 24 hours that for the first time struck areas in the east that are not predominantly Kurdish.

This nation will never surrender to any terrorist organisation, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Thursday on a visit to the scene of one of the bombings.

The bloodshed comes in the week that the PKK  regarded as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its Western allies  marks what is considered to be the 32nd anniversary of its armed rebellion against the Turkish state.

In the deadliest strike, five soldiers and a village guard were killed when a homemade bomb blew up in the path of a military convoy in the southeastern town of Bitlis on Thursday, Turkish media reported.

Just a few hours earlier, three cops were killed and more than 200 people injured in a car bombing against police headquarters in the eastern city of Elazig, leaving the building in ruins.

The city, a conservative nationalist bastion, had been spared much of the violence that has rocked the Kurdish-dominated southeast since a two-and-a-half year ceasefire collapsed in 2015.

And on Wednesday night, two more policemen and a civilian were killed and dozens wounded in a similar attack in the city of Van, not far from the border with Iran. The rebels appear to have intensified attacks since the failed coup.
Beijing: A top Chinese military officer visited Syria this week in a show of support for President Bashar Assad's embattled regime, official media reported Thursday.

Rear Adm. Guan Youfei met on Sunday with Syrian Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij in Damascus. He also met the following day with a Russian general who is coordinating his country's military assistance to Assad's fight against armed opposition groups, said the official Xinhua News Agency.

Xinhua said Guan expressed China's willingness to boost military cooperation with Syria, while the newspaper Global Times cited the Chinese Defense Ministry as saying that both sides agreed to further cooperate on personnel training and humanitarian aid from the Chinese military.

The Chinese military "is willing to strengthen cooperation with its Syrian counterparts," it quoted the ministry as saying.

Guan is head of the Office for International Military Cooperation under the Central Military Commission that oversees China's 2.3 million-member armed forces.

While China has followed Russia's approach in backing Assad, it hasn't directly contributed forces in keeping with its policy of opposing outside intervention in domestic conflicts. During the early months of the 5-year-old civil war, China joined Russia in blocking motions at the United Nations calling for Assad to work for a resolution of the conflict.

Despite that, Chinese military advisers are on the ground in Syria helping train soldiers in the use of weapons purchased from China, including sniper rifles, rocket launchers and machine guns, reported the Global Times, which is published by the ruling Communist Party's flagship newspaper People's Daily.
Court documents show Thursday's decision was related to the storming of a police station in the Minya area in August of that year, after the military forcefully cleared two Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo, killing hundreds in the process. (Photo: Representational Image)

Cairo: An Egyptian military court has sentenced 418 alleged supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, mostly in absentia, to prison terms from two years to life imprisonment for involvement in violence at a police station in 2013.

Court documents show Thursday's decision was related to the storming of a police station in the Minya area in August of that year, after the military forcefully cleared two Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo, killing hundreds in the process.

The court sentenced 350 defendants in absentia to 25 years or life imprisonment, while 68 defendants present were sentenced to between two and 10 years, for "belonging to a banned group" and "sabotage of public facilities and police."

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government has cracked down heavily on the Brotherhood and other forms of dissent.
Baghdad: Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday welcomed a statement by influential Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urging an end to violence against gay and gender non-conforming people.

The young Shiite Muslim cleric, who heads a militia and enjoys a wide following in Iraq, made his appeal to refrain from violence in a statement issued on July 7.

Sadr said people should dissociate from homosexuals but "not attack them".

While pointing out that Sadr remains intolerant of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, HRW called the statement "an important step".

"He should ensure that those in the ranks of the militia under his command, the Peace Brigades (Saraya al-Salam), obey the order and should hold accountable commanders who do not," it said.

"While Sadr is still a long way from fully embracing human rights for LGBT people, his statement shows that he understands the importance of stopping abuses against them," HRW deputy Middle East director Joe Stork said.

The New York-based rights group has documented past abuses by militias, including Sadr's since re-branded Mahdi Army, against LGBT people.

The group found that "a wide-reaching campaign of extrajudicial executions, kidnappings and torture" in early 2009 had started in Baghdad's Sadr City, a neighbourhood named after the cleric's father where he enjoys massive support.

"Mahdi Army spokesmen promoted fear about the 'third sex' and the 'feminisation' of Iraqi men, as well as suggesting that militia action was the remedy," HRW said.

According to Iraqueer, the only Iraqi organisation dedicated to promoting LGBT rights, violence against homosexuals has continued since and the government has tolerated it.

There is no direct legal provision in Iraq banning same-sex intimacy but the law criminalises extra-marital sexual relations and does not provide for same-sex marriage.
Many Muslim women from across the world are known to have traveled to Syria to join the terror group. (Representational Image: AFP)

The Islamic State has tried every trick in the hat to recruit as many people as it can into joining their self-proclaimed Caliphate and now, for the first time, they have appointed a female spokesperson to lure more Muslim women into their fold.

According to reports, the woman spokesperson is featured in their new video and is seen wearing a full-length burqa that covers her face and makes it difficult to establish her identity.

While their propaganda videos have always been dominated by either men or boys, the terror group has announced the new move in a short video titled Foundation of the Euphrates.

ISIS had recently unveiled a magazine called Majestic, which exclusively caters to women readers and is given to people who live in territories controlled by them.

The appointment of the woman spokesperson is widely seen as a move to appeal to the fairer gender to join jihad.

Many women from across the world are known to have traveled to Syria to join the terror group. Girls as young as 15 have deserted their families over promises of young, handsome grooms and a life of riches, only to be jilted by the harsh realities of a life of jihad.

Only last week, British teenager Kadiza Sultana, who ran away from home in January 2015 with two other schoolgirls, was killed in an airstrike in the city of Raqqa.
Dear Mark and Priscilla:

In a recent open letter , the Fordham Institutes Checker Finn warns you against trying to reform our public school districts, which he describes as impossible to change, even with the scale of funding that you can bring to the table. The old wisdom, he says, was that private foundations could be pilot fish for government, charting a path with independent money that could then leverage large amounts of public money. But even when the leviathan Gates Foundation, acting in concert with the Broad Foundation, joined forces with the Arnie Duncans U.S. Department of Education, trading staff and ideas back and forth, nothing much, he says, was achieved.

Better, Finn says, to just avoid government entirely. You should be using your resources to press for change outside the district structure. He means, he says, charter schools. But he says you should be thinking about chartering in a larger sense, with entities that will advance the education of kids with all sorts of different needs, interests, and possibilities...Likewise with alternative pathways into education. He cites as examples Teach For America and New Leaders.

Finn notes that advocates from both the right and the left lament the separation of American society into haves and have-nots. And he acknowledges that the American education system bears some responsibility for this growing divide. But he states flatly that this challenge isnt likely to be solved by that system. So he urges you to provide scholarships, supplemental learning opportunities and great summer programs for poor kids from low-income communities.

I disagree with every element of Finns analysis and therefore with his recommendations.

Ill begin by making an important assumption, namely that you would like to make as big a difference as possible for the greatest number of children who need you the mostthat is, that you want as much leverage as possible. I will further assume that you dont just want changes that last only until your money runs out, but changes that will last long after you are gone.

If that is what you want, then there is only one way to get it and that is by changing the way public education works, by changing the system, the very opposite of scholarships.

Im not opposed to scholarships. But scholarships only affect the students to whom they are given and, when the money runs out, there are no more scholarships. Teach For America, an organization Finn suggests is worthy of your support, is another version of the same thing. Fewer than two percent of the jobs filled each year in our schools are filled by Teach For America volunteers. That proportion is going down, not up, and the majority of the TFA members dont stick around very long. Or take another organization Finn recommends, New Leaders. New Leaders spends about $85,000 on each New Leader trained, which is unsustainable and unscalable. No leverage there, either. The idea and the reality of charter schools has been around since 1992, and there is no doubt that individual charter schools and charter school organizations have produced strong schools and strong students, but, after all these years, charter schools are still only six percent of all American public schools and there is no evidence that, taken as a whole, they have resulted in a significant net gain in student performance in the United States.

I can understand why your experience in Newark made you think that you needed to listen more carefully to the community and the rank-and-file educators than to the kind of experts who led you astray in Newark. Im with you on that, but I would also urge you to take some other things into account as you plan your next moves.

First, city school districts are not independent actors. They live in a spiders web of state and federal policies. Those policies structure the incentives faced by everyone in the system. Strong leaders marching to the beat of their own drum can and sometimes will ignore those incentives and do what they need to do to make things better for students, but, over time, they burn out, and the people who come after them go back to responding to the incentives they face. They are not bad people; they are just ordinary mortals, unlike the heroes and heroines we like to find and point to. I do not doubt that you will be able to find such heroes and heroines or that things will go reasonably well while you invest in them. But they wont change the larger system.

So what can you do? The answer begins with the recognition that there are city school systems in many parts of the world whose students do far better than all of their counterparts in the United States. Average performance is much higher and there is much more equity in student outcomes. It would be much more than worth your while to look closely at how these systems get these greatly superior results.

But, while there is a whole lot to be learned from the countries and cities with the worlds best-performing education systems, you also ought to look at the urban systems in our best-performing state: Massachusetts. What you will find is a story that runs counter to Checker Finns narrative on every point. It is not a story about making things better by giving up on the system; it is a story about making things better by creating a better system. And, not least important, it is a story about how Jack Rennie, an entrepreneur in the Massachusetts high-tech community, led the charge by involving many people in creating a widely shared vision of a high-value-added, high-skills economy and the system that would be needed to realize that vision. If he could do it, there is no reason that you cannot do it.

Finally, there is another story that makes the point in a different way. This is the story of the Union City school district in New Jersey, as told by David Kirp in Improbable Scholars : The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for Americas Schools. You are probably familiar with it. You will find that there are common elements in the strategies used by the top-performing countries, the Massachusetts story and the Union City story. They are all stories about providing more resources to poor and minority students than others; creating a strong system of early childhood education; greatly raising expectations for students; developing strong instructional systems based on high standards, a strong curriculum and high quality assessments based on the curriculum; supporting teachers in every possible way as they work to help students meet the expectations described by the more demanding curriculum framework; recruiting the best possible candidates for teaching positions and making sure they are supported as they enter the system; and, most important, welding all these elements together into one coherent system that is stronger than any of its parts and pieces.

But you will note that not all these things are under the control of school districts. The state sets the core curriculum, the standards for student performance and the required tests. The district has no control over the teacher education program educating the teachers it hires, who gets admitted to those institutions or what the standards are for getting a teachers license. These days, it has to abide by the state accountability system and all the incentives it creates. The Union City story shows you what can be accomplished by a superintendent who does it the right way: by setting high expectations, getting the highest quality staff, supporting them in any way he can and providing them with sensible guidance on instruction. But, while this shows what an effective local government leader can do, it also shows how much influence the state and federal governments have on the outcome. We are left to wonder how much of what the superintendent did will be on view a few years after he leaves.

So what is the bottom line here? First, it is not to listen to the council of despair. You do not have to settle for charters that work at the margins of the system making the world better for a little while for a few people at a time. There is abundant evidence here and abroad that it is actually possible to create much more effective urban school systems.

Second, there is a big role here for private foundations. Finn and his colleagues have had astonishing success at selling his agenda as the only education reform agenda. The agenda I have just described--the agenda derived from careful study of highly successful education systems around the worldis not well known or understood either by American policymakers or practitioners. You could change that, and, in changing it, make an enormous difference, by helping a few states and districts study what the top performers have done and helping them to build their own agenda on their shoulders.

None of this is said with any animosity. Finn and his colleagues are serious, thoughtful analysts. Their steadfast support of high student performance standards over the years has been at times heroic and always on the money. Finns willingness to modify his views based on the data has been exemplary. But, in my view, the direction in which he is pointing you is not the direction that will deliver the results you are seeking when all is said and done.

Sincerely,

Marc Tucker
More than 17,700 people are estimated to have died in custody in Syria since the country's conflict began in March 2011. (Representational Image)

Damascus: A male prisoner was allegedly forced against his wishes to rape another male inmate in a Syrian jail by the prison guard.

According to reports, the guard gave the prisoner two options, to either rape another fellow inmate or to face death. Left with no option, the man had non-consensual sex with the prisoner.

This incident comes close on the heels of Amnesty International alleging that Syrian authorities are committing torture on a "massive scale" in government prisons including beatings, electric shocks, rape and psychological abuse, amounting to crimes against humanity.

More than 17,700 people are estimated to have died in custody in Syria since the country's conflict began in March 2011, an average of more than 300 each month, the watchdog said in a report.

Anyone seen as an opponent of the government is at risk of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and death in custody, according to Amnesty.

It said the report was based on interviews with 65 torture survivors, mostly civilians, who described "appalling abuse and inhuman conditions" in intelligence agency detention centres and the Saydnaya Military Prison near Damascus.

Most described witnessing at least one, if not several, deaths in custody, Amnesty said.

Detainees are frequently subjected to a beating, known as a "welcome party", after their arrival at a prison by guards using tools such as silicone bars or hoses.

"They had to break us; they treated us like animals. They wanted people to be as inhuman as possible," according to a former detainee identified as Samer, who Amnesty said was arrested while transporting humanitarian supplies.

"I didn't see anyone die but I saw the blood, it was like a river," he said.
Tamil ministers alleged that the former rehabilitated LTTE cadres had fallen sick because they were injected with poisonous substances at government detention or rehabilitation centres. (Photo: Representational Image/AP)

Colombo: Sri Lanka's Tamil politicians have alleged that over 100 LTTE cadres at rehabilitation centres were injected with poison leading to their deaths, prompting the government to reject their claims on Thursday.

Politicians of the main Tamil party TNA politicians and the Tamil media claimed the deaths of some 104 ex-combatants who had allegedly been given poisonous injections. They had claimed physical disability due to the injections being given to them.

Northern chief minister C V Wigneswaran has said that the US Air Forces medical team, currently in the Tamil-dominated north, will examine the former rehabilitated LTTE cadres, who he alleged had fallen sick because they were injected with poisonous substances at government detention or rehabilitation centres.

State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene rejected the claims as "false allegations".

"It is sad to hear some politicians in the North making false allegations when the government is making a genuine effort to resolve the issue of the Northern people.

"Anyone, including those from the international community, can visit the rehabilitation camps after obtaining permission from the government and see for themselves the work that is being done," he said, referring to claims by members of the northern provincial council.

Government spokesman and Minister of Health Rajitha Senaratne also dismissed the claims on Wednesday and said local doctors can be asked to examine them.
The Fox Hunt 2016 campaign has seen the arrest of 272 fugitives and 137 others have been persuaded to return from 61 countries and regions. (Photo: AP)

Beijing: As many as 409 Chinese fugitives, including 15 listed in an Interpol red notice from China hiding overseas have been arrested as part a campaign, according to the government.

The "Fox Hunt 2016" campaign has seen the arrest of 272 fugitives and 137 others have been persuaded to return from 61 countries and regions, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) as saying on Wednesday.

The MPS has sent 33 work groups overseas and they have managed to capture fugitives in Madagascar, Thailand, Peru, the Philippines, Ecuador, South Korea, Cambodia and Spain, among others.

Of the 409 fugitives, 38 are implicated in duty-related crimes, and 14 in smuggling crimes. Thirty-three of them were at large for more than five years, including 12 for over 10 years, the MPS said.
Beijing: India and China have had "candid" exchange of views on some "specific issues" and they agreed not to let the "differences" affect their overall ties as they vowed to resolve the issues through dialogue and consultation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

"Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited India just before the G20 Hangzhou Summit and the 8th BRICS leaders meeting, with the main purpose of having strategic communication with India," the ministry said.

"The most important consensus reached by the two sides during the visit was that the two agreed to support each other in making" both the summits a "success", the ministry said in a written response to a question from PTI on Wang's visit.

Besides visiting Goa to see arrangements for the BRICS, (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit which is due to take place there in October, Wang held talks with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj on August 13 in New Delhi and called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The two sides also had candid exchange of views on some specific issues emerging in the course of exchanges between China and India," it said.

"Both (sides) agreed that the two countries have far more common interests than differences, far more aspects of cooperation than competition, and thus should place specific differences at a proper position in bilateral relations so as not to impact the overall friendliness," it said.

"Meanwhile, the two sides should continue to work on solutions to specific problems through dialogue and consultation," it said, apparently referring to differences over India's admission to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and listing Masood Azhar, the head of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad, as a terrorist by the United Nations.

"The most important consensus reached by the two sides during the visit was that the two have agreed to support each other in making the G20 Hangzhou Summit and the BRICS leaders meeting in Goa a success, in a bid to enhance cooperation and solidarity among developing countries and elevate the status of emerging markets in global governance," it said.

"The two sides reiterated that they attach great importance to developing bilateral relations, and believe that the mainstream of China-India relationship is good, and that the two sides should bear in mind the larger picture of friendly cooperation between the two countries, press firmly ahead with pragmatic cooperation and build a closer China-India partnership of development," it said.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi crossed the "red line" by talking about Balochistan and asserted that it will "forcefully" raise the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly session next month.

"The Prime Minister strongly pleaded the case of Kashmir during General Assembly session last year and we will again forcefully raise the issue," Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said.

Zakaria, in his weekly news briefing in Islamabad, also took strong exception to the remarks by Prime Minister Modi on Balochistan.

Prime Minister Modi had brought up Pakistani atrocities on people of Balochistan and PoK in his Independence Day speech. "It is the violation of the UN Charter...He (Modi) crossed the red line by talking about Balochistan," Zakaria said.

He alleged that India was involved in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi. Zakaria also claimed that India was referring to Balochistan to cover up its human rights violations in Kashmir.

Zakaria said Prime Minister Sharif will lead the official delegation at the General Assembly session. He said the UN Secretary General and most of the UN members had already been informed about the "precarious situation" in Kashmir.

Zakaria said the UN and international community should remind India that it must fulfil its commitment to give the right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as per Security Council resolutions.

He said the issue was still outstanding on the Security Council agenda for more than six decades.

"Pakistan strongly condemns the continuing use of force by India and violation of human rights. The brutal use of force has killed at least 80 people and at least 100 have been blinded by use of pellet guns," Zakaria alleged.

He said the international community and human rights organisations should call upon India to stop use of "brute force" in Kashmir.

Asked about Indian taking action against Amnesty International, he said it showed how India was treating the issue of human rights in Kashmir.

Zakaria said Pakistan had proposed to India to hold talks on Kashmir. However, he refused to confirm if India had responded to the proposal.

When asked about any conditions India had put before them for starting dialogue, the spokesman said Pakistan proposed that Kashmir should be the focus of the talks.

Zakaria also claimed that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was aimed at economic development of not only Pakistan and China but the entire region. He said India's objection to such a beneficial economic project was beyond comprehension.

Zakaria said Pakistan had invited finance ministers of SAARC countries for the next week meeting but so far was waiting for confirmation on Arun Jaitley's participation.
The latest operation in the Khyber district came just after the military said it had killed at least 14 militants in the same area Tuesday. (Representational Image)

Islamabad: Pakistan's military said on Thursday it had killed at least 11 militants in air strikes in a restive tribal region near the Afghan border as part of an ongoing offensive.

The latest operation in the Khyber district came just after the military said it had killed at least 14 militants in the same area Tuesday.

"Eleven terrorists were killed and four others injured when eight terrorist hideouts close to the Afghan border were destroyed in precision air strikes and synchronised ground operations," the military said in a statement.

The army offensive took place in the mountainous terrain of Babar Kachkol, Naray Nao and Tor Sapar areas of Khyber. The conflict zone is remote and off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to verify the army's claims, including the number and identity of those killed.

Khyber is one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal districts where the military has been fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants for over a decade.

Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency since 2004, following the US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in 2001 and the subsequent spillover of militants into its territory.

The army launched the "Zarb-e-Azb" operation in June 2014 in a bid to wipe out militant bases in North Waziristan tribal area and so bring an end to the bloody insurgency that has cost thousands of civilian lives.
The incident took place in Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate town in Pakistan's Karachi. (Representational Image)

Karachi: In the latest case of honour killing in Pakistan, a man confessed to killing his second wife in the name of 'honour', 15 years after murdering his first wife for the same reason.

The incident took place in Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate town in Pakistan's Karachi.

According to a report in the Independent, the accused has been charged with slitting his second wife's throat after a heated argument took place between the two.

"My wife had relations with another man. I am not ashamed of what I have done," the accused was quoted as saying.

He was caught by people after they heard the screams of his wife, who later handed him over to the police.

In his statement to the police, the accused said that he had warned his second wife many times and had even tried to convince her a day before the murder.

Police said that the accused had earlier murdered his first wife and mother of three on the same grounds. He had also been arrested for the crime, but was later set free.

The incident comes in the wake of recent honour killing of Pakistan's internet sensation and model Qandeel Baloch who was brutally stangled to death by her brother in the name of honour.

"Yes of course, I strangled her. I am not embarrassed at all over what I did," Qandeel's brother Wasim was quoted as saying.

Hundreds of women are murdered for "honour" every year in Pakistan.

Pakistan amended its criminal code in 2005 to prevent men who kill female relatives pardoning themselves as an "heir" of the victim. But punishment is left to a judge's discretion when other relatives of the victim forgive the killer -- a loophole which critics say is exploited.
Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modis Independence Day speech, Hindu Sena on Wednesday staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in support of Balochistans freedom from Pakistan.





The right-wing outfit waved a Balochistan flag and two Indian tricolours.

We support Balochistans struggle for freedom, there have been many cases of human rights violations there and it should stop. Pakistan should free Balochistan, said Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta.



But beyond that, he didnt have anything to say on the issue. With his group of 12, Gupta led the protest screaming slogans like Pakistan murdabad and `Hindustan zindabad.

The event continued for less than half an hour. Jantar Mantar also was unusually quiet on Wednesday.



Gupta said it was Modis Independence Day speech which inspired him to hold this protest. He is the first PM who has been able to speak openly about this matter. We have been taking up the cause of Balochistan since 2011 and now Modiji has talked about it at last. We are happy about it, Gupta told reporters.



In his Red Fort speech, the Prime Minister had said, I am grateful to the people of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir who have thanked me in the past few days. Earlier, at an all-party meeting, he had referred to human rights violations in these areas.



Gupta said that his Baloch friends in Delhi and Pakistan have also thanked him for holding this demonstration but they could not participate as they were busy with something else.

Pakistan has caused harm to human rights in Balochistan and it has to stop. India has not caused any human rights violation in this country, he said.



When asked about the present situation in Kashmir, he said the Valley and Balochistan are two different cases. Kashmir has always been ours but Balochistan does not belong to Pakistan. He said he will also write a letter about this to United Nations.
Political blame game on alleged delay in banning the lethal Chinese kite string intensified on Wednesday with the AAP government trying to shift the blame on Raj Niwas and the Congress seeking a CBI probe.





Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia released details of the file movement to indicate that the elected government forwarded the documents with alacrity but the delay was caused at the end of Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and the Environment Department.

This file tracking note shows that Chinese Manjha file was with LG for 4 days and Sec Env. For 7 days, tweeted Sisodia.



The Raj Niwas clarified that the file was cleared within a day of being received on Aug 8.

Earlier, Sisodia wrote to Jung seeking disciplinary action against Environment Secretary Chandraker Bharti for delay in issuing the draft notification banning lethal kite string.

The lack of timely action by Bharti has resulted in unfortunate loss of a precious life, Sisodia wrote.



In his letter to Jung, Sisodia said that Bharti failed" to issue the notification before Independence Day despite the fact that Delhis Environment Minister had on August 5 approved it, and thereafter the LG had given his nod.



On August 15, kite strings claimed three lives -- two children and a 22-year-old man -- after their necks were slit, while a Delhi Police sub-inspector was injured. There were reports of other injuries.



The Raj Niwas hit back at Sisodia for shifting the blame for delay in issuing the draft notification on the ban.



It is clarified that the said file was received in the Lieutenant. Governors office on August 8 (Monday) vide Diary No.25849 and after due approval, it was sent back on August 9 (Tuesday) to the office of the Deputy Chief Minister. Copy of the Lieutenant. Governors file monitoring details is enclosed, said a statement issued by the Raj Niwas.

Jungs office also slammed the Aam Aadmi Party government by claiming that even till now a final notification has not been sent to Raj Niwas.



All that has been sent is a draft notification which would take 60 days to come into force, the statement said.



Leader of Oppostion Vijender Gupta of the BJP also blamed the Arvind Kejriwal government for lapses in checking the use of Chinese string that resulted in injuries to birds and people.



Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken sought a CBI probe in the matter and questioned the delay of two and a half months in issuing the draft notification.



The delay in banning the Chinese string seems to have been done to benefit importers or dealers of this item, Maken said, questioning the logic of issuing a draft notification a day after August 15  the day which witnesses maximum use of the lethal Chinese string.
Brazilian police pulled two US Olympic swimmers off a plane about to leave the country for questioning in a row over their claim to have been victims of an armed mugging, US officials said today.





"We can confirm that Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were removed from their flight to the United States by Brazilian authorities," said Patrick Sandusky, spokesman for the US Olympic Committee.



The two were with star US swimmer Ryan Lochte and another squad member, James Feigen, when they said they were robbed at gunpoint. A Brazilian judge ordered a probe saying their story is full of inconsistencies.



Globo, a leading Brazilian news organisation, posted a video online showing the two swimmers walking into a police station.



The G1 news site, which is part of Globo, reported that Bentz and Conger were detained for questioning and that Feigen had been taken in earlier while still in the airport.

Police did not immediately respond to a request for more information.



Lochte is believed to be already in the United States, having left before the Brazilian authorities ordered the swimmers' questioning.



Earlier, Judge Keyla Blank "issued warrants for searches and the seizure of the passports for the US swimmers," a statement from her office said. "With this, they are banned from leaving the country," the statement said.



The court order was the latest twist in a story of a supposedly terrifying incident that embarrassed Rio authorities and ramped up the fear factor for hundreds of thousands of tourists in Rio at South America's first Olympics.



Now Brazilian officials are suggesting that the US swimmers may have made up their account -- and could face charges for filing a false report.



Lochte says that he and three team-mates were held up by muggers posing as police as they left a late night party in central Rio.



At first the International Olympic Committee denied that anything had happened. Lochte, however, gave interviews describing an incident in detail and Brazilian Olympic authorities later issued a public apology for the security slip up.



With some 85,000 police and soldiers guarding the Olympics -- twice the number used in London -- the apparently high-profile crime touched a nerve in Rio. In addition to multiple incidents of thefts from Olympic athletes or media, a Portuguese government minister was mugged in the swish Leblon district.



Lochte said he had a gun put to his forehead in the robbery, when the swimmers' taxi was pulled over by criminals who forced them to lie on the ground and stole money and other items.


Congress today asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "forthwith apologise" to the nation over his statement that BJP has faced more adversities in independent India as compared to what Congress would have during the British rule.





"The Prime Minister has humiliated and denigrated the entire freedom struggle of India. Coming from the Prime Minister, this is unacceptable. We will not tolerate it."



"He should withdraw the statement and he should forthwith apologise to the nation," the party's Chief Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a sharp reaction to the Prime Minister's comments.



Taking a dig at BJP and the Sangh Parivar, Surjewala alleged that Modi has "disowned" the freedom struggle and "belittled" the sacrifices of freedom fighters as the ruling party did not participate in the movement for independence.



"Neither BJP nor RSS or the predecessor organisation of BJP participated in the freedom struggle. They actually supported the British...," he said.



His reaction came close on the heels of the Prime Minister's remarks that BJP has faced more adversities in independent India as compared to what Congress would have during the British rule.



Asserting that BJP has made more sacrifices than any other party, Modi, who laid the foundation stone of the new party headquarters here, said, "BJP will be the only party which has faced adversities since its birth. It faced difficulties at every turn and its every effort was seen in bad light.



"Even during the British time, the Congress party would not have faced so much adversity that we, our dedicated workers have gone through in 50-60 years," he said.
India today said the ball was in Pakistan's court on holding Foreign Secretary-level talks as it was for Islamabad to decide on readiness to discuss issues of cross-border terrorism, vacation of illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir and closing down terror camps.



In a response to his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry's offer for talks on Kashmir, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said discussions should focus on cessation of terrorist activities in J&K and ending incitement to violence and terror in the Valley.



Briefing reporters, MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Jaishankar conveyed that he accepts his counterpart's invitation to visit Islamabad but made it clear the discussions should focus first on the pressing aspects of the J&K situation flagged by him.



"In a letter dated August 16, Foreign Secretary has first of all underlined that Pakistan's self-serving allegations made in their communication are rejected in their entirety by the Government of India. Pakistan has no locus standi in respect of J&K, which is an integral part of our nation," said Swarup.



Deliberations should also focus on denying safe haven, shelters and support to terrorists in Pakistan who have escaped Indian law, Jaishankar said in his letter.



"The ball is in Pakistan's court now. They had made an offer, We have responded to the offer. It is up to them to carry it forward," said Swarup.



The response also conveyed that detaining and prosecuting internationally recognised Pakistani terrorist leaders who have been publicly active in exhorting and supporting such violence in that state should be part of the talks besides closing down terrorist training camps, Swarup added.



The Foreign Secretary said he looked forward to discussing with his Pakistani counterpart the "earliest possible vacation of Pakistan's illegal occupation of the Indian state of J&K".



In his letter, the Foreign Secretary also underlined the importance of bringing to justice all those guilty in Pakistan for the attacks in Mumbai and at Pathankot airbase.



"He said that his visit should provide the opportunity to receive a briefing from Pakistan's Foreign Secretary on progress in this regard," said Swarup.



"The world is aware that Pakistan has a long history of violence and terrorism against India, as also in the broader region," Swarup said, adding the talks between the two countries must be held as per the framework of the Simla agreement of 1972 and Lahore Declaration of February 1999.



"The Indian state of J&K has been its particular target. This record began with the Government of Pakistan sending armed raiders into J&K in 1947 and was repeated in 1965.



"More than three decades later, displaying a similar attitude, military personnel were infiltrated across the Line of Control in Kargil in 1999. This approach to India was reflected in support for terrorist activities in Jammu & Kashmir that continues to the present day.



"These acts were initially denied by the Government of Pakistan and attributed to local population, only to be admitted later by Pakistan's leaders who directed and organised such cross-border attacks on India, and assaults on the local people," he said.



Referring to the Lahore Declaration of February 1999, he said then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had reiterated Pakistan's determination to implement the Simla Agreement in letter and spirit.



He also talked about the assurance given by then President Musharraf in January 2004 that he will not permit any territory under Pakistan's control to be used to support terrorism against India.



Asked about Pakistan Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nafis Zakaria's statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi crossed the "red line" by talking about Balochistan, Swarup said he finds it an extraordinary remark by a country which recognises no red line in its diplomacy.



"I find this an extraordinary remark from a senior functionary of Pakistan that recognizes no red lines in its own diplomacy. Pakistans record of cross-border terrorism and infiltration is at the heart of the problems in the region today. And this not just Indias view. You can ask some other countries in the region too," he added.
Prachanda is likely to visit India on his first official foreign trip as Nepal's prime minister, in a departure from his earlier practice when he visited Beijing ahead of New Delhi in 2008.





The Maoist chief, who was elected by lawmakers to the top post for the second time earlier this month, had rubbed India the wrong way when he chose China as his first destination after taking over as the premier in 2008 and attended the Beijing Olympics that year.



Prachanda's predecessor, KP Sharma Oli too visited India as his first official foreign destination. But the run up to his visit was surrounded by intense speculation that the Communist leader might visit China ahead of India.



Oli, viewed by many as pro-China, visited India in February, when the agitation by Madhesis - inhabitants of the southern plains who share strong cultural and family bonds with Indians - over Nepal's new Constitution was at its peak.



The protesters had blocked trade transit points with India, creating a huge shortage of essential goods and fuel in the landlocked Nepal.



The usual practice of new prime ministers in Nepal is to visit to India, ahead of China. Prachanda's China trip in 2008 was the only departure from that practice.



It is learnt that he will visit India ahead of China this time, sources said.



The development comes as Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Bimlendra Nidhi begins his two-day visit to India as Prachanda's special envoy today.



His visit is aimed at preparing ground for Prachanda's forthcoming visit to India, foreign ministry sources said.



Nidhi is expected to discuss the possible visit by President Pranab Mukherjee to Nepal and the proposed visit by Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari to India, they said.



The visit is also aimed at normalising and improving Nepal's relations with India, which was at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation.



Prachanda has send a special envoy to China as well. Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara's visit to China comes following anxieties in Beijing over the fate of projects connecting China and Nepal to reduce dependence on India.


Islamic seminary of Barelvi sect today issued a 'fatwa' (edict) against Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed declaring him anti-Islamic.





The 'fatwa' was issued against the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief by Mufti Mohammed Saleem Barelvi, an Islamic seminary in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.



It dubbed Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who carries a USD 10 million bounty on his head, as "outcast" from Islam and declared those following him or considering as Muslim as "illegal".



A 'fatwa' is a legal pronouncement in Islam which is given by a mufti, a Muslim scholar of a recognised authority, who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law.



The ruling came close on the heels of Saeed asking Pakistan Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif to send troops to Kashmir to "obey" the pending order of Pakistan founder M A Jinnah.



The 'fatwa' was issued by Manzar-e-Islam Saudagaran, an institution associated with Dargah Ala Hazrat, in a reply to a question asked by Mohd Moinuddin of Jaipur.

It said Saeed has no connection with Islam.



Moinuddin had mentioned in his query that Saeed considered those writing against Allah and Prophet Mohammad as Muslims. Besides, he publicised anti-religious ideology and points of view and provoked people to create terror.



He asked whether such a person should be considered as Muslim.



In his 'fatwa', Mufti Saleem said that having any type of connection with persons working against the dignity of Allah and the Prophet was illegal and 'haraam', an act that is forbidden by Allah.



It said since Saeed was having contacts with such persons, he has been outcast from Islam.



It said that considering him as Muslim and listening to his words was also illegal and prohibited.



As per the fatwa, Saeed was a man with terrorist ideology, who with his acts has brought infamy to Islam and Muslims across the world. Therefore, it was compulsory for every Muslim not to follow him and keep away from his ideology.



Addressing a rally held under the banner of 'Defence Council of Pakistan' in Karachi on Sunday, Saeed had claimed, "Kashmiris had announced before the partition that they wanted to remain with Pakistan. But after the partition, India forcibly sent Army to Jammu and Kashmir.



"On this Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah ordered his commander-in-chief to respond by sending troops but he refused (to obey his orders). Now, I ask Gen Raheel Sharif to send troops in (Jammu and) Kashmir as Quaid-e-Azam's order is pending," Saeed said.



He said he was not asking for a war with India but they (Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Raheel) must form a strategy regarding the Kashmir issue.


The government is unlikely to grant permission to Amnesty International, slapped with charge of sedition for hosting an event where anti-India slogans were allegedly raised, for opening a hub in India to look after its operations in South Asia.





The authorities have also decided to ask Amnesty India to get itself registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) after a preliminary inquiry found the organisation had "bypassed" laws while accepting foreign funds in the last 16 years.



The Amnesty International had in 2014 and 2015 issued statements to the media making it clear that it would not register under the FCRA, which it described as "much-abused".



"The act was, and is, a much-abused law, and NGOs have experienced the unfairness of it both in the bureaucratic sense of inordinate delays and in the more overt sense of it being used too often to curb the freedom of expression of NGOs, especially those that work on the issues that hold up the mirror and demand accountability from the powers that be," it had said.



The Amnesty has registered a non-profit organisation in the name of Amnesty International South Asia Foundation on May 8, 2015.



Soon after, it sought the government's permission to open a hub to look after its activities in South Asia, excluding India, and wanted to bring in foreign funds to the tune of Rs 18,61,92,688 under the prior permission category for its operations.



"The application (for setting up the hub) is under examination and in all likelihood we are going to deny the permission as we have found that the NGO has been getting foreign funds without registering under FCRA, thus bypassing laws," a senior Home Ministry official said.



During preliminary inquiry, the official said, the Home Ministry found that the NGO received Great Britain Pound (GBP) 3,52,057 (Rs 3,09,35,248) and Rs 2,23,99,226 in four separate instalments since 2000 without having registered under the FCRA.



"All NGOs whose expenses are Rs 10 lakh or more in three preceding years have to register under the FCRA. But the Amnesty has not applied for FCRA registration yet.



We are going to tell them to register under the FCRA first," the official said.



At the Bengaluru event organised by the Amnesty on Saturday, anti-India slogans were allegedly raised during a discussion on Kashmir, prompting the authorities to book the NGO under various IPC sections including sedition.



Amnesty, on its part, has rejected as "without substance" the allegations made by ABVP, the students wing of RSS, which had also filed a police complaint in connection with the event and submitted a CD of the proceedings, and claimed that none of its employees shouted any anti-India slogans at any point.



On December 19, 2000, the Amnesty India was granted permission for the first time to bring GBP 1,30,629 and again on November 14, 2003, GBP 2,21,428 under prior permission category.



The Home Ministry granted permission again to Amnesty to receive Rs 54,40,000 on July 14, 2009 and it received foreign funds of Rs 1,69,59,226 on March 28, 2012.



However, Amnesty India's applications on March 29, 2010 to allow it to receive Rs 32,72,000 and for Rs 1,69,59,226 on November 2, 2012 had been rejected by the Home Ministry. Two other such applications for receiving of Rs 2,65,76,204 and Rs 80,00,000 were also rejected by the Ministry on November 9, 2012 and March 19, 2013 respectively.



"We have denied the three applications as we have found that Amnesty India's expenditure in preceding three years were more than Rs 10 lakh and the NGO has not registered under the FCRA, besides (there are) some other issues," the official said.


At the age of 71, Rattan Mann has made his debut as a filmmaker with his movie The Buddhist Monk.





Inspired by a true story during the pre-independence era, the Norway-based physicist and writer, who has also authored the novel The Prime Minister, wrote the script in 1978. And since then he had been trying to make the movie, which finally released online on August 12. In a candid chat with Puja Gupta, Rattan, who is presently in India, shares more about the two-hour-long movie, the difficulties he faced and future projects.



What took you so long to make the movie?



It is indeed true that I have been trying to make this film since 1978 (when I used to live in Delhi). I even went to Bombay of that time, applied at National Film Development Corporation, met directors and producers who would give me at least a minute; but within two months I noticed that there was no chance of success. I came back to Delhi, and in 1981, I left for Norway for further studies. There too, I tried my best to interest someone with my story, but I noticed that in this respect

Norway was no better than Mumbai. Then in 2012, when my siblings and I were sitting together in Delhi, we all agreed to make the film ourselves. And thus the film was made.



Tell us more about the movie.



The only films that I want to make are love stories. Love has zillions of shapes and forms. The Buddhist Monk is the story of one mans personal battle between right and wrong, his devotion to his country and his love for his wife. In the late 1800s, while India struggled to gain independence from the British Empire and Queen Victorias rule, the British created a secret group known as the Pandits. Their objective was to carry out secret missions to gather information, influence people and, in this case, steal. It is the story of Sukh Nain Singh (who was part of the secret group) and his sick wife . The whole film revolves around this conflict as well as the anti-British feeling in Indians.



How did the story come to your mind?



When I was 18, I started self-studying all fields of science and arts. In 1968, during my study of Buddhism at the Delhi University library, I came across a sentence in a book which read: During the British Raj, the British sent an Indian clerk in Calcutta to Dalai Lamas Potala Palace in Lahasa, disguised as a Buddhist Monk, to steal valuable Buddhist scriptures. No other detail, not even the time, was mentioned. This single sentence struck me and has never left my mind since then. Slowly my interest in filmmaking developed and I wrote the script in 1978. The advantage of making a film from just a sentence-long story is that you can allow your imagination to run wild.

What difficulties did you face while working on the project?



I had never stepped inside a film studio all my life, and hence was unfamiliar with even the names of film cameras, and post-production terms like DI (colour correction) and sound mixing. I must thank the internet which allowed me to self-study these topics, which took me months.



Why did you decide to work with new faces?



The film is a completely new story, written by an unknown and struggling writer on a new and clean slate. There is no baggage of history, familiarity, fame, or achievement. In this context, completely new and unknown artistes standing on a fresh and clean stage would blend more into the story of the film and the spirit of the writer than actors carrying a heavy baggage of familiarity, fame and fortune on their backs. This is my philosophy of filmmaking.



How do you perceive Bollywood movies?



The greatest contribution of Bollywood not just to cinema, but to human culture as a whole, is the love themes created by people like Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, and Yash Chopra, among others. The reason is that their works combine beautiful stories, moving songs and superb acting skills with pearls of (ancient) wisdom, making this whole much greater than its individual parts.
US President Barack Obama will travel to China next month to attend the G-20 Summit which will also be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.





This would be Obama's 11th trip to Asia after he became the US President in January 2009. Two of these trips have been to India in November, 2010 and January 2015.



"This trip will highlight the Presidents ongoing commitment to the G-20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation as well as the US Rebalance to Asia and the Pacific," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement.



On the sidelines of the G-20 Summit, Obama among others is likely to meet Modi, which would be the eighth meeting between the two leaders after he became Prime Minister in May 2014.



While there has been no word of confirmation from the White House on this, Modi during his joint White House media interaction in early June had said that the two leaders would be meeting in China in September.



Earnest said, in China, Obama will participate in his final G-20 Leaders' Summit, where he will emphasise the need to continue building on the progress made since 2009 in advancing strong, sustainable, and balanced global economic growth.



"He will underscore the importance of G-20 cooperation in promoting a level playing field and broad-based economic opportunity. The President will also conduct in-depth meetings with President Xi Jinping of China in Hangzhou, where the two leaders will discuss a wide-range of global, regional, and bilateral issues," Earnest said.



During his week-long Asia trip from September 2 to 9, Obama would become the first US President to visit Laos, where he will participate in the US-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit.



Additionally, he will have bilateral meetings with President Bounnhang Vorachith and other key officials to advance US-Lao cooperation on economic, development, and people-to-people ties, among other areas.



Obama will participate in the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative Summit, where he will hold a town hall meeting.



"During the ASEAN Summit, the President will discuss ways to strengthen our economic cooperation with the countries of Southeast Asia, which collectively represent Americas fourth largest trading partner and further enhance our collaboration on regional and global challenges," Earnest said.



"At the East Asia Summit, the President will coordinate with the region's leaders on efforts to advance a rules-based international order," he said.



The visit also will support Obama's efforts to expand opportunities for American businesses and workers to sell their products in some of the world's fastest-growing markets.



"Central to this effort is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the high-standards trade agreement that will unlock key markets to American exports and cement America's economic leadership in the Asia-Pacific," Earnest said.


Photo by citizen journalist- Dead bodies of three

villagers were found on August 4 between the

villages of Wan Mai and Sarm Kar,

Namtu Township. Photo by citizen journalist- Dead bodies of threevillagers were found on August 4 between thevillages of Wan Mai and Sarm Kar,Namtu Township.

According to one of the victims family members, the three have been identified as: Loong Por Kham, 56; Sai Ai Parng, 31; and Sai Ai Htwe, 24.

All three were from the village of Kong Hong and had disappeared while out foraging for forest foods on August 1 in Mongmu village tract, Namtu Township.

Their bodies were uncovered on August 4 between the villages of Wan Mai and Sarm Kar, the family member told Shan Herald.

Sai Lek, a spokesperson for the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, or SNLD, said this is not the first time that this kind of incident had happened. In fact, he said, it all too common.

Sai Lek blamed the frequency of such murders on a lack of rule of law in the region.

I have urged the Shan State and Union governments to put some serious attention into this issue and try to solve the problem immediately, he said. The armed groups also have to understand and respect the law. They should respect human rights and behave according to military ethics.

According to Tai Freedom News Agency, the news and information department of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) reported on August 13 that two of the victims were soldiers of its rivals, the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA).

Reached for comment, an SSPP/SSA official, who wished to remain anonymous, told Shan Herald that the militia will form a committee to investigate the case. He said that they will proceed with the investigation according to the law, and bring the culprit or culprits to justice.

Loong Maung, who found the graves, said that he has no idea which armed group, if any, committed the crime. He said that he and other residents reported the case to local authorities and local political parties.

The bodies were found near one of the ethnic armed groups camps, Loong Maung told Shan Herald without elaborating or providing any further details.

Armed groups active in the area include Burmese government forces, the Kachin Independence Army, the Taang National Liberation Army, the RCSS/SSA, and the SSPP/SSA.

According to a resident in Namtu who did not wish to be identified, another villager had been found murdered recently in Nyaungmong village.

In the most high-profile recent case, on June 25, seven civilians were killed by government troops in Mong Yaw, Lashio Township. A trial for the suspected soldiers and officers involved is currently under way at a military court in Lashio.
Cytecare Hospitals, a cancer care hospital chain which raised Rs 165 crore to open its first hospital in Bengaluru, will raise an additional Rs 700 crore after one-and-a- half years to further expand its presence.





We have raised Rs 165 crore from high net-worth individuals (HNIs) to open our super speciality cancer care hospital Cytecare in Bengaluru. Our hospital chain will have a hub-and-spoke model. The Bengaluru hub will have three to five spokes, Cytecare Co-founder and Chairman Ferzaan Engineer told DH.



He said that the Bengaluru hub will be a 150-bed facility with a built-up area of around 16,000 sq feet, and will begin operations in October. The hospital will have sub-centres in North Karnataka and overseas. We are exploring the possibility of starting sub-centres in other cities. We do hope to break-even in three years, he said.



Engineer said that his vision is to have at least three to five hubs in India, as part of a seven-year plan, which might require funds of around Rs 700 crore.



We are planning to approach institutional investors for this, and some companies have already evinced interest. We want Cytecare to be a premium facility for cancer that offers comprehensive and high-quality care for patients. We will also focus on expanding our presence in the MEA (the Middle East and Africa) countries, he said.



Cytecare Hospital took 18-22 months to develop the project in Bengaluru. We have an asset-light model, and leased our land. Our sub-centres will have Rs 1 crore investment. We will have the latest state-of-the-art facilities at the hospital with heavy investment in technology. Even though positioned in line with the market, we expect technology and early detection will reduce overall cost and help us make treatment affordable, he said.



Engineer said that cancer has reached an epidemic proportion in India and needs immediate attention.



There is an opportunity and challenge to address this problem, and this is an important reason as to why we need high-level specialised cancer hospitals, as general hospitals cant deal with it, he said.



Interacting with DH, Cytecare Co-founder and CEO Suresh Ramu said that the hospital chain will provide facilities like diagnosis, personalised treatment, chemotherapy, radiology, counselling, pain management, and palliative care. We are approaching cancer care in a holistic way, and have partnered with an able team of eminent specialist oncologists, onco-nurses and professional counsellors to achieve this, said Ramu. Several key doctors are even financially invested in Cytecare.
Writer and social worker Harsh Mandar gave a call to end unequal childhood. Delivering a talk on Unequal Childhood: the Fatal Accidents of Birth at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College here, the evil of inequality is the burden carried forward in the country. Every third child is malnourished, homeless and is into labor in the world is Indian, he regretted.





He said the inequality is increasing day after day. Child Labour Act is scandalous. It is another instance for legal frame of inequality, he remarked. He reiterated that poverty is the result of child labor. Every child is into work and one adult is out of work at many places, he noted.



Mandar said the poor kids are on high risk of survival due to the bondage and disturbed life.



Asserting that the absence of public funding welfare programmes has resulted in the under nourishment of women and children, the social worker added that the Indian government earmarks just one percent of its GDP for health care. The government should at least spend three percent of the GDP, he said.



He said malnutrition in India is much higher that the Sub-Saharan African countries and Bangladesh. A mother who is engaged in labor is unable to breast feed her child and it results in malnutrition, he felt.



Mandar said Dalit students are not treated well in schools and the teachers ask them to clean toilets. Then, the morale of the child decreases, he remarked. He sad 25 percent opportunity for the under privileged under RTE Act is opposed by the high profile and sophisticated schools.



He said only seven percent of the downtrodden children complete degrees. It is only four percent among Dalits and two percent in rural households. The writer said surcharge should be imposed on rich and middle classes for health and education of poor and downtrodden children.
Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu on Thursday said the country is facing several challenges and the government is making able efforts to solve these challenges.





He was speaking at the Abhivandana Diwas programme held on the occasion of Suvarna Chaturmasa, the 50th Chaturmasya Vrata of Parthagali Gokarna Mutt seer Vidyadhiraj Theerth Sri Pad Vader Swamiji at the mutt premises on Car Street here.



Prabhu said the country is being affected by poverty and the Union government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is making various efforts to provide a life of dignity to people.



Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Dr D Veerendra Heggade recalled his association with the mutt and said the senior seer of the mutt graced the consecration of Gommateshwara statue at Dharmasthala.



Heggade said the guidance by an able guru is important to excel in life. He called upon people to have a balanced mindset in all spheres of life. Minister for Large Industries R V Deshpande called upon youths to cultivate leadership qualities.



Prabhu, Deshpande, Century Group, Bangalore, Managing Director Dr P Dayananda Pai, Union Minister for Ayush and Minister of Health Sripad Naik and Veerendra Heggade were felicitated with GSB Maharathna, GSB Rathna Puraskar, GSB Maharathna Puraskar, Samaj Rathna Award and Samaj Maharathna Puraskar respectively.



Dempo Group Chairman Srinivas Dempo and Salgoankar Group Chairman Shivananda Salgaonkar were felicitated with GSB Udyog Ratna Puraskar.



Dr P Dayanand Pai presented 400 gram gold to the seer. A special postage cover issued by the department of posts to commemorate Suvarna Chaturmasa of the seer was released on the occasion. Karnataka Circle Chief Postmaster General Usha Chandrashekhar was present on the occasion.
The High Court on Thursday told the state government not to glorify V Shashidhar, president of Akhila Karnataka Police Maha Sangha.





Shashidhar was arrested by the police on the midnight of June 2 in the backdrop of the mass leave threat by the police. The police have booked him for sedition and instigating police personnel to go on leave and for creating law and order problems in the state.



Justice Anand Byrareddy, reserving the order, questioned the government on how they booked Shashidhar under sedition charges when there was no violent protest staged by him and his followers.



Additional Advocate General AS Ponnanna argued that there was a conspiracy hatched against the government and the agitation called by him to go on 'mass leave' was politically motivated to topple the government. The judge reserved the orders.


Former minister B A Mohideen has been chosen for the D Devaraj Urs Award for 2016. The award will be conferred on Mohideen by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at a function at Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on August 20, to mark the 101st birth anniversary of Urs.





Seventy-eight-year old Mohideen is from Dakshina Kannada and has served as higher education minister in the J H Patel government.



The award carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh and a citation. The selection committee chose Mohideen in recognition of his contribution in the field of education, Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya told reporters in Bengaluru on Thursday.




The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has continued its protest for police action against those who it said raised anti-India slogans at an event organised by Amnesty International India in Bengaluru on August 13 to discuss human rights abuses in Kashmir.





On Thursday, the BJPs student wing staged a protest near SJR College for Women in Rajajinagar. The protesters took out a procession from Magadi Road and converged in front of a shopping mall near the college.



Forming a human chain, they said the police were suppressing students voices by preventing them from participating in ABVP protests.



The protest badly affected traffic in Rajajinagar, Okalipuram and Magadi Road for some time. Senior police officers rushed to the spot and promised to take action against the sloganeers. The ABVP activists then called off the protest.



Rakhis tied



The ABVPs women activists protested in front of a government college on Malleswaram 13th C ross. They tied rakhis to policemen when they prevented them from entering the college.
The state government on Thursday blamed the Centre for not releasing sufficient funds for construction of toilets under the Swachh Bharat scheme.





Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister H K Patil told reporters in Bengaluru that the state, in its project proposal sent to the Centre, had stated that it had set a target of constructing 12 lakh toilets in 2016-17 at a cost Rs 1,800 crore. However, only Rs 253 crore has been sanctioned by the Centre. Patil said the Centres failure to release sufficient grants would hamper the governments target of achieving an open defecation free state by October 2, 2018.



Patil said the Centre had also not released wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme since June 24 this year. The pending dues amounted to Rs 275 crore. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to Union Panchayat Raj Minister Narendra Singh Tomar with a request that the wages be released at the earliest, Patil said. Earlier, Siddaramaiah held a review meeting of the RDPR department.
The government, which had zeroed in on filmmaker T S Nagabharana to direct a biopic on former chief minister D Devaraj Urs as part of Urs birth centenary celebrations , is now revisiting its proposal.





Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya said there were objections from a section of filmmakers to the government directly inviting Nagabharana to make the biopic.



We are now inviting those interested in doing the biopic to submit the story and screenplay to a selection committee. The committee will recommend the name of the filmmaker. We want the film to be world class, depicting the life and times of Urs, Anjaneya said.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday directed officials of the energy department to ensure that there are no power cuts, whatever the situation is even during summers across the state.





Chairing a review meeting with Minister D K Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah admitted that the power situation was grim because of water scarcity in the state due to lack of rainfall and water storage in the dams.



He directed officials of all electricity supply companies (Escoms), Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) and Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) officials to prepare medium and long term plans to ensure sufficient power for summer.



Siddaramaiah assured citizens that 24-hour power supply to Bengaluru and seven hours power supply to farmers will continue even in summers.



Shivakumar pointed out that many sugarcane industries were eager to generate and supply power to the grid. If this materialises, then there were will an additional supply of 800-900 MW to the grid every day. The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) was immediately directed to fix the rate to purchase power after discussing with industries.



Shivakumar added that since hydel resources were adversely affected, thrust was being laid on solar generation and by December 2016, 500 MW solar power will also be added.



Plans were also being made to purchase power from other sources to ensure that there is no gap in the demand and supply.



D K Shivakumar, Energy Minister: Many sugarcane industries were eager to generate and supply power to the grid. If this materialises, then there were will an additional supply of 800-900 MW to the grid every day.
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has asked the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to withdraw the affiliation of six schools run by the National Public School group in Bengaluru and Mysuru.





The request was made after it was found that the group produced fakeminority status documents to avoid giving up 25% seats under the Right To Education (RTE) Act. The DPI sent the request last week.



Six schools in trouble



The six schools that will be in trouble in case the CBSE decides to honour the Department of Public Instructions request are National Public Schools in Rajajinagar, Indiranagar, Koramangala, HSR Layout, Mysuru and the NationalAcademy for Learning, Basaveshwara Nagar, Bengaluru.



A month ago, the Department of Public Instruction had directed filing of criminal complaints against the six schools when the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions pointed out that the group had produced fake documents.
We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Like humans, dogs can often have a wide range of emotions. We love your four-legged child just as much as you do, but being too excited, over-defensive, or unable to contain READ THE REST
Bank employees will also join the nationwide strike called by Central trade unions on September 2 to protest the anti-labour policies of the government.





All India Bank Employees Association general secretary C H Venkatchalam made a statement in this regard on Thursday.



Five lakh bank employees and officers will join the all India general strike on September 2, 2016, to protest the Central governments anti-people economic policies and anti-worker labour reforms, he said.



The association has supported the 12-point charter of demands submitted to the government by the trade unions. These include withdrawal of anti-employee labour laws, including giving employers the right to hire and fire and stripping the workers and trade unions of their rights.
Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh has accused former chief of staff Gen (retd) V K Singh, now a Minister of State for External Affairs, of showing malafide intent to arbitrarily punish him and stall his promotion.





This is possibly for the first time a serving Indian Army chief has openly charged a minister in the Supreme Court.



Then army chief (V K Singh) with mischievous design, malafide intent and to arbitrarily punish me without following the principles of natural justice, issued a show cause notice, which contained unsubstantiated facts and vague allegations, Gen Dalbir Singh said in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.



The army chief on Thursday met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to explain why he had to file the affidavit in his personal capacity while responding to a petition moved by Lt Gen (retd) Ravi Dastane who had alleged favouritism during his selection as the army commander.



Lt Gen (retd) Dastane moved the apex court after the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) ruled in favour of Gen Dalbir Singh, who took the same position before the AFT in 2012.



There is a long-standing feud between the two generals with Gen Dalbir Singh accusing V K Singh of attempting to stall his career progress.



Towards the end of his tenure, V K Singh imposed a discipline and vigilance ban on Gen Dalbir Singh (then Lt Gen), for his failure in command and control for a botched up intelligence operation in Jorhat in December 2011. The ban was lifted by Gen Bikram Singh once he succeeded Gen V K Singh.



In his affidavit, the army chief said he was on leave when the operation took place on the night of December 20-21 and resumed duty five days later.



The subsequent Court of Inquiry did not find him guilty of any wrongdoing. Gen Dalbir Singh asserted that he was never examined as a witness by the Eastern Command, which convened the Court of Inquiry.



The affidavit quoted the AFT ruling which stated that Gen (retd) V K Singhs decision to proceed against Gen Dalbir Singh a month after he was let off created doubt in the mind of the court particularly when the recommendations (on Gen Dalbirs selection as army commander) had reached the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.



I was sought to be victimised by then army chief (V K Singh) with the sole purpose of denying me promotion to the appointment of the army commander. False, baseless and imaginary allegations of lapses were leveled against me in the show cause notice, Gen Dalbir Singh stated in the affidavit. Former army chief V K Singh, however, is yet to respond to the charges.
The East Godavari police arrested a person for sexually exploiting his 13-year-old stepdaughter after mixing sleeping tablets in milk.





The stepfather, 40-year-old Sirra Raju, who runs an eatery in Malikipuram, committed the crime after his wife went to Dubai seeking better employment opportunities.



According to Malikipuram Sub-Inspector Vijaya Babu, the assault began three months ago after Raju brought the victim home from a hostel, where she was staying along with the four children from his first marriage, for a function.



However, Raju did not send the victim back to the hostel. He started giving her milk laced with sleeping tablets and raped her every night.



Initially, Raju lied to the girl that he did not know what happened during the night, but later confessed that he had no other way to satisfy himself as her mother was away in Dubai.



Teachers at the school who noticed gradual changes in the girls attitude and her deteriorating health condition questioned her. Shocked at the victims ordeal, the school authorities informed the victims mother.



The girls mother then alerted her relatives in Palkol who filed the complaint.We have registered a case under Protection of Children from Sexual Abuse Act, 2012, and arrested Raju. The girl has been sent to medical examination, Amalapuram DSP and investigating officer Ankaiah said.
A fatwa issued by a prominent Islamic seminary has asked Muslims to shun Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa founder Hafiz Saeed and not to listen to his sermons.





The religious decree issued by the Bareilly-based Dargah-e-Ala Hazrat, which has a large following in the country and abroad, said that people like Saeed were deemed to be ex-communicated from Islam and should be shunned.



Hafiz Saeed believes in terrorism, which is his ideology...he has tarnished the image of Islam and the Muslims all over the world by his deeds...Muslims should not have any kind of relations with such a person, said senior cleric at the seminary Mufti Saleem Noori in the fatwa.



The fatwa was issued in response to a query by a person from Jaipur in Rajasthan. The questioner wanted to know from the seminary if a man like Hafiz Saeed should be considered as Muslim and if it was proper to listen to his sermons.


After lying low for several months, the Paresh Baruah-led anti-talks faction of the Ulfa has hit back. This time around, the security forces have been foxed since the group has allegedly used children to plant powerful Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) with touchscreen smartphones as timers.





On Thursday, a ten-member National Security Guard (NSG) bomb disposal squad from New Delhi was rushed to Tinsukia to examine an IED, planted by Ulfa (I) to blow up the Samdang Bridge near Doomdooma of Tinsukia district on Independence Day.



The IEDs were spotted after two students from Kakojan area in Tinsukia were detained by the police on Tuesday for allegedly planting the IEDs in different locations before and after Independence Day. The children were detained during a raid conducted late on Tuesday night but the men who had lured them into planting the IEDs managed to escape.



The boys spotted an IED, which was planted by them at Samdang Bridge on Phillobari-Badlabata bypass in Doomdooma. Experts from the Assam police and Indian Army tried to diffuse the bomb. Now, the NSG team has taken over the operation. A latest technology driven IED, a smartphone has been used as timer, Superintendent of Police of Tinsukia M J Dev Mahanta told DH over telephone.



At the time of filing this report, the NSG team had cordoned off the area and was trying to diffuse the IED. The place is about 520 km from Guwahati. Security forces launched a massive manhunt for Ulfa (I) operatives in the jungles of Charaipung reserve forest.
Tension prevailed at the secretariat complex here on Thursday when the Opposition DMK legislators, who were suspended from attending the House proceedings for one week, staged a protest and tried to forcibly enter the Assembly premises.





The high drama at Fort St George, where the secretariat is located, began after DMK MLAs, led by their leader M K Stalin, confronted the security personnel and sought entry into the Assembly.



This resulted in arguments between the DMK members and the watch and ward staff, and a near stampede like situation prevailed. After their failed attempt, Stalin and his MLAs started raising slogans against Speaker P Dhanapal, who issued the suspension order on Wednesday.



There were no untoward incidents as a large police force was deployed at the secretariat. Even when the issue was raised in the Assembly by the Congress and eight DMK members, who were absent in the House on Wednesday, Dhanapal said the suspension could not be revoked. DMK president M Karunanidhi attended the session just once a few days ago to sign the register.



The 80 DMK MLAs, including Stalin, were suspended for one week for creating ruckus and stalling the proceedings. The DMK has 89 members in the 234-member Assembly.
A police constable and a home guard were injured while trying to apprehend an armed gang that attempted to break into a jewellery shop in Ramanagaram in the early hours of Thursday. The gang fired several rounds in the air to deter the police from approaching them, the police said.





Seven policemen along with home guards were on night rounds in different areas of the town. Constable Gowrish and home guard Narasimha who were doing the rounds on MG Road heard some sound from near SB Jewellers around 1 am. Gowrish went near the shop and found eight men trying to break its rear wall.



The burglars noticed the constable approaching them and attacked him with a log. Gowrish alerted Narasimha, who was near the patrol vehicle. An alert was sent to the Ramanagaram police control room. When Gowrish tried to nab them, they opened two rounds of fire in the air and fled the spot. Other police personnel reached the spot immediately and chases the thieves who again fired in the air, the police said.



The police chased them till Tippu Nagar when they again opened two rounds of fire in the air. The police arrested one of the gang members, Raju of Rajasthan, while the other seven managed to escape. Narasimha was injured when one of the burglars attacked him with a dagger. Gowrish and Narasimha are out of danger, said Shuba Ambika, police sub-inspector, Ramanagaram Town police station.



Suspects from Rajasthan



Raju told the police that all the gang members are from Rajasthan and they had come to Ramanagaram to loot jewellery shops. He is being questioned to gather more details about his associates. The gang had conducted a recee before executing its plan. The CCTV footages are being scrutinised, said the police.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is under attack for his comments on cow vigilantism, on Thursday said the BJP will not compromise on its principles even if it has to sit in the Opposition.





Modi also said the BJP has faced more adversities in Independent India than the Congress during the British rule, and that no party made more sacrifices than the BJP, post freedom.



Speaking at the foundation laying ceremony for the new BJP headquarters at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg on Thursday morning, Modi said the BJP has set an example of how a party can run democratically without dynasty, which was seen as a veiled attack on the Congresss Nehru-Gandhi family.



The BJP will be the only party which has faced adversities since its birth. It faced difficulties at every turn and its every effort was seen in bad light. Even during the British times, the Congress party would not have faced so much adversity that we, our dedicated workers, have gone through in 50-60 years, Modi said.



Party patriarch L K Advani, BJP chief Amit Shah, senior ministers Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley were present at the function. The party expects to shift from the present 11, Ashoka Road office to new premises in two years.
The Centre dropped a plan to appoint a separate administrator for Chandigarh UT after a strong protest from Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, patron of BJP ally SAD.





President Pranab Mukherjees office on Thursday announced that V P Singh Badnore, the newly appointed Governor of Punjab, will also be the administrator for the city, which is a Union Territory and also the capital of Punjab and Haryana.



On Wednesday, the Modi government had thought differently. Home Minister Rajnath Singh had indicated at appointing former IAS official K J Alphons Kannanthanam for the post.



Consequently, while appointing Badnore as the Governor of Punjab, the Centre decided to decouple from him the role of the administrator of the Chandigarh UT, as the first announcement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday showed.



This was seen as a departure from a practice that has been in place since mid-1980s and as a new experiment in good governance.



But Badal conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the home minister that his party opposed any plans for a separate Chandigarh Administrator as that could deal a blow to his partys prospects in the Assembly polls early next year. This was after the Congress and the Aam Admi Party accused the Akali Dal of failing to protect Punjabs interests.



Punjabs long-pending demand is that Chandigarh should be made the permanent capital of the state and not shared with Haryana. Congress chief ministerial candidate Amarinder Singh said the Centres blatantly unjust move was aimed at snatching Chandigarh from Punjab.



A rattled Badal said the Centres move violates the basis under which the arrangement was originally made, which was that Chandigarh belongs to Punjab and has to be transferred to it.



After getting an assurance from the Centre, Badal said: Let no one try to create any confusion on Chandigarh in the minds of people of Punjab or elsewhere Punjab will never allow its legitimate right over the capital and other Punjabi speaking areas to be compromised or diluted.
The spat between the BJP and Congress got new fodder with Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday attacking Opposition leader Digvijaya Singh.





Singh had called Jammu and Kashmir India occupied Kashmir  a phrase used by Pakistan.



Naidu said Congress leaders are not guided by national interest, but political interest, since their statements appear to exonerate Pakistan.



Why is Congress trying to exonerate Pakistan? I appeal them to be sensitive, realistic and act and speak accordingly, said Naidu.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi came up with a tit-for-tat strategic policy to deal with Pakistan, which has been fomenting trouble in Kashmir, while addressing the nation on Independence Day.



He had urged his government to expose atrocities in PoK and Balochistan before the world and found people from that region of Pakistan welcoming his move to flag human rights violations.



The BJP found Congress speaking in different voices since they had agreed with the PMs positioning on Pakistan during an all-party meet on Kashmir where the situation continues to be far from normal since Hizbul militant Burhan Wani was killed by security forces.



Consistently inconsistent



Whats consistent about Congress partys policy on Pakistan and J&K is inconsistency, Naidu sarcastically remarked.
A lecturer was reportedly beaten to death by army soldiers in south Kashmirs Pulwama district on Thursday, even as protests continued for the 40th consecutive day throughout the Valley.





Residents of Shar village in Khrew, 22 km from here, said jawans barged into their homes on Wednesday night and beat many of them, including women, and arrested 28 people. The forces, they claimed, dragged 30-year-old college lecturer Shabir Ahmad out of his home and whisked him away.



Around 1 am, we were asked to collect his (Shabirs) body, a resident said. The army, while regretting the incident, has ordered a probe into the circumstances that led to Ahmads killing. The incident is regrettable. The army will investigate the matter, said Corps Commander of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt General Subrata Saha.



Local media reports said 15 of those arrested have been admitted to hospital. They are in a critical condition, with injuries all over their bodies. However, police claimed the arrest was prompted by a scuffle between security forces and stone pelters, during which one person died and four were wounded.



The latest incident is likely to stoke further anger in the Valley, which is going through one of the worst unrests in recent years. As many as 66 people have died and thousands injured in the violence, which erupted following the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8.



Separatist leaders, who are spearheading the ongoing agitation, have extended the strike call till August 25. Meanwhile, authorities imposed night curfew in Srinagar and other districts in the Valley to foil the separatists call for a march to the UN office over a 72-hour period, which began on August 17.



A senior police officer said they have been ordered to enforce strict curfew and not allow any movement of people or vehicles. The night curfew has been imposed to thwart the relaxation in strikes called by separatist leaders. We cant give them a free hand as to when to open shops and when to shut them down, he said. On Thursday, police barred the entry of vehicles carrying essential supplies like milk and veggies into Srinagar.



There were also reports of journalists being manhandled by security forces in several areas of Srinagar. A spokesperson of the Petrol Dealers Association told reporters that the government had asked the oil depots in the Valley not to distribute fuel to dealers, a move which could further cripple life in Kashmir.
As the Congress appeared a divided lot over Prime Minister Narendra Modis reference to Balochistan, senior leader Anand Sharma said individual comments should not be misrepresented as the party lacking clarity in the stand it has to take.





Since Modis reference to Balochistan in the Independence Day address, Congress leaders have spoken in different voices. Former ministers Salman Khurshid, Kapil Sibal and Manish Tewari hit out at the prime minister for raking up the issue, arguing that it would give Pakistan a handle to corner India.



However, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala issued a statement dubbing the senior leaders remarks as personal views, and wanted the Prime Minister to raise the Balochistan and PoK issue in bilateral talks with Pakistan and also at international forums.



Surjewala even circulated an internal note pointing out that the UPA, too, had voiced concerns over human rights violations in Balochistan and that Modi was not the first prime minister to do so.


The Bengaluru police on Thursday questioned the representatives of Amnesty International India and a few others in connection with an event organised on August 13 at the United Theological College (UTC) here.





The police recorded the statements of the four Amnesty representatives, the UTC manager, three private videographers and three others who were present at the event.



Notices were served to all the 11 people, directing them to appear before the J C Nagar sub-division assistant police commissioner for an enquiry on Thursday. The police recorded their statements, Additional Commissioner of Police (West) K S R Charan Reddy told DH.



Reddy refused to disclose the names of those who were questioned as the investigation is still under progress. He said the interrogation will continue on Friday. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad members will also be summoned for questioning, he said.



Reddy said the questions pertained to the aims, objectives and nature of the event titled Broken Families involving Kashmiri people whose family members were killed by the armed forces.



The police said they would seek footage from television news channels that had covered the event. The Amnesty representatives told the police the event neither targeted India nor the army.



It was basically an interaction programme with the members of the victims families to understand the ground reality. They said they never anticipated clashes after the programme, said police sources.



The UTC manager said the college was not part of the event, but had only rented out its premises. The videographers and two others said towards the end of the video-screening, some people in the audience raised slogans against the Army.



AIIs Himanshi Matta said the police had directed Amnesty staff not go to office due to safety concerns, but the employees resumed work in the afternoon.
India has set clear terms for talks with Pakistan, outlining a five-point agenda and asking the neighbouring country to stop exporting terror and inciting violence in Jammu and Kashmir.





New Delhi has made it clear that if Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar visits Islamabad for talks with his Pakistani counterpart A A Chaudhry, the discussion should focus on the progress made in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai and 2016 Pathankot terrorist attacks.



In a strongly-worded response to Pakistans offer for talks with India, New Delhi also stated that it would like to know when the neighbouring country will vacate the territories of Jammu and Kashmir it has been illegally occupying.



Jaishankar wrote to Chaudhry, accepting the invitation for a visit to Islamabad, but made it clear that the discussions should focus first on the more pressing aspects of the Jammu and Kashmir situation, according to Vikas Swarup, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.



Swarup quoted from Jaishankars letter to Chaudhry while interacting with journalists on Thursday.



Jaishankar conveyed to Chaudhry that the discussion must include cessation of cross-border terrorism by Pakistan and ending incitement to violence in the Valley. He also proposed that the talks should include the progress made by the Pakistan government in detaining and prosecuting internationally recognised terrorists, who have been active in Pakistan in exhorting and supporting violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

Jaishankar also wanted a discussion on closing down terror camps in Pakistan where militants like Bahadur Ali, who was recently arrested in the state, continued to be trained for attacks against India.



New Delhi also recalled the signing of the Simla Agreement in 1972 and Lahore Declaration of 1999 by leaders of both the countries to resolve bilateral disputes within the framework of the two documents. The world is aware that Pakistan has a long history of violence and terrorism against India, as also in the broader region, Swarup said.



The letter also recalled the repeated attempts made by Pakistan against India, sending armed raiders to Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 and 1965, infiltration of military personnel across the Line of Control at Kargil and continued support of terrorist activities.



Pakistan has been raising its pitch on the ongoing violence in Kashmir, stressing on rights violation by security forces, particularly during the crackdown on agitators following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
The state government will shortly introduce an additional shift of eight hours for police personnel in areas where they work under enormous pressure.





The scheme will be introduced first in Bengaluru, then in Hubballi-Dharwad, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Belagavi and later in all districts. The scheme will be rolled out gradually given the additional staff required and the financial burden on the government. By the end of this year, the government will fill 19,000 vacancies in the police, out of the 25,000, DG&IGP Om Prakash told reporters in Dharwad on Thursday.



In a separate interaction with reporters in Hubballi, Om Prakash said the police were checking the video recording of the event organised by Amnesty International India on Kashmir to ascertain whether the slogans raised there were seditious or not. He asserted that there was no delay in registering the case but police were checking the video footage of the event as no one was named. FIRs and counter FIRs have been filed over the Bengaluru event.



Asked about anti-India slogans raised at a college hostel in Tumakuru, he said, I do not think it is a serious issue, as such things happen when young men get drunk and go to birthday parties.



On police excesses at Yamanur and other villages in Navalgund taluk of Dharwad district, Om Prakash said action would be taken against the guilty officers once the ongoing investigation is over. Refusing to comment on the complaint against him by former DySP Anupama Shenoy, Om Prakash said the officer was no longer with the police.




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Comedy For Change

Late Nite Show

Johannesburg, 18th August 2016: After a historic and groundbreaking inaugural instalment in 2015, the Annual Johannesburg International Comedy Festival returns for its second take, taking the funny back to the inner city precincts of Braamfontein and Newtown from Friday 4th  Sunday 6th November 2016 in what is set to be another comedy extravaganza!The biggest independent international comedy festival in Africa will bring together over 50 local, continental and international comedians, performing in 13 shows across 6 venues in a 3 day spectacle.Once again, very different shows will feature a diverse spectrum of comedians providing a unique multi-sensory comedy experience of an international standard across the festival."Local favourites will perform alongside some of the most talented comedians on the continent, as well as across the globe right here in the City of Gold!" says Festival Founder and Director, Takunda Bimha, "which is a manner we chose to celebrate local and continental talent on equal footing and weighting with international talent. We hope to continue in this vein and become Africa's proud representative on the international comedy circuit.""The vision is to create a comedy festival in the truest sense," adds Bimha, "by creating a platform that will contribute to the continued growth and development of standup comedy both locally and on the continent, whilst enhancing the appreciation for standup comedy as an art form."All the shows at the 2nd Annual Johannesburg International Comedy Festival will be hosted by local comedians. And, the vibrant inner city district will create an atmosphere that allows people to explore and enjoy their city beyond the comedy.The list of shows as well as their host's reads as follows;The funniest comedians from across the length and breadth of the African continent. 6 comedians from 6 different countries, celebrating the very best standup comedy found in Africa today. Hosted by Tumi MorakeSpeaking the universal language of laughter! This show knows no borders or boundaries! Featuring 6 international comedians in one rocking set, a truly unique UN comedy experience! Hosted by Joey RasdienFire In The HoleWarning: Many holy cows were injured in the making of this show! There is fire in the hole and no prisoners will be taken! No holds barred! Not for the faint hearted, this show will leave you feeling like the altar boy that got into the communion wine! No under 21's! Hosted by John VlismasYou know that joke that you just can't tell in English! Well. ALL the jokes in this show are told in their mother tongue. Featuring some of the best comedians performing 'vernac comedy' in South Africa today! Hosted by Tips ShampoonaizaFunny is funny and the ladies are killing it out there! Celebrating trailblazing female talent both locally and internationally in one of the most iconic venues in the city! We celebrate our freedom by bringing an art form that pays tribute to our emancipation on the very grounds of the old Women's jail. Hosted by Celeste NtuliWe are taking it to the streets! This show features 6 of the foremost urban comedy acts performing in South Africa today. You ain't got street cred if you miss this one night only, stellar lineup tearing up the inner city! Hosted by Donovan GoliathBe the change you want to see in the world! This lineup of socially conscious comedians shed light on issues affecting our world today. This is comedy with a message in its debut showing at the festival this year. Hosted by Conrad Koch & Chester MissingThis is where we Jazz it up No seriously, Comedy and jazz! The last show of every night features an array of comedians from all the other shows and they perform with a live jazz band on stage. Hosted by Tats NkonzoThe second year of the festival promises to be exhilarating feast of comedy and if the tagline for this year's campaign which is #DeclareTheFunny is anything to go by, it's one not to be missed.Tickets for the Johannesburg International Comedy Festival can be purchased at www.ticketpros.co.za with a variety of ticketing options.For more information and updates, log on to www.jicf.co.za, like www.facebook.com/JICF.SA/, follow @JICF and #JICF on twitter and Instagram.
News / National

by Thobekile Zhou

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has told parliament today that the Home Affairs ministry should assist with reburials of Gukurahundi victims in Matabeleland.Mnangagwa was responding to a question from MDC legislator Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga who had asked why Gukurahundi victims in the region are neglected by Government.She said Gukurahundi victims who number close to 20 000 are not being reburied but those in Mashonaland are getting decent re-burials.
With no significant London-listed corporate results on Friday, investors will be focused on the only two notable economic data releases  UK public finances and German producer prices.

The UK public sector finance release from the Office for National Statistics marks the first since the European Union referendum.

The July data is expected to show public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, decreased by 2.3bn, compared to a 2.2bn fall in June to 7.8bn.

HSBC said: One area where some indication of the referendums effect may come through is in corporation tax returns, which reflected expected earnings, rather than actual results.

The OBR thinks there may be some deterioration in expected earnings this year, on the back of the vote, but that this could be offset by lower-than-expected investment costs. So, we expect a small increase on last year's surplus.

Meanwhile, HSBC expects the German producer price index data from the Federal Statistics Office to register a month-on-month increase of 0.1% in July, compared to 0.4% in June. The bank sees the yearly change improving to a 2.1% decline in July from a 2.2% drop in June.

Friday 19 August



INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Blackrock Throgmorton Trust, Crystal Amber Fund Ltd., Sanderson Group



QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE

M Winkworth



INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Producer Price Index (GER) (07:00)



EGMS

PJSC Megafon GDR (Reg S)



TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Alpha Real Trust Ltd.



UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Public Sector Net Borrowing (09:30)



FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Atkins (WS), Bacit Limited, Castings, Heath (Samuel) & Sons, Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings, Scapa Group, U And I Group
Chinas second biggest insurance company is not put off investing in the UK despite the Brexit result, as it makes plans to increase overseas spending.

Jason Yao, chief executive of Ping An Insurance Group Company of China, told Reuters the company planned to increase overseas investment by 5-10% in the UK, US and Europe in the next three to five years

Chinas insurance regulator only allows companies to invest 15% of total assets abroad, and Ping An has so far only invested 2%.

Yao told Reuters: "There will be investment opportunities in the UK ... Britain's stock market and currency have gradually stabilised [since the EU referendum vote]. We've been watching that very closely".

Since the UK voted to leave the European Union in June, the government has continued to stress that the country was still open for business and for foreign investment.

In January 2015, Ping An bought Tower Place, an office property in London for 327m and in July 2013 the insurer bought the Lloyds Building in the City for 260m.

Yao said that the company could invest further in property, logistics-related real estate and private equity funds.

Ping Ans overseas expansion is the latest in a string of foreign investments by chinese firms as they seek to reduce their dependence on the chinese economy and sidestep the weak yuan. Anbang Insurance and Fosun International have also made overseas acquisitions.

Yao also said it would encourage its Ping An Securities company arm to be listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange by the end of the year.
The US federal government filed a suit against Harley Davidson , accusing the manufacturer of making, selling or installing hundreds of thousands of emissions-control defeat devices on motorbikes certified as environmentally compliant.

US government officials were specifically targeting the companys Screamin Eagle after-market engine tuners, Bloomberg reported.

Milwaukee-based Harley Davidson sold 339,000 of those devices from 2008 to 2015, the US government alleged in its suit filed in Washington on Thursday.

Washington asked for a court injunction barring Harley Davidson from continuing with its activities plus penalties.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Aaron Mhukuta, the Vadzidzi VaJeso prophet popularly known as Mudzidzi Wimbo, has dismissed longstanding claims that he is living in captivity after being abducted by the army to force a prophecy on who will replace President Robert Mugabe.The prophet is said to have prophesied in 1957 that Mugabe would rule Zimbabwe.Wimbo gave an interview to State media and said he had left his home freely to live at the shrine but some reports indicated he was being held as a prisoner of the army that is reportedly backing Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to succeed Mugabe.Official media reporters claimed they visited the shrine and found him attending to about 2,000 people, among them foreigners, who had visited him to receive spiritual help."I am tired of explaining that (my stay at the shrine). I was not abducted by anyone and I am happy and preaching the word of God from this shrine," said Wimbo.Earlier, Wimbo had reportedly told the police that he had never been abducted but chose to live at the shrine to avoid some of his sons who were angling to take over the popular Apostolic church from the 94-year-old prophet."Currently, I am staying at the shrine. I cannot currently go back home because there is disorder. I am not going to return to the Gomo Village again," says Vimbo in a video recording of the police interview.Wimbo's aide, Shepherd Chingwena, confirmed a fierce dispute between the prophet and some of his sons, claiming that the spiritual figurehead had some time back foretold his relocation to the shrine in Mashonaland Central province's Mt Darwin district.Chingwena said they had invited Mnangagwa and Local Government minister to officiate at the opening of a school that has been built at the shrine.The army, contrary to previous reports, had not invaded the shrine but had a training camp nearby."The issue of soldiers who are said to be staying here are all lies. What I only know is that there are soldiers who do their training a few kilometres from here and they asked Mudzidzi to fetch water here since we have tap water, and Mudzidzi agreed. That request was done well before Mudzidzi came to stay here,' one of Wimbo's wives, Jester Mhukuta said.Chingwena added that Wimbo had ruled out Joice Mujuru, Mugabe's former deputy and now leader of the opposition ZimPF, and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, as future presidents."He made several other prophesies apart from that one. For instance, prior to the expulsion of Joice Mujuru from Zanu PF, he said the former VP (vice president) was getting lost and that Zimbabwe will never be ruled by a female President."In 2003, he prophesied that Zimbabwe will use the US dollar as its official currency, and in 1995 he said Gabriel was going to rule the whole of Africa. He further elaborated that he was not referring to Gabriel the angel, but the leader of Zimbabwe. We only realised the meaning of that prophecy when President Mugabe was appointed African Union chairperson."Mudzidzi Wimbo prophesied about perennial droughts and that MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai would not rule Zimbabwe. Those are some of the prophecies he has made and he is not the kind of a man whom you can pressurise to say something," said Chingwena.He said Wimbo still stood by his 1957 prophecy but the "problem is that in political circles, there are certain people who no longer want President Mugabe and they think that Mudzidzi Wimbo is a stumbling block to their ambitions and, they now wish him to die."
Japanese exports shrank at their quickest pace since the Great Financial Crisis against a backdrop of weak demand overseas and a stronger currency, prompting aggressive rhetoric from government officials against undue strength in the countrys currency.

Sales of goods to customers abroad dropped at a 14% year-on-year clip in July (consensus: -13.7%), for a tenth consecutive monthly fall, marking the sharpest decline since October 2009.

In June exports had fallen by 7.4%.

Japan exported fewer durable goods during that month, with car shipments to the US notably lower. Total exports to the States fell at a 11.8% pace, much worse than Junes decline of 6.5%.

Exports to China were also weaker, dropping by 12.7% year-on-year, up from a 10.0% drop in June.

Total imports shrank at a rate of 24.7% over the year, worse than Junes contraction of 18.8% (consensus: -20.0%).

In real terms, exports were off by 3.2% over the month, according to the Bank of Japan, alongside a contraction of 1.1% for imports.

Acting as a backdrop, officials from the Ministry of Finance, the BoJ and Japans financial regulator held an emergency meeting overnight to debate recent events on foreign exchange markets.

"We are constantly watching for speculative moves and will respond with the necessary steps if needed," Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Masatsugu Asakawa reportedly said after the meeting.
Russian steel miner Evraz s half-year revenue fell due to weak steel prices and low demand but remains cautiously optimistic for the second half of the year.

For the six months ended 30 June, revenue decreased by 27.6% to $3,543m, compared to the same period last year. Evraz said it was due to lower revenue from sales of steel products, which declined by 29.5% year-on-year as the average sales price fell 23.7%. Steel revenues account for 60.8% of the company's total revenue.

The London headquartered miner said revenue from coal was largely unchanged year-on-year as increased volumes partly offset lower sales prices.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was down 38.1% year-on-year to $577m, due to a lagged effect of weak steel pricing. EBITDA margin reached 16.3%, compared to 18.8% in 2015. EBITDA for coal increased 25.6% as the margin reached 39.7% due to the rouble devaluation and effects of cost-cutting initiatives.

Russian steel consumption fell by 2% to 16.9m tonnes in the period, due to reduced demand. As domestic consumption waned, Russian export volumes increased slightly to 14.5m tonnes, due to the weak Rouble.

Net cash from operating activities also fell 33.7% to $533m. Free cash flow for the period was $102m. Total debt decreased by $540m to $6.18bn, while net debt decreased by $33m to $5.31bn.

The FTSE 250-listed company saved $138m due to ongoing productivity improvements and cost-cutting initiatives.

Chief executive Alexander Frolov, said: "Evraz remains focused on net debt reduction and refinancing. The group has extended the overall duration of its debt and will comfortably cover maturities in 2016 and 2017 using a combination of currently available liquidity and future free cash flow generation. Given the higher prices and stronger domestic demand in the second quarter, Evrazs outlook for the rest of the year is cautiously optimistic."

The company also said it does not anticipate significant improvements in Russian steel demand in the second half of 2016 due to moderate investment activity and the current economic environment, but anticipates steel prices will gradually increase to the average seen in 2015.

In the second half of 2016, the North American segment will likely experience headwinds from large volumes of dumped and subsidized large diameter pipe imports into Canada, which will extend onto 2017-2018 should no trade remedies be put into place against unfairly traded LD pipe from China and Japan this October. In addition, results may be negatively impacted by delays in approvals of key large pipeline projects in the US and Canada and continuing weak demand for rails.

In the second half of 2016, Evraz expects coking coal concentrate prices to be supported by stable demand on the domestic market and key export destinations, as well as the temporary high-vol grades coal deficit.

Shares in Evraz were down 5.91% to 162.67p at 0935 BST.
Londons FTSE 100 index was down 0.1% at 6,852.46 in afternoon trade, as investors digested encouraging retail sales data and continued to mull over the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve.

Admiral gained ground, bouncing back from heavy losses in the previous session when the insurers results sparked concerns about its Solvency II position.

On Thursday, Deutsche Bank said the company was down but not out.

The shares were priced for perfection ahead of the interims, and the interims duly disappointed. However, we don't think either of the negatives in the numbers are long-term structural issues. Of the two, a surprisingly high solvency sensitivity to low bond yields is the more serious potential hit to sentiment, but is actually quite small compared with annual free cash flow.

In terms of sectors, miners were on the front foot as commodity prices advanced on the back of a weaker dollar and as investors adopted a risk-on approach, with Antofagasta, Glencore and BHP Billiton sharply higher.

Earlier this week, investors welcomed first-half results from Antofagasta, in which the Chilean copper miner improved earnings and kept its dividend flat thanks to some heavy cost-cutting, despite a drop in revenue.

On the downside, ex-dividends were weighing on the FTSE, with Pearson, British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands, Legal & General and Reckitt Benckiser all in the red as they traded with no entitlement to their latest dividend payout.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 565.50p 4.24%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,866.00p 2.47%

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 240.10p 2.43%

Glencore (GLEN) 197.20p 2.39%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 156.60p 2.35%

Admiral Group (ADM) 2,129.00p 2.31%

BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,069.50p 2.25%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,787.00p 2.23%

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,339.00p 2.14%

Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,554.00p 1.90%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Pearson (PSON) 859.00p -2.66%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,848.00p -2.00%

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 186.80p -1.84%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 4,064.50p -1.55%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 5,014.00p -1.09%

Carnival (CCL) 3,609.00p -1.01%

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 208.60p -0.95%

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,417.00p -0.93%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 631.60p -0.86%

BT Group (BT.A) 392.90p -0.73%
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News / National

by Staff

The son of an AFM pastor stationed at Ngundu Halt business centre has died after he lost control of a car he was driving as he is alleged to have been drunk.It is alleged that Preacher Kwakwa was driving under the influence of alcohol when he lost control of a Honda Fit he was driving. The accident happened at Museva, seven kilometers from Ngundu on Saturday at around midday.It is believed that Preacher who had been drinking with his friend at Ngundu borrowed the car from a church mate identified as Precious as he intended to bring his girlfriend who was at Museva along the Masvingo road to Ngundu.According to eye witnesses the deceased did not wear his seatbelt and when he tried to avoid a haulage truck with an abnormal load that was headed for Beitbridge, he lost control and when the car swerved he hit his head against the dashboard resulting in his death.The deceased was in the company of his girlfriend and friend who walked away without any injuries whilst the car was partially damaged on the driver's side.Police Spokesperson Inspector Charity Mazula confirmed the incident. Preacher was buried in Zaka on Wednesday.
News / Press Release

by Settlement Chikwinya

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) would like to congratulate the people of Zambia for coming out in large numbers and voting peacefully in last week's general elections.However, as PDP we note with serious concerns the number of irregularities that were noted during the election period and counting process.We also note with concern that the African Union (AU) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) rushed to endorse the presidential election result without investigating concerns raised by the opposition parties.The opposition was concerns on how the election had been fraudulently conducted and was marred by serious errors in vote tallying of the presidential vote while over 14 000 casted votes for opposition president, Hakainde Hichilema were found stuffed in a bin.Some polling stations opened late while ink pads ran out and ink stamps broke down.Polling agents from opposition parties were chased away from polling stations and there was the disenfranchisement of many voters who discovered on the day of voting that their names were not on the voters' roll while some had been transferred to faraway places and were unable to cast their votes.It is therefore clear that the Zambian elections did not adhere to the country's laws and did not meet the minimum standards and guidelines of SADC and international community for free, fair and credible elections.In the run-up to the Zambia election, the state media had used dirty tactics whilst independent newspapers such as The Post were shutdown.In light of these challenges in Zambia's elections, it is clear that unless significant electoral changes are made in Zimbabwe before the 2018 elections, we will witness a similar or a worse fraudulent election in the country.The PDP foresees a national disaster in the 2018 election where massive electoral theft orchestrated by the Zanu PF regime will take place.As PDP we are concerned that with less than two years before the 2018 elections, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has not done any meaningful progress in ensuring it is in full control of the voting process.The biometric voters' roll (BVR), which requires time and resources to put in place ahead of 2018, is not available.The BVR will enhance inclusiveness and transparency and bar Zanu PF's massive rigging techniques.The BVR is, however, not the sum total of a panacea to a credible election.The Electoral Act, which is key element in ensuring free, fair and uncontested elections and gives autonomy to ZEC, is yet to be harmonised with the country's Constitution.As we have put it across in our Agenda for the Restoration and Rehabilitation of Electoral Sustainability (ARREST) policy document, PDP's strong contention is that free and fair elections can only come to fruition if the following conditions are met;- The creation of a brand new Biometric Voters' Roll.- The immediate disbanding of the ZEC and creation of a new national election management body and re-composition of the secretariat.- The creation of a transitional elections management body under the curatorship of SADC and the AU for the purposes of the 2018 election.- The creation of an independent electoral court.- The creation of wholly independent electoral courts of violence and opening up of the media space.- The demilitarization of electoral processes and the electoral environment.- An impartial traditional leadership.- Continuous voter registration exercise and voter education to be carried out by all stakeholders.- The adoption of the Diaspora vote and cancellation of the use of voter slips.- The inclusion of an electoral code of conduct in the new Electoral Act.Another Zimbabwe is Possible!!!
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A consultant on what was to be the nation's first marijuana resort pleaded guilty to a drug offense for ordering pot seeds.



By REGINA GARCIA CANO

Associated Press

FLANDREAU, S.D.  One of two consultants who worked with a Native American tribe on its plans to open the nation's first marijuana resort pleaded guilty Monday to a drug offense stemming from his role in the operation, including ordering pot seeds that were shipped surreptitiously from the Netherlands to the reservation.

Jonathan Hunt, who oversaw the first marijuana crop of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, entered his guilty plea to a drug conspiracy count in the city of Flandreau, which is adjacent to the tribe's reservation in eastern South Dakota. The state's top prosecutor filed drug-related charges Aug. 3 against Hunt and Eric Hagen, the CEO of the Colorado-based consulting firm Monarch America. The charges came eight months after tribal leaders destroyed the marijuana crop, fearing a federal raid and walking away from an ambitious and headline-grabbing scheme to develop an adult playground.





. . .
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NEW YORK (AP)  Donald Trump's business has been fined $10,000 for installing two kiosks in, and removing a bench from, the lobby of Trump Tower.

The city Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings released Hearing Officer Clive Morrick's Aug. 12 decision Wednesday.





. . .
Russian scientists are warning of the threat of born-again smallpox re-emerging from graves in the Arctic where permafrost is melting due to climate change . In some areas of Siberia, the thawing is three times greater than usual, risking the re-awakening of deadly diseases. The new alert comes after an outbreak of deadly anthrax in the Yamal peninsula last month which killed one child and led to 24 more with confirmed infections. More than 2,300 reindeer perished in the outbreak (See: Global warming could unleash diseases not seen since Ice Age). The anthrax infection is believed to have spread after the thawing of reindeer or even human graves but now scientists warn the same process could release smallpox, a disease that has been eradicated in the world. "Can these processes repeat themselves? Of course they can," warned Boris Kershengolts, deputy director for research at the Institute for Biological Problems of the Cryolithozone in Yakutsk. "Back in the 1890s, there occurred a major epidemic of smallpox - there was a town where up to 40 per cent of the population died, "Naturally, the bodies were buried under the upper layer of permafrost soil, on the bank of the Kolyma River (in eastern Siberia). "Now, a little more than 100 years later, Kolyma's floodwaters have started eroding the banks." Virus experts from the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have visited the graves, said Professor Sergey Netesov, of Novosibirsk State University. The corpses they studied bore sores that looked like those smallpox might cause, he told video conference called in the wake of the anthrax outbreak. While the virus itself was not found, some fragments of its DNA were noted, reported The Siberian Times. "This type of research should go on," he urged. "Examining deeper burials might help clear up the situation." The tsarist Arctic fortress town of Zashiversk, totally abandoned in 1898 after repeated smallpox outbreaks, is one example of a site where graves could pose a modern threat. Graves containing smallpox victims are melting because of climate change Apart from anthrax and smallpox, there are many other dangers lurking in shallow Arctic graves which might be unlocked from the ice after centuries, warned Viktor Maleyev, deputy chief of Russia's Central Research Institute of Epidemiology. Scientists are discovering new "giant viruses" in woolly mammoths, the carcasses of which are appearing as warmer weather melts ice and permafrost, he said. "Their pathology has not been proven, we must continue to study them. "I think climate change will bring us many surprises," he said. "I don't want to scare anyone, but we should be ready." Another expert warned that the melting in northern Siberia is far greater than expected this summer. The depth of thawing in the Yakutia, Russia's largest region, is usually 30-to-60 centimetres, while this year it has exceeded one metre, said deputy director of the Permafrost Studies Institute, Mikhail Grigoriev. "The rock and soil that forms the Yamal Peninsula contains much ice," he said. "Melting may loosen the soil rather quickly, so the probability is high that old cattle graves may come to the surface. "Some graves dug in the past may be just three meters deep, covered by a very thin layer of soil. "The spores of the (anthrax) disease are now on the loose."










The well-known Law Firm VP McMullin Solicitors with offices in Letterkenny, Ballybofey, Ballyshannon and Dublin received the Ulster Law Firm of the year award for the second year running at the Danske Bank Irish Law Awards 2013 in Dublin last week.

The well-known Law Firm VP McMullin Solicitors with offices in Letterkenny, Ballybofey, Ballyshannon and Dublin received the Ulster Law Firm of the year award for the second year running at the Danske Bank Irish Law Awards 2013 in Dublin last week.

The firm offers legal services spanning the business, private and public sectors. Managing Partner James Sweeney accepted the award on behalf of the firm. The ceremony took place in the Four Seasons Hotel and was hosted by leading current affairs broadcaster, Miriam OCallaghan.

Founded in 1921 by Vincent McMullin, VP McMullin Solicitors is now one of the largest Law firms in west and northwest of Ireland.

Speaking of the firms success Mr. Sweeney commented, We are again delighted to be honoured with this very prestigious award. We have worked tirelessly over many years to maintain a high quality service and the award recognises the hard work and dedication of all of the Solicitors and support staff at McMullins.

Now in its second year, the awards provide an opportunity for those working at the forefront of the Irish legal profession to be recognised alongside their European and International peers. The awards acknowledge excellence and recognise the outstanding achievements and exemplary practices of leading law firms, legal practitioners and in-house legal teams across the country.

Over 300 legal firms, individuals, law schools, and legal departments were nominated for the awards. The nominations were judged, and the winners were selected after deliberation by an adjudication panel of 25 leading national and international legal experts, headed by Chairman Dr. Eamonn Hall.

Dr. Hall is principal of EG Hall & Co., former chairman of the Law Reporting Council for Ireland and currently a board member of the Irish Centre for European Law and member of the Governing Council of the Faculty of Notaries Public in Ireland. The judging panel considered the quality of legal

services offered, the depth of expertise within the firm, value for money, effective communications with clients and the wider community, quality systems in the management of the provision of legal services and the use of technology. There were six winners nationally in the Law Firm categories.

Commenting on their partnership with the Irish Law Awards, Terry Browne, Country Manager, at

Danske Bank said, Were delighted to once again be associated with the Irish Law Awards. The shortlisted finalists are evidence of the exemplary quality and professionalism in the Irish legal profession and we are delighted to be able to again recognise the wealth of talent that exists in this country.

Tracey Carney, Event Director, stated The inaugural Irish Law Awards was a huge success last year and was the first of its kind in Ireland. The event has grown exponentially since then and this year we are delighted to have the support of Danske Bank in partnering with us in recognising

excellence within the legal sector. The standard this year was exceptionally high.

Former Minister for Justice Norah Owen during the ceremony paid tribute to the individuals, teams and firms who have made an outstanding contribution to Irish law.
People attending the Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital this afternoon can expect delays.

In a statement issued by the Saolta University Health Care Group in the last 40 minutes the hospitals Emergency Department is described as very busy. An apology has been offered to patients and their families for any distress caused by the delays.

The statement says: Significant numbers of patients [are] awaiting admission to the hospital. We apologise to patients and their families for these delays.

The Full Capacity Protocol has been implemented and all efforts continue to be made to identify patients who are appropriate for discharge. We have also deferred some non urgent elective procedures. We apologise to patients for the distress this deferral may cause.

Management at the hospital would like to again advise people who are attending the Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital that they can expect delays.

We would like to remind the public that we encourage them to attend the Emergency Department only in the case of real emergencies and they should contact their GP or GP Out-of-Hours service in the first instance.

Letterkenny University Hospital again apologises to all patients and their families for any distress caused as a result of these delays.
Opinion / Columnist

Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, leader of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is a "flawed and indecisive character," reported American Ambassador to Zimbabwe (2004 to 2007), Christopher William Dell. The report was meant to be top secret for US officials only but it was leaked and made public by WikiLeaks.Ambassador Dell came to this conclusion after meeting Tsvangirai a few times. We, Zimbabweans particularly those in his party who elected him MDC leader, had known him for years but failed to notice's he was not leadership material. Even after WikiLeaks report came out flagging Tsvangirai's serious weaknesses, MDC supporters and the nation at large ignored the warning and went on to vote for him in droves in 2008 and 2013 elections.Of course Ambassador Dell was right in his assessment of Tsvangirai and subsequent events have proven that Tsvangirai is breathtakingly corrupt and incompetent; MDC's failure to get even one democratic reform implemented in five years of the GNU is one of the most graphic proof of this. It was MDC's failure to implement the reforms that allowed President Mugabe to blatantly rig the July 2013 elections and retain to power. If Zimbabweans did not appreciate the seriousness consequences of failing to stop him getting back into power, they do now because the tyrant has done nothing since other than drag the nation deeper and deeper into this hell-on-earth.Zimbabwe facing a serious economic meltdown; unemployment has soared to 90%, up to 76% of the population are now living in abject poverty, basic services like supply of clean running water and electricity are now a luxury, etc. President Mugabe and his cronies are not paying any attention on the economic problems and the tragic human suffering they are causing; they are busy looting and/or fighting amongst themselves over who will inherit the dictatorship from Mugabe.Looting is big "business" in Zimbabwe. In March this year President Mugabe admitted that $15 billion in diamond revenue was looted is the last six years. Ministers Jonathan Moyo and Kasukuwere have since said a big "chunk" of the $15 billion was looted by former VP Joice Mujuru and her late husband. It is no secret that the two had a diamond mining concession in Marange but they were not the only ones with such looting rights. So the full extent of the wholesale looting and plunder of Marange and Chiadzwa diamonds must be hundreds of billions of dollars!If Zimbabweans had listened to Ambassador Dell's warning and ditched the flawed and indecisive Tsvangirai we would not be in this mess. Worse still, because Zimbabweans did not ditch Tsvangirai and his MDC friends after the rigged July 2013 elections they have allowed these corrupt and incompetent idiots to sow confusion and chaos in the nation."The Zanu-PF regime, as it continues to fizzle out of power and collapse like a deck of cards, has recently been persecuting and harassing genuine war veterans. The recent arrest of war veterans leaders, Victor Matemadanda and Douglas Mahiya is a case in point," wrote the MDC-T spokesman, Obert Gutu.It is a matter of public record that Zanu-PF has used rogue war veterans as its storm troopers since 2000 to harass, intimidate, beat, rape and even murder innocent Zimbabweans under the pretext fighting agents of regime change. President Mugabe granted these rogues carte blanche powers to act above the law and they did. The tyrant has rewarded these war veteran thugs with one-off generous war-induced disability grants, pension and school fees allowances.Rogue war veteran leaders like Jabulani Sibanda, Chris Mutsvangwa and now Victor Matemadanda and Douglas Mahiya have publicly acknowledge their support of President Mugabe and his corrupt and tyrannical rule. They have boosted of their role in keeping the tyrant in power. The last two individuals have described themselves and their fellow rogue war veterans as the "stockholders of Zanu-PF and Zimbabwe", meaning they have the veto over who rules the country and as Zanu-PF storm troopers they have wielded their veto alright!No genuine war veteran would ever accept committing such acts of barbarism against innocent civilians because it goes against the grain of what the war of independence was about! Matemadanda and Mahiya are war veterans in that they did fight in the war of independence just as Emmerson Mnangagwa and even Mugabe himself did. No doubt Obert Gutu will not describe Mnangagwa and Mugabe as "genuine war veterans" because of what they have done since independence; destruction of the economy, the brutal oppression, Gukurahundi massacre, etc.Until a few months ago Mahiya and his fellow rogue war veterans were fighting to impose the Zanu-PF dictatorship; they were not just in the same camp with Mugabe they were his flag bearers! Mahiya and company are angry with President Mugabe not because of his "dictatorial tendencies" as they said; they never noticed that before because they were rewarded. They are angry with him now because he has stopped paying them.Zimbabwe's liberation war was fought by those who believed in the cause of freedom and human dignity for all, the genuine war veterans. It was also fought by mercenaries who cared about freedom, liberty, justice and economic prosperity for only themselves and no one else. Mercenaries are renowned for betraying the cause for which they were fighting for yesterday in pursuit of their reward of power and wealth; they appetites for both are insatiable.Of course President Mugabe and his Zanu-PF cronies including the rogue war veterans like Mahiya have proven beyond all doubt that they are mercenaries who have betrayed the people and all those genuine war veterans who believed in the struggle for independence.Both Mai Mujuru and Nelson Chamisa and members from their respective parties, Zim-PF and MDC-T attended the court hearings of Mahiya and other rogue war veterans  they were arrested as part of the fall-out with the tyrant. It is one thing for Mujuru and her Zim-PF friends to support these war veterans, after all she is still Zanu-PF in all but name. MDC-T members and the public at large were the victims of these rogue war veterans' thuggery!As the victims of the Zanu-PF tyranny of course any thinking ordinary Zimbabwean is pleased to see Zanu-PF thugs fighting amongst themselves and the dictatorship implode. But for anyone, much less opposition leaders like Gutu whose members have been on the receiving end of tyrants like Mahiya and his fellow rogue war veterans, to pretend Mahiya and company are innocent reeks of mercenary political opportunism  same opportunism that turned Mugabe, Mahiya and all the other Zanu-PF members into the corrupt and murderous thugs they are today."The people of Zimbabwe deserve a new beginning; a fresh and brand new start. The MDC is the government-in-waiting and we are not going to disappoint the long-suffering masses of Zimbabwe," continued Obert Gutu.MDC-T is busy recruiting the same rogue war veterans who helped Zanu-PF impose the de facto Zanu-PF dictatorship with a view of the war veterans doing the same thing for MDC-T; how does that constitute a fresh start for the nation? We are fighting to end the dictatorship and not to end the Zanu-PF dictatorship and replace it with a MDC-T or Zim-PF dictatorship!Right now, the people of Zimbabwe have the government they rightly deserve  the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu-PF government complete with its army of corrupt and incompetent opposition parties. A nation that continues to follow blindly someone like Morgan Tsvangirai ten years after they were warned that he is "flawed and indecisive character" and in total disregard of the mountain of evidence proving just how incompetent he is, is setting itself up for failure. We are a failed state, and so will remain until we learn to elect competent leaders!------------Patrick Guramatunhu
As many area communities will be observing Trick-or-Treating this weekend and Monday, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections advises you and your family to keep your children safer this Halloween by discussing ahead of time what to do if you are ever separated. A list of safety tips from state agencies is below to help ensure a safer Halloween weekend for everyone. You can also find the hours for trick-or-treating in Door and Kewaunee counties by clicking here.

-A parent or trusted adult should always accompany children

-Stay on well-lit streets and stick to neighborhoods you know

-Only stop at homes where the porch light is on

-Never enter a home or car for a treat

-Trick-or-treaters should carry a cell phone to allow for quick communication

-If the child carries a cell phone, activate location services prior to trick-or-treating

-Call 911 if you see any suspicious or illegal activity

Children should yell No! and run from any stranger who tries to take them somewhere

-Have a responsible adult check treats at the end of the night

Similarly, the Wisconsin Department of Health also suggests some tips for families with trick-or-treaters and families who are giving out candy.

Costume Tips

-Choose costumes that are light-colored and more visible to motorists.

-Use reflective tape to decorate costumes and candy bags to increase the visibility of children to drivers. Reflective tape may be purchased at hardware, bicycle, or sporting goods stores.

-Use make-up rather than a mask; if your childs costume does include a mask, make sure it fits snugly and that the eyeholes are large enough to allow full vision.

-Children should wear well-fitting, sturdy shoes.

-Costumes should be short enough that a child will not trip and fall.

-Choose costume accessories such as swords or knives that are made of soft and flexible material.

-Do not use novelty contacts such as cat eyes or snake eyes.

Pedestrian Safety

-Engage in Halloween activities during the daylight hours, if possible.

-Do not enter homes or apartments without adult supervision.

-Remind children to walk, not run, and to only cross streets at crosswalks.

-Be sure your children are accompanied by a responsible adult who has a flashlight. -----

-Flashlights or chemical light sticks should be used so that children can see and be seen by motorists.

Halloween Home Safety

-Remove obstacles from your lawn, porch, or steps if you are expecting trick-or-treaters.

-Make sure your front porch is well-lit.

-Avoid using candle-lit jack-o-lanterns if possible. If you do use candles, dont place them near curtains, furnishings, or decorations. Move them off porches where childrens costumes may ignite.

-Keep your pets in another room when you are expecting trick-or-treaters.

-Small children should not carve pumpkins; instead, allow them to draw the designs on the pumpkin and adults may carve.

-Turn on an outside light if welcoming trick-or-treaters.
Home Four wheelers New Jeep Compass To Be Unveiled Globally Next Month oi-Kennedy Paul

The Jeep is finally set to hit the Indian market by the end of this month with two model - Wrangler and Grand Cherokee SUVs. Jeep's high-performance SRT brand will make a debut as well with the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT.

A third model known currently as C-SUV or the Jeep 551 is under development and will be positioned above Jeep's smallest offering, the Renegade. The C-SUV is expected to replace the Jeep Compass and the Patriot offered globally on sale.

The C-SUV being developed by Jeep will take the label of the 'Compass' as it was the popular brand between Compass and Patriot.

From what the spy pictures reveal of the new Jeep that the exterior is taken from the Grand Cherokee and interiors too will be borrowed. Inside the new Jeep C-SUV, the dashboard looks like the traditional design from Jeep.

The new Jeep C-SUV is expected to features are the U-Connect infotainment system with an 8-inch touchscreen which is seen in the larger Jeep Grand Cherokee. Some of the expected features are climate control, power seats, the push-button start which will be standard on top trims of the upcoming Jeep.

The Jeep 551 will be assembled at Fiat's Ranjangaon facility in Pune. The new Jeep C-SUV is expected to be powered by Fiat's 2.0-litre Multijet engine which churns out 170bhp.

Jeep's new C-SUV will be pitted against the Ford Endeavour and Toyota Fortuner when launched. The new vehicle from Jeep (Codenamed - 551) will unveil itself by the end of September 2016.
Opinion / Columnist

The recent announcement by government on the $500 million command agricultural programme where it aims to produce two million tonnes of maize from 400 000 hectares of land, is an indicative that the government has learnt a lot through the successive droughts that have been occurring in the country. Such a move would be good to the country as the availability of food would be a necessity to the livelihood of all Zimbabweans.It should be recalled that Zimbabwe since independence has been having disturbing droughts stretching back as far back as in 1985 where some parts of the Southern districts of the country went for months without adequate food with households surviving one meal per day. Some school going age children had to drop from schools as a result of that drought. In 1992 the country again faced one of its worst droughts in history where some livestocks were not spared. Some communal farmers watched helplessly as their livestocks dead as a result of that drought. Some herds of cattle and goats had no grazing areas since the grazing pastures were swept away by drought so people had no choice but to watch as their livestocks die.As if the 1992 drought was not enough, in 2000 the Cyclone Eline swept across the country causing another drought leaving some Zimbabweans hopeless and looking to the government for drought relief assistance. Government had to come up with some Food for Work programs as a means to make sure that food reaches to the intended beneficiaries. The Food for Work programs that have been introduced in the early 1990s as an initiative by government to lessen the issue of giving people drought relief without working for it. Such an initiative made it necessary for people to get what they had worked for and the program was a success in most districts around the country.For that reason the government has seen it fit now to come up with the command agriculture which would lessen the burden of importing maize from other country. The fact that the government has put in place about five hundred million United States of America dollars (US$500 million) targeting to produce two million tonnes of maize from four hundred thousand hectares of land shows that the government means business. The command agriculture would see the country having some green belts as irrigations schemes would be created and those who had been lying idle revived.Actually the world over has been watching with surprise why Zimbabwe on the first place embarked on the land reform program when the government had no plans to utilise such land which hitherto was used by white commercial farmers. So the command agriculture would show the doubting thomases that Zimbabwe is there to win the war against hunger and drought. Availing funds to both communal and commercial farmers by government with the sole advice of producing maize in the country would make the land reform program a successful story. Those who have been denouncing the land reform program would be ashamed by the success of this command agriculture program and even other African countries might emulate the road which Zimbabwe would have travelled through. They could also be forced to take the same route with that this government would have taken.When the government embarked on the compulsory acquisition of land during the turn of the twenty first century most of the western countries denounced the move with the country getting economic sanctions imposed against her by the same. The western countries were against the land reform as those who had that large tracts of land were the white commercial farmers with the black indigenous people having nothing to show. Some black indigenous people were not given opportunities to own land by their colonial masters but only whites had the preserve of having it. Only very few blacks had land and the land reform was instituted as a means to correct such land ownership irregularities.So the move taken by government to come up with this command agriculture would sustain the country from experiencing food shortages. This program if well implemented would see the country retaining the food basket status of the region. While most of the Zimbabwean communal farmers have been relying on rainfall for their agricultural purposes but with the coming in of this program a lot of farmers would be comfortable working in their land using irrigation means. In most of the southern districts of the country especially Chiredzi and Mwenezi there are some good fertile soils which can sustain the country if irrigation programs are instituted there.Basically the whole of Masvingo province and some parts of Manicaland province would do well with irrigation programs being undertaken if funds for such programs are made available. So the government need to make sure that the command agriculture is a success by reviving all irrigation schemes which have been left unattended because of some shortage of capital investments. In Chiredzi which is known for perennial drought there are some two biggest irrigation schemes which if revived could see the country benefiting a lot from food stocks. The Chilonga and Malipati Irrigation schemes used to sustain the district and even beyond during their time when things were goo. Such sustainability of food was proper coming from those irrigation schemes during drought times but both irrigations are now white elephants.So with the government coming up with this command agriculture hope is there that such irrigation schemes in Chiredzi coupled with others across the country would be revived so that Zimbabwe is able to sustain its food stocks without importing from other countries. Zimbabwe is blessed with various large rivers and dams with proper availability of water in those sources. So what is needed is to harvest that water for irrigation purposes so that the government is served from continuously importing maize from other countries. Zimbabweans should now gear themselves in supporting the government on its effort to make sure that the country get enough food throughout the year using this command agriculture initiative. With the availability of funds and land there is nothing which could stop Zimbabwe from claiming back its food basket of the region hence every Zimbabwean should take part in this initiative.
What makes an effective business leader? Some leaders possess unique skills and characteristics that are difficult to define and even harder for others to replicate. According to Dr Natalie Ferres, a psychologist and director of strategic leadership firm Bendelta, it doesnt matter who you are  you wont succeed as a leader unless you inspire trust.

Business leaders who inspire trust boost employee motivation and loyalty, which leads to better retention and a more innovative culture, she said.

When leaders allow mistrust to spread and fester, this leads to change cynicism, high turnover and a smorgasbord of other negative outcomes. Whether the organisations is big or small, performance will suffer.

Its not a soft-skill, its undervalued

Dr Ferres told Dynamic Business that leaders are much more likely to inspire trust if theyre emotionally intelligent and show empathy.

I often encounter senior leaders who equate empathy with emotion or being overly-emotional, she said.

Coupled with its close cousins of kindness, compassion and care, some see it as a soft-skill for soft people that gets in the way of achieving hard results. Empathy, as defined by these critics is unreliable, irrational and necessarily reactive. Yale Professors Paul Blooms case against empathy, published in the New Yorker, notes that, were often at our best when were smart enough not to rely on it. But Id argue forcefully that leaders and managers at all levels need a good measure of empathy, paired with the ability to channel this empathy in a constructive way. Empathy is one of the most undervalued skills in leadership.

Leaders can develop empathy, but

Dr Ferres said that while leaders can develop emotional intelligence  including empathy  over time, people have different starting points depending on their personality and their life experiences.

If people are motivated to build skills in these areas, understand what good looks like, build the fundamentals such as sincere listening and asking great questions, and immerse ourselves in EQ/empathy building experiences and activities, we can see solid growth in these areas, she said.

Saying that, as with nearly every complex capability, it is usually better to select for deep interpersonal skills than it is to develop these skills, post-recruitment. But if you dont have that luxury, you can work to build leadership skills in these areas.

Empathy is a tool in your toolkit

Dr Ferres identified the three types of empathy that leaders can implement:

Cognitive empathy: Also known as perspective-taking, this is the ability to put yourself into someone elses shoes. Its rational and considered. The problem is, sociopaths can have this type of empathy before torturing someone (i.e. they share the victims perspective that this will hurt  they just dont care!). And, away from sociopaths, a leader without the feeling type of empathy tends to miss a lot of social cues and fail to consistently resonate with people.

Also known as perspective-taking, this is the ability to put yourself into someone elses shoes. Its rational and considered. The problem is, sociopaths can have this type of empathy before torturing someone (i.e. they share the victims perspective that this will hurt  they just dont care!). And, away from sociopaths, a leader without the feeling type of empathy tends to miss a lot of social cues and fail to consistently resonate with people. Emotional empathy: This is where you understand and feel the other persons emotions alongside them, that synchs others to you. Using empathy-building skills, recent neuroscience research tells us that you can quite literally flick a switch in anothers brain to connect at a subconscious level, opening up trust and influence. You can have empathy overload here, however, and self-control is required to manage your own emotional state.

This is where you understand and feel the other persons emotions alongside them, that synchs others to you. Using empathy-building skills, recent neuroscience research tells us that you can quite literally flick a switch in anothers brain to connect at a subconscious level, opening up trust and influence. You can have empathy overload here, however, and self-control is required to manage your own emotional state. Compassionate empathy: Often heralded as the best type of empathy, this is where a person is in tune with someone elses pain but takes constructive action. As a leader of others, if you can imagine a persons point of view (including a customers), aside from what you think of it, you can more effectively influence that person.

Empathising with your staff, your peers, your manager, and your customers wont make you a soft mark, Dr Ferres said.

Empathy can give you more power and influence. Of course, you dont have to be 100% empathic 100% of the time, but its something youre better off having in your toolkit and dialling it down when necessary.
Opinion / Columnist

On Wednesday 17 August 2016 Honorable MP Nelson Chamisa tabled a very important Motion in the Parliament of Zimbabwe which seek to deal with and address issues of police brutality and violation of basic and fundamental human rights especially during peaceful protests.Hon. Chamisa's Motion sought among other issues to:1. Ask the Minister of Home Affairs to investigate the conduct of the police and report to Parliament within the shortest possible time.2. Ask the Minister of Home Affairs to issue a public apology in the context of that investigation for the untoward conduct of some of the police officers.3. Immediately implement a training programme for our police to equip them with the human rights curriculum as is required by the Constitution and the statutes of our country.4. To put in place an Act of Parliament setting up an independent complaints mechanism for members of the public to report cases of such abuses as contemplated by Section 210 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.5. Parliament to set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate into the conduct.Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights wishes to reiterate the importance of the demands of this Motion and applaud Hon. Chamisa for having stood up for basic human rights at a time when repression and police brutality during peaceful protests is rampant.Our view is that if the demands of the Motion are seriously taken into consideration, it will assist to:a) Build citizen confidence and trust that the government leadership is concerned about human rights and is committed to ensuring the enjoyment of fundamental Constitutional rights and freedoms as espoused in Chapter 4 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe;b) Quell the growing citizen - state and citizen - police animosity that has resulted due to the unbecoming rights violating behavior of the police in the past months and thus foster an environment of tolerance, dialogue, reconciliation and peace;c) Remind the police that they exist to protect and promote rights not to crush and suppress them;d) Give the citizens a voice to be heard in ensuring administrative justice as enshrined in Section 68 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.As an independent human rights watchdog existing to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in the Matabeleland region of Zimbabwe, we therefore encourage the Minister of Home Affairs, the Cabinet and the Parliament of Zimbabwe to take this Motion seriously and implement its recommendations for the betterment of human rights in Zimbabwe.Statement by:The General SecretaryEmail: mihroffice@gmail.com
Opinion / Columnist

It takes a real man to say sorry and accept responsibility for the wrong you have done, especially wrong done to your very own people. This is more than I can say for Douglas Mahiya after reading his interview with The Standard of 7 August 2016 published under the heading "Mahiya shoots from the hip".I take issue with a number of the things said in that interview but his responses to the following questions are what struck me most and continue to worry me.RC: Would you want to apologise for having allowed the situation to come to this?DM: We would rather request the people to appreciate the efforts that brought independence. If we made mistakes, it was in the process of trying to do something.We lost the most important part of our life to bring independence. What is important is to embrace each other and move forward.RC: Given what has happened in the past 36 years, why should Zimbabweans trust you now, given war veterans' hand in rights abuses?DM: It was not the war veterans but the government.His responses are worrying. Firstly, he was not prepared to apologise for the war veterans' role in the pain that they inflicted on the people starting in 2000 until recently in 2008 when people died for voting against Mugabe. In his words, he would rather request the people to appreciate war veterans' efforts and the time they lost in bringing about independence. Secondly, he does not acknowledge that they made mistakes. Rather he says, if mistakes were made, they were not worth an apology because the war veterans were trying to do something  whatever that means. Thirdly, he goes further to deny they were involved in any abuse of human rights. He says the blame should go to the government for all the human rights abuse they committed and not to the war veterans.I am left wondering why the war veterans have made an about turn against Mugabe if they do not accept they had lost their way and had drifted away from the people. Alternatively, is it that Mugabe has cast them out in the cold and their interests are at stake in which event that has absolutely nothing to do with wanting to be on the side of the people? If the people reject them for what they did will they not go back to ZANU PF? Where will they go if they cannot go back to Mugabe?Let me say it is appalling for the war veterans to continue to demonstrate the same spirit that has brought us as a country where we are today. Their spirit of entitlement, their lack of accountability and their attitude that they did more than everyone else to liberate this country cannot be tolerated. As a fellow comrade I have stuck to our spirit of constructive criticism  the war veterans know what I mean. Mahiya could have done the right thing by accepting responsibility at least on behalf of the war vets and apologise rather than glorify himself for the role we played in the struggle. He forgets that, although we were holding guns, the people themselves were often in much more danger every day while we stayed under cover in the mountains sometimes sleeping waiting for information and food from these same people. The people were doing the patrols and feeding us comrades with food and information that was vital for the prosecution of the war. Everybody had a role to play and for Mahiya to glorify the role of war veterans above that of the people who have since suffered even more at the hands of war veterans is vainglorious and unacceptable. For the war veterans the chaotic land reform programme was not on their head but was the fault of the Government. The collapse of the rule of law when they invaded the Supreme Court was the fault of the Government. I think Mahiya needs to tell us who gave them the assignments to do the terrible things that they have done to our people. Accountability is important if they are ever to be trusted ever again.Mahiya maintained his stance in an interview with Violet Gonda on 13 August 2016.GONDA: I think some people will disagree with you. It is important to talk about the past because we learn from this and not be repeated in the future. There are also calls from many, like exiled judge of the High Court Justice Benjamin Paradza, who say you need to publicly and sincerely apologise for the shameful roles your group played in bringing misery to Zimbabweans over the years.' What's your response to this?Mahiya: Well if people are more concerned about an apology than a progressive position that will save our people then that is quite different. As long as I am convinced that these things were done by people who were not war vets, or who went about calling themselves war veterans  such an apology will be done simply to be together with the masses. Because we know the majority of the masses and the international community in general are more important to us than the current leadership in the country.Mahiya is saying that all the people who died at the war veterans' hands in the land reform chaos and in 2008 do not really matter. They do not even deserve an apology from the war veterans let alone acknowledgment. So what right do the war veterans have to claim a special relationship with the people when you cannot even apologise for killing their children or their fathers? One starts to wonder which people the war veterans are talking about when they say they will simply go back to the people and persuade them to realise how much they had done for Zimbabwe. Is it really that easy to just go to the people and expect them to accept you? I cannot help but feel that the talk of going back to the people is just talk and the people are those they have worked when they voted for the MDC in 2008 and before.The big question is that, although we need every citizen to dislodge ZANU PF in 2018, can we really trust the war veterans as a constituency that have truly repented? They lost golden opportunities to apologise to the people on 7 August, and again on 13 August, and those opportunities are now gone. I hope they will find some other way to convince the people they mean what they say and that they are sincerely remorseful.Justice Benjamin ParadzaExiled Judge of the High Court of ZimbabwePresident of ZUNDE
Russias Federal Security Service, or FSB, recently reported that it found a cyberspying virus in the computer networks of more than 20 state authorities and defense contractors.

The claim that malware has infected various government and defense companies, published last month by Russias official TASS news agency, came in the midst of a flurry of accusations that Russia has engaged in cyberattacks against U.S. targets in an effort to impact the presidential election.

The Federal Security Service revealed virus software for cyberspying in computer networks of about 20 organizations in Russia.

The attack was aimed at information resources of the state authorities, scientific and defense companies, the defense industry, and other infrastructure operations, the organization said.

Targeted Attacks

The malware was targeted  a virus that was professionally planned, created and spread, TASS reported.

Based on an analysis of the style of programming, file names, parameters of use and other factors, the virus was similar to the software used in a previous high-profile cyberspying incident discovered within the Russian Federation and around the globe, TASS reported.

New sets of the malware are made individually for every target, taking into account the unique features of attacked machines, according to the TASS report. The virus is spread through electronic messages that contain a malicious attachment.

After the software gets inside a computer system, the virus launches modules that allow it to intercept network traffic, listen to the traffic and create screen shots. It can turn on Web cameras and microphones inside a computer, copy audio and video files, and record keystrokes.

The FSB is working with various ministries and authorities to finalize efforts to reveal all of the targets in the Russian Federation and to minimize the impact of the attack, according to the report.

Kindly Shut Up

Malware has infected various government and defense companies at a time when the U.S. and Russia are embroiled in a high-profile cyberdebate.

Russian hackers linked to the countrys intelligence services in recent months have been implicated in cyberattacks on the computer systems of the Democratic National Committee, the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, and other political and government organizations.

Russian officials vehemently denied any link to the attacks, and the FBI has not attributed them to any specific organizations.

I do not have any additional information with regard to the reported recent cybersecurity breach in some organizations in Russia, said Russian Embassy spokesperson Yuri Melnik.

I believe that all related comments, if any, will be issued by relevant authorities in Russia, he told TechNewsWorld.

The investigation is ongoing, Melnik said, and requested that we kindly refrain from groundless allegations about the origins of the breach.

Dancing Bears

The FBI last month launched a probe into Wikileaks online publication of information stolen from the Democratic National Committee, some of which appeared damaging to the Democratic Party.

CrowdStrike previously had linked the DNC attack to Russian-based hackers who operated under the names Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear.

Cyberspying is considered standard practice among nations, noted Martin Libicki, adjunct senior management scientist at Rand.

The primary objection to what the Russians did was not that they broke into the DNC  it is that they released the information they took, presumably for the purpose of influencing the U.S. election, he told TechNewsWorld.

The concern about the breach of related systems, including the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was that the information obtained from those organizations would be used to exercise untoward influence, Libicki suggested.

There is growing concern in the U.S. that Russia may use its capabilities to influence electronic voting systems, which would attack the integrity of the U.S. elections process, he added.

Although cyberattacks may have targeted the Russian Federation, that would not necessarily mean the U.S. was behind them. Even if it were, that would not necessarily mean that the information obtained would be used for anything more than intelligence purposes.
Most analysts earn their daily bread by focusing on a particular subject area and following that direction. However, I rebelled against that established pattern  and as a result, I tend to look between the lines more than many of my peers do. That means when major news media outlets focus on a story, Im more likely to see what they missed.

In the case of both the Clinton email scandal and the DNC email leak  not to mention the various whistle-blower events  what interests me isnt whats been covered but what hasnt been covered. Ill shine a light on some of the huge misses from a tech perspective.

Ill close with my product of the week: a new phone from BlackBerry, the DTEK 50. It bucks the trend that put most of you on insecure phones.

Clintons Email Server

All the focus has been on Clinton, because she is running for office  but the focus typically would be on how the hell a major email system that wasnt secure remained in service for years without setting off alarms or putting big grins on internal auditors faces.

The implication is that U.S. security is a joke  and if that server was in use, how many other connected insecure devices are there in the U.S. government that effectively are telling any government that has discovered them every secret they can access? Security in the U.S. government must be truly awful. I used to be a security auditor, and Ive seen CEOs asked to step down for less.

DNC Email Leak

There recently were two big political conventions in the U.S. The Democratic convention was well run, and the Democratic candidates got a decent pop in the polls as a result. The Republican convention was run horridly, and the Republican ticket performed poorly.

The Republicans really messed up. The Republicans effectively would have been far better off not having their event. Yet because of an email leak, the key players at the DNC were forced to resign, but their RNC counterparts werent. The email leak wasnt the fault of any of the fired DNC folks. Typically, when you fail to do your job, you are fired. If there is a problem that you actually didnt cause, you dont get fired  only reprimanded.

RNC Email

Given what was disclosed in the DNC email, and given that people are people, what do you think a similar leak would have been like from the RNC? The DNC was unhappy about Sanders, but the RNC literally hated both of the final candidates. (Hell, apparently everyone hated Ted Cruz, and Trump became a close second  though I think he is first like a rocket at the moment.)

Can you imagine what the RNC internal emails would say about Trump? Bad-mouthing Sanders only creates DNC internal drama, but bad-mouthing Trump, who won the candidacy, could swing the election to Clinton (which would be redundant at the moment).

The DNC mail was interesting, but the RNC email would have been spectacular in a very bad way for the RNC. For us, it would have been even more entertaining. (Have I mentioned I plan to vote Libertarian this year?)

Whos the Hacker

On the DNC side, there are two parallel stories. One is the widely publicized theory that a Democratic staffer who recently was murdered had leaked information to WikiLeaks and that his death was connected to that. The other is that a hacker who bragged about leaking the information  and claims theres a lot more where that came from  did it on behalf of the Russian government, a claim he denied. Both stories cant be true.

As a side note, there have been three potential whistle-blower events under Obama, who promised to be transparent. There was Manning, who was abused and sent to prison; Snowden, who fled for his life to Russia (historically someone like Snowden would flee from Russia to the U.S.); and perhaps Rich, who died.

Only in the case of the DNC leak, in which the people involved didnt report to Obama, were people fired for doing what they shouldnt have been doing in the first place, but their crimes werent criminal. In short, in the government, it appears far worse to point out a crime than to commit one. Excuse me while I feign shock. Sigh

Who Has the Email?

Kaspersky  which is both massively secure and recently was hacked itself  has indicated that inadequately secured systems like the Clinton email server typically are compromised by up to three governments. Given that all of the email hasnt been disclosed or even discovered (because much of it was deleted), how much leverage does one of these foreign entities now have?

Its possible that only a fraction of the DNC email has been released, and given that the terminations were tied to what was in the email  not tied to the theft  how many other Democrats or DNC staffers have the threat of being fired hanging over their heads? In short, how many are now owned by whoever has this damaging email?

Oh, and given the lack of products, like Varonis, that are capable of tracking this stuff, who says hackers havent penetrated the RNC and might be blackmailing the RNC folks as well? Given Trumps current popularity, youd think the Republican servers actually would be more attractive than those of the Democrats.

Clinton vs. Trump

Clinton is a career politician who doesnt seem to understand technology very well. Trump is a casino owner, and casinos live on massive amounts of calculated game analytics, heavy multilayered security systems, and massive customer tracking and analysis.

Trump should be far stronger with the kinds of technologies that drive an election, but Clinton is outperforming Trump massively in this regard. How the hell can Trump run a successful casino business by clearly not understanding the technology behind successful casinos?

Seriously, the typical casino runs a level of technology that a politician would die to have access to  yet there is no evidence that Trump understands this even remotely. Maybe he is secretly chivalrous? Doubtful

Wrapping Up

One of the things Ive noticed as society has moved to the Web is that news organizations increasingly just rehash what others report. Its just a rare few that report original stories, and much of what we read is just a rehash of those rare original pieces. Thats kind of sad, because I think much of what Ive related actually is more interesting than what is being discussed. Thats something to noodle on this week.

With all of the leaks of information this year, youd think more people  particularly politicians  would get that security trumps, pretty much every time. However, the only company that remains laser-focused on security is BlackBerry, and its latest phones run Android.

The Priv was my previous favorite, but even though it has a keyboard, it also is wicked expensive. The new DTEK50 gets rid of the keyboard, some weight, and about half the price to create what is actually a decent phone.

BlackBerrys DTEK50

The DTEK has three standout aspects. It puts Android on top of a secure BlackBerry platform, which makes it resist rootkits  the most dangerous of the Android malware because they are very hard to detect.

It has the best selfie camera in the market, and it has a single function button that can be used for any app you want (I use it for the camera).

Additional unique features are the DTEK security scan, which tells you if you have been compromised; the BlackBerry hub, which collects all your communications stuff  everything from social networks and email, to SMS messages and phone calls  in one place; and BBM, BlackBerrys unique corporate messaging service.

I am seriously missing the Privs keyboard, but given that this phone is lighter, thinner, and far less expensive than my favorite phone, the Blackberry DTEK50 is my product of the week.
Hackers using cheap wireless devices pose a threat to millions of cars equipped with Volkswagens keyless entry system, according to a study from the University of Birmingham.

Scheduled for presentation Friday at the USENIX security conference in Austin, Texas, the study shows that thieves can use a simple wireless device to unlock the doors of millions of cars remotely, essentially by cloning the remote control that wirelessly secures a car door lock.

A second hack involves recovering the cryptographic key by attacking the rolling code scheme, called Hitag2, and entering a few keystrokes on a laptop to access a car.

The vulnerability could impact up to 100 million cars manufactured under the Volkswagen brand and others over the past 20 years.

Keeping a Lid on It

The initial research was considered so sensitive that the manufacturer for two years blocked publication of some of the results through a lawsuit, before both sides sat down to examine the findings and take action to mitigate the risk.

Volkswagen takes the security of our customers and their vehicles very seriously, spokesperson Mark Gillies said. Volkswagens electronic and mechanical security measures are continuously being improved.

The company was in contact with the academics mentioned, and a constructive exchange is taking place, he noted.

Volkswagen agreed that the authors would publish their mathematical-scientific findings, said Gilles, but without the sensitive content that could be used by accomplished criminals to break into vehicles.

The findings in the research will be used to improve the companys security-technology, he added, noting that while research on auto security is important, hacking into vehicles is a malicious, criminal act.

Connected World

As cars become more connected, more hacking vulnerabilities are coming to light, said Akshay Anand, an automotive analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

Luckily, to this point, all the hacks have either been controlled or with good intentions, but that may not always be the case in the future, he told TechNewsWorld. Since hacking will never be stopped 100 percent, the industry needs to focus on mitigating it as much as possible, and recover as quickly as possible when a hack does happen.

The risk uncovered in this University of Birmingham study is twofold, said Steve Grobman, CTO at Intel Security. The Volkswagen master key appears to be at risk of reverse engineering and there are cryptographic vulnerabilities in remote keyless entry systems that use the Hitag2 system.

These two issues likely apply to a large number of vehicles, both from Volkswagen and other manufacturers, he told TechNewsWorld. However, they appear to affect only the car entry subsystem, not other subsystems.

The underlying issues involved in this vulnerability, including weakness in the Hitag2 protocol, have worried security experts and carmakers for some time, Grobman said.

Connected devices, including autonomous vehicles and home automation systems, should only adopt crypto algorithms and protocols that have been through an open and accepted selection process by industry standards organizations, he advised.

This type of cyber risk became a concern years ago, as cars began to depend increasingly on wireless networks and remote access technologies, according to Clarence Ditlow, executive director of The Center for Auto Safety.

Up until 10 to 12 years ago, he told TechNewsWorld, you had to have a mechanical key to start the engine.
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Opinion / Columnist

Tourism and Hospitality Industry deputy minister Annastacia Ndhlovu has said the church has a big role to play in maintaining peace in the country by complementing government's efforts."As the government ministry responsible for tourism in the country, we are calling upon all the churches to maintain peace in the country. I also call on the churches in the country to help government consolidate the economic gains which have been achieved through tourism," she said."Before any big testimony, there is a big test and the church has to practice what they preach. This just gives people to show their capacity. We have seen how much religious tourism in Nigeria has helped the tourism sector to grow."According to official statistics of the 10% of people that enter Nigeria, 6% will be going to the Synagogue Church of all Nations led by Temitope Balogun Joshua, 3% will be attending Chris Oyakhilome's church, while the remainder (1%) will go to other churches.Ndhlovu said in the case of Nigeria, it showed how important religion was in the prevailing environment, but it only thrived through a peaceful environment."All the churches and every peace-loving Zimbabwean, we are calling upon them to complement government efforts to maintain peace, which is a fertile ground for development," she said.Her remarks come at a time the church was actively involved in mobilising citizens to assert their rights.A cleric, Evan Mawarire, was instrumental in mobilising support for yesterday's stayaway against the deteriorating economy.Ndhlovu encouraged Zimbabweans to cultivate a holiday culture through promoting domestic tourism.She said tourism players should come up with packages tailor-made for locals and also encouraged schools to promote tourism development."We have all seen how the religious sector benefits. For example, recently, we have witnessed the Women Conference by Seventh Day Adventist Church, a conference by Uebert Angel, conferences being held by Walter Magaya's Prophetic Healing and Deliverancy Ministries and when such events take place, the economy benefits," Ndhlovu said."We want to see how we can tap into the bulk of the religious tourism in Zimbabwe. Even domestic tourism is benefiting from this. People come to Harare every week, and all these are benefits which are coming from the religious sector."
BEIJING - New research from China claims a quarter of the textile dyeing and finishing capacity in Shaoxing City has been shut down since the introduction of new environmental regulations in the past two years. Shaoxing accounts for around a third of China's dyeing production capacity, and local government officials there have been particularly proactive in enforcing stricter national government regulations aimed at curtailing pollution from the country's textile industry. The research claims 64 dyeing and finishing units have been closed and a further 100 ordered to make technological upgrades as a prerequisite of remaining operational.
With at least a dozen people dead and the raging high waters described as having tsunami-type power in Texas over the Memorial Day weekend, the latest example of extreme weather in the U.S. is being tied to a global pattern of increasingly volatile events that are claiming lives and costing billions of dollars in damage each year.

A home on the Blanco River was taken off its foundation after heavy overnight rain caused flash flooding in Wimberley, Texas. Photo: Rodolfo Gonzalez / Austin American-Statesman

As Texas Gov. Greg Abbott expanded the range of a declared disaster zone in his state today, neighboring Oklahoma is also coping with an emergency response to flash floods and overflowing rivers.

Marking the official end of a four-year long drought in the south-central part of the country, the storms may be filling the regions diminished reservoirs, but not without a high cost.

As the nations media focuses on the acute damage to property and loss of life, an international conference sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which kicked off in Switzerland yesterday, may shed additional light on the impact that human-caused climate change is having on the planets highly-dynamic weather patterns.

With the title of Facing Up to Climate Change, Extreme Weather, the WMO conference is asking the worlds foremost meteorologists to weigh in on how increased atmospheric and ocean temperatures created by carbon and other heat-trapping gases affect the planets weather patterns.

So far in 2015as in preceding yearsweather-related disasters have destroyed or disrupted millions of lives and livelihoods, said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud ahead of the meeting. Citing devastating events like Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu, major droughts in India, California, and Brazil, and the kind of flooding that recently struck Chile and now being seen in Texas, Jarraud said the list of extreme events is long and there is growing scientific evidence that at least some of them would have been unlikely without human-induced climate change.

With the next round of UN climate talks slated for later this year in Paris, Jarraud affirmed that the WMOs efforts will be aimed at addressing the threat of increasingly extreme weather caused by global warming. It is a pivotal year for action on behalf of future generations, he said. We have more than a responsibility. We have a moral duty to take action to limit climate change. If we dont do it we will be judged by our children and our grandchildren.

Buffalo Bayou at Sabine Street bridge #houstonflood pic.twitter.com/X94kuEuKzN  Brian Clement (@bgclement) May 26, 2015

According to Haaretz:

There is no argument that the planet has undergone many a climatic change in its 4.5-billion year history, but most scientists agree that this time is different. To name just one indicator, never before has the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide climbed as rapidly as in the last century, since the industrial revolution really took off. This month atmospheric CO2 reached 400 parts per million, a concentration last seen before man even began to evolve some 2.5 million years ago. And while the cause of any individual weather event is debatable, a pattern has emerged, and it isnt business as usual.

The weekends weather was also attributed in part to the naturally occurring phenomenon known as El Nino. But with the planet experiencing increasing warming due to humanitys continued emission of greenhouse gases, the current experience of those living in Texas and Oklahomaintense flooding caused by heavy rains after prolonged periods of droughtis just one of the expected dangers that climate scientists have long warned about.

As ThinkProgress reported on Monday:

Going from one extreme to another is a hallmark of climate change. Scientists predict more droughts in the coming decades, as well as more intense rainstorms. In the midwest, the number of storms that drop more than three inches of rain have increased by 50 percent, according to an analysis from the Rocky Mountain Institute. Texas and Oklahoma both face intensifying drought and flooding, although politicians in both states have denied climate change. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, Texas has yet to formally address climate change preparednessone of only 12 states to not have taken any steps toward addressing the impacts of climate change on water resources. Between more intense rainstorms and sea level rise, flooding will only increase if we dont address climate change, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin testing food for glyphosate, the worlds most commonly used pesticide, according to Civil Eats. This marks the first time that a U.S. agency will routinely test for glyphosate residue in food. It comes after the Government Accountability Office released a report condemning the FDA for failing even to disclose its failure to test for glyphosate in its annual pesticide residue report.

Good step, more needed! FDA to Start Testing 4 Glyphosate in Food https://t.co/sQsC9nLzxB @CivilEats by @careygillam pic.twitter.com/7AMOnuWn6L  Center 4 Food Safety (@CFSTrueFood) February 18, 2016

The World Health Organization (WHO) found that glyphosate, commonly known as Roundup, was a probable human carcinogen and glyphosate has been named as a leading cause of massive declines in monarch butterflies.

In the wake of intense scrutiny, the Food and Drug Administration has finally committed to taking this basic step of testing our food for the most commonly used pesticide. Its shocking that its taken so long, but were glad its finally going to happen, Dr. Nathan Donley, a scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, said. More and more scientists are raising concerns about the effects of glyphosate on human health and the environment. With about 1.7 billion pounds of this pesticide used each year worldwide, the FDAs data is badly needed to facilitate long-overdue conversations about how much of this chemical we should tolerate in our food.

Leading scientists published an article about the exploding use of glyphosate around the world in yesterdays issue of the journal Environmental Health. Pointing to concerns over rapidly increasing use, outdated science and the WHOs finding, the authors called on regulatory agencies to take a fresh look at the real-world impacts of glyphosate and to start monitoring its levels in people and in food.

The alarm bell is ringing loud and clear. The current cavalier use of glyphosate and lax regulation, cannot remain in place, Donley said. Its long past time to start reining in the out-of-control use of this dangerous pesticide in the United States and around the world.

FDA to Begin Testing for Pesticide #Glyphosate, Probable Human Carcinogen, in Food https://t.co/VHsql8IA6A pic.twitter.com/bnbi7LbPbr  Center for Bio Div (@CenterForBioDiv) February 17, 2016

Just last week 35 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy expressing concerns regarding the potential negative health and environmental impacts of a pesticide, Enlist Duo, that combines glyphosate and 2,4-D. EPA is currently reanalyzing its decision to register the dangerous pesticide following a remand order from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Monsanto is also now embroiled in a legal battle with the state of California over the states move to list glyphosate as a carcinogen under Proposition 65 law. As the legal battle plays out California, a new report from the Center for Biological Diversity found that more than half of the glyphosate sprayed in the state was applied in the states eight most impoverished counties.

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A number of European Union member countries are rebelling against the European Commissions plans to approve the relicensing of glyphosate.

The Guardian reported that experts from the EUs 28 member states are scheduled to vote on relicensing glyphosate on Monday and Tuesday in Brussels, however the vote may be postponed due to reservations that several EU countries have over glyphosates health risks.

Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsantos top-selling weedkiller Roundup, was classified by the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a possible carcinogen last March, whereas the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) put out their own report in November, concluding that that glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic hazard to humans.

France, The Netherlands, Sweden and Italy have raised concerns about the herbicide and have pushed against relicensing.

French Minister of Ecology Segolene Royal urges for an outright ban on glyphosate herbicides across the EU, basing the decision over the IARCs findings.

Similarly, The Guardian quoted Swedish environment minister Asa Romson saying, We wont take risks with glyphosate and we dont think that the analysis done so far is good enough. We will propose that no decision is taken until further analysis has been done and the EFSA scientists have been more transparent about their considerations.

Bad news for #Monsanto as #Italy joins other EU countries opposing #glyphosate licensing renewal https://t.co/7OKuNxUPOI  Global Justice Now (@GlobalJusticeUK) March 7, 2016

We are raising concerns because our citizens are raising concerns, Romson added. They want to feel safe and secure with food and production in our society.

The Netherlands also called for a postponement of the EU-wide decision with Marcel van Beusekom, a spokesman for the Netherlands agriculture ministry, commenting, If there is no possibility to postpone the vote, then we will vote against the proposal.

Commission officials told The Guardian that a vote would not go ahead if support for relicensing continued to erode.

If we see that many states want to think it over or there is a growing [opposition], if there is not a qualified majority, I doubt that it will be put to a vote, one official said. The ball is in the member states court.

Licensing for glyphosate ends in June and the European Commission is proposing to grant the herbicide a new 15-year lease.

This move by France and their EU partners is a major blow to Monsanto and other large pesticide companies which rely on glyphosate-based herbicides for a large percentage of their global profits, Sustainable Pulse wrote.
Dr. James Hansen, the former NASA scientist who is widely credited with being one of the first to raise concerns about human-caused global warming, is a co-author of a new report predicting that the world will undergo devastating sea level rise within mere decadesnot centuries, as previously thought.

Taking into consideration rapid, large, human-made climate forcing, the study predicts a much more accelerated rate of sea level rise of several meters, beyond that which humanity is capable of adapting to. Photo credit: Christopher Michel/cc/flickr

The report, published Tuesday in the open-access journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, paints an even bleaker picture of the planets future, positing that continued high fossil fuel emissions will increase powerful storms and drive sea-level rise of several meters over a timescale of 50 to 150 years.

Hansen, who now serves as the director of the Climate Science Awareness and Solutions program at Columbia University Earth Institute, published the findings along with an international team of 18 researchers and academics.

As the abstract states, the predictions differ fundamentally from existing climate change assessments. For example, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013 predicted three feet of sea level rise by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated.

A draft version of Hansens paper released last year provoked wide debate among climate scientists.

Nonetheless, Michael Mann, a renowned climate scientist with the University of Pennsylvania, who is among those questioning some of the reports extraordinary claims, told the New York Times, I think we ignore James Hansen at our peril.

The peer-edited report examines growing ice melt from Antarctica and Greenland and studies how that melting has historically amplified feedbacks that increase subsurface ocean warming and ice shelf melting. Taking into consideration rapid, large, human-made climate forcing, the study predicts a much more accelerated rate of sea level rise of several meters, beyond that which humanity is capable of adapting to.

Or, as Hansen put it, Were in danger of handing young people a situation thats out of their control.

These staggering claims come as climate scientists continue to reel from the frightening speed at which the Earth is warming. On Monday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO, issued a report warning that climate change is occurring at an alarming rate and that world leaders must act to curb greenhouse gases now, before we pass the point of no return.

In a video released alongside the new report, Hansen, who left his position at NASA in 2013 so that he could fully commit himself to fighting climate change, says that the paper explores the consequences of continued greenhouse gas emissions. These include superstorms stronger than any seen in modern times, sea level rise that will erase all coastal cities, and, finally, how soon we will pass points of no return.

Watch here:

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By Kevin Kalhoefer

The major U.S. broadcast news networks have all ignored climate change in their nightly news coverage of Louisianas recent record-breaking rainfall and flooding. The New York Times and The Washington Post, by contrast, have explained how the extreme weather and flooding in Louisiana are in line with the predicted impacts of a warming planet.

The disaster in Louisiana killed at least 11 people and displaced thousands more. The American Red Cross described the states flooding as the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since Superstorm Sandy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association classified the record rainfall as a once-in-every-500-years eventthe eighth such event to take place in the U.S. since May 2015.

Climate Nexus Climate Signals, a tool designed to [e]xplore how climate change affects your world by searching events, impacts and related climate signals, explained how Louisianas increased atmospheric moisture and unusually heavy rainfall were classic signals of climate change:

At least nine people have died in what the American Red Cross is calling the worst disaster since Superstorm Sandy. On Aug. 11, a measure of atmospheric moisture, precipitable water, was in historic territory at 2.78 inches, a measurement higher than during some past hurricanes in the region. Increased moisture in the air and unusually heavy rainfall are classic signals of climate change. As the world warms, storms are able to feed on warmer ocean waters and the air is able to hold and dump more water. These trends have led to a pronounced increase in intense rainfall events and an increase in flooding risk. In the Southeastern U.S., extreme precipitation has increased 27 percent from 1958 to 2012.

[]

The storm in the Southeastern U.S. was supercharged by running over a warmer ocean and through an atmosphere made wetter by global warming.

Climate change is now responsible for 17 percent of moderate extreme rainfall events, i.e. one-in-a-thousand day events. The more extreme the event, the more likely climate change was responsible, as climate change affects the frequency of the extreme events the most.

However, the major broadcast networks nightly newscasts have ignored climate change in their otherwise extensive coverage of the floods. NBC Nightly News aired five segments on the floods without mentioning climate change, while ABCs World News Tonight and CBS Evening News each aired three such segments and PBS NewsHour aired two.

By contrast, two major newspapers have noted how Louisianas deadly floods are in line with expectations for a warming planet. In an Aug. 15 Washington Post article, Chris Mooney wrote that climate researchers were affirming that the heavy rainfall Louisiana experienced is precisely the sort of event that youd expect to see more of on a warming planet and quoted climate researcher Katharine Hayhoe explaining, Louisiana is always at risk of floods, naturally, but climate change is exacerbating that risk, weighting the dice against us.

Moreover, an Aug. 16 article in The New York Times quoted Texas state climatologist stating, Theres definitely an increase in heavy rainfall due to climate change. And another Aug. 16 Times articleheadlined Flooding in the South Looks a Lot Like Climate Changequoted David Easterling, a director at the National Centers for Environmental Information, stating that Louisianas heavy rainfall and flooding is consistent with what we expect to see in the future if you look at climate models.

Media Matters annual study of how the major networks cover climate change found that PBS, CBS and NBC frequently addressed the link between climate change and extreme weather in their nightly newscasts in 2015. However, the broadcast networks appear to have regressed in their extreme weather coverage this year, with every major TV network ignoring the role of human-induced climate change in their coverage of Texas record rainfall and flooding throughout April and May, despite both NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News explaining the climate connection in their coverage of similarly drastic Texas floods the year before. The nightly newscasts omission of climate change in their coverage of Louisianas horrific flooding marks a continuation of that discouraging trend.

UPDATE (8/18/16): After this piece was published, PBS NewsHour aired an Aug. 17 segment with Louisiana state climatologist Barry Keim and Columbia University professor Adam Sobel that discussed how the Louisiana flooding and Blue Cut wildfire in California are related to climate change.
By Harrington Investments

Harrington Investments (HII) a socially responsible investment advisory firm based in Napa, California, has reintroduced a resolution to Monsanto Corporation asking for a study in response to the growing public outcry over the dangers of its products and the growing resistance against its use. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsantos Roundup herbicide, has been on the market for 42 years, but is now shown to likely have damaged the environment and may cause cancer in humans. Many governments have banned or are considering banning its use entirely.

After numerous shareholder proposals and decades of applying pressure, John Harrington, president of HII, has been unrelenting in his pursuit to hold Monsanto accountable. They have a long history of egregious behavior, Harrington proclaimed. They operate with no regard for the potential harm that may result from their actionsprofit is their sole objective. Monsanto is the quintessential example of a corporation that exists exclusively to maximize materialistic self-interest, regardless of the consequences to society.

The resolutions initial introduction at Monsantos annual meeting of shareholders in January resulted from the efforts of Moms Across America, the Shaka Movement and Kids Right to Know, culminating in a historic, multigenerational trio of women challenging Monsantos dangerous products. The female alliance was coordinated to advocate against genetically modified organisms (GMOs), in favor of consumer rights regarding labeling and the rejection of corporate dominance.

In 2015, the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans causing government and nongovernmental entities alike to take action, inciting a spike in the amount of bans and restrictions being proposed around the globe.

After years of taking a passive stance toward the potential of glyphosate residue in consumer staples, the recent classification by IARC and the condemnation from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (US GAO) reporting a failure of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test for glyphosate in food, the FDA has finally agreed to begin testing for glyphosate residue in common foods such as eggs, milk, bread and other products in fiscal year 2016.

Alarmingly, tests conducted as recently as spring of 2016 by independent organizations, have discovered traces of glyphosate residue in human breastmilk, urine and a number of food products including, but not limited to, bagels, oatmeal, coffee creamer and even wine. Of the wines that were tested, which included organic and biodynamic, it was found that glyphosate residue was detected in 100 percent of the wines. The California wines tested included a selection from Mendocino, Sonoma and Napa counties.

Harrington has filed or co-filed shareholder resolutions with other companies on issues ranging from protecting privacy and constitutional rights, food and water scarcity, the deepening crises surrounding GMOs, the lack of moral responsibility at Too Big To Fail financial institutions, to corporate tax avoidance.

Harrington Investments is a 34-year old Registered Investment Advisory firm managing individual and institutional assets based upon comprehensive social and environmental screens, shareholder advocacy and an impact investment agenda.
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Chairman Matt Smith reminds you to vote It is important that the voters of Genesee County show up and cast their ballot on Tuesday, November 8th, 2022....
By Zen Honeycutt

Shortly after the release of a report showing 14 beers testing positive for glyphosate in Germany, a concerned supporter of Moms Across America approached me at a convention with disturbing news. He said he had test results from Microbe Inotech Lab of St.Louis showing 10 different wines, from large and small vineyards, contained the chemical glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsantos Roundup weedkiller, including wine made with organic grapes.

Test results from Microbe Inotech Lab show 10 different wines contained glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsantos Roundup weedkiller, including wine made with organic grapes.

The contamination of conventional wine was 28 times higher than organic wine, with levels ranging from 0.659 ppb in organic to 18.74 ppb in conventional wine.

The wines tested came from Napa Valley, Sonoma and Mendocino counties in California. The brand names of the wines were not revealed, and frankly, the brands are not the issue. The real issue is the widespread contamination of glyphosate based herbicides in consumer products.

Here are my five reasons why Roundup/glyphosate should never be sprayed on any crops, including vineyards:

1. According to farmers like John Kempf of AdvancingEcoAg.com, glyphosate based herbicides are showing up in irrigation water, are likely present in manure/fertilizer from animals fed genetically modified grains and drift from spraying. Glyphosate residues have been detected in many foods, cotton products, breast milk, beers and wines.

2. Wine growers of conventional farms report that their family businesses use to be able to harvest from their vines for 100 years. Today, with chemical farming, vines are lasting 10-12 years. Glyphosate is a chelator, which makes the vital nutrients and minerals of any living thing it touches unavailable. Taking the risk of depleting the vitality of important crops is not a good long term decision for farmers of any kind. Instead, Regenerative agriculture enriches the soil, supports longevity of the farm and does not use toxic chemicals.

3. Glyphosate has been deemed a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Even the small amount of 0.1ppt of glyphosate has been shown to stimulate the growth of breast cancer cells. According to the California Department of Health, breast cancer rates in the Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties are 10 to 20 percent higher than the national average. There are many pending lawsuits against Monsanto for the connection between non-Hodgkins lymphoma and Roundup.

4. The pig study by Pedersen and Krueger showed a repeated 30 percent increase of birth defects and stillborn with the introduction of glyphosate-sprayed grains. The infertility and sterility in America is exactly correlated to the pig study results, at 30 percent, the highest in recorded U.S. history.

5. French scientist Gilles-Eric Seralini and his team have discovered that the co-formulants of Roundup are 1,000 times more toxic than glyphosate and are hormone disruptors, which can lead to breast cancer, miscarriages, birth defects and many other health issues.

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called for Indian Point nuclear power plant to be shut down after officials discovered that a radioactive material known as tritium was leaking into the groundwater.

On Feb. 6, Cuomo ordered an investigation into the leak after Entergy, the company that operates the plant, reported alarming levels of radioactivity at three monitoring wells, with one wells radioactivity increasing nearly 65,000 percent, according to a statement from the governor.

Last week, Cuomo called for a more thorough investigation after officials found the leak had spread by 80 percent. Now the governor and lawmakers across the Hudson Valley have called for the plant to close.

Officials believe the leak occurred after a drain overflowed during a maintenance exercise while workers were transferring water containing high levels of radioactive contamination, New York Daily News reported. Entergy has repeatedly insisted there is no threat to public health or safety, as the contaminated groundwater did not leave the site.

However, nuclear activists remain adamant that the plant should close. The news just keeps getting worse, Paul Gallay, president of the nonprofit Riverkeeper, told New York Daily News. Our concerns go beyond the spike in tritium levels. This is about a disturbing recurrence of serious malfunctionsseven over the last eight months.

Highly radioactive water spilled from #IndianPoint; "The stakes are just too high" to keep it open. @Riverkeeper https://t.co/CKPTrRbq53  Waterkeeper Alliance (@Waterkeeper) February 9, 2016

Indian Point sits on the Hudson River, 25 miles north of New York City. Nuclear activists have called for years for the plant to close, calling it Chernobyl on the Hudson and warning of a Fukushima-like disaster.

Watch Thom Hartmann of the Big Picture speak with RT correspondent Alexey Yaroshevsky about why we are flirting with catastrophe when it comes to Indian Point:

Watch here for more from RTs Alexey Yaroshevsky on how Indian Point is Chernobyl on the Hudson:

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Last month, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) volunteered to take a urine test to see if glyphosatethe cancer-linked weedkilleris in their system. Forty-eight MEPs from 13 different European Union countries participated in the test, and now the results are in.

According to ELISA test results from the accredited Biocheck Laboratory in Germany: All participants excreted glyphosate by urine.

The experiment was spearheaded by the Green Party in the European Parliament, which wants a ban on the controversial herbicide in the European Union.

The group noted in a press release of their so-called #MEPee test:

On average, the MEPs had 1.7 micrograms/liter of glyphosate in their urine, 17 times higher than the European drinking water norm (0.1 microgram/litre). This means that everyone we tested was way above the limit for residues of pesticides in drinking water.

Of the 48 participants, EU-parliament members from Belgium, France and Germany made up more than 80 percent of the whole investigated participants. The test showed that EU-parliament members from Lithuania, Spain and Croatia had the highest concentrations of glyphosate. The lowest concentrations were in the urines of participants of from Italy, Finland and Ireland.

Nevertheless all investigated EU-parliament members were glyphosate contaminated. This will show glyphosate is also in the food chain of members of the EU-parliament, the report states.

Glyphosate, which the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared a possible carcinogen last March, is the main ingredient in Monsantos widely used weedkiller, Roundup. It is also found in herbicides manufactured by Syngenta and Dow.

The Greens conducted the test ahead of European Parliaments April 13 resolution that opposed the European Unions relicensing of glyphosate.

The results of our #MEPee test on #glyphosate are in and it's not good news for the 48 MEPs https://t.co/wMUCNhfKBn pic.twitter.com/DyqDO4i6Gj  Greens/EFA in the EU Parliament ? (@GreensEFA) May 12, 2016

Despite fierce opposition from European Parliament, countries such as France, Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands, and the 1.4 million people who have signed a petition calling on an EU ban, the European Commissionthe executive body of the European Unionreportedly plans to relicense glyphosate for nine years.

According to the Green Party, the European Commissions latest proposal, which will be voted on May 19, will plough ahead with a full-fledged approval of glyphosates license for nine years.

It considers only symbolically if at all the European Parliaments resolution calling for a very limited scope of approval. Responsibility for the protection of operators and for multiple risks is discharged onto Member States in a non-legally binding manner, the party said. We are pissed off that our governments want to allow this poison for another nine years! No politician should have this in his or her body, and not a single citizen either!

Glyphosate approval in the EU expires at the end of June. The chemical has been the subject of incredible controversy in Europe especially after the European Food Safety Authority famously rejected the IARCs classification of glyphosate as a possible carcinogen in November.

Agri-business giant Monsanto has also vehemently denied glyphosates health and cancer risks and demanded a retraction of the IARC report.

The Green Partys MEPee test was inspired by a German study Urinale 2015, which sampled glyphosate concentrations in urine from more than 2,000 participants.

The study found that the scale of the glyphosate problem is enormous, with detected concentrations in urine between five and 42 times over the maximum value of residues for drinking water in Europe, the Green Party pointed out. No less than 99.6 percent of all citizens who took part in this survey had higher residue levels. This means that virtually all citizens are contaminated with glyphosate.

A number of other studies have detected glyphosatethe most widely applied pesticide worldwidein feminine hygiene products, everyday food items and, yes, human bodies. A 2013 Friends of the Earth Europe study reported people in 18 European countries have traces of glyphosate in their urine.

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Peabody Coals long-awaited concession that bankruptcy lies ahead signals the curtain fall on the long-running, silent and secret bailout of the management of the U.S. coal industry. As one analyst put it when Peabody announced that it faced a going concern letter, Its the end of the era of publicly traded coal companies.

Peabody is about to join Arch, Murray, Alpha and other coal producers in bankruptcy. The total market value of the U.S. coal sector since 2011 has plunged from more than $70 billion to barely $6 billion and most of the remaining value is natural gas operations owned by Consol Inc. Coal stocks have dropped far faster than coal consumption, because the industry, ignoring competition from renewable energy and dismissing pressure to clean up the air, recklessly invested in far greater mining capacity than the market needs. Coal prices dropped by 75 percent.

But even as King Coal inescapably rushes towards bankruptcy, the companies are being showered by regulators and judges with extraordinary largesse. This is not a bailout like GM and Chrysler, (or even the banks), when the taxpayers took very large risks but gained a good shot at rescuing operating enterprises and the value they create. This bailout largesse to coal, largely driven by Republican politicians, is showering down on shareholders and management of enterprises which cannot and will not be rescued, just to postpone the moment at which they are reorganized, thus fattening management and shareholders before the evil moment.

And who pays? The general taxpayer for sure, but more spectacularly sick and retired mine workers and their communities.

Peabody Energy is the world's largest coal company & it gave taxpayers the shaft https://t.co/gFVa5M2iFc @voxdotcom pic.twitter.com/SFiWWxVTDO  Citizens for Tax Justice (@taxjustice) March 30, 2016

I know, Republican politicians, other than Donald Trump, offer as an article of faith that they stand up against bailouts. In fact, the Club of Growth in its first attack on Trump, made a core issue of the idea that Trump has supported the Wall Street Bailout.

Except bailout opposition, it seems, falters when it comes to fossil fuels. Republicans took vicious exception to the Obama Administrations willingness to use federal loan guarantees to help renewable energy companies  most spectacularly Solyndraeven though these loan guarantees, overall, came in under budget, and cumulatively created a powerful clean energy sector, but still, as you have heard thousands of times, taxpayers lost $535 million dollars when Solyndra failed.

So you would expect an enormous conservative outcry if major multinational corporations exploited loopholes in federal law to stick the taxpayers not with hundreds of millions, but with bills for billions for their business mistakes? Right?

Well, maybe not. Because the nations coal mining companies have been doing exactly that, with the active cooperation not of liberal Democrats but of judges and regulators in conservative Republican states like Missouri, Wyoming and West Virginia. Coal companies hold in trust the funds that pay their workers pensions and health care. But over the past few years companies like Peabody Coal divided themselves into bits and pieces. Certain bits kept the parts of the coal business Peabody thought were money makers. Other bits (with sexy names like Patriot Coal) got assigned mines that were no longer profitable, along with bundled liabilities like retiree pensions and health care. When Patriot Coal, predictably, filed for bankruptcy it stuck the taxpayers and the workers with the obligations.

In one elegantly vicious move, 208 retired coal miners who had no connection to Patriot Coal, had never worked for it, and whose pensions were fiduciarily sound, saw their retirement siphoned off to pay for legal fees and other bankruptcy costs. In essence, Alcoa, which is not going bankrupt, paid Patriot, which was, to assume pension obligations for these 208 miners. Alcoa gave Patriot reasonable money. But instead of using the funds to pay for pensions, Patriot is using it to pay lawyers, which, in a bankruptcy, it thought it could get away with. Eventually, it had to back down. But 12,000 other mine workers, with more direct relationships with Peabody, face the loss of their hard earned pension and health care benefits.

Coal companies are also required to post bonds to pay for reclaiming strip mined land. But those with creatively puffed up balance sheets were allowed by states to self bond and guarantee their own obligations. Arch Coal, for example, was allowed to qualify for self-bonding only four months before it went bankrupt. Alpha Resources has obligations of almost a half billion dollars. But over the past three years even strong coal companies like Peabody have plummeted towards bankruptcy, making it impossible for them to actually pay their accumulated reclamation costs. Yet state regulators took no effective action to make them put up bonds for the reclamation costs everyone knew were coming. More than 75 percent of Wyomings massive clean up bill is self-bonded by companies most of which no longer exist or will shortly no longer exist.

Now given Republican Congressional rhetoric about President Obamas war on coal and the latest indignation about Hilary Clintons clumsily phrased honesty in recognizing that a lot of coal companies are going out because the market no longer needs the coal they produce, you might think that Democrats had been fierce in cracking down on coal company scofflaws. Alas, until very recently both parties have looked the other way. Obamas Interior Department continued to award sweetheart coal mining leases of publicly owned coal with no competitive bidding. It permitted coal companies to create shell companies to avoid paying legally obligatory royalties. It allowed the states the play along with the self-bonding rip-off. And the Justice Department took no effective action to prevent the coal industry from shifting its pension and health care debts to the taxpayers and workers.

This 24-year-old citizen activist is running for Congress

Finally, in February 2015, the Administration moved, proposing a Power Plus plan to help protect miners pensions, health care and the economic based on coal dependent communities. (It also moved in the same month to reform royalty abuses).

But, of course, by this time such aid required Congressional appropriations. Bankruptcy courts had already let Patriot and other companies dump their pension and health care obligations. The same Republican leaders who blasted Obama for making war on coal denounced the new plan. Leading the charge? Kentucky Senator and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who made it clear that his hostility towards the United Mines Workers trumped whatever concern he might have had for Kentucky coal miners. In December, McConnell personally blocked efforts to include community and pension rescue efforts in the budget deal Republicans cut with Obama.

Here there is a partisan difference. Democrats who are waging War on Coal favor keeping the promise America made to coal miners. Hilary Clinton has strongly advocated help for the workers and communities.

How do conservatives justify this stand? By calling any effort to ensure that miners get the pensions they earned yes, a bailout. But conservative attacks on such efforts to protect pensions simply dont mention the shenanigans by which companies like Peabody got rid of their debts. These are actually worse than bailouts. In a bailout the calculation is that a healthy enterprise emerges. But there is no prospect in these cases that Patriot, Arch or Shortly Peabody is going to bounce back.

These are give-aways. What is hard to calculate is how big and costly they are. The UMW Pension fund, for example, protects more than 100,000 coal miners and former miners. It has $3.8 billion in assets, but must pay out about $600 million a yearso if it goes bankrupt, (ignoring the likely collateral damage to the whole U.S. pension insurance system) over a decade $6 billion could be transferred from the coal industry to the public12 Solydras! How much are the reclamation costs being forgiven? Well, an earlier generation of mining reclamation costs are now estimated to cost $17 billion34 Solyndras. And the pending defaults on self-bonded mining costs seem likely to run another $2.7 billion. So the total give-aways to coal companies as they race towards bankruptcy seems to be over $25 billionalmost 50 Solyndras. Thats quite a bailoutthe GM bailout cost taxpayers only $11.2 billion, less than half as much and the taxpayers got a healthy GM out of the dealwe get nothing from coal give-aways.

So the next time some economist earnestly lectures you on the need to avoid subsidizing clean energy, or a Republican says government shouldnt pick winners and losers, ask them to show you whereand how loudlythey denounced the Big Coal Bailout of 2016.

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(Facebook/starwarsrebels)"Star Wars Rebels" season 3 will premiere on Sept. 24 on Disney XD.

Fans who are looking forward to seeing the Sith Lord himself in "Star Wars Rebels" season 3 should prepare to be disappointed. It has been revealed that Darth Vader will not be appearing in the new installment.

While speaking to Slash Film, creator Dave Filoni explained the decision behind opting not to show Darth Vader in the third season of the "Star Wars" animated series.

"You know, I've kind of gone on this course, which is pretty, pretty direct about certain things 'cause I don't like to tease people along and then have them be disappointed. So it's really an elected decision to not have Vader around because, as we get closer to 'A New Hope,' I want him to serve as that story," he said.

Filoni went on to say that he never envisioned Vader in the third season because it would not fit well in the story. Since the Sith Lord is a powerful being, it would not make much sense for him to struggle with hunting down the rebels of the Ghost crew. It would take no time at all for Vader to gain the upperhand against them.

"It's more interesting to me to setup this completely different kind of villain that's gonna play a long game against our guys that they're not typically used to," Filoni explained.

That villain is none other than Grand Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn will be introduced in the premiere episode titled "Steps into Shadow." The episode will see Ezra leading the Ghost crew who have now taken shelter on Atollon. Thrawn will be a worthy opponent for the rebels as he is described as tactical and strategic.

On the other hand, another character, Ahsoka Tano, is expected to become the first Gray Jedi. As it was previously reported, a Gray Jedi is a user of the Force whose allegiance does not lie with either the Jedi or the Order.

"Star Wars Rebels" season 3 will premiere on Sept. 24 on Disney XD.
(Image: The Bible)

History Channel's mini-series The Bible is generating controversy after some viewers noted a perceived similarity between the character of Satan and U.S. President Barack Obama.

The Bible is continuing to enjoy strong ratings in its third week of telecast, but has now fallen under the shadow of social media innuendo.

Already criticized for its ethnic and beautified casting, viewers on Sunday night took offense at a supposed resemblance of Moroccan actor Mehdi Ouazzani and the 44th POTUS in the docu-drama.

Ouazzani, who plays the miniseries' version of the Devil, became the center of a whirlwind of tweets last night.

"Anyone else think the Devil in #TheBible Sunday on History Channel looks exactly like That Guy?" firebrand and conspiracy theorist Glenn Beck tweeted.

Beck, who many see as always enjoying a potential media scandal, was among the first to stir the pot.

On Monday, History Channel and The Bible producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey fired back.

"History channel has the highest respect for President Obama," the network said in a released statement.

"The series was produced with an international and diverse cast of respected actorsHistory's 'The Bible' is meant to enlighten people on its rich stories and deep history."

Burnett and Downey were more direct in their joint statement. "This is utter nonsense," they said.

"The actor who plays Satan, Mehdi Ouazzani, is a highly acclaimed Moroccan actor. He has previously played parts in several Biblical epics  including Satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as our president. "

Burnett said, "The president is a fellow Christian."

Downey was scheduled to visit the White House on Monday night as a guest of President Obama.

The Bible drew 13 millions viewers on is debut.

The third episode of "The Bible drew 139,300 viewers on Sunday night.

With two episodes left, its ends on Easter Sunday showing a representation of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.
Andrew Black had never been on a plane and his traveling experiences had been limited to car trips in the United States.

But this summer, the rising senior at Coolidge High School in the District of Columbia traveled to Spain and the Netherlands, an experience he may have never had if not for an ambitious study-abroad pilot program the district has launched.

It was really impactful, said Andrew, whose interest in visual arts was solidified when he saw how Spains art was influenced by crosscurrents of cultures and religion. The student, who lives in the northwest Washington neighborhood of Takoma, was particularly struck by the intricate architectural details of a mosque that had been taken over by Christians. His tour group traveled to the Sagrada Familia, a massive basilica in Barcelona designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi that has been under constant construction since the late 1800s.

Theres a lot of diversity in terms of religion and architecture, Andrew said. The Muslims and Christians... all ruled Spain at one point. Its all mixed together in the architecture.

Andrew was one of 400 8th and 11th grade students the school district sent on fully paid international trips to 12 countries this summer, including China, Costa Rica, France, Italy, and Nicaragua.

The mission, spearheaded by soon-to-depart Chancellor Kaya Henderson, is to eventually send every District of Columbia public school student on two study-abroad trips before graduation, using private contributions to underwrite the effort. The scale of the undertaking is unusual; if the district reaches its goal, it will coordinate travel for about 5,000 students a year. And the pilot is already drawing the attention of other school systems.

I started talking about this a couple of years ago, and I think my team thought I was bananas, Henderson said. But if these things were possible and easy, then everyone would be doing them.

Global Education

The trips, to countries that correspond with students language courses, combine two goals: exposing students to global ideas and providing previously out-of-reach opportunities for low-income children.

D.C.s public schools have worked in other ways to build a more global education for students in recent years. Elementary schools offer at least 45 minutes a week of world-language instruction, middle schools offer language classes in every grade with the option of earning high school credits for some courses, and high schools provide Advanced Placement language courses.

The districts schools also partner with 65 embassies located in the nations capital to expose students to other cultures.

Research shows that lower-income students often fall behind their wealthier peers in out-of-school exposure to enriching activities like travel, theater, and museum attendance. Advocates have called the concept the enrichment gap, which can exacerbate the poorer academic experiences of lower-income children, who are more likely to attend schools with fewer resources.

Authors of a 2013 study found that, as overall income inequality has expanded, the gap between what wealthier and middle-class parents and poor parents spend on their children for such activities has widened even more.

Enrichment Spending

Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that between 1972 and 2007, enrichment spending more than doubled from an average of nearly $3,000 per child per year to more than $6,000 per child per year for parents in the top income decile. In the same time period, enrichment spending for parents in the lowest three deciles remained relatively stagnant, at around $1,000 per child per year, researchers found.

And because of schools pay to play policies that require students to ante up fees, as well as money for equipment and travel, lower-income students are missing out on opportunities to grow their engagement, persistence, worldview, and social-emotional skills, Harvard University professor Robert Putnam wrote in his 2015 book Our Kids.

Henderson, who is stepping down from her role as chancellor Sept. 30, agrees. She remembers her own experiences traveling to Spain in high school, which gave her a chance to flex the Spanish language muscles shed been building.

It was completely eye-opening and perspective-changing for me, Henderson said. I wanted to bring that experience to our kids in Washington, D.C.

Around the country, nonprofit organizations team with high schools to offer low-income students chances to travel internationally in small groups. But, if D.C. schools succeed in expanding the program districtwide, it will be unique in scale and scope.

Organizers of the Districts program raised money to cover all costs, from lodging and transportation to passport fees, for participating students. The district also paid for aides to travel with students who have special needs covered by an individualized education plan and covered the costs for teachers and district staff to chaperone trips.

And school district officials arranged for some students, whose families rely on their childrens summer income for support, to receive $11.50-per-hour minimum-wage pay during their trips through the citys summer youth-employment program.

The pilot, which drew about 1,000 applicants, cost $2 million, and students with limited international travel experience were given priority, said Tre Jerdon-Cabrera, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Public Education Fund, which helps raise private donations to support district initiatives.

Indelible Experiences

Organizers are planning trips for 500 students next year at an estimated cost of $3 million, she said.

And though Henderson led the charge to start sending students on trips at a large scale, fundraisers plan to continue the work after her departure, Jerdon-Cabrera said.

Students returned from this summers trips with photos and videos they shot with district-provided GoPro cameras. They will be required to share their experiences with classmates through projects and presentations, and some have already contributed to a group blog.

On a trip to Beijing, 8th graders felt like celebrities, they wrote on a blog, when locals asked to take their photos, they learned about student-led demonstrations at Tiananmen Square, and they took rickshaw rides. In Costa Rica, juniors visited a farm where tayota, a squashlike crop grows, they painted a mural with local youths and cooked on outdoor stoves.

On Andrews trip to Barcelona in June, students learned to barter at a market, giving them a chance to practice their Spanish skills. Ive taken Spanish for three years, but I was still terrible when I went, he said.

One of Andrews key memories was learning about Great Britains vote to leave the European Union. Being closer to the people affected by the vote made it more meaningful, he said. He also took in little differences, such as the dry air and the use of olive oil in almost every food he ate.

In Amsterdam, Andrew and his travel group visited the house were Jewish Holocaust victim Anne Frank hid from the Nazis.

I learned that theres always someone trying to make the world better, Andrew said, describing his big takeaway from the trip.

Those sorts of experiences are what Henderson envisioned.

Many of our wealthy kids would have international experiences whether we provide them or not, she said. But so many of our kids would never have this experience if we didnt provide it.
Kelly, Pastore debate inflation, energy policy in congressional race

Kelly and Pastore went head-to-head in a debate Tuesday that was organized by WQLN and Erie News Now, which first aired the taped debate Thursday.
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.

14:55, 28 OCT 2022
A-Level results day for Island students

Hundreds of students across the Isle of Man will receive their A-Level results today.

It marks the culmination of two years of study and for many marks the next step in their education.

The Department of Education and Children will publish a full breakdown of the results later today.

Joel Smith is the school improvement advisor - he's hoping for another successful year:

Media

Joel Smith
Reality star NeNe Leakes is the latest celebrity to owe nearly a million dollars in taxes.

Leakes, whose claim to fame is her slot on Bravos The Real Housewives of Atlanta, is said to owe the IRS $824, 366.01 in back taxes from 2014, according to The Daily Mail Wednesday. Leakes was hit with the bill on July 22 in a Georgia court.

Interestingly enough, 2014 is the year Leakes competed in ABCs Dancing With The Stars. She also announced her The NeNe Leakes Collection that was featured on the Home Shopping Network. She also starred in Roger and Hammersteins Cinderella on Broadway.

Word is her assets are at risk and could be taken by the federal government if she does not pay up.

Its not clear what assets could be the first to go, but she did pay out $2 million for her brand new home in 2015. It features six bedrooms, six bathrooms and sits on 9, 511 sq. ft. in the Atlanta suburb Deluth, Ga.

She has yet to speak out on the reports. And it might not come up as a topic of conversation on the upcoming ninth season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta as she has said she has no plans to return to the show. This will be the first season that Leakes will not be in since the show first premiered in 2008.

The rest of the ladies have started filming and the show is slated to return from hiatus this fall.
Alexandria, VA - In a comment published in EARTH Magazine, Robert L. Fares, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, explores what causes the cost of gallon of milk to be so much higher than a gallon of gas.

This phenomena is not merely a recent artifact of the decreasing cost of oil, rather it dates back at least a decade. Looking at all aspects of cost-relevant information, Fares explores the production and storage processes, consumer demand and packaging to break down and distinguish the factors that influence the costs of both gasoline and milk. For the engaging analysis go to: http://bit.ly/2aYr2BH.

The August Issue of EARTH Magazine is the perfect read for any situation. This month's cover story looks at the illustrations that changed the way people think about the geological sciences. Also, we explore how scientists are using geomorphology and geochemistry to hunt down Hannibal's trail into Italy during the Punic Wars. We also go on safari with an interdisciplinary studies class and find out how the professor weaves geology into the lessons. All this and more in EARTH Magazine.

###

Keep up to date with the latest happenings in Earth, energy and environment news with EARTH Magazine online at: http://www.earthmagazine.org. Published by the American Geosciences Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.

The American Geosciences Institute is a nonprofit federation of geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 250,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society's use of resources, resiliency to natural hazards, and interaction with the environment.
The term "healthy obesity" has gained traction over the past 15 years, but scientists have recently questioned its very existence. A study published August 18 in Cell Reports provides further evidence against the notion of a healthy obese state, revealing that white fat tissue samples from obese individuals classified as either metabolically healthy or unhealthy actually show nearly identical, abnormal changes in gene expression in response to insulin stimulation.

"The findings suggest that vigorous health interventions may be necessary for all obese individuals, even those previously considered to be metabolically healthy," says first author Mikael Ryden of the Karolinska Institutet. "Since obesity is the major driver altering gene expression in fat tissue, we should continue to focus on preventing obesity."

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, affecting approximately 600 million people worldwide and significantly increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Since the 1940s, evidence supporting the link between obesity and metabolic and cardiovascular diseases has been steadily growing. But in the 1970s and 80s, experts began to question the extent to which obesity increases the risk for these disorders. Subsequent studies in the late 90s and early 2000s showed that some obese individuals display a relatively healthy metabolic and cardiovascular profile.

Recent estimates suggest that up to 30% of obese individuals are metabolically healthy and therefore may need less vigorous interventions to prevent obesity-related complications. A hallmark of metabolically healthy obesity is high sensitivity to the hormone insulin, which promotes the uptake of blood glucose into cells to be used for energy. However, there are currently no accepted criteria for identifying metabolically healthy obesity, and whether or not such a thing exists is now up for debate.

To address this controversy, Ryden, Carsten Daub, and Peter Arner of the Karolinska Institutet assessed responses to insulin in 15 healthy, never-obese participants and 50 obese subjects enrolled in a clinical study of gastric bypass surgery. The researchers took biopsies of abdominal white fat tissue before and at the end of a two-hour period of intravenous infusion of insulin and glucose. Based on the glucose uptake rate, the researchers classified 21 obese subjects as insulin sensitive and 29 as insulin resistant.

Surprisingly, mRNA sequencing of white fat tissue samples revealed a clear distinction between never-obese participants and both groups of obese individuals. White fat tissue from insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant obese individuals showed nearly identical patterns of gene expression in response to insulin stimulation. These abnormal gene expression patterns were not influenced by cardiovascular or metabolic risk factors such as waist-to-hip ratio, heart rate, or blood pressure. The findings show that obesity rather than other common risk factors is likely the primary factor determining metabolic health.

"Our study suggests that the notion of metabolically healthy obesity may be more complicated than previously thought, at least in subcutaneous adipose tissue," Ryden says. "There doesn't appear to be a clear transcriptomic fingerprint that differentiates obese subjects with high or low insulin sensitivity, indicating that obesity per se is the major driver explaining the changes in gene expression."

One limitation of the study is that it examined gene expression profiles only in subcutaneous white fat tissue, not other types of fat tissue or other organs. Moreover, all of the obese subjects were scheduled to undergo bariatric surgery, so the findings may only apply to individuals with severe obesity.

In future research, Ryden and his collaborators will track the study participants after bariatric surgery to determine whether weight loss normalizes gene expression responses to insulin. They will also look for specific genes linked to improved metabolic health in these individuals.

In the meantime, the study has an important take-home message. "Insulin-sensitive obese individuals may not be as metabolically healthy as previously believed," Ryden says. "Therefore, more vigorous interventions may be necessary in these individuals to prevent cardiovascular and metabolic complications."

###

The work in Sweden was supported by two grants from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, the EASD/Lilly Foundation, the Stockholm County Council, the Swedish Diabetes Association, the Erling Persson Family Foundation, CIMED, and the Diabetes Research Program at Karolinska Institutet. The work in Denmark was supported by the Lundbeck and Novo Nordisk Foundations.

Cell Reports, Ryden et al.: "The Adipose Transcriptional Response to Insulin Is Determined by Obesity, Not Insulin Sensitivity" http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(16)31014-2

Cell Reports (@CellReports), published by Cell Press, is a weekly open-access journal that publishes high-quality papers across the entire life sciences spectrum. The journal features reports, articles, and resources that provide new biological insights, are thought-provoking, and/or are examples of cutting-edge research. Visit: http://www.cell.com/cell-reports. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.
NEW YORK, NY (August 18, 2016)--Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) found that men had greater pain relief than women after smoking marijuana.

Results of the study were recently published online in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

"These findings come at a time when more people, including women, are turning to the use of medical cannabis for pain relief," said Ziva Cooper, PhD, associate professor of clinical neurobiology (in psychiatry) at CUMC. "Preclinical evidence has suggested that the experience of pain relief from cannabis-related products may vary between sexes, but no studies have been done to see if this is true in humans."

In this study, the researchers analyzed data from two double-blinded, placebo-controlled studies looking at the analgesic effects of cannabis in 42 recreational marijuana smokers. After smoking the same amount of either an active or placebo form of cannabis, the participants immersed one hand in a a cold-water bath until the pain could no longer be tolerated. Following the immersion, the participants answered a short pain questionnaire.

After smoking active cannabis, men reported a significant decrease in pain sensitivity and an increase in pain tolerance. Women did not experience a significant decrease in pain sensitivity, although they reported a small increase in pain tolerance shortly after smoking.

Despite differences in pain relief, men and women did not report differences in how intoxicated they felt or how much they liked the effect of the active cannabis.

The authors noted that additional studies in both men and women are needed to understand the factors that impact the analgesic effects of cannabinoids, the active chemicals in cannabis products, including strength, mode of delivery (smoked versus oral), frequency of use and type of pain measured.

"This study underscores the importance of including both men and women in clinical trials aimed at understanding the potential therapeutic and negative effects of cannabis, particularly as more people use cannabinoid products for recreational or medical purposes," said Dr. Cooper.

###

The study, titled "Sex-Dependent Effects of Cannabis-Induced Analgesia" was published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence on August 5, 2016. The authors are Ziva Cooper and Margaret Haney.

This research was supported by US National Institute on Drug Abuse DA19239, DA09236, and DA027755. Dr. Cooper's research is funded by NIDA. She has received partial salary support for investigator-initiated studies from Insys Therapeutics Inc and serves as a consultant to KannaLife Sciences and PharmaCann, LLC. Dr. Haney's research is funded by NIDA. She has received partial salary support for investigator-initiated studies from Insys Therapeutics Inc and has received research support from Aelis Farma.

The authors report no conflicts of interest relating to the subject of this study.

Columbia University Department of Psychiatry

Columbia Psychiatry holds the top ranking among the psychiatry departments in the nation and has contributed greatly to the understanding and treatment of brain disorders. Co-located at the New York State Psychiatric Institute on the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center campus in Washington Heights, the department enjoys a rich and productive collaborative relationship with physicians in various disciplines at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. Columbia Psychiatry is home to distinguished clinicians and researchers noted for their clinical and research advances in the diagnosis and treatment of depression, suicide, schizophrenia, bipolar and anxiety disorders, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and childhood psychiatric disorders.

Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. For more information, visit cumc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org.
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley have created a sort of nanoscale display case that enables new atomic-scale views of hard-to-study chemical and biological samples.

Their work, published online Aug. 18 in the journal Science, could help to reveal new structural details for a range of challenging molecules--including complex chemical compounds and potentially new drugs--by stabilizing them inside sturdy structures known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).

The researchers introduced a series of different molecules that were chemically bound inside these porous MOFs, each measuring about 100 millionths of a meter across, and then used X-ray techniques to determine the precise molecular structure of the samples inside the MOFs.

The samples ranged from a simple alcohol to a complex plant hormone, and the new method, dubbed "CAL" for covalent alignment (the molecules form a type of chemical bond known as a covalent bond in the MOFs), enables researchers to determine the complete structure of a molecule from a single MOF crystal that contains the sample molecules in its pores.

The MOFs in the study, which are identical and are easy to manufacture in large numbers, provided a sort of backbone for the sample molecules that held them still for the X-ray studies--the molecules otherwise can be wobbly and difficult to stabilize. The researchers prepared the samples by dipping the MOFs into solutions containing different molecular mixes and then heating them until they crystallized.

"We wanted to demonstrate that any of these molecules, no matter how complex, can be incorporated and their structure determined inside the MOFs," said Omar Yaghi, a materials scientist at Berkeley Lab and chemistry professor at UC Berkeley who led the research.

The MOFs also possess a particular handedness known as "chirality"--like a left-handed person vs. a right-handed person--that selectively binds with molecular samples that also possess this handedness. The difference in a molecule's handedness is particularly important for pharmaceuticals, as it can mean the difference between a medicine and a poison.

"This is one of the holy grails: how to crystallize complex molecules, and to determine their chirality," Yaghi said.

Seungkyu Lee and Eugene A. Kapustin, Berkeley Lab researchers and UC Berkeley graduate students who participated in the latest work, said hard-to-study proteins, such as those important for drug development, are high-priority targets for the new technique.

"We are aiming for those molecules that have never been crystallized before," Kapustin said. "That's our next step. So we cannot only show the arrangement of atoms, but also the handedness of molecules, in which pharmaceutical companies are interested."

One of the best methods for studying any molecule's 3-D structure in atomic detail is to form it into a crystal. Then, researchers point intense X-ray light at the crystal, which produces a pattern of spots--like light off of a disco ball. Such patterns serve as a fingerprint for fully mapping the molecule's 3-D structure.

Some molecules are difficult to form into crystals, though, and the process of crystallizing a single molecule can in some cases involve years of effort and expense.

"To crystallize a molecule typically involves a trial-and-error method," Yaghi said. "Every chemist and biologist has to submit to this process. But in this MOF material you don't need all that--it traps the molecule and orders it. It's a way to bypass that trial-and-error approach to crystallography."

Different types of MOFs, with different pore sizes, could be tested to find out which ones work best with different types of samples, Lee said.

Importantly, the MOFs in the latest study did not appear to distort the natural, intact structure of the molecules. Researchers say it's possible to determine the complete 3-D structure of a molecule even if the samples only fill about 30 percent of a MOF's pores.

Researchers determined the atomic structure of the MOFs and the bound molecules with X-rays at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source (ALS), and they also studied the MOFs using a technique called nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) at Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry.

In all, the researchers studied 16 different molecules bound inside the MOF pores, including a plant hormone called jasmonic acid whose chiral structure had never been directly determined before, other plant hormone known as gibberellins, methanol, and other acids and alcohols.

The metals in the MOF framework itself can actually serve to enhance the quality of the X-ray images, Kapustin said, adding that in one case the technique allowed researchers to distinguish between two nearly identical plant hormones based on the difference in a single atomic bond.

Researchers could see structural details down to hundredths of a nanometer--less than the diameter of some atoms. "You can see with such precision whether it is a double bond or a single bond, or if this is a carbon atom or some other atom," Lee said. "Once you bind a molecule in the MOF, you can learn the absolute structure very precisely since the chirality of the MOF serves as a reference during the structure refinement."

###

This work was supported by BASF SE in Germany and the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Center of Excellence for Nanomaterials and Clean Energy Applications.

The Advanced Light Source and Molecular Foundry are both DOE Office of Science User Facilities.

For more information about Omar Yaghi's research, visit http://yaghi.berkeley.edu/.

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 United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
Scientists at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute found that a deep-water marine sponge collected off of Fort Lauderdale's coast contains leiodermatolide, a natural product that has the ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells as well as block cancer cells from dividing using extremely low concentrations of the compound. This work resulted in the award of a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office protecting the use of the compound against various forms of cancer. Sea sponges are an ancient group of animals that appeared more than 600 million years ago that have many of the same genes as humans. These scientists are taking advantage of this similarity in human and sponge genomes to isolate marine natural compounds from these organisms to develop medicines useful in the treatment of human diseases such as cancer. The researchers are expanding on their original findings, recently showing that leiodermatolide can reduce pancreatic tumor size in vivo, publishing the results of this study in the International Journal of Cancer (IJC).

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Pancreatic cancer patients have less than a seven percent survival rate within five years of diagnosis, and 74 percent of patients die within the first year of diagnosis. In recent years, pancreatic cancer has received considerable attention because many well-known individuals have died from the disease. September marks seven years since the passing of actor Patrick Swayze, and October will be five years since the death of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs. The great tenor Luciano Pavarotti also died from this disease almost a decade ago.

In the article in IJC titled, "Leiodermatolide, a Novel Marine Natural Product, Has Potent Cytotoxic and Antimitotic Activity Against Cancer Cells, Appears to Affect Microtubule Dynamics, and Exhibits Antitumor Activity," the researchers more fully define how this marine compound kills the cancer cells, and show that its effects occur not only against cells but that it also has the ability to reduce pancreatic cancer tumor weight.

Lead author Esther Guzman, Ph.D., associate research professor at FAU Harbor Branch, along with colleagues and co-authors Amy Wright, Ph.D., research professor; Tara Pitts, biological scientist; and Priscilla Winder, Ph.D., research associate; as well as collaborators from Eisai Pharmaceuticals and the University of Central Florida, have been able to show that leiodermatolide induces programmed cell death in pancreatic cancer cells, and inhibits the growth of other cancer cells such as metastatic melanoma, colon cancer, lymphoma, and glioblastoma, a rare and deadly form of brain cancer.

Taxol, a commonly used anti-cancer drug, works by interacting with tubulin and causing its polymerization. Leiodermatolide also interacts with tubulin but appears to affect microtubule dynamics through a unique mechanism of action compared to other microtubule interacting agents. In a mouse model of metastatic pancreatic cancer, leiodermatolide exhibited significant tumor reduction when compared to gemcitabine -- the standard of care drug for pancreatic cancer -- and controls.

"Given the uniqueness of its mechanism of action, its potency, its selectivity for cancer cells, and its in vivo efficacy, leiodermatolide is an extremely interesting compound that merits further studies to determine its therapeutic potential for addressing some of the most devastating forms of cancer," said Guzman.

Natural products, or secondary metabolites, are small, organic molecules produced by organisms. Unlike primary metabolites such as sugars, fats or proteins, these molecules are not essential to sustain life; however, the compounds are thought to confer an evolutionary advantage to the producing organism. For example, if a sponge makes a compound that is toxic to predators or tastes bad, that sponge may be protected from being eaten, and will have an advantage over one that does not produce the compound. In addition to blocking predation, natural products can have many different functions within the producing organism.

FAU Harbor Branch's drug discovery program, spearheaded by Wright, looks for treatments for pancreatic cancer and infectious diseases, and their scientists also have collaborations with other scientists working on other forms of cancer, malaria, tuberculosis, neurodegenerative disease and inflammation.

"The primary goal of our marine biomedical and biotechnology program is to discover marine natural products with utility as medicines or as tools to better allow us to understand disease processes," said Wright.

The research in this publication was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH RO1 CA093455), the State of Florida Center of Excellence in Biomedical & Marine Biotechnology (COE-HRE07), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA CIOERT NA09OAR4320073) and the Health Resources & Services Administration Center for Sustainable Use of Marine Resources (4C76HF00231-01-04).

###

About Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute:

Founded in 1971, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University is a research community of marine scientists, engineers, educators and other professionals focused on Ocean Science for a Better World. The institute drives innovation in ocean engineering, at-sea operations, drug discovery and biotechnology from the oceans, coastal ecology and conservation, marine mammal research and conservation, aquaculture, ocean observing systems and marine education. For more information, visit http://www.fau.edu/hboi. About Florida Atlantic University:

Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six-county service region in southeast Florida. FAU's world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU's existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit http://www.fau.edu.
Researchers at the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, using the liquid crystal elastomer technology, originally developed in the LENS Institute in Florence, demonstrated a bioinspired micro-robot capable of mimicking caterpillar gaits in natural scale. The 15-millimeter long soft robot harvests energy from green light and is controlled by spatially modulated laser beam. Apart from travelling on flat surfaces, it can also climb slopes, squeeze through narrow slits and transport loads.

For decades scientists and engineers have been trying to build robots mimicking different modes of locomotion found in nature. Most of these designs have rigid skeletons and joints driven by electric or pneumatic actuators. In nature, however, a vast number of creatures navigate their habitats using soft bodies - earthworms, snails and larval insects can effectively move in complex environments using different strategies. Up to date, attempts to create soft robots were limited to larger scale (typically tens of centimeters), mainly due to difficulties in power management and remote control.

Liquid Crystalline Elastomers (LCEs) are smart materials that can exhibit large shape change under illumination with visible light. With the recently developed techniques, it is possible to pattern these soft materials into arbitrary three dimensional forms with a pre-defined actuation performance. The light-induced deformation allows a monolithic LCE structure to perform complex actions without numerous discrete actuators.

Researchers from the University of Warsaw with colleagues from LESN (Italy) and Cambridge (UK) have now developed a natural-scale soft caterpillar robot with an opto-mechanical liquid crystalline elastomer monolithic design. The robot body is made of a light sensitive elastomer stripe with patterned molecular alignment. By controlling the travelling deformation pattern the robot mimics different gaits of its natural relatives. It can also walk up a slope, squeeze through a slit and push objects as heavy as ten times its own mass, demonstrating its ability to perform in challenging environments and pointing at potential future applications.

- Designing soft robots calls for a completely new paradigm in their mechanics, power supply and control. We are only beginning to learn from nature and shift our design approaches towards these that emerged in natural evolution - says Piotr Wasylczyk, head of the Photonic Nanostructure Facility at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw, Poland, who led the project.

Researchers hope that rethinking materials, fabrication techniques and design strategies should open up new areas of soft robotics in micro- and millimeter length scales, including swimmers (both on-surface and underwater) and even fliers.

###

The research on optical and opto-mechanical microstructures are funded by the National Science Centre (Poland) within the project "Guiding light the paths less frequented - optics of three dimensional photonic structures".

Physics and Astronomy first appeared at the University of Warsaw in 1816, under the then Faculty of Philosophy. In 1825 the Astronomical Observatory was established. Currently, the Faculty of Physics' Institutes include Experimental Physics, Theoretical Physics, Geophysics, Department of Mathematical Methods and an Astronomical Observatory. Research covers almost all areas of modern physics, on scales from the quantum to the cosmological. The Faculty's research and teaching staff includes ca. 200 university teachers, of which 88 are employees with the title of professor. The Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, is attended by ca. 1000 students and more than 170 doctoral students.

SCIENTIFIC PAPERS:

"Light-Driven Soft Robot Mimics Caterpillar Locomotion in Natural Scale", Mikolaj Rogoz, Hao Zeng, Chen Xuan, Diederik Sybolt Wiersma, Piotr Wasylczyk; Advanced Optical Materials

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adom.201600503

CONTACTS:

Piotr Wasylczyk

Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw

tel. +48 505 004 059

email: pwasylcz@fuw.edu.pl

RELATED LINKS:

Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw.

Press office of the Faculty of Physcis, University of Warsaw.

IMAGES:

Walking caterpillar movie can be found at: http://www.fuw.edu.pl/~zopt/photonics/LCE_caterpillar.avi

Hi-res photo of the caterpillar micro-robot sitting on a finger tip: http://www.fuw.edu.pl/~zopt/photonics/LCE_caterpillar_on_finger.jpg
INDIANAPOLIS -- If you are rushed to a hospital in an emergency, is your complete medical record available to those caring for you? Will they know all medications you have been prescribed and whether you are taking them as directed? Does your primary care physician know your complete medical history?

According to clinician-informaticians of the Regenstrief Institute, the answer to these questions is almost always "no." Not having complete health information available often results in subpar care and can endanger patients. But how can we effectively assemble a patient's medical history, lab test results, medications and other information stored in various electronic medical records (EMRs) installed at different healthcare organizations?

To help solve this complex problem, the Regenstrief Center for Biomedical Informatics is pilot-testing a new, efficient method for compiling healthcare information electronically. Regenstrief has used this method, known as the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Standard (FHIR for short, pronounced "fire"), to merge data from individual electronic medical records with those stored in the Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC), Indiana's common framework for health information exchange.

"What we are working on is a first and could have a huge impact on patients whose health information is distributed across multiple electronic systems -- probably the vast majority of the people in the United States," said Titus Schleyer, D.M.D., Ph.D., a Regenstrief Institute investigator and Clem McDonald Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Indiana University School of Medicine. "Using FHIR, we can combine information about a specific patient stored in systems developed by different vendors and installed in different healthcare institutions. This brings us much closer to a 'lingua franca' for health information, so clinicians finally have complete information available about their patients.

"For example, imagine that you as a patient can use an "app" on your smart phone to reconcile the multiple lists of medications maintained by several care providers into one authoritative, current list. And then, you can bring that list to your colonoscopy screening appointment for review by your physician prior to the procedure. That is huge, which is why the federal government is also focusing attention on helping patients do that," emphasized Dr. Schleyer. "FHIR helps us create a secure, complete, accessible, and useful set of health information needed by clinicians and patients."

"FHIR enables an ecosystem of innovative apps, much like the iPhone and Android platforms did," said John Halamka, M.D., chief information officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, chairman of the New England Healthcare Exchange Network and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "The difference is that FHIR is truly cross-platform. It doesn't care what EHR or system is underneath it."

Regenstrief's Center for Biomedical Informatics is focused on the mission "better health through informatics." The center develops health information technology solutions to generate knowledge about health, disease and treatment; help clinicians make optimal decisions; empower patients; and inform healthcare policy. Areas of expertise include clinical applications, computer-based decision support, data mining, advanced analytics, healthcare information standards and global health.

The center has developed and advanced one of the nation's first electronic medical record systems, one of the country's first computerized provider order entry systems, and a health information exchange which has made Indiana the most health-wired state in the country and a national model for health information exchange. These applications and tools are widely recognized for their roles in improving quality of care, efficiency of healthcare delivery, reducing medical errors, and enhancing patient safety.

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Demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and leukodystrophy, are characterized by damage to the protective myelin sheath that surrounds the axons of neurons. This demyelination can be caused by an autoimmune response or impaired myelin production by oligodendrocytes. A new report in JCI Insight from Arjun Saha and colleagues at Duke University demonstrates that a cell therapy product called DUOC-01 can accelerate remyelination of axons in mice treated with a demyelinating chemical agent. DUOC-01 cells, which are derived from banked umbilical cord blood, were transplanted into mice following toxic demyelination. DUOC-01 treatment resulted in faster remyelination and promoted the differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells. These results suggest that a cord blood-derived cell product can promote neuronal repair and remyelination. Future clinical studies will be needed to determine if DUOC-01 cell therapy benefits patients with demyelinating diseases.

###

TITLE: A cord blood monocyte-derived cell therapy product accelerates brain remyelination

AUTHOR CONTACT:

Arjun Saha

Duke University Medical Center

Email: arjun.saha@duke.edu

View this article at: http://insight.jci.org/articles/view/86667?key=5eefd94ec80a435b65df

JCI Insight is the newest publication from the American Society of Clinical Investigation, a nonprofit honor organization of physician-scientists. JCI Insight is dedicated to publishing a range of translational biomedical research with an emphasis on rigorous experimental methods and data reporting. All articles published in JCI Insight are freely available at the time of publication. For more information about JCI Insight and all of the latest articles go to http://www.insight.jci.org.
Zika virus infection in pregnant women has been linked to the development of microcephaly and other brain defects in infants. Although the virus is known to be transmitted from mother to fetus, it is not clear how it crosses the maternal-fetal barrier. In this issue of JCI Insight, Erol Fikrig and colleagues at Yale University examined Zika virus infection of different cell types of the placenta, including cytotrophoblasts, placental macrophages, and fibroblasts. Cells were isolated from placental tissue of term pregnancies and infected with Zika virus in culture. The majority of fibroblasts and 10-15% of placental macrophages were infected and subsequently shed virus. Further, the researchers found that placental macrophages in intact placental tissue could also be infected with Zika virus in culture, though they did not observe infection of fibroblasts in the context of tissue. These results suggest that placental macrophages could be susceptible to Zika infection and indicate that further studies are warranted to determine the contribution of placental macrophages in maternal-fetal Zika transmission.

###

TITLE:

Zika virus productively infects primary human placenta-specific macrophages

AUTHOR CONTACT:

Erol Fikrig

Howard Hughes Medical Institute/Yale University School of Medicine

Email: erol.fikrig@yale.edu

View this article at: http://insight.jci.org/articles/view/88461?key=2677e2cbdd867c383f9d

JCI Insight is the newest publication from the American Society of Clinical Investigation, a nonprofit honor organization of physician-scientists. JCI Insight is dedicated to publishing a range of translational biomedical research with an emphasis on rigorous experimental methods and data reporting. All articles published in JCI Insight are freely available at the time of publication. For more information about JCI Insight and all of the latest articles go to http://www.insight.jci.org.
Kyoto, Japan -- Termites not only raid people's homes, but also the humble abodes of other happy termite couples.

In new research, Kyoto University scientists have found that male Japanese termites form homosexual couples when no females are around -- and when the chance arises, they take over a heterosexual couple's nest and kill the male so that one of them can mate with the now spouseless female. The research team's observations support a theory that homosexual couplings in invertebrates have evolutionary advantages.

The evolutionary paradox of homosexuality has long puzzled biologists. Recent research suggests that there are benefits associated with homosexuality, at least for mammals and birds. As for invertebrates like insects, experts have considered that homosexual behavior results from an inopportune misrecognition of males as females. But lead scientist Nobuaki Mizumoto and colleagues discovered that male termites aren't so inobservant; they behaved differently toward males and females, and when coupling with males, they didn't act as though they were mistaking them for females.

"Japanese termites usually make nests in monogamous, heterosexual pairs," says Mizumoto. "In theory, misrecognizing a female for a male in a monogamous mating system should incur considerable costs for reproduction. There had to be some sort of benefit if this were a common behavior."

In the study, published in Animal Behaviour, the researchers report that homosexual male termites built nests together, just as with heterosexual couples. "Male termites aren't able to survive on their own, but those that make nests with another male survived for much longer," continues Mizumoto. "This was especially beneficial in situations when searching for females raises the risk of being preyed upon. It's clear that male-male pairing is a strategy for survival."

The team found that once workers from the heterosexual couple's colony began digging tunnels to patrol, a male-male pair would travel back through the tunnel to invade and attempt to kill the heterosexual couple's nest. From genetic analyses of subsequent offspring, the scientists found that only one of the invading males had been able to mate with the female.

"Pairing with another male isn't the best option, but it gives mateless termites a chance to survive until they find a female, if that happens at all," says Mizutani. "To understand this behavior further, it will be important to consider the effects of other factors such as predators."

###

The paper "Male same-sex pairing as an adaptive strategy for future reproduction in termites" appeared 9th August, 2016 in Animal Behaviour, with DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.07.007

Kyoto University is one of Japan and Asia's premier research institutions, founded in 1897 and responsible for producing numerous Nobel laureates and winners of other prestigious international prizes. A broad curriculum across the arts and sciences at both undergraduate and graduate levels is complemented by numerous research centers, as well as facilities and offices around Japan and the world. For more information please see: http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en
Oxford University Press (OUP) has signed an agreement with the European Economic Association to publish the Journal of the European Economic Association (JEEA), one of the leading journals in the field, beginning in January 2017.

JEEA is a leading general economics journal covering all areas of economics, with an international focus. It has high-profile, internationally recognized editors and is supported by the European Economic Association, the largest professional economics association outside of the US.

JEEA was established in 2003 and first published by MIT Press. Since 2011 Wiley Blackwell has published the journal.

Martin Green, Senior Publisher at Oxford University Press, said:

"We are tremendously excited that JEEA is moving to OUP. To launch a general interest journal in such a difficult market and establish it within ten years or so as one of the discipline's leading journals is a remarkable achievement, and hats off to the EEA and JEEA editors for making it happen. We have built a very high-quality economics journals program at OUP, and JEEA will fit well alongside the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Review of Economic Studies, the Review of Financial Studies, amongst others. I look forward to working with the EEA and JEEA editors to build on its success and to establish it even more firmly as a journal recognized worldwide as publishing work of the highest standard and broad relevance."

Fabrizio Zilibotti, President of the European Economic Association, commented:

"JEEA is today one of the most important journals in economics. It publishes high-quality research in all fields of economics. In the last ten years it has more than doubled the number of submissions. It is one of the top 5 or 6 journals in economics. JEEA is one of the flagship activities of the EEA. Its promotion and success has been a strategic goal of the Association since its start in 2003. JEEA is run by a fantastic pool of editors based both in Europe and in the US led by Juuso Valimaki, one of the most-renowned economists in Europe. We are confident that the partnership with OUP will strengthen the journal further, and make of JEEA one of the absolute best journals worldwide."

OUP is delighted to add JEEA to its journals portfolio and will continue to publish articles with global relevance and of the highest scientific quality.

Oxford Journals is a division of Oxford University Press. We publish well over 230 academic and research journals covering a broad range of subject areas, two-thirds of which are published in collaboration with learned societies and other international organizations. We have been publishing journals for more than a century, and as part of the world's oldest and largest university press, have more than 500 years of publishing expertise behind us. Follow Oxford Journals on Twitter: @OxfordJournals

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. OUP is the world's largest university press with the widest global presence. It currently publishes more than 6,000 new publications a year, has offices in around fifty countries, and employs more than 5,500 people worldwide. It has become familiar to millions through a diverse publishing programme that includes scholarly works in all academic disciplines, bibles, music, school and college textbooks, business books, dictionaries and reference books, and academic journals.

The European Economic Association (EEA) is an international scientific body, with membership open to all persons involved or interested in economics. It encourages economic research; aims to improve communication and exchange between teachers, researchers and students in economics in the different European countries; and through the forum of the annual Congresses, encourages freedom of economic discussion. With more than 3,200 members, the Association publishes the Journal of the European Economic Association (JEEA). More information can be found at http://www.eeassoc.org, or by contacting Gemma Prunner-Thomas at gemma@eeassoc.org

###
College students love highlighting textbook passages while they study, and a team of researchers in three states will apply the latest techniques from machine learning and cognitive science to help turn that habit into time well-spent.

The four-year, $1million research program at Rice University, the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) is one of 18 grants announced today by the National Science Foundation as part of the BRAIN Initiative, a coordinated research effort to accelerate the development of new neurotechnologies.

"Highlighting is something students naturally do on their own, and we want to create software that can use those highlights to improve both their comprehension and knowledge retention," said Phillip Grimaldi, a co-investigator on the project and research scientist at the Rice University-based nonprofit textbook publisher OpenStax.

OpenStax uses philanthropic grants to produce high-quality, peer-reviewed textbooks that are free online and used by more than 680,000 college students at more than 2,000 colleges and universities. Grimaldi said the research team plans to use OpenStax books and learning tools in a number of ways.

First, they will ask OpenStax users to volunteer their highlights for a database that can be mined for clues about the volunteers' understanding of the text. The researchers also will conduct laboratory experiments at Rice, UC-Boulder and UCSD to come up with new software that leverages the highlighted information to improve learning outcomes.

One reason the big-data approach is needed is that by itself, highlighting isn't a very effective way to learn, Grimaldi said.

"A number of studies have shown that highlighting does little to improve learning outcomes, but students tend to think that it does, and it makes them feel good about studying," he said. "At the same time, college students generally aren't willing to change how they study, so we want to piggyback on what they're already doing -- spontaneously annotating passages of text -- and turn that from a marginal activity into one that improves learning."

This project is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Cyberlearning and Future Learning Technologies program. The researchers plan to create software that can predict how well students will perform on tests based on what the students highlight in their textbooks. The researchers will then create tools that use the material a student highlights to create customized quizzes and reviews for that student. The team also will try to determine the optimum time to give those quizzes and reviews to maximize comprehension and retention.

"Data from highlights supplied by OpenStax users will enable us to create tools that are both sensitive to each student's interests and robust to poor highlighting choices," said Richard Baraniuk, co-principal investigator on the project, founder and director of OpenStax and Rice's Victor E. Cameron Professor of Engineering. "The idea is to reformulate selected passages into review questions that encourage the active reconstruction and elaboration of knowledge. The design and implementation of the tool will be informed by both randomized controlled studies within the innovative OpenStax textbook platform and in coordinated laboratory studies."

UC-Boulder's Mike Mozer is the principal investigator on the grant, and co-principal investigator Hal Pashler will lead the activities at UCSD.

###

For more information about OpenStax, visit http://openstax.org.

VIDEO is available at:

OpenStax develops textbooks that deliver personalized lessons (2014). https://youtu.be/g1NCL47P-Ug

NSF grant award abstract: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1631428

Related research from Rice:

Rice study: Simple changes to homework improved student learning -- March 18, 2014

http://news.rice.edu/2014/03/18/rice-study-simple-changes-to-homework-improved-student-learning/

OpenStax developing textbooks that deliver personalized lessons -- Aug. 5, 2014

http://news.rice.edu/2014/08/05/openstax-developing-textbooks-that-deliver-personalized-lessons/

This release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations on Twitter @RiceUNews.

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,910 undergraduates and 2,809 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for best quality of life and for lots of race/class interaction by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview.
LA JOLLA, CA - August 17, 2016 - The eye's lacrimal gland is small but mighty. This gland produces moisture needed to heal eye injuries and clear out harmful dust, bacteria and other invaders.

If the lacrimal gland is injured or damaged by aging, pollution or even certain pharmaceutical drugs, a person can experience a debilitating condition called aqueous deficiency dry eye (ADDE)--sometimes called "painful blindness."

Now a new study in animal models, led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), suggests that lacrimal glands can be repaired by injecting a kind of regenerative "progenitor" cell.

"This is the first step in developing future therapies for the lacrimal gland," said TSRI biologist Helen Makarenkova, who led the study.

The findings were published this week in the online Early Edition of the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine.

Up for the Challenge

If injured, a healthy lacrimal gland naturally regenerates itself in about seven days. When diseased and chronically inflamed, however, regeneration stops--and scientists are not sure why.

In the new study, Makarenkova and her colleagues looked at whether they could kick start regeneration by injecting progenitor cells into the lobes that make up the lacrimal gland. Progenitor cells are similar to stem cells in their ability to differentiate into different kinds of tissue. In this study, the researchers used progenitor cells that were poised to become epithelial tissue, a key component of the lacrimal gland.

The researchers knew they faced a major challenge: sorting and separating "sticky" epithelial cell progenitors without destroying them.

"We had to figure out how to dissociate the tissue into single cells without completely obliterating everything," said Anastasia Gromova, the study's first author, now a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego, who spearheaded the project while interning at TSRI during her undergraduate years.

The researchers solved this problem by developing markers to label the cells of interest and then testing different enzymes and other reagents to draw them out of tissues.

Restoring Eye Health

With these cells in hand, the researchers injected them into the lacrimal glands of mouse models of Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease that results in ADDE, dry mouth and other symptoms. The team used only older, female mice because ADDE most commonly strikes that demographic in humans.

The treated mice showed a significant increase in tear production, indicating--for the first time--that epithelial cell progenitors could repair the lacrimal gland. Further tests suggested that epithelial cell progenitors helped by restoring the connection between cells called myoepithelial contractile cells and the lacrimal gland's secretory cells, which produce tears.

The next step in this research will be to study how long the improvement in the lacrimal gland lasts after progenitor cell injections. Makarenkova said the eventual goal is to develop therapies to boost a patient's own regenerative abilities.

###

In addition to Makarenkova and Gromova, authors of the study, "Lacrimal Gland Repair Using Progenitor Cells," were Dmitry A. Voronov of TSRI, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology of the Lomonosov Moscow State University; Miya Yoshida and Suharika Thotakura of TSRI; Robyn Meech of Flinders University; and Darlene A. Dartt of the Schepens Eye Research Institute/Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Eye Institute (grant EY021292), the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant 12-04-01621-a) and an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship.

About The Scripps Research Institute

The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is one of the world's largest independent, not-for-profit organizations focusing on research in the biomedical sciences. TSRI is internationally recognized for its contributions to science and health, including its role in laying the foundation for new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. An institution that evolved from the Scripps Metabolic Clinic founded by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps in 1924, the institute now employs more than 2,500 people on its campuses in La Jolla, CA, and Jupiter, FL, where its renowned scientists--including two Nobel laureates and 20 members of the National Academy of Science, Engineering or Medicine--work toward their next discoveries. The institute's graduate program, which awards PhD degrees in biology and chemistry, ranks among the top ten of its kind in the nation. For more information, see http://www.scripps.edu.
LA JOLLA, CA--August 18, 2016--An international team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has found strong evidence supporting a new strategy against drug addiction. The researchers showed that a compound that inhibits the activity of certain brain-cell receptors can reverse signs of cocaine dependency in rodents.

Prior experiments targeting this receptor, known as the TrkB receptor, produced results that differed greatly according to the brain region involved. The new study is the first to test system-wide delivery--the way drugs are typically given in humans--of a TrkB-blocker, showing that the overall effect is to reverse cocaine dependency.

"I think this study could help revive the idea of targeting TrkB signaling to treat addiction," said TSRI biologist Candice Contet, senior author of the study.

Struggle to Find Solutions

Scientists have long struggled to find an effective strategy against cocaine addiction, which is estimated to affect more than two million Americans, resulting annually in about half a million emergency room visits and hundreds of thousands of rehab facility admissions. There is still no FDA-approved drug specifically for treating cocaine addiction.

Addiction researchers know that cocaine produces a huge surge in the levels of dopamine in the "mesocorticolimbic reward system," where the brain registers pleasurable experiences and wires itself to want them. In rat models, repeated exposure to cocaine--which the animals readily self-administer--causes long-lasting adaptive changes in the nucleus accumbens and medial prefrontal cortex, two key areas of this reward system.

Over the past decade, studies have found that these changes are mediated at least partly by changes in production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which works by activating TrkB receptors. Mimicking that effect by injecting BDNF directly into the nucleus accumbens strongly increases rats' motivation for cocaine and other measures of dependency. By contrast, blocking BDNF production or BDNF/TrkB signaling in this brain region reduces the signs of dependency.

Those results have suggested TrkB-blocking as a new therapeutic strategy against addiction. One problem has been that BDNF has the opposite effect on addiction-type behavior when it acts in the medial prefrontal cortex. In experiments with rats, BDNF applied to this region reduces dependency behaviors, whereas blocking BDNF/TrkB signaling increases those behaviors.

"Based on these previous findings, we were very excited to investigate whether blocking TrkB receptors throughout the brain would be beneficial or detrimental in helping to reduce the motivation to take cocaine," said Michel M.M. Verheij, a research associate at TSRI at the time of the study, now at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, the Netherlands.

Reversing Signs of Cocaine Addiction

For the new study, which appeared recently in The Journal of Neuroscience, Contet and her colleagues examined the overall effects of blocking TrkB signaling, using a recently developed TrkB-receptor blocker, or "antagonist," that can successfully get into the brain after being injected into the bloodstream.

The team found in rats that had learned to self-administer cocaine infusions by pressing a lever, the TrkB blocker powerfully reduced basic behavioral measures of cocaine use and dependency--and did so more strongly when the dose was higher. The treated rats used much less cocaine, were much less willing to press the lever many times to get more cocaine, and were less inclined to "relapse" when re-exposed to cocaine after a period of withdrawal.

These behavioral improvements were accompanied by signs of lower, more normal TrkB signaling activity in the nucleus accumbens. Surprisingly, signs of TrkB signaling activity in the brain's medial prefrontal cortex also showed a move toward normal--rising, despite the presence of the TrkB-blocking drug.

"We suspect that the antagonist has its primary action in the nucleus accumbens, where it's logical that it would prevent the activation that is triggered by cocaine," said Contet, "while what happens in the prefrontal cortex is probably a downstream consequence, rather than a direct effect of the TrkB antagonist in that region."

Importantly, the TrkB-blocking treatment did not blunt the rats' appetite for a sweet-tasting glucose-saccharine solution. "That's good because it shows that the TrkB antagonist doesn't work by causing a general suppression of appetite or activity, but specifically reduces the sense of reward and motivation for cocaine," Contet said.

Contet and her colleagues now hope that their results will encourage clinicians to consider the therapeutic potential of the TrkB-blocking strategy in humans with cocaine addiction. TrkB-blocking compounds are already being investigated by academic and pharmaceutical company laboratories for treating disorders including anxiety, depression, and brain cancer.

###

Co-authors of The Journal of Neuroscience paper, "Systemic Delivery of a Brain-Penetrant TrkB Antagonist Reduces Cocaine Self-Administration and Normalizes TrkB Signaling in the Nucleus Accumbens and Prefrontal Cortex," were Leandro F. Vendruscolo and George F. Koob, then at TSRI and now at the NIDA Intramural Research Program; Lucia Caffino, Giuseppe Giannotti, Marco A. Riva and Fabio Fumagalli of the University of Milan; Judith R. Homberg of Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre; and Maxime Cazorla of University Grenoble Alpes and INSERM in France.

The research was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health (AA020913 and AA024198), by a joint program of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (project 31180005) and by the Zardi-Gori Foundation.

About The Scripps Research Institute

The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is one of the world's largest independent, not-for-profit organizations focusing on research in the biomedical sciences. TSRI is internationally recognized for its contributions to science and health, including its role in laying the foundation for new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. An institution that evolved from the Scripps Metabolic Clinic founded by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps in 1924, the institute now employs more than 2,500 people on its campuses in La Jolla, CA, and Jupiter, FL, where its renowned scientists--including two Nobel laureates and 20 members of the National Academy of Science, Engineering or Medicine--work toward their next discoveries. The institute's graduate program, which awards PhD degrees in biology and chemistry, ranks among the top ten of its kind in the nation. For more information, see http://www.scripps.edu.

Once available to the public, this and other press releases are posted on the TSRI website at http://www.scripps.edu/news/newsreleases.html
Superconductivity with a high critical temperature (high Tc) continues to present a theoretical mystery. While this phenomenon is experimentally well established, no scientist has managed to explain its mechanism. In the late 90's, the British physicist Anthony Leggett proposed a scenario based on the Coulomb energy. Today, researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, in collaboration with Leggett and his group, committed to test this scenario. Their findings challenge Leggett's conjecture, opening new avenues for the explanation of high Tc superconductivity. These results are available in the journal Physical Review X.

Superconductivity is at the heart of intensive research in physics, in particular because of its remarkable electronic properties, such as the absence of electrical resistance. Its properties make it an indispensable element for applications in medicine, as well as in transportation and energy storage.

In the late 90's, Prof. Leggett of the University of Illinois presented a scenario for high Tc superconductivity in the cuprates, materials consisting primarily of copper and oxygen. In his scenario, the transition of the material into the superconducting state is a direct consequence of a decrease of that part of the Coulomb energy which is associated with long wavelengths and midinfrared frequencies. It remained to be tested experimentally; optical spectroscopy proves to be a suitable technique for probing this part of the Coulomb energy.

The team of Dirk van der Marel, professor at the Department of physics of quantum matter of UNIGE Faculty of Science, has addressed this issue and the many challenges associated to it. 'We have set up an experimental device and a protocol for measuring the long range Coulomb energy. By varying the temperature and the light frequency applied to several superconducting samples, we observed the subtle influence of superconductivity on the Coulomb energy', explains Dirk van der Marel.

The importance of chemical doping

Based on cuprate superconductors, UNIGE physicists have observed that the behavior of the Coulomb energy at the superconducting transition depends on the doping -i.e. the lack (or excess) of electrons: for some values of the doping it decreases, but for others it stagnates or even increases. Changes in temperature of the Coulomb energy appear linked to the doping of the sample: 'there is a critical doping below which the observed behaviour is opposite to Leggett's scenario', says the physicist.

These experimental advances still do not explain high Tc superconductivity in the cuprates, however, they permit to make progress in the understanding and to adapt existing theories having foundations in common with Leggett's scenario. They can be extended to the measurement of the Coulomb energy in other superconducting materials, to other phenomena such as magnetism, to other methods, and provide directions for the development of experiments which will further advance the understanding of superconductivity and other quantum phenomena.

###
The amount of sea level rise in the Pacific Ocean can be used to estimate future global surface temperatures, according to a new report led by University of Arizona geoscientists.

Based on the Pacific Ocean's sea level in 2015, the team estimates by the end of 2016 the world's average surface temperature will increase up to 0.5 F (0.28 C) more than in 2014.

In 2015 alone, the average global surface temperature increased by 0.32 F (0.18 C).

"Our prediction is through the end of 2016," said first author Cheryl Peyser. "The prediction is looking on target so far."

Scientists knew that both the rate at which global surface temperature is rising and sea level in the western Pacific varied, but had not connected the two phenomena, said Peyser, a UA doctoral candidate in geosciences.

"We're using sea level in a different way, by using the pattern of sea level changes in the Pacific to look at global surface temperatures -- and this hasn't been done before," she said.

Peyser and her colleagues used measurements of sea level changes taken by NASA/NOAA/European satellites starting in 1993.

Using sea surface height rather than sea surface temperatures provides a more accurate reflection of the heat stored in the entire water column, said co-author Jianjun Yin, a UA associate professor of geosciences.

"We are the first to use sea level observations to quantify the global surface temperature variability," Yin said.

The team found when sea level in the western Pacific rises more than average -- as it did from 1998 to 2012 -- the rise in global surface temperatures slows.

In contrast, when sea level drops in the western Pacific but increases in the eastern Pacific as it did in 2015, global surface temperatures bump up because the heat stored in the ocean is released, Yin said.

The paper by Peyser, Yin, Felix Landerer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and Julia Cole, a UA professor of geosciences, titled, "Pacific Sea Level Rise Patterns and Global Surface Temperature Variability," is being published online in Geophysical Research Letters.

People already knew the tropical Pacific Ocean was relatively higher in the west -- the trade winds blow from east to west, piling up water on the western side of the Pacific.

However, the degree of the tilt from west to east changes over time, much like a seesaw. Sometimes the western Pacific near Asia is much higher than the ocean's eastern coast with the Americas. At other times, Pacific sea level in the west is not much greater than sea level in the east.

Others had documented that two different climate cycles, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the El Nino/La Nina cycle, affected how much the surface of the Pacific Ocean tilted from west to east.

From 1998 to 2012, the rate at which the global surface temperature increased slowed down -- a phenomenon dubbed "the global warming hiatus." During the same time period, sea level in the western tropical Pacific Ocean increased four times faster than the average global sea level rise.

Yin wondered if the two phenomena -- sea level and global surface temperature -- were related and asked Peyser, his graduate student, to investigate.

To figure out whether there was a connection, Peyser used state-of-the-art climate models that show what the climate system would do in the absence of global warming.

The models showed that changes in sea level in the western Pacific were correlated with changes in global surface temperature.

Verifying the correlation allowed the researchers to calculate the numerical relationship between amount of tilt and global surface temperature.

Once the researchers had the correlation, they used actual Pacific sea level data from satellites to calculate the Pacific Ocean's contribution to global surface temperature.

"What I found was that during years when the tilt was steep in the western Pacific, global average temperature was cooler," she said. "And when the seesaw is tilted more toward the eastern Pacific, it's warmer."

"We could say that for a certain amount of change in the tilt, you could expect a certain change in the temperature," she said. "Natural variability is a really important part of the climate cycle."

Understanding the variability is crucial for understanding the mechanisms underlying the warming hiatus, Yin said.

During the global warming hiatus, more heat was being stored in the deeper layers of the western Pacific Ocean, muting warming at the surface, the researchers said. Because warmer water expands, that stored heat contributed to the extreme sea level rise in the western Pacific during that time.

Starting in 2014 the ocean's tilt started to flatten out as the climate cycle changed to an El Nino pattern. The heat previously stored in the ocean was being released, warming the Earth's surface and reducing sea level in the western Pacific.

Yin was surprised to find the Pacific Ocean plays such an important role in the global surface temperature. He said, "Our research shows that the internal variability of the global climate system can conceal anthropogenic global warming, and at other times the internal variability of the system can enhance anthropogenic warming."

The next step, he said, is figuring out the mechanisms that allow the Pacific to change the global surface temperature so quickly.

###

NASA funded the research, including through the Strategic University Research Partnership Program of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Link to the paper's abstract is here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016GL069401/abstract

Researcher contact:

Cheryl Peyser

peyser@email.arizona.edu

Jianjun Yin

520-626-7453

yin@email.arizona.edu

http://www.geo.arizona.edu/Yin

Languages spoken - English, Mandarin

Julia Cole

520-626-2341

jecole@email.arizona.edu

Media contacts:

Mari N. Jensen

520-626-9635

mnjensen@email.arizona.edu

Alan Buis

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

818-354-0474

Alan.Buis@jpl.nasa.gov
Flexitime and having autonomy over working hours - known as schedule control - impacts differently on men and women and may increase the gender pay gap.

That's the conclusion of new research co-led by the University of Kent that shows that although schedule control is associated with increases in overtime and income, it is men that benefit more.

The research, from the University's School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research and the Hans-Bockler Foundation, Dusseldorf, Germany, showed that the increase in overtime was much higher for men, meaning that schedule control has the potential to 'traditionalise' gender roles. This was because of the large number of women taking part in the study sample who were working part-time.

Researchers found a considerable 'gender gap' in the income gained through schedule control. Both men and women gain additional income when using schedule control mediated via overtime hours. However, women, even full-time working women, do not reap the direct benefit men do in terms of income gains. In fact, the research suggests schedule control may potentially increase the gender pay gap.

The researchers found that this gender discrepancy exists even when they took into account the gender segregation of the labour market, i.e., sectors and occupations, as well as other characteristics such as an individual's ambition or work devotion.

The research, entitled Gender Discrepancies in the Outcomes of Schedule Control on Overtime Hours and Income in Germany, was co-authored by Dr Heejung Chung of the University of Kent and Dr Yvonne Lott of the Hans-Bockler Foundation. It is published in the European Sociological Review. See: http://esr.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/08/17/esr.jcw032.short?rss=1

###

For interview requests contact Martin Herrema at the University of Kent Press Office.

Tel: 01227 823581/01634 888879

Email: M.J.Herrema@kent.ac.uk

News releases can also be found at http://www.kent.ac.uk/news

University of Kent on Twitter: http://twitter.com/UniKent

Notes to editors

Established in 1965, the University of Kent - the UK's European university - now has almost 20,000 students across campuses or study centres at Canterbury, Medway, Tonbridge, Brussels, Paris, Athens and Rome.

It has been ranked: third for overall student satisfaction in the 2014 National Student Survey; 16th in the Guardian University Guide 2016; 23rd in the Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2016; and 22nd in the Complete University Guide 2015.

In the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2015-16, Kent is in the top 10% of the world's leading universities for international outlook and 66th in its table of the most international universities in the world. The THE also ranked the University as 20th in its 'Table of Tables' 2016.

Kent is ranked 17th in the UK for research intensity (REF 2014). It has world-leading research in all subjects and 97% of its research is deemed by the REF to be of international quality.

Along with the universities of East Anglia and Essex, Kent is a member of the Eastern Arc Research Consortium (http://www.kent.ac.uk/about/partnerships/eastern-arc.html).

The University is worth 0.7 billion to the economy of the south east and supports more than 7,800 jobs in the region. Student off-campus spend contributes 293.3m and 2,532 full-time-equivalent jobs to those totals.

In 2014, Kent received its second Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education.
Scientists at the University of Liverpool are using the health records of dogs to monitor the status of a potentially fatal tick-borne disease that appears to have been imported into the UK.

Canine babesiosis is transmitted to dogs by infected ticks, with symptoms including a lack of appetite, fever and jaundice. Although normally only found in mainland Europe, in February 2016 three cases of Babesia were reported at one Essex veterinary practice in dogs that had not travelled abroad.

The outbreak was widely reported in the national media, with concern raised that the disease could soon affect dogs elsewhere in the country.

Data analysis

A team from the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET), which is as a partnership between the University of Liverpool and the British Small Animal Veterinary Association, used electronic health records and laboratory data to assess the risk of this emerging disease in the UK.

Using data from 2015, they analysed cases of reported tick bites and Babesia in dogs from 392 volunteer veterinary premises across the UK.

Published in the Veterinary Record, the analysis revealed a low background level of Babesia infection in the UK. Based on the sporadic and geographically distributed nature, these cases were most likely linked to overseas travel.

The laboratory data also confirmed a small cluster of eight Babesia cases in the Chelmsford area of Essex, where the reported outbreak was centred. The clustering of these cases was consistent with exposure to a local infected tick population.

No new cases

Since March this year, SAVSNET has seen no new diagnoses of Babesia in Chelmsford, suggesting that the outbreak may be currently under control.

Dr Alan Radford, SAVSNET academic lead, said: "While this is positive news, we would like to remind vets to keep Babesia in mind, especially in practices close to the outbreak where infected ticks are likely to still be active, and persist in the coming years. Currently this seems to be a rare disease but one that we need to keep an eye on.

"One striking finding from our analysis is that ticks remain active in winter, albeit at presumably low levels. It's therefore important that we continue to monitor tick activity, and we would encourage vets and nurses across the UK to keep recording information about tick bites they treat."

Real-time monitoring

Real-time updates of Babesia cases and other important diseases, based on data submitted to SAVSNET, are now available to view as an interactive map on the SAVSNET website.

Dr Fernando Sanchez-Vizcaino, lead author on the paper concluded: "We've shown that health informatics surveillance can help provide real-time local updates on important and emerging pathogens, such as Babesia. This could help monitor the response to outbreaks, and in the future contribute to their early detection."

###

The work was funded in part by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections.

The paper 'Canine babesiosis and tick activity monitored using companion animal electronic health records in the UK' is published in the Veterinary Record [doi:10.1136/vr.103908].
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the United States and has been identified as a primary cause of cervical cancer in women. Now, an international team of researchers led by the University of Missouri has completed studies on fruit flies with a condition that mimics a form of HPV-induced cancer. The fly models the team developed may help scientists understand the underlying mechanism by which this virus can cause cancer as well as identify potential drug treatments. The study appears in today's issue of PLoS Pathogens.

"This is the first model of an HPV-induced cancer in fruit flies," said Bing Zhang, professor of biological sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science and a corresponding author of the study. "This new model will help scientists understand the molecular and biochemical pathways involved in tumor growth and malignancy caused by HPV as well as screen for potential drug targets."

Previous studies conducted in human cells and in mice have shown that the virus enters the body through the skin and produces several oncoproteins, which are proteins that can transform a normal cell into a tumor cell. One of these viral oncoproteins, called E6, plays an important role during the later stages of tumor formation and metastasis.

In the study, led by Mojgan Padash, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Missouri, the researchers introduced the viral E6 oncoprotein and a human protein that is necessary for E6-induced cancer into fruit flies. The proteins caused severe abnormalities in the epithelial, or skin, cells of the fruit flies. The researchers also show reduced levels of the same suite of proteins targeted by E6 in humans. Further experiments done in human cell lines with the fruit fly version of the E6-targeted proteins yielded similar results, providing additional evidence that E6 works the same in flies as it does in humans.

Although cellular abnormalities resulted, the scientists found that the E6 proteins were not sufficient enough to cause tumors in flies. Since it is thought that mutations in a human oncoprotein, called Ras, may contribute to E6-mediated tumor development in humans, the researchers introduced this third protein into the flies. With all three proteins present, the flies developed malignant tumors that metastasized.

"The take home message is that the same key molecular players that underlie HPV E6-mediated cancer in humans do the same things in flies," Padash said. "Practically speaking, this means we can now use this fly model to identify other essential components that contribute to E6-mediated tumorigenesis, which has the potential to translate into therapies for HPV-induced cancers."

"The model that has been developed has been used to identify other essential pathways that contribute to E6-driven malignancy," said Lawrence Banks, head of the Tumor Virology group at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Trieste, Italy, and a coauthor of the study. "The power of this model is that it can be used now to screen for inhibitors of other pathways, which have the potential to translate into therapies for HPV-induced cancer."

###

The study, "A Drosophila model of HPV E6-1 induced malignancy reveals essential roles for Magi and the insulin receptor," was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (RO1NS060878), the University of Missouri, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP-123420) and the Italian Association for Cancer Research. The work was performed in collaboration with Vanessa Auld, professor of zoology at the University of British Columbia in Canada, and Lawrence Banks, group leader of tumour virology at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Italy. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agency.

Editor's note: For more on the story, please see: http://biology.missouri.edu/news/new-fruit-fly-model-may-yield-new-clues-drug-treatments-for-cervical-cancer/
Chen Zhongwei, the retired Director of Oral Health at Guangdong General Hospital in China, was attacked this spring and killed by a patient whom he treated more than two decades earlier. The former patient, who claimed that he should receive compensation for a discolored tooth, followed the dentist home where he stabbed him over 30 times. This tragic story is the latest of a number of episodes in which Chinese patients kill health professionals.

Responding to the endemic mistrust between patients and physicians in China, Joseph D. Tucker, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and director of UNC Project-China, organized an initiative to rebuild patient-physician trust. The research team used in-depth interviews and policy analysis to better understand patient-physician trust in the Chinese context, speaking with patients, physicians, and health administrators. The team found the need for reform of several areas, including health systems, legal, ethical, and medical education. For example, requiring medical humanities training within medical education could help increase capacity for physicians to more effectively communicate with their patients and begin to restore trust. The results and suggested action items to rebuild trust were published in The Lancet.

"Trust is not a simple construct and rebuilding it will take time, energy, and resources," Tucker said. "But as we noted in The Lancet, the lingering mistrust in China should be seen as opportunity to do better. This is not about pointing fingers, but rather about figuring out how to move forward."

In addition to The Lancet publication, his research laid the foundation for a Shanghai conference on patient-physician trust. Tucker along with colleagues from Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of Otago in New Zealand organized the two-day conference at the Harvard Center Shanghai to develop actionable recommendations for rebuilding patient-physician trust in China. The team included leading public health officials, philosophers, lawyers, medical doctors, private sector leaders, and medical ethicists. This multi-disciplinary group created a list of recommendations to help rebuild patient-physician trust in China.

As part of the patient-physician trust initiative, the next step involves using a participatory campaign to crowdsource messaging to rebuild patient-physician trust.

###

The Harvard China Fund and the China Medical Board supported Tucker's project.

The mission of UNC's Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases is to harness the full resources of the University and its partners to solve global health problems, reduce the burden of disease, and cultivate the next generation of global health leaders. Learn more at http://www.globalhealth.unc.edu.
A number of competitors at the Rio Olympics have reported stomach problems. Team GB officials have denied that athletes have fallen victim to food poisoning at the Olympic athletes' village in Rio, despite a number complaining of upset stomachs.

Professor Raymond Playford, a gastro-intestinal expert and Professor of Medicine from Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, suggests that the culprit may, in some cases, be 'leaky gut' syndrome.

'Leaky gut' is a condition where the thin mucosal barrier of the gut, which plays a role in absorbing nutrients and preventing large molecules and germs from the gut entering the blood stream, becomes less effective.

It is a particular problem for those taking part in heavy exercise or who are active in hot conditions. It can lead to 'heat stroke' (especially in military personnel deployed to countries with high temperatures) and gut symptoms in athletes. The combination of intense physical exertion and warm environments at the Olympic Games could well be antagonising leaky gut in participating athletes.

Earlier this year Professor Playford led a research team which published a study in the prestigious American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study claimed that zinc carnosine (a health food product), taken alone or with bovine colostrum, may have value for athletes affected by 'leaky gut'.

The team recruited eight volunteers who took part in a four-arm, double-blind placebo-controlled test. The volunteers were put into groups where each group received either the placebo, zinc carnosine, colostrum or zinc carnosine and colostrum for 14 days prior to standardised exercise taken two and 14 days after starting treatment. Among the changes that occurred in the athletes during heavy exercise was a two degree centigrade rise in body temperature, which may well have been a contributing factor in causing the increased leakiness of the gut.

The clinical trial went parallel to cell culture experiments to help understand the mechanisms behind how zinc carnosine and bovine colostrum worked.

The results showed that zinc carnosine improved the performance of the mucosal barrier of the gut, and that this improvement was enhanced when supplemented with bovine colostrum. Both are readily available from health food suppliers and the research team concluded that zinc carnosine taken alone or with bovine colostrum may have value for those affected by 'leaky gut'.

Professor Playford commented: "It comes as little surprise that some athletes at the Olympics are experiencing stomach complaints. The conditions are ideal for 'leaky gut' - hot temperatures and high levels of exercise are a heady combination for the condition. The good news is that our research has shown that there is a natural and readily-available solution to the problem."

###
Precambrian embryos? Old news. Paleontologists have been looking at them for over a decade, yet the Cambrian explosion remains one of the strongest empirical challenges against Darwins theory. A new paper tries to show that some of them were possibly embryos of metazoan animals that emerged long before the explosion, thereby lengthening the time during which evolution could have worked its magic.

In Darwins Doubt, Stephen Meyer pointed to the embryos as evidence against the artifact hypothesis. This hypothesis tried to explain the lack of Precambrian ancestors as an artifact of poor fossil preservation. If these strata could preserve embryos, Meyer said, then they should have preserved fully developed animals  at least, if such animals were present at the time (p. 68). Illustra Medias film Darwins Dilemma includes Paul Chien, who worked with Dr. J.Y. Chen at the discovery site in China, dissecting some of the fossils, showing them under the microscope to be characteristic of sponge embryos.

The embryos come from the Precambrian Doushantuo formation in China, dated at 600 million years old  about 60 million years before the onset of the Cambrian Explosion. This was the Ediacaran period, populated by strange-looking sessile colonies of unknown organisms. Meyer discusses the Ediacaran in detail in his book, documenting that most leading evolutionary paleontologists consider the Ediacaran creatures to be unrelated to the Cambrian animals. Meyer readily acknowledges the presence of sponges and possibly two other phyla before the explosion. The problem for evolutionists is to explain the geologically sudden appearance of almost twenty new phyla with new body plans more complex than sponges or anything else that came before  animals with jointed legs, guts, eyes, hard parts, and locomotion. Some of the phyla, like trilobites and Marrella, exhibit bilateral symmetry. These were the first bilaterians: a group that includes us.

Darwin himself confessed that if numerous species, belonging to the same genera or families, have really started into life all at once, the fact would be fatal to the theory of descent with slow modification through natural selection (quoted in Meyer, p. 17). His disciples ever since have scoured the earth for evidence of the missing Cambrian ancestors in the strata below. All they have found are microbes, sponges, the Ediacaran biota, and the embryos. A few small shelly fossils appear at the base of the Cambrian (see Debating Darwins Doubt, Chapters 13-14, for details), but experts consider the Precambrian evidence to be insufficient to account for the profusion of new body plans in the Cambrian explosion.

To muffle the explosion, evolutionists have used two strategies to construct a long fuse of gradual evolutionary experimentation. One has been the molecular clock. Molecular estimates of mutation rates, they say, show that the ancestors must have existed, even without fossil evidence. The argument is circular; it relies on evolution to try to prove evolution. Even so, last October, we discussed a Current Biology paper by Telford, Donoghue, and Yang who showed after a detailed analysis that molecular clock data is too imprecise to draw any conclusions.

The other strategy has been to conjure complex animals out of the Precambrian fossil record. In Darwins Doubt, pp. 90-92, Meyer showed how David Bottjer of the University of Southern California was roundly criticized by his colleagues in 2005 for making too much of an enigmatic fossil named Vernanimalcula. Bottjer had labeled it an early bilaterian, but most others considered it to be irrelevant to the Cambrian explosion (see Casey Luskins article from 2012 that says Vernanimalcula is possibly not even a fossil at all). Last year we showed Bottjer still suggesting Vernanimalcula was a bilaterian.

Now, in a paper in Geology co-authored by three colleagues from China and an imaging expert in France, Bottjer has more show and tell from Doushantuo. Strangely, he omits mention of Vernanimalcula, noting that for the alleged Precambrian bilaterians, most of them are not yet widely accepted. (The reference for that comment is to a paper with a very harsh title, A merciful death for the earliest bilaterian, Vernanimalcula. Clearly the authors, Bengtson, Cunningham, Yin, and Donoghue, disagreed that it was ever widely accepted.)

The Geology paper presents three new embryos that the authors claim show a cleavage pattern characteristic of metazoan animals, perhaps even bilaterians. Phys.org shares the gist of the new claim:

In their article for Geology, Zongjun Yin and colleagues report new Doushantuo embryo-like fossils. They used high-resolution synchrotron radiation X-ray microtomography to reconstruct three-dimensional structures of the fossils, and the results demonstrate that these fossils preserve unique features directly comparable to living animal embryos that utilize a special kind of cell division pattern known as discoidal cleavage. Given that discoidal cleavage only occurs in animal embryos, the biological affinities of these fossils are probably animals. [Emphasis added.]

Since these embryos are in the Doushantuo formation (dated 600 million years old), there must have been animals alive back then, if not earlier. Problem solved? Well, look at the images and think about the interpretation. First some terminology. In their pre-gastrula stages, embryos show either holoblastic cleavage (where the first cells all look the same size) or meroblastic cleavage (where one cell becomes a large yolk for the others). Discoidal cleavage is a type of meroblastic cleavage where the cells sit on top of the yolk cell without penetrating it. Identifying the type of cleavage in these phophatized embryos is the key to interpreting them, they say:

Recently, the debate on the EDEFs [Ediacaran Doushantuo Embryo-like Fossils] has begun to crystallize into two competing interpretations: (1) that the EDEFs represent crown metazoans, or (2) that they represent stem metazoans or nonmetazoan holozoans. These two competing interpretations have very different implications for the timing and tempo of animal diversification [i.e., the Cambrian explosion]. If the EDEFs are crown metazoans, a deep Precambrian history of animals is implied, whereas if they are stem or non-metazoans, the fossils do not reduce the gap between molecular clock estimates and the fossil evidence for the early divergence of metazoans. It is difficult to reconcile these competing interpretations because these morphologically simple EDEFs yield very little phylogenetic information.

And so the authors argue that the appearance of discoidal cleavage suggests that the embryos could be crown metazoans, implying a deep Precambrian history of animals. Here are some issues:

Only one of the 3 microfossils shows possible discoidal cleavage; the others are ambiguous, judging from the images; they only show some cells smaller than one larger cell. The prime example has 12 smaller cells appearing in an indentation in the large cell. They cannot rule out, however, taphonomic bias (artifacts from fossilization) or unequal cleavage in a holoblastic embryo. Cleavage patterns vary widely among multicellular organisms. While no instances of discoidal cleavage have been reported outside of bilaterians, they are not necessarily diagnostic of bilaterians. Many bilaterians undergo holoblastic cleavage: annelids, mollusks, echinoderms, tunicates, amphibians, some fish, and placental mammals. Some of these are Cambrian phyla; others are advanced vertebrates. Holoblastic cleavage organisms can be organized into 5 kinds within two categories (see Wikipedia); in other words, there are variations that might be interpreted as meroblastic or discoidal in fossil conditions. Discoidal cleavage is not universal among bilaterians; it appears in widely separated groups including some fish, sharks, birds, reptiles and monotremes (like platypus). Fossil embryos represent only a snapshot in time of cells turned to stone. The scientists cannot watch the developmental process unfold.

The authors are hanging an awful lot of interpretation, therefore, on one 250-micrometer fossil that they acid-washed and scanned with radiation, then processed for visualization in software. If this little piece of rock is so important, why are there not hundreds of them in all stages of development? Most importantly, where are the adults? Clearly, the Doushantuo formation was capable of fossilizing higher life stages in great detail. Their absence seems better evidence than the presence of a questionable embryo that, until proven otherwise, could be another sponge. Notice the subjective interpretation in the paper, amounting to little more than possibility thinking:

Our findings support the conclusion that at least some EDEFs possibly represent crown-animals, although their phylogenetic affinity cannot be established because discoidal-type meroblastic cleavage has evolved independently in a variety of animal groups, e.g., scorpions and cephalopods as well as many vertebrates, including some fishes and amniotes.

What is it, therefore, about discoidal cleavage that is worth getting excited about? Keep in mind that Bottjer has demonstrated a strong antipathy to intelligent design, dismissing Darwins Dilemma as a creationist movie in spite of its fully scientific arguments; he took part in the effort to block its showing at the California Science Center; and he promoted Vernanimalcula beyond the evidence enough to rouse the censure of his colleagues.

These points aside, whats convincing is the positive evidence for design in animal development, complex body plans and a biosphere that interacts at all levels on a privileged planet in a finely tuned universe. Thats huge. Thats Undeniable.

Image credit: Dr. Zongjun Yin, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences via Phys.org.
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Exeter's newest cocktail bar has opened in the city centre bringing with it more than 15 Victorian influenced cocktails.

Popcorn Treacle, Sing Sing Sling and The Bee's knickers (yes you heard that right) is amongst the selection of cocktails on Doctor Ink's Curiosities' menu.

The intimate bar which is located on Exeter Quay has been open for three weeks and co-owner Patrick Fogarty said that he wanted to bring the city vibe of London and New York to Exeter.

He said: "I grew up in Exeter, but I lived in London for more than 20 years and I felt that there was a hole down here that needed filling.

"There is a small cocktail scene in the city at the moment but I wanted to create something different.

"In London there are a lot of bars like this that have a Victorian style and we designed the bar to fit that kind of theme.

"There are different eras of cocktail making but I mainly concentrate on the pre-prohibition era, which is where the influence of the cocktails comes from."

Doctor Ink's Curiosities offer a wide selection of cocktails on their menu with prices ranging between 8 and 9, and depending on your choice of cocktail will depend on the glass that it comes in.

At the moment the cocktail bar is open every evening from 5pm but will soon be open for trading during the day offering a selection of luxurious teas.
This is exactly the same situation that we had when we bought our house in France.The owner had left a folder with photos of which vanne to turn for whatever situation.There was a thermostat and a basic timer in the system.I am assuming that the boiler you have is a combination ie there is no HW tank as you would have in the UK as you say it produces hot water on demand.There should be a rocker switch on the boiler for a winter or summer setting indicated by either a frost symbol or a triangle for winter ie it kicks in the central heating pump whereas the summer setting turns the CH pump off so only hot water is produced.We were using oil like no tomorrow so I got in a proper central heating engineer ie not a glorified plumber who examined the boiler and explained the following and why these valves were being used;

1 The thermostat for the hot water is either set too high or the thermostat/and/or the rocker switch itself has failed in which case all the extra heat that is being produced is vented off into the CH system so to stop rads getting hot in the summer the vanne is closed.

2 Many central heating boilers in rural areas are fitted by albeit qualified people they just do not invest in the proper electronic gadgets to check exhaust gas level and neither are they too worried about the temperatures the boiler is producing so they do not set it up properly to begin with.So in our case a set of baffles which would have retained heat within the boiler had not been put in so the exhaust gases were being vented at a really high temperature and this combined with both the CH and HW thermostats being set at max then this was why the boiler was drinking oil plus the fact that the boiler had not been serviced probably since it had been installed did not help.The HW needs to be at 60 C to kill bacteria but not much hotter and try setting the CH stat at no more than halfway to see if that helps then you should have no need to fiddle with the levers.

In addition we had new energy efficient rads installed with individual rad stats the system drained and flushed out and a new electronic 7 day timer/thermostat installed.This has reduced the oil consumption drastically plus we also have wood burners.

In short my advice would be to check the stat settings and get a proper heating engineer in to give the system a proper check.
I just found out my daughter direct deposit due on the 6th of the month was not made this august. Does anyone know the phone number for the US embassy social security department or even in the USA? I have no internet access to the account per US rules. I do have a US VoIP to call the USA.

Tony
Thursday, August 18, 2016

Glass bottles are the legacy of the alcoholic beverage industry but they have well known drawbacks:

Heavy

Fragile

Space inefficient

Lower recycle rates, especially for colored glass

Higher transportation costs

Making a splash in the product packaging world is the aluminum bottle, offering up to 90% less weight, less breakage, a smaller space footprint and higher recycle rates. As a bonus, it chills faster and may offer improved light protection. Worried about how your alcoholic beverage will taste? They have that covered. A FDA approved liner protects the product from contact with the aluminum. No can taste. The icing on the cake is that cost savings can be as much as 65% over glass bottles.

Aluminum bottles have achieved consumer success with Coca Cola, Heineken, Miller and Budweiser. Aleco produces a product line branded Evolution that currently has a single contoured bottle design for multiple serving (ex. quart sized) containers with 4 traditional closure options. Wise craft beverage producers will consider this option and use it to their strategic advantage for cost savings, sustainable packaging options, and the pure brand-ability of this innovative look and feel.

About Tracy Jong

Tracy Jong has been an attorney for more than 20 years, representing restaurants, bars, and craft beverage manufacturers in a wide array of legal matters. She is also a licensed patent attorney.

Her book Everything You Need To Know About Obtaining and Maintaining a New York Retail Liquor License: The Definitive Guide to Navigating the State Liquor Authority will be available next month on Amazon.com as a softcover and Kindle e-book.

Her legal column is available in The Equipped Brewer, a publication giving business advice, trends, and vendor reviews to help craft breweries, cideries, distilleries and wineries build brands and succeed financially.

She also maintains a website and blog with practical information on legal and business issues affecting the industry. Follow her, sign up for her free firm app or monthly newsletter.

www.TracyJongLawFirm.com

TJong@TracyJongLawFirm.com

Facebook: Tracy Jong Law Firm

Twitter: @TJLawFirm

LinkedIn: Tracy Jong

Tracy Jong Law Firm
From: Chuck Gallagher -- The Business Ethics Expert - Keynote Speaker For Immediate Release: Dateline: Greenville , SC Thursday, August 18, 2016



Before the IRS was able to identify and stop the scheme, it had already paid out more than $23 million of refunds to the defendant and his co-conspirators.

According to the evidence at trial, Lozanos scheme was based on his applying for ITINs. Co-conspirators provided Lozano with fake ID documents, such as birth certificates and Matricula cards supposedly issued by the Mexican government, which Lozano used to obtain ITINs in the names shown on the fake documents.

He then used the ITINs to file three years of income tax returns based on wage and withholding information contained in fake W-2s; he also listed three or four fictitious dependents in whose names Lozano also applied for ITINs.

All of the schemes returns requested refunds, with most in the $3,000 to $4,000 range, which they requested by claiming the ACTC, with the number of dependents and wage amounts on the returns falsified to maximize the ACTC.

Lozano submitted more than 12,000 false returns in an 18-month period in 2011 and 2012  during which time his employees told him at least five times that the identity and W-2 documents looked suspicious. The IRS sent hundreds of warning notices to Lozano stating that the returns and W-2s were invalid. Despite the repeated warnings, Lozano continued to direct his employees to file the fraudulent tax returns.

Lozano split the refunds with his co-conspirators, including having employees count out tens of thousands of dollars in cash in a bathroom located next to his office space. Lozano operated his prep business, Ayuda, by renting space from businesses that catered to Hispanic clients. He went by the name El Profe, as he was a teacher before he began preparing tax returns.

YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!

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The post

Tax Preparer Rodrigo Pablo Paul Lozano, a.k.a. El Profe, 61, has been convicted of conspiracy to file false refund claims and for having signed returns claiming more than $53 million in fraudulent refunds. Just another example of the fact: Dont Mess with the IRS!Before the IRS was able to identify and stop the scheme, it had already paid out more than $23 million of refunds to the defendant and his co-conspirators.According to the evidence at trial, Lozanos scheme was based on his applying for ITINs. Co-conspirators provided Lozano with fake ID documents, such as birth certificates and Matricula cards supposedly issued by the Mexican government, which Lozano used to obtain ITINs in the names shown on the fake documents.He then used the ITINs to file three years of income tax returns based on wage and withholding information contained in fake W-2s; he also listed three or four fictitious dependents in whose names Lozano also applied for ITINs.All of the schemes returns requested refunds, with most in the $3,000 to $4,000 range, which they requested by claiming the ACTC, with the number of dependents and wage amounts on the returns falsified to maximize the ACTC.Lozano submitted more than 12,000 false returns in an 18-month period in 2011 and 2012  during which time his employees told him at least five times that the identity and W-2 documents looked suspicious. The IRS sent hundreds of warning notices to Lozano stating that the returns and W-2s were invalid. Despite the repeated warnings, Lozano continued to direct his employees to file the fraudulent tax returns.Lozano split the refunds with his co-conspirators, including having employees count out tens of thousands of dollars in cash in a bathroom located next to his office space. Lozano operated his prep business, Ayuda, by renting space from businesses that catered to Hispanic clients. He went by the name El Profe, as he was a teacher before he began preparing tax returns.YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!The post Dont Mess with the IRS  El Profe and the $53 Million Scam appeared first on Chuck Gallagher


Thursday, August 18, 2016

Bob Bates brought me the best birthday present ever- another bottle of that amazing Lemberger from Element Winery. It doesnt end there. He brought its friends and family- Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Red Table wine. He suggested I try the award winning Cabernet Franc first. I invited my parents over to enjoy it with me. I remember the Lemberger and knew this was something to share if it came from Christopher and Bob Bates at Element Winery. Why invite my father to taste this wine with me? For the past few years, my father organized a little group that gathers monthly over the winter to explore wine and food pairings. 5 or 6 couples rotate homes and themes in this potluck style dinner. My father also hosted wine pairing dinners throughout my teenage years. As a teenager, I played waitress and bus person to his dinners. (Sometimes I was also a cook and dishwasher). While neither of us is a Sommelier, we enjoy the exploration of wine as a hobby or passion, you choose the adjective. The point is we both like to try new wine and food. It is a part of our essence.

So we opened the Cab Franc and poured a 5 oz. glass, anticipating a decent New York red. After all, New York is not known for reds, or so I thought. In one sip, it was clear why this was award winning. Smooth and balanced.

Over the next few days, I opened the Pinot Noir and Lemberger. Bob and Christopher make reds that are so well balanced. No tannic aftertaste, not too sweet or too dry, just easy-drinking wines that can be enjoyed alone or with food. No longer do I need to look for Napa Valley or European reds. Ill be looking right here at home in the Finger Lakes.

About Tracy Jong

Tracy Jong has been an attorney for more than 20 years, representing restaurants, bars, and craft beverage manufacturers in a wide array of legal matters. She is also a licensed patent attorney.

Her book Everything You Need To Know About Obtaining and Maintaining a New York Retail Liquor License: The Definitive Guide to Navigating the State Liquor Authority will be available next month on Amazon.com as a softcover and Kindle e-book.

Her legal column is available in The Equipped Brewer, a publication giving business advice, trends, and vendor reviews to help craft breweries, cideries, distilleries and wineries build brands and succeed financially.

She also maintains a website and blog with practical information on legal and business issues affecting the industry. Follow her, sign up for her free firm app or monthly newsletter.

www.TracyJongLawFirm.com

TJong@TracyJongLawFirm.com

Facebook: Tracy Jong Law Firm

Twitter: @TJLawFirm

LinkedIn: Tracy Jong

Tracy Jong Law Firm
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San Antonio City Council members were urged by citizens Wednesday to reject the collective bargaining agreement drafted with the police union because of what they regarded as a lack of accountability for officers facing discipline.

As Johnathan-David Jones addressed the council, more than 50 people stood behind him during the Citizens to be Heard portion of the council session at City Hall Chambers downtown. His supporters included people who signed up to speak about issues not related to the agreement.

The council is set to vote Sept. 1 on the agreement with the San Antonio Police Officers Association.

We come here to be proactive not reactive, Jones said. We want officers to have what they need, but what we dont want is for them to have a lack of accountability.

Some in the group were against Article 28, Section 19 in the current draft of the agreement. It states that the chief and city can only introduce evidence of prior disciplinary actions which have not been set aside on appeal as far back as five years for violations of intentional violence, 10 years for drug and alcohol abuse, and two years for civil service violations. No limit is set for acts of incompetence.

An officers record is going to be expunged, but the citizens that they serve and protect, we dont get those same freedoms, said local activist Mike Lowe. We definitely are not in favor of that. If they want us to respect authority, then they need accountability.

Speaker Matthew Baiza, a summer intern for District 4 Councilman Rey Saldana, said the section does not deter bad behavior, but hurts officers who do their job.

They serve no purpose to protect our good officers. They protect our officers who make bad choices, Baiza said.

Another part of the agreement some speakers took issue with was Article 29, Section 2, which states that an officer under investigation shall be informed 48 hours prior to being interrogated or asked to respond to an investigation.

Once youre a police officer, your history becomes less important, speaker Michael Murphy said, addressing the council. Due process means arresting them at the scene, booking them into jail, and waiting until the next business day to see a judge.

Speaker Luckens Cadet said although he believes many San Antonio Police Department officers set good examples, the contract would allow bad officers to paint a bad light on the rest of the force.

I know a lot of great officers who know their reputation is begin tarnished based on the lack of accountability of bad police officers, he said.

Local attorney James Myart said he believes Deputy City Manager Erik Walsh should set up a meeting with Jones and Lowe so they can have a summit with citizens over their problems with city police.

The city manager, the mayor and the chief of police will be required to be at this meeting to listen to you, Myart said firmly.

The parents of 23-year-old Marquise Jones, who was fatally shot by off-duty SAPD officer Robert Encina in February 2014 at a Chachos and Chaluccis, also urged the council to vote no on the agreement.

The thing is, if youre giving them raises, its like youre rewarding him for his wrongdoing, Marquise Jones mother Cheryl said.

As citizens trickled out of the meeting, Lowe embraced Cheryl Jones as they recapped the meeting.

We had some council members who were looking, looked very apathetic not very engaged, Lowe said. I will give credit to the mayor. She looked every one of us in the eye.

Lowe said more people will attend next Wednesdays session to continue urging council members to vote against the contract.

jbeltran@express-news.net

Twitter: @JBfromSA
ELLSWORTH, Ohio  During the August meeting of the Western Reserve Rangers 4-H club, members Tiffany Voland and Karl Reph were recognized for being a part of the 2016 4-H royal court, and members Natalia Kresic, Thomas Collier and Tiffany Voland were recognized for receiving Outstanding of the Day Awards at the Ohio State Fair.

Winners of the second annual balloon race were senior participants Natalia Kresic, Olivia Altiere, Jessie Cummings and Shannon Marshburn. Junior winners were Caylee Selley, Lukas Vorce and Cooper Selley.

Rabbit and poultry members are scheduled to meet in Barn 10 on the Canfield Fairgrounds Aug. 27, at 1 p.m., to decorate pens and cages. Large animal club members will meet in the hog barn Aug. 28, at 1 p.m., to put up stall decorations for the hogs, sheep and beef.

Members will meet again Nov. 10, at 7 p.m., at the Ellsworth Fire Hall. Fair premiums, project ribbons and yearly 4-H Pins will be distributed. Each family is asked to bring a snack or dessert to share and the advisers will supply beverages and table service.
(This week, we continue our Rural Roles series, which features different voices within the agriculture industry who make a difference. We run one profile story a month.)

NEWCOMERSTOWN, Ohio  If he wanted to, Tuscarawas County farmer Jerry Lahmers could make his schedule a lot more simple. He could easily free up some time by stepping away from a few things, and giving up some of volunteer commitments.

He half-jokingly admits that there are times when hed like to, especially when hes busy at his own farm, a beef and crop operation.

A fairly quiet person, Lahmers is not one to seek the spotlight. But when it comes to things he believes in  like agriculture and veterinary medicine  he steps up.

If you believe in something, you have to participate in it and support it, he said. Ive believed in veterinary medicine and Ive believed in agriculture.

Lahmers has been a veterinarian since the early 1970s, and a Tuscarawas County farmer for all his life.

Staying rural

When he first went to college, in the 1960s, he was intent on the Air Force, and studying chemical engineering at Ohio University. But when he started to look at job prospects, he was worried hed end up in a big city  far removed from farm life.

So, after marrying his wife, Rita, in 1967, he pursued another degree  this time in veterinary medicine at Ohio State University. Lahmers earned his degree in 1971 and was able to return to the family farm north of Newcomerstown, and eventually take most of it over.

Family heritage

For Lahmers, it meant going back to his roots, and continuing the family heritage.

Thats the point about agriculture, he said. They (farmers) have more ties to the land than any other profession, with the heritage of the land and everything. And its nice to have it so that a son can be involved and take it over in the future.

Lahmers is retired from dairy herd checks, but still provides his own veterinary work and vet services for area beef farmers. He and Melvin farm about 600 acres of forages, corn and soybeans, and keep 120 brood cows, and about 250 head on the feedlot.Jerry and Rita have two sons: Melvin, who lives and works on the farm, and is anagronomist for TMK Farm Service; and Kevin, a veterinary pathologist in Blacksburg, Va.

His farm keeps him busy, but he finds time to be involved where he needs to be.

Years of service

Over the years, hes served on the OSU Extension Advisory Committee, Ohio Farm Bureau board of trustees, the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association board, and the Ohio Veterinary Medical Licensing Board, and he was a Newcomerstown School board member for 20 years, with 13 years on the Buckeye Career Center Board.

In recent years, hes taken an active role in community development and land use issues.

In the early 2000s, when a group wanted to develop an old railroad track into a walking trail, he worked to make sure farmers interests were represented. At first, Lahmers said the project was not popular among farmers, because of fears over liability and potential damage to private property.

But thanks to some forward thinking, he and several other community members formed a local parks advisory group  a 15-member panel that serves to advise the Tuscarawas County Park Department on park and recreational projects.

Lahmers said, at first he opposed the trails and was less than fond of the groups leading the project. But thanks to collaboration, he feels like the landowners voice is being heard, and now counts the project leaders as friends.

Lets face it  its one of the things that adds to the quality of life in the area, and if its done right, I think we can get by with it, he said.

Shared values

Chris Zoller, an OSU Extension educator in Tuscarawas County who serves on the same committee, said the committee helped farmers and trail developers find shared values, and work together.

When this (trail) first started, it was not a good situation, Zoller said. With Jerrys leadership and personality, he was able to blend those two groups together.

Zoller said Lahmers is a well-respected leader in the ag community, not only locally but across the state.

That became especially true in spring of 2010, when former Gov. Ted Strickland appointed Lahmers to the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board. It was the first board of its kind in the nation, and was tasked with forming livestock care standards for each of Ohios main livestock species.

And not only did the board have to form standards of care, but it had to do so amid full public scrutiny, including the interests of farmers, consumers and animal welfare groups.

Lahmers, who still serves on the board, said he tried to base his decisions on science, but at the same time, he had to weigh public opinion. He said that sometimes public opinion doesnt line up with whats best for animals  but that opinions are a powerful force that ultimately influence regulations.

Overall, he said hes pleased with the work of the board. And perhaps most importantly, it kept animal rights activists from setting the standards.

But at the same time, the board includes humane society groups and their interests, as active members of the board.

Were getting all segments, Lahmers said. Its a broad spectrum.

Big commitment

When the standards were first being formed, Lahmers and other board members found themselves traveling to the Ohio Department of Agriculture, or to Ohio State University in Columbus, on an almost weekly basis. And they made scores of trips to public hearings and farm tours to study different farming practices.

It was a total commitment that added to his days and nights  and made for longer hours at his own farm. One summer, he drove about 8,000 miles.

Reaching others

Jerry isnt the only one in his family reaching out. Rita, a retired school teacher, is helping coordinate a new program called Farmtastic Agventures  a web-based Google Hangout that connects classrooms with live videos from different types of farms across the state.

The videos are interactive and allow students to ask questions of the farmer during the recording.

As a teacher, Rita Lahmers said she always had a passion for touching the future, and by sharing these videos, she is able to help teach children about modern agriculture.

Jerry Lahmers said he feels public opinion and government regulations are two of the biggest issues facing farmers today, and that its important for farmers to step up and share accurately about what they do.

The public eye is so much more important than it was when I started 30-40 years ago, he said. That license to farm is so important anymore, and its only bought with information.
Update: (As of Aug. 19, the Canfield Fair, to be held Aug. 31-Sept. 5, will remove all hogs from the fairgrounds at the closing of the fair Sept. 1, following the judging and auctions. The decision was reached after careful consideration and discussions with the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the United States Department of Agriculture, the State Veterinarian and the Canfield Fair Veterinarian.)

SALEM, Ohio  A strain of swine influenza has been showing up in some pigs at county fairs in Ohio  but officials say its actually common in swine  and has not yet affected humans.

Ohios state veterinarian, Tony Forshey, said H3N2 has been detected in pigs at the Clark and Madison County fairs, and most recently at the Ashtabula County fair, held Aug. 9-14.

Forshey said this virus is very common in swine in Ohio and all across the country, and that swine often carry it without becoming sick.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the H3N2 that affects pigs rarely affects humans, and is very different than human seasonal H3N2.

Forshey said the strain of flu that has recently been reported in some humans, was not the same virus as found in the hogs.

In Ashtabula County, as with many other fairs this summer  the heat and humidity have caused stress for livestock and fairgoers alike  affecting health and well-being.

Hot and humid

David Marrison, OSU Extension director in Ashtabula County, said the elements combined for a perfect storm for animals and even some humans to become ill.

Marrison said at least three pigs were sent home early, and the fairboard and state officials worked to keep the remaining hogs cool  by leaving them in their pens during the auction  and not loading them until nighttime, after temperatures declined.

The Ashtabula pigs were examined by Fair Veterinarian Cheryl Beinhardt. The ones that remained were treated with aspirin, to bring down their fevers. Testing for swine flu was done through ODA, in consultation with the local USDA veterinary medical officer.

Protecting pigs

Marrison said the pigs still sold very well, and the buyers will get their meat, because the flu virus does not affect cooked meat. He credited everyone at the fair for taking appropriate action.

We didnt lose any pigs the whole week, because of the safeguards that the fairboard took, he said.

As county fairs continue, Marrison and forshey advise fairgoers to follow some important protocols to protect themselves, and the animals.

The following tips were provided by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and Ohio Department of Health:

Wash your hands frequently with soap and running water before and after exposure to animals.

Never eat, drink or put things in your mouth in animal areas, and dont take food or drink into animal areas.

Children younger than 5 years, people 65 years and older, pregnant women, and people with certain chronic medical conditions (like asthma, diabetes, heart disease, weakened immune systems, and neurological or neurodevelopmental conditions) are at high risk from serious complications if they get influenza. These people should avoid exposure to pigs and swine barns during this fair season.

Visitors should not carry toys, pacifiers, spill-proof cups, baby bottles, strollers or similar items into areas with pigs.

Young children, pregnant women, people 65 and older and people with weakened immune systems should be extra careful around animals.

If you have animals  including swine  watch them for signs of illness and call a veterinarian if you suspect they might be sick.

Avoid close contact with animals that look or act ill, when possible.

Avoid contact with swine if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms. If you must come in contact with swine while you are sick, or if you must come in contact with swine known or

suspected to be infected, or their environment, you should use appropriate protective measures (for example, wear protective clothing, gloves, masks that cover your mouth and nose, and other personal protective equipment) and practice good respiratory and hand hygiene.
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The CLA hasked asked more than 200 MPs in rural areas to take action to help secure a strong future for the rural economy and the environment.

The CLA, which represents 32,000 landowners, farmers and rural businesses, is running the CLA New Opportunities campaign to ensure that farming, the rural economy and the environment are treated as priorities by Government as the UK prepares for Brexit.

The series of New Opportunities briefings each explore Brexit issues for farming and the countryside.

CLA President Ross Murray said the process of the UK exiting the European Union will lead to the "single biggest change in the way we organise and run businesses across the British countryside for generations"

"We are asking MPs to support the campaign and champion a future that allows rural businesses to thrive," Mr Murray said.

"A number of MPs are already engaging with the Chancellor and the Environment Secretary on rural issues, and we are calling for their colleagues to add their voices.

"Rural businesses, Ministers and MPs must work closely together to ensure that farmers and other rural businesses can have the confidence they need to plan ahead, invest and grow."

The CLA is asking MPs secure priority commitments from Government, including a commitment to deliver a fully-funded world-leading food and farming policy.

The organisation want the government to prioritise agriculture and food exports in Brexit and trade negotiations.

Also, to ensure the UK has world-leading business-friendly regulations that protect consumers and the environment.

And lastly a commitment to ensure businesses across the rural economy have access to the workers they need to grow their business.
Farmers and rural businesses with an anaerobic digestion plant could secure a 10-20% premium on the gas they produce by tapping into growing demand for green energy across Europe.

Currently, most AD plants burn the gas they produce to generate electricity and heat.

But there is an emerging market for bio-methane, which can be injected directly into the gas main, says Richard Palmer, Energy Consultant at Butler Sherborn Energy.

"Although consumers in the UK are reluctant to pay a premium for this green energy, corporate energy customers across Europe are increasingly keen to demonstrate their energy credentials," he says.

"We have secured an agreement with a major energy company, which can pipe green gas through the interconnected gas mains to European customers, so can now offer British producers a share of this premium market."

The development comes at a critical time for the British renewable energy industry, which is looking increasingly unstable as a result of Government spending reviews and Brexit.

"Historically, biogas has been used primarily to generate electricity, supported by the Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariffs (FiT)," says Mr Palmer.

"However, in 2011 the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) helped to kick-start the market for bio-methane injection in to the mains gas grid.

"So far this has yielded two income streams: the RHI and the wholesale gas price. Now there is a third source of revenue, offering a 10-20% premium over current wholesale gas returns."

Tariff reductions

Lucy Hopwood, Director at bio-economy consultant NNFCC, says that gaining added value for green gas is very timely in light of recent tariff reductions.

"Its no longer possible to add additional capacity under the FiT scheme and the same is soon likely to be true of the RHI.

"So for many plants expansion isnt an option  they must make better use of what they have," she explains.

"Developers are also starting to look at how they can increase productivity, without the expense of capital outlay."

Existing plants can be converted to purify the gas by removing carbon dioxide and trace gases, after which the bio-methane is injected into the gas main and sold as renewable fuel, tracked via international trading schemes.

"Until now, Green Gas Certificates have represented little added value to the producer, as British consumers are reluctant to pay more for renewable fuel.

Tapping into European market

"Only now that we can tap into the European market can the opportunity be realised in the short-term," says Mr Palmer.

"That said, this is still an immature market in the UK and it may be that in the longer term British companies will be put under pressure to cut their carbon output, leading to premiums being available here."

Gas producers will have to register and meet the sustainability criteria of the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification body.

"Most farmers AD feedstock will meet these criteria and the costs of any audit required will be covered by the energy company," says Mr Palmer.

"The gas premium will depend on the carbon level of the feedstock, and as power purchase agreements can be made in advance it does not matter if the renewal on any existing gas contract, or commissioning of a new bio-methane plant, is over 12 months from now."
Labour leader contender Owen Smith has responded to a series of questions asked by the Countryside Alliance, probing the potential leader of the opposition his views on key rural issues.

Jeremy Corbyn has also responded to questions about rural issues.

The rural organisation asked Owen Smith whether he supports the current government's commitment to a broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) with with speeds of 10 Mbit/s.

"Access to a good broadband service should be a right in 21st century Britain, wherever you live," Mr Smith said.

"Making sure that access to a good broadband connection is on a similar footing to other basic services such as water and electricity will be a priority for me as Labour leader.

"Unfortunately 48% of UK premises cannot access internet of this speed, many of them in rural communities.

"The Universal Service Obligation is one means of putting this right, ensuring the industry does more to meet peoples needs."

EU funding and CAP

The Countryside Alliance then aksed if the potential Labour leader agrees that current levels of EU funding available to UK agriculture under the CAP should be maintained until at least 2020.

He responded: "I appreciate how difficult the current market is for many farmers and my goal is for farming to be economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

"British farmers received 2.7bn from the European Unions Common Agricultural Policy last year, making up 55% of farmers incomes, and so this is a hugely significant point.

"It is one of the reasons that I campaigned so passionately to remain in the European Union.

"Unfortunately, following the referendum the decision on how long the funding will stay in place will be worked out as part of the Brexit negotiations.

"It is clearly a delicate moment for the rural economy and leave campaigners who promised farmers their subsidies would be protected now need to show how that will be done.

Smith went on to say he believes the British people "must be given the opportunity to sign off on whatever deal the Government negotiates."

"That includes rural and farming communities who should be able to see the deal on the table before having a final say, either through a second referendum or a General Election," Mr Smith concluded.

Rural housing

The rural organisation asked Smith if there needs to be more incentives for landowners to make land available for affordable housing in rural communities.

"The Tory Government have overseen a deep and catastrophic housing crisis.

"Despite the media impression, this is not a crisis that starts and ends in London.

"Thousands of young people up and down the country, in our villages as well as our cities, are unable to afford homes in the communities in which they grew up.

"To get to grips with this crisis I have pledged to build 300,000 homes a year, that is 1.5m over the next Parliament.

"I will be outlining the details of my plans to meet that pledge later in the campaign, but one consideration is certainly how to make land available for building," Owen Smith said.

Firearms

The Countryside Alliance then went on to the topic of firearms, asking Mr Smith if he can assure the 650,000 holders of shotgun and firearms certificates in this country that he supports lawful shooting.

"Shooting is a sporting activity enjoyed by thousands which can also play an important role in conservation," Owen Smith said.

"We need to ensure that our strong and effective firearms licensing system remains in place and is upheld so that shooters can continue to enjoy their sport safely and legally, whilst balancing this with environmental and animal welfare responsibilities," he concluded.
Patrick Edgington has been announced as the winner of the Idris Davies Memorial Award for 2016 during a ceremony at Pembrokeshire County Show on Tuesday 16th August.

The Idris Davies Memorial Trust award is presented each year to someone who has made an outstanding contribution to agriculture in Pembrokeshire.

Mr Edgington, a well-known and hugely respected figure in agricultural circles throughout Pembrokeshire and beyond, worked for the NFU for over 32 years up to his retirement in 2012.

During his time at the NFU he helped drive the growth of the organisation and until his retirement he managed a team of 28 NFU Group Secretaries throughout south Wales and played an integral role in the recruitment and retention of NFU membership.

His achievements are numerous and varied, however chief among these was the establishment of the Pembrokeshire Potato Marketing Group Ltd in 1981.

Patrick Edgington, Idris Davies Memorial Award 2016 winner announced

This was at a time when early potato growers in the county were facing massive problems as a result of low demand and in the face of an over-supplied market and increasing competition from imported produce.

Patrick was a key player in the creation of the producer co-operative and he played a leading role in the early days of the business and took responsibility for all the promotions work and press relations, sorting the merchant panel and securing the funding for the running of the business.

The co-operative flourished to such an extent that in 1995 it became a private limited company and renamed as Puffin Produce Ltd.

It has continued to grow and expand into a multi-million pound business which now packs around 35,000 tonnes of Welsh potatoes each year, with around 125 team members now working at its headquarters in Withybush.

Milk quotas

The imposition of milk quotas in 1984 was a savage blow to many farm businesses and Patrick was a huge source of help and support to many farmers in the county at this challenging time.

As well as being a trusted confidant and a shoulder to cry on, he also went above and beyond the call of duty in helping many farmers find ways of re-financing their businesses and during this period he became known to every senior director of every major high street bank in the country.

Through his negotiating skills, he helped find solutions for many NFU members. It was during this extremely tough period that he also established the first links of the farming community with the Samaritans charity and these links continue to this day.

From 1979 to 1990 he was the Honorary Treasurer for the Pembrokeshire Federation of Young Farmers Clubs and Honorary Secretary to the Pembrokeshire branch of the RABI charity.

Patricks noteworthy achievements were recognised earlier this year when he was awarded the MBE in the Queens Birthday Honours List for services to agriculture and the rural community.
Forest Enterprise Scotland are looking for Perthshire sheep to help maintain a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Their mission, should they choose to accept it, will be to graze a seasonal let in Allean Forest just north of Loch Tummel.

The sheep will help keep the four-post Na Clachan Aoraidh stone circle clear of vegetation.

Na Clachan Aoraidh stone circle

Graeme Findlay for the FES team in Tay District, said the organisation are offering a 17.41 ha seasonal grazing  suitable for around 30-35 sheep - for a period of two months during September and October.

"We might consider a further period of 1 month in the spring," Mr Findlay said.

"Its a limestone area and we are looking to get the sheep to keep the mix of grasslands on the site in the right balance, reducing the more acidic grassland plants to give more space for calcareous grassland species.

"As well as keeping the stone circle clear of vegetation, the grazing should help us to expand the rare and specialised plant communities that grow where limestone outcrops can be found by reducing the competition from other vegetation."

The site is stock-fenced and has water on-site but might need additional water in very dry weather periods.

Effective grazing in September and October is key to this, and an extension of grazing for 4 weeks in the Spring may be offered at some point in the future through agreement by both parties.
NFU Scotland has used a meeting with Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell MP, to stress that agriculture must not be used as a bargaining chip in upcoming Brexit talks.

The union stressed the importance of providing as much "clarity and certainty" to the farming and crofting sector as preparations for the Brexit negotiations get underway.

Top of the agenda at the meeting was the UK Governments commitment to agricultural funding up to 2020, and how its distribution will meet the requirements of Scotlands patchwork farming industry.

As well as reiterating the ten commitments that it wishes the UK Government to take forward for agriculture following the Brexit vote, the Union also addressed Country of Origin Labelling and labour issues.

As Scotlands voice within the UK Cabinet, the Union urged Mr Mundell to bring together all four constituent governments to drive a positive and constructive agenda.

'Agriculture must not become bargaining chip'

Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell MP

Allan Bowie, President of NFU Scotland commented that it is a "highly politically-charged debate".

"It is vital that agriculture does not become the bargaining chip as new trade deals are sought and our future relationship with Europe is negotiated.

"Farming and crofting is the bedrock of the UKs food and drink industry - the biggest manufacturing sector that we have.

"Getting the future agricultural policy right affects more than just farmers and crofters.

"It will be critical if we are to maintain and grow the hundreds of thousands of jobs in food and drink manufacturing.

'Securiy for Scottish produce'

Mr Bowie said the UK Treasurys announcement last week that current levels of Pillar 1 spending would be maintained to 2020 "has essentially delivered" one of the Unions 10 commitments.

"We need government to deliver certainty on the nine remaining priorities.

"By doing this, it will provide security for the provenance of Scottish produce, send a clear message to EU citizens working in Scotland, and allow markets to work better for Scottish farmers and crofters in the future.

"While the UK Governments intention is that devolved administrations should get the same money as would otherwise have come to them had the UK remained in the EU we need to know how the UK Government will do this.

"The Treasury has guaranteed payments for direct support (Pillar 1) such as the basic payment scheme, greening, sheep coupled and cattle coupled support up to 2020.

"But there has been no commitment for rural development (Pillar 2) funding, which includes the vital Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) and agri-environment schemes."
Hybu Cig Cymru  Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) is partnering with celebrated chef Luke Thomas to bring top-quality PGI Welsh Lamb to top artists at this years V Festival.

The music festival, now celebrating twenty years, features world-famous acts such as Rihanna, Justin Bieber, the Kaiser Chiefs and 80s pop idol Rick Astley.

The comedy pavilion will also feature a huge number of well-known performers, including Bill Bailey, Katherine Ryan and Josh Widdicombe.

All the artists will have the chance to sample a delicious dish of shoulder of Welsh Lamb cooked in a spicy orange and harissa butter, served with pomegranate, feta cheese and a red onion and mint salad, cooked up by Luke Thomas in the backstage area at the Chelmsford venue on 20-21 August.

Luke, originally from Flintshire, became Britains youngest head chef when he took over the Sanctum on the Green restaurant in Cookham in 2012, aged just 18.

He has since featured in BBC TV series such as Britains Youngest Chef and Great British Menu, and is a passionate advocate of Welsh Lamb.

Lamb dishes 'went down a storm'

HCC consumer executive Elwen Roberts said: "We have worked with Luke before, including at last years V festival, where his lamb dishes went down a storm.

"Im delighted that we have this opportunity once more to bring the finest PGI Welsh Lamb to one of the main events of the summer music and comedy calendar.

"I am extremely excited to be cooking at V festival once again for the artists who will be performing on stage," said Luke Thomas.

"Last year was a huge success and taking one of my favourite foods, Welsh Lamb, to showcase a product very close to home for me is extremely special.

"The food is best described as street food, incredibly tasty, fresh and vibrant with knock-out flavours surrounding the lamb."
Third series of Clarkson's Farm in production, Amazon confirms
"When I'm in the header towards the end of harvest I can't wait to get out of it and back to the sheep, but when we're drenching sheep, I'm looking for the last one so I can get back on the tractor," he said.
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A juvenile male was injured in a shooting in Dale City Thursday night, but there's been no word yet on the condition of the victim or whether 
As hurricanes worsen, can Lumbee Tribe learn to live with water?

The Native American tribe was saved by the swamp. Now, like so many people in the South, flooding threatens to drive them away.
Natalie Portman thinks female friendships are "important" in Hollywood.

Natalie Portman

The 'Black Swan' star insists it is crucial that women stick together in the industry, particularly when they're cast in a movie together as it is something that doesn't happen a lot.

She told The Insider With Yahoo: "It's so important, and we're prevented from it a lot because we don't get to work with each other a lot. I've actually been noticing it a lot even in kids' films recently, how you see even like a cartoon and there's like a girl in it, and we're used to that. It's a film of all men and then there's a woman. And acting for 20 years, I'm used to that - that I'm the woman on set. When we do get the opportunity to work with other women, we always end up just like running toward each other and embracing because it's such great energy to have."

Meanwhile, the 35-year-old actress - who has five-year-old son Aleph with her husband Benjamin Millepied - previously gushed about working with so many "talented" female actresses in 'Annihilation'.

Speaking about her co-stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Gina Rodriguez, she said: "I'm working with a group of actresses right now who are so kind and talented and funny. We did a scene last night, all night, in which every take was different, and each one real, and we laughed and froze our asses off and played. It was rare energy on a film because there were so many women together. Usually it's all men and each of us is the only woman."
Lion is the latest film to join the BFI London Film Festival 2016 programme, where it will receive its UK premiere.

Lion

The movie will be the American Express Gala film at the festival this year on Wednesday 12th October.

Lion is a big screen adaptation of the non-fiction book A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley and has been adapted into a screenplay by Luke Davies.

The movie marks the feature film directorial debut of Garth Davis, who is best known for his television work on Top of the Lake and Love My Way.

Speaking about the addition of Lion to the London Film festival programme, the director said:"Whilst Lion traverses many continents, it has a very special home here at the BFI London Film Festival and we are honoured to be a part of it.

"Dev Patel gave us everything for this story, and this being his hometown, makes it deeply special."

Patel takes on the film's central role of Saroo Brierley and is joined on the cast list by Rooney Mara, Nicole Kidman, and David Wenham. Patel and Kidman are expected to attend the premiere at the festival.

Lion tells the true story of how a wrong train takes a five-year-old Indian boy hundreds of miles from home; he survives many challenges before being adopted by an Australian couple.

Twenty-five years later, haunted by memories of his childhood, he learns of a new technology called Google Earth, and sets out to find his lost family.

It has already been announced that A United Kingdom, directed by Amma Asante will open the festival, and Ben Wheatley's Free Fire will close it.

The 60th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express takes place from Wednesday 5 October-Sunday 16 October 2016. The full Festival programme will be announced on Thursday 1 September 2016.

by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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Renee Zellweger is set to lead an all-star cast in new film Same Kind Of Different As Me and the brand new trailer for the movie has arrived.

Same Kind Of Different As Me

Same Kind Of Different As Me is based on the memoir of the same name by Denver Moore, Ron Hall, and Lynn Vincent and sees Michael Carney in the director's chair.

This movie marks the feature film directorial debut for Carney, as he makes the leap from short films for the first time.

As well as being in the director's chair, Carney has teamed up with Ron Hall and Alexander Foard to pen the film's screenplay.

The brand new trailer for the movie has arrived and we have it for you to take a look at:

Zellweger takes on the central role of Deborah Hall and is joined on the cast list by Greg Kinnear, Djimon Hounsou, Jon Voight, Olivia Holt, and Ty Parker.

The movie charts the unlikely friendship between homeless drifter Denver (Hounsou) and international art dealer Ron Hall (Kinnear) who are brought together after Ron's wife Deborah (Zellweger) dreamed about a wandering man. This unexpected friendship enriches all of their lives.

Some Kind of Different A Me is based on the heartwarming true story and is set to explore the power and importance of friendship.

Same Kind Of Different As Me is released next year.

by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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Team Shumenov believes it is worth reviewing recent history enlight of the recent announcement that WBA Super/IBF cruiserweight world champion Denis Lebedev will defend against Murat Gassiev in late November or early December in Russia: A condition for allowing Lebedev to fight IBF cruiserweight champion Victor Emilio Ramirez on May 21, 2016 was that Lebedev had to fight WBA cruiserweight world champion Beibut Shumenov within 120 days. (Lebedev hasn't made a mandatory defense since April 10, 2015.) Shumenov has done everything to make that fight, while Lebedev has done nothing but run from his mandatory title fight. When it first became obvious in June that Lebedev was trying to avoid his mandated WBA title fight, Shumenov repeatedly requested that the WBA order a purse bid.



Lebedev ignored the WBA and then recently sought, after the WBA deadline had passed, a special permit allowing him to fight Gassiev, which Shumenov officially objected to within 48 hours. WBA Interim cruiserweight world champion Yunier Dorticos has also objected. At this present time, though, Team Shumenov is still waiting to hear the WBA's ruling in terms of stripping Lebedev if he decides to fight Gassiev instead of Shumenov.



It really is very simple. Shumenov wants to fight Lebedev, who is doing everything he can to avoid it. If Lebedev doesn't care to meet his obligations and conditions of his prior special permit, he should relinquish his title. Lebedev and his people need to rejoin the rest of us in the real world and stop claiming that Shumenov has not been pushing for this fight.



According to a recent report, Lebedev's camp members erroneously reported that, "Shumenov is not exactly pushing the issue" (to fight Lebedev next).



Fans may friend Beibut Shumenov on his Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/BeibutShumenov.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/17/16 -- Forsys Metals Corp. (TSX: FSY)(FRANKFURT: F2T)(NAMIBIAN: FSY) ("Forsys" or the "Company") in a press release issued on August 15, 2016 announced that it has received commitments to raise $540,000 at a Unit subscription price of $0.05 per Unit. The Company subsequently received additional interest from existing and new suscribers and has increased the placement to raise $660,000 at a revised Unit subscription price of $0.06 per Unit. Further, the warrant price of $0.07 has been increased to $0.075. The size of the private placement financing has been increased from 10.8 million Units to 11.0 million Units.

The commitment from Leonardo Global Trading Ltd has been amended to $530,000 (8.83 million Units), up from $440,000 (8.80 million Units).

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.

About Forsys Metals Corp.

Forsys Metals Corp. is an emerging uranium producer with 100% ownership of the Norasa project that comprises the fully permitted Valencia uranium project and the Namibplaas uranium project in Namibia, Africa, a politically stable and mining friendly jurisdiction. Information regarding current National Instrument 43-101 compliant Resource and Reserves at Valencia and Namibplaas are available on the Company website. The Ondundu Gold project is 70% owned by Forsys.

Shares outstanding: 134.9m

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Forsys Metals Corp.

Marcel Hilmer, Chief Executive Officer

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains projections and forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. The following are important factors that could cause Forsys actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements: fluctuations in uranium prices and currency exchange rates; 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; general market conditions; the uncertainty of future profitability; and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. Full description of these risks can be found in Forsys Annual Information Form available on the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information. Actual results and future events could differ materially from anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressed qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstance or management's estimates or opinions change. The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Forsys Metals Corp

Marcel Hilmer, Chief Executive Officer

+61 8 9426 6400

mhilmer@forsysmetals.com

www.forsysmetals.com

Sedar Profile #00008536




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/17/16 -- Edgefront Real Estate Investment Trust (the "REIT") (TSX VENTURE: ED.UN) announced today its results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, trustee changes, August and September distributions and an update on the previously announced acquisition.

Highlights

-- AFFO per unit of $0.055 for the quarter, increase of 6.4% over Q2 2015; increase of 3.2% over Q1 2016 normalized AFFO. -- AFFO payout ratio of 73.4% for the quarter, down from the normalized AFFO payout ratio of 75.7% in the previous quarter; down from 78.1% in Q2 2015. -- Conservative debt to total assets ratio of 49.2%. -- Attractive yield of 8.9% based on June 30th closing price of $1.80 per unit and $0.16 annual distributions -- $8.4 million acquisition announced subsequent to quarter end -- Earnings call scheduled for August 18, 2016 at 1PM Eastern Standard Time.

"We continue to provide a unique investment vehicle for investors," stated Kelly Hanczyk, the REIT's Chief Executive Officer. "Our long-term leases, combined with embedded rental increases and minimal capital expenditures provide stability to our cash flow, as we have maintained a 100% occupancy rate since inception. We will continue to source accretive acquisitions from across Canada in the second half of the year that will add to our free cash flow."

Summary of Results

Included in the table that follows and elsewhere in this news release are non-IFRS measures that should not be construed as an alternative to net income / loss, cash from operating activities or other measures of financial performance calculated in accordance with IFRS, and may not be comparable to similar measures as reported by other issuers. Readers are encouraged to refer to the REIT's MD&A for further discussion of the non-IFRS measures presented.

Three months ended Six months ended June 30, June 30, 2016 2015 2016 2015 Financial Highlights $ $ $ $ FFO (1) (4) 1,958,865 1,258,375 4,091,185 2,516,975 AFFO (1) (4) 2,193,380 1,489,895 4,562,283 2,977,439 Distributions declared (2) declared (2) 1,609,305 1,163,412 3,208,882 1,157,839 Weighted average units outstanding - basic and diluted (3) 40,193,668 29,049,258 40,074,261 28,910,053 Distributions per unit (2) 0.040 0.040 0.080 0.080 FFO per unit, basic and diluted (1) (4) 0.049 0.043 0.102 0.087 AFFO per unit, basic and diluted (1) (4) 0.055 0.051 0.114 0.103 AFFO payout ratio, basic (1) (2) (4) 73.4% 78.1% 70.3% 78.0% Debt to total assets ratio 49.2% 46.8% 49.2% 46.8% (1) See Non-IFRS Measures (2) Includes distributions payable to holders of Class B LP Units which are accounted for as interest expense in the consolidated financial statements. (3) Weighted average number of units includes the Class B LP Units. (4) For the six months ended June 30, 2016, FFO and AFFO include $256,528 of other income relating to the release in the first quarter of 2016 of funds previously held in an environmental escrow in connection with the acquisition ten industrial properties on January 14, 2014. This is a one- time item which is excluded from normalized FFO and normalized AFFO of $3,834,657 and $4,305,755, respectively for the six months ended June 30, 2016. Normalized FFO per unit, normalized AFFO per unit and the normalized AFFO payout ratio for the six months ended June 30, 2016 are $0.096, $0.107, and 74.5%, respectively. Three months ended Six months ended June 30, June 30, 2016 2015 2016 2015 Financial Results $ $ $ $ Property revenue 3,810,928 2,697,831 7,535,469 5,412,206 Net operating income 3,138,447 2,201,251 6,288,802 4,404,344 Net income 592,806 856,688 2,919,558 2,076,024 Net income excluding fair value adjustments, loss on sale of investment property and other income 1,737,445 1,351,445 3,384,658 2,544,381

Revenues and Results from Operations in Line with Expectations

Property revenue increased to $3,810,928 in the quarter as compared to $2,697,831 in the same quarter of 2015. Net operating income grew to $3,138,447 in the quarter as compared to $2,201,251 in same quarter of 2015. The growth in property revenue and net operating income is primarily attributable to the impact of acquisitions completed in the second half of 2015, and contractual rent increases adding $34,000 of operating income in the quarter as compared to the same quarter of 2015.

The REIT generated FFO and AFFO of $1,958,865 and $2,193,380 respectively, in the quarter, and FFO per unit and AFFO per unit of $0.049 and $0.055, respectively. FFO per unit and AFFO per unit increased 12.5% and 6.4%, respectively, as compared to FFO and AFFO, respectively, in the same quarter of 2015.

Distributions of $0.04 per unit were declared for the quarter. The AFFO payout ratio for the quarter was 73.4%.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

The REIT's debt to total assets ratio was 49.2% at June 30, 2016. The REIT intends to maintain a debt to total assets ratio of less than 55%.

Earnings Call

Kelly Hanczyk, President and Chief Executive Officer of the REIT, and Robert Chiasson, Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call at 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on Thursday August 18, 2016 to review the financial results and operations.

To participate in the conference call, please dial 416-340-2216 or 1-866-223-7781 (toll free in Canada and the US) and ask to join the Edgefront REIT conference call.

A recording of the conference call will be available until September 1, 2016. To access the recording, please dial 905-694-9451 or 1-800-408-3053 (toll free in Canada and the US) and enter passcode 1161455.

Board of Trustee Changes

Mr. Robert Dickson is stepping down as a trustee of the REIT to focus on other ventures. Rob led our audit committee since joining the REIT's board of trustees in January 2014, and has been invaluable to the REIT in its early stages of development. We thank Rob for the wisdom and guidance he's provided both as Audit Committee Chair and as a board member, and we wish him nothing but the very best.

Brad Cutsey, President of Interrent REIT, will join the board of trustees as audit committee chair, bringing 18 years of real estate and capital markets experience to the REIT. Prior to his current role, Mr. Cutsey held the position of Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Investment Banking with Dundee Capital Markets. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Board.

"I am pleased to announce that Brad Cutsey will be joining the Edgefront Board of Trustees as Audit Committee Chair. Brad is uniquely familiar with our story, was instrumental in the creation of the REIT in January 2014, and will be a valuable asset as we continue to grow. I'd also like to express my sincere thanks to Rob Dickson for the valuable contributions he has made to the REIT," stated Kelly Hanczyk.

August and September 2016 Distributions

The REIT will make a cash distribution in the amount of $0.01333 per unit, representing $0.16 on an annualized basis, payable September 15, 2016 to unitholders of record as of August 31, 2016.

The REIT will also make a cash distribution in the amount of $0.01333 per unit, representing $0.16 per unit on an annualized basis, payable October 14, 2016 to unitholders of record as of September 30, 2016.

The REIT's current distribution per unit continues to be $0.01333 per month. The REIT's distribution reinvestment program ("DRIP") entitles eligible unitholders to elect to receive all, or a portion of the cash distributions of the REIT reinvested in units of the REIT. Eligible unitholders who so elect will receive a bonus distribution of units equal to 4% of each distribution that was reinvested by them under the DRIP.

Update on Acquisition

As originally press released on July 27, 2016, the REIT has waived due diligence conditions to acquire a 150,000 sq ft industrial property located in Cambridge, Ontario for a purchase price of $8,400,000, representing a going-in cap rate of 7.5%. The property was appraised at $9,200,000 by a qualified independent appraiser.

The purchase price will be partially satisfied through the issuance of 1,000,000 Class B LP Units at a deemed issuance price of $1.90 per unit, with the remainder of the purchase price to be funded from the proceeds of new 5-year term mortgage financing in the principal amount of $5,500,000 and available cash.

A trustee of the REIT controls the company from which the REIT is purchasing the property. The transaction was unanimously approved by the REIT's board of trustees, with the trustee party to the transaction abstaining from voting on this matter. Both the purchase price and the appraised value of the property represent less than 25% of the REIT's market capitalization and as such, the transaction is exempt from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements of applicable securities legislation. Such trustee currently has control or direction over approximately 1.0% of the total number of outstanding REIT Units and Class B LP Units of subsidiary limited partnerships of the REIT, and it is expected that this will increase to approximately 3.4% on completion of the transaction.

On August 9, 2016, the REIT received final approval from the TSXV for the completion of the transaction, which is expected to close on August 22, 2016.

About the REIT

Edgefront REIT is a growth oriented real estate investment trust focused on increasing unitholder value through the acquisition, ownership and management of industrial properties located in primary and secondary markets in North America. The REIT currently owns a portfolio of 19 properties comprising approximately 1,030,000 square feet of rentable area. The REIT has approximately 35,491,179 units issued and outstanding. Additionally, there are 4,962,565 Class B LP units of subsidiary limited partnerships of the REIT issued and outstanding.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained in this new release constitute forward-looking statements which reflect the REIT's current expectations and projections about future results. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "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 statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the REIT to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Actual results and developments are likely to differ, and may differ materially, from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions that may prove to be incorrect.

While the REIT anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause its views to change, the REIT specifically disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the REIT's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this news release. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The factors identified above are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect the REIT.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Edgefront Real Estate Investment Trust

Contacts:

Kelly C. Hanczyk

President and CEO

(403) 817-9497



Rob Chiasson

CFO

(403) 817-9496




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/17/16 -- Coventry Resources Limited (ASX: CYY) (the "Company") announces that it has applied to the Ontario Securities Commission ("OSC"), as principal regulator, for an order that the Company has ceased to be a reporting issuer in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The Company is not a reporting issuer in any other Canadian jurisdiction.

If the requested order is made by the OSC, the Company will cease being a reporting issuer in any jurisdiction in Canada.

Notwithstanding a decision that the Company is not a reporting issuer in Canada, the Company will continue to file all financial statements and other continuous disclosure materials required to be filed by it in accordance with the applicable securities laws of Australia and the rules of the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX"). All such continuous disclosure documents of the Company are publicly available to all Company securityholders on the Company's website at www.coventryres.com and the Company's securityholders resident in Canada will continue to receive copies of the continuous disclosure documents that are required to be delivered to securityholders in Australia, in the same manner and at the same time as is required under the applicable securities laws of Australia and the rules of the ASX.

Contacts:

Ian Cunningham

Company Secretary

+61 8 9226 1356

icunningham@coventryres.com

www.coventryres.com




BOSTON, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

IDTechEx Research, a leading provider of independent market research, business intelligence and events on emerging technology announces that Dr Khasha Ghaffarzadeh will be a keynote speaker at the Display Innovation Taiwan Conference 2016. Dr. Ghaffarzadeh is a leading expert on display technologies and printed electronics and will be presenting on the latest technology and market trends in the display industry. His talk will be part of the "Trends and Futures of Display" keynote session on Thursday 25 August, 10-10.30am. The Display Innovation Taiwan Conference is part of Touch Taiwan 2016.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140310/673848 )

In this presentation IDTechEx will be sharing insights into key technologies in the display industry, covering quantum dots, OLED displays, printing displays, AR/VR displays for smart eyewear and transparent conductive films. Dr. Ghaffarzadeh will discuss the latest progress in the industry, applications, innovation strategies, regulations, challenges, market projections and more. For more IDTechEx research on all of these technologies see http://www.IDTechEx.com/research/PE.

IDTechEx will also be exhibiting at Touch Taiwan 2016 from 24-26 August 2016, booth N227. To arrange a meeting please contact Yasuo Yamamoto, Manager, Business Development Japan, at y.yamamoto@IDTechEx.com.

IDTechEx provides companies with tools that can assist them in making essential strategic decisions in emerging technologies. IDTechEx offers research reports, subscriptions, consultancy, introductory services and events. Learn more at http://www.IDTechEx.com.

Contact:

Alison Lewis

Marketing Manager, Reports

a.lewis@IDTechEx.com

http://www.idtechex.com/

http://www.twitter.com/IDTechEx

UK: +44-1223-810290

US: +1-617-577-7890


EQS-News / 18/08/2016 / 03:29 CET/CEST PRESS RELEASE August 18, 2016 *Ipreo to Host Fifth Annual "Investor Relations Wisdom Summit"* *Premier investor relations education & networking series returns to * *Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, and Singapore* *Hong Kong - August 18, 2016 -* Ipreo, a global leader in providing market intelligence, data, and technology solutions to all participants across the capital markets, announced it will again be hosting its world-class educational experience in four cities in Asia from Wednesday, September 7, through Wednesday, September 14, 2016. The "IR Wisdom Summit" is designed to promote the investor relations profession through increased education, awareness and networking. The IR Wisdom Summit represents a unique opportunity for investor relations professionals in the region to benefit from an exclusive gathering of influential local, regional and international financial industry experts and peers. This year's agendas include keynotes and moderated panel sessions on such topics as best practices in investor relations, the changing equity and debt capital markets, communicating with the investment community, and corporate governance trends, with a top-notch line-up of speakers that includes IROs, CFOs, fund managers, and other industry experts. "The success of Wisdom over the past four years confirms our premise that education and the exchange of ideas - on the markets, on the investment community, on IR best practices - is extremely important to the growth and development of the vital function of investor relations in public companies," said Chris Taylor, EVP, Global Research and Thought Leadership for Ipreo. "We are very pleased to be helping to elevate the investor relations function by bringing practical content and expertise directly to IR practitioners." To learn more about the Wisdom IR Summit, and to register for one of the events, visit info.ipreo.com/ir-wisdom-2016. *About Ipreo* Ipreo is a global leader in providing market intelligence, data, and technology solutions to all participants in the global capital markets, including sell-side banks, publicly traded companies, and buy-side institutions. Our extensive suite of investor relations services provides our corporate clients with unparalleled cross-asset class surveillance, investor targeting, buy-side perception studies, transaction analysis and predictive analytics. Additionally, Ipreo's BD Corporate IR workflow platform offers the most accurate and comprehensive database covering global institutional contacts, profiles, and ownership data. Our critical insights and flexible solutions help our clients run more effective investor relations programs. Ipreo is private-equity held by Blackstone and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, and has more than 1000 employees supporting clients in every major financial center around the world. ### Press contacts: Ipreo Kate McKay +1.212.849.5060 kate.mckay@ipreo.com Document: http://n.eqs.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=NCHEUHYCDC [1] Document title: Ipreo to Host Fifth Annual 'Investor Relations Wisdom Summit' Premier investor relations education & networking series returns to Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, and Singapore Key word(s): Miscellaneous 18/08/2016 Dissemination of a Press Release, transmitted by EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Media archive at www.todayir.com 493779 18/08/2016 1: http://public-cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=157d669b923d596a0a666d0716472ae6&application_id=493779&site_id=vwd&application_name=news

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 17, 2016 21:29 ET (01:29 GMT)
EQS-News / 18/08/2016 / 03:36 CET/CEST PRESS RELEASE August 18, 2016 *Ipreo and Singapore Exchange to Host Fifth Annual "Investor Relations Wisdom Summit"* *Investor relations education series returns to Singapore for the second time* *Hong Kong - August 18, 2016 -* Ipreo, a global leader in providing market intelligence, data, and technology solutions to all participants across the capital markets, and Singapore Exchange (SGX) announced it will again be hosting its world-class educational experience in four cities in Asia from Wednesday, September 7, through Wednesday, September 14, 2016. The "IR Wisdom Summit" is designed to promote the investor relations profession through increased education, awareness and networking. The Singapore event will take place on Wednesday, September 14th at the SGX auditorium. The IR Wisdom Summit represents a unique opportunity for investor relations professionals in the region to benefit from an exclusive gathering of influential local, regional and international financial industry experts and peers. This year's agendas include keynotes and moderated panel sessions on such topics as best practices in investor relations, the changing equity and debt capital markets, communicating with the investment community, and corporate governance trends, with a top-notch line-up of speakers that includes IROs, CFOs, fund managers, and other industry experts. "The success of Wisdom over the past four years confirms our premise that education and the exchange of ideas - on the markets, on the investment community, on IR best practices - is extremely important to the growth and development of the vital function of investor relations in public companies," said Chris Taylor, EVP, Global Research and Thought Leadership for Ipreo. "We are very pleased to be helping to elevate the investor relations function by bringing practical content and expertise directly to IR practitioners." This year's event is once again being produced in partnership with SGX and the Investor Relations Professions Association Singapore (IRPAS). "SGX believes investor relations play a key role in the success of Singapore's capital markets through improved transparency and better communication. SGX is pleased to be supporting the growth of the profession through this IR Summit in conjunction with Ipreo and IRPAS," said Chng Lay Chew, Chief Financial Officer, SGX. "The insights and networking opportunities this program provides will be extremely valuable to our investor relations professionals." Harold Woo, President of IRPAS, added, "The continued progress in the elevation of the IR profession in Singapore means that international best-practice education is more important than ever. IRPAS is delighted to partner again with Ipreo and SGX to bring the IR Wisdom Summit to IR professionals in Singapore." To learn more about the Wisdom IR Summit, and to register for one of the events, visit info.ipreo.com/ir-wisdom-2016. *About Ipreo* Ipreo is a global leader in providing market intelligence, data, and technology solutions to all participants in the global capital markets, including sell-side banks, publicly traded companies, and buy-side institutions. Our extensive suite of investor relations services provides our corporate clients with unparalleled cross-asset class surveillance, investor targeting, buy-side perception studies, transaction analysis and predictive analytics. Additionally, Ipreo's BD Corporate IR workflow platform offers the most accurate and comprehensive database covering global institutional contacts, profiles, and ownership data. Our critical insights and flexible solutions help our clients run more effective investor relations programs. Ipreo is private-equity held by Blackstone and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, and has more than 1000 employees supporting clients in every major financial center around the world. ### Press contacts: Ipreo Kate McKay +1.212.849.5060 kate.mckay@ipreo.com Document: http://n.eqs.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=VIRMSCRILC [1] Document title: Ipreo and Singapore Exchange to Host Fifth Annual 'Investor Relations Wisdom Summit' Investor relations education series returns to Singapore for the second time Key word(s): Miscellaneous 18/08/2016 Dissemination of a Press Release, transmitted by EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Media archive at www.todayir.com 493781 18/08/2016 1: http://public-cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=47a0d0451fea4bcb2c76aa362fb0a80b&application_id=493781&site_id=vwd&application_name=news

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 17, 2016 21:36 ET (01:36 GMT)
LONDON, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The annual Brand Awards aims to identify and reward exceptional service delivery by celebrating 'best in class' brands. The judging criteria behind the Global Brands Awards includes assessment of the financials, growth, service, customer experience and branding activities by a research team in partnership with an external judging panel from the relevant region.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/398809 )

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160518/369255LOGO )



Argon Asset Management's co-founder and CEO, Mothobi Seseli, commented that "Good performance, favourable financial results, streamlined processes and systems, a highly skilled and experienced team, all contribute to an asset manager's overall success. But ultimately it is the clients' experience of a brand that matters. We acknowledge the responsibility we have to live up to the promises our brand makes and we know that the success of a brand is the reflection of its individual employees. So thanks to our team who have an authentic alignment between who they are as individuals and their decisiveness at work."

Jay Reddy, Head of Branding at Global Brands Magazine, commented, "We have long believed that the South African market is a niche market for investors. Argon Asset Management has cemented its position as a leading firm among its peers. This recognition is a testament to their investors and portfolio of companies over the year. Many congratulations to Argon Asset Management for building a highly impressive brand that excels in every area - customer service, staff engagement, growth and leadership."

This award is the latest in a series of accolades for Argon Asset Management, whichwas unambiguously the winner of this award in 2015 also. The firm in 2015 was named the Best Absolute Returns Manager by BATSETA Imbasa Yegolide Awards, Best Asset Management Company and Best CEO by IAIR.

About Mr. Mothobi Seseli:

Mothobi Seseli co-founded Argon and has been CEO since the firm started in April 2005. He has wide-ranging experience from firms such as the South African subsidiary of the NYSE listed Alliance Capital Management LP (now called Alliance Bernstein), Alexander Forbes and Investec Asset Management.

About Global Brands Magazine:

Global Brands Magazine is one of the world's best branding publication. The magazine provides the reader with up-to-date news, reviews, polls on brands across the globe. The magazine is headquartered in England. For more information, please visit http://www.globalbrandsmagazine.com.

Contact:

Edwin Martin

info@gbrandsmag.com

+44 20 8133 3475


Company Announcement No. 341, 2016Copenhagen, Denmark, 2016-08-18 07:57 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --H+H International A/S Dampfrgevej 3, 3rd Floor 2100 Copenhagen  Denmark Tel.: +45 35 27 02 00 www.HplusH.com Company reg. no. 49 61 98 12Highlights for the period 1 January to 30 June 2016-- Second-quarter revenue increased by 10% measured in local currencies (organic growth) and by 3% in Danish kroner to DKK 457.5 million. First-half revenue increased by 11% in local currencies (organic growth) and by 5% in Danish kroner to DKK 825.4 million. -- Second-quarter EBITDA was DKK 65.9 million before special items (2015: DKK 59.2 million). First-half EBITDA was DKK 102.5 million before special items (2015: DKK 78.3 million). -- Second-quarter EBIT was DKK 44.0 million before special items (2015: DKK 34.8 million). First-half EBITDA was DKK 59.9 million before special items (2015: DKK 31.2 million). Before special items the EBIT margin for the second quarter was 10% (2015: 8%) and first-half EBIT margin was 7% (2015: 4%). -- The second quarter brought a net profit of DKK 29.0 million (2015: DKK 14.4 million) and the first half year a net profit of DKK 30.1 million (2015: 25.7 million). -- Investments of DKK 4.6 million were made in the second quarter (2015: DKK 10.0 million) and DKK 15.2 million in the first half of the year (2015: DKK 25.7 million). -- Free cash flow for the second quarter was DKK 65.9 million (2015: DKK 84.7 million). Free cash flow for the first half year was DKK 24.6 million (2015: DKK (70.4) million). -- Net interest-bearing debt at 30 June 2016 was DKK 432 million (30 June 2015: DKK 560 million). -- H+H updates its outlook for 2016: Organic revenue growth is expected to be 5-6% (measured in local currency), against the previously announced 3-4%. EBITDA before special items is expected to be DKK 190-210 million, as previously announced. Investments excluding acquisitions and divestments are expected to be in the region of DKK 80 million, as previously announced.Quote: "We are satisfied with the strong earnings improvement and that we are able to maintain our full year earnings guidance despite the negative impact from the GBP", says Michael T Andersen, CEO. "The improvements arise from more volume, better prices and cost containment. Furthermore, our restructuring in the Polish market has proven to be successful. The referendum in the UK to leave the EU leads to uncertainty for the UK housing market, but the fundamental drivers remain strong."Please see attached PDF for full version of the report.Kent Arentoft Chairman of the Board of DirectorsMichael T Andersen CEOFor additional information please contact: Michael T Andersen, CEO, or Bjarne Pedersen, Vice President, Business Development & IR, tel.: +45 35 27 02 00.Attachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=582132
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Ofgem has announced an update on its Mid-Period Review (MPR) for the RIIO-T1 price control. As expected, the scope of this MPR is narrow with no change to key financial parameters of the framework. The areas covered by the MPR related to specific outputs with eight year allowances in Gas Transmission and Electricity Transmission. Following the review, Ofgem propose that allowances are adjusted to reflect that some outputs are no longer required, resulting in a reduction of 169 million pounds in Gas Transmission and 38 million pounds in Electricity Transmission. Ofgem is also proposing to approve 21 million poundsof the request related to enhanced System Operator outputs. These changes are expected to be implemented from April 2018. National Grid (NG.L) said that it welcomeed Ofgem's continued commitment to the clarity and certainty offered by the eight-year RIIO framework, which has started to deliver important benefits for customers. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Regulatory News:

Bure (STO:BURE)

Interim period January June 2016

Net asset value per share was SEK 90.29, compared to SEK 87.40 at year-end 2015, which represents an increase of 3.3 per cent.

Bure's net asset value was SEK 6,260M, compared to SEK 6,060M at year-end 2015.

Total return on the Bure share was 6.9 per cent, compared to the SIX Return Index which fell by 3.7 per cent.

Consolidated profit after tax was SEK 364M (1,572). Earnings per share amounted to SEK 5.25 (22.21).

Second quarter 2016

Net asset value per share was SEK 90.29, compared to SEK 86.24 at the beginning of the quarter, which corresponds to an increase of 4.7 per cent.

Total return on the Bure share was 5.7 per cent, compared to the SIX Return Index which fell by 0.3 per cent during the quarter.

In May Bure acquired an additional 2.75 million shares in Cavotec for SEK 55.1M and increased its holding from 13.1 per cent to 16.6 per cent.

In June Bure acquired 4.6 million shares in Lauritz.com for SEK 68.9M, which corresponds to a holding of 11.3 per cent.

In accordance with the decision of the Annual General Meeting, Bure paid an ordinary dividend of SEK 1.00 per share and an extraordinary dividend of SEK 1.00 per share.

Subsequent events

Net asset value per share was SEK 104.32 on 17 August 2016, which corresponds to an increase of 19.4 per cent since year-end 2015.

The increase in net asset value since 30 June 2016 was 15.5 per cent compared to SIX Return Index which rose by 6.0 per cent.

Bure's net asset value per share rose by 4.7 per cent in the second quarter. Since year-end 2015, net asset value per share adjusted for dividends has thus increased by 5.6 per cent, compared to the SIX Return Index which fell by 3.7 per cent.

During the quarter we raised our holding in Cavotec.In spite of a fairly tough first half for Cavotec, we see potential for the company's systems and technology, particularly for ports and airports. Following the acquisition, Bure's holding amounts to 16.6 per cent,an increase of 3.5 percentage points.

In June Bure took part as a so-called anchor investor in the IPO of the Danish online auction company Lauritz.com. Since 2000 Lauritz has been managed very successfully by entrepreneur Bengt Sundstrom and today the company has 27 auction houses in five countries. A stronger balance sheet and new owners will create favourable conditions for ongoing expansion.The investment in Lauritz is an interesting complement to Bure's portfolio as it increases exposure to e-commerce and the Internet. Bure has invested approximately SEK 70M and now owns 11.3 per cent of the company. Lauritz will be communicated as a new portfolio company.

After the end of the period, Mycronic presented a very strong interim report with sales growth of 37 per cent, a dramatic increase in operating profit and a record high order backlog, which boosted the company's share price by over 40 per cent. It is extremely satisfying to see that the company's strategy is continuing to create excellent results. This increase has also affected Bure's net asset value which was SEK 104.32 per share at the reporting date.

Cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments at the end of the quarter totalled approximately SEK 880M, of which investable funds of around SEK 700M.

Henrik Blomquist

Verkstallande direktor

The information in this interim report is subject to the disclosure requirements of Bure Equity AB under the Swedish Securities Market Act and/or the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act. This information was publicly communicated on 18 August 2016, 08:30 a.m. CEST.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160817006330/en/

Contacts:

Bure

Henrik Blomquist, CEO

+46 (0)8 614 00 20

or

Max Jonson, CFO

+46 (0)8 614 00 20
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- NewVoiceMedia, a leading provider of cloud technology that helps businesses sell more, serve better and grow faster, today announced a new contract with American Public Media Group (APMG), a premier producer and distributor of public radio programming. APMG has deployed ContactWorld for Service, NewVoiceMedia's customer communications platform, to enhance its customer experience.

As an organisation with more than 49 public radio stations across five U.S. states, APMG required a phone system that could correctly route inbound calls from members and listeners to the most appropriate agent. It needed a system that was efficient and able to maintain quality connections regardless of location.

ContactWorld for Service provides advanced contact centre capabilities like dynamic call routing, intelligent IVR and customer-agent visibility. Its deep Salesforce integration allows the solution to work in collaboration with the CRM platform to provide better customer context to service agents.

"NewVoiceMedia supports the automation of our incoming calls, and because we are able to programme dynamic call flows based upon the numbers called, time of the day and customer attributes, it helps our staff to respond efficiently to those calls and provide excellent customer service to our members and listeners", said Rajesh Kapur, director IT business systems for American Public Media Group.

"ContactWorld is a flexible platform that can mold to fit the needs of any business", said Jonathan Gale, CEO of NewVoiceMedia. "Our solution creates engaging customer experiences for both inbound and outbound call traffic, even if it is across state, county, or country lines".

For more information about NewVoiceMedia's technology, visit www.newvoicemedia.com.

About NewVoiceMedia

NewVoiceMedia powers customer connections that transform businesses globally. The leading vendor's award-winning cloud customer contact platform revolutionises the way organisations connect with their customers worldwide, enabling them to deliver a personalised and unique customer service experience and drive a more effective sales team. With a true cloud environment and proven 99.999% platform availability, NewVoiceMedia ensures complete flexibility, scalability and reliability.

Spanning 128 countries and six continents, NewVoiceMedia's 600+ customers include PhotoBox, MobileIron, Lumesse, JustGiving, Canadian Cancer Society and Wowcher. For more information visit www.newvoicemedia.com or follow NewVoiceMedia on Twitter @NewVoiceMedia.

American Public Media Group American Public Media Group (APMG) is the largest station-based public radio organisation in America, combining multi-regional station operations, national programming creation and distribution as well as innovative digital, social and mobile services in one organisation. 19 million listeners tune in weekly to APMG's national programming and regional stations on nearly 1,000 radio stations nationwide. American Public Media (APM), the national production and distribution arm of the organisation, is one of the largest in the world with a portfolio that includes A Prairie Home Companion, BBC World Service, Marketplace, and the leading classical music programming in the nation. Supported financially by contributions from individual donors, sponsors, philanthropic foundations and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), APMG's regional operations include Minnesota Public Radio, a 45-station radio network serving nearly all of Minnesota and parts of surrounding states and Southern California Public Radio, a four-station network serving Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County and the Inland Empire. Launched in 2014, the Infinite Guest podcast network includes diverse offerings from best-selling authors to the best food, culture and comedy shows featured on public radio. APM's lifestyle classical music stream, YourClassical, packages classical music in an unconventional and innovative way with streams suited for life's biggest moments and everyday situations. Source: Data are copyright Nielsen Audio. Data are estimates only.

NewVoiceMedia PR contact

Ben Noble

NewVoiceMedia

Tel: +1 919-721-3590

Email: Email Contact




SASA, Israel, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Working to maintain security during the 2016 Rio Olympics, police forces in Brazil are using a unique armored vehicle made by Plasan, a leader in the design, development and integration of advanced armored protection systems for all types of wheeled and tracked vehicles.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160816/398394 )



The 4x4 vehicle, known as the "Guarder," can carry a payload of up to 3,500 kilograms in a spacious composite-steel hull with STANAG 3 armored protection. In Brazil, the Guarder is currently being used by the special weapons and tactics team (SWAT) of the police department of Sao Paolo.

The vehicle makes it possible for a driver, commander and 22 fully-equipped troops to quickly and safely traverse any terrain. Sao Paolo police officers report that the vehicles are typically used for large-scale policing and rescue operations. It was mentioned that officers appreciate the ability of the vehicle's strong cameras, which can capture optical and thermal images, which provide better information to the commanders. Above all, the vehicle provides more security, both for the operators and for the public, who feel more secure in the presence of the huge vehicle.

Built on a MAN 4x4 chassis, the Guarder is the largest vehicle of its kind. However, the vehicle's turning radius and maneuverability allow it to operate effectively on any terrain, including city streets, jungle, steep mountainous inclines, and even flooded areas.

"We're proud to see our vehicle used by police forces in Brazil as they work to keep the Rio Olympics safe and secure," said Dani Ziv, CEO of Plasan. "From the beginning, we knew that the Guarder is the perfect armored vehicle for this mission. We're all honored to be participating, in this way, in the Rio Olympics, helping to keep the peace at this amazing event."

In addition to the security provided by its advanced armor protection, Guarder passengers are protected by an internal fire extinguishing system, as well as protection against chemical, biological and radioactive (CBR) threats. The Guarder is even designed to withstand breakdowns in critical infrastructure, dirty bombs and chemical weapons attacks.

The Guarder is also equipped with a retractable mast and electro-optic payload for long range day/night surveillance, in addition to its 360-degree thermal surveillance, navigation, communication, command & control, passive protection and non-lethal systems for riot control and dispersion.

The overall flexibility of the Guarder suits the needs of police, homeland security and first responders, not just in Brazil, but anywhere in the world. Guarder is a single vehicle that offers multi-mission capability to tackle the fight against terror, organized crime, riot control, fires, and even chemical, nuclear or biohazard disasters.

Plasan is a leading provider of mission-ready armored vehicle solutions. Over 30,000 Plasan-designed armored vehicles are in operational service with armed forces throughout the world in some of the most hostile combat areas. Plasan solutions are all developed by teams with real combat experience. Plasan offers unparalleled expertise in add-on, integrated ballistic and smart armor components, hulls and kits;

as well as advanced vehicle command, control and management systems. Our end-to-end capability includes design, development, simulation, testing, production and integration, all under a single roof. http://www.plasan.com

For more information, contact:

Michal Rosenzweig

Marcom Manager, Plasan

Tel: +972-525521520

Email: michal.rosenzweig@plasan.com


KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- FISSION URANIUM CORP. (TSX: FCU)(OTCQX: FCUUF)(FRANKFURT: 2FU) ("Fission" or "the Company") is pleased to announce results from the summer drill program for the final 8 drill holes on the R840W zone at its PLS property, host to the Triple R deposit, in Canada's Athabasca Basin region. Of key importance, drilling has successfully merged the R600W and R840W zones. The new high-grade, shallow and land-based R840W zone has a strike length of 465m and is 495m west of the R00E zone of the Triple R deposit. In addition, drilling on the western region of the R840W zone has expanded mineralization a further 60m to the west from this past winter - increasing the strike length of the mineralized Patterson Lake trend at PLS to 2.63km

Zone Growth Drilling Highlights

-- Land-based, high-grade zones merged -- Hole PLS16-512 (line 765W), which intersected 56.0m of shallow continuous mineralization, including 6.45m total composite of greater than 10,000 cps, has merged the R600W and R840W zones -- New R840W zone has strike length of 465m -- High-grade R1620E zone growth and narrowed gap with Triple R deposit -- R1620E zone is shallow, high-grade and 225m in strike length -- Substantially increased length of high-grade mineralized core -- Latest drill results include new, wide, high-grade mineralization - -- PLS16-512 (line 765W) -- 56.0m continuous mineralization (107.5m - 163.5m), including -- 6.45m of total composite greater than 10,000 cps -- PLS16-504 (line 915W) -- 37.5m total composite mineralization (146.0m - 216.0m), including -- 6.15m of total composite greater than 10,000 cps

Ross McElroy, President, COO, and Chief Geologist for Fission, commented

"We have achieved all of our key goals for drilling on the recently discovered R840W and R1620E zones this summer, and in so doing have merged the R600W and the R840W into a single zone (R840W) with a strike length of approximately 465m. This zone remains open. In addition, the R840W zone expanded to the west and now the mineralized PLS trend has grown to an even larger strike length of 2.63km - the largest mineralized trend in the Athabasca Basin region. Just as importantly, the width and strength of the new drill holes at both ends of the trend are impressive and drilling has indicated that the trend is still open. With these results, we remain on target to update our resource estimate during 2017."

R840W

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (i) Hand-held Scintillometer Results On Mineralized Drillcore (greater than 300 Collar cps / greater than 0.5M minimum) ------------------------------------------------------------ CPS Grid From To Width Peak Hole ID Zone Line Az Dip (m) (m) (m) Range ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLS16-502 R840W 885W 358 -76.3 172.0 173.0 1.0 360 - 550 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- less than 300 PLS16-504 R840W 915W 342 -80.8 146.0 171.5 25.5 - 61000 198.5 200.0 1.5 920 - 950 less than 300 205.5 216.0 10.5 - 35600 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- less than 300 PLS16-505 R840W 990W 333 -78.9 146.5 153.5 7.0 - 3000 158.0 160.5 2.5 390 - 4900 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- less than 300 PLS16-506 R840W 825W 340 -79.4 130.0 143.5 13.5 - 1100 less than 300 147.5 154.0 6.5 - 10000 less than 300 217.5 219.0 1.5 - 360 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLS16-507 R840W 990W 337 -81.2 No Significant Radioactivity ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- less than 300 PLS16-508 R840W 795W 347 -79.9 109.0 164.5 55.5 - 11000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLS16-510 R840W 1020W 346 -80.5 177.0 177.5 0.5 300 183.0 184.5 1.5 360 - 780 189.5 190.5 1.0 870 - 2000 203.5 205.5 2.0 310 - 750 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- less than 300 PLS16-512 R840W 765W 334 -78.00 107.5 163.5 56.0 - 48200 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Basement Total Lake Sandstone Unconformity Drillhole Depth From - To Depth Depth Hole ID (m) (m) (m) (m) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLS16-502 NA NA 100.9 315.8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLS16-504 NA NA 99.2 371.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLS16-505 NA NA 122.0 337.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLS16-506 NA 97.1 - 101.5 101.5 275.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLS16-507 NA NA 98.0 344.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLS16-508 NA 98.5 - 104.5 104.5 267.9 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLS16-510 NA NA 101.0 305.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLS16-512 NA 101.0 - 103.0 103.0 305.0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

R840W and R1620E Zone Summary

R1620E Zone

Prior to the discovery of high-grade mineralization during the winter 2016 program, 10 drill holes had identified the R1620E as an area of interest. To date, 24 holes have been drilled in the R1620E area, seven of which were completed during the summer 2016 program. The R1620E zone is shallow depth, starting at less than 60m below surface and has been traced confidently over a strike length of 165m. Anomalous results on line 1395E suggest this strike length may possibly extend another 60m or more to the west. A high-grade core has been traced over 95m. The zone remains open along strike and at depth. The R1620E zone is located 195m east and along strike of the R780E zone.

R840W Zone

The shallow depth R840W zone was discovered during the winter 2016 program in which seven holes defined a strike length of 135m. At that time, a gap of 120m separated the R600W from the R840W. Fifteen additional holes were drilled during the summer 2016 program. Importantly, hole PLS16-512 drilled on line 765W, between the R840W and R600W, was well mineralized and illuminates a link between these 2 zones. With this successful result, the R600W has now merged into the R840W zone and the R840W zone is now defined over a strike length of 465m. The R840W is located 495m to the west and along strike of the R00E zone.

PLS Mineralized Trend & Triple R Deposit Summary

Uranium mineralization at PLS occurs within the Patterson Lake Conductive Corridor and has been traced by core drilling approximately 2.63km of east-west strike length in four separated mineralized "zones". From west to east, these zones are: R840W, R00E, R780E and R1620E. Thus far only the R00E and R780E have been included in the Triple R deposit resource estimate.

The discovery hole of what is now referred to as the Triple R uranium deposit was announced on November 05, 2012 with drill hole PLS12-022, from what is considered part of the R00E zone. Through successful exploration programs completed to date, it has evolved into a large, near surface, basement hosted, structurally controlled high-grade uranium deposit.

The Triple R deposit consists of the R00E zone on the western side and the much larger R780E zone further on strike to the east. Within the deposit, the R00E and R780E zones have an overall combined strike length validated by a resource estimate of approximately 1.05km with the R00E measuring approximately 105m in strike length and the R780E zones measuring approximately 945m in strike length. A 225m gap separates the R00E zone to the west and the R780E zones to the east, though sporadic narrow, weakly mineralized intervals from drill holes within this gap suggest the potential for further significant mineralization in this area. The R780E zone is located beneath Patterson Lake which is approximately six metres deep in the area of the deposit. The entire Triple R deposit is covered by approximately 50m to 60m of overburden.

Mineralization remains open along strike both to the western and eastern extents. Previous logging of drill core interpreted sequences of basement rocks to be meta-sedimentary (meta-pelitic and meta-semi-pelitic gneiss) but recent observations have changed this interpretation to represent varying degrees of altered mafic volcanic rocks. Mineralization is both located within and associated with mafic volcanic intrusives with varying degrees of silicification, metasomatic mineral assemblages and hydrothermal graphite. The graphitic sequences are, associated with the PL-3B basement Electro-Magnetic (EM) Conductor. Recent very positive drill results returning wide and strongly mineralized intersections from the R840W zone, has allowed interpretation to merge the previously described R600W zone into the R840W zone. The R840W zone, located 495m to the west along strike of the Triple R deposit, currently has a defined strike length of 465m and is still open. Drill results within the R840W zone have significantly upgraded the prospectivity of these areas for further growth of the PLS resource on land to the west of the Triple R deposit. The recently discovered high-grade mineralization in the R1620E zone, located 270m to the east along strike has significantly upgraded the prospectivity for further growth of the PLS resource to the east of the Triple R deposit.

Updated maps and files can be found on the Company's website at http://fissionuranium.com/project/pls/.

Patterson Lake South Property

The 31,039 hectare PLS project is 100% owned and operated by Fission Uranium Corp. PLS is accessible by road with primary access from all-weather Highway 955, which runs north to the former Cluff Lake mine and passes through the nearby UEX-Areva Shea Creek discoveries located 50km to the north, currently under active exploration and development.

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed on behalf of the company by Ross McElroy, P.Geol., President and COO for Fission Uranium Corp., a qualified person.

About Fission Uranium Corp.

Fission Uranium Corp. is a Canadian based resource company specializing in the strategic exploration and development of the Patterson Lake South uranium property - host to the class-leading Triple R uranium deposit - and is headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia. Fission's common shares are listed on the TSX Exchange under the symbol "FCU" and trade on the OTCQX marketplace in the U.S. under the symbol "FCUUF."

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Ross McElroy, President and COO

Cautionary Statement:

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information", within the meaning of Canadian legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur", "be achieved" or "has the potential to". Forward looking statements contained in this press release may include statements regarding the future operating or financial performance of Fission and Fission Uranium which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may not prove to be accurate. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Among those factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: market conditions and other risk factors listed from time to time in our reports filed with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and the Company and Fission Uranium disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation.

Contacts:

Fission Uranium Corp.

Rich Matthews

Investor Relations

TF: 877-868-8140

rich@fissionuranium.com

www.fissionuranium.com




Compared to the second quarter of 2015, earnings and free cash flow significantly improved, mainly driven by high activity levels in the quarter and higher average project margins. Satisfactory order intake with backlog remaining at high levels. Outlook for 2016 upgraded.Aarhus, Denmark, 2016-08-18 08:30 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Summary: In the second quarter of 2016, Vestas generated revenue of EUR 2,557m - an increase of 46 percent compared to the year-earlier period. EBIT before special items increased by EUR 254m to EUR 399m. The EBIT margin before special items was 15.6 percent compared to 8.3 percent in the second quarter of 2015 and the free cash flow amounted to EUR 330m compared to EUR 183m in the second quarter of 2015.The intake of firm and unconditional wind turbine orders amounted to 1,790 MW in the second quarter of 2016. The value of the wind turbine order backlog amounted to EUR 8.2bn at 30 June 2016. In addition to the wind turbine order backlog, Vestas had service agreements with contractual future revenue of EUR 9.9bn at the end of June 2016. Thus, the value of the combined backlog of wind turbine orders and service agreements stood at EUR 18.1bn - an increase of EUR 1.2bn compared to the year-earlier period.Vestas upgrades the 2016 guidance on revenue from minimum EUR 9.0bn to minimum EUR 9.5bn, EBIT margin before special items from minimum 11.0 percent to minimum 12.5 percent, and free cash flow from minimum EUR 600m to minimum EUR 800m (incl. the acquisition of Availon Holding GmbH). The upgrade is based on better than expected performance in the first half of 2016 and visibility for the remainder of the year.Group President & CEO Anders Runevad said: "I am very pleased with Vestas' strong second quarter performance. Our colleagues have executed well on a high activity level, which along with a favourable mix of projects contributed to Vestas achieving extremely solid results on revenue, EBIT margin, net profit, and free cash flow and with an order intake in line with expectations. We are upgrading the full-year guidance on revenue, EBIT margin, and free cash flow, and as a result of the strong performance we also continue delivering tangible shareholder value through the 2016 share buy-back programme that we are launching now".Key highlightsHigh activity levels across the board Deliveries up by 56 percent in Q2 2016 - driven by all regions.Strong earnings EBIT margin before special items of 15.6 percent - up by 7.3 percentage points compared to Q2 2015.Order backlog continues at record-high level Combined order backlog at EUR 18.1bn.Guidance increased Guidance for 2016 increased on revenue, EBIT margin, and free cash flow based on better than expected H1 2016 performance and visibility for the remainder of the year.Share buy-back programme for 2016 EUR 400m share buy-back programme launched to adjust the capital structure.Information meeting (audiocast)Today, Thursday 18 August 2016 at 10 a.m. CEST (9 a.m. BST), Vestas will host an information meeting via an audiocast. The audiocast will be accessible via vestas.com/investor.The meeting will be held in English and questions may be asked through a conference call. The telephone numbers for the conference call are:Europe: +44 203 008 9814 USA: +1 646 502 5118 Denmark: +45 3544 5576Presentation material for the information meeting will be available approx one hour before the meeting at vestas.com/investor.Contact detailsVestas Wind Systems A/S, Denmark Hans Martin Smith, Senior Vice President, Group Treasury and Investor Relations Tel: +45 9730 8209Vestas Wind Systems A/S Hedeager 42 8200 Aarhus N DenmarkCompany reg. No.: 10 40 37 82Tel: +45 9730 0000 Fax: +45 9730 0001 vestas@vestas.comAttachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=582146
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 18, 2016) - Victory Ventures Inc. (TSXV: VVN) (FSE: VV0) (the "Company") reports that, further to its news releases dated May 5 and July 21, 2016, the Province of Alberta has approved the transfer to the Company of a 100% undivided interest in four contiguous metallic and industrial minerals exploration permits covering four townships northwest of the Fox Creek-Swan hills area in the Peace River District (the "Acquisition Area").

The exploration permits encompass an area approximately 36,800 hectares (91,000 acres) or about 400 square km (144 sq. miles). There are more than 800 well sites within the permitted area as documented by the Province of Alberta, which of some are producing wells with lithium content in well brines. The Acquisition Area is within MGX Minerals' Peace River Arch South area of Permits and contingent southeast to their Pouce Coupe sub-Property.

The Energy Industry is active year round within the Acquisition Area, which is fully serviced with major infrastructure of roadways, power, wellheads, waste water well injection sites and lodging/equipment services. An early stage program targeting the lithium brines in the new deeper wells drilled since 2010 will represent a new exciting frontier of exploration for the Company and its shareholders.

The acquired targeted exploration area was based on data compilation from several sources; the Alberta Geological Survey study of lithium-in-well brines and the well database of the Province of Alberta.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:



"Howard Milne"

President

For more information please contact:

Howard Milne

Tel: (604) 377-8994Email: hdmcap@shaw.ca

Website: www.victoryventures.ca



Victory Ventures Inc. is a Canadian-based junior mining exploration company focused on the procurement, exploration and development of precious metal properties in North America. The Company's shares are listed and posted for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "VVN" and on the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol "VV0".

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
VIENNA and LONDON, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Free trip to Vienna for 20 selected start-ups from London

"Junge Wirtschaft Wien", the youth institution of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, offers its help to British start-ups, which are facing an uncertain future because of the Brexit-vote, and promotes Vienna as an established start-up-hub. In cooperation with another institution of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, "Junge Wirtschaft Wien" invites 20 selected start-ups to visit Vienna for free. From 5 - 7 October, these start-ups will be informed about the Viennese start-up-scene, will meet business angels and investors and visit the city.

Vienna seizes the opportunity and solicites for British start-ups to settle down in Austria. Therefore, the "Junge Wirtschaft Wien" and another institution of the Chamber of Commerce invites British start-ups to visit Vienna from 5 to 7 October 2016. "Vienna is an established business location for innovative start-ups and has a lot to offer", Jurgen Tarbauer, chairmen of "Junge Wirtschaft Wien" and initiator of this campaign is convinced. "We want to offer British start-ups an opportunity to experience the spirit of Vienna". As an incentive costs for flight and accommodation will be covered for the 20 most remarkable start-ups. Application ends on 9 September.

Vienna is an upcoming start-up-city and was rated among the top 10 of the European start-up-hubs. Especially life sciences and information and communication technology count to the Viennese economy's major areas of expertise. The loaction in the center of Europa, a stable economy and several initiatives and funding programs for start-ups are some of Vienna's advantages.

http://startupswelcome.com/

Enquiries: Christian Blumauer, Himmelhoch PR, phone: +43 (0)650 203 74 12, mail: christian.blumauer@himmelhoch.at
HORSHAM, PA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 --



WHO:

Ed Newman, vice president of Strategy for Phenom People, the leader in Talent Relationship Marketing, and Kara Walsh, chief marketing officer for The Muse, the most trusted and beloved career destination for Millennials and beyond

WHAT:

Will host a complimentary webinar titled, "Beyond the Funnel: Advanced Marketing for Recruiters."

WHEN:

Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. EDT (1:00 p.m. CDT / 12:00 p.m. MDT / 11:00 a.m. PDT)

WHERE:

To register, visit: http://www.phenompeople.com/resources/webinar-beyond-the-funnel-advanced-marketing-for-recruiters.

DETAILS:

Even when hiring for a competitive position, it can be difficult to attract the right candidates. Pretty much every recruiter has been there. Sometimes, the jobseeker doesn't know the company; other times they don't know why they should work for you. The possibilities are endless, but the budget to raise awareness and bring in new talent is not. Perhaps it's time for a new mindset.

During this webinar, Ed Newman, vice president of Strategy for Phenom People, will join Kara Walsh, chief marketing officer for The Muse, to take on recruiting's biggest challenges, as seen through a marketer's eyes. Through their discussion, Newman and Walsh will cover critical topics such as engaging passive candidates, building a strong employer brand, attracting specialized talent, enhancing the candidate experience and retaining top employees. Session attendees will take away a fresh perspective on recruitment marketing as well as actionable insights that can be used to improve recruiting strategy at their organization.

Recruiters, hiring managers, HR professionals and business leaders interested in how modern marketing tactics can work to augment their recruiting efforts are encouraged to attend this webinar. For additional information and registration details, visit: http://www.phenompeople.com/resources/webinar-beyond-the-funnel-advanced-marketing-for-recruiters.

About Phenom People

Phenom People is the leader in the Talent Relationship Marketing category. We are on a mission to help phenomenal companies attract phenomenal talent. To attract the best talent, companies must build relationships with their candidates through personalized digital experiences. The Phenom Talent Relationship Marketing Platform automates the process for driving awareness, interest, engagement and acquisition for talent. Phenom People has more than 70 customers and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit www.phenompeople.com or learn more about Talent Relationship Marketing.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- Degreed, the fast-growing company that has created an engaging, beautiful and intuitive way to empower and recognize all forms of professional and lifelong learning, today announced that it has been recognized by leading technology-focused research and advisory firm Aragon Research as a 2016 "Hot Vendor in Learning."

Each year, Aragon Research selects Hot Vendors across multiple markets that have interesting, cutting-edge products, services or technologies. Degreed was featured as a Hot Vendor in Learning for offering advanced learning solutions that make a difference in corporate learning and focus on the continuous, personalized delivery of learning for individual employees and the enterprise as a whole.

"Degreed delivers a new way to help individuals and organizations discover, share and track all forms of learning throughout their careers, not just in their jobs. We are honored that Aragon Research has recognized our innovative solution and named Degreed a 2016 Hot Vendor in Learning," said David Blake, CEO and co-founder of Degreed. "There are now a multitude of ways people learn. That puts new pressures on employees to juggle both the informal and traditional approaches to build their knowledge and skills. And it challenges HR and corporate learning departments to manage an increasingly complicated array of platforms and vendors."

Degreed was launched in 2012 with the mission to make all lifelong learning matter by creating a new way to build and measure expertise. The result is a truly unique learning platform that enables organizations to manage ALL of their employees' learning -- both internal and external -- while gaining deeper, real-time insights into the interests and skills of their people. The Degreed platform integrates internal learning, talent and HR systems with millions of paid, free and open learning resources available from thousands of learning platforms and providers. As a result, companies can foster a culture of continuous learning, helping employees to expand their skillsets and increase their value to the organization.

According to the report, "What makes Degreed hot is its ability to deliver a wide variety of learning content and quantify all the learning that is occurring within an enterprise. Degreed lets employers see what their employees are currently learning, whether the knowledge is coming from ILT classes, online courses, books, videos, articles, podcasts, or elsewhere."(1)

Degreed's inclusion as a Hot Vendor in Learning is the latest achievement for the fast-growing company. In addition to closing a $25 million round of Series B funding, Degreed has recently introduced its first native mobile app, acquired European learning company Gibbon, and expanded its hiring across Asia, Australia, Europe and Canada.

The 2016 "Hot Vendors in Learning" report can be accessed at: https://aragonresearch.com/special-report-aragon-research-hot-vendors-for-2016-part-vi/.

(1) Aragon Research does not endorse vendors, or their products or services that are referenced in its research publications, and does not advise users to select those vendors that are rated the highest. Aragon Research publications consist of the opinions of Aragon Research and Advisory Services organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Aragon Research provides its research publications and the information contained in them "AS IS," without warranty of any kind.

About Aragon Research

Aragon Research is the newest technology research and advisory firm. Aragon delivers high impact interactive research and advisory services to provide enterprises the insight they need to help them make better technology and strategy decisions. Aragon Research serves business and IT leaders and has a proven team of veteran analysts. For more information, visit https://www.aragonresearch.com.

About Degreed

Degreed is an award-winning learning platform built for the way today's workers really build their expertise and grow in their careers. Degreed integrates organizations' internal talent systems with the world's largest ecosystem of open learning resources -- over 3 million courses, videos, articles, books, podcasts and more from 1,400+ sources. As a result, organizations and their people can discover, share and track all their development, however and wherever they learn. Founded in 2012, Degreed is headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in Salt Lake City and Amsterdam.

Learn more about Degreed at: Website | Facebook | Google+ | YouTube | LinkedIn | Twitter
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- CR Capital Corp. (NEX: CIT.H) (the "Company") announced today that it has sold its approximately 65% interest in claims in Estrades to Galway Metals Inc. for gross proceeds of $150,000. CR Capital is well positioned and continues to search for a new project for the Company.

Neither the CSE, 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 release.

About CR Capital Corp.

CR Capital Corp. has divested of its resource assets and will reposition the company to optimize the value for shareholders.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release, include, but are not limited to, economic performance and future plans and objectives of the Company. Any number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results. Although CR Capital believes that the assumptions and factors used in making the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this new release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed timeframes or at all. CR Capital disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

CR Capital Corp.

Mr. Brian Howlett

President and CEO

416-849-7773

Cell: 647-227-3035

bhowlett@sympatico.ca




DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- NextHealth Technologies Inc., a prescriptive analytics and consumer engagement platform, announced it has completed a Series A round of funding led by Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors. NextHealth will use the funding to grow its engineering talent and deliver system enhancements to the millions of members and myriad of health plans that now use the NextHealth enterprise platform.

Challenging industry dynamics and the Affordable Care Act are pushing health plans to seek solutions that can lower medical costs, direct members to more efficient care settings, and improve the health of plan members. NextHealth's enterprise platform identifies and targets high-cost plan members, prescribes and delivers member-level actions or "nudges," then measures and optimizes outcomes. The scalable system supports over 30 use cases, including reduction of out-of-network provider usage, retention of high-value members, and reduction of avoidable emergency room visits -- itself a $38B annual cost in the United States.

"With annual healthcare spending projected to surpass $16K per person in the U.S. by 2025, it has never been more important to provide consumers with the tools they need to make informed medical decisions," said Casper de Clercq, General Partner at Norwest Venture Partners. "NextHealth's solution dramatically cuts costs for Medicaid, large-group and commercial markets by deriving insights and more importantly, driving action, through an integrated analytics and consumer engagement platform."

"NextHealth has established its value at a time of fundamental change in healthcare, delivering much-needed and proven $12 per member per month medical costs savings," said Eric Grossman, CEO of NextHealth Technologies. "Our causal medical savings are critical to insurers given the considerable exchange losses they've sustained in the wake of the Affordable Care Act. Importantly, we're aligned with our customers by putting our fees at risk based on a percentage of net paid-claims savings."

NextHealth has recently been named in three Gartner industry reports: "Hype Cycle for U.S. Healthcare Payers, 2016"(i) (in the Retail Analytics for Healthcare Payers category), "Hype Cycle for Healthcare Providers, 2016"(ii) and "Hype Cycle for Consumer Engagement with Health and Wellness, 2016"(iii) (in the Healthcare Consumer Persuasion Analytics category).

About NextHealth Technologies

NextHealth Technologies (NHT), based in Denver, is a prescriptive analytics and consumer engagement company that measurably reduces medical costs. NextHealth's SaaS platform integrates prescriptive analytics, behavioral economics and multichannel consumer engagement. The platform predicts risk-reduction opportunities and prescribes "nudges" to dramatically improve and optimize outcomes. NHT has succeeded in delivering a groundbreaking and sustained 25% reduction in ER visits and savings of over $12 per member per month in medical claims costs among targeted Medicaid and commercial populations. Use cases include ER visit reduction, out-of-network reduction and member retention. NextHealth offers an at-risk managed services contract based on outcomes. For more information, visit http://www.nexthealthtechnologies.com. Follow NHT on Twitter @nexthealthtech.

About Norwest Venture Partners

Norwest Venture Partners is a global venture capital and growth equity investment firm that manages more than $6 billion in capital. The firm targets early to late stage venture and growth equity investments across a wide range of sectors including: technology, information services, business services, financial services, consumer products/services and healthcare. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., Norwest has offices in San Francisco and New York, and subsidiaries in Mumbai and Bengaluru, India and Herzelia, Israel. The firm has funded more than 575 companies since inception. For more information, please visit http://www.nvp.com. Follow Norwest on Twitter @NorwestVP.

(i) Gartner "Hype Cycle for U.S. Healthcare Payers, 2016" by Robert H. Booz, Constance Sjoquist, Jeff Cribbs, July 1, 2016.

(ii) Gartner "Hype Cycle for Healthcare Providers, 2016" by Vi Shaffer, Laura Craft, July 14, 2016.

(iii) Gartner "Hype Cycle for Consumer Engagement With Healthcare and Wellness, 2016" by Jeff Cribbs, Richard Gibson, M.D., July 13, 2016.

For media inquiries:

NextHealth Technologies

Melissa O'Connor

VP, Marketing

moconnor@nexthealthtechnologies.com



Norwest Venture Partners

Kate Chesnut

Marketing Manager

kchesnut@nvp.com




18 August 2016 Acron Board of Directors Issues H1 2016 Dividend Recommendation Acron Board of Directors meeting, which took place on 18 August 2016, issued recommendation to the extraordinary general meeting to be held as absentee vote on 9 September 2016, to declare H1 2016 dividends of RUB 155 per ordinary share. Thus, the Company will allocate a total of RUB 6.3 billion for dividend payment. The Board of Directors also proposed a record date for persons entitled to dividends: 20 September 2016. Media contacts: Tatiana Smirnova Tel.: +7 (495) 777-08-65 (ext. 5196) Public Relations Investor contacts: Ilya Popov Tel.: +7 (495) 745-77-45 (ext. 5252) Investor Relations Additional information: Acron Group is a leading vertically integrated mineral fertiliser producer in Russia and globally with a diversified product portfolio including complex and straight nitrogen-based fertilisers, as well as industrial products. In 2015, the Group's sales volume was 6.3 million tonnes. Acron sells its products in 60 countries. Russia and China are the key sale markets. In 2015, the Group posted consolidated revenue under IFRS of RUB 106,055 million (USD 1,740 million) and net profit of RUB 16,706 million (USD 274 million). Acron's shares are listed on the Moscow Exchange and its global depositary receipts are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker AKRN). Acron employs over 13,000 people. A high degree of vertical integration, including two chemical production facilities, a phosphate mine, a potash mining project, wholly owned transport infrastructure and an international distribution network, creates a platform for the Group's dynamic growth. Further information is available on our website at www.acron.ru/en. This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: ACRON via GlobeNewswire [HUG#2035956] B3BS5Q4R82 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.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (TSX: OR)(NYSE: OR) ("Osisko" or the "Corporation") reports that Messrs. John Burzynski, Senior Vice President New Business Development, and Robert Wares, Chief Geologist, have resigned from their executive positions with Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd effective August 31st 2016 in order to focus their efforts on Osisko Mining Inc. ("Osisko Mining").

Sean Roosen, Chair of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Osisko, stated: "During the past year, John and Bob have contributed to the recreation of Osisko Mining as a strong emerging gold development company with advanced exploration projects in Quebec and Ontario. As key founders of Osisko Exploration Ltee in 2003, through the change over to Osisko Mining Corporation with the discovery, definition, financing, building and commissioning of the world class Canadian Malartic gold mine, they have the full experience and track record of creating tremendous shareholder value, helping take Osisko Exploration Ltee from its humble beginnings to its eventual $4.1B sale. It is their goal to repeat this success with Osisko Mining Inc., a company in which Osisko Gold Royalties owns a 16% equity interest, as well as royalties on the key properties."

Mr. Burzynski will remain as a Director of Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd.

About Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd

Osisko Gold Royalties is an intermediate precious metal royalty company focused on the Americas that commenced activities in June 2014. It holds 52 royalties, including a 5% NSR royalty on the Canadian Malartic Mine (Canada) and a 2.0-3.5% NSR royalty on the Eleonore Mine (Canada). It maintains a strong financial position with cash resources of $425 million at June 30 2016 and has distributed dividends to its shareholders during the past seven consecutive quarters.

Osisko's head office is located at 1100 Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montreal, Suite 300, Montreal, Quebec, H3B 2S2.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, by their nature, require the Corporation to make certain assumptions and necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Words such as "may", "will", "would", "could", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "continue", or the negative or comparable terminology, as well as terms usually used in the future and the conditional, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Information contained in forward-looking statements is based upon certain material assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection. The Corporation considers its assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, but cautions the reader that its assumptions regarding future events, many of which are beyond the control of the Corporation, may ultimately prove to be incorrect since they are subject to risks and uncertainties that affect the Corporation and its business.

For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements made in this press release, refer to the Corporation's most recent Annual information Form filed on SEDAR and EDGAR. The forward-looking information set forth herein reflects the Corporation's expectations as at the date of this press release and is subject to change after such date. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

Contacts:

Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd.

Joseph de la Plante

Vice President, Corporate Development

(514) 940-0670

jdelaplante@osiskogr.com




QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- (TSX VENTURE: HEO)(ALTERNEXT: MNEMO:ALHEO)(OTCQX: HEOFF) - H2O Innovation Inc. ("H2O Innovation" or the "Company") is proud to announce that it has recently secured an order for its Clearlogx proprietary technology, following a three-month pilot demonstration with the Brazos Regional Public Utility Agency ("BRPUA") in Granbury, Texas. Clearlogx will control and optimize the coagulant dosing of a 13 MGD (49,210 m3/day) water treatment plant, which is a combination of a conventional and membrane filtration system using ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) technologies.

The pilot demonstration was conducted following a contest last February, at the Membrane Technology Conference (MTC) in San Antonio, Texas. The Company selected the winner based on the actual needs of the system in place and determined that Brazos Regional Public Utility Agency would be the most beneficial recipient. Clearlogx was then piloted for a period of 90 days at a small scale on the Brazos Regional Public Utility Agency's UF and RO systems to demonstrate its capability for pre-treatment monitoring. During the pilot, Clearlogx has demonstrated that BRPUA would be able to improve its clarifier performance by 50%, prevent premature fouling on the UF system therefore extending the life of the membranes. It was also established that BRPUA would be able to eliminate the need for lime and ferric that they are presently using for pre-treatment; this would reduce UF membranes fouling by approximately 50% and allow an increase in production of approximately 25%. Based on these positive results, Brazos Regional Public Utility Agency awarded a contract for the supply of the Clearlogx technology.

BRPUA also awarded H2O Innovation a contract for its System Performance Monitoring Center (SPMC), an innovative monitoring and control technology, as well as for the implementation of an entire SCADA system. "Both SPMC and SCADA offerings include IT security features and continuous process performance monitoring. These technologies are also considered to be open-architecture that allows more flexibility thus making potential upgrades easier", stated Frederic Dugre, President and CEO of H2O Innovation.

About Clearlogx

Clearlogx is a proprietary and patented technology, which precisely and continuously controls the feed of specialty coagulants used in water treatment to maintain a proper pH level and optimum particle charge, while simultaneously improving overall treatment process efficiency. Clearlogx is also used to avoid excessive membrane cleaning. For more information, please visit www.clearlogx.com.

About H2O Innovation

H2O Innovation designs and provides state-of-the-art, custom-built, and integrated water treatment solutions based on membrane filtration technology for municipal, energy and natural resources end-users. Also, directly and through its affiliates, H2O Innovation provides products and services complementary to its membrane filtration and reverse osmosis systems. These products consist of a complete line of specialty chemicals, consumables and couplings. For more information, visit www.h2oinnovation.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the Alternext Exchange accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Source:

H2O Innovation Inc.

www.h2oinnovation.com



Marc Blanchet

+1 418-688-0170

marc.blanchet@h2oinnovation.com




LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- In celebration of the start of the three-year title partnership of the Hyundai Mercury Prize, Hyundai UK has today launched the giveaway of the UK's first IONIQ Hybrid through a social media campaign.

The competition will be hosted on Hyundai UK's social media channels, including @Hyundai_UK on Twitter, as well as Hyundai UK on Facebook and @HyundaiUK on Instagram. Entrants will need to join in the conversation for a chance to win by either tweeting using HyundaiMercuryPrize on Twitter, or commenting on any post relating to HyundaiMercuryPrize that is posted to Hyundai UK's Facebook or Instagram feeds.

In addition to the main IONIQ Hybrid giveaway, there will also be 12 VIP spot prizes available which will include a pair of tickets to the Hyundai Mercury Prize 2016 Awards Show with one night's accommodation, a travel cost allowance and transfers.

VIP package prize winners will be announced after 29 August. Participants will have until 23 September to enter the competition to win the UK's first IONIQ Hybrid.

The All-New Hyundai IONIQ, priced from GBP 19,995, is the world's first car offering three electrified powertrains: IONIQ Hybrid, IONIQ Electric and IONIQ Plug-in. The line-up aims to make make low- to zero-emission mobility more accessible to more people. Hyundai's innovative approach delivers an uncompromising design and driving experience, the latest connectivity and safety features with an enhanced industry-leading warranty-package.

Follow the hashtag HyundaiMercuryPrize for more information about the competition and for exclusive Mercury Prize content from Hyundai.

About Hyundai Motor

Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company is committed to becoming a lifetime partner in automobiles and beyond. The company leads the Hyundai Motor Group, an innovative business structure capable of circulating resources from molten iron to finished cars. Hyundai Motor has eight manufacturing bases and seven design & technical centres worldwide and in 2015 sold 4.96 million vehicles globally. With more than 110,000 employees worldwide, Hyundai Motor continues to enhance its product line-up with localised models and strives to strengthen its leadership in clean technology, starting with the world's first mass-produced hydrogen-powered vehicle, ix35 Fuel Cell and IONIQ, the world's first model with three electrified powertrains in a single body type.

About Hyundai Motor UK

Hyundai has sold vehicles in the UK since 1982. In 2005, Hyundai opened its own UK subsidiary, Hyundai Motor UK Ltd, based in High Wycombe. Since 2008, the company has risen from 21st to one of the top 10 car manufacturers in the UK and last year sold a record 88,257 vehicles. Hyundai Motor UK employs more than 3,000 people through its UK operations and dealer network. Hyundai offers a full range of vehicles from the award-winning New Generation i10 city car through to the capable Santa Fe SUV and iLoad LCV. All passenger cars come with Hyundai's industry-leading 5 Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty package. Further information about Hyundai and its products is available at www.hyundai.co.uk.

Follow us on Twitter @Hyundai_UK_PR

About The Mercury Music Prize

The Hyundai Mercury Prize 'Albums of the Year' celebrate and promote the best of UK music, recognising artistic achievement across an eclectic range of contemporary music genres. 2016 sees Hyundai Motor UK become the official title partner of the Prize, as part of an initial three year deal. Mercury Prize Ltd organises the event with BBC Music as its official UK broadcast partner. The 2016 Awards Show will take place on Thursday 15th September at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, with coverage on BBC Radio 6 Music and live TV coverage on BBC Four from 9pm. There will also be additional content on bbc.co.uk/music and via the BBC Music app. For more info see: http://www.mercuryprize.com.

Contacts:

Natasha Waddington

Head of PR

01494 428646

07771 975692

natasha.waddington@hyundai-car.co.uk



Laura King

Senior Manager, Brand PR

01494 428685

07817 264224

laura.king@hyundai-car.co.uk



Robin Hayles

Product PR Manager

01494 428655

07836 579628

robin.hayles@hyundai-car.co.uk



Yasmin Fletcher

Press Officer

01494 428721

07860 188073

yasmin.fletcher@hyundai-car.co.uk



Sarah Saunders

PR Administrator (Press Fleet)

01494 428617

07812 086167

sarah.saunders@hyundai-car.co.uk




MOSCOW, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("MTS" NYSE: MBT; MOEX: MTSS), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, today announces its unaudited IFRS financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2016.

Key Financial Highlights of Q2 2016

Consolidated group revenue increased by 5.3% y-o-y to RUB 108.1 bln

Total revenue in Russia rose by 3.3% y-o-y to RUB 97.4 bln

rose by 3.3% y-o-y to Mobile service revenue in Russia increased by 0.1% y-o-y to RUB 72.8 bln

increased by 0.1% y-o-y to Sales of goods in Russia increased by 38.7% y-o-y to RUB 10.6 bln

increased by 38.7% y-o-y to Active subscriber base increased by 3.5% for the Group to 109.0 mln

MTS's proprietary retail network in Russia increased to 5,838 stores

increased to 5,838 stores Revenue in Ukraine increased by 13.5% y-o-y to UAH 2.7 bln

increased by 13.5% y-o-y to UAH 2.7 bln YTD Free Cash Flow reached nearly RUB 24.0 bln

Total Group debt fell to RUB 274.5 [1] bln as Net Debt/LTM Adjusted OIBDA remained stable at 1.1x

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121115/AQ14468LOGO )





Key Corporate and Industry Highlights

Paid out in dividends RUB 28.0 bln or RUB 14.01 per ordinary MTS share ( RUB 28.02 per ADR) based on FY2015 results

or per ordinary MTS share ( per ADR) based on FY2015 results The Board of Directors recommended that the Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders approve semi-annual dividends of RUB 11.99 per ordinary MTS share ( RUB 23.98 per ADR), or a total of RUB 24.0 bln , based on H1 2016 financial results

per ordinary MTS share ( per ADR), or a total of , based on H1 2016 financial results MTS through its subsidiary, Dega Retail Holding Limited, repurchased USD 267 mln of Loan Participation Notes due in 2020 (issued in 2010 in the amount of USD 750,000,000 at 8.625%) through a tender offer

of Loan Participation Notes due in 2020 (issued in 2010 in the amount of at 8.625%) through a tender offer Sold 50.01% stake in the telecommunications operator Universal Mobile Systems (UMS) to the State Unitary Enterprise Centre of Radio Communication, Radio Broadcasting and Television of The Ministry of Development of Information Technologies and Communications of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Commentary

Mr. Andrei Dubovskov, President and CEO of MTS, commented, "For the period, we are pleased to report strong topline growth of 5.3% as total Group revenue increased to RUB 108.1 bln. Factors that have allowed us to build on our successful 3D strategy and set the pace for the market include: strong retail sales; stable service revenue despite on-going weaker usage in certain mobile market segments; growth in B2C home Internet and pay-tv markets; and growth in Ukraine through the steady adoption of 3G data services.

--------------------------------------------------

[1] Net of financial leasing and unamortized debt issuance cost adjustment, as of June 30, 2016

Macroeconomic factors and competitive issues continue to impact our performance in many ways, in particular voice and messaging usage in roaming, but in sum, our group revenue performance currently out-paces the market."

Mr. Dubovskov continued, "OIBDA performance was slightly weaker in Q2 than anticipated as we witnessed a 4.3% decline in OIBDA for an OIBDA margin of nearly 38%. Our guidance for the year was predicated on changes in the retail environment, but we continue to see strong competitor activity in this space. Retail competition impacts both the gross margin and OIBDA directly, but it also has a sustained impact on effective pricing. These factors, combined with the continued macroeconomic volatility throughout our markets, dampened our performance for the period."

Mr. Vasyl Latsanych, Vice President, Strategy and Marketing, commented, "Total revenue in Russia increased by 3.3% to RUB 97.4 bln. Our mobile business revenue grew slightly during the period as we see a continuation of trends that had previously defined our growth: stronger data usage due to both the growth of customer usage and migration to data plans, as smartphone penetration reached over 51%; 3.2% growth in subscribers as we focus more on sales through our proprietary retail channels; and higher handset sales as we continue to implement our retail strategy of upgrading existing feature phone users, as well as attracting new active voice and data users."

Mr. Latsanych continued, "In our fixed-line business, revenue decreased by 2.8% to RUB 15.3 bln. We see continuous growth from our B2C broadband and pay-TV markets, as market shares in Moscow in both home internet and pay-tv rose. However, overall B2B and B2G spending has fallen due to macroeconomic factors, which reduces overall voice calling. In Ukraine, revenue for the period increased by 13.5% to UAH 2.7 bln. Key drivers include an increase of subscribers and data consumption, which is rising as we have rolled out 3G to all major population centers throughout Ukraine. Among our foreign subsidiaries, revenue in Armenia declined 18.6% year-over-year, while in Turkmenistan, we saw a 7.5% decline. Both markets remain exposed to macroeconomic trends, which continue to weaken voice and data usage."

Alexey Kornya, Vice President, Finance, Investments and M&A, added, "We witnessed a decline in year-over-year group OIBDA of 4.3% to RUB 40.9 bln. While the decline we have seen in the contribution from our foreign subsidiaries has stabilized, Russia witnessed OIBDA decline due to factors we have long identified as having a negative impact on our OIBDA, including higher retail expenses and also roaming costs in light of higher currency volatility. Overall, for the first half of 2016, we are only down 2.2% on OIBDA, which is close to our previous guidance of minus 2%."

Mr. Kornya continued, "Group net profit for the period decreased year-over-year to RUB 9.1 bln. Primary this decline was attributable to a number of factors, including OIBDA trends; the accelerated realization of RUB 3.1 bln in interest expense due to our repurchase of USD 267 mln of our 2020 Eurobond notes; and a smaller non-cash FOREX gain compared to Q2 2015 of RUB 1.0 bln for the period, due to relative ruble weakness vis-A -vis our non-ruble denominated debt."

"Free cash flow to date amounted to 24.0 billion rubles, an increase of 22% year-over-year for the period. CAPEX equaled nearly RUB 40.0 bln, lower than in H1 2015, but in line with our guidance of RUB 85 bln for the year. Spending is lower in each of our markets as we focus on incremental investments in our more developed data markets and have completed our launch of our core 3G network in Ukraine.

"Recently, we paid out dividends of RUB 28.0 bln or RUB 14.01 per share. The Board of Directors also recommended that an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders approve a semi-annual dividend payment of close to RUB 24.0 bln or RUB 11.99 per share, which would satisfy our commitment to deliver RUB 25 - 26 per share in dividends over the course of calendar year 2016.

"By the end of the period, total debt stood at RUB 274.5 bln[2], which is trending lower due to our on-going debt repayments as well as financial policies. Our net debt/LTM Adjusted OIBDA remained stable at a manageable 1.1x, a comfortable level for the Company and very low in relation to our peers. Virtually our entire non-ruble debt position is currently covered by a combination of hedges, short-term deposits and stable long-term investments, all of which are denominated in US dollar or Euro. Adding to this, we repurchased USD 267 mln of our 2020 Eurobonds in Q2 to take advantage of a strong market and our favorable liquidity position to provide hedges against currency volatility and balance sheet flexibility. We remain focused on sustaining a strong balance sheet and identifying further ways to optimize our debt portfolio."

2016 Outlook

In accordance with IFRS 5 disclosure requirements, from Q3 2016 the Group shall present financial results in a manner that enables users of the financial statements to evaluate the effects of discontinued operations. Results of discontinued operations shall be excluded from the results of continuing operations and presented separately as a single amount in the statement of comprehensive income.

Group Revenue: For 2016, MTS amends its Group revenue outlook to 2-3% growth, due to disposal of UMS LLC and expected full deconsolidation of UMS's financial results in Q3 2016 and other factors:

Subscriber growth in Russia ;

; Rising data usage and sustained data adoption in Russia and Ukraine ;

and ; Increased sales of handsets in Russia ; and

; and Rising share in Moscow B2C broadband/pay-TV markets.

Group OIBDA: MTS is compelled to revise its outlook on adjusted Group OIBDA growth to -4% due primarily to the sale of UMS LLC as well as other factors:

Sustained competitive pressures in the Russian distribution market and the Company's strategic efforts to sustain market share;

The build-out of 3G in Ukraine and non-market factors impacting our profitability;

and non-market factors impacting our profitability; Developments in foreign subsidiaries; and

Macroeconomic developments and currency volatility throughout our markets of operation.

Group CAPEX: MTS affirms its Group CAPEX guidance of RUB 85 bln

Additional Information

MTS continues to see sustained macroeconomic volatility in its markets of operations that may impact the financial and operational performance throughout the Group.

Conference Call

The conference call will start today at:

--------------------------------------------------

[2] Net of financial leasing and unamortized debt issuance cost adjustment, as of June 30, 2016

18:00 hrs (Moscow time)

16:00 hrs (London time)

11:00 hrs (US Eastern time)

To take part in the conference call, please dial one of the following telephone numbers and quote the confirmation code, 9935476

From Russia + 7 495545 0588

From the UK: + 44(0)20 3427 1906

From the US: + 1 646 254 3361

The conference call will also be available at: http://www.mtsgsm.com/news/reports/ via audio webcast.

A replay of the conference call will be available for seven days on the following telephone numbers:

From the US: +1 347 366 9565 PIN 9935476

From the UK: +44(0)20 3427 0598 PIN 9935476

This press release provides a summary of some of the key financial and operating indicators for the period ended June 30, 2016. For full disclosure materials, please visit http://www.mtsgsm.com/resources/reports/.

Financial Summary

RUB mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 108,136 102,691 5.3% 108,090 stable OIBDA 40,885 42,722 -4.3% 41,279 -1.0% - margin 37.8% 41.6% -3.8% 38.2% -0.4% Operating profit 20,053 22,501 -10.9% 21,031 -4.6% - margin 18.5% 21.9% -3.4% 19.5% -1.0% Net profit 9,056 17,074 -47.0% 14,507 -37.6% - margin 8.4% 16.6% -8.2% 13.4% -5.0%

Russia Highlights

RUB mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues[3] 97,435 94,336 3.3% 96,302 1.2% - mobile 72,786 72,749 0.1% 71,132 2.3% - fixed 15,263 15,706 -2.8% 15,369 -0.7% - integrated services 1,258 - n/a 2,492 -49.5% - sales of goods 10,552 7,607 38.7% 10,700 -1.4% OIBDA 39,706 41,245 -3.7% 38,583 2.9% - margin 40.8% 43.7% -2.9% 40.1% 0.7% Net profit 10,788 18,746 -42.5% 15,000 -28.1% - margin 11.1% 19.9% -8.8% 15.6% -4.5%

Ukraine Highlights

UAH mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 2,745 2,419 13.5% 2,761 -0.6% OIBDA 827 942 -12.2% 803 3.0% - margin 30.1% 38.9% -8.8% 29.1% 1.0% Net profit 222 214 3.7% 275 -19.3% - margin 8.1% 8,8% -0.7% 10.0% -1.9%

--------------------------------------------------

[3] Revenue, net of intercompany between mobile, fixed and integrated services

Armenia Highlights

AMD mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 15,040 18,479 -18.6% 14,151 6.3% OIBDA 5,944 8,491 -30.0% 5,618 5.8% - margin 39.5% 45.9% -6.4% 39.7% -0.2% Net profit/(loss) (1,991) 4,078 n/a 239 n/a - margin n/a 22.1% n/a 1.7% n/a

Turkmenistan Highlights

TMT mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 66 71 -7.5% 67 -1.7% OIBDA 22 27 -17.2% 24 -7.5% - margin 33.4% 37.4% -4.0% 35.5% -2.1% Net profit 10 13 -29.1% 11 -15.8% - margin 14.4% 18.8% -4.4% 16.8% -2.4%

Uzbekistan Highlights

UZS mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 92,372 37,398 147.0% 85,241 8.4% OIBDA 9,770 (22,235) n/a 5,731 70,5% - margin 10.6% n/a n/a 6.7% 3.9% Net loss (10,771) (28,123) n/a (12,507) n/a - margin n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Belarus Highlights

BYR bln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 1,619 1,302 24.3% 1,489 8.7% OIBDA 757 673 12.4% 681 11.1% - margin 46.8% 51.7% -4.9% 45.7% 1.1% Net profit 466 368 26.6% 397 17.2% - margin 28.8% 28.2% 0.6% 26.7% 2.1%

CAPEX Highlights

RUB mln FY 2015 6M 2016 Russia[4] 79,619 35,306 - as % of rev 20.4% 18.2% Ukraine[5] 12,427 3,155 - as % of rev 44.1% 20.8% Armenia 1,371 281 - as % of rev 15.2% 6.6% Turkmenistan 500 63 - as % of rev 9.8% 2.3% Uzbekistan 2,195 867 - as % of rev 47.6% 20.1% Group 96,111 39,671 - as % of rev 22.3% 18.3%

* * *

For further information, please contact in Moscow:



Joshua B. Tulgan

Director, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations

Mobile TeleSystems PJSC

Tel: +7 495 223 2025

E-mail: ir@mts.ru



Learn more about MTS. Visit the official blog of the Investor Relations Department at http://www.mtsgsm.com/blog/ and follow us on Twitter: JoshatMTS





* * *

Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("MTS" - NYSE:MBT; MOEX:MTSS) is the leading telecommunications group in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe. We provide wireless Internet access and fixed voice, broadband and pay-TV to over 100 million customers who value high quality of service at a competitive price. Our wireless and fixed-line networks deliver best-in-class speeds and coverage throughout Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Turkmenistan and Belarus. To keep pace with evolving customer demand, we continue to grow through innovative products, investments in our market-leading retail platform, mobile payment services, e-commerce and IT solutions. For more information, please visit: http://www.mtsgsm.com.



* * *

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "will," "could," "may" or "might," and the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not undertake or intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the Company's most recent Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors" that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the severity and duration of current economic and financial conditions, including volatility in interest and exchange rates, commodity and equity prices and the value of financial assets; the impact of Russian, U.S. and other foreign government programs to restore liquidity and stimulate national and global economies, our ability to maintain our current credit rating and the impact on our funding costs and competitive position if we do not do so, strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions and our success in integrating acquired businesses, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service development and tariff structures, rapid technological and market change, acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, governmental regulation of the telecommunications industries and other risks associated with operating in Russia and the CIS, volatility of stock price, financial risk management and future growth subject to risks.







Attachments to the Second Quarter 2016

Earnings Press Release

Attachment A

Non-IFRS financial measures. This presentation includes financial information prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, as well as other financial measures referred to as non-IFRS. The non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with IFRS. Due to the rounding and translation practices, Russian ruble and functional currency margins, as well as other non-IFRS financial measures, may differ.

Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) and OIBDA margin. OIBDA represents operating income before depreciation and amortization. OIBDA margin is defined as OIBDA as a percentage of our net revenues. OIBDA may not be similar to OIBDA measures of other companies, is not a measurement under IFRS and should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information contained in our consolidated statement of profit or loss. We believe that OIBDA provides useful information to investors because it is an indicator of the strength and performance of our ongoing business operations, including our ability to fund discretionary spending such as capital expenditures, acquisitions of mobile operators and other investments and our ability to incur and service debt. While depreciation and amortization are considered operating costs under IFRS, these expenses primarily represent the non-cash current period allocation of costs associated with long-lived assets acquired or constructed in prior periods. Our OIBDA calculation is commonly used as one of the bases for investors, analysts and credit rating agencies to evaluate and compare the periodic and future operating performance and value of companies within the wireless telecommunications industry. We use a term Adjusted for OIBDA and operating income when there were significant excluded one off effects. OIBDA can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of operations as follows:

Group (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit 22,501 27,319 18,876 21,031 20,053 Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - - 3,516 - - Adjusted operating profit 22,501 27,319 22,392 21,031 20,053 Add: D&A 20,221 20,700 21,103 20,248 20,832 Adjusted OIBDA 42,722 48,019 43,495 41,279 40,885

--------------------------------------------------

[4] Excluding costs of RUB 3.4 bln related to the acquisition of a 4G license in Russia in 2015 and RUB 2.6 bln in 2016

[5] Excluding purchase of 3G license in Ukraine in the amount of RUB 7.0 bln in 2015

Russia (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit 23,728 27,275 23,481 21,599 21,954 Add: D&A 17,517 17,252 17,634 16,984 17,752 OIBDA 41,245 44,527 41,115 38,583 39,706

Ukraine (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit 1,190 1,675 1,158 795 627 Add: D&A 1,107 1,358 1,390 1,557 1,530 OIBDA 2,297 3,032 2,548 2,351 2,157

Armenia (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit/ (loss) 412 680 (3,122) 120 136 Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - - 3,516 - - Adjusted operating profit 412 680 394 120 136 Add: D&A 525 626 656 737 681 Adjusted OIBDA 937 1,306 1,050 857 817

Turkmenistan (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit 237 326 330 278 209 Add: D&A 165 203 209 232 207 OIBDA 402 529 538 510 416

Uzbekistan (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating loss (1,373) (1,404) (1,163) (607) (447) Add: D&A 917 1,275 1,228 760 667 OIBDA (455) (128) 65 154 220



OIBDA margin can be reconciled to our operating margin as follows:

Group Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 21.9% 23.7% 16.7% 19.5% 18.5% Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - - 3.1% - - Adjusted operating margin 21.9% 23.7% 19.8% 19.5% 18.5% Add: D&A 19.7% 18.0% 18.6% 18.7% 19.3% Adjusted OIBDA margin 41.6% 41.7% 38.4% 38.2% 37.8%

Russia Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 25.2% 26.2% 22.9% 22.4% 22.5% Add: D&A 18.6% 16.6% 17.2% 17.6% 18.2% OIBDA margin 43.7% 42.8% 40.1% 40.1% 40.8%

Ukraine Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 20.2% 22.5% 16.7% 9.9% 8.8% Add: D&A 18.8% 18.2% 20.0% 19.5% 21.4% OIBDA margin 38.9% 40.7% 36.7% 29.4% 30.1%

Armenia Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 20.1% 26.9% n/a 5.6% 6.6% Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - - 155.0% - - Adjusted operating margin 20.1% 26.9% 17.4% 5.6% 6.6% Add: D&A 25.7% 24.8% 28.9% 34.2% 32.9% Adjusted OIBDA margin 45.8% 51.7% 46.3% 39.7% 39.5%

Turkmenistan Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 22.0% 24.3% 23.4% 19.4% 16.8% Add: D&A 15.4% 15.1% 14.8% 16.2% 16.6% OIBDA margin 37.4% 39.4% 38.1% 35.6% 33.4%

Uzbekistan Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin - - n/a n/a n/a Add: D&A - - 61.1% 34.1% 31.9% OIBDA margin - - 3.2% 6.9% 10.5%

***



Attachment B

Net debt represents total debt less cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments and long-term deposits. Our net debt calculation is commonly used as one of the bases for investors, analysts and credit rating agencies to evaluate and compare our periodic and future liquidity within the wireless telecommunications industry. The non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with IFRS.

Net debt can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of financial position as follows:

As of Mar 31, As of June 30, RUB mln 2016 2016 Current portion of LT debt and of finance lease obligations 46,273 49,586 LT debt 259,968 225,569 Finance lease obligations 10,650 10,297 Total debt 316,891 285,452 Less: Cash and cash equivalents 44,389 24,956 ST investments 30,961 27,978 LT deposits 28,886 30,409 Effects of hedging of non-ruble denominated debt 14,636 12,369 Net debt 198,019 189,740

Free cash-flow can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of cash flow as follows:

For the six For the six months ended months ended RUB mln June 30, 2015 June 30, 2016 Net cash provided by operating activities 72,016 63,674 Less: Purchases of property, plant and equipment (40,921) (25,545) Purchases of intangible assets[6] (12,720) (14,126) Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 1,326 1,300 Investments in associates - (1,326) Free cash flow 19,701 23,977







LTM Adjusted OIBDA can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of operations as follows:

Six months Six months Twelve months ended ended June 30, ended RUB mln Dec 31, 2015 2016 June 30, 2016 A B C = A + B Net operating profit 46,195 41,084 87,279 Add: Impairment of goodwill in Armenia 3,516 - 3,516 Add: D&A 41,803 41,080 82,883 LTM ADJUSTED OIBDA 91,514 82,164 173,678

--------------------------------------------------

[6] Excluding costs of RUB 3.4 bln related to the acquisition of a 4G license in Russia in 2015 and RUB 2.6 bln in 2016 and purchase of 3G license in Ukraine in the amount of RUB 7.0 bln in 2015



***



Attachment C

Definitions

Subscriber. We define a "subscriber" as an organization or individual, whose SIM-card:

shows traffic-generating activity or

accrues a balance for services rendered or

is replenished or topped off

Over the course of any three-month period, inclusive within the reporting period, and was not blocked at the end of the period.

***









MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION (UNAUDITED) As of June 30,2016 AND As of December 31,2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB) As of June 30, As of December 31, 2016 2015 NON-CURRENT ASSETS: Property, plant and equipment 288 402 302 662 Investment property 359 364 Intangible assets 110 609 109 064 Investments in associates 8 545 9 299 Deferred tax assets 8 816 9 287 Other non-financial assets 682 480 Other investments 34 386 34 667 Accounts receivable (related parties) 3 513 3 335 Other financial assets 17 773 25 203 Total non-current assets 473 085 494 361 CURRENT ASSETS: Inventories 12 813 14 510 Trade and other receivables 37 252 34 542 Accounts receivable (related parties) 2 447 6 326 Short-term investments 27 978 49 840 VAT receivable 7 041 9 815 Income tax assets 3 655 5 190 Assets held for sale 461 549 Advances paid and prepaid expenses, other current assets 5 665 4 781 Cash and cash equivalents 24 956 33 464 Total current assets 122 268 159 017 Total assets 595 353 653 378 EQUITY: Equity attributable to equity holders 145 216 160 115 Non-controlling interests 6 218 8 256 Total equity 151 434 168 371 NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES: Borrowings 234 634 292 168 Deferred tax liabilities 29 094 27 346 Provisions 2 221 2 565 Other financial liabilities 554 676 Other non-financial liabilities 4 182 4 342 Total non-current liabilities 270 685 327 097 CURRENT LIABILITIES: Borrowings 49 009 53 701 Provisions 5 691 7 863 Trade and other payables 82 981 57 756 Accounts payable (related parties) 1 702 1 809 Income tax liabilities 1 045 831 Other financial liabilities 7 991 9 778 Other non-financial liabilities 24 815 26 172 Total current liabilities 173 234 157 910 Total equity and liabilities 595 353 653 378

MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (UNAUDITED) FOR THE THREE AND SIX MONTHS ENDED June 30, 2016 AND 2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB except per share amount) Three Three months months Six months ended Six months ended ended ended June 30, June 30, June 30, 2016 June 30, 2015 2016 2015 Net operating revenue Service revenue 195 007 188 831 97 680 95 021 Sales of goods 21 219 14 042 10 456 7 669 216 226 202 873 108 136 102 690 Operating expenses Cost of services (68 374) (63 400) (33 776) (31 028) Cost of goods (20 053) (11 729) (10 307) (7 043) Selling, general and administrative expenses (47 579) (44 745) (23 912) (22 449) Depreciation and amortization expense (41 080) (40 669) (20 832) (20 221) Other operating income/(expenses) 482 (611) (17) (94) Operating share of the profit of associates 1 462 1 643 761 646 Provision for cash balances deposited in distressed Ukrainian banks - (1 698) - - Operating profit 41 084 41 664 20 053 22 501 Currency exchange gain 3 270 107 997 3 616 Other (expenses)/income: Finance income 3 005 4 763 1 309 2 437 Finance costs (16 057) (12 609) (9 323) (6 561) Other expenses (1 294) (599) (608) (594) Total other expenses, net (14 346) (8 445) (8 622) (4 718) Profit before tax 30 008 33 326 12 428 21 399 Income tax expense (6 720) (6 649) (3 457) (4 711) Profit for the period 23 288 26 677 8 971 16 688 Loss for the period attributable to non-controlling interests 275 1 284 85 386 Profit for the period attributable to owners of the Company 23 563 27 961 9 056 17 074 Other comprehensive income/(loss) Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss Exchange differences on translating foreign operations (9 603) (12 042) (1 429) (3 085) Net fair value loss on financial instruments (1 736) (3 402) (131) (811) Other comprehensive loss (11 339) (15 444) (1 560) (3 896) Total comprehensive income for the period 11 949 11 233 7 411 12 792 Less comprehensive loss for the period attributable to the non-controlling interests 921 1 604 233 860 Comprehensive income for the period attributable to owners of the Company 12 870 12 837 7 644 13 652 Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, in 1 989 1 988 thousands - basic 1 989 067 1 988 730 424 730 Earnings per share attributable to the Group - basiN: 11,85 14,06 4,55 8,59 Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, in 1 990 1 989 thousands - diluted 1 989 510 1 989 951 174 951 Earnings per share attributable to the Group - diluted: 11,84 14,05 4,55 8,58

MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED June 30, 2016 AND 2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB) Six months ended Six months ended June 30, 2016 June 30, 2015 Profit for the period 23 288 26 677 Adjustments for: Depreciation and amortization 41 080 40 669 Finance income (3 005) (4 763) Finance costs 16 057 12 609 Income tax expense 6 720 6 649 Currency exchange gain (3 270) (107) Change in fair value of financial instruments 179 (91) Amortization of deferred connection fees (491) (569) Share of the profit of associates (442) (839) Inventory obsolescence expense 621 86 Allowance for doubtful accounts 1 131 1 483 Change in provisions 6 317 4 752 Other non cash items (793) (294) Movements in operating assets and liabilities: Increase in trade and other receivables (7 458) (4 824) Decrease/(increase) in inventory 950 (2 516) Decrease/(increase) in VAT receivable 461 (1 599) Decrease in advances paid and prepaid expenses 843 3 113 (Decrease)/Increase in trade and other payables and other current liabilities (3 337) 2 103 - Dividends received 1 181 1 471 Income taxes paid (2 960) (4 207) Interest received 2 081 2 062 Interest paid (net of interest capitalised) (15 479) (9 849) Net cash provided by operating activities 63 674 72 016 CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: Purchases of property, plant and equipment (25 545) (40 921) Purchases of intangible assets (net of purchases of 3G licences in Ukraine and 4G licenses in Russia) (14 126) (12 720) Purchases of 4G licenses in Russia/3G licences in Ukraine (2 598) (7 044) Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment and assets held for sale 1 300 1 326 Purchases of short-term investments (4 891) (28 790) Proceeds from sale of short-term investments 22 040 4 422 Purchase of other investments (2 591) (39 867) Proceeds from sale of other investments 2 97 Investments in associates (1 326) - Net cash used in investing activities (27 735) (123 497) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: Cash flows under capital transactions with related parties 3 063 4 252 Loan principal paid (26 035) (9 009) Proceeds from loans 1 036 43 818 Repayment of notes (17 904) (479) Notes and debt issuance cost paid - (1 213) Finance lease principal paid (168) (224) Dividends paid - (82) Cash outflow under credit guarantee agreement related to foreign-currency hedge (1 034) - Other financing activities - 5 Net cash (used in)/provided by financing activities (41 042) 37 068 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (3 405) (2 924) NET DECREASE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS: (8 508) (17 337) CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at beginning of the period, including cash and cash equivalents within assets held for sale of 156 as of January 1, 2015 33 464 61 566 CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at end of the period 24 956 44 229 Less cash and cash equivalents within assets held for sale - (109) CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at end of the period 24 956 44 120
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 18, 2016) - Midnight Sun Mining Corp. (TSXV: MMA) (the "Company" or "Midnight Sun") is pleased to announce First Quantum Minerals ("First Quantum") has been conducting due diligence investigations on the Company's optioned Solwezi copper property, located in Zambia. First Quantum has indicated it will complete the due diligence work in Q4 of 2016 and make a decision whether to pursue a joint venture with Midnight Sun.

First Quantum is one of the largest copper producers in the world, and operates the Kansanshi mine, located directly adjacent to the Solwezi copper-gold property. Kansanshi is one of the largest copper producing mines in Africa and has an SX/EW oxide treatment facility as well as a sulphide flotation circuit and smelter.

No obligation is created between Midnight Sun and First Quantum as a result of this due diligence activity. Midnight Sun will publicly disclose any material results of the investigation or any material change in their relationship with First Quantum.

Advisory Board Appointment

Midnight Sun is pleased to welcome Stuart (Tookie) Angus to its advisory board. Mr. Angus provides a wealth of experience, having sat as the Head of the Global Mining Group for Fasken Martineau before focusing on the structuring and financing of significant international exploration, development and producing mining ventures. Mr. Angus's experience includes serving as a Director of First Quantum Minerals, Managing Director of Mergers & Acquisitions for Endeavour Financial, Chairman of the Board of BC Sugar Refinery Limited, Director of Canico Resources Corporation until it's takeover by CVRD ($875 million), Director of Bema Gold until it's takeover by Kinross Gold ($3.1 billion), Director of Ventana Gold until it's takeover by AUX Canada Acquisition Inc. ($1.43 billion) and a Director of Plutonic Power until its merger with Magma Energy ($575 million). Currently, Mr. Angus serves as Chairman of Nevsun Resources.

Mr. Angus comments: "Midnight Sun has tremendous potential as a company, and I am pleased to offer my services and support as an advisor to the board and management as they enter this stage of their development."

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD



Robert Sibthorpe

President & CEO



For further information contact:



Al Fabbro

Director

Tel: 604-351-8850

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.
DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- Ubiquitech Software Corp. (OTC PINK: UBQU), through its operating subsidiary HempLifeToday.com, is raising awareness to its shareholders, and the general public, of the numerous online articles and reviews of its popular CannazALL line of CBD hemp products.

The company offers that a quick online search of the "CannazALL " brand will show the enormous online footprint that CannazALL is making and encourages shareholders to see for themselves the progress the company is making. The company also encourages shareholders to check out many common search terms to also see how CannazALL is featured virtually everywhere CBD is mentioned. Either as a product or in a review:

CannazALL

Best CBD

Best CBD pricing

Quality CBD

In addition, many review sites are picking up on the CannazALL CBD brand and more and more articles are being written and shared. Increasing the awareness of CannazALL products and helping the company's growth. Sites like:

CBDOilReview.com

LearnCBD.com

Marijuana.com

PotGuide.com

And more

"After three years and an incredible amount of time, energy, talent and resources spent developing the finest CBD products possible, and, getting the word out to the public we are now starting to experience the natural online viral growth of a major company," said James Ballas CEO of parent company (UBQU) "It's a great feeling to see orders and revenues coming in daily, and growing, without spending precious add dollars. This is true viral growth and it's the best growth you can get because it's like a footprint on the moon... it's always there and doesn't go away!"

One article on a popular lifestyles health site has over 2,000,000 views and tens of thousands of shares since it was published several months ago. This and other examples are what sets HempLifeToday (UBQU) and the CannazALL brand apart from the rest, and is what is helping HempLife Today and the CannazALL brand to continue its exponential growth.

"We want our shareholders to know that when joining us they are joining a group of highly motivated professionals that have the products that the public wants, and the know how to keep our sales climbing. We know that this is very important and every aspect of our business is professional and first rate. Our customers and our shareholders depend on this and we look forward to an incredible 4th quarter and 2017" James Ballas CEO (UBQU)

About Ubiquitech

Ubiquitech Software Corp., through its subsidiaries is a dynamic multi-media, multi-faceted corporation utilizing state-of-the-art global internet marketing, Direct Response (DRTV) Television, Radio, and traditional marketing, to drive traffic to the new and emerging multi-billion dollar industries like its subsidiary HempLifeToday.com

HempLifeToday focuses on the exciting and dynamic new thinking in the world today that recognizes the important health and life enriching enhancement that CBD Oil from the Hemp plant can bring. Through its network of quality USA growers HempLifeToday.com has developed four CannazALL CBD oil products that include; It's popular CBD Tinctures, Oils, GelCaps, CBD Powder, Skin Salve and e-liquid all offered @ www.HempLifeToday.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects", "intends', "believes', and similar expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the timely development and market acceptance of products and technologies, the ability to secure additional sources of finance, the ability to reduce operating expenses, and other factors described in the Company's filings with the OTC Markets Group. The actual results that the Company achieves may differ materially from any forward-looking statement due to such risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward- looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

Contact:

Investor Relations

E-mail: Investors@UbiquitechSoftware.com




VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - August 18, 2016) - Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: SPA) is pleased to announce that it has successfully obtained a refund totalling approximately $3.9 million in relation to the mining exploration tax credit attributable to qualified mining exploration expenses incurred for the Spanish Mountain gold project.

Larry Yau, Interim CEO, commented: "Our hard work has resulted in this source of significant funding for the Company without any stock dilution, debt or sales of assets. We will now focus on advancing our project by further expanding its multi-million ounce mineral resource and demonstrating its robust economics even under a much lower gold price environment."

About Spanish Mountain Gold

Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd is focused on advancing its flagship Spanish Mountain gold project in southern central British Columbia, Canada. The positive economics of the multi-million ounce Mineral Resource have been demonstrated in a Preliminary Economic Assessment. Additional information about the Company is available on its website: www.spanishmountaingold.com

On Behalf of the Board,

SPANISH MOUNTAIN GOLD LTD.

Larry Yau

Interim Chief Executive Officer

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Inquiries:

Phone: (604) 601-3651

E-mail: info@spanishmountaingold.com

Website: www.spanishmountaingold.com
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures were slightly higher Thursday morning amid lingering uncertainty about the broader economy. Gold for December was up 7 dollars at $1355 an ounce, after policymakers of the European Central Bank said more time was needed to assess the impact of the Brexit vote. They said it was premature to discuss possible monetary policy reaction at this stage, the minutes of the rate-setting meeting showed Thursday. 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.
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- Eguana Technologies Inc. (TSX VENTURE: EGT)(OTCQB: EGTYF) announced today that its partner Itochu Corporation has placed the first order for its integrated AC Battery energy storage solution. The order represents initial traction into the fast growing Australian residential market and will be distributed through an existing Itochu partner. The partner, who will remain unnamed at this time for competitive purposes, has existing distribution, installation and service coverage throughout Australia.

"We are very pleased that Itochu has been able to execute so quickly into the Australian market and with a market leader that has the distribution and installation infrastructure in place to manage the projected growth rates of the Australian market" said Justin Holland, CEO of Eguana. "This demonstrates Itochu's true global reach and we look forward to expanding our relationship in Australia, Japan, and other regions for residential and commercial applications."

"The reception of the AC Battery product in the Australian market has been very positive," said Hiroaki Murase, Manager at Itochu. "The Australian residential energy storage market is expected to reach 62MW in 2017 and our partners are looking for proven, flexible solutions like the AC Battery to deliver performance across a range of applications. We are very optimistic with the business growth opportunities in 2017."

About Itochu

With approximately 130 bases in 65 countries, ITOCHU, one of the leading sogo shosha, is engaging in domestic trading, import/export, and overseas trading of various products such as textile, machinery, metals, minerals, energy, chemicals, food, information and communications technology, realty, general products, insurance, logistics services, construction, and finance, as well as business investment in Japan and overseas.

About The AC Battery:

The Eguana AC Battery is a certified, grid ready power control solution pre-integrated with industry leading Li-Ion batteries. Our solution can be seamlessly integrated with a local energy management system or a distributed fleet control network using open communication protocols to provide a fully functional energy storage installation. The AC Battery provides maximum flexibility for system aggregators which want to deploy it as a standalone product, as part of new solar storage installations, or as a retrofit to solar PV installations already in place.

About Eguana Technologies Inc.

Eguana Technologies Inc. (TSX VENTURE: EGT) designs and manufactures high performance power controls for residential and commercial energy storage systems. Eguana has more than 15 years' experience delivering grid edge power electronics for fuel cell, photovoltaic and battery applications and delivers proven, durable, high quality solutions from its high capacity manufacturing facilities in Europe and North America.

With thousands of its proprietary energy storage inverters deployed in the European and North American markets, Eguana is the leading supplier of power controls for solar self-consumption, grid services and demand charge applications at the grid edge.

To learn more, visit www.EguanaTech.com or follow us on Twitter @EguanaTech.

Forward Looking Information

The reader is advised that some of the information herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning assigned by National Instruments 51-102 and other relevant securities legislation. In particular, we include: statements pertaining to the value of our power controls to the energy storage market and statements concerning the use of proceeds and the Company's ability to obtain necessary approvals from the TSX Venture Exchange.

Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and involves a number of risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or future events or developments, to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which speaks only as of the date hereof. Readers are also directed to the Risk Factors section of the Company's most recent audited Financial Statements which may be found on its website or at sedar.com The Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking information contained herein to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Company Inquiries

Eguana Technologies Inc.

Justin Holland

CEO

+1.416.728.7635

Justin.Holland@EguanaTech.com



Product Inquiries

Eguana Technologies Inc.

Vishwas Ganesan

Director of Business Development, USA

+1.408.685.2670

Vishwas.Ganesan@EguanaTech.com




Asko, which is Norway's largest convenience goods wholesaler, is continuing its investment in sustainable transport services. The company will together with Scania start testing trucks with an electric powertrain. Electrical energy is converted from hydrogen gas in fuel cells on board the vehicles. The hydrogen gas will be produced locally, using solar cells. The trucks will run in distribution service with distances of almost 500 km.

"This very interesting project represents a unique opportunity to test the fuel cell technology for conversion of energy to our electric powertrains in a challenging customer operating environment. The conversion of hydrogen gas to electrical energy on board trucks, which are operated for longer distances will thus provide value experience for Scania's continued development of electrified powertrains," says Nils-Gunnar Vagstedt, who is responsible for the development of Scania's hybridisation and electrified vehicles.

Asko is Norway's largest wholesaler and supplies convenience goods to NorgeGruppen's chain stores but it is also an important supplier to institutional households and service trading companies. Asko consists of 13 different regional companies and with a fleet of 600 trucks is one of Norway's largest haulage companies.

Asko has the ambition to achieve a climate-neutral business, where distribution of goods will take place using trucks, which run on renewable fuels and in the longer term completely on electricity. Experience from pilot testing of vehicles and the plant, which will be built for local hydrogen gas production, will form the basis for Asko's decision on a continued investment in hydrogen gas propulsion. The research project is partly financed by the Norwegian government.

Scania will supply three-axle distribution trucks with a gross weight of 27 tonnes, where the internal combustion engine in the powertrain will be replaced by an electric engine powered by electricity from fuel cells and hydrogen gas on board the vehicle. The rest of the powertrain is composed of the same standard components used in the hybrid trucks and buses that Scania already delivers. Three trucks will form part of the research project, with an option for one further vehicle.

Various internal combustion engines are part of Scania's modular component range, which in hybrid drive are combined with powerful electrical propulsion. With sufficient electrical energy in batteries, the vehicle is fully electrically-powered for short periods.

Scania is participating in the Swedish research project concerning electric roads, where the power is transferred via overhead lines and wires or wirelessly via the roadway or from special charging stations. The aim is to remove limitations in battery capacity and thereby achieve longer distances in electrical propulsion.

The internal combustion engine can also be fully replaced by an electric engine.

"In the near future, we will see fully battery-powered electric vehicles in service, primarily in sensitive urban areas as they are limited by their battery capacity and charging potential. Our own trials of battery-powered electric trucks and buses show that further development is required of batteries, which have the capacity to store the energy needed for long-haul goods and passenger transport before the internal combustion engine can be fully replaced," says Nils-Gunnar Vagstedt.

Various technologies will be tested in the Swedish electric roads project and in collaboration with Asko, with the aim of becoming less restricted by the shortcomings posed by batteries.

Scania is a part of Volkswagen Truck Bus GmbH and one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications. Scania is also leading provider of industrial and marine engines. Service-related products account for a growing proportion of the company's operations, assuring Scania customers of cost-effective transport solutions and maximum uptime. Scania also offers financial services. Employing some 44,000 people, the company operates in about 100 countries. Research and development activities are concentrated in Sweden, while production takes place in Europe and South America, with facilities for global interchange of both components and complete vehicles. In 2015, net sales totalled SEK 95 billion and net income amounted to SEK 6.8 billion. Scania press releases are available on www.scania.com (http://www.scania.com/se)

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005581/en/

Contacts:

Scania

For further information, please contact

Hans-Ake Danielsson,

Press Manager, tel. +46 8 553 856 62
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 18, 2016) - True Leaf Medicine International Ltd. (CSE: MJ). In a letter sent today to the Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Secretariat, True Leaf, a BC-based medical marijuana company, makes four recommendations on the future production and distribution of legalized marijuana in Canada.

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has established a task force to advise the Canadian government on how best to move forward with its plan to legalize marijuana.

Chaired by Anne McLellan, former deputy prime minister and health and justice minister, the task force is seeking public input and will advise the government on the design of the legislation and the regulatory framework for a new system marijuana sales and distribution.

True Leaf Medicine International Ltd. is one of 400-plus companies in the process of applying for a licence to produce and distribute medical marijuana under the previous government's Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) program. The new plan to legalize marijuana will replace the MMPR process.

True Leaf Chair Michael Harcourt, the former Premier of British Columbia, has written a letter to the task force outlining the company's vision for a new plan, calling for both recreational and medical marijuana to be produced and distributed via the same system.

Mr. Harcourt's case and supporting points are contained in the letter, which is included in this message.

To interview Mr. Harcourt or True Leaf CEO Darcy Bomford, please contact:

Danielle Johnson

Associate, BreakThrough Communications

(604) 803-0341

associatebreakthroughpr@gmail.com

Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Secretariat

Address locator 0602E

Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9

Email: cannabis@canada.ca

August 10, 2016

As the federal government contemplates the means by which it will implement its laudable commitment to legalize marijuana, a task force has been created to advise on the design of a new system. The Task Force is seeking the views of Canadians on issues that are key to that design. They will then provide the federal government with a final report.

This letter represents True Leaf Medicine International Inc.'s response to the call for public input.

PRODUCTION

Among the Canadians most knowledgeable about the safe and secure production and distribution of marijuana are those companies, including our own, which have applied to become licensed producers of marijuana for medical purposes. As one of the 416 applicants in the queue as of June 28, 2016, we agree with the government's discussion paper that this current regime could be effectively adapted for the full-scale production of marijuana in Canada.

Of course, this process was established to produce marijuana for medical purposes under regulation (MMPR), but it has also generated a repository of knowledge, expertise and skill that can be seen as a formidable asset as the government contemplates wider legalization.

There are currently 33 licensed producers who have been through an exhaustive seven-part process, and as mentioned above, another 416 who are currently working their way through the rigors of the process, which include screening, security clearance, review, pre-licence inspection and, finally, licensing.

Along the way, attrition has been extensive. Hundreds have been refused, rejected, or withdrawn. In a number of cases, products have been recalled to protect client safety. This is a comprehensively and carefully regulated sector, unlike the ad hoc blossom of illegal dispensaries around the country, which have sprouted up to be in position for legalization. Whatever the ultimate fate of those dispensaries, the quality and safety of the product has to remain paramount - and the MMPR companies provide a ready-made source of supply that will comply with the strictest safety standards.

The discussion paper points out that the relatively small numbers of medical marijuana users suggests that adopting the current model would not be in the public interest in the context of the larger number of users expected in a legalized market. Yet in addition to the licenced producers, there are the more than 400 applicants at various stages in the queue, and prior to the change in government, movement through the process was characteristically slow. An intensified focus on resolving partially-completed applications will serve to increase supply, while ensuring the quality of that supply. As well, companies with licences have untapped capacity allowing for production increases.

While using an adapted version of the current model may lead to a limitation in the supply at the outset, starting from scratch or instituting a parallel process will undoubtedly introduce troubling uncertainty in quality and security of the supply (at least), as has been the case in the US states legalizing marijuana for the public. The current model, which the discussion paper calls the market-driven competitive model, offers the best start, with a large number of qualified, screened and cleared sources of supply ready to scale up and address the demand.

DISTRIBUTION

Turning to distribution: A number of options have been outlined in the discussion paper, including the through-the-mail system currently used in the distribution of marijuana for medical purposes. Another possibility is modeling the distribution system after the alcohol or cigarette distribution system. One of the key considerations is protecting young Canadians by keeping marijuana out of the hands of children and youth.

While these systems have merit, it is time to acknowledge that marijuana is a unique substance that is sought for its medicinal as well as its recreational benefits, unlike other controlled substances. There is an outside-the-box argument to be made that marijuana distribution should be controlled by or grounded in a coalition of health care professionals, including doctors, naturopathic doctors and pharmacists. Today, even the illegal dispensaries often go through the formality of requiring the approval of a licensed health professional as a condition of purchase. While this may amount to window dressing, the idea of a licensed dispensary, for both medical and recreational marijuana, is worth further consideration. A network of licensed dispensaries already exists - pharmacies. A licenced system including some of the more professionally run dispensaries and alternative health care practices, carefully integrating health care considerations into the recreational marijuana narrative, may prove surprisingly beneficial immediately and in the long run.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Production of the medicinal and recreational supply, other than plants grown for personal use, can be most effectively, safely and securely supplied by commercial licenced producers. Now that the MMPR process is scheduled for change, we see this as an opportune time to licence more of the already screened, qualified and cleared applicants in anticipation of increased demand.

Distribution of medical and recreational supply should be worked out co-operatively between Ottawa and the provinces. In BC, it will likely occur through a combination of Liquor Control Board outlets and private facilities. We recommend that pharmacies and alternative medical practices, as well as licenced existing dispensaries, be included in the distribution network for recreational as well as medical supply.

Naturopathic doctors are professionally trained practitioners and herbalists; they are experts in both the historical uses of plants as well as modern pharmacological mechanisms. Therefore, we recommend that prescription for medical marijuana should expand beyond medical doctors to include both naturopathic doctors and pharmacists.

Production and distribution issues aside, more research is needed on both recreational and medicinal use. True Leaf Medicine International Inc. sees the need for evidence-based research on the most effective dosages and strains required for the various applications of medicinal marijuana: pain management, nausea from cancer treatment, and epilepsy, among others. We are prepared to work further with our contacts in the medical community, along with pain management centres and organizations such as the Canadian Arthritis Society.

If you are interested in discussing these ideas further, we would be pleased to do so.

Sincerely,

Michael Harcourt

Chair, True Leaf Medicine International Inc.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After reporting a slight drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing another modest decrease in initial jobless claims in the week ended August 13th. The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 262,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 266,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 265,000. Jobless claims remained below 300,000 for the 76th consecutive week, representing the longest streak since 1970. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average rose to 265,250, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 262,750. Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also climbed by 15,000 to 2.175 million in the week ended August 6th. The four-week moving average of continuing claims also reached 2,155,000, an increase of 10,750 from the previous week's revised average of 2,144,250. 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.
HYDERABAD, India, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Mordor Intelligence announces the publication of their research report on the global LiDAR market. The report titled, "Global LiDAR Market - Market Size, Trends, and Forecasts ," discusses the current landscape and outlook of the market.

The global LiDAR market was valued at USD 1.33 billion in 2015 and is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 12.72% and reach USD 2.42 billion by 2020. One of the best known applications of LiDAR is in agriculture. It is used to create a topographical map of fields in order to determine sun exposure and gradients of a particular farm land. This technology helps farmers to achieve highest crop yield by indicating key areas for the usage of expensive fertilizers.

Market segmentation is based on:

Technology Rayleigh LiDAR Mie LiDAR Raman LiDAR Fluorescence LiDAR

Application Airborne LiDAR Terrestrial LiDAR Mobile LiDAR Short Range LiDAR

Component GPS Data Storage & Management Inertial Navigation Systems Laser Scanner

End-User Application Civil Engineering Archeology Mining & Forestry Military Corridor Mapping Topographical Survey

Region North America Europe Asia-Pacific Middle East & Africa Latin America



Raman LiDAR is the most dominant technology, holding 33.2% of the market. It is followed by Rayleigh and fluorescence LiDARs. Fluorescence LiDAR (Na/K/Mg) is expected to be the fastest growing market owing to its higher accuracy and data collection efficiency. By 2020 corridor mapping and topographical surveying are expected to become the highest grossing sectors. The English, Dutch and Spanish governments have already commenced programs regarding collection of topographical data and are actively sharing the information with third-party organizations to assist citizens of their respective countries. Other countries in the Eurozone are expected to follow this trend.

The use of LiDAR for military applications is expected to gradually increase, owing to an increase in military sizes and adoption of better technology. Currently North America, followed by Europe, is the biggest LiDAR market. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to surpass both these regions.

The LiDAR market is dominated by SICK AG, Hokuyo Automatic Co Ltd., Velodyne LiDAR, Quanergy, Phoenix Aerial Systems, 3D Laser Mapping, Quantum Spatial, Airborne Imaging Inc., Avent LiDAR technology, Faro Technology, GeoDigital and Leica GeoSystems AG.

About Mordor Intelligence:

Mordor Intelligence is a global market research and consulting firm. Our singular focus is to provide research insights for business success. Our research team has expertise in diverse fields like Agriculture, Healthcare, ICT, Chemicals, Manufacturing, Logistics, Electronics and Automotive. However diverse the expertise maybe, everyone in our team shares one common trait - 'we love data and we love providing solutions to clients using that data'. Seeing your business flourish based on our solutions and strategy is what we love the most.

For information regarding permissions and sales, please contact: info@mordorintelligence.com

Media Contact:

Madan Gopal

AVP - Marketing & Strategy

Email: madan@mordorintelligence.com

Direct Line:+1 617-765-2493


VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- Carl Data Solutions Inc. (CSE: CRL)(FRANKFURT: 7C5) ("Carl" or the "Company"), a developer of Big-Data-as-a-Service ("BDaaS")-based solutions for data integration and business intelligence, is very pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, FlowWorks Inc. ("FlowWorks"), has been awarded its sixth major Flow Monitoring and Related Services Contract for its FlowWorks Application ("FlowWorks Application"), within the State of California ("California" or the "State"), with Infrastructure Engineering Corporation ("IEC") to provide services to the City of El Monte in Los Angeles County ("L.A."), totaling over 235 sites added in California since 2014.

The Company has been awarded a total of six major contracts in collaboration with international engineering consulting firms and service providers like Kennedy/Jenks Consulting, Hach Company, TRC Solutions, AECOM, ADS Environmental Services, V&A Consulting Engineers and IEC to provide services to the City of Richmond in Contra Costa County, the City of Belmont in San Mateo County, the City of Ontario in San Bernardino County, the City of Gilroy in Santa Clara County, the City of Los Angeles in Los Angeles County and another with Orange County Sanitation District in Orange County, California.

California is the most densely populated and highly visited state in the USA, servicing the water and wastewater demands of close to 40 million residences and over 250 million visitors per year (2014). As a result, the State is faced with an ever-increasing demand for water-related civil services that requires leveraging technology to improve its environmental-related operations.

For the aforementioned cities and counties, FlowWorks plays an instrumental role in developing and implementing smarter water-related strategies by allowing for faster data collection, virtually infinite data storage and in-depth data analysis, displaying important information in near real-time for better and faster decision making.

George Elaro, Flow Services Group Manager of IEC, commented, "It has been a pleasure to partner with FlowWorks over the last several years. We're excited to continue to use the FlowWorks Application in our projects and enjoy working with their team of developers to build custom solutions to service our clients' individual requirements. IEC plans on using the FlowWorks Application for many more of its water and wastewater projects in the future. We're also looking forward to the launch of the upgraded version of the FlowWorks Application later this year and are excited to explore the new tools and features that the upgraded version will offer."

L.A. Sanitation has an extensive flow-monitoring program that is used to manage a network consisting of close to 6,700 miles (approx. 10,800 km) of sewer pipe. FlowWorks is collaborating with L.A. Sanitation to provide services to create a centralized flow monitoring database and custom tools to assist in analyzing this data.

Brian Lofquist, General Manager of FlowWorks, commented, "We're very pleased to be awarded another contract in California. We've had a lot of interest coming out of the State because of its unique water-related issues, which continue to mount year after year. L.A. Sanitation has worked with us directly to develop custom features. We're continuing discussions to create new tools to fulfill our clients' specific needs, allowing us to advance the FlowWorks Application by testing new features applicable to specific geographic markets. The ability to respond to customization requests is a key differentiator between FlowWorks and its competitors in the marketplace."

Greg Johnston, CEO of Carl, commented, "We're excited to see our portfolio of California contracts continue to expand. California, in particular, poses many new and unique challenges that our development team is eager to provide solutions for. We'll announce new tools and features with the launch of our upgraded FlowWorks Application later this year. With California's mounting environmental problems, paired with its rapid adoption of technology, we're confident that the Company will continue to be awarded many more contracts throughout California and grow our current site counts in the coming years. We're pleased to have such a strong presence in California and we're honored to play a significant role in the state's innovative environmental management and sustainability plans for the future."

About FlowWorks

FlowWorks is a powerful Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS")-based application for collecting, monitoring and analyzing all types of environmental data. FlowWorks is flexible, affordable and easy-to-use compared to competing software packages. The FlowWorks Application has the unique ability to collect data from all types of monitoring equipment, gauges and sensor hardware, SCADA systems and other sources of public and private data to merge the information into a single platform to perform comprehensive analytics and reporting, saving time and money for the end user. More information on the FlowWorks Application can be found at www.FlowWorks.com.

About Carl Data Solutions Inc.

Carl Data Solutions Inc. is focused on providing next generation information collection, storage and analytics solutions for data centric companies. Building on its recent acquisitions, Flow Works Inc., a company that helps its clients analyze and understand all forms of environmental data through a powerful platform of data collection, monitoring, analysis and reporting tools and Extend to Social Media Inc., a company with an application that allows clients to leverage their customers' social networks for referral marketing and analytics, Carl develops applications to work with new cloud-based mass storage services and analytics tools (Big-Data-as-a-Service ("BDaaS")).

Carl is creating a virtually unlimited data storage environment from which informative visual representations of data can be created and new insight generated. Carl's goal is to deliver a comprehensive data management solution for datasets of any size and type from any source. More information can be found at www.CarlSolutions.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Greg Johnston, President, Chief Executive Officer, Director

Carl Data Solutions Inc.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. In particular, forward-looking statements in this press release include the Company's expectation that FlowWorks will announce more tools and features with the launch of an upgraded version of the FlowWorks Application and that FlowWorks will continue to be awarded many more contracts throughout California and grow its current site counts in the coming years.

Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements including, without limitation, risks with respect to: the ability of the Company to establish a market for its services; competitive conditions in the industry; general economic conditions in Canada and globally; the inability to secure additional financing; competition for, among other things, capital and skilled personnel; potential delays or changes in plans with respect to deployment of services or capital expenditures; possibility that government policies or laws may change; technological change; risks related to the Company's competition; the Company's not adequately protecting its intellectual property; interruption or failure of information technology systems; and regulatory risks relating to the Company's business, financings and strategic acquisitions. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Carl Data Solutions Inc.

Tiffany Tolmie

Corporate Communications

(778) 379-0275

tiffany@carlsolutions.com

www.CarlSolutions.com




VAL-D'OR, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- Cartier Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: ECR) ("Cartier") announces the closing of a private placement for gross proceeds of $150,000. In total, Cartier issued 1,250,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.12 per Unit, with each Unit consisting of one (1) common share at a price of $0.12 per share and one (1) common share purchase warrant, each warrant entitling the holder to subscribe for one (1) common share at a price of $0.15 for a period of twelve (12) months following the closing date. The securities issued under the private placement are subject to a four (4) month statutory hold period.

Additionally, Cartier announces the signature of an Investor Relations Services Agreement with Relations Publiques Paradox Inc. ("Paradox"). Pursuant to the agreement reached between the parties, Paradox will focus on developing and expanding Cartier's communications with the investment community through a comprehensive investor relations program. Paradox has been providing investor relations services in multiple industries for nearly fifteen years. Services to be provided to Cartier will include: marketing to the investment community, use of Paradox's proprietary database and contacts, organizing meetings and presentations on behalf of Cartier, and providing an e-mail service and incoming call service.

The agreement has a term of 24 months from the date of its signature and may be terminated at any time without charge by either party by giving 30 days' notice in writing. Paradox will be paid a monthly fee of $7,500 and will be granted an option to acquire 500,000 common shares of Cartier at a price of $0.17 per share for a period of five years, in accordance with the current stock option plan and Policy 3.4 of the TSX-V. The Investor Relations Agreement as well as the professional engagement fees and granting of stock options is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.

The directors of Paradox are, Jean-Francois Meilleur, acting president, Carl Desjardins and Karl Mansour. The company 9244-2946 Quebec inc., under direct control by Gestion Jean-Francois Meilleur inc., Gestion Carl Desjardins inc. and Gestion Karl Mansour inc., are majority shareholders of Paradox. Jean-Francois Meilleur, Carl Desjardins and Karl Mansour will be the persons providing the services to Cartier. Paradox offices are situated at 1178, Place Phillips, suite 250, Montreal, Quebec. The directors of Paradox have subscribed in this private placement for a total of $101,400, or 845,000 Units.

This press release is not an offer or a solicitation of an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration.

The common shares of Cartier Resources Inc. are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "ECR".

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulatory services provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Contacts:

Cartier Resources Inc.

Philippe Cloutier, P.Geo.

President and CEO

819 856-0512

philippe.cloutier@ressourcescartier.com

www.ressourcescartier.com




DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- Two Rivers Water & Farming Company ("Two Rivers") (OTCQB: TURV) announced today its recommended board of directors' slate to be voted on at its annual meeting of shareholders on September 30, 2016.

To reflect Two Rivers' three strategic thrusts, the board slate is comprised of experts in farming, leasing and water. The nominated board is:

Wayne Harding is a current director and CEO/CFO of Two Rivers. He has been a member of the senior management team at Two Rivers since 2008 and was recently appointed to the CEO position and to the board after the resignation of the prior CEO and board member, John McKowen. He holds an active CPA license and the Charter Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation.





Samuel Morris is a current director. He is the principal of Morris Law Associates which he formed in 2006, and provides legal guidance on acquisitions, management buyouts and restructuring. He has served as general counsel for several companies.





Michael Harnish is a current director. He serves as the Chair of Two Rivers Audit Committee as the accounting expert. Mr. Harnish has served on numerous boards of companies both public and private. Mr. Harnish has received the certifications of: Certified Public Accountant (CPA); Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP); Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF); Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA); EnCase Certified Examiner (EnCE); and the Certificate in Data Processing (CDP).





T. Keith Wiggins resides in southern Colorado. He operates a large cattle ranch and has a Master of Agriculture degree from Colorado State University. Mr. Wiggins previously served as Vice President of Human Resources and Environmental Services for Union Texas Petroleum Holdings, a Fortune 500 company. Mr. Wiggins will provide Two Rivers with agriculture and water expertise.





James Cochran is the founder of a privately held real estate investment, development and asset management company. He has served as President and Chief Investment Officer for DCT Industrial Trust, served as Senior Vice President and member of the Investment Committee for ProLogis Trust and served as board member and member of the Executive Committee of Macquarie ProLogis Trust. Mr. Cochran will provide real estate investment and leasing expertise.

Wayne Harding, CEO of Two Rivers, commented, "I'm excited to work with this new board. We have the right people with the right attitude and diverse expertise to focus on bringing value to our shareholders."

About Two Rivers

Two Rivers assembles its water assets by acquiring irrigated farmland with senior water rights. Two Rivers current farm operations convert feed crop farmland into fruit and vegetable crop production in Pueblo County Colorado. In November 2012, Colorado legalized the personal use and cultivation of marijuana. As a result, Two Rivers is providing greenhouses and processing facilities for licensed marijuana growers in Colorado on land with water rights not used for fruit and vegetable crop production.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors, including the inherent uncertainties associated with developing and acquiring land and water resources. There can be no assurance Two Rivers will be able to initiate and operate its grow facilities in accordance with its business plans. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and Two Rivers assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

Two Rivers Water & Farming Company

Wayne Harding

(303) 222-1000

info@trgrowco.com




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL) announced the appointment of Andrew Levy as executive vice president and chief financial officer and Julia Haywood as executive vice president and chief commercial officer. Gerry Laderman, who has been serving as acting chief financial officer, will continue in his previous role as senior vice president, finance, procurement and treasurer. Jim Compton, who currently serves as chief revenue officer and vice chairman of United, will retire at the end of the year, after supporting the transition. Levy comes to United following more than thirteen years of leadership at Allegiant Travel Company, a highly successful ultra-low cost carrier. Levy brings a comprehensive airline background to United, having held the roles of president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Haywood joins United from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where she served as partner and managing director. Most recently, Haywood was a partner on BCG's revenue and network transformation team at United. Haywood has been at BCG for twelve years, where she has ascended to lead the firm's airline transformation practice globally, with specific expertise in commercial strategy and execution, network planning and revenue growth. Throughout her career she has worked with more than a dozen airlines ranging from ultra-low cost carriers to large global network carriers, including a series of complex multi-year transformations for airlines on three continents. Prior to BCG, Haywood served in various roles for the International Olympic Committee, focusing on strategy and operations. 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.
SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- Cushman & Wakefield/Commerce released its second quarter Marketbeat Snapshot report detailing the Seattle and Puget Sound Eastside areas' office markets. According to the reports, the commercial real estate office market continues to be in high demand. The Seattle-Bellevue-Tacoma unemployment rates increased from 4.8 percent in Q1 of 2016 to 5.2 percent. Despite the continuously increasing unemployment rate, employment actually continued to grow as a result of the high return to the workforce, pushing the labor participation rate higher.

"As the labor participation rate continues to rise, we are also seeing a significant Chinese, Korean and Japanese increase of investments for Seattle's commercial real estate market," said Dave Magee, Washington region market leader of Cushman & Wakefield/Commerce. "Amazon, Boeing and other major tech companies have been the driver to the growth in Seattle. This area has reached the level of attraction to international investors, and is now being compared to leading cities like New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco."

Office Market Reports

Seattle CBD Market

The office market in the Seattle CBD ended the second quarter with a vacancy rate of 6.9 percent and asking rate of 19.1 percent to $38.38 per square foot, both of which increased from Q1 of 2016. With nearly 1.2 million square feet of leasing activity, the CBD saw a 21.1 percent decline from a year ago. Stadium Place -- Hawk Tower in the Pioneer Square/International District submarket saw the largest lease transaction of the quarter. Avalara signed for 133,308 square feet and occupancy is schedule for December 2017. The Seattle CBD area continues to be a center of activity, with large blocks of continuous space in high demand and limited supply.

Seattle Eastside Market

The office market in the Eastside saw an overall vacancy rate increase, ending the second quarter at 10.5 percent. As such, the asking rate had an increase of 12.2 percent to $32.81 per square foot on a year-over-year basis. With an 11 percent year-over-year increase, 834,200 square feet of leasing activity was reported for the Eastside. Kirkland Urban, a new mixed-use development which will feature 650,000 square feet of office space, had the two most significant transactions from Tableau, who will occupy 91,907 square feet and Wave, who will occupy 87,145 square feet. Kirkland Urban will begin construction in Q3 of 2016, and is scheduled for completion in Q4 of 2018. The outlook for the Eastside remains optimistic. Bellevue is rezoning parts of downtown to allow for taller buildings, which should generate high-density commercial and residential development.

Seattle Suburban Market

The Seattle Suburban office market improved since Q1 2016, and saw a decrease of 240 basis points to 15.5 percent, with an asking rate increase of 0.2 percent to $24.78 per square foot on a year-over-year basis. Leasing activity in the Suburban area was reported at 47,362 square feet with North Seattle/Northgate, Close-in South Seattle, and Renton showing the most activity. The largest lease transaction of the quarter was by Providence Health & Services, who signed a 45,492 square foot sublease at Time Square -- 700 Building in the Renton submarket. The Seattle Suburban area is positioned strongly as it continues to profit from the rising rent and lower vacancy rate in the CBD and Eastside area. Companies should remain looking to the suburban market as an expansion option.

Industrial Market Reports

Seattle Eastside Industrial Market

The Seattle area's industrial market ended the quarter with an overall vacancy decrease totaling 5.3 percent, while the average asking rent increased $0.81 per square foot to $10.89 per square foot. Leasing activity totaled 1.4 million square feet and the overall absorption remained positive at 1.2 million square feet. The most significant transaction was the lease of 147,040 square feet at Totem Lake Commerce Center in Kirkland. 778,472 square feet of WestPark's twenty-one buildings was purchased by KBS Realty Advisors for $128 million. The 68,000 square foot built-to-suit for Northwest Storage Properties was also completed. The Eastside industrial market will continue to appeal to tenants demanding improved flex or high tech spaces, higher rates of occupancy, and a greater parking ratio than what Kent Valley can provide. Tech companies will continue to expand to the area due to the culture that supports innovation with more than half the current tenant demand coming from tech firms.

Kent Valley Industrial Market

The overall vacancy increased slightly by 60 basis points on a year-over-year basis and Kent Valley industrial market ended the quarter at 5.4 percent, but decreased 40 basis points from Q1 of 2016. As such, the overall asking rent was $6.04 per square feet, a $0.16 increase from Q2 of 2015. There was a positive overall absorption of 1.9 million square feet, while leasing activity totaled over 4.5 million square feet. Kent Valley's largest investment transaction was the 306,457 square foot Titan building in Sumner by LBA Realty for $33.6 million. Just over 1 million square feet of industrial product is still set to be delivered in Kent Valley by year-end 2016, 78 percent of which is currently available. Despite the large amounts available, industrial space will remain in high demand with a large volume of big-box tenants in the market.

Social Media Links:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/comre_

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/COMRE1

Blog: http://blog.comre.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/commerce-real-estate-solutions?trk=tabs_biz_home

About Cushman & Wakefield/Commerce

Cushman & Wakefield/Commerce operates the Cushman & Wakefield business in Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Washington. The firm partners with its sister company Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq to provide innovative commercial real estate solutions to occupier and investor clients, offering transaction services, capital markets services, occupier and investor services, and real estate advisory. Together the firms manage 52 million sq. ft. of retail, industrial, and office assets, have transaction revenues of more than $2 billion, and employ more than 750 professionals. Learn more at www.comre.com.

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield is a leading global real estate services firm that helps clients transform the way people work, shop, and live. The firm's 43,000 employees in more than 60 countries provide deep local and global insights that create significant value for occupiers and investors around the world. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest commercial real estate services firms with revenue of $5 billion across core services of agency leasing, asset services, capital markets, facility services (C&W Services), global occupier services, investment & asset management (DTZ Investors), project & development services, tenant representation, and valuation & advisory. To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @CushWake on Twitter.

Media Contact:



Tim Rush

Springboard5

+1 801 208 1100

Email Contact




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The United States has agreed to pass on its power to govern the Internet domain name system (DNS) fully to ICANN - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. This is an important milestone in a nearly 20-year effort by the US Government and Internet multi-stakeholder community to privatize the Internet domain name system. DNS, one of the Internet's most important components, pairs the easy-to-remember web addresses with their relevant servers. Without DNS, websites can be accessed only by typing in its IP address. The United States' National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), part of the Department of Commerce, informed ICANN Tuesday that it intends to hand over the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions on October 1. Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling said the IANA stewardship transition represents the final step in the U.S. government's long-standing commitment to privatize the Internet's domain name system. For the last 18 years, the United States has been working with the global Internet multistakeholder community to establish a stable and secure multistakeholder model of Internet governance that ensures that the private sector, not governments, takes the lead in setting the future direction of the DNS. To help achieve this goal, NTIA in 1998 partnered with ICANN, a California-based nonprofit organization, to transition technical DNS coordination and management functions to the private sector. NTIA's current stewardship role was intended to be temporary. 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.
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The landmark solar array, which includes a 10.6 MW PV system and a 6 MW energy storage unit, went fully operational in June. Now PPAs have been signed for Origin Energy to purchase electricity from the array for the next five and a half years. The impressive system - Australia's largest off-grid solar facility and the largest solar array to provide peak power at a mine site globally - is located at the DeGrussa gold and copper mine in Western Australia. Numerous partners were involved in the realization of the plant, which is owned by French company Neoen, was financed by the Australian ...

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A new presidential state poll on Wednesday shows Donald Trump leading by 11 points over Hillary Clinton in Indiana. The Monmouth University poll shows that among Indiana voters likely to cast ballots in November's presidential election, 47 percent currently support Trump and 36 percent back Clinton. Another 10 percent intend to vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson, while 5 percent are undecided. The home state of Trump's running mate Mike Pence, Indiana went narrowly for President Barack Obama in 2008 elections before swinging to his GOP rival Mitt Romney in 2012. Wednesday's margin surpasses the 10 point lead Mitt Romney had over Obama in 2012. The Trump Campaign says that GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence is being credited with helping Trump gain this lead, holding a 54 percent approval rating during his term as governor. 'Pence is likely boosting the GOP ticket's prospects here, as Indiana voters really don't like either of the two presidential nominees,' according to Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. 'In fact, their favorability ratings are among the lowest the Monmouth University Poll has found anywhere we've polled.' 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.
Technavio's latest report on the globalenergy-efficient building marketprovides an analysis on the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2016-2020. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline.

Sayani Roy, an industry expert from Technavio, specializing in research on smart grid sector, says, "The global energy-efficientbuilding market was valued at USD 347 billion in 2015. It is expected to reach USD 550 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of almost 10%. This is primarily attributed to the need for energy management, increase in technological advancements, and increase in the number of green buildings. Energy-efficient products and services provide significant benefits to a broad range of end-users, such as residential, IT parks, hotels, restaurants, manufacturing plants, government institutions, and retail outlets

Services segment to dominate the market with a CAGR of around 11% by 2020

Increased awareness of environmental issues, such as GHG and CO2 emissions, and new government policies are contributing to the growth of the services segment. The presence of an extensive service system is necessary to ensure the effective implementation of an energy management program. Increased awareness of environmental issues, such as GHG and CO2 emissions, and new government policies are contributing to the growth of the services segment. The presence of an extensive service system is necessary to ensure the effective implementation of an energy management program.

The top three emerging trends driving the global energy-efficient buildingmarketaccording to Technavio energy research analysts are:

Increase in government support and investments

Rising energy prices

Reduction in GHG emission levels

Increase in government support and investments

Sayani adds, "Governments worldwide are enforcing regulations to support the development of energy-efficient buildings. Some policies have been introduced to aid the development of zero-energy buildings. For instance, the UK government has set the zero carbon policy and has made a commitment to have zero carbon homes from 2016

Barratt, one of the leading house builders, built 195 zero carbon homes on a disused hospital site near Bristol in 2009. The projected improvement due to these homes should bring about a reduction in CO2 emissions by around 17 million tons. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) estimates a substantial reduction in the CO2 emissions that are released to British homes by 2020. In 2009, the UK government made an additional investment of USD 3.2 million to facilitate the research and development of energy-efficient buildings. The research tests new technologies and material to provide valuable evidence for future standards and ways to reduce energy bills. To encourage zero carbon homes, an exemption from the Stamp Duty Land Tax was implemented in 2006.

Rising energy prices

Constant depletion of energy from natural resources without replenishment and a simultaneous increase in energy demand from various residential and commercial operations have resulted in a marked increase in energy cost over the years. For example, in the US, average electricity price for retail and residential sectors notched up a 2.3% annual growth rate from 2008-2015. This has led to the growing demand for energy-efficient buildings worldwide.

The focus has shifted from energy generation to energy conservation. The aim of designing these buildings is to improve the operational efficiency and slash overall energy costs. Moreover, they are also designed to help in the conservation of fossil fuels, thereby reducing the overall impact on the environment.

Reduction in GHG emission levels

Different operations in a building, both residential and commercial, that involve heating, cooling, and lighting contribute to the increase of CO2 in the environment. Unlike conventional buildings, there are no GHG emissions in energy-efficient buildings. Therefore, they significantly help in environmental and economic benefits.

"A zero-energy building is one that produces as much energy as it consumes over a year. Recently, this has been translating from research to reality. It is considered to be a very effective way to reduce dependence on non-renewable sources of energy and also decrease carbon emission levels. Moreover, with the increased use of renewable energy and energy-efficient products, there will be a reduction in the energy load of a building and also the GHG emission levels. This is expected to increase the demand for the energy-efficient building market," asserts Sayani.

Key vendors:

Honeywell

Johnson Controls

Schneider Electric

Siemens

Other prominent vendors:

Company Products offered ABB The company provides automation technologies and power for industrial and utility customers worldwide. Building IQ The company offers DR for buildings and software-as-a-service solutions to optimize energy use in commercial buildings. EnerNOC The company provides energy intelligence software and related solutions for commercial, institutional, and industrial customers. GridPoint The company provides integrated and automated energy management solutions that leverage big data analytics, software-as-a-service, computing, and wireless technologies. Pacific Controls The company develops and delivers information and communication technology enabled machine-to-machine automation and control solutions. Source: Technavio

Browse Related Reports:

Global Next-Generation Building Energy Management Systems Market 2016-2020

Global Zero Energy Buildings Market 2015-2019

Global Smart Building 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/20160818005044/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- Matamec Explorations Inc. ("Matamec" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: MAT)(OTCQX: MHREF) and Canada Strategic Metals ("CSM") (TSX VENTURE: CJC)(FRANKFURT: YXEN)(OTCBB: CJCFF) are pleased to announce that the Summer 2016 Exploration Program at the Sakami property has been completed (see June 28th, 2016 press release). With the completion of this exploration program, CSM has fulfilled its obligations as per the option agreement signed on August 16, 2013, and has acquired a 50% interest in the Sakami property, which has been recently enlarged with the addition of 93 claim cells (see Figure 1: Map of the Sakami Property).

Areas Explored During the 2016 Summer Exploration Program

The 2016 Summer program covered 4 areas of the property, and included a drilling campaign of 9 holes totaling 2,058 m on the La Pointe sector. It also comprised a total of 210 km of geophysical survey lines in the La Pointe, Ile and JR West sectors, and a mapping and prospecting campaign in the Peninsule, Ile and JR West sectors. The results of this exploration work will be shared as soon as they become available.

Sakami Property Geology

The property covers a major geological contact between two sub-provinces that are very favourable for hosting gold deposits. This geological setting comprises the Opinaca sediments, the La Grande mafic volcanics, and iron formations in association with a strong deformation zone, notably near the tectonic contact of the La Grande-Opinaca sub-provinces. The mineralization style and tectonic setting share considerable similarities with the Eleonore mine held by Goldcorp (see figure 2: Regional Geology Map, and the July 6, 2016 press release).

Since the announcement of expanded mineralization of the Cheechoo deposit by Sirios Resources on March 29, we have seen several significant exploration budgets announced along this major tectonic boundary. These include exploration programs by Sirios Resources (April 22, 2016-5.5M$CAD), Midland Exploration with Osisko Exploration (June 16, 2016-1M$CAD), and Les Mines Opinaca with Eastmain Resources and Azimut Exploration (June 16, 2016-2M$CAD).

Guy Desharnais, P.Geo., Ph.D. (OGQ No.1141), is a Qualified Person as per NI 43-101; he reviewed and approved the technical content of this press release.

"In the current climate of renewed interest in gold exploration in James Bay, we are eagerly looking forward to receiving the results of the summer 2016 exploration campaign," said Andre Gauthier, President and CEO of Matamec. "It further enhances the depth and breadth of gold properties in the Company's portfolio, not only in James Bay but also in Timmins in Ontario, which effectively demonstrates that Matamec's strategic vision, 'From Gold to Rare Earths,' is an added value for shareholders of the Company."

Option Granted to CSM

On August 16, 2013, Matamec signed an option agreement with CSM in which the latter could acquire a 50% interest in the Sakami gold project by spending CAD$2,250,000 in exploration work and other conditions over a period of three (3) years. Now that CSM holds a 50% undivided interest in the Sakami property, it has 180 days to exercise its option to acquire an additional 20% interest in the property. To do so, it must issue 1,000,000 shares of CSM to Matamec, and complete an independent bankable feasibility study within the next five (5) years. During this period, CSM must spend a minimum of $2 million in exploration activities before the end of each year until the independent bankable feasibility study is completed.

About Matamec

Matamec Explorations Inc. is a junior mining exploration company whose main focus is in developing the Kipawa HREE JV deposit owned at 72% by the Company and 28% by Ressources Quebec (acting as agent of the Government of Quebec); Toyota Tsusho Corp. (Nagoya, Japan) holds a 10% royalty on net profit in the deposit. Furthermore, the Company is exploring more than 35 km of strike length in the Kipawa Alkalic Complex for rare earths-yttrium-zirconium-niobium-tantalum mineralization on its Zeus property.

The Company is also exploring for gold, base metals and platinum group metals. Its gold portfolio includes the Hoyle-Matheson Royalties (see the March 2, 2016 and April 28, 2016 press releases), Matheson JV (MJV) and Pelangio properties located along strike and in close proximity to Goldcorp's Hoyle Pond Mine in the prolific gold mining camp of Timmins, Ontario. Matamec holds a 50% undivided interest in the MJV property and is its operator. In addition, the Company holds a 1% NSR royalty in the Montclerg Property located 48 km northeast of Timmins along the Pipestone Fault.

In Quebec, the Company is exploring for strategic metals such as lithium, tantalum, and beryllium on its Tansim property and for precious and base metals on its Valmont and Vulcain properties.

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "scheduled", "anticipates", "expects" or "does not expect", "pursue", "targeted", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases that state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although Matamec has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those risk factors set out in the Company's year-end Management Discussion and Analysis dated December 31, 2015 and other disclosure documents available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and Matamec disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatamecInc

Visit us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MatamecInc

Maps associated with this press release are available at the following addresses:

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/160818_MAT_Sakami_Property_Claim_Cells_Fig1.pdf

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/160818_MAT_Sakami_Property_Regional_Geological_Map_Fig2.jpg

Contacts:

Matamec Explorations inc.

Andre Gauthier

President

(514) 844-5252

info@matamec.com




TORONTO, ON -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- 500px Labs, the innovation group within 500px, today announces the launch of Splash, a completely new way to search for images. 500px is a global online photography community for sharing, discovering, and licensing amazing photos.

Splash is the first product released by 500px Labs, an innovation group within 500px. 500px Labs is dedicated to delivering cutting-edge new technology, tools, and features. The group is headed by Renat Gataullin, Director of R&D, who also leads 500px's machine learning initiatives.

With Splash, creatives can search for an image using color and design. Users can begin a search by sketching an image on the canvas using various brush sizes and different colors of paint. The system provides search results in real time, delivering photos resembling the user's creation. Results can be narrowed by selecting from image categories. Splash is currently in beta, available on a subset of images available to license on the 500px Marketplace.

"This is a way of searching images that has never been done before," says Kelly Thompson, head of Product at 500px. "Splash makes it much easier for creatives to find the exact image they are looking for on the 500px Marketplace."

500px has over 8 million users, who have uploaded more than 80 million photos to the platform. For more information on Splash, go to http://labs.500px.com or visit our Marketplace at marketplace.500px.com.

About 500px

Launched in 2009, 500px is a global online photography community for sharing, discovering, and licensing amazing photos. Images on 500px represent the work of over 8 million professional and hobbyist photographers. Through its Marketplace, 500px works with thousands of agency and brand creatives who use 500px images in their campaigns.

500px is venture backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Visual China Group and ff Venture Capital and headquartered in Toronto, Canada with US offices in San Francisco. For more information on 500px, visit 500px.com.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3046833



Lisa Langsdorf

Email Contact




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has suggested that the U.S. should engage in racial profiling in order to prevent a terrorist attack. In a town hall hosted by Fox News' Sean Hannity that aired on Wednesday, Trump argued that racial profiling is necessary to find people that may pose a national security threat. 'Whether it's racial profiling or politically correct, we better get smart,' Trump said. 'We are letting tens of thousands of people into our country. We don't know what the hell we're doing.' The billionaire-turned-politician previously told CBS News that he hates the concept of profiling but that it is a tactic the country has to start thinking about. Trump also suggested that members of the Muslim community need to do more to help expose potential terrorists. 'We have to be so tough and so smart and so vigilant, and, frankly, the Muslims have to help us, because they see what's going on in their community,' Trump said. 'We don't see it. They have to help us. If they are not going to help us, they are to blame also.' (Photo: Gage Skidmore) 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.
IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- BigRentz, the world's largest online equipment rental network, today announced that it has made Inc. magazine's 35th annual Inc. 5000 list, ranked 48th. This is the first time BigRentz has been on the list, which is the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. From 2012-2015, BigRentz achieved a three-year sales growth of 5,093 percent. In that same three-year period, the company grew from two employees to 95. Companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Domino's Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known brands gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000.

As the 48th ranked company on the Inc. 5000, BigRentz is the top ranked construction company, the 10th fastest growing company in California and the sixth in Los Angeles.

"This type of recognition is a compliment to our growing team of professionals who work hard every day to provide a great customer experience," said Dallas Imbimbo, CEO of BigRentz. "It's also a direct result of our tremendous supplier network and customers across the country that rely on us every day to help them get things done by providing the right equipment, software and services for all their needs. We couldn't be more excited to see our company's name among the top 50 companies in this year's Inc. 5000."

The 2016 Inc. 5000 is the most competitive crop in the list's history. The average company on the list achieved three-year growth of 433 percent. The Inc. 5000's aggregate revenue is $200 billion, and the companies on the list collectively generated 640,000 jobs over the past three years, or about 8 percent of all jobs created in the entire economy during that period. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.

"The Inc. 5000 list stands out where it really counts," says Inc. President and Editor-In-Chief Eric Schurenberg. "It honors real achievement by a founder or a team of them. No one makes the Inc. 5000 without building something great -- usually from scratch. That's one of the hardest things to do in business, as every company founder knows. But without it, free enterprise fails."

About BigRentz

With connections to over 7,500 rental locations, BigRentz is the world's largest equipment rental network, providing customers with the right tools for all their needs. The company balances traditional services and innovative technology to deliver a quality rental experience for customers while extending the reach of equipment providers and empowering them with smart solutions to help them be more successful. For more information, visit www.BigRentz.com.

CONTACTS:

Kevin Wilson

Email Contact

513-898-1008




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- The B.C. Supreme Court has sentenced Roberto Castano of Surrey, B.C. to 27 months in prison for fraud. Earlier this year, Castano plead guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000 against eight victims. Charges against Mr. Castano were approved by the Criminal Justice Branch following a British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) criminal investigation.

The BCSC launched its investigation into Castano in September 2009, following a tip from a financial institution (FI). According to the FI, Castano was raising money from investors through his company, Skyline Communications, and investing that money in the stock market through a brokerage account.

The investigation uncovered that Castano was operating a Ponzi scheme. He issued promissory notes, told investors their money would be used to trade in the stock market, and promised returns of five per cent per month. The BCSC found that Castano did not use all of the investors' money for its intended purpose; instead, he used some funds to pay interest and principal repayments to investors and used other funds for personal expenses.

On March 30, 2012, Crown approved charges of theft and fraud, and on February 18, 2016, Castano entered his guilty plea.

On August 16, 2016, Castano was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment and ordered to pay seven investors approximately $1.5 million in restitution.

About the British Columbia Securities Commission (www.bcsc.bc.ca)

The British Columbia Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating capital markets in British Columbia through the administration of the Securities Act. Our mission is to protect and promote the public interest by fostering:

-- A securities market that is fair and warrants public confidence -- A dynamic and competitive securities industry that provides investment opportunities and access to capital

Learn how to protect yourself and become a more informed investor at www.investright.org.

Contacts:

Media Contact:

Alison Walker

British Columbia Securities Commission

604-899-6713



Public inquiries:

604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393 (toll free)

inquiries@bcsc.bc.ca




OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- August 18, 2016-The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, will be at the University of Saskatchewan to announce infrastructure funding for post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan and to highlight the benefits of the Government of Canada's Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund.

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.
GLASGOW, Scotland, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Craft beer trailblazers Hippo Beers launched their latest venture in July with the opening of new beer bar 'The Hippo Taproom' at 323 Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow city centre.

Located in the former 'Cocktail & Burger' premises the funky basement bar now boasts one of the best beer selections in the city with 10 keg lines, 3 cask lines and approximately 70 bottles and cans all dedicated to craft beer. Only the house lager and cider are fixed with everything else on rotation meaning more choice for customers especially given the bar has no brewery ties.

Bar Manager Ross McLelland has been recruited from respected Merchant City bar Blackfriars to deliver customers beers in top quality condition.

The beers are complemented by a range of artisan spirits, wine and soft drinks along with a Mexican inspired menu.

Hippo Beers Director Alec Knox said, "We're really excited to have finally opened this bar - it has been a culmination of a lot of time and hard work.

"We've already got some plans for events that we're going to put on over the next few months ranging from tap takeovers with breweries to music nights.

"Some of what we have inherited we're looking to change to make the place a bit more family friendly and a place people want to hang out in if they are studying, working or just relaxing. At our core though we're a beer bar and always will be."
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, will be at the University of Regina to announce infrastructure funding for post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan and to highlight the benefits of the Government of Canada's Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund.

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Results of a new Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll suggest Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, D-Col., and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, are poised to cruise to re-election later this year. The survey of likely Colorado voters found Bennet with a 54 percent to 38 percent lead over El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn, his Republican challenger. Quinnipiac noted that non-white voters support Bennet 64 percent to 22 percent, even though Glenn is black. Bennet also leads among white voters, independent voters, and both men and women. 'For first term Sen. Michael Bennet, the path to a second six years in DC may seem as clear as a crisp day in the Rockies, but there is still time for Darryl Glenn to summon enough support to win a Senate seat the GOP sorely needs,' said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. Grassley has a slightly narrower 51 percent to 42 percent lead over his Democratic challenger, former Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge among likely Iowa voters. The six-term Republican incumbent leads among men and independent voters, while women are split between the candidates. 'Iowans have known, liked and voted for Sen. Chuck Grassley for decades. That's why he appears in strong position to avoid the kind of down-ballot bloodletting that may hurt some Republicans in other states who are not as well attuned to the views and values of their home base,' said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. The surveys of 830 likely Colorado voters and 846 likely Iowa voters were conducted August 9th through 16th and have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are locked in a statistical dead heat in Nevada, according to the results of a new Suffolk University poll. The poll showed Clinton with a 44 percent to 42 percent lead over Trump among likely Nevada voters, with the two-point gap within the margin of error. Libertarian Gary Johnson was the choice of 5 percent of voters, while Independent American Party candidate Darrell Castle and unaffiliated candidate Rocky De La Fuente each received 1 percent. The slim lead for Clinton partly reflects strength in Clark Country, which includes Las Vegas and accounts for nearly 70 percent of the statewide vote. 'Clinton's lead there is the reason she is winning the state,' said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. 'In this instance, what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas-it affects the whole state.' The poll also showed the gender gap that has been evident in many other states, with Clinton leading among women and Trump leading among men. Suffolk University also looked at the race to replace Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and found Republican Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., and Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto tied at 37 percent. The survey of 500 likely Nevada voters was conducted August 15th through 17th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. (Photo: Gage Skidmore) Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- SOLARVEST BIOENERGY INC. (TSX VENTURE: SVS) ("Solarvest" or the "Company") announced on May 9, 2016 its intention to complete a non-brokered $1,500,000 debenture and unit financing (the "Private Placement"). While the Company has been ready, willing and able to close the Private Placement for some time, certain subscribers have encountered delays in their funding arrangements and, accordingly have requested an extension to complete their subscriptions. To accommodate these subscribers, the Company has applied for and received consent from the TSXV Venture Exchange to extend closing until September 15, 2016.

About Solarvest:

Solarvest BioEnergy Inc. is an algae technology company whose algal-based production platform provides it with an extremely flexible system capable of being adapted to produce clean energy in the form of hydrogen and health products such as omega oils in an economic and environmentally sensitive manner.

The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

The statements made in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections.

Contacts:

Solarvest BioEnergy Inc.

Gerri Greenham

Chief Executive Officer

416 420 0947

ggreenham@solarvest.ca




LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- The Trade Desk, Inc., a global technology platform for buyers of advertising, today announced that Kate Falberg has joined its board of directors. Falberg, who began her career in technology, held the role of CFO at fellow Ventura County company Amgen and most recently served as CFO for Jazz Pharmaceuticals in Palo Alto, California. Falberg currently serves as a Board Member for technology and biotechnology companies BioMarin, Medivation, Aimmune Therapeutics and aTyr Pharma.

"I've known Kate for nearly 10 years, and am humbled and honored to have her join our board of directors at The Trade Desk," said Jeff Green, CEO. "Kate's deep experience as a company officer and a member of other high growth company boards makes her counsel invaluable. I'm delighted to be working with her again."

"I'm immensely thrilled to join Jeff and the leadership at The Trade Desk as a member on their board of directors," Falberg said. "I first came to know Jeff when he sold AdECN to Microsoft, which was a tremendous accomplishment and a testament to his vision and stewardship of the business. It's been a joy to watch him grow The Trade Desk over these past few years, and I'm so pleased to join him in steering the company's global charter."

Falberg served in several executive roles at Amgen including head of strategy and CFO from 1995 to the early 2000s, which were years of rapid growth and shareholder value creation as Amgen's market value rose nine-fold to $75 billion. Prior to that, Ms. Falberg spent ten years with Applied Magnetics Corporation, a computer components company listed on the NYSE, with over 10,000 employees and manufacturing operations in Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. More recently, she has served as a Board Member and Audit Committee Chair for several companies, primarily in the life sciences industry.

Falberg holds a B.A. and an M.B.A. from UCLA, is a CPA (inactive), and a UCLA Certified Director.

About The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk is a technology company that empowers buyers of advertising. The Trade Desk provides a self-service platform that enables ad buyers to manage data-driven digital advertising campaigns using their own teams across various advertising formats, including display, video, and social, and on a multitude of devices, including computers, mobile devices, and connected TV.

Headquartered in Ventura, Calif., The Trade Desk has offices across the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Contact

Alexis Roberts

Blast PR for The Trade Desk

Email Contact

805-886-8511




TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - August 18, 2016) - Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX: K) (NYSE: KGC) today released its Corporate Responsibility Report, a comprehensive account of the Company's commitment to sustainable mining and transparency.

The Report provides an in-depth review of Kinross' corporate responsibility strategy and performance in 2014 and 2015 and highlights key achievements in the areas of health and safety, education, economic benefit, community engagement and the environment.

"Mining responsibly is integral to our business strategy and our approach to operational excellence," said J. Paul Rollinson, President and CEO. "The mining industry has a unique opportunity to make a positive and lasting contribution to the well-being of employees and host communities. At Kinross, we believe our long term strength is underpinned by our ability to transform that opportunity into real and sustainable returns for all our stakeholders."

Highlights of the 2015 Corporate Responsibility Report, which is available at 2015corporateresponsibilityreport.kinross.com:

Health & Safety

Best safety performance in the company's history in 2015

23% decline in total reportable injury frequency rate from 2013-2015

Economic Benefit

US$4.8 billion spent in host countries through wages, taxes and procurement from 2014-2015

97.4% of Kinross workforce hired in host countries

79% of goods and services sourced in-country

Community Engagement

168,000 interactions with stakeholders in 2015

Reached more than 770,000 beneficiaries through community programs, initiatives and events through cash and in-kind contributions representing 1.4% of EBITDA

Environment

38% reduction in water use over past two years

10% increase in the volume of waste recycled at our mines

Safety remains a top priority for the Company and is reflected in Kinross' 2015 safety record. Kinross' total reportable injury frequency rate declined 23% between 2013 and 2015, with zero fatalities in 2013, 2014 and 2015, marking these the safest years in Company history. The Company has also underscored the importance of mining as a springboard for shared prosperity. Kinross' economic benefit footprint, which the Company began measuring in 2011, shows that 73% of Kinross' revenue was spent in our host countries through wages, in-country procurement, community investments and contributions to the local tax base.

The Report's key features include a detailed stakeholder engagement table, which documents key issues and Kinross' response on a site-by-site basis, and provides insight into the positive influence of mining on the human development index in Brazil. Four video case studies illustrate the Company's progress related to the environment, communities, workforce and economic benefit.

2015 Corporate Responsibility Report case study videos:

Safety: Building A Safety Culture at Round Mountain

Partnerships: Advancing Community Health Through Project C.U.R.E

Community: Celebrating Education at Integrar Na Praca in Paracatu

Environment: Advancing Reclamation at Buckhorn Mine

The Report complies with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4, in "accordance" with Core.

About Kinross Gold Corporation

Kinross is a Canadian-based senior gold mining company with mines and projects in the United States, Brazil, Russia, Mauritania, Chile and Ghana. Our focus is on delivering value based on the core principles of operational excellence, balance sheet strength, disciplined growth and responsible mining. Kinross maintains listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: K) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: KGC).

Corporate Responsibility Contact

Ed Opitz

Vice-President, Safety and Sustainability

phone: 416-369-6476

ed.opitz@kinross.com



Media Contact

Louie Diaz

Director, Corporate Communications

phone: 416-369-6469

louie.diaz@kinross.com



Investor Relations Contact

Tom Elliott

Senior Vice-President, Investor Relations and Corporate Development

phone: 416-365-3390

tom.elliott@kinross.com
The sharp depreciation of the Russian Rouble has resulted in substantially lower sawlog costs for the sawmilling industry in Eastern Russia during 2015 and 2016, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. Lumber prices in Russia have also declined the past few years, but not at the same rate as prices for sawlogs, and as a result sawmills in Siberia have become some of the most profitable sawmills in the world.

Softwood lumber production in Russia was practically unchanged from 2014 to 2015, according to official statistics. Domestic consumption fell by almost ten percent, while export volumes were up from 21.7 million m3 in 2014 to 23.1 million m3 in 2015. The export shipments have continued to go up this year with volumes during the first six months reaching 12% higher than during the same period in 2015. By far, the biggest increases in exports have been to China, Japan and South Korea.

Higher production levels at the sawmills in Siberia and the Russian Far East have slowly increased sawlog prices (in Roubles) in this region over the past two years. In the 2Q/16, average log prices were over 20% higher in Rouble terms than in the 2Q/14, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ). However, since the value of the Rouble against the US dollar has plunged since early 2014, log costs in dollar terms has fallen by almost 50% making Russian sawmills very competitive in the global market place.

Very low production costs in Eastern Russia have resulted in major inroads for Russian sawmills in the Chinese market at the expense of particularly Canadian sawmills. Russian sawmills' market share in China has reached 58% in 2016, up from 42% in 2014. It is important to note that lumber import prices to China have fallen quite substantially the past 12 months, as reported in the most recent issue of the WRQ (www.woodprices.com). A higher market share does not necessarily mean higher profitability. But the good news for the sawmills in Siberia and the Far East is that log prices have declined more (37% by the 2Q/16), than lumber prices (down 10%) the past two years so the profitability for many sawmills has gone up substantially.

The wood costs for larger sawmills in Eastern Russia as a percentage of the lumber export prices, have fallen from a range of 65-80% in 2012-13 to below 50% in 2016 making this region's sawmills some of the lowest cost producing mills in the world.

Global lumber, sawlog and pulpwood market reporting is included in the 52-page quarterly publication Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ). The report, which was established in 1988 and has subscribers in over 30 countries, tracks sawlog, pulpwood, lumber and pellet prices, trade and market developments in most key regions around the world. To subscribe to the WRQ, please go to www.woodprices.com

Wood Resources International LLC (WRI), an internationally recognized forest industry-consulting firm established in 1987, publishes two quarterly timber price reports and have subscribers in over 30 countries. The Wood Resource Quarterly, established in 1988, is a 52-page market report and includes sawlog prices, pulpwood and wood chip price and market commentary to developments in global timber, biomass and forest industry. The other report, the North American Wood Fiber Review, tracks prices of sawlogs, pulpwood, wood chips and biomass in most regions of Canada and the US.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818006272/en/

Contacts:

Wood Resources International LLC

Hakan Ekstrom

info@woodprices.com (info@wri-ltd.com)

www.woodprices.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/18/16 -- Klondex Mines Ltd. (TSX: KDX)(NYSE MKT: KLDX) ("Klondex" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced bought deal private placement offering (the "Offering") of 25,900,000 subscription receipts of the Company ("Subscription Receipts") at a price of C$5.00 per Subscription Receipt for aggregate gross proceeds of C$129.5 million. The private placement was completed through a syndicate of underwriters under the Offering and included the full exercise of the option granted to the underwriters.

The gross proceeds of the Offering, less certain expenses and 50% of the commission payable to the Underwriters (the "Escrowed Proceeds"), have been deposited in escrow. The Escrowed Proceeds, less the remaining 50% of the commission payable to the underwriters, plus any interest accrued and actually earned thereon, will be released from escrow to the Company upon the satisfaction or waiver of all material conditions precedent to the proposed acquisition (the "Acquisition") of all of the membership interests of Carlin Resources LLC, which entity owns, among other assets, the Hollister mine (the "Hollister Mine") and the Esmeralda mine and ore milling complex (the "Esmeralda Mine"). If the Escrow Release Conditions are not satisfied or waived on or before November 16, 2016, the gross proceeds of the Offering will be returned to the holders of the Subscription Receipts, together with any interest that was earned thereon during the escrow period. Closing of the Acquisition is currently anticipated to occur in the third quarter of 2016.

Upon the satisfaction of the Escrow Release Conditions, each holder of Subscription Receipts will receive, without the payment of additional consideration or the taking of further action on the part of the holder, one special warrant of the Company (a "Special Warrant"). Each Special Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to receive upon exercise or deemed exercise, without the payment of additional consideration, one common share of the Company (each, an "Underlying Share"). The Special Warrants will be exercisable by the holders thereof at any time after the closing date of the Acquisition and all unexercised Special Warrants will be deemed to be exercised on the earlier of: (a) December 19, 2016, and (b) the third business day after the date a receipt is issued for a final prospectus by the securities regulatory authorities in each of the Provinces of Canada where the Subscription Receipts are sold (other than Quebec) qualifying the Underlying Shares to be issued upon the exercise or deemed exercise of the Special Warrants. The Subscription Receipts are, and the Special Warrants and Underlying Shares will be, subject to a four month plus one day hold period pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws.

The Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file a prospectus in order to qualify the issuance of the Underlying Shares upon conversion of the Special Warrants in Canada. It is expected that the prospectus will be filed following the preparation of a technical report in respect of the Hollister mine, if required in accordance with applicable securities laws, and the preparation of the necessary audited and unaudited financial statements and pro forma financial statements relating to the Acquisition in accordance with applicable securities laws.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering: (i) to fund the cash purchase price of the Acquisition and replacement of reclamation bonds currently in place with United States and Nevada regulators, (ii) for exploration growth at the Hollister Mine and the Esmeralda Mine and (iii) development at the Hollister Mine.

The securities issued under the Offering were offered by way of private placement exemptions in all the provinces of Canada, other than Quebec, and in the United States on a private placement basis pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended. All securities issued pursuant to the Offering, including the Subscription Receipts and the Special Warrants, are subject to a statutory four-month hold period in accordance with Canadian securities legislation, subject to the prospectus qualification referred to above.

The securities offered have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

About Klondex Mines Ltd. (www.klondexmines.com)

Klondex is a well-capitalized, junior-tier gold and silver mining company focused on exploration, development, and production in a safe, environmentally responsible, and cost-effective manner. The Company has 100% interests in two producing mineral properties: the Fire Creek Mine and the Midas Mine and ore milling facility, both of which are located in the state of Nevada, USA, as well as the recently acquired True North Gold Mine (formerly the Rice Lake Mine) and mill in Manitoba, Canada.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Information

This news release contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking information"), including but not limited to whether and when the Acquisition will be completed; the terms of the Special Warrants; and whether the Company will file any technical report or prospectus and the timing thereof. This forward-looking information entails various risks and uncertainties that are based on current expectations, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such information. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the global economy; the price of gold; operational, funding and liquidity risks; the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with underground operations; and the ability of Klondex to fund its substantial capital requirements and operations. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and United States available at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov, respectively. Readers are urged to read these materials. Klondex assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by law.

Contacts:

Klondex Mines Ltd.

John Seaberg

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and

Corporate Development

O: 775-284-5757 / M: 303-668-7991

jseaberg@klondexmines.com




Ascent Venture Partners, a Boston, MA-based venture capital firm, raised $71m in the first close of its sixth fund.

According to a regulatory form filed with the SEC, Ascent Venture Partners VI, L.P. has a final target of Ascent Venture Partners VI, L.P. has been fixed at $150m.

Twenty four investors already have participated in the offering.

The doc lists general partners Luke Burns, Christopher W. Dick, Matt Fates, Brian J. Girvan and Geoffrey S. Oblak as people related to the offering.

Founded in 1985, Ascent Venture Partners has invested in more than 100 early-stage, emerging technology companies in such areas as Data & Analytics, Cloud Innovation, Cybersecurity, Mobile First and IoT, with the investment team managing six venture funds with total commitments of more than $500m.

The portfolio includes Cargometrics, Sidecar, Timetrade, Cloudlock, Genband, among many others.

FinSMEs

18/08/2016
NextHealth Technologies Inc., a Denver, CO-based prescriptive analytics and consumer engagement platform, completed an $8.5M Series A round of funding.

The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors.

The company intends to use the funds to grow its engineering team and deliver system enhancements to its enterprise platform.

Led by Eric Grossman, CEO, NextHealth Technologies provides a SaaS-based enterprise platform that identifies and targets high-cost plan members, prescribes and delivers member-level actions and then measures and optimizes outcomes.

The system supports over 30 use cases, including ER visit reduction, out-of-network reduction and member retention.

FinSMEs

18/08/2016
Thoma Bravo, LLC, a San Francisco and Chicago-based private equity investment firm, hired Hudson Smith as a partner.

Smith will initially work on the Thoma Bravo Discover Fund, where he will focus on sourcing and managing lower middle market software investments.

Established in 2015, the Discover Fund enables Thoma Bravo to partner with management teams at smaller, growing companies that benefit from the firms experience and expertise in software.

Thoma Bravo is an investment specialist in the software and technology industries, and has completed approximately 140 software and technology-enabled services acquisitions since 2003, representing about $30 billion in enterprise value. The firm is currently completing the investment of its flagship vehicle, Thoma Bravo Fund XI, which focuses on middle market and large software opportunities.

Recent transactions include the acquisitions of innovative technology companies such as SailPoint, Riverbed and SolarWinds.

Smith has joined Thoma Bravo from HGGC, where he directed the firms investment efforts in technology. His technology investment track record includes Serena, Hybris, Sunquest, FPX, Selligent, SSI and MyWebGrocer. He has also held positions at Bain & Co and Lincoln International LLC, as a consultant and investment banker, respectively.

In addition to Smith, the firm has also added two new vice presidents: Matt Gilbert and AJ Jangalapalli. Gilbert joins from Summit Partners and will work in Thoma Bravos Capital Market Group, and Jangalapalli comes as a recent MBA graduate from the Wharton School and will be a part of the firms investment staff.

FinSMEs

18/08/2016
Evare, the first track to be released from the Telugu remake of Premam version takes you back to Malare from the original Malayalam film starring Nivin Pauly.

As both the versions are sung by Vijay Yesudas and composed by Rajesh Murugesan, the song creates the same sort of magic in Telugu as well.

Evare is a soft and good listen with lyrics that emphasise the emotion of love. It is definitely a track one would repeat on loop, unless you have already enjoyed Malare (as there is hardly any variation between the two).

The only anticipation now is how well the video turns out. Malare was a breezy hit among the Malayalam audience, with Nivin Pauly and Sai Pallavi showcasing a lovely chemistry.

So it would be interesting to watch if Naga Chaitanya and Shruti Hassan too, manage to impress the audience. Till then, Evare is sure to get Telugu audiences humming for a long time.

Premam is slated for a 9 September release and Chaitanya had previously announced that the audio will release later this month.

Meanwhile, they have also been reports about how Chaitanya's Premam and Saahasam Swaasaga Saagipo directed by Gautham Menon were going to release on the same dates, but as of now only the latter has been confirmed to hit the screens.

Listen to Evare here:

The original version, Malare:
Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, is busy preparing ground for its grand entry into India's online marketplace. The Jack Ma-controlled internet behemoth has held talks to acquire online marketplace ShopClues, one of the few unicorn startups commanding a billion dollar valuation, media reports said.

According to a ToI report, Alibaba, which already holds a stake in the marketplace Paytm, is evaluating the possibility of merging ShopClues with the latter in order to take on the much bigger rival Amazon.

The US-based Amazon, one of the world's biggest e-commerce company, has been making rapid strides in India's online market over the past year or so, and is currently positioned second after Flipkart in the online marketplace ranking.

The target company ShopClues has so far raised $250 million, and counts GIC of Singapore, Tiger Global, Nexus Venture Partners and Helion among its investors, the report said.

The Gurgaon-based company is said to be reporting a revenue run-rate of $750 million based on the gross merchandise value of the goods sold, ToI said.

The report said ShopClues declined to comment on the development, while Alibaba said it would refrain from making any statement on the speculation.

Earlier this year, Alibaba had said it is looking at opportunities to build the business organically or through other means.

"We are planning to enter the e-commerce business in India in 2016. We have been exploring very carefully the e-commerce opportunity in this country, which we think is very exciting on the backdrop of Digital India," Alibaba Group president J Michael Evans had then said.

The company said it is evaluating all opportunities to build the business organically or look at any other thing that might come along.

The Chinese major is already betting big on mobile wallet giant Paytm, and is engaged in training the senior management of the upcoming Paytm Payment Bank, a recent Business Standard report said.

The BS report also highlighted a transcript of the earnings call in which Joseph C Tsai, executive vice-chairman, Alibaba, said,"We invested jointly with Ant Financial into a company called Paytm, largest mobile wallet company in India. We think mobiles and payment are going to be important strategic assets for us in that market.

According to a Hindustan Times report, Alibaba is is talks with Vijay Shekhar Sharma-owned Paytm to either fully acquire or own a sizable share in the latters marketplace business, Paytm Mall.

In the event of any deal being worked out, Paytm may get an additional money to put into its payment banks business. Alibaba has already $675 million invested in Onwe97, the HT report said.

In November 2014, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who was on his first visit to India, had said he would "invest more in India, work with Indian entrepreneurs and Indian technologists to improve the relationship between the two nations".

With PTI inputs
"We make war that we may live in peace."

--Aristotle

"I exhort you never to debase the moral currency or to lower the

standard of rectitude, but to try others by the final maxim that

governs your own lives, and to suffer no man and no cause to escape

the undying penalty which history has the power to inflict on wrong."

--Lord Acton

"Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the

highest political end...liberty is the only object which benefits all

alike, and provokes no sincere opposition...The danger is not that a

particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern...

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

--Lord Acton

"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry,

Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from

the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the

field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? 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!"

--Patrick Henry

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine

patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now,

deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we

have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

--Thomas Paine

"The way to secure liberty is to place it in the people's hands, that is,

to give them the power at all times to defend it in the legislature and

in the courts of justice"

--John Adams

"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will

within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I

do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often

but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights

of the individual."

--Thomas Jefferson

"No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of

another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain hima?the idea

is quite unfounded that on entering into society we give up any natural rights."

--Thomas Jefferson

"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his

fellow citizens."

--Thomas Jefferson

"The protection of our citizens, the spirit and honor of our country, require

that force should be interposed to a certain degree."

--Thomas Jefferson

"To draw around the whole nation the strength of the General Government

as a barrier against foreign foes... is [one of the] functions of the General Government on which [our citizens] have a right to call."

--Thomas Jefferson

"It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall actually

take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without

inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it."

--Thomas Jefferson

"I am ever unwilling that [peace] should be disturbed as long as

the rights and interests of the nations can be preserved. But whensoever hostile aggressions on these

require a resort to war, we must meet our duty and convince the world that we are

just friends and brave enemies."

--Thomas Jefferson

"By nature's law, man is at peace with man till some aggression is

committed, which, by the same law, authorizes one to destroy another as

his enemy."

--Thomas Jefferson

"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against

every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

--Thomas Jefferson

"Our duty to ourselves, to posterity, and to mankind, call on us

by every motive which is sacred or honorable, to watch over the safety of our beloved country

during the troubles which agitate and convulse the residue of the world, and to sacrifice to

that all personal and local considerations."

--Thomas Jefferson

"It is an essential attribute of the jurisdiction of every country

to preserve peace, to punish acts in breach of it, and to restore property taken by force within

its limits."

--Thomas Jefferson

"By nature's law, man is at peace with man till some aggression

is committed, which, by the same law, authorizes one to destroy another

as his enemy."

--Thomas Jefferson

"Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy,

and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it. But the temper and folly of our enemies may

not leave this in our choice."

--Thomas Jefferson

"We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly,

we shall all hang separately."

--Benjamin Franklin

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people

by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent

and sudden usurpations."

--James Madison

"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without

it nothing can succeed."

--Abraham Lincoln

"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we

fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a

blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted)

in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a

track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected?

I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot,

we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time,

or die by suicide."

--Abraham Lincoln

"The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the

support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me."

--Abraham Lincoln

"Property is the fruit of labor...property is desirable...is a positive

good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement

to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor

diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall

be safe from violence when built."

--Abraham Lincoln

"We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean

the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and

the product of his labor; while with others, the same word many mean for some men to do as they please

with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible

things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective

parties, called by two different and incompatible names -

liberty and tyranny."

--Abraham Lincoln

"If all do not join now to save the good old ship of the Union this voyage

nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage."

--Abraham Lincoln

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points

out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust

and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again;

who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause;

who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst,

if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with

those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

--Theodore Roosevelt

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs,

even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy

much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that

knows not victory nor defeat."

--Theodore Roosevelt

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth

of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic

state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by

an individual, by a group."

--Franklin D. Roosevelt

"War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder.

This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the

timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour,

of our choosing."

--George W. Bush

"When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and true maxim that 'a drop of honey catches more flies

than a gallon of gall.' So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him

that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say

what he will, is the great highroad to his reason, and which, once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing him of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause is really

a good one."

--Abraham Lincoln

"To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man's character one must judge

it by the standards of his time, not ours."

--Mark Twain

"It is with trifles and when he is off guard that a man best

reveals his character."

--Arthur Schopenhauer

"When men speak ill of thee, live

so as nobody may believe them."

--Plato

"He that has light within his own clear breast may sit in the center,

and enjoy bright day: But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts benighted walks under the

mid-day sun."

--John Milton

"Character consists of what you do on the third

and fourth tries."

--James A. Michener

"We should be too big to take offense and too noble to

give it."

--Abraham Lincoln

"I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the

content of their character."

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"A man's character is his guardian divinity."

--Heraclitus

"Character develops itself in the stream of life."

--Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"Do what you know and perception is converted into character."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so

highly prized as that of character."

--Henry Clay
Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said it would welcome any team of human rights observers sent by the UN to the part of Kashmir under its control, a day after the UN High

Commissioner for Human Rights appealed to both India and Pakistan to grant his team access to Kashmir.

Voicing concern over alleged human rights violations, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein on Wednesday appealed to both India and Pakistan to grant his team access to Jammu and Kashmir as well as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Pakistan Foreign Office, in a statement, said it would welcome any UN team of human rights experts.

"While welcoming any UN team that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights may wish to send" to PoK, "we cannot accept equating the rampant human rights violations" in Kashmir with the situation in PoK, the Foreign Office said.

"In fact, today the contrast between grim reality" in Kashmir and the peaceful situation in PoK could not be more stark, it claimed.

"It is, therefore, essential" that the UN fact finding team must visit Kashmir, it added.

Pakistan last month had requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to send a fact-finding mission to Kashmir to report on the "gross violations of human rights" since 8 July.

The Foreign Office claimed that PoK is an area "open to everyone" and is frequented by foreign tourists and members of the diplomatic community in Pakistan, including representatives of the United Nations, where they have observed recent elections and met a cross section of people.

"Access to OHCHR has been denied by India" to Kashmir. Pakistan has never prevented UN officials from travelling to PoK, it claimed.

The High Commissioner, who has sought access for a team to visit both Jammu and Kashmir and PoK to independently and thoroughly look into allegations of human rights violations, had said, "I deeply regret that our requests for access have not been granted."

Zeid said it was "unfortunate" that access has not been granted yet considering "the seriousness of the allegations of the use of excessive force, allegations of state sponsorship of violence, as well as the number of people killed and the very large number of people injured."
Udupi: In a gruesome incident of cow vigilantism, a BJP worker was killed and another person injured, allegedly by activists of a right-wing Hindu group near Hebri in this district on Wednesday night.

Hindu Jagarana Vedike activists intercepted and attacked the duo with sharp weapons, suspecting they were transporting calves to an abattoir, a senior police official said.

Praveen Poojary (29) succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Bramhavar, where his friend Akshay Devadiga (22) has also been admitted but he is out of danger, Udupi Superintendent of Police K T Balakrishna told reporters.

Earlier, the hand of VHP and Bajrang Dal activists was suspected behind the incident by police.

Seventeen people were arrested and a hunt was on to nab the others involved, he said.

"Hindu Jagarana Vedike members stopped a vehicle transporting three calves and assaulted two persons, accusing them of taking the calves to a slaughter house. In this incident Praveen, Poojary has succumbed to the injuries at a hospital in Brahmavara," Balakrishna said.

He said Devadiga was injured but is out of danger.

A case of murder has been booked at Brahmavara police station, he said, adding Hindu Jagarana Vedike's Srikanth is the prime accused in the case.

In Bengaluru, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said prima facie cattle trade-related business dispute may be the reason behind the killing of the BJP worker.

They (police) are suspecting some sort of a cattle trade- related business dispute," he said, adding, he did not see any communal angle" at this point of time.

Parameshwara also expressed concern over repeated incidents relating to beef and cattle trade in Karnataka.

"We are vigilant, we will definitely try and maintain peace and order. I appeal to the people who are trying to create this kind of disturbance not to do this because we are a tolerant society and we should not create these kind of issues."

Coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada have been reporting cases of cow vigilantism in the last several years.

The incident comes days after the Home Ministry cracked the whip on cow vigilantism, asking all states not to tolerate anyone taking law into their hands in the name of protecting cows and to take prompt action against such offenders.

The Ministry advisory had come two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked cow vigilantes and asked people to beware of these 'fake' protectors trying to divide the society and the country.

He made these comments after his government and BJP came under attack over incidents of violence against Dalits and Muslims by cow vigilantes in various states, including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Mumbai: Five doctors, including the CEO of LH Hiranandani Hospital, were on Thursday granted bail by a local court in connection with the alleged kidney transplant racket.

The Andheri metropolitan magistrate court, which had on Tuesday reserved its order till Thursday on their applications granted bail to CEO Sujit Chatterjee, medical director Anurag Naik, Mukesh Shetye, Mukesh Shaha and Prakash Shetye, on the condition that they attend Powai police station till 26 September. They were also directed against leaving the country.

All the accused had moved for bail on 13 August after the court remanded them to 14-day judicial custody till 26 August.

On Tuesday, their lawyers Aabad Ponda and Pranav Badeka had told the court that the case against the doctors and the hospital authorities was only of procedural lapses and negligence. Also, several other accused in the case including the donor and recipient are on bail.

They also told the court that the case against the doctors was not under Indian Penal Code but under the Organ Transplant Act and the money which allegedly exchanged hands for the transplant has been recovered.

The doctors were arrested under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act on the basis of a report by the Director of State Health.

The racket was exposed after the police were tipped off that a kidney transplant operation had been scheduled on 14 July at the privately-run Hiranandani Hospital in Powai, where donor and recipient were not related.

Following the bust-up, 14 people, including five doctors, the donor, receiver and agents were arrested.

The operation on Brijkishor Jaiswal, the recipient, was stopped at the last moment as police found that the woman who was donating the kidney to him was not his real wife, contrary to the papers submitted by the duo.

The woman had pretended to be Jaiswal's wife only to be able to donate him the kidney for monetary gains, according to the police.

Last week, a local sessions court had rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of two doctors - Veena Swelikar (a general surgeon) and Suvin Shetty (a consulting pathologist) in the case after Powai police said that their interrogation was needed to unearth the entire racket.
Kathmandu: Prachanda is likely to visit India on his first official foreign trip as Nepal's prime minister, in a departure from his earlier practice when he visited Beijing ahead of New Delhi in 2008.

The Maoist chief, who was elected by lawmakers to the top post for the second time earlier this month, had rubbed India the wrong way when he chose China as his first destination after taking over as the premier in 2008 and attended the Beijing Olympics that year.

Prachanda's predecessor, KP Sharma Oli too visited India as his first official foreign destination. But the run up to his visit was surrounded by intense speculation that the Communist leader might visit China ahead of India.

Oli, viewed by many as pro-China, visited India in February, when the agitation by Madhesis - inhabitants of the southern plains who share strong cultural and family bonds with Indians - over Nepal's new Constitution was at its peak.

The protesters had blocked trade transit points with India, creating a huge shortage of essential goods and fuel in the landlocked Nepal.

The usual practice of new prime ministers in Nepal is to visit to India, ahead of China. Prachanda's China trip in 2008 was the only departure from that practice.

It is learnt that he will visit India ahead of China this time, sources said.

The development comes as Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Bimlendra Nidhi begins his two-day visit to India as Prachanda's special envoy on Thursday.

His visit is aimed at preparing ground for Prachanda's forthcoming visit to India, foreign ministry sources said.

Nidhi is expected to discuss the possible visit by President Pranab Mukherjee to Nepal and the proposed visit by Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari to India, they said.

The visit is also aimed at normalising and improving Nepal's relations with India, which was at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation.

Prachanda has send a special envoy to China as well. Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara's visit to China comes following anxieties in Beijing over the fate of projects connecting China and Nepal to reduce dependence on India.
Braving the icy heights, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani celebrated Raksha Bandhan on Thursday by tying rakhis to soldiers deployed at the Siachen Base Camp. The minister visited the outpost as part of an initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reach out to soldiers protecting the nation's borders.

An honour for me, to celebrate this festival here with my brothers who guard the borders: Smriti Irani in Siachen pic.twitter.com/kX58ied326  ANI (@ANI_news) August 18, 2016

Irani dedicated the occasion to jawans at the Siachen glacier Base Camp, the highest battlefield in the world, and praised them for their dedication to duty. She also laid a wreath at the Siachen War Memorial, acknowledging the supreme sacrifice made by fallen soldiers.

Saluting the supreme sacrifice made by our Jawans at the frozen frontiers, laid wreath at the Siachen War Memorial pic.twitter.com/0wi6faHFjO  Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) August 18, 2016

Addressing the soldiers, the minister said, "We are very proud of the soldiers serving here who have never thought of their own good and of their families. They serve diligently, with passion...so a thanks from a grateful nation."

Salutations to the Siachen soldiers where great courage and fortitude is the norm pic.twitter.com/rfWvm2hpKQ  Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) August 18, 2016

Handed-over #AazadiKeRang canvas to the brave men at Siachen pic.twitter.com/KC4kZvzcro  Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) August 18, 2016

She later tied rakhis to around 20 soldiers and distributed home-made sweets from Delhi across the camp, stating that, "My mother specially prepared sweets for you all. So, this is not only the affection of a sister but the love of a mother."

Consider myself fortunate to have been able to spent auspicious day of #Rakshabandhan with soldiers at Siachen pic.twitter.com/FkTIu0qWa1  Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) August 18, 2016

On another frontier, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman also tied rakhi to the jawans at Lumla in Arunchal Pradesh along with Home Minister Kiren Rijiju.

I am very grateful to the Prime Minister who designed this programme. He made us women ministers reach various border posts and ensured that we are here to tie rakhi, thereby making sure the message goes across that the government cares for them," she said.

It was very touching moment for all of us to directly connect with our jawans at the border on Raksha Bandhan Divas, Rijiju added in a tweet.

It was very touching moment for all of us to directly connect with our jawans at the border on #rakshabandhan Divas. pic.twitter.com/SvHpeEoxKe  Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) August 18, 2016

Women and Child Welfare Minister Maneka Gandhi also participated in the initiative and interacted with soldiers at the Indo-Nepal border post at Banbasa.

Union ministers Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Anupriya Patel, Sushma Swaraj and Uma Bharti might also be taking part in Modi's initiative.
On 13 August, Tufail Ahmad delivered a lecture in Hyderabad at a launch for his latest book Jihadist Threat to India: The Case for Islamic Reformation by an Indian Muslim, organised in Hyderabad by the Social Cause. Touching on various aspects of Islam, its various interpretations and permutations, Ahmad's lecture is being reproduced in three parts. You can read the first part of the lecture, titled 'Islam as a language of separatism and as a methodology', and the second part titled, 'Is terrorism Islamic? And five arguments answered by jihadis' here. The final part follows:

The jihadi threat to India

The jihadi threat to India originates from six sources:

i) the Pakistani state-backed jihadism, especially in Kashmir;

ii) Bangladesh where jihadis are set to grow in strength;

iii) the growth of jihadi groups in West Asia;

iv) the failure of the big powers to contain jihadism internationally;

v) the Indian State's failure to strengthen the rule of law, and

vi) radicalisation of Indian Muslims by Urdu newspapers, Islamic clerics as well as Muslim and Hindu Islamists, ie those Hindus who support the cause of Islamists directly or indirectly.

Of these, India is militarily capable of defeating the Pakistani threat. But the jihadi threat from West Asia will remain over the next decade. However, for the groups like the Islamic State to succeed in recruiting Indian Muslims, there must be local agents such as Urdu journalists and Islamic clerics who support their cause directly and indirectly. India is witnessing radicalisation in a dozen states  especially in Maharashtra, Hyderabad and Kerala  which is a serious threat. Sultan Shahin has written that around 18,000 Indian Muslims, including some from Hyderabad, went to Turkey in the early 1920s to wage jihad in defence of the Ottoman Caliphate. In the Pakistani Urdu daily Roznama Express of 20 July, 2016, Pakistani writer Abdul Qader Hassan wrote that in the early 1920s, Muslim women in India sent jewellery for the Turkish men to wage jihad.

In present times, here in Hyderabad, Brother Imran  who is the younger version of Zakir Naik  delivers speeches that radicalise Muslims. Brother Imran, whose real name is Mujtaba Hussain Siddiqui, is the president of the Islamic Research and Educational Foundation based in Hyderabad. In March this year, he told Muslims: "Some people say that when Islam took up the sword, it was meant for defence. This is the response of the less knowledgeable." He then went on to discuss two types of jihad mandated by Allah, the offensive and defensive forms of Jihad bis Saif (jihad by the sword). At another event, he told Muslims: "Do not be on the back foot when talking about Tawheed (Islamic monotheism). If we die for this Tawheed, there should be no remorse because we were born for this. There is no better death than our sacrifice of life for Allah."

On 23 June, a number of Urdu dailies such as Roznama Sangam of Patna, Roznama Sahafat of Lucknow and Roznama Inquilab of Mumbai published editorials and articles to celebrate Ghazwa-e-Badr, the first war of Islam against Kufr (non-belief) led by Prophet Muhammad. When the controversy about ghar wapsi (reconversion of Muslims) was raging in 2014, Mumbai-based Roznama Urdu Times published a long article in which it quoted Prophet Muhammad, the first four Caliphs of Islam as well as the prophet's wife Hazrat Ayesha as saying that any Muslim leaving Islam must be beheaded. It added: "The first interpreter of the Quran, Prophet Muhammad, has clearly ordered the killing of a person becoming apostate."

The weekly magazine Nai Duniya edited by Shahid Siddiqui has been feeding conspiracy theories among Muslims. In one issue, it said, US president Barack Obama had a plan to launch a nuclear attack on the Kaaba in Mecca, which is a direct incitement of Indian Muslims to wage jihad against the US. In another issue, it stated that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Indian intelligence agencies had jointly planned to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of India. Most recently, Nai Duniya has begun serialising a book called Aur Talwar Toot Gayee (And the Sword Broke) by Nasim Hijazi, an Urdu writer known for nourishing the jihadist mentality.

My conclusion is that the IS and Al-Qaeda succeed in attracting and recruiting Muslims from India because there already exists in India an infrastructure of jihad-sympathetic ideas propagated by Islamic clerics, preachers like Zakir Naik and Brother Imran as well as hidden Islamists working as journalists of Urdu-Muslim newspapers and magazines.

So, the question is, should we be worried? My answer is this: If you are an Indian graduating from your teens into your twenties, your role must be to study hard, work hard and fall in love. Love is universal and it uplifts us as human beings. But, when you fall in love, please do not convert in order to marry. Let your love remain pure. And don't worry. Jihadis will never be able to take over our streets, our cities, our governments. But if you are a policeman, a soldier, a government official or an intelligence agent, I must say that the security threat must be taken seriously without consideration for political correctness.

I do not want you to misunderstand me that I am talking of Islam as a religion. Here, I am talking of Islam as a narrative, as a phenomenology, as a movement of ideas. Because, Prophet Muhammad was not only a prophet like Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi, who did not seek material benefits in life. He was prophet, a politician, a war ruler, a historical leader whose ideas still matter. Sultan Shahin sahab (speaking earlier) said that if you believe in Islam as a religion of violence, how would reform begin? In fact, unless you recognise that Islam is a religion of peace and isn't a religion of peace at the same time, you cannot begin Islamic reform.

Peaceful ways to counter radicalisation

Policemen and soldiers will combat terrorism through military and legal means as and where it emerges. However, there are peaceful ways to combat jihadism in our everyday life. For example, Saudi Arabia could build a synagogue, a church and a Hindu temple for Indian workers in Saudi Arabia as an expression of pluralism. It will send a powerful message of pluralism to Muslims around the world. Pakistan could change its Constitution to allow non-Muslim Pakistani citizens to become the head of the Pakistani State. Indonesia could enact a law criminalising discrimination against Ahmadi Muslims. The King of Morocco, Mohammad VI, could stop persecuting Shia Muslims. Iran could pass a law saying that members of the gay community will not be executed. India could arrest some of the Urdu journalists and preachers like Brother Imran for radicalising innocent Muslim youths.

Over the past few years, a number of fatwas (Islamic decrees) were issued by Islamic clerics in India and abroad against Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the IS. However, none of these fatwas address the theological principles based on which the jihadi organisations thrive. Therefore, to combat jihadism in a peaceful way, I call upon Islamic scholars to endorse my 6-point fatwa for peace and pluralism. Such a fatwa must declare the following:

One, Shias are Muslims;

Two, Ahmadis are Muslims;

Three, no Muslim will be beheaded for leaving Islam;

Four, Prophet Muhammad was a world leader and writers reviewing his historical role in a critical way will not be killed;

Five, a Muslim woman can be the Head of State in modern times;

Six, Hindus and other non-Muslims are eligible to become the Head of a Muslim State.

Thank you!

Part One: Islam as a language of separatism and as a methodology

Part Two: Is terrorism Islamic? And five arguments answered by jihadis

The author is Director of South Asia Studies Project at the Middle East Media Research Institute, Washington DC. He tweets @tufailelif
Washington: Top US lawmakers and political leaders have paid glowing tributes to Pramukh Swami, the spiritual head of the Swaminarayan sect, who passed away last week, saying his service touched the lives of millions around the world.

Several lawmakers said Swami, the creator of Akshardham and spiritual leader of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, was a man of character and commitment whose spiritual personality and humanitarian services profoundly touched society.

"My condolences to the BAPS (Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Sansthan) community on the passing of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj who inspired us with his life of selfless service," said Senator Mark Kirk.

"Saddened to hear of the passing of HH Pramukh Swami Maharaj whose service touched the lives of millions around the world," said Delaware Senator Christophe Coons.

In a separate statement, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie offered his deepest condolences over his demise.

"New Jersey had a special connection with Pramukh Swamiji, who visited the state during every US tour, spreading a message of unity and uplifting countless lives. He will be remembered by all for his selflessness and service to others," he said.

Offering heartfelt condolences to Swami's disciples, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said he reminded people that a life dedicated to service of God and the spiritual upliftment of humanity is a life that can be considered truly successful and forever remembered.

Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick in a statement said, "Pramukh Swami Maharaj was a man of character and commitment. He led campaigns against addictions, inspiring many to seek an addiction-free life. His spiritual personality and humanitarian services profoundly touched society."

Congresspersons Grace Meng and Chris Van Hollen said Swami was an inspiration to millions of people around the world and spread peace throughout his long and inspiring life.

Swami also consistently emphasised on inter-faith harmony and the collective uplifting of the moral and religious life of mankind.

"His life, devotion and teachings will grace our world for centuries to come," said Pramila Jayapal, who is running for US House of Representative seat from Washington State.

"We cherish Pramukh Swami Maharaj and his devotees in our thoughts and prayers, and we hope that now, more than ever, we can continue to live by the profound principles of love, faith, and service that he represented," said Congressional candidate from Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi.

Ro Khanna, who is looking to enter the US House of Representative from California, said after terrorists attacked Swaminarayan Akshardham in Gandhinagar, Gujarat  killing numerous visitors and saints in their path  Swami had advocated for love and compassion to prevail, not bigotry or hatred.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu will hold wide-ranging talks on a range of bilateral and regional issues which may include deliberations on situation in West Asia and ways to counter threat of terrorism.

Earlier this month, Turkey had asked India to act against the institutions affiliated to the network of Fethullah Gulen, blamed for July's failed coup to topple President Tayyip Erdogan, and the issue may figure in the discussions between the two foreign ministers.

"The entire gamut of bilateral relations as well as multilateral and regional issues are likely to be discussed during the talks,' External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

Cavusoglu will also call on Vice President Hamid Ansari on Friday. During his three-day visit, the Turkish Foreign Minister is also scheduled to visit Hyderabad on 20 August to open the Turkish Consulate building.

Relations between India and Turkey have witnessed steady progress. The bilateral trade is also increasing and touched USD 6.3 billion last year.

"We hope the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister will further strengthen our bilateral ties," said Swarup.

This Cavusoglu's first official visit to India. He was in India on a transit halt last year and had met Swaraj.

President Erdogan has vowed to take strong action against those linked to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who he hadblamed for the 15 July coup attempt.

Tens of thousands of troops, civil servants, judges and officials have already been detained or dismissed in a massive crackdown following the failed coup.
In an unprecedented spat, the serving army chief, General Dalbir Singh Suhag has raked up a storm by accusing General (retired) VK Singh of "blocking his promotion with mysterious design and malafide intent," according to a report in The Indian Express.

This is the first time that a serving Army general has spoken out openly against his predecessor and now a Union Minister in the Modi government.

According to reports, the army chief has submitted an affidavit in personal capacity claiming that the minister has tried to scuttle his promotion. I was sought to be victimised by the then COAS (General VK Singh) with the sole purpose of denying me promotion to the appointment of Army Commander, The Indian Express report quotes from his affidavit. Attacking his predecessor, Dalbir Singh also told the Supreme Court that VK Singh imposed a Discipline and Vigilance (DV) ban on him with the sole purpose of thwarting his rise through the ranks.

The affidavit in question here is filed as a response to a litigation initiated by Lieutenant (Retired) General Dastane alleging favouritism in appointment of General Dalbir Singh as army chief.

Union Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh has not responded to the allegations.

The current controversy, however, is not of recent vintage and has been making rounds ever since the UPA government decided to appoint Dalbir Singh as the army chief.

The issue dates back to April 2012, when the then army chief VK Singh had slapped a DV ban on Dalbir Singh following military investigation for allegedly botching up an intelligence operation in Assam's Jorhat district in December 2011, according to a report in The New Indian Express. The investigation report alleged "failure of command control" in the army operations on the basis of which VK Singh had imposed the ban. Dalbir Singh, a Lt General at the time, was serving as the Corps Commander at Dimapur.

The ban was however, subsequently lifted on 5 June 2012 after General Bikram Singh took over from VK Singh, after the latter's retirement. The move lifted all smoke around Dalbir Singh's appointment, thereby making him the next army chief, as reported in The New Indian Express.

Interestingly, VK Singh was also mired in controversy at the time in a different case, wherein he sought to change his date of birth from 10 May, 1950 to 10 May, 1951 in order to postpone his impending retirement, according to The Times of India. The courts quashed his plea, forcing him to make alternate plans for retirement, which incidentally proved vital for Dalbir Singh's appointment.

Meanwhile, another contender for the top job in the Indian Army at the time, Lt Gen (retd) Ravi Dastane filed a litigation in the civil top court alleging favouritism in Dalbir Singh's appointment. His petition seeking an urgent hearing in the matter alleged that Dalbir Singh's appointment was based on wholly illegal promotion despite a disciplinary and vigilance ban, according to a report in The Hindu. Luck again favoured Dalbir Singh as the Supreme Court denied Dastane an urgent hearing in the case, and the DV ban had already been lifted.

According to the report in The Indian Express, after clearing the DV ban, Bikram Singh also cleared Dalbir Singh's promotion as GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, with effect from June 15, 2012, which made the current army chief eligible to be nominated for the post. The report also says that the Army Commander's post was also reserved vacant for 15 days during the course of events. Following this Dastane moved court seeking an urgent hearing in the matter, which the court denied.

Incidentally, if the ban was still in force, it would have instead enabled Lt Gen Ravi Dastane to succeed Bikram Singh, according to The New Indian Express report.

Dalbir Singh's current comments come as a response in the above case. Dalbir Singh has also termed the DV ban "arbitrary," "pre-meditated" and "illegal", stating it cannot be made a basis for challenging his appointment. The passing of directions for initiating administrative action against me after about one month of having already finalised the Court of Inquiry smacks of a motivated, biased, arbitrary and malicious intent to punish me which the then COAS executed apparently as planned by him (VK Singh), the Army chief has stated in his affidavit.
BJP leader Smriti Irani, on 5 July was moved from the Human Resource Development ministry to the Textiles ministry as part of the cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In over a month since taking the post as Minister of Textiles department, the firebrand leader is known to be at loggerheads with her senior-most bureaucrat  Rashmi Verma. The Indian Express quoted some sources saying that even the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had to step in to resolve the matter.

According to the report, Irani has differences with Verma over aspects of the Rs 6,000-crore apparel and textile package cleared by the Cabinet on 22 June. They also disagreed on the preparations for a textile summit which was scheduled to be held in October.

Irani also repeatedly contacted Verma's office seeking response on a range of issues  procedural, administrative and policy-related. Sources also witnessed a heated argument between the two in the presence of other officers.

This is not the first time, Irani has made headlines for her fiery temper. Since the time she was made a cabinet minister two years ago, she has remained popular for her outbursts inside and outside of the Parliament. Her role as the Human Resource Development minister has been widely criticised (also gained her the displeasure of the RSS) and some critics also pointed out she is the one cabinet minister who has damaged the BJP politically.

Here are a few instances where Irani has been part of controversies:

Twitter spats

Ever since coming to power, Irani has been part of various spats on social media platform, Twitter, with Congress leaders like Priyanka Chaturvedi and Rahul Gandhi. In May 2016, after the Assembly Elections took place, Irani got in to a spat with Chaturvedi over the loss of Congress in the state of Assam. At the time she took a dig at Rahul Gandhi and said that 'losing is his forte'. This spat kept her trending on Twitter for a long time.

In another instance, in June 2016, Irani and Bihar Education Minister Ashok Chaudhary had indulged in a verbal duel on Twitter, triggered by the use of 'dear' word by Chaudhary. Irani objected to Chaudhary's tweet when he taunted her about the new National Education Policy's progress.

In response to the spat she wrote an open letter on Facebook post signed 'Aunty National' where she described the struggles women have to face on a daily basis. She said that she is unapologetic about who she is and the hard work she does and that nothing and nobody could take that away from her or any other working woman. She also referred to her Twitter spats when she said, "So while many working women battle this challenge in confined working spaces, I spat it out on twitter for my office travels with me. But then there are some who say why talk about yourself at all, surely one day they shall realise the amount of work you have done."

Rohith Vemula suicide



On 17 January 2016, Rohith Vemula  a Dalit PhD student at the University of Hyderabad, committed suicide after suspension from college. The HCU had reportedly stopped paying him his fellowship money after he was found protesting against the campus authorities. The issue snowballed into a political controversy after critics alleged that the HRD ministry had pushed for the Dalit students to be punished.

When asked to respond to the controversy, Irani said in the Lok Sabha that Vemula's death was used as a political tool. She said, "This is how politics was played on this child and his dead body. Nobody allowed a doctor near him. The police has reported... Not one attempt was made to revive this child. Not one attempt was made to take him to a doctor. Instead his body was used as a political tool. Hidden. No police was allowed till 6.30 the next morning. Not me, the Telangana police is saying this."

Irani's statements were branded as a lie by Vemula's mother and various faculty at the university. The incident inspired simultaneous protests by the Dalit community and the BJP was widely criticised for its stand on the Dalit community.

The Dailt's are a major vote-bank and they were a major part of the 2014 victory of the Modi government. Irani's handling of the situation alienated the community.

The JNU row

Soon after the Rohith Vemula suicide, some students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University were arrested for on sedition charges after they organised an event on Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru who was hanged in 2013.

The event caused clashes between the students of the JNU and the members of ABVP. JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on sedition charges after he allegedly raised anti-national slogans. The political controversy escalated when Home Minister Rajnath Singh released a statement, "If anyone raises anti-India slogans, tries to raise questions on the country's unity and integrity, they will not be spared."

Smriti Irani jumped into the controversy when she summoned the vice-chancellors from across the country a week after the JNU controversy began to unfold and asked them to install a national flag on a 200-foor mast at a central location on every campus. Her failed attempt to portray liberals as anti-national made her a target for a lot of criticism.

Her comments on the issue in the Rajya Sabha also kicked up a storm.

JNU VC appointment

In the past Smriti Irani is known to have had differences with President Pranab Mukherjee over the appointment of JNU's vice-chancellor. In January 2016, Irani had made her preference clear when she referred VS Chauhan, a scientist, but Mukherjee chose M Jagadesh Kumar from IIT-Delhi.

This was not the first time that the apointment of college heads by Irani's HRD minitry was mired under controversy. In September 2015 there were rumours that Irani had asked BJP leader Subramanian Swamy to be the JNU VC. Swamy even tweeted about this saying that he has preconditions that he would the ministry to meet.

The Degree row

As soon as Irani took her post as the HRD minister, there were allegations that she was not qualified enough for the post. In 2004 when she was contesting for the elections, she had claimed that she was a Bachelor in Arts. But in 2014, she declared herself a Bachelor in Commerce. A case was filed against her for making contradictory claims. She also claimed to have a degree from Yale University which she later cleared was a six-day leadership programme.

DU's FYUP programme

Delhi University students and professors gave mixed responses to the roll-back of the four-year university programme, a year after it had been initiated on the order of the HRD minister. The roll-back caused a row between DU and the University Grants Commission which scrapped the programme. However she was lauded in the political circles for her move, with the Congress throwing their weight behind her decision.

The IIT Delhi controversy

In December 2014, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi director RK Shevgaonkar resigned from his post. He apparently resigned over Irani's intervention in the campus affairs, two years before he was due to retire from the post. It was alleged that Irani had asked IIT to release salary due of Rs 70 lakh to former IIT-Delhi faculty - BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. However Irani denied the allegations. She made the claims that Shevgaonkar resigned because he was faulted for setting up an 'illegal' campus in Mauritius.

The IIT Mumbai controversy

In March 2015, the chairman of the IIT Mumbai board, renowned nuclear scientist, Anil Kakodkar resigned. He gave up the post after alleged interference of the HRD ministry in the selection of three IIT directors which was a prerogative of the search committee, according to Kakodkar.

The IIT Madra controversy

IIT Madras de-recognised a students group who were complained against. The Ambedkar Peryar Study Circle (APSC) was accused of being critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and creating a atmosphere of hatred. Irani's stand was unclear for she backed the institutes decision, but later alleged that the ministry had no role to play in the decision and that it was taken solely by the institute.

Good governance day

In December 2014, the HRD ministry sent out a circular to the schools to observe former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday - 25 December - as Good Governance day. This was widely criticised by political pundits because they felt the move was a 'communal design' for it fell on the day of Christmas.

German-Sanskrit row

In October 2014, the Board of Governors (BoG) of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), headed bu Irani decided to replace German language with Sanskrit. The decision was later commented upon by the Supreme Court who asked the Centre to reconsider the decision as it would put additional burden on students in the middle of the session. This issue was also brought up when Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Narendra Modi at the G-20 summit in November 2014.
A day after Leader of Opposition MK Stalin was evicted out of the Tamil Nadu Assembly that led to the suspension of 89 DMK MLAs for a week, the party members led by Stalin protested at the state Assembly on Thursday. They alleged that they were being denied entry into the Assembly premises. According to CNN-News 18, the DMK leaders accused Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa of being dictatorial.

Chennai: DMK MLAs protest outside Tamil Nadu Assembly after they were suspended by Speaker for 1 week yesterday pic.twitter.com/1cUcg5o8Xa  ANI (@ANI_news) August 18, 2016

Stalin was stopped by Assembly marshals who also locked the entry point leading to the House. After they were denied entry, the DMK MLAs, led by Stalin, sat on a dharna. DMK MLAs CVMP Ezhilarasan said the party legislators were denied access to their room inside the Secretariat which also houses the Legislative Assembly.

Meanwhile, security was stepped up in the Secretariat.

The Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly ordered the en masse eviction and suspension on Wednesday after DMK members strongly protested remarks made by a ruling AIADMK member apparently ridiculing Stalin.

Speaker P Dhanapal ordered eviction of the DMK members by Assembly marshals after they stood up and insisted on expunging the remarks even after he rejected their demand and asked them to cooperate for the smooth conduct of the House.

Later, the government moved a resolution suspending the DMK members for a week which was passed by a voice vote.

Trouble erupted during the debate on demands for grants for the Housing and IT departments when AIADMK member S Gunasekaran, without naming Stalin, made some remarks about the 'Namaku Naame' programme undertaken by the DMK Treasurer in the run up to this year's Assembly election.

During the 'Namakku Naame' programme, Stalin had extensively toured the state and interacted with people. The remarks about the programme triggered strong objection from the DMK members who wanted the Speaker to expunge them.

Dhanapal, however, said the MLA had not made any pointed reference to anyone and therefore there was no need to expunge the remarks.

DMK Deputy Leader Durai Murugan said 'Namakku Naame' was an initiative of Stalin and therefore the remarks refer only to him and sought their expunction.

At one point, Stalin himself rose and said he was proud that 'Namakku Naamme' had featured in an Assembly debate. He also made some remarks which were later expunged by the Speaker.

Following this, the DMK members stood up and opposed the Speaker's action even as Dhanapal asked them to cooperate. Since the DMK members did not heed his repeated pleas, he summoned the marshals to evict the agitating MLAs.

Stalin, who was physically removed, staged a brief sit-in before being finally taken out of the House.

The Speaker later said he had to resort to such an action as the DMK members did not heed his pleas for cooperation.

Leader of the House and Finance Minister O Panneerselvam then moved a resolution for the suspension of the DMK members for a week, which was passed by a voice vote in the AIADMK-dominated House.

With inputs from PTI
Istanbul: Turkey police launched a vast operation on Thursday against businesses suspected of financing US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of masterminding last month's attempted coup, media reported.

Prosecutors issued 187 arrest warrants as part of the operation in the country's economic capital of Istanbul and other provinces, CNN-Turk reported.

It said around 1,000 police took part in the operation in 15 provinces, which included simultaneous raids in about 100 addresses in several districts of Istanbul.

The suspects are accused of financing the activities of Gulen, blamed by authorities for orchestrating the July 15 putsch.

In a similar operation on Tuesday, Turkish police raided dozens of companies in Istanbul in search of 120 suspects. Around 100 people were detained.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said late yesterday that 40,029 state employees have been detained in the crackdown on alleged Gulen supporters in the wake of the failed July 15 coup, of whom 20,335 have been remanded in custody.

More than 5,000 civil servants have been dismissed and almost 80,000 others suspended, he said in an interview with TRT public television.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to eradicate businesses, charities and schools linked to Gulen, calling them "terror organisations" and "nests of terror".

Gulen, a reclusive cleric who has lived in the US since 1999, has been repeatedly accused of running a "parallel state" since a corruption scandal embroiling then premier Erdogan and several of his ministers erupted in 2013.

Gulen, in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, has denied the government's accusations.

Ankara wants Washington to extradite Gulen to face trial back home, indicating that any failure to deliver him will severely damage ties.
Athens: Greece resumed returning refugees to Turkey for the first time since the failed military coup of 15 July in Ankara and the 18 March EU-Turkey refugee return agreement.

Greece returned two small immigrant batches to Turkish authorities in a day. The first group comprised eight Syrian men flown out from the Greek island of Lesbos to Adana airport in Turkey by a Frontex border protection agency aircraft, Efe news reported on Thursday.

This return was followed by another six immigrants who were deported from Lesbos to the Turkish port of Dikili on board a boat chartered by the EU Frontex agency.

According to the local media, police sources said four Pakistani and two Algerian nationals, who demanded their right to seek refugee status, would be sent to a refugee camp near Istanbul.

Since January, 1,055 people have been returned to Turkey under the bilateral Greece-Turkey protocols and 521 under the EU-Turkey agreement.
Berlin: Chancellor Angela Merkel has dismissed suggestions that the influx of refugees over the past year has brought Islamic extremism to Germany.

German news agency dpa quotes Merkel as saying that "Islamist terrorism by IS isn't a phenomenon that came to us with the refugees, it's one that we had before too."

Merkel was speaking late on Wednesday at a political rally in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where her Christian Democrats face strong competition from the nationalist. Alternative for Germany party in state elections on 4 September.

The country has been shaken by a string of attacks, two of which were the first in Germany claimed by the Islamic State group.

In those, only the attackers both asylum-seekers were killed. In an unrelated attack, a German teenager killed nine people in Munich.
Washington: The US is monitoring the movement of the Islamic State and its affiliated groups in Afghanistan besides helping the latter's security forces to fight out the terrorist organization which is trying to expand its base rapidly in the war-torn country, a top American official has said.

"We are always looking at ISIL's (Islamic State's) ability to find safe haven and then expand to work with, these affiliate groups, factions of groups such as the Taliban that they might be able to exploit. We are monitoring it very closely," State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Wednesday.

"We're in close contact and coordination with the Afghan Security Forces in that regard, and we're going to continue. If we see opportunities to take out key leadership, we're going to strike," he said while responding to a question and reiterated that reconciliation process with the Taliban needs to be an "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned process".

"Any time you've got various splinter groups emerging, that does make those efforts more complex, but that remains our overarching goal and what we view as really the long-term solution for Afghanistan to achieve peace and stability. But I don't have an assessment of what the latest development might mean for prospects, but we continue to encourage those efforts," he said.

The US is monitoring the presence of Islamic State-affiliated groups very closely in Afghanistan, he said.

"We're actively engaged with the Government of Afghanistan and our partners in the region to prevent that from taking place. We don't want to see them gain safe haven or material support from the Taliban or anyone," he added.

Asserting that the US has made a long-term commitment to Afghanistan, Toner said it would continue to help Afghanistan build a more stable, peaceful, democratic, and prosperous future.
A reader has requested information on the former Cotten Patch restaurant which was located at 2501 E. Main Street. Here's what has been found:

The restaurant was started in the mid-1950's at 2520 Rossville Boulevard by John W. Cotton. The business had to relocate to Main Street due to construction of I-24. The Cotton Patch operated until the late 1980's.



The Cotten Patch had a large neon sign featuring a cotton boll and signifying barbecue as the main menu item.



If you have additional information or memories, please contact me at jolleyh@bellsouth.net.

Responses from Readers



The first I knew of the Cotton Patch was when it was on Rossville Blvd. it along with Swafford's Drugs and Swafford's Hardware were displaced by the I-24 and urban renewal.

John served a barbecue I would describe as similar to Memphis Dry. He had ribs as well I seem to remember.

John relocated his place to Main St. very close to Dodds when the interstate forced him to move. I never ate at that place but it was very close to Allen Music.

Tani Allen, steel guitarist extraordinaire, had a mostly guitar store on Dodds. My dad had a piano studio there where he taught piano and other private instrument lessons.

It seems like J Wiley ran the place for a while after John died but not long.

John was also Recorder for the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine when it was at First and Market. That's where I first met John. My dad was a Shriner and he would take me by there with him occasionally when he had business to attend. He ran the Orchestra and periodically had to drop by.

John was always there in office behind the glass door.

I wondered who ran the Barbecue restaurant. I think it was his wife.

In response to your request for information and memories about the Cotton Patch - I remember it well as it is where I met a tall, handsome man in 1966 who later became my husband. No doubt many matches were made there over the years. Guys and girls would circle through to "see and be seen." Although bar-B-Q was a specialty, they had wonderful cheeseburgers. The menu was posted on a billboard. Headlights were returned on to signal when you were ready to order. The servers would respond by coming to the car to get the order, then they would return with the food and beverages. It's a good memory.

I was a CPD police officer in the late 70s and all of the 80s and I worked the East Lake, Ridgedale, Highland Park area on 3rd shift for most of that time. John Cotten had a huge public address system on his building which could be heard many blocks away. If there were trouble makers on the lot, he would get on the PA and let the police know there was trouble. ''Hey Police! The blue Chevy on the back row is ''a'smokin' that dope!" He didn't put up with nonsense on his lot and would telephone the CPD and request our presence on his lot on occasion. Sometimes the situation just required a slow drive through and other times much more. His lot was always full on Friday and Saturday night with car hops working hard and with the number of vintage cars showing up, it was like a trip back into the 50s. It was a trouble spot on toward the end and many in my profession were glad to see it closed.




There's something inspiring about finding a hidden gem, in this case a relatively unknown stock, that everyone else has overlooked. It's why gold detectors have existed for decades -- because there will always be someone willing to look for something nobody else has uncovered -- or why archaeologists can dig their entire lives with only the hope of making one major game-changing discovery.

With that in mind, I wanted to try and dig up some overlooked dividend stocks that have potential to grow their dividend yield, as well as top and bottom lines.

Turning trash into treasure

Covanta Holding Corporation (CVA) is likely a name few investors recognize, due to its operations being in arguably the least sexy industry: waste disposal. However, that's partly why this is an intriguing business -- because people will actually pay the company to take trash, which it processes into energy and then sells the energy back to the world. How many companies can you name that get paid to take the fuel they create a product or service with?

Let's take a look at the company's business and the upside it offers; it also offers a dividend yield of 6.6% while investors wait for the upside to play out.

With a strong business model -- which generates about 67% of revenue from taking waste and 26% from selling energy -- the stock has merely treaded water over the past five years because of a couple of factors. One factor is that right here in the U.S., which would be a huge potential market, landfills remain a cheap and readily available option. That's different than the situation in Europe, where space is more limited and incineration is much more common.

But the future for this stock could change thanks to a recent decision by New York City to award Covanta with the city's contract. Not only is that a big contract win, but it could set the new standard for an accelerated adoption of incineration for other major cities in the U.S. market.

That's one major catalyst, but it could take years to play out. Another one, that's in the near term, is the completion of Covanta's Dublin project, which will come on line in late 2017. The project is 70% completed and it was done cost effectively, with a total capital investment of 500 million euros, at less than nine times adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization).

Lastly, upside exists for the company if commodity prices recover. That's because the company also generates some revenue from selling metal by-products from its solid-waste combustion, though with weak prices currently, the category hasn't been able to move the company's top line.

If the Dublin project completes without a hitch, commodity prices recover, and New York helps speed the adoption of waste incineration in the U.S., Covanta's stock price won't be treading water for much longer -- and a yield topping 6% sure looks tempting for investors willing to wait for the company's growth story to gain traction.

China goes nuclear!

China and its growing middle class have been a core investment thesis for many companies; stories have run the gamut from boosting sales of smartphones, to major automakers looking to crack a huge market. China is also a major cornerstone for potential investors of Cameco Corp. (CCJ 1.34%). Currently, Cameco offers investors a dividend yield of 3.1% and a lucrative long-term growth story, if you believe in the potential of nuclear reactors.

Cameco, likely a company you've never heard of, produced 27.2 million pounds of uranium last year alone, solidifying it as one of the world's largest uranium producers. That production is likely to increase by 25% to 30% by the end of 2019 as management plans to substantially increase its output.

That extra output will come in handy once the market works through the supply glut of uranium that exists currently due to the Fukushima-related reactor shutdowns. While power from nuclear reactors doesn't generate much attention in the U.S., China's nuclear reactor fleet is set to surge in numbers.

Currently, China has 34 nuclear reactors in operation, with another 20 under construction and many more about to begin construction. China plans to build some of the world's most advanced reactors in the future with a doubling of nuclear capacity to 58 gigawatts electrical (GWe) by 2020-2021, and then a jump to 150 GWe by 2030. Also, new reactors in India, South Korea, and Russia, and even reactor restarts in Japan, should increase demand of uranium in the years ahead.

As any mining stock, it's part of a cyclical industry that has been a pretty brutal area for investors in recent years. That's likely to change, and when uranium prices rebound, Cameco stands well-positioned to benefit as it ranks among the lower-cost producers and has an enviable asset base led by its high-grade McArthur River mine in Saskatchewan.

There's also a long-term catalyst for nuclear energy, and thus for Cameco. As the world continues to deal with growing emissions of carbon dioxide -- a greenhouse gas contributing to global warming -- nuclear reactors offer a realistic option to generate energy and reduce greenhouse emissions. There are many hurdles and challenges to making nuclear reactors a mainstream option, including operational safety and waste disposal, to name a few, but if those challenges can be solved, Cameco could be a huge long-term winner.
If you've been following the oil industry for the past few years, you've probably heard about the Permian more times than you can count.

In this clip from Industry Focus: Energy, Motley Fool analysts Sean O'Reilly and Taylor Muckerman explain why oil producers are so excited about drilling in the Permian basin.

A full transcript follows the video.

This podcast was recorded on Aug. 11, 2016.

Sean O'Reilly: All I've heard for the last few years is Permian, Permian, Permian, Permian. They're not talking about dinosaurs, so ...

Taylor Muckerman: Well, in some ways, they are because apparently oil, it came from dinosaurs, right?

O'Reilly: Supposedly. It's mostly algae.

Muckerman: Mostly algae and what-not.

O'Reilly: Why is the Permian so great?

Muckerman: A, it's relatively new compared to the Bakken and the Eagle Ford, in terms of drillers rushing toward it. It's also multiple, we call it a stacked play. There's multiple shale plays stocked on top of each other.

O'Reilly: That's not the case in Southern Texas with Eagle Ford?

Muckerman: To some degree, but the Permian is a deeper field, for the most part. It also is projected to have tremendous reserves. When you look at it, it's the largest production per barrel, per day, of any field in the United States, for oil. It's second in gas. It's producing both at very high levels.

O'Reilly: Wow. Is Marcellus top for gas?

Muckerman: Marcellus is more than double, almost triple, the Permian, in terms of gas.

O'Reilly: They've been hitting that for 15 years.

Muckerman: Yes, but Marcellus has next to zero oil. Whereas the Permian is offering that almost one-for-one blend in terms of being the leading oil-producing region and the second-leading gas-producing region. There's a lot more for investors, maybe, to be cheery about, because there's some diversification in terms of what you might be drilling for, and if the reserve calculations are correct, there's a very long timeline for this field, depending on where you're drilling. Obviously, it's a huge field. Not everyone is going to have the same timeline. The prospects for having decades worth of oil and gas to drill for are there in this field.
A leading bank analyst, Rafferty Capital Markets' Dick Bove, thinks banks should stop buying back so much stock. This goes against the prevailing belief that buybacks bolster shareholder value. Is Bove right, and specifically in the case of Bank of America (BAC 0.86%)?

At the beginning of this month, Bove wrote:

Periodically I check my belief that banks stock prices are not impacted by stock buybacks. In fact, if anything, there is a very weak negative correlation. My explanation is that companies that consistently buyback stock are signaling to investors that they cannot grow. Therefore, their stock prices are unaffected by the buybacks.

Bove makes an important point. Despite investors' infatuation with buybacks, the general rule is that they impair shareholder value. Studies have shown, for instance, that companies that spend their money on things like research and development, acquisitions, and capital expenditures, tend to outperform those that allocate a substantial share of their earnings to buybacks.

The problem is that, just like individual investors, companies have a habit of buying high and selling low. Bank of America serves as a case in point. In the five years before the financial crisis, it repurchased over 750 million shares at an average price of $52 per share, equating to around $40 billion. A few years later, in an effort to raise capital to survive the crisis, it then issued 3.5 billion new shares at an average price of $13.47, for a total of $47.5 billion.

This hasn't been good for Bank of America's shareholder value. The dilution caused when it issued shares in 2009 is the principal reason why the bank's stock price is still down by approximately 70% compared to its pre-crisis high.

At the same time, it's important to appreciate that well-executed buybacks are one of the most-potent ways for a company to boost shareholder return. This was the point of William Thorndike's excellent book, The Outsiders, which traced the performance of the eight CEOs of publicly traded companies that created the most value for shareholders since World War II. Many of them, Thorndike found, were able to do so through buybacks.

Take Henry Singleton as an example. Over the course of Singleton's 27-year tenure atop the 1960s-era conglomerate Teledyne, the company bought back 90% of its stock, yielding a 42% compound annual return on the buybacks. "No one has ever bought in shares as aggressively," noted Charlie Munger. The net result is that a single dollar invested in Teledyne at the beginning of Singleton's reign grew to $181 by the time he retired less than two decades later.

It's also worth pointing out that banks, particularly big banks, have little choice nowadays but to repurchase stock. As a part of the annual stress tests, known as the comprehensive capital analysis and review, the Federal Reserve exercises veto power over a bank's capital plans. And the Fed has made it clear that it prefers banks to use buybacks as opposed to dividends to return capital, as buybacks can be halted to preserve capital without causing the same degree of concern that accompanies a dividend cut.

If banks didn't buy back stock, in turn, two things would happen. In the first case, because the capital would then just accumulate on a bank's balance sheet, it would weigh on a bank's return on equity, as capital is in the ratio's denominator. This would then incentivize banks to take on more risk in an effort to juice profitability through higher-yielding assets. Consequently, in the case of the nation's biggest banks -- i.e., those that are subject to the Fed's veto over capital actions -- using buybacks is a necessary evil.

This isn't to say that Bank of America's buybacks right now are bad. Quite the opposite is, in fact, is true. If a bank is going to repurchase stock, then it should do so when its stock price, or rather its valuation, is low. More specifically, a bank should buy back stock when its shares trade near or below book value.

This is the situation Bank of America finds itself in right now, with its shares trading for a 40% discount to book value. Even Warren Buffett, who is no fan of using buybacks or dividends to boost Berkshire Hathaway's value, uses them in this way. He's said that Berkshire will repurchase its stock if it trades for less than 1.2 times book value.

In sum, Bove is right that, as a general rule, banks should rely less on buybacks if their objective is to grow long-term shareholder value. But the unique regulatory situation confronting banks combined with the prevailing low valuations of bank stocks, suggest to me that, if there is an appropriate time for banks to buy back stock, it's now.
J.C. Penney (JCPN.Q) stock is having a great 2016. Shares have risen by more than 60% year to date, as the department-store chain makes sound progress in its turnaround efforts. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns, but it looks as though J.C. Penney stock offers substantial room for gains going forward.

Let's take a closer look.

Going in the right direction

J.C. Penney has been implementing a series of smart initiatives over the past couple of years. Management is aggressively betting on private brands such as Arizona, St. John's Bay, Liz Claiborne, Xersion, and Stafford, a decision that's improving profit margins for the company.

J.C. Penney produced nearly $6 billion in sales from private brands in 2015, or approximately 47% of total revenue during the year. The company has a team of over 200 in-house designers, and the private-brands business is particularly promising in terms of profitability, since it doesn't depend on middlemen or intermediaries. Private brands also differentiate the company from the competition, a key advantage in the competitive department-store industry.

The company has significantly expanded its presence in home products lately, and this is one of its strongest categories. Products such as sheets, bath accessories, cookware, custom windows, and furniture are producing not only strong year-over-year growth in the second quarter of 2016, but also an acceleration in performance versus the first quarter of the year.

Sephora inside J.C. Penney is another strong driver. J.C Penney opened 27 new Sephora locations last quarter, bringing the total number of units to 574. Management is planning four more locations later in the fall, and according to CEO Marvin Ellison, performance "is incredibly encouraging" for both mature and new Sephora shops.

The company is placing new Sephora units in more small and rural areas than it had originally planned, and it's receiving a better-than-anticipated response from customers. For this reason, management is boosting its expansion plans for Sephora inside J.C. Penney going forward.

J.C. Penney is also aggressively investing in omnichannel technologies. The company completed the rollout of its buy-online, pick-up-in-store, or BOPIS, same-day service during the second quarter, and this capability is now available in all J.C. Penney stores. Nearly 40% of customers who visit a store to pick up a BOPIS order are also purchasing additional items, so this service is benefiting J.C Penney in multiple ways.

Beating the competition

Total sales during the quarter ended on July 30 grew 1.5%, to $2.9 billion. Comparable sales increased 2.2% year over year during the quarter and 6.3% from levels from two years ago. Profit margins are also moving in the right direction, as gross profit margin increased by 10 basis points to 37.1% of revenue.

Management is expecting to produce comparable-store sales growth in the range of 3% to 4% during the full year 2016, while gross profit margin is forecast to expand by 10 to 30 basis points over 2015 levels. The company is aiming for $1 billion in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) in 2016, and that figure is expected to rise to $1.2 billion next year. That would be a substantial increase from $715 million in EBITDA in 2015.

Financial performance looks even more encouraging when comparing J.C. Penney with other companies in the department-store sector, as most competitors are reporting declining revenue.

As a reference:

Macy's M 0.38% )

Nordstrom JWN -0.48% )

Total revenue at Kohl's KSS 1.20% )

More room to run

The following chart compares EBITDA margin for J.C. Penney against Macy's, Nordstrom, and Kohl's. The main point is quite clear: J.C. Penney is significantly closing the profitability gap versus the competition, but it still has considerable room for improvement.

Wall Street analysts are expecting $13.24 billion in revenue from the company next year. Under this assumption, $1.2 billion in EBITDA would mean an EBITDA margin of nearly 9% of revenue. Management guidance is, therefore, ambitious, but not unreasonable at all by industry standards.

Importantly, the stock is priced at a significant discount to the competition. J.C. Penney trades at a price-to-sales ratio of 0.26, versus 0.47 for Macy's, 0.57 for Nordstrom, and 0.43 for Kohl's. If management continues leading the company in the right direction, then J.C. Penney stock still offers significant room for gains from current valuation levels.
Best-selling author Camron Wright will be visiting the Baylor School on Aug. 29 and 30 to discuss his book The Rent Collector, which is required reading for the students this school year.

The Rent Collector is an emotional story about about Cambodian families struggling for survival at the Stung Meanchey dump. The book won Book of the Year by Foreword Reviews in 2013.

This Sept. 6, he releases another emotionally-gripping story, The Orphan Keeper, which is an auto-biographical book about a young boy who was kidnapped from his home in India, sold for profit, and adopted half way across the world.
Two students at Girls Preparatory School, rising senior Leah Baxter and rising junior Margaret Lim, have received full scholarships for the 2016-17 school year. Ms. Baxter is the recipient of the coveted Grace McCallie Scholarship, awarded to the rising senior who has maintained the highest GPA during her Upper School years. The scholarship was established in 1919 in memory of Grace McCallie, one of the schools three co-founders.

A member of the GPS Honors Orchestra, Ms. Baxter plays oboe and clarinet. She is a senior representative on the Honor Council, a member of the National Honor Society and Model UN, and has participated in several GPS theatre productions either on stage or as a member of the technical team.

Ms. Lim is the recipient of the schools Duffy-Jarnagin Scholarship, awarded annually to a rising junior. The scholarship was established in memory of two of the schools co-founders, Miss Tommie Payne Duffy and Miss Eula Lea Jarnagin. Award criteria state that the girl should be highly respected by her class and have qualities of integrity and loyalty. Scholarship and service to the school also play a part in the award decision.



Ms. Lim is concertmaster for the GPS Honors Orchestra, playing the violin and piano. A junior representative on the Honor Council, she is a member of the National Honor Society, Model UN, and a participant in Science Olympiad competition.
It's a battle over unlimited data for Sprint and T-Mobile.

T-Mobile on Thursday announced it is replacing all its data plans with a new unlimited pricing model, dubbed T-Mobile One. The new plans are "100 percent unlimited" for smartphones and tablets, offering all-you-can-eat talk, text, and 4G LTE smartphone data, T-Mobile said.

Sprint, meanwhile, announced Unlimited Freedom, which includes two lines of unlimited talk, text, and data for $100 a month.

With T-Mobile One, you will "never have to track, monitor, or police [your] data usage ever again," the company boasted. The plans also come with perks like "Simple Global," which offers unlimited text and data roaming and low calling rates in more than 140 countries, "Mobile Without Borders" so you can use your device in Canada and Mexico just like you would at home, and "Carrier Freedom" to help cover switching costs. Like Binge On, however, video will be restricted to 480p, or DVD quality.

T-Mobile One launches nationwide on Sept. 6 for current and new customers. The first line is $70 a month, the second is $50 a month, and additional lines are $20 a month for up to eight lines with T-Mobile's auto pay. If you don't use auto pay, it's $5 more a month per line.

On a conference call Thursday, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said "the bulk" of the company's customers are on a family plan, and will be paying $40 per line for a family of four under T-Mobile One. For a single user, singing up alone, the cheapest T-Mobile plan is now $70, though Legere pointed out you'll find cheaper options with fewer "bells and whistles" via the company's prepaid brand, MetroPCS.

Legere said that T-Mobile isn't motivated by what the two biggest mobile carriers Verizon and AT&T  or in his words "dumb and dumber"  are doing, but he hopes they follow suit. "Customers should not be held back," he said. "I truly believe this is the most exciting thing for our customers and theirs that's ever happened."

When it comes to Sprint, the carrier's new Unlimited Freedom plan is available for $60 for one line, $40 for a second line, and $30 per month per line for any additional account up to 10. There are some limitations, though: like T-Mobile, video streams are capped at 480p, gaming maxes out at 2Mbps, and music streams support up to 500kbps.

Yesterday, AT&T announced an end to overages, following Verizon's lead. The company's Mobile Share Advantage plans are aimed at simplifying pricing and eliminating data overage charges.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.
The original mission of Angies List  and Im not changing it  is to relentlessly elevate the local services experience. Angies List (NASDAQ:ANGI) CEO Scott Durchslag, who joined the company in 2015, is staying true to the founding principles of the company. But, theres always room for a little change

The Early Days

When Bill Osterle was relocated to Columbus, Ohio, the renovation of his home proved to be a major challenge. Without any previous experience or recommendations, finding a reliable local service provider was no easy task. Osterle turned to his friend Angie Hicks, who was also from Indianapolis, where there was a program called Unified Neighbors. The program had a screened list of service providers that received positive feedback from former customers. Osterle and Hicks then set out to make the same information available in Columbus.

Building The List

When the company started, it was entirely reliant on the telephone. Hicks would receive calls asking for recommendations for service providers. She would then call around to homeowners who had experience in that area. As you might imagine, this took a lot of time and energy. Durchslag explains, The ability to go online created the ability to scale this much more quickly and cost effectively.

Getting... and Staying on the List

To be on Angies List, service providers have to have a certain threshold of A and B reviews. While Angies List does not give businesses the ability to remove negative reviews, Durchslag advises them to act proactively to be able to correct the issue.

The Takeaway

In July, Angies List redefined its business with major change. As FOXBusiness.com reported, after more than 20 years, the subscription-based review service is now free. Whats behind the change? Durchslag explains, Millennials will not pay for reviews so we really want to embrace that and fight gravity.

Nevertheless, Durchslag is staying faithful to the companys culture, saying, I havent wanted to fundamentally change the core values of the company because Angies List people really, truly, and deeply care about our consumers and our homeowners and that whole experience.
Image source: Getty Images.

When a company's tag line for the oil market downturn is "survive to thrive," it is a pretty good indication that its survival is in question. For troubled Canadian producer Pengrowth Energy (NYSE: PGH), its survival is in doubt at the moment because it has more than $500 million in debt maturing next year, and it is close to breaching its financial covenants. While it has plans to tackle both issues, it still has work to do.

Drilling down into the problem

As of the end of the second quarter, Pengrowth Energy had $1.63 billion of debt outstanding. While that is a lot for a company of its size during the current environment, it is not the sheer size of its debt that's the concern. Instead, the greatest anxiety at the moment is the fact that Pengrowth has $400 million in debt maturing next year as well as $127 million of convertible debentures to address. Under normal market conditions, the company would likely just refinance this debt and roll it into the future. However, because of the market's current turmoil, that is not an option.

Instead, the company needs to figure out other ways to address these maturities. Since the start of the year, the company has begun to make headway, repaying about $225 million of debt. However, its primary focus was on paying down the outstanding borrowings under its covenant based $1 billion credit facility, which is now entirely undrawn after it paid its remaining $52 million balance last quarter. In addition to that, it has started building up its cash position and had $54.1 million of cash on its balance sheet as of the end of last quarter. Under its current assumptions, it projects to end the year with $150 million to $200 million of cash on its balance sheet. While that is a good start, it is not enough to wipe out its 2017 debt maturities.

An even bigger problem awaits

Pengrowth's hope is that it can use the availability under its revolving credit facility as a bridge to address the remaining balance on next year's debt maturities. However, while that $1 billion facility is completely untapped, it might not be available when the company needs it the most. That is because the facility is covenant-based, not reserve-based. As a result, its senior debt-to-EBITDA ratio must remain below 3.5 times for that money to be available. While that is not a problem at the moment given Pengrowth's current ratio of 3.1 times, it might be an issue next year.

The company noted the potential problem its second-quarter earnings release:

In other words, while it has plenty of breathing room on the covenants right now, it needs oil and gas prices to rebound for it to remain in compliance next year under current projections.

One step the company is taking to address the problem is to seek a waiver from its lenders on the covenants to give it more breathing room. This request has been a commonone in the sector during the downturn with rival Penn West Petroleum (NYSE: PWE), for example, successfully negotiating a covenant increase to 5.0 times senior debt-to-EBITDA in early 2015 to provide it some more breathing room. However, when Penn West Petroleum sought another covenant amendmentearlier this year, its banks held firm. As a result, the company was forced to sell some of its prized assets to pay down debt and get back comfortably below its leverage limit. That might be the fate that awaits Pengrowth Energy. While it plans to sell up to $300 million of assets this to address next year's debt maturities, it might need to sell even more if it is in danger of breaching its covenants.

Investor takeaway

While Pengrowth is taking small steps toward addressing its 2017 debt maturities, an even larger issue looms. If commodity prices do not improve or its banks are not lenient, it might default on its financial covenants next year. That could force the company to take similar steps as Penn West and sell prized assets to stay afloat. In other words, it has not yet guaranteed its survival, which puts its ability to thrive in question.

A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.

Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Image source: Getty Images.

What's the best way to increase the odds of success in a stock investment? For most of us, research, conviction, and patience factor significantly in a profitable equity holding.

But if your pockets are deep enough, you might steadily amass a position worth several percentage points of the ownership of a large multinational. Then, at the appropriate moment, you can mount a pedestal, and argue vociferously and very publicly for change -- anapproach exemplified by master activists like Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn.

While this style of aggressive interference may be de rigueur among a certain type of institutional investor, evidence suggests that some activist firms are switching up their tactics. According to a new report from Activistmonitor, a shareholder activist platform owned by mergers-and-acquisitions resource firm Mergermarket, change advocates are departing from standard practice by keeping a much lower profile and targeting smaller companies.

A new breed of agitators

Activistmonitor's findings cover North American shareholder activism in the first half of 2016. The company reports that initiatives from nontraditional activists rose from 26% of total observed campaigns in 2015 to 38% of total observed campaigns in 2016 so far.

Who are these nontraditionalists? Activistmonitor defines them as activists who accumulate less than the 5% stake threshold which requires filing a 13D disclosure schedule with the SEC. The report indicates that investors who seek to force change are finding that they can influence corporate management without having to pony up for a traditional 5%-plus share.

Of course, hedge funds and other institutional money managers with assets exceeding $100 million (at fair market value) are still required to disclose their holdings each quarter by filing the better-known SEC Form 13F.

However, disclosing a 1% or 2% position in a corporation through Form 13F doesn't itself imply that you're running an activist campaign, while the filing of Schedule 13D requires you to disclose not only your total position, but your intent in the acquisition.

There are cogent reasons for taking what Activistmonitor dubs a below-the-radar approach. Not every campaign is a bare-knuckle fracas with the intent to completely upend corporate strategy, as investment group Starboard Value LP did when it took control of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) in late 2014.

Instead, in many cases, diplomacy, with the subtle pressure of ongoing share accumulation, may serve an investor's interests with more effect.

After all, the confrontational approach, which consists of presenting a lengthy white paper panning the strategy employed by a corporation's executive team and board, ends up subjecting both parties, and the alternate investment thesis itself, to immediate scrutiny. Analysts, the press, and other investors then weigh in on either side of the proposition.

Thus, those who wish to avoid the near-instant escalation and public feuding that nearly always follows, and are able to gain the ear of management with as little as a 1% stake, naturally have good reason to opt to go under the radar.

Smaller, not super, campaigns

The second identified trend appears to be a growing preference for more diminutive corporate targets. In the first half of 2015, Activistmonitor measured 16 "Super Campaigns" involving companies with market capitalizations of more than $10 billion. In the first two quarters of 2016, the Super Campaign tally fell to just six. And with a median target market cap of $1.6 billion, it seems that activists are currently satisfying their appetites within the mid-cap, and even small-cap categories.

Dropping down to mid-cap level has a distinct advantage: The smaller the market capitalization of the target, the less capital it takes to build an under-the-radar position.Moreover, launch a Super Campaign and you're playing with super stakes. Visibly agitating at the doorstep of a household name can punish as well as reward -- a failed "big bet" campaign hits both a fund's resources and its reputation.

Where large investors are aiming their sights, and what they're after

As has been the trend in recent years, the technology, media, and telecommunications, or TMT, sector, has enjoyed the most attention in 2016, drawing 36% of all campaigns. This is followed by pharma/bio/medical at 16%, and consumer and leisure at 13%, with the rest spread fairly evenly between industrials, energy, real estate, and financial institutions.

As for what exactly activist teams seek to influence, over the last five years, board changes and board representation have increased in importance, with governance issues and capital allocation remaining high priorities:

Image source: Activistmonitor report.

Effects on your portfolio

There are a few implications in the Activistmonitor report for the average retail investor to note. The trend toward discreet campaigns at mid-cap companies diminishes the ability of investors to ride the coattails of favorite activists -- or to bail out of companies when certain activists make their ownership known. Either way, when a fund seeks quiet influence as opposed to a groundswell of support from other investors, it's simply more difficult to know when a 1% or 2% stake revealed in a Form 13F filing is active or passive.

The emergence of lower-key, non-Super Campaign efforts also means that a stock you own may be outperforming due to the effects of activism without your knowledge. And of course, the reverse can be true as well -- activists, no matter how powerful or well-resourced, don't always get things right.

The $15,834 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $15,834 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

Asit Sharma has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Image source: Cenovus Energy.

Commodity producers like oil companies are known as price takers because they are forced to take the market price for the oil they produce. As a result, any fluctuation in the price of crude has a rather direct impact on their bottom line. That said, the price of crude is not one single price at any time. Instead, there are multiple prices for crude, depending on the type and location. Often, the differences in the prices of various varieties of crude are minor, but that's not always the case, so it's important for investors to know the oil price that makes up the bulk of a company's oil production -- it can make a big difference in producer profitability during times of market dislocation.

Crude oil prices 101

The most common global crude oil benchmark is Brent, which refers to oil extracted from the North Sea that is sweet and light (with sweet relating to oil having less than 0.42% sulfur content, while light refers to oil that freely flows at room temperature). Because of the characteristics of Brent, it's easier to refine, which often causes it to sell for a premium to heavy sour oils.

Another major oil price is the U.S. oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, which is an even lighter and sweeter crude than Brent. It is the standard benchmark price for producers in the U.S., especially those in Texas' legendary Permian Basin. Meanwhile, at theother end of the spectrum is Western Canadian Select, or WCS, which is heavy oil made mostly of bitumen from Canada's oil sands. In addition to that, other oil prices include TOCOM, which is Middle East crudes that trade on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Nigeria's Bonny Light, and Mexico's Maya crude, which is a heavy sour oil.

The crude reality of crude pricing

It's important to understand these oil prices because they can have an impact on oil companies. For example, while Brent and WTI are similar types of oil, they do not always trade at a similar price. In fact, thanks to surging U.S. production and limited domestic refining capacity, WTI typically trades at a discount to Brent:

WTI Crude Oil Spot Price data by YCharts.

Before the 2014 collapse in oil prices, that discount was quite wide, and at one point, it was more than $20 a barrel, due in part to the prior ban on exporting domestically produced oil. That meant producers selling their oil at Brent had a competitive advantage because they earned more per barrel than rivals selling oil at the WTI price.

For example, in 2012, when Brent sold at a hefty premium to WTI, global oil giant ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) realized an average of $105.72 per barrel, while U.S.-focused EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) only realized $98.02 per barrel for its oil. While that might not seem like a big difference, the $7.70 per barrel when spread across EOG Resources' 162,700 barrels per day of oil production would have resulted in an incremental $457 million of revenue, which would have boosted EOG's top line by 4%.

Meanwhile, producers in Canada often have to deal with a very wide differential between WTI and WCS. That differential is partially due to that country's lack of pipeline capacity, which can drive WCS down when a pipeline goes out of commission, or if there's a glut of heavy oil in storage. That is what happened during the first quarter of this year when WCS plunged to less than $20 a barrel. In fact, ConocoPhillips' Canadian production averaged $19.03 per barrel in the first quarter, compared to $33.27 for its WTI oil. While that low price for its Canadian oil hurt, ConocoPhillips' diversification muted much of the impact, evidenced by the fact that it realized an average of $31.47 per barrel during the quarter. Conoco's Canadian oil sands joint venture partner Cenovus Energy (NYSE: CVE), on the other hand, realized only$15.91 per barrel during the first quarter because virtually all of its oil gets priced at WCS. Because of that, Cenovus lost $2.13 for every barrel of oil it produced. While Cenovus Energy's hedges and its refining arm enabled it to generate some cash flow, the company's Canadian-focused production suffers from the fact that it prices its oil at WCS instead of another benchmark price.

Investor takeaway

Crude oil might trade on the global market, but it's often priced locally, which can have a meaningful impact on producer profits. While that difference might not matter much during the good times, it can be a significant weight during periods of market stress, which was the fate of Cenovus Energy earlier this year.

A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early, in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.

Matt DiLallo owns shares of ConocoPhillips. The Motley Fool owns shares of EOG Resources. 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.
(Getty/image)

I'll admit it straight off. I just switched from loving to hating Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). And that's despite how the stock rose by over 20% in 2016, a very nice gain for thistypically stodgy stock.Unfortunately, that kind of leapposes a highly unpleasant paradox for J&J investors like me.We'd really like to increase our position in this company, but there are too many warning signs that the stock has gotten ahead of itself.

Even with a great company like J&J,there is a time to buy. And that's true even if your focus is only on the company's ultra-safe, growing dividend. J&J's trailing annual dividend yield is only 2.65%,which is close to a 5-year low. The dividend yieldis often what keeps investor sentiment gung-ho, and the share price pushing ever higher,sothat's not good news.

Butthere are several more important reasons why this stock is due for a pause, or even a drop. One reason just hit the news,so let's dive in.

Key Remicade patentstruck down, copycat could be launched soon

As of yesterday, autoimmune treatment Remicade, which has been the company's biggest revenue generator for years,faces serious potential competition from Pfizerand partnerCelltrion's copycat drug, Inflectra.

That's because just yesterday afternoon, J&J lost a key court battle to shield Remicade from biosimilar competition. Specifically, a U.S. District Judge struck down a key patent,rulingin favor of Hospira (now owned by Pfizer). J&J said it plans to appeal, but that could take a year or more. In the meantime, in light of the new ruling, Pfizer could decide to make the somewhat risky move of launching Inflectra in the U.S. That could happen as soon as October 3, 2016, when the drug's FDAapproval allows sales to begin.

If J&J wins the planned appeal and Remicade's patent is upheld, Pfizer could be on the hook for big financial damages. But I don't think Pfizer will hold off on the launch. Celltrion has been knocking it out of the ballpark with sales of Inflectra in Europe, with sales of nearly $100 million in the first quarter of 2016. Seeing how successful Inflectra has been in Europe since its 2015 launch, it seems likely Pfizer will accept the risk.

Valuation is stretched given low to mid-single digit earnings growth

J&J is currently trading at nearly 23 times its last 12 months earnings. While that's certainly not nosebleed level, it's a hefty ratio.

It's also high relative to the company's history. J&J has commanded a premium price-to-earnings ratio in the past, but the current trailing P/E ratio is above its historical norms since 2005. Considering just the last five years, J&J's five year P/E average is 18.6

When J&J raised earnings guidance last quarter to a range of $6.63-$6.73 per share, on projected revenues of $71.5- $72.2 billion, the company also said it did not expect any biosimilar competition for Remicade in 2016 in the U.S. That could change soon. Add in headwinds from negative currency movements and a soft global market, and the short-term risks are significant.

The best things in life are worth waiting for

The big question about J&J isn't whether more stock gains are possible in the future. There's no doubt about that.The big question is whether investors who exercise patience might get shares at a significantly better price.

Here's the problem in a nutshell: If Johnson & Johnson's stock price reflected a trailing twelve month's P/E ratio of around 15, I would be salivating, but that would suggest a price near $100 per share. Since the stock traded today at around $121 per share, and options for safe, growing dividends are few and far between in today's market, we may not see that $100 price again soon.

Still, with the recent news on Remicade andthe other issues,I wouldn't be surprised it J&J's share price got a haircut. Until then, I'm holding off on buying more.This company is a long-term champion,so I'll never sell. And ifJ&Jmanages to grow earnings more than expected, (the best way to send its P/E ratio closer to its historical norms), you better believe I'll not only eat my words, I'll switch back to loving it again. In a heartbeat.

A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.

Cheryl Swanson owns shares of Johnson and Johnson. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Johnson and Johnson. 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.
Chattanooga Basics invites the public to join them for a presentation on early childhood development on Friday at 2 p.m. at Orchard Knob Missionary Baptist Church, 1734 E. 3rd St. in Chattanooga.

The presenter will be Harvard adjunct professor Dr. Ronald F. Ferguson. Dr. Ferguson has taught at Harvard since 1983, his research and writing for the past decade have focused on racial achievement gaps.

"Studies show that 80 percent of a childs brain development happens during the first three years of life.

Join us for an important conversation about how we can help Hamilton County children enter school ready to learn." organizers said. "In May, a group of Chattanoogans attended the Young American Leaders Program at Harvard University, which featured a presentation about the Basics program. Challenged to take on a project, the group decided to bring this simple, but important program to Chattanooga."
Prison stocks got hit hard Thursday. Image source: Getty Images.

The broader stock market made modest gains on Thursday, with the Dow and S&P moving upward by small fractions of a percentage point that were insufficient to send the measures to new all-time record highs. Overall, investors seemed content to follow the path of least resistance, and in the absence of any reason to reverse course, the general optimism that has pervaded the market throughout much of the summer remained in place.

Some investors have become nervous about the potential for a correction later in the year, but those fears weren't enough to send most stocks lower. However, some companies suffered bad news, and Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), Briggs & Stratton (NYSE: BGG), and Corrections Corp. of America (NYSE: CXW) were among the poorer performers on the day.

Twitter cracks down, faces competition

Twitter dropped 6% after announcing that it would suspend 235,000 more accounts because of what it called promotion of terrorism. That brings the total suspension count to 360,000 accounts, and Twitter said that it intended to keep fighting against violators of its terms of service.

Even with the moves against violent extremism, however, investors in Twitter remain concerned about the potential for Snapchat and other competing services to take away share from the microblogging site. If Twitter can't take steps to avoid its customers moving to other platforms, thereby reducing the amount of advertising revenue that Twitter can charge to advertising clients, then the stock could end up suffering even more losses than it already has seen in recent years.

Briggs & Stratton disappoints with earnings

Briggs & Stratton dropped 13% in the wake of its fiscal fourth-quarter financial report Wednesday night. The maker of engines for outdoor power equipment said that sales fell 6% on a currency-adjusted basis, citing cooler spring weather in North America and Europe as holding back seasonal sales.

Briggs & Stratton raised its dividend by 4%, to $0.14 per share, but it also gave guidance for the fiscal 2017 year that included predictions of $1.26 to $1.41 per share in earnings on sales of $1.84 billion to $1.89 billion. Despite assertions from CEO Todd Teske that conditions in the industry have improved in June and July, investors want to see more evidence of a rebound before regaining confidence in Briggs & Stratton's future prospects.

Corrections Corp. gets put in solitary

Finally, Corrections Corp. of America plummeted 35%. The private prison operator got bad news from the U.S. Department of Justice, which said that it would seek to stop using privately operated penitentiaries to hold inmates. The trend away from private prisons for federal criminals has been in place for several years, with the number of inmates under private care falling by roughly half since 2013.

Nevertheless, many are concerned that, because the federal government is making the move, states and other clients will follow suit. Until the shakeout in the industry becomes clearer, it'll be hard for Corrections Corp. and its industry peers to recover from today's breakdown.

A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.

Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Twitter. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Former Mayor of Shiloh, Israel David Rubin says Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is the best candidate for the state of Israel.

In an interview with the FOX Business Networks Varney & Co., Mr. Rubin laid out his reasons why he thinks anyone who is a friend of Israel should cast their vote for Trump.

Trump stands with Israel when it comes to building in Israels capital. He is in favor of permits for Israelis to build in Israels designated capital, Jerusalem. Hillary Clinton is against, he said.

American Jews have historically sided with the Democratic political spectrum as more than 70 percent of Jewish people have voted for a Democratic candidate.

American Jews have historically been Democrats from the time that they came here as immigrants to the United States, Rubin told host Stuart Varney. He went on to say, Those Jewish people who really hold Israel as up in there list of priorities of issues that are most important to them will vote for Trump."

Rubin says some of the issues that greatly concern American Jews such as abortions and prayers in public schools have become a higher priority than the concerns for the state of Israel.

Unfortunately, American Jews tend to be very secular and the 70 percent of American Jews that are very secularized do tend to vote Democratic. The 15% or so that are Orthodox that are the more religious Jews, they go Republicans in most cases, Rubin explained.

However, Rubin sees a clear shift in that the American Jewish community is becoming more Orthodox.
Jewelry designers Jill Martinelli and Sabine Le Guyader, of the brand Lady Grey, have made it very clear they support presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.

Ivanka Trump recently purchased a piece from the brand online, and Lady Grey wrote on Instagram the profits from Trumps purchase will be donated to the American Immigration Council for Gun Safety and the Clinton campaign.

The jewelry currently available on the Lady Grey website ranges in price from $60 to $395.

In an email to The Cut, Martinelli explained the move.

While we were flattered to receive an order from Ivanka Trump, our social and political views couldnt be further from those of the Trump campaign. When we received her order, we instantly felt compelled to take the money and donate it to a few organizations that were more aligned with our ideals.

In April, Ivanka was a registered independent which prevented her from voting for her father in the New York primary.

Lady Grey launched in 2009. Beyonce and Rihanna have been seen wearing the brand's jewelry. The company did not return FOX411s request for comment.
If you're one of the nearly 50 percent of Americans who struggles with dandruff, you're probably familiar with its telltale symptoms: itchiness, a dry scalp, white flakes appearing on your dark sweaters. The chronic skin condition can be caused by dry skin, a sensitivity to certain hair products, or a yeast-like fungus called Malassezia. And while there are over-the-counter shampoos that can help combat flakes, you may already have a potential solution sitting in your pantry. Experts say at-home remedies such as coconut oil and crushed aspirin can go a long way towards easing the itch and fighting dandruff-causing yeast.

Here, five at-home treatments that dermatologists recommend to their patients.

RELATED: The Best Hair Products of 2016, According to Beauty Experts

Coconut oil

One of the most popular natural dandruff remedies, coconut oil can help reduce some of the yeast that contributes to flakes, explained Dr. Geeta Shah, a Maryland-based dermatologist. She recommends massaging a small amount into your scalp and leaving it there for at least 15-20 minutes.

"The longer the better," she said. "Some people even leave it on overnight with a towel or shower cap so it penetrates a little deeper."

One caveat: It may take a few washes to fully rinse out of strands, so maybe don't try this right before date night.

Apple cider vinegar

Thanks to its high pH, apple cider vinegar can also help inhibit the growth of flake-causing yeast, Shah said. But unlike coconut oil, you shouldn't put it directly on your hair: "You want to dilute it," she said. "I recommend a half and half solution of half vinegar, half water."

Apply the mixture to your scalp and let it soak in for at least 15 minutes. There will be a lingering vinegar smell even after you shampoo, she said, "but it fades pretty quickly and [vinegar] is easier to get out of the scalp and hair [than coconut oil]."

RELATED: These Are the 4 Best Dandruff Shampoos, According to Dermatologists

Aspirin

Like many over-the-counter dandruff remedies, aspirin contains salicylic acid, which can help reduce flaking, Shah said. To use, crush a few aspirin and mix with water to create a paste that you can apply to your scalp. Another option: Add the crushed aspirin to your shampoo to give it an instant dandruff-fighting boost.

RELATED: 11 Products for Perfect Air-Dried Hair

Aloe vera

Unlike other natural remedies, aloe vera won't necessarily help get rid of dandruff, since it doesn't attack the yeast that's often at the root (see what we did there?) cause of white flakes. However, it can offer other benefits: "Some people have a lot of inflammation from dandruff, and aloe vera is anti-inflammatory, so it helps the itching," said Dr. Debra Jaliman, a New York City-based dermatologist. Rub a small amount on your scalp for fast, cooling relief.

Tea tree oil

Another great natural anti-inflammatory: tea treat oil. Dr. Mona Gohara, a Connecticut dermatologist and associate clinical professor at Yale, suggests adding a few drops to your regular shampoo to calm your scalp.

This article originally appeared on Health.com.
Mosquitoes are actively transmitting the Zika virus in Miami Beach, sources aware of conversations that took place Thursday between Florida state health representatives and local officials have reportedly told the Miami Herald. Officials were expected to confirm the new zone of transmission that afternoon, and the news could threaten the tourism hotspot of Miami-Dade County.

Officials had been trying to halt the virus from spreading beyond a 1-square-mile section of Wynwood, an arts hub in the county just north of downtown Miami, since identifying local transmission there on July 29. Wynwood marked the first zone of ongoing Zika transmission in the continental United States.

Our strategy has been and will continue to be focusing on the elimination of potential breeding sites and educating our residents and businesses on what they need to do, Miami City Manager Jimmy Morales said in a written statement to the Herald. We are also working with the county and they are also inspecting and as needed mitigating through techniques like clean ups, larvicides and fogging.

Since Zika started spreading in Wynwood, seven new local cases of Zika have been reported outside of that zone, the Herald reported. On Wednesday, the health department reported an additional three new local Zika infections in Miami-Dade, including one in the initial 1-square-mile zone and two others outside of it.

The Herald reported that so far this year in Florida, 557 people, 63 of them pregnant, have contracted Zika. Thirty-three of those stem from local transmission in the state, and all except for seven have been traced to the Wynwood area." The number of cases in Miami Beach has not been confirmed.

According to the Herald, Miami Beach is home to half of the countys hotel rooms and the region depends on its $24 billion-a-year tourism industry.


Tobacco companies notched a partial victory in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authority to require pre-clearance for tobacco products with changed labels or quantities.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday vacated part of an FDA directive stating tobacco companies may need the agency's clearance to market products with significant labeling modifications, such as a change in color or logo.

However, Mehta said that the agency could require clearance for marketing a tobacco product with a different quantity - for instance, an increase in the number of cigarettes per pack.

The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed last year by subsidiaries of Imperial Brands, Reynolds American Inc and Altria Group over FDA guidelines clarifying what changes to a tobacco product require regulatory approval under the 2009 Tobacco Control Act, which gave the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products.

The guidance is not binding, but does indicate the agency's thinking about what constitutes a "new tobacco product" requiring companies to seek approval or face potential enforcement action.

Among other things, the FDA directive said significant modifications to a product's label that make it distinct from the original version, or changes to the quantity sold in each package, could require authorization.

Tobacco companies argued in part that the FDA's interpretation was not what Congress intended in the Tobacco Control Act. The FDA said its guidance was supported by federal law.

Ruling on motions from both sides, Mehta said Congress could have explicitly stated that a labeling modification triggered a regulatory approval requirement, but did not. "The court must presume that that omission was purposeful," he wrote.

On the other hand, changing the quantity of tobacco product "necessarily entails a change in the amount of constituent ingredients and additives," and does represent a modification to the product, the judge wrote.

Altria spokesman Brian May said the company was pleased with the decision on labeling changes, calling it the "principle focus of our lawsuit." He said the company was still considering whether to appeal the quantity-change decision.

A representative for Imperial's U.S. subsidiary ITG Brands said the company agreed with the court's analysis on the labeling issue. Representatives for Reynolds and the FDA declined to comment.

The case is Philip Morris USA v. U.S. FDA, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 15-1590.
Update: Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation on Aug. 18, 2016, authorizing 16- and 17-year-olds to make the decision to become organ donors, making New York the 47th state to do so.

Many New York teenagers believe that signing up to register as an organ donor when they go to the DMV for their learners permit or license is about being a good citizen. They will tell you that they simply want to do the right thing if they are ever given the opportunity to help an ailing New Yorker.

And if these altruistic young New Yorkers lived most anywhere else in the nation, the law would allow them to do just that -- to add their names to the state Donate Life Registry at the age of 16 or 17, instead of waiting until 18.

Now, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a strong proponent of organ and tissue donation, can take an important step and allow New York to become the 47th state in the country to make the age of expressed intent 16.

Sitting on his desk awaiting signature is the Young Adult Enrollment Bill, which was recently passed by the New York State Legislature with overwhelming support. The bill will authorize New York residents ages 16 and 17 to register as organ donors either at the DMV, MyDMV.com or any other methods allowed by the state Department of Health. If the governor allows Fridays deadline to pass, another year could go by without action.

This legislation is equally important to the parents and guardians of young New Yorkers. Not only will these high school students have the opportunity to educate themselves on the issue of organ donation and feel empowered to register, but their parents, if ever faced with an unspeakable loss, will have the peace of mind knowing that donation is something their children believed in.

Moreover, parents of that 16- or 17-year-old will be contacted and given the final say as to whether they wish the donation to take place.

Lauren Shields, a Westchester teen who needed a heart transplant when she was 9 years old to survive, makes the poignant case for her peers. She will be forever grateful for the gift of life she received in 2009.

"As a 16-year-old who just got my learners permit, I would have loved the option to register my intent to be an organ donor someday. I know I am not alone because in every state except Mississippi, Illinois. New York and New Jersey, it is already being done. Many of my friends ask me about how to sign up. This legislation would allow that to happen and for that reason I hope the Governor will sign this important bill."

The Young Adult Enrollment bill is one of many crucial efforts to close the disparity among the vast majority of New Yorkers who believe in organ donation, but who have yet to take the step to add their names to the state health registry.

And while New York saw a large increase in the percentage of residents who took the step to register last year, the state continues to lag woefully behind the rest of the country in percentage of registered organ donors. This, while some 10,000 New Yorkers in need of an organ remain on an ever-growing wait list.

Gov. Cuomo has long been a thoughtful champion in this field. With the stroke of a pen, he can once again take the lead to ensure young adults have a voice on this important social issue and life-saving cause.

Helen Irving, president and CEO of LiveOnNY, began her career as a critical care nurse and has held management positions at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the Mount Sinai Hospitals Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute. She received a B.S. degree from St. Josephs College (Brooklyn) and her M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer said Wednesday on "Special Report with Bret Baier" that if Russia's aggressive behavior continues to play out before the November election, the issue will put Donald Trump's campaign in a vulnerable position.

In addition to Putin's potentially authoritarian move, media reports in recent days allege that Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort assisted a pro-Russian political party in the Ukraine to channel $2.2 million in payments to two lobbying firms in the U.S.

"On almost every issue abroad, the opponent is the one who would benefit if something bad happens. The incumbent, which is Hillary, would be the one who would suffer. But there is one exception, that's Russia," said Krauthammer.

The Minsk Accord signed in 2015 called for military de-escalation by Russia. President Vladimir Putin however has staged troops, tanks, and weaponry along the neighboring borders, signaling a threat of further invasion of Ukraine besides the Crimea region.

Trump praised Putin recently saying "at least he's a leader," and challenged Russian hackers to find Hillary Clintons missing emails at a time when the U.S. government believes that Russia is responsible for hacking into the computer system at the Democratic National Committee. Trump later claimed he was just joking about the invitation to hackers.

"This would be the one item that could deflect really badly on Trump because of the warm way he's spoke about Putin," Krauthammer said.

"The one area abroad where the challenger is vulnerable in this campaign is Russia because of the lovey-dovey relationship between Putin and Trump, absent that it's all risk for Hillary," he added.
The Clinton Foundation has hired an outside cybersecurity company to look at its servers after possibly being hacked.

Sources close to the matter confirmed to Fox News that the foundation has hired cybersecurity firm FireEye.

Fox News is also told the way in which hackers made entry into Clinton Foundation systems appears to be similar to the method used to breach the DCCC and Democratic National Committee.

Reuters first reported Wednesday on the decision to hire FireEye, while noting that no files from Hillary and Bill Clintons organization have surfaced in the public.

Sources close to the Clinton Foundation also told Fox News there is "no evidence" foundation systems were actually breached, "and the Foundation has not been notified by law enforcement of an issue."

But sources told Reuters that hackers may have used spear phishing techniques to get access to the foundations systems.

A similar technique was used to hack the DNC, Hillary Clintons presidential campaign and the partys congressional fundraising committee. The technique included creating fake emails or websites in order to get access to the foundation staffers emails and then to the organizations network.

The U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the hackers used similar techniques Russian intelligence agencies or their proxies used against the Democrat groups, which might suggest that Russians also targeted the Clinton Foundation. Russia has denied allegations it was involved in the hacks.

Reuters reported that the recent attacks have left Democrats and other Clinton campaign officials in a whirlwind over what the hackers couldve obtained. Officials worry that documents and voice messages could reinforce the notion that Clinton Foundation donors had access to Clinton and her aides during her tenure as secretary of state.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee held a meeting earlier Wednesday to discuss cyber security.

People familiar with the meeting told Reuters that staff members were urged to change phone numbers and email addresses in response to its hack attack.

Click for more from Reuters.

Fox News' Matthew Dean and John Roberts contributed to this report.
Congress may have the FBIs documents on the Hillary Clinton email investigation  but Republicans are complaining that the way the files were handed over means only a few lawmakers can actually see them.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, says the bureau has improperly limited access to the files, by mixing in classified information with the rest of the material.

The result: a cache of documents that only some can see in their entirety.

In a letter Wednesday to the Senate's security director, the top-ranking senator has asked that unclassified portions be provided to his staff  and chided the FBI for providing the files in this way.

As I have expressed to the FBI in the past, it is inappropriate to unnecessarily mingle classified and unclassified information, Grassley wrote.

The move comes after the FBI on Tuesday provided documents sought by Republicans on its investigation into the former secretary of states use of a private email server. This included summaries of interviews and other key documents.

The FBI, in doing so, warned lawmakers not to leak the files from its investigation involving the Democratic presidential nominee, noting they contain classified and other sensitive material.

Grassley, however, wrote in his letter that a substantial amount of the material appears to be unclassified or has been explicitly portion marked as unclassified. Notably, he said the interview summary for Clinton aide Huma Abedin and others appear entirely unclassified.

Yet because some sections are classified, access is restricted to the documents.

Grassley, asking Senate Security Director Michael DiSilvestro for unclassified versions, said it was "regrettable that the FBI has imposed the burden of this task on your office by improperly comingling so much unclassified material with classified material."

Congressional aides told The Associated Press that the investigative materials demanded by House Republicans are being kept in a secure room on Capitol Hill typically reserved for the nation's most closely guarded secrets.

Access to the guarded room is restricted to members of the oversight, judiciary and intelligence committees and their staffs. Those without sufficient security clearances can read only redacted versions of the files and are forbidden from making copies or taking notes.

Republicans, meanwhile, insist that Clinton lied to Congress about her handling of emails when she testified last October before a House panel investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya. The GOP is pressing the Justice Department to open a new investigation into whether Clinton committed perjury and sought the FBI documents.

FBI case files are typically kept confidential after an investigation is closed without a recommendation for charges, and the Clinton documents were sent to Congress accompanied by written warnings not to leak the information.

"These materials are nonpublic and contain classified and other sensitive material," FBI Acting Assistant Director Jason Herring wrote. "For that reason, these materials may not be further disseminated or disclosed, in part or in full, without obtaining the FBI's concurrence."

Democrats, who have suggested Republicans are likely to leak portions of the FBI file selected to do political damage to Clinton, said they will comply with the FBI's request not to release any information without the agency's permission.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, warned this week that providing the FBI's confidential notes to the Republicans will discourage witnesses from cooperating with future investigations.

"The history of the partisan Benghazi investigation made it clear that any information that can be leaked by the majority to the prejudice of Secretary Clinton, will be leaked," Schiff said.

Democrats, though, were the ones who first released an FBI letter to the House oversight committee regarding the documents.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bryan Hensley and Ryan Naegele both grew up in Tennessee.

Mr. Hensley was born in Texas before moving to the Chattanooga area at a young age, and Mr. Naegele was born and grew up in the northeastern part of the state in Kingsport. Mr. Hensley and Mr. Naegele both have backgrounds serving others in their careers, and they met working for the Boy Scouts of America in Chattanooga.



While they were working to serve others with the Boy Scouts, they were searching for a way to deepen their service to the Chattanooga community. When looking at businesses to open in the area, they came across Right at Home, an in-home care service for those who are looking to age in their own home.



We both are really passionate about caring for others and being active within the community, said Mr. Hensley. Having been in a service-oriented role during my entire professional career, it just felt right to open Right at Home here. Were creating jobs for the community and providing care for those who need it most.



Mr. Hensley attended Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Mo., where he earned a bachelor of theology and a bachelor of christian ministry. Adopting his alma maters motto not to be served, but to serve, he moved back to Chattanooga with the intention of working with nonprofits in the area. Soon, he was working for the United Way of Greater Chattanooga as a Loaned Executive. It was there that he was introduced to many of their partnering agencies including the Boy Scouts of America.



Mr. Naegele went to college at East Tennessee State University, where he received a bachelor of science. After graduation, he worked for the Boy Scouts of America before leaving to work with a technology start-up company in Memphis. After moving from Memphis, Mr. Naegle worked in business development for an internet marketing company before returning to work with the Boy Scouts of America where he met Mr. Hensley in 2013.



After about three years of working together, the friends began looking into franchises to bring to the Chattanooga area. After visiting the Right at Home team in Omaha, Ne., they knew they had found the best fit.



When we talked with other Right at Home owners across the country, we felt very confident in the support and structure that Right at Home provides, said Mr. Naegele. We were very excited to find a way to provide support to our areas most vulnerable population and bring new jobs to Chattanooga.



Mr. Hensley and Mr. Naegele opened Right at Home in Chattanooga on Aug. 1. They are eager to hire local talent as they create more jobs for the community. They also feel fortunate to have the opportunity to serve those in need within the area.
Gun-rights advocates filed a sweeping new legal challenge Wednesday to Californias open-carry restrictions -- arguing a recent court decision effectively denies residents their fundamental rights to bear arms and contradicts a landmark Supreme Court ruling on the Second Amendment.

Plaintiffs say the case, Flanagan v. Harris, is a direct response to a recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that preserved a California county sheriffs restrictive policies on carrying a concealed weapon.

Considering the states additional restrictions on carrying a gun openly in public, plaintiffs argued in their new lawsuit that they have been completely barred from exercising their right to bear armsin any manner.

The suit contends, the Supreme Court has made clear that the right to bear arms cannot be completely foreclosed.

The plaintiffs include gun owner and resident Michelle Flanagan as well as the California Rifle & Pistol Association.

In the earlier case challenging local concealed-carry restrictions, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit -- based in San Francisco and the largest of all federal appeals courts  initially agreed with the plaintiffs, saying in 2014 that the policies were unconstitutional.

However, the panel then asked the case be re-heard by an 11-judge bench, which essentially found that denying a concealed-carry license does not violate Second Amendment rights because there is no constitutional right to carry a concealed weapon.

Lawyers in the new case argue the plaintiffs in the original case never made the concealed-carry claim, and the courts decision shows a constrained view of the right to bear arms.

More broadly, they say the new case seeks to affirm what the Supreme Court instructed in the landmark gun-rights case District of Columbia v. Heller -- that the Second Amendment guarantees the individual right of a responsible, law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.

The suit names California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Los Angeles Sheriff James McDonnell as defendants.

The Attorney Generals Office on Wednesday referred questions about the case to Harris statement after the Ninth Circuits full bench ruling in early June.

"The devastating impact gun violence has on our communities underscores the need for common sense gun safety laws, the attorney general said regarding that decision. The court's decision is a victory for public safety and sensible gun safety laws. The ruling ensures that local law enforcement leaders have the tools they need to protect public safety by determining who can carry loaded, concealed weapons in our communities."
The Obama administration admitted Thursday that a $400 million cash payment to Iran in January was contingent on the release of American prisoners being held in the country  while still denying that the payment was a ransom.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said that the negotiations to return the money  originally from a 1979 failed military equipment deal made between Iran and the U.S.  were conducted separately from negotiations to free the four prisoners.

The four detainees who were released on January 17 were Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian; former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati; Christian pastor Saeed Abedini and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, whose case had not been publicized before the release.

However, Kirby said that the U.S. withheld the cash delivery until Iran made good on its promise to release the prisoners.

In basic English you are saying you wouldnt give [Iran] the 400 million in cash until the prisoners were released, correct? asked a reporter at Thursdays State Department briefing.

Thats correct, Kirby responded.

The new details, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, added to criticisms from Republicans that it was a ransom paid by the Obama administration. Kirbys admission only served to add fuel to the controversy.

What the State Department admitted today was the dictionary definition of a ransom payment and a complete contradiction of what they were saying just two weeks ago, RNC Spokesman Michael Short said in a statement. Its time for the Obama White House to drop the charade and admit it paid a ransom to the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism.

"If it quacks like a duck, it's a duck. If a cash payment is contingent on a hostage release, it's a ransom, said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. The truth matters and the President owes the American people an explanation."

Earlier this month, after the revelation the U.S. delivered the money in pallets of cash, the administration flatly denied any connection between the payment and the prisoners.

"Reports of link between prisoner release & payment to Iran are completely false," Kirby tweeted at the time.

"This wasnt some nefarious deal," Obama said during an August 4 press conference. "We do not pay ransom for hostages."

The agreement was the return of the $400 million, plus an additional $1.3 billion in interest, terms that Obama described as favorable compared to what might have been expected from a tribunal set up in The Hague to rule on pending deals between the two countries.

Abedini has claimed that he and the other hostages were kept waiting at an Iranian airport for more than 20 hours before their departure. Abedini said he was told by a senior Iranian intelligence official that their departure was contingent on the movement of a second plane.

State Department officials denied Abedini's claims to the Journal, saying the delay was due to issues locating Rezaian's wife and mother, who accompanied him on the flight.

According to the Journal, GOP leaders say they plan to hold hearings on the payment next month, when Congress returns from its summer recess. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., chair of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, last week sent letters to the Justice and Treasury Departments, as well as the Federal Reserve, requesting more information the transaction.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The State Department announced Thursday, after a weeks-long review involving dozens of interviews, that it still does not know why several minutes of footage from a 2013 briefing were deleted from a public archive  leaving the departments top spokesman on the defensive over the unusual incident.

Theres no evidence to suggest [the edit] was made with the intent to conceal information from the public, spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.

At the same time, he said they couldnt rule out nefarious intent  but said the results of an extensive review were inconclusive.

The vague comments came as he announced the results of a fact-finding review into the deletion which apparently included interviews with more than 30 current and former employees and a review of emails and other documents.

The matter flared up more than two months ago when Kirby publicly acknowledged that an official had intentionally deleted video footage from a 2013 press briefing, where a former spokeswoman seemed to acknowledge misleading the press over the Iran nuclear deal.

There was a deliberate request [to delete the footage]  this wasnt a technical glitch, Kirby said in June.

On Thursday, Kirby stood by the assessment that this was a deliberate edit, but couldnt say why it was done.

We may never know, Kirby said, as he addressed tough questions from reporters.

At the 2013 briefing in question, then-spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked by Fox News James Rosen about an earlier claim that no direct, secret talks were underway between the U.S. and Iran  when, in fact, they were.

Psaki at the time seemed to admit the discrepancy, saying: There are times where diplomacy needs privacy in order to progress. This is a good example of that.

However, Fox News later discovered the Psaki exchange was missing from the departments official website and its YouTube channel (though not from the transcript). Eight minutes from the briefing, including the comments on the Iran deal, were edited out and replaced with a white-flash effect.

The State Department report concluded that the effect was "evidence of deliberate editing," but added that it had "not found any evidence to support a conclusion that the video was edited to hide any content."

Kirby on Thursday reviewed what they know and dont know. The spokesman reiterated that a technician came forward and acknowledged getting a phone call requesting the edit, and then making it.

However, Kirby said they cant conclude who placed that call or why. Further, he said additional details call into question the suggestion this was done to conceal  including that the full transcript was always online, and that the video was seemingly shortened early on, even before the technician remembers getting the request. Kirby said its possible the white-flash effect was inserted because the video had lost footage due to technical problems.

I understand these results may not be completely satisfying to everyone, he said.

This may not be the last word on the matter. Judicial Watch, a conservative advocacy group, filed suit this week seeking all records regarding the video footage and its deletion.
Sen. Tim Kaine may be on Team Clinton now, but he once said that Bill Clinton should resign after his White House affair with Monica Lewinsky.

A report first published by the Daily Beast on Wednesday said the Democratic vice presidential nominee was responding to a separate scandal, involving then-Virginia state congressman Vance Wilkins, when he reflected on Clintons affair.

Kaine called for Wilkins to resign and told theRichmond Times-Dispatch in 2002 that he still maintained that Clinton should have stepped down in 1998 amid the Lewinsky controversy.

My reaction was the same I had when I read about the Clinton-Lewinsky affair: this is not appropriate conduct. Its beneath the dignity of the office, the Virginia senator told the Associated Press in a separate interview.

Click for more from The New York Post.
A photo of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing signed by the missions astronauts will be auctioned in the U.K. on Saturday.

Signed by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins at the end of a promotional visit to London in 1969, the photo shows the lunar module Eagle descending to the Moons surface with the Earth in the background.

The Apollo 11 crew met the Queen and Prime Minister Harold Wilson during their one-day U.K. visit on Oct. 14 1969.

A letter of provenance accompanying the photo explains that it was given to John Cleland, who lent the astronauts limousines for their visit. He had been contacted by The American Embassy as his car firm marketed a Ford based stretch limousine, which the Astronauts preferred to the more traditional Rolls or Daimler, it explains. When the Embassy asked for a bill, he said it was an honour to be part of such a prestigious visit and in no way would he accept payment. So they gave him the signed photograph!

The letter is signed by Clelands wife.

News footage shows the astronauts travelling to Buckingham Palace and Downing Street in the limousines.

London was one stop on a grueling Presidential Goodwill Tour undertaken by the Apollo 11 crew after the moon landing. Between Sept. 29 and Nov. 5, 1969 the astronauts and their wives visited 24 countries in 45 days.

The photo, which has a pre-sale estimate of $1,317 to $1,975, will be auctioned by Henry Aldridge and Son in Devizes, U.K., on Saturday.
We're just one short day away from Samsung's official Galaxy Note 7 release, and the reviews are in. We covered the hot new phablet in our in-depth Galaxy Note 7 review and here's the TL;DR version: It will be the best phablet on the planet when it launches this Friday, and it'll almost certainly still be the best phablet on the planet next month, even after Apple releases its next-generation iPhone 7 Plus.

We obviously recommend reading our full Galaxy Note 7 review before you reach any conclusions. But for those looking for a quick overview of the best new functionality Samsung's latest phablet has to offer, we've compiled the phone's seven hottest features in this post.

S Pen

Samsung's S Pen is at the center of the Note experience and it's better than ever. The physical stylus itself has been improved so that writing with it feels almost like writing with a ballpoint pen. Then, the Note 7's software has been further enhanced with great new S Pen features like a GIF maker, a translate feature, a magnifier and more. My favorite new feature is the ability to pin a memo to the phone's sleep screen, so you don't even have to unlock the handset in order to see the memo.

Water- and dust-resistance

This is a huge deal, and it speaks for itself. The Galaxy Note 7's IP68 certification means that it can be completely submerged in water and come away working just fine. As expensive as flagship smartphones are these days -- the Note 7 costs $850 -- every single high-end handset should have an IP68 rating.

Camera

Every smartphone out there obviously has a camera these days, but none of them can touch the Dual Pixel rear camera on the Note 7. The low-light performance is phenomenal, it has the fastest auto-focus on the planet, and picture clarity is unmatched. The only complaint in my review was that it's the same exact camera as the one featured on the Galaxy S7. We've always seen progress made from model to model, so I hope this isn't the start of a trend.

Display

Samsung is simply the best in the business when it comes to smartphone displays, and the Galaxy Note 7 pushes it even further ahead of its rivals. The quad HD Super AMOLED display on the Note 7 is breathtaking, featuring incredible clarity and colors that leap off the screen. You won't find a better display on a phone. Period.

Expandable storage

This seems like a no-brainer but there are still smartphones out there that ship without a microSD card slot. I'm looking at you, Apple. The Note 7 comes with just one option for internal storage -- 64GB -- which simplifies things for Samsung. Then, users can add up to 256GB of additional space with a memory card. Of note, the phone supports up to 2TB but the biggest microSD card out there right now is 256GB.

Secure Folder

The all new Secure Folder feature in Samsung's TouchWiz software gives you a special folder that's protected by an additional layer of security. You can store files, photos, videos or even apps in the folder. To access those files and apps, you'll need to authenticate again with a password, fingerprint scan or an iris scan, which means you can unlock your phone and let someone else use it without worrying that he or she might access your private data.

Battery

3,500 mAh... fast wireless charging... even faster wired charging... two different power saving modes... the Galaxy Note 7 really is the total package when it comes to battery performance. It has enough juice to carry you through a full day of usage under almost any circumstances, and it refuels faster than most phones -- even ones with smaller batteries.
Many parents hope their kids will go far in life.

For this baby girl, the sky really is the limit.

A baby girl named Haven has been gifted 1 million airline miles from Cebu Pacific Air after being born four hours into a flight from Dubai, U.A.E. to Manila.

According to The Guardian, Havens mother, whose name has not been released, went into labor on Sunday-- five weeks before her stated due date. Cabin crew immediately found two nurses who assisted with the delivery.

Passengers onboard a Manila-bound flight witnessed a miracle after a woman gave birth to a baby girl mid-air.https://t.co/xthpKgUUNy  India Today (@IndiaToday) August 17, 2016

The pilot diverted the flight to Hyderabad, India to make sure the mother and premature infant received proper medical care after the birth.

Despite the flight diversion, at least one passenger didnt seem to mind, posting about the experience on Facebook.

It only happens in movies, and were lucky to witness this miracle, passenger Missy Berberabe Umandal, who says she was seated close to the mother who went into labor, wrote in a Facebook post. We only heard one semi-loud screech, and a few seconds later there were tinier, cute screeches, and it was when we knew the baby was born.

Cebu Pacifics chief executive Lance Gokongwei announced that the airline would celebrate the surprising birth by gifting baby Haven one million GetGo pointsworth over $109,000-- that will never expire and, perhaps most importantly, can be shared with any member of her family. Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific is the Philippines largest airline with flights to 30 international destinations, spanning Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and US.

To baby Haven, said lead cabin crew member Mark Martin, you are Gods miracle at 36,000ft and were blessed to have been an instrument in your safe delivery. You will always be my most memorable passenger.

In April, a woman who gave birth to a baby boy during a Jetstar Asia flight named her son after the Singapore-based airline.
Do you know your clients ROI?

In this edition of AskJZ, Jordan Zimmerman, founder and chairman of Zimmerman Advertising, addresses why it is important to set a return on investment for your clients or your own business.

Zimmerman speaks about his client h.h. gregg, the electronics and appliances retailer, and how it equates unaided awareness to revenue.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, reach out on Twitter: @JZspeaks and @tracybyrnes.

Related:

Simple Is the Only Solution for Retailers

Why the 'Everyone Gets a Trophy' Philosophy Needs to Die

What's More Important: Retaining Customers or Acquiring Customers?
The orange-and-black automated signs lining state highways still warn that California is in severe drought, but Californians this summer are getting a second chance to show whether they can save water without the state ordering them.

After lifting nine months of mandatory state water conservation for families and non-farm businesses, authorities caution that they could impose state limits again as soon as this winter should the state's 39 million people return to water-wasting, drought-oblivious ways.

"We've been clear at a state level we're still in a drought, there's still a need for conservation," Max Gomberg, conservation manager for the state Water Resources Control Board. But "we don't need people to go to extraordinary measures like they did last year."

While an El Nino system brought some rain and snow to Northern California last winter, nearly two-thirds of the state remains in severe drought or worse for a fifth year. But citing the slightly improved precipitation, California by June lifted a 25-percent mandatory conservation order in effect for cities and towns statewide for most of a year.

On Tuesday, the state announced that all but 68 of the 411 larger water districts had gotten out from under the threat of localized conservation orders from the state. The water agencies did that by declaring they had enough water to get by even if the drought lasts another three years.

Environmental groups are skeptical all the water districts have as robust a water supply as they claim, and say lifting of mandatory conservation sends the wrong message to ordinary Californians as the drought persists.

"Moving to zero percent mandatory conservation - it's a confusing message to be sending to California. We're in the midst of the hottest summer on record and fighting raging wildfires," said Tracy Quinn, senior water policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council environmental group.

Water agencies, however, say they have built water-conservation into their operations now.

Most water districts had to raise rates last year, which gives consumers an incentive to save, said Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies trade group. Most water districts also offered water-saving incentives, such as paying customers to remove thirsty lawns.

What the lifting of mandatory conservation means is that this summer, unlike last, Californians don't have to do things like keep a bucket in the shower to catch water for reuse, the water-industry representative said.

"It is the end of inconvenience, but it is not the end of conservation," Tim Quinn said.

Californians didn't do well the last time someone asked them to voluntarily save water. In 2014, requested by Gov. Jerry Brown to cut water use 20 percent given the drought, Californians managed less than half of that.

Brown made 25 percent conservation mandatory for cities and towns in spring 2015.

This time around, state officials will be happy if Californians manage around 20 percent water savings, compared to the benchmark water-use year of 2013, said Gomberg, the state water official. If people manage just 10 percent conservation or less now, that would be cause for concern for state water officials when they revisit the matter after January, Gomberg said.

In Palm Springs, water-agency spokeswoman Ashley Metzger said Wednesday that local water officials were still pushing hard on conservation programs, including kicking off a new rebate program promoting lawn removing at noon that day.

"Oh, my goodness, yes," Metzger said, when asked if she expected strong demand for the lawn-removal rebates.

Metzger's district, the Desert Water Agency, is now asking customers to keep water use down by 10- to 13 percent, voluntarily, she said.

The Palm Springs message to water users in summer 2016? "We have a strong local supply but there's a still a statewide issue" with water, Metzger said. "I think it's definitely a nuanced message."

___

Information from: The Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com
The death toll from recent storms and flooding in Louisiana has reached 13, state officials said Wednesday, as residents faced the biggest housing crunch since the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Devin George, state registrar for vital records, told the Associated Press an elderly woman in Livingston Parish was confirmed as the latest death, but didn't provide further details.



Five people have died in East Baton Rouge Parish, three in Tangipahoa Parish, two in St. Helena Parish, two in Livingston Parish and one in Rapides Parish from the storms and their aftermath.

In addition to the fatalities, an estimated estimated 40,000 homes have been damaged and more than 30,000 people have been rescued since Friday.

At least 70,000 people have registered for federal disaster assistance. At the height of the flooding, 11,000 people were staying in shelters, though that had dropped to 6,000 by Wednesday.

Those who aren't staying in shelters are bunking with friends or relatives, or sleeping in trailers on their front lawns. Others unable or unwilling to leave their homes are living amid mud and the ever-present risk of mold in the steamy August heat.

Many victims will need an extended place to stay while they rebuild. Countless others didn't have flood insurance and may not have the means to repair their homes. They may have to find new places altogether.

"I got nowhere else to go," said Thomas Lee, 56, who ekes out a living as a drywall hanger  a skill that will come in handy. His sodden furniture is piled at the curb and the drywall in his rented house is puckering, but Thomas still plans to keep living there, sleeping on an air mattress.

Exactly how many will need temporary housing is unclear, but state officials are urging landlords to allow short-term leases and encouraging people to rent out any empty space.

"If you have a unit that's an old mother-in-law suite and you can rent it out, let us know," said Keith Cunningham, who heads the Louisiana Housing Corporation, the state housing agency.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), whose very name became a punchline during Katrina, said it will look into lining up rental properties for those left homeless and also consider temporary housing units.

But FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate gave assurances that the temporary units won't be the old FEMA travel trailers  a reference to the ones brought in after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that were found to have toxic levels of formaldehyde.

For the foreseeable future, home for Carolyn Smith, her husband, two grown sons and a family friend will be a 30-foot travel trailer supplied by a relative. It has one bedroom, a sofa-sleeper, four bunks and one bathroom.

It sits in the driveway of the home she and her husband lived in for 48 years in Denham Springs. Nearby lies a pile of stinking debris pulled from the flooded, one-story wood-frame home.

Smith and her husband are both in their 70s and on fixed incomes. She said she's not sure how they will make it in coming months as they try to rebuild the house, which took on more than 4 feet of water.

"We're starting over again. From rock bottom," she said. "At our age that's kind of rough."

In a sign of the housing crunch, Livingston Parish officials are talking with FEMA about getting temporary housing for emergency and rescue workers. An estimated 75 percent of the homes in the parish of 138,000 residents were a total loss.

Those with flood insurance will be in a much better place to begin rebuilding  but there won't be many of them.

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said that only 12 percent of the homes in hard-hit Baton Rouge were covered by flood insurance, and only 14 percent in Lafayette.

Across the flood-stricken area, many residents said they weren't required to have flood insurance and didn't have it, since nothing remotely like this had ever happened before.

"My father's owned this place for 70 years. Never seen it like this. We never thought we needed it," said Chris Bankston, owner of an auto parts place in the Livingston Parish town of Albany where workers were shoveling debris.

Water crept into his parking lot Friday night, and by Sunday his gasoline pumps were covered. Floodwaters had never come within 200 yards of the place before, he said.

FEMA said more than 9,000 flood claims have been filed with the agency.

Anyone with flood damage is eligible for FEMA aid of close to $33,000  far less than many people without flood insurance will need to repair and replace their damaged property. The maximum payout under a home flood insurance policy is $250,000.

Joseph Bruno, a New Orleans lawyer who is a veteran of the Katrina insurance wars, fears the greatest needs could be borne by elderly residents who paid off their homes and weren't required by their bank to carry flood insurance.

Ronald Robillard, 57, and his 65-year-old brother, William Robillard, have been living next door to each other in Baton Rouge homes owned by the older brother. Since both places flooded, they have been sleeping at a shelter at night and cleaning up the homes by day.

William owns the homes free and clear. He doesn't have flood insurance to pay for the repairs but isn't waiting for any government aid.

"I figure by fixing it up one room at a time, we'll be fine," William said.

"If they give us help, fine," Ronald added. "We ain't looking for a handout. Just a hand. That's a true statement."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
MON/22 Ribbon Cutting for Dominica's Caribbean Kitchen



10-10:30 a.m.



Dominica's Caribbean Kitchen: 5450 Hwy. 153, Ste. 164







TUE/23 4th Annual Symposium for Women Entrepreneurs



8:30-Noon



Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel: 1400 Market St.



WE, in cooperation with Honorary Chairman Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, invites women entrepreneurs and anyone who supports women in business to attend the 4th Annual Symposium for Women Entrepreneurs.







TUE/23 East Brainerd Chamber Council Meeting



11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.



Car Barn: 6721 Heritage Business Court



Speaker: Elaine Merritt, Sandler Training



$12







WED/24 2016 Chattanooga Chamber Annual Meeting



11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.



Chattanooga Convention Center: 1150 Carter St.







THUR/25 Enterprise Gateway Chamber Council Meeting



8:15-9:30 a.m.



Speaker: Joe Smith, YCAP/YMCA



Hospice of Chattanooga: 4411 Oakwood Dr.



$10







THUR/25 Ribbon Cutting for Bethel Bible Village



10-10:30 a.m.



Bethel Bible Village: 3001 Hamill Rd.







THUR/25 Ribbon Cutting for Lawson Winchester Wealth Management

4-4:30 p.m.



Lawson Winchester Wealth Management: 827 Broad St., Ste. A







FRI/26 International Business Chamber Council Meeting



8-9:30 a.m.



INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd.



Topic: Astec-A Chattanooga Company Paving the Roads around the World



Speaker: Charles Sanford, Marketing Engineer with Astec Inc., will provide company history, business information, and how Astec is paving roads around the globe.

$10 ($5 for students)







FRI/26 YPAC Luncheon



11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.



Chattanooga Chamber: 811 Broad St.



Speaker: Matt McLelland



Topic: Creating a Culture of Innovation in the Workplace



Admission is $10 for YPAC members, $13 for non-members. Register here.


The latest wildfire to scorch Southern California advanced on thousands of homes Wednesday, ravaging several structures as it expanded to at least 25,000 acres while feeding on drought-stricken vegetation.

Flames continued to climb the flanks of the San Gabriel Mountains in San Bernardino County toward the town of Wrightwood, where authorities said that only half of the community's 4,500 residents had complied with evacuation orders.

"This is not the time to mess around," said Battalion Chief Mark Peebles of the San Bernardino County Fire Department. "If you are asked to evacuate, please evacuate."

Officials estimated that more than 34,000 homes and some 82,000 people were under evacuation warnings. No deaths were reported, but cadaver dogs were searching the ruins for anyone who was overrun by the flames.

Authorities did not have an exact number of homes destroyed in the first hours of the explosive wildfire, but warned communities of bad news ahead.

"There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing," San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig said after a flight over the area Wednesday morning that he described as "devastating."

"It hit hard. It hit fast. It hit with an intensity that we hadn't seen before," he said.



The cause of the fire wasn't immediately known.



Five years of drought have turned the state's wildlands into a tinder box, with eight fires currently burning from Shasta County in the far north to Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego.



"In my 40 years of fighting fire, I've never seen fire behavior so extreme," Incident Commander Mike Wakoski said.

Residents like Vi Delgado and her daughter April Christy, who had been through a major brushfire years before, said they had never seen anything like it either.



"No joke, we were literally being chased by the fire," a tearful April Christy said in a voice choked with emotion as she and her mother sat in their minivan in an evacuation center parking lot in Fontana.

They did not go inside because their dogs, three Chihuahuas and a mixed-breed mutt, were not allowed.



"You've got flames on the side of you. You've got flames behind you," Christy said, describing a harrowing race down a mountain road. She was led by a sheriff's patrol car in front while a California Highway Patrol vehicle trailed behind and a truck filled with firefighters battled flames alongside her.



She and her mother, onsite caretakers at the Angels and Paws animal rescue shelter in Devore Heights, said it was only moments after they smelled smoke that flames exploded all around them.

They grabbed their pets and tried to rescue nine other shelter dogs and three cats, but a sheriff's deputy told them there was no time.



"You won't make it. Save yourself. Take your truck and leave," Delgado said the deputy shouted at her, adding that he and others would try to rescue the animals. She learned later that authorities did save the animals, but officials could not tell her if her home survived.

Less than 24 hours after the blaze began 60 miles east of Los Angeles, the fire command assembled a fleet of 10 air tankers, 15 helicopters and an army of 1,300 firefighters, many of them just off the lines of a wildfire that burned for 10 days just to the east.

At a dawn briefing, half the firefighters raised their hands when an official asked how many had just come from an earlier blaze in Northern California, part of a siege of infernos up and down the state this year.

The fire erupted late Tuesday morning in Cajon Pass, a critical highway and rail corridor through mountain ranges that separate Southern California's major population centers from the Mojave Desert and Las Vegas to the north.

Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in the area within hours of the fire breaking out, a move that more often comes after a blaze has done several days of destruction.

Six firefighters were briefly trapped by flames at a home where the occupants had refused to leave, forcing the crew to protect the house, fire officials said.

Countless big rigs were still parked on both sides of the pass as of Wednesday, waiting for Interstate 15 and a web of other roads to reopen. Alternate routes involved significant detours. The pass is a major route for travel from the Los Angeles region to Las Vegas and also carries significant daily commuter traffic for high desert residents.

The speed of the fire's spread astonished those in its path.

"This moved so fast," said Darren Dalton, 51, who along with his wife and son had to get out of his house in Wrightwood. "It went from 'Have you heard there's a fire?' to 'mandatory evacuation' before you could take it all in. This is a tight little community up here. Always in rally mode. Suddenly it's a ghost town."

Hundreds of cars packed with belongings and animals left the town. The air for miles around the blaze was filled with smoke. The sound of explosions  possibly from ammunition stored in homes  could be heard in the distance.

The fast-moving fire destroyed an iconic pit stop that has served locals, Historic Route 66 and interstate travelers since 1952.

The historic Summit Inn restaurant at the top of the pass went up in flames on Tuesday, Fox 11 reported.

The employees of the iconic restaurant, which has served famous celebrities such as Elvis Presley, Pierce Brosnan, and Clint Eastwood, were told to evacuate at around 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday. In less than five hours, the restaurant was gone, according to Fox 11.

Shannon Anderson of Blue Mountain Farms horse ranch in Phelan had to evacuate 40 horses as the fire approached. "It's raining ash," Anderson said, breathing hard.

The fire erupted in a landscape ready to burn after years of drought. The weather at the time was hot, dry and windy  conditions not expected to begin easing until late Thursday or Friday.

Devouring ranchlands, the blaze surged west to the Los Angeles County line and north to the Mojave Desert.

Eric Sherwin of the San Bernardino County Fire Department confirmed Tuesday night that the flames had burned at least a dozen buildings, some of them homes.

"I'm looking up here and I'm seeing buses [burn]. I'm seeing outbuildings. I'm seeing houses," he said.

The blaze was among several large fires burning up and down California, from Shasta County in the far north to Camp Pendleton Marine base in San Diego County. It came after several steady weeks of major fires around the state, even though the full force of the traditional fire season has yet to arrive.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from FoxLA.com.
As a leader, Ive learned that offices are a huge part of company culture. In fact, the Human Spaces report on workplace design found that employees in offices with natural elements reported 15 percent higher levels of well-being, were six percent more productive and experienced 15 percent more creativity. Perhaps most telling is that 33 percent of respondents said office design affects whether they even accept a job.

Top-level tech companies have known this for years. Many of them may have started in garages, but theyve become famous for game rooms, kitchens and collaborative work areas.

After years of working wherever and whenever I could, it didnt occur to me that design would matter to anyone. My tipping point came with a lag in productivity after a few years of the same walls, same chairs and same old traditional work functions. One rainy day, a star employee - not a typical complainer -- told me it was depressing to come to work. The dreary atmosphere had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with our old fluorescent lights. It was time for a change.

Related: 5 Easy Ways to Make Your Team Healthier and More Productive

Feng shui had it right.

Prisons are intentionally designed to limit connections to the outside world - no views of the sky or natural elements. Dont make your employees feel imprisoned. An atmosphere with natural sunlight, colorful paint, pleasant decor and even specific lightbulbs will help employees respond to the environment. Details, like pops of color used in desk accessories, can inspire pops of creativity.

Related: How the Color of Your Office Impacts Productivity (Infographic)

Along with keeping the current team productive, great office design attracts talent.

First impressions are everything, and atmosphere absolutely dictates first impressions. My business isnt located in Silicon Valley, but its important that my office embodies tech elements, like open communication space and room for creativity. When prospective employees visit, they know exactly what kind of company theyre walking into.

Balance is necessary, of course. Too much open space, and productivity drops because people cant focus. Too many bright colors can hurt the eyes, and space thats too homey might promote complacency.

While you may not actually employ feng shui in the design, as you plan your first offices, remember that space really does affect the team.

Related: 8 Low Cost Ways to Make Your Office More Employee Friendly

No office design trend is one-size-fits-all. Each company is different. The typical game room allows employees to blow off steam and collaborate, while nap spaces and relaxation areas are growing in popularity. And dont forget the effect bringing natural elements inside can have on morale and productivity.

With all the design trends out there, how do you know which ones are right for your startup? Here are four tips to keep in mind while considering an upgraded office design.

1. Evaluate office weaknesses as a team.

My staff is small, under 25 employees, so group lunches with relaxed conversation are a great place to bring up the subject. Find out whats working and what isnt.

Does your team seem to need more or less collaborative space? Can employees not only be creative, but also focus? Are there times of day or whole seasons that seem to lag in productivity? If so, switch up your office space to wake everyone up.

Workers are typically more productive when they have some control. Start early by asking your team members what they prefer and how they would like the office designed, then continue the involvement by inviting everyone to execute the vision. The sense of ownership will go through the roof.

2. Seek outside input from all sides.

Talk to friends and family to find out what they love and hate about their offices. Different industries follow different norms, and chances are youll get some good ideas from other workplaces.

When youre done collecting ideas from loved ones, research online, and watch TV. Yeah, I know - the great productivity killer. In reality, though, watching HGTV can give you a lot of insight into how young professionals prefer to live and work.

3. Have a graphic design roundtable session.

My office recently held a design roundtable so our entire team could discuss options and decor styles for our office space. The graphic design team took our words and thoughts and turned them into a working 3D model that let everyone visualize the results. This method of sharing our visions turned the project into more fun than stress and gave employees a chance to spark creativity in an unusual way.

4. Host a paint weekend.

Another way to get the whole team involved is by enlisting everyone in the decorating process with an open-invite paint weekend.

This is our current plan, and I told everyone theyre welcome to bring in their kids to help once the place is ready for some color. The idea is for everyone to have some hand in his or her own space while contributing as a group to the open spaces. My team actually asked for an activity of this sort, and I believe it will be a great team-building experience.

Ultimately, as you think about upgrading the office, its important to balance a good paint job with what your team actually needs. A motivated, productive team will be worth the effort.
Content marketing is an essential technique for marketers these days. Thanks to content marketing, companies have been able to raise brand awareness, increase leads, and elevate their status as an industry leader. Despite these benefits and acceptance, there are still misconceptions about content marketing that need to be debunked immediately. And, here 11 of those myths.

1. My audience wont fall for content marketing.

Consumers dont want to read a sales pitch. They want to interact with brands and form long-lasting relationships. Its been this way for years. And dont expect that to change anytime soon. Take for example the increasingly important Millennial demographic.

A majority of Millennials, 62 percent, have reported that when they see or read about a brand through websites or on social media they feel a connection and loyalty with that company. Additionally, a third of them are willing to buy a product if the brands content isnt sales-y and instead feels authentic and truthful.

No matter your specific audience, its clear that they are willing to consume your content - just as long as youre not making a sales pitch and cultivating relationships.

2. Content marketing wont work in my business.

Not every brand is as exciting as Red Bull. But, that doesnt mean that it cant succeed in content marketing. In fact, brands that arent perceived as exciting are straight-up owning content marketing.

Related: The 4 Laws of Content Marketing

GE has been using visual content. This has allowed them to let go of the brand a little bit and be part of internet culture. Public accounting firm Crowe Horwath created executive briefs, case studies, infographics, checklists, Q and A, and Brainshark video that targeted C-level prospects in financial institutions. Danish shipping company Maersk used content marketing to spread brand awareness, share industry insights, and hire employees by telling stories, like how ships navigate the frozen Baltic Sea during winter.

3. Its too expensive.

While there are costs involved with content marketing, like hiring writers, graphic designers and paying for ads on Facebook or Twitter, its more affordable than traditional advertising. And, if the leading marketers are also pretty good at repurposing content.

My company, Evolvor, does this frequently. Weve launched a Content Marketing 101 series that starts out as a blog post. The post is then repurposed into a YouTube video. In other words, were killing two birds with one stone.

4. Its free.

At the same time, content marketing isnt going to get you in front of a large audience for absolutely nothing. While the idea is to let your content grow organically through social shares guest posts, or getting a shout out, sometimes youre amazing piece of content needs a little push. Thats when you have to spend $10 to give it a boost on Facebook.

5. People dont read anymore.

Wrong. People still read. They just dont read garbage anymore. Quality content that is valuable, informative, solves a problem, and is not promotional will get read by your audience.

6. I dont have the resources.

One the biggest challenges that marketers face is not being able to create enough content. And, when youre a one or two person show, this is even more of a problem. After all, you have a ton of other things to do besides creating and curating content.

Related: What You Need to Know to Improve Your Content Marketing

To address this problem you could repurpose content, use social media scheduling and monitoring tools, like Hootsuite or Buffer, content idea generators like Portent and hiring freelancers though marketplaces like Upwork.

7. I cant prove the ROI of content marketing.

Content marketing should be based around your goals and objectives. If you want to increase traffic you can track that by seeing how many visitors originated from Facebook or Twitter. If you want to know how many leads you generated you can look at how many copies of your eBook were downloaded.

If you set these goals in the first place, it is possible to prove the ROI of your content marketing campaign.

8. Results happen fast.

Content marketing is a process that takes a lot of time and trial and error. Everything from conducting research to actually creating content to analyzing its results could take months - even years. Just because you just published the greatest article ever written doesnt mean that its going to take the world by storm overnight.

9. My business cant compete.

Yes. You not only have to compete with the leading thought leaders in your industry, you also have to breakthrough the all of the adorable videos of babies laughing and dogs chasing their tails.

While there is an audience that loves that type of content -- OK, thats actually all of us - people still want content that serves a purpose. Again, if your content is valuable, unique, and can make the lives of your audience better, then theres definitely plenty of room to compete.

10. Traffic and shares = success.

Just because your video has over 20,000 viewers on YouTube doesnt mean that it was a success. At the end of the day, did it accomplish any of your KPIs?

Related: Content Marketing Isn't Really About Your Content

For example, filming a video of your entire office doing the "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" may be your most popular video ever, but did it drive traffic to your website? Do you obtain any leads? Did it put you on the radar of influential industry leaders?

11. Your content cant be published somewhere else?

Scour the internet long enough and youll notice that this happens frequently. For example, my post "5 Marketers on Periscope You Need to Be Following" was originally published here on "Entrepreneur," but it was also republished on several other reputable websites.
The Twitterverse has more to fear from a gay conservative than a fire-breathing ISIS recruiter if the social media giants treatment of a pair of prolific and provocative posters is to be squared.

Twitter banned Breitbart tech editor and openly gay conservative Milo Yiannopoulos for life last month after his followers tweeted objectionable comments targeting African-American Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones, but a recent case in Londons Old Bailey shows Twitter took a hands-off approach to the poisonous posts of Anjem Choudary.

Jurors in the United Kingdom were told this week that British authorities repeatedly sought to get Choudarys Twitter posts and YouTube videos taken down after his pledge of allegiance to ISIS surfaced online. Choudary, who in interviews with Fox News and other media has for years made no secret of his embrace of Shariah law and Islamic radicalism, was convicted Tuesday of "inviting support for a proscribed organization," namely ISIS. He faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced next month.

During the trial, prosecutors complained that despite Choudarys incendiary Tweets and YouTube videos, they had no power to force social media companies to remove the material. On Thursday afternoon, Choudary's Twitter page, which had 32,000 followers, was down.

Its a sharp contrast to the treatment Twitter last month afforded Yiannopoulos, who was banned from the 140-character forum after his "Ghostbusters" tweets, but says the ban is a reaction to years of conservative posts.

"An Islamic hate preacher convicted of inciting terrorism: fine," Yiannopoulos told FoxNews.com. "A gay man expressing concern about Muslim immigration: not fine. Welcome to the new, Shariah-compliant Twitter."

In conjunction with a scathing movie review last month, Yiannopoulos referred to Jones as a black dude and pegged her barely literate. His followers then directed a storm of racist tweets at Jones, prompting Twitter founder Jack Dorsey to personally intervene.

Following the Yiannopoulos incident, a Twitter spokesman told FoxNews.com it takes its responsibility of moderating speech seriously.

People should be able to express diverse opinions and beliefs on Twitter. But no one deserves to be subjected to targeted abuse online, a Twitter spokesman told FoxNews.com in an email. We know many people believe we have not done enough to curb this type of behavior on Twitter.

But in the British court, a researcher from the National Counter Terrorism Police Operations Center catalogued a series of failed attempts to get Twitter to rein in Choudary, saying, "the police do not have the capability to remove any material from any platform."

Choudary currently has more than 32,000 followers on Twitter and his account can still be viewed online.

Testimony also showed that YouTube refused a June 23 request to take down a Choudary video titled, "Duties of the Kilafah by Anjem Choudary" which was refused. Another video, titled, "The Caliphate will expand into Europe and U.S.," was deemed "journalistic" by the site, officials said.


Authorities in Maryland identified a 9-year-old New Jersey boy killed when he was hit by a boat's propeller on Wednesday.

Natural Resources Police spokeswoman Candy Thomson, speaking by telephone Thursday, identified the boy killed as Kaden Frederick of Howell.

Thomson said 17 people were on the rented pontoon boat in Sinepuxent Bay near Ocean City on Wednesday afternoon. She said Frederick was one of four people sitting with their legs dangling from the front of the boat as it moved, which is illegal in Maryland.

Frederick fell, the operator couldn't stop and the propeller hit the boy, Thomson said. Emergency crews couldn't resuscitate him.

Frederick was the 11th person killed while boating this year in Maryland, and one of three this week, Thomson said.
Police have arrested a female substitute teacher in Kentucky accused of having sex with two male students.

The Paducah Sun reports that a grand jury indicted 27-year-old Kasey Warren on Friday on charges of third-degree rape and third-degree sodomy.

The charges came after Kentucky State Police received a report on June 28 that Warren had sex with two 16-year-old students in McCracken County. Warren turned herself in to police on Monday.

Kentucky State Police spokesman Michael Robichaud says Warren was charged with rape because she abused her position of power. He says Warren was hired by the Carlisle County school system in January, but is no longer employed there.

Warren is being held at McCracken County Jail on a $10,000 cash bond. Jail records don't indicate whether she has an attorney.
Keisha Taylor, a 37-year-old mother of four, has spent three nights in two different shelters since her family fled the flooding at their Baton Rouge apartment complex. She doesn't know how much longer they will be sleeping on cots inside the downtown arena where hundreds sought shelter.

Taylor probably could stay with relatives in White Castle, a town about 30 miles west of Louisiana's capital city, but three of her kids are enrolled in Baton Rouge schools that could reopen next week.

"This is where I live. I need to be home," she said.

Taylor is among thousands of people across southern Louisiana displaced by catastrophic flooding and now struggling with where to live.

With an estimated 40,000 homes damaged by deadly flooding, Louisiana could be looking at its biggest housing crunch since the miserable, bumbling aftermath of Hurricane Katrina a decade ago.

For the Baton Rouge area, the blow added to what has already been a tough summer starting with the shooting death of 37-year-old Alton Sterling on July 5. The death of Sterling, a black man, at the hands of two white police officers incited widespread protests in which nearly 200 people were arrested.

Then on July 17, a lone gunman killed three law enforcement officers and wounded three others outside a Baton Rouge convenience store. The suspect, Gavin Long, an Army veteran from Kansas City, Missouri, was killed by police. The dead officers all had lived in the area of Denham Springs, a quiet bedroom community near Baton Rouge.

Then the rains hit.

People now are staying in shelters, bunking with friends or relatives or sleeping in trailers on their front lawns. Others unable or unwilling to leave their homes are living amid mud and the ever-present risk of mold in the steamy August heat.

Many victims will need an extended place to stay while they rebuild. Countless others had no flood insurance and may lack the means to repair their homes.

"I got nowhere else to go," said Thomas Lee, 56, who ekes out a living as a drywall hanger  a skill that will come in handy. His sodden furniture is piled curbside and the drywall in his rented house is puckering, but Thomas still plans to stay there, sleeping on an air mattress.

Exactly how many will need temporary housing is unclear, but state officials are already urging landlords to allow short-term leases and encouraging people to rent out any empty space available.

Terri Ricks, deputy secretary for the Department of Children and Family Services, which helps organize local sheltering efforts, said the state is talking with parishes about possibly running a long-term shelter in the region if needed to give people a place to stay while they repair and rebuild.

"Nobody wants to do a long-term shelter," she said. "We want to get people in a more permanent situation."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose very name became a punchline during Katrina, said it will look into lining up rental properties for those left homeless and will consider using temporary housing units.

But FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate gave assurances that the temporary units won't be the old FEMA travel trailers  a reference to the ones brought in after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that were found to have toxic levels of formaldehyde.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson visited Louisiana on Thursday to review the federal government's response to the flooding. But the White House says President Barack Obama is unlikely to break from a New England vacation to survey Louisiana flood damage, despite calls for him to visit.

While some have criticized Obama's decision, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday he is "not complaining in any way about our federal partnership."

He added that while the President can visit whenever he'd like, he'd prefer him to wait "a week or two" because such visits require local police and first responders to help block roads and provide security.

Obama has not commented on the flooding. The White House says he's being updated regularly and has approved a federal disaster declaration for the affected areas.

The flooding that struck the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas left at least 13 people dead. More than 30,000 have been rescued, and at least 70,000 have registered for federal disaster assistance. At the height, 11,000 people were in shelters, though that figured dropped to 4,000 by Thursday.

Those with flood insurance will be in a much better place to begin rebuilding  but there won't be many.

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said it was shocking that only 12 percent of the homes in hard-hit Baton Rouge were covered by flood insurance, and only 14 percent in Lafayette. Donelon, however, said he understands why the state's "large population of working poor folks" wouldn't pay for flood coverage when lenders tell them it's not a requirement.

Many flood victims said they weren't required to have flood insurance and didn't have it, since nothing remotely like this had ever happened before. One of them was David Ellis.

He and his wife closed on their new house in a Livingston Parish subdivision last Thursday afternoon. It started flooding the very next day, water ultimately rising above 3 feet inside his home. Like many of his neighbors, Ellis had no flood insurance. He said he was told he didn't need it.

Friends have launched an online fundraising campaign to help repair the new home.

"I hate asking for help, but having somebody do that for us is awesome," he said.
A group of refugees is suing a Central Pennsylvania school district, saying the academy they were put in after their arduous journey to America is not up to snuff.

Represented by the Pennsylvania branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, the six refugees sued Lancaster schools in federal court, saying they were dumped in a disciplinary school and are being denied access to a quality education. The students range in age from 17 to 21, and hail from Somalia, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burma.

[The] Plaintiffs are refugees who have fled war, violence, and persecution from their native countries, reads a statement from the lawsuit. Having finally escaped their turbulent environment to resettle in America, these young immigrants yearn to learn English and get an education so they can make a life for themselves.

The refugees hoped to enter McCaskey High School, known for its superior academic program, but instead were sent to Phoenix Academy, an alternative high school for underachieving students in the district. Phoenix students are subject to pat-downs, banned from bringing personal belongings like watches and jewelry and forced to wear colored shirts that correspond with behavior.

U.S. News and World Report's 2016 rankings show Phoenix Academy has a graduation rate of 54 percent, and its 458 students perform substantially below the state average on standardized tests. More than 90 percent of the students come from poor families, and there are just 11 full-time teachers at the school, according to the magazine.

Our clients have already experienced much trauma and loss before arriving in this country, Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said in a statement. Rather than helping them make the difficult adjustment by providing educational resources required by law, the school district has denied them an education completely or forced them into an alternative school, where they are often bullied and dont learn.

Officials for the school district say the six students were sent to Phoenix for a special program geared towards their needs.

[The District] believes the lawsuit is without merit," Superintendent Damaris Rau said in a statement. "We are confident we are doing an excellent job supporting our refugee students who often come to school with little or no education.

A special "acceleration program" at Phoenix was created for under-credited students, both refugee and non-refugee, which gives them the opportunity to earn credits toward a high school diploma by the age of 21, Rau said.

At Phoenix, the students receive various services including remedial services, English classes for Second Language Learners, after school programs, job and computer skills as well as mentoring services, Rau added.

Earlier this week, some of the students testified about their educational experience in an Eastern District of Pennsylvania courtroom.

Khadidja Issa, who arrived in America from Chad with her family by way of their home country Sudan, said on Tuesday school officials told her she was too old for school" and should get a job instead.

I responded that I didnt want a job without an education, she said.

Issa, who lived in a refugee camp from the age of 5 to 17, also said that she found the search procedure invasive while attending the school.

I have been to school before and Ive never seen a place where they pat you down in order to enter school, and they do it every day, she said.
For nearly two years, Mahmoud and his extended family of 17 lived in an Egyptian camp for refugees, experiencing first-hand the U.S. process for vetting Syrian refugees for admission into America.

It boiled down to five interviews, totaling roughly four hours, in which they answered mostly yes or no questions, according to Mahmoud, who finally made it to the U.S. on July 18 along with wife, children and grandchildren. Grateful to be in America after their circuitous flight from their embattled hometown of Homs, they nonetheless remain confused about what they have gone through and what lies ahead.

The interview process was long, but not scary," said Mahmoud, who asked that his full name not be used. "We had nothing to hide."

The vetting began halfway into what was a four-year stint at the refugee camp in Alexandria. The interviews, with various UN and U.S. officials, were quick, and much of the focus was on the men's mandatory service in the Syrian Army, with questions about where they served, their duties and whether they committed any war crimes, the family patriarch told FoxNews.com in an interview at the modest home in Fontana, Calif., where they are staying.

The final interview was with an American official who introduced himself as being from "national security." Each of the three connected families was questioned together, then the father alone and the mother alone. They said they were required to simply give either a "yes" or "no" response to such questions as are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization? and do you seek to engage in terrorist activities while in the United States or have you ever engaged in terrorist activities?

The family got a push toward America when Mahmouds daughter-in-law, Najah, was diagnosed in the Egyptian camp with multiple sclerosis. A United Nations doctor monitoring the camp told government officials the 30-year-old womans best chance for medical treatment lay in the U.S.

Mahmouds extended family is part of an effort by the Obama administration to meet its fiscal year objective of resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees before the end of September. Those placed in the U.S are considered to be the "most vulnerable" cases fleeing the violence and persecution of the Syrian civil war.

Resettling Syrian refugees in the United States became a particularly hot-button topic following the terrorist attacks in Paris last November, prompting a large number of Republican lawmakers to express grave concerns that security screenings are not adequate and Islamic terrorists could easily slip in with the masses. However, administration officials insist that screening measures are beyond thorough, and that it has been specially augmented for those coming from Syria, although the exact augmentations remain classified.

"DHS officers receive additional, specialized training before interviewing Syrian applicants and that higher-risk applicants are subject to screening of their social media postings, among other measures, said a representative for the State Departments Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

Leon Rodriguez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration services said "hundreds" of Syrians have been screened out through the process due to "credibility concerns" that have arisen during the interview process described by Mahmoud.

Mahmoud, a Mulsim who painted and taught Arabic for a living in his homeland, insisted that neither he nor any of the relatives who made the journey with him have ties or sympathies with terrorist groups of the Assad regime.

The family's nightmare began in the early stages of the 2011 Arab Spring, in which citizens in a number of Muslim-majority nations took to the streets to demand freedom and democracy. Mahmoud was part of a group of Homs intellectuals who would secretly meet to discuss politics. Eventually, most were rounded up by government intelligence and charged with "going against the State."

Suspicion spread to family members, and Mahmouds son, Amjad, a pharmacy assistant, recalled being taken to Damascus and held for four months in a dirty basement cell so small he could only lie in the fetal position. He faced starvation and torture before being released pending trial, he said.

A few months later, as the civil war that would claim more than 400,000 lives and launch a global humanitarian crisis unfolded, their homes were destroyed by mortar fire. After three days cowering and crying in a tiny bathroom without food, the family risked sniper fire to flee to a nearby town. From there, they escaped to Egypt with nothing but the clothes on their back in August of 2012.

When Mahmoud and his relatives finally left Egypt last month, they were temporarily placed in a hotel in Glendale, Calif. Then, a local aid group, Syrian Christians for Peace, found them the small home in Fontana where they were staying earlier this month. That home is also temporary, and the family doesnt know where it will go next. Najah had yet to receive medical attention for the condition that helped bring her to the U.S., and issues have arisen with her official documentation.

For the Syrian family, the bureaucratic red tape involving Najahs I-94 form proving her identity is just the latest confusing glitch in the vetting process. The associated resettlement agency confirmed there was an issue with hers, and CBP was unable to provide Specifics due to privacy laws, but the issue is said to have been resolved.

"When refugees arrive, they are literally overwhelmed. They have to start all over, which is a big shock. But in exchange for that, their lives have been saved," said Stephen Voss, president & CEO of the International Institute of Los Angeles, the local agency currently working with the federal government to resettle refugees like Mahmoud and his family.

Even as they adjust to new surroundings and battle bureaucracy, families must prepare for a future in which they sustain themselves. Each refugee gets $925 to help them settle and refugees are entitled to public benefits, but adults are expected to find jobs. In fact, they are obligated to repay the U.S. government for their plane fare to America.

According to a State Department spokesperson, most refugees attend a three-day cultural orientation class before they arrive which is designed to provide information about the U.S. and what to expect. That was news to Mahmoud and his family.

We have no preparation, he said.

Other family members said the most they knew of America was from "Batman" and "Superman" movies and that they were surprised it wasn't all high-rise buildings and that they would need a car to get around.

Another Syrian Muslim family  husband Nour, 28 who worked in sales at a local market and wife Miriam, 23 who was studying early childhood education at a local university and nine-month-old daughter Sanaa  told a similar story of trauma and confusion at their new surroundings. They arrived in Los Angeles on July 27, having spent the last couple of years in a refugee camp in Jordan.

They are living in a nondescript motel just north of the city which they said they cannot afford, but were told moving out of Los Angeles County into a cheaper area could jeopardize their settlement benefits.

They also told FoxNews.com they have not undergone medical examinations or orientation. However, Miriam noted that they went through six interviews in the vetting process  four with her husband and two alone. Just over a month before boarding a plane, the Syrian family got word that their application had been approved and that they were being flown to America.

The couple, who were neighbors in Syria, then reunited and married in the Jordanian camp, say their flight to the U.S. has been littered with confusion and a seeming lack of guidance. For more than two weeks, they have lived on cheese and bread, Nour said.

"I don't know when I can get a work permit, said Nour, pacing the room and lamenting that he could not protect his family. I haven't been told anything.

Jamie Brennan contributed to this report
A string of bombings, blamed on Kurdish rebels and targeting Turkey's security forces, killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 220 others, officials said Thursday.

Two of the attacks were car bombings that hit police stations in eastern Turkey, while a third  a roadside blast  targeted a military vehicle carrying soldiers in the southeast of the country.

Authorities say the assaults were carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has launched a campaign of car bombings targeting police stations or roadside bomb attacks against security force vehicles. Last week, PKK commander Cemil Bayik threatened increased attacks against police in Turkish cities.

The wave of attacks come as Turkey is focused on a clampdown on suspected followers of a movement led by U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, which the government accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup last month, that killed at least 270 people.

The first car bombing hit a police station in the eastern province of Van late Wednesday, killing a police officer and two civilians. At least 73 other people  53 civilians and 20 police officers  were wounded, officials said.

Another car bombing hit police headquarters in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig early Thursday, killing at least five people, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Officials said earlier 146 people were wounded and 14 of them were in serious condition.

Video footage showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area. Cars were overturned and the windows of the four-story building and its wings were blown out.

In the southeastern province of Bitlis meanwhile, five soldiers were killed after rebels detonated a roadside improvised explosive device as an armored military vehicle was passing by, officials said. Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack. A government-paid village guard, helping the security forces battle the PKK was also killed in a clash with rebels in the province, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim traveled to Elazig to visit the site of the bombing as well as those wounded in the attack.

He told reporters there that both the PKK and the Gulen movement were directed by the same "intelligence" intent on causing Turkey harm, without elaborating.

"The (Gulen movement) has lost its assertiveness and has handed over the duty to the (PKK)," Yildirim said. "The intelligence that directs them is the same. When one's duty ends, the other takes up the duty."

Yildirim vowed to fight the PKK until it is "eliminated."

"No terror organization will force this nation to cow in submission," Yildirim said.

Speaking in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkey was jointly attacked by various organizations who he said were in close contact with each other and were "acting under the same motivations even if they have different names."

He said the Turkish security forces have killed at least 182 Kurdish rebels in the weeks following the July 15 failed military coup, insisting that there has been no slackening in the fight against the PKK.

Fighting between the PKK and Turkey's security forces resumed last year after a fragile peace process collapsed. Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed, according to Anadolu. Human rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also died in the clashes.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict since the PKK took up arms for autonomy in southeast Turkey in 1984. Turkey and its allies consider the PKK a terrorist organization.

Amnesty International condemned Thursday's car bombings as "the latest in a series of reckless and brutal attacks."

"Those responsible for these crimes show a contempt for the right to life and must be brought to justice," said Andrew Gardner, the rights group's Turkey researcher.

On Thursday, authorities imposed a temporary blackout on media coverage of the bombing in Elazig, citing "public order and national security" concerns.

Turkey frequently imposes such bans following deadly bomb attacks. Thursday's order asked media organizations to refrain from broadcasting and publishing anything that may cause "fear in the public, panic and disorder and which may serve the aims of terrorist organizations."


The Rotary Club Of Hamilton Place-Chattanooga announces they are having their Super Hero Bowl this Saturday to raise money for Junior Achievement. "We have had some scheduling conflicts and are looking for two more bowlers. Our team will be bowling from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Holiday Bowl in Hixson. Contact Justin Porter at 423-414-2105 or justin@pamwealth.com if you are available to help out," officials said.They will also be participating in the Solar Light project in September."The solar lights cost $15 and we have been challenged to raise money for 15 lights. I know we can blow that out of the water. We will be collecting money for this at each meeting in September so bring your checkbooks," officials said. "We are also kicking off Hunters for the Hungry with the start of deer season. We will provide more information about this at a future meeting but this will be an ongoing project to continue through January."In October they will have their annual Warm Coats for Cool Kids project led by Donna Horn. In addition, Bethel Bible Village is hosting a race on Oct. 1 and has asked for eight volunteers. "We encourage people to get involved and volunteer for these worthy causes," officials said.
Police say a car bomber has prematurely detonated an explosives-laden car during a high-speed chase in Somalia's capital.

No casualties were reported in the blast Thursday evening near a marketplace.

Police say the bomber managed to jump out of the car and escape during the chase by security forces.

Somalia's capital has been targeted several times in recent months by extremists.

Two al-Shabab suicide bombers last month detonated cars outside a U.N. office and a Somali army checkpoint in Mogadishu, killing 13 people.
Moldova's foreign ministry has summoned Russian diplomats to protest recent military exercises involving Russian troops in a separatist region of Moldova.

The ministry called the exercises illegal in a statement Thursday, adding that they were "provocative and inadmissible ... and undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Moldova.

Diplomats were called to the ministry late Wednesday after Moldovan separatists and Russian troops staged joint military exercises this week in the breakaway republic of Trans-Dniester.

It was the second time separatists and Russian troops have staged military exercises there this month.

Pro-Russia Trans-Dniester broke away from Moldova in 1990, fearing it would reunite with neighboring Romania. Separatists fought Moldovans in a war in 1992, leaving 1,500 dead.

There are about 1,000 Russian peacekeepers stationed in Trans-Dniester.
Russia is bolstering its military presence on its western border, sending tens of thousands of soldiers to newly built installations within easy striking distance of Ukraine.

The moves, which come as Moscow ratchets up confrontation over the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, are a centerpiece of a new military strategy the Kremlin says is meant to counter perceived threats from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Military analysts say the deployments appear to be an effort to build a more permanent and robust military posture around Ukraine, where Russia has carried out covert military interventions aimed at maintaining influence in its West-leaning neighbor.

Russias plans around the Ukrainian border show a real intent to use force if needed, said Anton Lavrov, a defense analyst at Moscow-based think tank CAST. They would be Russias first line of assistance if the pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine needed help.

The Russian Defense Ministry didnt respond to emailed questions.

U.S. military officials, having closely monitored Russian movements of troops and equipment in the two years since Moscows seizure of Crimea, said they havent detected signs of an immediate threat. Any shift in Russian military posture reflects broader plans, a senior military official said Thursday.

Its a long-term trend; there is nothing new, the official said.

Some U.S.-based analysts in recent weeks have pointed to Russian plans to reorient forces in various spots to potential areas of conflict, adding the shifts dont necessarily indicate imminent military activity.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.
As Turkey presses the Obama administration to hand over a Pennsylvania-based cleric, claiming he spearheaded last months coup attempt, the Muslim nation's media is pointing an accusatory finger at a respected American academic -- and in a bizarre twist, an infamous San Quentin death-row inmate convicted of killing his wife.

Once a key ally of the U.S., Turkey has become a hotbed of anti-American rhetoric, with government-controlled media openly accusing the CIA and other Americans of taking part in a plan to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The accusations have dominated headlines in newspapers in the wake of the plot, and have included such improbable claims as the involvement of California death row prisoner Scott Peterson.

I am stating this very clearly: The United States of America planned to directly murder Turkeys president and implemented this plan, said Ibrahim Karagul, editor-in-chief of a largely circulated pro-Erdogan newspaper, Yeni Safak.

Turkey accuses Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and his followers within Turkeys government and military of fomenting the coup. Gulen and Erdogan, once friends and political allies, became sworn enemies after a 2013 corruption probe targeting Erdogan. Gulen, who operates a profitable chain of private schools in the U.S., vehemently denies involvement in the coup.

While Turkey presses on for the extradition of Gulen, U.S. officials say Ankara has offered neither evidence nor a formal extradition request.

Another widely circulated, pro-Erdogan newspaper, Aksam, used its front cover earlier this month to reveal purported details about the coup. It accused Henri Barkey, a respected Lehigh University professor, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center and renowned expert on Turkey, of having gathered a group of 16 people on an island called Buyukada, near Istanbul, on the day of the coup to hold a top secret meeting.

According to intelligence sources, the article stated, Fethullah Gulen sympathizer Henri Barkey was going to get immediately involved, support the coup plotters, and run a biased broadcast on the coup.

Barkey told FoxNews.com the allegations were ridiculous, but acknowledged holding the gathering  to discuss the state of Iran. He said the meeting was planned more than six months in advance.

It is ridiculous, of course, Barkey said. Theres a conspiracy culture in Turkey that has taken over. I was taken aback, but you are dealing with journalists who are not journalists. They are hacks.

They just make things up, he said. And they describe incredibly detailed conspiracies. It is easy for them to do.

Birileri gercekten de FETO operasyonunu karartmak istiyor. TR'yi ve CB Erdogan' seven Ethem beye hic yaksmyor. pic.twitter.com/1iLO7ddfnZ  Mensur Akgun (@mensurakgun) August 6, 2016

The claim that Peterson, who is on death row in San Quentin State Prison in California for the 2001 murder of his wife, was at the island gathering and has been assigned by the CIA to carry out assassinations in Turkey, underscores the bizarre nature of the media accusations.

Mensur Akgun, director of Global Political Trends Center in Turkey, who is believed to have attended the meeting, attempted to correct Aksam by announcing on Twitter that the Scott Peterson that was at the meeting was a journalist working for The Christian Science Monitor.

Your claims are lies from beginning to the end, he tweeted. Why is your correspondent not getting in touch with me?

The anti-U.S. climate has sent a deep wave of unease washing over Americans who have lived and worked in Istanbul and Ankara for years.

I have not been really worried since the beginning of the coup, but the rising talk of anti-Americanism is starting to get uncomfortable, said a 34-year-old American freelance journalist who asked not to be identified and has been working in Istanbul for the past four years. I have been used to the accusations of being a spy and all, but I fear that especially those who blindly support Erdogan are going to look at me as though I myself tried to kill their President. The thought of this actually gives me goosebumps.

More than 200 people were killed in the July 15 coup attempt, in which members of the military briefly commandeered tanks, aircraft and communications channels. In the aftermath of its failure, Erdogan has led a brutal and widespread crackdown targeting those suspected of supporting Gulen. Some 23,000 people have been detained or arrested and 82,000 have been dismissed or suspended from their jobs.

Barkey, who as an academic, insists he has allegiance to neither Erdogan nor Gulen, dismissed rumors that the coup was staged by Erdogan to flush out his enemies, and did not discount the possibility Gulen played a role.

There is circumstantial evidence that people close to Gulen were involved in the coup, but this was a coup that was not just related to him, but a coalition of different officers, each of whom had their own reasons to participate, Barkey said. It doesnt mean that he did have a hand, it doesnt mean that he did not. We dont know.
Captain D's Franchise Seeks Candidates in North Carolina to Open Restaurants

Fast Casual Seafood Franchise Announces Aggressive Expansion Plans and Exhibits at North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Expo Aug. 29-30

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Aug. 17, 2016 // PRNewswire // - Captain D's LLC, the leading fast casual seafood restaurant, announced today plans to expand its presence in North Carolina. Jennifer Benjamin, director of franchise development for Captain D's, will be at the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Expo inRaleigh on August 29 and 30 to meet with prospective franchisees. The company currently has 27 restaurants located throughout the state of North Carolina and is targeting Charlotte, Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Greensboro to further expand its presence in the state.

Captain D's aggressive growth plans for North Carolina are part of the brand's overall franchise development plans for this year. This expansion is part of Captain D's ongoing success, with the second quarter of 2016 signifying the company's 19th consecutive quarter of system-wide growth, generating a 3.1 percent system-wide same store sales increase for franchisees.

"North Carolina is home to a thriving business community chock-full of potential. With our restaurants in the state performing well, we also see a lot of added opportunity for growth, and we know now is the time to build on this momentum and move full steam ahead to grow our presence in the region," said Michael Arrowsmith, chief development officer for Captain D's. "In the past several years, Captain D's has consistently experienced tremendous growth and established itself as a leader in the fast casual industry. We encourage qualified and experienced franchise candidates interested in joining a nationally recognized brand with a proven record of success to visit us during the upcoming North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Expo."

Fueling the company's compounding success is its ongoing menu innovation and new restaurant beach design. To date, 50 percent of all restaurants have been reimaged to the brand's new vibrant, coastal design, with another 50 locations to be remodeled by the end of this year.

Those interested in developing Captain D's restaurants are encouraged to contact Jennifer Benjamin, director of franchise development, at (678) 779-1789 to discuss opportunities. Benjamin will be at booth 800 at the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Expo on August 29 from 10 a.m.  5 p.m. and August 30from 10 a.m.  4 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention Center, located at 500 S. Salisbury St.

With 512 restaurants in 21 states, Captain D's is the fast-casual seafood leader and number one seafood franchise in America ranked by average unit volume. The company is currently seeking single- and multi-unit operators to join in the brand's rapid expansion. For more information about franchise opportunities, visit http://www.captaindsfranchising.com or call 800-550-4877.

About Captain D's

Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., Captain D's has 512 restaurants in 21 states, plus military bases around the world. Captain D's is the nation's leading fast casual seafood restaurant and was named the #1 seafood chain in the QSR 50, ranked by AUV. Founded in 1969, Captain D's has been offering its customers high-quality seafood at reasonable prices in a welcoming atmosphere for 47 years. Captain D's serves a wide variety of seafood that includes freshly prepared entrees and the company's signature hand-battered fish, which is cooked to order to ensure freshness. The restaurants also offer premium-quality grilled fish, as well as shrimp, chicken, surf and turf, hushpuppies, desserts and freshly brewed, Southern-style sweet tea, a Captain D's favorite. For more information, please visit www.captainds.com.

SOURCE Captain D's

Contact:

Samantha Russo

Fish Consulting

954-893-9150

srusso@fish-consulting.com

###

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Capriottis Sandwich Shop To Open In Oklahoma City

Award-Winning Sandwich Coming Soon to Residents in Oklahoma

August 18, 2016 // Franchising.com // LAS VEGAS  Capriottis Sandwich Shop, an acclaimed restaurant franchise that first opened its doors in 1976 in the Little Italy section of Wilmington, Delaware with the goal of serving great sandwiches and capturing the hearts of turkey lovers, is set to open its doors in Oklahoma City in Fall 2016. The space will be approximately 1800 square feet and will be the first Capriottis location in the state of Oklahoma.

The new restaurant will be co-owned by Joshua Moyer, Jeremiah Moyer, and Corey Little, with Little and Jeremiah Moyer handling day-to-day managing of the facility. Living in Las Vegas, Joshua Moyer fell in love with Capriottis and immediately recognized a great opportunity to become an owner himself. After speaking with his brother, Jerimiah Moyer, and their mutual friend Little about the prospect, the three of them decided that becoming a part of the Capriottis family would not only be a great business opportunity, but a prime opportunity to be involved with an extraordinary brand that they all genuinely love. The new Capriottis location is expected to bring between 25 and 30 new jobs to Oklahoma City.

With more than 100 locations across the United States, Capriottis is committed to creating mouthwatering, homemade subs and sandwiches made with the freshest ingredients for an unsurpassed taste. Capriottis continues its 40-year nightly tradition of slow-roasting whole all-natural turkeys in-house and hand shredding them every morning to feature in a variety of their fan-favorite subs.

Were excited to bring the Capriottis experience to the Sooner State, said Little. With our top-quality, premium sandwiches, unique company culture, and my experience in franchising, we cant wait to introduce Oklahoma residents to Capriottis and are confident that they will all become avid fans, just like we are.

Opening our first Capriottis location in the state of Oklahoma is a very exciting milestone for us, said Ashley Morris, CEO of Capriottis. We are confident this team of experienced business owners will be incredibly successful in launching Capriottis in a brand new state and look forward to all of the exciting things to come.

Capriottis will be located at 4600 N. Pennsylvania Ave, Suita A, Oklahoma City, OK 73134. For additional information regarding Capriottis, please visit www.capriottis.com.

For franchise information please visit www.ownacapriottis.com or call Bruce Evans at (702) 736-3878.

About Capriottis Sandwich Company

Founded in 1976, Capriottis Sandwich Shop, is an award-winning sandwich shop that remains true to their 40 year tradition of slow-roasting whole, all natural turkeys in-house every day. Capriottis fresh ingredients, homemade subs and unique menu items have won numerous accolades including being named one of the 10 Great Places for a Surprising Sandwich by USA Today and many Best of awards across the country. Capriottis cold, grilled and vegetarian subs, cheese steaks and salads are available at 100 locations in 18 states and federal districts across the U.S. including: Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Washington D.C. Capriottis signature sub, The Bobbie, was voted The Greatest Sandwich in America by thousands of readers across the country. Capriottis fans can also download the CAPAddicts Rewards app for iOS and Android, where they can earn and redeem rewards. For more information, visit capriottis.com. Like Capriottis on Facebook, follow on Twitter or Instagram.

SOURCE Capriottis Sandwich Company

Media Contacts:

Christina Erwin

cerwin@konnect-pr.com

Deanna Ashikyan

dashikyan@konnect-pr.com

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The city of Cleveland has received a $375,000 grant to help rehabilitate older homes.The funds come through the Tennessee Housing Development Agency as part of the 2015-2016 HOME program.The grant provides $40,000 for a single rehabilitation of a home, said Katie Moore, East Tennessee liason for THDA. She said the Southeast Tennessee Development District will administer the grant. The District will hold public meetings in the fall where residents can get information about the grant.The homes must be owner occupied and meet certain criteria, said Mayor Tom Rowland.Residents will be able to select a contractor from an approved list, he said.These funds will be available anywhere in the city, the mayor said.The city previously received a $3.75 million Tennessee Valley Authority Extreme Energy Makeover grant that can only be used in the Blythe-Oldfield community.
Middle Valley Church of God announces that Pastor Mitch McClure will speak on the topic, 'I Am Hoping For A Prize Better Than Cracker Jacks ' in the 10:30 a.m. service on Sunday. This is part of a sermon series titled 'The Best Is Yet To Come.'

"This new sermon series will develop the reality that while life on earth may be difficult now, God promises the Christian hope for the future. Jesus Christ made sure His followers understood they had future hope and Christians today have that same hope," officials said.



Pastor Mitch McClure will lead the church in a time of prayer, and worship during the 6:30 p.m.

service on Sunday.Each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Sunday school classes are available for all age groups.Pastor Mitch McClure is leading a mid-week Bible study on the the end times. This study is based partially on 'ISIS, Iran, Israel and The End of Times," by Mark Hitchcock. This Bible study will occur each Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the administrative classroom.All are invited and encouraged to participate in any or all of these services.Middle Valley Church of God is located at 1703 Thrasher Pike in Hixson. For additional information, contact the church office at 423-843-1539.
Duncanville TX Allergy & Asthma Treatment Testing Center New Website Launched

The Asthma & Allergy Center of Duncanville announced a new website providing information on range of advanced and effective treatments for allergies, asthma or infections and related symptoms, including hay fever, sinus headaches, hives and swelling or recurring cough for patients of all ages.

--

The popular Asthma & Allergy Center of Duncanville announced the launch of a new website detailing its leading diagnosis and treatment solutions to provide effective relief for a broad range of allergies, asthma, infections or other immune system related illnesses in children and adults.

More information is available at http://aaacod.com/.

The Asthma & Allergy Center of Duncanville is a fully staffed multi-physician group specializing in the diagnosis, management and treatment of multiple adult and pediatric allergic or immunologic conditions, serving the Dallas and Fort Worth community since 1987.

The practice announced the launch of a new website detailing its popular treatment solutions drawing on the most advanced testing and therapy methods to provide accurate diagnosis and effective treatment or relief for a broad range of allergies, infections and asthma or related symptoms, including hay fever, sinus headaches, hives and swelling, recurring cough, and more.

The treatments are delivered by highly qualified and skilled professionals, including two Board-Certified Allergy Physicians, out of its state of the art facility located at 626 W. Wheatland Rd, Ste. B, Duncanville, Texas 75116, equipped with a fully functional game room to keep patients entertained and occupied before the appointment.

Initial evaluations and appointments at the Asthma & Allergy Center of Duncanville can be scheduled by phone (972) 709-NOSE (6673) online through the newly launched website at the link provided above also featuring additional information on the highly qualified staff, leading service philosophy with entertaining waiting activities and patient testimonials.

The Asthma & Allergy Center of Duncanville explains that "when it comes to allergies and asthma, knowing the best course of treatment is crucial. Dr. DelasAlas and his team are experienced with the most advanced and effective therapy available today to help individual patients and often whole families find the relief from their allergy or asthma symptoms and achieve a better quality of life".

The board certified allergy physician Dr. Harold DelasAlas explains that "we have a wonderful hardworking team as dedicated to quality patient care as I am, and committed to keeping waiting times interesting by providing a fully functional game room that causes many of our patients to arrive early to play our arcade game before their appointment".

For more information, please visit http://aaacod.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Dr Harold DelasAlas

Email: info@aaacod.com

Organization: Asthma & Allergy Center of Duncanville

Address: 626 W. Wheatland Rd, Ste B Duncanville, Texas 75116

Phone: (972) 709-6673

Release ID: 128460

For more information visit r



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Registration for 30 Day Action Plan Relaunch Announced

QuitMarijuana.org will launch the "The Quit Marijuana 30 Day Action Plan" on September 1, 2016. The rewrite has new features including chat forum and email reminders.

--

John Mckee of http://quitmarijuana.org is pleased to announce the Sept. 1 launch of "The Quit Marijuana 30 Day Action Plan. The registration for the rewritten plan includes new features such as Chat, Forum and improved reminders via email. The purpose of the blog and website is to teach methods to stop smoking weed. It is a step-by-step approaches with all of the necessary resources needed to quit the use of MJ.

"QuitMarijuana.org grew out of my old "The Marijuana Addict" blog" explained Mckee. "On the earlier version of the blog, I documented my own struggle, then success in quitting weed for good. Since 2008, I have helped 1000s of people stop smoking weed forever."

The website offers online courses and a community with resources to assist any who want to quit smoking weed. The community can help users to get through the various stages of withdrawal so that there is no longer a need to live as a prisoner to the addiction to marijuana. Participating in the steps and resources offered on the site allows users to quit marijuana

"If you are experiencing withdrawal" John continues, "you are not alone. The community of those who have already gone through the effort is very supportive. Research is starting to support what many already have learned. Marijuana can be an addictive substance and it requires effort to stop using the substance. You can learn how to quit cold turkey or by tapering the usage."

The 30-Day plan includes educational materials about marijuana withdrawal, including how to get through withdrawal and how to reduce the symptoms. Participants will learn why addiction and withdrawal are increasing in numbers and strength. A complete explanation of the phases and symptoms of withdrawal is included. An extra bonus in the program is everything which is important about Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome.

For more information, please visit http://quitmarijuana.org

Contact Info:

Name: John Mckee

Organization: QuitMarijuana.org

Address: Suite 160 422 Richards Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 2Z4

Phone: (206) 734-4402

Source: http://quitmarijuana.org/success-stories/

Release ID: 128404

For more information visit r



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Those who have completed the Hunter Education course may take their knowledge to the next level by attending a Hunter Education Field Day. These hands-on learning experiences give students a chance to build on the knowledge and skills gained in their initial hunter education course.

While all of the hunter education courses available to Georgia students provide a beginning knowledge of hunting safety, firearms and other equipment, it is not usually a field experience, says Walter Lane, hunter development program manager for the Wildlife Resources Division. Field Days allow the student to handle a bow, a muzzleloader, rifle or shotgun and to test out safe ways to access a tree stand or to navigate in the woods  it really solidifies the experience much more than the course alone and is a great compliment to the initial instruction.

Field Days include a live fire opportunity and field exercise and are designed for students who have completed and passed a hunter education course. Potential Instruction sessions include a combination of two of the following activities: rifle, archery, muzzleloading, orienteering, wildlife identification and tree stand safety.

Hunter Education Field Days typically take two hours and are available across the state. The Field Day events are free of charge. However, it is possible that the venue for the event may have a parking or usage fee.

For more information, visit www.GetHunterEdGeorgia.com.
Free Freightnet Membership

List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours.
This month, Jazzanooga is kicking off two music education programs: The Youth Music Academy and The Chattanooga Music Educator Spotlight Series.

Jazzanoogas Youth Music Academy began in 2014 and is a music education and performance program provided free of charge to underserved youth, ages 12-18 Youth in the Hamilton County school system with little or no access to the arts are encouraged to apply. Since its inception, the academy has expanded to a year round program, and even provides music scholarships to participating students headed to college.

Applications are now being accepted for the Fall 2016 Youth Music Academy. To complete an application, go to Jazzanooga website, www.jazzanooga.org.

We are seeking creative ways to elevate the overall learning experience for your youth," said Shane Morrow, director of Jazzanooga. I strongly believe that music and arts education is a profound and necessary element which contributes greatly to a childs development. Im a product of music education, and forever grateful that my family encouraged my artistic pursuits. It allowed me to discover and develop so many crucial life building skills that I use today.

Concerned that music programs in public schools have been dramatically curtailed, Jazzanooga is also raising more awareness of Chattanoogas music educators with a live performance series featuring local music educators.

Music Educator Spotlight Performance: Neshawn Calloway - On Saturday, Aug. 27, at Jazzanooga Arts Space, the first installment of the Chattanooga Music Educator Spotlight Series will feature Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts Vocal music director, Neshawn Calloway. Calloway has taught for the Hamilton County School System for 15 years and has also traveled to Chattanoogas sister city, Hamm Germany to perform a sold out concert featuring jazz and the music of Chattanoogas blues legend, Bessie Smith.

Chattanooga is filled with an array of performers," said Ms. Calloway. "For every performer there was a teacher/mentor that played a fundamental role in defining their techniques and talents; by creating a quarterly teacher appreciation event, we place light on their work and help raise funds for their music programs.

For more information, please go to Jazzanoogas website, www.jazzanooga.org, like Jazzanooga on Facebook, or follow @jazzanooga on Twitter and Instagram.






Here is the weekly road construction report for Hamilton County:

U.S. 27 (I-124) widening from I-24/U.S. 27 interchange to north of the Olgiati Bridge over the Tennessee River, including widening the Olgiati Bridge: Work on this project continues. The speed limit on U.S. 27 in the construction zone has been lowered to 45 MPH. The contractor may have temporary lane closures on U.S. 27 between 7 p.m.-6 a.m.PM-6AM. The contractor will be setting bridge beams on the project during the next two weeks.

Prior to beams being set, the contractor will need to stage the trucks carrying the bridge beams, and this will require a shoulder closure on U.S. 27 North from Market Street to Broad Street. On Tuesday night, from 7 p.m.-6 a.m., the contractor will have temporary road and ramp closures to set bridge beams over MLK Blvd. Motorists should use the 4th Street interchange as an alternate route to/from the downtown area. Local street detours will be posted via Broad Street  6th Street  Gateway Avenue. As the project progresses, there may be short term temporary lane closures for the safety of the traveling public on city streets within the project area. Flaggers will assist with these closures and they will be properly signed in accordance with the Federal Highway Administrations Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. During Phase 1 of the U.S. 27 project, the contractor will be working on the northbound side of U.S. 27 on the bridges. Work will consist of demolishing and reconstructing the outside sections of the bridges along U.S. 27 North. Also on U.S. 27 South, they will be constructing a large retaining wall between the Olgiati Bridge and 6th Street. At least one lane will remain open in each direction on U.S. 27. THP will assist with traffic control on the project as necessary. Estimated project completion date is July 2019. For more info, visit the project website http://www.tn.gov/tdot/topic/US27-reconstruction-chattanooga . [Dement Construction Co., LLC/JM/CNP230]

SR 317 (Apison Pike) the grading, drainage and paving on from Old Lee Highway (LM 5.58) to SR-321 (Ooltewah-Ringgold Road) (LM 7.84): Work on this project continues. During this report period the contractor may have intermittent lane closures from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Flaggers will assist with traffic control as needed. Estimated project completion date is May 2017. [Wright Brothers Const. Co. /Pruett/CNN279]

SR-320 (East Brainerd Road) grading, drainage, installation of signals, construction of seven retaining walls and paving from east of Graysville Road to east of Bel-Air Road: Work on this project continues. During this report period, the contractor will have intermittent lane closures between 9 a.m.-2 p.m. This work may affect either direction of East Brainerd Road or side streets from Graysville Road to Hamlett Drive as the contractor installs road crossings and borings. The contractor may have short-term lane closures to perform various operations on an as-needed basis. Flaggers will assist with traffic control as needed. Estimated project completion is June 2017. [Mountain State Contractors, LLC /Pruett/CNN383]

Shepherd Road over SR-153 construction of a rolled steel girder bridge from West Shepherd Rd. to Shaw Avenue in Chattanooga, including grading, drainage and paving: Work on this project continues. The bridge has returned to two lanes of traffic. Traffic has now been shifted onto the south side of the new bridge. During the project, there may be intermittent nighttime lane closures as necessary in both directions on SR-153 between 8 p.m.-6 a.m. THP will assist with traffic control as necessary on the project. On weekdays during this report period, the contractor will be doing asphalt paving on the Airport Connector Road west of the Shepherd Road Bridge and at the ramp intersections. The work will take place during daytime hours and traffic will be maintained through the work zone with flaggers and lane shifts. This paving will allow the contractor to shift traffic onto the concrete ramp pavement in the coming weeks so that they can construct phase 2 of the ramps. Please anticipate short delays and use extra caution though the work zone. Estimated project completion is October. [Jones Brothers Contractors, Inc./Micka/CNP105]






A number of platforms have seen money coming in from Cofunds over recent months, blaming the fund supermarkets spike in outflows on ambiguity over its future leading up to last weeks takeover.

According to Legal & General, which reached a deal with Aegon UK to sell Cofunds for 140m on 11 August, the platform suffered outflows totalling 700m in the first six months of 2016, after reporting 1.1bn inflows in the previous year.

The insurance giant blamed the loss on customers withdrawing money for income and other purposes.

One of the larger platforms, which wanted to remain anonymous, confirmed that transfers from Cofunds onto its platform were the same in the first half of this year as they were for the whole of 2015.

Barry Neilson, business development director at Nucleus, said the large fund supermarkets were where he saw the bulk of money transfers coming from, with Cofunds often topping the list of companies feeding into Nucleuss flows.

He did point out it was almost expected that most of the cash would come from Cofunds, bearing in mind it is the largest platform in the UK.

Mr Neilson said this was down to a systematic market shift, causing a switch away from old-style fund supermarkets.

He said newer platforms such as Nucleus had accumulated assets and adviser relationships more quickly, probably because they work on more modern technology, are able to deal with a wider range of asset types, and have a broader range of functionality and tax wrappers.

He added Cofunds corporate position had been unstable.

If advisers do deeper due diligence on their platforms, there will be a stronger focus on sustainability.

Mr Neilson said the sunset clause  which effectively shut off trail commission on platforms  was another reason advisers might turn their back on larger players like Cofunds.

Bill Vasilieff, chief executive of Novia Financial, said he had seen money come from Cofunds recently, but not as much as from other platforms, such as Old Mutual and Axa Elevate.

He added: With Cofunds, we often hear the platform is behind the times. With others, the biggest complaint Ive heard is concern about the creation of a restricted sales force. Aegon has a challenge on its hands and will have to manage the change carefully or it will lose money.

Mark Till, chief distribution and marketing officer at Aegon, said the company will establish an advisory board to take on advisers feedback.

Jonathan Gunby, chief development officer at Transact, said he had not seen a spike in inflows from Cofunds, but he did note that any corporate change tends to create uncertainty.

Alistair Wilson, head of Zurichs retail platform strategy, said in the second quarter of this year that around 30 per cent of new money flowing into the Zurich platform came from other investment platforms but he could not be specific about which platforms these were.

He added: There is old technology being used that isnt delivering in the 21st century.
American farmer Dan Erickson is the latest to reveal the good, bad and ugly of his machinery fleet for our Whats in your Shed? series.

Mr Erickson is based in southern Minnesota, USA, and rears a 400-head, outdoor-housed dairy heifer herd alongside his grain maize and soya bean operation.

His kit list is dominated by John Deere machinery, along with a front boom Hagie sprayer and two artic wagons for grain haulage.

See also: Whats in Your Shed visits a Monmouthshire contractor

Where do you farm?

Our family farm is a couple of hours south of Minneapolis, close to the border with Iowa.

We are in prime grain maize and soya bean land and most of the farms around here grow only those two crops.

The winter is too cold for anything autumn-sown, and spring cereals cant be drilled until early May because of the frost risk.

Our heavy soils also take a long time to dry out, so the growing season is just a bit too short.

Farm facts Crops Maize for corn 340ha, maize for silage 20ha, Soya beans 450ha, alfalfa 32ha

Maize for corn 340ha, maize for silage 20ha, Soya beans 450ha, alfalfa 32ha Livestock 400-head dairy heifers

If you head an hour east of here then youll reach the dairying regions, but most of the cows are long gone from this area.

We had a milking herd up until 17 years ago, but it got to the point where we needed to invest a stack of cash to keep it running.

I decided wed be better off focusing on calf rearing and the arable side of the farm.

Milking cows was never really for me.

How big is the farm?

We cover about 525ha, which is pretty average by Minnesota standards.

In my opinion, you need at least 325ha to be sustainable, but there are plenty of farmers running well over 4,000ha.

What do you grow?

We take four cuts from 32ha of alfalfa each year alongside our staple crops of grain maize and soya beans.

The alfalfa feeds the 400-head of outdoor-housed dairy heifers, which we keep on a kind of bed and breakfast basis for a dairy farm 100 miles away.

The idea is that they arrive at six-months-old and leave at 20 months in-calf.

Theyre all AId and 50% of that is sexed semen, so we know that a majority of them will be carrying heifer calves.

During the winter temperatures can regularly drop below -10C, but most of the older animals stay outside all year.

Weve found the better air quality improves animal health, and theyre perfectly happy bedded down on piles of maize stocks that stay far warmer than a regular concrete yard.

How does the rotation work?

The alfalfa leys run for four years.

That gives the crop plenty of time to fix nitrogen into the soil, which gives the subsequent maize crop a real boost.

In fact, we find we need to grow maize for two consecutive years following the alfalfa to make the most of the nitrogen thats been locked in the soil.

What tractors do you run?

Case and John Deere, along with the odd New Holland, make up pretty much all of the tractors in the area.

Were all Deere  weve always had good back-up from the dealer who is about 20 miles away, even if we spend a lot less money with them than some of our neighbours.

How often do you replace your machinery?

Im pretty relaxed about machinery replacement, so theres no set policy. Our Deere combine keeps doing the business despite being 12-years-old and Im in no hurry to get rid of it.

The front-line tractor gets replaced most frequently.

Were running a twin-track Deere, which I plan to keep for at least three years.

The fleet Tractors JD 9460RT,

JD 9460RT, Combine John Deere 9560 STS with 8-row maize header and 30ft bean header

John Deere 9560 STS with 8-row maize header and 30ft bean header Sprayer Hagie STS12  120ft boom

Hagie STS12  120ft boom Forager New Holland FP230 trailed

New Holland FP230 trailed Trailers 3 x Badger 15t forage boxes, Brent 678 grain chaser

3 x Badger 15t forage boxes, Brent 678 grain chaser Cultivations John Deere 2700 17.5ft discs, JD 980 44.5ft tines

John Deere 2700 17.5ft discs, JD 980 44.5ft tines Drill John Deere 1770 Conservation

John Deere 1770 Conservation Fertiliser Nitromaster 8000 54ft applicator

Nitromaster 8000 54ft applicator Mower JD 956

After that, Ill make a decision depending on how it has performed and the state of the market  if it makes sense to chop it in then I will, but I wont be afraid to hang on to it for a few more years.

Do you buy second-hand?

Yes, definitely.

Weve got kit like the old trailed forager that will look pretty ancient to some people, but it still does a perfectly good job so it doesnt pay to replace it.

Latest purchase?

Ive added a couple of big machines to the fleet in the last couple of years.

One of those was the 9460RT.

The downturn in commodity prices and slow-up of tractor sales meant I got a pretty good lease contract because the local dealer was keen to shift some machinery from his forecourt.

Its two years old and is the first tracked tractor Ive ever had.

I thought Id try something different because I was sick of the power hop on the old artic-steer 9330.

Granted, the tracks arent built for the road, but the air-suspended cab is surprisingly comfortable and Deere has increased the number of lugs on each track to improve traction.

The other benefit of tracks over tyres is compaction.

The twin-track crawler comes in a bit heavier than the wheeled artic, but manages to spread its weight better and puts way more power to the ground.

Favourite machine?

The Hagie sprayer  its bigger than I need, but I also rent it out to a couple of other farmers to help pay the bills.

Its got front-mounted 120ft booms, 15in nozzle spacing and a 1,200gal tank.

Its also got massive ground clearance, which means I can apply liquid nitrogen mid-summer and late-season fungicide in 8ft maize.

What about cultivations?

Most people around here have a similar system when it comes to tillage.

To get rid of most of the trash before cultivations I run over with a 20ft flail shredder, windrow it and bale it for bedding.

I always do a deep-ripping job in the autumn with a combination of long shanks and chopping discs, then leave the cold weather to break up the clay-loam soil over the winter.

In the spring I then tear through with a big-tined harrow, before applying anhydrous nitrogen down to 8in using deep-working shanks to tear open the ground at 30in spacing.

People around here predominantly use anhydrous ammonia rather than granular, but if you head into other states then you might find liquid or urea is more popular.

After that, Ill go in with the 16-row Deere corn drill.

At the same time I apply liquid fertiliser, which is tucked 1in below the surface and just in front of the Roundup Ready seed to give it a bit of a head start.

Does anyone plough?

Ive never ploughed, though its occasionally used by farmers growing hybrid maize year after year.

The thick stalks take a lot of breaking up so sometimes its easier just to bury them.

Best buy?

Last year a friend and I found a new way to side-dress nitrogen into the base of the maize crop when its standing 6ft.

The Nitra Boss dribble bars attach to the normal nozzle connectors on the Hagie sprayer boom and dangle to the base of the plant to feed nitrogen into the moist area where the stem meets the ground.

So, while most of our neighbours still have to front load the nitrogen before its actually required by the crop and leave it at risk of volatilisation, we can time our liquid fertiliser sprays to suit the growth stages.

That means that we can apply a bulk of the fertiliser post-tassel, which accounts for more than 50% of the crops total nitrogen requirements.

The only downside was the cost  the bill came to $16,000 (10,870).

What about crop storage?

We haul everything from the combine to our two artic wagons with a Brent chaser.

The beans go straight to a processing plant 40 miles away, while 4,200t of grain maize is stored in silos on the farm once theyve been sent through the dryer.

That gives me the flexibility of selling it when I want, which can be a bit of a lottery.
Story Highlights Cruz's favorable rating among Republicans at 43%, down from 59%

Fifty percent of Republicans view Cruz unfavorably

Among U.S. adults, 29% see him favorably, 58% unfavorably

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Republicans' views of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz have gotten significantly worse since he refused to endorse Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention, with his favorable rating falling from 59% to 43%. Now more Republicans have an unfavorable opinion of Cruz than a favorable one, reverting to the pattern seen when he suspended his presidential campaign in early May. His image had recovered in the months leading up to the convention.

In late April and early May, slightly more Republicans had a negative view of him (45%) than a positive one (42%). With Trump's nomination looking more assured at the time, Cruz and Trump exchanged a flurry of personal insults. Cruz also attempted to jump-start his faltering campaign before the critical May 3 Indiana primary by making the unusual move of announcing Carly Fiorina as his vice presidential running mate.

Once Cruz ended his campaign after losing in Indiana, Republicans' feelings toward him quickly improved. He entered the convention with nearly twice as many Republicans rating him positively as negatively. His pre-convention 59% favorable rating among Republicans nearly tied his personal high of 61% from early January.

Cruz secured a prime-time speaking slot at the GOP convention, but he was roundly booed when he did not formally endorse Trump. That move rankled many Republican Party officials and, it appears based on the Aug. 3-7 Gallup poll, also many Republican Party supporters nationwide. His favorable ratings have dropped by similar amounts among both conservative Republicans and liberal/moderate Republicans.

Notably, Cruz's highly negative image among Democrats and Democratic leaners has changed little. Prior to the GOP convention, Democrats' opinions of Cruz were 19% favorable and 67% unfavorable; after, they were 21% favorable and 67% unfavorable.

Republicans' more negative opinions of Cruz have driven his favorable rating among all Americans down to 29% from 36% in mid-July. His unfavorable rating is up to 58% from 49%.

For most of 2015, Americans viewed Cruz slightly more negatively than positively. In late December and January, after several televised Republican debates but before voting in primaries and caucuses began, Americans' views were nearly evenly split. But as the campaign wore on and he became better known, negative opinions greatly outnumbered positive ones. Now, his unfavorable rating among all Americans is twice as high as his favorable rating.

Sanders, Ryan, Other Convention Speakers' Favorable Ratings Little Changed

Gallup tested Americans' views of several notable speakers before and after the Democratic and Republican conventions, including Republicans Cruz and Paul Ryan and Democrats Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Michelle Obama. None of these speakers saw much improvement in their images apart from Michelle Obama. This includes Sanders, Cruz's Democratic counterpart as the nomination runner-up. Unlike Cruz, Sanders formally endorsed his party's presidential nominee during the convention, and his already majority favorable rating edged up to 56%, a new high for him.

Only Cruz saw a significant drop in his favorable rating after the two political conventions.

Opinions of Convention Speakers Before and After 2016 Political Conventions % Favorable Before After Change % % pct. pts. Republicans Ted Cruz 36 29 -7 Paul Ryan 44 44 0 Democrats Barack Obama 51 54 +3 Bill Clinton 49 49 0 Bernie Sanders 53 56 +3 Michelle Obama 58 64 +6 July 13-17, 2016 and Aug. 3-7, 2016 Gallup polls

Presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Trump both saw slight increases in their favorable ratings after their respective conventions, but both of these upticks have faded, and opinions of the nominees are essentially the same as they were in mid-July.

Implications

Should Cruz decide to mount another run for president in 2020, he has a lot of work to do to repair his image. Twice as many Americans view him negatively as positively, and his own party's supporters view him unfavorably on balance. Notably, Americans' opinions of Cruz right now are very similar to those of his formal rival, Trump. However, despite tepid support for Trump's nomination, at no point have Republicans viewed Trump more negatively than positively.

In fact, in Gallup's available polling on presidential nomination candidates, it has been extremely rare for a major nomination contender to be viewed more negatively than positively by his or her own party. Cruz's image among his party's supporters was net-negative near the end of his campaign, and is again now as a former candidate.

Cruz's future in presidential politics may depend on Americans, especially Republicans, having short memories or being able to forgive him for anything he has done to cause them to view him negatively. That appeared to be the case for Republicans in the two months after Cruz ended his 2016 presidential bid, but any goodwill he recovered has been lost.

Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Aug. 3-7, 2016, with a random sample of 1,032 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

For results based on the total sample of 469 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, the margin of sampling error is 6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 60% cellphone respondents and 40% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.

View complete question responses and trends.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.
'How To Get Away With Murder' Season 3 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Next Installment Will Be a Lot Different?

A shocking death or a complicated love affair is the reason why fans are interested and eventually get addicted to a show. This trend has been tested and proven to be highly successful. So will How To Get Away With Murder Season 3 give in to these ideas?

'How To Get Away With Murder' Season 3: Next installment will face a lot of changes?

What better way to have the fans on the edge of their seats than to present them with a a whole lot different concept in How To Get Away With Murder Season 3? According to Movie News Guide, the TV drama series is not going to focus on Rose's case, instead How To Get Away With Murder Season 3 will be tackling different cases.

How To Get Away With Murder Season 3 will also provide viewers some insights regarding Wes and Annalise's relationship. The duo had been facing some issues in the past seasons and fans will be able to learn more about where they stand now in How To Get Away With Murder Season 3.

'How To Get Away With Murder' Season 3: How much change will be made in next installment?

How To Get Away With Murder Season 3 is aiming to steer clear from all the predictable scenarios, but at the same time they want to maintain the storyline of the hit show. Meaning, we sill still get to see our favorite characters and the story of their lives in How To Get Away With Murder Season 3.

Who is your favorite character in How To Get Away With Murder Season 3? Let us know in the comment section below! How To Get Away With Murder Season 3 is set to premiere on ABC on September 22.
'Wentworth' Season 5 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Will Foxtel Bring Bea To Life? Tragedy To Bring New Faces In Prison

Although "Wentworth" Season 4 recently concluded in May, fans are now looking forward to the coming of "Wentworth" Season 5. With the unexpected death of Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack), viewers of the show are still hoping for her return in the Foxtel drama series.

Foxtel Firmed With Bea's Death

Fans are expecting Foxtel to change its mind and bring Bea back to life in "Wentworth" Season 5, as per FX News Call. However, it looks like the role of Danielle Cormack is now gone for good as the show's executive producer Jo Porter already asserted that the woman who killed her husband is already dead.

If this seems hard for the fans to accept, Jo Porter even added that they, too, feel the difficulty of killing a major character. However, the TV producer hinted that her demise will lead to the new storyline in "Wentworth" Season 5 and additional cast members. Not only that, they are also hoping that her death could help the Foxtel series to maintain its high ratings and viewers support in spite of what happened.

Foxtel Only Shows The Real Drama In Prisons

It has been known that Foxtel didn't easily give in to its viewers request as it is inclined to stick to the plot of "Wentworth" story. The television company is only trying to show the real deal of being in prison and the harsh reality that the prisoners' life is often in danger. Hence, it only depicts that inside Wentworth Correctional Facility, like many others, death is inevitable.

Jo Porter also revealed that the tragedy can be beneficial for "Wentworth" Season 5. Foxtel has yet to disclose the new faces that are coming in the Australian drama series as people behind the show is being tight-lipped about the production's details, although its filming already started earlier this month, The Bit Bag reported. So, it seems fans still have to wait for the coming of "Wentworth" Season 5 in 2017.
Jaden Smith Spotted Dating Sarah Snyder Amidst Death Rumors, Couple Split Over Cheating Allegations?

Earlier this month, the Internet was plagued with Jaden Smith's death news. However, Jaden Smith was spotted going out with rumored girlfriend Sarah Snyder just recently.

Jaden Smith Suicide Video

Speculations started to swirl right after Jaden Smith spent his 18th birthday when an alleged suicide video leaked online. The said video featured Will Smith's son crying and saying goodbye to his dad.

Jaden Smith's video then was spread on Facebook along with news that he killed himself. However, the rumors were proven as a hoax. Jaden Smith was recently spotted with girlfriend Sarah Snyder going out on a date night, Vogue reported. The couple was also spotted at the premiere of Netflix's latest show, "The Get Down."

Jaden Smith and Sarah Snyder both sported the trendy millennial get-up during the premiere. The couple swirling in the fashion world are known for their unique millennial style. In fact, Jaden Smith reportedly flaunted his unique style while wearing a woman's wear for a magazine.

A photo posted by Sarah Snyder (@sarahfuckingsnyder) on Aug 10, 2016 at 8:26am PDT

Jaden Smith, Sarah Snyder Over?

After proving that Jaden Smith is alive, another rumor bombarded the couple. Like any other couple in Hollywood, Jaden Smith and Sarah Snyder's relationship has been swirling with cheating controversies. In the midst of all these cheating rumors, the couple continues to be seen publicly together.

Cheating rumors started when Sarah Snyder was seen with a photographer named Gunner Stahl, Hollywood Life claimed. Stahl tweeted a picture of Snyder in bed with him, tagging Jaden Smith on the post. Smith has yet to respond regarding the cheating allegations.

Mores so, Sarah Snyder allegedly posted an Instagram post with a caption, "When your little ex is salty. You're in love with your man. Btw, thanks for the flowers baby." However, the sweet statement was changed into two kissy-face emojis.

Now the public is confused who Sarah Snyder meant on her original statement. Do you think Snyder and Jaden Smith is finally over? Sound off in the comment box below.
Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe Dating: Outlander Season 3 Actor Admits Falling In Love with Co-star? Are They Officially in a Relationship?

Countless fans have been speculating that Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe are, indeed, in a secret relationship. Now, most recent reports are claiming that the "Outlander" Season 3 actor has already admitted he has feelings for his co-star in the popular STARZ series.

Sam Heughan teases he is falling in love with 'Outlander' Season 3 co-star Caitriona Balfe?

Sam Heughan has revealed that he is very excited to do his scenes with Caitriona Balfe in the upcoming "Outlander" Season 3. Sources claim that the Irish actor has expressed his excitement to start filming again via his official Twitter account.

Well, as expected, fans have presumed that Sam Heughan could be hinting that he has feelings for Caitriona Balfe. The undeniable chemistry of the "Outlander" Season 3 stars have sparked several reports about them dating secretly.

As a matter of fact, an unnamed source has previously divulged to Celeb Dirty Laundry that "Outlander" Season 3 stars Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe were caught flirting to each other during short breaks. "Sam and Caitriona were taking a short break between scenes when I saw them off to the side, holding hands and Sam was even whispering in her ear. She was laughing at whatever he said and well, they looked like an ordinary couple," the insider has stated.

Despite the fact that both Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe have denied the dating rumors already, fans are insistent that the "Outlander" Season 3 stars are in a romantic relationship. Avid followers of the rumored couple remained hopeful that they will end up together soon.

'Outlander' Season 3 stars Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe are not really together

Meanwhile, GamenGuide has previously reported that Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe cannot be together. As a matter of fact, the "Outlander" Season 3 actress is currently enjoying her life as a single lady while her leading man is dating another non-showbiz woman.

Both "Outlander" Season 3 stars Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe are yet to comment on these dating reports. Stay tuned to GamenGuide for the latest news and updates on the alleged Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe relationship.
'Wayward Pines' Season 3 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: CEO Confirms Arrival of New Season! M. Night Shyamalan Teases Plot Details!

"Wayward Pines" Season 2 recently concluded in July and some question if it will still have a continuation. Of course, in spite of its low ratings this year, "Wayward Pines" Season 3 will still be in the works, although it is not yet disclosed when and how.

'Wayward Pines' Season 3 Now In The Works?

"Wayward Pines" Season 2's finale had an impressive count of ratings, even if its overall score was somehow low. Compared to "Wayward Pines" Season 1, it has 3.8 million total mark while Season 2 only got 2.4 million viewers with 0.7 demo rating. Its digital video recording (DVR) data for its season finale, on the other hand, drew 3.5 million watchers.

Hence, FOX Television Group CEO Dana Walden confirmed at the recent Television Critics Association summer press tour that "Wayward Pines" Season 3 will definitely in the works. The businessperson even asserted that the mystery, science fiction drama series remained the "number one scripted show of the summer," as per Christian Times.

However, Dana Walden admitted that the continuation of "Wayward Pines" Season 3 is still hanging, but she also verified that she is now in discussion and sharing ideas with the TV producers to develop a new season. "They have a really compelling idea for season three that I liked very much. We're definitely talking about the show right now," she explained.

M. Night Shyamalan Talks About 'Wayward Pines' Season 3

Meanwhile, the show's producer M. Night Shyamalan is really looking forward to make "Wayward Pines" Season 3. In fact, the 46-year-old director teased that there are a lot of revelations "Wayward Pines" story has to reveal, Movie News Guide reported. But, he even hinted that the TV series quite differs from Blake Crouch's novels, which it is based.

M. Night Shyamalan revealed that he wrote the last few pages of "Wayward Pines" Season 2 and this only indicated that he, too, has to be creative for the show at times. There are no concrete news about "Wayward Pines" Season 3 just yet, but, with all these confirmations, it looks like it will be out sometime next year.
The Bachelorette 2016 News & Update: Alum Luke Pell Spotted In Nashville, Is He The Next The Bachelor 2017?

Fans may not need to wait until ABC announces the next "The Bachelor" according to latest reports. According to a data analytics firm, sentiments of fans may dictate who will be "The Bachelor" on 2017 and "The Bachelorette" 2016 alum Luke Pell is the most likely candidate.

Luke Pell Front-Runner To Be The Next 'The Bachelor'

Forbes explained how "The Bachelor" 2017 will be chosen. Traditionally, the next star of the reality show will come from the previous show of the opposite sex. This means that the next "The Bachelor" star will be taken from the throng of candidates from "The Bachelorette" 2016.

While "The Bachelorette" 2016 star JoJo Fletcher may have chosen the best of the batch, this doesn't mean that viewers won't want to see more of the other candidates, especially the Southern gentleman Luke Pell.

Savannah Burchfiel from the DataScience said in a blog entry that Jordan Rodgers and Chad Johnson had a fair share of Twitter traffic during "The Bachelorette" 2016 final rose ceremony. However, Burchfiel noted that Luke Pell had generated an astonishing rate of Twitter traffic.

"Peaking at over 1,000 tweets per minute a little more than midway through the show, it's clear that Luke stole the stage, with #LukeForBachelor trending," Savannah Burchfiel said. What's even more interesting is the difference of opinion between the public and "The Bachelorette" 2016 star.

Luke Pell Spotted In Nashville

While "The Bachelorette" 2016 chose Jordan Rodgers, the public warmed more to Luke Pell instead. Moreover, Pell was spotted in Nashville looking dashing in his casual outfit of white shirt and tight jeans, US Weekly reported.

Luke Pell was spotted after reports of him being on the front-runner to become "The Bachelor" 2017 surfaced. Even JoJo Fletcher hinted as much. Despite being dumped, Luke Pell and Fletcher remained on good terms after "The Bachelorette" 2016 final rose ceremony. She even confessed during an interview with "Good Morning America" that Pell should be "The Bachelor" 2017.

Do you think that Luke Pell deserves to be the next "The Bachelor?" Sound off in the comment box below. Stay tuned for more updates about "The Bachelor" 2017 and "The Bachelorette" 2016.
Fear the Walking Dead Season 2 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Dave Erickson Teases Crazy Nicks New Addiction After Heroin

"Fear the Walking Dead" Season 2 has made viewers go crazy over Nick Clark's (Frank Dillane) addiction. The disillusioned addict went away from his family in order to find like-minded survivors who don't consider the infected as monsters.

Thankfully, showrunner Dave Erickson dished out some interesting details on Nick's addiction along with certain other points that will gain prominence when the last leg of "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 2 returns Sunday, Aug. 21. Nick, one of the survivors of the zombie apocalypse and brother of Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), was a heroin addict. However, his object of addiction soon turned towards, to utter disbelief of fans, the dead. He became fixated on the walkers and started looking at them not as monsters.

After Nick's family burned down Celia's (Marlene Forte) estate in "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 2, episode 7, he went away from his family as Celia was equally fascinated about the walkers. Erickson said he is unsure whether this fascination of Nick is simple craziness or another form of addiction. However, one thing's for sure, Nick has found a replacement for heroin.

Erickson believes Nick gets a physiological reaction when he is walking among the dead. It's not that he has lost his mind but has simply found a new fix. The showrunner also revealed that Nick may find a place in "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 2, Episode 8, that will enable him to a certain degree.

Nick's closeness with death could be because of the death of his father and from an emotional standpoint, this closeness is a way for Nick to reconnect with his father. However, from the addiction perspective, Nick gets an adrenaline rush being with the walkers. What could happen in "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 2?

It's neither crazy, nor illogical. It's more of junkie logic, "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 2 showrunner Erickson tells TVLine. Thus, the belief system Nick finds himself in when he gets to the Tijuana colonia may be extreme but he would probably find peace there than anywhere else.

Erickson did not reveal much about the "extreme belief system" and fans would have to wait till "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 2, episode 9 that premieres on Aug. 28, as per IMDb.
David Schwimmer Talks Up His Love For Chicago Theater

By Gwendolyn Purdom in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 17, 2016 9:54PM



Actor David Schwimmer attends the AMC's Feed The Beast Premiere on May 23, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for AMC)

Though he's still best known as divorce-prone paleontologist Ross Geller on Friends, David Schwimmer has played plenty of parts. And on a podcast interview with the Hollywood Reporter this week, the New York native who was raised in L.A. hopped back into his other signature role: Chicago fanboy.

Fresh off his second Emmy nomination (this time for playing Kardashian dad Robert in FX's The People v. O.J. Simpson, the first one was, duh, for Friends), Schwimmer told Scott Feinberg of the "Awards Chatter" podcast that Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre, which Schwimmer helped found, remains his "most stable artistic home."

Schwimmer graduated from Northwestern University in 1988 and initially moved out to L.A. to make some money he could funnel back into Lookingglass, he said on the podcast. Things didn't exactly work out that way. He commuted back and forth between the cities and waited tables for a while before nabbing his most famous role on "Friends" in 1994.

In the years since, Schwimmer has had the chance to give back to his theater and his adopted city in other ways. He's frequently appeared on stage at the Lookingglass, he directed the theater's company in the 1998 TV movie "Since You've Been Gone," and pulled a baller move last year when it was reported he contributed "a particularly timely large gift" to the Chicago History Museum and WFMT Radio's efforts to fund the Studs Terkel Radio Archive.

And if that's not evidence enough of the actor's Windy City devotion, how about this: He's the actual voice of The Bean. No, seriously.

We love you too, Ross, er, David.
The free event will take place on Saturday, Oct. 29, and feature more than 30 different types of aircraft.
Police Warn Of Carjackers Mugging Drivers At Gunpoint Near The Lakefront

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Aug 17, 2016 9:36PM



Photo by ChicagoistFlickr user Seth Oliver

Robbers have been holding up drivers at gunpoint near the southern lakefront, police warned in an alert issued Wednesday afternoon.

In a spate of robberies in the 1st police District, which includes the Loop and the Near South Side, a group of men pulled up next to parked cars, blocked the cars from moving away, and then approached the passenger's side with handguns. They would then force the passengers out of their cars, steal the cars, and then flee the scene while companions of the robbers drove off in their own car.

Two of the handguns had red laser lights, victims told the police. And in a separate armed robbery, a man approached a parked car on foot, held up the passengers with a handgun with a red laser light, and "demanded everything."

Each of these incidents took place after midnight on the Near South Side: One in the 3000 block of South Fort Dearborn, just south of McCormick Place on the lakefront, on Aug. 2 at 1:57 a.m.; one in the 3000 block of South Dearborn on Aug. 9 at 12:30 a.m.; and a third in the 3000 block of South Dr. King Drive on Aug. 10 at 3:45 a.m. The robbers were described to police as black men between 15 and 30 years old, wearing hooded sweatshirts and, in one instance, masks.
Temperatures could soar into the triple digits throughout the mid-valley beginning Thursday and could break temperature records leading into the weekend.

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning from 2 p.m. Thursday through 9 p.m. Saturday for all of northwest Oregon and some of southwest Washington. In the mid-valley, temperatures are expected to reach around 100 degrees on Thursday, Friday and Saturday  with 102 degrees forecast for Friday and 100 degrees forecast on Saturday.

Friday looks like if things play out the way were thinking it would be a record heat day, said Andy Bryant, National Weather Service hydrologist. We keep fiddling with the numbers but the big story is the high temps. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are going to be around 100 degrees in the central Willamette valley.

Bryant added that the temperatures should drop down to end the weekend with a high of 90 degrees Sunday and mid- to low-80s forecast for Monday.

One more possible source of relief, Bryant noted, is that lows for the next few days are forecast to sit at around 55 degrees.

The lows are reasonably pleasant. The warmest night will be Friday night to Saturday morning and that will be around 58 degrees, he said. People will be able to air out their houses if they dont have air conditioning.

Bryant recommended those without air conditioning open up their windows after dark each night and close them before 9 each morning.

While there are no National Weather Service records kept in Corvallis or Albany, Bryant said that the record highs for Friday in both Salem and Eugene were set in 2009 with 99 and 101 respectively. For Saturday, the records for Salem and Eugene go back to 1951 with 98 degrees in Salem and 99 in Eugene.

Were predicting that Salem and Eugene would break their record highs, Bryant said, adding that mid-valley record highs are likely comparable to both of those cities.

The Oregon State University weather station at Hyslop Farm between Albany and Corvallis along Highway 20 is not an official National Weather Service station. But the record high temperature at Hyslop for Aug. 19 is 99 degrees, set in 1951. The record high temperature at Hyslop for Aug. 20 also is 99 degrees, a mark set in 2015.

Overall, though, Bryant said that the summer of 2016 hasn't been quite as warm as previous years.

It hasnt been the consistently hot summer this year like weve had the previous two summers, Bryant said.

Last summer and the summer before were both really warm summers overall, he said. We had a period of hot weather in May and a little in June this year. Then for the second half of June and most of July things were pretty moderate.
Another Chicago Cyclist Was Killed In A Collision Last Night

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Aug 18, 2016 2:08PM

Police released this surveillance picture from the scene of the collision; this van may have hit the cyclist.

A cyclist was fatally struck by a white van in a West Garfield Park hit-and-run Wednesday night, police say.

The cyclist, identified by the Medical Examiner's Office as 58-year-old Francisco Cruz, was riding south on Pulaski Avenue in the 4000 block of West Maypole Avenue when a white van turning onto Maypole hit him at around 10:20 p.m., a police spokesperson told Chicagoist. The cyclist, who lived in Lawndale, was taken to Stroger Hospital and pronounced dead.

The car that hit him fled the scene of the collision westbound, and police are searching for it. It may have the logo of a company somewhere on it and its front may have been damaged in the collision, according to a police alert.

This is the second time this week that a cyclist has died on Chicago's roads. 20-year-old Lisa Kuivinen was fatally struck by a semi-truck while riding in the bike lane on Milwaukee Avenue Tuesday morning.

Earlier this year a cyclist was killed by a tour bus on the Magnificent Mile, and a Divvy rider was fatally struck by a semi truck on the Northwest Side.
UN convention : Bonn praised as a small city with a big influence

Bonn 150 scientists from 60 nations meet to exchange expertise on biodiversity.

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It was the start of a worldwide network of scientists, who are gathering information on the effects of global warming and human activity on the ecosystem. A hundred and fifty scientists from more than sixty countries are currently exchanging their analyses at a convention at the UN campus.

The conference is all about bringing together available knowledge in this area. The results of a three year long study are to form the basis for national and international decision-making by governments, the private sector and civil society in the next ten years and beyond. The results are intrinsic to ensuring future supplies of clean drinking water and food resources, said the chairman of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform On Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Sir Robert Watson, at a reception hosted by Mayor Reinard Limbach at the Old Town Hall.

The central question is always how to make governments and people more aware of the risks of global warming and the enormous significance of biological diversity, said Anne Larigauderie, executive secretary of IPBES, which has been based in Bonn since 2014.

Ultimately we also want to see which measures have and have not been implemented over the last decade. We also want to analyse the reasons why things havent worked, said Josef Settele of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). The agricultural ecologist thinks a global assessment is important, because you cant gather a hundred per cent of information. Recognised experts will look at which perspectives and results are available and where the differences lie  depending on chosen research strategies.

During the evening, there was also praise for the UN location. Bonn, the small city with a big influence, welcomed us with open arms two years ago, said Larigauderie. There is a fantastic working environment, enthused Watson, We will keep coming back.
Article

Protecting the worlds oceans  an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy

The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs.
Nokia Might Relaunch Smartphones in Q4 2016, confirms Nokia Executive News oi -Chakri Kudikala

Back in May, Nokia was taken over by the Finnish company, HMD Global to manufacture new Nokia branded smartphones. Now, the president of the joint management team in China, Mike Wang revealed that at least three Nokia smartphones will be launched in Q4 2016.

Huawei P9 First Impressions

According to us, the company might launch two smartphones along with a Nokia tablet. However, Mike Wang wasn't sure on how many devices will Nokia launch whether it be three devices or perhaps four devices. That said, we might see a Nokia branded tablet for sure this year.

If the launch event will be held at the end of 2016, then the actual release date will be sometime in early 2017, which is not too far away. HMD Global is said to be designing the Nokia smartphones which are manufactured by Foxconn, which also manufactures Apple's iPhones.

This is What White Lines on Your Smartphone Indicate

Having said this, there are no words regarding the specifications of any smartphone from the Nokia executive, however, a leak in July suggested some specs of the smartphone.

The leak suggested that the 2016 Nokia smartphones will be powered by Snapdragon 820 processor along with Android Nougat. Two Nokia smartphones were leaked with 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch QHD displays. There might be 22.6MP rear camera and the smartphones will be dust and water resistant.

How to Wisely Choose In-Ear Earphones

Are you excited about the Android powered Nokia smartphones? Let us know in comments.

Best Mobiles in India
The Chicago Teachers Union Is Holding A Strike Training Day This Weekend

By Gwendolyn Purdom in News on Aug 18, 2016 5:28PM



Scott Olson/Getty Images

With students slated to head back to their classrooms in just a few weeks, the Chicago Teachers Union fanned some long-smoldering flames of tension this week when they invited members to participate in a Saturday strike training workshop. An email that went out to teachers this week said the union is "likely to strike this fall," Chicago Tonight reports, and Saturday's event aims to arm potential strikers with "tactics to stick it to the boss" and other skills.

According to LaborNotes.org, the website of the Detroit-based group that's organizing the weekend gathering, several different unions and worker centers will participate.

From the Labor Notes event page:





"Our bully mayor, billionaire governor, and greedy corporations in Illinois are pushing a coordinated agenda. They want to slash wages, abolish pensions, outsource jobs, and gut public services. We'll need unity to fight back and win."

Informational sessions Saturday will include "Planning and Winning Strikes," "How to Get Your Message Out," "Turning an Issue Into a Campaign," "Beating Apathy," and the aforementioned "Stick it to The Boss."

The Teachers Union and CPS butted heads just last week when the school system released its proposed budget. CPS CEO Forrest Claypool said unless teachers accept the contract they rejected earlier this year, their schools will face cuts, while CTU President Karen Lewis told reporters if CPS pushes for a proposed 7 percent salary cut, her members will strike.

The beef is the latest disagreement in a long history of contentiousness between the groups. As recently as April, CTU staged a one-day walkout to push for new contracts and an expanded budget.

Saturday's training event will be held at the UIC student center.


Police Will Be Patrolling Wrigleyville For DUIs This Weekend

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Aug 18, 2016 4:18PM



Wrigleyville (photo via Facebook)

The Chicago Police Department's strike force for catching drunk drivers is returning to Wrigleyville this weekend to patrol the area for potential DUIs and other driving violations.

The DUI Strike Force Patrol will be roving through the 19th Town Hall police district, which encompasses Wrigleyville, Boystown and other parts of Lakeview, between 7:00 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19 and 3 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20. In addition to impaired drivers, the patrollers will also be looking for speed and safety belt violators to ticket. A mobile unit that conducts Breath Alcohol Testing will also be on-hand.

Lakeview is known as a nightlife hub for Chicago, and has sometimes been called the city's douche vortex. Last weekend, the department's DUI Strike Force charged three drivers with DUIs while patrolling the 10th District on the Southwest Side, according to a release from the department. CPD will also be conducting a DUI strike force overnight Saturday to Sunday in the 15th Police District on the West Side.
Colombian airmen join counterparts in Louisiana for Green Flag East

By Capt. Bryan Bouchard, 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) / Published August 17, 2016

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. (AFNS) -- Forty-five Colombian airmen and four Colombian Air Force A-29B Super Tucanos are operating from Barksdale Air Force Base as part of exercise Green Flag East.

The Colombian contingent arrived Aug. 13 and immediately started engaging with their U.S. Air Force counterparts in order to prepare for the two-week exercise, which ends Aug. 29.

"Participating in exercises like this are important to improve the interoperability with other air forces," said Colombian Air Force Brig. Gen. Rodrigo Alejandro Valencia Guevara, the commander of the Colombian contingent. "It's important to know different people and different cultures."

Green Flag East is one of Air Combat Command's premier close air support exercises, which rehearses close air support tactics while enhancing interoperability with Air Force and Army forces.

"I take great pride and satisfaction in training aircrews as well as ground crews for deployments," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Greg Theriot, the Green Flag East air operations officer. "Everyone who comes through here at some point will employ their weapon system. When you see them do that in a safe and legal way, that saves lives; it's very rewarding."

In addition to the mission aspect, multi-national engagements such as this exercise allow airmen of partner nations to build upon yearslong relationships.

"In this global age that we're in, we're practically neighbors," Theriot said. "Our countries share similar values, and it's important to keep this partnership strong."

Two weeks before Green Flag East kicked off, a Colombian general served as the combined forces air component commander for U.S. Southern Command's Panamax, a command and control exercise focusing on a nearly 20-nation coalition. This Green Flag East iteration is another example of the special relationship between the two countries.

"On behalf of my Air Force team here, and the Colombian Air Force commander, we appreciate being able to participate in this special exercise," Guevara said.

In addition to the Colombian aircraft, U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from Moody Air Force Base, Georgia; F-16 Fighting Falcons from the Texas Air National Guard; KC-135 Stratotankers from McConnell AFB, Kansas; and E-3 Sentry and E-8 Joint STARS aircraft from Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, and Robins AFB, Georgia, respectively, will participate in the exercise.

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Bonhomme Richard Visits White Beach, Embarks Marines

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160817-10

Release Date: 8/17/2016 2:50:00 PM

From USS Bonhomme Richard Public Affairs

OKINAWA, Japan (NNS) -- Amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) made a port visit to White Beach, Okinawa, Aug. 17

During the visit, Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) will join the Bonhomme Richard (BHR) crew for a scheduled deployment.

BHR is conducting a fall deployment in the 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance partnerships, maintain forward presence, and increase Navy-Marine Corps integration for amphibious operations.

Sailors and Marines from the 31st MEU attached to BHR, flagship of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (BHR ESG), will focus on amphibious assault and humanitarian assistance capabilities, disaster relief operations and non-combatant evacuation missions.

"The Marines are a vital element of our 'blue-green' team aboard BHR and a key part of our mission," said Capt. Jeffrey Ward, BHR commanding officer. "It's going to be great to have them back, and we look forward to accomplishing valuable training with our Sailors, Marines and allies in the Pacific."

The BHR ESG and 31st MEU will conduct a series of theater security cooperation engagements designed to strengthen ties and increase interoperability with allies and partners in the region. Sailors and Marines are scheduled to conduct exchanges with allies and partners across a range of mission sets.

The BHR ESG consists of Bonhomme Richard, amphibious transport dock USS Green Bay (LPD 20), and amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42).

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Yemen rally backs political council formation, parliament reopening

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:27PM

People in Yemen have held a huge demonstration to express their approval of the formation of the Higher Political Council and the reopening of the parliament in the crisis-hit country.

People flocked into the streets of the southwestern province of Ta'izz on Wednesday to voice their support for the recent developments in Yemen's political scene.

The protesters were carrying placards condemning the Saudi war on Yemen and highlighting the need for unity in the fight against aggressors and mercenaries.

They further called on all human rights bodies to meet their commitment to end the suffering of the people in the impoverished state, stressing that the Yemeni citizens have made great sacrifices in combating invaders.

On August 13, Yemen's parliament held its first session in the country's capital, Sana'a, since the outbreak of conflict there 17 months ago.

The parliamentarians unanimously voted in favor of the newly set up Higher Political Council to rule the Arab country, stripping resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, of his power and legitimacy.

Several Yemeni civilians killed in Saudi strikes

Additionally on Wednesday, two Yemeni women were killed in the Saudi aerial assaults on the Majz district of the northwestern Sa'ada province.

Three other women also lost their lives in similar air raids in the Silw district of Ta'izz, while another civilian died in the Huth district of Amran province.

Meanwhile, reports said three Saudi soldiers were killed in retaliatory attacks by Yemeni army forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, on a military base in the kingdom's southwestern region of Jizan.

Yemen has seen almost daily military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March 2015, with internal sources putting the toll from the bloody aggression at about 10,000. The offensive was launched to crush the Houthis and allies and restore power to Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

The Houthi Ansarullah fighters took state matters into their own hands after the resignation and escape of Hadi, which threw Yemen into a state of uncertainty and threatened a total security breakdown in the country, where an al-Qaeda affiliate is present.

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UN faces funding shortfall for Sudan's humanitarian needs

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:13PM

The United Nations says it faces a funding shortfall of more than USD 700 million for Sudan's 2016 humanitarian needs.

In July, the UN made a USD 952-million (about 845-million-euro) humanitarian aid appeal for Sudan. The UN aid agencies have raised only USD 242.6 million as of the beginning of August.

"We still are very, very low in terms of the total funding requirement," Marta Ruedas, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, said at a news conference in Sudan's capital Khartoum on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day on Wednesday.

"There is no doubt that this year we are in a worse situation with regard to the level of funding."

The UN's 2016 humanitarian response plan for Sudan aims to assist about 4.6 million people, including tens of thousands of South Sudanese who sought refuge in Sudan fleeing the conflict and food shortages in their country.

Ruedas also stated, "If we are not able to count on the support of any and all donors to make up that funding, we will have to review our forecast in terms of who we are able to assist."

The bulk of the humanitarian aid in 2016 is aimed at helping people in the country's war-torn Darfur region.

Nearly 2.5 million people in Darfur have already been displaced from the region, according to the latest UN figures, which also show that over 300,000 people have died there since 2003.

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UN launches probe into accusations against UNMISS in S Sudan

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 10:37AM

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has launched an investigation into allegations that the world body's peacekeepers in South Sudan failed to properly protect the people attacked at a hotel compound in Juba in July.

Ban was "concerned about allegations that UNMISS (the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan) did not respond appropriately to prevent this and other grave cases of sexual violence committed in Juba," the UN chief's spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to an Associated Press report published Monday, South Sudanese forces gang-raped, beat and robbed aid workers at Hotel Terrain in the capital, Juba, on July 11.

The incident occurred three days after fierce fighting erupted between near the state house in Juba, where President Salva Kiir and then Vice President Riek Machar were meeting for talks. The violence lasted for several days and killed over 300 people.

According to the UN statement, Ban was "alarmed" by the initial findings of a UN fact-finding probe into the attack and ordered an independent special investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and assess the overall response by the UNMISS at the time.

The UNMISS has been criticized during the past few weeks both for its inability to fully protect civilians when UN sites came under attack in the capital Juba last month, and for allegedly failing to intervene in the Hotel Terrain incident.

On last Friday, the UN Security Council approved to deploy a 4,000-strong protection force to the conflict-ridden country, despite Juba's strong opposition, authorizing them to exert "all necessary means" to protect the UN personnel and installations there.

The UN resolution also calls for an arms embargo on South Sudan if the government blocks the regional force. There will be a total of 17,500 soldiers in South Sudan after the new deployment from a number of African countries.

South Sudan initially plunged into violence in 2013, when fighting erupted around Juba between troops loyal to Kiir and defectors led by Machar, his former deputy.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war between the army and the defectors, with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension that pitted the president's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than three million forced to flee their homes in the war that started in December that year, when Kiir sacked Machar only two years after the country seceded from Sudan.

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Gunmen attack Indian army convoy in Kashmir, kill 3

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 10:4AM

Unknown gunmen have killed two soldiers and a police officer in Indian-administered Kashmir amid heightened tensions in the disputed Himalayan region.

The assailants ambushed two army trucks and a police car overnight in Baramulla district, 60 kilometres (37 miles) west of the region's main city of Srinagar, police said Wednesday.

Three more people were injured in the ambush. A search is underway to find the attackers.

Indian army convoys have been patrolling Kashmir at night more frequently in recent weeks amid a wave of unrest in the region.

Fresh series of clashes erupted in Kashmir on July 8, when people protested against the killing of Burhan Wani, a popular pro-independence fighter at the hands of Indian forces.

There are an estimated 500,000 Indian troops currently deployed in the restive territory. The country has imposed a curfew across large parts of the territory since July.

Since India and Pakistan won independence from British rule in 1947, the arch-rivals have been claiming Kashmir in full but have had only partial control over it.

Thousands of people have been killed in the unrest in Kashmir since early 1990s.

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You are here: Home

The world's longest and highest glass bridge will open to visitors Saturday in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, central China, the management committee said.

The 430-meter long, 6-meter wide bridge, paved with 99 panes of three-layer transparent glasses, hangs between two steep cliffs 300 meters above the ground.

The bridge has set 10 world records spanning its design and construction, according to the committee.

A maximum of 8,000 visitors are allowed to cross the bridge every day and a reservation must be made one day prior to visiting.

Construction was completed in December. In July, a 2-tonne truck was driven across in a show of the bridge's sturdiness.

The unique pillar-like mountain formation in Zhangjiajie appeared in the Hollywood blockbuster movie "Avatar." The Grand Canyon Scenic Area in Zhangjiajie welcomed more than 1.2 million visitors from home and abroad in 2015.
China, ASEAN eye South China Sea code of conduct in 2017

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 9:56AM

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plan to resolve disputes on the South China Sea by the middle of next year through using a regional framework of regulations.

Senior officials from China and the 10-member grouping held a meeting in Manzhouli, a land port city in northern China, on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), Chinese media reported.

The DOC was signed in November 2002 as a code of conduct for all parties involved in the South China Sea issue.

Both sides agreed to get the framework for the code of conduct done by mid-2017, and also approved guidelines for a China-ASEAN hotline for use during maritime emergencies, according to China Daily.

They also agreed that a pact on unplanned maritime encounters, signed in 2014 by countries in the region, be applied to the South China Sea.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said after the meeting that documents on the hotline and unplanned encounters would be presented to leaders at a China-ASEAN meeting in Laos next month for final approval.

"There is another achievement - we reached broad consensus on pushing forward the negotiations on a code of conduct for the South China Sea," Liu said.

"All sides agreed to raise the frequency of the negotiations in a situation without interference, and seek to finish a draft framework of the code of conduct by the middle of next year," he added.

This is the third meeting on the code this year.

"It shows that as the situation in the South China Sea is getting more and more complicated, especially with the interference of external forces, ASEAN countries and China have realized that we have to grasp the key to the South China Sea issue in our own hand."

Since 2010, China and the member states of the ASEAN have been discussing a set of rules aimed at avoiding conflict among rival claimants in the busy waterway.

Tensions have increased in the region after a Hague-based court of arbitration on July 12 ruled that China's claims to sovereignty over the disputed areas in the South China Sea or its resources "had no legal basis."

Beijing has rejected the ruling in the case, which was brought by the Philippines.

China claims nearly all of the strategically vital South China Sea which is also claimed in part by Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The dispute has at times drawn in trans-regional countries, particularly the US.

China accuses the US of interfering in the regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions in the South China Sea.

Washington, in turn, accuses Beijing of carrying out what it calls a land reclamation program in the South China Sea by building artificial islands in the disputed areas.

China has also been involved in a similar dispute with Japan in the East China Sea.

Japan protests Chinese ships in disputed sea

In another development on Wednesday, Japan lodged a fresh protest with Beijing after some 230 Chinese fishing vessels and six coastguard ships sailed close to the disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Beijing is locked in a territorial row with Tokyo on an uninhabited yet strategically-important island group in the East China Sea. Ties between the two sides deteriorated after Tokyo nationalized part of the resource-rich islands in 2012.

Japan has lodged at least 32 protests through diplomatic channels since August 5 over what it says have been 29 intrusions.

"Despite Japan's repeated strong protests, the Chinese side has continued to take unilateral actions that raise tensions on the ground, and that is absolutely unacceptable," Kenji Kanasugi, Foreign Ministry chief of Asia-Pacific affairs, told Guo Yan, minister at the Chinese embassy in Japan in a phone call.

Kanasugi described the intrusions a "violation of Japan's sovereignty", which he said are "unacceptable."

The vessels left after the area after being warned off by the Japan Coast Guard, officials said.

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War costs Yemen $14bn in damage and economic losses: Report

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 8:34AM

A confidential report says Yemen's war has cost it over $14 billion in damage to infrastructure and economic losses as Saudi Arabia pushes ahead with its deadly military campaign against its neighbor.

"The conflict has so far resulted in damage costs (still partial and incomplete) of almost $7 billion and economic losses (in nominal terms) of over $7.3 billion in relation to production and service delivery," Reuters quoted the May 6 joint report by the World Bank, the United Nations, the Islamic Development Bank and the European Union.

The Preliminary Damage and Needs Assessment report is an internal working document that is not being publicly released. The assessment was conducted between late 2015 and early this year.

The report said that since the conflict is still ongoing the "preliminary findings are not only partial, but also evolving."

The report calls for immediate attention to restoring import financing, including food and fuel.

It also says the public health system in Yemen's third-largest city of Ta'izz, which has been under heavy Saudi bombardment in the past months, has nearly collapsed, with half of the public hospitals damaged or inaccessible.

"There has been a surge in civilian morbidity and mortality as an indirect consequence of the conflict," the report said.

Saudi Arabia started the military campaign against its southern neighbor in March 2015. The war was launched in a bid to undermine the Ansarullah movement and to reinstate Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who has stepped down as Yemen's president but is now seeking to grab power by force.

Nearly 10,000 Yemenis, mostly civilians, have been killed in the military aggression.

Fresh Saudi attacks

Meanwhile, Saudi warplanes conducted fresh airstrikes on Huth district in the Yemeni northwestern Amran Province on Wednesday, killing one civilian and injuring several others.

Saudi fighter jets also launched several air raids on areas in al-Jawf and Hajjah provinces as well as several military bases in Sada'a Province. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Yemeni forces, backed by popular committees loyal to the Ansarullah movement, retaliated with rocket attacks against a gathering of Saudi mercenaries in Jawf.

Riyadh's military does not even spare hospitals and schools in its attacks.

On Tuesday, the United Nations expressed concern about Saudi aerial assaults against Yemen after the regime bombed a hospital in the impoverished country's northwestern province of Hajjah.

According to UN, the conflict in Yemen has damaged or demolished more than 70 health centers, including three facilities supported by the medical charity, Doctors Without Borders.

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Biden Restates U.S. Commitment To Kosovo, Urges Reconciliation With Serbia

August 17, 2016

by RFE/RL

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has pledged that the United States will "stand by the people of Kosovo" and urged the country to continue normalizing ties with neighboring Serbia and improve the rule of law.

Biden was speaking in the Kosovar capital, Pristina, on August 17 following meetings with President Hashim Thaci and Prime Minister Isa Mustafa.

Biden held similar talks in Serbia on August 16.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo -- a former Serbian entity that declared independence in 2008 -- as an independent state.

Normalized bilateral relations are considered a precondition for Serbia and Kosovo to gain EU membership, which both countries seek.

But an EU-brokered deal between Belgrade and Pristina to improve and regulate relations between the two states has only been moderately successful.

In Pristina, Biden urged the two neighbors to make every effort to implement the normalization agreement.

"Both sides have responsibility to follow through on the commitments made in Brussels and to look for new areas to keep the dialogue moving forward once that's done -- it can't be the end, it should be the beginning," he said. "This is critical for advancing Kosovo and Serbia's full integration into Europe."

Tackling Graft

The U.S. vice president expressed hopes of welcoming "a democratic, multiethnic Kosovo" into the European family, urging the country's leaders to continue to improve.

"The rule of law has to apply equally to everyone," he said. "The justice system has to be equitable and it has to be transparent."

"The only way for Kosovo to move forward is to assure a united future and to advance reconciliation, to ensure that the rights of every citizen [are] protected," he added.

Biden highlighted the importance of fighting against graft and organized crime, describing corruption as a cancer that eats away at the fabric of every society in which it exists.

He said it was "absolutely critical that a government continue to fight impunity" by closing loopholes in the Criminal Code, professionalizing public appointments, and taking a zero-tolerance approach to corruption. The latter, he said, includes preventing indicted and convicted officials from continuing in their positions, and increasing the democratic accountability of the government.

Speaking before Biden, Thaci thanked the U.S. vice president -- a strong supporter of Kosovo during its struggle for independence -- for being "the voice" of Kosovo.

Thaci said Kosovo had strengthened peace and regional cooperation and made steps toward normalizing ties with Serbia.

He insisted that good-neighborly relations with Serbia were a "strategic goal" for his country, which he pledged would not remain "a prisoner of the past."

'Beau Biden Street'

Later on August 17, Biden attended a ceremony in the southeast of the Balkan country to unveil a street named after the vice president's son, Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015.

Beau Biden, a former Delaware attorney general, served in 2001 as an interim legal adviser on postwar Kosovo, helping train local prosecutors and judges for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He also served one year in Iraq, from 2008 to 2009, with the U.S. National Guard.

Biden flew to Kosovo late on August 16 from Serbia, where he held talks with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

In Belgrade, Biden encouraged Serbia to normalize its relations with Kosovo and offered condolences to the victims of the Kosovo conflict and NATO air attacks that helped end it in 1999.

"I'd like to add my condolences to the families of those whose lives were lost during the wars of the '90s, including as a result of the NATO air campaign in terms of responsibility," said Biden -- the first high-ranking U.S. official to express such sentiments in Serbia.

For his part, Vucic pointed to a new future in Kosovar-Serbian relations.

"We think a different future is ahead of us, in which we will be able to seek agreement rather than aiming at each other with guns," he said.

Many in Serbia still resent the NATO air strikes and U.S. support for Kosovo's drive for independence. Belgrade also has close relations with Moscow and many politicians are very pro-Russia.

Biden is participating in one of his last major foreign tours as vice president.

On August 22-25, he will travel to Turkey, where he will meet with the three Baltic presidents, and Sweden for a meeting on energy security.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/kosovo-biden- visit-serbia-europe/27928222.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Tajik Government Stakes Out Expanded Power Over Media

August 17, 2016

by Farangis Najibullah and Khiromon Baqozoda

Tajikistan's government has quietly asserted the right of authorities to control the content of both state-run and privately owned broadcasters in a move that appears aimed at tightening officials' already firm grip on news and mass media.

A five-year decree made public this week on "guidelines for the preparation of television and radio programs" stipulates that the government -- through a state broadcast committee -- has the right to "regulate and control the content of all television and radio networks regardless of their type of ownership."

The decree, which urges Tajik journalists to promote national interests, describes its aim as providing the post-Soviet Central Asian nation of more than 8 million with "impartial information."

But it has prompted criticism that it provides the authoritarian government in Dushanbe with more power to censor independent media.

"It's a negative development in terms of freedom of speech, in terms of political development of the country," says Edward Lemon, a researcher at the University of Exeter in Britain.

Lemon, who specializes in Tajik affairs, says the new regulation gives the government a "greater right to monopolize information and make sure everything fits with it representation of political, economic, and social reality."

National culture, education, and healthy lifestyles are among topics that should be covered regularly, under the decree.

But such obligatory content also includes the "propagation...of government policies in the socioeconomic and culture spheres, as well as in the fields of art, education, science, and sports."

The decree cites the need for the "regular monitoring and review" of TV and radio programs by a special commission -- the so-called Arts Council -- within the TV and radio committee.

Some Tajik journalists have likened the Arts Council to the Soviet-era Glavlit, the infamous General Directorate for the Protection of State Secrets in the Press that controlled content among media outlets.

Saymuddin Dustov, a founder of an online publication and a news website, condemned the decree as "more censorship" by the state.

Dustov called on authorities to cancel the regulation, saying it contradicts laws on media freedoms.

Zafar Abdulloev, a Dushanbe-based independent media analyst, speculated that the decree "won't change much" because censorship and self-censorship are already widespread among Tajik media.

The Tajik government has been widely criticized for restricting media freedoms and stifling independent media outlets.

Tajikistan has consistently been rated Not Free by Freedom House, including in that U.S.-based watchdog's 2016 annual report.

The Freedom House report noted that Tajikistan's "authorities continued to arbitrarily limit free speech, access to information, and the right to civic organization in 2015."

Tajikistan was recently ranked 150th out of 180 states in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) annual index, slipping 34 places from the previous year.

RSF said that Tajikistan has eliminated political opposition and is stepping pressure on the remaining independent media "on the pretext of combating terrorism."

"Surveillance of communications is now routine, while the blocking of the main news websites and social networks is virtually permanent," RSF said in April 2016, referring to frequent blocking of Facebook, YouTube, and independent news websites.

Researcher Lemon called the latest regulation "another symbolic move to say that no one can oppose the government and media can't criticize the government."

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ tajikistan-expanded-powers-over-media- television-freedom/27929007.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Largest Province in Afghanistan May Fall to Taliban 'Any Time'

Sputnik News

10:49 17.08.2016

As Lashkar Gah, the besieged capital of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, is suffering a major humanitarian catastrophe, officials warn that it may not be long before the whole province falls to the Taliban, Nasima Naiazi, a member of the provincial legislature, told Sputnik.

"There is heavy fighting going on in Helmand where the Taliban militants have resumed their offensive in Hermsar and Lashkar Gah. The situation is changing every hour, but the Taliban controls the southern districts of the province," Nasima Naiazi said.

She added that with the local airport in Lashkar Gah was now closed, dozens of flights had been cancelled and the roads all blocked by the militants; there was virtually no access to Kabul from Helmand.

"Even though the Afghan Air Force keeps pounding the enemy positions, the effect of these airstrikes is minimal and Lashkar Gah can fall to the Taliban any time," Nasima Naiazi warned.

She also said that Helmand's proximity to Pakistan allowed the Taliban fighters to easily cross into the neighboring country's border regions and then move back.

"I have no proof of Pakistani nationals fighting alongside the Taliban militants but many say they are. The government forces can't afford letting Helmand fall because this could set off a chain reaction and Uruzgan and Herat provinces could follow suit. Liberation of Helmand is absolutely imperative if we want to preserve the territorial integrity of our country," she emphasized.

An estimated 30,000 people have already fled the southeastern and southern parts of the province and moved to Lashkar Gah.

"Many of them need medical help, but their predicament has been largely ignored by the government. Helmand province was not an economic powerhouse before this war broke out, but now the situation here is worse than ever," Nasima Naiazi said in conclusion.

The militants have seized areas just a few kilometers away from Lashkar Gah and control all roads leading to the city.

If Lashkar Gah falls to the Taliban, it would be the second provincial capital captured since being ousted by the US-led invasion in 2001.

Afghanistan is in a state of political and social turmoil, fighting a continuing Taliban insurgency, with other extremist groups such as Daesh, expanding their activities in the country as well.

 Sputnik

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Security Council strongly condemns killings in eastern DR Congo, calls for government probe

17 August 2016  The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the 13 August killing of at least 50 civilians in a village in the restive North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), by suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

In a press statement issued late yesterday evening, the Council also expressed "deep concern regarding the persistence of violence in this region, where more than 700 civilians have been killed since October 2014," and stressed that the DRC Government "conduct a thorough and prompt investigation into these attacks in order to ensure that those responsible are held to account."

The statement about the attack in the area of Rwangoma village by suspected elements of the Ugandan-based ADF, follows similar expressions of concern by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his top officials in the region, Said Djinnit, the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes, and Maman Sambo Sidikou, the head of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

For their part, Council members called on the DRC Government the to take further military action, under international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law  and with the support of MONUSCO in accordance with its mandate  to end the threat posed by the ADF and all other armed groups operating in the region.

They recalled that "drivers behind different armed groups' activities are varied and that there is no purely military solution to the problem of armed groups," and emphasized the need for "comprehensive military and civil responses to these armed groups."

The Security Council members reiterated their support to MONUSCO and called on all parties to cooperate fully with the Mission and to "remain committed to the full and objective implementation of the Mission's mandate."

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Rights Group: Use of Afghan Schools For Military Missions Threatens Children's Lives

By Ayaz Gul August 17, 2016

A new report finds state security forces in Afghanistan are increasingly using schools in Taliban-held areas for combat missions, threatening children's lives and education.

Human Rights Watch in its report released Wednesday has demanded the government take immediate steps to stop putting schools at the center of the fighting and protect gains the Afghan education sector has made with the help of massive international investment in the post-Taliban era.

Focus on northern Baghlan province

The report principally focused on activities Afghan security forces have conducted in the northern Baghlan province, which has seen intense fighting over the past year in and around its capital city of Pul-e-Khumri, said Patricia Gossman, senior Afghanistan researcher at the New York-based organization.

She said the number of instances in which Afghan military personnel occupied schools for combat activities was "quite shocking."

"Afghan children's education is at risk not just from the Taliban, but also from government forces that occupy their schools. Children are being put in harm's way by the very Afghan forces mandated to protect them," she noted, adding Taliban insurgents have also used schools in Baghlan for anti-government attacks.

Destruction of Swedish-financed school

The report says "Taliban forces occupied a Swedish government-financed school in Omar Khail village soon after it opened its doors in 2015, to 350 boys and girls. Pleas by village elders to leave were rejected. In early 2016, government forces attacked the Taliban forces in the school with gunfire and mortar rounds. The Taliban fled, but the school compound was left in ruins."

Gossman said the findings are based on interviews with more than 20 school principals, teachers, and administrators, as well as local families affected by the conflict.

"We had situations where even tent schools were being used by the military. And obviously, the other concern is that this has a disproportionate affect on girls' education because if you have got a bunch of armed men in a school, families are going to be particularly reluctant to send their girls to schools," she told VOA.

Afghan government challenges report

Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri rejected the report, saying the government's own investigations have not found any such violations.

"However, we do not rule out the possibility of use of schools by security forces for an hour, or a couple of days in instances when these facilities were closed for vacations, or in areas where operations were underway against insurgents," Waziri told VOA.

Expansion of school system in Afghanistan

Education is one of few success stories in Afghanistan since the demise of the Taliban rule in 2001, when less than a million children, all of them boys, were attending school. According to the Afghan Ministry of Education, the number has since risen to 9.5-million and girls make up around 40 percent of students.

"Even though the conflict is of course of deep concern [and] it has intensified, it is of the outmost importance to protect these facilities to protect that investment in Afghanistan's future and for the Afghan government to get its soldiers out of the schools, Gossman said. "I think that is what the message donors need to send now and at the upcoming conference on Afghanistan, which will take place in October [in Brussels] we are hoping to see the donors make that very clear to the Afghan government."

Overall military situation in Baghlan

The security situation in Baghlan continues to deteriorate, where the Taliban has made significant advances in a number of areas and recently captured a key district just a few kilometers away from the provincial capital.

"Prospects for improved security in Baghlan in the second half of 2016 remain as bleak as they were during the first half, especially after the fall of Dahna-ye Ghori three days ago. This was the first district to fall into Taliban hands in Baghlan province since 2001," according to the Kabul-based independent Afghanistan Analysts Network.

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South Sudan's First Vice President Says Country Is 'Peaceful and Quiet'

By Jill Craig August 17, 2016

South Sudan's new First Vice President Taban Deng Gai is asserting his country is "peaceful and quiet" and moving ahead with reforms following clashes in the capital that killed some 300 people last month.

Deng spoke to journalists in Nairobi Wednesday while in town to meet with Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta. He accused reporters of falsely reporting that fighting continues in Juba and elsewhere.

"This is not true. This is not true," said Deng. "The country is in peace; it is quiet in the whole region of Upper Nile. There is no fighting in all the areas of Upper Nile, where I had come from. The crisis that had happened in Wau, arrested redress. There's peace in Wau now. No fighting at all, around Juba. If there are any skirmishes, it should be somewhere west, somewhere west of the country, in the borders of DRC. Especially the areas of Western Equatoria region."

Tenuous cease-fire

A tenuous cease-fire has been holding in Juba since the July violence, but there have been sporadic reports of continued fighting around the Equatoria region and former Western Bahr el-Ghazal State between forces who back President Salva Kiir and those backing his opponent Riek Machar.

Deng said the government has prioritized combining the two forces, with the goal of having one fully united army by May 2017.

"Parallel armies is what brought crisis last month," said Deng. "That led to the killing in Juba, and that led to the former first vice-president moving away from Juba."

When Machar left Juba, Deng was installed in his place, a move that some opposition members rejected as illegal. Deng says his appointment is in line with the terms of the peace agreement.

Machar's future

Deng suggested that Machar, "wherever he is," should ask for peaceful passage to a location of his choice in either South Sudan or another African country, where he should organize his political party and wait for the 2018 elections.

But Deng was unclear about what he would do if Machar turned up, looking for his old job back.

"My comrades in the SPLM opposition decided to put me in the position, I gladly accepted this. I'm also telling you, if my stepping down can bring peace to South Sudan, I'm ready when time comes. But what I'm doing now is that I'm not delaying implementation of peace, waiting for anybody," Deng said.

Deng said he was not aware of recent allegations of violence targeting American aid workers, as well as the murder of a local journalist at a hotel compound in Juba in July.

"I've not come up, across a report, alleging rapes against foreign aid workers but I know there's a lot of allegations of South Sudanese woman and girl went through rapes. What we have done, the government have formed committees, to do the investigation, and for your information, the army have instituted a court martial body, because these claims against rapes and human rights violations are serious issues. And in Wau, a number of soldiers have already been punished and capital punishment was applied."

Witnesses said it took many hours for South Sudanese security forces to respond to calls for help from those inside the compound. When asked about the incident, Deng said delays are inevitable, no matter where you are.

"You know, even in United States... even in your country, the police and army come late. It is not automatic," said Deng.

Deng also urged regional bloc IGAD to have technical staff visit Juba and work with his government on the specifics of deploying a 4,000-person regional protection force, recently approved by the African Union.

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Officials Scramble to Contain Cholera at Refugee Center in Uganda

By Lizabeth Paulat August 17, 2016

Officials in northern Uganda say dozens of cholera cases have been reported at a reception center for South Sudanese refugees. Cholera is an infectious disease usually spread through contaminated water that causes severe diarrhea and dehydration. Left untreated it can lead to death. Health officials are using cholera kits and increasing screenings to try to stop the spread of the disease. But between overcrowding and ongoing heavy rains, this could prove challenging.

Over the weekend, officials confirmed that 45 cases of cholera were discovered in the Pagirinya refugee reception center in northern Uganda. Although officials say most have been quarantined and treated, it comes at a time when resources are already strained and overcrowding in refugee settlements is a massive concern.

Over 80,000 South Sudanese refugees have come to Uganda since fighting erupted in Juba last month. Pagirinya holds nearly 28,000 refugees, well above its capacity.

Irene Nakasiita with the Ugandan Red Cross says the outbreak did not take them by surprise.

"We expected it actually, we have always expressed fear," Nakasiita said. "Especially when the weather changed. We already anticipated it and put up measures in place. So as much as it has broken out at least it's being managed. And if we weren't prepared probably the numbers would have been higher and maybe some people would have even have died already."

The Ugandan National Meteorological Authority has predicted above average rainfall in northern areas of the country until the end of August. This has stoked fears of water-borne illnesses continuing to spread.

The Ugandan Red Cross says incoming arrivals are all being screened for cholera before being sent to Bidi Bidi, a new refugee settlement able to house around 100,000 new arrivals. In addition, increased testing of water sites, door-to-door cholera education campaigns and monitoring of symptoms has been stepped up.

However, budget shortfalls continue to be a problem. According to relief group the Norwegian Refugee Council, aid groups have only received 20 percent of the funds needed to adequately care for new arrivals.

Tuesday, the Ugandan prime minister's office, the U.N. World Food Program and the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR announced that due to a lack of funds, food rations would be cut.

"We're now starting to see already the reality of that impact with the report yesterday from ourselves, OPM and WFP that refugees who came before July 15 will have their food rations revised by 50 percent," said Charlie Yaxley of the UNHCR. "We hope it's a temporary measure and the international community will speed up their contributions to the humanitarian response so we can restore these food rations as soon as possible."

And there are indications fighting in South Sudan will continue.

"The refugees arriving from Central Equatoria are telling us that there's intense fighting taking place in a number of towns across Central Equatoria and that armed militias have been distributing letters across towns and villages warning people to leave the area and heavy fighting is to be expected in the days and weeks ahead," Yaxley said.

UNHCR is deploying more staff in the area in case the influx from South Sudan continues. However, without increased assistance, they say it will be difficult to provide even the bare essentials to incoming refugees.

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Zambia Opposition Party to Challenge Presidential Poll Outcome

By Peter Clottey August 17, 2016

Zambia's main opposition, the United Party for National Development (UPND), plans to petition the Constitutional Court on Friday regarding the outcome of the August 11 presidential poll won by incumbent President Edgar Lungu.

The UPND also aims to stop the official installation of Lungu, which has been scheduled for next Tuesday.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia declared Lungu the winner of the presidential election with 50.35 percent of the total votes cast, while the main opposition leader, Hakainde Hichilema from the UPND, garnered 47.67 percent of the votes.

A new constitutional requirement states that the winner of the election must attain more than 50 percent of the votes. Previously, a winner could be declared with less than 50 percent.

UPND spokesperson Charles Kakoma told VOA the opposition party has evidence proving the presidential election was rigged.

"There are a lot of irregularities that were discovered in the electoral process, as well as deliberate mistakes by the electoral commission of Zambia," Kakoma said. "They manipulated a lot of figures, which they gave to the sitting president to make him win, and we think that is wrong and it should not be allowed."

The UPND hopes Lungu would not be installed until the party's legal challenge at the Constitutional Court is resolved. Kakoma says other opposition parties support the UPND's position.

Supporters of the ruling PF say the legal challenge is unlikely to succeed because both local and international poll observers declared the August 11 poll as free, fair, transparent and credible.

A court rejected the UPND's legal challenge seeking to prevent the electoral commission from announcing the results of the presidential vote.

"There is a constitutional provision that when there is an election petition, the president-elect should not be sworn in," Kakoma said. "But, we are also confident because the amount of evidence that we have gathered and the documents is so overwhelming that any reasonable court will agree with our argument.

"The international observers did not see everything that was going on," he added. "For example, we caught somebody in the Electoral Commission of Zambia's computer room trying to manipulate the results. And the deputy director in charge of information technology has since been arrested, and the international observers might have missed that. So they were hacking the electoral commission and manipulating the results, so the results that were coming to the totaling center  where the international observers were  had already been hacked and manipulated. They would not have noticed that."

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A legendary spy returns, with his full name in the film title. In Jason Bourne, the fifth action spy thriller from the Bourne series, Matt Damonwho plays the protagonist, a former CIA assassinnot only has to escape CIA hit squads but also look for hidden truths about his father.

Matt Damon and Swedish actress Alicia Vikander promote the upcoming film Jason Bourne in Beijing. The film will premiere on the Chinese mainland on Aug 23. JIANG DONG/CHINA DAILY

Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday while promoting the film, which opens on the mainland on Aug 23, the 46-year-old says he believes that Bourne is a spy who represents the current generation.

"It (the film) is not related to James Bond, who has values from another time."

He says that Bourne's relevance is what persuaded him to be the protagonist, and that is why the franchisewhich hit the big screen in 2002has become one of the most-acclaimed spy series in cinematic history.

The first three episodesThe Bourne Identity (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)are all listed among the all-time best 250 films by China's major film website, Douban.com, based on user ratings.

Damon did not participate in the fourth installment, The Bourne Legacy, in 2012. Feedback for that film was lukewarm. It got 6.7 out of 10 points on Douban.

Interestingly, Damon keeps saying the "last three" instead of "four" when he refers to the previous Bourne films in the interview.

Speaking of the latest film, Damon says: "It's a completely different world we're living in, compared with nine years ago. The landscapes, characters running through, are entirely new."

A key part of the new story is a fictional social-media website.

"We want to have characters that are relatable to everybody," he says.

"In 2007, some social media companies didn't exist, but privacy versus (national) security is a major issue now."

Some news events from recent years also find a place in the plot.

For instance, in Jason Bourne, the story is set in an era after Edward Snowden leaked classified information on US national security. The European debt crisis is also portrayed through a massive protest in Athens.

"We had a complete script on Day 1 (of filming ), which we never had before," he says.

He adds that there were no complete scripts when filming for the previous Bourne films began.

The team this time comprised many of those who had worked with the series before.

"It felt very lucky ... that we got back to do this together," he says.

Paul Greengrass, the director of the second and third films, was also back for the new installment.

In a previous interview, Damon had said that he would not do any film related to Bourne if the director was not Greengrass.

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US rebuffs China's anger over THAAD missile system

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 4:57AM

The United States has once again rebuffed China's anger over the planned deployment of an advanced missile system in South Korea, insisting that the move is aimed at countering the growing missile threats from North Korea.

US Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley met his Chinese counterpart Li Zuocheng and other senior People's Liberation Army leaders in Beijing on Tuesday amid strong Chinese protests over the decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) unit in the South.

General Milley insisted that THAAD was a "defensive measure to protect South Koreans and Americans from the North Korean ballistic missile threat and is not a threat in any way to China."

Tensions have been running high since last month's announcement that the US and South Korea had made a final decision to deploy the THAAD system in a base south of Seoul.

Beijing insists the system would threaten security and stability on the Korean Peninsula and put Chinese military assets within the range of US radars.

South Korea argues that the move is purely to defend against North Korea's missile threat.

The decision has been met with angry protests in the country.

On Monday, residents in the rural town of Seongju rallied to denounce the planned deployment. Nearly 1,000 protesters also shaved their heads in public to show their outrage against the move.

Meanwhile, North Korea has threatened to take "physical action" in response to the missile system.

China and the US have also been at odds over the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

China claims "indisputable sovereignty" over most of the sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually, and looks unfavorably upon the continued American military presence there.

General Milley said Washington wanted to maintain open channels of communication with the Chinese military to "reduce the risk of crisis or miscalculation and candidly address differences," the statement said.

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Pyongyang raps South Korean president for defending THAAD

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:35AM

North Korea has lambasted the South Korean president's latest anti-Pyongyang speech defending the deployment of an advanced US missile system in her country, saying she is to blame for deteriorating inter-Korean relations.

In a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency on Tuesday, the North Korean Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country rejected Park Geun-hye's recent speech as "preposterous" and unfounded, saying her statements "were no more than nonsense."

In a Monday address, Park had voiced support for the deployment of the so-called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, which is due to be installed by the end of next year in South Korea, calling it "an act of self-defense" against alleged threats from Pyongyang.

She had also called on the northern neighbor to "immediately stop all provocations and threats targeting South Korea as well as the development of weapons of mass destruction," including its nuclear weapons program.

The KCNA report quoted a spokesman for the North Korean committee as saying that the remarks were "just a lame excuse and she should know that no one will be taken in by such sophism of a puppet that can do nothing without an approval of her US master."

According to a report by the South's Yonhap news agency, the North Korean committee also said Park's speech was full of "imprudent" remarks aimed at covering up her actions which are driving ties between the two neighbors into a "catastrophe."

In July, Seoul and Washington announced an agreement on the THAAD installation on the South Korean soil, claiming that the move is aimed at defending the Asian state against what they called nuclear and missile threats from the North.

However, the controversial accord has been met with opposition both in South Korea and abroad.

Over the past weeks, South Koreans have held numerous protest rallies to show their anger over the planned deployment.

North Korea has threatened to carry out "physical action" in response to the measure.

China and Russia have also voiced opposition to the deployment, saying the system would threaten security, stability and peace on the Korean Peninsula and cannot help denuclearize the volatile region.

Moscow and Beijing view the planned move as an attempt to put their military facilities within the range of US radars.

Pyongyang has been under UN sanctions over its nuclear tests and launching missiles considered by the US and South Korea as ballistic and aimed at delivering nuclear warheads.

North Korea, however, says it will not give up on its nuclear "deterrence" unless Washington ends its hostile policy toward Pyongyang and dissolves the US-led command in South Korea.

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South Korea Ready to Consider Alternative Site for US THAAD System

Sputnik News

16:32 17.08.2016

South Korean authorities are ready to consider an alternative site for the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system deployment over the protests of Seongju county residents, the country's Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

TOKYO (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo held a meeting with representatives from Seongju county, which was initially chosen for the THAAD deployment.

"The defense minister said the government will give consideration to an alternative site (for THAAD) if local residents reach an understanding on a new location," the Ministry of National Defense said, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

According to the minister, a full consensus among residents is needed for choosing the alternative site, though the military consider Seongju county to be the "the most optimal" location for THAAD deployment.

According to the media outlet, the minister said a report over the site selection process would be provided before the deployment of the system.

Earlier this week, hundreds of Seongju county residents shaved their heads in protest against the planned THAAD deployment. Opponents of the move have reportedly voiced health concerns over the system's powerful radar, as well as the potential danger of being targeted while living in proximity of THAAD, according to media reports.

In July, South Korea and the United States announced that they had agreed to deploy the system in the South Korean Seongju County amid increased tensions on the peninsula over North Korea's nuclear and missile program.

The THAAD system is designed to intercept short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles at the terminal incoming stage. The system's deployment to Seoul has caused concerns of North Korea, as well as China and Russia.

 Sputnik

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China forms its first standing peacekeeping force in UN history

People's Daily Online

By Cheng Zeben (People's Daily Online) 17:38, August 17, 2016

A total of 180 officers from frontier forces across China are currently undergoing training for China's first standing peacekeeping force in UN history. After passing a UN assessment, the squad is expected to be activated in October, ready to be charged with dangerous, challenging peacekeeping missions.

As one of the major initiatives announced by President Xi Jinping at the summits marking the 70th anniversary of the UN last September, the squad is a demonstration of the Chinese government's commitment to world peace, according to Vice Public Security Minister Meng Hongwei. Meng emphasized this point on Monday, Aug. 17 when he visited squad at the site of their training, as well as at the first seminar focusing on the peacekeeping ability of senior foreign officers.

Meng said that rapid deployment and excellent coping mechanisms are crucial to the success of the force. High standards and unconventional training will employed to prepare the force for a wide variety of situations.

While interacting with seminar guests, the vice minister encouraged all the participants to exchange peacekeeping experiences, especially between Chinese and African police departments. Seventeen senior police officers from Angola, Djibouti, Kenya and six other African countries joined the seminar.

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China 'to upgrade Syria military ties'

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 6:46AM

China is to provide enhanced military cooperation with Syria, whose own military is involved in fighting a foreign-backed militancy in the country.

Guan Youfei, the Chinese military official charged with overseeing international cooperation, announced the development on Tuesday.

The official, who visited Syria for talks with Syrian Defense Minister Fahad Jassim al-Freij, said Beijing was seeking closer military ties with Damascus.

"The Chinese and Syrian militaries traditionally have a friendly relationship, and the Chinese military is willing to keep strengthening exchanges and cooperation with the Syrian military," he said.

Youfei also said the two sides had "reached a consensus" on the Chinese military providing humanitarian aid to Syrians, without elaborating.

The Chinese official and al-Freij also discussed the enhancement of training for Syrian soldiers by the Chinese military.

The visit marks a new precedence, given China's refusal in the past to proactively concern itself with the Syrian conflict.

China has, meanwhile, been vocally backing Russia's anti-terrorism efforts in Syria, which has seen Moscow carrying out large-scale bombings of Takfiri militants there.

The visit also featured a meeting between the Chinese official and a Russian general, Russia Today reported.

The foreign-backed militancy in Syria, which enjoys vigorous Western support, has been plaguing the Arab country for the past five years, killing thousands and displacing millions.

Youfei, the Chinese official, meanwhile, reminded that his country, a permanent United Nations Security Council member, was insistently exploring diplomatic channels to find a political solution to Syria's crisis.

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Beijing's New Corvette Enters Service in East China Sea

Sputnik News

02:56 17.08.2016(updated 03:19 17.08.2016)

A Type 056 Jiangdao-class corvette equipped with torpedo and missile launchers has joined China's People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN) East Sea Fleet, amid rising tensions between Beijing and Tokyo over disputed areas in the East China Sea.

The vessel, called the Huai'an, became the 27th Type 056 ship to enter into service with the Chinese naval forces. Introduced in 2012, ships of this class are the most numerous vessels in the PLAN.

The US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) assessed that China is preparing to build up to 60 similar corvettes to serve in territorial waters. Reports suggest that the keel of the 31st corvette was laid in December 2015.

Huai'an, under operational number 509, will likely be deployed to the 22nd light frigate squadron at a base at Putuoshan, IHS Jane's reported. The 1,500-ton corvette is fitted with four YJ-83 anti-ship missiles, a 76 mm gun, two triple-barrelled lightweight torpedo launchers, and an eight-cell HQ-10 short-range surface-to-air missile launcher.

At Putuoshan it will join three other Type 056 vessels. Two of the deployed vessels in squadron, numbers 593 and 594, are designed for anti-submarine warfare.

The news comes in the wake of mounting tensions over East China Sea's Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu in Chinese) between Beijing and Tokyo. The long-term dispute was reignited after The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruled on July 12 that China does not have rights to contested areas it has claimed in the South China Sea.

Since that time, military buildup by both sides has taken place in the region, triggering a rise in tensions.

In early August, Chinese media reported that the PLAN undertook large-scale maneuvers in the East China Sea, engaging 300 military vessels, dozens of aircraft and coastal guard ground-troop units.

The drills were followed by 230 Chinese fishing boats sailing into disputed waters, angering Japan and resulting in a harsh diplomatic exchange between the two nations.

China has used a gas drilling platform near the disputed waters to deploy a radar array designed to detect ships, causing criticism in Japan. Beijing, expressed concern over Tokyo's intentions to deploy by 2023, on its Miyako-jima Island, anti-ship missiles capable of reaching the disputed areas. Following the moves, experts have suggested that the sides are entrenching for conflict escalation.

 Sputnik

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Fears of Liquidity Trap May Worsen China's Debt Problem

By Saibal Dasgupta August 17, 2016

China's policymakers are struggling with how to deal with how to stimulate the economy at a time when there could be more than half-a-trillion dollars of bad debt.

Financial officials worry that injecting more money into the economy to try to spur growth could end up worsening the debt crisis, creating a so-called "liquidity trap" where the bank's stimulus efforts become unable to stimulate the economy.

"This is a critical time for China. The central bank has denied there is a liquidity trap problem. But recent data indicate private companies are hoarding cash and not investing," Max Zenglein, research associate at the Berlin based Mercator Institute of China Studies said.

The government's solution to the problem is to push state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to increase investments in infrastructure and industrial projects. Banks are being asked to finance the new investment spree by SOEs.

"The government is trying to compensate this increasing investments by state-owned companies" Zenglein said adding, "I would imagine SOEs will be allowed to borrow more in order to finance the new investments".

He expects a continued increase in the pile of non-performing loans or bad debts of Chinese banks in the coming months.

Problem in the solution

Official statistics place the amount of accumulated bad loans at $317 billion. But independent analysts say the amount of non-performing loans (NPL) or bad debts may exceed half-a-trillion dollars if loans are evaluated strictly according to international standards.

This is besides another clutch of $754 billion worth of loans, which have been kept on a watch list because regulators fear that some may turn sour. In most cases, borrowers on these loans have defaulted on repayments and they are being rolled over in the hope of future settlement.

The amount of bad loans is expected to rise because the government is pushing state-owned companies, including "zombie companies" that have serious losses and have already defaulted on old loans. Many of them are expected to default on new loans as well.

"Any government efforts to keep zombie borrowers afloat will prevent resources from flowing to more productive sectors, hurting potential growth," Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior economist with consulting firm Capital Economics, told VOA.

But the government is unlikely to accept this advice, and ask banks to offer more loans at lower interest to state-owned zombie corporations.

Many SOEs use their cheap loans to buy wealth management products, Xiang Songzuo, chief economist of the Agricultural Bank of China told Caixin, a local business publication.

Ostrich-like policy

"Banks and regulators are still reluctant to acknowledge the true scale of the bad loans and to deal with the problem head on. Indeed, the China Banking Regulatory Commission seems to be encouraging banks to ignore the problem by telling them to roll over loans for troubled companies," Evans-Pritchard said.

"The economic slowdown over the past couple of years is putting pressure on borrowers and causing defaults to rise," he said.

China's policymakers may be caught in a "Catch-22" situation. The government may also resort to the desperate measure of recapitalizing banks to avoid a credit crisis. "But this may result in higher government debt levels," Evans-Pritchard said.

Painful decision

Government efforts to get asset management companies to buy out toxic loans and dispose of them have proved to be very painful for the banks. They were able to recover just 32 percent of the value of loans in 2015. They had a recovery rate of 43 percent in 2014. The falling rate of recovery is a sign of a declining economy and refusal of asset management companies to take great risks.

Chinese asset management companies have become more market orientated and are demanding higher discounts on loans.

"This makes sense for the AMCs, especially given the weak outlook for China's economy, but it does put greater pressure on banks' capital," Evans-Pritchard said. "If defaults continue to rise, such low recovery rates may not be sustainable for the banks, which may require state support in order to overcapitalize".

Most of the non-performing loans disposal is being handled by four asset management companies created by the central government.

They are China Oriental Asset Management Corp., Cinda Asset Management Co., Huarong Asset Management Co. and Greatwall Asset Management Corp.

They provide a range of financial services like non-performing loan-backed securities, futures to other debt-linked derivatives, and some have obtained rights to land provided as collateral by borrowers to the banks in the first place, and used them to trade in the property market.

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DPRK Foreign Ministry Spokesman Denounces U.S. Nuclear Arms Buildup

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS)

Pyongyang, August 17 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK issued a statement on Wednesday in connection with the fact that the situation on the Korean peninsula has entered a very grave phase due to the U.S. ceaseless nuclear arms buildup targeting the DPRK.

The statement said that the U.S. brought to the Anderson air force base on Guam, on which B-52H strategic bombers are already deployed, several B-1Bs on August 6 and three B-2As on August 9, the first of their kinds in ten years, according to a report. It went on:

The introduction of the nuclear strategic bombers to Guam by the U.S. in the wake of its official decision on the deployment of THAAD in south Korea after bringing into the Korean peninsula and its vicinity strategic assets including nuclear-powered carrier and nuclear submarines proves that the U.S. plan for a preemptive nuclear strike at the DPRK has entered a reckless phase of implementation.

Such military moves of the U.S. are part of its sinister strategy to contain Russia and China in the Asia-Pacific and maintain its military hegemony in the region, not just aiming at a surprise preemptive nuclear strike at the DPRK.

It is the fixed stand of the DPRK to fundamentally remove the danger of a nuclear war imposed by the U.S. by dint of a powerful nuclear deterrence and safeguard the peace and security in the region and the world.

The army and people of the DPRK will never remain an on-looker to the U.S. nuclear threat and blackmail getting ever-more pronounced with each passing day, but will whet more sharply the treasured sword of nuclear weapons of justice for defending the sovereignty and security of the country.

If the U.S. goes reckless, misjudging the trend of the times and the strategic position of the DPRK, all the U.S. military bases in the operational theatre in the Pacific including Guam will face ruin in the face of all-out and substantial attack to be mounted by the army of the DPRK. -0-

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China to limit operations of North Korea's Air Koryo

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 1:34PM

China has decided to "limit" the operations of North Korea's national carrier, Air Koryo, after one of its aircraft made an emergency landing in July due to a fire on board.

China will take "relevant measures to limit operations" of the airline, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement on its website on Wednesday, without providing details.

On July 22, an Air Koryo airline plane flying from Pyongyang to Beijing was forced to land in China's northeastern city of Shenyang after it caught fire. However, no casualties were reported in the incident.

The CAAC statement cited an investigation as saying that a call button was behind the fire.

The civil aviation regulator also urged Air Koryo to improve aircraft maintenance, communication with air traffic control and training on such incidents.

China and the Russian city of Vladivostok are the only destinations of Air Koryo flights.

The carrier has recorded one fatal accident in more than 30 years despite being ranked by the global Skytrax rating website as the only airline in the "one star" category due to its low-quality standards.

The Russian Tupolev Tu-204 aircraft is used by the carrier on its flights to China. The plane carries about 140 passengers.

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North Korea's Deputy Ambassador Defects in London

Sputnik News

15:34 17.08.2016(updated 15:37 17.08.2016)

A top North Korean diplomat has abandoned his post in the UK and defected with his wife and children to seek asylum in South Korea. The dramatic move comes as 13 other North Korean defectors have also been given permission to apply for asylum.

North Korea's deputy ambassador in London, Thae Yong Ho, had reportedly been missing from the North Korean Embassy in Ealing, west London for weeks.

On Wednesday morning, South Korean media reported that his absence was no accident, and that he and his family have fled abroad.

"The DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea [North Korea]) Embassy made belated attempts to figure out the diplomat's whereabouts, but has failed," a report in the South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo said.

Mr. Thae defected due to being "sick and tired of the Kim Jong-un regime," and for the future of his child, Jeong Joon-hee, a spokesman at the South's Unification Ministry, told a news conference.

"They are currently under government protection and relevant institutions are going ahead with necessary procedures as usual," he said.

Thae Yong Ho is the highest ranking diplomat to ever make such a move.

He had reportedly been a resident in the UK for a decade, with his wife and children.

What may be bitterly ironic for the North Korean authorities, is that Mr Thae was responsible for keeping track of North Korean defectors in and around London, and promoting the image of North Korea to British audiences.

International media is instead focusing on his defection as being yet another blow to the increasingly isolated nation.

It's expected that South Korean and western intelligence agencies will want to question Mr. Thae on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's leadership, and about allegations that previous government members were executed.

Kim Jong-un has a reputation for bloody purges. South Korean media reported in February that he executed the army's chief of the General Staff, Ri Yong-gil.

In 2013, North Korean propaganda infamously announced the execution of Kim's uncle, Jang Song-thaek, a high-level official. He was accused of "anti-party, counter-revolutionary factional acts."

And last year, the South Korean National Intelligence Service, claimed that North Korean Defense Minister, Hyon Yong-chol, was removed from his post and reportedly killed with anti-aircraft fire for insubordination. His death remains unconfirmed, but Hyon has not appeared in North Korean state media since.

Mr. Thae's sensational move comes on the same day that authorities in Seoul have released a group of 13 North Korean restaurant workers from detention, who defected earlier this year. They are now being allowed to start resettlement applications in South Korea.

There has been no official response from North Korea, and it's not clear how Kim Jong-un may react to this latest propaganda disaster.

Relations between the country and the West have recently been strained, as North Korea recently resumed its production of plutonium, citing perceived US threats remain.

Meanwhile, in July, the US sanctioned Kim Jong-un and several other high ranking North Korean officials for the first time, accusing them of human rights abuses.

 Sputnik

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A gang of 38 tomb raiders have been jailed in Northeast China's Liaoning province. They were involved in 36 cases of stealing from ancient ruins, including from a state-level protected heritage site dating back 1,000 years, a local court said Tuesday.

Gang leader Wu Anjie, 48, was given a jail term of 11 years and six months. Other sentences ranged from one year to nine years, according to a statement issued by the Benxi Intermediate People's Court.

Using a metal detector, the gang stole from tombs and other ancient ruins from 2006 to 2014, obtaining gold earrings, the pearl accessories of ancient officials, copper coins, and ancient pots with significant historical, artistic and research value.

In the most prominent case, a state-level ruin in Liaoyang containing a porcelain kiln from the Liao (916-1125), Jin (960-1276) and Yuan dynasties (1271-1368) was seriously damaged when the gang stole significant historical and cultural artifacts from the ruins in 2006 and 2007.

The court made its final ruling in late July.

The tomb theft case follows the largest case of its kind in modern China, when 175 member tomb thieves stole artifacts valued at more than 500 million yuan (about $75 million). In April this year, the gang leader Yao Yuzhong was sentenced to death with a two year reprieve.
North Korea Resumes Work on Weapons-Grade Plutonium Production  Reports

Sputnik News

14:12 17.08.2016(updated 14:13 17.08.2016)

North Korea on Wednesday resumed processing nuclear fuel for the production of weapons-grade plutonium at an experimental nuclear reactor in the city of Yongbyon north of capital Pyongyang, Japanese media reported, citing North Korean nuclear authorities.

TOKYO (Sputnik)  According to the media, this is the first time official confirmation is received that the Yongbyon complex is being used for weapons-grade plutonium production since the reactor's re-launch in 2013.

"We have reprocessed spent nuclear fuel rods removed from a graphite-moderated reactor," the Atomic Energy Institute told the Kyodo news agency in the first-ever interview with foreign media.

The Institute also reportedly said that Pyongyang has been engaged in producing highly enriched uranium needed for nuclear weapons, which currently goes "as scheduled."

North Korea is currently under pressure from the international community since its January nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch in February, which resulted in tightening sanctions against Pyongyang in the new UN Security Council resolution in March.

 Sputnik

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UK-Based North Korean Diplomat Defects to South Korea

By VOA News August 17, 2016

The second highest ranking official at North Korea's embassy in London has defected to South Korea, according to the South Korean Unification Ministry.

Thae Yong Ho has arrived with his family in the South Korean capital of Seoul, said ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee. "They are currently under government protection," Jeong told reporters at a news conference.

Jeong said Thae told South Korean officials he defected out of disgust with the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a desire for South Korean democracy and because of concern over his children's future.

It is believed Thae was stationed for ten years at North Korea's embassy in London, where he was responsible for managing the image of North Korea, which has been criticized for its nuclear weapons program and its human rights record. Thae is believed to be the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea.

In Washington, the State Department declined to comment on the specifics of "this case," but called for the protection of North Korean refugees and asylum seekers.

The most senior North Korean government official to defect to the South was Hwang Jang-yop, a top ruling Worker's Party official who sought asylum in 1997.

Defections from North Korea have received a lot of attention recently, primarily due to the April defection of a group of waitresses and their manager who were employed at a North Korean restaurant in China.

VOA State Department correspondent Steve Herman contributed to this report

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India's 'Great Wall' Against China Along Border Region

Sputnik News

19:29 17.08.2016(updated 19:30 17.08.2016)

India is slowly and steadily beefing up military capabilities along the Chinese border.

As a part of its strategy to counter China, India has deployed additional Su-30 fighter aircraft, spy drones and missiles in the northeastern border areas.

The Indian Army has also deployed tanks, mechanized units as well as artillery to some areas of Ladakh.

The military buildup along the Chinese border is to counter increasing incidents of alleged Chinese incursions in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.

Earlier, the Indian Army moved more than 100 T-72 tanks in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh to secure the most vulnerable sections of the Indo-China border.

Apart from that the Indian Army is in the process of deploying six Akash surface-to-surface missile squadrons along the northeastern India-China border as a deterrent to Chinese jets.

India has chalked out a detailed strategy to achieve credible deterrence against the Chinese military might all along the 4,075 km Line of Actual Control.

The Cabinet Committee on Security Affairs has already cleared a regiment of BrahMos supersonic missiles for Arunachal Pradesh.

To strengthen the air power the Pasighat Advanced Landing Grounds in Arunachal Pradesh will be inaugurated on August 19 in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The Pasighat ALG is capable of operating aircraft and helicopters and will allow fighter aircraft like the Su-30 to land and take off. It will be one of the operating bases under the Eastern Air Command. Activation of this Advanced Landing Ground will not only improve the Indian Air Force response time for various operational situations but also efficacy of the air operations in the eastern frontiers.

The Advanced Landing Grounds was also activated earlier in Daulat Beg Oldi and Nyoma in Ladakh. Pasighat is the fifth Advanced Landing Ground to become operational in Arunachal Pradesh. Ziro, Along, Mechuka and Walong Advanced Landing Grounds are already operational. Advanced Landing Grounds in Tuting in Tawang will be ready by December 31 and April 30 next year respectively.

The Indian Army had earlier raised two new infantry divisions of about 36,000 soldiers at Assam's Likabali and Missamari to counter the Chinese military buildup. An all new Mountain Strike Corps of about 90,274 soldiers will be fully raised by 2021 which will be skilled in mountain warfare.

India is gearing to counter China and its aggressive designs not only along the border but also in South Asia.

 Sputnik

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Indian Government Holds High Level Security Meeting as Kashmir Tensions Grow

Sputnik News

13:46 17.08.2016

The death of a popular rebel leader six weeks ago has spurred Kashmiris to take to the streets in protest of the Indian ruling government.

In the wake of a government attack on unarmed protestors that left five dead and scores injured, the Indian government held a high level security review meeting chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, according to Sputnik sources.

Sources told Sputnik that the Home Minister and other top officials discussed how to put an end to the growing protests and blamed Pakistan for stoking tensions in the region.

Kashmir has been under strict curfew for several weeks, however, protestors have paid little attention to the warning, taking the to streets on almost a daily basis against the Indian government.

The incident comes amid growing anti-Indian protests and escalating violence in the disputed region. On Tuesday, deadly clashes between police and protesters continued, with the death toll rising to 64.

The region of Kashmir has been disputed by India and Pakistan since the dissolution of British India and the establishment of the two states in 1947. Some local residents, especially those residing in the Kashmir Valley, call for greater autonomy or even independence from India.

 Sputnik

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Supreme National Security Council authorizes Russian jetfighters to use Iran airspace

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Aug 17, IRNA -- The Supreme National Security Council authorized the Russian jetfighters to use Iranian Nojeh air base, western Iran, Senior member of parliament Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Wednesday.

Boroujerdi, the head of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told reporters that what is taking place in Nojeh air base of Hamedan is based on a four-nation cooperation agreement between Iran, Russia, Syria and Iraq.

Boroujerdi noted that this cooperation between Iran and Russia is aimed at bolstering the campaign against terrorism.

He said that Tehran-Moscow anti-terrorism cooperation is not contrary to Iran's Constitution as the air base in Hamedan has not turned into a Russian base and no Russian jetfighter has been deployed there.

The only thing that is taking place in Nojeh base is that the Russian jetfighters use the Iranian base for fueling in the context of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, Boroujerdi said.

Boroujerdi also rejected the reports carried by Israeli news outlets claiming that Russian S-400 missile defense system has been installed in Nojeh base.

9341**1416

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Iran Navy encountered with pirates, escorted more than 3,200 vessels

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Rasht, Gilan province, Aug 17, IRNA -- Navy Commander Rear-Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said on Wednesday that Iranian Navy forces were engaged in more than 210 cases of encounter with sea pirates and escorted more than 3,200 cargo ships and tankers.

He made the remarks in a graduation ceremony of the Navy cadets.

He said that Iranian Navy forces have undertaken mission in the high seas in campaign against sea piracy in line with command of the Supreme Leader.

He said that Iranian Navy is considering agenda of presence in the Atlantic Ocean, South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

He said that Iranian Navy is self-sufficient in manufacturing Navy equipment.

Commander Sayyari said that Iranian Navy, the Defense Ministry and the domestic knowledge-based companies are involved in carrying out joint programs to manufacture equipment for the Navy forces.

1391**1416

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Larijani: Iranian nation expects parties to JCPOA to honor pledges

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Aug 17, IRNA -- Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said on Wednesday that the Iranian people expect the western states to fulfill their pledges to implement the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Larijani made the remarks in a meeting with Norway Foreign Minister Brge Brende in Tehran.

Iranian nation is awaiting tangible outcome from implementation of the JCPOA, he said.

The United States has reneged on of their pledges, he said adding that there is no doubt that European countries such as Norway can play significant role to help implement the Joint Compressive Plan of Action.

The Islamic Republic of Iran proved its sincerity and commitment from early stages of talks with G5+1, he said adding that the country is to spare no efforts to resolve the issue through a just and logical approach.

Iran would like to broaden constructive cooperation with European governments such as Norway to help restore stability in the region and help resolve regional crisis such as fight with terrorist groups, he said.

Under which law the Saudi government deems authorized to attack innocent people in Yemen for over one year and continue with carnage of defenseless women and children in indiscriminate bombardment, Larijani said.

Blatant violation of human rights in Bahrain should be condemned, Larijani said.

Such irresponsible measures will leave negative impacts on stability and calmness of the entire region, he said.

Highlighting prominent role of Iran in fight with terrorism in Syria, Iraq and the region, he urged all regional and international forces to deal with menaces of terrorism.

Norway foreign minister, for his part, said that Iran has remained committed to its pledges and Norway is optimistic that the two parties to the nuclear deal will honor their duties, he said.

Norway has no doubt that Iran will continue its relentless efforts to help eradicate Daesh and also help restore stability in Iraq.

'We believe that all ethnical groups play vital role in liberation of Mosul from Daesh and restoring stability to Iraq,' said Norway foreign minister.

After defeat of Daesh in Iraq and effective supports of some countries such as Iran, the grounds could be well-prepared to bring the life of people in the war-torn country to normal, he said.

He also expressed hope that expansion of banking and economic cooperation between Iran and Europe would be materialized under sound implementation of the JCPOA.

1430**1416

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Shamkhani: Tehran never tolerates violating sprit of JCPOA

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Aug 17, IRNA -- Secretary of Iran's National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic of Iran never tolerates violating the sprit of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action by the parties to JCPOA.

Shamkhani made the remarks in a meeting with Norway Foreign Minister Brge Brende in Tehran.

Shamkhani complained that some parties to the nuclear deal adopted measures in contravention of the sprit of the JCPOA to maintain the sanctions.

Shamkhani said that satisfactory atmosphere has been created after implementation of the JCPOA to broaden economic cooperation between Iran and Europe.

He said that taking into account the huge economic and commercial potentials of Iran and Norway, the two countries would enhance level of trade and economic cooperation.

Shamkhani made clear that the issue of terrorism could not be resolved irrespective of considering its roots and main supporter.

While routes for shipment of weapons to the terrorism-stricken countries are open from Europe but the routes to shelter displaced people and victims of those weapons are shut down and the victims are currently exposed to violation of human rights, Shamkhani said.

To help restore peace and calmness to the region, the logistical lines to provide the terrorist groups with military supplies must shut down, he said.

Norway foreign minister said for his part that the Islamic Republic of Iran is a major country influential in the regional developments.

Iran plays positive role in restoring stability and calmness in Iraq and Syria and the country's role in sustainable tranquility in the sensitive region of the world sounds necessary.

Removal of economic sanctions on Iran will create suitable opportunity to broaden scope of economic cooperation between the two countries in all fields, said the Norwegian foreign minister.

1430**1416

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US gave another $1.3 billion of Iran money'

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Wed / 17 August 2016 / 13:13

TEHRAN (ISNA)- US payment of $400 million of Iranian money which sparked outcry among American politicians was followed by another transfer of $1.3 billion, it has been reported.

The total sum of $1.7 billion was related to an arms deal that Iran signed before 1979 when the Shah was a close ally of the United States but Washington was refusing to give it back.

When the news of the Obama administration's $400 million payoff was first broken it set off a firestorm in the United States.

The partisan bickering which followed the payment was so intense that few people asked about what happened to the balance of the Iranian money.

US government officials have now revealed that the remaining $1.3 billion was sent less than two months after Iran received the first installment in cash in January.

"Iran received the balance of $400 million in the Trust Fund as well as roughly $1.3 billion representing a compromise on the interest," US Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Julia Frifield has said.

The payment was confirmed by the State Department official to The Weekly Standard, an opinion magazine which is published by the American mass media behemoth News Corporation reported on Tuesday.

Wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran in an unmarked cargo plane to cover the first $400 million.

Although the "mechanics" of the second payoff was not confirmed, it was most likely made in cash since the US has no banking relationship with Tehran, The Weekly Standard speculated.

"The reason that we had to give them cash is precisely because we are so strict in maintaining sanctions  and we don't have a banking relationship with Iran  that we couldn't send them a check," President Barack Obama said early this month.

A number of US politicians have accused Obama of paying "ransom" even though the money belonged to Iran.

Both Iranian and US government officials have stressed that the payment was unrelated to the nuclear deal struck with the Islamic Republic in July.

The sum returned to Iran, however, constitutes a fraction of tens of billions of dollars of the Iranian assets which the US has blocked since the Islamic Revolution, presstv reported.

In April, the US Supreme Court ruled that Iran's $2 billion of assets held in an American bank be turned over to families of those killed in a 1983 bombing in Beirut and other attacks which Tehran says have nothing to do with it.

End Item

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Iran expects US to abide by JCPOA commitments: Zarif

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Wed / 17 August 2016 / 09:38

TEHRAN (ISNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif said Tehran expects the US's JCPOA commitments not to be only on "paper."

On January 16, Iran and the P5+1 group of countries -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany --started implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which they reached on July 14, 2015. Under the nuclear agreement, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program and provide enhanced access to international atomic monitors in return for the termination of all nuclear-related sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

"The JCPOA's implementation has been successful in various areas, but there are some shortcomings in relation to the US commitments We expect that -- with pressure made by us and our European partners -- their commitments would not only remain on paper," Zarif said during a meeting with members of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on Tuesday.

He stressed that Tehran expects the US to honor its commitments and proceed with the plan more actively.

Zarif went on to note that thanks to the removal of sanctions on Iran's international trade transactions, the country's oil exports have returned to pre-sanctions levels.

The nuclear talks had been going on for some 12 years before the JCPOA was struck. Iran's original negotiating partners at the time the talks first started were the UK, France, and Germany, a group known back in 2003 as the E3.

The talks gained greater momentum under the administration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who tasked the Foreign Ministry  under Zarif's watch  with handling the talks soon after assuming office in 2013.

End Item

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Australia blocked the A$10 billion (US$7.7 billion) sale of its biggest energy grid to State Grid Corp of China and Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings. [File photo]

Australia blocked the A$10 billion (US$7.7 billion) sale of its biggest energy grid to State Grid Corp of China and Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings citing security concerns, a blow to the country's privatization plan.

Nine months after clearing the sale of TransGrid to an investor group 40 percent controlled by Kuwaiti and Abu Dhabi interests, Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison said yesterday he was rejecting the sale of Ausgrid to the rival Asian bidders because of risks to the national interest.

"During the review process national security issues were identified in critical power and communications services that Ausgrid provides to businesses and governments," Morrison said in a statement.

State Grid, China's dominant power distributor, did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment. Cheung Kong Infrastructure, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire tycoon Li Ka-Shing, said the decision was not related to CKI.

Australia's decision to reject the bids deprives the New South Wales state government of what would have been a record haul for a single privatization sale, and also underscores the country's changed political climate since a handful of protectionist senators took power in general elections last month.

The Australian Senate cannot block offshore sales, but Morrison's conservative government needs to maintain favorable relations with the crossbench which now holds the balance of power in the upper house.

The decision also sets new parameters to the relationship between Australia and its biggest export partner just eight months after a A$100 billion free trade agreement took effect.

"If you put your biggest trading partner in the category of security risk,' it might start to impact on the overall atmosphere, and on Chinese involvement in other areas," said Hans Hendrischke, a professor of Chinese business at University of Sydney's business school.

"That is not necessarily something you want with bidding for other big infrastructure projects," he added, noting Chinese interests have routinely bid in Australian infrastructure sales.

Apart from Ausgrid and TransGrid  which State Grid also tried to buy last year  the government of NSW, Australia's most populous state, has put up a third grid for sale, rural-focused Endeavour Energy.
Russia has no military base in Iran: Majlis speaker

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 1:47PM

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says neither Russia nor any other countries have a permanent military base in the Islamic Republic.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has not put any military bases at the disposal of Russia or other countries," Larijani said on Wednesday.

He made the remarks in response to comments made by Iranian MP Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, who had said the deployment of any foreign military forces inside the country was unconstitutional.

"Under Article 146 of the Constitution, the establishment of any foreign military base inside the country is forbidden, and it is worth mentioning that Iran has not given such a base to any country," Larijani said.

The top parliamentarian, however, said cooperation would continue between Tehran and Moscow on regional issues, including Syria and Yemen and the fight against terrorism.

"Our cooperating with Russia on regional issues such as Syria does not mean that we have given a military base to Russia," Larijani said.

Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that it had used a base in western Iran to carry out airstrikes in Syria.

The ministry said that Tupolev-22M3 long-range bombers and Sukhoi-34 strike fighters took off from an airbase near the city of Hamedan and struck targets in three provinces in northern and eastern Syria.

The Russian Defense Ministry also announced a new wave of airstrikes out of Iran against targets in the east of Syria on Wednesday.

Russian fighters filling up in Iran base

Meanwhile, senior Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi told reporters on Wednesday that Russia's use of the Nojeh air base near Hamedan for refueling was approved by Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

Boroujerdi, who is the chairman of the Iranian parliament's Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, said that the move was part of Iran's cooperation with Russia, Syria and Iraq against terrorism.

He noted that the move was not against Iran's Constitution as "no Russian jets have been deployed in the airbase."

Russia defends anti-terror cooperation with Iran

Meanwhile, Russia has defended its use of Iranian military bases for airstrikes against terrorists in Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the move did not violate a UN resolution on Iran that prohibits the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran unless approved by the Security Council.

"In the case we're discussing there has been no supply, sale or transfer of fighter jets to Iran," Lavrov told a news conference, saying, "The Russian Air Force uses these fighter jets with Iran's approval in order to take part in the counter-terrorism operation" in Syria.

Iran and Russia have been assisting the Syrian government in its fight against foreign-backed terrorist groups, including the Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

Russia has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria at the Syrian government's request since September 2015.

Iran has also been providing advisory assistance to the Syrian government.

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'US gave another $1.3 billion of Iran money'

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:20AM

US payment of $400 million of Iranian money which sparked outcry among American politicians was followed by another transfer of $1.3 billion, it has been reported.

The total sum of $1.7 billion was related to an arms deal that Iran signed before 1979 when the Shah was a close ally of the United States but Washington was refusing to give it back.

When the news of the Obama administration's $400 million payoff was first broken it set off a firestorm in the United States.

The partisan bickering which followed the payment was so intense that few people asked about what happened to the balance of the Iranian money.

US government officials have now revealed that the remaining $1.3 billion was sent less than two months after Iran received the first installment in cash in January.

"Iran received the balance of $400 million in the Trust Fund as well as roughly $1.3 billion representing a compromise on the interest," US Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Julia Frifield has said.

The payment was confirmed by the State Department official to The Weekly Standard, an opinion magazine published by the American mass media behemoth News Corporation reported on Tuesday.

Wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran in an unmarked cargo plane to cover the first $400 million.

Although the "mechanics" of the second payoff was not confirmed, it was most likely made in cash since the US has no banking relationship with Tehran, The Weekly Standard speculated.

"The reason that we had to give them cash is precisely because we are so strict in maintaining sanctions  and we don't have a banking relationship with Iran  that we couldn't send them a check," President Barack Obama said early this month.

A number of US politicians have accused Obama of paying "ransom" even though the money belonged to Iran.

Both Iranian and US government officials have stressed that the payment was unrelated to the nuclear deal struck with the Islamic Republic in July.

The sum returned to Iran, however, constitutes a fraction of tens of billions of dollars of the Iranian assets which the US has blocked since the Islamic Revolution.

In April, the US Supreme Court ruled that Iran's $2 billion of assets held in an American bank be turned over to families of those killed in a 1983 bombing in Beirut and other attacks which Tehran says have nothing to do with it.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denounced the seizure as "highway robbery" and pledged that Iran would retrieve the sum anyway.

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Russia's Use of Iranian Air Base Does Not Violate UNSC Resolutions - Senator

Sputnik News

11:44 17.08.2016(updated 11:56 17.08.2016)

Russia's use of the Hamadan airfield in western Iran for launching strikes against terrorist targets in Syria is "obviously" not violating the UN Security Council's resolutions concerning Iran, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council's Committee on Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said in a press briefing on Tuesday that Russia's use of the Hamadan airbase was "unfortunate," adding that it could be in violation of the UNSC Resolution 22311, which outlaws supplies of military equipment to Iran without UN approval.

"Indeed, in Paragraph 5 of Annex B of the resolution, it is stated that if the supply of military equipment, including combat aircraft, is carried out to, and I quote, 'Iran, or for the use in or benefit of Iran,' that would require a prior approval of the Security Council. But let me ask, what does it have to do with Russian long-range bombers using the base on the Iranian territory to carry out airstrikes against Daesh and al-Nusra [outlawed in Russia] in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor and Idlib?" Kosachev said on Facebook.

According to Kosachev, Russia, unlike the United States, never violates its commitments to the United Nations.

On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed its Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 strike aircraft had taken off from the Hamadan airfield in Iran to carry out airstrikes against terrorists in Syria.

Following the statement, US Secretary of State John Kerry raised concerns with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over Moscow's use of the airbase.

 Sputnik

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Iraqi forces recapture 4 villages south of Mosul from Daesh

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:10AM

Iraqi government forces have managed to gain more ground in the troubled northern province of Nineveh as they are pushing to drive Takfiri Daesh terrorists from the strategic militant-held city of Mosul.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command, in a statement released on Tuesday, announced that elite counter-terrorism forces had gained control over the villages of Huwaysh, al-Jawa'enah, Jebelah and al-Ghaziyah, which lie in the Qayyar region and more than 50 kilometers south of Mosul.

The statement did not provide the exact number of casualties among Daesh terrorists, only saying that dozens of them had been killed during the battles.

The development came on the same day that Iraqi F-16 fighter jets carried out several airstrikes against Daesh positions in the Riyadh region of the town of Hawijah, situated about 282 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, killing scores of the extremists.

Also on Tuesday, Iraqi military aircraft pounded a Daesh hideout in Hassan Koi Village on the outskirts of Tal Afar city, situated 63 kilometers west of Mosul, killing all terrorists who had been holed up inside.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since Daesh terrorists mounted an offensive in June 2014. The militants have been committing vicious crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in the Arab country, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.

The Iraqi army and fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units have been engaged in joint operations to retake militant-held regions.

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Peshmerga Sends Daesh Running for the Hills Ahead of Mosul Offensive

Sputnik News

09:58 17.08.2016

Iraqi Kurds, assisted by US warplanes, pushed Daesh out of 12 villages, destroying military hardware and killing 180 militants in the province of Erbil ahead of a major operation to free Mosul, the second largest city in the country that has been Daesh's stronghold since June 2014, Peshmerga commander Livan Nurettin told Sputnik.

"We plan to prevent Daesh from crossing from Mosul to our province," Livan Nurettin, who leads Peshmerga forces deployed to the areas surrounding the city, said.

The commander added that Masoud Barzani, President of Iraqi Kurdistan, was in charge of the operation, saying that not only did he give the order to launch the operation himself, but that he was present in the area where the fighting took place.

The Peshmerga commander described the operation as successful since the Kurdish troops reached their goal, the Guver bridge.

"We cleared an area of 14 sq. km. Twelve Arab, Turkmen and Kurdish villages located in the Mosul area were freed in the operation," Livan Nurettin explained. "We dealt a major blow to Daesh, killing 180 militants and destroying weapons and ammunition."

The coalition aircraft "carried out massive airstrikes against Daesh targets in the area," the commander added. They "destroyed transport trucks rigged with explosives."

This operation is part of the preliminary stage of the offensive aimed at liberating Mosul.

Meanwhile, Daesh launched an attack on Peshmerga close to the city of Sinjar that was under the militant control from August 2014 until November 2015. Sinjar prefect Mhemed Xelil told Sputnik that Daesh targeted an area located 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away from the city center and a cement factory. The attack took place at dawn.

"The standoff lasted for several hours. More than 100 militants were killed. Peshmerga did not lose a single fighter, but five soldiers were wounded. They are currently being treated," he said. "The area that Daesh attacked is currently under Peshmerga control."

Daesh captured Mosul and large parts of northern and western Iraq in June 2014 in a blitz offensive that shocked the world. The militants are estimated to have lost two thirds of their territories due to the efforts of Iraqi security forces, Kurdish fighters and the US-led coalition.

 Sputnik

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Daesh on Brink of Being Kicked Out From Libya's Sirte

Sputnik News

16:35 17.08.2016(updated 17:53 17.08.2016)

Daesh terrorists have lost almost all the territory they have seized in the Libyan city of Sirte to the forces of Government of National Accord (GNA), GNA head of intelligence Col. Ismail Shukri said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Libyan government forces freed one of three Sirte's districts remaining under Daesh control on Tuesday, the official said in an interview.

"Now there is ongoing fighting in one part of District 1. Districts 1 and 3 are both residential areas adjacent to each other and we will soon advance on them There are about 150 to 200 terrorists still in these districts There is no room for them to escape. They will fight until the last bullet. They had an opportunity to escape earlier but now they are surrounded," Shukri told CNN.

He said that the operation in Sirte was being carried out with the support of the US Air Force.

On August 1, the United States began a new air campaign at the request of and in coordination with the GNA, aimed at fighting Daesh militants. The campaign, called Operation Odyssey Lightning, will allow the GNA to make a strategic advance against the terror group's positions in Sirte, according to the Pentagon.

Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many countries around the world, gained a presence in Libya in the turmoil following the 2011 overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi.

 Sputnik

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Contentious Dam Project Tops Myanmar Leader's China Visit

By William Ide August 17, 2016

The fate of a long-suspended and contentious Chinese dam project in Myanmar is expected to be a key topic of discussion during State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi's visit this week to China.

Before the Wednesday to Sunday visit, state media published a flurry of articles showcasing the importance of ties and the visit.

Myanmar's former military-backed government suspended the hydropower project in 2011, citing concern about China's growing economic influence in the country. Those opposing the dam also objected to the deal that would send 90 percent of the power generated by the dam to China. They also cited environmental impact that would change the flow of the Irrawaddy River. Then opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi opposed the deal.

Reports in Chinese media and comments online have made it clear expectations for a resolution to the dam issue are growing and that Beijing sees the project as a key obstacle to relations, particularly increased commercial ties.

One article in the Communist Party-backed Global Times called the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam a "symbolic project for Sino-Myanmar cooperation" and noted growing hope in China that the two sides might soon reach a "turning point."

Myanmar recently announced plans to establish a committee to review hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy. The committee is expected to provide an assessment report by early November.

Bi Shihong, an international relations professor at China's southern Yunnan University said it is unlikely that during the visit either side will reach an agreement, but it is crucial for Beijing that some progress on the issue is made soon.

"If the issue is not resolved it will be an obstacle to furthering economic ties between China and Myanmar. In particular, Chinese companies involved in big infrastructure projects will have less of reason to feel confident (about investing in Myanmar)," Bi said.

Dam Options

But he was confident the committee could find a way to reach an appropriate solution for the long-stalled project.

Bi said there are really only three options for the government of Myanmar:

1) Completing canceling the project and paying compensation to the Chinese company involved,

2) Allowing the Chinese company to resume the project, or

3) Canceling the project and finding other projects for the company to complete as compensation.

An employee of China Power Investment Corporation, the company behind the project, had an equally sober assessment. In a comment on his SinaWeibo account, China's version of Twitter, the employee noted that expectations shouldn't be too high for the visit.

"The more hope we have, the more disappointment we may face," the post said, adding that the company would continue to try to create favorable conditions for the project to resume as soon as possible.

Communication logjam

Authorities have been tight-lipped about the details of her visit, but Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to meet with Premier Li Keqiang and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

One Weibo user living in Yunnan, a southern province that borders Myanmar, said that while the dam is the biggest concern for China, it is unlikely to resolved any time soon.

More important, the user added is that the two countries focus on promoting, improving and regulating Chinese investment in Myanmar and explore ways China could help with the peace process there.

China is Myanmar's biggest investor, but its longstanding and close relationship with the country's former military rulers has not helped its popularity. And while Myanmar's new government is reaching out to a growing range of countries to improve ties and not be overly reliant on any country, China is stepping up its efforts as well.

Companies are working more aggressively to highlight what they argue are the benefits their projects bring residents in Myanmar. One mining company has even released a 20 minute documentary about how it turned a controversial mining project around.

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Militant rocket attack kills seven civilians in Syria's Aleppo

Iran Press TV

Wed Aug 17, 2016 10:5AM

At least seven civilians, including two women and a child, have lost their lives in a rocket attack by foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants against a residential district in Syria's conflict-plagued northwestern city of Aleppo.

An unnamed security source said the civilians lost their lives when several rockets fired by Takfiri terrorists struck the Salahuddin neighborhood of the city, located 355 kilometers (220 miles) north of the capital, Damascus, on Wednesday morning, Syria's official SANA news agency reported.

The source added that another nine civilians were injured in the attack, warning that the death toll could rise as some of the injured are in critical condition.

The projectiles also caused substantial damage to public properties and several houses in the targeted area.

On Tuesday, foreign-backed militants had struck the same Aleppo neighborhood, leaving eight civilians dead and another 12 injured.

Elsewhere in the predominately Christian-populated Bab Touma neighborhood of Damascus, two people sustained injuries when several mortar shells slammed into the area.

A separate militant mortar attack in al-Zahraa neighborhood of Homs city, located 162 kilometers (101 miles) north of Damascus, damaged a number of residential buildings but no casualties were reported.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

Back in 2014, the UN said it would no more update its official death toll for Syria because it could not verify the figures that it received from various sources.

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With Use Of Iranian Base, Russia Is Trying To Send Clear Message

August 17, 2016

by James Miller

On August 15, Al-Masdar News, an outlet with close ties to the Syrian government's security apparatus, released photos of a Russian TU-22M3 long-distance strategic bomber, which were reportedly taken at the Hamadan airfield in Iran. By the next morning, Russian state-run media was running reports that Russian strategic bombers had taken off from the Iranian base and struck targets in Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, and Idlib provinces in Syria.

Syrian activists and citizens posted videos of the massive devastation and reportedly high casualty rates on the ground as the result of air strikes, some of which were presumably the work of Russia's TU-22M3s. While a statement from Russia's Defense Ministry said the August 15 strikes had killed militants from the Islamic State (IS) extremist group and Jabhat Al-Sham (formerly the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front), Colonel Christopher Garver, a spokesman for the U.S. military's Operation Inherent Resolve, told reporters that "we don't see concentrations of ISIS" in the areas of Aleppo and Idlib, where the majority of the Russian air strikes hit.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner told Voice of America that Russian jets appear to have continued their pattern of "continually, predominantly target[ing] moderate Syrian opposition forces."

Since September 2015, the Russian Air Force has been conducting air strikes across Syria. Most of the aircraft used in these operations have been launched out of the Russian air base in Latakia, in northeastern Syria. TU-22M3s have been used by Russia in Syria, but they are too large for Russia's air strips in the country, so they have flown from bases in Russia. The use of the Iranian air base shortens the length of the bombers' sorties, which would potentially save the Russian Air Force time, fuel, and maintenance costs, although those savings could be at least partially offset by the expense of operating in a new country.

It is also questionable whether the strategic bombers add much to Russia's operational capabilities. The anti-Assad rebels they appear to be targeting aren't holding the kinds of heavily fortified ground positions or using sophisticated tanks that the missiles fired by the TU-22M3 were designed to destroy. Instead, Russia has mainly used strategic bombers in Syria to carpet-bomb cities and towns, a tactic that is devastating to civilians below. Russia has also used strategic bombers to launch cruise missiles, a move which many experts consider to be symbolic, rather than tactical, in nature.

The use of Russian strategic bombers, however, is not without purpose. First, when Russia starting using cruise missiles in the fall of 2015, those missiles had to travel through Iranian and Iraqi airspace, which meant those countries had to approve the flight plans. This week, once again, Russia sought clearance to use the airspace over Iran and Iraq to launch cruise missiles. Thus, Russia was signaling to its adversaries that its mission in Syria had legitimacy and had been approved by other countries.

Second, as so many of Russia's air strikes have targeted armed groups that have fought IS and have received backing from the United States, the Russians were sending a message when these bombers first appeared, to Syrians -- and indeed the world -- that Moscow was willing to back its allies with the entire might of the Kremlin, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop them.

During the summer of 2015 that preceded the start of Russia's air campaign, the military of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had lost significant ground to anti-Assad rebels who were cutting deeper and deeper into government territory. Russia's intervention, thus, was designed to reverse their momentum and crush Assad's opposition. It worked, for a time. Until last month, Syria's rebels were on the retreat in much of the country, as the Syrian government advanced with the help of the Russian Air Force, Russian mercenaries, Hizballah fighters, Shi'ite militias from Iraq, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commandos.

In the last month, however, Syrian rebels have broken the siege of Aleppo and have potentially reversed the momentum of the war once again, a testament to the weakness of the Assad military. Russia may once again be ramping up its direct involvement in the conflict in order to push the rebels back.

Third, not only did Russia prove that it, too, was still capable of waging a war beyond its immediate borders, it also demonstrated several previously untested weapons systems, with the potential to make lots of money in arms sales in the process.

Russia might also have more malign aims. In the fall of 2015, at the start of Russia's bombing campaign, Raed Fares, a well-known Syrian activist living in Kafranbel, in Idlib Province, told me that despite the fact that the town was controlled by a U.S.-vetted moderate rebel group, the Forsan al-Haq Brigade, and IS had not held positions anywhere near the town in two years, a Russian air strike created the most spectacular and frightening explosion he had ever seen. In Kafranbel, a symbol of the anti-Assad revolution that has been heavily bombed by Assad since 2012, that's saying something.

The result, for Fares, was a feeling of hopelessness.

"Assad has been killing us for five years, then Hizballah, and Iran, then Russia...All of them are killing us, but no one in the world cares for us," he told me then. It seems that a key component of the pro-Assad coalition's strategy is to chase people like Fares from Syria. If no one is left in the country but jihadists and Assad supporters, because moderates have either been killed, turned into refugees, or radicalized, then the Russian narrative that all those who oppose Assad are terrorists will finally become the truth.

Furthermore, the sowing of further chaos and the creation of yet more refugees also benefits Assad and Russia. Many more refugees will flee to Assad's regional adversaries, making them weaker in the process. Others will flee to Europe, where far-right, sometimes pro-Kremlin, Euroskeptic political parties are helping trying to weaken the European Union from within.



Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ russia-iranian-air-base-syria- strikes-message/27928920.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Why Russia Uses Iran's Hamadan Airfield for Airstrikes in Syria

Sputnik News

19:03 17.08.2016(updated 19:04 17.08.2016)

The Russian Defense Ministry has deployed Tu-22 strategic bombers to an airbase in Iran. According to experts, the measure would intensify bombings against Daesh militants in Syria to decide the battle for Aleppo.

Since the very beginning of the Syrian war, Tehran has been a close ally to Damascus, and then Moscow.

In June, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu paid the first visit to Tehran. Then, the minister and his Syrian and Iranian partners discussed the measures to intensify actions against Daesh and al-Nusra Front terrorists.

On August 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani. In particular, the two leaders discussed the situation in Syria.

The arrangement to use aviation from an airfield in Iran would bolster Moscow's positions in the regions and could turn Russia into the major player on the Syrian settlement, an article in The New York Times read.

The first combat sorties from the Hamadan airfield in Iran were conducted on August 16. According to the Defense Ministry, aircraft bombed positions of Daesh and al-Nusra Front terrorists in Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor and Idlib.

Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bombers have been involved in the Syrian operation since last fall.

The use of strategic bombers from Hamadan would reduce the flight time and increase payload, military analyst Anton Lavrov said.

"Su-24 bombers is less effective than the Tu-22M3. One Tu-22M3 can carry up to 12 tons of missiles and bombs to 2,000 km. The distance between Hamadan and Aleppo is less than 1,000 km," he told RBK.

Flights of Russian strategic bombers from the Hamadan base would increase the intensity and efficiency of Russian airstrikes, Alexander Khamchikhin, head of the Institute for Political and Military Analysis, pointed out.

The Tu-22 bombers deployed in Iran conducted the first airstrikes in the Syrian province of Aleppo where al-Nusra Front militant hold positions, according to the Defense Ministry.

"Aleppo is much as important as Damascus. This is why all participants of the conflict want to take positions there to decide the battle," Egyptian military analyst Hossam Suweilam told RIA Novosti.

According to the expert, despite the fact that airstrikes have been intensified actions on the ground are needed to defeat the terrorists.

"Militants in Aleppo are holding positions on the ground and airstrikes are not that effective against them," he said.

Egyptian military expert Gamal Mazlum noted that the use of the Hamadan airfield is part of the support by Tehran for Syrian President Bashar Assad, including with troops, military specialists and equipment.

"This airfield is closer to the battlefield. Previously, Russia used strategic bombers from its airfields. The use of the Hamadan airbase is aimed at supporting Assad's government in Syria," Mazlum suggested.

At the same time, the Hamadan airfield is unlikely to become the second Hmeymim base, experts said.

"Unlike Syria, Iran is an independent state and Tehran is playing its own game. The agreement on the Hamadan base is unlikely to be long-term," Gumer Isayev, head of St. Petersburg-based Center for Contemporary Middle Eastern Studies, was quoted as saying by RBK.

According to the specialist, Russia and Iran are working together over Syria but Tehran is also building ties with Western partners. In situation, Russian bombers could become a bargaining chip.

At the same time, Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, underscored that the use of the Hamadan airfield by the Russian Defense Ministry is a new level in ties between Moscow and Tehran.

"Iran is very sensitive about any foreign troops. But the cooperation between Moscow and Tehran is a sign of confidence in bilateral ties. It's more than just arms deals," he concluded.

 Sputnik

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Residents consult about house property information at a housing trade fair in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. [Photo/Xinhua]

A land parcel in central Shanghai sold at a record-breaking price of 11.01 billion yuan ($1.66 billion) on Wednesday.

This means the housing price will be estimated at more than 150,000 yuan per square meter when the residential project is completed.

Rongxin (Fujian) Investment Group Co Ltd became the new "Land King" when it won a bid on the land parcel in Jing'an district, which is just two kilometers from the Bund, which borders the Huangpu River and People's Square in the city center, and three kilometers from Lujiazui, a financial hub.

Rongxin is the fifth developer to win the title of "Land King", meaning a developer which purchased a land parcel at the highest price on record in Shanghai.

The city's limited land supply for residential development and developers' growing appetite to refill their land reserves for future development, after they gained good liquidity from robust sales revenue in the first half of 2016, are the main rationale behind the land fever, said analysts.

The land auction was completed after 18 developers competed in more than 460 rounds of bidding. The final price was 1.40 times the minimum bid price.

"In the first 10 minutes, you might think they are crazy, but all you would feel is the eagerness for a piece of land in central Shanghai. This could be the last chance for a long time for many developers to include a land parcel at a premium location, due to the limited supply of land in the city center," said Wang Yuanchen who witnessed the bidding on Wednesday morning.

Lu Wenxi, an analyst with Shanghai Centaline Property Consultancy Ltd, said recent moves by regional authorities in Suzhou and Nanjing to cool the land markets in those cities have also made developers to cast their sights on Shanghai, which has already experienced authorities' adjustment and controls.

Even though recent land supply in Shanghai is rising, the supply in the central area remains limited, so bidding for a land parcel in central Shanghai is going to be fiercer in the future.

More than four parcels of land in suburban Shanghai have been auctioned in the past three months, while only two parcels of land in central Shanghai were available.

Zhang Hongwei, an analyst with Shanghai Tongce Real Estate Consultancy Ltd, said policies on financing for bidding on land parcels might get stricter in the next few months to reduce risk exposures amid the land fever, and more measures to cool down the land market are likely to be introduced after September.
Russian Su-34 Jets Deployed in Iran Conduct Airstrikes Against Daesh in Syria

Sputnik News

12:00 17.08.2016(updated 15:04 17.08.2016)

Russian Su-34 jets deployed in Iran conducted airstrikes against Daesh in Syria's Deir ez-Zor, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Russian Su-34 strike fighters deployed at the Hamadan airbase in Iran carried out airstrikes against Daesh targets in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor and destroyed two command centers and two Daesh training camps.

Some 150 Daesh terrorists, including foreign fighters, have been killed as a result of Russia's strikes on Wednesday, the ministry said.

"On August 17, 2016, Russian Su-34 bombers carried out strikes from the Hamadan airfield on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran against targets of the Daesh terrorist group in the province of Deir ez-Zor. Aircraft carried high-explosive bombs OFAB-500."

All aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces returned to their home bases after carrying out airstrikes on Daesh targets in Deir ez-Zor, the ministry said.

"The Su-35S aircraft based at the Hmeymim airbase [in Syria] provided fighter-bomber air cover for the bombers. After successfully conducting combat missions, all Russian aircraft returned to their home bases."

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that it had deployed Tu-22M3 bombers and Su-34 strike fighters in Iran and these aircraft have already been used to carried out airstrikes against Daesh in Syria.

The Su-34 fighter-bomber has been tested in the war against Islamist radicals in Syria where the aircraft arrived among the first Russian forces in 2015.

 Sputnik

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Russian Planes Conduct More Syria Airstrikes From Iran

By Mehdi Jedinia, Fatima Tlisova August 17, 2016

Russian warplanes flew from Iran to carry out airstrikes in Syria for a second day Wednesday.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the strikes originating from Hamedan airbase targeted Islamic State militants. The first round of airstrikes Tuesday were aimed at Islamic State as well as the jihadist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected a U.S. State Department spokesman's assertion that the flights could amount to a violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution banning the sale or transfer of combat aircraft to Iran.

The speaker of Iran's parliament Ali Larijani also stressed Wednesday that Iran has not given Russia a permanent base in its territory.

Important new development

Russia has been conducting airstrikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad's government since September of last year, but until this week the flights have originated from either Syria or Russia itself.

Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and the Jamestown Foundation, said the new flights mark an important development.

"I cannot remember any other state since 1979 having been given basing permission by Iran. It brings Russia into Iran like we have not seen before," Vatanka said. "The official line is that it provides Russia with a backup option and less anxiety about potential anti-air missiles in the hands of the Syrian rebels that can target Russian assets based inside Syria. But as I said, it is a bigger story than just that. Russia is moving closer to the warm waters of the Persian Gulf."

Flying from Hamedan airbase instead of Russia's base at Mozdoko in the north Caucasus cuts the distance from nearly 2,000 kilometers to less than 700 kilometers.

The chief of the Russian Federation Council's defense committee, Viktor Ozerov, said the shorter flying distance would increase the accuracy of Russia's airstrikes and allow pilots to avoid advanced ground-to-air missiles in the Syrian rebels' arsenals.

Some see other motives in Russia's move.

"Placing Tupolev Tu-22M3 bombers in Hamedan certainly shortens the distance," said Blake Fleisher, a policy analyst with the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. "But it's hard to believe that shortening the distance is the only reason."

Increased influence

Analyst Martin Reardon of The Soufan Group said Russia is accomplishing two things by boosting its influence and role in the Middle East.

"It shows the world that they are in fact a re-emerging global power," the former senior FBI official said. "It also offsets U.S. efforts moving back toward the Cold War era when the U.S. and Russia were playing against each other for influence."

In January, Russia and Iran signed a military cooperation deal for wider collaboration in training and counterterrorism activities.

"Russians proposed this idea [a] few months ago and it was discussed with the Iranian authorities back in December 2015," said Babak Taghvai, a Russian military expert based in Malta. "But due to unknown reasons, it was rejected until this July."

Kapil Komireddi, an international affairs analyst based in Britain, said the latest developments are "a clear message to Washington that all decisions are not necessarily made in [the] White House. ... An alliance with Moscow, and letting the Russians use its bases, is a clear message from Tehran that it will do whatever it takes to serve its interests in the region."

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Frayed IS Fighters Plot Strategy in Northern Syria

Sirwan Kajjo August 17, 2016

Pushed from their strategic stronghold of Manbij in northern Syria in recent days by U.S.-backed forces, retreating Islamic State fighters are scrambling over how and where to next make a stand.

Islamic State militants are becoming increasingly trapped in pockets along the Turkish border and are reportedly resorting to desperate measures, according to analysts and commanders of forces fighting Islamic State (IS).

After months of fighting for Manbij, held by IS for nearly two years, U.S.-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance forces are bent on pursuing IS in other pockets that remain under its control. Losing Manbij was a severe blow to the militants, according to the Pentagon and local commanders.

"Manbij was a central hub [for IS] for transporting foreign fighters and supplies from Turkey into its territories in Syria," said Nasir Hajji Mansur, a military commander with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

During the 73-day-long Manbij offensive, more than 4,000 IS fighters were killed, the SDF said Tuesday in a news conference from inside Manbij.

Mansur said it is now extremely difficult for IS fighters to move as freely to and from Turkey as they could when they were in control of Manbij.

Air campaign

Coupled with an ongoing airstrike campaign by the U.S.-led coalition, military advances made by local anti-IS forces have forced the militant group to be on the defensive on many front lines in Syria. IS fighters are likely to look for new frontiers in Syria where they can hold territory.

"The would-be caliphate will want to offset its losses in northern Syria with gains in places like Homs, Hama and Dara'a, where it is not subject to the same pressure," said Nicholas A. Heras, a Middle East researcher at the Center for a New American Security.

IS recently stepped up its fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the eastern part of Homs province. Most of the coalition airstrikes against IS targets have been concentrating on north and eastern Syria.

Recent IS territorial losses have contributed to the shrinking of Islamic State's economy that is largely dependent on the dynamics of Syria's civil war.

"The more territories they lose, the harder it gets for them to be effective in governance," said Jowan Hemo, a Syrian economist who closely observes IS economic activities.

IS salaries reduced

Two days after it was defeated in Manbij, IS reduced salaries of its public servants in northern Syria by 50 percent and its fighters by 20 percent, local news reports said.

"Their economy is clearly deteriorating," economist Hemo said. "International coalition's airstrikes on (IS) oil facilities have reduced selling power by nearly 90 percent."

While the militant group is on the defensive in parts of Syria, military leaders say IS will not be fully defeated unless it is ousted from its remaining major strongholds.

"Raqqa and Deir Ezzor are still in their hands," Mansur said, referring to the major Syrian cities.

"[The control of] these cities brings them military confidence," he told VOA in a phone interview.

The U.S.-led coalition has said the liberation of Manbij will help it move forward with its plan to retake Islamic State's de-facto capital, Raqqa, in Syria.

"Manbij will inform us as to how we are going to fight in Raqqa," U.S. Gen. Sean MacFarland said recently.

SDF commanders in recent days formed an "al-Bab Military Council," with the aim of liberating al-Bab, an IS-held town about 32 kilometers west of Manbij.

"The [international] military coalition will continue to work with capable and motivated local forces to defeat [IS] and ensure it remains defeated," U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said this week.

Terror attacks likely

To draw attention elsewhere and show its strength, IS will most likely try to increase its terror attacks outside Syria  especially in Turkey where it has had success in multiple attacks that have killed hundreds in recent months.

"[IS] will most likely carry out more suicide attacks now that its offensive capabilities are weakening," Mansur said.

In the August issue of its Turkish-language magazine, Konstantiniyye, IS renewed its threats to the West, calling on its followers to carry out attacks in Europe and the United States.

"Know that your targeting civilian people is more pleasant and impressive to us," said the magazine, enticing its supporters in the West to attack civilians.



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Turkey to Free 38,000 Inmates to Make Room for Coup Detainees

By Dorian Jones August 17, 2016

Turkey is set to release 38,000 prisoners in an apparent move to make space for thousands of people arrested as part of an investigation into last month's failed coup. Meanwhile, more putsch-related dismissals and arrests are taking place, despite calls for proportionality from Ankara's Western allies.

In a tweet Wednesday, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag announced the release of the prisoners sanctioned by a government decree under the current Emergency Rule.

No reason was given for the early release, but in a statement an official said only non-violent prisoners would be freed and they would remain under supervision.

Nearly 20,000 people have been arrested since last month's coup attempt.

Human rights groups in Turkey have claimed the prisons are so overcrowded that detainees are being forced to sleep in shifts.

Overcrowding at issue

Turkey researcher Andrew Gardner of London-based Amnesty International said even before the latest detentions, Turkey was facing chronic prison overcrowding.

"The concerns we have had regarding prisons, especially recently, following the huge numbers of detentions following the coup attempt, is overcrowding in prisons. From that perspective, it is possible the large number of releases will help this situation," Gardner said.

But observers say the mass release of prisoners is a sign there will be no let-up in the ongoing crackdown. The government has vowed to root out all those who supported the failed military takeover. More than 240 people died resisting the coup.

Amnesty International's Gardner said there also are concerns about the treatment of those being detained.

"Especially after the first week of the coup attempt there were very serious allegations of ill-treatment in places of detention. Now there are concerning reports of arbitrary practices in prison, including some accounts of ill treatment in prisons, which are very concerning. But also we have heard reports of people being beaten during transfer from courthouse to prison. We have heard cases of people being beaten during transfer from one prison to another," Gardner said.

Concerns about rule of law violations

Bozdag has dismissed allegations of mistreatment; but opposition parties are voicing concern for the rule of law to be respected, a call echoed by Turkey's Western allies.

There are also concerns over the growing numbers of detentions and the more than 70,000 dismissals of people working for the Turkish State. This week, nearly 300 people working in Istanbul's law courts were detained and arrest warrants issued for scores of businessmen.

The head of international relations for the Turkish presidency, Ayse Sozen Usluer, said due process will be observed.

"This is just a precaution taken in Turkey. This does not mean everybody will be in the judiciary process or they will be sentenced. Or they can even go back to their work," Usluer said.

The government warns the ongoing crackdown will continue, and with room in prisons being created for 40,000 more people, more arrests are expected.

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MOD buys third record-breaking UAV

17 August 2016

MOD announce order of third Zephyr-S Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has today announced it has ordered a third, record-breaking, Zephyr-S Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), as part of a 13-million contract with Airbus Defence and Space (ADS).

Zephyr-S is the latest version of a highly sophisticated series of ultra-lightweight UAVs, capable of flying up to 70,000ft - twice the altitude of a commercial airliner - for up to 45 days at a time. Referred to as a High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS), it performs more like a satellite than a conventional UAV.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:

"Zephyr is a cutting edge, record-breaking piece of kit that will be capable of gathering constant, reliable information over vast geographical areas at a much greater level of detail than ever before."

"They are part of our plan for stronger and better defence, backed by a budget that will rise each year of this decade. That means more ships, more aircraft, more troops available at readiness, better equipment for special forces, more being spent on cyber  to deal with the increased threats to our country."

The third Zephyr-S will join the two previously ordered by the MOD in February. Built in Farnborough by ADS, all three will form part of an Operational Concept Demonstrator (OCD) to assess Zephyr's capabilities and explore its potential for use by the UK Armed Forces and other Government Departments. The additional Zephyr-S will allow 2 airframes to be tested simultaneously and demonstrate operational handover to show that the capability could be sustained indefinitely.

The OCD trials, which will be held in 2017, will inform Defence's decisions around how best to provide next-generation battlefield intelligence to the UK Armed Forces.

Defence Equipment and Support Chief Executive, Tony Douglas, said:

"Zephyr utilizes a wide range of innovative technologies with the aim of delivering a world leading disruptive capability."

"Purchasing a third airframe demonstrates how the MOD, through DE&S, can create a positive and collaborative partnership with industry, vital for both the UK economy and for our Armed Forces."

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Crimea Calls on EU to Stop Violating Helsinki Accords Ensuring Free Movement

Sputnik News

17:11 17.08.2016

The European Union must stop violating the Helsinki accords by preventing Crimean people from meeting their relatives, who live in the EU countries, Georgy Muradov, Crimea's permanent representative with the Russian president, said on Wednesday.

SIMFEROPOL (Sputnik)  The Helsinki Final Act was signed by 35 countries in August 1975, in an attempt to improve relations between the then-communist bloc, comprising the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact. The humanitarian part of the Helsinki accords includes states' obligations to ensure people's rights to free movement, exchange of information, education, cultural contacts, medical care and others.

"I want to call on the European Union to stop violating the Helsinki Final Act and not to block family ties of our Crimean communities with their fellow citizens, who are living abroad. They are not granting visas, they are impeding communication between relatives  that is a direct violation of the Helsinki Final Act. That refers to Germany, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and many other EU states," Muradov said at a press conference in the Crimean office of the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency.

Crimea became part of Russia after almost 97 percent of those who voted in a local referendum on the issue in 2014 supported the move. Ukraine did not recognize the outcomes of the referendum in Crimea and accused Russia of annexation.

 Sputnik

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NORWAY, Iowa, Aug. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grant applications are now being accepted for funding from the Positive Change Project, Aura Cacia's new social giving program. The brand established the Positive Change Project in 2016 to help women and girls facing difficult life situations make transformational improvements in their lives.

"We are inspired by the power of positive change  in our own lives, and in the lives of women everywhere," said Aura Cacia Public Relations Manager Anne Rierson. "Now, each time you purchase one of our products, you support women and girls working to positively transform their lives."

Nonprofit (501(c)(3)) tax-exempt organizations or grassroots groups serving women and girls are encouraged to apply for Positive Change Project Grants. Proposed projects must focus on equipping women and girls with the resources to further their commitment to live more purposeful lives.

Applications will be accepted until Nov. 31, 2016. Successful applicants will receive a Positive Change Project funding allocation in January 2017 to run the calendar year.

Grant guidelines, funding priorities and the Positive Change Project Grant application are all available at http://www.auracacia.com/positive-change-project/.

The first donation was made to Thistle Farms' Young Survivors program, which provides young women who have suffered from abuse, drug use and/or prostitution with a dedicated residential community where they can recover with peers who share their struggle. The program also offers these women opportunities to gain meaningful tools for a successful life through individualized therapy, education and vocational training.

The Positive Change Project logo began appearing on the Aura Cacia website, packaging and related collateral materials beginning in January 2016. The Aura Cacia Organic One Percent Program has been phased out beginning January 2016.

Aura Cacia

Inspired by the power of positive change, Aura Cacia sells products made from simple and pure botanical ingredients that unlock nature's ability to improve our well-being. The brand sources ingredients carefully and sustainably from the best locations around the world, then tests every shipment of essential oil to verify its purity and quality. Each purchase of an Aura Cacia product supports organizations that help women transform their lives through the brand's Positive Change Project. Aura Cacia is a brand of Frontier Co-op. Learn more at www.auracacia.com.

Frontier Co-op

Founded in 1976 and based in Norway, Iowa, Frontier Co-op offers a full line of natural and organic products under the Frontier, Simply Organic and Aura Cacia brands. Products include culinary herbs, spices and baking flavors; bulk herbs and spices; and natural and organic aromatherapy products. Frontier's goal is to provide consumers with the highest-quality organic and natural products while supporting and promoting social and environmental responsibility. For more information, visit Frontier Co-op's website at www.frontiercoop.com.
MYRTLE BEACH, Aug. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Legendary Management, Inc. confirms they outgrew Charleston and is headed for the beach. In the last three months the company acquired clients spanning across the Myrtle Beach area, furthering their footing in the event promotions market in South Carolina.

Nate Kelly, Director of Operations for Legendary Management, Inc. began an apprenticeship with an associate, Jacob Moore preparing for this surge in expansion since the beginning of the year. As Jacobs expertise in business management, corporate training and client relations grew, it became apparent to Nate that Jacobs time had come for a promotion. The growth that I have seen Jacob achieve, both personally and professionally, since the beginning of the year is incredible. The most rewarding part about what we do is watching fellow associates grow into an executive role. Jacob has most certainly earned his rank, explained Nate.

After consulting with the companys Fortune 100 clients, a mutual agreement was made. As of May 11th, Jacob Moore would take on the corporate clients in the Charleston area while Nate would turn his focus to Myrtle Beach.

Home of the Grand Strand, a strand of beaches stretching across 60 miles of South Carolinas Atlantic coast, projections suggest Myrtle Beach will prove most profitable for Legendary Management, Inc. Nate will begin building his clients brand in one location, with opportunities to grow into nearly 8 locations in the up-coming months.

In order to stay on track with this years projections, both Nate and Jacob have opened the interview process across the state. Directors in both locations seek team oriented, competitive and driven professionals to fill both Brand Marketing and Event Management positions. Legendary Management, Inc. offers a paid training process coupled with career growth opportunities for individuals with great student mentalities and a desire to exceed expectations. For more information regarding the career opportunities offered, visit www.legendarymanagementinc.com.
Despite being the world's second largest economy with a total population of 1.3 billion, China still struggles to transform the lives and living conditions of about 70 million people that are still living in poverty.

It should be recalled that China was once described as the dark side on earth due to its previous system of operating in isolation, but during the early 1970s they decided to implement the reform and opening-up policy.

South Sudan has an exceptional poverty problem, as the majority of the population lives far below the poverty level. This is a problem that affects development.

Reform and opening over the years has helped transform the Chinese economy, which depended largely on agriculture during the 1980s, into an industrial economy that is the second largest on the planet.

Despite this achievement, China is still among a developing country with 70 million people living under the poverty line.

The Chinese government over the years has been putting measures in place to see how it can completely eliminate poverty from the lives of those people before the end of 2020, which is the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020) that started this year.

One province where the Chinese central government, together with the local government, has successfully been fighting poverty is Ningxia Province, most specifically in the Xiji-Haiyuan-Guyuan region.

This area is the poorest in China. Back in 1982, the poverty rate was as high as 74.8%.

According to Cai Guoying, a standing member of the Ningxia Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Ningxia has been the pioneer of China's poverty alleviation and development movements since 1982. After 30 years of hard work, the Xiji-Haiyuan-Guyuan area was revolutionized and entered a new era.

Cai Guoying made the explanation during a meeting with African journalists who visited Ningxia Province on June 12.

He explained that the poverty alleviation and development movement in Ningxia went through five periods and carved out a practical method in line with regional characteristics based on nine measures.

Cai added that in order to resolve the problem of drought, many large-scale hydraulic projects were constructed and 200 reservoirs were built.

He said, "The infrastructure transfers more than 500 million cubic meters of water into the Xiji-Haiyuan-Guyuan area every year, which can water 102,000 hectares of farmland, resolve the drinking safety problem of 1.9 million people and increase the rate of tap water coverage to 72%."

"In Yinchuan City, the capital of Ningxia, two middle schools were built to enroll poor students from Xiji-Haiyuan-Guyuan area and professional education and training is free and agriculture-related training is subsidized," he recalled.

Financial subsidies are provided to the poor areas. At the end of 2015, 77.1% of dangerous housing was transformed or rebuilt and 1.16 million people were relocated voluntarily.

In one of the transformed villages where some of the poor people were relocated, Heshun Village in Liangtian Township of Jingling District, Yinchuan, people are now living in modern houses and engage in small-scale business for their livelihood.

African leaders can implement some of these strategies in combating poverty which is constituting a serious epidemic across the continent, with particular reference to South Sudan, where there is abundant water but still people find it very difficult to access safe drinking water and proper education.
A 44-year-old Taiwanese woman who visited Miami in the United States from July 31 to August 11 was confirmed to have been infected with the Zika virus, Taiwan's center for disease control said Wednesday.

It is the sixth case of imported Zika virus infection in Taiwan and the third involving a local resident.

The woman returned to the island on Aug. 12 and sought medical assistance after developing a rash on her legs and abdomen, according to the center, which added the woman's symptoms have subsided and she is currently in good health.

The center announced on Aug. 12 that a 27-year-old man who returned to Taiwan from St.Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean was confirmed to have been infected with the Zika virus. The first case involving a local resident was reported on Aug. 4.

The other three imported cases involved residents from Thailand and Indonesia.
MOTLEY  The state must do something about the traffic danger at U.S. 29 and Shula Drive  such as installing a traffic signal or warning lights, residents said during a public meeting held Wednesday night in northern Pittsylvania County.

Susan Nichols told state and local officials there is poor visibility at the intersection where it can appear no cars are approaching from U.S. 29. However, as soon as you pull out of the intersection from Shula Drive, a fast-moving car pops up and will not slow down, Nichols said.

Something needs to be done, she said.

About 50-60 people attended the meeting at the Hurt-Motley Ruritan Club on Jasper Wood Road in Motley. Delegate Les Adams attended, along with officials from the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Virginia State Police.

Pittsylvania County Supervisor Elton Blackstock  who organized the meeting and requested state officials attendance  was also there, along with Pittsylvania County Assistant Administrator Greg Sides.

Several residents said a stoplight would be the best option to make the intersection safer.

During an interview before the meeting, VDOT Traffic Engineer Anthony Rago said there have been two traffic fatalities at the intersection in less than two years  one in January 2015 and the other at the end of June this year.

A VDOT study from 2011 found there were three crashes there over three years, and there have been six crashes over the past three years, according to a more recent study covering March 1, 2013 to Feb. 29, 2016. Five of those six crashes were T-bone accidents, said Gerry Harter, area traffic engineer with VDOT.

However, another crash occurred on March 8, just days after the most recent study was completed.

VDOT officials added a center island to avoid double stacking at the intersection, as well as yield signs, in June.

Additional options include median closures or directional medians to further limit traffic movements at the intersection. Warning lights are an option to notify approaching drivers of motorists at the intersection, Harter said. Another alternative includes stoplights, he said.

Were trying not to put in traffic [signals], unless theyre absolutely needed, Harter said.

Members of the Ruritan Club approached Blackstock about traffic issues at the intersection, which prompted him to request a study from VDOT as well as the meeting.

Resident Barbara Myers said she was in an accident at the intersection about 18 years ago.

Thank goodness I survived, Myers said, asking whether a warning light could be installed.

Harold Arthur asked officials where VDOT was at this point in the process of addressing the intersections dangers.

Harter said a Roadway Safety Assessment Study will be performed and he went over the options with residents. Though a traffic signal is possible, its not likely since U.S. 29 is considered a corridor of statewide significance, Harter said.

Its  going to be a hard sell, he said, adding that a stoplight could result in rear-end accidents.

Arthur pointed out when drivers pull out of Shula Drive onto U.S. 29, they dont speed up.

Closing the median will hurt access for a nearby grocery store, he added.

Another resident said he would like to see caution lights installed 100 feet ahead of the intersection.
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To the editor:

I am writing this letter to express my voice and my deepest concern for the survival of this great nation, America.

I also have a heart of compassion for our moral values, Christianity, God the Creator, liberty and the Constitution. These values are the foundation and principles upon which our Founding Fathers based their faith, inspiration, guidance and decisions.

I believe that their faith was so strong to preserve these values, that they fought and died for them, so this inheritance will live in the hearts of generations to come.

I keep abreast of news on the agendas of both parties in order to determine which one will protect, support, and preserve our values. I sincerely find the Republican Party to be the one that stands for the values that make our country great.

Questions of important matters facing American citizens:

 Why is the Democratic Party so sly, secretive and progressive that they allow thousands of illegal immigrants and refugees into this country? Wouldnt it be for the purpose of increasing their voting block to empower their party forever?

 Why does the Democratic Party get the majority of votes from the Latinos, African Americans, homosexuals, women, unions, youth, recipients of free hand-outs, Hollywood stars and maybe the risky early-release criminals? Is it all about their common cause of getting benefits for their desired favors, in exchange for votes to the liberal Democratic Party?

 What impact will multiple foreign cultures and languages have on the American culture?

 Which culture will the liberal Democratic Party ultimately support and devote their partiality?

The established American culture should not have to live in fear, due to liberal politicians, rather than have a broader base of voters.

The liberals are blaming the conservatives, and those who oppose a flood of refugees and immigrants. They claim we are heartless and have no compassion. As I see it, the White House cant even protect and serve this countrys affairs effectively, much less additional millions of people. The Democrats should come up with real solutions for our immigration problems that screen those we would be proud to welcome to our country. It is not an easy problem to solve.

Donald Trump is a very successful businessman, who speaks out about a multitude of the serious problems that face our country presently, and in the future. I believe that his determination to correct our problems will give him the experience needed to be the leader we need, as he uses his business experience for the good of our nation.

On the other hand, Hillary Clinton brings a lot of baggage of lies and scandals, all the way back to her Whitewater days. Its a lot easier to count her lies and scandals than her accomplishments.

Her goal is money and control. I believe she also wants to destroy our values, and the Republican Party in the process. Can an extremely careless Secretary of State be an effective leader for this nation? If Hillary becomes president, do you really think she will be satisfied with a salary, instead of millions of dollars funneled through the Clinton Foundation? This nation has not begun to lose morally, spiritually and economically if we place her in the White House.

It is the duty of all mankind to seek our Creators will concerning this election. Were hanging in the balance.

BOBBY DOSS

Danville
CHATHAM  The Pittsylvania County Finance Committee has been looking into changes to the merchants capital tax since May, after many residents complaints that it unfairly affected large inventory businesses.

Merchants capital tax is currently assessed at 30 percent of the original cost for all inventory on a businesss lot on Jan. 1. The original cost is calculated by multiplying $2.75 per $100 assessed value.

One family particularly vocal about the unfairness of the assessment method was the Merricks family of Ringgold. They are the owners of RV Outlet USA, which has an inventory to the tune of $10 million, according to Larry Merricks.

The Merricks family proposed a cap on the inventory that would be taxed, but county officials were unable to determine whether it would be legal for them to enforce, because Virginia is a Dillon Rule state.

The new assessment method that the finance committee agreed on would operate in a three-tiered system, with a lower percentage taxed the more capital a business has. The first tier would be for value up to $1 million, and would be assessed at the current rate. The second tier would be for value up to of $1 million to $5 million, and would be assessed at 10 percent of the original cost. The third tier would be for any value higher than $5 million, and would be assessed at 5 percent of the original cost.

The change would mean that the county would have to refund $83,944 to businesses that have already paid bills, and offer abatements of $174,431 for businesses that have not yet paid the bill for the second half of this year.

Elton Blackstock, chairman of the finance committee, said he thought by doing this, the board is making a good decision, and they are moving the county forward. This change will be up for public hearing at the Sept. 6 board meeting, and then it will be put to a full vote for the board of supervisors.

I think its gonna be a lot better for the businesses in Pittsylvania County, said Kenny Merricks of the proposed change. I think its really gonna help out all of the businesses in Pittsylvania County. I hope that definitely passes and goes through.
Businesses downtown were shuttered early Wednesday due to a power outage in the River District.

Closed, no power! exclaimed a sign on the door at Main Street Coffee Emporium, along with numerous other businesses shortly after noon.

However, a few opened up to customers and weathered the outage before power could be restored. Others said they were not affected.

X-S Fashion Design Alterations co-owner Xinia West said she was doing everything manually until the power comes back on.

Were doing everything by hand  getting ready so when the power comes, we can sew with the sewing machine, West said during an interview at her and her husbands business on Main Street.

She was resigned yet hopeful about the situation.

Theres nothing I can do, West said, adding that she had tasks to perform, including cleaning up. Im hoping it comes on soon.

She planned to remain at the store  which opened on Main Street about three years ago  until 2 or 3 p.m. and then head home.

Mark Lavinder, owner at Lavinder Group & Associates insurance agency, said they closed because of the outage but cleared out their refrigerator to prevent spoiling, and called and emailed customers.

It definitely creates hardships, Lavinder said of the outage.

Were just trying to take care of our customers, he added.

An electrical substation on Bridge Street was offline after a transformer failure occurred Tuesday night, shutting down power. City workers shifted the electrical load to other substations to restore service to some customers, according to a news release from the city Wednesday morning.

Close to 2,000 customers remained without power Tuesday morning in the Jefferson Avenue and Bradley Road areas. The Bridge Street substation serves more than 3,000 customers in the River District.

The outage led to closures at the citys Central Collections Division at the Charles H. Harris Financial Service Center, the Danville Public Library main branch and the City Auditorium on Floyd Street. Danville Social Services was open but provided only limited services due to the outage.

Sarita Gusler, manager at River District Artisans, said the store had power when she arrived there at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday.

I guess were lucky because it came on earlier, Gusler said.

However, the stores eight employees from the Hatcher Center were unable to come to work, she said. They could not work without a power source at the store when the power was out, Gusler said.

At The Brick Running & Tri Store, Marquita Cubbage and her daughter, Alanah Allgood, were looking for a pair of running shoes for Allgood.

The power outage left Cubbage out of work for the day and Allgood off from school at Galileo Magnet High School.

For Cubbage, an office manager at Jones & Associates and Prescott Financial Management on Main Street, the outage provided an opportunity for quality time with her daughter and two other children.

I have a little extra time to spend with my children, Cubbage said. Thats one plus.

The power went out at their home as well, which created difficulties getting her other two children ready for school Wednesday morning, Cubbage said. It was a hassle, she said.

It makes you appreciate the good things, Cubbage added regarding the outage.

Adam Jones, owner at The Brick, said the outage did not affect his business but left him without power at his home at Smith Seed Lofts.

The door code at the complex was not working then Jones arrived home Tuesday night, leaving him with no way to get into the building, he said. About a half hour passed before he could enter the complex, he added.

It was an inconvenience for all of us, Jones said.

Power was restored to all customers at about 1:20 p.m. Wednesday.

The outage wasnt the first at the Bridge Street substation.

A bad underground cable at the substation left a portion of downtown Danville without electricity for more than four hours last month  affecting about 850 customers.

Also, areas of downtown Danville were without power after a substation problem in March 2015.

The outage affected about 2,800 customers and was spread over downtown.
A recent survey shows that an increasing number of young migrant workers are heading home from big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. [File photo]

Zhang Yuanyuan, a 28-year-old woman, just put an end to her nine-year long migrant living in Shanghai, where she worked as a shop assistant selling children's clothing.

Expecting her second child in a few days, she packed up and headed to her hometown in Zibo, Shandong Province. Unlike her last experience of being forced to leave her daughter behind because she needed to secure her job in Shanghai, this time, she will have plenty of time to spend with her children after she submitted her resignation and returned home to open her own store.

Although there are a constellation of local stores that sell children's clothes, Zhang said, she is confident in her experience in Shanghai which enables her to sort out prettier clothes for children at competitive prices.

The story of Zhang is no exception.

According to a survey conducted recently by China Youth Daily, 52.8 percent of 2,000 respondents noted that there are increasing numbers of young people leaving metropolises to return to their less developed hometowns.

The survey also found that about 60.9 percent of respondents who have returned home are expected to start their own businesses, while 52.5 percent are desperate to run their own start-ups.

Zhang said, almost all her friends at her age in her hometown have settled down. Some inherit their parents' businesses, while some work for privately-owned enterprises and a few hold jobs as local administrative officials or teachers.

Cai Zhidong (a pseudo name), a local county governmental official from Shanxi Province revealed that young people are reluctant to accept a job as a local official in counties and townships. Most of them have joined in the legion of start-ups and only a few who expect stable jobs work in local governments.

However, to flee from the overcrowded cities to idyllic hometowns is not all that satisfactory as the young people who return home soon find that to start a business from scratch is very difficult in the towns and villages where the business opportunities are rare.

Lu Jia has tried several start-ups since heading home in Inner Mongolia after spending six years working in Beijing.

"I started running online shops, cosmetics agencies and even engaged in vendor selling," Lu recalled. "But I have not found a lucrative business and all my efforts in the last few years were spent in vain."

For most returnees, rare business and job opportunities become the major problem hindering the development of their careers in their hometowns. About 54.8 percent of respondents complained about insufficient job opportunities, while 44.4 percent blamed the unfavorable working environment and 27.1 percent reportedly experienced sophisticated interpersonal relationships.

Despite these temporary difficulties, Cai believes the working and living environments in the second-and-third-tier cities, towns or villages have been improved greatly since the anti-corruption campaign initiated a few years ago.

"The young people will be more likely to enjoy fair opportunities and streamlined administrative procedures when the efforts of the anti-corruption campaign and the relegation of powers are paid off," Cai said. "I believe towns and villages will have a bright future to attract more young people to settle down."
New U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt has reversed most of an economic package announced by the government just weeks ago, including a planned cut in income taxes. Hunt said Monday he was scrapping almost all the tax cuts announced last month by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Liz Truss, and also signaled that public spending cuts are on the way. It was a bid to soothe turbulent financial markets spooked by fears of excessive government borrowing. The move raises questions about how long the beleaguered prime minister can stay in office, though Truss insisted she has no plans to quit. She vowed to lead the Conservatives into the next general election, but many in the party want her gone.
As soon as the grand opening ribbon was cut early Wednesday morning, shoppers filled the aisles at the new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market at Nor-Dan Shopping Center.

The new store has groceries and a full-service pharmacy  and an adjacent gas station/convenience store  but not all the products, ranging from clothing to tires, offered at Wal-Mart Supercenters.

The celebration of the grand opening kicked off with music from DJ Drake Sadler and a performance by the George Washington High School band. GWs JROTC provided a color guard and store employee Richelle Wyatt sang the National Anthem.

Danville Mayor John Gilstrap told the crowd that the new Wal-Mart store was a sign of the success the area is enjoying this year, from the lowest unemployment rate in years to the 300 building permits issued through July of this year that have brought more private investment into the community.

The total value of that activity is $36.4 million  In 2015, the total value of our building activity was $40.8 million, so we are well ahead of the pace to top last year, Gilstrap said. Wal-Mart has been a part of our success this year. This new store and fueling center provides nearly 100 jobs and represents an investment of more than $3.5 million.

Store manager Calvin Martin praised employees for working hard to get the store ready to open.

They came into an empty shell about four-and-a-half weeks ago and did things they never thought theyd have to do, Martin said, as employees cheered.

Martin said Wal-Mart makes about $46.5 million in charitable donations in Virginia each year, an celebrated the grand opening by awarding $1,000 grants to Haven of the Dan River Region; the Danville Cancer Association; American Legion; the Danville Police Department; the Danville Fire Department; George Washington High School band; and Gods Pit Crew.

In addition, Martin said, Coca-Cola has donated $2,000 to Woodberry Hill Elementary School in honor of the store opening.

Once inside the store, customers were treated to cake and assorted giveaways, including two different types of bread that were handed out for free.

The store will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA / TheNewswire / August 18, 2016 - MGX Minerals Inc. ("MGX" or the "Company") (CSE: XMG / FKT: 1MG) is pleased to report the Company has entered into an Definitive Agreement (the "Agreement") to acquire a 100% interest in the Sturgeon Lake Lithium Brine Property ("Sturgeon Lake" or the "Property") located in west-central Alberta.

The Property is located directly south and west of the Town of Valleyview, approximately 85 km east of the city of Grande Prairie and 270 km northwest of the capital city of Edmonton, Alberta. The Property consists of 15 contiguous Industrial and Metallic Mineral Permits encompassing 132,773.74 hectares (328,091.06 acres).

The mineral permits overlie the Sturgeon Lake oilfield, which has been producing hydrocarbons since the mid-1950s from the Devonian Leduc Formation at depths of approximately 2,500 m to 3,100 m below surface. Metallic mineralization on the property consists of lithium-enriched formation water, or brine, that is hosted in aquifers within Devonian Leduc Formation carbonate reef complexes.

Devonian-aged wells at Sturgeon Lake produce excessive amounts of brine in comparison to petroleum due to the mature nature of the oilfield where increased pumping is required to produce crude oil. The brine is considered a waste product as it is presently treated to separate and remove petroleum and then reinjected back down into subsurface formations. It is conceivable that existing water processing procedures could be modified to extract lithium and other elements from the Leduc Formation aquifer system brine; however, at this stage of exploration there is no guarantee that lithium can be economically extracted from the formation waters with current technology. New technologies require testing and may or may not extract all or a portion of the elements of interest.

Historical 1990's to 2010's government studies reported that brine geochemical fluid data from the Devonian aquifers associated with the Leduc Formation have anomalous values of lithium (e.g., greater than 75 mg/L and up to 140 mg/L lithium) along with other elements (e.g., potassium; boron; and bromine). In 2011, Lithium Exploration Group Inc. sampled and analyzed brine from 60 separate wells within the Sturgeon Lake oilfield (and within the boundaries of the permit area acquired by MGX). Of the 62 brine samples collected, 47 were collected from the Leduc Formation. Other samples included brine from: Mississippian (1 sample from Banff), Triassic (11 samples from Montney, Spray River and undefined), Jurassic (1 sample from Nordegg) and Cretaceous (2 samples from Wapiabi, Gething) strata.

The analytical results showed that the Devonian Leduc aquifer contains brine that is significantly enriched in lithium in comparison to the Triassic to Cretaceous brine. Lithium Exploration Group Inc. reported that the Leduc Formation brine from the Sturgeon Lake oilfield contained up to:

-83.7 mg/L lithium (average 67 mg/L lithium); -6,470 mg/L potassium (average 4,641 mg/L potassium); -137 mg/L boron (average 114 mg/L boron); and -394 mg/L bromine (average 394 mg/L bromine); note: one mg/L is equal to one ppm).

These values supported and confirmed the government published lithium-enriched formation waters within the boundaries of the Sturgeon Lake Property. Lithium Exploration Group Inc.'s historical brine sampling and chemical analysis, which was overseen by APEX Geoscience Ltd., was conducted by Maxxam Environmental ("Maxxam") of Edmonton, Alberta. Maxxam is an accredited laboratory with the Standards Council of Canada (Laboratory No. 160; valid to 2019-03- 06) and with the Canadian Association for Laboratory Accreditation (Membership No. 2996; valid to 2017-06- 08), where Maxxam's standard conforms to requirements of ISO.IEC 17025.

Since the 2011 Lithium Exploration Group Inc. work, no brine sampling, analytical testing, mineral processing or mineral separation/recovery test work has been completed at the Sturgeon Lake Property.

"Previous exploration for lithium at the Sturgeon Lake oilfield indicates the potential for a high volume lithium bearing aquifer. We look forward to the testing of lithium brine from the field with our proprietary rapid lithium extraction process to confirm the lithium-enriched brine and determine the economic feasibility of the project," stated MGX Minerals CEO Jared Lazerson.

Pursuant to the Agreement MGX will issue 1,000,000 common shares of the Company to Zimtu Capital Corp. (TSX.V: ZC) and 1,000,000 common shares to Mr. Patrick Power. Additionally, Sturgeon Lake is subject to a 2% gross overriding royalty on future production of all minerals, payable equally to Mr. Ryan Kalt (1%) and Mr. Luke Schuss (1%).

Qualified Person

The technical portions of the press release were prepared by Roy Eccles (P. Geo.) of APEX Geoscience Ltd., and have been reviewed by Andris Kikauka (P. Geo.), Vice President of Exploration for MGX Minerals. Mr. Kikauka is a non-independent Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument (N.I.) 43-101 Standards.

About MGX Minerals

MGX Minerals (CSE: XMG) is a diversified Canadian mining company engaged in the development of large-scale industrial mineral portfolios in western Canada that offer near-term production potential, minimal barriers to entry and low initial capital expenditures. The Company operates lithium, magnesium and silicon projects throughout British Columbia and Alberta. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.mgxminerals.com.

Contact Information

Jared Lazerson

Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: 604.681.7735

Email: jared@mgxminerals.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "potentially" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - August 18, 2016) - . Alto Ventures Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: ATV) is pleased to report that it has increased the size of its Miner Lake property by over 30% to 3,328 ha through staking of six claims. The expansion of the property is in response to positive drill results where gold was intersected in eight of nine holes with one hole intersecting 39.2 metres averaging 0.6 g/t gold including 4.24 g/t gold over 1.5 metres. Gold mineralization is associated with altered hydrothermal breccia and shear zones hosted within a felsic intrusive. The newly staked claims cover the interpreted geological trend of gold mineralization. In addition, the large numbers of pristine gold grains recovered from several samples during the 2015 glacial till sampling program indicate the trend is prospective for gold mineralization.

The 100% owned Miner Lake property is located in the north Beardmore-Geraldton gold belt approximately 10 km north from the Brookbank Gold Deposit that is currently being explored by the Premier Gold Mines-Centerra Gold Joint Venture. The Brookbank Deposit is reported to contain 4.32 million tonnes of Measured and Indicated Resources averaging 1.41 g/t Au (196,000 ounces of gold) mineable by open-pit and 0.93 million tonnes Indicated Resource averaging 7.21 g/t Au (215,000 ounces of gold) mineable by underground methods.

Alto's President Mike Koziol, P. Geo. is a qualified person under the provisions of National Instrument 43-101. He has reviewed and approves the content in this news release.

About Alto Ventures Ltd

Alto Ventures Ltd. is an exploration and development company with a portfolio of highly prospective Canadian gold and diamond properties. The Company is active in the Abitibi greenstone belt in Quebec on the Destiny gold property and is exploring in the Beardmore-Geraldton gold belt in Ontario. In Manitoba, the Company is focused on the gold and base metals potential of the highly prospective but relatively under-explored Oxford Lake property.

The Destiny gold property hosts several important gold zones including the DAC Deposit which has NI43-101 compliant Indicated Mineral Resources of approximately 10.8 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.05 g/t gold (364,000 ounces contained gold) plus Inferred Mineral Resources of approximately 8.3 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.92 g/t gold (247,000 contained ounces)*. The GAP and Darla zones lie east of the DAC Deposit along the same structure. Some of the results in the GAP and Darla zones include 78.7 g/t gold over 1.0 m within an 8 m interval averaging 11.3 g/t, 22.7 g/t gold over 1.05 m, 1.05 g/t gold over 10 m, and 1.04 g/t gold over 11.0 m.

The Oxford Lake project includes the historical Rusty Deposit of 800,000 tonnes averaging 6 g/t gold** and the Blue Jay Zone. Drilling in 2012 on the Blue Jay intersected two zones of high-grade gold mineralization: Zone One averages 6.7 g/t gold over 2.7 m including 22.5 g/t gold over 0.5 m and Zone Two averages 5.7 g/t over 6.8 m gold including 11.7 g/t gold over 1.6 m and 16.5 g/t gold over 1.0 m.

Alto's diamond land holdings total approximately 89,536 hectares in east-central Saskatchewan near recent diamond discoveries on the Pikoo Project. Surface work by Alto Ventures in 2014 and 2015 has identified several Kimberlite Indicator Mineral trains from glacial till sampling. Numerous anomalies with magnetic signatures that could be related to kimberlite intrusions were delineated by the high resolution airborne magnetometer survey flown by Alto Ventures in 2015.

For more details regarding the Company's projects, please visit our website at www.altoventures.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,

Richard J. Mazur, P. Geo.,

CEO

* Todd McCracken, P.Geo, is a Qualified Person ("QP") for purposes of the NI 43-101 Report. He is responsible for preparing the Report and the Resource Estimate disclosed in the Report. Mr. McCracken, at time of filing of the Report on SEDAR was an employee of Wardrop a Tetra Tech Company, and independent from the Company as described in section 1.4 of NI 43-101. The Report was filed on SEDAR in March, 2011.

** The Historical Resource was estimated in 1990 and a Qualified Person (QP), as defined by NI43-101, has not done sufficient work to classify this historical estimate as current mineral resources. Alto is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources, as defined by NI43-101, and thus the historical estimate should not be relied upon.

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.
THUNDER BAY, Aug. 18, 2016 - Wolfden Resources Corp. (WLF:TSX-V) ("Wolfden" or the "Company") today announces that a total of 1,280,000 options to purchase common shares of the Company have been granted to directors, officers, employees and consultants at an exercise price of $0.13 per share, expiring on August 18, 2021. The grant is subject to regulatory approval.

About Wolfden Resources:

Wolfden is a mineral exploration company that recently acquired the Rice Island and Nickel Island properties in Manitoba. Manitoba is ranked #6 in Canada and #19 in the world as the most favourable jurisdiction to conduct mining and exploration (Fraser Institute (2015-2016)). The Company also holds a dominant, 24,000 hectare, land position in the heart of the Bathurst Mining Camp in New Brunswick.

The information in this news release has been prepared and approved by Donald Hoy, P. Geo., President and CEO and a director of the Company. Mr. Hoy is also a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

This press release contains forward-looking information (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation) that involves various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information includes statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance of the Company, and include, without limitation, statements relating to plans and results of exploration and the magnitude and quality of the property. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information in this news release, including without limitation, the following risks and uncertainties; (i) risks inherent in the mining industry; (ii) regulatory and environmental risks; (iii) results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; (iv) risks relating to the estimation of mineral resources; (v) stock market volatility and capital market fluctuations; and (vi) general market and industry conditions. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. This forward-looking information is based on estimates and opinions of management on the date hereof and is expressly qualified by this notice. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada at www.sedar.com. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by applicable law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Wolfden Resources Corp.







Contact



Donald Hoy, President and CEO, Wolfden Resources Corp., Tel: (807) 624-1131, Email: dhoy@wolfdenresources.com


<p>Photo courtesy of SMS Ranch</p><p>Chow time at the Swenson Ranch chuck wagon in the 1930s.</p>

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Swenson became large landowner

By Jerry Lackey

In 1836, 20-year-old Swante Magnus Swenson slipped out of his room on the family farmstead at Lattarp, Sweden, with a few belongings in a sack while everyone was asleep and made his way to England.

Swenson was born Feb. 24, 1816, to Margreta Andersdotter Israelsson and Anders (Andrew) Swenson in Laatarp, Barkeryds parish, Jonkoping, Sweden. His siblings were John, Hedda, Johanna and Anna Caterina.

From England, Swenson boarded a ship to New York, where he worked as a store clerk and learned English. He also worked as a railroad bookkeeper in Baltimore.

He was heading to Texas by ship when the vessel wrecked just outside of Galveston in 1838. He lost everything and begged for his first meal. The next morning he went down to the beach and found a sizable amount of wreckage that had washed ashore from the ship. He piled up the salvage and sold it, according to historical accounts.

Swenson took a job working for John Adriance, who operated a large mercantile business in Columbia, the county seat of Colorado County.

Swenson peddled goods from the Adriance business in an ambulance-type carriage bearing the sign Columbus Supply House. His route was delivering supplies to the many plantations along the Brazos River.

While making his rounds Swenson became friends with Dr. George Long, who owned a plantation near Richmond in Fort Bend County, according to The Handbook of Texas Online.

Long was in poor health and hired Swenson to manage the plantation. After the doctor died in 1842, his young widow, Jeanette Long, returned to Tennessee to visit relatives and Swenson took charge of the plantation.

Swenson purchased a neighboring plantation Dec. 12, 1843, and married Jeanette Long. She died in 1850 of tuberculosis.

Opposed to using slave labor on his plantations, Swenson made a trip to Sweden in 1847 and offered to pay fares of Swedish immigrants in exchange for a year of their labor on the plantations. His sister and mother, two uncles (Swante Palm, his wife and six sons; and August Palm, his wife and four children), three maidservants, six male servants and one boy named Forsgard (who later became a banker in Austin) arrived in Houston on July 1, 1848.

Later the two Palm brothers began running an informal Swedish immigration service often referred to as the "Swedish pipeline." By 1860, there were 163 Swedes in Texas.

By 1850, Swenson had moved to Austin and established a mercantile business. While operating the store, he continued to buy up land.

In 1851 Swenson married Susan McReady. They had five children: Sarah Margareta "Greta" Swenson (1852-79), Eric Pierson Swenson (1855-1945), Ebba McReady Swenson (1858-59), Swen Albin Swenson (1860-1927) and Mary Eleonora "Nora" Swenson (1862-1958).

In 1854, Swenson invested in the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway, which gained him 100,000 acres in northwestern and West Texas. He eventually became one of the largest landowners in Texas, and the SMS Ranches included portions of 12 counties in the lower plains of West Texas, comprising more than 500,000 acres.

During the reconstruction period after the Civil War, Swenson sold his Austin property and moved his family to New York City, where he founded a private bank known as S.M. Swenson and Sons, a precursor to the First National City Bank of New York.

In 1882, Swenson was looking for ways to help pay taxes. Accompanied by two sons, Eric Pierson and Swen Albin Swenson, he traveled back to Texas and decided to develop the ranch holdings.

Swenson formed three ranches and named them after his surviving children: Eleonora Ranch, later known as Throckmorton Ranch; Mount Albin Ranch, later known as Flat Top Ranch; and Ericsdahl Ranch, 9 miles east of where Stamford would be located.

Stamford was founded in 1900 on donated Swenson land when the Texas Central Railroad came through the region. The first post office was opened in a railroad boxcar in 1899.

Swenson leased his holding to his sons, who operated under the name Swenson Brothers Cattle Co. They built some of the first fences on the open range, including 50,000 acres in Jones and Shackelford counties.

Alfred Dyer, a nephew of Swenson's, was the first manager of the overall operations. He stocked the ranges and supervised the construction of ranch headquarters, barns and pens.

The first cattle herd Dyer purchased was 1,800 Durham shorthorns and 180 Hereford-shorthorn crosses from Indiana, plus a number of registered Hereford bulls.

The SMS brand, fashioned from the initials of Swante Magnus Swenson, was registered in spring 1882.
SHARE "Going Gypsy" by David and Veronica James. (Amazon)

By Alison Bowen Chicago Tribune (TNS)

When her oldest daughter was leaving for college, Veronica James was too emotional to step onto the plane.

I knew I would be a basket case, she said.

Instead, she said her goodbyes at the airport. Then, she sat in the car for two hours.

I just cried and cried and cried, she said. It was horrible. I just felt like my heart had been ripped out of me.

By the time their last child headed for college, she and husband David had a plan  and a plane to Italy to catch.

It was really important, she said, because I wouldve been a basket case had I not distracted myself.

Finding your new normal after kids leave the nest can be exhilarating, emotional and everything in between.

After spending years focusing on children, sometimes it can feel strange to have only each other.

As they raise children, (couples) tend to put that relationship on the back burner, said Dr. Terri Orbuch, a marriage therapist and author of 5 Simple Steps to Take Your Marriage From Good to Great.

So how do a couple equip themselves for this new frontier?

First, before the nest is empty, talk about expectations. One parent might be thrilled  ready to go on a long-dreamed-of trip. Another might dread the moment the dorm room door closes.

It can go either way, Orbuch said. Its natural to feel a sense of loss. Its natural to feel sad. Its also natural to feel a little excited.

Two people might feel differently and process emotions uniquely, she noted. Thats common  and OK.

I think those mixed emotions, and not knowing what to do with them, or expecting one and feeling the other, can be very difficult, Orbuch said.

Consider making a list of what you love about parenting and what you will never miss about parenting.

Note all the benefits of a child fleeing the nest: having the house to yourselves, more freedom to travel, less mess.

One of the biggest challenges is unrealistic expectations, said Natalie Caine, who offers empty nest counseling in Los Angeles.

She remembers taking her only daughter to college in New York, giving her a goodbye hug, and then, on her way back to Los Angeles, it hit her.

I just sobbed and sobbed, she said. She realized, Oh my God, this is really happening. Were really this far apart. I wont be seeing her tonight or tomorrow morning.

Not every reaction to a child leaving the nest is predictable. For example, parents might feel different with another child years later.

You may feel it difficult to suddenly have no child at home who needs your care, Orbuch said. You might also worry intensely about your childs safety.

Orbuch herself understands the safety fear. When her youngest child, now 19, left for college, she found herself anxious in a new way.

Its the realization that your last child has left, and then its like, Wow, Im worried, Orbuch said.

Caine reminds parents, You did the best you could. You gave them a foundation. You taught them good values. And now you need to trust that theyre going to make good decisions. And if they dont, they can handle it.

After navigating emotions, couples should work to reconnect.

Orbuch suggests talking at least 10 minutes a day about something other than the house, work or children.

She also suggests focusing on goals, both individual (how do I want to reconnect with myself?) and as a couple (what is something weve always wanted to do together)?

Thats what helped James. Looking ahead to the next step, she and her husband Googled empty nest.

The first thing that popped up for us was an ad for Alzheimers, she said.

They quit their jobs, bought an RV on eBay and began traveling together. What resulted were the adventures cataloged in their book, Going Gypsy: One Couples Adventure From Empty Nest to No Nest at All.

James encourages couples to find something new to enjoy together. Maybe youve always wanted to learn how to speak Spanish or appreciate wine.

We push to do new things together, she said. I think thats the safest way not to be the couple that stares at their eggs.

She says its important to find an activity or hobby that you are both interested in because you want the excitement of both partners, and you want the excitement of doing it together.

Individual hobbies are also valuable.

It might help to think of what you enjoyed before having children.

Caine encourages parents to ask themselves, What went dormant in me that I now want to bring to the surface?

Take singing lessons, join a woodworking workshop or take a shot at something youve never tried.

This time is a new frontier for your child, but also for you.

We have this full orchestra of different parts of ourselves, Caine said.

For James, she realized their time raising children was all hands on deck.

You kind of forget who those people were that you started out with, she said. By doing new things together, we were able to discover the fun-loving youngsters that met 30 years ago.
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By Rashda Khan, Rashda.Khan@gosanangelo.com

The San Angelo Water Advisory Board set into motion several items Wednesday that should move the city forward in its quest for solutions to water issues.

Water Utilities Director Bill Riley said the city generally budgets $3 million for water main and $1.2 million for wastewater main rehabilitation and replacement. However, those amounts are not enough to cover infrastructure needs, he said.

Instead of repairing what he can through the "pay-as-you-go method," Riley wants to borrow money and use the budgeted cash capital to pay off the debt, keeping the city's recently adopted 5-year rate plan intact. He said the water fund's performance is evaluated annually. "We can see what it does and adjust the rate, hopefully downward," he said.

"I want to borrow money in larger chunks to deal with bigger pieces of rehabilitation at a time," Riley said. "I want to get the biggest bang for our buck and have the greatest impact."

The board voted to recommend that the city sell bonds to pay for water and sewer line rehabilitation and use the cash-funded capital projected in the five-year rate plan to pay the debt service.

Another issue the board tackled was dealing with the city's surface water supply. Because a direct potable reuse project has been shelved for now, Riley said the focus needs to be on shoring up the water the city does have.

One source the city can count on is the 8 million to 9 million gallons per day of wastewater that is still sent to the wastewater treatment facility, then to storage lagoons and eventually to farms east of San Angelo, he said. Currently, the water is not treated to the point that it can be discharged back into the Concho River for some river filtration, in which the treated wastewater is allowed to co-mingle with a natural body of water for a time so that Mother Nature basically treats it.

The board voted to recommend the City Council hire an engineering firm to conduct preliminary engineering for the wastewater treatment facility improvements that would allow for the effluent to be treated to the appropriate level to be discharged into the river. It is also recommending the city develop a plan for the use of wastewater effluent to augment current surface water supplies.

"This way we will have options," Riley said. If the city doesn't need the water, it can still go to the lagoons. If water is needed "we'll be able to divert that 9 million gallons per day," he said.

The board also recommended the city's water utilities department seek a discharge permit and a "beds and banks" permit, which would allow the city to recapture the amount it puts into the river for filtration. "It basically means we're using the beds and banks of the river to transport our water," Riley said. "Without it, once we put the water into the river, it becomes the state's water." He said the permitting process takes time, with the beds and banks permit taking a minimum of three years.

In addition, the board voted to recommend acceptance of a $300,000 grant from the Bureau of Reclamation's WaterSmart program. Related to that, the board also recommend that the Alan Plummer and Associates contract for conducting the wastewater pilot study be amended to include additional studies requested by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. These studies  a radium-related study, which is unique to San Angelo because of the Hickory groundwater, a water corrosion study and more  would be funded by the grant. The data collected in the studies would be viable for years, city staff said.

"Everything we might be doing today needs to look to the future before we move forward with any plans," Riley said.

The next Water Advisory Board meeting is set for 10 a.m. Oct. 12.

See Board Chairman Mike Boyd's video recap of the meeting at facebook.com/gosanangelo.
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Driving through Grape Creek this week I stopped to find a San Angelo hero.

Alan Eugene Magee died in San Angelo on Dec. 20, 2003, from stroke and kidney failure at age 84.

His final resting place is in Pioneer Memorial Park by Shaffer Funeral Home in of Grape Creek, several miles north of San Angelo.

You may remember that Staff Sgt. Alan Magee somehow survived after falling 4 miles from a plane without a parachute.

It sounds too unbelievable to be true.

I first heard about it in 2009, when I wrote about it in our newspaper.

When I read some more about his tale, I decided to share the story again.

Born Jan. 13, 1919, in Plainfield, N.J., the youngest of six children, Magee joined the Army Air Corps immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack. He was assigned as a ball turret gunner on a B-17 bomber nicknamed "Snap, Crackle, Pop."

At 24, Sgt. Magee was one of the oldest of the 10-man crew that flew out of Molesworth, England, on the bomber. His pilot was only 19.

Magee's seventh mission was a daylight bombing run on St. Nazaire, France, called "Flak City" because of the many anti-aircraft guns defending the Germans' submarine pens. On that day his 303rd Bomb Group had sent 85 B17s with fighter escorts.

During the Jan. 3, 1943, mission, German fighters shot off a section of the plane's right wing, causing Magee's aircraft to enter a deadly spin. Seven of the crew died.

Magee was wounded in the attack but managed to escape from the ball turret. His parachute had been damaged and was rendered useless. Having no choice, he leapt from the plane without a parachute and lost consciousness because of the altitude.

He fell more than 4 miles before crashing through the glass roof of the St. Nazaire railroad station in France. But somehow the glass roof may have helped cushion Magee's impact. Rescuers found him alive on the floor of the station.

Magee was taken as a prisoner of war and given medical treatment by his captors. He had 28 shrapnel wounds in addition to the damage from the fall. He had several broken bones, severe damage to his nose and eye, lung and kidney damage, and his right arm was nearly severed.

Magee was liberated in May 1945 and received the Purple Heart and the Air Medal for meritorious conduct.

After the war Magee earned his pilot's license and enjoyed flying. He worked in the airline industry in a variety of roles. He retired in 1979 and moved to northern New Mexico and then to San Angelo.

He returned to Saint Nazaire, France with his wife, Helen, in 1993 when the people of St. Nazaire honored Magee and the crew of the bomber by erecting a memorial to the men who served on the Snap! Crackle! Pop!

Rick Smith is a local news and community affairs columnist. Contact him at 325-659-8248 or rick.smith@gosanangelo.com.
As Elon Musk takes over, will some Twitter operations move to Austin?

technology
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The following editorial appeared in Sunday's Houston Chronicle:

If our neighbors east of the Sabine are looking healthier these days, there's a reason. Since changing governors in January, more than 265,000 Louisianans without health insurance now can visit a doctor for checkups, schedule long-delayed screenings, make a dental appointment and guarantee their kids are getting the preventive care they need to thrive. That's because the new governor, John Bel Edwards, signed an executive order on his second day in office that made Louisiana the 31st state to expand Medicaid health insurance.

No longer would the state's residents, to use Edwards' words, have to choose "between their health and their financial security."

Something similar has happened in other states, where lower-income residents finally have access to health insurance. Noam Levey, writing in the Los Angeles Times recently, noted that Medicaid sign-ups in Montana are already double what the state expected, just seven months after expansion began. In Michigan, enrollment last year surpassed what state officials projected it would be in 2020. Arkansas is seeing similar results. So is Kentucky, even though its tea-party governor was elected last year on a promise to kill the program. He's finding it hard to do.

According to federal data, more than 15 million people across the country have enrolled in Medicaid and the related Children's Health Insurance Program since coverage expansion began in 2014. As Levey points out, the result is a historic decline in the nation's uninsured rate since the law went fully into effect in 2014. Medicaid allows adults making less than 138 percent of the federal poverty line  that's about $16,000 a year  to receive coverage.

And Texas? Well, Medicaid is a deeply flawed program that's going to fail one of these days. That's what Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, state Sen. Jane Nelson (former chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee) and most state Republicans will tell you.

Never mind that Texas has the highest rate of uninsured in the nation or that hospitals desperately need the assistance Medicaid expansion would provide to help them deal with uncompensated care ($5.5 billion annually). Never mind also that the federal government picks up the tab initially and then pays for 90 percent of coverage from 2020 onward. We're walking away from $100 billion in federal money (our money).

Sixty percent of Texans support expansion, according to a recent survey, but Republicans apparently know better. They contend that the federal government will someday renege and the states will be left with the bill. There's no reason to think such a thing.

The real reason for opposition in Texas and the 18 other states that have opted out is, of course, Republican detestation of the Affordable Care Act. In other words, irrational hatred of "Obamacare" trumps health. The word shameful comes to mind.
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By Beth Peterson

Thanks to the Standard-Times for covering the Aug. 4 "The Truth About Education Vouchers" event in which Charles Johnson, founder and executive of Pastors for Texas Children, spoke opposing vouchers. I am writing to provide some clarifications and additions that readers may find helpful:

Article 7, Section 1 of the Texas Constitution states, " it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the state to establish and make suitable provisions for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools."

The Texas Education Agency "is a branch of the state government of Texas and is responsible for public education."

Charter schools are under the umbrella of TEA. Charter schools are not private schools, but are supported by taxpayers. They were never designed to replace traditional public schools.

Private schools receive no tax money. They can be religious or secular schools and charge varying tuitions.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, as reported in the Jan. 7 Texas Tribune article by Kiah Collier, vowed to make school choice (school vouchers) a top priority in the 2017 Texas Legislature and stated that there is "an epidemic of failing schools in the state."

According to Pastor Johnson, there are 8,500 public schools in Texas and about 85 are chronically low-performing schools. Most of the schools that do not meet the standards dramatically improve over the next three years and become fine schools.

Johnson discussed several issues related to taxpayers paying for private schools if the voucher (school choice) bill passes:

There is no accountability in terms of where the money goes.

There is no accountability in terms of curriculum and objective student measurement of progress.

Private schools can select the students they want and refuse to admit other students.

Private school vouchers would benefit the affluent. A 2015 Senate bill in the Texas Legislature passed and its formula provides an example of a family of four with an income of almost $120,000. In this case, a private school charging $12,000 tuition would receive $4,000  $4,800 per student from the taxpayers of Texas.

Generally, private schools are not operated in low-income areas and the single mother would be at a disadvantage in terms of providing transportation and participating in some required parental activities of private schools.

Republican state Rep. Drew Darby opposes school vouchers.

Republican state Sen. Charles Perry supports school vouchers.

I urge the voters/taxpayers in Perry's district to call his office at 806-783-9934 and request that he vote against school vouchers.

Beth Peterson lives in San Angelo.
G20 [By Zhai Haijun / China.org.cn]

In less than one month, world attention will turn towards Hangzhou. The G20 Summit will see the leaders of the stronger economies of the world gathering for the eleventh time in order to discuss priorities and respond to global problems. The agenda is promising as it includes themes relevant to innovation, sustainable development, anti-corruption policies, multilateral trade support, poverty reduction and reforms in the financial sector.

The G20 Hangzhou Summit can be perhaps as important as the first one which took place in Washington in November 2008 at the beginning of the world financial crisis. Although this crisis seems to be under control eight years later, current discussions are critical to pave the way for a long-term stabilization and create good opportunities for growth and employment for the next generation.

To start with, the organization of the G20 Summit in a Chinese city for the first time has both symbolic and practical significance. It outlines China's role as an economic superpower which is now openly acknowledged by its partners. It also gives the chance to the Chinese administration to elaborate on developments in its national economy and better inform not only participants but also the world audience about measures it takes to change its growth model.

The so-called "New Normal" is a term extensively used in China but one the West is often not familiar with. In this context, Beijing can present its long-term plan, including growth rates for the coming years, and focus on the progress of its market reforms in order to appease some of the American and European fears. The lack of understanding between China and the West has been traditionally a problem causing tension. And although the West sees China in a suspicious way, it complains about the lack of resources on the other side. The Hangzhou Summit can be possibly the beginning for a change regarding the reciprocal flow of information.

Additionally, the G20 Leaders Meeting this year will be a platform to discuss four issues which are not necessarily related directly to the official agenda but all of them reflect the need for international cooperation. The first is connected to the course of the world economy after the Brexit. Although the result of the U.K. referendum has not yet caused catastrophic repercussions as it had been partly anticipated by several scholars, world leaders have already started to develop their strategies for the day after. There is no better example than ongoing deliberations between the U.K. and China for the potential conclusion of a free trade deal.

The second theme is concerned with the need for energy security. G20 countries, principally the ones highly dependent on imports of oil and natural gas, are skeptical about political instability which generates turmoil in energy routes as well as delays and higher prices in transportations and transactions. The presence of the Islamic State in the Middle East and North Africa as well as the problem of piracy in some regions is leading world powers to sit at the same table and find appropriate remedies.

The third issue is associated with developments in the South China Sea. The recent arbitration of The Hague has naturally split the international community. The Hangzhou Summit will be an ideal forum for participants not to express their differences on the matter but to concentrate on their commitment to do everything possible in order to avert the scenario of a conflict in the region. A recent study conducted by the Rand Corporation and titled "War with China: Thinking through the Unthinkable" might be misleading as this should be unthinkable indeed. World leaders must guarantee prosperity for the next generation and not bequeath the chaos of a post-war period.

The fourth theme is an almost new phenomenon seeing some leaders losing their reliability in front of domestic audiences. In several countries public opinion shows signs of rejecting the political establishment and preferring alternatives, often populist ones. The steady rise of far right parties in Europe highlights the problem. It is now time for world leaders to closely cooperate and work towards a modern social contract which will restore order and definitely bury the nightmare of the pre-World War II phase.

All in all, the G20 Summit in Hangzhou can be a success. Both the official agenda and the existing room for parallel discussions on important fronts will bring leaders closer. As they all agree on the need for enhanced international collaboration we must remain optimistic.

George N. Tzogopoulos is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/GeorgeNTzogopoulos.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
A recent survey found that 47 percent of all voters feel more motivated to cast a ballot in the upcoming Nov. 8 election than in previous years. Many are opting to vote for policies instead of parties and top races are skewing Democratic.
Safe Republican (121 electoral votes)

Likely Republican (32 electoral votes)

Lean Republican (28 electoral votes)

Tossup (85 electoral votes)

Lean Democratic (75 electoral votes)

Likely Democratic (15 electoral votes)

Safe Democratic (182 electoral votes)

The Republican and Democratic conventions are over, and the polls are piling up. So how has the state-by-state presidential race evolved since our last handicapping in March The bottom line: Hillary Clinton is still well-positioned to win.Our predictions -- based on interviews with political analysts and recent polls -- categorize states as safe Republican, likely Republican, lean Republican, tossup, lean Democratic, likely Democratic and safe Democratic. Within each category, the states run from most likely to vote Republican to most likely to vote Democratic.Even without winning any swing states, which hold 85 electoral votes, it's safe to say Clinton will get at least 272 electoral votes -- more than the 270 she needs to win the presidency. By contrast, Trump has just 181 electoral votes that are considered reasonably secure.Clintons edge exceeds Obama's in our 2008 and 2012 handicappings, where the president's biggest leads were 263 electoral votes against John McCain and 237 against Mitt Romney.Yet Clintons advantage is actually slightly smaller than she had in our March predictions. Back then, she had 280 electoral votes leaning her way, compared to 181 for Trump and 77 considered a tossup.Why the shrinkage since March? Its mainly due to unexpectedly low polling numbers for Clinton in two states won twice by Barack Obama -- Iowa and Nevada. That's why weve shifted both states from lean Democratic to tossup.But Clinton also saw some less obvious yet nonetheless significant gains since March. Support for Clinton has strengthened in New Hampshire, Minnesota and New Mexico, while support for Trump has declined in several historically Republican states -- Georgia, Kansas and South Carolina.All in all, this means that 51 electoral votes have moved in Clintons direction since March, compared to only 12 that have moved toward Trump.Clintons gains would have been bigger if we moved some mix of Colorado, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin from lean Democratic to likely Democratic. Switching some or all of these states would have been defensible, since each has seen at least one recent poll with a double-digit lead for Clinton. But it seems premature to switch such longstanding battleground states to a non-competitive status as early as mid-August. We're also keeping Florida and Ohio in the tossup category, even though Clinton has registered narrow single-digit leads in recent polling.At this point, it would still be difficult for Clinton to win the historically Republican states that moved in her direction, especially Kansas and South Carolina. But they present opportunities for her to expand the battleground states, forcing Trump to spend resources to defend them.The other historically Republican states that are moving in the Democrats direction offer an interesting development for political professionals bored with a battleground map that hasnt changed much for several election cycles.In South Carolina, Obama won 44 and 45 percent of the vote in his two elections, without campaigning in the state during the general election. This year, sufficiently depressed Republican support combined with continued high African-American turnout could make the contest unusually close.In solidly red Utah, Trumps personality and style has been off-putting to many voters, but third-party candidates such as Gary Johnson and Evan McMullin would have to collectively drain a lot of Republicans away from Trump to allow Clinton to win a bare plurality with 25 percent to 30 percent of the vote.Still, the race in these states isn't especially important for the outcome of the presidential contest. That's because if Clinton eventually makes a serious run at South Carolina or Utah, shell have already assembled a large lead in electoral votes from easier-to-win states.As for deep red states like Kansas, Mississippi and Texas, the best Clinton can realistically hope for is an unusually close loss. In Texas, for example, experts say even strong Latino turnout for Clinton almost certainly wont be enough to flip the race away from Trump. And in Mississippi, which has more African-American voters than any other state, nine of 10 white voters backed Republican Mitt Romney in 2012, suggesting that Trump should ultimately be able to pull out a victory.Here is our handicapping of the states for the 2016 presidential election. States listed in bold have shifted since our March handicapping, and the map is at the bottom.Alabama (9), Alaska (3), Arkansas (6), Idaho (4), Kentucky (8), Louisiana (8), Mississippi (6), Montana (3), Nebraska (4 of 5 electoral votes), North Dakota (3), Oklahoma (7), South Dakota (3), Tennessee (11), Texas (38), West Virginia (5) and Wyoming (3)Utah (6), Indiana (11),Arizona (11),Missouri (10), North Carolina (15),Ohio (18), Florida (29),Maine (1 of 4 electoral votes)Michigan (16), Wisconsin (10), Pennsylvania (20), Maine (3 of 4 electoral votes),Colorado (9), Virginia (13)California (55), Connecticut (7), Delaware (3), District of Columbia (3), Hawaii (4), Illinois (20), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (11), New Jersey (14), New York (29), Oregon (7), Rhode Island (4) Vermont (3), and Washington state (12)
Gov. John Bel Edwards doesn't expect to call the Louisiana Legislature into another special session to address the costs associated with flooding that has hit south Louisiana, he said this week."I don't want anybody out there thinking that the fiscal situation in our state is going to limit in any way what we will do going forward," Edwards said. "The fiscal condition of this state is not going to limit what we do to make sure that people get the assistance they need."The Legislature ended 19-consecutive weeks of legislative sessions in June, including two special sessions that Edwards called so legislators could shore up the state's finances. When Edwards took office in January, the state was hurtling toward an estimated $2 billion shortfall for the budget that began July 1. After raising sales and cigarette taxes and passing other revenue-generating measures, lawmakers bridged most of the gap, but had to pare back spending in some agencies.The tight budget has left some wondering whether additional spending in response to the flood could spark the need for more budget shifting or cutbacks that would require a special session.Then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco called a special session in 2005 to address recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.Edwards said he doesn't think that will be necessary this time around, though it's still early in the flood recovery process."We were managing our cash flow very carefully before this happened," Edwards said.No official damage estimate has been calculated yet, but Edwards said the scope is "huge.""I don't like to dwell on the economic impact. the toll right now is on people and that's where we are focused," Edwards said.Twenty parishes have qualified for federal disaster declarations to date. According to FEMA, more than 66,000 people have registered for aid, and more than 9,000 flood insurance claims have been filed.Additionally, the governor has estimated that some 8,000 people are staying in area shelters.
Aetna's announcement this week that it was pulling out of most of the states where it was serving the Obamacare individual exchanges was a head-scratcher; after all, just three months earlier, Chief Executive Mark Bertolini was calling its participation in the market "a good investment," despite near-term losses.Bertolini also had tried to tamp down speculation that its withdrawal was anything like a payback for the government's move to block its $37-billion merger with Humana. That was "a separate conversation" from its evaluation of the exchange business, he said during an Aug. 2 conference call with Wall Street analysts.Now evidence has emerged that Aetna was lying. The smoking gun is a July 5 letter from Bertolini to Ryan Kantor of the Justice Department, unearthed by Jonathan Cohn and Jeffrey Young of the Huffington Post via a Freedom of Information Act request. In the letter, sent before the DOJ formally announced it would sue to block the Humana deal, Bertolini explicitly ties the two issues together."Our analysis to date makes clear that if the deal were challenged and/or blocked we would need to take immediate actions to mitigate public exchange and ACA small group losses," Bertolini wrote. "Specifically, if the DOJ sues to enjoin the transaction, we will immediately take action to reduce our 2017 exchange footprint. We currently plan, as part of our strategy following the acquisition, to expand from 15 states in 2016 to 20 states in 2017. However, if we are in the midst of litigation over the Humana transaction, given the risks described above, we will not be able to expand to the five additional states."All in all, Bertolini said, if the merger were blocked, "instead of expanding to 20 states next year, we would reduce our presence to no more than 10 states. ... [W]e believe it is very likely that we would need to leave the public exchange business entirely and plan for additional business efficiencies should our deal ultimately be blocked."As it happens, Aetna is cutting its participation to only four states.Aetna's withdrawal was widely interpreted as the latest in a series of blows to the Affordable Care Act exchanges. UnitedHealth Group had started the trend among major insurers last year, when it announced plans to bail out as of 2017. United, though the nation's biggest health insurer overall, was a minor participant in the exchanges, however. But Humana, Aetna's would-be merger partner, also announced a large-scale withdrawal from the exchange business. Other major insurers, including Cigna and Anthem--whose own plan to merge also has drawn opposition from the DOJ--have said they are still losing money on the exchanges but haven't announced plans to cut back.The merger partners have said that their deals are necessary to position them for the post-Obamacare healthcare world by strengthening their internal finances. The DOJ, however, maintains that the deals would reduce competition, which is necessary to keep ACA plan prices down.Aetna spokesman T.J. Crawford told us by email that there's no inconsistency between the Bertolini's letter and his disavowal of a specific connection, since the merger is aimed at improving Aetna's financial strength, a key to its participation in the Affordable Care Act exchanges. That impact "should not come as a surprise given a loss of deal synergies coupled with a potential break-up fee would raise further questions about sustaining a position in a business where we have yet to break even," he observed.Crawford said the letter was a direct response to the DOJ's request for information on how the costs of a failed merger would affect "Aetna's participation on the public exchanges related to the Affordable Care Act" and any other changes in its business plan.In any event, Crawford continued, Aetna's decision to pull back from the ACA exchanges was based on fundamental economic analysis. After the letter was sent, he said, "we gained full visibility into our second quarter individual public exchange results, which -- similar to other participants on the public exchanges -- showed a significant deterioration. That deterioration, and not the DOJ challenge to our Humana transaction, is ultimately what drove us to announce the narrowing of our public exchange presence for the 2017 plan year."The problem with these arguments is that Aetna had previously treated its participation in the exchanges as a sound business decision, despite its failure to break even in the market's early years. Bertolini laid out a detailed case for continuing to serve the exchanges as recently as April, when he boasted of serving 1.2 million customers on ACA health plans. That was the foundation of a good business line, he told Wall Street analysts."If we were to go out and buy those members, it would cost us somewhere around $1.2 billion to acquire them," he said. "If we were to build out 15 markets, it would cost us somewhere between $600 million to $750 million to enter those markets and build out the capabilities necessary to grow that membership. So in the broad scheme of things, we are well, well below any of those numbers from the standpoint of losses we've incurred in the first two-and-a-half years of this program." He said he hoped that the administration would become more flexible in mandating specifications for ACA plans, but in any event "we see this as a good investment."The company's claim that only after April did it realize how bad things were beggars credibility. Aetna has been selling health insurance since 1899 and has been in the Obamacare market since the exchanges opened for business in 2014. From the inception it took the long view, as Bertolini explained in April. As we observed earlier, if the economics of the exchanges really caught it by surprise between April and August, it should fire its entire financial analysis team. The only thing that really changed in that time frame was the DOJ's move against the merger.Indeed, two of our most assiduous Obamacare-trackers, Richard Mayhew of Balloon-juice.com and Charles Gaba of ACASignups.net, put the lie to Aetna's poor mouthing as it applies to one state it's departing, Pennsylvania. In both 2014 and 2015, they show, Aetna turned a profit on its ACA exchange business in that state-- $6.4 million on $60 million in premiums in 2014, net of claims and administrative expenses, and $13.6 million profit on $71.4 million in premiums in 2015. The figures come from Aetna's rate filings with the state, in which the company also says it expects to record a profit of 3.9% there in 2017.How does the profitability of its Pennsylvania business square with Aetna's assertion that it can't afford to continue serving customers in the state? It doesn't. Nor is there an obvious explanation for why, if it was picking and choosing which states to abandon, it would include one where it's in the black. As Mayhew says, "Something stinks worse than a wrestling team's locker room after two-a-days."We've mentioned before that the government isn't entirely powerless to goad big insurers like Aetna into greater participation in the ACA exchanges. Among other things, the companies make money hand over fist by serving Medicaid expansions in many states and in Medicare managed-care plans. Why not tie their access to those lucrative markets to sticking with the exchanges until they're finally stabilized?Bertolini implicitly tied Aetna's participation in Obamacare to a green light from the government on the Humana merger. But two can play that game.
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When school lets out each summer, millions of students go in search of a job. New Labor Department data published Wednesday suggests some are having slightly better luck at landing them, while others continue to struggle.The latest federal jobs report provides a snapshot of summer employment for those between the ages of 16 and 24 for July, the month where youth employment reaches its peak. Total employment for these younger workers jumped by nearly 2 million between April and July. Compared to last year, younger workers fared marginally better in job searches. Their July unemployment rate was 11.5 percent, down from 12.2 percent, while the share participating in the labor market remained unchanged.That said, younger Americans arent working summer jobs quite as often as they used to.An estimated 64.8 percent held summer employment in 2000, compared to 53.2 percent last month. Employment declined across the board during the recession, but younger workers havent recovered as well as others, particularly older adults working later into their careers.The summer employment data also depicts stark racial disparities.Unemployment rates for younger whites and Asians last month stood at about 10 percent, which is half the jobless rate for black youth, at 20.6 percent. Its also worth noting that while summer unemployment for white, Hispanic and Asian youth all dipped slightly last year, the rate for blacks showed essentially no improvement.Summer youth unemployment for both men and women declined at similar rates in recent years, however, younger men are slightly more likely to participate in the labor market.An estimated 5.2 million young adults worked in the leisure and hospitality sector this summer -- in restaurants and amusement parks, for example. While these typically low-wage jobs account for the single largest employment sector, three-quarters of all younger Americans worked in other areas of the economy, such as education and health services (2.6 million). Local governments employed an estimated 728,000 workers under age 25 in July, while another 510,000 were on state government payrolls.Compared to last July, the industries that saw the largest increase of young employees were construction (+12 percent), education and health services (+17 percent) and professional/business services (+9 percent).By contrast, state and local governments reported a respective 6 percent and 3 percent decline in younger workers.
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A Nepalese official said Wednesday that Nepal makes China a priority in its foreign relations and abides by the one-China policy.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) meets with Nepalese Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara in Beijing on August 17, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

The pledge was made by visiting Nepalese Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who acted as special envoy for new Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in his meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.

Mahara said Nepal will strengthen coordination and cooperation with China, and implement all consensus already reached between the two countries.

Li said China appreciates the importance attached to relations with China by the new Nepalese government.

He said China will work with Nepal in the spirit of friendship, sincerity, and mutual benefit, to jointly promote bilateral relations as well as peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

China plans to expand bilateral cooperation in such areas as trade, connectivity and infrastructure construction. China will also help Nepal in natural disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction, Li added.

Mahara was visiting Beijing just two weeks after Pushpa Kamal Dahal was elected as Nepal's new prime minister. He also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Song Tao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee during his stay.
Governor Christie signed into law on Tuesday a measure that prohibits state investments in any company that boycotts Israel.Israel is the beacon of democracy in a region that is in constant conflict and turmoil Christie said moments after signing the bill.He noted New Jersey does $1.3 billion in trade with Israel annually.Christie encouraged other states to adopt similar measures.
former General Services Administration Administrator Dan Tangherlini, who also established the federal governments influential digital consultancy 18F;

former Chicago Chief Technology Officer John Tolva;

former Chicago Chief Financial Officer Lois Scott;

former Los Angeles Transportation Technology Strategist Ashley Z. Hand;

the Knight Foundation's Benjamin de la Pena, who serves as its director of community and national strategy; and

MIT's David Vega-Barachowitz, a visiting researcher at its Center for Advanced Urbanism.

In the rush many municipalities feel to become a " smart city "  one that collects immediate data on everything from traffic patterns to home water use, analyzes it, and uses that information to improve performance and outcomes  cities have struggled to separate whats helpful from the hype.And it's no wonder. Pay a visit to any of today's smart city conventions and you may become overwhelmed simply by paying a visit to the expo floor  a circus of urban solutions like solar panels, sensors, parking meters, cables, thermostats, gauges and gaskets. Gabe Klein understands these cities' struggles better than most. A well-known civic innovator, Klein has worked in the transit, tech and smart city industries for years. He spent part of this time serving as Chicago's transportation commissioner and director of Washington D.C.'s transportation department. And on Aug. 17, Klein, a bit of a serial entrepreneur, launched his latest venture: a digital consultancy called CityFi , whose goal is to help cities decipher the smart city fluff from real, results-driven solutions.The startup, headquartered in Washington, D.C., includes a team of experts from across the country with varied skill sets and extensive expertise in IT, transportation, civic engagement, project management and federal services. In addition to Klein, who is co-leading the startup, CityFis consultants include:The team's ambitions, Klein said, are to give cities, departments, developers and private-sector companies collaborating with governments real-world innovation insights and tactics. The ambiguity and evolving nature of what a smart city is changes so drastically that Klein said there's a strong demand in the market for those who can marry the politics and policies of urban cities with the agility and variation of latest technologies  some of which Klein learned during both his work in government and with his private-sector service at Zipcar, his early-to-market organic food truck company and current work with the venture capital firm Fontinalis Partners.Klein spoke withon Aug. 17, offering a glimpse into CityFi's current and upcoming projects. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.Every since I left government a couple years ago, I've been doing a lot of work with government and also with the private sector, and so my mission has really been to try to bring the two sides together and work more collaboratively. I wrote my book Startup City about that. I also was a fellow at the Urban Land institute in 2014 and focused on that in terms of trying to get developers and cities to work more closely together to improve public space and transportation in the built environment.So I came together with some awesome collaborators ... it's really a group of just wonderful people. So a lot of us were working on our own on various projects, but what tied us together is that we're all working on projects that deal with cities and work with private-sector companies that want to work more closely with cities. Some of us have also advised startups, and so we said, "Lets formalize this under one umbrella. Here, we not only can work together, but we can expand the breadth of our solutions for clients."I don't know if I know anybody else who knows more about municipal finance  at least that I've met  than Lois Scott and Dan Tangherlini. I don't know if there is anybody that is as up to date on technology and transportation in cities than Ashley Hand  and to a slightly lesser extent myself. And also I don't know if there is another group of people that have implemented more in cities, whether it's bike sharing programs, bridges or smart city applications like in Kansas, Mo., or Chicago. One of the things we bring to the table is that most of us have worked in the public, private and philanthropic sectors, so we've actually implemented things, we've actually done the hard work.First off, many of the things we've done we didn't even put on the website  it was just too much. But in terms of recent projects, I think Ashley's L.A. Transportation Strategy, even though most people haven't seen it yet, is really cutting edge. I got the opportunity as an adviser to read through the various iterations of it, and it's really forward-thinking, and yet it's also outcome-focused and centered on human beings. That's really important because often with technology, it's so easy to get wrapped up in the tech itself instead of the life we want to create for people, the quality of life, the sustainability factors and looking at that broad societal return on investments for initiatives. So I think her project is great.Also, I just finished up the Gear Up 2020 agenda for the Mayor of Nashville, Megan Barry, with the Urban Land Institute. I worked on this for about five months, and looking back, it takes a lot of feedback from people in the nonprofit world, government, business owners and developers to form a strategy for what a mayor can do in her first term to make some pretty big directional changes in the city, and particularly around transportation equity and affordable housing  an issue she's really passionate about. Open space, making the government work better for people was also a big part of this. So I'm definitely very proud of that project as well.Then John Tolva has got a litany different initiatives he's worked on as well. I think his work on Kazakhstan Expo 2017 Master Plan was truly exceptional.I think for a lot of cities, particularly on the transportation side  but also in general  many of them didn't initially understand what a smart city was. And to be honest, in their defense, it's a bit of an amorphous term that is constantly evolving and changing. I think when the federal government did the White House Smart City Challenge it really helped because you had 70 cities, in essence, put together a business plan for a smart city implementation. They we're forced to think through what that would look like to work across silos in the government.But having said that, I think [the definition] is going to continue to evolve, and what we bring to table is a people-centered approach and an outcome-centered approach, which we've already employed with a couple of clients. They were focused on the technology and we said, "Let's take a step back and let's focus on what is the purpose and need here." And what do we want this city to look and feel like, or this town or new development, then after we've established this, lets look at technology to see if it can take us where we want to go. But lets not look at technology as the end goal. That's sort of what happened with automobiles in the 1940s and '50s, and in many ways it was pretty destructive to our cities [with respect to mobility infrastructure]. And so we want to make sure that we help advise  whether its CEOs, mayors, or directors of agencies  from the start what lens to look at these projects through so they end up with better outcomes.Even before our launch today, we had been working on projects with various types of clients  developers, national real-estate companies, city departments, mayors  so the process differs a bit depending on who our client is and what they're trying to accomplish. This could be looking at go-to-market strategies for services or products being launched in the U.S. market, developers who are interested in getting into the transportation business  I mean, you name it. So it's a slightly different approach depending on what they want, but I would say initially of course there is a bit of a deep dive in figuring out what it is exactly they're trying to accomplish. In this, I think a lot of times people are coming to us with problems that are new, that have not been seen before, just because of the change that we're seeing cities and in technology. I think our experience working as investors or government officials, or as private-sector CEOs and executives helps us to bring a lot to table.Well, first of all, having worked in a lot of startups or having advised a lot of startups, whether it was Zipcar, my own food truck company, or advising [the shuttle service] Bridj, or working with Fontinalis Partners, it's very helpful because to be honest, the world is changing so fast you need to keep your finger on the pulse of what's going on in the technology industry. And it's not just about technology, it's also about the change in business models themselves. What you're seeing often is an old idea, but you're adding new technology layered onto new business models that allow you to reduce friction and make something seem new again.
Google Search takes on voting

San Rafael, Calif.s, plan for digital transformation

There's more to smart cities than apps

Google is famous for its ability to bring people to information, but now its attempting to bring voters to polling stations. The Mountain View, Calif., company has updated itsrobust search platform with a feature that informs users how and where they can vote in the presidential election on Nov. 8.Web visitors type vote, or other types of voting keywords into the search bar, Google will display the tool that provides details based on a users geographic location. At a glance, the voting feature is styled much like Googles quick reference help section. Answers are brief, bulleted, and filled with hyperlinks for additional resources. Key information consists of requirements for in-person or mail-in voting, acceptable forms of identification, voting deadlines and how to register to vote online. All of this guidance is specific to a users state, then drills down into specific counties. The only service Google cant provide directly is information about the polling places since it doesnt have access to the home addresses of its users.Yet, as an added highlight to the Web app, Google said it will offer nonprofits, academics, journalists and others data from both its how to vote app and its how to register to vote app  a tool released last July  via a request form map depicting voting search interest between 2012 and 2016 notes an increase in all states except Oregon and Kansas, while California, West Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island and Maine boast voting keyword search increases of more than 200 percent.It should be noted that this is not Googles first venture into voting. In 2012 , Google had a Politics & Election site for political news, a live Election Hub to watch party conventions, and an online voter guide to assist citizens. There has also been an experimental program called Google Votes that empowers employees to vote on company decisions based on a system that categorizes issues and allows staff to either vote themselves or award their vote to a fellow voter they consider an expert in the category.This month San Rafael, Calif., has released a beta site along with a new strategy to modernize its digital presence. The Bay Area city just north of San Francisco plans to revitalize its outreach and citizen services with a number of digital upgrades.We are reimagining the experience our residents, businesses and visitors have with San Rafael, said City Manager Jim Schutz. This means a new focus on our digital approach to civic engagement and government operations, especially as more and more of us rely on the Web to communicate and get things done.With its new site as a starting point, the approach calls for exploration of open data, digital feedback, analytics, transparency and civic engagement. In a release, the city said future digital initiatives might include open financial Web apps and economic development tools for local businesses.San Rafael Senior Management Analyst Rebecca Woodbury, who is spearheading the work, has collaborated with officials to establish a set of values the city will adopt when partnering with vendors and selecting projects. These attributes emphasize transparency, accessibility, continuous improvement and learning, in addition to authentic and responsive [citizen] engagement.The site, that is in the middle of a beta testing period before it launches early next year, will offer residents a mobile-friendly design, security and privacy features as well as a new content management system for staff. The startup ProudCity has provided the technical skills for the site while the startup Romulus is assisting San Rafael with its customer relationship management system to connect officials with citizens.Were excited to approach the future of San Rafael digital from this foundation and quickly expand to other online service offerings, Woodbury said.Using Bostons honking car horns and congested side streets as a backdrop, Julian Agyeman and Duncan McLaren remind would-be civic innovators that great apps often demand equally great policies. The two co-authored the bookand from their experience, proffered technologists and "intrapreneurial" government types a constructive reality check. (Intrapreneurs are employees within a company assigned to work on a special idea or project, and they are instructed to develop the project like an entrepreneur would, according to Investopedia .)In an article by the, McLaren, an independent researcher, and Agyeman, a professor of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning at Tufts University, said there are many scenarios where IT innovation just isnt enough. Often, the two argue, the tech industrys assumption that ingenuity can outmaneuver politics is flawed thinking.[This assumption] encourages the belief that theres always 'an app for that'  that we can address deep-seated, structural urban problems through business-led technological innovation and somehow sidestep the messiness of inclusive politics, McLaren and Agyeman said.To illustrate their point, they point to Bostons perpetual traffic problems and the citys partnership with the traffic app Waze. The 2015 Super Bowl in Boston led to a partnership to update drivers and the municipal Traffic Management Center with real-time traffic conditions. While a remedy, the two said real impacts required more.This may seem like a great idea, and it makes people feel good about a public-private partnership based on information technology, they said. But as with much crisis-driven policymaking, it merely represents a Band-Aid slapped over a problem that still requires brave new political thinking and much-needed infrastructure investment.
(TNS)  Co-working spaces and maker spaces are two items that can help engage millennials, and both are under development in Aberdeen.The Aberdeen Development Corp. is in the process of creating a co-working space, called The Workshop, which is slated to open in October. And businessman Travis Kiefer is working on a maker space.Kiefer said the maker space is almost finished. Essentially, he said, members will have access to the workshop he's created for Ease at the Citizen's Building. It's designed as a place where entrepreneurs can take their ideas and develop product prototypes using a 3-D printer.When it comes to having a community open to millennials, Kiefer said, Aberdeen doesn't have the welcoming atmosphere for entrepreneurs. His comparison is the Silicon Valley in California."The area caters to millennials," he said. "That's a place that's doing a really phenomenal job."In Aberdeen, he said, it's more difficult to connect. Kiefer said millennials are willing to try new business ideas that might be risky, but local finance companies are hesitant to make risky investments. He believes the local development of co-working and maker spaces is part of the solution to engaging millennial entrepreneurs.Liz Hannum, organizer of StartHUB in Aberdeen, also notes a hesitancy to invest in young entrepreneurs. But she has high hopes for the entrepreneur group."I hope we can be the place people go to start things," she said. "I really want people to do offshoot events."City officials, however, are less clear on the best ways to engage the millennial population."I don't have an answer or silver bullet," City Manager Lynn Lander said.The city has used surveys, letters, mailings and public notices to keep the public informed. Lander said his goal is to reach as many people as possible, but he doesn't focus on tapping any one specific age group.The police department has been using Facebook and has been successful in engaging the public. Police Capt. Eric Duven said the majority of those connected through Facebook are 22 to 34 years old. The police department also uses the MyPD App, he said, which has increased the number of younger followers on social media.It is a time commitment to monitor social media traffic and respond to private messages, Duven said.Lander said that time commitment makes it difficult for other city departments to also use social media platforms. He admits social media changes are generational, but Facebook is connecting more than just millennials.Councilwoman Jennifer Slaight-Hansen has used Facebook and Twitter as a way to get feedback on issues the council discusses. It started as an experiment, she said. As she's gotten feedback, she's increased her social media presence."I thought I would be connecting with younger people," she said. "People who don't read the newspaper or connect. I haven't found that to be the case as much."Groups like the Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce are also working on engaging young professionals. Chamber President Gail Ochs said young professionals can join the chamber's diplomat committee. The group works to recruit and retain members and learn about leadership opportunities.The chamber is also working with StartHUB on bringing programs to Aberdeen. One option is TEDx event in 2017, Ochs said.Two TEDx events are planned at the Alexander Mitchell Public Library this fall. Cara Romeo, assistant library director and community services librarian, said she has a license to host up to four events. The library sessions were not organized through discussion with the chamber, she said. They are at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 and Nov. 10. Registration is not required.TEDx is a topic-based community conversation where information is presented and attendees have an opportunity to discuss it, Romeo said.
(TNS)  The Baltimore County Council plans to start live-streaming its meetings  years after other county governments adopted the practice.The decision to broadcast meetings live online comes amid complaints from county residents, who feel shut out of the government decision-making process when they can't trek to Towson to watch meetings in person."We just want as much transparency as we can get," said Council Chairwoman Vicki Almond , a Reisterstown Democrat. "I think it will give people a better idea of what we actually do and what our process is." She said details of the launch still must be nailed down, but she expects the live broadcasts to begin by the end of the year.Currently, the council's evening meetings are recorded and aired on cable on a delayed basis. The council's daytime work sessions, where members discuss bills and hear public testimony, are not recorded at all.Towson resident Beth Gibbs, who is active in neighborhood and animal welfare issues, said the lack of live meeting broadcasts is "one tangible manifestation of Baltimore County government's predilection to avoid transparency whenever, wherever and however they can."Gibbs said many members of the Reform Baltimore County Animal Services group can't make it to council meetings and would like to watch online or on TV. The work sessions are especially hard for people to attend because they're usually held at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays, when most people are at work."It's 2016," she said. "Technology should allow for greater transparency."survey of area governments found that Baltimore County is the last to offer live broadcasts of its meetings.Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Carroll and Howard counties broadcast their meetings live on both cable TV and the internet. Meeting videos are archived online.Harford County's council meetings are streamed live online, but the cable broadcast is delayed.Baltimore County has been offering only the delayed cable TV videos of County Council meetings for about 15 years, said Thomas Peddicord, the council's legal counsel and secretary. Until recently, there's never been a push to change it."I think the council, they just weren't concerned about it," Peddicord said. "This group, with some of the new people this term and the last term, began to want to move it along."A remote camera was recently installed in the council's chambers that will allow for live broadcasts.The meeting room that the council uses for its work sessions is small and doesn't work well for videotaping, so the council may move its work sessions to the main council chambers to allow them to be live-streamed, too, Peddicord said.Council members are expected to discuss the logistics of live-streaming their meetings next month, after finishing comprehensive rezoning decisions. In September, the council resumes a full schedule of two meetings and two work sessions per month, after a lighter summer schedule.Baltimore County Councilman Julian Jones is glad that the county is moving forward on the broadcasts. Comcast records each and every one of the council meetings; however, it's hard to know when exactly people can see them," said Jones, a Woodstock Democrat who was elected in 2014. "It just stands to reason that we would have these things listed on the website. ... It doesn't seem too much to ask for in 2016."Jones has been among the council members nudging the county on the issue. He's influenced, in part, by his experience in Anne Arundel County, where he recently retired from his day job as a high-ranking firefighter. Anne Arundel has a year's worth of County Council meeting videos posted online."The real benefit is for people to be able to go online and see their government work at a time and place that's convenient for them," Jones said.County Executive Kevin Kamenetz , a Democrat who served on the council for 16 years, declined to discuss the broadcast of council meetings, saying through a spokeswoman that those decisions are up to the council.Dundalk resident Scott Collier said it would be helpful for county residents to see their council members in action, especially at the work sessions where he says members sometimes are "rolling their eyes about things, looking away, not paying attention to the person speaking."Collier knows about the power of video, having posted videos of community events and meetings on his DundalkTV channel on YouTube for about five years. He thinks making it easier to watch county government would get more people involved."I think more people would be interested in what's going on because it would be easier to get informed," Collier said.Donna Metlin, president of the Colgate Improvement Association in Dundalk, said it sometimes takes four or five days for video from a Monday night council meeting to be aired on cable TV. Even then, she said meetings are rarely aired at the time listed on the TV schedule."It isn't a successful way of informing the public," said Metlin.Having video of public meetings that's easy to find and view is important to ensuring that government bodies are transparent, said Damon Effingham, policy manager for Common Cause Maryland.In a county that's as large as Baltimore County, the ability for residents to watch meetings online is all the more important, Effingham said.Baltimore County has about 830,000 residents, a larger population than four states. The county covers 682 square miles, with several communities more than 20 miles away from the county seat in Towson where meetings are held."There's really no reason not to provide it, other than not wanting to be transparent or getting stuck in, 'This has worked so long, so why change it?'" Effingham said.And with more families dropping their cable TV plans and fewer reporters providing comprehensive coverage of local government, online access to meetings is a key way for residents to keep tabs on their elected officials, Effingham said.While providing online streaming and archives of meetings is "more expensive than pulling out your iPhone," governments like Baltimore County can find cost-effective ways to record meetings, Effingham said.Generally, broadcasts of government meetings are funded by the cable companies that operate in each jurisdiction. As part of the franchise agreement that allows them to do business in a county, the cable company must provide a certain number of channels for government and public access programming, as well as a stream of money to help pay for it.The money from the cable companies is known as "PEG," which stands for public, educational and governmental access. In addition to paying for coverage of government meetings, the PEG money can be used to pay for studios and equipment for other shows that air on local cable, such as programs filmed by local school systems, community-based shows and public affairs programs.There's no uniform standard for how much cable companies pay in fees for PEG programming or how the money is used, said Joy Sims, senior director of communications for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. It's up to each local government to decide the details of contracts with cable companies.While government meetings are not aired live on Baltimore County's cable channel 25, the channel airs county-created programs on the arts, local businesses, police, senior issues and current events. The council meetings are aired throughout the week at different times.In Carroll County, the county and its eight municipalities pooled their PEG money to form the nonprofit Carroll County Community Media Center.All of the Carroll County Commissioners meetings are filmed by the media center group and aired live on cable TV and online. The center rotates among Carroll's eight cities and towns, recording each jurisdiction's council meeting once per quarter.The Harford Cable Network broadcasts County Council meetings, Board of Appeals meetings and budget hearings. Meetings of the Development Advisory Committee, which reviews development proposals, will be broadcast once cameras are installed in the committee's new meeting room, said Cindy Mumby, a spokeswoman for County Executive Barry Glassman."We really are trying to make government more transparent and to engage citizens," she said.Mumby said technology has made it easier to broadcast government meetings."It's certainly not as difficult as it once was to provide this," she said.While other jurisdictions offer more meeting coverage than Baltimore County, they aren't without complaints.In Baltimore City, CharmTV broadcasts all meetings of the City Council and many council committees, as well as hearings of the Liquor Board, Board of Estimates and the Municipal Zoning Appeals Board.But manpower issues mean that not all meetings are broadcast in their entirety, said Lester Davis, spokesman for City Council President Bernard "Jack" Young . When meetings are held after hours, the high cost of paying CharmTV staff means that sometimes only the first couple hours are broadcast, frustrating viewers at home.At the state level, some lawmakers have been frustrated that the Maryland General Assembly doesn't offer video of floor sessions of the House of Delegates and the state Senate.Currently, committee hearings are live streamed. The General Assembly only provides a live audio stream of floor sessions  no video.A bipartisan push from some lawmakers to require online video streaming of floor sessions went nowhere this year. Nonpartisan legislative analysts estimate it would cost $1.2 million in the first year and at least $400,000 per year after that to live stream video from floor sessions.
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Municipal broadband

(TNS)  Following in the wake of neighboring communities, Lafayette, Colo., officials voted Tuesday to refer a litany of issues to the November ballot  including municipal broadband and an increase in property taxes to fund a citywide EcoPass "It is important to make decisions on part of your community," former Nederland Mayor Joe Gierlach said at Tuesday night's meeting.Under Gierlach in 2012, Nederland  working with Boulder County's transportation department  put together a similar program with about $90,000 from a federal grant administered by the Denver Regional Council of Governments and about $20,000 in matching funds raised through Boulder County's transit tax."In the first two years (of the program), ridership grew 45 percent," he said Tuesday night. "We were able to build programming around knowing that the fact that everyone had a free EcoPass. My recommendation is to allow (Lafayette) residents to make the decision  give them the option and the data and see what happens."When Boulder County officials asked residents earlier this year to consider a proposal that would raise property taxes to help fund free mass transit passes, a poll suggested that voters would most likely reject a ballot initiative. In November, however, Lafayette officials are hoping that a similar program on a smaller scale will be better received among residents.The tax initiative would increase property taxes by a 1.25 mill levy for the next six years to provide an EcoPass at no charge for every Lafayette resident who requests one. If voters get behind the measure in November, the proposal would likely increase the property tax by roughly $35 to $40 on a $350,000 home in Lafayette.An EcoPass would provide unlimited rides on all RTD buses and trains throughout the Denver metro area, including Boulder County."I'm one of 60,000 people that drive to Boulder every day," resident Deryn Wagner said. "A lot of those people live in Lafayette. I think we owe it to the residents of Boulder County to think about the impact we make by driving to Boulder every day. If we were to provide a service to not just our residents but also our fellow citizens I feel that we would be doing a great service by providing that opportunity."A survey taken by Talmey-Drake Research and Strategy Inc. last month suggested that if the election were held at this juncture, support for the lower-level EcoPass ($35) would have a 56 percent favorable support rate."I want to applaud you for even considering such an inclusive program," resident Jamie Harkins said. "My budget is tight but I would gladly take on this critical community need. The cost of living is skyrocketing in Colorado; this is just one tiny step to make the cost of living more affordable for your community."Given the high percentage of Lafayette voters who feel things in the city is going in the right direction, the climate could very well be favorable for the 1.25 mill levy to raise $575,000 ($35/household) city EcoPass tax initiative to prove successful in November.In addition to Tuesday's EcoPass decision, Lafayette's council voted to refer the increasingly sought-after option of municipal broadband to November's ballot.The motion  providing options between three forms of community broadband: municipal, public-private or fully private  would follow in the footsteps of several other Boulder County communities, including the city of Boulder, Longmont and, earlier this month, Superior "We had discussed quite awhile back  the desire to cross the digital divide," Berg said earlier this month. "It's really just kind of housecleaning to provide more opportunities for more municipality."Because of a 2005 state law, cities must ask voters whether they can provide telecommunications services  essentially entering the marketplace with other companies such as Comcast and CenturyLink.Besides the perks of a faster internet connection, forced competition in the form of local government fosters positive business growth, according to attorney Ken Fellman."(Municipal broadband) gives any local government the ability to leverage their network investment to enter into competition with their own price and speed," Fellman said. "You don't have to be Longmont, but you can say to private actors, 'Look at these options we have.'"If approved in November, the exemption from the law would allow Lafayette to consider numerous options for being involved in broadband services. Options include installing and leasing fiber to private entities, creating a public-private partnership to provide services or directly providing services, officials said."You're not at the end of the line, and you're not at the front of the line if you do this," said Fellman, who last month summarized municipal broadband and what an approval of a ballot question would allow for Erie's Board of Trustees. "We're going to see a whole lot more communities start to adopt this."Last month, Erie officials weighed a plan to refer a similar initiative to voters. Because Erie does not have a regularly-scheduled municipal election in 2016, the price to place this one topic on an Erie ballot this year would have cost the town between $50,000 to $65,000. Instead, Erie officials opted to forgo the issue and will study it for possible inclusion on the 2017 ballot.While an approval of the ballot item this fall would provide the town an option to begin offering broadband to residents, officials say they currently have no plans to begin such an offer.




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Cisco is helping communities like yours bridge the digital divide to power a more inclusive future for all. Our experts in mass scale infrastructure, community broadband, and security can help you get started today at www.cisco.com/go/digitaldivide.
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Russia is trying to coordinate with the United States in Syria and has denied any violation of UN resolutions in its use of an Iran air base, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"The main task is to finally establish coordination in resolving the Syrian crisis...We are discussing this through military, intelligence and foreign ministries," Lavrov said Wednesday at a press conference after meeting with his New Zealand counterpart Murray McCully in Moscow.

Lavrov said the talks were focused on specific mechanisms to implement agreements reached during a visit by U.S. State Secretary John Kerry to Moscow last month.

He said Moscow and Washington are discussing with the United Nations the possibility of opening additional humanitarian corridors in the northern city Aleppo and its vicinity controlled by the Syrian army and opposition militants.

The two countries were also examining the prospect of increasing control over cargo crossing the Turkish-Syrian border to prevent supplies from reinforcing the terrorists, Lavrov said.

However, the top Russian diplomat added it would have been easier to reach a settlement in Syria if the United States had kept its promise to separate moderate opposition groups from the terrorists.

Meanwhile, Lavrov denied that Russia had violated any UN Security Council resolution in its use of an Iranian air base for its campaign in Syria.

He said Russian warplanes were used with Iran's consent within the framework of an "anti-terrorist operation on the territory of Syria at the request of the legitimate Syrian government."

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Russian long-range bombers took off from Hamadan air base in Iran to launch strikes against terrorist targets in Syria.
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The United Nations on Wednesday said 90,000 South Sudanese refugees have crossed into the Sudanese territories since the beginning of 2016.

Marta Ruedas, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, announced the number at a press conference here on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day.

Humanitarian assistant has been delivered to them, and also those who were internally displaced and 700,000 refugees, asylum seekers and other people of concern who are being hosted by Sudan, she said.

The UN and aid organizations have contributed almost 11 billion U.S. dollars since 2003, including more than 600 million dollars last year and 250 million dollars to date this year to meet humanitarian need in Sudan, Ruedas noted.

Previous UN figures showed that around 198,600 South Sudanese have fled to Sudan after the eruption of violence in their country in December 2013.

Most Southern Sudanese refugees live in seven camps in White Nile, East Darfur, West Kordofan and Khartoum States.

Sudan government decided to treat the South Sudanese nationals within its territories as foreigners since last March, saying it would adopt legal procedures against those who do not have passports or entry visas.
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The Brazilian Senate ruled on Wednesday that the impeachment trial for suspended President Dilma Rousseff will last for four sessions on Aug. 25-26 and Aug. 29-30.

The decision was taken in a joint meeting between Senate President Renan Calheiros, the president of the Supreme Court, Ricardo Lewandowski, and leaders of different political parties.

Thursday, Aug. 25, and Friday, Aug. 26, will be dedicated to hearing witnesses. This process may continue into the weekend, if needed.

On Monday, Aug. 29, Rousseff will appear and provide her testimony while the prosecutors and defense lawyers will present their cases. On Tuesday, Aug. 30, the senators will express their opinions about the case.

The final vote into whether to impeach Rousseff or not could be held on Aug. 30, if time allows, or the next day.

Rousseff stands accused of seeking to hide public budget deficits through fiscal irregularities, such as delaying loan payments to public banks and ordering additional loans without congressional approval.

Rousseff was temporarily suspended for up to 180 days on May 12 and her vice-president, Michel Temer, took over the presidency on an interim basis.

A two-thirds majority, 54 out of 81 senators, is needed to fully remove her from office.

Should Rousseff be impeached, Temer would complete her mandate until the end of 2018 and she would be ineligible to stand for public office for eight years.

On Tuesday, Rousseff once again pleaded her innocence and pledged to call a national vote on the topic of early elections, should she be returned to office.
The Fabric of Freedom free arts events, coming to Greensboro in September and October, range from a throwback concert by N.C. soul legends to community weavings and an Underground Railroad Walking Tour.

You can also share your North Carolina experience in the storytelling Airstream trailer. The photos and stories collected will be added to the collection of the Greensboro Historical Museum.

ArtsGreensboro President and CEO Tom Philion and Fabric of Freedom Coordinator Katy Clune announced the schedule Thursday afternoon.

Fabric of Freedoms arts events take place throughout the National Folk Festival Sept. 9 through 11 and the 17 Days Arts & Culture Festival Sept. 9 through 25.

Gospel singer Mary D. Williams of Garner  who will lead a Fabric of Freedom event Music from the Movement  provided a preview of her performance Thursday afternoon.

In its second year, the Fabric of Freedom series celebrates Greensboros history as a crucible for freedom and social justice. It is presented by ArtsGreensboro and funded by a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant, with major support from the AJ Fletcher Foundation and Lincoln Financial Foundation.

Freedom movements and social justice activism are as integral to Greensboro as its railroads, Philion said in a news release. Fabric of Freedom is a series of arts programs that celebrate the diversity and cultural history of Greensboro.

We are thrilled to be able to present Fabric of Freedom events in association with the National Folk Festival, which showcases the rich traditions of all Americans, and 17 Days, which shines a light on our citys diverse art organizations.

Even before Greensboro was founded in 1808, freedom was a rallying cry for its residents. Greensboro is named for Revolutionary War Major General Nathanael Greene, a fighting Quaker who led American troops against the British at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in 1781.

In the early 1800s, Quakers established the southern-most point of the Underground Railroad on the campus of present-day Guilford College. On Feb. 1, 1960, four N.C. A&T students asked to be served at the downtown Woolworths whites-only lunch counter. Since the 1970s, the city has welcomed new immigrants and refugees. In 2014, the Greensboro City Council passed a resolution naming Greensboro a Welcoming City that celebrates the growing diversity of its residents.

Fabric of Freedom kicks off during First Friday from 5 to 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 2. Tour the International Civil Rights Museum for free from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Then head over to Government Plaza at 7 p.m. for a throwback concert by N.C. soul legends from Odyssey 5 and The Eliminators.

Fabric of Freedom programs

Onsite at the National Folk Festival:

Freedom in the Gate City Timeline. See key moments in Greensboros history of social justice, Sept. 10 and 11.

#WeaveTheTent Hands-on Activity, noon-5 p.m. Sept. 10 and 11, N.C. Folklife Area. No skills or materials required. Community weavings will become part of Welcoming the Stranger, an exhibit opening at Guilford College on Sept. 14.

Whats Your North Carolina Story? Noon-5 p.m. Sept. 10 and 11, N.C. Folklife Area. Step into our storytelling Airstream trailer and share your N.C. experience. The photos and stories collected will be added to the collection of the Greensboro Historical Museum.

Throughout 17 Days:

Objects from the Borderlands: The U.S.-Mexico Border Anti-Archive, Sept. 2-Oct. 1, Greensboro Project Space, 219 W. Lewis St. Since 2007, artist Susan Harbage Page has walked the Texas-Mexico border, collecting the ordinary objects people leave behind on their journey into the U.S Reception: 5-8 p.m. Sept. 17.

Traditions of Protest in North Carolina, Sept. 2-Oct. 2, PB & Java , 616 N. Elm St. This exhibit places Greensboros protest history into a larger state context. Organized by the North Carolina Folklore Society.

Greensboro is Our Home: Storytelling, 7-9 p.m. Sept. 13, Gibbs Hundred, 117 W. Lewis St. Several of the citys voices for freedom  from the 1960s to now  reveal the true tales of triumph and danger they faced.

Welcoming the Stranger, Sept. 14-Oct 30, Hege Library, Guilford College, 5800 W. Friendly Ave. Opening reception: 5:30-7 p.m. Sept. 14. Inspired by the parable of Abraham welcoming strangers into his home, artist Jo Israelson seeks to turn strangers into friends.

Artist Talk: Hank Willis Thomas, 7 p.m. Sept. 15, Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St. The artist discusses his current exhibition, Unbranded, A Century of White Women, 1915-2015. RSVP: weatherspoon.uncg.edu.

The Allen Boys: Sacred Steel of North Carolina, 6-8 p.m. Sept. 16, Greensboro Historical Museum lawn, 130 Summit Ave. The Allen Boys, our states only touring sacred steel guitar band, bring their rollicking sound to Greensboro.

Underground Railroad Walking Tour, 11 a.m. Sept. 17, Guilford College, 5800 W. Friendly Ave. The southern terminus of the Underground Railroad was established in the forests of present-day Guilford College. RSVP: nationalfolkfestival.com/fabric-of-freedom.

Stacked Activist Art Receptions, 5-8 p.m. Sept. 17. See Peace and Restoration for Self-Determination at Bennett College (artist remarks at 6 p.m.), then take a complimentary shuttle to Greensboro Project Space to view Objects from the Borderlands (artist remarks at 7 p.m.).

Peace and Restoration for Self-Determination, Sept. 17- Oct. 30, Steele Hall Gallery, Bennett College, 900 E. Washington St., open by appointment, (845) 405-9159. Opening reception:5-8 p.m. Sept. 17. Through photo collage and installations, artist Shani Peters honors past social resistance and motivates todays activists.

Music from the Movement, 4:30-6:30 p.m. Sept. 18, O. Henry Hotel, 624 Green Valley Road. Join gospel singer Mary D. Williams on a journey through the songs of the Civil Rights era. RSVP: NationalFolkFestival.com/fabric-of-freedom.

Curator Talk: Media and Message, 12:15 p.m. Sept. 23, Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St. Weatherspoon curator Emily Stamey places Hank Williams Thomas artwork in the context of other artists who use media images to address social activist themes.

Hidden Histories of Greensboro, 1-5 p.m. Sept. 24, Elsewhere, 606 S. Elm St. Take tours of the South Elm Street neighborhood created by artists Chloe Bass and Samara Smith (1-3 p.m.). At 3 p.m., return to Elsewhere for an artist presentation and a neighborhood reception.

Dislocate: Contemporary Dance and Conversation, 7 p.m. Sept. 24, Little Theatre, Bennett College, 900 E. Washington St. Sarah Councils Dislocate is a physical inquiry into stories of courage, expectation, disappointment and sacrifice.

Asian Pacific American Celebration, 2-5 p.m. Sept. 25, Greensboro Historical Museum, 130 Summit Ave. Celebrate the Smithsonian traveling exhibition, I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story.

For more information, visit http://NationalFolkFestival.com/fabric-of-freedom.
GREENSBORO - Captain D's, a fast-casual seafood chain of restaurants, is looking to expand in the Greensboro market.

The company announced it is expanding its North Carolina presence with restaurants in Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Raleigh and Charlotte.

The chain currently has 27 restaurants in the state.

North Carolina is home to a thriving business community chock-full of potential. With our restaurants in the state performing well, we also see a lot of added opportunity for growth,and we know now is the time to build on this momentum and move full steam ahead to grow our presence in the region, said Michael Arrowsmith, chief development officer for Captain Ds. In the past several years, Captain Ds has consistently experienced tremendous growth and established itself as a leader in the fast casual industry. We encourage qualified and experienced franchise candidates interested in joining a nationally recognized brand with a proven record of success to visit us during the upcoming North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Expo.

The chain is currently remodeling its restaurants with a new, vibrant coastal design. About half of the restaurants have the new look with the other half getting the makeover by the end of year.

If interested in a franchise, see Jennifer Benjamin, director of franchise development, at the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Expo Aug. 29-30 in Raleigh or call her at (678) 779-1789.
EDEN  Community members and local churches of Rockingham County joined together Sunday at Freedom Park in Eden, to show their support for all law enforcement branches that serve the area.

Unity in the Community, which was hosted by Draper Christian Church, was supported by eight other churches across the area. The Freedom Park amphitheater was filled with residents willing to fight the heat in order to show their respect and appreciation for those that serve the community.

Several local pastors, public officials, and residents spoke during the service about the importance of uniting the community through those that protect them. Bishop Felicia Kellam, pastor of Benaja Mt. Zion Holiness Church of God in Reidsville believes police officers are a very important part of ministry.

This is a community and we should be able to support each others ministry, said Kellam. Let me be real though. We have to stop with the judging and profiling. We have got to stop saying just because you are this color, that you are this way. We have to stop saying because you are from a certain community, you are a certain way. We have to stop saying just because you are from a certain profession, you are this way. All preachers are not hypocrites. All lawyers are not crooks. All doctors are not just in it for the money and all policemen and sheriffs are not crooked.

We need to stop the madness and embrace each other -- bring us together so that the community will know that we do this together. You cannot pit one against the other. We are going to work together.

Residents like Eddie Staples also shared their belief in the power of unity. The 1982 graduate of Morehead High School shared his four keys to bring an already strong relationship with the community and law enforcement closer together: Communication, trust, respect and love.

Both sides need to be transparent to develop trust, said Staples during the service. Law enforcement nor the public should cover up any wrongdoing. Diversity training is needed in our law enforcement so they can better understand that all African-American men do not carry guns, sell drugs or are criminals. The public as a whole needs to know that not all policemen are bad. We need to respect all law enforcement and support them.

Rockingham County Sherriff Sam Page thanked everyone for their endless support and backing. He encouraged those that do good things to not fear punishment and to continue doing what is right through their matter of conscience.

If everyone would continue to turn to the Lord and get love in their heart and love their neighbor as their self  we wouldnt have problems in this world. We wouldnt have these problems in America, but we are working on it and were not giving up, because we are servants of God.

Look on the back of some of the police cars in this county and youll see the great motto of this nation  In God we trust, said Page. I cant think of anyone better than God to trust.

Page also thanked the several churches that organized the event and the men and women in law enforcement that serve the citizens of Rockingham County everyday at the local, state and federal level.

Each day these brave men and women put on the badge and choose to expose themselves to known and unknown dangers. Normally, who would do that? Not too many people. It takes a special person to deal with potential dangers of the unknown each day. It also takes a special wife and family to support these officers as they go out everyday throughout their careers.

We have one mission in Rockingham County  to protect and serve. We have to make choices in seconds when people have hours, days and months to figure out what happened. We have seconds when we are enforcing the rule of law.

The sheriff also added that despite a lot of attention being placed on law enforcement and their actions recently, there are thousands of good contacts everyday between law enforcement in Rockingham County and the citizens they serve  compared to the small amount of problems they face.

I cant speak on Ferguson, Baltimore or other places around the country, said Page. But I can tell you that in Rockingham County  your law enforcement officers and chiefs of police are working out here every day to make this a better and safer place to live.

The Unity in the Community service ended with a joining of hands for those in attendance  led by Pastor Steve Griffith and Malcolm Allen  both of whom attend Osborne Baptist Church in Eden.

The trouble that faces our country isnt going to be solved in our streets, said Griffith to close out the event. Its not going to be solved in our courtrooms and it certainly is not going to be solved in our jails.

The problems that face our country can all be solved on our knees.
MAYODAN  A local company has answered a call of need by West Virginia residents who were devastated by recent flooding that killed 23 people and left thousands without homes.

While many have been able to evacuate the area, others have been looking for the tools and supplies to help rebuild the life that was ripped away from them when the Elk River water level rose 35 feet above its crest and wiped out an area that stretches over 150 miles.

One of the hardest hit areas was Kanawha County and the towns of Clendenin and Elkview  river towns just east of Charleston, that are still reeling for the resources needed to build up what has been lost.

Tom Koenig was born and raised in Clendenin. He witnessed the damage that was done in those two cities from Florida. He was affected by seeing the downtown of his hometown nearly submerged underwater. Seeing nearby Elkview, where he currently resides, ravaged by over 10 feet of mud, was more than enough to find a way to provide for others.

The 52-year old-was sick and tired of hearing major companies saying no. He wanted to start some dialogue and lay down some tinder to light a flame of motivation under him and other volunteers. So he launched Radio Free Elk River  a Facebook group designed to provide assistance for those affected by the flooding.

Koenig says that one day after opening the page, he started contacting national soap companies, telling them about the situation in the region and requesting help. All he heard back was the same message from nearly everyone. Sorry, but we dont just give to anyone who comes to us for free stuff.

Thats until he heard from Charlies Soap, the laundry detergent company located at 203 N. First Ave. in Mayodan. The local company responded quickly to the call put out by Koenig, delivering 2,400 pounds of its biodegradable liquid soap and over 450 pounds of its highly concentrated powder detergent to Elkview.

Those guys totally stepped up and provided us an experience that was completely opposite of the other soap companies, said Koenig. Everyone else sent us chain letters or told us to go to our local Red Cross or health and human services center. Maybe its because they arent some multi-national conglomerate. Maybe its because they are a company that values the earth. We are just glad that they heard our call.

The next step for the volunteer group is to put some of the detergent powder into boxes and deliver it to local laundromats. Koenig says self-service laundry facilities are slowly reopening and he is working to start a program that will help local residents receive free vouchers to get their laundry cleaned with the donated soap.

James Sutherland is one of the co-owners of Charlies Soap. He believes his product can be counted on to clean up the sewage, residue and debris out of clothes that have been salvaged by flood victims.

Our biggest claim of fame is that our product cleans the fiber down to just the fiber, Sutherland said. Every other detergent uses ultraviolet dyes to brighten stains and not necessarily get rid of them. Charlies Soap is going to be the best thing for them, because they are really trying to get things completely clean.

The liquid portion of the donation is an off-spec batch that was being used by employees. Sutherland also wanted to donate some of the companys highly concentrated powder. When he found out there wasnt any produced that didnt meet specifications, he created a new 450-pound batch of detergent specifically for the West Virginia relief efforts.

Could you imagine 10 feet of mud flowing through downtown Madison? said Sutherland. Its devastating reality that these guys are dealing with. Right now through downtown Elkview, its just 10 feet of mud and sewage. It makes you just want to go up there with a shovel, but I have to run a company, so the best I can do is send some soap.

I wanted to give them more than they could ever need and hopefully theyll ask for more, because I have more to give.
MoneyTips

Chances are that if you have student loans, you need every bit of extra cash that you can get. Did you realize that your student loans might be able to generate some cash for you?

Under certain circumstances, you may be able to save on your tax bill by deducting the interest that you pay on your student loan. The total deduction from your taxable income could be as much as $2,500. As a final bonus, you do not have to itemize to claim this deduction.

To be eligible for the deduction, your loan must meet certain qualifications. It must have been made to cover qualified education expenses as defined in IRS Publication 970, including tuition, fees, and most room and board charges. The loan cannot have come from a relative or via a qualified employer plan, and the educational expenses must be incurred by you, your spouse, or your dependent for a qualified educational institution. (There are several expansions of who classifies as a dependent for purposes of this deduction.) You are not eligible if you can be claimed as a dependent on another person's return.

The student in question must be enrolled at least half-time as defined by the educational institution, but the half-time designation must meet certain Federal Standards. Refer to Publication 970 for other details on collective eligibility requirements.

The Student Loan Interest Deduction is limited based on your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), the adjusted gross income from your tax form with various subtractions based on which tax form you are submitting. The phase-out period for eligibility begins at $70,000 for single taxpayers and $140,000 for those married and filing jointly. Beyond a MAGI of $85,000 for a single taxpayer or $170,000 for married filing jointly, you cannot claim the Student Loan Interest Deduction at all. (If your status is married filing separately, you cannot claim this deduction at any income level.)

When part of your educational expenses is paid for by various tax-free sources, adjustments must be made to the amount of deduction you can claim. Examples where adjustments are necessary include employer-provided assistance, tax-free distributions from a qualified tuition program or a Coverdell educational account, and interest on U.S. savings bonds. You cannot deduct any amount that can be deducted under other categories of the tax law (such as mortgage interest).

On the positive side, a few other costs can be lumped in the deduction along with simple interest on the student loan. A loan origination fee qualifies if it is for the use of money instead of lender-provided property or services (for example, processing costs). Unpaid interest that is added to the principal (also known as capitalized interest) is also deductible, as is interest on refinanced student loans within certain parameters. You can also deduct interest on any extra or voluntary payments that you make.

As long as you paid at least $600 of interest on a student loan, you will receive a Form 1098-E from the lender that holds your student loan. However, you can still deduct your qualifying student loan interest if it is less than $600  it just becomes a bit harder to calculate. Publication 970 gives a fairly complex example of how to calculate your deductible interest.

If you and your student loan qualify, make sure that you take advantage of the Student Loan Interest Deduction when tax time rolls around. Turn a negative into a positive by making your student loan debt work to your advantage.

The IRS and Treasury Department have extended the 2021 tax filing deadline from April 15 to May 17, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the interest of safety and to curb the spread of the coronavirus, all Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TAC) have been closed temporarily and face-to-face IRS services operate by appointment only. Taxpayers can call 844-545-5640 to schedule an appointment or find your local IRS TAC on the IRS website. See the IRS Coronavirus Tax Relief page for the latest updates.

Failing to pay your taxes or a penalty you owe could negatively impact your credit score. You can check your credit score and read your credit report for free within minutes by joining MoneyTips.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Advertising Disclosure

Originally Posted at: https://www.moneytips.com/deduct-your-student-loans

Your Unpaid Student Loan Could Cost You Your Tax Refund

9 Crucial Tax Deductions

Top 7 Tax Deductions And Credits That People Forget
Peter Chenot / Contributed photo

A little blackmail and a lot of sexual innuendo is what youll discover in What the Butler Saw, opening for previews at Westport Country Playhouse on Tuesday, Aug. 23.

The shameless comedy by Joe Orton tells the story of Dr. Prentice  a psychiatric doctor who is attempting to interview and seduce an attractive would-be secretary. As part of his unconventional interview, he asks her to undress. When his wife makes an unexpected visit, he finds himself in quite the pickle.
GREENWICH  First Selectman Peter Tesei has given the work of the Community Development Advisory Committee his approval, paving the way for local non-profits to receive $751,162 in funding.

Under recommendations made by the committee, 14 groups will receive $108,750 in funding from a federal block grant for their programming needs. Another $502,025 will go toward 12 non-profits for capital projects.

The committee made the recommendations in July and they were approved by the Board of Selectmen last week. The list now goes before the Board of Estimate and Taxation as early as Sept. 19.

Part of the finance boards review includes a public hearing. Final approval is made by the Representative Town Meeting.

The committee received more than $1.3 million in requests for the ever-shrinking federal dollars.

Theyve been very thoughtful and meticulous in going out and seeing the sites and visiting the programs, Tesei said of the advisory committee members. They spend a lot of time debating the decision. By and large, its well thought and well planned for.

The allocations go to agencies in Greenwich or ones outside of town that serve Greenwich residents. The programming allocations include $16,240 for the Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticuts mental health assessment, treatment and support services; $10,000 for Kids in Crisis crisis nursery emergency services, and $6,000 for the Stamford-based Shelter for the Homeless emergency meals program.

The capital allocations include $64,050 for a parking lot expansion and renovation at Abilis, $25,000 for the playground at Family Centers Gateway Preschool and $180,000 for the Housing Authoritys repaving of the parking lot at McKinney Terrace.

One thing that captures our attention more and more every year is how the allocation that is coming from the federal government keeps getting reduced and reduced and reduced, said BET chairman Mike Mason.

kborsuk@scni.com
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GREENWICH  Students in Greenwich Public Schools performed better than their peers statewide and better than their predecessors on the states standardized tests, scores released Thursday show.

The results of the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium tests of English and math given to students in grades three through eight show improvement from 2014, the first year they were given, to last year.

We are pleased to see improvement in student outcomes, said Interim Superintendent Sal Corda. It is important to keep in perspective that this is one year of academic data and only one component of our comprehensive assessment system, which is used to monitor academic growth. In Greenwich, in realizing the vision of the graduate, we pay attention to the academic, personal, and interpersonal growth of our students.

In Greenwich, 76 percent of students met or exceeded standards in English compared with 55.7 percent of students statewide.

Greenwich similarly outperformed in math. Some 66.3 percent of Greenwich students were at or above standards, compared with 44 percent statewide.

The new, more rigorous, SBAC tests are based on the new Common Core curriculum. They were made shorter last school year after districts complained it took too long to give  six hours or more. The revamped test removed an essay that Commissioner of Education Dianna Wentzell said really didnt add to the understanding of what students could do. Last years scores were adjusted to remove the essay portion so the two sets of tests could be compared.

More Information Performance by School This chart shows the percent of students who scored at Level 3 or above in ELA and Math last year at each Greenwich school. ELA 2015/16 MATH 2015/16 Cos Cob School 70.1% 65.0% Julian Curtiss School 59.6% 50.6% Glenville School 73.3% 67.2% Hamilton Avenue School 52.2% 37.4% New Lebanon School 59.8% 43.3% North Mianus School 84.6% 76.9% North Street School 85.3% 75.3% Old Greenwich School 88.4% 83.6% Riverside School 90.0% 85.6% Parkway School 81.8% 78.8% International School At Dundee 88.3% 80.9% Central Middle School 72.4% 54.8% Eastern Middle School 85.3% 78.7% Western Middle School 62.7% 48.7% Source: Connecticut Department of Education See More Collapse

In all, scores in English and math in the state and in Greenwich rose from the first year the tests were given to the second.

Wentzell said she was pleased with the states performance overall and particularly with the scores of third graders, who are the only students to have spent their entire public school careers under the Common Core curriculum. More than half of third-graders statewide  52.8 percent  are now meeting or exceeding the achievement standard set for them.

This helps to validate Connecticuts decision to adopt the more rigorous standards, Wentzell said. We are confident they will continue to improve year after year.

Scores by School and Grade

SBAC test scores are broken down by school and by grade.

At all Greenwich elementary and middle schools, the majority of students in grades three through eight scored at or above standards in English. Riverside Elementary School posted the best results, with 90 percent of students in grades three, four and five scoring at or above standards. In comparison, only 52.2 percent of Hamilton Avenues students in those grades received the same score in English, lower than the state average.

In Math, almost all Greenwich schools had better student results than the state average. Only Hamilton Avenue and New Lebanon schools had fewer students score better than the states percentage of students at or above standards. Riverside School had the best student performance again, with 85.5 percent of students at or above standards.

In English, SBAC scores were similar across grades, with grades fluctuating from the average by only about two percentage points.

Across the district, Greenwich fifth graders performed the best, with 78.6 percent of students scoring at or above standards. Sixth grade had the fewest students scoring at those levels, at 73.9 percent.

In Math, student performance across grades was more varied.

Some 75.8 percent of third graders scored at or above standards, whereas no other grade capped 68 percent of students receiving the highest marks. Fifth graders had the worst performance with only 63.1 percent of students at the highest scoring levels.

Having received the data today, GPS administrators will now begin their in-depth review of the the standardized assessment data. the district said in a statement.

That includes looking at the differences between schools, subgroups of students and how students scored in the English tests compared with how they scored on the math tests, the district said.

The plan is to use the analysis to support successful programs and fix ones that werent as successful.

Hamilton Avenue made growth and we want to understand what contributed to that growth and what contributed to where schools have dropped in some ways in their performance, said Irene Parisi, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and professional learning. But we need time to do that work."

More scores to come

While the percentage of students deemed proficient or above were released, state officials say they are not yet prepared to release how many students were in the lowest scoring band, meaning they are not making the grade or are approaching achievement but not yet there.

We thought it was good to release what we had, Wentzell said.

Districts  and thus, parents  wont get individual student reports until mid-September. A big criticism of the test is that, for all the time and effort it takes, it does not provide educators information fast enough for them to improve instructions for students who are not making the grade.

The state is also still working to show how students improve as they move one grade to the other. In other words, how last years fourth grade did as fifth graders. It also has yet to release results from a science test given in grades five, eight and 10.

Linda Conner Lambeck contributed to this report.

emunson@hearstmediact.com; @emiliemunson
It seems that deals and dealmaking are very popular these days. I am sure it's no news to most folks that dealmaking is a big part of the Republican presidential candidates life.

One has only to read his book, which came out several years ago. I decided I would read it given the popularity, or worse, of the Republican runner.

In his book, there are several nice bits about his family and what have you, but most of it is about his buildings and the deals it took in order to have them built. The majority of his dealmaking took place with the various boards of New York City.

Having read this, I came across some deals in another book that were business deals to an extent  but young ladies were a big part of those deals. Mainly, the deals were between the wealthy American father and his daughter being pushed by the mother to marry an English aristocrat. Of course the most famous being Consuelos Vanderbuilts marriage to the Duke of Blandford.

I was amused by her brothers comment when he heard of this arrangement. He is only marrying you for your money, said Consuelos younger brother, Harold. Actually, the brothers comments were really not all that correct since this was a wonderfully beautiful lady, as we all should know by now. Sonny, the Duke, could not have chosen, with or without the money, a more beautiful and amazing lady as his wife. On the other hand, the marriage would not have been made without the commodores money.

The story is told in the most interesting book by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace, To Marry an English Lord, which was an inspiration to the well known television series Downton Abbey. One of its chapters, Lets Make a Deal, explains how the Vanderbilt deal was worked out.

While the lawyers on both sides were hammering out the details, according to the book, the Duke received a settlement of $2.5 million. Needless to say, he was a lucky fellow. After all, it was to be expected that Consuelos Vanderbuilts money would certainly be more than many other deals to be made between America and Great Britain.

The American money was put to use by the Duke by building a $500,000 town house on Curzon Street. After adding that to all the improvements carried on at Blenheim Castle, the contribution to the grooms family ended up at $15 million.

In England, a womans dowry was traditionally handed over to the husbands estate, so for American fathers handing over such sums, there was a need to safeguard the welfare of their daughters in England and assure them of the life they envisioned. Ergo the lawyers. This was as true of the Vanderbilts as it was of the other families seeking titled sons-in-law, especially since the Duke of Blandford and his many friends seemed eager to marry an American heiress.

So while other daughters and mothers were traveling in Europe, especially England, the fathers were often left behind to make the money going to those probable sons-in-law.

The silent partner in this type of an arrangement was, of course, the Wall Street father who arranged for the money to be sent to an English aristocrat along with his daughter.

Talk about dealmaking! it seems to me that dealmaking with ones daughter is somewhat uncanny.

Of course while all of this was going on with Consuelos and the Duke, the divorce of Alva Vanderbuilt was taking place, adding to the various and sundry bits and pieces getting into the papers. To say nothing of the happenings that Sonny did in the days before the marriage causing offense: He was stopped by the police coasting a bicycle in Central Park; he had nothing to say complimentary about the Americans; nobody in his family was coming to the wedding; he stayed away from the rehearsal.

Since he was only 5 feet 6 inches tall, his height called forth dismay in marrying a fresh innocent American girl for her dollars rather than for her amazing charm.

Naturally, the press got into the deal. The New York Times, discussing the wedding preparations, noted the pews were to be decorated with floral torches that would recall the flambeaux on the old residents in London.

Consuelos' trousseau was described and illustrated in Vogue, a project that must have required a lot of cooperation from Alva, the mother of the bride. It was an amazing wedding to say the least, with all of New York hoping to get a glimpse of some part of the goings on.

According to the book, Consuelos decided she preferred an American for a husband, but went through the extraordinary wedding put on by mother, Alva, who was at that time divorced. All in all, it was the marriage of the century.

There were many more families that went on to provide marriages and money to shore up large English properties with American dollars. It was very much the thing in those days. The Vandebuilt/Blanford marriage was certainly a famous affair but not the only one.

It just goes to show that deals of one kind or another have been going on in more years than one might think. They certainly run the gamut from relatively simple business deals to the extraordinary years of wealthy American daughters to become apart of the English nobility.

All of this came to mind while reading all the deals that one can find in the Trump book.

Which of these, and many other deals around the world, would you prefer?
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STAMFORD  A giant, paint-splattered fiberglass cat statue greeting visitors in Lorna Jorgenson Wendts driveway shows her love of the arts  and her Stamford pride.

Air vents artfully colored to blend in with custom carpeting reveals her meticulous attention to detail.

The woman  who became a national crusader for the rights of stay-at-home spouses after her highly publicized 1996 divorce from a former GE Capital CEO  left her fingerprints all over the 6,300-square-foot North Stamford home before she died in February at the age of 72.

Lorna and her family called Stamford home for many, many years, said Barbara Hickey, the listing agent with William Pitt Sothebys who is tasked with selling the home at 328 Erskine Road for an asking price of $1.8 million. They were Stamford people through and through.

A longtime benefactor of Art in Public Places, the annual sculpture display downtown, Wendt bought the colorful, larger-than-life feline at an auction in 2010 following the citys Its Reigning Cats and Dogs theme event.

Wendt and her ex-husband, Gary C. Wendt, owned three other Stamford homes before building the estate on Erskine Road in 1989.

But when the couples marriage ended after 32 years  during which she put her husband through Harvard Business School, parented their two daughters, ran the household and played the perfect hostess as her husband climbed the corporate ladder  Jorgenson Wendt had to fight for an equitable piece of his estimated $100 million fortune.

The ensuing battle sparked a national conversation on the value of stay-at-home spouses, with Wendt  who later established the Equality in Marriage Institute  landing on Fortune magazines February 1998 cover under the headline Whats a Corporate Wife Worth?

Her home can answer that question  in part.

A state Superior Court Judge decided Wendt was worth about $20 million, awarding her half of her ex-husbands hard assets, including cash, securities, $252,000 a year in alimony and the North Stamford home.

With her settlement, Wendt redecorated the 27-year-old home, which sits on five acres, commissioning a series of renovations to put her personal touch on the home and make it her own, Hickey said.

Among the touches: a marble-floored foyer, a custom dining room table imported from Italy and about 1,000 square feet of back deck overlooking a heated in-ground pool. Bedroom closets have hardwood flooring to make dusting easier, and at night, the home, pool and front and backyards are all warmly lit.

State-of-the-art appliances, including two dishwashers, a built-in oven and a brand new washer-drier set, are scattered throughout the home  and none of them are the GE brand.

She was a meticulous woman, Hickey said. Everything is just neat as a pin.

Nature preserve

Many of Wendts belongings still sit serenely in the now-empty home.

A gold-trimmed pool table in the basement rec room is a relic of corporate parties past and a massive orchestral painting in the foyer calls back to Jorgenson Wendts beginnings as a music teacher.

Almost all of these items are already spoken for, either by buyers or family members, and remain in the home as a staging technique until it can be sold, Hickey said.

On the first floor, the master suite includes a study, his-and-her walk-in closets, remote-controlled blinds and a marble-clad bathroom overlooking the vast wooded property.

Lorna really made this space her own, Hickey said of the master suite. The only thing I really changed was that I took down the big, ballooned drapes that used to be in here. They were beautiful, but they took away from the incredible exposure these rooms have.

The home sits on a 5-acre lot, a majority of which is reserved for nature conservation. From the enormous bathtub in the master bathroom, a picture window overlooks Jorgenson Wendts lusciously-wooded backyard.

An adjoining vacant 2-acre lot, which Jorgenson Wendt and her ex-husband originally bought for more privacy around the home, is available for sale separately. Hickey said the extra lot has not been officially priced yet, but expects it will be listed around $300,000.

There is a level of seclusion, yet the expansive lot is so open to nature, Hickey said.

Hickey, who has been selling homes in Stamford for 15 years, said she expects this quintessentially North Stamford estate will end up in the hands of another Stamfordite.

The most special homes in this city are usually sold to Stamford people, she said. This home will likely still be home to a proud Stamford resident even after its sold.
Introduction

At an event held in San Francisco, Honor has launched the Honor 8 for the US market. The handset was first unveiled in China a little over a month ago. The device mirrors the same dual-12MP camera setup first introduced with the Huawei P9.

The Honor 5X marked the Chinese maker's first entry into the US market back in February targeted at consumers who prefer value over flashy and overpriced hardware. Honor continues to cater to the value segment in the US by offering the Honor 8. It's a decently priced handset with a broad set of high-end features.

The Honor 8 features a 5.2-inch 1080p display with 2.5D glass on both sides, and its powered by the same chipset as the Huawei Mate 8, the fast and efficient HiSilicon Kirin 950 processor.

The phone's base storage configurations include 32GB and 64GB models, but you should be able to expand that up to 128GB via the microSD card slot. The microSD card tray also houses a second nanoSIM, so you'll have to choose between using two lines and using a single line with a microSD card. The US version is NOT dual SIM.

The design of the Honor 8 is reminiscent of the Galaxy S6 era, which involves beautiful phones, crafted from mostly reflective glass except for the screen. The Honor 8 is no exception; it reflects light so gracefully that you can only appreciate it in its real beauty when you see it in person. Honor claims that theer are no less than 15 layers on the back allowing for the beautiful reflections.

Unboxing and hardware

The Honor 8's packaging alone is representative of Honor's departure from more industrial metal builds towards a beautifully crafted glass construction. The packaging is unlike any that I've seen before. Rather than opening the box and seeing the phone sitting right on top, it has been inserted into the middle of the box. So let's slide it out and see what's inside.



Honor 8 unboxing

Once you slide the smaller compartmented box out of the larger box, you can empty the rest of it.



Slide out sections  Contents of box  Quick charger rating

The phone slides out of its compartment easily. The Honor 8 will come in 3 different colors for the US: Pearl White, Midnight Black, and Sapphire Blue. We received a Sapphire blue unit and it's a gorgeous looking paint job.

The Honor 8's slightly tapered glass slabs help with the ergonomics of the phone. Even though the handset is made of 2.5D glass on the front and the rear, the edges don't feel sharp at all. Honor's decision to use a 5.2-inch screen seems counter-intuitive considering 5.5-inchers are gaining popularity, but at the same time, it's a nice that's underdeveloped. There aren't that many other current smartphones in this price range that offer a 5.2-inch screen (at least in the States).



Honor 8 in the hand: Left  Top  Front  Bottom

The left side of the phone houses a hybrid-SIM tray which can accept either: two nanoSIMs, or a nanoSIM and microSD card. The right side has the power and volume rocker keys. The bottom side features the loudspeaker (with speaker holes reminiscent of the iPhone) and a mic for phonecalls. Next to that is the USB-C port, and opposite the speaker is the 3.5mm headphone jack.

The top of the device brings an IR blaster, an underrated feature which a few other OEMs seemed to have forgotten about.



Right side  Dual cameras and fingerprint setup

Bringing it around to the back, there's a bunch going on. We'll start with the camera, the same dual-12MP camera setup that is found on the Huawei P9 has made its way to the Honor 8. There's a laser focus sensor which combines with the dual-focus system that the Honor 8 has. The company says the dual cameras can focus on objects like two human eyes. There's also a dual-tone LED flash. It's also worth noting that the camera does not protrude at all, the cameras have been placed behind the rear glass to be perfectly flush with the rest of the body.

Below the camera setup on the back there's a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner which also doubles as a function key to perform general functions. You can even use it to instantly launch an app. There are three assignable actions: single press, double press, and press-and-hold.

First impressions

The Honor brand is totally redefining itself with new and welcome design changes. Although, the Honor 8 could benefit from a slightly more aggressive pricing, say $350 for 32GB or $400 for the 64GB. Granted, that's the current net price if you pre-order the device, but it will be higher after launch.

The Honor 8 is quite reminiscent of the Galaxy S6's design when it was first launched. Regardless, it is a beautiful device which has an amazing way of reflecting light. Under the right lighting, the Honor 8 shines beautifully, and photos don't do it justice.

The Honor 8 is now open for pre-orders in the US at Amazon, Best Buy, B&H, Newegg, and HiHonor's online store. Those who pre-order the Honor 8 from participating retailers will receive a $50 rebate in the form of a gift card.

We are excited to see Honor's future in the US. The Honor 5X was geared quite well for a $200 smartphone. Based on the price-point alone, we can't predict whether the Honor 8 will have similar success to the Honor 5X, but we are excited to review the phone and see what this baby can do.
A total of 3 to 4 Nokia mobile devices - including phones and tablets - will be unveiled towards the end of this year, according to Mike Wang, president of the joint management team at Nokia China. The launch, however, will likely take place sometime early 2017.

To refresh, back in May this year, the Finnish company announced its plan to return to the world of mobile devices. HMD, a newly founded company headed by a former Nokia exec, will be designing the devices, with Foxconn being the manufacturing partner.

In case you missed, there have already been rumors that Nokia is working on a couple of premium phones powered by SD820 SoC, sporting 5.2 and 5.5-inch QHD OLED displays, respectively, featuring a 22.6MP camera, and running Android 7.0 out-of-the-box.

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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.

06:00, 29 OCT 2022
Dr. Heidi Eliopoulos found herself on stage this month at the Whats Right In Education national conference in Chicago. She delivered a key presentation because Chippewa Falls Schools were being honored as the showcase district.

It wasnt the first time this summer Eliopoulos was in the spotlight. She was also invited to present at the Quality Educator Convention in Madison. Along with Pewaukee Superintendent Dr. JoAnn Sternke and Dr. Melissa Matarazzo of Studer Education, they conducted a joint presentation about continuous improvement processes within schools.

Heidi presented the story concisely, with excitement, she connected it with the larger picture of public education across the country, she engaged her entire leadership team and was incredibly well received, said Matarazzo. The Florida-based group works with Chippewa Falls and more than a dozen other school districts in Wisconsin, as well as many others across the country.

Both conferences recognized Chippewa Falls for the success it is having with its strategic plan, and is a direct result of the Community Conversation process the district undertook in February 2014.

Were really proud of this. This process has led to some great results, Eliopoulos said. Its also a way we ensure the themes of the Community Conversation that were articulated in our strategic plan are actually in place in our schools, right down to every single staff member being involved at some level.

Informed by residents

The community conversation was a way of getting hundreds of district residents to assist the schools in defining its goals. That was done two years ago, first by administrators and then to staff members at all levels. They set one-year goals for all of the buildings and departments, and teachers established classroom goals.

They all are aligned with the building goals, which are aligned with the district goals, Eliopoulos said.

Those goals range from ACT scores, reading fluency, math, parent satisfaction, employee retention and more. A big one they added this year is academic and career planning.

Every student leaves high school with a plan of what theyre going to do next, as well as the knowledge, experiences and confidence to get them there, she said. Thats a big one we added this year.

In June, teams met to assess results from the second-year goals. This month representatives from every building and department met to set goals for the 2016-17 school year, and they will be presented to the School Board in September.

We use what are called stretch goals, so theyre realistic, but they make us stretch, because we want to be better, Eliopoulos said. There are very few goals that we did not meet. It validates the hard work of our staff.

That work translated into results, and Matarazzo cited the improvement they made in those goals this past year as the reason why Chippewa Falls was chosen as the showcase district.

They have achieved significant improvement in three measures that we look at: employee engagement; parent satisfaction; and how well the districts departments serve the schools, she said.

Making it work

Eliopoulos is most pleased with what the school district has done with its strategic plan. Or, put another way, what it has not done.

Having a strategic plan isnt anything unique to Chippewa Falls. A lot of people have strategic plans, she said. Our plan was directly informed by our community. We are saying heres what our overall plan is, heres what our community wants us to do and heres what were going to do this year to make that happen, and next year. I feel really good about that. Our community should feel really good about that.

She also likes that it keeps the school district grounded to its original intent.

We cant get away from the idea that a public schools purpose is to serve the needs of the community, she said. Sometimes that gets lost in all of the mandates and the testing and the directives.

Although the concept can appear complicated, the superintendent insists it is actually quite simple.

Its about working together for the good of our students and families, its about collaborating (and) sharing the same focus, Eliopoulos said. No matter how successful we are in a certain area, were always looking at how we can become better.

According to Matarazzo, that is happening.

What makes Chippewa Falls unique is the consistent alignment back to the community conversations over time. What you see in many  not just school districts, but organizations  is the follow-through and actual use of it peters away over time, Matarazzo said. They parlayed the community conversation into clear commitments to fulfill their communitys needs and want that were in a long-term execution plan.
by Andrew Walden A voter survey paid for by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs reveals that Native Hawaiians see nation-building as a bottom of the barrel issuebut OHA isnt telling anyone except incumbent Trustees. Hired by OHA, the Bishop Street PR firm Stryker Weiner & Yokota early this year surveyed 743 Hawaiians and 496 non-Hawaiians. The results were provided to Trustees at a Board of Trustees meeting January 28, 2016just in time for campaign season--in a 21-page power point presentation under the nondescript agenda heading of Presentation by Stryker Weiner & Yokota. No other department of the State of Hawaii engages in this type of open electioneering. The survey attracted our notice only when incumbent Trustee Robert Lindsey, in the Ka Wai Ola August, 2016 election insert (pg3), commented on the survey results, writing: Our lahui, when surveyed in 1978 (OHAs founding), and recently (four months ago), have made it clear; bread and butter issues (education, health, housing, and jobs) are whats important to them. It wants OHA to focus on these issues. In 2016 the majority of respondents see nation-building as a bottom of the barrel issue. OHA must refocus, reboot, and rethink its basic priorities if it is to be in alignment with the wishes of our people. Even after Lindseys revelation, OHA did not respond to our request for a complete copy of the survey results. One OHA sourcenot realizing that Lindsey let the cat out of the bag--expressed surprise that we were aware of the surveys existence. Finally, from another source, we were able to get a copy of a Power Point presentation outlining the survey results. Readers may see it in full >>> HERE. UPDATE August 26, 2016The following response has been received from Nola Ota, UIPA Coordinator, Office of Hawaiian Affairs: OHA will not be responding to this request made to info@oha.org. I am aware that you have already published the document that you are requesting, obtained from another source. OHA does not have of any other documents related to the survey. The presentation was made in the Boardroom to the Trustees and OHA staff present, and anyone from the public who attended the meeting. And, as with all our Board meetings, it was also on live stream. Our agendas are posted, as required, on the State of Hawaii Event Calendar and the OHA.org website, at least 6 days prior to any meeting. Highlights include: A survey of voter attitudes toward OHAbroken down by countyand the reasons for those attitudes (pg 7-10): Pg 8: Of the Native Hawaiian organizations listed, OHA has the lowest favorability rating.

Pg 9: People on the Big Island are wiser to OHA than the rest.

Pg 10: Perceptions of poor management and not representing the Hawaiian people effectively - top two reasons for unfavorable rating. -- Of Hawaiians only 8% base their unfavorable opinion of OHA on OHA influenced/run by State or American government. Sampling of voters political priorities and their awareness of OHA initiatives (pg 11-14): Pg 11: Among Hawaiians student scholarships and community grants are two of the three most widely recognized OHA initiatives.

Pg 13: Our lahui, when surveyed in 1978 (OHAs founding), and recently (four months ago), have made it clear; bread and butter issues (education, health, housing, and jobs) are whats important to them. It wants OHA to focus on these issues. In 2016 the majority of respondents see nation-building as a bottom of the barrel issue. OHA Chair Robert Lindsey, Ka Wai Ola, Aug, 2016. This proves that the survey was made available to at least one incumbent Trustee facing an electoral challenge. Detailed voter segmentation information (pg 15-18): Pg 15: 48% of Hawaiians say they have never voted in an OHA election.

Pg 16: Hawaiians on Big Island are most likely to vote in every OHA election. Hawaiians on Oahu are the most likely to have never voted in an OHA election.

Pg 17: Hawaiians with neutral opinion toward OHA are least likely to vote in OHA elections.

Pg 18: Non-Hawaiians with a very unfavorable opinion of OHA most likely to vote in every OHA election. Do Trustees have access to more detailed results, perhaps breaking down voter sentiment by gender, age, income, and ethnicity? Why is a department of the State of Hawaii funding voter sentiment research for the benefit of incumbents campaigns? ---30--- Related: Trustee: OHA Wasted $33M on Akaka Bill
decision by the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) to bring the government before the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has drawn criticism from Employment Minister Michaelia Cash Rather than concocting various stunts which unnecessarily delay public servants receiving pay rises, the CPSU would better serve their members by ensuring they receive the additional wages to which they are entitled and for which the Australian taxpayer can afford, she said.The CPSU is only focused on organising endless industrial action and disseminating misleading information rather than facilitating timely and reasonable pay rises for the public servants they purport to represent.Reiterating the governments position, the Senators office said that the disputed 2015 Workplace Bargaining Policy would remain in place. Agencies would continue offering wage increases of up to 2% per year.They urged the union to head back to the negotiating table to finalise the new enterprise agreements it had endlessly delayed over the past two years.To date, 54 Commonwealth agencies have had agreements finalised under the current bargaining policy, they said. Additionally, several proposed enterprise agreements have received approval by the Australian Public Service Commission and are set to be voted on shortly.The union claims this action is necessary with the minister allegedly failing to engage in good faith for the contested enterprise agreements."There's a bitter irony that we've had to take Minister Cash to the Fair Work Commission to get her to fulfil even her most basic obligations," CPSU national president Alistair Waters told The Australian.
Nine Students from Jacobs Fork Middle School in Newton, NC recently completed The Grandfather Challenge hiking program at Grandfather Mountain in Linville.

The Grandfather Challenge program is sponsored by The Jason Project, Inc., which was formed by the parents of Jason Matthew Nipper, who passed away in June of 2014 at age 26. This private foundation was formed to host this unique hiking program, which is designed to build self-confidence in struggling youth, as well as trust and positive rapport with adult mentors. Because of Jasons abiding love of the outdoors and mountain hiking, James & Cheryl have established The Grandfather Challenge, through which students navigate all of the hiking trails at Grandfather Mountain. Although the program includes at-risk kids suffering from mental problems and/or drug addictions, the program also seeks to assist any special kids who are struggling with personal adversities, including family, school, or other personal problems or challenges.

The nine very special students who just completed this program are: Seth Hendrix, Shawn Vang, Kadyn Pompa-Huerta, Jack Vang, Tanner Lowman, Jayden Williams, Logan Gray, Jordan Wescott, and Jeremy Pompa-Huerta. Each and every one of these very special students did a wonderful job of accepting and completing The Grandfather Challenge course at Grandfather Mountain!

This group of middle school students was created as part of an alliance between Jacobs Fork Middle School and the Zion Lutheran Church of Hickory as part of their ongoing EAGLES program, which is a tutoring and mentoring program sponsored by the church, which works in partnership with local public schools. The EAGLES acronym stands for Education, Adventure, God, Leadership, the Environment, and Service. This youth outreach program is the brainchild of Drew and Kay Dodd of Zion Lutheran Church of Hickory, who envisioned a program whereby they could assist and inspire area youth who need an extra boost to cope with their life struggles. For more information about the unique EAGLES program, please see this article at: www.livinglutheran.org/2016/07/fly-like-eagle/

Drew Dodd also deserves special recognition for his direct involvement in The Grandfather Challenge. Not only did Mr. Dodd himself drive a school bus from Hickory to Grandfather Mountain and back five times (including a makeup hike for a student who had missed a hike), but he also served as one of the adult chaperones and completed each of the four rigorous hikes !! Organizers estimate that Mr. Dodd drove approximately 750 miles in order to transport these kids to and from the four hikes !

Special recognition and thanks goes out to Jacobs Fork Middle School principal Dr. Thomas Howell, who gave support and encouragement to school counselor Melanie Sigmon to work with both The Jason Project and its Grandfather Challenge program, as well as the EAGLES project at Zion Lutheran Church of Hickory. Mrs. Sigmons energy and devotion to her students was the catalyst that gave rise to the formation of this group of nine kids that recently completed The Grandfather Challenge.

In addition to Drew Dodd, Jacobs Fork Middle School School teacher Drew Blanton also served admirably as a chaperone. His leadership and encouragement of the students as they completed these challenging hikes was invaluable, and helped make this program a success for these kids.

These hikes were conducted and supervised by Seth Barker and Madeleine Mudd of Appalachian Mountain Leadership, which is a highly certified, experienced, and faith-based outfitter group headquartered in Boone, NC, which provides wilderness activities of various kinds, including extended wilderness excursions, rock climbing, overnight camping, and other experiences in which they teach servant leadership, wilderness management, discipline, and character building values and goals. (You can learn more about Appalachian Mountain Leadership by visiting their website at www.amlnc.org). These nine students quickly bonded with these fine young people, and learned valuable lessons of servant-leadership and team unity.

The Jason Project, Inc. has formed alliances with the Avery, Catawba and Caldwell County School systems, representing a total of 14 high schools and 9 middle schools. Also, the Grandfather Mountain State Park of North Carolina (through its Superintendent Sue McBean) has issued a Special Activity Permit to the project, and the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation (with the support and encouragement of Jesse Pope) has issued a special pass for entrance to the Grandfather Mountain attractions. Jasons parents are deeply appreciative of the community support they have received for this exciting program !

The Jason Project, Inc. provides hiking boots, backpacks, socks, raincoats, professional guides, and all other costs associated with this program. At the successful completion of each round of hikes, the youth participants are each given a Certificate Of Completion and a gift certificate at an awards ceremony in their honor. This current group just celebrated their achievements at a special awards dinner and ceremony at the Zion Lutheran Church in Hickory.

Once again, our deepest thanks and appreciation goes out to all of these special students and chaperones who participated in The Grandfather Challenge!

Anyone seeking further information about The Grandfather Challenge and/or who may wish to sponsor a student may contact James or Cheryl Nipper at (828) 765-6561 or (904) 354-7378, or via email at [email protected], or visit their Go Fund Me page at GoFundMe.com/TheJasonProject.

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Almost 34%[1] of the population is likely to experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives,
Olli Koski, the chief economist at SAK, pointed out in a press conference yesterday that the employment rate for 2544-year-old women is considerably lower in Finland than in Sweden, estimating that were it not for the difference, the overall employment rate would be 1.5 percentage points higher in Finland.

The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) believes it is necessary to take action to promote the employment of childbearing-aged women.

It'd represent a massive improvement, he told.

Koski pointed out that no such differences are apparent in the employment rates for women in other age groups, concluding that the difference is at least partly attributable to the unequal distribution of child care responsibilities in Finland.

Sweden has introduced a system that allocates parental leaves evenly between mothers and fathers. A similar proposal has recently gained momentum in Finland.

SAK believes parenting responsibilities should be divided more equally also in Finland. SAK is ready to increase the flexibility of benefits and allow parents to decide freely how to the leaves are distributed, it says.

Tearing down such inactivity traps would promote work-life balance and encourage parents to share child care responsibilities, estimates SAK.

Koski also drew attention to the employment rate target set by the Government. The Government's employment rate target is 72 per cent, while our [employment rate] currently stands at 69 per cent. Roughly half of the targeted improvement would be accounted for if female employment increased in the 2544 age group, he stated.

We are confident that our proposal would lead to a more equal distribution of parental leaves, to women staying in the working life and to shorter periods outside the labour force, which would promote the narrowing of wage differences over time.

The Government should consider the proposal in the first half of next year  not least because the female representatives of all parliamentary parties have issued a joint statement in support of the proposal, said Koski.

It shouldn't be impossible to launch the preparations this autumn and make decisions in next spring's mid-term session because of this consensus, he argued.

SAK presented its proposal on parental leaves in April.

A small share of parental leaves are used by fathers. The parental leaves of mothers are long, which weakens the labour market position of women and is reflected in the pensions of women. SAK wants to encourage fathers to take parental leaves by dividing parental allowances and child care allowances evenly between parents, it proposed.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Roni Rekomaa  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
Missionary Medic Training Guatemalan Firefighters Missionary medic Paul Heier and his wife, Thania, have been working with first responders, hospitals, and needy children in several Latin American countries for more than a decade.



Contact: Paul Heier, 239-243-9714



LEHIGH ACRES, Fla., Aug. 17, 2016 /



The medical mission work started when Heier offered to help a Guatemalan fire chief bring his crew up-to-date in CPR. He couldn't imagine the response that followed. Heier has been asked to teach classes to dozens of firefighters and police officers across the country. He was recently honored with a television interview on a Guatemalan news channel to explain why he's willing to help. Heier says this work is his way of loving his neighbor.



"This work has been incredibly rewarding for us and impactful for those who are accessing this much needed training," says Heier. "Right now we have more requests than we can handle and desperately need volunteers to come and help teach. We encourage all those who truly want to serve people in need to connect with us and learn more about our mission work and trips."



Guatemala and many Latin American countries face severe poverty and the needs of the people are great. Poverty hasn't changed much in Guatemala during the last 20 years, according to the World Bank. Close to 75 percent of the population is estimated to live below the poverty line and almost 58 percent live below the extreme poverty line which the World Bank defines as struggling to afford even a basic basket of food. The services provided by Mision Hispana meet a critical need that is not being met in the country.



Mision Hispana recently celebrated 11 years of helping to reach the forgotten in Latin America. The organization relies heavily on volunteers and donor funding to meet its mission. Over the years, Mision Hispana has hosted groups from the U.S. and Canada on mission trips in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala. For more information about their work, to donate or to inquire about volunteer opportunities, visit

Share Tweet Contact: Paul Heier, 239-243-9714LEHIGH ACRES, Fla., Aug. 17, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- Missionary medic Paul Heier has partnered his organization Mision Hispana with Guatemalan firefighters to provide CPR, First Aid, Wilderness First Responder, and Trauma classes across the country. Heier attended paramedic school with the desire to help people in remote areas and teach these critical subjects to short-term missionaries and national firefighters.The medical mission work started when Heier offered to help a Guatemalan fire chief bring his crew up-to-date in CPR. He couldn't imagine the response that followed. Heier has been asked to teach classes to dozens of firefighters and police officers across the country. He was recently honored with a television interview on a Guatemalan news channel to explain why he's willing to help. Heier says this work is his way of loving his neighbor."This work has been incredibly rewarding for us and impactful for those who are accessing this much needed training," says Heier. "Right now we have more requests than we can handle and desperately need volunteers to come and help teach. We encourage all those who truly want to serve people in need to connect with us and learn more about our mission work and trips."Guatemala and many Latin American countries face severe poverty and the needs of the people are great. Poverty hasn't changed much in Guatemala during the last 20 years, according to the World Bank. Close to 75 percent of the population is estimated to live below the poverty line and almost 58 percent live below the extreme poverty line which the World Bank defines as struggling to afford even a basic basket of food. The services provided by Mision Hispana meet a critical need that is not being met in the country.Mision Hispana recently celebrated 11 years of helping to reach the forgotten in Latin America. The organization relies heavily on volunteers and donor funding to meet its mission. Over the years, Mision Hispana has hosted groups from the U.S. and Canada on mission trips in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala. For more information about their work, to donate or to inquire about volunteer opportunities, visit ReachingtheAmericas.com
GOP forum signals bid to control School Board

Voters get the opportunity this week to hear how a Henderson County School Board under Republican control would run the schools.

The Henderson County Republican Party is hosting a candidate forum Thursday night for the four registered Republicans on the Nov. 8 ballot for the nonpartisan election. That means theyve excluded four other candidates, including three incumbents who are registered as unaffiliated.

Ervin Bazzle, the longtime chair of the board, chuckled when asked if had received an invitation.

I think they can invite anyone they want to, he said. Its a nonpartisan race and should be nonpartisan. I think from the their point of view its obviously not. As far as I know, up until at least last time I ran, they had a forum for everybody.

Bazzle, Mary Louise Corn and Rick Wood recalled being invited to forums hosted by the Republican Mens Club that included all candidates in the nonpartisan election. Those three, along with Jared Bellmund, a challenger from Etowah, wont be on the platform when the Republican Party opens the forum on Thursday night.

Wood, who was the Democratic nominee in the 48th State Senate District against Sen. Tom Apodaca in 2014, switched to unaffiliated a few weeks ago. His switch marked the end of an era for the Democratic Party. Wood was the last Democrat elected countywide to a county position. Before that, Terry Lyda, the former tax collector, was the last Democrat elected in a partisan race in Henderson County.

I switched from registered Democrat to registered unaffiliated because I have seen much more partisanism creeping into our School Board elections the last two or three cycles, Wood said. This is an official nonpartisan race and I feel like I should run a nonpartisan campaign and serve in a nonpartisan way and continue to serve in a nonpartisan way as a School Board member if re-elected. So people would understand Im very serious about doing that I felt like it was important for me to change from registered Democrat to registered unaffiliated.

SCHOOL BOARD FORUM Henderson County Republican Party

Features Republican candidates

6:30 p.m. Thursday

Opportunity House, 1411 Asheville Highway

Wood said he was frustrated that he and the other three candidates were excluded from the Republican-sponsored forums, including one by the Republican Womens Club and the one this week.

How do I feel about not being invited to the forums? It really bothers me because as a School Board candidate trying to get your message out, especially in a presidential and gubernatorial election cycle, theres sometimes not a lot of opportunities for School Board candidates to make their case to continue to serve or for new person to be elected, he said. I can remember in the past, even the Republican Mens Club, inviting all candidates, regardless of their party affiliation to appear and make their case and answer questions. Theres seemingly been a change in that approach and it does bother me.

Straw poll to guide party leaders

Republican Party Chair Glen Englram said party leaders wanted to showcase the Republicans, even though it is officially a nonpartisan contest. Those expected to attend are incumbent Josh Houston and challengers Michael Absher, Blair Craven and Burt Harris.

These are all registered Republicans, he said. We wanted to feature them as candidates. Second we anticipate that our audience is going to be predominantly Republican and when we have something like that as an event I dont have the flexibility to present unaffiliated candidates or in the case of Rick Wood a Democratic candidate.

Told that Wood had changed to unaffiliated, Englram laughed and said, I guess he goes from embracing the Democratic platform to embracing the platform of the unaffiliated.

Englram acknowledged that the partys interest is in allowing Republicans to make their platforms known and its goal is to identify which of those party regulars should support.

Our thinking is simple,. People are going to know Josh and not so much the other three. The idea is getting candidates out in front of the audience and see how they perform in an environment like that. We do take a straw poll and the intent of that is get a read on who the party should endorse.

In the 2012 election, the party used palm cards to endorse Republicans with a single-shot vote, which has the effect of increasing the power of each vote by denying a vote to other candidate. The strategy worked, electing Houston in 2012 and Colby Coren in 2014.

The Republican Party does plan to endorse fairly soon, Englram said.

I suppose in the realm of possibility that if youve got four seats you could endorse one, endorse two, endorse three or four, he said. We think Josh has been doing a great job and I think I can say without objection that wed like to see him re-elected. Thursday nights event could influence the partys final call.

Thats a decision thats going to be made probably the week following the forum, he said.

Englram said he senses an appetite among Republican voters for a change of the School Board.

Four of the seven seats on the school board will be on the ballot in this nonpartisan contest, the GOP said in a news release. In an election cycle where voters are expressing dissatisfaction with the status quo, this contest is no exception.



GOP could win 5-2 control

If the GOP successfully pushes all four Republicans to victory on Nov. 8, the School Board will be under majority Republican control for the first time in memory five Republicans and two unaffiliated members, Amy Holt and Lisa Edwards.

Theyre trying very hard to make it partisan race, Bazzle said of the county Republican leaders. Certainly it appears to me that theyre pushing a slate of candidates.

Corn said its clear that Republican-only forums tilt the campaign against independent candidates.

Back in the day the Republican men invited everybody and certainly I think if the press is going to cover these events they should invite all the candidates because I feel very strongly it should be nonpartisan, she said.

An attempt to win majority control of the School Board would be my observation and conclusion but what the real intent is only they know, she said. It certainly is the appearance and makes those unaffiliated folks like me have less exposure. I dont know what other conclusion you could reach.
home World Pope Francis expressed solidarity with victims of Madeira wildfires in Portugal

Pope Francis sent his condolences and sympathies to the victims of the raging wildfires in Portugal that killed at least four and evacuated thousands.

Bishop AntAnio JosA Cavaco Carrilho of Funchal, Portugal read out Tuesday during a mass service the pontiff's letter that extended "solidarity and spiritual closeness" with the wildfire victims and shared his prayer for "courage and consolation in Christian hope."

"We cannot but remember those who have died and express our deepest solidarity to all who have experienced angst and suffering, in particular those who have lost their homes and belongings," read Bishop Carrilho, according to Catholic Herald.

The wildfires that "appalled" the pope started Aug. 9 as a series of fires lit up by arsonists, some of whom the police claimed to have arrested already.

"This abnormal situation surpasses the normal response capacity of our forces," said Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, as reported by Reuters.

The strong winds and high temperature further fanned the fires in the island of Madeira and spread to the region of Funchal. Authorities reportedly sent out at least 2,000 firefighters to combat the hundreds of devouring wildfires.

The European Union community pitched in to help quell the wildfires that seemed out of control. Lisbon sent more than a hundred emergency service workers, Spain and Morocco sent two planes, Italy sent an aircraft, and East Timor donated a2M.

The U.K. also sent a bulk of specialist equipment while the Russian Helicopters sent helicopters, which Ka-32A11BC multirole helicopters prided for its "ability to extinguish fires quickly and effectively in the most difficult situations."

"The Ka-32A11BC multirole helicopters, produced by the Russian Helicopters holding, have taken part in extinguishing major fires on Portugal's Madeira Island," the Russian Helicopters company said in a statement, according to Sputnik.

According to the Associated Press, the EU's Forest Fire Information System reported that the recent wildfires in Portugal already made up nearly 116,000 hectares (286,600 acres) or almost half of more than 217,000 hectares (536,200 acres) of charred forest land in the 28-nation EU bloc.
Brave little 'Batman' Ben Farrell has passed away before he could undergo a potentially life-saving cancer treatment in the US.

The five-year-old, who won the hearts of people throughout Ireland, was surrounded by his family in Dublin when he died.

He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer on Christmas Eve last year.

Doctors told Ben's mum Valerie that he had a tumour, and it would more than likely turn out to be cancerous.

"Never in a million years could I have imagined they would say that. It was the most devastating news. We were in shock. It couldn't be real. It didn't make sense," she said.

He had a stage IV Wilms tumour, which doctors in Ireland had struggled to treat, including with 19 rounds of radiotherapy.

Several fundraising events were organised to help pay for pioneering treatment in the US for the little boy from Finglas.

Many people contributed to the campaigns to help the little "superhero'" His family hoped Ben could be saved by taking part in a clinical trial at a US hospital that would cost an estimated 260,000.

The family arrived in the US four weeks ago, knowing Ben had progressive tumours.

Doctors at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin in Dublin had said their options had been running out.

Valerie, when seeking funding, said her little boy was facing a battle no child should ever have to face. However, despite it all he kept smiling and continued to wear the beloved Batman mask that earned him his nickname.

"He does it all while remaining happy and singing and cracking up the nurses," she said at the time.

Promising

His family said doctors explored every alternative option to save his life.

Doctors contacted experts in the US and Europe, but nothing had been proven to work. Clinical trials for Ben's cancer in the US had shown promising results in laboratory tests.

The family launched a Go Fund Me page to help raise 192,000 for the treatment, which was due at the Children's Hospital in Washington.

The family's ordeal began when Ben began complaining of a sore tummy.

"We thought he just had a bug or it was an excuse for him to sleep in our bed," his mum said. "His pain wasn't excruciating, and it would come and go."

Ben's family wrote on the official Facebook page last night: "Our beautiful Ben has fought the hardest of battles, he was surrounded by love everyday of his life, and this morning was no different. He has done us proud every step of the way ... now we must do him proud.

"Ben's smile, his character, his living at 100mph and his endless love for EVERYONE he has ever met leaves a legacy of gigantic proportions.

"They say if you can leave this world a little better than you found it you have truly lived, in only five short years he accomplished this. We would love to hear your Ben stories and see your Ben pictures ... "
A man who groped a woman who was interviewing him for a job at a Dublin school has been told he "may very well" avoid a criminal record for sexual assault.

As the woman showed him around the school, Noel Ward (28) grabbed her bottom three times and told her she had a "fine a**e".

Judge Anthony Halpin said it was one of the "most peculiar cases" he had dealt with and ordered a Restorative Justice Programme report.

Ward pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to sexual assault at a school on June 10 last year.

He had attended for a job interview and the victim, who is in her 50s, was showing him around when he touched her inappropriately on the bottom.

The first time, she thought it was an accident; the second time, she looked at him; and the third time, he grabbed her and said "that is a fine a**e you have there".

Arrested

The victim reported the incident to gardai and Ward was later arrested.

Judge Halpin said that having considered the case, he was going to refer Ward to the Restorative Justice Programme.

"If he engages fully with the programme, he might very well leave the court without a recorded conviction to his name," he said. "However, it will require his full co-operation."

He adjourned the case to a date in October.

The court was previously told that Ward - of Barry Road, Finglas West - had no previous convictions and made admissions to gardai.

He was extremely apologetic for his actions, said his barrister, John Griffin. It was totally out of character.

Mr Griffin said he had seen "dramatic negative changes" in the accused, who had not been eating because of anxiety over the case.

Ward had worked as a warehouse operative and was unemployed when he applied for a position at the school through the Tus community employment scheme.

"Even if you have a burning desire to do something, if it is against the law, you have to control yourself," said the judge.

"I find this a very strange case."

Mr Griffin accepted that it was a "totally bizarre set of circumstances".

Victim

The victim said the accused "would have been working with adults" if he had been offered the job.

She told the court that the incident had affected her greatly and an apology "doesn't really mean anything to me".

The victim did not address the court during the latest proceedings.
A motorist got out of his car and punched an elderly pedestrian to the ground, then kicked him in the head, leaving him with a serious eye injury in a case of "road rage gone mad". Stock image

A motorist got out of his car and punched an elderly pedestrian to the ground, then kicked him in the head, leaving him with a serious eye injury in a case of "road rage gone mad".

Robert Connolly (28) carried out the "vicious and sustained" attack after the victim took his car keys as they had an argument in the middle of a main road in north Dublin.

Judge John Brennan sentenced him to three months in prison for the assault, which was witnessed by an off-duty garda.

Connolly admitted assaulting Philip Aston at the Swords Road in Santry on January 21, 2015.

However, he disputed parts of the victim's version of events, including an allegation that he punched him in the face.

Dublin District Court heard when Garda Gavin Moran spoke to the victim at the scene, Mr Aston's right eye was fully closed and badly swollen. He had cuts and grazes to his face.

Blaring

Mr Aston said he had been crossing the road from his house and stopped half way to give way to traffic coming from the left.

Connolly, of Coultry Road, Ballymun, was "blaring" the car horn and stopped two feet away when he started to shout.

An altercation ensued and Mr Aston removed the keys from the ignition and walked away.

He said Connolly ran after him, "attacked him from behind" and hit him again around the head, knocking him to the ground, where he "landed face first".

He said the accused kicked him, including in the head.

He said Connolly "laid into him with his fists" while he was lying flat on his back and trying to get up

The accused admitted punching Mr Aston but said it was as he attempted to get away with his keys.

Mr Aston tripped and fell, he said. He denied deliberately kicking him and said Mr Aston caught hold of his ankles.

"He suffered a very serious injury to his eye, he is lucky he didn't lose his sight," a state solicitor said.
Andrew Cleary also received eight A1 grades in the Leaving Cert exams. Photo: Douglas O'Connor

One of the Leaving Cert's highest achievers admitted she was "trembling with fear" as she opened her results envelope.

Niamh Ryan (18), of Loreto College, St Stephen's Green was one six people across Ireland who who received eight A1 grades.

Three of those six attended schools in Dublin.

Shaking

"I had worked so hard over the last two years, I was shaking when I was handed my results," Niamh told the Herald.

"I was so worked up I needed a run to clear my head before I collected them."

Having prepared for the worst, the Castleknock native breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her final results.

"It still hasn't sunk in - eight A1s," she said. "I'm so happy because it guarantees me a place at Cambridge."

Niamh plans to study chemical engineering at the prestigious university, and added: "Until now I refused to plan anything, because I didn't know if I'd be celebrating or wallowing."

The young student joined two others from Dublin who achieved the most marks this year. While no candidate received nine A1s, Andrew Cleary (18), from Gonzaga College, came close with eight A1s and one A2.

"It doesn't bother me in the slightest, because I never dreamed I'd do so well," he said. "I'm absolutely delighted - my parents even more so, I think."

Andrew described the moment he saw his exam results as one of "utter relief".

The Carrickmines student sat exams for four languages - Irish, French, Spanish and Latin - and also tackled Physics and Applied Maths.

He plans to study Theoretical Physics at Trinity College.
"No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth."



Plato





"This country has shed more blood for the freedom of other people than all the other nations in the history of the world combined, and I'm tired of people feeling like they've got to apologize for America."

Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN)







In a time of universal deceit  telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

George Orwell, the author of 1984







"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.""Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.""A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example."Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.
Life is good if you have your health and not all bad even if you don't, which is sometimes forgotten in an election year, what with the high-pitched oratory on behalf of the embittered rich and people with ingrown toenails and what not. Apparently we are on the verge of losing our Second Amendment rights and will need to defend ourselves with tent stakes and bug spray. So I've heard people say.

I had an uncle, a farmer, who suffered from chronic hemorrhoids but he knew a druggist who sold an ointment made from opium and wormwood and it worked like a charm. The druggist was Catholic and we were born-again so there was moral compromise involved but when Uncle Gene was in need, he eased himself into his 1947 Ford with his special doughnut cushion and drove to town and got the cure. An illegal drug sold by a man who sent money to buy golden shoelaces for the Pope, but what are you going to do? Gene was a farmer and the tractor seat was hard and there were bumps. This is the amiable America I grew up in. You didn't blame your hemorrhoids on the party in power in Washington.

"There are things more important than being right," Uncle Gene said once on his way home from the druggist. Think about that for a moment.

I loved the old America where children roamed the neighborhood unsupervised and you hitch-hiked and got to meet strangers. You knew people's jobs then. My Uncle Lawrence fixed cars, my dad was a carpenter: you watched him run the board through the circular saw and brace it against the joists and nail it into place, whackwhackwhackwhackwhack. Uncle Aldridge was a small-town doctor -- I once watched him, at the supper table, extract a fishing lure from the eyebrow of a weeping boy while the rest of us sat and ate our meatloaf and string beans. Work was sociable: people watched you and commented. Now everybody is in media; maybe they're in charge of platform resource imaging or program development; they work in cubicles; nobody knows what they do exactly.

The old America endures, as long as baseball endures, or gardening, or joke-telling, or the state fair where people go to see pigs the size of Volkswagens and ride inside something like a salad spinner. It endures along with church suppers. They are dying out some places because the Myrtles and Gertrudes who were the brains of the church supper movement faded away, but the suppers survive in small towns, a cultural institution. If you were a Syrian refugee resettled in Grover's Corners, you should come to church suppers. Buy a raffle ticket to win the outboard motor and sit down with a plate of beans and baked chicken, potato salad, a roll, a slab of pie, and learn the art of small talk.

"So how are you doing?"

"Not so bad. Can't complain."

"Drove by your house and your lawn is looking pretty good."

"Well, we've had enough rain, that's for sure."

"How is your daughter doing?"

"Well, we don't hear much from her so she must be okay."

You will find common decency here, the common crucial values which are about marriage, parenthood, friendship, work, faith and attitude. You're surrounded by people who've known each other for fifty and sixty years, and decency dictates that they show you hospitality. This culture dates back to before we got so task-forced and committeed, fedback and workshopped to death, and any joyful impulse gets filtered through six layers of management until it dies a quiet death. It happened in the 1980s. We chose lifestyle over principle and you saw vineyards cropping up everywhere, even North Dakota has a Wine Country, where people who used to care about justice sit around appreciating the bouquet of gardenias and brook trout and the long finish with overtones of particle board. Old people who are on OxyContin for their arthritis toss back a flagon of Riesling and a plate of Brie, and I'm sorry but this is not good for intelligence, and so here we are in the present dilemma.

Style is not what keeps us going. We survive by virtue of people extending themselves, welcoming the young, showing sympathy for the suffering, taking pleasure in each other's good fortune. We are here for a brief time. We would like our stay to mean something. Do the right thing. Travel light. Be sweet.

Garrison Keillor is an author and radio personality.
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Chief Justice of India TS Thakur will decide next month if the practices of instant triple talaq and polygamy are to be declared illegal. At the same time the Central government is seeking the opinion of the Law Commission to examine all aspects pertaining to the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

There is a belief that the Hindus are governed by a modern and gender just law. This notion has been internalised by some Muslim womens groups, who wish to reform Muslim law on the lines of the Hindu Marriage Act. For instance, a draft prepared by the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan attempts to make polygamy invalid. It will be prudent for the legislature to examine how abolishing polygamy has played out for Hindu women, especially since this provision was introduced into the statute to secure their rights.

Read | When progressives turn reactionary

Until 1955, Hindu marriages were polygamous. Men could marry as many women as they chose. Marriage was considered a sacrament and the right of divorce was not recognised. All wives, including mistresses, maids and concubines, had rights.

Women taking part in the nationalist movement had raised the demand for monogamy. In 1955, Hindu Law was codified and polygamy was made illegal. There was a lofty hope that Hindu men would become monogamous overnight. If the husband was bigamous or adulterous, the wife could use this as grounds for divorce (however, social realties ensure that families and women themselves do not see divorce as an option).

But sadly the early womens movement overlooked the aspect of safeguarding the rights of the second wife, whose relationships were declared void and invalid. This means that when a Hindu man takes a second wife (since there is no scope of verifying a previous marriage, it is very simple for men to lie) or fathers children, the law does not expect him to maintain her. If the second wife approaches the court to claim maintenance, the husband can bring on record the previous marriage and the second wife is denied maintenance.

Read | Uniform civil code: Take all stakeholders on board

The failure of the law can be seen in the Supreme Court judgment in Savitaben Somabhai Bhatiya v State of Gujarat, 2005, in which the right of maintenance was litigated under CrPC. The court held that however desirable it might be to take note of the plight of the unfortunate woman, it could not introduce any artificial definition to include woman not lawfully married because it was the legislatures intention that was relevant.

Almost 50 years after the enactment of the Hindu Marriage Act, womens groups tried to safeguard the economic rights of second wives through the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA). It broadened the definition of aggrieved woman to include a relationship in the nature of marriage. It almost seemed that second wives could now easily claim maintenance and protection from domestic violence.

Read | An emotive issue

But in D Velusamy v. D Patchaiammal, 2010, the Supreme Court ended all hopes for the second wife. The court held that women in bigamous relationships were not entitled to maintenance because that would violate the provisions of monogamy under the Hindu Marriage Act. The judge referred to women in such relationships as mistresses, keeps, maids and concubines and said they were not entitled to any rights.

Some courts have tried to safeguard the rights of second wives by using broad legal interpretations. The Bombay High Court in Govindrao v Anandibai held that since the Hindu Marriage Act was a piece of social legislation, the legislature could not have intended that if a Hindu woman was duped into contracting a bigamous marriage, she should be deprived of her right to claim maintenance. In Anupama Pradhan v Sultan Pradhan, 1991, when a husband pleaded that since the woman was his second wife he was not obliged to pay her maintenance, the court took recourse to the uncodified Hindu law and held that since the marriage was governed by ancient Hindu Law (which permits bigamy) and not by the reformed code, the second wife was entitled to maintenance. Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice AM Sapre of the Supreme Court in May last year dismissed a petition by a man who claimed that since he was married before entering into the live-in relationship, his partner could not claim the status of a wife. The courts slammed the person for referring to his erstwhile live-in partner as a call girl and granted her maintenance. But such judgments are few and far between.

Read | The Uniform Civil Code is good but can wait

So it seems that the progressive-sounding provision of monogamy, ushered in with great fanfare as an instrument of empowering Hindu women, has turned out to be a mockery. While men are allowed to go scot-free for their illegal and criminal act, the blame, stigma and economic loss have to be borne by women.

One of the strongest criticisms against Muslim personal law in India is that it permits Muslim men to take more than one wife. But the fact that Muslim men who marry more than once are legally bound to fulfil their legal and social obligations towards each wife is often ignored. Any demand for codifying Muslim Law or a Uniform Civil Code should place this reality in context and ensure that no man gets away with wrongdoing.

Read | The fight against triple talaq is a fight for basic dignity

Audrey DMello is programme director, Majlis Legal Centre.

The views expressed are personal.
Director Anil Sharma has a huge body of work that includes blockbusters such as Gadar, Hero and Veer.

But he says some of his biggest hits -- Hukumat, Elaan-E-Jung and Tahalka -- released during arguably the worst phase of Bollywood, a period between 1985 and 1995.

I am proud of the films I have made. Those are Anil Sharma brand of films. The Hindi cinema made during the 80s and 90s was absolute garbage. I dont know whether I contributed to it or not. (Laughs) My films were striking gold during that period, says Sharma.

Watch: Anil Sharma directed Dharmendra in Elaan-E-Jung

He says movies during the period revolved around stars, who were bigger hits than songs. Stars like Mithun, Anil Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan were ruling the roost. Our idol worshipping continued. We were not watching a film, we were watching stars, he adds.

Sharma acknowledges that the time changed for old-school filmmaking. After Singh Saab The Great, people told me that it looks like an old film. This bothered me a lot, because I am someone who wants to keep up with changing trends and time. But, they said it, and I had to know the truth behind it.

Watch: Anil Sharma worked with Salman Khan in Veer

Then I started visiting places like New York, Los Angeles. I met Hollywood directors, but I had a longer filmography than them. But, I realised that only the storytelling technique has changed, the emotions are still the same.

His honesty reflects when he talks about the boundaries of commercial cinema. The confrontation between a commercial filmmaker and a critic is the directors closeness to the reality. Dharmendra ji used to question my style, but I was convinced about my style. But, now I have realised that clapping during a particular scene is important, but the most important applause is the one that happens at the end.

He gets even more candid. I have started understanding cinema now. It took me so many years.

Watch: A superhit song from Anil Sharmas Gadar

Sharma, who directed his first film Shradhanjali in 1981, is set to launch his son Utkarsh now. My son was there as Jeete in Gadar. He had gone to America for a four-year course in direction and production. The films name is Genius, and its going to be a sensible film. I will use songs for sure, but will also try to keep it as realistic as possible. Were going on the floor in September.

He also talks about Raj Kapoor, whose songs were as popular as his films if not more. Once Raj Kapoor told me that he makes 25-30 songs and then makes a film. He said, You cant achieve reality with songs. Songs will create a fake world, so at least get it right.

Interact with Rohit Vats at Twitter/@nawabjha

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They grew up like any other siblings in south Delhis Kalkaji area. But Huma Qureshi and Saqib Saleem admit that after moving to Mumbai, their bond has become stronger. The brother-sister duo got together a few days ahead of Raksha Bandhan, and spoke exclusively to HT Cafe about their growing love and camaraderie.

What are your fondest childhood memories of Raksha Bandhan?

Huma: While growing up, I would tie a rakhi to a lot of people, but never to Saqib (smiles). This carried on for several years. There was no particular reason for this. But after we shifted to Mumbai, our bond became stronger. So, tying a rakhi mainly started off with the greed of getting gifts, but now, of course, we understand its real meaning.

Saqib: I grew up in Kalkaji. While we would live on the ground floor, there was this girl who used to live on the third floor of the same building. She used to tie a rakhi on my wrist, besides, of course, Huma, who didnt tie a rakhi to me in the initial few years for some reason. Later, in school and college, I remember, my arm would be filled with rakhis, as I loved having sisters in my life (laughs).

Read: We have become lazy, says Huma Qureshi

How would you define your equation with each other?

Huma: Saqib is more like a friend to me. I cherish that because sometimes you need someone to talk to and someone you can listen to. He is easy to talk to. We are great friends.

Saqib: Our equation is more friendly. We dont treat each other like siblings. In fact, I am more like a sister, and she is like a brother to me in a lot of ways (laughs). We talk about everything under the sun  be it our films, our personal lives or our relationships. But Im the more mature one.

Huma Qureshi made her film debut with Gangs of Wasseypur (2012).

Are you two protective of each other?

Huma: Absolutely, I am possessive of him. But we both give each other space.

Saqib: My way of showing Huma that I am protective is different. I am not necessarily like a typical Delhi boy in this sense (smiles). I am not a violent person, and I dont get aggressive. Whenever I feel people are overstepping the line, I know how to put them in their place.

Saqib Saleem made his acting debut in the 2011 romantic comedy Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge.

What does Raksha Bandhan mean to you?

Huma: The day stands as a reminder of this special bond, which is so protective, so accepting and so loving. It reminds us that apart from our parents, our siblings are the only people who will stand by us no matter what.

Saqib: It is a day for siblings to celebrate their togetherness and love. But I am a firm believer in the fact that you need to make your near and dear ones feel loved every single day, and not on any one particular day.

Did you guys grow closer after moving to Mumbai?

Huma: I am dependent on Saqib a lot because he is like my emotional anchor. He is someone I can talk to, as he is mature. For instance, he always has a good insight into people. I always sort of check with him before taking any important decisions.I am sure Im important for him because otherwise his life will be even more disorganised (smiles). I bring a little bit of organisation into his life.

Saqib: Mumbai got us closer to each other. We grew up like any other siblings when we were in Delhi. We would fight, love and care for one another. But at that time, I didnt tell her about my relationships, as I felt she will tell our mum. But when we moved to Mumbai, we really bonded. Also, in a place like Mumbai, you need people who you are close to. Somehow, it has become one of the most beautiful relationships of my life.

Read: Huma and I know everything about each other: Saqib Saleem

How do you two plan to celebrate Raksha Bandhan this year?

Huma: Saqib is in London (UK), so Ill speak to him on the phone. He will come back in two-three days, and by that time, I will have left for an out-of-town shoot for my next film. But he has promised to visit me as soon as he can. He has also promised to bring me a lot of gifts from London, which I am looking forward to.

Saqib: Of course, I will get gifts for everyone and Huma, too, will have her share. I know what she wants, so she shall have a gift when I am back. When I get back, I will wear every rakhi that has been sent to me, and thats when my Raksha Bandhan will be complete.

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Actor Manoj Bajpayee has proved his mettle through his body of work and he showed his dedication towards his work once again when he had to fulfill commitments between two cities.

Bajpayee was shooting in the capital for an upcoming Indo- American film, which required him to work 10 nights non - stop. Incidentally, this was also the time when the promotions for his upcoming movie were at the peak. In the run to balance both the schedules, Bajpayee made special arrangements and flew down just for a day to Mumbai to promote the film.

Read: Manoj Bajpayee is skipping his way to perfection

Being an actor we are always ready for such kind of erratic schedules which work towards our films benefit. It is a tough job but then the results we get is all worth it. I have received great response from everyone for Budhia Singh and hope that the film creates its impact, says Bajpayee.

The National award winning actor, who has been part of films such as Satya (1998), Raajneeti (2010), Special 26 (2013) and Aligarh (2016), was more than happy to do this.

Read: Manoj Bajpayees Kriti removed from YouTube

Being a thorough professional, the actor gave up on his sleep and continued with his work commitments and he did not complain about it at all, says a source.

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The audience saw actor Pooja Hegde wear gowns and heavy costumes in her epic drama film, Mohenjodaro. Now that she is done with the film, the actor wants to take up a film which the young generation can relate to.

My biggest dream right now is to go on sets and just wear jeans and shirt. It would take me hours to get ready for this film. It took my me 25 minutes to just get into the costume. I want to play a nice young girl now. I really want to be able to say deliver dialogues in a casual tone like arrey yaar, says Hegde, who played the role of princess Chaani alongside Hrithik Roshan, in the film directed by Ashutosh Gowariker.

Read: I found chapter on Mohenjo Daro boring in school: Pooja Hegde

The actor was a runner up at the Miss Universe India 2010 competition before she took up acting. After doing few roles in the Telugu film industry, Hegde took up Bollywood.

Talking about her experience with Btown, the actor says, My personality is such that I am a little shy.I take my time to become friends with people. Thankfully, Bollywood has been really warm and nice to me but for someone who is new to the industry, it can take some time to be comfortable.

Watch: Hrithik, Pooja in a song from Mohenjo Daro

Asked what kind of films is she planning to take up, Hegde says she is still in the process of sorting out her projects.

Till now I was contractually bound to not take up any film. Now that this film has released, I am looking at what scripts that have been offered to me. I havent said yes to any project so far. Let us see what I take up next, she says.

Read: Working with Hrithik Roshan was surreal: Pooja Hegde

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Only 14 lakh Indians out of the total population of about 123 crore had declared an annual income of over Rs 10 lakh, attracting the highest tax bracket of 30 per cent, in assessment year 2012-13. They have contributed to 75% of the countrys tax collection; says an internal report prepared by the tax department.

As the tax department collects more data, revenue secretary, Hasmukh Adhia says that in the last two years when the population increased to 133 crore, there has only been a minor addition to the number of people earning over Rs 10 lakh per annum. This indicates an immediate need for widening the tax base in India.

14 lakh people or just 4.6% of the total 2.89 crore assessees paid taxes in the highest 30% tax bracket. The data reveals very clearly that there is a need for widening and deepening of the tax net now, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia told HT.

The analysis further revealed that of the total 2.89 crore individual taxpayers who filed returns, 1.63 crore people or 56.4% did not pay taxes, that is, fell in the zero tax category. Sources in the revenue department say that this data is startling because it brings to light the huge number of people who are claiming to earn less than the taxable income. Does this mean this group is avoiding tax payment? Could be, we are studying the data carefully, says an official in the tax department, requesting not to be named. He added that, If the people of India want the tax rates to come down, we have to ensure everyone is paying the correct amount of tax.

The data showed there were 2,669 taxpayers with an income exceeding Rs 5 crore who accounted for 9.6% of taxes collected.

The data also showed that there were 1.51 crore individuals whose tax was deducted at source, but did not file returns. People not filing returns is a big concern. If caught prosecution can be mounted against them, said Adhia.

The revenue department, sources said, will soon come out with fresh data for assessment year 2013-14 and it will be used in formulating strategy for widening the tax base.

The income tax slabs in India provide for not taxing people earning below Rs 2.5 lakh per annum. Income between Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh would mean a 10% tax while Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh attracts 20% tax and income above Rs 10 lakh means 30% tax.

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Most public sector jobs are seen as a source of joy when you get it. But that enthusiasm gradually morphs into frustration and disappointment when counterparts who started careers simultaneously, are leagues ahead in salaries and responsibilities.

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan touched a familiar chord when at a banking event on Tuesday, he raised the issue of the wide disparity in salaries of public sector bank chiefs and their peers at private banks. To highlight the issue further, the governor rued the fact that even he was underpaid!

But the situation is not without reason. Overpaid at the bottom and underpaid at the top, the phrase that Rajan used to describe salaries at state-run banks, is because the heavily politicized banking unions have managed to institutionalise entry-pay scales at larger levels. Negotiations with management have typically always focused on entry level scales as this prompts assured membership of such organisations. Junior staffers starting out at public sector banks have a comparatively higher salary than those at private banks; it is on an average Rs 32,000 a month, compared to an average Rs 20,000 at private banks.

The process to get into a nationalized banks is therefore difficult. Aspirants have to take a nationwide entrance test, compete with lakhs of students across the country and also clear rigorous interviews and training programmes, before bagging the job. Their private bank counterparts however have a relatively easier entry, with most of them joining after graduation from colleges where most of the times it is a simple interview based selection process.

But that is where life for young executives at private banks changes. It is widely seen that young women and men spend only a year or two at private banks as the work pressure is high with strict appraisal systems; promotions are less than 5% of the total hires. It is estimated that almost 70% leave in 2 years. This is true of the cadre that has been recruited from colleges.

It is an intensely competitive environment at private banks where only high achievers and consistent performers make the cut. Compare the situation with that in public sector banks, where work hours are more uniform, thanks to an active employees union, and annual salary revisions are a given, not linked to performance.

Within five years, the pay scales start to reverse and at the end of 10-12 years, there is a wide gulf. But understandably, while the focus is on the crores that heads of HDFC Bank or ICICI Bank take home, compared to the lakhs that a SBI or PNB chairman gets, human resource specialists say it is unfair to compare. A private bank unit head has a very demanding KRA with clear and difficult targets. So if the unit is able to generate profits, shareholders reward the head with generous pay hikes and bonus. The flip is also true. Heads are demoted, a rarity in public sector banks.

There is one area though where public sector bank heads are ahead of their private bank counterparts; on perks. Most middle and senior executives at nationalized banks manage to get attractive non-monetary perks that may have been initiated 40-50 years back and may not be relevant today. But sadly, thats where the supremacy of state-run banks ends.

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It was thought that only Raghuram Rajan can make Raisina Hill, the seat of the central government, buzz on a holiday. Actually, the replacement can, too, even if s/he happens to be a mere conjecture at this point in time.

As brothers set out to meet their sisters for Rakhi, word spread that a new Reserve Bank of India governor, to replace Rajan, could be announced on Thursday. Any time.

Such things have been coming every other day since Rajan said he was not getting a second term. But today, the buzz seemed credible because of three reasons:

1. There is not much time left before Rajans tenure ends on September 3

2. There had been a lull the last few days, when there was no Rajan rumour

3. Big things tend to happen on holidays

HT special: Who would you choose as the next governor of RBI

Naturally, hordes of reporters descended at the North Block, the seat of the finance minsitry. They were told mainly two things by different officials, both equally intriguing.

One, that the announcement will be made by the Prime Ministers Office, so everyone should keep a beady eye on the PMO website. And two, that Rajans replacement--hold your breath--could be Rajan himself.

I dont know, I wouldnt be sitting here if I did, said an official. However, he added as an afterthought: It could be anyone, you know, even Rajan might get another term.

He is Raghuram Rajan: Here is what he did for India

That was cue for a television journalist to hold forth in the media room at the North Block. My top sources tell me Rajan might get a second term, he said, and everyone around him smiled the knowing smile. They all knew who the top source was, they had all spoken to him.

Showing a healthy competitive spirit, the reporter of another channel said he had known the new governors name all along, but the government was holding back the announcement because his channel ahd broken the news. Everyone around him smiled the disbelieing smile.

A senior government official whose office HT managed to get into, wouldnt say anything except: Go away, do not waste my time with these questions.

There was no smile.

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There is a general feeling of disappointment among both the common people and social scientists, who want to keep the decades-old tradition alive, after the Supreme Court restricted dahi handi celebrations in Mumbai due on August 25 this year.

On Wednesday, the top court said that children below 18 years of age cannot participate in the upcoming dahi handi festival in Maharashtra.

The court said it was dangerous to allow small children to participate in such feats in its response to a clarification sought by the Maharashtra government over the August 2014 verdict that limited the height of such pyramids to 20 feet.

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, one of the tallest leaders of the Indian freedom movement, began the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Pune and Maharashtra in 1894 as a means to defy the British ban on religious gatherings  the colonial rulers did not dare interfere with the religious beliefs of the people they ruled with such an iron hand.

Tilak also decided to simultaneously celebrate Shiv Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji, to make sure that the legend of the Maratha warrior kings life and times was never forgotten by the people.

Dahi Handi in Bollywood: From Shammi Kapoor to Hrithik and Sonakshi

But before these two festivals that are an indelible part of Mumbai today, there always existed Govinda--or dahi handi--celebrations among the masses. It needed no political impetus for the people to gather in the rainy season every year to build pyramids in the downpour and attempt to break the pot--of money--tied high between two buildings on Janmashtami day each year.

The tradition came to Mumbai from its textile mills, the only industry in the metropolis at one time, and pre-dates Independence. The British, following the failure of the American cotton crop in the 1860s which was the chief source of raw supplies to their textile mills in Manchester, decided they needed an alternate source of supplies for their mills back home, soon after headquartering a huge province in Bombay.

Dahi handi is no longer a men-only feat. A womens group in Mumbai practises for a dahi handi in this file photo.

They encouraged farmers in Gujarat and the interiors of Maharashtra to grow cotton but soon found themselves stuck with the excess produce that was too expensive to ship to the UK. So they egged Indian entrepreneurs to set up textile mills in the city. These entrepreneurs were mostly Gujaratis, Parsis and Bohra Muslims while their workers were entirely local Maharashtrians, who migrated from the neighbouring districts in search of livelihood as traditional barter systems in the villages collapsed.

These migrants brought with them the traditions from their villages and set up various mandals affiliated to the districts and talukas they hailed from. At Independence, thus, the city was full of such mandals from the Konkan, various districts of western Maharashtra and Marathwada and some even from Vidarbha.

Dahi handi was fun and it was essentially a sport that necessarily required the participation of children of all ages who formed the pyramids to reach up to the skies  the youngest and lightest of them always formed the topmost layer and the taller and older necessarily forming its lower layers.

For at least three years now these mandals have been in a running battle with public interest litigants who are of the view that the younger children are put to great peril and risk and must be stopped from participating in the event. The Bombay high court first ruled in 2013 that there should be no dahi handi celebrations but then allowed the events on appeal with some conditions.

Now, the Supreme Court has restricted the height of these pyramids to 20 feet and barred children below 18 from participating.

The fun will go out of the event if we have to stick to those guidelines, former Congress MLA Krishna Hegde says.

Hegde organises one of the most eventful dahi handi celebrations every year with almost half of Bollywood in attendance, egging various teams from across the city to do their best to impress the film stars.

Of course, its a good thing that the Supreme Court is concerned about the accidents that might happen if the pyramids are too high but 20 feet gives us only six layers. They should allow us a seventh at least and with some precautions, we need younger and lighter children on the upper two layers. Eighteen-year-olds cannot climb on the shoulders of other 18-year-olds and still make the sport sustainable.

Hegde has appealed to the government to file a second review petition in the Supreme Court with these caveats and press the need to not destroy the sport and culture altogether. We have less than 10 days and if we do not get a favourable ruling, Janmashtami, as we know it in Mumbai, will be completely destroyed.

Sharit Bhowmik, a noted sociologist and a National Fellow at the Indian Council of Social Science Research, agrees with Hegde that authorities at times are over-concerned and that might play a spoilsport in terms of the citys culture and traditions.

Dahi handi is about children. It is about Bal Gopala. It is the Baby Krishna, not the adult god, who used to reach for the pot of curds and butter that his mother tied high up to stop him from eating them all up. So, it is a child who must ultimately break the pot in modern days to get the cash prize, he says.

If you stop children from playing this sport then what about Malkhamb, which is also a traditional rural sport? Malkhamb is largely played by children who shin up huge poles and get up to all sorts of contortions atop. They could fall and sustain injuries there too. Do you stop that? Or stop children from running the relay race because they may crash into the hurdles and hurt themselves?

Bhowmik, who has observed the slow crumbling of Mumbais cultural edifices starting with its textile mills that were largely shut down after a major strike in the early 1980s, says dahi handi is not like the camel races in West Asian countries wherein they used to strap children to camels before the race.

The frightened kids would scream their lungs out and that screaming, in turn, frightened the camels who ran for their lives trying to shake off the kids. That was a human rights violation for commercial interests. This is not, Bhowmik says.

Madhav Deshpande, one of the four original founders of the Shiv Sena along with Bal Thackeray and who may have initiated its commercialisation, agrees that dahi handi in a way is commercial.

When the Shiv Sena was first formed in June 1966, Deshpande dragged the newly minted leader to one of the dahi handi celebrations in the mill area of Mumbai to mingle with the masses and build rapport. Thackeray even took shots at the handi before leaving it to the children  that soon became a tradition with the Sena.

But, as with the Ganpati celebrations today, the dahi handi has also become a highly political event  every political party worth its name in Mumbai has got into the act and the prize money they offer for cracking the pot runs into several lakhs of rupees.

There have been a few falls as children try to grab the prize but Bhowmik says nothing catastrophic has happened to merit such drastic restrictions. Children at the top layers should be given a harness to prevent a free fall and the human bodies beneath the top layers also act as a cushion. But the festival must not be curtailed.

Deshpande blames the governments since 2013 for not having the courage to set the rules and parameters for the sport. They are afraid of taking any decision for the fear of annoying one side or the other and want to play safe by pushing it on the courts.

Adds Bhowmik, In any case, the litigants lawyers are more prepared and convincing than the governments advocates. That indifference could cost the city its tradition and culture.

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NEW DELHI: Three innocent lives were lost in accidents involving Chinese manja this independence day but the authorities on Wednesday continued to pass the buck over the delay in the ban.

The Delhi government accused the lieutenant governor s office and the environment secretary of delaying the draft notification. The L-G secretariat on the other asked if the draft notification was enough to ban kite threads coated with glass and metal coated immediately, as is being claimed by the government.

The LG office said it sought an explanation from environment secretary Chandraker Bharti after deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia demanded action against the officer for the delay in issuing the draft notification banning the sale and production of glass-coated thread in Delhi.

Addressing a press conference with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia said the file tracking note shows the Chinese manja file was with Jung for four days and the environment secretary for seven days. Our environment minister had cleared the file from the hospital on August 5 as he and his wife were diagnosed with dengue. The file was then sent to the L-G office. On August 9, the L-G gave his nod, said Sisodia.

The file tracking note shows that it was cleared from my office within 20 seconds on August 9. The chief secretary office also cleared the file the same day. The file was with the environment secretary since August 10. L-G needs to clarify why the delay, he added. But the L-G office said it had received the file from the government on August 8, and not August 5 as being claimed by Sisodia, and sent it back to his office on August 9.

Notice is hereby given that the said draft will be taken into consideration after the expiry of a period of sixty days from the date on which copies of the Delhi Gazette containing this notification are made available to the public together with any objections or suggestions that may be received in respect thereto within the stipulated period, the statement reads.
NEW DELHI: No new liquor shops will come up in residential areas of Delhi this year and mohalla sabhas or local committees will be empowered to shut a neighbourhood vend if there are complaints of nuisance.

The decision was taken on Wednesday in a Cabinet meeting that cleared the excise policy for financial year 2016-17. The meeting was chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The government had recently notified 2,972 mohalla sabhas where registered voters will be able to take a call through voting on basic or urgent development works and monitor progress.

Many people are troubled by liquor vends... Women feel unsafe to venture out as they feel unsafe in such an environment. So we have taken these two decisions, Kejriwal said at a press conference.

There are over 460 liquor shops in residential neighbourhoods.

The development comes amid a campaign by the Swaraj Abhiyan led by Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhush an against proliferation of liquor vends in the city.

Quoting an RTI reply from Delhi government s excise department, the group formed by former AAP rebels had claimed that 58 liquor vends had come up in the city since last February.

The government had, however, clarified that only six of the new shops were opened in residential areas while the rest were in shopping malls.

The licensing process for liquor shops by the excise department is broadly divided into three categories  L6 (government shops), L7 (private shops) and L10 (shops in malls).

No new liquor shop in L6 and L7 category will be opened this year. Licence will be given only under L10 category, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said.

Sisodia said the process to decide shutting a shop will be initiated once 10% voters of a mohalla sabha submit a written complaint in this regard to the concerned department.

Once the written complaint is received, a mohalla sabha will be called whose quorum (minimum presence required) will have to be 15% of the total number of voters of that area including at least 33% women.

On the complaints of nuisance at neighbourhood liquor vends, Sisodia said the onus of checking such activities will be on owners and managers of liquor vends and action will be taken against them if there are reports of nuisance in the vicinity of their stores.
NEW DELHI: The wife of Union minister VK Singh has filed a police complaint against a Gurgaon man accusing him of trying to extort Rs 2 crore by blackmailing her with doctored audio-video clips to defame her husband.

The incident was the second within a week involving a family member of a well known personality after the daughter of President Pranab Mukherjee sought police help following online abuse and threat by a man.

In her complaint at the Tughlaq Road police station, Bharti Singh alleged that one Pradeep Chauhan had even threatened her of dire consequences if the money was not paid.

VK Singh, a former army chief, is the minister of state for external affairs in the Narendra Modi government.

We are investigating the matter and the accused has been questioned by us. He will be called for second round of questioning soon. He is not yet arrested, said a senior police officer. An FIR was filed on August 12. The complainant said that Pradeep was known to her as a friend of her nephew.

She alleged that he had been calling her for a few days threatening to make public the doctored audio and video clips, contents of which were not known to her. The accused allegedly called her several times and threatened to ruin her husbands reputation. Singh also alleged that the accused posted a video on YouTube levelling false allegations against her husband and family.

I am a senior citizen and a mother to two daughters. My husband is abroad most days, for official work, and the man poses a grave threat to my security, she said in her complaint.

He is a very dangerous man and carries gun with him. The police must look into this complaint seriously.
NEW DELHI: The Art of Living Foundation said the committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal was biased, unscientific and lacked credibility.

The foundations swipe came following the panels observation that the culture fest destroyed the ecologically fragile Yamuna floodplain. Over 300,000 people attended the foundations World Culture Festival held in March.

The panel, appointed to look into the degradation of the Yamuna floodplain after the festival, said the banks were completely destroyed and the ground was devoid of water bodies and vegetation.

At a press conference in Bangalore on Wednesday, the foundation said the report was biased and untrue.

A perfunctory inspection was carried out at the World Culture Festival ground before the event. After this they came up with a random figure of Rs 120 crore to be paid as compensation, a statement by the foundation said.

Later, the Art of Living discovered a letter by the chairman of the expert committee Mr Shashi Shekhar written to the NGT admitting that this was an inadvertent mistake. This is clear proof of their premeditated stand, the statement said.

The letter, allegedly written by Shekhar, was not produced.

The committee had submitted its report to the tribunal last week.

The committee observes that entire floodplain area used for the main event site i.e. between DND flyover and the Barapulla drain (on the right bank of river Yamuna) has been completely destroyed, not simply damaged, the committees report said.

The ground is now totally levelled, compacted and hardened and is totally devoid of water bodies or depressions and almost completely devoid of any vegetation, the report said.

The area where the grand stage was erected (and the area immediately behind it) is heavily consolidated - most likely with a different kind of external material used to level the ground and compress it. Huge amount of earth and debris have been dumped to construct the ramps for access from the DND flyover and from the two pontoon bridges across the Barapulla drain, it said.

The Art of Living Foundation has alleged that the committee is compromised as some members have close connections with the petitioner.

One of the expert committee members has been canvassing the petitioners case before the media. This clearly shows his bias. Another has close connections with the petitioner. He has since done joint investigations of another project with the petitioner, undertaken projects with him and travelled with him. These facts were not disclosed to us earlier. The kind of evidence submitted by this committee amounts to nothing less than a scientific fraud, the Art of Living statement said.

Earlier, the NGT had levied a Rs 5 crore-environmental compensation on the foundation, which the latter paid.
GHAZIABAD: The main suspect in the daring attack on BJP leader and former constable Brijpal Teotia in Ghaziabad on August 11 had planned the ambush meticulously with hired killers to avenge his fathers murder 17 years ago, police said on Wednesday.

Investigators learnt the motive after the arrest of four people  Ram Kumar, Nishant, Rahul Tyagi, and Jitendra alias Pope  suspected to be in the dozen-strong gang that the lynchpin Manish Diwan had pulled together to assassinate the prominent Jat leader.

Manish and cousin Manoj, both from Mehrauli village in Ghaziabad, are on the run.

The 52-year-old Teotia and five of his associates were wounded but survived the attack. He is recuperating at a Noida hospital.

Manish Diwan hatched the plan  He was harbouring a grudge against Teotia since his fathers murder in 1999. Teotia was named in the case, but he came out clean as police had no evidence against him, inspector general of police (Meerut zone) Sujeet Pandey said.

At least three assassination attempts were made on Teotia before, but the August 11 attack was the most vicious.

Manish and his gang fired an AK-47 assault rifle and small automatic firearms from close range, and riddled Teotias Mahindra Scorpio with bullets. They fired nearly 50- 60 rounds before leaving the scene on Raw li Road in Ghaziabad, convinced the target is dead.

Police said seeds of a blood feud were sown after four murders at Mehrauli in 1984 and a triple murder near Dasna jail in 1997. The conflict grew when former Delhi Police constable Teotia was named an accused in the murder of Manishs father, Suresh Diwan, in 1999.

We were not involved in any murder. My brother came out clean in Diwans killing. All those who were killed in 1984 and 1997 were Mehrauli residents and Manojs family or associates were named in those cases. If they suspect us, we cannot do much about it, said Vikas Teotia, brother of the BJP leader.

Police said Manish planned the conspiracy after selling a plot of land he owned in Ghaziabad. Flush with funds, he connived with Manoj, hired sharpshooters from professional gangs, and bought an AK-47, an Italian Beretta and a pistol made in an Indian ordinance factory. The gang had a Toyota Fortuner, which was robbed from DLF Gurgaon. All these were ready by August 8.

The conspirators met at Manishs home in Mehrauli village on August 6 and 8 to finalise their plan.

It was decided that Ram Kumar would trail Teotia on a scooter and gather information about his activities  where he goes, whom he meets.

Manish and his team were aware of the odds, having failed in a previous attempt to kill Teotia on July 12. They had to abandon another attempt when Teotia had gone to meet the Ghaziabad mayor. There were too many policemen, and the BJP leader travelled mostly in his bulletproof Mitsubishi Pajero.

The chance came when the gangs spotter saw Teotia in a Scorpio on August 11.

Ram Kumar was trailing Teotias Scorpio since after noon. CCTV cameras picked up his image, while six witnesses corroborated the presence of the other accused persons at the scene, a police source said.

We have enough electronic and recorded evidence against Manish and Manoj.

Police said the gang included hired shooters Billu and Pehalwan from western UP. A third shooter, Rahul Tyagi, had backed out on August 9 as he wanted more money after learning Teotias profile. He was arrested later and charged with criminal conspiracy.

Manojs brother- in- law Sansar Singh of Meerut, who knew gangsters operating in the region, is suspected to have introduced the kingpins to the hitmen.

Moreover, Manojs friend Sunita, a UP police constable and wife of slain gangster Rakesh Hasanpuriya, had accused Teotia of criminal conspiracy. She had alleged that the Jat leader had infor med police about her husbands before his death in April 2005.

The rest of the gang were either friends of Manoj and Manish, or joined them for money.

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Three innocent lives were lost in accidents involving Chinese manja this independence day but the authorities on Wednesday continued to pass the buck over the delay in the ban.

The Delhi government accused the lieutenant governors office and the environment secretary of delaying the draft notification. The L-G secretariat on the other asked if the draft notification was enough to ban kite threads coated with glass and metal coated immediately, as is being claimed by the government.

The LG office said it sought an explanation from environment secretary Chandraker Bharti after deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia demanded action against the officer for the delay in issuing the draft notification banning the sale and production of glass-coated thread in Delhi.

Addressing a press conference with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia said the file tracking note shows the Chinese manja file was with Jung for four days and the environment secretary for seven days.

Read: Killer manjha: Delhi govt bans kite-flying thread after 3 deaths in two days

Our environment minister had cleared the file from the hospital on August 5 as he and his wife were diagnosed with dengue. The file was then sent to the L-G office. On August 9, the L-G gave his nod, said Sisodia.

The file tracking note shows that it was cleared from my office within 20 seconds on August 9. The chief secretary office also cleared the file the same day. The file was with environment secretary since August 10. LG needs to clarify why the delay, the deputy CM said.

But the L-G office said it had received the file from the government on August 8, and not August 5 as being claimed by Sisodia, and sent it back to his office on August 9.

It questioned the draft notification, saying it would not have served its purpose as rules require inviting suggestions from public before issuing the final notification after 60 days.


A team of anti-corruption branch Thursday searched the Delhi commission for women (DCW) office on a complaint that its chief, Swati Maliwal, had illegally appointed supporters of the ruling AAP to the panel.

No FIR has been registered but the three-member team was questioning DCW officials when reports last came in.

The anti-corruption body is investigating a complaint by former DCW chief Barkha Shukla Singh, a Congress leader, accusing Maliwal of packing the panel with Aam Aadmi Party volunteers.

The DCW has refuted the charges, saying it needed the staff for smooth functioning of the commission.

A senior ACB officer said they visited the office to collect documents. ACB officers came for investigation at around 11.30am, DCW sources said.

In her complaint, Singh has said Maliwal appointed 85 people in violation of norms. The DCW failed to call applications and most of the appointees were either AAP office-bearers or were associated with party leader and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal when he was an activist

Singh has also demanded action against minister for women and child development Sandeep Kumar and Kejriwal.

The Delhi government has taken on the Centre and even gone to court over ACB appointments. The high court recently ruled that the lieutenant governor, who represents the Centre, would have the final word in administrative matters, dealing a blow to the Kejriwal government.
The Art Of Living Foundation on Thursday said the expert committee report on the damage caused to the Yamuna floodplain because of the World Culture Festival was factually incorrect and demanded a fresh probe.

Art of Living lawyer Kedar Desai said the foundation demands an independent, unbiased and scientific committee to look into the damage, if any.

We have already given it in writing to the National Green Tribunal but that plea hasnt been heard yet. We have faith in the judiciary and hope the NGT will ensure justice. We will again submit our objections to the committee report to NGT and seek fresh unbiased probe, Desai said.

An NGT-appointed expert panel has said that Yamunas floodplain was completely destroyed and the ground was devoid of water bodies and vegetation because of the festival held in March.

The panel submitted its report to the NGT last week. It said the floodplain lost its natural vegetation, flattened using soil and debris to fill gaps, the soil composition had been changed and water bodies levelled.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Art Of Living officials questioned the scientific validity of the report.

The committee has classified the World Culture Festival venue as a wetland. However, the Wetland Atlas of Delhi released recently, the 1986 survey of India map, and many other authentic government documents do not mark this land as a wetland. By labelling it a wetland, the committee is manipulating facts. The truth is this land has always been classified as a floodplain; a sandy floodplain, at that, the Art Of Living lawyer said.

Scientifically, the characteristic of sandy soil or a riverbed soil is that it can never be compacted. The claim that the Art of Living flattened the land is completely baseless. The grounds were depicted as a flat land in 1985, he said.

The NGT had levied R5 crore environmental compensation on the foundation.
The Delhi government on Thursday invoked its emergency powers to ban the manufacture, storage and use of all sharpened kite strings known as manja for a month with immediate effect.

Those made with cotton thread have been spared.

The Delhi Police too issued orders under Section 144 of CrPC prohibiting the storage, sale and use of metallic powder coated manjas with immediate effect.

Police said the prohibitory orders were issued after the L-G asked them to take measures to prevent the loss of lives.

The ban will eventually be made permanent. Stakeholders have been asked to send in their objections, if any, explaining why the ban shouldnt be continued.

The objections need to be sent over within 10 days from issue of the order.

From the date of notification of this order and temporarily for a period of one month, manufacturing, trading and use of any string coated with powdered glass, metal, or any other similar property to enhance its sharpness or any other nylon string, which could be put to use in kite flying, is prohibited and banned within NCT of Delhi, the order issued by divisional commissioner, A Anbarasu said.

Read: AAP govt, L-Gs office spar over Chinese manja notification

The development comes after technical questions were raised over the ban on Chinese manja, as announced by the Delhi government, due to the nature of the notification issued.

The state environment department had issued a draft notification on Tuesday that sought to impose ban on Chinese manja.

The notification sought objections from stakeholders for 60 days, saying the final notice will be issued after that.

Because of the metal coating, whenever the manja comes in contact with electric cables of high voltage line, there is danger of electrocution. The threads are causing injury to birds, and animals, said a Delhi Police spokesperson.
New Delhi:

It has been a month since Delhi University started its new academic session and yet there are around 6,500 seats available for several undergraduate courses.

To fill the vacant seats, the university will now be releasing three more cutoff lists for admission on August 20, 24 and 29. Admissions under each list will be conducted till August 22, 26 and 30, respectively.

There are around 6,500 vacant seats in various colleges of which at least 1,100 seats are under general category, 2,900 in OBC category, 1,000 in SC category and 1,500 in ST category, said a university official.

At Bhim Rao Ambedkar College 35 and 36 seats are vacant in B Com and B Com (hons) courses. Dyal Singh, Gargi and Ram Lal Anand colleges also have vacant seats in these two courses.

Read more: Seats still available in some DU colleges, list of vacancies today

Seats in English (hons) are available at Dyal Singh College, Janaki Devi Memorial College and Kalindi College.

In Mathematics (hons), Dyal Singh College and Janaki Devi Memorial College has 17 vacant seats each while Keshav Mahavidyalaya has 12 seats to fill.

The university had announced that it would release five cutoff lists only. It said that admissions for the remaining seats will be done on merit lists. Admissions under the fifth cutoff list ended on July 22.

To fill up the vacant seats, registered students applied again as colleges brought out a merit list. Admissions under the merit lists ended on August 16.

Many students have withdrawn admissions due to which there are vacant seats, said a university official.

Document verification and approval of admission will be taken till 1pm for the morning colleges, and till 4 pm for evening colleges.

The application process this year was fully online. University officials said college fees can also be paid online and the only time students will have to visit the colleges was when they have to get their documents verified.

Read more: DU asks colleges to reissue merit list after students complain

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An Italian national managed to enter the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) using a forged e-ticket to see his girlfriend off on Independence Day eve, when the area was on high alert.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which guards the IGIA, noticed the suspicious passenger at the check-in area and picked him up for interrogation.

The man could not show a ticket to prove that he was a passenger.

His girlfriend was to travel by China Eastern Airline at 2.55 am on August 15. When we intercepted him, he confessed to having entered on a forged ticket, which he destroyed later. He was handed over to the police, said a CISF official.

CCTV footage showed that he entered using an Aeroflot flight ticket to Moscow, which was to depart at 1.05 am on August 15.

He had a confirmed ticket to Moscow for the same flight, but for August 16. Using a photo editing software, he changed the date to August 15 and entered Terminal 3. His details were confirmed by the airline, the official added.

In the past 14 months, 30 people have been arrested for entering the terminal using forged e-tickets.

The incident comes in the wake of Intelligence Bureaus concern that, in the absence of a biometric system, the countrys most sensitive airport was under serious.

The CISF said installing a PNR reader-cum-biometric machine at the gate will reduce unauthorised entries.

The small machine can be installed at the entry gate and instead of checking every e-ticket manually, the CISF personnel can put the ticket in front of machine and check whether the ticket is genuine or not. This will ensure security as there are a number of cases of passengers entering on fake e-tickets, a CISF official said.

At present, passengers are not checked at the entry gate. Anyone can enter by showing a ticket and an identification proof. It is only when they try to exit that security personnel ask for a reason and check the tickets authenticity.

But by then the person would have spent considerable time inside the terminal.

In 2015, 23 unauthorised passengers were caught trying to exit the airport. This year till February 29, seven passengers were caught. In 2014, the figure was 16 passengers.

Bureau for Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is tasked with the installation of biometric machines at IGIA.

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Two smugglers of sophisticated foreign-made guns were arrested after a gunfight near a public park on Ring Road on Thursday, police said.

Mohammad Rehan Ansari, 42, and his brother Qurban Ansari, 45, used to smuggle the weapons from Pakistan, special cell sleuths said. They were arrested from near Gate number 4 of Indraprashta Park on Ring Road.

Ten pistols, including Walther (German) and Sig Sauer (USA), worth R1 crore, and 157 cartridges were seized from their possession.

Police sources said the Ansari brothers procured German, Russian and USA-made pistols from Pakistan and smuggled them into India via Nepal.

The police had been tracking their movement for the past one month, said sources. We had information Qurban and Rehan Ansari and their family were involved in smuggling of weapons from Pakistan, a police source said.

We had a tip-off that they were going to deliver a consignment to their associates in Delhi. They used internet channels to communicate with their associates in Pakistan, they said.

Read More: Police arrest three gun smugglers

A specific tip-off was received on Wednesday that the Ansaris deliver a consignment of guns to their associates at Indraprashta Park.

A police team reached the spot and spotted them in a SUV. They were waiting for someone near the park when a car slowed down near them.

When the police rushed to arrest them, they fired at the police. The police returned the fire and arrested the duo, DCP, Special Cell, PS Kushwaha said.

They told the police that they ran a factory of electric switches and sockets in UP and came in contact with people smuggling weapons from Pakistan two years ago.
The hooch tragedy in Bihars Gopalganj district, where 14 people died after drinking illicit liquor, has confirmed the suspicion that prohibition in the state has meant just the closure of liquor outlets and hotels and restaurants have stopped serving liquor. The manufacture of illicit liquor continues and it is a fair surmise that people involved are doing a more flourishing business than earlier because more people have now taken to such drink both to satisfy their urge for intoxication and save money. And as such underground manufacture happens with the complicity of excise officers and the police, the problem is unlikely to go soon. This is a problem that precedes prohibition and is far more serious than the smuggling of liquor in the state.

Read: Will nail culprits if liquor is the cause of deaths: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

Now that chief minister Nitish Kumar has introduced prohibition, which, according to an estimate, will cost his government Rs 5,000 crore this financial year, he should make all arrangements to ensure that no drinking happens in the state. As a person who has been in public life for many decades, Mr Kumar should have known the more difficult side of effecting prohibition, which is finishing off the illicit liquor paraphernalia. And since such hooch tragedies have happened in the past, as chief minister for 11 years, Mr Kumar should also have known where and how they happen or are likely to happen. But it is also a fact that manufacturing such stuff is easy and the administration may find it difficult to keep a tab on it.

Read: UP hooch tragedy: Death toll rises to 32, over two dozen critical

Mr Kumar should give firm directions to the administration to crack down on such businesses. The victims of such incidents are the poor, whom Mr Kumar had wanted to help through prohibition.

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The UP government appears to have wasted no time in approving changes to a piece of legislation that allows it to circumvent the Supreme Court ruling barring former chief ministers from occupying government bungalows. The changes will also involve amendments to the Uttar Pradesh Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1981, sanctioning a three-fold hike in wages for the CM and his ministers. Given that the average salary for UP ministers and the CM is considerably less than that in many other states, no one can have any quarrel with their wages being raised to more realistic levels. But nothing justifies former chief ministers occupying prime real estate and holding on to bungalows in a country where millions do not have a roof over their heads.

Read | Roofless in Delhi Part 1

Read | Roofless in Delhi Part 2

This practice of expecting government largesse extends to most politicians both at the Centre and states. In other democratic countries, politicians who have demitted office get a pension but no other perks like free air and train travel and housing as many here get. There is also the unjustifiable practice of politicians holding on to government accommodation after they have left office, forcing the government of the day to serve them notices, even to move the courts in order to get them to vacate. A case in point is the former wife of a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir moving court to stay in official accommodation, something the court has not permitted. In some cases, the relatives of politicians have sought to take over government bungalows as memorials to deceased leaders. This whole sense of entitlement has not been challenged in any serious manner by successive governments. Rather, politicians have been allowed to make rules as they go along in order to corner state largesse at the cost of the taxpayer.

Read | SC asks former Uttar Pradesh CMs to vacate govt accommodation

Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who was once chief minister of UP, continues to retain a government house there, as does the SP chief and former chief minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav. Politicians must understand, at least in enlightened self-interest, that people resent this appropriation of perks and privileges when no such safety net exists for the ordinary person once out of a job. The courts have consistently moved against special rights for our elected representatives who in turn have usually found ways to get around this. Politicians cannot expect to be treated as a separate category from the people they represent, which is what the UP CM is signalling with his latest move to subvert the SCs ruling.

Read | UP amends law to dodge apex court ruling on ex-CMs stay in govt bungalows

Rajdeep Sardesai is a senior journalist and author

The views expressed are personal
The Indian Institutes of Technology hope to compete with the best in the world but a poor student-teacher ratio is thwarting their bid to up their global ranking.

With 35% of sanctioned faculty positions vacant, the IITs  the first choice for aspiring engineers in India  have an average student-teacher ratio of 15:1 against a 10:1 requirement.

The IIT council chaired by HRD minister Prakash Javadekar will take up the issue at a meeting on August 23. The ministry is considering several solutions, including absorbing PhD students as faculty.

PhD students finishing their courses can be identified and mentored to join as faculty. The council will take up the issue of their campus recruitment. Also, adjunct faculty from industry can be identified and invited to teach a semester or two, said a senior ministry official.

Read more: IITs way down the list in Shanghai engineering rankings

Another option is getting foreign faculty.

An ill-maintained student-faculty ratio is a major reason for the IITs performing poorly on global rankings. The California Institute of Technology (Caltech), which holds the top spot in the World University Rankings 2015, has a student-teacher ratio of 6.9, in comparison.

Only seven IITs make the rankings. The top two are IIT-Bombay, which comes in the 351-400 section, and Delhi in the 401-500 section (there are no individual ranks beyond the top 100). IIT-Bombay has a student-faculty ratio of 14:1 while it is 16:1 for Delhi.

Even among the IITs, the older institutes have the poorest ratios  22:1 in Varanasi (IIT-BHU) and 19:1 in Kharagpur  while some of the newer ones are close to the required ratio at 11:1.

Ministry sources said the ratio, if not corrected, will get more skewed as there are plans to add 30,000 off-campus students to the 18 IITs by 2020.

The ministry is also looking at sanctioning new teaching positions specifically at IITs with a poor ratio, an official said.

Despite these numbers, there is fierce competition to get into the IITs, which have 72,000 students at present. More than a million aspirants appeared for the JEE main exam this year.

Read more: 4 IITs, IISc among Asias top 50 universities: QS Rankings

Defending the schools, IIT Roorkee director Pradipta Banerji said, All IITs have to maintain a very high bar for permanent faculty. Rather than taking in poor quality permanent faculty, what we do have are high quality DST INSPIRE fellows, DBT Ramanujan fellows and our own institute-funded post-doctoral fellows who perform full-time academic duties but are not counted as faculty.

Admitting the poor student-faculty ratio was a challenge, a former IIT director, who did not wish to be identified, however, said, This affects global ranking but not quality as such. It is easy to increase the number of students but not to get quality faculty. And the IITs are hiring.

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The Indian-origin population in the UK tends to be more educated and fewer are unemployed when compared to other ethnic minorities, according to a new report released on Thursday, even as it warned that Britain must tackle the problem of an entrenched race divide in the country.

In some cases, Indians out-performed even the white British population, with a higher percentage increase in those with degree level qualifications.

Since 2008, all ethnicities have seen an increase in the proportion with a degree-level qualification, however compared with the increase for white people (5.9 percentage points), Indians saw the largest increase (18.1 percentage points), says the report by the UKs Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The lowest unemployment rate was among Indians (9.2%) and the highest among Pakistanis/Bangladeshis (17.3%), African/Caribbean people (15.5%) and mixed ethnic minorities (15.2%), it said.

The report titled Healing a divided Britain: The need for a comprehensive race equality strategy warned that the UK must tackle the problem of an entrenched race divide in the country.

We must redouble our efforts to tackle race inequality urgently or risk the divisions in our society growing and racial tensions increasing, said David Isaac, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

If you are black or an ethnic minority in modern Britain, it can often still feel like you are living in a different world, never mind being part of a one nation society, he added.
Indian workers in Saudi Arabia retrenched by three Saudi companies have only two options left -- either to return to India or to relocate to a different company in the Gulf kingdom.

Explaining the situation faced by the retrenched Indian workers of Saudi Oger, Saudi-bin Laden and Saad Group, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in his weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday that Saudi authorities have offered to facilitate speedy repatriation of those seeking to return home or to assist those wishing to relocate.

Following the high-level discussions that minister of state for external affairs VK Singh had with Saudi authorities during his visit to Saudi Arabia in July, the Saudi authorities took a magnanimous view of the situation and agreed to the speedy repatriation of those Indian workers wishing to return to India and also assisting those workers wishing to relocate to other companies, Swarup said.

No other option is available to Indian workers belonging to these three companies.

The spokesperson said Singh is again in Saudi Arabia now as there are some issues which need to be addressed so that the retrenched workers either seek alternate employment or return to India.

Minister of state will try to reach out to them to impress upon them to cooperate and facilitate in this process, Swarup said.

However, according to an IANS report from Jeddah, Singh is facing an uphill task in convincing the workers of one of the companies to return home and wait for their pending arrears, as the workers are not in a mood to heed the ministers advice.

The minister visited a workers accommodation on Makkah highway on Thursday and told them to seek alternative employment offered by other employers, if you are willing, or return home and wait there for your dues.

He also emphasised that it was not in the interest of either party to continue to stay for an indefinite for their pending claims.

Singh reiterated that both the governments of Saudi Arabia and India were working seriously on the issue and would be sort it out, as there were many formalities and procedures involved.

He had also visited another workers camp of the same crisis-hit construction company in Jeddah on Wednesday.

Aggrieved workers were demanding to spell out time bound period or assurance in writing by officials regarding their due arrears.

In Riyadh, Indian ambassador Javed Ahmed met with Saudi foreign affairs minister, Adel Al Jubeir and handed over a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, according to a statement issued by the embassy.

It also further stated that the ambassador had discussed the welfare of Indian workers in the Gulf kingdom but did not specify details.

In a related development, Saudi labour minister Mufrej Al Haqbani held a meeting on Thursday with Pakistan minister for overseas Pakistani affairs Pir Syed Sardaruddin Shah Rashidi and his accompanying delegation to discuss their nationals working in some of the crisis-hit companies.
A group of Kashmiris donned the Indian Army uniform on Thursday to fight for the nation at a time when many youngsters in the Kashmir valley are violently protesting against security forces and renewed their calls for freedom from India.

As many as 308 recruits participated in a spectacular passing out parade to join the armys Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) regiment even as curfew remained enforced outside. JAKLI exclusively recruits people from the state of J-K - including Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

Of the 308 soldiers, 116 were from Kashmir valley and the Muslim-dominated areas of Jammu who took part in the rigorous 11-month training at the Rangreth centre just outside the boundary of Srinagar.

The passing out parade was organised at the Bana Singh Parade Ground in Rangreth and attended by Jammu and Kashmir governor NN Vohra and the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, Lt General Satish Dua.

Dua said he was pleased that a new regiment of JAKLI has joined to work for the nation. The regiment recruits jawans from J-K and brings together all the three religions - Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism - to bring laurels to their regiment and the nation, he said.

New recruits of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment (JAKLI) taking oath during the passing out parade. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo )

The families of the young Kashmiri soldiers, who came to watch their children take salute, had to travel in the night to avoid the raging protests and stone-pelting youth during the day.

Kashmir has been in the grip of a violent unrest that was triggered by the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. At least 65 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in clashes between protesters and security forces and the Valley has remained under curfew for the 41st day on Thursday.

Media-savvy Wani was the first militant leader to extensively use social media to lure educated youth into the fight for independence of the disputed region.

As many as 308 recruits were formally inducted into the Army's JAKLI after finishing their training. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo )

Most of the young recruits and their families from Kashmir avoided talking about their experiences and motives for joining the army.

When asked about his son and their decision to send him to the army, Ghulam, who he did not want to give his second name, avoided the question.

The situation is very bad. It is not easy to talk, Ghulam, a farmer from Anantnag district that has witnessed the maximum number of deaths in during the current unrest, said.

Nearby a middle-aged woman, who had come to cheer her cousin and belongs to the same district as Ghulam, said that not everybody was rich in Kashmir. We are poor families. That is why we send our kids into the army. We know the sentiment among people (regarding army) is also not very favourable, she said.

A Kashmiri mother kisses her son after he graduated as an Army soldier during the passing out parade at an army base on the outskirts of Srinagar. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo)

The dearth of jobs in the valley and the security of a government job at a young age are factors that are driving the Kashmiri youth to the army. This paradox  pro-freedom sentiment and aspiring for a government job  has been indicative of the dilemmas of an average person in the valley.

However, the recruits from Jammu were more vocal about their decision to join the army.

My aim from childhood was to join the army as my father and grandfather have worked with the army, Tanveer Ahmad from Rajouri, who was flanked by his father, mother and over 100-year-old grandfather, said.

Ask him about the azadi protests; he said, Every individual works towards his own aspirations. I appeal to the youth of the valley to drop their stones and live peacefully. Many students are not able to study and many people are not able to earn, he said.

JAKLI exclusively recruits people from the state of J-K - including Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo)

A former engineering student has emerged as Wanis successor, asking the people of Kashmir to continue the agitation till the region achieves its goal of azadi. An 8-minute video message by Zakir Rashid Bhat is being seen as confirmation of his elevation to the post once held by Wani, whose killing on July 8 sparked violent street protests in the Valley.

Bhat also asked the youth to shun recruitment drive for special police officers (SPOs) saying they will be used to create another Ikhwan, a counter-insurgency force formed in the mid-nineties that was accused of human rights violations.
On a day Pakistan accused India of crossing a red line by raising alleged rights abuses in Balochistan, New Delhi said it wanted to discuss the vacation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir under illegal occupation by Islamabad.

The war of words heated up a day after India said it would take up Pakistans offer of talks provided they focus on cross-border terrorism and not the unrest in Kashmir, where more than 60 people have died in protests after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani.

India reiterated that foreign secretary S Jaishankar had accepted his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Chaudhrys invitation to visit Islamabad for talks, which should focus on the more pressing aspects of the Jammu and Kashmir situation.

Read: Modi crossed red line by talking about Balochistan, says Pakistan

These aspects, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, include Pakistan ending cross-border terrorism and incitement to violence and terrorism in Kashmir, detaining and prosecuting terrorist leaders who have been active in supporting such violence, closing down terrorist camps, and denying safe haven, shelters and support to terrorists who have escaped Indian law.

The Indian foreign secretary also looks forward to discussing the earliest possible vacation of Pakistans illegal occupation of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, Swarup told a news briefing.

Swarup also dismissed Islamabads contention that the Indian premier had crossed a red line as an extraordinary remark from a senior functionary of Pakistan that recognizes no red lines in its own diplomacy.

Earlier, Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Nafees Zakaria told a news briefing in Islamabad that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had crossed a red line by raising Balochistan. He also said Pakistan will raise the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly next month.

Modi had brought up atrocities in Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in his Independence Day speech.

It is the violation of the UN Charter...He (Modi) crossed the red line by talking about Balochistan, Zakaria said. He added India was referring to Balochistan to cover up rights violations in Kashmir.

Read: India willing to talk to Pak, but on cross-border terrorism in Kashmir

Zakaria alleged that India was involved in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi.

The UN Secretary General and members had been informed about the precarious situation in Kashmir and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would raise the issue at the world body, Zakaria said.

The Prime Minister strongly pleaded the case of Kashmir during the General Assembly session last year and we will again forcefully raise the issue, he said.

The UN and the world community should remind India to fulfil its commitment to give the right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he added.

Spokesperson Swarup said Indias response to Pakistans offer of talks had rejected Islamabads self-serving allegations regarding Kashmir. Pakistan has no locus standi in respect of Jammu & Kashmir, which is an integral part of our nation, he added.

He accused Pakistan of being involved in violence and terrorism against India since 1947 and supporting terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir that continues to the present day.

Swarup said India had underlined the importance of bringing to justice all those guilty in Pakistan for the Mumbai terrorist attack of 2008 and Pathankot airbase attack.

Prime Minister Modi had spoken about Balochistan and PoK in his Independence Day speech because people from these regions sent him messages thanking him for raising the alleged atrocities there at an all parties meeting, Swarup said.

As to whether this constitutes a policy shift, let me say that government of India has made statements about the situation in Baluchistan in the past as well, he added.

With inputs from Agencies in Islamabad

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BJP MPs from Uttar Pradesh have got a target  winning 3 assembly seats each. Each parliamentary constituency has an average 5 assembly segments. And if they fail to deliver, it might imperil their chances of getting the party ticket in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

BJP president Amit Shah assigned the task to every Lok Sabha MP during a meeting with them last month, a BJP source told HT.

Indias ruling party has 71 Lok Sabha MPs from Uttar Pradesh, countrys most populous state that it swept in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

There is logic behind the responsibility. If 71 MPs can win 3 assembly seats each, the BJPs final tally would be 213. This is more than a clear majority, a BJP leader explained. Uttar Pradesh assembly has 403 seats; making 202 the half-way mark.

MPs have been asked to focus on all five-six assembly seats in their parliamentary constituency. But specific target is to win at least three of them, the BJP leader elaborated.

The second logic behind setting specific target for each MP is to make them accountable for BJPs performance in the do-or-die battle next year. There is a concern within the BJP about anti-incumbency of the BJP MPs, some of whom may not have lived up to the expectation of the electorate. Partys performance in each MPs constituency, sources say, will influence the decision whether or not they get a ticket to contest 2019 Lok Sabha election.

During they stint in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi successfully implemented such a strategy when a large number of non performing and unpopular MLAs  say over 40 % - were dropped every election to minimize the impact of anti incumbency.

The ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh has repeatedly targeted the BJP for doing little despite winning 71 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. Two seats went to BJPs ally, the Apna Dal.

Specific assignments are being fixed for each BJP MP, who will have to travel length and breadth of the state over the next 5-6 months.

Dalit MPs  17 of them  will travel to about 300 assembly constituencies that are either reserved for the SCs or have significant population of the community.

Similar programme will be drawn for other MPs. Such as, a Thakur MP will campaign in areas having strong population of the community.

Each MP has been asked to spend at least 10 days in a month outside his parliamentary constituency. A detailed programme is being chalked out.

Ends//

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Army chief General Dalbir Singh on Thursday briefed defence minister Manohar Parrikar about an affidavit filed by him in the top court in which he has accused union minister and former army chief VK Singh of bias and malice.

While the defence ministry and the army were tight-lipped about what transpired at the meeting, it is understood that General Dalbir Singh Suhag explained the background of the case to the minister. The minister is examining the matter.

The army chief said in his affidavit VK Singh tried to deny him promotion to stall his appointment to the top position  it is rare for a serving chief to cast aspersions on the conduct of a previous chief. VK Singh could not be contacted for comments as he is in Saudi Arabia. He did tweet on Thursday evening saying While people may comment on subjudice matters, I will continue to 2do what I am most passionate about, serve my country.

In the affidavit to the Supreme Court, where a former colleague has challenged General Dalbir Singhs elevation, the army chief said in 2012 the then army chief victimised him with malicious intent to punish him for extraneous reasons. VK Singh was the army chief at the time.

Dalbir Singh had taken the same plea in the armed forces tribunal (AFT) that had thrown out Lieutenant General (retd) Ravi Dastanes challenge to his promotion.

Officials familiar with the case said that Dalbir Singh filed the affidavit in AFT in his individual capacity in 2012. They said neither was Dalbir Singh the army chief then nor was VK Singh a minister. The officials said as the SC was to begin the hearing of the case, Dalbir Singh re-submitted the affidavit, updating some developments.

The development was seen by many as an attempt to derail Dalbir Singhs chances of not just taking over as Eastern Army commander but also as army chief in 2014.

However, VK Singhs successor General Bikram Singh lifted the ban in June 2012 after nothing was found against Dalbir Singh. This paved the way for Dalbir Singh to be appointed as the head of Eastern Command.

Dastane challenged Dalbir Singhs appointment, claiming he was eligible for the Eastern Command chiefs post but it was kept vacant for 15 days to accommodate the latter. It was at this stage Dalbir Singh filed the first affidavit in the AFT. Dastane moved the top court in 2014 after the AFT ruled against him.

The passing of directions for initiating administrative action against me after about a month of having already finalised the court of inquiry smacks of motivated, biased, arbitrary and malicious intent to punish me which the then chief of army staff executed apparently as planned by him, the affidavit says.

The controversy triggered by the affidavit took a political turn with the the Aam Aadmi Party dubbing VK Singh a national liability and demanding the minister be sacked.

A person who intended to create a friction in the army, whose track record as the army chief was mired in controversies like his age rowwho set up a parallel branch for snooping on ministers, one who compared Dalits with dogs while being a minister...There were reports that he also wanted to engineer a coup, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said in Delhi.
The ruling BJP party will have a new address before the next Parliamentary election. The change will be more than just creating a new roof for the party, but will include swank new features such as a digital library.

Currently operating out of a bungalow in Ashoka Road  dotted with blackberry trees  the BJP has set a deadline to get new, ultra modern headquarters by 2018 December.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah will lay the foundation stone for the new office on Thursday in a compound measuring 8,000 square feet on the leafy Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg in central Delhi.

3-D representation of the proposed BJP office. (Special arrangement)

We have set the deadline to inaugurate the office on Atal Bihari Vajpayees birthday (25 December) in 2018. We have about 2 years times in hand, a BJP leader associated with the project said.

The design of the new complex includes a seven-storey building with three-storied complexes on either side. The main building will have 70 rooms along with three conference rooms. The entire campus will be Wi-fi enabled with provisions of water harvesting, solar power and multi-level underground parking for more than 150 cars.

Access controlled gates will be another feature.

Seventy percent of campus will be developed as green area, a BJP leader associated with the project said. District units of the party will be able to access the digital library that is being proposed on the campus. The interiors are being designed to have a traditional, yet modern, look.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that the ruling party has faced more adversities in independent India than what the Congress suffered under the British rule.

Modis remarks were an attempt to turn the tables on the Opposition, which has claimed that the right-wing party played no role in countrys freedom movement.

The Prime Minister cited instances of BJP workers being killed and the problems the party faced in opening an office in West Bengal to buttress his arguments.

Laying the foundation stone of the partys new headquarters here, Modi claimed the BJP made more sacrifices than any other party and credited party workers for the place it has attained in Indias political history. This party has not grown due to some leader, Prime Minister or chief minister but due to its lakhs of dedicated workers, he said.

Speaking at the same function, BJP president Amit Shah called Modi the worlds most popular leader. We all under Modis leadership have decided that this golden era of BJP is not our peak. We should not be satisfied with our todays successes and have to grow beyond it, he said

The Prime Ministers remarks drew sharp reaction from the Congress, which asked him to forthwith apologise to the nation. The Prime Minister has humiliated and denigrated the entire freedom struggle of India. Coming from the Prime Minister, this is unacceptable. We will not tolerate it, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

Taking a dig at the BJP and Sangh Parivar, Surjewala alleged that Modi had disowned the freedom struggle and belittled the sacrifices of freedom fighters since the ruling party did not take part in the independence movement.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday claimed he had soft-pedalled the Bofors issue during his tenure as defence minister in the United Front government (1996-98) after he saw how well the artillery guns worked.

Hailing former prime minister late Rajiv Gandhi for introducing the powerful Bofors artillery guns, he said, When I first saw a Bofors gun firing, the first thought that came to my mind was that Rajiv did a good job. It was for the same reason that I soft-pedalled the issue (file gayab kar di).

Yadav was speaking at the 10th anniversary of the Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University in the state capital, where he also questioned the current Modi governments defence policy.

On the one hand, our prime minister shakes hands with Chinese delegates. On the other hand, incursion by the Chinese armed forces into Indian territory is reported. It was only after we raised the issue that the Chinese army moved back. One has to be stern on such issues, said Yadav, stating that India faced a greater threat from China than Pakistan.

Speaking for 90 minutes, Yadav however acknowledged Prime Minister Narendra Modis diligence, commending him for his rise from a tea seller.

The former chief minister also paid tribute to Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, and urged students to take lessons from his life. He was a great political leader, freedom fighter and a law enthusiast. I opened a law university in order to educate the present generation and to realise the dream of Dr Lohia, he said.

Claiming that the SP was the only party that promoted education in state, he said, When I first became UPs chief minister, there were only seven medical universities in the state but now there are 24, all constructed during the SP government. Its only SP that has promoted education in the state.

Books based on Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and Mulayam Singh Yadav were released on the occasion, and meritorious students were felicitated.
Global human rights watchdog Amnesty Internationals plan to set up a South Asia hub in India is in jeopardy, with the government deciding against allowing it to bring in funds from abroad.

This seems to be the first casualty of the sordid situation that Amnesty Internationals India chapter has lately found itself in. An FIR under sedition charges was filed against the organisation after alleged anti-India slogans were raised at an event held in Bengaluru. However, the human rights body has denied the allegations, terming them baseless.

Amnesty International registered itself as a non-profit company in India in May last year, and it is a separate entity from its India chapter. The objective of the company was to coordinate its activities in South Asia, except India.

Read: Amnesty India temporarily closes offices, postpones events after sedition row

On August 13 last year, Amnesty International sought permission from the government to bring in Rs 18.61 crore for setting up office infrastructure in India. But we have decided not to give it, said a senior government official on the condition of anonymity.

Amnesty International did not react immediately to the development.

A source said the government wants the India chapter of Amnesty International to register itself under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), the law that governs the foreign funding of NGOs.

When contacted, a spokesperson from the organisation said: We have not received any notice from the government in this regard. We will respond only after receiving an intimation.

In a review of Amnesty Indias funding, the government found that instead of registering itself under the FCRA, the outfit sought one-time permissions to bring in funds from abroad on eight occasions since 2000. However, the government denied permission four out of eight times.

Read: Space for civil society and dissent in India is shrinking: Amnesty India chief

Significantly, the government did not allow Amnesty to bring in any funds from abroad on the last three occasions since 2012.

On December 19, 2000, Amnesty India was granted permission to bring GBP 1,30,629 into the country for the first time under the prior permission category. GBP 2,21,428 was brought in again on November 14, 2003.

In 2009 as well, the home ministry allowed Amnesty to bring in Rs 54,40,000. But in 2010, the government, for the first time, denied it permission to bring in Rs 3,272,000. Again the government gave it one-time permission to receive Rs 1,69,59,226 on March 28, 2012. But, on the last three occasions, Amnesty Indias applications to bring in Rs 1,69,59,226 on November 2, 2012, Rs 2,65,76,204 on November 7, 2012, and Rs 8,000,000 on March 13, 2013, were rejected.

Amnesty should get itself registered under the FCRA instead of repeatedly seeking one-time permission. This is why permission was not granted, said the government official.

However, Amnestys India chapter has maintained that the FCRA is a much-abused law thats used to harass NGOs who challenge the powers that be.

Read: Charities alarmed over closure of Amnesty offices, ask govt not to be like China

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India should not replicate China by trying to stamp out dissent, civil liberty activists said on Thursday, alarmed over Amnesty Internationals decision to temporarily close its offices in India after facing political protests and sedition charges.

Police launched an investigation after receiving a complaint from a right-wing students group that anti-India slogans were raised at an event hosted by the charity in Bengaluru last week. The rights group has asked its staff not to come to office for now.

The move has left charities and non-government organisations nervous.

The government is investigating and I hope no charges will be framed, said Meenakshi Ganguly, director human rights watch, South Asia.

But the broader concern is that the anti-national narrative is picking up and we need to hear people raising slogans, which is a peaceful way as compared to (using a) gun.

Since Prime Minister Modi came to power, the government has tightened rules regulating charities, including cancelling the registration of about 10,000 groups for failing to declare details of overseas donations.

Read: Amnesty India temporarily closes offices, postpones events after sedition row

The government accused foreign charities of trying to hamper industrial projects on social and environmental grounds, and Modi criticised what he called five-star activists. The charities say they are being targeted selectively as part of a campaign to control free speech and dissent.

The Amnesty move signals a further shrinking of space for civil society and dissent in India, said Ravi Chellam, head Greenpeace India, which faced shutdown after authorities blocked foreign funding and froze its bank accounts last year.

I dont think amnesty will close office in India. Police has received a complaint and registered it. I dont think action can be taken against the institution, Chellam told Hindustan Times.

On the larger issue of action against NGOs, if the institution is at fault action should be taken but someone should not be targeted for raising voice against the government.

Nikhil Dey, a leading Right to Information activist, termed the sedition charges against Amnesty as unfortunate, saying an institution cannot be booked for sedition.

Read: Space for civil society and dissent in India is shrinking: Amnesty India chief

The Supreme Court has clearly spelt that sedition charge can be invoked only if there is incitement to violence. In Amnestys case, nothing like that happened, he said.

Earlier this week, political activists linked to the BJP protested against the rights group, accusing it of inciting hatred against the state at a seminar aimed at raising awareness over the lack of justice for families of victims in Kashmir.

Amnesty said the allegations against the organisation were unsubstantiated, but admitted that slogans calling for Kashmirs independence were chanted by some people attending Saturdays seminar.

Most activists Hindustan Times spoke to said if Amnesty closed its office in India then it would send a wrong message to the world.

India should not try to replicate China where dissent is not allowed, said Ganguly.

The Government boasts of democracy, the role of civil society to promote India as an attractive place for international investors. Using laws like sedition and allowing hecklers to shut down free expression will severely damage those claims.

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An under-trial tribal youth was allegedly killed in a fake encounter with security forces in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh as police claimed that he was a regional Maoist commander carrying a bounty of Rs 3 lakh.

Arjun (19) was undergoing trial before a juvenile justice board after his arrest in May last year and had been out on bail since December. He had appeared before the board on July 27 and the next hearing was on August 31.

Police said he was the Maoists Jan Militia commander in Chandometa area, and was involved in the 2014 ambulance blast that killed five CRPF jawans.

On Tuesday, police got information about movement of Maoists in Kandanar village of Bastar region near Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, and a joint team of special task force (STF) and district reserve guards (DRG) began a search in the forests there.

Maoists opened fire engaging the security forces in an hour-long encounter after which the ultras escaped into the forests. When the forces combed the area later, they found a body which was identified by villagers as Arjuns, they said.

Police said Arjun and another Maoist had, on August 10, killed a Kandanar villager accused of being a police informer.

Arjuns killing drew sharp response from activists who termed it as a fake encounter and demanded a probe.

It is terrible. He was attending hearings every month, said Isha Khandelwal of Jagdalpur of Legal Aid Group (JagLAG) who was fighting his case.

If Arjun was a dreaded Maoist, why would he keep attending court hearings? asked Himanshu Kumar, a human rights activist.

General secretary of Patrakar Suraksha Sanyukta Sangarsh Samiti Kamal Shukla expressed shock and called it a cold blooded murder of an innocent tribal boy by Bastar police.

Khandelwal noted that when Arjun was arrested from a market last year, he was a 17-year-old and police had wrongly mentioned his age as 30. JagLAG had traced his school records and found his correct age, following which the case was transferred to juvenile justice board.

However, Bastar superintendent of police Rajendra N Dash said he was the Jan Militia commander of Chandometa and a member of Machhkot local operating squad.
The defence ministry has finalised its blacklisting policy for arms contractors, with new penalties debarring firms from conducting business with the government for a period ranging from one to 10 years. South Block sources said on Thursday that these provisions would be invoked in case criminality is proved or theres evidence of kickbacks being paid.

The new policy has been sent to attorney general, the countrys senior-most law officer, to legally vet the policy aimed at removing corruption in the defence sector.

In case a defence firm is found to be guilty of paying bribes to bag an order, the duration of the investigation against it will be taken into account while prescribing the ban, sources said. The provisions of the policy will apply to UK-based AgustaWestland, embroiled in Rs 3,727-crore VVIP chopper scam.

However, if no criminality is found, the punishment meted out will be less harsh. Firms guilty of procedural lapses, oversight or omission will be allowed to conduct business with the government if they agree to pay hefty fines.

After the NDA government came to power in May 2014, it has remained focused on bringing out a blacklisting policy that strikes a balance between the need to punish defence contractors who may have violated the law and to keep the military battle-ready.

Reflecting that approach, the government decided in August 2014 it would not allow Italian defence giant Finmeccanica, the parent firm of AgustaWestland, to take part in future military tenders till further notice. But ongoing contracts with the defence major would continue.

The defence ministrys decision not to blacklist Finmeccanica followed the AGs advice that a complete ban on the group could affect the militarys combat readiness.

India also froze all contracts with British engineering giant Rolls-Royce (RR) following a bribery scandal but orders for supply of spare parts for aircraft engines were approved on a case-by-case basis after assessing urgency.

The previous UPA regime had blacklisted six defence companies, including four foreign firms, for 10 years following allegations of corruption.
Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Thursday used the term Indian occupied Kashmir (IOK) for Kashmir while trying to corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the state of affairs in the valley.

Narendra Modi ji is more concerned about Pakistan occupied Kashmir. He thanks the people living in that area and that of Balochistan. But he is not ready to talk with people living in Kashmir. If we have to bring trust in the region, whether its Indian occupied Kashmir or Pakistan occupied Kashmir, we have to do that through talks, Singh told reporters in Bhopal.

#WATCH: Digvijaya Singh addresses J&K as India occupied Kashmir, later clarifies that it's integral part of Indiahttps://t.co/6XC28a2q5T  ANI (@ANI_news) August 18, 2016

The Congress leader, however, very soon went in damage control mode as he said that the Prime Minister is least bothered about Kashmir, which is an integral part of India.

I said that Prime Minister Modi is not concerned about Indias Kashmir but about PoK. Kashmir is an integral part of India, he said.

The prime minister had, in his Independence Day speech, attacked Pakistan over alleged human rights abuses in Balochistan, Gilgit and occupied Kashmir.

I want to specially thank some special people from the Red Fort. In the last few days, people of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pak-occupied Kashmir had conveyed good wishes and gratitude to me, Modi said in his address from the ramparts of Red Fort.
Controversial BJP MLA Sangeet Som, who is accused of fanning 2013 riots in Muzaffarnagar, has said the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh will be a fight between Hindustan and Pakistan.

A video of Som making the remark at a meeting of BJP supporters in Meerut on Wednesday was being shared on social media.

Samajwadi Party leader Atul Pradhan, who lost against Som in the previous assembly election, said he planned to lodge a complaint against Som with the election commission for describing himself as Hindustan and his rivals as Pakistan. He has been preparing ground for engineering communal riots, Pradhan said.

Som hit back, saying the video was doctored. He, however, said the Samajwadi Party turned the UP, which experienced over 400 incidents of communal riots, into Hindustan and Pakistan.

WATCH: BJP MLA Sangeet Som says in Meerut, 'ladai yahan(UP) Hindustan aur Pakistan ki hai' (16/8/16)https://t.co/UKcI9CzdXH  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) August 18, 2016

Som, who denies any involvement in the riots that killed more than 50 people, was honoured at a BJP rally in Uttar Pradesh in 2013.

Political parties have traditionally sought to exploit religious and caste lines to win votes in the politically crucial state, which has a 403-member assembly.

Som had triggered a controversy in June this year by organising a march to show solidarity with Hindu families that allegedly migrated from Kairana for the fear of criminals.

Last year, he accused the UP Police of taking one-sided action and terrorising innocent youth in Bisada village in Dadri, where a man was killed following rumours that he ate beef.
In a setback to railways minister Suresh Prabhus plans to contribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modis Make in India initiative, the Indian Railways (IR) have called off negotiations with a Japanese consortium for the acquisition/indigenous manufacture of Next-Gen locos of 9000 horsepower under what had been proposed as a Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreement.

Replacing the ageing fleet of the ABB-locos of the Indian inventory, the Japanese locos would have enabled the doubling of freight train speeds from the existing 25 kilometre per hour to 50 kmph. These had been proposed to be used on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, being constructed with a loan funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The loan terms stipulate that 30% of all procurements (systems and rolling stock) are sourced from Japanese companies

The IR had been in talks with a Kawasaki-led consortium over the last eight months for the procurement/indigenous manufacture of 200 Japanese locos. Forty of these were to be imported and 30 each were to be brought to India under Semi Knocked Down and Completely Knocked Down condition. The remaining 110 were to be indigenously manufactured.

Negotiations over price were non-resolvable. It has been conveyed to the Japanese government that the Indian Railways cannot go ahead with the deal under the existing terms, a senior ministry official informed.

Sources said the Japanese firm had insisted on a minimum price of Rs 36 crore per loco, IR officials had bargained to acquire these at the price that the French Alstom has agreed to supply from the Madhepura plant  Rs 25 crore apiece.

With negotiations collapsed, railway officials are wracking their heads on possible strategies to extract itself from the JICA loan precondition. If the IR is able to get around the JICA precondition to float a fresh global tender, it might become possible to rope in US or European firms. But talks with JICA officials on this could turn out to be a long-winding process, an official conceded.

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An ambulance driver was shot at in Srinagars Safa Kadal locality on Thursday night in the violence-torn Kashmir Valley where curfew has been in place for 42 days straight.

The driver, who was on his way to the SMHS hospital from Kangan, managed to drive the ambulance despite a bone fracture, said a doctor. He was allegedly hit by pellets fired by security forces while ferrying a patient to the hospital.

The casualty is the latest instance since protests broke out on July 8 when Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed by security forces in an encounter. Considered a hero among many locals, Wanis death sparked the violence that has since claimed 66 lives, enforced curfew in the Valley, and led to political friction.

Kashmiris have alleged atrocities by armed forces during protests, and the use of pellet guns by the government has been under scanner. Separatists have called for a boycott of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders.

On Wednesday night, protesters allegedly attacked the house of Mohammad Yousuf Bhat, a legislator from Shopian, and set ablaze his servant quarter. The PDP leader was not at home at the time.

This was the second such attack this month. On August 2, Jammu and Kashmir education minister Naeem Akhtars residence was attacked with petrol bombs. The minister, who lives in his official bungalow, was not present at the house.

Sources said protesters attacked Bhats house to protest the excessive use of force during night raids in Mimender area of Shopian. They pelted stones at Bhats house and attacked even the securitymen guarding it.

Meanwhile,separatists have extended their strike until August 25, and asked people to visit families of those killed in the unrest and prepare lists of such families.

Separatists have also asked people to post letters asking all MLAs, MLCs and ministers from pro-Indian political parties to resign from the government and party positions.

Residents from many areas have complained of night raids and arrests. Social media is abuzz with purported photographs of people beaten up by security forces in the last two days.

On Thursday, residents claimed that police stopped vehicles carrying essential supplies into Srinagar.

Authorities denied having issued any instructions to oil companies to stop distribution of fuel to the dealers. Officials said oil companies, including Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum and Indian Oil, have temporarily suspended the supply because of Raksha Bandhan.

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Keith Vaz, the British parliaments longest-serving Asian MP, has offered all possible help to enable Indian sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan obtain a visa.

There was an uproar recently when Khan was denied a visa.

I am grateful and indebted to Mr. Keith Vaz who is taking so much interest and helping me with this very odd and distressing problem.

He is in London and yet taking such keen interest whereas Britains representatives in India are yet to allow me to meet them. I never had the honour of meeting the present British High Commissioner. Maybe some day, if not now, when I urgently need to meet him, then later. God bless him, Khan said.

Khan wouldve liked the British high commissioner to India to personally explain the visa problem.

I wish the British High Commissioner or his team could have called me and helped to explain the problem instead of which Mr. Vaz is doing the needful sitting in London.

Khan is also grateful to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for her help.

Inspite of her busy schedule, I am sure Shrimati Sushma Swaraj and her office are also following up on my visa case.

On Wednesday, Khan went to the British visa office in New Delhi with his new application.

I am hoping to receive my British visa by August 19 as I am travelling to the US on August 20, he said.
The Madras high court admitted a petition on Thursday by an independent who unsuccessfully fought the May 16 Assembly polls from RK Nagar seat -- where Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa won -- seeking to declare the election as null and void.

While admitting the petition, Justice M Duraiswamy issued notice to the respondents, including Jayalalithaa, returnable in four weeks and posted the matter to September 16.

Petitioner G Pravina alleged that her right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution was infringed upon as the Election Commission had not acted on her complaints and sought a direction to hold a fresh poll in RK Nagar.

Appearing before Justice Duraiswamy in person, she alleged that the constituencys returning officer had not even permitted her to go for campaigning, including using vehicles for the purpose.

She claimed that the vehicles used by her were detained at gunpoint by police.

Pravina said she had submitted a complaint to the election authorities on May 15 against not giving permission for campaigning, but no action was taken.

She had made a telephone call to chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi, who even after assuring action, had not acted on her complaint wherein she had sought either countermanding or postponement of the polls.

Also, the pot symbol allotted to her was not as per the specification of ECI, she contended.
A 23-year-old rape survivor who was allowed to terminate her 24-week foetus by the Supreme Court last month is medically alright, doctors said.

The pregnancy had posed a danger to the womans life and she had moved the top court for abortion as the existing laws in the country permit termination of pregnancy only up to 20 weeks.

She has recovered well and is yet to come for a follow up. We have been very careful about protecting her identity even from her immediate neighbours, said Dr Reena Wani, professor of gynaecology and obstetrics, at the RN Cooper Hospital.

In a landmark judgment on July 22, the SC allowed the woman to abort her foetus, which suffered from anencephaly--a birth defect in which a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull. Babies with anencephaly are either stillborn or die within a few hours of birth, doctors said.

The apex courts decision was based on an evaluation report submitted by a team of medical experts from KEM Hospital, which said it was not viable for the woman to go ahead with the delivery. The patient is psychologically depressed. It is better that the pregnancy is aborted, the report had mentioned.

Read | Time running out for 14-year-old rape survivor seeking abortion
Pakistan said on Thursday Prime Minister Narendra Modi crossed the red line by talking about Balochistan and added that it will forcefully raise the Kashmir issue at a UN General Assembly session next month.

The Prime Minister (Nawaz Sharif) strongly pleaded the case of Kashmir during general assembly session last year and we will again forcefully raise the issue, Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said.

Zakaria, in his weekly news briefing, also took strong exception to the remarks by Prime Minister Modi on Balochistan.

Modi had brought up Pakistani atrocities on people of Balochistan and PoK in his Independence Day speech.

Read: Modi targets Pak rights abuse in Balochistan, PoK on Independence Day

It is the violation of the UN Charter...He (Modi) crossed the red line by talking about Balochistan, Zakaria said.

He alleged that India was involved in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi. Zakaria also said India was referring to Balochistan to cover up its alleged human rights violations in Kashmir.

Zakaria said Sharif will lead an official delegation at the General Assembly session. He said the UN Secretary General and most of the UN members had already been informed about the precarious situation in Kashmir.

The remarks come after a spike in tensions between the two sides over weeks of street protests in Kashmir following the killing of militant leader Burhan Wani by security forces. At least 60 people have died in those protests. A spate of militants attacks on Indian forces has followed.

Last week, Pakistan offered to hold talks on Kashmir but New Delhi had rejected those, saying it was willing only to discuss cross-border militant attacks on India.

Pakistan strongly condemns the continuing use of force by India and violation of human rights, Zakaria said.

Asked about Indian taking action against Amnesty International, he said it showed how India was treating the issue of human rights in Kashmir.

Read: India willing to talk to Pak, but on cross-border terrorism in Kashmir

Zakaria said Pakistan had proposed to India to hold talks on Kashmir. However, he refused to confirm if India had responded to the proposal.

When asked about any conditions India had put before them for starting a dialogue process, the spokesperson said Pakistan proposed that Kashmir should be the focus of the talks.

Sources said New Delhi had ruled out talks solely focused on Kashmir. Instead, New Delhi wants talks to focus on cross-border militancy which it says is the reason behind the spike in violence in Kashmir.

Zakaria also said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was aimed at economic development of not only Pakistan and China but the entire region. He said Indias objection to such a project was beyond comprehension.

Zakaria said Pakistan had invited finance ministers of SAARC countries for the next week meeting but so far was waiting for confirmation on Arun Jaitleys participation.
US President Barack Obama will travel to China next month to attend the G20 Summit which will also be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This would be Obamas 11th trip to Asia after he became the US President in January 2009.

Two of these trips have been to India in November, 2010 and January 2015.

This trip will highlight the Presidents ongoing commitment to the G-20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation as well as the US Rebalance to Asia and the Pacific, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement.

On the sidelines of the summit, Obama, among others, is likely to meet Modi, which would be the eighth meeting between the two leaders after he became Prime Minister in May 2014.

While there has been no word of confirmation from the White House on this, Modi during his joint White House media interaction in early June had said that the two leaders would be meeting in China in September.

Earnest said, in China, Obama will participate in his final G20 Leaders Summit, where he will emphasise the need to continue building on the progress made since 2009 in advancing strong, sustainable, and balanced global economic growth.

He will underscore the importance of G20 cooperation in promoting a level playing field and broad-based economic opportunity. The President will also conduct in-depth meetings with President Xi Jinping of China in Hangzhou, where the two leaders will discuss a wide-range of global, regional, and bilateral issues, Earnest said.

During his week-long Asia trip from September 2 to 9, Obama would become the first US President to visit Laos, where he will participate in the US-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit.

Additionally, he will have bilateral meetings with President Bounnhang Vorachith and other key officials to advance US-Lao cooperation on economic, development, and people-to-people ties, among other areas.

Obama will participate in the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative Summit, where he will hold a town hall meeting.

During the ASEAN Summit, the President will discuss ways to strengthen our economic cooperation with the countries of Southeast Asia, which collectively represent Americas fourth largest trading partner and further enhance our collaboration on regional and global challenges, Earnest said.

At the East Asia Summit, the President will coordinate with the regions leaders on efforts to advance a rules-based international order, he said.

The visit also will support Obamas efforts to expand opportunities for American businesses and workers to sell their products in some of the worlds fastest-growing markets.

Central to this effort is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the high-standards trade agreement that will unlock key markets to American exports and cement Americas economic leadership in the Asia-Pacific, Earnest said.
Islamic seminary of Barelvi sect issued on Thursday a fatwa (edict) against Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief and Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed declaring him anti-Islamic.

The fatwa was issued against Saeed by Mufti Mohammed Saleem Barelvi, an Islamic seminary in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.

It dubbed Saeed, the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), as outcast from Islam and declared those following him or considering as Muslim as illegal.

A fatwa is a legal pronouncement in Islam which is given by a mufti, a Muslim scholar of a recognised authority, who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law.

The ruling came close on the heels of Saeed asking Pakistan Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif to send troops to Kashmir to obey the pending order of Pakistan founder MA Jinnah.

The fatwa was issued by Manzar-e-Islam Saudagaran, an institution associated with Dargah Ala Hazrat, in a reply to a question asked by Mohd Moinuddin of Jaipur.

It said Saeed has no connection with Islam.

Moinuddin had mentioned in his query that Saeed considered those writing against Allah and Prophet Mohammad as Muslims. Besides, he publicised anti-religious ideology and points of view and provoked people to create terror.

He asked whether such a person should be considered as Muslim.

In his fatwa, Mufti Saleem said that having any type of connection with persons working against the dignity of Allah and the Prophet was illegal and haraam, an act that is forbidden by Allah.

It said since Saeed was having contacts with such persons, he has been outcast from Islam.

It said that considering him as Muslim and listening to his words was also illegal and prohibited.

As per the fatwa, Saeed was a man with terrorist ideology, who with his acts has brought infamy to Islam and Muslims across the world. Therefore, it was compulsory for every Muslim not to follow him and keep away from his ideology.

Addressing a rally held under the banner of Defence Council of Pakistan in Karachi on Sunday, Saeed had claimed, Kashmiris had announced before the partition that they wanted to remain with Pakistan. But after the partition, India forcibly sent Army to Jammu and Kashmir.

On this Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah ordered his commander-in-chief to respond by sending troops but he refused (to obey his orders). Now, I ask Gen Raheel Sharif to send troops in (Jammu and) Kashmir as Quaid-e-Azams order is pending, Saeed said.

Saeed said he was not asking for a war with India but they (Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Raheel) must form a strategy regarding the Kashmir issue.
Nepals deputy prime minister and home minister Bimalendra Nidhi arrived in India on Thursday evening as the special envoy of the newly elected Prime Minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda. He is expected to prepare the ground for his PMs visit to India tentatively scheduled for September 15-18, and invite President Pranab Mukherjee to visit Kathmandu this year.

His visit is being seen as a sign of the warm equation Delhi shares with the new government in Kathmandu. Nidhi will meet Mukherjee, PM Narendra Modi, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and home minister Rajnath Singh, besides National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and other top officials.

In a sign of the balancing act that Nepal is trying to attempt between its two neighbours, Nidhis visit comes days after another deputy PM and finance minister, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, visited Beijing to assure China that all agreements signed by the previous KP Oli government would be sincerely implemented by the new dispensation. China, high-level sources have confirmed to HT, was keen to see the Oli dispensation continue.

Right before his departure, the Nepal government, in a cabinet meeting, decided to declare those who were killed during the Madhes movement as martyrs and pay their families compensation. It has also decided to set up a commission to investigate the killings during the movement last year. These were important preconditions of the Madhesi Front for a conducive environment for political reconciliation. Their core demand of a constitutional amendment remains pending.

Nidhi is one of the closest aides of Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba, whose support enabled Prachandas elevation as PM. Nidhi played a role in brokering the alliance. He is a Madhesi leader from the historic Janakpur area, but has stayed on in a national party rather than join a regional outfit.

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The government said on Thursday it is yet to decide about attending the Saarc finance ministers meeting in Islamabad later this month afer reports that Arun Jaitley may not go because of strained ties with Pakistan.

No decision has been taken so far on Indias level of participation at SAARC Finance Ministers meet in Islamabad, said Vikas Swaroop, ministry of external affairs spokesperson, told reporters in Delhi.

The conference is scheduled on August 25-26 in Islamabad. Earlier this week, official sources had said that Jaitley may not visit Pakistan due to political reasons.

You all know what happened last time and what is happening, a source had said, referring to Home Minister Rajnath Singhs visit to Islamabad earlier this month, which was also for a SAARC Ministerial meeting.

Barbs were exchanged between Singh and Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who only had a tense and uneasy handshake during the SAARC meeting. Pakistani authorities did not allow entry of Indian mediapersons, including those from PTI and Doordarshan, inside the venue of 7th Saarc Home Ministers Meeting in Islamabad.

Singh had informed Rajya Sabha that after the meeting was over, Khan, who was the host, invited the participants for lunch but left in a car soon thereafter.

Keeping in mind the countrys prestige, I did what I should have done. I have no complaints. I had not gone there for lunch, he had said.

India had yesterday rejected Pakistans proposal to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks on Kashmir and made it clear that terrorism was central to its relations with Islamabad, whose different view and attitude has made it difficult for bilateral ties to grow.

That apart, in his Independence Day address to the nation earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that India will not bow before terrorism, and also brought up Pakistani atrocities on people of Baluchistan and PoK, saying that they have thanked him for doing so.

Though Modi did not make any reference to Kashmir valley, which is witnessing violence after the killing of Hizbul Commander Burhan Wani, he accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorists and celebrating the killings in India.

Pakistans Finance Ministry in a recent statement had said the country would play the role of a good host and try to keep the overall ambiance positive.
The father of the girl cant reconcile with the bitter reality staring him in the face.

Who will accept a daughter with a child before marriage... and I cannot feed her anymore, says the father of eight children whose appeal for termination of his minor daughters pregnancy has been rejected by a fast-track court here.

The 30-weeks pregnant teen rape survivor, her father claims, is only 14 years old and he has school records to prove it. In the FIR, the police claimed she was 18. And this discrepancy was one of the reasons the family could not appeal in time for medical termination of pregnancy (MTP).

Read | Maharashtra rape survivor stable after SC allows abortion of 24-week foetus

The accused who repeatedly raped the girl on the pretext of marrying her and left her when she conceived was arrested and put behind bars.

The familys travails started on May 26 when relatives informed the father, working with a road construction company, that his daughter had become pregnant after being raped. He returned to his village, but it took them another two weeks to lodge a complaint with the police on June 9.

The accused, who repeatedly raped the girl on the pretext of marrying her and left her when she conceived, has been arrested and put behind bars. (Sachin Saini/HT Photo)

I went against my community for justice and this is what I get, says the father. He says the villagers initially tried to suppress the matter by suggesting he marry off his daughter with the accused. They used every possible ploy to break us but I trusted the law and went to the police, he says.

The medical tests following the FIR confirmed she was 19 weeks and six days pregnant and could have legally aborted her foetus. What happened between then and now is a sad case of ignorance of law and apathetic official machinery.

None of us is literate, we dont know anything about the law, says the father, alleging that the authorities kept delaying the hearing in the case. We managed to file the appeal for the MTP on July 26 when pregnancy was of 26 weeks, says VP Dhyani the family advocate.

The lower court refused to give permission for MTP after which the family appealed in a fast-track court on August 3. On August 17 the fast-track court also declined to give permission for MTP.

The maximum duration for MTP in such cases is 28 weeks, after that the foetus is called viable and can only be delivered not terminated, said senior Gynaecologist Dr Bharti Saran.

Unlike the case of the 23-year-old Maharashtra rape survivor, who was allowed by the Supreme Court to terminate her 24-week pregnancy, the Bareilly survivor faces a tough choice given the delay in filing her appeal.

The girl is third of my eight children. I have no job. For a moment I can overlook what my community says but I wont be able to feed her and her child, says the father.

As a last-ditch attempt the father has decided to file an appeal in the Allahabad high court next week. I will stay with the path I have chosen, rest is up to the almighty.
Indias most iconic and endearing big cat, Machhli, died of old age in Ranthambore National Park on Thursday morning. She was 19.

The Queen of Ranthambore was unwell and was being constantly monitored. She was semi-conscious since she ate her last meal  2kg of meat fed by park rangers four days ago.

The face of the countrys tiger conservation programme, she was the worlds oldest-surviving tigress in the wild, Ranthambore field director Yogesh Kumar Sahu said. At 19, Machhlis age is like 110-120 years for a human.

The average life-span of a tiger is 12 to 13 years.

Born in 1997, Machhli  also known as T-16  got her name from a fish-shaped mark on her face. Over the years, she became one of the most-photographed animals in the world, bringing thousands of visitors and crores of rupees in tourism revenue every year to the park in Rajasthan.

Most tourists would consider a visit to the park futile if they didnt catch a glimpse of the majestic cat.

HT Special: Where are the big cats? Curious case of Ranthambores missing tigers

She inspired a reel of wildlife films and documentaries  most notably Tiger Queen  and a postage stamp was issued in her honour in 2013.

Sad to know of Ranthambores iconic tigress Machhalis passing away. #Machhali gave visitors stories to remember--her bloodline reigns supreme in valleys & glades of the park, chief minister Vasundhara Raje tweeted.

Over 16 years since her first litter in 2000, Machhli gave birth to nine offspring who went on to populate Ranthambore and Sariska tiger reserve. Sariska has 14 tigers, including cubs, of which 12 are Machhlis progeny.

Very sad to know, the Queen of Tigers, Ranthambores Machhli is no more! Machhli was not only the oldest tigress in the world, but also the mightiest. It was the pride of the jungle, burning bright #ranthambore, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted.

Machhli was a daring tigress in her younger days. Her most famous fight was with a huge crocodile. She won the bout, but lost most of her canines. Since then, she hunted occasionally and park officials provided her live bait to keep her from starving.

She was an intriguing individual, too. The camera-savvy Machhli, who was never uncomfortable in the company of people clicking away from a few yards, vanished from the parks core area a couple of years ago. The stars disappearance triggered speculation about her death and brought brickbats to park officials until she returned quietly a few months ago.

During her salad days, Machhli was often spotted near her favourite waterholes in the parks lake area, earning the title Lady of the Lakes. But young tigresses pushed her to the parks fringes later; and advancing age prevented her from reclaiming lost territory.

Sahu said Machhli made one last  and surprising  appearance at her lost lakeside domain about two months ago, nearly a decade after she was forced out.

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Police filed an FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including section 124A - sedition, against Amnesty International India on Monday for alleged raising of anti-India slogans at an event held by the organisation in Bengaluru.

The alleged sloganeering at the event --- held to highlight human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir  earned the ire of right-wing students group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

In an email interview with HT, the organisations executive director, Aakar Patel, rejects the charges and says the government needs to uphold the freedom of expression.

Q : What was the nature of the event in Bengaluru and what exactly happened there that resulted in the FIR? Have you organised such events about Human Rights violations in Kashmir before? If yes, have you faced any problems with the authority before this?

A: The event was held [on Saturday, August 13] as part of a campaign based on the report Denied: Failures in accountability for human rights violations by security force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir, published in July 2015, and publicly available.

We had planned to organise events in three cities-- Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi this August. At these events, families from Jammu and Kashmir who had suffered rights violations were to share their personal stories of grief and loss with the people.

The event began with a welcome address by Tara Rao, programmes director, followed by the screening of three short videos profiling the cases of the three families who had been invited. This was followed by an enactment by a theatre group of the alleged extra-judicial execution of a 21-year-old Kashmiri man Altaf Ahmad Shah, based on the testimony of his father Ali Mohammad Shah.

Senior journalist Seema Mustafa then moderated a discussion with members of two other families from Kashmir and RK Mattoo, who Amnesty International India invited to speak about violations faced by the Kashmiri Pandit community. The event ended with a performance by rapper Roushan Illahi.

Towards the end of the event, some of those who attended raised slogans, some of which referred to calls for Azaadi (freedom).

In July 2015, we held a press conference at the Constitutional Club, New Delhi to release a report titled Denied: Failures in accountability for human rights violations by security force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. We did not face any problems with authorities on that occasion.

The report documented the obstacles to justice faced in several cases of human rights violations believed to have been committed by Indian security force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. It focused particularly on Section 7 of the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990 (Afspa), which grants virtual immunity to members of the security forces from prosecution in civilian courts for alleged human rights violations.

The report was based on in-depth research in Jammu and Kashmir, including interviews with family members of victims, Right to Information applications, examination of police and court records, and interviews with civil society groups, lawyers, and government officials.

Q: Last year, on the occasion of 25 years of Afspa in Kashmir, Amnesty released a report on human rights violations in Kashmir during the years of Afspa. Were there any attempts to stop the publication of the report then? If not, why do you now think has this sedition charge been made against Amnesty now? Do you think the authorities are especially touchy about Kashmir at present owing to the situation there?

A: There were no attempts to stop the publication. Amnesty International India sent a copy of the report to authorities in the ministry of home affairs and the ministry of defence. No response was received. The reports recommendations were welcomed by the Peoples Democratic Party.

The allegations mentioned in the ABVP complaint against Amnesty International India are without any substance. We would not want to guess at why the sedition case has been filed on the basis of such a flimsy complaint. However it is true that the space for civil society and dissent in India has been shrinking.

Q: How did you come to know about the sedition charge? Has a copy of the FIR been sent to you?

A: We initially came to know about the case through media reports. We received a copy of the FIR on the evening of 16 August.

Q: Conservative groups have in the past made allegations against human rights workers. But the fact that the police has registered an FIR in this case, what does it say about our current social and political scenario? And how difficult does it become for human rights workers to work in such conditions?

A: Various state governments have used the sedition law to clamp down on activists who are critical of government policies. The government needs to respect the rights of these individuals and organizations to freedom of expression and association.

Q: While there are human rights violations elsewhere in the country too, the Northeast for example, do you think the authorities are especially defensive about the situation in Kashmir? Please elaborate.

A: The armed forces and successive central governments have resisted attempts to amend or repeal the Afspa both in Jammu and Kashmir and in states in the Northeast. Despite various Indian and international bodies recommending the repeal of the law, it has continued to enable impunity for decades.

Q: Will this FIR change Amnestys working pattern in India in any way? Also, if the sedition charge is not withdrawn, how does Amnesty intend to defend itself? Do you fear a possibility of Amnesty being barred from working in Kashmir or the rest of India?

A: Amnesty International is and will continue to be committed to working on and highlighting human rights abuses in India and around the world. The allegations made against us are baseless, and will be proved to be so.

Read| Amnesty India temporarily closes offices, postpones events after sedition row

Read| Amnesty to Kanhaiya: How sedition law is used to settle political scores

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The Leader of the Opposition MK Stalin on Thursday led 79 DMK legislators, suspended for unruly behaviour inside the House for a week on Wednesday, in a sit-in outside the Tamil Nadu assembly.

Stalin and his party MLAs were evicted from the assembly and suspended for a week following a ruckus over an unparliamentary remark by an AIADMK member over the DMKs pre-election roadshow.

Speaker P Dhanapal ordered a week-long suspension for all the DMK members after state finance minister and Leader of the House O Panneerselvam moved a resolution against the Opposition.

On Thursday, Dhanapal rejected a request for a reconsideration of their suspension, saying that it was not possible at all. The request was made by DMK legislators, who were not suspended as they did not attend House on Wednesday, the Congress and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MLAs.

It is for the first time that any opposition party has resorted to a peaceful protest outside the assembly. Stalin even alleged that he was prevented from visiting his office room inside the premises.

We are not allowed to be seen anywhere inside the assembly premises. The room allotted to the Leader of Opposition is blocked and I cannot even enter, Stalin told reporters.

Gate No 4 that is used by opposition MLAs has also been locked, he said.

We have been demanding live telecast of assembly proceedings. But this has never been accepted by the AIADMK government. If there was a live telecast of the assembly proceedings, people would have come to know who is in the wrong - the DMK or the ruling benches, Stalin said.

Senior DMK leader Durai Murugan said no speaker has the authority to lock out MLAs from the premises. The speaker acted without knowing the rules and regulations and his own powers, he alleged.

I am going to bring a privilege motion against the speaker, Durai Murugan said.

AIADMK spokesperson CR Saraswathi dismissed the DMKs charges and said that television clippings clearly show how DMK members behave. She also lashed out at DMK supremo M Karunanidhi, saying he comes to the House just to sign the register and take his salary.

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Irking rivals and possibly embarrassing his party colleagues, BJP parliamentarians Subramanian Swamy has indicated he will not be silent.

In a tweet on Thursday night, Swamy said, Congis are propagating on Shakunis prodding that there is a gag order on me. Rubbish! When there is social media and PTs who cares for MSM?

In Swamys Twitter vocabulary, Congi stands for Congress leaders, PT is Patriotic Tweeple and MSM is mainstream media.

The economist-turned-politicians response came after unconfirmed reports started floating that the party has finally cracked the whip on Swamy.

Two months ago, the BJP leaders tirade against Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan, economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das and other government functionaries faced Prime Minister Narendra Modis condemnation.

In an interview, the PM said, Whether it is in my party or not, still I think such things are inappropriate. This fondness for publicity will not do any good to the nation.

People should conduct themselves with utmost responsibility. If anybody considers himself above the system, it is wrong.

In the last monsoon session of Parliament, Swamy wasnt seen at his aggressive best. He participated in almost no debates, fuelling speculations that the party has decided to keep him under control.

Over the past few weeks, Swamy has been avoiding controversial topics or attacks on others.

But his latest tweet suggests he will not be silent, at least on the social media.

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A BJP worker was killed by members of a right-wing vigilante group in Udupi on Wednesday night, the first such attack on a member of the saffron party by so-called cow protectors.

Praveen Poojary, 28 received fatal injuries and 20-year-old Akshay Devadiga was hospitalised after more than 17 people surrounded their vehicle carrying cattle and attacked them sharp weapons near Hebri town, Udupi district superintendent of police KT Balakrishna told PTI.

Hindu Jagarana Vedike members stopped a vehicle transporting three calves and assaulted two persons, accusing them of taking the calves to a slaughter house. In this incident Praveen Poojary has succumbed to the injuries at a hospital in Brahmavara, Balakrishna said, according to PTI.

Protection of cow, regarded by Hindus as a holy animal, has become a political issue after vigilantes  several of them linked to Sangh Parivar organisations  have attacked and killed people on suspicion of killing the animal or consuming its meet.

On Thursday, a town in Western Uttar Pradeshs Baghpat district was tense after nearly 150kg of suspected cow meat was seized and two Muslims, including a 60-year-old woman, were arrested.

The Union government has begun a crackdown on cow protection vigilante groups after the Prime Minister broke his silence on the string of attacks and said earlier this month that those in the business of gau raksha (cow protection) anger me.

His condemnation was seen prompted by an attack on Dalits in his home state Gujarat by so-called gau rakshaks (cow protectors) in July. The incident gave way to major mobilisation of the Dalit community that has held a series of powerful protests that also contributed to the resignation of chief minister Anandiben Patel.

Two days after the PMs speech, the home ministry sent a missive to states to crack down on such groups.

Earlier, reports said the suspects in Udupis attack were from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, organisations linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The prime suspect was named as Hindu Jagarana Vedikes Srikanth .

In Bengaluru, Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara said the attack appeared to be motivated by a cattle trade-related business dispute and expressed his concern over repeated incidents relating to beef and cattle trade in Karnataka.

(An earlier version of this story said cow protection vigilantes led by members of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal allegedly killed the BJP worker. PTI later revised the story to say Hindu Jagarana Vedike activists were involved in the attack.)
Army chief Dalbir Singh has accused minister VK Singh of bias and malice in trying to deny him promotion to stall his appointment to the top position when he was commanding the force.

In an affidavit to the Supreme Court, where a former colleague has challenged Gen Dalbir Singhs elevation, the army chief said in 2012 the then chief of army staff (COAS) victimised him with malicious intent to punish him for extraneous reasons. VK Singh was the COAS at the time though Dalbir Singh doesnt mention him by name in the affidavit submitted on Wednesday.

Dalbir Singh had taken the same plea in the armed forces tribunal (AFT) that had thrown out Lt Gen (retd) Ravi Dastanes challenge to his promotion.

VK Singhs two-year term -- March 2010 to May 2012 -- saw its far share of drama. He became the first army chief to take the government to court as a controversy raged over his date of birth. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014 and was appointed the minister of state for external affairs.

Read: How the controversy over Dalbir Singh unfolded two years ago

Singh slapped a discipline and vigilance ban against him which was illegal, said Dalbir Singh. He was suspended by Singh between April and May 2012 for alleged failure of command and control after an inquiry was ordered into an army operation in Assams Jorhat in December 2011.

Dalbir Singh was then the commanding officer of Dimapur-based 3 Corps intelligence and surveillance unit that carried out the operation. The disciplinary ban was reversed by Singhs successor Bikram Singh.

Lt Gen (retd) Dastane has challenged Dalbir Singhs promotion on the basis of the ban. He moved the top court in 2014 after the AFT ruled against him. Dalbir Singh took over as the army chief on July 31, 2014.

The passing of directions for initiating administrative action against me after about a month of having already finalised the court of inquiry smacks of motivated, biased, arbitrary and malicious intent to punish me which the then COAS executed apparently as planned by him, the affidavit says, reiterating Dalbir Singhs stand in AFT.

Referring to the tribunal verdict, Dalbir Singh said it was clear the ban was illegal and premeditated and couldnt be a ground for challenging his promotion.

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India should look at smaller and comparable global cities and not giants such as New York or London while executing its smart-city programme, a study has said.

The government often cites places like Barcelona, San Francisco and Singapore as the models for its ambitious urban overhaul but it may have to lower its sight, as most Indian cities trail their global peers economically as well as socially.

Policymakers should look at cities like as Medellin in Colombia or Casablanca in Morocco, whose economies are smaller and compare better with the Indian cities, American think tank Brookings Institution has said.

Typically we look into markets in New York, London, Barcelona or Amsterdam when looking at smart-city interventions. But, the issue is in many ways they are not apple to apple comparisons. These cities have much different economic and developmental traits, said Adie Tomer, one of the authors of the report that will be made public on Friday.

The report compares three smart-city picks  Vizag, Ajmer and Allahabad -- with nine metropolises across Asia, Africa and Latin America having similar demographic and economic traits.

Be it personal wealth or access to basic amenities such as piped water, toilets or electricity, Indian cities are behind the nine on almost all counts.

The idea behind the study was to show the minimum amenities a city needed to be turned into smart city, reports lead author Dr Shamika Ravi told HT.

Meant to change the way urban India lives, smart cities promise uninterrupted power and water supplies, internet connectivity, e-governance along with quality infrastructure.

India plans to have 100 such cities and will spend around Rs 9,6000 crore over the next five years on the programme. Thirty-three of the cities have been chosen, the remaining would be picked by 2019.

The three Indian cities fare no better economically. The report says that though the nine metros -- chosen from 300 through clustering technique  are relatively poor when compared to cities like London or New York but even there the Indian cities lag them.

For instance, the per capita GDP of Vizag, the most developed of the three Indian cities, of around $2000 is lower than that of Alexandria. The Egyptian port city rates poorest -- per capita GDP of $2,682 -- among the nine metros, which also include Shantou (China), Durban and Capetown (South Africa) and Brazilian cities of Salvador, Recife and Fortaleza.

Also, in none of the Indian cities all the residents have piped water or a toilet at home. But in most of the nine metros, these facilities are universal.

There is a yawning gap when it comes to services like electricity and mobile phone  the two basic requirements for a smart city. India may be worlds third largest smartphone market but its 70-80% mobile phone adoption rate is way behind a 90% rate for Brazilian and African cities surveyed in the report.

Once the gaps are known, the quantum of investment that will be required to fix them can be planned. Also, it will help policymakers explore innovative ways to manage and finance urban development in Indian cities, Ravi said.

The report also calls for a clear governance framework to drive smart city changes.

The smart-city programme will need a lot of money the report indicates, suggesting financing plans to improve the basic services and infrastructure in our cities.

There is a need to make urban areas more attractive investment markets for private players, Ravi said.

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Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal met Border Security Force personnel and celebrated Raksha Bandhan at Attari border on Wednesday.

Minister for food and processing, Badal participated in a cultural event, and even sang Lata Mangeshkars Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo for the gathering.

Its an honour for me to celebrate the festival with my brothers deployed at the border, she said.

Badal is one of about seven Union ministers making their way to army camps in border regions to celebrate the festival with jawans and security personnel.

Commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman posted a photograph to Twitter from Arunachal Pradeshs Tawang while on her way the border.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. Light,fresh & balmy Himalayan air.#Tawang monastery for a view. & now to the border pic.twitter.com/z5prm0jqso  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) August 18, 2016

Union textile minister Smriti Irani will be visiting Siachen base camp while external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, women and child welfare minister Maneka Gandhi and water resource minister Uma Bharti are also visiting border areas to interact with soldiers and mark the occasion.

Soldiers at Siachen have seen visits by Prime Minister and defence ministers on special occasions but this is perhaps the first time a women minister is visiting Siachen. In 2014, PM Modi visited Siachen on Diwali and interacted with the soldiers.

The initiative comes amid a fresh debate over the armys presence in Kashmir valley and escalated tension with Pakistan.
New bug-free clothes appeared on the bodies of inmates of Berhampore mental hospital on Wednesday and they got a better meal than the one they are served every day. After HT reported about the pathetic state of affairs at the hospital, the authorities moved on Wednesday to ensure a quick reversal of the pathetic conditions the inmates were kept. The asylum authorities also strung a volleyball net on a piece of unkempt green in the campus, ostensibly to prove that the inmates are in cheerful spirits to enjoy an occasional game or two.

Just a day ago HT reported how the inmates had to go without clothes as these were not fumigated for months and were full of bugs. The toilets in the home, about 200 kms to the north of Kolkata, were also too dirty to use.

Workers of Anjali, an NGO, that paid the inmates a visit on Independence Day eve, found the sorry state of affairs and posted pictures on social media platforms and tagged Prime MInister Narendra Modi, union health minister J P Nadda and chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

The 60-odd patients living naked for several days got new clothes early in the morning on Wednesday, when the news broke that government officials will pay a visit. The female inmates were given blouse and petticoat, while the males got a pair of pajamas, a source at the hospital told HT.

Read: Bengal mental asylum inmates kept naked, sleep on dirty floors says NGO

Meanwhile, sources in the health department claimed that Sashi Panja, minister of state for health, took note of the allegations and contacted members of Anjali, the NGO that exposed the sorry state of the hospital, and sought a detailed report from them about their experience.

Members of the NGO, however, consider the Wednesday action of the hospital authorities as a means to cover up their misdeeds. The volleyball net, they said, was purchased long ago but had been kept in the locker and was brought out of Wednesday to portray a different picture of the asylum.

The condition of the inmates before the HT expose. (Photo: Anjali)

Because of media surge, bahrampr mental hosp super tries to cover up. Where is empathy? Sack him, reads a post from the twitter handle of the NGO. The post accompanies the photo of a patient who was covered with a new piece of cloth.

The members had found on August 14 that as many as 65 inmates at the hospital, including women, were kept naked. The patients had told them that they preferred to stay naked because the clothes were full of lice and bugs. When asked, hospital authorities had allegedly came up with flimsy excuses.Canadian spends 2 weeks in Bengal mental hospital, bureaucracy blamed

Read: Canadian spends 2 weeks in Bengal mental hospital, bureaucracy blamed

When HT tried to contact the hospital super, Pabitra Sarkar, and chief medical officer of health, Subhasis Saha, both refused to comment. Sources, however, claimed that state health department officials had contacted Sarkar and directed him to improve the situation urgently.

The state of this hospital is particularly pathetic because it is located more than 200 kilometres away from Kolkata. As a result health department officials pay visits less frequently. To add to this, the superintendent is completely insensitive to the wellbeing of the patients, remarked Aditi Basu, a member of Anjali.
Fourteen Palghar fishermen were saved in the nick of time, after their trawler was flooded with water at mid sea on Tuesday afternoon. The waterproofing coat of the trawler wore off, leading to cracks in the wooden structure,and sea water gushed into the engine room. A passing trawler rescued the boat,which was stuck after it hit rocks 2km off the Satpati coast.

The fishermen, including the owner of the trawler  Satpati resident Mahesh Pandarinath Meher  set out to sea in the boat, Maha Ganapati on Tuesday. This marked the beginning of the fishing season for them, after the state government lifted the ban on fishing on August 1.

After covering 20 nautical miles  37km  sea water suddenly began gushing into the trawler and one of the khalasis (labourers) on-board heard a loud thud from the propeller. He informed the captain. We thought the propeller hit a foreign object, and we ignored the sound. However, water started gushing into the trawler with great force.My men tried to empty the vessel using buckets, but the flow of water was fast, and we suspected danger, said Meher.

My men noticed that the epoxy coating of my trawler  a waterproofing paint to prevent water from entering the wooden hull  was missing and it was the epoxy coating slabs that hit the propeller. My captain turned the trawler around and planned to return to the Satpati coast. The safety of my crew was our priority, said Meher.

Hardly 2km away from the Satpati coast on Tuesday night, the trawler got stuck between the rocks. The cracks widened and water began to gush in with greater force.I saw 10 diesel drums  each of 200 litre capacity  blocks of ice, dry rations, net and other fishing implements swept away by the Arabian Sea. We were just helpless, he said.

Around 9.30pm, we saw the Satpati trawler, Sai Roop, passing by and we shouted for help at the top of our lungs. The captain mercifully heard us and came to our rescue, said Meher. However, problems arose as there was a 30-foot gap between our boats,and the sea was choppy. Sai Roops captain did not want to risk his trawler hitting the rocks. He was ready to help us, but was also worried, added Meher.

I tied a thick rope around my waist and jumped into the water. I swam the distance between our boats and boarded Sai Roop. I tied the rope to the rescue boat so it could tow my boat to safety. I braved the choppy sea so my crew could be saved, said Meher.

After nearly an hour of fighting the sea, Sai Roop managed to tow the boat to Satpati,and we were saved from certain death,as the water had submerged my trawler and we were at the mercy of Lord Ekveera  the presiding deity of the Koli fishing community, he said. The boat needs repairs costing Rs2lakh. We will visit the Lord Ekveera temple near Lonavala to express our gratitude to him for saving us, added Meher.
Mumbai Eager to start the construction of its ambitious coastal road, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will request the central government to give an overall approval to the project and authorise agencies in the state to allow any changes in the original plan.

The municipal corporation has already suffered a setback as there has been a delay in getting environmental approvals for the Rs12,000-crore road that is proposed to be built along the citys western coast connecting South Mumbai with Malad in western suburbs. The project is seen as a solution to traffic congestion in the stretch between South Mumbai and western suburbs.

To avoid any further delays, the BMC wants the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to give an overall approval to the project and delegate powers to a state-level authority to allow changes without going through the Centre, civic officials said.

After the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) forwarded the proposal of the coastal road to the central government, the municipal corporation changed the alignment and decided to start the South Mumbai tunnel from Princess Street flyover instead of Nariman Point. Because of this change in the original plan, the BMC has to seek MCZMAs approval once again and then wait for Centres approvals.

A civic official said, We are keen on getting an overall permission given for the project so that the changes can be directly approved by the state. If every change has to be approved by the Centre, it will only burden the central government and also lead to delay in beginning of construction work.

The civic body had issued expression of interest for the first phase of the project  Princes Street flyover, Marine Lines to Carter Road, Bandra. About 35 foreign companies have so far shown interest in the same. But with the delay in getting approvals and also various environment and feasibility studies pending, the entire project plan has hit a roadblock.

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A decision to make a comprehensive plan to conserve the British-era bunker discovered under Raj Bhavan was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao on Thursday. IIT-Bombay will conduct a structural audit of the bunker, after which the expert committee will come up with the plan.

Issues related to conservation and security of the bunker were discussed at the meeting. An expert committee comprises Pravin Kide, chief engineer of PWD as the coordinator; Dr Sabyasachi Mukherjee, director, Chhatrapati Shivaji Vastu Sangrahalaya; and Rajiv Mishra, principal, Sir JJ School of Architecture; Dr M Nambhirajan, regional director (West), Archaeological Survey of India as conservator experts.

Read: Not just governor, Raj Bhavan houses a 5,000-sq-ft British-era bunker too

In pics: British-era bunker discovered under Maharashtra Raj Bhavan

Officials from Raj Bhavan said they plan to use the expertise of the IIT and central water and power research station whenever necessary.

The bunker, presumed to be a war room, was discovered on August 12. We are considering appointing IIT-Bombay for the audit, said a senior official.

The audit report will give us an idea of its stability, after which we will make further plans, sources said.

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The crime branch is verifying a list of numbers found in Kerala cleric Mohammad Haneefs phone, which was seized during his arrest in a joint operation with the Kerala police last week. Investigators said that they have sent the phone for forensic analysis to ascertain the activities that it was used for and will try to retrieve text messages from the handset.

Haneef, 26, is accused of persuading youngsters from Kerala to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) and was alleged to be touch with operatives of the terror outfit through Internet phone calling, the police had said.

The crime intelligence unit (CIU) of crime branch is interrogating Haneef, who is in police custody till Saturday. Officials learnt that Haneef has been preaching Salafism for almost a decade now. After completing his lessons from a madrassa, he started preaching.

The police suspect Haneef to be a vital link between the radicalisation network thriving in northern Kerala belt and its Mumbai connection. While Haneef has denied knowing Islamic Research Foundations (IRF) guest relation officer Arshi Qureshi and Mumbai based preacher Rizwan Khan, officials differ. Qureshi and Khan are also accused in the case registered with the Mumbai police.

The complainant, Abdul Majeed Kadar Khan, 60, told the police in his complaint that his son Ashfaque had joined ISIS after being indoctrinated by Haneef, Qureshi and Khan whom he had met in Kerala and in Mumbai over the period of last two years. Ashfaque went missing in June this year.

When in Kerala and in Mumbai, Ashfaque used to tell his father that he was going to meet these three people and as per our probe, they knew each other and their activities well. The Kerala police custody of Qureshi and Khan will lapse on Thursday and we will move in for their transit remand to conduct a joint interrogation to prove that wrong, said a crime branch officer.

The crime branch is also scrutinising a bank account belonging to Haneef. Though the monetary balance in the account is less, we have sought details of the fund trail and its source, added the officer.

Haneef had been preaching at Kasaragod district and later moved to Kannur. Though he has claimed of better pay for the switch, officials suspect the change of location was part of larger conspiracy involving Qureshi, Khan and Haneef.

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In a tragic incident, a state Agriculture Department officials pleas for a half-day leave to attend his depressed son were turned down by his superior who nudged the official to continue working, following which the boy allegedly committed suicide.

The incident took place last week and the Maharashtra government has ordered an inquiry into it.

Sources in the Agriculture Department said in the afternoon of August 12, department joint secretary Rajesh Ghadge (posted at department office in Mantralaya in Mumbai) got a panic call from his son, who was suffering from depression, asking him to come home in Navi Mumbai as soon as possible, failing which he (the son) would end his life.

Panicked by the threat, Ghadge requested additional chief secretary (ACS) Bhagwan Sahay to let him go home early. But Sahay turned down his requests and made him work till regular office hours.

Ghadges 23-year-old son was desperately calling him to come back home and had threatened to commit suicide if he did not turn up, the source said.

So Ghadge approached Sahay with a permission for a half day leave. Sahay, known for his whimsical ways not only denied the permission, but asked Ghadge to work as per the regular office hours, he added.

A distraught Ghadge was virtually on his knees as he got a second frantic call from his son. He once again approached Sahay pleading for mercy, but his pleas fell on deaf ears, the source said.

All that he got to hear again from Sahay was a no. At the end of the day, Ghadges worst fears came true as he got the news from his home that his son had committed suicide, he said.

Speaking to reporters here, state Minister for Agriculture Pandurang Phundkar today said he has ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident.

I have spoken to Ghadge and had also asked state chief secretary to order an inquiry into the incident, Phundkar said.

Following the directions, chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya has ordered an inquiry into the entire episode.

The incident sparked outrage in the department, with officers and Ghadges colleagues staging a demonstration today.

According to sources in the department, Ghadge is now contemplating applying for Voluntary Retirement.

The body was taken to Solapur, the native place of the Ghadge family, for the last rites. Other officers in the department rushed to meet Ghadge at his Solapur residence.

Efforts to contact Sahay did not yield results as he turned away media persons.
Five youth were killed in a road accident when the Honda City they were travelling in veered out of control and crashed into a tree on the Western Express Highway (WEH) in Mumbais Vile Parle (East) on Thursday morning.

According to the Vile Parle police, the incident took place around 5 am, about 200 to 300 metres away from the flyover near the Santacruz airport terminal on the southbound stretch of the WEH.

(HT Photo )

It seems like the driver was speeding as the roads are empty at that time of the day. He must have lost control. The car brushed into the footpath and after skidding for 10 to 20 metres it crashed into a tree along the road, said a police official .

(HT Photo )

(HT Photo)

Three of the dead have been identified as Muzammil Makhtur Kanojia, 22, Rashida Yusuf Shaikh, 25 and Junaid Fakir Soni,22. The Aadhar and PAN cards found with the victims helped the police identify them. The identities of other male victims are being ascertained.

(HT Photo )

Muzammil and Junaid were residents of Mira-Bhayander and Rashida was from Mumbai Central.

Blood samples of the accident victims were taken to ascertain if it was a case of drunk driving.
Shrinking job opportunities and legal hassles have discouraged MBBS students from taking up a career in forensic medicine, data accessed from the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), Maharashtra, revealed. Nearly 50% of the 28 seats offered by the state had not been filled in the last two years as post-mortem centres continue to grapple with staff crunch.

Students said that the post graduation specialisation course is unpopular because only government hospitals and laboratories have forensic departments. They added that they are wary of medico-legal cases at post-mortem centres. In Mumbai, half to two-thirds of forensic posts are vacant in the five post-mortem centres, according to the home department.

About 13 medical colleges in the state offer 28 seats in forensic medicine and candidates are selected through the PGM-CET tests. DMER data revealed that 16 seats in 2014-2015 and 10 seats in 2015-2016 went unclaimed. Mumbais government-run medical colleges  Grant Medical College (attached to Sir JJ Hospital), Seth G S Medical College (KEM Hospital), LTMG Medical College (Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Sion) and Topiwala National Medical College (BYL Nair Hospital)  offer eight seats, but could fill only half of them in the last two years.

Though the number of post mortem centres have increased, job opportunities have remained stagnant, said experts. On the other hand, the number of seats has increased. A decade ago, there were about seven to eight seats offered across the state. Moreover, private medical institutions have also been granted permissions to run the course. But job opportunities havent increased at the same rate, said Dr Rajesh Dhere, associate professor, forensic medicine at LTMG and KEM Hospitals.

Students said that apart from lack of job opportunities, the field offers little job satisfaction and more legal hassles. The branch mainly deals with MLCs with criminal offences, police investigations and court cases. Moreover, the job isnt lucrative as there are no opportunities for private practice. There is also no guarantee of jobs once you complete the specialisation, which could be the reasons behind the complete turnaround of students, said a third-year MBBS student from Grant Medical College.

Most women doctors also steer clear of the course owing to social taboo and legal hassles at the post-mortem centres, said Dr Sagar Mundada, President, Central Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors. The number of women opting for MBBS is more as compared to other fields, but when it comes to forensic medicine, we seldom find women opting for the specialisation. Moreover, students enrol themselves for the course after they fail to qualify for other branches of specialisation since they know there are limited opportunities in the future, said Dr Mundada.

Notwithstanding state governments plan to introduce new post-mortem centres and strengthen tertiary care centres in every district, medical experts said that forensic medicine will remain the less popular.
State government employees have demanded the suspension of IAS officer Bhagwan Sahai who is facing an inquiry for allegedly denying joint secretary Rajesh Ghadge the permission to go home early last week, after which his teenager son committed suicide. The protesters alleged that it was the IAS officers apathy that led to the suicide.

In another revelation by the employees union, Sahai had reportedly questioned how Ghadge could get leave when he had not formally applied for it. According to a remark in a file from Ghatges senior, Sahai had asked for the written application from Ghadge on August 16, when he had gone to Solapur for his sons funeral.

The employees staged a protest on the Mantralaya premises on Thursday morning for more than an hour demanding strict action against Sahai. The employees also decided to register their protest by wearing black armbands on Friday and Saturday. State chief secretary Swadheen Kashatriya is already conducting a probe into the allegations.

Nineteen-year old Avdhut, son of Ghadge, committed suicide on Thursday over domestic issues. Before killing himself, the boy had called his father and asked him to rush home out of restlessness. When Ghatge went to Sahai for permission, he was denied so.

Sahai has not answered his phone or replied to texts when contacted for his comment.

The employees from the agriculture departement were planning to go on a mass casual leave on Friday, but after a request from the chief secretary, we decided to register a notional protest. We are getting unprecedented support from senior officers too. There was another example of a suicide by a clerk due to harassment by Sahai last month. We have been assured of some action against him, said Subhash Gangurde,general secretary, Maharashtra State Government Employees Central Confederation.

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The Andheri court on Thursday granted bail to five doctors of Dr LH Hiranandani in the illegal kidney transplant case. The defence counsel had argued that the doctors are languishing in prison for some minor offence of not filling forms properly and that it is not a serious offence. The magistrates court granted bail to the five doctors for a surety of Rs30,000 each.

Defence advocate Abad Ponda argued, The main accused is out on bail. Some of these accused are not heavily involved in the case. The police have already submitted that the doctors did not gain any financial benefit.

Read:Kidney scam: State report implicates 5 arrested doctors

Hospital CEO Dr Sujit Chatterjee, medical director Dr. Anurag Naik and doctors Mukesh Madhukar Shette and Mukesh Shah, and Prakashchandra Shette, were arrested on August 9. They were held under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act following a report by the Director of State Health Services (DHS) which had named all of them in its inquiry report.

Advocate Pranav Badheka told the court, None of these forms (forged documents) would lead to violations of grave offence. The section of The Transplantation of Human Organs Act is not a serious offence; it is punishable by only seven years.

The advocates submitted that the accused are all working doctors are residents of Mumbai adding that and there is no question of fleeing the city. The advocates said there are no threats to any of the witnesses either.

Opposing the bail, public prosecutor Sudhir Sapkale argued that two of the doctors have filed for an anticipatory bail, which was rejected by the Dindoshi sessions court on August 12. Countering defense arguments that these two doctors are not accused, Sapkale informed the court that there is an ongoing inquiry in the case.

Ponda requested the court to hear the plea on humanitarian grounds as Dr Shettes wife has delivered twins. The couple is blessed with the babies after 17 years. His wife is over 125 kg and his case should be heard on humanitarian grounds, he had said.

Badheka said that the main culprits misled the committee, and the doctors are in no way responsible in the document forgery.

As per the advocates submission, the doctors have regular patients and some are nearly on their death bed. Their custody in jail does not serve any purpose either to society or public at large.

The doctors, their advocates said, have done respectable work for the society.

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Santosh Pol, the fake doctor who confessed to murdering six people between 2003 and 2016, administered an overdose of anaesthesia in two cases, which caused cardiac arrest, said police sources.

While the police are investigating the authenticity of the medical course - Bachelor of Electropathy Medicine and Surgery (BEMS) - attempted by Santosh Pol, residents in Wai and surrounding villagers respected him for his sharp understanding of medical science.

Read: Sataras Doctor Death confesses to six murders

Sources said that Pol revealed he used anaesthesia in at least two cases. Police believe that Pol used anaesthesia and was the one to call for an ambulance as he believed it would not arouse suspicion among people.

Read: More planned murders? Two pits at Dr Deaths Satara farm fuel speculation

Dr Vidyadhar Ghotwadekar, a leading medical practitioner in Wai, recalled that he was a great helping hand and used to look after the ICU during his night shifts. Patients used to call him doctor saheb in front of me. It was because of his medical knowledge. He has learnt all the skills and acquired knowledge to survive in the medical line, Dr Ghotwadekar told HT.

Read: Pols assistant may have been his next target: Police

Pol worked with Dr Ghotwadekar for a considerable period. He was sacked twice by Ghotwadekar for his manners and trouble-making nature. In 2015, Dr Ghotwadekar sacked Pol but purchased an ambulance for him. It was to keep him away from hospital activities, Dr Ghotwadekar said. Pol used to run an ambulance for his hospital. But Dr Ghotwadekar asked him to stop running an ambulance as he continued to create a nuisance. In July this year, Pol took the ambulance without informing Dr Ghotwadekar, forcing him to lodge a complaint with Wai police.

People in Wai and surrounding villages admit that several people had benefited because of his medicines. Pol started dispensaries in remote villages like Dhom and Wadiwali to win the confidence of the local residents. People from surrounding villages used to seek medical advice and get medicines from him, residents of Dhom said. Police have come to the conclusion that Pol used his medical knowledge to establish himself as a medical practitioner and later to win over his targets.

Two of the victims were working as nurse-cum-helper either with Pol or somewhere else. Jyoti Mandhare, who is now in police custody in connection with the Mangala Jedhe kidnapping case, is also a nurse and used to work with Pol. All three women came in close contact with Pol because of his medical knowledge, police said. Pol had worked with at least five hospitals in Wai.

A few people from Dhom village complained that Pol used to scare women, suggesting that they undergo HIV tests. Pol is believed to have collected blood samples of few women from Dhom and the neighbouring Wadiwali village for the purpose.

Government de-recognised BEMS in 1994

Claims and counter claims are being made about bachelor of Electropathy medicine and surgery, the course reportedly attempted by Santosh Pol. Some colleges in Maharashtra started this course in 1986 but the government de-recognised this course in 1994. Students, who had completed this course, are not allowed to work as medical practitioner by the law. According to rough estimate, 30,000 students completed this three-year course in Maharashtra during its short span of eight years. The course was de-recognised, following strong objections by the medical field that electropathy was not a recognised medicine system.

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NEW DELHI: India is willing to send foreign secretary S Jaishankar to Pakistan for talks provided they focus on cross-border terrorism and not the unrest in Kashmir, sources said on Wednesday.

The move comes after a spike in tensions between the two sides over weeks of protests in Kashmir following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani by security forces. More than 60 people have died in the protests, which were followed by a spate of militant attacks.

Indias position was conveyed by high commissioner Gautam Bambawale, who handed over the formal response to Pakistani foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhrys letter inviting his Indian counterpart for talks on the Kashmir issue.

The Indian foreign secretary conveyed his willingness to visit Islamabad, the sources said. Since aspects related to cross-border terrorism are central to the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir, we have proposed that discussions between the foreign secretaries be focussed on them, a source said.

India made it clear it is not willing to back down on its stated position on Kashmir and rejected Pakistans allegations about rights abuses and extrajudicial killings in the state.

We have also conveyed that government of India rejects in their entirety the self-serving allegations regarding the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India where Pakistan has no locus standi, a source said.

The situation in Kashmir was the result of Pakistans interference and backing of cross-border terrorism, the sources said.

Explaining the Indian response, sources said it was aimed at scuttling any move by Islamabad to create the impression that New Delhi would not take up the offer of talks at a time when Kashmir is on the boil. After responding to the offer, India will now take up issues it wants to be addressed, they said.

In an address at the Foreign Correspondents Club in the evening, foreign secretary Jaishankar said: Problem is that the terrorism issue has become so central to the relationship that it makes the relationship difficult to grow.

He said though all Saarc nations had agreed on moving forward for regional development, Pakistans support to terrorism had made the country a difficult regional partner. We have one standout country in the region which has a different view of terrorism which makes it a difficult partner for all of us.

There was no official word on a date for the meeting between the foreign secretaries and sources said the ball was now in Pakistans court.

However, meetings between the foreign secretaries often go beyond the pre-determined script, with Pakistan invariably raising the Kashmir issue and India focussing on terror. The same pattern was in play when the foreign secretaries met in Delhi on the sidelines of a multilateral meet on Afghanistan in April.

Former diplomats warned India could be walking into a trap by taking up Pakistans offer of talks. There was a hurried response to the Pakistani offer. Pakistan is focussed on Kashmir and it could give the world community the impression that bilateral relations are tied to Kashmir, said former ambassador Rajiv Dogra, an old Pakistan hand.

Besides, if the focus is on terror, the Pakistanis could refer to the Prime Ministers remarks on Balochistan and raise their old allegations of India backing terrorism there, he told Hindustan Times.

Former envoy KC Singh, who once headed a bilateral anti-terror mechanism, said nothing had changed as both sides were sticking to their stated positions. If anything, the situation has crystallised because of Pakistans recent actions, he said.

Indias response appeared to indicate a shift from an earlier decision made by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif during a meeting in the Russian city of Ufa in July last year that all issues related to terrorism would be discussed by the national security advisers.

Former Pakistani NSA Sartaj Aziz was set to visit India last August when proposed talks broke down over Pakistans insistence that the dialogue should cover Kashmir, and not just terrorism. The two NSAs have not spoken since March.

The latest proposal for talks on Kashmir was unveiled by Aziz, now the advisor on foreign affairs to Sharif, during a media briefing in Islamabad on August 12.

Three days later, the Pakistani foreign secretary called in Bambawale and handed over the letter inviting Jaishankar to visit Pakistan for talks on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute that has been the main bone of contention between India and Pakistan.

Even before the letter was handed over, India said on August 13 that dialogue should focus on contemporary and relevant issues in India-Pakistan relations, including stopping support for cross-border terrorism and infiltration of terrorists.

Pakistans letter came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his stand on alleged rights violations in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) during his Independence Day speech. Modi said last week the time had come to expose Pakistans atrocities in Balochistan and PoK, a tit-for-tat response to Islamabads tirade over the unrest in Kashmir, which has claimed more than 60 people have died and left thousands injured.

Kashmir-based opposition parties on Wednesday asked the Centre to initiate a dialogue with all stakeholders, including Pakistan, to restore normalcy in the valley. Pakistan as a neighbour needs to be spoken with as the Prime Minister has done in the past, he has made unscheduled visits to the country, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah told the media.

(With inputs from Krittivas Mukherjee in Delhi)
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) accepted the World Anti Doping Agencys (WADA) appeal on Thursday and sanctioned a four-year ban on wrestler Narsingh Yadav who had earlier tested positive for steroids.

The ban will be accounted for from August 18, meaning he would not compete in the Rio Olympics. The CAS also ruled to disqualify all the competitive results obtained by Narsingh from June 25, 2016.

READ: 5 points that could hurt Narsingh Yadavs chances of Rio participation

Narsingh was scheduled to start his Olympic campaign against Zelimkhan Khadjiev of France in the qualification round of the mens 74 kg freestyle category on Friday. The 26-year-old grappler had also underwent his weigh-in on Thursday even as the hearing was on.

Narsingh, who had tested positive for an anabolic steroid -- methandienone -- was earlier given a reprieve by Indias National Anti Doping Agency (NADA), which accepted his claim of sabotage. However, the World Anti Doping Agency, which has been strict on enforcing the rules since the Richard McLaren report revealed widespread doping cover-up in Russia, appealed against the decision to CAS, the highest tribunal in sports.

WADA filed an urgent application before the CAS ad hoc Division to challenge the decision of NADA India to exonerate Narsingh Yadav following two positive anti-doping tests with methandienone on 25 June and 5 July 2016. The athlete asserted that he was the victim of sabotage (food/drink tampering) by another person. WADA requested that a 4-year period of ineligibility be imposed on the athlete, the CAS said in a statement.

READ: Narsinghs second sample was tested on behalf of world body

The CAS Panel in charge of this matter heard the parties and their representatives today (Wednesday) between 13:00 and 17:00. At 18:45 today, the parties were informed that the application was upheld, that Narsingh Yadav was sanctioned with a four-year ineligibility period starting today and that any period of provisional suspension or ineligibility effectively served by the athlete before the entry into force of this award shall be credited against the total period of ineligibility to be served. Furthermore, all competitive results obtained by Narsingh Yadav from and including 25 June 2016 shall be disqualified, with all resulting consequences (including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes).

The CAS panel further stated that there was no evidence to accept Narsinghs claim that his food/drink was spiked.

READ: Rio 2016: Narsingh Yadav in trouble as WADA appeals against doping clean chit

The CAS Panel did not accept the argument of the athlete that he was the victim of sabotage and noted that there was no evidence that he bore no fault, nor that the anti-doping rule violation was not intentional. Therefore the standard 4-year period of ineligibility was imposed by the Panel, the statement said.

The CAS panels rejection of sabotage theory is a major blow for Indias anti doping agency as well. The NADA panel which gave Narsingh the clean chit on August 1 then said: The ingestion of the prohibitive substance, in this case methandienone, appeared to be one time. the panel concludes that the athlete deserves the benefit of Article 10.4 of the anti-doping rules of NADA 2015.

READ :Narsingh was victim of sabotage: NADA gives clean chit for Rio

Indias Rio Olympics chef de mission, Rakesh Gupta, said Narsingh will now return to India. We were hopeful after the first hearing, but CAS has upheld WADAs appeal and now Narsingh will go back instead of participating, Gupta said.

It is very sad and unfortunate. We were hopeful until the last proceeding of the CAS that he will get through which unfortunately did not happen, Gupta was quoted as saying by the IANS. It is really very sad because he had a real potential to clinch a medal.
Usain Bolt crossed the finish line and wagged his finger at the brash up-and-comer who dared challenge him.

Didnt Andre de Grasse know that nobodys supposed to mess with the Jamaicans 200 meters? Especially at the Olympics.

Bolt, in search of his eighth Olympic gold, considers the 200 his best race and, in the past, has taken umbrage with anyone who suggests they might beat him.



(AP)

De Grasse tried to in the semifinals, even though he and Bolt were clearly in the top two spots as they came down the stretch, and securely into Thursday nights final.

(AP)

Instead of slowing, de Grasse sped up and forced Bolt, who had already slowed down, to pick up the pace.

(AP)

The two looked at each other and smiled as they approached the finish line. Bolt leaned across in 19.78 seconds, only .02 ahead of the Canadian.

(REUTERS)

Bolt wagged his finger at de Grasse and laughed. But he didnt really find it funny.

(AP)

That was really unnecessary, Bolt said. I dont know what he was trying to do. Hes a young kid, hes great. He has a lot of talent. Im looking forward to the competition in the final.

De Grasse conceded he pushed too hard. On Thursday, nobody will be coasting in.

As much as winning his eighth Olympic gold medal, Bolt is aiming for a world record. He holds the current mark, at 19.19 seconds, but thinks a sub-19 time could be possible.

Now, its (about) executing right, running the corner efficiently, and coming in the straight and running the perfect race, he said.

If things go terribly wrong for him, here are some others who could be a factor:

DE GRASSE

Canada's Andre De Grasse. (AP)

The 21-year-old bronze medalist in the 100 meters could represent a changing of the guard in the sprint game. Big question: Did pushing Bolt for a relatively meaningless semifinal placing actually sap any strength from the champion?

LASHAWN MERRITT

(REUTERS)

Its not Bolt, but Merritt, who currently has the years best time at 200 meters (19.74 seconds). But its not Merritts best race. That would be the 400, where four nights earlier, Merritt staggered across the line in third, nearly a full second off of Wayde van Niekerks world-record pace. How much did that take out of Merritt? We shall see. Hed have to be ecstatic with any kind of medal in his bonus race.

CHURANDY MARTINA

Canada's Brendon Rodney, left, and Netherlands' Churandy Martina. (AP)

The 32-year-old native of Curacao runs for the Netherlands. His claim to fame was finishing second to Bolt at the 2008 Olympics but losing the medal after officials determined he stepped outside his lane. The man who received it, Shawn Crawford, didnt think it was a fair ruling and gave Martina back his silver, though the official results stayed the same.

JUSTIN GATLIN

(REUTERS)

Um, well, no. After capturing silver in the 100, the main challenger to Bolt over the past two years didnt qualify for the 200 final. He revealed hed been dealing with an injured ankle. But he isnt checking out completely from the race. Ill be out there rubbing his shoulders, with a towel on him, like, All right Rocky, get yourself ready, Gatlin said, doing his best impression of Burgess Merediths trainer character in the Rocky movies.

THE REST

None of the following four  Christophe Lemaitre, Alonso Edward, Adam Gemili or Ramil Guliyev  have cracked 20 seconds this year. If they get caught up in Bolts tailwind, they might.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas will visit Europe in September to enlist support for the partys campaign for the assembly elections in Punjab, party officials said in London on Thursday.

Kejriwal will visit Italy in the first week of September while Vishwas is due to arrive in Britain in September-end, Sandeep Bisht of AAP UK told Hindustan Times. Both countries have a significant population of Punjabi origin.

The UK unit of AAP has been holding a series of events in towns and areas with large minorities of Punjabi origin, who maintain close links with the state. Congress leaders from Punjab too are due to meet leading members of the community in Southall and other areas.

Also read | AAP releases second Punjab list with 13 names: 3 wing chiefs get ticket

Several new members joined AAP during events in Leamington and Warwick in the Midlands earlier this month, including during the Leamington & Warwick Mela on August 14. Similar events were held in gurdwaras in east London.

Not only youth but elders too want to be part of change in Punjab and are eager to see a corruption and drug-free Punjab, Bisht said.

AAP UK coordinator Prayas Chaudhary said after the success of the Flame Of Hope programme across Britain before the 2015 Delhi election, a similar programme was launched in February in four cities for the Punjab elections.

Two party MLAs from Delhi, Adarsh Shastri and Jarnail Singh, toured Britain and participated in public events in Glasgow, Birmingham, Leicester and London.

In February 2015, a sum of Rs 15 lakh was donated through the partys website by Indian passport holders who received the Flame of Hope. AAP volunteers from Britain also travelled to Delhi for the elections.

The party has had an office in Ealing, west London, since January 2014. Donated by an AAP supporter, the office was set up and funded by other supporters in Britain, and not by the Delhi-based party.

AAP supporters in Britain mainly comprise professionals from the IT, finance, retail and medicine sectors.

.

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Municipal commissioner PS Gill ordered an inspection to check the sale of Chinese manja in the city after two children and one youth, were killed in Delhi when the glass-coated kite strings slit their throats on Independence Day. The Capital banned the sale of the deadly thread on Tuesday.

Deputy commissioner Ramvir Singh had also issued a prohibitory order on the sale and storage of the Chinese manja in the district on August 12 with directions to all civic bodies and block development officers to enforce the order.

Gill told HT he has deputed officials to inspect shops selling kite strings as part of precautionary measures to ensure the ban on the sale of this particular manja that is made from plastic or synthetic material.

Though no incident involving the deadly string was reported here, it is important to enforce the ban to avoid fatalities or injury, he said, adding that authorities will take immediate action in case shopkeepers were found violating orders.

What makes the string deadly is the fact that it does not break easily due to its glass and metal coating. Besides humans, it is also a major threat to birds. According to reports, as many as 510 birds were left injured in Delhi around Independence Day.

The DC said only kite strings made of cotton thread and natural fibre will be permitted for flying kites as stated in the notification for the ban.

We need to be vigilant on its use here. I will make separate committees at sub-divisional and panchayat levels to keep a check on its sale, he added.

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A Punjab and Haryana high court division bench on Wednesday adjourned the hearing on a Punjab NGOs application seeking direction to Enforcement Directorate (ED) assistant director Niranjan Singh to file a status report on investigation into money laundering aspect of the Jagdish Bhola drug racket.

The non-government organisation, Lawyers for Human Rights International, also wants the officer to explain why the inquiry has not been completed, so far. The bench of justice Surya Kant and justice Sudip Ahluwalia adjourned the hearing for September 7 without issuing any notice on the application, stating that the ED had filed reports from time to time.

The application mentioned that in January 2015, the high court had stayed the officers transfer but even 18 months from the day, he has not shown any speedy action in the matter. The NGO fears that the EDs investigation was not going on in a free and fair manner.

The transfer was stayed on the NGOs petition that it was the result of Niranjans summoning high and mighty in the money-laundering scandal related to the multi-crore-rupee drug case. Niranjan Singh, posted at the EDs Jalandhar office, had questioned Punjab cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia, chief parliamentary secretary Avinash Chander, and Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary, among others.

PROPERTY OF AULAKHS WIFE IN ED HANDS NOW JALANDHAR

Enforcement Directorate has taken the properties of the wife of former Akali leader Maninder Singh Bittu Aulakh, one of the prime accused in the Bhola drug racket, into its possession after the accused failed to explain the source of the money that went into buying it.

This 35-kanal farmland at Amritsars Kanwe village is registered in the name of Jagminder Kaur Aulakh, and the ED had attached it a few months ago after more than a year of investigation. The ownership remains with the accused but they cant sell it. They can challenge the attachment order in the Delhi-based central adjudicating authority but the asset was confiscated only after a confirmation from there.
Workers of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) held a protest outside the office of senior superintendent of police rural (SSP-rural) Harmohan Singh Sandhu on Wednesday morning over the demand of immediate arrest of four accused booked in the murder case of its leader Kulwinder Singh Jhalli in Alawalpur.

Jhalli was attacked by a rival group on August 8 with sharpedged weapons in Dhogri village when he had gone to meet his friend and succumbed to his injuries in Johal Hospital near Rama Mandi on August 14.

They raised slogans against complete breakdown of law and order in the jurisdiction of the rural police.

The protesters remained adamant to meet only the SSP but when the SSP failed to arrive there, the leaders announced to start a series of continuous protests against the police from Friday.

The BSPs Jalandhar zone incharge Master Ram Lubaya and Balwinder Kumar, Sukhwinder Singh Kotli and more than 100 workers refused to talk to superintendent of police (D) Parminder Singh Bhandal, who was available there.

Kumar said that the police arrested only two accused and four accomplices were still absconding. The police implicated innocent people in this case by registering cross cases against friends of Jhalli, which is totally unacceptable, accused Kumar by adding that the first demonstration against the police would start from Alawalpur on Friday evening.

He demanded sections of the SC/ST Act should also be imposed on the accused in this case.
The move of the Centre to delink the Punjab governor from administrating the union territory of Chandigarh may not have come through but the local political leaders have been pushing for it for several years.

In the morning, the news came that Centre has decided to appoint former bureaucrat and BJP leader KJ Alphons as an independent administrator for Chandigarh. Immediately, politicians cutting across party lines welcomed the development. Not only did they describe it a much-needed move, they also sang paeans for KJ Alphons, who had been conveyed that he would be Chandigarhs first independent administrator. However, later in the evening, the Centre decided to hold back the orders.

Read: Alphons picked as Chandigarh administrator, then plan dropped

The Centres move to have a separate administrator was in line with the long-pending demand of the local politicians.

They have been pushing for restoring the chief commissioner system that existed until May 1984. However, the Centre went a step ahead and appointed a full-fledged administrator.

Under the original system, the chief commissioner  a senior bureaucrat  headed the city while reporting to the ministry of home affairs. Under him were many other secretaries and officers. However, just ahead of the Operation Bluestar in 1984, the Punjab governor was given charge of UT administrator.

The chief commissioners post was done away with. Instead, an adviser (again a senior bureaucrat) was appointed who reported to the administrator-cum-governor.

From time to time, the residents of the city and politicians have been demanding that the old system of chief commissionerate be restored.

Also read | When UT almost got its own head again!

In April 2005, a delegation comprising Congress councillors had submitted a memorandum to the visiting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded the administrators charge be taken away from the Punjab governor and instead a chief commissioner be appointed.

Similarly, local BJP leaders have been pressing for that system.

I think its a better way to manage the union territory, says local party president Sanjay Tandon among active supporters of the UT having an independent administrator or chief commissioner.

No other union territory is linked to another state in the country in this way. Why not have a similar system for Chandigarh as well?

Those pressing for a separate administrator argue that Punjab governor-cum administrator has a dual responsibility and thus his attention gets divided. Also, in some cases the interests also clash, they claim.

An exclusive administrator would mean that the man can devote himself completely to Chandigarh, says BJP senior leader and former MP Satya Pal Jain.

People have been demanding it and even Haryana has wanted the same.

Mayor Arun Sood believes that such a system would be the best initiative by the government for a simple reason that he would be able to dedicate himself to the city and work towards the interests of Chandigarh.

The apparent abrupt reversal has, meanwhile, given the opposition parties an opportunity to hit out at the government.

Whether or not it will have benefited Chandigarh is another thing, but this kind of a flip-flop surely reflects poorly on the part of the party in power, says Pawan Bansal, former MP and Congress leader.

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Punjab education minister Daljit Singh Cheema condemned the move of some Sikh religious parties that observed August 15 as a black day demanding for freedom from India.

He said that those organisations are only provoking the citizens.Some political parties as well as such organisations defame Punjab and Sikhs. Years ago, Sikhs got marked as terrorist only because of some politicians. This mark was later removed, he said while addressing the gathering at a seminar on the books penned by former member of parliament Tarlochan Singh at Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle on Wednesday. Tarlochan Singh, former MP and former chairman of national minority commission expressed that the fight of these leaders is against the state government and not India.

The anti-India move of some Sikh religious outfits is immature. Sikhs are always known for their struggles and they should participate in dialogue and comminication to fulfill their demands, leaving behind agitation, he said. Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema said several memorials for showcasing Punjabs rich culture, heritage and history were constructed in different parts of the state.

Cheema said that ever since the SAD-BJP formed government in the state, the chief minister Parkash Singh Badal wanted that our present generation should be fully aware about our rich culture, heritage and history as well as about Sikh values and religion.

He said that is why several memorials such as the VirasatE-Khalsa at Sri Anandpur Sahib, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Memorial in Chappar Chiri, Wadda Ghallughara, Chota Ghallughara, Maharaja Dalip Singh Memorial in Bassian near Raikot, besides several other memorials were constructed.

He said that the Jang-E-Azadi memorial is under constructed and would be ready soon. Cheema said with the help of these memorials, our present generation has learnt a lot about our rich culture, heritage and history.

He also urged the Sikh educationists and scholars present during the seminar that new age technology tools such as internet, films, TV, social media should be put to use to the fullest if we want the masses to know about our rich culture, heritage, history and religion.

He said that the movie, Chaar Sahibzaade has played an important role in educating the youngsters about the life and sacrifices of the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji and his family.

He said that such was the positive impact that the Punjab government is now showing this film in all parts of the state.
Families of soldiers of World War 1 and II of Chappar Chiri village continue to carry a flicker of hope that the government would construct a memorial to preserve and display their prized possessions of a bygone era. Their proudest possession  the Man Singh Trophy  gained recognition after Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted a replica to the then Australian counterpart Tony Abbott. In addition to the trophy, the families claim that they have medals from soldiers during World War I and II, letters of appreciation and pictures of soldiers to showcase in the would-be memorial.

The trophy is named after Man Singh, a soldier in the Sikh Regiment Battalion. The unit served in World War I in Egypt, Gallipoli, Sinai and (the then) Mesopotamia from October 1914 to May 1917. The Man Singh trophy commemorates the brave action of the battalions soldiers.

EX-SARPANCH ARTICULATES DEMAND FOR MEMORIAL

The war veterans of World War I and II settled in this village but do not have any memorial to their name, said Zora Singh Bhullar, former sarpanch of the village, adding that one of Man Singhs sons, Gurbax Singh, had first raised the demand of a memorial in 1994.

Some years ago, officials from the Sainik Welfare board took away medals from the widows in the village claiming that these would be displayed at a Ropar museum. The memorabilia we have should be preserved for all to see where generations could remember the valour of their forefathers, Bhullar added.

PROUD SON RELIVES PAST

After the war, Man Singh was allotted land in Pakistan. In those days a soldier was honoured with a horse and a maraba (around 25 acres). Post partition they were shifted to India and finally settled in Chappar Chiri, recalled Gurcharan Singh, one of the two sons of Man Singh, showcasing the prized possession  a replica of the Man Singh trophy.

At a strapping height of 64 , Man Singh was so strong that he could comfortably jump over high wire obstacles and broad ditches - a necessary part of trench warfare during the World War I. He could throw a grenade up to 50 yards, added Gurcharan, speaking of his fathers bravery. The man himself died in April 1976 at 88.

ADMINISTRATION WAITING FOR DEMAND

We have not got any demand so far. Once we receive a demand and in case rules allow the construction of a memorial, we will provide assistance, said DS Mangat, deputy commissioner SAS Nagar.

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Eleven days have passed, but the police have failed to make any headway in the murderous attack on Punjab Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) vice-president Brigadier Jagdish Gagneja (retd).

A special team of the Jalandhar police commissionerate, headed by ACP Cantonment Mukesh Kumar, which was sent to retrieve the faces of the attackers from the CCTV footage in Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, has also returned without getting images of the attackers as they were covering their faces at the time of the attack.

The video footage from the CCTV camera was not of good quality. The experts applied various techniques but failed, an official involved in the investigation confirmed.

Meanwhile, RSS state campaign convener Ram Gopal said the attack was a well- planned strategy to destabilise Punjab ahead of the assembly polls. This attack is the result of frustration of such forces, planned and executed by a few separatists, he said.
I can give a kidney for you! is perhaps one of the most overused one-liners that loved ones say to each other. Here are several cases, however, in which a sibling has gone to that length to save a brothers or sisters life. Three prominent local hospitals underlined the cases, and HT met and interacted with some such pairs of siblings on the eve of Raksha Bandhan, the festival that celebrates the sister-brother bond. Here are their stories:

SHE KEPT ME ALIVE: GURMEET GOT KIDNEY FROM PRABHJIT

She stepped into my mothers shoes to gift me a new life, said Gurmeet Singh (38) of Barnala in Punjab. He was employed with a private company but is on complete rest since the surgery in June. Gurmeet was given a kidney by his sister Prabhjit Kaur (42). Without giving a second thought, she opted to be a donor after my mother, who was to donate a kidney originally, developed some complications, said Gurmeet. Prabhjit, a teacher, has been asked to refrain from picking up heavy weights now. Only a person who loves you more than herself can do this. I will remain indebted to her till am alive, said Gurmeet.

I COULD NOT LET HER DIE: HARDAVINDER, TO RUPAL

Though in most cases of sibling donors, the one giving the kidney is the sister to a brother, Hardavinder Singh is different. I could not let her die, he said of his sister Rupal Bagga (32), a mother of two. Initially it was my bhabhi (brothers wife) who had offered to donate a kidney; but since there were too many formalities as she is not a blood relative, my brother stepped up, said Rupal, who is recovering.

Hoshiarpur resident Hardavinder, who drives a cab, is presently recovering and cannot work. I cannot explain the gratitude I have for him. He is as an angel not just for me but the family as well, added Rupal.

I DID NOT WANT HER TO DO IT: HEERA GOT KIDNEY FROM ASHA

Heera Singh Daspa (32) underwent the transplant in March 2013, and got the organ donation from his sister Asha, who was 18 then. It was a very difficult and emotional decision for me, said Heera, who now stays in Gurgoan. I kept telling her till the last moment that she did not have to do it. She was unmarried and just 18, with her entire life ahead of her. But all my requests were answered by silence, said Heera. I cannot pay back what she had done for me. Our bond has grown stronger though I deliberately do not talk about this to her as it is very emotional thing, said Heera.

SHE DID NOT LET FATHER BE DONOR: SAHIL, FROM SWATI

Sahil with sister Swati, the donor. (Sanjeev Sharma/HT Photo)

When Swati Sharma (25), a Panchkulabased aerobics trainer, got to know about her brothers ill health, she was ready to do anything to help him. In July 2015, Swatis brother, Sahil Sharma (24), had got a new job, but soon was diagnosed with hypertension. Further tests revealed kidney failure. I underwent five surgeries in a year. There was one complication after another. Transplant was the only solution, Sahil said, My elder sister took the lead and said she would donate a kidney. She did not let our father be the donor.

The transplant took place this August 1 at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). My sister is my savior. She has given me a new life. Whatever I will do for her will always be less than what she has done for me, Sahil said.

Swati said she could not see her brother suffering: Those dialysis sessions were draining the life out of him. I was eager to give him his normal life.

She said that many people, including hospital staff, asked her to re-think as she is yet to get married and there could be social problems. For me, my brothers life was the priority, and that it will remain always.

HE MEANS THE WORLD TO ME: PRINCY, DONOR TO ARJUN

Princy Seth (HT Photo)

Seven years ago, on August 17, Princy Seth fought social pressures and took the decision to save her only brothers life. She is married, was the mother of a child and planning to have a second. People told her she wont be able to have a second child in case she donated kidney. Princy did not listen.

My brother means the world to me. For me, no relationship is more important than the brother-sister bond. It was the worst phase of my life. I wanted to save him, said Princy. It was 2007 when Arjun Bedi, then 19, underwent the transplant. Today, he is married and leading a healthy life. Princy gave birth to a boy three years after the donation.

TO WHOM WOULD I HAVE TIED RAKHI: KAMLESH, TO KEWAL

Kamlesh Rani with brother Kewal, to whom she gave a kidney, in Chandigarh on Wednesday (Sanjeev Sharma/HT Photo)

He is my younger brother and has little children to take care of. My children are settled in life, so it is fine if something happens to me; but my brother should stay healthy, said Kamlesh Rani from Ambala. Kewal Kumar had not told his sister about the illness. I went to meet him in Yamunanagar and found my sister-in-law crying. When I got to know what my brother was going through, I became restless and promised that I will not let anything wrong happen to him. The transplant happened at Ivy Hospital in SAS Nagar, in June 2014. Both are leading a healthy life. If something had happened to him, to whom would I have tied the rakhi (the sacred thread on Raksha Bandhan)? she said.

IT WAS MY DUTY: RAMESH, DONOR TO SISTER SURESH

Ramesh Kumar (48), from Fatehabad in Haryana donated one of his kidneys to sister Suresh Kumari (49) on August 9. She was suffering from kidney failure since the last three years. She did not tell anyone in the family that she was going through so much pain. For the last three years, she was on medication and then on dialysis. I was taken aback when I got to know about her disease, said Ramesh. Though three family members agreed to donate, being the eldest in the family I took the decision of donating my kidney, said Ramesh, who was discharged from Ivy hospital on Saturday.

Doc take

In most cases, donors are women

Dr Avinash Srivastava, director of renal transplant surgery at Ivy Hospital, SAS Nagar, said, We have been carrying out kidney transplant for the last seven years, and we have seen that in 85% cases the donors from the family are female. In very few cases, men come forward when it comes to donating a kidney.

Also read | Going beyond Raksha Bandhan: When sisters gift life to their brothers

At Fortis Hospital, in the last four years 16 siblings have donated a kidney in which only one case was that of a brother being the donor. Legally and medically, a blood relative  parent or sibling  is preferred as it means little to no complication.

Of the 240 surgeries at Fortis in the past four years, all cases are of blood relatives, while the same is true for the 500 cases at Ivy, claim the hospital authorities.
The result of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test results, phases 1 and 2, announced by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday brought cheers to the city with majority boys outshining in the test.

Raghav Arora who belongs to the family of doctors bagged 41st rank. He also achieved 25th rank in PMET 2016. My parents being doctors have been a driving force for me. My father Rajesh Arora is an MD medicine and mother Mamta Arora is a gynecologist. My sister is also pursuing MBBS in Government Medical College (Amritsar) so it was important for me to join the family lineage, said Raghav, who slept for only four hours during preparation and aspires to get admission in Mulana Azad Medical College.

Tanishq Kansal, who got 65th rank in the NEET, tasted double delight on Tuesday as recently he got18th rank in the PMET test. Tanishq aims to be an interventional radiologists and unlike other students who have shown reluctance for the all India entrance over the state-level test (PMET), feels that NEET syllabus was simpler and well defined, In PMET there is no limit to the syllabi for biology but in NEET, the syllabus is that of NCERT (National Council Of Educational Research and Training) which makes it well-defined and easy. Having one entrance is better and NEET is a good exam that would give change to the toppers of every state to get their dream institutes in other parts of the country. PMET makes one state restrictive, said Tanishq.

I have friends who study passionately and also encourage me to do seven-hour self study. With my rank, I think I will be able to study in a prestigious institute like Safdarjung Hospital and Medical College, University College of Medical Sciences (Delhi) and may be Mulana Azad college, added Tanishq, whose father Somir Kansal is a neurologist and mother Arpita Kansal an ENT specialist.

A teacher Uttamjit Singh who prepared hundreds of students from the city for the NEET said it was a proud moment as after many years, Amritsar boys have performed brilliantly and bagged outstanding ranks.

Giving details, he said, My student Pranav Vij bagged 39th rank, then Tanishq got 65th followed by Paras Singh Chandi with AIR 75. PMET city topper Chirag Gupta has got 250 rank. Anoushka Gupta of Spring Dale Senior School also bagged AIR 102.

Talking about the NEET, Uttamjit said, It is a big achievement to compete with more than six lakh students. But exams like these give a chance to study in best institutes of the country. PMET restricts them in the state only.

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A private bus belonging to Dabwali Transport Company, Bathinda, owned by deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and his family, mowed down a 60-year-old man and his 28-year-old son on Ludhiana-Ferozepur road near Baddowal village here on Thursday.

An irate crowd set the bus afire even as the driver fled the spot, while, in Jalandhar, Sukhbir brushed off a query about the mishap, telling journalists: Koi kamm di gal karo , yaar (Say something worthwhile).

The mishap occurred at about 2pm. Hardev Singh of Baddowal and his son Manjit Singh were going to Ludhiana on a motorcycle when a speeding bus hit their two-wheeler. DSP Ajayraj Singh said that the bike was on the wrong side of the road when the bus hit it.

An eyewitness, Joginder Singh, said after hitting the motorcycle, the bus dragged the victims for about 50 metres. The driver fled the spot, leaving the bus behind.

The father-son duo was rushed to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), where they succumbed to their injuries.

Passersby gathered at the spot and the angry crowd set the bus afire. Fire tenders from army area in Baddowal reached the spot and took half an hour to douse the flames. The traffic on the road remained disrupted for over an hour.

Police reached the spot and resumed the traffic after much struggle. Later, as the news of victims death spread, angry people blocked the Ludhiana-Ferozepur road again.

Dakha deputy superintendent of police Ajayraj Singh said the victims motorcycle was on the wrong side when hit by the bus. He said an FIR has been registered against the unidentified bus driver. We are trying to identify him, he said.

Senior superintendent of police (Ludhiana rural) Opinder Singh Ghuman said the bus belonged to Dabwali Transport Company, Bathinda.

Congress, AAP join protesters

Later in the evening, Congress member of Parliament Ravneet Singh Bittu, MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader HS Phoolka joined the protesters who were blocking the road. They demanded that a case be registered against the owners of bus-operator company for employing untrained drivers. They also demanded compensation for the bereaved family. They said a committee of Baddowal residents would be formed to decide the further course of action.

Police investigating at the spot in Ludhiana on Thursday. (JS Grewal/HT Photo)

Within hours, Rakhi celebrations turn into tragedy

Ludhiana: Within a couple of hours, the Rakhi celebrations turned into mourning. The world of a sister came down crashing as the news of death of her brother and father reached the village. Gurpreet Kaur, who stays on Dhandran Road with her husband, had visited her parental home to tie rakhi to her two brothers before Manit and Hardev left on a motorcycle for Ludhiana. Only a couple of hours earlier she had prayed for the long life of her brothers.

When this correspondent visited the house of the victims, the village was in mourning. Villagers were seen consoling Manjits mother Baljeet Kaur that all will be well and her injured husband and son will be fine.

Hardev and his two sons Manjit and Jasveer Singh (32) ran a welding workshop in the village. (By Amarpal Singh)

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The Punjabi University condoled the death of writer Gurdial Singh, one of the most celebrated Punjabi writers, at a meeting presided over by vice-chancellor Jaspal Singh in the varsitys senate hall on Wednesday. The 83-year-old writer breathed his last at a private hospital in Bathinda.

The meeting was largely attended by faculty, research scholars and students, where they shared their views on the much-feted literary figure of Punjab.

The V-C described him as the greatest of great Punjabi writers which made him the second Punjabi author after Amrita Pritam to win the coveted Jnanpith award, the highest Indian honour in literature. Two films, based his novels Marhi Da Diva and Anhe Ghore Da Daan, won worldwide acclaim, he added.

Read | Gurdial Singh (1933-2016): Man who gave Punjabi fiction its first Dalit hero

The varsity had the privilege to interact with him at the All-India Punjabi Conference, commemorated to its foundation day on April 30 every year. He remained associated with the Punjabi University as a professor for a long period of time before he was awarded professor of eminence and life fellowship.

Registrar Devinder Singh said, Gurdial Singh took Punjabi literature to the highest pinnacles of glory. With his death, an era of Punjabi literature that began in the seventh decade of the 20th century has come to an end. His writings reflected the pains, pleasures, dreams and struggles of a common man.
It was the summer break of 2013 when Zakir Rashid Bhat left his college, where he was pursuing an engineering degree, in a suburb of Chandigarh. He took some friends, including local Punjabis, with him for the holiday. They returned. He did not.

Bhat, who is now 22 years old and has hit the headlines for being the successor to slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani, is recalled as a talkative and tech-savvy young man by fellow students here. He dropped out in the third year of his BTech in civil engineering at Ram Devi Jindal College, Lalru, in Punjabs Mohali (SAS Nagar) district. He stayed as a paying guest in Panchkula (Haryana), one of the satellite towns of Chandigarh, with a relative.

Bhat returned to his ancestral village Noorpura in Pulwama in 2013 and joined the Hizbul Mujahideen, the only surviving Kashmir-based militant group. (Video grab)

Some of his batchmates remember a keen student, fond of talking and eager to mingle with all his classmates and teachers. And, like Wani, recall Kashmiri students, he was good with technology and quite active on social media. Now, he has deleted all his accounts on Facebook and other sites, it appears, recalled a friend who did not want to be named, except a profile on Google Plus, where two of his pictures remain.

He was like any other youngster our age; fun-loving, outgoing, and extrovert and very friendly. Nobody could even guess that he would end up replacing Burhan Wani, said a relatives roommate here. He carried expensive gadgets such as an Apple iPhone and a Macbook laptop to college.

The turn appeared in 2012, when there was some Kashmir issue going on and he became emotional, saying that we, the Kashmiri students, should do something for the Valley, he added.

One day during the summer break in 2013, he left Chandigarh with some Punjabi friends, telling us that he is going for a week for a picnic in Kashmir. But he never returned, said a Kashmiri student pursuing higher studies in Chandigarh at present. Zakir was a good friend, said another.

We are also common people, says Bhat in the 8-minute video message that is being seen as confirmation of his elevation to the post once held by Wani, whose killing on July 8 sparked violent street protests in the Valley that are on to the day. We also lived in our homes... but due to Indias demeanour we had to take this step. Indians want Kashmiris to fight among themselves.

We all know how the martyrdom of our three brothers (Wani and two other militants) has brought the movement to a new point. Now we need to support this struggle and take it to its logical conclusion, Bhat says in Urdu in the video, emailed to some media houses in Kashmir on Tuesday and widely circulated through mobile messaging service WhatsApp.

Also read | Kashmir turmoil taking toll on Punjab traders

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With the retirement of justice Prakash Krishna on August 12, only one bench is left at Chandigarhs Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) though around 7,200 cases are pending.

As of now justice Surinder Singh Thakur is holding the fort. Out of 7,200 cases, about 3,200 cases are fresh ones while the rest are related to execution and miscellaneous cases.

Most of the cases are connected with pension and are related to disability, rounding of disability percentage, service pension, family pension, invalid pension, court martial, promotion, maintenance allowance, reinstatement in service, annual confidential reports (ACRs), and discharge.

AFT officials said as of now 20-25 cases are being filed every day. As of now justice Thakur is hearing 70-90 cases per day and soon it would reach around 150 per day. He is carrying the workload of three benches alone.

Chandigarh bench, which has jurisdiction over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana, has been allotted three benches owing to highest pendency in the country. But only two benches were in operation for over two years. Justice Thakur is also retiring on September 23 and if no judicial member appointment is made the AFT here would go defunct. There is a vacancy of administrative member also.

Non -availability of judicial members is not only leading to more pendency and lack of quick dispensation of justice but has also led to excessive burden on the lone judicial member who is appreciably carrying on with thrice the workload despite all odds, said Maj Navdeep Singh, advocate at Punjab and Haryana High Court, who was also a part of panel of experts formed to suggest measures to reduce litigation on defence matters.

The MoD remains a compulsive litigant. Judgements are delivered and upheld by the apex court but not implemented. The MoD has defeated the purpose of AFTs. Now, judges are not being appointed too. If the ministry couldnt run the AFTs, high courts should be given powers to decide the cases, said Bhim Sen Sehgal, chairman of All India Ex-servicemen Association.

It is a sorry state of affairs despite so much pendency no judicial member is appointed. Now, two courts are vacant and whole burden has come on justice Thakur. The judgments will be delayed and poor widows and soldiers would suffer, said Rajesh Sehgal, president of AFT Bar Association.

NON-IMPLEMENTATION OF ORDERS LEADING TO PENDENCY

The panel of experts which gave the report on how litigation around defence matters could be reduced in 2015 pointed out how AFT orders are not implemented and soldiers have to file execution petitions. It said, Non-implementation of orders in time leads to not only frustration amongst litigants and a bad name to the organisation but also in massive outgo of taxpayers money and burden on the exchequer by way of costs, interests and avoidable payments to government counsel for multiple dates of hearings.

It also burdens the dockets of the courts and increases the figures of pendency of litigation in the country.

It is again a cause of concern that there is an unwritten policy (and even reproduced in writing on certain files) that decisions are not to be implemented unless a contempt/ execution application is filed by a litigant. Besides being unethical, this is clearly contemptuous.

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I dont believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, and gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood or brotherhood is a condition that people have to work at, wrote American poet Maya Angelou. On Raksha Bandha (August 18), television stars talk about the bond they share with their siblings, and the one thing that they would like to change about their brothers or sisters.

Read: Avengers to Pokemon: Theres a rakhi for everyone this Rakshabandhan

Karan Tacker and his sister Sasha Tacker

Karan Tacker

The best part about having a sibling is having a friend at all times. My sister Sasha Tacker is older than I am. She has always been like a third parent to me. She knows about all my girlfriends and all my secrets. Sasha has always disciplined me, and never judged me. Thats what I love about her. I love her a lot, and I would not want to change anything about her. Our relationship is priceless.

Mouni Roy and her brother Mukhar Roy

Mouni Roy

My younger brother Mukhar Roy looks up to me, and shares everything with me. What I love the most about him is that he is honest and simple. We belong to a small town. Currently, Mukhar is studying in Kolkata. He gets lazy sometimes. He also doesnt like leaving his room, or getting out of bed to do any housework. I hope he changes that habit.

Read: In pics: When not playing a Naagin, Mouni Roy knows how to live it up

Aditya Dogra and his sister Ridhi Dogra

Aditya Dogra

My sister Ridhi Dogra is three years younger than I am, but we have never felt the age difference. She is the protective one in our relationship. There is a long list of things that Ridhi is good at. Shes a good writer. I dont want to change anything about her. All of us evolve over time. She is doing great in that sense.

Aishwarya Sakhuja and her brother Dr Shyam Sakhuja

Aishwarya Sakhuja

The best thing about my brother Dr Shyam Sakhuja is his selfless nature. He is six years older than I am, but he has never bullied me. Shyam is not only a friend, but also like a parent. There are certain boundaries that I dont cross with him because I respect him. I wish I could help him move to Mumbai (from Dubai). Last year, I spent Raksha Bandhan with him in Dubai. Unfortunately, this year, I will not be able to spend the day with him.

Ssharad Malhotra and his sister Reema Pawa

Ssharad Malhotra

Although my sister Reema Pawa and I have an age gap of eight years, she has never imposed herself on me. She is always ready to hear me out. Reema has loved me unconditionally, and has supported me during my bad times. She is less of a sister, and more of a friend. She could get a little judgmental about certain things and people quickly. That is one thing I would like to change about her. Otherwise, she is just about perfect.

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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has sought the help of Muslims to help root out terrorism, saying the community will be blamed if it does not assist in combating the menace.

The 70-year-old reality TV star-turned politician, who earlier drew flak for proposing a ban on Muslims entering the US, appealed to the community as they would know what is going on in their community.

Look, we have to be so tough and so smart and vigilant. And frankly, the Muslims have to help us, because they see whats going on in their community. We do not see it. They have to help us, Trump said in a Fox News town hall which was taped on Tuesday.

And if theyre not going to help us, theyre to blame also, Trump said and indicated favouring racial profiling otherwise.

In response to another question, he said he would throw out Siddique Mateen, father of Orlando shooter.

Id throw him out. If you look at him, Id throw him out. You know, I looked at him. And you look, hes smiling, he said.

The Republican nominee called for swift action against the ISIS, which he said is better than the US on social media.

We have to take them out very, very swiftly and viciously if necessary, he said, responding to a question on ISIS.

I mean theyre better at social media than we are. ISIS, if you look at what ISIS is doing with social, theyre recruiting over the internet. And I also said we have to end that. We have to knock it out, he said.

Responding to another question, Trump claimed that his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton is being shielded by the media.

She is so protected. They (the media) are so protective, he said. She doesnt really do that much. Shell give a speech on teleprompter, and then shell disappear. I dont know if she goes home  she goes home and goes to sleep, I think she sleeps.

Who do you want to be at that phone at 3 in the morning?

Ill be up, I will tell you that. She wasnt there, he said in reference to the Benghazi attacks.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has received his first classified intelligence briefing which he said he is unlikely to use if he is elected in Novembers general election.

As per the US laws, presidential nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties receive classified presidential briefings which prepares them for presidency if elected.

Given some of his rhetoric in the past, his opponents have urged the US Government not to provide him with intelligence briefing. However, the FBI went ahead with its well established tradition of providing classified briefings to the GOP candidate, which happened at the FBI office in New York.

Trump was accompanied by two of his confidants New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn. The briefing that reportedly lasted for more than two hours was led by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

While there was no word, these classified intelligence briefings normally include threats to the US and other security issues. It is not secret intelligence briefings which include operational intelligence.

Before the briefing, Trump said he would not much depend on such intelligence briefings. Very easy to use them, but I wont use them, because theyve made such bad decisions. If we would have never touched it, it would have been a lot better, Trump told Fox News in an interview.

Trump also hela a round table on defeating radical Islam with his national security team before heading for the intelligence briefing, his campaign said.

Today, Mr. Trump convened a meeting of some of the top foreign policy and national security experts in the country to discuss how to win the war against Radical Islamic Terrorism, said his national policy director Stephen Miller. The participants talked about improving immigration screening and standards to keep out radicals, working with moderate Muslims to foster reforms, and partnering with friendly regimes in the Middle East to stamp out ISIS, he said.

This is a stark contrast to Hillary Clinton who wants to bring in 620,000 refugees with no way to screen them, who refuses to say radical Islam, and who bears direct responsibility for the rise of ISIS with her disastrous interventions overseas, Miller said.

It was not immediately known when Trumps Democratic rival Hillary Clinton would receive such a briefing or when it has been scheduled. Several Republican leaders have called for Clinton not to be given classified information in view of the email scandal.
At least 10 pro-government Libyan force fighters were killed in two car bomb attacks near Sirte on Thursday.

The operations centre for the forces loyal to Libyas Government of National Accord (GNA) said another 20 of its fighters were wounded in the attacks in the region where they are battling to oust jihadists from the Islamic State (IS).

A spokesperson for the forces, Reda Issa, said the two attacks took place in the Gharbiyat area, near a centre used to distribute food, ammunition and other supplies to pro-GNA fighters.

Backed by US air strikes, pro-GNA forces are fighting to clear the last pockets of IS resistance in Sirte, ex-dictator Moamer Kadhafis hometown which the jihadists seized in June of last year.

Pro-GNA forces launched an offensive in mid-May to retake the coastal city, which they entered on June 9, facing heavy resistance as they moved towards the centre.

Last week the loyalists seized a conference centre in the city used by IS as its command centre, leaving the jihadists in control of only a few residential areas.

The US Africa Command said Thursday that it had carried out five more air strikes on IS targets in Sirte on Wednesday in support of the pro-GNA forces, bringing the total to 62 since August 1.
Eastern Turkey was rocked by two deadly bombings against police as Kurdish guerrillas launched a new campaign of attacks targeting areas that are not predominantly Kurdish.

The car bombings -- less than 12 hours apart -- killed at least six people in total and injured over 200, officials said Thursday, blaming the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The rebels, who have been fighting a deadly insurgency against the Turkish state for three decades, appear to have intensified their attacks since the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

At least three police officers were killed and scores more people wounded in a car bombing that hit a police headquarters in the eastern city of Elazig early Thursday.

The blast left much of the four-storey building in ruins, with television images showing a large plume of black smoke billowing into the sky while rescuers searched for survivors.

The city, a conservative nationalist bastion, had been spared much of the violence that has rocked the Kurdish-dominated southeast.

Officials blamed the PKK, with one accusing the rebels of collaborating with supporters of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating the July 15 coup bid.

We will thwart the PKK like we thwarted FETO (Fethullah Terrorist Organisation), Defence Minister Fikri Isik told the state-run Anadolu news agency, using the name Ankara gives to the movement led by Gulen.

CNN-Turk television reported that 146 people had been injured, quoting city governor Murat Zorluoglu.

Never before suffered an attack

Until now, we never suffered an attack on our city or received intelligence on a possible attack, Omer Serdar, an MP for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) told CNN-Turk.

Turkeys Radio and Television Supreme Council issued a temporary ban on visual coverage of the attack after an order from the prime ministers office, Anadolu reported.

Two more policemen and a civilian were killed in another car bombing on Wednesday night in Van, another city in the east which has a mixed ethnic Kurdish and Turkish population.

A Turkish official said at least 53 civilians and 20 police officers were also wounded in the attack in the city, that lies near the border with Iran.

Former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu suggested on Twitter that Gulens movement was working with the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union.

Once again, the attacks in Van and Elazig show how PKK and FETO work together.

Another five police and three civilians were killed in a PKK car bombing on a police traffic control building near the main southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Monday, the day seen as the 32nd anniversary of the launch of the armed rebellion.

Exploiting the crisis

A source close to the Turkish government told AFP that the PKK was taking advantage of the current atmosphere in Turkey.

Any terrorist organisation likes to exploit crises, the source said, referring to the aftermath of the failed putsch which has seen a massive purge of the army, including the dismissal of almost half Turkeys generals and admirals.

More than 600 Turkish security force members have been killed by the PKK since the collapse of a ceasefire last year, according to a toll given by Anadolu on July 31.

The government has responded with military operations against the group, killing more than 7,000 militants in Turkey and northern Iraq, the agency said.

It is not possible to independently verify the toll.

Over 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK first took up arms in 1984 in a separatist rebellion led by now jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan .
On the night of June 2, 2015, gunmen blocked a highway on Libyas northern coast and stopped a white truck speeding toward Tripoli, the capital. The men trained their assault rifles on the driver. Three climbed aboard to search the cargo.

Ruta Fisehaye, a 24-year-old Eritrean, was lying on the bed of the trucks first trailer. Beside her lay 85 Eritrean men and women, one of whom was pregnant. A few dozen Egyptians hid in the second trailer. All shared one dream  to reach Europe.

The gunmen ordered the migrants off the truck. They separated Muslims from Christians and, then, men from women. They asked those who claimed to be Muslims to recite the Shahada, a pledge to worship only Allah. All of the Egyptians shouted the words in unison.

There is no god but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God.

Allahu Akbar, the gunmen called back.

Fisehaye realised then that she was in the hands of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Her captors wore robes with beige camouflage print  clothes she had not seen on other men in Libya. Most of them hid behind black ski masks. A black flag waved from one of their pickup trucks.

We were certain that they were taking us to our deaths, recalled Fisehaye, a Christian who wears a black-thread necklace to symbolise her Orthodox faith. We cried in despair.

Her captors had another end in mind.

As Islamic State battles to expand in Libya, it is rewarding its warriors by exploiting the great exodus of African migrants bound for Europe.

Read | Why IS is happy that most of its recruits know nothing about Islam

Since the group emerged in Libya in late 2014, some 240,000 migrants and refugees have traversed the war-torn country. Over the past 18 months, Islamic State fighters have abducted at least 540 refugees in six separate ambushes, according to 14 migrants who witnessed the abductions and have since escaped to Europe.

The fighters then enslaved, raped, sold or exchanged at least 63 captive women, nine of whom described their ordeal in detail to Reuters. Their stories comprise the first corroborated account of how Islamic State turns refugee women into sex slaves using them as human currency to attract and reward fighters in Libya. It is the same blueprint of abuse it employed on Yazidi women in Syria and Iraq.

Because of its proximity to southern Europe, and its shared borders with six African nations, Libya is Islamic States most important outpost outside Syria and Iraq. It is territory that the group is fighting hard to defend.

In August, US fighter jets bombed Sirte  the stronghold of Islamic State in Libya  in an attempt to wrench the city from the groups control. The airstrikes have revived a stalled military assault that Libyan brigades launched earlier this summer.

A wounded fighter from Libyan forces, injured during a battle with Islamic State fighters, receives treatment at a field hospital in Sirte. (REUTERS)

Sirte is strategically important for Islamic State. The city sits on a highway connecting two hubs of Libyas people-smuggling trade  Ajdabiya in the northeast, where migrants stop to settle fees with smugglers, and fishing ports in the west, where boats depart for Europe every week.

From this bastion, Islamic State has found numerous ways to profit from the refugee crisis, despite the groups declaration that migration is a dangerous major sin in the September issue of its magazine, Dabiq.

The extremist group has taxed smugglers in exchange for safe passage and has used well-beaten smuggling routes to bring in new fighters, according to Libyan residents interviewed by phone, a senior US official and a UN Security Council report published in July.

Brigadier Mohamed Gnaidy, an intelligence officer with local forces mustered by the nearby town of Misrata, says Islamic State has recruited migrants to join its ranks, offering them money and Libyan brides.

It has also extracted human chattel from the stream of refugees passing through its territory, according to the accounts of Fisehaye and the other survivors who were interviewed. Five of six mass kidnappings verified by Reuters took place on a 160km stretch near Sirte in March, June, July, August and September of last year. The sixth occurred near Libyas border with Sudan this January.

This story is based on interviews with Fisehaye, eight other women enslaved by Islamic State, and five men kidnapped by the group. Reuters spoke to the refugees in three European countries over four months. Two women agreed to speak on the record, risking the stigma that besets survivors of sexual violence. Reuters was unable to reach the Islamic State fighters in Libya or independently corroborate certain aspects of the womens accounts.

Better shot than beheaded

Before she left Eritrea, Fisehaye (rhymes with Miss-ha-day) felt trapped in her job as a storekeeper for a government-owned farm. Like most young Eritreans, she was a conscript in the countrys long-term national service, which lasts well beyond the 18 months mandated by law. She could hardly get by on her meagre wages of $36 a month. But she also felt she could not quit and risk angering the state, which is often accused of human-rights violations.

Fisehaye, a petite woman whose smile easily takes over her entire face, decided to take a risk. In January 2015, she walked across the border into Sudan with a cousin and two friends, her heart set on Europe.

In Khartoum, Sudans capital, Fisehaye spent four months raising the $1,400 she needed to pay a smuggler for a trip to Libya. She tried and failed to find a lucrative job. So, like thousands of refugees before her, she called on relatives abroad to pitch in. She talked to recent emigres and found an Eritrean smuggler whose clients gave him a glowing review.

Before setting off into the desert, she heard stories about armed outlaws who rape women in Libya. She paid a doctor for a contraceptive injection that would last for three months.

Once you leave Eritrea, there is no going back. I did what any woman would do, she said.

The first leg of her journey went off without a hitch. In May, her convoy crossed the Sahara and reached Ajdabiya in northeast Libya. Fisehaye believed the worst was behind her. Though no one counts migrants who die from sickness, starvation and violence in the desert, refugee groups say more may perish there than drown in the Mediterranean Sea.

Smoke rises during a battle between Libyan forces and Islamic State fighters. (REUTERS)

No one stopped us in the Sahara  and the smugglers told us we shouldnt worry about Daesh, she said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. I never expected to see an organised state like theirs in Libya.

She was wrong.

On the night of the kidnapping, the armed Islamic State fighters ordered Fisehaye and the other Christians back onto the truck. The men climbed onto the front trailer and the women, 22 in all, onto the back. They drove east, threading the same road they had driven hours earlier. A pickup truck with a mounted machine gun trailed close behind.

A half hour later, the truck turned right onto a dirt road and the soft glow of a towns lights shimmered ahead. A few male captives had seen videos of Islamic State beheadings. Realising the gunmen belonged to the group, the men jumped off and ran into the flat desert. Gunfire erupted. Some fell dead, others were rounded up. A few got away.

We thought it would be better to get shot than beheaded, Hagos Hadgu, one of the men who jumped off the truck, said in an interview in Hallsta, Sweden. He wasnt caught that night and made it to Europe two months later. We didnt want to die with our hands and legs bound. Even an animal needs to writhe in the hour of death.

Read | Jihad 2.0: How Islamic State has changed global terrorism

The fighters deposited the migrants at an abandoned hospital perched in a scrubland near a desert town called Nawfaliyah. They searched the women for jewellery, lifting their sleeves and necklines with a rod, and hauled them into a small room where a Nigerian woman was being kept.

The next morning, one of the fighters leaders, a man from West Africa, paid the women a visit. He brought a young boy, one of at least seven Eritrean children Islamic State had kidnapped in March, to serve as his translator.

Do you know who we are? the man asked.

The women were silent.

We are al-dawla al-Islamiyyah, the man explained, using the Arabic for Islamic State.

He reminded the women that Islamic State was the group that had slain 30 Eritrean and Ethiopian Christians back in April, filmed the massacre, and posted the video online. The caliphate would spare their lives because they were women, he assured them, but only if they converted to Islam.

Libyan forces allied with the UN-backed government fire an artillery cannon at Islamic State fighters. (Reuters Photo)

Or we will let you rot here, he warned.

Fisehaye found conversion an unholy thought. Along with the other women, she fired a volley of questions at the man: Can we call our families and tell them where we are? Can they pay you a ransom for our freedom? Can you tell us what you did to our brothers? Our husbands?

The man offered few answers and no solace.

Three weeks later, in the first week of Ramadan in June, fighter jets bombed the abandoned hospital compound and some of the buildings collapsed. It is difficult to determine who was behind the attack. Both the US military and western Libyan groups have claimed raids on nearby towns around that time.

In the ensuing chaos, Fisehaye and the other women sprinted past the debris and ran barefoot into the desert. The hot ground seared their feet. The captive men, who had been held in the same compound all along, ran ahead.

Before long, the fleeing captives made out the silhouettes of a pickup truck and men with assault rifles ahead of them. The armed men waved for the migrants to stop, then opened fire. The women stopped. Most of the migrant men escaped, but eleven were rounded up and flogged. Their whereabouts are unknown.

The airstrikes continued through the week. Eventually, Islamic State fighters moved the women to the abandoned quarters of a Turkish construction company in Nawfaliyah, two hours away.

The makeshift prison housed graders and dozers from road-work projects of the mid-2000s, their metal bodies rusting under the intense heat. Itinerant workers had scribbled their names and countries on the compounds walls. Fisehaye and the other women stayed in a small room where the drywall sweated when temperatures rose. A Korean family  a paediatrician, his wife and her brother  were jailed in another room.

It only took a week for Fisehaye and the other women to attempt another breakout. Nine escaped, but not Fisehaye. Instead, she was brought back to the makeshift prison and whipped for days. The Korean doctor tended to her wounds.

A few weeks later, in early August, 21 other Eritrean women joined Fisehayes group. They too had been kidnapped along a stretch of highway in central Libya. One woman came with her three children, aged five, seven and eleven.

Conversion

Throughout the summer, Islamic State consolidated its hold in central Libya. In Sirte, Islamic State fighters crushed a Salafist uprising by executing dissenters and hanging their bodies from lamp posts. In Nawfaliyah, they paraded decapitated heads to silence dissent.

Then, in September, the groups emir in Libya, Abul-Mughirah Al-Qahtani (more commonly known as Abu Nabil), advertised his domains great need of every Muslim who can come. He summoned fighters, doctors, legal experts and administrators who could help him build a functioning state. He levied hefty taxes on businesses and confiscated enemy property, just as his group had done in Syria and Iraq.

The ranks of Islamic State fighters swelled. At its peak, the group may have had 6,000 fighters in Libya, based on the US Armys estimates, although the Pentagon drastically cut that estimate this month to a thousand fighters in Sirte.

The single men, most of whom flocked from other parts of Africa, needed companions, and Islamic State enlisted older women in Sirte to help. The women, called crows because they dressed in black, visited townspeoples homes and registered single girls older than 15 as potential brides, says Brigadier Gnaidy of the Misrata forces.

As the groups ambitions grew that summer, so did its need for women. Islamic States take on sharia permits men to take sex slaves. The kidnapped women, unprotected and far from home, became easy targets. In mid-August, more than two months after Fisehaye was abducted, Islamic State fighters moved the 36 women in their custody to Harawa, a small town they controlled some 75 kilometers (46 miles) from Sirte.

As Fisehaye and the seven other women Reuters interviewed describe it, life in Harawa was almost quotidian at first.

A fighter of Libyan forces allied with the UN-backed government runs for cover during a battle with Islamic State fighters in Sirte, Libya. (Reuters Photo)

There were no air strikes, beatings or threats of sexual violence. The captives  the Eritreans kidnapped in June and August, including Fisehaye, two Nigerians, and the Korean couple and their relative  lived in a large compound by the towns dam. In the next few weeks, they were joined by 10 Filipino medical workers kidnapped from a hospital in Sirte, a Bangladeshi lecturer taken from a Sirte university, a pregnant Ghanaian captured in Sirte, and an Eritrean woman captured with her 4-year-old son on the highway to Tripoli.

It was here that Fisehaye bonded with Simret Kidane, a 29 year-old who left her three children with her parents in Eritrea to seek a better life in Europe. She was among the women kidnapped in August.

Kidane befriended one of the guards, Hafeezo, a Tunisian mechanic turned jihadist in his early 30s. Hafeezo helped the women navigate their new life in captivity. He brought them groceries and relayed their demands to his superiors in Sirte. He comforted them when they cried. He counselled them to forget their past lives and embrace Islam. That way, he promised, they may be freed to find a husband among the militants. They may even be allowed to call home.

The women asked for religious lessons, and Hafeezo brought them a copy of the Koran translated into their first language, Tigrinya. He also brought a small Dell laptop and a flash drive on which he had uploaded religious texts and lessons on the lives of fallen jihadists.

Fisehaye succumbed first. In September, after three months of captivity, she converted to Islam and took on a Muslim name, Rima. Her conversion had a domino effect across the compound; Kidane and the others followed suit a month later.

I could see no other way out, Fisehaye said. Islam was one more step to my freedom. They told us we would have some rights as Muslims.

After their conversion, Hafeezo brought them black abayas and niqabs, loose garments some Muslim women wear to cover themselves. He kept his distance and refused to make eye contact. Instead, he supervised their piety from afar.

Another guard, an older Sudanese fighter, taught them to pray. He recited verses from the Koran and made the women write down and repeat his words. When the guard moved to a new job in Sirte, Hafeezo brought a flat-screen TV and played them videos of religious lessons and suicide missions. As promised, Hafeezo allowed the women to call their families.

Read | Sirte defeat doesnt mean Islamic State is losing Libya: Analysts

In December, frequent gunfire punctured the relatively quiet life in Harawa. Food became scarce. Hafeezo was often called to the frontline and disappeared for days. One day, he took Kidane aside and told her to prepare for what was to come. The leadership had changed  Islamic States emir in Libya had died in a US airstrike a month earlier  and the womens fate along with it.

You are now sabaya, Hafeezo told Kidane, using the archaic term for slave. There were four possible outcomes for her and the other women, he explained. Their respective owners could make them their sex slaves, give them away as gifts, sell them to other militias, or set them free.

Do not worry about what will happen to you in the hands of men, Kidane says Hafeezo told her. Concern yourself only with where you stand with Allah.

Kidane did not share this detail with Fisehaye or the other women, hoping to save them from despair.

Later, one of Hafeezos superiors came to the compound to take a census. He wrote the womens names and ages on a ledger. He asked them to lift their veils and examined their faces. He returned a week later and took two of the youngest women, aged 15 and 18, with him. On December 17, he sent for Kidane. That day, he gave her to a Libyan member of an Islamic State brigade in Sirte. Despite her repeated pleas, her new owner refused to reunite her with Fisehaye.

Kidane and the teenage women escaped and are now seeking asylum in Germany.

Sabaya

In late January, a stomach ulcer confined Fisehaye to her bed. Stress made matters worse. Returning from a hospital visit one afternoon, she witnessed a child, no older than 9, shoot a man in the town square.

Soon after, she and the remaining female captives moved to a warehouse in Sirte where Islamic State stored appliances, fuel and slaves. A group of 15 Eritrean women, who had been kidnapped in July, and three Ethiopian women kidnapped in January joined them that week.

The warehouse became, to the women, a last frontier of defiance. As new Muslims, they argued for better healthcare and the abolition of their slavery. They absorbed beatings in response.

Resistance proved futile. An Eritrean fighter called Mohamed, who had often dropped by to survey the women, purchased Fisehaye in February. He never said how much he paid for her. But he seemed gentle at first, asking after her waning health and her past life in Eritrea.

I was confused. I thought he was going to help me. Maybe he had infiltrated Daesh. Maybe he wasnt really one of them. I started harbouring hope, Fisehaye said.

The legs of Eritrean migrant Ruta Fisehaye are seen as she poses for a photograph. (Reuters Photo)

Instead, he raped her, repeatedly, for weeks.

No one ever showed us which part of the Koran says they could turn us into slaves, Fisehaye said. They wanted to destroy usso much evil in their hearts.

She plotted her escape but could not find a way out.

Then her owner lent her to another man, a Senegalese fighter. Known by the nom de guerre Abu Hamza, the Senegalese had brought his wife and three children to the Libyan frontline. Fisehaye was to work, unpaid, in Abu Hamzas kitchen.

The work was busy but bearable, until one night in mid-February when Abu Hamza brought an Eritrean woman from the warehouse. He raped the woman all night.

She was screaming. Screaming. It tore my heart, Fisehaye recalled. His wife stood by the door and cried.

The next morning, Fisehaye convinced the battered woman to run away with her. They left the city behind and ran into the desert. No one stopped to help them and they were caught by religious police on patrol outside the city.

The police returned both women to captivity. The battered Eritrean woman went back to Abu Hamza. Mohamed took Fisehaye to a three-story building in Sirte that he shared with two other fighters.

Fisehaye moved in with a 22-year-old Eritrean woman and her 4-year-old son, both of whom belonged to a Tunisian commander named Saleh. Another 23-year-old Eritrean lived down the hall with her 2-year-old son and a daughter to whom she gave birth while in Islamic State custody. That woman and her children belonged to a Nigerian fighter who called himself al-Baghdadi.

Fisehayes roommates said the men raped them on multiple occasions. They told their stories on condition of anonymity.

There was no one there to help me. So I kept quiet and took the abuse, the Eritrean mother of two later said. I stopped resisting. He did as he pleased with me.

Escape

In April of this year, Libyas nascent unity government stationed itself in a naval base in Tripoli. Separately, rival factions  the Petroleum Facilities Guard in the east and brigades from towns in the west  plotted to attack Islamic State from opposite flanks.

In Sirte, meanwhile, Fisehaye and her roommates learned that one of them, the mother of two, would soon be sold to another man.

The revelation pushed them to plot an escape. They pretended to call their relatives but talked, instead, to Eritrean smugglers in Tripoli. They studied their captors schedules. They surveyed their surroundings whenever the Tunisian commander Saleh, in a cruel prank, left the house keys with his slave but took her son with him.

Finally, on the early morning of April 14, the women grabbed 60 Libyan dinars, about $40, from Salehs bag and broke out of the house through a backdoor. But Sirte looked ominously deserted in the early morning and, fearing they would be caught, the women returned to the house.

They ventured out again, hours later, when the city came to life. They walked for hours before a cab stopped for them. Fisehaye negotiated with the driver in halting Arabic. She told him they were maids who had been swindled by an employer. She gave him a number for an Eritrean smuggler in Tripoli.

Read | Nearly 7,000 Islamophobic tweets in English generated every day in July

The driver negotiated with the smuggler over the phone. He agreed to drive them for 750 dinars ($540), to be covered by the smuggler once the women arrived in Bani Walid, five hours away.

In the end, it took the women 12 hours to get to Bani Walid. As promised, the Eritrean smuggler paid for their escape and took them to a holding cell. There, they shucked off their niqabs and cried with joy. They prayed for the dozens they had left behind.

Fisehaye borrowed the smugglers phone and called her father in Eritrea. Soon, word of her escape spread among her friends and relatives. They settled her debt and paid the smuggler another $2,000 to get her on a boat to Europe.

In May, during a month when 1,133 refugees drowned at sea, Fisehaye crossed the Mediterranean. Her 10 months of captivity had come to an end.

She traversed a path trod by many refugees, across Italy and Austria, and reached Germany a month after her escape. She is now seeking asylum there.
The much-debated Hindu marriage bill has been tabled in Pakistans national assembly.

Member of the national assembly Ramesh Lal, one of the bills movers, said on Wednesday it took around 10 months for a house panel to clear the bill and another six months for its report to be tabled in the house.

The delay was possibly because of extraordinary debates and discussion around the bill, but at least now the government should consider tabling it in the house in the next session, Dawn online quoted Lal as saying.

The bill was approved by the standing committee on February 8, and has received support from the Hindu community and liberals.

However, some of the more religious members of the Hindu community have expressed strong reservations regarding the bills contents, including allowing separated individuals to remarry.

It also gives a Hindu widow the right to remarry, of her own will and consent, six months after her husbands death.

The cases of abduction of married Hindu women will stop once the bill is enacted, Dawn online reported.

The law would give the Hindu community proof of marriage in the form of a shadiparat, similar to a Muslim nikahnama.

Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have consented to the federal government formulating a Hindu marriage law that they would then adopt. Sindh has drawn its own Hindu marriage registration law.
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern), best known for its work in particle physics, has launched an investigation into a video filmed at night on its Geneva campus depicting a mock ritual human sacrifice, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The bizarre video which has been circulated online shows several individuals in black cloaks gathering in a main square at Europes top physics lab, where a large sized idol of Nataraj, the dancing posture of deity Shiva, is on permanent display.

The video shows the stabbing of a woman in what appears to be a re-enactment of an occult ceremony.

A Cern spokeswoman confirmed the video was shot on the research centres premises, but without official permission or knowledge.

Responding to an email query, she said, Cern does not condone this type of spoof, which can give rise to misunderstandings about the scientific nature of our work.

An investigation was under way and was an internal matter, she added.

The video appears to have been shot by someone spying on the enactment, who seemingly panics when the stabbing takes place. The videographer then turns around and sprints away, the camera still on. The last frame of the video appears to catch a glimpse of the Large Hadron Collider, Cerns prized possession and the worlds most powerful particle smasher that scientists are using to understand the universe.

Read | CERN restarts its Big Bang collider after two years to look for dark matter

The video, which was posted around four days ago, has raised questions about security on Cerns campus.

Cern IDs are checked systematically at each entry to the Cern site whether it is night or day, the spokeswoman said, indicating that those responsible for the prank had access badges.

Cern welcomes every year thousands of scientific users from all over the world and sometimes some of them let their humour go too far. This is what happened on this occasion, she said.

No information has been revealed about the identity of those in the video .

Geneva police said they had been in contact with the centre but were not involved in an official investigation.
Britains Indian community is among the best performing communities on several social indicators, according to a major report on race relations released on Thursday that paints a grim picture about state failure to tackle deep-rooted race inequality.

Titled Healing a Divided Britain, the report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reveals a very worrying combination of a post-Brexit vote rise in hate crime and long-term systemic unfairness and race inequality in British society.

Reviewing race equality across every aspect of peoples lives, including education, employment, housing, pay and living standards, health, criminal justice and participation, the report said the 1.4 million-strong Indian community is among the top performers, particularly in education.

Indians saw the largest increase (18.1 percentage points) in degree-level qualification between 2008 and 2013, while unemployment was lowest among Indians (9.2%) and highest in the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, the report said.

On pay, it said the Indian ethnic group did not experience a significant reduction in average pay which resulted in a positive pay gap in 2013; Indians were paid 8.9% more per hour on average than the White ethnic group.

Except for Indian and Chinese women, the report revealed women from other ethnic communities earned significantly less than their white counterparts. Indians also had the lowest child poverty rate, it added.

However, the report noted that India, with 75 cases, was among the top five countries linked to cases of forced marriage handled by the Foreign Office. The cases involved a British national being forcibly married to a non-British national in countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Somalia.

EHRC chair David Isaac said: The combination of the post-Brexit rise in hate crime and deep race inequality in Britain is very worrying and must be tackled urgently. Today's report underlines just how entrenched race inequality and unfairness still is in our society.

He added, If you are black or an ethnic minority in modern Britain, it can often still feel like youre living in a different world, never mind being part of a one nation society. It is very encouraging to hear the new Prime Minister's commitment to tackling inequality.

After Britons voted in a June 23 referendum to leave the European Union, there was a sharp spike in racist incidents and attacks on ethnic minorities.

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A Mexican judge has issued an injunction that could send drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman from a prison in a border state back to the maximum security prison from which he previously escaped outside Mexico City, one of his lawyers said late Wednesday.

Lawyer Jose Refugio Rodriguez said the government could appeal the decision and it could take three months to resolve.

Guzman was recaptured in January and initially placed back in the Altiplano prison. However, authorities transferred him in May to a federal prison in the northern state of Chihuahua, saying security measures were being improved at Altiplano.

The cartel leader is awaiting extradition to the U.S. and his lawyers complained that the new location made it difficult for them to remain in contact with their client.

Guzman heads Mexicos powerful Sinaloa cartel. On Tuesday, authorities in Jalisco state announced that his son was among six people abducted from a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta.

Guzmans lawyers have not spoken with their client since last Thursday, Refugio said. So they had not informed him of his sons abduction, but he could not say whether other relatives had told him.
Cold War: U.S. considered secret plan to place nuclear weapons in Iceland

(NationalSecurity.news) The United States government once considered stockpiling nuclear weapons at a base in Iceland without that governments knowledge or permission, but backed off the plan after American diplomats objected.

According to a newly declassified State Department document from the National Security Archives, although the U.S. never went through with the Cold War deployment of nukes to Iceland, diplomatic and administration officials nevertheless debated the possibility, including deploying the weapons in secret.

A 1960 letter from U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Tyler Thompson rejected the deployment proposals, but the revelation of internal discussions on the subject ties in the broader issue of the practice of U.S. nuclear deployments overseas during the Cold War, the National Security Archive noted.

Thompson was aware that authorities in Iceland wondered if the U.S. had indeed placed nuclear weapons in their country. Aware that Icelands ties to NATO and the Western security system at the time were fragile, he argued in his letter that if Reykjavik found out about a secret nuclear deployment, it could leave NATO altogether.

Further, he said, a dramatic row could be expected to have an unfortunate effect on our friends and allies, to affect adversely our interests as far as neutrals are concerned, and to provide a propaganda field day for our enemies.

Though the fact that the U.S. never deployed nuclear weapons to Iceland is settled, that doesnt mean there were no nuclear plans for the country. Previous research found that during the Cold War Iceland was considered a potential nuclear storage site.

One researcher, Valur Ingimundarson, found that at the end of the 1950ss, the U.S. Navy ordered construction of a facility that would house nuclear depth charges  an Advanced Underseas Weapons (AUW) Shop on the outskirts of Keflavik airport. The facility was built by local Icelander workers who believed it was going to be a storage facility for standard torpedoes.

It wasnt clear if Thompson kenw about that facility or the plans for it, however. During the 1980s researchers noted that a presidential directive from the Nixon era considered Iceland as one of several Conditional Deployment locations, where nuclear weapons may be stored if war broke out with the Soviet Union.

An AUW storage facility would make sense in that context. Nevertheless, all such arrangements were kept deeply secret because of the political sensitivity of the U.S. military presence in Iceland, said the Archives.

The Thompson letter was heavily redacted upon release, which means the U.S. National Security community has not formally acknowledged that Iceland figured in the Pentagons nuclear weapons strategy.

This is not surprising because the U.S. government has not acknowledged the names of a number of other countries which directly participated in the NATO nuclear weapons stockpile program during the Cold War (and later): Belgium, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey (only West Germany and the United Kingdom have been officially disclosed), the Archives reported.

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The US is monitoring the movement of Islamic State (IS) and its affiliated groups in Afghanistan besides helping the latters security forces to fight out the terrorist organization which is trying to expand its base rapidly in the war-torn country, a top American official has said.

We are always looking at ISILs ability to find safe haven and then expand to work with, these affiliate groups, factions of groups such as the Taliban that they might be able to exploit. We are monitoring it very closely, State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Wednesday.

Were in close contact and coordination with the Afghan Security Forces in that regard, and were going to continue. If we see opportunities to take out key leadership, were going to strike, he said while responding to a question and reiterated that reconciliation process with the Taliban needs to be an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned process.

Any time youve got various splinter groups emerging, that does make those efforts more complex, but that remains our overarching goal and what we view as really the long-term solution for Afghanistan to achieve peace and stability. But I dont have an assessment of what the latest development might mean for prospects, but we continue to encourage those efforts, he said.

The US is monitoring the presence of ISIL-affiliated groups very closely in Afghanistan, he said.

Were actively engaged with the Government of Afghanistan and our partners in the region to prevent that from taking place. We dont want to see them gain safe haven or material support from the Taliban or anyone, he added.

Asserting that the US has made a long-term commitment to Afghanistan, Toner said it would continue to help Afghanistan build a more stable, peaceful, democratic, and prosperous future.
Maintaining a delicate diplomatic balance between Myanmars two giant neighbours, President Htin Kyaw will head to India days after State Counsellor and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyis five-day visit to China.

Suu Kyi arrived in Beijing on Wednesday night to talk about reviving stalled China-funded projects and to enhance bilateral cooperation in tackling ethnic problems along the border.

She is also looking to gradually expand economic cooperation with China as Myanmar transitions from a reclusive dictatorship to a democracy in order to rapidly develop her countrys poor infrastructure.

This will be the first high-level visits to India and China after the new civilian government was formed in Myanmar in March.

Details of Kyaws visit were not immediately available though it is learnt it will be a goodwill visit that will broadly outline the future path of India-Myanmar relations.

A ministerial delegate accompanying Suu Kyi said India and China are Myanmars important neighbours and it is important to maintain good relations with both.

On Thursday, the ruling Communist Party of China lavished a ceremonial welcome at the Great Hall of the People on Suu Kyi, an honour usually reserved for heads of state. Military pomp and show marked her entry to the hall, escorted by Premier Li Keqiang.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (2nd from left) and Myanmars State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (2nd from right) hold a meeting with their delegations at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. (Reuters)

On Friday, she will meet President Xi Jinping, National Peoples Congress (NPC) standing committee chairpman Zhang Dejiang and State Counsellor Yang Jiechi.

Suu Kyi, who is accompanied by the ministers of finance, power and transport and communication, will also visit Xian and Kunming, from where she will fly back to Myanmar.

A key focus of Suu Kyis visit has been reviving work on the suspended Myitsone dam project on the Irrawaddy river. The dam is jointly funded by the two countries but work was suspended by Myanmar in 2011.

Suu Kyi was quoted by Chinese vice-foreign minister Liu Zhenmin as having told Premier Li that her government had decided to set up an investigation board to seek solutions to the problem. Relevant departments are expected to find a settlement that will keep the interests of both countries in mind.

Liu said Suu Kyi and Li had reached agreements on enhancing cooperation in various fields, especially in the border regions.

Referring to the upcoming Panglong Peace Conference, Liu said Li had expressed support for the process of ethnic reconciliation in Myanmar and backed the government on settling ethnic issues through talks. Liu said China also expressed its support for the peaceful settlement of problems in the north Myanmar region.
Nearly 7,000 Islamophobic tweets in English were generated every day in July across the world, with the most significant increase coming after the terror attack in the French city of Nice, according to research by the think tank Demos.

In comparison, the number of such tweets in April was about 2,500. The Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos used 49 words and hashtags as indicators of anti-Islamic tweets.

Over July, we identified 215,247 tweets, sent in English and from around the world, as highly likely to be hateful, derogatory, and anti-Islamic. On average, this is 289 per hour, or 6943 per day, a report based on the study said.

Online big data research by Demos found significant spikes in the use of anti-Islamic language on Twitter were strongly correlated to current events, particularly acts of terrorism.

Many of the tweets identified as derogatory and anti-Islamic included specific references to recent acts of violence and attacked entire Muslim communities in the context of terrorism, Demos said.

The think tank said the five most significant spikes in anti-Islamic tweets occurred on July 5, four days after the siege of a cafe in Bangladesh by Islamic State militants (9,220 tweets); July 8, a day after the killing of five police officers in Dallas (11,320 tweets); July 15, the day after a terrorist drove a truck through crowds in Nice (21,190 tweets); July 17, a day after the failed coup in Turkey that was seen by some Twitter users as an attack on secularism (10,610 tweets); and July 26, the day after a Christian priest was beheaded in a Normandy church by IS members (8,950 tweets).

Demos said Islamophobia on Twitter was increasing month on month, with July the highest rate since its dedicated analysis began in March. Since the research began, Demos found an average of 4,972 Islamophobic tweets were sent per day.

In the wake of the IS attack in Brussels, a particularly high volume was recorded in March.

Demos was able to geo-locate abusive tweets in every EU member state. As only tweets in English were recorded, the majority were traced to the UK. Significant concentrations were also identified in the Netherlands, France and Germany, the think tank said.
A debt-ridden man in Pakistans Punjab province allegedly drowned his four-year-old daughter into a canal and reported a false complaint of kidnapping to get 500,000 rupees as compensation from the government.

Shahbaz Ahmad, struggling under a Rs 700,000 debt, planned to kill Sabiha to secure the compensation from Punjab government, a senior police official told reporters.

After throwing his daughter into the canal, Ahmad lodged a false complaint with the police on Tuesday that his daughter had been kidnapped while going to school at Jakhar village near Kotla, some 150 kilometres from Lahore.

The police found the girls body floating in the canal near Randheer village.

The official said that after fishing out the body from the canal, the police grilled Ahmad who confessed to have killed his daughter, hoping he would get the compensation the Punjab government was offering to families of kidnapped children.

Ahmad told the police that he needed the amount to pay off his debts.

On Tuesday, I picked Sabiha from the house on the pretext of dropping her at school, but instead took her to the canal bank and threw her into deep waters, he said.

A murder case has been registered in this connection.

There has been a surge in cases of child abduction in the province and special compensation has been announced by the Punjab government for the families of the victims.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas will visit Europe in September to enlist support for the partys campaign for the assembly elections in Punjab, party officials said in London on Thursday.

Kejriwal will visit Italy in the first week of September while Vishwas is due to arrive in Britain in September-end, Sandeep Bisht of AAP UK told Hindustan Times. Both countries have a significant population of Punjabi origin.

The UK unit of AAP has been holding a series of events in towns and areas with large minorities of Punjabi origin, who maintain close links with the state. Congress leaders from Punjab too are due to meet leading members of the community in Southall and other areas.

Several new members joined AAP during events in Leamington and Warwick in the Midlands earlier this month, including during the Leamington & Warwick Mela on August 14. Similar events were held in gurdwaras in east London.

Not only youth but elders too want to be part of change in Punjab and are eager to see a corruption and drug-free Punjab, Bisht said.

AAP UK coordinator Prayas Chaudhary said after the success of the Flame Of Hope programme across Britain before the 2015 Delhi election, a similar programme was launched in February in four cities for the Punjab elections.

Two party MLAs from Delhi, Adarsh Shastri and Jarnail Singh, toured Britain and participated in public events in Glasgow, Birmingham, Leicester and London.

In February 2015, a sum of Rs 15 lakh was donated through the partys website by Indian passport holders who received the Flame of Hope. AAP volunteers from Britain also travelled to Delhi for the elections.

The party has had an office in Ealing, west London, since January 2014. Donated by an AAP supporter, the office was set up and funded by other supporters in Britain, and not by the Delhi-based party.

AAP supporters in Britain mainly comprise professionals from the IT, finance, retail and medicine sectors.

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A string of bombings, blamed on Kurdish rebels and targeting Turkeys security forces, killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 220 others, officials said Thursday.

Two of the attacks were car bombings that hit police stations in eastern Turkey, while a third  a roadside blast  targeted a military vehicle carrying soldiers in the southeast of the country.

Authorities say the assaults were carried out by the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has launched a campaign of car bombings targeting police stations or roadside bomb attacks against security force vehicles. Last week, PKK commander Cemil Bayik threatened increased attacks against police in Turkish cities.

The wave of attacks come as Turkey is focused on a clampdown on suspected followers of a movement led by US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, which the government accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup last month, that killed at least 270 people.

The first car bombing hit a police station in the eastern province of Van late Wednesday, killing a police officer and two civilians. At least 73 other people  53 civilians and 20 police officers  were wounded, officials said.

Another car bombing hit police headquarters in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig early Thursday, killing at least five people, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Officials said earlier 146 people were wounded and 14 of them were in serious condition.

Video footage showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area. Cars were overturned and the windows of the four-story building and its wings were blown out.

In the southeastern province of Bitlis meanwhile, five soldiers were killed after rebels detonated a roadside improvised explosive device as an armoured military vehicle was passing by, officials said. Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack. A government-paid village guard, helping the security forces battle the PKK was also killed in a clash with rebels in the province, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim traveled to Elazig to visit the site of the bombing as well as those wounded in the attack.

He told reporters there that both the PKK and the Gulen movement were directed by the same intelligence intent on causing Turkey harm, without elaborating.

The (Gulen movement) has lost its assertiveness and has handed over the duty to the (PKK), Yildirim said. The intelligence that directs them is the same. When ones duty ends, the other takes up the duty.

Yildirim vowed to fight the PKK until it is eliminated.

No terror organisation will force this nation to cow in submission, Yildirim said.

Speaking in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkey was jointly attacked by various organizations who he said were in close contact with each other and were acting under the same motivations even if they have different names.

He said the Turkish security forces have killed at least 182 Kurdish rebels in the weeks following the July 15 failed military coup, insisting that there has been no slackening in the fight against the PKK.

Fighting between the PKK and Turkeys security forces resumed last year after a fragile peace process collapsed. Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed, according to Anadolu. Human rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also died in the clashes.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict since the PKK took up arms for autonomy in southeast Turkey in 1984. Turkey and its allies consider the PKK a terrorist organization.

Amnesty International condemned Thursdays car bombings as the latest in a series of reckless and brutal attacks.

Those responsible for these crimes show a contempt for the right to life and must be brought to justice, said Andrew Gardner, the rights groups Turkey researcher.

On Thursday, authorities imposed a temporary blackout on media coverage of the bombing in Elazig, citing public order and national security concerns.

Turkey frequently imposes such bans following deadly bomb attacks. Thursdays order asked media organizations to refrain from broadcasting and publishing anything that may cause fear in the public, panic and disorder and which may serve the aims of terrorist organizations.
Syrian government warplanes bombed Kurdish-held areas of the northeastern city of Hasaka on Thursday for the first time in the five-year-old civil war, the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and a monitoring group said.

The powerful YPG, a crucial partner in the US-led war against Islamic State (IS), said it would not be silent over what it called it an act of flagrant aggression. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government.

Peoples Protection Units (YPG) spokesperson Redur Xelil said the airstrikes hit Kurdish districts of the city, which is mostly controlled by Kurdish groups, and positions held by a Kurdish security force known as the Asayish.

There are martyrs and wounded, he told Reuters.

Government forces were also bombarding Kurdish districts of Hasaka with artillery, and there were fierce clashes in the city.

Every hand spattered with the blood of our people will be held to account through all possible and available means, the YPG said.

The YPG and Syrian government have mostly left each other to their own devices in the multi-sided Syrian war, during which Kurdish groups have exploited the collapse of state control to establish autonomy across much of the north.

The Syrian government, which routinely uses its air force against rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad in western Syria, still has footholds in the cities of Qamishli and Hasaka, both in Hasaka governorate.

The fighting marks the most significant violence between the YPG and government forces since several days of fighting in Qamishli in April.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the war using a network of activists, said warplanes targeted Kurdish security forces positions in the northwest and northeast of Hasaka city.

It said clashes were also taking place in a number of places around Hasaka.

Syrias complex, multi-sided war has created a patchwork of areas across the country controlled by the government, rebels, Kurdish forces or Islamic State.

The YPG makes up a significant portion of the US-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish and Arab alliance fighting Islamic State insurgents in Syria.

Last week the SDF, backed by air strikes from the US-led anti-IS coalition, said they had ousted Islamic State from the city of Manbij near the Turkish border after a two-month campaign.
Photographer Mahmoud Rslan has taken many pictures of children killed in Syrias war but none as haunting as the one showing Omran, four years old, dazed and covered in blood.

Shot after an air strike that hit a rebel-held district the battlefield northern city of Aleppo, the picture of Omran shows the brutality of Syrias five-year conflict and the suffering of people trapped by fighting.

Ive taken a lot of pictures of children killed or wounded in the strikes that rain down daily, Rslan told AFP on Thursday, the day after he captured the image that has gone viral on social network websites.

Usually they are either unconscious or crying. But Omran was there, speechless, staring blankly, as if he did not quite understand what had happened to him, he said by telephone.

A video filmed by the Aleppo Media Centre, a network of activists in the divided northern city, shows Omran sitting still in an ambulance, his face, arms and legs caked with blood and dust.

He stares into space, raises his arms to touch his bloodied forehead, looks at his hand then wipes it on the ambulance seat.

Omran has a head full of hair that fall into his eyes.

Five-year-old Omran Daqneesh sits with his sister inside an ambulance after they were rescued. (Reuters Photo)

He is wearing a T-shirt and shorts but his feet are bare, having apparently lost his shoes when he was pulled out alive but in shock from the family apartment destroyed in an air raid.

Wednesday nights air strike hit the Qaterji neighbourhood in rebel-held east Aleppo, Syrias former economic hub which is divided between insurgent and regime control.

Rslan was nearby when he heard the raids at 7:15pm (1615 GMT).

It was dark already but I saw a building that had totally collapsed and another half destroyed, he said.

He and rescuers rushed to the buildings to search for survivors.

When they reached the first building, they had to step over three bodies before they could go inside and once there they could not go any further because the staircase had collapsed.

Rslan and the rescuers went next door and found Omran and his family, wounded but alive.

Symbol of innocence

They were plucked out of the building one by one, brought down through balconies.

Omran was the first to be carried to an ambulance, followed by his 5-year-old brother, his sisters, 8 and 11, and finally the rescuers took out the parents.

When we placed Omran in the ambulance, there was some light, so I was able to take pictures, Rslan said.

Omran was in a state of shock, a wall had collapsed on him and his family, he said.

This child like all children in Syria is a symbol of innocence. They have nothing to do with wars.

Syrian and Russian aircraft have been carrying out intense air strikes this week on opposition strongholds across northern Syria to prevent rebels sending reinforcements to Aleppo, a monitoring group has said.

Aleppo has been the scene of fierce fighting since July 31, when the Army of Conquest alliance of rebels and jihadists launched a major offensive to break a regime siege of opposition-controlled districts

The haunting image of Omran reverberated around the globe, much like the photo of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi whose drowned trying to reach Europe with his family last September.

Aylans body washed ashore on a Turkish beach.

Thousands of Syrian asylum seekers have continued to attempt the deadly crossing to Europe in rickety boats, joining thousands others from Africa and other Arab countries hoping for a better life.

The Syrian conflict has killed more than 290,000 people and displaced millions since it began in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations.
One of the top items in Prime Minister Theresa Mays in-tray is the outlawing of caste-based discrimination in British law, with rival groups intensifying lobbying on the issue that has passionately divided the Indian community in recent years.

Caste-based discrimination is not expressly prohibited under equality legislation, but section 9 of the Equality Act 2010, as amended, requires the government to introduce secondary legislation to make caste an aspect of race, thereby making caste discrimination a form of race discrimination.

According to the timetable announced by the coalition government, whose tenure was from 2010 to 2015, the key secondary legislation was to be introduced in the summer of 2015 but this did not happen. The ruling Conservative Party accepts the position of various Hindu, Sikh and other groups opposing such a law, while Labour and Liberal Democrats support it.

The May governments position, as revealed in the House of Lords recently by minister of state for home Shirley Williams, is that we all want the same thing, which is to ensure that there is an appropriate level of protection for everyone against the harm of caste discrimination. She added, I know the whole House supports this aim.

At the end of a debate that included calls for speedy action to enact the secondary legislation, Williams said, The real question is how best to achieve that for the benefit of everyone, which is exactly what this government are currently considering.

Dalit communities in Britain are estimated to be 480,000 strong, and, according to two reports commissioned by the government, they face discrimination in education, employment and the provision of public goods and services. Several organisations have campaigned in support of a law banning caste-based discrimination.

Those opposed to the secondary legislation say there is a need for more consultations.

Jasdev Singh Rai of the British Sikh Consultative Forum told Hindustan Times: We hope the new Prime Minister will initiate a proper consultation on the ill-informed caste legislation in UK. There are too many colonialist assumptions in the written material and speeches which led to the legislation in the first place.

The research used shows poor scholarship and is not objective at all. There are also vested interests from some evangelic religions to promote caste identification and then blame Indian Dharmas for it.

Satish Sharma, general secretary of the National Council of Hindu Temples UK, said in an open letter on the eve of last elections: The Conservative Party is the only party which has consistently listened to us and voted against this legislation and whose members are committed to repealing the caste amendment if re-elected.

The Anti-Caste Discrimination Alliance, comprising caste-based and other groups, said: We have a new Prime Minister who says she is committed to fighting injustice in the UK and that she has a vision of a country that works for everyone  not just the privileged few.

We hope this vision plays out in practice and we have written to the PM calling on her to outlaw caste discrimination without any further delay. We are also pursuing all other options to ensure that victims and future victims of caste-based discrimination in the UK (no matter what their caste) are legally protected.

In a landmark judgement in September 2015, a woman from Jharkhand who faced many restrictions and difficult conditions while working for an Indian-origin couple in Britain was awarded 184,000 in a case that involved overtones of caste-based discrimination.

Supporters of the anti-caste discrimination law hailed the judgement, while critics welcomed the compensation but opposed its caste angle.

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Police in Maine are investigating notes urging violence against Muslims found at an apartment complex where Iraqi residents live.

An Iraqi man approached police on Tuesday morning after finding a typewritten note saying All Muslims are Terrorists should be Killed.

Police canvassed the complex in Westbrook, just outside of Portland, and found a second identical note. They also were told that two other notes had been found by Iraqis living there.

Authorities say they dont know if the threats are related to recent reports of 38-year-old Adnan Fazeli, an Iranian who came to Maine as a refugee in 2009, who was fighting for the Islamic State group when he was killed in Lebanon last year.

They say Fazeli had previously lived in the Westbrook apartment complex.
Hillary Clintons link to terrorism: WikiLeaks CONFIRMS arms deal made with ISIS

In the 1980s during the Reagan administration, various officials within the government and national security structure set up an operation whereby the United States would sell arms to the government of Iran in exchange for the release of some U.S. hostages. Following the sale, the money was then transferred to Contra rebels who were fighting the communist-dominated government of Nicaragua.

There was one major problem with the operation, however: Every phase of it was illegal. U.S. statutes forbade the sale of weapons to Iran, an enemy even back then, and Congress had barred the administration from providing any funding and support to the Contra rebels.

It seems that, in the 2000s, little has changed except the names of the major players. Enter then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

According to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, his organization has obtained a trove of Clintons emails that indicate she was at the center of a weapons transfer operation in which many of them wound up in the hands of the Islamic State, otherwise known as ISIS.

As reported by Democracy Now, in March WikiLeaks launched a searchable archive for more than 30,000 emails and attachments that were sent to and from Clintons private email servers that she set up and used while at the head of the State Department.

The operation managed to retrieve roughly 50,000 pages of documents that span from June 2010 to August 2014. Of those, 7,500 documents were sent by Clinton. The State Department had released the emails as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.

In an interview, Assange  who described WikiLeaks as a rebel library of Alexandria, said that Clintons emails were mated with diplomatic cables with other Clinton materials he has already published on the site, creating a rich picture of how the Democratic presidential nominee functions in office.

More broadly, Assange said, the emails and other documents provide insight into how the State Department in general operates.

So, for example, he said, the disastrous, absolutely disastrous intervention in Libya, the destruction of the Gaddafi government, which led to the occupation of ISIS of large segments of that country, weapons flows going over to Syria, being pushed by Hillary Clinton, into jihadists within Syria, including ISIS, thats there in those emails.

Theres more than 1,700 emails in Hillary Clintons collection, that we have released, just about Libya alone, Assange added.

What hes saying is this: The Obama administration, via Clintons State Department, supplied weapons to the worlds foremost terrorist power, and Clintons emails prove it.

Assange is, in effect, confirming what the Citizens Commission on Benghazi has said: That the Clinton-led policy in Libya during the so-called Arab Spring ultimately allowed U.S. weapons to flow into the hands of not only ISIS but also elements of Al Qaeda in Syria.

Former CIA operative Clare Lopez, who was a co-author of the report, also noted that scores of other operatives were involved in a sort of gun-running scheme, and that a group of lawmakers known as the Gang of Eight, at a minimum, were aware of the operation.

The evidence is clear that Clinton not only made the wrong decisions regarding U.S. policy in Libya and Syria, but that her actions led to the arming, aiding and abetting of an enemy.

One other recent development that seems to indicate Clinton is with the terrorists, not Americans. During a campaign speech in Orlando, Fla., this week, Seddique Mateen, father of the Orlando shooter, was seen sitting in the crowd behind her, cheering her on.

To date, Clinton has not disavowed Mateen or what his son did. And for the record, Mateen supports the Afghan Taliban.

Sources for this story include:

Breitbart.com

AIM.org [PDF]

DemocracyNow.org

TownHall.com

DailyCaller.com

Breitbart.com
A man living in the US Midwestern state of Oklahoma was killed by a neighbour because he was of Lebanese descent, his family says.

Khalid Jabara of Tulsa was shot and killed Friday by Vernon Stanley Majors, police said. Majors was arrested for first-degree murder and is awaiting formal charges.

The Jabara family said Majors had been tormenting them for years, and had called them dirty Arabs, filthy Lebanese, and Mooslems.

The Jabaras are Christian.

Khalid Jabara had called police on Friday after learning that Majors had acquired a gun, his sister Victoria Jabara Williams said in a public Facebook post calling attention to the tragedy.

He was scared for what might happen, Williams wrote. The police came and told him there was nothing to be done.

Minutes later, 37-year-old Khalid Jabara was shot and killed outside the front porch of his family home, Williams said.

Responding officers quickly determined that Majors was the shooter after interviewing several witnesses, according to a Tulsa Police Department statement.

After the shooting Majors pointed his gun at a witness and then fled on foot, police said.

The familys outrage is heightened by the fact that Majors had already been in jail for having run over Khalid Jabaras mother Haifa Jabara with his car while she was jogging last year.

Prosecutors had accused Majors of intentionally assaulting her, leaving her with a broken shoulder and other injuries, according to court records. He was awaiting trial on an aggravated assault charge.

Nevertheless, the defendant was ordered released on $60,000 bond in late May, records show, and he returned to his home next door to the Jabaras.

He was released from jail with no conditions on his bond -- no ankle monitor, no drug/alcohol testing, nothing, Williams said. Our brothers death could have been prevented.

The family says the murder was a hate crime. Police say they do not yet have a motive. There have been many calls to the area that involved Majors acting aggressively towards his neighbours, police said.

In the days since the Jabara family spoke out about the murder, they have received an outpouring of support from people all over the country, and in fact all over the world, family friend Rebecca Abou-Chedid told AFP.

An online campaign to collect funds for the family has raised more than $11,000 from more than 240 contributors.

This generous spirit really is what America is about, said Abou-Chedid, adding that the family is planning a private funeral on Thursday at their church, St. Antony Orthodox Christian Church, in Tulsa.

Majors is scheduled for a court hearing on August 22.
US Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James has praised the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the magnificent execution of Operation Sankat Mochan which evacuated Indian civilians trapped in South Sudan last month.

James, who is scheduled to visit India, told reporters here on Wednesday that she was looking forward to congratulating the IAF chief in particular on what I think is a magnificent execution of the C-17 operation where you were able to evacuate Indian citizens from South Sudan. Well done on that.

Operation Sankat Mochan, which brought back 156 civilians from South Sudan capital Juba, used C-17 Globemaster aircraft purchased from the US.

During her New Delhi visit, she is slated to meet Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, the Chief of Air Staff and Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee.

She described the IAF as a very effective fighting unit and recalled its participation in Red Flag exercises with the US Air Force.

During the exercise, she said, we get together with coalition partners and we train together and interoperate together and we go up sometimes against simulated threats so that we test ourselves on a high-end, very challenging, difficult environment.

Most recently the IAF took part in a four-week Red Flag exercise in Alaska that concluded in May.

India deployed Sukhoi 30-MK and Jaguars fighter jets and IL-78 mid-air refuelling planes.
BEIJING: Nearly 3,000 teachers from Chinas restive Xinjiang province trained to teach and spread anti-separatism are being dispatched across the country to schools where students from the restive region are enrolled.

The objective behind the two-year programme is to promote unity, state media reports said on Wednesday.

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Chinas largest and home to the Muslim Uyghur minority, has been intermittently rocked by violence in the past few years.

Speaking at the send-off, Xinjiangs Communist Party of China chief Zhang Chunxian said that the teachers should lead students to promote unity and fight against separatism and religious extremism.

A total of 2,939 teachers were selected and specially trained for the programme.

In a bid to provide better educational services and management, Xinjiangs party committee decided to dispatch many more teachers this year to fully equip all educational institutions in inland provinces and regions that have students from Xinjiang, news portal ts.cn reported.

More than 234,000 students have gone to other provinces from Xinjiang to study, the report said without specifying the period when they had moved.

Over 2,700 teachers have been assigned to inland high schools to manage and provide services for Xinjiang students over the past decade, the report said.

The number of teachers on this particular job was increased this year but no reason was given for the move.

Educational authorities in Xinjiang first began assigning experienced teachers who can speak the Uygur language to other regions in 2000 to assist with the management of students from Xinjiang, the report said.

Zhang said students from the region should be guided and helped to understand the central governments support for Xinjiang.

Beijing blames religious extremists and separatists for violence that has claimed hundreds of lives in Xinjiang in recent years.

Rights groups say the violence is a result of Beijings hardline policies which impact the cultural, religious and linguistic rights of the Uyghurs.
ANKARA: Turkey issued a decree on Wednesday paving the way for the conditional release of 38,000 prisoners, the justice minister said  an apparent move to reduce its prison population to make space for thousands of people who have been arrested as part of an investigation into last months failed coup.

The decree allows the release of inmates who have two years or less to serve of their prison terms and makes convicts who have served half of their prison term eligible for parole. Some prisoners are excluded from the measures: people convicted of murder, domestic violence, sexual abuse or terrorism and other crimes against the state.

The measures would not apply for crimes committed after July 1, excluding any people later convicted of coup involvement.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on his Twitter account the measure would lead to the release of some 38,000 people. He insisted it was not a pardon or an amnesty.

The government says the July 15 coup, which led to at least 270 deaths, was carried out by followers of the movement led by US based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who have infiltrated the military and other state institutions. It declared a state of emergency and launched a massive crackdown on Gulens supporters in the aftermath of the coup. Some 35,000 people have been detained for questioning and more than 17,000 of them have been formally arrested to face trial, including soldiers, police, judges and journalists.
DUBAI: The son of Al-Qaedas slain founder Osama bin Laden has urged Saudis to overthrow the kingdoms rulers in order to free themselves from US influence, SITE Intelligence Group reported on Wednesday. In an undated audio message, Hamza bin Laden urged Saudi youth to join the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to gain the necessary experience to fight. Classified by the US as the networks deadliest franchise, AQAP was formed in January 2009 as a merger of the Yemeni and Saudi branches of Al-Qaeda. Hamza was reportedly the favourite son of bin Laden, who had been grooming him to take over as Al-Qaedas leader.

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BEIJING: China and a grouping of Southeast Asian nations aim to finish by the middle of next year a framework for a code of conduct to ease tension in the disputed South China Sea, state media said on Wednesday.

Since 2010, China and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have been discussing a set of rules aimed at avoiding conflict among rival claimants in the busy waterway.

Last month, an arbitration court in the Hague ruled that China had no historic title over the South China Sea and had breached the Philippines sovereign rights there.

The decision infuriated Beijing, which dismissed the courts authority. But Beijing has been keen to get diplomacy back on track since.

Meeting in northeastern China, the two sides agreed to get the framework for the code of conduct done by mid-2017, and also approved guidelines for a hotline between China and the association for use during maritime emergencies, the official China Daily said.

The members also agreed that a pact on unplanned maritime encounters, signed in 2014 by countries in the region, applied to the South China Sea, the newspaper added.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said documents on the hotline and unplanned encounters would be presented for final approval to leaders in Laos next month at a meeting between China and Asean members, the paper said.
WASHINGTON: The Federal Bureau of Investigation has handed over to the US Congress classified material from its investigation of Hillary Clintons use of a private email server when she was the secretary of state.

The material includes a summary of an interview with Clinton shortly before the FBI announced that, while she was careless using a private server, she cannot be prosecuted for it.

The documents are covered by confidentiality rules preventing lawmakers from disclosing details publicly, but Capitol Hill watchers did not rule out leaks over the next few days.

As secretary of state from 2009 to 2012, Clinton used a private server, housed at her home in New York, for receiving and sending both official and private emails.

Since it was discovered, Clinton has apologised for it and sought to move on, but Republicans wont let her, intending to use it to make their case that the Clintons do not play by the rules.

They have continued to press for her prosecution for it, even after FBI director James Comey, a lifelong Republican, declared in July the case was not worth prosecuting.

Clinton and her aides were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information, he said, but we are expressing to Justice (Department) our view that no charges are appropriate in this case.
BEIJING: Besides India, Bhutan is the only country with which China has unresolved land border issues. The two do not have diplomatic ties, which many say is a result of Indias overwhelming influence on Bhutan.

How big a factor is India in these bilateral negotiations? A stumbling block, said Long Xingchun, director of the Centre for India Studies at China West Normal University.

India is the only factor that blocks establishment of China-Bhutan diplomatic relations. The two countries keep friendly relations despite having no diplomatic relations. There are no problems besides the boundary dispute, Long told HT.

Long said China is ready for diplomatic ties with Bhutan but Thimpu has to wait for New Delhis consent. China has been patient enough to wait. It depends on Indias perception and understanding of the role of Bhutan and its relations with China, he said.

The event was fairly low key but India would have keenly followed the latest round of talks between China and Bhutan to resolve the border issue, their most urgent problem.

Bhutans foreign minister Damcho Dorji held the 24th round of talks with Chinese deputy foreign minister Liu Zhenmin in Beijing this past week. Details are scarce but Dorji also had separate meetings with foreign minister Wang Yi and vicepresident Li Yuanchao.

Between 1972 and 1984, Bhutan took part in border talks with China under Indias aegis. That is no longer the case.

The aim of the border talks is to determine the border at an early date by friendly negotiations , Chinas foreign ministry told Hindustan Times.

China and Bhutan share a 470-km border and have overlapping claims over 4,500 km of territory.
NEW DELHI: There was another country to which Prime Minister to Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were directed: China.

The proposed $45-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will run through all these areas. They are also places where Beijing is extremely nervous about political violence threatening its engineers and projects.

India, on the other hand, is exploiting this concern to get China to exert a restraining influence on Pakistan.

Beijing, official sources have said, is extremely unhappy at New Delhis refusal to endorse the CPEC.

India argues it cannot support a corridor that runs through Pakistani territory that is the subject of bilateral dispute.

Modi in private says the endorsement of One Belt-One Road, the continent-spanning infrastructure scheme being built by China and for which CPEC is the flagship project, has become the main obstacle in his relations with President Xi Jinping. Xi has projected One Belt-One Road as among the most important parts of his personal foreign policy legacy. But the project is in trouble.

Islamabad has briefed Beijing extensively on supposed Indian covert activity in its territory, to the point that China has also come to see Indians under its CPEC bed.

However, the consequence has been curious: China now tries hard to keep the peace between India and Pakistan.

A number of Indian and US sources say Beijing is now a major lobbyist with the Pakistani military, urging a quiet Line of Control, sheathing the terrorist weapon and generally not provoking India.

Modis speech was among the more public attempts by India to leverage Chinas concerns and was probably motivated by New Delhis concerns that Rawalpindi has already begun fishing in the troubled waters of Jammu and Kashmir.

The message that China was supposed to get from this? Keep Pakistans generals out of Kashmir or your fears about India sabotaging the CPEC could come true.
TEHRAN: A prominent Iranian lawmaker confirmed on Wednesday that Russia is using an Iranian air base for airstrikes in Syria, as Moscow said another wave of airstrikes launched from the Islamic Republic struck the east of the war-ravaged country.

The comments by Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliaments national security and foreign policy committee, are the first official acknowledgment that Russian planes are flying out of Irans Shahid Nojeh Air Base.

Meanwhile, Russias foreign minister rejected allegations that its use of Iranian military bases for airstrikes in Syria violates United Nations sanctions on Iran.

Russia on Tuesday first announced that it had launched the strikes from near the Iranian city of Hamedan and struck targets in three provinces in northern and eastern Syria.

It is virtually unheard in recent history for Iran to allow a foreign power to use one of its bases to stage attacks.

Russia has also never used the territory of another country in the Middle East for its operations inside Syria, where it has been carrying out an aerial campaign in support of President Bashar Assads government for nearly a year. Iran is also a major supporter of Assad.

But Iran parliament speaker Ali Larijani stressed on Wednesday that Russia does not have a permanent military base within the Islamic Republic .

However,he added: We have good cooperation with Russia and we say it loud and clear.
Is it time to call for the arrest of CNN propaganda producers for their full scale attack on democracy?

Sometimes the First Amendment goes too far and allows the wrong kind of speech  or at least, thats what the political Left in America wants you to believe. Whether on a college campus or a rally for GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, the Left is always screaming for limits on certain kinds of speech  that is, speech that the purveyors of Left-wing political correctness have deemed offensive.

Maybe its time for Americans who are sick of being bullied into silence to turn the tables on these intolerant speech cops. Maybe its time to demand that the media be held liable not for reporting but for being little more than a propaganda machine for the Democratic Party.

Of course were not actually calling for limits on the First Amendment; the Left does that. But holding the medias feet to the fire is certainly something more Americans ought to do. And in fact, millions are already fighting back.

Case in point: CNN, a supposedly unbiased news network which is going full-out for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. At a recent Trump campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida, CNN producer Noah Gray was confronted by Trump supporters angry about the networks bias against their candidate. One older gentleman who would only say Im a Patriot when asked his name, flipped Gray the bird, calling him a traitor to the country.

But is it fair to say that CNN really is in the tank for Clinton? Sure it is  especially when one of the networks own hosts admits it.

As reported by BizPac Review, Chris Cuomo  the guy who called Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort a liar and stayed on-air for 32 minutes without a commercial break to debate a ridiculous liberal interpretation of Trumps recent Second Amendment statement  and another hostess discussed Clintons possible entrance into the race in 2014.

Its a problem because shes doing what they call in politics freezing pockets, because the donors are giving her money thinking shes going to run, that means theyre not going to have available money for other candidates if she doesnt. Cuomo said. And I dont think shes going to give it to them. We couldnt help her any more than we have, shes got just a free ride so far from the media, were the biggest ones promoting her campaign, so it had better happen.

It doesnt get any clearer than that. The media  meaning the legacy media combined with the bulk of Left-wing new media  are completely dedicated to ensuring another Clinton presidency.

Thats not journalism, that is activism disguised as journalism, meaning its propaganda.

But is it criminal? Some on the Left think so. Consider what leftist attorneys general from a handful of blue states want to do to oil companies who they say are climate change deniers  they want to bring criminal charges against them, in an effort to shut them up (because the Left cannot prove  and will never be able to prove  that fossil fuels are causing global warming/climate change). And, of course, they are aided and abetted by the very same media that is all for Hillary Clinton.

Wait  maybe it is time to arrest the propagandist news media.

Sources for this story include:

Freedom.news

BizPacReview.com

DailySignal.com
ISLAMABAD: Pakistans military killed at least 14 militants in air strikes and a ground operation in a restive Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border on Tuesday. The offensive took place in the mountainous terrain of Rajgal in Khyber region. The military said 11 terrorists were injured.

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Hard-Fighting John Hammond

Although many citizens heeded the call to defend and preserve the Union, no one in Essex County, New York, felt more strongly about serving his country than John Hammond. The son of Charles F. Hammond, a local businessman in Crown Point, New York, John was born on August 17, 1827. He attended St. Albans Academy in St. Albans, Vermont, and graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, in 1847.

When he was 22 years old, Hammond left Crown Point to join the gold rush in California. During the trek west, he encountered slavery for the first time in a small shantytown called Napoleon, Ark. There, he later claimed, he survived a cholera epidemic by eating charcoal.

After completing the overland route to California, a trip that took him almost five months, Hammond wrote to his father about the hardships of being a gold panner, the adverse weather conditions, Indians, loneliness and untrustworthy individuals. Three years later, Hammond returned to Crown Point and married Charlotte Maria Cross. He then went to work in his fathers lumber businessuntil the Civil War broke out.

After the Union rout at the First Battle of Bull Run and the havoc caused by J.E.B. Stuarts Southern cavalry, the need for mounted Federal units intensified. Hammond became instrumental in organizing potential recruits. Incredibly, more than 100 men from the small community of Crown Point enlisted. While on Staten Island, they were formed as Company H of the 5th New York Cavalry. Hammonds father advanced the funds to purchase horses for virtually the entire company.

Hammond was wounded twice during the war. He fought against the Gray Ghost, John Singleton Mosby, on numerous occasions and captured 25 of Mosbys Partisan Rangers at Middleburg, Va. He faced Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson at Front Royal and Winchester, Va., and also took part in the Battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna and Cold Harbor. At the outset of the Battle of the Wilderness, Hammond and a detachment of about 500 soldiers, armed with Spencer carbines, held off the advance of Lt. Gen. A.P. Hills III Corps for almost six hours near Parkers Store.

Rising through the ranks from captain to colonel, Hammond eventually commanded the entire 5th New York Cavalry Regiment. On June 22, 1867, he was appointed brevet brigadier general for faithful and meritorious service. After the war, he became president of the Whitehall & Plattsburgh Railroad Company. In 1878, he became a member of Congress.

John Hammond died of pulmonary tuberculosis on May 28, 1889, at the age of 61. A beautiful monument now marks Hammonds grave at Forrestdale Cemetery in Crown Point.

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In a first-of-its-kind astronomical activity, a hibernating-star has exploded, providing important details to scientists about the evolution of these star eruptions.

According to reports, the explosion has revealed significant insights about nova cycle and a team of astronomers has landed upon evidence that additional mini-outbursts lead to the classical nova. This data has also validated the nova hibernation hypothesis, a theory which talks about the cyclical evolution of such stars and suggests that after the explosion, the mass-transfer rate increases, and then decreases significantly over a million years.

The revelations are the result of the long-term observations by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE), a project at the University of Warsaw that has been studying the universe since 1982. Astronomers at the university had been observing the nova V1213 Cen aka Nova Centauri 2009 from 2003.

It exploded in 2009 but as the scientists were supervising its source star since 2003, they were able to collect huge data spanning over years, before as well as after the star's eruption. The recording helped them study the evolutions of this type of nova in detail. According to Prof. Przemek Mroz, the lead author of the study, nova eruptions are the brightest and the most frequent stellar eruptions in the galaxy and they can be, in most cases, seen with naked eye.

The smaller explosions that were seen in the years before the final explosion of Nova Centauri 2009 are known as dwarf novas. Mroz along with his colleagues studied these very dwarf nova explosions and it gave them clinching evidence about nova hibernation hypothesis.

It is worth mentioning here that classical novas occur in binary star systems i.e. systems that have twin stars orbiting a common centre of mass. The twin stars are a white dwarf (a stellar leftover mostly made up of electron-degenerate matter) and another small star.

The former pulls matter away from the latter, leading to accumulation of hydrogen on the surface of the white dwarf. This results in fusion and then causes explosion. The explosions that are powerful in nature are a signal of the demise of stars but nova eruptions do not necessarily indicate the death of their stellar parents.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Cruise Night at Bellwood

BELLWOOD -- The next Bellwood Cruise Night is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. Friday on the west side of main street.

First and Ten bar will be open for food and refreshments.

The remaining cruise nights, which are scheduled for the third Friday of the month, are set for Sept. 16 and Oct. 21.

For more information, contact Raymond Mais at 402-239-9300.

Duck Run set Friday at Plunge

COLUMBUS -- Tickets for the 19th annual United Way Lazy River Duck Run will be available up to an hour before race time Friday.

Through noon Friday, duck tickets will be available at the Columbus Area United Way office, 3020 18th St. Suite 2, and the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, 753 33rd Ave. From noon-5 p.m. Friday, tickets will only be available at the Pawnee Plunge.

The race will begin at 6 p.m. and the public is invited to attend. Winners will be announced at 11 a.m. Saturday at Frankfort Square.

Top prizes include $10,000 and a brand new ATV. A complete list of prizes and sponsors can be viewed at www.columbusunitedway.com.

Salsa canning workshop set

COLUMBUS -- Jackie Farrell will present a salsa canning class at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Columbus Public Library auditorium.

Participants will be involved in the entire canning process from washing the vegetables, dicing, slicing, cooking and processing. Vegetables and canning supplies will be provided, but any donations would be welcome.

Participants will leave with a jar of salsa at the end of this workshop.

There is no registration, and participation is free.

Free alarms available

Free smoke alarms will be installed for residents of Boone County on Saturday.

Residents wanting free smoke alarms for their home can contact the American Red Cross at 888-382-3790 or the local fire department. Fire alarms and installation are free. Smoke alarms will be delivered to residences between 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday.

This campaign is in cooperation with local fire departments, volunteers and members of the local emergency planning committee and American Red Cross Nebraska-Southwest Iowa Region.

Baby contest set for 'Days'

COLUMBUS -- CASA Connection is accepting registrations for the Im a Little Cutie Baby Contest to be held 8:30 a.m. Saturday as part of Columbus Days at Frankfort Square.

Registration forms may be picked up at the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce office, 753 33rd Ave.; CASA Connection office, 1465 27th Ave.; Shelley Stempeks State Farm office, 2457 33rd Ave.; or Corner Stop, 220 23rd St.

First-, second- and third-place prizes will be awarded in each coed age category. The categories are newborn6 months, 712 months and 1318 months.

Preregistration is required. All deadlines and instructions are on the application form.

Direct questions to the CASA Connection office at 4025634944 or email casacon@megavision.com with baby contest on the subject line.

Win prizes for eating ribs

COLUMBUS -- The 2016 Columbus BBQ Classic rib-eating contest will be held 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Frankfort Square.

Cost to enter is $10. The competition is limited to 16 teams of two. Check-in time is no later than 11:45 a.m. the day of the event at the Columbus Days information booth.

Prizes will be given to the top three teams. First place receives $100 in Columbus Bucks, second gets $70 and third wins $50. The winning team also gets to ride in the Columbus Days parade.

Entry forms are available at The Columbus Telegram and on the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce website.

Reinke reunion at Norfolk park

NORFOLK -- Descendants of Carl Reinke, one of the founders of Columbus, and his siblings will gather Sunday at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park in Norfolk for the family's 82nd annual reunion.

The reunion will begin with a potluck at noon. All family members and friends are urged to attend.

For more information, call 402-564-2285.

Alzheimers group to meet

COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Alzheimers Support Group will meet at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Columbus Resource Center, 3111 19th St.

The program will be Care ECOSystem Research Study presented by the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

For more information, call Adam Lassen or Martha Davidson at 402-564-1980.

Tree Q&A at library Monday

COLUMBUS -- The Platte County Extension Office will hold a tree question-and-answer program 7 p.m. Monday in the Columbus Public Library auditorium.

It is free to the public.

Kelly Feehan, UNL Extension educator, will present for about 45 minutes on ash trees and emerald ash borer (EAB), why some trees fail in a storm and how to reduce this risk, good trees to plant and correct planting methods, and why so many crabapple trees are dying.

Tree questions will then be taken from participants. Free literature will also be available.

Grain safety training set

COLUMBUS -- Grain handling safety training will be offered from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on Aug. 30 or Aug. 31 in the West Education Center, Rooms 176-177, at Central Community College-Columbus.

The training, sponsored by CCC, Center for Agricultural Safety and Health and Columbus Community Hospital, is designed for employees, managers and owners of farms, grain elevators and other commercial or agribusiness establishments as well as rescue personnel and health professionals.

The Grain Handling Safety Coalition will provide the training, which will cover entanglements, fall hazards and protection, grain bin entry, and agricultural confined spaces.

Registration must be completed by Tuesday to reserve a seat. The cost is $10 per person.

For more information or to register, contact Sue Baer at 402-562-1425; toll-free at 1-877-222-0780, ext. 1425; or email sbaer@cccneb.edu.
W ith A-level results due on Thursday morning, tens of thousands of teenagers will soon learn if they have a place at one of Londons universities.

For parents considering buying a property for the three-year stint, a new study of the capitals top 12 universities reveals which present the best deals for buyers compared with renting.

Parents of freshers arriving at the London School of Economics get the worst news, according to the research from Chestertons.

The estate agent found that the average cost of a nearby property in Islington, location of the LSEs main campus, is 646,180  making it one of the most expensive options. However, hanging on to a property could produce a profit. The area has seen an impressive 45 per cent price growth in just three years.

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Renting a room near the campus would cost an average 159 a week  more than 8,000 a year or 24,000 for a typical three-year degree. The study assumes that the student whose parents have shelled out for a property for them to live in while at university not only saves this money, but would be able to rent any spare rooms to friends.

Revealed: London's top property news stories 1 /40 Revealed: London's top property news stories Southwark council moves to save historic arches A London council is stepping in to save its historic railway arches, after a rush of applications to convert them into homes.



Read more

> Scroll right for more of London's top property news stories... Alamy Stock Photo Canning Town revealed as the most affordable property hotspot along the new 24-hour Night Tube route New research reveals the 10 most affordable stops to buy along the newest branch of Londons weekend Night Tube network...



Read more

Daniel Lynch London's property hotspots for "second steppers" New research reveals the capitals top locations for first-time owners trading up in the suburbs. Here's where to start your search for good-value homes with more space...



Read more

New-look 2016 Monopoly board for London's first-time buyers Barking and Bexley replace Old Kent Road and Whitechapel as the capital's cheapest property hotspots. Discover the average cost of buying in every London borough...



Read more

Barratt London Top 30 fastest-rising hotspots for first-time buyers from Peckham to Walthamstow South-east London postcodes are a favourite with the capital's first-timers, but discover which areas are proving to be the best investment for newbie buyers...



Read more

Bob Comics_Flickr City of London set to ban cars and trucks at Bank Junction The junction outside the Bank of England could become a bus and bike-only zone as early as next spring in an effort to reduce regular traffic accidents.



Read more

100 days after Brexit: how the UK's vote to leave the EU has impacted the property market We ask UK property experts how Brexit has effected the housing market and what the future holds...



Read more

> Scroll right for more of London's top property news stories... Shutterstock London borough of Redbridge is home to the capital's most satisfied residents The north-east London borough containing Ilford, Woodford and Wanstead has the best levels of life satisfaction in the capital, according to the latest data from the Office of National Statistics. So, what makes it such a good place to live? We find out...



Read more Daniel Lynch The Optic Cloak at Greenwich Peninsula This gigantic energy tower in south-east London, called the Optic Cloak, is set to warm up 15,000 new homes...



Read more Marc Wilmot_Greenwich Peninsula North Kensington house prices tipped to soar as council pledges to plug W10 into the Elizabeth line A new train station in North Kensington has become more likely after Kensington & Chelsea council pledged to foot the nine-figure bill to link the area to the Crossrail network.



Read more Alamy Stock Photo Post-Brexit sales "better than usual": 35m of London property sells in a single day at auction Guide prices were busted at a fiercely contested property auction where sellers were more nervous than the buyers...



Read more The 'world's largest smog vacuum cleaner' turns polluted city air into jewellery Winner of the 2016 Airbnb London Design Innovation medal, Daan Roosegaarde has launched his acclaimed Smog Free Tower in Beijing - and London could be next...



Read more Derrick Wang Locals vow to fight demolition of Fulham Gasworks Residents are preparing to fight plans for 1,300 new homes in tower blocks of up to 27-storeys high on the site of Londons last surviving Victorian gasworks in Fulham. .

Read more Post-Brexit UK property prices The pace of growth has slowed, but property prices are still rising following the Brexit vote. See how your region compares...



Read more PA Quietway cycle routes: Enfield to Greenwich London's first Quietway, the cycle route from Waterloo to Greenwich, is already up and running, with six more due next year. We reveal the traffic-free enclaves along the routes that are still some of the capitals best-kept secrets...



Read more Seven of the best Hertfordshire villages with 40-minute commutes to London Some of England's loveliest villages are found in family-friendly Hertfordshire, the low-profile home county just north of the capital that offers quick commutes to the centre. Take a tour of our pick of the best...



Read more Alamy Quietway cycle routes: Clapham Common to Walthamstow Discover the homes along TfLs peaceful new bike routes linking the suburbs to the centre through back streets and parks and along riverbanks and canal paths...



Read more Jonathan Bewley House prices in east London borough of Newham rise by more than 20 per cent in a year New figures reveal that while the pace of growth is slowing, property prices are still rising across the capital as demand continues to soar.



Read more Rex Grammar school expansion plans: homes near England's top 30 state schools command premiums of up to 630k Parents face paying an average of 53k extra to live near England's top 30 state schools - and grammar schools dominate the top 10, says new report.



Read more London's Zone 5 homes hotspots Thinking of moving? These are the areas you need to know about...



Read more Graham Hussey Tottenham Hale masterplan row Local residents complain they will lose their views if plans for the regeneration of the the River Lee Navigation waterfront, including apartment blocks up to 21 storeys tall, go ahead....

Read more Notting Hill's skinniest home for sale for 1.25m Inside west London's 'life-size doll's house' - measuring just seven feet wide...

Read more Seven of the best Kent villages less than 60 minutes from the capital - with good schools, shops and pubs Idyllic Kent villages with pubs, shops and good schools are great commuter options and only an hour - or less - from London.

Read more The Tube line extensions and Crossrail homes hotspots you need to know about Transport-led regeneration is the single most important factor boosting the value of homes. These are the new routes you need to know about...

Read more London's new walk-to-work homes near emerging business hubs - and mainline train stations As more creative companies and start-ups move out of central London's traditional business areas, neighbourhoods with new commercial hubs are being created with walk-to-work homes...

Read more The Olympic legacy? More than 100 small start up firms in Vittoria Wharf, Hackney Wick, are being forced to move into new premises following a green light to bulldoze the area to make way for a new bridge over the River Lee Navigation.

Read more Alamy Three-year forecast predicts the house price changes in your region House price growth has fallen in recent months, but is expected to start rising again by 2018, according to the latest three-year housing forecast by Countrywide...



Read more Shutterstock Night Tube: Tottenham Hale revealed as the most affordable property hotspot New research reveals the 10 most affordable stops to buy along London's Night Tube network as addresses along the Central and Victoria lines benefit from 24-hour connections...



Read more Rents fall for the first time in eight years as homes to let flood the market While rents are falling for the first time since the financial crash of 2008, rental prices across the capital are still far too high in relation to salaries.



Read more The university areas that get top marks for return on investment For parents considering buying a property for the three-year stint, a new study of the capitals top 12 universities reveals which present the best deals for buyers compared with renting.



Read more Alamy

Another important factor is that LSE students command an average salary of 29,968 within a year of graduating, more than any of the other universities surveyed.

Queen Mary, University of London in Tower Hamlets took joint second place. Average local prices are lower at 426,684, up 47 per cent between 2013 and this year. Weekly rent is 147, almost as high as Islington, but on graduating the average salary is 23,961.

Students at Goldsmiths, University of London in Lewisham, which tied with Queen Mary, would need to raise 357,304 for a property in the borough, where prices have shot up 64 per cent in the last three years. Weekly rent is an average 102 but the average graduating salary is only 25,000.

Caspar Bell, research analyst at Chestertons, says: Three or four years at a top university is an expensive business, with the costs of tuition fees adding tens of thousands of pounds. When you factor in the cost of living in London, that figure could easily more than double.

For students with families willing to invest it makes sense to buy, saving money on rent, making a capital growth, and additionally getting some income from the spare room.

Raising a deposit may be tricky for some but there are Help to Buy savings products and shared-ownership schemes that undergraduate investors could qualify for. With low mortgages rates, too, it really is worth considering buying a property to live in as opposed to renting. Our calculations may also prove helpful to investors looking to capitalise on the student rental market, as it shows entry costs ranked against rental yields, and is a useful guide as to likely demand from student tenants and price growth over time.

Chestertons also carried out the study UK-wide, and found that Edinburgh, Bristol and Brighton were Britains most investable university towns, beating Oxford and Cambridge into fifth and seventh place respectively.
A frequently asked question of us at CBRE Hotels' Americas Research is, "When will the current up-cycle end?" Some inquisitive types go so far as to ask, "How will it end?" At the "end" of the past two up-cycle phases, the peak rapidly dropped into a deep trough precipitated by tragic and disruptive shocks (i.e., 9/11, financial crisis) that made people hesitant to travel. In the absence of catastrophic events, hotel demand usually falls victim to the natural death of the up-cycle. After all, as I have heard some exclaim, this current expansion phase has lasted more than 27 quarters (i.e., Q3 2009  Q2 2016), so it is likely that a recession is near given that certain past up-cycles were either shorter (i.e., Q1 1975 - Q1 1980) or slightly longer than this recovery (i.e., Q4 1982 - Q3 1990).

Another down-cycle might occur as the result of overbuilding, spreading hotel demand thinly enough to cause financial distress and all the unpleasantness that goes along with it. But in this article, I provide three reasons for believing that excessive supply growth is unlikely to produce financial distress in most hotel markets across the U.S. From my current vantage point, a Goldilocks supply scenario is likely to take place over next few years in most cities: not too many and not too few hotel rooms created.

1: CONSTRUCTION GOT A LATE START

The cash flows from hotels carry the greatest risk relative to other forms of commercial real estate, and construction loans for commercial properties create the most loss potential for lenders. Hence, coming out of our most recent recession, lowlighted by a historically significant banking crisis, it is not surprising that hotel construction projects languished in recent years even in the face of resurgent demand. Exhibit 1 shows supply additions during RevPAR troughs for three recovery periods during the past two decades, including the current cyclical up-phase. Construction was sluggish during the first two years of all three recoveries, but began accelerating by the fourth and sixth years during the 1992-2002 and 2002-2010 recoveries, respectively.

Goldilocks and the three reasons most hotel markets will not become overbuilt | By Jack Corgel Photo by CBRE Hotels

Now, six years since the last trough, only about 200,000 rooms have been added to the U.S. inventory, representing roughly a one-half percent cumulative change. This total is approximately 50,000 rooms less than at the same time during the 2002-2010 recovery and nearly 250,000 rooms less than at the same time during the 1992-2002 recovery. Moreover, during both earlier recoveries, the pace of supply growth quickened after the sixth year to 3% or greater. Our forecasts call for U.S. hotel supply growth to peak at 2.5% (2018) during the current recovery.

2: FRICTIONS

Inhibiting future hotel supply growth are two significant frictionsstricter banking regulations and persistently high construction costs. During the first half of 2015, bank regulators (i.e., OCC, FDIC and FRB) introduced a requirement that banks making loans for High Volatility Commercial Real Estate (HVCRE) would need to set aside additional capital that could amount to 150% of that required for other types of lending. Construction loans for income-producing real estate, in which the developer contributes less than 15% of the value, are the main target of the HVCRE regulation. As Bill Tryon of Partner Engineering and Science, Inc. (see references below) points out, "Some lenders are expected to pass this cost along to borrowers, while others may simply focus on more profitable transactions." These regulations stimulated interest in hotel construction lending by non-bank lenders, however the entry of these firms has not made a sizeable impact.

Hotel developers able to meet HVCRE standards or secure debt financing from non-banks were rewarded with low-interest costs. Yet other recovery period construction-related costs remained elevated and continue to increase. CBRE researchers Andrea Cross and Taylor Jacoby (see references below and researchgateway.cbre.com) chronicle the reasons why construction costs have remained high despite the global collapse of commodity prices and single-family homebuilder retrenchment. The findings from this study indicate that increases in construction labor costs have overwritten gains from lower commodity prices, and that multifamily housing construction partially replaced single-family construction as a prime consumer of construction inputs.

3: NO BOOSTER ROCKETS

Before most bloggers were born, the Internal Revenue Code allowed commercial real estate investors to depreciate investment in land improvements over a 15-year period, resulting in a straight-line rate of 6.67%. The economic depreciation rate has been estimated in academic studies to lie between 1.5% and 2.0%. By the time Congress dumped water on this fire, construction was surging about as fast as the empty rental spaces and hotel rooms. Overbuilding next occurred in the roaring 2000s with a finance-driven boom in single-family homebuilding. Fingers are still being pointed as to who was responsible, but Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) certainly played a role.

The EB5 program is the only booster rocket from Washington that could affect a hotel building spike. A 2016 Morningstar (see references below) report cites EB5 as one of the main causes for the ballooning supply of hotel rooms in New York during recent years. But the limitations of this program will almost certainly result in EB5 resembling a kid's water-pressure-propelled rocket rather than an Elon Musk SpaceX design for launching a wave of non-economic hotel development projects.

GOLDILOCKS, WE LOVE YOU!

During the modern age of the U.S. hotel market, presumably since STR began reporting detailed monthly data in the late 1980s, there have been periods when too few, too many and just the right number of hotel rooms were added to the market in line with the populist concept known as the Goldilocks Principle. The social costs of too much construction were incurred twice during the past few decades as described above. During the current cyclical phase, the inability of traditional hotel supply growth to keep pace with persistent demand growth created opportunity for disruptors equipped with online platforms to impose private costs on hotel owners and managers. Hence, there is a peaceful harmony associated with the movement toward balance in the number of rooms available and occupied. Our Hotel Horizons forecasts portend such a balance. During the next two years, supply growth is expected to moderately exceed demand growth in the U.S. hotel market. With occupancies currently running above long-run average, this run-up of supply should bring hotel markets into balance later this decade. Tranquility will reign as long as the bears don't return home any time soon.

REFERENCES

Cross, A. and T. Jacoby. "Why are Construction Costs Rising?" Viewpoint: U.S. Office, CBRE Research, May 2016.Tryon, B. "Five Words Developers Dread: High Volatility Commercial Real Estate." National Real Estate Investor, August 2015.Snow, B., C. Costich, and E. Dittmer. Ballooning Supply Looms Over $3.68 Billion in CMBS Backed by Manhattan Hotels. Morningstar CMBS Research, May, 2016.

About CBRE Group, Inc.

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world's largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2021 revenue). The company has more than 105,000 employees (excluding Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves a diverse range of clients with an integrated suite of services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
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Ms. Pradtana Tubprayoon, also known as Khun Noina, has been appointed as the new Hotel Manager at MANATHAI Surin Phuket. A hotel management graduate from the prestigious Swiss Hotel Management School in Montreux, Switzerland, Khun Noina has over a decade of experience in hospitality, including 10 years in executive positions which specialises in hotel operations. Khun Noina is returning to MANATHAI Hotels & Resorts, having previously been chosen for the role of pre-opening Hotel Manager at MANATHAI Khao Lak in 2014  now one of the groups most popular properties. During her career, Khun Noina has championed several pre-opening and re-branding projects. She was part of the pre-opening team at Arawak Hotel, Laos for one year and more recently held the position of Resort Manager at FMT (Furama Hotel Thailand). Khun Noina brings valuable knowledge and experience to her new role at stunning, luxury hotel MANATHAI Surin Phuket, which underwent an extensive refurbishment last year.
In year-over-year comparisons, the industry's occupancy decreased 1.5% to 73.1%. However, average daily rate was up 2.6% to US$125.98, and revenue per available room increased 1.1% to US$92.12.

The U.S. hotel industry reported mixed results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 7-13 August 2016, according to data from STR.

In year-over-year comparisons, the industry's occupancy decreased 1.5% to 73.1%. However, average daily rate was up 2.6% to US$125.98, and revenue per available room increased 1.1% to US$92.12.

No Top 25 Market recorded a double-digit increase in any of the three metrics for the week.

Boston, Massachusetts, saw the largest year-over-year increase in RevPAR (+8.6% to US$189.54).

Anaheim/Santa Ana, California, posted the largest rise in ADR (+7.0% to US$178.94).

Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia, experienced the largest increase in occupancy (+3.3% to 77.9%).

Houston, Texas, reported the steepest declines across the three key performance metrics. Occupancy in the market fell 12.9% to 59.8%; ADR was down 6.2% to US$97.97; and RevPAR dropped 18.3% to US$58.58.

No other double-digit decreases were reported in the three key performance metrics.

View weekly U.S. hotel performance review

About STR

STR provides clients from multiple market sectors with premium, global data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 10 countries around the world with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and an international headquarters in London, England. For more information, please visit str.com.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced the signing of Holiday Inn Gdansk City Centre. The property will operate under a management agreement with real estate developers UBM Development AG and is set to open in 2019.

There are currently six IHG hotels open in Poland with a further six in the pipeline. IHG recently announced that in the first half of 2016, it signed 4k rooms (24 hotels) - our best H1 performance since 2008.

Gdansk is becoming a popular tourist destination thanks to its unique architecture influenced by a united nations of wealthy merchants who shaped the city's past. Located in the city centre of Gdansk, in front the Gdansk Marina, the 236-roomed property is within walking distance of the main train station and is only a 25-minute drive from Gdansk Lech Waesa International Airport, making it ideal for both business and leisure guests.

The new build hotel will not only have a conference space, gym and parking spaces but it will also Holiday Inn's innovative and revolutionary Open Lobby. Part of Holiday Inn's extensive brand transformation, the Open Lobby is an open space at the centre of our Holiday Inn hotels, which enables dwell time for our guests and an inviting environment in which they can work and enjoy leisure time within the heart of the hotel. As with all Holiday Inn hotels, all guests will be offered free WiFi.

Miguel Martins, Director Development Poland, IHG, commented: "Poland is fast becoming a hub for business and leisure travel due to its economic growth in the last few years. We always look to put the right brands in the areas in which guests want them and we are thrilled to have signed a Holiday Inn brand with our long-standing partners UBM adding to IHG's portfolio in the Polish market."

Martin Locker, UBM, who already work with IHG on five other hotels, said: "We are really excited to have signed another property with IHG, expanding our portfolio in Eastern Europe. Situated in the heart of Gdansk this property will not only be beneficial to leisure travellers but also to business guests who will have easy access to the airport and all the facilities they will need to make the most of their trip.

The Holiday Inn brand family continues to be IHG's engine for growth as the largest midscale brand internationally, with a global pipeline of 911 hotels.

In Europe, there are currently 657 IHG hotels open with a further 132 in the pipeline*.

*Figures as at 30th June 2016
Jesus had Paul. Han Solo had Chewbacca. And Zaytoven has Cassius Jay.

Cassius Jay actually considers himself the Scottie Pippen to Zaytovens Michael Jordan. Both Chicago Bulls players were members of the 1992 Dream Team, and when Cassius came by the HNHH office to share his story, he wore an emphatic grin, the grin of a man who woke up that day happy to simply be alive on Earth, as well as a patriotic red, white, and blue shirt emblazoned with the name of another Dream Team player across the chest: EWING.

Cassius (govt name: Josh Cross) has long-since established himself as one of the most in-demand hip hop producers in Atlanta. Like Zaytoven, he mixes a saucy, bouncy palette of percussion with keyboard chops few producers can match. He has worked with the likes of Future, Gucci Mane, Jeezy, Young Dolph, Kodak Black, & Justin Bieber. And while his path to trap prominence was different from that of Zaytoven, whom HNHH recently profiled, it began in the same place: the church.

Born and raised in Decatur, GA, Cassius attended a church where his dad served as a bishop and a young Nitti Beatz was a member of the congregation. Everyone I was around was from the church, so I grew up on church music, he told HNHH.

He started playing the keys at age 15 at the behest of his father. I aint paying nobody else, his dad told him.

A keen listener and a hungry learner, Cassius soon developed an intermediate mastery of the instrument and a vast repertoire. Before long, he was traveling all across the South playing weddings. He would return home to Atlanta from Alabama and go straight to church and take his seat at the keys. He assumed the role of MD (musical director) at his church.

You would think you was coming to a club at Divine Faith, Cassius says of the church band under his direction. The bass, the horns, we had the drums. A good guitar player. Two keyboards, organs. Saxophone players. We used to rock the house. We literally played riffs from Stevie Wonder.

When he was 20 years old, Cassius secured a fill-in gig playing keys for The-Dream. The short-term gig became permanent, and he soon became The-Dreams musical director. I travelled the whole world for free at a young age, he said. The whole world literally  Japan, Tokyo, Bahamas, all that, at a young age, for free.

Cassius decided he wanted to become a producer when he saw how much money the veteran Southern producer Don Vito was making. Impressed with Cassius keyboard work one day at a show, Vito approached him took him under his wing. Under Don Vitos instruction, Cassius learned the tools of the trade  the technical side of production, the business side, and how to get the streets jumping. He said if you dont see them little ladies dancing to your music, you aint making the right kind of music, Cassius said. He said that. Now when I make beats, Im always thinking of the strippers dancing.

Cassius had a contentious relationship with his father growing up. They had just begun to repair their relationship when his father passed away. Cassius was 22 at the time. Mad at God for taking his father, he started exploring the Quran and other religious texts.

But then I started praying, he said. They said theres power in the spirit of Jesus. I said Jesus, if youre real, show me in a positive way youre real  dont shoot me  dont kill me  show me in a positive way that youre real. The day that I said that and started praying, I got my first placement with Justin Bieber. [It was Fa La La.] 50,000 dollars  I aint ever seen no 50,000 in one year at one time in my life. Next thing you know, the blessings just came. $50,000, homie, he said, smiling broadly and proudly. I went from making 500 dollars to getting my first check for $50,000.

One night when he was 24, Cassius was performing at a concert at his friends church. He spotted Zaytoven in the crowd and left his post at the keys at intermission to walk across the church and introduce himself to Zay. He was adamant that Zay take his number, and Zay reluctantly gave him his own number.

He never answered on the phone, until one time  Ill never forget  it was a Tuesday night, and I was coming out of Bible study, Cassius recalled. He said, Hey man, we at the house working, just come by. I went over there, they was cleaning up, shooting pool. So I thought we was gonna make beats. We was shooting pool, laughing, and he said, Hey man, play me some of your music. He was cleaning up while I was playing my music, so I thought he wasnt paying it no attention. And he comes back in, and says, Hey man, thats some big music  that stuff is hard, we need to do something together. And we been working together ever since.

Like Zaytoven, Cassius still plays keys in church twice a week, on Sundays and Wednesdays at the Temple of Prayer in Fairburn, GA. Hes organized a gospel trio out of his three daughters, Kiara, 11, Kayla, 9, and Khloe, 6. (He also has a 4-year-son, Joshua Jr.) Some of his earlier beats demonstrate a clear gospel influence. The most notable example is Jeezys Nov. 13 Freestyle, which he originally produced several years ago  an expansive, triumphant beat the sort that Rick Ross likes to luxuriate. The beat featured live instrumentation from his musician friends, including a thunderous drum solo from a guy whos currently on tour with Aretha Franklin.

But Cassius has steered away from this style in recent years; under the tutelage of Zaytoven, he has learned to maintain an economical output of beats and give the streets what they want. Those the types of beats I made originally, he says of Nov. 13 Freestyle, but the world cant accept that. You gotta make trap music right now.

808 aint nothing but a bass guitar in our time, Cassius said. In our time, its just a bass guitar. Its funky. We finna make funky trap music!

Cassius makes as many as 15 beats a day. For him, its a point of pride. Its the Atlanta way; its the way of Zaytoven and Gucci Mane; its the way to make a name for yourself in a crowded field, where even prodigious keyboard chops can only get you so far.

Im about to drop ten albums, he told HNHH. Literally. Ten albums. No more buying jewelry, cars  we only investing in ourselves. When you invest in yourself, you reap from it. Waiting on someone else to invest in you, it might never happen. But when you invest in yourself, you reap from it. Thats what we on right now. We gotta show people how to really get it. People be waiting on others to come and give em something. Nah, you gotta take it. Go get it yourself. If someone dont pass me the ball, Imma go grab me the ball and shoot my own jump shot.
COLUMBUS  Paulo Quini took a seat, holding a certificate and small American flag in his hands.

This has been a long journey, Quini said.

The 41-year-old was among 29 people who became United States citizens during a naturalization ceremony Wednesday at Central Community College-Columbus. Members of the group, originating from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Somalia, India, Cuba, Vietnam, Jordan, Bulgaria and Thailand, received certificates confirming they are now Americans.

Quini came to the U.S. from Durango, Mexico, with his mother and three brothers when he was 14.

She wanted a better future because she was a single mom. A friend of hers told her about working in the fields in east New Mexico. She brought us over while she got established, he said.

The family arrived on American soil illegally, which made Quini often fear of being deported. Later, he became a permanent resident, a status he has held for nine years.

Quini, who also lived in Texas before settling in Columbus, where he works at BD Medical, started the process of becoming a citizen about four months ago. He wanted to be an American for a few reasons.

First of all, it is to have the same status as my wife and children. The other one was to vote and to have the tranquility that Im safe, that Im going to be here forever now, he said.

The naturalization ceremony was coordinated by Centro Hispano. It was the third such event the nonprofit organization has been a part of, with the first ceremony welcoming 30 new Americans and the second 82.

Karen Gomez, executive director of Centro Hispano, said the day has a lot of meaning for the new citizens.

They put a lot of work, money and desire to be in this country, said Gomez, who became an American in 1997.

Requirements to become a citizen include being a legal, permanent resident for at least five years; having good moral character; being able to speak, read and write English; and learning the history of the country to pass a naturalization test. It also costs $680 to file a citizenship application.

Centro Hispano offers immigration services, adult education and a business development program and promotes civic engagement. Ten of the 29 people at the ceremony received immigration services or participated in naturalization clinics through the organization.

The people are excited because now they are going to be able to vote, be able to contribute to their community more deeply. They are getting opportunities, but also responsibilities as a U.S. citizen, Gomez said.

Participants were able to register to vote after taking the oath of allegiance during the ceremony presided over by Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon.

Bataillon told the group America was built on being a diverse nation.

This country was made up of all different kinds of people from all over the world, although mostly from northern Europe and many slaves. In that cultural diversity and religious diversity and in that language diversity, they found the strength to form a country, he said.

America has become more diverse since its beginning, and he asked the new citizens to join in making America an even better country.

The group was also reminded of the opportunities and responsibilities they now have by Pat Pope, president and CEO of Nebraska Public Power District, who spoke at the event.

He said the day is more than a legal process. It's a new beginning. While there will be challenges and more mountains to climb, there is time to celebrate.

Celebrate today. Celebrate who you are and the country you have chosen as your home. Wear your U.S. citizenship with pride. Cherish and fight for Americas principles and freedoms. Set a good example as a contributing member of your community and, while never forgetting your past, enjoy the present of today and the future which awaits you, Pope said.
Rio police have detained couple of U.S. swimmers, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, two of the four men who claimed they were held at gunpoint by men posing as police officers earlier this week. The two were onboard a plane about to leave Brazil when they were pulled off the flight by police officers.

According to reports, authorities went to the Olympic Village to seize the passports of the other two men, gold medalist Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen, but they had already split. Lochte is already back in the States but the whereabouts of Feigen is still unknown.

Police in Rio became suspicious about the alleged robbery when video surveillance surfaced, showing all four men laughing and smiling as they entered the Olympic Village on the night of. Feigen and Lochte gave conflicting accounts to authorities and then said they were so drunk that they didnt know where they were robbed, or what type of taxi they took.

Furthermore, the men can be seen carrying the very items that they said were stolen in the robbery, so yeah Id say thats pretty suspicious.

A judge gave authorities the O.K. to seize the passports which revealed that the two men will now be investigated for the false communication of a crime, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in Brazilian jail.

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"I dont want to see ambulances queuing up outside my club," says Sunday Social promoter Buzz O'Neill who describes "near epidemic" use of the chemsex drug

Dublins LGBT venues and promoters are joining forces to highlight the dangers of GHB, the illegal drug most closely associated with the Irish chemsex party scene.

You can read Hot Press in-depth report on GHB, which includes input from the Gay Switchboard, the Ana Liffey Drug Project, and G expert Dr. Adam Winstock at [link]hotpress.com/features/The-truth-behind-Dublins-gay-chemsex-scene/17439881.html[/link]

The man whos triggered the debate is Buzz ONeill who has introduced a GHB zero tolerance policy at his Sunday Social night in the Odessa Club.

Signs have been posted in the venue saying: If you are DUMB enough to take GHB, be SMART enough to go somewhere else. You will be BARRED for life from half the clubs and bars on the scene."

Talking to Hot Press, ONeill says: Im loathe to use the phrase but this summer GHB use has reached near epidemic level on the Dublin scene; its everywhere. People are having after-parties in their houses and apartments where it seems to be the drug of choice. Im no shrinking violet when it comes to drugs, but the problem with GHB is that its a virtually immeasurable substance. Its so easy to overdose; taking it with alcohol is a big no-no and thats what theyre doing. Talking to ambulance guys and people I know in the services, they say theyre being stretched right now by GHB.

The gay scene has never been so alive  the numbers are up hugely post-referendum because 1) A lot of people are easier now about coming out and 2) Weve become a major LGBT tourist destination. Were getting a lot of repeat business from London and Manchester where GHB has been part of the scene for a lot longer than here.

You can call it a bit of a knee-jerk reaction from me, ONeill continues, but we put up those signs last Sunday, and its getting the reaction I wanted it to get. I dont want to see ambulances queuing up outside my club. Ive contacted every venue and promoter on the scene, and were talking as one. People have to wise-up to the dangers of GHB.
The Minister for Skills, Training and Innovation, John Halligan put his head above the parapet in relation to the laws on prostitution in Ireland. As it happens, he was right.

There was a huge reaction to the interview with the Minister for Training, Skills and Innovation, John Halligan, published in Hot Press a fortnight ago.

And for good reason. It was an extremely forthright exchange in which the Minister gave his honest views on a whole range of subjects. What he had to say was radical in many ways. I may not have agreed with all of his arguments, but that he was prepared to answer what were often searching questions without flinching says a lot about the man. It was a great interview.

The main controversy erupted around his views on prostitution. The Minister came out strongly against the so-called Swedish model, which is currently being pushed here by various offshoots of religious organisations, and seems to have been adapted rather tamely by the Minster for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald.

The Swedish model outlaws the purchase rather than the sale of sex. The idea is that if you reduce demand, then you will also reduce supply. Fewer people, and in particular fewer women, will become sex workers - and the world will be a better place. Which might be fine in theory, but the vast majority of sex workers, male and female, disagree. The last thing they want is the introduction of a law, the inevitable effect of which will be that the trade is driven underground. The general consensus among sex workers is that, rather than making the streets safer, this will make what they do both less secure and more dangerous.

But no one in government seems to be prepared to talk to sex workers, despite the fact that they clearly know more about their line of work than anyone else. Their views are disapproved of and dismissed as if the sex workers are the gender equivalent of Uncle Toms. But that is a horribly arrogant view, which works off the basic assumption of victimhood.

Some feminists are hostile to sex work: they view it as male exploitation and enslavement of women. There is a sexist element here of men bad/women good. But other feminists make a very different argument. They see the Swedish model as condescending and insulting to women. They argue that it implies that female sex workers are incapable of making decisions for themselves when the women and men involved insist otherwise. This view was well expressed by Elizabeth Nolan Brown, of Reason.com, in an article on the issue, published by Time magazine in 2014. "The Swedish model (also adopted by Iceland and Norway and under consideration in France, Canada and the UK) may seem like a step in the right direction - a progressive step, a feminist step. But it's not," she wrote. "Conceptually, the system strips women of agency and autonomy. Under the Swedish model, men 'are defined as morally superior to the woman', notes author and former sex worker Maggie McNeill in an essay for the Cato Institute. 'He is criminally culpable for his decisions, but she is not'. Adult women are legally unable to give consent, 'just as an adolescent girl is in the crime of statutory rape'.

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"From a practical point of view, criminalising clients is just the flip side of the same old coin," Elizabeth Nolan Brown concludes. "It still means arresting, fining and jailing people over consensual sex." In a way it comes down to a simple question: what is wrong with two - or more - consenting adults agreeing to have sex on the basis that one pays?

For anyone who believes in personal liberty and sexual freedom,the only reasonable answer to this question, is a straightforward 'nothing'. You don't have to love Lou Reed's 'Take A Walk On The Wild Side' or to read Jean Genet, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Anais Nin or Brooke Magnanti to recognise that there is a huge absurdity to the whole idea. Of course, some people view visiting a prostitute as a sin. They are perfectly entitled to. But that should have no bearing whatsoever on whether something is legal or illegal. Because laws that try to pretend that issues are black and white, and which erase everything that is nuanced, complicated or subtle about human interactions, are bad laws.

Philosophically, treating the purchase of sex as a crime makes absolutely no sense either. People all over the world can get massages of different kinds, during the course of which the masseur or masseuse can touch virtually any and every part of the client's body. They are usually intended to be and are studiously non-sexual. But there is frequently a high level of intimacy involved, and depending on the tradition on which they are based, from Indian head massages to Thai foot massages, they can cover virtually the entire human frame. Often there is a spiritual or holistic purpose: the Chinese believe that there is an acupuncture pressure point on the ear, known as "The Gate of Heaven", and that massaging it relieves stress like nothing else.

But whether there is or not, for most people, pleasure and satisfaction are ultimately at the centre of the experience. That is where the modern concept of 'pampering' comes from. Women in particular are encouraged to love themselves and treat themselves to the pleasure of a great massage.

So how could it possibly make sense to say to consenting adults in Ireland or indeed anywhere else: Yes it is fine for you to give or to receive a massage and to pay for it or be paid for it. But there is a rule. If there is money changing hands, the masseur can touch any and every other part of someones body, but not their genital area.

It is clearly a farcically stupid, moralistic notion.

There are others who believe that the sex worker is, automatically, a victim of exploitation. This is true of some sex workers. But it is also true of people in many other forms of employment.

Indeed the argument has been made here in Ireland recently that, in a significant number of cases, au pairs are exploited by their host families who expect them to stay in the house and mind the kids

for inordinately extended hours, for bugger all in return. But the fact that this is happening doesnt mean that we should make child- minding illegal.

Arguments about trafficking fall into the same category. Advocates of the Swedish model try to suggest

that every foreign woman involved in sex work in Ireland is a victim

of trafficking. That is a deliberate distortion of the truth.

What is undeniable is that migrant workers are trafficked, for all sorts of nefarious purposes. 21 undocumented Chinese migrant workers were drowned by the incoming tide at a cockle-picking farm in Morecambe Bay, in England, in 2004. Closer to home, in 2014, a group of Chinese men were arrested in Donegal. They were growing cannabis, but were effectively slaves. And earlier this year, the owner of the well known Indian restaurant in Dublin, Poppadom, was ordered to pay a chef from Pakistan 91,000 because he had been used as slave labour in the kitchen.

People trafficking is a crime. The full rigour of the law should be applied anyone involved in it. But it is a separate issue entirely from the sex trade.

In 2003 in New Zealand, sex

work was decriminalized in the Prostitution Reform Act. Coercion of any kind remained, and remains, illegal.

A follow-up report was carried out in 2008 by the Government-appointed Prostitution Law Review Committee. It confirmed that there had been

no expansion of the sex industry as

a result of decriminalisation and generally considered the change

to have been a success. It also

stated: Information received from Immigration Service NZ indicates that no situations involving trafficking in the sex industry have been identified.

In 2014, the Justice and Electoral Committee of the New Zealand Parliament rejected a push to introduce the Swedish model there. The move had been opposed by the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective.

When other groups are finally given rights by society, they

rarely have to keep returning to parliament to protect those rights, their representative Dr. Callum Bennachie said. Yet, sex workers, who have been given their rights by Parliament in 2003 when sex work was decriminalised, continually have to defend themselves in parliament, fight the same battles, and time after time have to refute the same tired arguments based on invented figures.

That effectively says it all. I have no interest whatsoever in taking illegal drugs. But I hate stupid laws and the ones that make psychoactive substances like cannabis and ecstasy illegal clearly fall into that category. They should be decriminalized.

The same applies to the laws on prostitution. It is of no personal relevance to me, but I am against the waste of scarce resources by the State on prosecuting phony, moralistic laws; I am for less unnecessary intrusion by the State; I am for greater personal and sexual freedom; I am for harm reduction; and I am most decidedly on the side of minorities that are bullied and marginalised by self-appointed guardians of conventional morality.

The New Zealand model qualifies in relation to each of these criteria. It is the one we should be adopting.

Minister John Halligan was right. Anything else is just a return to Victorian prudery in a different guise and an entirely unwarranted intrusion into the freedom of consenting adults  men and women  to organize their sex lives in whatever way they want.
There's a host of international and local DJs on show as the summer draws to a close

After what has been a busy summer festival season, we turn the spotlight back on a very vibrant local scene. Theres a lot to look forward to as the summer draws to a close, with the likes of Patrice Scott, Killekill, Boyz Noize, Cleric, Fred Everything, Prosumer, Legowelt, Sven Vath and Josh Wink visiting these shores in the coming weeks. Theres also releases on the way from Irish producers Hybrasil and Sirkus Sirkus.

Mmbrship celebrates its second birthday on August 19, with Detroit house music producer Patrice Scott dropping by Bar Tengu. Scott is a firm favorite with Dublins house music community, and this should be a storming night. The second instalment of Umlaut takes place in the South William Basement the same evening. Umlaut is a new project from a group of local Dublin DJs including Adam Hide; Karl Power will fly in from Amsterdam for this one too. Up in Sligo Houselore takes place in McGarrigles, which is another night driven by local talent.

On August 20, Bastardo Electro bring Berlin techno outfit Killekill to Cyprus Avenue in Cork. Killekill are currently touring their eighth birthday show around Europe, and theyve played in some of the continents best clubs, including Berghain Kantine, Suicide Circus and Horst Krzbrg. Berlin residents Alienata and DJ Flush are in support, alongside Corks very own ELLLL. Shes been making her mark recently, playing at Boiler Room in Dublin, Life Festival and Open Ear  definitely one to watch.

Theres a really strong close to the month in the capital. On August 26, Building Society and Abstract bring Boyz Noize to Opium Rooms. Techno & Cans host Cleric at Hangar. Mint Crush present Fred Everything in the Wigwam basement (formerly known as Twisted Pepper), while Pygmalion welcomes Panorama Bar resident Prosumer, who first emerged on Frankfurts legendary Playhouse imprint in 2005. He cut his teeth working at the legendary Hardwax Records store, and has released tracks with Ostgut Ton and Running Back.

On August 27, house legend Chez Damier plays Opium Rooms with Subject and Abstract. Damier setup Prescription Records with studio partner Ron Trent; which is widely regarded as one of the greatest house music labels of all time. Damier is recognised as a deep house pioneer and played a role in the development of Kevin Saundersons KMS Records and the Music Institute. Ever present since 1989, he has been leading light in the world of house music  this is one gig not to miss.

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Across town that night DiVISION Live hosts Legowelt at Pygmalion. His sound occupies a space somewhere in between Chicago house, electro, Italo disco and ghettofunk. A prolific producer since the 90s, boasting an album a year over the past five years, he also releases tracks on his own Strange Life label.

Up in Derry, Cocoon takeover Ebrington Square on August 27. Cocoon are bringing their A-Team for the event, with Sven Vath, Josh Wink, Christian Burkhardt and Dana Ruh all performing at what will be a huge night for the city.

Hybrasil will released his Robot House EP on Bush Records in September. Bush is a legendary techno imprint boasting some of the 90s most seminal records, including Dave Clarkes Red Series. Robot House EP features four tracks and has already won support from Richie Hawtin, Reset Robot and Jon Rundell. Finally, Sirkus Sirkus will release I Know featuring vocals by Mark Zowie on Whartone Records on September 2.
AUSTIN - A new poll showing Donald Trump only six points ahead of Hillary Clinton, largely on the backs of older, white voters, coupled with a spike in voter registration this year could auger a shift in Texas' political landscape beyond the November presidential election.

The Public Policy Polling survey shows Democratic presidential nominee Clinton leading Trump by significant margins among nonwhite voters and those under 65, a marked contrast to years of staunch Republican domination in Texas.

"Republicans could have a big Texas problem in the decades ahead," said Dean Debnam, president of the North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling whose latest survey has touched off speculation among political insiders about how Trump's unconventional campaign and an increase of more than 1 million new registered voters could affect Texas politics. "The groups Democrats are strongest with are rapidly growing in their share of the electorate, while the groups Republicans rely on the most may not be there in 20 years."

Democrats long have pointed to the state's changing demographics toward a younger, more diverse population as the key to their hoped-for resurgence.

Trump's softening numbers, however, come only two years after Republicans trounced Democrats by 20-point margins in all statewide races, and four years after Republican Mitt Romney beat Barack Obama by 16 points.

The new poll shows Trump leading Clinton by a 44-to-38 percent margin, with his strongest support among senior-age Texans, especially men. Among that group, the New York business tycoon holds a 63-33 percent lead.

With voters under age 65, Clinton leads 49-35. For those under 45, she leads Trump 60-35.

Among nonwhite voters in Texas, Clinton has a 73-21 percent lead, according to the poll conducted by the Democrat-leaning polling firm Friday through Sunday of 944 likely voters; the poll has a margin of error of plus- or minus-3.2 percentage points.

An unusual election

That split, said Rice University political scientist Mark Jones, who has studied how the changing generational demographics of voters affects elections, could be the most significant statistic from the poll and other recent surveys that have highlighted a similar trend in Texas.

"This election is an outlier because Trump in many ways transcends ideology and party," Jones said. "The older the voters, the more likely they are to vote Republican. The younger the voters, the more likely they are to vote Democratic. And the Republicans' base in Texas is growing older."

At present, most polls show that Trump's soft showing so far in Texas mirrors other polls in other states that show Trump running behind or just ahead of Clinton. An early June poll of registered voters by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas showed Trump holding an 8-point lead in a head-to-head election against Clinton, and a 7-percent lead over Clinton and Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson.

Even if the Texas GOP faces the challenge in coming years of successfully courting Hispanic voters as they become the majority in the Lone Star State, so do Democrats, who must retain their traditional liberal constituencies while courting new converts in a strongly conservative state.

Democrats last won a statewide office in 1994. And Texas' electoral votes have not gone to a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Despite that, Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Dallas' Southern Methodist University who has followed Texas politics for years, said Lone Star Republicans could have reason to worry because "competition is coming." The latest poll highlights that older voters who are mostly staunch Republican are being slowly replaced by younger voters, including millennials who generally are more supportive of Democrats.

"Without Trump, I think the Republican numbers would be 6 to 8 points higher," Jillson said. "If that affects local elections in the inner-ring suburbs this year, you could see some Republican losses ... But even with that, I think it will be 10-15 years before Democrats will be competitive again statewide in Texas."

Adding to the growing debate over the effect of Trump's candidacy on Texas GOP politics is a growing spike in voter registrations statewide, common in presidential-election years, especially when an incumbent is not on the ballot.

If a majority of this year's newly registered voters are Democratic-leaning Hispanics, African-Americans and transplants from other states, the trend could be magnified.

This month, Bexar County counted its 1 millionth registered voter, surpassing a registration benchmark that previously only Harris, Dallas and Tarrant counties had. As of early this week, the county had registered 1,013,759 citizens, the elections administrator said.

Harris has 2 million

Harris County has the most, with more than 2 million registered voters. Dallas County has 1.2 million, and Tarrant County has just about 1 million.

Statewide, an estimated 14 million Texans are registered to vote, an increase of about 1 million voters over the last four years, according to the Texas Secretary of State's Office, which oversees elections. Whether those are new Republicans or Democrats or independents is unknown, and party affiliation is determined by which primary a voter casts his or her ballot.

Officials in fast-growing Williamson County, in staunchly conservative GOP territory just north of Austin, said their registration numbers are up significantly.

During the 2008 presidential race, Williamson County accounted for just more than 220,000 of the state's registered voters. The most current figures put Williamson County's voter total at 294,329.

In Fort Bend County, a fast-growing GOP suburban stronghold southwest of Houston, elections administrator John Oldham said registrations have grown by 25 percent since 2008. That has added nearly 100,000 new voters to the rolls in just under eight years, he said.

Oldham estimated that about half of recently registered have not had Anglo or Hispanic surnames. Many have last names traditionally associated with Asian, Middle Eastern and African heritages, he said.

"That's where we're seeing a lot of growth," he said.

For Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston, surburban areas like Fort Bend County are the places to watch in November.

Suburban trends

"Republicans in Texas have dominated the suburban vote, and that's been one reason for their success," Rottinghaus said. "But in this election, Trump is doing poorly among these voters - the suburban women, college-educated voters who are younger. (Gov. Greg) Abbott and (U.S. Sen. Ted) Cruz still do well there, but crossover voting in the suburbs could cause a moment that might allow the Democrats to do better.

"That is how the Republicans got their foot in the door in congressional elections years ago," he added.

The trend, said Jerry Polinard, a political scientist at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, will be determined by turnout.

"The Democrats can be encouraged, but they won't carry the state anytime soon, probably not for at least a decade or more," he said. "Republicans should be concerned about the changing demographics, yes, but not about losing the state anytime soon."
The Prayer Zone Challenge isnt a new endeavor in Texas County. But area pastors say it continues to be an incredibly important one.

As with far too many things when the new wears of, we look for something else new and shiny, said Pastor Bill Villapiano of Faith Fellowship. We must not treat this efort in the same manner. Prayer is not new, nor should it grow old. Prayer is timeless.

For the fifth consecutive year, the Houston Ministerial Alliance will bring attention to praying for Texas County schools with a service aligning with the beginning of a new school year. This years event is 7 p.m. Sunday inside Hiett Gymnasium.

Although it starts with a service, the initiative isnt a one-time event, Villapiano said. Instead, its a renewed focus to pray for students, teachers, administrators and other school employees.

The prayer zones goal is to initiate ongoing prayer throughout the school year, he said. Launched in the fall of 2011, the Prayer Zone Challenge rallies believers with an annual August service and signs throughout the county. The challenge is for believers to pause and pray for Texas County schools every time they see a sign posted in a yard, hanging on a building or displayed in the window of a business.

The efort crosses many different churches and denominations. The alliance itself consists of Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals and leaders from other backgrounds.

Every person is needed at this rally, said Pastor Todd Haley of Ozark Baptist. As a community, we all desire to have our children, youth adult educators know how important they are to us. By coming together as a community, we send the message, You are loved and cared for. You are important.

This years service will include acoustic worship led by Tayler Holland and Logan Pacheco, members of Launch Student Ministries at Faith Fellowship. Pastor Russ Stigall of First Baptist Church in Houston will deliver a message on prayer.

To conclude the night, representatives from each of Texas Countys seven school districts  Houston, Cabool, Licking, Raymondville, Summersville, Success and Plato  as well as home schoolers will pray specifically for that community and its students.

A prayer guide with instructions about praying for schools will be handed out to those in attendance. New Prayer Zone Partner signs will also be available to pick up.

To assist in fundraising to purchase the signs and make them available for free, the Houston Ministerial Alliance designed prayer-themed T-shirts that can be purchased at the service, on the Prayer Zone Challenge page on Facebook or through Jeff McNiell at the Houston Herald. They are $10 apiece.

Villapiano stressed the importance of specific prayers for county schools and the people who work with children on a daily basis. He hopes members of every county community as well as parents, teachers and students will attend the fifth annual service.

If we wont pray for our schools, who will? he said. Its important for us to take a local responsibility for praying for the people who spend the most amount of time with our kids in a week. Its necessary for us to pray for not only the students, but also the people who will leave a long lasting impression on our kids well into adulthood.

When someone has that type of impression, they are certainly worthy of our prayer support.
In late August 1966, a military memorial service was held at St. Marys Catholic Church in David City for 25-year-old First Lt. Ken Knott of the Nebraska Air National Guard.

Meanwhile, the motion picture Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines was about to be shown at the local Astro Theater.

The movie title might seem an appropriate description of Knott, who 50 years after his death is remembered as a skilled Air National Guard pilot and David City native who proudly served with the 155th Tactical Reconnaissance group in Lincoln.

Knott and his plane went missing over Lake Michigan on Aug. 18, 1966, and were never found.

On the anniversary of Knott's disappearance, his life and role in the legacy of the "flying Knott brothers from David City are being remembered by family members and the Nebraska National Guard State Museum in Seward.

Knott was on a two-week summer field training exercise at Alpena, Michigan, and flying solo in the RF-84 aircraft on a low-level photo reconnaissance flight over Lake Michigan when then plane disappeared.

Information from the Nebraska National Guard Museum indicates the weather that day was perfect for flying. Because of the nature of the flight, no radio contact was made once Knott took off for the 75-minute mission shortly after 1 p.m.

A two-day search of the area found no trace of Knott or his plane. Only a few charred pieces of debris, positively identified as being from the aircraft, were later found floating in Lake Michigan near where it's believed Knott's plane exploded and crashed.

Since then, the exact circumstances of Knotts death have remained a mystery and cause for speculation.

Seventeen Nebraska Air Guard pilots have died in the line of duty since 1946. But Knott is the only one listed as missing in training."

Those who knew Knott the best include his sister, Ramona Muntz of David City, and wife at the time, JoAnn Weaver of Lincoln.

The two women recently visited to talk about how a plane crash 50 years ago forever changed both their lives.

Flying family

Ken, the youngest son of the late Jack and Rose Knott of David City, was born Aug. 4, 1941. His father operated Knotts Funeral Home in the Butler County community for many years. Muntz's late husband Merlyn, a Navy-Air Force veteran, also worked at the funeral home.

According to Muntz, the second oldest of the four Knott children, all three of her late brothers were fascinated with flying and sought career opportunities in the sky.

Her older brother, Lt. Col. George Knott, became a career U.S. Air Force officer starting with his service during World War II.

Middle brother John Knott was a career officer in the Nebraska Air National Guard, which he joined in 1956 during the Cold War era.

Youngest brother Ken also joined the Nebraska Air Guard in May 1962.

The three Knott brothers, who all flew jet aircraft, became hometown heroes both in media stories at the time and in talk among residents of David City.

Muntz told how Ken, while training with the Air Guard, would buzz David City by flying low over the town in his jet plane. Hed warn mom ahead of time that he was going to 'shake the sheets' (on the clothesline), she said.

Ken, inspired by the high-flying skills of his older brothers, wanted to follow suit. He graduated from St. Marys High School in 1959, then attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to obtain an engineering degree while also pursuing a flying career through the Air Guard.

Weaver, the daughter of the late Ruth Cockson of Bellwood, also attended St. Marys High School, graduating in 1961. After an initial encounter with Ken at a Lincoln bowling alley, the two were formally introduced at a Schuyler ballroom dance.

So I danced with him and thats where it started, Weaver said. Romance soon followed.

With Ken in the midst of pilot training, the couples hastily arranged marriage at Bellwood in February 1963 was quickly followed by moves to Air Force bases at Enid, Oklahoma, and later Denver, Colorado, as part of Kens training.

Ken received his coveted pilot's wings in March 1964 after learning how to fly the newest jet trainers. These included photo reconnaissance aircraft designed to fly low over terrain and rapidly take photos of potential enemy targets.

The Knotts later returned to Lincoln where Ken hoped to get a job as a commercial pilot with TWA Airlines. In the meantime, he and JoAnn welcomed a daughter, Lisa, born on July 2, 1966.

Just over a month later, Ken left for his Air Guard training exercise in Michigan.

He called our little girl 'Hooter' because she cried a lot because of colic, Weaver said.

The last words I remember him saying as he left was, 'Take care of Hooter, she added.

Time has faded some memories. Weaver said she remembers few details from when a local priest and Air Force officer came to her Lincoln apartment to tell her Ken was missing. It was a sad day, she recalls.

Nor does she remember much about the Aug. 29, 1966, memorial service for Ken at St. Marys church, where members of Kens unit served as an honor detail, or the missing man formation of Air Guard jets that flew over the town following the service.

I was so out of it that day, she said.

Weaver recalled how Kens disappearance affected his parents. The pride of their life went out of them, she said.

Jack Knott, who regularly dealt with grief in his line of work, could not bring himself to attend Ken's memorial service, she added.

Rose Knott also worked through her pain, not giving up hope that her son might still be alive.

She would go up to Michigan alone every summer to look for him. She was just sure that shed find him, Weaver said.

There were tributes to Lt. Knott in the early years after his disappearance. The Air Forces crack precision flying team, the Thunderbirds, gave a memorial tribute to Ken during a Lincoln air show exhibition.

For a period of time, the Nebraska Air National Guard named its mess hall in Lincoln after Lt. Knott. The name was dropped after a new facility was built.

In 1972, the Kregger American Legion Post in David City arranged for a retired Nebraska Air National Guard reconnaissance aircraft, similar to the one flown by Ken, to be brought there for display as a tribute.

Plans originally called for the plane to be exhibited on the courthouse lawn. However, that proposal proved unpopular, and the aircraft was moved to the municipal airport. There it was eventually mounted on steel poles to give the appearance of it being in flight.

The aircraft has no signage with it to explain that it is a memorial to Ken. Parts are missing from the plane and its military markings are slowly fading from the weather.

Its depressing to see it that way, Weaver said.

Both women have moved on with their lives since Kens death.

Muntz's parents have both since died, as have her two other brothers, George and John.

She has three sons who, like their father, served in the military. John and Ron Muntz are Army veterans, while Steve Muntz served in the Navy.

Weaver remarried in 1971. Her second husband, Dr. Walt Weaver, who was Lincolns first cardiologist, died in 2013.

Her daughter, Lisa Knott, 50, who has no memory of her father, is now an underwriter for a Lincoln insurance company.

Memorial in Seward

Recently, Weaver and Muntz were surprised to learn of others who still want to keep Ken's memory alive through the Nebraska National Guard State Museum.

Located for many years on the former state fairgrounds in Lincoln, the museum has relocated to a former armory in Seward. It officially reopened during the citys recent Fourth of July celebration.

Jerry Meyer, state historian for the Nebraska National Guard, asked Weaver and Muntz to participate in a wreath laying as part of the museum's opening ceremonies to honor all Nebraska National Guard aviators killed on duty since 1915.

Weaver was unable to attend, so Muntz represented the Knott family and all other families in the ceremony.

Weaver did respond to a request for artifacts from Ken that could be exhibited at the museum. She turned over a display case of items that included Kens funeral flag, his military hat and a letter of sympathy from President Lyndon Johnson.

Im very happy, Weaver said of her donation.

Kens items are in a much better place than a box in my basement, she added.

Through the Guard museum, Weaver and Muntz have also found an advocate who wants to bring closure to them and other Knott family members.

Dale Hueske, 87, was an Air Force combat pilot during the Korean War and later spent 20 years in the Nebraska Air National Guard before retiring. He frequently trained in the Guard with Kens older brother, John.

Hueske, a former Hastings resident now living near St. Joseph, Missouri, attended the same 1966 Guard training camp in Michigan as Ken. He may have also been the last man to speak with Ken before he took off on his fatal flight.

We were both flying RF-84 planes and were supposed to take off at the same time, Hueske said. "We were both on the runway and Ken took off first. I said 'Good luck, Ken,' or something like that.

Hueske learned upon returning from his training mission that Ken failed to come back. He and other searchers found no trace of Ken or his plane.

Reports that the Coast Guard later found Ken's helmet, or that area residents heard an explosion in the direction of where the plane allegedly crashed, are possibly just hearsay, Hueske said.

In retirement, Hueske has delved into researching past military aircraft incidents. While researching another story, Hueske said he got a hankering" to find out what happened to Ken.

"I want to close it for his relatives, he said.

Hueske, who attended Ken's memorial service in David City, hopes he may eventually be able to get the U.S. Air Force to release the official report on Ken's disappearance, which remains closed.

Weaver said she is OK with Hueskes attempt to learn more about what happened to her first husband, but it wont change what ultimately occurred.

It doesnt mean a lot to me. Theres no other answer, she said.

Weaver instead prefers to remember the young man who first danced his way into her heart.

He was a very loving, caring soul. And flying was the love of his life, she said.
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LINCOLN  Twenty-six state senators and one former senator signed a statement Thursday hailing an economic study by Creighton University economist Ernie Goss estimating that the death penalty costs Nebraska $14.6 million a year.

"Now there is validation from one of the most respected economists in our region that we made the right choice," the letter stated.

"Many of us consider that vote one of the most important, and certainly one of the most carefully thought-through, votes of our career."

The Legislature voted in May 2015 to "end a government program that we viewed as unnecessary, unworkable and a waste of hard-earned taxpayer dollars," the letter stated.

Four senators joined Goss at a news conference Thursday to express support for his finding following criticism challenging its accuracy leveled by Attorney General Doug Peterson, who suggested the cost was inflated based on his own office's experience in handling death penalty appeals.

But Goss said the appeal process was only one of many cost factors cited in his report, which listed higher costs at every stage of the judicial and correctional process, including legal defense, pre-trial activities, jury selection, length of trial and incarceration.

"I'm very confident of the results," he said, citing his estimated margin of error at half a percent.

Speaker of the Legislature Galen Hadley of Kearney, Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island and Sens. Colby Coash and Adam Morfeld, both of Lincoln, stood with Goss at the news conference at the Marriott Cornhusker Hotel.

As a fiscal conservative, Hadley said, he couldn't support "spending money on a program that wasn't working" when that estimated $14.6 million "could be used much, much more wisely."

The death penalty has not been imposed for 19 years, he noted.

"It's a failed government policy," Coash said, a waste of taxpayer money.

That money would be more wisely devoted to tax breaks or used to meet government needs, including improvements at the Department of Correctional Services, senators said in their joint statement.

"If we are truly serious about public safety, that should be our No. 1 priority," they said.

The death penalty repeal was approved by a bipartisan vote that included 16 Republicans, 13 Democrats and one registered independent. One of those senators, Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha, resigned after the Legislature adjourned and he is the former senator who signed Thursday's letter.

Voters will decide whether to overturn the Legislature's decision in a referendum vote this November.
As the number of new jobs continues to grow and the labor force continues to diversify, companies are struggling to find new and innovative ways to recruit potential workers. For businesses to expand, they must understand how best to attract potential employees.Below are three ways recruiting executives can improve their recruitment processes to achieve their hiring objectives. 1. Effective Systems of Engagement A critical element of effective recruiting is good communication. And the best way to ensure good communication is by taking time to develop knowledge of what people value and expect from potential employers. To do this, todays recruiters should consider leveraging resources that are most familiar with modern job seekers  starting with mobile technology. Mobile technologyis incredibly important to corporate recruiting, given that many prospects value being able to search for jobs on their mobile device. However, simply being mobile friendly is not enough. Rather, employers should aim to be mobile optimized, enabling their sites to reformat themselves to suit the particular mobile device on which they appear. Mobile optimization is essential to allow viewers to engage better with the content and is an indicator of a companys level of technological sophistication. Moreover, an optimized mobile site can make applying faster and simpler, as well as provide an efficient mechanism for employer follow-upboth of which impro...
Are you on the fence about whether you need help with your business human resources duties? Many business owners wear a multitude of hats, including that of HR manager, but there comes a point when handling the wide-range of HR tasks may hold you back from growing your company and other major profit-generating goals because you just dont have enough time and energy for everything. To help you determine if and when its best for your company to hire a human resources professional, consider the following hiring best practices and whether you see them in your business. Youre preparing to grow your company. If youre ramping up for growth and plan to hire a significant number of employees, it may be the perfect time to get some HR help. Human resource tasks encompass many crucial areas, including recruiting, hiring, onboarding, employee relations, workplace safety, benefits planning, payroll and termination. The more employees you hire, the greater the workload in each of these categories. Heres the general industry standard, as recommended by HR professional Ken Viggers: At the 50-employee level, at minimum an outsourced HR help is recommended. For the 100-employee level, a full-time, in-house HR manager is typically needed. For larger companies, one HR generalist is recommended for every 100 employees. As you think about ways to handle hiring for anticipated growth, check out some hiri...
Nearly 70 million people in the United States have criminal records. That means you will almost certainly encounter job candidates with records at some point in your career. How you (and the hiring managers you work with) react will likely depend on your understanding of the laws that govern hiring, the candidates openness, and something that cant be overlooked: Feelings. A Charged Issue: Criminal Records in Hiring For most people, discussing criminal history is, frankly, uncomfortable. Think about it: The incident probably represents a low point in the candidates life, and few people relish discussing their lowest moments in a job interview. At the same time, even seasoned HR professionals and hiring managers tread carefully when discussing criminal history out of their own unease, concern about applicable laws  or both. Twenty states, including California, and many cities have passed ban-the-box laws that govern how and at what point in the hiring process employers can ask about criminal records. In San Francisco, for example, employers cant ask about convictions until after an initial live interview. As a result, a background check often serves as the first mention of a criminal record. Background Checks: A Useful but Limited Tool Having run tens of thousands of background checks over the past three years, Ive seen first hand how employment screening can h...
Black Pussy

A Calgary music venue has cancelled a show after an outcry over the band's name.

Portland rock group Black Pussy was scheduled to play a gig at the Palomino on Sept. 17. The band, which is made up of five white men, has been accused of sexism and racism for its name.

Shortly after the show was announced, feminist arts festival Femme Wave announced it would be withdrawing all programming from the Palomino.

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"By continuing to support Black Pussy, the Palomino is not acting in the best interest of all of their patrons. Numerous people have come forward to say the bands name is offensive and that it makes them and others in our community feel unwelcome and unsafe," wrote Calgary advocacy group the Society for the Advocacy of Safer Spaces on Facebook in support of Femme Wave's decision.

Other venues, including Wine-Ohs and Cafe Blanca were quick to wade into the comments and offer Femme Wave a venue for their event.

On Wednesday, the Palomino announced they had listened to public feedback and would be cancelling the show.

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The band has frequently been dogged with controversy. In 2015, over 1,700 people signed a petition pushing for the band to change their name.

In response to this latest criticism, the band sent out a sarcastic tweet.

While some, including Calgary musician Danny Vacon, responded to the cancellation with sarcasm or anger, the move to cancel the show was mostly applauded by Calgary's music community.

Artists Kenna Burima and Darren Young posted messages of support for the Palomino on Facebook.

"Thank you Palomino. I know this was a tough one for a lot of us to navigate but I believe together we're going to come out of this building a stronger, more inclusive community; one that through music we can unite and celebrate respectfully everyone that wants to be a part. I am proud to be a part of this community," wrote artist Kenna Burima.

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Changing a controversial name

There is precedent for a band to change it's name after a public outcry.

In April, Calgary band Viet Cong changed its name to Preoccupations after thousands of people called the musicians out on social media for racism against the Vietnamese community.

The Viet Cong were an insurgent group that tortured and killed Vietnamese citizens during the Vietnam War.

"We apologize to those who were adversely affected by our former band name. This was never anticipated nor our intent. We are artists and not politicians, we understand that the name reflected pain to some individuals and we are happy to change it and move on and focus on our music," the band posted on Facebook after the decision.

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Calgary Pride will have stricter screening for political entrants hoping to march in the organization's parade this year.

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The organization tweeted on Wednesday that this year it has implemented further requirements for political entries into the parade.

@litui we've really been on top of that this year, and implemented some further policies and requirements for political entries :)  Calgary Pride (@CalgaryPride) August 17, 2016

No parties have been banned from participating so far, but the organization hopes that by asking politicians about their LGBT voting history it will allow them to reflect on their motivation for participating, Craig Sklenar, director of government affairs with Pride Calgary, told Metro News.

Joan Crockatt controversy

Calgary Pride came under fire in 2015 after then-MP Joan Crockatt said she intended to march in the parade.

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Activists were concerned about Crockatt's participation after she voted against Bill C-279, a bill that would have supported transgender rights, CBC News reported.

Crockatt dropped out, but not before critics noted her presence seemed to contravene rules Calgary Pride implemented the same year intended to stop public officials marching in the parade to bolster their public image, according to The Calgary Herald.

The 2016 Calgary Pride parade is set to take place on Sept. 4.

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Out of Hanna, Alta., comes one man who has not only had his hair compared to Mr. Noodles, but also to Jesus.

He may have never "made it as a wise man" and he "couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing," but he has blessed us all with a million hair memes.

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Yup, it's Nickelback's Chad Kroeger. The man, the myth, the Canadian legend.

Chad and his Canadian bandmates first made it on the scene with their hit rock song "How You Remind Me" back in 2001. Admit it, you loved that song at the time even though you claim to hate it now. It's okay, we get it.

Since entering the spotlight a mere 15 years ago, a lot of people have insulted Kroeger's hair. We can't think any other musician has seen so much scrutiny when it comes to his or her mane.

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Yet, many have appreciated the tresses of the guy who once did a duet with Carlos Santana.

This is completely un-Photoshopped. Chad Kroeger feat. Nick Carters hair. God bless the 2000s. pic.twitter.com/tkA3BNljXO  James Harper (@telekin) May 16, 2016

If Chad Kroeger can make it through his wet spaghetti hair phase you can make it through whatever you're dealing with pic.twitter.com/YlpfmpwKaj  Diesel On Radio (@DieselOnRadio) June 11, 2015

Chad's mop is dyed an interesting yellow blond. His long curls cascading just above his shoulders and effortlessly parted in the middle. A signature look, some might say.

The Nickelback frontman admitted in an interview in 2013 that he had a few rebellious 'do years back in the day.

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"Everyones allowed to walk around with a bad-hair day for a couple of years," Kroeger told the Edmonton Journal in 2003. "I didnt want to cut it, I was holding on to it like it was my (screw) you. But I look back and watch the How You Remind Me video and think, Good Lord, boy. You look 40 years old. Im 28. I shot the video when I was 26 and people are like, Youre 35? 36? Im like: OK, Hairs gotta go.'"

And off the hair went. The curls were chopped. The look was smoother. Chad became a whole new man.

So, here it is everyone: The hair evolution of Chad Kroeger. Just 'cause. We hope you enjoy.

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing ... Chad's hair.

We'll just let this tweet say it all:

why does old chad kroeger look like jesus pic.twitter.com/i3BYoid6D8  lexie (@lexie_gentile) August 19, 2015

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Chad's hair is so big because it's full of secrets.

Chad and Mariah Carey. The epitome of #hairgoals.

The curls many compared to ramen noodles.

"Look at this photograph, every time I do it makes me laugh."

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Classic, Chad.

~Effortless waves.~

Nice, Chad!

That 'Berta flow.

If there are two people who know how to flaunted the middle part, it's Kourtney Kardashian ... and Chad, of course! His golden locks just fall SO perfectly.

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Oh. My. God. He cut his hair! A new year, a new Chad.

Sk8er boi.

Remember in junior high how a lot of boys would describe their hair as "spiky"? Well, this is Chad's spiky hair.

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Here's Chad rocking out in Toronto. His hair vibe? The bed-head look, we assume.

Oh, look! It's Chad Kroeger and Avril Lavigne back together! ... at the 2016 Junos. As you can see here, Chad is trying to bring the frosted tips (stop trying to make frosted tips happen, Chad). And in another attempt to make a 2000s hair trend hot again, Kroeger also pushes up his bangs. Errrr.

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An NDP member of Parliament who represents indigenous people in remote communities says Health Minister Jane Philpott's $1,700 limo bill reveals a troubling "disconnect" in her department.

Charlie Angus told The Huffington Post Canada Wednesday he was surprised Philpott's "whopping" tab, racked up in one day, was approved Health Canada. After all, he says, a lot of his time is spent dealing with constituents who are denied "the most basic medical treatments" by Health Canada bureaucrats.

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"This is a department that is ruthless in terms of nickel and diming the health needs of indigenous people," he said in an interview.

NDP MP Charlie Angus and Health Minister Jane Philpott. (Photo: The Canadian Press)

"And yet they don't balk at $1,700-a-day limo rides around Toronto. Something's seriously wrong here."

Health Canada's non-insured health benefits program provides eligible First Nations and Inuit medical transportation for services not available in their communities. The program also covers a range of drugs, medical supplies, dental care, vision care, and mental health counselling.

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Yet the northern Ontario MP says constituents in isolated, fly-in areas often see their travel requests for medically-necessary treatments or screenings ordered by doctors turned down by Health Canada.

Angus pointed to examples of a woman who was denied travel for a breast cancer screening exam, a toddler left without an audiology test, and young people in suicidal situations denied flights out of remote communities to seek mental health services.

On Wednesday, Angus shared a video of testimony an Ontario physician and indigenous leader delivered to the standing committee on Aboriginal Affairs and northern development in April.

Dr. Michael Kirlew, who works with the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority in Ontario, told the group at the time that First Nations individuals on reserve receive "far inferior" health care than other Canadians.

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Kirlew passionately took aim at Health Canada's non-insured health benefit program, saying unregistered children are routinely being denied transportation to seek medical help.

'Children are being left behind'

"Children are being left behind," Kirlew said. "I have no way of getting children that I see out for access to developmental services, essential services such as speech language pathology or occupational therapy. I am very limited in what I can do because non-insured does not pay for the travel out."

Kirlew also noted that "compassionate travel"  which allows a relative to accompany someone who is dying or pregnant  is listed as the first exclusion for medical transportation.

"Compassion is not something we should inoculate our health care system against," he said. "When we start losing our compassion, we lose our humanity. People are suffering and children are dying every single day."

I think the practice of denying pregnant women escorts needs to stop immediately.

Kirlew testified the biggest concern among pregnant women in Sioux Lookout is whether or not they will have an escort, someone to hold their hand, when they deliver their babies.

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"I think the practice of denying pregnant women escorts needs to stop immediately," he said. "There is no basis for that in medical science, in medical theory, or even in basic human decency."

Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day also testified that the suicide of a 10-year-old boy from the Nishnawbe Aski Nation was a "direct result of travel cuts" that meant the child couldn't get mental health services. Nishnawbe Aski Nation declared a public health emergency last February.

"There just was no money to take care of this boy," Day said.

Teen left without advocate

Angus says a 17-year-old constituent recently had an emergency C-section and was flown from a James Bay fly-in community to Kingston, Ont.

"They were going to discharge her and give her a bus ticket to Thunder Bay, when she doesn't live within 1,000-km of Thunder Bay and the only way she can get home is on a plane," he said.

The young woman did not have an advocate with her and Angus said he intervened to sort out her travel.

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'Wake-up call'

Angus says he has "enormous" respect for Philpott and personally likes her quite a bit. He says while New Democrats aren't asking her to take the bus or stay in crummy motels while fulfilling her duties, Philpott should exercise better judgment.

On Wednesday, Philpott announced she would reimburse taxpayers just over $3,700 for her travel, which includes the $1,708 tab and a separate bill of $1,994 both paid to a Toronto-based company owned by a Liberal supporter.

While conceding there are a lot of "gotcha moments" in politics, Angus says he's not out for political blood. He hopes the episode will be a "wake-up call" for Philpott and a message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who pledged to do things differently when it comes to the challenges faced by indigenous people.

"It's a new government," Angus said. "I think they can do better."

With a file from The Canadian Press

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Canada should consider taxing uninhabited houses as well as profits from the sale of high-priced homes to reduce the risk of a housing bubble, Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says.

Stiglitz, a former head of the World Bank and current adviser to Hillary Clintons presidential campaign, made his comments in an interview with BNN on Wednesday.

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One of the policies that would actually be good, not only for [reducing] inequality but for overall economic performance, is a tax on capital gains on wealthier homes, higher priced real estate [as well as] taxes on these uninhabited homes, he said.

Canada Revenue Agency already levies a capital gains tax on the profits made on sold homes, but has an exemption if the seller lived in the home for every year they owned it.

Stiglitz has been concerned for some time soaring house prices in Toronto and Vancouver  as well as in certain cities all over the world  are increasing wealth inequality and diminishing ownership opportunities for younger generations.

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In an interview last year, he called for a very progressive" property tax that would see owners of multi-million-dollar homes pay higher property taxes than others. He suggested the revenue be used to subsidize affordable housing.

Stiglitz also addressed the phenomenon of investors buying homes and leaving them empty on the expectation they will rise in value. A recent study found one in 10 Vancouver condos are unoccupied, exacerbating a shortage of housing in the city.

Its not good to have the centre of cities emptied  forcing ordinary citizens to move way out to the suburbs, Stiglitz told BNN. We should encourage more economically integrated cities, and this is doing exactly the opposite.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson indicated earlier this year he is ready to move forward on a vacant home tax in the city. But his move was pre-empted by the provinces surprise announcement of a 15-per-cent sales tax on Greater Vancouver homes bought by foreigners.

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That tax  announced days before it went into effect Aug. 2  has proven controversial, with realtors saying it caused thousands of sales deals to collapse.

Some argue taxation is the wrong approach to dealing with eroding home affordability.

Phil Soper, the CEO of Royal LePage, told BNN last month a vacant home tax would do little to cool Vancouvers housing market because theres not that much vacant property in terms of the overall inventory.

He also said the tax is not completely fair to owners of vacant properties who pay property taxes and don't use the municipal services.

Its really challenging to interfere with the value of assets in a free market. Governments invariably get it wrong, Soper said.

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Former Canadian model Kayley Chabot is coming clean about her battle with eating disorders.

And according to her, the fashion industry was to blame.

Chabot, who has posed for magazines such as Vogue Italia, began her modelling career at just 13-years-old, and two years later was signed by Ford Models in New York  an agency known for discovering top talent like Naomi Campbell, Janice Dickinson and Beverly Johnson.

#tbt Vogue Italia Couture Supplement September 2013  A photo posted by Kayley Chabot (@kayleychabot) on Aug 21, 2014 at 10:39am PDT

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But while the young superstar-in-the-making was presumably ecstatic to head to the big city, she was met with a bit of a rude awakening once she arrived.

"When I got there the agency was shocked at my size," Chabot shared, according to the Daily Mail. "My hips were 37.5 inches and they needed to be 2.5 inches smaller. They basically told me I needed to lose weight and it was my job to stay thin. I was so young I took it to heart. I heard them call me fat and I pretty much stopped eating."

As a result, the Grande Prairie, Alta., native began taking laxatives, exercising for five hours a day and vomiting in hopes of remaining thin. Chabot also ate less than 500 calories a day, and at one point was even scared to drink water.

#tbt Calvin Klein SS13  A photo posted by Kayley Chabot (@kayleychabot) on Feb 26, 2014 at 11:44pm PST

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However despite her noticeably smaller frame, she claims no one at the agency ever encouraged her to stop.

"They thought it was just the sacrifice I had to make to become a successful model," Chabot explained, as reported by Metro. "I was just 15 and I was dying."

"At the agency, they put me in a bikini, which I had been dreading because I still thought I was fat, but instead everyone was telling me how thin I was and how amazing it was."

However, in 2014, after a show in Paris, Chabot put a stop to it all and said goodbye to the world of modelling, which she said was the "hardest thing I've ever done."

The now 19-year-old has come a long way since her days on the runway, and uses her experience to help others through social media. She runs both an Instagram page and a YouTube channel where she talks about healthy eating and shares vegan recipes.

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But although she's recovered from her hardships, she still holds the modelling industry accountable for promoting unhealthy eating habits and unrealistic body expectations, especially when it comes to scouting young girls.

A photo posted by Kayley Chabot (@kayleychabot) on Apr 4, 2016 at 1:49am PDT

"I think if I had been older, it wouldn't have been so bad," she told the Daily Mail. "I was only 13 when I started in the industry and I believed anything people told me  that's the biggest problem for most young girls in the industry. We forget it's a business and not everyone has your best interest in mind, instead in their pocketbooks."

British model Georgina Wilkin shared her a similar personal story with The Times U.K. back in 2013.

"My agent told me I looked great when I hadnt eaten for 48 hours," she told the publication. "At one point I was hospitalized because I was so ill  a few weeks later I was booked for a Prada campaign."

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One of the biggest causes of food waste is also the most avoidable  "ugly" fruits and vegetables.

This isn't unsold food that retailers toss, or that you throw out after forgetting what was in the back of your fridge. This imperfect food doesn't even make it to the grocery store.

Farmers in the U.S. discard between 20 and 40 per cent of produce because it doesn't meet strict cosmetic standards despite being otherwise perfectly tasty and healthy, according to the non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council. The organization reported, for example, that a large tomato packing house during mid-season can fill a dump truck with 22,000 pounds of discarded tomatoes every 40 minutes.

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But that is finally starting to change as the ugly food movement catches fire around the world.

Last year Loblaw launched a line of aesthetically-challenged fruits and veggies dubbed Naturally Imperfect, beginning by selling ugly apples and potatoes at up to 30 per cent off in Ontario and Quebec. Boosted by surging produce prices due to the tumbling Canadian dollar, the pilot project proved successful enough that this past spring the grocery store chain expanded the line. They added peppers, onions and mushrooms for their Ontario and Quebec customers and started stocking the line nationwide in chains including Real Canadian Superstore, Your Independent Grocer, No Frills and Atlantic Superstore.

"It really went well above and beyond what our expectation was," Dan Branson, Loblaw's senior director of produce, told The Canadian Press. "I think it really spoke to the fact that Canadians are out there really looking for some options around driving value into their weekly shop and having greater accessibility to that healthy eating product of value."

This movement found early champions in France, where supermarket chain Intermarche launched an Inglorious Fruit campaign that was so popular it helped spark national legislation banning supermarkets from tossing out unsold produce. In Australia, the Harris Farm Markets and Woolworths chains launched Imperfect Picks and Odd Bunch lines, respectively.

In Portugal, the Fruta Feia ("ugly fruit") co-op is trying to do the same at a grassroots level to help financially struggling consumers and farmers while rescuing four tonnes of food waste a week. Other ugly food efforts, be they start-ups or non-profits, have taken off in the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland and the U.S.

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As part of The Huffington Post's international Reclaim campaign to reduce food waste, in June the U.S. edition started supporting a petition to convince Walmart, America's largest grocer, to also sell imperfect produce just like we're seeing in Canada, Europe and Australia.

The petition, by Jordan Figueiredo of UglyFruitandVeg.org, whose earlier effort convinced Whole Foods to partner up with a company called Imperfect Produce, has topped 140,000 signatures "asking Walmart, one of Americas largest retailers, to do something simple, effective and good for the retailers' and customers' bottom line. One out of six Americans is food insecure, and more than four out of five is produce-deficient. With statistics like this, it is simply irresponsible to encourage waste of good, healthy and perfectly edible food."

On July 20, Walmart announced it would start selling "ugly" apples in 300 Florida stores. This is in addition to the "spuglies" potatoes it has been offering in select Texas stores since May.

But while Figueiredo, who also presented Walmart with the petition on July 20, has called these efforts important first steps, hetold HuffPost they are nowhere close to addressing the crisis.

"Walmart's recent statements about ending food waste show they're listening to consumers and food policy experts, but unwilling to take serious steps to act on the request in our petition."

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Yet, anyway.

Watch the video above to find out what regular people think about "ugly" food.

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Monkey Business Images via Getty Images Grandmother Reading With Grandchildren At Home Together

Two weeks from Tuesday, millions of Canadian kids will head off to school. Are your kids ready for reading? Many children start the year at a deficit, battling to regain what some educators call the "summer reading loss."

"We know that students do better in school when keep up their practice with certain skills -- and reading is one of those skills," says Toronto primary school teacher April Stevens.

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It's true for children of all ages. Little kids' minds are working to assemble the building blocks of reading, like phrases and sentences and paragraphs. Older children are packing in the knowledge they glean from the reading material. Without practice over the summer, children of all ages can fall behind.

If reading has lapsed in your household, you're definitely not alone. And take heart: August is a great time to get kids reading again. The growing boredom of unstructured time can actually work in your favour. And young minds are well-rested by this stage, offering a fresh capacity to think outside of themselves.

As you look to stimulate and expand, why not consider stories of kids around the world? Here are six suggestions:

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No matter how your child is feeling about September, it can be inspiring to feel part of something global. In this book, they meet kids from 11 countries, including Kenya, Kazakhstan, China, and even Canada. Children describe what their classroom is like and how it feels to be there, explaining what happens on that first school day.

With a couple of weeks' holiday to fill here at home, this book is a great jumping off point for end-of-summer activities with your kids - including writing to e-pals from around the world! Best suited for kids in Grades 1 to 4.

This graphic novel sparked my adolescent son's interest in how war can affect children, something that he raised in his classroom many times last year. Michel Chikwanine was five years old when he was abducted from his school-yard soccer game in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and forced to fight for a brutal rebel militia. He eventually managed to escape, and after immigrating to Canada, was encouraged by a teacher to share his story. Best suited for children in Grades 5 to 9.

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This book of statistics and stories is the perfect approach for kids like my younger son, whose scientific brain latches on to facts and numbers. Every second of every day, four more children are added to the world's population of over 2.2 billion children. Some will be cared for and have enough to eat and a place to call home. Many others won't. It's a great conversation starter. Best suited for children in Grades 3 to 7.

The quieter weeks at summer's end can be a time for reflection on your travels - even those to the countryside. My children have always been struck by the migrant workers they see working in the fields under the hot sun here in southern Ontario. They always ask about their children. In this book, we meet Anna, who leaves her home in Mexico each spring, to travel north with her family to work on farms. She wonders what it would be like to stay in one place. It's a great book to prompt kids to consider who grows our food, and what happens to their families. Best suited for children Kindergarten to Grade Two.

Razia is excited when her grandfather tells her there's a school for girls being built in their Afghan village. At last, girls will have the same opportunity to be educated as boys. "Every night I fell asleep dreaming about going to school like my brothers," she says. Grandfather recalls a time when Afghanistan encouraged women to seek an education. Many became doctors, government workers and journalists. But Razia knows that she will need permission from her father and her oldest brother, Aziz, to go to the local school. What will happen? This is a particularly useful antidote to the choruses of: "Why do I have to go to school?" Extra resources include an overview of children worldwide who don't get the chance to attend. Best suited for children in Grades 3 to 7.

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Written by World Vision's own Marla Stewart Konrad, this book was a favorite of both my boys during their early school days. They liked the concept of children travelling to places like school in all kinds of amazing ways. And they loved the idea that some children get there on a reindeer! As with other books in the series -

, as well as

and

- stunning photography from World Vision's vast photo library helps Canadian children see the remarkable similarities between girls and boys everywhere. We felt good about adding them to our home library, as all royalties go to help kids through World Vision.

All of these books are short enough for even the busiest parent to work into their schedules (even if you've already headed back-to-work)! There's plenty of fodder for dinner-table chatter. And don't be surprised if the ideas resurface unexpectedly downstream during the school year.

If you have other books in this vein that your family loves, please add them to the Comments section, or e-mail me about them.

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Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier

Those who habitually put items in their recycling bins that don't belong there are the target of the ordinance amendment, not those who make an occasional, accidental mistake, said Public Works Director Jeff Demers.
Shutterstock / maxstockphoto

By Julia Sanchez

The end of July marked the wrap-up of public consultations held as part of Global Affairs Canada's International Assistance Review, the first major examination of our international cooperation agenda in over two decades. Civil society groups in the international development sector engaged fully in the process during the past months, contributing to a lively discussion on the best ways forward for Canada's engagement with the world.

Whatever direction and priorities the government sets for itself as a result of this review, it is clear that new policies and practices are needed in order for Canada to have a positive impact on the challenges faced by the world today.

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Canada has a strong record of contributing to global peace and prosperity. Canada's international development and humanitarian actions have for decades allowed it to play a proactive and positive role on the world stage. But in order to ensure sustainable development in a quickly changing landscape, both domestically and internationally, we must do things differently. New ways of working, fresh innovations and new partnerships are needed to address the root causes of poverty, injustice and conflict. Business as usual is just not an option.

Canadian civil society is a key partner for government in delivering successful international assistance programs.

Given the universal nature of the world's global challenges, this will require not just whole-of-government but whole-of-Canada collaboration. The Canadian government must lead the way. It should pioneer approaches for partnership and dialogue that bring all three levels of government together with non-state actors -- including civil society organizations (CSOs), Indigenous communities, youth, academics and the private sector -- to collaborate around meeting Canada's sustainable development commitments, both at home and abroad. Silos must be broken and lack of coherence across different ministries must be addressed.

The government must also ensure that its policies foster effective, innovative, and integrated programming that builds on the many strengths of Canada's diverse and globally-connected communities. This includes providing incentives and support for the varied actors and organizations that are an integral part of Canada's development ecosystem. Predictable and responsive funding mechanisms must be put in place to engage a wide range of actors in Canada's efforts, and mechanisms for meaningful and sustained dialogue must be nurtured to ensure effectiveness. Canada must also support regulatory and legislative frameworks that allow key actors in the development process, including civil society, to contribute to their full potential.

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Canadian civil society is a key partner for government in delivering successful international assistance programs. The government must acknowledge and support the important role of the advocacy, research and policy work that this sector does. It must also renew responsive and flexible funding to civil society, and reverse the declining funding trend of recent years.

In order to be fit for the new global development era, Canada must also become much more transparent.

To meet the obligations and opportunities of the new global development agenda, particularly the challenge of "leaving no one behind," innovation will be essential. The working definition of innovation that has emerged through the review consultations includes new partnerships, technologies, behaviours, policies, programs, ways to be efficient, and ways to leverage.

The breadth and inclusiveness of this definition are welcome, and should be reflected through Global Affairs Canada's support for a wide range of innovative proposals -- including those reflecting social, behavioural or attitudinal innovations or policy entrepreneurship. Innovation is a cornerstone of Canadian civil society approaches to development cooperation, and there is already a significant pool of knowledge in the sector around what does, may, and does not work.

In order to be fit for the new global development era, Canada must also become much more transparent. More open and timely information on its development budget must be made available, and policies must be clarified. Over the past decade, a policy vacuum has set in at what is now Global Affairs Canada. Policies that needed to be reviewed or renewed have fallen by the wayside, new policies to respond to emerging issues have not seen the light of day, and there has been a reluctance to make public some of the policies, and strategies that have been developed. This needs to change.

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Finally, to be successful, the government must also match its ambitions with commensurate investments. It is time that Canada commit to reaching the long-standing internationally agreed -- and Canadian-initiated -- target of 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income for development cooperation. This funding increase should be gradual, predictable, transparent, and focused on the poorest and most vulnerable. The government should work with partners in civil society and elsewhere to develop plans, policies and funding mechanisms to maximize the impact of these growing investments.

Canada can and should be a leader in global development cooperation. Working together as Canadians, we can help build a fairer, more sustainable and safer world.

This blog was first published on August 17 in The Hill Times.

Julia Sanchez is President-CEO of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC), Canada's national coalition of civil society organizations (CSOs) working globally to achieve sustainable human development.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of CCIC or its members.

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Jonathan Hayward/CP

He won't talk about his government's non-progressive policies, but man does he ever look good with his shirt off.

It's been 10 months, and Liberal voters are still having a difficult time seeing past the glossy veneer slathered on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. They have yet to acknowledge that their aspirational leader is anything other than the exact antithesis to their ideological enemy, Stephen Harper.

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If you try talking about tough issues, issues that run counter to his best-guy-ever image, you are met with a list of rebuttals completely absolving Trudeau, and then it's just a quick pivot to the ever popular anti-Harper talking points. It never fails. Ever.

A pattern has emerged since last October, and it includes a prime minister who uses the photo op to distract the public from the more conservative facets of his party's agenda.

If you try initiating a discussion about Trudeau's various positions on marijuana decriminalization, you get a whole host of responses ranging from the generic "What do you expect him to do?" to "You just don't understand how difficult it is for him," then back to an anti-Harper rant. It doesn't matter that he has changed his position three times since becoming Liberal leader. In fact, never bring that up again. Also, Harper.

The Saudi arms deal? Harper did it. But couldn't Trudeau have stopped the deal? Sure, but then the Saudis might sue us for not building the weapons they use against civilian populations. Duh. Also, it's all Harper's fault.

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The latest reinvention is also about weapons, only this time it will be more difficult to square with the heavily promoted idea that Canada is back to its peacekeeping roots. Canada is now the second biggest arms dealer when it comes to supplying that peaceful oasis known as the Middle East with high-grade weaponry. That's right, folks, our uber-progressive prime minister, known for his feminist bona fides and yoga poses, now leads a country where arms manufacturers thrive more than ever before.

Because nothing says Namaste quite like dead civilians killed by Canadian weapons.

Justin Trudeau walks in Toronto's Pride Parade. (Photo: Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)

I know, I know. I'm just so idealistic. The real world is a messy place, and Trudeau is just doing his job the best way he can in a world filled with harsh realities and boy does his chest look good. But a pattern has emerged since last October, and it includes a prime minister who uses the photo op to distract the public from the more conservative facets of his party's agenda.

Think about it. Most non-conservatives I know would rightfully rail against any conservative prime minister for a number of items on the Trudeau action plan. Imagine Prime Minister Jason Kenney ushering in the era of Middle East weapons distribution. Or how about Prime Minster Peter McKay quietly firing dozens of environmental scientists? Or let's imagine Prime Minister Tim Hudak refusing to speak directly on the draconian measures in Bill C-51.

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Keep giving the media the casual, approachable Trudeau, but keep the centre-right material in the vault.

None of that would be acceptable to the same progressive loyalists who are currently propping up our dreamy prime minister.

When was the last time you heard anyone in the government talk about pipelines, arms deals, fired scientists, criminal records for pot possession, Bill C-51, the Trans-Pacific Partnership or any of the other big-ticket issues? Now, think of how easy is it to recall Trudeau marching in a parade, jogging with a world leader, joking with Obama, photobombing a wedding or the litany of other non-substantive moments in his first year as leader.

The contrast between Photo-op Justin and Policy Trudeau is stark, and there does not seem to be a shift in strategy coming out of the PMO.

The media, meanwhile, is complicit, if not galvanized by the difference in styles between Harper and Trudeau. They seem to be playing along, willful dance partners in a communications tango, singing from the PMO songbook by covering Trudeau as if he were a rock star and not a world leader.

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After a decade of zero access to the prime minister's office, members of the press seem just happy to be there, forgetting their role as an institution whose existence is to call truth to power, not publish photos that will garner the most clicks.

Justin Trudeau (L) runs with Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto across the Alexandra Bridge from Ottawa to Gatineau, Quebec. (Photo: REUTERS/Chris Wattie)

Recently, the Globe and Mail featured a story on the prime minister's personal photographer, Adam Scotti. The piece was an interesting read, documenting the 24/7 access Scotti has and the immeasurable importance of social media once the photos are catalogued and edited.

Inadvertently, the piece outlined one of the most glaring problems with the Trudeau government: its brain trust has placed such a high value on presenting a certain image to the public that they have replaced transparency with celebrity, a strategy meant to seduce and distract rather than inform the public.

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This calculation is duplicitous; it showcases an accessible leader but one with little time to get into the specifics of the policies that run counter to Trudeau's reputation of a real progressive. Keep giving the media the casual, approachable Trudeau, but keep the centre-right material in the vault.

It is the best of Trudeau, it is the worst of Trudeau, and until his gushing fans and the complicit media start doing their jobs by demanding transparency, we will be stuck having to tolerate both.

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Colourful Victorian houses in Saint-Louis Square, Plateau Mont-Royal, Montreal. (Photo: Gettystock)

The subletting of apartments, rooms or couches over the Internet is a recent phenomenon. The serious measures undertaken to discourage it might lead one to imagine that this activity is extremely harmful to society. The reality, however, is somewhat different, and the means deployed to combat this voluntary exchange are on an absolutely ridiculous scale.

The Plateau Mont-Royal borough employs private detectives to track down people who sublet their apartments over the Internet. Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess!

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It's as if we're in the world of Donnie Brasco, in which Johnny Depp plays Joseph D. Pistone, an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates a New York mafia family after having been recruited by a hit man. But now the gang to be infiltrated on the Plateau Mont Royal is not the mafia, but ordinary people trying to improve their economic situation by renting their apartments occasionally.

What possible legitimate reason could there be for municipalities to cook up schemes for discouraging such exchanges?

One of my colleagues used to be a big user of Airbnb, one of the platforms where one can offer housing, when he was in France. He was living in Marseille, in the southeast of the country, and was teaching economics two days a week in Toulouse, some 450 kilometres west of there. He was earning a living, but renting a room or staying in a hotel in Toulouse in addition to paying his rent in Marseille was out of the question. Subletting platforms allowed him to make his particular situation work financially.

Among his Airbnb hosts there were no hit men, and no tax evaders for that matter, just people who had a free room in their homes and were trying to make ends meet or simply meet other people.

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One couple who rented him a room were artists who ran a small theatre troupe and who needed an Airbnb renter to meet their monthly commitments as much as he needed a host.

Another couple close to retirement whose son was studying in another city was renting a room less for the extra income than for the experience and the conversation.

There was a recently divorced father with a house he could no longer afford on his own, and a nurse with a huge house who carefully screened her renters, and where my colleague met other occupants from all around the world, just like in The Spanish Apartment.

The common thread connecting the different experiences he had is that they were all mutually agreed upon and they were all beneficial for the two parties involved. It was always win-win, and no one was conned.

The record of his rentals and the comments of his hosts on his visits show that he was well-behaved, respectful. It's almost as though his coming and going was hardly noticed. What possible legitimate reason could there be for municipalities to cook up schemes for discouraging such exchanges?

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The laws that authorize Tourism Quebec to hand out completely unbelievable fines -- from $2,500 to $25,000 according to Vincent Larouche writing in La Presse -- limit the capacity of rental platforms to create value for society.

Housing spaces exist but are unused, and subletting platforms allow these resources to find takers. By creating a market for what would otherwise be dead capital, renters and hosts are better off than they would have been, and society as a whole is better off as well.

The methods being used to fight a phenomenon that is highly beneficial for society, and for people who are sometimes truly in need, are completely ridiculous. Is it really necessary to place a private detective on the trail of every student who has a sofa to rent on Airbnb? Like many of you, my answer is no.

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Gemini-Create via Getty Images Chess, Chess Board, Chess Piece, Strategy, White, black, teamwork. team

"Certainly no military campaign, company investment, or government initiative is likely to receive backing unless there is a strategy to evaluate. If a decision can be described as strategically significant, then it is obviously more important than decisions of a routine nature. By extension, people making such decisions are more important than those who only offer advice or are tasked with implementation." ~ Lawrence Freedman, Strategy

Is Mr. Freedman correct? Surely the first sentence holds true; no strategy, no backing. And there's no quibbling with the second; strategic decisions outrank routine ones. But are decision makers really more important than advice givers who, after all, set the menu from which policy entrees are chosen, or those tasked to actually do the job? Notwithstanding popular assumption and Freedman's magnificent history of all things strategy, no. No, they're not.

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Huge gaps can exist between a decision maker's strategy and the way decisions are implemented. This does not mean that those doing the job are purposefully confounding demands from on high (although they might be), but that the reality implementers squeeze from abstract concepts simply have lives of their own.

In my research on Canadian and American emergency management agencies, I've found significant differences between official disaster strategies and how disaster responses actually unfold. For example, 'lessons learned' and theories of emergency management consistently call for formal coordination of all the organizations involved in disaster response.

The discourse after a Katrina, an Alberta flood, or a California wildfire inevitably laments lack of coordination as the Achilles' heel in a jurisdiction's resiliency. This discourse defines the problem (lack of official coordination), advice givers provide a set of potential solutions (coordinate!), decision makers pick what appears to be the best one and come the next disaster, the solution implemented looks quite different from the one chosen (lack of official coordination).

A problem by definition assumes a potential solution.

The crux seems to be that implementers work within real-world constraints that -- no matter how sophisticatedly decision makers simulate potential reality -- alter the original strategy. Emergency management decision makers can survey the lack of disaster response coordination and pursue strategies that seek to a.) maximize the prestige of response agencies so they all have an incentive to deploy and share resources, b.) employ complicated models to ensure an overproduction of resources don't confuse the response, c.) reconfigure the bureaucratic disaster response apparatus (an American favourite: moving FEMA there will fix everything!), and/or d.) incentivize the private and non-profit sectors to help out, all of which may have some positive impact.

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But when the implementers of emergency management policy face disasters on the ground the world moves from theory to practice, and irrevocably changes: spontaneous organization of on-the-ground individuals -- who cannot be categorized within "sectors" -- allocate available resources surprisingly well (i.e. regular folks on site during 9/11); official organizations that are successful are those that don't attempt to command and control unofficial organizations (the Coast Guard during Hurricane Katrina); different levels of the public service are already working together before politicians know -- or desire -- it (the 1990 Ontario tire fire); and the list goes on.

The defined problem -- lack of official coordination -- does not seem so much of a problem in the real world but a key characteristic of disaster and implementers adapt. A problem by definition assumes a potential solution. A characteristic simply exists. And strategists sometimes confuse the two. Implementers meanwhile bump into what exists and details of the decision maker's strategy fall by the wayside.

None of this is new. That policy does not equal practice is a mantra in academic public administration and government departments alike. Yet it bears repeating because the attraction of the decision maker and the strategy on paper glimmers as brightly to millennials as it has to previous generations.

Millennials revere the perfectly just solution and denigrate the Trumps of the world for the same reason: abstract ideas and their champions seem to rule the day. Yet real world barriers -- from social phenomena like collaborative individual behaviour during disaster events to entrenched institutional barriers like the separation of powers in the U.S. presidential system -- change the strategies that implementers are tasked to implement.

Popular policy discourse will benefit from a greater appreciation of process. Not only will such an appreciation provide a better explanation of why big decisions unfold the way they do, but it will curb the simultaneously idealistic and alarmist approach that so many of us -- millennials in particular -- bring to bear on contemporary politics.

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Today, Donald Trump will receive his first confidential intelligence briefing.

Think about that.

Donald Trump, the impulsive, uncontrollable, narcissist is about to receive some of the most highly sensitive confidential intelligence information available to only Presidents and Presidential candidates.

Yes, you just felt a collective world-wide shudder.

To date, the President of the United States, countless Senators, Congresswoman and Congressmen, current and former defence officials, current and former military leaders, and current and former intelligence community officials have all publicly concluded that Trump is not fit to be President of the United States, and that his presidency would be not only a danger to America, but to the whole world.

The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, must answer one question above all, and answer it immediately: if Trump is not fit to be President, how is he fit to receive the highest level of confidential intelligence information, especially now that his self-destructing campaign of horror, division, and anti-Americanism is imploding, causing ever increasing erratic behaviour from the candidate himself?

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There are no two ways about it: either Trump is fit to be President of the United States of America (and to receive the confidential intelligence information only Presidents and Presidential candidates receive), or he is not. We cannot have it both ways.

Obama cannot have it both ways.

If a Trump Presidency is a danger to the Republic, then too is a Trump candidate with access to the most highly sensitive intelligence information in the world, and the President of the United States of America has a sworn duty to protect the Republic from that danger (and, by extension, the world).

The only possible (and likely) response would be something like this: so long as Trump doesn't win the Presidency, he cannot act upon the information he is to receive today, and the Republic will still be safe.

Oh, really?

Then, why is the information secret in the first place?

Obviously, of the 7 billion plus people on this planet, every other person except for one individual will not become President of the United States of America, and if the information is only dangerous in the hands of an individual who can act upon it, the information should not be classified (by the logic of such a response).

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The information is only classified to prevent it from being leaked to the public at large, and to prevent it from being acquired by any individual who would misuse it.

Doesn't that sound like Trump to you?

Trump's out right lies, fabrications and falsehoods have been as well documented as his continuing stubborn refusals to admit his many, many wrongs. Trump says whatever comes to mind, whether it happens to be true or not. And, he has done this consistently, throughout his campaign, despite the backlash it has engendered, and despite the fact that it has driven droves of his own party members away from him and his campaign.

Yet, Trump has vowed never to change.

Truth be told, just about everyone has already concluded that even if Trump tried to, he wouldn't be capable of changing. Now entering his 8th decade, Trump is who he is, and simply incapable of changing.

Is that the man the United States government wants to be in possession of Presidential level state secrets?

It is not only entirely plausible, but almost certain that Trump will lie, fabricate and misconstrue the intelligence briefings he will soon begin to receive in a last ditch desperate effort to try and challenge Hillary Clinton's commanding lead in the polls.

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Trump only cares about Trump.

Trump will sacrifice the United States of America (as he has already done countless times during his evil campaign) for the sake of his own political ambitions.

Picture this: this evening, Trump starts tweeting out a storm about the intelligence briefing he just received, attempting to blame Obama and Clinton for everything, peddling his crazed conspiracy theories, and ending with the only policy he has ever had, "believe me".

The danger is that some (his acolytes most especially) will. Far-right conspiracy theorists (already in bed with Trump since his "birther" days) will feed off of his lunacy, a lunacy that will now have access, and refer incessantly, to secret United States' government information.

And what is the possible response? Any answer would either have to expose the truth of the intelligence Trump received (either directly, or indirectly by denying his version and, therefore, reveal the truth), or remain silent while Trump continues to damage the United States government.

After Trump called for the political assassination of Hillary Clinton if she wins the election, and after Trump has started to organise his mobs to descend upon polling stations to physically challenge anyone voting for Hillary Clinton, and after Trump has declared to his followers that any result other than his ultimate victory in November ought to be considered illegitimate (oh, and he wasn't being sarcastic that time), is there any reason to believe Trump will willingly sacrifice the Republic to achieve his nefarious ends?

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Remember Trump's outright lies about the "secret" video he had just seen showing Obama (and, by extension, Clinton) delivering a ransom to the Iranians for freed hostages?

That wasn't even a secret intelligence video (briefing). What happens when he gets to view the real thing? What's to stop him from revealing its contents, even if in the most twisted way possible?

The law? The same law that Trump says unfairly targets him and lets Hillary Clinton off the hook for being careless with state secrets? That law?!? Will the FBI ever be able to recommend to the Department of Justice that it lay charges against Trump after it declined to do so against Clinton?

What would be the political fallout of such a conundrum in an already divided nation?

And yet, if possible, there is even one thing more dangerous than what Trump will do with the secret information he is about to receive during his campaign; it's what he will do with it after he loses.

Wouldn't Trump just love to send a self-congratulatory tweet (or tweets, to be precise) about any world event affecting the United States (oh, I don't know, say terrorism?) trying to undermine the next administrative (and, thereby, the Republic) just so he can die saying "I told you so"?

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Or, even worse, with Trump's lack of self-control, and obvious Hitler-esque regard for the people (and their country) that are now turning against him, wouldn't it suit Trump just fine to reveal state secrets to America's adversaries abroad (say, perhaps, his BFF: Russia's Putin), so that the fallout would undermine Clinton's administration, allowing Trump to (pretend to) remain "relevant" through incessant "I told you so" self-congratulatory tweets?

Can the United States government guarantee that the secrets its about to reveal to Trump will be guarded at President level secrecy?

(Oh, wait, there's that whole "not fit to be President" thing again.)

And, if not, then is it not the duty of the President of the United States of America to prevent Trump, the mad ogre, from acquiring the most closely held state secrets of the government of the United States of America?

Your move, Mr. Obama.

You can't have it both ways.

Either Trump is competent to be President of the United States of America (and have access to all of its highest-level state secrets), or he is not.

Clearly, Trump is not.
Jupiterimages via Getty Images Children playing in field

To thrive economically, Manitoba needs young people. Fortunately, our relatively high birth rate -- around 1.93 for every 1000 women -- combined with favourable immigration trends means that Manitoba's population will continue to grow.

However, if the success of a province can be captured by how well it prevents infant deaths, then statistics also tell us that we may be failing our children. For decades, Manitoba has consistently had the highest provincial infant mortality rate in Canada -- 5.9 for every 1000 live births in Manitoba versus 4.8 for every 1000 live births, nationally.

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In public health, infant mortality is often viewed as a marker for a society's development, and Manitoba consistently falls to the bottom.

If we, as a province, continue to fail our children, we will quickly see our economic competitive edge dulled.

A report by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy highlights that Manitoba also has one of the highest rates of children being taken into care in the world -- an alarming statistic that should signal to all policymakers and politicos that something needs to be done differently.

Poverty, limited education, historical trauma and colonization, to name just a few factors -- can be linked to both Manitoba's high rates of infant mortality and kids in care -- and puts children at risk for other negative health and social outcomes.

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Clearly this is morally unacceptable -- but what's less often discussed is that failing our province's children also puts Manitoba in economic jeopardy. Unless something is done to turn around both our province's troublesome rates of infant mortality and the disturbing number of children being taken into custody each year, Manitoba will eventually find itself lagging in economic productivity.

If we, as a province, continue to fail our children, we will quickly see our economic competitive edge dulled.

Fortunately, there are opportunities for change. Manitoba is also producing some of the richest evidence on what could work to turn things around.

A Manitoba study recently published in Pediatrics found that the province's Healthy Baby Program, which gives low-income mothers a modest income supplement of $81 per month -- with no strings attached -- is associated with several improved birth outcomes. This modest economic boost resulted in fewer low birth weight and premature births -- both of which put infants at risk for dying before their first birthday.

As a society, we must strive to ensure that all children have an equal opportunity to have a healthy and successful life.

Another Manitoba study found that the province's Families First Home Visiting Program -- which offers home visiting support to families with children from pregnancy to school entry, at no cost to the families -- is associated with reductions in the number of children being taken into care, hospitalizations for child injury due to maltreatment and improved overall health outcomes.

Both of these programs provide us with a glimpse of what is possible. But we can still do better and we must do better. Unfortunately, these two programs do not reach all pregnant women and families in need. We need to expand these evidence-based programs to reach all families across the province.

Also, while these two programs do much to support families who are living on the margins, they are not able to address all of the numerous and complex challenges -- like poverty, historical trauma and colonization -- that these families still face. Both the new provincial and federal governments need to work together to implement programs that address such challenges and enact the Calls to Action outlined in the Truth and Reconciliation Report.

As a society, we must strive to ensure that all children have an equal opportunity to have a healthy and successful life.

We are at a critical junction as a province. We have the opportunity to make real changes to support children's health. Our new government can leave a real and lasting legacy -- significantly reducing the infant mortality rate in our province to at least the Canadian average and drastically reducing the number of children taken into care.

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In short, our new government is poised to work to ensure that all children have an equal shot at life. By providing families with the right types of support, we can turn our province around and even become a leader in child health outcomes.

It's time Manitoba provided the supports that struggling families need to continue to care for their children. Not only would this be something that previous governments have failed to achieve, but it would result in a healthier workforce that is better able to compete in this global market.

We have the evidence for how we can make a real difference; we just need to start putting that evidence to work.

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Why would a high-end, design and manufacturing company choose to be located in a mountainous area?

Dolce Vita design and create fashionable leather goods, which sell all over Europe. They are based outside a small mountain village, inside a national park in Central Italy, famous for beautiful mountains.

Are there any commercial advantages to being located in a relatively remote mountain area?

From an increasingly out-dated business perspective, the answer is "no." Transport is costly and the logistics of production are not cheap.

Yet, from a more progressive stance, viewing business in terms of sustainability, the answer is positive.

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Bruno Treggiari, director of the Dolce Vita explains:

'Our philosophy is: 'Work where you live, not live where you work.' We decided not to sacrifice our lives to work. We decided to make a life that includes work in a satisfying way.'

Indeed they work in a stunningly inspiring location (see photo of them in the workshop/office) and they try to give pleasure in life, as much value as work.

Does it result in a better product?

'We have customers all over Europe, like Russell and Bromley in the UK. We produce high-quality products, not mass production. Because we are a small family business we can offer special services to our clients. We can do orders at short notice, and unique projects, or we can work over the weekend or extra hours because we are a flexible, small team. When clients come to see us they don't stay in a hotel. They can stay here in the workshop where we have a kitchen, dining rooms, bedrooms and every comfort. We like to entertain our clients like friends and give them an experience of life in this mountain region."

Bruno's family have been living in the nearby mountain village since the year 1,200. For him, there is a deep sense of place and thereby human relations or contact to the community are central to their business. Their sons have joined the business and have brought new technical skills to Dolce Vita.

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Sandra, Bruno's wife and co-director of the company, explains that the production team is comprised of mostly young people, often friends of their sons." Since they know each other from the community and from going to school together they form a strong team of collaborators, rather than simply members of staff.

Sandra and Bruno in the office/workshop

All these factors have made the business sustainable during its twenty-two years. As Bruno says:

'We've been through recessions before. Several times we had to re-start from zero."

They seem ready for whatever challenges the future brings.

Being located inside the Monti Sibillini National Park, Dolce Vita is very conscious of the environment in terms of pollution. Instead of having their own tannery, which is potentially highly polluting, they send their leather to Tuscany where there is a specialist tannery, which uses vegetable tanning products -- dying the leather with natural dyes from plants.

Their clients in Scandinavia request these environmentally friendly products.

When they are not working Bruno is in the mountains hunting wild mushrooms. Sandra collects their drinking water from a mountain spring because of the especially good taste and health benefits. And the rest of the time, as Sandra says:

"There is a great pleasure in the tranquility of life here, in the beauty of nature."

Both working and relaxing, it is a life with family and friends. Although mountains are not an obvious location for businesses of this kind, when organized with values like these, the location may add to the longevity and sustainability of the enterprise.

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Take a look at this gorgeous leather motorcycle helmet they are making: see photo below. How could one have anything else?

Leather motorcycle helmet made by Dolce Vita
Kevin Light / Reuters Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie performs with band members Paul Langlois, Gord Sinclair, Johnny Fay and Rob Baker at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre to kick off the band's latest

One of my earliest memories of music came from the speakers of my dad's 1969 Beaumont convertible with the top down. I remember sitting in the back seat, my hair blowing through the wind, and my sister sitting shotgun beside my dad. Blaring and crackling from the radio was The Tragically Hip's "Poets." Coincidentally, this was my dad's favourite song, invoking him to sing along to Gord Downie's powerful lyrics while tapping along to the exquisite drumming of Johnny Fay.

From that day on, with each turn of the wheel in that old car and fond gaze of my own father, I have been a fan of The Tragically Hip.

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The Tragically Hip has heavily influenced Canadians ever since the band first broke the scene 30 years ago, and The Hip's music continues to influence Canadians of all ages to this day.

This act of tying nature to human connection and emotion is something the Hip have continued to do throughout their three-decade-long career.

Canadian music has become synonymous with The Tragically Hip. In addition to their music being adored across the country, each of their 14 studio albums is laced with lyrics that pay homage to Canada. Whether it is the legends surrounding painter Tom Thomson or "that night in Toronto," The Tragically Hip are ingrained in our history as much as the events, people and places Gord sings about.

Not only have they opened the doors for many Canadian musicians and fans, they have also widened our appreciation for the often-overlooked aspects of everyday life. From dipping your feet in the water at the edge of a lake to looking up into the vast night sky, The Tragically Hip has connected Canadians to nature, our history and to each other.

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"All Canadian Surf Club," The Tragically Hip (1987)

The release of The Tragically Hip's self-titled album cemented their place as the quintessential Canadian band. This song in particular, draws reference to the Regent Theatre, which has been speculated to be the small theatre in Picton, Ontario. Gord also refers to rolling waves and how they relate to human movement and passion. This act of tying nature to human connection and emotion is something the Hip have continued to do throughout their three-decade-long career.

"Three Pistols," Road Apples (1991)

One of my favourite Hip songs is, coincidentally, about one of my favourite Canadian painters, Tom Thomson. An avid outdoorsman, Thomson was known as a pioneer of the impressionistic revolution in Canada. He painted renowned landscapes of places such as Algonquin, where he had a cabin. The song touches upon the elusive life of the painter, from his alleged relationship with Winnie Trainor to his death at Canoe Lake. The line, "I'm pretty sure it was him," comes from the stories of visitors spotting his ghostly figure on the water to this day.

Gord Downie from The Tragically Hip (Photo by Sarah Naegels/Wikimedia Commons)

"Bobcaygeon," Phantom Power (1998)

One of the band's most popular songs is coincidentally the one with the most blatant Canadian connections. Name-dropping Ontario's capital of Toronto, the song invokes the starry skies of Bobcaygeon and the world that surrounds us.

"Lake Fever," Music @ Work (2000)

The Tragically Hip draw inspiration from nature and this song is no exception. "Lake Fever" explores human connection and how, like a lake, it flows through and past us. Here, Downie also draws inspiration from the night sky of Ontario's Algonquin Park.

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"Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park," In Between Evolution (2004)

In this song, Downie uses nature as a metaphor for human behaviour. Gus the polar bear is both animal and human. There are many different interpretations of this song, but I choose to believe it symbolizes the relationship between humans and nature and the similarities between the two.

"In Sarnia," Man Machine Poem (2016)

The Hip comes full circle with the track "In Sarnia," from their latest release, Man Machine Poem. In his classic poet nature, Downie takes his surroundings and crafts them into a love story between him and the midsized Ontario city. As with "Bobcaygeon," The Hip tends to take you to the heart of places in Canada, almost throwing you into the streets to walk among the locals.

When I heard the news about Gord's terminal brain cancer, the first thing I did was call my dad. I couldn't get through immediately because the first thing he thought to do when he heard the news was call me. Once I finally got through, our conversation was quick and filled with grieving silence. Here is someone who was so precious to my dad and to me, decades his junior, but age paid no significance in our sadness. Sadly, the news of Gord's illness has moved like a dark wave across the country.

Shortly after news hit of Gord Downie's cancer, The Hip announced their final cross-country tour. The last show will be held in the band's hometown of Kingston, Ontario on August 20 and live-broadcast on CBC. Canadians all across the country will be clenching their chests while singing along to their favourite songs alongside Gord and the band, myself included.

Perhaps my dad will be able to reprise his rendition of "Poets," one last time.

Written by Raechel Bonomo, communications assistant with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. This post originally appeared on Land Lines.

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Young people across the world are giving up more of their time to donate to good causes. We have already seen the masses of research and reports about Generation Y, Z, Millennials, whatever the name is you want to call the now generation - they suggest that young people now have more of a social conscience than ever and care more about their impact on the world than their wages.

It is completely true. Who wants to sit in an office all day with back-to-back meetings feeling like they're just going through the motions? Similarly, who wants to make money manufacturing widgets a million times over but polluting the earth while they're doing it?

Not today's young people.

"Country Above Self" is the motto for the beautiful twin island federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. This motto is engraved deep in the heart of M.A.D.E St. Kitts' founder - Trevis Belle whom hails proud from the McKnight Community in Central Basseterre. In 2014, Trevis wanted to get rid of the negative stereotypes that plagued his community of McKnight as it was mostly associated with gangs, violence and crime. He always had a passion of giving back and volunteering, so through this he started his non-profit organization which was set up to raise awareness about the importance of volunteerism among young people through education, mentoring, training and development programs.

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To date the organization has been recognized locally - as one of few community groups to be used in the Government's REACH Scholarship initiative, regionally as it now has 3 other branches in the Caribbean (Trinidad, St. Lucia and Grenada - all which were launched in 2015) and 1 in Europe (the United Kingdom launched in 2016) to date that has been one of our major achievements!

In 2016, due to his work with M.A.D.E, Trevis was recognized as a 2016 Queen's Young Leader and was presented this award by Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace in June 2016 along with 59 other young leaders from across the Commonwealth.

Trevis Belle, Image: supplied

Even the Girlguides charity in the UK has started an initiative to give girls the opportunity to step up and create social action projects around changes they want to see in their areas.

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Long gone are the stereotypes of young people as lazy, self-centered hooligans, uninterested in politics and society.

Meet Jordan Swain...Jordan is a serial entrepreneur, menswear influencer, philanthropist and investor of American-Bahamian descent. His acumen includes modeling, fashion styling, creative direction, producing, and editorial oversight. He is CEO and Co-Founder of Parajin Media Corp, parent company of and serves as both Publisher and Creative Director of it's flagship brand, Vanichi Magazine. His work has been published in Italian Vogue, Vogue, GQ India,, Esquire, Vogue Taiwan, Popsugar, Buzzfeed to name a few. Swain speaks internationally on entrepreneurship, creativity and branding and is currently on a 36 month, 7 continent world tour.

Jordan Swain, Image: supplied

Uniting communities should be our priority, not highlighting differences and faults with different generations. In recent years it has been sad to still see the elder generations misinterpret young people's intentions and efforts. We need to empower young people to be like Trevis and Jordan, to step up and make a change and build a career out of it.
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS via Getty Images

It's astonishing how quickly tuition fees became a fact of life. Thirteen years ago, George Osborne was wrote an angry letter to the press about Labour's 3,000 fees, calling them "a tax on learning."

Today - or until last year, at least - the idea of debt-free degrees could not be further from the political mainstream. An undergraduate starting this year will complete their degree with as much as 53,000 of debt. The burden of debt will be highest for students from the poorest backgrounds, who will rely on additional loans to support themselves through university, thanks to the government's scrapping of maintenance grants.

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Fees crept up on us, starting with a modest 1000 and then rising with subsequent governments. At first they were advertised as a way of widening access by funding more university places, then proclaimed as a necessary austerity measure ("There was no money around," claimed Nick Clegg in his infamous apology video after shattering the hopes of millions of voters). Now the Tories are more blatant than ever in their intention to destroy what's left of public universities and turn education into a commodity - no different from a car or a gym membership.

The recent Higher Education White Paper set out a bold vision of a market where universities compete for students-consumers, who in turn agree to pay higher fees in return for a promise of a higher graduate salary. Struggling institutions are allowed to fail, and for-profit providers are encouraged to take their place. In the White Paper, neoliberal utopia is packaged in words like freedom and opportunity. The word "choice" appears on average twice a page - but students were never asked to choose if they wanted increased debt and backdoor privatisation in the first place.

Spiralling debt, private providers and endless buzzwords and branding exercises: are we heading towards a system modelled on America - a place where, long before Trump ran for President, he was permitted to set up a profit-making university and run the curriculum?

That result would be more than the logical conclusion of the present situation in higher education; it is an active government policy. The new system forces universities to operate more and more like private companies, seeking to increase profits and reduce costs at the expense of students and staff. As their income grows, the proportion spent on teaching is declining while institutions prefer to invest in shiny buildings and overblown marketing departments. Vice-Chancellors salaries compete with those of corporate executives. Less profitable courses, often in arts and humanities, face closure.

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It is remarkable how quickly these things have become normal - but it is also remarkable how quickly they have become challenged. Despite a burgeoning student anti-fees movement, the established left was lukewarm in its response to the crisis. Ed Miliband's 2015 election pledge to cut fees from 9,000 to 6,000 was neither bold enough to challenge the marketisation agenda nor convincing enough to speak to a generation that had been betrayed before. There was no alternative vision, no argument about whom and what purpose education was meant to serve.

Now, all of that has changed. Since last year, Jeremy Corbyn has elevated the cause of free education to the highest political level. This week, he is laying detailed policies that together will create a National Education Service - a much more ambitious plan for a comprehensive service which is free and accessible to everyone.

It has become normal to regard free education as a "radical" idea in Britain recently - but free tertiary education is the norm in many European countries. If accompanied by adequate maintenance support, it would give millions of young people a debt-free start in life.

What is genuinely radical is the scale of Corbyn's plan. The National Education Service includes a policy of free universal childcare, removing barriers to participation that fall disproportionately on women, and an integrated system which breaks down the barriers between vocational and traditional education, and opening access to the system to learners throughout their lives.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has just embarked up a year-long election to find a new Director-General to run the 8,000 person organisation.

Arguably, the person who is eventually elected will not have an enviable job.

WHO is mired in accusations of lack of transparency, corruption, and even stifling press freedom - in strict contravention to the UN Charter.

Even its friends are scathing... "underlying WHO's relationship with its member states is a lack of trust in the WHO Secretariat's ability to deliver" laments Charles Clift, Senior Consulting Fellow at Chatham House.

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WHO matters to the world and, given that it receives 75% of its funding from the USA, the UK and the Bill Gates Foundation, we should all care that its functions properly.

But what's wrong....?

The specific accusations made against WHO are too numerous to list here, and I will outline only three. Firstly, there is proof of serious malpractice. The UN's own Office of Internal Oversight recently conducted a damning audit of WHO stating that 2015 saw a 66% increase in the demands for investigation of wrongdoing. Incidents of reported fraud were up 20% over the previous period, and instances of fraud shot up 166% in 2015.

As an example, an official at an unnamed regional WHO office bypassed established procedures to improperly purchase $2.1 million of equipment from a friend, even though the equipment was available for much less through other vendors.

Secondly, WHO seems to have developed a collective allergy to innovative health solutions and, at the forthcoming FCTC COP7 international conference in India, is trying to persuade countries that vaping of e-cigs should be regulated in the same way as conventional cigarettes, or possibly even banned.

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Last year, in a sweepingly irresponsible and incomprehensible statement, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan stated that "all governments should ban e-cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems".

This is a ludicrous suggestion given that Public Health England stated recently that e-cigarettes are 95% safer than using conventional cigarettes. The highly respected Royal College of Physicians agreed - saying that the long-term negative effects from e-cigs were "unlikely to exceed even 5% of the harm from smoking tobacco".

In other words, over-regulating e-cigarettes will cause people to stick with conventional cigarettes instead of switching to reduced risk products. This will cause unnecessary damage and serious risk to people's health, not improve it. This is perverse and closed-mind thinking from WHO, and is symptomatic of the lack of direction and leadership in the organisation.

This view seems to have been echoed by Mark Pawsey, MP, the Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary E-Cigarettes Group when commenting that.... "E-cigarettes are helping millions of people to stop smoking. So I find it inexplicable that the World Health Organisation is threatening to ban them".

There are now 2.4 million e-cigarette users in the UK; the WHO should do nothing that drives them back to inhaling nicotine, with all the terrible associated health consequences.

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Another accusation that has been levelled against WHO, a critical component of the UN, is that of stifling press freedoms. In response to growing concerns over the UN's treatment of the media, more than 50 journalists, editors, columnists and thought leaders from 18 countries joined to sign a coalition letter - on UN-designated World Press Freedom Day in May - demanding the UN abide by the same principles of press freedom it expects from its member nations.

The letters' signers called on the UN "to stop its hypocritical conduct and live up to the principles of press freedom."

There are many more other serious accusations and issues for WHO to face up to, and not try and conceal. The election campaign that has just begun for a new Director-General offers the organisation the opportunity to debate these many issues and problems it needs to overcome.

WHO is at a crossroads and must surely embrace the values of transparency, inclusion, democracy and good governance. Too often in the past few years, these values have been overlooked, conveniently side-stepped or trampled on.
I attended training recently with The Schools Consent Project. I'll be going into schools as a volunteer lawyer to present workshops on the issue of consent. We'll be talking about the law of consent, and what consent means to young people.

The Need

Currently, there is no comprehensive statutory curriculum for Personal, Social and Health Education ('PSHE'), including sex education. In February 2015 the Education Select Committee recommended that PSHE be made statutory, to put it on an equal footing with other subjects. The Education Committee, along with the Chairs of the Health, Home Affairs and Business, Innovation and Skills Committees wrote to Secretary of State for Education (at the time) Nicky Morgan, asking her to make it compulsory.

Nicky Morgan refused to do so, saying that the problem with PSHE across the country was the quality of the teaching. Perhaps with the new Secretary of State having a combined role as Secretary of State for Education as well as Minister for Women and Equalities, Justine Greening MP will re-address this in the coming months.

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Incredibly, schools are not required to teach children and young people about consent. Nor do they have to teach their young people about the emotional implications of sex. This means that many sex education lessons can be limited to the physical act of sex and contraception options. But there are so many other important parts to create a healthy sexual relationship. As a result, there is a huge need for these workshops. The Schools Consent Project aims to fill this void.

School teachers who see children and young people every day can often find it difficult to then address sex education and consent with them. I think that young people having the chance to speak to an outsider, who really understands the legal position with regard to consent it can be really helpful for both them and their teachers.

Consent: As simple as a cup of tea?

Recent campaigns including this one have tried to make the idea of consent easy to understand:

But a YouTube video isn't enough! The Schools Consent Project workshops are designed to open up a discussion about consent and sexual relationships, to discuss common myths and misconceptions as well as common responses to disclosures of sexual assault and how these may or may not be helpful to the person disclosing.

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The Training

As a volunteer going into schools, I will be presenting the current legal position regarding consent.

Legal issues of consent arise regularly in the media, and young people are bombarded with stories, making it hard to know the facts.

We will be using activities to involve young people with consent issues currently in the media, or those they may have heard about or experienced. We'll be encouraging debate and discussion using activities and games in the workshops.

The workshops are tailored to the young people to whom we'll be presenting and are always age-appropriate, in gender-mixed classes (unless in single sex schools). I'm really glad that The Schools Consent Project deliver workshops to boys and girls together. It always seemed strange to me that in sex education classes boys and girls would be separated. I feel it defeats the object to talk about sex, relationships and consent and yet not open the conversation enough to have all students in the same room together to talk about it.

The language used in the workshops is accessible and inclusive of sexual orientations, gender stereotypes and norms aren't presumed.

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An International Perspective

In Sweden, the age of consent is 15 years old unless a person is in a position of trust, in which case it is 18 years old. In the UK, sex is legal at 16 years old. In Sweden, sex education has been compulsory since 1956. Children are given four one hour-long classes per week for between four and eight weeks. This is huge in comparison to the UK, and I think really reflects the importance society places in this education.

In the US, cases about consent have dominated the headlines; Brock Turner being perhaps the most widely known recent example. This case was surrounded by issues of consent, influence of alcohol, victim blaming and indecent images taken without consent. Comments made to the Judge by the abuser's father minimalised his son's behaviour as "20 minutes of action". Turner was convicted of sexually assaulting his victim on Stanford University campus. There is still a problem with sexual assaults being dealt with on campus by university authorities, rather than by the police. Programmes such as this BBC documentary on Fraternities expose some of the problems with consent on campuses.

Topics

In The Schools Consent Project workshops, we'll cover many relevant issues for young people, including:

1.What is consent

2.Consent and the law

3.Enthusiastic and grudging consent

4.Impact of unwanted sexual contact or non-consent

5.Sexting

6.Revenge porn

The Schools Consent Project has found that many young people want to find out more about the law relating to sexting in particular. Many have witnessed or experienced images being shared amongst classmates or online. Many have seen the media reporting cases of children and young people swapping images of each other both voluntary and otherwise, as well as conflicting news reports of the consequences. The Schools Consent Project workshops explain the law on sexting, as well as how this applies to social media platforms such as Snapchat and others, and how this may affect them.

In High Demand

So far, The Schools Consent Project has reached 4000 children and young people across the UK, with another 30 workshops lined up between September and November 2016 already. This is fantastic work considering the workshops have only been running since around a year ago. This just shows how much of a need there is and that schools and teachers really acknowledge this gap, and both want and need someone to fill this.

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It's great that The Schools Consent Project exists and I'm really pleased to be part of it, but I really feel that this should be compulsory across the country. Young people should not have to rely on volunteers to understand consent. It's crucial for them and for society as a whole that the issue of consent forms a natural part of their education and development. I hope that the Justine Greening will re-think the government's position on this soon.

I'm really looking forward to getting into schools and meeting young people to discuss such an important issue, including some of the challenging and thoughtful questions I'm sure that they will ask! If you're interested in getting involved with The Schools Consent Project, including if you would like to become a volunteer lawyer, you can find out more here.
In our current state of political hysteria, it is difficult to take a step back and focus on executing our business objectives, without becoming preoccupied with Brexit woes.

I've spoken to many small businesses who are worried, wondering how our split from the European Union will affect them.

Unfortunately, nobody has given us an all-encompassing answer to calm our nerves.

That's why I believe it is absolutely critical, that we focus on securing and scaling our businesses at their core. By that, I mean investing in ourselves, investing in our people and addressing issues our poor productivity.

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Today, every business owner has one thing in common; they're suffering from increased levels of uncertainty in the market, a feeling that systematically stifles growth and investment.

Business owners all over the UK have a big task on their hands. UK labour productivity fell by 1.2% last year; the productivity puzzle is more relevant now than ever before, and we need to ensure our productivity levels reflect success if we want to survive this current economic turmoil.

The recruitment sector is no different. We're all worried about our future access to European talent, and the potential lack of talent attraction appetite across every sector.

Over the past 30 years the recruitment sector has gone through a major evolution.

At the start of my career I used filing cabinets, card boxes, fax machines... Without the internet, as a recruiter you were only as good as your relationships, and your ability to identify and clearly define a job opportunity and seek out the right candidates.

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The sector has grown immensely due to increased economic activity and the rise in social recruiting. The sector now generates sales of 299bn globally but, even though associated salaries have increased fourfold, there has been no change in the actual fee income generated per recruiter in the last 30 years.

When I started out, an average month for a recruiter used to be 15K. Now a good month is 10K. Despite the increase in tools and tech resources available to recruiters today, how is it possible that billings have remained on par with what I achieved 30 years ago?

Of the 20,000 recruitment businesses in the UK today, around 70% will never get above 10 heads or generate more than 0.05m in gross profit.

As much as the day-to-day activities of professional recruiters and the tools they use have changed, the most successful fee earners and managers still rely on the traditional recruitment methodology.

A great recruiter understands that to generate trust with clients and provide a valuable service, you need to excel at the entire process, end-to-end, not just one component.

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Sadly, over 25% of people joining our industry leave within first 12 months. Why? Because we lack effective training methods.

That's why I've launched Recruitment Guide; the world's first destination hub for recruitment professionals. The Guide hosts a range of tools for recruiters, with help from LinkedIn who have worked in association with us.

I'm dedicated to addressing the issues of productivity and employment rates, which are critical to the enhancement of the UK economy.
Is it when they can walk?

When they can talk?

When they're potty trained?

When they are a certain age?

Or something else?

Who decides when a baby is no longer a baby and therefore no longer worthy of having a clean safe place to have their continence needs met?

If it is based on walking, talking or being potty trained then you could class my son as a baby because he can't do any of those things. He has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and can't sit or stand let alone walk, he also can't speak. He can use a toilet but he isn't toilet trained and still has to wear a nappy because he can't always let us know when he needs to go.

Until the age of about three or four he had the luxury of being provided with a facility in most large buildings when we were out, with a safe place he could lie down and have his nappy changed.

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But then.. shock horror... he grew!

He now weighs 21kg (approx 3 1/2 stone in old money) which is far too heavy for the wall mounted baby changing units we're all used to seeing in public toilets. He's also too tall.

But he still has all the other characteristics of a baby who needs that facility, so why is it not provided for him? Why is his age and size the reason he has been stripped of any dignity when it comes to needing a toilet when out and about in the UK?

Faecal incontinence is an embarrassing and stressful condition for children and families. Studies also show it affects 3.5% of boys and 1% of girls aged 5 years and 1.2% of boys and 0.3% of girls aged 10-12 years and 1.4% of the general population over 40 years old.

That's works out to over 2.7 million people - that's a lot of people that aren't being provided with somewhere dignified to have their continence needs met isn't it!

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Many of these people will be physically disabled and will require space for a wheelchair, somewhere clean to sit or lay down to be cleaned / clean themselves and many will also require a hoist if they cannot stand.

But because they are over the age of 3 or 4 they will have no option other than to use the toilet floor or remain sitting in their own mess until they can return home. We wouldn't leave a baby in a dirty nappy so why is this ok?

I am always talking about discrimination in terms of disability but what about in terms of age discrimination? Why are people under 3 provided with facilities that those over 3 require but aren't being provided? Why aren't our UK businesses providing somewhere all encompassing to welcome people of all ages and ability?

A family changing facility would provide a simple answer to this problem and would mean that anyone who needs it would have somewhere safe and dignified they could have their continence needs met in complete privacy regardless of their age or ability.

Imagine if all UK businesses thought outside the box for a moment and transformed their baby changing facilities into 'people' changing facilities by replacing their baby changing units with an adult changing bench and by adding a hoist. Of course some existing rooms may not be ideal and might not meet Changing Places regulations because of size but if EVERY business did this then even those that were too small for some wouldn't be an issue because there would be other options nearby.

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No longer would we be spending time worrying about whether we could leave the house. No longer would people be risking their health by laying on unhygienic toilet floors. No longer would carers be risking their backs by carrying out manual handling. No longer would we have to try and find some wifi so we can check a map to see where the nearest toilet is and then realise it's miles away and it would be quicker to go home.

Everyone would be able to leave the house safe in the knowledge that if they needed the toilet they could easily find one.
Bisi Alimi made history in 2004 when he became the first Nigerian man to come out as gay on live national television. During the interview, he called for Nigeria to be more accepting of the LGBT community; he was met with death threats, and after being disowned by the majority of his friends and family, was eventually forced to leave the country.

Last year, Bisi went home for the first time. His return to Nigeria is the subject of an upcoming documentary, 'The Boy From Mushin,' directed by filmmaker Joe Cohen. In a telephone interview, Bisi and Joe shared the serendipitous story of how they met, and how the project came about.

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They first crossed paths briefly at a club night in London, and then reconnected shortly after on a gay social network. "I had my antennae open for a story," says Joe. "I'd recently finished film school, and I wanted to make a feature." Bisi and Joe became friends, but it wasn't until nearly a year later that Joe raised the idea of shooting a documentary. "Neither of us wanted to make a documentary about the past," he says.

But as Bisi's profile grew, the story became more about the future. They began to film "in bits and pieces," telling the story of Bisi's childhood in a Lagos slum, his rise to fame as an actor in Nigeria, that now-infamous watershed TV moment, and his subsequent life in exile. When Bisi was invited to return to Nigeria in 2015 to speak at an arts festival, Joe hired a local crew to capture it.

Bisi's activism takes him all over the world, but he remains committed to improving the lives of LGBT people in his home country, where homosexuality still carries a criminal sentence. The Bisi Alimi Foundation aims to achieve change on the ground through research, advocacy, training, and engaging businesses. Nigeria is Africa's second largest economy (South Africa recently retook the top spot), and Bisi is deeply passionate about making it a better place to live and work.

He tells me how, when his acting career was going well, he was able to support not only his family, but also his friends in the LGBT community. When he came out, he lost his house and his income, and became reliant on his mother. Going from financial independence to a self-perceived "burden" opened Bisi's eyes to how Nigeria is cutting itself off from potential prosperity.

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"If the LGBT community has the freedom to create and manage wealth, it flows back into the economy," he says. "But if you deprive them of the ability and the freedom to create wealth, they depend on their friends and family to make their living, and the little money they have gets shared among people, and doesn't do anything for the economy."

In short; if it is possible to change the economic narrative of LGBT people, then it is possible to change the economic narrative of an entire nation.

Of course, while financial motivation will change some minds, it won't be enough to overcome generations of learned bigotry. "No matter how much investment we put into eradicating prejudice, it isn't going away," says Bisi. "People will hold onto beliefs that are harmful to society. But we can curtail and reduce the impact of prejudice."

"I hope that LGBT people in Nigeria will be able to watch this film and be inspired, and be empowered, and be encouraged," says Joe. "Not just through Bisi's story, but through other people in the film as well, and their courage. I'd like it be a tool of empowerment to people in Nigeria, but I'd like to have an impact in the West as well. I think people need to be aware of the horror of the legal situation, I think people need to be aware of the need for international solidarity and campaigning. So I hope that this film will be a window into that world."
In recent months, alarming signs have been accumulating that Israel is stepping up its creeping annexation of most of the occupied West Bank, and in doing so killing any prospect of ever reaching a two-state peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Most of this Israeli activity is focused on the 60 percent of the West Bank known as Area C which is totally under its control, where Israel is stepping up settlement planning while simultaneously throttling Palestinian economic and social development.

The most dramatic manifestation of this policy is a plan to totally demolish a small Palestinian village called Susya in the hills south of Hebron making several hundred people homeless. The plan has been put on hold until the end of October in the face of a chorus of international protests from European governments and the US State Department. Important American Jewish organizations like the Union for Reform Judaism, which issued a strong statement, and J Street which collected over 10,000 signatures on a petition to Secretary of State John Kerry to use his influence in the matter, also weighed in against the impending demolition.

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Sussya is just one of 17 Palestinian villages in the area under threat. Israeli settlers have long been eyeing this area of the West Bank for their own expansion - which for them would have the added benefit of driving a stake into the idea of ever making a two-state peace with the Palestinians.

Under the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, the West Bank was divided into three areas. In Area A, about 18 percent of the territory including all of the major Palestinian cities, Palestinians are supposed to have complete control - although the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) often conduct raids and security operations. In Area B, about 22 percent, Palestinians run their domestic affairs while security is shared between the IDF and Palestinian security forces. Area C, where most of the Israeli settlements are located and an estimated 100,000 Palestinians live, is under full Israeli control.

The Israeli settler movement, which is now heavily represented in the Israeli cabinet, seems to have given up the idea of Israel annexing all of the West Bank, which would put it in permanent control of some 2.7 million Palestinians. Instead, their ambitions now focus on Area C, which would give Israel the maximum amount of land with the minimum amount of Palestinians.

If Israel did annex this territory, this would leave almost all the Palestinians squashed into cities with no territorial contiguity - an archipelago of Palestinian islands surrounded by a sea under Israeli control. Some might call them "Bantutans" since that arrangement would be eerily reminiscent of the notorious South African attempt to isolate black Africans during the apartheid era.

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Under Oslo, more and more control was supposed to revert to the Palestinians over time - but that idea died long ago. Instead, Israel has been systematically taking over more and more of the land - and of its most precious natural resource, namely water.

Haaretz reported this week that the Israeli Civil Administration in the West Bank has promised to advance a "strategic plan" to develop the South Hebron Hills region. The plan calls for the construction of two industrial parks, a medical center and homes for new settlers.

To be clear, this is not an area that could ever be retained by Israel if there were to be a two-state solution. It is far away from the nearest Israeli settlement bloc. In fact, under the formula of land swaps that would allow some of these massive settlements near major Israeli cities to remain in Israel, the Israelis would have to hand over some of its territory adjacent to the Hebron hills to the future Palestinian state.

While expanding its own control, Israel is making life more and more difficult for the Palestinians who live in Area C. Their attempts to build homes and small industrial enterprises have been systematically frustrated by the Israel authorities who refuse to issue them building permits. Their access to water for agriculture is also being blocked. The government is clearly trying to send them a message that they would be better off abandoning the land and relocating to the cities, leaving the area free for unfettered Israeli settlement.

Talking to Israeli Knesset members last month, EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen claimed that 70 percent of Area C land, has been set aside for exclusive Israeli use. He said that between 2009 and 2013 only 44 housing permits have been granted to Area C Palestinians.

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Co-authored by Christine Cody, Freelance Editor and Science Writer; Editorial Associate for Oregon Research Institute

As we struggle to comprehend the numerous tragedies this country has seen in recent years, we have a choice between continuing acrimonious public discussion or adopting peaceable, respectful communication. Behavioral science has produced a wealth of knowledge about how to prevent or resolve conflict. This knowledge can help us move toward a peaceful, caring society. We suggest six straightforward principles that could improve human relations and solve problems effectively.

First, become adept at taking others' perspectives. This is not the same as agreeing with them. It simply means paying attention to what others think and feel and taking the time to learn about their situations without judging them. When we do this, we are more likely to understand and feel some empathy for them, and they are more likely to reciprocate.

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Second, learn to step over others' aversive behavior. Our natural, wired-in response when someone does something we don't like is to criticize, argue, threaten, or move away from them. People who are adept at ignoring others' annoying behavior and affirming their positive attributes bring out the best in others and avoid unproductive conflict.

This leads to the third principle: increasing positive reinforcement of behaviors we want. Although positive reinforcement has a bad name in some circles, we're not referring to stickers, food, or money. We mean listening, smiling, praising, and recognizing what people do that we would like to see more of. Over the past 10 years, educators have greatly increased positive reinforcement for diverse forms of prosocial behavior in schools. Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support is a school-wide system for moving from punitive approaches to behavior and toward reinforcement of positive behavior. Over 21,000 U.S. schools use it.

Similarly, our friend and colleague Dennis Embry has trained more than 10,000 teachers to use his PAX version of the Good Behavior Game. When played in early elementary school, the GBG has contributed to academic and social success even into adulthood.

As we begin to affirm others' positive behavior, they will become more open to us. Psychologists Geoffrey Cohen and David Sherman recently summarized several studies showing that people become less prejudiced toward others and more willing to listen to them after first affirming their positive qualities.

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The fourth principle concerns noticing models of prosocial, cooperative, loving, positively reinforcing, forgiving, and supportive behaviors. When is the last time you saw a politician praise the work of someone from a different party? If our political leadership leads by example, they are leading us in the wrong direction. We should celebrate those who try to unite people, acknowledge the positive action of those with whom we disagree, and forgive others who have wronged us. Witness the forgiveness given by the families of those slain at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston and the reaction of the Amish who cared for the family of Charles Roberts after he killed five little Amish girls in Pennsylvania.

The fifth principle is to give better attention to our values. Start with the most basic. Wouldn't it be reasonable for our society to want everyone to live long, healthy, and productive lives? If you begin with this simple goal and recall the things that will shorten our lives and undermine our wellbeing, you very quickly realize that any frequent stressor is harmful. Those who are most embroiled in conflict are also experiencing stress. The three groups who need our greater concern are people of color, police, and poor white people. These groups experience a very high stress rate that affects their health.

If your only goal is to increase the safety and wellbeing of your group, you will want to promote the wellbeing of these other groups -- even if you have strong negative feelings toward them. Why? Because by helping them, you will help them decrease their hostility toward your group.

The sixth principle is pragmatism. Pragmatists aren't strongly attached to their beliefs but they do act in keeping with their values and they evaluate their beliefs in terms how much they support their valued outcomes. You may dislike the views of another person or group, but acting on that aversion is unlikely to encourage great peace and reconciliation. Acting on these six principles could.

Most Americans are not personally involved in the tragedies that have been shocking this country. But everyone can contribute to rebuilding a society that cares for the wellbeing of every member. We did it during WWII and we can do it now. We can create a society with a higher level of wellbeing than America has ever achieved.

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To make a difference for yourself and those around you:

Look everyday for commendable things that politicians "from the other side" have done. Then praise them. A quick email might encourage them, while a Facebook comment or tweet would hold their behavior up to others as a model

Each day, find three things that people around you do that you like and tell them you noticed it.

Smile at people who look different from you.

Each time you are in public, talk to someone you don't know in a positive, compassionate way.

Collectively we can:
At Goldman Sachs, Steve Bannon's job was to defend companies against hostile takeovers by junk bond raiders from Drexel Burnham and First Boston. This morning Bannon himself completed a hostile takeover of the Republican Party, when it was announced that he would move from his post as chairman of Breitbart.com to become CEO of Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

Beyond its enthusiastic cheerleading for the GOP presidential nominee, Breitbart, since its namesake's passing, has represented a formulation of conservatism identical to that which drove Trump's campaign to victory in the Republican primary. While lacking the ideological consistency of most political movements, it is a blend of right-wing populism, Saul Alinsky's tactics and Sun Tzu's strategies. It is jingoistic, angry and anti-institutional.

For years the Republican Party used dog whistles to avoid accusations of racism. (The strategy was famously explained by former RNC Chair Lee Atwater.) The Trump/Breitbart ideology now unflinchingly promotes racism, while openly courting the support of bigots. Former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro noted this in a post this morning that under Bannon's leadership "Breitbart has become the alt-right go-to website, with [Milo] Yiannopoulos pushing white ethno-nationalism as a legitimate response to political correctness, and the comment section turning into a cesspool for white supremacist meme makers."

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It is a thin-skinned ideology, consistently positioning those who adhere to it as victims of the liberal media, progressive college professors (and even students), and institutional Republicans, that relies on a constant stream of conspiracies theories about government institutions out to get white conservatives.

Those who adopt the Trump/Breitbart ideology ignore any evidence that does not conform to their worldview and live their lives in a completely binary world. One is either a friend or an enemy with no in between. This means that even those who are ideological allies are targets for their enmity, including members of the political elite such as John Boehner and Paul Ryan, who, by not showing 100 percent fealty, have committed some crime against the movement. The movement's enemies list also includes conservative media figures who don't necessarily toe the line and former employees who are no longer viewed as loyal.

The Trump/Breitbart ideology is defined not by any coherent set of conservative beliefs but instead by rabid anti-liberalism. For the past eight years that has meant standing in opposition to the Obama administration, even when it took stances that more traditional conservatives would have been happy to adopt, and now translates into unquestioning opposition to the Clinton campaign.

Trump's campaign has demonstrated the extent of the support for this anti-liberal ideology among Republican Party voters. Yet for the past few weeks, Trump's poll numbers have flagged as promised resets, marked by teleprompter-driven policy speeches, are undercut, often in less than 24 hours, when the candidate's often racist gaffes step on his own news cycle.

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In July, the ousting of former campaign manager Corey Lewandowsky and the elevation of campaign chairman Paul Manafort signaled an attempt to bring Trump back into the Republican fold. This has clearly failed.

While Bannon's elevation marks the completion of the takeover, it in fact began long ago.

For eight years, Fox News served as a megaphone, promoting anger among the base of the Republican Party. It promoted and fueled the Tea Party in the spring of 2009 and the angry town halls that members of Congress came home to that summer. These voters became a dominant force in the party, leading to Republican victories, most notably taking back the House of Representatives in 2010. The rise of the Tea Party also led to embarrassments, such as the nomination of Christine "I'm not a witch" O'Donnell, that year in the Delaware Senate race.

Looking back just 24 hours, yesterday's New York Times report that former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes is now assisting the Trump campaign with debate prep is even less surprising.

Republicans who claim that Trump and Breitbart do not represent their movement now face a new reality: Warriors for an ideology they claim not to support are now on their way to gaining full control of the institutions of their party.

Steve Bannon, in business and politics, has shown himself to be a crafty merger artist. While arranging the sale of Castle Rock, in lieu of a fee he accepted the rights to several television shows, among them "Seinfeld," which had not yet become the dominant cultural force of the 1990s, leading to an untold financial windfall.

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It goes without saying that music can take you to a whole new dimension: it gives you rush of emotions and makes you feel alive. Every major European city has one or more "live music temples" where local people gather together and enjoy the flow of music, an exceptional atmosphere and each other's company.

Check out this list of 10 local favorite music venues in Europe that will leave you speechless.



Image by AC Uribe

Do you think that opera is not your cup of tea? Then think again! Liceu will offer you a wide range of performances: from contemporary to an old classics. Although our local spotter Cinthya says that it may be difficult to get ticket to La Boheme and Die Zauberflote (they are super popular amongst locals), but you can also choose from a broad list of other shows of season 2016-2017, so just keep checking! Special offer for students: you can get a special discount if you will buy tickets at the same day of the show. So, make yourself comfortable and enjoy the spectacular show.



Image by Kasper Vogelzang

Ready to travel to Milky Way? It's not that far away, you can find it in Amsterdam! Melkweg (dutch translation for Milky Way) is a complete hotspot for the music of a high quality. This music venue mostly includes concerts and festivals, BUT you can also visit exhibitions (they are free!) or go to the movie session. Melkweg offers a wide range of events, so if you are on your way to a hectic Amsterdam, don't forget to grab a ticket and enjoy a festival of sounds. No regrets!

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Image by Davy Verbeke

Have you ever stayed late in train station in order to... dance to a concert? Nope, I'm not joking. This special place is called Brussels-Congress train station (Gare de Bruxelles - Congres). This train station works only during weekdays till 7 p.m., but on weekends it gets completely silent...till the music hits the platform! The atmosphere of underground station, a blurry light, vibration and music... What else do you need for an unforgettable experience in Brussels?



Image by Cindy Fonvig

Do you feel that you need to bring some style to your life? Then go for Vega! This posh music venue in Copenhagen successfully gathers local people to their favorite music events almost every day of the week. The venue is divided into two scenes - Lille Vega and Store Vega - that have separate bars and balconies. Our local spotter Cindy mentioned that it's quite easy to get lost... Hence, if you want to feel Copenhagen's nightlife and at the same time bring yourself to the dancefloor, then Vega is a perfect choice!



Image by Sabrina Grohsebner

Vienna and classical music - can you imagine a more perfect combination? Actually, you can. A local spotter Sabrina highly recommends The Musical University of Vienna (MDW). The University invites all music enthusiasts to its beautiful auditoriums to listen to classical music...for free! The idea is pretty simple: students present their progress and talents to the public. In exchange, they gain some invaluable experience and you get a perfect opportunity to feel an omnipresent musical spirit of Vienna. The list of events is really wide, so it's up to you which one you will pick, all of them are worth the attention!



Image by Sofia Skioti

Technopolis, which is located in Athens, is probably the most exceptional venues from all of the list. Why? The answer is simple: it is established in a former gas factory which was transformed to modern cultural venue. Although most of the events include festivals and gigs, you can also find temporary exhibitions or visual and applied arts' installations. Sometimes the entrance to Technopolis is absolutely free, so if you are lucky enough, you will get there without paying a dime!

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Image by Helene Bienvenu

Let's drift away from other music venues...Literally. A 38 is a floating concert hall where various concerts take place. To be more clear, A 38 is a ship that hosts a wide range of events that are insanely popular among locals: starting with cozy jazz gigs, ending with well-known bands and artists. It is usually quite crowded, but believe me, when you will get there, it will instantly become one of your favorite places in Budapest. By the way, A 38 is a favourite stage of our spotter Helene!



Image by Andrea Chirulescu

It is well-known fact that churches have a perfect acoustic's which makes music go with the flow. So why not transforming it to a music venue? And that's what Norwegians did. Kulturkirken Jakob - a neo-gothic church in Oslo - was perfectly turned into cultural venue where concerts, art exhibitions and visual arts take place. The main goal for this place is to promote any forms of art. So, if you think that church is a perfect place not only for a peacefulness, but also for a cultural events and especially music, then go for it!



Image by Andrew Sidford

If the church in Oslo can become a perfect music venue than so does the chapel! Union Chapel in London, unlike the Kulturkirken Jakob in Oslo, still gathers its religious community. It wasn't transformed into completely modern venue and that's why this place has a special atmosphere. No modern twists, just Victorian Gothic architecture, perfect acoustic's, you and music. What else do you need for a momentous experience?



Image by Sarunas Andriusaitis
The small business proceedings of a local marijuana dispensary in Portland, Oregon.

You'll be facing varying challenges the moment you have your own business but nothing will compare to the challenge that raising funds to actually start one presents. Any small business owner you get to speak with can assure you of that. However, that doesn't mean you should kick your entrepreneurial dream aside. Remember, you don't need a fortune to start a business. Here are five ways you can start your own without having to knock on any bank's doors.

1. Crowdfunding

Websites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter is where aspiring entrepreneurs go in the hopes of financing their small business aspirations as these crowdfunding platforms can help you find small investments from varying investors. Other sites will allow you to raise funds in exchanges of your products. Most of them will charge a payment processing fee for the funds that you'll raise. Just be sure to read and understand the fine print before you say "Yes".

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2. Contests and Competitions

If you go online and search for "business plan competitions" or "business plan contests", you'll be surprised to know that there are several you can enter into to win a sum of money that can help you fund the cost required to start your small business. The chances of winning may not be that huge but the other advantage of joining such competition is the possibility to build connections with business experts who may be able to lend you a hand through the first phases of your business' growth.

3. Family and Friends

Before you say, "No", hear me out first. Borrowing from your loved-ones has more advantages than disadvantages. First, you'll only have to pay minimal to no interests. Second, you don't have to go through the hassle of signing contracts (which you'll be forced to deal with if you take a loan from banks). Lastly, you can easily negotiate payment arrangements. Just keep in mind to establish frequent and open communication with your family and friend lenders to avoid destroying their trust and damaging the relationship in the long run.

4. Selling of assets

Sometimes, you hold on to some assets that don't even benefit you in one way or another. So look within your home and see what possible possessions you can sell in an effort to fund your small business. You may own clothes you never got the chance to wear, appliances or devices that you hardly use, or tickets to a concert you don't feel like attending anymore. You can also sell unused jewelry or gold if you own some for a price that can help you raise the funds you need. Micheal Cuculca from Brisbane Gold Buyers had the following to say regarding the current market situation: "As the value of gold varies from day to day, you can rely on experts to have a wealth of knowledge in this industry to draw from. Combined with the right tools, you'll be given the best value possible for your unwanted gold".

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5. Side hustles

If you have a side business, it's another smart way to obtain the funds you need to start another small business. It may just take time depending on how much and how frequent you receive an income but it's an alternative worth considering, too.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump smiles as he participates in a roundtable discussion on national security in his offices in Trump Tower in New York, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

It's one of those days where you can freely pick your favorite movie metaphor to describe the news from the campaign of Donald Trump. "Nobody puts Baby in a corner," perhaps? Ben Shapiro, a former editor of none other than Breitbart News, was being interviewed on CNN where he came up with "a turd tornado." When asked, Shapiro helpfully defined the term: "Well, it's like a sharknado -- except with poop." I'm personally going to go with a favorite West Wing reference, one Trump himself actually seems comfortable with: Trump's campaign is now going to fully commit to "letting Trump be Trump." Because, obviously, the problem all along has been that Trump wasn't being Trump enough. Obviously.

For the past month or so, Donald Trump has been attempting to run some semblance of a realistic presidential campaign, based on the idea that he needed to "pivot" to the general election. This was a polite way of people telling Trump: "Don't say stupid things on a daily basis," in essence, and represented the Republican Party desperately trying to salvage Trump so they don't face a wipeout "wave" election this November. Trump, at the party's insistence, fired Corey Lewandowski and hired Paul Manafort to shepherd the campaign to a position where they might actually have a chance appealing to demographic groups beyond Trump's core of rabid supporters.

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This effort is now apparently officially over. Manafort did have some degree of success in getting Trump to give a handful of scripted speeches (off a TelePrompTer, no less) designed to present him in a sane and reasonable light to the public. This "serious speeches" effort may also now be over, although Manafort has not actually been fired yet (just severely demoted), so maybe Trump will still occasionally deliver a few of these speeches in the coming weeks.

But it likely won't matter much one way or the other. Because one of the new people Trump is now going to rely upon to run his campaign is the executive chairman of Breitbart News, an organization even more conspiratorially-minded than Trump himself. Trump is doubling down on his strategy of giving huge rallies, firing his audience up, and then augmenting these by flooding cable news channels with his presence. Hey, it worked in the primaries, right?

The other new hire for Trump is a woman whose expertise lies in selling antediluvian Republican politicians (such as Todd Akin) to women voters. No, really -- that's her big qualification. Maybe her experience as a pollster will at least force Trump to face the dismal numbers he's been seeing, which could actually be a plus. But then again, maybe she's just going to tell Trump what he wants to hear, who knows?

Buried in all the other news about Trump's campaign shakeup was an interesting factoid. The Trump campaign is finally ready to engage in the battle for the airwaves. To date in the general campaign, Trump has spent zero (that's ZERO) dollars on advertising. Hillary Clinton has spent close to $60 million, for comparison. Team Trump, however, is now only going to concentrate on five states: Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

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Trump's initial strategy for which states to target was based on his own gut feelings, and was laughable in the extreme. Trump said he was going to fight for California, New York, and Washington state, because he considered them all winnable. After the riotous guffaws this announcement provoked died down, this was quickly dialed back to a strategy based (somewhat) on possible reality, where Trump was going to win the White House by winning the entire Rust Belt -- Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and perhaps even Minnesota. These are all pretty deep blue states when it comes to presidential elections, and if Trump successfully flipped two or three of them he would indeed enormously improve his possible pathway to winning the Electoral College. Democrats even began to get a little nervous about these states, because Trump's core support looked a lot like the voting pool there (blue-collar workers, white men, etc.).

Donald Trump has not entirely given up on winning blue states that seem far out of reach for any Republican. He campaigned recently in Connecticut, spending time there he could have spent in a much more competitive state. But there are only so many days left until the election so every day spent in Connecticut (or any similar blue state) is a day Trump didn't spend in a true battleground state.

Still, it's interesting that Trump won't be playing offense in any state other than Pennsylvania and Virginia. Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina are all legitimate swing states and could go either way, making them obvious choices for television ads. But Pennsylvania and Virginia are now longshots for Trump, at best. Which makes the absence of the other longshots Trump was supposed to be targeting noticeable -- no ad money for Michigan or Wisconsin (or even Iowa) was announced.

Ad spending telegraphs a campaign's feelings about how well the candidate is doing. The basic rules state that money is best spent on swing states that are unpredictable but persuadable. Ad money is spent defensively in those states where your opponent is spending money, but which really should be in your column. Ad money is spent offensively in states you think you can poach away from your opponent. By this metric, Trump will be targeting (as expected) swing states Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina. Trump is on the offense in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Trump is not on the defense anywhere, really. But the absences are astonishing. Trump won't be spending any initial money in New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado, or Nevada. All are normally seen as battleground states. Colorado and New Hampshire may be beyond Trump's reach at this point, but Iowa and Nevada are still close enough to be considered tossups. The only good news from the traditional battleground map for Trump is that to date Missouri seems pretty firmly in his column, meaning spending money there would only be defensive (in response to a Clinton ad blitz there, perhaps).

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Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has been advertising in swing states, but is now pulling ad money out of Virginia, Colorado, and even Pennsylvania -- because she thinks she's got them locked up for now (ad money may be spent there later, though). While not actually up on the airwaves there with ads yet, Team Clinton has also been putting some resources into states once considered Republican strongholds -- Georgia, Arizona, and even (are you sitting down?) Utah. South Carolina is even looking pretty weak, so Hillary may consider expanding there, too. All the while, Clinton's campaign has not had to spend any money on defense, because Trump has not run any ads yet anywhere.

The Trump campaign is now signaling that he really only has one path to victory, and it involves winning either Pennsylvania or Virginia. The Electoral College votes just don't add up to 270 for Trump without at least one of those two states in his column. Even if Trump won Nevada, Arizona, Iowa, Ohio, and Florida, it wouldn't put him over the top without either Pennsylvania or Virginia.

Trump's new strategy will be to unleash his inner Trump on the five states he's now targeting. He'll hold monster rallies, whip up the crowds, and then phone in interviews on all the cable shows afterwards. His closest campaign confidant will be a man prone to promoting rightwing conspiracy theories. All that talk of "pivots" will cease. Trump is who Trump is (as he himself recently put it), and so his campaign will now center around "letting Trump be Trump."

After all, what could possibly go wrong with that strategy?

Chris Weigant blogs at:
Iroquois Valley Farms Co-Founder and CEO, Dave Miller, makes it sound simple: We built this company to support the businesses of our farmers. Iroquois Valley Farms merges the worlds of socially responsible investing and organic farming to provide land access and financing to farmers interested in expanding their regenerative organic businesses. As a company dedicated to maximizing environmental and social returns in addition to economic returns, it made perfect sense to become a Certified B Corporation.



Organic farming operates differently from the conventional agriculture world. Therefore, a company built to support organic farmers must operate differently from conventional companies. As a Certified B Corp, Iroquois Valley Farms faces self-imposed standards of accountability and measures itself against a broader purpose. By implanting the Certified B Corp structure and pledging to be a business that benefits all while doing no harm, Iroquois Valley Farms embeds its mission to support organic farmers in its operating structure.



Organic farming involves long-term commitment to the land: it takes three years to transition soil from conventional to certified organic and our farmers say it takes over ten years to fully restore soil health to previously conventionally managed farms. The organic transition is rough  farmers must market their crops at conventional prices while putting in extra time and money on soil restoration, which often leads to operational losses. There is no immediate economic benefit to farmers doing the difficult work of transitioning the land to organic status. The reward comes over time, when farmers can finally sell into organic markets. Organic food is more popular and accessible than ever, yet farmers hoping to break into the market face minimal support. Iroquois Valley Farms not only aims to support transitioning farmers, but also indirectly increase the accessibility of organic foods to consumers. Simply, with more organic farmers there is more organic food.



Its clear that consumers want more organic food  organic sales continue to grow and reached $43 billion in sales in 2015, according to the Organic Trade Association. In Iroquois Valleys work and in the industry, millennials are driving change. 70% of Iroquois Valleys tenants are millennial. Amazingly, less than 1% of total US cropland is organic, and organic food sales make up only about 5% of total food sales.



These limits also represent huge growth opportunities, but the transition period is a major barrier to change for farmers. Iroquois Valley Farms, as a Certified B Corporation is purposefully built to match the needs of organic farmers. In order to build a company to match the needs of a farmer, one must pass Farmer Psychology 101. The key principle is that farmers do not think in years, decades or lifetimes, but rather in generations. As such, Iroquois Valley Farms is structured as a leasing company that is able to hold the land for multiple generations if necessary. This leasing company approach differs from the traditional Wall Street trading model, in which assets are intentionally bought and sold regardless of their usage or their interaction with the asset holder. Conventional agriculture thrives in the Wall Street model that does not consider soil health or the vitality of the farming community. Iroquois Valley specifically contrasts this approach by offering indefinite land access that supports the farmer.



Second to generational access is the opportunity to take ownership. Our tenants become eligible to buy the land after seven years. While many farmers may never take ownership, providing that option is essential  it enables long-term decision-making and generational planning when combined with indefinite lease possibilities. As a Company we have only sold farmland to farmer tenants, never any third parties that would risk displacing the existing tenant. Again, this contrasts the Wall Street trading model that sells when it is optimal for the owner  not the tenant. We call this the well, hopefully approachwell, hopefully the farmer can buy when I want to sell the farm. The well, hopefully approach inherently supports conventional management by perpetuating uncertainty instead of supporting a generational perspective. By providing potential ownership options on the farmers terms, Iroquois Valley Farm directly supports organic regenerative agriculture and enables better farm management practices.



For Iroquois Valley Farms, becoming a Certified B Corp was a given. It was a clear and definitive way to demonstrate the Companys commitment to the principles organic farming embodies. These principles of attentive care for the land and care for human health already operate on environmental and social bottom lines. Furthermore, organic agriculture generates more revenues for organic farmers, which enlivens rural economies. Essentially, organic farming as an industry exemplifies Certified B Corp values. Its only fitting that a company dedicated to supporting organic farmers and helping them grow this movement aligns with the same ideals. Organic agriculture takes a clear stand on the issue of how to grow food and decides it can do it well; Iroquois Valley Farms goes a step further to ensure that an already mission-driven enterprise can and is doing better by and for the world.



Claire Mesesan can be reached via email at cmesesan@iroquoisvalleyfarms.com



The B Corp Life is a new blog series geared towards exploring what its like to work at a benefit corporation. Why do b corps matter, and what does the future hold for them? Let us know at PurposePlusProfit@huffingtonpost.com or by tweeting with #TheBCorpLife.
Without the right mindset, commuting to the office can be one of the most time consuming and stressful tasks we complete each day. The average American drives for 26 minutes each way between home and work, the US. Census Bureau reports. Factor in increasingly congested roadways, distracted drivers, accidents, and bad weather and it all adds up to several weeks worth of time every year.

Several studies show that commuting is associated with negative effects on our health, well-being and even our attitudes toward our jobs. But it doesn't have to be this way. Since commuting time is a reality for most of us, it's worth making some preparations to transform frustrating down-time into a period that is not just more peaceful, but actually restorative and worthwhile.

Here are 9 ways to make your commute less painful and more pleasurable.



1. Start fresh.

Keeping your car neat and organized can get overlooked in the rush of everyday life, especially when many of us seem to practically live in our vehicles. But the more time you spend there, the more you should treat yourself to a tidy environment. Throw away garbage and the miscellaneous items that tend to accumulate. Keep it stocked with tissues and hand sanitizer, hand cream and healthy snacks. Add an essential oil diffuser to the interior for some on-the-go aromatherapy. Treat yourself to a professional cleaning inside and out and make it as pleasant as possible.

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2. Adjust your schedule.

Part of what makes the morning drive so miserable is the panic of running behind. Leave well before you think you really need to. You'll spend the drive in a more calm state of mind instead of glancing at the clock and praying to hit every green light so you won't be late.

3. Be a more compassionate driver.

Remember that everyone out there is just trying to get to work and then home again in one piece. Leave plenty of room between you and the driver in front of you. If someone else is driving like a maniac, move into the slow lane and let them go by. Avoid multiple lane changes and constant jockeying for position to get ahead - the danger and anxiety of doing so is not worth arriving at your destination 2 minutes sooner.

4. Fall in love again with podcasts.

If your podcast routine is in a rut, seek out recommendations from friends, mentors and family members. Change things up; whatever your interest, there is a podcast out there for you. Find a few that sound interesting, then subscribe on your device and enjoy!

5. Rev up your playlist.

Music is emotionally transformative. It can energize us, soothe us, raise our spirits and help us blow off steam. Put on music that moves you and sing along. Make a playlist of your favorite songs to enjoy on your drive. Get the cast album to the latest Broadway musical. Choose wisely for your commute - overly aggressive rap or heavy metal may increase the stress of your drive.

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6. Convert your car into a virtual classroom.

There's a world of audiobooks, foreign language courses and classes on any subject imaginable available at your fingertips. Stream your favorite book into your speakers or speak French right along with the day's lesson.

7. Turn off the news.

Spending the entire commute listening to nothing but bad news will only add to the stress of driving in rush hour traffic. Listen to the headlines and weather if you must, then switch over to something that will enhance your mood.

8. Download some comedy albums.

Laughter is a great stress reliever, so get some good humor on your device and laugh the miles away. It' amazing how quickly the commute will go when you are enjoying the shuffle with a good belly laugh.
As the US is engaged in pre-election navel-gazing, Russia is not taking a summer nap. The Kremlin never sleeps, and especially not in August, and not during the Olympic season. The Beijing Olympics in 2008 coincided with the Russia-Georgian conflict, and the Ukrainian crisis developed during the Sochi Winter Olympics.

President Vladimir Putin is reformatting the strategic power balance in Eurasia. Recreating of the USSR 2.0 is underway both domestically and externally. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, the essence of Putin's doctrine is Russia wins - the West loses.

On August 8, Putin attended an historical meeting in Baku with his counterparts from Iran and Azerbaijan, Hassan Rouhani and Ilham Aliyev, to discuss the North-South corridor - a rail line and highways that would link the three countries and connect them to a transport network from India to Europe via the Caucasus.

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This north-south axis would neutralize the East-West economic corridor long supported by the West.

Coordinating Russia-Iranian political and security interests would cause power shifts in the Caucasus and may have profound implications for the U.S. and Western interests, especially with regards to Armenia and the Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh, and the secessionist, de-facto Russian-occupied South Ossetia (Samachablo), and Abkhazia. Both enclaves legally belong to Georgia.

In the light of such developments, and especially as a new Administration will arrive to Washington soon, the U.S. should not disengage from the strategic region, which is the nexus of Europe and Asia. It connects the Atlantic space to Central Asia, and Eastern Europe to Iran and the Gulf.

South Caucasus is a pivotal region connecting the Atlantic Ocean and its Black Sea and the Mediterranean, to the land-locked Caspian Sea and Central Asia. It is the western bridgehead of the Silk Road -- and therefore of strategic and economic interests to the U.S. and the EU.

Therefore, the U.S. should keep strong ties to Georgia, its staunch ally and the region's most pro-Western country. Tbilisi has been a loyal and significant contributor the US led mission in Iraq and to NATO efforts in Afghanistan.

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With 861 soldiers, Georgia, a country of 4.3 million, is the third largest troop contributor to the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, after the United States (7,000 troops) and Germany (980 troops).

The country is staunchly committed to democracy under the current Georgian Dream coalition, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, and President Giorgi Margvelashvili. It aspires to join the E.U. and NATO despite staunch Russian opposition.

Georgia has been the victim of Russian aggression over the past three decades. This August 8, Georgians commemorated the anniversary of the Russian invasion in 2008. 170 Georgian servicemen, 14 policemen, and 228 civilians were killed and 1,747 wounded. Whilst Russian troops were removed after Europe-brokered armistice, Russia's recognition of independence and cooperation with South Ossetia and Abkhazia has posed severe problems for Georgia in terms of transportation, energy and state sovereignty, and continues to pose humanitarian problems as ethnic Georgians were cleansed out of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, announced on August 8 that peaceful reunification with the autonomous regions is a major priority to the country. Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decried the de-facto annexation.

Russia has integrated Abkhazia into its military and economic systems, and continues its illegal occupation. The strengthening of Russian-Iranian writ in the South Caucasus may affect Georgia and its sovereignty.

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Russia has also repeatedly taken economic steps against Georgia. In 2006, it banned all imports from Georgia over a Russian intelligence debacle. The embargo hurt the Georgian economy and was not lifted until 2012, when Georgia Dream came to power.

In 2014, Moscow cancelled the free trade agreement and punished Georgia for joining the Western economic sanctions in the aftermath of Russian annexation of the Crimea. Last year, Russia conducted military maneuvers in North Ossetia, in what appeared to be pressure on Georgia to comply with Russian demands to use Georgian territory for economic and military resupply of Armenia over sovereign Georgian territory.

In the light of the Russian hostility since 2008, and the current Russian strategic behavior, Georgia is working hard towards NATO membership. However, its efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities have not been sufficiently supported by Washington.

On July 8, at the NATO Warsaw summit members agreed on "new steps" to strengthen country's defense, including areas such as air defense and surveillance, training, education and strategic communication. Furthermore Georgia signed a contract with a French missile manufacturer MBDA on July 10 to buy a state-of-the-art defense system.

Last month the country signed another deal with Thales Raytheon Systems, a producer of ground-based surveillance radars and air defense command and control systems, though details of the contracts are being retained for security reasons. According to Defense Ministry, the main goals were to guarantee Georgia's air defense and bringing it up to the level of NATO systems.

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As the wheels turn in Washington, our ally Georgia continues to require our friendship and assistance. The U.S. should cherish the commitments of Georgia to democracy, including the two open and transparent parliamentary elections in 2012 and 2016.
By Monica Kerrigan and Jonathan Stack

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James Ngugi is proud of his vasectomy.

The father of five lives with his wife Leah and their children in Kayole, a poor section of Nairobi, Kenya. Leah had suffered complications with each of her five pregnancies, and went on the pill after the couple's youngest child was born. But she worried constantly about missing a dose.

Then James had a breakthrough realization.

"For too long, I assumed this problem was hers and hers alone," he says. "But then I realized I could take on the burden myself." James opted to get a vasectomy through Tupange, a family planning program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in partnership with Jhpiego and the government of Kenya. Tupange means "let's plan" in Kiswahili, and the program is dedicated to making modern contraceptive methods available to the urban poor to improve maternal and newborn survival and empower couples and youth to plan their families and their lives.

For James and Leah, a vasectomy was the perfect choice. They were so happy with the results--and with the impact of the vasectomy on their family and their marriage--that they now work with Tupange to educate others about the benefits of voluntary male sterilization.

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"I never knew how much James loved me until he had this vasectomy for me," Leah says simply. "It is the most generous gift he has ever given me."

James and Leah are a family planning success story. They're also a reminder that men are a critical part of the family planning equation. Enlisting the support and involvement of men like James is essential if we want to expand the benefits of modern contraception to women and their partners all over the world.



That's especially important to bear in mind now, as we observe the midpoint of the global Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) movement. FP2020 was launched at the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning with an ambitious goal: to deliver modern contraception to an additional 120 million women and girls in the world's poorest countries by the year 2020 without coercion and discrimination. Four years later, we've made enormous strides, reaching an additional 24.4 million women and girls and securing commitments from more than half of the 69 FP2020 focus countries. While our actions are strong, they have not caught up with our ambition yet and we risk falling short of achieving the transformational changes we promised: that women and girls, regardless of where they live, should have the same access to life-saving contraceptives.

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To accelerate progress urgently, we need to continually and critically examine our strategies, review the data, and break the mold of doing business as usual. We must challenge ourselves to think creatively, disrupt the status quo positively, act on innovations and identify new partners with bold ideas to urgently expand access and use of contraceptive information, products, and quality services.

One area where we've fallen short is male engagement: getting men and boys to actively participate in frank conversations about sex, consent, contraception, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. We know that male opposition, power dynamics, lack of communication and gender equity remain serious barriers to expanding quality, access and improving the uptake and continuation of contraceptive use. Tackling these barriers head on will help drive progress forward.



Globally, the vast majority of family planning programs are oriented towards women and girls. Programs focusing on male engagement in family planning have fewer dedicated resources, even though men are often the primary decision makers about family size, health services, and family planning methods. But if we're going to reach our FP2020 goal--let alone our long-term goal of universal access to reproductive health--we'll need to expand the dialogue and involve men and adolescent boys as valuable and effective partners. Programs that optimize the positive engagement of men can improve health outcomes for women, men, and their families.

Stories of progress in family planning are often stories of innovative partnerships with governments, civil society, service providers and the private sector. And one bold attempt to ratchet men's involvement up is World Vasectomy Day, an innovative partnership designed (by men) to proactively take charge of their own health and well-being. Launched in 2013, World Vasectomy Day has quickly grown into the largest male-focused family planning event in the world. The information isn't limited to vasectomies though; conversations also focus on preventing HIV and other STIs, male circumcision, gender equality, and the importance of men in family planning.



The innovation of World Vasectomy Day is that it isn't just a one-day event. It's a larger movement aimed at encouraging men to become agents of change in their communities; to take an active role in their sexual and reproductive health throughout their lives. Men tend to be negligent of their own health, and the gender dynamic in many cultures means that men are unaccustomed to thinking about how their actions affect their partners and children. Masculinity norms also make some men unsure about family planning.

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That's why it is so critical to secure men's engagement on this issue. When men are well informed, they can become active participants in the health and well-being of their partners and children. Their involvement can also foster joint decision-making and improve communication between partners that lead to shared decision making about family size and method choice. Men can also play a powerful role in transforming rigid gender norms, promoting women's and girls' empowerment and well-being, and ending gender-based discrimination and violence.



This year the Government of Kenya is stepping up to host World Vasectomy Day on November 18. Kenya is a country that is on the forward edge of family planning, actively embracing new ways to broaden the dialogue around contraception. In 2014 Kenya showed a dramatic increase in its modern contraceptive prevalence rate for married women, which rose from 32% in 2003 to 53%, thereby exceeding its FP2020 goal.

Another important trend globally and in Kenya, is the number of women and men who have achieved their family size and want to stop childbearing. Half of married women age 15-49 and 42% of currently married men consider their families complete. The Government of Kenya is responding to this trend and is moving forward to innovate and forge strong, bold partnerships with NGOs and local communities to improve quality, access and choice.

While the gains are worthy, challenges remain in Kenya. Almost 20% of teens aged 15-19 are mothers or pregnant with their first child - numbers that have remained stagnant over five years. The modern contraceptive prevalence rates for all women including those who are unmarried, sits at 39.1%. In terms of male engagement, condoms represent only 2% of modern contraceptive use and less than 46% of married women had even heard of male sterilization.

Let's be clear: to deliver on the promise of FP2020, we need to reach 120 million additional women and girls and their partners to promote family planning, expand access to information, services and supplies in order to accelerate contraceptive uptake and reduce discontinuation.

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We need to design programs with men and adolescent boys to address myths and misconceptions and help get them on board to become champions, users and supportive partners. Many men are like James: they see their wives suffering with fear of pregnancy or contraceptive complications, and they long to step up and relieve them of the burden. For other men it's about their children: they want to give them the best possible chance in life, and that means making sure they can support them fully. These are positive, heroic instincts. If we are going to hold ourselves accountable to the promise we made back in 2012, we must take a closer look at men's needs, develop an evidence base, cultivate different partnerships and gear more information towards men and adolescent boys.

When James opted for a vasectomy, he knew he was taking a risk of being one of the first men in his community to get the procedure done. And now, with only four years left on the clock to reach the FP2020 goal, the family planning community must take some risks too. That means we're going to have to try new approaches, bring new partners to the table, listen to fresh voices and move out of our comfort zones to get things done and ignite real, lasting change.

The kind of change that involves all of us breaking down silos and building bridges - working together with men and adolescent boys so we can go further faster.

This post originally appeared at the Good Men Project.

---

About the authors: Monica Kerrigan is a global leader in family planning and served at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and as a Senior Advisor to FP2020. Jonathan Stack is a filmmaker and the co-founder of World Vasectomy Day.

Photo: Kamaljith K V/Flickr CC 2.0
Best way to wreck your business?

Easy: sabotage your most promising relationships.

Yes -- it boggles the mind. Entrepreneurs will go to extraordinary lengths to connect with people who can help them -- potential investors, mentors, partners, employees, customers -- and then permanently damage these relationships with unnecessary mistakes.

What mistakes are these? I give you three of the worst -- and better yet, I talked to two expert relationship builders to show you how to fix them.

First up: meet Ryan Westwood, founder of a software company called Simplus, contributing writer on Forbes, and organizer of Evening on the Terrace -- an event which brings together people from many different backgrounds, to take part in a meal and talk about anything except their work.

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Turns out, the foundation of valuable conversations is simple: stop and listen.

1) Don't pitch. Listen as if your life depends on it.

Never made sense to me: an entrepreneur finally manages to reach an experienced person in their field, and then talks over them. Worse, they even try to pitch. Yikes.

Westwood suggests the exact opposite. While interviewing people for Forbes, he realized the value of such conversations.

"I feel like I've accelerated my growth as an entrepreneur by doing these interviews better than any school I did, or anything else."

"It was the best way for me to get educated as quickly as possible and with the smallest number of mistakes by simply listening to people with experience."

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And hence, he founded Evening on the Terrace, to take this personal and business growth to the next level.

The point? The atmosphere of trust and cooperation at these gatherings made it easy for people to discover new ways to attack old problems.

For instance, at one such event, when Westwood put a problem into play in the conversation -- something he and his staff at Simplus struggled with for some time -- it gave him a fresh look on his business. Novel angles to a current problem, discovered only because he listened like crazy.

Same for you. Take this to heart: when the other person talks, you listen. Mouth closed, ears open. Full attention on their words and message.

Make sense? Good -- because if you fail at this, you lose on two counts. Once, because you can't learn anything, and then again by wasting the other person's time.

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2) Do not let relationships die. Nurture them.

Sad fact: many entrepreneurs connect with influential people once, and then never again. Huge waste of potential.

Our second expert, Cheryl Snapp Conner, founder of SnappConner Public Relations, shared a powerful story with me.

While running her firm, she connected with Tom Post, who at the time ran the Entrepreneurs content channel on Forbes, and asked if she could have a column on his platform.

He agreed. Several years later, she made him a job offer...and now Post acts as SnappConner PR's "feet on the street" in New York.

How did this happen? Conner had a gut sense Post was ready to become an entrepreneur himself. Plus, due to internal changes at Forbes, Post now faced a long daily commute. And Conner was attuned to all of this.

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See the point? To nurture a relationship, you need to tune into the other person's world. To continually support them on their journey. You must ask yourself: since they live in their world, and you in yours, where can the two connect such that the other person gains from it?

Try this: pick 10 people you respect and would love to build relations with. Now go and see what they've been up to for the past couple months. Can you spot an opportunity to be helpful to some of them?

But look -- you can touch base in small ways. Congratulate them on a recent achievement, thank them for something they helped you with, or just take the time to thoroughly read something they wrote and then tell them about it -- any of these count.

Once you identify a way to provide value for them, go for it -- and better yet, don't expect to get anything in return.

3) Take the self-interest out of it.

Conner nailed this one. She told me:

"When something is genuinely given, nobody has to keep score."

True. To constantly keep score means you did not truly commit to giving.

As an entrepreneur, you need to "take the self-interest out of it," as Conner puts it. She sees this in many of her clients: they set out to get published on various platforms, to achieve their own business goals, rather than provide value for readers.

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Bottom line? Sounds strange, but it rings true: you rise above the noise when you genuinely help another person. Barriers vanish which you couldn't even see before.

Westwood sums it up for us. The most valuable asset is not money, but human relationships:

"My view: relationship capital trumps actual capital. If you have the right relationships, it will pay immense dividends in the long run."
Americans are living longer than ever.

With that longer life span comes increasing reliance on long-term healthcare services.

And costs associated with in-home care services, nursing homes, and other residential facilities are on the rise.

The primary payer for long-term care is Medicaid, the joint federal and state program designed to help Americans with limited incomes pay medical costs.

"Government programs such as Medicaid and the like may not necessarily be around going forward to provide assistance," said Money Crashers finance expert David Bakke.

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Bakke told Healthline that Medicaid is projected to run out of money in the year 2030, or perhaps as early as 2026.

"Medicaid will certainly have a challenge when it comes to handling the strain of long-term care for seniors and retirees," he said. "You could make the argument that already the needs of the elderly aren't being met in a satisfactory fashion under the current system. In fact, 37 percent of long-term care costs are currently being met with out-of-pocket funds."

According to Bakke, some states are putting the onus on providers to keep care costs under control.

The realities of long-term care

Melissa Benjamin is a home care worker in Colorado and a leader in the Home Care Fight for $15. She's in the trenches of home care services every day.

In addition to our aging population, she believes other factors are fueling the Medicaid crisis.

In an interview with Healthline, Benjamin said there's already a shortage of home care workers, and she expects it to get worse. As more experienced workers age out of the workforce or look for employment elsewhere, fewer workers are willing to take up the slack.

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"It's no longer a viable career," said Benjamin. "Low pay and lack of benefits keep people from choosing this type of work."

The worker shortage is creating a care gap that forces difficult choices. When family members shoulder more of the care burden, it's often at the expense of their own employment. Placing a loved one in a facility isn't always the best option for them or for the family budget.

Although Medicaid covers both types of care, in-home care is often less expensive by several thousand dollars a month.

"It's one reason I fight for home care. I believe by making home healthcare a viable career, we can keep more people in their homes and save the states money in the long run," said Benjamin.

For some people, nursing home care is a must. But Benjamin believes many others can be happier and healthier being cared for in their own homes.

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"In Colorado, about 10,000 people become seniors every day," she said. "That's a strain, and it's true all around."

Then there's the gender gap.

At 37 years old, Benjamin is already concerned about her own healthcare needs as she ages.

"A higher percentage of home care workers are women. We make less, have fewer benefits, and pay less into Social Security. Often, women who cared for their husbands are left alone and needing care themselves. Plus, we live longer, so that time is more challenging."

In Benjamin's experience, long-term care insurance policies can save the day. The key is to sign up when you're younger and rates are at their best.

Unfortunately, when rates rise, many aren't able to keep paying the premiums. That can result in having to sell off assets to apply for Medicaid.

"I've held the hands of people in facilities as they cry. They want to go home, but their home has been sold to pay for facility care," she said.

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Planning for long-term care

Seniors, soon-to-be seniors, and caregivers can't start planning soon enough. It's a complicated issue and there's no one-size-fits-all solution.

As alternatives to insurance and government programs, Bakke recommends a health savings account when applicable, a home equity line of credit, and in some cases, a long-term care annuity.

"In some instances," said Bakke, "you might be better off foregoing long-term care insurance and paying for whatever costs are left over out of pocket, because of the high cost of paying for insurance coverage in that area."

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, most seniors can't afford the out-of-pocket costs of long-term care.

Jennifer FitzPatrick, author of "Cruising through Caregiving: Reducing the Stress of Caring for Your Loved One," would like to see more public education about long-term care and Medicaid.

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"There really needs to be a paradigm shift so older adults and their families are not counting on Medicaid because of misunderstanding," said FitzPatrick, who has worked as a gerontologist and geriatric social worker for more than 25 years.

"I'd love to see Medicaid encourage more people to consider long-term care insurance, which covers much more than Medicaid can," FitzPatrick told Healthline. "I wish I saw more being done so caregivers and older adults weren't in crisis."

FitzPatrick recommends consulting with a certified elder law attorney.

Benjamin and Fitzpatrick agree that consumers have a lot more options when using private funds than they do when using Medicaid.

"It's important also for families and older adults to know that often when they do use a Medicaid benefit for a nursing home, for example, they aren't getting as much choice," said FitzPatrick. "Sometimes patients and caregivers are dissatisfied with the nursing home options available for a direct Medicaid admission."

Americans are optimistic. We tend to underestimate the risk of needing long-term care.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that half of seniors over age 65 will have a health problem and need assistance for two years or less.

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One in seven will need assistance for more than five years. Those turning 65 now can expect $138,000 in future long-term care costs. In many cases, costs will be much higher.

Having a long-term care policy is a good idea, if you can afford it. Most can't.

As of 2014, fewer than 8 percent of Americans have private long-term care insurance.

Medicaid was never meant to cover long-term care for so many.

"I can't count the number of caregivers who have incorrectly assumed that Medicare or Medicaid would pay for assisted living or indefinite home care services," said FitzPatrick.

By Ann Pietrangelo
Where there's a will, there's a way -- even when the situation at hand involves circumventing top-level national secrecy. When the British government some years ago enlisted aircraft design engineer Michael Axon to assess various locations (and design new ones) overseas where the military's planes could be securely built, he did his usual: took detailed notes and precise laser measurements.

There was just one problem: Once he was done, military officers wouldn't allow him to remove his notes and readings from the site to enter them into AutoCAD (an architectural design program) back at his hotel.

So Axon came up with a solution, developing technology with which digital measurements would, in real time, feed into AutoCAD or a similar program called Revit File. The resulting company he founded, Lazercad, now also produces low- and high-resolution 360-degree photography of both existing and prospective buildings, which his clients can view via their own computer or mobile device anywhere on earth.



Michael Axon, photographed in his English Car Company garage amongst his army of vintage classics and present day automobiles. Axon hosts "drive-in" movies and showings of Formula One Racing for homeless children. (C) Ian Spanier Photography 2016.

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A few years after that initial eureka moment, an American banking concern sought bids for a company to measure, to exacting standards, some 3,000 of its branches. The first few companies told bank executives it would take anywhere from five to eight years to complete such an expansive project. Axon, although not widely known, took a gamble and wagered that if they awarded him the fee he sought, he could do it within a year. Just under 10 months later, he was done -- and Lazercad's global renown grew apace. His client roster now runs the gamut: banks including Chase and Citibank; department stores including Nordstrom; even McDonald's.

Axon grew up in a blue-collar household in England in which his father's "pride and joy," he remembers, was his Vauxhall VX490. As a boy, Axon dreamed of owning such a stylish vehicle -- and now Lazercad's success had made that a possibility. At a charity event one day, a bright orange MGB Roadster caught his eye -- and then some. "It screamed out, 'Buy me!' " Axon recalls. He drove it home that day as the first item in a vintage-car collection now worth some $3 million.

He shares his passion with his 13-year-old son, bringing full-circle the Axon family's interest in these beautiful old machines. Wanting to share his remarkable collection with like-minded enthusiasts everywhere, he founded The English Car Company (theenglishcar.com), at which auto geeks can take a virtual ride in any of the restored cars in his garage.
The picture had been embalmed undisturbed in bubble wrap for more than four decades in the back of a closet, the downside of my not having moved in 43 years. But last month, I realized that it was the 50th anniversary of the oil portrait that my father had commissioned of me in July 1966 when I was 18. Maybe it was time to either hang it, dump it, or inflict it on the kids.

The question as I unwrapped it was: would I still dislike it as much I had when I first saw it? The last time this thing had seen light was when the Navy movers packed it up in our house in Denver in 1973.

The answer was, alas, that I still couldn't bring myself to hang it. It's not as though it wasn't a good likeness of me then. I was incredibly slender, the result of having, against all advice, consumed some Brazilian tap water when my now-husband Olof and I first arrived in Brazil for our senior year of high school as exchange students in 1965. Unlike now where my cheekbones are hidden under too many years of food felonies, my cheekbones were my most prominent feature then, and my eyes in my much thinner face really looked that large.

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It was the expression that I hated.

I showed the portrait to Olof who, of course, knew me at that age. "Wow," he commented, "somebody looks a little grumpy." I would have said "sullen" myself. I've always been a smiler and I'm sorry the artist insisted on a more somber pose, as he also did in the portraits my father commissioned of my sister and mother. We all three look like we're having a really bad day.

Not to disparage the artist, but I'm kind of wondering if he just wasn't very good at painting teeth.

In a moment of diabolical genius, I decided I would wrap it up and bestow it on my six-year-old granddaughter for Christmas. I would emphasize what a precious heirloom it was and how honored I was for her to have it. Marketing is everything.

Or not. Was it worth compromising my excellent relationship with my wonderful daughter-in-law?She would not be happy to have this portrait unloaded on her.

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I finally decided to take a picture of the portrait and send it to both sons, commenting that I was probably going to throw it out. To my surprise, both quickly responded that it should be saved as a family heirloom.

Please note, however, that neither of them offered to take possession of it.

So what exactly do you do with a portrait that you don't like and nobody wants?

One of my other objections of the portrait was that it looked a tad caricature-y, a trait my older son Rory picked up on also. It almost looks like those big-eyed waifs from the 60s. Please don't give this away; it's a family heirloom. Personally, I don't want it. But I wouldn't mind a T-shirt version for Christmas!

My younger son Henry had a different slant. Obviously, you cannot throw it away. It is something you have to inflict on our kids by passing it down! Please note he meant the grandchildren generation, currently too young to protest, not himself and Rory.

But then I thought, maybe that's not a bad idea. And it could follow a family tradition as well. When we were growing up, our family had an 18-inch-tall plastic Santa lit up on the underside by 4-watt bulbs hanging over the mantle every Christmas. Part of its charm was its tackiness, and when the family moved to New Jersey in 1968, my two siblings and I insisted that it couldn't be thrown away. Not that any of us actually wanted it, mind you, but it had history.

In my husband's family, it was the pollywog pan, a cheap aluminum pan that he and his siblings used to catch pollywogs in in the creek behind their house. There is no accounting for the taste and emotional attachments of kids.

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What we finally decided to do with Plastic Santa was share him: whoever had him in their possession gifted it, usually in cleverly disguised wrapping, to another sibling. Sometimes a sibling attempted pre-emptive interference. "Looking forward to seeing you next week but please do NOT bring Plastic Santa if you have it! We're moving soon and have no place to store it! I'm SERIOUS!" But invariably the Santa would show up.

So maybe that will be my legacy to my five grandkids: the round robin infliction of the portrait of Grumpy Grandma. They could even re-purpose it as an heirloom dartboard. Unless, of course, one of them lives near a dumpster.

Inga: July 1966

Earlier on Huff/Post50:


"Nader Engheta superimposed with some of the images related to his research" Credit: Felice Macera.

With the goal of harnessing the untapped potential of Iranian-Americans, and to build the capacity of the Iranian diaspora in effecting positive change in the U.S. and around the world, the West Asia Council has launched a series of interviews that explore the personal and professional backgrounds of prominent Iranian-Americans who have made seminal contributions to their fields of endeavor. Our latest interviewee is Nader Engheta.

Nader Engheta is the H. Nedwill Ramsey Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, with affiliations in the Departments of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Physics and Astronomy, and Bioengineering. His scientific research activities are in nanophotonics, i.e., the study of light-matter interaction at the nanometer scales, enabling manipulation and control of light at the extremely small scales with numerous applications in miniaturization of optical devices and components. He has received numerous international awards for his scientific discoveries and accomplishments. For more details, please check (here)

Tell our readers where you grew up and walk us through your background. How did your family and surroundings influence you in your formative years?

Thanks very much. I am sixty years old and I was born in Tehran in the neighborhood, which used to be called "Chaahaar Raah-e Aziz Khaan" (and later it was called, Khyabaan Hafez (Hafez Avenue)). When I was about 6 years old, my family and I moved to a home in Pasteur Avenue where I started elementary school in Ebn-e-Sina elementary school on Sepah Avenue. I have always been interested in mathematics and physics, particularly with regards to how things work in nature. By 5th grade, I had been ranked No.1 of my class each year prior and one of my teachers suggested that I should "jump" one grade, i.e., move from the 5th grade to the 7th grade. So after I finished my 5th grade exams, I studied 6th grade curricula over the summer and then took the corresponding exams at the end of the summer. I then moved to 7th grade in Hadaf High School No. 1. I spent all of my high school years in Hadaf High School and received my high school diploma in 1973 (1352). I then passed the entrance exam that granted me entrance into university (konkoor saraasary) and entered the Electrical Engineering Department at the School of Engineering (Daneshkadeh Fanni) of the University of Tehran. University of Tehran's Daneshkadeh Fanni has a special place in my heart, and it had a major influence on my love for science and technology. In the summer of 1978, I came to the US to complete higher education at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, CA. Caltech is another place that has had a tremendously positive influence on my scientific thinking and instilled in me the love for science and discovery.

What has been your personal key to success? What were the biggest inspirations for your career?

Being passionate about learning new things, and enjoying finding out how the physical laws of nature work are both factors of my personal interest that remain important to me. For example, when I was in high school, one day one of my older brothers, Iradj, was working on a battery-operated transistor radio, and I was puzzled by the fact that sound could come out of this gadget that was not connected to anything. I asked my brother how it worked, and he explained to me that it was the wave coming from the radio station to the radio. This was amazing and magical to me. I became fascinated with waves and followed his suggestion to study electrical science and engineering to discover more about how waves work. That is why I decided to go to the EE department in Daneshkadeh-e-Fanni.

Your current research activities include an impressive list of nanophotonics, metamaterials, plasmonics, nano-scale optics, graphene optics, imaging and sensing inspired by eyes of certain animal species, optical nanoengineering, time-reversal symmetry breaking and nonreciprocity, microwave and optical antennas, mathematics of fractional operators, and physics and engineering of fields and waves. Can you share the highlights of the momentous amount work you have achieved?

I am very interested in the physics and engineering of fields and waves, and this includes how optical waves and electromagnetic waves interact with structures. This interaction can happen on many different scales, e.g., on the macroscopic scale, the microscopic scale, and the nanometer scales. Just to give you a feel for this dimension and size, imagine you get a single strand of your hair, which has the diameter of about 0.1 of a millimeter (which is about 100 microns). Now imagine you divide this thickness by a factor of 1000, you get to a size that is about 100 nanometers. That is the size that is comparable with the wavelength of visible light (which ranges from 400 to 700 nanometers). At this small dimension, materials can behave differently in their interaction with light. For example, take a block of gold, which is usually yellowish. Now, if you get a nanometer-scale particle of gold with the size around 100 nanometers, and you illuminate it with light under the microscope, you may see different color (e.g., red or green, etc.). So, the same gold may behave differently at the nanoscale. In my group we are interested in exploring how light interacts with the structure at these scales, and how we can utilize it to have nanostructures with unconventional features and useful functionalities, as I explain later here.

We are also exploring how it would be possible to have one-atom-thick optical devices, such as one-atom-thick fibers, which could be much, much thinner than the current optical fibers in the market. These would be thinnest possible waveguides.

Another area of interest lies in how the eyes of some of animal species "see" the world around them. Some of the species such as ants and bees can see some characteristics of light, such as polarization, that the human eyes cannot see. Inspired by the eyes of such species, we have made camera systems that can image the world around us in a very different way. I elaborate more on this below.

In your group, you focus on the areas of metamaterials and plasmonic optics to see how the concept of metamaterial can be used to bring the fields of electronics, photonics, and magnetics together and also how they can be used to generate some interesting ideas for future devices.. Can you first tell our readers what metamaterial is and then about wave interaction with metamaterials? How can you use it for future devices?

The field of metamaterials is indeed about constructing structures that exhibit unusual characteristics in their interaction with waves. Ordinary, naturally available materials, such as water, air, metal, are made of atoms and molecules in special arrangements that determine how light interacts with them. However, in metamaterials, which are typically made of small blocks of materials (such as blocks of metal) as "inclusions" embedded in host media, we consider other level of arrangements, which can be engineered such that when the light illuminates them, the entire bulk of this structure may behave in a way that is very different from how each individual block and the host behaves. The prefix "meta" means "beyond" in Greek, so the term metamaterials refers to structures that go "beyond" the ordinary materials. For example, can we make a structured material that when it is put around an object, it can cause the incoming wave to go around the object (instead of being "splashed" away from the object), and thus the object can become essentially "invisible"? This is an example of topics that the field of metamaterial explores and in my group we have worked on this subject. Another topic for which we have utilized the concept of metamaterials is in bringing the field of electronics and photonics together. As you know, the field of electronics has seen amazing developments in the 20th and 21st centuries, and it continues to evolve. One of the reasons for the great success of electronics is that there exist "modularized" circuit elements, such as capacitors, inductors, resistors, transistors, diodes, etc. The field of optics did not have such modularized elements before. In my group we decided to change that, and by utilizing the concept of metamaterials, we developed the new circuit paradigms, which I named "optical metatronics". In these optical metatronics, properly designed nanoparticles and nanostructures, when illuminated by light, function as "modularized" optical circuit nanoelements, such as optical nanocapacitors, optical nanoinductors, and optical nanoresistors. Through these developments, we have shown that by arranging these nanoparticles next to each other we can construct circuits that work with light (instead of electric currents), and therefore they are much smaller, much faster, and have many more capacities. We envision that in the future such optical nanocircuits can be one million times smaller than the conventional current-day circuits.

You are a leading figure in the nascent field known as metamaterials. Combining several branches of physics and engineering with a healthy dose of nanotechnology, the discipline is focused on creating human-made features that can bend and manipulate waves in ways that nothing in nature can. You could potentially develop "cloaking devices," which can bend waves around an object, rendering it effectively invisible. Can you elaborate on this?

Yes, I spoke briefly about this above. Here is how it works: The way we "see" an object is by sensing the waves that have been splashed away from the object. However, properly designed metamaterials can manipulate the waves that hit the object, and therefore can cause the wave to go around the object, instead of being splashed by the object. Consequently, the wave is splashed less, and therefore the object may become less "visible".

Could you share with us your exploration on optical domains or imaging?

In our work in biologically-inspired imaging and sensing, we have been inspired by the functioning of the eyes of some animal species, such as bees and ants. Light has several characteristics, such as its wavelength, intensity, and polarization, to name a few. Human eyes can pick up only two of these three characteristics, i.e., its wavelength and intensity, which then encode them as color and brightness. However, our eyes cannot effectively "see" the third feature of light, i.e. its polarization. But there are animal species, such as some invertebrates, that have eyes with this capability. They use this ability to see better in their environments, and they can utilize it in navigation. In my group, we were inspired by these interesting features in nature, and have developed imaging and sensing systems that can also capture this feature of light. With such cameras, we can see things in the world that our eyes could not ordinarily see.

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Could you share with us some of your ongoing work in your areas of interest, present some of the opportunities and challenges in these areas, and forecast some future directions and possibilities?

In my group, we are currently working on a variety of research programs involving the interaction of light with nanoscale matters and nanomaterials. One of these projects directly deals with how we can utilize materials in a manner such that as the light goes through them the light is able to "do mathematics". In other words, we are exploring how we can use materials to do mathematical computation with light, i.e., we are investigating how "materials can become computing machines at the nanometer scale", how "materials can solve equations", and how we can do "mathematics with light", kind of like "photonic calculus". In the development of the field of optical metatronics, we have already shown that "materials can become optical circuits", and now we are very interested to take this optical metatronics to the next stage and see if we can do more complex things, such as "solving equations with materials". Another research program in my group focuses on how we can design materials that have unusual and "extreme" values for their parameters such as near-zero refractive index. Such values lead to fascinating properties in wave physics, field engineering, and particularly quantum optics (i.e., how photons interact with atoms as the atomic levels). We also continue our work on biologically-inspired sensing and imaging for a variety of different applications.

How different is the education system in the United States from that of Iran? You regularly participate in many conferences and give seminars. Have you done a similar program in Iran?
On social issues, the military has often seemed the last to know. Ending racial discrimination took decades. Outlawing discrimination based on sexual preference took just as long. This year, the role of women in combat is finally being recognized. In every case, the military's rationale for resisting change has been that military readiness would inevitably be compromised.



But significant progress has been made in recent years on all of these issues without adverse impact on our preparedness. By contrast, progress has been frustratingly elusive in persuading the U.S. Navy to care about the health of our oceans. After over two decades of adverse federal court orders - and over five decades since the "Save the Whales" movement focused widespread public attention on the plight of these magnificent animals - the Navy continues to resist the common sense proposition that needless infliction of harm to whales and other marine life in training with extraordinarily loud, high intensity sonar and heavy explosives is neither reasonable nor legal.



But as two recent court decisions make clear - issued in different cases by different courts -- the Navy's intransigence is based on more than its concern for national security. In fact, much of the blame lies with the government regulatory agency whose mandate it is to protect our oceans. It lies with the failure of the National Marine Fisheries Service to do its job.

For over 40 years, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Fisheries Service has been entrusted by Congress with lead responsibility for the protection of whales and other marine mammals from harassment, injury, and death. By law, the agency carries out this responsibility through permitting authority over a host of federal agency activities - including those of the U.S. Navy -- that may result in "take" of marine mammals. Among other requirements, Fisheries must deny a requested permit - even to the U.S. Navy - if the consequences of the proposed activity have not been reduced to "the least practicable adverse impact."

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This statutory requirement is explicit. Court decisions interpreting it are unequivocal. And yet the Fisheries Service continues to violate it.



Just last month, for example, in a unanimous decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit cited this requirement in holding that Fisheries had illegally issued a permit to the Navy for global deployment of its high-intensity long-range low frequency active sonar system - a submarine detection technology capable of ensonifying vast expanses of the world's oceans with dangerous levels of sound. Twice found to have acted illegally in issuing similar permits in 2002 and 2007, the Fisheries Service nevertheless permitted the system again in 2012, this time ignoring safeguards recommended by its own scientists despite, in the court's words, the resulting "systematic underprotection of marine mammals." The agency gave "mere lip service" to the legal standard and made "a policy choice not to protect areas . . . composing most of the world's oceans," leaving "a meaningful proportion of the world's marine mammal habitat underprotected."

How did the Fisheries Service respond? Just this week, in astonishing disregard of the court of appeals' decision, the agency issued the Navy a Letter of Authorization to continue operating under the illegally-issued permit -- as if the court's adverse decision and the agency's own responsibility to protect marine mammals are irrelevant in the face of the Navy's request to continue business as usual.

Last year, in even harsher terms, the federal court in Hawaii rejected the issuance of a permit for Navy testing and training with deadly mid-range sonar in the marine mammal-rich coastal waters of Hawaii and southern California. Once again citing the "least practicable adverse impact" standard, Judge Susan Oki Mollway criticized the Fisheries Service for merely "parrot[ing] what the Navy says" and failing to "articulate a rational basis" for accepting it, "treat[ing] the standard as if it requires no effort at all." For the Navy's part, rubber-stamped by the Fisheries Service, Judge Mollway found a "total failure to clearly consider important information" and "flaws so fundamental that the [environmental planning] document needs to be totally rewritten." The court concluded that "the Navy's categorical and sweeping statements, which allow for no compromise at all as to space, time, species, or condition, do not constitute the 'hard look' required" by federal law.

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In neither case was national security at risk, contrary to the Navy's claim. In fact, the court of appeals explicitly recognized that "the mitigation measures the MMPA requires do not infringe on the Navy's capacity to defend the United States during wartime or heightened threats to national security."



The essential failing in both cases -- and indeed in virtually every case in which NRDC has challenged the Navy's training with high intensity sonar and heavy explosives over the past two decades - has been the refusal of the Fisheries Service to regulate. Rather than exercising the oversight required by law, the Service has chosen in effect to join the Navy's team, acquiescing in the omission of common sense safeguards recommended even by its own scientific experts. However understandable this capitulation might be in the face of the Navy's unique political and fiscal influence, it is precisely this kind of "regulatory capture" that has undermined the integrity of our environmental laws and the recovery of whales and other depleted marine species.

This needs to change. Last June, at the urging of NRDC and others, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration - the parent agency of the Fisheries Service - released for public comment an "Ocean Noise Strategy" intended to expand and strengthen federal management of man-made noise sources in the oceans, including military sonar. An important step, the efficacy of this plan will depend on implementation and funding, neither of which has thus far been addressed by the agency.



But it will also depend on whether, in permitting significant noise-generating activities of the Navy and others, the Fisheries Service is prepared to step up to its regulatory responsibility under the Marine Mammal Protection Act - not as a "captured" member of the permit applicant's team but as a strong and honest enforcer of federal protections. Serial litigation over decades - however successful it may be in targeting the agency's failures on an individual permit - is ultimately an imperfect and unsustainable approach to protecting the long-term health of our oceans.
A couple of anniversaries should inspire a discussion of education reform history to inform the next generation of school improvement. Stanford's Professor Emeritus Larry Cuban marked the seventh birthday of his must-read blog, Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice, by explaining that it allows him to "put my teaching hat on," and describing how current policy-driven reforms "are deeply rooted in the past." Cuban understands, however, "too many reform-driven policymakers are inattentive to what has occurred in past efforts and what occurs daily in classrooms," so "chances of full or even moderate implementation approach nil."



As Cuban documents, school reformers failed in their effort to "deputize" teachers as the agents for overcoming the complex and intertwined legacies of poverty. His wisdom is echoed in another great blog, Chalkbeat, which featured Harvard's Heather Hill, and her retrospective on the 50th anniversary of the Coleman Report, and what we have learned since that seminal study was published.

Sadly, the contemporary school reform movement either ignored the key Coleman findings, or just whistled past the graveyard, hoping that social science would be proven wrong. Non-educators sought incentives and disincentives that would prompt others to discover a cheaper and easier path to school improvement. Had data-driven, competition-driven reformers wrestled with the Coleman Report and subsequent research, it is hard to believe that they would have searched so narrowly for solutions to the achievement gap within the four walls of the classroom.

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Hill explains that "The logical conclusion," from her analysis is: "You can't fix schools without trying to fix broader social inequality, too." The main lesson remains, as Coleman noted:

One implication stands out above all: That schools bring little influence to bear on a child's achievement that is independent of his background and general social context; and that this very lack of an independent effect means that the inequalities imposed on children by their home, neighborhood, and peer environment are carried along to become the inequalities with which they confront adult life at the end of school.



Hill tells the fascinating story of the repeated reviews of the Coleman evidence and concludes:

Remarkably, however, at the end of the day their collective re-analyses largely showed that Coleman's original findings stood. Schools appeared to exert relatively little pull - explaining only 10 to 20 percent of the variability in student outcomes - while family background, peers, and students' own academic self-concept explained a much larger amount.

Hill summarizes the arguments over the cost effectiveness of education spending, as well as relatively better ways to invest in schools. It was agreed that "you can't just write a bigger check to each school and expect to get much out of it," but "recent studies have suggested that adopting effective curriculum materials and training teachers in their use show consistently positive effects." Even those gains, however were modest. For instance, "the difference between an effective and ineffective curriculum is about 10 percentile points on standardized tests." She also reviews the evidence which should have made the case for investments in early education. For instance, Coleman found that race-based differences in academic achievement "were in fact quite large in the first grade." Hill adds, "again and again over the subsequent decades, scholars replicated Coleman's finding."

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The same pattern applies to summer learning loss. Back in 1978, Barbara Heyns compared summer learning to the rates of student performance growth during school. Since then, studies such the 1999 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, reached the same basic conclusion that, "Schools, when all is said and done, are fairly effective in teaching students at least some math, reading, and science each year." But, "probably owing to the array of resources non-poor families marshal both within and outside the home, poor children lose ground during the summer."

Even at the beginning of the output-driven reform era, had reformers read the education research canon, it should have been clear that there are no guarantees that additional investments would always be implemented expertly, but that the win-win path of school improvement would be more cost effective and more humane. Investment in the years before school and in the months when school is out would seem to be a no-brainer, but that approach would be more complicated. Reformers were notoriously impatient. Being new to public education, they were clueless about the legacy of the nonstop series of "silver bullets" that has been imposed on teachers. Somehow they assumed that their "quick fixes" would turn out differently.

So, why did reformers impose the stress of high stakes testing as an antidote for the harm done by the stress of poverty? Why push the mass closure of schools and mass charterization in the hope that the stress of competition would alleviate the stress in children's lives which interferes with their cognitive processes? Why commit to value-added teacher evaluations that are biased against educators in high-challenge schools? Why believe that imposing punitive policies on the great majority of educators (as opposed to holding individuals accountable for their own practice) could redress the deficits that grow outside of school? Did they not understand that bubble-in accountability would undermine the effectiveness of most educators, as well as damage children by driving much of the joy of learning out of the classroom?

The good news is that great new research on early education is continually published. The bad news is that science-based programs for improving early education can be expensive and they are much harder to implement than instruction-driven, accountability-driven mandates. And, that leads to the wisdom generated by another outstanding research organization, the Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR). Not surprisingly, the CCSR further confirms the need for aligned and coordinated social, emotional, and instructional supports in preschool.



While I don't want to push this point too far, a recent finding could stand as a metaphor describing the dilemma that faces school improvement. The CCSR finds that elementary schools that are strong in all five essential supports are ten times more likely to improve, but even a sustained weakness in one essential component undermines change efforts. In other words, if my metaphor holds, reforms based on the idea that education is too complicated and it is too hard for reformers to touch all school improvement bases are likely to fail. On the other hand, science-based programs face a high hurdle. Gains in one area, such as testable academic instruction, are unlikely to be sustained unless we make progress in the socio-emotional, in the building of trusting relationships, and in out-of-school factors.
I sometimes think that the most meaningful difference between Catholic novelists today and half a century ago (when Graham Greene, Walker Percy, and Flannery O'Connor ruled the literary roost) is, well, very little. Those writers were not interested in being labeled with their religious tradition (except for O'Connor, who even once called herself a "thoroughly Christianized novelist"); neither are Alice McDermott and Christopher Beha, today.

Other times I think that there are simply Catholic novelists who accept invitations to speak at conferences about being one, and there are those who don't. No one's ever going to find Cormac McCarthy behind a podium at a Catholic university. Nor, I suppose, Dean Koontz, who's surely the bestselling writer of fiction in the world today who happens to be Catholic. Both men occasionally write about fallen souls and the struggle for redemption. See, for example, McCarthy's post-apocalyptic The Road, and Koontz's Brother Odd, in which a monk makes decisions based on unseen influences.

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To ask a novelist if he's Catholic is often to provoke him and force a denial. What artist would want to be tagged with an agenda? Witness William Giraldi. He's one of the few novelists today taught in Catholic universities as "Catholic," but he disavowed the label last year in The New Republic. "Confessions of a Catholic Novelist" revealed that he hasn't been a believer since 18. He wrote: "Here's what I know with an almost religious surety: to be tagged a Catholic novelist is to be tagged a failed novelist." Seven years earlier, Giraldi wrote for Believer magazine "A Devil-obsessed Conglomeration of Christian Misfits", in which he quoted St. Augustine from City of God, compared early Protestantism to Renaissance Catholicism on evil, referred to the Salem Witch Trials and Jonathan Edwards, defined biblical terms like Sheol, and quoted from the Book of Daniel. A Catholic imagination is at work despite the denials, and with or without the cooperation of belief.

We still have Catholic novelists and Catholic novels, but curiously, mainstream publishers are hesitant to use the label. Fifty years ago, publishers would market to Catholics a novelist who writes about Catholics. At least one blurb on the jacket, for instance, would quote praise from Commonweal or America. Novels by Mary Gordon and Ron Hansen haven't done this for decades and their sales have likely suffered as a result.

We will never agree on what it precisely means to be Catholic or to write a Catholic novel. And another essay might be written on what it means to read, not so much write, as a Catholic. But in the spirit of Father Andrew Greeley, let me suggest that Donal Ryan is overflowing with Catholic imagination. Ryan is one of the most powerful young novelists today. The Thing About December might restore faith in Catholic fiction even though its author is known as more Irish than Catholic. Born in 1976 in Tipperary, he now lives near Limerick City. There's nothing confessional about Ryan's life or this work. He writes of Catholics and non-Catholics and their faith is never what most defines them. This makes sense to most of the people in the pews I know today; Ash Wednesday is the only day they seem to wear their faith confessionally, and even then, most uneasily. Still, the persistent themes of Ryan's work are the desire for love and forgiveness after tragedy and loneliness. His novels are filled with sin, penitence, and a yearning for grace.

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The Thing About December tells a year in the life of Johnsey Cunliffe, a chubby and self-doubting 24-year old, "a lonesome gom," who recalls often how adored he was by his heroic father, dead two years from cancer. Daddy's fondness for Johnsey is getting the lad nowhere, especially as it lives only in memories. "Words could make an awful fool of you.... What was ever achieved with words?" explains the unreliable narrator who seems to be about Johnsey's age and knows him well. The uselessness of words is also a persistent theme, as when Johnsey's widowed mother is described as "a woman who had hardly any words left for the world, only lonesome thoughts and muttered prayers." The word "muttering" recurs often, in fact. Some people have trouble speaking, while others, simply don't want to.

Johnsey's Daddy grew up with uncles who fought the British in the streets in the War of Independence. English soldiers are remembered for their acts of desecration in Catholic homes, such as when "they'd try to flush the Blessed Virgin down the toilet and they'd take the holy picture out to the yard and fling it on the ground and piss all over Our Lord." At times, Johnsey ponders the confessional, Purgatory, Limbo, eternal judgment, Jesus being tempted in the desert, and the sight of God. He goes to Mass every Sunday. At one point, after being beaten unconscious and waking up half-blind in a hospital bed, Johnsey fantasizes about switching sides and aligning with the devil.

Fenton Johnson is another writer with a Catholic imagination that he can't kick. He's been writing fiction for three decades and yet The Man Who Loved Birds is only his third novel. There have been memoirs in between, including Keeping Faith, about the anger that led him to abandon his Catholicism. Johnson grew up in the diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky, which is not only home to the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani, made famous by Thomas Merton, but was one of the original five Catholic dioceses in the United States (with Baltimore, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia). It is old Catholic country nestled in the Kentucky woods, surrounded by Protestant America. Fenton grew up familiar with every sort of sacramental, ritual, and piety, and knew several of the monks of Gethsemani. That same monastery is, although unnamed, the setting for this new novel, and The Man Who Loved Birds may just be the book that reconciles Fenton Johnson with his Catholic heart.

And then there is Christopher Buckley, the son of William F. Buckley, Jr., and the former editor of National Review. Christopher Buckley called himself "lapsed Catholic" and "post-Catholic" in an interview for New York Times Magazine in 2008. We know from another interview, in 2009, that Christopher exchanged more than 3,000 emails and letters with his famous father, debating the beliefs, practices, and history of the Catholic Church. There is often homage in irreverence and critique, and now I wonder if Christopher Buckley is still wrestling with the faith in the way he knows best: satire. His new novel, The Relic Master, is masterful, smart, feisty, and fun. He has taken as his subject the most corrupt era of the Church. The novel opens at a relic fair in Basel, as Dismas, an ex-monk and the title character, is selling and buying wares of hair, bone, and Virgin's blood. The year is 1517 and a constipated monk named Martin Luther is lurking in the background, about to blow the Reformation wide open. If you read only one novel this year and want to think and laugh a lot while doing it, choose this one. We're coming up on the 500th anniversary of Luther's great revolt, making The Relic Master timely. And if you need to know that Christopher Buckley is a "Catholic novelist," know that you can't, but I suggest considering what he told an interviewer earlier this year: "I'm a fallen Christian, but I have an open mind and an open heart."
It is an absolute honor for all the Nepalese to have a young Nepalese women leader leading young people around the world at the United Nations. We wish her the best in her future endeavors!

The Youth Assembly is the largest and the longest running youth conference at the United Nations. It is a unique platform which fosters dialogue and generates partnerships between exceptional youth, UN high officials and staff, the private sector, and civil society. After being appointed as the Youth Chair, Amatya successfully led her whole team to gather more than 1000 youth representatives from 97 countries at the UN Headquarters from August 10-12 with an objective to empower youth leaders and young professionals in the implementation of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The event concluded on the International Youth Day.

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The 2016 Youth Assembly is made possible through Friendship Ambassadors Foundation and lead endorsements by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN and the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the UN. Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Office in Belgrade H.E. Simona-Mirela Miculescu is the honorary chair. As the newly appointed Youth Chair of the Youth Assembly, Amatya addressed the historic United Nations General Assembly Hall filled with hundreds of youth delegates who represented more than 97 countries on 10th August. " I've always believed that when your passion and your purpose collide, there is an explosion that ignites the light in you forever. I want you to find that passion and your purpose! " she said. Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon extended a special message to the youth delegates as well.

She initially joined Youth Assembly in 2013 as a youth representative of Nepal. In a short span of less than three years, she has been successful in being promoted to the top most coveted and prestigious leadership role. She worked as the Co-Chair for the Youth Assembly in 2015. As a result of her tremendous hard work and resilience, this year, she has finally been appointed as the Youth Chair, the biggest leadership role any young person can hold at the Youth Assembly.

In her professional experience gained over the last seven years in the United States, she has worked with diverse administrations and bodies such as the United Nations, UN Women, WFUNA, the World Bank, Habitat for Humanity, Actionaid International. Over the last seven years, Jolly has worked with many organizations in the United States as well as in Nepal for the betterment of the status of women and youth.

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She believes that young people in Nepal have amazing potential and they need the right exposure, guidance, and mentorship. Young people if given the right skills and knowledge, can be the key agents of change. We are not the leaders of tomorrow, we are the leader of today, she says.

She has been serving on the board of US National Committee for UN Women in the Executive Finance Committee for the past three years. She has represented Nepal at the White House AAPI Youth Forum, White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders. She was also nominated to attend the United State of Women Summit in 2016 at the White House.

She has been recently internationally recognized as the "Young Global Leader Achievement" Award by Global Connections for Women Foundation in New York (2015).

She is also a Young Professional at NGO CSW. She feels privileged to have worked as an Ambassador for organizations such as WPPC (Women Prevention and Prevention Center, Nepal/Seattle), and Heal a Woman-Heal a Nation, USA. She represented Nepal at the United Nations CSW (Committee of the Status of Women) at the UN Headquarters for four consecutive years 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. She has been invited by the United Nations in many events as a speaker, mostly representing the youth and women.

Jolly was born and raised in Nepal and did her schooling in St. Mary's Higher Secondary School. She was also awarded "Voice of Women Top Ten Women Award", Nepal 2007 when she was in high school. (Awarded to top ten girls selected from Nepal with excellent academics and extracurricular community involvement). She pursued her undergraduate studies in Finance/Accounting from Coe College, Iowa and from Harvard University, Boston.

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She believes that even though many of us, young people are abroad for studies and employment, we can still contribute a lot back Nepal in many ways, more than we can ever imagine. She plans to visit Nepal the end of this year.
In the midst of this election season, we have heard presidential candidates address a host of issues -- from the economy to healthcare to safety and security. As we prepare to elect the next President of the United States and we think about our democracy, it is critical that we do not forget our nation's builders, the men and women who fought a revolution so that we could be citizens who determine our own destinies.



Our founders who forged compromises in Philadelphia that produced our Constitution and made certain that the new Congress delivered on the promises of a Bill of Rights. And those whose toil built a transcontinental nation of 323 million women, men and children who proudly call ourselves Americans.



But to continue to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" we must continually strengthen the ties that bind us together as a nation. And especially in this national election year, with the challenges ahead and the deep economic divides that still exist in the country, we must not let so-called "hard-edge nationalism" divide us by political party or by race, religion or region.



A recent article in the Wall Street Journal shows that while Wall Street is pushing for large infrastructure projects, local governments, public officials, and voters are hesitant to say yes. With a decrease in government borrowing for new projects and a cut in construction projects all together, our infrastructure is continuing to fall behind. There is ahead of us as citizens -- not as Republicans or as Democrats, but as citizens -- a unique opportunity to solidly remain a vibrant nation of builders, which is to no longer abdicate our responsibility to replace, rebuild and reimagine the infrastructure required for inclusive prosperity across our nation.



After decades of under-investing, America, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, now faces a $3.3 trillion dollar infrastructure deficit over the next ten years that is impeding economic growth, undermining the economy's efficiency, adding to real unemployment, and increasing the country's trade deficit, especially in manufactured goods.



This decay -- mostly in surface transportation, electric transmission, airports, and water and wastewater facilities -- will, if not addressed, cost the U.S. economy trillion of dollars in lost domestic product.



What we need in response is a multi-trillion-dollar, multi-year program of infrastructure investment -- with its massive multiplier effects both during the construction phase of an infrastructure project and later during operations and maintenance. Only a new large-scale national infrastructure bank -- what we and others suggest be called "America's Infrastructure Bank" -- can, in partnership with the states and our municipalities, finance the massive needs we face in every corner of our country.



We propose that this bank be established in law as a wholly-owned government corporation with a nonpartisan Board of Directors appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. To make the bank as responsive as possible to regional infrastructure development needs, and thus most effective, the bank should be "regionalized" into several regional operating districts, similar to the Federal Reserve.



America's Infrastructure Bank would make direct loans to and guarantees of private sector loans for infrastructure projects.



With the consent of Treasury, the bank would sell or issue general purpose bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government; sell specific project bonds when necessary; and invite private capital investment in the form of loans. This capital structure would give the bank the lowest possible 'cost of capital' and thus help keep associated user-fees and tolls as low as possible.



All infrastructure projects initiated under the bank should require that major associated purchases be "Made in America". In order to qualify as being Made in America at least 90 percent of the content would have to be actually manufactured -- not just assembled and/or transformed -- within America's borders.



Consistent with the abiding goal of ensuring good jobs for American workers while transforming the nation's infrastructure, the bank also should require that all associated work by constructors and suppliers alike be covered by appropriate labor laws, including, especially, prevailing wage laws and the Davis-Bacon Act.



If we are to continue to celebrate the absolute power of a free people to forge an American dream for their families; and if we are to stay a nation of builders, then we need to take on the hard work of strengthening these infrastructure ties that bind us together -- our roads and bridges; our railroads, airports and seaports; and our electrical grid and water treatment plants.



Co- Authors
In my quest to make more people learn to automate, eliminate, and delegate, I run into new (to me, at least) ways to make this happen for small businesses. So when I found out there was another way to outsource things like advertising, marketing, and administrative, I spent way more hours than I'd like to admit learning about it.

The concept is called "nearshore" sourcing, which is like a kinder, gentler version of outsourcing abroad. Essentially the concept is: outsourcing closer to home than India or the Philippines in order to have more business being handled on (or around) the same timezone as where the main business is located. I think it's a good way to take a leap into delegating work that you shouldn't be doing anyhow, especially if you're not ready to put your faith in workers that are on the opposite side of the world.

But if you're still not sure what the best method for you might be, consider these 3 things:

How much do you need done during business hours?

The biggest drawback to sourcing overseas is the ability to connect with your workers during your normal business hours (if you're based in the US). If you want to be more hands-on with your employees and their work, but don't want to tie employees down to one location, nearshore sourcing might be up your alley, as the workers work during US time zones, thereby making it easier for you to keep in touch during regular hours.

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How important is it to have fluent English speakers?

To me, this depends on the work that needs done. If I have a VA that's responsible for the mundane tasks that I don't have time for, then basic English skills are fine and as long as the work gets done, I'm not really bothered. If, however, I was working on a project that required expert usage of English (like writing or software development), then I'd probably consider nearshore sourcing.

Do you ever plan to travel to your employees?

How connected do you want to be with your team? Do you want to meet with them face to face regularly, or are you more interested in letting them do their own things and focusing on the results? If you're planning to look outside of the US for employees, but want them accessible, having nearshore workers might be more beneficial for you than teams that are overseas.
Prisoner hand

Co-authored with Ellie Grossman.

In the wake of a staggering mass incarceration problem that predicts one in three Black men will be involved in the criminal justice system at some point in his lifetime (in jail, on probation, paroled, or in a halfway house) politicians and civil society organizations frequently overlook what the so called race to incarcerate means for women and children. That is, while it is true that the United States incarcerates more men than any other nation in the world--the same should be said for women. And, you've guessed it--children are caught in the spiral too.

As one reporter wrote three years ago, "there are about 2,500 youth offenders serving life sentences without the possibility of parole in prisons worldwide. We've come up with a map showing all of the countries where they are incarcerated"--the only country on the map was the United States.

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Notwithstanding the fact that in 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences without the possibility for parole were unconstitutional for children, thousands remain locked up without the possibility of release. Prior to the Court's ruling, the United States was the only nation to imprison children for life without parole. The United Nations issued a report urging reform and noting that incarcerating a youth for life amounts to cruelty and often leads to degrading and inhumane treatment, but the U.S. has failed to act. Just a decade ago, it was still legal for states to kill children--even though we know that nearly 1 in 9 cases involving the death penalty will amount to a serious reversible error. As Bryan Stevenson, the brilliant warrior on behalf of children recently asked, "imagine if we had that error rate with airplanes" that every ninth flight that took off would crash?

This election provides a pivotal time to act on mass incarceration, but also the school to prison pipeline and children in the criminal justice system. The mass incarceration of our youth is virtually forgotten about. One chilling example of backward criminal law policies that involve children is the incarceration of sex trafficked girls. Girls as young as ten and eleven are locked behind bars in the U.S. even though they are the victims who've suffered from devastating crimes--rape, sexual assault, sodomy and more.

Some states even have "John Schools" that allow their victimizers to attend what amounts to traffic school for sex offenders. The men who violate these girls go back home to their families, while the girls are locked behind bars. And too frequently children become the victims of sexual assault in our jails. One man recounts his story: the place he was sent to was a "dilapidated house of horrors." Sometimes, the abuse is inflicted by guards.

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Over the past two years, the Defense For Children International and the University of California Irvine Center of Biotechnology and Global Health Policy have taken up a joint initiative to study juvenile incarceration. This combined effort has already produced important research and more is to come.

For example, in our fifty state survey of juvenile detention, we observed racial disparities throughout the U.S. We also shine a light on female juvenile incarceration, a topic grossly overlooked and under examined in political discourse, and we examine how attitudes and practices at schools can be the gateway to incarceration or "the school to prison pipeline." Indeed, the practices at far too many schools in the U.S. reflect the larger mass incarceration phenomenon.

In schools many disciplinary actions are discretionary, which sadly leaves room for subjectivity and sometimes bias. A Texas study revealed that when accounting for the same behaviors, African American kids were nearly three times more likely to receive an "out-of-school" suspension for their first offense. For Latino students, they were twice as likely as white students to be removed from school for their first offense. On the other hand, whites were more likely to receive in school suspensions. Researchers found that "seventy-five percent of the 133,719 African-American public school students (male and female) experienced involvement in the school disciplinary system." The contrast is stark--less than 47 percent of white students experienced similar discipline.

Students with disabilities and students of color are disproportionately impacted by such practices according to the U.S. Department of Education. A study of school systems in Oregon revealed that students with special needs were four times more likely to be suspended than their counterparts.

Kicking kids out of school and locking them up for the rest of their lives does not make society safer. Indeed, we place our nation at risk of stereotyping, stigmatizing, and damaging future generations. Consider the case of Madisyn Moore, a six year old African American who was handcuffed and abandoned under a dark stairwell at her school, because a security mistook her candy for a stolen item. In defending his actions, the security guard said, "'I'm teaching her a f -- -g lesson. She took a piece of candy and I handcuffed her under the stairs.'" The guard was wrong and later fired; the little girl's mother placed the special treat in her lunchbox.

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In one case, elementary school students were arrested, handcuffed, and sent off to juvenile detention for not breaking up a fight off campus. In that case, arrest warrants were issued for African American kids ages 6-10 for an altercation they did not start nor participate in.

Yet, there are other troubling cases of arrests and handcuffing of little elementary school kids from Georgia where a six year old was detained because he was having a bad day--not because he brought a gun to school, harmed another child or teacher to Kentucky and even California where five year olds are just as vulnerable to having law enforcement arrest them without any call to the parents. In another case, a five year old diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was cuffed at the hands and ankles with zip ties, charged with assaulting an officer, and hauled off to a psychiatric facility in the back of a squad car. The child's parents were not called.

Teachers have tough jobs and school administrators too. However, resolving student conduct issues through law enforcement is rarely the right answer.
Just as in the opening lyrics of the popular song, I love to go a-wandering. I always have! Some may argue that this is just a whimsical way of saying that I like to walk! But to wander (according to the Oxford dictionary) is to move in a leisurely or aimless way.

Growing up, "Let's go out for a wander" was a common suggestion in our household. In retrospect, it was a very clever idea on my parents' behalf, as it kept four children occupied for several hours free of charge! Living on the edge of a National Park, we would head into the nearby forest, circumnavigating lakes, or climbing mountains. The highlight was always the half-way point where we would stop and share (yes share) a chocolate bar (and it wasn't even a king size)! We would run and climb, throw rocks and sticks into the water, and more often than not get lost! My father becoming famous for his short cuts that were anything but short!

In my twenties, when I left the welsh hills for the concrete jungle of the city of London, the absence of mountain paths did not hinder my wandering. My friends and I would meander through the markets of East London and along the Thames; perusing the produce for sale, watching the tourists mingle amongst the locals, and spotting the occasional celebrity. While exploring the city was fun, this time of wandering was also cathartic. As university students, we would discuss our apprehension over upcoming assignment deadlines and exams, ponder our future careers, and analyze our love lives in minute detail. We would return feeling uplifted.

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By the time I turned thirty, I was in a very focused and driven phase of my life and this was reflected in my wandering excursions. My pace was faster, as I ran long distances along the shores of Lake Ontario in the freezing temperatures of a Canadian winter. Returning home with sore muscles and frozen toes!

Today, I wander along a beautiful stretch of unspoiled beach that I often hear visitors refer to as 'paradise' but I'm lucky enough to call "home." I look down at my bare feet and I am grateful for how they have carried me over grass, rocks, pavement, gravel, and now sand. I think about all that I have seen and the people who have shared these adventures with me. Yes, there has been a lot of change but the blue sky that extends above my head is the same sky that has always been.

So wherever you may be today, I encourage you to wander. In our goal-driven society, we have lost the joy to be found in just going out for a walk for the sake of going for a walk. We feel that we have to create a purpose for our outing... "I'll pick up some milk on my way by the corner store"... "I need to squeeze in my 10,000 steps today"... "the kids/dog need to let off some steam." These are all valid reasons but don't feel like you need to create them. Just go! Go alone, with a friend, or family member. There is no need to go far or for a long time. No special equipment required. It won't cost you a penny. No one will be judging your technique or performance. So just go! Who knows you may discover something new about your surroundings. You may discover something new about yourself. You might even feel more energized or a little fitter. What could be better for your mind, body, and soul!

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A Moroccan woman wearing a 'burkini' (C), a full-body swimsuit designed for Muslim women, enters the sea at Oued Charrat beach, near the capital Rabat, on August 17, 2016. / AFP / FADEL SENNA (Photo credit should read FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty Images)

This year's debates are materializing in very poor form. The burkini debate has brought widespread rage to the surface, as a segment of our society continues to blame the "foreigners," or the Muslims, for all their problems.

Politicians in the highest positions, and their supporters, are aligning themselves with a rhetoric of exclusion and suspicion, without trying to raise the level of the debate. They are satisfied with discussing the effects, without ever debating the causes.

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Islam has become a tool to gain applause at meetings and likes on social media. Ideas are reduced to 140 characters; Twitter has become a platform for full-fledged debate.

I've said it more than once: To have a rational discussion about Islam in today's world seems impossible. People don't want to hear it.

The burkini debate is the latest piece of evidence; public debate is reduced to a rudimentary level, and shortcuts and generalizations work to spread confusion and stir hate.

In France, it is the state that is secular -- not the citizens or the bathing suits. The burkini is not prohibited by law. There are instances in which they may be banned for sanitary reasons in public pools, for example, or by municipal decrees if mayors deem them threatening to public order on the beaches.

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What this burkini debate reveals about the state of French society is terrifying. It points to the perversion of our values.

It is worth reminding those who associate the burkini with the wahhabism of Saudi Arabia or with salafism that the full-body swimsuit was invented in 2004 by an Australian of Lebanese origin, Aheda Zanetti.

Let's take a look at the discourse of hate that surrounds this burkini debate.

Even if we stopped debating the burkini, we would find another way to talk about the core issue -- compatibility with secularism. We would perhaps reopen the debate on the hijab.

All discussions are legitimate in a democracy, but that doesn't mean that all of them are well-founded. And when political elites resort to shortcuts and generalizations, everyone becomes defensive, thereby excluding substantive debate.

As Jean Gabin says in the film "Un singe en hiver" (A Monkey in Winter), "Things lead to things, thingamajigs create thingamajigs, nothing is random."

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The debate over the burkini becomes entangled in various other issues, including secularism, terrorism, Saudi Arabia, human rights, and French foreign policy.

Therefore, the debate over full-body swimsuits may start to revolve around human rights and our relationship with Gulf monarchies. This would be legitimate for those who consider the hijab to be a tool for the enslavement of women. However, the burkini may be seen as way for women to express themselves.

The debate over selling arms to non-democratic countries is legitimate, but it seems that the petro-monarchies of the Gulf are always blamed for all of society's ills.

The debate continues to regress, with hyperbole and polemics, and no one takes the time to truly reflect on the key issues.

In this climate of extreme tension, who will revive our values? Who will state, loud and proud, that French Muslims have their rightful place in France?

What this burkini debate reveals about the state of French society is terrifying. It points to the perversion of our values. There is widespread intolerance, fueled by fear. The media is more concerned with arousing people's emotions than disseminating information. If you bring up the law, you are immediately deemed an Islamist-collaborator financed by the Saudi lobby. If you oppose the burkini, you are called Islamophobic and racist.

Where is the public debate? Will any of the presidential candidates draw attention to the voice of reason? In this climate of extreme tension, who will revive our values? Who will state, loud and proud, that French Muslims have their rightful place in France, and that their rights are as guaranteed as those of any other citizen?

As the authorities continue to interfere in Muslim institutions, who will remind the public of the 1905 law on the Separation of the Churches and State? Who will remind the public that only a small percentage of mosques in France receive foreign funding, and that the there is oversight over all the transactions that take place on national soil?

Why must we entertain fantasies on the subject? After the horrible attacks in Nice and the monstrous assassination of Father Hamel, why must we connect the foreign funding of places of Muslim worship to terrorism?

It seems that Islam is being targeted by the highest levels of government as part of the fight against terrorism, in effect reinforcing the most extreme theories.

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I don't understand this incessant desire to reinforce things that divide us, and not things that bring us together.

We can only win this war by defending and transmitting our ideals. It's obvious that we must confront terrorism, and we must keep in mind that many radicalized youth were born in France.

Marginalized youth are driven to Daesh -- who must be watching with delight as we debate the burkini.

Daesh recruiters may even be using this debate to attract followers. "You see, this country isn't yours, your women are stigmatized, their modesty is not respected, the law is never in favor of Muslims, join us," they could say.

I am appalled by the violence I see on social networks, and by the absence of reasonable voices. In the midst of this terrible summer, why can't we reflect on the heroes who liberated us from the Nazis -- who belonged to all faiths?

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Why can't we reflect on the image we're projecting to our children and the outside world?

We have, with the Senatorial Project on the Organization and Functioning of Islam, published a report which clearly shows, and without prejudice, that Islam in France is compatible with our body of law and with the law of 1905. This serious, pedagogical, work was deemed to be useful for everyone to better understand the complexities of the situation and to find technical solutions so that our fellow citizens of Muslim faith can be able to worship with dignity.

But it seems that no one is interested in serious discussion. People are riding the wave of fear, which serves a mediocre political campaign.

In a personal capacity, I deplore this climate that suppresses reason in favor of emotion. I understand the fear, the compassion, and the chain reactions, but it seems that political leaders are currently either fanning the flames or worse, staying silent.

The law must be applied everywhere. Hate speech should be treated with zero tolerance. The only way we can regain serenity is if we revert to our republican values: Liberty, equality, fraternity and secularism.

Personally, I am very pessimistic about the upcoming months and elections.
Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar and Irom Chanu Sharmila of India are two internationally recognized human rights activists of their time. Different circumstances entailed them to fight for democracy and human rights in their respective countries but with a similar objective of ushering peace and justice for the general public. The two share some interesting similarities that have encouraged and motivated millions of people around the world. First is the cause of their sacrifices. They both have been influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence. Suu Kyi had been under some form of detention for 15 of the past 21 years when she was released on November 13, 2010. She was initially placed under house arrest on July 20, 1989 under martial law that allowed for detention without charge or trial for three years. During the years of her detention, Suu Kyi was offered freedom if she chose to leave the country but refused it knowing that she would not be allowed back into the country. Suu Kyi's primary objective, at least during the years of her house arrest, was to bring an end to military dictatorship in Myanmar and then to establish a democratic country where there is rule of law and respect for human rights. On the other hand, Sharmila ended her 16-year-long hunger strike on August 9, 2016. Because of her refusal of food and water for more than 500 weeks, she has been called the world's longest hunger striker. Sharmila's hunger strike began on November 5, 2000 after the Indian army killed 10 civilians in Malom, a town in the Imphal valley of Manipur. Her demand has been the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), passed by the Indian government in 1958, which grants security forces the power to search properties without a warrant, arrest people, and use deadly force if there is a reasonable suspicion that a person is acting against the state. Second is their recognition. Among others, Suu Kyi has been awarded Rafto Prize and Sakharov Prize in 1990, Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, and Francois Zimeray, France's Ambassador for Human Rights in 2011. Similarly, Sharmila has been recognized with Gwangju Prize for Human Rights in 2007, the first Mayillama Award of the Mayilamma Foundation in 2009, and lifetime achievement award from the Asian Human Rights Commission in 2010. Third is their political ambition. Suu Kyi, whose father was the architect of Myanmar's independence, has come from a political family. However, she was politically a novice until she, on August 26, 1988, addressed about half a million people at a mass rally in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda in the then capital city Rangoon, calling for a democratic government. The massive gathering was in someway could be construed as a culmination of pro-democracy movement in the backdrop of the military junta violently suppressing pro-democracy demonstrations. After spending several years of her life as a democratic icon and human rights activist, Suu Kyi decided to contest the 2012 by-election with the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party she co-founded on September 27, 1988. And after serving as the opposition leader, Suu Kyi contested the 2015 general election. Though the constitution bars her from the country's presidency, she is the de-facto leader of the NLD government in her capacity as the state counselor, foreign minister and minister of the president's office. After becoming a politician, Suu Kyi has received her share of criticism for not speaking up or being reticent to defend human rights, the core value she had stood for many years. On the other hand, Sharmila's entry into politics is another strategy she has chosen to continue her struggle for the repeal of AFSPA. She believes that the politics in Manipur is dirty and the politicians who would fight for the repeal of AFSPA are corrupt. Her immediate political ambition is to contest in next year's Manipur state assembly election as an independent candidate and oust the incumbent Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh. Her hope is that at least 20 other independent candidates would support in her bid to remove the present government. Fourth is the choice of their spouses. Suu Kyi was married to Michael Aris, a British scholar of Tibetan culture. Her marriage to a foreigner and their foreign-citizen children has disqualified her from holding the job of the presidency. Sharmila has said she would marry Desmond Coutinho, a British national of Indian origin, if people reject her as a politician. The idea of tying the knot with a foreigner has faced criticism from within the Manipuri society and from pressure groups such as the Meira Paibis, who have alleged that Coutinho was trying to sway Sharmila and derail their movement to repeal AFSPA. Sharmila has also received death threats for considering to marry a foreigner. While Suu Kyi has transformed from being a human rights activist to a de-facto leader of the NLD government, it remains to be seen if Sharmila would ever become the chief minister of Manipur and succeed in repealing AFSPA.
His eyes caught my attention...playful, innocent, and curious about this group of strangers in his neighbourhood. I was immediately drawn to this young boy, who smiled shyly and nodded ever so slightly when I asked if I could take his picture. When I showed him the image of his face on the screen of my phone, he giggled, which made me laugh too, and I reached out to gently touch his head. In hindsight, I believe I was searching for a connection to this beautiful boy, to his community, and to the thousands of refugees we had seen over the past few days in the Nyarugusu, Mtendeli and Nduta camps operated by UNHCR in Tanzania. I wanted them all to know that despite the fact that the numbers are staggering -- 65 million displaced people in the world today -- and despite the fact that many of them had been forced to flee conflict decades ago, that we had not forgotten them. That we, the international community, are working hard to improve their lives and to push for solutions to the protracted crises that have driven them from their homes.

I work on humanitarian issues with UN agencies and NGOs on a daily basis, but I traveled to Tanzania a few weeks ago to meet with refugees and see firsthand the challenges they face and the magnitude and complexity of the operational response to meeting their needs. The Government of Tanzania has been a generous host to approximately 60,000 Congolese and 190,000 Burundian refugees for many years. However, the 2015 election in Burundi has spurred a new crisis, causing a new influx of more than 150,000 Burundians since April of last year. Most of these refugees were forced to leave jobs, schools, family members and their possessions behind, and are likely faced with many years of extremely challenging living conditions.

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Strength in the Face of Uncertainty

As we entered Mtendeli Camp, a new busload of refugees had just come from the border. I was struck by how courageous they seemed in the face of such uncertainty, but I could see in their faces the countless unanswered questions that filled their minds. There was one lone 15-year-old girl, slightly younger than my own daughter, who sat patiently while names were called and, one after another, families filed through the blue-vested UN workers for registration. Unlike the others, her name was not on the manifest, and she waited in fear, not knowing until the end of the day whether she would be welcomed or turned away. As I watched, I wondered what atrocities she had encountered during her journey to safety, and what had happened to her family, resulting in her being completely alone.

Unfortunately, her story is not unique, and I couldn't help but think about the Future She Deserves, the signature gender initiative that I launched last year to protect and empower women and girls. I was aware that many Burundi women and girls suffered abuse during their long walk to Tanzania, including horrific acts of rape and molestation. And that in the camps, women face continued threats during daily forays to gather firewood, and from abusive male family members, often under the influence of alcohol because they have no other pastime or activity to occupy their time. Through this initiative, we've been working hard to mobilize the international community in Geneva around issues of gender-based violence. So I was particularly interested in meeting with these women to discuss GBV programs and support services that are available to them in the camps. And after hearing about their experiences, it was obvious that we all have to do more.

Everywhere we went, refugee women spoke about the prevalence of gender-based violence and we discussed efforts being made to provide increased protection and support -- such as better lighting, safe gathering spaces, education and training for both men and women, more female police, and comprehensive counseling services. We visited a large tent that served as a women's center in the Nyarugusu camp, where women young and old gather for social interaction, counseling and support. There, we met an old woman laying on a stretcher who had to be carried into the center everyday. She proudly showed us her needlework, and told us the time she spent with other women was what kept her going.

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In addition to the social benefits, women come together to produce handicrafts, including beautiful, colorful woven baskets that are sold to visitors and in the small marketplace. I was impressed by these strong, resilient women who had built a wonderful community for themselves, and vowed to work harder to identify ways to empower these women and to provide them with better opportunities for safety and fulfillment. Many had suffered abuse, but they refused to be defined as victims. Instead, they yearn to be productive and are committed to building a better future for themselves and their children.

The Next Generation

In Nduta camp, I saw hope in the eyes of the children. We visited a "child-friendly space," where children enjoy group activities between school hours. Burundi women have one of the highest fertility rates in the world, and all around us the crowds of children were enormous. We were welcomed by approximately 400 smiling faces in a simple wood-frame and reed structure which served as a temporary classroom. Despite being packed shoulder to shoulder in the dust and heat, these young children were engaged and eager to learn. Nearby, a group of adolescent girls and boys were learning tailoring skills, which they hoped would provide them with opportunities to earn their own income in the future.

In general, classes are overcrowded, schools are operating in shifts to accommodate more classes per day, and far too many children remain in informal schools or receive no education at all. Access to secondary school and vocational training is limited, which makes for an abundance of idle youth -- an increasing number of them unaccompanied males. On a more positive note, private sector partners have launched 'connectivity projects' that enable some refugee students to access learning materials over the internet using solar-powered devices, vastly broadening their awareness of the world around them. Watching their young minds absorbing information from various websites, it was apparent that we must push harder for innovative ways to scale such partnerships so that more refugee children can have access to these 21st century learning opportunities.

New Beginnings

At the same time camps were welcoming new arrivals from the border, some refugees were preparing to depart after many years of asylum. Beginning in 2012, the United States has prioritized the resettlement of Congolese refugees as a durable solution for this protracted refugee population. Before relocating, these refugees attend cultural orientation classes, receiving training and practical advice to help them prepare for life in America. The refugees we met in class were joyous; many having dreamt of this opportunity for years. Some of the younger refugees appeared nervous, having known no other life outside of camp. But a few words of encouragement from the instructors brought back their smiles and they were ready to face whatever challenges await them in their new homes.

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Our final stop in Katavi Province assured me that there is hope for refugees. The Government of Tanzania has naturalized more than 160,000 former Burundi refugees who came to Tanzania in 1972. Tanzanian citizenship has brought a sense of pride and certainty to refugees who lived in limbo for decades despite substantial economic and social integration with the local host community. I was impressed by a newly naturalized English teacher who told us his story of coming to Tanzania as a two year old. He and his wife are raising seven children, and they are all in school. Their life is not easy - this is an underdeveloped, poor region - but they now have rights, they work hard, they contribute to their community, and with this new beginning they have access to a better life.
Dear Students:

I'd like to welcome you to a new academic year at the university, where I have taught for more than 35 years. As in previous years, I look forward to the excitement and promise of introducing you to the wondrous insights of anthropology through which we explore the whys and wherefores of the human condition.

This year is a particular important one for you to be introduced to the wisdom of anthropological scholarship. The world is increasingly complex. In the globally connected world you will require a measure of technological sophistication, but will also need an increased degree of cross-cultural knowledge to navigate the challenging rapids that course through 21st century social life.

Consider the challenges you will face?

1. The Challenges of the Public University. The university has become a bastion of corporate bureaucracy, meaning that things like mission statements, assessment and "compliant" documents have become more important than inspired teaching, cutting-edge research and groundbreaking publication. I wonder how many of you will read the "compliant" syllabus I've just completed in which there are clear statements of general education and programmatic goals, learning outcomes and assessment of learning outcomes. My sense is that you will be more interested in your final grade than in how well you met goal #3 of the course learning outcomes, and will appreciate an instructor who is more than a "compliant" employee, but someone who is passionate about her or his subject of study. My sense is that you will be concerned about expanding class sizes that increase professor-student ratios and decrease professor-student interaction, an important and overlooked element of higher contemporary education. You will be disappointed by the large class sizes, but may not know the reasons for this deplorable situation--politically induced budget cuts by state legislators who are at "war" with public higher education. Even so dedicated professors will attempt to open your eyes to science, which has no political agenda. Using strict procedures, scientists observe the world and report their findings, which often lead to "inconvenient truths." We hope to show you how you to separate fact from fiction and rational reason from irrational conspiracy.

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2. Climate Change. One of the rationally induced inconvenient truths that scientific research has produced concerns climate change. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report than July 2016 was the hottest month recorded since monitoring began in 1880. The evidence of climate change is everywhere--super storms in the Pacific, deadly 1000-year floods in Louisiana, catastrophic wild fires in drought-ravaged California. These are not politically induced statements; they are the results of careful analysis of scientific data, which is incontrovertible. Even so, many of our public officials deny the evidence of climate change. In so doing they dangerously deny science, which, is a denial of your future. What are the social consequences of irrevocable climate change? One consequence is likely to be unimaginable social dislocation.

3. Politics and the Social Contract. We are today mired in an important series of elections--presidential, congressional, state and local. We live in a era in which people desire change. Shall we change forward, acknowledging a demographic shift to a multi-lingual and multi-cultural society, or will change back to a earlier time in our history during which racism, ethnic discrimination, gender inequalities, homophobia and religious intolerance set in stone our social and income inequality? Considering these demographic changes, the politics of bombast, ignorance and hate as personified by Donald J. Trump is the painful last gasp of the old social order, an order few, if any of you have experienced. What kind of world will you inherit? What can you do to shape a more perfect union? As social scientists --your professors-- have long known, societies that are deeply divided are ultimately not viable. When social contracts are reinforced and difference is incorporated to create stronger social wholes, there is economic and social progress.

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4 The Future. You are the future. It is impossible to know what the future will bring, but by mid-century, America will look very different from what it is today. There will be more--not less--diversity and our politics and social life will shift with these inevitable demographic changes. Many of you may be fearful of change. In America there is an unprecedented degree of income and social inequality. This state has created instability, uncertainty and insecurity in our cities, suburbs and small towns. And yet, as an educated public knows, these problems cannot be solved with simple blunt-edged rhetoric that spreads conspiratorial myths about the university, our climate and the nature of social life.

In the end ignorance is your enemy and it is my obligation to open your eyes to it and describe its devastating social ramifications. As your professor, I must be a realist about the state of your education and the state of the world. Despite the dark clouds that hover above our campus, I'm always hopeful at the beginning of the academic year. Each year I look forward to meeting curious, knowledgeable, and engaged students whose willingness to open their ears and eyes to the complexities of the social world inspires me to teach.

My optimism about the future is grounded in my personal experience as an anthropologist. My West African mentors in the Republic of Niger taught me the value of patience, of taking the long view of things. Although our droughts, famines and epidemics seem to last forever, they would tell me, we'll make our way through them and live a better life on the next path.

Like most of my colleagues in higher education, I am optimistic about your future. My goal is not tell what what's right or wrong, but to guide you onto a path so that you can discover your strengths and weaknesses and acquire the capacity for critical thought and clear expression--all in the hope that you eventually become socially engaged citizens of the world.

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In Silicon Valley, you hear a lot about "hacking". From growth hacking to everyday life hacks, hacking essentially means finding unique and clever ways to solve a meaningful problem. And while hacking goes a long way in the world of tech, Silicon Valley's tech community is now focused on hacking an even larger problem -- cancer.

Rather than taking the typical approach of creating a new app or machine learning algorithm to cure cancer, HackCancer chooses to "hack cancer" through fundraising efforts. Founded in 2013 by a small group of Bay Area entrepreneurs, HackCancer was created to raise awareness and funds for organizations combating cancer.

Over the past three and a half years, HackCancer has grown to become a group of philanthropic, young professionals in San Francisco who host fun events to help fund research efforts in fighting cancer and support for those currently battling cancer. The organization does this by partnering with non-profits such as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), Make-A-Wish Foundation, Family House, Asian American Donor Program, Hospice, and many others. HackCancer has helped raise over $600,000 for these local non-profits.

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"We created HackCancer to bring together our community of friends to support great causes. What initially started out as a modest 10-week fundraising campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has evolved into something beyond what we ever imagined. We're excited to see how many more causes and lives we can help make a positive impact on under Co-Founder Anjou Ahlborn and our board's leadership going forward. With more friends joining HackCancer and providing their energy, knowledge, passion and resources, we hope to one day take a big part in helping eradicate cancer," said Steve Chen, Founder of HackCancer.

Cancer Superheroes Do Exist

HackCancer's most recent gathering was the 4th Annual MR|MS Silicon Valley Pitch Competition and Benefit Gala, which attracted over 800 attendees and raised over $50,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Greater Bay Area Chapter.

Hack Cancer 4th Annual MR|MS Silicon Valley Pitch Competition and Benefit Gala; Photo Credit: Larry Wong

It was during this particular event that I learned that "Cancer Superheroes" really do exist. Cancer Superheroes are not men and women in tight, brightly colored suits with super powers capable of curing the 12.7 million people diagnosed with cancer each year. Rather, Cancer Superheroes are the incredibly brave children, women and men who have proved that overcoming cancer is indeed possible.

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A little boy dressed in a suit and tie approached the stage during HackCancer's gala dinner. He introduced himself as Roman Soto and explained how he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at the age of 16 months. Roman completed his treatment when he was four and a half years old.

Today, Roman has become an inspiration for others battling Leukemia. He was named The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's (LLS) 2014 Boy of the Year and continues to share his story on how he became cancer-free with the help of organizations such as HackCancer and LLS.

Roman Soto giving his speech; Photo Credit: Larry Wong

Following Roman's speech, a beautiful little girl named Aubrey Weed took center stage. Dressed in a darling white dress with golden blonde hair, I never would have guessed that this child was diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia just a few months after celebrating her 3rd birthday.

Being a Cancer Superhero, however, Aubrey bravely fought through chemotherapy, blood transfusions, lumbar punctures, bone marrow biopsies and cranial radiation. After completing 860 days of treatment in November 2014, Aubrey remains in remission.

Aubrey Weed and her family; Photo Credit: Larry Wong

Fundraising for a Good Cause

Stories such as the ones told by Roman and Aubrey prove that fundraising goes a long way. Fortunately, HackCancer has opened a whole new door for Silicon Valley's tech community, allowing entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and young professionals to get involved with the fight against cancer.

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For instance, the 4th Annual MR|MS Silicon Valley Pitch Competition and Benefit Gala also included a startup pitch competition aimed to encourage the tech community's participation. During the competition, sixteen Bay Area founders presented their startups to a panel of five notable judges from the venture/startup community. Some of the participants even explained how cancer has impacted their lives and the importance of raising funds to help combat this life-threatening disease.

"I accepted the nomination to HackCancer because of what the event stands for. I lost my father to esophageal cancer. He was an entrepreneur who believed that no challenge is insurmountable or impossible. However, when you hear about cancer you often times envision just the opposite. The HackCancer Mr|Ms Silicon Valley event was full of bright young minds who believe that change and innovation are always possible. They believe that a cure can be found. My Father would have wanted my company, Pied Parker, to be a part of an event like that," said Gianni Maxemin, CEO and Founder of Pied Parker and A Family Friend Group.

Cancer and Tech Heroes Unite

HackCancer's startup pitch competition demonstrates the organization's unique ability (and true hack) to bring the tech community and those battling cancer together.

"There's a perception that Silicon Valley only cares about its own community, but I think that the Mr|Ms Silicon Valley event shows that there's more to it than that. Not only does our pitch competition showcase great up and coming startups, but it does so with a philanthropic focus on raising funds for cancer research -- a distinction seen throughout the pitch competition and gala. Our candidates are all entrepreneurs with incredible innovations but many also have a personal connection to the fight against cancer. Some of the companies specifically address cancer or its impacts on the loved ones like the winner this year, Jean Truelson, whose application Flower provides a platform for people to give and receive help and support. Knowing that all of the proceeds and donations from the event are going towards the support of a meaningful cause like hacking cancer is what makes this event so unique to our attendees and why we were able to raise over $50,000 for the Leukemia, Lymphoma Society in one evening," said Jimmy Ku, HackCancer's Board of Directors and Co-Founder and COO of Loup.

Startup competition winners; Photo Credit: Larry Wong
Paradigm Shifters is a series of interviews with a select group of women and men from eclectic walks of life. It will highlight unspoken, real-life insights on how they have been able to turn weakness into strength. A naked soul point of view of how their breakdowns were really a preparation for breakthroughs. They are your quintessential paradigm shifters; internal shifts converted into genuine change.

Everything I have ever done has been focused on this underlying theme of shifting the paradigm because, "What we think determines what we feel and what we feel determines what we do." Hence, why Empowered by You takes lingerie, which has traditionally been seen merely as a tool of seduction and redirected that energy as a tool of empowerment.

I hope from these stories you will look at your own situations, struggles and accomplishments through a different lens. At the very least you will be more equipped with real life tools to change your own paradigm. At the end of the day, we are our own Alchemist turning the silver we were born with into the gold we are destined to become.



Khadija Gbla - Director of Khadija Gbla Cultural Consultancy and Executive Director of No FGM Australia

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How did your pregnancy go?

I was told that I was infertile because of the FGM. Finding out that I was pregnant was a big surprise, but a welcome surprise. Due to the FGM, my pregnancy was considered high risk. If the baby didn't kick for about an hour I would rush to the hospital. Keeping the baby alive for nine months was stressful, as was dealing with a medical system that didn't have that much knowledge about my condition. But in the end I had a beautiful baby boy.



What is your definition of empowerment?

My definition of empowerment is having full autonomy over my body. Whether you have a child, whether you don't have a child, what you wear, what you don't wear, it is your body. Women should live life according to the rules they make and dance to their own music. That is the way I live my life, the music I hear is not the music everybody hears. Society places so much pressure on who we should be. We need to take a step back and ask ourselves how we want to live our lives. Although it's scary to go against the norm, it's worth it. There is nothing more empowering than living life the way you want to.

Where does the idea come from that FGM makes a girl a woman?

No one has been able to pinpoint FGM's origin specifically, but I have an idea that it started with a crazy man who was threatened by his wife's clitoris. The clitoris is powerful. Maybe he felt like the clitoris was competing with his penis. FGM has its roots in male masculinity, and women have been viewed as needing to be controlled. When you are a little girl you don't have a sense of sexuality, but at that age we are seen as a threat. To ensure that we never become a sexual being, they mutilate children. You are not a woman at five or six; yet, these are the ages that FGM is done. All FGM does is destroy your sense of womanhood and punish you for being a girl.

What is your relationship been like with your mother after you've become an active spokeswoman for FGM?

Daughters and mothers have complicated relationships. When you throw something like FGM in the mix it gets very complicated. I can compliment my mother on the things she did well--she's a strong, intelligent woman. Regarding FGM, I understand why my mother felt like she needed to perform it on me. In her generation FGM was the norm. However, regardless of what her intentions were, they don't undo the consequences. I believe in this quote that says, "intention doesn't negate responsibility." She held me down while someone cut away a part of me, all in the name of culture. She refuses to apologize and is also opposed to me speaking out against FGM. I've been doing so since I was thirteen. Speaking up enables me to take back that power I lost. I've channeled my anger into making sure that FGM doesn't happen to another little girl.

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You've had problems with police protecting you against an abusive ex husband. You quote them telling you that it was up to you to protect yourself. How do you propose shifting the blame from the abused onto the abusers?

The grassroots of the cause of gender inequality is how we raise our children. When a little boy pushes a little girl we teach our girls that he "likes" her. When our little girls cry it's okay; when our little boys cry, we tell them that they have to be "strong." From a young age we are setting up gender roles. Men feel the need to prove this idea of masculinity and women are told they need to be submissive. We need to change the way we're raising our children. Take my son for example, he's only seventeen months right now but he ran up to a girl and hugged her. I pulled him off and told him, "It's not okay to go hug someone without their permission." We need to build this foundation where women's bodies are theirs. We need to teach boys and girls that physical acts of force are not the way to show affection. We need call out sexist behavior. We can't pretend it's not happening or else we will remain where we are.



What lessons do you hope to teach your son Samuel Williams Jr.?

It is very important to me that he respects women. Mama refused to raise a son that is not a feminist. I sound crazy talking so seriously to a little child. But at some point, he will understand that he needs to value women. I'm not going the raise him to be brute and unfeeling. I want him to learn compassion. There is so much I want to teach him but respect is the most important value. If I can instill the idea in him that women are strong and people to be loved, then he will be a wonderful man one day. I can't control all of that, but I can lay the foundation.

Breakdown to breakthrough moment?

It was when I had been assaulted and was at the hospital. To this day I can't hear in one ear and have chronic back pain. I called my mother and the first thing she asked was if my husband was okay and what I had done to him. I had reached a crossroads in my life where my two identities were incompatible. Where I am from, I was taught if your husband is not happy, you are the problem. In my culture it's not violence: it's discipline. But as an African-Australian women I lived in a society where violence against women was called for what it was. The tipping point for me was looking forward. I thought, "If I one day I have a daughter, what will I say to her about this moment in my life?" It all became clear. I refused to one day have to tell my daughter that my life wasn't valuable. I made the choice to press charges and to say, "No, that will not be a part of my culture." We can define our own culture, instead of being controlled by it. Yes, I was scared. I was scared I would be ostracized from my community, which happened, and disowned from my mother, which happened. But through this experience I finally found my purpose in this world.



What do you want your legacy to be?

I want my pain to have been used as a tool for change. I've experienced war, FGM, and domestic violence. Instead of letting those conquer me, I've turned the narrative. When I die, hopefully I will leave behind little girls who have been saved from FGM and women who take a stand. If nothing else, my life will be a source of comfort and strength. I want them to say, "She came, she spoke, she was loud, and she conquered." I am proof that it doesn't matter what happens to you, it's what you choose to do with it that defines you.
Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte salutes during a military parade at main military Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon city Metro Manila, Philippines July 1, 2016. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

MANILA, Philippines -- "The more it changes, the more it's the same thing," the 19th century intellectual Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr once lamented about the state of French politics. In the realm of foreign policy, observers tend to adopt a similarly skeptical attitude when new leaders come to power on the back of bombastic campaign trail statements and cliche promises of transformative change.

Throughout my extensive discussions with various senior policymakers and diplomats from across the Asia-Pacific region, I have noticed a similar attitude towards the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines' new firebrand president. Yet there is growing reason to expect a potentially seismic shift in Philippine foreign policy under the new administration.

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With Duterte rapidly consolidating his position at the center of the Philippine political system, he is also in a strong position to introduce a significant foreign policy reset, particularly with respect to China and the United States. Unlike his predecessor, Benigno Aquino, he has extended an olive branch to China, deploying former president Fidel Ramos to conduct backdoor negotiations with the Asian powerhouse.

There is growing reason to expect a seismic shift in Philippine foreign policy under the new administration.

He has also welcomed massive Chinese investments in the realm of public infrastructure and downplayed territorial disputes in the South China Sea, emphasizing the necessity of separating areas of conflict from zones of convergence in mutual interests. Meanwhile, he has shown limited reticence with expressing discontent with perceived lack of American military support amid the maritime spats.

With respect to relations with America, Duterte has broken one diplomatic taboo after the other.

At one point, Duterte went so far as stating: "I would only ask the U.S. ambassador, 'are you with us [in the South China Sea]?'" His open expression of skepticism -- a remarkable departure from his predecessors -- seems to have gained growing support among the Philippine public as well as intelligentsia, even though America enjoys astronomically high approval ratings in the Southeast Asian country.

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In fact, since the campaign period, Duterte, a self-described socalist, has emphasized his preference for a more "independent" foreign policy, which effectively means less reliance on America. Shortly after his election victory, Duterte declared, "I will be chartering a [new] course [for the Philippines] on its own and will not be dependent on the United States."

Ramos, right, with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua in Manila on Aug. 17. (Noel Celis/Pool Photo via AP)

During the campaign period, Duterte called on both American and Australian ambassadors to "shut their mouths" and threatened to sever ties if elected after the two Western diplomats expressed dismay over the Filipino politician's controversial remarks.

For the fiercely independent-minded Duterte, foreign powers were "interfering" in the Philippines' domestic affairs. More recently, Duterte's insulting remarks, during another off-the-cuff episode, about U.S. ambassador Philip Goldberg provoked diplomatic censure from Washington, which didn't hesitate to also criticize Duterte's full-fledged anti-crime campaign.

But Duterte has refused to apologize. Upon closer inspection, what one discovers is not only some ephemeral quarreling among old friends, but instead a steady and gradual recalibration in Philippine relations with both America and China. Duterte could very well become the most consequential president in Philippine foreign policy -- and foreign powers and old allies should acknowledge it.

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21st Century Caudillo

A month into office, Duterte has, in unequivocal terms, demonstrated his commitment to stand by his campaign-era promises -- that he means what he says. On the domestic front, we have already seen a dramatic uptick in state-led crackdown on organized crime and proliferation of illegal drugs.

The country is in the midst of what Duterte has described as a "war on crime," adopting an uncompromising approach to law and order challenges in the country. Over recent weeks, he has extended his anticrime campaign to the upper echelons of the society, targeting high-ranking officials, generals, judges and elected statesmen.

By some estimates, in the past month as many as 600,000 alleged drug dealers and users have surrendered to the government. Duterte has even taken on alleged oligarchs, threatening to "destroy" them lest they stop their rent-seeking practices and stop manipulating state institutions for narrow business interests.

To demonstrate his progressive bona fides, Duterte has also declared his willingness to end any large-scale mining in the country. Many mining conglomerates have seen their licenses either revoked or in danger of facing restrictions and heavy state scrutiny. Almost singlehandedly, Duterte has transformed the Philippine state into a proactive agent, taking on organized crime, crony capitalists and major extractive industries.

Duterte is rapidly emerging as the Philippines' most powerful president in recent memory.

To push ahead with his peace agenda in the troubled southern island of Mindanao, Duterte has considered controversial confidence-building measures, from freeing key Communist insurgent leaders to trying to shield a major Islamist insurgent leader from prosecution. Simultaneously, he has sought to win the hearts and minds of the armed forces by offering them constant moral support as well as the promise of increasing their paltry salaries.

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Though massively controversial outside the country, the vast majority of Filipinos (91 percent) have expressed trust in and support for Duterte. Enjoying a super-majority support in the Congress, and set to appoint the bulk of the Supreme Court justices in coming years, Duterte is rapidly emerging as the Philippines' most powerful president in recent memory. And this gives him significant leeway to shape the country's domestic political landscape as well as foreign-policy trajectory for years to come.

Among Giants

Far from alienating foreign powers, Duterte seems to be at the receiving end of courtship by all major powers in the region. On one hand, the U.S. has indeed sought to gain the goodwill of the new president by deploying two of its most senior diplomats, Secretary of State John Kerry as well as State Department Counselor Kristie Kenney, in recent weeks. President Obama was the first foreign leader to congratulate and speak directly to Duterte upon his election victory.

In response, Duterte has expressed gratitude to the United States, reiterated his commitment to honoring the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement signed between his predecessor and the Obama administration and has reassured "our [Philippine] strong alliance with America." Yet it is unlikely that things will remain the same between the two allies. For Duterte, the priority is to expand Philippines' strategic relations with fellow Asian countries, particularly Japan and China.

Duterte seems to be at the receiving end of courtship by all major powers in the region.

As the former mayor of Davao City, a bustling metropolis in the island of Mindanao, Duterte maintained a robust commercial relationship with Japanese investors as well as close diplomatic ties with the Japanese consulate.

Based on my exchanges with Japanese officials, it seems that Tokyo has considerable confidence in the new Filipino president and is more than willing to expand already-blossoming strategic ties with the Philippines. Just recently, Japanese foreign minister Minoru Kiuchi visited Manila, with Tokyo pledging more than $2 billion to infrastructure development projects in the Philippines.

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Crucially, Japan offered to also invest in Mindanao, Duterte's home island, which is in desperate need of infrastructure development. Japan also offered to lease a Japanese surveillance aircraft and promised two 295-foot long vessels for the Philippine Coast Guard.

Duterte's strategic compass will, however, largely point in the direction of Beijing in the meantime.

The BRP Sierra Madre, a marooned transport ship that Philippine Marines live on as a military outpost, near Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. March 30, 2014. (REUTERS/Erik De Castro)

The reason is because the Filipino president is concerned about a dangerous escalation in the South China Sea, especially in light of Beijing's growing military assertiveness, footprint in contested waters and diplomatic offensive after suffering a massive legal defeat at The Hague.

After a five-day "ice breaker" trip to Hong Kong, where he met some senior Chinese officials and scholars, Duterte's special envoy, Ramos, received an invitation to continue with high-level negotiations in the mainland. This sets the tone for a potentially rewarding meeting between Duterte and Chinese Premiere Li Keqiang on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit later this year.

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There are already discussions of Duterte choosing Beijing as his first official state visit. It is not clear whether negotiations could head toward any mutually satisfactory deal in the near future, especially given China's intransigent territorial position in the South China Sea, but for the Duterte administration the priority, for now, is to navigate ways to deescalate tensions and bring about a semblance of normality to bilateral ties with Beijing.

An original version of this piece originally appeared on The National Interest.

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Over the last year, there have been some very high profile automobile recalls and accidents that have caused some very untimely and unfortunate deaths. One of the most recent automobile defects led to the premature death of the high profile and talented actor, Anton Yelchin. These growing, numerous and unfortunate stories in the news can make even the most self-assured car consumer feel a bit nervous and insecure, and for good reason. We all want to believe and trust that the car we purchase for ourselves and our loved ones can keep us safe and out of harm's way, but this requires getting the right information from the right source. So, to get the latest information about how to successfully negotiate buying the safest car possible, I consulted famed Washington DC based attorney, Wayne Cohen . He is a familiar national legal expert on TV and Radio where he gives his legal analysis on a variety of topics. Cohen's practice also specializes in wrongful deaths, automobile accidents, product liability, as well as other personal injury areas. Given his vast degree of experience in this unique area, I felt he was the perfect person to interview about this topic for concerned consumers like you and me.

Mr. Cohen: There have been numerous recalls and safety concerns that certainly could lead a reasonable person to conclude that there's an increase in carelessness. Whether it's Takata airbags, the RAV-4 recall from Toyota, or the Jeep Grand Cherokee involved in killing actor Anton Yelchin, the industry has seen far too many casualties. There is always a balancing act between cost savings, and safety. Lately, cost savings seems to be winning out.



Dr. Robi: As a personal injury attorney, what kind of car defects and problems do you notice the most?



Mr. Cohen: Our firm has represented thousands of injury victims. Lately, I hear quite a bit about airbags that don't deploy. Sometimes the resulting injuries are truly catastrophic.



Dr. Robi: Even the new electric cars, that have been highly regarded for driver safety as well as considered good for the environment have recently had some issues. What's been problematic with these cars for the consumer?



Mr. Cohen: There have been lots and lots of problems with electric cars. Tesla's self driving Model S had a fatality, and Nissan saw a recall with its 2016 Leaf. Ford also recalled its Focus. Electric cars are wonderful for the environment but present a whole host of other problems.



Dr. Robi: For the person who wants to buy a safe car for their family, or for the first time auto buyer out there, how do they find the safest car to buy these days?



Mr. Cohen: Safercar.gov is a great resource.



Dr. Robi: What should car companies be doing to insure the safety of their consumers?



Mr. Cohen: Education, education, education. Disclose the most likely areas for problems to allow drivers to make informed decisions. Consumers will spend extra money to be safer.



Dr. Robi: Are there any laws that should be put in place to protect consumers from the car industries' failure to protect its drivers?



Mr. Cohen: In the most egregious situations, the criminal system could be extended to cover truly disgraceful conduct.



Dr. Robi: What's the best thing for the victims of this kind of automobile failure to do, once they've been affected?



Mr. Cohen: Immediately reach out to a qualified lawyer to determine your rights. Far too many people try to handle things themselves in the beginning, which hurts the chances for the lawyer down the road.



Mr. Cohen is the founder and managing partner of Cohen & Cohen, P.C. He is also an Associate Professorial Lecturer of Law at The George Washington University Law School since 1993, where he currently teaches Trial Skills. He is also the former President of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington D.C.
Barely a day goes by where a cause of some sort doesn't call for our attention, action or cash. The immediacy and reach of the internet has intensified this, and - as I discuss here with journalist and academic Hannah Spyksma - are contributing to a blurring of what we call and consume as news versus that we engage with as advocacy. We also talk voluntourism, Humanitarians of Tinder and this one time I sort of got fired.

S: You wrote a chapter on the increasingly blurred line between advocacy and journalism for the forthcoming book Don't dream it's over: Reimagining journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand. It's on a slightly different tack, but what are your thoughts on Louise Linton, the Hollywood-based Scot who recently published a memoir about her time volunteering in Zambia? The Telegraph ran an excerpt at the start of July, which led to Linton being strung up by commentators on social (and then other) media, who expressed outrage at what they felt was a white savior account, and also that there were a lot of holes in her story. As someone who's studied international development in a fairly critical environment, reading the excerpt made me wince - as have, quite amazing, sites like Humanitarians of Tinder, and the barbiesavior Instagram account (image above). Although, those are jaw-dropping in a more hilarious way.

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H: Interestingly, the article link is no longer live on the Telegraph website. Says a lot about the response, doesn't it? Since I haven't read the original piece I'm hesitant to comment on what exactly Linton has written. But it's pretty naive to assume that when you write something like that these days, the conversation won't reach the people you're writing about. This is the thing about globalisation; despite uneven access to technologies, as a whole communities increasingly have the capacity to challenge existing communicative power structures through the internet. That includes 'white savior' travel accounts. Geographic isolation or distance is no longer a shield to hide behind in terms of publishing. If you're in Zambia, or in the case of my MA research Vanuatu, then you can join an online conversation when someone writes about you from Hollywood. And this means that there is space for people to begin to have a certain sense of agency over the way they're talked about. Communication isn't one-way anymore. And as the social media backlash to Linton's piece shows, communities don't need or want someone to speak for them. Classic othering doesn't fly in a connected world, the internet is too nuanced for that.

As for Humanitarians of Tinder and barbiesavior: LOL and WOW and cringe. I have to say, in my time on Tinder I did see quite a few of those humanitarian photos but I'm not even going to get into where or when that was... (and for the record those images are not the way to get someone to swipe right IMHO!) Regardless, I am cautious of assuming to know these people's situations also. Playing devil's advocate for a second here - is it just as bad to be taking someone's dating profile and using it to make fun of them? A little schadenfreude, no?

S: Ha, yes I agree! And I'd like to see the stats on how well those profiles do. Hey, I'm Chad and I'm looking for some humanitarian action, if you know what I mean. I bet they clean up. Thinking on these things has reminded me of a job I had in my early 20s, travelling around college campuses in the US, promoting a programme that took volunteers to places like Costa Rica and Thailand. They'd spend one week doing things like digging wells in a local community, and the other doing 'adventure' activities like whitewater rafting. Sounded like a great idea at the time as far as I was concerned: travel around the States for three months, each week on a different campus in a different town, promoting a programme in which students could go help people out, and also have adventures. Wins all round! Turns out it was more of a sales role than I thought, and also highly dodgy, as the company was essentially passing us off as students to hawk their programme, which is illegal. I wasn't inclined to pressure college students into paying a mandatory 10% deposit on this experience of a lifetime on the spot, and once I cottoned onto the dodginess of the set-up, lost even more interest. I'm still not sure if I quit or was fired, but either way I lasted a month. The day of the call that ended the damn thing I was in Charlottesville, Virginia - and after it found myself watching a fortuitously timed free George Clinton concert, wondering what the heck to do next.

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Returning from memory lane, I'm glad for that experience - which I now understand to have been promoting voluntourism, a phenomenon that is gross on so many levels. I'm glad for it because, when I later came to study international development it help me keep in check this whole notion of some sections of the world as needing to be saved, and others as being in a position to save them - which, it's no secret, has been a pretty strong driver of aid work over the 70-odd years that's been a thing. (I also grew up in the Pentecostal church, which contributes to this, but that's a tale for another time). Which brings me back to a point of some sort, and that is that: doing good is complicated. Digital platforms offer much to those wanting to challenge power dynamics that leave many fucked, but using the medium as a platform for advocacy can also be problematic. In your chapter for Reimagining you address the issue of charity organizations essentially writing advertorial for news outlets - so, maybe placing a field report related to the work they do on a news site - but that these sorts of 'stories' aren't always clearly marked as such. Can you talk a bit about this? Pros and cons, including the potentially negative impacts, in terms of leading the audience to believe the content is straight-up news?

H: Wow what a story, Sarah! As a side note, do you think all humanitarians of Tinder are called Chad? Now I'd love to see the stats on that! Kidding. I digress... but actually, this is a good place to start because this reminds me of my own humanitarian and voluntourism story that actually leads to answering your question. Oh the irony. To summarise, in mid-2011 as a newbie journalist, and having never sailed before, I paid to join a boat full of environmentalists sailing across the Pacific Ocean. I somehow found myself crewing this 72-foot yacht with seven others, including a diver named Chad, interviewing i-Kiribati locals about plastic pollution on their islands and then sailing to Hawai'i. I wrote a few stories about the people I met along the way, but more than my work outputs the whole experience really got me thinking about how, through media, we perceive others who are different from us. How can I make people care about the pollution and sea level rise in Kiribati - and is this even my responsibility, or right, to do so? - when we can't even have a reasonable dialogue about climate change in New Zealand? I knew these people existed, and had seen their lives with my own eyes, but to many, those islands are an insignificant needle in the haystack of the Pacific Ocean.

These questions about wanting to make people care have stayed with me as I've moved from journalism to academia. My research has been underpinned by exploring notions of 'who is legitimized as a storyteller?' in today's digital environment, and 'what is journalism?' in a such a fragmented media system. I was drawn back to the Pacific region to carry out my thesis research, still looking for answers to these questions. I was interested in exploring an advocacy organization that produced media reports on Cyclone Pam from Vanuatu, in March 2015. It struck me as interesting that the news I was receiving about the cyclone, as it passed, wasn't necessarily coming from journalists or even news websites - it was coming from a group of advocates posting on various digital outlets like blogs and social media. These types of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have to be the epitome of 'wanting to make people care' about an issue. So it seemed a natural progression for me to research this phenomenon. To get to your question, the thing I've realized along the way is that when advocacy and reporting collide, much like deconstructing the ethics of Humanitarians of Tinder, the pros and cons are complicated. There's a fine line between trying to help and providing a legitimate news service.

I guess this also goes back to my experience of voluntourism; it doesn't really work to just say that type of travel is good or bad - those binaries are too simple in most cases. Traditionally, journalism has always existed to document a situation and then the people, of their own accord, should take action if they feel so inclined. Whereas most NGOs are mandated from the start to try and bring about some form of action or change on a particular issue. So there is immediately an ethical issue if you're consuming reports from NGOs - whether on social media, blogs or picked up by mainstream outlets - as news, because it has an inherent bias. However, this is also a very rose-tinted way of thinking about the media at the moment. We all know that commercialism and clicks win most of the time in terms of driving mainstream news content. Companies are mandated with providing a return to their shareholders - so in some ways that original idea of what journalism should be is very diluted in today's commercial environment anyway.

There is a guy called Matthew Powers, who is probably the most notable researcher in the area of NGO journalism. He suggests that, regardless of how you frame it, NGOs are becoming the new boots on the ground for reporting from faraway places. I think that this is actually quite an accurate summary of what is beginning to happen with some organizations, especially the likes of UNICEF NZ - as I discuss in my chapter for Reimagining Journalism. In my opinion, we need to accept the relevance of such organizations to producing news, and start accounting for the role they could play in providing content - especially from regions that feel remote, like the Pacific. And I think it's a matter of how we do this in a way that visibly acknowledges reporting is by an NGO, while still affirming its relevance. I mean, why are these reports going to be any less biased than the commercial imperatives of many media companies that don't even send foreign correspondents on assignment anymore because they are too risk-averse and the return on profit isn't high enough? That said, acknowledging the growing influence of NGOs also puts the ball back in the court of journalism outlets to differentiate themselves from advocacy by providing neutral, factual and quality reporting that addresses all sides of an argument - unlike advocacy, which tends to focus on actioning a cause or fulfilling a preset agenda.

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I say all this without even getting to some of the findings from my thesis though, which showed that many advocates don't even see their work as journalism - this 'news' aspect is an unintentional side effect of their advocacy being distributed into a very messy digital environment where I, for one, saw it and read it as 'news'. So that's a whole other layer, probably for another discussion. I go back to the dating and voluntourism analogies: It's complicated.

S: I hear you on all of this. I've bounced between roles in my time as a writer, and I guess have been spending a bit of time wondering what category I fit into at this point. Am I a journalist? Am I a researcher? Am I an editor trying to do too many things at once?! If I do a PhD, would that make me an academic? Can I be all of these things simultaneously, or should I focus on fitting into one category? Am I employable if I don't?

One of my current contracts is as a researcher on an academic project mapping the INGO sector in the UK. At this stage of the project that basically means collating data on what the NGOs we're looking at do and who they work with, in order to get a better idea of any gaps in the sector. Anyway, the NGO I have been looking at this week's entire MO is sending volunteers to developing communities, and placing them with civil society organizations, government agencies, health centres and the like to help train local staff, improve infrastructure - using whatever skills they can bring to the party. Volunteers range from students to parliamentarians, and everything in-between, and include volunteers from the communities and countries the NGO operates in. They do amazing work, and - at least from their comms materials! - it seems to be making a huge difference to the communities they work in, as well as benefitting volunteers on both a personal and professional level.

I'm sure the reality is, once again, more complex, but generally speaking they're volunteering in a considered, participatory way, rather than latching onto people's disadvantage for the feel-goods and Instagram pics, which is the side of volunteer schemes that I have a problem with. That said, motives are subjective things, and even if it was possible to precisely judge them - whose place is it to do so? How much time should we spend dragging well-intentioned folk over the coals, when at least they're using their position to do something to address inequity? However, by the same token - as the example of Louise Linton shows - not critiquing the way people engage in charity and advocacy work can have incredibly demeaning and destructive consequences.

As you say, these sorts of tensions also exist in the media, particularly right now as the industry is undergoing a major identity crisis c/o the internet and other technologies. You noted the expectation of, and need for neutrality in reportage, but there's also often overt pressure to take a position as a journalist - some editors directly pressure writers to seek to shock or be polarising, to win a reaction from their audiences. On those terms, it could be argued that taking a stance as a journalist can equate to advocacy (or lobbying, depending on the topic). In some cases the difference will be clear, but not all - and if a journalist is actively fulfilling their mandate of speaking truth to power, the distinction may blur further. It's hard to remain neutral if you're questioning power dynamics and their effects. And, as you've noted: what's the difference between branded placement of case studies and calls-to-action by NGOs and activist groups, and commercial advertorial for other products or services?
A yellow fever outbreak in parts of Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has led to more than 400 deaths since December 2015. The United Nations has embarked on a massive vaccination campaign with the aim of reaching 14 million people. Jacqueline Weyer, senior medical scientist at South Africa's National Institute of Communicable Diseases, explains the how and the why.

What makes this vaccination campaign different or unique?

This is one of the largest vaccination efforts to contain an ongoing outbreak ever undertaken.

The response to the yellow fever outbreak in Angola, which started in December 2015, has already been remarkable. More than 10 million people have been vaccinated in Luanda Province and other affected areas of the country since February. The effect is already evident. No new cases in the area were recorded in July and the first weeks of August.

But the outbreak has spread to the DRC. The current concern is for the evolving situation there as well as to prepare for possible flare ups of the disease in the coming rainy months.

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The vaccination campaign has been expanded to increase coverage in Angola in the areas that border the DRC in particular, and then in the DRC's affected areas. These are regarded as high risk areas for the transmission of the virus.

What does it take logistically to vaccinate 14 million people?

The vaccination programme requires vaccines as well as health care workers to administer them safely. There are also many people working in the background co-ordinating the programmes and logisticians planning the campaigns. This ensures that the right people go to the right places with the right tools.

The World Health Organisation is co-ordinating more than 50 global partners to contribute to the vaccination drive on various levels. It includes 17.3 million syringes, 41,000 health workers and volunteers and 8 000 different vaccination locations. These are often in hard-to-reach rural settings in the DRC's capital Kinshasa and surrounds and along the Angola-DRC border.

Why is it being done now?

The yellow fever vaccination campaigns started in the Angolan capital Luanda soon after the outbreak was recognised earlier in 2016. Vaccination coverage in Angola has been variable but the intention was to target areas hit hardest by the first outbreak in the capital.

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Cases of yellow fever have been reported in the DRC since March. Most were related to people who got the disease in Angola. But there is now mounting evidence that the virus has spread to mosquito populations in certain areas of the country and is being transmitted locally. That's why the current interventions are being mobilised.

Routine yellow fever vaccination is a part of national immunisation plans in yellow fever endemic countries. The outbreak highlights challenges in these programmes. This includes supplies of the vaccine: it takes a long time to manufacture and supplies are limited.

It also points to the fact that existing programmes need to be strengthened. This is to make sure that populations are protected from yellow fever and from other vaccine preventable disease.

People who get yellow fever may experience fever and general flu-like symptoms such as tiredness and body aches in their joints. They sometimes also complain of nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting and dizziness.

In some cases the infection will have a more serious effect on the body's organs. This can be fatal. For example, the liver may be severely affected and the person may become jaundiced or yellow in colour. This is where the disease gets its name from. Some people may also start bleeding. This includes blood in their stools or urine, or oozing from needle puncture sites.

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Why the slow roll-out in Kinshasa?

This is related to a confluence of different factors. The first yellow fever cases associated with the Angola outbreak was reported in the DRC in March 2016. As case numbers started to increase and epidemiological data became available, it became apparent that the virus was not only being imported from Angola but was also being transmitted locally.

Another challenge has been acquiring adequate volumes of vaccine to vaccinate on a larger scale especially in the face of the massive and sudden uptake of vaccine in Luanda.

The vaccine cannot be rapidly produced and up-scaling of production is problematic and time consuming. Because of this the World Health Organisation has recommended a dose sparing approach known as fractional dosing. This requires the use of one-fifth of a dose of vaccine per vaccination.

The downside is that the fractioned dose allows for shorter term protection against the virus. The advantage is that the current outbreak can be managed and the immediate risk mitigated. But it will be important to provide a catch-up vaccination in the future to ensure long lasting immunity. This will also diminish the risk of future outbreaks. A full dose of the vaccine provides lifelong immunity.

Jacqueline Weyer, Senior Medical Scientist, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, University of Pretoria

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I hear people say this all the time: Todays youth are lazy, entitled and self-absorbed. My response  my emphatic response  is theyre wrong. Ive met remarkable young people in my life and work, and Im inspired by them. Throughout history, young people have led social change, and todays kids are no different  despite the negative labels often attached to them.

Take Destiny Watson, a senior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Homewood, Ill., who started her own nonprofit, You Matter 2, to mobilize other students to address issues like hunger and poverty. Take Griffen Saul, a junior at Lincoln Park High School in Chicago, who founded We Are Able, a nonprofit that empowers young people with disabilities and their families to improve the quality of their lives. Destiny and Griffen exemplify so many incredible kids in our country who are leaders in their communities. Theyve found their purpose and, in so doing, are making life better for others.

I see Destiny and Griffens resolve and am reminded of Claudette Colvin. In 1955, Colvin, an African-American, was told by a bus driver that she couldnt sit at the front of the bus with white people. She said, I can, and sat down. She was 15 years old, and yet Colvin bravely stood up to segregation  as Rosa Parks would, too, a few months later  and helped foment a movement that would change the world.

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The best message we  teachers, parents, mentors  can tell our kids is to believe, You can. They need to hear the message of yes. We need to help them harness the power of their ideas, because when they do, they will tap into their biggest, boldest dreams  and transform our world for the better. Allstate does its part to empower young people to dispel the negative stereotypes about them through #THEYSAY project, a platform to share their stories of good.

Another powerful tool to shape tomorrows leaders is service learning, which teaches students to use academic knowledge and skills to address community needs. When kids organize food drives, start nonprofits or raise money for the homeless, they learn their awesome power to make a positive difference.

The benefits of service learning are well-documented: According to research firm Mission Measurement, 72 percent of educators said their students developed as leaders; kids were seven times more likely to see themselves as agents of change; and 89 percent of disconnected youth felt motivated to go to college.

So what do we do to empower our youth, as parents, business leaders and mentors? At Allstate, weve partnered with WE, a nonprofit that brings service learning to schools across the globe. The year-round WE Schools program helps teachers, administrators and others organize free, hands-on, student-led campaigns that allow youth to take action on pressing social issues such as access to education, homelessness and poverty.

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We believe good starts young. Just ask the tens of thousands of Allstate employees and agency owners rallying to make sure youth around the country have the opportunity to learn leadership, critical thinking and collaboration skills; build character and confidence; achieve academic success; and become more engaged citizens.

Lets encourage young people and give them the tools they need to succeed. Like Claudette Colvin, theyre the ones poised to build a better future for us all.
Several weeks ago I published an essay in The New York Times about how my son, who'd been diagnosed on the autism spectrum when he was seven, taught me that no one is broken. The premise of the piece was that the only way I could be of any use to my son at all was if I stopped trying to fix him. The only way to stop trying to fix him was if I stopped seeing him as broken. But the only way I could stop seeing him as broken was if I stopped seeing anyone as broken, including me.

I recently interviewed the romance writer Sheila Roberts. We were discussing the importance of writers trusting their own curiosity, knowing that their solitary interest in a story idea was enough to warrant turning that idea into a novel to share with the reading world. For Sheila, the inherent value of her curiosity was natural to accept because she believed that "In God's eyes we're all important, and everyone has something to say that will help and encourage someone."

Or, if you're a secular type: everyone's talented, everyone's smart, and everyone has something to say. Much of the suffering I experienced as a young writer grew out of this single thought: Some have what it takes, and some don't. The evidence that there were writing haves and have-nots seemed overwhelming. There were those books I read that I loved, and those books I read that I couldn't stand. There were the notoriously depressing rejection rates at magazines and publishing houses. And of course there were those rejection letters I found in the mailbox and the inbox week after week. If everyone in the world was really talented, why this conspicuous division of publishing spoils?

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The division of those spoils has nothing to do with talent or intelligence, but is rather a reflection of a person's willingness to accept that they have always been talented and intelligent. By the time those rejection letters turned into acceptance letters, I began to understand that the only way I could be absolutely certain I had something worth sharing with the world was if everyone had something worth sharing with world. If I believed for a moment that certain people were special and certain people were ordinary, that certain people were talented and certain people were talentless, I ceased to be able to answer the question, "What would I love to share with the world?" Instead, I only became lost in the question, "Am I have or a have-not?"

You will never answer that question to your satisfaction, no matter how many novels you publish, or awards you win. No trophy or publishing contract will confirm once and for all that your voice matters, that your curiosity matters, that you matter. The question that hovered over my son for years was always, "Will he be all right?" The answer, of course, was that he already was all right because everyone was all right, whether they were young or old, sick or thriving, published or unpublished. Our wholeness cannot be perceived in what we've done or said or accomplished. It is the light beneath the veil of behavior and circumstance.

So too with my writing. Like most artists I know, I have dreamed of recognition, to be singled out as unique among the many. When that finally happened, I understood that the many who were singling me out were merely recognizing in me what they were resisting in themselves, just as I had done with all those artists I had grown up admiring. My writer's brittle ego was a tad disappointed, but the rest of me was greatly relieved. I no longer had to answer the unanswerable. Instead, I could return to my curiosity, which is all my creative self has ever had or needed.


Zoltan Istvan speaking at the RAAD Festival -- Photo by Edward Hudgins

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for my transhumanist presidential campaign. I'm excited that transhumanism--the social movement that aims to use radical science and technology to improve the human species--continues to be represented in politics in a major way (and in major media).

While everyone knows I have no chance of winning the presidency in 2016, it's been important to put forth a comprehensive radical science-and-tech-oriented political platform--which I believe is the first of its kind. Last month, I finally completed writing articles for each of the 20-points on my platform. While I know implementing this political platform is unfeasible now, I'm excited that in four or eight or 12 years, it might be much more relevant.

My platform also gives other politicians a myriad of ideas to consider for today's reality. This is important, since many of the major candidates--with the exception of Libertarian Gary Johnson, who I think could be a great leader--don't seem to be even thinking about the future.

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Selfie: Zoltan Istvan and Gary Johnson

Back to my campaign trail dispatch. For me, the last few weeks involved a lot of travel. It began by my campaigning and protesting at both the Republican and Democratic national conventions. The RNC was incredible for gaining visibility--which is every 3rd Party candidate's major concern. Thousands of political journalists were there in Cleveland, and I made many new contacts and friends. For example, I did a live Facebook interview on Engadget. Stories on my campaigning also came out via Martin Wisckol at The Orange County Register and comedian Dave Barry's column at the Miami Herald. My supporters and I also had lots of laughs holding our campaign posters in front of the MSNBC cameras as they were discussing Trump live.

The DNC in Philadelphia was no less exciting. Within the first few minutes of arriving, I interviewed with Jimmy Dore of The Young Turks. Many more interviews followed, including those belonging to the long form documentary being made on my campaign, tentatively titled Immortality or Bust. Later, I penned my experience as an atheist presidential candidate protesting Born-Again Christians at the DNC for The Daily Dot.

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The following week I was off to New York City for a CNN Courageous produced conference on human augmentation called Human X Design. Because the videos aren't out for that yet, I'll leave detailed explanation of this to another post. But I do want to mention that I was on a panel with three wonderful women, futurist Erica Orange, artist Lucy McRae, and innovator Tan Le. They're all experts in their fields.



A panel discussion at Human X Design produced by CNN Courageous, highlighting technology conceived by Deus Ex

I also want to emphasize it was wonderful to be on an all women panel. In the transhumanism and futurist communities, I struggle with the fact there's never enough women involved. As a candidate I sometimes even get criticized for not having more women at my rallies or on my bus tours. Believe me, I wish it was different.

Erica Orange, who co-runs a futurist company called The Future Hunters (and helped open and close the Human X Design event with eloquent speeches), told me, "I don't know that many female futurists. I wish there were more of us." Orange hopes increased STEM emphasis in this country will lead to more female futurists.



Zoltan Istvan and Erica Orange discussing the future -- Photo by Kimberly Bunce

I hope so too. A campaign idea of mine is to mandate more women to represent the leadership positions in government--right now most of the government is run by males. I have the same sort of proposal for limiting that amount of lawyers in office. Almost 40 percent of Congress is run by attorneys--and it's well known I'm not a fan of attorneys (just read my novel The Transhumanist Wager). I want doctors, teachers, plumbers, scientists, engineers, and other professions creating laws in America too.

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While in New York, I campaigned a bit at Times Square with transhumanist hip hop artist Maitreya One, who I've featured before in Newsweek.



Transhumanist Party: Zoltan Istvan and Maitreya One -- Photo by Kimberly Bunce

After Times Square, I went to the gorgeous offices of IEEE Spectrum and met with Associate Editor Amy Nordrum and Executive Editor Glenn Zorpette. There I talked live on Facebook with veteran science writer and Scientific American columnist, John Horgan.

The next part of my week was in San Diego where I spoke at RAAD Festival, the largest life extension festival on record. That also will be left for another campaign dispatch when I have a video of my talk.

Finally, I'm back home. But I'm soon to be off again around the country campaigning as I head into the final stretch of the elections. That's mixed news in a weird way, because one thing I've learned in the last two years of my campaign is that it's aging me a lot. Campaigning is seriously tough work. Check out below this Now This video that just came out. It has my Fox News The Stossel Show interview in it from two years ago. But it also has my interview from a month ago at the RNC convention. Of course, for the Fox interview there was good lighting and people to do one's hair. And for the Now This video, it was on the fly, outside in the Cleveland heat, and I'd been on a red-eye flight the night before. But there's no denying the difference in my look and age difference.

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Over the course of 2014, oil prices dropped from approximately $90 to $100 per barrel to around $60 per barrel. And then last year, as detailed in Deloittes 2016

Outlook on Oil and Gas, prices continued to trend lower, moving down toward the $40-a-barrel mark in summer and then dropping below $40 per barrel in December.



The oil & gas industry has been in decline due to the reduced price of oil, says Michael Hill of Hill Program Managers, which serves a segment of the market primarily made up of small and medium-sized firms that provide service to the major producers. This has caused many small oil & gas operations to go out of business. Operations that have been able to stay in business are experiencing declines in gross revenue across the board.



According to the Deloitte report, upstream oil & gas companies faced a 50% drop in revenues in less than a year.



The impact on insurers and brokers has been a series of non-renewals and cancellations, Hill says. Industries under stress react by reducing expenditures, laying off employees and pushing suppliers for better pricing. The brokers and insurers are suppliers, and they are being pushed for reduced premiums. For the brokers, this results in reduced brokerage income, and for the insurers, this may result in higher loss ratios resulting from reduced rates.



When an industry is under stress like the current oil and gas industry, insurersfrequently see an increase in claims reporting, Hill adds. Workers compensation claims and equipment and property claims frequently increase in situations like this.



According to Deloitte, 2015 saw the exploration and production sector cut capital expenditure and defer major capital projects while reducing operating expenditures and headcount.



If the deterioration of premium levels continues, in tandem with no withdrawal of capacity, how profitable will carriers oil & gas portfolios remain? Will we see some

insurers exit the space?



The environmental aspect

Talking about developments on the regulatory front that will impact the space, Hill brings up the work currently being undertaken by the Environmental Protection

Agency. Recently, the EPA began a formal process of collecting information from oil & gas companies to assist in the development of comprehensive regulations, aimed at reducing the industrys methane emissions.



According to the EPA, nearly 30% of methane emissions in the US come from oil production, as well as the production, processing, transmission and distribution

of natural gas. The plans have been met with expressions of concern, particularly from the American Petroleum Institute. Those concerns have centered around the potential of the proposed reductions to reduce oil & gas activity in the US, which in turn has the potential to lead to more job losses and higher energy costs, and a possible greater reliance on foreign oil.



Whatever shape the EPAs proposed regulations ultimately take, this will obviously continue to be key regulatory activity that industry players will need to remain informed about.



Additionally, according to a US Geological Survey report, studies suggest that the increase in the frequency of earthquakes in certain parts of the country is potentially linked to fracking-related activities.



Carriers we trade with all seem to be looking at how each state will rule on seismic activity linked to the production of hydrocarbons, says Thomas Blanquez of Quirk & Company. Oklahoma has led the way in respects to this topic, and there seem to be rumblings that there are other states to follow. The impact of this will also carry over to the disposal of produced water and owners of wells who allow others to dispose their produced water at these sites.



Tech and cyber exposures

Deloitte reports that, throughout last year, the oil & gas industry continued to employ new technologies and innovation, and that this was a successful vehicle for cost-cutting.



One technology generating considerable conversation  and already being used  in the oil & gas space is the unmanned aerial vehicle (more commonly referred to as a drone). Drones today are commercially applied in an increasingly wide range of industries, for purposes from counting fruit on trees to tracking Malaria-ridden monkeys in Africa by the heat of their heads.



Use within the oil & gas industry has concentrated on the inspection and monitoring of oil & gas facilities and infrastructure. In place of human surveillance, high-quality images and videos of plants, platforms and pipelines can safely and quickly be collected by drones. The key benefi ts include safety and speed, higher-quality inspections and cost savings.



Of course, while new technologies can deliver a range of benefits, they can also bring their own issues and challenges. The energy industry has become increasingly reliant on GPS and networks that can be interrupted by natural disasters and are prone to cyber attacks.



The [oil & gas] industry in general has a heightened cyber risk due to the introduction of IP-enabled equipment, Hill says. The major companies have serious cybersecurity issues.





Continued here.
The Clinton Foundation has discovered indications its data systems may have been hacked, according to a Reuters report.So far no document hacked from the charitable foundation, founded by Bill and Hillary Clinton, has surfaced in public, according to the report. A source told Reuters that the hackers appear to have used spear phishing techniques to hack the system, much like the hackers who targeted the Democratic National Committee, the partys fundraising committee and Hillary Clintons presidential campaign.The techniques involve creating phony emails or websites, which were used to gain access to Clinton Foundation staff emails and the foundations system itself, Reuters reported. U.S. security officials told Reuters that Russian intelligence agencies used the same techniques against the Democratic party, suggesting the foundation was also the target of a Russian attack. The Kremlin has denied that allegation.The attacks have given campaign officials cause to worry that the hackers may have emails or voice messages that could be used to boost Republican allegations that foundation donors were rewarded with access to Clinton when she was secretary of state, Reuters reported. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss cyber security strategy.However, one of Reuters sources said that the spear phishing technique has been used against several organizations, seeming to indicate that the attacks were more about espionage than an attempt to influence the election. Another U.S. official told Reuters that there was no evidence that the hackers were able to use any of the hacked emails as a gateway into the State Departments classified email server.
While the presidential election will determine the long-term future of the Affordable Care Act, new research from Arthur J. Gallagher & Company reveals that a growing number of employers arent waiting for November to take action  and that action could displace brokers from their longtime role in small group health insurance.The 2015 Benefits Strategy & Benchmarking Survey, which collected data from roughly 3,100 US employers, found that more than half experienced a 5% increase in health insurance premiums this year, and one in four endured jumps of 10% or more. The ongoing pricing pressure is causing companies to consider alternatives that would cut costs, but still allow them to offer benefits that attract and retain top employees.Unfortunately for brokers, these alternatives dont always leave them in a financially sustainable role.While some businesses are opting for telemedicine or narrow network plans (projected to include 27% of all employers by 2018), by far the biggest growth will be in defined contribution plans.These reimbursement structures, in which employers provide workers with a lump sum to use in purchasing their own insurance, are still gaining traction. Just 2% of employers use defined contributions, according to the Gallagher survey, but thats expected to jump an additional 15% by 2018. Thats a whopping 650% increase in just two years.The findings reflect earlier efforts to divine employer intent with regard to group benefits. A 2014 report from Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health found that as many as three in four employers werent certain whether they would offer health benefits to their workers in 2024  a record low since the two industry bodies began surveying employers nearly 20 years ago.That is very much a function of the uncertainty swirling around in the healthcare landscape right now, said Randall Abbott, senior strategist at Willis Towers Watson.Two years later, that uncertainty is still present. Attracted by the savings, ease of use and potentially more suitable plans in the individual marketplace, employers are considering the defined contribution strategy much more seriously than they have in the past  particularly in light of the expected passage of the Small Business Healthcare Relief Act, which would explicitly endorse the use of pre-tax employee reimbursement schemes by companies with fewer than 50 employees.While brokers can advise and help facilitate such arrangements, it does often mean a significant loss of commission for the broker. Many companies adopting defined contribution plans refer employees to the broker, who can help select individual plans through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, but rapidly decreasing commissions in the space arent enticing many to stay in the market.High costs and poor financial performance has led several carriers, including heavyweights like UnitedHealth and Anthem, to decrease and even axe the money they pay brokers for selling and servicing plans on the exchanges. Despite the fact that brokers are involved in between 40% and 60% of exchange plan sales, depending on the state, this behavior has only increased as insurers look to cut costs.Certainly when you look at what goes into servicing clients, its much greater than [just selling plans], said Keegan. At what point will agents and brokers even want to stay in this business?For some, that point has already passed. Insurance brokers in Connecticut, where both remaining exchange insurers are considering cutting commissions, have threatened to leave the exchange if those plans go forward.Many of my colleagues have already positioned themselves to exit, said Westport, Connecticut broker Mary Jennings.
An FMO for Allianz Life Insurance North America in Minneapolis is proposing a regulatory system to supervise independent agents. Curiously, the system will be modeled after a similar regulation authority that oversees broker-dealers.Specifically, the supervisory structure InForce Solutions is looking to implement would be mechanically similar to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).InForces proposal stated that it "will develop and maintain a formal supervisory structure, modeled after the structure employed by a FINRA-registered broker-dealer, adapted appropriately for insurance-only licensed agents.With such a structure, InForce could carefully review sales material and processes used by its agents.InForce is one of six marketing organizations that applied with the Department of Labor to be designated as a financial institution, allowing the FMOs independent agents to sell commission-based fixed indexed annuities.Those looking to serve as agent supervisors for the proposed system are required to have a minimum of three to fears years of securities, broker-dealer, or branch office experience. InForce has also noted that supervisor compensation will not be directly or indirectly tied to agent sales volume.Supervisors will be tasked with the review of sales material and processes used by InForce agents, the periodic review of agents business practices and annual training, the application stated. They will also be responsible for the implementation of a supervisory and compliance manual.InForces application documents were filed with the Department of Labors Office of Exemptions Determination on Jul. 14 by law firm Drinker, Biddle & Reath.
As Louisiana battles with the devastation from the weekends storm, the forecasting of floods just got a major boost across the US with the announcement of a new tool from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.The National Water Model taps into data from more than 8,000 US Geological Survey gauges, simulating conditions at 2.7 million locations to generate hourly forecasts for the entire river network.The National Water Model will improve resiliency to water extremes in American communities. And as our forecasts get better, so will our planning and protection of life and property when theres either too much water, too little, or poor water quality.The improvement is huge as NOAAs previous capability was to forecast streamflow at 4,000 locations every few hours.Two studies reveal the impact of private health insurance for those diagnosed with cancer.The US research shows that those who are not insured or rely on Medicaid are likely to have a later diagnosis and survive for shorter periods than those who are privately insured.The thought is, and the data support, that patients are presenting with more advanced disease if they dont have insurance, senior author Christopher Sweeney of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston told Reuters Health. This would suggest that they are delaying their presentation, presumably because they have a fear of seeing a doctor because of the financial implications.Sweeneys study revealed that uninsured men had an 88 per cent higher risk of dying from testicular cancer than those with insurance.In a second study, Dr. Judy Huang of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore considered thousands of brain tumor cases and concluded that although there may be other factors in play, patients covered by Medicaid tended to be older, male, with larger tumors and shorter survival times.It should be noted that those without private health insurance are likely to be of lower income groups and other lifestyle factors will have an impact.United Insurance Holdings Corp. and RDX Holding, the parent of American Coastal Insurance Company, have agreed to merge subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.I am excited to join the UPC Insurance team and believe this merger will build on the excellent platform they have created, providing more opportunities for growth and profit with our valued trading partners, said Dan Peed, CEO of American Coastal. John Forney and his team bring an extensive amount of energy and knowledge, and we share a vision to create one of the strongest specialty cat underwriters in the U.S.UPC president and CEO John Forney will become CEO of the combined firm while RDX majority shareholder and American Coastal CEO Dan Peed will be non-executive vice-chair of the UPC board and will be able to appoint two board members.
A diminutive private flood insurance market could be one of the reasons behind the startlingly low number of Louisiana businesses who will have recourse after this weekends catastrophic flooding.State Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon estimated Monday that despite the high number of small business owners in the affected area, just 30% have insured their operations against flood damage. Even fewer individuals have done the same.Im willing to bet about one-fourth of those affected will be insured and three-fourths wont, Donelon told the Baton Rouge Business Report. Unfortunately, there is nothing they can do about it at this point.The low coverage rates come despite a seasonal reminder from Donelons office last week that business and property owners should get covered. Policies through the National Flood Insurance Program cost, on average, about $60 a month  a good investment in flood- and hurricane-prone Louisiana.Yet the number of insured properties has actually decreased in the state in recent years, from 500,000 post-Katrina and Rita to fewer than 450,000 now.I tell folks the best insurance buy a Louisiana property owner can make is the significantly subsidized flood insurance program, Donelon said. Butpeople invariably roll the dice.Part of that reason may still be cost, despite the subsidized rates from the NFIP, but the lack of private market options also makes coverage a difficult sell, insurance professionals say. Without multiple choices to present to clients, policies go unsold and home and business owners go uninsured.And the continued subsidization of NFIP rates, a lack of accurate flood maps and outdated modeling techniques are preventing the market from developing further, a July Standard & Poors report found.At this point, we dont expect a wave of private insurers to sweep into this market but rather a trickle as insurers would enter cautiously before they become more comfortable with the risks involved, S&P concluded.Yet many companies have expressed interested in the private flood insurance  provided Congress lays the necessary groundwork.I think flood is an opportunity that may be arising if [certain legislation] is passed, allowing the surplus lines industry to play an active role, said Gil Hine, president of McClelland and Hine, a managing general agency based in San Antonio.The company does not yet offer flood insurance, but Hines role as president of NAPSLO has kept him involved in the issue and aware of what must be done to ensure the success of a private market. Job number one is continuing to petition Congress for the passage of the Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act, he said.Already approved by the House of Representatives, the bill would amend the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 to make technical changes to requirements for flood insurance, explicitly endorsing private flood insurance issued by non-admitted insurers in addition to those licensed and admitted by state regulatory bodies.Certainly this legislation will help, and I think as that happens and as financial institutions become willing and able to accept surplus lines policies, youll see activity start to build in that sector, Hine said. Once [companies] have the scale and premium volume they need to make it a viable option for then, youll see more activity in surplus lines moving into the flood space.
A replica of Fort Massachusetts built near its original location lasted about 30 years. The Historical Society is celebrating the 270th anniversary of the siege on Saturday.

North Adams Historical Society Observing Siege of Fort Massachusetts

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The 270th anniversary of the siege of Fort Massachusetts will be celebrated this year on the ledge that overlooks where the fort had been built.



The event will be at 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 20, at what is called St. Francis Indian Ledge, 799 Massachusetts Ave. Free parking is available at Renee's Diner across the street.



On Aug. 19-20, 1746, 900 French and Indians of the St. Francois tribe under the command of Gen. Pierre Rigaud de Vaudreuil besieged Fort Massachusetts, a frontier outpost what was then East Hoosuck. The 45 colonists surrendered the next day.



The fort was burned to the ground and the prisoners marched off to Canada, including Mary Smead and her infant daughter, Captivity, carried all the way. The survivors, less than half, were ransomed in a prisoner exchange and returned to Boston the following year.



North Adams became one of the few area communities to have the flag of France flying over it. The hostilities came during the third of the French and Indian wars, known in the Colonies as King George's War, an offshoot of the War of the Austrian Succession that was settled in 1748. Col. Ephraim Williams was charged with building and defending the fort but was absent when it was attacked.



The celebration on Saturday is being organized by Wendy Champney, a local teacher and historian whose family owns the ledge and who has written a book, "The Forgotten Ledge of Fort Massachusetts." Champney also created a coloring book as a way to educate local children about the historic event; the first 200 children will receive a coloring book.
Challenger Michael Bloomberg and incumbent Tricia Farley-Bouvier battled it out on 'Good Morning, Pittsfield' on Thursday.

Democratic State Rep Candidates Debate Issues on GMP



Challenger Michael Bloomberg said Farley-Bouvier hasn't done enough in the state house for the city of Pittsfield and is calling for a change. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The two candidates for the Democratic nomination for state representative clashed Thursday morning in their second debate before the primary.

John Krol, host of "Good Morning, Pittsfield," moderated the hourlong debate on his radio show in Taconic High School's WTBR-FM studio between incumbent Tricia Farley-Bouvier and challenger Michael Bloomberg.

The Democrats are vying for the nomination in the Third Berkshire District, comprised solely of Pittsfield.

The two wove through about a dozen questions showing their different perspectives and positions. Right off the bat, they tied up loose ends from the prior debate at Berkshire Community College, clarifying the other's criticism, and then settled into a robust conversation on other issues.

Bloomberg kicked it off by denouncing Farley-Bouvier's previous claims that he had a lack of job experience and retention, and explained his work history. After being raised in Pittsfield, he went to the University of Massachusetts and then worked for the Olympics. He headed to New York City following that, where he says he was putting in upward of 100 hours a week working in finance  first for a startup hedge fund and then with a larger firm.

"What I took from that really is a look at the other side. How do these big financial firms look at cities and towns?" Bloomberg said.

He found an interest studying big cities that had been built around single industries  such as Cleveland and Detroit  and then moved back to Pittsfield and re-enrolled at UMass to study urban economic development. It was his studies there that led him to run for state representative in his hometown, he said.

"I came back not to run for office but to study urban development in Amherst and that's what led me here," he said.

At the previous debate, Bloomberg criticized Farley-Bouvier for not bringing back as much money to the city of Pittsfield as other representatives have to their districts.

"All we have to do is look across the driveway at the new Taconic High School," Farley-Bouvier said, and then listed getting the release of $9.7 million for the Berkshire Innovative Center, $1 million for the turf field at Berkshire Community College, the funding for the years of streetscape work on North Street, 2,400 trees being planted this summer through the Greening the Gateway Cities program, and the First Street Common.

Billwise, she said she was part of crafting the state's bill to tackle opioids, equal pay act, and fixing gas leaks. And, she says she was able to get the home rule bill passed to allow the city to change its charter, as voted on just a few years earlier.

Bloomberg countered, saying the BIC funding was earmarked before Farley-Bouvier took office, as was the planning for the new high school. The Common construction came from the executive branch and the city's Department of Community Development. And Bloomberg said when it comes to the Taconic project, the funding doesn't directly translate to revenue for the city.

"The City of Pittsfield is now broke so how are we going to continue to pay it off?" he said.

Blooomberg says he wouldn't stop the project at this point because it does make sense for the city overall, comparing the prices of a renovation versus a new build. However, he does oppose the program of building schools across the state, which is administered through the Massachusetts School Building Authority and funded with a penny on the sales tax.

"Bricks and glass doesn't teach kids. It is the programs and that's what I want to focus on," Bloomberg said, adding that in his opinion school districts are struggling financially and the program to build new schools allows an incentive for districts to cut back on maintenance and then just build new. He says the money should instead be spent on funding the school districts.

Farley-Bouvier responded by saying that building helps create the robust vocational education that the employers need to grow their businesses. The new modern technology and state of the art facility is eyed to bolster the educational pipeline of workforce  the recruiting of highly trained and qualified workers has been cited numerous times as an issue among employers in those sectors.

"The Taconic project was one of the best investments we could have made in Pittsfield," Farley-Bouvier said. "This is what our employers have been asking for for years."

She added that some $30 million is generated in Berkshire County from that penny on a sales tax to fund the MSBA so it is about time the city "received its fair share." When it comes to the programming in schools, Farley-Bouvier said educational reform should be focused on getting rid of standardized testing and focus on curriculum and professional development.

"I think we are testing too much. I think we spend so much time on testing that we don't have time to learn," she said.

When it comes to charter school education, both candidates say they oppose raising the cap to allow for more and both cited the funding mechanisms as a major reason why the cap should not be lifted.

"We're sending $12,000 per student there," Bloomberg said, adding that a student who used school choice to go to another district only charges the sending district $5,000.

Nonetheless, Bloomberg said there is a role for charter schools to experiment and try different ways of teaching and learning but that should be folded into the public school system.

"I support bridging the gap of what is working in charter schools and bring it into the public schools," he said.

Farley-Bouvier agreed with both statements, adding that it is the responsibility of charter schools to communicate with the local districts. But that's not happening. She also said there is a lack of accountability with charter schools that needs to be addressed.

"They send kinds back to the district if it is not working for them," Farley-Bouvier said. "The public schools in Pittsfield don't get to say we won't educate this student because it is tough."

Shifting gears, Krol moved the debate onto the opioid crisis. In two questions he asked what needs to be done  whether it be an opioid task force like created in Greenfield  and whether or not the state is doing a good job separating addicts from criminals.

Farley-Bouvier boasted of the state's opioid bill that she said restricts the number of prescription pills being given out and emphasizes treatment options. She added that the state is already behind the times and the issue should have been addressed years ago on a "crisis level."

"We were able to bring more opioid treatment beds to Berkshire County," Farley-Bouvier said, later adding "this has to be addressed as a public health crisis."

Bloomberg agreed with restricting prescription medication which he said is the root of 80 percent of heroin users addiction. But, he said there are other types of pain that users are trying to address: the pain of poverty and unemployment. It's the psychosocial stress those in poverty are struggling with and he calls for a focus on addressing economics as a way to reduce it.

"One of the biggest problems we have in Pittsfield is the rising crime rates," Bloomberg said, and that is driven by a mix of drug abuse and poverty.

When it comes to development projects, Bloomberg has been outspoken against the proposed Walmart Supercenter. He says the development of the William Stanley Business Park shouldn't be the responsibility of the small Pittsfield Economic Development Authority. He would like better resources being deployed to develop the park.

Farley-Bouvier hasn't taken a stance on the project yet but says she will support what is best for the city of Pittsfield. She said she's been meeting and talking to PEDA and city officials, businesses, and the neighbors. She sees her role in the project as asking "probing questions" of the developer to make sure there is a strong understanding of the plans and expectations.

"My role is to support the city. My role is to ask good questions. And my role is to listen," Farley-Bouvier said.

Farley-Bouvier has taken a stance on the Berkshire Innovation Center, which is also eyed for another parcel on the William Stanley Business Park. On Wednesday, she urged PEDA officials to phase in the project and start construction.

"I believe this project can be phased in or broken down into a smaller piece," she said. "I want to see if they are able to get this done or not."

There is a funding gap BIC officials are currently looking to close before breaking ground. Farley-Bouvier said she admittedly is putting pressure on the nonprofit to start construction and get the program off the ground.

Bloomberg called that plan "absolutely irresponsible." He said the BIC is not just a building but a collaborative of businesses, educational institutions, and organizations. The organization needs to have all pieces of the business model  including the construction of the building  sorted out before construction, he said. If the entire plan doesn't work, there is a 15-year clawback, or financing, provision from the state that could require the city to pay back the $9.7 million authorized for the project if it fails.

"If the model doesn't work, we have to repay the state," Bloomberg said. "It is absolutely irresponsible and it could cost the city dearly [if construction starts before the gap is closed]."

The debate then switched to bills in the State House to investigate implementing a single-payer health insurance system. Bloomberg said he supports single-payer but believes more needs to be done on the federal level. He says young people, who use health care less, will "vote with their feet" and move elsewhere if the cost to implement it is too great. He is calling for a federal program.

"I think that is the future," he said, supporting the state's bill to study the implementation.

However, he took a shot at Farley-Bouvier for not sponsoring that bill when the other three Berkshire representatives did. He promised to be the fourth Berkshire sponsor.

"Whether your name is on a bill or not doesn't mean you don't support it," Farley-Bouvier responded.

Farley-Bouvier said she does support the study because "health insurance is absolutely a budget breaker." To address costs, she said there are other things the state can do to bring them down. She voiced support for holding hospitals accountable for readmission and focus on keeping people healthy instead of paying per visit.

On the other side of the ledger, Farley-Bouvier said there are revenue troubles looming  especially for transportation infrastructure. She filed a bill to pilot a vehicle-miles traveled tax, which could have ultimately replaced the gas tax. That bill, however, received tremendous scrutiny and was vetoed by the governor.

"We have a crisis when it comes to transportation infrastructure revenue. As cars get more and more efficient, which is a really good thing, we are not collecting the revenue we need to do the very basics of taking care of our roads and bridges," Farley-Bouvier said.



Incumbent Tricia Farley-Bouvier asked voters to put her resume and endorsements up against Bloomberg's and decide who is better suited for the job. Farley-Bouvier said those who can afford electric cars will be paying nothing toward the transportation infrastructure while someone who needs to drive a truck from job to job will be footing the entire bill through the gas tax. With more and more efficient cars coming onto the market, less is being generated from the gas tax and all of the infrastructure repairs are being shifted to those who drive older model cars or work trucks, she said.

The VMT pilot would study the impacts of a new tax system and Farley-Bouvier said if those proved not to be beneficial for Pittsfield, then she would vote against implementing it.

Bloomberg countered by saying the bill shouldn't have been filed by a Western Massachusetts representative in the first place.

"That's exactly what it is, a tax. It is a plan for a new form of tax that doesn't tax a negative externalities. It doesn't tax use of gasoline, something that harms our environment. It blows my mind that this would be a priority for a Western Mass legislature," Bloomberg said. "Does this make sense in Boston, probably. Is this something a Boston rep would put forward, probably. Would I vote for it, no."

The focus of the 3rd Berkshire representative should be on economic development, he said. Bloomberg said he wouldn't be seeking to find new taxes but instead "looking at how we can better spend the money we already have."

Regarding local revenues, both candidates rejected a bill that would require non-profits which buy buildings currently on tax rolls to ease its way to tax exempt. If a non-profit bought a building it would be required to pay the full property taxes in the first year, less in the second, less in the third, and then move to fully exempt in the fourth. The goal of the bill would be to ease the transition for the municipalities.

"I wouldn't want these small nonprofits to not be able to grow because of this," Farley-Bouvier said.

She believes a "one size fits all" approach like that wouldn't best serve all of the various types of non-profits. While such a bill would make sense for a place like Harvard University, it wouldn't make sense for small ones in the Berkshires she said.

Bloomberg said he wouldn't support it anywhere. But he said the issue facing Pittsfield is that there is a lack of private sector growth to counter balance the growth in the nonprofit sector. Because of the third highest commercial tax rate in the state, Bloomberg said there is a large financial contrast for the costs of a nonprofit to move into a new building versus a private entity.

Another bill in the legislature is what is being called the "millionaires tax." The bill would add an additional tax on income over $1 million in a year. Farley-Bouvier said in Pittsfield it would impact "18 people" and moves toward a more progressive tax system.

"This is one way we can address difficult budgets," Farley-Bouvier said.

Bloomberg, however, said while he supports moving toward a graduated income tax, the bill is far from being the boon estimated by officials.

"When you institute a tax on somebody's earnings, there are many ways around it," Bloomberg said. "These people have sophisticated managers who are able to move money around."

The debate concluded in the same place it started  and the same place the last one ended. Bloomberg led off the closing statements saying Farley-Bouvier hasn't been an effective legislator and that is shown through the economic turmoil facing Pittsfield and an exodus of young professionals because of a lack of opportunities. He said he's seen the signs in cities that have waited until "hitting rock bottom" to address the same concerns and he hopes voters elect for change to start doing so now before it is too late.

"If a computer is broken, saying you've used computers for 30 years is not the solution. Having somebody who knows how to fix a computer is," Bloomberg said. "We need to make this change because if we do not, if we do not, then nothing is going to change. This is absolutely necessary."

He also countered Farley-Bouvier's criticism of his background.

"I want to make it very clear that I grew up in this city. I went to Pittsfield High School. My family has been here for a long time. My grandparents opened a store which was right next to Tricia's grandparent's store. That is Pittsfield. We all know each other in some way," Bloomberg said. "I was active in the community when I was growing up here. I was the president of the Pittsfield Youth Commission. I was a student representative to the School Committee. This is the city I love. This is the city I want to be able to raise my children in. I want my friends to want to come back here."

Farley-Bouvier is plenty supportive of Bloomberg raising a family in Pittsfield  like she has  but not while working as state rep.

"I would like to you see you settle here in Pittsfield. Get a job that is your passion. For example, urban planning is one of your passions. Let's get a job in that, talk to the mayor and get on some boards and commissions, learn about what's going on in the neighborhoods, learn about what's happening in the business community. And importantly, let the people in Pittsfield get to know you. The state rep job is not an entry-level position," Farley-Bouvier said.

The incumbent called on voters to match resumes as she boasts of her work as a teacher, running a non-profit, city councilor, director of administration, and then being elected as the state representatives. She added to look at her "references," which in politics is "endorsements" in which she reeled in the support of environmental groups, teachers, civil rights activists, unions, women's rights groups, and social workers.

"I have 30 years professional experience in education and serving the people of Pittsfield. I've taught in the public schools here. I've run a nonprofit. I've been a city councilor and I've been your state rep. I have a proven record as being an effective, proven legislator," Farley-Bouvier said. "Mike Bloomberg is a fine young man, well spoken, a lot of energy. But he just doesn't have this experience. In his experience we see the two professional jobs that he has had since graduating college, he has only been there eight months. That is troubling. When you look at employment, you look at commitment. My commitment to the city of Pittsfield is proven."

The primary election is on Sept. 8 and the winner will take on Independent Christopher Connell in the general election.
We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) showcased the latest FUSO trucks and bus models at the recent Philippine Bus and Truck Show 2016. Held at the SMX Convention Center, Manila, this years show was participated by numerous exhibitors from the Philippines, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan attracting more than 10,000 visitors.

On center stage were the displays of the major commercial vehicle brands in the country led by MMPC with its FUSO Trucks and Bus display. The FUSO booth commanded the most attention among the event visitors given its strategic position at the entrance. Showcasing four (4) vehicles from the Light Bus, Light Duty Truck, Medium Duty Truck and Heavy Duty Truck segments, the MMPC booth occupied the largest area among the participants. The motorshow-grade quality of the display rightfully earned it the Best Booth award from the organizers.

Presented to the public were the classy 26-seater Rosa mini-bus configured as a School Bus complete with decals and stickers. A Canter FG83 4WD Rescue Truck proved popular among the visitors with its military-inspired body wrap and functional rescue accessories. An FM657 model (16,000 Kg GVW) with a new concept curtain slider type of rear body suggested a more cost effective way of transporting goods. Lastly, doing the heavy lifting was an FV517 Super Great Tractor model covered in colorful livery.

The 3 day event offered a good chance for both fleet customers and individual truck buyers to see and feel the trucks needed for their business. With the Philippine economy growing by leaps and bounds, demand for commercial vehicles will surely continue to expand. Mitsubishi Motors Philippines, now serving the Filipinos for more than 50 years, will be there to meet the demand of its customers for reliable, durable, high-quality Trucks and Buses anywhere in the archipelago. The FUSO trucks continue to be among the nations workhorses and will remain so in many years to come.

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Brands in the Philippines are placing social media at the heart of their strategy as they strive towards 360o customer engagement, according to a study released today by global insights consultancy, TNS (Taylor Nelson Sofres). The results from TNSs annual Marketing Monitor study across Asia Pacific highlight the centrality of social media for marketers - it ranked as the top element guiding the planning process, as well as the top metric used to measure the performance of campaigns.

According to the study, which surveyed a total of 2,250 marketers in APAC, including 200 from the Philippines, businesses are using a variety of sources to inform their marketing strategy. Insights gathered through social media monitoring have finally overtaken more traditional metrics such as market share data and brand tracking to become the most popular component used by marketers.



The Top 5 metrics used by marketers in APAC, including the Philippines are:



Social media monitoring Market share data Brand tracking What the competition is doing Information from media agencies

These findings echo the changes happening in consumer behaviour across the region. As people become more connected via digital channels, brands are focusing on how they can communicate with their customers in the online spaces where they are already spending time  social. Whats more, for many mobile-first internet users across the country, social is the primary reason for going online, and so it is a valuable environment for marketers to both connect with their audiences and build a better understanding of them.

Zoe Lawrence, Digital Director, APAC for TNS said: Its no secret that social has become an intrinsic part of our daily lives  97% of connected consumers in the Philippines use social networks, switching between Facebook and Google+ and Instagram as the top three channels. This mass adoption of social provides marketers with an array of sources when it comes to developing strategies and evaluating the effectiveness of their marketing activity. As the digital ecosystem evolves, we will continue to identify new ways to build insights. However, whatever the metric used, its important to ensure marketers are monitoring the indicators that contribute to sales.

The study also highlighted the top priority for marketing departments this year  customer relationship management. The Marketing Monitor findings revealed that marketers sphere of activity has now broadened, as they concentrate on how to deliver the best overall customer experience, ahead of the traditional aim of increasing brand awareness.

To achieve this, businesses are using social media across a range of disciplines. For example, 43% of marketers are using social media for brand communications, but in addition, even more (44%) are using it to provide customer service. Social media appeared to be a big part of ecommerce strategy, with 54% using social media advertising and one in three (32%) using social media buy buttons.

Despite this approach to using social to support a variety of marketing goals, the results showed that businesses are not working as collaboratively as they could be, with less than half (49%) of marketers partnering with customer service teams, one in four (27%) working with the digital team and a mere 10% working with the insights department.

Zoe Lawrence said: With marketers using social for a range of marketing objectives, it is important that they are offering a consistent, coherent experience to the customer. Brands need to strive to break down the siloes in their organisations to ensure that they are realising the potential positive impact that an aligned, well-executed social strategy can deliver.

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The XIAOMI MI NOTEBOOK AIR is all set to arrive the third week of August and Widget City Hub got the first dibs on the thin and light laptop with all the function of your old computer plus so much more. The stylish laptops come in a 12.5 and 13.3 inch models, respectively. Play powerful modern games, create and edit videos without any problems and delays. Oh, and did we mention that it has a 19201080 Full HD resolution display?

SO MUCH TO EXPECT FROM A SMALL PACKAGE

Xiaomi aims to reach the maximum even in small things. The high-performance sixth generation processor from Intel, DDR4 and GDDR5 memory, the fast SATA SSD drive and the discrete graphics card Intel HD Graphics 515 are just some of the things that makes this laptop a cut above the rest. The 12.5-inch Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air specs include Intel's Core M3, has 4GB of RAM and 128GB SSD for internal storage. The laptop's battery can also last up to 11.5 hours of usage.

The bigger model, 13.3-inch Mi Notebook Air, boasts of a more powerful processor, the Intel Core i5 SoC. It also has a Nvidia GeForce 940MX GPU dedicated graphics card with more memory and internal storage because it is packed with 8GB of DDR4 RAM and 256GB SSD. This bigger variant can operate for 9.5 hours on a single battery charge.

JUST THE SIZE OF A MAGAZINE WITH AWESOME DISPLAY

The Mi Notebook Air is 12.9mm thin and weighs just 1.07kg. Its screen has an ultra-thin frame with a width of only 5.59 mm, which in combination with the resolution of 19201080 makes an incredible effect, helping you to better focus on the image. The protective glass is made of synthetic sapphire of high hardness  7H on the Mohs scale, which makes the display scratch resistant.

Its pretty rare to find a small laptop with a separate graphics card. The thin 12.5 laptop from Xiaomi is equipped with a discrete graphics processor, which is responsible for the high-quality processing of images and 3D-games. Thanks to this the gaming performance is increased by 2.1 times. A realistic HD image and smooth animation effects will allow you to fully enjoy your favorite games.

The special lamination technology reduces the thickness of the air gap between the display and the protective glass 4 times, whereby the probability of glare caused by light refraction is reduced. Enjoy high quality image both at home and outdoors, even in bright sunlight.

Widget City will be pricing it at a competitive price of P29,900.



Size: 12.5" only as of the moment the 13" will be available later on.

Landing page: http://www.widgetcity.com.ph/product/xiaomi-mi-notebook-air-12-5%E2%80%B3-silver/

Color available: Silver only.

NEED WE SAY MORE?

Everything you need in a little over a kilo. Still have some questions about Mi Notebook Air? Then visit Widget City Hub on Facebook or send them a message to know more. Get it first before anyone else!

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Imperial Valley News Center

White House Announces New Commitments to the Fair Chance Business Pledge

Washington, DC - In April, the White House launched the Fair Chance Business Pledge encouraging companies from across the American economy to take action to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed, including individuals who have had contact with the criminal justice system. The pledge represents a call-to-action for all members of the private sector to improve their communities by eliminating barriers for those with a criminal record and creating a pathway for a second chance.

Today were announcing a round of new signatories, bringing the total number of pledged employers to 185. The new commitments are from a diverse range of employers including: Walmart, Dropbox, and the University of Pennsylvania. The companies and organizations that have signed the pledge collectively employ over 3 million Americans.

Since the President took office, this Administration has been committed to reforming America's criminal justice system and highlighting the importance of reducing barriers facing justice-involved individuals who are trying to put their lives back on track. Over 2.2 million individuals are incarcerated in American prisons and jails, and the vast majority of them will return to their communities. Improving education and job opportunities for these individuals has a recognized effect of reducing crime and will make our communities safer.

By signing the Fair Chance Business Pledge, these companies are:

Voicing strong support for economic opportunity for all, including the approximately 70 million Americans who have some form of a criminal record.

Demonstrating an ongoing commitment to take action to reduce barriers to a fair shot at a second chance, including practices such as banning the box by delaying criminal history questions until later in the hiring process; ensuring that information regarding an applicants criminal record is considered in proper context; and engaging in hiring practices that do not unnecessarily place jobs out of reach for those with criminal records.

Todays announcement is further evidence of the private sectors support for a more fair justice system. Throughout the year, the Administration will continue to highlight businesses that join the Fair Chance Business Pledge.

THE FAIR CHANCE BUSINESS PLEDGE

We applaud the growing number of public and private sector organizations nationwide who are taking action to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed, including individuals who have had contact with the criminal justice system. When around 70 million Americans  nearly one in three adults  have a criminal record, it is important to remove unnecessary barriers that may prevent these individuals from gaining access to employment, training, education and other basic tools required for success in life. We are committed to providing individuals with criminal records, including formerly incarcerated individuals, a fair chance to participate in the American economy.

Companies and organizations interested in joining the Fair Chance Business Pledge can do so by signing up HERE.

Todays signatories include:

3D PARS

Aesthetics On The Glow

ALB3 Consulting Research & Management

Anzures Worldwide

Aone Contracting & Supply

Asian Media Access

Associated Students Inc., San Francisco State University - Project Rebound

Bob Barker Company

Bubbles Bubbles Bubbles, LLC

C.H. Robinson

Caffe Lubena

Capital Oversight Inc.

Carosella Design Build, Ltd.

Center for Children with Incarcerated Parents of America

Center for Self-Sufficiency

Civil Survival

Conscious Connections LLC

Cornerstone Baptist Church

David's Hope

Disruption LLC

Dropbox

Every Dog Has Its Day Care

FirmGreen, Inc.

Friends of Guest House

Global Agro Commodities LLC

Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota

GRID Alternatives

J&X Energy LLC

Leblanc Consulting

Living Stones International

Livin Lovely United, LLC

Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

Mission: Launch, Inc.

Museum of Broadcast Communications

My Urban Garden Soap

Nehemiah Manufacturing

New York Fashion Police

Nolef Turns Inc.

Nova Consulting Group, Inc.

Novo Community Foundation

Offender Aid & Restoration (OAR)

Path to Freedom

Paxen Learning Corp.

Phyllis Wheatley Community Center

PLR Services

POP! Gourmet Foods

Reading Terminal Market

Rivanna Natural Designs, Inc.

Ru'Day's Helping Hands

Safe & Sound Hillsborough

Saint Benjamin Brewing Company

SER Metro-Detroit, Jobs for Progress, Inc.

Six Mile Regional Library District

Solar States

Spartan Staffing

SpringDot, Inc.

StepUp Durham

Student Success Institute

Sungevity, Inc.

Teslights, LLC

Texas Central Partners, LLC

The BeBe Group

The Feminist Wire

The Lake Alabaster Box

Theatre of the Oppressed NYC

Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York

University of Pennsylvania

Walmart

Weavers Way Cooperative Association

Wellness Enterprises, Inc.

Your Dog's Best Friends

Federal Interagency Reentry Council

In addition, the Federal Interagency Reentry Council released its strategic plan today, A Record of Progress and a Roadmap for the Future, highlighting the Councils achievements and charting a course for building upon these efforts in the months and years to come. Originally launched in 2011, the Federal Interagency Reentry Council brings together representatives from more than 20 agencies across the federal government to expand the range of tools available so that every individual returning from prison or jail has a meaningful chance to rebuild their life and reclaim their future. Co-Chaired by the Attorney General and the Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, the Federal Interagency Reentry Council coordinates and leverages existing federal resources, dispels myths related to reentry and clarifies policies, elevates promising practices, and reduces the policy barriers to successful reentry.

National Reentry Week

The Department of Justice also released an after-action report today describing the success of this years first-ever National Reentry Week. Held during the week of April 24th, this inaugural effort featured more than 550 events throughout the country, as well as several federal, state, and local actions and announcements aimed at improving reentry outcomes and raising awareness of the importance of successful rehabilitation and reintegration into communities. As the after-action report notes, leaders from across the Administration traveled in support of these events, which included:

More than 75 resource fairs, connecting individuals with housing, legal aid, community-based reentry services and other vital resources;

More than 65 employment-related events, providing recently released individuals with opportunities to connect with employers and job search resources;

More than 75 reentry presentations, informing individuals returning home from prison or jail about ways to succeed despite the barriers they may face as they reenter their communities;

More than 35 family-related events, providing individuals with information that will assist them with their release;

More than 30 stakeholder meetings, bringing together all parties that have a stake in the reentry process;

More than 25 graduation ceremonies, marking successful completion of programs ranging from reentry court programs to GED and vocational training curricula; and

More than 25 reentry simulations, highlighting real-life issues facing reentering individuals.

These announcements build on the Administrations longstanding commitment to improving reentry outcomes and removing unnecessary obstacles facing formerly incarcerated individuals, including:
Climate Smart Agriculture Online Webinar: Netherlands & California Discuss Saline Agriculture

Sacramento, California - Last month CDFA hosted a climate smart agriculture webinar in partnership with the Netherlands and the University of Californias World Food Center addressing salinity in specialty crops within Californias Central Valley and along coastal areas.

The webinar is now available online with included presentations.

Saline agriculture, the ability to produce crops with brackish water and in high salinity soils could potentially be of interest to California farmers who encounter these growing conditions. The webinar featured an overview by Arjen de Vos of Salt Farm Texel, a producer of saline agriculture in the Netherlands, as well as perspective from California State Board of Food and Agriculture member Don Cameron, of Terranova Ranch, a diversified farming operation in the Central Valley. Researchers from Wageningen UR and the University of California also provided perspective.

The Climate Smart Agriculture webinar is the first in a series of online discussions on Climate Smart Agriculture to be hosted in the coming months in collaboration with the University of Californias World Food Center.
Gabonese National Day

Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I congratulate the people of the Gabonese Republic as you celebrate the 56th anniversary of your nations independence on August 17.

"The United States applauds your commitment to conducting free, fair, and peaceful elections later this month. Your support for transparent democratic institutions and processes can serve as a model for other countries in the region. The United States values its friendship with Gabon, and looks forward to continued partnership with you in support of economic growth and strong environmental stewardship, especially in the areas of climate change, sustainable forestry, wildlife management, and the protection of biological diversity.

"I offer my best wishes to you on this special day and throughout the year to come."
Statement on Libya by the Governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Washington, DC - The Governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States welcome the announcement by the Presidency Council of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) appointing an Interim Steering Committee of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA).

The LIA has a vital role to safeguard Libyas assets for the long term benefit of the Libyan people. The Governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States recall that UN Security Council Resolution 2259 stressed the need for the Government of National Accord to exercise sole and effective oversight over the National Oil Company, the Central Bank of Libya, and the Libyan Investment Authority as a matter of urgency, and highlighted the importance of these institutions continuing to function for the benefit of all Libyans.

The Governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States call on all Libyans to support the GNA in preserving and protecting the independence and integrity of the Libyan Financial Institutions for the benefit of all Libyans.
U.S.-Serbia Relations: Progress through Partnership

Washington, DC - Vice President Joe Biden visited Belgrade on August 16 to celebrate and reaffirm the United States strong bilateral relationship, our continued commitment to Serbias democratic and economic development, and our shared goal of European Union membership for Serbia.

Partners in Security

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Serbia joining NATOs Partnership for Peace program. The United States has been a firm and consistent supporter of Serbias efforts to strengthen its relationship with NATO. We value, in particular, Serbias commitment to multilateral efforts aimed at defeating ISIL and combating international terrorism. Our Ohio National Guard led bilateral State Partnership Program, which we launched in 2006, is the cornerstone of our security relationship and has provided an effective platform for developing vibrant and close ties between our armed forces. In a similar vein, the United States and Serbia have partnered for more than nine years through our International Military Education and Training (IMET) program to allow Serbian and American officers and non-commissioned officers to train together and learn from each other in our most prestigious military schools.

The United States deeply appreciates and continues to support Serbias contributions to global peacekeeping efforts, and in August 2016 we delivered 19 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs/Humvees) to Serbia to support Serbian units participating in UN operations across the globe. This brings to 40 the total number of Humvees delivered under our Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, which has provided more than $8.6 million in security assistance to Serbia for defense modernization and training since 2011. Serbia has been a Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) partner since 2011, benefiting from an additional $9.7 million in U.S. security assistance aimed at enhancing Belgrades capability to train and deploy peacekeeping forces. Since becoming a proactive GPOI partner, Serbia has increased by more than 10 times its contributions to UN Peacekeeping Operations. Finally, in July, Serbia helped the United States advance a key foreign policy and humanitarian objective by agreeing to resettle two former detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities.

Partners in Development

America has long been committed to economic and democratic development in Serbia and the wider Balkan region. From 2001 - 2015, the United States invested more than $728 million to stimulate economic growth, strengthen the justice system, and promote good governance in Serbia. Projects include partnering directly with the Government of Serbia to strengthen private sector firms in 12 municipalities in the economically disadvantaged regions of south and southwest Serbia, and working to create jobs and stimulate small business through support for the Opportunity Bank of Serbia, which provides small loans to clients that cannot ordinarily access financial services from traditional banks. A public-private partnership provides vocational training to women to improve the quality of their skills to meet the needs of industry in Serbias Srem district.

Our good governance assistance programs collaborate with civil society organizations and government agencies to improve the implementation of Serbias new whistleblower protection law. Democracy Commission grants support freedom of information and anti-corruption public awareness campaigns and advocacy initiatives, while the Womens Leadership Academy is supporting female leaders in an effort to increase the ratio of women in local governments and to push for an agenda on gender equality in the policy processes. In addition, we are developing media assistance programs that will support the independence of media regulatory bodies and civil society media watchdogs, improve the publics ability to analyze media content, and enhance the capabilities of independent media outlets to produce and distribute investigative and quality news content.

In partnership with Serbias government and judiciary, we are strengthening Serbias rule of law by helping to improve the transparency, efficiency, and professionalism of the justice system. Our assistance to key independent agencies is strengthening their capacity and enhancing public accountability. We are providing support to civil society to more effectively engage with government and represent the public interest.

Since the end of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s the United States Government has provided over $900 million in the region to provide durable solutions for refugees and displaced persons, including returns, local integration, and the provision of humanitarian assistance to alleviate suffering and support self-sufficiency. In Serbia, this funding has assisted more than 50,000 displaced and refugee families who fled to Serbia during the Balkan wars and Kosovo conflict with housing, legal aid, income generation, and other support. In addition, since 2015, the United States has responded to the wider European migration crisis with more than $67 million to support United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees efforts to provide protection and humanitarian assistance for the more than one million migrants and refugees who have traveled through Serbia on the Western Balkan route. In addition, through the Complex Crisis Fund (CCF), America provided $2 million to mitigate the impact of migrants on local communities and improve the response coordination between government and civil society service providers.

Partners in Business

Since 2001, U.S. businesses have invested some $3.8 billion in Serbia, creating or protecting over 16,000 Serbian jobs. Key American investors include KKR, Ball Packaging, Cooper Tires, and Coca-Cola. Serbia is also home to an active American Chamber of Commerce, with 195 members representing every sector of the Serbian economy. American businesses also have active Corporate Social Responsibility programs, giving back and developing the communities in which they work. Companies such as Eaton, Apatinska Brewery, and Actavis have contributed to their communities through public service campaigns, educational and environmental initiatives, and donations of medicine.

Partners in Justice

Since 2003, the United States has partnered with Serbia to improve its rule of law, fight against corruption, and modernize its law enforcement institutions. Targeted assistance to Serbias judiciary, the High Court Council, and the Judicial Academy fosters professionalization of judges and staff, enhances accountability and independence, and modernizes practices. The United States funds and oversees several programs that work closely with Serbian prosecutors, judges and law enforcement, providing support in legislative and structural reform, training, regional cooperation, and technical assistance. The United States has spent $40 million on these programs in order to provide expert advice through resident legal advisors, implement professional training programs, and provide equipment donations. All of these activities are aimed at improving Serbia's judiciary, prosecution service, and law-enforcement agencies so that they can better tackle complex and transnational crime including corruption, fraud, organized crime, and terrorism. These efforts have been critical in the development of a witness security unit, war crimes investigative service, and the Operational Analysis Network, which facilitates intelligence-led criminal investigations.

Our resident legal advisors have also helped the Serbian government to conclude important reforms to the legal framework, including Serbia's prosecutor-led Criminal Procedure Code, the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers, and the Law on Police. United States support to Serbias Judicial Academy has built capacity important to their European Union accession process. In February, Serbia adopted a ground-breaking Holocaust-era heirless property restitution law, one of the first of its kind in Europe, which provides for the restitution of heirless and unclaimed Jewish property expropriated during the Holocaust.

Partners in Education and Culture

The strongest ties between the United States and Serbia continue to be our people-to-people ties. More than 20,000 Serbians visit the United States every year, and nearly 1,000 Serbian students attend U.S. universities. The United States continues to support a robust program of cultural and educational exchange with Serbia, with more than 3,500 participants last year. Every year, our FLEX program brings forty high school students from Serbia to the United States to live with host families and attend U.S. schools for an entire academic year. Our Fulbright program has been active since 2001 and has fostered academic exchanges and collaborative research across a number of fields, including law, economics, information technology, and medicine. Our American Corners in Belgrade, Bujanovac, Kragujevac, Nis, Novi Pazar, Novi Sad, Subotica, and Vranje provide opportunities for Serbians to study English and to learn about U.S. culture and educational opportunities. They also provide platforms for engagement between visiting U.S. speakers and performers and Serbian citizens of all ages. Our International Visitor Leadership Program has provided up-and-coming Serbian leaders with opportunities to explore the American experience in their chosen fields, and to build lasting friendships with American counterparts.
'Vijay Mama, Hi': UK PM Rishi Sunak Invites Indian Uncle to Downing Street and Internet Can't Keep Calm
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It is no surprise that Kirk Douglas (who will be 100 in December) has out-lived almost all his contemporaries. In his greatest roles on screen, the Hollywood star has always played survivors. Whether he was cast as a Hollywood producer down on his luck (The Bad And The Beautiful), an arrogant boxer getting his come-uppance (The Champion), a seedy journalist looking for one last scoop to save his career (Ace In The Hole) or the leader of a slaves revolt (Spartacus), his characters have a relentless inner drive. They dont give up. Look at any still of the dimple-chinned actor, whether in a western, a melodrama or a gangster movie, and his expression is always the same. His brow is furrowed. He is staring defiantly and very fiercely at whatever is in front of him.

Last year, in the movie Trumbo, about blacklisted Hollywood writer Dalton Trumbo, Douglas was portrayed on screen as a young man by Dean OGorman. It was a skilled piece of mimicry. OGorman looked very like Douglas and had clearly researched his role exhaustively. What OGorman lacked, though, was the saturnine ferocity that characterised the Hollywood legend and sometimes made him very frightening on screen.

I came from abject poverty: there was nowhere to go but up, Douglas once commented of his transformation from ragmans son to movie star. It was a statement of intent that he never wavered from. He knew exactly where he was headed. You had the sense he would trample on anyone who got in his way. At the same time, even when he was playing heroic types, he was always keen to show us their darker, more vicious side. Look, for example, at William Wylers Detective Story (1951), in which he plays a New York detective called Jim McLeod. He is clean-cut, handsome, popular and deeply in love with his young wife (Eleanor Parker). Its an overwrought and stagey movie, almost entirely set in the police station, but has some extraordinary scenes late on after the detective discovers his wife once had an abortion. The all-American hero turns into a near psychopath in his rage and disgust at her betrayal. When he talks about the dirty pictures, he sees in his mind, we quickly realise the depths of his own self-loathing and capacity for violence. Id rather go to jail for 20 years than find out my wife was a tramp! he yells at his most abject moment.

In interviews, Douglas often talked about being drawn to play dark characters rather than the nice fella on the grounds that virtue is not photogenic. Even when he is cast as principled and heroic figures  for example, when he played the French officer defending shell-shocked and traumatised soldiers accused of cowardice in Stanley Kubricks First World War drama Paths Of Glory (1957)  he brings a seething, restless quality to the role.

Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Show all 14 1 /14 Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Bill Murray With only one Oscar nomination to his name (2003's Lost in Translation), Bill Murray is one oversight that - in many people's eyes - could easily throw the Academy Awards into disrepute. AFP/Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Samuel L. Jackson Considering he's one of the most bankable film stars in the world, it's a surprise that - with over 160 credits to his name - Samuel L. Jackson has only received a mere one nomination (Pulp Fiction in 1994). 2016 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Joaquin Phoenix With three previous nominations under his belt - for films including Gladiator and The Master - it was his performance as Johnny Cash in 2005 biopic Walk the Line that was expected to see him win an Oscar (he lost to the late Philip Seymour Hoffman's for Capote). 2015 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Brad Pitt The ever-present fixture he remains in Hollywood today, you'd think Brad Pitt would have won an Oscar by now; while serving as producer of 2014 Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave, he currently has zero acting wins to his name despite three nominations (Twelve Monkeys, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Moneyball). 2015 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Tom Cruise Still one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, Tom Cruise seemed like a sure awards bet back in the Nineties with films Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia all earning him nominations - and yet, he never once emerged victorious. 2015 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Richard Gere Would you believe us if we told you Richard Gere has never even been nominated? Well, it's true - and, quite honestly, shocks us quite a bit. Poor guy. Juan Naharro Gimenez Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Gary Oldman One of the film industry's finest character actors, Gary Oldman has been nominated just the once for playing George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. 2014 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Johnny Depp Despite his recent dip in quality, Johnny Depp has delivered several Oscar-worthy performances in the past. With a total of three nominations to his name - all for post-2000 releases including Pirates of the Caribbean and Finding Neverland - it's more a wonder he didn't receive more recognition for standout films such as Ed Wood and Donnie Brasco in the Nineties. 2015 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Harrison Ford Harrison Ford may now be the world's highest-grossing actor (sorry, Samuel) but still doesn't have the Academy Award to back up such a feat. In fact, he's now into his third decade of not receiving recognition from the Academy with his sole nomination arriving back in 1985 for Witness. Getty Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Edward Norton Edward Norton is just the kind of actor you'd assume would've scooped a statuette at some stage or another, but no - Norton just has three nominations to speak of; his first in 1996 (Primal Fear), his second in 1999 (American History X) and his third just last year (Best Picture winner, Birdman). AFP/Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't John Malkovich American actor John Malkovich was nominated once in 1984 (Places in the Heart) and again in 1993 (In the Line of Fire) but hasn't posed much of a threat since. 2013 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Annette Bening Poor Annette Bening, who has come close to victory four times (The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right) but is yet to clinch one. 2015 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Glenn Close ...well, it could be worse; she could be Glenn Close who has been on the shortlist six times for films including Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons and, most recently, Albert Nobbs. Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter may have received a Best Actress nomination for Wings of a Dove (1997), but it was her Best Supporting Actress nomination for 2012's Best Picture winner The King's Speech that seemed a sure bet; Melissa Leo's role in The Fighter won that round. 2015 Getty Images

Douglas was born as Issur Danielovich in Amsterdam, New York. His parents were immigrants who had fled to the US from Belarus to escape anti-Jewish pogroms. They changed their name to Demsky. (Douglas as a kid was known as Izzy Demsky.) The actors biography reads like the typical all-American wish fulfilment fantasy. The ragmans son who grew up in dire poverty discovered his knack for acting at high school. He took countless menial jobs (including a stint as a carnival wrestler) so that he could afford to get himself into college. From there, he landed a scholarship at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

His big break came courtesy of fellow student Lauren Bacall who (after she was established in Hollywood herself.) She recommended that producer Hal Wallis check him out. Wallis watched him on Broadway and promptly signed up Douglas to appear opposite Barbara Stanwyck in Lewis Milestones film noir The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers (1946). He wasnt playing the romantic lead. His role was as Stanwycks needy, browbeaten, alcoholic husband but that familiar neurotic energy was already in evidence. Douglas very quickly landed eye-catching roles in films such as Out Of The Past and I Walk Alone (the first film in which he appeared on screen with Burt Lancaster). Within a decade, he was established as a big Hollywood star and had won Oscar nominations for Champion, Lust For Life and The Bad And The Beautiful.

As a screen actor, Douglas straddles two different traditions. He arrived in Hollywood when the old-style studio system was in its last throes and appeared opposite very glamorous stars such as Bacall, Linda Darnell, Jane Greer and Ann Sothern. At the same time, he had a febrile, introspective quality which allied him with the new generation of Method actors. In one of his most famous roles, as Van Gogh in Vincente Minnellis Lust For Life, he admitted that he became so immersed in his tortured life that it was hard to pull back. His wife grumbled that he was so obsessed with the part that he came home in that big red beard of Van Goghs, wearing those big boots, stomping around the house, it was frightening. Douglas had his own production company. He stood up against the Hollywood anti-communist blacklist by hiring Dalton Trumbo to script Spartacus. He worked with the very best directors of his era, among them Kubrick, Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks, Minnelli, Joseph L Mankiewicz and Elia Kazan.

I once attended a press conference Douglas gave when picking up a lifetime achievement award at the Berlin Film Festival. He seemed very frail. He had survived a helicopter crash that killed two other passengers. He had had a stroke and his speech had been affected. Feelings of pity that anyone might have felt for him were very quickly swept away. Even in late old age, he was as fiery, combative and as witty as ever  and he knew just how to play an audience. His eyes still had that same gimlet-eyed ferocity. Just as at the start of his career, he gave the sense that he knew exactly where he was going and that no one was going to stop him from getting there.

Kirk Douglas at BFI Southbank runs throughout September
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An improper poster to the Amy Adams-starring sci-fi Arrival has caused controversy in Hong Kong, sparking a new wave of anti-Chinese sentiment, according to Variety.

In the marketing material, a giant spaceship is seen floating over Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Yet, it wasnt the metallic sphere gaining attention; instead, those in Hong Kong were more concerned that a TV tower located in Shanghais Pudong district had been pasted into the posters foreground.

The image (above) soon went viral, with people using the hashtags #hongkongisnotchina and #WhyOrientalPearlTowerHere on social media to express outrage at the edited photo.

Just dont promote your movie in HK [Hong Kong] if you dont respect HKers [Hongkongers], wrote Allan Chan, according to the report. Douglas Black added: Fire the person in charge of your marketing design.

 Arrival - Trailer

The films tagline Why are they here? was used to mock the poster, many addressing the question to the TV tower rather than the intended aliens.

Godfather of localism, Horace Chin Wan-kan, added: The movie adaptation of the sci-fi novel Arrival, which obtained the Nebula Award, [has] decent director Denis Villeneuve and actors Amy Adams [and] Jeremy Renner. However, everything is ruined by this improper poster.

The best films of 2016 (so far) Show all 22 1 /22 The best films of 2016 (so far) The best films of 2016 (so far) Creed This empowering spin-off sequel to the Rocky franchise sees Sylvester Stallone return as the personal trainer to Odonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the son of his old rival-turned-compadre Apollo (Carl Weathers). Barry Wetcher The best films of 2016 (so far) Room A grandstanding adaptation of the Emma Donoghue novel. At Room's heart is two towering performances from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay as a mother and son who find freedom after being locked away by in a boxed building for years. The best films of 2016 (so far) The Big Short Plenty of The Big Short's charm is manifested in the way that it takes a clunky story (the 2007-8 financial crisis) and transforms it into a cinematic experience. The best films of 2016 (so far) Spotlight The facts speak for themselves in this Oscar-winning biographical film about four investigative journalists who uncover a scandal of child molestation in the Catholic church. Strong performances and a firm directorial presence in Tom McCarthy make Spotlight a worthy recipient of this year's Best Picture Oscar. The best films of 2016 (so far) Bone Tomahawk The best films of 2016 (so far) Anomalisa Paramount Pictures The best films of 2016 (so far) The Witch Take any shot from Robert Eggers' assured debut - based on a New England folktale - and your spine will tingle. A masterclass in understatedness. The best films of 2016 (so far) 10 Cloverfield Lane If you're going to unveil a secret sequel-of-sorts to 2008 hit Cloverfield, this is how you do it. Essentially a chamber piece set in the same world of Matt Reeves' original, 10 Cloverfield Lane will hold you in a vicelike grip until its closing frame. The best films of 2016 (so far) High-Rise Ben Wheatley's fifth feature as director may not be to everyone's tastes but, should you be up to it, there's a lot to take away from this adaptation of J.G. Ballard's dystopian tale. The best films of 2016 (so far) Zootropolis Despite strong competition in the form of Finding Dory and Kubo and the Two Strings, Zootropolis - named Zootopia in the US - takes the trophy of 2016's greatest animated film. The best films of 2016 (so far) Victoria The best films of 2016 (so far) Captain America: Civil War Even those who aren't invested in superhero films will have a hard time keeping their breath in several of Civil War's action sequences. The best films of 2016 (so far) Son of Saul The haunting winner of the Best Foreign Language Oscar, Son of Saul's technical mastery (courtesy of first-time director Laszlo Nemes) is backed up by a harrowingly real portrayal of life within a Nazi concentration camp. Sony Pictures Entertainment The best films of 2016 (so far) Everybody Wants Some!! Richard Linklater followed Boyhood with this charming coming-of-age story that bears similarity with 1993's Dazed and Confused. This time, our ensemble are a group of baseball-playing college freshmen. In the upper echelons of the year's best. The best films of 2016 (so far) Green Room The best films of 2016 (so far) Sing Street The best films of 2016 (so far) Love and Friendship The best films of 2016 (so far) Suburra The best films of 2016 (so far) The Neon Demon The best films of 2016 (so far) Hell or High Water The best films of 2016 (so far) Kubo and the Two Strings The best films of 2016 (so far) Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Whether amendments will be made to the poster is unknown at this current time. Meanwhile, fans have found an absurdly well-hidden easter egg in the films promotional material.
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Kevin Bacon is one of those actors who can seem to star in anything - whether it's films, television and EE adverts - without denting his career in any way.

Over the course of three decades, he has starred in an array of films with differing genres including Footloose, Mystic River and X-Men: First Class.

One such role that Twitter user @bettietoxic believes Bacon would suit, though, is that of horror villain Freddy Krueger. Upon sharing her musing last week on social media, she found many users agreed with her sentiment - the actor included who even went so far as to reply to the message.



Speaking on WGN shortly afterwards to promote his gig as part of music duo The Bacon Brothers, he explained how he had flippantly responded to the message which ended up traversing the internet like wildfire.

"I'm not opposed to it, though," he added. "I'll do anything."



With no roles in the pipeline following the completion of films The Darkness and Patriot's Day - not to mention the cancellation of crime drama series The Following in 2015 - Bacon would make the ideal candidate to replace Robert Englund as Krueger.

Englund's classic horror villain first appeared in Wes Craven's 1984 classic A Nightmare on Elm Street. He reprised the role a further seven times to make him one of two actors to have played a role eight consecutive times (the other being Doug Bradley who is best known for playing Pinhead in the Hellraiser franchise).

A remake of the original was released in 2010 and starred Jackie Earle Haley as the horror icon. With a second remake being planned, consider Bacon's name well and truly in the ring.

If anything, it'll make @bettietoxic one step closer to becoming a Hollywood casting agent
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In comparison to many UK festivals, which often focus on a particular mood or sound, Oya Festival in Europe seems to have accepted the notion that with music now so accessible thanks to streaming sites - listeners tastes are becoming more and more wide-ranging, often with a flagrant disregard for genre.

So as well as a veritable smorgasbord (its koldtbord in Norwegian) of homegrown artists, festival-goers are also able to find an impressive billing of some of the most current and influential acts from the US and the rest of Europe.

Along with headline favourites PJ Harvey, New Order, Grace Jones, Jamie xx and Foals, there are promising Norwegian acts like Dagny, Aurora, and SLTFACE, along with some of the best talent from the UK grime scene and US hip hop.

On Wednesday, Christine and the Queens perform an early afternoon set; delighting with some phenomenal choreography and frontwoman Heloise Letissiers clear, strong voice. She plays the clown onstage, making quips about her eccentricities, and telling touching stories about moments in her life that inspired her music.

Christine and the Queens (Supplied)

Over at the Hagen stage, Skepta has the crowd whipped into a frenzy with That's Not Me and Shutdown off 2016s Konnichiwa, the latter with its sneering, blatant derision for authority; he is utterly fearless.

(Supplied) (Markus Thorsen)

Around Oslo, multiple venues are hosting other acts once the main stages have gone quiet. American noise rock band Lightning Bolt perform in Grunerlkka - a defiantly gratified area strongly reminiscent of Londons Shoreditch.

Brian Chippendale proves to be an absolute demon on the drums; combined with the ferocity of Brian Gibson on bass the duo manage to blow a speaker and cause a [very] temporary lull. People emerge blinking from the venue after the set, holding their hands to their ears as if to check that their hearing is still intact.

Music festivals guide 2016 Show all 20 1 /20 Music festivals guide 2016 Music festivals guide 2016 Horizon Where: Bansko Ski Resort, Bulgaria When: 12-17 March Price: From 175 Line Up: Ame, Goldie, Nina Kraviz, John Talabot, Lady Leshurr, Craig Charles Music festivals guide 2016 Live At Leeds Where: Leeds, UK When: 30 April Price: 32.50 Line Up: Jess Glynne, Circa Waves, Mystery Jets, Band of Skulls, We Are Scientists Music festivals guide 2016 Primavera Sound Where: Barcelona, Spain When: 1-5 June Price: 175 Line Up: Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Sigur Ros, PJ Harvey, Tame Impala, Beach House, Suede, The Last Shadow Puppets Primavera Music festivals guide 2016 Best Kept Secret Where: Hilvarenbeek, The Netherlands When: 17-19 June Price: 147.50 Line Up: Beck, Editors, Two Door Cinema Club, Beach House, Bloc Party, Caribou, Half Moon Run Best Kept Secret Festival Music festivals guide 2016 Glastonbury Where: Worthy Farm, Somerset When: 22-26 June Price: 220 Line Up: Coldplay, Muse, Jeff Lynnes ELO, PJ Harvey, Jess Glynne (TBC) Music festivals guide 2016 Roskilde Where: Copenhagen, Denmark When: 25 June-2 July Price: 2,020 DKK Line Up: LCD Soundsystem, New Order, PJ Harvey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foals, Tame Impala, Savages, Skepta, Tenacious D Simon Frsig Christensen / Roskilde Festival Music festivals guide 2016 Hideout Festival Where: Zrce Beach, Croatia When: 26-30 June Price: From 152.90 Line Up: The Martinez Brothers, Joris Voorn, Waze & Odyssey Hideout Festival Music festivals guide 2016 Bilbao BBK Where: Bilbao, Spain When: 7-9 July Price: From 69 Line Up: Arcade Fire, Pixies, Tame Impala, Foals, New Order, Hot Chip, Father John Misty, Years & Years, Wolf Alice Music festivals guide 2016 Open'er Where: Gdynia, Poland When: 29 July-2 August Price: From 130 Line Up: Bastille, Florence + the Machine, Foals, LCD Soundsystem, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The 1975, The Last Shadow Puppets, Wiz Khalifa Open'er Festival Music festivals guide 2016 Electric Love Where: Plainfeld, Austria When: 7-9 July Price: 119 Line Up: Alesso, Zedd, Tiesto, Chase & Status, Steve Aoki, Knife Party Music festivals guide 2016 Melt! Where: Ferropolis, Germany When: 15-17 July Price: From 136 Line Up: Two Door Cinema Club, Disclosure, Jamie xx, Sleaford Mods, Skepta, Jamie Woon Music festivals guide 2016 Sziget Where: Budapest, Hungary When: 10-17 August Price: From 215 Line Up: Bastille, Bloc Party, M83, Sigur Ros, Bring Me the Horizon Music festivals guide 2016 Flow Where: Helsinki, Finland When: 12-14 August Price: 165 Line Up: Sia, New Order, The Last Shadow Puppets, Jamie xx, M83, Chvrches, Four Tet, Stormzy, Daughter, The Kills Flow Festival / Jussi Hellsten Music festivals guide 2016 Rock En Seine Where: Paris, France When: 26-28 August Price: From 119 Line Up: TBC Music festivals guide 2016 Oasis Where: Marrakech, Morocco When: 16-18 September Price: From 110 Line Up: Bicep, Derrick May, Tale of Us, Dixon, Dusky, Hunee Music festivals guide 2016 Latitude Where: Henham Park, Suffolk When: 14-17 July Price: 205.50 Line Up: The Maccabees, The National, New Order, John Grant, Beirut, Father John Misty, Chvrches, Grimes Music festivals guide 2016 Bestival Where: Robin Hill, Isle of Wight When: 8-11 September Price: 190 Line Up: The Cure, Major Lazer, Hot Chip, Fatboy Slim, Craig David, Years & Years, Wolf Alice, Tourist, Katy B Music festivals guide 2016 Isle of Wight Where: Newport, Isle of Wight When: 9-12 June Price: From 186 Line Up: Queen + Adam Lambert, Stereophonics, Faithless, Iggy Pop, Adam Ant, Buzzcocks, Sigma, Jess Glynne Music festivals guide 2016 Citadel Where: Victoria Park, London When: 17 July Price: From 54 Line Up: Sigur Ros, Caribou, Lianne La Havas, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats Music festivals guide 2016 End of the Road Where: Larmer Tree Gardens When: 2-4 September Price: 195 Line Up: Joanna Newsom, The Shins, Animal Collective, Bat for Lashes, Teenage Fanclub, Devendra Banhart, Savages, Cat's Eyes Sonny Malhotra

By Thursday morning a fine mist is pouring from sleet-grey skies but festival-goers continue to trudge around the muddy grounds in their masses. Gundelach, a fantastic young Norwegian DJ who produces country-style guitar riffs and sings in a surprising, beautiful falsetto, performs under the shelter of the Sirkus tent.

Despite the promotion ahead of the festival its still impressive to walk around and see just how hard Norway is trying to promote green living. All the (expensive) food being sold is locally sourced - some stalls actually use edible plates - and kids (or cheeky adults) can earn a krone for every plastic cup they pick up from the churned-up ground. Oslo is practically vampiric when it comes to draining you of cash, so they need every penny they can get.

Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up

Thundercat - photo Anna Lerheim Ask (Supplied)

Venturing outside is only worth it once Thundercat begins.

Spellbindingly talented, his earnest, emotional vocal work strikes home on Heartbreaks + Setbacks before that undiluted groove on Oh Sheit its X, and Them Changes.

Stormzy switches up the atmosphere with a riotous set that features fearsome renditions of Know Me From and Shut Up.

Mosh pits open and close up again; as people are seen running towards PJ Harveys set, Stormzys audience remain fixated, and only move on once he is definitely, absolutely not coming back onstage.

Storzmy performs at Oya Festival - photo by Johannes Granseth (Supplied)

By Friday, Oslo is bathed in glorious sunshine again so of course everyone heads into darkness for a set by DJ EZ. He seems to baffle the Norwegians somewhat by dropping in a sample of Craig Davids Rewind - or perhaps their bemusement had something to do with the overenthusiastic British reaction - they clearly enjoy it either way.

Meanwhile Section Boyz might as well have pulled up to Oya in a red double decker bus; subtlety is hardly their strong suit but that swagger is pure London.

(Supplied (Supplied)

With things winding down there's an unspoken need for one last party. Whitney, who dont really live up to the obscene hype surrounding them, play what is now being referred to as the grime stage [Hagen], and their presence (for this writer) feels like an unwelcome interval for the sheer, unbridled energy that has been flowing from it since day one of the festival.

Frontman Max Kakaceks vocals sound a little flat and his limited ability on the drums fails to justify his playing them while singing at the same time.

Introducing one track as a reggae song about love doesnt endear them to this writer; nor a Bob Dylan classic (arent they all?) that they manage to make sound like their own. Hint: thats not a good thing.

Out of all the young bands playing nostalgia-fuelled, twanging guitar riffs [the guitarist is actually decent] and drawing on Americana; Whitney feels most like pastiche - to the point that they actually have a song called Golden Days.

Whitney - photo by Tor Orset (Supplied)

Kamasi Washington, on the other hand, is mesmerising as he is talented; one of those artists who prompts a few Im not crying theres just something in my eye tears as you watch him play the sax in a sun-drenched field, and thats even before touring vocalist Patrice Quinn opens her mouth.

Soon after, Anderson .Paak bounds onto the stage with his band the Free Nationals like a spinning top that never stops, performing tracks from 2014s Venice and his latest release: the 2016 opus Malibu.

Successfully transitioning from ferocious energy on his KAYTRANADA collaboration GLOWED UP and the incendiary Drugs to a sensuousness that recalls DAngelo on The Bird and The Waters; he hops onto the drums at various intervals and invites Thundercat on for a solo.

.Paaks enthusiasm is infectious - without a doubt the most energetic act to appear in the week - but he also clearly senses that the context of his music is somewhat lost on his audience [so many white people, he observes with a slightly perplexed grin. Kendrick Lamars Alright rings out as he charges back off the stage; a stark reminder of the protests against police violence taking place around the US.

Anderson .Paak at Oya - Photo by Johannes Granseth (Supplied)

Oslo is a jewel of a festival nestled near the centre of Norways capital and something, particularly UK city festivals, to aspire to match. With rather uninventive lineups marring the usually excellent Field Day, Sound City and No. 6, hopefully well see some competitiveness arise next year.
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Europe appears poised to continue its move towards cutting fossil fuel use as the Netherlands joins a host of nations looking to pass innovative green energy laws.

The Dutch government has set a date for parliament to host a roundtable discussion that could see the sale of petrol- and diesel-fuelled cars banned by 2025.

If the measures proposed by the Labour Party in March are finally passed, it would join Norway and Denmark in making a concerted move to develop its electric car industry.

It comes after Germany saw all of its power supplied by renewable energies such as solar and wind power on one day in May as the economic powerhouse continues to phase out nuclear energy and fossil fuels.

And outside Europe, both India and China have demanded that citizens use their cars on alternate days only to reduce the exhaust fume production which is causing serious health problems for the populations of both nations.

The consensus-oriented parties of the Netherlands are set to consider a total ban on petrol and diesel cars in a debate on 13 October.

Richard Smokers, principle adviser in sustainable transport at the Dutch renewable technology company TNO, said the Dutch government was committed to meeting the Paris climate change agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions to 80 per cent less than the 1990 level. The plan requires the majority of passenger cars to be run on CO2-free energy by 2050.

 Professor Brian Cox clashes with Australian climate sceptic

"Dutch cities still have some problems to meet existing EU air quality standards and have formulated ambitions to improve air quality beyond these standards," he told The Independent, adding that the government had at the same time been reluctant to implement strict policies on the environment.

"The current government embraces long term targets and strives at meeting EU requirements, but is hesistant about proposing 'strong' policy measures.

"Instead it prefers to facilitate and stimulate initiatives from stakeholders in society."

If the law to ban the sale of new fossil-fuel cars by 2025 passes, a significant move will have been made towards phasing out all petrol and diesel cars by 2035, added Dr Smokers.

Climate change protests around the world Show all 25 1 /25 Climate change protests around the world Climate change protests around the world People rally to promote climate protection in Rome, Italy Climate change protests around the world Hundreds of demonstrators gather in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world People hold hands to form a human chain during a gathering called by ecologist organisations in Marseille, southern France, to protest against global warming a day ahead of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators clash with French riot police during protests on Place de la Republique, ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators clash with French riot police during a protest on Place de la Republique ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France Climate change protests around the world A group of people perform during a rally to promote climate protection in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Climate change protests around the world A protester sits next to his sign that reads 'Monsanto the Devil Incorporated ' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Environmentalists dance during a protest near the Place de la Republique after the cancellation of a planned climate march following shootings in the French capital, ahead of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21), in Paris, France Reuters Climate change protests around the world People protest next to characters dressed as wild animals during a march against climate change near the Monument to the Revolution, in Mexico City AP Climate change protests around the world Protesters carries a banner while they take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People take part in a protest about climate change around New York City Hall at lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People rally to promote climate protection in Piazza Castello, Turin, Italy Climate change protests around the world A woman holds a globe during a protest for the global climate day in Lugano, Switzerland Climate change protests around the world Yemenis hold banners as they participate in the Global March for Climate in the old city of Sanaia, Yemen Climate change protests around the world Protesters dressed as Santa Claus take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People gather at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, during the Global Climate March to demand action on climate change telling world leaders on the eve of a crunch UN summit that there is "no planet B". From Sydney to London, humid Rio to chilly New York, at least 683,000 hit the streets in 2,300 events across 175 countries at the weekend, co-organiser and campaign group Avaaz said, calling it the largest number of people to protest over climate change all at once Getty Images Climate change protests around the world Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators participate in the Global March for Climate in Athens, Greece Climate change protests around the world A man wearing a Bernie Sanders mask leads hundreds of demonstrators who marched near City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Patricia Hauser joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California Climate change protests around the world A woman holds a poster of a sick Earth as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Hundreds of demonstrators march around City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world A demonstrator holds cut-out of US Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world George Patten holds a sign that reads 'No Fracking Ever!' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Gabrielle Sosa wears 'Rising Sea Levels' sign as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA

His words come after Jan Vos, a member of the country's Labour Party, hailed the success of the proposed ban in passing through the Netherland's lower parliament.

"We need to phase out CO2 emissions and we need to change our pattern of using fossil fuels if we want to save the Earth," he told media site Yale Climate Connections. He added that electric cars needed to be affordable.

"Transportation with your own car shouldn't be something that only rich people can afford."

But a spokesperson for the Netherland's Department for Climate, Air and Energy said the law was not guaranteed to pass after discussions are resumed in October.

"The proposal is being considered, but there is still opposition to it," they told The Independent.

According to Quartz, sales of electric cars have surged in the Netherlands with an all-time high last December. Meanwhile, the country has one of the lowest levels of CO2 emissions from new cars in the European Union.

Elsewhere in Europe, Norway has hit its target of selling 50,000 electric cars three years ahead of its own target, in part owing to strong financial incentives to purchase the more environmentally friendly model.

Electric vehicles have been exempted from VAT and purchase tax, which would otherwise add 50 per cent to the cost of the vehicle, under new Norwegian laws.

Denmark, meanwhile, produced so much electricity from wind power in July last year that it was able to sell its excess to Germany, Norway and Sweden.

In India, Delhi was dubbed the equivalent of "living in a gas chamber" by its chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Similar criticism has been levelled at major Chinese cities, with Beijing set to double the number of air monitoring stations to assess the city's air quality.

Meanwhile in the UK, Theresa May has closed the Department for Energy and Climate Change and merged it into a new Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

One point of concern for the Netherlands will be ensuring the current design of electric cars can be adequately scaled-up for densely populated urban environments, warned Dr Smokers.

"I think that living labs and other large scale experiments in the coming two decades will be needed to find out how we can tackle this challenge," he said.
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Dramatic claims have emerged of how a high profile billionaire wanted by the Russian authorities and currently pursuing a London high court action was seized from his home in Cambodia in what his legal team describe as an extraordinary rendition.

Sergei Polonsky, an eccentric former London luxury property developer, is best-known in the UK for having been punched by the owner of The Independent, Alexander Lebedev, live on a Russian chatshow.

However, in Russia, he is equally famous for having been pursued by the authorities for an alleged major fraud in Moscow.

Several years ago, he left Russia for Cambodia, which has no extradition treaty with Moscow, and had been living in a compound on the coast, successfully avoiding having to face a Russian criminal prosecution. A judgement in the Cambodian courts had specifically ruled any extradition illegal, leaving him feeling relatively safe from the embezzlement charges he strenuously denies.

However, last May, he and his companions were dramatically seized at gunpoint by Cambodian military on immigration charges and despatched to Moscow, where he arrived three days later and escorted to jail still wearing his Cambodian surf shorts. He has been in a Moscow jail awaiting trial ever since.

In a witness statement lodged in part of his London High Court case and never before reported, one of the colleagues seized with Mr Polonsky in Cambodia at the time gives harrowing details of the rough justice which he claims was handed out to the exile and his friends at the hands of the Cambodians.

Latvian lawyer Kaspars Cekotins describes how Mr Polonsky and his friends were on the billionaires luxury yacht near his island, Koh Damlong, when a Cambodian Navy speedboat and two other vessels carrying around 20 local military in camouflage fatigues carrying guns sped alongside.

Boarding the boat, they ordered him to escort them to their Navy base, he claims.

Mr Cekotins says he asked to see a warrant or other paperwork but the military personnel had none. Soon, two more speedboats arrived packed with more armed men. A civilian who appeared to be in charge boarded the yacht and started screaming at Polonsky that he and his friends had to go with them immediately or they would force him to, Cekotins claims. The uniformed navy men started brandishing AK-47s at them, so they complied, he says.

As the navy boat sped to the naval base near the city of Sihanoukville, Mr Cekotins noticed they were being filmed  video footage, he claims, that he later heard they were instructed to take to make the men look like Russian mafia people..

Mr Polonsky and his friends were locked in cells by a military airport where, at one stage, another prisoner lent Mr Cekotins a mobile phone which he had kept hidden from the guards. Mr Cekotins claims the man passed him the Nokia through a hole he had secretly made in the wall.

Mr Cekotins says he called one of Mr Polonskys business associates, Velery Novikov, for help. Mr Novikov arrived in his black Hummer with a lawyer and a business partner of Mr Polonsky.

The lawyer was refused entry at the compounds gate and told to wait, so he went back to sit in the car in the street outside, according to the witness statement.

An hour later, Mr Cekotins says, about 20 armed military personnel surrounded the vehicle, dragged the three men out, tasered Mr Novikov and forced the men onto the ground, where they handcuffed them before taking them into the cells. Military personnel drove the Hummer into the compound yard.

By that time, Mr Polonsky had already received some rough treatment of his own, according to Mr Cekotins. On the Saturday morning after they were first seized, he was taken away for interview, before returning clearly shaken about 40 minutes later.

Mr Cekotins says Mr Polonsky told his fellow prisoners he had been ordered to sign a document in Khmer. He refused, because he did not understand what it said and wanted his Cambodian lawyer to see it first, but his interviewers handcuffed him very tightly and said they would only be released if he signed. When he still refused, one interviewer held his fists up to the prisoners face and threatened to punch him, then threatened to refuse him drinking water until he signed. Eventually he complied, signing the papers with no idea what they said, Mr Cekotins said.

The following morning, 10 men in military clothing arrived at Mr Polonskys cell and took him away. This was the last time I saw Mr Polonsky in Cambodia, Mr Cekotins said.

A guard later told Mr Cekotins the billionaire was on his way to Korea. As it turned out, there was a delay because the Korean airline refused to take him because there was no paperwork. A Cambodian airline agreed to take him the following day and he was sent to Moscow via Vietnam, the witness statement claims.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

Mr Polonskys arrest was extended in Moscow earlier this week until October 21 and the case was returned to the prosecutors office by the judge to be amended to eliminate some violations  amendments seen as a minor victory by the Polonsky legal camp.

In the London High Court action, Mr Polonsky is suing his former lawyer in the UK, Mayfair-based Alexander Dobrovinsky.

Mr Polonsky accuses Mr Dobrovinsky, a celebrity lawyer in Russia, of secretly working against him by duping him into selling his property empire to a purchaser despite Mr Polonsky having expressly told him he did not want to sell to the man in question  claims Mr Dobrovinsky denies.

Mr Cekotins witness statement was lodged in a recent London hearing in which Mr Polonsky attempted to have his UK case delayed until after the Moscow criminal trial. He claimed confidential communications between him and his lawyers had been routinely intercepted.

The judge, Mr G Moss QC, refused Mr Polonskys request for a stay of the case, partly due to questions over elements of his witnesses testimony but said that, on the evidence before him regarding the deportation, there appeared to have been very serious violations of [Mr Polonskys] human rights by the Cambodian authorities.

The London case is scheduled to start next summer.
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A British skydiver has died after his parachute failed to open while he was jumping in the French Alps.

David Reader, 25, was base jumping near Sallanches near Mount Blanc on 7 August when he hit the ground after his parachute ceased to open.

Reader, from Newnham in Gloucestershire, suffered a severe head injury and multiple injuries to his body. Reader died at a hospital in the nearby town of Annecy on 8 August.

His girlfriend, Domi Kiger, paid tribute to Reader and said he was the most incredible human being she had ever met.

The type you don't necessarily notice straight away, the best type in my eyes, she wrote in a Facebook post. He was kind, humble, gentle, incredibly smart, talented in absolutely everything he put his mind into. Bright in so many ways. He was quiet and reserved but so warm, loving and fun to those who took the time to get to know him. He was wise beyond his years."

People news in pictures Show all 18 1 /18 People news in pictures People news in pictures 7 October 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an ice hockey match between former NHL stars and officials at the Shayba Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Vladimir Putin spent his 63rd birthday on the ice, playing hockey with NHL stars against Russian officials and tycoons EPA People news in pictures 6 October 2015 German designer Karl Lagerfeld (R) and model Cara Delevingne (C) appear at the end of his Spring/Summer 2016 women's ready-to-wear collection for fashion house Chanel at the Grand Palais which is transformed into a Chanel airport during the Fashion Week in Paris, France Reuters People news in pictures 5 October 2015 Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne addresses the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The Chancellor argued that reducing the payments to people in low paid jobs would give them economic security by reducing the Governments spending deficit Getty Images People news in pictures 4 October 2015 Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston takes a moment in the centre of the field with his daughter Frankie Thurston, holding dark-skinned doll, after winning the 2015 NRL Grand Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The image quickly became the talking point of Australias National Rugby League Final and provoked a strong reaction on social media, with many praising Thurston for giving his child a toy that promotes inclusiveness and diversity Getty Images People news in pictures 3 October 2015 Pope Francis gives a thumbs-up as he greets people at the end of an audience to the participants of a meeting organized by the "Food Bank" at the Paul VI audience hall in Vatican Getty Images People news in pictures 2 October 2015 Britain's Finance Minister George Osborne (L) throws an American football as he meets with former American football players Dan Marino (2nd R) and Curtis Martin (not pictured) at 11 Downing Street in London, ahead of the New York Jets playing against the Miami Dolphins at London's Wembley Stadium on 4 October Getty Images People news in pictures 1 October 2015 An honor guard opens the door as Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to attend a meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia People news in pictures 30 September 2015 Former Mrs America Lisa Christie, who alleges misconduct by Bill Cosby, holds up photos of her younger self during a news conference at the law office of attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Matt Damon has defended himself against claims that he instructed gay actors to remain in the closet. He had said I think youre a better actor the less people know about you and sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether youre straight or gay, people shouldnt know anything about your sexuality but an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show said, I was just trying to say actors are more effective when theyre a mystery. Right? Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Marion Cotillard has said that there is no place for feminism in Hollywood. Speaking to Porter magazine, she saidFilm-making is not about gender/ You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men. For me it doesnt create equality, it creates separation. I mean, I dont qualify myself as a feminist." Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Paul Walkers daughter, Meadow, is suing Porsche over her fathers death in a lawsuit that claims he was trapped in the burning car because of design flaws and the seat belt. The Fast and Furious star was killed when the Porsche Carrera GT he was a passenger in hit a pole in California in 2013. The driver, his friend Roger Rodas, also died when the vehicle burst into flames. AP People news in pictures 28 September 2015 Robert Mugabe waits to address the United Nations General Assembly. The leader of Zimbabwe reportedly exclaimed 'We are not gay!' as he criticised Western nation's "double standards and attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions and beliefs. In 2013 he described homosexuals as worse than pigs, goats and birds. Reuters People news in pictures 28 September 2015 South African comedian Trevor Noah hosts the first 'Daily Show' since taking over from Jon Stewart as host. Stewart had presented the US satirical news show since 1999 and was described by Noah during the show as a 'Political father' 2015 Getty Images People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Sir Elton John may have received a phone call from the real Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin's spokesman announced he had made contact weeks after the singer was duped by pranksters pretending to be the Russian President. Getty People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was mistakenly declared as the artist who produced the Mona Lisa by Fox News anchor Shepard Smith. It was in fact Leonardo da Vinci. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 A new biography claims Donald Trump expected to be dead by 40 and never marry. The Guardian says the a new book also claims that in 1980, Mr Trump manufactured a fake vice-president of his real estate conglomerate, whom he called John Baron. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 The Dalai Lama has said that Britain's policy towards China is just about 'Money, money, money.' And asked 'Where is morality?' People news in pictures 24 September 2015 Puff Daddy secured the number-one spot on the Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings list, with the publication calculating he made an estimated $60million (39m) between June 2014 and June 2015.

He was ambitious in a good way, wanting to make a difference in the flying industry, and make the world a better place. I know he would have. We felt like we found each other's match, brain, body and soul. The same appetite for life, the same curiosity and ambition to always better ourselves, to constantly learn, grow and explore together.

Reader worked as a wind tunnel instructor for a Norweigan indoor skydiving company called VossVind.

We are all extremely sad and devastated over the loss of our dear David Reader. It is unreal, this was not supposed to happen, a spokesperson for VossVind wrote on Facebook. Dave came to VossVind about 4 years ago. During these years he had an incredible development as a tunnel flyer that impressed each and everyone of us.

We were lucky to have him as an instructor. He learnt Norwegian in no time, it seemed that anything he wanted to do, he could.

Reader was cremated in Annecy last Thursday and a memorial service will be held in Gloucester on Saturday.
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In the wake of Donald Trumps controversial campaign for the White House former friends have publicly denounced him, a parliamentary debate on banning him from entering the UK has been held and his former ghostwriter suggested his best-selling book wouldshoould have been titled The Art of the Deal: The Sociopath.

Now his daughter Ivanka Trump is also feeling the backlash against her fathers politics when a simple internet purchase resulted in a public thanks but no thanks and a contribution to her fathers rival campaign.

On Tuesday, New York-based independent jewellers Lady Grey jewellery shared a handwritten note they had written to the second-eldest Trump offspring on Instagram. After she purchased an ear cuff on their website for $84 (63) they informed her they will be donating the money to organisations more in line with their politics than her father's.

Were happy to let you know that the proceeds of your sale have been generously donated to the American Immigration Council, the Everytown For Gun Safety organisation and the Hillary Clinton campaign, the note said.

The brand has a burgeoning celebrity clientele base and their pieces have been worn by Beyonce, Rihanna, Ruby Rose and Lupita NYongo to name a few. Prices on the website vary from an average of $150 for a pair of earrings and some rings and necklaces fetching between $300- $400.

Throughout Mr Trumps campaign, Ivanka has long been considered an asset in the hope she will encourage young women to vote for the Republican nominee.

People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Show all 8 1 /8 People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Miley Cyrus 'God he thinks he is the f***ing chosen one or some shit!  Honestly f*** this sh*t I am moving if this is my president! I dont say things I dont mean!' Jemal Countess/Getty Images People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Whoopi Goldberg 'I dont think thats America. I dont want it to be America. Maybe its time for me to move you know' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Samuel L. Jackson 'If that mother**er becomes president, Im moving my black ass to South Africa' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Raven Symone 'My confession for this election is, if any Republican gets nominated, Im gonna move to Canada with my entire family. Is that bad? I already have my ticket. I literally bought my ticket, I swear' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Cher 'If he were to be elected, I'm moving to Jupiter' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Neve Campbell 'Im terrified. Its really scary. My biggest fear is that Trump will triumph. I cannot believe that he is still in the game ... [I'll] move back to Canada' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Jon Stewart 'I would consider getting in a rocket and going to another planet, because clearly this planets gone bonkers' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Randy Blythe 'He could just be a clown. If he is the president, though, I am leaving America 'till he's gone'

However, her comments have also come under scrutiny. Last month, she claimed her father was a feminist, leaving many bewildered given his previous history of sexist gaffes, such as saying Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly had blood coming out of her wherever and suggesting his rival Republican candidate Carly Fiorina was too unattractive to become President.

A month later Mr Trump hypothetically said he hoped if Ivanka was being sexually harassed in the workplace she would find another job, while his son Eric said his sister would never allow herself to be the subject of harassment.

Recommended Read more Ivanka Trump has her say on sexual harassment after Donald Trump row

After a row ensued over the comments, Ivanka called sexual harassment inexcusable in any setting which came after her questionable views on the matter resurfaced.

While the 30-year-old and her brothers have supported their father on the public stage, she was actually unable to vote for him to become the Republican nominee in the New York primary as she was registered independent.
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A Team GB member has been held up at gunpoint while on a night out in Rio de Janeiro.

While the person in question was not injured, British officials have now warned team members not to go out in the Olympic city.

British team members have been told to avoid at all costs leaving the athletes' village in their Team GB kit or with anything valuable.

Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Show all 74 1 /74 Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Eight Andy Murray celebrates his victory over Kai Nishikori to reach the men's Olympic final. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Eight Jessica Ennis-Hill continues her bid for gold in heptathlon. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Eight Usain Bolt breezed through his 100m heat. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Eight Team GB took silver in the women's eight. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Eight The men's eight gold took Great Britain top of the rowing medal table. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Seven Britain's Jazz Carlin secured her second silver of the Games in the women's 800m freestyle, as American Katie Ledecky surged to her fourth Rio gold. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Seven Singapore's Joseph Schooling won his nation's first gold medal with victory in the 100m butterfly as Michael Phelps was denied a 23rd Olympic title. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Seven Sir Bradley Wiggins becomes Britain's greatest Olympian ever as Team GB win gold in the men's Team Pursuit at the Velodrome. AFP Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Seven Bryony Page on her way to a silver in gymnastics trampoline. EPA Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Seven Heather Stanning and Helen Glover win gold in the women's rowing pairs. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Seven Alex Gregory, Mohamed Sbihi, George Nash and Constantine Louloudis celebrate their success in the mens coxless four. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Seven Defending champions Great Britain won silver in the Olympic team dressage, as world champions Germany claimed gold. The British quartet - Spencer Wilton, Fiona Bigwood, Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin - were beaten into second by 3.334 points. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Six American Simone Manuel became the first black female swimmer to win an Olympic title as she shared the women's 100m freestyle gold with Canada's Penny Oleksiak, 16, after a dead heat. Getty Images Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Six Swimming legend Michael Phelps demolished the field in the 200m individual medley to claim his 22nd Olympic gold. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Six Simone Biles takes gold in the Womens individual all-around artistic gymnastics. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Six Fiji's Vatemo Ravouvou breaks through to score during the Men's Rugby Sevens Gold medal final match against Great Britain. Team GB settled for silver as Fiji romped to gold. David Rogers/Getty Images Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Six Callum Skinner, Jason Kenny and Philip Hindes of Great Britain celebrate after winning gold in the men's team sprint. AFP Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Six Double act David Florence and Richard Hounslow won their second joint Olympic silver in the canoeing slalom. Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Six Victoria Thornley and Katherine Grainger show off their silver medals after the women's double sculls final Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Five Max Whitlock poses with his bronze medal Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Five Joe Clarke reacts to winning Britain's second gold of thee Games Reuters Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Five Jack Laugher and Chris Mears celebrate with their gold medals Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Four David Florence suffered heartbreak in the canoe single C1 men's semi-final Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Four Andy Murray celebrates his straight sets victory against Juan Monaco Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Three Lilly King shows off her gold medal as Yulia Efimova parades her silver AFP Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Three Russia's Yulia Efimova (left) looks on as the US's Lilly King (right) celebrates winning the Women's 100m Breaststroke Final earlier this morning Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Three Lilly King celebrates after beating her Russian rival Yulia Efimova Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Three Michael Phelps takes on Chad Le Clos in the men's 200m butterfly final Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Three Michael Phelps says it 'breaks my heart' to see drug cheats at the Olympics Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Three James Guy missed out on bronze on Monday night Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Three Louis Smith reacts to his pommel stumble which may have cost Team GB a medal Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Three Dan Goodfellow (right) and Tom Daley celebrate with their bronze medals Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Three Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow dive into the pool in delight after winning bronze Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Three Tom Daley (left) and Daniel Goodfellow performing in the men's synchronised 10m platform final PA Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Three Canada celebrate their victory against Team GB on day three Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Three Heather Watson leaves the court yesterday after losing her second round match against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine Reuters Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Carlin proudly shows off her silver medal Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Carlin reacts after learning that she has won the silver medal Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Peaty shows off his gold medal with pride Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Adam Peaty celebrates his gold Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Andy Murray and Jamie Murray were knocked out of the men's doubles by Thomaz Bellucci and Andre Sa AFP Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Venus and Serena Williams suffered their first ever Olympic defeat playing together Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Richard Kruse battling the Russian Timur Safin GETTY Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Lizzie Armitstead finished fifth in the women's road race PA Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Anna van der Breggen celebrates winning gold in the women's road race Reuters Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Annemiek van Vleuten suffered a horrific accident in the women's road race Reuters Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two The women's road race passes along the beach in Rio de Janeiro Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Andy Murray beat Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-2 to win his men's singles first round match Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Serena Williams is through to the second round of the women's singles after defeating Daria Gavrilova Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Gold medal winner, Hoang Xuan Vinh of Vietnam, center, silver medal winner, Felipe Almeida Wu of Brazil, left, and bronze medalist Pang Wei of China, at the victory ceremony for the men's 10-meter air pistol event AP Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day Two Rowing was cancelled on day two over fears of sinking and capsizing due to strong winds Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Yusra Mardini has won her heat of the Women's 100m Butterfly but she will not be able to go forward to the semi-final Getty Images Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Britain's James Guy chops through the water Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Kantinka Hosszu of Hungary set a new world record in winning gold in the Women's 100m Individual Medley final Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Samir Ait Said receiving medical help after suffering a badly broken leg Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Yusra Mardini leads the race in the 100m Butterfly heat at Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio EPA Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Natasha Hunt scored two tries to inspire Britain to victory against Brazil Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Joanne Watmore scored Britain's first try in Olympic rugby sevens history Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Adam Peaty celebrates after breaking the 100m breaststroke world record Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Adam Peaty broke his own world record in the 100m breaststroke heats and is favourite to win gold on Sunday Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Adam Peaty broke his own world record in the 100m breaststroke heats Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Chris Froome speaks with a bruised Geraint Thomas after the men's road race PA Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Greg van Avermaet celebrates winning gold in the men's road race Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Rafal Majka was caught with just two kilometres to go Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Greg van Avermaet won a sprint finish to clinch Olympic road race gold EPA Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One A bullet is marked by Brazilian police in the equestrian media centre Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One The peloton make their way along the beach during the road race Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Chris Froome leads away the men's road race along with the rest of Team GB Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One The field make their way along the opening stages of the road race Eric Gaillard/Reuters Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand had no trouble in qualifying for the men's single skulls quarter-finals Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Day One Rowers warm up under the watchful gaze of the Christ the Redeemer statue Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Opening Ceremony A huge fireworks display signals the end of the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony. Felipe Dana/AP Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Opening Ceremony Andy Murray leads out Team GB at the Rio Olympics opening ceremony Getty Rio 2016 Olympics - in pictures Opening Ceremony Gisele Bundchen turns the stage into a catwalk during the opening ceremony AP

According to the Guardian, British track and field officials said in a letter to all team members: "Do not go out of the village wearing TeamGB kit or carry anything of value unless absolutely unavoidable  this makes you too big a target for theft/crime.

"You MUST inform a member of team management if you are leaving the village and planning on staying out overnight  please do this BEFORE you leave.

"Rio is NOT a safe environment, and the level of crime has spiked in the last few days."

The British Olympic Association (BOA) has not imposed a blanket curfew on athletes like other countries but will introduce them if "further safety/security issues arise".

The letter concluded: "Think very carefully about whether it is worth the risk of leaving the village to celebrate after you have finished competing  BOA/UKA staff cannot guarantee your safety when away from the village/British School/British House.

"Our strong advice is that it is simply not worth the risk given the current climate in Rio."

After an alleged mugging at gunpoint, US Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte, James Feigen have been ordered to stay in Brazil while police investigate their alleged mugging at gunpoint.
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Viruses are 10 times more likely to cause illness in their victims if the infection is contracted in the morning, and late nights increase the impact even further, according to a study by the University of Cambridge.

Scientists infected mice with influenza and herpes viruses and found those infected in the morning had 10 times the viral levels of those infected in the evening.

It is believed the findings could help governments decide the best course of action when pandemics break out, and to determine the correct advice to give to citizens.

Further tests revealed the impact of a disrupted body clock, caused by lifestyle changes such as later nights and jet lag, which created a locked in condition that allowed viruses to multiply rapidly.

The study was published in the scientific journal Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences and thoroughly examined the circadian regulation of systemic immunity completed by the human body.

Professor Akhilesh Reddy was one of the lead researchers on the project and said the findings could help people gain a better understanding of the impact of viruses on the body at different times of day

The virus needs all the apparatus available at the right time, otherwise it might not ever get off the ground, but a tiny infection in the morning might perpetuate faster and take over the body, he told BBC News.

In a pandemic, staying in during the daytime could be quite important and save people's lives, it could have a big impact if trials bear it out.

The time of day of infection can have a major influence on how susceptible we are to the disease, or at least on the viral replication, meaning that infection at the wrong time of day could cause a much more severe acute infection.

Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests  but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty

A particular gene called Bmal1 was a major focus of the study, as relatively low levels of it in the morning makes the body more susceptible to infection.

Professor Reddys colleague Dr Rachel Edgar said the findings show regular shift workers could be prime candidates for receiving annual flu vaccines, given their disrupted body cycles.

[The study] indicates that shift workers, who work some nights and rest some nights and so have a disrupted body clock, will be more susceptible to viral diseases, she said.

The researchers additionally found Bmal1 levels undergo major seasonal variations, explaining why people are more vulnerable to viruses such as influenza during the winter, when the gene was found to be less active.

Meanwhile, bacteria and parasitic organisms are thought to be relatively unaffected by the cycle of the day as they are not dependent on overwhelming cells in order to replicate.
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Radical hate preacher Anjem Choudary has been found guilty of inviting support for Isis.

Muslims and Muslim organisations around the country have come out in support of the verdict, with many saying they have been waiting years for Choudary to be locked away.

Choudary denied the charges but was convicted over a series of lectures put on YouTube between June 2014 and March last year.

Sara Khan, Director of Inspire, a counter-extremism and human rights organisation, said: This conviction serves as a reminder of the reality of Islamist extremists promoting their hatred and violence in the UK.

Although these men are no longer on the streets, we must recognise there are other extremists in Britain aggressively promoting an Islamist extreme worldview often on campus, communities and social media.

We all have a responsibility in challenging this perverse ideology whether in mosques, universities or online. There is no place for such extremism in our society.

British Muslims took to Twitter to collectively respond to the news with a huge sigh of relief:

Mohammed Shafiq the Chief Executive of the Ramadhan Foundation spoke to The Independent about the news:

I think its great news he has been finally convicted. We are very glad that someone who has been so dangerous has been locked up.

This actually tells you the current legislation is sufficient to hold those people to account.

We have been watching him radicalise people on a regular basis and the media have been given him ample airtime to pedal his hatred.

We wont celebrate too much because there are other likeminded people who still pose a threat and we must confront them.
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A terminal at Manchester Airport has been evacuated after a security alert over a suspect bag.

Passengers were evacuated from both the arrivals and departures in Terminal two after an "unattended bag" was discovered outside the building.

After an investigation, the bag was cleared and found to "pose no threat", the airport later said in a statement.

An empty area of Manchester Airport following an evacuation (Aqib Ishtiaq/ Twitter ) (Aqib Ishtiaq/ Twitter)

The terminal is now in the process of being reopened. No flights have been affected by the incident.

"As always, the safety and security of our passengers and staff is paramount, and we appreciate the patience of those affected tonight," the airport said in a statement.

The airport said that the area had been cordoned off and partially evacuated as a "precautionary measure".

A number of passengers reported over social media that the terminal had been cleared and posted pictures of large crowds exiting the area.

Aqib Ishtiaq said: Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport has been evacuated. Weve been told to move to the far back of the car park.

Khawer Ishtiaq told the Manchester Evening News he saw police cordoning off a roundabout near the terminal at around 6.45pm.

He said: "The people leaving for flights have not been allowed to leave the departure lounge either.I tried to walk towards my car and a guy from the airport said to get away from the glass."

Manchester airport is one of the busiest in the country. In 2015, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers.
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The roof of a Southern Rail train carriage appears to have "literally fallen apart" after part of the ceiling came crashing down into the aisle among shocked London commuters.

Two girls were hit by a section of the overhead ceiling which fell on top of them as they were en route to Victoria station in the morning.

Pictures of the incident on social media were the latest in a series of blows to Govia Thameslink Rail (GTR) which owns the embattled Southern netowrk.

The company is already entrenched in a union dispute, delayed and cancelled trains and several customer protests about its Southern service.

Kate Baxter, a passenger in the carriage, tweeted: "So Southern Rail trains are literally falling apart, right on top of us! Thankfully no one hurt, just shaken."

Her picture showed a dusty metal panel at least one metre in width and slightly more in length lying in the aisle. The exposed ceiling revealed black wires and sockets.

The panel fell at about 8am en route between Tattenham Corner and Victoria on 18 August in the capital.

Ms Baxter continued in a series of tweets: "Two girls were hit when [the panel] fell and are bruised - no one available to check them over other than calling for an ambulance."

The pair got off at East Croydon and were advised to seek medical attention themselves, she added.

GTR has already faced protests from hundreds of passengers over a reduced timetable which the company said was necessary in the face of staff pulling sick days and striking.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) said that proposals to change the role of onboard conductors so they no longer close the doors but have a "more customer service-based job" was an attempt to sideline their jobs. GTR have said no one will lose their positions.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for the network to be returned to public service, while London mayor Sadiq Khan has also called for its temporary re-nationalisation.

Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport Show all 14 1 /14 Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport i0000ghs.jpg  TfL from the London Transport Museum Collection Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport i0000bgi.jpg  TfL from the London Transport Museum Collection Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport i0000gw2.jpg  TfL from the London Transport Museum Collection Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport PA-1855822.jpg Image courtesy of the Press Association Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport i00004ls.jpg  TfL from the London Transport Museum Collection Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport PA-1016263.jpg Image courtesy of the Press Association Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport PA-1084816.jpg Image courtesy of the Press Association Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport PA-13230557.jpg Image courtesy of the Press Association Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport PA-1161505.jpg Image courtesy of the Press Association Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport PA-1297446.jpg Image courtesy of the Press Association Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport PA-1389288.jpg Image courtesy of the Press Association Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport PA-5762579.jpg Image courtesy of the Press Association Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport PA-8925208.jpg Image courtesy of the Press Association Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport TBM launch.jpg Image courtesy of Crossrail

In relation to the incident with the roof panel, a Southern spokesperson said: "Reports have been received of a ceiling panel dislodging in one of the carriages on the 07.45 Southern service from Tattenham Corner to Victoria.

"Southern staff at East Croydon station boarded the train to attend to passengers and it was reported at the time that there were no injuries. The cause of this incident is currently unknown and will be investigated fully.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused."

In September last year, Southern had the worst punctuality record of all train operators in the country and recent figures show it remains poor compared to other providers. GTR acquired it in July last year and has said ongoing delays and difficulties have been worsened by construction at London Bridge.
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Racial inequality in Britain is "entrenched and far-reaching," according to a report published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which says that the life chances of young ethnic minority people in the UK have become much worse over the past five years.

The combination of the post-Brexit rise in hate crime and deep race inequality in Britain is very worrying and must be tackled urgently, " the report says. Today's report underlines just how entrenched race inequality and unfairness still is in our society.

We must redouble our efforts to tackle race inequality urgently or risk the divisions in our society growing and racial tensions increasing."

The EHRC report, the biggest review of race equality in the UK, found black and ethnic minorities are:

...more likely to be unemployed

People from ethnic minorities have disproportionately high unemployment rates compared to white people.

Research on ethnicity and employment trends in 2013 found white people had a higher employment rate than those from ethnic minorities.

...more likely to live in poverty

People from ethnic minorities were more likely to live in poverty than white people in 2012/13. This ranged from 24.6 per cent of Indian people and 39.9 per cent of black people, to 43.9 per cent of Pakistani/Bangladeshi people.

Poverty rates were significantly higher for children living in a household headed by someone from an ethnic minority at 41.9 per cent, compared to 24.5 per cent in households headed by someone who is white.

...less likely to go to a top university

Black school leavers are less likely to attend a Russel Group university compared to mixed, Asian or white pupils.

...less likely to get a good degree

The report found stark differences by ethnicity in the proportion of undergraduate students who received a 1st/2:1 degree in 2013/14.

The gap was particularly high for male undergraduate students, with 76.3 per cent of male students received a 1st/2:1 compared to 60.3 per cent of ethnic minority students.

Fewer ethnic minority undergraduate students received a 1st/2:1 degree in 2013/14. The gap was particularly high for male undergraduate students, of which 73.5 per cent white males received 1st/2:1 compared to 46.2 per cent of black male undergraduate students

...less likely to work in managerial positions

In Britain, a lower per centage of people from ethnic minorities work as managers, directors and senior officials.

This was particular true of the African/Carribean/black group, of which 5.7 per cent worked in managerial positions, and the mixed ethnicity group, of which 7.2 per cent did.

...more likely to be a victim of a hate crime

Home Office statistics show an increase of 18 per cent in the number of hate crimes reported by police in England and Wales.

Race remains the most commonly recorded motivation for hate crime, at 82 per cent of recorded motivations.

"We must redouble our efforts to tackle race inequality urgently or risk the divisions in our society growing and racial tensions increasing," Mr Isaac added. "If you are black or an ethnic minority in modern Britain, it can often still feel like you're living in a different world, never mind being part of a One Nation society.
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The political spinner who worked for George Osborne at the height of his bid to keep Britain in the EU, will now take a top job at the Whitehall department responsible for pulling the UK out of it.

The bizarre twist will see ex-Treasury Special Advisor James Chapman working as a top aide to the new Brexit Secretary David Davis.

It comes after ex-Daily Mail Political Editor Mr Chapman was left in limbo, when his old boss Mr Osborne fell from grace having failed to save the UKs EU membership.

Mr Chapman spent six years in the Daily Mails most senior political position and was renowned for his calm approach, despite having one of the most demanding jobs on Fleet Street.

But last May he was tempted away from journalism to take up a post with Mr Osborne, who at the time looked like the strongest Tory contender to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister.

The job saw Mr Chapman helping the ex-Chancellor pull together his communication strategy for the EU referendum campaign, something later branded project fear by critics in the Leave camp.

Ironically, one of the biggest critics of them all was Mr Davis, for whom Mr Chapman is now expected to be Chief of Staff.

On one occasion during the campaign after Mr Osbornes warnings of economic doom and Mr Camerons claims that Brexit risked future conflicts, Mr Davis said: "Earlier in the week when we had the warnings about an imminent World War III, I thought what next, a plague of locusts?"

"It's not biting. The Obama thing didn't bite, the Treasury thing bit for two days and then it died.

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

A Whitehall source told The Independent today that the move was not so much poacher turned gamekeeper, as gamekeeper turned poacher.

Mr Chapmans wife, who is Greek and an EU citizen, may also take a view on her husbands new post.

The former hack will have known and worked closely with Theresa Mays new senior communications advisors Fiona Hill and Katie Perrior during his time at the Daily Mail.

 Theresa May says she has an 'open mind' over Brexit negotiations

One Westminster insider said the appointment indicated that Downing Street intended to work in lockstep with Mr Davis.

But in his new role Mr Chapman will have his work cut out, managing a strong-minded minister responsible for one of the highest profile Whitehall fiefdoms.

The Department for Exiting the EU is also at the centre of a turf war with Boris Johnsons Foreign Office and Liam Foxs Department for International Trade.

Mr Chapman did not respond to requests for a comment.
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The Labour Party Conference could be cancelled over a industrial dispute between a union and the security firm Labour has hired for the event in Liverpool next month.

With less than a month to go GMB, the third largest union affiliated to the Labour Party, has demanded the party find an alternative to security firm Showsec, which continues to refuse to recognise GMB.

GMB said it was intolerable for the Labour Party to work with a service provider which continually refused to recognise trade unions.

Showsec had been hired after the Labour Party cancelled its contract with G4S over its links to Israeli prisons.

Roger Jenkins, GMB National Officer for the Security Industry said: This is by no means sorted. We have repeatedly asked Showsec to agree to sign up to a standard recognition agreement that recognises GMB to negotiate pay and conditions, seeing its workers treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. The clock is ticking fast ahead of next months conference and the companys continued refusal to recognise GMB is intolerable."

"Those employed in the private security industry must be allowed the choice to be represented by GMB - an independent, professional and forward-looking trade union working to better terms and conditions. If Showsec continues to show such disregard for unions then it has proven itself totally unsuited to the task of providing security for this event - and the Labour Party leadership must immediately put an alternative in place to avoid the conference being scuppered.

The Labour Party is confident that security arrangements will be in place in time for the conference to go ahead. A spokesperson for the party said: "We do not comment on commercial arrangements."
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Owen Smith has attacked Jeremy Corbyn for agreeing to speak at an event at the Labour Party conference alongside a speaker who has previously called for a Jewish journalists throat to be cut.

RIchard Seymour, the far-left blogger behind the Lenins Tomb blog wrote on Facebook last year with regard to a Jewish journalist who had been reporting on Israel-Palestine: Jewish journalist reporting on Israel-Palestine,F*ck him, they should cut his throat.

Katie Green, chair of Owen Smiths leadership campaign said: These kind of violent and deeply offensive remarks make a mockery of Jeremy's 'kinder, gentler politics.' Jeremy should be condemning his comments.

Mr Corbyn has said he intends to speak at the World Transformed event, which is being organised by Momentum, the campaign group that is co-ordinating his leadership bid. Im going to be there, because I want to see a world transformed, he said.

On Wednesday, Smith sparked controversy by saying he would be prepared to engage in peace talks with Isis.
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Politicians and campaigners will demand Theresa May vote against Saudi Arabia remaining on the UN Human Rights Council after a year which saw the country's government savagely bomb Yemen, commit vast numbers of beheadings, a mass execution and detain activists.

Their call, on World Humanitarian Day, comes ahead of a critical UN vote on whether Saudi Arabia retains its seat. Controversy over the matter has increased since the Saudi Ambassador was also given a key role on a panel related to the council.

But despite the repeated and well publicised atrocities of the Middle Eastern state, UK ministers still refuse to say whether they will back the kingdom or not.

Recommended Read more Senators mull plan to block US arms deal with Saudi Arabia

It follows recently emerged details of the huge quantities of military aircraft, bombs and arms the UK is selling Saudi Arabia, some of which have been used in a Yemeni campaign described as a human catastrophe.

Saudis position on the council means it has influence over international human rights standards. Critics say the vote in October is a golden opportunity for Ms Mays new government to demonstrate it truly values human rights.

Theresa May's most controversial moments

Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Tom Brake accused the Government of making endless excuses for the Saudi regime.

Amnesty International meanwhile demanded the UK hold Saudi to account for its appalling human rights record and the ongoing war crimes in Yemen.

A man surveys the rubble of a house after it was destroyed by a Saudi-led air strike in Sanaa last week (Reuters)

More than 6,500 people have died in the Yemeni conflict according to the UN and a further 2.5 million have been displaced. Over half the population faces severe food insecurity.

Save the Children says one in three under-fives is suffering acute malnutrition, while schools and hospitals have been flattened by Saudi bombs.

This week around 11 people were killed in an air strike on a hospital, following a pattern of bombings in civilian areas.

Amnesty and Human Rights Watch say they have identified 69 unlawful air strikes, some of which may amount to war crimes, killing at least 913 civilians. The two organisations also documented 19 attacks involving banned cluster munitions.

Mr Brake said: Days after yet another hospital has been bombed in Yemen, it is time for the UK government to reconfirm our commitment to International Humanitarian Law and be absolutely clear that we will not support the re-election of Saudi Arabia to the UN Human Rights Council.

The Conservatives claim that votes to the council are always kept secret, but we demand transparency on this critical issue and will no longer accept their endless excuses for the Saudi regime.

He added: This Friday, on World Humanitarian Day, this is the UKs chance to show true solidarity with all people facing conflict and instability across the globe.

People walk past a building destroyed during fighting in Yemen's southwestern city of Taiz (Reuters)

In April this year the number of beheadings in Saudi were on course to be more than double those that took place in 2015. In the first three months of 2016, 82 people were sentenced.

In January the state put 47 people to death for terror offences on a single day, mainly individuals convicted of involvement in deadly attacks.

Last year anti-government blogger Raif Badawi was flogged in public for exercising his right to free speech. He remains behind bars while his sister fled to Canada fearing for her life.

10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Show all 10 1 /10 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In October 2014, three lawyers, Dr Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih , were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for using Twitter to criticize the Ministry of Justice. AFP/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2015, Yemens Sunni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced into exile after a Shia-led insurgency. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has responded with air strikes in order to reinstate Mr Hadi. It has since been accused of committing war crimes in the country. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Women who supported the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the ban on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The government warned that women drivers would face arrest. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Members of the Kingdoms Shia minority, most of whom live in the oil-rich Eastern Province, continue to face discrimination that limits their access to government services and employment. Activists have received death sentences or long prison terms for their alleged participation in protests in 2011 and 2012. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses All public gatherings are prohibited under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011. Those defy the ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges such as inciting people against the authorities. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2014, the Interior Ministry stated that authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen, in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses The Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny access to independent human rights organisations like Amnesty International, and they have been known to take punitive action, including through the courts, against activists and family members of victims who contact Amnesty. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for using his liberal blog to criticise Saudi Arabias clerics. He has already received 50 lashes, which have reportedly left him in poor health. Carsten Koall/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Dawood al-Marhoon was arrested aged 17 for participating in an anti-government protest. After refusing to spy on his fellow protestors, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his confession. At Dawoods trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 aged either 16 or 17 for participating in protests during the Arab spring. His sentence includes beheading and crucifixion. The international community has spoken out against the punishment and has called on Saudi Arabia to stop. He is the nephew of a prominent government dissident. Getty

Amnestys UK Foreign Policy Programme Director Polly Truscott said: Theres no way Saudi Arabia should be on the Human Rights Council. Nothing's changed since we called for their suspension in June.

The sheer scale of systematic abuses that Saudi Arabia has committed both at home and in Yemen, not to mention its cynical use of its privileged UN role to evade justice, have greatly compromised its integrity to play any international human rights role.

Rather than turning a blind eye to Saudi Arabias continuing bully tactics, the UK should publicly hold the Saudi authorities to account for its appalling human rights record and the ongoing war crimes in Yemen and should stop selling weapons to Saudi as a matter of urgency.

Yemeni city under siege: Taiz reliant on smuggled fuel

The Campaign Against Arms Trade reports that the UK has licensed 3.3bn worth of arms to the Saudi government since last March.

They included 2.2bn worth of licenses for aircraft, helicopters and drones and 1.1bn of licences for bombs and missiles.

The UK Government has so far refused to rule out helping to re-elect Saudi to the UNHRC. Last year documents leaked to Wikileaks appeared to show the UK was involved in a vote-trading deal to help Saudi first join the council in 2013. A spokesman at the Foreign Office said today: It is a long-standing HMG policy not to reveal our voting intentions in international elections.

This article originally referred to Saudi Arabia as being chair of the Human Rights Council, we were subsequently informed that this was incorrect. The country's ambassador has at times chaired a panel related to the council.
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South Sudans rebel leader and former Vice-President Riek Machar has fled the country following a breakdown in its fragile peace agreement that has seen hundreds of civilians killed.

Weeks of violence between forces loyal to Mr Machar and those of President Salva Kiir culminated in a vote last week by the UN Security Council to send 4,000 peacekeepers to the capital of Juba. Mr Machar has crossed the border into neighbouring Congo after weeks in hiding and, according to a posting by his spokesman on Facebook, a botched attempt to assassinate him.

He has been replaced in his absence as Vice-President, and said he would not return to Juba until a regional UN force had restored calm there. But the government has not accepted the force, saying that such a deployment would be a violation of South Sudans sovereignty without President Kiirs approval.

The standoff raises questions about the ability of the UN to help diffuse the situation, and comes as the international body faces criticism over its failure to protect foreign aid workers in Juba.

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, has launched an independent investigation into allegations that peacekeepers refused to respond to calls for help from civilians and foreigners as South Sudanese soldiers went on rampage on 11 July. The Associated Press reported that at a single compound popular with foreigners, soldiers were allowed to run riot for more than four hours despite advance warning being sent to at least three UN forces nearby.

Several witnesses told the AP that soldiers shot dead a local journalist while forcing the foreigners to watch, raped several foreign women, singled out Americans, beat and robbed people and carried out mock executions.

The UN chief urges, once more, the government of South Sudan to investigate these human right violations and to prosecute those involved in these unspeakable acts of violence, his spokesman said.

President Kiir said on Monday that his government was also investigating the attack on the compound. He suggested some elements of his army were out of his control, saying the military was not completely subordinate to the authority of a civilian government.

Army spokesman Lul Rai Koang said 19 soldiers had been arrested because of crimes committed in July and currently face military trial. He did not give further details.
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The eccentric and controversial head of one of the most famous white settler families in Africa, the aristocratic old-Etonian Tom Cholmondeley, has died in a Nairobi hospital aged 48.

Son and heir of the fifth Lord Delamere, Mr Cholmondeley was twice accused of murdering locals on his vast, 50,000-acre Soysambu Estate in Kenyas Rift Valley, which he was known to patrol while wearing a cravat and armed with a Luger pistol and Winchester rifle.

The two incidents received national news coverage, stoking fierce resentments over race and land rights and exposing deep tensions about the British presence in Kenya.

Mr Cholmondeley is understood to have died following a complication with hip replacement surgery at the MP Shah hospital in Nairobi.

But as in life, the aristocrats death has not been uncontroversial. According to Kenyas The Star newspaper, the hospital refused on Thursday to give up Mr Cholmondeleys body for a post mortem.

An unnamed family member told the newspaper they had asked for independent checks to be carried out at the Lee Funeral Home, but were turned away from the hospital.

Its chief executive, Anup Das, announced the death as occurring during an unspecified procedure. When asked why the body had not been released, he referred questions to the Delamere family lawyers.

Mr Cholmondeley was the great-grandson of the third Lord Delamere, one of the first and most influential British settlers in Kenya.

After control over the vast Delamere ranch and an estimated 40 million estate passed to him from his now 80-year-old father, the area became known as a no-go zone for locals, according to the Daily Nation, where Mr Cholmondeley led a reclusive life separated from his wife and two sons.

In 2005, he claimed self-defense and was cleared without trial in the killing of an undercover wildlife ranger who was arresting Mr Cholmondeley's workers suspected of poaching.

He was then convicted of manslaughter in the 2006 shooting of a black poacher and was jailed for eight months. The judge reduced the charge from murder, saying that Mr Cholmondeley's attempts to give first aid proved that he accidentally shot the poacher when aiming at his dogs.

The cases enraged Kenyans, who said he received special treatment because of his relation to Lord Delamere.

And they received intense media scrutiny, in part because of an association with the callous and freewheeling ways of Kenyas earliest and largest white landowners, among whom the Delamere family were counted and whose antics inspired the book and movie adaptation White Mischief.
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More than 80,000 people have been told to leave their homes as a raging California wildfire spread over 50 square miles of mountain and desert.

Five years of drought have turned the states wildlands into a tinder box, with eight fires currently burning from Shasta County in the far north to Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego, on the border with Mexico.

The Associated Press said that east of Los Angeles, firefighters were battling the so-called Blue Cut Fire, and trying to contain flames that were swallowing homes amid hot, dry and gusty weather. Firefighters had managed to carve containment lines around only four per cent of the fire.

The fire has spread to an area of 50 square miles (AP)

There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing, said county Fire Chief Mark Hartwig, after flying over a fire scene he described as devastating.

It hit hard. It hit fast. It hit with an intensity that we hadnt seen before.

One evacuee, Shawn Brady, said he had been told by a neighbour that flames had raged down their street.

What Ive been told is that flames are currently ripping through my house, said Mr Brady, a dockworker who lives on the outskirts of the evacuated town of Wrightwood. Im trying to remain optimistic. Its the not knowing thats the worst.

Much of the fire, named for the narrow gorge north of San Bernardino where it started, is burning in uninhabited areas between the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountains, but populated areas also have been affected.

More than 80,000 people have been told to leave their homes (AP)

Reuters said that about a dozen school districts and a hospital clinic, all of which were closed on Thursday, were threatened by the blaze.

State transit officials said northbound lanes of Interstate 15, a highway from Los Angeles and Las Vegas which was closed earlier in the week, would reopen in the area by the end of Thursday.

Giant smoke columns rising from the fire could been seen from space in images captured on Wednesday by a Nasa satellite, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The news agency said the cause of the fire was under investigation.
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A flood has destroyed the home of a Christian lobbyist who preached that God sends natural disasters to punish gays.

President of the controversial Christian group Family Research Council, Tony Perkins, described a deluge of near biblical proportions hitting his Louisiana home.

During a broadcast on the groups radio station, he told how he and his family had fled in a canoe.

 20,000 rescued from record-breaking floods in Louisiana

This is a flood, I would have to say, of near biblical proportions, he said.

The family had to set up home in a RV motor home.

Mr Perkins has a long and well-documented history of disparaging gay people.

Writing on the FRC website, he said: While activists like to claim that pedophilia [sic] is a completely distinct orientation from homosexuality, evidence shows a disproportionate overlap between the two.  It is a homosexual problem.

He has also claimed homosexuality is incompatible with evolution and has likened it to a drug or alcohol addiction.

He added: "The most important thing that Christians can offer to homosexuals is hope - hope that their sins, just like the sins of anyone else, can be forgiven and their lives transformed.

Mr Perkins said he has been forced to live off Gods provisions following the flood.

In 2012, a group of Muslim clerics joined some Christian preachers in attributing the superstorm Sandy which devastated areas of America, Haiti and Cuba on the wrath of God.

In April this year, the then presidential candidate Ted Cruz appointed Mr Perkins into his advisory council for religious liberty.
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The four-year-old girl had deep purple bruises, a black eye, a swollen cheek and a mark on her forehead.

She also had healing scars across her back, dried blood in the corner of her mouth and ligature marks on her wrist, authorities said.

When a police officer asked her what her name was, she had a startling response: Idiot.

Her mothers live-in boyfriend, police said, regularly called the child Idiot instead of using her actual name. He also zip-tied the girl to her bed as a form of punishment, according to a police report.

Clarence Reed, 47, and the childs mother, Jennifer Denen, 30, both of Hot Springs, Ark., are now charged with domestic battery, permitting abuse of a minor and endangering welfare of a minor.

Police received a call Friday to the Cooper-Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center, where a staff member told an officer that a malnourished four-year-old had been abused in her home.

Reed and Denen, who were at the center when police arrived, were later arrested.

Denen told police that she had seen her boyfriend strike her daughter with a plastic bat and said shed heard Reed frequently call the child Idiot.

She admitted not seeking medical care for her daughter, the police report said.

Reed told authorities that he hit the child. But instead of a plastic bat, he told police, he had used a half-inch-thick wooden paddle, according to the report.

He also admitted zip-tying the child to punish her for climbing the kitchen cabinets.

And although he said he had called the child Idiot, Reed told police he meant it as a joke.

Cpl. Kirk Zaner, spokesman for the Hot Springs Police Department, told The Washington Post that a total of six children lived in the house, all of whom are Denens. One, an 11-month-old, is her only child with Reed.

Zaner said the 4-year-old girl and the 11-month-old are now in the custody of the Department of Human Services. The four older siblings are with their biological father.

In 2012, state and local child protective services received about 3.4 million reports of children being abused or neglected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of them, 78 percent, were victims of neglect; 18 percent suffered physical abuse, according to the CDC

About 80 per cent of perpetrators were parents, the CDC said, while six percent were relatives other than parents. Four percent of perpetrators were the parents unmarried partners.

Copyright: Washington Post
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Earlier this month, Mark Short took his three children to a theme park in Pennsylvania.

The next day, they were all dead.

On Aug. 6, police arrived at the Short's home after receiving a call from his mother-in-law, who reported that her daughter, Megan Short, was having domestic issues with her husband, Berks County District Attorney John Adams said. She said that Megan Short had missed a lunch date with her, which left her worried.

"The mother unsuccessfully attempted to contact Megan via cellphone and house phone," Adams said, so she contacted the police.

On that Saturday afternoon, officers made their way into the home through a kitchen window. Inside, they found five bodies.

Three were the Short children, 8-year-old Liana; 5-year-old Mark Jr.; and Willow, age 2.

Megan Short, their mother, was also dead.

A handgun was found next to the fifth body, a man. "That individual was later identified as Mark Jason Short Sr.," Adams said.

Adams this week detailed the events that led up to the fatal shootings at the Pennsylvania home in a news conference Monday. The incident made national headlines earlier this month: how Short and the children had visited Hersheypark; how husband and wife were in the midst of separating; and how Megan Short had gotten an apartment and was planning to move.

Authorities believe Mark Short was the gunman in the murder-suicide; he is believed to have shot his wife and children before turning the firearm on himself, officials said.

The Short family had previously garnered media attention over their youngest child, Willow. Before she was born, doctors discovered a heart defect. She was expected to be stillborn; instead, Willow Short received a heart transplant in the first few days of her life. She survived -- and her story made headlines.

"These children were young," Adams said. "And whenever we lose youthful, innocent human beings, it's never easy for a community to recover from that. So the fact of the matter is, is that it will be difficult, and hopefully we will remember these children for years to come, and how their lives were innocently taken by their father."

Authorities say Megan Short had made plans for her future. She had rented an apartment and was planning to finishing moving on Aug. 6, the day the bodies were discovered. Adams told reporters that family members were at the apartment, waiting to help her move. They called a neighbor when she didn't show, and later, Megan Short's mother called police.

An investigation found that in early June, security was called to a Philadelphia hotel room where Megan and Mark Short were staying. The reason: a domestic dispute, Adams said.

Then, on July 18, police responded to the Short home, and again, it was because of a domestic dispute. No charges were filed, and no physical injuries were discovered.

"The police department did everything that they are legally able to do in that situation," the district attorney said.

Mark Short purchased ammunition and a gun, a .38-caliber revolver, in July, one day after the domestic dispute was reported. He was going to rent a moving van to help Megan Short with the move, according to Adams.

The bodies were all discovered on the floor in a living room area of the home, said the district attorney. Authorities also found a one-page note, some of which was admission that Mark Short bought the firearm and committed the homicides.

"This was very, very unfortunate incident," Adams said. "I don't know that anything can be learned, other than when leaving an abusive relationship, it's often a very dangerous time for a victim. So we urge anyone who is in a similar situation to develop a safety plan and contact their local domestic violence agency for assistance."

Copyright: Washington Post
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A university student who was found biting a mans face after allegedly killing him and his wife in the US claimed he had superpowers.

Austin Harrouffs mother was searching for the 19-year-old at the time of the attack on Monday, after he stormed out of a restaurant following an argument with his father.

A police report said Mina Harrouff described her son acting strangely for a week, claiming he had superpowers and was here to protect people.

Mina told me that she does not believe him to be a danger to anyone or to himself, officer Luis Rocha wrote in a statement taken during the search for the teenager.

Harrouff, a student at Florida State University, was allegedly found tearing off parts of a mans face with his teeth 45 minutes after leaving the restaurant.

Onvestigators believe the man may have taken a drug called flakka (Drug Enforcement Agency)

Police were called by a neighbour who tried to stop the attack at the couples home in Tequesta, Florida.

William Snyder, the Martin County Sherriff, said a female police officer arrived at the scene to find the suspect on top of 59-year-old John Stevens, topless and biting his face.

The officer shot him with a Taser but it had no effect, he said, and when she tried to pull the topless suspect off his victim he showed abnormal levels of strength.

Two more officers arrived but were still unable to remove the suspect and could not safely shoot him, fearing the bullets would hit Mr Stevens.

He was not feeling pain, not responding to a dog biting, not responding to a Taser, three or four people pulling him off, Mr Snyder said.

The suspect was eventually removed but Mr Stevens was pronounced dead on his driveway, while his wife Michelle Mishcon, 53, was found dead in the garage.

Police said the couple had been beaten and stabbed in what appeared to be a completely unprovoked and random attack as they sat on a sofa in their open garage, which was covered in decorations and fairy lights.

World's 10 deadliest street drugs Show all 10 1 /10 World's 10 deadliest street drugs World's 10 deadliest street drugs Whoonga Whoonga is a combination of antiretroviral drugs, used to treat HIV, and various cutting agents such as detergents and poisons. The drug is widely available in South Africa due to South Africas high rate of HIV sufferers, and is believed to be popular due to how cheap it is when compared to prescribed antiretrovirals. The drug is highly addictive and can cause major health issues such as internal bleeding, stomach ulcers and ultimately death Getty World's 10 deadliest street drugs Scopolamine Scopolamine is a derivative from the nightshade plant found in the Northern Indian region of South America (Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela). It is generally found in a refined powder form, but can also be found as a tea. The drug is more often used by criminals due its high toxicity level (one gram is believed to be able to kill up to 20 people) making it a strong poison. However, it is also believed that the drug is blown into the faces of unexpecting victims, later causing them to lose all sense of self-control and becoming incapable of forming memories during the time they are under the influence of the drug. This tactic has reportedly been used by gangs in Colombia where there have been reports of people using scopolamine as way to convince victims to rob their own homes World's 10 deadliest street drugs Heroin Founded in 1874 by C. R. Alder Wright, heroin is one of the worlds oldest drugs. Originally it was prescribed as a strong painkiller used to treat chronic pain and physical trauma. However in 1971 it was made illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Since then it has become one of the most destructive substances in the world, tearing apart communities and destroying families. The side effects of heroin include inflammation of the gums, cold sweats, a weak immune system, muscular weakness and insomnia. It can also damage blood vessels which can later cause gangrene if left untreated World's 10 deadliest street drugs Crack cocaine Crack cocaine first came about in the 1980s when cocaine became a widespread commodity within the drug trafficking world. Originally cocaine would have attracted a high price tag due to its rarity and difficulty to produce, but once it became more widespread the price dropped significantly. This resulted in drug dealers forming their cocaine into rock like shapes by using baking soda as a way of distilling the powder down into rock form. People were doing this because it allowed for them to sell cocaine at a lower quantity and to a higher number of people. The side effects of crack cocaine include liver, kidney and lung damage, as well as permanent damage to blood vessels, which can often lead to heart attacks, strokes, and ultimately death World's 10 deadliest street drugs Crystal meth Not just famous because of a certain Walter H White, but also because it is one of the most destructive drugs in the world. First developed in 1887, it became widely used during the Second World War when both sides would give it to their troops to keep them awake. It is also believed that the Japanese gave it to their Kamikaze pilots before their suicide missions. After the war crystal meth was prescribed as a diet aid and remained legal until the 1970s. Since then it has fallen into the hands of Mexican gangs and has become a worldwide phenomenon, spreading throughout Europe and Asia. The effects of crystal meth are devastating. In the short-term users will become sleep depraved and anxious, and in the long-term it will cause their flesh to sink, as well as brain damage and damage of the blood vessels World's 10 deadliest street drugs AH-7921 AH-7921 is a synthetic opioid that was previously available to legally purchase online from vendors until it became a Class A in January 2015. The drug is believed to have 80% of the potency of morphine, and became known as the legal heroin. While there has only been one death related to AH-7921 in the UK, it is believed to be highly dangerous and capable of causing respiratory arrest and gangrene World's 10 deadliest street drugs Flakka Flakka is a stimulant with a similar chemical make-up to the amphetamine-like drug found in bath salts. While the drug was originally marketed as a legal high alternative to ecstasy, the effects are significantly different. The user will feel an elevated heart rate, enhanced emotions, and, if enough is digested, strong hallucinations. The drug can cause permanent psychological damage due to it affecting the mood regulating neurons that keep the minds serotonin and dopamine in check, as well as possibly causing heart failure World's 10 deadliest street drugs Bath salts Bath salts are a synthetic crystalline drug that is prevalent in the US. While they may sound harmless, they certainly arent the sort of salts you drop into a warm bath when having a relaxing night in, they are most similar to mephedrone, and have recently been featured throughout social media due to the zombification of its. The name comes from the fact that the drug was originally sold online, and widely disguised as bath salts. The side effects include unusual psychiatric behaviour, psychosis, panic attacks and violent behaviour, as well as the possibility of a heart attack and an elevated body temperature World's 10 deadliest street drugs Purple Drank One of the more unusual drugs around at the moment, purple drank was popularised in 90s hip hop culture, with the likes of Jay Z and Big Moe all mentioning it in their songs. It is a concoction of soda water, sweets and cold medicine, and is drunk due to cold medicines high codeine content, which gives the user a woozy feeling. However it can also cause respiratory issues and heart failure World's 10 deadliest street drugs Krokodil Krokodil is Russias secret addiction. It is believed that over one million Russians are addicted to the drug. Users of krokodil are attracted to the drug due to its low price; it is sold at 20 a gram while heroin is sold for 60. However, krokodil is considered more dangerous than heroin because it is often homemade, with ingredients including painkillers, iodine, lighter fluid and industrial cleaning agents. This chemical make-up makes the drug highly dangerous and likely to cause gangrene, and eventually rotting of the flesh

There was an enormous amount of violence in that garage, Mr Snyder said, adding that there was no connection between the couple and Harrouff.

He was taken to hospital, where his condition deteriorated on Thursday night and he is unable to speak because of a breathing tube.

Harrouff, who had no criminal record, is being held under guard and was scheduled to undergo surgery on his hand.

A routine drug screening showed no trace of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin or other common drug, causing investigators to turn to hallucinogenics including flakka or bath salts.

 Legal Highs in Newcastle

Flakka, nicknamed gravel, has recently been banned in the UK and US because of the excited delirium it causes.

We know in our business that people on flakka or bath salts will do this type of behaviour where they attack the victim and do the biting and remove pieces of flesh, Mr Snyder said, adding that the Harrouff was making animal-like sounds in hospital.

What happened during that walk that led to a level of violence that was unprecedented in normal police work?"
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One of the lawyers defending the Baltimore police department against claims of racial discrimination has ties to a neo-Nazi group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Centre.

Glen Keith Allen, 65, is a reported donor to extreme right-wing party National Alliance, as shown by public documents.

He is now defending the Baltimore City Law Department in a lawsuit which alleges that police officers withheld and fabricated evidence to wrongfully arrest African-American man, Sabein Burgess, who spent 19 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit.

Recommended Read more Justice Department slams Baltimore Police Department for abuse

The news of Mr Allens alleged background comes as Baltimore is grappling with the results of a Justice Department report, which shows that black residents have been routinely discriminated against for years.

Our investigation found that Baltimore is a city where the bonds of trust have been broken, and that the Baltimore Police Department engaged in a pattern or practise of unlawful and unconstitutional conduct, ranging from the use of excessive force to unjustified stops, seizures and arrests, said Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Mr Burgess was freed from prison in 2014 and his conviction was dropped, but Mr Allen denied that he was innocent, as found the SPLC.

His case is just one of three that alleges wrongful incarceration before the courts in Baltimore.

Records obtained by the SPLC show that Mr Allen paid membership fees to the National Alliance for years, and was a subscribed to its publications.

He also allegedly bought a ticket and DVD relating to a Holocaust denial conference, receipts show.

Mr Allens employer, the Baltimores Litigation and Claims Practice Group, could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Group also asserts and aggressively attempts to preserve the damage limits established by the State, read the Law Departments annual report.

Mr Allen could also not be reached at the time of writing.

According to public records, Mr Allen donated to the American Eagle Party, run by a man called Merlin Miller who claimed during an interview that the Israeli intelligence service was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

Out of the 109 people who were killed in Maryland, Baltimore, between 2010 and 2014, only two officers were charged, and one was acquitted by a jury, found the American Civil Liberties Union.

In the city where Freddie Gray was killed, the Justice Department report showed that black people accounted for 95 per cent of those individuals who were stopped by police more than ten times over the last five and a half years, and in a city where blacks make up just 63 per cent of the overall population.

In another headache to the Law Department, a complaint has been filed this week by various human rights groups that alleges the Baltimore polices unlicensed use of a mobile phone surveillance tool called Stingray was a violation of civil rights. The tool, they say, allows police to track communication between residents without their knowing.
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At first glance it might be a child's discarded cuddly toy.

But look closer at the image and the pleading face is actually that of a real, live raccoon, stuck tight in a drain.

This was the sight that greeted Shayla Howe, animal control officer with Northampton Police in Massachussetts, when she was called to the local Veterans Affairs Medical Centre.

Someone had spotted the luckless animal and realised it wouldn't survive long without specialist help.

It was still young and small enough to get its head through the drain's grate  but not out again.

Officer Ryan Tellier, of the Northampton Police Department, said the rescue was a slow, careful operation, that involved lifting the grate from the drain with the help of staff from the hospital.

After almost 2.5 hours of trying to rescue the animal she was able to free it with the help of some cooking grease, he said, adding that the animal was reunited with his mother and appeared none the worse for his adventure.

Raccoons are native to North America, where they are a frequent pest, rummaging through bins and ransacking kitchens if windows are left open.

They are nocturnal and generally hide away during the day.
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A school in Arkansas has had enough of its pupils being mollycoddled by doting parents and has come up with a tongue-in-cheek response.

A photograph of a sign fixed to the front door of Little Rocks Catholic High School for Boys proposing a tough-love approach has gone viral.

It reads: If you are dropping off your sons forgotten lunch, books, homework, equipment etc, please turn around and exit the building.

Your son will learn to problem-solve in your absence.

Recommended Read more Father sues private school after son fails all but one of his GCSEs

The image has been shared more than 100,000 times since being posted a week ago.

Steve Straessle, the principal, said the idea was straightforward.

It's simply to help boys avoid the default switch of calling mum and dad when things don't go right to bail them out, he told KARK TV.

The pupils are sanguine about the notice.

It makes me think for myself and not rely on other people to do things for me, said Patrick Wingfield. And if I make a mistake, I need to learn from it and try and fix it.

Less so the parents, many of whom have bombarded the schools Facebook page with concerns that children will starve if they have forgotten their lunch, for example.

One raised concerns about diabetic pupils.

Of course Im sure youre not talking about diabetic or other needs, like mine whos type 1. Because just so you know, Id hurt any one of you that stood in the way of me getting my sons medicine to him.

 Man pays school fine with coins

But overall the comments were supportive of the school of hardish knocks.

You learn by taking responsibility, not by escaping it, was a common theme.
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Barely three weeks after a federal appeals court issued a blistering ruling overturning a North Carolina voter registration law that it called a deliberate attempt to suppress the black vote, Republicans across the state are fighting back.

Ground zero of the effort is here in Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte, the largest city in the state where African Americans account for 35 per cent of the population.

The bitter struggle over voter ID laws in North Carolina is being closely watched nationally as courts here and in other states have begun to invalidate repressive laws passed after Republicans made historic gains in state legislatures in 2010, taking absolute control in 25.

No law was more radical than the one passed in North Carolina in 2013. It limited early voting days to 10 instead of 17, imposed new ID requirements and ended voter registration on election day, all things that tend to increase turn-out among blacks, who historically have voted Democrat.

In its ruling on 29 July, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said the law had been crafted to target African-Americans with almost surgical precision. It added: Because of race, the legislature enacted one of the largest restrictions of the franchise in modern North Carolina history. Republicans contend that lax electoral arrangements are an invitation to voter fraud.

The case could directly impact the elections in November, with North Carolina regarded as one of a handful of states Donald Trump must win if he is to prevail against Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama carried Mecklenburg County by 22 points in 2012. Moreover 70 percent of African-Americans used early voting in the county versus 48 percent of white voters

Earlier this week, Governor Pat McCrory, a Republican, formally asked the US Supreme Court to intervene and issue a stay of the ruling. Meanwhile, top officials with the state party have urged officials on county elections boards to find ways to mitigate the effects of the ruling. Every county board in the state is controlled by Republicans.

With a Friday deadline to submit final plans, the Mecklenburg board this week took the lead voting over the objections of Democrats and a clear majority of those in the public gallery to cut the number of early voting sites and also slash 228 early voting hours, a significant reduction.

Im not a big fan of early voting, the board chair Mary Potter Summa declared at the meeting, apparently disregarding the federal appeals courts admonitions. The more [early voting] sites we have, the more opportunities exist for violations.

Every elections board was urged to try to blunt the Court ruling by cutting early voting hours where possible in an email sent out early this week by North Carolinas Republican Party executive director Dallas Woodhouse and unearthed by Democratic activists.

Democrats are mobilising for a fight over early voting locations and times, he wrote with unsubtle language. They are filling up election board meetings and demanding changes that are friendly to democrats and possibly voter fraud. Republicans should fight with all they have to promote safe and secure voting and for rules that are fair to our side.

The purpose of the Circuit Court was clear, Allison Riggs, a lawyer with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, a civil rights group that was a main challenger to the law, noted on Thursday. We said that the law was racially discriminatory, created unjustified burden on the fundamental right to vote, she said, appearing on Charlotte Talks, a public radio show. The circuit court agreed with us that the law was motivated by an intent to suppress African American voting strength.

The state remains defiant, arguing it should not be forced to scramble mere months before the general election to rejigger settled election plans at the Fourth Circuit's command.

The Fourth Circuit's ruling is just plain wrong and we cannot allow it to stand, Mr McCrory said this week. We are confident that the Supreme Court will uphold our state's law and reverse the Fourth Circuit. He insisted that his states law had become, a model and other states are using similar laws without challenges.

That is not accurate, however. A court of appeals in July blocked a similar voter ID law in Texas, which had been widely seen as deliberately disenfranchising minority voters, notably blacks and Hispanics. A voter ID law passed by the Republican-controlled legislature of Wisconsin was also struck down on the grounds it discriminated against new voters.

Republicans insist on tighter voting rules, including requiring voters to show up at polling stations with one form of identification, to avoid voter fraud. They saw it as a core philosophical belief. a core belief, commented Dr Michael Bitzer, a professor of politics at Catawba College, in Salisbury, North Carolina, near Charlotte. And once you gain majority control you get to do what you want.

There is scant evidence to back up the voter fraud claim, however. In contrast, it is clear that the ID requirement in particular discourages the most dispossessed among voters, who, for instance, dont have driving licences, to participate in elections. And that most often means blacks.
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A man has confessed to murdering his wife in the name of "honour" fifteen years after allegedly killing his first wife for the same reason.

The man in his 50s has been charged with slitting his wife's throat in Pakistan during an argument and been arrested by police.

His 30-year-old wife is his second spouse to suffer death at his hands, according to local media reporting on the crime in Karachi.

"My wife had relations with another man. I am not ashamed what I have done, he told the Express Tribune, while reportedly confessing to the murder. A mob who heard his wife's screams reportedly beat him when they discovered his actions.

I warned her many times but she did not understand. I even tried to convince her the night before I killed her."

The murder comes after Amnesty International urged the Pakistani government to stop failing to hold perpetrators of horrific "honour" killings to account. A number of high-profile murders has shone a spotlight on the atrocities against women in the south Asian country.

The woman was killed in SITE Town in Karachi, which stands for the Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate that lies in western Karachi, according to local police.

Taj Muhammad Wasan, a police inspector in the area, said the accused had already murdered his first wife, and mother of his three children, 15 years earlier on the same "grounds".

"He had been imprisoned for killing his first wife who was his maternal uncle's daughter with whom he also had three children," said Mr Wasan.

"This time around, he is also giving the same reason."

The countries with anti-women laws Show all 5 1 /5 The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws

Pakistani authorities must end impunity for so called "honour" killings and other violence against women, Amnesty International warned in July this year.

The human rights organisation called on the government to change a law which allows the family of a murderer to grant them a "pardon", thereby meaning no charges are brought against them.

The recent murder of social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch by her own brother prompted Pakistani authorities to label it a "crime against the state" and refuse to allow the family to pardon their son in the first move of its kind.

When asked why he drugged and strangled his sister, who often spoke out against the country's conservative traditions on social media, Waseem Baloch exhibited no remorse.

I am proud of what I did. I drugged her first, then I killed her, he told reporters.

"Girls are born to stay at home and follow traditions. My sister never did that.

Last month, a 28-year-old beautician from Bradford called Samia Shahid was killed by her ex-husband when she visited relatives in her ancestral village in the northern Punjab region of Pakistan.

Her former partner confessed he drugged and strangled his young ex-wife after his family told him the marriage had been dishonourable.

Nearly 1,100 women were murdered by relatives who believed they had dishonoured their family in Pakistan last year, according to a report by the country's own human rights commission.

"By failing to hold perpetrators of so-called 'honour' killings accountable for their crimes, the Pakistani state has been forfeiting its duty to the victims and letting a climate of impunity take reign," a spokesperson for Amnesty International has said.
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Angela Merkel has insisted there is no way to reverse the UK's decision to vote for Brexit, saying the result is "irrevocable".

Prime Minister Theresa May has yet to formally trigger the process of negotiating the country's exit from the bloc, after Britain voted narrowly to leave the EU in a referendum on 23 June.

In an interview released by the German Chancellor's Christian Democratic Union party on Thursday, Ms Merkel urged Britain to negotiate a deal which would support the interests of both countries.

She said: "The whole process of the exit still lies ahead of us, but the decision is irrevocable.

"Now we must negotiate on the basis of our interests. And 'negotiate' means, above all, strengthening common projects."

The Chancellor added that although Brexit is a test for the EU, the union offers its members a strong voice in the world that an individual country would not have.

Germany's Deputy Foreign Minister has also hinted at an advantageous Brexit deal for both nations.

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

Michael Roth, the government minister responsible for European affairs, said Britain's future relationship with the EU requires a "custom-fit" solution, however it will not be able to "cherry-pick" its terms, insisting the UK cannot expect access to the EU's common market without the free movement of workers.

Mr Roth told Bloomberg on Wednesday: This is a historically unique situation. Britain is a major economy and has been an EU member for decades. We will surely reach a custom-fit agreement between the EU and Britain."

On Thursday, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg suggested she saw some advantages if Britain joined the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) after quitting the EU, qualifying past doubts about British membership.

She told Reuters, Britains 65 million people would radically change the EFTA, which now comprises Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Lichtenstein with a combined population of just 14 million.

"It's easy to see some advantages of British membership. It's a big country with a big economy," Ms Solberg said.

But the benefit of more clout also means Britain might demand conditions that would mainly help it - rather than its putative EFTA partners - when negotiating trade deals.

"Some countries will probably think it's fine to have a free trade deal with us [EFTA], but won't necessarily think that it's equally simple to have a free trade deal with Britain," she said.

 Senegal charities fear EU aid cuts post-Brexit

This not the first time Ms Merkel has said Brexit is irreversible, previously saying it is wishful thinking to suggest there is any way Britain can stay in the EU.

Speaking ahead of an EU summit in June, Ms Merkel said: I want to say very clearly  that I see no way to reverse this.

We all need to look at the reality of the situation. It is not the hour for wishful thinking.

Additional reporting by agencies
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A Qatar Airways plane has made an emergency landing in Istanbul after one of its engines caught fire following a bird strike.

Radar showed the aircraft diverting over the Marmara Sea shortly after take-off on Thursday and returning to land at Istanbul Ataturk Airport.

Footage showed flames bursting out of the Airbus A330's left engine as it came in to land.

Data recorded by FlightRadar24 showed the plane performing a U-turn to land at Istanbul Airport on 18 August (FlightRadar24)

Mehmet Kirazoglu told The Independent he was at a Turkish Airlines technology building near by the airport when he heard a strange plane engine sound overhead.

When we looked up we saw that a Qatar plane's left engine was flaming out, he added.

It turned round towards the sea, I suppose it drained its fuel. Afterwards we learnt it landed safely.

Mr Kirazoglu said he and his colleagues could clearly see that the left engine was burning and that the aircrafts landing gear had not been closed.

A spokesperson for Qatar Airways said the plane landed safely and all 298 passengers and 14 crew "disembarked normally", although local Turkish news agencies reported one woman on board was hospitalised after becoming faint.

The airline said it would send a replacement aircraft to Istanbul to take delayed passengers onward to its hub in the vast new Hamad International Airport in Doha, which is preparing to host the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

In pictures: Emirates plane crash-lands in Dubai Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: Emirates plane crash-lands in Dubai In pictures: Emirates plane crash-lands in Dubai An Emirates plane erupts in flames after crash landing at Dubai International Airport on 3 August 2016 jamesdxb/Instagram In pictures: Emirates plane crash-lands in Dubai Footage showed a fireball bursting from the plane after it crash landed at Dubai International Airport In pictures: Emirates plane crash-lands in Dubai Smoke rising after an Emirates flight crash landed at Dubai International Airport on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016. AP In pictures: Emirates plane crash-lands in Dubai Emirates plane crash lands at Dubai International Airport YouTube In pictures: Emirates plane crash-lands in Dubai An Emirates Boeing 777-300 at Dubai International Airport on 3 August 2016. EPA In pictures: Emirates plane crash-lands in Dubai Emirates airlines Boeing 777-300 A6-EMW plane flight number EK521 from Trivandrum to Dubai lays on the ground in Dubai airport after being gutted by fire EPA In pictures: Emirates plane crash-lands in Dubai Dubai International Airport after an Emirates Airline flight crash-landed, the UAE August 3, 2016. Reuters

The flight, codenamed QR240, took off for Doha at 1.20pm local time (11.20am BST) and landed in Istanbul 40 minutes later.

Officials said it suffered a "bird strike", which typically happens when large flocks are sucked into jet engines, causing them to fail by breaking fan blades.

Twin-engine planes like the A330 can fly with one engine, with pilots trained to safely take off and land in the event of failure.

There are also in-built safeguards to stop fires spreading, with fire extinguishers inside engines that can be activated from the cockpit.

Earlier this month, an Emirates plane was consumed by flames after landing at Dubai International Airport, with the blaze killing a firefighter.

Istanbul Ataturk Airport was targeted by Isis supporters in a gun and bomb attack that killed more than 40 people on 28 June but there was no suggestion of foul play in Thursday's incident.
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An increase in Islamist terror attacks in Germany cannot be blamed on the influx of refugees from Syria and the Middle East, according to the countrys chancellor Angela Merkel.

Speaking at a campaign event in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the leader countered fears refugees were in any way responsible for a series of attacks on German citizens last month.

Mrs Merkel did however admit it was apparent terror groups including Isis were attempting to recruit a number of the million or so refugees who have taken asylum in Germany over the past year.

But the phenomenon of Islamist terrorism including Isis is not one which has come to us through refugees, she said, but rather one which we already had here before.

Through digitalisation, through social media, through the so-called darkweb - which is now in the media again because of the Munich shooting - we must constantly and continuously adapt to tackle these threats.

An Islam that works and lives on the basis of the constitution belongs to Germany.

An Islam that works and lives on the basis of the constitution...belongs to Germany <p>Chancellor Angela Merkel</p>

At the end of July, Mrs Merkel flatly rejected calls to alter the countrys refugee policy and stressed that those fleeing persecution had the right to be protected.

The terrorists want to make us lose sight of what is important to us, break down our cohesion and sense of community, as well as inhibit our way of life, our openness and our willingness to take in people who are in need, she told a news conference in Berlin.

The influx of migrants since 2015 has boosted support for the right-wing anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, while Ms Merkels own popularity has slumped with only 48% of Germans approving of the Chancellors immigration policies.

Refugees settle in Germany Show all 12 1 /12 Refugees settle in Germany Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat, a refugee from Syria, plays with his daughter Ranim, who is nearly 3, in the one room they and Mohamed's wife Laloosh call home at an asylum-seekers' shelter in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The Zayats arrived approximately two months ago after trekking through Turkey, Greece and the Balkans and are now waiting for local authorities to process their asylum application, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany A refugee child Amnat Musayeva points to a star with her photo and name that decorates the door to her classroom as teacher Martina Fischer looks on at the local kindergarten Amnat and her siblings attend on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The children live with their family at an asylum-seekers' shelter in nearby Vossberg village and are waiting for local authorities to process their asylum applications. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Kurdish Syrian asylum-applicant Mohamed Ali Hussein (R), 19, and fellow applicant Autur, from Latvia, load benches onto a truckbed while performing community service, for which they receive a small allowance, in Wilhelmsaue village on October 9, 2015 near Letschin, Germany. Mohamed and Autur live at an asylum-applicants' shelter in nearby Vossberg village. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Ali Hussein ((L), 19, and his cousin Sinjar Hussein, 34, sweep leaves at a cemetery in Gieshof village, for which they receive a small allowance, near Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat, a refugee from Syria, looks among donated clothing in the basement of the asylum-seekers' shelter that is home to Mohamed, his wife Laloosh and their daughter Ranim as residents' laundry dries behind in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The Zayats arrived approximately two months ago after trekking through Turkey, Greece and the Balkans and are now waiting for local authorities to process their asylum application, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Asya Sugaipova (L), Mohza Mukayeva and Khadra Zhukova prepare food in the communal kitchen at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is their home in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Efrah Abdullahi Ahmed looks down from the communal kitchen window at her daughter Sumaya, 10, who had just returned from school, at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is their home in Vossberg Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Asylum-applicants, including Syrians Mohamed Ali Hussein (C-R, in black jacket) and Fadi Almasalmeh (C), return from grocery shopping with other refugees to the asylum-applicants' shelter that is their home in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat (2nd from L), a refugee from Syria, smokes a cigarette after shopping for groceries with his daughter Ranim, who is nearly 3, and fellow-Syrian refugees Mohamed Ali Hussein (C) and Fadi Almasalmeh (L) at a local supermarket on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. All of them live at an asylum-seekers' shelter in nearby Vossberg village and are waiting for local authorities to process their asylum applications, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Kurdish Syrian refugees Leila, 9, carries her sister Avin, 1, in the backyard at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is home to them and their family in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Somali refugees and husband and wife Said Ahmed Gure (R) and Ayaan Gure pose with their infant son Muzammili, who was born in Germany, in the room they share at an asylum-seekers' shelter in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity, and are waiting for authorities to process their application for asylum 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel pauses for a selfie with a refugee after she visited the AWO Refugium Askanierring shelter for refugees in Berlin Getty Images

AfD politicians and members have repeatedly suggested a link between the growth in Islamist terrorism and the arrival of refugees from Syria. Mrs Merkel has meanwhile been criticised in right-wing circles for her perceived inability to deal with the Islamist terror threat.

There were four attacks on citizens in southern Germany over the space of a week in July, two of which were reportedly perpetrated by asylum seekers who had pledged support for Isis.

A 17-year-old who attacked train passengers with an axe near Wurzburg was shot dead and police later found an Isis flag in his bedroom.

The Chancellor concluded her speech by reiterating the governments plans to confront terror threats in a more effective way by increasing police personnel and boosting powers to intervene.
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At least 11 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in a string of bombings blamed on separatist militants in Turkey.

One blast struck near a police station in the city of Elazig on Thursday morning, hours after another car bomb was detonated near the Iranian border.

A third attack saw a roadside bomb targed a military vehicle as it carried soldiers through the south-east of the country.

Members of the public and police inspect the site of a car bomb attack on a police station in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig on August 18, 2016. (AFP/Getty Images)

Local suspicion quickly turned to Kurdish separatist groups but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

Footage showed dozens of people running from the explosion in Elazig, which partly destroyed several buildings and left the street strewn with rubble and overturned cars.

Inside the police station, officers searched for their colleagues through offices filled with debris, after windows were shattered and walls and ceilings blown down by the force of the blast.

A large plume of smoke was seen rising from the area of the blast as emergency services gathered at the scene at 9.20am local time (7.20am BST).

Murat Zorluoglu, the governor for Elazig, said the explosion killed three police officers and wounded 146 people, with 14 in a serious condition.

Kurdish militants have carried out frequent bomb attacks in south-eastern parts of Turkey in recent months but Elazig, in Eastern Anatolia, has not been an area of significant conflict.

Officials work at the blast scene after a car bomb attack on a police station in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig, Turkey August 18, 2016. (Reuters)

Hours later in the south-eastern province of Bitlis, four soldiers were killed and seven wounded after rebels detonated an improvised explosive device as an armoured military vehicle was passing by.

On Wednesday night, three people were killed and 73 more - 53 civilians and 20 police officers - had been wounded when a car bomb exploded near another police station in the eastern province of Van near the Iranian border.

The Defence Minister, Fikri Isik, said the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was behind the attacks. The people see the real face of the PKK, he said.

Amnesty International condemned the bombings as the latest in a series of reckless and brutal attacks.

"Those responsible for these crimes show a contempt for the right to life and must be brought to justice," said Andrew Gardner, the rights group's Turkey researcher.

Authorities imposed a temporary blackout on media coverage of the bombing in Elazig, citing public order and national security concerns in a move frequently seen after deadly attacks.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim (C) at the scene of a car bomb attack on a police station in the city of Elazig, on August 18, 2016. (AFP/Getty Images)

Thursday's order asked media organisations to refrain from broadcasting and publishing anything that may cause fear in the public, panic and disorder and which may serve the aims of terrorist organisations.

Clashes between fighters and the Turkish military resumed last year after a fragile peace process collapsed.

More than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency, while human rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also been killed.

Tens of thousands of people since the PKK, with is proscribed as a terrorist group by the British Government and others, took up arms demanding autonomy in Turkey in 1984.

The latest attacks came amid continuing international alarm over the governments response to a failed coup to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said more than 40,000 people had been detained since the attempt on 15 July and about half have been formally arrested pending charges.

Those arrested include journalists and academics accused of supporting the Gulen movement, which authorities blame for the coup, and thousands of public sector workers have been suspended or sacked.

Mark Toner, a spokesperson for the US State Department, raised concern over the closure of the pro-Kurdish Ozgur Gundem newspaper on Tuesday.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

We would encourage Turkey, as it takes these kind of steps in the security realm, to be mindful of the impact that that kind of action would have on its democratic institutions, he said.

Michael Horowitz, a senior analyst at the Levantine Group, told The Independent PKK attacks had increased in both number and sophistication since the failed coup, which saw thousands of army personnel discharged.

Kurdish insurgents have intensified their attacks against Turkish security forces, and are using car bombs to target both police stations as well as smaller targets, such as police convoys, he said.

The PKK is taking advantage of the weakening of the army to increase its campaign of attacks.

Among the senior officers removed from their posts was General Adem Huduti, an alleged coup leader and the commander of Turkey's Second Army - the division in charge of south-eastern Turkey and the borders with Iraq, Syria and Iran.

He was a central piece in the fight against the PKK and his dismissal and arrest have left a void that the PKK is attempting to exploit, Mr Horowitz added.

Beyond that, the PKK may see the aftermath of the coup as an unprecedented opportunity to put pressure on Erdogan's government, and force him to resume negotiations.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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The family of a young Syrian boy, whose photo has become a symbol of the suffering endured by civilians living under relentless bombardment in the country's brutal civil war, have been pulled alive from the rubble of their home.

When five-year-old Omran Daqneesh was filmed in an ambulance on Wednesday evening, covered in dust and blood from a devastating air strike, the fate of his parents and siblings was unclear.

He sat alone in dazed silence dwarfed by an orange chair, trying to wipe his hands clean on the plastic, in harrowing images that have provoked outrage across the world.

Omran Daqneesh after having received some medical treatment (Aleppo Media Centre)

Rescue workers described how they had pulled the little boy from his destroyed family home after it was hit by the latest round of bombing in rebel-held areas of Aleppo.

Mahmoud Raslan, who photographed Omran, said volunteers formed a human chain in attempts to find survivors.

We were passing them from one balcony to the other, he told the Associated Press, saying he carried three lifeless bodies before being handed the little boy.

Mr Raslan rushed him to the ambulance, which transported him to a hospital codenamed 'M10' to be treated for a head injury.

Doctors reported eight people killed in the strike, including five children, but Omrans family was not among the victims.

His three siblings, aged one, six and 11, as well as his mother and father, were pulled injured but alive from their partially destroyed block of flats.

Residents inspect their damaged homes after an air strike on the rebel-held Old Aleppo on Monday (Reuters)

We sent the younger children immediately to the ambulance, but the 11-year-old girl waited for her mother to be rescued. Her ankle was pinned beneath the rubble, Mr Raslan said.

The building has since collapsed leaving the Daqneesh family homeless, and rescue workers said they worked until 5am to dig victims out of the ruins.

Recommended Read more Photographer who took iconic photo of bloodied Syrian boy speaks out

Charities say Omran and his family now face an uncertain future, as Aleppo continues to be the focus of battles and bombardment, with no aid deliveries so far able to enter rebel-held areas.

Save the Children said its partners have had ambulances hit by air strikes, on top of the numerous medical facilities damaged and destroyed.

Kirsty McNeill, director of advocacy, policy and campaigns at the charity, said the photo of Omran has bought home the horror of life in Syria" with an impact likened to harrowing images of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, who drowned trying to reach safety in Greece last year.

Yesterday one of our partners sent us a photo of another little boy, she added.

The situation in Aleppo on 18 August 2016, with rebel territory and attacks seen in green, regime in red and Kurdish in yellow. (Liveuamap)

They had taken him to hospital following an airstrike, wearing special traditional Aleppo clothes that children wear for celebrations like birthdays.

His gold and velvet jacket was ripped open, a bloody bandage on his head.

They took him to hospital  but he died of his injuries. Our partner said that the boy 'turned from a future dream for his parents into a dead body  they only kissed him a goodbye kiss and thats it'.

Ms McNeill said the boy was one of dozens of children known to have been killed in Aleppo in the past week alone, with many more dying in homes and schools across Syria.

We urgently need a 48 hour ceasefire but that is not enough  we must find a way to bring the siege and bombardment of civilians in Syria to an end, she added.

Doctors in Aleppo use code names for hospitals, which they say have been systematically targeted by Bashar al-Assads forces, leaving many patients too frightened to attend.

The city, which is split between regime and rebel control, has been at the epicentre of continued battles and bombing despite successive attempts at ceasefires.

In pictures: Aleppo bombing Show all 14 1 /14 In pictures: Aleppo bombing In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Smoke rises after airstrikes on the rebel-held al-Sakhour neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family runs for cover amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Al-Qatarji in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man reacts as he stands on blood stains at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel held area of Aleppo's al-Fardous district, Syria, April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damage of the airstrikes in the rebel-held area of Aleppo on April 28 Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damaged the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-backed al-Quds hospital after it was hit by airstrikes, in a rebel-held area of Syria's Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians evacuate an injured man amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following an air strike on a rebel-held of Aleppo on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man leads a woman in tears and child out of the scene after airstrikes hit Aleppo AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Civil defence members search for survivors after an airstrike at a field hospital in the rebel held area of al-Sukari district of Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of a relative who died in a reported air strike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Soukour in the northern city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family walks amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike in the Bustan al-Qasr rebel-held district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians help a wounded youth following an air strike on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers evacuate people from a damaged building following a reported airstrike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Tareeq al-Bab in the northern city of Aleppo

Regime forces and their Russian allies insist they are targeting terrorists but humanitarian groups have reported hundreds of civilian deaths on both sides, with rebels launching rockets and shells over the border.

Opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo were shut off by government troops and militias for several months earlier this year, with reports of starvation and disease in a humanitarian catastrophe caused by the siege.

Aid convoys have not been able to access the city since, with fighting continuing as a coalition of Islamist militants including the former al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra try to open up a corridor out of besieged areas of the city.

On Thursday, the United Nations special envoy for Syria ended a meeting on humanitarian access after just eight minutes, saying it made no sense to plan aid deliveries when they would not be let into the city.

Staffan de Mistura demanded an immediate 48-hour ceasefire, calling for a gesture of humanity from both sides.

Mark Schnellbaecher, from the International Rescue Committee, said the Syrian civil war had so far caused at least 400,000 deaths and left 13.5 million people in need of aid.

He added: "Last year it took the shocking image of three-year-old Alan Kurdi to finally wake the world up to the reality of the refugee crisis. Today, the image of Omran is again stirring people worldwide to demand an end to the conflict."
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The United Nations has suspended its humanitarian task force in Syria amid frustration over intensified fighting in the countrys civil war.

The decision was announced on Thursday as a haunting photo of a young boy rescued from beneath rubble of his home after a devastating air strike in Aleppo provoked outrage around the world.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN's special envoy for Syria, stopped a meeting on humanitarian access after just eight minutes, saying it made no sense to plan aid deliveries when they would not be let into besieged areas.

Speaking in Geneva, he said convoys had not been able to reach surrounded towns and cities throughout August.

Residents inspect their damaged homes after an airstrike on the rebel-held Old Aleppo on Monday (Reuters)

"And why? Because of one thing: Fighting, he added. I decided to use my privilege as chair to declare that there was no sense to have a humanitarian meeting today unless we got some action on the humanitarian side in Syria.

"What we are hearing and seeing is only fighting, offensives, counteroffensives, rockets, barrel bombs, mortars, hellfire cannons, napalm, chlorine, snipers, airstrikes, suicide bombers."

Mr de Mistura said the humanitarian task force would be suspended until next week, in the hope of sending a signal to parties in the conflict and their allies, including Russia, the US and Iran.

"I insist, on behalf of the UN Secretary General, to have a 48-hour pause in Aleppo, Mr de Mistura said, calling for a "gesture of humanity from both sides".

That would require some heavy lifting not only by the two co-chairs (Russia and the US) but also those who have influence on the ground.

Aleppo city, which is divided between regime and rebel control, has been at the epicentre of continued battles and bombing despite successive attempts at ceasefires.

Bashar al-Assads forces and his Russian allies say they are targeting terrorists but humanitarian groups have reported hundreds of civilian deaths.

Opposition activists released haunting footage showing a young boy rescued from the rubble in the aftermath of a devastating air strike on rebel-held areas on Wednesday.

In pictures: Aleppo bombing Show all 14 1 /14 In pictures: Aleppo bombing In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Smoke rises after airstrikes on the rebel-held al-Sakhour neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family runs for cover amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Al-Qatarji in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man reacts as he stands on blood stains at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel held area of Aleppo's al-Fardous district, Syria, April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damage of the airstrikes in the rebel-held area of Aleppo on April 28 Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damaged the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-backed al-Quds hospital after it was hit by airstrikes, in a rebel-held area of Syria's Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians evacuate an injured man amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following an air strike on a rebel-held of Aleppo on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man leads a woman in tears and child out of the scene after airstrikes hit Aleppo AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Civil defence members search for survivors after an airstrike at a field hospital in the rebel held area of al-Sukari district of Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of a relative who died in a reported air strike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Soukour in the northern city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family walks amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike in the Bustan al-Qasr rebel-held district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians help a wounded youth following an air strike on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers evacuate people from a damaged building following a reported airstrike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Tareeq al-Bab in the northern city of Aleppo

The image of the stunned and weary looking child, sitting in an orange chair inside an ambulance covered in dust and blood, was being shared around the world as an illustration of the horrors ravaging Aleppo.

A doctor in Aleppo identified the boy as five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, who was brought to the hospital known as M10 overnight following strike on the rebel-held Qaterji district.

Recommended Read more Children and hospital workers killed in Syria air strikes

He suffered head wounds, but no brain injuries, and was later discharged. At least eight victims, including five children, were reportedly killed in the bombing.

Omran was rescued along with his three siblings, aged one, six and 11, along with his mother and father from the rubble of their destroyed block of flats.

Doctors in Aleppo use code names for hospitals, which they say have been systematically targeted by government air strikes, leaving patients too frightened to seek treatment.

Russia has proposed daily three-hour ceasefires in Aleppo, although no significant pause in air strikes is evident, and fighting continues on the ground as a coalition of Islamist militants attempt to open up a corridor out of besieged areas of the city.

Air strikes have also been reported on rebel-held areas of Idlib, Homs and Deir ez-Zor provinces, as well as near Damascus.

In north-eastern Syria, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have claimed recent victories pushing back Isis fighters near the Turkish border.

The Kurdish-led military alliance recently drove militants out of their former stronghold of Manbij and are continuing to push towards other cities held by the so-called Islamic State.
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Q Following the Zika outbreak in Florida, Ive heard that some airlines are offering refunds to pregnant women booked on flights to Miami, not other cities in the state. Is that reasonable?

Name withheld

A The first thing to make clear is that I can see no legal obligation on airlines to make any concessions about Zika. While holiday firms must respect the view of the Foreign Office, and allow cancellations/changes in line with the official advice, airlines have no such liability. Having said that, all the big airlines flying from the UK to Florida have said they will allow concessions  it all depends how many.

Miami is the only location for an outbreak at present. Public Health England says: Active Zika virus transmission is taking place within a one-square mile area in Miami-Dade County, up-to-date details can be seen on the Florida Health website. Pregnant women are advised to postpone non-essential travel to this affected area within Miami-Dade until after pregnancy.

Airlines are allowing postponements/changed destinations, and Virgin Atlantic is providing cash refunds. Should that courtesy apply equally to passengers heading for airports such as Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa? Well, heres the Public Health England advice: Pregnant women should consider postponing non-essential travel to the rest of Florida until after the pregnancy.

Any woman who is pregnant should take medical advice before going to Florida, and it may well be that the GP says that it would be best to avoid the risk altogether. At that point, I think it is incumbent on airlines to offer at least the chance to switch destination, if not a full refund.

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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Little more than a week after Black Lives Matter UK held high profile protests across the country to highlight the problem of black deaths following contact with the police, Dalian Atkinson has died in another such incident. He should be remembered for his career as a striker at Aston Villa, his 23 goals for them and the successes in his life. But the Shropshire lad will now more likely be remembered as having been killed when police used a Taser to subdue him.

These weapons, which are capable of producing 50,000 volt shocks, are often described as either non-lethal or, slightly more honestly, less-lethal. The stun gun was given to police officers in 2003 and has since been deployed with increasing regularity. Though it has been marketed as an alternative to police using firearms, since 2007 many normal officers without specialist firearms training have been allowed to carry the weapon during their patrols. In 2015 police in England and Wales used a Taser, whether to threaten or actually discharge it, a total 10,329 times.

 Dalian Atkinson eye witness describes police 'kicking' ex-footballer

Many suggest that by comparison deaths resulting from Tasers are rare. But Dalian Atkinson is by no means the first fatality. According to The Guardian at least 10 others have died over the last decade in England and Wales following incidents where a Taser was used. In 2013 Jordan Begley suffered cardiac arrest after a police officer shot him with a Taser for 9 seconds. An inquest found last year that the use of the weapon contributed to his death. Just two months ago an ex-soldier named Spencer Beynon died after being Tasered by police in Llanelli. The question is then how many deaths are we willing to accept before questioning their increasing availability?

The problem isnt just with the weapons though. Its also with those willing to use them. Black people in this country are three times more likely than their white counterparts to have a Taser used on them. Whilst we only make up around 4 per cent of the population we accounted for around 12 per cent of 36,000 cases between 2010 and 2015. This disproportionately cant be blamed on the Taser, there must be a prejudice that fuels officers use of it.

What is most concerning about the death of Dalian Atkinson is how witnesses and family have conveyed his level of distress during the incident. Atkinsons brother, Kenroy said of him that My brother had lost it. He was in a manic state and depressed - out of his mind and ranting. Describing the familys devastation, Kenroy again reiterated that [Dalian] was not in his right mind.

A persons mental health is a huge factor in how likely it is for police to use a Taser on them. It has been found that 67 per cent of people who have been subject to a discharge of the stun gun suffer from mental illness. Where people are in need of care and treatment, police officers are turning to the weapons they have been armed with instead. Britain generally suffers a mental health crisis, but black men are 17 times more likely to suffer from psychotic illnesses and so face an even greater risk when policing with deadly weapons is a first response to distressed people in public.

Britain also suffers a crisis of racist policing. Black people are twice as likely to die in police custody or following contact with the police than white people. These cases represent examples where both so-called lethal and non-lethal weapons and force were used  yet all ended in a fatality and not a single police conviction. Impunity for police officers involved in killings has proven itself to be a fatal policy no matter how safe their weapons supposedly are.

If we are to prevent further deaths we have to question racist state violence, as well as the tools it uses.
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Owen Smith made a mistake in the BBC-hosted hustings with Jeremy Corbyn this morning when he said that at some point we need to get Isis round the table. The mistake was not what he said, though, but that he, as a candidate to be prime minister, should say it.

Asked about Isis, he drew on his experience in Northern Ireland  he was special adviser to Paul Murphy, Northern Ireland Secretary, 2002-05  and said: Ultimately, all solutions to these crises do come about through dialogue.

This is a conventional view about Ireland, but it is controversial to extend it to Isis. One person who did so was Jonathan Powell, who, as chief of staff to Tony Blair, had an even more important role in the Northern Ireland peace process. Powell wrote a book two years ago, Talking to Terrorists, in which he argued that it is always worth trying to talk to violent groups. There is no conflict in the world that cannot be solved, he said when he launched the book at an event at Kings College, London.

Blair himself has not advocated this view publicly, but he did seem to have felt constrained, as the envoy of the Middle East Quartet, by its refusal to allow him to talk to Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian faction that rules the Gaza strip. When he stepped down as envoy, he started to talk to Hamas, although these discussions have not yet made any more progress towards a two-state settlement.

Smith was making a surprising Blairite argument, and it is worth quoting his words in full: So eventually if we are to try and solve this, all of the actors do need to be involved. At the moment, Isil [Isis] are clearly not interested in negotiating... At some point, for us to resolve this, we will need to get people round the table.

I think he is probably right, but it was an unwise thing to say. Someone who wants to be prime minister cannot say this kind of thing out loud.

As prime minister, his first duty is to keep the country safe; such words are too easily interpreted as meaning the UK government should negotiate with terrorists and seek to meet some of their demands.

That is not what Smith means. As Powell pointed out, much of Isiss ideology is nihilist and unappeasable, but it does exploit Sunni resentments in Syria and Iraq that could be undermined by negotiation.

In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Show all 11 1 /11 In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Women and children celebrating after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A man cuts the beard of a civilian who was freed from Isis by the SDF in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Women carry newborn babies while running after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman freed from Isis hugs an SDF fighter in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman adding her veil to a pile of niqabs burning in Manbij, Syria, after being freed from Isis on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Children celebrating on top of a lorry after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A man and child freed from Isis by the SDF in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman carrying her children walks towards SDF fighters after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman and child freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij An SDF fighter kisses a crying man who was freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Hundreds of civilians freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters

However, not only is it foolish for Smith to make such a distracting and needless argument, it is tactically inept to do so in a contest against Jeremy Corbyn, a man whose great weakness is that he appears to have been sympathetic to terrorist movements. At this morning's hustings, Corbyn wisely ruled out talking to Isis.

What if Jeremy Corbyn had said what Smith said? Corbyn supporters demand to know. It is no use Smith trying to point out the difference between his words and Corbyns. Smith, Powell and Blair accept that they have to talk to the IRA, or to Hamas, in order to try to achieve a compromise. Corbyns past statements of support for the IRA and Hamas implied a sympathy with their aims and a reluctance to condemn their violent methods.

By talking about talking to terrorists in the heat of the hustings, Smith muddied these waters. He made it too easy for his views to be caricatured, and for Corbyn supporters to call him a hypocrite.
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The Shias are winning. Two pictures prove it. The US-Iranian photo op that followed the signing of the nuclear deal with Iran last year and the footage just released  by the Russian defence ministry, no less  showing Moscows Tupolev Tu-22M3 bombers flying out of the Iranian air base at Hamadan and bombing the enemies of Shia Iran and of the Shia (Alawite) regime of Syria and of the Shia Hezbollah.

And what can the Sunni Kingdom of Saudi Arabia match against this? Only its wretched war to kill the miserable Shia Houthis of Yemen  with British arms.

Poor, luckless Turkey  whose Sultan Erdogan makes Theresa Mays political U-turns look like a straight path  is at the centre of this realignment. Having shot down a Russian jet and lost much of his Russian tourist trade, the Turkish president was quickly off to St Petersburg to proclaim his undying friendship for Tsar Vladimir. The price? An offer from Erdogan to stage Russian-Turkish joint operations against the Sunni enemies of Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Turkey is now in the odd position of assisting US jets to bomb Isis while ready to help Russian jets do exactly the same.

In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis

And Jabhat al-Nusrah? Lets remember the story so far. Al-Qaeda, the creature of the almost forgotten Osama bin Laden, sprang up in both Iraq and Syria where it changed its name to the Nusrah Front and then, just a few days ago, to Fatah al-Sham. Sometimes allied to Isis, sometimes at war with Isis, the Qatari-funded legion is now the pre-eminent guerrilla army in Syria  far eclipsing the black-costumed lads of Raqqa whose gruesome head-chopping videos have awed the West in direct proportion to their military defeats. We are still obsessed with Isis and its genocidal creed. We are not paying nearly enough attention to Nusrah.

But the Russians are. Thats why they are sprinkling their bombs across eastern Aleppo and Idlib province. Nusrah forces hold almost all the rebel areas of Syrias second city and much of the province. It was Nusrah that fought back against its own encirclement by the Syrian regime in Aleppo. The regime kicked Isis out of Palmyra in a short and bloody battle in which Syrian soldiers, most of whom are in fact Sunnis, died by the dozen after stepping on hidden land mines.

But Nusrah is a more powerful enemy, partly because it has more Syrians among its ranks than Isis. Its one thing to be told that your country is to be liberated by a Sunni Syrian outfit, quite another to be instructed by the purists of Isis that your future is in the hands of Sunni Chechens, Pakistanis, Iraqis, Saudis, Qataris, Egyptians, Turks, Frenchmen, Belgians, Kosovars and British. Isis has Sunni Saudi interests (and money) behind it. Nusrah has Sunni Qatar.

As for Turkey  Sunni as well, of course, but not Arab  its now being squeezed between giants, the fate of all arms smuggling nations as Pakistan learned to its cost. Not only has it been pushed into joining Moscow as well as the US in waging war on Isis, its being politically attacked from within Germany, where a leaked state intelligence summary  part of a reply to a parliamentary question by the interior ministry  speaks of Turkey as a central platform for Islamist and other terrorist organisations. State interior secretary Ole Schroders remarks, understandably stamped confidential, are flawed since he lumps Erdogans support for the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas with armed Islamist groups in Syria.

 Russian planes take off from Iran for Syria air strikes

The Sunni Brotherhood, prior to its savaging by Egypts President-Field Marshal al-Sissi, did indeed give verbal approval to Assads Sunni armed opponents in Syria, and Sunni Hamas operatives in Gaza must have cooperated with Isis in its struggle against Sissis army in Sinai. But to suggest that Turkey is in some way organising this odd triumvirate is going too far. To claim that the countless expressions of solidarity and supportive actions of the ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party) and President Erdogan for the three underline their ideological [affinity] to their Muslim brothers is going too far. Ideological affinity should not provide a building block for intelligence reports, but the damage was done. In the report, the Turkish presidents name was written ERDOGAN, in full capital letters.

Someone in the German intelligence service  which regularly acts as a negotiator between Israel and the Shia Hezbollah in Lebanon, usually to exchange bodies between the two sides  obviously decided that its erring Sunni NATO partner in Ankara should get fingered in the infamous war on terror in which we are all supposed to be participants. So Erdogan offers help to Russia in the anti-Isis war, continues to give the US airbases in Turkey  and gets dissed by the German federal interior ministry, all at the same time. And the only Muslim state in Nato, which just happens to be Sunni Muslim, is now being wrapped up in the Sunni-Shia war. What future Turkey?

Well, we better not write it off. Just as Erdogan has become pals with Putin, the Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers have been embracing in Ankara with many a promise that their own talks will produce new alliances. Russia-Turkey-Iran. In the Middle East, its widely believed that Tehran as well as Moscow tipped Erdogan off about the impending coup. And Erdogan himself has spoken of his emotion when Putin called after the coup was crushed to express his support.

The mortar to build this triple alliance could well turn out to be the Kurds. Neither Russia nor Iran want independent Kurdish states  Putin doesnt like small minorities in nation-states and Irans unity depends on the compliance of its own Kurdish people. Neither are going to protect the Kurds of Syria  loyal foot-soldiers of the Americans right now  in a new Syria. Erdogan wants to see them crushed along with the dreams of a Kurdistan in south-east Turkey.

Any restored Syrian state will insist on national unity. When Assad praised the Kurds of Kobane for their resistance at the start of the war, he called their town by its Arab name of Ein al-Arab.

It is, of course, a paradox to talk of the Middle Easts agony as part of an inter-Muslim war when one side talks of its enemies as terrorists and the other calls its antagonists apostates. Arab Muslims do not deserve to have their religious division held out by Westerners as a cause of war.

But Saudis and Qataris have a lot to answer for. It is they who are supporting the insurgents in Syria. Syria  dictatorial regime though it is  is not supporting any revolutions in Riyadh or Doha. The Sunni Gulf Arabs gave their backing to the Sunni Taliban in Afghanistan, just as they favour Sunni Isis and Sunni Nusrah in Syria. Russia and America are aligned against both and growing closer in their own weird cooperation. And for the first time in history, the Shia Iranians have both the Russians and the Americans on their side  and Turkey tagging along.
Apple, which is facing mounting competitive pressure in China, plans to open a new research and development facility in the world's second-biggest economy.

The site will bring together engineers from some of Apple's existing centres, the company said during chief executive Tim Cook's visit to Beijing.

Apple didn't specify the office's location or planned number of employees.

Apple has more than doubled its number of corporate sites in China to 45 since 2011, so the move may help it consolidate some of those facilities.

Its spending on research and development has quadrupled in the same time frame as investors are eager to see results from other projects Apple is exploring amid slowing iPhone sales. (Bloomberg)
Dublin will have to overcome a number of significant obstacles if it is to succeed in attracting businesses seeking to relocate from the UK in the wake of Brexit.

The availability of suitable office space, appropriate housing, adequate transport infrastructure and an attractive personal taxation regime will all need to be addressed if the capital city is to benefit from any post-Brexit jobs exodus, according to vice president at MSCI Colm Lauder.

"When you're looking at a city like Dublin, you weigh up a lot of options. You look at the availability of office blocks, of course, but then your employees need somewhere to live. That's a challenge in Dublin at the moment," he said.

"We don't have the required apartment stock. Our planning restrictions seem to go against providing the right kind of high-density residential stock and postponing key transport infrastructure projects does not help either.

"Additionally, Irish income taxes now are above those in the UK. Trying to attract well-paid financial sector workers who want an urban lifestyle has its challenges for Dublin," he added.

Lauder was speaking to the Irish Independent following MSCI's publication of its latest IPD real estate index for the UK, which showed that UK commercial property values fell 2.8pc in July. The drop in values for central London in the weeks following the Brexit vote was even more acute at 4.1pc.

Asked if this post-Brexit decline in UK property values might have any impact on the prospects for the Dublin and wider Irish property markets, Lauder said the "big question" in the UK would come from the occupier side.

"The big question obviously comes from the occupier side; how strong can incomes remain in the UK market? And obviously that's an area which has been particularly commented on in Dublin. While there might be some businesses moving to the capital, Dublin is well placed, but not best placed, to hoover that [movement of businesses] up," he said.

Lauder added, however, that global real estate such as that found in London remained a viable option for investors post-Brexit, even at "below mean returns".

He said: "The situation with global real estate is that as an investment class it's still very much standing out on its own in terms of producing a good income stream, which pension funds and investment funds need. Equities remain volatile, while bonds haven't really spiked much post-Brexit, so even real estate at below mean returns is a viable option."

In a cautionary note, Lauder observed Ireland could see businesses leave for the UK in the post-Brexit shake up.

"You also have to be cautious that there are a lot of broader business services based in Ireland that operate in the UK market. You have to worry about their access to the UK market going forward. There could be a bit of reverse relocation [to the UK] with certain business types. But, broadly speaking, it's hard to see any overtly negative pressure on the Dublin property market because of this," he said.
Aside from isolated incidents such as the Luftwaffes raid on Dublins North Strand, Ireland emerged largely unscathed from the ravages of World War II

The most distressful country that ever yet was seen. Even a brief acquaintance with school history - when there used to be school history - would be enough to realise that Ireland's story was a sad one.

Religion, great power politics, the vagaries of the industrial revolution - all combined to bring misery, death and poverty. I can hear the hoots of risible laughter but, let's face it; since the start of the 20th century, Ireland has rivalled Australia as the lucky country.

Consider the facts. If, like most Irish people, you are in favour of an independent Republic, the truth is that it would probably not have come about without - admittedly unfortunate - events abroad.

Independence in turn allowed the country stay out of the equally unfortunate events of 1939-45. That, too, is a little contentious but there is a lot to be said for the preservation of Dublin, Cork - and probably some others - from Luftwaffe bombs (especially when we see what the planners did to British cities which had to be restored).

Getting back to the rather more comfortable ground of modern times and economics, there was both luck and judgement in the success of the opening of the economy to foreign investment from 1960.

The judgement is well documented - particularly Dr Ken Whitaker's seminal policy paper - but there was luck in that it coincided with global expansion and the rise of a new breed of technology companies in the USA.

In the 1970s, the decision by Britain to apply for membership of the European Common Market, was also a huge dose of luck for Ireland - and we knew it, even if the emphasis was on gains for agriculture. But it was the British decision which mattered, which is another reason for Brexit to leave a bitter taste. It will be a long time before we know if that particular decision is good fortune or bad for Ireland.

That has often been the case in the past. The first impact of free trade with Britain, and then with the Common Market, was the destruction of the protected manufacturing industry. This was a considerable employer and some 100,000 jobs were probably lost in the process.

There was also the loss of unprotected jobs in the clothing and textile industries, as European markets were opened to Asian producers.

These were often former European colonies and, significantly, this particular change has come more recently to the USA, with the opening to China.

That is one reason why free trade is now one of the hottest topics in political economics. Most economists would still argue that free trade brings overall benefits.

There is no doubt that the reduction in poverty among developing countries, thanks to globalisation, is one of the greatest boons in the history of humanity but there is growing concern about the specific losers among the overall winners.

The issue is simply stated. Every purchaser benefits from cheaper coal or steel from abroad, but the miners and steelworkers lose their jobs, although total employment does not fall.

Manufacturing jobs in the USA have declined from almost 30pc of the total in 1960 to less than 10pc now but the share taken by services jobs had almost doubled. The two concerns are that the new jobs pay less, have less security and are in different places from the old.

They are also taken by new people, often women. There are as many jobs in the rich economies as there ever were, but not for men without third level education, or anyone in the old industrial heartlands.

Lucky old Ireland's experience has been quite different, although the Eastern European nations show similarities. The cleanout of industry was a rapid process, on a smaller scale and a long time ago.

More importantly, unlike most countries, the new jobs did not pay less. Most of them paid more, because they were in the foreign high-tech companies created by Mr Jobs and his ilk.

Despite some dubious statistical claims to the contrary, Ireland did not experience the regional unemployment and widening wage inequality seen in other countries, which many analysts attribute to a combination of technology and globalisation. So far.

There may be risible laughter at these observation in newspaper offices themselves. They are a fascinating cases. Most of the production jobs were lost as a direct result of new printing technology. But the others - services jobs in effect - are under threat indirectly because of the new technologies which people use to access media.

We have been fortunate in that new jobs and revenues in the likes of Apple and Google have compensated for much of the damage done by the creation of such an operation in the traditional economy.

But one cannot rely on that forever. The other stroke of good fortune, which explains much of the successes of the past 20 years, is the young population. That presents the opportunity to create a workforce adept at the skills which most analysts think will be needed in the next twenty.

That is not happening. The most shocking figure in the recent IMF report (apart, perhaps, from having the most expensive health service in Europe) was the one which showed that, in the old western EU, only Greece has a lower rate of adult participation in education and training. For the country with the youngest adult population, that is not just scandalous but potentially fatal.

All attempts in the past 40 years to create first-class apprenticeship and training systems ended in fiasco. The government's response to the IMF - that it would do more to get skilled workers to come to Ireland, and establish "regional skills fora" - did not look convincing, even on paper.

Ireland has been riding its luck rather than making use of it and the failings are already apparent. Behind the headline recovery figures (even the believable ones) lie high levels of youth and long-term unemployment, a surprisingly low level of female employment and, in common with those less lucky countries, little growth in overall productivity.

All luck runs out in the end, as any winner who goes back to the bookies too often finds out, and there are plenty of signs that the odds are moving against Ireland - most notably in tax treatment of multinationals and the impact of Brexit.

Even if Britain's departure turns out to be another lucky break where foreign investment is concerned, things will have to be done very differently. Of which, more next week.
Ryanair is to invest heavily into the Italian market next year, following changes to government policy. The airline said it would spend over $1bn (887m) on 10 new aircraft for its services in the country.

Ryanair said the move comes after a reverse to the municipal tax increase and revised guidelines that will allow Italian regional airports to compete against the likes of Rome and Milan.

The Michael O'Leary-led firm will open up 44 new routes, 21 of which will be at airports in Rome and Milan. Mr O'Leary said he was "extremely grateful" for the changes made by the Italian government and Infrastructure Minister Graziano Delrio.

"All of this growth would have been lost to other EU countries if the Municipal Tax increase had not been reversed, and the airport guidelines had not been redrafted to comply with EU rules," he said.

As part of the investments another three million passengers will be delivered per year to Italian airports and another 2,250 new jobs will be created in 2017.

"Minister Delrio has challenged the airlines to respond with growth, if his Government acted to improve the competitiveness of Italy's airports, and Ryanair is pleased to be the first airline to announce this record $1bn investment in new aircraft, new routes, new traffic and job growth in Italy in 2017.

"We remain in negotiations with Alghero airport [in Sardinia] and are hopeful of concluding a similar agreement with them when they conclude their current privatisation project in early September," Mr O'Leary said.
'Paid' paternity leave will come from the State, not from the employer in question

In Budget 2016 the Government pledged to introduce a two week paid benefit for fathers to take paternity leave. The Paternity Leave bill was signed into law on August 2

The previous position?

Prior to the new law being passed, in Ireland there was no statutory entitlement for fathers to paternity leave. As a result, it is up to the employer and employee to agree a contractual entitlement to paternity leave or alternatively to agree that the employee take annual leave or unpaid leave around the birth of their child.

What will employees be entitled to?

As above, from September 1 a 'relevant parent' of a child will have a statutory entitlement to two weeks' paid paternity leave. A relevant parent includes (a) a child's father, (b) the spouse/cohabitant. Civil partner of the child's mother, (c) the parents of a donor-conceived child, or (d) a sole male adopter.

If a same-sex couple is adopting a child then only one of them can be the 'relevant parent'. In the event of multiple births or adoptions, only one two week period applies.

So will I have to pay employees for this time off?

No. This leave will run similar to maternity leave whereby employees are entitled to receive payment from the Department of Social Protection for the duration of paternity leave. Therefore, whilst you might hear about an entitlement to "paid" paternity leave, this payment will actually come from the State (currently 230). If an employer wishes, they can pay the employee their full wage for the duration of the leave, most commonly done by topping up the social welfare payment.

Importantly, if an employer pays/tops up salary to mothers on maternity leave then there may be an equality issue if relevant parents don't receive the same (eg, a dad not receiving payment could be gender discrimination, a same sex couple not receiving the payment could be sexual orientation discrimination, etc.)

How much notice does an employee have to give of paternity leave?

Similar to maternity leave, the employee must provide four weeks advance notice of their intention to take paternity leave.

Does the employee have to take the leave at the time of the child's birth?

No. The employee can choose to take the leave at any time in the 26-week period following the date of birth (or date of placement in cases of adoption).

Does the employee accrue annual leave and public holidays?

An employee on paternity leave will continue to accrue annual leave, public holidays, continuous service, etc.

Are there any other paternity leave-related protections for the employee?

Employees on paternity leave will have similar protections as exist for mothers taking maternity leave, such as:

 Any dismissal of an employee while on paternity leave is deemed void.

 The legislation will also prohibit the penalisation of an employee for taking paternity leave.

 The employee has the right to return to work in the same or similar post.

 Employees will accrue annual leave and public holiday entitlements on paternity leave.

In the event of the death of the relevant employee in circumstances where they have not taken some or all of their paternity leave entitlement, that remaining entitlement will transfer to the other parent.

It is advisable for employers to review internal policies to ensure they are compliant with new legislation, particularly where they are currently topping up maternity leave benefits.

Alan Price is managing director of Peninsula Ireland
The global technology giant may lay off up to one in five workers, its reported

Irish jobs may be at risk as part of a global culling of Cisco's workforce as the tech firm looks to pivot towards a more software-centric organisation.

Cisco employs around 300 people in Ireland across its two bases in Galway and Dublin.

When contacted by the Irish Independent, a spokesperson for Cisco said: "We are currently in our quiet period, and we do not comment on speculation and rumour."

In 2012 the company announced a 26m investment into its Galway operation, which created 115 jobs in research and development. The investment came six years after the Galway base opened.

Cisco's western operation was initially set up with 50 researchers to explore various methods of contact including e-mail, voicemail, instant messaging and voice over the internet protocol (VOIP).

Four years ago the research and development hub switched its focus into new business areas in communication and collaboration software including cloud-based desktops.

At the time Cisco senior vice president for global collaboration business Barry O'Sullivan said the Galway outlet was developing industry-leading technology and praised its access to top-class engineers in Ireland.

Globally the company is laying off around 14,000 employees, according to a report from technology news site CRN. That represents a 20pc cut of the entire workforce. It is understood the cuts are being made so the tech giant can focus more on the software side of the business.

Similar cuts were made recently at Intel. The chip-maker announced earlier in the year that it would be cutting 12,000 workers from its global headcount. The 11pc reduction in staff hit its Irish workers as the company began laying off people at its Leixlip plant.

Other major tech companies have moved towards less worker-heavy, more software-focus ed areas. In 2014 Microsoft announced it would be cutting 18,000 jobs as it moved towards a future in cloud computing to deal with the decline of PC sales.

Since then HP also announced it would be reducing its staff numbers by around 33,000 over a three-year period.

The announcement from Cisco comes off the back of a 15pc rise in share price over the last three months. In July Cisco's UK and Ireland chief executive Phil Smith announced he was stepping down.
Media from twenty countries will converge on Dublin in September

Dublin will play host to 400 leading members of the world's media at a two-day conference in September.

The MediaCon conference aims to position Ireland as a creative hub for global content and will take place in City Hall and the Parliament Street area.

From September 13 to 14 media from 20 countries will converge on the capital for networking, pitching and storytelling.

The event is being run in association with, among others, RTE, Virgin Media, Dublin City Council and Grant Thornton. Chief executives, managing directors, channel controllers, commissioning editors and distributors from networks like Sky, BBC, HBO, Channel 4, and Virgin Media will all be present at the summit.

MediaCon founder Lesley O'Connor said Ireland has yet to deliver world-class television content.

"We need to look at a strategy for the development of internationally marketable content for global television and digital audiences. We need to look at what countries like Denmark have achieved," Ms O'Connor said.
Irish fintech startup Rubicoin has raised 1.2m in funding as the company looks to expand into new markets. The funding round was completed through new and existing investors and brings the total amount raised by the firm up to 3m.

The company has developed a suite of investing tools with the aim of making investing more accessible. Rubicoin's Invest app, which allows users to buy stocks quickly has now been opened up to over 140 countries after previously only being available in the US.

The firm was co-founded by Emmet Savage and John Tyrell three years ago. The pair set out to design a product that could make millions of successful stock investors by making the whole process more engaging.

"We recently opened up our Invest by Rubicoin app to users across the world which has so far created tens of thousands of new stock investors," Mr Tyrell said. "Our latest funding round will assist our successful expansion into new markets."
Online betting group Seaniemac, founded by Sean McEniff, the son of Donegal hotelier and former GAA player Brian McEniff, is in talks with potential investors after its accumulated losses hit almost $10m (8.8m).

The stock market minnow is listed on the over-the-counter market in the United States, and counts Rina and Diana Chernaya, daughters of Russian aluminium businessman Michael Chernaya, among its investors.

Seaniemac has warned that if it can't raise any additional cash that it may cease operating.

Mr McEniff is no longer directly involved in running the business and no longer remains a shareholder of the group.

He was initially chief executive, then chairman of the company, before stepping aside in 2014 to concentrate on the family's hotel business.

The latest quarterly report from Seaniemac International shows that the group generated gross gaming revenue of $218,456 in the three months ended in June. That compared to $45,910 in the quarter to the end of June last year.

But expenses soared to almost $517,000 in the last quarter from $107,000, while its interest expense, including the amortisation of loan costs, also jumped. It rose to $586,000 from just under $71,0000.

That left the group nursing a $911,000 loss for the quarter and brought its accumulated losses since Seaniemac's launch in 2013 to more than $9.4m.

The company targets customers in Ireland and the UK.

Until this year, it used a white-label betting system provided by Boyle Sports. But that contract has now ended. Seaniemac intends to launch a new betting platform next month.

Seaniemac.com now redirects customers to another gambling site, Apollobet.com.

Seaniemac agreed to pay $2m this year to buy Apollo Betting and Gaming in the UK.

Apollo was owned by businessman Paul Antrobus.

Apollobet.com also uses the Boylesports platform.

In the year to the end of March 2015, Apollo Betting and Gaming made a 260,000 loss.

Seaniemac said it's in talks with potential investors to help bankroll its own continuing operations, adding that the group is likely to incur losses and negative cash flow for the foreseeable future.

"Management intends to finance operating costs over the next 12 months with existing cash on hand, loans from stockholders and directors, and a possible private placement of our securities," according to its latest set of results.

However, it said that it can give no assurance that ongoing talks with a potential investor will be successful. "The company continues to explore various financing alternatives, including debt and equity financings and strategic partnerships, as well as trying to generate additional revenue," it added.

"If the company is unable to obtain additional funding and improve its operations, the company's financial operations may be materially adversely affected and the company may not be able to continue operations," it warned.
Three, which took over rival 02 in 2015, has two million customers in this country (Stock picture)

Customers over-charged by mobile phone operator Three have been told they will be refunded today. Some 8,000 customers were double charged on Tuesday when they had direct debits processed twice.

The telecoms company sent text messages to customers saying: "Following yesterday's [Tuesday] technical banking error, you will be refunded by tomorrow morning. Apologies and thanks for your patience."

It is understood the mistake was made by an international bank that sent out a file twice to banks here seeking payments on behalf of Three.

Three, which took over rival 02 in 2015, has two million customers in this country.

The company had said: "Due to a technical error, duplicate direct debit payments were requested from a small number of customers.

"Three is working with its bank to resolve this issue as soon as possible. All impacted customers have been contacted and duplicate direct debits will be refunded accordingly."
Renowned for its cutthroat methods, ageing white male dominance and reluctance to adapt, Hollywood would not be everyones first guess as one of the most proficient industries using big data to revolutionise their business.

In recent years the studios have attempted to sideline their total risk aversion, by trusting the voices of the twenty-first century to guide them. For all it's flaws (and there are many of them), Hollywood could be somewhat forgiven for its past behaviour, in its annual dubious quest to to create the next summer blockbuster or cult comedy by following a strict process. As a result of numerous tried and tested formulas, studios have whittled down the factors to an exact science, to be replicated with minor tweaks. Many may squirm at the thought of vacuously empty sequels that simply demean the magic of the original, but Hollywood continues to churn out replicas.

Why? Because in the past they had little else to base audience reaction on, save the odd focus group but even this cannot by any stretch imitate worldwide audience sentiment. For years their stance has remained firmly in the formulaic bracket, not unreasonably continuing to assume that because they liked the first they must like the second, perhaps even the ninth. Unpredictability and high uncertainty has plagued studio heads for decades, but with a worldwide focus group at the tip of their fingers, online data has created leverage for some much overdue experimentation in the film business.

Data has arrived in its droves and shows no signs of depleting. Such a development has resulted in an endless stream of information funnelled directly into studio executives hands. While they have yet to directly link audience sentiment with the contents of a script, online information has opened up the business of marketing films like never before. Specialist companies have been created specifically for the purpose of managing these large quantities of data.

Expand Close Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad, released in cinemas on August 5 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad, released in cinemas on August 5

Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad, released in cinemas on August 5

The process of gauging audience reactions begins as far in advance as a year prior to release. PreAct, a service supplied by Rentrak commences conversation analysis and feeds the results back to studios. After the release of an initial trailer PreAct can gauge the reaction of audiences, compile analyses and inform the studio in order to tailor and improve the subsequent trailers based on these breakdowns.

Suicide Squads anarchic first trailer sparked chaos in the online realm. PreAct accounted for over 1.3 million conversations relating to Suicide Squads initial trailer release, compared with a mere ninety eight thousand cumulative conversations for Spielbergs summer offering, The BFG. After the initial trailer, numerous factions of society where crucially DC comic fans were not the sole drivers of conversation, backed the film. Warner Brothers now had a HD picture of their audience. PreAct harnessed this information and Suicide Squads hype cemented its place as one of the most talked about films of the year.

Not only did this anticipation drive much sought after word of mouth, it equally granted Warner Brothers the opportunity to tweak its marketing before release. Queens Bohemian Rhapsody accompanied the first Suicide Squad trailer released in January, offering fans a first glimpse of the squad. Considerable changes were made to the second teaser trailer that followed shortly after in April. Margot Robbies hugely popular Harley Quinn was featured more prominently, with twice the number of snappy lines than in the original trailer. Whether this is one step of analysis too far or not, The Sweets Ballroom Blitz may have subconsciously aided in placing a greater emphasis on Harley Quinn and the female members of the squad, in an attempt to tap into the equally lucrative but more elusive female demographic. In a crucial swing, one of the most hotly anticipated, male-targeted movies was opened up to appeal to women after Warner Brothers took heed of the information that flooded in from the initial trailer.

Online data shoots information directly into the studios, indicating preferences that ultimately dictate the direction of marketing campaigns. It begs the question whether this monumental industry shift will spill into other areas of the business. Studio executives are infamous for their grimaces when faced with the creative elements of their products. The creative process of creating a script, collaborating with directors, actors and crew is difficult to translate into the harsh climate of the business world. If studios truly take note of the gold mine of insight readily available in the public domain, we may witness an institutional overhaul whereby the audience indicates and the studio reciprocates. If our opinions and interests are being taken heed of to direct marketing campaigns then only time will tell if public consensus can sway Hollywood in ways previously unimaginable such as hammering down on their diversity problem. Audience-directed marketing campaigns may only be the beginning. Of course, it is with trepidation this new toy should be lauded, as an audience-directed Ghostbusters reboot would have made for a perfect demonstration of the term the audience is not always right.

Expand Close Jared Leto and Laura Whitmore attend the Suicide Squad European Premiere sponsored by Carrera on August 3, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for carrera) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Jared Leto and Laura Whitmore attend the Suicide Squad European Premiere sponsored by Carrera on August 3, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for carrera)

Jared Leto and Laura Whitmore attend the Suicide Squad European Premiere sponsored by Carrera on August 3, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for carrera)

Hollywood could be forgiven in the past for its reluctance to deviate from the known, given that the success of a film can never truly be predicted. With the advent of big data however, where the worlds largest focus group is now at their fingertips, blind, impersonal marketing may no longer be a viable scapegoat. Online sentiment may be the coveted formula that studio executives have been in pursuit of, it is now a matter of competently utilising this information

to tailor audience expectations to their offering. Warner Brothers revolutionary marketing campaign for Suicide Squad set pulses racing with every tailored teaser in the lead up to release. Fans swarmed the movie houses worldwide, contributing to the most successful August release ever. While the film was received poorly and reviews were teetering on suicidal, without a doubt, Warner Brothers hit the zeitgeist with its delicately constructed marketing strategy.
Dermot Morgan as Fr Ted and Ardal O'Hanlon as Fr Dougal in the famous 'My Lovely Horse' video. Photo: Channel 4

A mini Father Ted reunion promises to be one of the highlights at this years Electric Picnic.

Eoin McLove (played by Patrick McDonnell) and Fr Damo Lennon (actor Joe Rooney) will descend on Stradbally Hall estate next month to judge A Rubbish New Song For Europe at the music festival.

The contest will take place 20 years after Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy co-wrote My Lovely Horse for Fr Ted and Fr Dougal when they competed in A Song For Europe.

Hannon and his girlfriend Cathy Davey, who co-founded My Lovely Horse Rescue, will search for the replacement for My Lovely Horse, (Season 2 Episode 2 from the Channel 4 series) on September 4.

The Swarbriggs, two brothers who represented Ireland at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest, will attend the competition, which will take place in the My Lovely Ranch area of Trailer Park, in which a small zoo of rescue animals - mostly sleepy old horses and forgetful donkeys and hairy canines.
Former world indoor champion Derval O'Rourke has described the arrest of the president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) as embarrassing.

Mr Hickey was arrested in a dawn raid on his hotel room at 6am yesterday on suspicion of the formation of a criminal association/cartel, ticket-touting and illicit marketing.

Mr Hickey was accused of plotting with others to sell tickets above face value in a scheme that authorities say netted about 2.5m in profits.

I think its embarrassing certainly. I hope theres a full investigation, Derval said last night on RTE television.

From my experience as an athlete, were held to the highest standards for everything and were very accountable, were very answerable.

Most athletes earn very little money. They do it for the love of the sport, and the least you can expect is integrity and honesty from the people who are the gatekeepers of the sport, she said.

So for me, when it doesnt look like thats the situation, I find it a little bit disgusting to be honest because athletes come and go, but certain people who have jobs as administrators stay for a very long time.

I just hope therell be full investigations.

Derval O'Rourke gives her verdict on the OCI ticket scandal #rterio2016 #rtesport https://t.co/4y79B0u7vN  RTE Sport (@RTEsport) August 18, 2016

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The father of a 17-year-old boy who died after he fell from a bridge claims his son was bullied because he way gay.

Brian McGiff from Ballyogan, Carrickmines, Dublin 18 reached out his hand and asked for help as he dangled from a bridge over the M50, an inquest heard.

Dublin Coroners Court heard the young man, who had plans to train as a hairdresser, was out with friends in the hours before the incident. He consumed alcohol during a shopping trip to Dublin city centre and was described as somewhat drunk, the court heard.

Witness Natalie Brandon said she met Brian at St Stephen's Green around 10pm on February 19 2015. He was holding a bottle of wine.

He was drunk but in good form, she said, adding that at one point he ran into The George pub before running back out again. They returned to Carrickmines on the Luas. He was talking to everyone on the Luas. Then a man said something to him and Brian said to him, You are only slagging me because I am gay, Miss Brandon said.

They got off the Luas at Ballyogan and she returned home while Brian went to another house nearby. Witness Lee Maguire said Brian stumbled in the door. There was an altercation at the house, according to Sergeant Edward Maughan.

Brian had some alcohol consumed and was described as somewhat drunk. He became upset and emotional. A slight altercation ensued with some of the females. He was put out of the house, Sgt Maughan said.

Brian then made his way to the top of the bridge crossing the M50 at Carrickmines. Lee Maguire followed him. I climbed the railings. Brian was sitting on the edge, he said. Brian turned his body so that his feet were dangling and he was holding onto the ledge with his hands.

He asked me to help him and said he was sorry. He was in a state, I dont think he wanted to do it. I tried to help him as best I could, Mr Maguire said.

Brian McGiff reached out his hand and Lee Maguire grabbed it but his hand slipped and the teen fell, the court heard.

He was rushed to St Vincents Hospital where he died the following day.

I feel my son Brian may have been subjected to some bullying because he was gay, thats my own personal view, Frederick McGiff told Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane. He was looking forward to his 18th birthday, to his college courses, Mr McGiff said.

The boys mother Selina said her son had no ambition to kill himself. His ambition was to come to me in Newry to do hairdressing, she said. The court heard that Brian had attempted to take his life on one previous occasion. Both parents queried what happened at the house before Brian made his way to the bridge. The inquest was adjourned pending the appearance of another witness who was present at the house.
Disappointment about maths results was one of the big talking points on the National Parents Council-post primary (NPC-pp) freephone helpline - 1800 265 165 - which opened yesterday as the Leaving Certificate results were released.

The helpline got off to a very busy start and, over the course of the day, guidance counsellors dealt with almost 200 calls, involving more than 460 separate queries from parents and students. Calls came from 22 counties.

Education Minister Richard Bruton paid a visit to see first hand the sort of concerns being experienced in households.

As well as queries about the options open to students who did not achieve a minimum D grade in maths, the callers also wanted information such as how to calculate points and the detail of CAO procedures, and how to seek a recheck of a Leaving Cert grade.

The helpline, which is sponsored by the Irish Independent, the Department of Education and Skills, and Eir is open again today from 10am-7pm and tomorrow from 10am-1pm.

It will also open for three days next week, following the release of CAO offers on Monday. The opening hours on Monday and Tuesday will be 8am-7pm and on Wednesday from 8am-1pm

The helpline is staffed by members of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors and a representative of the grants agency, Susi, is also on hand.
Twins Jessica and Ian O'Shea were celebrating on the double as they collected their results and Jessica scored a stunning run of eight A1s.

Jessica, of Regina Mundi secondary school in Douglas, Cork, said she couldn't believe her results.

"I really didn't expect results this good," she said. "I had hoped I would do well. I thought the exams were okay last June but I was still very nervous this morning over how I would do.

"I did sleep last night but I was very nervous."

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Ian also scored an impressive 545 points after sitting his Leaving Cert at Rochestown College.

Their parents, Donal and Deirdre, said they were "very proud" of the twins, who are both set to get the courses of their choice.

Another of this year's highest achievers who received eight A1 grades admitted that she had feared the worst when collecting her Leaving Cert results.

Expand Close Andrew Cleary with his exceptional leaving cert results Photo: Douglas O'Connor / Facebook

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Niamh Ryan (18), of Loreto College, St Stephen's Green, said she was trembling when she tore open her envelope.

She said: "I'd worked so hard over the last two years, I was shaking when I was handed my results. I really didn't know what to expect.

"I got myself so worked up thinking about it that I had to go for a run to clear my head before I collected them."

Having prepared herself for the worst, the Castleknock native was delighted to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw her final results.

Niamh plans to study chemical engineering at Cambridge University in England and joked that she would be spending last night packing for college.

However, she added: "I refused to plan anything because I didn't know if I'd be celebrating or wallowing."

While no candidate received nine A1s this year, Andrew Cleary (18), from Gonzaga College in south Dublin, came close with his eight A1s and one A2.

He said: "It (the A2) doesn't bother me in the slightest because I never dreamt I'd do so well. I'm absolutely delighted; my parents even more so, I think.

"They were ringing everyone, they were so over the moon."

The 18-year-old, who was born in Columbia, said: "I've always done well in school and I thought I had prepared the best I could but when I sat down back in June, I didn't come away feeling great.

"But when the principal opened my results and I saw his face, it was such a relief."

Another Dublin student, from Colaiste Eoin in Booterstown, also achieved eight A1s.

Mayo saw two students achieve the same score.

Emma-Louise Ruane, from Ballindine, Co Mayo, was "sick with nerves" when she walked into her secondary school, Mount St Michael's in Claremorris.

"I was blinking for a solid 30 seconds, thinking, 'Is this really what's written on my page?" she said.

Emma-Louise said her parents, Alacoque and Tomas, were "speechless" when they heard the news.

At Ballinrobe Community School, Co Mayo, principal Willie Culkeen said they were "very proud" of the achievement of Annie Duffy. He described the eight A1 pupil as a "model student" who also excels in the field of sport, playing GAA for the Mayo ladies.
The Fine Gael minister has defied critics by not only becoming almost fluent in the past two years, he has also vowed to continue to learn the language.

A Government minister at the centre of controversy when he was given the portfolio for the Gaeltacht has been moved into the top class at his Irish language summer school.

Donegal TD Joe McHugh was given a new junior role in the minority Government as Minister for the Diaspora.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny faced criticism after the Gaeltacht appointment because McHugh knew very little Irish.

However the Fine Gael minister has defied critics by not only becoming almost fluent in the past two years, he has also vowed to continue to learn the language.

McHugh has become so good at Irish when he returned to Oideas Gael in Glencolmcille yesterday he was upgraded to the Ard Rang, the highest class.

I didnt know it at the time but An Taoiseach gave me an enormous gift, a newfound love of our native language, said McHugh.

I have enjoyed every minute of learning the language. I cant say it was easy and there was a lot of work involved but now I look back and Im so grateful.

Some of the more cynical people out there might have thought I would quit the language once I was re-appointed but there was no way that was going to happen.

In fact as Diaspora Minister I want to use our embassies and missions around the world to promote Irish abroad and encourage cultural tourism, bringing people from abroad to our gaeltacht areas to learn our language.

More than a dozen nationalities are among the 90 people in the south west Donegal gaeltacht this week, including visitors from Japan, Luxembourg, Australia, France, Wales and Germany.

Course director Siobhan Curran said: Joe has done extremely well and should be an inspiration to anyone who wants to discover the Irish language.

Its hard for anyone to learn Irish but he had to do it in the face of criticism and under the political microscope which wasnt easy but for me he has proven all the critics wrong.

McHugh said the focus for the language has to be conversation.

There is a revival under way and I have concentrated very much on spoken Irish. Now Ive moved on to tackle grammar and so far, so good.

And he said he wont stop there.

Id love to be able to teach Irish one day, even in a local class. Id love to give it back to others, he added.
A completely innocent Dublin man was shot in front of his partner and young children in a shocking case of mistaken identity, and later died.

Dad-of-three Trevor ONeill (40), from Drimnagh, was on holiday in Majorca with family when he was brutally killed at around 9pm yesterday.

His partner was wheeling their child in a pushchair when he was gunned down in front of his family in the resort of Costa de la Calma, an eye-witness revealed today.

It is understood Mr ONeill was shot five times, including at least twice in the back, by a three-man hit team wearing disguises who then fled from the scene.

Gardai believe the intended target of the savage murder is a very close associate of Gareth Hutch, who was shot dead in Dublins north inner city in May.

Mr O'Neill's partner is tonight trying to get their children home to Ireland as soon as possible.

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Speaking to RTE News from the airport in Majorca, she described the events of last night as "horrific". She said armed police brought her and her three children to a safe house in Palma to spend the night.

She said that she didn't hear that Trevor had died until relatives contacted her from Ireland with the devastating news this morning.

The couple had been together for 20 years. The family was in Majorca since last Saturday. The holiday was a birthday present. She said she was distraught at the news, and that their three children - aged 5, 7 and 12 - are "petrified".

Target

The intended target, who is a relative of Gerry The Monk Hutch, has been hiding out in the same apartment complex that Mr ONeill and his family were staying in.

Gardai also believe the botched murder was carried out by the Kinahan cartel as part of their deadly feud with the Hutch mob, which has directly led to eight murders since it kicked off last September.

Sources say that Mr O Neill has absolutely no involvement in the feud and he has been described as a very decent family man who worked for Dublin City Council.

Management and staff of Dublin City Council said they were "shocked" to hear of Trevor's "tragic death".

"Trevor was a hard working and dedicated employee of Dublin City Council," read a statement from CEO Brendan Kenny.

"On behalf of the management team, city councillors and staff of Dublin City Council, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to Trevors family and friends."

This poor man had only been on holiday in Majorca a couple of days with his family when he was gunned down in front of his family as part of a feud that he had no involvement in, a source said.

The intended target is also not considered a criminal but has become a prime target for the Kinahan cartel because he is a member of the Hutch family.

The 37-year-old target has been warned by gardai about an active threat against his life because of the feud. It is understood he fled to Majorca earlier this summer because of the threats against him.

Sources say Mr ONeill may have been shot dead because he looks like the gangland target.

Drimnagh councillor Ray McHugh (SF) expressed his shock at the murder of Mr ONeill, who he described as an absolute gentleman and a family man.

I would have known Trevors family from the area, he was always a perfect and absolute gentleman and its very tragic that this has happened.

My condolences go out to the family, he was a good man who worked with Dublin City Council in the drainage department for years. He was on holiday with his family in Majorca and had only recently arrived, Mr McHugh told the Herald.

Today, a female eyewitness recalled how she held the victims hand as he lay dying while his children took refuge inside her premises.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said: There was a large group of them, the man who was shot, his wife, four of their children, and other adults including a male friend and two other women.

There must have been around eight to 10 of them in all. They were heading from a nearby hotel to a square where everyone congregates at night for an evening meal and a drink.

I saw the gunman walk past the shop and heard the shots seconds later. He ran back down the road past the shop towards the beach and a well-known beach bar. He had tracksuit bottoms on and a blue tracksuit top with the number 23 in white on the back and the hood on his tracksuit drawn up tightly round his face.

Pandemonium

You couldnt really see anything of him because he was so covered up. It was pandemonium at first. People were screaming and running in all directions. The wife of the man that was shot had one of their children who must have been aged around seven in a pushchair that she was wheeling along when the victim was gunned down, the woman said.

He was walking slightly in front of them on his own.

That child and another with her must have seen what had happened. Another two of the children were behind them and wouldnt have seen it and the woman turned round and screamed at them as it happened and that gave them time to run for cover in a side street.

I know that lady was married to the victim because when we ran out to tend to the injured man she kept on repeating the word wife, wife.

We took her to one side and I got some water for her and held the mans hand to try to encourage him to keep his eyes from closing while we waited for the ambulance to arrive.

He had a bullet wound in his lower back and I couldnt see any other wounds. Another neighbour was trying to stem the flow o f blood from the wound. The ambulance took about 25 minutes to arrive.

The local police who were the first on the scene got there about three minutes earlier and started trying to revive him with heart massages. But it was all too late. When they took him away to hospital I knew he hadnt made it.

Speaking on the RTE News At One, Fianna Fail councillor for Dublin South Central, Daithi De Roiste said the community of Drimnagh are now in mourning.

He said: I suppose the first thing is shock and heartbreak right across this community at the moment that a young innocent man with a young family can be just taken away in such a heinous way by absolute thugs.

(I was) speaking to people right across Drimnagh this morning and everything they said about him is true. Trevor was a good guy. He worked for the Dublin City Council and the community is now saying that this can happen to absolutely anybody at any time. It doesn't matter whether you're in Dublin or on your holidays.

I seems to me like the Department of Justice just cant get a handle on this. We need something more, he added.

Cllr Mannix Flynn told RTEs Liveline that he was appalled by the murder of his fellow Dublin City Council worker Trevor ONeill.

Im just appalled and I wish to extend my deepest condolence to his family. Its important to remember that whats at the centre of this is murder. All of their lives have been taken unlawfully and in murderous intent, its particularly shocking.

Cllr Flynn called on the Government to bring in legislation to deal with these individuals and to be able to arrest those at the top of the chain.

Its time now that we actually dealt with it. These are acts of terrorism, they terrorise communities and societies and they terrorise individuals. This is a direct threat against our democracy and society.

In this day and age when you have a murderous campaign going on, its time for politicians to sit an emergency session and bring in legislation. What more is it going to take?

He said that families have come to him looking to get out of their Dublin City Council homes because they dont feel safe among the gangland feud.

They feel threatened because they know one or two individuals who are associated with these individuals.

Even me speaking on the radio today I would be conscious that I will be potentially targeted.

Id appeal to anyone out there today who is buying an illegal drug to remember what they are actually doing. They are going out there to buy a drug and theyre condoning murder and associating themselves with this gang.
Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae has said the biblical story of Noah's Ark supports his controversial claim that climate change does not exist.

Mr Healy-Rae also said he voted against the Marriage Equality Referendum because he believes it is "not natural" for a gay couple to raise a child.

And the Kerry TD said he is not in favour of changing the Constitution to allow abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities or rape as "there are ways of dealing with" those issues under our current legal system.

Mr Healy-Rae has been adamant in his view that only God can control the weather and came under fire when he denied climate change existed during a Dail debate.

And now, in an interview with 'Hot Press' magazine, the Kerry TD has insisted the Old Testament story of God telling Noah to build an ark so he could be spared from apocalyptic floods backs up his claim.

"I'm basing my views on facts. The facts are there and history proves it. We had the Ice Age. We had Noah's Ark. We had all those stories. We've proof of the Famine in 1740, which was caused by two years of incessant rain," Mr Healy-Rae said.

"There were some centuries when the country was very hot... and then there were different centuries with so much rain and cold. So, those are facts," he added.

He also suggested that scientists who are proposing climate change theories are "getting a lot of finance" and that is why they are "more vehement about it".

On the same-sex marriage referendum, he said he voted 'No' as "going back, it was always a man and a woman produced a baby and brought them up. And that's the way I felt it should continue".

He also described himself as a practising Catholic but "not a holy Joe" in the interview, due to be published tomorrow.

Mr Healy-Rae, who made history when he and his brother Michael were elected to the Dail after the last general election, also insisted he would shoot an intruder entering his home in Kilgarvan. "I'd aim for their legs first. I'd immobilise them first, or something like that, if there was no other way of dealing with them. I'd have no problem with that. It's ridiculous where the law actually favours the criminal in some of these incidents," he said.

He also believes gardai should carry guns to give them an "equal chance" against armed criminals.

Mr Healy-Rae repeated his call for gardai to be given the power to issue drink driving licences to certain people in rural communities.

He believes some people should be allowed drink "two or three" pints and still drive home. The idea, which would see gardai grant permits allowing people drink more than the legal limit, was proposed by the politician three years ago and was aimed at tackling the issue of loneliness among older people living in rural Ireland.

Mr Healy-Rae, who is also a publican, said three of his regular customers fell into depression and took their own lives after drink driving laws prevented them from visiting his pub. However, he does not agree with Minister John Halligan's view that prostitution should be legalised.

"I get a lot of requests at clinics and my phone never stops ringing... but I've never been asked by any of those people to see if we could get a woman for them in that way," he said.

He added that he finds it hurtful when some sections of the media make fun of his views, but he does not let it get to him.

"The one thing those people miss when they are criticising us, they are also criticising and making little of [those] who voted for us," he said.
Wheelchair user Olan McGowan doesn't come across much discrimination these days.

"A supermarket refused a staff member to help me reach high shelves, but after I complained to the manager, it was sorted."

A more serious matter arose when he asked about bathroom facilities in Dublin's Searson's pub in 2006. "The barman directed me to another pub down the road. His attitude was terrible."

Olan, a radio producer with RTE, complained to the bar in writing, but his letter was ignored. He decided to investigate the legislation, which, for bars, comes under the licensing laws rather than the Equality Act.

He took a case, supported by the Equality Authority. The court found in his favour. "I wanted three things: the discrimination to be acknowledged; for the pub to install a toilet suitable for wheelchair users and for my costs to be paid. The judge agreed and gave me 1,000 for my trouble, of which I donated 500 to the Irish Wheelchair Association."

"I'm not saying every single small business must cater for the disabled, but there are ways and means, and a big successful pub like this certainly should have."

Since the time of this incident, Searsons has changed hands and now has state of the art disabled rest rooms.

Charlie Chawke has taken over the running of the premises and submitted the following letter after reading the above article.

"Dear Sir,

"I opened your paper with incredulity last Wed 17/08/2016. I read that a Mr Olan McGowan a wheelchair user had been sent away from Searsons because of the lack of disabled facilities. Please note that this incident occurred in 2006 long before I took over the running of Searsons in Baggot St. If Mr McGowan were to visit my premises today he will find responsive and caring staff and state of the art disabled rest rooms."
Mildred "Millie" Bowers says drinking beer every day is the secret to a long life.

A 102-year-old woman has said that drinking beet everyday is the secret to her long life.

Mildred Millie Bowers, from South Carolina, says having a class of cold beer every day is one of the secrets to a long life.

Its all in the genes, she told WIS10.

"My mind is good, I have no problem with that and that's the big thing that a lot of people my age don't have at my age is a good mind," Bowers said.

Millie lived through the Great Depression and outlived two husbands. Shes one out of nine girls in her family and is the only one who didnt have children.

She drinks a beer every day at 4pm in the nursing home, after her doctor gave her the go-ahead.

"Look, there are people who don't like coffee and people who don't like tea, but I want everyone to drink what they like, she said.

"The doctor said it was good for her and obviously it is, still kicking," her friend told the news station.
Marina and Alan Killoran at their home in Newbridge Credit: Kyran O'Brien

An Irish mother who travelled to Chicago for life-saving treatment after funds were raised through an online campaign is in very good spirits.

Marina Jordan Killoran (45), who suffers from an incurable auto-immune disease called Systemic Scleroderm, arrived home on Monday morning after six weeks in Chicago where she received a stem-cell transplant that isnt available in Ireland.

The mum-of-two from Tallaght travelled to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with her husband Alan in July after over 160,000 was raised in order to receive the treatment.

Alan told Independent.ie that Marina is doing well and she underwent the transplant and chemotherapy without any major issues.

Expand Close Marina and Alan Killoran at their home in Newbridge Credit: Kyran O'Brien / Facebook

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Marina had a fever and has bone paint and joint pain. Shes sleeping quite a lot and taking the pain medication, which is very effective, said Alan.

Other than that, shes in very good spirits.

Marina harvested seven and a half million stem cells for her transplant, with a minimum of two million needed.

The transfusion was less than 15 minutes. It was unbelievable. It was almost like waiting for childbirth. It sounds cheesy, but the nurses wished her a happy birthday because its like getting a new life.

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When stem cells were being infused, it smell like sweetcorn in the air. So for the next two weeks while I was walking through the hospital I could smell sweetcorn in the air  it was fantastic.

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Prior to travelling to America, Marinas knee deteriorated and she was in a wheelchair. When she arrived her doctor, Dr Burt, did a series of X-rays and found there was a build-up of calcium fluid in the knee, leaving it badly swollen.

Dr Burt didnt want to do any intrusive surgery in case of infection, and decided to leave the knee.

Since then, everything went fantastically well, said Alan.

We got home on Monday morning at 4:30am, since then weve been organising blood tests and doctors appointments. Marina will have to get a blood test every week for the next 12 weeks and theyll email the results back to the hospital in Chicago.

Marina has to go back in six months time because of the issue with her heart. She had to get a cardiac-friendly treatment, and is only the eighth or ninth person to receive the new protocol. Shell have to get another batch of tests. Shell basically be returning to Chicago yearly for five years, he said.

Alan said he, Marina and their two daughters Shannon (21) and Erin (16) are extremely thankful for the help they received through fundraising to make the treatment possible.

We can never repay the kindness of the media, friends, family, strangers.

Without you we wouldnt have gotten here. Its very hard to sink in. To go from a dire circumstance to sitting in the hospital in Chicago, we cant help but think How lucky are we?

Support Marina here. You can also follow on Facebook and Twitter
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Dan O'Brien Opinion While we catastrophise about Covid, we ignore risk of running out of cash

We Irish view the world in an increasingly strange and unhealthy way. We catastrophise about Covid in a way other European countries do not. We focus on how bad the effects of the virus could get, on how many more restrictions might be imposed by Government and how helpless we are in the face of the virus.
De reir an seanfhocal, Oilean na Naomh is na nOllamh - 'The Island of Saints and Scholars'. There has always and ever been a huge emphasis on academic achievement in Ireland. This old habit dies hard.

The perception of the need to do well academically is embedded in our students' brains. It goes a long way towards understanding why so many students in the class of 2016 took a last-minute decision to drop a level in maths - from higher to ordinary or ordinary to foundation level. Students are constantly and mistakenly perceiving their self-worth in terms of their academic performance, success or failure.

As educators, we are failing our young people in allowing them to perceive the Leaving Cert results as a public unveiling of their personal worth. Then we ask why do they fear exam failure and underperform.

Why did over 2,000 students register with the State Examinations Commission (SEC) to take higher-level papers in Leaving Cert subjects in February - then change to ordinary level in June? Many of these changes were last-minute rash decisions, influenced by the exam frenzy and the stress and pressure that this high-stakes, gateway exam places on their young shoulders.

Judging by the distressed calls to the NPCpp Exam Helpline from parents and students, one thing is certain - we need to embed into every aspect of school life, right across the curriculum, an easing of pressure, development of life-coping skills, managing information and thinking, managing emotions, communications and self-awareness - and above all, a resilience in how to stay well and keep well.

Following the results of the mock exams this year, the most common concern by far presenting from students to guidance counsellors was the fear of failure in maths.

Lack of confidence and self-belief goes a long way towards explaining how our young students - very often at the last minute - change level, placing a further burden on themselves in trying to grasp the different style of questions appropriate to that new level.

Very often, all students need is to talk to their guidance counsellors and maths teachers in order to tease out their real and understandable fears. They will receive the support, encouragement and information they need, before making a rushed or unnecessary change - often on the eve of the exam.

Information on maths requirements for college entry is lacking in schools and colleges in the wake of the devastating cuts to guidance counselling services since 2012. In the light of the number of students failing maths at both higher and ordinary level, it is time to review maths requirements where they are not needed or relevant to a further course of study. However, there is another school of thought - that we all need a certain standard of maths as a life skill.

The Project Maths exam paper is more word-based than the traditional maths exam, which may cause problems for students with specific learning difficulties or literacy-challenged students.

There is also a noticeable lack of choice on the maths exam paper: the student has to answer all six questions and students often report that this mitigates against them.

Many are lured into taking higher-level maths because of the generous prize of 25 CAO bonus points. Very often, time spent on grappling with the complexity of higher-level maths is detracting from students' ability to excel in their other subjects.

While the number of students taking foundation-level maths has risen this year, many perceive this level of maths as worthless as no CAO points are awarded for it, although a number of colleges do accept it as an entry requirement.

On the NPCpp Helpline yesterday, guidance counsellors were being inundated with queries regarding maths failure and how to deal with it, how to view exam scripts and appeal grades.

Many parents and students rang seeking information on second-chance maths exams, which are run in a number of universities and institutes of technology.

All is not lost, however, if you fail maths in the Leaving Cert.

It was with great difficulty that I convinced many callers to the helpline yesterday - very relieved and astonished parents and students - that despite their exam 'failure', they will still receive offers for arts, law, music, art, sports, social science, film and media, drama, creative computing and media technology, journalism and many more besides.

Betty McLaughlin is president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors
Ant and Dec were asked by a Twitter user if they had heard of the Labour leader

Ant and Dec took a cheeky shot back at Jeremy Corbyn after he failed to recognise the popular presenters during a TV debate.

The Geordie duo - who made their names on Byker Grove and have gone on to present I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, Britain's Got Talent and Saturday Night Takeaway - were asked by a Twitter user if they had heard of the Labour leader.

"Who?" they tweeted back with a winking emoji.

The response came after Mr Corbyn and his Labour leadership rival Owen Smith were tested on their pop culture knowledge during a live debate on the BBC News Channel's Victoria Derbyshire show on Wednesday.

He failed to identify Labour supporters Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly when shown a photo of the pair.

He told host Derbyshire: "I cannot name them, I'm really sorry."

After being told who they were, he added: "I hope they'll be happy about this. They sent a letter of support. I will apologise humbly for my mistake. I do apologise, it's all right."

One Twitter fan of Ant and Dec was quick to suggest they sign Corbyn up for the next series of I'm A Celebrity and its infamous Bushtucker Trials.

"He won't forget you then!" wrote user @Greavsie74.
The funeral of James Woolley will be held in the US state of Illinois

Tributes have been paid to former Nine Inch Nails musician James Woolley who has died aged 50.

The keyboard player performed with the US rock group, fronted by Trent Reznor, during the early 1990s when the band released their influential album, The Downward Spiral.

Woolley's ex-wife Kate Van Buren announced his death in a post on Facebook and paid tribute to the father-of-three.

"James worked hard and played hard with NIN," she wrote.

"He brought coolness to playing keyboards, which isn't as easy to do as playing guitar or drums. Those years were truly magical and quite an adventure."

Ms Van Buren did not reveal a cause of death but said Woolley had been living with "significant neck and spine injuries".

"Though our marriage ended, James always stayed close to his children," she added.

"He loved being a father. Because of significant neck and spine injuries, he wasn't capable of doing a lot of physical activities with them, but he loved sitting down to paint, or teach piano, or just look at nature. He passed his amazing musical and artistic talents to all three children."

Richard Patrick, former guitarist with Nine Inch Nails, posted a photograph of himself with Woolley on Instagram, writing in the caption: "I miss my buddy. #nin #gonetoosoon."

Neil Portnow, president of The Recording Academy, also paid tribute to Woolley, who won a Grammy for best metal performance with Nine Inch Nails for their 1994 Woodstock performance of Happiness In Slavery.

"We are saddened to learn of the death of former Nine Inch Nails keyboardist James Woolley," he said.

"James was an active creative collaborator, having worked with other bands such as Die Warzau, Sister Machine Gun, 2wo, and V.O.I.D.

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"We offer our deepest condolences to James' family, friends, and all those who had the privilege and honour of working with him."

Woolley, who left Nine Inch Nails in 1994 after three years with the band, later worked on sound effects for The Simpsons, Ms Van Buren said.

A funeral service will be held in Glenview, Illinois on Saturday.

Reznor described Woolley's death as "terrible news".

He said: "I hadn't crossed paths with him for some time, but always thought of him fondly. He was a fun character to be around, a solid musician and a genuinely good guy.

"Those of us from that era of the band have been sharing 'James' stories. Lots of laughs and love and sadness.

"Wishing his family the very best."
Lemon & Duke is venture by the dream team of Rob and Dave Kearney, Sean O'Brien and Jamie Heaslip with business partner Noel Anderson. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland

Lemon & Duke is venture by the dream team of Rob and Dave Kearney, Sean O'Brien and Jamie Heaslip with business partner Noel Anderson. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland

Lemon & Duke is venture by the dream team of Rob and Dave Kearney, Sean O'Brien and Jamie Heaslip with business partner Noel Anderson

We know where you'll be drinking this weekend.

Rob and Dave Kearney have combined forces with Sean O'Brien and Jamie Heaslip to launch Lemon & Duke, a hip new bar just off Dublin's Grafton Stret.

The sophisticated spot is located in the Royal Hibernian Way and we can already assume that it's going to be one of the capital's hottest drinking destinations.

The industrial chic, contemporary decor, complete with mid-century Danish interiors, looks like the perfect backdrop to showcase its fashionable clientele.

Expand Close Lemon & Duke's slick interiors. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland / Facebook

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Whatsapp Lemon & Duke's slick interiors. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland

The lads have already made a success out of The Bridge in Ballsbridge, along with business partner Noel Anderson, and they're eager to get stuck in with their latest venture.

They promise "good food, tank beer, a unique draft range and a stylish but welcoming vibe".

Expand Close The perfect spot for a cosy cocktail? Lemon & Duke. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland / Facebook

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Whatsapp The perfect spot for a cosy cocktail? Lemon & Duke. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland

And the four rugby players are no silent backers  so expect to see the first pints being pulled by some famous faces. Maybe we'll even see the Kearney brothers slinging mojitos?

Anderson says: "Were very excited to open the doors of Lemon & Duke. It's been an extremely busy summer working on this project and the extension of The Bridge 1859. Im really looking forward to working with the four guys to replicate the success of our venture in Ballsbridge."

Lemon & Duke will open seven days from 10am for coffees and pastries. Lunch is served from 11am to 3pm and evening food is served between 3 and 10pm
Q: I had a very passionate affair with another woman about 30 years ago. We were both in our late teens/early twenties and it was amazing. I think she was as mad about me as I was about her but it had to be so secret. The word lesbian was not even understood by many people way back then.

But one summer while I was working in the USA to save money for my following year's college and living expenses, her parents made a match for her with the son of her father's business colleague, and when I came home after the summer she just told me that she couldn't stay with me. I was devastated.

I emigrated to the USA and was happy enough there. I had a few relationships but nothing that lasted and nothing that meant anything to me in the same way. Two years ago, my mother got very ill and I had had enough of my life there so I came home to look after her.

A few months ago I bumped into this woman again, and it was as though time had stood still. I was just as crazy about her as ever and she looked gorgeous. But she had married a guy and had a couple of children and a very good life and I could not imagine that we could ever take up where we left off.

We were polite to one another and charming and said that we should keep in touch. Then two weeks ago she called me and said we had to meet. We met and it was as though the years had never mattered. We went away for a weekend together and it was heaven. But then she went back to her husband and since then I have been getting mixed messages. She loves me - she can't leave her husband - she has to think of her children - she can't live without me etc.

I am so confused. I don't want to break up her marriage but can we really carry on a clandestine relationship in Ireland with nobody noticing? I don't think so. She can't leave Ireland but my mother died last year so I could leave. Do you think I should ? Would it be better for everyone?

Please help.

Mary replies: You must now be in your 50s and you seem to have carried a torch for this woman all through the years. It is a pity that it doesn't have a happy ending, but that's how life is. She has taken the more conservative route while denying her sexuality, so in all probability she is at times unhappy when she thinks of what might have been.

It is very unfair of her to give you all those mixed messages because this gives you hope and you are therefore unlikely to do anything in the way of looking for a new love. You will have discovered that it is a very different Ireland to the one you left all those years ago. Now in Ireland you do not need to hide your sexuality and can truly be yourself. Of course, this option is not open to your ex because she still has a lot to hide.

With regard to leaving Ireland or not, I think you should do whatever would make you feel better, because your happiness is what is most important to you. I agree that it would be next to impossible to have an undercover affair with her while she remains married, and anyway you would not be happy because you would worry about the consequences.

Video of the Day

If the only reason for leaving would be to get away from her then you should consider what it would be like returning to the US, having left once already. If you decide to stay, however, I think that it would be utterly futile to expect that she will have a part to play in your life. It may sound cruel but your best chance of getting on with your life would be to cut all ties with her, don't answer her calls or texts and change your number if necessary. You have to make yourself open to the opportunity of meeting somebody else, and this will not happen while you are hoping for a happy-ever-after with your former love.

Should I finish with my boyfriend?

Q. I have just finished my Leaving Cert. It's a great feeling! I think I did well and am really looking forward to going to college. But I have a problem. I've been going out with this guy for two years. He's in a school near me and our families know one another, so it's very comfortable. It has all been very middle-class and respectable.

Then I was in Dublin recently on a Saturday with him, and the Gay Pride parade was on. I am not gay and not interested in other girls that way but I thought the whole thing was fantastic. Seeing all those people dancing in the streets and kissing and hugging was wonderful. My boyfriend, on the other hand, thought it was coarse and rather disgusting.

I started looking at him in another way. I'm only 18 and I know that I will probably end up getting married and having children and a pretty normal life. But I would like to be able to go a little crazy for the next few years in college and meet lots of people and do things I would never think of doing. I won't go mad (I'll get my degree and all that) but I want to see what the rest of the world is like. I want to go to all-night poetry sessions, work in a theatre, fall in love with an artist (for a while!), go to Bhutan or Madagascar. I can't see the boyfriend with me in any of this. Should I dump him?

Mary replies: I am always a little perturbed when I hear of a couple getting together at a very young age. There are so many pitfalls, one of them being dating exclusively and not experiencing different traits and differing personalities in what really are the formative years with regard to relationships. So two years is a long time to be dating when you are around 17 or 18. I also think it is good to have even a moderately 'wild time' in the early teens so that by the time you eventually settle down you are not feeling that you missed out on a lot of experiences. You seem to be coming to this conclusion yourself, and so I think that it is indeed time to re-assess the situation.

However, I hate the term 'dump him'! He has done nothing wrong and deserves to be treated with respect so that he can be left with his dignity intact. I realise that in this 'instant' age relationships can be terminated by text but it is not something that I agree with. So I think that you should talk things through with him and suggest at least a break given that you started at such a young age. Explain that you would like to feel free when starting college as you want to have lots of different experiences.

At the same time it would also be a good idea for him to learn what life is like as a single person having for so long been part of a couple. I know that often guys find break-ups very difficult, particularly if they don't see them coming. Girls at least have their friends with whom they can talk about their emotional life, but guys don't find it as easy to discuss their feelings.

So try to be aware of all this when you have the conversation with him. It will not be easy - you obviously have a fair bit of history together by now and your families will have become used to treating you as an item. You may even be blamed for being heartless in ending the relationship, but from what you have told me I think it is better that you go with your gut and say goodbye to him.

You can contact Mary OConor anonymously by visiting www.dearmary.ie or email her at dearmary@independent.ie or write c/o 27-32 Talbot Street, Dublin 1. All correspondence will be treated in confidence. Mary OConor regrets that she is unable to answer any questions privately.
Q: My girlfriend is in her late 20s and I'm in my early 30s. I am happy in our relationship and I think she's great. However, in her past she had an affair with a 65-year-old married grandfather - she was friends with his family. She told me about this early on in the relationship, and even though initially I thought I was ok with it, as time went on I found I wasn't. I find it immoral and very hard to accept . . . and totally out of character for her. She was not in a relationship at the time. I think it has come to a head now because we actually bumped into him one night recently when we were out and she told me afterwards who he was.

I found it very hard to understand what she saw in him. Apart from the very obvious age difference, he wasn't even good-looking, and my stomach turned when I thought of them having sex. What drives an attractive woman to have an affair like that which can only hurt others? She says that it just happened but I find that hard to believe. I had been thinking of getting engaged - we don't live together for various reasons - but now I'm not so sure.

A. I have to admire your girlfriend for telling you about her history with this man. It would have been much easier for her to say nothing, particularly as it was early on in your relationship when she didn't know how serious it could become.

You are taking the moral high ground here and I have to ask what makes you feel you have the right to. Almost everybody has things in their past that they wish they hadn't done - that is what maturing is all about. No doubt you also have some things that you are not proud of but that doesn't give anybody else the right to sit in judgement on you.

We are attracted to people for different reasons and thankfully not all of them have to do with looks. She may have admired the way he thought about things, he may have made her feel very special, he may have made her laugh. Or she may have found it interesting to have somebody more mature in her life. All of this is just speculation on my part as I don't know either of them. But rather than speculate as to why she had the affair, I wonder why you have to keep looking backwards instead of forward, particularly as you say that her behaviour was totally out of character. It may come down to a question of trust and how much you trust her. Because if you don't trust her then there is no point in going ahead with the relationship and you may as well call a halt right now. There would certainly be no future for you if you were constantly questioning her movements and she would very quickly become aware of your lack of trust. I also don't think there is anything to be gained on your part by imagining your girlfriend having sex with him, or indeed anybody else. That is giving yourself unnecessary grief.

Don't even contemplate getting engaged until you are prepared to put all of this behind you. Your girlfriend certainly has - she was able to tell you about it and also introduce you to him, and she didn't have to do either of those things. So question yourself as to how you really feel before you ask her that all-important question. It's all up to you from here on in.

We want a baby, but my boyfriend won't see the doctor about infertility

Q. I have been with my boyfriend for four years. We have lived together for one. I am nine years older and he comes from a very traditional Catholic background.

We are trying to get pregnant, but the thought of scientific intervention puts him off. I have tried to explain the longer we wait the harder it will be, but he thinks if we keep trying it will happen. I am afraid that if it doesn't our relationship will be over, because he does want children and I won't be able to. To make things worse, I'm an only child and always longed for brothers and sisters. Because of this, I had hoped to have at least three children and now there is the possibility that I'm not even going to have one.

How do I get him to face the age difference and go to the doctor? He says he will, but weeks go by. I know he hates doctors for any occasion but I am at the end of my rope.

A. It is very difficult for people who are trying for a pregnancy and not succeeding to see at the same time that lots of their friends are getting pregnant with apparent ease. I can understand why you have reached the end of your patience. You have a boyfriend who doesn't want to do anything at all to help you in your desire for a pregnancy - other than the obvious one of having sex with you.

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Although you don't tell me your age, there is probably very little time to lose, as a woman's fertility starts to diminish when she is around 36. I don't know if you are aware of the existence of ovulation kits which help to pinpoint the days when you are at your most fertile. If you haven't already done this then you should start using one. You should also consult with your GP. At present you don't know why it is that you are not becoming pregnant. It could be that one of you has a problem or it may be simply unexplained infertility. But you need to know what is going on. Your doctor will refer you to a fertility expert who will do some tests. At the same time, to speed things up, your boyfriend will need to submit a semen sample to see if he is producing adequate sperm. An easy way for him to do this is to ejaculate using a condom and then transfer the semen into a sterile container, but your doctor will explain all this to you.

I have to question your boyfriend's lack of support with all of this. I don't think it is acceptable that he at the very least will not go to the doctor. I realise that as he is much younger he does not have the same sense of urgency that you are experiencing, and anyway men can father children well into their 60s and there are many examples of men becoming fathers in their 70s.

But at this point in your relationship, and knowing how much it means to you, he should be doing everything in his power to help. A first step would be for him to accompany you to the doctor on your first visit. You are not asking him to do anything at that point, other than to show that he is supportive. It also means that he can hear at first hand from your doctor what can lie ahead. It may be that you will need medical intervention, but first of all you need to know why you are not naturally becoming pregnant.

If he continues to do nothing and refuses to accompany you to the doctor, then you will have to consider the long-term viability of the relationship. You would always be blaming him for not taking some initiative and he would be unhappy with the lack of children. This to me does not sound like the basis for a happy partnership, and is something that you will have to give some serious thought to. I sincerely hope it doesn't come to this, but there has to be some compromise if you are to go forward.

You can contact Mary OConor anonymously by visiting www.dearmary.ie or email her at dearmary@independent.ie or write c/o 27-32 Talbot Street, Dublin 1. All correspondence will be treated in confidence. Mary OConor regrets that she is unable to answer any questions privately.
The Mexican government's transparency watchdog had said there was no evidence to indicate human rights violations

Twenty-two people were arbitrarily executed by federal police on a ranch in Mexico last year, according to the National Human Rights Commission.

The commission's president Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez said the investigation revealed a range of human rights abuses on the part of government forces in the western state of Michoacan.

The government said the dead were drug cartel suspects hiding on a ranch in Tanhuato, near the border with Jalisco state. One police officer was killed in the confrontation on May 22 2015.

The lopsided death toll of 42 to one led to suspicions of extra-judicial killings.

The government refused to release the post-mortem reports for the victims. The government's transparency watchdog earlier said there was no evidence to indicate human rights violations.

AP
The maiden flight of the world's longest aircraft has been postponed at the last minute.

The Airlander 10 - part plane, part airship - was due to take off from Cardington Airfield in Bedfordshire on Sunday but a "technical issue" meant they had to abort the test for safety reasons.

The aircraft can only fly in daylight for a test flight and it was feared the flight would not have been completed before dark by the time the issue was resolved, an organiser said.

It is not known when another attempt at a test flight will be made.

The enormous aircraft measures 302ft (92m) long and is around 50ft (15m) longer than the biggest passenger jets.

It was first developed for the US government as a long-endurance surveillance aircraft but it fell foul of defence cutbacks.

British firm Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) launched a campaign to return the Airlander 10 to the skies in May 2015.

The huge aircraft will be able to stay airborne for around five days during manned flights.

HAV claims it could be used for a variety of functions such as surveillance, communications, delivering aid and even passenger travel.
An interior view of the house formerly owned by Ernest Hemingway outside Ketchum, Idaho (AP)

A set of trophy elk antlers taken from the home of Ernest Hemingway by Gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson when he went to Idaho to write about his literary hero have been returned more than half a century later.

"One of the stories that has often been told over the years is the story of Hunter S Thompson taking the antlers," said Jenny Emery Davidson, of Ketchum Community Library.

"These are two great literary figures who came together over the item of the antlers."

Ms Davidson was there on August 5 when Thompson's widow, Anita Thompson, gave back the antlers she says her husband regretted taking.

Hemingway's house in Ketchum is owned by The Nature Conservancy, which has an agreement with the library to help catalogue and preserve items in the residence where the author took his life.

In 1964, Hunter Thompson, then 27, came to Ketchum when he was still a conventional journalist.

He had not yet developed his signature style, dubbed gonzo journalism, that involved inserting himself, often outrageously, into his reporting and that propelled him into a larger-than-life figure.

Thompson was writing a story for the National Observer about why the globe-trotting Hemingway shot and killed himself at his mountain town home three years earlier at the age of 61.

Thompson attributed the suicide in part to rapid changes in the world that led to upheavals in places Hemingway loved most - Africa and Cuba.

Even Ketchum, which in the 1930s and 1940s attracted luminaries such as Gary Cooper, had fallen off the map of cafe society by the late 1950s, Thompson wrote.

In the story, later collected in his book The Great Shark Hunt, he noted the problem of tourists taking chunks of earth from around Hemingway's grave as souvenirs. Thompson aimed higher.

Early in the piece, he writes about the large elk antlers over Hemingway's front door but never mentions taking them.

For decades, the antlers hung in a garage at Thompson's home near Aspen, Colorado.

Ms Davidson said they made their way back to Idaho after historian Douglas Brinkley, who spoke at the library in May and was familiar with the antler story after interviewing the writer, contacted Anita Thompson. She called the library on August 1.

"She gave a little background about the antlers and said she'd love to return them," Ms Davidson said.

They have since been shipped to a Hemingway grandson in New York who wanted them, she said.

It is not clear if the antlers came from an elk killed by the author, who was a noted big game hunter, or if they were a gift.

Not long after the visit to Hemingway's house, Thompson developed the journalism style that took him into the dangerous world of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang and would make him famous.

Like Hemingway, Thompson ended his own life by shooting himself, dying in 2005 at the age of 67 at his Colorado home.

AP
North Korea's deputy ambassador in London has defected with his family to South Korea, making him the highest- ranking Pyongyang diplomat ever to flee the isolated regime of Kim Jong Un.

It is not known when or how Thae and his family arrived, or how many relatives accompanied him.

Thae defected due to discontent with the regime of Kim Jong Un in North Korea and for the future of his child, the South's Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said. It was not clear in Korean whether Jeong was referring to more than one child.

"We know that Deputy Ambassador Thae is saying that his distaste for the Kim Jong Un regime and yearning for the Republic of Korea's free democratic system and the future of his child are motives for the defection," Mr Jeong said, referring to South Korea, adding that Thae and his family were under government protection.

Impoverished North Korea and prosperous South Korea are technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper had said the diplomat embarked on a defection journey "following a scrupulous plan" and was in the process of "landing in a third country as an asylum seeker".

An official at the North Korean embassy in London would not confirm the defection, describing reports of the event as "quite sudden".

"If it is appropriate to give a response, then you might hear about our response," the official said.

Further calls to the embassy went unanswered. Calls to Thae's mobile phone were redirected to a voicemail inbox.

Thae's defection follows a string of recent such flights by North Koreans, including 12 waitresses at a North Korean restaurant in China who defected to South Korea earlier this year.

Those waitresses have finished a prolonged period of investigation and have entered into normal society, officials say.

The number of defections by North Koreans to the South this year up to the end of last month totalled 814, an annual increase of 15pc.

Several diplomats from North Korea have defected to the South over the last two years. Overall, the number of defectors, mostly from the area near North Korea's border with China, has declined since Kim Jong Un took power after his father's death in late 2011.
A string of bombings blamed on Kurdish rebels and targeting Turkey's security forces have killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 220 others, officials said.

Two of the attacks were car bombings that hit police stations in eastern Turkey, while a third - a roadside blast - targeted a military vehicle carrying soldiers in the south east of the country.

Authorities say the assaults were carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has launched a campaign of car bombings targeting police stations or roadside bomb attacks against security force vehicles.

Last week, PKK commander Cemil Bayik threatened increased attacks against police in Turkish cities.

The wave of attacks come as Turkey is focused on a clampdown on suspected followers of a movement led by US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, which the government accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup last month that killed at least 270 people.

The first car bombing hit a police station in the eastern province of Van late on Wednesday, killing a police officer and two civilians. At least 73 other people - 53 civilians and 20 police officers - were wounded, officials said.

Another car bombing hit police headquarters in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig early on Thursday, killing at least five people, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Officials said earlier 146 people were wounded and 14 of them were in serious condition.

Video footage showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area. Cars were overturned and the windows of the four-storey building and its wings were blown out.

In the south-eastern province of Bitlis meanwhile, five soldiers were killed after rebels detonated a roadside improvised explosive device as an armoured military vehicle was passing by, officials said. Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack. A government-paid village guard helping the security forces battle the PKK was also killed in a clash with rebels in the province, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Prime minister Binali Yildirim travelled to Elazig to visit the site of the bombing as well as those wounded in the attack.

He told reporters there that both the PKK and the Gulen movement were directed by the same "intelligence" intent on causing Turkey harm.

"The (Gulen movement) has lost its assertiveness and has handed over the duty to the (PKK)," Mr Yildirim said. "The intelligence that directs them is the same. When one's duty ends, the other takes up the duty."

Mr Yildirim vowed to fight the PKK until it is "eliminated".

"No terror organisation will force this nation to cow in submission," Mr Yildirim said.

Speaking in Ankara, Mr Erdogan said Turkey was jointly attacked by various organisations who he said were in close contact with each other and were "acting under the same motivations even if they have different names".

He said the Turkish security forces have killed at least 182 Kurdish rebels in the weeks following the July 15 failed military coup, insisting that there has been no slackening in the fight against the PKK.

Fighting between the PKK and Turkey's security forces resumed last year after a fragile peace process collapsed. Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed, according to Anadolu. Human rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also died in the clashes.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict since the PKK took up arms for autonomy in south-east Turkey in 1984. Turkey and its allies consider the PKK a terrorist organisation.

Amnesty International condemned Thursday's car bombings as "the latest in a series of reckless and brutal attacks".

"Those responsible for these crimes show a contempt for the right to life and must be brought to justice," said Andrew Gardner, the rights group's Turkey researcher.

On Thursday, authorities imposed a temporary blackout on media coverage of the bombing in Elazig, citing "public order and national security" concerns.

Turkey frequently imposes such bans following deadly bomb attacks. Thursday's order asked media organisations to refrain from broadcasting and publishing anything that may cause "fear in the public, panic and disorder and which may serve the aims of terrorist organisations".

AP
MANY grooms feel understandably anxious at the prospect of choosing the best man for their wedding.

Will he reveal an unmentionable incident in the grooms past? Will he insult the brides mother or pester the bridesmaids?

What nobody really expects is the best man to pocket the money collected for the grooms stag weekend and spend it on his gambling habit.

But that is precisely what Martyn Galvin did  prompting a judge to describe his behaviour as the meanest and nastiest he had come across.

Galvins deceit was only discovered when the party of 17 friends turned up at Newcastle airport in England to discover that neither the flights nor hotel rooms for the stag weekend in Prague had been booked, leaving them 7,945 out of pocket.

Teesside Crown Court heard that sport teacher Dino Carter had asked Galvin to be his best man even before he had proposed to his fiancee Emma.

Galvin promised he would organise a three-day trip to Prague in August last year, to be followed by a trip to York Races in October, telling his friend it was his best mans duty.

But as the wedding date approached Galvin began complaining that members of the stag party had not given him the money needed for the trip.

And when he failed to attend planned meetings between the men Galvin made excuses about having to attend hospital to receive treatment for bowel cancer.

When it finally became clear that Galvin had failed to book the plane tickets and hotel rooms Mr Carter initially thought he was the victim of either a wind-up or mix-up.

When he challenged Galvin - whose own father died of cancer when he was a teenager - the best man kept up the pretence of having booked the flights, claiming the travel agent had got the wrong dates.

It was only when Galvins mother told Mr Carter that his best friend was not suffering from cancer that the truth finally emerged.

Confronted by Mr Carter a few days later Galvin said Im sorry, to which the groom replied: "You said you had cancer mate."

Mr Carter, 30, told the court: "I was beyond devastated. The fact he could do that to everyone is beyond belief. Im mortified that the biggest conman Ive ever known was the person I asked to be my best man.

In the end Mr Carter managed to salvage his stag night by organising a night out in the north east market town of Yarm.

Galvin, who lives in Yarm, admitted fraud by false representation between January and October 2015.

It emerged in court that Galvin used the stag party money to fund his gambling addiction, sinking deeper into debt to an illegal bookie as he chased the next big win.

Duncan McReddie, defending, said Galvin, who has a 2008 conviction for a fraud in which he staged a robbery to steal 600 from his employer, was truly remorseful and he and his family had saved money to compensate the 23 victims in full.

Mr McReddie admitted the cancer claims were lies, but said Galvin did suffer from a chronic digestive problem.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, told Galvin: This fraud is perhaps one of the meanest and nastiest Ive encountered in my time involved in criminal law. The fraud involved a string of quite dreadful lies, lies to your best friend, a man who had entrusted in you the task and the honour of being his best man.

He jailed Galvin for 20 months and ordered him to pay the full compensation in 28 days.

In a statement read out in court Mr Carter said: When Martyn told me he had suspected cancer I was absolutely devastated for him and his family. When I was told by his mum that he did not have any sort of cancer I was beyond devastated.

For months he conned me and a lot of our friends into thinking he was seriously ill - all for the plain reason of money. I felt as if people look at me as the groom whose best man screwed his friends and family over money, and Im ashamed of that. I never want to see him again.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Pat Hickey, in wheelchair, is escorted by police to a waiting car at the Hospital Samaritano in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Steve Humphreys

PAT HICKEY has been taken from a hospital in Rio de Janeiro by police and brought for questioning.

The 71-year-old, who temporarily stepped down as President of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), was arrested on Wednesday morning at his hotel room in the Brazilian city.

Expand Close Security outside the Hospital Samaritano in Rio de Janeiro. Pic Steve Humphreys / Facebook

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Whatsapp Security outside the Hospital Samaritano in Rio de Janeiro. Pic Steve Humphreys

However, after telling police he had a heart problem, he was brought to Hospital Samaritano in the Barra district instead of a police station.

He remained there for over a day but at around 3.30pm (local time) today he was moved from the health facility to a waiting Civil Police car.

Mr Hickey was taken a black Ford Fusion and driven 20km to the Instituto de Criminalista Carlos Eboli Endereco in downtown Rio.

Typically suspects are brought to the 'Police City' but a decision was taken to bring Mr Hickey to the smaller facility to avoid press gathering.

Expand Close Pat Hickey has now stood down from his position as President of the Olympic Council of Ireland. Photo: Julien Behal/PA Wire / Facebook

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After 4pm local time he began giving his deposition to police.

This was expected to take several hours.

Following on from this suspects are typically brought to a medical centre where tests would be carried out.

There are no sleeping facilities at either unit so it is expected that Mr Hickey will be brought to a detention facility tonight - possibly the Bangu 8 prison where fellow Irishman Kevin Mallon (36) is currently being held.

Mr Hickey is facing three charges of facilitating ticket touting, formation of a cartel and ambush or illicit marketing.

Brazilian detectives say the offences carry a sentence of up to seven years in prison.

A spokesperson for the OCI said: "The Olympic Council of Ireland can confirm that Pat Hickey has been discharged from hospital and has been accompanied to a police station to complete a deposition."

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Pat Hickey hid in the back of a police car to avoid being photographed after leaving a police station in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday night.

Our exclusive shots show Mr Hickey, who temporarily stepped down as Olympic Council of Ireland president after being arrested this week, bending down to hide his face as he was being driven from the downtown station.

Expand Close Pat Hickey hides from photographers in the back of a police car after leaving Insituto de Criminalista Carlos Eboli Endereco Police Station in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Steve Humphreys / Facebook

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Whatsapp Pat Hickey hides from photographers in the back of a police car after leaving Insituto de Criminalista Carlos Eboli Endereco Police Station in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Mr Hickey spent almost four hours inside the Instituto de Criminalista Carlos Eboli

Endereco on Thursday giving his deposition to the Brazilian Civil Police.

He was joined in the station by OCI General Secretary Dermot Heneghan and team Doctor David Feekan.

It is understood that he was advised by a Brazilian legal team throughout the process.

Mr Hickey is now being moved to a medical facility where the 71-year-old will be medically assessed.

It is expected that Mr Hickey will be brought to a detention facility tonight - possibly the Bangu 8 prison where fellow Irishman Kevin Mallon (36) is currently being held
A HEARTBREAKING photo of a young boy injured by airstrikes in Syria has highlighted the conditions facing civilians as the country's civil war continues.

Omran Daqneesh (5) was pictured sitting in a hospital waiting room covered in debris by the Aleppo Media Center.

The little Syrian boy was one of five children injured by a strike in the Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo - it is not known whether the strike was carried out by Russia or Assad-forces.

Rescuers earlier pulled him from the rubble of a house - he does not cry but just raises a small hand to his injuries.

He was taken to the nearby M10 hospital, which has itself already been struck multiple times by airstrikes.

Physicians there treated his head injury and cleaned off the dust that caked his hair, eyes, and clothes.

He was released later that night.

Doctors at M10 said that around 12 other children all under the age of 15 were treated on Wednesday.

The photo has gone viral, tweeted thousands of times.
Three bodies have been recovered from Mont Blanc (AP)

Rescue workers have found the bodies of three climbers buried in an avalanche of ice and snow near a summit of Mont Blanc, sparking an investigation after they were only alerted to the missing trio 36 hours after the accident.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced the investigation into the circumstances of the incident, which happened early on Tuesday.

The bodies of two women, a 32-year-old Slovakian and a 33-year-old dual Polish-Briton, were discovered on Wednesday night.

The body of the 50-year-old German guide was recovered early on Thursday, said Lieutenant Colonel Stephane Bozon, who heads the mountain rescue team in the French town of Chamonix.

The three were climbing Mont Maudit, a summit of Mont Blanc, 4,100 metres (13,450ft) high before dawn on Tuesday when a tower of ice swept over them and they fell 150 metres (500ft) to their deaths.

Rescue workers had to use chainsaws and a backhoe to free them from the ice, Lt Col Bozon said.

Blocks of ice had fractured as the team climbed, creating an avalanche of ice and snow, he said.

Sixteen police officers, two dogs and a helicopter were mobilised to find the victims and recover their bodies, a statement by the interior minister said.

Lt Col Bozon said his team was alerted only on Wednesday evening to the missing climbers.

Two other groups of climbers in the zone had said that no-one was buried by the avalanche.

A New Zealand guide was killed in the same sector by an avalanche of snow on June 20.

Mr Cazeneuve said there have been eight fatal mountain accidents in France since last Saturday.

AP
A nanny who worked for serial killers Fred and Rose West has died from cancer, a family friend has confirmed.

Caroline Roberts, 61, who as a teenager survived a terrifying attack by the twisted pair, died earlier this month after only recently being diagnosed with the disease.

Family friend Andy Jones, who runs the Crime Through Time museum in Littledean, Gloucestershire, paid tribute to his friend of many years.

"She was always a very brave, caring, much-loved lady and mother who had survived appalling torture and abuse at the hands of evil serial killers Fred and Rose West," he said.

"Caroline would never shy away from telling her traumatic life story and always felt a strong sense of guilt that she survived whilst many others did not."

Mrs Roberts, who was a key prosecution witness in Rose West's trial, was abducted and sexually attacked at the "House of Horrors" where she worked for them as a nanny in 1972. She had been picked up by the couple when she was hitchhiking aged 17.

She said she was haunted by the fact that if she had pursued a rape charge against Fred West it might have stopped some of the murders.

Speaking in 2004, she said: "I felt guilty the other girls died. I wished I had gone to court with the rape charge as Fred might have been locked away for a couple of years and some of them could have survived."

Fred West killed himself in prison while awaiting trial on 12 murder charges, while Rosemary was convicted in 1995 of murdering 10 young girls and women.

Mrs Roberts, a mother of four, wrote The Lost Girl in 2004 in a bid to put the horrors of Cromwell Street behind her.

She said: "I did feel a lot of guilt and do wish I had done something, but writing the book helped me come to terms with everything.

"Now I don't think it's my fault. There's been a lot of tragedy in my life and I've always felt jinxed.

"Now I feel like a survivor."
Ryan Lochte pictured during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Olympics in Rio (AP)

Ryan Lochte fabricated a story about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro along with three team-mates, officials said - but they later acknowledged security guards had pointed guns at the swimmers.

The alleged robbery has become the biggest spectacle outside of the Olympic venues in Rio.

"No robbery was committed against these athletes. They were not victims of the crimes they claimed," Civil Police chief Fernando Veloso said during an afternoon news conference on Thursday.

Lochte, along with fellow swimmers Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen, stopped at a petrol station in Barra da Tijuca, a suburb of Rio where many Olympic venues are located.

They had been at the French hospitality house celebrating the final night of swimming events at the Rio Games.

A Brazilian police official told The Associated Press that two of the swimmers said Lochte had made the story up.

The official said the swimmers had tried to open a door at the petrol station but it was jammed. They broke the door, and a security guard came to investigate.

Then, the official said, the station manager demanded money to pay for the door. The swimmers handed over money and left.

Hours later, the official changed the story and said two security guards pointed guns at the swimmers. The change in the version of events came after police interviewed one of the security guards on Thursday.

The official said the swimmers broke the bathroom door and a soap dispenser inside.

Workers at the petrol station went to see what the commotion was about, the official said. At that point, a security guard also came and confronted the swimmers, and pointed a gun. A second guard came behind him and pointed another gun.

Lochte's lawyer, Jeff Ostrow, has maintained that there is no question the robbery occurred.

AP
PHOTOS BY KATIE MCLEAN/INDEPENDENT MAIL Clemson senior Tamara Ortega eats at a fellowship picnic on Bowman Field put on by Clemson United in order to celebrate inclusion and diversity on Wednesday, August 17, 2016 in Clemson.

SHARE Clemson students eat at a fellowship picnic on Bowman Field put on by Clemson United in order to celebrate inclusion and diversity on Wednesday, August 17, 2016 in Clemson. Clemson junior Allison Steed fills her plate at a fellowship picnic on Bowman Field put on by Clemson United in order to celebrate inclusion and diversity on Wednesday, August 17, 2016 in Clemson.

By Mike Eads of the Independent Mail

CLEMSON UNIVERSITY  Clemson University staff, students and faculty gathered in Wednesday's sweltering heat to enjoy fellowship and pulled chicken barbecue on Bowman Field.

The first-ever CU United luncheon served "probably at least 3,000" people, according to Almeda Jacks, Clemson's vice president for student affairs.

Jacks said the event was the first of many CU United events planned for this year, in hopes of improving the campus climate and easing some of those feelings of exclusion expressed by minority and other protesters who camped on the Sikes Hall steps in April.

"We just wanted people to come and eat, no program, nothing else," she said.

The Sikes protesters ended their effort after nine days, when President Jim Clements and his administrative team agreed to set benchmarks for growing the minority student and faculty populations on campus. Clements announced this week that the Gantt Multicultural Center, one of the campus institutions championed by the Sikes protesters, has been moved into new, improved quarters in Brackett Hall in the center of campus.

Joey Wilson, president of Clemson's undergraduate student body, was one of the thousands who didn't let Wednesday's high heat and humidity keep them away from the tents and free food. He strongly endorsed the idea behind CU United  that Clemson University should be a good place for "graduates, undergraduates, faculty and staff."

"I hear a lot of complaints about things from students, but there are a lot more positives here  I just want to make sure people feel safe here and feel like they're a part of the family," said Wilson, a senior engineering major.

Wednesday was also the first day of classes for the new academic year. The upperclassmen who showed up for lunch sounded glad to be back, and the freshmen were just thrilled to be at Clemson.

"I'm from Greenville, both of my parents went to Clemson, I didn't apply anywhere else and I don't want to be anywhere else," said freshman Hunter Dawsey, who plans to study business. "I've been waiting 18 years to move in."

A senior health sciences major, who asked not to be identified, said she was looking forward to having one more good year on the Clemson campus. She and a couple classmates apparently liked the barbecue about as much as they liked being back on campus.

"I love the people, the environment, everything about it  what's not to like? It's Clemson."

Follow Michael Eads on Twitter @MikeEads_AIM
Residents are unhappy that Rhody Farm Road has road closed signs and a wood rail posts on each side near S.C. 81 South in Starr.

SHARE Moore

By Nikie Mayo of the Independent Mail

A Starr resident speaking on behalf of a group of concerned drivers asked the South Carolina Department of Transportation Commission to reverse its decision that transfers Rhody Farm Road into private hands.

The road, a connector between Agnew Road and S.C. 81 South, was transferred to former Anderson County Councilman Eddie Moore in June. Moore owns land on both sides of the road and petitioned the state Department of Transportation to have the road transferred to him.

But after "ROAD CLOSED" signs were erected, drivers started a petition to ask the state to reverse course.

Millard Dyar spoke on behalf of those drivers Thursday in Columbia.

"Our issue is the way this was handled," Dyar said. "SCDOT did this based on false, unsubstantiated statements that this won't impact anyone. How do I know? There's a petition with 600 or 700 signatures that says it will."

Kevin McLaughlin, the agency's district engineering administrator for this region, admitted in an interview last month that the staff should have "done more due diligence" to study the road use before it was transferred to Moore.

Dyar said the agency made a decision without having data to back it up.

"This is a good chance to review your process," he said. "It's a good case for lessons learned."

Moore could not immediately be reached Thursday.

In previous interviews, he has said he wants to close the road because of litter along it and because he is concerned for his family's safety.

The group that is trying to keep the road open has forwarded to the state Department of Transportation a copy of the petition.

The group has also given the agency a copy of an Anderson County sheriff's deputy's report. In that report, several people identify Moore as the person who removed a copy of the petition from a Starr convenience store by hiding the document in a newspaper. Moore returned the petition a few days later, and a magistrate declined to file charges against him.

Linda McDonald, chief counsel for the state Department of Transportation, said the petition and other information will be provided to the commission, along with the agency's response to it.

The commission, the policy-making arm of the state Department of Transportation, will have a Rhody Farm Road item on its September agenda for further discussion, McDonald said.
SHARE

By Ray Chandler, Special to Independent Mail

WALHALLA  Mayor Danny Edwards said state transportation funds are one possible avenue for funding extension of the statewide Palmetto Trail into the city.

Edwards said Wednesday that the city has asked the county's state "C" fund committee to work with Oconee County and the public-private Oconee Alliance to secure some funding for the project.

"This would be over a period of years," Edwards said.

The mayor said the priority in the funding should still be for any project related to the county's industrial recruitment and economic development.

"Anything that brings jobs comes first," Edwards said.

The city's plans to pursue "C" funds is based on some discretion the state has granted local "C" fund committees to dedicate the available funds to projects such as the Palmetto Trail extension.

A three-member committee governs the use of the funds allocated to Oconee County.

State "C" funds are derived from 2.66 cents per gallon of the state gasoline tax and are distributed by the South Carolina Department of Transportation according to a formula among the 46 counties. They are earmarked to fund the improvements of state roads, county roads, city streets, and other local transportation projects.

What the mayor indicated he envisions is a partnership between the city of Walhalla, the Palmetto Trail and the Oconee Alliance, which promotes economic development in Oconee County.

State Sen. Thomas Alexander of Walhalla, a supporter of the city's invitation to the Palmetto Conservation Foundation to extend the trail, has lauded the city's plans for the trail as offering significant prospects for boosting Walhalla as a tourism destination.

Last summer, the Palmetto Conservation Foundation announced the extension of the statewide 350-mile Palmetto Trail hiking and biking network from its present terminus at the Oconee Station Historic Site in northern Oconee County.

The extension will take in the Isaqueena Falls and Stumphouse Mountain areas before coming down to the new tail terminus in Walhalla itself.

Ways of funding the project, however, have largely revolved around seeking grant funds, according to city officials.
SHARE

By Ray Chandler, Special to Independent Mail

WESTMINSTER  City Council scrapped plans for a new City Hall software package on Tuesday after learning that the city's expenditures were more than its revenues.

The city council voted 4-2 not to install the Harris Smart Fusion financial management software, using an escape clause in the city's installation contract.

The vote came after city administrator Chris Carter outlined to the council that the 2015-2016 fiscal year ending June 30 showed the city's general fund with just over $103,500 more in expenditures than the city's $3.2 million revenue.

The city utility fund, Carter said, was $51,000 more than the utility revenue of about $8.3 million.

The city's fund balance, Carter said, was about $580,000 at the end of the 2015-2016 fiscal year, down from the approximately $684,000 at the end of the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

The reports of Westminster's red ink in the general fund and utilities funds comes a week after the Independent Mail reported that a plan to upgrade the city's water meters was halted short of completion with the project over $200,000 over its initial cost estimate.

The Smart Fusion software, by a New York-based developer, was approved earlier this year by city officials seeking, they said, the greater transparency and tracking to the public in the city's money management that the software was billed as offering.

Mayor Brian Ramey said the decision to purchase the software was based on former city administrator Jeff Lord's assurance that the city both needed the software and that the city had ample funds to buy it.

"Both of those things are false," the mayor said.

The city hall staff, the mayor said, is comfortable with the present financial management software and the cost of the Smart Fusion system is "a big chunk of money."

Council member Bill Brockington added that he, too, supported the purchase based on Lord's assurance the city could afford it.

"But now I can't justify this expense," Brockington said.

Council member Susan Ramey, who had championed the Smart Fusion package and the desire for more transparency in city finances it promised, argued Tuesday to delay ending the contract until she could study the reported financial problems.

Her request that a decision be tabled until a future meeting was defeated.

In other business, the city council discussed the possibility of adapting the parking lot of the municipal swimming pool to a skateboard park, and also the advantages of encouraging "cruising" by young people in downtown Westminster.

Cruising, riding around in cars or simply parking to gather, "would bring young people to town and give them something to do," Susan Ramey said.

Interaction with and getting to know the city police would be encouraged, Ramey said, which would build community ties. Cruising would also, she opined, help downtown gas stations and restaurants.
This week marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, a Category 3 storm which formed on October 22, 2012 and caused $70 billion in damage in roughly two weeks as it moved from the Caribbean to Canada, $11 million of which came from its impact in Rhode Island. Do you believe Rhode Island is more or less prepared to handle a large storm in the decade since Hurricane Sandy? Let us know in this week's poll question below.

You voted:
Nihar Info Global applies for trademark registration for 'ONVO' Nihar Info Global Limited informed to the exchanges that it has successfully applied for Trademark registration of its private label "ONVO" under the 'Trademark Classes 18 and 21. ... October 28, 2022 | 28-10-2022 2:37 pm

Rupee rises 4 paisa to 82.29/$ Early on Friday, the rupee strengthened against the US dollar by 4 paise to 82.29, helped by a weak US dollar in the international market and strong local equities. The influx of new fore... October 28, 2022 | 28-10-2022 2:30 pm

PNB Housing Finance's net profit increases by 12% PNB Housing Finance announced on Thursday that its September 20222023 quarter net profit increased by 11.7% to Rs 262.63 crore, thanks to a little increase in core income. In the same period... October 28, 2022 | 28-10-2022 2:25 pm

Dhanuka Agritech soars ~8% as board to consider buyback Dhanuka Agritechs stock surged as much as 8% in Fridays intraday session and touched a high of Rs742. The company stated in its filing with the exchanges that at its ensuing ge... October 28, 2022 | 28-10-2022 2:18 pm

Markets trade flat amid volatility; Nifty below 17,800 dragged by metals Domestic benchmark indices in a volatile session and trading flat after a gap-up opening on Friday. Both the Sensex and Nifty benchmarks are in the green during the afternoon market session ami... October 28, 2022 | 28-10-2022 2:00 pm
Non-banking finance companyhas entered into portfolio based funding with Bangalore-based real estate developer Legacy Group. Portfolio includes several projects spread across Central and North Bangalore which are at various stages of execution including few that are at a late stage nearing completion, providing multiple and diversified sources of cash flows for debt servicing. The funding which shall be made in tranches is proposed to be used by the developer towards refinancing of some existing lenders and for construction funding across projects. The Group has delivered over a million square feet with another 4-5 mn sq ft under various stages of execution.Altico has in the past concluded similar deals against project portfolios, noticeable among them are transactions with Century and Unishire group in Bangalore market over last 12 months."We are extremely delighted to partner with the Legacy Group which is a well-known brand in the Bangalore real estate market known for its superior design and product quality. The product offering, mix of late stage and under construction projects located at prominent and well established micro locations in Bangalore apart from Legacys premium quality and demonstrated timely execution track record were key reasons for Altico's investment with the Group." saidBangalore market has recently seen a string of investments from private equity players as well as non-banking finance companies including Piramal Capital, KKR, Apollo, Kotak Realty etc. in both residential as well as commercial projects.Despite some slowdown in sales as well as regulatory hurdles in recent past, we remain bullish on Bangalore market due to continued growth in commercial absorption coupled with good demand for mid income products which are competitively priced, all of which indicate towards continued robustness of this market. We are evaluating multiple opportunities across residential and commercial office sector and plan to deploy another Rs. 750 - 1,000 crores in Bangalore during this financial year said Sanjay Grewal.Legacy Group, promoted by Mr. B H Krishnamurthy, Sanjay Shenoy and Rakesh Prabhu, is a prominent developer in Bangalore, having delivered more than 1 million sq. feet of residential space since 2008. The Group is well known for design and construction quality of their projects and are more prominently focused in Central and North Bangalore markets.Altico Capital India Pvt. Ltd is a non-banking financial company (NBFC) backed by Clearwater Capital Partners, Varde Partners and Abu Dhabi Investment Council. Altico has been a consistent lender to the real estate segment. It has completed several transactions such as with Mumbai-based Radius Developers, promoted by Sanjay Chhabria, co invest facility to Century developers along with Piramal and NCR based Lotus Greens amongst others.
Corks are popping all over Pennsylvania as the state uncorks wine sales.

Eighty-four new places, from grocery stores to restaurants, have been approved by the Liquor Control Board to sell bottles for takeout.

Six of them, including the Giant on Linglestown Road in Dauphin County and Black N Bleu Restaurant in Hampden Township, are in the Midstate.

We sell a lot of to-go food, said Black N Bleu owner Donny Brown. Now you can pick up your dinner and a bottle of wine with one stop.

But this is booze and this is Pennsylvania, so there are rules. No more than four bottles per customer. Restaurants must buy the wine from state stores at a 10 percent discount but cannot pass any deals on to customers.

They cant sell it for less than what they bought it for, said Mike Negra, a member of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. They cant use it as a loss leader and buy it for $15 and sell it for $10.

Grocery stores must have separate registers to ring up purchases and must keep the sauce segregated within the store.

Grocery stores will not have the wine in aisle 10, OK? Negra said. The beer wont be next to the bacon.

The union representing state store workers calls such outside sales the beginning of the end of the system. Negra isnt drinking from the same bottle. Things will be different, he concedes, but hardly dire.

Every retailer has to adapt, Negra said. I mean, I used to own video stores. I used to own music stores from a CD standpoint. Those stores change.

Negra admits that no one knows if more places to buy wine means that more wine will be sold. The state is hoping to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional tax revenue because of the expansion.

I think its an option that the people of Pennsylvania are gonna appreciate, said Brown, who spent $2,000 on the license to sell wine to go and additional money on shiny new coolers that display the bottles. I know that at the grocery store its a great convenience. I dont think it will hurt the state stores. People will still go there when they need a bigger selection.

Brown is offering convenience more than value. He has to buy wine from state stores and will then basically double the price to make a profit.

Gov. Tom Wolf toasted the change.

We modernized the liquor system, Wolf said. Eighty-some years since Prohibition and this is the first time this has happened.

Wolf says modernized. In a news release, Speaker of the House Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, calls the system privatized.

So, Mr. Liquor Control guy, what exactly do we have?

We have a debate, Negra said with a hearty laugh, not taking the bait.

But then he added, the future will decide that.

The future of liquor sales, for the first time in eight decades, looks different than its past in Pennsylvania.

Smaller establishments, like Black N Bleu, are selling wine to go right now. The larger grocery stores still have logistics to iron out with the PLCB. Negra estimates it could still be 60 days before that favorite bottle of wine shows up in your local grocery store.
Ahead of the second anniversary of the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, that touched off a wave of protests nationwide, a coalition of more than 60 organizations affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement has issued a list of demands calling for policing and criminal-justice reforms.

The agenda, titled A Vision for Black Lives: Policy Demands for Black Power, Freedom and Justice, was released Monday by the Movement for Black Lives. The platform also comes after both the Republican and Democratic conventions, during which Black Lives Matter activists were noticeably absent from protest lines.

We seek radical transformation, not reactionary reform, Michaela Brown, a spokeswoman for Baltimore Bloc, one of the groups partner organizations, said in a statement. As the 2016 election continues, this platform provides us with a way to intervene with an agenda that resists state and corporate power, an opportunity to implement policies that truly value the safety and humanity of Black lives, and an overall means to hold elected leaders accountable.

The agenda outlines six demands and offers 40 recommendations on how to address them. To address criminal-justice reform, for example, movement organizers are calling for an end to the type of militarized police presence seen at protests in cities like Ferguson, and the retroactive decriminalization and immediate release of all people convicted of drug offenses, sex-work-related offenses, and youth offenses.

The group also is calling for the passage of a bill that would create a commission to study reparations for descendants of slaves.

This is the first time Black Lives Matter has articulated its demands and has faced pressure to do so.

The Black Lives Matter movement dates to 2012 but ignited two years later when 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who is white, on August 9, 2014. The incident, followed by other killings of black men and boys by the police in cities including Baltimore and Cleveland, sparked racial tensions and weeks of protests that evolved into a national conversation about disparities in policing.

Fueled largely by social media, the movement has grabbed the attention of elected officials, including President Barack Obama  who has invited activists to the White House to discuss their grievances and possible solutions.

Their efforts also have forced the issues of criminal-justice reform and policing disparities into the 2016 election cycle and were credited, in part, with the ouster of district attorneys in Illinois and Ohio earlier this year.
When you think of famous chefs, who comes to mind? Perhaps Julia Child, a beloved TV chef who made haute cuisine accessible to the masses, is high on the list. The names Emeril Lagasse, Rachel Ray and Paula Deen might also ring a bell.

But where are the Black chefs?

Chef Kevin Sbraga, for one, became the first African-American to win Top Chef in the seventh season of the cooking competition show. Though chefs of color might not enjoy as much high-profile media attention, they do exist in significant numbers.

According to the 2015 Current Population Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 12 percent of the American workforce in 2015 identified as Black or African-American, yet more than 15 percent of the countrys chefs and head cooks and more than 18 percent of cooks identified as such.

Still, some in the Black community, like food blogger and self-taught home cook Angela Davis, recognize the lack of Black representation in the culinary world. In a PBS exploration asking, Where are the Black Chefs? Davis offered her take.

Theres definitely an absence of culinary education in most schools and a stigma surrounding service jobs, both of which prevent many Black students from seeing the food industry as a viable career option, Davis wrote. We fought for decades to get jobs outside of domestic work  it may be seen as beneath a talented young Black student to pursue a career in the food industry. This is a shame really, because food is a field with just as many opportunities for us.

Davis and other chefs and cooks told PBS that education is key to breaking what barriers to entry exist for Blacks in the culinary arena.

Locally, several culinary training programs thrive in Indianapolis, and a recent visit to The Chefs Academy (TCA)  Harrison Colleges culinary division  showed that Black students are taking full advantage of culinary training opportunities.

Students at TCA can earn a diploma in nine months or an associate degree over 18 months. Once they leave the school, the possibilities are plenty.

Chef Matthew Mejia, who teaches at TCA, said graduates of the program have taken their skills to food trucks, catering companies and even, in one case, the kitchen at a prison.

Student James Stewart, a cook who retired from USA Foods but decided to get back into culinary arts at TCA, said the education is well-rounded.

Its not only cooking; its also a foundation for a business. Its all food, but theres more to it than just pots and pans, he said, mentioning psychology, sociology, nutrition, sanitation and safety in the kitchen as other focal points in the TCA curriculum.

TCA student Alexis Ballard-McCleary said she thinks many people misjudge how intensive culinary training can be.

I think a lot of people underestimate how hard it is. I think they dont understand what goes into going to culinary school, she said. Its one of those thing where within your first quarter, youll know if its for you or not.

In one recent class, the wide range of the curriculum was apparent; its not just about preparing the food, but also about understanding the theories and trends behind the food and learning practical industry standards and expectations.

Each class begins with a uniform inspection, making sure students have mastered the appropriate professional attire for the kitchen. After inspection, students take their places in their classroom  essentially a spread-out commercial kitchen with a classroom stuck right in the middle.

In a recent class, the instructor, Chef Robert Koeller, began by distributing an agenda for the coming week before reviewing the previous weeks lessons, which included information on salads, using vinegars and oils for dressing and more.

Continuing on the topic of salads, Koeller explained to the class the different roles salad can play in a meal  such as a palette cleanser or to aid in digestion  and how those roles can differ among cultures and time periods. Todays salads, he said, almost always include a protein.

Later in the class, he said, students would be roasting beets for use in the next days lesson.

For Ballard-McCleary, the value of her education extends way beyond the classroom lessons. She says TCA filled a void that still existed in her life even after shed earned a degree and landed a job.

I realized there still was something missing, she said. And one thing I can always go home and do, whether Im stressed, whether Im calm, I always love going home and cooking. So I said if this is my stress reliever and this is the one thing that can keep me sane on a daily basis, then why not do it for a lifetime?

Dante Bowling said he loves the artistic aspect of the culinary arts.

Ive got a passion for it. Ive always been an artist, Bowling said. Some people say that food and art dont go together, but to me, they do. Youve got to have a vision and use your imagination.

Bowling said cooking has always been a part of his family, and thats a sentiment that many other students echoed. Stewart said hes been cooking since he was 12. Ballard-McCleary sees her culinary skills transforming her young childrens palates and hopes to do the same for other families someday as a personal chef.

Mark Barnes is using his TCA experience to fill the void left in his family by his grandmothers death.

She was the one who kept everything together. Her cooking brought the community together, so when she passed, it really took a toll, he said. Barnes cooked with his grandmother when he was a child, and he began cooking for himself at the age of 16. With his TCA credentials, he hopes to open his own restaurant and make (his) grandmothers dream and (his) dream come true.

Antoine Lewis is also hoping to carry on a family torch with his culinary education.

Its something thats been bred into my family. My auntie is a chef; my mom is a home cook who claims she is a chef. Its just something that I tapped into, he said. Im just going to see how far it takes me.
Indianapolis leaders tout the city as forward thinking and innovative, so it should come as no surprise that the Circle City was one of the first in the U.S. to create a community trust. The first public community foundation was created in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1914. Just two years later  a full century ago  The Indianapolis Foundation was established.

The foundation set out to make a difference with one overarching goal: improve the quality of life in Marion County. To expand its reach, the Indianapolis Foundation partnered with Hamilton Countys Legacy Fund in 1997 to create the Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF).

Today, the Indianapolis Foundation awards roughly $7 million each year to various not-for-profit organizations working toward making that difference.

But Alicia Collins, CICFs community collaborations manager, said the foundations role extends far beyond just funding.

We do more than just grant making. We also convene organizations to come together focusing on common goals and outcomes, and we are also a connector, so we help organizations that may not know theyre doing the same work come together, Collins said. Im also on the ground working directly with communities and building those relationships not just with the institutions, but with the people.

Though the foundation is a resource for all of Marion County, many of its efforts have focused on the Black community, because thats where the resources have been needed.

We respond to the community and support community needs. Part of our job is understanding where the needs are, Collins said. We know the pulse of the community.

37 Place, a community center in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood, where 93 percent of the population is African-American, is one example of the foundations work converging with community needs to improve life for the citys Black population.

The foundation had a history working through another initiative in Martindale-Brightwood called Making Connections Indianapolis, and there was interest in that community to have a community center, Collins said.

The foundation set its sights on vacant Indianapolis Public School 37.

A lot of the residents are alumni and had deep connections to that school. We also had an opportunity through a donor who wanted to see that school support the community, Collins said. The Indianapolis Foundation took the lead in fundraising for that. We had conversations with residents and built a resident advisory council to direct the foundation.

Today, 37 Place is known as the heartbeat of Martindale-Brightwood and houses the Edna Martin Christian Center, the Art With a Heart program and more.

Two youth-oriented programs at the Avondale Meadows YMCA have also benefited from the foundations assistance for years: Future Leaders, which focuses on youth who have been involved with the juvenile justice system, and Achievers, which focuses on college readiness and career preparation. About 95 percent of the youth served by the two programs are African-American, and many come from low-income, underserved families.

Meresa Creekmore-Armor, associate vice president of community development and executive director of Avondale Meadows YMCA, said the foundations help was directly responsible for adding two missing components to the Achievers program.

With the support of CICF, we were able to add another layer of programming  our post-secondary efforts  where we were able to track our students and then provide additional resources to them in college, she said. Then we added a component to our program  to create a transitional summer program for young people who are transitioning from elementary to middle school. That was a way for us to connect with those kids before they got into middle school and then engage them in our pipeline.

LaShanda Lang, senior program director at the Avondale Meadows YMCA, said the foundation has been much more than just a funder.

Theyve actually come along as a partner, she said. They also help in terms of connecting us with like organizations, also being able to leverage resources and create sustainability plans. Theyve been great as a partner, not just as a funder  but also helping us to tackle community needs and identify those.

The foundation also played a role in the development of the Avondale Meadows YMCA as a whole.

As we moved from being a program center to a full-facility YMCA, they were one of our biggest advocates helping us to connect to the community and making sure we were in the right circles and were knowledgeable about other programs and organizations in the community, Creekmore-Armor said. That advocacy has been instrumental.
This year is Indianas Bicentennial year, the perfect time for Hoosiers to celebrate, explore, and consider the different meanings and dimensions of home. To honor this, the 2016 Spirit & Place Festival presents HOME as a place, a space, and an idea through 40 events November 4-13.

Celebrating its 21st year, the Spirit & Place Festival is Indianapolis largest collaborative festival that uses the arts, religion, and humanities as a vehicle for shaping individual and community life through 10 days of experiences presented in partnership with upwards of 100 partner organizations. An initiative of The Polis Center, part of the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, the annual Spirit & Place Festival offers performances, exhibits, documentaries, and conversations that aim to spark meaningful discussions among diverse neighborhoods, voices, faiths, and organizations in Central Indiana. In doing so, it serves as a platform for insightful experimentation, celebration, and reflection.

The 2016 Festival centers on a Home theme and features events that explore everything from pet ownership to affordable housing, mass transit, art therapy, homelessness, race relations, public health, religion, and home renovations, and more. These inspiring events are presented through the lens of elders and youth, veterans, immigrants and refugees, environmentalists, foodies, musicians and poets, and others. Participating organizations and audiences alike are given the chance to see and celebrate the variety of communities that call Indianapolis home.

During the selection process this year, event submissions that exemplified key traits of the Spirit & Place Festival were nominated for an Award of Awesomeness. The winning event will receive a $1,000 award at the conclusion of the festival. A preview of these events, as well as information about this years signature events, is outlined below. A full listing of events is available at spiritandplace.org.

SPIRIT & PLACE FESTIVAL 2016  AWARD OF AWESOMENESS NOMINEES

Moving Stories

**Bold & Daring Award of Awesomeness nominee

Saturday, Nov. 5  Sunday, Nov. 13 (times vary based on bus schedule)

IndyGo busses & Julia M. Carson Transit Center

$1.75 per ride

A moving exhibitliterally!devoted to the stories and images of what makes Indy home for our community. Presented by Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation, Writing Futures at Marian University, CityWrite, IndyGo Transit Ambassadors, and Indianapolis Arts Council. Fare can be purchased online at buy.indygo.net, on a bus, by calling 317-635-3344, or at the Transit Center during retail hours.

I Am Home: Muslim Hoosiers

**Inclusive & Open-Minded Award of Awesomeness nominee

Saturday, Nov. 5 at 10 a.m. to Friday, Nov. 11 at 5 p.m.

Center for Interfaith Cooperation (1100 W. 42nd St., Ste. 125, Indianapolis, IN)

Saturday, Nov. 12, 10 a.m.  7 p.m.

University of Indianapolis, Schwitzer Student Center (1400 E. Hanna Ave, Indianapolis, IN)

Photo and audio gallery experience of Muslim Hoosiers sharing what makes Indiana their home. Presented by Muslim Alliance of Indiana and the Center for Interfaith Cooperation. 317-306-1998 or aliya.amin@indianamuslims.org.

Riverside Speaks! Past, Present, and Future

**Rooted in Place Award of Awesomeness nominee

Saturday, Nov. 5, 9 a.m.  4 p.m.

Ebenezer Baptist Church & Rock n Riverside House (1901 N Harding St)

FREE

Riverside Speaks! celebrates a community with a pop-up museum, historic recreations and performances, and a church and home tour. Presented by Ebenezer Baptist Church, Indiana Historical Society, Riverside Reunion, Indiana Humanities, Kenyetta Dance Company, and Insight Development Corp. 317-631-5946 or cb212be@gmail.com.

Finding Home: Indiana at 200

**Collaboration Award of Awesomeness nominee

Saturday, Nov. 5, 4 p.m. & 8 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 6, 2 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 12, 5 p.m. & 9 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 13, 2 p.m.

Indiana Repertory Theatre, Upperstage (140 W Washington St, Indianapolis, IN)

Tickets start at $25. Order at irtlive.com or by calling 317-635-5252

Multifaceted look at Indianas life and times mixes music and history, comedy and drama, fact and fable. Presented by Indiana Repertory Theatre and Indiana Historical Society.

Closing in on the Homestretch: A Community Dialogue on Youth Homelessness

**Socially Meaningful Award of Awesomeness nominee

Sat., Nov. 6, 1 p.m.  4:30 p.m.

Central Library (40 E St Clair St, Indianapolis, IN)

FREE

Film screening and dynamic community dialogue on youth homelessness with the filmmakers of The Homestretch.

Presented by Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP), Spargel Productions, Homeless Youth Taskforce, Outreach, Inc., and Stopover, Inc. 317-472-7636 or zalexander@chipindy.org.

Homing the Houseless

**Spiritually Meaningful Award of Awesomeness nominee

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 6:30 p.m.  9 p.m.

Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation (6501 N Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN)

FREE

Watch the Road to Eden and reflect with filmmaker Doug Passon on the connection between homelessness, spirituality, and holiday of Sukkot. Presented by Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation, 317-255-6647 or info@ihcindy.org.

Homes Before Highways: Communities Under the Exit Ramps

**Build Community Award of Awesomeness nominee

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 7 p.m.  9 p.m.

Concord Neighborhood Center (1310 S Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN)

FREE

Share stories and see photos of homes and businesses destroyed on Indianapolis south and west sides by the interstate construction of the 1960s and 70s. Presented by IUPUI Department of Anthropology and Concord Neighborhood Center.317-278-4548 or suhyatt@iupui.edu.

Spirited Chase: Something to Write Home About

**Fun Award of Awesomeness nominee

Saturday, Nov. 12, 9 a.m.  3 p.m.

5 Mystery Venues

$9 Per Person, RSVP by Wednesday, Nov. 9 at wfyi.org

This on-the-go program offers the chance to visit five mystery locations to learn what home means to the people and places of Indianapolis. Must provide own transportation. Presented by WFYI and its community partners. 317-636-2020 or cweidman@wfyi.org.

The Things They Brought Home: Military Tattoos

**Most Thought-Provoking Award of Awesomeness nominee

Saturday, Nov. 12, 3 p.m.  5 p.m.

Indianapolis Art Center (820 E 67th St, Indianapolis, IN)

FREE

This interactive art exhibition explores the veteran experience, tattoos, and the concept of the body as home through photography, writing, and panel discussion. Presented by Indianapolis Art Center, Veterans in Industries and Arts, and Indiana Writers Center. 255-2464 or awalbridge@indplsartcenter.org.

SPIRIT & PLACE FESTIVAL 2016  SIGNATURE EVENTS

Kick Off Event

The Dog Ate My Homework: Opening Night Event

Friday, Nov. 4, 6:30 p.m.  8:30 p.m.

Tube Factory artspace (1125 Cruft Street, Indianapolis, IN)

FREE

Its time to turn in your homeworkno excuses! Join us as we kick off the 2016 Spirit & Place Festival with our friends at Tube Factory artspace. Test your knowledge with fun homework assignments about Indy, hear the debut of HOMEWORK by spoken word artist Tony Styxx, see exhibit Mari by artist Carl Pope, and learn about Big Cars partnership with Riley Area Development Corporation and Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership to provide affordable homes for local artists. Presented by Spirit & Place and Big Car.

Signature Event

From the Ground Up: A People-Centered Approach to Community Development

Sunday, Nov. 6, 3 p.m.  6:00 p.m.

Kheprw Institute (3549 Boulevard Place, Indianapolis, IN)

FREE

This hands-on workshop explores ways to develop a people-centered approach to community development.

Presented by Kheprw Institute, SEND Working Class Task Force, KI NuMedia, Scarabys Consulting, LLC, and Spirit & Place.317-329-4803 or gentrify@kheprw.org.

Signature Event

An Evening with Elizabeth Strout

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m.  9 p.m.

Butler University, Reilly Room (4600 Sunset Blvd, Indianapolis, IN)

FREE, RSVP by Nov. 7 at spiritandplace.org

Readings and reflections by Pulitzer Prize winning author Elizabeth Strout, author of Olive Kitteridge and My Name is Lucy Barton. Presented by Butler Universitys Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series and Spirit & Place. 317-274-2455 or festival@iupui.edu.

Signature Event

Side-by-Side

Friday, Nov. 1113, public exhibit & shared meals (see www.spiritandplace.orgfor comprehensive schedule)

Friday, Nov. 11, 5 p.m.  7:30 p.m., artist-led tour, reception & dinner

Friday, Nov. 11, 7:45 p.m.  9 p.m., artist talk & Matthews Voices community choir debut

Roberts Park United Methodist Church (401 N Delaware St, Indianapolis, IN)

FREE, except for Friday, Nov. 11 dinner  $50. RSVP at robertsparkumc.org

First-ever side-by-side exhibit of sculptor Timothy Schmalzs Matthew 25 works partnered with 3-days of side-by-side dinners and fellowship with homeless neighbors, community leaders, artists, and others.

Presented by Roberts Park United Methodist Church, Sculpture by Timothy Schmalz Inc., Waltz Books, and members of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.* 317-635-1636 or rpoffice@robertsparkumc.org.

*Check www.spiritandplace.org closer to event for final presented by information.

Signature Event

21st Annual Public Conversation

Sunday, Nov. 13, 4 p.m.  5:30 p.m.

Indiana Landmarks Center (1201 Central Avenue, Indianapolis, IN)

FREE

A sociologist, a sculptor, and others reflect on poverty, homelessness, public policy, and the human spirit. MacArthur Genius and New York Times bestselling author Matthew Desmond (Evicted: Poverty & Profit in the American City), sculptor Timothy Schmalz (Homeless Jesus) and executive director of the Martin Luther King Community Center Allison Luthe will grapple with the essence of home from their unique perspectives in a discussion moderated by Butler University political science professor Terri Jett. Presented by Spirit & Place, Roberts Park United Methodist Church, and in conjunction with the John D. Barlow Lecture in the Humanities by the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. 317-274-2455 or festival@iupui.edu.

For details on all Spirit & Place programs and events, visit www.spiritandplace.org.
The Ponca Tribe in White Eagle, Oklahoma. Photo from Ponca Tribe



The Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations has come to another Oklahoma tribe.

More than 1,500 landowners from the Ponca Tribe have received $7 million in offers for their fractional interests, the Interior Department announced on Thursday.

This Program is about putting resources back into Indian Country and keeping land in trust, Deputy Secretary Michael Connor, the second-in-command at the department, said in a press release. The Buy-Back Program is an exceptional opportunity that cannot be taken for granted. We are committed to working with tribal leaders to ensure landowners are provided all the info they need to make decisions about the use of their land.

Participation in the program is entirely voluntary and any interests that are acquired will be transferred to the Ponca Tribe. Landowners have until October 6 to accept the offers.

The Ponca Tribe is the second in Oklahoma to see offers from the program and the first to see a large dollar amount in offers. The offers that went out to the Quapaw Tribe in 2015 were very small in comparison -- nine landowners were paid about $28,000 for their interests, according to the department

As of August 12 , more than 101,000 individual Indians received over $2 billion in offers for their fractional interests. So far, more than 40,000 have accepted and the program has paid more than $841 million to acquire those lands.

The equivalent of 1.6 million acres has been transferred to tribes, according to the department.

The $3.4 billion settlement to the Indian trust fund lawsuit set aside $1.9 billion for the program. Based on the department's latest figures, about 44 percent of the funds have been spent on land purchases.

If the current rate of sales continues, the money will run out before the 10-year deadline anticipated by the settlement. The Obama administration is studying ways to continue the effort.

Join the Conversation

Related Stories
An Etters man was arrested Wednesday after police said he inappropriately touched two woman, stole a cellphone, threatened to shoot police officers and had to be subdued with a Taser outside a bar in Hampden Township.

Matthew Oden Plever, 36, was visibly intoxicated at Blarneys Irish Pub in the 5000 block of Carlisle Pike around 9 p.m. Wednesday when he attempted to stick his hands down the back of a womans pants before stealing her phone and keys, Hampden Township Police said.

He also inappropriately touched another woman between her rib cage and hip, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Hampden police.

Plever told people inside the bar that he wanted to get into a fight and that he would shoot police officers and those inside the bar if the police came, police said.

Plever fled the bar when police arrived and officers gave chase, according to police.

As Plever was running away, he ran face first into a pole, fell to the ground and attempted to get back up and run again when he was subdued with a Taser, police said.

He is charged with two misdemeanor counts of indecent assault, misdemeanor theft, resisting arrest, as well as summary public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, according to court records.

Plever is in Cumberland County Prison in lieu of $10,000 cash bail, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Aug. 24 in front of Magisterial District Judge Elizabeth Beckley.
The recent outburst of Rajya Sabha MP, Mulayam Singh Yadav, about the health of "his" lions raised several eyebrows. Particularly of animal conservationists in the country. Four of the nine lions brought from Rajkot and Junagadh zoos of Gujarat have died this year. The future of the rest still remains grim.

The question that arises is why does Uttar Pradesh need lions?

BCCL

The Kuno-Palpur sanctuary in MP is being suggested by the World Wildlife Fund of India as a suitable replacement for 40 lions. In their report to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, "Lion reintroduction within the sanctuary part of Kuno (345 sq.km) should not wait for the completion of the current study since earlier ecological assessments by WII had already validated the potential of that area to support about 40 lions."

Adding that, "The current study in concurrence with the lion reintroduction exercises would serve as a benchmark for post-release long-term monitoring of lions, prey and other predators and would be mostly helpful in quantifying social and ecological status of landscape outside the sanctuary boundary which lions are likely to explore once the population reaches its carrying capacity of 40 lions inside the sanctuary after about 15 years."

BCCL

There are several issues that plague the lions at Etawah, which is clearly not an ideal relocation option for the lions of Gujarat. The safari has not been able to tide over the problem of feline mortality. The government has done everything it can do. It is the wildlife machinery that is failing the safari, Dr Sandeep Paul, a vet and a whistle-blower told Hindustan Times.

They didnt pay heed in 2014 and when they realised, it was too late. Now, I fear for Pataudi, Jessica, Kunwari, Gigo and two others, Dr Paul added regarding the distemper that is proving fatal to the lions.

Still allaying questions, Deputy director of the Etawah lion safari, Dr Anil Patel told HT that it was a unique project that involved rehabilitating lions in a new geographical area.

The other lions are hale and hearty and we will make the project a success, he said, adding, There are no standard vaccines or cure available for canine distemper.

BCCL

Till last year, the government had spent Rs 53 crore, including on the breeding centre and various other facilities, says a report in The Indian Express. The cost is now likely to rise, with the government creating a corpus fund of Rs 100 crore for the safaris maintenance.

As much as Rs 1 lakh is spent monthly on the upkeep of a pair of lions.

A total of nine deaths has been reported since the project took off in 2013. Sanjay Srivastava, the second director of the lion safari, is reported to have objected to the number stating, "Three were stillbirths and another cub failed to survive the initial period. Such projects require time and patience."

BCCL

The current staff and managers of the Lion Safari, which is not yet open to the public, feel that the fate of the lions should be observed for more time.

How many more deaths of lions will it take for the concerned governments to understand that it may be the right time to find the big cats other, more suitable homes?
The Indian Embassy in Warsaw, Poland, had as part of its Independence Day celebrations put out a campaign to promote 'Incredible India'.

It showed a woman in a yoga posture in the background of a mountain range.

Rajesh Shrestha/ Facebook

The only problem was, the photo used in the campaign was not even from India, but from neighbouring Nepal.

The mistake was soon pointed out by a Nepalese man, Rajesh Shrestha in a Facebook post.

He said the mountain in the background was Annapurna Range in Nepal.

After his post went viral, the Indian embassy quickly removed the image..

Indian Ambassador Ajay Bisaria even sendan apology to Shrestha on Facebook.

Dear Rajesh: Thanks for pointing out the error. Weve removed the poster. It was an honest mistake, an image provided by an outsourced company. Our apologies to our friends in Nepal!, the message read.

Rajesh Shrestha/ Facebook

This is not first time India is accused of 'stealing' images of Nepal. In 2014 a Nepali photographer Bimal Nepal had accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using his copyrighted image for his Diwali message.

Bimal Nepal/ Facebook
Taking advantage of the ongoing unrest in the valley, terrorists in north Kashmir's Kupwara and Uri sectors have sneaked into central as well as south Kashmir, sources told TOI.

BCCL

Armed terrorists are believed to be travelling from one part of the valley to another after infiltrating into the Indian side in the days since the unrest began following the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani on July 8, said a senior Intelligence officer.

On Wednesday at around 3 am Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists ambushed a security convoy in Kashmir, killing three personnel in Baramulla in an escalation of violence that officials blame on separatist protests that have hamstrung forces for more than a month.

BCCL

"Two soldiers and a police constable died in the attack on the convoy," SSP Baramulla Imtiyaz Hussain told reporters.

Hizb claimed responsibility for the attack on the Army convoy in Baramulla. Its spokesman said, "Commander Saifullah Khalid directed the squad to intensify the attacks on security establishments."

The Intelligence officer said nearly 60 terrorists have infiltrated into the Valley from across POK in the last couple of weeks; this, despite the Army taking them on at several places along the LoC and even pushing them back with heavy firing and killing many of them. Five infiltrators were eliminated on Tuesday.

BCCL

In fact, according to the intelligence officer, Hizb operatives in Tral are training disaffected youths in the forests and making fresh recruits. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, security bosses imposed a strict night curfew in entire Srinagar on Wednesday.

Army chief General Dalbir Singh arrived in Jammu on Wednesday, and was briefed about the preparedness of White Knight Corps in dealing with the dynamically changing security situation.
General Dalbir Singh, the Indian Army chief has accused his predecessor and current Minister of State for External Affairs, VK Singh of trying to stall his promotion, in 2012 while he was at the helm of affairs of the force.

BCCL

According to an Indian Express report, Gen Dalbir in an affidavit submitted in the Supreme Court accused VK Singh of acting with mysterious design, malafide intent and to arbitrarily punish him for extraneous reasons.

I was sought to be victimised by the then COAS General V K Singh with the sole purpose of denying me promotion to the appointment of Army Commander, the affidavit submitted on his personal capacity said.

It was filed in response to a petition filed by Lt Gen (retd) Ravi Dastane alleging that Dalbir Singh was favoured over him to succeed Gen Bikram Singh in July 2014.

BCCL

Dalbir Singh was placed under a discipline and vigilance (DV) ban between April and May 2012 by the then Chief of Army Staff VK Singh for alleged failure of command and control.

This was in connection with an "intelligence-based operation" carried out by the 3 Corps in Assam's Jorhat in December 2011 while Dalbir Singh was the General Officer Commanding.

In his affidavit Dalbir Singh however said on that day, I was away on part of annual leave and rejoined duty on 26 Dec 2011.

Following VK Singh's retirement, his successor Bikram Singh reversed the DV ban and promoted Dalbir Singh as GOC-in-C, Eastern Command.

BCCL

The petitioner, Dastane had cited Dalbir Singh's delayed promotion, and claimed that the he was eligible to be Army Commander but was denied the chance by Bikram Singh.

In his affidavit Dalbir Singh said it is now revealed clearly that the imposition of DV ban and issue of show cause notice to me by the then COAS was illegal and premeditated.

He also termed VK Singh's actions as "motivated, biased, arbitrary and malicious intent to punish him."

This is not the first time Gen. VK Singh who served as the COAS from 31 March 2010 to 31 May 2012 finding himself in a spot of controversy.

BCCL

In 2012 he had unsuccessfully moved the Supreme Court against the government to change his date of birth from 10 May 1950 which was on the army records to May 10, 1951 which would have enabled him to continue service for another year.

According to a report in the The Indian Express, VK Singh had allegedly attempted a coup in January 2012 when two key army units moved towards Delhi without notifying the government.
Although the Sino-India war in 1962 did scathe the otherwise unscathed image of the Indian Army, despite the defeat, it did forge many heroes whose acts immortalised them in the annals of history. Among scores who dared death at the face of annihilation was Subedar Joginder Singh, who halted and repulsed the mighty dragon, twice, at Tongpen La in Bum La axis when the enemy was heading to conquer Tawang on 23 October 1962, before succumbing to his injuries in Chinese custody.

wikipedia

Singh was awarded the highest gallantry award, the Param Vir Chakra, after the war, and the stand he took along with a handful of his men against the menacing Chinese is indeed a tale every soldier would love to live. This is the story of Subedar Joginder Singh, who singlehandedly killed more than 50 Chinese before he was captured.

Birth at Moga

Subedar Joginder Singh was born on 28 September, 1921, in Mahla Kalan village at Moga, District Faridkot in Punjab in the house of Sher Singh. He enrolled in the army as a Sepoy on 28 September, 1936, in the First Sikh Regiment. He served in the British Indian army at various places on the Burma Front and won many laurels. After Independence, he served with the Sikh regiment at Srinagar in 1948 when Pakistani tribals attacked Kashmir.

1962 War

During the Sino-Indian War in 1962, the Indian Army was facing successive setbacks from all theatres of wars, especially in the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) where Indian troops couldn't provide the required resistance which brought great humiliation to the reputation of an army that had proved instrumental in making the British victorious in World War-II.

claudearpi.blogspot.com

Joginder Singh was commanding a platoon of 20 soldiers to form the guards of IB Ridge and Twin Peaks. The Chinese, who were eyeing the capture of Tawang from Indian forces, knew they wouldn't get a hold of Tawang without capturing the Twin Peaks because Indian soldiers stationed here could see every movement of the Chinese from miles away. Therefore, it was certain the Chinese would put all their effort to capture IB Ridge and Twin Peaks. In the early hours of 23 October, 1962, the Chinese launched offensive from three sides and Assam Riffles posted at Bum La couldn't pose much resistance, and soon the war at IB Ridge was guarded by Subedar Joginder Singh with his men.

The ridge was quite steep and it was a daunting task for the Chinese as most of the troops were exposed to Indian guns. Subedar grabbed this opportunity with both hands and killed many Chinese while repulsing the two waves of aggression.

"At 0530 hours on 23 October, 1962, the Chinese opened a very heavy attack on the Bumla axis with the intention of breaking through to Tawang. The leading battalion of the enemy attacked the ridge in three waves, each about 200 strong. Subedar Joginder Singh and his men mowed down the first wave, and the enemy was temporarily halted by the heavy losses it suffered. Within a few minutes, a second wave came over and was dealt with similarly," reads the Citation of Indian Army about Joginder Singh and battle of IB Ridge.

claudearpi.blogspot.com

But after repulsing two waves, Indians were running out of ammunition. Joginder Singh asked for more ammunition from the Company Headquarters, but it was hard to supplement the troops as the Chinese had taken care of the communication network. The Coy Cdr, Lt. Haripal Kaushik, asked Sub Singh to retire to the Coy Headquarters but in reply, the latter assured that the enemy would not be allowed to get through the IB Ridge to the Twin Peaks.

"Subedar Joginder Singh was wounded in the thigh but refused to be evacuated. Under his inspiring leadership the platoon stubbornly held its ground and would not withdraw. Meanwhile the position was attacked for the third time. Subedar Joginder Singh himself manned a light machine-gun and shot down a number of the enemy. The Chinese however continued to advance despite heavy losses. When the situation became untenable Subedar Joginder Singh and the few men that were left in the position fixed bayonets and charged the advancing Chinese, bayoneting a number of them before he and his comrades were overpowered. Throughout this action, Subedar Joginder Singh displayed devotion to duty, inspiring leadership and bravery of the highest order," further reads the Citation.

holidify.com

'Jo Bole So Nihal', the war cry of the platoon was fierce enough to scare the Chinese who perished at the bayonets of Khalsas in thick numbers. While many of his fellow soldiers perished in combat, Sub Joginder Singh was badly wounded, captured and taken as POW.

He succumbed to his wounds in the Tibet region under Chinese custody as a POW. He was awarded the PVC posthumously for showing unparalleled courage despite being at the face of annihilation.

The epilogue

When the Chinese learnt that Joginder Singh was awarded the PVC, the Chinese army, as a mark of respect, repatriated his ashes with full military honours to the battalion on May 17, 1963. His urn was later brought to the Sikh Regimental Centre at Meerut. The urn was honoured at a memorial service held at the Gurdwara Sahib the next day. Later, in a poignant ceremony, the urn was handed over to his widow Gurdial Kaur and young son.

Besides the memorial for his heroics in Moga town, the Indian Army paid tribute to this great martyr by building a monument in his memory at IB ridge.

The Indiatimes Frontlines team is at Bum La today. Follow their journey here
Im morbidly fascinated by the rhetorical mud being slung between Democrats and Republicans these days. How exhilarating to hear Hillary Clinton labeled unstable by Donald Trump, who is himself called bat(bleep)-crazy by a fellow billionaire and Hillaryite, Mark Cuban.

This week, though, I actually do need to take a side. It has nothing to do with whom will get my vote, because that has been changing positions as regularly as one of those balls that dance merrily over the Wimbledon net. This week, I need to peel back the layers of rhetoric and excuses about the lesser of two evils and focus deliberately on why Trump is a horror show of a human being.

And of course, here comes the disclaimer. I despise Clinton, whose character has been shown to be so low that it could slither under a pregnant ant and still leave space. She is a liar, who lies with expert calm and nonchalance, a woman who would not be able to pass a lie-detector test because she is too smart to convince herself that what comes out of her mouth is the truth.

That being said, Trump is someone who does not deserve, even as a default, to sit in the White House.

Think back to what this man suggested when he was talking about the Second Amendment. I know the media have had a great tendency to blow Trumps comments out of proportion, and the dust-up about Megyn Kellys blood and the cruel comments about Muslim terrorists and Mexican rapists can, if we are pushed to the wall, be swallowed like bitter bile and then forgotten as we set our eyes on the prize.

I truly do believe that Trump does not understand the consequences of his words, and that his brain is not fully engaged before he opens his mouth. This is the thing that has enchanted so many of those who were tired of the establishment and encourages them to circle the protective wagons when hes criticized.

But, my friends, you cannot circle the wagons when your candidate, inadvertently as I believe it to have been, makes reference to a final solution for addressing gun-control differences. I watched as that blond twit on CNN who thinks shes clever and regurgitates Trump talking points every night actually tried to excuse his Second Amendment comments as being misunderstood. Here are the words he spoke: If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks . . . Although the Second Amendment people  maybe there is, I dont know.

No thinking human being can misunderstand that. Trump tried to say he was inviting people to vote as a bloc against Clinton, but the only way she gets to pick a judge, presumably for the Supreme Court, is if she already is president. So voting will be irrelevant at that point.

At this point, I suppose its too much to change the hearts and minds of those who are in the Never Hillary camp. I wouldnt want to. In fact, Id be sick at the thought that anything I said would persuade someone to vote for her.

All I ask is that you supporters of The Donald stop dipping your brains in formaldehyde and acknowledge that the candidate has crossed the line of decency. Hold him up to judgment. Make him accountable for his thoughtless, reckless, supremely unpresidential words. Dont act like the robotic prostitutes on cable television who excuse his failings. This time, hes gone too far.

And if you dont acknowledge it, so have you.

Christine Flowers is an attorney and a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, and can be reached at cflowers1961@gmail.com.
Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

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Thirteen-year-old Jesse Oghenekaro Azaino recently did Nigeria proud when he came fourth out of 27 spellers at the maiden Africa Spelling Bee Competition which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, last month.

Nine African countries participated in the continental event with three spellers from each country.

South African speller, Zameer Dada, came first followed by Ethiopia and Kenya.

Azaino had emerged one of the three winners in the Nigeria Spelling Bee competition earlier this year in Abuja to qualify for the continental event.

The National Coordinator of Nigeria Spelling Bee, Mr. Sam Otitolaiye, disclosed in Kaduna, that the next edition of Africa Spelling bee will come up in Addis Ababa Ethiopia in 2017.

The competition is for secondary schools pupils across Nigeria and will take place at state, zonal and national levels. The star prize for the competition is N1 million.

Source: TheNation
The Governor of Osun state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has called on Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buharis administration.

Gov Aregbesola made the statement in his acceptance speech while an award from the Nigerian Association of Technologists in Engineering (NATE), as he added that change is a gradual process.

The Governor also called on Nigerians to support the present administration as it seeks for solutions to the present economic crisis.

Change does not come easily; change comes generally with pain and it is this pain that will turn out for good.

There is no doubt that we are going through serious socioeconomic and political challenges and it is my fervent belief that after this period, Nigerians will experience good life, joy and happiness.

I am of the opinion, with strong conviction that after this painful period, glorious era of joy, happiness and prosperity will come.

I appeal to Nigerians to exercise patience with the present government, as the process of change is difficult and usually accompanied with huge pains, he said.
At a parking lot in Walmart store in Lancaster, Ohio, USA, a diaper-wearing monkey was seen running around and attacking an employee.

According to police, the monkey escaped when its owner opened the trailer door of her vehicle.

A store employee then got close in an attempt to capture the monkey.

The monkey then jumped from the metal railing and grabbed the employees arm and clothing, as seen in the footage.

The woman who owns the monkey yelled, Let him go, let him go, let him go! If he bites you, they will put him down.

The woman then grabbed the monkeys hand and walked it back to her vehicle.

A witness called 911 reporting that the monkey had bitten the employee, however, it was reported that the victim did not require medical attention.

A Walmart spokesperson told said that the monkeys owner was grateful for the way the store helped apprehend her animal.

Also reports say that the Ohio Department of Agriculture is now trying to track down the monkey and its owner for fear the animal may not be properly registered.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K0NuGFOJ8i4
A woman simply identified as Mrs. OmololaAtejioye, aged 35, on Tuesday evening committed suicide by hanging inside her apartment, located along Ago-Iwoye road, Ilishan-Remo, in Ikenne Local Government Area of the State.

The incident, confirmed by the state acting Police Public Relations Officer, AbimbolaOyeyemi, yesterday, was discovered by the deceased husband, Mr.AyodeleAtejioye, who returned from work at about 5.30pm, found her wife dangling in the room.

It was learnt that the late Mrs.Atejioye, tied herself to the ceiling, and did not leave behind any suicide note.

According to family sources, the case was reported to the Police by the deceaseds husband while her remains was deposited at Babcock University morgue, where her husbands works.

Oyeyemi, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, told newsmen that post mortem would be carried out on the deceased to determine the cause of her death.

He said, A member of staff of the Babcock University reported to our men in Ilisan-Remo, that he returned from work around 5.30pm, and met the body of his wife dangling from the ceiling of their apartment, after the door was forced opened.

Source: Leadership
Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State yesterday claimed that he was under house arrest in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

The governor was in the Rivers State capital for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDPs botched national convention.

Mr. Fayose said he was not at the convention ground, because he was purportedly placed under house arrest at the old Presidential Lodge of the Government House, Port Harcourt.

The governor was conspicuously missing at the meeting that took place at the PDP secretariat on Aba Road, Port Harcourt, after security agencies sealed off the Sharks Stadium, initial venue of the convention.

He said an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) was used to barricade the entrance of the Presidential Lodge.

According to Lere Olayinka, the governors Special Assistant on Communications and New Media, that all efforts to Mr. Fayose to attend the PDP meeting were rebuffed by the security personnel.

He described the action as unbelievable and unfortunate.

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Police Command said it was not aware of Fayose being placed under house arrest.

The commands spokesperson, Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said yesterday evening that there was no report of such incident.

Omoni insisted that officers and men of the Rivers police command were law abiding and polite, with emphasis always placed on due process and rule of law.

Chairman of the National Convention Planning Committee and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, lampooned the security agencies for refusing to obey the judgment order of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt.

According to him: All the vehicles used by the police to invade the Sharks Stadium were bought by my administration. All the Armoured Personnel Carriers they used were serviced by my administration. What happened was unfortunate.

If the PDP had used the security agencies to torment the APC this way, by now the APC wouldnt have been in power.

He further dismissed the claim by the factional national chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff that the convention was illegal, saying Sheriff is not an asset to PDP because he cannot win elections in Borno state. For us, we are working to rebuild the party.
Nick Dazang, deputy director of information at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in a statement had quoted the national commissioner, Amina Bala Zakari, as saying that declaring elections inconclusive is fairness to all.

According to the statement, Mrs. Zakari made this known at an event with the theme: Trends of Inconclusive Elections and the Challenge of Strengthening the Electoral Process, held by the Electoral Institute in Abuja on Wednesday.

The statement reads in part;

In order to be fair to all

Faced with circumstances and armed with the legal provisions, INEC, in an attempt to be fair to all, and to move away from the established syndrome of announce the result at any cost and leave it to the courts, usually invokes the relevant sections to declare elections inconclusive, pending determination of the winner through supplementary elections.

No longer business as usual for politicians

It is no longer business as usual for politicians who embark on the direct intimidation of voters and INEC staff not to use the smart card reader to force over voting perpetrate violence through the use of weapons including guns to scare away voters in an attempt to influence outcome of elections.

Zakari said to make the countrys electoral process better, the commission was increasing awareness and application of electoral laws and INEC guidelines.
The military has granted administrative bail to two persons it recently declared wanted in connection with the Boko Haram insurgency and abduction of Chibok schoolgirls in Borno State.

The Nigerian Army on Sunday declared Ahmed Salkida, Ahmed U. Bolori and Aisha Wakil, wanted after the release of a video by the insurgents purporting to show some of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.

However, only Bolori and Wakil turned themselves in while Salkida, who resides in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), promised to make himself available to the military authorities as soon as he is able to pay for his flight to Nigeria.

It was learnt that the duo of Bolori and Wakil were granted bail Wednesday night after they met some conditions, including submission of their international passport.

The military had on Tuesday said those declared wanted were not being arrested but only invited to discuss new strategies as the war against Boko Haram is gradually winding down.
        :          ,     
President Muhammadu Buhari has told African Central Bank Governors that monetary policy alone cannot expand Nigerian economy.

The Reuters news agency quotes the president as saying the Nigerian economy required new fiscal and structural policies for it to surmount its worst economic challenges in decades.

We fully understand that monetary policy alone is not sufficient to bring about desired economic growth, President Buhari told the meeting of African Central Bank Governors Thursday in Abuja

For us in Nigeria, while we recognise the challenges we are confronting  we are determined to diversify the economy away from the excessive reliance on oil and other primary products, he added.

It would be recalled that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised interest on lending rates last month, adversely crippling profit growth.
Punch

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, said on Wednesday that he was placed under house arrest by security operatives at the old President Lodge of the Government House in Rivers State.

Vanguard

74-year General Overseer of the Redeemed Christen Church of God (RCCG) Pastor E A Adeboye has said that he meant every-word he said about marriage during the recently concluded RCCG 64th annual convention.

The Sun

An All Progressives Congress (APC) Board of Trustee member, Olisaemeka Akamukale said President Muhammadu Buhari made some fundamental mistakes in his appointments. He also alleged the president appointed three saboteurs who never believed in his presidency as ministers.

Thisday

The newly appointed National Coordinator, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Andreas Ihekweazu has charged the staff of the Centre to work toward achieving the mandate of the organisation.

Guardian

The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) is said to have willingly agreed to dialogue with the Federal Government to resolve the lingering crisis in the region. According to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the spokesman for the group, Mr. Ballantyne Agiri, in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, said that the NDA had constituted a contact and dialogue group to engage the Federal Government in meaningful talks.

Daily Trust

A former minister of information, Mr Labaran Maku, yesterday, said that he criticises the Nasarawa State Government to engender good governance.

The Nation

Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan has denied having anything to do with the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).

Leadership

Sheriff yesterday described as illegal and void, the NEC meeting of the party convened in Port Harcourt.

Tribune

The National Security Adviser (NSA), retired MajorGeneral Babagana Monguno, has said Nigeria must be steps ahead to be able to defeat the Boko Haram terrorists and their activities.

The Herald
The Kano State Police Command has put a stop to the proposed mass wedding organised by a group loyal to former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso.

This is contained in a statement signed by the commands Public Relations Officer, DSP Magaji Majiya, and issued to journalists on Thursday in Kano.

According to the statement, the measure is necessary because the wedding coincided with the state governments planned empowerment programme event slated for Aug. 20.

The police has banned the two ceremonies indefinitely as security Intelligence available at our disposal revealed that some disgruntled elements are preparing to use the occasions to cause havoc in the state.

It warned that the police and other security agencies would not fold their arms to allow some people to breach the peace in the state.

Our prime responsibility is to ensure peace, tranquility, protection of lives and property as well as maintenance of law and order, the statement said.

The Commissioner of Police would invite the organizers of the two events for a meeting with a view to resolving the issues.
According to reports, a German police car got stuck on a narrow path while pursuing a riding suspect.

Rather than give up, one of the officers jumped on a childs bike and successfully chased down and arrested the 27-year-old suspect.

Police say the suspect, who had evaded a traffic stop Tuesday in the southern German town of Bamberg, was found to be carrying drugs and driving under the influence.

Police spokeswoman Silke Gahn said Wednesday the officer, after the arrest, gratefully returned the 22-inch bike he had borrowed.
The Benue State Police Command has taken two children of a wanted militia kingpin, Terwase Akwaza, into protective custody as the Joint Task Force in the state intensifies search for him.

The JTF had begun the hunt for Akwaza, popularly known as Ghana, since few weeks ago on allegations of kidnapping, cattle rustling and assassination of people among others.

The repentant militia kingpin is wanted by security agencies in connection with the murder of the Special Assistant to Governor Samuel Ortom on Security, late Dene Igbana.

Addressing a joint state Security Council press briefing yesterday at the Police headquarters in Makurdi, the Commissioner of Police, Benue State, Bashir Makama, also said many suspects have been arrested in connection with criminal activities headed by Akwaza.

He said: We have taken into safe protective custody two children of Ghana and his sister, who is taking care of the children. We want to keep the children safe from people who might want to take revenge on them because of what their father had done to them. As he is hunting others, they are also hunting for him.
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has blamed political opponents within his All Progressives Congress (APC) for the current insecurity in the state.

Ortom, who spoke at a joint news conference held by the State Security Council at the police headquarters in Makurdi, the state capital yesterday, insisted that some influential individuals were behind certain crimes in the state.

Represented by his deputy, Engr. Benson Abounu, the governor said that some politicians, who he did not mention, were uncomfortable with the success of the amnesty programme initiated by his administration, last year.

He claimed that these group of disgruntled politicians instigated the current insecurity situation, led by a wanted militia kingpin, Terwase Akwaza aka Ghana.

Some people saw the amnesty programme which was very successful as a threat to their political base, he said.

So, these political individuals instigated the insecurity we now have. Our investigations, so far, have been pointing to the fact that Akwaza is the creation of political class.

Gov. Ortom added that the people not happy with the APC-led government in the state were perpetrating criminal activities to undermine the success of the amnesty programme.
Hundreds of students of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Alabata, Ogun State, have protested what they called intolerable incessant attacks by armed robbers on them in the off-campus area of the University.

The students, who took to the Abeokuta/Ibadan road in their numbers as early as 7.00am today (Thursday), barricaded the road in protest.

Robbery attacks have become a regular occurrence in the off-campus area of FUNAAB, with the victims, mostly students of the university, losing their valuables.

It was learnt that access to the Alabata junction of the road was blocked by the protesting students, forcing motorists heading towards Ibadan, Osiele, Alabata road, to alternative routes.
Saudi Arabian authorities have arrested three pilgrims from Kwara for alleged possession of substance suspected to be cocaine.

Hajia Fatima Abolore-Jimoh, the Executive Secretary, Kwara Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, confirmed the arrest on Wednesday from Saudi Arabia in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

She said the three pilgrims, who were among the first batch of 505 Pilgrims from Kwara, were arrested in Medina by Saudi Arabia security operatives.

The executive secretary, who did not disclose the identities of the three suspects, said they were still in the custody of Saudi Arabian authorities.

Abolore-Jimoh said the Saudi Arabian law would certainly take its course on the three suspected drug traffickers.

She described the arrest as unfortunate and painful in spite of several appeals to them to be good ambassadors of Kwara and Nigeria.

The executive secretary said that other pilgrims from the state were still in Medinah, hale, healthy and in good spirit in spite of the unfortunate incident.

NAN reports that 1,978 pilgrims from the state are performing the 2016 pilgrimage exercise. (NAN)
Six suspected burglars have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command in the Ikoyi area of the state.

Our correspondent learnt that the suspects were sharing their loot when they were arrested by police operatives.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the men, identified as Friday Eze, Stanley Ejiofor, Femi Miracle, Raphael Ijoha, Emmanuel Omojuwa and Daniel Thomas, were arrested by men of the Ikoyi Police Division on Tuesday, August 9.

The police said the gang, which was notorious for breaking into houses and stealing valuables, had other members who escaped arrest.

Our correspondent learnt that around 10pm, the gang members allegedly burgled some houses on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, and drove away in a car to a junction in the area to share the loot.

A source said operatives, who were on patrol, observed the suspects sharing the stolen items in the car and arrested them.

He said, They are notorious in the Ikoyi area for burglary. They dont rob to avoid raising suspicion. They only wait for their target houses to be deserted before they strike.

We were on a stop-and-search in the area when we observed them sharing some goods inside a car around 10pm. When we arrested them and searched the car, we found four laptops, three purses, 13 mobile phones and four iPads. They confessed that they were returning from an operation. The six of them have been transferred to the Special Anti-Robery Squad, Ikeja.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, Eze, a father of two, said he went into burglary to make ends meet.

He said, It was frustration that drove me into burglary. The situation was very critical for me and my family. I have a wife and two kids to cater to. I am not the gang leader. A friend brought all these men for the operation. We stole several laptops. I took two laptops and two iPads. I have gone for only two operations.

I was formerly living in Lekki with my family. But when things became difficult, my in-laws took my wife and children to Ikorodu. I am the firstborn of my parents. My sisters have been sent out of school and I have to fund their studies.

Another suspect, Thomas, said, Friday (Eze) introduced me to the gang. We are friends. I do not rob; I only burgle houses. It was hard times that led me to this.

The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said the suspects would be charged to court at the end of investigation.

Members of the public should continue to cooperate with the police in tackling crimes in Lagos State. The suspects will be arraigned in court at the end of investigation, he said.

Source: Punch
A member of the Board of Trustees of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Olisaemeka Akamukale, has revealed that at least three members of President Muhammadu Buharis cabinet did not believe he would win the 2015 presidential election.

Akamukale, a former National Auditor of the APC, however, failed to reveal the identities of the cabinet members.

The APC stalwart, who was Chairman of the defunct Democratic Peoples Party, one of the parties that merged to form the APC, was reacting to allegations of neglect by some members and supporters of the APC and the president, who worked for Buhari during electioneering.

Akamukale, who spoke with journalists at the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja on Wednesday, stated that contrary to the claim that Buhari was selecting only technocrats to work with him (the President), most of the politicians who worked for his Presidency, were professionals.

He said, I know about two or three ministers who are serving today who told me Buhari would never be President of Nigeria. Today, they are benefiting from Buharis government. But it is only them that have their shame because it is only a dog that goes back to its vomit. I have nothing against them.

These are political jobbers. They tell you, go for technocrats. You are not a technocrat. Who is a technocrat? Who is not a technocrat? I know my profession. Is Fashola not a Senior Advocate of Nigeria? Because he abandoned his Law profession for eight years and become a governor; he is back tomorrow and you tell me he is not a technocrat. I am a technocrat, I know my strength. But most of them are interlopers, because it only takes somebody who is in the party to understand where the party is heading.

In response to the question if those who did not share in the change vision of the APC but who were now part of the government were misguiding the administration, the BoT member noted that most of those who formed the party were now in government.

However, he noted that there were strangers in the current administration.
Combining art and ministry together, Andy Raines, the Passion Painter, will be holding a special service at 6 p.m. on Aug. 28 at Memorial United Methodist Church in Farmington.

Im hoping we will have a good turnout, said Pam Brooks, special events coordinator. We are opening up to the public, so if you like art, you will enjoy the evening.

Backed up by the churchs Praise Band, Raines not only delivers a gospel message during his service, but he also creates paintings while he is reaching out to the audience.

He paints while the band is playing, Brooks said. Whatever God puts in his head, he paints. It is really inspiring.

Raines, who lives of Granite City, Illinois, was not always a minister of God. According to Brooks, Raines struggled with a drug addiction before his path was changed.

Now, Raines seeks to inspire others through his art.

Brooks said she first saw Raines and his ministry during a WOW youth conference two years ago and was hoping to book Raines for a performance at the local church.

I was really impressed with him and his art, Brooks said. I have been trying to get him to Farmington ever since. Finally, everything fell into place.

The free service will be held in the church's Fellowship Hall and is open to the public. A freewill offering will be collected.

For more information on the event, contact Memorial United Methodist Church at 756-4565.
On this day in 2015;President Muhammadu Buhari assured Nigerians that no amount of pressure would make him give up the war against corruption in the country.

Also on this day in 2015;Former Niger Delta militant leader, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, factional leaders of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Fasehun and Otunba Gani Adams, as well as other beneficiaries of the controversial Pipeline Security and Surveillance contracts, called on Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to pay their outstanding fees by the end of the month, or face legal action.

And on this day in 2014; The Police Command said it had put everything in place to enforce a ban on public smoking in the state. To ensure effective enforcement, the command in collaboration with British America Tobacco, BAT, organised a one-day sensitisation programme for senior police officers across the state, aimed at helping officers to understand how to enforce the new law.
Detained trader, Joe Fortemose Chinakwe has explained why he named his pet dog Buhari.

He explained that he had been an ardent supporter of the President and saw nothing wrong with his action.

The 30-year-old trader has since been released after three days in the police cell following the intervention of both the Serkin Hausa and President-General of non-indigenes in the state.



The complaint has also withdrawn the case against the accused after both parties signed undertaking not to cause any breach of peace again.

Speaking to Vanguard after this release, the trader, a father of two from the Niger Delta, who trades on second hand clothing lamented that he was made to suffer for no just cause.

Chinakwe said It is annoying because the complainant is from Niger Republic and I am sure he is one of those illegal aliens in this country. He connived with one Police Sergeant from the Northern part of Nigeria called Musa, who works at Sango Police division to humiliate me. Worse still, the Divisional Police Officer there, did not help matters as he refused to entertain any plea from me after I was arrested that Saturday night. He simply ordered his men to throw me into the cell.

On why he named his pet dog Buhari, he said I did not commit any offence. I named my beloved pet dog Buhari, who is my hero. My admiration for Buhari started far back when he was a military Head of State.

It continued till date that he is a civilian President. After reading his dogged fight against corruption, which is like a canker worm eating into the very existence of this country, I solely decided to rename my beloved dog which I called Buhari, after him. I did not know that I was committing an offence for admiring Buhari.

I was intimidated and thrown inside the cell with hardened criminals for about three days. While I was there, the complainant from Niger Republic and Sergeant Musa from the North kept on taunting me saying people from my part of the country are trouble makers and that after detaining me, they will throw me into prison where I will die unsung.

Even when my wife came with our baby on her back, they stopped her from giving me food. One of my friends that came to see me was also maltreated. While taking me to Eleweran the next day, they handcuffed and chained me together with that my friend.

Fortunately, when we got to police headquarters, both the Commissioner of Police and other officers were angry with their colleagues at Sango-Ota.

They were wondering loudly why I was brought to the headquarters over such a minor case.

Its very unfortunate that I have to be so humiliated in my own country because of the antics of a foreigner in connivance with my brother from the North.

Source: Dailypost
A national chairmanship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olabode George, said yesterday that the postponement of the partys national convention was a divine intervention because it would have been marred with a lot of crises.

The convention, earlier scheduled to hold in Port Harcourt, Rivers State yesterday (Wednesday) was postponed by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP, which cited the need to resolve all contentious issues bedeviling the party.

The NEC also extended the time given to the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee by 12 months.

Reacting to the development, George accused Chairman of the Convention Planning Committee and Rivers State Governor, Nyesome Wike and some other PDP governors, of planning to manipulate the process in favour of another candidate.

He wondered why the governors would reject the choice of the South-West zone for the chairmanship, saying there was a grand plan to impose Jimi Agbaje.

The former deputy national chairman of the PDP also faulted the total control of the convention process by Governor Wike, asking Is it a Rivers State affair? This is a national convention of the party. I have never ever in my life seen such a thing.

The South-west had already endorsed somebody, you refused to take that, you were manipulating people, jumping all around. If we had done that when we were building the party, many of them would not have thought of being governors, Mr. George added.

On his part, Agbaje blamed the crisis on shenanigans by the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement in Lagos by his Director of Media and Publicity, Felix Oboagwina, Agbaje said, the PDP did everything to nourish democracy but the APC was doing all in its powers to stunt the democratic process.
Cattle Market Fades on Friday Barchart - Fri Oct 28, 4:39PM CDT Live cattle futures ended the weeks last trade day down by 35 cents to $1.02 with soon to expire October down the most. Cash trade picked up later in the week with some Friday catch up sales mostly... LEV22 : 150.375s (-0.68%) LEZ22 : 153.000s (-0.28%) LEG23 : 156.325s (-0.33%) GFX22 : 177.875s (-0.14%) GFF23 : 180.375s (-0.04%)

Hogs Rebound into Weekend Barchart - Fri Oct 28, 4:39PM CDT Lean hog futures ended the Friday round with 32 to 97 cent gains to fade the triple digit losses from Thursday. The USDA National Average Base Hog Price was $90.54 in the PM update, down by $1.15. The... HEZ22 : 86.100s (+1.15%) HEJ23 : 92.700s (+0.62%) KMZ22 : 96.125s (+0.37%)

Cotton Falls Triple Digits Barchart - Fri Oct 28, 4:39PM CDT December cotton ended the day locked limit lower on the 3c loss. The March contract worked back off the limit for the bell, but still went home down by 274 points. For the week, Dec cotton closed 702 points... CTZ22 : 72.11s (-3.99%) CTH23 : 72.07s (-3.66%) CTK23 : 72.30s (-2.99%)

Loss for Friday Wheat Barchart - Fri Oct 28, 4:39PM CDT Wheat futures faded on Friday with the front month contracts going home 6 1/4 to 9 1/4 cents lower in SRW. For the December contract that completed the week with a 21 1/2 cent loss. KC futures closed down... ZWZ22 : 829-2s (-1.10%) ZWH23 : 849-0s (-1.05%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.6281 (-1.18%) KEZ22 : 925-0s (-0.78%) KEPAWS.CM : 8.8324 (-0.81%) MWZ22 : 945-0s (-0.58%)

Corn Closes Red on Friday Barchart - Fri Oct 28, 4:39PM CDT Front month corn futures settled the Friday session with fractional to 1 1/2 cent losses. The December contract saw a tight 7 1/2 cent range from -6 cents to +1 1/2 cents on the day. It was also down for... ZCZ22 : 680-6s (-0.22%) ZCPAUS.CM : 6.7193 (-0.15%) ZCH23 : 686-6s (-0.15%) ZCK23 : 686-2s (unch)
According to the Wall Street Journal, one of the hottest trends in franchising these days isnt sit-down restaurants or real estate. It's seniors: "Providing home-health aides and other services to older Americans is a fast-growing business, as brands and franchise owners seek to capitalize on an aging U.S. population and low costs of entry."

If we're to believe the demographic dataand we do, by the wayit isn't much of a stretch to predict that the same can be said for the world of philanthropy: Seniors are the next big thing. But as always, the devil's in the details. What role will philanthropy play to ensure that seniors live healthy, engaging and meaningful lives?

For one answer, we turn to the San Francisco-based Aroha Philanthropies' Seeding Artful Aging initiative, which grants nearly $500,000 to 15 nonprofits to expand "artful aging" programs in the U.S. By inspiring and enabling older adults to "learn, make, and share the arts in ways that are novel, complex, and socially engaging," the initiative works to ensure that the "Golden Years" are indeed as advertised.

The program recently announced 15 winners for its most recent grant cycle. Winning programs include the Johnson City (Tennessee) Public Library's Fullness of Time: Exploring the Arts and the Gifts of Aging, the Albuquerque-based Keshet Dance Company's Fine Wine Dance, and Minnesota Opera'sVoices of Opera.

Grant awards range from $17,000 to $50,000 and will fund innovative programs to run between January 1, 2017 and November 30, 2017.

Two takeaways. here. Let's start with the most obvious one.

If you're an organization whose program offeringsand we're quoting Aroha Philanthropies here"bring joy, connection, improved health and well-being, and a renewed sense of purpose to older adults in community and residential settings," then Seeding Artful Aging needs to be on your radar.

Second, while we often come across grants earmarked for elderly Americans, it's generally through the lenses of public health services or ongoing education. The concept of "artful aging" may be an extension of that latter category, but we'd argue that it's a different beast entirely, and one with a seemingly limitless ceiling.

And why is that? Glad you asked.

First off, of course, is the issue of demographics. As the Journal piece notes, the Census Bureau projects that by 2025, the number of Americans aged 65 and older will hit 66 million, up 38 percent from 2015.

Now, given this explosive growth, you'd think that philanthropists would be lining up outside the bingo hall, right? (Sorry, we couldn't resist.) Well, not exactly. Sure, grantmakers recognize the needs of this demographic, but again, their gifts generally fall outside the purview of the arts. In this sense they're certainly not alone.

But this dynamic may soon change.

This piece in Philanthropy New York encourages donors to take a second look at "artful aging" for one simple reason: it works. Research increasingly corroborates the notion that artful aging programs yield improvements in quality of life and health of older adults:

Older adults who participated in programs led by teaching artists resulted in fewer doctor visits, fewer falls, and less medication usage. Other research highlights the potentially protective effect of participatory arts to prevent dementia, reduce depression, and reduce social isolation.

In a philanthropic climate where performance metrics are donors' North Star, this is important stuff. Numbers (generally) don't lie, and grantmakers will certainly be intrigued if these programs can yield an impressive return on investment.

Which brings us back to a quote from our opening Wall Street Journal article.

Although Claudine Halpern, chief operating officer of My Elder Advocate LLC, was talking in the WSJ article about the lucrative franchising opportunities associated with an aging population, we feel her sentiment can apply to the emerging field of "artful aging" as well:

"There is no way to lose with the demographics we see. All of us are planning on living until 100."
The Efrusy Family Foundation appears to be recently minted, with available tax records only going back to 2012. That year, the Efrusy family took a year off and embarked upon a trip around the world. By family, we mean the whole family. Venture capitalist Kevin Efrusy, his wife Molly, and the couple's three young kids passed through countries in Europe, Asia, South America, and Southern Africa, with friends and other family members joining in at different points. All told, the Efrusys spent time in 19 countries via nearly 50 airplane flights. The clan had a three-month stint in South Africa during the summer, where Molly, a lifelong traveler, reconnected with friends she met on a trip to the Amazon years prior. Molly, by the way, kept a blog of the entire trip. More on that in a bit.

Major tech winner Kevin Efrusy, armed with engineering and business degrees from Stanford, focuses on software and consumer investments for Accel Partners, and was the lead investor in a number of pioneering companies including Facebook, Groupon and Couchbase. It's unclear how much he's worth, but he's been a fixture on Forbes' Midas List, earning a place for the sixth consecutive year in 2016.

In recent years, though, it's been reported that Efrusy's cut back on his duties with Accel to focus on other ventures, including philanthropy. Molly, meanwhile, a Stanford and UC Berkeley grad, worked in the healthcare for a decade and a half, but now serves president of the Efrusy Family Foundation as well as on the board of several nonprofits.

In other words, this young couple is already turning to giving in a big way, something that's consistent with this new era of philanthropy. The Efrusys, indeed, are only in their mid-40s. The couple has a particular interest in areas like youth leadership development, education and public health. Some of this work takes place in the U.S., but their giving also takes place on a global stage.

Not too long ago, we wrote about a six-day trip that Alex Cohen and her foundation staff took through America's heartland and how it was illustrative of some of the family's philanthropic priorities. Well, let's revisit the Efrusy family's trip, particularly their stint in South Africa. The family spent time volunteering in Philippi township in Cape Town at iThemba Labantu, an organization that provides services including a soup kitchen, AIDS hospital, preschool, afterschool program, art/music classes, and vocational training. It's worth noting that Molly has an MPH from UC Berkeley, with a focus on child and maternal health.

In one blog, Molly talks about being introduced to an education nonprofit in South Africa:

We enjoyed another adult dinner out at Ellerman House, a boutique hotel down the road from us in Cape Town. Its owned by Paul Harris, a South African businessman... Paul joined us for dinner and gave us many insights into the complicated history of South Africa and its people, as well as telling us about Click Foundation, an education skunkworks that he started to try out different initiatives to improve the poor educational system in South Africa.

Molly also mentions a music school in the region:

We went down to Hout Bay one afternoon so my parents could meet our friend Denis Goldberg and visit one of the projects he supports in town. Its called the Kronendal Music Academy (KMA) and provides music lessons to all members of the Hout Bay community regardless of race or socioeconomic status. One of the goals of KMA is to provide a place where the community can really be integrated and share the wonder of music.

Should it be any surprise that the Efrusys have supported both the Click Foundation and Kronendal Music Academy through their family foundation?

Related: A Billionaire Donor Hits the Road to See "Forgotten" America. Here's What She Learned

Board memberships also illustrate the story of the Efrusys' nascent philanthropy. Molly is on the U.S. advisory council of the African Leadership Foundation, which supports "transformative change in Africa by developing and connecting the continent's next generation of leaders" through partnership with the African Leadership Academy in South Africa. The family has supported the organization. Another one of Molly's board memberships is with the Firelight Foundation, which helps children and families in Africa affected by poverty and HIV/AIDS.

The Efrusys also support education in the states, particularly in the Bay Area. Grantees have included Eastside College Preparatory School, Palo Alto Partners in Education, and The Future Project, "a national movement empowering young Americans to live with passion and purpose."

Stanford, the couple's mutual alma mater, also serves as a site of international work. A recent Efrusy Foundation grant supported the EXTREME design for extreme affordability program, a "two quarter, multidisciplinary, project-based course where students work in teams using design thinking methods to develop products and services that serve the needs of the world's poor." Other grantees have included International Justice Mission, and Nuru International.

So far, the money moving out of the Efrusy Family Foundation isn't overwhelming. In the most recent tax year available to the public, around $400,000 total was directed towards a handful of grantees. Still the Efrusys are a wealthy couple to watch for greater giving down the line, particularly for those working globally.

Related: Kevin Efrusy
The race is intensifying to build self-driving cars, and artificial intelligence research has become a hot commodity. Automakers like Toyota are cozying up to top schools, including with a recent $22 million grant to University of Michigan.

Researchers are rapidly developing vehicles that are either fully self-driving or use artificial intelligence to assist driving. Billions are being poured into AI, robotics, optics, and mapping research, and not just from Google, Apple and Teslamajor automakers, cities, even the federal government are deeply invested in how this all unfolds.

In one sense, its a race between Silicon Valley and the automakers, as the latter try to catch up with companies like Google, which employs or otherwise funds a small nation of software developers.

Related:

To close the gap, one of the many strategies car companies are employing is turning to academic research. As a result, were seeing a lot of funds headed to universities, and some tight relationships developing between research departments and car companies.

Toyota, in particular, has made shortening the distance between fundamental AI research and its line of cars a very high priority, establishing the Toyota Research Institute division with a $1 billion initial budget.

That project has set up shop next to three of the countrys best robotics and artificial intelligence schools, establishing joint research centers to work closely with Stanford, MIT, and the University of Michigan. Most recently, the company announced a $22 million grant over four years to UM for artificial intelligence research.

Were seeing a number of these partnerships emerge lately, as corporations speed up deployment of new advances.

For example, Ford, Volkswagen and Toyota, along with four other tech companies, are each committing $300,000 to the University of California at Berkeley for an initiative called DeepDrive, funding up to 30 grad students a year for AI research. Companies get to give feedback on research proposals and gain quick access to implement new developments. Meanwhile, schools gain funding and a chance to validate their work in real-life situations.

The research is competitive, but also surprisingly collaborative between companies. For example, the University of Michigan, the states DOT, and 15 primary corporate sponsors funded the $10 million Mcity, a research hub for autonomous vehicles in Ann Arbor that includes a little fake city for test drives. Sponsors include Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota.

These companies can be a huge benefit to academic research departments, whose AI and robotics work is suddenly hotter than ever. But they can also pose a threat.

The most notorious example was Ubers descent upon Carnegie Mellon University. The company set up shop next to the school and announced a new partnership, but shortly thereafter hired away something like 40 of the universitys researchers. Uber later made a $5.5 million grant to the school, largely perceived as mending fences, but the partnership has gone nowhere since. Uber has set up a smoother working relationship with the University of Arizona.

Related:What Does Ubers Mad Dash to Build Self-Driving Cars Mean for Research Funding?

The connection between Toyota and its partner schools is less poach-y, but the boundary is thin. For example, two top professors going to work at the new Ann Arbor research center will keep their UM positions, as long as they devote 80 percent of their time to autonomous vehicle-related research.

We actually see a lot of these arrangements related to university fundraising, as schools pick up big funding from corporations that stand to benefit from their work in a certain area. We speculated about a year ago that the dash for autonomous cars would be a huge benefit to schools with expertise in these fields, but that it could also be a drain on their faculty. Turns out that some of the emerging arrangements are much more symbiotic, combining academic research with corporate R&D.

Of course, funding like this also raises the question of just how "charitable" a corporate donation is when the money is so clearly aimed at boosting the bottom line. Or to put the issue differently, why are taxpayers subsidizing R&D for the automative industry through the charitable exemption?

Before you get hot under the collar pondering that question, keep in mind that since R&D expenses can also be written off, this kind of philanthropy has no effect on what companies pay in taxes. Still.

Related:Why STEM Funders Give to Colleges: A Case Study From Colorado
YesWeStock Ltd., a peer-to-peer self-storage marketplace, has launched in England. Similar to other shared-economy networks, the company provides an online platform in which people in need of storage can find local hosts willing to rent available space in their homes. Based in London and launched earlier this year, it has storage hosts in Birmingham, Liverpool, London and Manchester, England, according to its website.

Those with storage space available can list it on the website for free, including any available amenities, such as accessibility and security features. Offerings can include attics, garages, spare rooms, warehouses or other areas. Those in need of storage can search the network for local providers and ask any questions directly to hosts. Storage space is defined for customers as full, limited or no access, with prices set by the host. Space and pricing calculators are available for all users.

YesWeStock is also launching a Student Service, which includes delivery and pickup of items to and from college campuses. Students can select their own storage space or leave it up to the company to match them with a host. Belongings will be delivered back to students on request. The valet-storage service will begin this fall when freshmen report for school orientations, according to the website.

Our mission is to provide an affordable, eco-friendly and local storage solution [that] supports the community through the sharing economy, the company posted on its website. YesWeStock can save renters up to 60 percent compared to the big, commercial self-storage companies.

YesWeStock follows Stashbee, which launched its peer-to-peer storage service in the U.K. earlier this year. YesWeStock has made its marketplace available across the U.K. and has aspirations to expand the platform across Europe, according to its website.
The Longview, Texas, Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday unanimously denied a rezoning application from real estate developer Brad Tidwell after residents strongly opposed his self-storage project. Tidwell hoped to build on a 3.67-acre parcel on Magnolia Lane, next to an apartment project he recently completed. He originally wanted to develop more apartments on the property but switched to self-storage due to strong local demand for the product and a softening in the multi-family housing market, the source reported. Tidwell proposed a brick-and-stone structure that would be designed to resemble an office building.

I dont trust this developer as far as I can throw him, protester Miles Broxton told the commission. Broxton accused Tidwell of breaking a promise several years ago to drain and redirect water runoff from an apartment complex away from neighboring properties. Runoff has stripped away half of the topsoil from Broxtons property, and theres approximately 12 inches of standing water seeping under his house, he said.

Several residents echoed Broxtons comments that Tidwell couldnt be trusted, the source reported. A list of signatures from approximately 20 percent of surrounding property owners opposing the rezoning request was turned into officials on Tuesday, according to city planner Angela Choy. The petition meant the city council would have to approve the rezoning by a super majority (six of its seven members) if the planning and zoning commission recommended the application.

After the commission denied the request, chair Lonnie Murphy asked city staff to investigate Broxtons allegations about the Tidwell apartment development.

In April, Tidwell received unanimous approval in Burleson, Texas, to build a 100,000-square-foot self-storage facility. The developer has been involved in numerous real estate projects in the state. In 2010, he and several partners converted a former Walmart store in Longview to self-storage.
DEAR HARRIETTE: I have decided to attend graduate school in fall 2017 because I do not feel like I am ready to attend this September. I have an extra 11 months to find the necessary monies to fund my graduate degree. Finding the money will be no problem; however, I am scared of taking the GRE and GMAT exams because I do not think I am good test-taker. What are some steps I can take to ease the anxiety of taking these exams? -- On the Clock, Jacksonville, Florida

DEAR ON THE CLOCK: If you are serious about getting into business school, you must do everything you can to prepare for these tests. This is the time for test prep. There are many books available that you can read, along with practice tests that you can take. But you may want to consider enrolling in a class with a live instructor who can guide you in test prep. You can immerse yourself in the readings and practice tests provided by the instructor and receive important feedback about areas where you may need improvement. Look for a class you can attend in person, or look online for a virtual class. Do your best to find one that offers interaction with the teacher.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I am a 45-year-old screenwriter, and I have submitted my ideas to a numerous television production companies over the past 10 years. I remain hopeful because I am getting positive responses from various media companies for my style of writing. My family has their concerns because they would like me to work a regular job and stop chasing my dream of becoming a television writer.

I am slowly thinking I may have to put my dream of becoming a writer on the shelf, and this has me wondering, is there a time limit on working toward your dream? -- Patiently Waiting, New York City

DEAR PATIENTLY WAITING: On one hand, it's great that you have not given up on your dream. On the other, you really do need to figure out how to support your family consistently and responsibly. Many screenwriters have full-time jobs until they have their big break. It's similar to actors who wait tables until their day comes.

You cannot and should not shirk your responsibilities simply because a dream burns inside you. Chances are, you would do better with your family supporting your dream if you stepped up and showed initiative in putting your family first.

Bottom line: You have to determine if your time is up on this dream. Time is certainly up on you ignoring your family's financial security. Admit that to your family. And take concerted steps to find viable work that will provide some fulfillment for you as it immediately helps to fortify you and your loved ones.

DEAR HARRIETTE: My wife, "Tammy," has an adult son from a previous marriage. I think Tammy's son is a total deadweight to her. Tammy told me a few months ago that she lent her son $8,000 for him to move into his own home because he and his "baby mama" couldn't work things out. I was so angry and shocked at Tammy. I wanted to know when our bank account would be paid back, and she told me that when you lend money to family you shouldn't expect it back. After confronting my stepson, he told me he couldn't give me a date when he would be able to pay me back. I think this is cowardly. A grown man (he is almost 30) shouldn't need handouts from his mother.

How do I get my $8,000 back when neither my wife nor stepson are willing to work to get it back in the right bank account? -- Losing Battles, Jackson, Mississippi

DEAR LOSING BATTLES: You are going to have to accept that you may never get that money back. That said, you can establish ground rules for the future. Let your wife know that you will not co-sign giving more money to her son and his family, because you do not think it is healthy for them. Offer to support them in other ways, including giving advice on becoming financially independent, if they are open to it.

Work with your wife on establishing boundaries for the health of the entire family. Make sure that you do not pose this in a way that is "us against them." You will not win if you even unconsciously attempt to alienate your wife from her son. Instead, work toward whole-family health, which includes agreeing on how to support adult children.

Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106
Proguard Self Storage, which operates facilities throughout the Houston area, recently opened a new facility at 224 W. Gray St., in the citys Midtown/Montrose neighborhood. The five-story building includes 1,100 climate-controlled units in a range of sizes.

Security measures include computerized entry, individually alarmed units and video cameras. The facility also offers an intercom system that enables tenants to communicate with the onsite manager. Additional property features include an industrial-sized elevator and extra-wide driveways.

We are very excited about the opening of our new location, said company owner David Barnett. With so much going on and so much recent business growth, we think it is amazing that we will be able to service the Midtown/ Montrose Houston area with our state-of-the-art, climate-controlled self-storage facility.

Proguard was founded in 1991. It operates facilities in the Bear Creek/Copperfield, Bellaire/Meyerland, Medical Center, Memorial Heights/Washington, Midtown/Montrose and Museum District areas of Houston.
This content is from: Opinion

Cryptos descent into hell, rather than sending institutional investors straight for the exits, has triggered a hunt for the next big bet.(Part of the crypto column series.)
Chief Minister Adam Giles has admitted to the Northern Territory governments failure to communicate the privatisation of the Territory Insurance Office (TIO) to the public, it has been reported.During a recent interview with Mix 104.9, Giles said there was no doubt his government had not properly communicated the sale of TIO, The Guardian reported.The TIO was sold to Allianz in November 2014 under a deal worth $242 million.The sale sparked widespread censure among Territorians who feared greater premiums or restrictions on insurance against weather events, such as flooding and cyclones, said the report.We never sold the message about the problems, Giles told Mix 104.9. TIO wasnt properly reinsured If we got hit by a cyclone, TIO couldnt afford to pay the bill. Government wouldnt have been able to pay the bill because its more than the government budget if we got hit by the cyclone.During a CLP campaign launch on Sunday, Giles has issued a challenge to the Labour Party, saying that if it believed TIO should be publicly owned then the party should commit to buying it back, The Guardian reported.
QBE Insurance Group has announced the appointment of Kathryn Lisson to the role of non-executive director effective 1 September 2016.Prior to joining QBE, Lisson was a partner of Ernst & Young LLP ( EY ), where she led the firms Canadian insurance advisory practice. In this role, Lisson was in charge of implementing EYs FinTech in the insurance sector in Canada.Until February 2011, Lisson was COO for QBE European operations in London, where she was responsible for claims, technology, and operation support functions; as well as chair of QMS (UK) Board and a member of the Executive Management Committee, Investment Committee, and Reserving and Risk Committees. Lisson also worked for Brit Insurance Holdings PLC, Barclays Bank, Bank of Montreal, and PwC earlier in her career.Marty Becker, QBE chairman, said: I am delighted to welcome Kathy back to QBE. The Board will benefit from her experience gained through many years in senior executive and advisory roles across the financial services sector, including global insurers and banks, in North America and Europe.Kathys practical experience in digital technology, cyber security, IT risks, and data analytics will be particularly valuable as technology plays an increasingly significant role in shaping QBEs business and strategic direction.Drawing upon her technology expertise, Kathy has agreed to chair a newly-formed Operations and Technology Committee which will support the Board in monitoring QBEs evolving digitization and information technology strategy, Becker said.
Columbia University was accused on Tuesday of mismanaging its retirement plan in a federal civil lawsuit that alleges $100 million in damages.

The suit is the latest to target a major universitys retirement plan management and to bring under scrutiny fees charged by financial service providers.

The complaint says the Ivy League university, based in New York, retained expensive and poor-performing investment options that consistently underperformed their benchmarks.

This caused its (retirement) plans and their participants to suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in losses of retirement savings, said law firm Sanford Heisler LLP, which filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. As a result, the Universitys 401(k) plan included $4.6 billion of investment options that were primarily poor to mediocre performers.

A university spokeswoman did not immediately comment.

The plaintiff in the case is an unidentified faculty member at Columbia who is suing on behalf of herself and 27,000 current and former Columbia employees and is seeking class action status for the case.

Other well-known universities have also recently been sued over the management of their retirement plans, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University and New York University.

The suits were filed by St. Louis attorney Jerome Schlichter last week, and his firm has since sued other schools on similar grounds, including Emory University, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University and Vanderbilt University.

Schlichter, in an e-mail, declined to discuss whether he plans other litigation.

(Reporting by Tim McLaughlin and Ross Kerber in Boston; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Dan Grebler)

Topics Lawsuits New York Education Universities
Tropical Storm Fiona, which formed more than 900 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands, is forecast to track across the open Atlantic for at least the next five days, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Fiona, the sixth storm of 2016, had top winds near 45 miles (75 kilometers) per hour and was moving northwest at 16 mph, the Miami-based center said in a 5 a.m. advisory note. Some additional strengthening of the storm is possible Thursday followed by slow weakening by the weekend, the notice said. There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

I dont think Fiona will be a threat to any land areas, said Jeff Masters, co-founder of Weather Underground in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It will probably survive for the next five days.

Although the six-month hurricane season began June 1, some storms formed in the basin early. In January, Hurricane Alex became the most powerful Atlantic storm since 1938 when it formed in the central part of the ocean.

The Atlantic storm season can close oil and natural gas platforms, curb gasoline supplies and damage orange crops. More than 6.6 million homes with an estimated reconstruction cost of $1.5 trillion lie in vulnerable areas along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Fiona has managed to avoid dry air that plagued it earlier, said Stacy Stewart, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center. While dodging the drier conditions gave it a chance to strengthen Thursday, its unlikely to continue worsening.

Although not shown explicitly in the forecast, atmospheric conditions could become so hostile that Fiona would degenerate into a remnant low later in the forecast period, according to the notice from the hurricane center, referring to the point where the storm loses its status as a tropical cyclone.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm Hurricane
Global insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters during the first half of 2016 reached US$31 billion, or 44 percent of total economic losses of US$71 billion, according to a report issued by Swiss Res sigma.

The economic loss total (non-insured losses), primarily from natural disaster events, rose by 38 percent over H1 2015, while insured losses from both natural and man-made catastrophes rose by 51 percent.

Breaking down the insured loss total, sigma said global natural catastrophes cost global insurers US$28 billion, a 75 percent increase from US$16 billion in H1 2015. This is slightly above the annual average first-half loss of the previous 10 years, the report noted.

On the other hand, man-made catastrophes came to US$3 billion during the half, a 34 percent decrease from the $5 billion reported in H1 2015.

Highest Insured Losses

Earthquakes in Japan, thunderstorms in the US and Europe, and wildfires in Canada caused the largest insured losses, the report confirmed.

Three separate weather events in the U.S., brought the highest claims of more than US$7 billion. The most intense of these was a major convective storm in Texas in April 2016, resulting in insured losses of US$3.1 billion, as large hailstones caused widespread property damage.

Severe European weather events in late May and early June (storms Elvira and Friederike) caused thunderstorms, flash floods and river flooding, with France and Germany taking the biggest toll, the report went on to say. Insured losses from these storms and floods cost US$2.8 billion, sigma said.

A series of earthquakes  including a 7.0-magnitude quake on April 16  struck the Kumamoto prefecture in Japan, causing insured losses of US$5.6 billion and killed 64 people.

On the same day on the other side of the world, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador, killing 668 people, the report said, noting that insured losses were just US$400 million (as a result of the countrys low insurance penetration.)

The report said that wildfires in the heart of Canadas oil sands production region cost the insurance industry US$2.5 billion, making this one of the costliest wildfire events in insurance industry history. Dry conditions and strong winds led to a rapid spread of the wildfires in Alberta, Canada, and destroyed many homes in the town of Fort McMurray.

Other findings from the sigma report include:

Of the total economic losses reported in H1, natural catastrophes made up US$68 billion (compared with US$46 billion in H1 2015), while the remaining US$3 billion came from man-made disasters

Approximately 6,000 people lost their lives lost in disaster events in H1 2016, compared to 12,000 in the same period the previous year.

Source: Swiss Re

Topics Catastrophe USA Profit Loss Wildfire Canada Swiss Re
The Iowa Insurance Division reports that a proposed workers compensation rate filing would lower rates by 4.7 percent next year.

The National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. has made a rate filing that proposes an overall decrease in voluntary and assigned risk rates of 4.7 percent from the current rates that became effective Jan. 1, 2016.

The filing has a proposed effective date of Jan. 1, 2017.

Source: Iowa Insurance Division

Topics Workers' Compensation Pricing Trends Iowa
So far, the fight against Americas opioid crisis has focused on treating addiction and curbing abuse. In February, President Barack Obama asked Congress for $1.1 billion to fund health care for addicts, and last month Congress allocated $181 million in grants for state programs.

But help could be on the way from scientistshelp that could radically alter the American landscape of painkiller addiction and untimely death.

U.S. and German researchers have developed a pain-relieving compound, chemically unrelated to current opioids, that doesnt interfere with breathingthe main cause of prescription painkiller fatalities. The researchers introduced the compound, called PZM21, in a study published on Wednesday in Nature.

The drugs development, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, comes at a time when the number of Americans who die each year because of overdoses (more than 47,000) has exceeded the number killed in car accidents. About 28,000 of those overdoses involved opioids, four times more than occurred in 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half involved prescription drugs.

Were cautiously optimistic, said Aashish Manglik, an instructor in molecular and cellular physiology at Stanford Universitys School of Medicine and one of the studys main authors. He noted that the finding hints at the possibility that there may be a possible way to separate analgesia from some of these side effects. The study also involved researchers from the University of California-San Francisco, the University of North Carolina, and Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg.

The new molecule targets the brain-mediated emotional component of pain. This allows it to kill pain just as well as morphine does, without the side effects of respiratory suppression and dopamine-driven addiction in the brain. (Regular painkillers target both the brain-mediated and reflexive response aspects of pain.) The new drug also causes less constipation and doesnt affect spinal cord reflexive responses as traditional narcotics do, according to the study.

The potential difference in addiction was shown in experiments involving mice. The specimens showed no preference for test chambers that included a solution containing PZM21, compared with chambers that didnt. In the same test, when one of the chambers had morphine, mice spent more time there. Both results distinguished the new compound from other painkillers and from Oliceridine, a comparable molecule developed by Trevena Inc. thats in clinical trials, Manglik said.

What weve done is find new chemical matter, molecules that are really quite different from previously characterized opiates, he said.

The new compound was identified using 2012 findings by Manglik and others in the lab of Brian Kobilka, a Stanford professor of molecular and cellular physiology and a Nobel Laureate. (Kobilka was a co-senior author of the new paper.) In the earlier research, scientists described the atomic structure of the mu opioid receptor, through which painkillers such as morphine act. Understanding how the receptor interacts with morphine or other drugs let the PZM21 developers replicate morphines benefits without setting off chemical reactions that suppress breathing.

With that information in hand, researchers were able to screen about 3 million compounds, using 4 trillion virtual simulations, to see which ones produced the right interaction with the mu opioid receptor. They came up with a short list of 23 candidates and found one that caused the right reactions after interacting with the mu opioid receptor. Then they strengthened it by a factor of 1,000.

Manglik estimates that it will take multiple years for the compound to be tested in humans, noting the importance of such trials to learn more about PZM21s addictive properties and safety. The real experiment for a lot of these things is going to have to happen in humans, he said, adding that addiction is really a human disease.

While more testing is done to replace addictive opioids, the work on PZM21 may bear fruit in many other areas of medicine. The researchers studied a large family of receptors that communicate messages to cells, not just the mu opioid receptor, so a similar approach could yield new types of drugs for other conditions.

Its a good example of how the type of work that we do has the potential for impact in pretty large areas of medicine, Manglik said.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Drugs
Too few Americans take steps to prepare for disasters and too many assume their home insurance policies will bail them out if one strikes.

As disaster season peaks, a new national consumer survey commissioned by Trusted Choice and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big I), reveals that many homeowners lack adequate insurance coverage, do not fully understand their homeowners policies and do not have enough savings to support their households in the event of a disaster.

At least 73 percent of respondents dont have a flood insurance policy that is separate from their homeowners coverage and more than 40 percent of those surveyed dont have or dont know if they have coverage that will fully replace their belongings and home in the event of a disaster.

At least 28 percent of homeowners polled do not have enough savings to support their households for even one month after a disaster if they had to leave their home. Only one-third said they could support their household for more than three months in this circumstance.

Also, according to the August 2016 survey, less than one-third of respondents have an up-to-date and complete home inventory stored away from their premises.

Most people think that a basic homeowners policy will cover them in the event of a disaster, however these new findings highlight that a startling number of homeowners have not taken some of the most basic steps to adequately prepare for a disaster such as a hurricane, flood or fire, says Robert Rusbuldt, Trusted Choice president and Big I president & CEO. This is disturbing as hurricane and wildfire seasons are about to peak, affecting many parts of the country.

With almost three-quarters of respondents lacking proper flood insurance coverage, they are completely vulnerable and have no protection from damage caused by rising water or flooding including common problems such as seepage of underground water into a home, leaky roofs and toppled trees from saturated soil. According to FEMA, floods are the leading disaster in the United States, and people outside high-risk flood areas file more than one-fifth of all National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) flood insurance claims.

It is very troublingwith flooding being so pervasive and hurricane season in full swingthat this large majority of homeowners is risking everything, says Madelyn Flannagan, Big I vice president of agent development, research and education. A little planning and knowledge can go a long way.

The survey also showed a lack of basic understanding regarding standard homeowners insurance coverage. More than one-fifth of survey respondents didnt know whether they have replacement cost coverage for their belongings and home (which allows them to replace lost possessions with new items) or if they have actual cash value coverage (which takes depreciation of the structure and personal items into consideration). In most standard homeowners policies actual cash value is the default coverage.

The risk of financial ruin in the event of a major disaster is significantly higher for those homeowners who have only actual cash value coverage because they cannot fully recoup their losses, continues Flannagan.

The survey shows that only 58 percent have replacement cost coverage.

More than half of those surveyed (56 percent) have just enough savings to support their households for three months or less if they had to temporarily move away as a result of a disaster to their property. Twenty-eight percent said they couldnt sustain for even a month.

For off-premises living expenses in these cases, a standard homeowners policy provides only limited protection (usually 10 percent of the coverage on your home) and a flood policy provides no coverage for these expenses.

The survey was conducted for Trusted Choice and the Big I by MFour Mobile Research Inc. using MFours Surveys on the Go Smartphone Application Panel which includes Apple and Android mobile device users. MFour is an independent research company headquartered in Irvine, California. Interviews of a nationally representative sample of 1,000 U.S. homeowners were conducted in August 2016 and weighted by age and gender to represent the general U.S. population over age 18.

Topics USA Agencies Flood Homeowners
A former Oklahoma insurance agent has been sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for fraud, the Oklahoma Insurance Department announced.

Gary Edward Hibbing, 53, was sentenced after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.

Hibbing, former owner of Grand Lake Investments and Insurance in Grove, was also ordered to pay $505,126.43 in restitution. His federal prison term will be followed by three years of supervised release.

A joint investigation by the U.S. Attorneys Office and the OID found that Hibbing defrauded his victims through a scheme called twisting. The department said it is an insurance industry term that refers to the fraudulent practice by an agent of convincing his client to surrender his existing annuity in exchange for a new one. Because there is a penalty for early termination of an annuity, the client loses money while the agent makes money on a new commission.

In this case, Hibbing lied to his clients to convince them to surrender their existing annuities and immediately purchase new ones. He never mentioned the early termination penalty. Hibbing also provided fraudulent information to insurance companies to facilitate the twisting.

The investigation found that one of Hibbings clients lost nearly $14,000 for surrendering one policy while Hibbings commission on the clients new annuity was more than $17,000. Investigators found twisting tied to 80 different annuity policies from Oct. 17, 2007, to March 4, 2013.

Although the insurance department revoked Hibbings license on March 4, 2013, he continued to sell annuities by forging another agents name to transact business.

He took advantage of his clients trust, said Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak. While cases like this are rare, my office will continue to pursue criminal charges against any insurance agent or broker disregarding the law for their own benefit. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma, the IRS and the Arkansas Insurance Department for their assistance in this case.

Source: Oklahoma Insurance Department

Topics Agencies Fraud Oklahoma
Arkansas-based Tyson Foods Inc. is facing more than $236,000 in penalties after an investigation by federal safety inspectors found the nations largest meat and poultry processor endangered workers by exposing them to amputation hazards, high levels of carbon dioxide and peracetic acid without providing personal protective equipment

A gruesome employee injury led to the investigation at the chicken processing facility in Center, Texas, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Responding to a report of a finger amputation at the Tyson plant, inspectors identified two repeated and 15 serious violations. The company faces $263,498 in proposed fines.

The investigation determined the employee suffered an amputation when his finger became stuck in an unguarded conveyor belt as he worked in the debone area and tried to remove chicken parts jammed in the belt.

OSHA inspectors also found more than a dozen serious violations including failing to ensure proper safety guards on moving machine parts, allowing carbon dioxide levels above the permissible exposure limit, failing to provide personal protective equipment and not training employees on hazards associated with peracetic acid. Used as a disinfectant, the acid can cause burns and respiratory illness if not handled safely.

Inspectors also found employees were exposed to slip-and-fall hazards due to a lack of proper drainage, trip-and-fall hazards caused by recessed drains and fire hazards resulting from of improper stored compressed gas cylinders.

OSHA cited the company for repeated violations for not making sure employees used appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards. The agency cited Tyson for a similar violation in a 2012 investigation at its Carthage facility. The company also failed to separate compressed gas cylinders of oxygen and acetylene while in storage  a violation for which OSHA cited the company in 2013 at its Albertville, Ala., facility.

Tyson is headquartered in Springdale, Ark. It has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHAs area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Source: OSHA

Topics Texas Workers' Compensation
International broker and risk management firm Integro Insurance Brokers has hired Tony Sandfrey to lead the firms Environmental practice. He will be based in Atlanta.

Sandfrey, who began his career as an environmental consultant specializing in remediation systems, brings more than 17 years of experience as an environmental insurance underwriter, broker, technical professional, leader and advisor to Integro.

He joins from Marsh USA, where he led the environmental practice in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic hubs. Earlier, he was vice president and syndicator at Aon, and a senior environmental lines underwriter at AIG.

Sandfrey earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Youngstown State University in Ohio.

Integro is an international insurance brokerage and risk management firm. Integro and its family of specialty insurance and reinsurance companies, operate from offices in the United States, Bermuda, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Topics Pollution
The ridesharing service Uber plans to return to two Alabama cities this week as students return to college campuses.

Local media report that city officials in Auburn and Tuscaloosa have approved ordinances in recent weeks that satisfy the company. Uber first began operating in both cities in 2014 but balked at city regulations and halted service soon after.

Auburn city officials tell the Opelika-Auburn News that a new ordinance requires drivers to have auto insurance and background checks performed by Uber.

The Tusacaloosa News reports that the city ordinance there requires Uber and other ride-hailing companies to hold $1 million in liability insurance.

A company spokeswoman says it looks forward to returning to both cities.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Education Alabama Universities
Versions of global catastrophe risk management firm RMS North Atlantic Hurricane Models have been approved by South Carolinas Department of Insurance for the purpose of residential rate filings. Approval for the hurricane model versions 15.0 and 15.0.1 was provided on July 15, 2016 and has no expiry date.

According to Matthew Nielsen, RMS senior director, regulatory affairs, clients can now use the most up to date RSM platform across all three states  Florida, Louisiana and now South Carolina  which require hurricane model approvals.

RMS released version 15.0, the latest version of the models, in May 2015. The models include:

updates to long-term hurricane landfall frequency to comply with current HURDAT2 data;

new medium-term rate forecast which runs through 2018, capturing recent landfalls or the lack thereof;

updated vulnerability module which enables increased differentiation of risks across several lines of business and regions;

improved coastline definitions to support wind-related underwriting; and,

new functionality to manage coastal flood risk, following analysis of billions of dollars in claims from Hurricane Irene (2011) and Superstorm Sandy (2012).

The new storm surge modeling capabilities enable quantification of flood loss based on the total value of contents stored in basements and number of basement levels in a building. Location-specific content triggers for business interruption losses are also now included.

RMS models and software help financial institutions and public agencies evaluate and manage catastrophe risks worldwide.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Hurricane South Carolina
A jury has determined that a hospital in London, Kentucky, and its parent company should pay $21.2 million to a Corbin man who received unnecessary heart procedures.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the jury ruled August 10 St. Joseph Health System and Catholic Health Initiatives were negligent, violated consumer-protection rules and took part in a conspiracy after performing heart procedures on Kevin Wells.

Wells alleged that the hospital performed the procedures to boost payments from health programs and insurance companies.

Wells attorney, Hans Poppe, says a doctor at the hospital recommended Wells get a pacemaker, although other doctors would later say he didnt need one.

The hospital argued that the treatment Wells received was necessary.

Poppe says the defendants are likely to appeal.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Kentucky
Presso lIstituto superiore Principessa MariaPia di Taranto, sono 18 gli studenti risultati positivi al covid-19 nella stessa classe piu un altro in una diversa sezione. Questo genere di evento viene solitamente definito dagli esperti un evento-sentinella. I due edifici scolastici, il principale e la succursale, sono gia stati chiusi per sanificazione e igienizzazione sabato scorso, dopo la positivita accertata del primo studente, originario di Carosino, figlio di un dipendente di ArcelorMIttal e di una operatrice sociosanitaria in una struttura di Grottaglie, anche loro risultati positivi al Covid-19.

A seguito di questo caso, il Dipartimento di Prevenzione dellAsl, per prassi, aveva disposto altri tamponi tra gli studenti e il personale dellIstituto. Infatti, dai nuovi accertamenti, e emerso che sono positivi anche altri 18studenti, mentre, sono risultati negativi: docenti, funzionari e collaboratori scolastici. LAsl ha disposto la quarantena fiduciaria delle famiglie degli studenti contagiati e ha avviatolo screening ai familiari.

Le lezioni si stanno svolgendo in modalita DID (Didattica Digitale Integrata) che prevede la presenza di meta della classe a rotazione settimanale, mentre laltra meta segue da remoto. Rita Frunzio, la dirigente scolastica, aveva indicato la data di giovedi 8 ottobre, ma la chiusura della scuola secondo fonti comunali sara prorogata.

Le parole del Presidente nazionale della Sis 118

Mario Balzanelli, il Presidente nazionale della Sis 118 e direttore del servizio di pronta emergenza di Taranto, ha detto che 18 studenti contagiati in una stessa classe e un segnale di allarme importante, da interpretare a livello nazionale come un evento sentinella: ossia di particolare gravita e potenzialmente evitabile. Ha, poi, aggiunto: Per evitare che le scuole si traducano in un gigantesco focolaio  spiega  dobbiamo capire che coprire naso e bocca non basta perche gli occhi restano esposti. A scuola, ha precisato Balzanelli, per labbattimento delle possibilita di contagio di massa bisogna usare anche la visiera anti-droplets .Non accettiamo, sulla base di quanto accaduto a Taranto, che la scuola italiana diventi lo scenario perfetto perche si sviluppi attraverso i nostri ragazzi limmunita di gregge.

Contagi nelle scuole

Circa il 10% dei contagi dallinizio delle lezioni ha riguardato studenti, professori e bidelli. Difatti il numero degli infetti totali in Italia, tra il 14 e il 26 settembre, ammonta a 20.355 casi, di cui quasi 2 mila da chi frequenta la scuola. Un dato che ci poteva aspettare con lapertura delle scuole, ovvero una maggiore circolazione del virus. Lucia Azzolina, Ministra dellIstruzione, ha detto: Non dobbiamo festeggiare: bisogna rimanere molto cauti, avere massimo senso della responsabilita e rispetto delle regole fuori dalla scuola, abbiamo fatto tanta fatica per riaprire, ora la scuola va protetta, deve rimanere aperta.
Foreigners who want to invest in Costa Rica can do so through stocks, with some difficulty. Or, they can invest in residential or commercial real estate, where there are many opportunities. But they might also consider establishing a business or a branch of a business there, with the help of welcoming and tax-friendly government policies.

Key Takeaways Costa Rica residential real estate has become a popular choice for snowbirds and retirees.

Several local firms cater to commercial real estate investors from abroad.

A number of geographic "free zones" with special tax breaks and other incentives are luring new job-creating businesses.

Costa Rica offers an attractive proposition for foreign direct investment, due to its establishment of several free zones. These are essentially duty-free geographic areas where some 400 businesses foreign and domestic now operate, tariff-free, sales tax-free, and, in some cases, income tax-free, in return for creating jobs for Costa Ricans.

In addition, the implementation of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Act (CAFTA-DR) has helped promote stronger trade and stability between Costa Rica and El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.

Investing in Costa Rican Stocks

This is actually the trickiest of the three options for investing in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica's stock exchange is called the Bolsa Nacional de Valores, or Bolsa for short. The exchange is extremely small with only about 60 companies listing stocks. A range of industries is represented, with a heavy emphasis on financials.

Foreign investors looking for exposure to Costa Rica through this stock market may have a tough time getting access, as there isnt much liquidity compared to bigger exchanges.

Many other countries offer easier access to foreign stock investors through the use of an American deposit receipt (ADR) or an exchange-traded fund (ETF). However, since Costa Rica has such a small stock market, there did not appear to be any ADRs or Costa Rican-specific ETFs available to the public as of late 2020.

Investing in Real Estate

The most popular way to invest in Costa Rica is through real estate, and there are good reasons for that. The country has become increasingly popular with the baby boomer generation for its choice of vacation and retirement homes. Along with beautiful year-round weather, Costa Rica offers a low cost of living, low taxes, a stable government, and affordable high-quality health care.

Costa Rica has an extremely low property tax rate of 0.25% of the registered property's value. The tax savings, combined with the low cost of living, is a great incentive for retirees who are seeking more value for their dollar.

The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) is an online resource for foreign businesses.

Considering that little Costa Rica takes up under 20,000 square miles of land, it offers extraordinarily varied geography. There are options for homebuyers on beaches, lakefronts, and mountainsides. But half the country's population of about 5 million live in and around the nation's capital of San Jose in the Central Valley.

Commercial Real Estate

Several real estate firms located in Costa Rica cater to foreign investors. Rental income properties, farms, hotels, bars, and restaurants all are available.

Land development projects have become popular with investors, with the possibility of purchasing rights that can be used for either residential or commercial construction.

Resources for Doing Business in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) is a great resource for investors who are looking into any of the growth sectors of Costa Rica.

The site offers information on opportunities in a number of sectors, including:

Services including back office, regional office, call center, human resource office, or digital technology office locations.

Advanced manufacturing in the metal, automotive, electronics manufacturing, electronic service, and aerospace fields.

The life sciences sector, for production of medical devices, biotechnologies, and pharmaceuticals.

A light manufacturing sector for companies in plastic, clothing, construction, textiles, and packing materials.

The food sector, from farming to processing and distribution.

The Costa Rican government has developed a number of incentives to attract businesses in these sectors. For example, it offers a 100% tax exemption on all import, interest income, withholding, stamp, and sales taxes. There's also a 10-year lock on property transfer taxes.

Investors in the services and manufacturing sectors get even more incentives. For the first eight-year period, these companies get a 100% income tax exemption, followed by a four-year period of a 50% income tax exemption.
Vancouver - August 18, 2016 (Investorideas.com Newswire) SilverCrest Metals Inc. (TSXV: $SIL.V) is pleased to announce an update on the underground rehabilitation program with additional assay results from underground channel sampling at its Las Chispas Project ("Las Chispas") located in Sonora, Mexico. Las Chispas is in a historic silver-gold mining district which presently hosts two nearby precious metal producers. Historic information indicates that only three veins of the fourteen historically reported veins at Las Chispas have had documented production, which occurred between 1880 and 1930. SilverCrest's initial focus is on these three veins; the Las Chispas, William Tell and Babicanora. This news release reports on the sampling assay results of the William Tell vein. For more information on Las Chispas and recent channel sampling and drill results, please refer to our website at http://www.silvercrestmetals.com.

SilverCrest Metals Inc. TSX.V: SIL Las Chispas Project, Sonora, Mexico- William Tell Main Vein Long Section with Historic Workings & Recent Exploration (Looking East)

N. Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, President & CEO commented, "We continue to expand our high grade footprint at Las Chispas with the latest results from the ongoing underground rehabilitation and channel sampling program as we continue to gain further access to historic workings. Our onsite team has safely descended to the historic 650 level** of the William Tell vein with subsequent ongoing mapping and sampling. Our channel sample results on the 650 level are showing sub interval bonanza grades in excess of 2,500 grams per tonne silver equivalent (AgEq)*over 0.20 metre to 1.12 metre widths.

The William Tell vein is located approximately 120 metres west of the Las Chispas vein and is easily accessible by shared access to both veins. The William Tell vein has had less historical production than the Las Chispas vein, for reasons which we believe are due to a fault displacement which resulted in the previous operator mining out only a fraction of the in situ mineralization. Our Phase I drilling program appears to have intercepted the unmined faulted extension of the William Tell vein. Additional drilling will be required to confirm this and determine the extent, if any, of the intercepted mineralization."

Underground Rehabilitation Update

The Company continues to systemically collect channel samples at intervals of two to three metres along strike length as new areas and levels are being explored. In its news releases dated April 28th and June 09, 2016, the Company disclosed that it had gained access to the historic 600 level at William Tell and reported results from 79 channel samples. Since then, the Company has collected a total of 39 additional channel samples on the 650 and 450 levels (see attached Figure and Photo). Sampling locations and widths are restricted to historic workings which may only represent part of the mineralized vein, stockwork, or breccia. The location, true thickness and extent of mineralization is indeterminate until adequate drilling is completed at the William Tell vein.

The most significant composited sample results for the William Tell South 650 level average 1.12 metres wide at 3.23 grams per tonne ("gpt") gold and 518 gpt silver, or 760 gpt silver equivalent (AgEq*, uncut, undiluted) over a continuous 21 metre strike length in a developed but unmined area on the 650 level. The most significant un-composited sampling for the William Tell North 450 level averages 2.13m wide at 5.7 gpt gold and 257.7 gpt silver, or 685 gpt silver equivalent (AgEq*, uncut, undiluted) over a continuous 30 metre strike length. Further drilling will help test the true thickness and grade of mineralization in both these areas.

The following table summarizes the 20 most significant composited and un-composited assay results (uncut, undiluted) from the 450 and 650 levels of the William Tell vein that are above a 500 gpt AgEq cutoff;

Note: all numbers are rounded.

*AgEq based on 75(Ag):1(Au) and 100% metallurgical recovery.

** Level number is based on historical mine level in feet (not metres) from surface collar of historic shaft.

*** The underground sample width of mineralization may not be indicative of the true width of mineralization. Sampling widths are constrained by access to open faces. Ongoing and planned drilling may suggest wider mineralized zones.

All assays were completed by ALS Chemex in Hermosillo, Mexico, and North Vancouver, BC.

The Company is reviewing the possibility of a controlling, cross-cutting, high grade structural corridor that extends from the Las Chispas vein through the William Tell vein which is potentially 500 metres in length and a minimum of 300 metres in depth (see attached Figure).

To date, approximately 4 kilometres of underground workings have been accessed with an additional 7.5 kilometres to be opened and explored over the next several months. The Company intends to continue with the underground rehabilitation program and reporting results for the remainder of 2016.

Drilling Update

The Company has completed its Phase I surface drill program having drilled 22 core holes for a total of approximately 6,400 metres. A combined 19 holes have been drilled in Las Chispas and William Tell veins, and three holes have been drilled in the La Victoria area located near the Babicanora vein. Upon receipt of further core assays, the Company will compile and integrate the drill results with the underground information, which the Company expects to announce over the next several weeks. Based on positive Phase I surface drilling results, the Company will propose a Phase II surface drill program.

Dependent on permitting completion, the planned 2,000 metre underground drill program should commence in late Q3 or early Q4 2016. The underground drill program will focus on delineation of a potential bulk sample and infill drilling in preparation for the initial Las Chispas resource estimation.

The Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for this news release is N. Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, and President and CEO for SilverCrest, who has reviewed and approved its contents.

ABOUT SILVERCREST METALS INC.

SilverCrest is a Canadian precious metals exploration company headquartered in Vancouver, BC, that is focused on new discoveries, value-added acquisitions and targeting production in Mexico's historic precious metal districts. The Company is led by a proven management team in all aspects of the precious metal mining sector, including the pioneering of a responsible "phased approach" business model taking projects through discovery, finance, on time and on budget construction, and production with subsequent increased value to shareholders.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. These include, without limitation, statements with respect to: the strategic plans, timing and expectations for the Company's exploration, rehabilitation and drilling programs of the Las Chispas Project; information with respect to high grade areas and size of veins projected from underground sampling results; and the accessibility of future mining at the Las Chispas Project. Such forwardlooking statements or information are based on a number of assumptions, which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: the conditions in general economic and financial markets; availability of skilled labour; timing and amount of expenditures related to rehabilitation and drilling programs; and effects of regulation by governmental agencies. The actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of risk factors including: the timing and content of work programs; results of exploration activities; the interpretation of drilling results and other geological data; receipt, maintenance and security of permits and mineral property titles; environmental and other regulatory risks; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; and general market and industry conditions. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statements were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements included in this news release if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law.

Dunham L. Craig

Interim CEO

SilverCrest Metals Inc.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE SilverCrest Metals Inc.

Contact:

SilverCrest Metals Inc.

Fred Cooper, Investor Relations

Telephone: +1 (604) 694-1730

Fax: +1 (604) 694-1761

Toll Free: 1-866-691-1730 (Canada & USA)

Email: info@silvercrestmetals.com

Website: www.silvercrestmetals.com

570 Granville Street, Suite 501, Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3P1

SilverCrest Metals Inc. TSX.V: SIL Las Chispas Project, Sonora, Mexico - Vein & Stockwork on William Tell South 650' level; Average 2.3 metres @1.93 gpt Au, 671.5 gpt Ag, or 816 gpt AgEq

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investment involves risk and possible loss of investment. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Contact each company directly regarding content and press release questions. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. More disclaimer info: http://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp. Disclosure: Investorideas.com is compensated by SilverCrest Metals Inc for annual news publishing effective January 2016.

Additional info regarding BC Residents and global Investors: Effective September 15 2008 - all BC investors should review all OTC and Pink sheet listed companies for adherence in new disclosure filings and filing appropriate documents with Sedar. Read for more info: http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.aspx?id=6894. Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country.
Top News - Investor Idea

REE Stock News - Defense Metals (TSX-V: DEFN.V) (OTCQB: DFMTF) Drills 113 metres of 2.50% Total Rare Earth Oxide at Wicheeda

Vancouver, British Columbia - October 26, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mining / Metals / Green Energy Stock News - Defense Metals Corp. (TSX-V: DEFN / OTCQB: DFMTF/ FSE:35D) is pleased to announce high-grade Rare Earth Element ("REE") assay results from one additional core hole, totalling 383 metres (m), collared within the northern area of Defense Metals' 100% owned Wicheeda REE Deposit.

Top Cleantech News - Investor Idea

Breaking EV Stock News: Pre-orders for Mullen (NASDAQ: MULN) FIVE Electric-SUV Crossover Exceed Expectations as the FIVE 'Strikingly Different' Tour Begins

BREA, Calif. - October 28, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN), an emerging electric vehicle ("EV") manufacturer, announces today that the Mullen FIVE "Strikingly Different" EV Crossover Tour which began yesterday, in Pasadena, California, is off to a great start with first day reservations exceeding expectations and overwhelmingly positive customer feedback.

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Health and Wellness Stock News - Endexx (OTCBB: EDXC) Secures Third Order for Non-Nicotine Vape Product HYLA Worth Approximately $1.5M in Revenue for First two Fiscal Quarters of 2023

CAVE CREEK, Ariz. - October 27, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Endexx Corporation (OTCBB:EDXC), a provider of innovative, plant-derived, and sustainable health and skincare products, today announces it has secured three key significant orders for its newly acquired, non-nicotine plant-based vape product, HYLA.

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Breaking AI Stock News: FatBrain (OTCQB: LZGI) Acquires Confidential Computing Platform ZeroTrust to Protect Data Privacy and Accelerate Innovation for Millions of Growth Businesses

NEW YORK, NY - October 19, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc.) (OTCQB: LZGI), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for star enterprises of tomorrow, has acquired the confidential computing and privacy intellectual property (IP) plus software assets of Zero2A PTE LTD ("ZeroTrust Platform"), a software company based in Singapore.

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Iraqs parliament has approved five new ministers after months of delay and repeated setbacks to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's efforts to replace the cabinet.

Lawmakers signed off on Abadi's nominees to head the ministries of oil, transport, higher education, housing and construction, and water resources, but rejected the nominee for trade minister. Four of the five ministers were the same as had been approved by lawmakers earlier in the year at a session that was later scrapped by a court ruling that dealt a blow to Abadi.

Prime Minister of Iraq has announced his intention to introduce technocratic ministers into the cabinet in February, but faced significant opposition from powerful parties that rely on control of ministries for patronage and funds.

Sessions on the cabinet issue were repeatedly overshadowed by antics in parliament, including a sit-in by MPs, verbal and physical altercations, and a vote to sack the speaker that resulted in two rival claimants to the post.

Lawmakers eventually approved several of Abadi's nominees but disruptive members were barred from attending the session, leading it to be invalidated by a court along with the one in which MPs voted to remove the speaker. Populist Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr also took up the call for government of technocratic, independent ministers, organizing repeated protests calling for that change and other reforms.

His supporters, angered by parliamentary inaction, broke into Baghdad's Green Zone during several protests, storming parliament and temporarily occupying the building on one occasion, and breaking into the premier's office on another.



| Soruce: Business Standard | By S.Seal
According to health ministry of Iraqs spokesperson, a fire that killed 13 children in an Iraqi maternity ward was apparently started intentionally. Ahmed al-Rudeini had previously said that fire at Yarmuk Hospital, one of the main such facilities in Baghdad, had been started by an electrical fault.

After investigation, he changed his previous statement, and commented, The presence of flammable materials at the site, and this of course indicates the occurrence of arson.

Many of Baghdads public hospitals are poorly maintained and offer sub-standard healthcare, forcing a number of Iraqis to seek private treatment or travel abroad. The lack of adequate public services, such as quality medical care, electricity and water supply, as well as widespread corruption in the country, has angered the public and led to a series of protests in the past year.



| Soruce: Al Arabia | By S.Seal
In early August, oil export flow from Iraqs Kurdistan region fell sharply due to pipeline outages. Due to recent attacks on the oilfield, production has also been declined.

While the recent pipeline outages were due to a technical glitch which may already have been rectified, analysts expect the loss of output from the Bai Hassan oil field, where saboteurs have damaged production facilities and heightened concerns for future security, to last for months.

KRG and Turkey oil pipeline was down more than 80 hours this month, as claimed by an international company. The outages have been caused by an electricity transmission malfunction at the PS-3 pumping station in Silopi, just over the border in Turkey, said the IOC official, an industry official in Erbil, and an industry official at Turkey's Ceyhan port.

The KRG Ministry of Natural Resources reported in early August that in July the export pipeline sent 511,000 b/d of crude to market. The pipeline first went down on the afternoon of August 5, the Ceyhan official said. He and the IOC official said exports resumed briefly on the morning of August 7, but only for a few hours.

Exports came back online early August 9, initially flowing at 458,000 b/d, the Ceyhan official said. He also stated that temporarily bolstered by crude from storage built up at producing fields during the pipeline outages, exports had risen to 573,000 b/d by Thursday but were unlikely to stay at that rate.

KRG exports for the rest of this month are expected to be significantly lower than the July average following a July 31 attack on the 170,000-180,000 b/d Bai Hassan oil field northwest of Kirkuk.

The field lies outside the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region's official border with the rest of Iraq, but for the past two years has been contributing to export flows through the KRG pipeline, after repeated sabotage attacks by insurgents closed the Iraqi federal government's northern export pipeline. Bai Hassan has been operated by the KRG since late 2014, following the Islamic State group insurgency in much of northern and western Iraq that peaked in summer of that year.

According to industry officials, the July 31 attack, which authorities have also attributed to IS, caused the 70,000 b/d southern section of the field to be shut down, several officials familiar with operations said. Bai Hassan South remains offline.

A subsequent attack August 10 struck a different section of Bai Hassan but had a negligible effect on production. Saboteurs also planted improvised explosive devices along the pipeline connecting Bai Hassan and the Avana Dome of the Kirkuk field to the KRG export system, Kirkuk security officials said.

In response to the loss of Bai Hassan crude exports, the KRG ministry of natural resources has redirected some crude production previously earmarked for domestic consumption to the export pipeline.

The 100,000 b/d Kalak refinery near Erbil, the Kurdistan regional capital located less than 100 km north of Kirkuk, has been offline since August 4 due to lack of feedstock, government and industry officials in Erbil said. The refinery had been taking between 30,000 and 40,000 b/d from the KRG-operated Khurmala Dome of the Kirkuk field, but that production has been diverted to the export pipeline.

The KRG's other major refinery, Bazian, located in the east of the Kurdistan region, is also operating at reduced capacity due to the crude diversions. An industry official briefed on operations at Bazian said the refinery had recently been taking between 20,000 and 25,000 b/d of crude for processing and would likely be operating at that level until Bai Hassan's production recovers. Bazian's current capacity is at least 40,000 b/d. In 2014, Qaiwan Group, the local company that owns and operates the refinery, announced plans to increase that to 125,000 b/d by 2018.

In another setback for the KRG, which depends almost exclusively on crude export revenues to finance government operations, the quality of KRG export crude has suffered following the attacks on Bai Hassan. The IOC official said recent loadings at Ceyhan, the current delivery point for all KRG crude exports, have had a higher API gravity, higher sulfur content and more water than usual.



| Soruce: Platts | By S.Seal
Daithi O Se is prepped and primed to host the 57th Rose of Tralee live from the dome on August 22 and 23, 8pm (Irish time). Fans abroad wont miss a minute of the action in Tralee, County Kerry, no matter where they are in the world. Viewers around the globe can stream the Rose of Tralee live.

The festival will be available to watch online on desktop www.rte.ie/player/ie/ or through the RTE Player iOS and Android apps live and on-demand.

So wherever you are in the world, join RTE Player for two evenings filled with chat, fun and performance as Daithi puts the 32 finalists from representing communities in Ireland, Britain, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, mainland Europe, and the Middle East through their paces in the hopes of winning the coveted title.

There is also a host of extra Rose of Tralee content on RTE Player, including exclusive online clips and extras, looking back at the Rose of Tralee festival through the years and this years Rose Buds hilarious interview with Daithi O Se.

Also catch the brand-new preview show The Road to the Dome (6.30pm, Monday, August 22) on RTE Player which follows the Roses from their arrival in Dublin all the way to the Dome.

Heres how to watch the Rose of Tralee live and on-demand worldwide with RTE Player:

iOS viewers worldwide: Get the Player International App here.

Android viewers: Get the App on Google Play here.

Desktop viewers visit www.rte.ie/player/ie to connect with all the fun.
The River Shannon has been our home since early summer. For the last two months my husband and I, both in our mid-60s, are living aboard our comfortable cruiser. We have travelled the length of this lovely river, all 224 miles of it.

Water is calming and a boat moves slowly  resulting in my busy mind becoming calm and still. We have no plans as we meander along. Some days we moor in small villages. Others days we moor in the middle of nowhere. All is so serene and peaceful that I have time to ponder on the past- on the history and legends associated with this beautiful majestic river.

According to Irish mythology, the Shannon is named after a woman called Sionann. She went to Connla's Well to find wisdom, despite being warned not to approach it. She, like Fionn Mac Cumhaill, caught and ate the Salmon of Knowledge and became the wisest being on Earth. However, the well then burst forth, drowning Sionann and carrying her out to sea.

The many islands on Lough Ree and Lough Derg were very holy places where the remains of old churches still stand. In 545AD Saint Ciaran founded his famous monastery in Clonmacnoise, on the River Shannon, south of Athlone. Students, from all over Europe, came there to study. At that time our small country was known as The Island of Saints and Scholars.

The Vikings arrived in the 10th century. They carried their long boats across County Meath from the Irish Sea and used the River Shannon to raid the rich monasteries deep inland.

The Normans followed in 1170 and built castles in Limerick and Athlone. These strongholds still stand. In the 17th century, the Shannon was of major strategic importance in military campaigns, as it formed a physical boundary between the east and west of the country.

After his conquest of Ireland Oliver Cromwell reputedly said the remaining Irish landowners would go to "Hell or Connacht", referring to their choice of forced migration west across the River Shannon, or death, thus freeing up the eastern landholdings for the incoming English settlers.

Read more: Watching the magic of Ireland go by - boating on the Shannon

In the Williamite War (168991), the Jacobites also retreated behind the Shannon after their defeat at the Battle of The Boyne in 1690. Athlone and Limerick, cities commanding bridges over the river, saw bloody sieges.

The Shannon River is closely bound up with Ireland's social, cultural, military, economic and political history

Irish weather is moderate, rarely too hot or too cold. It does rain sometimes; however, this is a small price to pay for the beautiful 40 shades of green which surround us on all sides. The meadows, hills and fields are lush and fertile. Old castles, round-towers and remains of cottages  deserted during famine times  are visible as we cruise along the tranquil still waters. Swans glide by and purple-loosestrife blooms along the bank, close to the lovely water lilies.

Other Irish people, like ourselves, own boats and spend their holidays on the river. Wealthy German and Swiss people hire cruisers on the Shannon and absolutely love the fresh air and silence. They fish and relax. They return again and again. The advantage of seeing Ireland from the river is that tourists get to visit small villages and country-side that tour buses never pass. They get to talk to local people at the quay walls and in the Irish bars.

We meet many interesting people all the time. Last night we moored in a very small village in County Roscommon. We walked from our boat to one of the old pubs there. As soon as we opened the door we saw (and smelt) a real turf fire burning in the grate.

There was a chill in the air  so this was very welcome. Four American tourists came in behind us. They were from Maine and had rented a boat for a fortnight. We had a great night, chatting and warming our toes, as we drank glasses of Guinness together. An old man insisted on reading an extract from a book for us, called Thanks For The Memory by H. R. Rice.

There is a family living on Lough Ree about which it is reputed that one son in every generation has the second sight and is endowed with the power of seeing a leprechaun. If he can keep this leprechaun spellbound by an uninterrupted gaze the leprechaun will have to pay forfeit by leading him to a crock of gold.

We all walked back to our boats together. We hadnt drank enough Guinness to see any leprechauns!

Our boat is very comfortable. Family and grandchildren visit us now and then. We hope to remain afloat until September because we think that there is nowhere in the world nicer than the majestic River Shannon.
New York City Council Member Daniel Dromm, a teacher in the citys public school system for 25 years before be was elected to the council in 2009, has expressed sympathy for the family of Danny Fitzpatrick, the 13-year-old Irish American Staten Island teen who hung himself last week because of incessant school bullying. Dromm has also called for the board chairman of Dannys Catholic school to step down.

Michael Long, a well known figure in New York politics in his position as Conservative Party chairman, leads the board at Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Brooklyn, where Danny attended school and regularly pleaded for help from teachers and administrators to stop a group of bullies who made his life miserable. Dromm feels that Long must be held accountable for the lack of a solution to the hardship Danny endured.

"Michael Long has been negligent in his duty to protect Daniel from bullying and, in fact, holds some responsibility for his death because of his long standing, staunch opposition to anti-bullying education," said Dromm, a member of the councils Irish caucus and also the chair of the councils Committee on Education.

"Mr. Long should not serve on any school board because of the hatred and malice he has shown toward many groups of people in our society but especially against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people."

In a Tuesday press release, Dromm pointed out that Long was an opponent of the Dignity for All Students Act sponsored by New York State Senator Thomas K. Duane and Assembly Member Daniel O'Donnell which passed in Albany in 2010. His opposition centered around the inclusion of LGBT students as a protected class.

Read more: Father of 13-year-old who took his own life slams parents of school bullies

Dromm continued, "Should Mr. Long not resign, I call on Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio to remove him.

"I was shocked to learn that Mr. Long was the chairperson of the Board of Holy Angels Catholic Academy," Dromm added. "He does not make the connection between his style of bullying and how it affects young people. I suspect that Daniel's pleas were not taken seriously because Mr. Long doesn't take bullying seriously."

Dromms press release pointed out that Long published an article in The Guardian in July of 2003 in which he stated his opposition to the creation of the Harvey Milk School for LGBT students in New York.

"Is there a different way to teach homosexuals?" Long wrote. "Is there gay math? This is wrong. What next? Maybe we should have schools for chubby kids who get picked on." And according to a July 28, 2003 WND.com article, he went further by saying, "Maybe all kids who wear glasses should have special schools. Its ridiculous.

Dromm also revealed that he too was subject to bullying during his time as a Catholic grade school student.

"I remember how horrible it was back in the 1970s and it is distressing to learn that this is still going on 40 years later, he said.

"I urge Bishop DiMarzio to immediately issue a statement condemning all types of bullying and to ensure that all school administrators, teachers and support staff understand and take this issue seriously. My heart goes out to Daniel's family. I wish to express my condolences to them. This is just so sad."
The latest fever dream from the Donald Trump campaign is that Irish American Steve Bannon, head of a conspiratorial right wing website called Breitbart, will be the white knight (the name Bannon come from the Gaelic word ban - meeting white by the way) who will slay the wicked witch Hillary Clinton.

He will be joined by another Irish American Kellyanne FitzPatrick Conway who will be campaign manager.

Bannon, named as the CEO, looks like he just stepped out of a vat of Guinness with a map of Ireland face He describes himself as a recovered Irish Democrat.

I come from a blue-collar, Irish Catholic, pro-Kennedy, pro-union family of Democrats, says Bannon, by way of explaining his politics. I wasnt political until I got into the service and saw how badly Jimmy Carter f***ed things up. I became a huge Reagan admirer. Still am. But what turned me against the whole establishment was coming back from running companies in Asia in 2008 and seeing that Bush had f***ed up as badly as Carter. The whole country was a disaster.

His journey to the far right of the Republican party took many detours, including working for Goldman Sachs where he made a fortune as part of a syndicate that bought the right to Seinfeld reruns.

Seinfeld was a show famously about nothing and Bannons political attacks have been full of hot air as well. His web site peddles the conspiracy of the day, a political version of the National Enquirer.

At the moment Breitbart is obsessed with Hillary's health - there are fake medical evaluations even a fake brain scan (wouldnt you know you could recognize Hillary from her brain cat scan) circulating.

Read more: Media slamming Donald Trump non-stop - and its his own fault

They are also running with Hillary propping herself up with pillows in every sit down interview, claiming it shows a major physical malady.

Don't laugh though. Let's remember some relevant facts. Barack Obama has ended up with 40 percent Republicans believing he was born in Kenya despite sensible and irrefutable evidence to the contrary.

Equally back in 2000, John Kerry was blackened as a war hero and his purple hearts in Vietnam became objects of scorn with allegations and conspiracy theories about how he actually got them.

Kerry was so convinced no one would take the accusations seriously he badly misjudged the efficiency of the attack and thus the word Swiftboated meaning successfully slamming a candidate with conspiracies not truth.

More conspiracy theories and smears with Bannon at the controls and princes of darkness Roger Ailes and Roger Stone in the wings will sprout in the months ahead.

They are already fermenting. Voter fraud will steal the election, the polls are rigged, Hillary's secret emails etc.

In the internet conspiracy world we live in we should not be surprised--but the day alternative reality beats the real thing and elects a president may not be too far off.

What a sad day for America that will be.

Read more: Trumps leading Irish American backer says he is still set for victory
Update 3.40pm: There are hopes of possible ceasefires in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

The Russian defence ministry says it is willing to support a United Nations proposal for weekly 48-hour "humanitarian pauses".

Aleppo has been torn between rebel control and government forces for the past four years.

Earlier: The UN has said not one aid convoy has reached civilians trapped in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo this month.

The humanitarian task force is being suspended until a 48 hour ceasefire can be agreed.

Meanwhile, the UN envoy for Syria has cut short a meeting of its humanitarian aid task force amid continued fighting that has prevented aid deliveries to besieged areas for at least a month.

Staffan de Mistura said he halted the weekly meeting after only eight minutes on Thursday, saying there was "no sense" in having one because of the delay in aid deliveries.

Mr De Mistura reiterated his call for a 48-hour pause in the fighting, notably in the northern city of Aleppo, to help allow for deliveries and asked for a "gesture of humanity from both sides".

The envoy said he plans to reconvene the humanitarian task force next week and believes the task force's co-chairs - Russia and the United States - still want a non-military solution to Syria's conflict.
Since the unexpected outcome of the June 23 vote, sterling has slumped 13% against the euro, making it more difficult for all types of Irish businesses who employ tens of thousands of people to sell their goods and services profitably across the Irish Sea.

The relatively high level of sterling ahead of the referendum  the UK currency was trading as high as 69 pence against the euro nine months ago  helped provide a significant boost to the economic recovery here and persuaded small exporting firms in particular to hire more staff.

Irish businesses are a lot less optimistic but are still hiring and are not in panic mode as a result of the Brexit vote.

The survey by KBC Bank Ireland and Chartered Accountants Ireland said that Brexit, along with other concerns about world demand and the political instability at home, has led to the sharpest drop in sentiment since the third quarter of 2010.

But business activity this summer was still growing and there was no return of the confidence slump posted during the crisis, despite the sharp drop in business sentiment.

Instead, the economy will likely grow this year though at the much less robust pace of 3.5% to 4%, said Austin Hughes, chief economist at KBC Bank Ireland.

The optimism of food firms has fallen the most, while business services and consumer-focused firms were also less confident than surveys before the Brexit vote. Only 2% of firms said, however, they would plan to relocate operations to the UK following the vote.

And over 31% of companies still expect to increase employment and, at 8%, only a small percentage of the survey expect to cut staff.

The proportion of respondents seeing downside risks to their businesses increased to 49% in the current survey from 39% previously. This suggests a significant but not catastrophic deterioration, the survey found.
The Mohers and Dairygold are inviting local farmers to come and view what the Milk Quality Award Judges described as an excellent example of what good management and high standards of production can achieve.

The Milk Quality Award judges concluded that Sean has a very impressive dairying operation where regular measurement plays a vital role in the success of his enterprise.
Malwarebytes EMEA vice-president Anthony OMara was reacting to comments made by company founder Marcin Kleczynski, who highlighted the growing trend of companies putting thousands of euro in online currency aside to pay criminals in order to get their business back up and running as swiftly as possible in the event of an attack.

I think prevention is the first thing that people are going to look at and after that, whether its bitcoin or something else, its just another form of insurance, said Mr OMara.
Investors suffering the worlds biggest losses this year are bracing for a vote on political reform expected in November that could decide the fate of prime minister Matteo Renzi.

They have pushed the price of options protecting against volatility in Italian equities for the next three months to the highest since 2013 against shorter-term contracts.

Citigroup has branded the plebiscite the largest risk in European politics this year outside the UK.

Italian banks are also suffering as they scramble to shore up capital in the face of 360bn of bad debt.

For Kevin Lilley, a manager of eurozone equities at Old Mutual Global Investors, the danger is so high he cut his Italian holdings to just one company - defence firm Leonardo-Finmeccanica - after selling shares including Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl and Mediobanca.

Italy has been so oversold in the last year because of the political uncertainty, said Mr Lilley.

The referendum is a completely binary event, its a very good thing for Italy if its passed because it simplifies the decision-making process. But unfortunately the prime minister has tied his future to the result and banking problems are still in the background, he said.

Last year, when a China-led selloff erased trillions from global equities, Italy bucked the trend.

The benchmark FTSE MIB Index reached a near six-year high in July 2015, and surged an annual 13%, as an overhaul of employment laws and expectations of a domestic economic revival buoyed investor confidence.

This year, the equity benchmark has slid down the rankings, and one of the biggest exchange-traded funds tracking the market is heading for a seventh month of outflows in eight.

Italys banks are leading losses among European stocks amid concern over their levels of bad debt.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which fared the worst among 51 of its peers subjected to recent European stress tests, has plummeted 80% in 2016 as its plan to offload billions in doubtful loans and increase capital failed to win over investors.

Unione di Banche Italiane earlier this month reported a second-quarter loss. The economic picture offers little comfort: Italian growth stalled in the second quarter.
Take the unexpected drop in the number of people claiming jobless benefits in July, reported by the national statistics office yesterday.

This snapshot of the labour market in the month after Britain voted to leave the EU is cheering in some ways, but problematic in others.

For one thing, theres a question of whom to believe.

The good news that 8,600 fewer people had to claim unemployment benefit than the previous month jars with a different, much grimmer report issued in early August by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation - REC.

That survey showed the number of permanent jobs placed by recruitment firms fell at the fastest pace in seven years in July.

That prompted the REC to say the labour market was in freefall after the June vote.

The two snapshots of the labour market have been at odds before.

And economists were quick to point out any slowdown in activity would, as usual, take a while to affect hiring and firing decisions and therefore filter through to official data.

Any Brexit-related economic downturn could take even longer than normal to do so, since employers may wait to lay off workers until they have a better idea of what sort of trade relations Britain will have with other European countries.

Even the Bank of England, which was worried enough about the outlook for economic activity to start easing monetary policy, expects the UK unemployment rate to remain roughly around 5% in the coming months.

The problem is, persistently contradictory signals will complicate life for policymakers who are already at a loss to predict where and when damage will show up in the economy.

UK chancellor Philip Hammond will find it harder to justify a swift and aggressive easing in fiscal policy, even though this would do more to help the economy than Bank of England governor Mark Carneys monetary stimulus.

The government might also find it trickier to ensure such help is directed to the parts of the economy where its most needed.

Managing the economic consequences of leaving the EU would be easier if reality were as neat as economic theory.
They are still fairly positive, and I am encouraged by usually reliable analyst I know, who predicts that there will be a very significant improvement in dairy prices next year.

World dairy prices have always been cyclical, but they have reached a new low in 2016.

Prices depend on supply and demand, and unfortunately supply has exceeded demand in recent times.

The main reasons are low grain prices and slow demand from China.

Three quarters of the worlds milk production comes from mainly grain-fed cows.

These are mainly in very large herds in the US.

The amount of milk produced in the US largely depends on the grain/milk price ratio.

Despite the current low grain prices, this ratio is getting close to break-even point.

These US dairy farmers can easily cull heavily or reduce cow yields without affecting profitability, and this is likely to happen.

Combined with an expected increased demand, dairy prices should move in the right direction.

Furthermore, the majority of New Zealand farmers are in serious financial difficulty, and this should curtail production.

There is a significant reduction in milk production in South America.

And in the EU, the voluntary milk reduction scheme should also have an affect on supply.

That said, milk prices continue to disappoint, and dairy farmers have had a bad year.

Large expanders and heavily borrowed farmers are particularly affected.

Too many farmers expanded as if there was a guarantee of high milk prices.

Expand gradually and expand only within available resources, and manageable borrowing, was always the best advice and remains so for the future.

Some of the banks were over-generous with loan facilities which are causing some problems at present.

But established, efficient farmers will comfortably ride out the storm, and look forward to better milk prices, which no doubt will be available for the coming season.

The exceptional grass growth is helpful in overcoming some difficulties.

If we get favourable autumn grazing conditions, a lot of extra milk with good solids can be produced, which should make up for some of the effects of poor prices.
A total of 68% of students reportedly work an average of 17 hours per week during their college year.

The figures are revealed in research carried out by the Irish League of Credit Unions (ICLU) into the cost of third-level education in 2016.

While monies earned assist with food, travel, and registration costs, a total of 26% of students are forced to work in order to cover their educational costs specifically.

Male students earn approximately 252 per week and female students earn 180. Their average pay is 12 an hour.

In terms of the impact this has on their academic pursuits, 23% of students said they skip lectures to take on jobs, with women doing this more so than male students.

These figures stand beside the finding that 83% of students worry about passing their exams.

Separate to working, 22% of students utilise existing savings to fund their education, 17% rely on grants, and 13% borrow from a credit union or bank.

Students who live away from home during their studies face double the costs of living compared to those who remain in the family home.

On average, it costs a student in rented accommodation 1,048 a month to cover rent, food, college, and other living expenses.

Students who stay in the family home spend about 530 a month on expenses.

Rent is the single biggest cost for students, with an average of 376 monthly.

Students who live at home spend 128 a month on food, whereas those who rent spend 151.

In terms of transport, students renting are spending 109 on travel per month, while their live-at-home counterparts spend more, at 138 a month.

In a move to decrease the biggest cost, which is rent, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) is hoping to recruit thousands of families around the country to open up their homes as digs.

It will be delivering flyers to 100,000 homes across Ireland.

We will be targeting houses located close to colleges across Ireland that have spare rooms, said USI president Annie Hoey.

On August 1, there were only 87 rental properties in Cork city, 1,000 less than there was the same day six years ago. The flyers will be a direct marketing means to inform the public on how bad the rental crisis is and how much money they can make from renting out spare bedrooms to students.

Ms Hoey said that a home-owner could earn up to 12,000 a year, tax free.

Leasing out spare rooms is a very straightforward process, especially for parents whose children have flown the nest, or who are attending college the other side of the country, she said.

The average cost of college per child is 11,000 annually and leasing out a room to a student will greatly help with this cost, as you can make up to 12,000 annually, tax free.
IFA president Joe Healy said: ABP will not dictate how IFA represents farmers, or how farmers decide to support their association.

He confirmed he wrote yesterday to Larry Goodman, instructing him to immediately suspend the collection of the levy for IFA.

ABP, which processes about 22% of Irish beef cattle, is part of the Goodman group. Up to recently, a levy of about 1.50 in every 1,000 was automatically deducted from meat processors payments to all farmers for livestock.

The IFA decision followed ABP Groups announcement it would collect levies for farmer organisations on instruction only.

A second farm organisation, ICMSA confirmed yesterday the meat processor informed it on Tuesday it was ending automatic levy deduction.

However, Mr Healy said the levy was not discussed at an IFA meeting with ABP Ireland bosses on Tuesday.

ABP has been collecting an estimated 500,000 per year, including 1.80 per beef animal slaughtered. Most of the money, estimated at over 90%, goes to IFA with a smaller portion to ICMSA.

Other meat processors will quickly follow ABPs example, or could risk losing some of their farmer suppliers to them. As a result, an estimated 4.7m of IFAs annual funding could be threatened. This could force IFA and ICMSA to go directly to their members for funding, over and above membership fees.

ICMSA president John Comer said: There are corporations out there who would be very happy to see farmer representative groups weakened through lack of funding.
The Kerry TD said it was ridiculous the way the law favoured a criminal in some incidents and he would shoot an intruders legs first.

In an interview with Hot Press magazine, the TD also said he believes that Noahs Ark is fact.

Asked should people be able to protect their properties by shooting intruders, the TD responded: Your home is your castle. When I see what happens to elderly people, when someone comes in and beats them and robs them  yeah, Id have no problem.

Id aim for their legs first. Id immobilise them first, or something like that, if there was no other way of dealing with them. Id have no problem with that. Its ridiculous where the law actually favours the criminal in some of these incidents.

A new law in 2012 allowed homeowners to defend themselves using reasonable force. But Mr Healy-Raes comments are likely to ignite fresh debate.

The Kerry TD also said, following recent reports of a gay culture in Maynooths seminary for trainee priests, members of the Catholic clergy should be allowed to marry.

I feel it would be more natural if they were allowed to get married. The Protestants allow their ministers to marry. I think it would be helpful in the recruitment of priests.

He also said that he was not in favour of abortion or repealing the Eighth Amendment.

He also stood by his recent remarks that God controlled the weather: Everyone is entitled to their view. Im basing my views on facts. The facts are there and history proves it. We had the Ice Age. We had Noahs Ark.
Lorraine Gallagher gave heartbreaking evidence of how she found her daughter at the family home in Ballybofey, Co Donegal, on October 27, 2012.

Lorraines eldest daughter, Shannon, aged 15, took her own life just a few weeks later.

There were emotional scenes at the inquest yesterday, held at the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny.

Ms Gallagher told how Erin and her son, Sean James, had visited her around 2pm at McElhinneys department store in Ballybofey where she was working. Erin asked her mum if they could get broadband in their home and Lorraine said it would have to wait until the following Monday.

Lorraine said both Erin and Sean James were in good form and they left just after 3pm. When she returned home from work at 6pm, she found her home in darkness and her young son playing on the floor.

In her deposition, read out by Garda Superintendent David Kelly, Ms Gallagher said she initially asked Erin what she was doing before realising she was dead.

She tried to free her daughter but couldnt and ran out into the street to alert neighbours.

Neighbours Kevin McGlinchey and Dan Deery gave evidence of how they found Erin and took her body down and tried to give both chest compressions and mouth to mouth.

Detective Garda Tom Ward, who also attended the scene on the night of Erins suicide, told the inquest how Erins phone had been recovered as part of the investigation.

It was discovered that she had joined the Ask.fm social media site on June 25, 2012, and a total of 258 messages had been posted on her account. A number of IP addresses were obtained from the account and several people were interviewed.

The findings of these interviews were passed on to the DPP but on June 14, 2014, the DPP decided that no prosecution would be brought against any person.

Detective Garda Ward also revealed how the DPP had made approaches to the Latvian authorities to make contact with Ask.fm, which did comply with the probe.

The DPP also put in a request to internet service providers but could not get some IP addresses as they had been deleted after 12 months.

Alan Thompson, now principal of Finn Valley College where Erin was a pupil, also gave evidence.

Mr Thompson gave a breakdown of various incidents in which Erin had been involved, including allegations that she was being bullied both online and at school.

He said that she had been on the radar since the beginning of the school year.

He said students were made aware of a code of behaviours and anti-bullying policies in the school. He said that since 2013, new national guidelines on bullying had been put in place which were being followed by the school.

Don Dwyer, child and adolescent psychologist with the mental health services of the HSE, confirmed that Erin had been in his care. He said Erins main complaint was that of bullying and also an alleged sexual assault which she claimed had taken place at the school the previous year.

Mr Dwyer also gave evidence that Erins GP, Dr Eileen Coyne, had informed him that Erin had previously tried to take her own life on September 21, 2012, in the schools toilets.

She was due to attend Mr Dwyer again on November 1, 2012, but took her own life just days beforehand.

Patsy Gallagher, for the Gallagher family, said the inquest should remember that the person at the centre of the case was a child and urged young people to talk about their problems.

Erin was a child who sadly passed away. Do not be afraid to speak to someone, he said.

Coroner Denis McCauley returned a finding of death by suicide.

This is a terrible tragedy, we can feel sorry but we cannot really understand the pain that this has caused, he said.

It is understood that Erins sister Shannons inquest will take place later this year.
Delays at University Hospital Galways emergency department resulted in less than one in 10 ambulances (7.9%) spending 20 minutes or less transferring patients.

Both Mayo General Hospital (9.5%) and Cork University Hospital (10.6%) were among the top three worst performers for achieving the ambulance turnaround target of 20 minutes or less.

Mayo General Hospital had the longest average turnaround time of at 44 minutes. In more than one in six cases (17.3%), it took one to two hours for an ambulance to complete the handing over of a patient.

The average time spent by ambulances at University Hospital Galway was 42 minutes while the average time was 40 minutes at Cork University Hospital, according to new figures from the HSE.

On 1,089 occasions in May, ambulances had to wait an hour or more before being cleared at hospitals and ready to respond to calls again.

The figures show that just four of the 30 hospitals met the 20-minute turnaround for 50% or more of the ambulances attending their emergency departments.

Fianna Fails health spokesma Billy Kelleher, who had asked for the figures, said that, unsurprisingly, many of the hospitals with low turnaround rates also experienced overcrowding in their emergency departments.

The delays in transferring patients are clearly not the fault of the ambulance service. Rather they are symptomatic of the ongoing difficulties in our acute hospitals, said Mr Kelleher.

Mr Kelleher said that the best-performing hospital was Tallaght Paediatric in Dublin, with 58.3% of turnarounds achieved in 20 minutes or less.

Only three other hospitals managed to achieve 20-minute turnaround rates of 50% or more. They were Dublin hospitals Connolly (52.7%) and St Jamess (50.4%), together with Our Ladys Hospital, Navan, Co Meath (53.9%).

The average ambulance turnaround time for Connolly Hospital and St Jamess was around 22 minutes. It was 23 minutes for Navan Hospital.

Of 20,032 ambulance hospital attendances in May, just 5,820, or 29.1%, had a turnaround within the 20-minute timeframe.

Mr Kelleher said it was quite alarming that an ambulance going to hospitals in Galway or Mayo was almost twice as likely to have to wait an hour or more before being ready to respond to a new call.

Of course, missing turnaround targets has a knock-on effect for the ambulance service as it makes it harder to respond to new call outs in the target times if paramedics are delayed at hospitals, said the TD for Cork North Central.

Cork University Hospital  one of the largest ambulance-receiving hospitals in the country  has been making every effort to release ambulances as soon as possible.

A spokesperson said staff had to ensure patients were transferred to the emergency department and that sometimes several ambulances presented at once, causing delays and there was a system in place to address this.

Management at CUH review ambulance clinical handover performance every month and the reasons for any delays are also examined in detail.
The victim, a man believed to be aged in his 30s, is understood to have been shot a number of times in what is thought to have been a gangland attack in Santa Ponsa in Costa de la Calma shortly after 9pm.

Local reports suggested three young masked men fired from behind the victim hitting him in the back.
With more students (28%) taking higher-level maths, nearly 5% of them, or around 700 people, failed. That is more than double the failure rate of four years ago, and has been linked to students attempting higher level because of the awarding of 25 bonus college entry points for passing since 2012.

Among ordinary-level students, almost 3,000 (9.2%) failed maths  up from 5.9% a year ago.

Mr Bruton said he is concerned at the high failure rates but he did welcome another rise in the numbers doing higher level. The 15,200 who did so this year is up from 8,235 in 2011, with numbers rising constantly since bonus points were introduced to the Central Applications Office system.

The policy is successful as we have seen many more people going for the higher level, he said. The reason why at ordinary level people arent performing, part of it [is that] some of those who would have done ordinary level are now doing the higher level, so that does have an impact.

But I would be concerned. I know the chief examiner looked at this and there does seem to be problems in areas like trigonometry and algebra.

Earlier this year, the State Examinations Commission chief examiner said the sharp rise in numbers taking higher level was due to bonus points and the reformed Project Maths syllabus. He said the syllabus expectations are ambitious at all levels, and students find it difficult to master the higher-order thinking skills emphasised in the new course.

National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals director Clive Byrne said some review of teaching and learning of maths might be necessary, notwithstanding some of the positive outcomes of Project Maths.

People are making the jump to higher level because of the additional 25 points and thats having a carry-on effect, he said. People who would have happily settled for an A at ordinary level have gone up to higher level.

But there is also the group who are taking ordinary level rather than foundation level. My belief is that students should study at whatever level they can achieve in.

While industry groups such as Ibec and science and engineering organisations welcomed the uptake increases in higher-level maths and sciences, Mr Byrne urged caution.

If the rising tide isnt lifting all boats and if maths skills at ordinary level are unacceptable, we will need to look at ways to see the type of syllabi students are offered, he said.

Mr Byrne said Ireland is one of the few countries where maths is a compulsory subject for school-leavers to be examined in.

If everything is to rely on one exam, its the risk that people take. I would be keen to look at different ways of teaching and learning, he said.

We need to convince the people of Ireland that the world wont end if their children are assessed by more than one external assessment. Thats why were in favour of junior cycle reform, because until its embedded in junior cycle, it wont happen at senior cycle.

Bob Savage, head of IT at data multinational EMC and former chairman of Cork Institute of Technology,

said: The increase in those opting for STEM subjects and the results achieved is encouraging and hugely beneficial as Irelands information technology sector  a high-growth sector in our economy  continues to grow and attract inward investment. However, we need to be mindful of the rise in failure rates in ordinary maths and work to ensure this trend does not continue.
A total of 54% of parents in Ireland will take on debt of approximately 4,300 to help their children attend college and university.

While not all parents borrow money, with some relying on savings and grants, a total of 87% of parents support their children financially through college.

These figures are from research into the cost of third-level education in 2016, published by the Irish League of Credit Unions (ICLU) today.

The willingness of parents to go into debt in order to fund their childrens third-level education is linked to the rising living costs for students. Per month, it costs a student in rental accommodation, 1,048 to live. A student, who remains at home, incurs a monthly cost of 530.

Parents who help a child through college, contribute 447 per month to the costs.

In terms of where a parent borrows money from, 37% take a loan from a local credit union, whereas 6% borrow from a bank.

Some parents admitted to using credit cards and money lenders in order to support their child. Some 4% of parents borrowed from a money lender and 7% racked up debt on a credit card.

Parents were also asked five questions in relation to the struggle to cover third level education costs.

Overwhelmingly, 53% said: Yes, it is really hard, costs are constantly increasing. This is compared to 9% who answered that they did not struggle at all to send their child to college.

Some 18% admitted to saving over the years. Most parents (30%) saved for between five and six years to ensure they have enough money put aside for college costs. The average amount being saved is 8,150.

Sinead Butler from ILCU said this time of year can be a very stressful experience for parents. Families are already struggling with the wider impact of austerity and paying for college has become increasingly challenging for many.
The assurance from Sean Canney, minister of state with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works and Flood Relief, came yesterday in Limerick where a contract was signed for a 2.3m tidal defence barrier in Foynes harbour.

Highest-ever tides in Foynes in January and February of 2014 led to flooding causing major upheaval for residents and business owners.

A number of Government departments including Social Protection, Defence, Finance, Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and Agriculture, had been asked to make submissions to an interdepartmental report on future government policy.

I had seen a draft report and I will be meeting with that interdepartmental group again shortly to go through that report, because I think its important that we have policies which are durable, sustainable, and actually are effective, said Mr Canney.

Pressed on why recommendations were deemed inadequate in the report, Mr Canney replied: I would like to see more recommendations into what we should be doing.

The interdepartmental group would be consisting of every aspect of flooding so it is something that will be informing Cabinet and policy into the future so I think we need to ensure that we make a good effort at it.

He insisted the delay in presenting a report to Cabinet would not hold up any flood relief works.

Its about how policies are put in place into but I want to reassure people works that are ongoing are ongoing, said Mr Canney. Works that are being designed are still being designed. There is nothing that is held up as a result of this report being held up.

He said he has met Insurance Ireland, which has agreed to meet with the OPW to examine the protocol around temporary flood defences. He has also written to the CEO of every local authority in the country and encouraged them to prepare minor work schemes for contracts up to a value of 500,000 which can be carried out fairly quickly if they meet the criteria.

Since taking office, the minister said he had examined how flood relief projects are being processed and admits it was totally unacceptable larger flood schemes, from inception to the construction phase, are taking an average of seven years.

He aims to shorten the process and hopes to see legislation introduced shortly to deal with the matter.

Meanwhile, permanent flood defences in Foynes will cost 2.3m. An eight-month contract, works are due to begin within weeks.

Joe Delaney, design and delivery services with Limerick City and County Council, said the project will not negatively impact the public amenity or business functions of the port at Foynes.
The musical student at Regina Mundi in Douglas on Corks southside was in shock when she received her results.

As one of just six in Ireland to get the top grades in eight subjects, she is part of a very exclusive club.

Its a bit of a shock, some of the papers didnt go as well as I would have liked at the time. I thought Maths Paper 2 was tough, but its always really hard to judge, she said.

Among her eight subjects was music, which she studied outside of school. With a wide mix of other subjects in addition to English, Irish, and maths  German, biology, accounting, and geography  she had one goal in mind.

Im hoping to do primary school teaching at Mary Immaculate in Limerick, explained the 18-year-old. I just always wanted to be a teacher and Ive always loved working with kids.

She also teaches violin to children, having played the instrument since she was five. As well as her very proud mum and dad, Donal and Deirdre, Jessica was looking forward to celebrating with twin brother Ian.

Were really close. Hes hoping to study in UCC, she said.

Her parents were collecting Ians results from nearby Rochestown College, as Ian was doing a music course in Limerick this week. His results should secure him the science degree place he hopes to pursue at University College Cork.

Jessica was joined by five others with eight higher level A1s in Leaving Certificate 2016. Among them was Niamh Ryan from Castleknock, a student of Loreto College on Dublins St Stephens Green; others with the top results in the capital were students at Gonzaga College, Sandford Road, and Colaiste Eoin in Stillorgan.

Also with eight A1s in honours papers were students in Mount St Michael Secondary School, Claremorris, and Ballinrobe Community School, both in Co Mayo.

The group were followed closely by 34 students who got seven higher level A1s, while another 132 got potentially maximum points for the Central Applications Office. However, only if higher level maths was among the subjects will they have the ultimate 625 CAO points score.

Just over 1,300 of this years Leaving Certificate students got three or more A1s yesterday, down from 1,575 a year ago.

The total numbers who got results of the Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied were up less than 1% from last year, to nearly 58,500.

Students can appeal the grade they received in any subjects that they are not satisfied with up to Wednesday, September 7, but must apply by next Tuesday through their school if they want to view their marked exam script beforehand.
For some, hitting backspace to go back a page when browsing the web was an efficient way of navigating; for others, it was a heartbreaking experience as they lost progress by accidentally leaving a page. Google recently got rid of this shortcut in an update to Chrome, but is now ready to make peace with those who use it to their advantage.

Google released Go Back with Backspace, a Chrome extension that brings back the backspace navigation functionality. Those who download it will be able to use the shortcut, leaving everyone else to manually navigate back, which should cut down on work lost accidentally.
In his book The Runaway Church, Peter Hebblethwaite recalled a crucial intervention at the 1971 Synod of Bishops in Rome during a discussion on the ordination of married men to the priesthood. The synod had been summoned to examine the crisis in the priesthood.

That was 45 years ago  the crisis is much greater and more urgent and more far-flung today. Indeed, in a small but significant way, the controversy in which St Patricks College, Maynooth  the national seminary  is presently mired is both an offshoot of that crisis and also indicative of far deeper problems.

A compelling case for change had been made at the 1971 synod by Bishop Anthony Galvin, speaking on behalf of the bishops of Singapore-Malaysia. He concluded with this comment: We are of the opinion that the ordination to the priesthood of mature married men will provide for the future in a history that cannot be denied its inexorable laws.

The chief counter-argument was that the ordination of married men would constitute the thin edge of the wedge. The influential Cardinal Hoffner of Cologne claimed that any exception from the norm of celibacy would have an explosive effect, so that celibacy would disappear in a short time.

Cardinal Hoffners views prevailed. The vote on a proposition stating that the ordination of married men is not admitted even in particular cases was decisive.

Hebblethwaite noted that the ordination of women was barely discussed and would have been even more firmly blocked if put to a vote. The big stumbling block, of course, with ordaining married men was the 1967 encyclical Sacerdotalis Coelibatus from Pope Paul VI, which reaffirmed the importance of priestly celibacy.

As for the ordination of women, that has been declared a closed question by Pope John Paul II. And this was reiterated by Pope Francis in 2013.

The reservation of the priesthood to males is not a question open to discussion, he wrote.

The point has been made that he could not have done anything else without delegitimising his predecessors. Be that as it may, the question of the ordination of women to the priesthood is more alive than ever.

And this is a reality that must be faced, despite the fact that the recent decision by Pope Francis to establish a commission to examine the possibility of women deacons has already drawn warnings from conservatives that this could represent the thin edge of the wedge.

The Maynooth controversy is both less than what has been made of it, and also more  less in the sense that there is nothing startlingly new about a gay culture in a seminary, and more in the sense that it is symptomatic of a much deeper malaise, a malaise affecting not just the Church in Ireland but the universal Church.

Since the Council of Trent in the 16th century decreed that every diocese should have a seminary, there has never been a time when seminaries, to a greater or lesser degree, didnt spawn a gay culture.

The difference is that, in todays digital age, with the growth of social media, it is far more difficult to disguise this culture or sub-culture, or to pretend that it doesnt exist.

Because of his concerns, Archbishop Martin is planning to move Dublin seminarians from Maynooth to the Irish College in Rome. Is the scene going to be significantly different there? In recent times, were hearing plenty of talk about a homosexual subculture within the Vatican itself. Moving people geographically isnt going to change the nature of human sexuality.

As for the Churchs understanding of that sexuality, sooner or later it must recognise that human sexuality manifests itself in a multiplicity of forms. The predominant model may be the heterosexual one, but it is by no means the only one. The recent plea (made in the context of the Maynooth controversy) by the leader of Seanad Eireann, for the Church to open itself up to the possibility of having gay priests, is a plea that will be echoed here and abroad.

Senator Jerry Buttimer, who studied for five years in Maynooth, said that as, a person of faith, I pray and yearn that my Church and its leaders would move to be more progressive, open and transparent around the teaching on sexuality.

As for the Churchs stance on women priests, it is now widely acknowledged that there are no theological barriers to the ordination of women; other Christian denominations, drawing on the same scriptural sources, have recognised this. Within the Catholic Church, the objection to women priests is based entirely on tradition, a tradition interpreted by men and for men.

The symbolism of the Last Supper (captured in classical form by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century in his famous fresco) is important in this tradition.

The all-male gathering is supposed to tell us something about the maleness of priesthood. No women were present. Could that have really been the case?

Is it credible that Jesus would have excluded both his mother and Mary Magdalene (the other women to whom he was very close and the first to learn of the Risen Christ on that first Easter Sunday) from what was, in effect, a farewell meal?

In her book The Elephant in the Church, Mary T Malone, who taught for many years in Torontos St Augustines Seminary, and is now home in Ireland, highlighted the fact that Christian feminists today are doing theology in a new way, and were recasting male- inspired doctrines in female form.

Even though the Roman Catholic Church has never admitted this, it is an entirely legitimate task the women set themselves, she wrote.

The fact that the Church has never desired to know about this new theology, or even considered it possible, is an enormous loss for the Church, she says.

As the Church now struggles with falling numbers and whole generations of alienated women and men, it might be well to begin to notice that half the membership is female and that their theology is legitimate, and furthermore, is part of a continuous legitimate tradition from the very foundations of Christianity.

Seen against this background, the Maynooth controversy is akin to a storm in an ecclesiastical teacup. And it is also a distraction. Yes, there are questions about the suitability of seminaries as places for the preparation of young men for the priesthood in the 21st century. But for a Church in crisis  and who can doubt that this is the state in which the Irish Church finds itself at the present time  much bigger questions need to be addressed.

There has been talk of the need for a national synod to formulate a new pastoral blueprint for the future. Such a synod, under the two previous popes, would have been a sterile exercise.

Now at least a new climate exists under Pope Francis. And having encouraged the participants at the recent World Synod on the Family in Rome to speak their minds, he could hardly do anything less for the participants at a national synod in Ireland.

High on the list of priorities for any such synod should be the rediscovery of the social gospel, at the core of which would be a commitment to the poor and the marginalised, and the promotion of social justice.

It might yet provide a pathway to redemption for the troubled Irish Church. And Pope Francis, in his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), published in November 2013, has already provided a template.

I dream of a missionary option, that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Churchs customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channelled for the evangelisation of todays world rather than her self-preservation, he wrote.

And he followed with this: I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting, and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.

As for local initiatives, Pope Francis, having warned against excessive centralisation, went on to say: It is not advisable for the Pope to take the place of local Bishops in the discernment of every issue which arises in their territory. In this sense, I am conscious of the need to promote a sound decentralisation.

Given this kind of papal encouragement, the time is surely propitious for the summoning of a national synod representative of the whole Irish Church.

But such a synod, if it is to explore the underlying problems besetting Irish Catholicism, must have a home-generated agenda  not one that bears the fingerprints of bureaucrats in the Vatican.
Every September, many of the worlds presidents, prime ministers, and foreign ministers descend on New York City for a few days. They come to mark the start of the annual session of the UN General Assembly, to give speeches that tend to receive more attention at home than they do in the hall, and  in the diplomatic equivalent of speed dating  to pack as many meetings as is humanly possible into their schedules.

There is also a tradition of designating a specific issue or problem for special attention, and this year will be no exception. September 19 will be devoted to discussing the plight of refugees (as well as migrants) and what more can and should be done to help them.

It is a good choice, as there are now an estimated 21m refugees in the world. Originally defined as those who leave their countries because of fear of persecution, refugees now also include those forced to cross borders because of conflict and violence.

This number is up sharply from just five years ago, owing primarily to chaos across the Middle East, with Syria alone the source of nearly one in every four refugees in the world today.

The attention of the UN and its member states does not reflect only the increase in numbers or heightened humanitarian concern over the suffering of the men, women, and children who have been forced to leave their homes and their countries. It also stems from the impact of the flow of refugees on destination countries, where it has upended politics in one country after another.

In Europe, the rise of political opposition to German chancellor Angela Merkel, the Brexit vote, and the growing appeal of nationalist parties on the right can all be attributed to real and imagined fears stemming from refugees.

The economic and social burden on countries such as Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, and Pakistan, all of which are being asked to house large numbers of refugees, is immense. There are also security concerns about whether some of the refugees are actual or potential terrorists.

In principle, there are four ways to do something meaningful about the refugee problem.

The first and most fundamental is to take steps to ensure that people need not flee their countries or, if they have, to create conditions that permit them to return home.

But this would require that countries do more to end the fighting in places like Syria. Alas, there is no consensus on what this would require, and even where some agreement exists, sufficient will to commit the required military and economic resources does not. The result is that the number of refugees in the world will grow.

The second way to help refugees is to ensure their safety and wellbeing. Refugees are particularly vulnerable when they are on the move. And after they arrive, many fundamental needs  including health, education, and physical safety  must be met. Here, the challenge for host states is to guarantee adequate provision of essential services.

A third component of any comprehensive approach to refugees involves allocating economic resources to help deal with the burden. The US and Europe (both EU member governments and the EU itself) are the largest contributors to the UN High Commission on Refugees, but many other governments are unwilling to commit their fair share. They ought to be named and shamed.

The final aspect of any refugee program involves finding places for them to go. The political reality, though, is that most governments are unwilling to commit to take in any specific number or percentage of the worlds refugees. Again, those who do their fair share (or more) should be singled out for praise  and those who do not for criticism.

All of which brings us back to New York City. Sadly, there is little reason to be optimistic. The 22-page draft outcome document to be voted on at the September 19 High Level meeting  long on generalities and principles and short on specifics and policy  would do little, if anything, to improve refugees lot.

A meeting scheduled for the next day, to be hosted by US President Barack Obama, may accomplish something on the funding side, but little else.

The refugee issue provides yet another glaring example of the gap between what needs to be done to meet a global challenge and what the world is prepared to do. Alas, the same holds true for most such challenges, from terrorism and climate change to weapons proliferation and public health.

We can expect to hear a lot of talk in New York next month about the international communitys responsibility to do more to help existing refugees and address the conditions driving them to flee their homelands. But the cold truth is that there is little community at the international level.

So long as that remains the case, millions of men, women, and children will face a dangerous present and a future of little prospect.

Richard N Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, is the author of A World in Disarray, to be published in January 2017. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2016.
Under Australian law, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to camps on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru or to Manus Island off Papua New Guinea.

They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia. Some asylumseekers have spent years in the camps, which have been criticised by the UN and human rights groups, with numerous reports of abuse and self-harm among detainees, including children.

Some in Papua New Guinea are unhappy with the prospect of hundreds of asylumseekers being resettled there.

There have been reports of asylumseekers being attacked by locals.

Both Papua New Guinea and Australia are in agreement that the centre is to be closed, Papua New Guinea prime minister Peter ONeill said in a statement.

A series of options are being advanced and implemented. It is important that this process is not rushed out but carried out in a careful manner. There was no mention of a closing date.

Closure of Manus Island only 1st step to end Australia's offshore nightmare for refugees https://t.co/lzxH7P3Vkv pic.twitter.com/oI8vXCRxJc  Amnesty International (@amnesty) August 17, 2016

Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton, who met ONeill to discuss the camp, reiterated Australias position that it would not accept any refugees detained in Papua New Guinea.

It has been the longstanding position of this government to work with Papua New Guinea to close Manus and support those people as they transition into Papua New Guinea or return to their country of origin.

"Our position, confirmed again today with Papua New Guinea, is that no one from Manus Island Regional Processing Centre will ever be settled in Australia, said Dutton.

The announcement came after a newspaper published leaked documents detailing more than 2,000 incidents of sexual abuse, assault and attempted self-harm, reported over two years at the Nauru detention centre.

The harsh conditions and reports of systemic child abuse at the camps have drawn wide criticism at home and abroad. Australia says the policy is needed to stop asylumseekers dying at sea on the dangerous boat journey from Indonesia to Australia.

Hundreds of people died attempting the trip in the years before the policy was put in place.
The billionaire property mogul has named Stephen Bannon, of the conservative Breitbart News website, as chief executive and promoted pollster Kellyanne Conway to campaign manager.

Paul Manafort, Mr Trumps controversial campaign chairman, will retain his title but it is unclear if his role will change.

In selecting Mr Bannon for a top campaign role, Mr Trump is reinforcing his outsider appeal rather than appeasing more traditional Republicans.

The conservative Breitbart figure has been a cheerleader for Mr Trumps campaign for months and was critical of Republican leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Mr Bannon is a former Goldman Sachs banker and does not bring presidential campaign experience to Mr Trumps White House bid.

Mr Trump has resisted pleas from fellow Republicans to overhaul the flame-throwing approach on the campaign trail that powered his surge to the top of the Republican field in the primary season.

Instead of working to broaden his appeal, Mr Trump has largely stuck to the large rallies and attention-grabbing comments that appealed to the party base.

Ms Conway joined Mr Trumps campaign earlier this year as a senior adviser.

A long-time Republican strategist and pollster, she has close ties to Mr Trumps running mate, Indiana governor Mike Pence.

Ive known both of them for a long time. Theyre terrific people, theyre winners, theyre champs, and we need to win it, Mr Trump said.

Manafort deputy Rick Gates, who has often been travelling with Mr Trump, is expected to maintain a senior role with the campaign.

Mr Manafort, who took over the reins after the departure of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in June, has come under scrutiny because of his past work for a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party.

Mr Manafort helped the party secretly route at least $2.2m (1.9m) in payments to two prominent Washington lobbying firms in 2012, doing so in a way that effectively obscured the partys efforts to influence US policy, says the Associated Press.

Mr Gates, who had worked with Mr Manafort on Ukrainian issues, told the AP he and Mr Manafort had consulted with the lobbying firms on Ukrainian politics, but called the actions lawful.

The campaign shake-up, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes as polls show Mr Trump trailing Hillary Clinton nationally and in key battleground states following a difficult campaign stretch that saw him insulting the Muslim parents of a soldier who died in Iraq and temporarily refraining from endorsing Mr Ryan in his primary race.
The regional express was carrying 219 passengers on a service between Nimes and Montpellier when it hit the tree at 140km/h, said the state rail operator SNCF.

The incident occurred near the town of Lunel, 28km south-west of Nimes.

The impact sparked panic, as some passengers feared a jihadist attack was under way, said one witness.

Local rescue services said one individual was critically injured and was airlifted to hospital. Fifty other passengers suffered minor injuries or shock.

We were on the train when hailstones the size of ping-pong balls started falling, then we heard what sounded like an explosion, said a 24-year-old passenger from Luxembourg.

The train shook for a few seconds and then I saw some people whose heads were covered in blood.

Another passenger said some people on the train feared a terror attack was unfolding. There was panic, some at first thought it was an attack on the train, said the 35-year-old woman.

SNCF said around 80 rescue workers, backed by helicopters, were deployed to the scene, where access is very difficult. The tree was a very tall pine located on private property next to the railway line.
Mr Smith said that all of the actors involved in the conflict would have to be brought into the negotiations if there was to be a successful conclusion to the conflict.

His comments sparked an outcry, with one Conservative member of the Commons Defence Committee  former army officer Johnny Mercer  saying they showed his unfitness for leadership.
The video, which sparked global outrage, shows hunter Josh Bowmar baiting a trap for the bear in a wooded area and then impaling the animal with a long spear with a camera attached to it.

Bowmar, 26, defended the way he killed the bear while Alberta Environment Ministry spokesman Kyle Ferguson described the hunt as unacceptable and archaic.

We will introduce a ban on spear hunting this fall, Ferguson said.

In the meantime, we have asked Fish and Wildlife officers to investigate this incident to determine if charges are warranted under existing laws.

Bowmar, a javelin thrower and hunter, uploaded the video in June, local media reported. It appears to have been taken down, but has since been uploaded onto other YouTube accounts.

I drilled him perfect, Bowmar jubilantly tells the camera. That was the longest throw I ever thought I could ever make.

Bowmar runs an Ohio-based fitness company and was a university athlete, according to the business website.

The killing was ethical, and no one cares more about these animals than us hunters, Bowmar told Reuters in an email. He estimated the bear ran 55 meters, then died. He argued that a spear is a more humane weapon than a bow.

In a response to a comment on her Facebook page, Bowmars wife, Sarah, said her husbands critics have nothing better to do.

Local media reported that local outfitters John and Jenn Rivet helped Bowmar in the hunt. They did not respond to requests for comment.

The couples website advertises black bear hunts and features photos of hunters with guns posing next to dead bears.

Bow hunting is legal in Alberta and 19% of 119,000 big game hunters in the province last year purchased archery hunting permits, according to a government website.

No figures were given for spear hunting permits.

Last year, American dentist Walter Palmer sparked global outrage when he killed Cecil, a rare black-maned lion, with a bow and arrow outside Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe. He was not charged.
The decree allows the release of inmates who have two years or less to serve of their sentences and makes convicts who have served half of their prison term eligible for parole.

However, people convicted of murder, domestic violence, sexual abuse or terrorism and other crimes against the state will be excluded.

The measures would not apply for crimes committed after July 1, excluding any people later convicted of coup involvement.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on his Twitter account that the measure would lead to the release of some 38,000 people. He insisted it was not a pardon or an amnesty but a conditional release of prisoners.

The government says the July 15 coup, which led to at least 270 deaths, was carried out by followers of the movement led by US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who have infiltrated the military and other state institutions.

Find out what's been happening in #Turkey following the failed coup:https://t.co/htnt1hE1uq  Council on Foreign Relations (@CFR_org) August 17, 2016

Gulen has denied any prior knowledge or involvement in the coup but Turkey is demanding that the US extradite him.

The Turkish government declared a state of emergency and launched a massive crackdown on Gulens supporters in the aftermath of the coup.

Some 35,000 people have been detained for questioning and more than 17,000 of them have been formally arrested to face trial, including soldiers, police, judges and journalists.

Tens of thousands more people with suspected links to Gulen have been suspended or dismissed from their jobs in the judiciary, media, education, health care, military and local government.

On Tuesday, police launched simultaneous raids on 44 companies suspected of providing financial support to Gulens movement.

The Anadolu Agency said the raids in Istanbuls Umraniye and Uskudar districts came after authorities issued warrants to detain 120 company executives as part of the investigation into the coup attempt.

The government crackdown has raised concerns among European nations and human rights organisations.
Lochte, one of swimmings most decorated Olympians, had already returned to the US ahead of the court ruling, the newspaper quoted Brazilian police as saying. It was unclear if Feigen had also left the country.

The swimming competition ended on Saturday.

Lochte said he, Feigen and two other team-mates were travelling to the Athletes Village in a taxi in the early hours of the morning, after a party, when armed men carrying police badges pulled them over.

The gunmen ordered them to drop to the ground and demanded their wallets and belongings, Lochte said.

Officials from the US Olympic Committee and a lawyer for Lochte could not be immediately reached for comment.

After the decision by judge Keyla Blanc, of the Special Tribunal for Fans and Major Events, authorities requested a search and arrest warrant for the swimmers with the aim of finding Feigens mobile phone in order to identify exactly where the swimmers were on Sunday night, O Globo reported.

Civil police agents visited the US delegation building and spoke to the head of security there, but neither of the swimmers was present, the paper said.

Police investigating the robbery so far have found little evidence supporting the account, and say the swimmers were unable to provide key details in police interviews.

A police official with knowledge of the investigation said police cannot find their taxi driver or witnesses. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Lochtes attorney, Jeff Ostrow, said there was no question the robbery happened and that Lochte had 24-hour security hired after the incident.

The group did not call police, authorities said, and officers began investigating once they saw media reports in which Lochtes mother spoke about the robbery.

Police interviewed Lochte and one other swimmer, who said they had been intoxicated and could not remember what type and colour of taxi they rode in or where the robbery happened, the police official said.
Burma Citing Grave Risks, Shan Groups Demand Halt to Salween Dams

The first large bend in the Salween Riveralso called the Nu Riverin China. / Salween/Thanlwin/Nu River / Facebook

RANGOON  Describing the potential for earthquakes, military conflict, displacement and damage to agriculture, 26 Shan civil society and environmental organizations have called for an immediate halt to major dam projects planned for construction on the Salween River. The community demands were outlined in an open letter to State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and delivered on Wednesday.

Suu Kyi is currently on a five-day state visit to China to discuss bilateral relations, and likely, planned China-backed hydropower initiatives in Burma. The letter described how such hydropower dams on the Salween River would block water flow and create hardship for those who rely on the waterway, particularly for agriculture, in Burma, Thailand and China. In Shan State alone, environmental rights groups estimate that 170 villageswith a population of over 10,000 peoplewould suffer displacement or damage to their farms due to the impact of damming the Salween.

We urge the new government make these decisions very carefully, because, for us, the disadvantages of the dams are greater than the advantages, said Nang Kham Mai, the campaign coordinator with Action for Shan State Rivers, one of the organizations behind the letter to Suu Kyi.

The statement comes after the Burmese government confirmed plans on Friday to go ahead with the proposed Salween dam projects, those of which in Shan State are expected to collectively generate nearly 10,000 megawatts of electricity, but an estimated 90 percent will be exported to neighboring countries.

Coming only weeks before the planned 21st Century Panglong Conference, this green light to the Salween dams is highly worrying, the letter stated, referring to the upcoming Union Peace Conference scheduled to begin on August 31 in Naypyidaw.

A unilateral decision on the part of the government to continue the construction of the dams is effectively ignoring local communities right to determine the use of their own natural resources, the letter continued, describing the move as an unwelcome start to the upcoming peace conference.

The organizations also described how exported electric power obtained from the Salween dams would not address Burmas own energy needs, rendering the projects impractical for domestic communities.

The government will merely distribute 10 percent [of the electricity] to locals. So it is hard to say what the locals benefits are, Kham Mai said.

Highlighting the decades-long conflict between the Burma Army and ethnic armed groups which has plagued the Salween River region, the letters signatories warned that unpopular hydropower projects could exacerbate unrest in the area.

Between the Burma and ethnic Shan armies, territory designation [around the dam sites] could become a big problem, added Kham Mai.

Dam locations also coincide with an earthquake fault line. This alone, Kham Mai said, makes these projects too risky to construct.

Stretching more than 1,700 miles, the Salween River is one of the worlds longest waterways, flowing through Yunnan in China, and Shan, Karenni, Karen and Mon states in Burma.

Ethnic minority communities in eastern Burma have consistently objected to plans to build dams on the river, which are planned for Shan and Karen states, specifically.

In the interests of ethnic reconciliation and environmental sustainability, we therefore strongly urge you to immediately cancel the Salween dams, the letter to Suu Kyi said.
Burma Discussion Stalled on Amendments to Overnight Guest Registration Law

Lower House lawmakers pictured in February outside of the Parliament / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  A bill to amend and repeal provisions of Burmas colonial-era Ward or Village Tract Administration Law requiring citizens to report overnight guests continues to face hurdles in the Lower House of Parliament.

Three weeks ago, the Lower House Bill Committee recommended in its review report on the bill that all provisions regarding overnight guest registration from the original law should be reinserted with modifications. A parliamentary agenda featuring discussion on the bill has yet to be seen.

The bill committee told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that over 30 lawmakers had registered to table the bill in the Parliament. Concerned about limited availability of discussion time on the floor, the committee had to hold meetings with the registered lawmakers outside of the legislative session in order to first consolidate ideas.

Similar ideas and recommendations should be combined so that the process in the parliament can be effective and [clearly] articulated, said Tun Tun Hein, chair of the committee.

Originating in 1907, modified by the military-controlled Ministry of Home Affairs in 2012 and most recently updated in January 2016, the law requires citizens to inform local government officials when guests spend the night in their homes, regardless of how long the stay is.

International human rights watchdogs have criticized the law saying that it gives authorities the right to carry out warrantless household inspections and breach privacy; it was used, they say, to hunt down political activists under the military regime and the quasi-civilian government.

The new bill was passed by the Upper House in June removing articles 13(g) and 17 from the original law, which demand that citizens report overnight guests to ward and village tract administrators or get penalized for disobeying.

However, the bill still needs to gain approval of the Lower House and was submitted to the chamber by its bill committee after they had reviewed it. At this point, it was recommended that the removed provisions be reinstated, with the suggestion that penalties should only be imposed on violators who disobey the regulation intentionally.

Despite both houses being dominated by National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmakers, the two parliamentary bill committees have voiced differing narratives on the law.

During a parliamentary discussion in the Upper House in May, elected NLD lawmakers and military-appointed representatives had already met with divided opinions. Upper House military lawmakers stated that national security would be in jeopardy if the provisions of overnight guest registration were revoked, while NLD lawmakers argued that the new bill aligned with democratic norms and preserved freedom of movement for citizens.

Chair of the Lower House Bill Committee Tun Tun Hein told The Irrawaddy that a law should be enacted considering all regions in the country rather than a specific place, citing unstable security in some remote areas.

Myanmar doesnt consist of only one city, he said. There are border towns and rural places where such a law should still exist.

He added that the committee would consider balancing national security and human rights standards.

Zaw Win, a member of the bill committee, told The Irrawaddy that the committee is trying to take into account all recommendations from lawmakers across the country.

In some insurgent regions, such a law is necessary, he said. In the meantime, we have also heard some logistical examples of how the guest-reporting requirement was beneficiary to residents.

However, he explained that the mandatory practice would be less pragmatic in some cities where there are large populations of migrant workers and university students.

Bill committee members were not able to say when discussions would be tabled in the Parliament. If the two chambers of the Parliament have different results regarding the bill, a final decision will be conceded by the Union Parliament.
Burma Govt Recommends 31 Muslims in Arakan State for Citizenship

For Sale protest posters have been pasted to the outside of houses and businesses owned by Buddhist Arakanese in Buthidaung, northern Arakan State. / Aung Ko Ko

RANGOON  Thirty-one Muslims who applied as Bengali have been recommended for citizenship by a verification committee in Buthidaung Township of northern Arakan State, the head of the immigration department for Maungdaw District Than Shwe told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

This has already prompted fury from local Buddhist Arakanese, who launched a poster campaign on Wednesday.

Than Shwe said that only two or three had been recommended for full citizenship; the remainder were recommended for naturalized citizenship. Their applications have been passed to the state-level committee on citizenship verification, which will make the final decisions on eligibility.

The 1982 Citizenship Law outlines three tiers of citizenship, with diminishing rights: full, naturalized and associate. Those holding the latter two categories are denied certain rights, including the right to be elected to political office. They are also vulnerable to having their citizenship revoked by the government under vague pretexts, including showing disaffection or disloyalty to the state.

However, most of the more than 1 million Muslims in Arakan State that identify as Rohingyaaround a third of the states population, and forming the large majority in the northern two townships of Maungdaw and Buthidaungare denied any form of citizenship. Buddhist Arakanese insist that they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh, and refer to them as Bengali. The 1982 law places significant barriers to citizenship for those, such as the Rohingya, who are excluded from the list of 135 officially recognized ethnicities.

After anti-Muslim violence wracked the state in 2012 and 2013, an Action Plan for Arakan State was introduced in 2014 under former President Thein Sein. Included was a citizenship verification drive aimed at stateless Muslims in Arakan Statesome of whom have other ethnic affiliations, such as the Kaman, an officially recognized group. A significant catch was that those identifying as Rohingya would be compelled to state their ethnicity as Bengali in their application papers, or not be considered at all.

The drive has met delays due to anger from local Buddhist Arakanese. In the middle of last year, the applications of the 31 Muslims in Buthidaung Township were put on hold after protests from Arakanese locals. The new National League for Democracy government, installed in April, has chosen to push on with citizenship verification in June, as part of its 100-day plan. It appears that the requirement to identify as Bengali has not been changed under the new government.

Than Shwe told The Irrawaddy, We just recommended those who are eligible and will wait for the decision of the [state-level committee], which includes five ministers in the Arakan State government. We have no right to issue [citizenship] cards to them ourselves.

Than Shwe confirmed that their recommendations had been delivered the previous week, and that all applicants had consented to identify in the documentation as Bengali.

News of the citizenship recommendations quickly reached the ears of the Buddhist Arakanese community. On Wednesday, about 400 Arakanese residents of Buthidaung gathered at the local Aye Zedi monastery and decided to launch a poster campaign against the recommendations. They also read out the names of those on the township verification committee and denounced them.

Local Buddhist Arakanese residentswho number a small minority in Buthidaung Townshipput For Sale posters [pictured] at the front of their homes and businesses, to suggest that they would leave the township if ineligible Bengalis started being recognized as citizens, against what they felt was growing Muslim domination of northern Arakan State, which has led to a rise in land disputes and crime, they claim.

An Arakanese community organizer, Zaw Win, told The Irrawaddy over the phone that, if the committee had properly adhered to the 1982 Citizenship Law, there would be no objections from the native Arakanese community. He cited a grievance that two respected men from the local Arakanese community, who were included in the committee under the previous government, had not been been reinstated.

We strongly condemn the erroneous action of the committee, said Zaw Win, regarding the citizenship recommendations.

Arakan National Party secretary Tun Aung Kyaw told The Irrawaddy that the party had requested a meeting with the Arakan State government to discuss the objections from the Arakanese residents of Buthidaung, but had received no response as of Wednesday.

He said, We basically agree with giving out naturalized or associate citizenship in accordance with the 1982 law, but the government should not restrict [recipients] to Arakan State, but give them freedom of movement, including freedom to travel to other parts of the country.

He explained that the Arakanese community was advocating for strict adherence to the 1982 Citizenship Law because, if the government gave out citizenship recklessly, a large proportion of the states population would suddenly be given voting rightscausing the dominance of the Arakan National Party to disappear.

Think about what would be happen if one million people got the right to vote in this state. We are deeply concerned about it, said Tun Aung Kyaw.

The majority of Muslim residents of Arakan State that are without citizenship were barred from voting in the 2015 general election, although these communities participated in all previous elections in Burma, including as temporary citizens. Naturalized and associate citizens still retain the right to vote.
Burma Govt to Step Up Action Against Illegal Border Trade

The road to Muse in northern Shan State, on the border with China, Burmas most important overland trade artery / Kyaw Hsu Mon / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  The government is to open new checkpoints along twelve known smuggling routes from border areas, after the disbandment of multi-departmental mobile task forces in December was blamed for an increase in overland smuggling.

Deputy Minister of Commerce Than Myint made the announcement on Wednesday in response to a question from National League for Democracy lawmaker Tun Tun Oo in the Lower House of Parliament, about how the government planned to tackle illegal border tradewhich represents a vast loss of revenue for the government.

The deputy minister said that checkpoints would be installed even in areas far from the borderin Kachin, Shan and Karen states and Mandalay, Sagaing and Pegu divisions.

Multi-departmental mobile task forces were deployed along border routes from 2012, with the participation of the police, customs officials and the Ministry of Commerce.

Over three years, the roving teams seized more than 50 billion kyats (US$42 million) worth of smuggled goods, according to the commerce ministry. Particular focus was placed on the Muse border crossing with China in northern Shan State, and the Myawaddy border crossing with Thailand in Karen State.

However, these task forces were disbanded in December after coming under repeated violent attack from smugglers seeking retribution for arrests and confiscated goods. There has since been calls for the new government to adopt similar measures.

Yan Naing Tun, director general of Ministry of Commerce, told the Irrawaddy that the Ministry of National Planning and Finances Customs Department would be responsible for the checkpoints, where goods from passing vehicles and travelers will be checked.

Known smuggling routes to be targeted include, from Kachin State: Panwa-Chipwe-Myitkyina, Kanpilete-Waingmaw-Myitkyina, Laiza-Moemauk-Myitkyina, Lwije-Laiza-Myitkyina, Laiza-Sinbo-Hopin, Moenyin-Hpakant and Myitkytina-Shwebo-Mandalay.

From Shan State, targeted routes include Muse-Mandalay and Mongla-Tachileik-Kengtung-Taunggyi. The Myawady-Hpa-an route will be targeted in Karen State.
Burma Rangoon Division Has Highest Crime Rate in Burma

Police make security checks in Rangoon in May / Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  Rangoon Division has the highest crime rate among all of Burmas states and divisions, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Rangoon had 345 reported major crimes from January until the end of July; Irrawaddy Division had the second highest amount with 296, home affairs deputy minister Maj-Gen Aung Soe told the Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday.

The deputy minister said the countrys police force was understaffed, in response to Pandaung Constituency lawmaker Khin Hnin Thits proposal to focus government efforts on reducing nationwide crime.

Divisions see higher crime statistics than states because they are more densely populated and the police forces in these areas are understaffed and overworked, said the major-general.

The Rangoon Division Police Force carried out its 100-day plan from May 1 to August 8, during which time the region saw 140 major crimes and almost 4,000 minor crimes, Rangoon Division police major Hla Wai told the Irrawaddy.

Major crimes, as defined by the police force, include murder, rape, robbery, burglary, mugging and kidnapping.

During the short-term [three month] crime crackdown in 2015, we saw 99 major crimes, and during the 2016 plan, we saw 140. Child rape cases accounted for the majority, said Hla Wai.

But crime rates in Rangoon seem to be declining, according to the monthly figures. There were 50 major crimes in May, 46 in June and 31 in Julymostly rapes, but also murder, robbery, kidnapping and burglary.

Previously, people under 14 were regarded as minors in Burmas legal system. The age of consent has recently been changed to 16, which accounts for the increase in child rape cases, said the police major. He also attributed it to parental negligence and the easy accessibility of alcohol.

The police force said it achieved some success in its 100-day plan, which ran as a pilot project in South Dagon, Hlinetharyar, Kamayut and Thanlyin townships. The plan is currently running in eight additional townships.

According to international standards, the average ratio of residents to police should be about 400-1, but in Burma it is 1,200-1. Those forces are directly working on crime reduction and enforcing rule of law, said Maj-Gen Aung Soe.

Sixteen lawmakers debated Khin Hnin Thits proposal during two Lower House sessions. Lawmakers accept that the police force is understaffed, but some still blame the police force for the poor performance in cracking down on crime.

The home affairs deputy minister asked the Lower House to put the proposal on record and Parliament voted to do so.
Burma Three Armed Groups Ready to Join Peace Conference

TNLA, MNDAA and AA delegates meet at the Law Khee Lar ethnic armed organizations summit in Karen State in 2015 / Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy

The AA, MNDAA and TNLA issue a joint statement to media announcing their readiness to join the Union Peace Conference; meanwhile, govt awaits an official response.

By LAWI WENG & NYEIN NYEIN / THE IRRAWADDY

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Three ethnic armed groups issued a joint statement on Thursday announcing their readiness to join the Union Peace Conference, scheduled to begin on August 31 in Naypyidaw.

The joint statement was written by three organizations in active conflict with the Burma Army, including the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA).

Although they were excluded from signing the countrys nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) in 2015, the groups said they were also ready to cooperate and work with the government toward peace.

The decision to open the conference to all armed groups came in a meeting of the Union Peace and Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) led by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and hosted in Napyidaw on August 15. There, it was decided that the conference would be all-inclusive.

We are pleased to learn that the UPDJC, under [the] leadership of Daw Aung San Suu Kyihas made a decision of all-inclusiveness of ethnic armed organizations in the peace process, the groups said in the statement. We are ready to attend the conference, they added.

Tar Bong Kyaw, the general secretary of the TNLA, told The Irrawaddy that his group will participate if they receive an invitation from the government.

We are ready to join, he confirmed. Daw Suu tried hard to negotiate with [the Burma Army] to bring us to the meeting. This took a long time, but if we look at the agreement from the UPDJC, we can join the conference.

Yet Khin Zaw Oo, a negotiator from the governments peace team and himself a former lieutenant general, said that he had not yet received the required formal reply from the three groups, as had been agreed in a recent meeting.

We dont have a plan to hold further talks with the three groups unless they pledge [to abandon the armed struggle] in their statement, he said, pointing out that the statement released to media did not meet that criteria.

The Burma Army has been reluctant to allow these three armed organizations to join any upcoming proceedings lest they disarm, a demand which they have refused. Negotiations followed between the groups in question and the governments National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC), including two meetings in the Mongla region.

Khin Zaw Oo maintained that the input of the AA, MNDAA and TNLA would not be given equal weight to, for example, that of the ethnic armed coalition known as the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC)whose members opted out of signing the NCAas these three groups are currently engaged in ongoing fighting with the Tatmadaw.

The UNFCs seven members, as well as the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Mongla Army, will also be invited to the Union Peace Conference.

The AA, MNDAA and TNLAs joint statement expressed a wish to end fighting with the Burma Army by first negotiating, then signing the nationwide ceasefire agreement, and pursuing peace and development, national reconciliation and political dialogue.

Fighting has been ongoing in TNLA-controlled areas in particular, even as the date of the peace conference closes in. A report from the TNLA issued on August 13 said that clashes with government troops had recently broken out in three locations at once.
Burma Three Bodies Found Burned and Buried in Shan State

A map of northern Shan State / Palaung Land

Burned and buried, the bodies of three villagers from Shan States Namtu Township who had gone missing in a forest in early August were recently recovered.

Three Kaunghong villagerstwo of them members of the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-N)from Namtu Township went missing on August 1 when they went into a forest to search for mushrooms.

Villagers searched for them and found their bodies on August 4 burned and buried near a site controlled by the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South (RCSS/SSA-S).

The RCSS said it was also investigating the murder, but the news only broke when local villagers reported it to Shan State lawmaker Nan San Huam of Namtu Township Constituency (2) last week.

This had not previously been reported to me. Because two of the victims were SSPP members, they have been handling this themselves, Nan Sam Huam told The Irrawaddy.

The SSPP/SSA is currently investigating the murder of two of its members, SSPP/SSA spokesperson Sai Phone Han told The Irrawaddy.

Two were buried together and one was separate. Two were our members and we are still investigating why they were killed. So far, we have not reported anything to any [governmental] organization, said Sai Phone Han.

There were not ongoing clashes around the time the three villagers were killed and the bodies were found about 15 miles away from Namtu Township.

Nan San Huam said Namtu lacks rule of law, citing frequent extrajudicial killings and instances of torture.

The Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), RCSS/SSA-S, SSPP/SSA-N and Burma military are all active in the area.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
Politics Will a Chinese Charm Offensive Bring Rapprochement with Burma?

Chinas President Xi Jinping with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on June 11, 2015 / Reuters

The Chinese charm offensive in the new era of Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Decmocracy (NLD) government has visibly been in full swing lately.

From a Chinese envoys fact-finding and lobbying tour to Kachin State in June, to the recent Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Song Tao paying a courtesy call to former military strongman Snr-Gen Than Shwewhile presumably preparing for State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyis visit to Chinathe offensive is underway.

A series of lobbying and opinion-shaping measures has already been undertaken, as outlined by Voice Of America in a recent analysis.

 On June 4, Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang visited Kachin State to lobby for the resumption of the stalled Myitsone Dam project.

 On June 8, the China-Burma Swe Myo Pauk Phaw Friendship Foundation was formed.

 On June 11, a China-Burma caravan trip was announcedto promote friendship between the two nationsfor October.

 On June 18, Union Minister U Ohn Win, who was on his way to attend an energy workshop in China, was briefed by a Chinese diplomat that China would assist with human resource development, as reported in Chinas Xinhua news on June 25.

Although speculation was rife that China was keen to continue the Myitsone Dam project that had stalled in 2011 under former President Thein Seins government, the countrys true intentions might be tied to far more than just this particular project.

While the Chinese undoubtedly have a host of other business and political interests in mind besides the pending dam project, the NLD administrations main and immediate concern is how to make use of Chinese influence on the ethnic armed organizations along the Sino-Burma border, so that peace can be achieved.

Suu Kyis unmistakable and explicit message on Monday at the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) meeting was that although peace is her priority for the country, economic development will not be neglected.

One reason we havent achieved peace is that the physical and mental needs of the people still cannot be fulfilled, said Suu Kyi, who also serves as chairwoman of the UPDJC.

She added, In the long run, without peace, we cant maintain any kind of economic development. No matter how much economic progress [we make], once peace is eroded, the progress made will also be shattered.

Ye Htut, former information minister and spokesperson of former President Thein Sein, said the heightened armed conflict that occurred in Burma after the halt of the Myitsone Dam project could have been a coincidence, or not.

In an interview with Radio Free Asia, aired on Saturday, Ye Htut said, Because nearly all ethnic armed organizations that have not yet signed the ceasefirewith the exception of two groups in the southare based along the Chinese border, we appreciate that Chinas role is of the utmost importance to us all.

He stressed the importance of reaching a decision that would both foster peace and support the countrys relationship with China.

Im of the opinion that this should be done in a speedy manner, he added.

Daw Dwer Bu, a leader of the Unity and Democracy Party of Kachin State and former lawmaker, said that although she welcomed the formation of a commission and investigation of the dam, people were still opposed to the project.

When asked by Radio Free Asia on Saturday what she thought about a possible referendum on the issue she replied, There is no need to do that because it is clear that the peoplenot only the Kachin people but also the rest of the countryare against the project.

On Friday, a 20-member commission was formed to review proposed hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River, assessing the potential benefits to Burmese citizens and making recommendations on whether they should proceed. Their first report is due by November 11.

Meanwhile, Suu Kyi is paying an official visit to China between August 17-21 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Given such a backdrop, with Chinese lobbyists in high gear advocating for the resumption of the Myitsone Dam, coupled with the head of state reception being prepared for Suu Kyi, the controversial issue has reached a critical stage.

A lot of questions remain: whether the suspension of the Myitsone Dam has a direct effect on widespread armed conflict in Kachin and northern Shan states; what the consequences will be if the NLD permanently discards the agreement; if the NLD will be able to withstand public pressure if it is pressured to comply with its contractual obligation; and if China is ready to accept a likely adjustment to the terms of the agreementperhaps the complete stoppage of the project in exchange for support for the One-China policy, South China Sea dispute or its One Belt, One Road undertaking?

These concerns might be clarified after Suu Kyi has wrapped up her visit to China and discussed the outstanding issues that she inherited from the previous government. For the time being, we just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best, for the people of Burma.

Sai Wansai is a lifelong Shan political activist and political commentator on Burma, specifically ethnic issues.
Thursday, August 18th, 2016 (12:01 am) - Score 1,093

A new report from Audit Scotland, which works to ensure that public money in Scotland is spent correctly, has found that the 410m Digital Scotland roll-out programme with BT has achieved its initial coverage target. But delivering 95% fibre broadband coverage by December 2017 will be more challenging.

The contract aims to ensure that fibre broadband services are available to 85% of premises by the end of 2015 March 2016 and 95% by the end of 2017 (recent updates have used the March 2018 date), although the coverage target for the Highland and Islands (HIE) region alone is currently just 84% by the end of 2016.

The funding for all this is via a mix of public and private investment, which is split into two regional projects, as also depicted in the opening picture for this article (top left).

Digital Scotlands Contract 1 Funding The Highlands and Islands (145.8m):

 126.4m from public bodies (Scottish Government, Broadband Delivery UK [50.83m], Highland and Islands Enterprise and all seven local authorities in the project area)

 19.4m from BT. The Rest of Scotland (264m):

 157m from public sources (Scottish Government, ERDF, Broadband Delivery UK [50m], and all 27 local authorities that form part of the Rest of Scotland Project area)

 106.7m from BT.

According to todays report, some 2.2 million out of 2.6 million premises across Scotland had gained access to fibre broadband (86%) by March 2016, which is 1% more than the Scottish Governments original target and more than 500,000 of these gained access through the contracts (the most recent data shows that this has since risen to 600,000).

Interestingly the report notes how BT stated in the contracts that it expects 77% of premises to achieve superfast broadband download speeds of more than 24Mbps (Megabits per second), although it couldnt guarantee this due to the variable nature of copper cable (longer copper lines deliver slower speeds) and other reasons (both geographic and technical, such as poor home wiring).

Meanwhile the Scottish Government recently stated that 87% of premises with access through the contracts should now be able to receive modelled speeds of 24Mbps+, which equates to 81% in the Highlands and Islands region and 89% in the Rest of Scotland area.

Caroline Gardner, Auditor General for Scotland, said: Fast, reliable internet access is increasingly essential for everyday life, so its encouraging to see good progress being made in rolling out fibre broadband. However, there is a lot still to be done by the Scottish Government if it is to achieve its vision of a world class digital infrastructure, particularly in improving download speeds in rural areas. Its important that it continues to monitor the cost and progress of broadband rollout so that these communities arent excluded.

The headline figures sound good, but the audit notes that some areas are still falling way behind (i.e. 26 of Scotlands 32 council areas have met contractual targets).

As youd expect its the most remote rural areas, which are usually last on the list to benefit due to taking longer to roll-out and requiring more investment per property, that continue to suffer the most and Scotland has a fair few of those.

Ofcoms data reports that 14% of premises in Scotland cannot even receive a 10Mbps speed and most of these premises are in rural areas, where this figure rises to 57% of premises. However Ofcoms data hasnt been updated for awhile and Thinkbroadband suggests that the 14% figure is now probably closer to 7.5%.

Next we move to the subject of cost. The report confirms that there is a cap of 1,700 on how much BT can spend on each premise, which is not unlike other Broadband Delivery UK linked contracts. BT can still deploy in areas where the costs might be higher, but it depends upon their own value-for-money considerations (e.g. levels of existing coverage and the availability of other options).

So far the some 156 million of public funding has been paid to BT for work done up to March 2016, which equates to 76m from the Scottish Government and 80m from the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). Apparently this leaves 24.5m as unpaid, which the HIE said is at least partly because BT has been slow to send out invoices and thus the operator is now reviewing their financial model.

Elsewhere BT has experienced lower than expected costs and higher than expected take-up. Under the clawback clause if take-up goes above 20% in the intervention area then BT has to start returning public investment (26% had connected in the Highlands and Islands and 23% for Rest of Scotland at the end of June 2016), which can be used to further expand coverage.

As a result of the above BT is said to have contributed 23 million more to help extend broadband coverage (17.8m from clawback). The Scottish Government has also earmarked a further 42 million of public funding for a future contract, although were still waiting to see a concrete strategy for how this will be spent.

Part of the reason that the new contract is taking so long to prepare, aside from the known EU State Aid delay, is because BTs modelling work is said to be taking longer than anticipated  because competitors are building in areas where there had been no previous indication the market would invest.

However Scottish ministers did recently (May 2016) commit to deliver 100% coverage of superfast broadband by 2021 and the above investment will play a part in that, although the report confirms that more money will still be required in order to achieve the new goal.

Separately the Scottish Governments Community Broadband Scotland (CBS) initiative, which focuses on some of the most remote areas where not even BT dares to tread, has approved funding of 2.1 million towards the cost of 15 projects that will provide 3,950 premises with access to superfast broadband (13 of those are live). However there are more projects in the development pipeline than CBS currently has budget for, which means theyll probably also be getting a boost from the aforementioned pot.

Overall the Audit Scotlands report suggests that the contract is making good progress, but they also call for a clear plan to deliver the new 100% coverage goal and boost take-up. On top of that theyve once again called for there to be improved public reporting of progress and performance, to measure the benefits achieved from its investment and to allow benchmarking with other countries. Well finish with an interesting map of progress..
The extremely controversial hack of the US National Security Agency (NSA) which seems to be shadowed in the early stages has resulted in different angles and evidence has mounted. In our quest for truth, credible resources and skilled experts gave their view on the terrifying event.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Security vendor Kaspersky Labs ZAO was the first to identify the NSA-linked operation last year. The files used in the recent hack are believed to possess an unusual mathematical approach it had seen in that operations code. Kaspersky nicknamed the operation the Equation Group and has been supporting U.S. interests in cyberspace.

In addition, Shadow Brokers, which claims to have a bigger cache of files it is offering to sell, had recently released a new set of files that appear to be an attack code that targets security software on routers that direct computer traffic around the internet.

This code similarity makes us believe with a high degree of confidence that the tools from the Shadow Brokers leak are related to the malware from the Equation Group, Kaspersky added.

On Wednesday, Cisco verified that the Shadow Broker code linked to NSA utilized a high-severity vulnerability that had gone hidden for years in every supported version of the company's Adaptive Security Appliance firewall.

Meanwhile, some security analysts believe that Russia is the mastermind for the said hack despite the lack of proof. "High-level US political officials seemed quite upset about the DNC hacks, which no doubt resulted in a covert response, which this is then likely a counter-response to," former NSA employee Dave Aitel mentioned. "No team of 'hackers' would want to piss off Equation Group this much. That's the kind of cojones that only come from having a nation state protecting you."

Former intelligence worker Edward Snowden also supported the alleged involvement of Russia in the said hack.

"Circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicate Russian responsibility. This leak is likely a warning that someone can prove U.S. responsibility for any attacks that originated from this malware server. That could have significant foreign policy consequences. Particularly if any of those operations targeted U.S. allies. Particularly if any of those operations targeted elections."
Cersei has been crowned queen by Qyburn, which only shows that further issues and complexities are going to happen with his incestuous relationship with his brother, Jaime Lannister.

Cersei was interviewed by TheWrap, and talked about how her lovable brother Jaime looked at her in the eye upon arriving back at Westeros and seeing her being coronated. This ending scene of Season 6 has kept the curiosity and speculation alive throughout the entire fan-base of Game of Thrones.

Heady says, "I think when Jaime looks anything other than happy, she has a 'f**k you' moment," she said. "This will be such an interesting season for them. Where do they go? It's so toxic now."

This shows that things are going to be very complicated in the upcoming Season 7, as the explanation of the actress on how Jaime reacted to it plainly suggests that his brother does not totally agree with her becoming queen of Westeros.

Perhaps this may be because of a certain amount of jealousy springing out? Or is it just because Jaime doesn't see her sister, whom he is in love with, as a fit ruler?

Also, the death of their son might have also broke the heart of his secret father, and that Jaime is surprised to see her sister smile on her coronation day despite the need to mourn.

When talking about Cersei's coronation and added responsibilities throughout the kingdom of Westeros, Headey said, "When she was in the depths of her losing streak, I had no idea where she was going. To say it was a pleasant surprise is an understatement; [showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss] never fail to write the unexpected. I don't feel comfort, I'm pondering where she can go from here."

There are a lot of things to look forward to in the upcoming Season 7 of Game of Thrones, including the arrival of Daenerys Targaryen together with Tyrion Lannister, knowing that the two might somehow be related to each other and may even be siblings. Also, the new alliance of Jon Snow and Sansa Stark might also be a factor in the potential demise of Westeros, knowing that winter has arrived and that the wight walkers are coming alongside the new season.

Game of Thrones Season 7 will surely be a blast of magnificence and spectacle.
Equinix has completed of the second phase expansion of its ME1 data centre in Melbourne. Phase two of ME1 provides 750 new cabinets and brings an additional 17,900 square feet of colocation space to the facility.

Due to the changing expectations of the community and new operational demands, local councils like Yarra City, are increasingly turning to hybrid cloud technology as an alternative to deliver services.

Yarra City Council is using Equinix for cloud connectivity via Equinix Cloud Exchange, specifically Microsoft Azure and Office 365, as well as for data back-up and disaster recovery. It is also a way to negate CAPEX and provide flexibility in future IT deployments.

Since deploying in Equinixs ME1 facility for colocation services, Yarra City Council has saved around US$1350 on power consumption per month. By 2017, it plans to move all onsite data to Equinix. This will provide enhanced interconnectivity options and a solid foundation on which to evolve its future IT operations.

Rick Bottiglieri, innovation manager, Yarra City Council, said, We spoke to four different providers and Equinix just felt right immediately. It was a combination of the quality of the data centre, the unmatched interconnection offering, the global scale of Equinixs operations, and the companys roadmap for the future. Our vision in the next two years is to move our existing data centre operations into Equinix and pursue our cloud-first innovation strategy. This means our staff and the population of Yarra stand to benefit significantly from improved platforms and services and increased, high-speed connectivity.

Key Facts/Highlights

ME1 is located in Port Melbourne, 2.5 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD. The completion of the second phase expansion brings the total operational capacity of ME1 to approximately 1125 cabinets and a total colocation area of 35,790 square feet.

There are more than 25 network service providers (NSPs) available in Equinixs Melbourne data centre from a diverse ecosystem of more than 100 customers.

The recently completed IBX will enable new and existing customers to use evolving ecosystems in the cloud, NSPs, content, financial services and enterprise across other Equinix locations, including those in Sydney.

Global service providers can benefit from secure, resilient connectivity across Equinixs facilities in two metros in Australia  Melbourne and Sydney.

ISPs and content providers can benefit from a reduction in IP transit costs and an improved end user experience via Equinix Internet Exchange that supports the easy and effective exchange Internet traffic by aggregating thousands of peering sessions onto a shared fabric.

With more and more businesses collaborating across borders and a range of platforms, Equinix is a key proponent of the interconnected era. The Equinix Cloud Exchange brings together cloud service providers and users, enabling them to establish affordable, private, high-performance connections within Platform Equinix and accelerate growth.

Equinix has 28 IBX data centres in APAC, in five countries and eight metros, including SY1, SY2 and SY3 in Sydney, ME1 in Melbourne, and its new SY4 facility, opening 22 August in Sydney.

Jeremy Deutsch, managing director of Equinix Australia, said, The development and expansion of ME1 phase two addresses the growing demand from businesses planning to expand into Melbourne, which is now home to 25% of the Australian business population. Melbourne is a significant site for us, and one of the most requested by our customers. With our twin-metro strategy in Australia, customers can leverage the thriving customer base and the rapidly expanding ecosystems available to them. Were looking forward to seeing Yarra City Council grow and scale as they embrace interconnection.
Cisco has always been about the metal  sure, you needed a highly paid rocket scientist to set it up, but once done it was the very fabric of the network.

With software defined networking (SDN) taking a large slice of the traditional network business, Ciscos almost unassailable position is, well, assailable, and the result is a 7% cut to its 73,700 workforce and charges of up to US$700 million in this quarter to restructuring.

We need to make some pretty immediate shifts in our portfolio, Cisco chief executive Chuck Robbins said in an interview with Bloomberg. We have rapidly shifting customer expectations. The winners in the future will be the ones that understand those dynamics.

Ciscos latest earning report looks OK. It grew 3% in revenue to US$48 .7 billion over the year. But its forward projections are for negative growth.

It contained a paragraph on restructuring. "Today's market requires Cisco and our customers to be decisive, move with greater speed and drive more innovation than we've seen in our history.

"Today, we announced a restructuring enabling us to optimise our cost base in lower growth areas of our portfolio and further invest in key priority areas such as security, IoT, collaboration, next-generation data centre, and cloud. We expect to reinvest substantially all of the cost savings from these actions back into these businesses and will continue to invest aggressively to focus on our areas of future growth.

"The restructuring will eliminate up to 5500 positions, representing approximately 7%t of our global workforce, and we will take action under this plan beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2017."
Motos well priced, well specified, IPX7 water-resistant smartphone is now available in Australia.

With IPX7-rating, the Moto G3 will withstand accidental drops into water, and the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 is tough enough for everyday use. With 4G LTE, 2/16GB, all-day 2470mAh battery, a competent 13MP camera, and colourful, customisable snap-on back shells, it is good value in the mass market at $319.

Moto (now a Lenovo company) is best known for Pure Android; thus, although the G3 is running Lollipop 5.1.1, it means you will get updates from Google.

Full product details and specs are available here.

Specifications

At $319 it has typical mass-market specifications although it offers better value than many in this price range.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core

2GB RAM, 16GB storage, and up to 32GB micro-SD

5, 1280 x 720, 294ppi, Gorilla Glass 3, LCD screen

LTE  6 bands  1, 3, 7, 8, 28, 40

Rear camera  13MP, F/2.0, 76 FOV, Dual LED flash, autofocus, HD @30fps video

Front camera  5MP, f/2.2, 72 FOV, fill light

Wi-Fi N, 2.4Ghz, Bluetooth 4.0

Conclusion

Good, lower-cost, rugged device for the family.
Google is building a new operating system because it wants to move away from Android, a system that, while enabling it to gain market leadership, has given it a fair share of legal and other headaches over the eight years since it first arrived in the market.

First, Google is almost certain to end up making a big payout to Oracle in 2017 or 2018.

A court case between the two tech giants ended its latest phase earlier this year, with the jury coming down on the side of Google and deciding that "fair use" covered its appropriation of about 11,000 lines of code from Oracle's Java software.

But Oracle has said it will appeal and, given that it has won on appeal in an earlier avatar of the case, a big payout for the database maker seems assured. Google has been safe as long as the case was being heard in California; other jurisdictions seem to take a more evenhanded view of American law.

In order to avoid any more hassles with Java, in its latest release, Nougat, Google began theof the Java APIs, the cause of its legal issues with Oracle, with those from the open source OpenJDK.

Google developed Android in something of a hurry and it emerged on the market in 2008 in the HTC Dream, the first smartphone to run the system. The company cut many corners to speed up development as it feared that it would not be unable to gain a foothold in the market if it tried to build the operating system components all on its own. Apple had already gone to market with its first iPhone in 2007.

Google was unable to cut a deal with Sun Microsystems to license Java, so it did a little "borrowing", something that landed it in court in 2010.

A princely amount comes into Google's coffers because of Android  it took Oracle to reveal this because Google is rather secretive when it comes to revealing anything  but none of this is from the operating system itself; rather it is from all the proprietary utilities that come along with it. This income will not be affected at all, if Google goes with Fuchsia.

Another drain on Google as a result of Android is the monthly issue of security updates, something that goes entirely against its culture of never taking responsibility for anything. Indeed, the company never bothered with regular security updates until mid-2015 when Android was hit by a major vulnerability dubbed Stagefright.

In this, Google is somewhat similar to Microsoft which took a devil-may-care attitude to security until major bugs came along to spoil its picnic in the 1990s. When Code Red, the bug discovered by the baby-faced Marc Maiffret, hit the airwaves, Microsoft came under government pressure to act. In Google's case, the government pressure is not so open since it has a very friendly relationship with the Democrats to the extent that Eric Schmidt, the chairman of its parent company Alphabet, has set up a business unit to help Hillary Clinton in her ongoing presidential campaign.

But still, if businesses are being affected by Android vulnerabilities, Google will be forced to act. And that means paying a sizeable number of qualified security staff to work on those vulnerabilities.

In the recent past, there have been rumours of Google beginning to design its own smartphone and these may well come to fruition along with Fuchsia. Given its reluctance to take responsibility  despite recording earnings in tens of billions every year it has no customer service department  the company would much prefer to have a proprietary operating system, one that's released under an open source licence (for public relations reasons) like the BSD or MIT licence which enables the locking away of code for perpetuity.

In the case of Android, that cannot be done; the Linux kernel is the bugbear because it is released under version 2 of the GNU General Public Licence, which means that any changes made to its code have to be released in the event that the kernel in question is distributed. With other bits of Android it is open slather.

Google will continue to reap income from its Play Store which is built on proprietary technology. And, of course, from all the other proprietary aps that make up its ecosystem. And these are all bits and pieces that it can use with Fuchsia as well. Many birds can be killed with one stone.

The problems with Android have become aggravated recently because Google is being constantly blamed for the fragmentation and security issues that dog the system. That is not something particularly welcome in the Googleplex. Enter Fuchsia.
Cunico, who has been Australian chief executive of the global ICT solutions company for the last five years, joined Dimension Data 19 years ago.

Steve Nola, who is group executive of Dimension Datas global ITaaS business, will take over from Cunico at the beginning of October.

It will be a return to Australia for Nola who was head of the Australian business until he moved to a global role in 2011.

Theres been no further details given by Dimension Data about the changes at the top, but the company says Nola and Cunico will meet employees, partners and clients in the transition period.

More information will be available in the next few weeks, the company says in a statement released on Thursday.
To no one's surprise, troubled Java Enterprise Edition (EE) 8 is likely to miss its target release date of the first half of next year, minutes of a recent Java Community Process (JCP) meeting reveal. But on the bright side, editions of Java Standard Edition (SE) might now happen every year as opposed to every three years or so.

During the Aug. 9 meeting, held via teleconference, Oracle's Anil Gaur, group vice president responsible for Java EE, said the planned release date for EE will change, but he did not yet have the details. Further information is expected to come at next month's JavaOne conference in San Francisco.

[ The big 4 Java IDEs reviewed: See how Eclipse, NetBeans, JDeveloper, and IntelliJ IDEA stack up. | Keep up with hot topics in programming with InfoWorld's Application Development newsletter. ]

The minutes also reveal a desire by Oracle to shorten the release cycle for Java SE to every year. Oracle's most recent release, SE 8, arrived in March 2014, while Java SE 9 is set for March 2017. Periodically, Oracle offers updates to major releases as well.

According to the minutes, Patrick Curran, JCP chair, reported on a recent meeting with Georges Saab and Mark Reinhold, both high-ranking Java executives at Oracle, in which Saab said the intent was to shorten the SE release cycle to once a year. This desire "implies that they will not necessarily know in advance what features any particular release will contain," the minutes state.

The current release process was too heavyweight for such a release cycle, Saab said, but he did not have specific proposals for changing the process. Curran then expressed optimism that a Java Specification Request, a formal proposal for amending Java, could indeed be released in less than one year.

Java EE, meanwhile, will continue to evolve. "Some features will be more revolutionary but exactly how things will be packaged has not yet been decided," according to the minutes. Plans call for some features of Java EE to be based on Java SE 8, while others would be derived from Java SE 9.

During the meeting, Gaur expressed Oracle's desire that Java EE 8 have a programming model based on reactive-style programming, for building large-scale distributed applications. The company wants to include features like HTTP/2, state management, eventual consistency, and multi-tenancy.

Oracle recently revealed intentions to reboot Java EE 8 to better suit the growing predominance of cloud environments and the onset of microservices. The release has been the subject of much concern, with devotees questioning Oracle's commitment to enterprise Java.

Asked Wednesday about Oracle's intentions to shift Java EE 8's delivery date, Reza Rahman, a leader of Java EE Guardians, expressed hope there would not be much of a delay. "Any other new features [Oracle] has in mind could be included in releases that quickly follow afterward. I think that would satisfy the needs of the community the most."
Get unlimited access to all content and features at ivpressonline.com with our Full Online Access Subscription. Read our E-Edition, the digital replica of the print newspaper online, access content in exclusive sections including Family, Teen, Business, Databases, Farm and more. This option does not include daily home delivery of the Imperial Valley Press newspaper. For home delivery service, please select Premium or Premium Plus.
Town sued over denied water service The town council met in executive session last week to discuss its defense after a lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by a Jamestown homeowner who was denied permission...

Scout earns Eagle rank with boardwalk work A local Boy Scout is the latest member of Troop 1 Jamestown to lead an environmental project at a wildlife sanctuary in his mission to attain the Eagle rank. Alex...

State: Steer clear while deer breeding As deer begin mating during the rut, public safety officials are urging drivers to be cautious on the roads because herds tend to move around more frequently during this time....
https://www.johnnyfd.com/2016/08/johnnys-guide-to-romania-bucharest-and.html

How to Get to Bucharest









Coming from Burgas, Bulgaria we assumed it would be easy to make it to the capital city of Romania as it seems like it would be a common route. However, it seems that there's no real reason for people to travel to and from those cities so it ended up being a bit of an adventure trying to figure it out. Luckily, Ksenia, the Russian-Bulgarian girl I met in Burgas helped us figure it out as nothing was in English, no one at the train station spoke it enough to help us, and the internet was lacking any clear answers. So here is what we found.





There are no direct trains, buses or flights from Burgas to Bucharest. If it wasn't a Tuesday (or whatever days it doesn't run) we could have taken a bus to Vargas and a bus from there. So instead we took a bus from Burgas to Ruse which is a small town on the border of Romania, then another shuttle van to the capital. Overall it was a fun adventure and not that difficult once we figured out the route, but unlike other parts of Europe, trying to figure out how to get anywhere here in the East is much more difficult. Getting out of Bucharest however is a different story as there are plenty of flights here as well as a train to the capital of Moldova which we're currently sitting on as I type. You can also take a train from Bucharest to Sinaia where the castles I talk about below are based.













In the city center of Bucharest, Romania

Where to Stay in Romania









Bucharest: As long as you are within a few blocks of the Old City you'll be fine as everything is walkable or a short/cheap Uber ride away. Try to stay closer to the Unirea Shopping Center portion of the city as that's where all of the good restaurants and coworking spaces are as well as the park. We made the mistake of booking last minute and stayed at a place called "Hotel Relax Comfort Suites" which was old, run down, and not recommended as they overcharged us upon checkout.









Transylvania: We chose to stay in Sinaia instead of Bran or Brasov as it was closer to Bucharest where we had to go back to afterwards to catch the train to Moldova plus I liked the idea of staying in a nice mountain resort town. It's also far nicer to stay in hotels for a minimum of two nights instead of packing up and moving your stuff after just one. We stayed at : We chose to stay in Sinaia instead of Bran or Brasov as it was closer to Bucharest where we had to go back to afterwards to catch the train to Moldova plus I liked the idea of staying in a nice mountain resort town. It's also far nicer to stay in hotels for a minimum of two nights instead of packing up and moving your stuff after just one. We stayed at International Hotel Sinaia which was incredible and actually a very good value especially when you split the room like when we did as it includes an amazing breakfast, sauna, steam room, gym access and free parking.













Our room at Sinana in Transylvania





Walking Tours









You'll want to do the free walking tour in both Bucharest and Brasov as they were both a great way to see the city. Brasov itself is much more beautiful as it is an old fortress town and has a mountain you can either hike or take a lift up to see the views from. Bucharest itself wasn't that interesting and felt extremely unsafe which made it hard to enjoy. There were tons of homeless people, Roma Gypsies and pushy Romanian touts, and scammers. If you go out at night, make sure you wear pants with tight front pockets or zippers as there are a lot of pickpockets.





There were a ton of bars around the old city but reminded me of a super touristy towns like Phuket, Thailand. Overall, Bucharest wasn't my favorite place to be as a tourist and even though I'm sure I could figure out how to live there as a local without getting mugged, there are far better places in the world to live where you don't have to deal with the downsides. Brasov however was extremely safe, beautiful and easy to walk around, just a bit boring after a few hours. Sinaia is even safer as it's a tiny mountain town with the exception of falling icicles if you happen to visit in the winter.













One of the restaurants introduced on the walking tour









Where to Eat in Romania









In Bucharest you have to eat at Caru' cu Bere . It's the oldest beer house in Bucharest and has great atmosphere, amazing house beer and really good food. Have a house beer and the Mititei sausages.





For breakfast or brunch go to Hanu' lui Manuc also in Bucharest as it is inside an old fortress that served as a safe place for caravans to park and be protected by archers overnight. The bone marrow and eggs with toast was also an incredible breakfast that I'd love to have everyday if I could.





In Sinaia we ate at the Forest Restaurant inside the Ioana hotel which was pricey but had top quality food and wine including a tasting room. I had the Oxtail which I loved but would have loved to have tried the slow cooked beef if I would have had the foresight to order it 4 hours in advance. The nice thing about this place is as long as you don't go crazy over ordering and having two bottles of wine like we did, you can have a gourmet meal for a reasonable price.





As for what must eats are in Romanian cuisine, personally I didn't love it. I tried the Sarmale cabbage rolls, Ciorba radauteana tripe soup, Zacusca de vinete eggplant paste, as well as the michi sausages and all of it was pretty good but none of it makes me crave it again in the future.









With the crew at Forest in Sinaia, Transylvania

Risotto, Oxtail, Potatoes and Spinach

Castles to Visit









Everyone goes to Bran's Castle as it's famously called "Dracula's Castle." We fell for the same trap and instantly regretted it. The line to get in was 1.5 hours long and the inside was cramped, overcrowded as well as non-spectacular to see. Then I learned that Dracula never actually lived there and neither the book nor movie were based there either. If you want to visit the real castle that Vlad the Impaler aka Count Dracula actually lived, go to the Poenari Castle ruins.





My favorite castle was Peles Castle in Sinaia just a few minutes from the International hotel. It was beautiful, had a huge weapons collection from around the world and looked stunning both from the inside the outside. We only visited the first floor but you can optionally pay to visit the apartments upstairs to see how they lived. Another castle that I would have loved to visit but was a bit too far for us was Corvinesti Castle in Hunedoara.









One of the rooms inside the Peles Castle





The war room Peles Castle





Armor and Knights of Peles









Therme in Bucharest









At some point while you're in Romania, make sure you check out this amazing indoor outdoor spa as it's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. If you like pools, saunas and steam rooms, this place has it all and is gigantic. They even have an entire section with three floors of waterslides, some of which were so insane that they would definitely be illegal in the U.S., so protect your head and try not to fly off of the slide as they are intense.





For those like me who would rather relax, get the Elysium package which gives you access to an entire floor of themed saunas including one which has a movie theater built in. Therme is right by the airport so even if you just have a couple hours i'd highly recommend going. We took an Uber from the old city and paid around ten bucks U.S. so it was definitely worth it. They also have food, drinks, and rent things like towels and robes and even swim wear so you can really just show up.





Big thanks to my buddy Francis Wolff for telling us about Therme, I never would have found it if it wasn't for you. Also for your suggestion to stay at International in Sinaia, it was awesome!









My buddy Sam inside the Sauna-Cinema in Therme









Here's a video of us at Therme:













Coworking in Bucharest









I was really surprised how nice of a coworking space we found in Bucharest. Impact Hub may have been the best coworking space I've been to anywhere in the world in terms of layout, comfort, and design. There are a lot of coworking spaces that look nice in photos, but use uncomfortable chairs or are laid out poorly. Impact Hub somehow figured out the perfect placement of their kitchen and social area to encourge people to mix and mingle and take breaks. With tons of natural lighting, comfortable chairs, accessible power outlets, and a huge event space downstairs it was almost perfect.





The only things that it was missing was a room to record podcasts or video or audio interviews. They did however have a very small skype booth and enough space in the common area and the event space downstairs to take calls.





I was also impressed to find that they had a good sense of community, a lot of people were friendly enough to introduce themselves and they had two girls on staff who's job was to make sure people interacted. Most people there were Romanian and there wasn't an international digital nomading scene here like in Chiang Mai. If I had to move to Bucharest, I would definitely cowork out of Impact Hub as it was an awesome space.









My desk at Impact Hub in Bucharest, Romania









Overall Thoughts on Romania









I went from dreading my first day in Romania to finding parts of it that are more beautiful than anywhere else i've been in the world. I have no reason to live in Bucharest but with Therme being so close as well as having an amazing coworking space, I can see why it could potentially be a great place to base yourself if you have Romania roots or another reason to be here. Transylvania on the other hand is gorgeous and a must visit.





We rented a car and drove for hours around the mountains in the opposite direction, on purpose just to see more. We bought baskets of fresh berries for $2.50 and loved seeing what the mountain roads had in store for us while listening to an audio book of Bram Stoker's Dracula. I know I can't separate the two but I would say, going to Transylvania is a must do sometime in your life whether it's now or when you're retired and want to spend a week slowly exploring the mountains.





Having spent a few days in Bucharest I can say it was worth visiting, and you could easily spend one day doing the walking tour then another at Impact Hub and go to Therme for 3.5 hours one of the evenings. As for Transylvania, spend at least two nights there as it's a beautiful place to wake up in every morning. Brasov is worth seeing for a day and Peles Castle is a must. If you can rent a car with a friend, downoad Dracula on audio book and enjoy the ride through the moutains!









P.S. bring a raincoat as even in the middle of the summer it can rain





Read Next:









Warm Regards,









Johnny FD









Like this Post? Share it!





I flew over Bucharest exactly two years ago having no idea where it was or thinking I would ever end up here, yet here I am on a train leaving Romania after an amazing week of traveling. To be honest, I hated my first day in Bucharest and if it wasn't for the fact that we had already booked and paid for two nights at our hotel we would have left sooner.But as fate would have it, combined with my rule that I try to always stay a minimum of 2 nights wherever I go, I ended up finding a few hidden gems that made me think completely different about the city and the country. I was also fortunate enough to have found the lesser known towns and castles in Transylvania as the famous Dracula's castle in Bran was a complete tourist trap and would have made me hate the country even more. Keep reading to find out why Romania is actually well worth visiting and to find out why the coworking space in Bucharest has the nicest coworking space I've been to anywhere in the world.
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Links to our top local news stories of the day, Monday through Saturday.
Police on Wednesday found remains of a body believed to be that of a 23-year-old woman who went missing from her Charlotte home last week.

The remains were found in woods in Cabarrus County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Police have been searching since last week for Tru Quan Le, who went by Sandy, and co-workers Alexandro Alex Castillo, 17, and Ahmia Feaster, 19. They worked at the Showmars restaurant on Little Rock Road, police said.

Police said they are investigating the disappearance of the three as a homicide, and warrants have been issued for Castillo and Feaster charging them with possession of a stolen vehicle.

Castillo and Feaster are believed to have crossed into Mexico, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Major Cam Selvey said at a news conference on Tuesday.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, CMPD Deputy Chief Doug Gallant declined to say what evidence led police to search for Les body in the Cabarrus County woods where the remains were found.

CMPD detectives coordinated the search with help from the Charlotte Fire Department, Robinson Volunteer Fire Department and Medic on Wednesday afternoon, CMPD said in a statement.

Detectives will be working alongside the Cabarrus County Sheriffs Office since the body was discovered in Cabarrus County, the statement said. The medical examiner will confirm the victims identity and determine the cause of death.

WBTV reported that Les family was at the scene where the remains were found.

The station reported that cellphone pings led police to the area.

Les 2003 Toyota Corolla was recovered in Phoenix, Selvey said, and was considered stolen, thus leading to charges against the other two.

There was no evidence recovered from the car that indicated any violence, Selvey said.

Le, last seen last Tuesday, withdrew $1,000 from her bank about the time she disappeared. Castillo and Feaster were last seen Wednesday.

A car belonging to Feaster, who was supposed to start at Central Piedmont Community College next week, was found on Dulin Creek Boulevard on Saturday.

Selvey said the FBI has joined the investigation.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call police at 704-432-TIPS (8477) or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
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By Juan Cole | Informed Comment |  

The Arabic press is reporting that a high Chinese official on a visit to Damascus has announced that Beijing intends to strengthen its military relationship with the current Syrian government. At the same time he affirmed that China would avoid involvement in the civil war. Reuters broke the story in the West.

China has a long history of involvement in Syrian security affairs and is already doing some training of the Syrian military. But Beijing now seems intent on taking the relationship to the next level.

The news comes in the wake of reports that Russia is strengthening its own military ties with Iran and may be flying missions against fundamentalist rebels in Syria from that country.

China and Russia both belong to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which appears to see Iran and Syria as potential strategic assets in its rivalry with the US and NATO. They feel as though NATO stole Libya from them, and are determined to make a stand in Syria. The newspaper of the Chinese military said that Russias moves in Crimea and Syria should be studied by Chinese officers. Iran has observer status in the SCO.

The director of the Chinese Central Military Commissions Office for International Military Cooperation, Rear Admiral Guan Youfei, made the remarks after meeting with Fahad Jassim al-Freij, the Syrian Defense Minister.

Chinas Global Times quoted Hua Liming, former Chinese Ambassador to Iran, as saying that Chinas position on the Syrian crisis will not change, that is, [it will] allow the Syrians to decide their countrys destiny . . . Intervention from outside can only enlarge the crisis, so China will maintain the relationship with the government and encourage negotiations between different parties.

The same newspaper said that Observers said China is worried about the terrorists influence on religious extremists in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

That is, Chinas interest in increasing its training of and support for the Syrian Arab Army of the al-Assad regime stems in part from fear of the hundreds of Uyghurs who have gone to join Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) or to follow the al-Qaeda operative Abu Muhammad al-Julani, leader of the Army of Syrian Conquest. They are apprehensive that these fighters will return to Xianjiang in northwest China and spread radicalism. China has about 40 million Muslims. Many are Han Chinese. But in the northwest, about 12 million Turkic Uyghurs live. The government has relocated millions of Han Chinese there to reinforce Beijings control, in the face of a small separatist movement. The Western intelligence agencies have been accused of stirring up the Uyghurs, as well.

The Global Times also quoted a professor of Middle East Studies at Shanghai International Studies University, Zhao Weiming, who suggested that the Syria play is payback by Beijing for perceived US interference in the South China Sea.

Professor Zhao further pointed out that China may see the Syrian civil war as beginning to wind down, given the ceasefire agreement of spring-summer 2016 (and despite its recently unraveling). It might then be an opportune time for China to put down a marker of influence in Syria without risking getting involved in the civil war or in the Iran-Saudi rivalry.

-

Related video:

RT: China to provide aid, enhance military training in Syria  top army official
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TeleSur |  

The civil war in Yemen has caused a humanitarian disaster.

The cost from damage to infrastructure and economic losses in Yemens civil war is more than $14 billion so far, according to a confidential report obtained by Reuters that highlights the effort needed to rebuild the country, where more than half the population is suffering from malnutrition.

The conflict has so far resulted in damage costs (still partial and incomplete) of almost $7 billion and economic losses (in nominal terms) of over $7.3 billion in relation to production and service delivery, said the May 6 joint report by the World Bank, United Nations, Islamic Development Bank and European Union.

More than 6,500 people have been killed, displacing more than 2.5 million since the Saudi-led coalition began its assault on Yemen in March 2015.

The Preliminary Damage and Needs Assessment report is an internal working document that is not being publicly released.

These preliminary findings are not only partial, but also evolving because the conflict is ongoing, the report said. The assessment was conducted between late 2015 and early this year.

A survey by Yemens education ministry cited by the report showed that of 1,671 schools in 20 districts which suffered damage, 287 need major reconstruction, 544 were serving as shelters for internally displaced persons, and 33 were occupied by armed groups. Based on a sample of 143 schools, the estimated cost of the damage was $269 million.

Citing the Ministry of Public Health and Population, the report said 900 of 3,652 facilities providing vaccination services were not operating in early 2016, leaving 2.6 million children under the age of 15 at risk of contracting measles.

In Taiz, Yemens third-largest city, the public health system has nearly collapsed, with half of the public hospitals damaged or inaccessible.

There has been a surge in civilian morbidity and mortality as an indirect consequence of the conflict, the report said.

The report could assess residential damage only in the cities of Sanaa, Aden, Taiz and Zinjibar, and data collection was cut off in Oct. 2015  only about seven months into the conflict. That data alone found an estimated $3.6 billion in damage.

Via TeleSur

_____

related video added by Juan Cole:

NewsBeatSocial:  Report: Yemens Civil War Has Cost $14 Billion
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By Nika Knight, staff writer | (Commondreams.org) |  

Aetna threatened federal government with withdrawal from Affordable Care Act if controversial merger didnt go through, new reporting reveals

Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini bluntly told the Justice Department in July that the healthcare behemoth would drop out of the Affordable Care Act exchanges if its controversial merger was not approvedthreatening millions of Americans healthcare coverage. (Photo: Reuters/Elijah Nouvelage) title=Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini bluntly told the Justice Department in July that the healthcare behemoth would drop out of the Affordable Care Act exchanges if its controversial merger was not approvedthreatening millions of Americans healthcare coverage. (Photo: Reuters/Elijah Nouvelage) width=692 height=362 />

Healthcare giant Aetna directly threatened the federal government by vowing to pull out of Obamacare if its proposed merger to Humana was not approved, revealed a letter by the companys CEO sent in July and reported on Wednesday.

The letter, obtained by the Huffington Post through a Freedom of Information Act request, proves what many observers have suspected and what the company has been denying: that its decision to pull out of most of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health exchanges was a bargaining chip in its effort to achieve the controversial merger.

Aetnas threatening letter was authored by Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, who would have personally [made] up to $131 million if the Humana merger had gone through, as International Business Times reporter David Sirota observed last month.

The Justice Department sued to block the merger last month.

Bernie Sanders tweeted a link to the Huffington Posts reporting, calling the article a must-read and condemning the government for giving so much power to corporations like Aetna:

This is what corporate control of our government looks like.  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 17, 2016

Indeed, the government is not without an active role in this mess: the letter from Bertolini was in response to a letter from the Department of Justice, in which the department asked Aetna how, if at all, a decision on the proposed merger would affect Aetnas willingness to offer insurance through the exchanges, the Huffington Post writes.

Bertolini responded bluntly, the Huffington Post reports. [] if the Justice Department were to block the merger, Bertolini warned, Aetna could no longer sustain the losses from its exchange business, forcing it to sharply change direction.

The online outlet quotes from Bertolinis letter at length:

[I]f the deal were challenged and/or blocked we would need to take immediate actions to mitigate public exchange and ACA small group losses. Specifically, if the DOJ sues to enjoin the transaction, we will immediately take action to reduce our 2017 exchange footprint . [I]nstead of expanding to 20 states next year, we would reduce our presence to no more than 10 states . [I]t is very likely that we would need to leave the public exchange business entirely and plan for additional business efficiencies should our deal ultimately be blocked. By contrast, if the deal proceeds without the diverted time and energy associated with litigation, we would explore how to devote a portion of the additional synergies  to supporting even more public exchange coverage over the next few years.

Aetna may not like the Justice Departments decision to challenge its merger, and it has every right to fight that decision in court, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote Tuesday. But violating antitrust law is a legal question, not a political one. The health of the American people should not be used as bargaining chips to force the government to bend to one giant companys will.

In response to the news of Aetnas pullout from the ACA, advocates of Medicare-for-all, such as Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, have renewed the call for universal, single-payer healthcarewhich would, unlike Aetna and other healthcare corporations, put peoples health above profit:

Dr. Jill Stein @DrJillStein Medicare for All is the only solution that will provide all Americans the comprehensive health care they need. http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_57b262cbe4b0c75f49d7eb27 

9:50 AM  17 Aug 2016

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License

Via Commondreams.org

-

Related video added by Juan Cole:

The Young Turks: Healthcare Giant Threatens To Destroy Obamacare
Jubilee Speakers Bureau Bring Jubilee USA To Your Community Today Jubilee USA has staff, partners, and volunteers who are experts in their field.

We would love to speak to your community on a range of poverty and economic justice issues. Email Jubilee USA staff today to bring a speaker to your campus, congregation, or organization today.

Debt cancellation and economic justice

International economics and international financial institutions

Success and history of the Jubilee movement

Ins and outs of political advocacy and grassroots organizing

Biblical roots of Jubilee

Organizing an effective campaign in your community

Leading a retreat on social justice issues Our list of available speakers includes:



Eric LeCompte is the Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network which includes relief, labor, environmental, human rights and religious organizations. He advocates for policies that will eliminate extreme poverty. He serves on expert working groups to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights. He consulted UNCTAD on the creation of the recently released road map for sovereign bankruptcy. Eric has more than 16 years of experience working with faith-based organizations to impact global policy on poverty, conflict and human rights. Eric serves on several boards of faith-based and antipoverty organizations as well as institutions that work for greater financial transparency, including the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition, where he serves on the executive board. He is a regularly featured commentator in mainstream and financial sector media outlets. His views on debt, tax, trade and finance regularly appear in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, McClatchy News Service, National Public Radio, Agence-France Presse, Market Place, CNN Money, the Financial Times, the Inter Press Service and more. Andrew Hanauer is the Campaigns Director for Jubilee USA Network. Andrew represents Jubilee in policy meetings with the White House, Congress, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and partner organizations, NGOs and faith communities. Andrew also represents Jubilee frequently at congressional briefings, IMF workshops and to the press. Andrew leads Jubilee's grassroots outreach efforts. Since he joined Jubilee, Andrew has grown the organization's grassroots faith network 30 percent and forged key partnerships with important faith leaders. Andrew has successfully recruited Episcopal, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, UCC, Evangelical and Lutheran Christian communities and Conservative, Reform and non-denominational Jewish communities. Andrew also spearheaded successful efforts to create partnerships with prominent Islamic organizations. Andrew has more than a decade of experience working for the common good. He has worked for three Presidential campaigns, a major public interest organization and serves on the Board of Directors of a charitable organization that funds school fees for children in East Africa. Jubilee USA requests that all hosts cover transportation, room and board. For honorarium amounts, please contact coord(at)jubileeusa.org. We generally request a donation between $1000 and $2500, with all proceeds going to build the Jubilee movement. Honorarium costs may be negotiated.



To host a Jubilee speaker for an event or to find out more information about the program, please contact Jubliee USA Staff at coord(at)jubileeusa.org or visit our website at www.jubileeusa.org.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA / TheNewswire / August 18, 2016 - MGX Minerals Inc. ("MGX" or the "Company") (CSE: XMG / FKT: 1MG) is pleased to report the Company has entered into an Definitive Agreement (the "Agreement") to acquire a 100% interest in the Sturgeon Lake Lithium Brine Property ("Sturgeon Lake" or the "Property") located in west-central Alberta.

The Property is located directly south and west of the Town of Valleyview, approximately 85 km east of the city of Grande Prairie and 270 km northwest of the capital city of Edmonton, Alberta. The Property consists of 15 contiguous Industrial and Metallic Mineral Permits encompassing 132,773.74 hectares (328,091.06 acres).

The mineral permits overlie the Sturgeon Lake oilfield, which has been producing hydrocarbons since the mid-1950s from the Devonian Leduc Formation at depths of approximately 2,500 m to 3,100 m below surface. Metallic mineralization on the property consists of lithium-enriched formation water, or brine, that is hosted in aquifers within Devonian Leduc Formation carbonate reef complexes.

Devonian-aged wells at Sturgeon Lake produce excessive amounts of brine in comparison to petroleum due to the mature nature of the oilfield where increased pumping is required to produce crude oil. The brine is considered a waste product as it is presently treated to separate and remove petroleum and then reinjected back down into subsurface formations. It is conceivable that existing water processing procedures could be modified to extract lithium and other elements from the Leduc Formation aquifer system brine; however, at this stage of exploration there is no guarantee that lithium can be economically extracted from the formation waters with current technology. New technologies require testing and may or may not extract all or a portion of the elements of interest.

Historical 1990's to 2010's government studies reported that brine geochemical fluid data from the Devonian aquifers associated with the Leduc Formation have anomalous values of lithium (e.g., greater than 75 mg/L and up to 140 mg/L lithium) along with other elements (e.g., potassium; boron; and bromine). In 2011, Lithium Exploration Group Inc. sampled and analyzed brine from 60 separate wells within the Sturgeon Lake oilfield (and within the boundaries of the permit area acquired by MGX). Of the 62 brine samples collected, 47 were collected from the Leduc Formation. Other samples included brine from: Mississippian (1 sample from Banff), Triassic (11 samples from Montney, Spray River and undefined), Jurassic (1 sample from Nordegg) and Cretaceous (2 samples from Wapiabi, Gething) strata.

The analytical results showed that the Devonian Leduc aquifer contains brine that is significantly enriched in lithium in comparison to the Triassic to Cretaceous brine. Lithium Exploration Group Inc. reported that the Leduc Formation brine from the Sturgeon Lake oilfield contained up to:

83.7 mg/L lithium (average 67 mg/L lithium);

6,470 mg/L potassium (average 4,641 mg/L potassium);

137 mg/L boron (average 114 mg/L boron); and

394 mg/L bromine (average 394 mg/L bromine); note: one mg/L is equal to one ppm).

These values supported and confirmed the government published lithium-enriched formation waters within the boundaries of the Sturgeon Lake Property. Lithium Exploration Group Inc.'s historical brine sampling and chemical analysis, which was overseen by APEX Geoscience Ltd., was conducted by Maxxam Environmental ("Maxxam") of Edmonton, Alberta. Maxxam is an accredited laboratory with the Standards Council of Canada (Laboratory No. 160; valid to 2019-03- 06) and with the Canadian Association for Laboratory Accreditation (Membership No. 2996; valid to 2017-06- 08), where Maxxam's standard conforms to requirements of ISO.IEC 17025.

Since the 2011 Lithium Exploration Group Inc. work, no brine sampling, analytical testing, mineral processing or mineral separation/recovery test work has been completed at the Sturgeon Lake Property.

"Previous exploration for lithium at the Sturgeon Lake oilfield indicates the potential for a high volume lithium bearing aquifer. We look forward to the testing of lithium brine from the field with our proprietary rapid lithium extraction process to confirm the lithium-enriched brine and determine the economic feasibility of the project," stated MGX Minerals CEO Jared Lazerson.

Pursuant to the Agreement MGX will issue 1,000,000 common shares of the Company to Zimtu Capital Corp. (TSX.V: ZC) and 1,000,000 common shares to Mr. Patrick Power. Additionally, Sturgeon Lake is subject to a 2% gross overriding royalty on future production of all minerals, payable equally to Mr. Ryan Kalt (1%) and Mr. Luke Schuss (1%).

Qualified Person

The technical portions of the press release were prepared by Roy Eccles (P. Geo.) of APEX Geoscience Ltd., and have been reviewed by Andris Kikauka (P. Geo.), Vice President of Exploration for MGX Minerals. Mr. Kikauka is a non-independent Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument (N.I.) 43-101 Standards.

About MGX Minerals

MGX Minerals (CSE: XMG) is a diversified Canadian mining company engaged in the development of large-scale industrial mineral portfolios in western Canada that offer near-term production potential, minimal barriers to entry and low initial capital expenditures. The Company operates lithium, magnesium and silicon projects throughout British Columbia and Alberta. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.mgxminerals.com.

Contact Information

Jared Lazerson

Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: 604.681.7735

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "potentially" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Aug. 18, 2016) - FISSION URANIUM CORP. (TSX:FCU)(OTCQX:FCUUF)(FRANKFURT:2FU) ("Fission" or "the Company") is pleased to announce results from the summer drill program for the final 8 drill holes on the R840W zone at its PLS property, host to the Triple R deposit, in Canada's Athabasca Basin region. Of key importance, drilling has successfully merged the R600W and R840W zones. The new high-grade, shallow and land-based R840W zone has a strike length of 465m and is 495m west of the R00E zone of the Triple R deposit. In addition, drilling on the western region of the R840W zone has expanded mineralization a further 60m to the west from this past winter - increasing the strike length of the mineralized Patterson Lake trend at PLS to 2.63km

Zone Growth Drilling Highlights

Land-based, high-grade zones merged Hole PLS16-512 (line 765W), which intersected 56.0m of shallow continuous mineralization, including 6.45m total composite of >10,000 cps, has merged the R600W and R840W zones New R840W zone has strike length of 465m

High-grade R1620E zone growth and narrowed gap with Triple R deposit R1620E zone is shallow, high-grade and 225m in strike length Substantially increased length of high-grade mineralized core

Latest drill results include new, wide, high-grade mineralization - PLS16-512 (line 765W) 56.0m continuous mineralization (107.5m - 163.5m), including 6.45m of total composite >10,000 cps PLS16-504 (line 915W) 37.5m total composite mineralization (146.0m - 216.0m), including 6.15m of total composite >10,000 cps

-

Ross McElroy, President, COO, and Chief Geologist for Fission, commented

"We have achieved all of our key goals for drilling on the recently discovered R840W and R1620E zones this summer, and in so doing have merged the R600W and the R840W into a single zone (R840W) with a strike length of approximately 465m. This zone remains open. In addition, the R840W zone expanded to the west and now the mineralized PLS trend has grown to an even larger strike length of 2.63km - the largest mineralized trend in the Athabasca Basin region. Just as importantly, the width and strength of the new drill holes at both ends of the trend are impressive and drilling has indicated that the trend is still open. With these results, we remain on target to update our resource estimate during 2017."

R840W

Collar * Hand-held Scintillometer Results On Mineralized Drillcore (>300 cps / >0.5M minimum) Basement Total Hole ID Zone Grid

Line Az Dip From

(m) To

(m) Width

(m) CPS

Peak

Range Lake

Depth

(m) Sandstone

From - To

(m) Unconformity

Depth

(m) Drillhole

Depth

(m) PLS16-502 R840W 885W 358 -76.3 172.0 173.0 1.0 360 - 550 NA NA 100.9 315.8 PLS16-504 R840W 915W 342 -80.8 146.0 171.5 25.5 <300 - 61000 NA NA 99.2 371.0 198.5 200.0 1.5 920 - 950 205.5 216.0 10.5 <300 - 35600 PLS16-505 R840W 990W 333 -78.9 146.5 153.5 7.0 <300 - 3000 NA NA 122.0 337.0 158.0 160.5 2.5 390 - 4900 PLS16-506 R840W 825W 340 -79.4 130.0 143.5 13.5 <300 - 1100 NA 97.1 - 101.5 101.5 275.5 147.5 154.0 6.5 <300 - 10000 217.5 219.0 1.5 <300 - 360 PLS16-507 R840W 990W 337 -81.2 No Significant Radioactivity NA NA 98.0 344.0 PLS16-508 R840W 795W 347 -79.9 109.0 164.5 55.5 <300 - 11000 NA 98.5 - 104.5 104.5 267.9 PLS16-510 R840W 1020W 346 -80.5 177.0 177.5 0.5 300 NA NA 101.0 305.0 183.0 184.5 1.5 360 - 780 189.5 190.5 1.0 870 - 2000 203.5 205.5 2.0 310 - 750 PLS16-512 R840W 765W 334 -78.00 107.5 163.5 56.0 <300 - 48200 NA 101.0 - 103.0 103.0 305.0

R840W and R1620E Zone Summary

R1620E Zone

Prior to the discovery of high-grade mineralization during the winter 2016 program, 10 drill holes had identified the R1620E as an area of interest. To date, 24 holes have been drilled in the R1620E area, seven of which were completed during the summer 2016 program. The R1620E zone is shallow depth, starting at less than 60m below surface and has been traced confidently over a strike length of 165m. Anomalous results on line 1395E suggest this strike length may possibly extend another 60m or more to the west. A high-grade core has been traced over 95m. The zone remains open along strike and at depth. The R1620E zone is located 195m east and along strike of the R780E zone.

R840W Zone

The shallow depth R840W zone was discovered during the winter 2016 program in which seven holes defined a strike length of 135m. At that time, a gap of 120m separated the R600W from the R840W. Fifteen additional holes were drilled during the summer 2016 program. Importantly, hole PLS16-512 drilled on line 765W, between the R840W and R600W, was well mineralized and illuminates a link between these 2 zones. With this successful result, the R600W has now merged into the R840W zone and the R840W zone is now defined over a strike length of 465m. The R840W is located 495m to the west and along strike of the R00E zone.

PLS Mineralized Trend & Triple R Deposit Summary

Uranium mineralization at PLS occurs within the Patterson Lake Conductive Corridor and has been traced by core drilling approximately 2.63km of east-west strike length in four separated mineralized "zones". From west to east, these zones are: R840W, R00E, R780E and R1620E. Thus far only the R00E and R780E have been included in the Triple R deposit resource estimate.

The discovery hole of what is now referred to as the Triple R uranium deposit was announced on November 05, 2012 with drill hole PLS12-022, from what is considered part of the R00E zone. Through successful exploration programs completed to date, it has evolved into a large, near surface, basement hosted, structurally controlled high-grade uranium deposit.

The Triple R deposit consists of the R00E zone on the western side and the much larger R780E zone further on strike to the east. Within the deposit, the R00E and R780E zones have an overall combined strike length validated by a resource estimate of approximately 1.05km with the R00E measuring approximately 105m in strike length and the R780E zones measuring approximately 945m in strike length. A 225m gap separates the R00E zone to the west and the R780E zones to the east, though sporadic narrow, weakly mineralized intervals from drill holes within this gap suggest the potential for further significant mineralization in this area. The R780E zone is located beneath Patterson Lake which is approximately six metres deep in the area of the deposit. The entire Triple R deposit is covered by approximately 50m to 60m of overburden.

Mineralization remains open along strike both to the western and eastern extents. Previous logging of drill core interpreted sequences of basement rocks to be meta-sedimentary (meta-pelitic and meta-semi-pelitic gneiss) but recent observations have changed this interpretation to represent varying degrees of altered mafic volcanic rocks. Mineralization is both located within and associated with mafic volcanic intrusives with varying degrees of silicification, metasomatic mineral assemblages and hydrothermal graphite. The graphitic sequences are, associated with the PL-3B basement Electro-Magnetic (EM) Conductor. Recent very positive drill results returning wide and strongly mineralized intersections from the R840W zone, has allowed interpretation to merge the previously described R600W zone into the R840W zone. The R840W zone, located 495m to the west along strike of the Triple R deposit, currently has a defined strike length of 465m and is still open. Drill results within the R840W zone have significantly upgraded the prospectivity of these areas for further growth of the PLS resource on land to the west of the Triple R deposit. The recently discovered high-grade mineralization in the R1620E zone, located 270m to the east along strike has significantly upgraded the prospectivity for further growth of the PLS resource to the east of the Triple R deposit.

Updated maps and files can be found on the Company's website at http://fissionuranium.com/project/pls/.

Patterson Lake South Property

The 31,039 hectare PLS project is 100% owned and operated by Fission Uranium Corp. PLS is accessible by road with primary access from all-weather Highway 955, which runs north to the former Cluff Lake mine and passes through the nearby UEX-Areva Shea Creek discoveries located 50km to the north, currently under active exploration and development.

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed on behalf of the company by Ross McElroy, P.Geol., President and COO for Fission Uranium Corp., a qualified person.

About Fission Uranium Corp.

Fission Uranium Corp. is a Canadian based resource company specializing in the strategic exploration and development of the Patterson Lake South uranium property - host to the class-leading Triple R uranium deposit - and is headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia. Fission's common shares are listed on the TSX Exchange under the symbol "FCU" and trade on the OTCQX marketplace in the U.S. under the symbol "FCUUF."

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Ross McElroy, President and COO

Cautionary Statement:

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information", within the meaning of Canadian legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur", "be achieved" or "has the potential to". Forward looking statements contained in this press release may include statements regarding the future operating or financial performance of Fission and Fission Uranium which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may not prove to be accurate. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Among those factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: market conditions and other risk factors listed from time to time in our reports filed with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and the Company and Fission Uranium disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation.
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TORONTO, Aug. 17, 2016 /CNW/ - Roxgold Inc. ("Roxgold" or "the Company") (TSX.V: ROG) today reported its financial results for the three and six month ended June 30, 2016, including development highlights from its Yaramoko project in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

For complete details of the unaudited Condensed Interim Consolidated Financial Statements and associated Management's Discussion and Analysis please refer to the Company's filings on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or the Company's website (www.roxgold.com).

1. HIGHLIGHTS

For the three-month period ended June 30, 2016, and thereafter, the Company:

Poured first gold and carried out plant practical completion and processing performance tests in May 2016 , one month ahead of schedule;

, one month ahead of schedule; Completed construction of the Yaramoko project under-budget for capital expenditures totalling approximately US$107 million , 3% below the capital cost estimate totalling US$110.8 million ;

, 3% below the capital cost estimate totalling ; Mined 37,176 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 12.99 grams per tonne ("gpt");

Produced a total of 14,482 ounces of gold;

Completed a maiden mineral resource estimate for the QV1 target at Bagassi South;

Drew down remaining US$23 million of available funds from its Credit Facility;

of available funds from its Credit Facility; Received US$9 million from the early exercise of all outstanding warrants, held by International Finance Corporation ("IFC");

from the early exercise of all outstanding warrants, held by International Finance Corporation ("IFC"); Received the "Prix Responsabilite Sociale des Entreprises minieres 2016" or 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility ("CSR") Award of Mining Companies by Redevabilite in Burkina Faso ; and

; and Commenced stoping activities at the Yaramoko project in July 2016

2. DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

Construction of the Yaramoko project (the "Project") was effectively completed during the second quarter of 2016, with the exception of the installation of the high voltage ("HV") power line. The grid power offtake agreement was recently signed with Sonabel, the national electricity provider in Burkina Faso. Additionally, progress on the HV power line included completion of bulk earthworks for the substation, setting the foundation for the transmission line towers, and the commencement of tower assembly.

During the three month period ended June 30, 2016, the Company poured first gold and completed the plant practical completion and processing performance tests confirming nameplate throughput and recovery assumptions in May 2016, over a month ahead of schedule. As of June 30, 2016, in the underground operation, four sublevels were fully developed to the eastern end of the resource and the operations team was shifting its focus on preparation for stoping activities, which commenced in July 2016.

As the majority of Project activities were completed during the second quarter of 2016, with the exception of the HV power line which is based on lump-sum contracts, the final Project capital cost estimate is forecasted to be approximately US$107 million, which is approximately 3% below the Company's earlier Project cost estimate of US$110.8 million. (For more information on the capital cost estimate, please refer to the Company's press release dated April 7, 2015, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com).

For the six-month period ended June 30, 2016, the underground mine had produced 54,745 tonnes of pre-production ore at 14.77 gpt containing 25,993 ounces of gold.

A total of 14,482 ounces of gold were produced during the second quarter from 40,339 tonnes of ore milled at the processing facility at a mill feed grade of 13.4 gpt. The process plant operated at an average mill operating time of 95.8% and achieved an average throughput rate of 32 tonnes per hour or 761 tonne per day ("tpd"), which was above nameplate capacity of 750 tpd. Average gold recoveries were 97.5%, which was above design rate of 96.9%. A total of 8,250 ounces of gold were sold during the second quarter of 2016 at an average price of US$1,266 per ounce of gold for total pre-commercial production revenue of US$10,444,000 ($13,884,000). Subsequent to June 30, 2016, the Company sold 6,234 ounces of gold that were produced prior to June 30, 2016, for proceeds of US$8,302,000 ($10,723,000).

3. FINANCING ACTIVITIES

The Credit Facility has a six-year term and advances under the Credit Facility will bear interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 4.75% pre-completion and 4.25% post completion, respectively. A US$15 million cost overrun account, as required by the Credit Facility, has been funded through the proceeds of an equity financing completed in November 2014.

During the second quarter of 2016, the Company completed two additional drawdowns for approximately US$15 million ($21 million) from the US$75 million Credit Facility signed with BNP Paribas and Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking. As at June 30, 2016, the Credit Facility was fully drawn down and the Company has not had to utilize funds from its equity-funded US$15 million cost overrun facility during development of the Project.

4. EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES

The Yaramoko permit covers approximately 196 km2 in the Province of Bale in southwestern Burkina Faso.

For the three months ended June 30, 2016

A. 55 Zone

During the second quarter of 2016, the Company executed a 45 hole, 9,957 metre drilling program targeting the upper 430 metres of the 55 Zone. The drilling focused on depths from approximately 100 metres vertically to approximately 430 metres vertically. The program is expected to increase drilling resolution around areas where existing and current life of mine plan infrastructure is planned.

The Company expects to be releasing drill results during the third quarter of 2016, for this program, which was concluded in July 2016.

B. Bagassi South

On April 27, 2016, the Company announced the results of a maiden mineral resource estimate for the QV1 target at Bagassi South (table 1). The resource estimate was undertaken by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. ("SRK") of Toronto and is based on 114 core boreholes totalling approximately 27,000 metres of drilling and has been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ("43-101") Standards of disclosure for Mineral Projects. Highlights include:

Inferred mineral resource estimated at 563,000 tonnes at 12.14 g/t AU gold ("g/t Au") for 220,000 ounces of gold at a cut-off grade of 5.0 g/t Au;

QV1 structure remains open down plunge; and

Further exploration potential at QV Prime ("QV'") and footwall ("FW") zone.

TABLE 1 - MAIDEN MINERAL RESOURCE STATEMENT, QV1 GOLD DEPOSIT, YARAMOKO PROJECT

SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc., April 22, 2016

Inferred Mineral Resources Domain Category Quantity

(t) Grade

Au (g/t)* Contained Metal

Au (oz) QV1 Inferred 474,000 13.13 200,000 FW Inferred 40,000 7.49 10,000 QV' Inferred 49,000 6.40 10,000 Total Inferred 563,000 12.14 220,000

*Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and have not demonstrated economic viability. All figures have been rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimates. Underground mineral resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 5.0 gpt gold assuming: metal price of US$1,200 per ounce of gold, mining cost of US$90 per tonne, G&A cost of US$7.20 per tonne, processing cost of US$20.70 tonne, process recovery of 96 percent. For reporting, a capping value of 60 g/t AU was selected for the QV1 structure.

For more information on the QV1 mineral resource estimate, please refer to the Company's press release dated April 27, 2016, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The program was successful in further delineating mineralization along the QV1 structure down to a depth of approximately 300 metres vertically in hole 104A where mineralization remains open along plunge (figure 2).

For more information on drilling at Bagassi South and QV1, please refer to the Company's press releases dated May 5, May 19, August 11, 2015, respectively, and January 14 and March 15, 2016, respectively available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

C. Houko Permit

During the second quarter of 2016, exploration activities commenced on the Houko permit. Exploration included field mapping and grab sampling of significant outcrops. A new artisanal working was discovered where miners targeting a sub-cropping quartz vein had recently began to excavate a shaft. In addition, a shear zone outcropping to a width of over 15m with an exposed strike length of over 1.5km was discovered in the far southwest of the Houko permit. This is thought to be the continuation of the mineralised Boni Shear Zone from the Yaramoko permit.

For more information on the acquisition of the Houko permit, please refer to the Company's press release dated March 21, 2016, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The Houko permit lies to the south of the western arm of the Yaramoko permit and adjacent to the western border of the Yaramoko permit. The underlying geology of the Houko permit represents the contact between the Boni Shear Zone and the Birimian volcanic and intrusive suites, which Roxgold has been exploring on the adjacent Yaramoko permit. Roxgold defined an eight kilometre long geochemical trend along the Boni shear, in 2013, to the north of the Houko permit and this geochemical anomalism is thought to persist south west along this trend. The permit is mainly overlain by loosely consolidated surficial material and laterite, making it an ideal target for mineralization under this cover.

For the six months ended June 30, 2016

A. 55 Zone

During the six month period ending June 30, 2016, the Company executed the aforementioned 45 hole, 9,957 metre advanced definition and expansion drilling program targeting the upper 430 metres of the 55 Zone.

B. Bagassi South

During the first two months of 2016, a nine hole, 2,261 metre infill and definition drill program was executed targeting the QV1 mineralisation. The results from this program were released to the public in press releases dated January 14, 2016 March 15 and April 27, 2016. Highlights from this program include:

52.3 gpt gold over 6.1 metres ("m") including 137.0 gpt gold over 0.8 m and 199.0 gpt gold over 1.0 m in diamond drill hole ("DDH") YRM-15-RD-BGS-099;

21.0 gpt gold over 6.7 m including 46.3 gpt gold over 0.7 m and 183.0 gpt gold over 0.6 m in DDH YRM-15-RD-BGS-104A;

56.0 gpt gold over 7.8 m including 127.0 gpt gold over 3.3 m in DDH YRM-16-DD-BGS-109;

8.6 gpt gold over 17.9 m including 70.1 gpt gold over 1.6 m in DDH YRM-16-DD-BGS-113; and

11.8 gpt gold over 8.8 m including 70.6 gpt gold over 1.4 m in DDH YRM-16-DD-BGS-107.

This program was successful in further delineating mineralization along the QV1 structure down to a depth of approximately 300 metres vertically in hole 104A where mineralization remains open along plunge.

For more information on drilling at Bagassi South and QV1, please refer to the Company's press releases dated May 5, May 19, August 11, 2015, respectively, and January 14 and March 15, 2016, respectively, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The drill program also provided additional data that supported the maiden resource estimate that was released to the public on the April 27, 2016 (table 1).

C. Houko Permit

On March 18, 2016, the Company was granted the Houko permit, which lies adjacent to the Yaramoko permit and will expire on March 18, 2019. The Houko permit was acquired for 54,000 ($80,000) upon transfer of the permit. In addition, a once off payment of 36,000 ($53,000), along with 1.13 ($1.67) per ounce of gold is payable upon the announcement of a maiden resource on the Houko Permit.

5. EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO JUNE 30, 2016

A. Financing Activities

On July 14, 2016, IFC exercised the 12.9 million warrants issued to them on September 9, 2015, exercisable for one additional common share of the Company, at a conversion price equal to C$0.90 per share, fourteen months prior to the warrants' expiry date of September 9, 2017. This represented approximately US$9 million of total proceeds for the Company.

B. Corporate Social Responsibility Activities

On August 17, 2016, the Company announced it was awarded the "Prix Responsabilite Sociale des Entreprises minieres 2016" or "2016 CSR Award of Mining Companies" by Redevabilite in Burkina Faso. This civil society group is comprised of multiple groups, including:

The Africa Youth Network (RAJ)

The Centre for Research and Intervention in Gender and Development (CRIGED)

The Centre for Citizens' Monitoring and Analysis of Public Policy (CDCAP)

Partners of the Economic and Social Justice Program NGO DIAKONIA.

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA Three-month

period ended

June 30,

2016

$ Three-month

period ended

June 30,

2015

$ Six-month

period ended

June 30,

2016

$ Six-month

period ended

June 30,

2015

$ (as adjusted) (as adjusted) Cost of operations General and administrative expenses 1,181,000 949,000 2,200,000 1,755,000 Exploration and evaluation expenses 2,273,000 1,305,000 3,171,000 1,557,000 Share-based payments 582,000 269,000 1,159,000 820,000 Depreciation 168,000 60,000 372,000 128,000 Operating loss for the period 4,204,000 2,583,000 6,902,000 4,260,000 Other expenses (income) Interest income (10,000) (14,000) (13,000) (63,000) Standby fees 75,000 - 188,000 - Change in fair value of derivative

instruments 6,962,000 - 19,783,000 - Unrealized foreign exchange loss/(gain) 316,000 260,000 2,922,000 (1,951,000) Indirect tax 41,000 44,000 81,000 93,000 Loss before income taxes (11,588,000) (2,873,000) (29,863,000) (2,339,000) Deferred Income tax (expense)/income - - - - Net loss for the period (11,588,000) (2,873,000) (29,863,000) (2,339,000) Loss per share (basic and diluted) (0.03) (0.01) (0.09) (0.01)

Second Quarter of 2016 vs. Second Quarter of 2015

General and administrative expenses for the three-month period ended June 30, 2016 increased compared to the same period in 2015. The net increase is primarily due to additional travel to support the final stages of the Project and its transition from development to the pre-commercial production phase. There was an increase in consulting expenses during the period due to the hiring of external consultants to assist the Company in achieving and documenting environmental social management tools. The Company does not expect this to be a recurring expense.

Expenses for drilling and geological work for the three-month period ended June 30, 2016 increased when compared to the same period in 2015. The increase is primarily a result of the 9,957 metre advanced definition and expansion drilling program at the 55 Zone that commenced in April 2016 as compared to a program executed in the second quarter of 2015 representing 3,028 metres of drilling at Bagassi South.

Other expenses during the three-month period ended June 30, 2016 increased compared to the same period in 2015. The increase was solely due to the change in the fair value of the gold forward sale contracts, which were entered into in July 2015 as a condition precedent to be able to access funds available through the Credit Facility. During the period, the increase in the market gold price relative to the sale price in the forward sale contracts resulted in an increase to the liability relating to the forward sale contracts.

As a result, the Company's net loss for the three-month period ended June 30, 2016, totalled $11,588,000 compared to net loss of $2,873,000 for the three-month period ended June 30, 2015. Consequently, the Company recorded a loss per share of $0.03 and loss per share of $0.01 per share for the three-month periods ended June 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Qualified Persons

Paul Criddle, FAUSIMM, Chief Operating Officer for Roxgold Inc., a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, has verified and approved the technical disclosure contained in this MD&A.

Yan Bourassa, P.Geo, VP Geology for Roxgold Inc., a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, has verified and approved the technical disclosure contained in this MD&A.

About Roxgold

Roxgold is a gold mining company with its key asset, the high grade Yaramoko Gold Mine, located in the Hounde greenstone region of Burkina Faso, West Africa. The Company expects to reach commercial production in Q3 2016. Roxgold trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol ROG and as part of the Nasdaq International Designation program with the symbol OTC: ROGFF.

"Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."

These statements are based on information currently available to the Company and the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. In certain cases, forward-looking information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "could", "estimates", "expects", "may", "shall", "will", or "would". Forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves, the realization of resource estimates and reserve estimates, gold metal prices, the timing and amount of future exploration and development expenditures, the estimation of initial and sustaining capital requirements, the estimation of labour and operating costs, the availability of necessary financing and materials to continue to explore and develop the Yaramoko Gold Project in the short and long-term, the progress of exploration and development activities, the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange for the balance of the AUMS Mining Contract Option, and assumptions with respect to currency fluctuations, environmental risks, title disputes or claims, and other similar matters. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.

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 the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include: changes in market conditions, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in the price of gold, unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic conditions. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Roxgold Inc.
VANCOUVER, Aug. 18, 2016 /CNW/ - Brazil Resources Inc. ("Brazil Resources") (TSX-V: BRI; OTCQX: BRIZF) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a share purchase agreement (the "Agreement") with NovaCopper Inc. ("NovaCopper"), pursuant to which it will acquire Sunward Investments Limited ("Sunward"), a subsidiary of NovaCopper which owns 100% of the Titiribi Gold-Copper Project (the "Project") located in Colombia.

Amir Adnani, Chairman of Brazil Resources, commented: "We are very pleased to have come to an agreement with NovaCopper to acquire such a large-scale gold project in the Americas, which further expands our growing asset base. With the acquisition of Titiribi, we take a major step towards realizing our vision of consolidating quality gold assets and maximizing gold leverage for our shareholders. We look forward to welcoming NovaCopper as a new shareholder of Brazil Resources."

Garnet Dawson, CEO of Brazil Resources, further added: "The Project was the focus of extensive exploration, metallurgical, environmental and engineering programs from 2010 to 2013. Post- closing, our geologists will work to review the extensive drilling database at Titiribi to outline target areas for follow-up exploration and we plan to commission an independent resource estimate for the Project."

The Agreement

Pursuant to the Agreement, Brazil Resources will acquire all of the shares of Sunward, the wholly-owned subsidiary of NovaCopper holding a 100% interest in the Project.

Total consideration payable by Brazil Resources to NovaCopper under the Agreement is 5,000,000 common shares of Brazil Resources (the "BRI Shares") and 1,000,000 share purchase warrants, with each warrant exercisable into a BRI Share at an exercise price of $3.50 per share for a period of two years, subject to acceleration by Brazil Resources in certain circumstances.

The BRI Shares to be issued under the transaction are subject to certain resale restrictions pursuant to the terms of the Agreement.

The Agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including requisite approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The parties expect closing to occur on or about September 1, 2016.

The Project

The Project is located approximately 70 kilometres southwest of the city of Medellin in the department of Antioquia in central Colombia and is comprised of one concession that covers an area of approximately 39.19 square kilometres. Antioquia has seen several gold projects in development or production over the last 10 years including Red Eagle's San Ramon, B2 Gold's Gramalote, Continental Gold's Buritica, and Gran Colombia's Marmato projects. This has largely coincided with the government encouraging foreign development in a region that has not seen, until recently, the implementation of modern exploration programs. The Project is road accessible by paved highway from Medellin with high power electrical lines passing within 3 kilometres.

The Project consists of several near surface bulk tonnage gold-copper porphyry and associated epithermal gold systems. A total of nine mineralized areas have been identified to date, including the main Cerro Vetas, Chisperos and NW Breccia zones. Other peripheral targets include: Junta, Porvenir, Candela, Maria Jo, Rosa, and Margarita. A total of 270 diamond drill holes, totaling 144,779 metres, have been drilled at the Project.

Paulo Pereira, President of Brazil Resources has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Mr. Pereira holds a Bachelors degree in Geology from Universidade do Amazonas in Brazil, is a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101 and is a member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario.

Haywood Securities Inc. has advised the parties in connection with the transaction. Sangra Moller LLP is acting as legal counsel to Brazil Resources and Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP is acting as legal counsel for NovaCopper in connection with the transaction.

About Brazil Resources Inc.

Brazil Resources Inc. is a public mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of gold projects in Brazil and other regions of the Americas. Brazil Resources is advancing its Cachoeira and Sao Jorge Gold Projects located in the State of Para, northeastern Brazil, its Whistler Gold-Copper Project located in the state of Alaska, United States of America, and its Rea Uranium Project in the western Athabasca Basin in northeast Alberta, Canada.

Forward Looking Statements

This document contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of Brazil Resources with respect to its business and future events, including expectations respecting the Project, the closing of the Transaction and any future exploration programs and other work on the Project. Forward-looking statements are based on the then-current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the business and the markets in which Brazil Resources operates, including that the parties will satisfy or waive all conditions required to complete the transactions under the Agreement, including receipt of all required regulatory approvals, that Brazil Resources will confirm historical exploration results. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including: the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drill results and other exploration data, the potential for delays in exploration or development activities, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits, the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with Brazil Resources' expectations, accidents, equipment breakdowns, title and permitting matters, labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in operations, fluctuating metal prices, unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, including to fund any exploration programs on the Project, that the parties may not receive all required approvals or satisfy all conditions required under the Agreement and that Brazil Resources may not be able to confirm historical exploration results or complete a current resource estimate for the Project. These risks, as well as others, including those set forth in Brazil Resources' filings with Canadian securities regulators, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information, or the material factors or assumptions used to develop such forward looking information, will prove to be accurate. Brazil Resources does not undertake any obligations to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, the Toronto Stock Exchange nor their Regulation Services Providers (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

SOURCE Brazil Resources Inc.
Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced [press release] Wednesday that the governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea plan to close the controversial Manus Island detention center. Since 2012 Australia has sent asylum seekers to offshore detention centers where they have been subjected to inhumane treatment. Human rights groups have brought light to the physical and sexual abuse [Reuters report] faced by these individuals which has created pressure for reform. Although there has been an agreement to close the center, Australia has stated they refuse to accept the detainees held there. There is no time frame on the process which has led to skepticism.

Under the controversial policy, those who seek asylum in Australia arriving by boat are detained on the island nation of Nauru or on Manus Island. The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] in April that Australias detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island in northern Papua New Guinea is illegal. The court found that the detention center violates Article 42 of Papua New Guineas Constitution, which guarantees personal liberty. A group of more than 750 detainees held on Manus Island asked [JURIST report] the Australian High Court in early May to order their transfer to mainland Australia and block a transfer to the detention center in the island nation of Nauru.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein expressed his concerns [press release] Wednesday regarding Indian and Pakistani authorities refusing to allow the Human Rights Council access to Kashmir. The High Commissioner emphasized the importance of access to the region after recent allegations of excessive force, state sponsorship of violence, as well as the number of people killed and injured. According to Zeid, unhindered access to these affected areas is critical for the Human Rights Council to interview victims and witnesses in order to document and provide an accurate account of the situation.

In July Pakistani Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz [official profile] announced [press release] his countrys intention to ask the UN Human Rights Council to send a fact-finding mission to Kashmir following recent civil unrest in the disputed region. Pakistan accused [JURIST report] India of human rights violations after a clash between the Indian army and pro-independence rebels, which led to the death of militant commander Burhan Wani of the group Hizbul Mujahideen [official website]. Continued unrest following the clash preceded the use of force on which Pakistan now seeks Human Rights Council action.
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The Most Exclusive Shopping Experiences Available in Singapore

The malls, storefronts, designer labels and more in Singapore are enough to give any fashionista a rush. Located one block from Orchard Road, The St. Regis Singapore is a prime location for those that want to stay close to the retail action, not to mention the rest of this culturally rich and fun destination.

For those of you with a flair for ready-to-wear and a true eye for accessories, Singapore is the shopping haven youve been dreaming ofit actually looks like a fantasy come to life. Fluorescent signs glow; floor-to-ceiling glass windows pour sunlight onto shelves filled with designer everything; storefronts themselves are architectrual masterpieces. No visit to this sparkling Southeast Asian city would be complete without a spending spree of opulent proportions. To help you along your way, were about to let you in on a few of Singapore's best shopping secrets reserved for the jet set class.

Photo Credit: Louis Vuitton

The Louis Vuitton Island Maison

Sure, you could walk through the underwater tunnel from The Shoppes at Marina Bay to get to Louis Vuitton Island Maison; but pulling up in a yacht really lets everyone know youve arrived for some serious retail therapy. Assuming youve received a personal invitation, head to the fourth floor apartment for a private viewing of LVs Haute Maroquinerie collections. Here, guests can create a bag all their own by selecting from five different styles, along with their leather and color preference. All the while theyll be surrounded by specially-curated artwork including paintings by Bernand Frize, photographs by Isaac Julien and sculptures by Chinese artist Gao Weigang.

Photo Credit: Hermes

Hermes VIP Suite

The 30-year-old Hermes flagship recently reopened its doors at Liat Towers after undergoing a head-to-toe makeover, complete with an entirely new fourth floor. Anyone dreaming of decking their home out in elegant Hermes style will want to stop at the third floor first. On display is a showcase of luxurious furniture, fabrics, porcelain, and crystal along with everything youd need to hit the beach or a picnic in the park in high fashion. Hidden beyond the haute home goods is an ultra-private VIP Suite with beige velvet walls, silk accents, a chic sofa, and changing area behind a sleek sliding curtain. Dont leave the store without checking out the new 1,200-square-foot art space, which is only one of five in the world from Fondation dentreprise Hermes, a supporter of visual art and design.

Photo Credit: In Good Company

In Good Company

One of the most celebrated and successful local brands around, In Good Company opened their standalone store at ION Orchard in 2015. Sven Tan and Kane Tan, the duo behind the label debuted their 3,300-square-foot store last August after only having their items available at multi-label venues. Inside, guests will find decor by award-winning interior design agency Traart. It boasts brutalist concrete, light wood, glass panels and white walls. Much of the ready-to-wear clothing is only available to the ION Orchard boutiquemaking it even more of a reason to schedule a quick drop by while in Singapore. The one-stop shop is filled with everything from exclusive attire to lifestyle products such as one-of-a-kind magazines, books and bags.

Photo Credit: Club 21

Club 21

Club 21 on Orchard Road offers a personal shopping experience for only the most serious elite clientele. The style advisors are experts in both Asian and Western luxury brands, helping each guest not only find their ideal clothing and accessories, but also complete a head-to-toe look with hair and makeup appointments. The space is large enough to bring some friends along for some fashionable fun. You can show off your finds in the spacious fitting rooms, enjoy a delicious lunch in the dining area, and touch up your look at the M.A.C makeup bar. Personalized previews of Club 21s 60-plus labels can also be arranged for VIP clients before the pieces even hit the shelves.

Photo Credit: Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany & Co. ION Orchard

Tiffanys two private consultation rooms are ideal for those who appreciate solitude when choosing their diamonds. The secluded room on the first floor is furnished in Tiffany blue leather couches, an elongated display case, and fine artwork along the walls. The other room is located just up the elegant staircase past the glistening chandeliers. Behind a mirror-paneled doorway and flowing drapes in their signature blue hue is a salon thats much edgier. The room is accented in black lacquer hand painted with intricate wisteria patterns to honor the creative spirit of Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of Tiffany & Co.s founder.
PUBLISHED FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013 AT 1:00 AM / UPDATED AT 9:16 AM

KENT SIEVERS/the world-herald

Vanderlei and Jacqueline Szczepanik and their son, Christopher, 7.

Family's killer weeps as his life is recounted at death penalty hearing

The man convicted in the murders of a family of Brazilian missionaries broke down crying Thursday as a three-judge panel weighed his fate.

But Jose Carlos Oliveira-Coutinho's tears weren't over the death of the family members or the sordid hangings of a woman and her 7-year-old son.

They flowed as a psychologist recounted the death of Oliveira's stepfather and what effect it had on Oliveira. The stepfather died while trying to rescue a child during a flood.

Oliveira was convicted of a savage crime in which he and two co-workers beat their boss, Vanderlei Szczepanik, in a dispute over wages Oliveira believed he was owed.

The three then hanged Szczepanik's wife, Jaqueline, and 7-year-old son, Christopher, before dumping their bodies in the Missouri River.

A three-judge panel  made up of the trial judge, Thomas Otepka, as well as District Judge William Zastera of Sarpy County and District Judge Mark Kozisek of several western Nebraska counties  heard testimony and attorneys' arguments during a six-hour hearing Thursday.

The panel is expected to rule within six weeks on whether he should receive the death penalty.

Oliveira faces the possibility of becoming the 12th person on death row in Nebraska. If not sentenced to death, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Prosecutors Jim Masteller and John Alagaban argue that he deserves death as the ringleader who orchestrated the killings.

The hearing was more tedious than tense. The panel accepted dozens of exhibits designed to compare Oliveira's crimes with other crimes that have, or have not, merited the death penalty.

The courtroom was sprinkled with few observers  as court personnel and attorneys' staff far outnumbered those in the gallery.

Not on hand: Jaqueline Szczepanik's daughter, Tatiane Klein, who had testified at Oliveira's trial. Klein recently moved her family to Florida to tend to one of the Szczepaniks' homes.

Those on hand: a man who lived near the school the Szczepaniks and Oliveira were renovating, an Omaha police sergeant and a detective who handled the investigation into the missing family. And a juror.

In October, that man and his fellow jurors convicted Oliveira and found six aggravating factors that could merit the death penalty  essentially two per murder victim. The aggravating factors: that there were multiple murders, that the murders were committed for financial gain and that they were committed to cover up another murder.

Thursday's hearing was Oliveira's chance to counter those aggravating factors.

His attorneys, Todd Lancaster and Horacio Wheelock, submitted a written brief arguing that there were 20 mitigating factors that should weigh in Oliveira's favor and against the death penalty.

Among them: that Oliveira had no significant criminal history; that he acted under unusual pressure or influences; and that Oliveira was an accomplice in the crime and his participation was relatively minor.

Lancaster and Wheelock also noted that Oliveira's co-defendants have received much less punishment. Valdeir Goncalves-Santos turned state's witness at the close of his own trial and cooperated against Oliveira.

In return, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison  a sentence that is cut in half under state sentencing guidelines.

The third worker, Elias Lourenco-Batista, was deported before further evidence was developed and he could be charged, according to prosecutors.

Dr. Scott Bresler, a forensic psychologist who interviewed Oliveira, testified that Oliveira had a sordid background.

His parents were alcoholics. His father left the family before Oliveira was born. His stepfather drowned.

The family was poor and lived in a hut so undeveloped that the family used an outhouse.

Oliveira came to America illegally and worked for Szczepanik for several years in Florida and then Omaha.

Bresler said Oliveira was beside himself as he spoke about his decisions. What a mess I've made of my life and my family, Bresler said the man told him.

No one is feeling that mess more than members of the Szczepanik family, prosecutors say.

Alagaban told the three judges that the aggravating factors outweigh anything that should be considered in Oliveira's favor. Alagaban said Oliveira essentially tried to make an entire family disappear.

It's unfathomable ... the horror of all of that, Alagaban said. And what underlies the murders is greed.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1275, todd.cooper@owh.com
HOLDREGE  Scott Rager blends the flavors of the Great Plains and the West Coast into unique homemade ice cream concoctions.

Rager, 34, a Holdrege native, recently returned to his hometown after 12 years in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, he worked as an interior designer, an event planner and a caterer, and is now bringing that creative passion to central Nebraska with his County Seat homemade ice cream.

He first began making homemade artisan ice cream when he was in California. While catering an engagement party, the client asked him to create a unique gift her guests could take home.

Rager suggested homemade ice cream because of his childhood memories of the sweet treat.

To give the gifts a personal touch, he created special labels, and each guest went home with a pint of coffee ice cream with homemade brownie chunks. They raved about it, which led to more orders.

When he moved back to Holdrege in February to help his mom, Beth Rager, with her carpet cleaning company, he was looking for a creative outlet.

When I first moved back and thought about taking what I did in L.A., lifestyle design, and applying it to south-central Nebraska, I thought making homemade artisan ice cream would be a great initial venture, Rager said.

email to:
FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015, file photo, the Twitter logo appears on a phone post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Twitter said Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, it has suspended 360,000 accounts since mid-2015 for violating its policies banning the promotion of terrorism and violent extremism. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2015 file-pool photo, Secretary of State John Kerry, speaks to senior adviser John Kirby before a news conference in Vienna. The State Department says a $400 million cash payment to Iran was contingent on the release of American prisoners. Spokesman Kirby says negotiations over the U.S. returning Iranian money from a decades-old account was conducted separately from the prisoner talks. But he says the U.S. withheld delivery of the cash as leverage until the U.S. citizens had left Iran. (Carlo Allegri/Pool Photo via AP, File)
An Iranian official source has confirmed the execution of three young Ahwazi Arab men from the province of Khuzestan (western Iran).





Iran Human Rights (AUG 17 2016): The Iranian state-run news agency, YJC (Young Journalists Club), quoting the public relations department of the Khuzestan Judiciary, has identified the prisoners as: Ghais Obidawi, 25 at time of arrest; Ahmad Obidawi, 20 at time of arrest; and Sajjad Balawi.





According to the report, the executions were carried out by Iranian authorities on the morning of Wednesday August 17. Iranian authorities did not announce the location of their executions, but Farhad Afsharian, the head of the Khuzestan Judiciary, had previously told official Iranian media that the executions would likely be carried out in public in the city of Hamidiyeh (Khuzestan province).





"These three people carried out several operations in spring 2015 that resulted in the martyrdom of three police force personnel. Also, they created fear and terror by destroying the seismological center in the Hamidiyeh region, attacking pilgrims, and engaging in terrorist acts," said Amanat Behbahani, an official in the Khuzestan Judiciary. According to unofficial local sources, neither the families or the lawyers were informed about the scheduled executions.





"These three Ahwazi Arab prisoners are victims of the Iranian government's systematic repression in the ethnic regions of Iran. We call on the international community to draw more attention and show strong reaction to the arbitrary executions in Iran, especially the executions carried out in the ethnic regions this month," says Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, spokesperson for Iran Human Rights.





In late June of this year, Iran's Judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i, issued various statements confirming the execution sentences for these three prisoners and claimed they murdered five people.





Ghais, Ahmad, and Sajjad were reportedly sentenced to death after they were unlawfully arrested and subjected to a nontransparent trial.





They were among 20 people who were arrested by Iranian authorities after bullets were shot at a tent belonging to Iranian security guards inside.





Most of the detainees were eventually released, but the Ahwaz Revolutionary Court sentenced three of the defendants to death and four others to long prison terms.





Their sentences were confirmed by Iran's Supreme Court.

 | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

Source: Iran Human Rights , August 18, 2016
Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Court sentenced a 35-year-old man to death for

trafficking 7.3 kg of heroin from Cambodia to Vietnam in January 2013.

August 9, 2016: A Lang Son court awarded death sentences to nine men and life to two others for smuggling a total of 280kg of heroin from the northern province to China in 2013 and 2014.





Brothers Chu Dinh Tuyen, 39, and Chu Van Vien, 33, the gangs kingpins, were among those to get capital punishment along with their seven henchmen aged 31-38.





Nong Thi Chang, 25, and Chu Duc Son, 38, were the two to get away with life sentences.





Officers from the Ministry of Public Security in 2014 caught two members, Le Xuan Viet and Nguyen Van Tam, with 15kg of heroin in Hoa Binh Province.





Subsequent investigations led to the arrest of the others.





The gang confessed to smuggling a total of 280kg of heroin from northwestern provinces to China on 22 occasions, earning more than VND10 billion (US$456,000).





A total of 19 people were involved, including four other Vietnamese who are still at large, an unidentified Chinese who was arrested in China and a deceased Vietnamese.





Source: Thanh Nien News, August 10, 2016





 | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!
That's what people like Ghostie and clara and hollywood don't get. they think you and I are the same when we're not, and we're both quite different from traditional righties like jimmy and webguy.In any case, it's good that we can find common ground. The enemy of my enemy is my friend after all. Just know that when the time comes where we've overthrown this order our stormtroopers will win. After all we know you guys' secret weakness.
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Let me preface this blog by stating that I write this to stimulate discussion and debate, not to sway opinions.

Today, doctors are required to spend more and more time doing administrative work  including checking off electronic boxes in the electronic medical record (EMR)  the result is less quality time with patients.

Now, those that are in Washington, DC think that requiring physicians to ask about guns in the home may somehow reduce gun violence and gun-related deaths in the U.S. today. For me, the answer is simply no. Physicians should focus on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease; we should advocate for our patients, but we should not be government agents (unless we all collectively become employed by the state.

In an article published in the Atlantic, author Olga Khazan argues that doctors have a responsibility in preventing gun-related deaths. When I read the article, I was simply struck by how much controversy surrounds this issue: How do we protect patients privacy rights? How do we preserve our relationships with patients? Certainly, as physicians we may ask many uncomfortable questions of our patients  sexual history, drug, and alcohol use, and other sensitive subjects  but should we really be asking about guns? The legal implications alone of these discussions are enough to make even the most steadfast physician a little weak in the knees.

For far too long, the government has attempted to insert itself into the sacred (and privileged doctor-patient relationship). The bond between doctor and patient is like no other-honesty, confidentiality and trust are paramount to all other concerns. There is already a debate on the role physicians should play in gun control or gun safety. Our own U.S. Surgeon General has proclaimed in the past that gun control was a top priority for his office. In Florida, there is a law that does not allow physicians to ask about guns except is certain circumstances. Others want to require physicians to ask and document patients answers in the EMR.

I fear that allowing discussions on guns to enter an exam room may completely undermine a physicians relationship with his or her patient. Patients may feel uneasy about answering the questions and may also be suspicious of why they are being asked in the first place. Patients may be less likely to trust their physician (for fear of some repercussion) and may also be less likely to discuss other medical issues with honesty. Lack of honest dialogue between doctor and patient can result in a lack of patient engagement and, ultimately, negative clinical outcomes.

Dont get me wrong, we must educate the public about the proper use and storage of firearms. Guns should never be accessible to children, and any person who owns a firearm must be trained in its safety and proper use. However, the role of the physician should remain, first and foremost, as healer: We should not be required to become firearm educators, nor should we be required to document firearm possession to the government.

While I do concede that there is likely a role for the discussion of guns in a pediatricians office (with the parents) in order to ensure that guns are stored properly in the home, I do not think that there should be any type of discussion in adult medicine. There has been much research in this area and much controversy remains.

In the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers from Colorado found that there is a vast array of opinions among patients when it comes to physicians asking them about guns. Only 25 percent of patients surveyed thought that it was always appropriate for a physician to have a discussion about guns. 34 percent of those studied in stated that it was never appropriate for a physician to ask about gun possession or gun use. While study authors spin the data to say that nearly two-thirds of respondents think that it is sometimes OK to ask about guns, the reality is that many Americans feel that this type of interaction is not appropriate.

Sadly, there are far too many gun-related deaths in the U.S. today. We must do more to prevent criminals, those with mental illness, and others who would do us harm to possess guns. This should be the work of the community and the local, state and federal government: not the work of the physician. I fear that if we begin to mandate data collection of this sort by physicians and other health care providers we will undermine the trust that our patients place in us every single day.

Kevin R. Campbell is a cardiac electrophysiologist who blogs at his self-titled site, Dr. Kevin R. Campbell, MD. He is the author of Women and Cardiovascular Disease.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Detainees who died in custody since January 2009: 4.7

When Obama wanted to close Gitmo and put the prisoners in American prisons the republicans raised hell because they didn't want them near U.S. Cities. One time you say you want them to tried by a military tribunal, another time you want them tried in civilian court. We can't find many countries willing to take them back or accept them. You people aren't satisfied with anything short of executing all of them and some of them are most likely innocent of terrorist activities or aiding and abetting."The DetaineesDetainees currently held at Guantanamo: 61.1Total number of detainees ever incarcerated at Guantanamo: 780.2 Detainees released under President Bush: Over 500.3 Detainees at start of Obama Presidency: 242.4 Detainees transferred, repatriated or resettled under Obama: 177.5 Detainees transferred to U.S. for prosecution: 1.6 Number of current detainees imprisoned for more than 10 years: 44 (72 percent of total population).8Remainingdetaineesapprovedforrelease: 20.9 Yemenis approved for transfer: 12.10Detainees convicted by military commission and still held at Guantanamo: 311 Detainees Obama Administration is currently trying in military commissions: 7.12 The Pentagon may only plan to prosecute 14 detainees in total, including those currently in pre-trial hearings.13 Detainees Obama Administration is holding for indefinite detention without charge or trial: 31.14  Number of countries that have accepted Guantanamo detainees: 59.15"The DetaineesDetainees currently held at Guantanamo: 61.1Total number of detainees ever incarcerated at Guantanamo: 780.2 Detainees released under President Bush: Over 500.3 Detainees at start of Obama Presidency: 242.4 Detainees transferred, repatriated or resettled under Obama: 177.5 Detainees transferred to U.S. for prosecution: 1.6 Detainees who died in custody since January 2009: 4.7 Number of current detainees imprisoned for more than 10 years: 44 (72 percent of total population).8Remainingdetaineesapprovedforrelease: 20.9 Yemenis approved for transfer: 12.10Detainees convicted by military commission and still held at Guantanamo: 311 Detainees Obama Administration is currently trying in military commissions: 7.12 The Pentagon may only plan to prosecute 14 detainees in total, including those currently in pre-trial hearings.13Detainees Obama Administration is holding for indefinite detention without charge or trial: 31.14Number of countries that have accepted Guantanamo detainees: 59.15"
A card skimmer was recently found inside a North Laredo gas pump.

Police say this is the first time they find a device like the one found implanted inside one of the gas pumps at a 7-Eleven station.

Every time a card was swiped to pay on that particular pump, the skimmer would read the magnetic strip and store the information.

Because it was being stored, police say the information caught by this skimmer is not compromised.

This device was not visible from the outside, but a technician who serviced the machine discovered it when he opened it.

Although a police report was filed, an investigation might prove challenging.

"It's going to be very difficult to actually find out who placed it," says LPD Public Information Officer Joe Baeza. "Not only because of the duration of the time since the person last serviced the machine, but the fact that a great amount of people have access to it."

Police suggest to constantly monitor your account to help catch any suspicious activity.

Baeza says the gas station has inspected the rest of the machines, and has found no other devices.
The largest charter school system in Texas headed back to school Wednesday, and with the new school year comes a host of new accolades.

The Harmony Science Academy is in its 16th year of serving Texas students with a curriculum focused on science, technology, engineering and math.

All 46 harmony campuses, along with its seven districts, received a "Met Standard" rating for the 2015-16 academic year.

Two new campuses will open in Katy and El Paso this year, with the help of Texas Education Agency start-up grants.

The Texas Education Agency ranked the financial integrity of all seven HPS districts as "Superior," the highest rating granted by the state, for the 2015-16 school year.
He is not some Cool, Calm and Collected man who doesn't let his feelings show when people die all over the world, including Americans or when a crisis hits. We have witnessed him and his aloof attitudes too many times now to fool ourselves into believing anything but the truth. He doesn't give a damn about anybody but himself, his family and Muslims.He is a cold and distant and flat affect very strange person who needs a mental evaluation then made to stand down because he is unfit to lead. Worse he is a Traitor and he can't write an EO to change the definition of Traitor in our Constitution. How many times does he have to prove it, now with releasing 15 of the worst from Gitmo.
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Taiwan's overnight interbank rate opened lower at 0.177 percent on Thursday from its previous session open of 0.179 percent.

The overnight interbank rate is closely watched by market participants because it is guided by the central bank and is seen as a signal of its monetary policy bias.

The overnight interbank rate has been guided to between 0.175 percent and 0.180 percent, from 0.20 percent since the central bank cut policy rates in late June.

The central bank has said monetary policy is accommodative.

It has cut policy rates four times in a row at quarterly policy meetings since September last year to bolster the weak economy.

(Reporting by Jeanny Kao; Writing by Faith Hung; Editing by Michael Perry)
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Debt in the world's top 30 steel companies totals a record $150 billion, international accountancy firm EY said on Thursday, adding governments' action to support the sector would work only if matched with more radical industry restructuring.

Overcapacity and weak steel prices have piled pressure on firms such as Tata Steel TISC.NS , which is in merger talks with German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp TKAG.DE .

said in a report published on Thursday steel firms took on debt as they fought for market share, notably the Chinese steel sector has added about a billion tonnes of capacity since 2000, helping to take global excess capacity to about 700 million tonnes.

The debt of the top 30 companies is dwarfed by China's steel sector debt, estimated at $500 billion.

"Many steelmakers are in some form of distress with some teetering on the verge of bankruptcy," Anjani Agrawal, EY global steel leader, said, adding government efforts would only work if the industry had viable business models.

Reforms are underway.

Thyssenkrupp, the world's 16th largest steel producer by tonnage, has announced the sale of real estate assets as well as embarking on merger talks with Tata.

At the end of June, the firm had gearing of 175 percent, versus 124 percent a year earlier, and debt of 4.77 billion euros compared with 4.39 billion the previous year.

It aims to reduce its gearing to less than 150 percent by the end of September and told an analysts' call last week it should meet that target.

The world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal ISPA.AS has tackled its debt with a $3 billion rights issue.

It also sold a $1 billion stake in a Spanish automotive steel group Gestamp in April. Net debt was $12.7 billion at the end of the first half of 2016, down from $17.3 after the first quarter. The group guides for positive cash flow in 2016.

China has promised to reduce steel capacity by 45 million tonnes this year, but cuts in the first seven months were only 47 percent of the annual target.

To protect Western firms from Chinese steel, which the United States and Europe says is sold at less than cost price, Washington and Brussels have imposed duties, prompting criticism from China.

European steel representatives say Chinese firms should carry out most of the restructuring, given the size of their debts, but they are not assuming that will happen and all measures will be needed for the sector to survive.

"For the next 5 to 10 years there will be substantial pain.

It should be principally in China, but it will be principally here unless we have effective trade measures," Brussels-based lawyer Laurent Ruessmann, a partner at Fieldfisher, said by telephone. He represents steel firms and is specialised in China and trade law.

(Additional reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek in Brussels, Georgina Prodhan and Tom Kaeckenhoff in Frankfurt, editing by David Evans)
Aug 17 (Reuters) - Two major mergers in agricultural technology and seeds could hurt competition in the industry and make it harder for smaller companies to compete, Senator Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote in a letter on Wednesday sent to antitrust enforcers.

Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, urged the Federal Trade Commission, which is reviewing the purchase of Syngenta AG SYNN.S by the China National Chemical Corp CNNCC.UL , and the Justice Department, which is looking at the merger of Dow Chemical Co DOW.N and DuPont Co DD.N , to coordinate on the two reviews.

"It is important that these transactions not be reviewed in isolation," wrote Grassley. "I urge the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to collaborate, as appropriate, with input from the Department of Agriculture, in their analysis of the agricultural biotechnology and seed industry and the impact of these proposed transactions." Dow and DuPont said in December that they would combine in an all-stock merger with plans to then break into three separate businesses.

In February, China's state-owned ChemChina CNNCC.UL made a $43 billion bid for Swiss seeds and pesticides group Syngenta SYNN.VX .

The deals by some of farmers' biggest global suppliers concerned Grassley, who represents a largely agricultural state.

"I am concerned that the convergence of these proposed transactions - as well as others currently being discussed - will have an enhanced adverse impact on competition in the industry and raise barriers to entry for smaller companies," he wrote.

"I also am concerned that further concentration in the industry will impact the price and choice of chemicals and seed for farmers, which ultimately will impact choice and costs for consumers. Finally, I am concerned that further consolidation will diminish critical research and development initiatives," added Grassley.

The letter was dated Tuesday and sent to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and Renata Hesse, the acting head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by David Gregorio)
Aug 18 The yield on Spain's 10-year government bond fell to a record low on Thursday, pushed down by signs of progress to end the country's political deadlock.

Spain's acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy said on Thursday he had taken a "decisive step" towards forming a government by agreeing to a pact with a smaller rival, but still lacks the majority he needs for a second term.

The country has been mired in a political limbo since elections in December and June left all parties short of a majority and unable to agree on terms to govern together.

Rajoy, whose conservative People's Party came first in both ballots, said he was ready to face a parliamentary vote to form a government.

While he still lacks the backing he needs from the second-placed Socialists, progress made so far helped send Spanish bond yields to fresh record lows.

Spain's 10-year government bond yield fell as low as 0.909 percent, according to Reuters data, and was down almost 7 basis points on the day.

That pushed the gap over top-rated German Bund yields below 100 bps to its tightest level since April 2015.

"We're seeing a significant improvement in sentiment towards Spanish bonds as investors hunt for yield and it is looking increasingly likely that Rajoy will be able to form a government," said Nick Stamenkovic, a bond strategist at RIA Capital Markets.

"The missing element is the Socialists but the risk premium has come down on Spain."

Other euro zone bond yields were 1-3 bps lower, with the exception of Portugal. (Reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe,; editing by Nigel Stephenson)
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By Josh Farley of the Kitsap Sun

PORT GAMBLE  A 19-year-old Bainbridge Island woman who crashed her bike Wednesday while riding on trails in North Kitsap was taken to Harrison Medical Center with injuries, according to the Poulsbo Fire Department.

Firefighters described the injuries as "potentially serious." She was riding about 12:30 p.m. on Pope & Talbot Land near Highway 104 and Port Gamble Road when she crashed, crews said.

Her condition at the hospital is unknown.
Port of Bremerton's Steven Sparks, director of facilities and planning, talks about the cleanup being done after a chrome-plating business departed a Port of Bremerton industrial building in November, leaving traces of lead, arsenic, cadmium and other toxins behind.

SHARE Port of Bremerton's Steven Sparks, director of facilities and planning, is framed in a gap of protective plastic hanging over the entryway as he talks about the cleanup being done after a chrome-plating business departed a Port of Bremerton industrial building in November, leaving traces of lead, arsenic, cadmium and other toxins behind. Port of Bremerton's Steven Sparks, director of facilities and planning, talks about the cleanup being done after a chrome-plating business departed a Port of Bremerton industrial building in November, leaving traces of lead, arsenic, cadmium and other toxins behind. Related Coverage Port awards contract to clean up contaminated building

By Tad Sooter of the Kitsap Sun

BREMERTON  When a chrome-plating business departed the Port of Bremerton last fall, it left a toxic mess behind.

Materials used in the metal-plating process, which included arsenic, lead, cyanide, cadmium and other poisonous chemicals, had leached into the concrete floor of the shop and the soil below. Ventilation fans had drawn more chemical particles up the walls, dusting exposed surfaces. Nine months after Art's Custom Chrome gave up its shop in Olympic View Industrial Park, the port still is dealing with a painstaking and expensive cleanup.

"It's an extremely costly business, and the disposal is costly as well," port facilities and planning director Steven Sparks said at a commissioner meeting last week.

An early estimate pegged the overall cost of cleanup at $130,000, not including waste removal. Attorney Gordon Walgren said the port would contact insurance carriers for the former tenants to discuss compensation.

Metal-plating businesses occupied portions of the building at Imperial Way and Barney White Road for nearly 20 years. Electro Forming Systems rented there from 1998 to 2013, before reassigning its lease to Art's Custom Chrome LLC, according to port commission documents. Art's Custom Chrome specialized in plating parts for vintage and custom cars.

Sparks said the chrome business moved out in November. After it departed, the port brought in Krazan and Associates to test for contamination in the building and hired a contractor to begin cleaning the floor. Steven Padilla with Krazan and Associates said a small wall used to contain chemical baths in the shop was demolished and the contractor shaved off a quarter-inch of concrete. Contaminated debris was packed into barrels to await removal.

Additional tests revealed chemicals had seeped through unsealed expansion joints in the floor and soaked into sediment beneath the building. Padilla said workers will have dig 2 feet deep below the joints to remove toxins in the dirt.

Yet more analysis found traces of chemicals in dust coating the upper reaches of the metal-plating shop. A contractor will be hired to clean those surfaces once Krazan and Associates has determined what techniques are required. Sparks said the work should take about five weeks.

"Time is of the essence," port commission President Axel Strakeljahn said. "Every day that thing's empty, we don't have a tenant."

Art's Custom Chrome appears to be out of business. The company's account with the Department of Labor and Industries is inactive. Its website still lists the Olympic View Industrial Park address and its phone number was not accepting messages Wednesday.

Labor and Industries spokeswoman Elaine Fischer said there was no record of safety complaints for the business. There are special worker protection requirements for any workplace using hazardous chemicals, Fischer said, but no requirement for routine inspection by the department.
I am appalled at that.



One of the biggest tragedies of my life is also the source of one of the proudest moments in my life.



My godson was killed by a drunk driver (3 in the afternoon - the 12 year old was killed riding home from school on his bicycle. He was on the correct side of the road - but the woman, drunk out of her mind, was driving half on the road and half on the shoulder, swerving from right to left lane.) and the woman was the first charged in NYS on vehicular manslaughter charges. She was also the first to receive SERIOUS prison time for the offense. We worked overtime on the media for that - and several of us, especially his mother, spoke up at the victim's response time at the trial.



This four day sentence is an absolute JOKE - the judge should be censured.
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Matthew Kurt Monaghan

of Port Orchard, WA

Dec. 2, 1970

to Aug. 16, 2016

Matt passed away unexpectedly while attending training in Detroit, Michigan.

He is survived by his wife, Tanya, and sons, Adam and Matthew, of the family home; parents, Jim and Carol of Manchester; brother, Jimmy and wife, Robin, of Port Orchard; great-grandmother, Helen McBane of Port Orchard; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

A celebration of life will be held on Aug. 27, 2016 at his parents' home in Manchester from 1 to 5 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made at any branch of Key Bank to the account of Matthew J. Monaghan.
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When I caught up with J.D. Vance, he still sounded a bit bemused by the success of his colorfully titled book, "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and a Culture in Crisis."

"I was just hoping to get some attention," he told me in a telephone chat as he prepared for a network TV appearance in Washington. "I wasn't expecting nearly this much attention."

No, but nobody was expecting Donald Trump to be the Republican presidential nominee, either  especially not as a populist hero to a base of white working-class, non-college-educated voters.

That's why, although Trump's name appears nowhere in Vance's book, it quickly rose to Amazon's top 10 amid glowing reviews as a narrative that helps to explain Trump's surprising appeal to the white underclass, the underprivileged group from which its author emerged.

"You cannot understand what's happening now without first reading J.D. Vance," wrote Rod Dreher, senior editor of The American Conservative, after an interview with Vance. "His book does for poor white people what Ta-Nehisi Coates' book did for poor black people: give them voice and presence in the public square."

I agree. Just as Coates' memoir "Between the World and Me" helps us to understand the rise of movements like Black Lives Matter, Vance helps us to understand how shrinking opportunities for low-income whites helped to fuel the rise of Trump.

This narrative has special meaning to me. Vance and I share a lot in common. Born to a Scots-Irish "tribe" in rural Jackson, Ky., Vance, 31, recalls moving with his grandparents to Middletown, Ohio  the same factory town to which my Alabama-born parents migrated and where I grew up.

Although we are more than a generation apart, his book helped me to see my hometown from the poor white side of town  and feel as never before how fortunate I was to grow up on the black side of town and, most important, in a more prosperous era.

Our family was "working poor," as my factory worker dad would say, but "rich with spirit," especially in the 1960s as segregation loosened and opportunities opened up for workers of color.

Vance's upbringing, by contrast, was plagued with family and community violence and disorder brought on by alcohol, drugs and other types of dysfunction.

Fortunately, his life settled down after his often-feuding grandparents reconciled and took custody of him as he entered high school. After the Marines, Ohio State University and Yale Law School, he now is a principal in a Silicon Valley investment firm, far from the hills he used to know.

The old neighborhoods we knew now struggle against decay. Deaths by drug overdoses since 2014 in the county have outnumbered deaths by natural causes, according to the Butler County coroner's office.

Vance writes about people who are "very frustrated because they feel like the institutions that enable success are closed off from them," he said in an ABC "This Week" interview. "When I got into Yale Law School, for example, a family member asked me if I pretended to be a liberal."

The sense that "traditional markers of success" are not open to them "breeds a sense of learned helplessness," Vance says in his most controversial yet also most important argument. Learned helplessness or "the sense that folks' choices don't matter" is crippling when it prevents individuals from taking advantage of available opportunities, like education or job training.

Vance, who also has written for National Review, is more conservative than I am, yet we agree on a lot. Like me, he sees Trump as someone who "diagnoses the problems in a very successful and passionate way," but Vance doesn't "see him as offering many solutions."

Indeed, his recent economic policy speech, for example, promoted a set of income tax cuts and credits that sound great until you realize that most low-income workers make too little to pay federal income tax, although they pay plenty of other taxes.

We also wonder if Trump loses  which has been looking more likely by the day  whether the Grand Old Party will react with a more populist stance to enlist low-income workers who have been overlooked in the past.

Or will they only breathe a sigh of relief and try to move on  until the next opportunistic demagogue steps up? That book has yet to be written.

Email Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.
So, now it appears that the Obama administration not only settled a decades-old Iran monetary claim for quite a bargain, being that the interest on that $400 million dollars principal Shah-era arms payment could have been substantially higher than $1.3 billion if it were decided by the Hague Tribunal, the Obama administration also used that principal payment of $400 million dollars to Iran as a form of leverage to assure that Iran would live up to the terms of the prisoner swap agreement they had made with the US.



Good job, Obama administration.



Now, of course, if the Obama administration didn't use that settlement principal payment as a form of leverage against Iran and had just sent Iran that money, and if Iran didn't live up to the terms of that prisoner swap agreement, Obama's detractors would instead be saying why should the US give Iran its own money back if they don't release those Americans being detained in Iran.



But, then I guess ODS does tend to block out any geopolitical real politick rational thought amongst ODS sufferers.
Linn County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Murphy says he will rule by Sept. 19 on a number of motions in the county's lawsuit over management of state forest lands, including the question of whether the case will be certified as a class action.

Murphy made that announcement after listening to more than three hours of testimony during a hearing on Wednesday. He had heard other motions in the case in an earlier hearing in early July.

At issue is a March lawsuit filed by Linn County against the state Department of Forestry. The suit involves state forest trust lands, property that was conveyed to the state by the counties decades ago. In all, 15 Oregon counties include at least some of these lands.

Linn County's lawsuit argues that the state made a promise to the counties that it would manage the lands for "greatest permanent value." At one time, Linn County argues, that meant maximizing timber harvests from those lands; money from those harvests flowed to the counties.

In recent years, however, the state has broadened its definition of "greatest permanent value" to include other goals as well, including recreation, habitat protection and riparian area preservation. The amount of money flowing to the counties has dropped as timber harvests have fallen, and Linn County says that amounts to a breach of the contract between the counties and the state. The lawsuit estimates the damages to the affected counties at about $1.4 billion.

Linn County was represented Wednesday by John DiLorezo and Chris McCracken of the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine in Portland.

Representing the state were senior assistant attorneys general Scott Kaplan and Frank Hammond.

The state's attorneys argued Wednesday that the suit should be dismissed because the term "greatest permanent value no longer refers simply to economic issues.

Linn Countys attorneys, however, emphasized numerous times during the day that the case is not about changing state policies. They said it is solely about what Linn County sees as a breach of contract and loss of income to the affected counties.

In addition, attorneys clashed on the issue of whether the suit should be certified as a class action. (Linn County commissioners have said that if the class is certified, affected counties still would have the option to opt out of the suit. Other counties with state forest trust lands are Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Douglas, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Marion, Polk, Tillamook and Washington counties.)

The state believes there are enough differences among all of the counties and the deeds involved in the development of the state forests to not certify the lawsuit as a class action.

The state's attorneys contended that if certified as a class, the lawsuit might devolve into 183 different mini-trials. They noted that each forests management plan takes into account mandates such as the Endangered Species Act, riparian issues, type of trees that grow in the area, soil types and soil slopes. They said conditions vary from county to county, parcel to parcel and stand to stand.

But the countys attorneys countered that while individual tracts may be managed differently than others, as a whole the state forest plan is implemented region by region, not deed by deed.

State attorneys also questioned the fact that the early costs of the lawsuit are being borne by timber companies.

Kaplan argued that the lawsuit had been framed by private timber interests months before Linn County came on board.

He said those companies have economic interests that might not be the same as those of the general public.

But DiLorenzo said its not unusual for lawsuits to be formulated over long periods of time by one group before being filed by another.

He pointed to the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, which paved the way for equal education for all children regardless of race. He said the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had formulated the lawsuit well before the plaintiff became involved.

This is a veiled attempt by the state to discredit Linn Countys motives, DiLorenzo said. In our agreement with Linn County, Linn County calls all the shots.

He added that the private companies have a vested interest not only in whether there are local timber sales to feed mills, but also that the county budget and other districts can provide adequate fire and law enforcement services.

They live here. Their employees live here, DiLorenzo said. They are interested in having vibrant local communities.

The private companies have agreed to help fund initial legal fees, but if the lawsuit is certified as a class action, Davis Wright Tremaine would then be paid based on a contingency fee.

Before wrapping up the hearing on Wednesday, Murphy asked the attorneys how long they anticipate a trial might last. The plaintiffs thought two weeks and the state attorneys suggested four weeks.
Russell Byrd, senior director at Comcast, speaks during a press conference at Comcast's newly redesigned call center in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL)

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By Ed Marcum of the Knoxville News Sentinel

The Comcast Foundation said Thursday that it had made two grants available, totaling more than $35,000, to two Knoxville area nonprofit organizations.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley will receive a $20,000 grant for their work with Comcast through the My. Future program.

Additionally, the Knoxville Area Urban League will receive $15,000 for its National Achievers Society program.

"Comcast has been a committed partner to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley," Ernie Brooks, Boys & Girls Clubs development officer, said in a statement. "Comcast's continued support of our digital literacy and youth mentoring programs has been crucial to our success."

"The Knoxville Area Urban League appreciates Comcast's leadership and investment in the ongoing development of our youth in Knoxville through our National Achievers Program," said Phyllis Y. Nichols, Urban League president and CEO.

Sara Jo Houghland Walker, regional director of communications for Comcast, said Comcast has been involved with the two organizations for some time and made the grants based on the value of the work they do.

"These programs align well with our community initiatives," she said.

The My. Future program is meant to teach young people digital literacy and help them learn to use technology. Through the clubs, they work on digital projects, do in-person presentations to their peers, and identify interests they want to pursue, such as robotics, game design, online journalism and others.

Comcast is a partner in the My. Future program, through Comcast's Internet Essentials program. Comcast is working as a partner with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to close the "digital divide" experienced by low-income Americans, Walker said. Through a HUD program, qualifying households are able to get internet service for $9.95 per month.

The National Achievers Society, open to black and other minority students in grades 10-12, is an honor society that seeks to identify and motivate minority high school students so as to increase the pool of those prepared and qualified for higher education. Each September, the organization holds an orientation ceremony with student performances, an official induction affirmation and awards.

Besides awarding grants such as those to the two groups, Comcast also donates to the community through its Comcast Cares Day program, in which Comcast employees volunteer for projects.

On April 25, 300 volunteers worked at South Knoxville Elementary School, planting trees, and pressure-washing sidewalks.
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FAMILY FEST

Pathways Church Sevierville and South Knoxville campuses are hosting an Olympic "Going for the Gold" family night from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 19, at World's Fair Park. Admission is free and includes these free activities: thirteen inflatables, a rock climbing wall, gymnastics play area, group games and food.

More: https://www.facebook.com/events/279742462384269/

CONSIGNMENT SALE

Shop the East Maryville Baptist Church children's consignment sale from 8 a.m.-1 p.m., 5-8 p.m. Aug. 19 and 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Aug. 20. The sale offers everything you need for babies to teenagers, maternity clothing and a selection of junior clothing and accessories for boys and girls. Saturday is the half-price sale. The church is at 1150 Brown School Road.

Info: http://embc.us/

DRAGONFLY FUN

Sunday, August 21, 2 - 4 p.m.

Dragon Quest at Ijams

Join Ijams Nature Center naturalist Stephen Lyn Bales from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, for a lighthearted look at some of the winged wonders that live in East Tennessee. This bug-ology workshop looks at dragonflies and damselflies. There will also be some fun, dragonfly-themed food.

The fee is $5 for Ijams members and $8 for non-members (Children under 3 are free). Space is limited, to register call 865-577-4717, ext. 110.
Amanda Sammons

By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel

JACKSBORO, Tenn.  A Campbell County judge on Thursday found herself seated at the defense table as a trial date was set on charges she abused her judicial authority.

Senior Judge Paul Summers set a Nov. 1 trial date for General Sessions Judge Amanda Sammons, who faces four counts of official misconduct in her handling of two cases highlighted as part of a monthslong probe by the News Sentinel.

Sammons' attorney, Wade Davies, entered pleas of not guilty on her behalf and invoked her right to a speedy trial.

"We are moving for a speedy trial," Davies told Summers. "Judge Sammons, of course, holds an elected position in Campbell County."

The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct suspended Sammons from the bench last week after a Campbell County grand jury indicted her on the four felony charges. The Tennessee Supreme Court has tapped Campbell County Circuit Judge John McAfee, Campbell County Chancellor Elizabeth Asbury and Claiborne County General Sessions Judge Robert Estep to handle cases in Sammons' court. Eight Judicial District Judge Shayne Sexton has been overseeing the transition.

It will be up to the Campbell County Commission to appoint an interim judge.

Sammons is accused in two counts of the indictment of "causing a change of a criminal charge" and of setting a bond "based on information not contained in the warrant, the record or that was a result of a sworn affidavit or testimony" with the "intent to harm" Lafollette, Tenn., mother Krista Leigh Smith in January.

Smith was charged with child neglect for failing to buckle up her children while driving on an icy road. Sammons is accused of ordering jailers to boost the charge to aggravated child abuse  the toughest child abuse law on the books and one that requires serious bodily injury  and setting a $250,000 bond. Smith, unaware of the change in charge or why her bond was so high, spent nearly 48 hours in jail as a result before Sammons apparently altered a record by marking through the new charge she had imposed and allowing Smith to be freed after paying $87.

Sammons later insisted jailers, who documented the orders from the judge, were lying and that she had elevated the bond in confusion with another case she has never identified. The jailers, in turn, said it was Sammons who lied. Sammons was removed from the case, and Smith was later allowed to pay a $30 fine for violating the state's child restraint law.

In the remaining two counts, Sammons is again accused of lying and abusing her authority when she issued a contempt charge against Campbell County attorney Kristie Anderson and Anderson's divorce client, Julie Lester, in September 2014. Sammons was recorded in a transcript accusing Anderson of all manner of disrespect to the court and clerks, none of which had been alleged or proven. Pressed by Anderson's attorney at a hearing earlier this year, Sammons said under oath Anderson's opposing counsel in the divorce case sought the contempt charge. Attorney Larry Vaughan denied that, and Sammons later  still under oath  admitted she, not Vaughan, lodged the contempt action.

The News Sentinel has reported on allegations of abuse of judicial powers by Sammons since fall 2015, detailing instances in which she ordered children removed from their homes without authority, refused to dismiss charges against the wrongfully accused, levied fees against defendants for attorneys they did not use, barred defendants from walking into court and then ordered them arrested for failing to appear, and charged people a drug-testing fee not authorized by any government body.

Special prosecutor Dan Armstrong, whose district includes Hamblen and Greene counties, launched a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe into the incidents involving Smith, Anderson and Lester. TBI agents Chris Wilhoit and Teddy Collingsworth testified before the grand jury last week.

Armstrong said Assistant District Attorney General Lindsey Lane will prosecute Sammons at trial. Summers set an Oct. 11 motions hearing in the case. He allowed Sammons to be released last week on her own recognizance after she was booked into the Campbell County jail on the four felony charges.

Sammons said little at the arraignment, which is not unusual in such hearings.

"Judge Sammons, you have been arraigned," Summers said. "We have set a trial date. Stay in touch with your counsel."

Official misconduct carries a penalty range of one to two years. Because Sammons was acting in her official capacity, she would be ineligible for judicial diversion, which otherwise could have spared her jail time and a permanent conviction, if deemed guilty by a jury.

Sammons narrowly won election to the bench in August 2014 after serving as a prosecutor in Claiborne County. She campaigned on a vow to clean up Campbell County's judicial system and made use of a nickname she claimed was bestowed on her as a prosecutor  "the blue-eyed assassin."
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, Tuesday, July 26, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

By Michael Collins of the Knoxville News Sentinel

WASHINGTON  Susan Richardson Williams left the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last month feeling optimistic about Donald Trump's chances of winning the White House.

"I listened to his acceptance speech  he stayed on script, and it was good, I thought," said Williams, former chairwoman of the Tennessee Republican Party and a Knoxville resident. "He set the tone for what he should be talking about  trade problems and terrorism and immigration issues, all of those things that have gotten him the nomination."

Then things quickly went awry.

A succession of missteps and off-the-cuff remarks by Trump sent his poll numbers crashing. Prominent Republicans abandoned their nominee and encouraged their party to do the same. More signs of turmoil came Wednesday when Trump reshuffled his campaign staff for the second time in two months to regain his footing.

Given all the turbulence in the month since the convention, Williams and other Tennesseans say the hopes they had for a possible Trump presidency have morphed into questions about the state of his campaign.

"He really needs  quickly  to get back on the message that got him the nomination," Williams said. "Whether he can do that or not remains to be seen."

U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-Johnson City, said he also is concerned by Trump's downward spiral. Trump now badly trails Democrat Hillary Clinton in most national polls and in many of the swing states he would need to win the presidency.

But Roe cautioned it's not unusual for a candidate to see up-and-down swings in polling during a presidential race. Trump still has time to turn his campaign around before Election Day, he said.

"Do I like where we are right now? No, I don't," Roe said. "But it's not Nov. 8 either."

Trump's die-hard supporters  those who have been with him since the beginning  reject the notion that his campaign has veered off course. They remain as passionate about the nominee and his message as they were during the slog through the GOP primaries.

"I approve of what Mr. Trump is doing, and I'm excited about the direction that his campaign is taking," said Charlotte Bergmann of Germantown. "I could just shout 'hallelujah,' I'm so excited."

Trump's problems are not a reflection of the candidate's shortcomings but are instead the product of a biased media that pounces on his every misstep  no matter how trivial  while ignoring Clinton's sins, said Terry Roland, chairman of the Shelby County Commission.

"Anybody that's supporting Trump knows it's a full-court press by the media to make him look bad," Roland said. "But it's having a different effect. It's making us work harder."

U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, one of the first sitting members of Congress to back Trump in the primaries, also attributes much of the candidate's problems to "a very biased media."

"I don't think I've ever seen a campaign where the media has so negatively focused on everything one candidate says and makes a story out of it whether it is or isn't (newsworthy)," said DesJarlais, R-South Pittsburg.

Regardless, some Tennessee Republicans think Trump's political problems have been exacerbated by his own behavior.

Former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe said Trump's wounds have been largely self-inflicted. "There needs to be more self-discipline," Ashe wrote in an email.

Williams, of Knoxville, said Trump needs to do a better job staying on message and "quit trying to crack jokes that don't work." Several of the comments that got him in trouble  like his suggestion that "Second Amendment people" might stop Clinton from appointing liberal judges  were obvious attempts at humor that fell flat, she said.

"He's from New York  he's got a sarcastic sense of humor, and I get his sense of humor," she said. "But you can't do that in a presidential campaign and get away with it. He ought to realize that by now."

To win, Trump also needs to find a way to generate enthusiasm among establishment Republicans who were not with him at the start of the campaign but are backing him now because they don't want to see Clinton in the White House, Williams said.

"There is nothing in my DNA that would allow me to vote for Hillary Clinton because I know what kind of president she would be," said Williams, whose first choice for the GOP nomination was Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

"Trump might surprise me  he might be a good president," Williams said. "He didn't get to be successful by being stupid." But, she said, "he needs to give us a reason for us to support him other than the fact that we don't like Hillary."

Part of Trump's appeal to voters is that he's not a traditional politician and isn't afraid to say "colorful" things that other candidates would not, said Edward Phillips Jr., a Republican from Rutherford County.

But Trump also needs to show more substance on the issues, like he did last week when he laid out his strategy for defeating radical Islamic terrorism, Phillips said.

"We need to have a little bit more idea of how he's going to achieve his goals," he said.

Trump has come a long way by being direct with voters, but "there's lots of room for improvement and there's lots of work to be done," said Julie Hannah, chairwoman of the Williamson County Republican Party.

Shaking up his campaign staff last week was a start, she said, and "I'm hoping that Mr. Trump will allow the professionals that he has put in different positions to do what it takes to win and to keep the focus on putting Americans first."

"We're 80 days away" from the election, Hannah said. "It's getting down to crunchtime."
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County fair season is underway, and a rash of accidents led state officials to send out notices to amusement ride operators even before the Aug. 8 Ferris wheel failure at the Greene County Fair that injured three girls.

These incidents should prompt state lawmakers to at least review how amusement rides are regulated in Tennessee, though injury rates also indicate they should look at inflatable rides and other devices as well.

Kayla Reynolds, 10, her sister Briley, 6, and an unidentified 16-year-old girl were hospitalized after falling at least 25 feet to the ground at the Greene County Fair. Kayla broke her arm, while Briley suffered a traumatic brain injury. Kayla and the 16-year-old girl were discharged from the hospital last week, and Briley was released from the hospital on Wednesday.

Greeneville Police Capt. Tim Davis said at a recent news conference that reports indicate mechanical failure is to blame, the Johnson City Press reported.

The Ferris wheel was operated by Georgia-based Family Attractions Amusement. The firm shut down all its rides following the incident. News outlets reported the fair dissolved its contract, which had another year to run, with Family Attractions Amusement.

The state's Amusement Device Unit, which is part of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, regulates carnival rides, ziplines, bumper cars and other devices. The unit recently reported there had been at least four previous amusement-ride accidents in Tennessee since July 1, the date recent revisions to state law took effect, which prompted regulators to send out a safety notice to operators on Aug. 4, four days before the Greene County incident.

Though the Amusement Device Unit is in charge of enforcing the law, Tennessee does not actually inspect amusement rides. Under Tennessee law, amusement device operators are required to hire third-party inspectors to perform inspections. The inspectors are supposed to be certified by one of three certifying agencies, and devices are to meet national industry standards.

Owners and operators are required to report incidents involving injury or death immediately, and shut down the ride. They must hire a third-party inspector within 24 hours, and file the inspection report as soon as possible.

According to the Amusement Device Unit's website, there are 20 non-compliant operators in Tennessee. Family Attractions Amusement was not on the list on Wednesday.

Most of the companies on the list operate inflatable rides and devices, many of which are rented for private parties. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates 16,903 people are injured on inflatables in the United States every year, more than eight times the number of injuries reported at permanently located amusement parks by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

State lawmakers and regulators should at least review Tennessee's regulatory structure. Inspectors who work for the inspected inherently give the appearance of a potential conflict of interest, and safeguards must be effective. Tennessee officials need to make sure the laws and regulations in place protect the health and lives of citizens.
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Louisiana National Guard rescues 11,085 citizens and 1,400 pets

AUGUST 18, 2016 at 11:19 a.m.







Louisiana National Guardsmen convoy to a boat launch to conduct search-and-rescue missions near Maurepas, La., Aug. 17, 2016. The Louisiana National Guard has been conducting flood response and recovery missions, as directed by Gov. John Bel Edwards, since Aug. 12. Louisiana Army National Guard photo by 1st Sgt. Paul C. Meeker





BATON ROUGE, LA  The Louisiana National Guard is still conducting flood response and recovery missions, while prepositioning vehicles and assets in potentially flood-affected areas as directed by Gov. John Bel Edwards. National Guard relief efforts began August 12.



With the changing conditions, we are continuously adapting to the needs on the ground, Army Maj. Gen. Glenn H. Curtis, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, said in the news release. We continue to work closely with our state partner agencies making the most of opportunities to leverage resources and manpower to keep Louisiana citizens safe and maintain order.



More than 3,650 Louisiana Guardsmen are taking part in emergency flood response efforts, including evacuations, search-and-rescue operations, sling-load missions, engineering missions, commodities distribution and security and shelter support, officials said.



So far, the Louisiana National Guard has rescued more than 11,085 citizens and 1,400 pets, and issued more than 32,255 meals ready-to-eat, 359,615 bottles of water, 465 tarps and 784,000 sandbags, according to officials.



The Louisiana National Guard also issued over 2,200 cots and 1,700 blankets for shelter support, officials said.



Over the course of these operations, Louisiana Guardsmen have supported local, state and federal agencies with more than 257 high-water vehicles, 55 boats, 11 bridge erection boats and nine helicopters, officials said.



Officials said the Louisiana National Guard has liaison officer teams in Ascension, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Vermillion and St. John parishes.

Published August 18, 2016
By Kim Tae-gyu



Board members of Samsung Group's financial affiliates convened Thursday to rearrange their cross-holding equities in a bid to speed up the conglomerate's long-overdue mission of completing a holding company structure.



Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance each held board meetings to make a decision that the former will purchase Samsung Securities stakes held by the latter worth around 230 billion won.



As a result, Samsung Life's stake in Samsung Securities will rise from 11.2 percent to 19.2 percent, a maneuver to turn Samsung Life, Korea's No. 1 life insurer, into the group's financial holding company.



The move is the latest in Samsung Life's efforts to increase stakes in financial units including Samsung Fire, Samsung Card, Samsung Securities, Samsung Asset Management and Samsung Futures to meet the regulatory requirement of having a 30 percent stake in the companies.



Samsung Futures is a 100-percent owned subsidiary of Samsung Life, which also bought Samsung Asset Management in 2014. It purchased shares of Samsung Card this January to raise its stake to 71.9 percent.



Thursday's board meetings were about completing intra-group stock reshuffling to accelerate the establishment of a financial holding firm.



Thus far, Samsung has been under fire for failing to comply with the country's principle of separating financial from industrial capital. Critics claimed that its non-financial outfits have grown on the back of financial capital such as insurance premiums.



To troubleshoot the problem, Samsung has tried to build a financial holding company.



After that, the group is expected to create a non-financial holding firm where its flagship subsidiary, Samsung Electronics, will take center stage. Then, it is projected to make a third and final holding company to link the two.



Samsung's current governance structure is composed of two lines around Samsung Construction and Trade (C&T), which is controlled by Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the heir apparent of the group as the only son of the bed-ridden Chairman Lee Kun-hee.



Samsung C&T has a 19-percent stake in Samsung Life, which is looking to raise its share in Samsung Fire. It also has a 4.1-percent stake in Samsung Electronics, which owns 20 percent of the shares of Samsung SDI.







More hurdles



However, it would still be a tall task to complete the financial holding company system because Samsung Life has to dispose of a substantial amount of its 7.5-percent stake in Samsung Electronics so that it will no longer be the largest shareholder in a non-financial company.



The easiest way would be to sell a quarter of the 7.5 percent stake to Samsung C&T. However, observers point out that will be a tough job because it would take billions of dollars.



"Samsung C&T has struggled of late so it would face hardships in securing that much money," said Prof. Kim Sang-jo at Hansung University.



Another problem is that the shift to the new system is subject to the approval of the Financial Services Commission, which Kim predicted may reject the idea.



"Samsung Life will realize huge capital gains if it sells off the expensive shares of Samsung Electronics. It will then need to have a plan for how it will share the windfall with the owners of participating policies," Kim said.



"It is not about the regulations. It is more about people's sentiment. If Samsung attempts to keep all the money itself, it would raise the ire of owners of participating policies, which would prompt the financial regulator to reject Samsung's plan."



In the past, Samsung has sold many participating policies, which provide both guaranteed and non-guaranteed benefits.




By Jhoo Dong-chan



The government has widened its emissions data investigation to all 23 foreign auto brands in Korea to see if they also fabricated emissions and noise-level tests results after a ruling against Audi Volkswagen Korea for these violations.



An environment ministry official said Wednesday that it was a "common practice for local units of foreign auto brands to submit false test data" to get immediate sales approval from the government.



"In order to stamp out any more Volkswagen type cases in the future, the ministry has requested the National Institute of Environmental Research to carry out a complete inspection on all models of the 23 brands," he said.



Each vehicle type that shares the same engine has at least two or three models depending on options or transmissions. If a flagship model gets sales approval from the government, its sister models in the same type have also been considered to have obtained the same certification.



An industry insider said the government's move could be a game changer in the imported auto market in Korea.



"I understand domestic automakers, such as Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, assign 200 staff to deal with government certification," the insider said.



"Local sales units of foreign automakers in Korea do not have such manpower; and it therefore takes time to collect information such as emissions data to meet governmental standards for each model. For that reason, a number of dealerships are likely to have submitted forged test data to get certification as soon as possible for more sales. If the ministry imposes similar punitive measure against the violating dealerships as it did with Audi Volkswagen Korea, it will deal a severe blow to the imported auto industry in Korea."



Imported cars accounted for about 15 percent of the total auto sales in Korea as of June, and the most popular brands have been Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes Benz.



The government banned the sales of 80 Volkswagen and Audi vehicle models and fined the company 17.8 billion won ($16 million) last month. Volkswagen's sales have nosedived by about 70 percent in July year-on-year.



"We haven't received any request from the Ministry of the Environment regarding its inspection plan yet," an imported auto brand official said.



"But we will fully cooperate with the government's requests over the issue."




[Classical Concerts]



SAC 11am Concert'

Seoul Arts Center*

Until Dec. 8

On every second Thursday of each month, an "11am Concert" will be performed at the Seoul Arts Center. Chong Park will host the shows with commentary, and coffee will be provided for free. With distinct soloists for each concert, the Korean Symphony Orchestra will perform at all of the concerts.

Tickets cost 20,000 to 25,000 won. For more information, visit sac.or.kr or call (02) 580-1300.

Sumi Jo: La Prima Donna

Seoul Arts Center

Aug. 28

World-renowned soprano Sumi Jo will have a concert celebrating the 30th anniversary of her international debut at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on August 28.

Jo's first appearance on the international scene took place in 1986 as the prima donna in the opera "Rigoletto" at the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi. Ever since, she has actively extended her role in various opera productions. "La Prima Donna" concert will feature songs from well-known operas, including "Caro Nome" from "Rigletto," Liszt's "Liebestraume," Balfe's "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls" and "Doll Song" from "The Tales of Hoffmann." Pianist Jeff Cohen will accompany the performance.

Tickets cost 50,000 to 150,000 won. For more information, visit sac.or.kr or call (02) 3461-0976.

[Big Tickets]

Notre Dame de Paris'

Blue Square Samsung Electronics Hall

Until Aug. 21

The French musical "Notre Dame de Paris" based on the well-known novel "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" will be performed at the Blue Square Samsung Electronics Hall from June 16 to August 21.

With its beautiful numbers including "Le Temps des Cathedrals," "Belle" and "Vivre," the musical Notre Dame de Paris has drawn a vast number of audiences all over the world. Following the premiere in 2008, this year's Korean licensed performance will have Hong Kwang-ho, K-Will and Moon Jong-won playing Quasimodo and Yoon Gong-ju, Lina and Jeon Na-young playing Esmeralda.

Tickets cost 60,000 to 140,000 won. For more information, visit ticket.interpark.com or call (02) 541-6236.

Wicked'

Seoul Arts Center

Until Aug. 28





The musical "Wicked" is held at Seoul Arts Center until Aug. 28. / Courtesy of Wicked Korea



"Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz" returns to the stage with a new cast in July, following its 2013 Korean premiere.

Based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel "Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," it tells the story of two witches  Elphaba and Glinda. Elphaba is a green-skinned witch who is often alienated and Glinda is a popular blonde witch. Veteran actress Cha Ji-yeon is sharing the role of Elphaba with actress Park Hye-na, while Jeong Sun-ah will share the role of Glinda with Ivy. With its spectacular fantasy storyline, "Wicked" shows life-changing friendships while growing up.

Tickets cost 60,000 to 140,000 won. For more information, visit www.wickedthemusical.co.kr or call 1577-3363.

[Pop & Jazz]



Someday Festival 2016

Nanji Hangang Park

Sept. 3 to 4

This year's Someday Festival will be held at Seoul Nanji Hangang Park for two days, Sept. 3 to 4.

Launched last year, Someday Festival is a two-day outdoor event that features a variety of musical genres. The festival this year will feature: Vibe, Jeong-yeop, Kiha & The Faces, Akdong Musician, Busker Busker, Yoonha, J Rabbit, Kim Bum-soo, Jang Bum-joon, 10cm, Beenzino, Zico, Crush and Dean.

A one-day ticket costs 88,000 won and a two-day ticket costs 119,000 won. For more information, visit ticket.interpark.com or call (02) 3780-0611.

Sechs Kies

Olympic Park

Sept. 10-11

Sechs Kies, one of Korea's first-generation idol groups, will hold a two concerts at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena on Sept. 10 and 11.

The concert titled "Yellow Note" is the group's first concert in 16 years, following its split in 2000. Its members returned to the K-pop industry earlier this year, building a new career.

Tickets cost 99,000 to 143,000 won. For more information, visit ticket.auction.co.kr or call 1566-1369.

[Plays & Musicals]



Bare the Musical

Doosan Art Center

Until Sept. 4





"Bare the Musical" will be staged at Doosan Art Center from June 29 to Sept. 4.

/ Courtesy of Marketing Company Achime



"Bare the Musical" will be staged again at the Doosan Art Center following its 2015 Korean premiere.

The musical is about two teen boys, Peter and Jason, who are secretly in love with each other while attending a conservative Catholic high school. Jung Won-young, Song Seung-won and Park Kang-hyun share the role of Peter, and Kim Seung-dae, Sung Doo-seop and Seo Kyung-soo play Jason. Choi Seo-yeon and Min Kyung-ah also star as Ivy.

Tickets cost 66,000 to 88,000 won. For more information, visit ticket.interpark.com or call (02) 556-5910.

Peste

LG Arts Center

Until Sept. 30

The musical "Peste" will premiere on July 20 at the LG Arts Center.

"Peste" is based on French author Albert Camus' novel "The Plague" and combined with Seo Tae-ji's legendary songs. With musical numbers from Seo, "Peste" will display tragedy among the main roles _ Rieux, Rambert, Tarrou, Cottard, and Grand. The story takes place during a bubonic plague, and explores basic human nature in disastrous situations. Kim Da-hyun, Sohn Ho-young, and Park Eun-suk will play Rieux, and Kim Do-hyun and Yoon Hyung-ryul will play Rambert.

Tickets cost 60,000 to 140,000 won. For more information, visit ticket.interpark.com or call 1577-3363.

Hamlet the Play

Chungmu Art Center

Until Oct. 16

One of the most famous dramas of all time, William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" will be staged at Chungmu Art Center from Aug. 2 to Oct. 16.

It will follow the plot of the original work: Prince Hamlet learns that his father has died and his mother has remarried his uncle Claudius who is now the king. The ghost of Hamlet's father appears and tells his son that he was murdered by Claudius, so Hamlet vows vengeance. Hamlet the Play is planned to include a few additional characters, in order to make the tragic story of Hamlet more dreadful. Kim Kang-woo, Kim Dong-won will play the title role of Hamlet, and Lee Kahp-sun and Kim Dae-ryung will play Claudius.

Tickets cost 30,000 to 60,000 won. For more information, visit ticket.interpark.com or call (02) 766-6007.

True West

Yegreen Theater

Until Aug. 28

Sam Shepard's play about brotherhood is being performed at Yegreen Theater until Aug. 28.

"True West" was first performed in San Francisco, where Shepard was a resident playwright. It had its world premiere there in 1980, and first came to Korea in 2011. Since its Korean premiere, the play has accumulated a solid fandom. Austin, a Hollywood screenwriter and Lee, a drifter, are brothers. In their home, Lee threatens to obliterate everything around him, facing off against Austin. While their mother goes on a trip to Alaska, they seek freedom from each other. Bae Sung-woo, Oh Man-suk, Kim Jong-gu and Seo Hyun-woo play Austin, while Jung Moon-sung, Lee Dong-ha, Lee Hyun-wook and Kim Seon-ho play Lee.

Tickets cost 45,000 won. For more information, visit ticket.interpark.com or call (02) 764-8760.

Treasure Island

Seoul Arts Center

Until Aug. 28

A musical based on Robert Louis Stevenson's novel of "Treasure Island" is staged at Jayu Theater of Seoul Arts Center.

This musical play centers on the life of Jim Hawkins, depicting his boyhood adventures on a quest for buried treasure. Hawkins' story expands as he decides to step on a mysterious island in search of treasure. He encounters a number of people there, including the infamous Long John Silver, a cunning pirate.

"Treasure Island" is directed by Lee Dae-woong and stars Bae Bo-ram, Kim Sang-bo, Yu Seung-rak, Han In-su, Kim Do-wan, Kim Jin-gon, Jeong Hyun-chul, Kim Ho-jun and Hwang Uie-jeong.

Tickets cost 10,000 to 50,000 won. For more information, visit sac.or.kr call (02) 580-1300.

[Dance]



Archive Platform

ARKO Performing Arts Center

Aug. 26 to 28





The Korean National Contemporary Dance Company holds a dance contest at Arko Performing Arts Center.

/ Courtesy of KNCDC



The Korean National Contemporary Dance Company holds an archive contest exhibition that features historic events. On the extended line of the accumulated past, the company seeks out new creations through a perspective that views and reconstructs modern problems anew. The contest will be open to domestic choreographers, regardless of genre, for newly created works that utilize archives. The final selections after evaluation will be staged as productions.

Tickets cost 20,000 to 30,000 won. For more information, visit ticket.interpark.com or call (02)3472-1420.

[Clubs]



Club Octagon

Nonhyeon

Near the New Hilltop Hotel in Nonhyeon, this club is notable for its stylish interior and elite clientele. The club offers a stage, lounge bar and dining area to satisfy any night out after work or on the weekend. It is near exit 4 of Hakdong Station on subway line 7. For more information, call (02) 516-8847.

Club Globe Lounge

Itaewon

Club Globe Lounge is famous among women looking for a place to throw birthday parties or enjoy a light dinner. From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., it serves as a bar, changing into a club after 10 p.m. Every Thursday, Club Globe Lounge has a Happy Hour buffet for guests. Club Globe Lounge is located near the Hamilton Hotel by exit 2 of Itaewon Station, subway line 6. For more information, call (02) 792-1127.

Club Evans

Hongik University

Club Evans is a live jazz club that has served as a platform for emerging jazz artists for a decade. It operates jazz recording studios and a jazz academy as well, producing albums for many local jazz artists. Club Evans provides jazz concerts and leads music sessions every Monday and Tuesday. Club Evans is located near exit 1 of Sangsu Station, subway line 6. It opens at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit clubevans.com or call (02) 337-8361.

Once in a Blue Moon

Apgujeong

Once in a Blue Moon is one of the best-known and well-established jazz clubs in the city. It features live jazz sets from two different bands every night, usually starting at 7:30 p.m. It is located between the Hakdong Intersection and Galleria Department Store in the posh district of Apgujeong. For more information, visit onceinabluemoon.co.kr or call (02) 549-5490.

Club Answer

Cheongdam

Club Answer, chosen as one of the five hottest clubs in Seoul by CNN, provides a spacious interior and brilliant lighting system with entertaining DJs on stage nightly. Club Answer is in the classy area of Cheongdam, a district known to lead the party culture of Seoul. It is located near exit 13 of Cheongdam Station on subway line 7. For more information, call (02) 514-4311.

Club Double Eight

Sinsa

Opened in 2010, Club Double Eight takes clubbing to its heights. Located in Gangnam, it provides diverse hotel promotions and features weekend lineups with exuberant DJs. It is located near exit 1 of Sinsa Station on Line 3. For more information, call (02) 543-8803.




President Park Geun-hye will attend the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in China and forums with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos early next month, her office Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.



Park will fly to Hangzhou on Sept. 4 for the two-day summit of the advanced and emerging economies, which will be held under the main theme, "Towards an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy."



Her trip to China will follow her visit to Vladivostok, Russia, for the Eastern Economic Forum.



At the G-20 summit, Park, along with world leaders, will discuss "inclusive and innovative" ways to stimulate economic growth and joint efforts to address volatility in the global financial market and shore up global trade, Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.



Her trip to China was arranged amid growing tensions over the planned deployment of an advanced U.S. antimissile system to South Korea. Attention is being drawn to whether Park and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will discuss the deployment on the sidelines of the multilateral summit.



Following the G-20 gathering, the president will travel to the Laotian capital of Vientiane on Sept. 7 for summit meetings related to the 10-member ASEAN -- South Korea's strategically crucial partner whose regional influence has been increasing since it launched the ASEAN Community late last year.



The resource-rich Southeast Asian states are of great strategic importance as they stretch across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where the world's most crucial trading and energy supply routes pass, including the vulnerable and congested Strait of Malacca.



During the summit with the ASEAN, Park will explore ways to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership with the bloc, her office said. The ASEAN is South Korea's second largest trading partner with two-way trade reaching US$120 billion last year.



On Sept. 7, Park will attend the ASEAN-plus-three summit that also includes the leaders of China and Japan. The following day, she will attend the East Asia Summit to discuss an array of regional issues.



From Sept. 8-9, Park will pay an official visit to Laos, which was arranged on the invitation of Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith. It will mark the first time that a South Korean president has officially visited the Southeast Asian state since the two nations reopened diplomatic ties in 1995.



On Sept. 9, the leaders of South Korea and Laos will hold a summit to discuss trade, investment, development and other areas of mutual concern, the presidential office said.



During her official visit, Park will also meet with South Korean residents in Laos and hold talks with Laotian business leaders to further strengthen bilateral business cooperation.



"Her visit (to Laos) will serve as an opportunity to build trust with the new Laotian government that took office in April and accelerate efforts to strengthen practical cooperation between the two countries," Cheong Wa Dae said. (Yonhap)




By Kim Rahn



An appeals court has rejected the request for refugee status from an Algerian man who claims to be gay.



The man, 42, whose name was withheld, came to Korea in August 2010 and applied for refugee status in November 2013. Saying he was gay, he claimed he would face persecution in his Muslim homeland where homosexuality is criminally punished.



He claimed when he was in Algeria, he had been beaten or confined at schools and at work because of his sexual orientation. He said that after coming to Korea, he heard from his sister that neighbors in his hometown came to know he was gay and thus he could not go back.



But the Cheongju Immigration Processing Center in North Chungcheong Province did not accept his request, saying his situation did not meet the criteria set by the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.



He filed an objection with the Ministry of Justice but this was also denied, and so he filed an administrative suit against the center in January 2015.



The Cheongju District Court ruled in favor of him, saying the Algerian government is unlikely to provide him with legal protection from anti-homosexual violence, and his sexual orientation has been known to the Algerian government and the Algerian Embassy in Seoul through the suit.



"According to the convention which is aimed at protecting refugees' basic rights and freedoms, being unable to express his sexual orientation for fear of persecution is a form of persecution," the court said.



But the Daejeon High Court overturned the lower court ruling, Thursday.



"We recognize that he is gay. But we can't trust all of his claims that he was persecuted in his homeland. The timing of the application is also suspicious as he applied for refugee status only after he was caught during a government crackdown on illegal aliens," the court said.



"Even if his claims are all true, he would not face danger or threats if he settles in other regions in Algeria apart from his hometown and does not disclose his sexual orientation."



The man is appealing to the Supreme Court.



The high court ruling is contrary to two previous cases where a Pakistani man and a Nigerian man were granted refugee status in 2010 and 2013, respectively, for being gay.




Korea Aerospace Industries CEO Ha Sung-yong, fourth from left, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Executive Vice President Orlando Carvalho, center, and other guests participate in a ribbon cutting event for the opening of Lockheed's Advanced Pilot Training facility in Greenville, S.C., Tuesday. / Courtesy of Lockheed Martin



By Kang Seung-woo

Lockheed Martin officially opened its Advanced Pilot Training facility in Greenville, S.C., Tuesday, in preparation for the U.S. Air Force's T-X contract to build 350 trainer jets.

The newly refurbished building will house the Ground Based Training System, as well as the tooling and manufacturing equipment to complete final assembly and flight operations for the T-50A trainer aircraft.

The U.S. defense and aerospace giant, teaming up with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), is offering the T-50A for the project, in which it contests a BAE Systems-Northrop Grumman consortium and one combining Boeing and Saab Group, both of which plan to offer clean-sheet designs.

"I want all of the enemies of America to understand that we are not looking for a fair fight. My goal is to have the overwhelming capability to deter those that would choose to go to war with us...they will lose and lose quickly. The T-50A is ready now and fits the need of the 21st century of the U.S. Air Force," said U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham.

The T-50A is low risk and ready now. It builds on the proven heritage of the T-50 with more than 100 T-50s flying today  100,000 flight hours and counting  and more than 1,000 pilots trained.

"From the innovation of our Skunk Works team in Palmdale, Calif.  who brought this program to life  to the employees in Greenville  who will build the T-50A the brightest minds and the latest technology have been brought together in this facility to provide the U.S. Air Force with a low risk, highly capable aircraft and training solution," said Orlando Carvalho, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Executive Vice President.

The T-50A was developed jointly by Lockheed Martin and KAI. The accompanying T-50A Ground-Based Training System features innovative technologies that deliver an immersive, synchronized ground-based training platform.

Lockheed Martin completed the initial flight test of its first T-50A configured aircraft on June 2, 2016 and the initial flight of its second T-50A configured aircraft on July 26.
By Kim Hyo-jin



Rival parties are locking horns over what date should be recognized as the nation's foundation day.



The ruling Saenuri Party advocates Aug. 15, 1948 as the foundation day because the South Korean government was established on the day after the nation's liberation from the 1910-1945 Japan's colonial rule. Some of its lawmakers are attempting to push for a bill to legalize the argument.



The move followed President Park Geun-hye's Liberation Day speech on Monday, in which she said, "Today marks the 68th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Korea."



The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) urged the ruling party to withdraw its push for enactment, insisting that it intends to exempt collaborators in the Japanese occupation era from criticism of their wrongdoings.



The party also argued that it runs against the Constitution stipulating that it upholds the legitimacy of the provisional government established in 1919.



"We are wondering what lies behind the move that denies the history of the independence movement against Japan's rule and the legitimacy of the provisional government," Rep. Lee Jae-jung, an MPK spokesman, said. "We strongly urge President Park and the Saenuri Party to retract the claim immediately."



MPK former Chairman Moon Jae-in also denounced Park's view, describing it as a "preposterous" claim that contradicts history.



"The government's first official report, published on Sept. 1, 1948, made it clear that the year was the 30th year of the Republic of Korea," he wrote on his Facebook account, Tuesday.



"Not to mention the previous governments have officially noted that the 1948 Liberation Day is the day when the government was established, not when the nation was founded."



The ruling Saenuri Party fueled the partisan controversy, Wednesday, after its senior lawmakers backed Park's perspective, saying it needs to seek enactment on the day of the nation's founding.



With National Assembly deputy speaker Shim Jae-cheol of the Saenuri Party at the forefront of the legislative move, party Chairman Lee Jung-hyun proposed a televised public debate between the parties, saying it was a "very important issue."



Analysts viewed that the ruling party is seeking the attention of its loyal conservative voters in the run-up to the presidential election next year, and momentum amid political gridlock over scandals involving senior presidential secretary Woo Byung-woo.



The issue has long been a source of an ideological dispute in the country.



Conservative politicians and the New Right, a group of right-wing historians, have asserted that the year 1948, when the internationally recognized government was set up after independence, should be viewed as the nation's founding day.



Liberal politicians and mainstream historians, however, interpreted the argument as an attempt to legitimize collaborators from the Japanese occupation era and to highlight the achievements of the late first President Syngman Rhee and the following military government in the 1960s and 1970s.



They argue that April 13, 1919 when the government-in-exile was set up in Shanghai, China, must be regarded as the founding day.




By Kim Jae-kyoung



A wave of recent defections by members of the North Korean elite is raising speculation that the Kim Jong-un regime has begun to crack and the young and unpredictable leader is losing his grip on power.



Experts said that a growing number of North Koreans from the "upper class" have sought to defect in the wake of international sanctions and a massive purge following the death of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, father of the current leader.



Over the past year, Kim Jong-un and his regime have seen several high-level officials, including diplomats and military officers, defect to a third country or to South Korea.



Most recently, Thae Yong-ho, North Korean deputy ambassador to London, has defected to Seoul with his wife and children, according to the Ministry of Unification, Wednesday.



The ministry said that Thae is the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat ever to defect to South Korea. He is the No. 2 man at the North Korean embassy in London, and was scheduled to end his term this summer and return to the North.



Given Thae had been tasked with promoting North Korea in Britain and Western Europe for more than a decade, his defection may come as a shock to Kim and his regime.



In July, a top military officer and a few other diplomats fled North Korea, according to sources. A teenage math prodigy also sought asylum at the South Korean consulate in Hong Kong in early July after participating in the International Mathematics Olympiad.



Experts say that the growing defections by ranking officials reflect growing dissent among the elite with the authoritarian regime.



"This is a small but significant beginning that illustrates that social control is breaking down," Kongdan Oh, a North Korea expert and a researcher at the Institute for Defense Analysis in the United States.



Given the status of the North Korean regime, there should be a further increase in elite defectors, according to experts.



Pyongyang has become more isolated after the U.N. imposed more serious sanctions following a fourth nuclear test in January and the launch of a long-range rocket in February.



They said that more and more people in North Korea have come to believe that there is little hope after witnessing a series of purges and the international sanctions.



Kim Jong-un has overseen his own power transition that involved removing people loyal to his father and replacing them with his own, particularly in the Korean People's Army (KPA). He has also overseen a brutal purge of his uncle Jang Song-thaek and his patronage network.



"No doubt a slowing Chinese economy and increasing international sanctions have convinced a few more that their careers are not going to amount to much in North Korea," said Curtis Melvin, a researcher at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University.



"There have been and will be losers in the North Korean political system, and some of them may try to defect to South Korea," he added. Melvin is also a contributor to 38 North, a website specializing on North Korea.



Recently, Pyongyang has had difficulty handling the issue of elite defectors because they are unable to control external information due to the rise of modern technology.



In the past, the repressive country remained silent on this and prevented any contact with the defectors so that there was no residual impact on its politics and society.



"A big difference now is that defectors may be able to maintain some contact with the North, through modern technology, and this would greatly amplify their impact," said Bill Brown, adjunct professor at Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service.



"If lots of people in Pyongyang, for instance, find out members of the elite are leaving, they will all get very nervous," he added. "Hopefully the refugees and defectors will even have some kind of reverse extortion or blackmail available to threaten to use if their families are harmed."



According to the unification ministry, the number of North Koreans who defected to South Korea from January to July reached 815, up 15.6 percent from a year ago. The figure stood at 1,397 in 2014 but went down to 1,276 last year.




President Park Geun-hye will attend the Group of 20 summit in China early next month, her office Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday, amid tensions with Beijing over the planned deployment of an advanced U.S. antimissile system in South Korea.

Park will fly to Hangzhou on Sept. 4 for the summit of the advanced and emerging economies. (Yonhap)
By Park Moo-jong

China is a big country. No one can deny it.

The Communist country has the largest population of nearly 1.5 billion and occupies the fourth-biggest land in the world.

It is also the world's second-largest economy only after the U.S.

But what the country has been doing, so far, proves it is not big, but little, compared to such countries as the Netherlands, which are small, but big.

Not only we, Koreans, but all the people of the free democratic world know China as an autocratic nation.

Such a country, mobilizing its national media, has gone all out to bash South Korea over its decision to allow the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system against a possible North Korean missile attack.

The country's state-controlled mass media "warn" of harsh retaliation against the self-defense formula, even insulting South Korea's head of state.

Their so-called retaliatory act is so cheap. Without any explanation, the Chinese Embassy in Seoul began to restrict the issuance of multiple-entry visas for businesspeople against prior practice.

A sold-out fan meeting with South Korea's top hallyu stars in Beijing was canceled all of a sudden three days in advance.

In the face of the latest series of Beijing's acts against Seoul, we need to look into history; a history of Chinese invasions of Korea.

The last Chinese invasion dates back only to 1950 during the Korean War (1950-1953). South Korean and United Nations forces were staring victory in the face when the "then" Chinese Red Army crossed the border in a human-wave attack to foil the unification of the peninsula by South Korea.

History shows that any Chinese invasions have been futile, as seen, for instance, in the "Salsu Daecheop" (great victory of Sal River or Cheongchon River) in 612 during the invasion of China's Su Dynasty (581-619) into Goguryeo (BC 37-668) located in the northern part of the peninsula and northeastern region of present-day China.

The incredible victories over China's greedy invasions to occupy the Korean Peninsula were the result of our ancestors' united forces and fortitude. History tells us the answer. We should learn from history.

But more than serious now is a grave split in public opinion caused by the absurd claim of some politicians obsessed only with their political interests, progressives and residents shouting NIMBY (not in my backyard).

The reason for their support of China's opposition to THAAD is simple: fear of the "big" country's retaliation and the NIMBY phenomenon generated by wild rumors about the possible harm from electromagnetic waves from the military device.

It is no wonder that China is busy adding fuel to the fire in South Korea, making best use of protests and rallies and the inconsiderate visit of opposition lawmakers calling for the withdrawal of the deployment plan in concert with Beijing.

China's threats have been compounded by the opposition side and the lawmakers relaying China's menace.

China must have been happy and laughing behind the curtain as the Korean lawmakers did what they wanted.

THAAD is a security issue of the Republic of Korea over whether we can defend ourselves from North Korean nuclear missiles. The security issue has been argued over with China's retaliation becoming a core question.

THAAD is not a system for attack but for defense as weapons experts explain. Rather, it is helpful for China and Russia in that it helps lessen the need for Seoul to seek other defense options like nuclear weapons.

Frankly speaking, the Korea-U.S. alliance is more important to us than Korea-China "honeymoon" relations.

For the peace and security of the nation in the present situation of extreme confrontation between North and South Korea, the United States should remain a strong ally as it used to be following liberation from Japanese occupation in 1945.

It was in September 1992 when Seoul normalized its diplomatic ties with Beijing after severing relations with the Republic of China, namely Taiwan. Over the past 24 years, China has grown to become the world's second-largest economy.

Such a big economy is threatening its "trade partner" for its own ends to seize hegemony and increase its influence in Northeast Asia.

The "big" China is conflicting also with not only the West but also Southeast Asian countries and Japan, not to mention South Korea over various issues involving territory, regional security and fishing rights.

Such a China raises old questions anew. Should Xingang and Tibet, for instance, belong to China? History shows that many Chinese dynasties had tried, in vain, to occupy their neighboring Korean kingdoms and thus had collapsed.

The South Korea of today is capable of overcoming Chinese retaliation, either political or economic.

We have many cards to confront China. There is the ROK-U.S.-Japan cooperative system and the ROK-U.S. alliance.

What's important, however, is our own attitude. What we have to worry about now is not the Chinese cheap threats, but our internal problems.

First of all, our esteemed politicians should be free from their deep-rooted obsession of doing anything, right or wrong, in service of political gains without seeing the big picture.

The enemy within spells defeat in war.

National unity is the sole weapon to overcome the enemy without.

Park Moo-jong is The Korea Times advisor. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English newspaper from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter from 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.com or emjei20@gmail.com.
Yes, it's true. Gymnast Gabby Douglas failed to place her hand over her heart while the national anthem played at the Olympic Games in Rio last week.



After the medal ceremony in which Douglas stood with her arms down, apparently clasping something in both hands while her colleagues on the U.S. women's gymnastics team followed the accepted hand-to-heart protocol, social and traditional media blew up. What was she trying to convey? Was this a willful act of protest? Was it a Black Lives Matter thing (coming as it did on the second anniversary of Michael Brown's death in Ferguson, Mo.)? Did it reflect a disrespect for the country that gave her the opportunity to be an Olympian?



No, Douglas said later, when she apologized. It was inadvertent. She was overwhelmed, she said, and meant no offense.



But the real question is this: Why should she have to apologize? Why are we making judgments about a gold medalist who has spent countless hours of her life training and preparing for these games based on whether or not she displays her patriotism in some socially approved manner?



The silly notion that one must not be sufficiently patriotic if one fails to provide visual proof isn't new or reserved for athletes. Politicians in particular take flak  especially from their opponents  if they seem to flout the unspoken rules.



During his first presidential campaign, for instance, Barack Obama initially resisted the empty gesture of a flag lapel pin, explaining that they had become a "substitute for, I think, true patriotism." But eventually Obama gave in to the relentless pressure and thenceforth sported one regularly.



More recently, Donald Trump griped via Twitter that the Democrats didn't have a flag on stage at their convention until someone complained. "Pathetic," he tweeted.



Certainly there are times  Memorial Day celebrations at Arlington National Cemetery come to mind  when patriotic pomp and ceremony have meaning. But often they are simply rote. Americans are taught from childhood to place their hands over their hearts when the national anthem plays at ball games and as they recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Most of us now do it mindlessly.



If you want to hang a flag on the porch, tattoo an eagle on your arm and shout "Go USA" from the rooftop, by all means do it. But one of the things about the United States is that we are not obligated to do any of those things. The Supreme Court has held that students don't need to pledge allegiance if they choose not to, because to require otherwise would violate the free speech guarantee of the Constitution's 1st Amendment. In fact, not only don't we have to display our patriotism, we don't even have to feel it to be good American citizens.



Our Constitution allows us to express patriotism, or not, as we see fit. That's something worth being patriotic about.



This editorial appeared on the Los Angeles Times and was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.




By Moha Ennaji

Since 2012, more than 12 million migrants and refugees have landed in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. The result has been an escalating political and humanitarian crisis  and increasingly heated debate about how to address it.

In Europe, the debate is characterized by dissent and division, exemplified by the United Kingdom's recent vote to leave the European Union  an outcome that was shaped largely by overblown fears about immigration. With EU member states failing to agree on how to secure external borders, much less what to do with the refugees who have already arrived, an effective, unified response has proved elusive.

In the Middle East, the refugee debate is not nearly as loud, but it is no less passionate. Jordan, a country of 6.5 million, now hosts more than 1.4 million, mostly Syrian, refugees. Lebanon's 1.5 million Syrian refugees represent nearly one-third of the country's population of 4.7 million. Turkey, with some 75 million citizens, now hosts 2.7 million Syrian refugees, about 30% of whom live in 22 government-run camps near the Syrian border.

With most of the refugees originating in the Middle East  especially Syria, but also Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya  the fact that the region is shouldering the overwhelming share of the burden is not surprising. But not all Middle Eastern countries have done enough.

The Gulf countries, despite their vast oil wealth, have taken in hardly any refugees; they contend that, because they are not parties to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, they have no obligation to do so. The United Arab Emirates, for example, has taken in just over 200,000 Syrian nationals since the Syrian crisis began in 2011. Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria permit Syrian refugees to enter, but provide no support to those who do; there are no refugees camps in these countries.

Meanwhile, their neighbors are straining under the weight of the crisis. Already, Jordan's social-welfare budget is reaching a breaking point, spurring social tensions. Schools in both Jordan and Lebanon were overcrowded even before the refugees arrived; now they are bursting at the seams. Even the refugees who work in Jordan and Lebanon are creating problems, as they inadvertently suppress wages for lower-skill jobs. Turkey's government has delivered more than $8 billion in aid; by contrast, the EU has delivered only a small share of the 3.2 billion ($3.6 billion) it pledged last November.

With host countries overstretched, it is unsurprising that refugees live in rough conditions, whether in camps or very poor neighborhoods, with no amenities or sanitation. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are unemployed, including the most highly skilled among them, whose qualifications are often not recognized. As a result, forced labor, slavery, prostitution, and social exclusion are on the rise.

Keeping the migrants largely in the Middle East is critical  not least to prevent them from drowning in the Mediterranean in their attempt to reach Europe. The Turkey-EU agreement concluded last March  according to which non-refugee migrants who reach the EU are sent to Turkey  has helped, contributing to a sharp decline in the number of migrants arriving in Greece.

But much more needs to be done  and Middle Eastern countries should take the lead. Most urgently, the wealthy Gulf states should provide more funding to the countries that are hosting the most refugees, thereby enabling them to begin improving living conditions for those seeking safety. Then, in order to develop a more comprehensive solution that keeps countries stable and ensures that refugees receive adequate protection, deeper collaboration among governments, as well as with the private sector and civil-society organizations across the region, is needed.

The problem is that there is no consensus in the Middle East, either among governments or civil society, about how to respond to the crisis. To break the impasse, one or two bold and far-sighted leaders need to remind their citizens of their countries' legal and, perhaps more important, moral duties to the refugees. The Islamic tradition of protecting the welfare of the poor can provide the language and legitimacy needed to inspire citizens to do their part.

In my book New Horizons of Muslim Diaspora in North America and Europe , I argue against the conventional wisdom that migrants and refugees are a threat to the Middle East's security and development. Just like in the developed countries of the West, migrants in the Middle East can offer untold contributions to their host societies. We just need to let them.

Above all, the refugees' basic needs must be met. Decent living conditions  including housing, nutrition, and health care  must be guaranteed, in addition to educational and employment opportunities.

If a few countries continue to shoulder the entire burden, however, it will be virtually impossible to meet the refugees' needs. Given this, the region needs to develop a mechanism for distributing refugees more fairly across countries, something like the EU's quota system. Standardized and streamlined procedures for handling asylum applications must also be implemented.

Even if all of this is achieved, a truly sustainable solution to the refugee crisis will not come until Syria is at peace, and order is restored in failing states across the Middle East. That is why it is so important for the region's governments to play a bigger and more assertive role in tackling the violence and instability that lies at the root of the crisis.

We cannot afford to wait for outside powers to resolve our most pressing problems. Our governments must invest heavily in our neighbors' stability, including by bringing the Syrian peace process to a successful conclusion, and in the wellbeing of all of our citizens.

Moha Ennaji is President of the South North Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Migration Studies in Morocco and Professor of Cultural Studies at Fez University.Copyright belongs to Project Syndicate.
By Yoon Sung-won



Samsung SDS will establish a joint venture in Vietnam with the country's largest airport terminal logistics business Aviation Logistics Service (ALS), the IT affiliate of Samsung said Thursday.



The company pledged to boost its presence in the Southeast Asian logistics market through the new joint venture, added to their portfolio including the partnership with Thailand's top customs clearance business Acutech made last month.



"Considering ALS's local network and diverse business capabilities we decided that Vietnam is the most optimized partner for Samsung SDS," said Kim Hyung-tae, executive vice president of Samsung SDS's Smart Logistics Business Unit. "With this agreement we will continue to expand our business in the Southeast Asia market."



The system integration service provider said the decision to establish a joint venture in Vietnam has been made as the country's logistics market is recording about 15 to 20 percent annual growth on increasing trade volume and foreign investments. Multinational businesses relocating their global manufacturing bases after the arrival of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the ASEAN Economic Community have also contributed to the decision, the company said.



"Handsets and mobile components have become Vietnam's biggest export items since 2013," Samsung SDS said. "We believe that we can expand external business by utilizing our existing international shipping capacity."



Samsung SDS said it is handling about 40 percent of operations at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, the largest airport in northern Vietnam.



The company said it will seek new customers in Vietnam by providing integrated logistics services and expanding local sales channels on the back of ALS's existing customer base.



In particular, Samsung SDS said it will utilize storage and terminal capacity owned by local partners to stably manage the rapidly growing logistics volume in Vietnam.



Other than the partnerships in Thailand and Vietnam, the company said it is in discussions with Chinese companies to seek sustainable growth in the logistics business.




KT Media Business Unit Senior Vice President Ryu Hee-kwan, right, celebrates the launch of wireless Internet protocol television service Olleh TV Air at the company's office in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of KT



By Yoon Sung-won



KT launched a new network device named "Olleh TV Air," Thursday, which allows Internet protocol television (IPTV) to be accessible wirelessly.



The nation's second-largest telecom company said the new device, based on the faster gigabit-class wired and wireless Internet services, will allow users to watch ultra high-definition (UHD) IPTV content more flexibly.



"Olleh TV Air is expected to provide innovative IPTV services, which used to have constraints in terms of mobility even in a smart home environment," KT Media Business Unit Senior Vice President Ryu Hee-kwan said during a press conference in Seoul, Thursday. "KT will continue to release technological improvements to provide more advanced IPTV services starting with Olleh TV Air."



KT said Olleh TV Air is an external terminal device that connects an Internet modem to an IPTV set-top box through the Wi-Fi technology. Unlike the existing wired IPTV services, it does not need extra wiring and thus users can randomly place the device considering the interior design they want within the reach of Wi-Fi networks, the company said.



Ryu stressed that the company has introduced three key GiGA Internet technologies for Olleh TV Air. First, the broadband UHD video traffic quality of service (QoS) technology is used to prioritize large-size UHD video data in the network, realizing seamless video streaming.



The second technology is called the wireless broadband Wave-2 and automatic connection, which controls data transfer in the gigabit-class networks, Ryu said.



Lastly, he said the smart channel selection technology removes network interference with nearby Wi-Fi access points and automatically selects Wi-Fi channels optimal to IPTV services.



Ryu said Olleh TV Air can be used even without KT's GiGA Internet service, adding that the company is pushing for technological improvement of its IPTV services from a long-term perspective.



"Even without our GiGA Internet, the device is operable in a network environment faster than 35 megabit per second," he said. "We have developed such technological improvements basically for the sake of user convenience. We prioritize customer satisfaction even if it may cause a decrease in the number of subscribers in the short term."



The current version of Olleh TV Air, which includes four antennas inside the device, must be connected to the Internet modem and set-top box. The device should be bought additionally for 99,000 won excluding tax, but those who newly subscribe bundled services of KT's wired Internet and IPTV can get one for free, the company said.



Rhy said KT will develop and release new Internet models and set-top boxes that have Olleh TV Air embedded next year.
The Polish government has approved a bill aimed at stopping the world from incorrectly assuming the country was responsible for operating death camps in Poland during the Holocaust in World War II. / Yonhap



By Hong Dam-young

The Polish government has approved a bill that would outlaw phrases such as "Polish death camps" or "Polish concentration camps" to refer to Auschwitz and other camps Nazi Germany operated in Poland during World War II.

Under the bill, approved Tuesday, anyone using the phrases could be jailed for up to three years.

The bill is intended to stop people from incorrectly assuming that Poland was responsible for operating the death camps, including Auschwitz and Treblinka, during the Holocaust. The media and public figures often refer to the camps as "Polish" mainly because of their location.

U.S. President Barack Obama had to apologize for referring to a camp as "Polish" while speaking at a ceremony in which he posthumously awarded Polish resistance fighter Jan Karski the Presidential Medal of Freedom, on May 29, 2012.

The Polish government has grown more sensitive to comments linking the country to the Holocaust and has denied any involvement in the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis.

"It wasn't our mothers nor our fathers who are responsible for the crimes of the Holocaust, which were committed by German and Nazi criminals on occupied Polish territory," Zbignew Ziobro, the justice minister, said Tuesday, according to the AP news agency.

"Our responsibility is to defend the truth and dignity of the Polish state and the Polish nation, as well as our fathers, our mothers and our grandparents."

While the initial punishment was set at up to five years in prison, the new bill is milder. Other than the reduced prison term, those who use such terms inadvertently or unintentionally would face lesser punishment.

Because the nationalist right-wing ruling Law and Justice Party enjoys a majority in parliament, the bill is expected to pass easily.

But critics said it would be impractical for the government to punish people outside Poland for using the phrases. Some argued that the new bill and the country's nationalistic leadership might suppress political inquiry into Polish behavior toward Jews.

Poland never cooperated with the Nazis and historians generally agree there was little collaboration by individual Poles. But there are historical records of Jews killed by Poles, such as the "Jedwabne pogrom," in which 340 Polish Jews of all ages were locked in a barn and set on fire on July 10, 1941.

An investigation later found it was committed by Polish residents of the town, with the complicity of a German paramilitary group.
Six hunters lost a combined 10 years of hunting privileges in connection to the illegal killing of 9 elk the day after Thanksgiving 2015.

The Cody Enterprise reports that the punishment wraps up the highly publicized killings, which involved hunters from Moorcroft, Sunshine, Gillette and Greybull.

In total 16 citations were issued and those charged pleaded guilty. In addition to the loss of hunting privileges, the hunters were penalized $5,100 in fines, and were ordered to pay $9,500 in restitution to the Wyoming Wildlife Protector's Association's Stop Poaching Fund.

Wildlife officials were called by a concerned hunter who saw the deer dead in a field on Black Friday 2015. The hunters responsible were identified after someone overheard an individual bragging about the hunt in a bar.
Seventeen's very first Asia Pacific Tour 'Shining Diamonds' has kicked off on August 13, 2016 and its first stop of the entire tour was in Singapore. Approximately 2,000 excited fans, also known as Carats, filled up the venue since this was the first time Seventeen visited Singapore.

Seventeen debuted in May 2015 with thirteen-members. The group is made up of three units: hip-hop unit (S.Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Vernon), vocals unit (Woozi, Jeonghan, Joshua, DK, and Seungkwan) and performance unit (The8, Hoshi, Jun, and Dino),

Even before the concert started, Carats were already screaming when the music videos for 'So Nice' and 'Love Letter' came up. Fans displayed high levels of enthusiasm and were singing along with the music videos.

After waiting impatiently for the real deal, the concert kicked off with 'Shining Diamonds' where the boys showcased their aggressive yet charming side and the audience was screaming non-stop. After the first song, Seungkwan asked the audience to calm down as it was only the beginning. Seventeen did an introduction and went on to greet the audience individually. Jun even greeted the fans in Chinese!

Seventeen then continued with 2 songs, 'Rock' and 'Chuck', which displayed their manliness through the powerful choreography. Fans went extremely hyped up when Seventeen did a little body roll as one of their dance moves in Rock. After the 2 songs, fans continued to be hyped up as The8 specially thanked the audience in Chinese for being so enthusiastic.

Seventeen then took a seat on stage and brought us to the next part of the concert which was a short Question and Answer section. They prepared a board filled with Post-Its that the fans wrote. Each member went to the board and picked a Post-It and did whatever the Post-It says. The session started with Hoshi where he had to sing a song for the audience. The audience cheered him on as he sang a short phrase. When it was Seungkwan's turn, his Post-It was to ask Woozi, Joshua and Jun to dance a pigeon dance and they looked so adorable and dorky. Seungkwan added that if they continued doing that, they might scare all their fans away. This section ended with Mingyu and his Post-It requested for a dance battle. The8 and Jun then a mini dance battle and both showed much talent as they did freestyle b-boy on stage.

With this, they ended this section and asked Carats if they were ready for more in their sub-unit stages. The sub-unit stages started off with the Vocal unit. They sang the song 'When I Grow Up' from their second mini album and they definitely serenaded the whole convention center as fans sang along and waved their light sticks. It then went on to the Performance unit, performing 'OMG' from the same album. The Hip-Hop unit ended off the sub-unit stages with 'Fronting'. All the members of Seventeen then came up to stage again to perform NO F.U.N from their first full repackaged album 'Love&Letter'.

After the performance, Seungkwan was the only one left on stage and everyone cheered his name. He then wore a bow tie and told the audience that he will be an MC for the next segment of the concert. It was a game section where the three units played charades and the losing team had to do forfeits. One minute was given to each team to answer as much questions as they can and the first to go was the Vocal unit, followed by the Performance unit and the Hip-Hop unit. The Hip-Hop unit appointed Mingyu to be the actor while the rest guess but when the first image on the screen was a Merlion, Mingyu started flapping his legs like the fish tail on the floor and that brought laughter from the audience. The Hip-Hop unit scored zero points but Seungkwan gave them a second chance with S.Coups being the actor this time and they managed to do better than the previous try. However, they did not manage to escape from forfeits. Vernon was made to do a sexy dance and Mingyu did aegyo and said "I love Singapore Carats" in a cute voice which made the fans went wild.

Straight after their forfeits, Seventeen came back up on stage with 'Adore U' with fans singing to the chorus of the song. After which, they performed 'Mansae'. They then ended the concert with their hit songs 'Pretty U' and 'So Nice' which were songs that brought out the cuteness in these boys.

As they left the stage, fans were screaming to have an encore stage and the video of Seventeen training behind the scenes for their tour started to play. It showed their trainings, tears and sweat and the amount of hard work they put in for the whole tour. It is no doubt on why they are considered as one of the best rookie groups in Korea and even won first place on Show Champion. They then came out on stage again to thank the fans with the songs 'Healing' and 'Love Letter'. The fans ran up to the front of the stage to continue cheering for Seventeen and each member showed how grateful and thankful they were to the fans in Singapore. Vernon gave his word that they will be back and I'm sure we look forward to seeing them again in Singapore!

'Shining Diamonds' Tour continues to Philippines (August 14), Indonesia (August 20), Thailand (August 21), Australia (August 27, 28) and will end in Taiwan on September 11, 2016.

Watch Seventeen performances below:

Setlist

Shining Diamond

Rock

Chuck

When I Grow Up (Vocal team)

OMG (Performance team)

Fronting (Hip-Hop team)

No F.U.N

Adore U

Mansae

Pretty U

So Nice

Encore stage:

Healing

Love Letter

Special thanks to Three Angles Group for inviting KpopStarz.com to cover Seventeen 1st Asia Pacific Tour- Shining Diamonds 2016 In Singapore.

Writer: Tam Jie Qi | Photo and Video Credits: Ong Melin
An easier-than-expected first mammogram experience HUNTERSVILLE  Scheduling a cancer screening probably ranks somewhere on your to-do list between "clean out the garage" and "donate those clothes that don't fit." Sure, you'll get to it at...

Chamber retreat helps discover strengths in communication The Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce has proved that networking can come in many ways. It doesnt have to come at a luncheon or happy hour or Christmas party, but...
Onyesterday, Scarborough also directed a similar couple of questions towards Paul Ryan, asking him why-- since he's denounced Mr. Trumpanzee as a racist-- he's still telling the American people to vote for him. New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Arizona Sen. John McCain were both asked if Mr. T could be trusted with the nuclear codes and each-- clearly embarrassed, since both understand that he absolutely can't but are afraid his legions of fans will hurt their reelection bids-- refused to answer. They do, however, claim they're going to vote for him. Pat Toomey , a similarly endangered Senate incumbent in Pennsylvania says he still doesn't know enough about Senor Trumpanzee to be able to say whether or not he will vote for him. What a bunch of straight-shooters!

The Republican House leadership-- Ryan's Team-- is all united around Mr. Trumpanzee. Ryan, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Whip Steve Scalise and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the House Republican Caucus, are all Trumpists, as are almost all the committee chairs. A few cowards, like House Energy Committee Chair Fred Upton, are paralyzed with fear and are trying to play both sides, not saying they'reTrump, which would turn off independents and moderate Republicans, but too scared of the zombie-Trumpists to denounce him. Even imbecile Mike Coffman (R-CO), who put out a gratuitously anti-Trump TV ad is publicly telling Trump supporters in Colorado that he still might vote for Trump. There's a lot of cowards among congressional Republicans, although McCain is probably the most pathetic of the lot. Justin Amash is the polar opposite of McCain. He told his Michigan constituents that the Trumpanzee "cares about power, he doesn't really care about things like the Constitution, and I'm concerned that he could push us in a very dangerous direction." He's not voting for him.

The only members of Congress who signed the letter to the RNC-- Scott Rigell (VA) and Reid Ribble (WI)-- aren't running for reelection. But there are 123 GOP "leaders" who did sign the statement that calls for the RNC to immediately stop wasting money on the Trumpanzee. In part, the letter reads:

Given the catastrophic impact that Donald Trumps losing presidential campaign will have on down-ballot Senate and House races, we urge you to immediately suspend all discretionary RNC support for Trump and focus the entirety of the RNCs available resources on preserving the GOPs congressional majorities.





The signatories to this letter have been involved with Republican politics at the local, state, and national levels for more than three decades. We have served as past and current elected officials and as staffers for the RNC; appointees in every Republican administration since President Reagan; advisors on the last nine GOP presidential campaigns; aides on leadership, personal, and committee staff in both the House and Senate; grassroots workers; and delegates to multiple GOP conventions.





We believe that Donald Trump's divisiveness, recklessness, incompetence, and record-breaking unpopularity risk turning this election into a Democratic landslide, and only the immediate shift of all available RNC resources to vulnerable Senate and House races will prevent the GOP from drowning with a Trump-emblazoned anchor around its neck.





This should not be a difficult decision, as Donald Trumps chances of being elected president are evaporating by the day. Since the GOP convention, less than a month ago, he has alienated millions of voters of all parties by:

 Attacking Gold Star families of soldiers who died serving their country;

 Urging a hostile foreign government to intervene in a U.S. election;

 Suggesting that gun owners take action against his opponent if she is elected;

 Repudiating our NATO treaty obligations to protect our allies;

 Reportedly expressing interest in the preemptive use of nuclear weapons;

 Exposing his total ignorance of basic foreign policy matters;

 Stating his admiration for violent foreign autocrats;

 Refusing to disclose any of his past taxes, including those not under audit; and

 Deliberately and repeatedly lying about scores of issues, large and small.

Those recent outrages have built on his campaign of anger and exclusion, during which he has mocked and offended millions of voters, including the disabled, women, Muslims, immigrants, and minorities. He also has shown dangerous authoritarian tendencies, including threats to ban an entire religion from entering the country, order the military to break the law by torturing prisoners, kill the families of suspected terrorists, track law-abiding Muslim citizens in databases, and use executive orders to implement other illegal and unconstitutional measures.





Those disqualifying elements of Trumps personality and positions are reflected in his plummeting support.





As respected polling analyst Nate Silver recently wrote, "recent Fox News, Marist College and NBC News/Wall Street Journal national polls show Trump trailing Clinton by 9 to 14 percentage points, margins that would make for the largest general election blowout since 1984 if they held."





...Every dollar spent by the RNC on Donald Trump's campaign is a dollar of donor money wasted on the losing effort of a candidate who has actively undermined the GOP at every turn. ... Only swift and decisive action can save the Republican Party and protect the hundreds of other GOP candidates running for office.
The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary

Read more
Herb Wesson, the president of the Los Angeles City Council, has received five default notices for being late with mortgage payments since he became the top council official in 2011, David Zahniser reports for the L:A Times. "In two of those instances, Wessons properties came dangerously close to a foreclosure auction, according to county real estate records. The most recent auction was scheduled for July 6 and then canceled, records show." the Times says.

Wesson attributed the problems to the home he and his wife bought for $759,999 in the Wellington Square section of Mid-City.

Like so many Americans, my wife and I purchased our home during the peak of the housing market only to watch the bubble burst and the economy nose dive into the worst recession in more than sixty years, Wesson said in a statement. We have been working with a financial adviser to get our household finances back on track, Wesson wrote, and while our financial hardship is deeply personal, we hope to use our experience to help local families learn more about managing their finances and weathering economic uncertainty.



The first default notice was filed with the county the same week that Wesson's colleagues voted him in as City Council president, succeeding Eric Garcetti. Wesson's spokeswoman says he is now current on all his mortgages.

The story of Wesson's finances first broke on City Watch, where animal activist Daniel Guss detailed the financial problems of Wesson and his wife. Sample:
PRESS RELEASE

Lavrov, Kerry Continue Action Plans To Ensure Ceasefire in Syria

Aug. 17, 2016 (EIRNS)Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a telephone discussion with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in which where they discussed coordinated actions to fight terrorists in Syria and to ensure cessation of hostilities, according to TASS.

The two diplomats

"continued discussing the situation in Syria with an accent on the situation in Aleppo, where the Russians support the government forces carry out a large-scale humanitarian operation,"

a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"They discussed in detail preparations for practical implementation of the agreements reached during a visit of John Kerry to Moscow on July 15, regarding coordinated action in [the] fight against terrorist groups in Syria and to ensure the regime of cessation of hostilities,"

the ministry said on Aug. 16.

Col. Christopher Garver, spokesman for the U.S.-led international coalition, told journalists at a press briefing via teleconference, that Russia had fully coordinated its airstrike from Iran to targets in Syria with the allied coalition.

"What I will say is, the Russians did notify the coalition as per the Memorandum of Understanding for safety of flight," Colonel Garver said.

"They activated that system, as we have in the past. They informed us they were coming through and we ensured safety of flight as those bombers passed through the area and toward their target and then when they passed out again. Theyc did not impact coalition operations in either Iraq or Syria during the time,"

the U.S. colonel emphasized.
PRESS RELEASE

German FM Steinmeier and Russian FM Lavrov Hold Cordial Meeting

Aug. 17, 2016 (EIRNS)German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a cordial meeting in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on Aug. 15, where they discussed the war in Syria and the Minsk Agreement on Ukraine, and jointly participated in the Opening Ceremony of the German-Russian Summer School, titled, "Development of the Energy Sector: Modern Challenges at Work Now."

The account of Eduard Popov in Fort Russ Aug. 15 differed from accounts in other press sources, in reporting of the friendly atmosphere of the Steinmeier-Lavrov meeting. Popov says that both diplomats are political heavyweights; that Steinmeier is more popular than Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany, and that it is quite possible that he expects to run as the lead candidate of the Social Democrats in the September 2017 Bundestag elections. The author says it is well-known that Steinmeier visits Moscow and meets with his Russian colleagues, and even President Putin, far more often than Chancellor Merkel, and that his approach to NATO and sanctions is "far more flexible than that of even other Social Democrats," let alone the CDU.

The fact that the meeting was conducted using names and the Russian familiar form "ty" (you), shows an attempt to build an alternative to the Normandy Format, says Popov, and that "[P]erhaps this separate alliance outside the Normandy Quartet is capable of transcending situational frameworks." Popov points out that "It is probably no coincidence" that German politicians criticism of Moscow and Lavrovs position on a humanitarian corridor from Aleppo has collapsed, and Lavrovs harsh anti-Ukrainian statements (made in diplomatic terms) did not meet with any strong objections from Steinmeier.

Popov opines that the meeting in Yekaterinburg was "a step in comparing notes and networking, with the potential winner of Bundestag elections which are not too far off." The article concludes that Steinmeier

"is not a pro-Russian politician. He is a pro-German politician and a professional, and as such Russia understands and is interested in him. What Russia failed to do with Gerhard Schroder (due to the SPDs defeat in elections), might succeed with Steinmeier"

if the Social Democratic Party wins the elections.
Don't ask me why Trump doesn't ever find anyone who isn't part of Team Putin to run his campaign



Trumpist Sean Duffy (R-WI) and anti-Trumpist Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) have both said they are uncomfortable with the way the Trump campaign now appears to be, on some levels at least, an arm of Russia's foreign policy agenda and, worse yet, the political agenda of Vladimir Putin, this man . "Vladimir Putin came to power as the result of an act of terror committed against his own people. The evidence is overwhelming that the apartment-house bombings in 1999 in Moscow, Buinaksk, and Volgodonsk, which provided a pretext for the second Chechen war and catapulted Putin into the presidency, were carried out by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Yet, to this day, an indifferent world has made little attempt to grasp the significance of what was the greatest political provocation since the burning of the Reichstag... Those who have tried to investigate have been killed off, one by one."





Monday, discussing the charges that Manafort is a Putin agent, Kinzinger told CNN's audience that he thinks "Trump ought to really investigate this and where his chief adviser, what his association with the Russians are. I have concerns for the chief adviser of Donald Trump, you know, having done work for a pro-Russian government in Ukraine, and, then, all of a sudden, there is this real affection for Russia in the campaign."





AP broke the Manafort-Putin story wide open with a story yesterday by Jeff Horwitz, Manafort tied to undisclosed foreign lobbying . He's helping make a complicated and nuanced crucially important story understandable to the average voter, if not the average Trump fan.





"Trump's campaign chairman [since removed from that position] helped a pro-Russian governing party in Ukraine secretly route at least $2.2 million in payments to two prominent Washington lobbying firms in 2012," wrote Horwitz, "and did so in a way that effectively obscured the foreign political party's efforts to influence U.S. policy." Manafort's decision to not declare that he is an agent of a foreign power in a felony offense that carries a 5 year prison term and a quarter million dollar fine. He was taking a big risk... but for big returns.

Manafort and business associate Rick Gates, another top strategist in Trump's campaign, were working in 2012 on behalf of the political party of Ukraine's then-president, Viktor Yanukovych.



People with direct knowledge of Gates' work said that, during the period when Gates and Manafort were consultants to the Ukraine president's political party, Gates was also helping steer the advocacy work done by a pro-Yanukovych nonprofit that hired a pair of Washington lobbying firms, Podesta Group Inc. and Mercury LLC.



The nonprofit, the newly created European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, was governed by a board that initially included parliament members from Yanukovych's party. The nonprofit subsequently paid at least $2.2 million to the lobbying firms to advocate positions generally in line with those of Yanukovych's government.



That lobbying included downplaying the necessity of a congressional resolution meant to pressure the Ukrainian leader to release an imprisoned political rival.



The lobbying firms continued the work until shortly after Yanukovych fled the country in February 2014, during a popular revolt prompted in part by his government's crackdown on protesters and close ties to Russia.



Among those who described Manafort's and Gates's relationship with the nonprofit are current and former employees of the Podesta Group. Some of them spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal details about the work and because they remain subject to non-disclosure agreements.



Gates told the AP that he and Manafort introduced the lobbying firms to the European Centre nonprofit and occasionally consulted with the firms on Ukrainian politics. He called the actions lawful, and said there was no attempt to circumvent the reporting requirements of the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act.



The heads of both lobbying firms told AP they concluded there was no obligation to disclose their activities to the Justice Department. Manafort did not directly respond to AP's requests to discuss the work, but he was copied on the AP's questions and Gates said he spoke to Manafort before providing answers to them.



Political consultants are generally leery of registering under the foreign agents law, because their reputations can suffer once they are on record as accepting money to advocate the interests of foreign governments-- especially if those interests conflict with America's.



One of the lobbying firms Manafort and Gates worked with has strong Democratic ties.



The founder and chairman of the Podesta Group, Tony Podesta, is the brother of longtime Democratic strategist John Podesta, who now is campaign chairman for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The head of Mercury, Vin Weber, is an influential Republican, former congressman and former special policy adviser to Mitt Romney. Weber announced earlier this month that he will not support Trump.









After being introduced to the lobbying firms, the European nonprofit paid the Podesta Group $1.13 million between June 2012 and April 2014 to lobby Congress, the White House National Security Council, the State Department and other federal agencies, according to U.S. lobbying records.



The nonprofit also paid $1.07 million over roughly the same period to Mercury to lobby Congress. Among other issues, Mercury opposed congressional efforts to pressure Ukraine to release one of Yanukovych's political rivals from prison.



One former Podesta employee, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a non-disclosure agreement, said Gates described the nonprofit's role in an April, 2012 meeting as supplying a source of money that could not be traced to the Ukrainian politicians who were paying him and Manafort.



In separate interviews, three current and former Podesta employees said disagreements broke out within the firm over the arrangement, which at least one former employee considered obviously illegal. Podesta, who said the project was vetted by his firm's counsel, said he was unaware of any such disagreements.



A legal opinion drafted for the project for Mercury in May 2012, and obtained by AP, concluded that the European Centre qualified as a "foreign principal" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act but said disclosure to the Justice Department was not required. That determination was based on the nonprofit's assurances that none of its activities was directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed or subsidized by Ukraine's government or any of the country's political parties.



...Podesta told the AP his firm worked closely with the nonprofit and with Gates simultaneously. But Podesta said Gates was not working for Yanukovych's political party and said Manafort was not involved.



"I was never given any reason to believe Rick was a Party of Regions consultant," said John Ward Anderson, a current Podesta employee who attended the meeting, in a statement provided by his firm. "My assumption was that he was working for the Centre, as we were."



Gates, in contrast, told AP he was working with Manafort and that both he and Manafort were working for Yanukovych's party.



Pointing to Manafort's involvement, Weber told AP that Manafort discussed the project before it began in a conference call with Podesta and himself.



The director of the European Centre, Ina Kirsch, told the AP her group never worked with Manafort or Gates and said the group hired the Washington lobbyists on its own. She said she had met with Manafort twice but said neither Manafort nor Gates played a role in its lobbying activities.



The center has declined for years to reveal specific sources of its funding.

A 2013 Reuters story mentioned that the slimy Podesta worked directly for a pro-Yanukovich group , and received $900,000 in lobbying fees. "Rival political factions facing each other on the streets of Ukraine have also enlisted heavyweight lobbyists in Washington, some with connections at the highest levels of U.S. government, to promote their causes to American policymakers, media and members of Congress. Among the high-profile lobbyists registered to represent organizations backing Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich's government are prominent Democratic lobbyist Anthony Podesta and former Republican congressional leaders Vin Weber and Billy Tauzin... The sums of money involved are substantial. Over the last two years, the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, a Brussels-based organization sympathetic to Yanukovich and his political party, has paid $560,000 to Weber's firm, Mercury, and another $900,000 to Podesta Group Inc."





BuzzFeed ran a similar story in March of 2013, about how foreign nations spend millions on criminal lobbyists-- whether Clintonistas like the Podestas or Trumpanzees like Manafort and Bannon, pictured above next to Putin. This can only happen because corrupt party bosses from both establishments winter to happen. They want that corrupting flow of money. It should be stopped and politicians who countenance it should never be supported (even if someone calls you a Naderite or whatever the Republican equivalent is). Three years ago Rosie Gray at BuzzFeed reported that "the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, an obscure nonprofit based in Belgium, was founded by a former top official in Ukraines governing party and appears to be a proxy for the countrys pro-Russian government. In 2012, the group hired a pair of high-powered American lobbying firms to advocate on its behalf."

But what those lobbyists, who include Obama-era Democratic superlobbyist Tony Podesta, are actually doing is a mystery. Unlike the Washington firms hired directly by foreign governments, Ukraines leadership has slipped its American agenda through an increasingly popular loophole in the federal law intended to regulate foreign activity in the United States, allowing it to follow the minimal disclosure practices required of domestic corporate lobbies, not the extensive ones demanded of registered foreign agents. Its a loophole now used by a range of post-communist governments, in particular, with money to burn and no particular love of transparency. And it offers a path to the end of a disclosure regime put in place in 1938, amid American concern over the effects of Nazi propaganda.

this cycle only-- are all politicians well-known for being on the take. Hillary took the most and Jeb Bush the second most. Rounding out the dirty dozen were 7 Republican bribe vacuums-- Mark Kirk (IL), Roy Blunt (MO), Kevin McCarthy (CA), Kelly Ayotte (NH), John Thune (SD), Jason Chaffetz (UT) and Chris Smith (NJ). In that dirty dozen there were also 3 corrupted Democrats: Chuck Schumer, of course (whenever bribes are being handed out, the pig-like Schumer is at the front of the line), Patty Murray (WA) and Kamala Harris (CA). I know, I know... Trump is worse. Trump is worse. Maybe we need to look at Of all the criminal lobbying firms in DC, Podesta's outfit spends the 4th most of directly bribing members of Congress, $853,530 in the last year alone-- $5,495,595 since it started up in 2012. The dozen biggest recipients of their bribes---- are all politicians well-known for being on the take. Hillary took the most and Jeb Bush the second most. Rounding out the dirty dozen were 7 Republican bribe vacuums-- Mark Kirk (IL), Roy Blunt (MO), Kevin McCarthy (CA), Kelly Ayotte (NH), John Thune (SD), Jason Chaffetz (UT) and Chris Smith (NJ). In that dirty dozen there were also 3 corrupted Democrats: Chuck Schumer, of course (whenever bribes are being handed out, the pig-like Schumer is at the front of the line), Patty Murray (WA) and Kamala Harris (CA). I know, I know... Trump is worse. Trump is worse. Maybe we need to look at who takes the biggest bribes from the Saudis next. After all, they even managed to help elect and sustain a corrupt little traitor, Patrick Murphy, and get him onto the Intelligence Committee. And now Schumer is pushing him into the U.S. Senate.

UPDATE: And, Of Course... The Russian Mafia





This morning NBC News reported that Manafort has been investigated by the FBI for his connections to the Russian Mafia. "Donald Trump's campaign chairman," wrote Tom Winter, "was a key player in multi-million-dollar business propositions with Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs-- one of them a close Putin ally with alleged ties to organized crime-- which foreign policy experts say raises questions about the pro-Russian bent of the Trump candidacy."
There are novels that try to transport you, that in the words of Neil Gaiman act as a dream that you hold in your hand. If the dream succeeds, you forget the physical book you are holding and travel to Tralfamadore, Wuthering Heights, Wonderland, wherever; you live life through the eyes of the characters, become other than you are.

But there are other novels that wouldnt dream of letting you dream, books that constantly foreground their textuality, that ponder publicly what it is the writer is doing and what it is the reader is doing and never let you forget that the writer and the reader are indeed always doing something in the process of textual exchange.

From its opening line, Jung Young Moons Vaseline Buddha aligns itself with that latter self-interrogating category: One day when the night was giving way to dawn and everything was still immersed in darkness, I sat on a windowsill in the house I lived in, unable to sleep, thinking vaguely that I would write a story. What follows is the story that the narrator vaguely thinks he might write. Never letting you forget that you are reading the story he is writing, he produces lines like this story is also a story about the process of writing a story.

Jung, one of South Koreas most celebrated writers, has often been compared to Samuel Beckett, in part because his texts present themselves as seemingly unstructured cascades of thought. His narrators free associate; we wander through the closets of their consciousness, watching them pick at loose threads, unraveling their worlds and themselves like old clothes.

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But while there isnt much plot in Vaseline Buddha, things do happen. In that first scene, for instance, the narrator startles a would-be thief climbing up the gas pipes toward his bedroom window. After the thief falls and runs off into the darkness, the narrator wonders if it was his fault that the thief fell, or if there are some things for which there could be no fault.

This opening trivial happening sets off a series of discursions, which the narrator continually undermines as he expresses them, and which some readers might disparage as literary navel-gazing. But for those willing to go along with the metafictional moves and ouroboric sentences that cannibalize themselves, the book begins to alter, suddenly providing the dream that you hold in your hand.

Its those mental perambulations that are the key to the dream the narrator weaves, transporting us, if not to Wuthering Heights or Wonderland, down a different rabbit hole: the foramen of consciousness.

Its a dream of memories and stories, built out of both truths and lies, that is intoxicating precisely because it never pretends to be anything other than a dream. In that way, reading Vaseline Buddha feels like watching a magician who explains his trick as he performs it and yet still mesmerizes you with his sleight of hand. You simultaneously enter the dream and wake from it.

Like the vaseline of the title, a compound word of the words water and oil, the book exists in those liminal spaces between opposing forces, in the gray area that cant be named, between dream and reality, between fact and fiction, and perhaps most important, between form and chaos.

Early on, the narrator claims, What I want is to write something that depicts the fragmentary aspects of life, which are like a tangled skein, in a fragmentary manner, something that reflects my own life, which in itself is a great chaos, by creating and maintaining chaos, the greatest constituent of life. Elsewhere, he says, I think about forms of stories. But again, I feel, as I always have, resistance against a well-structured, complete story.

This resistance underpinning the entire exercise makes Jung an heir to Polish novelist Witold Gombrowicz, who understood that writing is the documentation of a dance the writer does between form and chaos. The moment the writer writes, attempting to impose form on the grist of the universe, chaos erupts; yet the moment the writer tries to instill his work with chaos, patterns emerge.

Jung, with all his narrators chest-beating rants against form, still has to generate it to create a story. His forebear Gombrowicz never allowed his novels to side wholly with either the tyranny of form or the anarchy of chaos. He offered no solution to the problem; it was this tension in the art and the act of storytelling that kept him writing.

Likewise, Jung avoids offering solutions, giving us instead this long thought in the form (and the chaos) of a novel, hoping that that might be enough. It is.

Malone is a writer and professor of English. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Scofield and a contributing editor for Literary Hub.

::

Vaseline Buddha

Jung Young Moon, translated by Yewon Jung

Deep Vellum: 184 pp., $14.95
San Luis Obispo County, located on Californias Central Coast halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, will be overrun with crazy cows this fall when it hosts CowParade, the worlds largest and most successful public art event.

CowParade San Luis Obispo County will feature 101 life-sized fiberglass cows, beautifully decorated by sponsored artists. The bovines will be on display at various locations between Sept. 26 and May 2017.

Previously, CowParades have been hosted by major cities, including Paris, Madrid and Rome.

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For San Luis Obispo County to be selected to host CowParade demonstrates our draw as a top-notch tourism destination and the amazing pool of creative artists we have in the area, said Chuck Davison, president and CEO of Visit SLO County.

Special artists will be featured during the event, including syndicated cartoonist Leigh Rubin (Rubes), special effects artist Douglas Turner (Beetlejuice, Star Trek VI), famed graffiti artist Man One (Nike, Staples Center, Microsoft), and Deprise Brescia, a mixed media artist and popular actress (Renegade, Two and a Half Men).

San Luis Obispo County is a popular tourist destination known for its inviting beaches, small-town charm, wine and weather.

To view the cows and find more information at CowParadeSLO.com.
This fall, an unusual vessel will begin sea trials off the coast of California.

The 51-foot-long Boeing Echo Voyager will have no crew. It will glide underwater for days or weeks, quietly collecting data from the ocean floor to send back to crews on ships or on land.

Ever since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001, the U.S. military has relied more and more on flying drones to take on dangerous air missions. But increasingly, drones are taking to the sea as well.

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The U.S. Navy has proposed about $319 million for the development and purchase of underwater drones in the presidents budget for the coming fiscal year. It envisions them stealthily gathering intelligence on opponents, detecting and neutralizing mines, hunting submarines and charting the ocean floor.

Last year, the Navy created the first deputy assistant secretary position focused on managing the development of unmanned systems, including underwater, surface and aerial efforts.

Recent advances in autonomy, data transmission and miniaturizing computing power coincide with the militarys increased interest in finding ways to integrate unmanned systems into its war planning.

 In this video produced by Liquid Robotics, the company shows how its Wave Glider unmanned surface vehicle works.

Its part of a much broader strategy to leverage artificial intelligence and stay one step ahead of rivals, as the Pentagon did with guided weapons in the 1990s.

As tensions continue to grow with China and Russia, two militaries that have sophisticated and very large navies, there is a growing interest in making use of unmanned technology in the maritime sphere, said Arthur Holland Michel, co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York.

They are scalable, they are dependable, they can operate with a fairly high degree of autonomy, he said. All these things would have been useful 30 years ago, but the technology wasnt quite there.

The potential for naval drones to operate free of human operators was shown earlier this year when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, unveiled its Sea Hunter, a largely autonomous, unmanned anti-submarine vessel.

The prototype, 132-foot-long Sea Hunter is designed to sail on its own for up to three months, find a submarine using sonar and other sensors, and trail it while sending location data back to human operators. The vessel completed its first performance trials off San Diego in late July, according to its builder, Reston, Va.-based Leidos.

Underwater drones face different challenges than their aerial counterparts. For one, communication is more difficult, making it hard for an autonomous vehicle to report information it might pick up underwater.

That hurdle is being worked on by Liquid Robotics, a Sunnyvale firm that makes the Wave Glider. The unmanned vehicle floats on the surface and uses wave and solar power to propel itself and its sensors for up to a year.

The surfboard-shaped drone functions as a kind of gateway between underwater acoustic communications and air-based radio transmissions. The vehicles sensor computer connects a surface radio modem and antenna with an underwater acoustic modem, allowing information to be transmitted quickly back and forth.

The same connection can be established with ships, though that can be expensive, or with buoys, which dont allow for much movement.

Other underwater vehicles have towed long antennas, but that is a much slower method of transmitting data, said Graham Hine, senior vice president of global partner development at Liquid Robotics.

Were thinking it would be the router of the ocean, he said. Once you start to network things and then have ubiquitous communications and positioning, things start to get interesting.

The Wave Glider can carry a range of acoustic sensors that listen for vessels on the sea or piece together a picture of the ocean floor.

Originally developed by company co-founders Roger Hine and Joseph Rizzi to listen to whale songs, the Wave Glider caught the interest of the Navy, which has worked with the company since 2008, Graham Hine said.

Two years ago, the company struck a partnership with Boeing Co. to develop a military version, the Sensor Hosting Autonomous Remote Craft, or SHARC, that combines the Wave Glider platform with Boeings sensor technology.

Boeing sees the platform as a potential communication conduit between underwater vehicles and aircraft, ships or satellites. It is working with the Navys research lab to develop additional capabilities for SHARC.

Ultimately, it is a more efficient and effective way to do maritime surveillance, we think, in large ocean areas, said Egan Greenstein, senior director of autonomous maritime systems at Boeing.

But to do a thorough job of surveillance and undersea data collection, drones need to stay submerged for weeks or even months without external help or power.

Boeing experienced this challenge first-hand when it used its Echo Ranger unmanned underwater vehicle for oil and gas surveying. The drone charged up and reported its status at a host ship, but when storms blew in all operations had to stop.

Eventually, Boeing stopped using the Ranger for that kind of commercial work.

It was profitable while we were out doing the survey missions, said Dan Tubbs, deputy director of Sea & Land at Boeing Phantom Works in Huntington Beach. It was not profitable when it was in port all the time.

In March, Boeing unveiled the 50-ton Echo Voyager, which is designed to carry out months-long surveillance and reconnaissance missions for defense, commercial and scientific customers.

Powered by a hybrid electric-battery/marine diesel system, the drone periodically surfaces to snorkel depth to recharge its batteries by raising a mast and running the diesel engines. Thats when the drone also can connect to satellite operations to transmit data to operators. It can send limited communications while submerged, but only to a nearby ship.

To bolster its endurance, the Echo Voyager has backup systems. To give it a degree of autonomy, the navigation system incorporates motion and rotation sensors, as well as sonar to avoid obstacles.

Autonomous systems have the potential to cut personnel costs, but developing them has proved to be complex and costly.

In February, the Navy canceled further production of a remote mine-hunting system developed by Lockheed Martin Corp., cutting down the expected order from 54 to 10 that had already been delivered. The system was to be used in the Navys new littoral combat ships, but the autonomous vehicles that towed mine-hunting sensors were unreliable.

The autonomy side of the equation, the research is happening at a very quick pace, said Holland Michel of Bard College. But as you see time and time again, its very challenging to make unmanned systems that can make intelligent and dependable decisions on their own.

The biggest challenge to the industrys growth could be its lack of versatility. There are simply more applications for unmanned aerial vehicles than underwater drones, especially in the commercial market, said Michael Blades, senior industry analyst for aerospace and defense at research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.

I think the market will grow steadily, but it wont be explosive like the unmanned aerial vehicle market, he said.

Eventually, though, the two drone worlds will merge.

In May, AeroVironment Inc. of Monrovia announced it had a contract to sell to the Navy its small, Blackwing unmanned aircraft, a single-use drone that shoots out of a tube from submarines or autonomous undersea vehicles. It sends back data, then drops into the water once its done.

A company spokesman said he could not comment on the size of the contract.

samantha.masunaga@latimes.com

For more business news, follow me @smasunaga

ALSO

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Pullback from Obamacare by Aetna, other insurers puts pressure on upcoming enrollments
Last week, Panda Express unveiled its first-ever take on the Chinese American classic General Tsos chicken, using the hashtag #TsoGood to gin up excitement on social media.

The Internet, however, was more interested in the companys nifty new utensil, the chork.

It all started when Lisa Jennings, a reporter for Nations Restaurant News who was attending the General Tsos chicken launch at the Glendale Galleria on Aug. 10, tweeted a picture of a red plastic tool that looked like a fork on one end and a chopstick on the other.

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It didnt take long for the utensil to go viral, eliciting hundreds of press reports and tweets from luminaries like venture capitalist Marc Andreessen.

Genius, he wrote. Surprising it only took 3,200 years to invent!

At Panda Express headquarters in Rosemead, the news was greeted with dumbfounded delight. Executives were inundated with press inquires and calls from the public to roll out the chork to all 1,900 of its stores.

It hit a cultural zeitgeist that surprised us, Andrea Cherng, Panda Restaurant Groups chief marketing officer, said Thursday in the companys first interview since the phenomenon took off.

The utensil, Cherng said, is a perfect symbol of Panda Express American Chinese identity.

Much like General Tsos chicken, the chork is accessible, but still rooted in something authentically Chinese, she said. Its a mash-up that embodies our two cultures.

The chork does not belong to Panda Express. Its the invention of a Salt Lake City company that debuted the utensil at the 2010 National Restaurant Assn. show in Chicago.

It was developed out of necessity, said one of its inventors, Jordan Brown.

I always felt I was decent at using chopsticks, but I always have to revert to a fork near the end of the meal to get the last pieces of rice or pick up something slippery, said Brown, vice president of product development at Brown Innovation Group, the chorks lone manufacturer.

While the chork can be used from both ends, it can also be snapped in two to create a more traditional pair of chopsticks. Brown said much of the companys R&D work centered on getting the plastic just the right strength for the snap.

What makes the chork so special, Brown said, is how useful it is as a marketing tool.

People love to take them home, he said.

Browns company sells the chork online in packs of 24 ($9.99) and 12 ($7.99). The utensils are manufactured in China.

Panda Express first discovered the chork at the National Restaurant Assn. show, though its unclear which year. Since then, the utensil has appeared at company catering events. An employee is also considering using it at her upcoming wedding.

The company is crunching numbers to see if it can offer the chork to customers nationwide for the first time alongside its normal plastic forks, spoons and knives and wooden chopsticks.

For now, Panda Express has only promised to give out the chork at special events, including one this Saturday in Chinatown where the company has organized a panel on American Chinese food.

The chain will also give away the utensil at most stores on Nov. 10 to celebrate General Tsos birthday (yes, he actually existed; and no, he did not invent the dish).

Unlike Panda Express popular orange chicken, General Tsos chicken is made with white meat and includes vegetables. Its also not as sweet.

Cherng said the menu item was developed over two years and required research tours of mom-and-pop Chinese takeout restaurants on the East Coast, where the dish is more established.

Were bringing two pillars of American Chinese cuisine to a wider audience, Cherng said.

Panda Express was founded in 1983 by Cherngs immigrant parents, Andrew and Peggy Cherng. The chains first location still exists in the Glendale Galleria. The wholly owned private company is adding, on average, 100 new stores a year and registered $2.4 billion in revenue in 2015.

david.pierson@latimes.com

Follow me @dhpierson on Twitter
An advertising campaign that has held the attention of Olympics viewers longer than almost any other spot on television does not feature athletes, or their parents, or cars.

Its set on a factory floor.

But the latest campaign by General Electric cuts to the heart of a crucial issue for companies and their workers today: the changing nature of manufacturing.

The GE ads, which appeared on more than 100 million screens in the last two weeks, shows a woman named Sarah building a jet engine. In one version, she explains to a touring family that GE can be digital and industrial  it builds machines that talk to each other, but people program those robots.

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This is me, using a wrench to build a jet engine, Sarah says.

In another spot, when a confused youngster asks if the man working on the next closest engine is a robot, Sarah drills home her point. Thats my co-worker, Earl. He builds jet engines with his human hands.

Brand polishing? Definitely. At a time when Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are criticizing trade deals and promising to return factory jobs to the U.S., GE has touted its reshoring efforts, saying it has returned to America jobs making refrigerators, washing machines and other products.

But as economists note, manufacturing looks nothing like it used to. Companies like GE rely on machines more than ever. The result is fewer jobs demanding higher skills.

With its ad, GE is trying to assure viewers that humans are still in charge. And that a 120-year-old conglomerate is as good a place as any Silicon Valley start-up for a skilled technician to build a career.

The whole point is you cant have this digital industrial company without the humans behind it, said Andy Goldberg, GEs chief creative officer, who developed the ad.

That message apparently resonates. Olympics viewers watched 98% of the GE ad on average, more than any other spot besides one from Folgers among 200 brands that spent at least $500,000 to air an ad during the Games, according to data from ISpot.tv, a company that tracks TV ad impressions.

Theres some cognitive dissonance. There are normal everyday folks, old-fashioned folks, if you will, juxtaposed against a great big jet engine, said Jason Damata, the chief executive of Fabric Media, a branding agency in Santa Monica.

The Olympic spot follows one that GE released in September 2015 featuring a son trying to explain to his father that the job he took at GE will not require manual labor.

When his father hands him his grandfathers hammer to celebrate, the son tells him GE makes powerful machines, but Ill be writing the code that will allow those machines to share information with each other.

Goldberg, the chief creative officer, said that ad successfully attracted the attention of young engineers. Job applications to GE increased eightfold in the months after it was released, the company said.

That same talent pool is the target of a Snapchat smartphone filter GE released Tuesday. It turned half of a users selfie into a robot, adorned with the tagline digital industrial.

There are 5 million fewer U.S. factory jobs today than 16 years ago. Yet industry is facing a shortage of people with the skills to work in newly automated factories.

A 2014 survey of more than 450 manufacturing executives, conducted by the nonprofit Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte, found that 63% of them projected that there would be a lack of skilled production workers, such as machinists and technicians, by 2020.

The report concluded that 2 million manufacturing jobs would go unfilled in the next decade.

You have a finite audience of people who will be the future, Goldberg said, so the sooner you can engage them and get them involved, the greater affinity theyll have to the brand.

Natalie.Kitroeff@latimes.com

Follow me @NatalieKitro on Twitter
Saying the last goodbye in the dorm parking lot, you realize more than ever that you cant protect your child from every risk. Its time to let go.

But back at home, you can assemble a strong financial safety net. Knowing what your current insurance will pay for  and whether you need to buy extra coverage  is a good first step.

Heres how to evaluate your auto, homeowners, life and health insurance needs as your child heads to college.

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Car insurance

If your child doesnt take a car to school:

Ask your insurer about an away-at-school discount. Some companies offer a price break if the college is at least 100 miles away from your home.

Keep the student listed on your policy, so your son or daughter has coverage at home on breaks, says Scott Johnson, manager of Marindependent Insurance Services in Mill Valley, Calif. Maintaining continuous auto liability insurance also keeps rates down over the long haul.

If your child asks to take a car:



Consider the risks. Its the first time away from home. Why throw a vehicle into the mix? Johnson says.

Let your insurer know if your child takes a car. Some insurers might reprice the policy based on the schools location, Johnson says. Your coverage price might go up or down.

Car or no car, dont forget about the good-student discount. Many insurers offer one for maintaining at least a B average.



Homeowners or renters insurance

Your childs stuff will be covered under your renters or homeowners insurance in a campus dorm. Check your policy for details. Some policies limit coverage for belongings away from home to a percentage of the total amount of coverage for all possessions, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Typically there are also coverage limits on expensive items such as computers. Talk to your insurer about buying extra coverage for these items if necessary.

Students who live in off-campus apartments will need their own renters insurance policies. Renters insurance covers belongings and, like homeowners insurance, provides liability coverage if your child inadvertently harms someone and is held responsible.

Make sure your liability insurance includes personal injury coverage, Johnson says. If not, you can add it for a small price, he says. Among other things, personal injury coverage would pay for legal defense and settlement costs if your son or daughter were sued for posting something objectionable on social media.

Life insurance

If you dont have life insurance and your income is crucial for paying the college tuition bills, then shop for a term life insurance policy to cover you at least until the youngest child graduates from college, says Garrett Prom, a financial planner and founder of Prominent Financial Planning in Austin, Texas.

Ideally, you already have the coverage you need and have all your ducks in a row, but that isnt always the case, he says.

Health insurance

Check whether your health plans provider network includes doctors and hospitals where your child will attend school, says Elizabeth Hagan, senior policy analyst for Families USA, a national consumer advocacy group. Youll pay a larger portion of the medical bills for treatment outside the network with a preferred provider organization, or PPO. With a health maintenance organization, or HMO, you may have no coverage outside the network, except in emergencies.

If your child will be uninsured or will move outside the plans network, check the following:

The colleges student health plan: Most student health plans offer comprehensive coverage. Make sure you understand any limitations, Hagan says.

The government-sponsored health insurance marketplace: If the college town is outside the provider network, your child will be eligible to sign up for a health plan outside the regular open enrollment period. Time the purchase so coverage can begin when the student starts school. Then sign up for a 2017 plan during the annual open enrollment period, which will run from Nov. 1, 2016, to Jan. 31, 2017.

Health insurers outside the marketplace: Consider this only if youre not eligible for income-based subsidies that would lower the price through the marketplace.

More changes are ahead as your child gains independence. Review your insurance policies annually to make sure you have the right coverage.

Barbara Marquand is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website.
Hayden Slater, co-founder and chief executive of Pressed Juicery, goes to the living room of his Venice loft when he wants to get the creative juices flowing.

It was there, sitting in his grandfathers chair, that he came up with the idea for the Santa Monica-based juice chain, which today has 45 stores  16 in Los Angeles.

The 33-year-old wasnt always a health nut. As a film student at New York University, Slater, then a professed junk-food junkie, took a yoga class with an instructor who contended she had outlived a terminal-cancer diagnosis by changing her lifestyle and juicing.

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She always came to class with a bottle of green juice in her hand, Slater said. Intrigued, he finished school, returned home to L.A. and eventually traveled to Southeast Asia, where he started a five-day juice cleanse that extended to 30 days. I felt incredible, he said.

Afterward, Slater and two childhood friends rented a 22-square-foot Brentwood broom closet and opened the first Pressed Juicery in November 2010.

When hes not working, Slater relaxes in a rented 1,400-square-foot, four-story loft he shares with Finley, a 5-year-old Rottweiler rescue.

Why is the living room your favorite?

Its a combination space that allows me to entertain and work. Ive never lived in an open space before, but I love the idea of taking a floor and making it multifunctional.

So its a creative space, an office and a place for friends to hang out. Anything else?

I play backgammon in a portion of it. Ive designed it in a way where I can work and play music and dance or entertain people. So its this cool space. I entertain all the time.

You have a lot of unique pieces in the room. Any favorites?

I have an Ed Ruscha print. It is the first piece of art that I ever bought. I have an Eames chair I got from my grandfather thats really meaningful. Pressed Juicery came to life in my grandfathers magical Eames chair. I came up with the concept of Freeze, which is when we essentially decided to take our juice and turn it into a frozen [vegan treat] without using any dairy or binders. And that idea literally took [shape] in that Eames chair.

How often do you drink juice in this room?

I drink a green juice every single morning, usually at my desk in this room, while I check my emails. Lately, Ive been on a Greens 5 kick.

How many juicers do you have in your loft?

Three. Wow, thats kind of embarrassing.

Does Finley like juice?

Every now and then Ill share whatever juice Im drinking with Finley. She prefers the sweeter ones and is not a fan of ginger.

Say theres a fire. What are two things in your favorite room that you would grab?

My dog and a small Alison Van Pelt painting that has significant meaning to me.

Funniest thing thats happened in this room?

I was trying to show off by doing pullups off an exposed beam that runs across the room and completely ate [it] and fell, not only just to the ground  I tumbled down half a flight of stairs.

Now youre thinking of moving away?

Yes. I am currently building a Danish-modern-inspired beach bungalow in Venice and hope to have it finished within about six to eight months.

What is the single most essential trait to succeeding as an entrepreneur?

Its crucial for entrepreneurs to bring their personal beliefs into their professional world and stay true to those beliefs. And take risks. All great entrepreneurs take risks.

hotproperty@latimes.com
Twitter Inc. said Thursday that it has shut down more than 235,000 accounts for promoting terrorism since February, far surpassing the 125,000 it had suspended in the previous seven months.

That brings the total number of such suspensions to 360,000 since June 2015.

Since February, the world has witnessed a further wave of deadly, abhorrent terror attacks across the globe, the San Francisco company said in a blog post. Attacks linked to or inspired by Islamic State have occurred in France, Germany, Turkey, Iraq and Florida, among other locations. We strongly condemn these acts and remain committed to eliminating the promotion of violence or terrorism on our platform, the company said.

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For the last two years, the popular social media site has sought to respond to criticism that it wasnt doing enough to crack down on users who promote or are linked to Islamic State or other terrorist groups. It began mass suspensions in early 2014.

In December, after the San Bernardino mass shootings, President Obama called on tech leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice. Earlier this year, senior national security officials, including the attorney general and FBI director, met with tech firm senior executives to discuss ways to use technology to disrupt paths to radicalization to violence.

In its blog post, Twitter said daily suspensions are up more than 80% since last year, with spikes in suspensions immediately following terror attacks.

Our response time for suspending reported accounts, the amount of time these accounts are on Twitter, and the number of followers they accumulate have all decreased dramatically, it said. We have also made progress in disrupting the ability of those suspended to immediately return to the platform.

The company said it has expanded the teams that review reports around the clock, adding new tools to help detect suspicious accounts and hiring people fluent in different languages. The firm said it also collaborates with other social media companies, sharing information for identifying terrorist content.

There is no one magic algorithm for identifying terrorist content on the Internet, the company said. But it deploys technologies such as proprietary spam-fighting tools to supplement reports from the public to help identify people who violate Twitters user policies. During the last six months, these tools have helped the firm to automatically identify more than one-third of the accounts that were ultimately suspended for promoting terrorism, the company said.

Twitter said it works with law enforcement agencies seeking help in preventing or prosecuting terrorist attacks. It reports on government requests for information twice a year in its transparency report.

Nakashima writes for the Washington Post.

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Sculpt, a 50-minute film by French Conceptual artist Loris Greaud, is the latest event program in contemporary art offered by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Event programs are appointment-only exhibitions of a single, immersive work designed for a limited audience. Rain Room  a chamber of perpetually falling water that can be experienced by about a dozen visitors at a time  is one familiar example, constructed by the London design-group Random International. On Tuesday, it was joined at LACMA by Sculpt, a film screening daily in the museums Bing Theater.

If youve been to the Bing, you know it comfortably seats 600 people. Sculpt, though, is meant for viewing by one person at a time. (A free reservation is required.) Five rows of seats have been partially removed from the middle of the vast room, leaving one lone seat smack in the center.

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No closing date for Sculpt has yet been announced, but with four to six screenings daily, a maximum of 29 visitors can experience Greauds film each week. Its just as well. Sculpt is pretentious and uninvolving.

A privileged viewer is escorted into the darkened hall by a museum guard, who also explains that no photographs are allowed. After seating, the event begins with a bright red spotlight trained from the proscenium onto the lone viewer.

The spotlight is the rooms only illumination, save for 14 crimson exit signs that ring the hall. It recalls the red record button on a camera or DVR.

I am a camera with its shutter open, as Christopher Isherwood wrote in 1939. What we are about to see is indeed episodic, like Isherwoods tales of Berlin, if not nearly as incisive.

The movie starts with nearly abstract images that appear to be webs of nerve tissue. As the spotlight dims and the film begins, every frame glows as crimson as the spotlight, as if we are being taken to the edge of the visible spectrum.

Soon we are signaled that were entering dangerous territory, meant to be seeing beyond normal vision. How? Because a couple of naked young women have been bound with straps and suspended in shadowy space, strung up from the ceiling like passive slabs of meat.

To salve any doubts about the intended gravity of this unhappily banal bit of cliched sexploitation, an unidentified man is shown lolling about the dim chamber, anguished head in hands, and periodically examining the women in bondage. The mystery fiend is played by lovably weird character actor Willem Dafoe.

I almost laughed out loud, embarrassed by the sight. Admission to Greauds film is restricted to adults (and a similar caution should apply to the trailer, below), but thats no guarantee.

I suppose the art museum is also being likened here to a red-light district, a quasi-safe public space where ordinary desire and fierce obsession might collide. The onscreen imagery is tethered to the solitary viewer sitting out there in the dark  alone, as if in a stately peep show. LACMAs Bing Theater is our Moulin Rouge.

Sculpt has no narrative. Our experience is instead being shaped  sculpted  by an evocative if incoherent flow of illumined images skittering by.

Think Ellen Burstyn suffering amphetamine psychosis in Requiem for a Dream, the grueling 2000 Hollywood psychodrama, although without the subjective camera work. Or a compilation of outtakes from American Horror Story on FX. A portentous score by the venerable, quasi-anonymous art-band the Residents plays behind layers of prattle, both spoken and in projected subtitles.

We witness bleary drug-induced hallucination, obscure voodoo ritual, watery bayous draped in Spanish moss, lurking personifications of Death and Satan, a smoky Bangkok-style strip club, billowing exhaust from a rocket launch, an empty opera-house interior and more. Fashion model Betty Catroux, actress Charlotte Rampling, the late architect Claude Parent and others turn up, although none does much of anything.

Like Dafoe, theyre floating signs of ruin  Catroux an enigmatic artists muse, Rampling an icon from Viscontis The Damned, Parent an advocate for an architecture of destabilized battlements.

In effect, its a 50-minute Coming Attraction for something that never arrives. The drifting black-and-red scenography concludes with our eyeballs slipping inside the confined chamber of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine  that psychologically claustrophobic medical miracle built for looking at hidden entrails deep within. Interior nerve tissue from the opening frames is brought full circle.

Greauds Sculpt loosely recalls various cinematic precedents  Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), Maya Derens Surrealist-slippage of experiential reality; Bruce Conners great montage of found film, A Movie (1958), plus his sculptural dance-film, Breakaway (1966); various pop-psychodramas by erotic-occultist Kenneth Anger, including his epic Lucifer Rising (1966-72), and more. They rivet, while Sculpt just sort of passes by, idly yakking, until it ends.

All art is experience, as John Dewey explained long ago. Given hyper-limited seating, this cinematic experience will mostly exist as word of mouth. Between Rain Room and a movie-for-one, LACMA has doubled down on event programming of an overproduced, undernourished sort.

------------

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Closed Wednesdays. (323) 857-6000, www.lacma.org

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christopher.knight@latimes.com

Twitter: @KnightLAT

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New York's 11th congressional district includes all of Staten Island and the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Fort Hamilton, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, and Gravesend. Staten Island residents make up between 70% and 75% of the district's voters. Aside from being New York City's whitest congressional district, it's also the most Italian congressional district in the country. It's a more conservative district that any other in New York City and many people point to it as the Mafia's very own congressional district. That said, Obama still beat Romney there, 110,088 (52%) to 100,811 (47%). And Kirsten Gillibrand won there by a nearly 2 to 1 landslide. When Republican/Mafia Congressman Michael Grimm went to prison, the 2015 special election saw Republican racist Daniel Donovan beat Vincent Gentile 24,797 (58%) to 17,049 (40%). The DCCC basically just gave up on NY-11. They didn't contest it then and they're not contesting it now. They simply ceded it to the GOP, which makes no sense at all. In the more conservative Staten Island part of the district, 34,067 Democrats voted for Hillary and Bernie in the primary while only 23,688 people turned out to vote for Trump, Kasich and Cruz. But the DCCC brain surgeons declared it unwindable. As usual, they're wrong.





The Democrat running for the congressional seat in November is Richard Reichard. The DCCC is basically ignoring his campaign. As of the June 30 FEC reporting deadline he had raised $14,115 compared to incumbent Dan Donovan's $1,570,735. The NRCC is already bolstering Donovan while the DCCC is nowhere to be seen. There's only one way for them to win back the House-- winning districts that have shown a willingness to vote for Democrats in recent years-- like NY-11. But the DCCC hasn't figured that out yet. Reichard is a progressive who favors a public option, removing the Social Security cap, investing in reversing climate change and in stricter gun safety laws. He told us he "wants to change Washington by reducing big money's influence." The DCCC would rather put money into more difficult New York districts where conservatives are running. Romney won both NY-22 and NY-23 and both Democrats, Kim Myers and John Plumb, are on the DCCC's Red-to-Blue list and are being helped in fundraising. UT-04 was won by Romney 68-30% and by McCain 56-42% but the DCCC is backing the right-wing Democrat there as well, Doug Owens. Districts Romney won where the DCCC has endorsed conservaDem candidates while they leave progressives on their own in districts that Obama won have something in common, namely that the "Democrats" running have been endorsed by the Blue Dogs and/or the New Dems (the Republican wing of the Democratic Party). That's how Pelosi-- who, many years ago, used to be a progressive herself-- has shaped the DCCC, which is currently attempting to re-shape the makeup of Congress-- in a very, very bad way.





One of the reasons establishment Democrats aren't doing anything to assist Reichard is because of his outspoken opposition to unfair trade policies that ship American jobs overseas. by forcing American workers to compete with laborers in Third World hellholes where workers make pennies an hour and have no on-job protections. Like most Democrats-- but unlike Obama and the Democratic Establishment's donor base-- Reichard is very concerned with American sovereignty being handed over to unaccountable corporate tribunals where they will be able to overturn laws passed by cities and states on basic environmental legislation, workers' rights rules and other essential regulations and protections that makes America the greatest country on the planet. We asked Riechard to give us a quick explanation for why he opposes the TPP.
Its the dead of summer, which means the pickins are slim, but that doesnt mean that there isnt some highly intriguing stuff going down in Los Angeles  from a womens film festival to a Pachuco party to a live podcast to a special art screening for one. Here are four openings and events to check out this week:

Loris Greaud, Sculpt, at the L.A. County Museum of Art. The entire theater has been taken over by the European artist for a film that only screens to one person at a time. The nonlinear picture (its all about non-linear these days) follows a man about whom we know very little, who seems to be constantly developing the concept of what experiencing beauty, thought, or obsession can be, according the museums write-up. But Times critic Christopher Knight describes it as pretentious and uninvolving. A good hate-watch, maybe? On view through a yet to be determined date. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.

Women of Cinefamily Weekend, at Cinefamily and other locations. This four-day festival, kicking off today, features film curated by women. Things get rolling Thursday night with an opening party featuring videos of artists such as Yayoi Kusama and Jay De Feo. This is followed by a screening of The Hunting Ground, introduced by Brie Larson, on Friday; a show-and-tell with I Love Dick novelist Chris Kraus on Saturday; and the L.A. premiere of Antibirth, on Sunday, which will feature a chat with Natasha Lyonne, Chloe Sevigny and Kim Gordon. (Thats a lot of tubes.) There will also be myriad other screenings and events as well. Starts tonight at 7:30 and runs through Sunday. The opening night party will take place at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, 1345 W. 1st St., Echo Park, with other screenings to take place at Cinefamily, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., Beverly Grove, Los Angeles. Check website for screening dates, times and locations: cinefamily.org.

Call Your Girlfriend Live, at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel. And because Im on a lady kick Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow of the funny and feministy podcast Call Your Girlfriend are hosting their live show Thursday night, with special guests Stephanie Beatriz of the Fox comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Caroline Goldfarb of the podcast This Week Had Me Like (she also runs the popular Instagram account Official Sean Penn) and Lindsey Weber of the podcast Who? Weekly. Should be good, clean lady fun. OK, maybe not so clean. Thursday at 8 p.m.; tickets $30. Theatre at the Ace Hotel, 929 S. Broadway, downtown Los Angeles, acehotel.com.

Ernesto Yerena Montejano, Espejismo/Cicatriz, at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes. A series of intensely detailed, layered collages by the Los Angeles-based artist explore issues of identity in the Latino community. Time your visit for late Saturday afternoon and you can catch an event celebrating La Vida Pachuca (Pachuco Life), featuring a screening of the musical Zoot Suit (celebrating its 35th anniversary) as well as custom cars, a dance contest and fashion show. Various cast members from the film will be on hand to discuss it. Montejanos exhibition runs through Jan. 1. La Vida Pachuca takes place on Saturday at 5 p.m. 501 N. Main St., downtown Los Angeles, lapca.org.

LAST CHANCE

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Eau de Cologne, at Spruth Magers. The gallery has gathered works by five artists key to its development  Jenny Holzer, Rosemarie Trockel, Louise Lawler, Cindy Sherman and Barbara Kruger  all of whom subtly address womens roles in very different ways. The pieces on view date to the 1970s, when many of these figures first began to achieve artistic renown. Through Saturday. 5900 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, spruethmagers.com.

Me, Myself, I, at China Art Objects. A group exhibition, featuring works by artists such as Moyra Davey, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Sean Landers, look at the idea of self in art  be it through literal self-portraiture or works that capture the stream of consciousness of the mind. Through Saturday. 6086 Comey Ave., Culver City, chinaartobjects.com.

Cabinet of Curiosities at Union Station. The train stations Grand Waiting Room will be turned into a gallery with a series of installations designed to be viewed through peepholes  a contemporary take on the cabinet of curiosities. Participating artists include Tanya Brodsky, David DiMichele, Ashley Hagen, Noel Korten, Keith Lord, Cecilia Miniucchi and Andre Yi. Through Saturday. 800 N. Alameda St., downtown Los Angeles, facebook.com.

Mertzbau: An Exhibition by Joe Sola featuring Albert Mertz, at Tif Sigfrids. In a show that reads like a turducken of conceptualism, L.A. artist Joe Sola pays tribute to German artist Kurt Schwitters (known for transforming his family home into an all-encompassing architectural installation known as the Merzbau) through the lens of Danish artist Albert Merz, who was influenced by Schwitters Dadaist leanings. To achieve this, Sola has created his own architecturally minded construction  out of 419 salvaged wooden chairs. Through Saturday. 1507 Wilcox Ave., Hollywood, tifsigfrids.com.

Omul Negru, at Nicodim. A summer group show stocked with a mind-bending assortment of artists  Mike Kelley, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Sheree Rose, Sterling Ruby, Richard Serra and many others  takes on the idea of the boogeyman (thatd be the omul negru of the title). Sounds like the perfect exhibition for Election 2016. Through Saturday. 571 S. Anderson St., Suite 2, Boyle Heights, nicodimgallery.com.

Shio Kusaka, at Blum & Poe. In her second solo show at the gallery, the Los Angeles ceramic artist is presenting a new body of work inspired by existing forms  from beach balls to porcelain animals  all presented on a single pedestal 100 feet in length. Also on view is a new exhibition of the work of Francoise Grossen, the Swiss artist known for her textile and fiber works (who recently has come to the attention of Los Angeles at Hauser Wirth & Schimmels debut exhibition, Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women. Through Saturday. 2727 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, blumandpoe.com.

Division: Reflections and Shadows, with Los de Abajo Printmaking Collective with guest artists, at SPARC. Organized by curator Marietta Bernstorff, this exhibition consists of a series of new works by the L.A.-based collective, along with pieces by friends and colleagues, that push the genre while exploring the nature of borders, both physical and imagined. Through Saturday. 685 Venice Blvd., Venice, sparcinla.org.

ONGOING EXHIBITIONS

Sam Maloof Woodworker: Life/Art/Legacy, at the Maloof Foundation. The foundation is celebrating the centennial of the birth of the renowned Southern California woodworker, whose elegant objects and furnishings are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the L.A. County Museum of Art and the Smithsonian. The exhibition will feature more than 60 objects from throughout the artists life, including furnishings, drawings, photographs and other ephemera. The show is part of a years worth of events that will celebrate Maloofs life and work. Through Aug. 27. 5131 Carnelian St., Alta Loma, malooffoundation.org.

Teen Choice, at C. Nichols Project. A summer group show featuring work by various artists, including painter Zak Smith, video artist Stanya Kahn and collagist Bjorn Copeland, riffs on that in-between state of adolescence and all the conflict and desire that entails. Through Aug. 27. 12613 1/2 Venice Blvd., Mar Vista, cnicholsproject.com.

Southland: A Group Exhibition Inspired by the Greater Los Angeles Area, at Charlie James Gallery. Organized by artist and curator Patrick Martinez, this group exhibition takes Southern California as its point of inspiration. Martinez gathers works by a range of figures  including Gregory Bojorquez, Sandow Birk, Mario Ybarra Jr. and Kenturah Davis  that in some way depict or deal with different aspects of the citys landscape. Through Aug. 27. 969 Chung King Road, Chinatown, Los Angeles, cjamesgallery.com.

Deanna Thompson, at Kayne Griffin Corcoran. The California painter has a posthumous exhibition (she died last year) that brings together images of isolated desert homesteads and paintings of cars. They are simple works that emanate a vibrating intensity. Through Aug. 27. 1201 S. La Brea Ave., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, kaynegriffincorcoran.com.

Sigrid Sandstrom, Other Places, at Anat Egbi. A series of new works by the Swedish painter takes abstraction to an intimate scale with a series of small, portrait-sized canvases that play with form and color. Through Aug. 27. 2660 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, anatebgi.com.

Rafa Esparzas installation tierra, 2016, at the Hammer Museum. (Christopher Knight / Los Angeles Times )

Made in L.A. 2016: a, the, though, only, at the Hammer Museum. The third iteration of the Hammers SoCal-focused biennial keeps things wondrously minimal, featuring thoughtful exhibits by only 26 artists that jumps between art-making styles, ideas and generations  from the powerful totemic wood sculptures of Kenzi Shiokava to the bright, graphic paintings of Huguette Caland to the humorous research-based installation of Daniel R. Small. The show is a testament to the notion that, in Los Angeles, many ideas can bubble to the surface at once. Through Aug. 28. 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood, Los Angeles, hammer.ucla.edu.

In Focus: Electric! at the Getty Museum. Electricity: It powers your home, it powers your work and it powers the phone on which you are likely reading this post. This photographic exhibition at the Getty gathers historic images that showcase the allure of light and power. Through Aug. 28. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles, getty.edu.

Ambos, at the U.S./Mexico International Border. Tanya Aguiniga, a Tijuana-born, L.A.-based artist, has organized a series of happenings and events at the international border  from image projections to a hyper-local pirate radio station run out of a station wagon. Events will take place at the Mercado de Artesanias, the craft market situated between the regular lanes and the medical pass lanes on the Tijuana side of the border. Through Aug. 28. See the website for a calendar of events and the Google Map coordinates for exact location. San Ysidro Port of Entry, International Border, Tijuana, Mexico, ambosproject.com.

Art of the Austronesians: The Legacy of Indo-Pacific Voyaging, at Fowler Museum. A look at the legacy of Austronesian-speaking peoples gathers art and artifacts from the Philippines, Indonesia and other points in the South Pacific. This includes nearly 200 works, from wood sculptures to ceremonial textiles to canoe prow ornaments. Through Aug. 28. 308 Charles E. Young Drive N., Westwood, fowler.ucla.edu.

Duchamp to Pop, at the Norton Simon Museum. Drawing mostly from the Norton Simons permanent collection, this exhibition looks at the influence Duchamp likely had on generations of artists, from assemblagists to pop painters  figures who have appropriated elements of the everyday world and transformed them into art. Through Aug. 29. 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, nortonsimon.org.

Maiden L.A., in locations around Los Angeles. A month-long series of happenings around the county will feature talks, exhibitions, digital projects and open studios. This includes a peephole cinema in Chinatown, sculpture inspired by surrealist fistfights, a scent-blending workshop, and even a workshop about painting on black velvet. Through Aug. 31. Locations around Los Angeles, maiden.la.

Closing Celebratory Show, at Rosamund Felsen Gallery. On the Los Angeles gallery scene since 1978, Rosamund Felsen is bidding farewell to her space with this group exhibition featuring works from her stable of gallery artists  which includes figures such as painters Karen Carson and Steven Hull and sculptors Jacci Den Hartog and Tim Ebner  among countless others. On view through the summer. 1923 S. Santa Fe Ave., downtown Los Angeles, rosamundfelsen.com.

Veronika Kellndorfer, Tropical Modernism: Lina Bo Bardi, at Christopher Grimes Gallery. The German artist explores the work of Brazilian Modernist architect Lina Bo Bardi  among other influential Brazilian designers  in works that place silkscreened photographic images onto reflective glass paneling. The focus, ultimately, is on unusual pairings  of the architecture and Brazils riotous plant life. Through Sept. 2. 916 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, cgrimes.com.

Betty Tompkins, Sex Works/WOMEN Words: 1000 Words, Phrases and Stories, at Gavlak. Known for paintings that take graphic images of pornography and give them a distinctly feminist cast, Tompkins has taken on the ways in which women are referred to in our society. An installation of 1,000 paintings features words that describe women  from babe to sis to hot tomato to others that remain unprintable. The show also includes works from her various series devoted to sex and sexuality. Expect up-close views of various body parts. Through Sept. 3. 1034 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, gavlakgallery.com.

TMR as Hub: Paramo, at the Mistake Room. As part of its TMR as Hub series, the Mistake Room is showcasing the works of other cultural platforms  from galleries to artist-run spaces to schools. For this iteration, they are featuring the work of the Mexican collective Gabinete Homo-Extraterrestre (Gabinete H-E) in collaboration with the Guadalajara gallery Paramo. For this, their first Los Angeles exhibition, Gabinete has produced a body of new work that riffs on a symbolic exhumation of their past projects. Through Sept. 3. 1811 E. 20th St., downtown Los Angeles, tmr.la.

Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women, 1947-2016, at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel. The debut exhibition at the citys newest gallery tackles more than half a century of sculpture by women, featuring key works by important international figures (Louise Bourgeois, Lee Bontecou) and key California artists (Ruth Asawa, Clare Falkenstein). Pieces range from the ethereal (Lygia Papes golden threads) to downright hilarious (Lara Schnitgers lacy/cat/fur assemblage sculptures). Altogether, the show offers an alternative to the narrative of the macho man postwar painting scene that has so dominated the story of 20th century art. Through Sept. 4. 901 E. Third St., Los Angeles, hauserwirthschimmel.com.

Gronks Theater of Paint, at the Craft and Folk Art Museum. The Los Angeles artist Gronk (born Glugio Nicandro) is widely known for his career as a painter, conceptual artist and for his work with the inventive 1970s collective Asco. He is also a longtime set designer, one who has built and painted elaborate sets for performances, plays and avant-garde operas, including works by the celebrated director Peter Sellars. This exhibition that tracks a long-running practice that melds art and architecture with the theatrical. Through Sept. 4. 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, cafam.org.

Ed Ruscha: Books & Co., at Gagosian Gallery. For their summer group show, the gallery is gathering historic artist books by Ed Ruscha (think: the seminal Every Building on the Sunset Strip) and exhibiting them with a range of book and book-inspired works by other artists, such as Amy Parks ambitious paintings project that renders Ruschas famous work as a series of watercolors, as well as other pieces that bear Ruschas influence in less direct ways, such as Jennifer Daltons exhaustive catalogue of potentially hazardous environmental sites in Brooklyn. Through Sept. 9. 456 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, gagosian.com.

Phantom Limb, at Shulamit Nazarian. A group exhibition features the work of five artists whose work treads the line between the figurative and the abstract, including the wild collaged canvases of Trenton Doyle Hancock and the paintings of Scott Anderson, whose abstracted figures and landscapes manage to nod to art history even while feeling totally sci-fi. Through Sept. 9. 17 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, shulamitnazarian.com.

Ken Price, Drawings, at Matthew Marks Gallery. The gallery is displaying more than 40 drawings from the estate of the artist, one of the largest West Coast presentations of the famous ceramicists work on paper. He produced often whimsical and otherworldly renditions of mundane objects, as well as sketches for possible sculptures. The exhibition will also feature a small selection of the three-dimensional works. Through Sept. 10. 1062 N. Orange Grove Ave., West Hollywood, matthewmarks.com.

Claire Falkenstein: Beyond Sculpture, at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. The 20th century California artist, whose name has is circulating once again after being included in the debut exhibition at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, is now the subject of her own retrospective, tracking her entire career, from the 1930s to the 90s. (She passed away in 1997.) The artist, who worked in San Francisco and Los Angeles  as well as Paris  produced prints and murals, among other works, but she is best known for her sculpture: in particular, her often gritty assemblages made out of wire studded with chunks of glass. Through Sept. 11. 490 E. Union St., Pasadena, pmcaonline.org.

Danielle Abrams, Quadroon, at the Grand Central Art Center. A reference to someone who is one-quarter black, the term quadroon gets at the absolutist ways in which race is viewed in the United States. (Someone who is part black is regarded simply as black.) Abrams is part Jewish and part African American, and in this video installation, she picks apart the myriad elements  beyond simple ethnicity and race  that come together to make up any one persons identity. Through Sept. 11. 125 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, grandcentralcenter.com.

Hito Steyerl: Factory of the Sun, at the Museum of Contemporary Art. A video installation by the German artist takes the viewer into a dystopia where the movements of workers are harvested to create artificial sunshine. The piece, which debuted at the Venice Biennale in 2015, is a mash-up of contemporary communication, told as video game, news report documentary film and Internet video. Through Sept. 12. MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, moca.org.

Alex Da Corte, A Season in Hell, at Art + Practice. An exhibition by the New Jersey-born conceptual artist includes a series of works inspired by French poet Arthur Rimbauds influential prose poem, A Season in Hell, which explores topics of morality, desire and death. In video and in sculptural installations  works that employ banal consumer goods and pop cultural tropes  Da Corte takes on these topics and others, touching on issues of identity, alienation and instability. Through Sept. 17. 4339 Leimert Blvd., Leimert Park, Los Angeles, hammer.ucla.edu and artandpractice.org.

Tanya Aguiniga, Loie Hollowell and Lenore Tawney, 3 Women, at the Landing. A three-woman show  inspired by the Robert Altman movie of the same name  serves as a cross-generational gathering of works that blur the line between craft and fine art. These are represented by the weavings of Tawney, a contemporary of painter Agnes Martin; Hollowell, who paints pulsing abstractions inspired by the female form; and Aguiniga, who uses modern and traditional weaving techniques to create wild biomorphic forms. Through Sept. 17. 5118 Jefferson Blvd., West Adams, thelandinggallery.com.

Reflections on the Self, at the California African American Museum. Drawn from the museums permanent collection, this wide-ranging exhibition looks at the representation of the self, examining the idealized and mythicized ways that artists have portrayed pop and cultural icons, from Malcolm X to Thelonious Monk to a New Orleans grand marshal. Also on view at the museum is Oh Snap! West Coast Hip Hop Photography, which will feature an array of hip-hop artists who came up in the 90s, such as Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur and others. Through Sept. 18. 600 State Drive, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, caamuseum.org.

Play: Open Call 2016, at the L.A. Municipal Art Gallery. A community-based biennial riffs on the notion of play  featuring works of painting, photography, collage and more by 300 L.A. artists. Through Sept. 18. 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, lamag.org.

In the Cut, at Gallery Luisotti. A group show curated by Michael Pena explores the myriad meanings of the phrase in the cut  from the idea of a wound to places that are remote, either physically or psychologically. The show brings together photography by Sam Contis, Whitney Hubbs, Lisa Ohlweiler and Cindy Bernard, depicting secluded desert spaces, nudist camps and a Riverside ranch, among other spaces. Through Sept. 24. An artists reception will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 13. Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Building A2, Santa Monica, galleryluisotti.com.

Fast Forward: The Architecture of William F. Cody, at the Architecture and Design Museum. A new exhibition looks at the career of one of Palm Springs most notable Modernist architects  known for a range of designs (some quite flamboyant) that included homes, condominiums, commercial centers and the temple-like El Dorado Country Club for a clientele that included Frank Sinatra, Walt Disney and Bing Crosby. Through Sept. 25. 900 E. Fourth St., downtown Los Angeles, aplusd.org.

Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle and Tyler Matthew Oyer, Exploring The Nowannago: Kentifrican Modes of Resistance, at Grand Central Art Center. A combination of performance and video piece, Exploring the Nowannago is part of Hinkles long-running exploration of the ways in which black female bodies are commoditized and exoticized. Also on display is Jesse Kees sound installation featuring a series of pieces drawn from the artists experience working in Santa Ana. Through Oct. 16. 125 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, grandcentralartcenter.com.

London Calling, at the Getty Museum. Drawn primarily from the collection of the Tate in London, this exhibition brings together six of the leading British painters of the 20th century, figures who resisted trends toward abstraction to focus on the figure, revolutionizing the act of painting in the process. Through Nov. 13. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles, getty.edu.

Guillermo del Toro: At Home With Monsters, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The filmmakers work  which includes movies such as Pans Labyrinth, Hellboy and Pacific Rim  all play with notions of the fantastical. This exhibition looks at the directors artistic process, including plenty of drawings and maquettes, along with the objects that inspire him (including some truly odd and macabre works from LACMAs permanent collection). These are presented in a series of thematic rooms that explore magic, occultism, death and monsters. A totally wild ride. Through Nov. 27. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.

Marcos Ramirez ERRE and David Taylor, Delimitations: A Survey of the 1821 United States-Mexico Border, at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. In 2014, Ramirez and Taylor set out on a more than 3,000-mile journey to mark the 1821 border between the U.S. and Mexico, which took them to unlikely places such as Medicine Bow, Wyo., and Dodge City, Kan. This exhibition presents photography and other documentation from that journey, one that looks at the fragile nature of political borders. Also on view will be the wild urban architecture-inspired sculptures of L.A. artist Ruben Ochoa  rising like monsters from the gallery floor. A pair of shows not to miss. Through Nov. 27. Jacobs Building, 1100 Kettner Blvd., downtown San Diego, mcasd.org.

American Mosaic: Picturing Modern Art Through the Eye of Duncan Phillips, at the Orange County Museum of Art. In the early 20th century, at a time when many U.S. moguls were focusing on amassing European masters, banking and steel scion Duncan Phillips focused his collecting efforts on American art, acquiring canvases by now venerated painters such as Thomas Eakins, Marsden Hartley, Winslow Homer, Georgia OKeeffe and Helen Frankenthaler. This exhibition brings together more than five dozen works from his collection. Through Dec. 4. 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach, ocma.net.

The Spun Universe: Wixarika (Huichol) Yarn Paintings, at the Fowler Museum. A new show at the Fowler gathers the brightly woven yarn paintings of Wixarika artist Ramon Medina Silva, known for his elaborate compositions depicting astral figures, holy plants and important ritual objects, all crafted with brilliant threads. Through Dec. 4. UCLA, 308 Charles E. Young Drive N., Westwood, Los Angeles, fowler.ucla.edu.

MOLAA at Twenty: 1996-2016, at the Museum of Latin American Art. The Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach is celebrating two decades in existence with a show that draws from the museums permanent collection of more than 1,600 objects. These include works by renowned Modernists Joaqun Torres-Garca and Wifredo Lam, Argentine conceptualist Len Ferrari as well as contemporary figures such as Alexandre Arrechea and Patssi Valdez. Through Jan. 1. 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach, molaa.org.

Senses of Time: Video and Film-Based Works of Africa, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. For one of its long-term installations, the museum has gathered works of video or film by contemporary African artists that explore the body and the looping nature of time. This includes pieces by figures such as Yinka Shonibare, Sammy Baloji, Berni Searle, Moatax Nasr and Theo Eshetu. Through Jan. 2. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, lacma.org.

Non Fiction at the Underground Museum. An emotionally charged exhibition curated by the late Noah Davis, in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles brings together works that explore issues of race and violence. This includes important works from MOCAs permanent collection by artists such as Robert Gober, Kara Walker, Henry Taylor and David Hammons. Through March. 3508 W. Washington Blvd., Arlington Heights, Los Angeles, theunderground-museum.org.

Islamic Art Now: Part 2 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Contemporary works from LACMAs permanent collection by 20 artists who live in or have roots in the Middle East look at questions of society, gender and identity. Runs indefinitely. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, lacma.org.

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Ben-Hur is quite the sitting duck. What, after all, makes a more inviting target than an attempt to refurbish a film that won a then-record 11 Oscars, including best picture, and earned a ton of money to boot?

Yet, on the other hand, that 1959 Ben-Hur was hardly a sacred text but rather a remake of a 1925 silent version inspired in turn by an 1880 novel a former Civil War general and governor of the New Mexico territory wrote in his spare time.

And, truthfully, that William Wyler-directed, Charlton Heston-starring epic did have its longeurs, clocking in at 3 hours and 44 minutes plus intermission and making critic Dwight McDonald feel like a motorist trapped at a railroad crossing while a long freight train slowly trundled by.

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But if taking another crack at this biblical-era tale of a rivalry between two former friends whose deadly competition intertwines with the life of Christ is no sin, what has resulted is not going to win friends or influence people.

As directed by Timur Bekmambetov, this 21st century Ben-Hur is more phlegmatic than awful, a by and large dull and lethargic piece of work that is not bad enough to get mad at. What it lacks most of all is a convincing reason to exist.

Words like lethargic are not usually associated with Bekmambetov, who made his reputation in Russia with the visceral Night Watch and went on to direct the misbegotten but energetic Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

 Jack Huston, Morgan Freeman and Toby Kebbell star in Ben-Hur.

And Bekmambetov does make the most of Ben-Hurs signature sequence, the celebrated all-out chariot race between Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), Jewish prince turned escaped galley slave, and the mercurial Messala (Toby Kebbell), his adopted brother turned Roman autocrat.

But as the 1959 version demonstrated, these action moments need underlying dramatic plausibility to be most effective, and neither Huston, the grandson of director John Huston who has his own line of Oliver Peoples eyewear, nor Kebbell, who was the evil Koba in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, have the heft or charisma to make their roles convincing.

Bebmambetov has indicated in interviews that he views this Ben-Hur as providing not just chariot thrills but also a message about forgiveness for a world in desperate need of it.

The director, however, lacks the subtlety of touch necessary to realize that goal and an unconvincing script by Keith R. Clarke and John Ridley does not help matters, so much so that even as ordinarily serene an actor as Morgan Freeman has trouble finding his footing.

Ben-Hur begins in 33 A.D. with a hint of things to come as Judah and Messala exchange testy words before that all-important chariot competition. Then it flashes back eight years to a horse race in the desert that underlines the competitiveness between these sterling young men.

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But though Judah is a wealthy aristocrat and Messala his lowly adopted brother (upgraded from close friend in the last version), the two are so close that when that horse race ends in injury, Messala schleps Judah home through miles of desert sand.

Judah not only lives a luxe life, hes surrounded by beautiful women with posh accents, including his mother, Naomi (Ayelet Zurer), his sister, Tirzah (Sofia Black BElia), and Esther (Nazanin Boniadi), the woman he loves and marries.

Understandably feeling left out, Messala runs off to join the Roman army, where he becomes the protege of Pontius Pilate (top Danish actor Pilou Asbaek, the spin doctor in Borgen), who brings him along when he becomes ruler of Judea.

In Messalas absence, freedom fighters called zealots have become a force, and while status-quo loving Judah isnt interested in rebellion, an act of misguided generosity insures that before you can say Hail Caesar, hes imprisoned as galley slave No. 61 and his mother and sister flat out disappear.

Ben-Hur wouldnt be much of a story if Judah ended his days reduced to slavery, so circumstances get him to dry land where he meets Sheik Ilderim (Freeman), a chariot-racing entrepreneur who notices his facility with horses and makes that big race with Messala happen.

Director Bekmambetov is much more in his element inside the Roman circus, and using visual reference points that were unavailable in 1959 (YouTube auto racing videos, GoPro cameras) he has placed viewers in the middle of things in a way that is undeniably effective.

Given that the original novel was subtitled A Tale of the Christ for a reason, this film also features Rodrigo Santoro as a magnetic working carpenter Jesus who insists God is love and tells individuals the almighty has a path planned for you even when they dont want to hear it.

But though the presence of executive producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (the Son of God miniseries) indicate that Ben-Hur has an interest in attracting faith-based audiences, this films brotherhood-heavy story line ends up emphasizing faith less than its predecessor did.

While the 1959 Ben-Hur has its pros and cons, its deep sense of Hollywood professionalism grounded it in a way that is still impressive. The 2016 Ben-Hur is not convincingly anything, and no amount of chariot racing can make up for that.

====

MPAA rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence and disturbing images.

Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes.

In general release.

Ben-Hur. More phlegmatic than awful, this revisiting of the twice-filmed story of rivalry between former friends in the time of Jesus is not bad enough to get mad at. What it lacks most of all is a convincing reason to exist. - Kenneth Turan
The title of Disorder refers to a nasty case of PTSD plaguing a French soldier named Vincent (Matthias Schoenaerts), who has just returned home from his latest and likely final tour of duty in Afghanistan. Diagnosed with persistent hearing problems and clearly still inhabiting a psychological war zone if not a physical one, Vincent tries to ward off ennui and despair by taking a private security job in the South of France, where he is tasked with protecting rich Lebanese businessman Whalid (Percy Kemp) and his family during a party at their gated estate.

But on a subtler level, Disorder might also be an apt description of the structural confusion at the heart of this intriguing thriller from French writer-director Alice Winocour, who works in a jagged, restless filmmaking style that favors sensory immersion over dramatic clarity. Then again, the title might be a reference to a world tilting into moral and political chaos, as signaled here by various TV news stations piping in grim reports of violence abroad: another mass shooting in the U.S., a fresh atrocity perpetrated by the Islamic State.

France has been consistently and increasingly at the forefront of those depressing headlines, and Winocours film feels all the more prescient for it: First screened at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, it arrives in American theaters just a month after the Bastille Day attacks in Nice, not far from where its story is set. But the alarming recent spikes in domestic and foreign terrorism are not the chief concern of this slow-burning character study, which instead poses the intriguing question of whether a man can truly be called paranoid or delusional if some of his worst instincts are proven correct.

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Nearly a full hour elapses before anything concrete happens, and until it does  in a genuinely tense, alarming sequence  Winocour is content to observe Vincent as he simply goes about his job. The experience of armed combat has trained him to see danger and menace behind every corner, and Disorder achieves a pointed, unsettling ambiguity as Vincent  listening in on suggestive conversations and occasionally barging in when hes not wanted  gradually pieces together what he thinks is the truth about Whalids shady recent activities.

What he discovers could have lethal consequences for Whalids beautiful German wife, Jessie (Diane Kruger), and their young son, Ali (Zaid Errougui-Demonsant), who wind up under Vincents sole protection when Whalid abruptly leaves on an unspecified business trip. Showing a slick set of genre chops that were in no way suggested by her first feature, the 19th-century costume drama Augustine, Winocour uses every resource at her disposal  intimate, jagged camerawork, ominously droning music and a marvelously detailed sound design  to evoke Vincents sharp yet stunted powers of perception, all but welding his internal circuitry to our own.

The trouble is that, even as she burrows deep into her protagonists psyche, the director (who wrote the script with Jean-Stephane Bron) frequently crosses the line between deliberate ambiguity and aimless confusion. For all Winocours obvious skill behind the camera, too much of Disorder bogs down in ill-defined motivations and credulity-straining plot turns. Jessie and Vincent have a tense, frosty rapport leavened by stray glimmers of romantic attraction, but nothing here is sustained long enough to accrue the desired emotional force.

Still, movies have been made for infinitely worse reasons than the chance to watch Schoenaerts brood for an hour-and-a-half. His hulking, tattooed frame dominating nearly every scene, the Belgian-born, Hollywood-friendly actor makes a welcome return to the taciturn tough-guy register he established in the European art-house thrillers Bullhead and Rust and Bone, seething and sulking with a ferocity that rewards the viewers close attention. Disorder may ultimately fall victim to its own narrative ambivalence, but acting this magnetic achieves a clarity all its own.

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Disorder

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 41 minutes

Playing: Laemmles Royal Theater, Los Angeles; Laemmles Playhouse 7, Pasadena

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 
When Nate Parker premiered his provocative drama about the 1831 Nat Turner slave rebellion at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the audience response was electric. After a fierce bidding war, Fox Searchlight acquired The Birth of a Nation for a record $17.5 million and Parker, a first-time director, seemed to be barreling toward Oscar season with an air of inevitability.

Instead, a complex and tragic chapter from Parkers past has placed the 36-year-old writer, director and star of The Birth of a Nation at the center of a roiling controversy over sexual assault.

In 1999, while a scholarship wrestler at Penn State University, Parker was accused and acquitted of raping a woman. His roommate, Jean McGianni Celestin, who received a writing credit on the movie, was convicted in the case, but the verdict was overturned.

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DOCUMENTS: Complaint against Penn State University regarding Nate Parker rape case 

Parker had previously discussed the case in interviews, but many in Hollywood first learned of the story in recent days due to articles in the trade press that included harrowing new details about the case. On Friday, Deadline posted the trial transcripts, which contain the womans allegation that she was unconscious during the encounter, and on Monday, Variety reported that she committed suicide in 2012 at age 30, which Parker said he did not know.

Many expected the filmmaker to withdraw from an intensive promotional campaign for the film. But in defiance of the conventional strategy that public figures take a break from appearances when such a story erupts, Parker seems determined to stay in the public eye and face whatever uncomfortable questions arise. He appeared at a film festival in Marthas Vineyard for a question-and-answer session moderated by Spike Lee over the weekend, and is scheduled to attend a series of events in the weeks before the film is released Oct. 7, including the Toronto Film Festival and a press junket. Plans for a 12-city tour, which involves speaking to community groups and churches, are still in place.

I understand how much confusion and pain this incident has had on so many, most importantly the young woman who was involved, Parker said in a lengthy Facebook post about the case he shared Tuesday night. I myself just learned that the young woman ended her own life several years ago and I am filled with profound sorrow.

Parker has maintained his innocence in the case, and Fox Searchlight, the company distributing his film, has also issued a statement in support of him.

Searchlight is aware of the incident that occurred while Nate Parker was at Penn State, the studio said in a statement. We also know that he was found innocent and cleared of all charges. We stand behind Nate and are proud to help bring this important and powerful story to the screen.

 Watch the trailer for "The Birth of a Nation.

Birth of a Nation premiered to a rapturous standing ovation at Sundance in January, just as a controversy over an all-white slate of acting nominees rocked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, prompting drastic rule changes designed to increase inclusion at the organization. At the time, critics praised Parkers film for its portrait of racial catharsis, and many in Hollywood hoped it would serve as a step forward in the ongoing debate about diversity in the film business.

Just seven months later, it seems clear Parker and his film will instead walk through a thicket of inflammatory social issues, as evolving views about sexual assault on college campuses collide with the long, deadly history of rape accusations against black men.

Parkers story has also come to light in a moment when accusations about sexual assault and harassment are being treated with a new seriousness. Outrage over a six-month sentence for a Stanford University athlete convicted of assaulting an unconscious woman, and high-profile cases involving Bill Cosby and Roger Ailes have caused many to consider allegations more earnestly, even in a case that results in acquittal.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

In 2001, the accuser, who was a white Penn State student, told the campus paper the Daily Collegian that she withdrew from the university after harassment and endless threats I received.

What has been happening culturally in the last couple years with people finally, finally, talking about sexual assault and taking it seriously, weve never seen this happen before, said Kristen Houser, chief public affairs officer for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. People are still questioning, Is it possible that someone was acquitted who really did it?

In previous controversies around filmmakers, audiences and academy members have already had a relationship with the artist, such as those surrounding Woody Allen, accused of rape by his daughter, Dylan Farrow, during the 2013-2014 awards campaign for the movie Blue Jasmine, and Roman Polanski, who could not travel to the U.S. during the 2002-2003 campaign for The Pianist because he still faced charges of having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977. But Parker, who has appeared in the films Beyond the Lights, Red Tails and The Great Debaters, is a new face to many moviegoers and to members of the film academy.

Parkers film engages some of the very same issues that are surrounding him  Birth of Nation includes a scene involving the rape of a female character, and another where Turner, who is played by Parker, is harshly reprimanded for talking with a white woman.

Prior to Parkers case coming into the spotlight, one of the films actresses, Gabrielle Union, a rape survivor, has spoken at film festival panels and to reporters about what she considers the movies poignant treatment of the issue.

Times staff writer Libby Hill contributed to this report.

rebecca.keegan@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter for more movie news: @thatrebecca

MORE:

Birth of a Nation director Nate Parker responds after learning of the suicide of his college rape accuser

The Birth of a Nation takes top prizes at Sundance as festival enters diversity debate

Nate Parker hopes The Birth of a Nation challenges privilege and comfort
Truth may be stranger than fiction, but that hasnt stopped the makers of War Dogs from trying to tame that strangeness into submission. Set during the final years of the George W. Bush administration, this slipshod comic thriller purports to tell the wild and crazy tale of Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, two upstart war profiteers from Miami Beach who exploited the U.S. conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and temporarily achieved big-time status in the international arms trade.

Its a scattershot, fitfully funny Hollywood treatment of a real-life American hustle, one that might have been well served by the likes of David O. Russell, a master farceur who already has one terrific Mideast war romp under his belt (Three Kings). Instead it wound up in the hands of Todd Phillips, who has styled this passion project along the aggressively familiar lines of a buddy comedy, right down to the casting of Jonah Hill as the loathsome, larger-than-life star of the show.

It wasnt a bad idea on paper. As the director of The Hangover movies, Due Date, Old School and Road Trip, Phillips has earned his reputation as a specialist in the many varieties of male misbehavior. As an extreme example of what can happen when two scheming dudes have too much time and weed on their hands, War Dogs upholds that lowbrow comic tradition even as it pushes it in a more topical, grown-up direction. Adapted from a 2011 Rolling Stone article by Guy Lawson (who later wrote a book on the subject, Arms and the Dudes), this is Phillips first picture in a while to sell itself on more than just lines of coke and decapitated zoo animals. (It contains some of the former, but none of the latter.) Its selling itself on the novel idea that it actually has a terrific, rip-roaring story to tell.

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 Jonah Hill and Miles Teller star in War Dogs.

Which it would, anyway, if Phillips didnt keep weighing it down with borrowed moves and banal ideas. After one of those pointless how-did-we-get-here prologues, the movie flashes back three years to 2005, around the time that David (Miles Teller), an amiable college dropout, is stuck working as a massage therapist in Miami. After testing out a lame-brained venture selling high-end bedsheets to retirement homes, he gets a much more lucrative lesson in supply and demand when hes lured into business with his old yeshiva classmate Efraim (Hill). A genial con artist with a demonic chuckle and Scarface-fueled delusions of grandeur, Efraim heads up his own company, AEY Inc., and has already made a small killing peddling weapons to the U.S. military.

Phillips (who wrote the script with Stephen Chin and Jason Smilovic) briefly sketches in the particulars of how the governments war on terror, like most armed conflicts throughout history, became its own monstrous economy. Specifically, we learn how the Bush-Cheney administration, after taking heat for farming out no-bid weapons contracts to major players like Halliburton and Lockheed Martin, opened up the field to just about anyone with enough gumption and access to the governments FedBizOpps listings. With their scrappy, low-overhead operation, Efraim and David soon find themselves outbidding their bigger, more experienced competitors, even landing a highly coveted $300-million deal to supply the U.S.-backed Afghan National Army.

Efraims personal dislike for Bush is utterly immaterial; as he pragmatically notes, Its not about being pro-war, its about being pro-money. But if he and his partner have no meaningful politics to speak of, the same could be said of War Dogs, which gleefully encourages its characters bumbling incompetence as well as their astounding moral idiocy.

Before long the two are rolling in dough and getting in way over their heads, whether theyre navigating the treacherous 500-mile road from Amman to Baghdad with a truck full of Italian-made Berettas (the movies most entertaining stretch) or flying to an Albanian storehouse where 100 million rounds of Cold War-era AK-47 ammo lie in wait. That deal is arranged for them by a notorious, high-powered arms dealer briefly played by an unsmiling Bradley Cooper, jetting in and out of the movie as though part of some frequent-flyer program for Hangover alums.

All these lethally absurd (if heavily fictionalized) complications should have been proper grist for a raucous, meaty chronicle of greed, corruption and American enterprise gone hideously awry. At times Phillips movie nods in the direction of Martin Scorseses nauseatingly brilliant The Wolf of Wall Street, in which Hill played a riotous second banana, as well as Adam McKays The Big Short, another example of a mainstream comedy director shifting gears and tackling a recent political outrage.

But in the end, theres no outrage in War Dogs  no lacerating insight, no gonzo satiric energy, nothing more than warmed-over cynicism and some mild titters at the spectacle of boys being boys under uniquely deadly circumstances. The filmmaking is surprisingly lazy, even listless, stuffed with obvious music cues and unnecessary chapter breaks that merely add to the lurching, episodic rhythm. Despite some welcome changes of scenery courtesy of Jordan and Iraq (actually Morocco) and Albania (actually Romania), the movie cant build up a head of comic steam.

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Much of Tellers performance is consumed by a subplot involving Davids domestic woes, which include a neglected child and a long-suffering girlfriend (Ana de Armas) who can no longer swallow his stream of lies. (Here, as in The Hangover movies, women are little more than beautiful scolds.) But then, David is just along for the ride anyway as Efraims lackey and foil, and as their two-bit operation begins to crumble around them, theres an unmistakable dark pleasure in seeing Hill devolve into a hurricane of self-centered petulance and dishonesty, untethered to even the slightest bid for the audiences sympathy.

Its worth noting that War Dogs was made without the participation of the real Efraim Diveroli, who in May filed a lawsuit alleging that the filmmakers and Warner Bros. had misappropriated his life story. He has a point, if not necessarily the one he has in mind.

------------

War Dogs

MPAA rating: R, for language throughout, drug use and some sexual references

Running time: 1 hour, 54 minutes

Playing: In general release

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Gawker.com will shut down next week
A proposal to move the northernmost runway at Los Angeles International Airport closer to homes will be shelved indefinitely under an agreement announced Wednesday, ending a key lawsuit challenging the planned modernization of LAX.

The settlement, which will go before the City Council for approval next week, would halt a $652-million project to relocate the runway 260 feet closer to the communities of Westchester and Playa del Rey.

Filed in May 2013 by the Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion, the suit alleged that Los Angeles World Airports had not done the required environmental impact evaluation or taken measures to reduce any adverse effects resulting from the move.

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For years, the runway project has been a major issue in residential neighborhoods because of the potential for increased noise and air pollution.

We are turning a new page and standing up for communities next to the airport, Mayor Eric Garcetti said in making the announcement.

The agreement includes plans for a community park on the airports north side, as well as additional passenger gates in the central terminal area to replace those that currently must be accessed by shuttle buses.

Safety improvements will be made to the two northern runways, air pollution monitoring will be increased and an ongoing dialogue about airport projects will be established between LAX, the alliance and the surrounding community.

However, the settlement also will lift a cap on the number of passenger gates at the airport  which had limited LAXs passenger volume to about 79 million annually.

This is a landmark agreement, a natural meeting of the minds, said Denny Schneider, president of the alliance. It demonstrates a new era in cooperation that has not been seen in 40 years.

The $5.5-billion in airport improvements passed by the council in May 2013 included terminal additions, a transportation center, a consolidated car rental facility, a people mover and stops for Metro light-rail trains.

The most controversial was the plan to separate the two northern runways and install a taxiway between them.

Supporters, including the Federal Aviation Administration and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, contended the project would increase the safety and efficiency of moving aircraft  especially the largest airliners  around LAX.

Neighborhood activists and local elected officials contended the proposal would be costly and achieve few, if any, of the promised safety improvements.

The airport and the surrounding neighborhood have been at war for decades, said Councilman Mike Bonin, whose district includes LAX. Today, there is peace.

Two similar lawsuits brought by Culver City and Inglewood are pending. Garcetti said he has met with officials from both cities and was confident the suits could be resolved.

dan.weikel@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter at @LADeadline16

ALSO

Hurled water bottles signal end to Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor news conference

Ryan Lochte changes details of Rio robbery story; authorities pull two of his teammates off plane

As night falls, the fire marches toward Angeles Crest Highway with dozens of homes in its path
Aug. 25, 2016, 10:40 a.m. Reporting from imperial beach, Calif.

We made it, Oregon to Mexico, along an 1,100-mile beach The drive began at the Oregon border. It ended five weeks later at the Mexican border. Where I almost got arrested. OK, thats an exaggeration. When photographer Allen Schaben and I got to the border of Tijuana and Imperial Beach, the party was much better on the Mexican side. Families were in the water and on the sand, a Mariachi band played, and the whole scene was rather festive compared with two people strolling quietly on the Imperial Beach side. I thought briefly about defecting. One man stood at the fence on the Tijuana side, so I walked up to say hello. I asked why he wasnt swimming and he said he didnt have a bathing suit, then he stuck his hand through the fence to shake my hand. A Border Patrol agent sped toward me in an SUV and yelled for me to stand back from the fence. I hesitated, because what was the big deal? But then I noticed a sign warning against contact or the passing of narcotics through the fence, etc. So I stepped back from the fence because I didnt know if Id be able to write my last road trip columns from a jail cell. Im going to wrap up the series on Sunday, but that wont be the end of my coverage of the California Coastal Commission on the 40th anniversary of the Coastal Act. Theres lots to keep an eye on. Legislation to ban private meetings between commissioners and developers could move forward later today. A vote has been delayed on the controversial proposal for a desalination plant in Huntington Beach, a project that doesnt make a lot of sense in my opinion but has big money backing it. The ever-controversial Newport Banning Ranch project -- a massive hotel/housing development on the last undeveloped plot of privately owned coastal property in Southern California -- will be up for a vote in early September. And the City Council election in Pismo Beach has gotten very interesting because Erik Howell, a councilman and coastal commissioner who ticked off Pismo residents by supporting a development that will block ocean views, now has challengers in his reelection campaign. Howell, if youve forgotten, accepted a $1,000 campaign donation from the domestic partner and business colleague of the lobbyist who represents the Pismo development. If he loses his council seat, he loses his Coastal Commission seat too. So stay tuned. The Coastal Commission will have a new director soon, a new chair and at least two new commissioners, and we need to watch closely because whats at stake is the greatest 1,100-mile coast in the world.



10:25 A.M. reporting from san diego

Lawmaker who led 72 coastal preservation bike ride from San Francisco to San Diego still has Schwinn that delivered win Former senator James Mills, 89, stands with the bike he rode from Sacramento to San Diego in 1972 to promote Prop 20, which created the Coastal Commission and led to the Coastal Act. The photo was taken overlooking the San Diego skyline from Mills Coronado apartment Wednesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) The bike. I wanted to see the bike, and meet its owner. Arriving in San Diego meant our coastal trek from Oregon to Mexico was coming to an end, and it meant that it was finally time to pay a visit to Jim Mills. Mills, a state legislator from 1962 to 1981, was Senate president pro tempore in 1972 when he decided to support Proposition 20, the coastal preservation act. Without it, conservationists feared, coastal development would run amok, Highway 1 would be widened, and a string of nuclear power plants would spring up on some of the greatest beach fronts in the world. But there wasnt much money to fight Prop. 20s foes, said Mills, who had grown up wading in La Jolla Cove and has a deep appreciation of the states greatest natural resource. So in September 1972, he hopped aboard his canary yellow Schwinn Super Sport and led a bike rally from San Francisco to San Diego. The number of riders swelled at times, Mills said, and bikers were greeted each evening by locals serving plenty of carbs. We ate a lot of weenies and beans, and spaghetti too, he said. He recalled PG&E executives following the cyclists in a chauffeur-driven Cadillac, doing their own spin on Prop. 20. The bike rally drew lots of publicity, Mills said, and whether it made the difference is anyones guess. But Prop. 20 won 55% of the vote and led in 1976 to the Coastal Act that to this day protects the coast for the benefit of fragile marine and land habitats and the enjoyment of everyone. Mills was 45 when he rode down the coast, and 89 now. He greeted me and photographer Allen Schaben at his Coronado condo and said he hasnt done any riding lately, but hes doing a lot of writing. Mills has written several books and is working on another. He leads us down to the basement, and there it is. The dusty, canary yellow Schwinn that Mills rode in 1972, and for many years after the Prop. 20 campaign. He was an avid cyclist. Mills also kept the helmet he wore in 1972. We took the bike upstairs, where Mills put on his helmet and posed next to the bike that is a piece of California history. The Coastal Act has done a great deal of good over the years, Mills said, and the cause is no less important now than it was when he rode south from San Francisco. We need to preserve the coast for the benefit of future generations, he said, and I thank him for his contribution.



Aug. 21, 2016, 10:50 p.m. Reporting from the Mexican border

Steve Lopez reflects back on his 1,100 mile trek down the California coast

6:57 P.M. Sometimes the sausage is good enough to eat Two things will happen soon. The last column from my 1,100 mile road trip down the California coast will be done. And the reform bill banning private communications between California Coastal Commissioners and developers, as well as others, could finally emerge from the factory. As Ive been saying, Hannah-Beth Jacksons bill sailed through the Senate and should have done the same in the Assembly, but it got pushed off into a dark corner after a very fishy report claimed that reform costs money. The thing has come back to life, though, with amendments that arent as bad as the original amendments. I dont see why we need the amendments at all, or why the wrangling has to take place behind closed doors and out of public view. While I was thinking about that, a reader emailed me a clever idea about how to keep coastal commissioners honest -- make them strap on body cameras, like cops. I like it, and why not do the same with legislators, so we can all see whats going on? Having said all this, though, Im hearing from supporters of Jacksons bill that they think theres actually a chance the legislation is going to be OK, once all the cooks are done tweaking the recipe. Sausage is full of awful stuff, but just about all of it is good on the grill. So as much fun as Ive had telling you to ping Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, @Rendon63rd, and Appropriations Chair Lorena Gonzalez, @LorenaAD80, and ask what gives, maybe we should try another approach. Im told that Rendon, Gonzalez and other Assembly leaders have done some decent work rescuing this much-needed bill from the trash. So go ahead and tweet them again, and tell them youre encouraged, and still watching -- to the extent thats possible -- and counting on them to do whats necessary to get the bill to Gov. Jerry Brown, which is when the real fun will begin.

8:46 A.M. When it comes to coastal protection, why does state Assembly have such a problem with transparency? The need to clean up the way the California Coastal Commission operates was obvious. Commissioners meet privately with developers more than with any other group, by far. They have repeatedly failed to fully explain the nature of those meetings, and have even failed to report them on occasion. State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) penned a bill to ban such meetings. It cleared the Senate and bounced over to the Assembly, which nearly killed it, but finally decided this week to merely beat it to a pulp. The toothless mess that emerged from the Assembly Appropriations Committee this week would allow private meetings to continue under certain circumstances, and now Sen. Jackson has the task of trying to put some punch back into her bill. And heres the irony: We dont know which Assembly members, or higher powers, conspired to water down Jacksons bill because there is no transparency in the process. You cant peer through a window into the sausage factory. These amendments were hammered out privately. One can guess that the development lobby and labor groups did not like Jacksons reform bill because it would get in the way of a process that gives an advantage to those who want to build on the coast. One can even guess that the Brown administration shares their view. But we dont know, because a bill to shine a light on important decision-making got pummeled in a dark room, and the perps left no fingerprints. See Dan Weikels story at latimes.com. Ive sent in a request for an explanation to Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount). He has appointing authority for four coastal commissioners and itd be nice to hear what he thinks about the handiwork by his Appropriations Committee. If youd like to ping him or Appropriations Chair Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) to ask what happened, try @Rendon63rd and @LorenaAD80. Or you can drop a line to The Silent One @JerryBrownGov, but Ive tried, and despite months of turmoil and controversy on the 40th anniversary of the Coastal Act he signed into law, the governor doesnt want to be disturbed.



7:36 A.M. Summer is in the rear-view mirror, end of journey just down the road The tide splashes up on the beach at sunset on a warm summer evening at Windansea Beach in La Jolla. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Carlsbad. Leucadia. Encinitas. Cardiff. Solana. Del Mar. Summer is disappearing in my rear-view mirror. Week Five of my trip from Oregon to Mexico will be over in just a few days, 1,100 miles after it began. Photographer Allen Schaben is farther down the road, waiting for me in San Diego. Soon well stand at the Mexican border and reflect on a deeper love of the California coast, a greater appreciation of the Coastal Act on the 40-year anniversary of protections that became law. Ill wish Id had a week to spend in places where I only had an hour or two. Ill thank the people we met along the way, and tell others well take up their offer the next time through. Californians are passionate about their coast. Theyre closely watching those in public office whose job is to protect fisheries and dunes, to limit development and maximize access. Ive got one eye on Sacramento myself. On legislative reforms that would serve all Californians. On coastal commissioners, some of whom seem to have forgotten their purpose. Im pulling into San Diego, where the air is warm, the water blue, Mexico in the near distance.



4:14 P.M. La Jolla The palm fronds of a palapa reveal a surfer, a couple and children taking in a warm summer sunset at Windansea Beach in La Jolla. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)



1:07 P.M. newport beach

Watts in a name? Find Amp-le answers in Newport Beach On Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach. (Steve Lopez / Los Angeles Times) Im driving south on the Pacific Coast Highway and spot the sign. The boat name of the week, it says, is Watt A Man. Thats not a mistake. This is the headquarters for Duffy, which makes the electric boats that are part of the culture in the Newport harbor. Many years ago, I wrote a column about a day of hobnobbing and bar-hopping, by boat, with local residents. I also wrote, at the time, about boat owners trying to out-do each other with clever names for the battery-powered boats. One of my favorites was Salt n Battery. So what are some of the newer ones? I walk into the office, and salesman Jim Drayton says one of the best ones this summer was Amp-ly Endowed. Not bad. Tyler Duffield, of the Duffy family, shows me a list with a few more recent winners. Your name here. (Steve Lopez / Los Angeles Times) Its a Ohm Run. Watt the Hey. Watta Yacht. Going back through the years, some of the better names include: Current Affair. Carry Us Ohm Watts the Hurry. Shock Cousteau. Ohmer Simpson. Knots and Volts. I could go on, but why dont you, instead? Send me your best names. Its not as easy as it looks, Duffield said. Its usually the hardest part, he says. Someone comes in and orders a boat, and they get the colors and everything figured out, and the last thing to do is come up with a name before the boat leaves the factory. Yeah, Its a Duff Life out here, where people are Ohm on the Watter, but It Is Watt It Is.



9:13 A.M. Going under in Laguna Beach A snorkeler looks for fish at Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Garibaldi swim and feed on rocks at Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

2:41 P.M. Catching waves in Huntington Beach



10:53 A.M. On our way toward Mexico A view of the beach through a telescope at Pacific City, a new 31-acre mixed-use development in Huntington Beach, also known as Surf City U.S.A. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) The site of the proposed Banning Ranch development now before the California Coastal Commission. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) The tide rolls in at twilight at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station located on the border of San Diego County and San Clemente. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

4:52 P.M. Laguna Beach

4:45 P.M. Laguna Beach



12:51 P.M. Dana Point A pod of dolphins leaps out of the water with a view of south Laguna Beach in the background on Aug. 12, 2016. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

10:37 P.M. sacramento

Profiles in courage: Legislators soften Coastal Commission reform, leave no fingerprints A perfectly sensible bill to clean up the way California coastal commissioners do business has been getting the waterboard treatment. First, Santa Barbara Sen. Hannah-Beth Jacksons SB 1190 was submerged by a ludicrous report claiming it would cost too much money to prohibit private conversations between developers and commissioners. Then it was tossed overboard and dragged like chum. Then on Thursday, legislators pulled SB 1190 back into the boat so badly decomposed its barely recognizable. As my colleague Dan Weikel reports at latimes.com, five amendments gutted the good intentions. The most egregious one allows commissioners to meet privately with developers during on-site visits. This comes just weeks after reports that Coastal Commission Chairman Steve Kinsey met twice with developers of the massive Newport Banning Ranch development and failed to properly report those confabs. Environmental groups, however, would not be able to have such meetings in the bills current form. On my best day, I could not have come up with a more Alice in Wonderland outcome. Details were still emerging, and it wasnt clear which legislators were responsible for the hatchet job, or whether they caved in to political, development or union pressure, or all three. No fingerprints on the body, in other words. Three environmentalists I checked with were livid, and understandably so. Stay tuned for updates on the autopsy, and dont stop letting @JerryBrownGov know how you feel about whats happening to coastal preservation on his watch. #SaveYourCoast



7:46 A.M. Sunset at Crystal Cove Beach Cottages Children run along the beach at twilight near the Crystal Cove Beach Cottages. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) The sun sets over the Crystal Cove Beach Cottages in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Isabella, 9, and Holden, 7, roast marshmallows over a beach fire with their parents, Steve and Amy Knuff, of Aliso Viejo at twilight at Crystal Cove Beach Cottages. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Incoming tide rolls onto the beach at twilight at Crystal Cove Beach Cottages. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)



1:29 P.M. Column: Fighting for the California coast from a tiny office in her kitchen nook Susan Jordan, who created and runs the California Coastal Protection Network, is seen in her Santa Barbara office. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) If you were a coastal conservation activist in California, with 1,100 miles of shoreline to look after, how would you even decide where to begin? Theres always a battle somewhere, and let me give you just a couple of examples from one tiny section of the coast. Moss Landing is in the news again this week as the Surfrider Foundation and other activists try to stop Cemex, an international sand mining company, from trucking away the beach as it has done for decades, causing erosion that has begun to set off lots of alarms. Read more



8:49 A.M. Hermosa Beach

Remember when you could spend a night at a California beach motel for less than a weeks pay? A third-generation motel owner in this seaside town tells me he gets an offer, about every other day, from someone who wants to buy his property, bulldoze it and rebuild. But hes hanging on because three generations of families have been staying at his low-budget, no-frills motel since the 1960s, and he doesnt want to end those summer vacation traditions. Elsewhere on the California coast, motels and hotels have been bought out by chains and developers, driving up the cost of affordable family vacations. Look for my column on the Hermosa Beach motel in the coming days. And if you know of good low-budget beach lodging, or if youve seen your motel go from cheap to chic, drop me a line at steve.lopez@latimes.com Over the next two days, photographer Allen Schaben and I will be in Hermosa and Huntington Beach, reporting on the proposed desalination plant there. And, by the way, we should find out in the next day or two whether legislation banning private meetings between coastal commissioners and developers is released from legislative prison and put up for a vote in the state Assembly. Theres still time to weigh in at #SaveYourCoast and be sure to give a poke to @JerryBrownGov and Assemblywoman, Lorena Gonzalez @LorenaAD80. Read more
Good morning. It is Thursday, Aug. 18. Heres what is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

Fuel for the fire

Heat. wind. And a spark. Thats all it took for the Blue Cut fire to ignite Tuesday. The regions rugged terrain and infrastructure  electrical lines, rail lines, high-pressure gas lines, a fiber-optic network  have made fighting this fire an incredibly difficult task. You could throw the worlds firefighting resources at it and its just going to keep going, said Capt. Howard Deets of the Mill Creek hotshot crew. Los Angeles Times

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Standing their ground

Officials ordered 80,000 people to evacuate their homes as the Blue Cut fire tore through 30,000 acres. But many refused to go. People that evacuate late in a fire when the fire is reaching them are the most vulnerable to being killed, said Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at UC Berkeley. Most people underestimate the fury that comes. Los Angeles Times

Money troubles

L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson is a powerful politician with authority over the citys $8.8-billion budget, but in his personal life, hes struggled with making payments on two properties. Since 2011, he and his wife have received five default notices. In a statement, Wesson said problems stem from a $759,999 home he purchased in the Mid-City area at the height of the market. Los Angeles Times

Readers, we always love hearing from you. You can keep up with Alice and Shelby during the day on Twitter. Follow @TheCityMaven and @ShelbyGrad.

L.A. AT LARGE

Lower wages: Sources say American Apparel is considering whether to move its manufacturing out of downtown Los Angeles and into a state with lower wages, like Tennessee, North Carolina or South Carolina. Californias minimum wage will climb to $15 an hour by 2020. Los Angeles Times

School calendar: Three members of the LAUSD Board of Education think the academic year shouldnt begin until after Labor Day. A resolution from George McKenna, Scott Schmerelson and Richard Vladovic suggests the district could save money on air conditioning by moving back the start of the school year. However, critics say the August start allows students to finish their fall exams before heading out on winter break. Los Angeles Times

Time and money: L.A.s roads are costing drivers nearly $3,000 a year, according to a new report. Angelenos are paying in fuel, repairs and time. The report drives home a point that is becoming more and more evident in L.A.: a lot of our roads are bad. LAist

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Running for reelection: Is leading San Diego Republican Congressman Darrell Issa vulnerable? Some Democrats think so, and they blame Donald Trump. Wall Street Journal

Campaign funds: Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg hosted a fundraiser for state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris senatorial campaign. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) was billed as a special guest at the event. Harris is running against fellow Democrat, Rep. Loretta Sanchez. Los Angeles Times

Tax support: A new poll from the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley finds California voters support increasing taxes on tobacco and extending an income tax on the wealthy. Sacramento Bee

CRIME AND COURTS

Eyewitness account: A witness says he saw an 18-year-old man run from an LAPD officer Tuesday before he was shot. The witness says he heard three gunshots, saw the young man fall to the ground and then observed the cop kicking a handgun away from the teen. Kenny Watkins was the 16th person to be shot by on-duty LAPD officers this year. Los Angeles Times

Man beaten: A 65-year-old man was beaten with his own cane after scolding a drug dealer in San Franciscos South of Market neighborhood, police said. The man was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. SFGate

Reality TV: Cellphones and body cameras are giving the public a view of policing that previously could only be seen by watching something like Cops. Everybody forgets that cops, the police officers, are required to do social services, deal with mental health issues, deal with family squabbles. None of these things have a lot to do with law enforcement, said creator John Langley. 89.3 KPCC

FIRE WATCH

Landmark gone: The Blue Cut fire in San Bernardino County destroyed a roadside landmark: Summit Inn. The diner, which opened along Historic Route 66 in 1952, was frequented by Pierce Brosnan, Clint Eastwood and Elvis Presley. Los Angeles Times

Listen to Smokey Bear: People are the leading cause of wildfires in California. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Looking back: Director Nate Parkers acquittal on a rape charge 15 years ago is getting renewed scrutiny in anticipation of his film The Birth of a Nation. Parker wrote a Facebook message Tuesday responding to news that the woman involved in the case committed suicide in 2012. I see now that I may not have shown enough empathy even as I fought to clear my name, he wrote. Los Angeles Times

Wine history: UC Davis librarians are asking the public to help them sort through the archives of Maynard Amerine, who is credited with helping get California wines on the map. He traveled around the state, he traveled to Europe, drinking wine, learning about wine and then relayed that to California growers to bring that level of production up to the standard that he was drinking in Europe, said Amy Azzarito, online strategist at the University of California, Davis, library. NPR

What could have been: Back in the 1960s, San Francisco officials were brainstorming what to do about the citys traffic congestion. Enter a double-decker Golden Gate Bridge. SFGate

Car show: The annual Monterey Car Week is underway. This year, preservation is in and restoration is out. Now people flock around the car thats just been pulled out of the barn and has all that original character, said Porsche builder and restorer Rod Emory, of Emory Motorsports. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

San Diego will start the day with fog as temperatures reach 81 degrees. Riverside will be mostly sunny with a high of 99. Los Angeles will have fog and a high of 83 degrees. Sacramento will be sunny and 96. There will be low clouds and a high of 70 in San Francisco.

AND FINALLY

Todays California Memory comes from Linda Pickler:

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was ride in the back of a neighbors pickup truck from Reseda to Zuma Beach. The closer we got to the ocean, the cooler the air became. It was great to have the wind blow through my hair, and the very best part of the trip was to lie on my back all the way through Malibu Canyon. I loved watching the telephone lines converge and diverge in a dance all their own. A left turn at Pacific Coast Highway would take us to Malibu Beach, a right to Zuma. I always liked Zuma best because the water from the drinking fountains tasted good.

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.
For months, University of California President Janet Napolitano had been hearing about problems with two of her chancellors, at UC Berkeley and UC Davis.

What would Napolitano do? Rumors raged, but few expected she would support two resignations in quick succession  and leave the campuses without permanent leaders just days before the new school year starts.

Then UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi stepped down last week, UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Napolitano called the sudden vacancies an opportunity for a new start.

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One of the things Im here to do is identify issues and address them, Napolitano said in an interview. We dont sit around saying woe is me. This is an exciting opportunity to bring in fresh leadership to help two of the nations best research universities reach even greater heights.

At Davis, Katehi got herself embroiled in controversies over questionable moonlighting activities, efforts to cleanse her online image and allegations of nepotism. At Berkeley, Dirks was facing a growing faculty revolt over perceived weak leadership in handling a critical budget deficit and sexual misconduct cases, frequent absences from campus and a probe into alleged misuse of funds.

Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >>

Wasting no time, Napolitano issued a letter Wednesday to the UC Berkeley Academic Senate chairman outlining the new chancellor search process. The goal is to submit a candidate to the UC Board of Regents by March for Berkeley and by January for Davis.

Dirks had only served for three years, Katehi for seven.

Napolitano, who was hired to lead the 10-campus system of 250,000 students in 2013, cuts a very different figure than previous UC presidents. Unlike her predecessors, most of whom came from academia, Napolitano served as a two-term Democratic governor in the red state of Arizona and as Secretary of Homeland Security under President Obama.

Her handling of the back-to-back resignations demonstrated a decisive style, willingness to confront challenges and take action, experts said.

The resignation of not one  but two  presidencies signals that she is more hands-on and less willing to ignore mishaps, said William G. Tierney, an education professor and co-director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education at USC.

The resignation of not one  but two  presidencies signals that she is more hands-on and less willing to ignore mishaps.  William G. Tierney, education professor and co-director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education at USC

Napolitano stressed that the two chancellors cases were very different. The continued leadership of Katehi, she said, was nonsustainable after an independent investigation last week found the UC Davis chancellor had violated multiple university policies, showed poor judgment and misled Napolitano and the public about social media contracts. The chancellor, who refused to step down quietly when Napolitano asked her to do so, ultimately resigned just as the probes findings were made public.

Dirks, on the other hand, decided himself to resign, Napolitano said, though she declined to detail their private conversations. I think Nick realized himself that he had lost the support of many faculty members, she said. It was a combination of administrative and management issues and his realization that a new leader would be better suited for Berkeley.

Asked if she agreed with that assessment, Napolitano replied, Yes.

UC officials said Napolitanos bold leadership started immediately. As a homeland security chief who presided over record numbers of deportations, she faced protests from immigrant-rights advocates and undocumented students. On her second day in office, she invited several of them to meet with her.

Peruvian Andrea Gutierrez, then a UC Irvine student facing deportation, attended the meeting with skepticism. But she said Napolitano listened  and a month later allocated $5 million to improve services for immigrant students without legal status. In May, the UC chief earmarked $8.4 million per year through 2018-19 for loans, fellowships, legal services and other support.

Gutierrez said Napolitano made sure we were part of the conversation and placed her on the new Advisory Council on Undocumented Students. That position cost her some friendships but she said the president deserved credit for her actions.

Theres been tremendous change in the last three years, said Gutierrez, who now has legal status and works at Irvine as a food access and security coordinator. I cant deny her investment, both financial and personal, in making sure undocumented students are taken care of.

Todd Stenhouse of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 had a different view of Napolitanos tenure. Low-wage workers, he said, continue to suffer under Napolitanos administration. At the same time UC is hiring more contract workers with no benefits, consigning them to second-class citizenship status, he said, the UC president has approved soft landings for two disgraced chancellors.

Katehi will receive her $424,360 annual chancellor salary while on administrative leave for a year. Dirks will remain as Berkeley chancellor, drawing his $531,939 annual salary, until a successor is in place and he returns to the faculty.

Some faculty members oppose that deal with Dirks  Michael Burawoy, Berkeley Faculty Assn. co-chair, called it appalling  but Napolitano said campus stability during the search process was better than musical chairs.

Monica C. Lozano, chairwoman of the UC Board of Regents, said Napolitanos hands-on style also was reflected in her quick moves to address outcry over what critics called widespread mishandling of sexual misconduct cases. Napolitano formed a statewide task force to develop systemwide reforms, including more education and training, aid for victims  including confidential advocates to support them  and review committees to monitor imposed sanctions.

At the campus level, Napolitano also stepped in to correct perceived problems  publicly chastising Dirks this spring for failing to inform her about his handling of a law school dean who sexually harassed a staff member. She ordered Dirks to keep the dean off the campus for the rest of the semester and to remove another faculty member who had violated sexual harassment policies from an administrative job.

UC officials concede Napolitano has been criticized for a perceived heavy-handed style and some political misjudgments in Sacramento.

Lozano, however, said that Napolitano had successfully negotiated with Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature for increased money for UC, giving campuses financial stability after years of massive cuts.

Its clear that President Napolitano is a seasoned executive with a very compelling leadership style, Lozano said. Shes decisive, shes a person who takes action and she holds the institution to very high expectations.

It doesnt mean that (she) is 100% loved by all, but I do believe there is 100% respect, Lozano said.

Napolitano said she intends to keep tackling challenges, foremost among them increasing California student enrollment and  despite continuing financial challenges  providing more housing, better labs and state-of-the art instruction.

We need to continue to evolve, she said. If we just paddle in place, were not going to go anywhere.

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com

Twitter: @TeresaWatanabe

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Can two new L.A. high schools make fire departments more diverse?
Wisconsin's 7th congressional district, which stretches from Superior (across from Duluth) in the northwest corner of the state, all the way down to the Monroe County suburbs north of Eau Claire and east to Wausau, is easily the biggest district in the state. Traditionally Democratic, it fell to MTV reality actor Sean Duffy when longtime Democratic powerhouse Dave Obey retired in 2010. Just two years earlier Obama had beaten McCain in the district 53-45%. The DCCC has failed WI-07 ever since and today is replicating what it does best: trying to make sure Duffy, the most outspoken Trumpist in a state where even Republicans hate Trump, is reelected. Fortunately, grassroots Wisconsin Democrats have a very different idea. This year every single county in WI-07 went for Bernie Sanders in the primary, many in significant landslides.





Last week Mary Hoeft won the Democratic primary in her own landslide with 81% of the vote against her opponent Joel Lewis, despite Lewis having spent twice as much money as she did. That day Duffy also beat his Republican primary challenger but the important thing to remember about the WI-07 primary is that 33,746 voters cast their ballots for one of the 2 Democrats and 32,886 voters picked one of the 2 Republicans. This is not some kind of Republican hellhole. The DCCC hasn't figured out that voters are sending a message about the swingy 7th district. Pelosi and her clown car of DCCC power mongers are ignoring Hoeft, a strong progressive, the same way they are ignoring lots of progressives around the country who have won their primaries. In this regard, we've been mostly talking about races in Pennsylvania (Mary Ellen Balchunis), Texas (Tom Wakely) and on Long Island (DuWayne Gregory), Today, let's take a closer look at Mary Hoeft.





Until her victory in the primary, Hoeft was a professor of Communication Arts and French at the University of Wisconsin-Barron County in Rice Lake where she taught courses like "Finding Your Political Voice" and "Creativity and Problem Solving." Hoeft resigned from her position yesterday to dedicate all of her time to defeating Duffy. She was a Fulbright-Hays Scholar to Morocco, a Wisconsin Idea Fellow, and a "Teacher of Teachers" in Nepal. She recently authored a book about the death of her police officer son, The Betrayal of Officer Ryan Hoeft: a Conspiracy of Silence. Her daughter, Kelly is also a police officer, working in Madison.





Hoeft served two terms on the Rice Lake School Board and was President of the Board of Directors of Barron County Restorative Justice Programs, Wisconsins most cost effective alternative to the incarceration of first-time juvenile offenders. Hoeft spent fifteen years as a restorative conference facilitator, empowering victims to tell offenders how the crime impacted their lives and giving first time juvenile offenders the opportunity to make amends and avoid prison.





Former Congressman Dave Obey endorsed Hoefts candidacy, certain she will fight on behalf of families devastated by Wisconsins economy where poverty is at a 30-year high. Hoeft was drawn into this race when she saw the devastating effect the economy was having on her university students who could no longer only be students. They were working full time to pay tuition and support moms and dads who had lost their jobs or were barely surviving at minimum wage jobs. She's the newest candidate endorsed by Blue America and we invited her to tell us more about the dynamic in WI-07 between Duffy and herself. While you read her guest post below, please consider contributing to her campaign by tapping the thermometer on the right.





Sean Duffy must be stopped. Together, can do it!

-by Mary Hoeft



For six years, Congressman Duffy has faithfully served the needs of Americas wealthiest, its top 1%, while ignoring the needs of the people of the 7th Congressional District. Congressman Duffy must be stopped. Together, can do it!



Congressman Duffy is determined to destroy the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency designed to protect Americans from deceptive practices of Big Banks-- practices that caused millions of Americans to lose their homes to bankruptcy and brought our economy to its knees. Congressman Duffy must be stopped. Together, we can do it!



Sean Duffy has well over a million dollars in campaign funds. Hundreds of thousands of dollars came directly from bankers wanting to make sure their spokesman remains in office. Sean Duffy must be stopped. Together, we who can do it!



Congressman Duffy is a dangerous Donald Trump apologist who dismissed Trumps second amendment veiled threats against the life of Hillary Clinton as "maybe not the most articulate" and urged his man Trump to "stay on script."



Seriously? Congressman Duffy advocates on behalf of a presidential candidate who can only be trusted if and when he stays on script? Sure, why not? Congressman Duffy understands better than anyone what it means to stay on script when advocating on behalf of Big Banks. When advocating on behalf of the middle class Duffy has NO script. He is mute.



The people of the 7th Congressional District dont deserve a Trump apologist. They deserve a candidate who recognizes a threat to democracy when she sees one and isnt afraid to speak out.



Congressman Duffy and Donald Trump must be stopped. Together, we can do it!



Because of my advocacy on behalf of clean water and clean air, my candidacy has been endorsed by Clean Wisconsin Action Fund. Sean Duffy received a 0% rating on the National Environmental Scorecard. I will be relentless in my fight against privatization of Social Security and will fight to strengthen the program by supporting the elimination of the $118,500 cap on taxable income. Sean Duffy supports privatization. I will fight for a single payer healthcare plan. Sean Duffy authored a bill eliminating the affordable healthcare plan and offered no alternative. I will advocate on behalf of public education that includes the first two years of technical college or community college. Sean Duffy is silent on this issue. I will fight against Duffy backed tax incentives that make it cost effective for company owners to eliminate manufacturing jobs and send their work outside our borders. I will fight for a living wage of $15 an hour. Sean Duffy is content with the $7.25 we now have. I will work to reduce incarceration rates, especially of first time juvenile offenders, an issue that isnt even on Duffys radar. I will fight for a Comprehensive Healthcare Plan for our veterans, even stronger than Bernie Sanders 2014 plan voted down by Republicans.



The people of my district deserve a Representative whose focus is on Main Street, not Wall Street. I promise my focus will be on the people of this district.



Congressman Duffy and Donald Trump must be stopped. Together, we can do it!
The tiny stone home was little more than a blackened shell. The only hint of its former occupants: a metal bed frame, a shattered toilet seat, charred tin cans.

Nestled along Lone Pine Canyon Road, a narrow, twisting thoroughfare, it was a bleak symbol of all that has surrendered to the raging fire that continues to terrorize the Cajon Pass.

But for all the devastation that the Blue Cut fire has wreaked, officials have had difficulty determining the damage left by explosive flames that quickly overtook nearly 36,000 acres.

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Damage assessors have been hindered from surveying the destruction because of erratic fire behavior and intense flames that broke through retardants dropped by air crews, Eric Sherwin, an incident-response spokesman with the San Bernardino County Fire Department, said Thursday.

Fire swept through numerous remote hillsides and canyons, burning some structures to the ground but sparing others nearby.

Officials continue to say only that numerous buildings have been lost but are unable to estimate how many of those are homes. They said among the hardest hit were in West Cajon Valley and Swarthout Canyon, where deputies arrested three people suspected of stealing a vehicle from a residence.

On Thursday, there was a chilling silence in some areas where the fire had marched. The earth around a section of Highway 138 was scorched, power poles blackened, their wood splintered. A gentle wind stirred up ash, sending it swirling along the ruins.

A pinwheel spun in a backyard, near the smoldering carcass of a home. Nearby, in a garden, a sign creaked, swaying gently in the breeze.

The kiss of the sun for pardon

The song of the birds for mirth

One is nearer Gods heart in a garden

Than any place else on earth

Crews are now focused on communities west of the fire, such as Lytle Creek and the mountain resort town of Wrightwood, which is dotted with apartments and small homes and has the highest housing density in the area.

Firefighters have centered efforts on Lone Pine Canyon Road, the back door into Wrightwood, in hopes of preventing the blaze from jumping over the ridge. Still, gusty winds, high temperatures and low humidity persist and could create the same challenges that have haunted crews since the fire broke out Tuesday.

Although the Blue Cut fire calmed slightly overnight and halted its march north and east, it spread more than 4,000 acres Thursday, measuring 35,969 acres. The fire is just 22% contained, and a red flag warning remains in effect.

Some signs of progress were evident Thursday. Mandatory evacuations were lifted in several communities, and Caltrans reopened the 15 Freeway, a key trucking and commuter route that runs from San Diego, through the Inland Empire and across the Mojave Desert into Nevada. Its two-day closure had contributed to massive congestion, creating nightmares for both travelers and those trying to evacuate.

 Raw video from Blue Cut fire near the Cajon Pass.

Highway 138, another major roadway in the area, was expected to remain closed until further notice, according to the CHP.

Along Lytle Creek Road on Thursday, sunlight highlighted fire retardant-covered ridges and caution tape fluttered in a light breeze outside evacuated homes.

Resident Maria Hadaway, who chose to stay, likened the deserted stillness to an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants in which the eponymous cartoon character wakes up alone in his town.

Thats me. Im SpongeBob in Bikini Bottom, she said. Im hoping they let everyone [back] up here, because I dont like being alone.

Still in her pajamas, the 62-year-old sat in front of her home with a neighbor.

Hadaway said she stayed because of her dogs. Shes been feeding neighbors dogs as well, she said.

When authorities arrived to ask residents to evacuate, Hadaway locked the door, closed the drapes and didnt answer.

1 / 88 About 10 buildings belonging to the Thanksgiving Korean Church were reduced to rubble by the Blue Cut fire. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 88 Miguel and Mabel Ramos, both 73, survey the devastation of the Blue Cut fire after it swept through their Oak Hills residence. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 88 Mabel Ramos, 73, is overcome by emotion upon seeing the devastation caused by the Blue Cut fire, which swept through her Oak Hills residence. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 88 Miguel Ramos holds a single chicken that survived after the Blue Cut fire swept through his Oak Hills property, burning the guest house and killing about 135 animals. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 88 A CalFire helicopter makes a water drop on still smoldering remnants of Blue Cut Fire on the hilltop ridges along Hwy 2 in Wrightwood. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 88 The Blue Cut fire continues to burn north of Lytle Creek in San Bernardino County. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 88 Ground crews put out errant fires that popped up near the train tracks in Keenbrook in San Bernardino County. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 88 A firefighting helicopter makes water drops to keep errant fires from approaching the train tracks near Interstate 15 at Keenbrook in San Bernardino County. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 88 Fire burns on the train tracks near Interstate 15 at Keenbrook in San Bernardino County. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 88 A firefighting helicopter drops water on glames getting close to the train tracks near Interstate 15 at Keenbrook in San Bernardino County. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 88 An abandoned structure sits in the path of the Blue Cut fire after it has passed through Lone Pine Canyon in San Bernardino County. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 88 A firefighting helicopter makes a water drop on a flare-up of the Blue Cut fire along Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 88 The Blue Cut fire burns in the mountains of the San Bernardino National Forest, leaving charred vegetation in its wake near Wrightwood on Thursday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 88 A firefighting helicopter flies through thick smoke as it makes a water drop on a flare-up of the Blue Cut fire along Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 88 A dust cyclone swirls through a charred moonscape left by the Blue Cut fire near Wrightwood. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 88 Scott Steele of the Beverly Hills Fire Department comforts one of two dogs hurt in the Blue Cut fire next to a burned structure on Monte Vista Road in Phelan. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 88 Jaime Jungle, left, and Chris Schreiner from San Bernardino County Animal Control carry one of two dogs hurt by the Blue Cut fire at a burned-out structure on Monte Vista Road in Phelan. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 88 A light pole with plastic globes melted in the heat of the Blue Cut fire stands along Tamarind Avenue in Phelan. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 88 Fire crews are busy mopping up hot spots from the Blue Cut fire on Highway 2 on the way to Wrightwood. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 88 A helicopter makes a water drop in very dense smoke from Blue Cut Fire smoldering in the hills along Highway 2 near Wrightwood. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 88 Smoldering hillside from Blue Cut fire along Highway 2 near Wrightwood. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 88 Work crew prepare to repair downed power lines damaged by the Blue Cut fire on Highway 138 at the junction of 15 Freeway. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 88 The Blue Cut fire grew to more than 31,000 acres Thursday morning. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 24 / 88 A car destroyed by the Blue Cut wildfire in Phelan, California. (JONATHAN ALCORN / AFP/Getty Images) 25 / 88 A firefighter douses the Blue Cut fire burning alongside Lytle Creek Road on Wednesday night. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 88 Firefighters attack the Blue Cut fire as it burns along Lytle Creek Road on Wednesday night. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 88 Firefighters work to defend structures on Lytle Creek Road on Wednesday night. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 88 A firefighter monitors the Blue Cut fire on the side of Lytle Creek Road on Wednesday night. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 88

A firefighter works to defend structures on Lytle Creek Road on Wednesday night. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 88 Firefighters set back fires on Lytle Creek Road on Wednesday night. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 88 With a full moon in the background, firefighters monitor the Blue Cut fire along Lytle Creek Road on Wednesday night. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 88 A firefighting helicopter drops water on a hillside to battle the Blue Cut fire west of Interstate 15 on Wednesday in Devore. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 88 Smoke from the Blue Cut fire burns over Interstate 15 on Wednesday in Devore. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 88 Firefighters work to extinguish flames on Cajon Blvd along the interstate 15, in San Bernardino County on Aug. 17. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 88 A firefighter battles the Blue Cut fire in thick brush along Lytle Creek Road. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 88 CalFire firefighters keep watch on the Blue Cut fire as it roars on a hillside above Sheep Canyon Road on Wednesday in Lytle Creek. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 88 A sky crane drops water on the Blue Cut Fire to keep it from crossing Lytle Creek Road on Wednesday in Lytle Creek. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 88 Lytle Creek residents check-in at the evacuation center set up at the Jessie Turner Health & Fitness Center on Wednesday in Fontana. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 88 The Blue Cut fire burns close to Wrightwood. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 88 Firefighters work around the Blue Cut fire near Wrightwood. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 88 The Blue Cut fire burns a hillside near Wrightwood. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 88 Firefighting helicopters battle the Blue Cut fire as it burns out of control around the community of Lytle Creek. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 88 Lytle Creek residents Nico and Dalia Santucci prepare to evacuate as the Blue Cut fire burns near their home. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 88 A firefighting helicopter drops water on the Blue Cut fire as it burns above Lytle Creek on Wednesday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 88 Air tanker drops fire retardant near residences threatened by Blue Cut Fire along Highway 2 Wednesday afternoon. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 88 A structure is engulfed in flames as the Blue Cut fire burns out of control in Lytle Creek. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 88 A firefighting airplane drops fire retardant on the Blue Cut fire in the foothills of the San Bernardino National Forest. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 88 Towering flames of the Blue Cut fire burn out of control in the foothills of the San Bernardino National Forest above Lytle Creek. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 88 A firefighting helicopter drops water on bruning brush as the Blue Cut fire burns out of control in the foothills of the San Bernardino National Forest on Wednesday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 88 The Blue Cut fire exploded out of control Tuesday in the Cajon Pass, scorching 30,000 acres and destroying an unknown number of homes in several rural San Bernardino County communities. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 88 David Pearson, who lives on Lone Pine Canyon Road, decided to stay at home in Wrightwood as long as conditions allowed. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 52 / 88 Firefighter Bryan Hagan and Pegi Fall, standing along Lone Pine Canyon Road, watch as the Blue Cut fire approaches Wrightwood. Fall has decided to stay as long as conditions allow. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 53 / 88 The Blue Cut fire exploded out of control Tuesday in the Cajon Pass, scorching 30,000 acres and forcing over 80,000 to evacuate. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 54 / 88 A cat wandering around jumps way from hot surface and flames emitting at still smoldering structure at Hess Road. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 55 / 88 Destruction brought by Blue Cut fire on Hess Road in Phelan. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 56 / 88 Smoke rises out from underneath railroad tracks at a damaged bridge near the Interstate 15 damaged by the Blue Cut fire burning in San Bernardino County. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 57 / 88 Michelle Keeney and her husband, Scott, salvage some old signs from gutted Summit Inn Wednesday morning. Michelle Keeney is the manager of the restaurant destroyed in the fire. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 58 / 88 Spot fire continue to burn in what remains of the gutted Summit Inn at the junction of the 15 Freeway and Highway 138 Wednesday morning. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 59 / 88 A melted sign from a McDonalds restaurant shows the damage as firefighters check the area after the Blue Cut fire swept through Cajon Junction. (EUGENE GARCIA / EPA) 60 / 88 Burned homes and vehicles are left in the wake of the Blue Cut Fire that broke out in Devore near the Cajon Pass on Aug. 16, 2016. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 61 / 88 Burned homes and vehicles are left in the wake of the Blue Cut fire that broke out in Devore near the Cajon Pass on Aug. 16, 2016. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 62 / 88 Smoke from the Blue Cut fire that broke out in Devore near the Cajon Pass and quickly spread on Aug. 16, 2016. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 63 / 88 Fire continues to burn along Highway 138, in San Bernardino County. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 64 / 88 During the night, a portion of the Blue Cut fire burns along Interstate 15. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 65 / 88 A firefighter returns to his vehicle as fire continue to burn along Highway 138 in San Bernardino County. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 66 / 88 The Blue Cut fire still burns out of control into the evening off Highway 138 in Summit Valley, Calif. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 67 / 88 Winds blow hot embers along a burning fence line as the Blue Cut fire torches the landscape into the evening off Highway 138 in Summit Valley. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 68 / 88 Motorists flee The Blue Cut fire as it burns out of control on both sides of Highway 138 in Summit Valley. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 69 / 88 Residents watch in despair as the Blue Cut fire burns homes on the hillside off Highway 138 in Summit Valley, California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 70 / 88 An air tanker drops fire retardant near homes as the Blue Cut fire burns out of control on both sides of Highway 138 in Summit Valley, California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 71 / 88 A home is engulfed in flames as the Blue Cut fire burns out of control on both sides of Highway 138 in Summit Valley, California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 72 / 88 San Bernadino County firefighter David Pingree works to save a home near Hwy 138. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 73 / 88 The Blue Cut fire burns out of control on both sides of Highway 138 in Summit Valley, California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 74 / 88 A home located at 5375 Hwy 138 in Phelan is consumed by the Blue Cut fire as it rages out of control August 16, 2016. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 75 / 88 Fire crews head back to their truck after a failed attempt to stop the Blue Cut Fire spreading along Highway 138 in Phelan, California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 76 / 88 The Blue Cut Fire roars out of control behind greenhouses along Highway 138 in Phelan, California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 77 / 88 A firefighter watches as the Blue Cut Fire roars near Highway 138 as it burns vegetation and power poles in Phelan, Calif. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times ) 78 / 88 Fire crews attempts but can not stop the Blue Cut fire as it spreads along Highway 138 in Phelan, California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 79 / 88 A firefighter reports that the Blue Cut fire is burning on both sides of Highway 138 in Phelan, Calif. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times ) 80 / 88 A power pole burns as the Blue Cut fire burns out of control on both sides of Highway 138 in Summit Valley, California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 81 / 88 A house is surrounded by flames as the Blue Cut Fire roars above Highway 138 in Phelan, Calif., on Tuesday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 82 / 88 A firestorm approaches as a fire crew begins to pull out at Mormon Rocks Station in the San Bernardino National Forest off Highway 138. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 83 / 88 A firefighter on Tuesday monitors the Blue Cut fire along Highway 138, near the Cajon Pass. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 84 / 88 The Blue Cut fire engulfs the Mormon Rocks Fire Station in the San Bernardino National Forest off Highway 138 in Phelan, Calif., on Tuesday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 85 / 88 The Blue Cut fire burns along California Highway 138 on Tuesday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 86 / 88 The Blue Cut Fire roars out of control as it heads towards home off Highway 138. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 87 / 88 The Blue Cut fire throws up a large plume of smoke shortly after it broke out late Tuesday morning. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 88 / 88 The Blue Cut fire engulfs the Mormon Rocks area off Highway 138 in Phelan, Calif., on Tuesday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Those who evacuated find themselves mired in uncertainty.

I dont want to be blindsided again, said Sheri Sladwick, 46, who lost a home to fire 13 years ago.

Now she hears conflicting reports about whether fire ran through her neighborhood in Lytle Creek and doesnt know what to believe. She is frustrated that there have been few specifics about the damage.

Fire crews in the Cajon Pass have likely had difficulty determining the number of homes lost because of safety concerns and protocol that grants wildland firefighters the right of way over those damage assessors, according to fire experts.

Engines have to get to the homes and other areas, said Sam Lanier, a former fire captain who founded a site that offers real-time updates on wildfires throughout the country. If multiple vehicles are there, its hard to get out.

The standard guidelines say that life is prioritized first, followed by property conservation and environmental protection, Lanier said. When it comes to protecting specific areas, crews look at what will help mitigate the firefight, never at what is considered the most valuable.

There is no pre-made map to say were going to protect this area first. Firefighters are blind to the cost. The job is to go and save as much as possible.

The California wildfire season, once confined to autumn, has found itself stretched earlier and later, with hundreds of homes and eight people killed in wildfires already this year.

Fire agencies have been overworked, some of its firefighters working with no sleep while thrown into battles fueled by triple-digit temperatures, wind and desiccated tinder.

There is no pre-made map to say were going to protect this area first. Firefighters are blind to the cost. The job is to go and save as much as possible.  Sam Lanier, expert on wildfires

James Bailey, who has lived near the Cajon Pass for about 40 years, drove up to an area community center Thursday. He was relieved to find it still standing, although its surroundings had been singed.

Everything around it is just like a moonscape, he later informed his wife.

The couple had stayed put in their trailer park mobile home having faith in its metal frame and concrete base, although took care to douse the property with water.

A day earlier, Bailey had marveled at the flames, smoke and fire coming from behind Mountain Lakes Resort.

When it came over the hill, it had to have been 100 feet tall, Bailey said. I cant believe how big the flames were. The whole mountain was red.

The activity taking place around them for the last two days has been unsettling.

Water drops from air tankers, sirens from fire engines, blades rotating on helicopters  all sounded eerily, they said, like war.

brittny.mejia@latimes.com

angel.jennings@latimes.com

ruben.vives@latimes.com

corina.knoll@latimes.com

Mejia reported from Phelan; Jennings from San Bernardino; Vives from Wrightwood. Times staff writers Shane Newell in Phelan and Sarah Parvini, Matt Stevens and Matt Hamilton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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UPDATES:

6:25 p.m.: This article was updated with current statistics on the size and containment of the Blue Cut fire.

4:35 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with additional details and editing.

1:30 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with new information from fire officials and details from residents.

This article was originally published at 11:10 a.m.
The Cajon Pass is one of Southern Californias most vital transportation links, connecting Los Angeles to Las Vegas and serving as a key shipping route for trucks headed east with produce and goods.

The massive wildfire that ripped through the pass this week closed several major freeways and roads, causing a commuter nightmare that also complicated the massive evacuation effort. Motorists and truckers were left stranded on either side of the closure.

Officials closed dozens of miles of two major commuter and trucking arteries after flames from the Blue Cut Fire roared down a mountainside Tuesday night and jumped the 15 Freeway, damaging guardrails and scorching abandoned big-rig trucks.

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A truck burned in the Blue Cut Fire near Interstate 15 in Lytle Creek, Calif. (AFP / Getty Images )

Commuters and evacuees sought alternate routes to the 15 and Highway 138 on Wednesday, taking smaller, mountainous roads toward the high desert and to Los Angeles. Traffic snarled most roads in the area, with jams rippling outward to Yucca Valley in the east and to San Bernardino in the west.

California Highway Patrol officer Robert Vandecar parked his cruiser along the side of the Pearblossom Highway in Llano, where he turned back drivers headed south toward the fire and east toward Las Vegas.

Its a dynamic situation, Vandecar told a group of people gathered on the side of the road next to his cruiser, and the roads needed to be cleared for emergency vehicles and evacuees.

Penny Koval, 53, waited anxiously for directions to Phelan, where her 95-year-old mother lives.

Im trying to get to her house to help her get things together, Koval said. Theyre talking evacuation. Im terrified.

As she and other motorists tried to find a way in, dozens of other cars, some pulling trailers, tried to make their way out.

 Raw video from Blue Cut fire near the Cajon Pass.

Nearly 35,000 homes and more than 82,000 residents in the area are under mandatory evacuation orders, the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department said. As a result, southbound mountain roads were gridlocked.

Aerial footage of the Pilot Travel Center in Hesperia showed trucks lined up in long rows outside the convenience store. A clerk there said more than a hundred truckers were waiting along Highway 395 for roads to reopen.

What impact the fire might have on goods movement is still unclear, said Shawn Yadon, chief executive for the California Trucking Assn.

BNSF also stopped trains through the area after the Blue Cut Fire scorched a stretch of freight railroad tracks that curve through the Cajon Pass.

Caltrans spokeswoman Terri Kasinga said the agency is working to install temporary K-rails along the northbound 15 Freeway to keep drivers away from guardrails damaged by the fire, but did not have an estimate of when the freeway would reopen.

Further complicating commutes, a big rig carrying 10 tons of peaches veered off the 18 Freeway northeast of Big Bear Lake on Wednesday morning and flipped on its roof, the California Highway Patrol said. A resulting spill narrowed the freeway to one lane for hours.

The CHP urged evacuees and commuters to drive safely, particularly on roads that are not equipped to handle such a high volume of traffic.

People heading toward Los Angeles should take Highway 18 to Highway 247 to Highway 62 to the 10 Freeway, a route that passes through the Lucerne and Yucca valleys, officials said.

Truckers and travelers headed to Las Vegas from Los Angeles should steer around the Cajon Pass closure by taking the 10 to the 62 to Highway 247.

laura.nelson@latimes.com | brittny.mejia@latimes.com

Follow @laura_nelson and @brittny_mejia on Twitter.

ALSO

Live updates on the Blue Cut fire and other blazes in California

New transportation funding plan calls for gas tax hike of 17 cents per gallon

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A man who witnessed Tuesdays deadly police shooting in South L.A. said he saw an 18-year-old run from an officer before he was shot, then saw a gun near his body.

The witness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he was inside his house Tuesday afternoon when he heard someone outside yell, Freeze! He looked out his window, he said, and saw a young man running from an officer on a motorcycle.

He watched the 18-year-old duck into a small, dead-end driveway on Century Boulevard, then turn back toward the street as if to keep running. The officer, the witness said, was close behind, still on the motorcycle.

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Prescious Sasser, mother of Kenney Watkins, cries during a prayer vigil in South Los Angeles on Wednesday. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times )

Then, the witness said, he heard three gunshots as the officer jumped off the motorcycle and the teen fell in the driveway. The witness said he then saw the officer kick a chrome handgun away from the teenager.

It happened so fast, the man said. Ive seen a lot of guys run from the cops. When you hear the shots, you go, Oh. They shot him.

The dead man was identified Wednesday as Kenney Watkins. Coroners officials said he died at the scene.

Police said the shooting happened at about 3:30 p.m. when the officer stopped a car near the intersection of Century Boulevard and Figueroa Street. Watkins was a passenger in that car, the LAPD said, and at one point got out of the vehicle.

The officer told investigators he fired at Watkins because he saw the 18-year-old start to turn toward him while holding a gun, said Det. Meghan Aguilar, an LAPD spokeswoman.

One woman, who didnt see the shooting, said she was inside her home when she heard someone yell, Get down! Get down! Then she heard three gunshots.

When she looked out her window, she said, Watkins was down in the driveway. She watched as police swarmed the scene, later covering his body with a white sheet.

He died right there, she said.

The woman, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said she saw a shiny gun in the driveway. The LAPD said two handguns were found at the scene.

When asked about the guns, a civil rights lawyer who attended a vigil for Watkins with the teens mother Wednesday evening said they were skeptical of the police account and would investigate what happened themselves.

We are going to question everything, attorney Caree Harper said.

Watkins was the 16th person shot by on-duty LAPD officers this year, according to data compiled by The Times. Thirteen were killed.

Police have not said what prompted the officer to stop the car, which sped away as the shooting unfolded.

The LAPD was still looking for the car Wednesday, Aguilar said. She described the vehicle as a dark-colored, four-door sedan with tinted windows. The car had no front license plate, but might have had a paper plate in the back, she added.

The officer who shot Watkins works in the LAPDs Valley Traffic division, Aguilar said, but was working in South L.A. as part of the departments efforts to curb violent crime in some of the citys toughest neighborhoods.

The deadly encounter comes a week after the high-profile police shooting of Jesse Romero, a 14-year-old in Boyle Heights. Police say Romero had a gun and fired at LAPD officers before he was shot and killed.

On Wednesday evening, dozens of people gathered in the small driveway where Watkins was killed, surrounding his mother as they prayed. Tears fell as people held hands and hugged. A sign with photos of the smiling teenager sat on a nearby fence.

Long live Kenney, it said.

Watkins mother, Prescious Sasser, said she learned about the shooting on social media. Then her friends started to call. She went to the scene and waited for police to tell her more.

I knew in my heart it was him, she said. I was just waiting for the confirmation.

Sasser said her son was known for his smile from the day he was born, which was the day after Mothers Day. His birthday was like a double gift, she said  a special day for him, but also for her as his mother.

Sasser said her son was involved in his church and other groups. He ran track in the Junior Olympics in Baltimore. He walked in South L.A.'s Kingdom Day parade. He was almost done with school  he attended Duke Ellington Continuation High School  where he gravitated toward photography and computer science.

He just had that winning smile and personality, she said, her eyes teary. He was my baby.

kate.mather@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter: @katemather

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8:40 p.m.: This article was updated with details from a Wednesday evening vigil for Watkins and a comment from a civil rights attorney at the event.

This article was originally published at 4:30 p.m.
Backers of a proposed Los Angeles ballot measure that aims to crack down on mega-developments say they will halt their campaign if Mayor Eric Garcetti quickly agrees to ban real estate developers from meeting privately with city officials and make other changes to city planning rules.

At a news conference Wednesday outside City Hall, supporters of the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative argued that their measure would stop rampant, out-of-scale development that displaces residents and disrupts neighborhoods.

However, they said they would stop pursuing the ballot measure if Garcetti makes key concessions in the next week. Earlier this year, the mayor had joined with City Council members to announce that he was seeking reforms to the development process in Los Angeles.

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You said that you want to fix the broken system in City Hall, yet you have done nothing of note to achieve that goal, and time is running out, initiative backers wrote in a letter to Garcetti.

The group said it wants Garcetti to agree to prohibit private meetings between developers and city decision makers and set urgent deadlines for updating a citywide document that guides development. The initiative backers also want the mayor to bar developers from choosing the consultants who assess the environmental and neighborhood effects of their planned projects, and prevent spot zoning -- a practice they described as altering zoning rules site by site.

Garcetti met with members of the group Wednesday after their news conference. Afterward, his spokeswoman Connie Llanos said he was reviewing their requests.

Mayor Garcetti is already leading one of the citys most ambitious efforts to reform the development process in L.A., including an aggressive schedule to update community plans and the general plan, and new efforts to increase transparency in the process of writing environmental impact reports, Llanos said in a statement.

We will continue to advance this reform agenda and look forward to working with all stakeholders, Llanos added.

The ballot measure is being promoted by the Coalition to Preserve L.A., which is sponsored by AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Activists from the coalition told reporters Wednesday that they have already gathered enough signatures to put their proposal on the ballot next March.

The proposed measure has triggered sharp debate over how L.A. should regulate its development boom and protect affordable housing. It includes a two-year moratorium on real estate developments that seek zoning changes or other alterations in city rules.

Critics of the measure, including business and labor groups, contend it would destroy jobs and increase rents by crimping the supply of new housing. Unions have pushed a different measure for the November ballot -- dubbed Build Better L.A. -- that would impose affordable housing and labor requirements on some projects.

emily.alpert@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter at @LATimesEmily
A man suspected of carrying out home robberies and sexual assault throughout Los Angeles was arrested and charged Thursday, after local lawmakers announced a $35,000 award for his capture.

The suspect was identified as Russell Harris, 34. The Los Angeles County district attorneys office charged him with with seven felony counts: one of assault to commit rape during a burglary and six other burglary-related crimes.

If convicted of all the charges, Harris faces up to life in prison.

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Authorities contend that Harris, a resident of Santa Clarita, went on a violent rampage across East Hollywood, Echo Park, Silver Lake and Hollywood, and sexually assaulted at least one woman.

Most of the crimes took place Aug. 1 and Aug. 2, police said.

Surveillance video shows the suspect being let into complexes by residents and through unlocked gates.

In East Hollywood, police alleged, he entered an apartment and hid behind the front door, waiting for a woman who lived in the unit to return from the buildings laundry room. When she entered five minutes later, police said, the suspect attacked her. He then fled the scene.

About 90 minutes later, the same man entered an unlocked apartment in Echo Park. The woman who lived in the unit heard her dogs barking aggressively, authorities said, and found the suspect in her living room when she went to investigate.

The suspect then pinned the woman to her sofa, according to police. The dogs tried to bite him, and she pushed the intruder out of the apartment.

The man identified as Harris was wearing an olive green shirt with a picture of the Virgin Mary, bluejeans and white shoes, police said. He has been known to carry a knife.

Harris capture came one day after officials offered a $35,000 reward to find leads to catch him.

City Councilman Mitch OFarrell and L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis introduced motions to unlock funds for the reward Tuesday.

I want to send a strong message to the community that this type of behavior will not be tolerated, OFarrell said at a news conference Tuesday.

Harris was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, but it was postponed. Prosecutors said they would ask a judge to set his bail at $2.3 million.

An attorney for Harris could not be reached for comment.

Times staff writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.

sarah.parvini@latimes.com

For more local and breaking news follow me on Twitter: @sarahparvini

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For more than two years, the Border Patrol has assured the public that its processing facilities, while cramped, are perfectly sanitary places to hold migrants found in the country illegally. On the rare occasions when their facilities were put into public view, the cells were sparkling, empty and warm.

On Thursday, for the first time in the Border Patrols history, images of the occupied cells were unsealed as part of a federal court case. Several images show dozens of men crowded into a single cell while nearby cells remain empty. Photos show people sleeping on benches or the concrete floor while bedding is available, unused, in adjacent cells.

The images do not show a thermometer, but appear to support migrants accusations that the facilities are kept at conditions so cold that they have earned the name hieleras  Spanish for iceboxes. Detainees huddle in some images; a row of legs in another image can be seen sticking out from under a Mylar emergency blanket.

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Women and children are supposed to be given a mat and a blanket when they enter the processing facilities. The images, which were taken from security camera footage last summer, show women and children in a cell without adequate bedding, wrapped in emergency blankets.

Processing centers are not the major detention facilities like in Artesia, N.M., or Eloy, Ariz., where federal immigration authorities have held migrants for months. Instead, the centers are designed to hold people for only a few hours, though their detentions can sometimes stretch to days.

A Border Patrol vehicle cruises the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Naco, Ariz. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times )

They were never intended and not designed to be long-term facilities, said Nora Preciado, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, one of the organizations suing the Border Patrol over its treatment of migrants in the processing centers.

The NILC and other organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, allege the conditions in the cells are so deplorable that it is unconstitutional. The lawsuit in federal court in Arizona was filed on behalf of anyone detained for eight or more hours in a calendar day in one of eight processing facilities in the Border Patrols Tucson sector, which stretches from western Arizona to the New Mexico border.

The lawsuit also accuses the Border Patrol of actions that cannot be documented on camera, such as not allowing detainees to shower or providing them access to basic sanitation and hygiene, including toothbrushes.

The Border Patrol replied in court that it keeps the temperature between 68 degrees and 80 degrees. The agency acknowledges that sometimes trash accumulates in the cells from food and blanket wrapping, but says it has cleaning contracts at each station to maintain the cells.

The agency says showers are offered to detainees who are in the facility longer than 72 hours, and provides a number of personal hygiene items for detainees to use.

The Border Patrol fought the release of the images in court, arguing that metadata on the video stills contained sensitive information about the agencys data collection methods.

But U.S. District Court Judge David C Bury ruled against them, and the data was redacted in the video stills unsealed by the court.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argue that the release of the images is only the beginning of the process to show the conditions inside the facilities.

When we start to depose people who worked at those places, Preciado said, well learn a lot more.

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The little blond girl in striped rubber rain boots and a bright pink shirt knew things could be bad at the house she shared with her grandparents. Floodwaters had consumed much of their Baton Rouge suburb, and some of her classmates homes had water to the roofs.

If my house has water in it, Im pretty sure my room has water, said 11-year-old London Guidry as she clambered aboard a small motorboat to check the family ranch house with her grandfather and his friend and fellow riverboat pilot, Josh Boogaerts.

The sun was high, the air sultry as they set off Wednesday afternoon into the storm-swollen Amite River beneath a canopy of cypress and oak. Muddy eddies swirled around them.

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How bad is the current? London asked, wide-eyed.

Yall are all gonna see firsthand in just a second, Boogaerts said as the aluminum boat cruised past a submerged street sign and thudded against something as he muttered, unfazed, mailbox.

1 / 22 President Barack Obama hugs Marlene Sanders as he visits with with residents of Castle Place, a flood-damaged area of Baton Rouge, La., Tuesday, Aug. 23. (Ted Jackson / AP) 2 / 22 US President Barack Obama speaks with residents as he tours a flood-affected area in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 23, 2016. President Barack Obama touched down in flood-stricken Louisiana Tuesday, hoping to offer support to devastated communities and silence his critics who say he should have visited sooner. / AFP PHOTO / NICHOLAS KAMMNICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG, CM - OUTS * NM, PH, VA if sourced by CT, LA or MoD ** (NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP/Getty Images) 3 / 22 President Barack Obama walks with a family to tour their flood-damaged home in the Castle Place neighborhood of Baton Rouge, La., Tuesday, Aug. 23. (Susan Walsh / AP) 4 / 22 Daniel Stover, 17, wipes his head as he helps Laura Albritton recover personal belongings in Sorrento, La., as the state continues to deal with devastating floods. (Max Becherer / Associated Press) 5 / 22 Daniel Stover moves a boat loaded with personal belongings from a friends flooded home in Sorrento, La. (Max Becherer / Associated Press) 6 / 22 Friends and family help to clean out the flood-damaged home of Sheila Siener in St. Amant, La. (Max Becherer / Associated Press) 7 / 22 Jody Harelson dumps a wheelbarrel of wet sheet rock over a growing pile of rubbish as he helps clean out a home in St. Amant, La., on Saturday. (Max Becherer / Associated Press) 8 / 22 People drive a boat through a gas station as they navigate a flooded neighborhood in Sorrento, La. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 9 / 22 People sort through water-damaged products outside Jasmines Beauty Supply in Baton Rouge, La. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 10 / 22 People navigate flooded street in boats in Gonzales, La. Tens of thousands of people have been rescued after unprecedented floods in the state. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 11 / 22 Belongings are coated in mud after floodwaters receded from a home in Denham Springs, La. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 12 / 22 Raymond Lieteau pulls furniture out of his flood-damaged home with the help of his friend Danny Lemoine in Baton Rouge. (Max Becherer / Associated Press) 13 / 22 Danielle Blount feeds her 3-month-old baby, Ember, while they wait to be evacuated by members of the Louisiana Army National Guard near Walker, La., after heavy rains inundating the region. (Max Becherer / Associated Press) 14 / 22 Aerial photo of flooded homes along the flooded Tangipahoa River in Louisiana. (Ted Jackson / Associated Press) 15 / 22 Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Jon Tatroe evacuates people from a flooded assisted living home in Baton Rouge, La. (AFP/Getty Images) 16 / 22 A residential street is covered by floodwaters in Youngsville, La. (Scott Clause / Associated Press) 17 / 22 People wade in water near flood damaged homes in Highland Ridge Subdivision in Youngsville, La. (Scott Clause / Associated Press) 18 / 22 Residents being evacuated from floodwaters in Baton Rouge, La. Emergency crews in flood-devastated Louisiana have rescued more than 20,000 people after catastrophic flooding. (AFP/Getty Images) 19 / 22 Coast Guard personnel evacuate people from floodwaters in Baton Rouge, La. ( AFP/Getty Images) 20 / 22 Residents push an inflatable mattress through flood water at Tiger Manor Apartments by the North Gates of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La. (Brianna Paciorka / Associated Press) 21 / 22 A boat motors between flooded homes after heavy rains inundate the region in Hammond, La. (Max Becherer / Associated Press) 22 / 22 This aerial image shows flooded areas of North Baton Rouge, La. (Patrick Dennis / Associated Press)

Similar scenes are playing out across the states eight Florida Parishes, part of a former Spanish colony clustered to the east of the Mississippi River. Residents are returning to waterlogged neighborhoods wondering whether their house survived. London and her grandfather, Dugan Phillips, would get their answer after traveling three miles downriver.

Fatal flooding unleashed by record rains crept this week from Baton Rouge to suburbs like French Settlement in Livingston Parish. A dank tide of murky swamp water destroyed up to 80% of the homes of the parishs 140,000 residents and left others gutted, smelling of dead fish.

So far, 13 people have died. Two feet of rain fell in a 24-hour stretch, swelling the Amite beyond its banks and breaking a rainfall record set in 1962. More than 70,000 people have registered for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance; more than 9,000 have filed flood insurance claims.

This is biblical, Boogaerts said as he steered the boat, gesturing to the submerged home of a friend.

Hes burnt out. Hes done. He just put in a new game room, Boogaerts said of the friend, whose Camaro also was flooded.

They passed two men in another small boat, and Phillips, recognizing a neighbor, waved and shouted, Good luck to you guys!

They soon floated toward Boogaerts own house, two stories tall and pale pink. Water had swamped the first floor and a shed packed with equipment.

The bottom of my floor joists are gone. Its unsellable, the 43-year-old father of two said, haggard and unshaven after days of these trips. He said he plans to leave: His wife cant stand the risk on the river.

All she has to do is hear French Settlement and flooding in the same sentence, and shes gone. Last time, she left the dog on the chain, he said. I just cant keep dumping money into it. But its breaking my heart to leave here.

See the most-read stories this hour 

Floodwaters washed out nearby interstates, closed more than a dozen parish schools indefinitely, opened graves and cut off this and other bayou communities for days. Gas and other staples were scarce in the village that claims to be the regions capital for sauce patate, Cajun potato stew. The governor deployed the National Guard, but sometimes even the guards heavy equipment became mired in bayou muck.

Stranded locals summoned their own Cajun navy (T-shirts now available online)  hundreds of volunteer boaters like Boogaerts who aided law enforcement in rescuing more than 15,000, many from attics and rooftops. They also delivered donated sausage to a shelter at St. Joseph Catholic Church.

The makeshift donation center, soup kitchen and shelter refused to close its doors even when the electricity and air conditioning failed, with volunteers still serving up pastalaya (jambalaya with pasta), gumbo, red beans and rice. Father Jason Palermo, a police chaplain who carries his gun in an ankle holster, coordinated shipments of water and other supplies.

Town hall is waist-deep, Mayor Toni Guitrau said as she stopped by the church to check on relief efforts after cleaning her own home, which flooded. She said her daughter, a sheriffs deputy, was on looter patrol.

The village was settled in 1809 as part of a Spanish land grant, and sawmills soon sprouted to process local cypress. A descendant of those pioneers, 64-year-old Dale Aydell, was among those waiting to get back to his house on Goodtimes Road, once home to Goodtimes Sawmill. The water in his home was waist-deep  not much of a good time, he added. There once was a Hardtimes Sawmill here too.

I cant get in until probably tomorrow, he said.

The villages volunteer fire chief said he expects to see more rescues later this week. Livingston Parish President Layton Ricks, whose home in Denham Springs flooded, had to be boated back to his house to pick up blood pressure medication.

Ricks has met with the governor and federal emergency management officials, who he said have started assessing damages.

FEMA is a concern here, where many feel the agency bungled the Hurricane Katrina response. So many resettled here after Katrina, a subdivision was nicknamed St. Bernard after their New Orleans-area parish, Ricks said.

Out on the river, London, Phillips and Boogaerts had almost ended their journey. London covered her eyes. She couldnt look.

Then, as the boat neared a white house with dark green shutters, the girl squealed.

Our trampoline is still there!

Phillips heart also leaped. The water had reached only their porch.

Its completely dry. Yes! London shouted as she scaled the front railing.

Well, not completely dry, baby. Well see, said Phillips, 61, sounding tired as he added, The wife was hoping to get a new floor out of this.

Dugan Phillips and London Guidry, ferried to their house by Josh Boogaerts, get out to inspect the flood damage. (Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times )

Phillips has flood insurance and plans to rebuild  and hell make sure the house, already elevated 4 1/2 feet off the ground, is even higher. Its going to get raised. Im not going to live like this no more. Its too nerve-wracking, he said.

On the porch, London passed a Welcome to Da River sign, some American flags and a Confederate flag (nearly every house here has one, including Boogaerts) to check on her stranded black-and-white cat, Angel. They made sure he had food before setting off.

On the way back, they saw a snake in the water, and debated whether it looked venomous. London worried aloud about looters. Her grandfather reassured her: Theres no riffraff back here.

Soon after, the motor sputtered. Boogaerts wondered whether they had run out of gas.

How are you going to get out of here? Were going to hit another mailbox! London said.

Im not even sure that was a mailbox, he replied.

Then the motor caught and came back to life. London spent the rest of the trip pointing out displaced items in the water, which showed no signs of receding: a refrigerator, a washing machine, a gas tank.

She and her grandparents would spend the night at the nearby Pelican Inn. As Boogaerts pulled up to where they had left their trucks, a text arrived from Londons grandmother.

She had wanted them to leave a note on the house asking officials not to break down the door like they did in New Orleans after the hurricane, when FEMA marked houses with an X  search codes noting what was found inside and symbols that became known as Katrina crosses.

Phillips reassured his granddaughter that this time, they wouldnt have to do that. The damage was not as bad as he had feared, not as bad as the homes of others who waited anxiously along the road for Boogaerts to take them out just as soon as he found some more gas.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

Twitter: @mollyhf

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Floodwater in Dale Aydells house was waist-deep Wednesday.

Aydell, 64, a retired state worker, grew up in this Cajun village settled by his ancestors as a Spanish land grant in 1809. Now his home sits surrounded by a lake.

I cant get in until probably tomorrow, Aydell said as he conferred with neighbors at the St. Joseph Catholic Church hall, a makeshift donation center, soup kitchen and temporary shelter.

Aint but one way to get to his house: Thats by boat, said Deacon Jimmy Little, 72, as state fish and wildlife officers nearby prepared to set out by boat delivering food to those still stranded.

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As fatal flooding crept from Baton Rouge to suburbs like French Settlement in Livingston Parish this week, a dank tide of murky swap water flooded about 75% to 80% of the 140,000 residents homes, according the sheriffs spokeswoman, Lori Steele. The parish was doused with biblical rains -- 2 feet in 24 hours, swelling the Amite River beyond its banks and breaking a record set in 1962.

The flooding is blamed for 11 deaths, and at least 30,000 people have been rescued across Louisiana.

Flooding washed out interstates, closed more than a dozen parish schools indefinitely and forced open graves at cemeteries, sending coffins floating away. Gov. John Bel Edwards deployed the National Guard, but sometimes even the guards heavy equipment became mired in black bayou muck.

In Livingston Parish, stranded locals summoned their own Cajun navy, hundreds of volunteer boaters who aided law enforcement in rescuing at least 15,000 people  many from attics and rooftops. They also delivered donated sausage to the shelter at St. Josephs, which refused to close its doors even when the electricity and air conditioning failed.

French Settlements 1,000 working-class residents have been flooded before just six months ago. But not with such extensive damage.

Town hall is waist-deep. Our museum, which has all our history, got water. We cant get to that yet, Mayor Toni Guitrau said as she stopped by the church hall to check on relief efforts. Her home was flooded with a few inches of water.

Town hall is waist-deep. Our museum, which has all our history, got water.  Toni Guitrau, mayor of French Settlement

Police officers are using their own boats to rescue people, said Assistant Police Chief Lawrence Callender, adding that some officer have flooded homes.

David Thompson, 53, was taken by boat to the shelter Wednesday from his home after it flooded and lost running water.

I never thought that it would get this high, Thompson said. Pointing to his belongings packed in a lunch bag, he added, Its a humbling experience.

The villages volunteer fire chief said he expects to see more rescues later this week.

There are still areas we cant get to but by boat, and there will be for a few days, said Chief Alan Guitreau as he greeted a helicopter landing behind the church to evacuate a resident with a heart condition Wednesday afternoon.

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Livingston Parish President Layton Ricks, whose home in Denham Springs flooded, had to be boated in to pick up blood pressure medications. He met with FEMA officials this week, who he said have started assessing damages.

Were going to see an unprecedented help from FEMA, Ricks said. Well work together to try to get people into their homes as soon as possible.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was expected to visit Louisiana on Thursday to review federal relief efforts.

Aydell, the retired state worker, lives on Good Time Road, former home of the Good Time Sawmill that closed with others in the 1920s as industry left and French Settlement became a commuter town.

Its not a good time right now, he said.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

Twitter: @molllyfh

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The Justice Department is phasing out its use of corporate-run prisons, including one near Bakersfield, after concluding its experiment in privatization failed to reduce costs and ensure the safety and security of inmates.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Sally Q. Yates said the government is beginning the process of reducingand ultimately endingour use of privately operated prisons by not renewing contracts for 14 such facilities, most of which are in Texas or elsewhere across the South.

Prison reformers hailed the move as a positive step toward ending mass incarceration. The idea of corporations building and operating prisons for government took off in the 1980s and 1990s when tough-on-crime policies swelled the nations prison population.

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From 1980 to its peak in 2013, the federal prison population grew from 25,000 to 219,000. By then, about 30,000 inmates, or 15%, were held in the corporate-run prisons.

But the number of federal inmates dropped by about 22,000 over the last two years, and Obama administration officials have questioned the value of using privately run facilities.

An inspector generals report released last week found more safety and security incidents per capita at the corporate-run prisons compared with those run by the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Citing the recent report, Yates said that while private prisons served an important role during a difficult period,...time has shown that they compared poorly to our own bureau facilities.

They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs and resources; they do not save substantially on costs, and...they do not maintain the same level of safety and security, she said.

The gradual phase-out would reduce the total private-prison population to fewer than 14,000 inmates by May, she said.

The decision does not affect privately run facilities that are used to hold people suspected of immigration violations.

Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, hailed the decision as a major milestone in the movement away from mass incarceration.

He said the arrival of private prisons helped fuel the unprecedented growth in incarceration.

It has been a stain on our democracy to permit profit-making entities to be handed the responsibility of making determinations of individual liberty, Mauer said.

Todd R. Clear, a prison policy expert at the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, agreed that profits played a role in the growth of the prison population.

As long as we have people making money off of prisons, the ability to make sound prison policy is distorted by the profit motive, he said. Getting them out of the picture is a necessary step in getting the prison numbers reduced.

California has only one facility affected by the governments decision. The Taft Correctional Institution, about 30 miles southwest of Bakersfield, holds 1,795 inmates and is operated by the Management and Training Corp.

Issa Arnita, MTCs director of communications, said the decision was disappointing and would be costly to taxpayers. He said a recent Bureau of Prisons report showed private prisons save taxpayers $17 per day per offender.

If DOJs decision were based solely on declining inmate populations, there may be some justification, but to base this decision on cost, safety and security, and programming is wrong. The facts dont support the allegations, he said.

MTC also operates a prison in Texas. The other prisons are operated by Corrections Corp. of America or GEO Group Inc.

A spokesman for the Nashville-based CCA also called the safety and quality conclusions of the inspector generals report badly flawed. The findings dont match up to the numerous independent studies that show our facilities to be equal or better with regard to safety and quality, said Jonathan Burns. He said the federal prisons that are affected by the decision make up 7% of our business.

The companys stock dropped 35% after the announcement Thursday.

While the Justice Department may be backing away from private prisons, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency recently signed a four-year contract with CCA to build and maintain detention facilities in Texas to hold asylum-seekers.

The surge in Central American families crossing the border prompted U.S. officials to seek new facilities to hold them while their claims were heard.

Some Democrats on Capitol Hill have questioned this growing reliance on corporate facilities for holding immigrants.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) called Thursdays announcement an important first step in addressing this unacceptable situation, but it is not enough. We must insist that these changes are adopted by all federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, which relies heavily on private prisons even for housing vulnerable women and children. Incarceration should not be a for-profit business.

On Twitter: DavidGSavage

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Theyre just showing up and dying.

Those six words made emergency responders ears perk up in Huntington, W.Va., when they buzzed over the radio. An official was quoting a caller who needed help at a local home.

I just caught a bit of that, another official replied. What are people showing up and doing?

All they can tell us is that people are showing up and dying, the first official said. Were not sure whats going on.

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It was Monday afternoon, and an unusual mass crisis was beginning to unfold in Huntington, a city of nearly 50,000 on the western edge of West Virginia  a crisis increasingly familiar to paramedics, firefighters and police officers across the United States.

When police arrived at the house shortly after 3:30 p.m., they found seven people -- four inside, three outside in the yard  who had just overdosed on what appeared to be an especially nasty batch of heroin.

Yet that was only the beginning.

Ive just got another one that just come in, an official radioed a few minutes later, bringing news of another overdose call.

Annnnnd we just got another one.

Ive got two additional overdoses.

The calls didnt stop. All afternoon, ambulances, police officers and firefighters began crisscrossing the city, responding to reports of more than two dozen men and women overdosing -- in homes, in a gas station bathroom, at a Family Dollar store, in a Burger King parking lot, slumped behind the wheel in traffic on the West 17th Street Bridge. Others appeared at the hospital.

Overdoses are not something new to Huntington, a college town that often sees drugs flow in from Detroit and Columbus, Ohio. Gripped first by pill mills and now by a heroin epidemic, West Virginia has the nations deadliest overdose rate by far, with 35 of every 100,000 residents dying each year by that cause. Huntingtons overdose rate is more than three times higher.

Its not uncommon to find them slumped over at a red light, car in gear, Huntington Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli said. We have led the state in last two years in DUI arrests, and 65% of those arrests are people on drugs.

But what happened earlier this week was exceptional.

Cabell County normally sees about 18 to 20 overdose calls a week, according to Gordon Merry, the director of Cabell County Emergency Medical Services, whose offices are in Huntington.

In just five hours on Monday, the county blew way past that weekly average.

From 3:21 p.m. to 8:33 p.m., officials responded to calls for 26 overdose victims, almost all of them in Huntington, according to city spokesman Brian Chambers. Their ages ranged from their 20s to their 50s.

3:30 to 4 p.m. was unbelievable, Merry said. Ive never seen it that bad.  Truly, it was overwhelming for us.

Investigators think that its likely a potent batch of drugs had just appeared in Huntington and had been distributed  and taken  widely and quickly, leading to a crush of overdose cases all at once.

As the opioid addiction crisis has grown across the U.S. in recent years, illicit batches of unusually powerful opiates can bring overdose outbreaks with dozens of victims, such as when at least 11 people died in the Sacramento County area last spring.

In some of those cases, the drugs are laced with a powerful and potentially lethal additive such as fentanyl that can cause addicts to stop breathing and their hearts to stop beating.

On Monday night, officials responded to what they didnt initially realize was their 27th call, a Huntington man who died after being taken to the hospital. A relative reported that the man had been suffering a seizure, and did not mention that he was an addict, Ciccarelli said.

The next day, officials found another body outside city limits, that of a man who had been in recovery from addiction and who had probably overdosed Monday, Ciccarelli said.

But given the scale of the crisis that had unfolded, those were the only two deaths. For that, Huntington likely has naloxone to thank.

Last year, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed a bill into law expanding access to naloxone, the highly effective opioid overdose antidote, to first responders and the public. Now, every Cabell County ambulance crew carries naloxone, and since earlier this year, so do the local police and fire crews.

One Huntington officer used naloxone on a man and a woman when he arrived at the house with seven overdose victims. Officials said EMS responders gave naloxone to about 10 other victims.

Expanded naloxone access came after opioid overdoses had surged in recent years to epidemic levels and become the third-leading cause of death in Huntington, killing 58 of the towns residents in 2015, according to Dr. Michael Kilkenny, the physician director of Cabell-Huntington Health Department.

In response, the city expanded its anti-drug efforts to include overdose treatment in addition to needle-exchange programs to prevent transmission of HIV and hepatitis B and C.

As a result, needle-sharing has plummeted among addicts, and so far in 2016, overdose deaths have dropped 25% to 30%, Kilkenny said.

I think that it reflects that our strategies are working, Kilkenny said. Naloxone is a great tool to use, and especially useful in the hands of community members closest to the victims. But it takes more than just tools; you have to know how to use them, and the communitys done a great job about education concerning drug overdoses.

But the struggle will continue, and officials have to watch out for how addiction can affect the next generation of West Virginians.

Jan Rader, the deputy chief of the Huntington Fire Department and a registered nurse, has worked in the area for 22 years and rarely used to see overdose calls. Now, emergency responders might respond to a home and find parents who shot up and overdosed while their children were in the room.

Children being present with the overdose victim is the norm, not the exception, now, Rader said. Kids are being raised in this environment.

As Rader spoke on the phone, she was interrupted by a loud alert noise.

I have an overdose that just came in over my radio, Rader said. Sorry about that.

Email: matt.pearce@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter: @mattdpearce

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Obama criticized for golfing while Louisiana grapples with deadly flooding

President Obama is facing a backlash for continuing his annual Marthas Vineyard vacation as widespread flooding has damaged tens of thousands of homes and killed at least 13 people in Louisiana.

A newspaper in the state editorialized that Obama ought to cut his vacation short to visit the most anguished state in the union and show his solidarity with suffering Americans.

Weve seen this story before in Louisiana, and we dont deserve a sequel, the Advocate wrote Wednesday. In 2005, a fly-over by a vacationing President George W. Bush became a symbol of official neglect for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The current president was among those making political hay out of Bushs aloofness.

Obama has received regular briefings on the storm, declared it a federal disaster earlier in the week, and dispatched Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to the region.

But conservative voices juxtaposed pictures of the floodwaters with images of Obama golfing on Thursday. A Fox News headline read: Bias alert: Media that ripped Bush on Katrina ignores Obama on La. flooding.

Some residents also said they would appreciate a presidential visit.

It would be great if he could come, give us moral support, said Mary Green King, as she rested at a shelter south of Baton Rouge in flood-ravaged Ascension Parish. Hes been to disaster areas.

King, 67, had just been informed by her landlord that she had 48 hours to move her belongings from her home in the bedroom community of Gonzalez, La. But when Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy visited the shelter with some aides, King shared her problems with them and felt encouraged.

He said they would see what they can do, she said from her cot in the shelter thats still housing 524 people.

GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump plans to visit the state Friday, and opened his Thursday evening rally by talking about the tragedy.

Our prayers are with the families who have lost loved ones, and we send them our deepest condolences, he told supporters in Charlotte, N.C. Though words cannot express the sadness one feels at times like this, I hope everyone in Louisiana knows that our country is praying for them and standing with them to help them in these difficult hours.

Mehta reported from Los Angeles and Hennessy-Fiske from Baton Rouge.
A federal appeals court gave medical marijuana advocates what seemed like a big win this week with a unanimous ruling that the federal government may not prosecute people who grow and distribute medicinal cannabis if they comply with state laws.

The decision affirms a mandate from Congress, which barred the U.S. Department of Justice in 2014 and 2015 from bringing cases against legitimate pot shops in states that have medical marijuana laws. It makes clear that if operators are meticulously following the rules, they shouldnt have to worry about the feds coming after them.

But this weeks ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals came with a big warning: This is a temporary victory. Until the federal government legalizes marijuana or until lawmakers adopt a permanent policy shielding states from federal enforcement, medical marijuana shops still face the possibility of prosecution in the future.

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More than half the states allow people to grow, sell and use marijuana for medical purposes. But advocates complained they were still being raided and prosecuted by federal law enforcement because the drug remains illegal under federal law. In 2014 and again in 2015, Reps. Sam Farr (D-Carmel) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) successfully pushed through a spending bill amendment that prohibited the Department of Justice from spending funds in those budget years to prevent states from implementing their medical marijuana laws. (Their amendment does not apply to the recreational use of marijuana, which four states and the District of Columbia allow, and which California will consider allowing with Proposition 64 in November.)

However, DOJ prosecutions continued, and 10 growers and dispensary operators in California and Washington appealed their cases, arguing that they were protected by the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed  for the most part. The court sent the cases back to district courts, where the operators would have an opportunity to prove they strictly complied with state laws. If they did, they should not face charges. If not, they could still be prosecuted.

The conflict that has been created between state and federal laws must be addressed. The current situation ... is untenable.

Advocates hailed the decision as a major setback for the federal governments tough-on-marijuana policies. But Judge Diarmuid F. OScannlain, writing in a lengthy footnote to the ruling, threw cold water on that idea.

To be clear, the judge wrote, the amendment does not provide immunity from prosecution for federal marijuana offenses. Nor, he added, does any state law legalize marijuana. All the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment does is temporarily block the DOJ from spending money on medical marijuana prosecutions; it will expire at the end of September, unless extended. Congress could restore funding tomorrow, or the next president could reverse the Obama Administrations detente with state marijuana laws, and prosecutions could re-start. That leaves medical marijuana businesses and users in legal limbo and undermines public confidence if people are asked to vote to legalize something that may or may not ultimately be allowed by the federal government.

The federal government  not the courts  should be providing clearer guidance to the states. Rohrabacher, for example, has a bill that would make his amendment permanent by changing the Controlled Substances Act to prevent the federal government from prosecuting individuals or businesses for drug crimes if they are following state marijuana laws Alternately, several legal experts and advocates have suggested that the federal government could allow states to opt out of federal marijuana laws if they have their own laws and regulations for marijuana use.

One way or another, though, the conflict that has been created between state and federal laws must be addressed. The current situation  in which marijuana is illegal at the federal level but half of the states allow medical marijuana, four states allow recreational use and five more will consider recreational legalization in November  is untenable.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
California needs reasonable, clearly defined and well-enforced rules for charter school oversight, a point driven home by a recent report issued by the Southern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the nonprofit law firm Public Advocates. The study concluded that 253 California charter schools may have been in violation of state law because of discriminatory admissions policies.

The best way to address this situation is to make a structural change in the states oversight process.

Californias system for authorizing charter schools  that is, approving charter schools and monitoring them  is splintered among more than 320 local, county and state agencies. This is far too many  we know that too many authorizers mean that schools are subjected to a patchwork of differing standards and practices. Most authorizers are school districts, but charter school organizers may also approach county offices of education for authorization, and the state Department of Education sometimes plays a role as well.

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Charter schools are not the primary focus of any of these agencies. Instead, school districts and county education offices were mandated to oversee charter schools by the state Legislature and they are now stuck with a complex task many never wanted to begin with. School districts in particular, working within tight budgets, often dont have the capacity or staffing to deal effectively with charter schools. Most districts must direct the majority of their time and energy into operating traditional public schools.

Whats the result?

The ACLU/Public Advocates report reviewed the websites of 1,000 of the states 1,200 charter schools, and found that a quarter of them had admissions policies that erected barriers to some children, including low-income students and English learners. Some schools required elaborate essays or auditions, or mandated volunteer work by parents. By law, charters, which are taxpayer-funded public schools, must be open to all California schoolchildren. Although the report makes it clear that a majority of Californias charter schools meet their obligation to all the children in their communities, too often, no one is paying attention when an individual charter school does something wrong.

It is time to end Californias splintered system of oversight.

Californias system for authorizing charter schools ... is splintered among more than 320 local, county and state agencies. This is far too many.

First, the state should intentionally reduce the number of authorizers by allowing school districts to opt out of the oversight role. Any district that wishes to remain an authorizer should be required to submit a detailed plan to the state showing how it will provide sufficient resources and attention to the work of overseeing charters. Give districts three years to submit an acceptable plan or lose their power to oversee charter schools.

But then the state must also create an alternative, dedicated oversight system for charter schools that want to open in districts that dont authorize charters. These oversight boards could be set up at county offices of education, or consolidated into a statewide chartering board. In either case, the system could be funded through a fee deducted from each charter schools revenue.

In states where charter oversight is consolidated and more closely regulated, the results have been notable. Weve seen higher standards enforced and best practices increase in Minnesota, after the state required authorizers to apply for the privilege of overseeing schools. In Colorado, a statewide authorizing board was created in 2004, allowing districts to opt out of authorizing. The board now oversees 35 charter schools across 18 towns and cities in the state.

Finally, California should clarify the state rules that govern admissions policies at all public schools, traditional, magnet and charter. It should also set rules for charter authorizers role in enforcing those policies.

Hundreds of charter schools in California are delivering good academic results for students and treating students fairly. Where school districts have the desire, the budget and the personnel to adequately authorize charters, district-level oversight can work.

However, where authorization and oversight are flawed, and where schools arent abiding by the law, the state must establish a better system to ensure an equitable education to all.

Greg Richmond is the president and chief executive of the National Assn. of Charter School Authorizers.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook.
LAKE CHELAN, WASHINGTON  There are pluses and minuses to combining work with a vacation. Heres the plus: at this moment as I write, I can look up from my laptop and see speedboats and jet skis carving wakes across the surface of a slate blue lake. Beyond, the hillsides are covered with fir trees and vineyards. The sky is blue, the sun is bright and a slight breeze softly shifts the August heat.

Everything has been picture-perfect here this week. Ive only occasionally allowed the daily news to intrude on my holiday escape. That is very different from this time a year ago, when scenes from Lake Chelan became part of the national news. Huge wildfires raged through the forest, burned cabins by the lake, threatened the town and filled the air with a choking smoke that sent vacationers running. Now, this afternoon, I can see the scorched trees and destroyed lakeside homes directly across the lake. But, like a phoenix, new structures are already rising from the ashes. The trees will come back eventually. A new crop of grass already covers the charred ground. Fire is not a new phenomenon in this corner of the West, it is part of a natural cycle.

1 / 51 la-1491523602-y7ephyarj1-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 51 la-1491368625-0bgh58ihw8-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los angeles Times) 6 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 51 Trump inspires millions to take to the streets -- to oppose him. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 51 Cartoon caption contest winner at the DENT conference in Sun Valley, Idaho: Jon Duval, executive director of the Ketchum Community Development Corporation. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 51 Old radicals and big media descend on Selma (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 51 Horsey imagined the creation of the Ann Coulter phenomenon in this cartoon from 2007. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 51 This David Horsey drawing is a reconfiguration of a cartoon he first published in 2006. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 51 Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, should give Cliven Bundy a call. After Sterling loses his NBA franchise and the deadbeat Nevada rancher loses his cattle, the two old racists will both need a buddy. Maybe they can team up together and open an all-white rodeo. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 51 Besides sending a chill up the spine of the international community, Vladimir Putin has accomplished one other thing by seizing Crimea and threatening the rest of Ukraine: Putin has brought back the bear. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 51 The right-wing insurrection at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, Nev., has taken another weird turn with new revelations about the family history of Cliven Bundy. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 51 David Horsey / Los Angeles Times (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)

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Still, things are not quite as they once were. There have been observable changes in the 25-plus summers I have come here with my family that go beyond the hundreds of new vacation homes along the shore and the transition from apple orchards to grapes and winemaking. The glacial lake, measuring 1,500 feet at its deepest point, does not feel as frigid as it once did. In past years, a plunge in the water could be bracing, if not shockingly cold; now it feels pleasantly brisk.

Another change: a man I met at a local winery yesterday told me the cold months used to bring snowpack six feet deep. Recent winters, he said, have been nearly snowless. This part of central Washington has shared in the drought that has hit California and much of the western U.S.  a dearth of precipitation that has produced serious water shortages and more extreme and frequent wildfires.

Something big is happening. A drive south down Interstate 5 brings a series of shocks. Two years ago, I approached Mt. Shasta in late summer and found it completely bare of snow. The sight was disturbing, like seeing a beloved grandfather pale and naked. Miles further, the the stretch of highway cutting through the dust, haze and barrenness of Californias Central Valley feels like a scene from Mad Max.

When my son was small enough that I could lift him on my shoulders, we hiked to the marvelous ice caves at Mt. Rainier which were the frozen blue reaches of the mountains glaciers. He is grown now and doesnt need me to carry him, but we could not make the same trek. The ice caves have melted. In the same way, the glaciers in Glacier National Park are melting, and the ice packs at the top and bottom of the world as well. Deserts are expanding, oceans are warming and becoming more acidic and weather phenomena across the planet are increasingly more extreme and dangerous. Something big, indeed.

Some people  including politicians and public relations specialists in thrall to major purveyors of fossil fuels  say the changes that can be observed from Chelan to Miami and Los Angeles to Nantucket are nothing more than normal shifts in the weather. Most of the worlds scientists, of course, disagree. They say much of what is happening is the result of rapid changes in Earths climate caused by human activity. In a rational world, proposals to deal with climate change would be at the top of the agenda in any contest for the presidency. Unlike the many false fears being raised in the current campaign, this is one concern that is verifiable and frighteningly real. Despite that, one of Americas major political parties denies the science, dismissing climate change a hoax, skewing the political conversation toward the absurd.

And so, with real action either blocked or coming too slowly, most of us simply get on with our lives, demanding too little from our politicians and shutting out thoughts about a threat so big that it is hard to wrap our minds around it. Still, we cannot avoid small, disturbing reminders  like lake water that is too comfortably warm  even on the sweetest days of summer.

David.Horsey@latimes.com

Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter
Hillary Clintons service as Americas third female secretary of State produced few dramatic diplomatic initiatives but was generally highly regarded by foreign policy experts when she stepped down nearly four years ago.

Now the scandal over Clintons use of a private email server while at the State Department, plus a partisan clash over her response to the 2012 Benghazi attack and the relentless wear-and-tear of global crises, have overshadowed her achievements and could undermine a pillar of her presidential campaign.

After losing her first White House bid in 2008, Clinton became the top U.S. diplomat during President Obamas first term. She joined a powerful team of rivals who debated and advocated policies inside the White House.

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By most accounts, Clinton had Obamas ear on critical issues and helped bring professionalism back to a diplomatic corps that was often demoralized under President George W. Bush.

The first Obama term was much more successful in terms of foreign policy than the second, said Walter Russell Mead, a foreign policy scholar who edits the American Interest, a publication of political commentary, and is not involved in the campaign.

 History: Hillary Clintons full speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president. More coverage at latimes.com/trailguide or read The Times annotations of her speech at latimes.com/clintontranscript

But because things have not gone as hoped, while the world got in worse shape, it is harder to talk about [Clintons] legacy, Mead said.

One reason, perhaps, is that like Bush, Obama has conducted some crucial foreign policy operations from the White House.

Clinton thus was not the lead decision-maker in key peace efforts. Her plan to appoint special envoys to handle the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan in early 2009 came to naught when the diplomats were either marginalized or overridden by the White House.

Although Clintons supporters insist her work helped pave the way, the intense negotiations that led to a historic nuclear arms control deal with Iran last year, which arguably will be Obamas major foreign policy legacy, began after she left office.

Moreover, some of Clintons gains overseas, such as restoring diplomatic relations with the shaky democracy in Myanmar (also known as Burma) after decades of isolation, have faded. The government in Yangon is still accused of regular human rights abuses.

Even what once seemed like major victories  the 2011 ouster of longtime despots in Egypt and Libya, for example  have been lost in the wave of violence and chaos sweeping the Middle East.

For his part, Obama has called Clinton  a former secretary of State, former U.S. senator from New York and former first lady  the most qualified candidate ever to run for the White House.

Among the highlights of her tenure, Obama has said, were her counsel and calm in the Situation Room before Obama made the decision to launch the raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

Clintons icy focus on detail  a trait she sometimes self-mocks on the campaign trail  was a plus during national security crises.

She was always in command of her brief, said Dennis Ross, a veteran diplomat who served under four presidents, including two years as Obamas special assistant for the Middle East..

She rarely took anything at face value.  The president would turn to her and she would outline all the issues at stake, said Ross, now a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a nonpartisan think tank.

Experts say Clinton oversaw the negotiations with Russia that led to the New START Treaty to reduce strategic offensive nuclear weapons. She also is credited with putting climate change and womens rights high on the new administrations agenda.

Clinton also championed Obamas 2011 call for a strategic and economic pivot to Asia and the Pacific Rim, and she supported the Trans Pacific Partnership, an ambitious 12-nation trade deal then being negotiated.

She also advocated resetting troubled relations with Russia, even giving Russias foreign minister a red button marked Reset in March 2009.

The pivot appeared prescient  or provocative  when China began building up islands in the South China Sea that are also claimed by other countries, a regional dispute that is still unfolding.

Last October, as a presidential candidate, Clinton withdrew her support for the TPP, saying the final draft did not meet her standards for creating new jobs and raising wages for Americans.

And the reset with Russia went nowhere once Vladimir Putin was elected president in 2012 and asserted a muscular Russian nationalism that put him at odds with numerous U.S. policies.

Michael OHanlon, a national security expert at the Brookings Institution who has advised Clinton, judged her State Department record more solid than spectacular when she left office in 2013.

He stands by that assessment but says some of her efforts have borne fruit that was not discernible then, such as the pivot to Asia and attention given to climate change.

Other issues continue to haunt her campaign, however.

Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, has hammered Clinton for her handling of the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission and nearby CIA post in Benghazi, Libya, that left a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans dead in September 2012.

On June 22, Trump said Clintons decisions as secretary of State spread death, destruction and terrorism everywhere she touched. Among the victims was our late Ambassador Chris Stevens. I mean, what she did with him was absolutely horrible. He was left helpless to die as Hillary Clinton soundly slept in her bed. Thats right. When the phone rang, as per the commercial, at 3:00 in the morning, Hillary Clinton was sleeping.

Actually, the attack occurred at 3:30 p.m. in Washington, and records show Clinton was at her desk. And none of the numerous congressional investigations have faulted Clinton for her actions that day, or concluded she could have done something different that would have saved lives.

Foreign policy experts are more critical of the administrations failure to help stabilize Libya after a U.S.-led NATO air war helped militants oust strongman Moammar Kadafi in 2011. The ensuing chaos led to Benghazi and the turmoil that sill engulfs the North African nation.

More damaging is the still-unfolding scandal over Clintons use of a private email server while she was in office.

The FBI closed its investigation without recommending criminal charges, but Clinton can look forward to the release this fall of further emails that critics say show she lied, a charge she denies.

Unable to shed those controversies, the Democratic nominee has focused more on the economy and other domestic issues on the campaign trail. She has only given one speech that her aides billed as a major foreign policy address.

Speaking June 2 in San Diego, she focused on Trump, calling her Republican rival temperamentally unfit to hold an office that requires knowledge, stability and immense responsibility,

Clinton has described her foreign policy philosophy as both inclusive and outward-looking due to the optimistic outlook she absorbed with her Methodist upbringing. Her aides say she is proud of her record.

I worked to reorient American foreign policy around what I call smart power,  Clinton wrote in her 2014 memoir, Hard Choices.

To succeed in the 21st century, she wrote, we need to integrate the traditional tools of foreign policy  diplomacy, development assistance, and military force  while also tapping the energy and ideas of the private sector and empowering citizens, especially the activists, organizers, and problem-solvers we call civil society.

For more on foreign policy, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter.

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New poll analysis finds a wasted summer for Donald Trump and a boost for Hillary Clinton

When it comes to Trump, GOP senators battling for their seats are used to contortions
The last six weeks have been a time of tumult in the presidential campaign  two conventions and a fistful of controversies, many of them created by Republican nominee Donald Trump himself.

With the campaign moving toward a final general election sprint, Trump finds himself in a dangerous place. He has narrowed his support to a segment of the electorate, and curbed his own momentum, according to an analysis of six weeks of findings in the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Daybreak presidential tracking poll.

Over the same period, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has built support  even among groups previously arrayed against her  into demonstrable advantages.

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The poll was first published July 10 and is in its seventh week. The analysis covered the six full weeks, and thus did not chart any impact from Trumps high-profile speeches this week, or his midweek decision to shake up his campaigns leadership.

Over six weeks time, Trumps 22-point lead among whites narrowed to 18 points. Among nonwhites, Clintons advantage rose from 38 points to 46 points.

Trumps lead among voters without a college degree shrank from 12 points to five points. Among those with college degrees, Clintons edge increased from 13 points to 15 points.

Among men, Trumps advantage dropped from 12 points to eight points. Among women, Clintons edge grew from five points to 12 points.

The USC Dornsife/L.A. Times tracking poll, a running seven-day tally, measures voter support differently than most election surveys, using a panel of roughly 3,200 eligible voters whose numbers are representative of the overall electorate. The panel is surveyed continuously, so the results mainly reflect changes in the minds of the same large group, rather than variations between different samples as would occur in a more conventional survey.

The tracking poll also takes into account the firmness of voter support in a way that is different from other surveys  and which, to this point, is reflected in the narrower edge Clinton has over Trump in this poll compared with her lead in most others.

Over the six weeks, few of the polls movements were dramatic, but the direction was consistent  to the advantage of Democrat Clinton and against Republican Trump. Emblematic of that was the shift in whos leading: Trump initially led by three points; six weeks in, Clinton has a narrow edge.

For more on politics 

The changes confirmed long-held dynamics in the race: Blue-collar Americans are more supportive of Trump, responding to his castigations of trade deals and the rocky economic recovery, as well as his denunciation of politics as usual.

Women, minorities and more educated voters, meanwhile, have been more likely to side with Clinton and against Trump, in some part because of the rhetoric he has used through the campaign.

The choice?

What bothers you more, an economy that has left you marginalized or a presidential candidate who has left you diminished and demonized? said Dan Schnur, director of USCs Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics.

This is the politics of resentment in action. The only question is what you resent more.

One of the most durable dividing lines in the campaign has been education. Trump retains control of two overlapping slices of the electorate, men without college degrees and white voters without college degrees, but his standing has stalled with both groups.

On July 10, the first week of the poll, Trump held an 18-point lead over Clinton among men lacking a college degree; by Week 6, his lead had shrunk somewhat to 14 points. That was roughly equivalent to the four-point drop among men overall.

But race played an undeniable role as well.

Among whites with no degree, Trumps margin dropped from 35 points to 32 points over the six weeks. But among minorities in the same educational circumstances, Clintons already strong support increased to a margin of 44 points over Trump.

The move to 67% support for Clinton marked the largest jump  10 percentage points  that was measured in the categories mingling race, gender and education level.

Trump averaged only a quarter of a point of improvement over eight categories. He was up in three of them  albeit by smaller increases than Clintons gains  down in three others and tied in one.

Clintons average improvement among eight categories was a far more substantial 4.5 points. She improved in seven of the eight categories and kept her support stable in the eighth.

Clintons pillars of support  women and minorities  are as important to her now as they were in the primary season, when they drove her to victory over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Among both groups, support of Clinton defied any division by education, except when it came to the size of her advantage.

Women without college degrees went from favoring Trump to narrowly backing Clinton over the six-week period. Among women with college degrees, Clinton extended her already-sizable lead from 27 points to 31 points.

Her advantage among minority voters without college degrees rose from 32 points to 44 points during the six weeks. Among minority voters with degrees, the margin stayed consistent  but it was consistently huge, at 51 points both when the survey began and afterward, despite some convention-period gyrations.

That spoke to what is perhaps Trumps biggest problem. As political campaigns wear on, voters tend to dig in their heels; there are fewer each week who have not decided on a candidate or are willing to drop their first choice for a second.

By his actions, Trump has crafted the narrowest of paths, maintaining the loyalty of white voters, particularly men, and hoping he has not driven off the women and minorities who will determine the election.

cathleen.decker@latimes.com

Twitter: @cathleendecker

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Gov. Jerry Brown, who has seen much to worry about in his five decades in public office, said recently that he had a particularly heavy concern: the nations obliviousness to how close it is to nuclear catastrophe.

There is virtually no conversation about this, and it is damned dangerous, Brown said to journalists and politicians in Philadelphia last month, after steering the conversation to the threat of nuclear warheads exploding. We really ought to wake up.



For the record: An earlier version of this article gave the name of the president of the Ploughshares Fund as Joseph Cirincion. His name is Joseph Cirincione.

Soon, the public did wake up. Donald Trump saw to it.

Trump has suggested America use nuclear weapons to bomb Islamic State. He has proposed that Japan and maybe even Saudi Arabia build their own arsenals. And he may have weakened the deterrent effect of nuclear bombs in Europe by suggesting a Trump administration would not come to the aid of NATO members who owe the alliance money.

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But the public most took notice, perhaps, when MSNBC host Joe Scarborough told an anecdote about Trump asking a foreign policy expert three times during a briefing why the U.S. doesnt use its nuclear weapons. Trumps campaign denies any such query took place.

Not since Ronald Reagans reelection at the tail end of the Cold War have nuclear weapons played so big in a presidential race. Historians have to reach back even further, to decades before Reagan, to find a nominee who has talked about nuclear war as loosely as Trump does.

Until Trump came along, voters had largely shifted their worries elsewhere, away from the sobering reality that nuclear warheads can pulverize entire cities in an instant, that they are so powerful that merely possessing them is a deterrent to war, and that presidents can order, on their own, that a nuclear weapon be launched.

Its been shock therapy for the American public, said Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, which promotes nuclear disarmament. Up until last month, most Americans did not even know a president could launch a nuclear war on their own authority.

Regardless, Trump has plunged into an issue presidential candidates gently sidestepped for years. U.S. policy for when and how nuclear arms should be deployed has been one of the rare points of bipartisan foreign policy agreement. Yet it doesnt fit neatly into Trumps unique ideology, which is driven by challenging existing orthodoxy on everything.

This is one corner of policy, though, where his vow to shake things up is not so much energizing voters as unnerving them. On the questions of national security and temperament, voter confidence in Trump lags far behind that of rival Hillary Clinton.

One of Clintons most effective lines on the stump now is asking whether someone who can be so easily baited by a tweet should have his finger on the nuclear button.

Amid an outpouring of alarm from national security experts  including dozens who served at the highest levels of Republican administrations  even many die-hard Trump supporters admit they are rattled by the idea.

During a recent focus group of women in Arizona and Ohio, the nuclear issue gave pause to voters otherwise committed to Trump. A staunchly conservative woman from Phoenix said she was hopeful that a President Trump would not be empowered to just hit the button at will. Id really like to think that there are more controls, she said.

The problem, as Americans are fast learning, is that there really are not that many controls.

You get into some dangerous hypotheticals of what it would look like if Donald Trump gave an order disputed by the military, said John Noonan, a GOP security advisor.

He would know. Noonan is a former Air Force launch officer, a job in which he held the codes for launching intercontinental nuclear missiles.

The question is whether the nuclear infrastructure is robust enough to survive instability at top. I think it is. But this also places unnecessary stress on the military.

The best thing American people can do is just make sure Donald Trump is never elected president.

Noonan says Trump has unnecessarily panicked the public, triggering worries that have been latent for decades.

For my parents and grandparents, there was always a very real threat that at any moment a crisis in a remote region of the world could escalate into a massive nuke attack in the United States, he said. I grew up not worrying about that. Trump has reintroduced that specter onto the national scene.

Other scholars of the nuclear triad say the jolt Trump has given the electorate could ultimately prove useful  even if many of them, like Noonan, want Trump nowhere near the nuclear arsenal.

His comments have forced us to reckon with the fact that our current nuclear posture remains unnecessarily risky, said Kingston Reif, director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy at the Arms Control Assn., a Washington think tank.

Nuclear weapons have emerged as a focal point in the presidential race as President Obama contemplates adding new safeguards into the rules governing their use. Options the president is mulling include banning America from striking first with a nuclear weapon, which current policy allows under certain extreme circumstances.

There are a lot of question about what our nuclear policy should be, what we should spend the money on, what the presidents power should be with regard to use of the weapons, said James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment. The fact that these things are not being discussed is a point of weakness.

If Trumps comments spark a sensible public conversation, that may be a silver lining, he said. But it is clearly not the optimal way to spark this discussion.

Brown is looking for a bigger conversation. He recently wrote a sobering review in the New York Review of Books of My Journey at the Nuclear Brink by former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry, who has convinced Brown the world is closer to a nuclear catastrophe than even during the Cold War.

In a phone interview, Brown vividly lays out a scenario Perry warns about in which terrorists could smuggle a crude nuclear device into the center of Washington and use it to wipe out the president, key Cabinet members, most of Congress and tens of thousands of people  setting off mass panic and descending the nation into chaos.

The only way people talk about [nuclear weapons] is as if Trump might get his hand on the button, Brown said. Whether he does or not, we have these catastrophic dangers lurking out there. And leaders that should be worrying about it are sleepwalking.

evan.halper@latimes.com

Follow me: @evanhalper

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Besra Gold operates a gold ore vehicle during a restart ceremony at Phuoc Son mine, Quang Nam on August 17. Photo by Vietnam People's Police Newspaper

The company hopes to strike it rich under a mountain of debt.

Canadas Besra Gold Inc has resumed operations at its Phuoc Son gold mine in Vietnams central province of Quang Nam after two years of suspension, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Besra Gold also owns the Bong Mieu mine in Quang Nam, but the company suspended operations at the two mines in July 2014, saying the decision came as a direct result of coercive measures taken by the Quang Nam Tax Department due to delayed tax payments.

The Phuoc Son mine was able to return to operations after VietABank provided a bank guarantee to the local tax department, and local partner Vaco Gold Co Ltd contributed essential capital for the resumption of operations and payment of local creditors, Besra Gold said.

Phuoc Son is one of the biggest gold mines in Vietnam with estimated reserves of 30 tons.

Besra's tax debts from Phuoc Son are VND430 billion (nearly $19 million), Dinh Van Thu, chairman of Quang Nam Peoples Committee, said in a meeting in early July.

The Canadian company has promised to pay all debts within 12 months of the resumption of operations at Phuoc Son, according to a report from VietnamPlus on August 17.

As of June 30, 2014, the Phuoc Son mine had lost $16 million while the Bong Mieu operation had reported accumulative losses of $30.1 million and short-term loans of VND1.14 trillion (over $51 million).

Besra Gold, which also owns a gold mine in Malaysia, reported an overall loss of nearly $46 million and short-term loans of VND2.5 trillion (over $112 million) as of June 30, 2014.

Related news:

> Deputy PM steps in after Canadian gold miner fails to strike it rich
A deeply divided electorate has at least one thing in common: Few expect big things from the next president.

Fewer than one-third of registered voters think Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump would make a good or great president, while more are likely to see either as being terrible in the Oval Office, a new Pew Research Center poll finds.

Expectations are only slightly better for Clinton than Trump. Thirty-one percent said she would be a good or great president, 22% say average, 12% poor and 33% say terrible. Forty-three percent of voters think Trump is likely to be a terrible president, accounting for the biggest discrepancy between the two candidates; only 27% say he would be a great or good president.

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Those figures were little changed since a March survey, and reflect a relative ambivalence even among the nominees supporters. Fewer than one in four Clinton or Trump supporters expect their candidate to be a great president while more decisively predicting the worst about the opposing candidate: 72% of Trump supporters say Clinton would be terrible, while 83% of Clinton backers said that of Trump.

Other findings from the Pew survey otherwise largely align with other recent polling that showed a Clinton advantage buoyed by strong support among the increasingly diverse electorate, a significant gender gap and Clintons stronger showing among college-educated white voters than other recent Democratic nominees have enjoyed.

Offered a choice among four candidates, including the Libertarian and Green Party nominees, 41% of registered voters said they would vote for Clinton while 37% backed Trump. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, earned 10% while Jill Stein, the Green Party nominee, got 4%.

Clintons four-point lead among registered voters is just beyond the surveys 2.8-percentage-point margin of error, and represents a tighter race than in mid-June when Clinton led Trump by nine points.

But beyond views of the candidates, the poll demonstrates vastly different views of the state of the nation and its most pressing challenges.

Clinton supporters, for instance, were far more likely (59%) to say that life was better for people like them now than 50 years ago than Trump supporters (just 11%).

While two-thirds of Trump supporters said immigration was a very big problem for the country, just 17% of Clinton voters said the same. Another wide disparity existed in views of whether the gap between rich and poor represented a very big problem: 70% of Clinton supporters said it was, compared with just 31% of Trump supporters. The only issue where views aligned was on relations between racial and ethnic groups. Forty-seven percent of all voters said it was a very big problem, a jump from 29% who said that in 2007 when the question was last asked, and ranked it ahead of terrorism, immigration and the environment.

The survey as a whole painted a pessimistic view of the future beyond the candidates. Half of all voters said the future for the next generation of Americans would be worse than the present, while just one in four voters said better and about one in five said it would be the same. Even Clinton voters had only a narrowly optimistic view of this question (38% better vs. 30% worse).

Pews data found a dramatic turnaround in the view of free trade agreements among Republican voters. Fifty-five percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters said in 2014 that free trade agreements have been good for the U.S.; 51% said the same in the month before Trump launched his candidacy in 2015 and made attacks on existing free-trade deals a cornerstone of his campaign. But now just 32% say that, while 61% now say the trade deals have been bad for the U.S.

Democrats, meanwhile have remained largely supportive of free trade agreements. Fifty-eight percent called them good for the U.S. while just 34% said they werent.

Voters were split on the question of whether the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership would be good for the U.S., with one in four voters undecided. Securing approval for the trade pact among a dozen Pacific Rim nations including the U.S. is a major priority for President Obama in his final months in office, and he has vowed to press ahead despite opposition from both Clinton and Trump.

Obama enjoys a healthy 53% job approval rating, the highest rating Pew has found during his entire second term.

michael.memoli@latimes.com

For more 2016 campaign coverage, follow @mikememoli on Twitter

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Babulal Bera, a retired chemical engineer who emigrated from India and watched his oldest son win election to the U.S. House of Representatives, was sentenced Thursday to one year and one day in federal prison for organizing a money-laundering scheme that helped fund two of his sons campaigns.

It was a sentence that defense attorneys for Bera, 83, argued was too severe, but one U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley said was appropriate.

The defendants efforts were calculated, Nunley said during the sentencing hearing in Sacramento. This is more than just a naive person who doesnt know how elections work.

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Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove) was not in the courtroom to see his father convicted of the two counts of federal campaign finance violations. The two-term Democrat has denied knowing anything about the secret donations and has expressed disappointment in his fathers actions.

This is one of the most difficult moments my family has ever experienced, the congressman said in a written statement. Of course Im absolutely devastated and heartbroken for how todays decision will impact our entire family. But my fathers accepted what he did was wrong, hes taken responsibility and I love him more than words can express.

Babulal Bera did not speak to reporters as he left the courtroom in downtown Sacramento. Although he used an interpreter in previous court appearances, on Thursday Bera addressed the judge in English.

His voice shook as he asked to be allowed to remain with his wife, Kanta. No one else knows my wife like I do. She means everything to me, he said. I cannot live without her, and she cannot live without me.

His sentence, which was lighter than federal guidelines that call for up to three years in prison, included a fine of $100,200. He could be released after 10 months and must surrender to federal authorities within 90 days.

Defense attorneys had asked the judge to take into account the ages of Bera and his wife, describing the marriage of the La Palma residents as a deeply intertwined dependency between a married couple in their twilight years.

Nunley acknowledged Beras age would make a prison term more difficult for him than for a younger man, but said the sentence addressed the severity of his actions and was sufficiently serious to deter others from committing similar crimes.

Sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter 

Prosecutors said Bera conducted an elaborate operation of soliciting donations from friends and family for his sons first two congressional campaigns in 2010 and 2012. Each of those individual donations was within the legal maximum of primary and general election donations, a total of $5,000 in 2012. But the elder Bera either quietly gave those donors the money to make their donations or ultimately repaid them after the contributions were made.

In all, prosecutors said they were able to track at least $260,000 in illegal contributions funneled through donors but secretly paid by the elder Bera through multiple bank accounts used to further cover his tracks.

The 2010 incidents of money laundering did not end up helping Ami Bera win, as the Sacramento County physician lost a close race to former U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Gold River). But in the 2012 rematch, the second election cycle in which money was illegally funneled into Beras campaign, the Democrat defeated Lungren by about 9,000 votes.

Bera has remained a target of Republicans in one of Californias swing districts, having narrowly won reelection in 2014. His challenger in November, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, is seeking to link the congressman to his fathers money laundering conviction. On Tuesday, Jones proposed tightening federal campaign finance laws to make it harder for money to be funneled from one donor to another.

More has to be done to root corruption out of politics and expose conflicts, Jones said in a statement.

But Jessica Levinson, who teaches federal campaign finance law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said schemes of this kind are far less prevalent than other efforts to skirt campaign finance laws.

This type of blatant violation just doesnt happen that often, she said.

The issue of Babulal Beras guilt was hardly ever in doubt, as the congressmans father quickly pleaded guilty to the crimes in May, telling the judge through an interpreter: I have, in fact, done the crime.

Instead, the focus of debate this summer was whether the elder Bera should go to prison. Prosecutors insisted in a court filing last week that a one-year sentence was appropriate because of the seriousness of the crimes. They rejected defense arguments that the case was merely one of a father getting caught up in the excitement of helping his son achieve a longtime dream.

He carried on these acts month after month, year after year, and over the course of two campaigns, wrote prosecutors in court documents. He cannot explain away his actions as the result of runaway emotions.

Levinson said prosecutors likely wanted Bera to serve time behind bars to tell people we take this seriously when it comes to enforcing campaign finance laws. Still, she said, probation likely wouldnt have sent any message of leniency to others who might consider breaking the law.

If youre just looking at the facts of this case, I think you could make a straight face argument for no jail time, Levinson said.

Bera, who walks with a cane, rested his folded hands on the lectern as he listened to the judge read his sentence. In his statement to the court, he apologized for his actions.

This blessed country has given me ... so much, he said. I felt my son would repay this beautiful nation by serving in the United States Congress.

john.myers@latimes.com

sophia.bollag@latimes.com

Follow @johnmyers and @SophiaBollag on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast

ALSO:

Rep. Ami Beras father admits illegal campaign contributions

Beras father should get probation, not prison, say his attorneys

Updates on California politics

UPDATES:

2:10 p.m. This article was updated with additional details and a statement from the congressman.

This article was originally published at noon.
Im Christina Bellantoni. This is Essential Politics.

Wednesday was a relatively quiet day on the campaign trail, with all of the consequential stuff happening behind the scenes.

We have more on the big Trump staff shakeup below, but in another story of interest, Don Lee introduces readers to Peter Navarro, a 67-year-old UC Irvine professor who ran unsuccessfully four times for public office as a Democrat, and is now one of the leading voices on Donald Trumps economic advisory team. Except heres the unusual thing: Hes never met with or spoken to Trump on the phone.

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As for today, Trump will be in Charlotte, N.C., and Hillary Clinton will be in New York City.

HOW TRUMP LEARNED TO LOVE THE BOMB

Evan Halper finds that not since Ronald Reagans re-election at the tail end of the Cold War have nuclear weapons played so big in a presidential race. Historians have to reach back even further, to decades before Reagan, to find a nominee who has talked about nuclear war as loosely as Trump does.

The GOP nominee has plunged into an issue presidential candidates gently sidestepped for years. U.S. policy for when and how nuclear arms should be deployed has been one of the rare points of bipartisan foreign policy agreement.

Among his positions:

Trump has suggested America use nuclear weapons to bomb Islamic State. He has proposed that Japan and maybe even Saudi Arabia build their own arsenals. And he may have weakened the deterrent effect of nuclear missiles in Europe by suggesting a Trump administration would not come to the aid of NATO members who owe the alliance money.

Get the latest from the campaign trail on Trail Guide and follow @latimespolitics. Check our daily USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times tracking poll at the top of the politics page.

If you havent been watching the tracking poll lately, Clintons edge over Trump has narrowed a bit.

FROM BREITBART TO THE CAMPAIGN

Ive known both of them for a long time. Theyre terrific people, theyre winners, theyre champs, and we need to win it, Trump told the Associated Press after announcing a staff shakeup at the highest levels of his campaign.

Who are they? Seema Mehta takes a look at Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway, Team Trumps new leaders. One has never been involved in a political campaign before and the other previously worked for Trumps last-standing rival in the GOP primary.

And dont miss Matt Pearces look at the evolution of Breitbart, the news outlet, and how it became pro-Trump under Bannons leadership.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG TRANSPARENCY FIGHT WILL BE ON BALLOT

The battle over a bill to increase transparency of prescription drug prices  one of the most anticipated end-of-session showdowns, came to an abrupt halt in Sacramento Wednesday, when the bills author, Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) pulled the legislation. Hernandez was displeased with recent amendments to the measure, which proponents said fatally weakened it.

Melanie Mason and Sophia Bollag report that the focus now turns to a drug pricing initiative facing voters in the fall and pharmaceutical companies have built a significant war chest to defeat the measure.

CAP AND TRADE COMPROMISE?

Senate Democrats are hoping to shake loose the two-year impasse over allocating money from the states cap-and-trade auctions. Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) released a $1.2-billion spending proposal on Wednesday that includes $150 million for a program offering subsidies to low-income people buying low- and zero-emission vehicles.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) responded with a note of caution, saying there will be a spending plan passed by the end of the month, but lawmakers should wait to see the results of the most recent cap-and-trade auction before making decisions.

In a related issue, does Gov. Jerry Brown want to save the Earth or his bullet train project? With little time left in the legislative session, hell have to prioritize one one or the other, George Skelton writes in his Thursday column.

For the latest on these negotiations and the scramble toward the end of session, keep an eye on our Essential Politics news feed.

THE FIRES

Were closely tracking the blazes that are ravaging both Southern and Northern California. Follow our coverage here.

TODAYS ESSENTIALS

 Two Democrats in the Legislature unveiled a new plan to fund the states crumbling roads and other transportation programs, highlighted by a 17-cents-per-gallon gas tax hike. And Assemblyman Jim Frazier (D-Oakley) said hed be willing to go to a November lame duck session to pass it.

 A long-delayed bill that would legalize Internet poker in California is being amended to address concerns by a group of Native American casino operators who had opposed the measure, setting the stage for a possible vote in the state Assembly on Monday.

 Rep. Ami Beras father will be sentenced Thursday. Defense attorneys for the 83-year-old who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations said he should get probation, not prison.

 Here are the details of the open carry gun rights lawsuit we told you about last week.

 Clinton hung out privately with Paul McCartney before his concert in Cleveland Wednesday.

 Trump said Democrats take the black vote for granted.

 Ill be a panelist Friday morning at USC Dornsifes Blazing the Trail  Lessons from Women Leaders event. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. The free event honors Tracy Hernandez of the Los Angeles County Business Federation, Lindsey Horvath of the West Hollywood City Council and retired Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke. The other panelists are Kathryn Barger, chief deputy supervisor in the office of Supervisor Michael Antonovich; Ana Guerrero, chief of staff to Mayor Eric Garcetti; Los Angeles County CEO Sachi Hamai; Close the Gap founder Mary Hughes; former West Hollywood council member Abbe Land; Councilwoman Nury Martinez; Michele Siqueiros of the Campaign for College Opportunity; and Vice President of SoCalGas Sharon Tomkins.

 What do you think of Clinton? We want to hear from you.

 Who will win the November election? Give our Electoral College map a spin.

LOGISTICS

Miss yesterdays newsletter? Here you go. Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox daily. And keep an eye on our politics page throughout the day for the latest and greatest. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics?

Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com.
An effort to shed more light on prescription drug prices sputtered in the Legislature on Wednesday, dealing a setback to a burgeoning national movement to rein in healthcare expenses by curbing the cost of medication.

The decision by state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) to yank his bill from consideration after it was watered down in an Assembly panel marks an abrupt end to what promised to be the marquee lobbying battle of the legislative session, pitting Capitol heavyweights such as labor groups and health insurers against drug manufacturers.

The measures demise is a significant victory for pharmaceutical companies, but not a full reprieve. A separate ballot initiative to clamp down on drug costs will go before voters this fall, and the measures advocates hope to capitalize on the Legislatures inaction.

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With all parties vowing to press ahead  either via initiative or legislation next year  the issue of prescription drug costs is certain to remain at the forefront of Californias healthcare debate.

This is an issue that will not go away, and the public demands answers, Hernandez said in a statement Wednesday. We will get it right.

Hernandezs measure, SB 1010, took a two-pronged approach. First, it would have required health plans to report detailed information on pharmaceutical drug costs  such as the most prescribed and most costly medicines  to state regulators.

It also would have forced drug makers to give notice of future price increases to insurance companies, pharmacy managers and the state agencies that buy prescription drugs.

It was the second piece of major drug pricing legislation to come before lawmakers this session: An earlier bill by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) to require pharmaceutical companies to report costs and profits associated with high-priced specialty drugs faltered earlier this year.

Updates from Sacramento 

The string of high-profile legislation reflects escalating scrutiny nationwide on surging drug prices and their effect on overall healthcare costs. From the presidential campaign to statehouses across the country, pharmaceutical companies have found themselves playing defense, hammered by headlines about six-figure specialty drugs or former Turing Pharmaceuticals executive Martin Shkreli, who drew intense criticism after increasing the price of a medication to combat rare infections by 5,000%.

Nearly three-quarters of Americans believe prescription drugs are too expensive, according to a poll last year by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente.

The drug industry counters that much of the debate centers on wholesale prices, which can climb into five- and six-figure amounts. Most insured consumers typically pay a fraction of those costs under their co-payment plans.

Hernandezs legislation was one of the most lobbied bills of the session, with at least 70 groups spending money to advocate for or against it, according to lobbying activity filings.

The measure was sponsored by the California Labor Federation, an umbrella group of 1,200 unions. Many of the individual statewide unions  along with local affiliates  pushed hard for the bill, arguing that advance notice on price increases was crucial to plan for their members healthcare.

On the opposing side, the industrys main trade group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or Phrma, and other associations were joined by at least 28 pharmaceutical companies that paid lobbyists to work to defeat the legislation.

Id be surprised if there was any major lobbying firm that did not have a contract  with one side or another in this fight, said Anthony Wright, who leads the consumer advocacy group Health Access, a supporter of the bill.

The bill was substantially overhauled last week in a key Assembly fiscal committee. The changes increased the threshold under which drug makers would have to alert purchasers of price increases, and would have delayed the notice requirement for one year. The provision would have expired in 2022.

Proponents worried the new notice requirements would not have captured the vast majority of drug price increases, and argued that the delayed implementation would have given pharmaceutical companies time to manipulate their prices without scrutiny. Hernandez decided to pull the bill.

From labor groups to healthcare insurers, the reaction struck a common tone: Well be back.

In the coming months, the California labor movement and our coalition partners, ranging from businesses and insurers to healthcare advocates and consumer groups, will redouble our efforts to enact real reform to control rising prescription drug prices that are hurting us all, said Labor Federation leader Art Pulaski in a statement.

Even Phrma signaled an intention to tackle the issue.

No patient should have to worry about whether they can afford their medicines, said Priscilla VanderVeer, a spokeswoman for the group. We believe that there is an opportunity to for us to work with Sen. Hernandez and his colleagues, as well as the broader stakeholder community, to find solutions that will give patients and families what they need: predictable and accessible information about the out-of-pocket costs they will face and enforceable, common-sense rules that prevent discrimination and remove barriers to receiving care.

Meanwhile, the fight now shifts to the ballot box, with an initiative, Proposition 61, that would prevent state agencies from paying more for a drug than the price paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The initiative is sponsored by the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation and has been endorsed by former Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

But its support does not match that of the drug pricing bill. Some of the legislations backers, including the California Medical Assn. and the statewide union of construction workers, oppose the initiative. Others, such as the California Democratic Party and the California Labor Federation, did not take a position on Proposition 61.

People are looking at each policy differently, said Kathy Fairbanks, a spokeswoman for the No on Proposition 61 campaign. Prop. 61 still is bad policy. It was bad policy before today and it will be bad policy tomorrow.

Drug companies have invested heavily to defeat the measure. The opposition campaign had nearly $66 million on hand as of June 30, according to campaign finance filings. Supporters reported just over $7 million in the bank.

The measures proponents said they see voters frustration with climbing drug prices  and Sacramentos inability to address it  as working in their favor.

Californians desperately want their leaders to do something about outrageous drug price gouging, said Roger Salazar, spokesman for the initiative. This bill was strictly about transparency, but the drug lobby spent massively to kill it. Well, I believe the voters of California arent afraid of Big Pharma, and if the Legislature wont do it, theyll handle this problem themselves by voting yes on Prop. 61.

melanie.mason@latimes.com

sophia.bollag@latimes.com

Follow @melmason and @sophiabollag on Twitter for the latest on California politics.

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Its not every day you get to see a star go nova. Scientists at Warsaw University Observatory in Poland have managed to catch a binary star system both before and after its explosive flash.

The findings, described in the journal Nature, confirm a long-held theory about novae known as the hibernation hypothesis -- and could potentially help scientists better understand when such stellar outbursts occur.

Novae are typically caused by a gravitationally locked pair of stars, called a binary system, consisting of one white dwarf and a companion star. A white dwarf is an aging star that has already shed much of its mass, leaving behind a small but massive core. Like a gravitational vampire, the white dwarf siphons off material from its stellar companion -- and every so often, the system becomes so unstable that the white dwarf erupts, producing a cataclysmic explosion that causes it to flare brightly in the night sky.

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The most spectacular eruptions, with a ten-thousandfold increase in brightness, occur in classical novae and are caused by a thermonuclear runaway on the surface of the white dwarf, the study authors wrote. Such eruptions are thought to recur on time scales of ten thousand to a million years.

Such explosions might actually have seeded the universe with some elements and radioactive isotopes, such as lithium (which is used in battery manufacturing), said lead author Przemek Mroz, an astronomer at the observatory.

About 50 novae go off every year in the Milky Way, but only five to 10 are actually observed because most of them are shrouded by interstellar gas and dust, Mroz said in an email. The closest and brightest, however, can potentially be picked out with the naked eye.

But though novae can be seen once they go off, scientists dont often get the chance to study them in depth before they explode. Researchers have long had a theory about the cycle that causes these novae: When the mass transfer is low (less than a billionth of the suns mass per year), the accretion grows unstable; every so often, the white dwarf experiences what the authors called dwarf nova outbursts.

Dwarf nova outbursts occur when material from the accretion disk is dumped onto the stars surface, Mroz said; the dramatic classical nova event occurs on the surface of the white dwarf when there is enough gas to ignite thermonuclear reactions.

This is the first time [that] we observed a dwarf nova that transformed into a classical nova, Mroz said of his teams findings.

When the classical nova explosion finally occurs, it actually boosts the mass-transfer rate for centuries, keeping the system more stable until it dwindles and begins to approach the hibernation period, thus repeating the process. But scientists couldnt say what was really happening until the nova V1213 Cen flashed in 2009 and was caught by the universitys Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment.

How to track poverty from space 

This discovery would be impossible without long-term observations by the OGLE survey, Mroz wrote in an email. The survey started almost 25 years ago and for 20 years we have had a dedicated 1.3-meter telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. This is another case when OGLE data are crucial for studying unique, extremely rare phenomena.

The scientists had been observing V1213 Cen since 2003, giving them six years worth of data to analyze in the run-up to the big flash, and they continued to study it for years afterward.

Thanks to long-term pre- and post-eruption observations, we can trace the nova evolution very precisely and [compare] it with theoretical models, Mroz said. Our observations are consistent with the hibernation hypothesis predictions (but of course are NOT a definitive proof of this scenario).

Ultimately, these findings may better help researchers to understand the evolution of binary stars (and, because they produce at least some of the elements that populate the cosmos, provide some insight into the makeup of the universe).

For now, scientists continue to monitor the binary star. Mroz said he wants to make spectral observations of V1213 Cen in order to better understand the systems properties as well as conditions in the accretion disk around the white dwarf.

V1213 Cen is now slowly fading, the study authors wrote. What will be its fate? We can expect that the system will remain bright for a few decades and then it will again transform into a dwarf nova, following the hibernation theory predictions.

amina.khan@latimes.com

Follow @aminawrite on Twitter for more science news and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook.

ALSO

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UPDATES:

Aug. 19, 12:29 a.m.: This story was updated with additional information on dwarf novae and classical novae from the studys lead author, Przemek Mroz.

This article was originally published Aug. 18 at 2:35 p.m.
The nonprofit dedicated to preserving Crystal Cove State Park has a new leader.

Alix Hobbs of Newport Beach leaves as president and chief executive of Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay to step into the same role with the Crystal Cove Alliance, an organization charged with protecting the parks historic district, 3.2-mile coast, 2,400-acre backcountry habitat and 1,100-acre marine life refuge. The park extends into Laguna Beach as well as the Newport Beach community of Newport Coast.

But Hobbs hiring is especially noteworthy. She will become the first person to lead the alliance while also overseeing its subsidiary, Crystal Cove Management Co., said Laura Davick, Crystal Cove Alliance founder and vice president. The management company oversees cottage rentals and food concessions within the park.

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Hobbs steps into the role at a pivotal time in the long history of attempts to protect the 46 1920s-era, beachfront cottages, part of the Crystal Cove Historic District. Davick, in a news release, described the alliance as entering phase III of our signature restoration program, enabling [the alliance] to renovate the remaining 17 cottages deteriorating at the north end of our beach.

One leader over both entities made a lot of sense, so that people, as they visit Crystal Cove State Park, [understand] the work being done here, Davick said in a phone interview.

The alliance is seeking a coastal development permit for the work. Davick said California Coastal Commission staff told her a public hearing could be scheduled in two to three months.

The community of vintage cottages, considered the last intact example of a Southern California beach colony, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the alliances website.

In 1979, the land was sold to the state for preservation as a state park, and the cottage dwellers faced a 22-year countdown before they would have to go, the site says.

In 2001, the historic cottages were empty and the state awarded a private developer rights and a 60-year lease to turn them into a luxury resort, but Davick and others pushed back, proposing that the cottages remain intact and be used as overnight rentals and for educational purposes. From this effort, the Crystal Cove Alliance was born.

The alliances board selected Hobbs from a nationwide search that took 10 months and included dozens of highly qualified candidates, according to the news release.

She replaces Harry Helling, who became executive director of the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, part of UC San Diego, according to an alliance spokeswoman.

Hobbs spent 19 years with Heal the Bay, working her way up from a beach cleanup volunteer in 1993, according to the agencys website. Heal the Bay is an environmental nonprofit dedicated to protecting coastal waters and watersheds in the greater Los Angeles area.

I immediately fell in love with Crystal Cove the moment I stepped foot on the sandy shores and saw the potential of the outdoor classroom with a backdrop of the historic cottages, Hobbs said in the release. What has been created here is everything I have dedicated my life to, and I am thrilled to join this hardworking, visionary [alliance] team.

Hobbs professional background has primarily focused on environmental work in the nonprofit sector.

While with Heal the Bay, Hobbs advocated for successful passage of a statewide plastic-bag ban and helped create a program in the South Bay to educate anglers and the public about sharks, according to Heal the Bays website.

Passed in 2014, the plastic-bag ban has yet to take effect pending the outcome of a veto referendum backed by the plastics industry that qualified last year for the November ballot, the Los Angeles Times has reported.

Before her tenure at Heal the Bay, Hobbs, a Cal State Northridge graduate, led advocacy and policy campaigns aimed at protecting the Hudson River Valley with Scenic Hudson, based in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Alixs extensive knowledge, coupled with her dynamic leadership, will make her invaluable as together we realize our vision of preserving the wonders of Crystal Cove for future generations, Davick said in the release. Davick noted not only the work on the cottages but also the alliances rapidly expanding environmental science education programs.

Through a partnership between the alliance and California Department of Parks and Recreation, 29 of the beachfront cottages have been renovated and made available for overnight stays.

bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce
A Laguna Beach High School alumna will study in France this fall after receiving a prestigious honor that recognized her involvement in the Girl Scouts of Orange County, according to a news release.

Josie Goson, who graduated from Laguna Beach High in 2014, was selected from among 115 applicants nationwide for the Corinne Jeannine Schillings Foundation Award. The award is given to Girl Scouts who have achieved one of the highest honors  a Silver or Gold award.

The foundation, which supports female college undergraduates in the study of languages and cultures, provided a scholarship for Goson to study abroad. The monetary value of the award is $1,000, foundation officials said.

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Goson, a double major in marketing and French, will begin her junior year at Southern Methodist University in Dallas this fall.

My desire to study abroad and go out into the world around me ultimately was fostered in Girl Scouts, Goson said in the release. Girl Scouts instilled in me curiosity with a thirst for knowledge  knowledge of the world, its people, and its cultures.

I am so humbled to honor Corinne Jeannine Schillings in this semester abroad, paying respect to her memory, her passion for foreign languages, and her love for Girl Scouts.

Schillings, a Silver Award recipient, died in 2004 at the age of 26 after the water taxi she was riding in capsized during a storm off Fort McHenry in Baltimore, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Goson earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in Scouting, in 2014.

For her Gold Award project, Goson partnered with several nonprofits, including Costa Mesa-based SPIN: Serving People in Need, the Society of Orthodox Youth Organizations and Youth Equipped to Serve, on a homeless outreach project.

Volunteers crocheted mats to ease the discomfort of sleeping outside, the release said.

--

Bryce Alderton, bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce
More than 35,000 baby seals were killed in Canada last year for their fur, part of a deeply entrenched industry that has become the target of a new film.

Huntwatch, a full-length documentary narrated by film star Ryan Reynolds that will be featured at this years Newport Beach Film Festival, traces the last four decades of Canadas seal hunt, the largest commercial hunt for marine mammals in the world.

The filmmakers say they want to shed light on an issue that many think is a thing of the past.

A lot of people dont know that seal hunting still goes on, said producer Richard Moos. Its that lack of awareness thats allowed it to continue flying under the radar. The more people know, the more it will have an impact to at least get the Canadian people  and hopefully the politicians  to look at this again with 21st century eyes.

Canadas commercial seal hunt has been around for the last century, according to Moos, with hundreds of thousands of baby seals killed for their fur each year. Most of the animals are 3 weeks to 3 months old.

And while the market for this fur has been in decline  particularly after the European Union banned seal products in 2009  the Canadian government keeps the industry alive through subsidies.

What it boils down to is that no politician can get elected without supporting the seal hunt, said Moos. The subsidy actually has no payoff, and theyre spending a couple million dollars propping it up when they could be spending that money on something else. Imagine if America was still whaling for oil that nobody needs or wants.

These government subsidies are one of the big targets of Huntwatch. As producer Kerry Branon said: The reason the hunt continues is because of government subsidies.

Huntwatch relies heavily on the archival footage shot by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, a conservation group founded in 1969 to stop the commercial hunt of seal pups in Canada.

The earliest footage focuses on Brian Davies, one of the founders of the group.

His strategy was to bring media, press and camera people to document the hunt, and then he would reveal to the world how awful it was out there, said director Brant Backlund. He thought it would shut the hunt down because people would be outraged by what they saw.

But as animosity between hunters and activists grew, these techniques were no longer feasible. So footage from the 1990s, which focuses on IFAW activist A.J. Cady, relies on spy techniques and hidden cameras, according to Backlund.

These archival shots are woven together with present-day, high-definition footage of the hunt from helicopters and interviews with people on both sides of the issue, including sealers and pro-sealing politicians.

One of the major challenges in creating Huntwatch was figuring out what  and how much  to show.

It was a nonstop decision-making process of showing how bad it is but making it watchable, said Backlund, who noted that the filmmakers cut away from the most gruesome parts of the bludgeonings. What we tried to do is focus more on the characters involved in the story and also looking at the long-term battle: Why has IFAW been fighting for over 50 years, yet this is still going on? That was the story we focused on and the background is this brutality. We dont show the gratuitous awfulness, but no matter what, its incredibly emotional.

Its a hard story, added Moos. And you cant tell the story without going to the ice and seeing whats happening there. We want as many people as possible to see it, but we know its a tough sell.

But the filmmakers hope Huntwatch can create change in the same way that other animal welfare documentaries, such as The Cove, which exposed dolphin hunting in Japan, and Blackfish, which revealed the brutal treatment of orcas in captivity, have in recent years.

That would be the ultimate best thing that could happen, said Moos, that we could have something even close to the success that those two films had. This movie is the spiritual kin to Blackfish and The Cove, and we would be thrilled if we were somehow a small part in finally ending the Canadian commercial seal hunt.

*

IF YOU GO

What: Huntwatch

When: Saturday April 23 at 12 p.m.

Where: Island Cinema, 999 Newport Center Dr., Newport Beach

Cost: $15

Information: newportbeachfilmfest.com/event/huntwatch/

--

caitlin.kandil@latimes.com
When Newport Beach businessman Chris Welsh asked harbor commissioners in 2011 to consider mooring his colossal catamaran named Cheyenne, city officials thought it would remain in the harbor for a short time.

Welsh plans to use Cheyenne  a 125-foot-long, 60-foot-wide white vessel adorned with advertising logos including Google  to haul a submarine for deep-sea exploration across the globe. However, after more than four years of delays in repairing the sub, city Harbor Resources Manager Chris Miller and some harbor commissioners decided it is time to cut the boat loose.

At some point we needed to draw the line, Miller said.

Welsh was notified recently that his mooring permit would not be renewed, meaning that as of Aug. 31, Cheyenne would no longer have a place in the harbor.

Last week, Welsh appealed the decision to the city harbor department. He did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

The city will bring in a hearing officer who will decide whether to uphold the decision.

When Welsh first approached the city about keeping Cheyenne in the harbor, officials built a special mooring for the large vessel. Typically, the largest mooring in the harbor is for a 90-foot boat, Miller said.

At first the city didnt charge Welsh rent for the mooring, thinking he wouldnt be in the harbor often or for very long. However, in 2012, Welsh began paying an annual mooring fee after some boaters complained that he was receiving preferential treatment.

Welsh pays $572 per month for his spot in the harbor, according to city records.

It wasnt designed to be an indefinite moorage, Miller said. It was created to accommodate him.

Some residents whose homes overlook the mooring spot off the Balboa Peninsula have complained that Cheyenne has worn out its welcome.

Some residents have grown tired of looking at it, Miller said.

Welshs plans for the submarine on the boat are lofty by many adventurers standards, harbor commissioners said.

He hopes it will eventually dive to the deepest spots in Earths oceans, including the Pacifics Mariana Trench, the Atlantics Puerto Rico Trench, the Indian Oceans Diamantina Trench, the south Atlantics South Sandwich Trench and the Arctics Molloy Deep.

However, before the sub could attempt the dives, it needed repairs, some of which took longer than expected.

The biggest hiccup has involved the submarines dome, which cracked during pressure testing. Replacing the dome, which is expected to be finished in the next month, resulted in a delay of more than a year.

In response to the various setbacks, the Harbor Commission renewed Welshs permit several times. In November, commissioners asked him to update them on his progress every month.

His cause seems worthwhile, but we just didnt see any progress from one update to the next, Commissioner Duncan McIntosh said.

Commissioner Joe Stapleton suggested that the city give Welsh six more months to finish the repairs and start his journey.

"[Welsh] has put a lot of time and energy into this project, Stapleton said. Now were here at the finish line and we say its time to leave. Its disappointing.
The first craft-beer brewery in Glendale opened last week and started serving up pours of what began as homemade recipes.

Like many craft-beer operations in Southern California, Brewyard Beer Co. is situated in an industrial park warehouse that allows room for massive brewing equipment and a seating area for patrons.

At the helm are Sherwin Antonio and Kirk Nishikawa, friends since high school who started brewing out of Antonios garage in Mission Hills more than a decade ago.

Brewyards lineup specializes in hybrid lager ales, a blend of two of the most common beer styles. The approach calls for a lager yeast with a twist.

We ferment at a slightly higher temperature to achieve ale profiles with a crisp lager finish, Antonio said.

Behind the bar counter is a 10-handle tap system the owners hope to fully stock with their own recipes someday. For now, however, there are four original offerings: the Tropico Saison with passion fruit; the Split Shift India Pale Lager; the Soul Cal, a hoppy California Common; and Black Sunrise, a black lager.

In addition to pours, to-go growlers are also available.

Antonio said the Soul Cal is one of his first recipes.

I kept tweaking them and then pretty much transferred the beers from my home to Brewyard, he said.

In one corner of the brewery, located at 906 Western Ave., sit four, 500-gallon fermentation tanks with an adjacent seating area immediately nearby with wooden tables and board games.

Theres no kitchen, but customers can bring in food from restaurants.

The centerpiece decoration is a 1930s-era Ford flatbed truck restored by Nishikawa and Antonio, a hobby they developed back in high school.

The brewerys logo includes the trucks front grill.

We specifically chose that era because its right after prohibition, its this boom after prohibition, and good beer is back, Nishikawa said.

While the trucks engine and battery had to be removed for safety reasons, guests are welcome to make use of the flatbed by placing their beers on it, he added.

Craft-beer breweries started popping up in the area in recent years with Eagle Rock Brewing in Eagle Rock in 2010 followed by nearby Golden Road Brewing along San Fernando Road in Los Angeles, near the Glendale border.

Being the first one to set up shop within Glendale, the brewers hope more craft-beer establishments will start popping up locally, and the city will eventually develop its own craft-beer scene like those in San Diego or Torrance.

Craft breweries do better in clusters, Antonio said. Its not competition  theres a good amount of camaraderie between brewers.

--

Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com

Twitter: @ArinMikailian
Germany continues to top the export destination of Vietnamese coffee two years in a row since 2015.

Total coffee export during the first seven months of 2016 reached $2 billion and 1.13 million tons, marking a jump of 18 percent in value and 40 percent in volume.

Germany and the U.S. continue to the top export destinations of Vietnamese coffee two years in a row, accounting for 15.5 percent and 13 percent of the total share.

Exports to some markets including the Philippines, China, Algeria and Russia also saw a significant on-year rise in value over the first seven months of this year.

Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa) forecasts the output of Vietnamese coffee in the marketing year of 2016/17 would experience a downfall of up to 25 percent on-year due to the historic drought that ravaged Vietnam's central highlands earlier this year. At the same time, the amount of in-stock coffee may drop 10 percentage points compared to the same period of last year.

The domestic coffee market in July saw an unexpected 12.5 percent surge in the price of the green beans to VND900 ($0.04) per kilogram. Vicofa has blamed the drop in supply on this price hike.

Last year, Vietnam, the world's third largest coffee exporter gained $2.4 billion from exports of green beans, roasted and ground, and instant coffee, data from General Department of Vietnam Customs showed. Vietnamese coffee was exported to 80 markets worldwide last year, with the top destination Germany importing $360 million of coffee, accounting for 13.4 percent of the sectors total export revenue.

Related news:

> Vietnam to see largest drop in rice output in 3 years

> 'Vietnam's Coffee King' loses control in company to wife
Glendale school officials appear to have narrowed in on the map they are expected to adopt this month, and it is the last of eight maps they have considered.

Their preferred map, called G2, is a slight deviation from the G map that school board members were leaning toward adopting during their last meeting on April 19.

NEWSLETTER: Stay up to date with whats going on in the 818 >>

Doug Johnson, a demographer and president of National Demographics Corp., presented the G2" map during Tuesdays school board meeting, where it was received positively by the school board.

It seems like a fair way to move forward, school board member Nayiri Nahabedian said.

The biggest change places Fremont Elementary into the first and northernmost district, a change that was welcomed by school board President Armina Gharpetian, who wanted all of Crescenta Valley Highs feeder schools located in the same district.

The southwest border of the second district was also moved from Jackson Street to Louise Street.

The board is expected to vote on a resolution to adopt the map during its meeting on May 24.

Johnson also asked board members if they would be open to naming the five districts, A, B, C, D and E, instead of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, so as not to confuse residents with Glendale Community Colleges voting districts, which are labeled numerically.

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"[Im] happy with the letters, as long as district 1 gets to be A, school board member Jennifer Freemon, who lives in that district, said jokingly.

Im an A student, she added, bringing laughter from other board members.

School board member Christine Walters said she likes the idea of the voting districts being labeled by letters, and that the G2 map, for the most part, follows schools attendance boundaries.

The school districts switch from an at-large voting system to a district-based one began earlier this year, the result of a lawsuit settlement stemming from a case in which the district was sued for allegedly violating the California Voting Rights Act.

The school district was sued by Malibu attorney Kevin Shenkman, who filed the lawsuit 10 days after Glendale voters rejected a measure in April 2015 that would have paved the way for district officials to adopt voting districts on their own. Currently, the at-large system is required under the city charter.

Without the ability for school officials to create a district-based system, it took legal action and a settlement to move the change forward.

--

Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @kellymcorrigan

--

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Racial slurs by law enforcement are a legacy thats becoming more unacceptable
Siblings Minh and Loan Nguyen had longed to break into the thriving dessert market in Orange County and even knew what they wanted to serve: churros.

But how does one put a unique spin on a tried-and-true concept  the ubiquitous slender, deep-fried pastry?

For them, the answer was even more sugar and spice and everything nice. (Think cookies, cereal and ice cream.)

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The Fountain Valley siblings teamed up with friend and marketer Jed Cartojano to open the Loop Handcrafted Churros in Westminsters Little Saigon in June.

The dessert scene in Orange County is just insane, said Cartojano, 32, of Westminster. It was all about figuring out what we needed to do to Americanize something as common as a churro and make it more unique. Right now, a lot of food places are all about customization.

He also added that many churros are sold out of carts, and he believes this is one of the first times a brick-and-mortar, churro-focused shop has opened, at least in Orange County.

Minh Nguyen, 26, said churros have been gaining popularity in Asian countries like South Korea and Singapore, which also inspired him and his sister to open the Loop.

The churros, which are about 14 inches long and shaped in loops, can be dipped in flavors like caramel, strawberry, matcha or Nutella for $3.50.

They can also be coated with a sweet glaze and topped with foods like almonds, crushed Oreos and Fruity Pebbles cereal for $4.50.

For those with an even bigger sweet tooth, they can add vanilla soft serve to the mix. So far, that combination, which costs $5.50, has been the most popular on the menu because of the summer heat, said Minh Nguyen.

We wanted it to be customizable so people who liked their churros sweeter can have it that way, and if people dont like them as sweet, they can also order them like that, said Loan Nguyen, 32.

Jasmine iced tea, Thai tea and coffee are also sold.

Lines out the door are typical, especially at night, Cartojano said. The shop at 9729 Bolsa Ave. is open until 11 p.m. or midnight, depending on the night of the week.

In Orange County, late-night dessert is where its at, but we are usually always pretty busy, Cartojano said.

Sometimes the wait can be up to an hour  like waiting for a ride at Disneyland, but its worth it, he added.

The churros are made fresh around the clock, which also helps get the cinnamon and sugar to stick.

First comes the dough, made without eggs for a crunchier outside texture. Then its prepped for about 30 minutes before getting fried for three minutes.

Cartojano said it was also key to create food that not only tasted good but was also attractive to the eyes and camera.

Its just the nature of where things are going right now, said Cartojano, who runs the Instagram account @dailyfoodfeed, which has more than 318,000 followers.

It was definitely important for us to make sure this product was good. Theres only so much you can do with something that Instagram-able and not good, and something thats actually of value.

brittany.woolsey@latimes.com

Twitter: @BrittanyWoolsey
Aug. 10

Burglary, vehicle, and theft by access card: 5500 block of Godbey Drive. A woman reported that she parked her car in a lot at La Canada Flintridge Country Club at about 2:30 p.m. She and her husband got out of the car and locked it remotely with the key fob.

At approximately 3:05 p.m., the clubhouse manager advised her that someone had shattered the rear window on the drivers side of her car. She went to the vehicle and could see that her purse, which shed left on the floorboard of the rear passenger area, was gone. In it had been her wallet with drivers license, a Nordstrom debit and credit card, an American Express card, a Target credit and debit card, a Bank of America debit card, a makeup bag and her two daughters U.S. passports.

She reported that she received text messages from American Express and Bank of America alerting her that her cards were being used at different locations and seeking verification. She placed holds on all her bank accounts and said she would be placing a fraud alert on her name.

Theft by false pretense: 1400 block of Descanso Drive. A man reported that in March a man with an Indian accent called him on his cellphone, said he worked for Microsoft and that theyd noticed the victim had Internet problems. The caller told the victim that in order to fix the issues, he needed to pay them an amount not specified in the police report.

The victim said he provided the caller with credit card information and was immediately billed for the transaction. Then, this month, a male with an Indian accent, also claiming to work for Microsoft, called the victims cellphone and told him he was due to receive a refund because Microsoft servers were shutting down. The victim reported that the caller somehow started controlling the victims computer remotely and placed an amount not specified in the crime report into the victims Wells Fargo checking account.

He then instructed the victim to go to his bank, withdraw funds from it, and place a specified amount onto several iTunes gift cards. The victim stated he purchased a total of seven iTunes gift cards through PayPal. The victim was further instructed to read the serial numbers off each gift card to the man with the Indian accent.

Later, the victim received a call from an unknown man who stated he worked for PayPal and that theyd noticed the purchase of numerous gift cards for high amounts and that this might be a scam if he was sending them to someone else. He was further advised that they would try to reject the money transfer involved.

The victim received another phone call, this time from the man with the Indian accent, seeking another exchange. It is unclear from the crime report what the outcome of that conversation was. But the victim told the deputy taking the report that his account at Wells Fargo had been closed and a new one opened.

The incidents generated a suspected elder abuse report. The deputy contacted the Pasadena office of Adult Protective Services and was told a social worker was assigned to the case for follow-up.

Aug. 12

Burglary, residential: 4000 block of Dover Road. A woman reported that she and her daughter left their home at 1:45 p.m. When they returned about two hours later, they entered through the front door and noticed that a hallway door that is always kept closed was open. The woman then walked into the family room and saw that a rear glass door was shattered. She yelled at her daughter to get out of the house. They both went out to the street and called for assistance.

Two deputies arrived and swept the area, but no suspects were found. The home office and bedrooms had been rummaged through and the master bedroom closet was ransacked. Immediately identified as missing were some Olympic pennants, an unknown quantity of costume jewelry and an unknown amount of collectible coins.

Burglary, residential: 700 block of Flintridge Avenue. A woman reported that when she left her home at about 10:30 a.m., she left a rear sliding glass door open so her two dogs could go in and out. When she returned at about 3:55 p.m., she noticed a gate was open at the property that she had left closed. She entered her backyard through the gate. She observed that the sliding glass door was still open and, through the window, she could see her dogs sitting in the living room. She could also see from outside that the master bedroom door, which she had left open, was shut.

She then walked around her property and peered into the master bedroom from a window and could see it had been ransacked. She entered the bedroom through an unlocked exterior door that is usually kept locked with a deadbolt.

A pillowcase was gone from her bed and she could see that the contents of two drawers of her vanity had been stolen. Gone were a 20-inch Mikimoto pearl necklace thats about 90 years old and a 16- to 18-inch pearl necklace thats about 40 years old. Also missing were various pieces of gold jewelry. After taking her report, a deputy learned that the Glendale Police Department had arrested three male black suspects who had been in a red SUV, on suspicion of a residential burglary that occurred nearby at about 1 p.m., in the 3500 block of East Chevy Chase Drive.

Aug. 13

Identity theft. 4000 block of Alta Vista Drive. A woman reported that, beginning on June 16 and continuing into early August, she and her husband had both received multiple notices of someone trying to open credit card accounts using their names  and, in some cases, making purchases on the fraudulent accounts. Both victims contacted the three major credit reporting agencies and placed a 90-day fraud alert on their accounts. The couple have changed their mailbox and now have a locked door on it.

Grand theft from vehicle: 5400 block of Ocean View Boulevard. A man reported that two rear passenger seats had been taken from his 2007 Cadillac Escalade SLT. He said he left town to go on a business trip on Aug. 11. At 12:36 a.m. on Aug. 12, he received a text alert from his surveillance system alerting him that a camera mounted at his garage door had been disconnected. He didnt think anything of it at the time. On Aug. 13, back in town, he and his family went to the L.A. Zoo. When he went to the rear of the SUV to pull out his daughters stroller, he could see that the two seats were missing. He asked his wife about it and, although she had driven the SUV on Aug. 12, she didnt notice at the time that the seats were gone. He reviewed his surveillance system and it showed that an unseen person disconnected the camera to the garage at 12:36 a.m. Aug. 12 and it was reconnected at 1:15 a.m. the same day.

Aug. 14

Grand theft from vehicle: 4000 block of Dover Road. A male reported that he arrived at the address at about 9 p.m. to hang out with friends. He parked his car at the curb. When he returned to it at 11:30 p.m., he realized someone had taken his black, Nike dual-strap backpack containing an Apple MacPro 13-inch silver laptop.
The transition away from home has many steps, some of them larger than others. Each step is intertwined with a brief return home. It seems to me that we prepare to leave as soon as we learn to walk.

It is, of course, a rite of passage. Every positive change  every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness  involves a rite of passage. Each time, in order to ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation.

Going away to college is such a transition. It kind of sneaks up on the parents of kids heading off for higher education. I can picture Simone walking down La Canada Boulevard holding her mothers hand, the two of them heading to Simones first day of school at La Canada Elementary. And, now, within the blink of an eye, her destination is the University of Texas at Austin.

I cant believe its actually happening. Simone is leaving for college. Shouldnt there be some sort of ritual? In Iron John: A Book about Men, Robert Bly writes about certain primitive tribes in the heart of Borneo where thered be some incredible four-day rites of passage ceremony involving tattooing and potent hallucinogenic drugs extracted from tree frogs, and village elders smearing ones body with iguana blood. But here, the rite of passage into college is all about 10 trips to Bed Bath & Beyond. Does anybody actually know the metaphor for Beyond?

Philosopher and mythologist Joseph Campbell defines a quest of any kind as a heroic journey. He explains that such a transition is fraught with challenge, the conduit toward higher ground. To me, the higher grounds of life are defined as survivability.

For the past two months, Kaitzer has been preparing Simone for college. They have compiled enough of everything to account for every eventuality. When I left for college in August 65, I carried one suitcase and a Smith Corona typewriter. I had one dress white shirt, which I still have today. Regardless, I was swept away. To this day, I remember my joys, my sorrows, my griefs. I remember the excitement of the unknown. It was as if my departure was nothing Id known. However, as I continued my journey through a myriad of experiences that would last forever, I had no idea of what the future held. And in my case, it was best I didnt know. Regardless, those moments of leaving home were a powerful time of life. My childhood was done.

D-Day was Aug. 12. We would split our forces and I would drive Simone to Austin while Kaitzer would fly with our older daughter, Sabine, to the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and personally clean the Venetian blinds in Sabines room. Kaitzer would then join me in Austin and slip on her hermetically sealed suit so she could sanitize, Simonize and pasteurize Simones dormitory room. I assume she didnt have confidence that I was up for that task. Kaitzer must not have read the memo that germs build your immune system.

I cant believe Kaitzer was trusting me to drive the almost 1,400 miles to the University of Texas. College is an adventure but we would have our own adventure getting to Austin. Read me next week and Ill give you the Readers Digest version of our trip, which we dubbed Austin or bust.

--

JOE PUGLIA is a practicing counselor, a retired professor of education and a former officer in the Marines. Reach him at doctorjoe@ymail.com. Visit his website at doctorjoe.us.
Cuba Unbound has something new to offer travelers heading to Cuba: kayaking and walking tours on the wild, east end of the island. People-to-people trips start in November for an experience that organizers describe as a little more raw than the usual island-nation visit.

Cuba Unbound is an affiliate of Idaho-based ROW Adventures started almost four decades ago by Peter Grubb. Grubb says the new 11-day outings will be the first-ever kayak and walking tour of eastern Cuba.

The itinerary takes participants from Holguin to Santiago de Cuba, Mayari to Cayo Saetia  which Grubb calls a surreal African-like safari island where zebras and buffaloes live  and Baracoa. Sea kayaking and exploring on foot provide an intimate way to see the natural side of the country.

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Its a chance for travelers to dig deeper into its history of rebellion and repression, and get a deeper look of authentic Cuba, according to Grubb. We also offer an extension to Havana at the end of the tour for those looking for a little more exploration of Cuban culture.

Trips are scheduled from November and through April.

Tours start at $3,590 per person. It includes tour leader and activity guides; equipment for biking, hiking and kayaking; meals and lodgings; ground transportation and other items. International and intra-island flights are not included.

Info: Cuba Unbound, (800) 624-0482

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Few issues have so inflamed passions in France this summer as the decision by a handful of mayors to bar burkini swimsuits from their cites beaches.

To officials from across the political spectrum who support the bans, the full-body, head-covering suits are a symbol of Islamist extremism and an affront to French values of equality and secularism.

To many Muslim women, however, the bans are themselves discriminatory and a reactionary response to terrorism that could deepen rifts within French society.

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France already prohibits the wearing of face-covering veils anywhere in public and head scarves in state schools, both seen as ways to oppress women and at odds with laws aiming to keep religious attire out of public life.

The bans have alienated many among Frances 5 million Muslims and have been used by violent extremists as a justification for attacking the country.

The controversy over the burkini erupted as France was reeling from deadly assaults in the French Riviera city of Nice and on a Roman Catholic church in the north of the country, part of a series of attacks that have made some people wary of public places.

Here are excerpts from the debate that has been playing out in increasingly strident terms in the French media.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls leaves the Elysee Palace after a security meeting on Aug. 17, 2016. (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images )

The beaches, like any public space, must be preserved from religious demands, the Socialist Party prime minister said in an interview published this week in La Provence newspaper.

There is the idea that, by their nature, women are immodest, impure, that they should therefore be completely covered. It is not compatible with the values of France and the republic. Faced with provocations, the republic must defend itself.

Abdallah Zekri, president of the National Observatory Against Islamaphobia

Abdallah Zekri, president of the National Observatory Against Islamaphobia, at a news conference at the Interior Ministry in Paris on Aug. 1, 2016. (Jacques Demarthon / AFP / Getty Images )

Do 10 or 12 people wearing a burkini endanger the republic? I dont believe it at all, Zekri told BFMTV.

This is not extremism. This is not Salafism. It is a choice made by women, he said. These women wear it freely, some of them to preserve their modesty, others out of religious conviction.

David Lisnard, mayor of Cannes

I have neither the time nor the wish to argue, said the conservative mayor, who signed a decree in effect until the end of August denying access to the citys beaches to anyone whose attire does not respect good morals and secularism or rules of hygiene and security.

I issued this order among many others to ensure the safety of my city in the context of a state of emergency, he told Nice-Matin newspaper. We are not prohibiting the veil, nor the kippah, nor the cross. I am only prohibiting a uniform that is the symbol of Islamist extremism.

Sarah, a mother of three from France who bought her first burkini while on vacation in Morocco

A burkini on display at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Mohd Rasfan / AFP / Getty Images )

My youngest is 2 years old. She refused to go into the water with her father or her brother and called for me incessantly, the woman identified by only one name told the 20 minutes daily.

One day in the street, I saw a shop that sold burkinis. I thought it would be a good idea, so that I can teach her to swim and have fun with her in the water.

Laurence Rossignol, minister for womens rights

The burkini is not some new line of swimwear, the Socialist Party minister told Le Parisien newspaper.

It is the beach version of the burqa, as it has the same logic:  hide womens bodies in order to better control them. Behind this is a profoundly archaic view of a womans place in society.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front

Marine Le Pen, leader of Frances far-right National Front, at a news conference in Vienna in June. (Ronald Zak / Associated Press )

It is the soul of France that is in question, Le Pen wrote in a blog post.

France does not confine a womans body. France does not hide half of its population under the false and odious pretext that the other half would be afraid of temptation.

Feiza Ben Mohamed, spokeswoman for the Southern Federation of Muslims

Muslims and Christians attend a Mass in tribute to slain French priest Jacques Hamel at the Rouen cathedral on July 31, 2016. (Charly Triballeau / AFP / Getty Images )

Yet again its ordinary Muslims who pay for the actions of terrorists, even though they had nothing to do with it, Ben Mohamed told the Local, an English-language daily in France.

This is exactly what Daesh want, she said, using an Arabic acronym for the extremist group Islamic State. They are trying to recruit young people in France, and they will be saying to them, Look, France stigmatizes Muslims. Look, France wont let you wear the veil.

alexandra.zavis@latimes.com

Twitter: @alexzavis

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Russias use of an Iranian air base to bomb rebel targets across Syria for the first time this week has allowed Moscow to show off sophisticated weaponry as it seeks to cement ties with Tehran and expand its influence in the Middle East.

While the tactical effect was unclear, Russian President Vladimir Putin got the public relations bang he presumably sought when Moscow-issued photos of a sleek Tu-22 bomber dropping a string of bombs appeared on news sites around the globe.

The episode thus is similar to Russias first launch of salvos of cruise missiles from warships and a submarine last fall, a dramatic attack that reportedly did limited damage to Syrian opposition forces but drew huge headlines.

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For now, its unclear whether the long-range bomber attacks  like the cruise missiles  were meant mostly as a show of force or are part of a new strategic boost for Syrian President Bashar Assads forces in the multi-sided civil war.

On Thursday, U.S. officials said satellite imagery showed four Russian Su-34 fighter jets parked by the flight line at Nojeh air base in western Iran, a day after they had conducted airstrikes in Syria.

Long-range Tu-22 bombers had launched the new air offensive with bombing runs Tuesday from Nojeh before flying back to a Russian base. Under an agreement to deconflict flights over Syria, Russian authorities had notified the American military in advance, U.S. officials said.

The Iranian base, far closer to Syria than bases in Russia, allowed the aircraft to carry less fuel and more munitions as they struck rebel forces and positions in Aleppo, Dair Alzour and Idlib provinces, Russian and Iranian officials said.

At a minimum, the shift this week suggests growing cooperation between Moscow and Tehran after last years international accord to block Iran from building nuclear weapons.

Russia already has lifted a long-standing ban on the sale of its powerful S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system to Tehran. Iranian officials have said major components of the system have been delivered.

The two nations already are the strongest backers of Assad in the five-year war against U.S.-backed militias, Arab-backed forces and Islamist militants.

Up until now, however, Russias military has relied on tanks, armored vehicles and aircraft stationed in Syria, not in Iran. Moscow has both an air and a naval base in Syria, its only foothold in the Middle East.

Russias use of the Iranian base shows the world that Moscows influence is growing, especially in the Shiite-led nations of the Middle East, said James Stavridis, a former NATO supreme commander who is dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

While not of significant tactical impact, this move has high symbolic strategic content, he said.

This move is a signal not only to the U.S. and NATO, but also to Saudi Arabia and the gulf states and other Sunni countries, he said. Russia is here to stay.

By allowing foreign troops on its soil for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution  and Russians for the first time since World War II  Iran may be seeking to show it can end its isolation with or without the United States, analysts said.

The move also may signal that Russia seeks to play a larger role in regional security, including in Iraq, said Dmitry Gorenburg, a Russian expert at CNA, a Washington think tank.

Still, the latest bombing may be mostly for show  and to test new weapons and tactics.

In November, for example, Moscow inexplicably sent two Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers on a 8,000-mile flight from northern Russia around the European continent to hit targets in Syria.

It also allows Russia to further expend stockpiles of Cold War-era gravity bombs as it upgrades to more modern satellite-guided weapons.

Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, told reporters that its still unclear whether Russias use of the Iranian base was a one off thing or the start of a new campaign.

Using the base on a regular basis probably would require new construction of ammunition bunkers and facilities for Russian support troops.

Toner said U.S. officials are examining whether Russias use of the Iranian base is a violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution that bans the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran without prior U.N. approval.

Moscow and Tehran were quick to dispute any violation, arguing that the Russian aircraft were not used within Iran. Irans government also denied that it had given any basing rights to Russia.

These aircraft are being used by Russias air force with Irans agreement as a part of an anti-terrorist operation at the request of Syrias leadership, Russias foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said at a news conference in Moscow.

There are potential risks for Iran in cozying up to Russia.

With the lifting of economic sanctions on Iran thanks to the nuclear deal, and the return of billions of dollars from frozen accounts, moderate Iranian leaders had indicated they were eager to return to the international fold and pursue business deals with the West.

European countries, already wary of Putins use of the military to seize parts of Ukraine and to threaten parts of Eastern Europe, may be wary of embracing an Islamic Republic that is increasingly linked to Moscow.

william.hennigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @wjhenn

tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com

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Once again, the haunting image of a little boy has become an emblem of Syrias wartime suffering.

But amid a worldwide outpouring of grief and outrage at the sight of Omran Daqneesh  a small, silent, solitary figure, seated bloodied and dazed in the back of an ambulance in his ravaged hometown of Aleppo  the fighting ground steadily onward, spurring even a polished veteran diplomat to rail in despair over stalled humanitarian efforts.

The video of Omran, taken just after he was plucked from the rubble of his family home in Aleppos Qaterji district in the aftermath of an apparent airstrike, ricocheted across social media and news sites Thursday after being posted online by activists the night before. Sooty and dust-covered, the little boy doesnt cry; not even a whimper escapes him. He just stares straight ahead, his small face blank with shock.

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For many who saw the video and still photos online, the sight brought to mind the image that circulated nearly a year ago of a Syrian toddler whose tiny drowned corpse washed up on a Turkish beach  3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, one small casualty of the enormous exodus driven by the savagery of the countrys multi-sided conflict.

As then, the little boys back story took time to emerge, with some details still unclear. Medical officials and activists identified Omran by name and put his age at either 4 or 5, although the photographer-activist who captured the scene said the last name Daqneesh was a pseudonym to protect the familys privacy.

Shocking images of suffering are documented daily and hourly in Syria, including many of injured children such as Omran, but it was not hard to see why this one captured worldwide attention. In the video, the barefoot boy is clad in shorts and a cartoon-emblazoned T-shirt  just like any kindergartner anywhere on a hot summers evening  lending the chaotic events an incongruous touch of childhood familiarity, right down to his slightly pigeon-toed pose.

As elsewhere in Syria, the children of Aleppo often bear the brunt of the violence, deprived of schooling, malnourished, dying of preventable diseases, vulnerable to constant bombardment. To many online commenters, Omran became a symbol of this childrens war: the boy in the ambulance.

In the video, he is first seen being handed off from one rescuer to another as first responders rushed to the darkened scene. As the camera follows him, a rescuer in a yellow vest places Omran inside a brightly lighted ambulance, settling him carefully upright in a bright-orange seat before hurrying off to help more wounded.

In the adult-sized seat, the child looks smaller than ever, little legs sticking straight out in front of him, barely extending to the edge of the cushion. Silently, he reaches up to touch his mop of tousled hair and his wounded face, then seems puzzled over what to do with his hand, which comes away covered with ash and blood. Uncertainly, he wipes it on the seat.

When I first saw Omran, before he was taken to the ambulance, I started crying, said the photographer, Mahmoud Raslan. Omrans three siblings, ranging in age from 1 to 11, were also rescued from the rubble, along with his parents, he said, but the structure collapsed soon after they were extricated from the ruins.

I just started shouting at the rescue workers, Help the boy, help the boy! My voice was choking up, Raslan recounted in a phone interview. Medical officials said Omran and his family were treated for their injuries and released from the hospital within hours, although they had no home to go to.

Even amid the ravages of Syrias five-year conflict, the plight of Aleppo stands out. In the northern city that was once Syrias commercial capital and a cultural jewel, fighting has raged in recent weeks between government forces and rebels, each of which controls parts of the city.

Trapped civilians are enduring hunger, power cutoffs and airstrikes by Russian-backed government forces, and medical care is harder and harder to come by. In the citys opposition-held areas, at least two dozen medical facilities have been hit by government airstrikes, according to United Nations investigators, prompting medical and rescue personnel to use code names for hospitals in radio communications.

In Geneva, the U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, cut short a meeting Thursday of a humanitarian task force chaired by Russia and the United States with the aim of deescalating the violence to allow aid deliveries. De Mistura declared that there was no sense in more talk as the transport of desperately needed supplies was delayed yet again.

Tomorrow is World Humanitarian Day, and in Syria what we are hearing and seeing is only fighting, offensives, counteroffensives, rockets, barrel bombs, mortars, Hellfire cannons, napalm, chlorine, snipers, airstrikes, suicide bombers, the longtime diplomat, who came out of semi-retirement to take up the Syria envoy post, told reporters.

Not one single humanitarian convoy has so far reached any of the besieged areas this month  not one single convoy, and why? De Mistura continued, looking and sounding uncharacteristically agitated. Because of one thing: fighting.

Later, Russias Defense Ministry said it was prepared to introduce a humanitarian pause in the bombardment of rebel-held areas of Aleppo next week to allow aid to get through. De Mistura said the U.N. would count on Russia to ensure that Syrian government forces abided by the envisioned 48-hour pause.

In the Arab world, social media users started a hashtag campaign called #Omran_From_Under_the_Rubble, which galvanized some angry denunciations of the worlds indifference to the Syrian conflict and its consequences. One widely shared image showed the childs picture digitally added to a shot of President Obama conferring with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Other commenters, though, focused on the simple sorrow of the scene of a child bewildered and injured.

Here words die, posted Twitter user Al-Shumari, and ones tongue is tied.

Special correspondent Bulos reported from Amman and Times staff writer King from Washington.

laura.king@latimes.com

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UPDATES:

1:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional background and details.

7:23 a.m.: This article was updated with comment from the photographer and reactions to the images on social media.

This article was originally published at 6:50 a.m.
Two men squatted before a freshly dug stretch of earth in a public cemetery here as traffic buzzed by on the adjacent highway.

They had just buried their 18-year-old brother, Seyyed Zia Hoseyni. His photograph poked out of a bundle of flowers.

Hoseyni joined hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Afghans who were killed in Syria after enlisting in Irans effort to bolster the embattled forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Nearly all are from Afghanistans Hazara minority. As Shiite Muslims, they fled to Iran in hopes that it would be more hospitable than Afghanistan, where they faced religious persecution and the economic hardships of a country racked by war and terrorism.

But they wound up embroiled in another war. The Iranian government has relied heavily on the Afghan immigrants, sending them to battle in greater numbers than it does Iranians in the Revolutionary Guard.

Hazara fighters can be found on the cobblestone walkways of the famed old quarter of Damascus. Busloads of them were visiting the shrine of Ruqayya, a Shiite holy site, while a reporter was there last year. The majority were on their way to heavy clashes in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Many Hazaras have few options but to enlist. Those caught sneaking across the Afghan-Iranian border are often presented with a stark choice: Go to jail and face deportation, or fight in Syria for a few months and gain legal residence in Iran.

Other Hazaras, drawn by the pay or their religious and political beliefs, join the Fatemiyoun Division, an all-Afghan Shiite militia named for the prophet Muhammads youngest daughter and trained by the Revolutionary Guard.

Some of its original members are veterans of Afghanistans brutal war against the Soviet occupation during the 1980s or Irans war against Iraq that same decade. Iranian news outlets say it has grown to 20,000 men.

The presence of the Fatemiyoun Division in Syria conveys the message that geographical borders do not exist for the fighters of this unit, who assist whenever Shiite Muslims  are endangered  be it in Syria or Iraq, the news agency Tasnim reported in June.

Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, a 23-year-old Hazara fighter. (Ramin Mostaghim / For The Times) (Ramin Mostaghim / For The Times )

Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, a 23-year-old Hazara who never learned to read and had been working as a construction worker, said he joined the unit last year.

Once he signed on, he learned how to fire Kalashnikov rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and other light weapons. The training lasted 25 days and was conducted at the Martyr Pazouki military base in the city of Qom, he said.

Shepherded by an officer from the Revolutionary Guard, he and 15 other Afghans flew from Tehrans Imam Khomeini Airport to Damascus, the Syrian capital. From there they headed to the ancient city of Palmyra, which was captured by Islamic State militants last year.

Mohammadi said he was part of a major offensive by pro-government forces, backed by Russian air power, that took back the city in March. He stayed in Syria for 54 days.

Back in Tehran on leave, he said he was counting the days to go back to the battlefield and missed his fellow combatants there.

As a laborer, Mohammadi earned roughly $600 every two months. As a soldier in Syria, he made more than double that  about $1,500 for his deployment. He sent his pay to his sister and five brothers in central Afghanistan.

Some of the fighters have criminal records and are paid only a subsistence wage, several sources said. Those with better education or prior training can receive as much as $800 a month.

Mohammad Gholami, a worker in a shoe factory in Qom who is also studying law, said his cousin has earned good money fighting in Syria. He was recruited early this year in the eastern city of Mashhad.

Because he had been already in Afghan army, he didnt need training, Gholami said. He said he has no desire to join the war and hopes to eventually return to Afghanistan to help my own people.

For many fighters, money is only part of the motivation to join the war effort. Another is religious fervor, a sense of taking part in a cataclysmic battle against Sunni Muslim extremists and defending Shiite holy sites in Syria.

Hazara fight in Syria to defend the shrines of Sayyida Zainab and Ruqayya, said Mohammad Amiri, a 45-year-old Afghan cleric living in Qom.

Sayyida Zainab, a mausoleum of blue tile, gold and mirrors 10 miles from downtown Damascus, is a frequent target of Islamic State militants and other Sunni insurgents, who view Shiites as apostates who must be killed.

We dont care about Bashar al-Assads regime, Amiri said. We fight for the cause of the Shiites against Daesh  a derogatory Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

Their participation has exacerbated problems for the Hazaras back in Afghanistan, who make up roughly 10% of the population and have long been oppressed. Last month, suicide bombers attacked a Hazara protest in Kabul, the Afghan capital, killing more than 80 people. Islamic State claimed responsibility and said the operation was a response to Hazaras killing the Sunnis in the land of Syria.

In the Iranian media, both the Hazara and Iranians who die in Syria are revered as defenders of the holy shrines.

But some Hazaras feel marginalized in Iran. Iranians see the Hazara as cannon fodder, said Hassan, a 50-year-old sheik in Qom who refused to give his full name for fear of retribution by Iranian security forces.

The government, he said, feared the wrath of public opinion if Iranian fighters were killed in high numbers. If Iranians were captured, there would be pressure to release prisoners held by Iran in exchange.

If the Hazara are the Muslim Shiite brethren of Iranians, he said, then why are they the least important people in the devastating civil war in Syria?

Hazaras who are killed in battle are buried in segregated areas of Iranian cemeteries.

Back at the grave of Hoseyni, one of his brothers choked up as he explained that the family was still waiting for answers about how he was killed.

My parents are too sad to come and are mourning at home, he said. Ill stay with the grave.

Mostaghim and Bulos are special correspondents.

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The woman was selling babies as young as 10 days old.

China's Supreme Court handed down the death sentence to Hoang Thanh Hang on August 16 for masterminding a child trafficking network between Vietnam and China, the Vietnam News Agency quoted Xinhua News as saying.

Hoang Thanh Hang was sentenced to death by China's Supreme Court. Photo from Shanghaidaily

Hang testified that she was born in 1982, in the southernmost province of Ca Mau. She was deemed to be stateless at a previous trial held in Guangdong Province in 2014.

Realizing that many families in the city of Jieyang, Guangdong Province, wished to adopt babies, Hang started trafficking Vietnamese children to China in 2010. The 34-year-old even lured pregnant Vietnamese women to China and then sold their newborn babies to Chinese couples.

In 2011, Hang set up a network of child traffickers that involved six other people. In just a year, the group trafficked 20 children, both Vietnamese and Chinese, before being caught in July 2011.

At a court hearing in May 2014 held in Guangxi Province, Hang was sentenced to death for child trafficking, but she appealed.

China's Supreme Court has now upheld the original sentence and denied her appeal. Her accomplices were sentenced from 22 months to life imprisonment.

Chinese police rescued 10 babies at the time of Hangs arrest, the youngest of which was just 10 days old.

However, eight out of the 10 children who returned to Vietnam have yet to be reunited with their families, even though their cases have publicized through the media.

If their parents do not come forward, the children will be sent to foster homes based on Vietnamese law.
All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced.  19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc.
The Mekong Delta makes up 55.5 percent of the countrys annual rice output.

Shortage of floods has resulted in a hefty 50 percent decrease in sediment deposited in the Mekong Delta each year, causing Vietnams largest delta to face serious subsidence and likely disappearance in the future.

The Mekong Delta contributes half of Vietnam rice production, 70 percent of fruits and 69 percent of seafood, said the Southwest Steering Committee. However, the delta is losing its dominant role in agriculture as floods enter the region at a lower frequency.

Flood often takes its toll on peoples lives but it also brings many benefits like washing out salt and acid in soil, preventing disease and adding silt to the delta. Farmers will harvest a bumper winter-spring crop after heavy floods, said Le Van Banh, director of Department of Processing and Trade for Agro-forestry-Fisheries Products and Salt Production.

Floods often sweep the Mekong Delta from May to November but this year, theres been no sign of flood.

The incident is blamed for Chinas construction of hydropower projects on the upper Mekong River as well as the severe drought that hit the southern provinces from the end of last year.

Farmers from the Mekong Delta are harvesting rice. Photo by VnExpress/Cuu Long

Le Anh Tuan, deputy head of Climate Change Institute under Can Tho University said that the Mekong Delta was shaped 4,000-6,000 years ago thanks to silt accretion from the floods. Without floods, the delta will vanish in several hundred years, faster than its long process of formation.

The expert cited an example of Ca Mau, the southernmost province of Vietnam, one of 13 pieces forming the Mekong Delta.

He said that previously, the province encroached into the sea a few meters each year thanks to a high volume of sludge, sand and gravel flowing from the Mekong River upstream. Now, the case has been reversed when sea waters invade 15-50 meters into the mainland, washing out hundreds of hectares of protective forest.

Tuan even recalled the days Vietnam exploited and shipped sand to Singapore so that it could construct artificial islands, but now the mining has to stop as the delta cant add supplements from upstream.

As calculated by the Mekong River Commission, floods deposit an average of 160 million tons of silt to the delta each year. However, dams on the upper Mekong Delta have retained some 50 percent of the amount.

The situation will get even worse if other 11 dams of Laos and Cambodia come into operation, blocking 90 percent of sediment.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment estimated about 45 percent of Vietnams Mekong Delta will be affected by saltwater intrusion by 2030 if hydropower dams and reservoirs along the Mekong River stop water from flowing downstream.

Related news:

> Vietnamese farmers indignant as Mekong Delta prays for flood waters to arrive
August 18, 2016 | 02:21 am PT

He had already been fined $672 for his violent outburst.

Vietnam's Civil Aviation Administration on Thursday asked foreign and domestic carriers to declare a male passenger 'personna non grata' for six months for slapping an air hostess on a Vietnam Airlines flight last week.

The move came after the passenger, whose name was not revealed, had already been fined VND15 million (US$672) on Wednesday for the same attack.

On August 13, the man was sitting in the business class cabin on his way from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.

He called the victim flight attendant Chu Thi Tho over after failing to locate his iPhone 6 Plus.

Tho folded the passenger's table to look for the phone, but to no avail. The passenger then suddenly slapped her across the face. As she ran to the cabin, he was heard threatening the chief of the cabin staff.

He also shouted that he would take complete responsibility for the act.

The passenger later explained to authorities that when he woke up, his phone was not where he had left on the table after his meal. As the plane touched down, he used his spare phone to call the lost one, but it was switched off.

I thought Tho may have taken my phone, so I asked: 'If you took my phone, give it back,' but she said she didnt have it. I couldnt control myself and slapped her, he told authorities under questioning.

Twenty minutes later after all the passenger had disembarked, another attendant found the lost phone under his seat.

Cashing in on low fuel prices and budget airlines, the new Vietnamese middle class are flying in ever-greater numbers within Southeast Asia, the Financial Times reported in April. The number of Vietnamese who travel by air rose from 62.3 percent to 68.2 percent over the past three years, according to the newspaper.

Related news:

> Vietnamese man fined for assaulting flight attendant over lost cell phone
This is the second time the U.S Ambassador has visited a temple on the occasion. Last year, he went to Quan Su Pagoda - the headquarters of the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam.
Police raided the home and workplace of a Bethlehem man suspected of dealing drugs and allegedly seized methamphetamine, cocaine and various drug paraphernalia.

Bethlehem Police Department's Special Operations Vice Unit at 10:05 p.m. Wednesday saw James Peter Kranyecz, 53, of the 700 block of Linden Street, allegedly selling meth to a buyer at North and Center streets.

Police said they are withholding the name of the buyer due to safety reasons, but stopped the person and recovered the meth. Kranyecz was then pulled over on Eighth Avenue and Martins Lane and he was arrested.

Officers then raided Kranyecz's place of employment, in the first block of East North Street, and seized additional amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine, digital scales, packaging materials and other paraphernalia.

His Linden Street home also was searched with officers seizing more meth and drug paraphernalia, police said.

In total, police said they seized 50 grams of methamphetamine with a $5,000 street value; 12 grams of cocaine worth a $1,200 street value; 3.5 ounces of marijuana; and $612 in cash.

Kranyecz is charged with four counts possession with intent to deliver drugs and one count possession of drug paraphernalia. He was arraigned before District Judge Jacqueline Taschner, who set bail at 10 percent of $75,000.

In lieu of bail, Kranyecz was taken to Northampton County Prison.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Jeffrey Knoble was supposed to plead guilty to murder on Thursday.

The 26-year-old Easton man filled out extensive paperwork admitting that he killed Andrew "Beep" White.

Friends and family members of the late Andrew "Beep" White console themselves outside the Northampton County Courthouse on Aug. 18, 2016. Spencer Fuller is in the white shirt.

But when it came time to follow through in front of the judge, he taunted the victim's family.

"Your honor, I'd like to speak," he said. "I'm an innocent man. I was forced out of my will to take this plea. I'm a sovereign citizen and I demand to be released immediately."

Then he stuck out his tongue at the more than 20 people who came in support of White.

"Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha!" he yelled as the people in the gallery cried. Many of them wore T-shirts with White's image on them.

"He's in there laughing, like it's some kind of joke?" said White's cousin Spencer Fuller outside of the courthouse after the hearing. "I can't even (expletive) speak, man."

"We're going to have the last laugh," said Pat Gibson. She said White's sister is her niece. "It's just a game that he's playing. ... God is good."

Knoble allegedly killed White on March 11, 2015, at the Quality Inn in Downtown Easton. Knoble surrendered to police hours later after a standoff at 1318 Liberty St. in Easton's West Ward, according to police.

Pat Gibson is aunt of the sister of murder victim Andrew "Beep" White.

When Knoble said he was innocent, Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Terence Houck stormed out of the courtroom. Judge Emil Giordano tried to console family members as they filed out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am really sorry you had to put up with this. I regret you had to live with that. We'll dispose of this case appropriately," Giordano said.

The case is scheduled for trial Sept. 6. No hearings are scheduled between now and the trial.

Had Knoble pleaded guilty, prosecutors would have agreed not to pursue the death penalty against him. In exchange, Knoble would have served life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Thursday's courtroom antics are just the latest in a bizarre series of outbursts from Knoble. He has tried three times to fire his defense team, only to change his mind and agree to retain them.

He called the judge corrupt when he was arraigned in court last year.

The hearing was delayed when Public Defender Robert Eyer asked for a few moments to speak with Knoble in private and the lawyers met twice with the judge in his chambers.

Gibson said she had a bad feeling when Knoble walked into the courtroom.

"When he came in he had a smirk on his face. He's trying to make it out for a circus," Gibson said.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
An Easton homeowner lost use of his home due to "unfit" conditions and was arrested on drug charges Wednesday.

Perry J. Smolen (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

City police said they responded shortly after 10 a.m. to assist Easton Code Enforcement officers at 1117 Washington St. in the West Ward.

The half-a-double home had been placarded as closed, with use forbidden, under city ordinances for a structure unfit for human occupancy and unlawful structure.

Officials made contact at the scene with the homeowner, 35-year-old Perry J. Smolen, according to police.

Police assisting code officers located in plain view marijuana and drug paraphernalia, specifically in Smolen's bedroom, according to a news release from police.

Police later obtained and executed a search warrant, locating four bags containing a large quantity of marijuana in addition to multiple items of drug paraphernalia, the release states.

Smolen was taken into custody and faces charges of marijuana possession with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was awaiting arraignment, where bail would be set and a preliminary hearing scheduled, Wednesday evening.

The placard at the home ordered all tenants out by 4 p.m. Wednesday, but states they and Smolen may retrieve belongings between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. until Tuesday, Aug. 23.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A Bucks County woman is charged with illegally injecting race horses with a drug to enhance their performance at a track in the county, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office reports.

Marian Vega, 26, of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, is charged with injecting race horses with a performance-enhancing drug, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office reports. (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Marian Vega, 25, of Bensalem, was arraigned Wednesday morning before District Judge Joseph Falcone on one misdemeanor count of rigging a publicly exhibited contest, the attorney general's office said. She was released on $20,000 unsecured bail.

Vega gave the drug Clenbuterol to horses while she was employed as a groom by Parx Casino and Racing in Bensalem, the attorney general's office said. It aids horses with respiratory problems, but can make them run faster "when administered outside the permissible guidelines," the attorney general's office said.

"Testing on multiple horses confirmed the presence of Clenbuterol outside the permissible guidelines," authorities said.

Vega was seen administering the drug and was in a possession of a bottle of it during the probe, the attorney general's office said.

"People expect that horse racing not be fixed," said new Attorney General Bruce Castor Jr. in a news release. "The evidence here shakes people's confidence that equal horses compete on an 'even running field' in these events."

The attorney general's Organized Crime Section and Gaming Unit headed the investigation, which followed a probe by the state Horse Racing Commission.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
The move comes on the heels of a barrage of criticism on social media.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has issued an apology after his motorcade sailed down a pedestrian street in the well-preserved ancient town of Hoi An.

Prime Minister officially took responsibility at a meeting on Wednesday for letting his motorcade enter a banned street in Hoi An.

Phuc referred to himself in the third person in what appeared to be the first time in recent history a Vietnamese political leader has made a public apology.

The Prime Minister walked a few kilometers ahead [of the motorcade]. The Prime Minister did not notice [the vehicles were following him down the street]. However, the Prime Minister was to blame for this mistake, for not overseeing [those in charge of the motorcade], said Phuc.

He later extended apologies to the people and asked for public sympathy.

Last week in an attempt to boost the tourism industry, the PM paid a visit to the central coastal town of Hoi An, one of the countrys most popular destinations.

Criticism on social media went into overdrive shortly after pictures of the Prime Ministers motorcade vehicles along the narrow ancient street were posted online.

In less than 24 hours, these pictures had been shared thousands of times and spread across the internet.

Many people posted on Facebook, saying that it was politically insensitive and disrespectful to a World Heritage Site.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc talks with foreign travellers in Hoi An. Photo by Quang Hieu

A tourism official from the central province of Quang Nam told the press on Wednesday that it was due to a sudden change to the Prime Ministers schedule and poor coordination among government staff.

The street is too narrow for the motorcade to make a u-turn, said Nguyen Hong Quang, chief of office at Quang Nams Peoples Committee.

According to the senior official, local authorities should be to blame for the incident.

It is uncommon for political leaders to apologize to the public in Vietnam. However, this is starting to change under mounting pressure from social media.

Vietnamese people are more willing to express their opinions on social platforms like Facebook.

According to Internet World Stats, Facebook is currently accessed by close to 30 million people in Vietnam, meaning one in every three Vietnamese people sign in to the social platform at least once a month.

By 2018 the number of Facebook users in the country is forecast to reach about 40 million.

Vietnam, with a population of 93 million, is currently ranked 18th in the worlds top 20 countries in terms of the number of internet users. Vietnam has more than 49 million people surfing the internet.

Last year, leaders scrapped a plan to fell 6,700 trees in Hanoi after it sparked massive public outrage.

Such climb-downs are part of a broader pattern of political leaders taking public opinions on social issues into account.

This has proven the increasingly important role of social media when it comes to scrutinizing the government.
Last month, the 4-million-square-foot, eight-warehouse complex proposed in Phillipsburg's Commerce Park -- and the projected thousands of jobs and billions of dollars it is expected to generate -- was threatened by dirt, according to the developer.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection had said state rules on soil contaminants prohibited the developer's plan to truck in 600,000 cubic yards of fill material to raise an area 30 feet or more.

Developer Opus Investments, in turn, said that work was necessary to bring in a major tenant and that the denial could hold up the future of the project in years of litigation.

More recently, involved parties have said the situation is more amicable and the project has a path forward.

Erin Murphy, a principal with the Medford, N.J.-based Opus, described a recent meeting with the DEP as positive. Phillipsburg Mayor Stephen Ellis, who was also present at the Aug. 11 meeting, called it "productive."

"NJDEP has agreed to work with us on some issues that are absolutely necessary for the redevelopment to occur," Murphy said in an email. The state agency has agreed to consider an amended application for the soil fill and other issues. Informal meetings ahead of formal project submissions will help streamline the process, she said.

Ellis, who previously worked for the DEP in the state park service, said he is "very confident the remediation and redeveloperment will continue to move forward."

The Commerce Park property covers nearly 400 acres between Phillipsburg and Lopatcong Township, and once was home to Ingersoll Rand, the town's largest employer for decades.

When completed in 2021, the developement is projected to bring about 3,000 jobs, and produce $3.7 billion within Warren County over the next 10 years.

Exactly who is interested in the property is still the matter of some speculation. Murphy previously said the fill is needed to create a level area for an interested package company, though she declined to identify the business by name.

A WFMZ-TV report notes that two companies rumored to be interested, FedEx and Amazon, both have facilities in the works nearby in Pennsylvania.

"I will say this," Opus manager Dan Gural told the station, "we have had an extreme amount of interest from large-scale logistics companies."

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
The car company Ford is hoping vintage and class car fans in Laois and around the country can help in their search for the oldest model of one of its most popular brands.

First introduced in 1976, Ireland and Europes favourite small car, the Ford Fiesta is celebrating 40 years. As part of the cars 40 year celebrations, Ford in Ireland is hoping to uncover Irelands oldest Fiesta.

Launched in the same year as Apple Computers and supersonic passenger flights on Concorde, few could have predicted the Fiestas phenomenal success story.

The Fiesta has had such a unique and exceptional heritage in Ireland, commented Ciaran McMahon, Chairman and Managing Director of Ford in Ireland. It has been part of the family for countless households down through the years and is the car that most of us actually learned to drive in  experiences like that build a unique and strong affinity.

The Ford Fiesta has sold more than 17 million units around the world since its launch in 1976. In Ireland, some 180,000 Fiestas have been sold.

Back in 1976, the Fiesta went on sale for the price of 2,365 and as a quick flavour of how times have changed: your 1976 Fiesta came with options including a screw-off aerial. Todays Fiesta is geared towards the connected generation, with excellent connectivity to your smartphone and apps and replete with the latest voice control technologies.

In its search for Irelands oldest Fiesta, Ford is hoping that owners of early Fiestas will come forward and contact Downey's Autostop in Portlaoise or any local Ford Dealer.

The owner of Irelands oldest Fiesta and their car will be guests of honour at a special celebratory event for 40 years of Fiesta that will take place in late September.

For details of your nearest Ford Dealer go to ford.ie and also keep an eye on the Ford Ireland Facebook page for regular updates on Fiesta 40 activity.
Former Portlaoise-based councillor Alan Hand is among many adults who have succeeded in using the Leaving Cert to get back to education.

Adult learners celebrated their Leaving Cert results this week among them was Alan, a former Sinn Fein politician. He received his results alongside his 18-year-old daughter.

Mr Hand, who also worked as a Portlaoise traffic warden, was an early school-leaver and, after becoming unemployed in 2013, decided to return to education, aged 37, through the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme run by Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board.

Adults are not taking their situations lying down, they are upskilling, getting new qualifications and preparing themselves for future employment.

It is an extremely tough decision for young people at the age of 16 or 17 years old to decide what they would like to do with their future. Often teenagers slip through the net but, for those who missed the opportunity to access education the first time around, there are other options out there, said the Dublin native.

Congratulating adult learners receiving their Leaving Cert results, Niamh OReilly, CEO of AONTAS, said: In Ireland, 21 per cent of people aged 25 to 64 have never completed upper secondary-level education, so its not surprising that a high number return to education to complete the Leaving Cert each year.

For somebody who may have been out of formal education for a long time, or who has had negative educational experiences in the past, it is a huge step to return to learning and to participate in Leaving Cert exams.

For adults looking for further education and training options, the One Step Up website (onestepup.ie) details learning opportunities that are available in Ireland. Adults may also call the Freephone Helpline on 1800 303 669.
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

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If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .

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Human rights monitors and the international community have expressed concern at the recent sentencing of Chinese human rights defenders, whose professional activities were labeled by the government as subversion of state power.

In July 2015, over 300 human rights lawyers and activists were arrested, interrogated and detained in a nation-wide campaign against the legal community. One year later, more than 20 were still in custody. Recently, several of them, including attorney Wang Yu, appeared on video or in televised trials renouncing their past activities and confessing to being influenced by so-called foreign forces. Chinese authorities announced that Ms. Wang and her husband and fellow attorney Bao Longjun were released by authorities on bail, although questions remain concerning their whereabouts.

In early August, four of the rights defenders were convicted by a court in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin and given sentences ranging from a three-year suspended sentence to seven and a half years in prison. The four include attorney Zhou Shifeng, director of the Beijing Fengrui Law Firm, which was known for defending dissidents and religious minorities; Zhous associate Zhai Yanmin; and rights activists Hu Shigen and Gou Hongguo, who were associated with Christian house churches in China.

Human Rights Watch called the confessions of the four men coerced and their trials a miscarriage of justice. Amnesty International said, This wave of trials against lawyers and activists are a political charadeThe Chinese authorities appear intent on silencing anyone who raises legitimate questions about human rights and uses the legal system to seek redress.

Director of the U.S. State Departments Office of Press Relations Elizabeth Trudeau issued a statement calling the charge of subversion of state power against the four rights defenders apparently politically motivated. She noted that more than a dozen other attorneys and activists detained on and around July 9, 2015, including Li Heping, remain in pretrial detention without access to their families or to legal counsel of their own choosing.

The Chinese governments campaign against lawyers and rights activists undermines Chinas development of a judicial system that respects the rule of law, Ms. Trudeau said. We urge Chinese authorities to release the lawyers and rights defenders who are imprisoned or in detention, including those already sentenced. We call for an immediate end to the cases brought against them and to restrictions on their freedom of movement and professional activities.
SECURITY company Netwatch is warning of a spike in intruders and attempted criminal activity at warehousing and logistics companies in Limerick.

The company, which provides a live CCTV monitoring service, says that criminal activity at such premises accounted for almost a third (31%) of all incidents in Limerick last month.

Warehousing and logistics (companies) by their very nature tend to have a larger yard with bigger doors and buildings which have more cladding (roofing) and possibly roller doors as opposed to standard side doors, said Mark Giblin, regional sales manager with Netwatch.

While not every incident detected in July related to criminal behaviour, Mr Giblin says one reason why warehousing and logistics companies are being targeted is because trucks may have been loaded with stock and products ahead of early-morning departures.

Generally, the number of incidents detected by Netwatch in Limerick increased by 4% in July compared to 16% nationally.

Surprisingly, almost a quarter (23%) of incidents which were detected in Limerick during July occurred on a Saturday whereas Sundays were the busiest day across the country.

A total of 48% of all incidents happened between 9am and 12midday compared to the national average of 33%.

Mr Giblin says businesspeople and homeowners should be more vigilant and that simple things such as taking an extra five or ten minutes to ensure that premises are properly locked up and secured at night make a difference.

He added that security alarms should also be regularly checked. When was the last time you tested your alarm? Did you set it and open a door or a window to make sure its working. You dont want to find out after the burglary that the sensor wasnt working.
A YOUNG Kilmallock man has been charged with recklessly driving a tractor which created a substantial risk of death or serious harm.

It is understood that it may have involved a member of An Garda Siochana.

Peter OMahony, aged 21, with an address at Glenfield House, Kilmallock was charged with endangerment contrary to Section 13 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act at a vacation sitting of Limerick District Court this Wednesday afternoon.

It is alleged that the offence occurred last Saturday, August 13 at Bawntard, Kilmallock.

Sergeant Donal Cronin handed the certificates of arrest, charge and caution to Judge Aeneas McCarthy.

The court heard that Mr O'Mahony made no reply to the charge after caution.

We are awaiting DPP's directions. It is a relatively recent matter, said Sgt Cronin.

Brendan Gill, solicitor for Mr O'Mahony, said it was a Kilmallock case and applied for the case to be adjourned back to the local court.

Judge McCarthy remanded Mr O'Mahony on bail back to Kilmallock Court on a date in September for DPP's directions.
According to the State Departments annual International Religious Freedom Report, religiously motivated persecution continues to be perpetrated by governments and by violent extremist groups, such as Boko Haram and ISIL, also known as Daesh, around the world.

The 2015 report, released last week, highlights in particular the worrisome prevalence of blasphemy and apostasy laws, which fully one quarter of the worlds countries have on the books. Governments used these laws to tighten their regulatory grip on religious groups, particularly on minority religious groups and religions which are viewed as not traditional to that specific country.

In his introduction to the report, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom David Saperstein noted that:

The existence of these laws has been used by governments in too many cases to intimidate, repress religious minorities, and governments have too often failed to take appropriate steps to prevent societal violence sparked by accusations of blasphemy and apostasy.

Ambassador Saperstein explains that even if accusations of blasphemy or apostasy turn out to be untrue, governments will often fail to act to hold the accusers accountable.

The purpose of this annual report is not to lecture, but to shine a light on these problems and find ways to resolve them. The report also serves as an objective and comprehensive resource for NGOs, civil society groups, media, and foreign governments.

The protection and promotion of religious freedom remains a key foreign policy priority for the United States. As daunting as the many challenges are that we face across the globe, we will not be deterred in the work that we do, said Ambassador Saperstein. This report is at once vivid testimony for the many whose plight might otherwise receive scant attention and a document  a blueprint  of what must be addressed to bring us closer to the day when religious freedom will thrive for all.

Ambassador Saperstein added that U.S. government officials, including at the highest level, speak out regularly against abuses and violations of religious freedom, and raise these concerns directly with governments that fail to protect religious freedom.
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ELKO  The horse track retaining wall at Elko County Fairgrounds is 310 feet long and four feet high and local artist Brent Johnson plans to have a community mural project completed there during the first week of the fair.

The wall, located on Cedar St. near the intersection with14th Street, has long been under consideration for a beautification by various entities and now the undertaking has finally come together.

PACE is the nonprofit piece of this project, said Cathy McAdoo, retired executive director of Partners Allied for Community Excellence. Its been extremely gratifying.

McAdoo went on to explain that the City has been in on this since the inception. Now the whole project has snowballed with the addition of a sidewalk and rock decor.

The artwork in its final rendition will represent Elko County and the family traditions that enable children to make good choices, the main mission of Partners Allied for Community Excellence. There will be different vignettes that visually portray these healthy lifestyles.

Johnson was hired to create the mural from scratch.

This is the opportunity of a lifetime, said Johnson.

Johnson is a self-taught graffiti writer, he explained. Writers are considered artists who often do public and private, commissioned works as opposed to taggers who typically deface property.

Johnson started writing in his dads shed when he was a child growing up in Elko. When he moved to Salt Lake City he met up with other spray paint artists and learned techniques from them.

Now, when he is not working full-time or spending time with his family, he does a sideline business using his creativity. He has recently done work for FIZ Drinks and The Coffee Mug. Johnson uses materials like Montana Paints that are specifically designed for this art form.

Although Johnson has been working nights and weekends and has even taken a weeks worth of vacation from his day job to finish the endeavor, it was meant to be a community creation and numerous parties have stepped in to help.

I never dreamed about leaving PACE with such a rewarding project, said McAdoo. I am so proud of everybody.

Volunteers are still needed to help complete the project on time. Johnson is on site working from 5  8 p.m. weeknights. He and other volunteers are also there from 7 a.m.  1 p.m. and 5  8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Anyone can contribute.

Johnson can be contacted directly for future projects at 401-0300 or by emailing brentjohnson@yahoo.com.
This story was updated Aug. 18 at 5:53 p.m. EDT.

Despite reports that the land bridge connecting the Americas is "older than the hills," it is actually quite young, geologically speaking  only about 2.8 million years old, a new review of studies finds.

The finding contrasts with several recent studies purporting that the land bridge, known as the Isthmus of Panama, formed between 6 million and 23 million years ago, and reveals important details about the evolution and migration of animal species in different regions of the Americas.

These dates didn't jibe with data from other studies, the scientists of the new paper said. So they did an extensive review of studies on the geological, paleontological and molecular evidence from the isthmus and the animals that lived there, with the goal of deducing its true age, they said. [In Images: How North America Grew As a Continent]

"Our study had the simple aim of refining the timing of isthmus formation in a format intelligible for a wide audience of interested scientists, including geologists, ecologists, paleontologists, climatologists and evolutionary biologists, each of whom were begging for clarification of the question," study lead author Aaron O'Dea, a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, told Live Science in an email.

In the end, O'Dea and his colleagues found that while the isthmus developed slowly over a period of 30 million years, "all rigorous evidence" suggests that the land bridge formed 2.8 million years ago, thanks to a geologic uplift and a drop in sea level, he said.

Why age matters

A paleontologist looks for 7-million-year-old fossils on Finger Island, just off Panama's Caribbean coast. Fossils found in this rock look like those on the Pacific side, suggesting that the Isthmus of Panama was not yet formed at this time. (Image credit: Aaron O'Dea)

Before the isthmus arose, waters from the Caribbean and Pacific mingled, allowing local marine life to call both oceans home. But the watery gap separated plants and animals that lived on land, meaning that those in South America stayed south and those in North America stayed north, for the most part.

Everything changed once the isthmus formed. The land bridge separated the oceans, meaning that marine animals in the Caribbean began to evolve independently from those in the Pacific. Moreover, the bridge connected the Americas, allowing land animals to travel freely between the two continents. For instance, South American terror birds and possums made their way north.

Finding the so-called isthmus birthday is crucial for evolutionary biologists, as the isthmus is "the only place on Earth" that allows them to examine the molecular rates at which ocean populations diverge, said review co-author Harilaos Lessios, a senior staff scientist of evolution of marine organisms at STRI.

O'Dea said that finding the age of the isthmus has even broader implications. "It's a fundamental question with major consequences for understanding ecology, evolution and the origin of life today in the seas and land of the Americas," he said.

Disputed findings

Since the 1970s, when researchers studied data from deep-sea drilling, some scientists have speculated that the isthmus was about 3 million years old. Some recent studies, however, upended that idea.

For instance, the isthmus must have existed earlier than scientists previously thought, according to a 2015 study published in the journal Science, because the researchers found evidence that a river carried 40-million-year-old zircon rock crystals, unique to Panama, across the isthmus to Colombia between 13 million and 15 million years ago.

Nutrient-rich water from the Pacific used to bolster Caribbean marine ecosystems before the isthmus appeared, helping Caribbean mollusks (left) thrive. After the isthmus formed, the Caribbean's nutrient levels dropped, and corals became established there instead. (Image credit: Aaron O'Dea)

However, the researchers who worked on the new review say those zircons could have come from places other than Panama, and that more evidence is needed to say that the isthmus existed before 3 million years ago. [Photos: The World's Weirdest Geological Formations]

The lead author of the 2015 study, Camilo Montes, a geologist at the University of the Andes in Bogota, Colombia, contests this finding. The new review "can't point at a single magmatic rock that crystallized nearly 40 million years ago" that's not from Panama, Montes told Live Science in an email.

The new review also called into question work done by Christine Bacon, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. In a 2015 study, Bacon and her colleagues compared molecular data from land animals and plants, and said that the results indicated that phases of migration across the isthmus happened prior to 3 million years ago.

The authors of the new review said they found several problems with Bacon's study. For instance, they said she didn't analyze all of the available evidence. Furthermore, she assumed that mitochondrial DNA (found inside the powerhouse of a cell) diverges at a rate of 2 percent every 1 million years, when, in fact, different species evolve at different rates, Lessios said. But Bacon said this misrepresents her work.

"We assumed that rate for only 52 data points of the 424 total (ca. 12 percent of the entire dataset)," she told Live Science in an email. "It seems like misrepresentation  like I used a universal divergence rate over the entire dataset."

What's next

Though the new review doesn't make a definitive conclusion on the isthmus's age, it is an important step in figuring it out, said Carina Hoorn, a researcher at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, who was not involved in the new research.

"Although there are no real new data in this study, the authors make it clear that the revolutionary new idea on 'old' Panama needs to be consolidated with further evidence," Hoorn told Live Science in an email. "Friend and foe agree that deformation of the region started over 30 million years ago [but] when exactly the bridge was formed will need further evidence."

There needs to be more research into species evolutionand further examination of the fossil and marine record, Hoorn said. That's already happening, but it will require hard and cooperative work by many scientists, she said.

The review was published online today (Aug. 17) in the journal Science Advances.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to correct the location of where the zircon crystals originated, according to Camilo Montes and his colleagues. It was Panama, not the northern Andes.

Original article on Live Science.
In a region that boasts the tallest peak in the eastern Himalayas and a body of water so impressive it has been nicknamed the "Everest of rivers," an enormous canyon has been carved through the rock over the course of millions of years.

This imposing landscape is the result of powerful erosion and dramatic tectonic activity, but the interactions between the surface and interior processes in this part of the Himalayas have been the subject of major debate among scientists. Now, a new study provides evidence that a patch of extreme rock-uplift in the eastern Himalayas  the area of greatest tectonic activity  has been slowly migrating northward, drifting rather than remaining anchored to the location of river erosion, as researchers had previously theorized.

"Of course, you get feedback between surface processes and tectonics, but our data says the surface processes do not control the tectonics in this area," said study lead author Georgina King, a geologist at the University of Cologne in Germany. [Photos: The World's Weirdest Geological Formations]

To calculate the movement, researchers used a cutting-edge mineral-dating technique called optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) thermochronometry. As common minerals like quartz and feldspar move away from the Earth's hot center, they cool. And at temperatures specific to each mineral, they begin trapping electrons, the researchers said. So, until the traps are filled, a chunk of bedrock can tell scientists how recently that rock reached certain temperature milestones, which correspond to depths below ground. That information, in turn, can be translated to tectonic rates of exhumation, or how quickly rock is moving toward the surface.

The researchers combined older data with a new analysis of samples from eight spots within the region, known as the eastern Himalayan syntaxis, to model a "continued migration of tectonic structures towards the northeast."

"The beauty of the technique is it gives you resolution at timescales that we didn't have previously," Noah Finnegan, a geologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the study, told Live Science.

The process can date rocks within thousands of years of accuracy, back to around 200,000 years ago. "That'll have applications for almost anywhere in the world," he added.

Finnegan was the lead author of a 2008 study, published in the Geological Society of America Bulletin journal, which looked at the same region and noted the overlap in area of the most erosion and highest rates of rock uplift. That study proposed that the powerful river influences the tectonics by weakening the surface rock, allowing greater uplift in a "tectonic aneurysm."

The new study provides an alternative form of mineral-dating, and another piece of evidence on the tectonic side of the debate over the geological history of the region. "This present paper shows that bull's-eye [of uplift activity] is moving in time, and importantly, the location is moving away from the river that we argued is responsible," Finnegan said.

In other words, the shared location of intense erosion and uplift is "coincidence rather than causative," King told Live Science.

The new study's conclusions are "acceptable," George Mathew, a geologist at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in Mumbai who was not involved with the new research, told Live Science in an email. But the eastern Himalayas is just one region.

"The role of surface processes on tectonics remains unresolved," Mathew told Live Science..

The new findings were published today (Aug. 18) in the journal Science.

Original article on Live Science.
Freight volumes up 33% at European shipping and logistics group, boosted by expanded Channel ferry capacity and 9% growth in other parts of its network

European shipping and logistics group DFDS has raised its outlook for 2016 after a strong performance in the second quarter in which its freight volumes were up 33%, thanks to its much-expanded Channel ferry capacity and 9% growth in other parts of its network.

The expanded ferry capacity in the Channel business unit supported 63% higher freight volumes and 23% more passengers, while freight volumes were up by 9% in all other parts of the network. The Logistics Division achieved strong earnings growth through higher volumes and efficiency in both trailer operations and contract logistics, the Copenhagen-headquartered group said.

Revenue for the three months to 30 June increased by 7%, year on year, excluding revenue from bunker surcharges, while reported revenue increased by 4% to DKK 3.6 billion (US$548 million). EBITDA operating profits before special items increased by 27% to DKK 699m following higher earnings in both the Shipping and Logistics divisions.

CEO Niels Smedegaard commented: We are pleased to deliver strong numbers again in Q2. We continued to benefit from the moderate growth in most parts of Europe and our ongoing improvement and efficiency projects. Brexit has so far not materially impacted volumes while the depreciation of the British pound gives some headwind on results.

For its Channel business unit, freight volumes in Q2 increased by 62.9%, reflecting the expansion of capacity on Dover-Calais from one ferry for two months and two ferries for one month of Q2 2015 to three ferries throughout Q2 2016. The total number of sailings for both routes increased by 50% compared to last year following the deployment of two chartered Channel ferries on the Dover-Calais route in Q1 2016.

DFDS now operates a total of six ferries out of Dover to Calais and Dunkirk respectively, with three ferries on each route. EBIT for the Channel business unit improved by DKK 98m to DKK 110m as higher volumes and unit revenues exceeded the extra costs related to the capacity expansion.

Elsewhere within its Shipping division, North Sea freight volumes in Q2 were 7.9% above 2015. Volume growth was highest on the southern routes between Denmark/Germany/Benelux and the UK supported by a capacity expansion on these routes. The overall volumes out of Sweden also continued to grow in the quarter.

EBIT increased by 13% to DKK 142m driven by higher volumes on mainly the southern routes as well as higher port terminal earnings.

Baltic Sea freight volumes in Q2 were 11.5% above 2015. The volume growth was supported by an expansion of capacity on the routes between Germany/Sweden and Lithuania while capacity between Denmark and Lithuania was adapted to a lower level of activity in the market. Passenger operations were on a level with last year.

EBIT increased by 30% to DKK 92m following the higher volumes, an improved allocation of capacity on the routes and benefits from the conversion of the route between Russia and Germany to a slot charter.

France & Mediterranean freight volumes in Q2 were 4.3% above 2015, entirely driven by the Newhaven-Dieppe route. EBIT decreased by 33% to DKK 5m, mainly due to higher ship and operating costs.

For its Logistics division, EBIT decreased by 9% to DKK 15m, mainly due to the impact of lower temperature-controlled and steel volumes as well as the loss of a logistics contract for a food manufacturer in 2015. The result was, moreover, negatively impacted by the depreciation of the British pound.

Within the Logistics divisions Nordic market, the number of transported units increased in Q2 by 6.6% compared to 2015. Forwarding and transport activities were up in all markets; highest in the Baltic region and lowest in Norway. Volumes for the sideport shipping activities out of Norway were lower than last year. The automotive contract logistics activities in Sweden continued to grow in Q2. EBIT increased by 86% to DKK 16m mainly driven by the completed ramp-up of the automotive contract logistics activities and the growth of the Baltic activities, including additional logistics activities within construction.

Within the Logistics divisions Continent business, the number of transported units in Q2 increased by 5.2% compared to 2015. The key drivers of the growth were the trailer operations between Netherlands-UK, Belgium-

Sweden and Germany-UK. In the latter traffic volumes were boosted by an automotive logistics contract that commenced operations in Q4 2015. Container volumes between the Continent and Ireland/UK were lower than last year. EBIT increased by 63% to DKK 16m as almost all activity areas improved earnings driven by the higher volumes.

And for the UK & Ireland Logistics business, the number of transported units in Q2 increased by 43.2% compared to 2015 mainly driven by new contract logistics activities for cold stores in England. Since the commencement of the contract for one cold store in Q4 2015, a further two cold stores were added during Q1 2016. Volumes were reduced by optimisation of traffic between N. Ireland and England and the Continent as well as lower temperature controlled and steel volumes in the UK. EBIT decreased by 9% to DKK 15m mainly due to the impact of lower temperature controlled and steel volumes as well as the loss of a logistics contract for a food manufacturer in 2015. The result was, moreover, negatively impacted by the depreciation of the British pound.

The DFDS Goups full-year outlook range for 2016 has been raised following Q2 earnings above expectations and continued positive market trends on many routes in the network and several logistics markets. The Groups EBITDA before special items is now expected to increase to a range of DKK 2,450-2,600m compared to a range of DKK 2,300-2,500m previously (2015: DKK 2,041m).

The Groups revenue is despite some headwind on currencies still expected to increase by around 6%, excluding excluding revenue from bunker surcharges.
ELKO  Police have not determined if a gun was fired Wednesday morning in an incident that closed one of Elkos bridges for three hours.

Authorities were sent to Fifth Street and Wilson Avenue on a report of a disturbance in which multiple subjects were yelling at unknown subjects in the house.

The initial caller reported seeing subjects yelling into the house, hearing glass break, and then gunshots, said Police Lt. Ty Trouten.

When they arrived, officers learned that two females had gone to the house at approximately 5 a.m. A short while later they fled the residence, claiming a male subject inside had threatened them with a gun.

They related to male friends that the male had battered them, making two male subjects go to the house and confront the male inside.

This resulted in yelling, and one subject, Devin Charles Glisson, 20, ultimately punched a small window in the door, causing moderate injury to his arm. Both males left as law enforcement arrived.

It was unknown to law enforcement the male inside fled prior to the arrival of authorities.

This male was later located and interviewed. While there is a claim of a gun being fired, it cannot be confirmed at this time, said Trouten, explaining the only injury was sustained by Glisson from putting his fist through the window.

There were no injuries related to a gunshot.

Interviews are still ongoing as is the investigation,said Trouten.
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Its been a busy week so far for our Longford Rose, who began her Tralee journey in earnest on Friday last as she joined her counterparts from all over the world on the Rose tour.

Having so far explored some of what Dublin has to offer, including the Guinness Storehouse and the Ambassador Theatres 1916 exhibition, 2016 Longford Rose Caroline Doyle travelled down to Tralee, where the first of two qualifier nights took place in the Dome last night, Wednesday.

Caroline, who has been flying the flag for Longford since earning the sash in April, will take to the stage tonight, Thursday, August 18 with host, Daithi OSe. The county will then wait with baited breath until Sunday morning, when the Lanesboro native will find out whether or not she has qualified for the televised finals on Monday and Tuesday, August 22 and 23.

Fingers crossed, I will be chosen, Caroline wrote in her Rose Diary, but if not I will strive to continue to represent my county in the best possible light and to embrace the role of the Longford Rose.

It's a role that she has certainly taken on with enthusiasm already, despite her surprise at earning the title.

I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would become the 2016 Longford Rose. It is an unbelievable feeling to be selected to represent Longford for all its talent, beauty and community spirit.

Speaking in her Rose diary about the events she has attended throughout the county over the past few months - including fundraisers, festivals and flag-raising ceremonies - she also acknowledged the support she has received from the public.

People in my hometown of Lanesboro and across county Longford have been so supportive and encouraging, she said.

Meanwhile, two Longford men joined the escorts in Tralee on Tuesday, for what is expected to be a busy, but unforgettable few days.

Jamie Carroll, a native of Edgeworthstown, and Liam Halpin, who lives on the border of Killoe and Clonguish, were both chosen as escorts and were due to meet the Roses on Tuesday night.

Speaking to the Leader before setting off, Liam admitted; The preparation is going well, Im nearly there now!

Pointing out that the escorts were to be assigned to their first Roses on Tuesday, Liam explained that they will be rotating to work with a different Rose at the weekend, ahead of the televised selection nights.

Im all excited, he grinned. Im looking forward to it now. It came about fairly quick!
Nature & Weather, Local News, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 18 2016

New York State has one of the largest air monitoring networks in the country, working to ensure air quality meets USEPA standards.

Albany, NY - August 17, 2016 - The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) outlined its ongoing progress to address air contamination issues in Albany's South End and today called on United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy to develop stronger national emission and fuel standards that are protective of public health. DEC also announced today that it will invest $500,000 in an environmental improvement program in the neighborhood, funded through the Environmental Justice line of the record $300 million Environmental Protection Fund.

"Air quality is essential for healthy communities, and DEC is deeply committed to ensuring that all New Yorkers, especially residents of environmental justice communities like Albany's South End, have clean air to breathe," said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. "However, many communities are burdened on a daily basis by emissions from passenger cars and heavy duty trucks, and we are calling on EPA to improve air emission and fuel standards to better protect public health and the environment."

New York State has one of the largest air monitoring networks in the country, working to ensure air quality meets USEPA standards. Through this effort, the state has identified elevated levels of benzene and toxic pollutants from cars and trucks across the state, and unhealthy levels of ozone downstate. USEPA sets national ambient air quality standards and has primary authority over regulation of motor vehicle emissions and fuel composition-and the state is urging USEPA to move more aggressively to address the concerns of residents of South Albany and other communities located near busy highways or adjacent to industrial zones regarding levels of ozone, particulate matter and benzene in the air they breathe. While the recent new fuel economy standards for heavy duty trucks announced by the Obama Administration are a step forward, this only addresses Carbon Dioxide emissions and not the additional pollutants of concern outlined in DEC's letter to USEPA.

The $500,000 DEC environmental improvement program investment will include air monitoring to evaluate the impact of diesel emissions on Albany's South End. Additional program elements will be developed with community stakeholder input. This will be in addition to a $145,000 Environmental Benefit Project secured by DEC through an enforcement effort against Buckeye Albany Terminal, LLC.

DEC has remained focused on addressing air quality concerns in Albany's South End neighborhood. In March 2015, DEC added an ambient air monitor for toxics in the vicinity of the port to its statewide air toxics monitoring program. This monitor, located on South Pearl Street, records levels of various toxic pollutants, including benzene, formaldehyde and other pollutants associated with mobile sources and industrial activities, including facilities that handle petroleum products. In addition, in 2015 the state began a systematic air monitoring study for hydrogen sulfide in the Port of Albany to determine if hydrogen sulfide emissions were exceeded anywhere in the port.

Just this week, DEC operated another in a series of ongoing diesel truck checkpoints on Route 32 in Albany's South End to ensure tailpipe emissions from diesel trucks comply with state and federal environmental laws and regulations. DEC Environmental Police Officers performed approximately 400 visual inspections at both stationary air quality check points and on roving patrols of Albany's South End as part of Operation Eco-Quality. Officers monitored for Heavy Duty Diesel Vehicles (HDDVs) in violation of air quality, safety, and other laws, as wells as for pollution caused by idling. Air quality inspections were performed on more than 20 HDDVs using mobile air monitoring equipment with two tickets being issued.

These inspections build on DEC's aggressive approach to identify and crack down on air pollution to improve air quality and protect public health in this community. Since November, DEC has conducted over 63 truck pull-over events, including two in Albany's South End, specifically to look for harmful pollutants from these vehicles. In addition, DEC staff test trucks during routine patrols around the state. DEC will conduct additional unannounced inspections in the coming weeks to ensure polluters are held accountable, as well as work with small businesses to ensure they are complying with environmental laws and regulations.

"I applaud Governor Cuomo and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for maintaining their commitment to address the air quality concerns raised by concerned citizens in Albany's South End, in particular the Ezra Prentice Homes. Every New Yorker deserves to live in a community that is healthy and free from environmental hazards. Ensuring that Albany's South End and all communities meet the United States Environmental Protection Agencies stringent air quality standards is essential to this effort," said New York State Senator Neil Breslin.

"I appreciate the ongoing support of DEC and Commissioner Seggos as well as Governor Cuomo when it comes to the concerns of air contamination when it comes to the residents of the South End of Albany which I have the privilege to represent," said Assemblyman John McDonald. "The investment of $500,000 in EPF funds which we approved in this past year's budget is yet another indication of the ongoing commitment of the state as it relates to the concerns of the residents that we have heard over the years. I am confident that the resources dedicated in the past, today and tomorrow will improve the quality of life for the residents in the South End of Albany and beyond."

"I applaud the DEC for also joining in the effort to improve air quality in Albany's South End," said Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy.

City of Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said, "The DEC's commitment to air monitoring is an important step forward in our efforts to ensure the safety and health of South End residents, particularly those living at Ezra Prentiss," said Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan. "We need this information to determine the causes of air quality concerns and the steps we need to take to address those findings."

"It is a fundamental right that South End residents have access to one of our greatest necessities as human beings...clean air. I appreciate DEC for being responsive to community concerns regarding health risks associated with breathing harmful air pollutants such as benzene and NOx on a daily basis. The $500,000 committed by DEC is in investment in a critical air quality study but most importantly an investment in the future of our children and families," said Dr. Dorcey Applyrs, Common Council Member, First Ward.

"I am pleased that DEC is listening to the concerns that the residents of Albany's South End have regarding air monitoring and are acting on them," said Hon. Vivian Kornegay, Common Council Member, Second Ward.

Operation Eco-Quality, which was initiated in 2010, uses a community-centered approach to address air quality issues. The program was developed to prevent pollution that impacts community health. It combines enhanced outreach, consultation and community policing activities to prevent pollution and improve the quality of life in economically disadvantaged communities.

DEC encourages the community to report nuisance odors emanating from the Port on its 24-hour, toll-free odor hotline number for Albany and Rensselaer. In response to complaints, DEC will use portable air monitoring equipment to conduct on-the-spot air quality inspections to assess the odor issues and help identify the cause. To report air quality issues, residents can call 1-800-457-7362.
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Columnists Press Releases
ELKO  Police responded to what they thought was an active shooter Wednesday morning at a home on the south side of Elko.

An injured man was taken to the hospital but his wound was not caused by gunfire, according to Lt. Rich Genseal.

It now appears this subject caused extensive damage to his arm while trying to break out a window at the residence, Genseal said.

The incident began shortly before 6 a.m. when police dispatch received a report of kids banging on the residence at South Fifth Street and Wilson Avenue. Three minutes later, they said they heard a gunshot and two males were seen running from the residence toward Joes Market.

Officers arrived a minute later and found one male with a wounded arm. Another male was found hiding in a bathroom at South Side Laundry.

The injured man was taken to Northeastern Nevada Region Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. Police have not released his identity.

Police interviewed the second man and established a perimeter around the residence. The Elko Special Response Team and Hostage Negation Teams were activated and all of the roads leading in and out of the area were closed by law enforcement.

After several hours, another man turned himself in at the Elko County Sheriffs Office advising he was involved in the incident, He was interviewed by detectives and it was determined that no other individuals were involved. The Elko Special Response Team was able to search the residence and no additional people were located.

It is still very early in the investigation and detectives are still conducting follow up interviews with potential witnesses, stated an Elko Police Department release. It appears this incident involves at least four males and two females.

No arrests have been made, however, the District Attorneys Office has been notified.
Nevada was once a nationwide model of fiscal rectitude. Not now.

During the Great Depression, state leaders even launched a promotional campaign called One Sound State boasting of this fact. It advertised a state with no income tax, no inheritance tax, no sales tax, no tax on intangibles, but with a balanced budget and a surplus.

At the time, Nevada stood in stark contrast to many states that faced insolvency and had turned to increasingly punitive forms of taxation to boost revenues. Chief among these was the proliferation to about half the states of business taxes based on gross receipts instead of net income.

Many businesses were struggling to turn a profit during the Depression, but gross receipts taxes (GRTs) forced firms to pay regardless of their profitability. It was a desperation move by state legislatures looking to fund public services.

So, the Silver State unique at that time, leading the San Francisco Chronicle to editorialize about Nevada: Unbelievable, but it is true. These people just do not belong in the United States.

The One Sound State campaign booklet informed folks that Nevada has no radical organization in its entire 110,000 square miles. There is no political movement of even slightly pinkish tinge ... The lawmakers are cattlemen, miners, lawyers, business and professional men and there hasnt been the slightest whisper of radicalism from one of them.

Upon receiving the promotional packet, several notable millionaires packed up and headed here to escape taxation in their home states, many of which had adopted GRTs. Their investment helped fuel Nevadas growth.

So with some historical irony we read this week a new report from the Tax Foundation that holds Nevada up as an example of poor tax policy. The report focuses in particular on Nevadas adoption of the gross-receipts-based Commerce Tax last year and warns other states not go down the same path.

Since the Great Depression, most states that implemented a GRT have repealed them after realizing how destructive GRTs are. By 2005, only Delaware and Washington still retained their Depression-era GRTs.

Nevadas new enactment of a GRT bucks the decades-long trend of states that have moved away from these taxes that are so contrary to the public interest. Tax analysts now worry that policymakers may be forgetting the lessons of the past.

The Tax Foundation report also provides detailed history of the experience in four states with GRTs, the problems they caused, and how these issues culminated in repeal.

Although GRTs were originally believed to be simple and to provide stable revenues at very low rates, ...the disadvantages of these taxes in practice were found to be much greater, says the Tax Foundation. Gross receipts taxes do not bear relation to the amount of government services used nor the ability of a firm to pay. They force some industries to face high effective rates [as a percentage of profit], lead to pyramiding and distorted incentives for firms, and reduce competitiveness, fairness, and transparency.

Even the claims of simplicity and ease of administration  emphasized last year by Gov. Brian Sandoval when pushing his GRT through the legislature  turn out to be completely false. As Nevada business owners are discovering, the costs of complying with a GRT can be significant, and for many are greater than the amount of tax they owe.

Nevadas tax department has also struggled to implement the new tax and doubt remains over the legality of certain requirements created by the agency, such as its requirement for taxpayers to provide their social security numbers.

These problems were all predictable because they mirror the experience of states that had GRTs previously. Each time they are enacted, concludes the Tax Foundation, [GRTs] create economic problems that cripple growth, conceal true tax burdens, and breed inefficiency  despite legislators best proposals to eliminate problems.

Given Nevadas legacy as the nationwide beneficiary of other states foolish ventures with GRTs, its deeply disappointing to see respected tax analysts now holding Nevada out as the example of what not to do.

Thats why we fought against the commerce tax last year and have worked toward its repeal.

With clearheaded, prudent policy that doesnt ignore the lessons of history, we can become One Sound State once again.
Its no secret Donald Trumps supporters wish he would spend more time in his public appearances focused on issues and less on the offhand remarks that have gotten him into trouble recently.

Newt Gingrich, the Trump vice presidential finalist who goes in and out of favor at Trump Tower, has long counseled a tighter, more disciplined focus on issues. In an interview Friday morning, as the Obama-is-the-founder-of-ISIS controversy spilled into another day, Gingrich seemed to reach a new level of frustration, suggesting that Trump and the news media have created a baloney machine that distracts the public from important issues.

Trump should spend more time talking about America and less time talking about Trump, Gingrich told me after an appearance on Fox News.

Its not helpful, and its not helpful to have quips that distract from the main issues, Gingrich continued. If Trump is not talking about the economy, and hes not talking about safety, and hes not talking about reforming Washington, hes losing ground.

Indeed, Trump is losing ground. He is running 6.3 points  a substantial margin  behind Hillary Clinton in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls. Even more concerning are new polls of states Trump must win if he is to become president. Even as Gingrich spoke, NBC and the Wall Street Journal were releasing surveys showing Trump trailing Hillary Clinton by 5 points in Florida, 9 points in North Carolina, 13 points in Virginia and by 14 points in Colorado.

Add those to polls showing Trump in trouble in Ohio and falling behind in Pennsylvania  two absolutely critical states for Trump  and the polls are sending Trump a very loud message that what he is doing now is not working. And yet Trump has said several times that he sees no need to change his style to compete in the general election.

Gingrich sees an increasingly urgent situation. The fact is, you only have a limited amount of communications time, and you should be focusing that time on the issues that matter to the American people, he said. If talking about yourself drowns out everything else youre talking about  because you know as a conservative the news media is never going to give you a break  you have to make sure you dont give them a break. And every time he gives them something to talk about that allows them to avoid his issues, theyre going to take it.

Gingrich pointed to the House Republican report that the U.S. Central Command altered its intelligence to suggest the American campaign against the Islamic State is making more progress than is actually the case. That ought to be a major national scandal, Gingrich said.

But it gets totally submerged in all of this baloney, Gingrich concluded. And Trump contributes to the baloney. He and the news media have a sort of baloney machine going between them.

Nevertheless, Trump has repeatedly refused to change his approach. On Tuesday, he told Fox Businesss Maria Bartiromo that, I think that you know my temperament has gotten me here ... I certainly dont think its appropriate to start changing all of a sudden when youve been winning. On Thursday, Trump told CNBC, At the end, its either going to work, or Im going to, you know, Im going to have a very, very nice long vacation.
Hamza bin Laden, Osamas heir, calls on Muslims to overthrow the Saudi monarchy in a newly released audio message. The junior bin Ladens speech was disseminated by As Sahab, al Qaedas propaganda arm, via social media websites on Aug. 17.

The SITE Intelligence Group translated the audio, which is accompanied by various images. It is the first episode in a series titled, Dominion of the Best of the Ummah in the Uprising of the People of the Sacred House.

Much of Hamzas discussion focuses on the war in Yemen. He blasts the peace talks hosted by Kuwait, saying that after the Saudi warlords proved their miserable failure on the battlefield, the politicians tried with American pressure to accomplish a victory in the political hallways and corridors in Kuwait. The parties involved in Yemens multi-sided conflict have taken part in the negotiations this year.

Hamza alleges that Saudi Arabias actions in Yemen have helped the Shiite Houthi rebels who threaten the Saudi kingdoms own stability. He accuses the Saudis of attacking the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsulas (AQAP) front group, Ansar al Sharia, at a time when the Saudi jihadists were fighting their Houthi enemies.

In the run-up to the Kuwait negotiations and the ceasefire, [the House of Saud] and its Gulf allies, with direct American participation, attacked our brothers the mujahideen of Ansar al Sharia in the city of Mukalla, at a time when Ansar al Sharia was preoccupied in combatting the Houthis and deterring their cunning and aggression, Hamza says, according to SITEs translation.

Mukalla fell to AQAP in early April 2015 and was one of the groups main strongholds in Yemen for over a year. AQAP hosted major rallies in the port city, tried to win the loyalty of the local population and began to implement rudimentary governance. But an Arab-led coalition entered the city in late April 2016. AQAPs fighters withdrew from Mukalla, suffering only minimal losses.

AQAP then issued a statement saying its fighters retreated from the city in order to protect the civilian population. This message demonstrated how AQAP, and al Qaeda in general, wants to increase its popular appeal in Yemen and elsewhere.

Hamza picks up this theme in his new message. Our brothers there presented great sacrifices and gave enormous efforts in serving the Muslim public in Mukalla, as witnessed by the near and far, Hamza says, according to SITE. But [the House of Saud] did not leave them alone, neither in fighting the Houthis, nor in establishing the sharia of Allah among the Muslims and serving their needs, Hamza continues. The Saudis attacked them [AQAP], thus protecting the transgressing Houthis from the strikes of the mujahideen.

Hamza claims that the Saudis have therefore betrayed the Muslims of Yemen twice, by both failing to deter the Houthis and then refusing to leave alone those who deter them and fight them.

For a variety of reasons, Hamza says, Saudi Arabia is a country in dire need of change. He describes Saudi royals and officials as great criminal thieves and agents of the Americans. According to SITEs translation, Hamza argues a new government is needed to free from the Crusaders the place where the Quran descended, to protect the Two Holy Mosques from the Safavids [Iranians], and to establish a new regime that governs with the sharia of Allah the Great and Almighty in full. He also calls for a more equitable distribution of Saudi Arabias oil revenues (vast riches) and a government that revives jihad among the population.

Such changes are not just the work of the jihadists, Hamza says, but also the duty of the elite, including the honest, glorious scholars and preachers. They and others should participate in the change with their tongues, their pens, their media, and their tweets.

In addition, Hamza issues a call to arms, saying the youth and those capable of fighting should join the mujahideen in Yemen, meaning AQAP.

Osama bin Laden famously turned against the Saudi government in the early 1990s, leading to the revocation of his citizenship. Al Qaeda laid the groundwork for an insurgency in Saudi Arabia in the years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. But the Saudi government ruthlessly crushed the rebellion. Al Qaeda formally relaunched its presence in the Arabian Peninsula in early 2009, focusing most of its resources inside Yemen, but also orchestrating plots against the West.

Hamza is continuing with the work of his father by inciting Muslims against the Saudi government. As his father did before him, Hamza criticizes Saudi Arabias close relationship with the US. As Sahabs video includes several scenes of American presidents meeting with the Saudi royals. Screen shots from these scenes are included below.

Hamza bin Laden was first featured in al Qaeda propaganda last summer. As Sahab has released audios from him since then, but never shows his face. Hamzas statements are typically paired with productions starring his fathers successor, Ayman al Zawahiri. Indeed, just days before Hamzas latest message, Zawahiri blasted the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. [For summaries of Hamza bin Ladens previous messages, see LWJ reports: Analysis: Osama bin Ladens son praises al Qaedas branches in new message, Osama bin Ladens son says jihad in Syria key to liberate Palestine, and Osama bin Ladens son says al Qaeda has grown despite 15 years of war.]

Screenshots from As Sahabs video accompanying Hamza bin Ladens latest message:

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Following confirmation that the Russian Air Force will use a military base in Western Iran as a launching pad for strikes in Syria (noted here by The Long War Journal), several senior Iranian officials have publicly defended the legality of the decision as part of a strategic framework for cooperation with Russia. They also downplayed concerns about the presence of Russian forces in Iran, which are unprecedented since the end of World War II. A top Iranian lawmaker has said Russia would use the base primarily as a refueling transit point for sorties over Syria.

Khameneis top foreign policy advisor, Ali Akbar Velayati, described defense ties between Moscow and Tehran as strategic, and that Russias use of Irans airbase was not unexpected. He also said Tehrans outlook is serious towards the East, primarily China and Russia. Velayati defended the Iranian and Russian presence in Syria, claiming it came at the request of the Syrian government, and then turned to deride the U.S. presence in Syria as illegal.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani faced questions from Iranian lawmakers who expressed anxieties about both the legality and political astuteness of permitting Russian planes into the Hamedan air base.

Whenever the Islamic Republic was faced with a crisis, both the East and the West were against it, noted a parliamentarian, implicitly referring to Irans national slogan of neither East nor West, Islamic Republic.

Article 146 of the Islamic Republics Constitution expressly prohibits foreign military bases on Iranian soil.

Larijani rejected the lawmakers concerns about the constitutionality of Russian warplanes in Hamedan.

We have not placed any military bases at the discretion of anyone  what the media has said is false, said the speaker. We have good cooperation with the Russians and the main reason is the crises created by the West, especially the Americans. Russia has a correct evaluation about the region, and has had good cooperation with us in the past year.

Senior MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Parliamentary Commission, sought to clarify the Russian use of the Hamedan air base. He insisted to the media that the warplanes use the base to refuel. This is done within the framework of bilateral and quadrilateral cooperation between Iran, Russia, Syria, and Iraq and per the order of the Supreme National Security Council, Boroujerdi claimed.

The council is chaired by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of foreign and military policy. Boroujerdi also denied allegations that Russian planes flying out of Hamedan violate the Islamic Republics constitution, noting that it has become neither a Russian base nor are warplanes stationed in Nozheh. Boroujerdi further repudiated a claim, which the Iranian press attributed to an Israeli-based outlet, that Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems will be stationed in Iran.

In addition to parliamentary skepticism, Irans former Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Dr. Afshar Soleimani, has also voiced concerns. In an interview with Fararu, he noted that the Russo-Iranian relationship cannot be spoken of as a full-fledged strategic relationship. He also cautioned against Iran walking away empty-handed from the arrangement over Hamedan or the pending Russian request to launch cruise missiles over Iranian airspace. Despite concerns within the political elite, senior officials in Tehran nonetheless appear poised to welcome closer cooperation between Russia and Iran over the war to save the Assad regime in Syria.

Behnam Ben Taleblu is a Senior Iran Analyst at Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Amir Toumaj is a Research Analyst at Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

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.
US Africa Command announced today that the US has carried out 62 precision airstrikes since Aug. 1 in support of Operation Odyssey Lightning, which seeks to dislodge the Islamic State from its stronghold in Sirte, Libya. On Aug. 17, the US bombed 13 enemy fighting positions and a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED).

Al Bunyan Al Marsoos (Solid Structure) operations room, which draws fighters from militias based in Misrata and is allied with Libyas Government of National Accord (GNA), is the main ground force seeking to clear the city. Special Forces from the US, and possibly other Western nations, are on the ground in Sirte as well.

Yesterday, Al Bunyan Al Marsoos released a map of the situation in Sirte, highlighting areas where clashes are taking place in the interior of the city on the Mediterranean coast. The map, which can be seen above, is generally consistent with an infographic the Islamic State released earlier this week. However, the Islamic State claimed to be in control of four neighborhoods that, in reality, appear to be contested.

Despite losing ground, the Islamic State continues to launch suicide bombings and other attacks inside the city. The Islamic States fighters have carried out a string of VBIED assaults since the offensive against Sirte began in May. The American precision airstrikes have taken out some of these VBIEDs, but not all of them.

Earlier today, two suicide bombers detonated VBIEDs in the western part of Sirte. The Associated Press cited a spokesman for Al Bunyan Al Marsoos as saying that the suicide terrorists came from outside the city into the interior to support their fellow jihadists, who are surrounded. The initial reports indicate that there are significant casualties, with 10 or more killed and many others wounded.

Even as the Islamic State detonates VBIEDs inside Sirte, Al Bunyan Al Marsoos is emphasizing a return to normalcy in parts of the city. Al Bunyan al Marsoos released the photos seen below on its official Twitter feed today. Below that set of pictures are images tweeted on Aug. 16 depicting fighters from Al Bunyan Al Marsoos advancing in Residential area no. 2, which is also highlighted on the map reproduced above.

Propaganda photos depicting life returning to normal inside Sirte:

Photos posted by Al Bunyan Al Marsoos from Residential area no. 2:

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

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When setting up a new iOS device, theres a certain cadence to the apps I install before anything else. Usually, the order goes something like: 1Password, Tweetbot, iA Writer, Outlook, Facebook, Slack, Dark Sky, Deliveries, and Facebook.

From there, I will go through the Purchased tab in the App Store or install apps as I need them. But theres always one app I forget about, even as the need for it arises: PDF Expert ($10). Yet, its one of the more valuable apps for my iPad Pro workflow.

How can that be? Well, for starters, I rarely use it for what its namesake claims its designed for. In other words, I dont need to edit, create, or work with many PDFs. If so, its rare and something that I use an app like SignNow for.

Instead, I keep PDF Expert installed in order to handle ZIP files. Yes, ZIP files.

Turns out, PDF Expert is one of, if not the best app, for unpacking and creating ZIP files.

You would think Dropbox or iCloud Drive would be better at handling ZIP files, right? Unfortunately, thats not the case. Half the time Dropbox makes it look like the ZIP file is seconds from finally opening, only to display an error message. iCloud Drive gives it the good ol college try but ultimately requires too much work to interact with any files stored inside.

Dropbox just cant handle ZIPs.

As for PDF Expert, the app replicates the process weve grown accustomed to when opening a ZIP file on a real computer. You open it, and a few seconds later a folder is created in its place.

From there, you can interact with the unzipped folder as you normally would. And because PDF Expert has Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud Drive support built right in, it takes just a few seconds to open a ZIP file and move the files inside to where you really need them.

I can send a ZIP file to PDF Expert with the Share sheet.

Heres my typical workflow when using PDF Expert:

Receive a ZIP file in email or via a download link. Tap on it, and spend a good 15 seconds trying to remember the best way to open it. Try Dropbox, just in case there was an update. Realize there wasnt an update. Remember PDF Expert; use share sheet to send the ZIP file to PDF Expert. Tap on ZIP file to unpack. ???? Celebrate the joys of working on my iPad.

That list is depressingly accurate. I cant seem to remember PDF Expert after step 1 for the life of meuntil I do remember, and then I shake my head.

PDF Expert unzips an archive just as your Mac would, leaving you with a copy of the archive as well as a regular folder that contains the files, ready to use.

Alternatively, you can use PDF Expert to create a ZIP file of photos or files.

The more I tinker and poke round in the app, the more I realize just how much it does. Theres a 57-page PDF Expert guide included in the app, after all.

Normally I would scoff at any app with more than a single page of tutorials, and mumble something to myself along the lines of if I need to know that much to use your app its time to start over. Now Im starting to think maybe, just maybe, I should pay more attention to PDF Experts guide.

Heres another feature I learned about whilst writing this very column: You can access network storage, be it another computer or a networked hard drive, from within PDF Expert. Why would I need to do that in a PDF app? No clue, but the fact that I can do that is amazing.

What about you? Is there an app you always forget about, but ultimately couldnt use your iPad Pro to get work done without it?
Figure 1: Year-on-year changes in GII rankings Figure 1: Year-on-year changes in GII rankings

At a press conference on Monday for the release of the GII, questions arose regarding the exact definition of innovation. It was clarified that researchers adhered to the OECDs Oslo Manual, which defines innovation as the implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service) or process, a new marketing method, or a new organisational method in business practices, workplace organisation or external relations.

The report compiled by WIPO, Cornell University and INSEAD, ranked national economies by measuring innovative activity within five pillars: (1) institutions, (2) human capital and research, (3) infrastructure, (4) market sophistication, and (5) business sophistication.

Time to refocus

Bruno Lanvin, INSEAD Executive Director for Global Indices, described the growth of global economies as slow and remains even, adding that this will likely to be the case for a number of years.

WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said one of the objectives of the report was to renew focus on innovation. For its potential to open up new avenues of economic growth, Gurry said the field of innovation deserves policy attention from individual governments.

Lanvin encouraged national governments to promote a culture in which innovation can thrive by reinforcing global governance and anticipate regulatory obstacles, adding: Innovation is an area in which stop and go policies can be very damaging. If investment slows down from one year to the next, the benefits accrued from previous years might be erased very quickly.

Who are the leaders?

Figure 2: Top performers worldwide and leaders in innovation quality Figure 2: Top performers worldwide and leaders in innovation quality

There was little variation between GIIs top 10 economies last year and this year; Luxembourg drops from 9th place to 12th in the Global Innovation Index rankings while Germany rises from 12th place to 10th. Switzerland has maintained its top position in the rankings for the past three years. The United Kingdom and Sweden have also maintained stability during this period of time, appearing either second or third in the rankings (figure 1). This year, Sweden ranks second and the United Kingdom third, followed closely by the United States in fourth position.

Kenya and Brazil are among a list of economies labelled innovation achievers, for performing at least 10% above peers on the same GDP level. Other countries in this group include Armenia, India (which notably jumps from 81st place to 66th) and ASEAN members including Vietnam and Singapore.

China, which has enjoyed steady economic growth for years, rises to the 25th spot on the Index, becoming the first middle-income country to join this group. The country scored highly for innovation in R&D, business sophistication and knowledge and technology, also appearing in the top 25 for quality patent filling.

Adapting policies

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) stepped into the spotlight last year for its efforts in the field of innovation. Last November, the group issued the ASEAN Economic Blueprint 2025, outlining targets for the next 10 years which include plans to foster robust productivity growth through innovation, technology and human resource development, and intensified regional research and development.

During the GII release press conference, Gurry urged governments not to pay too much attention to year-on-year results, but to focus on ways to encourage global economic growth through cooperation with other economies. Last September, the UN released a 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which includes plans to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

Lanvin said: We are going to see more from emerging countries in the field of innovation in years to come. The degree to which this will happen, Lavin said, depends on the approach of individual national governments to their existing policy frameworks.

We live in a world where emerging countries need to invent their future and mature economies need to re-invent their models. Innovation in both cases is critically important.

The full report is available here.
This giant Gulliver figure in Valencias Turia Garden has just turned 25 years old.

Its afternoon in Valencia. Its been hot as hell and now its drizzling. But rain or shine, the 67-meter-long and nine-meter-high statue of Gulliver that lies in the former Turia riverbed is crawling with children, some walking across his head and others whooshing down the gigantic slides that have been worked into the folds of his clothes  in much the same way as the tiny inhabitants of the country of Lilliput did in Jonathan Swifts satirical novel, Gullivers Travels, after tying the giant Gulliver to the ground.

Weve been to a lot of places, but weve never seen anything like this, says Miriam Grailhe, a French tourist whose children are aged two and 14. Its very original.

Children climbing on Gulliver. JOSE JORDAN

Valencias Gulliver has just been chosen by the Design Museum Boston as one of the most extraordinary playgrounds on the planet. Not only that, it has been a guaranteed success with kids since it was created 25 years ago.

The sculpted play space was the brainchild of architect Rafael Rivera who worked with Manolo Martin, a specialist in folkloric Fallas art, and Sento Llobel, an artist from the so-called Valencian New School whose illustrations have been included in the first exhibition of comics from the Valencia Institute of Modern Art (IVAM).

Our idea was to create a fun place that would bring different play elements together instead of having them scattered around, says Rivera, who was commissioned by the city to create an innovative play area.

When they handed the project over to me, they had already tried to do something more realistic, recalls Llobel. But to simply have a man laid out seemed a bit grim, as if someone had died. He needed a touch of fantasy  a more man-made look.

Llobel bought all the illustrated copies of Gullivers Travels and films he could lay his hands on. In the end, I was like, This is no use to me. Im going to have to actually invent something. And after researching the fashions of the era, thats what I did.

Childproof and durable, Llobels Gulliver has proved a space that offers children a unique experience, according to Elisabet Quintana, landscape architect and member of the dePaisea editorial team  a publication that assesses childrens play zones. The approach to this kind of thing is generally standardized with the odd exception. The same thing is put up in natural parks and squares and by the beach, she says.

One of Gulliver's slides JOSE JORDAN

Quintana draws attention to the educational element of Gulliver that encompasses not only the allusion to Swifts novel, which was written in 1726, but also the inspiration taken from the Fallas monuments  the huge papier mache effigies that are set alight each year in Valencia at the end of the citys fiestas.

Of course, such a venture proved more costly than a standard childrens park, and local authorities balked at spending the required 1.2 million at the end of the 1980s after the City of Arts and Sciences further down the Turia riverbed had put them 1 billion over budget. In the event, the statues construction didnt get underway until the Valencian authorities came up with the cash in response to bids from Seville (for the 1992 Expo) and Barcelona (for the Olympics) for the figure.

But while it cost more than the average childrens park to erect, access is free, which is one of the keys to its success. It means that children from all walks of life come together to play on it. It has the value of any public area, says Rivera. It is one of those places where the city breathes and weaves people together.

English version by Heather Galloway.
Some of the best parts of summer are the long stretches of time you can spend outside without so much as a single shiver. Got some work to catch up on? WFP = Working From Park. Trying to get in shape? The world is your gym. Need to sweat out your hangover? Literally open your door.

See? Summer is so useful. So useful that not even your bodys hunger signals need to send you inside. New York is bursting with carts and trucks and wagons crammed with some of the best food in the city.

Take a scroll to get the scoop (heh) on all our favorite calorie vehicles.

If you want fried Chinese food

The Flying Pig

Where to find it: In Midtown. Usually around 112 W 46th St.!

If the owners look familiar, thats probably because Amelia accosted them while trying to figure out why they werent at work in the middle of the day. Amelia recommends The Beijing Original, and is amazed that The Flying Pig gets its meat from Albanese Meats, a butcher shop that has been part of lower Manhattan for over a century.

If you want a fancy grilled cheese

A photo posted by milktrucknyc (@milktrucknyc) on Jun 23, 2014 at 9:01pm PDT

Milk Truck

Where to find it: Always moving around, visit their website and click Locations for daily updates!

Jasmin used to get a grilled cheese every Friday as an end-of-the-week treat. She also promises that if you take a chance on the chickpea salad, you will not be disappointed.

If you want a classic soft-serve

Mr. Softee

Where to find it: 272 Bleecker St. will do. But honestly these babies are everywhere.

NOSTALGIA! Leandra can often be found with a cone of vanilla ice cream and rainbow sprinkles in hand (or a SpongeBob bar if its a special occasion), and loves that these original food trucks have outlived so many food fads.

If you want a responsible taco

Taco Truck

Where to find it: The Highline at 88 10th Ave.

All the produce used is locally-sourced and the meat is antibiotic and hormone-free. Patty especially loves the Nachos el Guero.

If you want classic halal food

The Halal Guys

Where to find it: 53rd and 6th Ave.

Verena finds Midtown a barren wasteland for lunch food and she loves The Halal Guys because theyve been making delicious and hearty meals from a cart for years  were talking 20-plus  before food trucks were even a thing. The gyro and falafel are the best.

If you want adventurous ice cream

Timon and Pumbaa have nothing on us. What worries did you cast away over the weekend? #WeKeepItReal A photo posted by COOLHAUS (@coolhaus) on Aug 7, 2016 at 6:02pm PDT

Coolhaus

Where to find it: Various locations throughout New York but often 5th Ave! Check here for daily updates.

The flavor combo possibilities, such as sea salt avocado ice cream inside a lemon rosemary olive oil cookie, are as endless as they are adventurous. Harling suggests that you arrive hungry and also check out the vegan cinnamon cookie dough ice cream inside a chocolate chip cookie.

If you want a spin on Korean food

Korilla BBQ

Where to find it: All around. Check here for daily updates!

Verena thinks variety is the spice of life and the korilla truck gives her the choice of a Korean rice bowl, Korean-meets-Mexican burrito and approximately 89,237,429 unexpected toppings.

If you want artisanal ice cream

Beatnik Parlor

Where to find it: Location changes daily (but based in Brooklyn); visit the Beatnik Parlor Instagram @beatnikparlor for location updates!

Besides serving up delicious ice cream sandwiches, funky black cones and creamsicles, this delicious food truck is courtesy of MR Model Megan and her two friends, who moved from Sacramento to Brooklyn to follow their dream of bringing beat-era ice cream to NYC.

If you want super authentic Mexican food

Tacos Morelos

Where to find it: Williamsburg, 154 N 7th Street.

Haley once stopped here randomly while in desperate need of some sustenance and spent the whole next day thinking about it, in a romantic sense. The Al Pastor taco will leave you sleepless in Seattle but in New York.

Photographed by Kayla Tanenbaum and Krista Anna Lewis.
Acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Fernando Alvarado (EFE)

Acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy failed on Wednesday to do his duty and answer the conditions proposed by Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera if the emerging party is to support the conservative Popular Party (PP) at a potential investiture vote in Congress. He should also have laid out the timetable according to which he plans to present himself before Congress to form a government in an investiture vote, as Rivera had requested.

By making clear that his candidacy in an investiture vote is dependent on main opposition party leader Pedro Sanchez of the Socialists (PSOE) giving assurances that his party will abstain, Rajoy is increasing the possibilities of complete political stalemate. The serious problem that accompanies the ineffectiveness of the country's political leaders is the chance of having to hold a third election in a year, which would cause irreparable damage to the democratic system in Spain.

Having allowed another week to go by without lifting a finger is absurd, and undermines the credibility of the discourse of Rajoy about the urgent need to form a government

The situation would not be so troubling if the ambiguous blank check that has been given by the PPs executive committee to Rajoy had come immediately after the June elections, or at least the day after Ciudadanos' offer. But having allowed another week to go by without lifting a finger is absurd, and undermines the credibility of Rajoy insistence about the urgent need to form a government. And on that point he is correct: it is unacceptable to continue with an acting government nearly eight months after the electoral adventure began.

At the same time, PSOE leader Pedro Sanchez appears determined to see the PP candidate fail at the investiture. But he is avoiding the question of what exactly would be the alternative to a no to Rajoy in Congress, without making clear what he has planned in order to avoid repeating the elections.

One group or another cannot be allowed to lead Spain into a dead-end street. Impeding the normal working of democracy is completely unacceptable, and even more so if those who are doing so have the most responsibility to see that the system works properly  i.e. the political leaders themselves. They have no authority whatsoever to continue with this dangerous game, in which one is simply trying to twist the others arm.

Political leaders have no authority to continue with this dangerous game, in which one is simply trying to twist the others arm

Rajoy must immediately make a move, and that includes offering Albert Rivera the answer that he is avoiding giving in public. And Sanchez should take more seriously his role as the leader of a party that has a wide range of responsibilities in democracy and should try to find a way out from the complicated situation this country finds itself in.

The long drawn-out deadlines for the calling of new elections, should there be no other alternative, would mean holding the vote at the end of December  again. Indeed, the vote could even fall on December 25. Political leaders can be sure that this will happen should they elude a shared responsibility, displaying weakness and continuing to hide behind sterile tactics that fail to resolve an ever-more complicated political stalemate.

English version by Simon Hunter.
DP World, one of the world's largest port operators, reported a 50 percent leap in net profit for the first half of this year on Thursday, helped by the acquisitions of the Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone and Canada's Fairview Terminal.



The company made a profit attributable to shareholders of $608 million in the six months to June 30, compared to a profit of $405 million in the corresponding period last year. EFG Hermes had forecast the company would make a quarterly profit of $432.9 million.



DP World's revenue for the first half was $2.09 billion, up from $1.90 billion a year earlier.



In July, the company said consolidated throughput for the period was 14.6 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), down 1.4 percent from a year earlier on a like-for-like basis. This refers to volumes only at ports that DP World controls.



The outlook remains uncertain, DP World said in its statement on Thursday. It added that it remained confident of meeting full-year expectations, but did not elaborate.



DP World in June said it had won a 50-year concession to develop a port project in Ecuador that would require initial investment of $500 million. The project would be conducted with DP World's local partners, Consorcio Nobis and Grupo Vilaseca.



The firm was also awarded in April a 25-year concession by the Cypriot government for the exclusive rights to operate Limassol port, in partnership with Cypriot company GAP Vassilopoulos Public.

Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh
The Company:

Over time, the Blount shipyard has built more than 365 vessels. Today, Blount Boats clients include Fire Island Ferries, Casco Bay Island Transit District, Puerto Rico and Municipal Islands Maritime Authority, Spirit Cruises, Circle Line Statue of Liberty (Hornblower), South Ferry on Shelter Island, Long Island, and the Kwajalein Army Base on the Marshall Islands.



The Case:

Blount has been building high quality, innovative shallow draft designs for 66 years. Blounts designs have created new industries such as dinner boats and mini-cruise vessels and also improved efficiency in the fishing and oil and gas industry. In April of this year, Blount Boats delivered the Atlantic Pioneer, Americas first U.S.-flagged Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) for Atlantic Wind Transfers. It began service for Deep Water Wind Block Island at the end of May. The 21-meter aluminum vessel was designed by South Boats IOW (Isle of Wight), who has designed and built approximately 81 crew transfer vessels for the European Offshore Wind Sector servicing wind farms throughout Europe. In 2011 Blount Boats signed an exclusive licensing agreement with South Boats covering the U.S. offshore wind industry. The South Boats 21m is a twin hulled, all aluminum catamaran, dual certified to USCG Subchapter T (Small Passenger) to carry up to 47 passengers and subchapter L (Offshore Supply Vessel) to carry up to 16 offshore workers. Over the past three years, Blount has delivered 30 vessels, including a series of 16-meter aluminum crew boats, built under license with Damen.

461 Water Street

Warren, RI 02885

Telephone: (401) 245-8300

Website: www.blountboats.com
The worlds third largest container shipping company initiated a new direct service from the Port of New Orleans to the west coast of South America this week. Marseille, France-based CMA CGM launched its Med Americas service with the arrival over the weekend of the container ship Pomerenia Sky at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal.

The new service is wholly-operated by CMA CGM vessels and will offer weekly and direct service to San Antonio, Chile; Callao, Peru; and Buenaventura, Columbia. The new calls are in addition to already established CMA CGM weekly South America direct calls to Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Cartagena, Columbia. Primary inbound cargo opportunities for New Orleans include fresh fruits, forest products and containerized copper to be traded on the London Metal Exchange, while export cargo will include fresh poultry and plastic resins for manufacturing.

CMA CGMs expanded service from New Orleans to the west coast of South America will greatly help New Orleans strengthen its trading position with our partners in South America, said Gary LaGrange, Port President and CEO. CMA CGM began calling the Port of New Orleans in 2009 and since has grown its business to and from the Port throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe and the Mediterranean.

CMA CGM operates 200 shipping routes between 420 ports in 160 different countries.

Stevedore Ports America will handle the cargo for CMA CGMs service at the Ports Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal.
Damen Shipyards Sharjah (DSS) in the United Arab Emirates has won a contract to build a shallow draught, self-propelled Jack-up Pontoon 3526 for the UAE-based contractor Aqua Diving Services Ltd. Once delivered, it will be used primarily to deliver offshore support services, including the provision of accommodation facilities for personnel as well as operating as a work platform with crane facilities.



Aqua Diving Services (ADS) has specifically designed the Jack-up for Middle East operations and is closely cooperating with Damen Shipyards Sharjah for the construction of the unit. The jack-up, which will be named the Aqua Rise III and will have accommodation for up to 128 personnel with a 350m of deck space and two cranes, rated at 75 and 15 tonnes respectively. The vessel will also be fitted with a helideck and life boats.



Aqua Diving Services was established in the United Arab Emirates in 1975 and today delivers a wide range of sub-sea services as well as other support to offshore oil and gas operators in the region. The company already owns and operates a fleet of two Jack up pontoons. Aqua Rise III is due for delivery in early 2018 and promises to be a state of the art vessel offering services to a long list of clients in the Arabian Gulf.



Mr. Clive Frost, Managing Director of Aqua Diving Services, commented that building the vessel of Aqua design at a high quality shipyard like Damen Shipyards Sharjah was a win-win for both parties and that he is very much looking forward to the delivery of Aqua Rise III.



Pascal Slingerland, Sales Manager Middle East for Damen Shipyards Group commented that this order is fitting in with Damens strategy to become more active in the lift-boat market and to build vessels outside the standard Damen portfolio. This is a further sign that local clients value Damens strong track record and reputation as a shipbuilder delivering superior quality at the right price.


Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) and Palmali Shipping Company have signed a set of five-year agreements based on which RS will render the whole range of services on classification and statutory surveys of ships.

Subject of the agreements concluded are 49 ships (oil tankers, chemical tankers and dry cargo ships) with the total deadweight 380 000 t. The average fleet age is nine years.

This event is significant as demonstration of confidence in the Register from one of the worlds leading operators. Signing of the agreements is considered by RS as an extension of our strategic cooperation, noted Kostantin Palnikov, RS Director General.
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Today South Carolina Ports Authority reported 2016 fiscal year-end operating earnings of $39 million, revenues of $211 million and operating expenses of $172 million.



"The Port closed the FY2016 books with solid financials, reflecting our commitment to achieving the necessary performance to support our aggressive capital investment plan," said SCPA Board Chairman Pat McKinney.



The positive financial report comes on the heels of FY2016 container volume growth reported last month. SCPA handled 1.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) during the period, an increase of 1.4 percent over the previous fiscal year.



"With modest container volume growth in spite of a tepid world economy and operating earnings up over last year, SCPA is well-positioned to continue moving forward with key strategic projects and above-market growth," said SCPA president and CEO Jim Newsome.



July Volumes

SCPA's 2017 fiscal year began in July with a TEU volume increase of 1.2 percent above the same month last year. The Port handled 177,265 TEUs in July, compared to 175,223 in July 2015.



The Port reported its strongest July on record for pier container volume, or box volume. SCPA handled 100,366 boxes at the Wando Welch and North Charleston terminals, exceeding the previous July record of 99,972 pier containers set in 2005.



"Both loaded import and export volumes were up in July, providing a strong start to fiscal 2017," Newsome said. "We believe in setting ambitious targets and expect this year's volume goals to be achieved through strength in the automotive segment, increases in specialized cargo like refrigerated cargo and plastics, continued expansion of our cargo base and solid fundamentals in the Southeastern port market."



SCPA's non-containerized cargo volumes in Charleston exceeded fiscal year plans last month by 9 percent. Charleston handled 70,773 pier tons of breakbulk cargo in July.



Inland Port Greer handled 7,303 rail moves last month. With 56,875 rail moves calendar year to date, the facility's volumes remain on track to reach 100,000 moves in 2016.



Board Action

The Board approved a contract for design consulting services for the two new ship-to-shore cranes for the Wando Welch Terminal, which are expected to be delivered in December 2017. The Board also approved the purchase of replacement crane spreader bars.


More information El Ejercito y la Armada buscan al hijo secuestrado de El Chapo Guzman

Some 300 members of Mexicos army, navy and federal police have begun combing the border between the countrys two Pacific states of Nayarit and Jalisco in search of the six men kidnapped on Monday in the upscale resort of Puerto Vallarta by the Jalisco Nueva Generacion drugs cartel. Among the kidnap victims is the 30-year-old son of El Chapo Guzman, the incarcerated head of the Sinaloa Cartel. Leading Mexican newspaper El Universal, citing unofficial sources, has reported that El Chapos other son, Ivan Archivaldo, was also taken at the same time. This has not been confirmed by the authorities.

On Wednesday, Eduardo Almaguer, Jaliscos chief public prosecutor, and the man overseeing the case, confirmed that closed circuit camera footage from the restaurant from where the men were taken showed a group of at least seven heavily armed kidnappers taking away six men from a table of sixteen. It has since emerged that one of the hostages is Juan Daniel Calva Tapia, a 53-year-old captain in the army reserve.

The two cartels are locked in a turf war for control of Mexicos Pacific coast, the location for heroin production, and where chemicals from China and India are imported

Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Almaguer refused to comment on the reports in El Universal that El Chapo Guzmans son Ivan Archivaldo was among the six men taken at gunpoint.

Anabel Hernandez, a Mexican journalist who recently interviewed Rafael Caro Quintero, the head of the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1980s and who has recently attempted to take over Sinaloa Cartel territory, says that Ivan Archivaldo was at the dinner but managed to escape from the restaurant seconds before the gunmen burst in.

This is a very powerful message from the Jalisco Nueva Generacion, says Gerardo Rodriguez, of the University of the Americas in the central city of Puebla. He believes the kidnapped men are still alive and will be used as bargaining chips in negotiations between the two cartels. If they had wanted them dead, they would have killed them on the spot, he says.

The two cartels are locked in a turf war for control of Mexicos Pacific coast, the location for heroin production, and where chemicals from China and India are imported.

Rodriguez says Mondays kidnapping will spark further violence in Jalisco. This didnt happen immediately after El Chapos arrest in January, but now that the family has lowered its guard, his rivals have attacked. In June, gunmen attacked the tiny community of La Tuna, where El Chapo grew up, even entering his mothers home there. El Chapo is now awaiting extradition to the United States.

The Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel downed a military helicopter in May 2015, killing six soldiers

In the first six months of this year, official figures show that 611 people have been murdered in Jalisco, a state with a population of 7.3 million. The figure is already higher than that for the whole of 2015. In nearby Colima, an even smaller state, 294 murders have been reported so far this year. In 2015, 189 people were murdered there.

The Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel has risen to prominence during the six-year mandate of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. This is an organization that emerged after the crisis of the self-defense groups in Michoacan and that has taken advantage of the capture of the heads of other cartels, says Rodriguez. In Michoacan, in the absence of the police and security forces, local people formed their own vigilante units to protect themselves from cartels. Eventually, Pena Nieto sent in troops to disarm the self-defense units.

The Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel downed a military helicopter in May 2015, killing six soldiers. It has also claimed responsibility for the murder of Jaliscos tourism chief. US sources say that the cartel has bought large amounts of explosives and high-powered weapons in its bid to take over Mexicos Pacific coast.

English version by Nick Lyne.
The Company:

ACR Electronics, Inc. a Drew Marine Company, designs and manufactures a complete line of safety and survival products for the marine industries and various worldwide government agencies. Products include Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons, Personal Locator Beacons, ARTEX Emergency Locator Transmitters, Search and Rescue Transponders, Strobe Lights, Life Jacket Lights, Boat Search Lights, and other associated safety accessories. The firm is celebrating its Diamond Anniversary in 2016.

The Case:

For 60 years, ACR Electronics, a Drew Marine Company, has designed and manufactured cutting edge rescue beacons and survival gear for commercial vessels, offshore workers, and boat builders. Drew Marine has acquired the Iridium tracking and communications equipment specialist in 2016. Adding new expertise and capabilities to the ACR team, the companies will continue to work together on new product initiatives in the Iridium tracking and communication sector. ACR safety gear remains the overwhelming choice of the US marine market, while ACR beacons have been activated to save thousands of people at sea.

5757 Ravenswood Road

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312

Tel: (954) 981-3333

Website: www.acrartex.com

CEO/President: Gerry Angeli
Company blames softer market conditions; plan to add 1.5 mln TEU to Terminal 3 delayed into 2017.



DP World, one of the world's largest port operators, is delaying the expansion of Dubai's Jebel Ali port, its main facility, because of softer market conditions, the company said on Thursday.



A plan to add 1.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) of annual capacity to Terminal 3 at Jebel Ali will be delayed into 2017, while expansion of Terminal 4 will also be slowed, DP World said without giving details.



The company had announced in July 2015 that it would invest $1.6 billion in Terminal 4, which was to be completed by 2018. Jebel Ali handles shipments not only for the United Arab Emirates but for much of the region.



Since last year, however, growth in the oil-rich economies of the Gulf has slowed because of low oil prices. Saudi Arabia's imports, for example, shrank 20 percent from a year earlier in May, according to official data released this week.



"After the 2009 financial crisis, trade helped support Dubai in part thanks to government stimulus in the region," said Dima Jardaneh, head of regional economic research at Standard Chartered. "Now Dubai's trade is feeling the impact of a contractionary economic environment and the absence of stimulus."



DP World's decision also reflected a subdued outlook for global trade flows. Expansion in the volume of world trade is expected to remain sluggish at 2.8 percent in 2016, unchanged from 2015, the World Trade Organisation forecast in April.



"(The) global trade environment remains challenging including for Jebel Ali port," DP World said on Thursday, adding that the company handled 7.4 million TEUs of cargo in the UAE during the first half of 2016, down 6 percent from a year ago.



The company had previously disclosed that its consolidated throughput for the first half - volumes at ports which the company controls around the world - was 14.6 million TEUs, down 1.4 percent.



DP World's decision may be a negative omen for several other ports in the region, which launched multi-billion dollar expansion plans when oil prices were high several years ago in efforts to become trans-shipment hubs for the Gulf.



Abu Dhabi has said it aims to increase the capacity of its new Khalifa Port, only about 50 kilometres (30 miles) down the coast from Jebel Ali, to 15 million TEUs by 2030 from 2.5 million TEUs at present, depending on demand. Qatar and Oman are expanding their ports.



Also on Thursday, DP World reported a 50 percent jump in net profit attributable to shareholders during the first half to $608 million, helped by the acquisitions of Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone and Canada's Fairview Terminal.



DP World's revenue for the first half was $2.09 billion, up from $1.90 billion a year earlier.

By Hadeel Al Sayegh and Tom Arnold
Port Manatee says it has signed an agreement to keep Del Monte fruit coming into the Florida Gulf Coast port for as many as 20 more years.

Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A. Inc., which has imported fruit into the deepwater Florida seaport since 1989, is now signed to a lease extension with Port Manatee through August 30, 2021, with options for three additional extensions of five years each. If all options are exercised, Del Monte will be doing business at Port Manatee until at least 2036.

Extension of Port Manatees long-term partnership with Del Monte demonstrates the mutual commitment on the part of our port and a most-valued tenant, said Betsy Benac, chairwoman of the Manatee County Port Authority, which at its meeting today [August 18] approved the new agreement for Del Montes distribution facility at Port Manatee.

Port Manatees executive director, Carlos Buqueras, added, We look forward to sharing success with Del Monte for decades to come.

One of the North Americas largest marketers and distributors of fresh produce, Del Monte deploys refrigerated vessels to weekly import bananas and pineapples from Central America via containers and pallets. Export cargo includes linerboard that is used for packaging, as well as various third-party containers and project cargos.

We are very pleased to continue our relationship with Port Manatee, said Brian Giuliani, Del Montes Port Manatee-based port manager. The cooperation with Port Manatee is exceptional and has been vital to the growth of our business at Port Manatee.

Since 1989, Del Monte has moved 8.7 million short tons of cargo through Port Manatee, while Del Montes Southeast distribution center at Port Manatee has flourished to become the companys second-largest U.S. facility.

Located Where Tampa Bay Meets the Gulf of Mexico, Port Manatee is the closest U.S. deepwater seaport to the expanded Panama Canal and Cubas Port of Mariel, with 10 40-foot-draft berths serving container, bulk, breakbulk, heavylift, project and general cargo customers. The port generates more than $2.3 billion in annual economic impact for the local community, while supporting more than 24,000 jobs, without levying ad-valorem taxes.
Kleven has signed a contract with DESS Aqua, a joint venture company established by Marine Harvest Norway and Deep Sea Supply, on the building of a fish harvesting vessel for carrying salmon from fish farms to processing plants.



The vessel will be delivered from Myklebust Verft in March 2018, and is of SALT 425 FHV design from Salt Ship Design. The contract also includes an option for a second vessel.



There is impressive research and development work being done in the fish farming industry, and this is absolutely an interesting market for us to be in, said Stale Rasmussen, CEO of Kleven.



This is a new type of vessel for us, and we look forward to working closely with the ship owner, design company and equipment suppliers on this project, Rasmussen said.



In addition to this latest contribution to the Myklebust Verft order list, the list also includes five fishing vessel to international owners, and two live fish carriers for a Norwegian owner
1838 - The Exploring Expedition led by Lt. Charles Wilkes embarks on a world cruise.



1908 - The first Navy Nurse Corps superintendent, Esther Voorhees Hasson, is appointed. Under her leadership, 19 additional nurses are recruited and trained for naval service during 1908.



1943 - USS Philadelphia (CL 41) and USS Boise (CL 47) and four destroyers shell Gioia, Taura, and Palmi on the Italian mainland.



1966 - The first ship-to-shore satellite radio message is sent from USS Annapolis (AGMR 1) in the South China Sea to Pacific Fleet Headquarters at Pearl Harbor.



1995 - USS Tucson (SSN 770) is commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk. Forced to sortie on its scheduled commissioning date to avoid Hurricane Felix, the Los Angeles-class fast attack submarines commissioning was rescheduled Sept. 19, but prior to the ceremony, the boats commanding officer decreed it was Aug. 18 for the 2-hour ceremony.





(Source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Communication and Outreach Division)
On Wednesday, Indonesian Independence Day, the southeast Asian country sank 60 vessels  58 foreign boats and two domestic vessels  it captured for unlawfully fishing in its territorial waters.

The government said the action marked Indonesia's commitment to "enforcing the law" amid attempts to stop foreign fishermen from "stealing" from its waters.

Maritime and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said the ships were sunk at eight locations across the Indonesian archipelago.

But unlike past boat-sinking events, which were broadcast on national television, yesterday's ceremony was markedly toned down, with officials barring media coverage. They have also refused to disclose the vessels' countries of origin.

"I think it is already quite a strong message [to foreign countries and their fishing fleets]," Pudjiastuti told journalists on Wednesday, as quoted by The Jakarta Post.

Pudjiastuti has organized the destruction of more than 200 illegal fishing boats since 2014. The government of President Joko Jokowi Widodo has taken a hardline stance against illegal fishing, partly driven by the need for Indonesia to show its neighbours, including China, that it is in control of its vast territory of 17,000 islands.

Since elected, Jokowi has intensified a campaign to exercise Indonesia's maritime sovereignty, and has blown up and sunk scores of foreign vessels.
President of Indonesia Joko Widodo, commonly known as Jokowi, has vowed to transform Indonesia, which includes 17,000 islands into a maritime power, and also includes plans to improve port infrastructure, as well as plans to fund a massive infrastructure programme, according to Bloomberg.

Indonesia announced on Wednesday evening that it will seek to change the name of the South China Sea to the Natuna Sea in the area within 200 miles of its Natuna Islands, reports SCMP.

Ahmad Santosa, the Chief of Task Force 115, an agency combating illegal fishing, said the proposal will be given to the United Nations, adding that if no one objects ... then it will be officially the Natuna Sea.

The plan would involve renaming the sea surrounding the Natuna Islands, which lie to the northwest of the Indonesian part of Borneo, within their 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

The government has announced that it will deploy warships, an F-16 fighter jet, surface-to-air missiles, a radar and drones to the Natunas, as well as constructing new ports and improving an airstrip.

Joko said: "Indonesia has to be actively involved in promoting the resolution on South China Sea spat through negotiation and peaceful measures. We will develop areas such as Entikong, Natuna and Atambua so that the world sees Indonesia as a great nation that pays attention on every inch of its land.

To develop the Natuna Islands, Indonesia will also build an integrated fisheries area, which will include a 200 tonne cold storage capacity.

Developments are also set to take place in the Natuna Islands, which is close to where it is currently involved in a dispute with China in the South China Sea.

Indonesias navy has been involved in several altercations with Chinese fishing boats and coast guard vessels off the gas-rich Natuna Islands in recent months. Beijing claims the waters around the islands as part of its traditional fishing grounds.

The South China Sea has been the site of numerous clashes over territorial claims, with China asserting its claim more aggressively in recent months with extensive land reclamation and building of military facilities on reefs and islands in the sea.

While Indonesia doesnt have any territorial disputes with China, and Beijing hasnt challenged Indonesias control of the Natunas, Indonesian coast-guard vessels have confronted Chinese fishing boats there several times this year.

Meanwhile, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has warned of a new style of colonialism that could take away Indonesia`s freedom.

"If we are not prudent in maintaining our freedom, it is not impossible that it would be snatched again by a new style of colonialism. A form of colonialism that no longer intimidates by using weaponry but by using economic power to colonize a country," the minister stated at a ceremony to celebrate Indonesias Independence Day on Wednesday.
Malaysian and Indonesian maritime authorities were searching for a fuel tanker with 10 crew members on board that has disappeared in an apparent hijacking.

According to a Reuters report, the oil tanker carrying 900,000 litres of diesel has been hijacked and taken into Indonesian waters, Malaysian maritime authorities said.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said in a statement that the ship, Vier Harmoni, has been located in the waters off Batam, Indonesia. The MMEA said they have yet to confirm the identity of the hijackers.

But, according to Indonesian Navy, the oil tanker, believed hijacked in Malaysia, has been taken back to Indonesia by its crew following a commercial dispute.

"The preliminary assessment is the vessel was not hijacked but was taken by the crew back to Batam," the Indonesian Navy said in a statement referring to the island near Singapore.

The fact is: MT Vier Harmoni, carrying 900,000 litres of diesel, went missing after leaving the Tanjung Pelepas port on the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia on Tuesday before it was relocated in the waters off Batam, Indonesia.

But media reports provided different viewpoints.

Later the MMEA director Ahmad Puzi Ab Kahar said "the initial investigation showed that the ship was rushed because of internal problem," adding that further investigations regarding the incident were underway.

The incident is "linked closely to internal problems between the [Indonesian] owner, the [Malaysian] charterer and the [Indonesian] crew," said Mohamad Taha Ibrahim of the MMEA.
China is working with Japan and South Korea to arrange foreign minister talks next week, pairing a hard-line stance on maritime issues with a greater willingness for dialogue, says a report in SCMP.

The Tokyo Shimbun daily said the three countries were making arrangements for the meeting to be held on Aug. 23 and 24 in Tokyo to lay the groundwork for a three-way summit that Tokyo is set to host this year.

According to Reuters, last month, a senior Japanese foreign ministry official said Japan was considering holding the meeting in late August, but the flare-up in Sino-Japanese tension had fueled concern it was difficult to have such a meeting now.

Citing unnamed diplomatic sources, the Beijing-datelined story said it was possible that Japan's Coast Guard rescue of Chinese fishermen last week had warmed China to the idea of sending Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Japan for the meeting.

The three-way foreign ministers and summit meetings are an important framework on discussions of pressing regional issues, such as North Koreas nuclear and missile programs.

Tension between Japan and China mounted this month after a growing number of Chinese Coast Guard and other government ships sailed near disputed islets in the East China Sea.
Acting Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will attend an investiture debate in Congress on August 30. The first vote, at which he will need to secure an absolute majority in order to be reinstated as the countrys prime minister, will be held on August 31, while the second, at which a simple majority will suffice, will take place on September 2.

The date was agreed today with the speaker of the house, Ana Pastor, after Rajoy met with the leader of emerging center-right group Ciudadanos, Albert Rivera. The latter politician had imposed a series of six conditions on Rajoy and his Popular Party (PP) before he would consider supporting the conservative force at an investiture vote.

Among those conditions was a promise to combat corruption within his own party, as well as a commitment to setting a date for the investiture debate. After Rajoys agreement today with the conditions set out by Ciudadanos, the two parties will now begin to negotiate the vote in favor of Rajoy from the groups 32 deputies.

If Rajoy were to fail to win the investiture vote  as happened to the Socialist Partys Pedro Sanchez several months ago, who also secured the support of Ciudadanos  the clock would start ticking on a third general election, after the inconclusive polls in December 2015 and June 2016, both of which saw the PP garner the most votes but fall short of an absolute majority.

According to the calendar, Spaniards could be called out to the polls on December 25, an unheard of date for Spanish elections.

I am in a position to attend the investiture session when the speaker of Congress believes it to be opportune, Rajoy told reporters earlier today after accepting the six conditions that had been set out by Ciudadanos to begin negotiations to support the PP.

At least this clears a path, a blocked one, the only one possible, so that we can all forget about third elections, says Ciudadanos leader Rivera

I have asked him to sign the anti-corruption pact and he assured me he would sign it, Rivera told reporters after meeting with Rajoy.

But even if the leaders are successful with their negotiations, the PP candidate will still not have enough support to be voted in as prime minister in the first round. For that he will need the support of the main opposition Socialist Party (PSOE), or in the second round, where just a simple majority is needed, 11 abstentions.

I will ask Sanchez for his assistance, Rajoy said on Thursday. I will try to talk to him.

Rivera stated once more, however, that he has no intention of forming part of a possible Rajoy government, and said that while he had not had any contact with the PSOE, he called on party leader Pedro Sanchez to reflect with a sense of the state. Sanchez has so far been unwilling to either support Rajoy in an investiture vote or abstain in the second round of voting, thus making way for him to be reelected as prime minister.

At least this clears a path, a blocked one, the only one possible, so that we can all forget about third elections, the Ciudadanos leader told reporters.

Its the time for negotiation, to talk about Spaniards and their problems, he explained after his meeting with Rajoy, which lasted just over an hour. Being useful is much more important that believing that you are important. If there are any politicians who are banking on a third general election, I want to say that they must banish that from their minds. This country is going to establish a minority government and a plural parliament. There are some who are playing with the patience of Spaniards. It is the time to start work.

On August 10, Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera gave Rajoy the six-point memorandum of conditions the PP would have to meet if it wanted his partys support in forming a minority government. Rajoy then waited a week before meeting with PP leaders regarding the demands.

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Ciudadanos six points are that Rajoy must set a date for his investiture debate in Congress, expel party officials targeted in corruption investigations, end judicial privileges for elected officials, change electoral law, end amnesties and pardons in corruption cases, limit the prime ministers mandate, and create a parliamentary commission to look into the so-called Barcenas case involving illegal cash payments to PP officials.

Rajoys party won the most seats at the general elections in December and again at the repeat vote in June, but failed to secure a majority both times around, garnering 137 seats at the latter poll.

English version by Simon Hunter.
In contrast to an international downturn, French port Marseille Fos has reported exceptional results for July with 7.8 million metric tons of cargo and 387,000 passengers  up by 18.6 percent and 13 percent respectively on the same month last year.

General cargo totaled 1.64 million metric tons (up 8 percent) after growth in all three sectors  containers, ro-ro and conventional. Box throughput rose 11 percent to more than 1 million metric tons, representing a 12 percent unit increase to 112,768 teu. Traffic through the Fos deep sea container terminals is now 4 percent ahead on the first seven months of last year, while the Terminal de Mediterranee in Marseille set a July record for its container activity.

Liquid bulks were 26 percent better at 5.11 million metric tons. Oil and gas volumes rose 28 percent to 4.76 million metric tons, which included crude imports up 41 percent on 3 million metric tons and LNG soaring 71 percent to 620,000 metric tons. Liquid chemicals and agro-products increased by 4 percent increase to 350,000 metric tons.

Dry bulks gained 3 percent for 1.07 million metric tons, largely due to imports of raw materials for the steel industry rising by 8 percent to 790,000 metric tons.

Passenger throughput was notable for a 31 percent increase in cruise numbers to 199,000. Those in transit rose 36 percent to 149,000, while the home port total of 50,000 marked an 18 percent improvement. Ferry carryings on North Africa and Corsica services were 1 percent down on July last year at 188,000.
More than 500 passengers and crew evacuated from burning Caribbean Fantasy, a combination cruise and ferry ship, about a mile off Puerto Ricos north coast Wednesday, though there were no reported fatalities or life-threatening injuries.

The burning ferry was abandoned to the flames after firefighters decided that continuing to fight the blaze was too risky.

The 561-foot-long (171-meter-long) ship, owned by America Cruise Ferries, ran aground near a small island off San Juan and authorities said it was likely to sink.

The fire reportedly began in the engine room of the ship and is spreading to other compartments on board, the US Coast Guard said in a statement.

The Coast Guard said multiple air and surface craft were dispatched to rescue passengers, including a coast guard cutter.

The U.S. Coast Guard brought passengers to the shore. Other agencies also joined the rescue effort until fire forced them to abandon the ship. Although there were no fatalities, many required medical care.

Meanwhile, the stricken ship was towed to the Isla de Cabra where investigators were trying to figure out what sparked the fired.

The ship, which has a crew of 26, transports mostly Dominican passengers back and forth from San Juan to the Dominican Republic.
ACR Electronics, Inc., shares a milestone registration update from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) database which recently hit a record number of 500,000 registered 406 MHz emergency beacons. The beacon to make that milestone was an ACR Electronics ResQLink Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), owned by a Coast Guard Auxiliary member in Rhode Island. Shortly after that the 500,001st beacon successfully registered was an ARTEX Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT).



Beacons come in three designs used for different applications. Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) which are mounted on boats, Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) used by outdoors enthusiasts and Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs), which are installed on airplanes. NOAA is the governing agency in the United States of America which is responsible for compiling all US beacon owners registration data.



Registration is free. Your registered information will give Search and Rescue (SAR) key information which may make the difference between life and death.



Distress radio beacons more commonly known as 406 MHz emergency beacons, are essentially radio transmitters that can be activated in a life-threatening emergency. The signals they transmit then summon emergency assistance from Search and Rescue; these beacons communicate directly with the intergovernment owned and operated Cospas-Sarsat satellite system. It is important that the SAR personnel on the receiving end of the distress notification have the most accurate information as possible.



Beacon registration with NOAA is required by law. If an individuals contact information such as their phone number, address or a new boat is acquired, that information must be updated. If one sells their 406 MHz beacon NOAA should also be notified. Giving a description, proper medical and emergency contact information is integral in helping Search and Rescue when responding to a deployed beacon.



ACR Electronics is the largest US manufacturer of 406 MHz beacons and remind their customers to register their beacons by including NOAA registration forms along with a stamped envelope with all of the beacons they sell in the United States.



ACR also encourages and promotes beacon registration by hosting 406Day, which is an awareness day with a play on the date April 6th (4/06). ACR Electronics and their partners use 406Day to create online awareness of the benefits and responsibilities of owning a 406 MHz beacon. A slew of messages are broadcast from various social media accounts and via editorial stories which include messages on beacon protocol and safety tips.


The Company:

With about 82 employees, Robert Allan Ltd. is Canadas most senior consulting Naval Architectural firm, established in Vancouver, B.C. in 1930. The company has earned an international reputation for innovative, successful designs for a wide range of ships and has been a leader in creating cost-efficient vessels for service in the marine transportation industry.



Primary Product / Service:

Ship Design Robert Allan Ltd. has an experienced, professional staff of Naval Architects and Engineers capable of handling any type of ship design, but the company is best known for tackling the innovative and unusual design problem. Starting by working with our clients to develop a clearly defined statement of operational requirements, design drawings and specifications are prepared to suit the clients specific vessel and construction requirements and budget. The scope of services can range from concept outlines, through complete design documentation for contract bidding and Classification Society approval, to construction working drawings. Use of the latest in CAD facilities expedites and improves the accuracy of every aspect of the ship design process. Marine Engineering analysis services are offered in a wide range of subjects, as well. Robert Allan Ltd. offers professional consulting services in a wide range of marine engineering topics. Fully qualified, experienced staff is supported by a network of professional associates in specialized disciplines, and by extensive in-house computing facilities. Marine Engineering analysis services are offered in a wide range of subjects, as well.



Recent Highlights / Deliveries / Contracts:

Robert Allan Ltd. and Sanmar have introduced the new VectRA series of Voith tractor tugs. The new and innovative VectRA 3000 Class Tug is a high performance VSP Tractor tug designed by Robert Allan Ltd in close collaboration with Turkish ship builder Sanmar and Voith Turbo Propulsion. Performance has been verified with extensive model tests at the commencement of the design cycle. The unique propulsion arrangement features high speed diesel engines connected to the Voith units via reduction gearboxes with integral clutches. With a bollard pull of 70 tonnes, the VectRA 3000 form can generate escort steering forces in excess of 100 tonnes. In early 2015, Robert Allan was awarded a contract to provide 4 customized versions of its distinctive RAzer series designs of ASD tugboats to the Indonesia Port Corporation, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia III (Persero), commonly known as Pelindo III. While Robert Allan Ltd. had long been very active in the Asian market, these designs were its first specifically designed for an Indonesian client in one of the largest tugboat markets in the world.



The Case:

Robert Allan Ltd. is a world leader in innovative Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, with a particular focus on the Tug and fireboat sectors. Robert Allan Ltd. has won many awards for their design work from a variety of publications.

230-1639 West 2nd Avenue

Vancouver, British Columbia

Canada V6J1H3

Telephone: (604) 736-9466

Website: www.ral.ca
The Company:

The Schottel Group is one of the worlds leading manufacturers of propulsion and steering systems for ships and offshore applications. Founded in 1921, the company develops and manufactures azimuth propulsion and maneuvering systems, complete propulsion systems with power ratings of up to 30 MW and steering systems for vessels of all types.

The Case:

Since the 1950s, Schottel has propelled inland vessels with Z-drives and individually fitted thruster concepts. The firms expertise is well represented by strong pushboats in Brazil, river cruise vessels in Europe and at home on U.S. inland rivers. Schottel now offers even more robust Rudderpropellers thanks to optimized coating processes. The result is maximum corrosion protection due to optimized resistance to abrasion and greater adhesive force in combination with thicker coats of paint. The environment benefits because paints contain lower quantities of volatile organic compounds and are harmless to aquatic organisms. The smooth surface inhibits adhesion of marine organisms, thereby contributing to improved durability and efficiency. If requested, a self-polishing, antifouling final coat can be applied.

Mainzer Strae 99, 56322 Spay

Rhein, Germany

Tel: 49 2628 610

Website: www.schottel.de

CEO Schottel GmbH: Dr. Christian Strahberger
The Hong Kong Shipowners Association (HKSOA) on Thursday called on the city's authorities to provide assistance to the crew of a Hong Kong-flagged coal ship off the east coast of Australia that is running out of food and fuel.



Local Australian media and Great Britain's Guardian newspaper reported this week that the Five Stars Fujian, a 180,000 deadweight tonne capsesize class coal carrier, has been sitting in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef for the past month with supplies diminishing and salaries going unpaid.



The HKSOA said in a statement that the ship was under detention by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), off the port of Gladstone, for breaches of the Maritime Labour Convention relating to lack of provisions and unpaid wages.



"The Hong Kong Shipowners Association, while recognising that Hong Kong has not yet had ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention extended to it by China, is extremely concerned about the welfare of the seafarers on the ship, and urges the Hong Kong Government... provide all necessary assistance to the seafarers," the statement said.



It added that the ship's crew "have effectively been abandoned by the owner of the ship, including the immediate supply of provisions and fuel, as well as the repatriation of the seafarers to their homes if requested by the seafarers."



It was not immediately clear who the owner or manager of the ship were.



Arthur Bowring, HKSOA's managing director, said "there might not be a legal obligation for Hong Kong to provide such facilities, but there is an extremely strong moral and ethical obligation to do so" as Hong Kong has the world's fourth-biggest merchant fleet.



Several shipping companies, especially in the dry bulk sector which includes coal and iron ore vessels, have gone bankrupt in what is considered the worst downturn in at least 30 years. An oversupply of ships amid slowing demand for dry bulk commodities pulled down freight rates to record lows earlier this year.





Reporting by Keith Wallis
Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Thursday that rival forces had agreed to let a tanker dock at Zueitina port to load oil and take it to a safe place.

The NOC expressed concern earlier this month after reports of possible clashes between the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) and forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar.

The PFG has signed a deal to end its blockade of Zueitina and two other ports with the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, but eastern forces loyal to a separate government have threatened to block a resumption of exports.

Those forces recently mobilised near Zueitina and PFG positions, though there have been no reports of violence.

"NOC can confirm, that after considerable efforts, we have received the consent from all relevant parties to permit the Greek flag vessel New Hellas to enter Zueitina terminal in order that it will transfer a shipment to Zawiya refinery" in western Libya, the NOC said in a statement.

The NOC said the New Hellas would transport about 620,000 barrels of oil at a time to Zawiya, and that it would charter additional ships to finish the process as soon as possible.

The Zueitina storage tanks contain about 3,080,000 barrels of crude oil and 180,000 barrels of condensate, the statement said.

"I want to express my appreciation to all sides for heeding our request," NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said.

"It was the right thing to do and I think shows that when the opportunity arises, we Libyans can do the right thing. Instead of all being harmed, all will benefit."





(Writing by Aidan Lewis; editing by Susan Thomas)
The first Suezmax crude oil tanker that was slated to go through the newly expanded Panama Canal began its transit on Thursday, a public relations official told Reuters.

The Aegean Unity, a Greece-flagged Suezmax vessel coming from the U.S. West Coast, entered the Canal Thursday morning, according to Reuters' vessel tracking data.

Suezmax-sized vessels, which can carry some 1 million barrels of oil, were unable to pass through the canal prior its expansion. The new canal may help open new trade routes for oil.

The expanded Panama Canal, which opened in late June, got off to a rocky start when one Chinese container ship hit a wall during transit, gashing the side of the ship and necessitating repairs. Other ships had bumped into the canal's fenders, even ripping one off, when passing through the new locks.

The destination of the Aegean Unity was not immediately clear. It was previously in San Francisco, according to Reuters vessel tracking data.

(Reporting by Liz Hampton; Editing by Terry Wade and Bernadette Baum)
Editors' Note: MarketMinder does not recommend individual securities; the below is simply an example of a broader theme we wish to highlight.

Ever since 2008's financial crisis led the US and other governments to bail out many banks, the issue of bigness-as in, too big to fail (TBTF)-has been a prime source of consternation. At issue: The belief some firms are simply too big, complex and/or interconnected to be allowed to fail, granting these firms an unfair taxpayer backstop. This, many allege, was at the heart of the crisis, because many TBTF banks and insurers took too many risks, ensuring a systemic crisis and bailouts. For years post-crisis, officials have dialed up regulation on these firms, dubbed "systemically important financial institutions" (SIFI), ostensibly to prevent the next crisis. But last week, news got more interesting when one firm applied to escape SIFI designation-and another was released under court ruling. While it's uncertain whether this starts a trend of SIFI rollbacks, it could be a sign the financial regulatory climate is thawing at last-an incremental positive for Financials stocks.

In the US, the post-crisis reform-2010's Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act-created the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), an organization authorized to identify and monitor potential financial system risks. The FSOC in turn got the power to dub the biggest, most interconnected financial firms SIFI-thus sticking them with higher capital requirements, stress tests and stricter oversight from the Federal Reserve, including having its share buyback and dividend payment plans subject to regulatory review.

Whether you cheer or jeer this expanded oversight, SIFI limits firms' flexibility and boosts their compliance costs. From an investor's standpoint, it's also less than optimal because the criteria aren't exactly crystal clear. While higher capital requirements aim to minimize bank runs, they won't prevent panics-firms will just have a bigger buffer, giving them more time to ride out the storm. But if depositors demand their money back en masse, the firm will still have a big problem when the additional capital runs out. Now, some suggest these firms actually benefit from SIFI status, as lenders see them as safer and charge lower rates. That, however, is a theory lacking a counterfactual. Compliance costs are more explicit, and there is ample evidence firms want to reduce them.

General Electric is one such firm. After shedding much of its legacy finance business, GE filed a request with the FSOC to remove its SIFI designation. GE claims cutting its finance division by more than half since 2012 means it no longer qualifies as "systemically important." If you think TBTF is an issue, this is probably something to see as a success, as GE is a non-bank (notwithstanding the finance unit) that restructured itself to avoid being a SIFI. Or, in other words, the rules inspired the firm to get smaller, which is part of the intent. That said, it remains to be seen if it will escape SIFI status.

GE's finance arm was indeed a bank. But regulators, seeing insurer AIG's 2008 collapse as proof banks don't have the monopoly on panic-inducing failures, wanted to rope in non-bank financials (asset managers and insurers). Hence, they designated insurance firm MetLife a SIFI in 2014, and considered expanding oversight to mutual fund firms and others. That push is now in question.

MetLife sued the FSOC in 2015, claiming it didn't warrant SIFI designation. Last week US District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer agreed. The opinion was issued under seal, but Judge Collyer's comments during a February hearing offer insight into her decision. She appeared to side with Metlife, noting the FSOC's decision to designate them SIFI began with an assumption Metlife will fail, instead of determining the likelihood it would fail. Collyer retorted, "That's not risk analysis. That's assuming the worst of the worst of the worst."

It's a valid point, and also one calling into question the entire idea of bank stress tests, as they also assume the worst case scenario will happen and then determine if banks have enough capital to survive. Other SIFIs, if this ruling establishes sufficient precedent, could conceivably use this as a rationale to challenge their SIFI designation as well. The judge also commented that the SIFI designation didn't take into account the economic effect on the insurer-a cost-benefit analysis. If this ruling survives an appeal, the FSOC may be forced to consider this as part of their process for determining whether a firm is SIFI. Combined, the ruling may lead to the FSOC developing stricter guidelines for how they deem a firm SIFI, or perhaps just quell the push into non-banks generally.

While oversight of Financials is important, SIFI was always a solution seeking a problem. Banks already have lots of oversight, at the state and national level. This covers a slew of regulations, including minimum capital and reserve requirements. Even with all this oversight, bank runs can still happen, and when they do they can be disruptive. But those runs rarely occur outside of financial crises, which are themselves rare. There is little to suggest tightening requirements and constraining dividend payments for only the biggest banks would prevent a crisis. It wouldn't have prevented 2008's financial crisis, which resulted from the one-two punch of an accounting rule requiring banks to needlessly write down trillions in capital and the government's haphazard response.

As applied generally to non-banks, SIFI makes little sense. Banks are subject to runs because they borrow short-term funds (account deposits) to extend longer-term loans-a maturity mismatch that could leave an otherwise viable business short of liquidity. This is why the Fed, you know, exists. Traditional insurers aren't subject to customer runs. Their long-term obligations (claims) are funded by premiums, which are invested in accordance with their long-term obligations. The impetus for considering some insurers SIFI is AIG, which was imperiled by its securities lending business's big exposure to Lehman. But no Lehman, no AIG, so it was an aftereffect-not a cause. Some argue that short-term financing issues in the commercial paper market justify the status. But here again, banks' troubles in 2008 resulted from the crisis-they didn't cause it-which is pretty much the primary quibble we have with TBTF or SIFI or whatever four-letter acronym you like.

Anyway, there is more to come on this, as Judge Collyer's ruling will be unsealed soon. That said, it may be heavily redacted, so details might be scant. Still, the ruling may have broad consequences for the seemingly never-ending quest to end "too big to fail." It's a small thing, in our view, but coupled with Bank of England chief Mark Carney's recent comment that reactionary post-2008 bank regulations-well-intentioned or not-may have had unintended negative consequences, there is a notable shift in tone. Perhaps US regulators will soon think similarly. Time will tell, but that would be a welcome development for markets and bank shareholders, who have long operated under the shadow of regulation.
COLLINSVILLEA woman who pleaded guilty to billing Medicaid for services not rendered, as well as credit card fraud was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison, but she won't spend any of that time behind bars.

In Henry County Circuit Court, Judge David V. Williams sentenced Martinsville resident Latonia E. Dickerson to two three-year prison terms. If she follows the guidelines he set out, however, she'll stay free. Williams placed the 41-year-old on supervised probation for four years in each case. Williams also ordered Dickerson to pay $3,459.83 in restitution to Medicaid and to pay $415.64 in restitution to the family of Barbara Watson.

The Virginia Attorney Generals Offices statement of facts alleges the following:

Barbara Watson was a Medicaid recipient who received services under the elderly or disabled consumer directed waiver program. This program allows Medicaid recipients to remain in their homes instead of being placed in nursing homes or assisted living facilities.

Dickerson was the attendant who cared for Watson.

Watsons family complained to the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit about the misuse of respite care hours. Respite care provides an additional pool of hours for a family member who is the primary care giver tor the Medicaid recipient and is used to give the family member a respite/break from caring for the Medicaid recipient.

James Watson, Barbara Watsons son, was her primary care giver. Barbara Watson was approved for 77 hours of attendant care bi-weekly and 480 hours of respite care to be used over a period of 24 months.

The statement of facts says: Respite care hours are additional personal care hours that are designed to provide temporary care that is normally provided by the family or an unpaid primary caregiver of the Medicaid recipient. Respite is for the relief of the primary caregiver due to the physical burden and emotional stress of providing continuous care to the recipient. These services are provided on a short-term basis because of emergency absence or the need for routine periodic relief of the primary care giver.

As service facilitator, Sharon Scales of My House to Your House was tasked with reviewing Barbara Watsons need for consumer directed services. Scales advised Dickerson she could use respite hours only after her attendant hours were used for the week if the family needed her to care for Barbara Watson. Scales also advised Dickerson she could not bill while Barbara Watson was in the hospital or a rehab/assisted living facility.

The issue of restitution involved respite care hours Dickerson billed, as well as the hours she billed while Watson was hospitalized and the hours Dickerson billed while she was working for Carlisle School as a bus driver.

Watson was hospitalized in Memorial Hospital in Martinsville from July 21-23, July 30 through Aug. 2, and Sept. 19 and 23, all in 2014. She was admitted to Stanleytown Rehab Center from Aug. 2 through Sept. 4, 2014. She was at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, from Sept. 23 through Oct. 5, 2014.

From Nov. 24 through Dec. 4 (the day she died), 2014, she was a patient at Golden Living Rehab Center.

In the credit card fraud case, while employed to care for Barbara Watson, Dickerson had access to Barbara Watsons bank card/credit card. Rita Watson called Dickerson shortly after Barbara Watson died on Dec. 4, 2014, to tell Dickerson that Barbara Watson had died and to request Dickerson to return Barbara Watsons bank card/credit card.

Investigator Jason Keller of the Henry County Sheriffs Office determined that Dickerson used Barbara Watsons bank card/credit card on two occasions after she died: an ATM withdrawal of $403 at Walgreens at about 3 p.m. on Dec. 4, 2014, and for $12.64 worth of items at Dollar General at about 8:20 a.m. on Dec. 14, 2014.

Dickersons lawyer, Kimberly Belongia, said in court Wednesday that her client's health has declined in recent months, that she has had a number of surgeries, and that she wants to get the charges behind her. Dickerson used a walker in the courtroom.

Paul Collins reports for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at paul.collins@martinsvillebulletin.com.
I take this opportunity to comment on the letter Parents should be responsible for their kids, which appeared in the Aug. 15 edition of the Bulletin.

In my opinion, the writer raised outstanding children. He has two sons who are decorated members of the U. S. Army; one still active. As a citizen of the United States, I offer my sincere thanks and appreciation to his two sons for serving and protecting our great country - The United States of America! They are, indeed, noble Americans!

The writer has one son who was previously in law enforcement, which is a noble profession; and now, along with his brother, they have outstanding careers with a Fortune 500 manufacturing company.

The writer also has a child who is a RN serving in the local hospital ER. As a former employee of Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County, I have great appreciation for the dedicated skilled medical care that nurses provide to patients. In addition to medical care, nurses are unselfish and sincerely provide kindness, patience, compassion, sympathy, listening skills, grace, loving smiles, and yes, I have seen many tears as nurses experienced the life and death situations of their loved patients. No profession, in my opinion, is nobler than that of being a nurse and other direct patient care providers.

What parents call their children, how they teach respect and love, and how they provide protection; and yes, most importantly, teaching the Grace of God, are the parents responsibility.

Students must be taught to respect others by their parents. Students are responsible for maintaining the respect of their teachers. Teachers must earn and maintain the respect of their students. Students need to hear and feel that they are valuable and important. I believe the way students are addressed by teachers, principals and school officials affects the self-image of students.

In my previous letter, I said that I was talking with students about what they wished to be called, students or kids. So far, the answer has been student! One student volunteered this comment, My teacher is mean! The student and teacher look alike.

Rather than debate the issue of kids or students, take a poll among students and give them the opportunity to solve the issue.

I believe that teachers, principals, and school officials - and newspapers and other media should refer to students as students. Parents, of course, it is your choice to call your children kids. However, have you asked your children their opinion?

Do elders, professionals, school leaders and parents want to be called dudes, a term Bulletin reporter Ben Williams mentioned in his commentary?

Benny Shires is a resident of Collinsville
If you're looking for stylish dining, La Veracruzana in Amherst isn't likely to be your "thing."

It's an operation often fondly referred to as "a hole in the wall"; the small South Pleasant Street storefront it occupies is a visual jumble of blackboards, posters, menu placards, open kitchen, and crowded-close furnishings.



Flavor and affordability, on the other hand, are the eatery's strong suit. Its owner, Martin Carrera, has brought together family recipes and his own food experiences to produce Mexican-style fare that honors the tradition of great taste and good value.



The menu at La Veracruzana is displayed on an oversized chalkboard; cards haphazardly stuck onto the chalkboard's frame describe menu add-ons.



The kitchen agenda includes choices such as Chiles Rellenos ($11.50), Enchiladas Das Suizas (cheese and sour cream -- $11.50), and Taquitos ($8) as well as better-known possibilities like Quesadillas ($5), West Coast Style Burritos ($9), and Tacos filled with chicken ($4) or beef ($6).



A few entree-style creations are also available. These include Puntas de Filete (sirloin tips in red sauce -- $18) and a Red Snapper Filet ($15) prepared in the style of Veracruz.



Those with a taste for the more exotic might indulge in Beef Tongue Tacos with Onions ($10) or Salvadoran-style Pupusas (grilled corn cakes -- $6).



The chalkboard menu offers a few starters like Sopa Azteca (chicken and tortilla soup -- $5) and corn-tortilla Quesadillas (cheese -- $5 and chicken or beef -- $7), but we launched right into the thick of things by ordering an entree plate of Chicken Tamales ($10).



Tamales are a good benchmark against which to measure a cook's skill. When not properly made, they can be heavy and unappetizing.



The tamales at La Veracruzana displayed no such deficiencies; the cornmeal masa filling was light and tender. Shredded and seasoned chicken meat was at the heart of each tamale, and that mixture's spice profile proved to be surprisingly understated.



Not so, however, with the Seafood Enchiladas ($14) we sampled. Generously filled with "jumbo" shrimp and mild cheese, the two corn tortilla wrap-ups had been baked in an enchilada sauce with a subtle yet sneaky heat. Definitely a dish we'd order again.



Most entree plates at La Veracruzana include rice and beans. The former is flavored with a hint of tomato and spice; the beans are part smooth, part whole-bean texture and have suggestions of lard and smoke.



Our tamales also came with a side of guacamole, a creation distinctively infused with lime juice and salt as well as diced onion and tomato.



Also available to amp up anything on the menu is La Veracruzana's salsa bar, a help-yourself assortment of options that range from Suave (mild) to Diablo (hot). Jalapenos en escabeche, a house specialty, is a zingy combination of vinegared jalapenos, carrots and onions.



Beef Fajitas ($7.50), a Southwestern style specialty, is afforded an unusual treatment at La Veracruzana. The kitchen does the assembly, folding the grilled steak strips inside a flour tortilla along with salsa, green pepper, sauteed onions, and shredded cheese.



The result is more burrito-like than the typical assemble-it-yourself rendition, but we definitely enjoyed the fajitas, even though the salt level of the dish was rather pronounced.



La Veracruzana is fully licensed, which means it pours a selection of bottled beers, several wines by the glass, and cocktail specialties such as pina coladas and margaritas. Soft drinks, including several that are sweetened with cane sugar, are available as well.



For dessert the restaurant limits itself to a couple of options - a Tres Leches Cake and Caramel Flan (both $5). The latter was a large, shareable portion with a dark, slightly bitter caramel flavor and dense texture that staked out space between cheesecake and custard.



La Veracruzana also operates on Main Street in Northampton, offering a similar menu and style of service delivered in somewhat larger quarters.



Name: La Veracruzana Mexican Restaurant

Address: 63 South Pleasant St., Amherst

Telephone: (413) 253-6900

Website: laveracruzana.com

Hours: Monday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.; and Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Entree prices: $6 - $18

Credit cards: MasterCard, Visa

Handicapped access: Accessible, but rest room down one flight

Reservations: Not taken




LYA 1.jpg

(Picasa)

LONGMEADOW  A Longmeadow Jewish school last month held their annual summer barbecue, at which they celebrated the Jewish community of the Greater Springfield area.

More than 160 people attended the "Sizzlin' Summer Barbecue" at Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy on Converse Street on July 27, a statement from the school says. Attendees gathered at the school for burgers, hot dogs and family games.

"The fun began with an inflatable obstacle course that was sponsored by Ascher Zimmerman Funeral Home," the statement says. "Youngsters and adults alike enjoyed a water activities. hair braiding, and face painting."

Barbecue food was served as a buffet, the statement said, crediting Ron Manchester with grilling food on brand new grilling equipment.

Among the highlights of the event was the bashing of three pinatas by members of Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy's staff.

"Rabbi Noach Kosofsky, principal, Miss Judi Epstein and Mrs. Stephanie Zolotor, Co-Directors of Educational, competed against each other to become the first administrator to smash open their pinata," the statement says. "Smashing the pinatas was done as a treat for all the children since LYA successfully re-registered 90% of the students for next year. Rabbi Kosofsky came in first in the pinata competition."

Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy was founded in 1946, in response to the Greater Springfield Jewish community's need for a quality Jewish day school, the school's website says. In 1999, Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy became the first Jewish day school to be accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, the website says The more than 90 students that the school serves each year from across the spectrum of Jewish life includes orthodox, conservative, reform and unaffiliated families.

Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy holds a variety of gatherings for members of the Greater Springfield community of all ages. Those seeking information about future events sponsored by the school may call 413-567-8665 or go to www.lya.org.
MGM Springfield project update

8/11/2016 -SPRINGFIELD- Demolition is complete and construction is underway at the $950 million MGM Springfield casino project in the city's South End. This is Main Street looking North at the Caring Health Center, 1049 Main St. (Don Treeger / The Republican)

(Treeger)

SPRINGFIELD -- The Massachusetts Gaming Commission unanimously voted to explore funding a $50,000 trial shuttle bus program in Springfield's downtown, as local businesses continue to struggle with limited parking due to construction on the MGM Springfield casino.

But the decision to consider the shuttle option has sparked concerns for Caring Health Center, the Main Street nonprofit which was to receive valet parking services for its patients under the commission's original plan for the mitigation funds.

The 90-day pilot shuttle program would connect South End businesses with Springfield Parking Authority lot on Worthington Street, as the city and the commission evaluate whether it is an effective way of addressing parking concerns. The city has been allocated $50,000 for the pilot, and will choose whether to fund the shuttle or Caring Health's valet service.

The new arrangement is not acceptable, Caring Health CEO Tania Barber said in a press release.

"This is an insensitive and bizarre response by the Gaming Commission, especially after they voted to approve the valet service. It doesn't address the needs of the patients," Barber said in a statement. "One quarter of our patients are parents bringing their infants and children to the Center. Others use walkers and come in wheelchairs. Many are sick. Are they supposed to wait out in the heat or cold for a shuttle that often cannot pull up in front of Caring Health's front door, because it is blocked with construction equipment?"

At Thursday's gaming commission meeting, Barber also warned commissioners that having sick patients share a shuttle bus with South End business patrons could lead to the spread of illness.

But Gaming Commission Ombudsman John Ziemba, as well as members of the commission, said they had the responsibility to explore all potential solutions and allow the city to choose how to spend the money.

"We have the constraint of making sure that money goes to these cities and towns and they figure out how the local mitigation is addressed," Commissioner Enrique Zuniga said.

Extensive, long-running roadwork has drawn complaints from businesses near the MGM Springfield site, including McCaffrey's Public House and the Caring Health Center.

Ziemba said he has reached out to the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority to run the shuttle pilot, and that they were receptive to the idea. Commissioners said they hope the city will launch the program as soon as possible.

In August, the commission had agreed to fund valet parking, which Caring Health said was needed to ensure patient access to its office across the street from the casino site. But on Wednesday the commission informed the nonprofit that it planned to explore eliminating the valet parking program and replace it with shuttle bus service between Caring Health and downtown parking lots, according to Caring Health.

Part of the $150,000 award included the authority for Gaming Commission ombudsman John Ziemba to reallocate the funds if he developed a potentially better solution to the area's parking woes, Caring Health Executive Vice President Jasmine Naylor said.

Caring Health Center had originally asked for $275,000 in mitigation funds to compensate for what it said was a significant loss of access due to casino construction.

Barber told The Republican in March that construction had led to the "loss of on-street parking for patients and visitors to CHC, increased cost of off-street parking, disrupted phone and communication services and blocked sidewalks impeding safe pedestrian access."

The mitigation funds are for already-incurred costs "and to address the continuing and ongoing impacts of construction" facing the center as a result of the $950 million construction project, the application stated.

The city's executive branch, the City Council, and MGM Springfield President Michael Mathis had all voiced support for Caring Health's fund application. And in August, the gaming commission approved a portion of the funds -- $150,000 for valet parking.

It did not grant the rest of Caring Health's request, saying it could reconsider if public parking improvements do not address the nonprofit's needs.

And now the commission has changed the deal without Caring Health's input, Barber said, alleging that since Aug. 1 the commission, MGM and city officials have held three "secret meetings and conference calls" about construction in the South End that deliberately excluded local businesses and nonprofits.

"We will work with the city, area businesses, MGM and the Gaming Commission to address larger issues, but we need the mitigation for 2015 losses and the patient valet service now! We are more than willing to extend the public purpose to Springfield Department of Health and Human Services along with Square One Childcare," Barber said. "A poorly conceived, hastily put-together solution in a back room is not the right approach."

Ziemba countered at the meeting that he had kept the nonprofit fully informed, and called them within hours of the shuttle proposal being finalized Wednesday to tell them of the new plan.

Caring Health Center receives grants from the city of Springfield and works in the city's school system, according to its mitigation fund application.

This story has been corrected to note that the pilot program could be either a shuttle bus or valet service, depending on decisions made by the City of Springfield.
PALMER  Palmer Green Estates, an 156-unit affordable housing complex, will receive renovations after collecting significant financing from the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MassHousing).

MassHousing is a semi-public institution that provides financial support for affordable housing units across the state.

Palmer Green Estates, which is covered by the federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment Contract, will receive $19.2 million in financing from MassHousing.

The company that owns Palmer Green Estates  Beacon Communities LLC  plans to use the money from MassHousing to renovate the units' bathrooms and kitchens, upgrade boilers, and replace all of the existing windows, roofing, siding, and exterior doors.



The Executive Director of MassHousing, Timothy C. Sullivan, said that Palmer Green Estates is "in need of a significant makeover."

"We were pleased to partner with them to ensure that happened," said Sullivan.

The complex consists of 156 units, including 88 one-bedroom apartments, 58 two-bedroom apartments, and 10 three-bedroom apartments. 88 of the units are reserved for senior residents.

"We are thrilled to work with MassHousing to preserve and improve this critical affordable housing resource,'' said Beacon Communities Development Director Josh Cohen.

Construction on the units is already underway and is expected to be finished by September 2017.
mohegan sun via masslive.jpg

The Agawam Lioness Club is sponsoring a Sept. 11 bus trip to Mohegan Sun to raise money for local charities and scholarships, according to club members.

(Associated Press / File Photo)

AGAWAM  Are you interested in taking a bus trip to Mohegan Sun for some fun and a good cause? If so, Rose Kieffer, a member of the Agawam Lioness Club, is the person to call at 413-786-5134.

The nonprofit club in Feeding Hills is sponsoring the "fundraising trip" to the Uncasville, Connecticut, casino on Sunday, Sept. 11, to raise money for "scholarships and various charities," Kieffer said in a news release.

The cost of the trip is $33 and includes a tip for the bus driver. The bus is scheduled to leave Agawam High School at noon.

Trip participants will receive a $30 package from Mohegan Sun, including $15 for food and $15 for a free bet at the casino.

The bus is expected to fill up up fast, according to Kieffer, who's urging people to call for reservations ASAP. "We hope you will be able to join us and support our worthy fundraiser," she said.
WEST SPRINGFIELD  Ellen Alden's interest was piqued after stumbling upon a bunch of Civil War-era letters in her attic. But after learning the letters were written by her great-great-grandfather, an Irish immigrant who settled in West Springfield in the 19th century, the Andover woman felt compelled to write a book her discovery.

"My book is based on my ancestor's Civil War letters and it depicts life for an Irish immigrant family in West Springfield during the Civil War period," said Alden. "It's a true story of Irish resilience."

Alden's research into the life of Florence Burke, who hailed from County Cork, fled the Great Potato Famine in 1848, and joined the Union Army, led her to write "Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke," a historical novel based on her great-great-grandfather's life.

The first-time author said she plans to give a talk on the book at the West Springfield Public Library in September or October. "I have not finalized the date yet," Alden said in an email to The Republican.

She said finding Burke's old letters in an antique leather box in her attic was like receiving a gift. "I feel privileged to be the writer of his story," she said. "His letters were so expressive, chilling, and unique that I wanted to share them with others. His whole life was extraordinary."

The story follows Florence from Ireland to America, where he marries his wife, Ellen, and settles in West Springfield. Florence works as a tenant farmer as he and Ellen raise their three children, but Florence can't make enough money to buy his own land and escape poverty.

Desperate, he enlists in the Union Army in place of a wealthy man's son in exchange for some land and a small house. Congress passed the Civil War conscription act of 1863, which essentially allowed wealthy people to buy their way out of military service if they could find a substitute draftee. This led to the infamous draft riots in New York City, where mostly Irish protesters were responsible for the largest civil insurrection in U.S. history, aside from the Civil War itself.

Florence was sent to Virginia to join the 37th Massachusetts Regiment, leaving his family in West Springfield shattered and confused by his decision. From this point on, the story is told from Ellen's perspective as she struggles to support her embattled husband, manage their new farm, and care for the couple' kids.

In his letters to Ellen, Florence doesn't conceal his fear of dying and his regret over deciding to join the war. He was killed during fighting in Petersburg, Virginia, in June 1864.

More information about Alden and her book is available on her website, EllenAlden.com.
The Special Technical Committee last met on 11 December 2019 and recommended that 10% of the total estimated population be controlled
The Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps inducted retired Lt. Col. William R. Schwertfeger into the Distinguished Alumni program, July 22, 2016, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

Schwertfeger was selected for this honor for his contribution to the Air Force ROTC mission and for his dedication to the Air Force while serving.

Schwertfegers military service spanned 20 years. He was commissioned through the Air Force ROTC program at Oklahoma State University. He went on to serve as an F-4 pilot during two tours in Vietnam where he accumulated over 1,000 combat hours spanning 325 combat missions. During his second tour, he was force to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a prisoner of war for 407 days until his release during Operation Homecoming. On the homefront, he served as a flight commander and deputy chief for the F-4 division at the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School and the 414th Fighter Weapons Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base and as an F-15 Eagle pilot with the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing at Holloman Air Force Base. He concluded his career as the Air Force adviser to the Kansas National Guard at McConnell Air Force Base.

Schwertfeger earned an array of awards during his time in service including a Prisoner of War Medal, a Silver Star with two devices, a Distinguished Flying Cross with three devices, a Purple Heart with one device, a Bronze Star Medal, a Meritorious Service Medal with two devices, an Air Medal with six silver and four bronze oak leaf clusters, an Air Force Commendation Medal with one device, an Award with Valor device with two bronze oak leaf clusters, a Vietnam Service Medal with one silver and two bronze oak leaf clusters, a Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with device, and a Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

The Air Force ROTC Distinguished Alumni plaque featuring Schwertfegers engraved photo and accomplishments hangs beside the previous distinguished alumni inductees in the Air Force ROTC Headquarters building here on Maxwell.

(SrA Alexa Culbert contributed to this article)
Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank.
by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, August 17, 2016

Microsoft will rebrand Bing Rewards into Microsoft Rewards in an effort to broaden the program and gain a better understanding of how individuals browse, view and use its products and services.

Learning how consumers use its products and services will help Microsoft build features into Bing Ads to support and improve ad targeting. Google provides My Activity, but Microsoft has become a little more "secretive" about the type of information it collects about user experiences across Bing, Cortana and Edge. Insiders say Microsoft collects very similar online data to Google.

While searching on Bing has historically been one way to earn points, the program now introduces the ability to earn points by browsing the Web with Microsoft Edge and shopping in Windows and Microsoft stores.

advertisement advertisement

As the person browses to earn points, Microsoft collects the amount of active browsing time on Microsoft Edge to credit the account. This requires tasks such as clicking the mouse or keyboard, touching the screen or watching a full-screen video, for example.

The rewards points are the same, but will have different values. They do not have cash values, but each 5,000 Microsoft Rewards points are redeemable for about $5 of merchandise hosted on the Microsoft Rewards redeem page. One credit in Bing Rewards is equivalent to 10 points in Microsoft Rewards. Those left with a point balance in Bing Rewards at time the program officially updates to Microsoft Rewards will be multiplied by 10.

Microsoft Rewards members can redeem points for Xbox and Windows gift cards, Microsoft Store gift cards, sweepstakes entries, charitable donations, and more. The program will continue to offer gift cards from third parties such as Amazon and Starbucks on a promotional basis.

The member tiers also will change. Member, Silver and Gold in the Bing Rewards program will become Level 1 and Level 2 in the Microsoft Rewards program. In the new program all U.S. residents are welcome to become members, whereas the Bing Rewards program required members to be U.S. residents and 13 years of age or older.

There's no word on whether the program will get a new logo or the team will produce and run television or social ads.
by Christian Baesler , Op-Ed Contributor, August 18, 2016

For every new dollar of digital advertising budget spent in Q1 of 2016, Google and Facebook earned 85 cents, according to Brian Nowak, a Morgan Stanley analyst cited in the New York Times.

This stat should serve as a wake-up call for the hundreds of high-quality content publishers competing with these giants. Google and Facebook may not look like typical content companies, but they are beating publishers by playing a totally different game.

Instead of differentiating with expensive content and endless customizations, they offer advertisers data targeting at scale, standardized ad products, and reliable metrics -- all in an easy-to-buy platform.

Rather than fight for an increasingly smaller share of the market, publishers need to work together to get back some of whats taken up by Google and Facebook.

In the U.S., publishers have focused on their own differentiated content over scalable data-driven products, which has distanced them from one another and made it harder to capture media dollars. Meanwhile, Google and Facebook have taken up bigger and bigger percentages of advertiser budgets both at the national and local level.

advertisement advertisement

To fight this trend, more than 1,000 German Web sites have taken a bold step forward, pooling massive amounts of user data onto a common platform called Emetriq in order to compete head-on with Google and Facebook. Frances La Place Media has been successful at competing with Google and Facebook, as have other cooperatives like it across Europe, where streamlined advertising products have provided big CPM improvements for its members.

However, efforts in the U.K. such as Pangaea have not caught on, for the same reason that several earlier U.S. efforts by newspaper companies didnt work: Participants focused only on slices of inventory like programmatic IAB standard sizes, provided few unified ad products, no data standards, and no easy process for measurement and payments.

It remains to be seen if the U.S. newspaper alliance Nucleus led by Tribune, Gannett and Hearst will fully embrace these required elements of success.

Advertisers dont want to cobble together 20 or 30 premium publisher relationships to equal the audience size they can get with a single order on Google or Facebook.

Publishers must work to eliminate the need for individual RFPs and insertion orders, and different data processes, performance metrics and billing. Media buyers are tired of the manual labor involved in achieving scale on premium sites today.

Google and Facebook make it easy for advertisers of all types to spend money, with mostly automated processes that scale from major brands down to the long tail  while many publishers can only afford to sell directly to the top brands or offer antiquated products to their network of local advertisers. A streamlined cooperative offering could open the doors to a wider variety of advertisers.

Companies like Kargo are also a good option for publishers today. They provide premium inventory at scale on mobile, offering unified rich-media ad products across their network of premium publishers, making it easy for advertisers to get scale.

Whats more, between click fraud, ad blocking and viewability concerns, advertisers have a complex and risky environment to navigate. They lean on safe and streamlined partners like Google and Facebook to help ease the burden. A cooperative of premium publishers that can provide safety and quality standards would be that much more valuable.

Its time for more publishers in the U.S. to coordinate their ad-sales strategies to offer a streamlined, standardized and safe set of products. A cooperative that allows publishers to sell common, valuable inventory and audiences at scale could offer advertisers something even better than Facebook and Google: safe, quality, audience-targeted inventory, adjacent to premium content.
by Thom Forbes @tforbes, August 18, 2016

AT&T announced new rate plans yesterday that eliminate surcharges for exceeding data limits in favor of slowing speeds down to a level where users really wont want to try viewing those new Pinterest Promoted Video ads. On the plus side, they wont be fretting about an extra $20 charge for exceeding 300 MB of data on its cheapest plan.

And, as Chris Mills puts it on BGR, Getting overage charges is, objectively speaking, right up there with toe-stubbing as one of the worst things that can happen in the western world.

Called Mobile Share Advantage, the new plans will be available Aug. 21. They start at $30 for 1GB of data and go up to 30GB for $135. Theres also a new 25GB plan for $190 per month for 4 lines that would have cost $235 previously. Customers who want to stay with the plans they already have can do so.

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After customers use all of their high-speed data amounts, data usage will be reduced to a maximum of 128 kbps for the rest of their bill cycle, the company says.

Last month, Verizon introduced a new Safety Mode for its own mobile plans that similarly throttles customers who go over their monthly bucket to avoid overages, points out Chris Welch for The Verge. However, Verizon charges customers on lower-tier plans for Safety Mode, whereas AT&T is eager to point out that its not tacking on anything extra. T-Mobile and its CEO, John Legere, will surely be doing a victory lap about leading this charge; the Uncarrier got rid of overages in 2014.

This just shows how competitive the market is with everyone reacting to another, Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner tellsCNETs Roger Cheng.

The carriers have all conceded that overage charges probably arent the answer, MoffettNathanson senior analyst Craig Moffett tells the Wall Street Journals Drew FitzGerald. Overage charges trigger calls in to customer service, more unhappy customers and ultimately more churn.

T-Mobiles and Sprints aggressive plays  have worked, reports Eli Blumenthal for USA Today. In the most recent quarter, T-Mobile added 1.12 million phone customers, while AT&T added 185,000.

Sprint, meanwhile, had its biggest one-day advance on the stock market in three years after CEO Marcelo Claures Q1 earnings presentation and conference call late last month. Its stock is down slightly  to a $6.01 close yesterday  after peaking at $6.25 on July 26.

The prices on AT&Ts cheapest plans are rising; those on the most expensive are dropping.

The cheapest available plan is now $10 more at $30 a month, but includes 1 GB of data (the previous low-end plan included only 300 MB). A 3 GB plan costs $40 a month, 6 GB costs $60, 10 GB costs $80 and 16 GB costs $90. Heavy data users can rejoice; the 25 GB and 30 GB plans are actually cheaper, CNETs Cheng reports.

And it wont be a total blackout when users hit their data limits.

Similar to the other carriers, AT&T will slow users' speeds to anemic, 2G-like speeds of 128kbps  on par with other carriers until the end of the customers billing cycle or until the user decides to upgrade to a larger plan. With those speeds, users can check email or do light browsing on the Web, but video watching and other data-hungry tasks will be painfully slow, USA Todays Blumenthal tells us.

AT&T is clearly trying to push people to buy bigger data plans, where the cost-per-gigabyte comes down the higher you go, suggests Brian Fung, the Washington Posts technology reporter.

AT&T's latest effort, coupled with Verizon's and T-Mobile's recent initiatives, serves as a reminder of how much carriers are vying for customer loyalty in an increasingly competitive space, writes Sara Ashley O'Brien for CNN Money below a video featuring T-Mobiles John Legere discussing the Uncarrier 11 initiative announced in June and, in his animated way, declaring that loyalty programs are broken.

But with consumers no longer tethered to carriers by contracts for cut-rate phones, loyalty may be the wrong word for what amounted to indentured service.
by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, August 18, 2016

The most recent study shows that radio remains the medium with the widest reach among Independent voters in battleground states, and it even retains that title with millennial Independents.

The Katz Media Group has been working with Nielsen throughout the 2016 cycle to conduct studies around the media consumption patterns of Independents located in swing states. The latest report of The Local Vote 2016 studied voters in the states of Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin and Colorado.

Radio is the most ubiquitous medium among Independent voters in these swing states, where 94% of these voters said they listen to radio on a regular basis, compared to 88% that watch broadcast TV, 85% that watch cable TV and 62% that use mobile internet.

On a weekly basis, 54% of millennial Independents in swing states listen to contemporary hit radio stations, and 52% tune into rock stations, compared to 45% who watch broadcast prime TV, 44% who watch local TV news and 26% who watch cable news channels.

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When measuring the media consumption habits of the Independent denomination of any age in battleground states, the Katz/Nielsen study found that 43% of these voters listen to contemporary radio stations on a weekly basis, 40% listen to rock stations, 35% listen to country and 33% tune into news/talk/sports radio shows weekly.

All reach more Independents on a weekly basis than CNN (23%), Fox News (15%) or MSNBC (10%). While these TV channels will provide a constant stream of political news, the heavy consumption of radio stations and shows provides a stronger audience reach for political advertisers.

While Hillary Clinton may be confident at this point of her footing in many of these swing states, where she holds strong polling leads, Donald Trump and Libertarian Gary Johnson are running radio ads in an attempt to reach those all-important Independents in swing states.

The study also analyzed Independents media consumption habits in particularly dense population areas within these swing states. In Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, adult contemporary and classic music stations are the stations most listened to. Cincinnati Independents mostly tune into news/talk/sports and country stations.

Florida Independents tend to listen mostly to Spanish language radio stations, whereas if you move up the coast to West Palm and Tampa, Independents tune into adult contemporary stations. News/talk/sports stations are the radio staple for swing voters in Orlando and Jacksonville.
by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, August 18, 2016

While sponsoring a music festival to win the hearts of Millennials is hardly a novel concept, Wholly Guacamole has taken it to the next level by running a talent search during a cross-country tour preceding the festival.

Since June, the Orange, Calif.-based produce brand has been hosting open-mic nights at locations in 11 states, ranging from New York to California, to choose musicians as finalists.

The winner will be the opening act for a concert featuring national recording artists Cold War Kids at the Live Wholly Festival in Salt Lake City on Sept. 17  and will also receive a $10,000 cash prize.

Five finalists from the live local try-outs and one from online performances have now been chosen, and starting Aug, 21, open online voting to determine the winner will begin.

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Each voter is entered for a chance to win a trip for two to the festival, which will also feature local Salt Lake City musicians, local cuisine, chef demonstrations, and ample sampling of Wholly Guacamole products.

The brands street team, which has also been touring to hold sampling events in a dozen cities, will also be on hand at the festival.

In addition to its social media channels, the brand is employing digital media, experiential marketing and an Instagram video series.

Fans can follow the action on Twitter, Instagram and #LiveWhollyTour and #LiveWhollyFestival.

The marketing premise for the experiential initiative is that Wholly Guacamole, which never compromise on using whole, authentic ingredients, is searching for talented, undiscovered musicians who reflect the same commitment to authenticity, said Nikki Frisz, brand manager for Fresherized Foods, which produces Wholly Guacamole.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, August 18, 2016

In a surprising twist of events, Seattle-based Moz, a 12-year-old maker of marketing software, will cut 28% of its workforce as part of an initiative to refocus on search engine optimization (SEO).

Those services will range from rank tracking and keyword research to local listings, duplicate management, on-page services, crawl and links.

As part of the realignment, Moz will no longer invest in its Followerwonk or Moz Content products, Moz CEO Sarah Bird wrote in a blog post.

"We will find a graceful way to sunset Moz Content," she wrote, and the company is looking for "a good home for Followerwonk," which means it will try to sell off the assets.

Moz went through several major changes in the past few years. Moz changed its name from SEOMoz in 2013, and then on Jan. 15, 2014, Rand Fishkin, Moz founder, wrote his final post as CEO and handed the reins to Sarah Bird. Overall, the company has raised a little more than $29 million in venture capital funding.

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Before refocusing its efforts on core SEO services, Moz had about 220 employees and contractors supporting Moz clients.

"As you can imagine, this is an emotional time for us internally," Bird wrote. "Hug a Mozzer near you because we need it this week. Were so grateful for this communitys support and look forward to making SEO software you truly love."

With an outpouring of support from around the globe, many of those who took the time to comment on the post showed concern for the community's future. The Moz community provides a forum from which marketing practitioners can bounce ideas off one another.

Concern came from Mike Gracia, a digital strategist at Thinkable based in the United Kingdom, focused on how people appreciate Moz as a community.

Gianluca Fiorelli, SEO and Web marketing consultant at ILoveSEO.net in Valencia, Spain, called Moz the "most amazing, relevant and influential community in the search industry." He expressed his joy around Moz refocusing on what made the company great, but said he is "worried" about the future of the community, not just its tools.

"Yeah this is a big concern for me," wrote Alan Bleiweiss, Forensic SEO audit and consulting specialist, at Alan Bleiweiss Consulting in Folsom, Calif. "Even though I have not had the energy or capacity to participate in the community in a while, it's such an integral part of the Moz eco-system, that in many ways, the community IS the heart-beat that drives everything else for many people."
Hospital deaths from the most common form of pneumonia decreased by 14% between 2009 and 2015 according to new research published online in Thorax, the journal of the British Thoracic Society (BTS.)

The UK study showed that key elements of hospital care for community acquired pneumonia (CAP) improved during this period and could have contributed to the fall in deaths - including:

An 11.5% increase in the proportion of adults who received their first dose of antibiotics within 4 hours of being admitted to hospital

A 3.7% increase in the proportion of adults who had a chest x-ray to help confirm the diagnosis within 4 hours of being admitted to hospital

A 1.7% increase in the administration of appropriate antibiotics, in line with local guidelines

The research analysed data from 23,315 UK hospital admissions for community acquired pneumonia (CAP) across 6 years between 2009 and 2014.

Overall, pneumonia is the sixth biggest cause of death in the UK. It kills 29,000 people a year and is the third biggest cause of death from lung disease - with deaths mainly occurring in older people and children & babies under 10 years. Around 220,000 people receive a diagnosis of pneumonia each year.

Lung specialists have pointed to the probable role of national medical guidelines, from the British Thoracic Society and NICE, in helping drive these improvements. But they have also warned against complacency as the death rate in UK from pneumonia is the third highest in Europe.

The reduction in inpatient deaths, which occurred within 30 days of hospital admission, happened despite there being no change in the severity of the disease when the patient was admitted and the average age of the patient actually increasing over the 6 years studied.

The joint study was undertaken by the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nottingham University Hospital's NHS Trust and the British Thoracic Society.

Key information and facts about pneumonia:

Pneumonia is an inflammation of one or both lungs, usually caused by an infection. The inflammation causes the air sacs (alveoli) inside the lungs to fill with fluid. This makes it harder for the lungs to work properly. Many different kinds of bacteria, viruses and, occasionally, fungi can cause pneumonia.

It accounts for more hospital admissions and bed days than any other lung disease. Over 200,000 admissions and 2.3 million bed days each year are due to the disease.

It kills 40% more women than men. From 2008 to 2012, nearly 87,000 women and over 61,000 men died of the disease.

Cases per 100,000 were 20% higher in 2009 than other years. This may be linked to the winter of 2009-10 being the coldest in over 30 years, or it may be linked to the swine flu pandemic of the same year.

Pneumonia is more common in older people but pneumonia and acute lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) kill more children under 15 than any other lung disease. These diseases account for 3.5% of all deaths in this age group.

'The Battle for Breath: the impact of lung disease in UK'; British Lung Foundation 2016

Professor Wei Shen Lim, consultant respiratory specialist at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and member of the British Thoracic Society said;

"This fall in pneumonia deaths within 30 days of admission to hospital is very encouraging and suggests that local NHS hospitals have put in place measures to improve diagnosis, treatment and care.

We hope that improvements continue to be made and that the new 'Quality Standard' from NICE accelerates this process.

There are a number of simple steps that hospitals can take to reduce the death toll. These include patients with suspected community acquired pneumonia receiving an x-ray and diagnosis within 4 hours of admission, a mortality risk assessment being taken on diagnosis, and antibiotic therapy started within 4 hours of admission.

Variations in deaths are apparent across the UK however and BTS is working to further understand these variations and support centres that are striving towards improvements.'

For more BTS information and resources on evidence-based steps (known as a 'care bundle') hospitals can take to diagnose and care for patients with community acquired pneumonia effectively click here: https://www.brit-thoracic.org.uk/audit-and-quality-improvement/bts-care-bundles-for-cap-and-copd/

Dr Lisa Davies, Consultant Respiratory Physician, University Hospital Aintree NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool and Chair of the British Thoracic Society's Board, said:

'Pneumonia is a killer, and places a huge health and economic burden on NHS and society - especially during the Winter. This research is really encouraging and shows that if NHS hospitals put in place simple steps, they have the power to save lives from pneumonia.

Looking wider, we also need a systematic approach in the community to prevent pneumonia happening in the first place and help speed up diagnosis.

This should involve patient education for at risk groups about the need to tackle winter illnesses early before they escalate, targeted vaccination, and national guidance being implemented in the community on the first steps to diagnosing the disease.'
At the start of reproductive life an ovary contains, on average, several thousands of immature ovules in a resting state that can last for several decades. But how does each resting ovule know that it is time to prepare for ovulation? In a study published in the latest issue of Nature Communications*, researchers at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia (IGC; Portugal), at University of Algarve (Portugal), and at University at Albany (USA) discovered in the fruit fly a molecular "alarm clock" that tells resting ovules when is the right time to wake up. Defects in this alarm clock result in female fertility problems.

During their resting period, ovules turn off their genes to enter an almost hibernation-like state. When they wake up, they need to turn their genes back on so they can grow and become ready for ovulation. The research team led by Rui Martinho, from the Center for Biomedical Research at University of Algarve and from Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia, and Prashanth Rangan, from University at Albany, discovered that the timing of turning the genes back on is programmed directly into the chromosomes of the ovule. To uncover this mechanism, the research team conducted a series of genetic experiments in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). Paulo Navarro-Costa, first co-author of this study and researcher at the IGC explains: "Similarly to humans, fruit fly ovules also have a resting period during meiosis - the specialized cell division required for the formation of healthy reproductive cells. Therefore, this organism could help us understanding exactly how the ovule is able to turn back on its genes at the right time, a biological mystery until now."

The results of the research team revealed the ovules keep track of time during meiosis using a process similar to a molecular "alarm clock". Rui Martinho clarifies the mechanism: "When ovules begin to form, a protein called dKDM5 modifies the chromosomes in a way that they can only activate their genes at the right time. If this alarm clock is incorrectly set, for example due to defects in the dKDM5 protein, females become infertile because their ovules fail to complete meiosis."

An unexpected property of this new molecular alarm clock is that it is set at early stages of ovule formation, long before the cell needs to be awakened. "These results illustrate just how important for female fertility is the early life of the ovule. For instance, in the case of humans, the early stages of ovule formation occur before women are born, while they are still in their mother's womb. This prenatal development period is therefore critical for the future formation of healthy reproductive cells", says Paulo Navarro-Costa.

This study was conducted at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia and at University at Albany, and was funded by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portugal), and the National Institutes of Health (USA).
Members of the Geroscience Network have produced six manuscripts that map strategies for taking new drugs that target processes underlying aging into clinical trials. Researchers believe that these agents hold promise for treating multiple age-related diseases and disabilities. The articles have been published online in The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences.

The Geroscience Network was formed by James Kirkland, MD, PhD, director of the Mayo Clinic Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging; Steve Austad, PhD, a distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; and Nir Barzilai, MD, director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. It consists of 18 academic aging centers, along with the participation of more than 100 investigators from across the U.S. and Europe. The network is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

"Aging is the largest risk factor for most chronic diseases, including stroke, heart disease, cancer, dementias, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, blindness and frailty," said Kirkland. "Recent research suggests that aging may actually be a modifiable risk factor. The goal of our network's collaborative efforts is to accelerate the pace of discovery in developing interventions to delay, prevent, or treat these conditions as a group, instead of one at a time."

Kirkland is senior author on manuscripts that explore the challenges of developing these interventions:

"Barriers to the Preclinical Development of Therapeutics That Target Aging Mechanisms"

"Frameworks for Proof-of-Concept Clinical Trials of Interventions That Target Fundamental Aging Processes""

The first manuscript summarizes discussions held at a 2014 Geroscience Network Retreat. While research efforts have successfully identified new drugs that extend lifespan in animals, the authors discuss the need to develop a consistent preclinical pipeline for drug development that focuses on best practices for drug discovery, development of lead compounds, translational preclinical biomarkers, funding and support for preclinical studies, and integration between researchers and clinicians.

In the second manuscript, Kirkland and others acknowledge that aging therapies may hold "great promise" for enhancing the health of a wide population, with clinical trials being a critical step for translating therapies from animals into humans. The manuscript is built on the outcomes of an international meeting funded through the National Institutes of Health R24 Geroscience Network.

The other manuscripts published are:

"Strategies and Challenges in Clinical Trials Targeting Human Aging"

"Resilience in Aging Mice"

"Evaluating Health Span in Preclinical Models of Aging and Disease: Guidelines, Challenges, and Opportunities for Geroscience"

"Moving Geroscience Into Uncharted Waters"

Felipe Sierra, PhD, director of the Division of Aging Biology at the National Institute on Aging and a member of the Geroscience Network, described the potential impact of aging discoveries in his manuscript, "Moving Geroscience into Uncharted Waters."

"In addition to the direct health issues, it has been calculated that care for the elderly currently accounts for 43 percent of the total health care spending in the US, or approximately $1 trillion a year, and this number is expected to rise as baby boomers reach retirement age," Sierra said. "Reducing these costs is critical for the survival of society as we know it, and a 2013 paper by Dana Goldman and colleagues calculated that a modest increase in lifespan and healthspan (2.2 years) could reduce those expenses by $7 trillion by 2050."

Other authors in the manuscripts published in The Journals of Gerontology's special issue are Jordan Miller, PhD, Shahrukh Hashmi, MD, and Michael Stout, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic; Jamie Justice, PhD, of the University of Colorado Boulder and Wake Forest School of Medicine; John Newman, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco; Jeffrey Halter, MD, of the University of Michigan; Steve Austad, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Nir Barzilai, MD, Derek Huffman, PhD, and Sofiya Milman, MD, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Christin Burd, PhD, of The Ohio State University; and Matthew Gill, PhD, Laura Niedernhofer, MD, PhD, and Paul Robbins, PhD, of The Scripps Research Institute.

"While significant work has already been accomplished, there is much more to be done as we focus on translating findings into practice," said Kirkland. "The Geroscience Network is a collaborative way to overcome barriers and move us closer to our shared goal of increasing healthspan - the healthy, independent years of life for the elderly."

In addition to Mayo Clinic, members of the Geroscience Network are the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, National Institute on Aging, The Scripps Research Institute, Stanford University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Arkansas, the University of Connecticut, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the University of Southern California, the University of Washington, and Wake Forest University, as well as members from other institutions across the U.S. and Europe.

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Paul Glenn Foundation, Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence for the Biology of Aging, the Connor Group, the Noaber Foundation, and the Ted Nash Long Life Foundation. Additional acknowledgements include the contributions of the basic researchers and clinicians engaged in research on mechanisms of aging and care of the elderly in the five retreats supported by the R24 grant from the National Institute on Aging, as well as a workshop on resilience and aging supported by the National Institute on Aging.


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"There are no such things as incurables; there are only things for which man has not found a cure." - Bernard M. Baruch

" AIDS is an epidemic disease, a potentially preventable, deadly infection for which there is no cure, no vaccine, and it is not under control." - National Commission on AIDS, 1993

Asia has always been looked at by outsiders as the land of mystic magic, serine breath taking beauty, and the harmonious central key to getting in touch with the spiritual side of humanity. However there is more to this large sub-continent then what meets the eye at first glance.

AIDS - Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

The AIDS virus has been silently threatening all of Asia. Its spread is rapid and deadly. One in four new infections occur in Asia every day. 1,500 persons effected with the virus die here every day. What is extremely alarming is that the disease has already spread into several provinces of the world's most populated country - China. India too is not far behind; it's name and presently the top in the list of Asia's affected countries.

The UN estimates that 8.2 million people are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Asia. And about 5.1 million of them are from India. The Chinese government in a report said that there are as many as 840,000 patients in China suffering from the infection. These figures are staggering when we look at them worldwide. Approximately 39 million people have HIV/AIDS, including 25 million in sub-Saharan Africa.

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In Asia, the AIDS epidemic is still mainly affecting the vulnerable groups such as injecting drug users, the sex workers and the homosexuals. However, it is now slowly finding its way into the general population.

When looking at the larger picture it is clear that the failure to fight the AIDS virus will definitely affect the Asian economy on a large scale. The UN has warned that by 2010, 12 million people are likely to be infected with HIV in Asia alone and it is estimated that a loss of $29 billion would have to be faced by the Asian economies.

It is high time the governing bodies of the Asian countries take strong steps to fight the infection, which may wipe out a large chunk of their population. The Governments are required to face up and deal with the controversial topics of having sex workers, drug users and homosexuals as part of their population. Not looking or dealing with the problem will not make it go away, but make it escalade into something which will finally become uncontrollable.

The Asian continent has a very large uneducated population, which are still not aware of what AIDS, how it spread and what can be done to stop it from spreading.However with the help of government programs, strong campaigns and reaching out to the rural districts on scales that only the government bodies can succeed in doing, it is possible to tackle this epidemic. Its high time, we Asians look at giving a better Asia to our children. And perhaps the time is now that we as individual educate our selves first on the AIDS virus and not think it can't happen to us.

HIV Replication 3D Medical Animation
Photo for illustration

Of this, exports from Vietnam amounted to USD16.2 billion, up 8.68% from a year earlier, while imports to the country were valued over USD4.97 billion, up 10.28% compared to the same period last year.

Vietnam mainly shipped its traditional commodities such as garments and textiles, footwear of all kinds, coffee, seafood and computers to the EU.

In spite of being exported since 2011, the export value of telephones of all kinds and components posted over USD9.7 billion. The commodities group made up about 75% of Vietnams total export turnover to the market.

In addition, some other commodities with average turnover still maintained even growth rate from 5-10% a year, such as products from plastic, wood and wooden products, handbag-suitcase-umbrella, pepper and cashew.

In the six months, Vietnam imported commodities from most member countries of the EU, mainly products which are not produced domestically or those which cannot meet the demand, such as machinery-equipment-devices, pharmaceutical products, milk and products from milk./.
At this years Deckerville Homecoming, Lt. Col. Apsey, a hometown son who piloted an A10C Thunderbolt over the Middle East during his seven-month deployment, presented a flag of the United States of America, which was flown in the aircraft during one of Lt. Col. Apseys many missions, to Village President Donald Murdock. Along with the flag is a certificate describing the activities that took place during the mission. The flag case is currently on display in the Deckerville village office. (Submitted Photo)
The beautiful scenery of the West Lake. (Photo: Zing.vn)

The project runs from August 8to December 31, 2016 at destinations which are symbols of Vietnams tourism, such as West Lake (Hanoi), Nguyen Hue street (Ho Chi Minh city) and My Khe beach (Da Nang).

It will be tested at Hanoi as the first destination from August 20th to September 4th, said VNAT.

Photographers are allowed to shoot at Thanh Nien road, opposite Tran Quoc pagoda to take panoramas of Truc Back lake and West lake.

The organizers will continue to carry out the project at other tourist attractions in 2017 if they receive an active response from the community.

The project is expected to resonate and inspire millions of domestic and international tourists, contributing to attracting more travellers and fostering Vietnams tourism development.

Specific information on Super Selfie is now available at https://www.vntrip.vn/super-selfie or https://www.facebook.com/superselfie2016./.
Former Joint Chiefs Chairman Navy Adm. Mike Mullen joined the increasingly nasty feud Wednesday among retired top brass over the propriety of speaking out on the presidential campaign and other issues.

Working for or speaking on behalf of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump or Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is "a violation of the ethos and professionalism of apolitical military service," even for a retired officer, Mullen said in a statement to The Washington Post.

"This is not about the right to speak out," he said. "It is about the disappointing lack of judgment in doing so for crass partisan purposes. This is made worse by using hyperbolic language all the while leveraging the respected title of 'general.'"

Mullen was referring to the high-decibel speeches recently made at the political conventions by retired Marine Gen. John Allen for Clinton and retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for Trump.

Mullen was the second former Joint Chiefs chairman to take issue with Allen and Flynn for appearing at the conventions and to use The Washington Post as a forum for airing disputes among retired, high-ranking officers.

In a July 31 letter to the newspaper, retired chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey said Allen and Flynn "weren't introduced at the Democratic and Republican conventions, respectively, as 'John' and 'Mike.' They were introduced as generals. As generals, they have an obligation to uphold our apolitical traditions."

Dempsey also upbraided Clinton and Trump for letting Allen and Flynn take a star turn on national TV.

"Politicians should take the advice of senior military leaders but keep them off the stage. The American people should not wonder where their military leaders draw the line between military advice and political preference," Dempsey said.

Both Allen and Flynn have defended their appearances as their duty to speak out in the interests of national security. At the Democratic National Convention, Allen said, "I tell you without hesitation or reservation that Hillary Clinton will be exactly, exactly the kind of commander-in-chief America needs."

Flynn, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency who was briefly mentioned as a possible vice presidential choice for Trump before Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was named, has been particularly outspoken in support of Trump and in his condemnations of Clinton as a serial "liar."

Flynn has also said that he was baffled at Allen's support of Clinton. "I honestly don't know how John Allen can look at himself in the mirror and say why he supports Hillary Clinton," Flynn said on Fox News' "The Kelly File."

The flare ups among former top-ranking officers have not been limited to politics. Earlier this week, retired Army Gen. Carter Ham, now president of the Association of the U.S. Army, went after retired Army Gen. David Petraeus on the subject of military readiness.

In an article for Defense One, Ham took issue with Petraeus' claim that the services were in fairly good shape in terms of readiness.

Despite shortfalls in many areas, "America's fighting forces remain ready for battle," Petraeus wrote in a Wall St. Journal op-ed with Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Ham wrote that readiness was in a precarious state while "The future of the United States Army is challenged by the combination of ongoing operations, emerging strategic threats, and a convoluted budget process that has weakened the nation's foundational force."

Despite the concerns of Mullen and Dempsey about the propriety of retired officers voicing political views, they can do so if they please. Defense Department rules prohibiting politics only apply to the active-duty force.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
Contractors sold the U.S. Army and Marine Corps thousands of ballistic helmets made by prison inmates containing numerous defects including "serious ballistic failures," according to a new Defense Department Office of Inspector General report.

The IG launched two joint investigations with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, supported by elements of the U.S. Army, regarding allegations that Federal Prison Industries and ArmorSource LLC manufactured and sold Advanced Combat Helmets, or ACH, and Lightweight Marine Corps Helmets, or LMCH, to the military that failed to meet contract specifications and were ultimately defective, according to the report released Wednesday.

From 2006 to 2009, ArmorSource and FPI, as its subcontractor, produced 126,052 helmets, for which ArmorSource received $30,336,461.

In May 2008, FPI was awarded contract to manufacture LMCH helmets for an initial cost of $23,019,629. The FPI produced approximately 23,000 helmets at its facility in Beaumont, Texas, of which 3,000 were sold and delivered to the DOD.

"However, the FPI did not receive payment for these 3,000 helmets because more than half of them were subsequently determined to be defective, and all 23,000 helmets were ultimately quarantined," according to the report.

"The investigations further disclosed that the ACH helmets produced by FPI were also defective, and that both the ACH and LMCH helmets posed a potential safety risk to the user."

These investigations "did not develop any information to indicate military personnel sustained injury or death as a result of the defective ACH helmets," according to the report. However, 126,052 ACH helmets were recalled, and monetary losses and costs to the government totaled more than $19,083,959.

Both investigations determined that FPI had endemic manufacturing problems at FCI Beaumont, and that both the ACH and LMCH were defective and not manufactured in accordance with contract specifications, according to the report.

The investigations found that the ACH and LMCH had numerous defects, including serious ballistic failures, blisters and improper mounting-hole placement and dimensions, as well as helmets being repressed, the report states.

"Helmets were manufacturing with degraded or unauthorized ballistic materials, used expired paint (on LMCH) and unauthorized manufacturing methods. Helmets also had other defects such as deformities and the investigations found that rejected helmets were sold to the DOD," according to the report.

The FPI also pre-selected helmets for inspection, even though the DOD and ACH contract required helmets to be selected randomly, and substituted helmets to pass testing, according to the report.

The investigation found the following deficiencies:

 Finished ACH helmet shells were pried apart and scrap Kevlar and Kevlar dust was added to the ear sections, and the helmet shells repressed;

 Helmets were repressed to remove blisters and bubbles in violation of contract specifications;

 LMCH and ACH had edging and paint adhesion failures, respectively;

 FPI did not obtain approval from the DOD before it changed the manufacturing process;

 LMCH Certificates of Conformance were prepared by inmates at the direction of FPI staff and signed by FPI staff months after the LMCH helmets were delivered falsely certifying that the helmets were manufactured according to contract specifications and had the requisite material traceability;

 LMCH helmet serial numbers were switched or altered.

A surprise inspection by OIG and military personnel on January 26, 2010, discovered inmates at the Beaumont FPI facility openly using improvised tools on the ACH helmets, damaging the helmets' ballistic material, creating the potential for the tools' use as weapons in the prison and, thereby, endangering the safety of factory staff and degrading prison security, according to the report.

The FPI Beaumont facility that manufactured the ACH and LMCH helmets was closed and its entire staff transferred to other duties within the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

While most of the report focuses on FPI, it states that "ArmorSource did not provide adequate oversight of the manufacture of the ACH, which resulted in helmets that were not manufactured according to contract specifications."

Criminal prosecution resulting from these investigations was declined, and the DOJ Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Section and the Eastern District of Texas, United States Attorneys Office entered into a civil settlement agreement with ArmorSource in which ArmorSource agreed to pay $3 million, based on its demonstrated ability to pay, to resolve potential claims against it under the False Claims Act, according to the report.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com
U.S. officials held a cargo plane carrying the equivalent of $400 million in cash for Iran until Tehran released three American detainees, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The report, which cited U.S. officials and others briefed on the operation, said an Iranian cargo plane was allowed to pick up the money in Geneva, Switzerland once a Swiss Air Force plane carrying the three detainees left Tehran last January. The White House has claimed that the $400 million payment in euros and Swiss francs was the first installment in a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a failed 1979 arms deal dating from just before the Iranian Revolution. However, congressional Republicans have characterized the money transfer as ransom to secure the detainees' release, a claim President Obama denied earlier this month. "Its time for the Obama White House to drop the charade and admit it paid a $400 million ransom to the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement. "President Obama has foolishly put a price on the head of every American abroad and it should be no surprise that Iran has since detained more U.S. citizens." "This wasnt some nefarious deal," Obama said during an August 4 press conference. "We do not pay ransom for hostages." The Jounal also reported earlier this month that Justice Department officials objected to the timing of the money transfer, saying it would look like a ransom payment. Those concerns reportedly were dismissed by the State Department. The three detainees who were flown to Geneva were Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian; former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati; and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini. Abedini has claimed that he and the other hostages were kept waiting at an Iranian airport for more than 20 hours before their departure. Abedini said he was told by a senior Iranian intelligence official that their departure was contingent on the movement of a second plane. State Department officials denied Abedini's claims to the Journal, saying the delay was due to issues locating Rezaian's wife and mother, who accompanied him on the flight. In response to the initial Journal report, Obama said it was necessary to transact the payment in foreign currency due to U.S. sanctions, which prohibit trading in dollars. According to the Journal, GOP leaders say they plan to hold hearings on the payment next month, when Congress returns from its summer recess. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., chair of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, last week sent letters to the Justice and Treasury Departments, as well as the Federal Reserve, requesting more information the transaction.
James Zumwalt is a retired Marine lieutenant colonel who served in the Vietnam war, the 1989 intervention into Panama and Operation Desert Storm. The son of the late Navy Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., he's also a best-selling author, speaker and business executive. The views expressed in this commentary are his own.

On Jan. 2, 2000, less than 48 hours into a new millennium, the U.S. Navy lost a 20th century hero and revered, visionary leader.

Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., 79, had succumbed to mesothelioma -- a lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure, incurred during his naval career. He died at Duke Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.

As a grieving family focused on making preparations for a funeral to be held Jan. 10, 2000, at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Marine Col. Michael Spiro stepped forward to escort the remains home.

Spiro had served as Zumwalt's Marine aide, initially during the Vietnam war and later when the admiral was promoted to the Navy's top position as (the youngest ever) Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) in the summer of 1970.

Zumwalt had been most impressed with Spiro's professionalism and sense of duty. As CNO, the admiral was about to embark upon various programs that would shake up the naval service. He knew success turned on having a loyal staff in place to support his changes.

When Zumwalt asked Spiro to join him at the Pentagon, there was no hesitation on the colonel's part. Immediately accepting, Spiro knew by doing so, time spent working for Zumwalt's Navy was not time spent working in a Marine Corps billet to further his own career. Yet, driven by a sense of personal loyalty, Spiro answered the admiral's call. The two men developed a close friendship.

As CNO, Zumwalt faced enormous challenges implementing changes that TIME magazine credited with bringing the U.S. Navy "kicking and screaming into the 20th century."

With re-enlistment rates at an all-time low in 1970, Zumwalt focused on making the Navy a much more people-oriented service. His changes eventually leveled the playing field for all serving -- especially for long, over-looked minority service members.

Meanwhile, Spiro, who might well have gone on to make brigadier general had he elected to leave Zumwalt and take a Marine Corps command billet, opted instead to serve at his friend's side.

Spiro was committed to helping Zumwalt achieve his goal -- and with him, Zumwalt did. By the time the admiral retired in 1974, the Navy's re-enlistment rates had tripled. The evidence the playing field for minorities has successfully been leveled today can be found by examining the faces of the Navy's top leadership.

Although Spiro retired in 1976, he donned his Marine Corps uniform during the first week of January 2000 to escort Admiral Zumwalt's remains home from North Carolina.

Having become an Annapolis resident after his own retirement, Spiro, for years after the admiral's death, often visited the gravesite. Brushing off winter leaves or recently-cut summer grass, Spiro occasionally left a rock on the headstone. The significance of this custom, lost to many today, is a sign of respect a friend had visited.

The year Zumwalt died, then-President Bill Clinton announced the Navy would build a new class of warship -- unlike any other ever built. A stealth ship, it was to be the world's largest destroyer. The ship would bear Zumwalt's name.

Sixteen years after Clinton's announcement, USS ZUMWALT became a reality. Built by General Dynamics Corp.'s Bath Iron Works in Maine, this magnificent vessel is now to be commissioned Oct. 15, 2016, in Baltimore.

After her commissioning and official entry upon the Navy's active ships registry, USS ZUMWALT will depart from Baltimore, undertaking a most unique mission.

Col. Spiro, 86, passed away on Nov. 28, 2015. As was his wish, he was cremated.

Upon the USS ZUMWALT's arrival in Baltimore in October, Spiro's son, Peter, will present his father's remains to the ship's commanding officer. Following her Baltimore departure, somewhere in route to her homeport of San Diego and at the mandatory distance offshore, USS ZUMWALT will come to a dead stop. The ship's crew will then conduct a brief ceremony rendering Spiro final honors as the colonel's ashes are committed to sea.

Sixteen years earlier, Col. Spiro was honored to escort Admiral Zumwalt's remains home. Later this year, the USS ZUMWALT seeks to return the honor.

-- If you would like to submit your own opinion piece or commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration.
Yangon authorities put up dozens of signboards in the citys six downtown townships earlier this week, banning a well-established and lucrative trade in pavement space, and warning against the informal taxation of street vendors.





For many years, pavements in Yangons downtown area  and to a lesser extent the entire city  have been viewed as a commodity to be traded between street vendors and home owners, with some prime spots selling for up to K1 million.

On August 14, Yangon Mayor U Maung Maung Soe met with vendors to learn more about unofficial tax collection and the trade in street space, according to a post on his Facebook page.

He said he would create an environment for vendors to sell freely, and would take action against anyone who took advantage of them.

Shortly afterward, on August 16, Yangon City Development Committee put up more than 200 red signboards on main roads in the six downtown townships. They state that roads and pavements are public space, and clarify that nobody has a right to own them or to rent them to vendors.

Signs will soon also be put up along busy roads in other townships, U Maung Maung Zaw, head of YCDCs administration department, told The Myanmar Times.

Nobody is allowed to sell or rent public land. We need to let everybody know that this is illegal. People are making money by pretending to own space on the pavements and we are worried that they are taking advantage of vendors, he said. We have not taken any action; the announcements are simply intended to clarify and control the situation.





Under municipal law, street selling is forbidden, he said. Nobody is allowed to display products for sale or block a street without the permission of the committee. However, the previous government allowed vendors to sell along the main roads between 3pm and 8pm.

U Maung Maung Zaw said YCDC understands that vendors need to make a living, and will continue to allow people to freely sell their goods between these hours each day, until new markets can be built.

The trade in street space began in 1999 when YCDC, under the State Peace and Development Council, issued identity cards to vendors, to bring some order to street-side sales and make it easier to collect taxes. Each card allowed its holder to trade in a certain township.

This card and taxation system continued until U Thein Seins government took power, when YCDC officially stopped collecting taxes from vendors.

However, many cardholders had already staked out territory, which they sold or rented to other street sellers, for as much as K500,000-K1 million for a prime spot.

Other people, claiming to be officials, also collected taxes, though they stopped around the time that the National League for Democracy-led government took power earlier this year, vendors told The Myanmar Times.

People who were not wearing uniforms used to collect taxes of around K500 every three days, but they have not come for a few months, said Ko Aung Naing, who sells clothing and shoes on Anawrahta Road.

Until now, it cost between K300,000 and K500,000 to buy the right to trade in a good place. I am very pleased that YCDC has put up these new signs.

The price of renting a space is highest in Latha and Lanmadaw townships, where the street markets are most concentrated, said Daw Sein Myint, who sells fruit on Mahabandoola Road in Lanmadaw.

I bought this place for K500,000 around three years ago. People used to collect taxes every few days, but did not give us a receipt. They have not come during the past week, she said.

Other vendors, who are paying rent to house owners, say that fighting frequently breaks out over the right to sell.

I have been selling here for five years through an agreement with a local house owner. I have to give them money and I pick up all my rubbish. People from YCDC also collect tax, though they have not collected it recently, said U Tin Myint who sells snacks near to Pansodan bus stop on Anawrahta Road in Pazundaung township.

I have heard that some people are paying up to K1 million to sell their wares in a good place. But the street belongs to everybody  why should we have to pay to use it?

Translation by San Layy
The white three-storey house behind its carpet of green is elegant and welcoming. I was visiting R Zarni, his wife, former model One and their son Phit Phit Tone at home  that is, 58A Kabar Aye Pagoda Road.





They bought it in 2006, renovated it in 2009 and in 2011 embarked on a refurbishment completed three years ago to their own design, aided by an architect.

The black-and-white interior features doors, chairs and ladders in natural-wood colour.

R Zarni directed the colour scheme, while One attended to the design. Downstairs is decorated with black sofas sheathed in animal fur, with a mini-bar beside the parlour. Mirrors abound, and the view of the lawn is restful.

Upstairs, passing through the library, you pass a shrine room with a wooden settee in front, and cross a mirrored veranda to the master bedroom, which faces a smaller one for Phit Phit Tone, along with a dressing room with clothes closets and a shoe cabinet. Discreet directed lighting falls on the original paintings on the walls.





R Zarnis studio, equipped with drums and other instruments, is on the same floor.

They employ no maids, and do all the household chores themselves: One is in charge of the cleaning, R Zarni is responsible for the yard work, including feeding the dogs and watering the trees and plants. An atmosphere of harmony and rest prevails.

This is where R Zarni spends his time when he doesnt have to go on foreign tours or play gigs around the country. One, retired from modelling work, now has her own online design and shopping business with her sisters, though family life is a priority for them both.

The couple wake up at about 6am to prepare their son for school. Both of them accompany him there, and both go to pick him up in the afternoon.

R Zarni is preparing for his second solo live show, to be held at the National Theatre, and is also shooting music videos for Kabar Thars album. One is creating fashion designs for her customers. For both, home and family come first.

Translation by Khant Lin Oo
The announcement that hundreds of people accused of political crimes would no longer face prosecution has raised hopes that political prisoners still behind bars could be freed before the peace process gets under way at the end of this month. Activists have called for the release of about 83 prisoners and the abandonment of prosecutions directed at a further 142 people who face what they call political charges.





Ministry of Home Affairs permanent secretary U Tin Myint told parliament that 274 cases against 457 defendants had been abandoned during the governments 100-day initiative. Speaking at an August 16 press conference, he said, We took this action at the request of the president and the state counsellor. This represents a significant accomplishment on the part of the government, and has eased the concerns of political activists.

U Tate Naing, secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), told The Myanmar Times yesterday that the government should release the remaining political prisoners before the 21st-century Panglong Conference scheduled to begin on August 31. He said most of those still behind bars were relatives of ethnic armed group members who had been sentenced under the Unlawful Association Act.

The Ministry of Home Affairs shouldnt handle the political prisoner issue. The government needs to release the remaining political prisoners and should close the cases against political activists, he said.

The AAPP today releases its monthly report for July, saying that the Unlawful Association Act continues to be a tool for the arrest, detention and sentencing of civilians accused of being part of unrecognised organisations and ethnic armed groups.

This month, three Arakanese were convicted of alleged connection with the Arakan Army (AA) under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Association Act, two of them to three years imprisonment with hard labour and the other to two years imprisonment with hard labour, said the report.

According to the report, 53 political prisoners related to Arakan Army members were sentenced under the act, as well as 15 other prisoners related to members of the Restoration Council of Shan State, the Karen National Union, the Shan State Progressive Party and the Shan Ni Army.





U Tun Kyi, a member of the Former Political Prisoners Society (FPPS), said yesterday that the former prisoners hoped to see a presidential amnesty declared before the peace conference in the spirit of national reconciliation. Such an act would further burnish the countrys reputation, he said.

The political prisoners issue is at a deadlock. I think there is no agreement between the commander-in-chief and the president on further releases. The National Defence and Security Council should take up the matter and reach agreement, he said.

Pado Saw Kwe Htoo Win, general secretary of the Karen National Union, called on the government to repeal the colonial-era act. Everyone knows the law must be repealed, he said.

In the last session of the Pyithu Hluttaw, lawmaker U Pe Than (ANP; Myebon) sought to establish a definition of the term political prisoner, a designation that at one time could be applied to many sitting MPs.

Translation by Khant Lin Oo
During the new governments first 100 days in office, 16 short train routes were closed and another 14 changed, the director general of the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, U Tun Lwin Oo, said at a press conference in Nay Pyi Taw on August 16.





Having done that, finances are being saved and can be better used to meet the transportation needs of the public, he said.

With the closure of 16 routes, the ministry is losing K205,000 in daily revenues from 843 passengers but saving K900,000 in daily expenditures on 299 gallons of petroleum, Myanmar Railways general manager U Aung Win said.

Before the recent closures, the government was spending billions of kyats each year to subsidise the public rail lines  a fact that was criticised during every budget season.

In January, the Mawlamyine-Ye express train was closed. On April 17, the Kaungsai-Moe Ne passenger and freight routes were shuttered. On June 11, the Phayabaw-Thayet freight train, the Hinthada-Phayabaw freight train, and the Hinthada-Hlaing Tharyar passenger train ceased operations. In July, Wetlet-Kalay and Monywa-Tiddim ran their last routes. And in August, the Thazi-Madaya passenger train ended its service.

Meanwhile, Yangon-Pakokku became Yangon-Bagan; Kyaukkyi-Katha turned into Katha-Moetargyi; Pyinmana-Loikaw shifted operation to Aungban-Loikaw; and Taunggyi-Htiyi is now Taunggyi-Saikkhaung.

Neither the director general nor the general manager mentioned how much money Myanmar Railways would save from the route changes.





The Mandalay-Myitkyina express also changed its fare structure, and old train cars on the Einme-Pathein and Mandalay-Monywa lines were replaced by regenerative brake (RBE) cars. The ministry also built the 860-foot-long (260-metre-long) Myitngedwe Bridge, said U Tun Lwin Oo.

Only one train could cross the old bridge at one time, so if two trains were approaching the bridge from opposite directions one had to wait.

There could have been accidents, U Tun Lwin Oo said. Now they can cross safely and in a short time.

Translation by Kyawt Darly Lin
The Rakhine State government plans to form a commission of local elders to monitor peace and stability in the restive state, according to Chief Minister U Nyi Pu, though one member of the regionally dominant Arakan National Party criticised what he said was a lack of transparency and clarity about the bodys functions.





U Nyi Pu told The Myanmar Times yesterday that planning was preliminary, but that members of the state-level committee would be tasked with keeping in touch with local communities and liaising with international actors involved in the state.

The plan is just under way as an introductory step and I cannot say how [the committee will be] taking action in monitoring the states peace and stability affairs yet, said U Nyi Pu.

According to the Rakhine State Information Department, the government met with local elders on August 8 to discuss formation of the commission, the membership of which would be entirely nongovernmental. The initial proposal envisioned that the commission would be formed with nine members from both Buddhist and Muslim communities.

Violence between the two communities in 2012 killed more than 100 people and displaced 140,000 more. Four years later, mistrust still runs deep among many members of the faiths, and the state has effectively become self-segregated along religious lines.

U Nyi Pu said the elder commissions mandate would be to bolster peace and stability in the state and report to the Union-level Rakhine State Peace, Stability and Development Committee, which was formed on May 30.

U Thar Tun, a local elder, said the commission should comprise elders with good reputations and should include people with a deep knowledge of Rakhine States history.

According to the Rakhine State government, the commission will be led by Myanmar National Human Rights Commission chair U Win Mya and Daw Saw Khin Tint, who is regarded as a patron of Rakhine civil society. Two elders from both the Buddhist and Muslim communities will also be selected, as well as three members drawn from among internationally respected people.





But U Tun Aung Kyaw, secretary of the Sittwe-based Rakhine nationalist ANP, said the process of forming the commission was unclear, adding that the hazy initial rollout of the concept of the commission and its remit had raised many questions.

As far as I know, the commission did not form yet properly and did not decide who its members are. The commission includes two representatives from the Muslim community and it is not possible to work together with them on Rakhine State and Bengali issues, he said, referring to the states Muslim minority that self-identifies as Rohingya.

U Nyi Pu, a member of the National League for Democracy, said no fixed date for the commissions formation had been set, and its membership had not yet been decided.
Pokemon, go. Players are no longer welcome at Aung Taw Mu Pagoda. The board of trustees has banned them from the pagoda in Chan Aye Thar San township, Mandalay.





Weve asked them not to disturb pilgrims, and to give them priority. Im sure they understand, said the boards chair, U Win Myint, on August 16.

In a statement apparently intended to convey some meaning to non initiates, disappointed players said there were three Pokestops in the pagoda grounds, making it easy to get Pokeballs because there were so many monsters. The pagoda is a really safe place to play, said gamer Ko Zay Marn Oo.

The pagoda closes at 9:30pm. Then they have to go outside and play. Some of them go on until 10:30pm, said U Win Myint.

Translation by Khant Lin Oo
Foreign investors will be asked to help improve the notorious Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw highway, with upgrades to be completed during the term of the current government. There are plans to widen the road to six lanes, fence it off and provide underpasses for pedestrians.





Speaking at an August 16 press conference, U Kyaw Lin, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Construction, said the Nay Pyi Taw-Mandalay leg of the highway would also eventually be improved.

Were asking for help from foreign investors because the budgetary requirements are very large. We expect to upgrade the Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw stretch within five years, U Kyaw Lin told journalists, without stipulating the estimated sum required or the identity of possible international partners.

According to the master plan, the highway will be six lanes wide, with a traffic median, and with fences on each side to keep out animals and pedestrians. Motorcycles will not be permitted to use the highway, he said, adding that underpasses would allow local residents to cross the road.

Under the former government, companies from Japan, South Korea and France showed interest in improving the road under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) system, with 156 companies viewing the tender, and 26 companies showing an expression of interest. However, the government will not use the BOT system, said U Kyaw Lin.

That would require us to collect user fees from motorists until the cost was recovered. We have decided instead to maintain the road at the expense of the state, he said.

Seven private companies are working on stretches of road on a BOT basis: Max, Shwe Thanlwin, Shwe Taung (Hi Star), Kambawza Highway, Asia World, Yuzana and Thawdawin are working on stretches of road from Yangon to Bago, Bago to Nyaunglaybin, Nyaunglaybin to Kyauktada, Kyauktada to Phyu, Phyu to Nay Pyi Taw, and Nay Pyi Taw to Meiktila.





Translation by Khine Thazin Han
Several young men were standing near the entrance of Thingangyun Hospital in central Yangon on a recent July morning, waiting impatiently for a fellow drug addict to exit the facility.





They had just received their daily dosage of methadone, but one man was not coming out. After a few minutes, they concluded he must have failed the mandatory illegal drugs test and got detained. The group quickly left.

One of the guys was arrested by police at the hospital, an addict named Soe Maung said later. Recently, a girl was arrested in the same hospital while getting methadone  She tried to run away but a policeman caught her by the neck.

Like the others, Soe Maung, 28, is taking methadone to wean himself off heroin and fight its withdrawal symptoms. He is also a contact person for the Burnet Institutes HIV Mitigation program for drug-injecting users and he helps Yangons opiate addicts enter methadone therapy.

Drug users who register their addiction with police and health authorities can avoid criminal punishment from Myanmar laws, which set tough prison sentences for narcotics use, possession and sale. They can enter mandatory methadone maintenance therapy at 46 hospitals across Myanmar, including Thingangyun Hospital, to suppress withdrawal symptoms as they give up illegal drugs.

Health experts, representatives of drug users and some politicians say methadone therapy, and other so-called harm reduction strategies for drug users, should be expanded to bring Myanmars rampant drug abuse problems under control.

They say the government should also change laws that penalise recovering addicts who test positive for illegal drugs, or punish those who fail to attend methadone therapy and regular police registration.





They warn, however, that the National League for Democracy governments approach so far has only been punitive, as the Ministry of Home Affairs launched a nationwide drugs and crime crackdown that arrested many addicts, but did little to help them.

The ministry recently said it wants more money for its crackdown, while some MPs have called for tougher actions against drugs and crime.

Government crackdown nets mostly addicts Soe Maung said the NLDs approach had raised fears among Yangons addicts, while police were more quick to arrest recovering users who failed the conditions of the methadone therapy program.

More addicts who are taking methadone have been arrested during the first 100-day plan of the new government, he said.

Okkar Min, an upper house NLD lawmaker from Tanintharyi Region, urged his government to abandon this repressive approach and introduce genuine reforms.

The government needs to lay down a policy to open more rehab centres for drug addicts. If it keeps arresting all drug users, as it has been doing over the past few months, then they will fill up the prisons but the problem wont be solved, he said.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, police arrested 4761 people in 3197 drug-related cases between April 1 and July 31. Several hundred kilograms of opium and heroin, and millions of methamphetamine pills were seized, but arrests of those running the drug rings remain rare.

When I asked police officers about those arrested in the drugs crackdown they were just small dealers or users, Okkar Min said. It would be more effective, he added, to fight government corruption and increase public education campaigns that warn youths about narcotics.

Plans to reform laws, expand rehab Myanmar has long been a major producer of opium, its derivate heroin and methamphetamine, much of which originates from and passes through its poor, ethnic borderlands, where the government remains weak. Drug abuse in these areas and in Myanmars major cities has reportedly worsened sharply in recent years, prompting calls for a new approach to drug addiction.

The Drug Policy Advocacy Group, a network of health experts and NGOs, has worked with health officials on expanding harm reduction and rehabilitation programs, while it cooperated with law enforcement officials to develop plans for amending drug laws.

U Hla Htay, senior technical manager at the Burnet Institute and a member of the group, said the governments capacity to provide methadone therapy is hindered by current laws and limited due to a lack of resources and facilities.

He said there are now about 7000 registered addicts seeking rehabilitation, but Thingangyun Hospital, for example, can only provide methadone for 400 addicts on a daily basis.

An opiate detoxification centre at Yangon Mental Health Hospital in East Dagon township, on the citys outskirts, can treat only 50 patients at a time for a two-week treatment.

According to some estimates there are 81,000 drug users in Myanmar.

U Hla Htay said methadone supplies at the Yangon Mental Health Hospital were often not sufficient for the detoxification treatment. We cannot give addicts the amount of methadone they asked for, and every project needs good facilities and skilled staff, he said. But we have plans to expand this project.

The Thingangyun Hospital methadone service is limited to 8am to 11am, another practical hindrance for addicts, who might relapse if they miss the methadones clinic opening hours, according to U Win Min, a Burnet Institute staffer who counsels addicts.

U Hla Htay said drug reform advocates have worked together with police officers of the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) to draft amendments to the 1993 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, which would remove penalties for drug users.

Police Colonel Myint Aung, who heads the International Department of the CCDAC, confirmed the draft amendments had been completed. We are going to send this bill to the Union Attorney Generals Office and later it will be discussed in parliament, he said.

Drug users are now arrested, but this bill would enforce steps that would make it a health issue, rather than a criminal one, he added.

U Hla Htay said he hoped the bill could be brought to the attention of the NLD government and parliament within the next few months so that it could begin reforms.

Drug addicts should not be imprisoned. Instead they need opiate detoxification treatment, he said. If they were found to be using drugs, police should urge them to go to hospital.

Myanmar Now
The prosecution of seven nationalist protesters began on August 16 and continued yesterday in Yangons Kamaryut Township Court.





They are being charged under the 2012 Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law for protesting in front of the United States embassy in April over the use of the word Rohingya, which the nationalists oppose.

The embassy had used the term in a statement to describe the Muslim minority living in northern Rakhine State, whom the former government had officially called Bengalis.

We are just expressing the publics wishes for how the government should take action and tackle issues, said Magwe Sayadaw U Parmaukkha, one of the defendants. So why are they silent on the Bengali-Rohingya statement?  We are protesting and responding according to the basic 2008 constitutions section 364 that gives rights to every citizen.

Two of the seven  Myanmar National Network chair Ko Win Ko Ko Latt, and the networks secretary Ko Naung Taw Lay  are also being charged in Yangons Bahan township for alleged defamation of the government during a July 10 protest against the governments decision that the Rohingya should be referred to as the Muslim community in Rakhine State.

The government said this is a democratic state and government, but we cannot understand why they are still using the dictatorship section [of the penal code], Ko Win Ko Ko Latt said.

The Kamaryut township charges can bring up to three months in prison and a K10,000 fine. For the Bahan township charges, the defendants face up to two years in prison.
Six factory workers from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigations Agricultural Machinery Factory are demanding an investigation into the ministrys contract with a private company, which they say guarantees them a job with the private company for 30 years.





Young Investment Groups Industry (YIGI) company won a 30-year government contract in 2013 to build, operate and transfer an agriculture equipment factory for the ministry. As a part of the contract, 38 public workers were transferred to YIGI.

After three years of service, YIGI decided to send some of the workers back to the ministry, said labour leader U Aung Kyaw Tun Naing Oo, who is also a member of the Yangon Regional Arbitration Committee and a central committee member of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM).

We transferred to this company because of the written order, he said at a press conference yesterday. The ministry order has allowed us to work for the company for 30 years, according to the foreign services terms of laws.

YIGI factory administration committee chair U Myint Thein told The Myanmar Times yesterday that while 32 of the 38 workers returned to the government department as ordered, six government workers, led by U Aung Kyaw Tun Naing Oo, have been failing to honour the contract, which, he said, guaranteed only three years of work.

We want to work, said U Aung Kyaw Tun Naing Oo. We want jobs that have guarantees. They [ministry officials] arranged for us to work at the company for 30 years.

He also demanded that the government take action against the ministry officials who issued the written order, and determine if that order is illegal.





They have asked the ministry for an explanation of the work order and have received no response, he said.

YIGI company officials said the Agriculture Machinery Department issued letters to the six workers many times, recalling them to their old jobs. Department officials met with those workers asking them to come back, YIGI officials said, but the six workers have disobeyed the rules and laws.

They are not our workers, said U Myint Thein, a YIGI company official. They are government staff. We sent them back because their primary department called them back, according to the by-laws for government workers.

According to the order, which was obtained by The Myanmar Times, the 38 government staff members were transferred to YIGI for anywhere from one to 30 years, depending on the foreign service terms in the by-laws for government staff.

YIGI also released 17 former government workers who, company officials say, had already resigned from the government department with a pension before the contract in 2013.

Those workers are disobeying factory rules and have failed to sign their new employment contracts, U Myint Thein said.

But the 17 workers say they did not take any compensation. They are cooperating with the other six dissatisfied workers in demanding the government solve their grievances and get their jobs back.

They plan to protest in cooperation with union workers if the ministry and company failed to solve their grievances, said U Aung Kyaw Tun Naing Oo.
A survey of small businesses? mobile marketing strategies across six countries found that the United States leads in interest in chatbots and giving away free rewards to loyalty members.





Chatbots are an important focus for big brands this year, but even single-location and small chains recognize an opportunity to enhance customer interactions. However, while 82 percent of single-location and small chain businesses in the United States would use a chatbot, just 52 percent in Australia would, according to a new report from Flok.





?We were surprised at the interest breakdown regarding using AI to connect with customers around the world,? said Dave Heinzinger, vice president of marketing communications at Flok . ?Markets like the UK, Israel, U.S. and Canada seem to be very receptive to the tech, while Australia and Ireland perhaps aren't quite ready to rely on bots.





?It's very important to define a goal if you're going to jump into the automated customer engagement world,? he said. ?What are you looking to achieve? Do you want to drive repeat business? In-app or in-store sales? Generate customer reviews and social buzz?





?In each case, bots can help you succeed -- but you want to make sure you're facilitating interactions, or proactively creating interactions, that will work toward these goals.





The report is based on a survey of 1,500 single-location and small chains of less than 5 stores who are on the Flok platform.





The geography of marketing

In Canada, 80 percent of small businesses would use chatbots compared to 78 percent in Britain, 76 percent in Israel and 55 percent in Ireland.





The report also highlights differences in conversational habits within the loyalty context.





In Israel, businesses used 8 percent fewer words per customer engagement on average. In Canada, businesses apologized to customers 9 percent more often than their international counterparts.





Check-in rewards differed from country to country as well.





In Ireland and Britain, businesses are offering alcohol-based rewards such as a free pint 22 percent more often than other countries.





In the U.S., businesses have given away more ?free? rewards, versus discounts or coupons, per capita than any other country.





Overall, Australia is leading other countries for loyalty success, having driven 6 percent more repeat business per capita through Flok versus other countries.





Frequency vs. spending

The goals of a loyalty initiative also differ across the globe.





In Australia and Israel, business owners were most concerned with driving more spending per trip, while businesses in Britain and the U.S. were more interested in frequency of store visits.





The majority of Canadian businesses said they wanted to consolidate and save money on marketing efforts through a digital loyalty program.





?For brands, the takeaway is that consumer mobile behavior is different in key markets ? as are businesses goals in customer engagement,? Mr. Heinzinger said.








Araba Botchwey, the daughter of one of Ghana's most favourite actors, Kofi Middleton-Mends, who passed away on Monday, has disclosed that her late father died of kidney failure.

The veteran actor's first child disclosed in an interview with Myjoyonline.com on Wednesday morning that her late father had been battling kidney disease for some time now and was on dialysis when he passed away.

Kofi Middleton-Mends starred in successful local and international productions and was known for his role in the 1968 hit, 'No Tears for Ananse' and 'Grey Dawn' (2015).

One of his most recent mainstream efforts was in Shirley Frimpong-Manso's 'Grew Dawn', where he played the role of an ailing politician whose tax issues meant trouble for his family.

The late actor, according to his daughter, had been in and out of hospital for the past two years and was rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Monday dawn where he passed away at 4:00pm that same day.

The respected actor, well-known for his catch phrase, 'Sarah, My Socks' and the television commercial for Key Soap, had been off the television screens for some years now.

The late Kofi Middleton Mends was a lecturer at the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) and the University of Ghana. He stopped lecturing about two years ago.

Araba Botchwey said that one of her fond memories of her late father was his attention to the use of words and the English language.

Whenever he tells you bring that brown dictionary, then know that you have pronounced a word wrongly, she recalled.

Kofi Middleton Mends who died at the age of 77 was survived by a wife and three children. He had five children, but two had passed on.
The Avengers claim to seek a fairer share of Nigeria's oil wealth for residents of the region as well as self-determination and political autonomy. By Stefan Heunis (AFP/File)

30.10.2016 LISTEN

Warri (Nigeria) (AFP) - Niger Delta militants on Sunday claimed an attack on a gas pipeline in protest at upcoming talks between the Nigerian government and leaders from the oil-producing south.

In a statement, the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate group said it would not support the talks being held by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and representatives from the Niger Delta to end the oil infrastructure sabotage.

Attacks on pipelines by militant groups have slashed Nigeria's oil production helping to tip the country into recession as it struggles to adapt to the low price of crude globally.

"...in furtherance of the Operation Hammurabi Code, our Akuma strike team struck and brought down the 32-inch Effurun-Otor delivery line," the militant group's spokesman Aldo Agbalaja in a statement.

"This is not ending soon, we shall fulfill our promise of uprooting your entire assets in our land."

The Effurun-Otor pipeline feeds the Utorogu gas plant that powers Lagos, a megacity of around 20 million people.

The militants dismissed the forthcoming talks in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Tuesday, saying they would "never get our support."

"Like we said before now, the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate is not opposed to a genuine dialogue between the federal government and real representatives of the various nations of our region," said the statement.

"We are collecting names from the nations in the region, those who will sincerely and equitably represent our various peoples."

A security source confirmed the attack. "Yes, a pipeline conveying products to the Utorogu gas plant was attacked by some hoodlums," a Department of State Security official told AFP.

Divisions between rival militant groups will make it hard for the Nigerian government to strike a lasting peace deal.

A 2009 amnesty deal with militants helped end sabotage in the oil-producing southern swamplands, but the violence reignited after Buhari's cash-strapped government temporarily ended amnesty payments and arrested a prominent ex-militant for corruption.
18.08.2016 LISTEN

By Samuel Akapule, GNA

Mr. Awudu Hayatudeen, the General Manager of the Builsa Community Bank Limited (BOCO-Bank), has called on the public to seek advice from financial professionals before dealing with micro-finance institutions.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at Sandema in the Builsa District of the Upper East Region, Mr. Hayatudeen expressed regret about instances where majority of Ghanaians allowed themselves to be defrauded by some micro-finance institutions in the country.

The Manager who said his outfit would assist the Bank of Ghana (BOG), the regulating body, to weed out such micro finance institutions, adding that his outfit and other rural banks were working together in that regard.

It is really pathetic that the situation has led to the collapse of many people's businesses and the breaking up of families. My outfit and other Rural and Community Banks will assist the BOG to weed out such defrauders.

He said BUCO Bank was one of the credible banking institutions in the Upper East Region and had instituted both internal and external control measures to protect the purse of customers and called on the public to transact businesses with the bank.

Mr. Hayatudeen said from the modest beginning of one branch, the bank had grown to four branches located at Bolgatanga, Sandema and Fumbisi all in the Upper East Region and Yagba in the Mamprugu Maudori District of the Northern Region.

As a Community Bank owned financial institution established in 1996, the Builsa Community Bank LTD is regulated by the BOG and also supervised by the ARB Apex Bank, has about 50,000 clients, he stressed.

He said the Bank for the past 20 years in its operations had performed creditably and was also rated strong by the Efficiency Monitoring Unit of Apex Bank in 2015.

Another success chalked by the bank was that it is the only rural bank in the Upper East Region that met the mandatory minimum stated capital of GH500,000 for 2016.

The Manager, who also attributed the Bank's success story to good products offered to its clients, said some of its products include Saving Account, Current Account, Fixed Deposits, Salaried Workers Loans, individual and Commercial Loans, Overdraft, Agribusiness Loans, Solar Loans, Microfinance loans, Money Transfer Services, Ezwich Service among others.

Source: GNA


The Executive Director of Curriculum and Research at the Ghana Education Service (GES), Charles Aheto Tsegah, has said Ghana's education system is in need of reforms that will allow the GES more control over schools.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, he bemoaned the fact the GES does not have the required legal control over schools and that allowed for negligence at various schools to go unchecked without sanctions.

The legal situation we have now does not even allow the GES to control the schools to the extent that it has to. There is a lot independence from headmasters, Mr. Tsegah said.

He also opined that, simply replacing heads of schools for non-performance was merely a stop-gap and that the main problem was an absence of quality leadership.

Look at all the schools that are performing and you will find out that they have heads of institutions that have demonstrated a high competency in leadership.

On the other hand, a common thread of bad leadership runs through the schools with a track record of bad performances, according to Mr. Tsegah.

Go down to the schools that are not performing and you will see the headmaster is not even there. You won't know these things in Accra or maybe at the district office because Ghanaians as we are, we like protecting the people who are doing bad things.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Government has dismissed reports that it has abandoned its decision to issue yet another Eurobond this year.

According to Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, government is still considering the various markets and devise strategies to pay off maturing debts.

What we did was to suspend pricing because considering the money in the stabilization fund and the bonds that were issued last year, we took off the [2016] bond because the prices that we were seeing were not right, he stated.

Mr. Terkper added that the creation of the sinking fund has rather helped the country to meet some of its debt settlement obligations, adding that he is hopeful government will strike a good deal when market conditions normalize.

With the stabilization we have been able to create the sinking fund whenever we put a cap on the stabilization fund, in order that we can use it as one of the instruments for tackling our debts problem. We have already used 33 million dollars of the sinking fund to buy securities for the first time Ghana has bought its own bonds on the secondary market,

It is this fund that enabled us to suspend pricing we did not call off the 2016 Eurobond as was widely circulated, he further stressed.

Seth Terkper made the remarks when he addressed this year's Ghana Economic Forum on Wednesday, August 17, 2016.

Government suspends 2016 Eurobond

Government early this month, suspended plans to issue its fifth Eurobond to raise about 700 million dollars; proceeds of which were to be used to retire the country's first Eurobond which matures next year.

A statement from the Ministry explained that the decision had been put on hold until such a time that market conditions are right.

Earlier, some economists had warned government will be unable to get a lower rate than its last Eurobond which attracted a coupon rate of 10.75 percent if it fails to issue the bond in the first quarter of this year.

Ghana's rising debt levels, economic challenges, upcoming elections and huge budget deficit were expected to influence the coupon rate for this Eurobond.

Ghana's program with the IMF  the Extended Credit Facility program is expected to address Ghana's high debt levels as well as huge budget deficit but parliament early this week rejected one of the IMF's conditions  zero financing of government's budget from the central bank, which was aimed at dealing with the debt levels.

GEF pushes for a Ghanaian owned economy

This year's Ghana Economic Forum focused on setting an agenda to attain a Ghanaian owned economy.

The Finance Minister among others also intimated the role of the government in creating an enabling environment for private and public sector business to thrive.

Among the key areas he highlighted were plans to improve the country's infrastructural base as well as making funds available to the private sector by easing domestic market conditions to propel the needed growth in the country.



By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
Police in the Eastern Region are uncertain of the whereabouts of three suspects accused of attempting to rob a Ghana Commercial Bank Bullion van at Maame Krobo in the Afram Plains South District.

The attempted robbery led to the death of the driver of the van after a heated exchange of gunfire between the police officer in the van and the suspects.

The Afram Plains District Police Commander, Superintendent Obeng Dompreh on Wednesday told Citi News he was on his way to Koforidua to hand the suspects over for further interrogations but the Police there are yet to receive the suspects.

For a trip that takes two hours, speculations are rife that the suspects escaped whilst being escorted to Koforidua.

The Eastern Regional Public Affairs Officer, ASP Yaw Nketia-Yeboah narrated to Citi News their difficulty in locating the suspects.

He said we are all here waiting for them they haven't told us about the escape of the suspects. We rather heard on social and traditional media that the suspects have escaped then about an hour ago we heard another one saying they've been arrested at Nsawam.

So we are still waiting for them to brief us. Even if they have escaped, we have Police means of communication. Our communication experts are trying all means to contact them. We've become very apprehensive; we are only praying that all these speculations are not true. A lot of perceptions were in the rumour mill before we heard they have escaped, we are more concerned than everybody else, he added.



By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
President of the Commonwealth of Learning, Professor Ashya Singh Kanwar, is worried that in spite of the numerous campaign of gender equality and women empowerment, Africa and some part of the world still have no or few women in leadership position.

She said in many parts of the world, women are performing above men academically in the universities but this is not reflecting in the field of leadership.

She said there is the need to invest in skills development of women to enhance women participation in leadership and managerial role.

She however, admonished women to take up leadership role at every level they find themselves.

Professor Ashya Singh Kanwar made these comments at the Women in Technical Education and Development Conference organized by the Koforidua Polytechnic under the theme: Women In Leadership and Sustainable Development.

Professor Kanwar's Commonwealth of Learning is an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to promote the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies.

She said African leaders must tackle poverty with modules and policies that would be tailored to empowering and addressing the social and economic needs of women who are marginalised and disadvantage in society.

According to her, poverty has a female face that must be tackled with social intervention modules and policies.

Rector of the Koforidua Polytechnic Professor Smile Dzisi indicated that the polytechnic has built the capacity of many female staff to take up leadership positions.

She said, the Koforidua Polytechnic is developing modules to expand its open and distance learning programs to give opportunity to many people who want to learn with an emphasis on female.

She revealed that in keeping with the technical university status, the school is determined to introduce more science and technology programs that would go to supplement existing ones.
Two security analysts want government to deepen involvement of local gun manufacturers in efforts to end arms proliferation in the country,

Franklin Biney, Analyst with the Africa Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peace and Security said public education must be intensified to expose the dangers that unregulated gun ownership and exchange pose to national security.

We have to look at the local manufacturers. To them they are making their daily bread but it is the law that they are breaking, said Mr Biney.

He said because most of the local gun manufacturers are not regulated, they sometimes team up with armed robbers and supply them with dangerous weapons.

He was speaking Wednesday on PM Express on the Joy News channel on Multi TV.

The Interior Ministry on Tuesday announced a month amnesty to unlicensed gun owners, urging Ghanaians and foreign nationals to voluntarily turn in guns in their possession without proper documentation.

The move is part of efforts government hopes will help prevent possible violence ahead of general elections in December.

The initiative has been marked as a possible failure as critics say it lacks depth and comprehensiveness.

The Chair of the International Advisory Council at the International Action Network on Small Arms, Bafour Amoah, who also spoke on the show urged government critically consider local manufacturers of guns in the effort control proliferation.

The local manufactured guns have got two problems: they dont respond to any international standards of gun manufacture. Secondly they dontuse the right materials, Mr Amoah told show host, Nana Ansah Kwao IV.

He revealed that almost 80 to 90 percent of all crime scenes have locally made guns, emphasizing the need for local gun manufacture to be critical attention.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | George Nyavor | [email protected]
On August 16, 2016, Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming met with Secretary to the President Roger Angsomwine of Ghana. Both sides exchanged views on China-Ghana relations and international and regional issues of common concern.

Zhang Ming spoke positively of bilateral exchanges and cooperation in politics, economy and trade, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, security and other areas, and expressed that China is willing to work with the Ghanaian side to further explore cooperation potential in all fields and promote the comprehensive and in-depth development of China-Ghana friendly cooperation.

Grateful for China's strong support to Ghana's social and economic development, Roger Angsomwine said that Ghana-China cooperation stays at a high level. The Ghanaian side is willing to strengthen cooperation with China with focuses on infrastructure, fishery, mining and other sectors, so as to better benefit the Ghanaian people.
Residents of some communities in the Ho municipality of the Volta region embarked on a massive demonstration on Wednesday, 17th August, 2016 to protest against government for failing to fix deplorable roads in the area.

They also threatened to boycott the December polls if government fails to fix the roads, which link their communities to the regional capital, Ho.

They revealed that the authorities had taken them for granted for a long period of time.

Jones Jutus Kuma, spokesperson for the demonstrators, stated that we are tired of the lip service being paid to the fixing of our roads, and this time we will boycott the elections if the roads are not fixed.

The demonstrators, numbering over 500, hail from Hordzokofe, Takla and Kpenoe traditional areas in the Ho Municipality.

The demonstration brought activities in Ho to a standstill, as some passersby cheered in support while others stood in awe.

According to them, the 15 kilometer road from the communities to Hordzokofe, a border community, has never been asphalted.

Hordzokofe is a strategic area for the governing National Democratic Congress due to its location.

During elections, the NDC obtains a lot of votes from that area.

The residents, who were clad in red dresses, arm bands and head gears, also wielded placards with various inscriptions to register their anger over the development.

According to them, they were disappointed in the Mahama-led administration for its inability to fulfill many promises made to complete the road.

They specifically stated that the Ho Central Member of Parliament (MP), Benjamin Kpodo had failed to honour his promise to fix the roads at the beginning of the year.

They started the demonstration from the Ho Barracks Bridge and terminated at the Municipal Assembly.

The irate residents also presented a petition to the President through the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Fafa Adinyirah.

The MCE, who received the petition, assured them that the roads would be fixed but failed to give any specific timelines.

She also thanked them for holding a peaceful demonstration.

Ironically, another group in Ho recently embarked on a march to thank President John Mahama executing monumental projects in the region, including the asphalting of the Ho roads.

From Fred Duodu, Ho ( [email protected] )
A Bekwai circuit court has sentenced a lorry park bookman to 11 years' imprisonment for possessing 199.86 grams of cannabis (wee).

Kwame Afriyie, from Pramso in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region, was arrested by officers of the Bekwai Divisional Police Command on the streets of Pramso on November 13, 2015 at about 3:35 pm with the narcotic drug in his pocket.

The prosecutor, Detective Inspector Stephen Ofori, told the court, presided over by Fredrick Nawura, that a search by the police revealed wraps of cannabis weighing 199.86 grams in the convicts pocket.

According to him, the police proceeded to the community upon a tip-off, adding that they found Kwame Afriyie with two black polythene bags containing the cannabis.

The prosecutor said the convict attempted to run away when he saw the law enforcement agents, but was arrested after a hot chase.

Kwame Afriyie was transported to the police station where he reportedly admitted possessing quantities of narcotic drugs without lawful authority.

The convict allegedly claimed that the substance belonged to his friend but failed to mention the name of that person to the police.

He was charged and arraigned before the court after the police had completed their investigation.

From Ernest Kofi Adu, Bekwai
Today we are expecting an august visitor, the former AU Chairman, the brave African, the strongest oldest person in Africa, the Millennium President of Africa, His Excellency, my Omamah, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, he who will be president until the bones are rotten, Mr. Omamah, welcome.

My name is Simpa Panyin. My occupation is selling bubra, alomo and joy daddy, I mean tot-tot. I also work with Challenging Heights, and I'm a Freelance Journalist. I come from the windiest town in Ghana, Winneba which is located about one hour drive away to the west of Accra. Winneba celebrates festivals such as Aboakyer, Fancy Dress and the hailing Akomase.

I am a very short man. So automatically I know you will tell me I cannot be the president of Zimbabwe. But that is not a problem for me. At least I know I'm not dumb, that if you give me a good platform to sell your message, I will not just open my mouth bassaaa.

But I am here to tell you all the things that have happened since you last visited Ghana, and to make your 4-day visit a beautiful one.

Your Excellency, Ghana abr3 paa oo. We have lost a number of our prominent statesmen; Justice D. F. Annan has died, and Right Honorable Peter Ala Adjetey has also died. Since these two men died, everyone is issuing death threats, disrespect, insults, I mean adapaaa paa, everywhere.

Unfortunately we don't feel treated equal before the law. For instance, earlier this year a driver who threatened to kill his grandmother at Akenkensu, was sentenced to 36-months imprisonment in hard labour. Another report had it that Isaac Mensah, a Chainsaw Operator, who threatened the life of a Magistrate was sentenced to a whopping five years imprisonment with hard labour.

Just recently three boys from the ruling NDC government have been sentenced to a 4-month imprisonment. Since then many people are calling for a pardon, for just four months of prison term, for threatening Supreme Court Judges.

What happened was that three umbrella boys sat in their studios, with microphone, and they shouted, Montie! Thereafter they opened fire, I mean wonbie gya.

They dared the Supreme Court of Ghana, threatening to marry Auntie Eku, I mean forced marriage, then the whole country became woooyaaaa!

Sensing danger and seeing that Opana's Attorney was not reprimanding them, that maybe the montie boys had Opana's support, the Supreme Court also dared Opana by sending them inside, I mean Nsawam. So now they are inside.

Opana now finds himself around the center circle. All his men are asking him to do something, to force Nsawam to free them, so that Auntie Eku will know that power pass power.

Opana received the petition from many of his party men, including my boss, Oye, and he passed it to the Council of State where Ama Benyiwa Doe is a member. The Council then took the petition, then they checked to see how many more fire could be opened if the petition is successful. Then they passed the petition back to Opana

Just when Opana was about to then you arrived!

So that is what happened. It was your arrival that prevented the pardon, the pardon that could make Opana score an own goal.

Omamah, still Ghana abr3 paa oo.. Our two major parties are engaging in manifesto tricks. Last June the elephant hinted of a couple of what their manifesto contains, it said one factory per each district. Last time I sought to find out what type of factory they are talking about, is it fufu manufacturing factory or the type that grinds pepper, which is which?

Just last Sunday after John Dumelo returned from Cape Coast campaign launch, I asked an umbrella friend of mine what is likely to be in their manifesto, he asked me to assume that the manifesto message they have is edebiii keke, and so I should go to town with it.

Omamah, how can this biii k3k3? I will like to know why I should vote for you, why should that biii keke? Do you think elsewhere my friend would have gotten away with edebiii keke? Please we are looking for paper, not something biii keke.

A couple of weeks ago I told my people that Opanana should find a way of shutting up some mouths from Assin Central, I mean Assin Fosu. That this man from my Central Region is becoming vulgar?

Ok, so last week he actually said he was joking when he told all of us, that Auntie Araba got her job because she went inside with Opana. Can you imagine?

Auntie Araba received insults upon insults, that she was Edwaman, and these were said by known and unknown sharp teeth, insults from people of no status, they all yelled at this Samaritan woman.

Now Kennedy Agyapong is telling us that he was joking when he said Auntie Araba slept with Opana to gain her job. I mean how?

Omamah, is this not more painful than rape? That the whole world knew, and believed same, that Auntie Araba taflatse, is Edwaman, that she did herself in with Opana, and we were hooting at her, like a common slut, her husband heard it, her children heard it, her siblings heard it, everyone heard that; how do you account for all these pains and embarrassment she has gone through?

A Parliamentarian who is supposed to make laws for us, laws that includes decency, laws that includes wisdom, laws that include the exercise of good judgment, laws that include watching your mouth before you speak, laws that include removing sharp teeth, laws that include Parliamentarians holding themselves as role models, somebody who is supposed to be the epitome of respect, such a person, you opened your mouth wide, wide enough to cough filth on yourself? Aabaaaah.!

Elsewhere Kennedy Agyapong would not be allowed to contest the upcoming elections. We should not. We should be brutally frank here, we should not encourage the deliberate killing of the image of innocent people, it does not matter whether the person is a woman or a man, we cannot live in a society where people can speak evil, very deep stinking evil about others, disgrace innocent souls, destroy innocent leaders, and go dance with the gods, no way!

Anyway, Omamah, I was asking you to help me do something. We have some monies with Alfred Woyome, please collect it for us before you leave.

These are my reasons: Last week there was a report that a certain 23-year-old unemployed man was sentenced to a 36-month imprisonment in hard labour by the Odumase Krobo Circuit Court for stealing GH450 belonging to Abdul Rashid Adam, a butcher. David Edinba, the convict, pleaded guilty to the charge and prayed the court to deal leniently with him.

So Omamah, in the end this convict confessed to the crime, pleaded for leniency, the GH450 involved in the case was retrieved fully for the owner, and yet he was jailed for three years? Aabaaah!!!!

Let us juxtapose this with our GH51million Cedis which is now stuck with Woyome for nearly seven years. He said he had a contract, when in fact he did not have any contract; that is fraud right?

So it was wrong in the first place that he took the money. He knew it was wrong. He chopped it. So we should be earning interest, but we are not asking for interest. We are only asking him to return it to us, so that we can build about 200 secondary schools, so that we can build 10 hospitals, so that these facilities when it is built with that money, can serve over one million school children, and can serve over 300,000 pregnant women.

Omamah, this is all that we are asking for, and this is our last chance. If an ordinary stealing and confessing of GH450 can send someone to three years imprisonment, then I was thinking GH51million could attract more.

But if going inside has failed, then please let us have our money back. The moment you leave Ghana Opana will not mind us oo; he is not interested in collecting that money. The other day I heard that part of the money went into boddooo, so I'm told many are those who have lost the moral courage to enforce a refund. That is why I need somebody like you who is fearless, to collect our money for us.

So Omamah, as you are here, take the time to tour different parts of Ghana. We have the Boti Falls, the Kakum National Park, and the Cape Coast Castle. Come to Winneba to see how the Anyensu River meets the sea, and to see the only non Regional Capital that hosts a University, the University of Education.

James Kofi Annan
The distribution of freebies to prospective voters has kick-started.

The ruling party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), considers the approach a time-tested medium which it abandons to its electoral peril.

The trend which has gone on for a while now represents a blot on local politics, as it refuses to give way to best practices. There would be many who would allow their conscience to be bought by politicians. The bidders behind the conscience purchase believe that keeping the people, the source of votes, hungry and impoverished, is the best option to manipulate them as has been the practice for many years in illiteracy and poverty dominated societies.

It is appalling how the educated would exploit their less fortunate compatriots for electoral leverage.

Another way to achieve this diabolic objective is to keep education from as many people as possible especially in areas already suffering the effect of illiteracy.

Although the distribution of items is yet to peak, it is our anticipation that like it happened in Nigeria when desperate Goodluck Jonathan used this crude vote-seeking mechanism, the incumbent administration would empty the state kitty so it can spread the freebies across the nation: desperation being the impetus.

Some Ghanaians with forlornness lavishly etched on their countenances would collect the freebies and not reject the purchasing of their conscience.

As we advance in political age, the stupidity and crudeness of allowing our conscience to be bought by selfish politicians is becoming glaring to us.

In the not-too-distant future, such uncanny distribution when elections are around the corner would be considered not only anathema but offensive. When you offer cooking utensils and smoked fish to households three months to the next elections, you do not accord the recipients any deference.

Pictures of women lined up with shining utensils and NDC labels embossed are becoming prominent in the campaigns of the NDC. Juxtapose these with pictures of sacks of semolina and rice in Nigeria with the images of Goodluck Jonathan in the heat of the former President's expensive campaign and the similarities cannot be overlooked.

In Nigeria, we heard about how some traditional rulers received whopping amounts of money but refused to give the required backing to the PDP, the then ruling party.

Governments resort to this crude tactics only when they are unsure of their stewardship at the helm and dread the marching orders of the people.

Fishermen have been given outboard motors so they can come along with the JDM train. Politics done in this fashion is not only inappropriate but triggers questions about the source of the funds for the frivolities. When the government does not have a great integrity, such occupations prompt deep thoughts and remind the people of previous acts of looting of the public kitty.

The First Lady has been busy of late as she partakes in the distribution of the freebies: she has specialized in dealing with women's stuff such as hairdryers and others: her headlines making the pages of many newspapers. Whither Ghanaian politics?
The main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) yesterday took on President John Mahama and his ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the cleaners, exposing some of the subtle lies they have been telling Ghanaians ahead of the 2016 general elections.

The NPP also accused the president and his wife, Lordina Mahama, of doling out freebies to buy votes.

The party says the first lady was spending millions of Ghanaian taxpayers' money on gifts which she was dashing out for votes, while the president was doing same  distributing outboard motors, basins, among other things, to fishermen.

Acting General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu expressed the concerns at a press conference at the party headquarters in Accra yesterday.

He said, The wife of the President of the Republic is going around the country with a fleet of trucks loaded with goodies, which she is sharing for votes. These run into millions of dollars.

The NPP has therefore, called for full disclosure of who is funding the first lady' gift-sharing expedition.

Ghanaians deserve to know. How much is being spent? Who is paying for it? Where is the money coming from? he asked.

The NPP, John Boadu said, is all for charity work, but, Ghanaians also have the right to question the timing of the escalation of the first lady's gift-sharing expedition and the volume and costs of the gifts being shared.

The party reminded Ghanaians of what happened in 2012, when the NDC broke the bank, built a record 12% deficit from which the nation still hasnt recovered.

In 2012, he recalled, we saw how over the last four months to the polls, some $4 billion that was not budgeted for was taken out of state coffers and spent in a desperate and reckless attempt for Mahama to hold on to power. We all remember the stories of GYEEDA, SADA, Woyome, etc.



Failed Plot

Mr John Boadu unearthed the NDC's concoction of stories with the support of the National Security saying, The NDC, who has made it a business of fabricating tags for their political opponents, believe their best chance of staying in power is to brand Akufo-Addo and NPP falsely as intolerant, divisive and violent.

According to him, They have authored a false document, claiming it to be an internal NPP memo, dated May 1, 2016, by a group they have called 'Strategic Advisory Team.

But an obviously disappointed John Boadu pointed out, Let it be told right here, there is no group in NPP with that particular name and, if there were, we would not spell the name of our flagbearer wrongly.

Yes, we recently inaugurated a strategy team, which, I, John Boadu, am a member of, but it was not even in place on May 1 to write such an NDC-serving memo, which only seeks to paint NPP bad. In fact, the committee started sitting on 5th May, 2016.

According to him, It is all part of the discredited, unimaginative big NDC plot which says the only way they can hold on to power is to portray the NPP as 'not ready for power.' That is what this bogus document seeks to do.

Managing Editor of Daily Dispatch newspaper, Ben Ephson, who many believe sits in the comfort of his small office to churn out 'voodoo poll results,' was equally not spared the attack. He was accused of being used to propagate some of these falsehoods, with John Boadu saying, Our only advice to Ben Ephson, the Managing Editor of the Daily Dispatch, the paper publishing it, is this: do not allow your paper to be used for this cheap, an unintelligent piece of trash. It is beneath the reputation you seek to portray.

The NPP has since demanded an immediate retraction and apology from the Daily Dispatch in connection with its story dated 10th August, 2016 (Wednesday edition, No: 013).



Conviction

The acting General Secretary had a message for the governing party. Let it be known, the NDC will not succeed in trying to paint the NPP as rather intolerant. The memories of Ghanaians are not asleep. Was NDC tolerant when the president's own loyalist and Campaign Coordinator, Kofi Adams, was suspended and thrown out of the party without a hearing for allegedly saying he would work against the re-election of the late President Mills?

Was the NDC tolerant when in December 2004, they suspended their own General Secretary, Dr Nii Josiah Aryeh, without a hearing? Is President Mahama aware that 12 years after, Dr Aryeh is officially still under suspension? Was the NDC tolerant when threats, insults and assaults forced their Chairman, Dr Obed Asamoah, and a few others to quit the party to form their own party for the 2008 elections? Was the party tolerant when they forced out former first lady Mrs Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, to form her own party in 2012 because they were uncomfortable with her criticizing the president from within as vice chairperson of the NDC? Was the president and leader of the NDC aware of the Chronicle report that the NDC Women's Organiser for Takoradi was recently suspended because she leaked to the press an allegation that her constituency chairman stole money which the MCE gave out to be distributed to women in the community? he asked.



Worry

John Boadu also punched holes in the president's speech during the NDC's campaign launch in Cape Coast last Sunday.

He indicated, The president made it clear to Ghanaians that there are indeed two Ghanas: the Ghana where he lives comfortably with his family, friends and cronies and the Ghana where the vast majority of the people reside  the Ghana of hardships, frustrations and hopelessness.

Interestingly however, John Boadu noted, He avoided talking about jobs. He avoided corruption  the one word that gets his lips to shake whenever he tries to pronounce it.

Aside that, the NPP scribe also wondered why Mahama chose, for instance, to ignore completely the anxiety of tens of thousands of public sector workers over a deal that he struck with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which according to Mr Boadu, would see to a mass layoff of workers in 2017 if Ghanaians make the mistake of re-electing him.

Under Mahama, John Boadu said, Those looking for jobs cannot find any; those who had jobs have lost them; and those with jobs are afraid of losing them. Yet, the president refuses to speak about this. He refuses to explain why when the NDC took over in 2009, the National Youth Employment Scheme had 110,000 people on its payroll, and nearly eight years down the lane, its replacement  the Youth Employment Agency  has employed less than 70,000 young people. Mahama is simply a job killer.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
A teacher who has allegedly raped one of his students at the Sunyani High School in the Brong-Ahafo Region has reportedly deserted the school, as the police make frantic efforts to get him to face the law.

Elijah Yeboah, Physical Education (PE) tutor, under the guise of punishing the student for not reporting for exercises in her PE dress, ordered the victim and three other girls to scrub the floor in his bungalow as their punishment.

DAILY GUIDE's investigation revealed that after the students had gone through the punishment and were about to leave, Mr Yeboah told one of them (name withheld) that she had not finished her part of the punishment and so should come back another day to complete it. This reportedly happened on 4th July, 2016.

On 10th July, 2016, the tutor asked her to go and complete the punishment and in the course of the work, he allegedly held her hand and drew her to his sofa and forcibly had sex with her.

According to sources, on July 12, the girl reported the case to her house mistress who in turn reported it to the senior house master and subsequently the headmistress.

The headmistress also reported the matter to the municipal director of education for advice.

After initial investigation, the municipal directorate advised the school authorities to report the case to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service for his arrest.

However, because the act took place during terminal examination period, DOVVSU advised that he should be picked up after the examination so that it would not affect the girl psychologically.

But the tutor was said to have gotten wind of the move and absconded even before the student could finish the examination.

Deputy Regional Coordinator of DOVVSU, ASP Satina Aboagye told DAILY GUIDE that the police were still looking for him.

The headmistress and her deputies were not available for comment after frantic efforts to get their side of the story.

But the Sunyani Municipal Education Director, Mary Gyimah, confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE and said whilst the police were handling the criminal aspect of the case, she had also advised the headmistress to carry out the administrative punishment by embargoing the tutor's salary because he left school without permission.

All efforts to get the teacher through his mobile phone proved futile as it had been switched off and his wife too could not tell her husband's whereabouts.

From Daniel Y Dayee, Sunyani

[email protected]
A magistrate court in Ho, the Volta Regional capital, has asked the Electoral Commission (EC) to delete 99 names of people believed to be non-residents from the voter register in the Ho Central Constituency.

This follows objections raised against those voters by a resident at Hodzokofe, on the basis that they are not residents in the area.

Agbesi Leonard, who testified in court on Tuesday, 16th August, 2016, explained that as a native of Hordzo who had lived there all his life, he had never seen such people in the area, although their names were similar to some people's in the area.

During cross-examination by his counsel, Emmanuel Ohene, Leonard said he tried all he could to locate the residents of the challenged persons, but to no avail.

He also added that since he challenged the people, followed by the pasting of their details at the various polling stations in the area, none of them nor their relations, had shown up to prove otherwise.

The magistrate further cross-examined him and the representative from the Electoral Commission. The EC representative corroborated the claims of Leonard, saying they followed the processes prescribed by the CI 91 to give the challenged persons an opportunity to prove their residency but to no avail.

They further consulted the chiefs, opinion leaders and residents, including beating of gong gong and durbar, but there was no response.

As a result, they had to resort to the court, which has the power to order the deletion of persons considered to be ineligible to be on the voter register.

After thorough interrogations, the magistrate ordered that the EC should delete the 99 names challenged by the petitioner.

DAILY GUIDE information from the community suggests that most of the people challenged had come from neighbouring Togo to register and vote in the upcoming elections.

Meanwhile, figures from the EC indicate that a total of 5,656 names were objected to, in the just-ended voter register exhibition in the region, comprising 3,193 deceased persons and 2,463 challenged for not meeting some requirements of the Constitution and electoral laws.

From Fred Duodu, Ho ( [email protected] )
Two suspected notorious armed robbers, Osman Omaro and Hassan Mohamed, both aged 27 years, who according to the police, had been terrorizing Ghanaians all over the country for a long time, have been arrested at Yeji in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

They were arrested with a short gun and live 7 BB cartridges which they reportedly dismantled and concealed in a sack to outwit the police. But they were arrested at a police check-point between Sawaba and Yeji. The police believed they (suspects) were going on another operation but luck eluded them.

According to the Brong-Ahafo Regional police spokesman, ASP Christopher Tawiah, information available to them indicated that the two had been terrorizing Ghanaians across the country with a series of robberies and were on their way for another operation when the police nabbed them. They were arrested on 13th of this month and have already appeared before a Yeji magistrate court. They have been remanded in police custody to reappear on a later date.

FROM Daniel Y Dayee, Sunyani

[email protected]
The Eastern Regional Police Command has launched a manhunt for two police personnel who escaped from police custody after they were arrested for allegedly attacking a GCB Bank bullion van.

The two policemen from Donkorkrom, identified as Corporal Elvis Solomon Mensah aka Fire and Lance Corporal Daniel Kissi Abrokwah, escaped from a police van when a team of officers from the Nkawkaw Division was transporting them from Tease police cells to the regional police headquarters in Koforidua.

Corporal Solomon Nkansah is reported to be an elder at the Tease Pentecost Church of Ghana.

The cops and another accomplice, said to be a mechanic and driver, were arrested Tuesday evening after they had purportedly attacked the GCB bullion van with registration number GN 1354-15 which led to the death of the bullion driver. The police officer on board the bullion van was also injured.

DAILY GUIDE gathered that the regional police commander, DCOP Peterking Gyinae ordered that the three suspects be brought to the regional headquarters for interrogation; and while they were in transit, the two policemen managed to escaped, leaving the handcuffs with the mechanic who is currently cooling off in the Nkawkaw police cells.

An eyewitness (name withheld) told DAILY GUIDE that the three suspects were in the back seat of the white pickup which was coming from the Donkorkrom Division.

What I saw was that one of the suspects pushed the officer who was escorting them and the two cops took to their heels. But what amazes me is how the other suspect managed to release his hand from the handcuffs.

The suspects were reported to have used an Opel Caravan taxi with registration number GR 7860-09 in trailing the van before attacking it at Asifi.

Police officers were quickly dispatched from Nkawkaw, Donkorkrom and Tease to the crime scene and there was exchange of fire between the policeman on board the van and the robbers, leading to the death of David Sarpong, the bullion van driver.

Meanwhile, the regional police Public Relations Officer, ASP Yeboah Nketiah, said on Wednesday at a press conference that the armed robbers could not succeed with their operation because the police officer on board the vehicle restrained them.

When the entire Ekye-Amanfrom youth and citizens in the Afram Plains South District got information that the suspected police armed robbers had escaped, they took to the streets to express their disappointment in the police.

They called on the Inspector General Police (IGP) to intervene in the matter before things get out of hand.

DAILY GUIDE's attempts to contact the regional police command to find out whether the escapees had been rearrested proved futile as at press time yesterday.

From Daniel Bampoe, Koforidua
Citi Business News can confirm that the National Communications Authority (NCA) has begun the processes to revoke the license of telecommunication company Expresso.

According to the NCA's Director for Engineering Henry Kanor the prolonged inactivity of Expresso is affecting industry stakeholders and creating a shortfall in the revenue targets of the regulator and government.

In an interview with Citi Business News, Henry Kanor said there will be a policy statement on Expresso shortly if it fails to get an investor to invest in the company soon.

We have a regulatory regime that is enshrined in their license and so we gave triggered that and a discussion has to be taken in that regard. I should think that is why they are now seriously looking for investors to come invest in the company.

Henry Kanor stated that The status quo cannot remain the same for long, we want to make sure that customers get the best services, we want to get revenues for government and as regulator we need revenue to survive.

He further told Citi Business News that the prolonged inactivity of Expresso is disturbing which is affecting the companys sub-contractors, workers and all other stakeholders.

We have triggered the regulatory processes to revoke the license, it is a long process and I cannot say how long it will take but the process will end at a time. And am optimistic very soon a policy statement would be made on the company he stated.

Expresso has been struggling to secure an investor for some time now, the development has led to a reduction in Expresso's market share to about 0.36% as at the first quarter of this year.

Earlier some players within the telecom industry warned that the company risks folding up if it fails to find an investor soon.

Expresso's challenges

The woes of Expresso have in the past affected its operation with some of its competitors MTN and Airtel.

The two companies had been compelled to block calls from Expresso over unpaid debts under the Interconnect Clearing House(ICH).

In what appeared to be an unending feud, the industry regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA) recommended that subscribers of Expresso port to other networks.

Association with Sudatel

Expresso's challenges have largely been attributed to its affiliation with Sudatel from Sudan which has made difficult for Expresso to raise capital locally and internationally due to sanctions placed by the UN on Sudan.

Also, moves by Sudatel to sell its shares in Expresso in 2013/2014, granted former National Security Coordinator, Colonel Larry Gbevlo-Lartey (Retired) the power of attorney to run the telecommunications company.

By: Norvan Acquah  Hayford/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
Salihu Abu, MTN Senior Manager for Customer Service and Credit Management presenting the items to Alhaji Abdul-Rauf Ibrahim Tanko, National Hajj Board Chairman

MTN, the leading telecommunications service in Ghana, is offering 85 percent discount on data services to this year's Hajj pilgrims.

Muslims, who embark on pilgrimage to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, will also receive 30 percent discount on incoming voice calls, as well as 18 percent discount on outgoing calls and text messages.

The package is available to all prepaid and postpaid MTN customers roaming in Saudi Arabia on Mobile (Etisalat) networks.

It is designed to offer the pilgrims the opportunity to stay connected with family and friends while in Mecca.

In addition to these offers, MTN has also donated 14 mobile handsets, airtime worth GH7,500 and MTN souvenirs to Hajj Board to facilitate its work.

Speaking during a presentation to the Hajj Board, the Senior Manager for Customer Service and Credit Management at MTN, Salihu Abu, reiterated MTN's commitment to supporting the activities of the Hajj Board.

He said, The presentation of the items is a token from MTN to aid in the organization of the annual pilgrimage.

Mr. Abu expressed MTN's gratitude to the Muslim community, especially the National Hajj Board for partnering MTN over the past six years to design meaningful products for Mecca pilgrims.

Alhaji Abdul-Rauf Ibrahim Tanko, National Hajj Board Chairman, expressed his appreciation to management of MTN for supporting the Muslim community in diverse ways.

He said the relationship between MTN and the Muslim community would be enhanced in the coming months.
Tema Oil Refinery Limited (TOR), Ghana's only processor of crude into fuels, is seeking to convert bank loans it had contracted from banks into a 10-year bond for its lenders in order to reorganize its debt and streamline repayment.

Even though details of how the bond would be converted into bonds is expected to be completed in a couple of weeks, the state-owned company owes banks as much as GH950 million ($240 million), Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kingsley Awuah-Darko told Bloomberg by phone on Friday.

Non-performing loans at Ghana's banks increased to 19.3 percent in May from 14.7 percent at the end of December, as lenders started to classify some debt owed by state-owned companies as bad loans, according to the central bank.

Tema plans to use funds from a levy collected by the state since 2003 on fuel sales for bond coupon payments, Awuah-Darko said.

We will use proceeds of the Tema Oil Refinery debt-recovery levy which is accruing in an account to service the bond quarterly or semi-annually, he said.

The company is working on a second bond to convert debt owed to creditors, Awuah-Darko said, declining to give details.
Khartoum (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed disappointment over the failure of talks between the Sudanese government and rebels on a ceasefire in Darfur and two other conflict zones.

The talks on a cessation of hostilities in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan were held in Addis Ababa last week after three prominent rebel groups signed a roadmap brokered by African Union mediators for ending the conflicts in the three areas.

Their signing of the roadmap, which had already been signed by the Sudanese government, had raised hopes of a breakthrough after successive rounds of abortive talks.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in the three regions as ethnic minority groups rebelled against President Omar al-Bashir's Arab-dominated government.

The signing of the roadmap by two Darfur rebel groups -- the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army - Minni Minnawi faction -- and the main rebel group in the other two areas -- the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - North -- prompted the renewed ceasefire talks but they again broke down.

"The secretary general is disappointed that the Sudanese parties failed to reach an agreement on a cessation of hostilities in Darfur and the two areas of Blue Nile and South Kordofan states," a UN statement released on Wednesday said.

"He reiterates that there can be no lasting alternative to a negotiated settlement and stresses that a cessation of hostilities is the first, indispensable step towards achieving this goal."

The African Union mediating panel criticised the Darfur rebels for the failure of the talks.

"The panel believes that the parties have allowed a real and critical opportunity to slip out of their hands," it said in a statement.

It blamed the JEM and SLA-Minnawi for the failure of the Darfur talks, saying the two groups had "reopened numerous issues that had previously been agreed and others which contradicted the roadmap agreement".

The panel said that the talks on Blue Nile and South Kordofan had been derailed by disagreements over the handling of humanitarian aid.

"The impasse ... has frozen the prospects for peace for the people of Darfur and the two areas," it said.

The conflicts in the border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile erupted when South Sudan broke away in 2011.

The Darfur rebels took up arms in 2003, triggering a conflict in which at least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million fled their homes, according to the UN.
The New Patriotic Party has expressed concern about the extent to which the sharing of freebies to the electorate by First Lady Lordina Mahama has been escalated in the run-up to the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections.

Her husband, President John Dramani Mahama, officially began his 2016 campaign in the Western region, Tuesday, with many freebies accompanying him, and being doled out to the electorate.

This has attracted a sharp condemnation from the Ghana Integrity Initiative, whose Executive Director, Linda Ofori Kwafo, says the presidents decision to distribute freebies to the electorate is worse than vote buying, especially against the background of the admission by his campaign spokesperson that the items being doled out were purchased with state funds.

Indications are that First Lady Lordina Mahama may also be spending millions of Ghanaian taxpayers money on doling out gifts to the electorate to buy votes for her husband, according to the New Patriotic Party.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, John Boadu, the partys Acting General Secretary, took issue with the lavish gifts the First Lady is travelling across the country giving out. The gifts include sewing machines, hairdryers, outboard motors, textiles, cash, and many more.

Making allusion to the speech delivered by the president at his campaign launch in Cape Coast, Mr Boadu noted: The President was silent on why babies are dying in our hospitals because there are no incubators or oxygen. The President did not explain why students in boarding schools are left to starve, whiles his wife, the First Lady, can find money to travel across the country giving away election year goodies.

According to the John Boadu, even though the NPP is not against charity work, wehave the right to question the timing of the escalation of the First Ladys gifts-sharing expedition and the volume and costs of the gifts being shared.

He recalled that in the last four months to the 2012 elections, some $4 billion dollars that was not budgeted for was taken out of state coffers and spent in a desperate and reckless attempt for President Mahama to hold on to power.

It seems the script is being repeated, except the characters may be slightly different. Mrs Lordina Mahama has assumed a special role in the 2016 NDC campaign. She is effectively the Chief Director of Gifts, he stated.

The NPP finds it unacceptable that the wife of the President is going round the country with truck loads of goodies and sharing them to the electorate for votes.

These run into millions of dollars. Ghanaians deserve to know. How much is being spent? Who is paying for it? Where is the money coming from? Is it from our taxes or from friends? Which friends? Are they friends who are also capable of winning contracts to build walls and roads? The First Lady must be transparent and accountable, the NPP is demanding.

Ghanas crisis is Mahama-made

Turning to the state of affairs in the country, Mr Boadu noted that the current crisis being experienced by Ghanaians is the result of President Mahama's ineptitude, weak leadership and direction.

According to him, it therefore comes as no surprise that 70% of Ghanaians are convinced that Ghana will be in serious trouble if President John Mahama is given another 4 years to run the country.

Mr Boadu expressed regrets about the fact that the NDC government, after taking over a country which was on the verge of economic take-off, had reversed the nations clock of development.

This is how wasted the last 8 years have been under President Mahama. President John Agyekum Kufuor and the NPP left behind a nation with a small, manageable debt of GH9.2 billion, free from any IMF programme, a fast-growing economy, boasting a vibrant financial sector, a booming agriculture, and about to produce oil. Yes, Ghana in 2009 was a nation with a confident, healthy people, who were very excited about a future of fantastic possibilities," he said.

But these good economic indicators, the party insists, have been reduced to shreds due to the NDCs unprecedented mismanagement, corruption, lack of vision and mediocrity.
The Government of Kenya has today signed an agreement to commence a joint venture with De La Rue.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Government of Kenya will take a 40% interest in De La Rues wholly owned subsidiary, De La Rue Kenya EPZ Limited for GBP5million.

The transaction is expected to complete by the end of the year. De La Rue will continue to operate and manage the business after the completion.

Martin Sutherland, Chief Executive Officer of De La Rue, commented:

De La Rue is delighted to have extended our longstanding relationship with the Government of Kenya into an ever closer partnership. The joint venture will secure our position as a supply hub of currency and security solutions for the largest economy in East Africa and for the region ensuring a continuing and stable supply of technically advanced currency.

The joint ventures facility in Nairobi will become one of 3 manufacturing Centres of Excellence for banknote and security printing identified as part of the Groups recent footprint review. These Centres of Excellence will share up to 15m of investment over the next 2 years.

The Kenya facility will produce for both the domestic and export markets, and directly employs 290 people locally.

The Nairobi factory will produce 1 billion banknotes a year with potential to increase the production output by 50% with the installation of new equipment.

Mr. Sutherland added:

At De La Rue, we are proud of our 200 years of heritage, but it is our future that excites us. We look forward to working in a thriving East African Community, with Kenya at its centrepiece. We see the potential for Kenya to become a hub for personal identification solutions, passports and security documents. We are proud to be making this commitment to Kenya, by investing in the future, the facility and the Kenyan people.

Speaking following the signature, Deputy British High Commissioner to Kenya, Dr. John Murton, said:

These are exciting times for both our countries. Britain has the fifth largest economy in the world and, as it prepares to leave the EU, is committed to increasing its trade and investment links globally. Kenya is a regional powerhouse and the gateway to East Africa and beyond. The new agreement signed today shows our economic partnership at its best, with UK business investing in Kenyas economy and working with the Government of Kenya to deliver a vital service for the country.
Last week, Indian Ambassador to Zimbabwe handed over US $ One Million to the Govt. of Zimbabwe as a grant from Govt. of India in response to the appeal made by Zimbabwe.

Accepting the grant, Dr. Misheck Sibanda, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet thanked for the quick response by the Govt. of India to an international appeal made by Zimbabwe in the wake of El Nino induced drought disaster. He further said that Zimbabwe was happy with the sound relationship that exists between Zimbabwe and India in critical sectors of the economy such as SME, ICT, Energy, Education and Pharmaceuticals. India also announced that the logistical modalities are being worked out for donation of 500 metric tonne of rice in the second phase of assistance.
Speaking after the presidential election results were announced the Minister for Middle East and Africa, Tobias Ellwood said:

Congratulations to President Edgar Lungu on his re-election as President-Elect of the Republic of Zambia. The UK looks forward to working with the Zambian government and continuing to build on the strong relationship between our countries.

I congratulate the people of Zambia for their commitment to democracy. I welcome reports from local and international observers that the electoral process was generally well administered, with a high turnout of voters on a peaceful election day. However, I have also noted reports that the election was overshadowed by a troubled campaign period, restrictions on campaigning, and systematic bias in the state media. I hope that the government will address these issues and continue to strengthen Zambias democratic institutions for future elections.

I encourage all political parties to uphold Zambias reputation for calm and stability and ensure the peaceful resolution of disagreements through the correct legal channels, to ultimately reinforce Zambias sense of One Nation.
Nairobi (AFP) - South Sudan's former rebel leader and ex-vice president Riek Machar has left the country following violent clashes last month and is now in a "safe" country in the region, his aides said.

"(Machar) has now been safely evacuated to a safe country within the region he will hold a press conference within the next 24 hours," Mabior Garang de Mabior, a spokesman for Machar's SPLM-IO party, said in a statement.

The statement did not reveal which country Machar had gone to.

Civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup. The fighting has split the country along ethnic lines and driven it to the brink of collapse.

A peace deal signed between the government and rebels almost a year ago has so far failed to end the conflict. And last month Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting between Kiir's forces and those loyal to Machar.

Machar fled the capital Juba following heavy fighting in the city between July 8 and 11. He was subsequently replaced as vice president by Taban Deng Gai, a former friend and ally.

Gai warned Wednesday that Machar should stay out of politics to allow peace.

On Wednesday the United Nations launched a probe of a hotel attack in South Sudan in which soldiers raped women and assaulted aid workers while UN peacekeepers allegedly failed to act.

Last Friday the UN Security Council approved a US-drafted resolution to strengthen the 12,000-person peacekeeping mission with 4,000 additional troops drawn from regional armies and equipped with a more aggressive mandate.
Residents of Donkokrom in the Eastern Region have set ablaze the police station and barracks in the town to protest the escape of two alleged armed robbers who attacked a bullion van Tuesday and killed one person. About 30 police officers at the station and the barracks who have been overpowered by the residents are fleeing for their lives as they fire warning shots into the air to scare the angry residents, 3News can confirm. All the youth are fighting with the Police now. They [Police] had to ran away because they have no tear-gas to use in dispersing the crowd which is stoning the officers, our correspondent confirmed. Eight cars are said to have been set ablaze by the residents. First responders from the Ghana National Fire Service have been prevented from having access to the station to extinguish the fire which is said to have been started with gallons of petrol. National Public Relations officer of GNFS, Timothy Osarfo Affum, confirmed to 3News that his officers are unable to get access to the fire scene due to the aggressive nature of the residents. A Police reinforcement has been requested to bring the situation under control.



-3news
On Wednesday, 17 August 2016, the British High Commission in Windhoek held its PreDeparture/Farewell event for nine Namibian scholars taking up their post graduate studies in the UK in the coming weeks.

All nine Namibians are going to the UK under the UK government funded Chevening scholarship programme. One scholar is jointly funded by Chevening and the Petroleum Training and Education Fund (Petrofund).

The nine Namibian beneficiaries are: Omagano Kankondi, Michelle Hijamutiti, Rosanne Kahuure, Lovisa Neshila, Natalia Halweendo, Shakwa Nyambe (joint Chevening-Petrofund scholar), Twamanguluka Nambili, Sevelus Nakashole, and Kemanya Amkongo.

At the occasion, Namibian Chevening Alumni representative, Chief Inspector Vicky Matjila, said:

Chevening is a great opportunity for these bright and promising Namibians. I am very excited for them, as they are embarking on a journey of a lifetime which will be packed with discoveries, joy, excitement and challenges. Studying is the most extraordinary experience one can have, and I am sure these outstanding Namibian will embrace this opportunity and make the best of it for the Namibian-UK ties.

Chevening Scholarships are the UK governments global scholarship programme, funded by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and partner organisations. The programme makes awards to outstanding scholars with leadership potential from around the world to study postgraduate courses at UK universities.

The next Chevening online application cycle for Namibia opened on 08 August 2016 and will close on 08 November 2016.
One of the two Police Officers who were arrested after attempting to rob a GCB Bank Bullion van at Maame Krobo in the Afram Plains South District has been captured by police.

The escape of the two led to clashes between police and angry residents in the district leading to a police station being set ablaze. But the Police has said the arrest of this suspect has brought some calm.

The Afram Plains District Police Commander, Superintendent Obeng Dompreh confirmed the capture to Citi News saying now we have been able to capture one so the message has gone to them and the people are now calm.

The escape of the two led to protests in Donkorkrom, Maame Krobo and Tease with the protesters reportedly alleging that the Police allowed the suspects who attempted to rob the GCB Bank bullion van to escape.

The attempted robbery led to the death of the driver of the van after a heated exchange of gunfire between the police officer in the van and the suspects.

The protests in Donkorkrom are said to the most intense with demonstrators besieging two police stations there causing police to flee their posts in fear for their lives.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Residents of Donkorkrom at Afram Plains in the Eastern Region on Thursday set ablaze a Police station in the area to protest the escape of some robbers who attempted to rob a GBC bullion van in the area.

The Afram Plains District Police Commander, Superintendent Obeng Dompreh said the residents also vandalized another Police station at Tease.

About the incident in Donkokrom, I learnt they put fire into the Police station but I don't know the extent of damage. For that of Tease, they vandalized one of our cars and pelted stones at the officers, he said.

The Police Commander noted that the Eastern Regional Police command have sent officers from Koforidua to restore calm at the place.

The attempted robbery led to the death of the driver of the van after a heated exchange of gunfire between the police officer in the van and the suspects.

Though two of the suspects were captured and were to be conveyed to the Koforidua, the Regional Police Command, the Police are currently uncertain about their whereabouts.

This compelled residents of the area to go on rampage in the area.



By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
The Movenpick Ambassador Hotel would play host to the maiden edition of the Turkish Products Fair and exhibition in Ghana, where leading Turkish companies with more than 500 selected products will be awaiting Ghanaian professionals in their stands.

The event is under the auspices of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ICOC), founded in 1882, which is the third Chamber in the world with its worldwide activities of 400,000 members.

The conference is expected to pave way for major boost in trade between Turkey and Ghana.

At a media interaction in Accra which heralded the launch of the fair, The Ambassador of Turkey to Ghana, Her Excellency Madam Nesrin Bayazit threw more lights on the major contributions Turkey has made to boost the business climate in Africa.

According to the Ambassador, bilateral trade between the two countries currently stands at USD$400million.

He added: Turkey companies will undertake major projects in Ghana thus contribute to the development of Ghana. We have to move towards a common objective and interests of our nations. Improve our relations in every aspect possible for the prosperity of our people.

"Turkey is further seeking to strengthen trade ties with Ghana to boost trade volumes to about USD$1billion by the year 2020," Her Excellency Madam Nesrin Bayazit disclosed.

On His part, His Excellency Mr. Cagri Oluc of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce stated that since 1960s, ICOC organizes Turkish national participation to international Fairs all around the world and in addition to that since 1999, ICOC organizes Turkish Product Fair in various countries commercial regions.

"In this respect, ICOC supports sincerely all efforts and works in order to develop and strengthen social and commercial relations with great ECOWAS countries of Africa.

For the first time, at 1st Turkish Products Fair in Ghana, leading Turkish companies with more than 500 selected products will be awaiting Ghanaian professionals in their stands.

....All sorts of products from food to industry, electronic to cosmetics, gift items to construction, kitchen materials to textile, machinery to home appliances will meet ECOWASs Ghanaian Professional stars at Accra Movenpick Hotel between 24-27 August 2016. " His Excellency Mr. Cagri Oluc indicated.

The event would also see the Ghana Chamber of Commerce in the thick of events in exploring business opportunities for their Ghanaian counterparts.

ICOCs aim is not to boost Turkish exports to Ghana but also boost Ghanaian import to Turkey by win and win philosophy.

ICOC representatives will be at your service all between 24  27 August 2016 for the purpose of 1st Turkish Products Fair.

ICOC will be happy to see Ghanaian professionals in Istanbul in the near future and hereby wish to say win and win for Ghana and Turkey.
Nairobi (AFP) - South Sudan's former rebel leader and ex-vice president Riek Machar has left the country following violent clashes last month and is now in a "safe" country in the region, his aides said.

"(Machar) has now been safely evacuated to a safe country within the region he will hold a press conference within the next 24 hours," Mabior Garang de Mabior, a spokesman for Machar's SPLM-IO party, said in a statement.

The statement did not reveal which country Machar had gone to.

Civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused Machar, then his deputy, of plotting a coup. The fighting has split the country along ethnic lines and driven it to the brink of collapse.

A peace deal signed between the government and rebels almost a year ago has so far failed to end the conflict. And last month Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting between Kiir's forces and those loyal to Machar.

Machar's whereabouts have been unclear since the fighting flared in Juba between July 8 and 11 and led to his outgunned and outnumbered forces being chased from the city by government troops.

He was subsequently replaced as vice president on July 25 by Taban Deng Gai, a former friend and ally.

- 'Concerned about allegations' -

Deng warned Wednesday that Machar should stay out of politics to allow peace despite previously indicating that if Machar returned to Juba he would stand aside.

Several former rebel commanders have warned they consider Deng's elevation to be "treason".

On Wednesday the United Nations launched a probe of a hotel attack in South Sudan in which soldiers raped women and assaulted aid workers while UN peacekeepers allegedly failed to act.

The abuses now being probed by the UN -- specifically, a July 11 attack on the Hotel Terrain in the capital Juba -- took place during the violence that engulfed the city for four days last month.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said late Tuesday he was "concerned about allegations that UNMISS (the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan) did not respond appropriately to prevent this and other grave cases of sexual violence committed in Juba."

Last Friday the UN Security Council approved a US-drafted resolution to strengthen the 12,000-person peacekeeping mission with 4,000 additional troops drawn from regional armies and equipped with a more aggressive mandate.

Juba has yet to accept the resolution.
killed at mining site

The Chinese Community in Ghana is appealing to police at Dunkwaw-on Offin to trace and bring to book, killers of a Chinese national in a robbery attack.

Twenty-nine year old Zhan Jin Hu was shot and killed at a mining site at Nyinawusu by four armed men in masks.

He was working with other colleagues including on a faulty excavator when the incident occurred.

Some residents of Nyinawusu lynched a member of the gang who went to the mining site with an accomplice to rob a day after Mr. Zhan was killed.

The Guangxi Chamber of Commerce and the Guangxi Association of Ghana have visited Dunkwaw and Nyinawusu to mourn with the bereaved family.

They expressed appreciation to police and residents for their support after the late Zhan Jins body was released for burial.

Spokesperson of the Chinese delegation, Monica Wien, wants police to track down and bring perpetrators to book.

She tells Nhyira FM the community is satisfied at police handling of the incident.

First of all, we want to express our condolence to the bereaved family. Secondly, we want to show our appreciation to the support from the local family and then the government, yeah and the police station; the town people they've supporting us.

Police in Dunkwaw on-Offin have vowed to get to the bottom of the murder.

District Commander, Superintendent Dela Dzanzi says his outfit has launched search for the two suspects who are on the run.

So far investigations are ongoing to uncover the truth. Two of the suspects are now on the run and police are doing everything possible to arrest these two suspects to help in our investigations. Mr. Dzanzi said.
I grew up in an extended family where respect was and it is still key in determining what a person will be. The elders would pray for you if you were respectful and that we expected could send you faraway in life- success. Do you remember the adage "a child who washes his hands will eat with the elders"?

Life is about respect and nothing but respect. In deed, respect is reciprocal. The young must respect the elder and the elder shall also respect the young ones. This when happens will create harmony amongst us in the society. If it doesn't happen, it implies a generation gab will be created.

People have defiled morality and culture up to an extend that someone can call my president , your president , our president a thief and go scout free. This same person if given the same opportunity can't call his village chief a thief. Why belittle our president?

These days, it is not uncommon to hear high seasoned journalists or lawyers including politicians call the president a liar or a thief. I perfectly agree that when you call the President a thief or a liar, you don't defile any constitutional provisions or perhaps, if you like, the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. But can similar extension be invested and lashed on our village chiefs. You dare not do that. If you try, the consequences will be more unbearable. You will be summoned before the chief and charged instantly for being disrespectful. Will it be called "contempt" of chieftaincy institution? I don't know about that. That's the benefit of indirect rule. We need political sanity in our country.

A soldier can't call his senior officer a liar. A teacher can't call his headmaster a liar. A nurse can't call his in-charge a liar. The respect is there in the world of work for us to see.

Insofar as one can't insult the president , let us not try to insult opposition leaders. They can equally become presidents some days.

I respect Alhaji Dr. Mahamud Bawumia not because he is a northerner but because he is an elder. Similarly, Nana Akufo-Addo, Dr. Tia Alfred Sugri, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, Dr. Edward Mahama and many others my be respected on the basis of culture and tradition. History is a window to the future. My culture teaches me to respect an elderly person. And that ends it.

Ladies and gentlemen, the point I want to make is that let's respect our leaders so that one day we will also be respected. I will not insult an elderly person because I want to be recognised by my party. I don't also expect anybody to also insult somebody because of his political party.

Certain times political excesses will come but let's exercise patience. The Mamprusis always say if there's patience one will be able to push through a cloth inside a bottle.

Are we not young? We are and if so then we need to be foresighted so that we will not face challenges when we grow old.

Let's respect our president. He represents Ghana in the international scene. I will definitely respect your president even if you don't respect my president.

Thank you.

Atindow Musah.
Policemen in the Afram Plains South District of the Eastern Region, are bearing the brunt of angry protests in the Eastern Region, and some of them reportedly fled their posts following the demonstrations by residents of the area.

Photos made available to Citi News from Maame Krobo shows a police station ransacked with its walls defaced with death threats to police officers.

The angry residents allege that, the Police allowed two of the suspects, both police officers, who attempted to rob a GCB Bank bullion van at Maame Krobo to escape.

The escape of the two also led to protests in Donkorkrom (near Nkawkaw), and Tease, with the protesters reportedly alleging that the Police allowed the suspects to escape.

Their attempted robbery led to the death of the driver of the van, after a heated exchange of gunfire between the police officer in the van and the suspects.

One of the two Police Officers who was arrested has since been captured by police.

The Daily Graphic has reported that, two of the escaped police officers have been identified as Corporal Elvis Mesnah and Lance Corporal Daniel Kissi.

Escalation of tensions in Donkorkrom

The protests in Donkorkrom are said to the most intense with demonstrators besieging two police stations there causing police to flee their posts in fear for their lives.

The Afram Plains Police Commander, Superintendent Obeng Dompreh, also said the residents vandalized another Police station at Tease.

About the incident in Donkokrom, I learnt they put fire into the Police station but I don't know the extent of damage. For that of Tease, they vandalized one of our cars and pelted stones at the officers, he said.

The Eastern Regional Police command has since ordered reinforcements from Koforidua to restore calm in the district, according to Superintendent Obeng Dompreh.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Nairobi (AFP) - South Sudan's former rebel leader and ex-vice president Riek Machar has escaped to the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo following violent clashes last month, an official said Thursday.

"Riek Machar is currently in DRC, in Kinshasa, and wants to go as soon as possible to Ethiopia," an aide told AFP.

An earlier statement from Machar's SPLM-IO party said the leader had been "evacuated to a safe country within the region" without naming Congo.

Civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused Machar, then his deputy, of plotting a coup. The fighting has split the world's newest country along ethnic lines and driven it to the brink of collapse.

A peace deal signed between the government and rebels a year ago has so far failed to end the conflict. And last month Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting between Kiir's forces and those loyal to Machar.

Machar's whereabouts had been unclear since the fighting flared in Juba between July 8 and 11 and led to his outgunned and outnumbered forces being chased from the city by government troops.

He was subsequently replaced as vice president on July 25 by Taban Deng Gai, a former friend and ally.

- 'Concerned about allegations' -

Deng warned Wednesday that Machar should stay out of politics to allow peace despite previously indicating that if Machar returned to Juba he would stand aside.

Machar's intention to travel to Ethiopia, a regional power broker that hosted peace talks through the trade bloc IGAD, suggests he has no intention of being cut out of negotiations or pushed from power.

Several former rebel commanders have warned they consider Deng's elevation to vice president to be "treason".

Also on Wednesday the United Nations launched a probe of a hotel attack in South Sudan in which soldiers raped women and assaulted aid workers while UN peacekeepers allegedly failed to act.

The abuses now being probed by the UN -- specifically, a July 11 attack on the Hotel Terrain in the capital Juba -- took place during the violence that engulfed the city for four days last month.

Last Friday the UN Security Council approved a US-drafted resolution to strengthen the 12,000-person peacekeeping mission with 4,000 additional troops drawn from regional armies and equipped with a more aggressive mandate.

Juba has yet to accept the resolution.
Reports gathered by Starr News indicate that one of the two Police officers who escaped police custody for the attack on a bullion van in Nkawkaw in the Eastern region has been re-arrested.

Lance Corporal Kusi Abrokwah was allegedly arrested by a weed smoker in the bush around Nkawkaw and handed over to Police officers who were nearby.

Lance Corporal Kusi Abrokwah and two others were arrested Tuesday evening after the attack on the bullion van led to the death of the vehicle driver while a Police officer escorting the vehicle was also wounded.

The armed robbers attacked the GCB Bank bullion van at Maame Krobo in the Affram Plains South district of the Eastern region, Monday morning.

The robbers fled into the bush after the attack, Afram Plains district commander Superintendent Obeng Dompreh told Starrfmonline.com.

He said the robbers could not succeed with their operation as a result of a gun battle with the police officer on board the vehicle.

After thorough investigations, two Police officers known as Kissi and Fire and a mechanic were arrested for their involvement in the robbery incident. However, they managed to escape as they were being transferred to Police head office in Koforidua.

The other police officer is still at large as police officers hunt for him.

Meanwhile, irate residents of Donkorkrom in the Afram Plains North district of the Eastern region have set the police station there on fire over clashes with the law enforcement body.

The locals clashed with police personnel Thursday as they demonstrate over the escape of two police officers in the operation to rob a GCB Bank bullion van at Maame Krobo.

-Starrfmonline
Ukrmedproektbud, the customer of construction of a new building of the Okhmatdyt National Children's Specialized Hospital, has signed a contract with new general contractor Riola-Modul LTD (Kyiv region).

According to the press service of the Health Ministry, the agreement was signed on August 15.

"The new general contractor won the tender for purchase of works on building a modern medical diagnostic complex of the Okhmatdyt clinic, including supply and installation of equipment," the ministry said.

The proposal of Riola-Modul amounted to UAH 213.398 million.

On August 17, a meeting of the working group on updating the task to design a new clinic building, which was approved by the Health Ministry on August 5, 2011, was held at the ministry. The project was adjusted in 2012-2015, when technically the medical part of the project was designed taking into account the placement of all communication connections.
United Nations Independent Expert Ikponwosa Ero will carry out her first visit to Mozambique from 21 August to 3 September to evaluate the situation of human rights of persons with albinism in the country.

There has been a recent wave of attacks on persons with albinism in some provinces in Mozambique to which the Government has reacted by arresting and prosecuting alleged perpetrators in the framework of the multi-sectorial plan adopted in 2015 to ensure the protection of lives and physical integrity of persons with albinism, Ms. Ero noted.

I will meet with the Committee in charge of this plan, as well as with other actors from Government, civil society and international partners in order to identify current challenges, gaps in the current response, and best practices that could be transferred from elsewhere in the region, she said.

During her two-week visit, the human rights expert will travel to Maputo, Nampula and Beira. She will meet with representatives of the executive, legislative and judicial branches, local and provincial authorities, the Mozambican Human Rights Commission, civil society organisations, including those of persons with albinism, and members of the diplomatic community.

I look forward to meeting persons with albinism in Mozambique, the expert added, as I give particular importance to their direct experience and also uphold the principle of nothing about us without us.

At the end of her visit, on Friday 2 September 2016, Ms. Ero will share with the media her preliminary observations at a press conference which will be held at 9:30 am at the UNDP premises in Maputo, Kenneth Kaunda Av, N. 931. Access to the press conference is strictly limited to journalists.

The Independent Expert will present a comprehensive report on her visit to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2017.
United Nations Special Rapporteur Chaloka Beyani will carry out his first official visit to Nigeria from 23 to 26 August to examine the situation and human rights of internally displaced persons in the country.

The challenges confronting Nigeria and its government are considerable and cannot be overstated, Mr. Beyani said. The Northeastern part of the country has witnessed an unprecedented increase in violence and the escalation of attacks by Boko Haram since 2009, which has forced the displacement of more than two million people from their homes and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

I will gather information on situations of internal displacement including both new and protracted displacement, said the human rights expert, who will also examine the legal, policy and institutional frameworks in place for prevention of displacement, protection and assistance for internally displaced persons, and recovery.

During his four-day visit, Mr. Beyani will travel to Abuja and consult with the Government as well as a wide range of other national and international partners, with a view to examining the ongoing responses and challenges, and assisting them to meet their obligations towards internally displaced persons and to support durable solutions for them.

The Special Rapporteur will visit camps for internally displaced persons in Maiduguri, Borno State, which is the epicenter of the displacement crisis, and hear from IDPs and representatives of host communities first-hand to learn about their needs, challenges and expectations.

At the end of his visit, on Friday 26 August 2016, the expert will share his preliminary observations with the media at a press conference which will be held at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja Hotel. Access to the press conference is strictly limited to journalists.

The Special Rapporteur will subsequently produce a comprehensive report and recommendations based on his visit for presentation to the Human Rights Council in June 2017.

Mr. Chaloka Beyani (Zambia) was appointed Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons by the Human Rights Council in September 2010. The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Councils independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity. Learn more, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IDPersons/Pages/IDPersonsIndex.aspx

Check the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IDPersons/Pages/Standards.aspx

UN Human Rights, country page  Nigeria: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AfricaRegion/Pages/MZIndex.aspx
The Police in the Eastern Region have captured the second robber who escaped after he and his accomplice were arrested for attempting to rob a GCB bank bullion van at Afram Plains.

The Afram Plains District Police Commander, Superintendent Obeng Dompreh confirmed this to Citi News on Thursday.

Two of the robbers escaped while they were being conveyed to the Police station.

The first person was busted earlier on Thursday from his hideout.

Afram Plains residents besiege police station

Policemen in the Afram Plains South District on Thursday faced the wrath of angry protests in the Eastern Region.

Some residents in the area reportedly vandalized some two Police stations at Donkorkrom and Tease, set one ablaze and pelted the Police officers with stones.



By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
The US has confirmed it is finally ready to cede power of the internets naming system, ending the almost 20-year process to hand over a crucial part of the internet's governance.

The Domain Naming System, DNS, is one of the internets most important components.

It pairs the easy-to-remember web addresses - like bbc.com - with their relevant servers. Without DNS, youd only be able to access websites by typing in its IP address, a series of numbers such as "194.66.82.10".

More by circumstance than intention, the US has always had ultimate say over how the DNS is controlled - but not for much longer.

It will give up its power fully to Icann - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - a non-profit organisation.

The terms of the change were agreed upon in 2014, but it wasnt until now that the US said it was finally satisfied that Icann was ready to make the change.

Icann will get the keys to the kingdom, as one expert put it, on 1st October 2016. From that date, the US will lose its dominant voice - although Icann will remain in Los Angeles.

If anyone can, Icann?

Users of the web will not notice any difference - thats because Icann has essentially being doing the job for years anyway.

But its a move that has been fiercely criticised by some US politicians as opening the door to the likes of China and Russia to meddle with a system that has always been protected by the US.

"The proposal will significantly increase the power of foreign governments over the Internet, warned a letter signed by several Republican senators, including former Presidential hopeful, Ted Cruz.

Whether you think those fears are justified depends on your confidence in the ability of Icann to do its job.

The US has confirmed it is finally ready to cede power of the internets naming system, ending the almost 20-year process to hand over a crucial part of the internet's governance.

The Domain Naming System, DNS, is one of the internets most important components.

It pairs the easy-to-remember web addresses - like bbc.com - with their relevant servers. Without DNS, youd only be able to access websites by typing in its IP address, a series of numbers such as "194.66.82.10".

More by circumstance than intention, the US has always had ultimate say over how the DNS is controlled - but not for much longer.

It will give up its power fully to Icann - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - a non-profit organisation.

The terms of the change were agreed upon in 2014, but it wasnt until now that the US said it was finally satisfied that Icann was ready to make the change.

Icann will get the keys to the kingdom, as one expert put it, on 1st October 2016. From that date, the US will lose its dominant voice - although Icann will remain in Los Angeles.

If anyone can, Icann?

Users of the web will not notice any difference - thats because Icann has essentially being doing the job for years anyway.

But its a move that has been fiercely criticised by some US politicians as opening the door to the likes of China and Russia to meddle with a system that has always been protected by the US.

"The proposal will significantly increase the power of foreign governments over the Internet, warned a letter signed by several Republican senators, including former Presidential hopeful, Ted Cruz.

Whether you think those fears are justified depends on your confidence in the ability of Icann to do its job.

With DNS web users are able to use easy-to-remember addresses

It was created in 1998 to take over the task of assigning web addresses. Until that point, that job was handled by one man - Jon Postel. He was known to many as the god of the internet, a nod to his power over the internet, as well as his research work in creating some of the systems that underpin networking.

Mr Postel, who died not long after Icann was created, was in charge of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Administration of the IANA was contracted to the newly-formed Icann, but the US's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), part of the Department of Commerce, kept its final say over what it was able to do.

Its that final detail that is set to change from October. No longer will the US government - through the NTIA - be able to intervene on matters around internet naming.

It rarely intervened. Most famously, it stepped in when Icann wanted to launch a new top-level domain for pornography, .xxx. The government wanted Icann to ditch the idea, but it eventually went ahead anyway.

From October, the new Icann will become an organisation that answers to multiple stakeholders who want a say over the internet. Those stakeholders include countries, businesses and groups offering technical expertise.

Best option

It's a big change, remarked Prof Alan Woodward from the University of Surrey.

"It marks a transition from an internet effectively governed by one nation to a multi-stakeholder governed internet: a properly global solution for what has become a global asset."

Technically, the US is doing this voluntarily - if it wanted to keep power of DNS, it could. But the country has long acknowledged that relinquishing its control was a vital act of international diplomacy.

Other countries, particularly China and Russia, had put pressure on the UN to call for the DNS to be controlled by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union.

Russia had been among the countries calling for the internet to be controlled by the UN

A treaty to do just that was on the table in 2012 - but the US, along with the UK, Canada and Australia, refused, citing concerns over human rights abuses that may arise if other countries had greater say and control over the internet and its technical foundations.

Instead, the US has used its remaining power over DNS to shift control to Icann, not the UN.

In response to worries about abuse of the internet by foreign governments, Icann said it had consulted corporate governance experts who said its the prospect of government interference was extremely remote.

"The communitys new powers to challenge board decisions and enforce decisions in court protect against any one party or group of interests from inappropriately influencing Icann, the group said in a Q&A section on its website.

As for how it will change what happens on the internet, the effects will most likely be minimal for the average user.

"This has nothing to do with laws on the internet, Prof Woodward said.

"Those still are the national laws that apply where it touches those countries.

"This is more about who officially controls the foundations of the Internet/web addresses and domain names, without which the network wouldn't function."
18.08.2016 LISTEN

From Isaac Akwetey-Okunor, Nkawkaw

(mailto:[email protected][email protected])

Two policemen who allegedly robbed and killed the driver of Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) bullion van, and wounded a colleague police officer escorting the vehicle on Monday at Maame Krobo in the Afram Plains South District, are on the run.

The two  Corporal Elvis Solomon Mensah alias 'fire' and Lance Corporal Kissi Abrokwa, who is also a Pentecost elder at Donkorkrom  escaped at Nkawkaw while being transported to the Eastern Regional Police Command at Koforidua for further investigations and prosecution.

The two police officers were arrested on Tuesday evening after the attack on the bullion van, which led to the death of the vehicle driver, while a police officer escorting the vehicle was also wounded.

The heinous incident reportedly occurred on Monday morning at about 10:30am. The robbers fled into the bush after the attack, however, the two were identified as the people behind the attack, and subsequently arrested.

The escape of the two has generated a heated argument among residents in the Eastern Region, as many demand answers from the police authority about their escape.

The Police Commander in-charge of Tease District Police Command said the two policemen and a civilian, Danjuma, a mechanic at Donkorkrom, were arrested in connection with the robbery to help in investigations.

The Eastern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Assistance Superintendent of Police Yaw Nketia Yeboah, also said that a police officer escorting the van was shot and is now receiving treatment at the Donkorkrom Presby Hospital, while the body of the driver, who is now deceased, has been deposited at the same facility.
18.08.2016 LISTEN

By Maxwell Ofori

([email protected])

The Deputy Chairperson in charge of Operations at the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana, Alhaji Amadu Sulley, has disclosed that the media would take part in the special voting, prior to the main voting.

According to him, the previous law governing elections in the country did not allow media practitioners to cast their votes as part of the special voting, which takes place a week before the general voting.

According to him, the EC was determined to make sure that the election was successful, and for that matter, had added the media to the special voting, looking at its (media) work.

This will enable the media to play its role as the watchdog, as far as reporting on the process is concerned.

The media was removed from the law in the previous elections, but in this election, they are back. They can now follow the procedure to fill a form to vote during the special voting, he disclosed.

Alhaji Amadu Sulley revealed the intention of the EC to allow the media to take part in the special voting, when he was giving a speech at the launch of 2016 peaceful election stamps by the Ghana Post Company Limited in Accra yesterday.

He further stated that the visually impaired had not been left out in this years general elections, as mechanisms had been put in place to ensure they also voted.

Alhaji Amadu said the visually challenged would be trained by people who had been trained on how the visually impaired could vote.

This, he explained, was part of the commissions move to ensure all were included in the electoral process, especially, the upcoming elections.

The commission has put certain mechanisms in place to ensure peaceful elections. We lean on the law as an electoral body. We dont use our discretion.

Transparency and involvement are what we (EC) want to achieve, and have done that by involving critical stakeholders in the process, he noted.

As at now, there are 25 political parties on the records of the EC, and another 11 are knocking on the doors of the commission to give them the permit to operate, the Deputy Chair disclosed.

This, in effect, meant that should the commission grant all these 11 parties permission, the country would go to the polls this year with 36 political parties.
18.08.2016 LISTEN

I spend so much time trying to eat healthy and teach others to do the same. I get tons of questions about organic foods, but almost none about GMO. I thought it would be a good idea to share with you what GMO means, and why you should pay attention the controversy about GMO foods if you care about eating healthy.

The acronym GMO stands for genetically modified organism. It refers to any living organism whose genetic material (DNA) has been changed in a laboratory environment.

What does this have to do with your food? For the last few decades commercial companies have be changing the genes in certain food to improve the availability of crops to consumers.

GMO plants have been modified by using a combination of plant genes, animal genes bacteria genes or virus genes. These combinations do not occur naturally instead they have been modified in laboratory environments.

The crossbreeding of plants, animals, bacteria or virus genes to create different plants is a new science that doesn't create stable combinations in foods or in nature. These new plant forms and how they will affect the environment, animals and us as humans, are creating controversy around the world.

Because of the controversy the several countries like China, Australia and European Union require labels on GMO foods. Currently the United States does not require labeling of its GMO products.

Some of the most common examples of GMO foods are corn, tomatoes, beets, potatoes, squash, rice, soybeans, canola oil and salmon.

Some of the modified foods are not on the market for public consumption, however they are in some stage of testing or approval phase with government agencies.

Due to this new technology involved in our food supply there are pros and cons for continuing to have GMO-based foods.

Proponents of using GMO foods believe:

 GMO-based food will create higher yields of food to feed more people

 GMO plants can resist pests so do not require as many chemicals for growth

 GMO plants can be grown with more nutrients to be more nutrient dense

Opponents of using GMO foods believe:

 GMO foods could produce super weeds

 The mixing of different types of proteins in food create health hazards and allergic reactions for people eating the foods

 That there is good reason to fear what adding new genes to food will do long-term

Since the United States doesn't currently label our GMO food we have to depend on the EPA, USDA and FDA regulations to keep our food safe.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency looks at the effects of the GMO plants on the environment.

The U.S. Department of Agricultures looks at whether the plant will harm other plants or animals or is it safe to grow. The Food and Drug administration looks at whether the plant is safe for people to eat; they dont want foods making people sick.

If you have concerns about GMOs in your food supply contact organizations like the Non-GMO project to find out more about getting GMO foods labeled. I believe that everyone has the right know what is in the foods they are eating.

Live Vibrantly,

Dr. Dae

Dr. Daemon Jones


18.08.2016 LISTEN

From Issah Alhassan, Kumasi

THE NATIONAL Youth Organizer of the opposition New Patriotic Party(NPP), Sammy Awuku has hinted that the party will approach the upcoming elections with a high sense of African mentality, explaining that it will not allow the 2012 mistakes to repeat itself on December 7.

According to the NPP youth leader, vigilance will be the key word during the polls and has, therefore, encouraged the youth leadership, as well as polling station executives to gird their loins for the battle ahead. He said the NPP would avoid the usual diplomacy.

This time around, we are going to behave like real Africans; we all know how African elections are conducted, if you take your eyes off the process in one minute, you will be cheated and once the results are declared there is nothing one can do,  he pointed out.

Emphasising that the party will not have time to pursue any legal battle in court, Sammy Awuku noted that the NPP will maintain 24 hours constant presence during the day of the elections.

Speaking at a youth forum organized by the Ashanti Regional Youth Wing to kick start campaign activities, the NPP National Youth Organizer reiterated that Ghanaians would not forgive the party if it sits down and allows the ruling government to steal the mandate of the people, like they did in 2012.

According to the NPP youth leader, the party will match the NDC boot for boot, adding that the youth wing of the party has sworn to protect every single ballot during the poll to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.

I can assure you that the NDC tactics which they adopted in 2012 will not succeed this time around because the NPP is wild awake and we will approach this like an African election, he noted.

Sammy Awuku observed that the December 2016 election is an election for the youth, stressing that it is the youth that will decide who wins or loses the presidency.

According to him, all the signs point to an NDC defeat in December 7, considering the high level of despondency and the unprecedented hardships Ghanaians have been subjected to over the past eight years.

The Jonathan experience

The NPP National Youth Organizer likened the attitude of President John Dramani Mahama and the NDC to that of the former President of Nigeria, Mr Goodluck Jonathan, who engaged in rampant dissipation of cash and freebies, just to win an election.

According to him, the NDC and President Mahama have now resorted to sharing cash and gifts to electorates, including common items such as baskets and mats to convince voters.

Dont be surprised about what the NDC and President Mahama are doing; Goodluck Jonathan did similar things during the Nigerian elections, where bags of rice, motor cycles and other items were distributed to electorates, but yet he lost because the people were fed up with his administration.

That is exactly what we are witnessing today. You see the NDC sharing outboard motors, baskets, cups, etc, he emphasized.

Ghanaian youth now drunkards due to lack of jobs

Sammy Awuku further said a number of youths in the country have been forced into drinking to escape the traumatic experience of not getting jobs after completing their education.

He stated that many have resorted to beer consumption, adding that pubs and beer bars are full of active youths whose have become disillusioned as a result of lack of jobs.

The NPP youth leader, therefore, pointed out that it is now time for the youth to take responsibility for the upcoming elections and make sure the NPP returns to power in order to salvage them from the economic deprivation.

Today, if you see anyone shouting E Dey Bi keke it means that person is benefiting from the current administration; they are now spending our cash left right and centre, but thank God that we have the opportunity to change our destiny and ensure that Nana Akufo Addo is given the mandate to rule this country, he noted.

On his part, the acting Regional Organizer of the party, Stephen Amoah, urged the youth organisers to develop an intrinsic motivational attitude by committing themselves to the cause of the party.

The youth forum was under the auspices of the Ashanti Regional Youth Wing of the party, headed by Justin Koduah, to bring together all the youth organisers in the 47 constituencies to deliberate on how to strategise for the upcoming elections.
The shortcomings of the Ghana Association of Medical Herbalists (GAMH) , the only professional association of herbal medicine practice in Ghana is described in this article in accordance with the structure of an ideal professional association/body.

These include; Policy and Public affairs, Legal and governance, Education, Training and Continuos Professional Development (CPD), Membership and employer engagement, Research and Knowledge, International membership and affiliation, and Other factors.

EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND CONTINOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)

A professional association is expected to set, maintain and monitor educational and professional qualifications for professionals within the association. The training of health professionals in Ghana usually involve different stages. Medical training in KNUST involves first 3 years of Bachelor of Science degree in human biology after which another 3 years of bachelor in surgery and medicine is embarked on at a teaching hospital. An induction ceremony is then conducted for people who go through the entire program successfully.

The Ghana Medical Association's (GMA) contribution either directly or indirectly through the Ghana Medical and Dental council in the training process cannot be overlooked as it is their duty to ensure that each level of training of their professionals is critically looked at in the interest of the profession.

Others like Medical Laboratory Science, and Herbal medicine involves 4 years Bachelor of Science degree and internship after which professional exams are organized by the professional/regulatory council and those who excel offered professional certification. For reasons stated in the first part of this article, the board membership of the Traditional Medicine Practice Council (TMPC) , the council that offers certification to qualified Medical Herbalists does not extend to representatives from GAMH and as such GAMH's involvement in the education and training of its members right from the university to internship and professional certification level is almost nonexistent.

There have been irregularities with posting of interns, allowances for interns, professional examinations after internship, and induction ceremonies for new members. The TMPC, a regulatory council for Traditional Medical Practitioners (TMP's) by law with the controlling powers given to GHAFTRAM, a representative association of all TMP's whose training isn't formal/professional, controlling every aspect of the education and training of Medical Herbalists who are professionals.

Continuos Professional Development (CPD) training which is one of the programs organized by professional associations with support from their regulatory body/council and other stakeholders, is necessary to update the professional practice. GAMH has so far been able to organize about three CPD's for members in 2014, 2015, and 2016 respectively with the help of TMPC and stakeholders in the health field. CPD should be more frequent (at least yearly) to enhance any professional profession.

MEMBERSHIP AND EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT

There is no professional association or association of any kind without active membership. The welfare of members should be the topmost priority of any professional association. provision should be made to ensure that all members in a professional association are practicing actively with good conditions of service offered by employers. A professional association is expected to engage with employers both in the government and private sectors to negotiate good conditions of service for members. Discrepancies with payment of dues by members for instance can be avoided by making arrangements with employers to make deduction of association dues from monthly salaries before members receive their salaries. The controllers and Accountant generals department does payment to people employed by government

. It is instructed by most professional association to directly deduct dues of members and transfer them into the association's account. GAMH since its initiation has been faced with members participation and involvement. An attempt made by GAMH through BUSAC to create employment for Medical Herbalists by the Ghana Health Service(GHS) in 2012 although successful only led to the piloting of herbal medicine services in selected government health institutions and as such only few are employed by government at the expense of several successive batches of Medical Herbalists inducted into the practice who are unemployed. Most members expect that the pilot project should have led to a full Integration that will require every hospital in Ghana to have a herbal medicine unit/Clinic by law. The efforts made by GAMH to ensure this has since not been fruitful. There is no engagement between GAMH and employers in the private herbal medicine practice sector to help negotiate conditions of service to protect members from harsh/unprofessional treatment from employers

.GAMH's iniability to do the above and more despite their efforts ( known and unknown) have led to challenges with member participation, dues payment, etc. In addition, there isn't a concrete member register by GAMH to monitor members. and a set annual general assembly( AGM) although meetings are sometimes organized.

RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE

Members of professional health association are expected to from time to time make researches about the various aspects of their practice. The professional association is espected to provide a means ( a Journal usually linked with the website) by which the researches of members are published to share knowledge to wide range of stakeholders including policy makers and professionals, both within and outside the industry. Ghana Medical Journal (GMJ), Ghana Pharmaceutical Journal (GPJ) for Ghana medical association and Pharmaceutical Society of ghana respectively are few examples of professional Journals through which research and knowledge of members are shared. GAMH. does not have a Journal in place to help members, interns and students who research into different areas of herbal medicine practice share knowledge acquired to improve the herbal medicine industry.

A professional association is espected to promote its practice through every means possible. This is done through public education either directly by the association or through stakeholders including students (herbal medical students at KNUST, etc) at the tertiary level. GAMH is trying its best with public education but their effort is still not enough as there are still lots of misconceptions on the practice of herbal medicine, and herbal medicines. The Ghana Association of Medical Herbalists ( GAMH) is expected to contribute to issues that spring up regarding herbal medicines and the practice in general in Ghana usually through the media to offer its professional views rather than leave it to members of GHAFTRAM who most of the time are contacted to speak.

These people ( GHAFTRAM) lack good foundation in medicine/health and pharmaceutical sciences so therefore are unable to explain the issues well for other professionals in the health delivery system to understand and relate with. GAMH can change this by sharing its views through press releases on current issues on health regarding herbal medicines or herbal medicine practice in Ghana. The power of the media cannot be underestimated in the attempt to make GAMH relevant and recognized.

INTERNATIONAL MEMBERSHIP AND AFFILIATIONS

international membership and affiliations offers professionals in a common practice platforms to relate and share ideas to improve the practices in their countries.. GAMH currently has no international membership/affiliation with professional associations natural medicine / herbal medicine practice despite existence of such practices in countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, and China, to mention a few.

OTHER IMPORTANT FACTORS

WEBSITE- professional associations are expected to have current websites to promote their activities. A typical professional website contains stuffs like constitution, information on executives, link to Journal, news update on practice, upcoming events/program, etc. The Ghana Association of Medical Herbalists (GAMH) does not have a website to inform the public of its existence and It's activities.

NEED FOR TOTAL REBRANDING- A total rebranding by the professional association may be necessary to help promote the professional practice of herbal medicine in Ghana. There have always been issues about the professional name "Medical Herbalist" chosen prior to the existence of GAMH to conform with that used in the UK. It should be noted that the definition and perceptions associated with the word "Herbalist" as a component of a professional name differs between both countries (Ghana and UK).

The formal herbal medicine training gives one all the knowledge and skills needed to diagnose common diseaases the medical way and in addition broad knowledge on preparation,preservation,packaging, registration, prescription, and dispensation of different forms of herbal medicines that meets modern trend. A change of professional name from Medical Herbalist to say Herbal Medical Doctor (HMD) will instill more confidence and professional pride in the practice from students in the University level through to interns and practitioners. Most practitioners have refused to accept the title because the misconception associated with it. A change of title will change the professional association's name from GAMH to say Herbal Medical Doctors Association of Ghana (HEMDAG) or Ghana Association of Herbal Medical Doctors (GAHEMD).

NB:

This article irrespective of the title is meant to inform the government, other stakeholders in the health delivery system, and the general public on the need to empower the professional association of herbal medicine practice, GAMH, and the professionals in effect to take control of the herbal industry in the interest of the general public. The contributions from practising Medical Herbalists ( both in the private and public sector), Interns, Ghana Herbal Medical Students Association(GHEMSA), and the public in addition to the stated references below were very helpful in putting together this article.

REFERENCES

1. (MOH, 2005), Policy on Traditional Medicine Practice.

2. Traditional Medicine Practice by Marian Ewurama Addy.

3.Strategic Plan for Traditional Health Care in Ghana (2000 - 2004). Second draft. Ministry of Health, Ghana. August 1999.

4. Understanding the values of professionals and professional bodies by the Chartered Institute of Building(CIOB)

5. Traditional Medicine Practice Act 2000

6. Constitutional laws of Ghana by Francis Bennion

EMMANUEL BENTIL ASARE ADUSEI,

BSC HERBAL MEDICINE, KNUST

C.E.O, ADUBEN HERBAL CONSULT

[email protected]

+233546678401
Obinim

18.08.2016 LISTEN

Amnesty International Ghana is calling for an immediate arrest of the Founder and General Overseer of the International Gods Way Church, Bishop Daniel Obinim.

The call came after a video circulating on social media captured Bishop Obinim battering a hapless pregnant congregant and her boyfriend.

The controversial pastor in the video appeared angered by the couples amorous activity which has led to a pregnancy.

As a result he took the law into his hands, lashing the youngman on his bare back before turning to the girl flogging her mercilessly with a belt in the full glare of his congregation.

Throughout the brutal punishment, Obinim is heard questioning the jobless youngman why he got the girl pregnant when he has no finances for her upkeep and the upbringing of the unborn child.

The girl who was unable to stand the flogging attempts to escape, but she was held by henchmen of the Bishop to enable the bishop mete out more beatings.

After subjecting the two to severe flogging for several minutes, Obinim orders his junior pastors to remove their belts and subject the couple to more flogging.

Bishop Obinims conduct according to the Director of Amnesty International Ghana Lawrence Amesu is barbaric and criminal, warranting an immediate arrest.

The public should be really upset, he said Thursday in an interview with Accra based 3FM and that must be strongly condemned.

For Amnesty International, said Mr. Amesu we think that Bishop Obinim is going beyond his jurisdiction at this time. This is a criminal offence [and] he should be arrested by the Police.

According to him, the notorious man of Gods conduct in the said video is a grave human right abuse stressing that Amnesty international and indeed all other Human Rights activists, condemn this action totally.

He said his organization in collaboration with others will mount intense pressure on the police to ensure that Bishop Obinim is arrested and charged with assault.

So it is up to us now, at this time to come together to put more pressure on the police to arrest Bishop Obimim he said lucidly.

Human Rights Lawyer, Francis Xavier Sosu described the content of the video as scandalous and unacceptable.

He said Bishop Obinims conduct in the said video is clearly a very serious abuse and that he will be ready to take legal actions against Bishop Obinim on the direction of the victims.

Meanwhile, a media liaison to the International God's Way Church in a statement warned people not to condemn the pastor for subjecting his church members to the punishment.

There is video making rounds purported to have taken place at the International God's Way Church, Accra branch. We will entreat the general public not to take it on the surface but seek to understand what really happened.

We have observed that some people with evil Agenda are using the video to castigate and spread false rumors about the Founder and General Overseer of International God's Way Church.

We will not tolerate any negative commentaries on the said Video without any attempt to understand the content before, Oppong Brenya said.
Ukraine today does not need a disbursement from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as the country has the stable foreign currency exchange rate and enough reserves, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has said.

"The good news is, as a practical matter, Ukraine doesnt need the IMF disbursement today. Their exchange rate is stable, their reserves are solid, the confidence is still there," he said in an interview with the Ukraine Business Journal.

"The IMF has been very careful to package the delay of its disbursement in a way that at the senior most level on down has signaled to continue confidence in Ukraine, but also continued tough love on the principles attached to conditionality," he said.
Barbel Kofler, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office, issued the following statement today (17 August):

"It is with great concern that I have been following the news of unrest in Ethiopia, which has now spread from the Oromia to the Amhara region and to Addis Ababa and culminated most recently in a weekend of violence in the course of which some 50 people were killed in clashes with security forces. I call on all the parties involved to enter into an inclusive dialogue and to refrain unconditionally from further violence. I would like to offer the victims families my condolences and to wish those who have been injured a speedy recovery.

Rights guaranteed by the Ethiopian constitution such as the freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly must be protected. Steps taken by the security forces during demonstrations must not violate the principle of proportionality.

I firmly believe that the redistribution of land for development and investment purposes, as well as the reorganisation of administrative districts, must proceed in a participatory, transparent and socially acceptable manner. It is important to take the legitimate demands of ethnic groups and opposition forces into account in this process. All sections of the population must benefit from the economic progress achieved in Ethiopia in equal measure. I therefore call on the Government to enter into a constructive dialogue with the entire population while drawing on local forces and strengthening federal structures. This is the only way to calm the situation and to ensure peace in the long term."

Background information

Since November 2015, there have been repeated demonstrations and protests in the Oromia, and now also the Amhara region against the central government and the structural discrimination of the provinces and their ethnic populations. The Ethiopian Government has responded to this with censorship, intimidation and violence on the part of the security forces. As was the case in previous protests, the Government first blocked social media and news services before shutting down the whole of the Internet across the country.

There are no confirmed figures for the number of victims. However, it is safe to assume that several hundred people were killed from November 2015 to May 2016 (more than 400 according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch). The Ethiopian Government has not confirmed these figures.

Alongside the turbulent region of Oromia, Gondar (in the Amhara region) has become a further trouble spot in the country in recent weeks. The violent arrest of a number of activists from the Welkait ethnic group on 14 July has given rise, within the space of just a few weeks, to a more significant protest movement whose end is not yet foreseeable.
The Deputy Minister of Communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has reacted angrily to the New Patriotic Partys (NPP) description of President John Mahamas Akufo-Addo sleeping comments as unpresidential.

According to Mr. Ofosu, the NPP is morally deficient, thus lacking the stature to criticise Mahama for his comments.

President Mahama campaigning in the Western region Tuesday hit back at the presidential candidate of the NPP Nana Akufo-Addo, stating that he must have been sleeping to have missed the numerous achievements of his government in the region.

During my campaign in 2012, I realized that most of the roads here are very bad. I made the promise to invest heavily in roads here if I am elected President. I have kept my promise. Under the cocoa roads programme, most of the projects are in the Western Region. The majority of roads in this region, are many, I cannot name them. I heard someone came here and said he had not seen these roads. I am sure he was sleeping at the time, he said.

But speaking at a press conference Wednesday the acting General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu said that the Presidents language was unfortunate and unpresidential.

The president had a false start by resuming campaign rounds with insults. We all know that John Mahama is too sensitive to fair criticism but it gives him no excuse to use unpresidential language against his opponents, chiefs and the people of the Western Region, said Mr. Boadu.

This, however, did not go down well with Mr. Ofosu who is also deputy spokesperson of the NDC 2016 Campaign team.

Speaking on Starr Today Wednesday, he said: Im not sure that the NPP is in any position to lecture anybody about presidential conduct, especially when it (NPP) is a party that has no regards to the use of decorous language.

He said there was nothing wrong with the presidents comments and that it was high time Ghanaians expose the NPP for its duplicity.

This is a party that consistently has been cited for the use of abusive language through a scientific survey done by an organization [and] they have taken absolutely no step to curb it and months after months they continue to lead. They have done absolutely nothing. He is the General Secretary (John Boadu). Maybe he should tell you what they have done to reign their members so that they dont engage in that kind of insulting behavior and yet they turn around and come and say that the president says somebody has come here and the roads have not been repaired perhaps he is sleeping, he said.

Asked to be specific by host Bernard Nasara Saibu, Mr. Ofosu maintained that Im saying that the NPP is not in a position to speak about offensive language because they are the purveyors of offensive language in this country.

The Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Baba Jamal added that the president has been charitable in his jab at Akufo-Addo.

The President was even charitable with him, Mr. Jamal said on Starr Chat Wednesday.
A Pressure Group, Youth Rights Advocacy(YRA) has launched a massive campaign aimed at getting young people who have attained voting age to register and cast their ballots come December 7, 2016.

The programme, dubbed 'First Time Voters Project' (FTV) is to ensure the enfranchisement of all persons who have attained 18 and above and to also get them actively involved in the country's political discourse.

It is also a networking and education program to raise the awareness of the youth in the political system of Ghana and to advocate meaningful participation of young citizens whilst pushing for electoral and political reforms necessary for democratisation and social inclusion of the youth.

The Deputy Director of YRA and National Coordinator of the First Time Voters Project, Dennis Kwakwa, says the group seeks to "address the constant generational apathy and alienation of the youth to political processes in this country"

He noted further in an interview that the "First Time Voters Project envisions an informed critical young electorates who actively participate in Ghana's political processes geared towards new politics and transformative governance, that engender youth policies and agenda".

This he said, was being carried out through community workshops and visits to senior high schools to engage first time voters and to educate them on the need to register and exercise their franchise.

"The FTV tasks itself to educate the young generation while motivating their involvement and addressing the decline in their political and electoral participation though practical, youthful and action oriented means of intervention and cooperation," the Deputy Coordinator of YRA observed.

To this end, the YRA has made a passionate appeal to the Electoral Commission(EC) to make the August 19th and 26th set aside for continuous registration become fully useful so that no legitimate Ghanaian is disenfranchised from exercising his or her fundamental right.

The group is further calling on political parties to desist from acts that put fear and panic in prospective registrants but rather encourage young people of voting age to take advantage of the opportunity to register and vote according to their conscience.

Amongst the series of actives lined up by the YRA as part of its advocacy initiatives include Networking of Youth and Students' Organizations, Registration Awareness Drive, Political Education for first time voters, formulation and monitoring of youth agenda and alternative youth events.
By Stephen Asante, GNA

Kumasi, Aug 18, GNA - Dr. Ekow Spio-Gabrah, the Trade and Industry Minister, has encouraged furniture companies to invest in tree plantations to assure them of the raw material to sustain their operation.

He said it was in their own interest to assist replant the destroyed forests and to increasingly take to the use of the lesser-known tree species.

This was necessary amid the growing depletion of the nation's forest - crippling the operation and fueling the collapse of many furniture companies.

Over 100 tree species that used to serve as vital raw material for the furniture producers were now extinct.

Dr. Spio-Gabrah, who was on a two-day working visit to the Ashanti Region to interact with businesses, made the call when he toured the Logs and Lumber Limited - a timber company, in Asokwa, Kumasi.

He highlighted the need for the companies to demonstrate innovativeness - to add value to their finished products.

They should find new ways of doing things to survive the stiff competition from their foreign counterparts.

He was in the region to acquaint himself with the performance of the local businesses, the challenges and the way forward to aid their growth.

It is part of the effort to deepen the relationship between his ministry and the private sector.

Dr. Spio-Garbrah had earlier interacted with the management of the Royal Foam Ghana Limited and Ababio Gyamfua Investments Limited - manufacturers of roofing sheets and aluminium products and inspected the Boankra Inland Port project.

He underlined the government determination to actively engage private businesses and work hard to address the problems they faced.

At Boankra, he announced that funds were being sought to complete the in-land port project.

The management of the various companies were unanimous in their call to the government to find a lasting solution to the energy crisis, which they said was badly affecting their operations.

GNA
18.08.2016 LISTEN

By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA

Sekondi (W/R), Aug. 18, GNA - President John Dramani Mahama has said the expansion of the Albert Bosomtwi-Sam Fishing Harbour would make the facility the preferred fishing port in the country.

He said the fishing harbour played an active role in the economic lives of residents in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis as a result of the many fishing vessels and boats operating there.

President Mahama said this when he inspected the ongoing expansion works at the fishing port, as part of his 'Changing Lives and Transforming Ghana' tour of the Western Region.

He said the expansion works became a reality after the Ghana Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Japanese Prime Minister to promote the fishing industry.

He appealed to the electorate to conduct themselves decently devoid of any insults or violence in the upcoming December 7 polls.

'Election is not a war, but a contest of ideas to improve the lives of the people', he said, adding that 'although the electorate would vote for their preferred candidates only God enthrones a king'.

Mr Richard Anamoo, the Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), who briefed the President on the expansion works, said the estimated cost of the project was two million Japanese Yan, equivalent to GHC65 million, and it is being funded by the Japanese Government.

He said the project involves the expansion of the breakwaters, creation of new berthing space, walkways, lay-by wharf of 180 meters, a water facility, as well as expansion of the tonnage of the ice plant to 30 tonnes.

Mr Anamoo said the project also involves the construction and upgrading of roads and driveways saying the expansion would make the fishing port more attractive for businesses and responsive to the needs of the growing maritime industry.

The expansion also formed part of the second phase of the Takoradi Port expansion and more than 1,200 people are expected to be employed for the project.

The project is being executed by the Japanese engineering consultants; Environmental Consults for Ocean and Human (ECOH) and would be completed in December 2017.

GNA
18.08.2016 LISTEN

NEW YORK, ACCRA, Aug. 18 - (UPI/GNA) - Donald Trump's Trump Tower has been fined $10,000 by the city of New York for swapping a public bench in the lobby with two kiosks selling Trump merchandise.

The swap is a violation of a special permit Trump's business received months ago, the city's Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings said Wednesday.

Donald Trump was given special permission to expand his Fifth Avenue tower in exchange for opening his lobby to the public daily. But buildings officials have said for months the Republican presidential nominee removed a 22-foot marble bench and put kiosks of Trump merchandise in its place.

The act was ruled a violation of the permit and Trump's business was fined $10,000 and ordered to return the atrium to its previous condition.

City officials said the kiosks have been removed and the bench put back.

The Trump campaign has not commented on the incident.

GNA
18.08.2016 LISTEN

By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA

Cape Coast, Aug. 18, GNA - The Legislative Instrument (L.I) on mental health when passed, will go a long way to help remove mental patients from the streets of the country, Dr Akwasi Osei, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Mental Health Authority (MHA), has said.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of the half-year review conference of the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital on Tuesday, he said mental health required massive funding and support from all its collaborative stakeholders.

The review conference offered authorities of the Hospital the opportunity to assess the targets set for the first half against the target for the year to help make the necessary improvements for the achievement of the overall vision of the Hospital.

Dr Osei said the LI which included the establishment of a Mental Health Fund would enable the MHA to source for funding from private entities and also make mental health treatment community based.

He said the Bill also stipulated the establishment of a Mental Health Board to be responsible for mental health matters, and made it mandatory for Government to build more mental health institutions across the country.

This, he said, would create the avenue to provide treatment to mental patients on the streets of the major towns and cities in the country.

Dr Osei, who commended Parliament for the passage of the Mental Health Bill, said there is the need for early passage of the LI to give legal backing to the Authority to function effectively.

On the financial challenges facing the Authority, he said, although by policy, mental health treatment was supposed to be free, the many hospitals have been compelled to charge patients due to their poor financial status.

He said the three psychiatric hospitals, namely the Ankaful, Pantang and Accra together owed their suppliers more than GH E 10 million, a debt which had accrued over the years.

Though there were enough spaces at their facilities the hospitals were also unable to admit patients due to lack of funds to cater for them.

'The Accra Psychiatric Hospital this week but for the intervention of the Government would have stopped out-patients care. Already they have stopped in-patients care, stopped admissions and are only taking care of those who are already on admission and even ready to decongest further to send home some patients', he said.

'The Ankaful and Pantang Psychiatric Hospitals are likely to follow suit if the funds are not released to them, already all of them have stopped admitting new patients', he said.

He expressed optimism that 'with the establishment of the mental health fund we are going to clear our debt and have enough money to properly bargain with our suppliers'.

Dr Osei said treatment for mental health was being decentralised from the previous emphasis on specialised psychiatric hospitals and has been currently incorporated into the primary health care system.

Consequently, the Authority had plans to create 20-bed psychiatric wings at the various regional hospitals in addition to the new 50-bed capacity hospital to be built and beds would be provided at the district hospitals to admit mental health cases.

Dr Eugene Dordoye, Director of the Hospital, said the hospital has reconstituted and revamped the quality assurance, drug and therapeutic committees to improve its operational efficiency and quality.

He said some of the challenges facing the hospital include inadequate funding which had reduced patients intake, inadequate technical staff, poor laboratory equipment as well as poor road networks.

GNA
By Caesar Abagali, GNA

Tamale, Aug. 18, GNA - Scientists from Africa, the United States and Haiti will gather in Tamale on Wednesday August 18 to share information about the latest developments in groundnut research.

The gathering is the annual meeting for the Peanut & Mycotoxin Innovation Lab, which is made up of scientists and student researchers working through the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Feed the Future program to improve food security and profits for producers, processors and marketers of groundnut.

The scientists, numbering about 60 in all would visit research plots and farms as they make stops in Tamale, Accra and Kumasi.

In a statement issued in Tamale and copied to the GNA by the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) said the project in Ghana conducts research on groundnuts from the farm to the market to consumers' tables saying 'research starts even before the seeds are planted in the ground, testing which types of seeds will produce the safest and greatest yields in Ghanaian fields'.

The statement signed by Dr Mumuni Abudulai, head of Plant Prost Harvest and Protection of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI), said practical field research is done in cooperation with local farmers in villages such as Zankali in the Karaga District where growers test out seed varieties for yield and tolerance to disease and drought.

It said similar projects with groundnuts are underway in Southern Africa (Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique) and in Haiti.

It said the groundnut experts would also visit SARI in Nyankpala and the Crops Research Institute in Kumasi, both of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi and the University of Ghana in Accra.

The statement said Ghanaian farmers produce 409,000 metric tonnes of groundnuts every year, which serve as an important source of protein for children and adults.

GNA
Yendi (N/R), Aug. 18, GNA - The flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo, says his interest is for the people of Dagbon to have peace.

He said speculations that the NPP is striving to bring division to Dagbon is not true, adding that he is not a Dagomba, Andani or Abudu so there is no way he could foment trouble among Dagombas.

Nana Akufo-Addo who was speaking during a courtesy call on Kampakuya Na Yakubu Abdulai Andani, the Regent of Dagbon, at his palace in Yendi, said Dagbon is one of the important Kingdoms in the country and all that he could to is to find solution to the problems of Andanis and Abudus.

He said if God willing and he is voted into power in the December 7 polls, everyone would know that there is a bright future for all.

He stated that he is not involved in the chieftaincy of Dagbon and he is not a member of Dagbon kingmakers to remove chiefs.

Nana Akufo-Addo said as an Akyem, he is not involve in chieftaincy at home.

He said he still has in mind the advice the Regent gave him during a previous visit to the palace not to promise what he cannot do when voted in to power.

He however gave the assurance that his every district one factory project, would come on when he wins the 2016 elections.

He said the late Ya-Na Yakubu Andani was a friend and he wants the Royal Family to live as buddies.

Nana Akufo-Addo said it was because of the spirit of friendship why he visited Dagbon with a strong delegation.

Kampakuya Na Andani said the intemperate and divisive language on the air waves during political discussions does not make chiefs happy because Ghanaians are one people.

He called on the political parties to do things that would bring development in health, education, agriculture and other areas.

He urged the youth not to allow politicians to use them to foment trouble during political campaigns because they are the future leaders of the country.

In a related development the NPP flag bearer paid a courtesy call on Bolin Lana Mahamadu Abdulai, Regent of the Abudus in Yendi.

Nana Akufo-Addo said the time has come for Dagbon to bury the past and look towards the future as united people.

He said he would end the suffering of Ghanaians if wins Election 2016 and appealed to the people of Yendi and Dagbon in particular to vote for him.

Bolin Lana Abdulai said Ghanaians should use the elections as a window of opportunity to vote for leaders with tested integrity and the tenacity of purpose to revamp and develop the economy.

He called for transparency at the national collation centre of the Electoral Commission so that the Presidential and Parliamentary elections become victory for Ghana.

The flag bearer was accompanied by the National, Regional Executives of the Party, his running mate Alhaji Dr Bawumia, Mr Alan Kyerematen, former Minister of State and the Member of Parliament for Yendi; Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tajani.

In a related development 18- year old Ismail Alhassan who was among those displaying with motorbikes to welcome the flag bearer and his delegation had an accident and he is on admission at the Yendi Municipal Hospital Emergency Ward.

One other man also crushed with his motorbike but he was treated and discharged.

GNA
Accra, Aug. 18, GNA - The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection on Wednesday, August 17, launched a Domestic Violence Research Report, to provide an in-depth understanding of domestic violence amongst people from 15 to 60.

The study aimed to comprehend the incidence, attitudes, determinants and consequences of domestic violence a statement signed by Karimatu Anas, the Public Relations Officer of Ministry of Gender, and copied to Ghana News Agency in Accra said.

The statement said the study analysed the incidence of violence across different population groups and the report serves as a guide to fully champion the fight against domestic violence.

It said the UN Sustainable Development Goals gives prominent focus on domestic violence in addressing gender inequalities.

The statement added that the Government enacted the Domestic Violence Act (Act 732) on 21st February, 2007 with the support of civil society organisations and women's right organisations.

The enactment was followed by the formulation of the National Policy and Plan of Action developed by the former Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs in 2008.

It laid out specific roles of key stakeholders to effectively implement the Domestic Violence Act, under the direction of the Domestic Violence Secretariat of the Ministry.

The statement also explained that domestic violence is an abuse by one person against another in an intimate relationship including marriage, cohabitation, dating or relations within the family.

It added that domestic violence is the most common forms of gender-based violence in the world.

GNA
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has expressed its outrage at disruption of events organized at Ukraine's National Cultural Center in Moscow on the occasion of the country's 25th independence anniversary, and urged Russia to ensure safety for the center's staff and premises in future.

"With regard to the continued provocations around the Ukrainian National Cultural Center in Moscow, in particular, the disruption of the events on the occasion of the 25th Ukrainian Independence anniversary by radically-minded individuals on August 16, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has resolutely urged Russia to strictly honor its international legal obligations concerning the work of cultural centers," the Ukrainian ministry said in a commentary on Wednesday.

In particular, it has called for "exhaustive measures" to provide safety for the staff and premises of the Ukrainian National Cultural Center in Moscow and prevent such provocations.

A relevant note has been sent to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.

Earlier media reports said that representatives of youth organizations disrupted a lecture on the history of independent Ukraine at its National Cultural Center in Moscow on August 16.
By Kwabia Owusu-Mensah GNA

Kumasi, Aug 18, GNA - A comprehensive health outreach programme initiated by the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), the nation's second largest referral facility, is showing good results as cases of maternal deaths sharply decline at the hospital.

Dr. Joseph Akpaloo, the Chief Executive, said maternal mortality had dropped from the half-year high of 1221.62 per 100,000 live births in 2013 to 791.38, per 100,000 live births as of the middle of year 2016.

He gave same period figures for 2014 and 2015, as 1119.25 and 1077.80 per 100,000 live births, respectively.

Addressing a mid-year performance review meeting in Kumasi, he said the significant achievement had come on the back of outreach programmes carried out in peripheral hospitals across Ashanti and the adjoining regions - Brong-Ahafo, Central and Western by senior specialists and consultants from the Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) and Child Health Directorates of the hospital.

This was done under the Health Ministry's sponsored Millennium Development Goals Accelerated Framework (MAF), programme.

Dr. Akpaloo praised the commitment and dedication of the project team members and said they had brought a lot of relief to mothers and their families and asked that the momentum was sustained.

He applauded the ministry for its donation of a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle to facilitate the work of the team.

He told the meeting that there had been noticeable downturn in general cases seen at the facility.

Emergency cases for example during the period under review stood at 10,731 compared with the 2015 half-year total of 12,274.

At the same time, ward admissions dropped from 20,329 to 18,243 while deliveries decreased from 5,103 to 4,539 with Out-Patients Department (OPD) attendance climbing down from 34,637 to 32,208.

Dr. Akpaloo spoke of a number of infrastructure projects undertaken to further improve the quality of clinical care services.

These include refurbishment and expansion of the Oral Health Directorate at the cost of GHE237,000.00.

The hospital had also spent GHE1,000,000.00 of its internally-generated funds to procure equipment - anaesthetic machines, a new air compressor and dryers to improve the quality of oxygen produced, and dual head theatre and operating lamps.

He urged the various directorates to work hard to increase revenue generation to patients.

GNA
Nairobi (AFP) - South Sudan's former rebel leader and ex-vice president Riek Machar has escaped to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo following violent clashes last month, officials said Thursday.

His precise whereabouts remained unclear but a United Nations spokesman confirmed his presence in the country.

UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Congolese authorities had asked the MONUSCO peacekeeping mission there to help transfer Machar and his family from a location near the border with South Sudan to elsewhere in DR Congo.

"MONUSCO (the UN's mission in DR Congo) became aware yesterday of the presence of Riek Machar in DRC and the DRC authorities requested MONUSCO to facilitate his extraction and transfer," Haq told reporters in New York.

"He has been handed over to the DRC authorities," he said, adding that the transfer was done for "humanitarian reasons" and "with his consent".

"We have provided him with whatever medical assistance he needs," Haq said, declining to give further details.

The UN mission in South Sudan had "no involvement" in Machar's departure, he added.

A source close to the matter told AFP that Machar could be in the northern city of Kisangani, but there was no official confirmation.

The UN spokesman said the agency did not know

A statement from Machar's SPLM-IO party said the leader had been "evacuated to a safe country within the region" without naming Congo.

A party source had earlier told AFP that Machar was in the Congolese capital Kinshasa but wanted "to go as soon as possible to Ethiopia".

Civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused Machar, then his deputy, of plotting a coup. The fighting has split the world's newest country along ethnic lines and driven it to the brink of collapse.

A peace deal signed between the government and rebels a year ago has so far failed to end the conflict. And last month Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting between Kiir's forces and those loyal to Machar.

Machar's whereabouts had been unclear since the fighting flared in Juba between July 8 and 11 and led to his outgunned and outnumbered forces being chased from the city by government troops.

He was subsequently replaced as vice president on July 25 by Taban Deng Gai, a former friend and ally.

Deng warned Wednesday that Machar should stay out of politics to allow peace despite previously indicating that if Machar returned to Juba he would stand aside.

- Cost of war -

If Machar is indeed seeking to travel to Ethiopia, a regional power broker that hosted peace talks through the trade bloc IGAD, it would suggest he has no intention of being cut out of negotiations or pushed from power.

Several former rebel commanders have warned they consider Deng's elevation to vice president to be "treason".

South Sudan's civil war has been characterised by war crimes and human rights abuses with civilians massacred -- often along tribal lines -- women and girls raped and children forced to become soldiers.

Homes and property have been looted and burned, and entire towns razed.

Tens of thousands of people have died and over two million have been forced from their homes.

In just the most recent documented atrocity a South Sudanese journalist was killed by government soldiers because of his tribe and foreign aid workers were shot, beaten and raped in an attack on a hotel during last month's fighting in Juba.

The targeting of foreigners spurred the United Nations to launch an investigation into why its peacekeepers failed to respond to calls for help while the attack was going on.

Last Friday the UN Security Council approved a US-drafted resolution to strengthen the 12,000-person peacekeeping mission with 4,000 additional troops drawn from regional armies and equipped with a more aggressive mandate.

Juba has yet to accept the resolution.
A combined police and military force has been dispatched to Donkorkrom to restore order after clashes between police and residents of the town on Thursday, 18 August.

There was civil unrest at Donkorkrom in the Eastern Region when residents staged a demonstration on Thursday August 18 to register their displeasure with the police over the escape of two police officers and a civilian, who were arrested for their involvement in a botched heist of a GCB Bank bullion van.

Fourteen people, according to Accra100.5FMs correspondent Oheneba, were shot by police officers as they took part in a demonstration that turned rowdy as the demonstrators besieged the police station and torched the place.

The residents, according to reports, surged on the officers, despite the firing of warning shots and tear gas, a situation that caused the officers to open fire on them.

Meanwhile, the residents have petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to conduct full investigations into robbery attacks in the area, including Tuesdays attack on the bullion van.

The residents say they believe the manner of escape of the two officers showed they were acting in concert with others law officers, hence the need for a thorough investigation into the matter.

The petition letter to the IGP said: With these developments, we are very much convinced that these three arrested people do not operate alone and demand proper investigations to be conducted to arrest all those involved without any fear or favour for the law to take its course.

It is at the back of this that we wish to call on the IGP to, as a matter of urgency, attach all the seriousness needed in this case to bring justice to our people. Anything other than this will seriously lead to a series of unpredictable unrest within the district.

We are keenly following this issue to its logical conclusion and will leave no stone unturned. Let authorities be informed that we will not sit and watch this case die a natural death like some others.
The Pilgrims Affairs Office of Ghana (PAOG) says its Visa Registration Department at the Hajj Village has secured visas for some 1,500 would be Pilgrims flying directly from the three Northern Regions to Saudi Arabia.

The Chairman of PAOG, Alhaji Abdul Rauf Tanko, revealed this in Tamale Tuesday when he toured facilities for this years temporary Hajj Village at the Tamale Jubilee Park and the Tamale International Airport.

Three scheduled flights are expected to take off from the Tamale International Airport this year in the Hajj Committees bid to ensure a smooth journey for all pilgrims.

The Kotoka International Airport and the Hajj Village in Accra especially has over the years witnessed a lot of chaos in terms of flight scheduling and living conditions of pilgrims.

In a bid to solve this problem, the Hajj Committee has started a pilot project to fly some pilgrims directly from Tamale, which has an upgraded airport to international status.

Deputy Communications Director of the Board, Mohammed Amin Lamptey told Joy News that, Although there are more than 1,500 pilgrims from the three Northern Regions, we are taking the first 1,500 pilgrims who paid earlier.

He said this is a pilot project adding the rest of the pilgrims from who are not part of the project and other regions would have to travel Accra to begin their journey.

President John Dramani Mahama is the special guest of honour on Friday August 19 at the opening of Hajj 2016 in Tamale before the first flight takes off with the first 500 would-be Pilgrims.

The Tamale International Airport is scheduled through FlyNas to fly 1,500 would -be Pilgrims from August 19-21 before moving camp to Accra for the remaining eight flights from August 23-30 respectively.

Mr Lamptey said the Board is happy everything has moved smoothly so far and they are looking forward to a smooth Hajj this year.

Ghana is expected to fly some 5424 pilgrims with 11 flights in total.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim | Email: [email protected]
18.08.2016 LISTEN

The name of my close friend is Ahmad Emeka. Such a confusing name in Nigeria indeed! Well-known are the facts that Ahmad is an Islamic name predominant among the ethnic nationalities in the northern part of Nigeria and to an extent in the Southwestern states, while Emeka can be comfortably ascribed to the predominant nationality of the Southeast of Nigeria. How come these two names came to be answered by a Nigerian? This is a very silly but intriguing question.

Many Nigerians have left Nigeria to be slaves in other countries because of the harsh condition and the feeling of denial and political exclusion. They feel alienated in their own country. A lot of them are engaged in different unholy acts in the name of fleeing their country for greener pasture, for security and for human feeling and recognition. Some did not choose to do so by mere love of it.

My friend tells me that his people ask him to go and live in the north where the owners of Ahmad dwell. But what is intriguing in this matter. It is true that Ahmad is an Islamic name while Emeka is an Igbo name. By mere implication, the owner of the name may have taken Islam as his faith. The Igbo land is a place where Islam has always been looked upon as a very strange religion or simply as mockers would say Hausa religion. Other misnomers given to Muslims in this region are: Ndi Alakuba meaning people of Allahu Akbar; Ndi Ausa meaning Hausa people and Ndi ihu naala meaning people whose faces are on the ground or people who hit their faces against the ground.

Upon this wrong impression or misconception, every Muslim of the Igbo extraction is regarded by his own people as a Hausa man or a fake Muslim who has joined Islam for merely worldly gains. One of my non-Muslim colleagues once confronted me, saying: We know things are hard and one must survive sometimes by fair or foul. Keep pursuing your heart desires and get it from them. But please come back to our religion (meaning Christianity) when you have achieved your heart desires.

Instances are too many to recount. Once, a public officer in the Southeast had wondered why for instance why Ibrahim would be joined to Okoro to form Ibrahim Okoro and the owner would claim to be an Igboman. In an argument that ensued in a public office within the region, a Muslim graduate who was very qualified for the job he was seeking (advertized on both electronic and print media), entered a public office to procure a form for the job. This is the excerpt of the argument. Names are real.

Abdullah: Good morning, sir

John: Good morning! How can I help you?

Abdullah: Yes sir, I want to obtain a form for the advertised vacancy. I hope this is the

right office

John: Yes it is. What is your name?

Abdullah: My name is Abdullah Obinna Kalu, sir.

John: What! What did you say is your name?

Abdullah: (Confidently) I said my name is Abdullah Obinna Kalu, sir.

John: Abudula+Obinna+Kalu! Are you a Hausa man?

Abdullah: No. Abum onye Igbo (Meaning I am an Igbo)

John: Wonders shall never end! Are you sure of what you are saying. Is any of your

parents Hausa by tribe?

Abdullah: No. Both my parents are Igbo.

John: Have you lived in the north?

Abdullah: No.

John: Interesting but shocking! You are confusing me. How can Abudula and Kalu

come together as a name and you proudly claim it?

Abdullah: I am a Muslim.

John: Very strange! I dont believe this! That you are an Igbo Moslem! Maybe you

are a Hausa man born in Igboland.

Abdullah: I am from state (mentioning one of the states of the Southeast of

Nigeria) Asim na mbu onye Igbo. (meaning I say I am Igbo).

John: You dont mean it! I am ever surprised! I dont believe there is any Igbo

Moslem. You are the first ever I am meeting if truly you are.

Muslim: Glory be to Allah that you have met one today. But I tell you that there are

thousands of Igbo Muslims. There are also many Igbo Muslims resident in the

west and in the far north of Nigeria. There are indigenous Muslims in all the

states of the Southeast and South South geopolitical zones.

John: Chei! You chose to bear Hausa names. You hit your head on the ground!?

Abdullah: This is not what I came here for, sir, but its a pity you do not know and seem

not to learn. For clarity, Abdullah is not a Hausa name. It is an Islamic name. I

am a Muslim and not a Hausa man. These are two different identities you

should know if you care. Again, the issue of faith should be a decision of the

mind and not influence which can change any time. However you describe my

way of worship, I am proud to tell you that I am a Muslim.

John: Igbo man sense! Remember us when you get the thing ooo! Cunning man!

Whether you are M o hamm e d or Adamu, I beg, let me rest.

Abdullah: That is your belief. So are you a Christian for the thing you are talking about? I dont know who made you a Christian, may be your parents. Merely parental influence even at your age! Thats all. Suppression! Influence! Indecision! How many churches or denominations have you attended since you were born? Or are you a pastor for the thing? Surely!

John: Onye Ausa! (meaning Hausa man) Ha asago gi isi (meaning they have brain- wash you).

Abdullah: I pity you. Whether you like it or not, there is no religion that is equal to Islam. Islam is the truth and only divine way to reach God.

John: (Calling attention of others) Make una come see Hausa man who claims to be Igbo because he can understand few words in Igbo!

Abdullah: It is unfortunate that you do not want to understand. If you are surprised of my name or of my being a Muslim, what will you say about names Joshua Ishaku or Pastor Suleiman Isah which you claim are Hausa names?

John: Forget about that. All that I know is that you are not real. You are fake! Fake! O God! What do you want from being a Moslem? Osama bin Laden!

Abdullah: Can I have the form?

John: No! Well, I will give you one (opens a drawer and reluctantly hands out a form to Abdullah Obinna Kalu). But definitely you will be fished out during the screening processes.

This is a real story that portrays the general view and attitude of an average non-Muslim towards Igbo Muslims in Nigeria. Igbo Muslims are subjugated, regarded as second class citizens and treated as setters, visitors or travelers in their own homeland owing to their fewness, powerlessness and incapacities. These Muslims are discriminated upon. Islamic activities can hardly be openly held without mockery and sometimes open adversaries. The Muslims from such areas suffer unemployment and neglect from public and private authorities.

The condition of these Muslim folks in Nigeria is pitiable. There is no need to call for assistance for them because they have made a good choice and they must suffer for it since they are in the minority areas. It is not their will but Gods that they are in Christian dominated region of Nigeria. It is a test to fulfill their true attachment to God who created them. Whether they are dejected or rejected, the ultimate goal in their life is to die in the faith they have been blessed with. And by the will of God they shall survive all the odds and support their faith by themselves.

Muhammad Ajah is an advocate of humanity, peace and good governance in Abuja. E-mail [email protected]
18.08.2016 LISTEN

Every day is an April Fool in Ghana!

April 1st is long gone ,but Ghanaians always live in April fool days because we love to live in a fantasy world all the timeyoull get it in a minute!

According to the story, a Swedish minster of Higher Education quits her post over drink-driving (nope, its not drunk driving). The story goes on to say that the 29- year old female minster took a glass of wine when she attended a social gathering over the weekend. She wasnt drunk; however she decided to drive home after relaxing for several hours. Unfortunately, she was pulled over and found with a blood-alcohol level of 0.2 per litre by the police; that was above the legal limit in Sweden.

Folks, 0.2 litre is less than a small glass of wine but, shes quitting her ministerial post to clear her conscienceI beg your pardon! She might even end up spending six months in prison for that. Yes, you heard me rightits 0.2 gram per litre and slap of six months imprisonment. Hello, hello, is anyone listening?

Bring that to this side of the planet: Whether or not youre in favor of drink-driving, the hidden truth is we are integrity-impaired and power addicted. Now, digest this for a while and bring your mind back to Ghanaian politicians and policy makers. Dont stop there. Look at examination malpractices and the empty- promises practitioners. Let your mind do the calculations. Imagine for a second and come up with your own conclusions. Start from those who live on bribery and embezzlement and go all the way down the list.

Nope, I am not saying anything more about our hanky- panky lifestyle because it wont make sense to an average Ghanaian. But that goes to show why things dont work on this side of the Atlantic.

Im sure we must be proud of our river bodies, accident prone and pot-holed infected roads, cracked bridges, paint -deprived hospitals, poor- conditioned schools, books -deprived libraries and the entire education system. With the kind of mind- set we shouldnt have any problem with our judicial system and other outdated social institutions. We eat and drink politics so everything is moving on smoothly. In fact, we should be doing pretty well in the integrity department considering the number of churches and pastors we have in the country. Oh yeah, everything handed to this country by nature has been destroyed with impunity because we lack responsible citizenry that is integrity impaired; with no sense of directions. The next generation is doomedthanks in part to our visionary community and national leaderships!

Whats saddest to me is that there is double standard when it comes to issues that are important to the country. Unfortunately, there are some in power (even those with small amount power on the local levels) who continue to lean on the comfortable mantle of political and tribal fanaticism to allow them to justify some of their policies (and behaviors).

Get the load of this one: Did you hear about the story of the supposedly two police officers who allegedly killed a man in the Afram plains and able to escape under police escort while been transported to koforidua? Who is not afraid when the people who are supposed to protect us from all evils are the perpetrators of crimes and murders?

Is one making an attempt to see this through the eyes of the ordinary Ghanaians? We can only hope that by the time the election rolls around well be too fearful of our lives and personal security to even venture out of homes to go vote.

I am still laughing and beating my head over this story and other developments that are unfolding in Ghana because most readers wont get the substance or significance of these stories nevertheless, they will give me a lot of flak. Yes in an election year the naysayers will come out of the woodwork against anyone (who speaks the truth and sees things critically) with characteristically ugly language.

The sad part is that there will be plenty of people who will continually allow themselves and their good causes to be hijacked by these politicians so as to sing the melodies of the dayoh Lordy! But, I am sure Ill get over it after I take two aspirins before I go to bed.

Until we meet here again stay tuned. Be blessed, informed and educated.

Kwaku Adu-Gyamfi-Voice of Reason.

*The author is a social commentator.
The African Union Commission successfully participated in an exhibition at the sidelines of the World Humanitarian Summit, The exhibition highlighted Africas challenges and experience in humanitarian action with stories that reinforce the collective spirit of solidarity and collaboration that exist between the African Union (AU), Member States, Regional Economic Communities, women and youth groups, private sector, Civil Society, the Diaspora and African people.

The Deputy Chairperson, H.E. Erastus Mwencha and H.E. Dr Aisha .L. Abdullahi, Commissioner for Political Affairs official opened the exhibition booth when they visited and received a brief explanation of the Publication, Pictures and videos on display from key AU officials. Among the key documents on display were the Common Africa Position, Africans support for the fight against Ebola, The African Union handbook, and a host of other key documents highlighting the Africas Achievements in Humanitarian action and showcasing Africas solution for African problems.

Commissioner, Dr Aisha .L. Abdullahi on behalf of the commission welcomed key government officials from Uganda, Liberia and Nigeria, She presented and explained in great detail the documents on display to the delegation with special focus on the Common Africa Position which she explained as  The Common African Position was adopted by the African union member states after wide consultations across the continent. Furthermore, Africa is the only region that presents a common position on [H.E. Dr Aisha .L. Abdullahi (right) with Mr Tawio Abidogun (Center) Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Nigeria in the African Union exhibition booth at the World Humanitarian Summit.] humanitarian effectiveness and the UN Secretary General and chief humanitarian actors in the world have commended the African union for this great achievement. She further noted that the United Nations (UN) Secretary General said that the UN will borrow information for the Common African position as it prepares the UN Secretary Generals report on Humanitarian effectiveness in the World.

The Commissioner and her delegation visited the Oxfam exhibition booth that highlighted the plight of Africas forgotten crises such the Western Sahara refugee crisis. As she viewed the pictures, the commissioner spoke extensively about the 40 Faces, 40 Years  A Life Time in Exile - a photo exhibition that was also displayed at the AU headquarters. She said, The Western Sahara refugees are the most resilient people she had ever come across in the world. They live in the harshest conditions and have been displaced for the last 40 years, but they have hope to reclaim their homeland. Other issues highlighted in the Oxfam exhibition included the Darfur and Central Africa crises.

Other exhibitions visited included, The United Nations Population Fund, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), The Humanitarian Advisory Group and the International Committee of the Red Cross among others.
Lenovo Technologies West Africa has partnered with Africas largest online retail shop, Jumia Ghana to sell the Lenovo Vibe C.

The hottest new phone will satisfy technology mavens and budget conscious consumers with great multimedia, a 5.0 screen display, 4G LTE speed and quad-core performance would also enable users to enjoy the latest version of Android.

This affordable smartphone is big in size with two colour options  black or white. The Lenovo Vibe C also takes two sim cards and is 4G compliant.

When the power goes low, simply swap in a fresh battery for all-day enjoyment with its high-capacity interchangeable battery.

The Managing Director for Jumia Market Jean-Philippe Boul who is excited to partner with Lenovo says, The Lenovo Vibe C is a game changer for all 4G users in Ghana because of its unique features and smartness.

He added that Smartphone users who want superb enjoyment and value will be left spellbound since the Lenovo Vibe C is perfect for the first time android phone user with its easy to use interface.

According to him, it is also easy on the pocket and provides all the fun and exciting apps available.

"The phone comes with preloaded software like the social networks, productivity tools; daily life apps, and games with guaranteed software upgrade," he intimated.

Shadrack Otura, Sales Manager of Lenovo Technologies West Africa expressed his enthusiasm regarding the launch.

We are aware of the rise in demand for quality and affordable smartphones in Ghana and across the globe, we look forward to providing customers with quality and affordable Smartphone's, he stated.

Lenovo Vibe C was launched today on Jumia Ghana giving customers the opportunity to make a quick purchase at a very affordable price.
18.08.2016 LISTEN

Almost all the countries of sub-Saharan Africa are desperately poor, in need of development, investment and foreign trade after centuries of the slave trade followed by colonial plunder. Financial and technical assistance should be aimed exclusively at promoting the economic and social progress of developing countries and should not in any way be used by the developed countries to the detriment of the national sovereignty of recipient countries.

Moreover, development assistance is often of dubious quality. In many cases: aid is primarily designed to serve the strategic and economic interests of the donor countries; Or [aid is primarily designed] to benefit powerful domestic interest groups; aid systems based on the interests of donors instead of the needs of recipients make development assistance inefficient; all too often, aid is wasted on overpriced goods and services from donor countries.

The Government of United State of America has charged Ghana to end modern day slavery immediately or face the consequences of her lack attitude towards the fight against the crime. In a statement released from the office of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry amidst the 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report by the US government, which was published at the Embassy of United State in Accra, it said: The 2016 TIP Report includes narratives for 188 countries and territories, including the United States. The goal of the report is to stimulate action and create partnerships around the world in the fight against modern slavery.

This may include cutting off military assistance to Ghana and also reduce aid support amounting over $140 million per year. Per its ratings, Ghana is classified as a Tier 2 Watch List country, meaning that the government does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons and also failed to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat forced labour, child labour and sex trafficking of children and adults in the past year.

The White House, mincing no words warned President Mahama that: Without significant progress in combating trafficking in persons, Ghana risks losing U.S. support for programs in agriculture, education, security, governance, health and economic growth.

Peoples of the world do not need a sledgehammer, a dictator  one that enslaves them, robs them, rapes and exploits them, kills them if they dont behave as the Masters in Washington deem necessary.

UK has already got used to control African because for 300 years, Europeans and Americans colonized much of Africa and enslaved millions of its people. Colonial rhetoric was often virtuous: colonizers would bring civilization to benighted Africans. Such as British colonialists brought to Africa slavery, torture and the meticulous plundering of natural resources.

Since before the heinous ravaging of Africa as a source of human beings denied their humanity, lives and freedom as chattel in the slave trade, the continent has been brutally exploited by European colonial and later US powers.

US President frequently repeats his jingoist mantra about the necessity of American leadership, at times accompanied by pandering cliches such as I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being.

Since the vast corporate capitalist mass media is entirely in agreement with the sacrosanct principle that only the United States is morally, politically and militarily equipped to rule the world, Obamas flag-waving imperial intentions are rarely if ever criticized by the press, Democrat or Republican. At least 90% of the American people obtain virtually all their scatterings of information about foreign affairs from a propagandistic ultranationalist media powerhouse controlled by just six billionaire corporations.

Many millions of Americans have opposed Washingtons frequent and usually disastrous imperialist wars. But far fewer challenge the concept of U.S. global leadership  the euphemism for ruling the world that allows Washington carte blanche to engage in wars or bullying whenever its perceived interests appear to be challenged. It may seem like a century, considering the carnage, but it is important to remember that Washington only obtained solo world power when the Soviet Union imploded less than a quarter century ago. The next quarter century, as a new world order is beginning to take shape in the very shadow of the old, will be rough indeed as the U.S. government resists inevitable change.

The days of American hegemony over the nations of the world are numbered. This is perhaps the main and certainly the most dangerous contradiction deriving from Americas determination to lead the world as carried forward by President Obama and undoubtedly to be continued by the next and the next administrations. There are many secondary contradictions strewn throughout the world, but almost all are related to first.

The U.S. government is recklessly flailing its arms and interfering in all the global regions to impose its will in order to indefinitely continue enjoying unilateral domination and the sensation of luxuriating in the extraordinary advantages derived from being the worlds top cop, top judge, only jury, mass jailer and executioner extraordinaire. If you doubt it, just look about at the human, structural and environmental anguish created in the last 15 years by the action or inaction of Bush-Obama world leadership. Think about the trillions of U.S. dollars for destruction and death, and the paucity of expenditures for construction and life. A better world can only emerge from a better and more people-friendly political and economic global order.

Obamas policy of enhanced American leadership has created havoc these last six years as a result of the collusion between the Democratic White House and the Republican Congress  partners in the projection of American armed power around the world. The main target  despite all the elbowing and ranting about Russia, Putin, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iran, Yemen, Islamic State

Europe and USA have returned to nations that thought themselves forever rid of the them; for example, British troops are back in Afghanistan, Iraq and Sierra Leone; French ones in Haiti, returning on the bicentennial of its independence from France, and Cote dIvoire; American armed forces are back in the Philippines.

As USA struggled to dominate the hundred new nations that started appearing right after the Second World War, each one invested with an inviolable sovereignty, Washington is seeking through a new means of projecting power beyond conventional diplomacy or military force. The survival of the planet and of our democracy demands that its agendas be resisted.
ExLA Group Gender Programme (EGGP) would like to draw to the attention of gender, humanitarian and security agencies, a video circulating on social media. In this unwholesome video, a purported Bishop is seen physically abusing a young man and a young lady. Their crime? The young man has impregnated the young lady!

From a gender perspective, the act is a drawback to the meaningful gains made in the fight against gender-based violence in Ghana. Gender-based violence is prevalent in Ghana and over the years, advocacies against the ill have relied on some public figures to send the message across. It is therefore quite unfortunate to wake up to the known of a circulating video where a Man of God is perpetrating such act publicly.

Considering the large following of Bishop Daniel Obinim of the International Godsway Church, it is uneasy to overlook the harm his unwarranted action could cause. Interestingly, he had the backing of some cheering members while he perpetrated the act and asked his disciples to do same to the victims.

Moreover, the video reveals that the lady victim in the abuse is allegedly pregnant which clearly poses serious threat to the health of both the expectant mother and the foetus.

From a security perspective, the act remains a violation against the rights of these young individuals to decide what to do with their sexuality as much as society or religion might influence it, especially when they both consented to it. As much as we do not encourage unhealthy and inadvertent sexual relations that lead to undesirable consequences, we do not believe Bishop Obinim has any right whatsoever to humiliate and abuse the victims the way it happened. The irony in this whole video is that, the perpetrator of the abuse himself once confessed to cheating on his wife and could not even tolerate the issue being discussed in the media.

We call on the security agencies responsible for handling issues of abuse to launch an immediate investigation into the matter notwithstanding the video and bring the perpetrators to book. We believe Ghana will progress if the citizenry will witness the prosecution of law breakers.

Signed

Daniel Osei Tuffuor

Executive Director

ExLA Group

0246 489 782
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is planning to call an informal meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said.

"Frank-Walter Steinmeier wants to do an unofficial meeting of the OSCE foreign ministers on September 1," he said in an interview with Channel 5 on Wednesday evening.

Already agreements have been reached to hold meetings, "starting from Boris Johnson and ending with many ministers," Klimkin said.

An unofficial OSCE ministerial meeting is always a very good occasion to talk, and talk very candidly," he said.

"Russia is trying to block the whole OSCE logic entirely," he also said. "Look, Russia is blocking what's happening in Vienna, Russia is blocking the work of the Office for democracy and human rights... and blocking all the other OSCE institutions, for example that of its representative on freedom of the media. So we must reload this Russian pressure to enable the OSCE to continue working," Klimkin said.
The African Union Commission (AUC) and the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States (LAS) held a series of extensive meetings at the Headquarters of LAS in Cairo to discuss all issues related to the implementation of the 3rd Africa Arab Summit held in Kuwait 2013 and the preparation of the upcoming 4th Africa-Arab Summit which will be held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Nov 2016.

First: The second meeting of Africa-Arab partnership of working Groups on Trade, Investment, Transport, Communication and Energy was held from 07 to 11 August 2016 at the HQ of LAS, these working groups were established based on the resolution of the third Africa-Arab Summit which underscored the need to strengthen cooperation in the above mentioned areas. The meeting was co-chaired by Dr.Mohamad AlTawaijri, Assistant Secretary General for the Economic Cooperation at LAS and H.E Amb. BOUZAHER Abdelhamid, Head, AU Permanent Delegation to LAS as well as Participants from relevant departments of AUC and LAS.

In their opening remarks both co-Chairs expressed their commitments and readiness to ensure the success of the meeting, to finalize the project profiles of the priority areas and to draft the new Action Plan for 2017 -2019 to be presented at the Upcoming Africa-Arab Summit. H.E Amb BOUZAHER advised the meeting to thoroughly examine the project profiles and prioritize them in terms of their completeness and financial viability with a suggestion to expand the current matrix to reflect the meaningful impact of the proposed project on the lives of both African and Arab people.

During the closing session of the meeting participants considered the matrix, the project profile, the proposed economic part of the declaration and agreed on the theme of the economic forum which will be on transport.

The Joint AU/LAS Press conference

Second: The First Drafting Committee meeting of the fourth Africa-Arab Summit was held from 12 -14 August 2016 at the HQ of LAS. The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Zeid El Sabban, Director of the Africa and Africa-Arab Cooperation Department of the League of Arab States and H.E Amb. BOUZAHER Abdelhamid, Head, African Union Permanent Delegation to LAS, as well as participants from relevant departments of AUC and LAS.

In their remarks the co-chairs stressed on the importance of this meeting which going to examine the main documents to be presented at the fourth Africa-Arab Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Nov 2016, taking into consideration the time frame of only 3 months left for the two secretariats to finalize their work. The meeting deliberated and critically examined and amended the Draft Malabo Declaration and the Action Work Plan 2017 -2019.

The meeting also reviewed the progress on the implementation of the resolutions of the third Africa Summit as well as the proposal for new resolution for the fourth Africa-Arab Summit.

Finally the meeting agreed to elaborate and enrich all draft documents which are going to be presented at the 11th Senior Official Meeting and the 3rd Preparatory Committee meeting of the 4th Africa-Arab Summit on 05 -08 September 2016, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has begun a 40-day exercise to accept application for proxy voting by eligible voters during general elections on December 7.

The exercise, which starts Wednesday August 17 and ends on September 26, 2016, will enable an eligible voter to delegate someone to vote on his/her behalf when he/she is unable to be present during the Presidential and Parliamentary polls.

The CI75-backed process will ensure that when a voter assigns a proxy, that individuals data is retrieved, reviewed and verified for the proxy to vote, after which the proxy would go to his own polling station to cast his own individual vote.

Head of Communications at the EC, Eric Dzakpasu, said eligible voters who may want to assign a proxy can visit the Commission headquarters in Accra or the district offices to pick a special proxy form.

The proxys identity will be captured on a proxy list and assigned to a polling station where the voter is registered, he explained (see: EC opens application for proxy voting -myjoyonline.com; ghanaweb.com; modernghana.com, 17/08/2016).

Apparently, the preceding explanation differs slightly from what I heard from the same head of communications at EC explained on OKY FM on Thursday 18 August 2016.

The head of EC communications stated categorically that in some cases, the prospective proxy voter alone can pick up application form on behalf of the applicant.

This is where I have serious problem. As a matter of fact, there could be serious breaches if we allow a prospective proxy voter to pick up application form in the absence of the principal applicant.

I am afraid we may have multitudinous ghosts voting on that day. For some conspiratorial plotters could scheme a fiendish plot to take advantage of the loopholes and proxy for ghosts applicants.

It is absolutely true that a number of countries allow proxy voting in their elections, but the fact of the matter is it is commonly used by active-duty soldiers and other citizens who know they will not be present at election time, to vote in person.

Interestingly, however, critics of proxy voting claim that proxy voting may be susceptible to abuse. For instance, some critics fret that delegated relatives and minions may choose to vote for their own preferred candidates and thereby robbing the applicants of their voting rights.

In view of the fraudulent and unfairness nature of the proxy voting, some countries have ceased its application, or have modified the system.

Though various jurisdictions in the United States have historically allowed proxy voting, it is currently outlawed under federal law. A similar but fundamentally different procedure, called absentee voting, is allowed.

Absentee Voting allows registered voters of active-duty members of the Armed Forces, Merchant Marine, Public Health Service and their family members; and other United States citizens who are living outside the U.S. for work, school or other reasons to exercise their voting rights.

Actually, the foreign based U.S registered voters would simply fill a form and request for absentee ballot. The voted ballots can be posted, emailed or faxed (see: www.fvap.gov ).

Ironically, proxy voting was adopted by the parliament of Ghana, in the same vein as the ROPAL (the Representation of Peoples Amendment Law). Strangely, however, the Electoral Commission has refused to implement the ROPAL since it was adopted in 2006. How bizarre?

To put it bluntly, it is quite ironic when one comes to think about the Electoral Commissions double standard in carrying out its duties as obliged by the constitution of Ghana.

Actually, Act 699 of the Representation of the People's Amendment Law (ROPAL), which replaced the PNDC Law 284, directed the EC to register all Ghanaians who are qualified to vote.

So, why is the Electoral Commission mulishly sticking to the Pndc Law 284 which had been repealed and amended, and therefore does not exist?

In fact, the EC is in a state of ambivalence, in the sense that it is the same ROPAL which allowed the EC to carry out the registration of prisoners including homicidal scumbags such as armed robbers and murderers.

On the other hand, EC is refusing to apply Act 699 of the ROPAL which allows the registration of our brothers and sisters in Diaspora whose remittances help boost our economy.

But, in bizarre circumstances, we are aware that the Electoral Commission has chosen to register a few individuals abroad-including all government appointees and students on government scholarships.

I daresay it is unfair on the rest of Ghanaians who were not sponsored by the government, but chose to live away from home due to multifaceted reasons.

The inquiring minds would like to know from the EC: Why some Ghanaians should be treated as second class citizen just because they have chosen to live thousands of miles across the Atlantic?

As a matter of fact, it is absolutely wrong for the EC to register a section of Ghanaians abroad and shamefully discriminating against the others.

In fact, the EC is discriminating against those of us who are not government appointees, but have decided to travail abroad to meliorate our lives and in the process supporting the economy back home.

So, what is the sense in alienating the gargantuan boosters of the economy and ridiculously including armed robbers and murderers in jail? .

I would like to think by leaving out thousands of eligible Ghanaian diaspora and registering prisoners, government appointees and selected students on government scholarships, EC may be flouting Article 296 which states: Where in this Constitution or any other law discretionary power is vested in any power or authority, that discretionary power is deemed to imply a duty to be fair and candid.

I daresay that the continuous application of the proxy voting would be seen as an excoriation on the progress made so far in our democratic dispensation. In other words, it would be seen as poison in honey.

If I may ask: What is the essence of the introduction of the Biometric registration and verification?

It is important that we move forward in valence and refrain from any act of impishness which may jeopardise the national ambiance.

K. Badu, UK.
The Vice Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has indicated that a Nana Akufo-Addo government will establish a Training Institution and Scholarship Scheme purposely for Persons Living with Disabilities (PLD).

In addition, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said a quota of government procurement and public sector employment will be reserved for PLDs.

He made these comments on Wednesday in Midea, in the Greater Accra Region, where on behalf of Nana Akufo-Addo and himself, he donated GH20,000 for the completion of a training facility for the disabled.

The facility has been left uncompleted for over 5 years due to a lack of funds.

The facility is being put up by the Future Life for the Disabled (FLD), a group of persons living with disabilities, which seeks to equip its members with technical skills to be productive.

Touching on the vision of the NPP for PLDs, Dr.Bawumia noted that Nana Akufo-Addo as someone who cares for persons living with disabilities will introduce policies and actions to ensure a fairer and more comfortable society for PLDs.

With particular regard to people living with disabilities, we all realise that without well-thought-out policies and actions from government, such persons will continue to struggle and that is why we will initiate a number of policies all geared at ensuring a fairer society," he said.

"Nana Akufo-Addo will introduce these policies to help the persons with disabilities because as we all know, he is someone who cares for persons living with disabilities, he said.

Touching on the specific policies, Dr.Bawumia noted that education and training are vital ingredients for building lives and therefore disclosed that a Nana Akufo-Addo government will, therefore, prioritise the training and education of PLDs to make them productive and ensure that they contribute their intellect fully to national development.

He stated, God willing when Nana Akufo-Addo becomes President, we will establish a major training institute for people living with disabilities with one campus in Northern Ghana and another in Southern Ghana to equip you with technical and vocational skills to enable you work and earn a living.

Again as our Chairman recounted, he couldnt go to school but we have all realised that he has a great intellect that should be used for nation-building. It is a similar case for most persons living with disability and that is why the second major policy initiative will be the establishment of a scholarship scheme purposely for persons living with disability to help persons living with disabilities to go through schooling from the basic level to the tertiary level, he said.

On the issue of employment, Dr.Bawumia also disclosed that the NPP was committed to using the power of the state to support businesses owned by PLDs and ensure that persons living with disabilities have a fairer chance of getting jobs.

To start with, generally, persons with disabilities struggle to find jobs and that is why as a policy, the NPP will mandate public institutions to hire at least a certain percentage of their workers from the population of persons living with disabilities. Without such a policy, it would continue to be virtually impossible for persons living with disabilities to find a job.

Another policy I will like to mention here, among the range of policies we will introduce, is that, we believe that among others, businesses owned by persons living with disabilities must be encouraged and so we will reserve a certain percentage of government procurement for persons living with disabilities so that you know that when you set up a business, there will be demand for you.

All these policies will make life better for persons living with disabilities, he added.

I decided to come and look at the work that has already been done and then to see how we can also support. Your chairman came to talk to me about this centre you are putting up. When he told me, I also informed Nana Akufo-Addo who also agreed to support. So we are here to tell you that we are here to help you complete the facility. The first package is to support you roof and do other works with GH20,000, he said to loud cheers from the group.

Dr.Bawumia explained that the NPP when elected, will work to ensure that all Ghanaians irrespective of their orientation or background benefit from the resources of the nation.

Founder of the group, Emmanuel Dzikunu, who had to break into a song to thank Dr.Bawumia, expressed his profound gratitude to Dr.Bawumia and Nana Akufo-Addo for the support and narrated how he had struggled to find support to complete the project.

Despite this initiative, we have struggled so much to get support. I even went to Social Welfare. I also didnt receive any support from the Assembly. I even had to pay my way out to get a permit to put up this place. We have sent the pictures of the facility everywhere but still didnt receive support until we met Dr.Bawumia who has changed our destinies. This facility will train people in shoe making, fashion design, bead making, batik, soap making, ICT etc., he said.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
The governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) has described as a joke a survey by a democratic think-tank that found the party toping parties cited for vote buying.

Deputy NDC General Secretary, George Lawson, said the report which said government has been offering drinks and foodstuff to electorates for a second term bid is an insult to the intelligence of Ghanaians.

What constitutes vote buying and why should the NDC be offering alcohol to over 14 million Ghanaian voters in this young democracy of ours? he quizzed Evans Mensah, host of Joy FMs Top Story programme, Thursday.

In its pre-election survey report, the Center for Democratic Development (CDD) found the NDC of leading political parties in vote buying ahead of the 2016 general election.

About 51 percent of Ghanaians who took part in the survey said the Mahama government has been offering gifts in exchange for their votes.

This was 19 percent higher than the percentage recorded by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) which recorded 32 percent.

On his campaign trail in the Western Region, President Mahama has been gifting outboard motors to fisherfolk which has been described by the party as a donation to motivate the fishermen.

The Presidents wife, Lordina Mahama, has also been donating assorted products to residents in different part of the country with her Lordina Foundation.

Reacting to the issue, Mr Lawson said the distribution of outboard motor by the President forms part of his responsibilities.

According to him, the fishery sector has been suffering some setbacks and government has found out that one of the solutions would be to distribute the motors to fishermen.

The President has put up a package to revamp the sector which is going down, he said.

In response to Mrs Mahama's donations, he explained that the First Lady runs a foundation which goes around the country to distribute goods, adding, there is nothing wrong with what she is doing.

She raises funds and gives them to people in places these things are needed, he said, noting, the First Lady uses the resources judiciously.

He, however, could not believe why anybody would buy Ghanaians alcohol for an important thing as a vote.

The report of the study he believes is one of the absurdities of life he has ever heard in the country.

However, Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Linda Ofori-Kwafo, has described the development as worrying.

She said the things the President has been donating amounts to vote-buying and nothing else adding it is an abuse of incumbency.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | Email: [email protected]
The Ghana Association of Biomedical Laboratory Scientists (GABMLS), has served notice of a strike on August 22, after a planned meeting with the Health Ministry saw the absence of sector Minster, Alex Segbefia.

The Minister of Health was expected to be at the meeting according to the association, but he did not show up leading to GABMLS to view his absence as an affront towards them.

The meeting was supposed to address the stalled implementation of the National Health Laboratory policy which the GABMLS has said is crucial to the raising of the quality of laboratory science practice nationwide.

A statement signed by the President of GABMLS, Ignatius Awinibuno, accused the Health Ministry of disregarding their prior threats to strike as empty promises, whilst noting that the three health laboratory policy documents will not be launched and implemented as expected.

The Minister of Health is not interested in improving and strengthening medial laboratory services for better quality health care in the country, the statement said.

We therefore call on all our membership across the country to withdraw their services at the various facilities starting from August 22, 2016 until you are otherwise advised, it added.

GABMLS had in recent times been calling on government to implement the National Health Laboratory policy as a matter of urgency.

The association argued that, this was critical to raise the quality of laboratory science practice to meet international health standards.

It had been accusing the Health Ministry of dragging its feet in the implementation of the policy which was developed through the support of the United States Government in 2013.

The policy is meant to guide laboratory scientists in their operations to achieve quality service delivery and strengthen laboratory research.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Ten airlines comprising of both local and international ones have shown interest in partnering government to establish a new national airline.

This is the indication coming from the Ministry of Transport.

According to the Ministry of transport the transactional Advisor, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) is currently engaging the 10 interested parties to evaluate and shortlist before inviting bids.

Speaking to Citi Business News the Chief Director of the Ministry of Transport Twumasi Ankrah  Selby said he was hopeful PWC will soon present the names of the shortlisted airlines.

We have gotten about ten airlines interested to partner government in establishing a national airline. But the transactional advisor is currently doing further checks with the companies by engaging them one after the other to be sure they meet the criteria of government.

He further stated that this exercise by the transactional advisor will lead to a short listing of the 10 airlines who have shown interest to partner government. We expect that the transactional advisor will get back to us within a month's time from today.

When asked which airlines have shown interest to partner government the chief director of the transport ministry Twumasi Ankrah Selby admitted that Ethiopian Airlines and locally owned airline African World Airlines have all shown interest in partnering government to establish a national airline.

Government is seeking an experienced airline operator as a strategic partner to establish a new national airline for the country, after the collapse of Ghana Airways and its successor the Ghana International Airlines (GIA) due to financial and operational challenges.

The Ministry of Transport, in an Expression of Interest (EOI) published in dailies, said: The feasibility studies for the establishment of a new national carrier also demonstrated the new national airline will require partnership with an experienced strategic airline partner that has a global distribution network to adequately take advantage of opportunities in the market place.

The partner, the EOI notes, ought to have good financial strength; technical strength in areas of IT systems and flight operations; maintenance yield and capacity management; good distribution network; and be a member of a global alliance.

The Transport Ministry has said government this time is not going to commit funds but will only seek a carried interest in the proposed new airline.

Other aviation analysts believe that the new airline should rather look inward and dominate the continent before venturing to other long-haul routes.



By: Norvan Acquah  Hayford/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
Introduction and Summary of Findings

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) observed the just-concluded voter register exhibition exercise. The 21-day nation-wide exercise, organized by the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana, from Monday, July 18 to Sunday, August 7, 2016, was part of the preparations towards the compilation of a certified/final register of voters to be used for the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections. The deployment of CODEO observers was in line with the Coalition's comprehensive observation program for the 2016 elections. CODEO-trained observers visited and observed various exhibition centers in constituencies throughout the country. Each observer was assigned to one constituency with a mandate to observe the exercise in 12 randomly-selected exhibition centers. CODEO observers observed an average of 12 out of the 21 days dedicated for the exercise, per constituency, spending a full day at each of the selected centers, after which they moved on to observe at the next center (see table 1 below for observation dates)[1]. This enabled CODEO to cover as many exhibition centers as possible in each constituency.

Table 1: Dates CODEO observers observed the voter registration exercise

Month Dates July 18th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 25th, 26th, 28th, 30th August 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th

At the end of the exercise on Sunday, August 7, CODEO observers were able to visit and observe a total of 2,888 exhibition centers fairly spread over all ten regions of the country. CODEO observers used SMS technology to send periodic reports each day to the CODEO Secretariat. CODEO issued an interim observation statement on Friday, July 29, 2016 (i.e. day 12 of the exercise). Based on reports received from a total of 262 observers at the end of the exercise, CODEO makes the following key findings:

 CODEO noted a generally-smooth exhibition exercise. Consistent with past exhibition exercises, there was minimal presence of party agents and unauthorized persons at the centers and very few reported violent incidents, and disruptions.

 Public response to the exercise was similarly low, and there were very few cases of objections being raised against names on the voter register.

 There were very few problems with the biometric verification equipment; only 8% of exhibition centers visited encountered malfunctioning biometric verification devices.

 However, some registered voters could not be verified by the biometric verification devices in about 6% of centers observed.

 About 25 exhibition centers did not open on the days CODEO observers visited those centers, while another 20 exhibition centers closed before the officially stipulated closing time of 6:00PM. Four (4) exhibition centers were suspended at some point in time in the course of the exercise.

Main Findings

 Access to, Opening, and Set-Up of Exhibition Centers

Almost all (99%) CODEO observers reported being granted access to exhibition centers during the entire period of the exercise. In about 30 exhibition centers, however, CODEO observers reported being deined access by EC Exhibition Officials despite having official accreditation badges from the EC (see figure 1 below). This represented about 1% of all centers observed with the Upper West and Brong Ahafo Regions recording the highest number of such cases of 7 and 5 respectively. They were followed by the Eastern and Northern Regions (4 cases each). The Western Region had none of such cases while the Central and Volta Regions had 1 case each.

Figure 1: Observers access to exhibition centers



CODEO Observers found 88% of exhibition centers to be accessible to persons with disabilities and the elderly, while 12% of exhibition centers were not.

The Electoral Commission indicated that centers were to open at 7:00A.M. Overall, about 72% of exhibition centers were opened by 8:00A.M. Of the exhibition centers visited, observers indicated that only about one-third of them were opened by 7:15A.M, while 39% of centers opened between 7:16A.M.and 8:00AM; 24% of centers opened after 8:00AM (see figure 2 below). CODEO observers reported that about 20 exhibition centers closed before the daily official closing time of 6:00PM. In about 4 centers observed by CODEO, the exhibition centers suspended at some point during the day.

Figure 2: Opening Times for the Exhibition Centers

CODEO Observers reported that in 25 exhibition centers (representing nearly 1%), exhibition officials never showed up and thus the centers were not opened on those dates they (observers) were visiting.

Figure 3. Regional Breakdown of the number of centers that did not open on the days CODEO observers visited

 Presence of Party agents and uniformed Security Personnel

CODEO Observers reported not seeing political party agents in most exhibition centers observed. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) had the highest number of agents present at 31% of the centers observed by CODEO, followed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) which had party agents in 23% of centers observed. Agents of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) were seen in just about 2% of exhibition centers observerd while other political parties were seen in less than 1% of exhibition centers visited by observers. CODEO observers reported that at centers where party agents were seen, those agents did not station themselves throughout the day, but dashed in and out of the centers. Observers reported seeing uniformed security personnel in just about 3% of exhibition centers observed.

Figure 4. Political parties mainly present at exhibition centers

 Biometric Verification and Performance of Equipment

CODEO Observers reported seeing biometric verification devices (BVDs) in nearly all (99%) exhibition centers observed. The BVDs, however, could not function properly in about 6% of exhibition centers observed. Where the equipment functioned properly, some registered voters who showed up at some centers (8%) could not be verified biomtrically (i.e. biometric verification failed).

 Cleaning the Voters Register and the Public Response to the exercise

CODEO observers indicated that the response of the public to the exercise was generally slow and low, with registered voters trickling in from time to time. In 95% of the centers observed, daily turn-out was less than 50 persons. Similarly, observers reported seeing few requests for inclusion of names by voters with voter ID cards as well as few requests for objections to names on the register. Observers witnessed requests for correction of names only in 4% of the centers observed, while requests for the removal of names of dead persons were observed in 6% of centers observed. Observers also witnessed objections being made against names in the register on the bases of age and or nationality. The table below provides a breakdown of the number of objections made and observed on the days CODEO observers visited the exhibition centers during the 12 days of observation.

Table 1. Number of Objections Made at Centers Observed by CODEO observers

Basis for Objection Number of Persons Objected to Minor 137 Deceased 527 Foreigner 23

Figure 5: Number of names on the register objected to on the basis of being minor

 Compliance to registration rules, EC Supervision of the Exercise and Presence of Unauthorized Persons

CODEO observers reported that most exhibition officials complied with the applicable rules with regards to the exhibition exercise. In about 80% of exhibition centers observed, officials provided instructions to registered voters on how to verify registration details and to make claims and objections, among others. Observers reported seeing EC Supervisors in only 33% of the centers observed. Finally, CODEO observers came across the presence of unathorised persons in just about 4% of exhibition centers observed.

CODEO's Overall Perspective on the Findings

Based on CODEO's findings from the just concluded voter register exhibition, CODEO makes the following general comments and observations:

 CODEO is concerned about the general public apathy towards voter register exhibition exercises in the country. CODEO believes that the real possible implications of failing to confirm ones registration details may be lost on many registered voters, hence their failure to check registration details during such exercises. CODEO believes that it is in the interest of voters and, indeed, all stakeholders to have registered voters turn up to verify their registration details as it will help improve election-day planning, reduce tension and avoid needless controversies.

 CODEO is concerned about the performance of some biometric verification devices, even if there were few instances of malfunctioning, given the minimal pressure that was brought to bear on them in the course of the exercise, as compared to possible pressure on election day.

 CODEO is also equally worried and disappointed about the minimal interest and presence of political parties at exhibition centers, considering the fact that political parties in the country have been the key stakeholders consistently raising doubts about the credibility of voters register. Their participation in the exhibition exercise is in stark contrast to other exercises like voter registration and voting where the two major political parties (the NDC and the NPP), for instance, present stationed agents in not less than 90% of centers or polling stations as recorded in CODEO's findings during the 2016 limited voter registration exercise.

 CODEO is also concerned about the level of civic/voter education in the country, ahead of the December polls.

Recommendations

Based on the findings above, CODEO makes the following recommendations:

 The Electoral Commission should, as a matter of necessity, identify all malfuctioning equipment and ascertain the reasons for the malfunctioning to help address possible equipment failure on election day. The Electoral Commission should clearly identify, outline and or publicise the modalities for dealing with the potential cases of biometric verification failures to reduce possible tension associated with turning eligible voters away on election day because of verification failures.

 The Electoral Commission should undertake an accessibility audit of all polling stations to be used in the December 7 polls and take steps to address challenges associated with siting of polling stations to help improve accessiblity to persons with disabilities and the elderly, among others.

 The Electoral Commission should improve its guildelines to, and training of, temporary officials regarding accreditation and access to exhibition centers/polling stations to avoid situations where duly accredited observers are turned away by such officials. The EC should also ensure that its officials stick to guidelines and regulations governing the conduct of such exercises, in particular time for opening and closing of centers.

 CODEO reiterates its call on the EC and the NCCE to deepen collarboratve efforts in support of civic and voter education.

 Finally, political parties must recognize the role of exhibition exercises and the responsibility they have in ensuring a credible voter register, and improve their particpation in future exhibition exercises.

Commendation

CODEO commends the Electoral Commission for carrying out a generally-smooth exercise with very few issues. The Coalition is of the belief that the EC will take the necessary steps to address all out-standing issues in relation to the compilation of the final register and the smooth functioning of equipment. This will bring the country closer to achieveing peaceful and successful conduct during the 2016 elections.

Conclusion

CODEO assures all stakeholders that it will continue to observe the pre-election environment and will duly share its findings with the general public. CODEOs observation of these exercises is made possible with the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Signed:



Albert Arhin, National Coordinator, CODEO

Dated: Wednesday, 17th August, 2016.

[1] July 18th was observed by only observers in Greater Accra Region. The remaining dates were observed by all observers in all 10 regions of the country.
18.08.2016 LISTEN

if I did not believe that it matters, it matters, it always matters, to name rubbish as rubbishto do otherwise is to legitimize it (Salman Rushdie).

THE CHICHIDODO BIRD IS NOT WHO SHE SAYS SHE IS

Realpolitiklack of consciousness, of political realismMachiavellianismpolitricksare her forte.

The chichidodo bird, an enemy of progress. The chichidodo bird, a metaphor for arrested development. The chichidodo bird, an expression of ubuntu. The chichidodo bird, a feminine symbol of paternal philanthropy. The chichidodo bird, a destructive flightless political animal.

Orwellian doublespeakOrwellian doublethinkare her exotic political language of choice.

In the end, though, Armah and Ramose could be economically truthful with their descriptive metaphor.

For us the chichidodo bird is not a conveniently distant, out-of-the-ordinary experience of metaphor.

For us, the chichidodo evokes all the hallmarks of literal immediacy in the maggot-infested lavatory of moral excrement, where political expression is also a bold statement of endemic kleptomaniacal reality, a damning symbol of leadership crisis, of bystander apathy, of moral decay.

And yet the chichidodo bird is unambiguously, also a bold, colorful status statement of Orwellian metaphor:

Time alone, oh, time will tell:

Think you're in heaven, but ya living in hell;

Think you're in heaven, but ya living in hell;

Think you're in heaven, but ya living in hell.

Time alone, oh, time will tell

Says whom?

Says Bob Marleys Time Will Tell.

Time will tell?

Which time? And when?

Time is of no essence in this maggot-infested lavatory of human existencefor the chichidodo bird has broken the fragile hands of time, thus giving Bob Marleys prophetic statement a gloss of literal factualness.

Just look at the anthropogenic galamsey-oriented polluted minds of the children of the chichidodo bird!

Extinction! Drunken Dead!

In this claustrophobic maggot-infested lavatory of moral excrementheaven becomes helllies and falsehoods replace truthpublic pornography takes over public decencylaw becomes social disordercronyism and nepotism and political patronage usurp the majestic throne of meritocracy and hard workmurderers thieves and rapists become holy pastors and Men of God

Thus Spoke Zarathustra, of Friedrich Nietzsches Beyond Good and Evil

It is toward such an Orwellian world of maggot-infested lavatory of moral excrement that, Wole Soyinka directs his polemic jeremiadhis eulogy, his funeral speechThe Open Sore of a Continent!

Political maggotszombie political demagoguespolitical incubi with their poisonous rhetoric proboscis hanging over The Open Sore of a Continent. The genocidal rhetoric of Montie 3, of the judicial dictatorship of Daddy Lumbas Yentie Obiaall in the Chichidodo birds Open Sore of a Continent!

Dear Mama Africa, a wounded vaginaDear Mother Ghana, a wounded vagina, can you fly over there, to the other side, otherism, and tell it like it is to the mountain, cry your heart out to the mountain, pour out your lamentations to James Baldwins Go Tell in on the Mountain?

Dear Mama AfricaDear Mother GhanaWhat has become of the incubus of the poisonous male penis in the paradoxical beak of the chichidodo bird?

The chichidodo birds poisonous penis has risen yet again from the vaginal depths of extinction, from the vaginal mysteries of the deadand is in a helter-skelter killing spree snuffing out the life of every living cell of the body politic of Africa, of Ghana!

The flightless chichidodo bird is in flight and throwing stones in all directions at her person, her shadows, others from her glasshouse!

Wherewhere is the mother of Africa, of GhanaOsagyefo Kwame Nkrumah?

Flightless extinction of the human intellectkiller hunger in the midst of plentyOh, in the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty, says Bob Marleys crying yet conscious chichidodo bird.

Human intellect dead and extinct, the chichidodo bird asks? If not why the universal hopelessness and helplessness in the maggot-infested lavatory of moral excrement, in the land of plenty?

Rapper Tupacs Life Goes On gave the following eulogy at the funeral of the chichidodo bird:

I dont wanna die alone

Be a lie, if I told ya that I never thought of death

Bury me smilinghave a party at my funeral

Kiss me from my head to my toe

Give me a paper and a pen so I can write about my life of sin

Nobody cries when we die

How long we mournlife goes on

The famished, undernourishedmalnourished avian mourners at the chichidodo birds funeral sing the following song, My Masters Will, by roots reggae Israel Vibration:

Of my missal master, I should thankfully receive; ain't gonna sit down here crying, worrying going on free.

It's my master's will... I see the sun shining today; dont know what is going to bring. You see I give thanks come what may

Never see the breeze behind the air, you couldn't hold who you calling for and there's nothing you can do; everything is a one world's often view.

I give a little here, I give a little there and keep a little for myself. Life is so unfair, yet is good to share, and it's nice to help someone else.

The deeply religious chichidodo bird was not one to share the booty she stole from the people during her unending tenure as a political and social juggernaut.

In her stinking maggot-infested lavatory of a coffin which she imported from without after her death, she had the booty carefully packaged and preserved, to accompany her to the underworld, the other world reserved exclusively for a cabal of heinous political criminals unknown to humanity.

The undeniable fact is that political animals, such as the chichidodo bird, have become more irrevocably wicked than human beings. For this reason, the famished mourners cries were not for the dead chichidodo bird per se, no.

They always saw her as the unyielding anonymous subject of Israel Vibrations Back Stabber. She was also the same Machiavellian character Bob Marley snag about on the track Who the Cap Fit:

Some will eat and drink with you, then behind them su-su 'pon you, yeah!

Their cries only produced running tears of joy for the providence-sanctioned passage of the stiff-necked fool, the chichidodo bird, from this wicked life. Their most pressing worry was why and where the dead chichidodo bird was taking all that booty to!

The other fact is that the same day the chichidodo birds funeral took place, was the same day the chichidodo bird gave birth many times to its itself. The same day the chichidodo bird gave birth to Ghana, was the same day the chichidodo bird collaborated with the CIA to destroy that corporate body politic, Ghana.

There are even salacious making rounds that the American CIA contracted the chichidodo bird to memorializeto inscribe the beautyful ones are not yet born in the national conscience, to spite Africas most respected and influential anti-chichidodo bird, the worlds Africas Man of the Millennium.

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!:

From a distance the coffin looks like the Ghanaian map. However the benefit of proximity tells an entirely different story, that of the coffin being the map of Ghana wrapped up in the national flag. Interestingly, Fela Kuti aptly called this weird funeral arrangement Coffin for Head of State.

The coffin inexplicably unroofs and there appears an unnerving resurrection of the chichidodo bird, a vampire-snake in a tailored wolf-in-sheeps-clothing Western suita dinosaurian vampire-snake with wings. Then, having regained her aeronautic freedom from her onetime clipped wings it flies away singing, leaving the famished mourners in a state of static awe:

Do-dochichido-do nothing for the people and their country, a pimpers paradise of cronyism, nepotism!

Do-dochichido-do virtually nothing for the people and their country, a gigolos paradise of political corruption!

Do-dochichi...chido-do deceive the people and their country, that dinosaurian vampire-snake in a wolf-in-sheeps-clothing is a chichidodo bird, which is extinct, dead, which is no more

Do-dochichido-do because that is exactly what the people and their wounded country like, are addicted toblatant political lies which Bob Marley appropriately described as follows:

The biggest coward of a man is to awaken the love of a woman without the intention of loving her.

The political animal in the Ghanaianin the Africansetting becomes the biggest coward of a manand so too when a woman becomes the masses. Where is the love that the chichidodo bird professed to the people, the masses, when she wanted their votes?

Yet the chichidodo bird, a dinosaurian vampire-snake was a woman, a she, according to South African philosopher Ramose! More to the point, if we should add, Fela Kuti, on the other hand, complicated the chichidodo birds crisis of identity when he once referred to her as Mr. Follow Follow.

A she? Or a he? No one seems to know for certain. What is rather certain is that her or his entire political career was one of a sad funeral satire, a political dirge even while he or she thought he or she was enjoying his or her political tenure. Heaven is rather hell for these kinds of politicians.

It also turned out that her tactical approach to traditional and postmodern feminism was a mask, a subtle disguise for male chauvinism. Others, however, thought of the whole thing as a Janus-faced exercise in androgynous chauvinism. Whatever the true story was, and is even supposed to be today, is a layered question that is hidden deep down in the Pandoras box of natural evolution, namely in the complex mythological hybrid of human psychology. Such a world!

Oh, what a great joy of paralyzing sadness? Oh, what a killjoy in the form of the dead chichidodo bird?

OhOhOhOhAyi Kwei Armahs intellectually stunted chichidodo bird is indeed flightless, so too are all post-Nkrumah Ghanaian leadersno imaginationno strategic and tactical creativity in statesmanshipno visionno foresightare cluelesswickedheartless!

Go figure!

CONCLUSION

The chichidodo bird sporadically surrounds itselfa better or more fitting pronoun since the birds gender remains uncertainwith a conniving cabal of clerics, mostly male humanoid-avian men who like to cover themselves in chichidodo-bird-in-human-clothing Western suits, as its advisors.

This conniving cabal is a major component of the contributing causes of the arrested development of the chichidodo birds Animal Farm.

To begin with, members of this cabal have their faculties locked under a Sisyphean juggernaut of arrested development.

And they have also, in the second place, caused the arrested development of the faculties of many of their mostly gullible followers. This is realized mainly through tactical subversion of these followers uncritical faculties and that, in turn, through a self-serving clerical mechanism of scriptural indoctrination.

That is to say, the dead-men-walking subjects of the chichidodo bird have become more religious than the God of the Bible, of the Torah, and of the Quran himselfto say the least.

Add to these the arrested faculties of many a secular Ghanaian male and female by the nations humanoid-avian politicians and political theologians and the colonial-neocolonial educational system. The end result is a maggot-infested lavatory of automatons who worship Zombie Apocalypse.

These gullible followers who inhabit the world of Zombie Apocalypse constitute a sizable portion of the electorate. These Zombie Apocalypse worshipers are the very same automatons that Bob Marley dedicated his Redemption Song. Fela Kuti also sang about them in Zombie, Mr. Follow Follow and Colonial Mentality. In fact Fela dedicated his album Sorrow Tears and Blood to them.

The fact is that these automatons will rather turn over their popular sovereignty to the chichidodo bird on the cheap through mostly ethno-regional solidarity channels than through issues-based politicking.

And Zombie Apocalypse?

It came about when the conniving cabal of clerics subverted the divine authority and moral essence of the God it claims to worship, all in the sacred name of its members self-aggrandizing proclivity for mammonism and social relevance and kleptomania, and their wanting so bad to be part and parcel of the rampant corruption of the secular world, of the secular establishment.

In this narrow sense, the clerics are not dissimilar to these wicked, hypocritical political leaders who royally and majestically refer to themselves as chichidodo birds. This is no breaking news.

For, it is public knowledge that these chichidodo-like clerics are more likely to back their divine prophecies regarding which chichidodo bird is going to win the next presidential elections, with highly selective citations of scripture, for instance, rather than invoke the prime example of Joseph, one of the faces of the institution of the vizier in the Classical African Civilization of Ancient Egypt, to provide pragmatic, testable answers to existential or material problems.

Like the chichidodo bird, the average humanoid-avian cleric does not view pragmatism as a choice pathway to the secrets of existential conundrums. Pragmatism, to these humanoid-avian clerics, is when a chichidodo bird showers buckets of droppings on a church-going hypocrite.

This concludes the series Ayi Kwei Armahs Chichidodo Bird Is A Deadly Political Animal.

REFERENCES

For the Salman Rushdie quote, see Outside the Whale at http://web.archive.org/web/20110618004653/http://www.granta.com/Magazine/11/Outside-the-Whale/Page-2

Ayi Kwei Armah. The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. Heinemann, UK: 1968/1969.

Mogobe B. Ramose. (1999). But the Chichidodo Feeds on Cocoa. Journal on African Philosophy, p. 1533-1067.

For the Bob Marley quote, see https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/four-lessons-for-men-lal/
By Nana Osei Kyeretwie, GNA

Sunyani, Aug. 18, GNA - Ghana is to establish a regulatory Board for the cashew sub-sector to regulate and create a conducive environment for the growth and development of the cashew industry with consequential benefits to the national economy.

Plans are far advanced in that respect and very soon it would be given government approval for the commencement of its activities.

Dr Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, said this when he delivered the keynote address at the opening of the second session of the third edition of the Master Training Programme (MTP3/2) on Cashew Value chain Promotion.

The five-day international event, funded by the Germany's Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development was organised by the Competitive Cashew initiative (ComCashew) together with African Cashew Alliance (ACA), the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the Cocoa Research Institute Ghana (CRIG).

It provided a platform for about 70 cashew experts from Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mozambique, Gambia, Chad, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Mali, Togo and Nigeria to share knowledge, discuss best practices and lessons learnt, as well as to build national and regional networks for future collaboration.

Dr Alhassan said another objective of establishing the Board in Ghana is to create a platform for formalized interactions between government and the private sector to implement policies to ensure the viability of the cashew industry in the economy.

He said the Board was also necessary to ensure that the farmers conform to international best practices that could lead to increase in production.

Dr Alhassan said government was committed to provide the policies and investment framework to encourage robust involvement from the private sector to shore up gains chalked in the cashew industry.

He said paramount among the policies that had been formulated by the MoFA was the development of a 10-year Cashew Master Plan for Ghana which was financed by African Cashew Initiative, now ComCashew.

Dr Alhassan said the proposed interventions agreed upon by stakeholders for the 10-year cashew master plan included increasing local cashew production from the estimated 70,000 metric tonnes obtained in 2015 to 150,000 metric tonnes over the next 10 years and also increase access to raw cashew nuts (RCN) for local processing.

He said the 10-year plan would also intensify investments in research and development and establish nursery infrastructures to produce over five million improved planting materials for cultivation within five years.

The intervention is also to facilitate the expansion of RCNs processing from 4,400 metric tonnes to 56,000 metric tonnes by 2020 to yield about 11,000 metric tonnes of kernels to earn about USD71 million, Dr. Alhassan added.

Mr Eric Opoku, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, said the region is the nerve-centre of the cashew industry in Ghana, because it produced half of the country's production of 70,000 metric tonnes in 2015.

He said the cashew industry provided direct employment to about 13,000 people in the region and appealed to cashew farmers to take advantage of the programmes being put in place by MoFA, MoTI and other stakeholders like ComCashew to expand their production capacities for high economic returns.

GNA
Ukrainian army positions in Donbas came under 96 attacks in the past 24 hours, mostly in the Donetsk sector, the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) headquarters in eastern Ukraine said on Facebook on Thursday morning.

"Positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were attacked 96 times over the past day. Most shelling incidents, 45, were observed in the Donetsk sector, and heavy artillery was used in ten cases," the report said.

Donbas militants launched six artillery attacks on Avdiyivka in the Donetsk sector; 134 projectiles whose caliber is 122mm were fired on Ukrainian army positions and similar weapons were used in Pisky, Novoselivka Druha and Pershe Travnya; four dozen shells were lobbed into the village of Luhanske, the report said.

Mortar and grenade launcher attacks on Ukrainian army positions continued throughout the contact line in that area, the press center said. The militants used infantry combat vehicles in Novhorodske and Zaitseve, an anti-tank missile system in Novoselivka Druha, and Avdiyivka was also under sniper fire, it said.

Thirty-two enemy attacks with the use of 122mm artillery systems were recorded in the town of Maryinka in the Mariupol sector; 152mm weapons were used against Ukrainian army fortifications in the village of Sionitne; mortars, grenade launchers and large-caliber machine-guns were fired in the Krasnohorivka-Shyrokyne area, an armored personnel carrier was engaged in Shyrokyne, and an infantry combat vehicle was used near Krasnohorivka, while a sniper was active in Maryinka, the report said.

In the Luhansk sector, the militants thrice used heavy artillery of 122mm caliber in Popasna in the beginning and in the end of the day; heavy artillery fire was also observed in Novo-Oleksandrivka. Enemy artillery fire was supported with mortar and grenade launcher attacks on Ukrainian army fortifications, the report said. The militants mostly fired grenade launchers in Zolote, Stanytsia Luhanska and Krymske, armored vehicles were engaged in Stanytsia Luhanska, and a sniper duo was active in Popasna and Novo-Oleksandrivka.

"Despite the intensified activity of the hostiles, troops fully controlled the situation along the contact line," the report said.
By Josephine Nyarkoh/Fawzia Seidu, GNA

Kumasi, Aug 18, GNA - The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has called for leadership of the political parties to be bold to censure any of their followers who engaged in shameful impulsive outbursts.

Deputy Ashanti Regional Director of the Commission, Mr. Raphael Wilson Arthur, said they should send strong signal to everybody that they did not approve of reckless behavior.

He asked that all political actors upheld the political parties' code of conduct to remove needless tension and conflict.

He said it was important for everybody to show responsibility and avoid the aggressive rhetoric.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, he said, the election should be a contest of ideas - how to move the nation forward.

He said the expectation was that the election campaign would be on message to appeal to voters and help them to make the right decisions.

He spoke of the intensification of the Commission's education campaign in the region to encourage the people to get right with the law.

They were working closely with the Information Service Department (ISD) to assist all to have better understanding of their fundamental rights and civic responsibilities.

Mr. Arthur said they had been visiting the churches, markets, engaging youth groups, civil society organizations and holding community durbars to achieve this goal.

He stated that teaching voters to properly thumbprint the ballot papers had been their other focus.

GNA
Elubo (W/R), Aug 17, GNA - President John Dramani Mahama, has asked the electorate to renew his mandate in the December 7 polls, to enable him complete the numerous development projects initiated by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He said four years is woefully inadequate to transform a country, adding that his second term in office would enable him to complete all the projects dotted across the country.

President Mahama said this at Elubo in the Jomoro District of the Western Region, at a durbar of the chiefs and people in the area, as part of the four-day 'Changing lives and Transforming Ghana' tour of the Western Region.

He indicated that he had laid a solid foundation for economic prosperity in his second term in office, saying: 'It's only the person who laid the foundation who could put a proper structure on it.'

President Mahama downplayed the criticisms by the opposition political parties that the chunk of the financial resources are being expended on infrastructures at the expense of the welfare of the people.

'If all the monies are shared to the citizens, where would people seek health services, education, access potable water, electricity and other pressing needs,' he queried.

Mr. James Awuah, Retired Educationist and Secretary to the Soshie Community in Elubo, acknowledged the efforts of the Government to improve the standards of living of the people in the area.

He mentioned projects such as the urban water system, school blocks, on-going rehabilitation of Elubo Town roads, as well as the renovation of the health facilities in the community.

GNA
By Paul Achonga Kwode, GNA

Tamale, August 18, GNA - Some opposition political parties led by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Northern Region have declared their intention to embark on 'Times are Tough' demonstration on Monday, August 22, in the Tamale Metropolis.

They said the demonstration was to send strong signals to the Government that it had failed in its administration resulting in the worsening social and economic conditions of the people in the area.

Mr Sule Salifu, the NPP Northern Regional Secretary, on behalf of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) and All People's Congress (APC), said the demonstration was to amplify the voices of the suffering masses.

He said the opposition political parties had earlier appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to reduce the electricity tariffs by 50 per cent within a month stressing that those appeals had not been heeded hence their decision to hit the streets.

Mr Salifu indicated that despite their patience, the regional political heads and the the Government had not taken any steps to address their demands noting that 'we are concerned about the immeasurable hardships that the Government continue to let the people of Ghana suffer'.

He said though the President came to the region last month, he never spoke on the killer tariffs and its related consequences saying; 'he has shown more evidence than necessary that he simply does not care about the fact that more and more people here are struggling just to put a single meal on the dining table for their family'.

Mr Salifu said they would be joined by workers, youth groups, unemployed and the general public in a non-violent manner to protest the general hardships in the country.

Mr Daniel Bugri Naabu, the Northern Regional Chairman of the NPP, appealed to Mr Paul Afoko, the suspended National Chairman of the NPP, to apologise and return to the party since the court had dismissed his case.

He said the party needed him especially towards the crucial general election in December saying; 'he is our member so he should come back'.

Mr Nuhu Jingli, the CPP Northern Regional Secretary, expressed disappointment over the current administration of the country saying that the Government had totally failed the people of Ghana and must be shown the exit.

In a related development, Mr Seidu Abdulai Napodoo, the APC Regional Secretary, disclosed that the party was also preparing to stage a demonstration on October 2 against the ruling government.

He said people were generally suffering with rising cost of living and unemployment and urged all the masses to join hands to ensure a democratic change of government in Ghana.

GNA
Agona Nsaba (C/R), Aug. 18, GNA - Bishop Isaac Kwesi Buabeng, the Founder and General Overseer of All Nation Pentecostal Church with its headquarters at Nsaba, has been installed as the new Paramount Chief of Agona Nsaba Traditional Area.

Osabarimba Boapia Afriyie II, is his stool name, he replaces his brother Okakakyie Boabai II, who died barely 40 days after his installation as Omanhene of the Nsaba Traditional Area.

Osabarima Boapia Afriyie, sworn an oath of allegiance to the sub-chiefs and members of the Asafo company as customary and cultural demands after he had been carried in palanquin through principal streets of Agona Nsaba.

Speaking to the media, Osabarima Afriyie II, outlined his vision and called for unity, love and mutual understanding among citizens of Nsaba to fast track development of the area.

He said without unity and peace progress would be difficult in the area.

The newly installed chief noted that now that Nsaba has been made as District Capital of Agona East, the town should not depend on government alone to provide their social amenities.

He called for the collective efforts of all citizens of Nsaba to ensure that developmental took place to improve the quality living standards of the people.

He pledged to cooperate with the District Assembly, and other relevant government agencies working in the district to facilitate infrastructural development in the area.

Osabarima Afriyie said the installation as chief would not prevent him to continue to hold the position as Reverend Minister to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He said he has set aside every Wednesday as special day to pray for the traditional council, the town, District and the Nation for God to shower more blessings to make Nsaba a better place to live.

On 2016 elections, Osabarima Afriyie II called on Ghanaians to desist from all forms of insolent behaviour adding that it is the constitutional obligation of every true citizen of the country to exercise their franchise.

Nana Kofi Yeboah VIII, Chief of Lower Bobikuma, who acted as Omanhene till the substantive Paramount Chief was installed, expressed joy with the installation of the new Omanhene.

He called for cooperation, unity and mutual understanding among subjects of the Nsaba Traditional Area.

GNA
Agona Swedru (C/R) Aug. 18, GNA - The Opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has predicted that it would win more than 16 Parliamentary seats in the upcoming December 7 polls in the Central Region.

Central Regional Executives of the party said the dream will come to fruition due to their hard work, selflessness, dedication and strategic plans they had initiated.

Mr Robert Kutin, Central Regional Chairman of the Party, made this known when he addressed constituency executives, polling station executives and coordinators as part of a tour in Agona Swedru.

The Regional Chairman said the current economic and social hardship prevailing in the country is the appropriate impetuous for the Party to win the seats from the ruling NDC party.

Mr Kutin said NPP needed to win more seats in Parliament in order to consolidate the winning of the Presidency by Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo- Addo.

Mr Kwamena Duncan, Central Regional Secretary of the Party, said it will be suicidal to vote for Nana Akuffo-Addo as presidential candidate and vote against the parliamentary candidate.

He cautioned polling stations coordinators, polling stations executives and constituency officers who are owners of the Party to bury their political differences to enable the party to achieve its objectives.

He said the ultimate aim of the Party is to win December 7 polls and rescue Ghanaians from suffering due to bad policies and programmes adopted by the Mahama administration.

Mr Duncan said this is not the period for the party supporters and executives to engage in-fighting that could undermine the strategic plans adopted by the party to unseat the NDC.

He expressed the hope that the polling stations executives, coordinators and constituency executives will rally behind Nana Akuffo-Addo and all parliamentary candidates to ensure a landslide victory in the 2016 elections.

GNA
18.08.2016 LISTEN

By Adams Okae, GNA

Nkawkaw (E/R), Aug 18, GNA - Two police officers and one other person suspected to have carried out the fatal robbery attack on the GCB Bank bullion van at Asukese Number One in the Afram Plains South District, who escaped from police custody have been re-arrested.

Corporal Kissi Abrokwa, Lance Corporal Solomon Elvis Mensah, alias 'Fire' and Mohammed Bengyima, fled under mysterious circumstances when being transported to the Regional Police Headquarters in Koforidua, triggering a massive manhunt.

The police pick-up carrying them had stopped to fuel up when they slipped through.

The escapee robbers were seized by the youth of Nkawkaw in a nearby bush on Thursday morning and handed over to the police.

The Donkorkrom Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Kamkam Boadu, who confirmed this applauded the youth for their vigilance and cooperation.

One person - the driver of the van, was killed and a policeman, escorting the vehicle, suffered multiple gunshot wounds during the robbery incident that happened on Wednesday afternoon.

The injured policeman is receiving treatment at the Donkorkrom Presbyterian Hospital, the very same facility, where the body of the deceased has been deposited for autopsy.

News about the escape of the suspected robbers sparked widespread anger among the people in the Afram South as they hit the streets in violent protests across the major towns - Tease, Ekyi-Amanfrom, Maame-Krobo and Donkorkrom to denounce the police.

Four of the protesters are reported to have been injured in a confrontation with the police but they are said to be in stable condition.

A combined team of soldiers and police officers had been sent to the place to help beef up security as the Regional Security Council appeals for calm, assuring the people that the matter would be properly handled.

GNA
business SBI may break into world's top 50 banks list post merger: CFO In an interview with CNBC-TV18, State Bank of India Chief Financial Officer Anshula Kant talked about the bank's mega merger with its five associate banks and Bhartiya Mahila Bank.
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Five-storey house hit by 122mm shell in Maryinka, no one hurt  Ukrainian envoy to JCCC

Illegal armed formations from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) on Wednesday mounted an artillery attack on the town of Maryinka in Donetsk region, and one of the shells hit a residential building, the Ukrainian envoy to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) has reported.

"In addition to mortars and various grenade launchers, the DPR militants who violate the truce opened fire from more powerful weapons this time. Shells of 122mm artillery hit a multi-storey building at Zavodska Street and a fodder factory's facilities on the town's outskirts," press officer of the Ukrainian mission to the JCCC Vadym Bakai said on Thursday morning.

The fire on Maryinka was coming from the Trudovske neighborhood in the militant-held city of Donetsk's Petrovsky district, the press officer said in a report posted on the Facebook page of the Anti-Terrorist Operation's headquarters press center.

An apartment on the fourth floor suffered substantial damage when a five-storey building was hit by a shell, Bakai said. Servicemen from the Ukrainian mission to the JCCC observed a 108x77cm hole in a 75cm-thick brick wall. The blast wave and shell fragments ruined the living room. Adjoining flats and nearby houses were also damaged.

No one was hurt in the attack, Bakai said.

Photographic evidence of the violation of the Minsk agreements was handed over to members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, the staff said.
Toretsk mayor remanded in custody for two months, being charged with encroachment on Ukraine's territorial integrity

Kramatorsk's town court has ruled that Volodymyr Sliptsov, the mayor of the town of Toretsk (formerly Dzerzhynsk) in Donbas, be remanded in custody for two months, being charged with encroachment on Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Prosecutor of Donetsk region Yevhen Bondarenko on August 17 handed a notification of suspicion over to Sliptsov in person, the press service of the Prosecutor's office in Donetsk region reported on Thursday.

In particular, Sliptsov is charged with committing criminal offenses under Part 1 Article 258-3 (participation in a terrorist group or terrorist organization) and Part 2 Article 110 (encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, Sliptsov is involved in preparations for an unlawful referendum in the town to declare state independence of the Donetsk People's Republic terrorist organization.
European Broadcasting Union agrees to Eurovision 2017 song contest in any of shortlisted Ukrainian cities

Ukraine's Culture Ministry says that experts are now engaged in technical assessment of the cities that were qualified for hosting the Eurovision 2017 song contest and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which founded the contest, doesn't mind holding the event in any of the shortlisted cities.

"The technical analysis of the projects that were provided by each of the cities is now under way," Press Secretary of the Culture Minister Yulia Datsenko told Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.

The major issue is whether the technical requirements of the venue where the contest will be held are met, she said.

In her words, EBU representatives were surprised at the high level of each candidate city's preparedness to host the song contest.

The ministry hopes that the finalist of the host cities' contest will be named by the organizing committee soon, Datsenko said.

As reported, Kyiv, Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk were qualified for the final of the contest to select a Eurovision 2017 host city.

The organizing committee was originally expected to announce the finalist on July 27, but the announcement was rescheduled for an indefinite period for additional evaluation of the contestant cities.
In the weeks following the shock Brexit vote two FTSE 100 companies announced their intentions for the future  a future in which the UK was not a part of the European Union. These two companies; large and established enough to be considered a bellwether for their respective sectors and indeed UK plc, took rather different tacks.

Lloyds (LLOY) announced 3,000 job cuts, closing 200 branches and warned that Brexit would hamper its ability to generate capital in the future.

Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio explained: Following the EU referendum the outlook for the UK economy is uncertain and, while the precise impact is dependent upon a number of factors including EU negotiations and political and economic events, a deceleration of growth seems likely.

Lloyds share price is down to 53p today from 73p the day before the vote. Morningstar equity analyst Stephen Ellis said that Lloyds was better positioned than most peers to handle Brexit given its simple, lower risk business model focused on retail and commercial lending, but added: We do expect Lloyds to see higher loan losses, as the U.K. property market has been negatively affected already with demand falling, and slower growth. We believe the U.K. is likely to enter a recession, or at the very lease see sharply lower economic growth.

Looking for Post-Brexit Investment Opportunities

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) reacted rather differently to the vote, announcing a joint venture earlier this month called Galvani Bioelectronics, with a unit of Google-owner Alphabet (GOOG). The FTSE 100 pharmaceutical stocks said Galvani, which will be 55%-owned by Glaxo and 45%-owned by Alphabet's Verily Life Sciences LLC unit, will be based in the UK and will focus on the research, development and commercialisation of bioelectronic medicines.

Richard Jeffrey, chief investment officer of Cazenove Capital Management said that he expected the spirit of capitalism to positively surprise in the aftermath of Brexit  and hailed Glaxo as an example of this.

There is a mood amongst some people that we have done a terrible thing as a nation voting to leave the European Union, he said. But there is a way forward. This could be a very exciting opportunity, the UK has not been towed thousands of miles out into the Atlantic  we are still in a favourable geographical position and the EU has a 68 billion trade surplus with the UK. If the chancellors of Europe penalised the UK, the German auto-manufacturers and the French wine industry would soon bang on their doors in outrage.

Jeffrey said there was an entrepreneurial mood in Britain  especially amongst the younger generations  which would drag the post-Brexit negativity into growth.

Brexit will have some negative impact, there will be a spending hiatus, but then I expect us to benefit from a weak pound  exports will be cheaper for buyers, there will be increased competition, he said.

Jeffrey also cited the recent takeover bid for ARM Holdings (ARM) by SoftBank, which has pledged to keep the chip-maker in Britain, saying that Britain had a "wealth of intellectual capital".

Europe May Face Future Difficulties

The European Union is not the powerhouse it once was. In 1980, the collective nations accounted for 30% of the world economy, now they represent 16%. Similarly, in 1995 the EU nations were responsible for 26% of world trade, now that figure is 18%.

I am not optimistic for the economic outlook for Europe, said Jeffrey. I expect GDP growth in the UK to be around 1% next year, but for the EU there are deflationary pressures. Italy, Portugal and Greece are in trouble. The concept of the Euro works well when all the member states are growing at the same pace  but when some struggle the single currency works against them as they are unable to grow their economies by devaluing their currency.
Investors poured millions of pounds into targeted absolute return funds despite their negative returns in the first seven months of 2016, according to Morningstar data.

Absolute return funds failed to deliver on their promise to generate positive returns in all market conditions this year  challenged by the market turmoil.

This is not the first time these funds have not delivered on their moniker promise. In February 2013 the Investment Association undertook a review of the sector and subsequently changed the name of the sector to Targeted Absolute Return, in order to clarify that a positive return was a target rather than a guarantee.

Targeted Absolute Return funds, which are a type of multi-strategy, or multi-asset fund, saw 6 billion inflows from January to July 2016, showing investors confidence in the sector.

A recent survey from Baring Asset Management revealed ahead of the EU Referendum, 27% of financial advisers were encouraging investment in multi asset products to combat stock market volatility.

Marino Valensise, head of multi asset and income at Barings said, Given the market uncertainty, it is good to see a high percentage of IFAs who are recommending clients increase exposure to multi asset products, which can limit downside risks while making the most of growth opportunities.

5 Absolute Return Funds Fail to Deliver

The Aviva Investors Multi-Strategy Targeted Return fund lost investors 1.3% in the first seven month of the year, however the fund saw more than 1.2 billion inflows over the same period of time.

While our multi-strategy funds are designed to perform in all market conditions, there will be periods where returns are lower than others, a spokesperson from Aviva Investors said, adding that as the fund is designed to meet a specific long-term investment objective, they expect the fund would fully deliver the outcome expected over a three-year period.

Morningstar fund analyst Randal Goldsmith awarded the fund a Neutral rating, saying: At this stage, it is too early for us to have full conviction, but the strong start and firmwide support for the strategy bodes well.

Henderson UK Absolute Return, the Bronze Rated fund, aims to provide consistently positive returns regardless of market conditions by taking long and short positions in UK equities. It recorded 656 million inflows from January to July 2016; however it delivered negative returns of 0.2% at the same period. Looking at five-year annualised figures, the has a positive annual return of 6.5% and it returned 16.4% in 2013 alone.

Another Bronze Rated fund Standard Life Investments Global Absolute Return Strategies is also backed by investors with 596 million inflows in the first half of the year. However, after a disappointing first quarter of 2016, the fund is below its cash plus 5% target over three years, Goldsmith said.

That stems from some ideas that did not did not work in the quarter, rather than more fundamental issues. We still consider that the robust process, with strength in risk management, outweighs capacity and team turnover concerns, Goldsmith said.

A spokesperson from Standard Life Investments responded saying: The disappointing negative return for GARS reflects that our choice of longer term investment positions has been at odds with shorter term market behaviour. Importantly however, despite some disappointing strategy selections, GARS has been performing as you would expect from a risk perspective with low levels of volatility relative to risk assets.

The Threadneedle UK Absolute Alpha fund saw 138 million inflows in the first seven months of the year. The fund aims to achieve an absolute return, irrespective of market conditions over the long time, but it lost 3.8% in the first seven month of the year. The fund has had strong performance in the past five years with a 5% annualised return.

While recent volatility has affected short term performance, the long term performance remains strong with first quartile returns over three and five years, a spokesperson from Threadneedle responded.

Kames UK Equity Absolute Return, the Bronze Rated fund, aims to achieve a positive return over a 12-month period in all market conditions. However, in the first seven months of this year, it lost 4.2%. But the fund saw 80 million inflows over the same period.

David Griffiths, co-manager of the fund said the negative return posted so far in 2016 comes after five consecutive positive years beginning in 2010.

We are clear that Absolute Return funds are not a replacement for cash. These funds take investment risk and therefore will inevitably produce periods of negative returns. The Kames UK Equity Absolute Return fund is intended to be part of a diversified portfolio: an important feature of the product is that it is uncorrelated to equity markets and indeed other major asset classes, Griffiths added.

Absolute Return Funds with Positive Returns

However, there are absolute return funds that have successfully delivered positive returns in the face of market uncertainty this year. Invesco Perpetual Global Targeted Returns, the Bronze Rated fund, is up 2.9% year to date and has seen 1.7 billion inflows.

The JP Morgan Global Macro Opportunities fund is up slightly  delivering a 0.8% positive return with 482 million inflows over the same period.
Volodymyr Fomichev, who worked for Kyiv-based NGO Centre UA and was captured by Donetsk militants in Makiyivka on January 4, 2016, was sentenced by the so-called court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic to two years in prison, Hromadske.TV reported.

Fomichev spent over seven months in prisons of the so-called Ministry for State Security (MSS), Hromadske.TV said. He is accused of allegedly brining two hand grenades from Kyiv to Makiyivka in eastern Ukraine. The sentence was announced on August 16.

Fomichev was also charged with alleged cooperation with the Svoboda Party, which he has never had connections with, according to his co-workers. Then, the last count was deleted from the indictment due to the lack of proof.

Fomichev's relatives had not wanted his captivity to hit the headlines, hoping to get him freed without the involvement of the media.

Fomichev's personal belongings seized by the MSS during his detention were returned to his parents early in May. Among the things is the man's sweater with a huge blood stain on the back. His father thinks that the son had been forced to admit under physical pressure the fact of transportation of the grenades, Hromadske.TV said.

The activist's parents plan to appeal against the ruling of the so-called DPR court, but chances to cancel the ruling are little. It is also not known whether he is on a prisoner swap list.

According to media reports, 23-year-old Fomichev is a member of NGO Centre UA, which investigates crimes committed by politicians, develops reform programs and monitors parliamentarians' performance.
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To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.

Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko says he sees signs of offences committed by the both sides to the conflict between personnel of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

"As prosecutor general, I think that there are signs of a breach of law by all sides to the conflict," Lutsenko said at a joint conference with NABU director Artem Sytnyk in Kyiv on Thursday.

Lutsenko says that the incident between the two agencies is inadmissible, and everything will be done to prevent such conflicts in future.
Mortgage applications down, refinance loans up

Fewer mortgage applications were made in the week ending August 12 according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.



Its Market Composite Index slipped 4 per cent on an adjusted basis and 5 per cent unadjusted. The refinance index and purchase index were both down 4 per cent compared to the previous week.



The share of refinance loans increased to 62.6 per cent of the total from 62.4 per cent a week earlier.



Refinance loans also made up a higher percentage of closed loans in July. The Ellie Mae Origination Insight Report shows that they made up 37 per cent of all closed loans in the month, up from 34 per cent in June.



Purchases slipped to 62 per cent of all closed loans in July Ellie Mae says, down from 65 per cent in June.



Average FICO scores were also on the rise, climbing back to 727, which is the highest average weve seen since June of 2015, Jonathan Corr, president and CEO of Ellie Mae.



Fannie Mae extends help for manufactured housing communities

Fannie Mae has announced an extension of its support for manufactured housing communities with a $1 billion transaction that will provide workforce housing for 29,000 families across 13 states.



We are pleased to have partnered with KeyBank and Wells Fargo, two of our Delegated Underwriting and Servicing Lenders, and YES! Communities on this important transaction that we believe will make a difference for families and communities across the nation, said Jeffery Hayward, Executive Vice President for Multifamily, Fannie Mae.



Maryland home sales dipped in July

There was a slight dip in home sales in Maryland in July with 0.7 per cent fewer sales than in July 2015.



Maryland Association of Realtors reported 7,497 sales in the month with a sharp decline in Charles County (17.5 per cent) while Somerset County saw a huge surge of 133.3 per cent.



July numbers reflect what we expect in the summer months, which is consumers are more focused on vacation than buying a house, said MAR President Bonnie Casper. Casper added we will see more listing and sales in the fall, which will result in a lot more activity for both sellers and buyers. We expect a vibrant autumn market.



The statewide average price was up 2.5 per cent year-over-year to $332,096.


If youre going to steal $1.4 million, at least have the decency to keep most of it for yourself. Thats a lesson that wasnt learned by a Pennsylvania man who has pleaded guilty to stealing from two companies whose money he controlled. He stole the cash in part to pay his mortgage  although the vast majority was blown in an online romance scam according to the Associated Press.



Jeffrey Plimpton, 59, stole the money from fragrance company Alpha Aromatics and its subsidiary, pest control firm Pestco Professional Services, the AP reported. He siphoned off the funds while working as Alphas controller.



Plimpton admitted using more than $13,000 of the money to pay down his mortgage, and almost $69,000 on credit card bills, the AP reported. But he sent nearly $1.39 million of the money overseas at the direction of a woman with whom he had an online relationship, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Shardul Desai.



Public defender Linda Cohn told the court that Plimpton believed the money was being invested by a woman he met online. In reality, Plimpton was the victim of a romance scam.



Theres no indication that actually was a woman, Cohn said. That was someone Mr. Plimpton believed was a woman.



Desai agreed that Plimpton had been victimized by a scammer, the AP reported. According to Desai, its definitely fair to say the moneys gone. It wasnt a legitimate person for the money to go to.



The attorneys have agreed that federal guidelines call for a prison term of between 33 and 41 months when Plimpton returns for sentencing Dec. 15. The judge allowed him to remain free on bond until then.



Desai acknowledged that Plimpton's behaviour was driven ``pretty much by a romance fraud-type situation.''



Desai wouldn't detail who wound up with the money overseas but ``it's definitely fair to say the money's gone. It wasn't a legitimate person for the money to go to.''

Online dating scams, particularly those involving overseas financial fraud, have become more common in recent years.



The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center logged 12,509 victims of ``Confidence Fraud/Romance'' scams who lost more than $203 million last year. So far this year, the centre has 7,462 complaints resulting in nearly $120 million in losses.



In April, Sigismond Segbefia, a native of Ghana who lived in Silver Spring, Maryland, was sentenced to two years in prison by a federal judge in Pittsburgh after pleading guilty to charges that he bilked a Pennsylvania woman he met online out of more than $220,000.



Segbefia, 29, used the name and address of an unwitting Pittsburgh-area postal worker to make his online identity seem more legitimate, but claimed to be a 55-year-old Australian who owned a western Pennsylvania medical supply business, authorities say. He got the woman to send him money by claiming he needed it to ship medical devices from his company to England.



In another con, Segbefia admitted he pretended to be a 51-year-old Army sergeant in Afghanistan. That online dating victim wired him more than $505,000 over six months.


A Midland man was sentenced Thursday to 693 years in prison for aggravated sexual assault of a child.

A jury found Kelly Alexander Lewis guilty Wednesday of seven counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, which occurred between Sept. 1, 2014 and Dec. 23, 2014, according to a press release from the Midland County District Attorneys Office. The assaults were committed against a female family member under the age of 14 years old.

The jury, according to the report, assessed his punishment at 99 years confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on each count to be served concurrently, with a fine of $10,000 on each count.

The range of punishment for this offense was five to 99 years of confinement, or life, in the penitentiary.

The case was tried by Assistant District Attorneys Rebecca Patterson, Whitney Griffith and Laura Nodolf.
The Texas Department of Transportation Odessa District went before the Permian Basin Metropolitan Planning Organization at its monthly policy board meeting Monday seeking concurrence for planned projects in Midland and Ector counties.

The board ultimately approved the project, but the go-ahead didnt happen without lengthy discussion about spending equity.

Beginning this year, TxDOT is now required to receive approval from the planning organization before proceeding with projects within the MPOs metropolitan area boundary, which encompasses Midland, Ector and part of Martin counties.

Ector County Judge Ron Eckert questioned why TxDOT has more money allocated for funding projects in Midland than for Ector.

Just looking at this from Ector Countys viewpoint, it just seems like theres isnt very much money being spent there, the policy board member said.

In fiscal year 2017, TxDOT will spend six times as much in Midland than Ector, with Midland receiving $28,084,501 for four projects in Midland versus $4,624,967 for five in Ector.

TxDOT civil engineer Gary Law said all of the projects are to repair distressed roads.

To answer your question, Judge, about how much is Midland County and how much is Ector County -- right now today, we're looking at roads in Midland County that are experiencing greater distress, he said. If we dont put this rehab and preventive maintenance investments there, theyll be much more expensive later.

Law said Ector received much more money last year than Midland to address extensive rehab work on Loop 338. John B. Love III, board member and District 2 representative on the Midland City Council, that some years Midland gets more money; other years, Ector gets more money.

Roads don't wear evenly, he said.

Law did not have the figures on hand about how much TxDOT spends in Ector versus Midland counties, but said he would give the board last years figures within a week and five years worth of data before next months meeting.

Eckert moved to table the concurrence until the board received more information on last years figures, but he did not receive a second and the motion was killed.

Love said he was confident TxDOT spends money appropriately and that it has a better idea than the board of whats needed where because membership on the policy board rotates.

Martin County judge and board member, Bryan Cox, said he also felt TxDOT was being equitable.

As far as truck traffic, Martin County has gotten as much as anybody, he said. We have roads that need concern, yet theres nothing here from Martin County, so to speak.

TxDOT does not require MPO approval for areas of Martin that are not within the metropolitan area boundary.

But I understand what youve been saying, Cox said. You have the expertise and know where your bottlenecks are in order to save this pavement. Thats why I go with TxDOT. Youve done the studies.

Cox motioned to approve the concurrence, with Midland-Odessa Urban Transit District Manager Robert Stephens offering a second. The motion passed 3-1, with Love offering the third approval vote and Eckert voting to deny. Odessa Mayor David Turner and Midland County Commissioner Robin Donnelly were absent. TxDOTs vacancy on the board has not yet been filled after district engineer Mike McAnally retired last month.

In other business:

 Traffic counts: TxDOT will do a traffic saturation count beginning this month and continuing through September. The data will determine traffic loads at key areas throughout Midland and Ector counties, including what types of vehicles are traveling.

 Saved by Zero: The Permian Road Safety Coalition is conducting a road safety awareness campaign called Goal Zero. On Oct. 13, the coalition is looking to have a day without a traffic fatality or wreck requiring a hospital visit in the Permian Basin. The nonprofit will host special safety meetings and rallies to bring attention to road safety.

 Coming up: The next policy board meeting is 3 p.m. Sept. 19 at Odessa College. Also coming up is the MPOs Livability Workshop at 9 a.m. Aug. 31 at the Atmos Energy building. Two I-20 corridor study meetings are also scheduled: 5:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at Hays Elementary in Odessa and 5:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at Travis Elementary in Midland.

***

TxDOT Odessa Districts projects within the Permian Basin MPO metropolitan area boundary:

 September 2016: Seal coat from U.S. Route 385 North to Spur 450 in Ector  $322,000.

 September 2016: Seal coat from U.S. 385 to the Midland County line in Ector  $93,000.

 October 2016: Roadway reconstruction on the Loop 338 frontage roads and Trunk Street intersection in Ector  $2,046,118.

 November 2016: Reconstruction and widening on Farm-to-Market Road 1788 from State Highway 191 to Business 20 in Midland  $10,866,500.

 December 2016: Roadway rehabilitation on South Rankin Highway (State Highway 349) from Interstate 20 to County Road 140 in Midland  $6,000,001.

 January 2017: Roadway rehabilitation on various Loop 250 frontage roads in Midland  $5,568,000.

 June 2017: Roadway rehabilitation on North Big Spring Street (SH 349) from Loop 250 to the Martin County line in Midland  $5,650,000.

 July 2017: Upgrades to bridge and approach railings from the Monahans Draw to Dixie Boulevard in Ector  $700,000.

 July 2017: Upgrades to bridge and approach railings from Grandview Avenue to the Midland County line in Ector  $1,463,849.

Source: Permian Basin MPO
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  At least 40,000 homes were damaged and 10 people killed in the historic Louisiana floods, the governor said Tuesday, giving a stark assessment of the widespread disaster.

Gov. John Bel Edwards spoke at a news conference alongside FEMA administrator Craig Fugate, saying "well over" 20,000 people have been rescued since the flooding began Friday. His office later increased that figure to more than 30,000.

Beginning Friday, a torrent of about 2 feet of rain inundated the southern part of the state over a 48-hour period, and days later many homes and businesses were still underwater.

While some areas were entering recovery mode, the governor warned new places downstream could see flooding and that officials are still in search and rescue mode.

"I don't know we have a good handle on the number of people who are missing," the governor said.

Some residents returned to their flood-damaged homes and businesses for the first time Tuesday and found a soggy mess.

David Key used a small boat to get to his house in Prairieville and said it had taken on 5 inches of "muddy nasty bayou water." There were fish and thousands of spiders. And mold has started to set in.

"I'm not going to lie, I cried uncontrollably," he said. "But you have to push forward and make it through. Like everybody says, you still have your family."

The extent of damage was coming into clearer view. About 40,000 people had signed up for FEMA assistance and eight more parishes were added to the federal disaster declaration, bringing the total number to 12.

In Livingston Parish, one of the hardest-hit areas with about 138,000 people, an official estimated that 75 percent of the homes were a "total loss."

But Lori Steele, spokeswoman for the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office, was upbeat, saying the rescues taking place now are less of a "life-saving nature" and more to help people who were running low on supplies in flooded areas. As the main roads drain, emergency crews were going to be able get hot meals, water and medical supplies to the 25 shelters in the parish.

"We're tired but today's a good day," she said.

Rivers and creeks were still dangerously bloated in areas south of Baton Rouge as people filled sandbags there to protect their houses, bracing for the worst as the water worked its way south. In Ascension Parish, officials said some small towns have already been inundated.

The governor said more than 8,000 people were in shelters, but the number was constantly fluctuating as people arrive and leave.

The slow-moving, low-pressure system crawled into Texas, but the National Weather Service warned the danger of new flooding remained high due to the sheer volume of water flowing toward the Gulf of Mexico.

The latest deaths were attributed to three accidental drownings. No other details were immediately released about how the men died.

One town, Zachary, received more than 2 feet of rain in a 48-hour period that ended Saturday morning. Another, Livingston, got nearly 22 inches over the same stretch. Rivers in the region reached historic highs  occasionally shattering old records dating to 1983 floods.

The 4 feet of water that wrecked James DuPont's used car dealership in Baton Rouge has finally receded, allowing him to take stock of the devastation Tuesday.

His cars were all coated with a thin layer of dirt. The wooden floor boards in his office are scattered like matchsticks, exposing the wet cement underneath. All of his paperwork is a water-logged mess.

Floodwaters reached the "Open" sign on his rented office, and the 24-year-old fears his business, Louisiana Direct Buy, is now closed for good. He had a dozen or so vehicles on the property, including his personal car, and they all appear to be total losses.

"I don't have flood insurance so everything is gone," he said. "I'll try to salvage what I can. I don't know if I'm going to be able to open back up or not."
Three Ukrainian soldiers were killed in action (KIA), another six were wounded in action (WIA) in the Donbas war in the past 24 hours, presidential administration speaker for the Anti-Terrorist Operation issues Oleksandr Motuzianyk said.

"Unfortunately, we got three KIA's and six WIA's in the last day," Motuzianyk said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.

The enemy nearly doubled the number of attacks in Donbas, from 52 the day before to 96, and artillery was used day and night in every sector, Motuzianyk said. "As many as 500 mortar and 300 artillery shells were fired on our positions. We previously witnessed similar dynamics in August of last year," Motuzianyk said.

In the Luhansk sector, hostilities were observed in the Popasna district where mortars and artillery systems were used. Grenade launchers and machine-guns were fired along the Bakhmutska road, and infantry combat vehicles were engaged during the night. In all, 19 provocations were observed in that area in the past 24 hours, including four artillery attacks and three mortar attacks, he said.

In the Donetsk sector, illegal armed formations fired mortars on the Svitlodarsk bulge, Novoselivka Druha and Avdiyivka. Mortars and artillery systems were used near the demolished Donetsk airport. A total of 45 ceasefire violations were recorded in that area over the past day, including 34 involving heavy armaments.

In the Mariupol sector, the enemy opened fire throughout the frontline; 40 artillery shells whose caliber is 152mm were fired on Ukrainian army positions in the village of Hranitne within two hours, Motuzianyk said. The militants also used mortars to shell the towns of Krasnohorivka and Maryinka at night. A total of 32 armed provocations were recorded in the Mariupol sector within one day, and a third of them employed heavy weapons.
Ukraine has strongly objected to the sending of a CIS observation mission to State Duma elections in Crimea, and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry filed a relevant note with the CIS Executive Committee.

"The CIS Executive Committee has been formally notified about the Ukrainian stance regarding the Russian intention to spread [State Duma elections] into the temporarily occupied territory of the autonomous republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol [...]. These actions of Russia again demonstrate its disregard of Ukraine's state sovereignty, norms and principles of international law," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary released on Thursday.

"Results of those elections will be nil, they will not have any legal consequences and will not be recognized by either Ukraine or the international community, which will call into question their legitimacy as a whole," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

The commentary expressed strong objections of Ukraine to the sending of a CIS election observation mission to Crimea. "Any involvement in the so-called monitoring of the farce election will be seen as an unfriendly move and a visit to Crimea and Sevastopol in violation of the Ukrainian law on 'The Procedure of Arrival in the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine and Departure from It' will lead to liability," the ministry said.
We won't be seeing the Dance of the Dragons for quite a while. After that epic season one finale, HBO is making sure viewers don't expect a sequel to House of the Dragon in the new year. "Don't expect it in 23, but I think sometime in
Martial law may be imposed, mobilization ordered in Ukraine if conflict in Donbas, Crimea escalates - Poroshenko

If the situation in eastern Ukraine and in Crimea deteriorates, martial law may be imposed and mobilization will be announced in Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"In the event of the exacerbation of the situation in the east and in Crimea [...] we will have to impose martial law and order mobilization," Poroshenko said in Lviv region on Thursday.
We were not bribed to drop ...
Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk has said that investigatory actions as part of cases investigated by NABU were carried out in line with Ukrainian law.

"My position is not changed: covert surveillance and cases investigated by the NABU are in line with Ukrainian law. It was carried out under the shelter of the enforcement division of NABU," Sytnyk said at a joint briefing with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko in Kyiv on Thursday.

He said that he proposed to Lutsenko to transfer those cases than were registered by officers of the Prosecutor General's Office and officers of the NABU to the indifferent investigatory division  the Main Investigation Department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Sytnyk said that he insists that representatives of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine (SAP) were included in the group of supervisors of pre-trial proceedings and international experts are involved in the investigation.

"We are not afraid of this investigation. We would help to investigate and provide all the required documents so that the actions of officers of NABU and Prosecutor General's Office were assessed as soon as possible," he said.

Sytnyk also said that the cases where covert surveillance was conducted are remained in NABU, and investigation would continue until the final decisions are made.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said that he agreed with Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov that an internal investigation into actions of the KORD special force unit in the building of the administration of the State Border Service of Ukraine on August 16 will be conducted.

"We agreed with Avakov that an internal investigation into KORD's actions in the administration of the State Border Service will be conducted," he said at a press release on Thursday.
Despite some relief from oppressive summertime heat during the past week, drought continues to expand across the Lone Star State.

According to the Water Weekly status report from the Texas Water Development Board issued earlier this week, 10 percent of the state is now in moderate to severe drought, with an additional 34 percent of the state considered to be abnormally dry.

July rainfall for many parts of the state, especially West, South, Central and Northeast Texas, was less than 25 percent of normal amounts. Plainview barely beat that statistic. The Herald measured 0.68 inch of rain during July 2016, which is 27 percent of the citys 100-year average of 2.51 inches for July.

Currently, Swisher is showing to have adequate soil moisture. Except for a tiny area in southwest Briscoe County, the extreme southeast corner of Hale County, and the southwestern corner of Lamb County, those counties also are showing adequate moisture.

The middle two-thirds of Floyd County is listed in moderate drought with much of the remainder showing to be abnormally dry. The northwest third of Castro County is either in moderate or severe drought, with most of the remainder showing to be abnormally dry.

Other Panhandle-South Plains counties with areas of severe or moderate drought include Deaf Smith, Crosby, Randall, Cochran, Hockley, Yoakum, Terry and Gaines.

Drought conditions expanded from 6 percent to 10 percent of the state during the last week. A month ago, just 1 percent was in drought. A year ago, drought covered 18 percent of Texas.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor analysis, High temperatures and minimal precipitation led to expansion of dryness and drought in most of Texas, but heavy late-period rains in the Panhandle engendered some relief there. Abnormally dry and moderate drought conditions expanded most notably in a swath through central Texas from near the middle Red River Valley southward through Deep South Texas, where little or no rain fell. Broad parts of this region received less than one-quarter of their normal rainfall since mid-June.

Looking ahead, the National Weather Service in Lubbock reports that the extended forecast calls for cooler than normal conditions, except for Friday when temperatures will be near normal. A plume of moisture that has been positioned to the southeast of the region should move close enough to provide increased rain chances on Friday.

A cold front is expected to move through the area sometime Saturday. The timing and speed of its movement will have a bearing on where the best thunderstorm chances will be. It is expected to stall once it moves through the area, and then retreat, bringing another chance of showers and thunderstorms early next week.
KYIV. Aug 18 (Interfax-Ukraine)  Residents of Odesa have identified main citys problems: corruption of local authorities, the state of roads and the quality of healthcare, as evidenced by data of SOCIS poll results, made public at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency press conference on Thursday.

Thus, asked: "What are the most urgent problems of the city, in your opinion?", 44.3% of Odesa residents called the state of roads, 39.7% - corruption among local authorities, 37.4% - the quality of healthcare, 36.6% - the state of houses (the dirt in risers blocks of flats, emergency state), 32.3% - the fight against crime, 20.5% - the cleanness of the city streets, 17.7% - the quality of drinking water, 12.5% - problems with access to the beaches (lack of free beaches), 12.2% - the environmental state of the city, 6.4% - the work of schools and pre-schools and 6.4% - the state of urban markets.

In turn, 1.4% of respondents believe that Odesa doesnt have any problems at all. 1.2% found difficult to answer this question.

In addition, according to the majority of Odesa residents, the situation is tense in the city - 54.5%. Some 30.1% of respondents said the situation is more likely stable than not, 9.9% called the situation explosive and 5.5% of respondents were undecided.

The poll was conducted from July 31 through August 9 on the entire territory of Odesa by means of personal interviews at respondents places of residence. A total of 2,000 respondents aged 18 years and older were surveyed.

The margin of error comprises within 2.2%.
Aug. 17, 1946: T.H. Sumrall, real estate developer here who is building 42 new residences in the Country Club addition southwest of town says all 42 planned houses are under contract. Construction is now under way on 10.

--Col. Beverly Warren, son of Mr. and Mrs. B.H. Warren of Plainview, will participate in upcoming experimental flights of the B-29 Superfortresses across the North Pole, his parents have learned. One-time soda skeet at Camps Pharmacy, Col. Warren has worked with a special experimental department in the Army Air Force for several months.

--Burglars forced open a window of the McDonald Trading Post here Wednesday night and took a mans wristwatch and two pairs of sunglasses, Police Chief Hoyt Curry said. He said the burglary presumably occurred during a thunderstorm.

Aug. 17, 1956: Construction will begin Aug. 21 on the new $150,000 building for the 9th and Columbia Street Church of Christ. The 200x140-foot masonry structure is expected to be completed in six months. At that time, the current church building on the property will be demolished.

--Two new filling stations are going into operation on West Fifth Street in the next two to three months. Gulf Oil Co. plans to construct a two-bay station at Fifth and Joliet, reports G.E. Douglass of Lubbock, assistant area manager. Continental Oil (Conoco) plans to erect a station at Fifth and Nassau, reports W.C. Boyd, local Continental agent.

--Plainview City Council has approved a new residential subdivision. The Akin-Webb subdivision will consist of 27 50-foot lots between 16th and 18th and Travis and Vernon streets.

Aug. 17, 1966: The 510th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the U.S. Air Force has passed the 7,000-hour mark in combat flying time in Vietnam. Capt. Kenneth E. Staten, 27, of Plainview, was a member of the four-plane F100 Supersabre flight to participate in that milestone mission to strike a communist concentration 15 miles northwest of Saigon. Staten, originally from Wichita, Kan., is married to the former Carol Nicholl, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. E.C. Nicholl of Plainview.

--The Girls Auxiliary of First Baptist Church hosted a party Friday at Heritage Home celebrating the 66th wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. W.F. Glenn. Married in 1900 in Saginaw, they moved to Plainview from Dimmitt in 1950 and made their home at 610 Canyon. He is 92 and she is 89. Their children in include Una Billington and George Glenn of Plainview and Aden L. Glenn of Mineola.

--Kirk and Cynthia Gaither of Dumas are visiting here in the home of their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Frye, 413 Canyon.

Aug. 17, 1986: Larry McEachern, former president of the Plainview Rotary Club, has been named a Paul Harris Fellow which is Rotarys highest honor.

--Army Pvt. Russell L. Glidewell, son of Doyle Glidewell of Plainview, has graduated from the U.S. Army Signal Centers single channel radio operator course at Fort Gordon, Ga.

--Adella Drew will be honored by the Plainview and Hereford chapters of Eastern Star on her 75th membership anniversary. A longtime Plainview resident, she now lives at Kings Manor Retirement Home in Hereford.

--Compiled by Doug McDonough
LAKEPORT, Lake County  A 40-year-old ex-con spent the last two fire seasons roaming this drought-baked county, setting small blazes that never managed to spread much before he finally lit a monster  last weekends inferno that ripped through Lower Lake and turned scores of homes into ash, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Damin Pashilk of Clearlake was arraigned at the county courthouse here Wednesday afternoon on felony arson charges accusing him of lighting 12 fires and trying to set a 13th, plus four more counts related to methamphetamine violations and driving on a suspended license. The fires all occurred between July 2, 2015, and Saturday, when he allegedly sparked the devastating Clayton Fire.

Wearing green-and-white-striped prison clothes, a disheveled-looking Pashilk briefly passed out before entering the tense, packed courtroom, causing a loud clunking noise that startled those in the gallery. Once he took his chair, he sat hunched over, hiding his face from the crowd.

He did not enter a plea. The only words Pashilk spoke were yes twice when asked if he understood the charges and his rights. He was ordered held in jail on $5 million bail.

Angry residents overflowed the chambers and spilled into the hallway of the courthouse, but after being admonished by bailiffs to be silent there were no outbursts as there were at a community meeting Monday when police announced Pashilks arrest. They saved their rage and sorrow for conversation outside.

Im just heartbroken and sickened for everybody, said Deanna Hewitt, 50, of Lake County. People deserve to see him. He shouldnt be a coward.

So far, the Clayton Fire has destroyed 175 homes and 268 structures in total, but the damage listed in the criminal counts was set at a preliminary guess of in excess of $7 million. Pashilk faces 24 years to life in prison if convicted.

Lake County Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said there is no evidence that Pashilk was targeting anyone, and investigators believe he acted alone. Pashilk did not express any remorse and denied any involvement in the fire, he said.

Hinchcliff added that Pashilks own house burned down in 2013, but it was not clear how that fire started. Most of the fires he is accused of setting were very minor, only 1 square yard, Hinchcliff said, but that still made him a serial arsonist.

Most important, he added, he set a fire that caused massive destruction to this county intentionally. There are families that lost everything. I cant imagine that.

Officials said the troubled man, who once served as an inmate firefighter, was investigated as a possible serial arsonist for a year, but authorities said they didnt have enough evidence to arrest him until he ignited the Clayton Fire.

If any of our investigators had seen him setting fires, he would have been arrested right away, said Cal Fire Chief Scott McClean. Now, however, The evidence is very strong. We are very confident this is our guy.

Pashilks court-appointed defense attorney David Markham had little to offer, saying he hadnt seen the evidence yet.

All I can say is, hes presumed innocent until proven guilty, he said. The public needs to remember that.

Pashilk lived in a trailer in Clearlake, a bigger town north of historic Lower Lake, and though one neighbor said sometimes he gets a little intimidating, most said they were shocked he could be suspected of setting a fire that decimated much of a community. A cart at Pashilks home was painted with Nazi SS lightning bolts, and his profanity-laced Facebook page sported the same symbol.

Pashilks lengthy criminal record includes convictions for drug possession and firearms violations. Court documents show he has been charged with more than 20 offenses in Lake, Yolo and Shasta counties.

For four months in 2007, he worked as an inmate firefighter while serving a five-year prison stretch. Cal Fire officials said he never actually worked on an active fire.

As Pashilk was being hauled into court, fire crews working to rein in the Clayton Fire improved their grip to 50 percent containment Wednesday.

The inferno did not grow overnight, remaining at 3,929 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Earlier this week, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for the area, freeing up additional resources to battle the blaze.

Also on Wednesday, the Blue Cut Fire north of San Bernardino in Southern California led to evacuation warnings for more than 82,000 people and continued to burn out of control. The blaze started Tuesday in the Cajon Pass area and grew to 25,626 acres Wednesday, according to Cal Fire. The blaze threatened 32,500 structures. Firefighters had 4 percent containment on the fire.

Evan Sernoffsky and Kevin Fagan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky, @KevinChron
KYIV. Aug 18 (Interfax-Ukraine)  The Nash Kray Party has launched a first social network in Ukraine for residents of multi-apartment buildings in Kyiv with an online rating option for housing management companies and homeowner associations.

"Why Facejek? We want to show each housing management company, homeowner association or building managers in true colors. The uniqueness is that the website is in the form of a social network. There are no analogs to it," co-chairman of the Nash Kray Party Oleksandr Mazurchak said at a press conference in Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.

He said that the online resource would provide information about all multi-apartment buildings in Kyiv. Authorized visitors can assess the building and compare tariffs with other buildings.

Information, comments, photos could be added on the Facejek website. Operation of housing management companies, homeowner associations could be assessed. The rating of the buildings and managing organizations will be based on these assessments.

"Homeowner association cannot find a managing company, as there is no way to get unbiased information about companies operating on the market. Our resource first would provide a chance to compare the companies and select the best. Later we plan to make a black list of unfair companies," Mazurchak said.

He said that the important thing of Facejek is the platform for communications between residents of each building.

Mazurchak said that the Nash Kray Party intends to send proposals to all housing management companies in Kyiv to use Facejek to dispay the results of their work and communicate with residents of the buildings serviced.

He said that the website gives a rating of buildings based on polls of residents of four districts in Kyiv.

Facejek is operating in the beta version. The website would be fully launched on August 22.
California health regulators on Thursday formally restarted the controversial process of setting new safety standards for adult film performers, including condom use on sets.

The decision by the board of the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, during its meeting Thursday in Walnut Creek, drew more than 20 speakers currently or previously involved in the porn business, most of whom were opposed to being forced to use condoms or other devices that protect against blood-borne pathogens.

We are the people who are affected by your decision; our bodies, our lives, our jobs, Janice Griffith, an adult performer for three years, told the board. The regulations and protections we have in place make me feel very safe. Weve implemented them ourselves because we know ourselves.

But board Chairman David Thomas made it clear the issue wasnt up for debate. He said that federal and state laws already have standards in place that require the use of such protection as condoms. The adult film industry argues that the laws arent clear and remain open to interpretation.

You have to get over it, Thomas said Its already the law.

The board on Thursday approved the creation of an advisory committee that will include adult film representatives in the process of determining regulations. But the move reignites a more than six-year battle over safety rules that has pitted the industry, represented by the Free Speech Coalition, against the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a Los Angeles nonprofit that has pushed for condom use in films.

While the AIDS Healthcare Foundation says the law already requires condom use on sets, the group wants the rules enforced and clarified. The foundation is also behind Proposition 60, a measure on the November ballot that would require porn actors to use condoms and would increase the penalties for violators who stand to financially benefit from the production.

Porn industry representatives object to standards they say may force them to use goggles and safety dams, even when performing with their spouses or partners. They contend their own safety standards and regular testing protocols have prevented on-set HIV infection for more than a decade.

The industry also opposes the ballot initiative, a measure they say would supersede the boards health and safety rules and potentially open a floodgate of lawsuits against individual performers.

We as a community are trying to regulate ourselves, trying to make ourselves safe, said Kevin Quintero, an adult performer from San Francisco. To the outside world, people who have never been in this industry, it (Prop. 60) sounds like a really great thing, but its not. Its hidden in the words, its hidden in the rhetoric being used there.

Some former performers spoke out against the industry they felt had endangered their safety.

Jennie Ketcham, said she left the industry in 2009 to pursue a career as a medical social worker. While she was still performing, she did not know what protections the law offered her. She told the board that she eventually tested positive for a sexually transmitted infection, but did not specify the disease.

Porn performers deserve better protections than they currently receive, Ketcham said.

Victoria Colliver is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vcolliver@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @vcolliver
STAMFORD  Three numbers sum up the predicament of American startup firms, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy told entrepreneurs and small-business owners during a meeting this week in the South End.

Eight  the percentage of businesses that are one year old or younger; 20  the percentage of new jobs created by those companies; and 50  the percentage of those firms that will not last for more than five years.

To better understand why startups are struggling to grow and survive, Murphy convened a panel discussion at the Comradity shared-workspace complex on Canal Street, with Stamford Mayor David Martin and Stamford state Rep. Caroline Simmons, to gather input from local business leaders. Murphy has made investment in startups a legislative focus, recently introducing two bills in Congress that aim to bolster financial support for fledgling firms.

The big Fortune 500 companies, many of which we are very proud to have in Connecticut, they are not adding jobs like they were 10, 20 or 30 years ago, Murphy told a crowd of more than 50. It is all you who are adding jobs.

There is a fragility to getting in the door as a startup and then getting over that first hump of those difficult first few years that weve got to have a much more honest and robust and daring conversation.

Many who spoke during the panel criticized the states business environment, pointing to regulatory obstacles and a feeling of insufficient backing from public agencies.

Overall, we need to do something about the lack of support for small business  whether its low-tech or high-tech, clothing, what have you  because its just not there, said Jere Eaton, owner of the Stamford-based PrintabiliTees, a printed and embroidered products and services firm. Im considering relocating because my company cannot be successful in the state of Connecticut with the lack of support of the city and the lack of support from the state.

Small businesses represent the majority of employment in the city, Martin said. The city has launched a number of initiatives including an online small-business portal, but Martin acknowledged that the city has limited resources.

Ive got an economic development department that consists of one person, Martin said. Thats all I can really afford in the city budget.

Brenda Lewis, principal of the Greenwich-based Transactions Marketing, said that the state could do more to help technology firms. At the Workpoint shared-office complex on Harbor Drive, Lewis is launching next month TechXel Stamford LLC, a technology accelerator that she said would be the first of its kind in Fairfield County.

We identified this hole that you have, Lewis said. Technology has been a stepchild in Fairfield County for a long, long time. The reality is that technology is going to drive jobs growth and demand growth thats going to pull Connecticut out of the ditch.

Policymakers and business leaders need to accept the reality  and opportunities  of the states workforce if Connecticut is to prosper, said Mark Lassoff, founder and president of the Vernon-based LearnToProgram Media, a publisher of web, mobile and game development courses.

One thing we fail to do on a statewide level is embrace the demographics we have, instead of trying to paint the picture of Austin, Texas, or Boulder, Colo., over the landscape of Connecticut, Lassoff said. We need to take a look at what we have and the resources here and look at the gray hair and the diversity we have and the experience and education of the population here as a benefit, and stop trying to attract millennials who arent coming right now.

A number of the heads of the 14 businesses based at Comradity participated in the gathering. Steve Forti, a former Army Green Beret who founded and leads the fitness-competition firm Fit Fight, cited the support of Comradity co-founder Jim Kern.

What brought me to these offices was I told him a little bit about my background, I told him what I was looking for, I told him that I didnt really know what I was doing, Forti said. He said weve got a great desk for you. Since I got through the door, they did handshake me with all the necessary people to move my business along. You can use that as an example, and it should be bigger.

Other participants in the discussion said that they perceived government agencies as being less nimble and responsive than private-sector firms  a criticism accepted by Murphy.

Government is a totally different animal that is careful and slow-moving, by design, and risk adverse, by design, Murphy said. Theres a real fear on behalf of a lot of people in investing in something new that might not go right because you could lose your job over that.  Weve got to make that better, but its probably not going to be fixed.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
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It's that time of year when kids and teens shake off summer casual and get spruced up for their big return to school.

Ever wonder what San Antonio's TV news anchors looked like during their formative high school years?

Some have changed quite a bit, while others look about the same.

In recent interviews, several local newscasters even shared their insecurities and high points of high school.

For example:

KENS-TV's Deborah Knapp recalled her terrific journalism teacher, "who ignited my passion for reporting. I decided I wanted to be a reporter when I was 14 and I love what I do today as much as when I began!"

RELATED: This is what S.A. TV anchors look like without makeup

WOAI-TV's Delaine Mathieu mentioned how she's benefited from modern beauty utensils: "In the world of flat irons and hair relaxers, my hair is so much easier to deal with these days, although I loved those curls."

WOAI's chief anchorwoman Evy Ramos attended a private boarding school with the help of a scholarship and "learned to ride horses and went on backpacking trips," she said. "Best experience of my life!"

KENS-TV's Karen Grace didn't always have the straight set of pearly whites you admire on the weekend news. "I learned to smile to compensate for my crooked teeth," she said. After graduating, Grace endured three years of Invisalign followed by three more of traditional adult braces. "Now, I smile a lot more, not just because I'm happy working my dream job, but because I spent a small fortune on my smile!"

OK? Now, flip through the slideshow above and judge for yourself which of our anchors have changed dramatically over the years and which ones look essentially the same, save a few tweaks to hair and makeup.

jjakle@express-news.net
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In preparation of the new school year, a San Antonio middle school teacher in the Southwest Independent School District decided to stock her science classroom with supplies purchased out of her own pocket, but with the help of another customer that had a heart and money to share, their encounter became a story warming hearts nationwide.

Sabrina Drude, a 2nd-year teacher at Francis Scobee Middle School, told mySA.com she was shopping for school supplies on Saturday at the Walmart at 5555 De Zavala Road when a stranger approached her and paid it forward.

RELATED: 'If you can't get a job, make one': Teen selling candy apples on South Side has the right idea

Drude said she was approached by another customer who asked why she had a cart full of school supplies, including 150 notebooks.

"I explained that I teach science and that it wasn't worth the hassle of trying to get kids to bring their own notebooks, and that it takes away from time I could teaching them," the 23-year-old said in Facebook and Reddit posts said. "I started crying and hugged him and asked for a picture. His son was watching the whole thing too."

RELATED: Facebook mockery of West Side family motivates San Antonio man to donate pools to dozens of kids

The teacher's photo was posted on Facebook by "Love What Matters," a New York-based page with more than 4 million fans. Her story was shared more than 15,000 times and more than 100,000 users reacted to it, including the good Samaritan.

A user listed as Lester W Brown responded to the post , identified himself and challenged others to match his deed.

"So, I was just at Walmart, buying school supplies for my kids, when this man started asking me questions (like why are... Posted by Love What Matters on Monday, August 15, 2016

RELATED: iPhone containing deceased toddler's final moments, stolen, then returned in San Antonio

"[...] I could see that this lady was willing to do whatever it takes for the success of the kids she is responsible to teach," the Austin resident said on Aug. 15. "I'd been keeping that $100 bill in my wallet waiting for the time when God said 'NOW!' [...] Love is the only way."

He asked others to represent a student or classroom.

"And I pray that all kids learn free of violence or harm this school year," Brown added.

Brown's comment was liked nearly 10,000 times and spurred a bevy of praise and appreciation on Facebook.

"There are some really good people in this world," Drude said. "What a nice man."

Drude said she and Brown have been in contact and he's hoping to help out her class throughout the year, including possibly throwing a pizza party.

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye
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Delmar

These busy women have a strong desire to donate to charity, as long as it's quick and hassle-free.

Enter the Albany chapter of 100 Women Who Care Alliance.

They promise philanthropy on a tight deadline.

Observing their recent meeting, which clocked in at one hour, was a bit like watching speed dating for charities.

It's also been called "collective philanthropy" and spawned a Twitter hashtag #ThePowerof100.

Here are the basic rules: Four one-hour meetings a year. Three charities are pitched by members at each meeting. They choose one. Members give a $100 check four times a year.

"The beauty of it is that it's so simple," said Jeri Bosman, of Delmar, one of the founders of the local chapter. She heard about 100 Women Who Care while visiting a friend in South Carolina and decided to transport the concept north.

The retired registered nurse recruited two women friends from Delmar who were in the same book club: Peg Donovan and Sandra Alinger, both retired schoolteachers.

They spread the word around town, got some guidance from the national organization and held their inaugural meeting in May. To their astonishment, 73 women showed up and each gave a $100 check.

They presented a $7,300 donation to the charity chosen, the Donna Crandall Foundation, which supports patients and families being treated for cystic fibrosis at Albany Medical Center.

"It's the power of women," Bosman said. "We know how to get things done."

The women range in age from their 30s to their 70s. Most said they joined the new group because of its simplicity and no-pressure style.

"Women told us they were so happy after the first meeting because they were tired of being solicited all the time and this was an easy way to do some good," Donovan said.

Albany is the newest of more than 350 chapters nationwide, including four others across New York, from Buffalo to New York City. The next closest is in Otsego County.

The Albany group launched a Facebook page (100 Women Who Care Albany) and a website (www.100wwcalbany.org). They spread the word.

For the second meeting, on Aug. 11, they added more than two dozen members, for a total of 103 women. Despite its name, they will continue to accept new members well beyond 100.

"The response has been unbelievable," Bosman said. "I'm a crier and I cried at the end of our first meeting."

New members who came to last week's meeting said they heard about the group from friends or around town. One woman said she got interested after she struck up a conversation with a woman working out on a stationary bike next to hers at a local YMCA.

"I decided to join a good cause," said Corrine Falope, who heard about the group in a doctor's office waiting room when she chatted with a woman as she knitted.

"I want to support local charities and I really like the idea that it's only an hour meeting," Liz Salerni said.

The women meet in the Delmar Reformed Church. Along with the three pitches, they heard an update from the previous meeting's recipient, Lisa Cheney, vice president of the Crandall Foundation. The charity is named for her sister-in-law, Donna Crandall, who died of cystic fibrosis at age 41 in 1999. Her five siblings, family members and friends have raised more than $2 million in the past two years.

"We raised it $10 at a time," Cheney said. "We're so grateful for the $7,300 contribution from 100 Women Who Care of Albany. It will be used for our room renovation project."

The not-for-profit foundation will spend $140,000 to renovate two rooms for cystic fibrosis patients at Albany Medical Center, turning them into private spaces with their own bathroom and kitchenette.

Cystic fibrosis is a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time. Patients often require extended hospitalizations.

The renovated rooms are known as "Dawn's rooms," in honor of Dawn McGuinness, who died of the disease April 30.

"This is a great opportunity for women to make a difference by coming together for charity," said member Jaclyn Brilling.

"It's a great idea. I like the direct connection between these women and nonprofits," said Mary Judd, of Delmar, who runs Songwriting With: Soldiers. The charity organizes music retreats that pair professional songwriters with veterans and military personnel.

At the Aug. 11 meeting, after listening to members make brief pitches on three local charities  The Legal Project, St. Anne's Institute and the Friendship Circle  the members voted.

The Friendship Circle won. The Albany charity provides programs for special needs children and their families. The charity will receive a check for about $10,000.

"We're still getting checks mailed in," Bosman said.

That's another rule. Even if you miss a meeting, you're still on the hook for a $100 check.

The 100 Women Who Care was begun in 2006 by Karen Dunigan, former mayor of Jackson, Mich., and a real estate agent. Dunigan died of cancer in 2014 and her sisters, Jane Uhila and Patty Sete, have carried on what she started.

The idea proved so popular it spawned spinoff groups, including 100 Men Who Care, 100 Kids Who Care and 100 People Who Care.

"We're blown away by how quickly this has taken off here," Bosman said. "It's about all of us making a difference."

The group has begun putting its motto on marketing materials: "A simple concept, a big impact."

To learn more or to join, go to their website at www.100wwcalbany.org or their Facebook page at 100 Women Who Care Albany.

pgrondahl@timesunion.com  518-454-5623  @PaulGrondahl
DANBURY - Leaders on Thursday called for Danburians to march, protest, and make noise in the state capital until legislators fix an education aid formula that is underfunding the citys 11,000 students.

Unless this community speaks for itself nobody is going to speak for it, said Jessica Stram, a lobbyist for the Hartford firm Sullivan and LeShane who was hired by the city and the school district this year to lobby state government for more aid.
Albany

Susan Clay said it only took a year for her to start experiencing respiratory issues while living at Ezra Prentice Homes in the South End.

"I moved here five years ago, and the first year ... I had nausea, headaches every single day for over a year," she said. "Before I moved here, I never had high blood pressure, I never had headaches. I could dance all night. Now, I can dance for like two minutes."

Clay was one of several Ezra Prentice residents who on Wednesday evening detailed their mounting health problems while living at the federally subsidized apartments during a public forum with local, state and federal officials.

The public housing complex is in the middle of a heavy industrial zone, where freight trains idle and 18-wheelers spew diesel fumes as they exit Interstate 787.

Judith Enck, regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 2 Office in New York City, as well as state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos, came by to listen to residents' concerns and answer questions.

"I came for the children," Enck said after the meeting. "There are many wonderful families and children who live in this complex, and they deserve to breathe clean air and not be subjected to high levels of pollution."

For years, residents and local officials have complained about the health and public safety problems created by living in an industrial zone  a fight against what some call "environmental racism." But in the last 24 hours, the South End has likely seen more action taken by state and federal officials than ever before.

The DEC on Tuesday announced $500,000 will be devoted to addressing air contamination in the neighborhood, and will include air monitoring to evaluate the impact of diesel emissions on the neighborhood.

Then, on Wednesday, the EPA announced it served a notice of violation to Global Companies LLC for violating federal air pollution standards. The company, also known as Global Partners, operates a crude oil terminal at the Port of Albany, located behind the several of the buildings of the 179-unit apartment complex.

"I've lived here since 1962 and I've never seen this much direct involvement," Albany County Legislator Lucille McKnight said. "It's unbelievable that this small community has suffered so much because of the commercial district and where we process oil."

Residents described dealing with asthma, cancer, stomach issues, congestive heart failure and a general fear of what could happen should a disaster strike at the Port of Albany  which is in the backyard for many at Ezra Prentice.

DEC Commissioner Seggos reminded residents that the state agency is there as a partner, and takes seriously the concerns residents have expressed.

"I know you have many stressers in the area: truck traffic, sewage plant, asphalt plants, oil terminals, the list goes on," he said. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand the pressures that you're under down here."

afries@timesunion.com  518-454-5353  @mandy_fries
Why is anyone still debating whether or not Donald Trump is racist? He said that Mexicans coming across our border are rapists and killers and he insinuated that a Gold Star mother overcome with grief wasnt allowed to speak due to her Muslim faith. Really?

Does one clearly racist statement make someone a racist? How about a few? What about Trumps long history of unrepentant racist statements and actions?

In 2012 I had lost a campaign for Congress and my mother succumbed to cancer. I returned to work after months away from day-to-day client relations and, frankly, I was a bit lost. Enter The Central Park Five.

Ken Burns, the PBS documentary filmmaker, was my client for years. Even while I was taking time away from work I always kept in the loop on the Ken Burns account including The Central Park Five, which he produced with his daughter, Sarah Burns, and son-in-law, David McMahon. I dove in full throttle upon my return and it was among the most humbling, emotional, and life-changing experiences I have ever had.

I met Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson and (later) Antron McCray while running the public affairs campaign for the film. All five were young teenagers in 1989 when they were accused of rape in one of New Yorks most publicized and heinous crimes. The person who committed the crime would later be revealed through a confession and DNA evidence to be a serial rapist named Matias Reyes.

Unfortunately, that revelation didnt occur until 2002, after the Five served their full sentences. Back in 1989 the Five were vilified and Donald Trump led the charge. Trump made sure to push racially charged rhetoric and even took out full page ads in four New York newspapers that sounded like the work of a lynch mob.

Trump wasnt the only one pushing a racial divide. The media devoured the story of black and Hispanic kids wilding all night long. However, Trump has refused to admit his mistakes (as the media finally did). One of the goals of the public affairs campaign was to get the media to right their wrongs. Editorial after editorial offered apologies to the Five.

And it wasnt just the public apologies, but the private ones. I sat with Yusef in a dark studio prior to an interview when the producer turned to him and said, with a tear in her eye, Im really sorry. She was my age, and therefore not even ten years old when her network skewered the Five, but here she was apologizing for what those before her did.

And the Five forgave. When asked what it was like to premiere the film at the New York Film Festival, the members of the Five who attended said it felt like New Yorkers gave them a hug and asked forgiveness.

The problem with Trump is that he doesnt care they are innocent. He doesnt care that he used race to help tear a city  and the lives of five innocent boys  apart. Shortly after The Central Park Five aired New York City settled a lawsuit the Five brought against it. Trumps response was to write an opinion article calling the boys muggers and criminals. Worse, he wrote, Settling doesnt mean innocence. No, it doesnt, but they had already been found innocent. Literally every piece of evidence proves they did not commit the crime and showed that Matias Reyes did.

Do we need more proof of racism?

He has also taken out ads against Native Americans calling them criminals (he apologized for that one). He has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. He has used the Mexican heritage of a respected judge to slander him. He blames violent crime on blacks and Hispanics. And when his supporters beat a Hispanic man he called them passionate.

Yusef recently summed up how I feel about Trump in an interview with The Guardian:

To see that he has not changed his position of being a hateful person, to see that he has not changed his position of inciting people, to see that hes still the same person and in many ways he has perfected his sense of being that number-one inciter, you know, I was scared ... I thought for a moment: What would this country look like with Donald Trump as being a president? Thats a scary thing, thats a very scary thing.

So, yes, Donald Trump is a racist. And it is scary that he is the GOP nominee.

Dan Roberti, of Kent, worked for political strategist James Carville from 2005-2006, was endorsed by President Bill Clinton in his 2012 run for Congress in Connecticuts 5th District, and represented Ken Burns from 2008-2015.
Albany

The second-oldest confirmed shipwreck in the Great Lakes, an American-built, Canadian-owned sloop that sank in Lake Ontario more than 200 years ago, has been found, a team of underwater explorers said Wednesday.

The three-member western New York-based team said it discovered the shipwreck this summer in deep water off Oswego, in central New York. Images captured by a remotely operated vehicle confirmed it is the Washington, which sank during a storm in 1803, team member Jim Kennard said.

"This one is very special. We don't get too many like this," said Kennard, who along with Roger Pawlowski and Roland "Chip" Stevens has found numerous wrecks in Lake Ontario and other waterways.

The sloop Washington was built on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania in 1798 and was used to transport people and goods between western New York, Pennsylvania and Ontario. It was placed on skids and hauled by oxen teams across the Niagara Isthmus to Lake Ontario in 1802 after being sold to Canadian merchants.

The 53-foot-long ship was carrying at least five people and a cargo of merchandise, including goods from India, when it set sail from Kingston, Ontario, for its homeport of Niagara, Ontario, on Nov. 6, 1803. The vessel was caught in a fierce storm and sank.

At least three crew members and two merchants were on the sloop. All aboard died. According to Kennard, contemporary records said portions of the cargo and pieces of the ship were found the following day on a shore near Oswego.
RIO DE JANEIRO  The U.S. Olympic Committee says American swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were removed from their flight to the U.S. by Brazilian authorities Wednesday night, hours after a judge ordered gold medalist Ryan Lochte and teammate Jimmy Feigen to stay in the country as police investigate their claim that they were robbed during the Olympics.

USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky confirmed the swimmers were detained but had no other details.

Lochte and his three teammates said they were held up at gunpoint in a taxi early Sunday as they returned to the athletes village from a party several hours after the last Olympic swimming events.

Police have found little evidence to support their accounts and say the swimmers were unable to provide key details in interviews.

The office of Judge Keyla Blank gave the order Wednesday to seize the passports of Lochte and Feigen.

Steve Bentz, father of Gunnar Bentz, when reached by phone Wednesday night, said: I really dont want to say anything, and hung up.

Lochtes father, Steve Lochte, said by phone from his Florida home that his son called him Tuesday after arriving in the United States.

Feigens whereabouts could not immediately be confirmed, though he told the San Antonio Express-News he was still in Brazil.

The 32-year-old Lochte was going to pick up his car and buy a wallet to replace the one that he said was stolen in the robbery, his father said.

Im just happy hes safe, the elder Lochte said. It was an unfortunate experience for him and the other three. I dont know what all the controversy is. They were basically taken out of the taxi and robbed. The main thing is hes very lucky that hes safe and that all they got was his cash and wallet.

The elder Lochte said his sons Olympic credential and cell phone werent taken during the incident. He said he was sure Ryan had his passport or he would not have been allowed to board a plane.

Associated Press reporters waiting outside Lochtes home in North Carolina did not see the 12-time medalist.
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San Bernardino

California's newest huge wildfire advanced on thousands of homes Wednesday, feeding on drought-stricken vegetation and destroying an untold number of structures as it expanded to nearly 47 square miles.

Authorities could not say how many homes were destroyed in the first furious hours, but they prepared communities for bad news.

"There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing," San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig said after a morning flight over a scene he described as "devastating."

"It hit hard. It hit fast. It hit with an intensity that we hadn't seen before," he said.

No deaths were reported but cadaver dogs were used to search ruins to look for anyone who was overrun by the flames.

The blaze 60 miles east of Los Angeles was among eight large wildfires being battled by 10,000 firefighters statewide, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. In a fifth year of low rainfall, much of the area is in drought conditions.

Flames continued to climb the flanks of the San Gabriel Mountains toward the town of Wrightwood, where authorities said that only half of the community's 4,500 residents had complied with evacuation orders covering more than 34,000 homes and some 82,000 people.

"This is not the time to mess around," said Battalion Chief Mark Peebles of the San Bernardino County Fire Department. "If you are asked to evacuate, please evacuate."

At a shelter, loading dock worker Shawn Brady, 30, was stressed about the home he shares with his mother, sister and dog near Wrightwood. He had heard it burned but hoped for the best.

"I'm trying to remain optimistic," he said. "It's the not knowing that's the worst."

Less than 24 hours after the blaze began, the fire command assembled a fleet of 10 air tankers, 15 helicopters and an army of 1,300 firefighters, many of them just off the lines of a wildfire that burned for 10 days just to the east.

The fire erupted late Tuesday morning in Cajon Pass, a critical highway and rail corridor through mountain ranges that separate Southern California's major population centers from the Mojave Desert to the north. Countless big rigs were parked on both sides of the pass, waiting for Interstate 15 and a web of other roads to reopen. Alternate routes involved significant detours.

The speed of the fire's spread astonished those in its path.

"This moved so fast," said Darren Dalton, 51, who along with his wife and son had to get out of his house in Wrightwood. "It went from 'Have you heard there's a fire?' to 'mandatory evacuation' before you could take it all in."
File Photo

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese consumers have expressed mixed feelings after an industry association in China, in an effort to raise consumer confidence, released its first dairy quality report.

The Dairy Association of China (DAC) said in the report it compiled that the quality of domestic milk products has improved substantially, based on the results of 151,000 batches of diary products checked nationwide by the Ministry of Agriculture since 2009.

The report, which was published Tuesday, said 99.5 percent of dairy products checked last year were up to standard and no illegal additives, such as melamine, had been detected in fresh milk for the past seven consecutive years.

The improvement of quality in the milk industry has been made as China has taken several measures over the past years to regain public trust, including tightening supervision, shutting down unqualified dairy operations, and increasing policy support.

The country's milk industry has long been in the shadow of a high-profile 2008 safety scandal, when infant formula produced by Sanlu Group, then a leading dairy company in northern China's Hebei Province, was found to contain the chemical melamine, which killed six babies and left thousands seriously ill.

Following the incident, more contaminated milk products were discovered nationwide, prompting scared Chinese consumers to turn to overseas milk products, especially for infants.

Despite the official figures in improvement of domestically produced dairy products, however, the feelings of Chinese consumers remain mixed.

"I still will not buy Chinese milk powder for my baby," said Yang Yang, a new mother in Beijing. "My daughter drinks breast milk and I have stored some milk powder from Japanfor her ... No one dares to risk their babies' lives to test the safety of Chinese milk products."

Wang Lei, another new mother in Beijing also said she would not choose Chinese baby milk products, as she thinks that imported baby milk products are easy to buy online and not too expensive.

While some remain skeptical, others say they have faith in domestic milk products.

Wang Jian, whose daughter is 3-year-old now, said she has always been a firm supporter of Chinese infant formula. Wang said her daughter had tried many products and the infant liked a Bright Diary formula most, a domestic brand based in Shanghai.

"I've also compared ingredients of both foreign and domestic infant formulas, and I believe the Chinese formula is the most suitable for Chinese babies," said Wang.

Li Xiaoli, a nurse from Hebei with an 18 day-old baby girl, said that so far she has fed the baby with breast milk but will choose domestic formula in the future if necessary. She said the official report released Tuesday has increased her confidence.

Wang Xianzhi, a food industry analyst at the Liaowang Institution, said the dairy quality report will be regularly released by the DAC and will serve as an important way for consumers to know more about the industry.

Wang said that although Chinese dairy product quality has improved dramatically since 2008, the situation was still challenging, and the biggest challenge lies not just in quality, but in consumer confidence.

Freelance dairy industry analyst Song Liang said that after eight years of recovery, the Chinese dairy industry is now ready to regain the trust of the public, but more efforts from the industry, government and media are needed to shore up market confidence.
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Beirut

In a move that could reverberate across the Middle East, Iran confirmed Wednesday that Russia is using its territory to launch airstrikes in Syria even as a second wave of Moscow's bombers flew out of the Islamic Republic to hit targets in the war-ravaged country.

The development represents a historical rapprochement with Russia that could rile U.S.-allied Gulf neighbors, strengthen Syrian President Bashar Assad and impact the war against the Islamic State group.

Russia first announced the strikes on Tuesday from near the Iranian city of Hamedan, 175 miles southwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

On Wednesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said another wave of warplanes had departed from Iran, striking targets in eastern Syria.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, then gave the first government acknowledgement of the Russian operation.

He said the Russians were using Iran's Shahid Nojeh air base 30 miles north of Hamedan, a secluded base where Russian warplanes were detected landing late last year.
Fairfield County has long been an area populated by musicians, authors and artists, including the popular and prolific illustrator and author Robert Lawson. Lawson lived in the area and often found inspiration for his artwork and stories in the Connecticut countryside, both its landscape and the seemingly simple life offered here. Like other American writers of the period, his work reflects a longing for the imagined simple pleasures of country life and a nostalgia for an older, more communal way of living that had given way to modernity. He named his Westport home Rabbit Hill, and lived there with his wife, fellow artist and illustrator Marie Abrams from the 1930s through the 1950s.

Lawson was famous for illustrating Mr. Poppers Penguins, which was published in 1938. One of Lawsons best-known illustrations, the story revolves around Mr. Popper, a painter in the sleepy town of Stillwater who yearns to be an explorer. When he sends a letter to Admiral Drake in the South Pole, Drake is so impressed that he sends Popper a penguin in return. Much of the storys comedy comes as the penguin, named Captain Cook, becomes part of the household, eventually finding a mate and producing ten more penguins.
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A Beaumont man serving prison time after pleading guilty to impersonating police admitted to a federal judge on Wednesday that he previously possessed 34 guns despite being a convicted felon.

Michael Jon Gelagotis, who will be sentenced at a later date, faces an additional 10 years in prison, which a federal judge could stack on top of his existing state prison term or order him serve it concurrently.

Gelagotis, jailed for almost a year, has now pleaded guilty to all three felony charges levied against him since he was arrested in September 2015.

The fake-cop saga has prompted criminal charges against a Beaumont police officer, who subsequently resigned and had his law enforcement license suspended for life, and an elected Liberty County constable, who has vowed to fight three crimes he's accused of regarding his relationship with Gelagotis.

Gelagotis wore black-and-white striped scrubs when he appeared in federal court Wednesday. He thanked his transporter for unshackling his legs on arrival. He punctuated each remark to District Judge Marcia Crone with, "ma'am."

Crone accepted Gelagotis' plea. She will determine his punishment after a pre-sentence investigation report, which will take into account various circumstances, including his criminal history.

Gelagotis was convicted of felonies in 1993 in Connecticut and in 1997 in Vermont, according to the federal indictment.

He admitted Wednesday that he possessed 25 pistols, eight rifles and a shotgun when his Chambless Drive home was searched 11 months ago.

It wasn't made clear how Gelagotis, as a convicted felon, obtained the firearms.

Some of the guns were in the open and others were locked in safes when investigators searched the home, Assistant U.S. Attorney John B. Ross said.

Ross told Crone that Gelagotis also had 40 high-capacity magazines, a ballistic vest and more than 30,000 rounds of ammunition.

Gelagotis initially balked at the ammunition count, suggesting it was only 3,000.

"I think you need to investigate that," Crone told Ross, who sent a text message to an agent and consulted an inventory list.

"I don't contest it, your honor," Gelagotis interjected.

"Well, you did contest it," Crone said. "Let's get to the bottom of this."

The agent and inventory list confirmed it was at least 30,000 rounds, and the only issue in the routine plea change hearing was resolved.

Gelagotis, who will turn 44 next month, is serving a 10-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in Jefferson County court to impersonating a public servant and unlawful possession of body armor by a felon.

The federal indictment was filed two days after Gelagotis was sentenced.

At the time of his September 2015 arrest on the state charges, Gelagotis was on probation stemming from a 2009 guilty plea to impersonating police in Jefferson County.

Gelagotis was convicted of similar conduct in 2001, when he pleaded no contest in Stow, Ohio, to allegations that he used fake badges to acquire police-specific gear and detain juveniles.

Keith Breiner, who was a BPD sergeant before his Nov. 4 criminal indictment, is accused of helping Gelagotis secure a one-year free trial of a rifle under the pretense it would be tested by BPD in 2013.

The gun dealer later told The Enterprise the rifle was returned.

Breiner received one year of probation, a $500 fine and 24 hours of community service after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor abuse of official capacity in May.

Liberty County Constable John Joslin is charged with a misdemeanor in Jefferson County and two felonies in Liberty County stemming from his relationship with Gelagotis.

Joslin, who has said he is not guilty, is accused of lying to investigators and creating a document authorizing issuance of a peace officer ID while knowing it was false, according to court records.

EBesson@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/EricBesson_news
File photo shows Chinese tourists travelling in Switerland. [Photo: Xinhua]

Chinese outbound consumption reached 1.5 trillion yuan ($226.15 billion) in 2015, of which about half was spent on shopping, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

However, during the same period, international travelers spent 384.6 billion yuan in China, a mere 2.94 percent increase from a year earlier, according to the World Travel &Tourism Council.

On one hand, some foreign tourists are reluctant to come to China as a result of problems such as overcharging and cheating in services. On the other hand, some countries have relaxed their visa policies and have improved their services to attract more Chinese travelers, Economic Information Daily reported.

Gao Hucheng, minister of commerce, said earlier that Chinese outbound consumption reached 1.5 trillion yuan in 2015. Of which, at least 700 billion yuan to 800 billion yuan were spent on shopping.

Middle- and high-income groups accounted for a considerable proportion of the Chinese shoppers abroad, with their shopping preference shifting from the luxury brands and high-end products to high-quality, cost-effective goods suitable for daily consumption.

Easing travel restrictions, good services and attractive prices remain the key drivers underpinning the Chinese outbound tourism growth story, the newspaper said.

Visa-free policy offers more convenience, an official at Ctrip, one of China's leading online travel service providers, told the newspaper.

For example, Jeju Island in South Korea and Indonesian holiday resort island of Bali offer visa-free travel for Chinese travelers. Thailand also introduced a six month multiple entry tourist visa for Chinese tourists.

According to Ctrip's latest data, Thailand recorded most visa applications in the first half of this year. Singapore and South Korea ranked second and third respectively.

In addition, adding new flights also bring down tickets prices and stimulate outbound tourism.

Take the United States as an example, 75 new direct flights were opened between China and America last year, up more than 30 percent from previous year, according to Chinese online travel agency Qunar.

The number of travelers in China's international aviation market rose to 50.07 million in 2014 from 31.92 million in 2010, according to data released by Industrial Securities. Among them, the number of Chinese travelers registered a 131 percent increase.

In the future, Chinese outbound tourism is likely to continue to see positive trends.

Most of Chinese have never been abroad, with only less than 10 percent of them holding passports, Shi Yuduan, Chief Marketing Officer of Ctrip's Tourism Business told the newspaper. This market still has big potential and will retain its growth trend in long term.
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech during a symposium on the Belt and Road Initiative in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 17, 2016. Xi on Wednesday called for steady advance of the country's Belt and Road Initiative to benefit people along the routes. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for steady advance of the country's Belt and Road Initiative to benefit people along the routes.

The Belt and Road Initiative should help promote policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and mutual understanding among the people, Xi said at a symposium on the initiative held in Beijing.

Priority areas for the initiative include building a platform to advance cooperation as well as a green, healthy, intelligent and peaceful Silk Road, Xi said.

The conference was also attended by Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, National Development and Reform Commission's head Xu Shaoshi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Communist Party chiefs of Fujian, Xinjiang, Guangdong and Shaanxi, as well as experts from think tanks.

The initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, refers to building a Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.

Xi said more than 100 countries and international organizations have participated in the Belt and Road Initiative. China has signed agreements with more than 30 countries along the routes to jointly build the Belt and Road, and more than 20 countries have teamed up with China in industrial cooperation.

The progress and results of the Belt and Road Initiative have been greater than expected, Xi noted.

The Belt and Road can be seen as an opportunity to promote transnational interconnection, improve trade and investment cooperation, advance cooperation in international capacity and equipment manufacturing to rebalance and stabilize the world economy, said Xi.

Against the backdrop of a sluggish global economy, the initiative will help stabilize the world economy through industrial capacity cooperation between China and countries along the routes, to advance their industrialization and modernization, as well as improve their infrastructure, Xi said.

Xi stressed that more specific Belt and Road policies should be worked out and major support should be focused on strategic projects including facilities cooperation, energy resource use and core technology research and development.

Domestic enterprises are encouraged to invest in countries along the Belt and Road and countries along the routes are welcome to do business in China, Xi said.

Xi also advocated financial innovation and cooperation in building the Belt and Road, adding the initiative should include a stable, sustainable and risk-controllable financial security system.

The Belt and Road Initiative should also be integrated with China's regional development plans such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development plan and the Yangtze River economic zone development plan, Xi said.

More efforts should be spent on pilot projects to generate benefits as early as possible, he added.
SAN ANTONIO  Lou Agnese, who has served as president of the University of the Incarnate Word for 30 years, has been placed on a 90-day medical leave due to sporadic uncharacteristic behavior and comments, according to a statement issued Thursday from Board Chair Charles Lutz.

"His interactions with some students and faculty and administrative staff during (the past two weeks) have provoked considerable concern for his well-being," Lutz said in the written statement that was emailed to members of the UIW community. We offer a sincere apology to persons who may have been or were offended.
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To register as a voter two years ago, Shaina Escobedo of Port Arthur had to go out of her way. Now, the Lamar University student is shouldering that responsibility for her peers.

"A lot of people my age aren't even registered to vote," said the 20-year-old business marketing major "deputized" Monday as a volunteer voter registrar. "I think it's very important to register people."

Escobedo is one of what is expected to be almost 200 volunteers canvassing the county this cycle as political and nonpartisan efforts to improve the county's voter registration target schools, churches, neighborhoods and community events.

Less than two months remain for potential voters to sign up, but Jefferson County has already patched a 16-year registration leak as the rare general election ballot combining local and national intrigue looms.

The 147,300 voters signed up through Wednesday were 100 more than on Election Day in 2012, according to county data. Even if the figure remains steady, this year would mark the first time since 2000's Bush-Gore race that the list didn't shrink from one cycle to the next.

"You look at what's going on in our country, and I think there's a greater awareness of the process," said Allison Nathan Getz, the county's elected tax assessor-collector, who doubles as head of voter registration. "I think you have more people engaged, especially young people."

As of March 1, 145,000 voters were registered, showing that voting rolls initially dipped from 2012. The 2,200 voters who have since signed up represent a 1.5 percent increase over five months.

Registered voters A decline in registered Jefferson County voters in each presidential election cycle since 2000 stopped this year. Aug. 18: 147,300

147,300 2012: 147,200

147,200 2008: 151,600

151,600 2004: 163,400

163,400 2000: 166,200 Source: Jefferson County clerk See More Collapse

As it stands, three in four of Jefferson County's 194,000 adults are registered to vote, according to 2015 Census estimates.

Fifty people were "deputized" Monday evening to register voters, said Getz, who led a class of "dos and don'ts" and authorized attendees to submit voter registration forms for others.

The Jefferson County Democratic Party headquarters hosted the training, just one way for residents to sign up as volunteer registrars. Party chair Cade Bernsen said the roughly 50 people deputized at one time was "unprecedented."

"Voting is not a spectator's sport," said Margaret Junious, a 56-year-old who is registering voters for the first time. "You have to get in there and make your voice heard."

Junious said she is planning to sign people up at Lamar University, area churches and public events.

Other volunteer registrars will attempt to sign up specific community segments, like congregants of Antioch Missionary Baptist and Hispanic residents, Junious said.

Republican Party chair Garrett Peel said the GOP will discuss its voter registration plans when it launches the 2016 campaign Aug. 27 at the party's headquarters.

Getz, who said volunteer registrars typically number 200, said she also is talking to high school principals about registration drives for seniors.

Registration wasn't offered through Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School two years ago, so Escobedo went to the post office to pick up her form. She has voted in each local election since, she said.

Aside from voting in the presidential race pitting Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton, Jefferson County residents will pick the first new sheriff in two decades and decide two judgeships.

Although registration numbers have stabilized, they're not exactly robust. Between 2000 and today, 19,000 fewer residents are eligible to vote, representing an 11 percent slide from the 166,200 registered then.

The county regularly purges its voter list of people who are dead, convicted of felonies or who have moved outside the county, Getz said.

Turnout has not correlated with registration. At least 89,000 voters have cast general-election ballots in each presidential cycle since 2000, with the peak coming in 2004's Bush-Kerry race.

Although 4,400 fewer residents were registered to vote in 2012 than in 2008, turnout actually increased by about 400 voters.

In Orange County, 1,100 residents have registered since March 1. At 52,100, the number of registrants is already 3.5 percent higher than in 2012.

In Hardin County, 800 new registrants since the primary have bumped the total to 37,600.

The voter-registration deadline is Oct. 11.

EBesson@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/EricBesson_news
A Houston couple is demanding that law enforcement officers get more training after a Harris County sheriff's deputy allegedly shot their dog as she arrived at their home for a non-emergency.

Jason and Pamela Jensen said the officer, who would not give her name or badge number, fired three rounds into their home, hitting their 1-year-old American Bulldog Junah in the face as he approached the officer around 11 pm. on Aug. 14.

Bullet fragments also struck the couple, said Houston attorney and civil rights activist Randall Kallinen.

The dog survived but lost four teeth. Pamela Jensen had to have surgery.

At a press conference Thursday outside the Harris County Sheriff's Office, the Jensens and Kallinen demanded that officers receive more training. Kallinen, an attorney, said the couple is mulling a lawsuit to pay more than $6,000 in medical costs.

The Jensens said they called the Harris County Sheriff's non-emergency line to file a report on alleged domestic violence involving a friend.

"The shooting of these Good Samaritans was preventable," Kallinen said. "Something must be done to protect the public from these type of police shootings."

Officials with the Harris County Sheriff's Office said the couple called to report an incident involving a firearm and told dispatchers that three dogs inside their home would likely react to approaching first responders. Dispatchers told the couple to secure the dogs.

"Upon arrival, a Sheriff's deputy was aggressively approached by a canine," according to a release issued by the sheriff's office. "In fear for her safety, the deputy discharged her firearm in a downward angle striking the animal. Two civilians were injured by ricochet from the ground."

The sheriff's office said it was "an unfortunate example of all pet owners' responsibility to secure their animals and prevent aggressive interaction with first responders."

Officials said the Harris County Sheriff's Office Training Academy offers 14 hours of training in "animal encounters" as part of their licensing of peace officers.

The incident is being investigated by the Harris County Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit and the Internal Affairs Division.

brian.rogers@chron.com
Federal officials have rounded up 24 people in Eagle Pass and Crystal City on drug charges, including two employees of the Eagle Pass Independent School District.

Prosecutors allege that the 24 suspects, as well as two fugitives, were involved in moving drugs across the border and storing and distributing them in South Texas.

Of those arrested, 22 face charges of conspiring to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute. The other two, David Davalos Jr., 26, and Maricela Alvarado Davalos, 32, both of Crystal City, are charged with using a cell phone to facilitate drug trafficking, which comes with a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison, according to federal prosecutors.

If convicted, Genaro Balboa-Falcon, 47, of Mexico; Sonia Balboa, 52, of Eagle Pass; Wilibaldo Mora Sr., 50, of Crystal City; Jorge Rivera, 37, of Crystal City; David Davalos Sr., 47, of Crystal City; Jacinto Davalos, 41, of Crystal City; and Bruce Davalos, 34, of Crystal City, face up to life in prison. The others charged face up to 20 years in prison on a variety of counts.

In a statement, Eagle Pass ISD said that two school employees were arrested Wednesday, but didnt release their names. One of those arrested, Sucel Balboa, 27, is a teacher at C.C. Winn High School.

Prosecutors are also trying to seize nine pieces of real estate, two of them in Eagle Pass and the others in Crystal City, that they said were purchased with dirty money.

During the investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, law enforcement agents confiscated 2.5 kilograms of cocaine, 660 pounds of marijuana, 36 firearms, 35 vehicles, a bulletproof vest and about $110,000, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Genaro Balboa Falcon, 47, of Mexico and Joseph Garza, 30, of Crystal City, are fugitives.

jbuch@express-news.net

More Information 24 arrested in Eagle Pass and Crystal City Sonia Balboa, 52, of Eagle Pass Sucel Balboa, 27, of Eagle Pass Baldemar Balboa, 24, of Eagle Pass Wilibaldo Mora Sr., 50, of Crystal City Wilibaldo Mora, Jr., 23, of Crystal City Jorge Rivera, 37, of Crystal City Pura Esquivel, 37, of Eagle Pass Teresa Lopez, 48, of Eagle Pass Angel Lee Ramirez, 28, of Del Rio David Davalos Sr., 47, Crystal City David Davalos Jr., 26, of Crystal City Jacinto Davalos, 41, of Crystal City Maricela Alvarado Davalos, 32, of Crystal City Bruce Davalos, 34, of Crystal City Gerardo Figueroa, 50, of Crystal City Robert Telles, 49, of Crystal City Ramiro Ramirez, 55, of Crystal City Ronald Davalos, 46, of Crystal City Rogelio Davila Jr., 23, of Crystal City Rogelio Davila Sr., 61, of Crystal City Arturo Hernandez, 38, of Crystal City Arnoldo Almedia, 57, of Crystal City Abelardo Rodriguez, 24, of Crystal City Simon Contreras, 59, of Crystal City See More Collapse

Twitter: @jlbuch
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The house of a man who has claimed natural disasters were sent by God as a message to punish members of the LGBT community has been flooded by 10-foot waters in Louisiana during the worst natural disaster since 2012.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council lobbying organization, told guest host Ken Klukowski on his Watch Washington Live podcast Aug. 8 his family had to vacate their house by canoe due to flooding.

This is a flood of, I would have to say, biblical proportions, Perkins said, adding water flooded his familys house and cars. We had about 10 feet of water at the end of our driveway.

RELATED: In flooded Louisiana, a cleanup and a search for bodies

Perkins, who spoke at the Republican National Convention this year, said the flood has affected 80 percent of the members of the church he attends and has been interim pastor for. He said his church was flooded as well.

Perkins shared images of his flooded house to his Facebook page Aug. 16. He said the flood was a "devastating situation" for the entire community.

In October 2015, Perkins interviewed Rabbi Jonathan Cahn on his podcast about the state of the country.

Cahn said the country had crossed a gigantic line, citing the killing of unborn and the striking down of marriage. On June 26, 2015, same-sex marriage was legalized in the United States. The historical day was commemorated when the White House was lit up in rainbow lights, something Cahn said God was not happy about.

RELATED: New plight for Louisiana flood victims: Find a place to live

The White House became a vessel of desecration as it was lit up in the colors of the rainbow, he said. The rainbow is about judgement, mercy and the covenant.

On Oct. 7, 2015, Hurricane Joaquin, a nearly category five hurricane, dissipated after it hit the Bahamas and surrounding areas beginning Sept. 27, 2015. Cahn said the hurricane was a sign of Gods wrath after the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Perkins agreed and asked, Is God trying to sending us a message?

RELATED: Kid dancing behind TV reporter provides much needed laugh as historic floods roll across Louisiana

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5
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More than 1,600 San Antonians are expected at this weekends sold-out Gods of Atheism conference at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort and Spa to hear from a Catholic TV celebrity, a former college volleyball player whose powerful conversion led to a convent and a Philadelphia-based demonologist who has witnessed exorcisms across the country.

The three-day meeting, which will begin with a concert Friday night, is run by Fullness of Truth Catholic Evangelization Ministries. It operates faith seminars throughout the state.

In addition to talks on such topics as Pope Francis on the Most Dangerous Atheism of All and Parenting in a Demonic Culture, the conference will feature what organizers believe is the states largest traveling faith bookstore, which will be open to the public tax-free this weekend.

The Archdiocese of San Antonio is not associated with the nonprofit ministry based in Kingwood, but Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller will celebrate Mass at the conference at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Fullness of Truth director Thad Cardine said the gathering, with concurrent adult and teen tracks, will focus on the four biggest threats to living an obedient Catholic life  humanism, secularism, materialism and atheism.

Well address how the culture is really focused on those four things and driving all of us to embrace those things, all four of which have attacked the faith, he said.

Cardine said humanism and secularism also have attempted to drive a wedge between religion and science.

More and more, we are learning that science and religion are not in opposition to one another, he said. For years, scientists would tout that the church was living in dark ages and that to be a Christian is to be a buffoon.

Father Mitch Pacwa, whose shows reach 2 million homes a day on the Eternal Word Television Network, will celebrate Mass Saturday morning. Hes author of Holy Land Prayer Book and hosts Threshold of Hope and EWTN Live on TV and Open Live on EWTN Radio.

Sister Miriam James, a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity in Corpus Christi, will speak about how her conversion led to religious life.

Cardine said Vatican-decreed exorcism expert Adam Blai will address spiritual warfare and atheism. Hell also do a question-and-answer session for teens.

Blai has assisted at exorcisms, house exorcisms and resolutions of hauntings and speaks of the dangers of the paranormal craze.

The Fullness of Truth nonprofit ministry, its 15th year, has put on 700 conferences before more than 80,000 participants since its inception. For more, go to fullnessoftruth.org; or email info@fullnessoftruth.org.
A 9-year-old girl in China's Anhui province was fatally shot in the head on Aug. 14. The girl was playing with her sister on a sweet potato farm in the Yuan district of Luan at the time of the incident.

According to local police, the girl was accidentally shot by a group of three men who were hunting with high-pressure air rifles. The hunters claimed that they mistook the girl as potential prey. The three suspects have been put into criminal detention for involuntary manslaughter, according to an Aug. 17 Weibo post by the police in charge of the case.

Word has gone all around our village, saying that [the suspects] mistook the girl for a rabbit, a local villager was quoted as saying by news site thepaper.cn.

The three suspects, all local residents, were riding in a pickup truck when they spotted the girl. They fled after discovering that they had shot a child rather than a wild animal, but eventually turned themselves in to police after a "wanted notice" was issued on Aug. 15.

It is yet to be determined whether they were legally entitled to possess rifles. Personal possession of firearms is usually strictly banned in China.
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For years, a property on the Northeast Side housed a list of adult-oriented businesses including strip clubs and "swinger" bars, until March when an archery group replaced the stages, poles and bar tops to transform the building to a family-friendly target range.

Texas Archery Academy, which hosts groups like boy and girl scouts as well as disabled veterans, has been operating at 8235 Vicar Drive since March. Previously, a swingers club and a topless bar, Clint Montgomery, the group's executive director said they've been working under a rent-to-own lease for six months. If the group hasn't acquired $350,000 to qualify for a mortgage to buy the $720,000 property by Sept. 15, they will be forced out.

RELATED: Southern Baptists set to pay $6 million to worship in what once was a massive West Texas nightclub

"It's do or die for us," Montgomery said. "We need to reach out to the community and let them know this is at risk. We've done something great here, but we need help to keep it."

Montgomery said before the Northeast Side location was leased to his group it was occupied for years by "unsavory" businesses including a strip club, swingers club and bar. He added that policemen who patrolled the neighborhood were "so excited" upon finding out it had become a more family-friendly spot and residents also had a "fantastic" reaction to the change of scenery.

Along with improving the nearby community, the director said the club has improved archery in the city, which he said limited-to-no access before.

RELATED: San Antonio's Sporting District was once the largest red-light district in Texas

"Our first shooter was a disabled vet, the community saw that," he said. "That's the kinds of things we enable, that's the kind of community amenity we provide."

He said he's unsure what will become of 8235 Vicar should their goal go unmet and said "it's possible" that it could return to its previous state.

RELATED: If you never visited Bikinis, Texas, your chance is gone

With a little more than a month to raise $350,000, Montgomery said the situation is bleak.

"We are struggling, we've only got about $10,000," he said, adding that they have reached out to local corporations for help but "archery development just isn't weighing on their schedules."

RELATED: Von Ormy mayor outraged over strip club near school bus stop

Supporters can make donations online, in any amount.

"We're trying to create permanent access to archery in San Antonio, something where parents can bring their kids," he said. "[If the money is not raised] We will close in San Antonio."

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye
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While Brazilian authorities were sorting out the accounts of four Team USA Olympic swimmers, including Ryan Lochte, who said they were robbed at gunpoint Sunday, the Internet went wild with the idea that the story may not be true at all.

Lochte is back in the United States but Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz remain in Brazil. The latter two were removed from a plane late Wednesday after a judge ordered them not to leave the country, according to an Associated Press report.

RELATED: Lochte, Feigen indicted by Rio authorities for allegedly falsely reporting crime

Police in Brazil say they have found little evidence that a robbery took place and have recommended that both Lochte and Feigen be charged with falsely reporting a crime. Feigen who graduated from Churchill High School in San Antonio remains in Brazil.

RELATED: 2 Lochte teammates in robbery probe pulled off plane

Lochte already flew home not realizing that authorities might have wanted him to stay, according to a transcript of an interview with Matt Lauer who spoke to Lochte before the indictment.

RELATED: Surveillance video casts doubt on Feigen, Lochte's robbery tale

Lauer said that Lochte had changed some details of his story including backing off from the statements that he had been pulled over by people posing as police or had a gun pointed to his head.

He told Lauer that the taxi was already stopped at a gas station when the car was approached by men with guns and that one was pointed in his general direction, the transcript said.

"I think people listening at home might think that it was an embellishment at the time. But that is up for people to decide," Lauer said.

See what people have to think in the gallery of internet reactions above.
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City Manager Sheryl Sculley today will recommend to the City Council a $2.5 billion budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year that includes 32 new police officers, extra safety equipment for firefighters and substantial spending on street maintenance and sidewalk construction.

The budget proposal includes $64 million for street maintenance and $15 million for sidewalk construction, Sculley told the San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board on Wednesday.

Sculley said the city has gathered community input to help shape San Antonios spending blueprint.

Overwhelmingly, what most people prioritized as most important included infrastructure  that is street and sidewalk improvements, drainage, she said. Public safety is on the list as one of the top five, but topping the list overwhelmingly, is the need for more infrastructure.

While the proposed budget is about 0.2 percent smaller than the current one, the size of the general fund is poised to grow. Revenues to that fund are expected to grow by 4.5 percent over the 2016 estimate.

Reduced for the 2015-16 fiscal year, the property tax rate will remain flat in the coming fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. City officials are predicting an uptick in revenue: an 8 percent increase in property tax revenue  driven by rising property values and new development  a 3.5 percent uptick in sales tax and a 5 percent increase in CPS Energy revenues.

As the budget is being publicly unveiled, Mayor Ivy Taylor and the council appear to have avoided further public spats over social-service funding to delegate agencies.

More Information Budget by the numbers $2.5 billion budget $1.14 billion general fund $589 million capital spending $771 million in restricted funds, such as aviation, solid waste and development services No increase to the property tax rate 32 new police officers 9 new parks police officers 42 additional civilian positions for the 911 call center See More Collapse

There are about 70 delegate agencies  nonprofits charged with administering a gamut of social services  that receive about $21 million in annual funding.

This summer, Councilmen Joe Krier and Mike Gallagher sided with Taylor on a proposal that would have increased funding for workforce development  to the detriment of safety-net funding for things like domestic violence prevention. But Sculley told the Editorial Board that her staff has identified leftover funding that will prevent cuts to the safety net.

Sheryl does a great job of trying to balance all the various needs that we have, Taylor said. I hope the council members will stay focused on community needs and not their political aspirations.

Some 70 delegate agencies, which contract with the city to offer necessary social services, will receive some $21 million in funding, including $2 million for Project Quest, a workforce development program.

Funding for domestic violence prevention will remain at 2016 levels, Sculley said. Youth services, which cover after-school and summer programs, mentoring, dropout prevention and at-risk prevention, will see its funding increase by $329,000.

Under the spending proposal, local libraries are set to get about $3 million in additional funding while Animal Care Services budget is poised to increase by $900,000, which will fund, among other things, more ACS officers, additional spay/neuter surgeries and a larger capacity for stray animals. The departments budget is about $12 million, Sculley said.

Civilian employees would get salary increases from 1 to 5 percent, which includes a 1 percent cost-of-living adjustment.

The proposed budget assumes the council will ratify a new police contract, which was overwhelmingly approved recently by the San Antonio Police Officers Association.

The council is scheduled to vote on the matter Sept. 1, two weeks before budget adoption. For the first time, officers have agreed to pay a portion of their health care costs through monthly premiums for dependents on the citys preferred provider organization, or PPO health care plan.

Firefighters have yet to begin contract negotiations and remain in evergreen  which includes continued health care for firefighters and their families without monthly premiums.

The Fire Department budget includes funding for 46 engine exhaust renewal systems, which help remove diesel fumes from fire stations and a second set of firefighting gear for 1,200 firefighters.

The spending blueprint will also encourage the citys police officers and firefighters to live where they work by encouraging living within the city limits.

Sculley said state law prohibits a city from requiring that its public-safety workers live within the city, but municipalities may offer incentives.

Under the Police and Fire Uniform Employee Housing Incentive Program, officers and firefighters who are first-time home buyers or who are relocating from outside the city limits could receive $7,500 for buying a house within the city limits, and $15,000 if the residence is within the citys Community Revitalization Action Group, or CRAG  an urban area emanating from downtown. They would be required to pay back the incentive if they left sold before five years, Sculley said.

The budget also calls for $13 million in new spending on a Smart Cities initiative, Sculley said, which includes wireless Internet at some parks, solar benches and community kiosks that would potentially offer information about the historic missions in San Antonio.

After Sculleys Thursday budget presentation, the council will spend the next month taking detailed looks at each of the city departments and their budgets. The council is scheduled to vote on the budget Sept. 15.

jbaugh@express-news.net
One of four suspects accused in a shooting that left one person dead and another injured at two homes on the West Side has been identified by police.

Frank Gamez, 29, is wanted on a capital murder warrant in the Aug. 5 shooting death of Enrique Gutierrez Sr., 45, at a home in the 100 block of South San Eduardo, according to the San Antonio Police Department.
SAN ANTONIO  Firefighters extinguished a vehicle fire at a West Side shopping center Thursday, according to San Antonio Fire Department.

Emergency crews responded to the incident around 12:38 p.m. Thursday in the Westover Hills Shopping Center behind a Gander Mountain store near Loop 410 and Highway 151.
A 41-year-old man was charged Thursday in South Texas for allegedly killing his common-law wife, according to the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office.

William Paul Fletcher is accused of killing 45-year-old Maria Gallegos and is being charged with first-degree murder, according to online jail records.
Chinas first food safety liability insurance, known colloquially as "crawfish insurance," was recently launched in the eastern city of Nanjing. Consumers will receive compensation up to 20,000 yuan ($3,015) if they get rhabdomyolysis after eating crawfish at a restaurant. As of now, five restaurants have purchased the insurance.

This summer, a number of people in Nanjing were diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis after eating crawfish. The compensation for these customers not only brought unwanted costs for the owners of the restaurants, but also disputes between the merchants and consumers. The insurance company launched "crawfish insurance" to prevent just such a situation.

Instead of being paid for by the customers, the insurance will be purchased by restaurants. It covers customers' medical expenses for symptoms of rhabdomyolysis developed within 12 hours of eating the crawfish. Restaurants can choose to pay the insurance company either 1,500, 2,500 or 3,500 yuan annually; for these annual amounts, the insurance company compensates afflicted consumers with 10,000, 15,000 and 20,000 yuan respectively. The maximum compensation over a year should not exceed 1.5 million yuan.

According to Wang Shengqi, an employee with the local market supervision administration, the first "crawfish insurance" contract was signed on Aug. 11 in Nanjing, making Nanjing the first city in China to launch the unique insurance. A manager surnamed Ge, who works in one of the restaurants that purchased the insurance, believes the deal is very worthwhile, since it offers added security for both customers and restaurants.
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Surveillance footage obtained by the GLOBO television network in Brazil appears to contradict statements told by American swimmers Ryan Lochte, Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger to the Rio police.

RELATED: Internet explodes as Lochte, Feigen robbery tale probed

Video taken from a gas station in Barra da Tijuca, a suburb of Rio about 10 miles from the Olympic Park, shows the four swimmers exiting what appears to be a bathroom, attempting to get into the wrong cab, and addressing security in another section of the station. One of the swimmers appears to engage in an animated discussion with an off-camera individual.

The video contradicts the swimmers statement that they were robbed at the station.

Reports also indicate the swimmers pushed the bathroom door and broke it so they could gain entrance, though that alleged incident does not appear on the 1-minute, 40-second video.

RELATED: Report: Swimmers urinated on gas station walls

Several outlets have reported that there is security footage showing the group breaking the door and vandalizing the property  including urinating on the walls. Police confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that they are analyzing that particular video.

Lochte is back in the United States, but Feigen, Bentz and Conger are being held in Rio, their passports ordered seized by a judge.

Conger and Bentz reportedly told police the robbery story had been fabricated, according to an ESPN report.

The investigation is still ongoing.

nmoyle@express-news.net

Twitter: @NRMoyle
The world's greatest swimmer apparently hasn't put aside his storied competitiveness after his return to the United States.

Michael Phelps returned home to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport earlier this week with his fiancee Nicole Johnson and their 3-month-old son Boomer in tow.
RIO DE JANEIRO  The U.S. swimmers who claimed they were assaulted at gunpoint over the weekend by assailants posing as police officers fabricated their account of the episode, according to Brazilian investigators.

After watching video and hearing testimony from witnesses, Brazilian police have determined that the incident involved damage to a bathroom door at a gas station where the swimmers stopped in the early hours of Sunday on the way back to the athletes village from a party.

RELATED: Internet explodes as Lochte, Feigen robbery tale probed

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Brazilian police officials described the chronology of events as they believed they happened. Their account seemed to suggest that U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte had not fabricated his version of events entirely, but rather had exaggerated certain aspects and left out key details.

The police officials  Fernando Veloso, the civil police chief, and Alexandre Braga, Rio police deputy  acknowledged that a security guard at the gas station brandished a weapon during the incident with the swimmers. The police officials said there was no robbery in the way it was reported by the athletes, and they were not the victim of the criminal act they described.

The case has made global headlines after the Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte claimed that men posing as police officers had pulled over their taxi, and that an assailant had put a cocked gun to his forehead before taking his money. He later altered his account, saying the taxi stopped at a gas station so they could use the bathroom.

RELATED: Two Lochte teammates in robbery probe pulled off plane

A different description of events emerged from Brazilian authorities Thursday. They said the taxi carrying the swimmers stopped at a Shell gas station about 6 a.m., shortly after the men exited a party at Club France, an Olympic hospitality house established here in the upscale Lagoa district.

At the gas station, which is in Barra da Tijuca, on the route to the athletes village, the swimmers went to the bathroom. In the process, according to the account by investigators, damage was done to the bathroom door and a discussion ensued with the manager and a security guard.

Someone at the gas station called police, but by the time a police car arrived at the scene the swimmers were gone. Witnesses, including a person who offered to translate for the swimmers, said they paid money to the manager before leaving.
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Authorities recommended that American Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen be indicted on charges of false reporting of a crime, ABC News reports.

An earlier report from ABC, which has since been corrected, said that the men had already been indicted but police only recommended charges and prosecutors have not approved them.

Feigen, a former University of Texas and Churchill High School standout, is still in Rio. Lochte returned to the United States before a judge ordered the swimmers' passports seized.

Judge Marcello Rubioli, head of the special court handling the swimmers' case, told the New York Times the offense is not a serious one.

RELATED: Internet explodes as Lochte, Feigen robbery tale probed

"The truth is that this crime in Brazil is not that serious," he said. "It results in very little punishment. If they are found guilty, they would just have to make a payment to an NGO that does humanitarian work. It's not a serious crime. It's not a crime that is going to send them to prison. It's not a crime that's going to prevent them from returning home."

The other two swimmers involved, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, gave testimony to Brazilian authorities Thursday.

RELATED: Feigen doubles down on robbery story

It is unclear if Feigen, who doubled down on the robbery story in an earlier interview with mySA.com, has spoken to police yet.

"We were robbed at gunpoint," he said, denying media reports of a fabricated event. "It sounds like people assume we're guilty."

Surveillance footage from the gas station shows security confronting the swimmers after they emerge from the bathroom. At least one of the four men reportedly vandalized the bathroom and paid for the damages before leaving.

Police have noted there is no evidence of violence against the athletes.

nmoyle@express-news.net

Twitter: @NRmoyle
In Olde England, hunting was the privilege of the landed and the rich. The right to hunt depended on the number of acres owned or ones income.

This inequity led English jurist William Blackstone to complain in the late 18th century that 50 times as much property (is required) to enable a man to kill a partridge as to vote for a knight of the shire.

English colonists settling America wanted no part of the old countrys class-based rules. Anyone could hunt or fish in America.

But that is slowly changing, as the rich and politically connected employ new tactics to close off opportunities for hunting and fishing to the common folk. The most intense conflicts between the wealthy and locals are taking place in the American West  where theres room for everyone, or so we thought.

First, a plea to nonhunting environmentalists to join sportsmen in the battle to preserve access to wildlife. Ordinary hunters seeking sport or food were not to blame for the near loss of the bison and the extinction of such species as the passenger pigeon, heath hen and Labrador duck.

The villains were commercial hunters who slaughtered wildlife for profit, shipping millions of hides, feathers and racks of game meat to American and foreign markets. Hunters started the American conservation movement over a century ago to stop the destruction.

Today, the biggest threat to wildlife is loss of habitat, a concern for all environmentalists. Another issue, the movement to privatize public lands, should also link hunters and vegan hikers in common cause.

Back to the politics.

In Montana, public access to the states wildlife now dominates the governors race. On one side, incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock is fighting private efforts to close off hunting and fishing grounds that Montanans have enjoyed for generations.

On the other, Republican Greg Gianforte is seeking to empower big landowners (like himself) to limit such access. In 2009, he sued the state to remove a public easement that gave anglers, walkers and others access to the East Gallatin River via his property. He accused the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks of using extortion to keep that river path open.

Through much of the rural West, wealthy out-of-state buyers are amassing huge tracts of land to create their personal duchies. (Gianforte is a multimillionaire from New Jersey.) They often break with the neighborly ways of an older West where landowners didnt fret much over locals crossing their property.

The North American Wildlife Conservation Model is clearly under threat. Formulated by a group of wildlife biologists about 20 years ago, it regulates hunting, protects habitat and defends the right of every citizen to hunt and fish.

Colorful misfits like rancher Cliven Bundy make headlines for occupying federal land, but of more concern are serious proposals to turn land owned by all Americans over to state politicians and allied moneyed interests. Calling this a land grab is not an exaggeration.

The 2016 Republican Party platform officially calls for handing federal lands to the states. Thats after Utah passed a bill in 2012 demanding that more than 20 million acres of federal land be transferred to state officials. Eleven Western states have considered 37 similar bills. Six of them got through.

Happily, there has been pushback. Lawmakers in Wyoming and Oregon turned thumbs down to the awful (and radical) idea. Colorado and New Mexico actually passed bills affirming support for national forests, parks and wildlife refuges.

The battles over public lands and access to wildlife will rage on  among mining companies, Native Americans, sportsmen and their fellow environmentalists. We must not let money determine the outcome.
VIA connects people to work, educational opportunities, medical appointments, shopping, family and recreation to the tune of 42.2 million trips in fiscal year 2015. We understand the importance of a robust transportation system for our regions continued economic success and recognize the transformative role transit can play in our community.

Of the four largest metropolitan transit authorities in Texas, VIA is the only entity to receive only a half-cent sales tax. Dallas, Houston and Austin all receive a full cent funding. Providing service to our 1,200-plus-square-mile service area is challenging  especially with only a half-cent to work with. We do our best to apply these funds prudently.

Still, more than three-quarters of our system runs on 30-minute service or longer during peak periods. This number swells to almost 90 percent during nonpeak periods, with 50 percent of routes requiring a full hour wait at nonpeak. Service frequency is the top attribute of successful transit systems, and more frequent service makes transit an attractive option. However, more frequent service requires more resources than our current funding can support.

As a rapidly growing region, we find ourselves at a crossroads. With more than 1 million new residents expected in the next two decades, we must explore every option to keep our region moving forward  including increasing the frequency of existing transit services.

Last summer, Councilman Rey Saldana realized the challenges associated with infrequent service firsthand when he spent a month using public transit as his only means of transportation. He experienced the impact of VIAs constrained funding through limited frequency and long wait times.

Saldana parlayed these experiences into action when he was appointed by Mayor Ivy Taylor to serve as co-chair, along with Councilman Ray Lopez, of the Citys Advanced Transportation District, or ATD, ad hoc committee.

Comprised of a panel of community leaders and experts, this committee examined the need for additional funding to improve VIA service. At the committees request, VIA demonstrated how an additional annual investment of $10 million could enhance frequency along key corridors.

In June, the group approved bringing forward a phased-in recommendation of $10 million annually, beginning in fiscal year 2018, for consideration. The ATD ad hoc committees recommendation presented to the Council Transportation, Technology and Utilities, or TTU, Committee on Aug. 10 could provide more frequent service and faster trips, positively impacting up to 26 million annual trips.

We appreciate the TTU Committees support of continuing this important conversation by asking the full City Council to explore other possible avenues for transit funding outside of ATD resources. Because the proposed plan requires no city contribution in fiscal year 2017, there is time for broader examination. The work of Saldana and Lopez and the ad hoc committee provided an important beginning to this larger funding conversation  a conversation that must be continued if we are to truly meet our communitys multimodal transportation needs.

TTUs consideration of this recommendation was timely, as the next day City Council unanimously approved the SA Tomorrow plans. These plans provide a guide to ensure were ready for the continued influx of new residents and businesses.

On Tuesday, the VIA board will consider adoption of VIA Vision 2040, our long-range plan update. The plan represents the culmination of an 18-month process influenced by tens of thousands of individuals who participated in VIA public engagement efforts.

The path forward requires us to shift the focus from moving cars to moving people.

More frequent service, additional Primo routes, and high-capacity transit can make VIA a great transit system, but they cannot happen unless our region invests more like our neighbors in Dallas, Houston and Austin. I join the many members of the San Antonio City Council who have indicated interest in addressing the long-standing challenges surrounding funding of our regions transit system. There is no single answer to correcting decades of underfunding, but it is a long overdue discussion we must begin.

Hope Andrade is chairwoman of the VIA Metropolitan Transit board of trustees.
Gov. Greg Abbott should commute the sentence of Jeff Wood who is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday.

Among the reasons:

Wood killed no one.

Key testimony was not heard at his trial that would have indicated that  though he was, as a getaway driver, a party to a robbery  he was not a party to murder.

Jurors also didnt get to hear testimony that Wood had borderline intellectual function and emotional and psychological impairments that made him vulnerable to his crime partners influence.

But jurors did hear testimony from an even-then discredited psychiatrist that Wood was certain to be criminally violent in the future.

In January 1996, Wood sat in a truck outside a Kerrville gas station. His friend, Daniel Reneau, was inside to steal a safe  a crime he thought the clerk would cooperate in because of previous conversations. The clerk didnt cooperate and Reneau shot and killed him. Texas executed Reneau in 2002.

But while Wood knew about the robbery, he thought that his friend, at his request, had left his gun at home. This was testimony by Woods girlfriend in Reneaus trial but not in Woods.

Prosecutors employed Texas law of parties, which says that a person can be charged with a crime he didnt commit if he should have anticipated it as a result of another crime, in this case the robbery.

But the Death Penalty Information Center cites only 10 cases of executions using such laws, five of the executions occurring in Texas, according to an article on the scheduled execution in the Texas Tribune.

Simply, no matter how you feel about the death penalty, executing someone who killed no one is a stretch even under the law of parties, particularly if its entirely possible that Wood thought no killing could occur because Reneaus gun was at home.

And then theres Woods mental competency. Wood was to have been executed in 2008, but a federal district court issued a stay so he could argue mental competency. A hearing determined that he was not delusional or incompetent. But jurors should have been able to hear testimony that he was borderline intellectually functioning at the outset.

There is enough here to warrant a commutation to life in prison, but at the very least to warrant the new sentencing hearing his lawyer is seeking.
Thousands of San Antonio-area schoolchildren are headed back to class unvaccinated  placing their teachers and classmates at risk for preventable infectious diseases.

The number of parents filing for conscientious exemption from the states immunization requirements has been steadily growing since Texas law changed in 2003.

Thirteen years ago, there were roughly 3,000 children who were exempt from vaccinations for medical or religious reasons. Legislation allowing parents to get an exemption for reasons of conscience by filing a notarized waiver request with the state health department has dramatically increased exemptions. Last school year, 44,716 unvaccinated children attended Texas schools, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

In Bexar County, close to 2,400 students in private and public schools were not vaccinated. The citys two largest school districts, Northside and North East ISDs, had the largest number of vaccination exemptions with 846 and 657, respectively.

The San Antonio Independent School District, in the inner city, had 80 exemptions. Alamo Heights ISD had 82. Great Hearts Academy, which operates two charter schools in San Antonio, was the only other Bexar County School district with exemptions in the triple digits. It had 148.

Most of the conscientious exemptions are likely being filed by parents who believe vaccinating their children will harm them.

A 2004 study found undervaccinated children, those who do not have all their immunizations, tend to be children of color with a young mother who does not have a college degree and come from a family living near the poverty level.

By contrast, the children who were unvaccinated tend to come from more affluent households where the mother had a college degree, annual family income exceeded $75,000 and parents had expressed concern about the safety of the vaccines. Parents told researchers their doctors had little influence over the decision not to vaccinate.

The movement against vaccinations has been around for many years and started gaining momentum at the end of the millennium, following the release of a now discredited study that linked some vaccines to autism.

The Texas Medical Association, the state health department, the Metropolitan Health District and University Health System recommend vaccinating children before they go back to school. The advice should not be cast aside lightly.
Photo/www.newssc.org

A man in Yibin, Sichuan province recently tried to sell his daughter for 50,000 yuan in order to collect money for his business, local media reported. The man has since been arrested, and the case is currently under investigation.

The man's daughter was born in 2010. However, after her birth, the man and his then-girlfriend ended their relationship due to economic pressure and familial dissension. The man then moved with his daughter to Yibin, where his sister took charge of raising the little girl.

Dissatisfied with his employment options, the man planned to open a shop, but did not have sufficient start-up capital. In order to raise the money, he decided to see what kind of a price his own daughter would fetch. Over the Internet, he contacted a childless man surnamed Wu who lived in Jiangsu province. The two men agreed to a price of 50,000 yuan.

Fortunately, while the man and his daughter were en route to Jiangsu, his sister discovered the plan and reported her brother to the police. The little girl is now in the custody of her aunt.
Re: Trapped in a dying body, front page, Sunday:

I want to congratulate Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje for one of the most moving and beautiful stories dealing with ALS and the death of a loved one. I cannot stop thinking about the Root family and its enormous struggle. Your story was not only compassionate but honest, straightforward and intelligently written. This article is worthy of every journalistic award possible.

Additionally, the photographs taken by Lisa Krantz allowed us to go beyond the written word to the heart and soul of a family whose faith and humor guided them through this journey!

Thank you, Express-News, for sharing this story and touching the lives of all who read it.

Kathy A. Roark

Hope for cure

Re: Trapped in a dying body, front page, Sunday:

What an amazing and powerful story on one familys battle with ALS. Thank you. And thanks to the late Dr. Root and his family for giving writer Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje and photographer Lisa Krantz such incredible access to their struggle.

The piece will enable thousands of us across Bexar County and beyond to begin to understand the enormous life-changing impact ALS has on patients and their families. And with that understanding will come more pressure to fund research into this tragic, deadly disease. That could lead to better treatments and, let us hope, a cure.

Ron Aaron Eisenberg

What entitlement?

Re: Future of Social Security, Medicare key issue, Jacqueline Angel, Another View, Aug. 3:

I must question why the author thinks Social Security and Medicare qualify as entitlements.

To Angel and everyone who classifies these two programs as entitlements, do you pay into a retirement plan sponsored by the education system or another retirement plan that you are not required to pay Social Security? Do you call that plan an entitlement? If not, then why do you call my Social Security income an entitlement?

I would not mind it being called an allocation or a distribution, but to label it an entitlement without clarifying the difference between an entitlement and an earned retirement plan shows a level of bias unbecoming to a professor of sociology.

Mary Ogle

Stop tragedies

Re: Boy, 7 months, dies in hot car in Helotes, front page, Saturday:

Yet another child has been forgotten in a car and found dead from heat.

Why dont cars have some kind of sensor in them that which would detect movement in the back seat if the car is turned off , and start sounding an alarm after 10 minutes or so? Wouldnt that be a pretty easy fix?

Joysa Winter

A willful son?

Re: Younger Bush is touting Trump, front page, Aug. 8:

So Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush says no to compassionate conservatism, the shining city on the hill, and instead supports building a wall across the border to Mexico, insulting Gold Star families, duping students out of their money, etc.

Whatever is Poppy Bushs grandson thinking? The Abbott-Patrick-Paxton administration will use him and kick him to the curb when they have finished with him. So sad.

Sandra Scott, Schertz

Double standard

Why is it that Gov. Greg Abbott can receive the best medical care there is for burns suffered during a vacation but cannot bring himself to accept Medicaid health care benefits for millions of poor people in this state?

He turned his back on accepting federal funds for these benefits but didnt hesitate to accept taxpayer-funded health care at BAMCC for his injuries. Is there some hypocrisy at work here?

Tony Magnon, New Braunfels

Deer farms

Re: Deer breeding, Your Turn, July 25:

The attack on deer farms is totally unfounded. There are more than 1,000 deer farms and ranches in Texas, providing thousands of jobs and contributing millions to the economy, as well as a tax base for state revenues. Deer farms also help private property owners utilize their land in an attempt to make a profit on it. I dont see that as a bad thing.

Further, exotic wildlife ranches have a track record when it comes to conservation. CBS 60 Minutes profiled ranches in Texas that have successfully grown populations of African antelope that are extinct in the wild.

Deer farms dont want chronic wasting disease any more than anyone else. Deer farmers are already subject to stringent regulations and testing for CWD, which is designed to mitigate risk of the disease spreading should it happen to exist, and they have to cover all associated costs, not taxpayers.

Scott W. Bugai, DVM

Media as target

Isnt it ironic that Donald Trump is attacking the crooked media for all his troubles in this election, when it was the media that made him by giving him millions of dollars of free advertising?

Richard Caldwell, Boerne

Scary thought

What scares me is, what happens if Donald Trump speaks to foreign leaders the same way he talks to the American people?

Scary thought, aint it?

Bernie Indianer

Unfair raises

Re: Raises, bonuses are OKd for SAWS boss Puente, front page, Aug. 3:

Does Robert Puente get paid extra for everything he does? I thought he was hired to do this job. Too bad firemen, doctors, policeman and soldiers, who also spend hours away from home taking care of our people and communities, cannot get a bonus every time they do their jobs.

It doesnt seem quite fair that water bills keep going up so SAWS can pay these exorbitant salaries to the people who are supposed to be doing the jobs for which they were hired!

Carol Lucas
Re: Texas 130 toll road operator giving up; Plan calls for lenders to run southern leg, front page, Saturday:

It is no surprise that Texas 130 failed. Who would go 50 miles out of the way to get to Austin? Fifty miles is 61 percent of the distance between San Antonio and Austin, or roughly from San Antonio to Kyle. Texas 130 is a good bypass for westbound traffic heading north of San Antonio or for people living in the Seguin area, but as a substitute route to Austin it does not make sense.

Richard Wallish

Learn from history

Re: The ugly truth, Your Turn, Saturday:

I understand the intent of the letter writer, but as blacks in America, we dont need an apology from our government or white Americans. They had nothing to do with slavery, and an apology would be nothing short of patronizing and meaningless.

What we need is an honest government and an America that should never forget the horrors of racism and slavery. We should include all the bad and good in our history, so we never repeat such evil. Pretending something never happened doesnt help change attitudes.

America must return to following the Constitution and treating every citizen the same way. We have to give everyone the same opportunities as the top 10 percent, with equal education and training, and a tax system that doesnt penalize success while promoting family and unity. That would change peoples lives more than any so-called laws of equality and handouts.

So, no, never forget U.S. history. We dont ever want to repeat it, but to learn from it.

Dale Donovan

Answer to tragedy?

Re: Boy, 7 months, dies in hot car in Helotes, front page, Saturday:

Once again I am deeply saddened to hear of another baby forgotten in a car, this one in Helotes. Forgotten for nine hours. He was probably dead within the first half-hour in this heat. This is heartbreaking.

There has to be an answer, a solution to this problem that occurs far too often. I believe I have one. Couldnt the caregiver just put his or her left shoe in the back seat with the baby? Surely they wouldnt walk far on one shoe before going back to get it. I would go so far as to suggest we make it a law. This awful tragedy has got to stop.

Its just my opinion, but isnt it worth considering?

Earna Winslow, Converse
1 Peacekeepers probed: The U.N. secretary-general is opening an independent investigation into allegations that U.N. peacekeepers did not respond to prevent multiple cases of abuse and sexual violence against civilians and foreigners in South Sudans capital. Ban Ki-moons spokesman said late Tuesday that the U.N. chief is alarmed by reports of the July 11 attack on a compound popular with foreigners in Juba. South Sudanese troops reportedly went on a nearly four-hour rampage through the compound in one of the worst targeted attacks on aid workers in the countrys three-year civil war. Several witnesses said soldiers shot and killed a local journalist while forcing the foreigners to watch, raped several foreign women, singled out Americans, beat and robbed people and carried out mock executions. Separately, several witnesses said that U.N. peacekeepers in Juba did not stop the rapes of local women by soldiers outside the U.N.s main camp last month.

2 Missile attack: Seven people were killed in Saudi Arabia when a missile fired from Yemen struck a commercial district in the city of Najran, the kingdoms official news media confirmed on Wednesday. The attack, on Tuesday evening, appeared to have been carried out by Houthi militias in northern Yemen in retaliation for a series of deadly airstrikes by the Saudi-led military coalition on Monday and Tuesday. Those strikes killed 35 people, 17 of them in a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in northern Yemen. A spokesman for the Houthi-backed army in Yemen, Brig. Gen. Sharaf Luqman, said Yemeni forces had escalated their missile strikes against Saudi Arabia in retaliation. When they strike us, we are forced to launch missiles, he said. The official Saudi Press Agency, citing a Defense Ministry spokesman, said a Yemeni projectile had killed four Saudis and three foreigners in the city of Najran. The foreigners were reportedly migrant workers.
After admiring the athletes at the Olympic games for the past several weeks, a 17-year-old boy in central China's Hunan province recently jumped off a 25-meter-high bridge. Unfortunately, unlike China's accomplished Olympic divers, the boy's jump caused him to fracture his thoracic vertebra.

In a video of the jump that has been posted online, the boy, surnamed Yu, jumps confidently into the river with what appears to be zero hesitation. However, as soon as he emerged from the water, Yu had to be rushed to the hospital. His thoracic vertebra was fractured and his lungs were also injured. Despite Yu's unsuccessful jump, this bridge has attracted a number of other local daredevils to make their own attempts.
GOVERNMENT will consider banning heavy cargo trucks from the countrys roads when the railway infrastructure has been revived, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.

Speaking while officially launching the $400 million National Railways of Zimbabwe recapitalisation programme in Bulawayo last week, Mnangagwa said his administration was working on a number of measures to fix Zimbabwes dilapidated railway infrastructure, which was last serviced nearly two decades ago.

An efficient railway network will help remove bulk cargo from our roads and transfer it into the railways hence our road and railway projects must be complementary and concurrent where possible, he said.

He noted that the current scenario, where road transport was moving a lot of bulk cargo, is causing damages to national roads and made them unsafe and inconvenient to ordinary motorists.

It is my sincere hope that once the railway network has been restored to acceptable levels of efficiency, the necessary steps will be taken to move bulk cargo by rail, he said.

The ban would significantly affect operations of heavy goods vehicles which move more than 90 percent of cargo in the country. There are also transit trucks that pass through the country from neighbouring countries like Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Malawi.

Most of the countrys major roads, have outlived their lifespan, and are now dilapidated.

Consignments landing at the port of Beira in Mozambique have had to pass through Zimbabwe to Zambia, Botswana and Namibia.

There have been large volumes of traffic from the DRC to South Africa passing through Zimbabwe.

Therefore, Zimbabwe is under pressure to not only rehabilitate its roads, but also modernise them.

Zimbabwe is a signatory to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Transport, Communication and Meteorology.

In terms of that protocol, Zimbabwe agreed to assist in developing an adequate road network that supports the socio-economic growth underway in the region.

The network needs to provide access to major centres, ports, and harbours, while minimising road transport costs and impacts to the environment.

According to SADC, roads affect all aspects of development in the region.

Businesses depend on effective roads for transporting their goods, industry relies on roads for delivery of equipment, and people require roads for travel between home, workplaces, and elsewhere in the region, the regional body said.

But Zimbabwe is facing budgetary constraints, and has very limited capacity to undertake infrastructure projects without funding from external sources.

Calling for urgent investment in the countrys roads by the private sector., Mnangangwa urged Transport Minister Jorum Gumbo (pictured) to expedite the dualisation of the Beitbridge-Chirundu Highway and many other road construction and rehabilitation projects throughout the country.

The tender for the $1 billion dualisation project was awarded to Geiger International and officially commissioned in May last year, but is yet to start, with indications it will commence next month.

The contractor will work with Zhejiang Bayong Highway Engineering Company of China. The firm was contracted by government to carry out the project under a 25-year build-operate-transfer model.

Cliff Gondo, a senior lecturer at Chinhoyi University of Technology and a procurement specialist said: With the new Act, there is an opportunity to correct the past ills of the procurement system. Efficient and effective public procurement systems significantly influence the provision of government services like the provision of roads, hospitals, healthcare, sanitation, telecommunication facilities, education, environmental protection, promotion of human rights.

Gondo added: The new Act is in line with the Section 315 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Up until now, government had not recognised procurement as a specialist profession. But now, it recognises procurement function as an important tool for achieving economic, social, political and other objectives.

 FinGaz

Breaking News via Email
(File photo)

So-called white hat hackers, who are part of a booming industry in China, may find themselves increasingly curtailed by a lack of legal identity, even as huge Internet companies continue to seek out their services.

In contrast with regular hackers, white hat hackers are computer security specialists who hack into protected systems and networks to test and asses their security and report about systemic problems. Generally speaking, their aims when hacking do not include causing a disturbance or stealing private information.

White hats behind bars

The behind-the-scenes technicians began to receive more public attention after one of their own, Yuan Wei, was arrested in April for hacking into dating service provider Jiayuan.com. Yuan previously helped to detect an Internet vulnerability on the website in December 2015, but Jiayuan later reported information theft to the police.

More concerns over the legitimacy of white hat hackers arose when two of Chinas major domestic Internet security monitoring platforms suspended their operations in July. The cause behind this suspension has yet to be announced.

There is no exact known number of Chinese white hat hackers. According to a report released by Internet giant Tencent and online security community GeekPwn, more than 60 percent of white hat hackers in China were born after 1990. On domestic Internet security monitoring platform Wooyun.org alone, there were more than 7,200 registered security staff members, China Daily reported.

Passion continues

However, despite some suspicions, the growth of white hat hacking is unstoppable thanks to elevated security awareness. The most noted white hat hacking companies are WooYun.org and Vulbox.com.

Many Chinese Internet giants such as Tencent, Alibaba and Qihoo 360 also offer rewards to white hat hackers who lend their expertise to security detection. Qihoo 360s security monitoring platform, butian.360.cn, had offered white hat hackers cash rewards totaling 7.6 million yuan as of press time, with more than 24,000 hackers registered on its website. These hackers have helped to detect more than 96,000 vulnerabilities for 3,412 companies.

Li Yin, the white hat hacker who reportedly earns the most income on butian.360.cn, said he could earn up to 60,000 yuan from the platform each month, and that his average monthly rewards total around 20,000 yuan, The Beijing Times reported. The newspaper added that high-level white hat hackers can even earn up to hundreds of thousands of yuan every month if they join official Internet companies.

Such high payment levels continue to attract new blood to the business, and some training camps have also arrived to capitalize on the trend. The ISC has offered a cyber security training camp every year since 2014. With top white hat hackers invited as tutors, the camp attracts many enthusiasts each year, even as the tuition has soared to 20,000 yuan.

(File photo)

Illegal vigilantes?

Cyber security experts spoke at a Tuesday forum about the dangers of large-scale Internet vulnerabilities, which require improved methods for detection and defense. Naturally, the employment of white hat hackers constitutes one such method.

Internet vulnerabilities are a double-edged sword. One can see them causing damage to users, but they can also become data weapons or strategic resources for some, said Xie Yongjiang, an associate professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.

While admitting the potential of tapping into such resources, Huang Daoli, an associate researcher with the Cyber Security Legal Studies Center under the Ministry of Public Security, warned that white hat hackers could easily find themselves in a legal gray area, since there is so far no legal regulation of the practice.

There are legal risks for white hat hackers to tap into the resources of Internet vulnerabilities. Many IT workers, honestly speaking, often lack legal awareness, Huang said. There are also no specific stipulations or guidelines relating to the detection and reporting of Internet vulnerabilities, or the trade of such information. Nor are there legal terms defining what constitutes a white hat hacker, she added.

Both experts made their remarks at a forum held on the sideline of the 2016 China Internet Security Conference (ISC), which was put on by Qihoo 360, the Internet Society of China and the Cyber Security Association of China.

Chinese criminal law currently states that those breaching the defenses of websites dealing with national affairs, national defense or cutting-edge technologies can be detained for up to three years, while those who hack into and change data on Internet systems can be put behind bars for more than five years.

White hat hackers today indeed face hidden risks because they are hacking into systems to detect vulnerabilities, but with benign intentions. I hope our country will offer more recognition and support [to the hackers], said Zhou Hongwei, CEO of Qihoo 360, to reporters at ISC.

The detection of vulnerabilities is strategically important for all countries. There is no such thing as a bystander or survivor when it comes to cyber security, Zhou noted, adding that white hat hackers in China already constitute a sizable population.

It is a global best practice to conduct research on Internet vulnerabilities by offering company or government rewards, according to Huang, who urged white hat hackers to abide by the law and suggested that authorities impose a registration system.

Echoing Huang, Xie added that specific regulations on Internet vulnerabilities should be released as soon as possible to better regulate the market and boost the development of the cyber security industry.
Former Cabinet Minister Petronella Kagonye has been jailed for 16 months after she was convicted of stealing 20 laptops that were meant for schools in Goromonzi South constituency.

Harare regional magistrate Mrs Vongai Guwuriro had initially sentenced Kagonye to 36 months in prison before setting aside 12 months for five years on condition of good behaviour.

A further eight months were set aside on condition that she restitutes US$10 000 equivalent to the laptops she stole.

She will serve the remaining 16 months in jail.

 Herald

Breaking News via Email
Dark horse of Chinas retail market is making its presence known in New York City.

BEIJING  Lin Jia Convenience Store, the dark horse in Chinas retail market, recently debuted on the large billboard overlooking New Yorks Times Square, giving the world a glimpse of what a Chinese retailer looks like.

The theme "We are not just a neighbor, we are a family friend" conveys Lin Jia's brand philosophy of bringing the world to each shopper's doorstep. Times Square has become a platform for leading companies to showcase their strength and where Chinese brands can announce their global expansion plans and successes, according to a press release.

As part of its commitment to becoming the most conscientious lifestyle service provider for shoppers, Lin Jia is open 24/7 and sells a wide range of fresh and instant foods, snacks, imported products and daily necessities. The store also provides a variety of services such as laundry, printing, free charging booths for smartphones and tablets, free Wi-Fi, Lakala Kiosks for offline e-payments, self-service government lottery ticket kiosks and free toilets.

As the standard of living in China improves, the pace of day-to-day life accelerates and shopper expectations of retailers continue to climb. In the face of this trend and ongoing industry competition, Lin Jia says that it is more important than ever for convenience stores to provide a full range of services, while introducing innovations and differentiating themselves from the crowd.

Inside the store, Lin Jia installed highly directional speakers for announcements to ensure a quiet in-store environment and fully sealed off the kitchens to avoid having the smell of cooked food wafting through the sales aisles.

Lin Jia, a newly emerging retailer in the convenience sector, says that its appearance in New York's Times Square shows that China's convenience stores are ready to take their place on the international stage.
IRVING, Texas  7-Eleven Inc., the largest convenience retail chain in the world, recently celebrated the opening of its 60,000th store.

7-Eleven started out as Southland Ice Company in Oak Cliff, Texas, 89 years ago in 1927. In 1946, with stores open from 7 am to 11 pm, the name was changed to 7-Eleven. Stores started staying open around the clock in 1971.

7-Eleven expanded into Canada in 1969 and Mexico in 1971 as part of joint ventures. In 1974, 7-Eleven expanded to Japan with Seven-Eleven Japan, which became the parent company in November 2005. Since then, 7-Eleven has opened stores in Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia and the UAE through Area License and Master Franchise Agreements. The first 7-Eleven store in Vietnam is expected to open in Spring 2017, expanding the companys operations to 18 countries.

The 7-Eleven story is amazing and inspiring; we started as a small local ice house and have grown over the years store-by-store, community-by-community, and country-by-country into an iconic global brand, said Joe DePinto, 7-Eleven president and CEO. We will continue to grow by staying focused on the constantly changing convenience needs of our customers and by staying committed to the communities we serve.

Last year, 7-Eleven opened one store every 130 minutes, or approximately 4,000 stores.
By Lambert Strether of Corrente

I havent seen trip reports from Sanders delegates who went to Phildelphia aggregated anywhere, so I thought I would do that for NC readers. (And, readers, if you know of more trip reports  there must be some!  please leave them in comments.) Im not going to try to create a master narrative, and youll find most of the commentary in the headings under which quotes from the delegates are placed (like Fake Process under The Party Decides). Here are the sources Ive aggregated. The first two are mainstream, and the rest are leftie sites (Truthout) or blogs (our own #SlayTheSmaugs).

The common factors Ive focused on are all institutional. As readers know, I have priors (and, I suppose, what might be called futures): Im looking for (and, I think, finding) evidence of independent left entities, neither liberal (neoliberal) or conservative (neoliberal). Therefore, intitututional factors (tactics, structures, even culture) for both Democrat party loyalists and Sanders supporters and insurgents are of interest to me.

The Party Decides

Fake Process

Strong consensus on stage management by Sanders supporters here.

Mark Lasser (CO): This show takes place in four acts and regardless of how distending actors may want to alter the narrative, the show will likely prevail in the producers intended course through all four and until the curtains close. The order of the show is: Act I, Messy display. Act II, An even messier display and a roll call. Act III, Reconciliation. Act IV, Unity.

WaPos Dave Weigel, in story on Nomiki Konst (NY): Over the next two days, the conversations between the two factions stepped up. Clintons campaign let it be known that this was always going to be negotiated, that the week was plotted out for there to be greater unity with every day after the nomination fight.

Lauren Steiner (CA): It didnt help that the WikiLeaks emails were released that weekend, confirming what we all knew about the DNC sabotaging Sanders. The pent-up anger about that and the vacuum that was created by the fact that we were given absolutely no role except to sit and endure a staged coronation left us nothing else to do but boo and protest.

Carol Cizauskas (NV): It was definitely a very intense experience, 46-year-old Erin Bilbray, a Bernie delegate and DNC official from Las Vegas, said. This was my eighth convention. I described previous conventions as Spring Break for Democrats, but this was definitely not that case at all.  It was hard watching so many Sanders delegates who thought the convention was going to be more than an infomercial and watching their realization thats what it was. I was more disappointed in that Ive never seen the [Nevada] delegation so separated. I also never saw the state party doing anything to heal the wounds after the bitter state convention. State party chair Roberta Lange certainly was not reaching her hand out to the Sanders delegates.'

#SlayTheSmaugs (NY): How dare delegates want to be anything on the floor beyond human props? Of course, they couldnt enforce prop-dom; enough Bernie delegates avoided the card trick at the end that the cameras didnt show it, and they couldnt make us hold up the forest of signs they kept giving us. Still, we were constantly disabused of any notion that we were present for a meeting of a political party having a substantive conversation, and the only way to opt out completely of being extras in the commercials was to simply leave, which many did.

Hillary Colby (IL): ;I had no idea how ugly, how corrupt, how the convention was designed to keep out the grassroots people from having a voice, said Colby when she met with me on Monday, along with a few other Sanders delegates who wanted to share their experiences.

The Opening Prayer

This must have been clarifying.

Carol Cizauskas (NV): I believed the convention would proceed fairly as a platform for both candidates until the nomination Tuesday night would promote only one winner. Those hopes were drowned by the tone set in, of all things, the opening prayer. We have an opportunity, oh God, Rev. Cynthia Hale said, to give undeniable evidence of our commitment to justice and equality by nominating Hillary Rodham Clinton as our candidate. As the Hillary delegates began cheering, we Bernie delegates began booing.

Double Standards

This too must have been clarifying. They have no place to go both at the micro-level (the terrain of the convention hall) and the macro level (party structure).

Carole Levers (CA): When we arrived each day at the convention, we were not allowed to enter the convention floor until X oclock. (Generally 30 minutes before gavel time, which could change daily.) The volunteer guards told us that no one was on the convention floor. We, in fact, could clearly hear that there were people inside  a whole lot of people inside. All four days we literally had to bull our way in, barging past the guards who chased after us. What we saw when we passed the curtains, of course, was that indeed there were a lot of people already in the hall  most all of whom we observed to be Hillary delegates.

Mark Lasser (CO): Hundreds of Sanders volunteers who traveled on their own dime to be at the convention are denied credentials. And those lucky enough to penetrate past the Clinton security goons and get a credential are not awarded the floor passes that they were promised, but instead get guest credentials allowing them access only to the rafters where they are of little use as volunteers to the Sanders delegates

Seat Fillers

Ive never heard of the seat filler tactic used in past conventions; clearly somebody in the Clinton apparatus was on top of their game, if this is the sort of game one wishes to be played. Can readers comment?

Carole Levers (CA): From Wednesday onward, huge numbers of Hillary fillers were being bused in to fill the upper levels of the hall and to also assist in isolating Bernie Delegates to prevent them from being able to sit together in sizable groups. This was an attempt to greatly inhibit our ability to communicate and work together, as well as to be able cover for one another for restroom and dinner breaks. (Evidence of this was the huge number of buses that now filled the parking lot outside!) Since we were not allowed to bring in food to the convention floor, we either were forced to gobble down food while standing and hope that our seats would be saved or  just not eat. Many delegates were denied entry back into the convention floor after having left for a break. Some delegates were denied egress for restroom breaks, necessitating that they find another door that would permit them to leave to attend to urgent physiological needs.  We had observed advertisements in downtown Philly from the DNC asking for people to serve as seat fillers  for pay. They were expected to hold and wave signs, chant for Hillary, and follow the lead of the Hillary delegates.

Mark Lasser (CO): The yellow vests are now congregating around the aisles. Anytime a Sanders delegate goes up to wait in the 90-minute-long long for what is truly the worst arena food in America or to go pee, the Clinton organizers try to place a hired seat occupier in the seat. These are not temporary seat fillers like you hear about at the Oscars, these are people being told to not get up once they take over the seat, even for a credentialed delegate. So when you were watching at home and it seemed like slowly but surely the crowd was becoming more supportive of the established Clinton storyline, this is due to a forced manipulation. It is visually true but not because people are reconciling, but because the crowd is being forcibly transformed.

Lauren Steiner (CA): In fact, throughout the convention, Clinton delegates, seat-fillers and other DNC volunteers intimidated us, took our seats and covered our signs with theirs. While I was able to have some pleasant conversations with a few Clinton delegates on the issues, about which they were woefully uninformed, many of my fellow delegates had negative experiences. They were pushed, shoved, mocked, insulted and generally disdained.

Sanders Delegates as Organizing and Self-Organizing

Organizing on Policy

Both the TPP signs and chanting and the anti-war chants made it onto tube; I saw them, especially the red No TPP signs.

TPP

Carole Levers (CA): But the biggest highlight of the day for me and for Marleen occurred when we held our No TPP signs, turned toward our right and held the signs higher so that Bernie could see them from his seat in the upper area of the section adjacent to ours. He saw us, stood, gave a big smile and mouthed Thank you! Jane who was sitting next to him clapped, smiled and gave us the thumbs up!

Lauren Steiner (CA): It went off like clockwork. After the rules were adopted, Elijah Cummings, chair of the Platform Committee, started to speak. When he said platform, the mic check began, and the vast majority of Sanders delegates in that hall held up our signs and chanted No TPP for several minutes. We got coverage in many media outlets.

Militarism

Mark Lasser (CO): Perhaps the most surreal point of the night is when a military leader speaks to how much butt were going to kick once Hillary is elected, the Sanders delegates start the chant, Peace, Not War, and the rest of the arena drowns this out with chants of U.S.A.'

Carole Levers (CA):  I was harassed by five Hillary delegates who got in my face while I was sitting in my seat. They told me that we needed to quit chanting, go home, and that we did not belong there. They added that by chanting No More Wars we were disrespecting the veterans. I replied that none of us were disrespecting the veterans. We were honoring them by NOT WANTING ANY MORE DEAD VETERANS, killed in illegal wars for the profits of the wealthy. I reiterated that we were exercising our first amendment rights to which one replied that WE (Bernie delegates) had no rights. I was later shoved by a Hillary delegate into the metal frame of the seats.

Carol Cizauskas (NV): We heard other Bernie delegates chanting No more war and then the opposing team of Hillary delegates thundering over those chants with USA. It was darkly eerie. We discussed how it felt Orwellian, like the two minutes of hate in 1984. Having chants of No More War attempted to be drowned out by chants of USA was baffling, Alan Doucette, Bernie delegate from Las Vegas, said. To me, USA is a symbol of justice and equality and not warmongering and looking for excuses to go to war. Thats what I want it to be and what it should be.

#SlayTheSmaugs (NY): The most dislocating experience was General Allens speech, with so many military brass on display, and the fight between No More War and USA. That was chilling. Note, No More War is not: War Criminal! Or similarly disrespectful stuff; its simply a demand not to make our present worse with more hawkish interventionist regime change wars and war-actions.

Lauren Steiner (CA): [Clinton supporters] decided to chant with us when we chanted Black Lives Matter. But for some reason, they found No More War to be offensive and shouted USA right after. At first, I was puzzled by the fact that they were shouting exactly what Trump supporters shout at his rallies. Then, after all the bellicose speeches and the fact that they had so many Republicans endorsing Clinton, it hit me that perhaps it was because they were courting Republicans now. They didnt care about our support anymore.

Organizing Resistance

To me watching on the livestream, all of this material did some real damage to the unity message, especially the Sanders delegates sabotaging the card trick (great metaphor).

The Walkout

Walk out, but to where? Here again we see They have no place to go at the micro-level (the terrain of the convention hall) and the macro level (party structure). The walkout gets as far as the press tent. And? Now, to be fair, to walk anywhere else, you have to get out of the hall, through the exits, through a massive parking lot, and then march Where?

Mark Lasser (CO): Towards the end of the day, Sanders delegates, led by those from Washington state and California, walk out in protest and occupy the media tent just outside the arena.  So did the walkout get covered on TV? Unless you were getting your coverage from The Young Turks on YouTube, you probably had no idea it occurred.

Carole Levers (CA): On Tuesday evening, after the roll call vote, the Oregon and Washington delegates became disgusted with all the corruption and obstructionism that had occurred and walked out of the Convention, leaving a multitude of empty seats. Does anyone recall seeing this many empty seats on TV broadcasts?

Carol Cizauskas (NV): Outside in the convention hallway, I found other Nevada Bernie supporters. We saw a large crowd holding Bernie signs and yelling Walk out. As they marched past us, we decided to join them. It was the right thing to do after the corruption, deceitfulness and rigging of this electionafter the WikiLeaks documents confirmed our suspicions that this nomination was stolen, not earned. We protested with others outside the media tent not 200 feet from the convention center. We chanted The whole world is watching and This is what democracy looks like. We sang This Land Is Our Land and gave interviews to reporters from multiple press outlets.

T-Shirts

Again, we see confusion on the walkout count.

#SlayTheSmaugs (NY): In the days before the convention I opted into helping organize an action I found on a Facebook postthe neon Bernie shirts for the night of Hillary Clintons acceptance speech. The point of the shirts was to be visibleboy, were they visible in the endand to be pro-Bernie without being overtly anti-Clinton. On front and back the shirts said: Enough is Enough Bernie Sanders and had a Bernie birdie. The original concept had been rather confrontational; to put them on suddenly when Clinton began speaking Thursday night. Instead many arrived for the seven-hour stretch in the convention center already wearing them. To me they were a marker of the strength of the Bernie wing of the party, a sort of visual reflection of the coalition he was pitching instead of our being subsumed into the mainline party. We successfully distributed some 800 shirts, probably 750 of which went to delegates

Mark Lasser (CO): The only sign of remaining disunity is the more than 100 people wearing fluorescent green T-shirts that say, Enough is enough, a favored Sanders quote. (In actuality, nearly 800 people ordered the shirts, and while I cant be certain exactly how many were part of the fluoro protest on the day, it was at least 100.) The shirts literally glow whenever the lights are darkened in the arena and the black lights become the sole source of illumination. As far as was apparent, only ABC News even noticed this passive protest.

The Role of the Sanders Campaign

All of this is very saddening. The Sanders campaign seems to have foundered here on the contradiction between starting a political movement (our revolution) and running a political campaign (our revolution), where the needs of the campaign were paramount, and not the long-term health of the movement. For example, on the ground level, a campaign is like a travelling circus: It comes to town, puts up the tent, puts on the show, and leaves. But that doesnt in any way create what I suppose one must call social capital in movement terms; that requires much more personal interaction and trust-building. And a campaign optimized for the ground war and the air war is not, itself, going to do any organizing at all (though to be fair, the Sanders post-election organizations may do that; well have to see.) This comes out very clearly in how the Sanders campaign organized for the convention; they optimized for campaign professionals. I am shocked and disgusted that there seems to have been no material support for working class Sanders delegates to attend. Im unsurprised that there was no formal attempt by the Sanders campaign to bust the unity narrative; that was the deal. I could wish that Sanders delegates had self-organized themselves into a visible faction, but given that the war-like tactics of the Clinton campaign, and the unfavorable terrain of the convention floor itself, its hard to see what they could have done more than they did. No doubt theres discussion on this among Sanders supporters. Readers?

Failure to Support Sanders Delegates

Failure to Support with Costs

Mark Lasser (CO): Here in Colorado  and to my knowledge this was similar in most states  the Sanders delegates are mostly working and middle class regular people who had to take a week off work, hit up friends and family for funds, and frequently launch GoFundMe pages to come up with the cash to participate in the democratic process.

Carole Levers (NY): My personal thank you (and Marleen Gillespies also!) to Bernie Sanders for helping with the cost of our hotel room. 

Carol Cizauskas (NV): I had worked so hard to get to this convention in volunteering and staff work for Bernie, in campaigning to be elected to attend, in raising money for and paying the balance of nearly four thousand dollars in airfare and hotel charges

Failure to Support with Organizing

#SlayTheSmaugs (NY): [T]he fact that I had no expectations is actually important, because it reflected to me the failure of Bernies campaign to organize, train and/or instruct us much as we headed into the convention. In the vacuum, we self-organized. We created a Facebook page closed to all but delegates. We created Google groups; we created Slacks; we created grassroots whip.

Nomiki Konst (NY): I want more people with voices like mine in the media; I want more of the amazing people in this movement to run for office, she said. And theyre marginalizing them. Its so frustrating.

Damping Down Sanders Delegates

Mark Lasser (CO): A suited guy comes over to us, explains that he is a Sanders supporter and a Congressman from Wisconsin and that the Sanders campaign wants us to stop waving these signs. The one he says is really a step too far is the No Oligarchy sign.

Lauren Steiner (CA): Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver presented the Unity Reform Commission that the campaign had already agreed to. He framed it like it was a big win for Sanders, because the committee was required to make recommendations for reforms. However, the commission did not have to report until 2018. The Clinton and DNC appointees again outnumbered Sanders members and they could vote the recommendations down.

Lauren Steiner (CA): So here we were going into the convention with nothing to fight for. In fact, the campaign had done nothing to prepare us for any role at the convention at all. There was one staffer assigned to our delegation, and all he did was pester us to stay at the $700-a-night hotel, a severe hardship for Sanders delegates. We were told we had to stay there, so Sanders could confer with us each morning and each night. None of that happened. There was one conference call before the convention. However, it was more to explain Sanders endorsement and the future of the political revolution. And no one from the campaign met with us the first morning, either.

WaPos Dave Weigel, in story on Nomiki Konst (NY): Since last Monday, a small group of Sanders delegates had been asking for, and getting, meetings with a Clinton brain trust. They bottled up the anger of more than a thousand Sanders delegates, and thousands more protesters in the streets, and carefully explained what needed to happen to prevent a blowup.

Delegate Collegiality

Carol Cizauskas (NV): There is one place I did discover unity at the conventionamong the Nevada delegates for Bernie from southern Nevada. I met them all in person for the first time at the national convention, and I couldnt have felt more welcomed. The collegiality among them and toward me stands in contrast to the divisiveness created by the party. Others among us felt the same.

Hillary Colby (IL): This is just tipping our toe in the water, said [Luis Aguilar, a 23-year-old delegate from McHenry], who promises to use most of his energy in the near future to fight the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership. There are so many groups that have formed out of this campaign that will continue to grow stronger and affect the next election.

Conclusion

I dont see how anybody could come out of this convention regarding Clinton as the candidate of the Democrat party, as opposed to the candidate of the party faction that rigged the process from jump and forced her nomination through. That means legitimacy trouble for Clinton down the road, particularly on (what I imagine she hopes will be) her most cherished achievement: Executive war powers. Im also sure theres a good deal of discussion among Sanders supporters about what to do next. It will be interesting to see if the Green Party is able to recruit from among disaffected Democrats and Independents; notably, if Stein tried to supply leadership at the convention  she was, after all, physically present  she was unable to take advantage of the opportunity. None of the sources I read mentioned her at all. Readers?

The future lies ahead!
'It just flipped': Busch details final season with Joe Gibbs Racing in 'Race for the Championship' In the latest episode of USA Network's "Race for the Championship," Busch describes the change at JGR and is introduced with a new team.
Eight months after the formation of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force, its army flag was officially revealed at a ceremony held on Aug. 1, Chinas Army Day.

The upper part of the flag features a red background. There is a five-pointed star on the left side, along with the Chinese numerals for 8 and 1, which symbolize Army Day. The bottom of the flag has a yellow strip to represent fire shooting from a soaring rocket.

When President Xi Jinping, also chairman of China's Central Military Commission, first presented the flag to the PLA Rocket Force at the force's inauguration ceremony on Dec. 31, 2015, no pictures of the flag were released. Six months later, the forces uniform was made public, and now the flag has finally been revealed.
Seven people in Heze, Shandong province were arrested on Aug. 9 after they captured 620 geckoes to sell for profit, local media reported.

Before dawn on Aug. 9, a villager surnamed Xie reported to police that there was a suspicious van driving around the village. After stopping the van, police found dozens of jars filled with live geckoes. Meanwhile, six women were spotted searching for still geckoes. The six women and the driver of the van were all brought in for questioning.

Though geckoes are not rare animals, they were listed as economically and scientifically valuable by the State Forestry Administration in 2000. According to the law, it is considered a crime for people to poach more than 20 wild animals, including geckoes. One of the women brought in for questioning confessed that they could earn 50 yuan ($7.50) per kilogram of geckoes.

The captured geckoes have been released and the case is currently under investigation.
Russia defends use of Iranian bases for airstrikes in Syria

Russia starts using an Iranian airbase to launch attacks into Syria. [Photo: Xinhua]

Russian authorities are rebuffing US claims that Russia is violating UN sanctions on Iran.

This follows a move this week by Russia to start using an Iranian airbase to launch attacks into Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the allegations being made by the US State Department are completely untrue.

"There is no reason whatsoever to suspect Russia's violation of Resolution 2231 because there has been no supply, sale or transfer of military aircraft to Iran from Russia."

Under that UN resolution, any sale of military equipment to Iran has to get Security Council approval.

Lavrov says the Russian air strikes being launched from Iran have been approved by Iran and are being carried out at the request of the Syrian government to help in fighting against terrorist groups.

Lavrov also says the Russian and US sides have been meeting to implement a cooperation agreement on Syria reached between the two countries last month.

That deal would see the two sides coordinate their campaigns.

To this point, Russian and US forces have been acting separately in Syria, though they have a mechanism in-place to ensure their forces don't accidentally open fire on one-another.
Australian police are desperately trying to shut down an internationally-based porn ring, after it was revealed Australian high school students were having nude images shared by on a deep-web website.

According to media reports on Wednesday, the website featured nude images of underage girls - some with their names attached - with a rating system so users can rank the photos.

Police in the states of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) are investigating claims by victims, while it's thought up to 70 of schools across the nation have asked for police to intervene.

Victoria's Education Department has labeled the website as "disgraceful online exploitation," while police in Queensland believe the site could be "moved to another location" in order to evade authorities.

It is reportedly difficult for Australian police to act on the website as it is hosted overseas.

News Corp reported more than 2,000 photos of underage girls have been posted to the site since its foundation in December, while male members have been accused of"hunting" girls, and putting schools on "wanted lists."

The site also encourages its users to post the locations of the subjects, so other users can identify the girls they may know in real life.

Police have said it could take"months" to track down the perpetrators, with a spokesperson from Queensland Police telling the Australian Broadcasting Corporation(ABC) they will work with other state authorities to ring an end to the "highly offensive" site.

"This could take months and months to identify individuals, identify what imagery we have to look at and go from there," the spokesperson said.

"We're not talking something that's going to be resolved this week or this month, it's going to be an extremely long-term investigation."

The news follows a number of local scandals in recent months, in which high-profile private schools have been busted with their own, localized porn rings. Endit
TTB: Give us if you would, a brief history of your writing for Huff Po. How many years, how many pieces, what topics...



LS: I have been writing on Huffington Post for nearly eight years and during that time they have published something close to 180 articles. I am a political writer and have written articles over the years about events as they unfold, which is the nice feature of blogging. I have a decidedly liberal bent to my politics but have striven to write thoughtful, provocative pieces that try to define a rationale and logic to the policy prescriptions being offered.



TTB: What happened exactly when you posted your review of VAXXED to HuffPo?



LS: I saw a premier of VAXXED the other evening and was so moved by the presentation and discussion that followed that I felt compelled to write a piece asking that we at least begin a serious national dialogue on the allegations contained in the documentary. I also drew attention to the spate of events that have unfolded over the past several years, where there has been a massive governmental failure to do its essential job which is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens. I sent it to Huffington Post as I normally doI have an account thereand they published the article. About a half hour later as I was sending it out to my network I was alerted by some folks that when they went to access it it was not coming up. It turns out that they pulled down the original piece and when I tried to rewrite it I was alerted that permission was denied to my account. I have made at least a half dozen attempts to reach someone at HuffPo to alert them that there was a malfunction and over the course of the last two days have not received one response. I even went so far as to email Arianna herself.



It never crossed my mind that this might be some sort of censorship because it has never happened to me and the article, while provocative, is not beyond any bounds of journalistic or political propriety.



TTB: Does Huffpo have editorial guidelines that writers are clear about? What are they?



LS: Yes, HuffPo outlines editorial guidelines and I follow them. I respect that they can determine whether or not to publish articles but what is so frightening here is that they originally published the article and then evidently pulled it back, unless it truly is a technical issue but I suspect they would have been right on fixing it if it had. This is seriously troubling.



TTB: Have you ever been paid for your work by The Huffington Post?



LS: No I have never been paid by HuffPo and I have always felt that that gave me the liberty to explore areas that might not be acceptable to the mainstream media. This is just shocking.



TTB: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?



LS: I devoted nearly forty years to politics, public policy, and public service. I worked for two Presidential administrations, two U.S. Senators, two Governors, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and briefly for the Screen Actors Guild. I was a whistleblower in the documentary Gasland, Part 2 and am the author of two books: The Evolution of a Revolution: An Attack upon Reason, Compromise and the Constitution (which ironically is a collection of 86 articles I wrote in HuffPo over a 4 and a half year period) and Fracktured, just recently released, which is the definitive anti-fracking novel.



TTB: Would you still write for HuffPo in the future?



LS: Of course it depends upon what the actual story and fallout is from this sorry episode but yes I would still consider writing for HuffPo. I need to see how it plays out. I will coordinate with the VAXXED team. I will be speaking at the premier in Santa Monica later today, after the 4:40 show.



(NaturalNews) Lance Simmens, author, whistleblower, political veteran, fracking activist, and more, went toat one of the California screenings, and was moved, enraged, awakened. He wrote a column forabout it, and it went up, as per the usual protocolhe has been a contributor for 8 years and written almost 200 articles without incident.(Article by Celia Farber, republished from http://truthbarrier.com Shortly thereafter, without warning or explanation, the piece was taken down, and his account was blocked.reached out to Simmens via an email interview:You can find Lance Simmens' books onInterview by Celia FarberRead more at: http://truthbarrier.com
Government: Zika virus v. climate change

Obama administration violates its policy of not paying ransoms

(NaturalNews) The Obama administration is planning to use more taxpayer dollars to fund Zika studies, because it squandered the money allocated for infectious disease research on the United Nation's bogus "climate" fund. Not only was the money misappropriated, but it was done illegally, sources say.Now the federal government is tapping into funds intended for other taxpayer programs to research Zika, which by the way poses little threat to most people. The entire situation could easily have been avoided if Obama hadn't illegally raided the funds."In March, after Congress refused to approve funding for the UN's global-warming agenda  funding that is now officially illegal under federal law  Obama illegally raided the funds previously approved by Congress for use in battling infectious diseases such as Zika,""Instead of using those funds for the Zika research that Obama now claims is so crucial, though, he sent the half of a billion U.S. tax dollars to a UN 'Green Climate [slush] Fund' (GCF) controlled by brutal dictators and other unsavory regimes,"reported further.Members of Congress questioned why the president would prioritize climate change  a hotly debated topic with no real scientific consensus  above the Zika virus, hinting that other motivations may have been at play."Congress refused to allocate funding for the U.N. Climate Change Fund last year, so the president used this account designated for international infectious diseases to pay for his priority," said U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-OK)."While I understand that intelligent people can disagree on the human effects on the global climate, it is hard to imagine a reason why the administration would prioritize the U.N. Green Climate Fund over protecting the American people, especially pregnant women, from the Zika virus."Lankford pointed out in a May article that financing the UN's climate slush fund was illegal under a federal law passed by Bill Clinton. "That is because the parent UN organization, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), accepted the 'State of Palestine' as a member, thereby triggering the funding prohibition,"explains."So, the administration found a way to offend our ally Israel, delay the Zika response and, if Congress allows him, add another billion dollars to our national debt," said Lankford. "That is a busy month."Speaking of debt, these revelations coincide with recent news that the Obama administration shelled out $400M in cash to Iran in exchange for the release of four American prisoners. The State Department actually delivered a planeload of cash to Iran to make the deal, which some say looks a lot like paying a ransom.A senator and several high-ranking justice officials raised concerns that the payoff could easily be viewed as a ransom payment. On the same day the deal was made (Jan. 17, 2016), Iran released four detained Americans in exchange for the United States freeing several Iranians charged with violating sanctions laws.The U.S. has long maintained its refusal to negotiate with terrorists and pay ransoms. But the Obama administration insists it wasn't a ransom, countering that it's actually a good thing the U.S. was able to have a conversation about the prisoner exchanges while discussing the nuclear deal.Whether it's using taxpayer dollars to fund research into a virus that may or may not be causing birth defects in an isolated region of Brazil, or untangling the web of complex foreign policy, the public's freedom continues to be at the mercy of reckless government intent on bankrupting the nation.
Peppermint: An old-fashioned remedy takes aim against modern health issues

Lavender: A gentle "old school" fragrance with high-tech disease-fighting powers

(NaturalNews) Every year, over 100,000 people across the nation die from reactions to prescription drugs  a truly grim statistic. When you factor in deaths from over-the-counter medications and surgical errors, the modern medical system  intended to preserve and protect life - acquires the distinction of being a leading cause of death in the United States.Fortunately,. Dr. Eric Zielinski's Abundant Life approach is natural, safe and even grounded in Biblical precepts -- essential oils, extracted directly from plant parts, are utilized to support the body's own healing system and help create optimal health.Learn how to safely and effectively use essential oils as part of a healthy and abundant lifestyleOn the next NaturalNews Talk Hour, Jonathan Landsman and Dr. Eric Zielinski explore the therapeutic use of essential oils and discuss. Which essential oils are best for internal use? Is it safe for children to use essential oils? Plus, we'll take a closer look at quality and contamination issues within the essential oils industry. Educate yourself to protect your health. visit http://www.naturalhealth365.com/free-shows and enter your email address for show details plus some great gifts!Peppermint oil, one of the world's most time-honored and versatile natural remedies, has been employed for thousands of years as the go-to treatment for digestive problems. Like all essential oils , it is highly concentrated  Dr. Zielinski says a single drop of peppermint oil in a teaspoon of honey is enough to quickly banish nausea and indigestion.But peppermint's usefulness isn't limited to easing old-fashioned stomach aches and heartburn. According to recent clinical studies, peppermint oil worked better than placebo in reducing pain in patients suffering from a more contemporary ailment - irritable bowel syndrome.Thanks to its high concentrations of menthone and menthol, peppermint oil also has potent analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, making it a valuable ally against backache, toothache and headache. As a natural antiseptic, peppermint can help combat dandruff; as an expectorant, it relieves allergy symptoms.But. In one study, peppermint oil - along with lavender and other essential oils - produced a sharp drop in disturbed behavior in the majority of study participants.Remember, Dr. Zielinski advises taking no more than a single, potent drop of peppermint oil internally, and even this tiny amount should be diluted in an edible carrier oil, such as coconut oil or honey.One of the key elements in aromatherapy, lavender has been used since ancient times to calm frazzled nerves and promote restful sleep. But this pleasingly-scented essential oil is so much more than a mere potpourri ingredient.Lavender is rich in antioxidants, giving it the power to protect against disease-causing oxidative stress. One Romanian study has shown that simply inhaling the scent of lavender for an hour was enough to provide neuroprotective effects.Recent animal studies have shown that lavender also helps combat blood sugar increases, metabolic illness, weight gain, antioxidant loss, and liver and kidney dysfunction. Other studies have supported lavender's ability to fight dementia,and combat depression.As if that weren't enough, lavender - when properly diluted in a carrier oil - is an anti-microbial agent that also soothes irritated skin. Want to learn more about essential oils? Join us for the next NaturalNews Talk Hour. visit http://www.naturalhealth365.com/free-shows and enter your email address for show details plus some great gifts!: Dr. Eric Zielinski, public health researcher and author- Sun. Aug. 21Dr. Eric L. Zielinski ("Dr. Z") is a sought-after public health researcher, Biblical health educator, author and motivational speaker. Inspired by the timeless principles in the Bible, Dr. Z's mission is to provide people with simple, evidenced-based tools that they need to experience the Abundant Life.By creating programs like Beat Cancer God's Way and hosting online events such as the Essential Oils Revolution and the Heal Your Gut Summit, Dr. Z educates people in natural remedies and empowering life strategies. visit http://www.naturalhealth365.com/free-shows and enter your email address for show details plus some great gifts!
Parents must choose between education and health

Detoxify from vaccinations

(NaturalNews) The first day of school will be remembered for all the wrong reasons by 145 California children in the Folsom Cordova Unified School district, who arrived on the much-anticipated day only to be turned away because they lacked the proper immunization records The move is part of a new state law that went into effect last month, SB277, that removed vaccine exemptions based on personal and religious beliefs. Under the law, students who are entering "checkpoint years"  kindergarten and seventh grade  are required to provide their full vaccination records. Of the district's 1,462 students in these grades, 157 had been singled out by the school as not having vaccine records.The district's spokesperson, Daniel Thigpen, said that they were hoping that the students who were sent home would get their shots and return to school. By the end of the first week, 98 students were still out of school, with 37 of the 72 kindergartners and 61 of the 73 seventh-graders opting not to succumb to the state's bullying tactics.Meanwhile, Age of Autism reports that 133 students from the Elk Grove School District were not allowed to enroll because they did not have vaccination records. The school district's spokesperson, Xanthi Pinkerton, said that 110 seventh-graders and 23 kindergartners were affected; the district has nearly 3,000 students in the "checkpoint" grade levels.No one was sent home on the first day in the Natomas Unified School District, largely because of a concerted outreach effort alerting parents of the need for the vaccines. The school also held vaccination clinics to ensure everyone got on board. Although 103 unvaccinated students showed up on the first day, most of their parents later returned with the necessary paperwork or brought them to one of the two clinics provided by the district in its high school and middle school. Some of the holdouts have already transferred to other school districts. Indeed, many parents are now opting to homeschool their children or even move out of state to avoid being forced to give their children risky vaccines.Some of the vaccines that are required for school attendance include measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, chicken pox, hepatitis B and diphtheria.California is not the first state to deny exemptions; West Virginia and Mississippi have similar laws. In the past, parents who were concerned about the health risks of vaccines were able to use the exemptions to allow their children to continue to attend school.The parents in this situation are being forced to choose between their children's education and their health. While some studies show that vaccines are not harmful, the majority of them have serious conflicts of interest, with many of them funded by vaccine manufacturers. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, it's hard not to feel a certain sense of unease at the idea of parents having to sit by and allow their children to be injected with dangerous vaccines and risk neurological damage.If you are forced to vaccinate your children, you can try some nutritional strategies to help their bodies detoxify from the horrors inflicted upon them by neurotoxic substances like aluminum, mercury, formaldehyde and squalene. Drinking lots of water , taking immune-building supplements and sticking to organic food can all help the body recover from this dangerous exposure.
(Xinhua) 13:41, August 18, 2016

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday slammed the United States for causing a nuclear arms buildup in the Asia Pacific.

A man from Seongju county holds a banner to protest against the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), during a rally in Seoul, capital of South Korea, on July 21, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry denounced the United States in a statement for dispatching strategic bombers like the B-1B and B-2A in early August to the Anderson Air Force Base in Guam for the first time in ten years, according to the state news agency KCNA.

Sending more strategic nuclear bombers to Guam right after the joint decision by Washington and Seoul to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in South Korea proves that the "U.S. plan for a preemptive nuclear strike at the DPRK has entered a reckless phase of implementation," the statement said.

"Such military moves of the United States are part of its sinister strategy to contain Russia and China in the Asia Pacific and maintain its military hegemony in the region, not just aiming at a surprise preemptive nuclear strike at the DPRK," the statement added.

The statement warned that the DPRK, instead of being an on-looker to U.S nuclear threats, will "whet more sharply the treasured sword of nuclear weapons" to defend the sovereignty and security of the country.

On July 8, South Korea and the United States announced the deployment of one THAAD battery in South Korea by the end of next year. Five days later, the deployment site was designated at Seongju county, some 250 km southeast of Seoul.

The decision has triggered widespread criticism and strong opposition in the country and from neighboring countries China and Russia. China has voiced resolute opposition to the THAAD deployment on the grounds that it will harm its security interests and disrupt the region's security balance, while Russia has indicated a military response by deploying a missile unit in the Far Eastern region.

In early August, the DPRK fired two ballistic missiles into eastern waters in an apparent protest against the anti-missile shield.
Thawing of ice in some areas of Siberia is three times more than the usual and it might result to the return of small pox.

According to The Sun, though it is not unusual for melting of ice nowadays due to climate change, what made thawing of Arctic ice in Siberia an exception is because this might cause a deadly outbreak of small pox that comes from the graves in the area.

Mirror reported that last month in Yamal peninsula, a child was killed and there were already 24 more with confirmed infections that came after an outbreak of deadly anthrax. Unfortunately, there were more than 2,300 reindeer died.

Thawing of reindeer or human graves is believed to have widened the anthrax infection. But this thawing can also re-emerge the small pox that has been wiped out from the world.

These processes repeat themselves, warned Boris Kershengolts, deputy director for research at the Institute for Biological Problems of the Cryolithozone in Yakutsk. He recounted an incident back in the 1890s when more than 40 percent of the population suffered with a major small pox epidemic.

"Naturally, the bodies were buried under the upper layer of permafrost soil, on the bank of the Kolyma River (in eastern Siberia), " he said, adding. "Now, a little more than 100 years later, Kolyma's floodwaters have started eroding the banks."

Virus experts from the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have visited the graves, according to Professor Sergey Netesov of Novosibirsk State University. And surprisingly, it was found that the corpses had sores that look like it came from small pox.

Aside from anthrax and small pox, scientists are also discovering new "giant viruses" in woolly mammoth corpses, which are appearing as warmer weather melts ice and permafrost.

To learn more about small pox, check out the video below.
It's a pleasant surprise for this giant panda: twins! Naturally conceived twins is a rare occurrence for this endangered species, but this one named Yang Yang gave birth to a pair in Vienna's Schoenbrunn Zoo.

According to a report from Reuters, Yang Yang actually gave birth over a week ago. However, the zookeepers all thought it was just one baby until CCTV monitoring over her enclosure revealed that she was cradling not one but two little cubs. A video from Daily Mail showed her cuddling with the two adorable pandas.

"It sounded as though two cubs were squealing, but we only ever saw one," Dagmar Schratter, zoo director, said in a statement to Reuters. "On Friday, the zookeepers were first able to make out two of them on the screen."

Yang Yang is currently monitored through CCTV in a private pen, so she doesn't get bothered or disturbed. She has three other offspring, all now in China.

It's not at all unusual for zookeepers not to get a glimpse of the baby (or babies) panda when one has just given birth. Cubs are constantly obscured from view as the mothers always keep them between their paws to warm them.

Newborn giant pandas are quite helpless. According to the National Zoo, giant panda cubs are only about 1/900th the size of its mother, which makes it the smallest mammal newborn relative to the mother's size, except for marsupials. They often only weigh roughly three to five ounces and are pink, hairless and blind -- somewhat unrecognizable from panda's lumbering black and white figure as an adult.

In the wild, cubs may stay with their mothers up to three years. The giant panda's slow breeding nature makes it difficult for the species to cope with the human-made threats to their population: illegal hunting and loss of their habitat, among others.
A team of scientists is on a real-life Pokemon hunt as they search for the extremely elusive Zenkerella insignis, a mysterious squirrel-like animal from central Africa that has never been seen alive for almost a century.

According to the study published in the journal Peer J, researchers from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of South Califonia recently found dead specimens of scaly-tailed squirrels, which give clues that Zenkerellas may still be alive after all.

"Zenkerella could be seen as the ultimate Pokemon that scientists have still not been able to find or catch alive," said Erik Seiffert, lead author of the study. "After all, it probably only shows up in the middle of the night, deep in the jungles of central Africa, and might spend most of its time way up in tall trees where it would be particularly hard to see."

To obtain hints of the Zenkerella's existence, Seiffert and his team sampled the mysterious creature's DNA and compared it to the specimens' DNA .

Results show that the elusive rodent is distantly connected to the dead specimens, which, according to Phys.org, feature webbed legs and elbows as well as scaily tails for support and traction while climbing trees.

In the span of history, only 11 Zenkerella fossils can be found in museums around the world. The species is one of the five "sole surviving members of ancient lineages." This means that Zenkerella's existence dates back 49 million years ago and have only evolved minimally over time.

Seiffert says that of the five species survivor with ancient lineages, the Zenkerella is so elusive that it's the only one scientists have not studied thoroughly.

"We are only just starting to work on basic descriptions of Zenkerella's anatomy. It's fun to think that there might be other elusive mammalian species out there, deep in the rainforests of central Africa that will be new to science," said Seiffert.
NASA's Space Robotics Challenge is now open for registration, officials said.

The competition was created with the purpose of helping develop the capabilities of NASA's humanoid robots to assist astronauts in their journey to Mars. A prize of $1 million will be awarded to teams who can program a virtual robot, which was modeled after NASA's Robonaut 5 (R5) robot, to complete a series of tasks in a simulated Mars habitat, NASA officials said.

"Precise and dexterous robotics, able to work with a communications delay, could be used in spaceflight and ground missions to Mars and elsewhere for hazardous and complicated tasks, which will be crucial to support our astronauts," Monsi Roman, program manager of NASA's Centennial Challenges, said in a statement.

"NASA and our partners are confident the public will rise to this challenge, and are excited to see what innovative technologies will be produced."

In the simulated Martian environment, competing teams will be assigned an R5 and will be tasked to resolve different situations following a dust storm that damaged a Martian habitat. The tasks include aligning a communications disk, fixing a leak in the habitat and repairing a solar array.

Below-freezing temperatures and harsh environments in other planets could make it impossible for hydraulics-based robotic systems to operate in space. Instead of hydraulics, the R5 uses elastics technology, which could address the problems of operating in space.

The registration for the competition started on Aug. 17 and the qualifying round will be held mid-September to mid-November. Finalists will be announced in December and will be competing from January to early June in 2017.

The software that will be developed in the competition will be transferred across other robotic systems to be used by both older robotic models like the Robonaut 2 and future models to be developed.

The competition will generate a technology that would enable robots to be deployed before astronauts to set up habitats, life support systems, communications and solar apparatuses, as well as to begin preliminary scientific research.

Robonaut is also known as Valkyrie to MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). The humanoid robot placed sixth during last year's DARPA Robotics Challenge. Robonaut (aka Valkyrie) is equipped with four body cameras, 28 torque-controlled joints and over 200 individual sensors.
The United States has already seen some of the most extreme weather disasters this year, and 2016 is only half over.

Just this week, the Blue Cut wildfire raged in Southern California, destroying dozens of houses and forcing over 80,000 residents to evacuate.

Also recently, at least 11 people were reported to have died from the catastrophic flooding in south Louisiana. About 30,000 people have been rescued since Friday, when heavy rains started to submerge communities. The flood, which is said to be one of the worst in Louisiana history, had damaged at least 40,000 homes.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently released a report saying that as of July 2016, weather disasters have already caused $8-billion worth of losses across the U.S. NOAA has listed eight weather and climate disasters (2 flooding events and 6 severe storm events), with losses exceeding $1 billion each, including deaths and significant economic impact among affected areas. These weather events are all notable effects of climate change.

The Blue Cut wildfire and the Louisiana flooding are only two of the most catastrophic weather disasters that plagued the country. Here are the other deadly climate catastrophes that hit the U.S. so far in 2016.

1. Floods

West Virginia had experienced deadly floods in June, killing at least 26 people and destroying over 1,200 homes. Heavy rains and rising water submerged towns, swamping a resort and trapped 500 people in a building.

Heavy rains in Texas have also caused rivers to overflow, damaging about 1,400 homes in Fort Bend County near Houston, Texas. Death toll has risen to 15, which includes 9 soldiers who had died when flood waters submerged a training exercise at Fort Hood, Texas.

2. Wildfires

California has been facing major wildfires this 2016 due to drought and intense summer heat. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire), twice as many acres had burned in the state in 2016 compared to the same period the previous year. Catastrophic wildfires include the Central Coast's Soberanes Fire, the Erskine Fire in Kern County, and the Sand Fire in Los Angeles County.

3. Heat Waves

A scorching heat had plagued Arizona and killed four hikers on trails across the state in June. In late July, a 90-degree heat wave had spread throughout the northeast, affecting the New York tri-state area, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. among others.

4. Winter Storm

Winter Storm Jonas was one of the biggest snowstorms on record. In January, snowstorm had covered a huge portion of the northeast, including Washington D.C. and New York City, with over two feet of snow. It also affected some parts of the south and Ohio Valley, including the Plains.

The blizzard buried over 430,000 square miles and killed at least 50 people.
NASA's Hubble Telescope captured an image of a lopsided galaxy.

The galaxy is known as NGC 2337, and it is considered an irregular galaxy as it lacks a distinct and regular appearance. The galaxy NGC 2337 is located 25 million light-years away in the constellation of Lynx, NASA said in a news release.

The image captured by Hubble showed the stars of the lopsided galaxy, with blue patches and knots of light scattered around, indicating the presence of young, newly formed, hot stars, NASA officials said.

According to NASA scientists, the shape of irregular galaxies like the lopsided NGC 2337 is caused by collision with other galaxies. The interaction of gravitational forces during a collision could deform and warp the galaxies.

"Despite the disruption, gravitational interactions between galaxies can kick-start star formation activity within the affected galaxies, which may explain the pockets of blue light scattered throughout NGC 2337," NASA officials said in a statement.

About a quarter of all known galaxies in the universe have an irregular shape. While irregular galaxies are not as visually stunning as the symmetrical and elliptical galaxies like our very own Milky Way, scientists consider them important when studying about a galaxy's evolution. Irregular galaxies could provide astronomers valuable information about how galaxies interact, evolve and how they give birth to new stars.

The galaxy NGC 2337, also known as LEDA 20298 and UGC 3711, was discovered in 1877 by French astronomer Edouard Stephan, who also discovered the Stephan's Quintet group of galaxies. According to NASA officials, the image was composed of infrared and optical observations from Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys.

The Lynx is a faint constellation in the northern hemisphere. It was charted by Polish astronomer Johannes Havelius in the 17th century, creating a constellation out of the stars lying in the gap between Ursa Major and Auriga. It was named after the lynx because the constellation was too faint that it will take someone with the eyesight of a lynx to spot it from the sky.
A researcher from the University of California, Santa Barbara by the name of Gerardo Aldana suggests that the ancient Mayan book Venus Table of Dresden Codex should be also considered as a remarkable innovation of the Mayan people in the field of Astronomy and Mathematics, not just an incredible feat in astrology.

In a paper written by Aldana and published in the Journal of Astronomy in Culture, he showed that the Venus Table should be considered as an achievement in Mayan Science and not just some numerological oddity.

"If you say it's just numerology that this date corresponds to; it's not based on anything you can see. And if you say, 'We're just going to manipulate them [the corrections written] until they give us the most accurate trajectory,' you're not confining that whole thing in any historical time," explained Aldana, a professor of anthropology and of Chicana and Chicano studies, in a statement.

The Venus Table is an ancient Mayan book that keep tracks the observable phases of the planet Venus. For the last 70 years, scientists and archeologists have insisted that the book was based in numerology, despite the accurate observation of Venus.

With the assumption that the Mayan people keep historical record of astronomical events and consulting it in the future, Aldana suggests that the Mayan people saw a pattern in their observation, just like what happened in the history of Western astronomy.

Using this assumption, Aldana discovered that the Mayan people used Venus not just to strictly chart when it will appear, but they were using their observation for ritual cycles. Based on this discovery, Aldana showed that an ancient Mayan astronomer observing Venus might have seen the progression of the planet and discovered it was a viable way to correct the calendar and to set their ritual events, resulting in the formation of the Mayan leap year.


A star explosion gave scientists the first evidence that the ten thousand to one million year evolution of a nova is a cycle, as hypothesized.

Astronomers at the University of Warsaw were rewarded for their patience when six years of observing the classical nova V1213 Cen (Nova Centauri 2009) culminated in a nova eruption. V1213's explosion is the first direct evidence in support of the nova hibernation hypothesis, as described by a new study published in Nature.

Classical novae, such as V1213, consist of two stars orbiting a common center to create a binary system. Within the system the white dwarf star accumulates particles from a secondary star of lower mass in a process known as accretion.

From 2003 to 2009, the team of astronomers watched the hibernating star. Occasional smaller explosions, called dwarf nova outbursts, indicated the low mass-transfer rate to the white dwarf present during hibernation.

"Dwarf nova outbursts appear when the mass-transfer rate between the stars is unstable, so each little bump in the light curve is produced by a portion of matter falling onto the surface," said Przemek Mroz, the lead author of the study, in a report by Space.com.

Changes in mass-transfer rate can be viewed by the changing brightness of the star. A decreased mass-transfer rate results in a dimmer star, with eruptions causing temporary brightening.

In 2009, V1213 awoke. A change in accretion to prehibernation levels led to the nova explosion.

Nova explosions are perhaps better described as a large-amplitude brightening. Neither star in the binary system dies - the mass-transfer rate increases to prehibernation levels, resulting in a brighter star.

The light curve generated by observation of V1213 pre and posteruption support the hibernation hypothesis. This support is the first evidence for life cycle of novae.

Following the hibernation hypothesis, V1213 will maintain increased mass-transfer rates for a significant period of time before entering a decrease in mass-transfer that could take up to a million years and would eventually put the nova back into hibernation.
(Global Times) 10:10, August 18, 2016

Graphics: GT

Experts said the role of social media in Chinese society has to be revisited after interest in a Chinese actor's divorce case attracted 700 million views in a single day, eclipsing the Rio Games and the anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II.

The unrelenting social media interest in 32-year-old Wang Baoqiang reflects netizens' need for an outlet by commenting on his case more than they do on political issues, which likewise renewed discussions on mismatched marriages, observers said.

Wang announced on his Sina Weibo account early Sunday that he is ending his seven-year marriage to Ma Rong after she had an affair with his agent, Song Zhe. He sued Ma on Monday, alleging that she had transferred their joint assets.

On Sunday alone, 10,629 articles on popular news application Jinri Toutiao, or "today's headlines," surfaced, 106 of which each attracted over 1 million views, according to Jizhezhan, a WeChat account that focuses on the news industry.

As more information was exposed, including Ma's claims of Wang's alleged extramarital affair on Tuesday afternoon, most netizens stayed glued to the family dispute. Over 2.1 million posts on Sina Weibo were about Wang on Wednesday, making it by far the hottest topic over the stunning victory of China's women's volleyball team over Brazil in the quarterfinals. The volleyball topic only attracted 118,000 posts.

Most netizens expressed their support for Wang and contempt for his wife - more than 4.49 million mostly critical or sarcastic comments were left on Ma's post as of Wednesday, one of the largest number of comments on a single Weibo post.

A Hebei Province farmer's son who rose to stardom in 2004 after starring in the film, A World Without Thieves, Wang received overwhelming support and sympathy from Net users for his rags-to-riches story, said Steven Dong, an Academy of Media and Public Affairs professor at the Communications University of China.

His predicament was also attributed to a mismatched marriage - between a beautiful college-educated woman and a rich but homely man, consistent with the mainstream Chinese belief that a couple should be a match in every aspect to maintain an enduring relationship, including social status, educational background, income and physical appearance, Dong said.

However, Yu Guoming, deputy dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at the Renmin University of China, said he sees interest in the topic from a broader perspective.

"The topic offers the Chinese almost unchecked freedom to discuss and dig into whatever details they are interested, in contrast with sensitive political topics," Yu told the Global Times, adding that people needs to have fun as well because of the tremendous pressure amid the country's continuing economic downturn.

Undermining the court

But the issue was largely ignored by mainstream media.

The divorce case has evolved into such a dramatic story, including financial conspiracy and unfaithfulness angles, that mainstream media's coverage would have made it too serious, Yu said.

Nevertheless, Dong called on the mainstream media to end the netizens' obsession with the topic. "Since the court has received the case, Net users should stop acting as judge and jury," Dong said, adding that public pressure will undermine the authority of the law if the hearing fails to conform to their expectations.
UC Berkeley students will see a famous face on campus this fall  actor and political activist Ashley Judd is headed to University of Californias flagship campus to get a PhD in Berkeleys public policy program.

Judd, a UN Goodwill ambassador, who briefly entertained the thought of running for senate in her home state Kentucky, made the announcement during a Facebook Live session with her fans.

"I have decided to take the next step in my academic journey," Judd, 48, said. "Sometimes I'm really excited, sometimes I'm like 'What have I gotten myself into?!' I'm very esteemed and honored that they accepted me."

Judd praised the program, which is touted as the number one in the country, accepting only two or three candidates every year. Judd said she intends to "make the best of my time at Berkeley."

"It was ultra-competitive and I know that talented and virtuous, well-meaning, smart people from all over the world applied," she said. Judd added that shes ready "do some good thinking, some rigorous research and fill it with my typical heart and soul and see how I can continue to do my little part to make the world a better place."

Judd, who starred in "Double Jeopardy" and "Olympus Has Fallen" among oher films, graduated from the University of Kentucky. In 2009, she received a masters in public administration from Harvard, with an emphasis in gender equality.

Judd, who has also worked toward wildlife and anti-violence campaigns, wants to focus on gender equality and human trafficking.

"You can look at the whole of our striving toward gender equality within the dynamic of ending human trafficking," she said.
A large pothole opened up on Highway 85 in Sunnyvale on Wednesday, snarling an already busy commute and even disabling some cars before crews rushed to repair and reopen the roadway for the evening rush hour.

The pothole was more than just a commute hassle. It was yet another sign of Bay Area roads in dire need of repairs.

A new report found the region's crumbling roads are costing drivers thousands of dollars every year. TRIP, a national transportation research group, says the Bay Area and California need to act fast to fix their roads because things are getting worse.

"More than a third of Californias major roads are in poor condition, and here in the San Jose area, 79 percent of major roads are in critical, poor or mediocre condition," said Carolyn Bonifas Kelly, associate director of research and communications with TRIP.

The California Highway Patrol said Wednesday's pothole had exposed rebar, and the result was a few vehicles with flattened tires. It happened at a section of the highway where a previous pothole occurred last year, the CHP said.

"We have underinvested in our transportation infrastructure," San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said.

TRIP says the average driver in the South Bay loses $2,500 a year in auto repairs and commute delays as a result of the regions decaying infrastructure.

In response, local leaders are pushing a new measure for the November ballot, a countywide half-cent sales tax increase to fix roads and other transportation issues.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese, who chairs the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, is urging voters to help.

"The situation has gone from serious to critical, and we can't afford to wait for the state or federal government to ride to the rescue," Cortese said. "We need to dig into our own pockets and put more local dollars to work."
Spoiler: A warm sealed and glazed donut with ice cream inside will likely take over local social media feeds later this year.

Milkbomb Ice Cream has an Instagram star in the making with this item, which has been made with organic ice cream flavors like horchata and ube (purple yam)  tastes beloved by the multicultural Bay Area.

Proprietors Jan-Michael Manuel and Marion Valenzuela told NBC Bay Area that they're currently negotiating for a lease on a permanent space in a prominent, high trafficked part of Nob Hill in San Francisco. They would like to open before the end of the year.

After a break from catering, they'll resume taking inquiries in October, when they hope to debut at a few different San Francisco farmer's markets; they're also eyeing farmer's markets in Oakland.

Oh yeah, Manuel and Valenzuela will also offer healthy fruit bars with chia seeds and other wellness boosters, but you'll have to get past this temptation first.
Two days before the Ringling Brothers Circus begins a series of shows in Oakland, two City Council members and animal rights activists said Wednesday that they're glad the circus has decided to stop using elephants in its performances sooner than planned.

In December 2014, the Oakland City Council became only the second city in the country, after Los Angeles, to pass an ordinance banning the use of bullhooks for handling elephants. Critics say bullhooks are instruments of torture.

Three months later, Ringling Brothers said it would discontinue elephant performances by 2018, but it recently decided to stop such performances immediately.

Speaking at a news conference outside City Hall, City Councilman Dan Kalb said, "Ringling Brothers has done this ahead of schedule."

Kalb said that when the council voted to ban bullhooks, "We knew this would go nationwide but we didn't know it would happen sooner than we expected."

Kalb said other cities have also voted to ban bullhooks and the state Legislature recently passed a bill that would make California the second state in the nation, after Rhode Island, to protect elephants from bullhook abuse. The bill is now on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk.

Critics say bullhooks are weapons resembling fireplace pokers used to jab, hook, strike and hit elephants on sensitive areas of their body to inflict pain and instill fear to control them including during training and performances.

"They are instruments that serve no purpose but to torture animals," Kalb said. "That's not what Oakland is about, that's not what this country is about and that's not what our planet is about."

He said, "We love to have circuses in Oakland but without animals that are tortured."

City Councilman Noel Gallo said the use of bullhooks "is not right and it is not accepted in the city of Oakland."

Gallo said he thinks circuses such as Ringling Brothers should also treat other animals, such as lions, tigers and horses, "with respect."

Gina Kinzley, the co-elephant manager at the Oakland Zoo, said bullhooks "are not like a leash on a dog and only cause pain."

Kinzley said the Oakland Zoo discontinued using bullhooks 25 years ago and instead uses "protected contact" techniques, which she said are more humane.

In addition, Oakland Zoo officials have said they oppose the use of any exotic animals in circuses, or any performance venue, for humane reasons.

Among the groups that support the bullhook ban are the East Bay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Performing Animal Welfare Society and Humanity Through Education, a Bay Area nonprofit that documents the living conditions and treatment of animals in circuses and educates patrons about those conditions.
When Murat Karacas cat, Einstein, had breathing problems, his local vet suspected a tumor in his trachea. There was only one place the Oakland pet owner wanted to go.

"I said, 'No way, were going to UC Davis,'" said Karaca. "They have such a good reputation."

Karaca was relieved when the veterinarians at Davis didnt find a tumor. But he says they also didnt find much else, despite tests, blood work and procedures.

"They do test again and again," said Karaca. "And we always said, 'Whats the problem?' And they said, 'We dont know, we dont know, we dont know.'"

By the ninth day, Karacas bill was $17,000, most of which he had approved because, he said, Davis kept giving him hope. But he still had no answers. And Einstein was still sick. Karaca feels like Davis was using his cat to experiment.

"Like a guinea pig," Karaca said.

Karaca says Davis performed an unsuccessful surgery and asked for another $8,000 to continue treatment.

"The minute the money flow stopped, they stopped communication," said Karaca. "We didnt know if he was alive or dead. They never called us. This was the most horrible torture I ever had in my life."

Karaca says Einstein was ultimately euthanized.

"Anger," said Karaca. "Just anger. Enormous anger."

Chris from San Francisco took his bulldog, Kramer, to Davis after a local vet diagnosed Kramer with cancer.

Chris and his personal vet suspected one type of cancer, one more common in bulldogs, but Davis treated Kramer for a different type.

"It was always very evasive dealing with them," said Chris. "And very frustrating. Because they wouldnt listen to me."

Chris says he ignored his instincts and followed Davis advice and the treatment plan based on Davis diagnosis. Chris said Kramers health never got better. Within weeks, Kramer died, following a splenectomy performed by Chris personal vet, a surgery Chris felt should have been done by Davis right away.

A necropsy, an autopsy for animals, conducted by an independent lab hired by Chris, confirmed Chris hunch: Kramer had the cancer hed suspected.

"I knew it all along," said Chris. "That that was it."

Chris thinks Kramer may have lived longer if the diagnosis at Davis had been different.

"They feel like since theyre number one, 'Whos this guy questioning us? Hes not a vet, he doesnt have a medical degree,'" said Chris. "Thats the wrong attitude to have."

We heard from other pet owners who shared similar experiences -- tests, few answers and what they believe was misguided treatment.

Suzanne Valente of Pacifica wasnt happy with Davis treatment of her dog Sallys brain tumor back in 2002. After leaving Davis, Valente said Sallys health declined, and she had to put her to sleep.

And Valente was also shocked by her final bill of $17,000, double what shed authorized.

"The worst part of it was heres our bill for $17,000, which is much more than we expected, and then on top of that, we got a death sentence," said Valente. "We didnt get any benefit from all of this."

Valente disputed Davis bill with her credit card company and eventually won. But Davis later sued her for not paying the bill. A court found Davis treatment of Sally appropriate. But it also said Valente had the right to speak to a doctor first if the charges were going to substantially exceed the $8,500 quote. So it said Valente was only on the hook for the $8,500, not $17,000.

Davis vet hospital has a long reputation of outstanding care. Its part of Davis renowned veterinary school, which is ranked number one in the country and in the world.

We asked for an interview with the chief veterinary medical officer at Davis, but she declined. In a statement, she said she couldnt discuss the pet owners in our story, due to client confidentiality. But she said Davis treats more than 41,000 small animals like Einstein, Kramer and Sally every year, and she responds to less than 20 written complaints per year.

Pet owners typically file complaints against vets with the California Veterinary Medical Board. Its job is to investigate complaints.

"In terms of any care and treatment thats provided to a pet, it should be medically necessary," said Annemarie Del Mugnaio of the board.

The board isnt commenting on these specific cases. But it points out that treatment should be done to extend a pets life. If it doesnt, there may be a standard of care issue.

But the board cant help many pet owners who have complaints against Davis because the vets at Davis dont have to be licensed. So theyre exempt from board oversight. Of the six vets who cared for Einstein and Kramer, none is licensed by the state. This exemption has been on the books for years. And it ties the boards hands.

"With exempt settings, its very limited to what the board can do to actually protect the consumer and be proactive," said Del Mugnaio.

State Sen. Jerry Hill has heard complaints about Davis too. Hes working with the board on proposed legislation that would end Davis exemption, add oversight and require its vets to be licensed.

"What occurred was many of the consumers and their pets were treated by these veterinarians, and they had no recourse when they had what they felt was bad service, bad veterinarian medicine or inappropriate care," said Hill. "So they had no place to turn because there was no license with those veterinarians."

These pet owners are happy to hear things might change. But they wish reform had come sooner.

"Ill never forget Kramer," said Chris. "Im still not over it completely. But I feel like maybe its time to bring a new companion into my life."

The veterinary board said most states dont regulate university settings, so California is being proactive with this proposed legislation.

Davis says its been working with the board on licensing.

Chris, Murat and another pet owner have retained an attorney and may sue Davis. According to their attorney, the potential lawsuit would make claims for breach of fiduciary duty, unfair billing practices and malpractice.
Taking pains to avoid attacking the jury that convicted the company last week, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. wants the federal judge to overturn its convictions for obstructing the federal probe into the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion and five pipeline safety counts.

Let us be clear: We are not asking this court to reweigh the evidence, and we are not being critical of the jurys work, the defense motion lodged Tuesday stressed.

The jury had the unenviable task of figuring out on its own how to interpret highly technical regulations littered with vague and undefined terms, and what to make of days of testimony aimed at proving some amorphous organizational collective willfulness not cognizable under the law.

The motion asks for a hearing on Oct. 11 before U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson to argue that he should overturn the Aug. 9 verdicts as legally unsubstantiated.

Should he uphold the verdict, Henderson will be tasked with determining how to punish the company. The burden was significantly lifted for the company when, before the verdict, federal prosecutors inexplicably walked away from seeking more than a half-billion dollars from the company for the criminal counts. The current maximum fine stands at $3 million.

In asking Henderson to review the verdicts, PG&E rehashed many of the same arguments its lawyers made unsuccessfully to the jury.

On each of these counts  as a matter of law  the government failed to meet its burden to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, PG&E argued to Henderson. "The prosecution's case was built on novel legal theories in the face of unrebutted evidence disproving its allegations.

Now is the time, the motion concludes, to dispose of the few remaining counts in this unprecedented prosecution.

Among other arguments, PG&E lawyers say the federal obstruction charge was unproven. The count revolves around PG&Es April 6, 2011, letter to the lead investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.

In it, PG&E told federal investigators that the company never in fact implemented a written policy the company gave federal investigators weeks earlier.

That disputed policy asserted that the company intended to ignore regulations that required inspections any time pressure surged above allowable levels on old, at-risk pipelines.

PG&E asserted it would require costly inspections only when pressure surged more than 10 percent above allowable levels.

At trial, the government failed to prove that any individual had the necessary corrupt intent, in submitting that letter, the defense argued to Henderson.

Who acted with an improper purpose in sending the April 6, 2011, correction letter to the NTSB? The government has no answer.

The defense wants the judge to overturn the five other counts as unproven, arguing that the government testimony in the case was at best ambiguous and at worst contradictory.

The governments evidence at trial was insufficient at every turn, the defense team concluded in the motion.

Henderson, the defense asserts, now must assess the state of the evidence to legally determine whether prosecutors met the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt burden. The defendant respectfully moves for judgment of acquittal.
China's Premier Li Keqiang and Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi (L) attend a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, August 18, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China and Myanmar agreed on Thursday to enhance cooperation between energy departments to find a proper solution for the suspended Myitsone Dam project.

The agreement came during talks between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who started a five-day official visit to China on Wednesday.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters after the talks, held at the Great Hall of the People, that Aung San Suu Kyi said Myanmar's new government has decided to set up an investigation committee to find a solution that is in both countries' interests regarding the Myitsone Dam issue.

The Myitsone Dam is jointly funded by China and Myanmar, but was suspended by the Myanmar government in 2011.
Monterey County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a woman charged with the deaths of two children found in a storage unit in Redding and abuse of a 9-year-old girl last year.

Tami Joy Huntsman, 40, appeared Wednesday before Superior Court Judge Russell Scott at the Salinas Courthouse, where prosecutors announced that they are pursuing the death penalty against her, Deputy District Attorney Steve Somers said Thursday.

The second defendant in the case, Gonzalo Curiel, 18, has been charged as an adult and is ineligible for the death penalty because he was a juvenile at the time of the alleged crimes, but if convicted faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, Somers said.

Huntsman and Curiel allegedly abused the three children who were in the woman's care in Salinas and two of them were killed on or sometime after Nov. 27, according to a complaint filed in the case by prosecutors.

The suspects traveled from Salinas north to Plumas and Shasta counties between Nov. 27 and Dec. 11, police said.

The oldest child was a 9-year-old girl found Dec. 11 injured at an apartment in Quincy, an unincorporated community in Plumas County, according to police.

The bodies of the two other children, identified as 3-year-old Delylah Tara and 6-year-old Shaun Tara, were discovered Dec. 13 in a plastic container at a rental storage unit in Redding, police said.

Huntsman and Curiel have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, torture, child abuse, conspiracy and special circumstances allegations.

The defendants waived their right to a preliminary hearing earlier this year and set to stand trial on Feb. 6, according to Somers.

The death penalty decision was made by District Attorney Dean Flippo based on interviews with the victims' families, law enforcement personnel involved in the investigation and Huntsman's record, according to Somers.

Prosecutors also considered a presentation by the defense attorneys who opposed the death penalty for Huntsman and the facts of the case, according to Somers.

"It was a weighty decision that we took our time deciding because we wanted to make sure we were right," Somers said.

The defendants are scheduled to return to court on Sept. 7 to schedule future hearings and motions expected to be filed in the case, Somers said.

Attorneys for Huntsman and Curiel didn't immediately return requests for comment Thursday.
Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson is recommending seven Chicago police officers involved in the Laquan McDonald shooting be fired following a report from the Inspector Generals office.

The Department and its outside counsel have carefully reviewed the reports and supporting documents, videos, and other evidence and will accept the OIGs recommendation to submit seven of the officers to the Police Board for separation based upon Rule 14 allegations outlined in the OIGs report, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. The officers have been relieved of their police powers prior to the determination of the Police Board. Two of the officers cited in the report have since retired.

The report initially recommended 10 officers be fired or severely disciplined in the case.

The officers' names have not been released, but two high-ranking officers retired earlier this week. Those officers include First Deputy Superintendent John Escalante, who accepted a position as the chief of police for Northeastern Illinois University, and Deputy Chief David McNaughton.

McNaughton is the Chicago Police officer who signed off on the report that initially cleared Officer Jason Van Dyke in McDonald's shooting.

As for the tenth office, the department said it respectfully disagrees with the OIGs recommendation for separation and feels that there is insufficient ecidence to prove those respective allegations.

"I appreciate Supt. Johnson's thoughtful review of the Inspector General's report, and I fully support his decisions," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. "As the city takes these important steps to hold individuals accountable, we must also recommit ourselves to partnering together to rebuild trust between our police department and our residents. As Chicagoans who love this city, we must continue to work together to build that brighter tomorrow for everyone."

Seventeen-year-old McDonald was shot 16 times by Van Dyke in 2014. Footage of the shooting was made public late last year and sparked outrage nationwide.
Dascham footage from a Chicago Police car shows intense footage of a chase, and what appear to be bullets impacting on the windshield of the squad car, after Tuesday night's shootout on the Far South Side that left an officer wounded.

A convicted felon who was on parole for armed robbery now faces multiple charges after the gun battle, police say.

Charles Lawson, 24, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery, possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated hijacking and aggravated fleeing and eluding.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in an emailed statement that the police department would release the dashcam footage of the incident as part of a criminal investigation into Lawson.

The officer suffered the wound to his face about 10:05 p.m. in the 10000 block of South Eggleston, according to Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

Patrol officers investigating the carjacking saw what they believed to be the wanted vehicle and approached, Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson told reporters.

The officers initially approached the vehicle in the 600 block of East 100th Place, police said.

The suspect then pulled out a weapon and fired upon the officers from the window of his vehicle, Johnson said. A male officer, thought to be in his early 30s, suffered a graze wound to his face and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn with injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening.

When the vehicle sped away, backup officers pursued and the suspect fired multiple shots at that squad car, Johnson said. The officers returned fire, but no one was struck.

The suspect eventually crashed the vehicle and tried to run away, but he was taken into custody a short time later, police said. A gun was recovered at the scene and charges were pending early Wednesday.

The officer injured will be OK, but it just goes to show you, again, how people are out here with all these weapons and theyre not afraid to use them, Johnson said.

These police officers have a difficult job, every day, you know, they put their lives on the line, he said. We get scrutinized and criticized for everything we do, this is a difficult job, but they continue to do it despite everything going on. These officers knew that was a vehicle taken in a carjacking and they went to the vehicle, as opposed to away from it. The men and women of the Chicago Police Department are doing what theyre supposed to do, but this just illustrates how dangerous it is.

A separate investigation is being conducted into the officers actions by the Independent Police Review Authority.
Ken Kratz, the former Calumet County district attorney who prosecuted Brendan Dassey in the infamous trial showcased in Netflixs Making a Murderer, said he is very surprised, at the recent overturning of Dasseys conviction according to USA Today.

Kratz, who prosecuted Dassey and his uncle Steven Avery for the murder of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach, recently told People magazine that he has "a great bit of sympathy" for Dassey, who he said "never would have been involved in this except for his uncle."

Judge William E. Duffin found that investigators repeatedly made false promises to Dassey, who was 16 years old and a slow learner, in extracting a confession, which Dassey's legal team had maintained was coerced. The judge found that confession was involuntary in a 91-page decision handed down Friday.

Krass Told USA Today evidence had been suppressed that had originally been allowed in the state prosecution, calling the decision unusual.

In response to the recent ruling, Kratz said that the Dassey case isnt over and called the Duffins decision a bold statement that is almost never seen in court cases.

USA Today notes that only one statement was thrown out in the judges decision and that others were not, including witness statements saying Dassey was next to the fire where shards of Halbachs bones were found.

The newspaper reported that Kratz declined to comment on whether or not the dismissal of the statement would weaken the case it was built on.

Dassey's attorney, Steve Drizin with Northwestern Universitys Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth, confirmed the news of the judges ruling last Friday.

"I am just beyond excited," Drizin said at the time. "I had to pick myself up off the floor."

Duffin ordered Dassey be set free unless the state initiates a retrial proceeding in 90 days.

That, or an appeal of the decision, would put Dassey's release on hold, Drizin said. He and the legal team would then seek to have him released on bond.

"A lot's going to depend on what the state does here," he said.

The Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth legal team, based in Chicago, first took Dasseys case to federal court in Wisconsin in 2014 in hopes that he would be granted a writ of Habeas corpus, which would have forced the government to examine his case and rule whether he has been imprisoned illegally.

Dassey was arrested at the age of 16 in connection with case, but his attorneys maintained his confession was coerced.

Avery, a Wisconsin man who was imprisoned for 18 years for sexual assault before DNA evidence exonerated him in 2003, was accused of Halbach's murder as he was suing Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, the former district attorney and the county sheriff for wrongful imprisonment, seeking $36 million in damages.

Most recently, the show's filmmakers said a juror from Avery's murder trial claims he was not proven guilty, but the juror had voted to convict him out of fear for his/her personal safety. The two filmmakers have not yet contacted other jurors to independently verify the claim, they said. NBC News has not independently verified the allegation with any jurors.

Drizin said the team investigated Dasseys case for two years before filing an appeal in 2010. The appeal was ultimately denied by a state appellate court and the Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

The habeas petition was filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin in 2014.

Were hopeful is what I would say, Drizin said at the time. The deeper you go into this system, whether its in the state court system or the federal court system, the harder it is to win. Weve won cases in federal court before and were hoping that this is another one that well win.

Drizin said the petition focused largely on Dasseys original public defender, Len Kachinsky, who was ultimately removed from the case.

A lot of our appeal has to do with the actions that Brendans original attorney Len Kachinsky took, which demonstrated his disloyalty to Brendan and his willingness to work with the prosecution to try to get Brendan to plead guilty and testify against Steven Avery, Drizin said.

He also maintains that Dasseys confession was coerced by [investigators] feeding him facts.

To me, this case is a classic example of how not to interrogate juvenile suspects and the tactics that were used during Brendans interrogation are a recipe for false confessions, he said.

In a brief filed last year, the state argued Dassey failed to show that the appeals courts decision was unreasonable.

[Investigators] merely stated, in calm tones, that they already knew what happened and allowed Dassey to confess that he had raped Halbach, and was involved in her murder, the brief reads. Dasseys confession was not coerced, and the state courts decision on Dasseys voluntariness claim did not involve an unreasonable application of clearly established Federal law.

Former Calamut County District Attorney Ken Kratz, who prosecuted Dassey and Avery, recently told People magazine that he has "a great bit of sympathy" for Dassey, who he said "never would have been involved in this except for his uncle."

Dassey would have been out sooner if he had taken a plea bargain, Kratz said.

Drizin said while Making a Murderer has put Dasseys case in the national spotlight, he didn't believe it would have an impact on the judges decision.

I dont think that the Netflix movie is going to influence a federal judge, but at the same time, judges are human beings and the Netflix film has created a context for Brendans case that didnt exist at the time of his trial or his appeals, he said.
As students in Illinois begin another school year, the topic of bullying unfortunately becomes too real for some.

Personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an analysis of 2016s states with the biggest bullying problems and Illinois ranked no. 23.

The report compared data from 45 states and the District of Columbia across 17 key metrics to make up three categories including Bullying Prevalence, Bullying Impact and Treatment and Anti-Bullying Laws.

The study found Michigan had the biggest problem of the states analyzed. It was followed by Louisiana, West Virginia, Montana and Arkansas.

According to the National Education Association, more than 160,000 children miss school every day out of fear of being bullied. Bullying occurs once every seven minutes and in schools across America, one in three students report being bullied weekly, the NEA reports.

The average public school can acquire more than $2.3 million in lost funding and expenses as a result of low attendance and disciplinary actions according to the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

In 2010, the state of Illinois created the Prevent School Violence Act (PSVA) that made bullying in schools explicitly prohibited and requires that schools create and maintain policies on bullying. The PSVA made several modifications to the existing law Public Act 98-0349 that required school districts to develop and implement policies on bullying during the 2007-2008 school year. The policies were to be updated every two years and filed with the Illinois State Board of Education.

Illinois then modified the law in 2014 and again in 2015 adding cyber-bullying to the prohibition on bullying in schools.

Below is a list of states with the biggest bullying problems as well as the states with the lowest bullying problems according to WalletHub.
A woman has died after being attacked near a cancer treatment center in Chicagos far north suburbs.

Shannon Vincel, of Springfield, Mo., was outside the Cancer Treatment Centers of Americas hotel facility in Zion after 9:30 p.m. Monday when she was approached by a man and hit over the head with an unknown object, police said. The attacker then ran off, according to police.

The 46-year-old was with another person on the sidewalk outside of the facilitys guest quarters in the 1900 block of 27th street, located about a mile from the hospital where patients are treated.

Vincel was rushed to Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with severe head trauma before being pronounced dead over 24 hours later, on Tuesday just after 11 p.m., according to police.

A spokesperson for the Cancer Treatment Centers of Americas Midwestern Regional Medical Center told NBC 5 that due to HIPAA privacy laws, they can not share if Vincel was a patient.

The company said it has since increased existed security as a cautionary measure and is providing onsite emotional support for patients and staff.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the victim involved in the tragic incident outside of Guest Quarters West, the spokesperson said. Our number one priority remains the safety and wellbeing of our patients, guests and employees.

Police said they only have a vague description of the attacker, but signs on the property show the facility is under the watch of surveillance cameras.

The Lake County Major Crime Task Force, along with the Zion Police Department, is investigating the incident as a homicide.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the Zion Police Department at (847) 872-8000 or Lake County Crime Stoppers at (847) 662-2222.
The AAA call center on Worth Avenue in Hamden will be closing next month and 50 employees will be affected.

Officials from AAA Northeast said calls from members will be routed to Providence, Rhode Island as of Sept 14 and they will continue to dispatch the fleet and contract garages from the location in Hamden.

Employees who currently work in the Hamden location will be given top priority for any job openings throughout the company in the eight branches, insurance, travel and the driving school, according to AAA.

AAA said officials did not take the decision to close the call center lightly and job placement services, classes in resume writing and more will be offered.

Employees who are not moving to another location will receive severance packages.

When asked about the call center job losses Thursday, Gov. Dannel Malloy said he thinks the move has nothing to do with Connecticut's policies, as much as it has to do with changes to the way companies like AAA conduct business.

Listen, I dont know the intricacies of AAAs needs. AAA does a bunch of businesses. One of which is the insurance business and I can tell you having a brother whos in the insurance business, folks are doing a lot more online than ever before," he said during a news conference at New Haven's Union Station.

The most recent jobs report from the Labor Department showed a Connecticut employment picture that is steadily improving. For the month of July 1,300 people found work, and that brought the figure of jobs created to date to 13,000. Over the past year more than 20,000 jobs have been created, which was a point that Malloy was quick to point out.

"People are coming back into the job market even faster than weve experienced in the past so I think on the overall side of that equation, its good news.

Republican Leader Len Fasano in the Connecticut sent out a statement saying the jobs news hides how the state's growth lags behind nearby states. Fasano also focused on the 83 percent figure that represents how Connecticut hasn't yet recovered all lost jobs from the Great Recession in 2008. Even though 20,000 jobs have been created in the last year, to make up that 17 percent, more than 20,000 new jobs are still needed.

Fasano, said, "While I sincerely applaud the businesses that were able to rise above and grow jobs, we cannot ignore the fact that the unemployment rate today is higher than it was at the same time last year."
The owner of a convenience store in New London has been arrested after investigators learned the store was buying tobacco from out of state and getting around using the state tax stamp, according to police.

Police said they were investigating an unrelated incident when they learned the Quick Shop Mini Mart at 61 Walden Ave. appeared to be selling cigarettes without the State of Connecticut tax stamp.

The Department of Revenue Services then looked into it and investigators performed a surprise inspection.

That led to the discovery of 194 cartons of untaxed cigarettes, approximately $3,000 worth of other untaxed tobacco products, more than $22,000 in cash and approximately $100,000 worth of fraudulent Connecticut tobacco tax stamps, police said.

The store owner, Mehulkumar Patel, 37, of Waterford, is accused of buying tobacco products from out of state, reusing discarded tax stamps and printing his own tax stamps that he would then tape onto the tobacco products.

Patel was charged with second-degree forgery, possession of unstamped cigarettes, possession of fraudulent tax stamps and possession of untaxed tobacco.

Patel was released on a $10,000 bond and hes due in court on Aug. 31.
There is renewed pushback about plans to build a new Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail line in North Texas.

The Cotton Belt Corridor runs east and west between Plano and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

The railroad hasn't been used in years, but new talk of building a DART rail line on it has some taking sides.

"Its somewhat concerning, said Jan Demeulder.

Demeulder's home is walking distance from the Cotton Belt Corridor. He says concerns of building a DART rail line have come up before.

Now, the city of Plano is prompting the discussion again.

In July, city leaders announced theyre onboard with plans to build the DART line sooner than later.

Homeowners in the Prestonwood neighborhood of North Dallas are saying, not so fast.

Were afraid that they might just try to make this happen much quicker without taking into account what our people we need in the neighborhood here, Demeulder said.

Concerns include the noise that could come with the rail, and crossings that could stop foot traffic in its tracks.

But all others see are benefits that could come from having a DART rail run so close to home.

It'll help people get around that doesn't have cars, and so it'll be much help, said DART rider Byron Johnson.

Soon, both sides will have a chance to voice their opinions.

Six public meetings are planned for later this month. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, DART President Gary Thomas and Dallas City Councilwoman Sandy Greyson are expected to attend.

Cotton Belt Regional Rail Corridor Upcoming Community Meetings:

Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016 - 6:30 p.m.

Richardson Civic Center

411 West Arapaho Road, Richardson, TX 75080



Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016 - 6:30 p.m.

Addison Conference Centre

15650 Addison Road, Addison, TX 75001



Monday, Aug. 29, 2016 - 7 p.m.

Parkhill Junior High School Cafeteria

16500 Shadybank Drive, Dallas, TX 75248



Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016 - 6:30 p.m.

Event 1013

1013 East 15th Street, Plano, TX 75074



Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016 - 6:30 p.m.

Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Marriott North

8440 Freeport Parkway, Irving TX 75063



Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016 - 6:30 p.m.

Plaza Arts Center

1115 Fourth Avenue, Carrollton, TX 75006
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

Trend:

Armenias armed forces have 11 times violated the ceasefire on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops over the past 24 hours, said Azerbaijans Defense Ministry Aug. 18.

The Armenian army was using large-caliber machine guns.

The Armenian armed forces stationed in the Shavarshavan village of the Noyemberyan district and Berkaber, Vazashen villages of the Ijevan district of Armenia opened fire at the Azerbaijani positions located on nameless heights and in the Farahli and Ashagi Eskipara villages of the Gazakh district.

Positions of the Azerbaijani army also underwent fire from the Armenian positions located near the Garakhanbayli, Horadiz of the Fizuli district and near the Chilaburt village of the Terter district.

Moreover, Azerbaijani positions also underwent fire from the Armenian positions located on the nameless heights of the Goranboy 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.
A man who pleaded guilty in the 2013 murder of a one-time drug cartel leader in Southlake was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison.

Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Campano received his sentence from U.S. District Judge Terry Means in Fort Worth.

Ledezma-Campano, 32, agreed to testify against his father and his fathers cousin, who were convicted earlier this year. Their sentencing is set for Sept. 22.

Prosecutors portrayed the three as an intelligence squad for a Mexican drug cartel which tracked Juan Guerrero Chapa in Southlake using sophisticated surveillance techniques, including GPS trackers and remote cameras.

Guerrero, a former top lawyer for imprisoned Gulf Cartel boss Osiel Cardenas who become a U.S. government informant, was gunned down in 2013 on the Southlake town square, where he had gone shopping with his wife.

The three were not charged with the actual murder and instead were accused of interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit murder for hire.

Prosecutors identified the hitmen by their nicknames "Clorox" and "Captain."

The two and the cartel leader who is said to have ordered the hit -- Jose Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez, also known as "El Gato" -- are believed to be in Mexico.
In just a few months, legalizing marijuana will show up on the ballot again. But a West Hollywood resident says she already can't get away from the smell of it  in her own home.

Kelly Doherty didn't have objections about legalizing marijuana, until her neighbor's smoke started wafting into her apartment through a vent. She says she's asked him to stop, but feels hot-boxed in her own home.

"You should have the right to breathe clean air in your home," Doherty said.

She says she's always wanted marijuana legal, and acknowledges she would smoke every once in a while when she was younger. But the skunky stench that's been coming through the vent at night and on weekends over the past few months has her lit. Sometimes the smoke is so thick, she says she gets headaches and forgets things.

"I'm extremely frustrated," she said. "It smells really bad, it's so pungent in here."

Doherty says her neighbor has a medical marijuana card and smokes constantly, but wonders what her rights are in her own home. While illegal under federal law, medical marijuana is legal to smoke in your own home under California law.

Attorney Brian Kabateck says that doesn't mean anyone else in an apartment building should be forced to inhale by proximity due to the building's ventilation.

"You have certain rights, you have certain expectations," Kabateck said.

He says a landlord is responsible for making sure the ventilation doesn't send smoke into other people's apartments. And if they won't, a tenant can sue.

"The landlord may be violating your rights and your remedy may be that you have to go to court," Kabateck said.

We reached out to Doherty's landlord, who told the I-Team, "No comment."

Doherty says she's asked and there are no plans to make changes to the ventilation. And though it's her right to sue, she doesn't have the money, which means her time may be up in smoke.

"If it continues like this, I have to move," she said.

Lawmakers have introduced a bill in Sacramento that would allow landlords to ban the smoking of marijuana  just like they can for tobacco. That bill has passed in the state Assembly and is expected to pass the Senate.
Advocates for suicide prevention found an ally in the Port of San Diego for the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge Proposed Artistic Lighting Project.

It is the beginning of a collaborative effort among those who want to light up the Coronado Bridge and those who want to make it safer.

The group "Lives Before Lights" thought they would have a fight on their hands at Tuesdays Coronado council meeting. Instead, they found an ally.

The decade long effort to light up the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge is moving to the next phase which now includes the good possibility of safety nets or fencing.

Wayne Strickland is pleased to put down his placard and share his long time efforts with Port San Diego, to secure the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge with safety features that discourage suicide.

We had these signs up we were ready with the guns, Strickland said.

Port of San Diego Chairman Marshall Merrifield came to Coronado City Council Tuesday night to give members an update on the project to light up the bridge.

"Lives Before Lights" came to protest the Port's agenda and promote its own during the public speaking portion of the meeting.

My three children, who are in their 20's know someone personally, who has used this bridge as an easy, convenient way out, one woman said.

We need to help these people. The bridge is too easy for them. Too easy to just get out and jump over, another woman said.

Strickland says since it's opening, 375 people died in accidents on the bridge or from jumping off of it. The group has helped raise over $10,000 to study the effects of bridge suicides benefits of barriers.

It's a big economic impact having the bridge closed. It affects all this island the naval bases and everybody else, Strickland said.

It took no convincing though to get the Port of San Diego on board.

It's a very important topic for us and the county and we would be happy to help in any way we can, Part of San Diego Chairman Marshall Merrifield said.

Caltrans owns and operates the bridge, but the Port has agreed to advocate for a combined lights and safety barrier proposal.

The light project enters phase two this year, which is engineering and design.

Strickland has secured a meeting with the Port Commissioner and CEO to talk about one plan to satisfy both groups.
Two super scoopers arrived in Southern California earlier this month to help battle the region's wildfires. So why aren't they being used to make water-drops on the monstrous Blue Cut Fire in the Cajon Pass?

As it turns out, super scoopers may not be so super for every situation.

"The super scoopers, although they are a great resource, what we have in terms of aircraft works better," Bob Poole with the San Bernardino National Forest tells NBC4's media partner KPCC.

Firefighters are relying instead on helicopters, air tankers and two DC-10 airplanes  partly because of the fire's location. Poole says even if San Bernardino had its own super scooper, the plane may not have been used in this situation.

"We turn around the equipment much quicker with those retardant-dropping planes than we would using the super scooper, which has to go a much longer distance to pick up water," Poole told KPCC.

If San Bernardino officials want to borrow a super scooper, they'd need to ask the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which leases the aircraft from Canada.

The Blue Cut Fire has charred more than 45 square miles and forced tens of thousands to evacuate.

Read more from KPCC
Surveillance cameras are everywhere. They're installed at homes, businesses, parks and malls.

"The vast majority of the people have no idea that the inside of their homes or businesses are being broadcast all over the Internet," said InfoSight, Inc. President and CEO Tom Garcia.

Security cameras captured a family walking in through their front door and somewhere in Miami, a board room meeting in progress is also captured.

Thousands of live surveillance cameras are posted for the world to see on multiple apps and websites.

"They're just capturing unsecure video streams. So the software to do it is readily available, it's free," said Garcia.

Dr. Selcuk Uluagac leads the Cyber Physical Systems Security Lab at Florida International University.

He says creators of these voyeur-like websites use robot programs to search the web for unsecure IP addresses linked to devices such as cameras.

"Most of the users basically don't change their passwords. These devices have default passwords," said Dr. Selcuk Uluagac.

To find out if the cameras are active and in real time, NBC 6 put them to the test. Inside the lobby of a Miami area business, the cameras are in plain view. But, the question is who is watching and why?

"It's unbelievable because this is something, some cameras that are used pretty much for the use of the business, it's not for the use of anybody external," said business owner Jose Delgado.

A South Florida business owner was shocked to learn his cameras were on one of the websites.

The owner has already contacted an IT expert to change the password on the surveillance system.

"If you put it out there for them and you make it easy for them then they're going to go after the lowest hanging fruit. And if that's what you're putting out there that's what they're going to grab," said Garcia.

Other security measures you can take to avoid being a victim include creating a strong password, firewall protection and firmware updates.

"We need more usable security research. We need systems that can be easily understood by the people and this problem is going to get worse because we have Internet of Things devices, cyber physical systems, we have sensors," said Dr. Uluagac

"Do they want to be secure or do they want to have to convenience? It's going to be very difficult to have both and balance that," said Garcia.
Two new cases of Zika have been linked to Miami Beach, NBC 6 learned Thursday.

One case was from a tourist that visited the city two weeks ago, and the other is from a resident who works on the beach according to an email obtained.

Miami Beach city manager Jimmy Morales tweeted that officials have been in constant contact with the Florida Department of Health on the best strategies for mosquito control.

Florida Department of Health officials confirmed in a statement that there were two new non-travel related cases of Zika outside the one-square mile area in Wynwood where more than two dozen other cases have been found, but didn't give an exact location.

"While the department is continuing to investigate areas in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties where local transmissions of Zika may have occurred, the department still believes active transmissions are still only occurring in the area that is less than one square mile in Miami-Dade County," the statement read. "If investigations reveal additional areas of likely active transmission, the department will announce a defined area of concern."

At a news conference Thursday night, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine said there's a possibility of a link between the Zika cases and Miami Beach but stressed that they haven't been confirmed.

"There is no epidemic, there is no outbreak of Zika on Miami Beach, there are two unconfirmed cases, the county says and the health department says, but they have not been confirmed for Miami Beach," Levine said.

Levine also quickly dismissed any reports that there was a Zika cluster in Miami Beach.

"I know there's been talk about some kind of cluster, there's no cluster," he said.

Levine also said the city has been ramping up the fight against mosquitoes.

"I can tell you this, I wouldn't want to be a mosquito on Miami Beach," Levine said.

Morales sent a message to residents later Thursday asking them to drain sources of standing water, including flower pots, buckets, car tires, toys and other items.

Morales added that they're also working with Miami-Dade County on inspecting and mitigating mosquitoes.

Stay tuned to NBC 6 on air and online for more on this developing story.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

Trend:

Azerbaijan has an improved electoral law, which must be protected, said Zeynal Nagdaliyev, chief of the department on work with regional management bodies and local self-management bodies at Azerbaijans Presidential Administration.

Nagdaliyev made the remarks Aug. 18 commenting on the Sept. 26 referendum at a meeting with the heads of district election commissions.

Shortcomings in the work are inadmissible, so that interested parties cannot take advantage of them, said Nagdaliyev.

He also pointed to Azerbaijans intensive development as compared to the previous decade.

International organizations used to criticize us 10-15 years ago, put questions before us. Those problems have already been eliminated, said the official. There is political stability in Azerbaijan and our task is to contribute to it.

Nagdaliyev also noted that electoral lists should be specified and state authorities should work together in this direction.

If someone doesnt perform his duties adequately, we will suspend his activities, Nagdaliyev added. Campaign stands will be checked. If shortcomings are detected, they will be immediately addressed.

He also noted that 1,000 web cameras will be installed at the polling stations.

Earlier, Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev signed an order to hold a referendum Sept. 26 for making amendments to the countrys constitution.
What to Know New York jewelers Lady Grey Jewelry shipped an order to Ivanka Trump last week.

They added a note to her order saying they donated the proceeds to Hillary Clinton.

A co-founder said they were still 'flattered' to receive the order.

A small New York jewelry operation received a surprise order for one of its pieces from Ivanka Trump - and promptly donated the proceeds to Hillary Clinton.

Lady Grey Jewelry posted a copy of a handwritten note to its Instagram account on Wednesday, thanking GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's daughter for her order.

"We're happy to let you know that the proceeds of your sale have been generously donated to The American Immigration Council, the Everytown for Gun Safety organization, and the Hillary Clinton Campaign," said the note, which was posted with the hashtag #thanksbutnothanks.

The note suggests that Trump bought an item known as a "Helix Ear Cuff," which sells for $84 on the Lady Grey website.

It was signed by co-founders Jill Martinelli and Sabine Le Guyader. The pair, with a background in dental prosthetics, launched their first collection in 2009.

Martinelli told New York magazine that they were "flattered" to receive the order, which shipped last week, but felt the need to donate the sale given their own views.

[NATL - Rio 2016] Spotted in Rio: Celebrity Doppelgangers

It was not clear whether Ivanka Trump herself had placed the order, or had seen the note; her staff could not be immediately reached for comment.
A sex offender was nabbed for allegedly raping and robbing a woman at knife-point this week  and police say a call he made to 911 led to his arrest.

Michael Mann, 52, was arrested Thursday on a number of charges, including rape and robbery.

Police say a 27-year-old woman was walking home near Dekalb and Bushwick avenues in Bushwick on Tuesday when she was approached by a man wielding a knife at 2:30 a.m.

The man robbed the woman and then raped her, police say, before he took off on foot.

Mann was arrested after he apparently called 911 for help on Wednesday and responding officers noticed him as a suspect in the rape. It's unclear what prompted him to call 911.

Mann faces a slew of charges, including rape, robbery, criminal sex act, sex abuse, menacing, forcible touching and criminal possession of a weapon.

He is a registered sex offender with a long criminal past, according to police. He faces additional charges for allegedly failing to appear for a 90-day address verification, failing to send an annual verification and failing to report a change of address.

It wasnt immediately known if Mann has an attorney.
One teen is dead and another is in critical but stable condition after a shooting in the Bronx on Wednesday night.

Shots rang out in front of 1375 College Avenue in the Claremont neighborhood around 9:20 p.m.

Police say Dontay Gordon, 17, was shot in his chest. He was rushed to Lincoln Hospital but did not survive his injuries.

A 21-year-old man was shot in his stomach. He was also taken to Lincoln Hospital and was in critical but stable condition Thursday morning.

Police said an investigation is ongoing. No arrests have been reported.
A Yorkie that was stolen from the stoop of a Queens home last month was found wandering in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

A man says he found Linda the Yorkie wandering around the park and recognized her from a missing dog flyer. It's unclear when she was dropped off there.

Last month, surveillance cameras captured a woman snatching Linda from a Corona stoop. The dog's owners, Melba and Wilifredo Filiberty, were visiting their daughter when Linda was stolen right outside her home by a woman.

Although the family searched frantically for the dog and even started a hashtag  #SaveLinda  their effors were unsuccessful and they returned to Florida.

Melba and Wilifredo are now heading back to New York City for a joyous reunion with their beloved pooch.

"I'm mad, I'm sad," said Melba last month.

"We're losing our baby. To us, it's a child, it's the one who keeps us company, it's the one who travels with us everywhere we go," Wilifredo said of Linda, who's disable with a spinal injury.

Police are still searching for the woman who got out of her car and took Linda. But for now, her family is happy she's coming home.
An off-duty police officer fired his gun after a man tried to snatch a chain from his neck near a Bronx park Wednesday evening, law enforcement sources say.

The NYPD officer, who was not working at the time, struggled with the suspect near Crotona Park, by Clinton Avenue and East 175th Street, in Claremont at about 7:45 p.m., sources said.

The cop fired a shot, but it's not clear if the suspect was hit. The suspect ran away and is still being sought.

"I was in the park, so I was close by. It was loud," said Carlos Fernandez.

"Every couple of weeks we hear bullets, but it's never been this close," said Chauvon Felto.

Police are canvassing hospitals in the city for suspects who may be walking in with gunshot injuries.
"The Colbert Report" debuted nearly 11 years ago with Stephen Colbert playing his conservative blowhard character and introducing the concept of "truthiness"  twisting the truth to make a disingenuous point.

Colbert's Comedy Central time slot replacement Larry Wilmore debuted on "The Nightly Show" just over 1 1/2 years ago, playing himself and introducing the concept of "Keep it 100"  telling the truth to make an honest point.

Both men effectively used smart humor in different ways to keep things 100 percent real. But now, the reality of ratings has claimed "The Night Show," which ends after Thursday night's edition.

That's a shame for fans of Wilmore  and of quality late night TV comedy. He tackled race and politics amid a period of high-stakes turmoil, generating laughs and insight. As he put it on Monday's installment: "Our show was at its best when the news was at its worst."

But Wilmore's best wasn't enough to draw a large, young audience amid tough competition that included Colbert's CBS show, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien. His mature, thoughtful approach to putting the craziness of the day into perspective didn't pack the flash of fellow "Daily Show" alumni John Oliver and Samantha Bee, who benefit from a weekly schedule. But he produced a solid, intelligent show four nights a week.

Part of the program's charm came from his nightly panel of guests, a throwback to Bill Maher's old "Politically Incorrect" that included some interesting groupings (like 50 Cent and Judd Apatow last year). Wilmore would ask provocative questions  and ask his guests to "keep it 100," handing out stickers to those who gave unvarnished answers deemed genuine. He also mixed in fresh comic talent, most notably "Nightly Show" regular Mike Yard.

Wilmore was at his best, though, during his opening segments, with targets ranging from Bill Cosby (check out his searing "The People v. O.J. Simpson" parody skewering the embattled former sitcom star) to Bill O'Reilly (witness how he spun himself into the Fox host's "No Spin Zone"). He also memorably headed to Baltimore last year to interview gang members amid protests after Freddie Gray died in police custody, offering context to the unrest.

While praising Wilmore, Comedy Central President Kent Alterman told Variety that "The Nightly Show" hasn't "resonated with our audience. But Wilmore clearly connected with more than 750,000 viewers, not an inconsiderable crowd these days.

With time, Wilmores audience might have grown via his election-pegged bits, dubbed "The Unblackening." Wilmore also provided a complementary counterpoint to Trevor Noah's increasingly high-energy take on "The Daily Show."

While the 32-year-old South African comic doesn't command the audience Stewart did, he does turn out Internet-friendly material. That was never a strength for Wilmore. His top viral moment  using a variation of the N-word to address President Obama at April's White House Correspondents' Dinner  became steeped in controversy.

Wilmore also didn't make any friends in the press that night: CNN's Don Lemon gave him the finger. ("Some of Americas finest black journalists are here tonight. Don Lemon is here too, Wilmore cracked.)

Give Wilmore credit, though, for a bold effort, which came a decade after a far more brazen performance at the dinner by Colbert bolstered "The Colbert Report" in its early days. (With then-President Bush sitting nearby, Colbert said: I stand by this man, because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things, things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares.)

On his show Monday night, a gracious, but clearly disappointed Wilmore handled the news with humor. He observed that the end of "The Nightly Show" means "racism is solved  we did it!"



He was kidding, of course, but here's the 100 about Larry Wilmore: He stayed true to himself and his audience. Even amid a crowded late night TV comedy landscape, his strong comic voice resonated by always keeping it real.

Jere Hester is Director of News Products and Projects at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter.
Four people in Montgomery County have been confirmed infected with the Zika virus, the county said at the monthly Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday.

All of the cases have been deemed "travel related," meaning the patients were infected while traveling outside of Montgomery County, officials said. In Pennsylvania, 74 cases of the Zika virus has been confirmed as of Monday, the Department of Health said.

The county said it is providing free Zika Prevention Kits to residents and health inspectors will investigate any reports of standing water on private property.

The public can call and report standing water that appears unattended on vacant land or in front or backyards of residences. If inspectors find standing water that needs to be addressed, the county will give property owners five days to take care of the issue.

County spokeswoman Lorie Slass said she did not immediately have total inspections of standing water this year, but added that she was not aware of any property owners who did not address the issue within the time allotted by the county after an initial warning.

For more information about Zika, go to the Montgomery County Department of Health website.
"HAVE YOU HEARD WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING?"

This would be a really funny story if so many people didnt take this stuff seriously. But they do. In fact, atmospheric scientists have gotten so many e-mails, tweets and Facebook posts that drastic measures had to be taken. Now theres actually been a published scientific study where actual scientists have spent (*wasted*) a lot of time debunking a long-lived conspiracy theory. Of course, its the governments fault (*not really*).

(I have had to resort to explaining any sarcasm clearly, so no one will mis-interpret my statements. So, I use a (*____*) to show my real opinion.

THE CHEMTRAIL CONSPIRACY THEORY

You wont believe this one! It seems the government has been secretly releasing dangerous chemicals into the upper atmosphere for about 20 years! (*not*). Depending on who is doing the writing, these "chemtrails" (*not even a real word*) involve:

Population control

Biological warfare

Chemical warfare

Psychological manipulation

Weather modification (combat global warming)

I have read and heard many people say that the U.S. Government has a program to actually poison its population. And this has already affected peoples health (*you must be kidding!*). Before you think that this mindset is rare, the new study quoted by the Washington Post says: "In a 2011 international survey, nearly 17% of respondents said they believed the existence of a secret large-scale atmospheric spraying program (SLAP) to be true or partly true." Thats even more than the percentage of people who believe the moon landing was fake (*another whopper*).

Some celebrities have been quoted about their belief in "chemtrails," including Prince, Vin Diesel, Chuck Norris, Merle Haggard, and Kylie Jenner (of course, if Vin Diesel or Chuck Norris wanted to argue that to my face, with a fist raised, I may be more inclined to agree with them).

It all starts with the real thing: CONTRAILS from jet aircraft. These CONdensation TRAILS form when water vapor from the exhaust condenses into narrow clouds as the plane races across the sky. We see them regularly...

Let a real Professor of Atmospheric Sciences explain in this blog about "chemtrails" versus "contrails."

SO THEY HAD TO DO A (PUBLISHED) STUDY

Hearing from individual professors or meteorologists hasnt managed to calm down the fears of the 17%. The new study, from scientists at Stanford and the University of California, Irvine wanted "to establish a source of objective science that can inform public discourse." It was published in the past week by the prestigious Environmental Research Letters.

They surveyed 220 contrail experts and 255 atmospheric deposition experts (the type of scientists who should know better), A total of 77 responded (*the rest probably thought it was some sort of prank*).

The scientists were asked if they ever came across evidence "that you think indicates the existence of a secret large-scale atmospheric spraying program?." The result: 76 of the 77 simply answered "no." What about the 77th one? "...said the evidence was "high levels of atmospheric barium in a remote area with standard 'low' soil barium." Sounds ominous (*not*).

The study went into great detail, showing multiple "suspicious" photos. The scientists explained, for example, why these trails behind aircraft appear to be lasting longer than they used to (a major point from the conspiracy believers). Planes are flying higher, have larger engines that produce more water vapor, higher water vapor content of the atmosphere due to climate change, and increased fuel efficiency.

Doesnt that sound more reasonable than the government trying to poison us?

AND ANOTHER THING

If anyone wanted to spray stuff in the atmosphere to affect us at the ground, they wouldnt do it at the level jets fly. Anything up there just disburses into the atmosphere. They would spray close to the ground, like crop dusters.

HOW DID THIS ALL START?

I have wondered for years how this interesting (*crazy*) theory got started. The answer is really interesting (*really*). This goes back to 1996, when the Air Force published a paper, "Weather as a Force Multiplier." It was a theoretical look about how weather could be modified for combat. You can read it here.

And then it spreadand spreadand spread. I guess they didnt read the "this report contains fictional representations of future situations/scenarios" part.

AND THEN THERES HAARP

HAARP is a real research program, started in 1990 (and recently cancelled). "Chemtrail" people sometimes say the "chemtrails" are from the HAARP program. And get a load of some of the things HAARP has been blamed for:

Floods

Droughts

Hurricanes

Earthquakes

Gulf War Syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

.and the downing of TWA Flight 800 (according to Wikipedia - I can only take so much reading of the conspiracy sites).

The scientific study of "chemtrails" did not mention HAARP. Sounds like a reason for yet another interesting (*unnecessary*) study.

In the meantime, there are so many real problems in the world. I suggest focusing on one of them, instead of spending (*wasting*) your time worrying about ridiculous conspiracy theories that pose little (*no*) logic.

Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz

Chief Meteorologist, NBC10 Philadelphia
A Philadelphia man is behind bars and two women whom officials say he held captive and forced into sex slavery are free, Montgomery County prosecutors said Thursday.



Police said they launched a multi-agency investigation into Bruce "Cash" Steele, 44, who they said was operating a human trafficking operation in the five-county Philadelphia region. Steele subjected the women he trafficked to "involuntary servitude," according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele (no relation to defendant), through the use of violence, threats and coercion.



Prosecutors said when police served a warrant on Steele's home in Philadelphia, they found two women he'd been holding captive and trafficking. Both survivors, police said, went to safe places for treatment with the help of the Salvation Army's Stop Trafficking initiative.



Steele is facing 34 felony counts of charges including human trafficking, prostitution, involuntary servitude and related offenses, and authorities continue to investigate his trafficking operation.



They said Steele preyed on vulnerable women battling drug addictions who had little to no resources to protect themselves.



Steele is being held at Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $1 million cash bail. He is scheduled for an Aug. 25 preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Harry Nesbitt in Horsham.



Officials ask that anyone with additional information on Steele's trafficking operation contact Montgomery County Detectives at 610-278-3368.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

Trend:

Russian citizen Marat Ueldanov, detained in Azerbaijan, hasnt made any complaints regarding conditions of detention, Russian Foreign Ministrys spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters Aug. 18.

She said the Russian Foreign Ministry keeps this issue under control and does everything necessary for Ueldanovs rights to be respected, and a constant contact with his lawyer is maintained.

Ueldanov was arrested for drug trafficking and no other charges were brought against him, Russias Embassy in Azerbaijan told Trend earlier, commenting on detention of the Russian citizen, who allegedly has an Armenian surname Galustyan.

I would like to draw attention to the numerous comments on social networks in connection with Ueldanovs detention, said Zakharova. I am convinced that all this is done deliberately, without any understanding of the essence.

For reliable information, Zakharova advised to refer to the message of Russias Embassy in Azerbaijan, posted on its website.

I dont understand the accusations against the Russian Foreign Ministry that we consider this situation within the national subtext, Zakharova said. That is strange, unfair and cannot be discussed. There can be no national subtext in Russian state authorities work regarding the fate of Russian citizens.

Dont speculate on things you dont understand or if you cannot give their correct assessment, she said. There is no national subtext; we dont divide Russian citizens according to ethnic grounds.
Toll Brothers Inc. said it plans to work with the Jewelers' Row community on a controversial 16-story condominium tower the developer is proposing in the heart of the historic diamond district in Philadelphia.

The project involves razing six properties in the 700 block of Sansom Street to make way for the building that would have 80 units. The development was first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Tolls City Living division has received zoning approval from Philadelphias Department of Licenses & Inspections for the project.

Despite the by-right zoning status of this project, Toll Brothers City Living plans to engage the local community throughout this process, said Michael J. Duff, a Toll spokesman, in a statement. We are committed to delivering a residential building that is respectful of the history of Jewelers Row while rejuvenating it for the future. Although we are still considering our prospective development plans for this project, we intend, through contextual architectural design, for the existing cornice line of Sansom Street to remain intact while retaining retail space along the street level for jewelry stores to preserve the iconic Jewelers Row streetscape.

To read the full story, click here.

For more business news, visit Philadelphia Business Journal.
Donald Trump's campaign chairman helped a pro-Russian governing party in Ukraine secretly route at least $2.2 million in payments to two prominent Washington lobbying firms in 2012, and did so in a way that effectively obscured the foreign political party's efforts to influence U.S. policy.

The revelation, provided to The Associated Press by people directly knowledgeable about the effort, comes at a time when Trump has faced criticism for his friendly overtures to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also casts new light on the business practices of campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Under federal law, U.S. lobbyists must declare publicly if they represent foreign leaders or their political parties and provide detailed reports about their actions to the Justice Department. A violation is a felony and can result in up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Trump shook up his campaign organization Wednesday, putting two new longtime Republican conservative strategists as chief executive officer and campaign manager. It was unclear what impact the shakeup would have on Manafort, but he retains his title as campaign chairman.

Manafort and business associate Rick Gates, another top strategist in Trump's campaign, were working in 2012 on behalf of the political party of Ukraine's then-president, Viktor Yanukovych.

People with direct knowledge of Gates' work said that, during the period when Gates and Manafort were consultants to the Ukraine president's political party, Gates was also helping steer the advocacy work done by a pro-Yanukovych nonprofit that hired a pair of Washington lobbying firms, Podesta Group Inc. and Mercury LLC.

The nonprofit, the newly created European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, was governed by a board that initially included parliament members from Yanukovych's party. The nonprofit subsequently paid at least $2.2 million to the lobbying firms to advocate positions generally in line with those of Yanukovych's government.

That lobbying included downplaying the necessity of a congressional resolution meant to pressure the Ukrainian leader to release an imprisoned political rival.

The lobbying firms continued the work until shortly after Yanukovych fled the country in February 2014, during a popular revolt prompted in part by his government's crackdown on protesters and close ties to Russia.

Among those who described Manafort's and Gates's relationship with the nonprofit are current and former employees of the Podesta Group. Some of them spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal details about the work and because they remain subject to non-disclosure agreements.

Gates told the AP that he and Manafort introduced the lobbying firms to the European Centre nonprofit and occasionally consulted with the firms on Ukrainian politics. He called the actions lawful, and said there was no attempt to circumvent the reporting requirements of the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The heads of both lobbying firms told AP they concluded there was no obligation to disclose their activities to the Justice Department. Manafort did not directly respond to AP's requests to discuss the work, but he was copied on the AP's questions and Gates said he spoke to Manafort before providing answers to them.

Political consultants are generally leery of registering under the foreign agents law, because their reputations can suffer once they are on record as accepting money to advocate the interests of foreign governments  especially if those interests conflict with America's.

The foreign agent law is enforced by a relatively small division within the counter-espionage section of the Justice Department's National Security Division. Its powers are limited because it can't compel lobbying firms or others to turn over documents without a judge's approval, but investigators routinely monitor news reports for evidence of cases that raise suspicions about possible violations.

"They read the paper every day," said Matthew Miller, a former director of the Justice Department's public affairs division under Attorney General Eric Holder. "And if they see things that are potential FARA violations they send letters to the named parties."

Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook, did not urge an inquiry Wednesday, but said voters should scrutinize any links between Trump's staff and Russian political interests.

"Trump's own views and the Republican platform itself have notably backed Russian views and Russian polices," Mook said. "It paints a very disturbing picture and I think the voters need to pay a lot of attention to that."

The intent of using the two lobbying firms was unclear, but ironically, one of firms Manafort and Gates worked with has strong Democratic and Clinton ties.

The founder and chairman of the Podesta Group, Tony Podesta, is the brother of longtime Democratic strategist John Podesta, who now is campaign chairman for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The head of Mercury, Vin Weber, is an influential Republican, former congressman and former special policy adviser to Mitt Romney. Weber announced earlier this month that he will not support Trump.

After being introduced to the lobbying firms, the European nonprofit paid the Podesta Group $1.13 million between June 2012 and April 2014 to lobby Congress, the White House National Security Council, the State Department and other federal agencies, according to U.S. lobbying records.

The nonprofit also paid $1.07 million over roughly the same period to Mercury to lobby Congress. Among other issues, Mercury opposed congressional efforts to pressure Ukraine to release one of Yanukovych's political rivals from prison.

One former Podesta employee, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a non-disclosure agreement, said Gates described the nonprofit's role in an April, 2012 meeting as supplying a source of money that could not be traced to the Ukrainian politicians who were paying him and Manafort.

In separate interviews, three current and former Podesta employees said disagreements broke out within the firm over the arrangement, which at least one former employee considered obviously illegal. Podesta, who said the project was vetted by his firm's counsel, said he was unaware of any such disagreements.

A legal opinion drafted for the project for Mercury in May 2012, and obtained by AP, concluded that the European Centre qualified as a "foreign principal" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act but said disclosure to the Justice Department was not required. That determination was based on the nonprofit's assurances that none of its activities was directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed or subsidized by Ukraine's government or any of the country's political parties.

The Podesta Group's CEO, Kimberley Fritts, said the two lobbying firms had coordinated on the legal conclusion that disclosure was not necessary to the Justice Department.

"If counsel had determined FARA was the way to go, we would have gladly registered under FARA," she said in a statement to the AP. She said the nonprofit provided a signed statement affirming its independence from Ukraine's government.

People involved in the lobbying project offered contradictory descriptions of how it came about.

Podesta told the AP his firm worked closely with the nonprofit and with Gates simultaneously. But Podesta said Gates was not working for Yanukovych's political party and said Manafort was not involved.

"I was never given any reason to believe Rick was a Party of Regions consultant," said John Ward Anderson, a current Podesta employee who attended the meeting, in a statement provided by his firm. "My assumption was that he was working for the Centre, as we were."

Gates, in contrast, told AP he was working with Manafort and that both he and Manafort were working for Yanukovych's party.

Pointing to Manafort's involvement, Weber told AP that Manafort discussed the project before it began in a conference call with Podesta and himself.

The director of the European Centre, Ina Kirsch, told the AP her group never worked with Manafort or Gates and said the group hired the Washington lobbyists on its own. She said she had met with Manafort twice but said neither Manafort nor Gates played a role in its lobbying activities.

The center has declined for years to reveal specific sources of its funding.

Prosecutions under the Foreign Agents Registration Act are generally rare, although a former U.S. congressman, Mark Siljander, R-Mich., pleaded guilty in July 2010 to illegal lobbying under the law and obstruction of justice for his work with a charity in Khartoum, Sudan, that prosecutors said was suspected of funding international terrorism. Siljander served one year in prison.

Lobbyists in general prefer not to register under the foreign agents law because its requirements are so much more demanding, making their activities more open to public scrutiny.

The Justice Department, for example, requires those who register as lobbyists on behalf of foreign governments or parties to detail the home addresses of lobbyists and descriptions of all receipts, payments, political contributions and details about any lectures, emails, pamphlets or press releases they create.

Lobbying records filed in the U.S. Senate, in contrast, such as the ones describing payments to the Podesta Group and Mercury by the European Centre, are far less detailed.

The Justice Department's own published guidelines describe foreign political parties as covered under the law.
San Diego Police officers have responded to the intersection thats home to the Portland Loo, 20 percent more often than before the free, 24-hour restroom was installed, data shows.

Installed in January 2015, the Portland Loo located on the north-west corner of Park Blvd and Market Street in San Diegos East Village is the second and only remaining of its kind in the City. The first, was located near the intersection of 14th and L Streets but was shut down six months after it was installed. San Diego officials said it became a magnet for crime and homelessness.

Now, neighbors say the same issues associated with San Diegos original Portland Loo, are happening at the one in East Village.

Shelli Evers lives in East Village and is on the homeowners' association board of Park Boulevard East. She says she often sees more than one person leaving the loo at the same time, often stoned or seemingly under the influence of drugs.

Evers has lived in East Village since 2009. She says shes noticed a spike in homelessness since the Portland Loo was installed last year and fears for her safety when she walks her two dogs in the neighborhood. More than once, she says, shes been stalked by transients loitering by her condo complex.

Its terrifying not knowing how strong the persons commitment is to stalking to me, she said.

When Evers asked SDPD what she should do to ensure her safety, she says they recommended she walk her dogs with a taser in hand.

The Portland Loo is a real toilet, with running water and better ventilation than port-a-potties. Its funded through tax dollars, open to the public and free to use.

Using data obtained through the California Public Records Act, NBC 7 Investigates tracked the number of times SDPD officers responded to the intersection where the East Village Portland Loo is located.

Since being installed, the data shows the total number of calls for service have gone up by 20 percent. The number of battery and disturbing the peace with violence reports have almost doubled and the number of psychiatric holds (5150s) have nearly tripled.

Click here or look below to see a comparison of calls for service before the Loo was installed and with it installed.

Its the perfect place for drug users to go and shoot up or do whatever they do, and then come around the area and cause problems, says Chris Sohaey.

Sohaey is a real estate investor who owns property on Park Boulevard and Market Street. He says his tenants complain regularly of seeing feces at their front door.

East Village resident Sarah Watkins told NBC 7 Investigation similar stories. She says the area has become filthy, with defecation and trash. Shes also noticed an increase in crime.

Ive seen and reported sexual acts on the streets too, she said.

Sohaey has complained about the Portland Loo to the City of San Diego, SDPD, the citys Parks and Recreation Department and the Downtown Partnerships Clean and Safe Program. According the Sohaey, theres a lot of finger pointing.

Ive exhausted almost all of the my efforts in trying, Sohay said. I have about a 30 page document of emails that Ive tried to address with the Mayor.

NBC 7 Investigates reached out to the SDPD, the City of San Diego and the Clean and Safe Program. None of the agencies responded.

Sohaey, along with Evers and Watkins, say they would like the Portland Loo removed.

As of right now, there is no plan in place to remove it.

This story is part of #HomelessinSD coverage, an initiative by media organizations in San Diego County to raise awareness of homelessness in the region. For more information on the project and to see other stories, click here.
A federal air traffic control administrator from Virginia is suspended from his job, charged with attempting to lure a 10-year-old girl for sex and injuring a D.C. police detective during a takedown.

Scott Casoni, of Alexandria, Virginia, is also accused of tussling with the detective when police attempted to arrest Casoni on the charge of attempting to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

According to court records in D.C., Casoni has been employed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for eight years, but has been suspended from his job pending the outcome of his criminal case.

He was arrested after being snagged in an undercover operation by a police child exploitation unit, an FBI agent said in court filings.

The filing said Casoni responded to an advertisement posted by the FBI on a section of a website "frequented by individuals who have a sexual interest in children."

The agent, in his court filing, said Casoni attempted to arrange a meetup with a person he thought was a 10-year-old girl.

A federal judge has ordered Casoni to be held in custody. In his order, the judge said evidence has been presented showing "explicit communications over an extended period from the defendant regarding his intent to engage in sexual conduct with the purported ten-year-old girl."

The judge, in his order, also said evidence has been presented showing Casoni bolted from police when they staged a sting to arrest him June 22.

The judge's order said police used a "tactical takedown" to stop Casoni.

"During the tactical takedown, the detective's wrist was broken. The defendant continued to struggle while law enforcement attempted to handcuff him," the judge's order said.

A court filing from defense attorneys said Casoni has been suspended from his job at the FAA. An FAA online directory says Casoni worked at agency headquarters in D.C.

An FAA spokesman said he was reviewing an inquiry from News4, but has not yet responded to questions about Casoni's employment.

A defense attorney told News4 Casoni has pleaded not guilty to a charge of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. In a court filing, his lawyer said Casoni is a "disabled veteran, having served twenty years in the Army."

His attorney, in the same court fling, also said, "There is considerable evidence in this matter that Mr. Casoni never intended to engage in any sexual contact with the fictitious minor."

Casoni was indicted Tuesday. His defense attorney said the next court proceeding has not yet been scheduled.
Natural gas was a factor that led to the apartment explosion that killed seven people in Silver Spring, Maryland, last week, sources close to the investigation tell News4.

The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the Aug. 10 explosion at the Flower Branch Apartments in the 8700 block of Arliss Street.

Residents of the apartment complex told News4 that they had long complained of a smell of gas around the apartments, which each have a natural gas furnace and stove.

"I've been smelling gas for weeks," said Adrian Boya, who was interviewed shortly after the explosion. "I called 911, they came and told us it smelled like incense. That's pretty sad. It's like they didn't take us seriously."

Joy West said she also could smell gas in the area prior to the explosion.

"When I walk in this area, you smell gas near the corner as you approached the gas station. But it's very strong on Flower, about a block from here," West said. "I just felt, and I told the guys at the store, 'You guys be careful 'cause one day something is going to blow up around here.'"

A woman who used to work for the management office at Flower Branch Apartments told News4 that the smell of gas was a common complaint during the years she was employed there.

"Oh my God. It finally happened," said the woman, who did not want to be identified. "They would send the maintenance people to check, but I think something more needed to be done."

At a meeting with officials Tuesday in the community center, residents received reassurances that Washington Gas has checked out the surrounding buildings.

"The residents of the adjacent buildings should not experience a problem with their gas. If they do, they should certainly contact us," said Earl Stoddard of Montgomery County Emergency Services.

The seven victims of the explosion have yet to be positively identified, but authorities believe the victims are Saeda Ibrahim, 41; Augusto Jimenez Sr., age 62; Maria Auxiliadorai Castellon-Martinez, age 53; Aseged Mekonen, age 34; Deibi David Samir Lainez Morales, age 8; Fernando Josue Hernandez Orellana, age 3; and Saul Paniagua, age 65.

Another 31 people were injured, and scores of residents were traumatized by the explosion, which blew doors blocks down the street and shattered glass several streets away.

"They were sleeping in the car for a while," said one resident in Spanish. "Now they've returned to the apartments, but they're afraid to turn the gas stove on. They're afraid to cook."

Stay with News4 as we continue to update this developing story.
It's a feeling many of us have experienced: you lose something valuable or sentimental and you panic.

A man experienced that dreadful feeling Tuesday night when he accidentally threw away his wedding ring at Cafesano, a restaurant in Reston, Virginia.

"He grabbed me. He said, 'I think my wedding ring is lost in your trash can,'" said Sergio Alvarado, manager for Cafesano.

The man said he had dried his hands with napkins and worried he tossed the ring in the trash along with the napkins.

"You could tell it was very upsetting for him and his wife," said Jennifer Walter, who was sitting with her husband at a table nearby.

Alvarado and Christian Rosa, a food runner for the restaurant, quickly stepped in to look for the missing ring.

Rosa eventually took the trash bag outside and sifted through it.

"He started taking everyting from a trash bag into another trash bag until he found it," Alvarado said. "Honestly, I didn't think he was going go find it and then he came back to me where I was and he showed me that he had it."

Alvarado said when they delivered the lost -- now found -- ring to the man, he was very emotional. The ring had been on the man's finger for 55 years.

Meanwhile, Walter and others watching were stunned at Rosa's gesture.

"It's this little ring and a whole pile of trash. I mean, what are the odds of being able to find it and just the fact that he went through that effort to do that was pretty astounding," Walter said.

When asked if it was one of his best days at work, Rosa said, "Yes, because I like to help other [people]."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

Trend:

Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulatory letter to President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on the occasion of the Independence Day of Afghanistan.

On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my sincere congratulations to you and all your people on the occasion of the national holiday of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan  Independence Day, said President Aliyev in his letter.

I am confident that friendship and cooperation between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan will continue developing and expanding, noted the president.

On this remarkable day, I wish you robust health and success in your activities, and the friendly people of Afghanistan peace and prosperity, he added.
A dog who chewed off his own foot trying to free himself is doing better, as a warrant was issued Thursday for Mavericks former owner.

Back in July, Maverick began to chew off his own foot in an attempt to try and free himself from his tether at his home in Middleboro, Massachusetts. According to the MSPCA, Maverick had been tangled for a few days before a neighbor heard him and called animal control.

A few days later the 2-year-old long-haired German Shepard underwent surgery to repair his foot.

At the time, Maverick's former owner, Kevin Kennedy, was charged with animal cruelty and was scheduled to appear in court Thursday to be arraigned.

Kennedy didnt show up for court though. Court officials issued a warrant for Kennedys arrest.

If convicted on the animal cruelty charge, Kennedy could face up to 7 years in prison or a fine of up to $5,000.
Police in Boston are searching for a peeping Tom after reports of three separate incidents.

Angelica Cristello had no second thoughts about eating outside her Marlborough Street home with her girlfriends Wednesday night, despite signs posted on many trees in the neighborhood warning of the possible peeping Tom.

"I think we have a false sense of safety," said Cristello. "You have to be careful."

Someone posted the signs along the upscale street in Boston's Back Bay.

The person who posted the signs says the suspicious person has been spotted in recent weeks on the street.

"I was surprised," said resident Michelle Mathai. "This is a very quiet street."

The sign asks for neighbors to keep an eye out, especially for a white ford pick up truck.

Boston Police are saying little about the case, but that they are investigating.
A Jamaican national who is a convicted felon has been sentenced to prison for carrying a loaded gun and re-entering the country illegally.

Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha says 45-year-old Marlon Straw, of Hyde Park, Massachusetts, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Providence, Rhode Island, to 46 months behind bars followed by three years of probation. Straw will be subject to deportation proceedings following his sentence. He pleaded guilty May 23.

Prosecutors say Rhode Island State Police stopped a car being driven by Straw's wife in Exeter on March 31, 2015, for speeding. Straw provided troopers with false names and was arrested. Troopers later found a loaded pistol in his long underwear and sock.

Straw was previously removed from the United States and deported to Jamaica on August 29, 2013.
Residents of Dudley, Massachusetts are frustrated that a battle over whether this farmland can be turned into an Islamic cemetery is now being investigated by the U.S. Attorney as a possible civil rights violation.

Dudley Town Selectman Peter Fox said, "We're not trying to block anybody, we're just trying to execute our rights."

Earlier this year, the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester signed an agreement to buy the 55-acre property, but the town rejected the group's proposal to change the zoning from agricultural and began exploring purchasing the property itself.

Dudley Town Administrator Greg Balukonis said, "The town has 120 day right of first refusal to potentially acquire the property."

But the attorney for the Islamic Society argues the town's motives have nothing to do with preserving agricultural property.

Howard Cooper, Islamic Society attorney "The treatment of the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester's efforts to build a cemetery have run into improper and unlawful discrimination."

It's a suggestion selectmen and residents don't take lightly.

Selectman Fox said, "This has absolutely nothing to do with race, the town of Dudley is not a racist community."

Desiree Moninski, who lives across the street said, "We don't care what kind of cemetery it is, we don't want one there."

In fact some residents have voiced their concerns about well water contamination for dozens of nearby homes.

Briare said, "When they dug the test pits, there was literally water 18 inches below grade, so how can you dig four feet below?"

Cooper said, "There is absolutely no danger to the water table and really logic dictates that the notion of people burying their dead is not new."
A Braintree, Massachusetts, man is facing charges after police say he tried to take a toddler from a market while his parents were shopping.



It happened at South Shore India Market on Quincy Avenue in Braintree last Friday night. The toddler was with his parents when police say a shirtless stranger picked him up and bolted for the back door.



He just threw him over the shoulder almost as if you were carrying your gym bag, store owner Mehtab Ahmed said. It was bizarre and

unnatural.



The attempted kidnapping was caught on the stores surveillance video.



The childs father noticed right away and followed the man to the back of the store where he eventually handed over the child and ran into the woods behind the market.



I asked him if he tried to take the kid and he was just grunting, Mehtab said.



Braintree police arrested Stephen OBrien, 47, of Quincy, who they say refused to let go of a tree when they first arrived. OBrien is charged with kidnapping and resisting arrest.



He was held on $100,000 bail and is due back in court September 14.
Police in Keene, New Hampshire, are paying a woman a few hundred dollars after smashing her car window.

The officer thought he was rescuing a baby locked in a hot car, but it wasn't what it seemed.

On a sweltering Saturday afternoon in late July, Keene Police say three shoppers in the Wal-Mart plaza called 911.

"We're parked next to a Ford, and there's a baby left in the car," said one of the callers.

Lt. Shane Maxfield said the first officer on scene saw a baby's legs sticking out from under a blanket in a car seat.

So, he shattered the car window to get inside.

"It looked like a baby, it felt like a baby, the arms were springing the way baby arms sometimes do, and so he started doing baby CPR," Lt. Maxfield said.

When the officer saw that the child had no airway and no ear canals, he realized it was a doll. A very expensive, life-like doll.

"Between $2,000 and $3,000 for this thing," Lt. Maxfield said. "Its manufactured with the intent to be indistinguishable from a regular baby."

They're called "reborn" dolls.

The one in the car was "Ainsley"  one of 40 reborns in Carolynne Seiffert's collection. The Vermont resident didn't want to be interviewed, but told us after the tragic death of her son ten years ago, the dolls have helped her cope.

Lt. Maxfield said it's the most unusual turn of events he's ever seen, but that first responders did exactly the right thing.

"If you make a mistake the other way then maybe a baby is dead," Lt. Maxfield said.

Police have agreed to pay Seiffert $300 for damage to her vehicle.

In return, Seiffert will be putting a sticker on her vehicle warning people of her lifelike dolls.
A man from Warwick, Rhode Island, is facing charges for allegedly trying to arrange sex with a minor.

According to the Providence Journal, Burrillville Police said Kevin Marnane, 19, was talking to an undercover detective online who was posing as a 13-year-old.

Authorities said Marnane then arranged a meet-up in Burrillville where he was arrested and charged with indecent solicitation of a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, enticement of a minor and possession of marijuana.
A bicyclist was seriously injured when he was struck by a pickup truck on Wednesday in Waltham, Massachusetts.

According to Waltham police, the accident happened on Trapelo Road just after 8:30 a.m. when the truck, which was headed west, attempted to make a left turn onto Pine Vale Road when it struck the bicyclist, who was heading east.

The victim, a 61-year-old man from Carlisle, was hospitalized with injuries to his legs and his head.

The driver, described as a 42-year-old Woburn resident, stopped and was cooperating with police.

The crash is still under investigation.
Weary Republican leaders are accepting Donald Trump's latest staff shake-up, hopeful that a new leadership team can reverse the New York businessman's struggles even as some worry it's too little too late.

The Republican National Committee has already conceded it may divert resources away from the presidential contest in favor of vulnerable Senate and House candidates if Trump's standing does not improve in the coming weeks. RNC chief strategist Sean Spicer called Trump's staffing changes the "healthy growth of the campaign at a senior level at a key point."

Spicer also urged caution as Trump's new team contemplates whether the fiery populism and freewheeling style that won him the Republican nomination will give him a better shot at the White House than uniting his party and rallying moderate voters.

"I think people want him to be authentic," Spicer said. "They appreciate he's not a scripted politician, but there's a recognition that words do matter."

Trump on Wednesday announced a staff overhaul at his campaign's highest levels, the second shake-up in the past two months. The Republican nominee tapped Stephen Bannon  a combative conservative media executive with no presidential campaign experience  to serve as CEO of his White House bid.

Pollster Kellyanne Conway, who has known Trump for years and gained his trust during her brief tenure working for him, will serve as campaign manager.

The moves are aimed in part at marginalizing campaign chairman Paul Manafort, a longtime Republican operative who pushed Trump to moderate his tone and improve relations with skeptical Republican officials. In breaking with that approach, Trump appears set on finishing the race on his own terms  win or lose.

Trump's divisive tone and weak poll numbers have triggered a rash of Republican defections in recent weeks. Party loyalists have grown increasingly frustrated with Trump's inability to stay focused on Democrat Hillary Clinton amid a series of self-created distractions.

"I don't care if Donald Duck is running the campaign," said Henry Barbour, a Republican National committeeman from Mississippi. "If he can make this thing about Hillary Clinton's record and getting the country back on track, that's what's going to win this election."

While Manafort retains his title, Trump allies made clear Bannon will be overseeing the campaign staff and operations.

Rarely do presidential campaigns undergo such a level of tumult at such a stage of the general election. Wednesday's announcements came less than three months before Election Day, and roughly six weeks before early voting begins.

Conway downplayed the notion of internal dissent at campaign headquarters at Trump Tower, telling The Associated Press the staffing changes are "an expansion at a critical time in the homestretch."

Trump's standing in the White House race plummeted throughout the summer and he now trails Clinton in preference polls of most key battleground states. He's struggled to offer voters a consistent message, overshadowing formal policy speeches with a steady stream of controversies, including a public feud with an American Muslim family whose son was killed while serving in the U.S. military in Iraq.

Clinton, campaigning Wednesday in Cleveland, said voters should not be fooled by any Trump efforts to revamp his candidacy.

"There is no new Donald Trump," Clinton said. "This is it."

Bannon's website has been fiercely loyal to Trump for months and sharply critical of Republican leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan. Breitbart has also actively promoted false conspiracy theories about Clinton, and some have then made their way into Trump's remarks.

Manafort has spent months trying to ingratiate Trump to Republican lawmakers who have urged the billionaire businessman to dial back his fiery rhetoric and run a more traditional campaign. While Trump held a handful of meetings with Washington Republicans and fulfilled requests from GOP leaders to raise campaign cash, he's continued to rankle lawmakers with his numerous controversies.

"Trump is on his third campaign manager in three months. If this was a hot dog stand, conclusion might be there was a problem with the dogs," Republican strategist Stuart Stevens, a frequent Trump critic, wrote on Twitter
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) sold $50 million to 28 banks through an auction held by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) Aug. 18, SOFAZ said in a message.

SOFAZ will continue selling foreign currency through auctions in 2016. The foreign currency is sold as part of SOFAZs transfers to the Azerbaijani state budget, which are envisaged to stand at 7.615 billion Azerbaijani manats in 2016.

SOFAZ was established in 1999 with assets of $271 million.

As of July 1, 2016, SOFAZs assets increased by 4.6 percent and amounted to $35.1 billion as compared to $33.57 billion in early 2016.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

The 4th session of the Azerbaijan-Bulgaria Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation is planned to be held in September 2016 in Baku, a diplomatic source told Trend Aug. 18.

An exchange of views on strengthening cooperation between the two countries, as well as on the implementation of joint projects will be held during the session.

A key aspect of the negotiations will be the study of opportunities to expand trade and economic relations, prospects of cooperation in the fields of energy and transportation, cultural and educational exchanges, and other priorities.

Representatives of Bulgarian companies, specialized in various spheres of economy and intended to supply products to Azerbaijan, will also be included in Bulgarias delegation.

Earlier, Bulgarias Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev previously told Trend that there are many promising areas, where mutually beneficial cooperation can be established.

Bulgarian government believes that Azerbaijan can become an important market for supplies of Bulgarian products, in particular, mechanical engineering, agricultural products and others, he added.

Bulgaria is also interested in cooperation in the energy sphere and is ready to act as a transit state for the supply of Azerbaijani gas to Europe.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria amounted to $16.5 million in January-July 2016, compared to $6.6 million in the same period of 2015, according to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee.
Every citizen of our city may take part in this campaign. To become a participant, just take a photo with card maquettes of the Bank located at Port Baku, Ganjlik Mall and 28 Mall shopping centers, share it in social networks with #cekqazan hashtag and send it to [email protected] e-mail address. Gathered pictures will be shared every week through corporate profiles of the Bank in social networks. Followers of the official corporate profiles of the Bank will be voting for shared pictures and by this determine the winner. Pictures will be gathered from Friday to Thursday (until 17:00), shared for voting on Friday (time for voting from 09:00 till 17:00) and the winner will be determined at the same day on 18:00. The participant getting the highest number of votes each week will get valuable prizes by Azer Turk Bank.

To get more information about the campaign go to www.cekqazan.azerturkbank.az. The website was designed to provide apprehensibility for the campaign participants and is linked with the official website of Azer Turk Bank. The www.cekqazan.azerturkbank.az website provides information about the terms of campaign, list of presents, names of winners and more.

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.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 18

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Fleet of the Turkmenistan Airlines has been recently renewed with several Boeing aircraft, the Turkmen government said in a message Aug. 18.

Turkmenistan received three Boeing 737-800 aircraft in 2013 and two Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft in 2014.

In April 2015, Turkmenistan decided to purchase three more Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

In addition, Turkmenistan is considering the further acquisition of 50- and 100-seat aircraft for domestic flights.

Currently, the Turkmenistan Airlines, in addition to domestic flights, carries out regular flights to dozens of countries.

The area of the flights is constantly expanding. Thus, an intergovernmental agreement on flights was initialed between Turkmenistan and Luxembourg. In June 2015, Europes largest carrier, Cargolux Airlines International, started cargo flights from Luxembourg to Turkmen city of Turkmenbashi.

Cargolux has been also flying to Ashgabat since June 2016.

Turkmenistan also had negotiations with Turkeys Pegasus Airlines on cooperation prospects and opening a Pegasus office in the country.

Pegasus will in the near future start flights from Istanbul to Turkmenbashi.

Turkmenistan is also constructing a new international airport in Ashgabat, which is designed to become a major transit hub for continental and intercontinental flights.

Another international airport is being built in the city of Turkmenabat.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Irans exports to South Africa reached $14.3 million in the first four months of current fiscal year (March 20-July 20), Mehrdad Siadatnasab, Irans commercial attache to Pretoria, said.

The figure indicates an increase by 70 percent compared to the same period of preceding year, Siadatnasab said, Irans industry, mines and trade ministrys official SHATA news website reported.

Petrochemical products, bitumen, tiles, palm, transformers, flooring and carpet, pistachio and industrial oils were the main exported products, he said.

Tehrans total non-oil exports (including condensates) surpassed $16.3 billion during the four-month period, indicating a rise by 21.11 percent year-on-year.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Iran and India have ended differences over development of Farzad B gas field, Mehr news agency reported Aug. 18.

An Indian delegation visited Tehran this week to discuss the financial investment model for development of the gas field.

The two sides reached the agreement after a meeting of the National Iranian Oil Company officials with the New Delhi-based ONGC representatives in Tehran yesterday, Ali Akbar Shabanpour, managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company, said.

During the meeting the Indian sides financial investment model was studied by the two parties experts, he said, adding the final document will be signed within 45 days.

The expert teams from both sides will study the issues within the next 45 days, he said, forecasting that an HOA (heads of agreement) will be signed by the end of September.

HOA is a non-binding document outlining the main issues relevant to a tentative (partnership or other) agreement.

In 2008, a consortium of OVL (ONGC Videsh Ltd.), Oil India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. discovered the Farzad B gas field in the Farsi block, which is estimated to contain 12.8 trillion cubic feet of recoverable reserves.

In August 2010, OVL submitted a revised master development plan (MDP) for producing 60 percent of the field's in-place gas reserves, but did not sign a contract with the Iranian side out of fear it would be exposed to sanctions imposed by the US on Iran's energy sector, which did not allow foreign companies to invest more than $20 million a year in the country's energy sector.

After the West lifted sanctions against Iran under the nuclear agreement, OVL proposed a $3 billion field development plan to Iran to develop Farzad B.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Irans Judiciary has confirmed that three people, charged with terror attacks, were executed on Aug. 17.

The executed men killed three policemen in a terror attack in Irans south-western province of Khuzestan, Amanat Behbahani, an official with the province judiciary said, YJC news agency reported Aug. 18.

The men were also involved in other terrorist acts, the official added.

Iranian media identified the executed men as Ghais Obidawi, Ahmad Obidawi and Sajad Obidawi.

Behbahani said other convicts of the case were given prison sentences.

In April 2015, three police officers were killed when gunmen opened fire on a temporary police station at a park in the city of Hamidiyeh, about 25 kilometres west of the provincial capital city of Ahwaz.

Murder, rape, armed robbery and trafficking of drugs in quantities in excess of 5 kilograms are among the crimes punishable by death in Iran.

Iran ranks second, after China, in terms of the number of executions in the world.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Irans border police seized some 1.36 tons of hashish in the south-eastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

The incident took place near the Saravan city on the Iran-Pakistan border, when smugglers were crossing the border in three vehicles, Rohambakhsh Habibi, commander of the province border guards, said, Fars news agency reported Aug 18.

After a police operation, the smugglers escaped into Pakistan, leaving their hashish consignment and cars, he added.

Iran is situated on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Persian Gulf states. The Islamic Republic shares about 900 kilometers of common border with Afghanistan, over which 74 percent of opium is smuggled.



The fight against drug trafficking annually costs Iran about $1 billion, according to the official estimates.

The statistics also say there are about two million drug users in Iran.
Russia has recently become overly active in promoting arms race and increasing the quality of weaponry, Armenian human rights activist Artur Sakunts said, the Aravot newspaper reported.

Involvement of only one military factor in the negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts settlement implies a great danger and fundamentally contradicts one of the three basic principles of the OSCE Minsk Group  the principle of a peaceful settlement  as the increase in militarization is fraught with inevitable increase in the likelihood of a military action, Sakunts said.

Instead of the guided steps in line with the principle of peaceful settlement and reducing the level of militarization, just the opposite occurs, he said. One of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Russia, is taking steps that lead to an arms race.

He noted that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, Russia, has even broken military parity, having sold arms to Azerbaijan and not given Armenia the promised weaponry worth $200 million.

Sakunts added that as a result of Russia's active diplomatic measures the OSCE Minsk Group format has been distorted in recent years, and Russia is trying to oust the US and France from the format of the talks.

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 US State Department said on Thursday it released $400 million in cash to Iran under a tribunal settlement only once it was assured that American prisoners had been freed and had boarded a plane, Reuters reported.

"The payment of the $400 million was not done until after the prisoners were released," State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

"We took advantage of that to make sure we had the maximum leverage possible to get our people out and get them out safely," Kirby added.

It was the first time the administration has said publicly that it used the payment as leverage to ensure the prisoners were released by Iran.

Three of the five prisoners, including Jason Rezaian, the Washington Posts's Tehran bureau chief; Saeed Abedini, a pastor from Idaho and Amir Hekmati, a former US Marine from Flint, Michigan, as well as some family members, were part of a prisoner exchange that followed the lifting of most international sanctions against Iran following a nuclear deal in 2015.

One more prisoner, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, chose to remain in Iran, while a fifth prisoner, American student Matthew Trevithick, was released separately.

Both US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have denied that the payment was ransom for the release of the prisoners or tied to the Iran nuclear deal.

The White House announced on Jan. 17 it was releasing $400 million in funds frozen since 1981, plus $1.3 billion in interest owed to Iran, as part of a settlement of a long-standing Iranian claim at the Iran-US Claims Tribunal in The Hague.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

Trend:

Latest on the car bomb attack in Elazig, Turkey

12:56 (UTC/GMT +4) Turkey has temporarily banned the media coverage of the car bomb attack on a police station in the countrys Elazig province, Anadolu Agency reports.

12:27 (UTC/GMT +4) All the killed and wounded as a result of the car bomb attack on a police station in Turkeys Elazig, are police officers, Hurriyet newspaper reports.

Ten of the 140 injured are in critical condition, according to the newspaper.

12:05 (UTC/GMT +4) The number of the injured as a result of car bomb attack on a police station in Elazig, Turkey, has reached 140, Haber7 newspaper reports.

The number of the injured can increase, says the newspaper.

11:38 (UTC/GMT +4) A car bomb blew up at a police station in Elazig, Turkey, killing three and injuring 40, TRT Haber news channel reports.

Reports suggest that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorist group stands behind the attack.

11:08 (UTC/GMT +4) An explosion occurred at a police station in the southeastern Turkish province of Elazig, TRT Haber news channel has reported.

The report said there are casualties.

---

Photos and footage from the scene of car bomb attack in Elazig, Turkey.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

An aircraft of Qatar Airways, flying from Istanbul to Doha, had to return to Istanbul after engine fire, the Haber7 newspaper reports.

One of the engines of the aircraft, which took off from the Istanbul Ataturk Airport Aug. 18, caught fire mid-air, therefore the plane had to return to Istanbul and make an emergency landing there.

Reportedly, all the passengers have been evacuated and the fire has been extinguished.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
A new Microsoft Surface Book sits on display at a media event for new Microsoft products on October 6, 2015 in New York City. (Photo : Getty Images/Andrew Burton)

With the wide array of complicated hybrid tablet-laptops coming out, all of which have their own functionalities and specifications, the task of buying any of those technologies can be daunting. We are going to split the best of these 2-in-1 laptops into five categories, with which their utilities can be maximized to the fullest according to their strengths and specialties.



Advertisement

Best Overall: Surface Pro 4



What remains to be on top among the choices for 2-in-1 hybrids is nothing else but the Surface Pro 4. Compared to its predecessors, its keyboard has been drastically enhanced with major improvements. In addition, this can also be used as a fully-functioning laptop.



Many 2-in-1's actually have these same remarkable features but what makes the Surface Pro 4 stand alone is its longevity. Portable devices like 2-in-1's need the longest battery lives considering how they are going to be used, and this device packs an impressive 6-hour life span.



Best Laptop-like Device: Microsoft Surface Book



Coming with a daunting price is the Surface Pro's bigger brother, the Surface Book, which has a detachable screen. Microsoft wanted to keep this top secret before the revelation, according to Gizmodo. It possesses highly impressive features and functions, and is certainly made as something resembling a laptop more than a tablet, but it comes at the price of $3,200.



Best Art Tool: Apple iPad Pro



Tablets are also often used for sketching and other graphical purposes, and Apple provides the natural experience more successfully than the others. Its size is big enough for users to prefer this over a lot of other devices.



Microsoft has even launched a commercial attacking this device with comparisons of its Surface Book. They have been known to bash Apple's products with subtlety through advertisements, according to the Verge.



Best Travel Buddy: Samsung Galaxy TabPro S



Travel devices require the most ideal battery life and all-around compactness. It can last up to 9 hours, plus it comes with a reasonable price at only $900.



Best Price: Acer Switch Alpha 12



For all-around features paired with the lowest price among these options, the Acer Switch Alpha rounds up to $800 only. It comes with downsides, however, mainly its short battery life, which may not be the perfect feature for portable devices.






Copy Editor/Entertainment Editor

Frank Pieper is a copy editor and entertainment editor at The News-Gazette, and the author of Frank's Faves and Frank's Weekend Faves. His email is fpieper@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@frp308).
Columnist

Tom Kacich is a columnist and the author of Tom's Mailbag at The News-Gazette. His column appears Sundays. His email is tkacich@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@tkacich).
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown how an aggressive form of multiple myeloma resists chemotherapy.

Multiple myeloma is a rare cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow. Though the finding has no immediate benefit for patients, the scientists say it could help guide research into better treatments.

The results appear online July 2 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

About 20 percent of patients with multiple myeloma have a specific genetic abnormality that is associated with a poor prognosis. Patients with this "translocation"  in which a broken section of chromosome 14 is swapped into chromosome 4  show resistance to certain chemotherapy drugs and shorter survival than multiple myeloma patients without this particular translocation.

"Even in this cancer that has no cure, patients with the 4, 14 translocation tend to do very poorly with treatment," says Michael H. Tomasson, MD, associate professor of medicine. "But no one really knew why. For a number of years, we have been studying the gene at the chromosome's breakpoint, without much success in explaining how it could lead to cancer."

The gene at the breakpoint, called WHSC1, makes proteins that guide how DNA is packaged, an important method for regulating which genes are turned on or off in a given cell. This type of gene is a prime suspect in cancer because an error in DNA packaging could lead to uncontrolled cell division. Patients with this translocation also make the gene's proteins in extremely high amounts, another hallmark of cancer. But even after extensive experiments, the researchers couldn't show how these proteins might make a cell cancerous.

"So we took a step back and asked what's missing?" Tomasson says. "What is different between what we're doing in the lab and what is going on with our patients?"

In the lab, they had used common techniques that only examine the small portion of the WHSC1 gene that codes for proteins. Patients, of course, are living with the entire gene. In this case, the missing piece of the puzzle lay in the so-called non-coding regions of the gene. Tomasson and his colleagues designed an unbiased method to examine these non-coding regions, specifically measuring the RNA made by the gene. RNA is closely related to DNA and plays broad roles in regulating cellular processes.

"It turns out, hidden inside this gene is a non-coding RNA that's expressed at very high levels in patients with the translocation," Tomasson says.

This particular RNA is called ACA11 and is classified as a small nucleolar RNA, or snoRNA. Generally, snoRNAs are well known only for helping the cell regulate other RNAs.

In an interesting twist, fellow Washington University researcher Jean E. Schaffer, MD, the Virginia Minnich Distinguished Professor of Medicine, had recently found the first evidence that snoRNAs are not limited to their previously defined roles. Schaffer and her colleagues showed that some snoRNAs are also involved in the cellular damage seen in metabolic diseases such as diabetes. Reporting in Cell Metabolism last year, they demonstrated that some snoRNAs regulate how a cell responds to oxidative stress, stress caused by highly reactive molecules that contain oxygen.

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"Jean published a paper showing that another type of snoRNA modified oxidative stress not in cancer, but in cardiac metabolism," Tomasson says. "That put us on to the idea that perhaps our snoRNA, ACA11, is also regulating the oxidative stress that can damage cells."

The scientists performed a wide variety of experiments examining ACA11 levels and oxidative stress in cancer cells. Specifically, as the amount of ACA11 went up (as it does in patients with the 4, 14 translocation), levels of reactive oxygen species that damage cells went down. As a result, the cancer cells were protected from damage. Cell proliferation increased, and these cells showed resistance to chemotherapy. Likewise, when they caused ACA11 levels to go down, the amount of reactive oxygen species increased. Within this more hostile environment, cell proliferation decreased and the cancer cells were more vulnerable to chemotherapy.

"ACA11 appears to protect the cancer cells from damaging stress," Tomasson says. "It allows the cells to grow better and be resistant to chemotherapy. And if you look at multiple myeloma patients with the 4, 14 translocation, they tend to show resistance to treatment as well. Not to every chemotherapy, but they show resistance to a number of them."

Importantly, Tomasson points out that ACA11 is present in all the cancer cells of patients with the 4, 14 translocation. It is also highly expressed in other cancers including brain, esophageal, bladder and colon cancers. And it can be found in multiple myeloma patients who do not have the 4, 14 translocation, though more rarely. As such, Tomasson says ACA11 may prove important in developing new cancer therapeutics in the future.

"We can look for drugs that attack this mechanism," he says. "We don't yet have these drugs or other answers to know what will work well for these patients. But this is an important clue that tells us where to look."

More immediately, he says this work may provide a rationale for avoiding the chemotherapy drugs that are known to be ineffective in this group of patients.

"Now we have an angle for just focusing on the drugs that we know work better, as well as on experimental approaches for these patients," he says. "It gives us a new way to study how we can improve their care."
Some anxiety is perfectly normal for kidney transplant patients, but new research suggests that medical staff can help patients feel more at ease when they leave the hospital and that could decrease the chances they'll be readmitted.

High levels of anxiety a week after a kidney transplant patient went home more than doubled the chances he or she would be readmitted within 30 days of release, researchers found.

And anxiety was higher for patients who received inconsistent directions related to post-discharge care while in the hospital and who reported less-than-optimal empathy on the part of nurses, doctors and other caregivers, researchers from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and Wexner Medical Center report in September's Journal of Surgical Research.

"The more patient-centric the care, the more trust the patient had in the information provided, the lower the anxiety level after discharge," said Aravind Chandrasekaran, study co-author and an associate professor of operations and associate director of Fisher's Center for Operational Excellence.

"If you're anxious, you're going to come back."

Readmissions can happen for true medical reasons - such as a patient taking the wrong medications or not adhering to post-transplant safety measures.

They can also arise when the worried well return unnecessarily, said Susan Moffatt-Bruce, study co-author, cardiothoracic surgeon and chief quality and patient safety officer at Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center.

"Sometimes we can make ourselves unwell because we've been so anxious," she said.

Standardizing post-transplant care and training caregivers to convey more empathy during their educational interactions could go a long way toward keeping new kidney recipients well and out of the hospital, the study concluded.

"It comes down to understanding the whole patient," Moffatt-Bruce said. "With some simple interventions, including being kind and being present, we can make a difference."

About 17,000 people receive kidney transplants each year in the United States and more than 100,000 are on the waiting list, according to 2014 data from the Health Resources and Services Administration. More than 30 percent of them are readmitted within 30 days of their release, previous research has found.

When patients head home, good self-care - including taking medications properly and avoiding infection risks - is critical for maintaining good health.

But the list of instructions for transplant patients is long and it can be confusing, Chandrasekaran said. On top of that, patients sometimes hear conflicting advice from different members of their care team.

Prior to beginning the study, he and his collaborators reasoned that anxiety after discharge could be a significant player in the high rate of readmissions.

Ohio State's research team first interviewed 20 patients who received a transplant at the Wexner Medical Center to get a handle on the quality of care delivered during hospitalization. In general, the interviews suggested that information conveyed to patients varied depending on the caregiver and was delivered "in a somewhat rushed manner."

Researchers also shadowed the care team to listen first-hand to the instructions they gave transplant patients after their surgeries.

One example of inconsistent advice they witnessed: One nurse recommended "a lot of fluids," another said to drink two liters a day and another told the patient to consume 100 ounces.

"There must have been 16 different ways to tell them to drink a lot of water," Chandrasekaran said, adding that this wasn't because the nurses weren't following protocol. Rather, they were passing along various guidelines they'd been told over the years.

The researchers then used information from those shadowing experiences and the initial 20 interviews to develop surveys given to another 77 kidney recipients, 24 of whom were readmitted within 30 days.

"We wanted to see what was it that caused them to have anxiety and what could we do to alleviate that," Moffatt-Bruce said.

"We asked patients, 'What went right, what went wrong?' "

The researchers assessed the consistency of patient education using a five-item test that measured the ease of getting information and the level of understanding of symptoms and procedures. To evaluate empathy, they used a three-item scale that asked patients about their comfort level when they interacted with caregivers.

The researchers worked closely with the entire transplant team at Ohio State's medical center, including 24 nurses and several physicians.

They found a strong association between anxiety levels a week after discharge and readmission within a month. They also found that the odds of getting readmitted increase by 110 percent for a one-unit increase in anxiety levels.

They did not find a direct link between consistency and empathy measured in the surveys and readmissions. But they did find that those elements appeared to play a clear role in raising anxiety, which was linked to readmissions.

The researchers took into account factors that could skew their findings - including age, ethnicity, preexisting health conditions and the function of the transplanted organ upon discharge.

Since conducting this work, the researchers and transplant staff designed interventions to improve pre-discharge care and attempt to reduce preventable readmissions.

The discharge nurses, in particular, played a key role in the changes, which have cut the number of individual instructions given to patients from about 80 to 25, Moffatt-Bruce said.

"When you go home you're going to be more confident, you're going to be safer and you're going to be less likely to come back to the hospital," she said.
Chinese factories turn to automation to solve workforce crisis. (Photo : Getty Images)

Chinese companies are now leaning toward automation as the country's working age population dwindles if only to maintain the expected production rate the nation has previously offered.



China's population is rapidly aging and, with no other choice, many manufacturing firms in the country are beginning to rely on artificially intelligent machines to solve the problem.



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But while they may provide great potential in the manufacturing industry, people should still not rely too much on robots especially if it means that the future for the Chinese workforce would become bleaker.



Chinese Automated Workforce



In China, people see robots serving customers in restaurants and in manufacturing plants because they speed up the time of production and minimize if not remove chances of error.



But the dwindling number of Chinese people fit to work is continuously dropping and some companies are beginning to turn to automation.



Proof of this is the sudden increase in orders of robots that could hit as high as 150,000 robots by 2018 per a Wall Street Journal report.



Because China is one of the biggest manufacturing countries in the world, the mere idea of losing to other nations because of consequences of sudden population control got Chinese firms worried.



"China is saying, 'we have to roboticize our industry in order to keep it,'" explained Robotics Division Chairman Stefan Lampa of the German robot manufacturer Kuka AG.



Why Chine Chooses Robots



Aside from the fact that the number of China's workers is rapidly declining, industry experts believe that there are other reasons why companies in the country are looking to make their production automated.



Similar to the situation in the fresh produce industry, manufacturers also want "precision and flexibility," according to an article in a website called And Now You Know.



Such characteristics of robots added to the fact that they can be a lot cheaper compared to human workforce and do not need any sick leave, social insurances, and other humanitarian benefits can be quite tempting.



"They cost less and take up less space. And they're far easier to manage. Workers get sick. They have down days. They make mistakes. Robots can work 24 hours a day and always finish the job on time," Ying Ao Kitchen Utensils Deputy Manager Chen Conghan told CBC Canada.



According to Chen, employees are now demanding higher pay even though they have minimal skills related to the job which returns us to the fact that the country is now suffering from an aging population.



"It's becoming harder and harder to recruit workers and to keep them. This work is intense and tiring, so we have to pay people more and more to lure them and keep them," Chen added.






We spend up to one-third of our life asleep, but not everyone sleeps well. For couples, it turns out how well you think your partner understands and cares for you is linked to how well you sleep. The results are published in Social Personality and Psychological Science.

"Our findings show that individuals with responsive partners experience lower anxiety and arousal, which in turn improves their sleep quality," says lead author Dr. Emre Selcuk, a developmental and social psychologist at Middle East Technical University in Turkey.

One of the most important functions of sleep is to protect us against deteriorations in physical health. However, this protective function of sleep can only be realized when we have high quality uninterrupted sleep, known as restorative sleep.

Restorative sleep requires feelings of safety, security, protection and absence of threats. For humans, the strongest source of feelings of safety and security is responsive social partners--whether parents in childhood or romantic partners in adulthood.

"Having responsive partners who would be available to protect and comfort us should things go wrong is the most effective way for us humans to reduce anxiety, tension, and arousal," says Selcuk.

The research supports findings from the past several years by an international collaboration of researchers including Emre Selcuk (Middle East Technical University, Turkey), Anthony Ong (Cornell University, US), Richard Slatcher and Sarah Stanton (Wayne State University, US), Gul Gunaydin (Bilkent University, Turkey), and David Almeida (Penn State, US).

Using data from the Midlife Development in the United States project, past projects from the researchers showed connections between partner responsiveness, physical health and psychological well-being over several years.

"Taken together, the corpus of evidence we obtained in recent years suggests that our best bet for a happier, healthier, and a longer life is having a responsive partner," says Selcuk.
Mr. Peter Goodhand, President of The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), today announced a new collaborative research study in partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific and Queen's University to help bring more targeted diagnosis and treatment to breast cancer patients in the future.

The study, led by Dr. John Bartlett, Director of OICR's Transformative Pathology Program, and Dr. Harriet Feilotter, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Queen's University, aims to identify mutations and copy number changes found in breast cancer samples and establish whether these abnormalities correlate with on-market drugs, available clinical trials, or published studies.

OICR-affiliated researchers and collaborators at Queen's University and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre will process the same breast cancer samples to establish whether the results are reproducible at different sites. This study will also characterize more than 400 additional retrospective breast cancer samples supporting ongoing clinical research efforts of Dr. Bartlett's team at OICR, which strives to improve the clinical management of the disease.

Collaborators Drs. Martin Yaffe and Arun Seth at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre will provide laboratory space and additional technical support for the study. Dr. Yaffe is also Co-leader of OICR's Smarter Imaging and Imaging Translation Programs.

The study will use Thermo Fisher's Oncomine Comprehensive Assay, a targeted, next-generation sequencing (NGS) research tool that analyzes 143 genes relevant to cancer and which is the NGS assay used for the NCI-MATCH study in the United States. The data generated can be further studied with the Oncomine Knowledgebase Reporter, which is a curated set of published evidence that matches driver genetic variants with relevant information, such as on-market drugs, available clinical trials, or published studies. The findings of the OICR study will be used to assess the technology and could inform subsequent clinical trials.

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"Our ultimate goal is to one day be able to better stratify breast cancer patients, meaning we will be able to improve our understanding of the unique characteristics driving their cancer and better link patients with drugs or with clinical trials that can help them," said Bartlett. "If successful this study could lead to more molecular diagnostics and more information for breast cancer patients when they receive their diagnosis."

"For these types of studies, clinical researchers anticipate receiving numerous samples that may be partially degraded with little viable nucleic acid material," said Andy Felton, PhD, Vice President of Product Management for Clinical Next Generation Sequencing at Thermo Fisher. "The Oncomine Comprehensive assay and Ion Torrent NGS systems yield robust results with challenging samples, essential performance requirements for platforms that will contribute to the advancement of precision medicine."

"This collaboration demonstrates Ontario's leadership and innovation in solving difficult challenges in cancer research," said Reza Moridi, Minister of Research, Innovation and Science. "Research such as this will undoubtedly help drive discoveries that lead to better diagnosis and treatments for all patients battling breast cancer in Ontario."

Drs. Feilotter and Bartlett have also engaged six laboratories in Ontario, including at Hamilton Health Sciences, London Health Sciences Centre, Ottawa General Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Sudbury Health Science North and University Health Network to look at the robustness and reproducibility of the assay across different cancer samples. This collaboration could extend the findings of this study beyond breast cancer to other common cancers.
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is proud to announce that His Holiness Pope Francis will visit ESC Congress 2016, the largest scientific summit on cardiovascular medicine.

More than thirty-thousand health care professionals from around the world are expected to attend this year's event in Rome. Pope Francis will address the gathering at the conclusion of the five-day congress on Wednesday, 31 August 2016.

"The Pope's visit is recognition of the significant efforts by the European Society of Cardiology and medical professionals worldwide to advance prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease," said ESC President, Professor Fausto Pinto. "We are honored to welcome Pope Francis."

According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease is the world's leading cause of mortality. It is responsible for more than 17 million deaths a year -- or 31% of all deaths globally -- according to the most recent data.
People may express their true self more easily on Facebook than in person, and the more one's "Facebook self" differs from their true self, the greater their stress level and the less socially connected they tend to be, according to a new study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

In "The Psychological Benefits of Being Authentic on Facebook (http://online.liebertpub..com/doi/full/10.1089/cyber.2016.0010)," Rachel Grieve and Jarrah Watkinson, University of Tasmania (Hobart, Australia), describe the main goal of their study: to evaluate the psychosocial outcomes related to presenting one's true self on Facebook. The authors assessed Facebook users' true and online personalities, degree of social connectedness, and feelings of psychological wellbeing, depression, anxiety, and stress.

"The current world population is 7.4 billion, and as of the second quarter of 2016, active Facebook users totaled 1.7 billion. As such, we must consider how Facebook may serve as a tool to positively impact our patients' lives," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium.
According to National Reference Center for Surveillance of Nosocomial Infections esti-mates, up to 15,000 patients die of hospital-acquired infections in Germany every year. Here, multidrug-resistant bacteria, against which common antibiotics are no longer effec-tive, play a major role. But where do these pathogens come from? In largest study of its kind in Europe, DZIF scientists from the University of Cologne investigated this question and discovered that almost ten percent of patients admitted into hospitals already bring these dreaded pathogens along with them from home.

"We were surprised that on hospital admission almost every tenth patient is colonised with multidrug-resistant pathogens," explains Dr Axel Hamprecht from the University of Cologne. He coordinated this study, in which six German university hospitals participated, together with Prof Harald Seifert, also from the University of Cologne, and colleagues from Charite Berlin. Over 4,000 adults were tested for multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae on admission into hospital by means of stool samples or rectal swabs.

Enterobacteriaceae such as Escherichia coli constitute a normal part of the gut flora and are not pathogenic--as long as they remain in the gut. However, they can cause infections in oth-er organs, for example urinary tract infections. An infection caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria is much more difficult to treat and requires the use of last-resort antibiotics. In their investigations, the researchers paid particular attention to a group of multidrug-resistant bacte-ria that are often problematic in hospitals: so-called third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (3GCREB).

These multidrug-resistant gut bacteria which are resistant to cephalosporins, amongst other drugs, have spread worldwide over the past years. Similar to penicillin, cephalosporins are antibiotics that kill bacteria by inhibiting bacterial cell wall synthesis. Newer third-generation cephalosporins are effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria and belong to the group of most commonly used antibiotics. However, over the course of time, the bacteria have defend-ed themselves and have acquired so-called beta-lactamase--an enzyme that renders these an-tibiotics ineffective. Enterobacteriaceae are transmitted by smear infection, predominantly via faeces and food.

Every tenth patient brings the pathogens into hospital

Out of the 4,376 adults who were tested for 3GCREB pathogens on admission to one of the participating hospitals, 416 were carriers of these multidrug-resistant pathogens. This preva-lence is higher than has previously been reported in Germany. Especially often, the scientists found beta-lactamase producing Escherichia coli bacteria, so-called ESBL-producing Entero-bacteriaceae. The prevalence of these multidrug-resistant pathogens differed from hospital to hospital.

In order to elucidate the factors for colonisation with these bacteria, the patients completed a questionnaire on previous hospital stays and lifestyle habits. "Patients who have taken antibi-otics and travellers outside Europe are at higher risk," says Hamprecht, underlining two im-portant research findings.

Experts recommend more hygiene and using fewer antibiotics

What can be done to prevent the spread of multidrug-resistant pathogens as early as possible? Hamprecht is certain, "With so many people affected, the strategy of isolating patients within the hospitals no longer works. Additionally, in contrast to other groups of multidrug-resistant bacteria such as MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus-aureus) strains, standardised sanitation measures for 3GCREB have not been established." Instead, Hamprecht and Seifert recommend improving hygiene measures in hospitals and practices, a rational use of antibiotics and especially reducing their non-justified administration, as well as more training for doctors.

The study was conducted as part of the antibiotic therapy optimisation study (ATHOS). Fur-ther participating centres are the Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, as well as the Universi-ty Hospitals of Freiburg, Lubeck, Munich and Tubingen.
A new study in animal models, led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), suggests that the eye's lacrimal glands can be repaired by injecting a kind of regenerative "progenitor" cell.

The eye's lacrimal gland is small but mighty. This gland produces moisture needed to heal eye injuries and clear out harmful dust, bacteria and other invaders.

If the lacrimal gland is injured or damaged by aging, pollution or even certain pharmaceutical drugs, a person can experience a debilitating condition called aqueous deficiency dry eye (ADDE)sometimes called "painful blindness."

Now a new study in animal models, led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), suggests that lacrimal glands can be repaired by injecting a kind of regenerative "progenitor" cell.

"This is the first step in developing future therapies for the lacrimal gland," said TSRI biologist Helen Makarenkova, who led the study.

The findings were published this week in the online Early Edition of the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine.

Up for the Challenge

If injured, a healthy lacrimal gland naturally regenerates itself in about seven days. When diseased and chronically inflamed, however, regeneration stopsand scientists are not sure why.

In the new study, Makarenkova and her colleagues looked at whether they could kick start regeneration by injecting progenitor cells into the lobes that make up the lacrimal gland. Progenitor cells are similar to stem cells in their ability to differentiate into different kinds of tissue. In this study, the researchers used progenitor cells that were poised to become epithelial tissue, a key component of the lacrimal gland.

The researchers knew they faced a major challenge: sorting and separating "sticky" epithelial cell progenitors without destroying them.

"We had to figure out how to dissociate the tissue into single cells without completely obliterating everything," said Anastasia Gromova, the study's first author, now a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego, who spearheaded the project while interning at TSRI during her undergraduate years.

The researchers solved this problem by developing markers to label the cells of interest and then testing different enzymes and other reagents to draw them out of tissues.

Restoring Eye Health

With these cells in hand, the researchers injected them into the lacrimal glands of mouse models of Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease that results in ADDE, dry mouth and other symptoms. The team used only older, female mice because ADDE most commonly strikes that demographic in humans.

The treated mice showed a significant increase in tear production, indicatingfor the first timethat epithelial cell progenitors could repair the lacrimal gland. Further tests suggested that epithelial cell progenitors helped by restoring the connection between cells called myoepithelial contractile cells and the lacrimal gland's secretory cells, which produce tears.

The next step in this research will be to study how long the improvement in the lacrimal gland lasts after progenitor cell injections. Makarenkova said the eventual goal is to develop therapies to boost a patient's own regenerative abilities.
An international team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has found strong evidence supporting a new strategy against drug addiction. The researchers showed that a compound that inhibits the activity of certain brain-cell receptors can reverse signs of cocaine dependency in rodents.

Prior experiments targeting this receptor, known as the TrkB receptor, produced results that differed greatly according to the brain region involved. The new study is the first to test system-wide delivery--the way drugs are typically given in humans--of a TrkB-blocker, showing that the overall effect is to reverse cocaine dependency.

"I think this study could help revive the idea of targeting TrkB signaling to treat addiction," said TSRI biologist Candice Contet, senior author of the study.

Struggle to Find Solutions

Scientists have long struggled to find an effective strategy against cocaine addiction, which is estimated to affect more than two million Americans, resulting annually in about half a million emergency room visits and hundreds of thousands of rehab facility admissions. There is still no FDA-approved drug specifically for treating cocaine addiction.

Addiction researchers know that cocaine produces a huge surge in the levels of dopamine in the "mesocorticolimbic reward system," where the brain registers pleasurable experiences and wires itself to want them. In rat models, repeated exposure to cocaine--which the animals readily self-administer--causes long-lasting adaptive changes in the nucleus accumbens and medial prefrontal cortex, two key areas of this reward system.

Over the past decade, studies have found that these changes are mediated at least partly by changes in production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which works by activating TrkB receptors. Mimicking that effect by injecting BDNF directly into the nucleus accumbens strongly increases rats' motivation for cocaine and other measures of dependency. By contrast, blocking BDNF production or BDNF/TrkB signaling in this brain region reduces the signs of dependency.

Those results have suggested TrkB-blocking as a new therapeutic strategy against addiction. One problem has been that BDNF has the opposite effect on addiction-type behavior when it acts in the medial prefrontal cortex. In experiments with rats, BDNF applied to this region reduces dependency behaviors, whereas blocking BDNF/TrkB signaling increases those behaviors.

"Based on these previous findings, we were very excited to investigate whether blocking TrkB receptors throughout the brain would be beneficial or detrimental in helping to reduce the motivation to take cocaine," said Michel M.M. Verheij, a research associate at TSRI at the time of the study, now at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, the Netherlands.

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Reversing Signs of Cocaine Addiction

For the new study, which appeared recently in The Journal of Neuroscience, Contet and her colleagues examined the overall effects of blocking TrkB signaling, using a recently developed TrkB-receptor blocker, or "antagonist," that can successfully get into the brain after being injected into the bloodstream.

The team found in rats that had learned to self-administer cocaine infusions by pressing a lever, the TrkB blocker powerfully reduced basic behavioral measures of cocaine use and dependency--and did so more strongly when the dose was higher. The treated rats used much less cocaine, were much less willing to press the lever many times to get more cocaine, and were less inclined to "relapse" when re-exposed to cocaine after a period of withdrawal.

These behavioral improvements were accompanied by signs of lower, more normal TrkB signaling activity in the nucleus accumbens. Surprisingly, signs of TrkB signaling activity in the brain's medial prefrontal cortex also showed a move toward normal--rising, despite the presence of the TrkB-blocking drug.

"We suspect that the antagonist has its primary action in the nucleus accumbens, where it's logical that it would prevent the activation that is triggered by cocaine," said Contet, "while what happens in the prefrontal cortex is probably a downstream consequence, rather than a direct effect of the TrkB antagonist in that region."

Importantly, the TrkB-blocking treatment did not blunt the rats' appetite for a sweet-tasting glucose-saccharine solution. "That's good because it shows that the TrkB antagonist doesn't work by causing a general suppression of appetite or activity, but specifically reduces the sense of reward and motivation for cocaine," Contet said.

Contet and her colleagues now hope that their results will encourage clinicians to consider the therapeutic potential of the TrkB-blocking strategy in humans with cocaine addiction. TrkB-blocking compounds are already being investigated by academic and pharmaceutical company laboratories for treating disorders including anxiety, depression, and brain cancer.

Source: Scripps Research Institute
One Medicine: how human and veterinary medicine can benefit each other

Professor Roberto La Ragione

News-Medical speaks to Professor Roberto La Ragione, Chair of Trustees at Humanimal Trust, about the concept of One Medicine and how human and veterinary medicine can collaborate, share knowledge, and initiate research for the benefit of both humans and animals.
It is definitely the case because India has not taken as much action on air pollution."

India is also ramping up coal production as Prime Minister Narendra Modi races to meet election promises to provide electricity to a population of 1.3 billion.

He has also said coal can't be wished away because it is the cheapest form of energy in a country where millions of people still go without electricity.



The increase in people dying in India from air pollution will outpace the rate of such deaths in China, as India drags its heels over environmental rules while opening more coal mines, the head of a U.S. research group said on Thursday."India's situation is getting worse at a much faster speed than China," Dan Greenbaum, president of Boston-based Health Effects Institute (HEI), told Reuters in Beijing.HEI and a group of Chinese and Indian universities recently said that over half of world's air pollution-related deaths were in China and India. In China, coal-fired plants have been the worst source of pollution. But India has lagged behind in implementing stringent environment policies for coal emission.From now until 2020, China aims to cut coal output by 500 million tonnes, or about 19 percent of its current annual output, and reduce emission of major pollutants in the power sector by 60 percent. By contrast, India has just only launched an emission standard for coal-fired power plants this year."Chinese actions to control emissions from coal power plants and from industries are considerably more strong than the ones in India," Greenbaum said.Indian Coal Secretary Anil Swarup did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has previously said India is setting a higher target for renewable energy and growing more trees than are being uprooted by coal mining.Research from HEI and Tsinghua University in Beijing released this week shows coal burning caused 366,000 premature deaths in China in 2013, out of a population of 1.35 billion. Comparable HEI data for India is due out next year.
Electric cars line up to power up in a charging station in Beijing. (Photo : Getty Images)

Instead of depending solely on sales subsidies, China is thinking of imposing electric vehicle (EV) policies similar to California's system to encourage carmakers to produce more clean-energy vehicles or purchase carbon credits from their peers.



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An article published in autonewschina.com said that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has proposed rules in a draft document that would require some automakers to produce or import EVs and plug-in hybrids in the same quantity as the number of gas-fueled vehicles they sell.



The country's top industry regulator added that companies that cannot meet the carbon dioxide emission reduction targets would be asked to buy credits or pay fines that could be five times the average price of the credits.



Automakers in the country are currently offered EV sales incentives by the government with the aim to reduce air pollution and encourage the development of cutting-edge technology in car production.



The report said that the Chinese government prepared the new proposal after studying California's zero-emission vehicle policy.



"Without question, this will be good for the industry and will promote the development of all types of clean-energy vehicles," Ye Shengji, deputy secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said during a press conference on Friday, Aug. 12, in Beijing.



China was declared the world's largest market for electric vehicles last year, beating the United States. The country now aims its annual sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids to surpass 3 million units by 2025.



Since 2009, the Chinese government has spent about 15 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) on subsidies to encourage the sale of EVs. It plans to phase out the subsidies after 2020.



"Given that some key automakers lack the motivation to develop new energy vehicles, there is concern that development in the industry will suffer once the fiscal policies are weakened or dropped," the NDRC's draft document said.



The agency said that the rules are mandatory for large automakers and voluntary for the rest.


Chennai: The choice of next governor for Tamil Nadu is building into a faceoff between Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and the Narendra Modi government, sources say.



K Rosaiah is retiring on August 31 and Jayalalithaa, according to reports, has already asked the Centre for one more term for him. But the BJP is pushing for DH Shankaramurthy  a party nominee from neighbouring Karnataka - which the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has opposed citing strained relations over the Cauvery dispute.



Rosaiah has been one of the few Congress-appointed governors who survived the Modi wave. Along with him, Uttarakhand Governor K K Paul, J&K Governor N N Vohra, AP & Telangana Governor E S L Narasimhan and Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung also managed to save their gubernatorial posts.



An excellent personal rapport with the unpredictable Amma worked to Rosaiahs advantage and he was able to complete his full term. Rosaiah had become Andhra Pradesh chief minister in 2009 following YS Rajashekhara Reddy's death in a helicopter crash, but had to quit and make way for Kiran Kumar Reddy a year later. After a few months he was sent to Chennai Raj Bhawan as TN governor.



Rosaiah is a Congress veteran who has held important posts in both party and the AP government for over 40 years. But the BJP does not want to be seen as favouring a Congressman by giving him one more term, say party sources.



Interestingly, the political obligations and the rapport Jayalalithaa shares with Modi are coming in the way. The BJP high command does not want to rub her the wrong way by denying one more term to Rosaiah, and appointing Shankaramurthy. According to top BJP sources, the decision to send the veteran Karnataka BJP leader to Raj Bhawan in Guindy was taken a month ago and the government might change its decision after the latest developments.



According to a report in The Hindu, the grapevine in AIADMK circles is abuzz with the news that of late, Jayalalithaa is keen on having a woman as the governor. She favours someone like Anandiben Patel, who resigned as the Chief Minister of Gujarat earlier this month.



The appointment of a governor in Tamil Nadu has been a tricky issue for the Centre over the past 40 years. Both Dravidian parties, the DMK and AIADMK, have always preferred someone with whom they have a healthy rapport. The DMKs choice Surjeet Singh Barnala was TN Governor twice and was in power for nine years. Justice Fatima Beevi had to quit over her alleged proximity to Jayalalithaa in early 2000s.
Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Thursday committed a faux pas by saying India-occupied Kashmir instead of Jammu and Kashmir while targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for violent clashes in the Valley.



While speaking to mediapersons, Singh by mistake referred to the state as India occupied Kashmir, but later clarified what he meant is that it's an integral part of India.



"Narendra Modi ji is more concerned about Pakistan occupied Kashmir. He thanks the people living in that area and that of Balochistan. But he is not ready to talk about Kashmiri people. If we have to bring trust in the region, whether it's Indian occupied Kashmir or Pakistan occupied Kashmir, we have to do that through talks," he said.



When a reporter pointed out the slip of tongue, he immediately went in damage control saying , "I said that Prime Minister Modi is not concerned about Indias Kashmir but about PoK. Kashmir is an integral part of India."







The Congress leader's statements were over the series of clashes reported in Kashmir since July 8 following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani.
Jaipur: An 18-year-old girl allegedly committed self immolation after her father refused to give her school fees in Udaipur district of Rajasthan.



Shilpa Kumar, a class 12th student, was upset with her father who had refused to give her school fees. In a fit of rage, she poured kerosene and set herself ablaze on Wednesday, investigating officer Shahzad Ali said.



"She was rushed to a primary health center in Rishabhdev from where she was referred to MB hospital in Udaipur where she died late on Wednesday night," he said.



The body has been shifted to the mortuary and will be handed over to family members after postmortem on Thursday.
New Delhi: Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar has accepted his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Chaudhry's invitation for talks but has made clear that the agenda should concern only issues related to terrorism, a top official said on Thursday.



Accepting Chaudhry's invite, Jaishankar in his reply stated that the talks should focus on five aspects of terrorism.



"In a letter dated August 16, Foreign Secretary has first of all underlined that Pakistan's self-serving allegations made in their communication are rejected in their entirety by the government of India," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in his weekly media briefing here.



"Pakistan has no locus standi in respect of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of our nation," he said.



According to Swarup, Jaishankar in his letter conveyed that he accepts his counterpart's invitation to visit Islamabad but made it clear that the discussions should focus first on the more pressing aspects of the Jammu & Kashmir situation.



These include cessation of cross-border terrorism by Pakistan aimed at Jammu and Kashmir; ending incitement to violence and terrorism from Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir; detaining and prosecuting internationally recognised Pakistani terrorist leaders who have been publicly active recently in exhorting and supporting such violence in that state; closing down of Pakistani terrorist camps where terrorists such as Bahadur Ali, recently arrested in Jammu and Kashmir, continue to be trained; denying safe haven, shelters and support to terrorists in Pakistan who have escaped Indian law.



Foreign Secretary also said that he looks forward to discussing with his counterpart the earliest possible vacation of Pakistan's illegal occupation of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, the spokesperson said.



He stated that Jaishankar "also underlined the importance of bringing to justice all those guilty in Pakistan for the Mumbai terrorist attack of 2008 and Pathankot airbase attack (in January this year)".



"He said that his visit should provide the opportunity to receive a briefing from Pakistan's Foreign Secretary on progress in this regard, Swarup said.



He stated that the world was aware that Pakistan has a long history of violence and terrorism against India, as also in the broader region.



"The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has been its particular target. This record began with the government of Pakistan sending armed raiders into Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 and was repeated in 1965," Swarup said.



"More than three decades later, displaying a similar attitude, military personnel were infiltrated across the Line of Control in Kargil in 1999."



This approach to India, Swarup said, was reflected in support for terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir that continued to the present day.



"These acts were initially denied by the Government of Pakistan and attributed to local population, only to be admitted later by Pakistan's leaders who directed and organised such cross-border attacks on India, and assaults on the local people," he said.



The spokesperson said that the Pakistan government was aware that the framework for interactions between India and Pakistan was stipulated by the Simla Agreement of July 1972, wherein then Pakistani President Z.A. Bhutto agreed that the two countries should resolve to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations, as also the Lahore Declaration of February 1999 wherein Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reiterated Pakistan's determination to implement the Simla Agreement in letter and spirit.



"They are also based on the assurance given by (then Pakistani)) President (Pervez) Musharraf in January 2004 that he will not permit any territory under Pakistan's control to be used to support terrorism in any manner" Swarup added.
New Delhi: Three people were killed and one seriously injured in an explosion inside a bakery in East Delhi on Thursday morning.



The incident took place around 5.30 am at Khureji area. The exact cause of blast is yet to be known.



A team of officials from the fire department, bomb disposal squad and police rushed to the spot and cordoned of the area.



Preliminary inquiry revealed that an oven in the bakery went off.



More details are awaited.
New York: Indo-US Cooperation in Defence Technology and Trade Initiatives will be the focus of the US Air Force Secretary's upcoming visit to India during which she will also discuss with top Indian officials proposals to co-produce aircrafts in India.



Deborah Lee James will travel to India later this month as part of a maiden visit to four Asian countries that would also take her to Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines and will discuss the situation in the South China sea as well as the growing threat of terrorism.



During her visit to India, she will meet Chief of Air Staff Marshal Arup Raha and Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar and will also discuss with her Indian counterparts proposals to co-produce aircrafts in India in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Make in India' campaign.



"We will be looking to see how can we deepen our partnerships and how can we take it to the next level," James said in response to a question by PTI at a press briefing here yesterday on what her focus will be during her visit to India.



She said she will discuss defence technology and follow up on the trade initiatives, which were launched during US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter's visit to India in April.



James replied in the affirmative when asked if she will follow up on American defence major Lockheed Martin's proposals to assemble F-16s in India as well as on discussions to collaborate in bolstering India's fighter jets and the jet engine technology working group.



"I will be following up on all of those topics, discussing these counterpart to counterpart on a bilateral basis. I will be seeking the views of my counterparts, what their opinion is on the various proposals on the table and what more needs to happen to advance the ball on some of these proposals. I am also aware of the Prime Minister's push for Make in India and the importance of creating new jobs in that sector," she said.



"One of the proposals would be to co-produce certain aircrafts in India and that might be one example of something that will be useful from a military standpoint but also might play into the Make in India campaign," she said.



James said she would also follow up on the initiatives launched during Carter's visit and the possible outcomes of it from the Air Force perspective.



She, however, noted that while some proposals will move forward, others may not if they are not the right fit.



Describing the Indian Air Force as a "very effective fighting unit", she said it has been a participant over the years in "red-flag" exercise series, where the US gets together with coalition partners to train and inter-operate and "test ourselves in a high-end and very challenging difficult environment".



James added that she also looks forward to congratulating India on the "magnificent execution" of the operation undertaken to evacuate Indian citizens from South Sudan.
New Delhi: Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag has accused his former boss and present Union minister VK Singh of trying to victimise and deny him a promotion, his affidavit in the Supreme Court has showed.



His affidavit, which was accessed by CNN-News18 said, With mischievous design, malafide intent and to arbitrarily punish me without following principles of natural justice, issued a showcause notice which contained unsubstantiated facts and vague allegations.



The affidavit was signed in July, which makes it an extremely rare instance when a serving Army chief has spoken out against his predecessor and a minister.



General Dalbir Singh said VK Singh issued the showcause notice against him with the sole intention of denying him future promotion as army chief.



The incident which is being referred to happened in 2012 when VK Singh as army chief ordered an inquiry into an operation in Jorhat, Assam which involved Dalbir Singh. The army chief found "failure of command and control" on the part of Dalbir Singh and subsequently placed him under a Discipline and Vigilance(DV) Ban.



After VK Singh retired in May 2012, the next incumbent General Bikram Singh lifted the ban and made Dalbir Singh the GOC-in-C of Eastern Command. In July 2014, General Dalbir Singh Suhag was appointed the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS).







General Suhag's present affidavit in the SC was in response to a plea filed by another top officer, Lt Gen (Retd) Ravi Dastane, who argued that this elevation pushed him ahead in the line for the top job in the Army.



The affidavit further went on to say: The passing of directions for initiating administrative action against me after about one month of having already finalised the Court of Inquiry smacks of a motivated, biased, arbitrary and malicious intent to punish me which the then COAS executed apparently as planned by him.



He added that it was now revealed clearly" that the imposition of DV ban by VK Singh was "illegal and premeditated.



The last time a similar incident happened was in the 1960s when General Thimayya took on the then Defence Minister Krishna Menon over preparedness of the armed forces.




Mumbai: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan who will be seen playing a lawyer in Shoojit Sarkar's upcoming film Pink said the film is not about rape but the situations that exist today.



"I think that the film talks about the current situation especially, for the younger generation. The story is based in Delhi and I just want to make it clear that Pink isn't about rape but it is about circumstances that exist in the city of Delhi and most part of the country." He said at the Jeeney De Mujhe song launch of the film.



"There are very strong statements you must have seen in that trial we had in the trailer. It's just a glimpse, that what kind of language and thoughts that have been expressed. I want you to know that for me personally it is a film that I've great belief...



"I hope after watching the film somewhere you will sit back and think... I always believe women in our country are half of the strength and they must have their dignity in their walks of life," he said.



About the first song of the film, the Piku actor said, "Jeeney De Mujhe is a song of liberation particularly for the young girls".



Pink revolves around three girls who were trapped in a criminal case. They are tried in the court for an attempt to murder case and defaming some men.



Director Shoojit Sarkar produced the film and it is helmed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury.



The crime thriller stars Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea Taring in lead roles and is scheduled to release on September 16.








Patna: A district level BJP leader Ashok Jaiswal was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Danapur area in the district on Wednesday evening.



The assailants pumped four bullets in the body of Jaiswal in Gola Road area, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Danapur, Rajesh Kumar said, adding he died in a private hospital, two persons have been taken into custody in connection with the killing, he added.



Union Minister of State Ramkripal Yadav, who visited the home of the deceased, said the murder was a reflection of deterioration in law and order situation in Bihar. The party has called Danapur bandh in protest against the murder, he said.



"Murder of Jaiswal in a busy place is enough to prove that criminals do not have any fear of law in the state under the Grand Secular Alliance government," he said.



Yadav, BJP MP from Patliputra, Danapur MLA Asha Devi and Digha MLA Sanjeev Chaurasia hit the streets in protest against the killing of Jaiswal.
Beijing: As many as 409 Chinese fugitives, including 15 listed in an Interpol red notice from China hiding overseas have been arrested as part a campaign, according to the government.



The "Fox Hunt 2016" campaign has seen the arrest of 272 fugitives and 137 others have been persuaded to return from 61 countries and regions, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) as saying on Wednesday.



The MPS has sent 33 work groups overseas and they have managed to capture fugitives in Madagascar, Thailand, Peru, the Philippines, Ecuador, South Korea, Cambodia and Spain, among others.



Of the 409 fugitives, 38 are implicated in duty-related crimes, and 14 in smuggling crimes.



Thirty-three of them were at large for more than five years, including 12 for over 10 years, the MPS said.
Chinese chefs are now doing a variety of unique twist to everybody's favorite mooncakes. (Photo : Twitter)

The tasty mooncake is getting a new culinary twist thanks to the efforts of Chinese chefs and some innovative ingredients.



Chefs from the various restaurants and luxury hotels around Shanghai are coming out with their unique takes on the mooncakes in preparation for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival on Sept. 15, China Daily reported.



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Hotel Indigo Shanghai, for instance, offers mooncakes stuffed with high-end wagyu beef, which sells for 18 yuan ($2.70) each. According to the hotel's marketing manager Julie Wang, the choice to use wagyu beef was meant to offer a new taste to the traditionally pork-loving Shanghai residents.



Wang also revealed that they were initially worried that the novel choice for a mooncake filling would not sell well. However, the new take proved to be so successful that it has already overtaken their 2015 sales of traditional mooncakes.



Meanwhile, the Peninsula Shanghai Hotel offers its own durian mooncake for customers wanting to have a taste of the exotic fruit.



Restaurants are also not going to be outdone. The Cantonese Xinya Restaurant located along the Nanjing Road has turned the popular yanduxian soup into bite-sized mooncakes, while the 100-year old Wang Bao He offers crayfish mooncakes. The restaurant's mooncakes have proven so popular that all 6,000 boxes they had prepared have already been pre-ordered.



Chen Fengwei, secretary-general of the Shanghai Confectionery Industry Association, expressed pleasant surprise at the huge demand for mooncakes. He explained that this year's unusually hot weather, as well as the early date the Mid-Autumn Festival fell in, would normally have made selling the delicacies more difficult.



"The situation is far better than we expected," Chen remarked. He estimates that the city will be able to sell 1,000 metric tons of mooncakes this year, an increase of 0.5 percent from last year.



And it is not only local businesses who are enjoying the effects of the mooncake boon. Indonesian palm oil producers are also welcoming the demand, as it has also increased the demand for their products, the Macau Daily Times reported.



China has once again moved up as the second biggest importer of Indonesian palm oil, with the country ordering between 80,000 and 120,000 tons of palm oil last week. According to David Ng, a derivatives specialist at Phillip Futures Sdn., the increase in orders is likely in preparation for the coming festival season. China's current palm oil stocks it down to around 300,000 tons, its lowest since 2010.



Palm oil is favored by mooncake makers because it is relatively more affordable than other cooking oils.


Two Virginia politicians expect to advise Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as members of a heavy-hitting crew of industrial agriculture advisors.

House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a former House Committee on Agriculture chairman, called Trumps agricultural advisory committee a very distinguished panel of officials elected and appointed to federal and state positions. It includes current and former governors, congressmen of agriculture-heavy states, administrators and large producers.

Goodlatte, a Republican serving the 6th Congressional District that includes Lynchburg, Amherst County and northern Bedford County, and former Republican governor Jim Gilmore said the group has so far only talked among themselves.

Goodlatte said farmers in his largely agricultural district, including the poultry centered Shenandoah Valley and orchard-dotted Blue Ridge Mountain region, want free markets in which to sell their goods.

They want to be able to compete anywhere in the world. Their number one concern is overregulation, Goodlatte said.

He cited environmental regulations as challenging producers, in particular those related to water quality.

Gilmore said he was asked to join the board because of his work on the Gilmore Commission compiled through think tank RAND Corporation to assess food safety in terms of terrorism during the George W. Bush administration. The economic food chain, from farms to distribution, must be secure for national stability, he said.

Basically if you disable that, our country is badly displaced, Gilmore said.

He accepted in part because of his work promoting Virginia agriculture as governor.

Dale Moore, executive director of public policy at the American Farm Bureau Federation, said he has worked with many members of the Trump committee individually for years. The committee is filled with people holding expertise in farm production and policy development, he said.

The Farm Bureau does not endorse candidates, and agriculture generally brings red and blue together to paint a nice shade of purple, Moore said.

I would have to say this is certainly a group of heavy hitters when it comes to farming policy, Moore said.

In responding to Goodlattes appointment, his Democratic challenger Kai Degner piled on his attack the incumbent has held the office too long.

I guess one benefit of staying in Congress twice as long as you said you would is you can offer a completely unqualified president some advice, Degner said. But Im confused why Mr. Trump would want somebody as establishment as Mr. Goodlatte as an advisor.

In an interview Wednesday, Goodlatte said untying hemp from its connection with cousin marijuana is among deregulations he supports.

His Democratic challenger and Degner, a Harrisonburg City Councilman, has made legalizing hemp production an early target in his campaign as an economic building block.

A combination of federal and state laws led to James Madison University, also in the 6th, being allowed to grow and research hemp. Goodlatte assisted with getting JMU the Drug Enforcement Agency permit to license growers, he said.

It has multitude of different uses, Goodlatte said. The next step is to make it commercially viable by disconnecting it from the drug enforcement laws and we are working on that process right now.

Degner challenged Goodlattes dedication to deregulation regarding hemp.

Theres only a handful of DEA issued permits that allow people to even touch a hemp plant, so I dont understand how you can be for calling for deregulation while you are instituting a big government regulatory scheme to unlock the economic potential of hemp, he said.
Academy showing The Big Lebowski as part of new event series

The Academy Center of the Arts is spinning off its popular Dinner and a Movie series into the new Sips and Cinema, which begins this weekend with a screening of the Coen Brothers cult classic The Big Lebowski.

Organizers are encouraging attendees to dress up as their favorite characters for the event, set to start at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Warehouse Theatre.

The space will be decorated with rugs (because they always tie a room together) and bowling paraphernalia, with an hors doeuvres and cocktail menu created by local chef and former Bull Branch owner Scott Cardwell. Think White Russians. Lots of White Russians.

Tickets are $20 per person. Call (434) 846-TIXX or visit www.academycenter.org for more information.

Wing Fling set for Friday

The Lynchburg Regional Business Alliances 7th Annual Wing Fling runs from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at Phase 2. The event features wings from Dominos and Zaxbys, wine and craft beer, and live music by Funky Bone.

Admission is $5 in advance and $10 at the door. Meal and sampler tickets also will be available for purchase. Attendees who are 21 and older also will receive free admission to Phase 2 after the Wing Fling.

For more information, visit http://business.lynchburgregion.org.

Devils Backbone hosting Virginia Craft Brewers Fest Saturday

The Virginia Craft Brewers Festival, now in its fifth year, will be held at Devils Backbone Basecamp Brewpub & Meadows this weekend.

More than 70 Virginia craft brewers will be pouring, and the 2016 Virginia Craft Brewers Cup Awards will be presented. Tickets are $35 for general admission and $65 for VIP. Visit vacraftbrewersfest.com for more information.

Poplar Forest, YMCA team up for Face the Forest

Organizers of this weekends Face the Forest race are putting a twist on your standard 5K.

The event, a collaboration between Poplar Forest and the Jamerson Family YMCA, will require competitors to race through a 3.1-mile course across the Poplar Forest property, encountering obstacles and some mud along the way. Think climbing walls, balancing on teeter-totters, flipping tires, trenching through a mud pool and more.

Registration costs $35 for YMCA or Poplar Forest members and $40 for non-members. Team registration is $30 per person for YMCA or Poplar Forest members, and $35 per person for non-members. On race day, prices increase by $5.

Proceeds from the event will support childrens educational programming at Poplar Forest as well as the Ys annual campaign, which provides financial assistance, outreach programs and youth and family programs in the community.

To register, visit www.eco-xsports.com.

Local Star Trek fans holding annual charity auction

Heimdal Science Fiction, a nonprofit organization of Star Trek fans, is hosting its 11th Annual Charity Auction Saturday at the Holiday Inn Select on Main Street.

The group is a chapter of Starfleet, an international Star Trek fan association.

Doors open at noon, and the live auction  featuring home decor, automotive supplies, restaurant gift cards and more  runs from 1 to 5 p.m.

Proceeds will benefit 10 local charities, including The Salvation Army Food Pantry, the Lynchburg Humane Society, the Humane Society of Amherst County and Gleaning for the World.

It also will help send a local middle school student to NASAs Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, next summer.

For more information, visit www.heimdalsciencefiction.memberlodge.org or search for the group on Facebook.

Renaissance Theatre to announce new season

Renaissance Theatre Company will be revealing its 2017 season during a special event Sunday. Doors open at 6 p.m. for light refreshments and a cash bar, and the announcement will be made at 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.renaissancetheatrelynchburg.org.
Recalling his lean years after law school as a homeless business entrepreneur before he made millions by getting in on the ground floor of the cellular phone industry, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., likes to say that he was a worker in the gig economy before it was cool to be gig.

So it made sense that the two-term senator and former governor would feel right at home Wednesday at the headquarters of Snagajob  the western Henrico County -based national leader in hourly work staffing.

But Warner, on a tour through the state while Congress is on summer recess, did not simply snag, or pay, compliments in his time at the online workplace innovator.

Instead, he relaunched some ideas on what he thinks needs to be done to protect American workers in a changing global economy, and, in somewhat critical terms, said American business needs to change its approach.

Im not running for anything at this point so I can tell you the absolute truth, he told the receptive audience in an employee town hall Wednesday morning.

Warner wagered that less than 10 percent of the millennial workforce is likely to work for a single company for more than 20 years, so the new economy will necessitate a new approach to how workers receive benefits such as health insurance, retirement and disability that were traditionally paid by employers.

While only about 2 percent to 3 percent of the American workforce are employed by the gig economy, Warner said roughly a third of Americans work on a freelance or contingency basis without a social insurance safety net. He cited a statistic that 47 percent of Americans could not absorb an unexpected $400 bill.

We need to design a benefit system that works for the way people are going to work, he said, discussing the need for portable benefits derived from employee wages that follow a worker from job to job.

Warner said American corporations also need to change the way they do business.

The senator said a shift that began in the 1990s of outsourcing lower-tier corporate jobs  not just to overseas but to subcontractors who reclassified employees and independent contractors without benefits, was not the gig economy, but bad behavior.

He noted that 45 years ago, the average share of stock was held for eight years; last year the average time held was four months.

Twenty-five years ago, Warner said companies invested 50 percent of their profits back into their businesses, but last fiscal quarter 95 percent of corporate profits in America was spent on stock buybacks and dividend purchases.

Warner said the practices are driven by people who are not trying to create long-term value, but people saying, Give me the money, tomorrow.

And where does that money go? the senator asked rhetorically. Disproportionately, to the investors, disproportionately to the management team. Sure as heck not to the workers.

What worries me ... and I am the poster child for American free enterprise  I believe strongly in capitalism, Warner said. But Ive got to tell you, in 2016 modern American capitalism, with its focus on short term-ism, is not working for enough Americans.

Warner said government incentives such as tax credits for worker training and reforms to capital gains rules could reduce the outsourcing of jobs, and encourage companies to forgo short-term gains to reinvest profits into their businesses and training for middle to lower-tier employees.

The senator said that increasingly millennials are starting to demand more responsible business practices and corporate governance from the businesses they work for and buy from. And he said that the message resonates, whether delivered in the friendly, innovative environs of Snagajob or in more traditional blue-collar enclaves throughout the state, where even obtaining broadband internet access is a challenge.

Its about making sure everybody feels that theyve got that fair shot, he said.
Blacksburg is one of 24 communities for which Google has filed plans to potentially test a secret piece of new wireless internet technology.

Its still unclear what exactly the company wants to test, when the experiments may begin or who in the region would be able to get involved. A Google employee working on the project declined to comment Tuesday, leaving only a highly redacted document from federal regulators to shed light on what may be in store.

According to an Aug. 5 application submitted to the Federal Communications Commission, Google is asking for permission to set up experimental wireless transmitters around various communities. The FCC has not yet ruled on the request.

The transmitters would connect with end user devices, much like a cellphone tapping to a WiFi network. Except these devices will be limited to those held by Google employees and a group of closely-monitored trusted testers, according to the application.

The technology is different from traditional wireless signals because it utilizes broadcast frequencies that up until recently were reserved for radar equipment. The FCC has since opened them up to users like Google, enabling a new breed of wireless technology capable of transmitting data at higher speeds.

Google noted in its application that possible applications of these frequencies include wireless internet signals that could be used in densely populated areas, such as a stadium.

The company also notes the technology could be used to provide broadband services in rural areas.

The FCC redacted portions of Googles application that described the experiments in more detail, per the companys request. Google wrote in the application that the information has significant commercial value that could be compromised.

Even internally, the company told the FCC, employees have been told on a need to know basis and external partners have signed robust nondisclosure agreements.

Google is already moving forward with a similar project in Kansas City, where the company received permission from city officials in April to mount wireless transmitters on light poles and other structures.

The Aug. 5 application indicates the companys intentions to expand that project.

Google will begin with six cities around its California headquarters, and six others, including Raleigh, North Carolina, and Reston, Virginia.

Blacksburg didnt make that list of initial test sites, but the town is among 12 other communities where Google says it may expand the project  if the FCC approves the application.

The company said it selected a variety of sites for their diversity of test environments, as well as other characteristics including resources to support experiments and the presence of partners who may take part in the tests.

Google and Virginia Tech have worked together on wireless projects in the past. Andrew Clegg, a Google employee listed on the FCC application, has co-authored papers on the new wireless frequencies with Tech researchers as recently as May.

Longitude and latitude coordinates listed in the application indicate the Blacksburg test site would encompass a 30-kilometer circle around the Drillfield on Techs campus.

But Tech is not named in the FCC application for the new project, and the university declined to comment Wednesday.

Blacksburg Planning and Building Director Anne McClung and Director of Engineering Randy Formica said Google has not yet contacted them about any plans.

In response to a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, town spokeswoman Lisa Sedlak said she checked with staff and found no one who has been in touch with Google.

Clegg said Tuesday that any media questions had to go through Googles media office, which did not respond to requests for comment.
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Internet vulnerabilities are on the rise in China. (Photo : Getty Images)

A cyber security expert from the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Coordination Center (CNCERT) said that there have been 200,000 security threats to China from 2009 to 2016.



In 2015, China's National Vulnerability Database (CNVD) reported that there were 25,314 Internet vulnerabilities.



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There was 43.9 percent of 2.3 million monitored websites were found to have vulnerabilities, and 12.3 percent had high-risk vulnerabilities as of November 2015, according to the report published by a report published by a security center affiliated to IT company Qihoo 360.



An increase in domestic security monitoring platforms that are used by local websites has also driven web developers to be more watchful of hacking, according to Yan Hanbing, a CNCERT senior official.



At the 2016 China Internet Security Conference, an event co-organized by Qihoo 360 and the Cyber Security Association of China, explained that the country is now appreciating the value of Internet security.



"The increase in number does not mean that our cyberspace is not safe. Instead, it shows that China is paying more attention to cyber security and will put more investment in the field," said Yan.



Yan also suggested that the government be more vigilant with their sites' security. He revealed that threats to the sites have been determined and even after detection, the government has not acted upon it.



The government has been more focused on drafting its cybersecurity law which has been widely criticized in the international arena.



Government media Xinhua reported in June that the draft of the law presented at the National People's Congress "network operators to comply with social morals and accept the supervision of the government and public."



The law prohibits access of private users to sites to protect them from hackers. At the same time, the government will block information that is seen as illegal.


Hawk Claus spreads Christmas cheer in DC's Grifter Got Run Over By a Reindeer first look

Take a look at two stories from the DC holiday special including the titular chapter and a Hawkwoman and Hawkman tale
JMMB Group revenue up

Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has demonstrated evidence of the Groups growth in revenue, and maximisation of brand synergies, having officially launched the rebranded JMMB Bank (T&T) in May.

Operations of subsidiaries in this country have reported a 32 percent increase (or J$150 million) in revenue, and continues to build out the integrated financial services model.

In speaking to the Groups commitment to a regionally diversified strategy, Keith Duncan, JMMB Group CEO, notes, Our focus remains on delivering long-term sustainable shareholder value, built on delivering our promise of financial partnership.

We (will) also continue to increase the Groups revenues, as well as drive operational and brand synergies, across our diversified business lines. In a bid to provide increased access to its clients and boost revenue-generating capabilities, the company is strengthening its digital services delivery channels and thus far, has expanded its electronic transaction network, electronic touch points and is looking to roll-out additional self-service applications; while also re-engineering some of its processes and boosting its sales force.

The regional financial entity, however, which also boasts of operations in Jamaica and Dominican Republic, reported a marginal decline in its net profit of approximately two percent, year-over-year moving from J$602.9 million to J$593.4 million.

This was attributable to start-up costs of J$98.28 million and further build-out of its business lines, particularly in the Dominican Republic, to include mutual fund administration and pension fund administration, through JMMB Sociedad Administradora de Fondos de Inversion, S.A. (JMMB SAFI) and JMMB AFP BDI S.A.

(JMMB AFP), which are in the incubatory stage of operations.

The Groups operations in that country are now fully bolstered to provide a wider range of services, in line with the Groups integrated financial services model.

As evidence of this expansion of offerings, JMMB SAFI is set to raise US$3M through its first US$ Real Estate Closed Investment Trust (REIT) Fund between July 31 and August 18, and JMMB SAFI, which received regulatory approval in December 2015, so far, has J$393.02 million in funds under management.

Additionally, the Groups operational expenses has been impacted by increased staff costs, attributable to the build out of its business model across the subsidiaries in the Group. These efforts are expected in the longterm to increase operational efficiency and create greater synergies across the Group.

In addition to the costs associated with the start-up and build out of the business model across the Group, asset tax also accounted for J$405.48 million of the J$2.58 billion operating expenses; which reflects an increase of J$8 million, over the comparative prior period.

Jamaicas operations continue on a positive trajectory, contributing the lions share of the Groups revenue, totalling J$2.53 billion.

While balancing increased operational expenses, the Groups net interest income (NII) grew year-over-year by 7.6 percent, moving from J$1.44 billion to J$1.55 billion. This was attributable to the growth in investment and loan portfolios, while reducing the cost of funds across the territories.

In keeping with the strategic objective of increasing the Groups suite of managed funds, across the subsidiaries, fees and commission increased by 56.3 percent.

Additionally, foreign exchange margins and cambio trading grew by 72.3 percent, to J$442.8 million, driven by market opportunity and activity volume.

Gains on securities trading, however, declined by 8 percent, relative to the comparative prior period, as a result of the inclusion of the J$500.6 million in oneoff gains.

At the end of the first quarter, the Groups asset base grew by 10 percent, totalling J$244.92 billion.

In addition, the financial entity has maintained its capital adequacy, as reflected in the J$1.21 billion increase (five percent growth) in its capital base, thereby ending the period at J$23.57 billion.
MDC-UM throws in the towel

MDC-UMs plant, located at the Macoya Business Park in Trincity, was destroyed in a fire in May last year. The company is rebuilding, but Farah told Business Day the new facility will be a showroom rather than a factory and MDC-UM will downgrade our manufacturing completely. In a previous interview with Business Day, Farah had said the reconstructed factory would be half the size of its previous facility because of a squeeze on the market caused by the flood of imported furniture into the country.

According to Farah, by October last year MDC-UM had resumed production. He said the company had added another section onto the factory but admitted that operations were a bit cramped for space in the existing facilities so the company was building another 20,000 square feet of factory space at the back of the fire-ravaged premises.

Before the fire, the factory covered 100,000 square feet but Farah said the new facility would be less than half that size because we have no intention of building back the size of manufacturing that we had before because we do not have an enabling environment in Trinidad to encourage people to manufacture.

It is much less expensive and more profitable to import and resell, which is what everybody seems to want to do. Which is what seems to be government policy. Indeed, speaking to Business Day on Tuesday, Farah said he had booked a trip to China where he will increase the companys purchases from that country. He added that MDC-UM had started doing designs to send to manufacturers in the Far East for the furniture pieces to be built. He said the company intends to invest most of its money in its new showroom and marketing rather than in the purchase of equipment. He said the management of MDC-UM had shelved its plans for investment in major pieces of equipment because it no longer saw any opportunities in manufacturing in this country.

Farah, a qualified economist with a BSc, Honours in Economics from the London School of Economics, said he could have pursued a career as an economist but had chosen to go into business producing furniture because he had a passion for manufacturing. Now he and the company have apparently adopted the attitude that if you cannot beat them, join them. Recalling the halcyon days of manufacturing in this country, which he said was under the defunct Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), he said we produced a lot of things in Trinidad, but he lamented that all of that had been shut down and we shipped our economy to China and thought that this whole country could be developed around the oil industry. A disappointed Farah said that back in 2002 he and a group of manufacturers of general furniture was told by a Minister of Trade and Industry that maybe we dont need this industry any more. Maybe you should put your money into petrochemicals or the offshoots of petrochemicals. He said at the time, he and a group of other general furniture manufacturers were trying to encourage the government, which was on the verge of joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO), to take advantage of the entitlements allowed to small countries and small economies to maintain duties at such levels as would protect local industries as the government saw fit  sectors considered of strategic value to the country. However, he regretted that the government ignored the advice of the manufacturers, observing that Trinidad and Tobago chose not to look at the thing in that way because the government felt that it had oil and gas and that would support it forever. The implication of that decision was to allow all these concessions to import products at much, much lower prices than we could manufacture in the Caribbean. According to Farah, the group making representations to the government included 15 general furniture manufacturers. Today only two of those 15 are still in business  all the others have been forced out due to an inability to compete with cheaper imports.

He told Business Day that some people told them they were fools to continue to invest in the industry, but I thought we had a social responsibility not just to make money but to put something back into the society, create jobs, create sustainable jobs. However, he said that from a staff of 400, MDC-UM was probably down to 90 workers by the time the fire destroyed the plant. Farah said jobs were lost to imported furniture, adding that about $400 million worth of furniture is imported into Trinidad and Tobago each year. He said the employee numbers might go even lower now that MDC-UM has decided to abandon manufacturing in the furniture industry Observing that it is impossible to compete with China because of the wages paid to workers in that country, Farah asked rhetorically, who in Trinidad would do a job for sixty cents an hour? That is what it really means. The government is subsidising basically using the income from the oil sector to keep people in employment, otherwise where would we earn foreign exchange? Its the only earner of any sort of foreign revenue. He added that there was still some level of manufacturing in the country but it was mostly repackaging imported products. People bringing in things in bulk and putting it into smaller packages and they call that manufacturing. He said MDC-UM, by contrast, was a full service manufacturing operation but its getting smaller and smaller and smaller as a percentage of our business and I dont see any hope of it changing. In the last year we did two buildings in Port-of-Spain for contractors  one was the Attorney Generals building and the other was the Ministry of Education building. He said each building was 22 floors and only half of the furniture was made in Trinidad by MDC-UM  the rest was imported.

He contrasted this with the Waterfront Towers, which his company also outfitted and which contained a high local content. He charged that building that will house the Board of Inland Revenue is now being outfitted with imported furniture.

So you are taking the US money that we earned from oil and you are taking it and spending it employing people abroad, Farah said in disgust.

He alleged that the entire contract was being imported from China and there was nothing that is going to be made here in Trinidad and Tobago. In response, Chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT), Noel Garcia, explained that this particular contract was given to a local firm which did import furniture from China.

Garcia added that when a contractor wins a bid it is not the business of the employer how that bid is executed. He said the employers business is to ensure that the job meets the standards specified for the project. Garcia stressed that he is a firm believer in supporting local manufacturers but in this case the project had to be delivered in a relatively tight timeframe and the local manufacturers would not have been able to provide the required furniture in the short time they had to do so.

He added that the issue was simply one of capacity and the local furniture manufacturers just did not have the capacity to deliver on such a large project in a short time.

All of this is particularly painful for Farah, who some years ago applied to e-TECK for a site at its Cumuto Industrial Park to establish a new MDC-UM manufacturing plant which would have been fully automated with all the latest technology to increase output. The company was unsuccessful.

Farah said the general furniture manufacturing sector once employed ten thousand people but he doubted that there were even as many as 1,500 people working in the industry at present.

Youre talking about employment of graduates of the university.

Here we are training people in the university to do all kinds of jobs for which there is no opening in the industrial sector. They have to go and work abroad. So what we are doing here, we are investing our money in training people, subsidising the US and Britain and Europe  supplying them with talent because when people graduate if they want to work here they cannot get a job.
Implementing FATCA requirements towards compliance

The US Treasury Department will assess the plan and determine whether TT will remain on the listing of countries that have an IGA in effect. If, however, the IGA is brought into force before the deadline, locally-based financial institutions would be required to provide FATCA information for 2014 and 2015, by September 30, to avoid being deemed significantly non-compliant.

Failing the occurrence of either of the aforementioned, on January 1, 2017, TT would no longer be treated as if we had an IGA in effect.

The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, in conjunction with the Bankers Association of Trinidad and Tobago, the Association of Trinidad and Tobago Insurance Companies and the Association of Compliance Professionals of Trinidad and Tobago calls on both the Government and Opposition to act with urgency.

Ensuring passage of the enabling legislation and the establishment of the necessary infrastructure to guarantee that the country meets its FATCA requirements, is in the interest of all of Trinidad and Tobago.

It is important to note that TT relies substantially on business with the US and our inability to meet the deadline can potentially have significant consequences - among them are the following:  Disruption or termination of US correspondent banking services, such as wire transactions, currency transfer transactions and remittance services;  Disruption to the provision of financial services such as termination of banking relationships with businesses, financial service providers and non-compliant individuals;  Deduction and withholding of 30 percent of tax on all payments of US source income (such as interest and dividends), as well as US source capital gains made to foreign financial institutions that do not enter into its own agreement with the IRS;  The cost of doing business may escalate due to the possible rise in the cost of financial services, resulting in decreased goods and services and negative economic growth;  Erosion of country image since non-compliance could potentially make T&T a disincentive to foreign investors.

Moreover, the TT Chamber is concerned that even if the September 30 deadline is met, our Board of Inland Revenue might still not have the necessary infrastructure in place to facilitate the exchange of information from the financial sector.

The TT Chamber therefore calls upon the Government to provide feedback on the BIRs readiness to receive information from the financial sector for submission to the IRS as required.

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has stated that the passage of the legislation to implement FATCA requirements to ensure compliance is to be presented in Parliament in September, 2016. This legislation requires a special majority. We at the TT Chamber expect that as a responsible Opposition, members on the opposing side will ensure that the appropriate debate ensues, with the legislation being passed to allow our country to remain open for business.

Failure to have this Bill passed with the requisite majority, is not an option.
Life is not as hard in Hardbargain

For many of its residents, while there might be very little to complain of  when compared to other parts of the country  lifes basics, proper roads and other facilities necessary for the communitys functioning are lacking. The construction of a bridge started in 2013 at Sisters Road, Hardbargain, is yet to be completed, hampers the peacefulness of life known to many of its residents. Emerging pockets of crime within the community are also disruptions to the otherwise quiet life in Hardbargain.

In an Introduction to Trinidad and Tobago by Prof Bridget Brereton, an excerpt by Eusebio Valero, the child of a poor peasant farmer who came in to six acres of land near Hardbargain after his father died, described what life was like during the early 20th century.

In his account he said: The attention of farmers had only been attracted to this part of the country, which was undeveloped and still covered with dense forests, teeming with snakes and monkeys and other wild monkeys...After some of the woods had been cut down and burnt, the land thus cleared was planted with corn, cassava, tannia, beans, pumpkins, yams, sugar cane, plantains, bananas and cocoa. The cocoa was the main crop and planted in rows 12 feet apart....As the cocoa trees gradually grew up, and expanded their branches, and threw out their leaves, the low plants were choked, which cut down our main source of food.

Nice but robberies increasing The community is still one that is largely agrarian but the signs of having moved into the 21st century are evident. For residents, like Charmaine  who wished not to give her surnameencroaching criminal activity is disrupting the quiet life of the central community.

We really dont have any kind of problem up here but with the ministers for the area. They dont come and try to do things for youths in the area. We have gotten a couple of robberies in the area that we never had before, she said.

For her, the lack of employment within the area and the country is a direct cause of the increasing robberies. The only options available to the young men are CEPEP and other social programmes. Like many other areas that are considered rural in TT , the lack of access to proper roads is of great concern to the residents.

Politics affecting community The owner of Crawfords Bar, Ronald Crawford, said Hardbargain has seen his fair share of robberies.

I am coming out in the morning and I am not sure to go back home at night. I always have to keep my eyes open, he said. He was robbed. (WHERE?) He said the fear is beginning to build up for him? Crawford too believes that most of the robberies occurring are due to the countrys current recession. But, he too stressed that life is Hardbargain was good. While there was not much to complain about, Crawford said there were things in the community that needed to be worked on.

For example, he said, the areas grounds did not have any form of lighting. Also, he noted that there was a current dispute in which another resident claimed that the grounds belonged to him and not the community. This, Crawford said, contributed to the difficulties faced by residents.

That is the only thing that has them occupied, he said of the grounds for the areas youth. Many residents, he said, were employed outside of the area. Despite these challenges, Crawford noted that many residents lived with love. He and Junior Seepersad, 50; Kerwin Modeste, 37 and 43-year-old Herbie Hall, said Government services were lacking in the area. While the village council won the Prime Ministers Best Village Trophy competition in 2006, Crawford and others noted that the council is not as active as it once was.

The men said the area also suffered because of political wrangling.

This village is in the Princes Town constituency.

It is mainly Peoples National Movement (PNM).

We dont get anything cause it is controlled by the United National Congress (UNC), the residents said. The area has no (functioning) community centre, the men said.

When Newsday visited the centre, is now overrun with weeds and grass. The commission plaque said it was opened by then minister of community development, culture and gender affairs, Marlene McDonald in 2009.

Resident wants drain Lalita Rambarack has lived in Hardbargain for ten years, having moved there after getting married. Although she has made numerous complaints to public health officials at the Ministry of Health nothing has been done to alleviate the poor drainage problem she faces.

Residents, she said, mining hog on the hill would wash the animals waste downhill which posed a health problem to her family.

All the water coming down here and seeping into my place.

If the rain falls you dont even see the road.

It floods, she said. One of her daughters got ground itch from walking through the water, Rambarack said.

She pleaded for officials to fix the roads in the area and provide proper drainage for Duff Trace, Hardbargain.

But generally for residents of the quite community life is not hard.
Hike to Mt El Tucuche on Saturday

It is recognisable by its two altitudinous peaks, visible from miles around. Two places to see its grandeur are from Luengo Village in the Maracas, St Joseph Valley and Rincon Village on the North Coast Road. The climb to the summit is always a memorable and breathtaking experience.

Some do it for the pleasure of adventure, accomplishment and to improve ones fitness.

Tucuche is an Amerindian word that refers to the hummingbird and living on the mountain slopes are several species. Some common names are the copper-rumped, black-throated mango, white-tailed sabrewing, tufted-coquette, white-chested emerald and rufous-breasted hermit. Also found on El Tucuche is the golden tree frog (Phyllodytes Auratus) which lives inside the water brackets of the giant bromeliad plant at elevations of 800- 940 metres. This frog is endemic to Trinidad but its survival is threatened by forest destruction and mans intervention.

There are several routes to access the summit, however, the preferred one is from Hobal Trace in the Maracas, St Joseph Valley.

Depending on ones fitness the climb to the first peak will take one-and-a-half- to two hours. Visible from the first peak are fantastic views of the Las Cuevas Valley. While getting to the second peak is more challenging one can see a magnificent panorama of Maracas Bay. A colourful flower growing peak two is the Psammisia Urichiana with its red trumpet petals and yellow tips.

On the return, there is the option to divert off the main path and visit the Morang Pools for a refreshing dip. This route passes through abandoned cocoa and tonka bean estates. The primary source of the Maracas, St Joseph River begins in the valley.

Fitness Walkers will explore the summit of Mt El Tucuche with a return visit to the Morang Pools.

Assembly: 7 am at Eastern Main Rd and Abercromby St. (next to St. Joseph Mosque) Rating: 6 (challenging) Hike begins: Hobal Trace in Maracas, St Joseph.

Average hiking time: 2 hours one-way For more info: www.

islandhikers.com.
Sorillo fails to advance in 200 final

Sorillo seemed set to progress as he held the lead at the 140-metre mark ahead of American Lashawn Merritt. Unfortunately, Sorillo faded badly and did not finish in the top two which would have ensured him a place in the final.

Winning semifinal one was Merrit in 19.94 ahead of Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre (20.01), Great Britains Daniel Talbot (20.35), Jamaican Nickel Ashmeade (20.31) and Sorillo.

Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt, who won the gold medal in the mens 100m final on Sunday, had to work harder than he wanted to win semifinal two in 19.78 seconds.

In full control after rounding the bend, Bolt geared down at around 150m but Canadian Andre De Grasse was having none of it and looked to pip the legendary Jamaican to the finish line. Bolt held him off though to finish 1-2 heading into tomorrows final.

Speaking to ESPN after the race, the Olympic record holder admonished the 21-year-old 100m bronze medallist for his naivety.

It was a stupid move. He may not know it now but hes gonna feel it tomorrow. You run as fast as you need to run and conserve enough energy, the experienced Jamaican said.

Despite running a bit harder than he desired, Bolt warned his rivals that he will be going for a world record in tonights final at 9.30 pm.

It was a disaster for the US and Jamaica in semifinal three as Justin Gatlin (USA) and former World champion Yohan Blake were both eliminated with shocking third and sixth place finishes respectively. Gatlin clocked 20.13 while Blake was a pedestrian 20.37 in a race won by Panamas Alonso Edward in 20.07
US: We See

No Signs

Putin Will

Use Dirty Bomb
(Newser)  It looks for all the world "like some little kid dropped their toy," as one scientist jokes. But, no, that adorable purple creature with giant, googly eyes spotted on the bottom of the ocean is, in fact, a stubby squid called Rossia pacifica. Researchers in the exploration vessel E/V Nautilus were navigating off the coast of Southern California when they came upon the creature whose eyes "look painted on," as one of the scientists describes it, reports Live Science. (See the video here.) The species of bobtail squid native to the northern Pacific typically dwells at depths of 1,000 feetthis one was much deeperand are rare enough that the scientists initially mistook it for a cuttlefish.

The team later confirmed that it's a stubby squid, and that it comes with an "awesome superpower" of being able to engulf itself in a sticky jacket through which it can collect sand and pebbles for camouflagesince that purple is such a dead giveaway. This stunned-looking squid was seen at a depth of nearly 3,000 feet, reports Time, and one scientist says other stubby squid sightings have resulted in a similar deer-in-the-headlights reaction: "I think what we encountered was a squid who was not expecting to see us in any way." (Another weird find on the ocean floor: this purple blob.)
(Newser)  Nate Parker hoped his drama about an 1831 slave rebellion would generate Oscar buzz. But talk about The Birth of a Nationwhich Fox Searchlight bought for a record $17.5 million after its Sundance premierehas suddenly taken a turn. As the New York Times recounts, the first-time director was accused of raping a woman while a student at Penn State in 1999, though he was eventually acquitted. It's old news, but it became big news this week when Variety revisited the case and reported for the first time that the woman involved took her own life in 2012 at age 30. The woman, who received a $17,500 settlement from Penn State, had said Parker and his roommate, Jean Celestin, raped her while she was drunk and unconscious. Parker and Celestin said the sex was consensual.

Parker was acquitted in 2001, while Celestin was convicted of sexual assault, a ruling that was later overturned. Another factor in the controversy: Celestin co-wrote The Birth of a Nation, which includes a gang rape as a pivotal scene. With talk of a boycott growing, Parker is not shying away from the controversy, notes the Los Angeles Times. In a Facebook post, he expressed his "profound sorrow" upon learning of the suicide. Parker also says he welcomes discussion of the case, noting "violence against women is not taken seriously enough. And the dialogue and the discourse isn't loud enough." But "I was cleared of everything. At some point I have to ask myself, 'How often am I willing to relive it?'" (Read more rape stories.)
(Newser)  Twenty-seven people overdosed in less than five hours Monday in one West Virginia city, USA Today reports. "It was basically like a mass casualty event," Cabell County EMS director Gordon Merry tells CNN. The first reported overdose in Huntington came in around 3:30pm, and ambulances and other emergency resources were quickly stretched to their limit. "It really taxed the system," Merry tells USA Today. Shockingly, only one of the 27 died, though it took three doses of noloxone to revive one person. Huntingtona city of 50,000typically sees 18 to 20 overdoses per week. Police chief Joe Ciccarelli calls Monday's rash of overdoses "remarkable."

Police believe the overdoses were due to a batch of heroin laced with something else, WSAZ reports. "When something like this hits the streets, it draws like flies to sugar," Ciccarelli says. Most of the overdoses occurred within a mile of each other, with seven happening in one location. While police suspect the heroin was laced with fentanyl, they won't be sure for months. It will take about 10 weeks to get toxicology reports back. According to the CDC, West Virginia had the highest rate of overdose deaths in the US in 2014. (Read more overdose stories.)
(Newser)  Remember the huge stone monument archaeologists found buried two miles from Stonehenge in the UK last year? Well it turns out that the so-called "Superhenge" that radar suggested was made of 100 or so large stones was actually stoneless. "The response from the radar was so good that the team thought they were dealing with a whole series of stones lying on their side" at Durrington Walls, archaeologist Nicola Snashall tells the BBC. But when the team finally got down to excavating two of the pits, they instead found "enormous pits for timber posts." The large beams of wood appear to have been removed not long after they were sunk into the post holes some 4,500 years ago, reports Vice.

The Independent puts numbers to what it calls Britain's "largest ancient monument of its type," reporting that as many as 300 timbers measuring up to 23 feet long were vertically lifted from the holes making up what was a 1,640-foot-diameter circle. After the wood was removed, "the top was then filled in with chalk rubble and then the giant henge bank was raised over the top," explains Snashall. Researchers are still baffled by what the timber was for and why it was removed before the monument was even finished, but "for some strange reason" it clearly was, says Snashall. (Students recently experimented with moving stones the way people had to thousands of years ago.)
(Newser)  The family of Marcus Garvey is asking President Obama to pardon the black nationalist, founder of the early 20th century Back to Africa movement, NBC News reports. Dr. Julius Garvey, 82, used what would have been his fathers 129th birthday on Wednesday to launch a campaign to clear his name. Marcus Garvey's 1923 mail fraud conviction still leaves a whiff of subversion about the idea" of supporting his father's teachings, Garvey told the National Press Club, per the AP. Garvey, who died in London in 1940, was a landmark figure in American civil rights and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association in 1914. His fiery black-pride philosophy included the belief that blacks could never achieve racial justice in white America and should therefore separate and return to Africa.

Critics lined up against him, including NAACP founder WEB Du Bois, who called Garvey "the most dangerous enemy of the Negro race in America," according to NBC. Nevertheless, Garvey created the Black Star Line shipping company to bring his peopleand commerceto Africa. His efforts to solicit donations and stocks from investors by mail prompted an FBI investigation, and Garvey was convicted of mail fraud. After serving more than two years in prison, Garvey opted to be deported to Jamaica, where he was born. Julius Garvey, joined by several congressmen and NAACP officials, says it's time his father is cleared. "Everyone stands on the shoulders of everyone who comes before.There would be no black president if it wasn't for the Civil Rights movement," said Garvey, a New York surgeon. There was no comment from the White House. (Read more Marcus Garvey stories.)
(Newser)  American swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz are going to be staying in Brazil for longer than they bargained for. Authorities pulled the men off their flight back to the US at Rio's international airport on Wednesday for questioning over their alleged robbery, the New York Times reports. Their passports were confiscated by court order and a US Olympic Committee spokesman tells NBC News that they were released "with the understanding that they would continue their discussions about the incident on Thursday." Police also want to speak to swimmer Ryan Lochte, who has already returned to the US. The USOC spokesman says a fourth swimmer, Jimmy Feigen, is still in Brazil and is cooperating with authorities.

In an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer Wednesday night, Lochte said they were robbed by two men with guns and badges after returning to their taxi during a stop at a gas station to use the bathroom. The Americans were ordered out and onto the ground, he said. On Sunday, he gave a slightly different version of events, saying their taxi was pulled over by the robbers. Lochte also initially said a man put a gun to his forehead, though he now says it was pointed in his general direction. Lochte strongly rejected suggestions that the story had been fabricated. "I wouldn't make up a story like this nor would the othersas a matter of fact we all feel it makes us look bad," he said, as quoted by Lauer. Lochte and Feigen have both told investigators that they were intoxicated at the time. (Read more 2016 Olympics stories.)
(Newser)  Administration officials insist that a $400 million cash payment to Iran on the same day Tehran released US prisoners was not a ransombut sources tell the Wall Street Journal that it was certainly treated like one. Officials and other insiders say the US held onto the cash until a Swiss Air Force plane left Iran with the freed Americans. Only then was an Iranian cargo plane with the cash allowed to take off. One official says that Iranian officials in Switzerland were allowed to take custody of the money only when the other plane was "wheels up" on its way to Geneva. The administration says the payment was part of a $1.7 billion settlement over a failed 1979 arms deal and that the other $1.3 billion has now been paid.

One of the released prisoners, pastor Saeed Abedini, tells the Journal that the prisoners were kept waiting overnight for what Iranian authorities told them was the movement of another airplane, though administration officials say the plane was delayed because they were searching for the wife and mother of Jason Rezaian, another released prisoner. Republican leaders are planning to hold hearings on the payment this fall. "It's time for the Obama White House to drop the charade and admit it paid a $400 million ransom to the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement Wednesday that accused Obama of putting a price on the head of every US citizen overseas, reports the Hill. (Read more Iran stories.)
(Newser)  This is one fugitive who authorities hope managed to get away. Keith Jean fled into the sewer system in Newark, NJ, two weeks ago after swimming across the Passaic River to get away from police, and there's been no sign of him since either inside or outside the sewer system, NJ Advance Media reports. The chances of the 31-year-old having created a Penguin-style crime lair down there are slim: Officials say the outflow pipe he entered leads to a network of cramped chambers where he would find potentially deadly gases, and to a main tunnel where there's a constant flow of human waste from Newark and 47 other northern New Jersey communities.

Robots have searched the tunnels, and cadaver dogs have sniffed sewer grates, but they haven't found traces of Jean, alive or dead. Cops say he was a passenger in a car stopped for suspicious activity near a parking lot where there had been reports of car break-ins, the Jersey Journal reports. After he fled, they discovered there were warrants out for his arrest in two New Jersey counties. Manholes were staked out after he fled into the sewer, but police believe he may still have been able to slip away. "With any luck, he just got out," says the executive director of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, though he notes that a dead body probably wouldn't disrupt the flow of sewage. (Read more New Jersey stories.)
(Newser)  Eight female TV hosts in Egypt have been suspended, and they've been given one month to win their jobs backif they come back a few pounds lighter. Via the BBC, the Al-Yawm al-Sabi website reports the state-run Egyptian Radio and Television Union issued the slim-down mandate, though the women are being paid and receiving benefits during their monthlong moratorium. Women's rights activists, as well as the presenters themselves, are livid: An Egyptian women's rights NGO is calling the edict a form of violence against women, and host Khadija Khattab is imploring viewers to watch her newscasts to determine a) if she's "fat," and b) whether her weight should affect her job status. "I believe I am an ordinary Egyptian woman who looks normal," she says, per the New York Times. Critics are also calling the move sexist, as only female presenters were suspended, the Independent notes.

The ERTU is headed by Safaa Hegazy, a former female news anchor herself who the Telegraph notes was brought in in April to make the broadcaster more competitive, since ratings for state-run channels tanked after the 2011 Egyptian uprising. Some who approve of the suspension are women: Per the Times, a female commentator for the government-run Al-Ahram website says she's "sickened" by the suspended hosts' "disgusting and repulsive" appearance, while a female colleague asks: "Is a ban for eight enough?" The chair of Cairo's Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women, however, tells the Independent that "judging anybody on the basis of his or her body weight is not the right criterion," adding weight shouldn't be an issue "as long as he or she does not use nasty words on the air and knows well how to deal with guests." Her model example: Oprah Winfrey. (An eighth-grader refused to give her BMI for a school assignment.)
(Newser)  Phoenix's Maryvale neighborhood, where a serial killer is on the loose, has suffered another shooting death. Police say a man found dead outside a home Thursday night was likely shot a short distance away then made it to the house and collapsed around 10pm, reports KPHO. Police aren't sure where exactly the man was shot, but they did find shell casings. It's also not clear if the murder is linked to Phoenix's serial shooter, accused of killing seven people and injuring two others since March, per CBS News. (Maryvale has become "a ghost town.")
(Newser)  A blimp-shaped, helium-filled airship considered the world's largest aircraft flew for the first time Wednesday with a short but historic jaunt over an airfield in central England, reports the AP. Engines roaring, the 302-foot Airlander 10 rose slowly into the air from Cardington airfield, 45 miles north of London. A hybrid of blimp, helicopter, and airplane, it is designed to stay aloft for days at a time and has been nicknamed the "flying bum" because of its bulbous front end. The successful journey was a milestone in the development of a vehicle that remains untested as a commercial proposition, with the aim nothing less than to "kickstart a new age of the airship," in the words of the Guardian. Commercial flights are probably five years away.

In Wednesday's test flight, the stately aircraft performed a circuit of the areawatched by hundreds of local people who had parked their cars around the perimeter of the airfieldbefore touching down about half an hour later as dusk fell. The Airlander is designed to use less fuel than a plane, but carry heavier loads than conventional airships. Its developer, Hybrid Air Vehicles, says it can reach 16,000 feet, travel at up to 90mph, and stay aloft for up to two weeks. The aircraft was initially developed for the US military, which planned to use it for surveillance in Afghanistan. The US blimp program was scrapped in 2013 and since then Hybrid Air Vehicles, a small British aviation firm, has sought funding from government agencies and individual donors. (Read more blimp stories.)
(Newser)  When Lynda Nguyen asked employees at Embassy Suites in San Francisco for a place to pump breast milk while attending a work conference, she says she was offered a public bathroom. "I told them they don't eat lunch in the bathroom, so it's gross to expect me to contaminate baby's milk in there," the new mom wrote on Facebook, per the Huffington Post. After much back and forthshe says she was denied access to a hotel room because she hadn't paid for one, and told none were available though Expedia said otherwiseshe was told to use the wine cellar. Instead, to showcase the challenges nursing moms face, a "livid" Nguyen sat down next to the reception desk, began pumping with a hands-free pumping bra, then posted defiantly about her experience online, reports Slate.

"Do NOT piss off a mama who knows her rights and is a social worker to boot!" she wrote in the post, which is laced with more than one f-bomb and has been shared 19,000 times. It has some calling her a "hero," with many moms describing similar experiences. Others mention hotels "that provided accommodations without batting an eye," Nguyen says, so "there's hope that more places will eventually follow suit and get it right." Nguyen adds she eventually spoke with a general manager, who assured her that nursing moms are to be given access to a room or an office if needed, "so I believe it's a matter of inconsistency with their staff training." However, Slate points out that only a few states have laws on the issue. A rep for the National Women's Law Center notes "this sort of online activism can help a lot." (Embassy Suites could learn from Delta.)
(Newser)  A long-held school policy is suddenly getting a lot of attention after it was posted to Facebook this weekand parents are fuming. "If you are dropping off your son's forgotten lunch, books, homework, equipment, etc., please turn around and exit the building. Your son will learn to problem-solve," reads a sign on the door of Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock, Ark., per KARK. Posted to the school's Facebook page on Tuesday, it's been shared more than 116,000 times, with some parents complaining that students shouldn't go hungry simply to be taught a lesson. However, there's plenty of supportive comments as well. "The school is correct," says one, per the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "If someone cannot remember their lunch, it will only happen once. They will learn to be a responsible adult..."

A sample from the other side: "I'm an adult who forgets things because life is hectic and chaotic. I can't expect my kids to remember." Principal Steve Straessle confirms it is indeed a rulein place for decades, in fact, reports WCSCand it's for the students' own benefit. "It's not to be mean or cruel," he says. "It's simply to help boys avoid the default switch of calling mom and dad when things don't go right to bail them out." Straessle adds the school is "glad" for the "healthy debate" the Facebook post has caused. Meanwhile, a senior at the school says he was "kinda shocked" by the rule initially, but "it makes me think for myself and not rely on other people to do things for me." (This school blamed girls for boys' bad grades.)
(Newser)  "It's like he justchanged." That's how Austin Harrouff's mom described her son's behavior to a 911 operator Monday after the 19-year-old fled a Florida restaurant following an argument with his father, reports the Miami Herald. Mina Harrouff said her son had been acting oddly for a week, claiming he had superpowers and was "here to protect people," but said she didn't believe he was a danger to himself or anyone else, reports the AP. During his walk home, police say Harrouff fatally beat and stabbed two strangersJohn Stevens, 59, and Michelle Mishcon, 53in their garage in Tequesta. He allegedly used a pocket knife and several "weapons of opportunity" within the garage, before gnawing on Stevens' face, says Martin County Sheriff William Snyder.

Though described as a nice, quiet kid in high school, Harrouffnow listed in stable condition at a hospitalhad recently appeared aggressive and was known to party, neighbors say. "I've got a psycho side and a normal side," the Florida State University student wrote on his YouTube channel, where he posted rap videos and talked about his aversion to steroids in bodybuilding, per the Tallahassee Democrat. Tests show he wasn't on cocaine, meth, or heroin on Monday, though tests for steroids and flakka are pending, says Snyder. Harrouff will eventually be charged with two counts of first-degree murder and aggravated battery on a Good Samaritan, but "as long as he is not under arrest, the hospital bills are his responsibility and his insurance," Snyder adds. (Read more murder stories.)
(Newser)  In what was far from an easy decision, residents of a small island village in Alaska voted this week to relocate their home to the mainland, the Guardian reports. The reason? Rising sea levels have been eroding the village of Shishmaref for decades. "The land is going away," one resident told CNN in 2009. "I think it's going to vanish one of these days." The village on the island of Sarichef north of the Bering Strait is home to 600 people, but the population is growing even as the land shrinks. "Multiple families live in one home," one resident tells KTUU. "We're running out of land for buildings." A native of Shishmaref says they had to move 13 houses since 2000 to keep them from falling into the water.

Tuesday's vote was 89 to 78 in favor of moving Shishmaref to the mainland. The only problem: the impoverished Inupiat Eskimo village can't afford it. A 2004 Army Corps of Engineers study put the cost of relocation at $180 million, the AP reports. Residents already voted to move in 2002 but were stopped by the cost. "We don't see the move happening in our lifetime," the secretary of the Shishmaref council told CNN. But staying won't come cheap, either. The environmental protections needed to keep the village safe are estimated at $110 million. However, Tuesday's vote will allow government agencies that could one day fund the move to continue studying the possibility. (Some famous US landmarks might be at risk, too.)
Retired Saudi General Majed Anwar Eshki speaks about his recent visit to Israel, which courted controversy and set analysts speculating over whether it was a political signal

This story was first published at Al-Ahram Weekly.

Retired General Majed Anwar Eshki, a Saudi scholar who heads the Centre for Middle East Strategic and Legal Studies in Jeddah, defended his recent visit to Israel as having a potentially positive impact on the Palestinian cause in the framework of the Saudi-sponsored Arab Peace Initiative that was adopted in the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002.

General Eshki regards himself as an ambassador of peace and as a politically influential academic in Saudi Arabia and the Arab region.

He urges his critics to exercise some introspection and assess their roles and relationships with Israel, and he appealed to the Arab League to review measures regarding visits to the occupied territories and Jerusalem.

Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly by phone from Saudi Arabia, General Eshki described his visit to Israel as a correct action.

As I mentioned in numerous press interviews, the PA (Palestinian Authority) had arranged all the meetings that took place.

I believe that the basic purpose is that we should not leave the Palestinians alone. We need to visit them. Nor should we leave Jerusalem alone. We should visit it too.

The visit precipitated heated controversy in Arab political and academic circles.

Some see Eshki as among Arab figures who are handing Israel a normalisation process free-of-charge.

One writer questioned his political acumen and ability to handle talks with shrewd Israeli politicians.

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian movements issued statements of condemnation, not so much of the visit as of the visitor who responded that many of those same critics have been seen embracing and shaking hands with Israelis and some consulted him, personally, to develop strategies for how to develop a good relationship with Israel.

Weve had more than enough posturing, which has never killed a tank, Eshki said.

Ask Abu Marzouq about Elie Cohen. And Iran trades in the blood of Palestinians. It pays for Palestinian blood and there are those who will accept the payment. Nizar Qabbani could not have put it better: With my dirhams, not smooth talk, I broke your impregnable might. With my dirhams.

He continued: I respect the views of those who opposed my visit to the occupied territories, if they did not attempt to offend me. As for those who insulted me, that is a sign of the nature of their behaviour.

If they take that too far, I could take legal action. The Palestinians in the West Bank and in Jerusalem did not voice objections. As for those opponents in Gaza, I responded to their objections in an article that was published in an Egyptian newspaper and that people can consult if they want to know my attitude towards those critics.

But, I will stress again here that I am convinced in the correctness of my opinion. We should not leave our Palestinian brothers to contend with [their situation] alone. There is an official relationship.

Our Palestinian brothers have a right to receive us as visitors so that we can stand by their side.

There is a long list of accusations that have been levelled at people who have undertaken actions similar to that of Eshki, even if their visits were in response to Palestinian invitations or their visits to Jerusalem were arranged through Jordanian religious endowment foundations.

But in meeting with Israeli personages, Eshkis visit added another dimension.

According to the Saudi general, some of these meetings were requested by the Israeli figures themselves, as was the case with his meeting with Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Major General Yoav Mordechai, which took place in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.

However, according to Haaretz of 22 July 2016, Eshki arrived in Israel at the head of a delegation of Saudi academics and businessmen who met with foreign ministry director-general Dore Gold, Mordechai and some Knesset members.

The Weekly asked Eshki whether there was not some validity to the criticisms levelled against him. After all, such meetings and talks are presumably the duty of diplomats or even intelligence officials.

Also, the Saudi government issued previous statements  such as that of 20 December 2015  stressing that Eshki, as well as Nawaf Obeid and Jamal Khasheqji, do not represent Saudi Arabia.

I am a strategist, the retired general said. I set a goal and I determine the best way to get there. We have an Arab initiative that was put to the Israeli side. That initiative should be acted on because it promotes the welfare of our Palestinian brothers. The initiative was proposed by Saudi Arabia and adopted in the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002. Acting on it requires dialogue, and this takes place through visits and talks. As long as there is apossibility for understanding, dialogue is a duty.

He added: The Saudi King Abdel Aziz used to say that every Saudi is an ambassador of his country. We are now in the 21st century and we believe in cultural diplomacy. I am the director of a research centre and I visited the occupied territories. This was not my first visit there, nor will it be my last. I went there about a year ago. Others have undertaken similar visits. I went together with four researchers from the studies centre that I head. I believe this was important in view of my capacity as a well-known academic.

But how does this relate to official Saudi policy?

To the best of my knowledge, the kingdoms policy can be encapsulated in the words of the late King Abdullah: There were be no normalisation until after the initiative goes into effect and its provisions are implemented. The only country that has not normalised and will not normalise, and that has not shaken the hand of any Israeli officially, is Saudi Arabia. This is for the sake of our Palestinian brothers. All I have done  and the sole purpose of it  is to move the stagnant waters after the Palestinian cause became marginalised due to events in the Arab, regional and international spheres.

Dr Majed Anwar Eshki was born in Medina in 1943.

After graduating from secondary school, he enrolled in the military academy from which he graduated in 1967 with the rank of second lieutenant.

He served in the Arab League peacekeeping force, which he joined in 1970, and as director of the Armed Forces Hospital from 1974.

He retired from military service in 1987 with the rank of general and moved to government, in which he occupied a cabinet post and then a post in the foreign ministry.

Eshki received a scholarship to pursue doctoral studies in the US where, in 1982, he became an advisor to the Saudi ambassador to Washington at the time, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan.

Upon his return to Saudi Arabia he was appointed head of the Saudi Institute for Strategic Studies. He was often a member of the delegation accompanying King Faisal on official visits.

He pursued his studies and research in the military sciences, law and cultural fields and has lectured frequently and authored many studies, articles and other publications.

Since it was initiatively proposed in 2002, the Arab Peace Initiative received no official response from Tel Aviv, whether positive or negative. However, it resurfaced recently in the context of the drive set into motion by the French initiative, which has ground to a halt after a few months in which it failed to achieve progress.

Experts in Cairo believe that there is a change in the Israeli attitude toward the Arab initiative.

With the latest cabinet reshuffle and the return of Lieberman, the Israeli government has issued some positive sounding statements regarding that initiative, even if these have fallen short of demonstrating a willingness to adopt it as a framework for a prospective settlement process.

Eshki, however, is optimistic about the fruits of his visit, the forthcoming climate and even the possibility of activating the Arab Peace Initiative and achieving peace. He believes that the near future could bring a breakthrough if the initiative is given a push. But this requires influential Arab figures.

I attend international conferences and a participate in meetings with Israelis. We have been able to make 75 per cent (of these Israelis) agree to peace and to the Arab initiative. We made Netanyahu find his own position shaky, which is whyit is important to promote the initiative and seek peace. In fact, [recently] he said some positive things regarding the Palestinians of 48 (Palestinians inside Israel) and promised to pay more attention to them. Therefore, we need to continue our work, especially with those who believe in peace and in the Arab Peace Initiative.

Riyadh has issued no official response to the visit. Nor did it remark on the allusions made by some politicians  including PA President Mahmoud Abbas, during the recent Arab summit in Nouakchott  to a possible process of Saudi-Israeli normalisation.

Meanwhile, analysts in Israel and elsewhere have interpreted Eshkis visit as a clear sign of this.

This is the view expressed by Jackie Khouri, an Arab Israeli journalist specialising in Middle East affairs for Haaretz, speaking in interview with the Weekly.

Egyptian experts agree. Eshki could not have moved in that direction without a green light from Riyadh, even if it denies any responsibility or official approval of his visit, they said.

They describe it as a form of Track 2 action, which is undertaken by private individuals in order to set the stage of a subsequent development but which, for various reasons, cannot be seen as being performed by a government official, or in any official capacity.

If a Track 2 action fails it causes no major loss of face or damage to relations, and if it succeeds in its purposes, so much the better.

When asked whether the Saudi government had contacted him in any way regarding the visit, General Eshki responded: No. No agency in the government has called me or commented either positively or negatively.

But they know that I have some political influence and that I have not deviated from their policies.

On the substance of the visit, Eshki maintains that he had not discussed more than his faith in peace and the need to put the Arab Peace Initiative into effect.

However, some argue that there is a Saudi and Israeli convergence in their animosity toward Iran and that visits of this sort may work to promote coordination between the two countries responses to Irans regional policies.

Eshki disagreed. I do not believe that Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries are aligned with Israel against Iran. It is true that Iran is a common enemy for both Saudi Arabia and Israel. However, the Israelis have their viewpoint and we have ours.

How does Eshki evaluate the results of his visit in the final analysis?

On the whole, good: The morale of our brothers in Palestine has improved and the Palestinian cause is once again at the centre of attention. We made many Arab intellectuals think carefully and clearly about why they are not taking initiatives to promote peace. It is possible to accept relations with Israel if Israel applies the principles of the Arab Peace Initiative, which is the decisive criterion and can put an end to Israeli ambitions.

Concluding his interview, he stressed: I would like the Arab League to issue a resolution sanctioning visits to areas under the control of the PA, and also to Jerusalem, so that Israel doesnt have them all to itself.

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New Delhi:

At least five people in their early 20s were killed when their speeding car rammed into a tree in Mumbai. The disturbing photo of the speeding Honda City car shows the intensity with which the accident took place.

The accident occurred at around 5.20 AM when the speeding Honda City car's driver lost control as a result of which the vehicle rammed into a tree alongside the road near Shastri Nagar area in Vile Parle.

As per preliminary information, the deceased were friends and had planned to go out for a drive. Driver Junaid Soni lost control over the wheels following which the accident occurred.

The car belongs to Meera Road.The accident took place near the airport on the Western Express Highway. Police have identified the dead as Muzzamil Makhnuja, 22, the owner of the car, Muzzamil Mukhtar Kanosiya, 22, Rashida Yusuf Sheikh, 25, and 22-year-old Junaid Sheikh.
New Delhi:

Aam Admi Party office in Ahmedabad was ransacked on Wednesday by some unidentified persons. The miscreants smashed tables, sabotaged the property and other office paraphernalia.

The attackers took the video of the ransacking and then walked out of the partys office without any resistance.

This happened a day after AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal directly accused the involvement of state BJP government in attacks on Dalits in Una.

The party leaders have held BJP responsible for the attack on AAP offiice. Senior AAP leader Ashutosh from Delhi tweeted: BJP is scared of AAPs popularity in Gujarat. Its goons today ransacked AAP state office in Gujarat.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New York:

Indo-US cooperation in defence technology and trade initiatives will be the focus of the US Air Force Secretarys upcoming visit to India. During her visit, she will discuss co-production of aircrafts with Indian officials under Make in India campaign.

Deborah Lee James will travel to India later this month as part of a maiden visit to four Asian countries that would also take her to Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines and will discuss the situation in the South China Sea as well as the growing threat of terrorism.

During her visit to India, she will meet Chief of Air Staff Marshal Arup Raha and Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar and will also discuss with her Indian counterparts proposals to co-produce aircrafts in India in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modis ambitious Make in India campaign.

We will be looking to see how can we deepen our partnerships and how can we take it to the next level, James said in response to a question at a press briefing here on what her focus will be during her visit to India.

She said she will discuss defence technology and follow up on the trade initiatives, which were launched during US Defence Secretary Ashton Carters visit to India in April.

James replied in the affirmative when asked if she will follow up on American defence major Lockheed Martins proposals to assemble F-16s in India as well as on discussions to collaborate in bolstering Indias fighter jets and the jet engine technology working group.

I will be following up on all of those topics, discussing these counterpart to counterpart on a bilateral basis. I will be seeking the views of my counterparts, what their opinion is on the various proposals on the table and what more needs to happen to advance the ball on some of these proposals.

I am also aware of the Prime Ministers push for Make in India and the importance of creating new jobs in that sector. One of the proposals would be to co-produce certain aircrafts in India and that might be one example of something that will be useful from a military standpoint but also might play into the Make in India campaign, she said.

James said she would also follow up on the initiatives launched during Carters visit and the possible outcomes of it from the Air Force perspective.

She, however, noted that while some proposals will move forward, others may not if they are not the right fit.

Describing the Indian Air Force as a very effective fighting unit, she said it has been a participant over the years in red-flag exercise series, where the US gets together with coalition partners to train and inter-operate and test ourselves in a high-end and very challenging difficult environment.

James added that she also looks forward to congratulating India on the magnificent execution of the operation undertaken to evacuate Indian citizens from South Sudan.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Protests in Mali's capital against the arrest of a popular activist radio host have turned violent, leaving at least three people dead and several injured.

These are the first major protests in Bamako since a military coup in 2012.

Dozens took to the streets in Hamdallaye neighborhood Wednesday in support of radio personality Ras Bath.

Activist Yelimady Konate says protesters knocked down the door of the courtroom where Bath was having his hearing. He says Bath was arrested Monday before hosting a radio talk show discussing Mali's army.

Protester Mama Camara says he saw three dead and several hurt at a clinic where he was looking for friends.

A doctor there, Makan Diakite, says some people had been hit by bullets.

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The Islamist militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis (ABM) has confirmed the death of its chief two weeks after the Egyptian army announced the killing during an anti-insurgency operation in North Sinai.

In a statement shared online on Thursday by accounts affiliated to the group, ABM said that Abu Doaa Al-Ansari along with other fighters were killed by the Egyptian army.

On 4 August, the Egyptian army said it had killed Al-Ansari along with his top aides and dozens of other militants in a series of airstrikes.

ABM said a new chief for the group, Sheikh Abdullah, has been named, warning that "more bitter" attacks are yet to come.

Islamist militants in parts of the North Sinai region have spearheaded a deadly insurgency against the army and police since the 2013 overthrow Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Hundreds of security personnel have been killed in these attacks. The army said it also killed hundreds of militants.

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Military court sentences over four hundred Brotherhood supporters to prison on violence charges

An Egyptian military court sentenced on Thursday more than four hundred supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group to jail terms of up to 25 years.

Some 418 people were sentenced over convictions of committing various violent crimes in the governorate of Minya on the back of the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The defendants were charged with "sabotaging public, judicial and police buildings" following the deadly dispersal of two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo more than one month after his ouster.

The court handed 249 defendants terms of life in prison in absentia, while sentencing 50 others who were present in court to between two and 10 years in prison. The defendants were accused of storming a provincial police station in Minya.

The court sentenced 101 others to life in prison, also in absentia, over the storming and burning of the government telecommunications centre in the governorate.

Eighteen other defendants were given 10-year sentences on the same charges.

The verdicts can still be appealed.

According to Egyptian law, defendants sentenced in absentia automatically receive retrials when they turn themselves in.

Egypt's government has banned the Muslim Brotherhood, declaring it a terrorist organisation in October 2013.

In October 2014, Egypt allowed military courts to try civilians accused of attacking state facilities or blocking roads for two years, following deadly assaults that killed dozens of security forces in the Sinai Peninsula.

On Wednesday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi extended this provision for five more years.

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General Joseph Votel met with Egypt's minister of defense and chief of staff during his visit to Cairo

Egypt's Minister of Defence Sedky Sobhi met on Thursday in Cairo with General Joseph Votel, the head of the US Central Command, to discuss the latest efforts to fight terrorism and restore order, stability and security in the Middle East region, the Egyptian Armed Forces spokesperson announced.

Votel also met with Egypt's chief of staff Lt General Mahmoud Hegazy on Thursday, where they discussed methods of exchanging expertise between the US army and the Egyptian Armed Forces.

General Votel also praised Egypt's military efforts to combat terrorism in North Sinai.

Votel is currently visiting Cairo with a delegation of US army officials.

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The Soviet Union officially fell on Dec. 25, 1991, but before its collapse, the country was highly focused on science and technology discoveries.

Now, nearly 25 years later, some of the Soviet Union's sites that were of great importance to technological progress have become abandoned, places frozen in time that have lost their significance.
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Two out of three students in the state can read as well as they should as they approach their final year of high school but fewer than 40 percent are making the grade in math, the state announced on Wednesday.

The results come from the revamped SAT taken last spring in school by nearly all public school eleventh graders as it replaced the states standardized test.

In this first year, Connecticut students averaged 520 on the language arts test and 502 on the math. The top score on each section of the test is 800 points.

The College Board, which wont release national SAT results until mid-September, has set 480 as a college ready score in language arts and 530 in math.

Locally, the results mirror other state tests. Fairfield had a combined score of 1129 when average language arts and math scores were combined. Trumbull and Monroe both came out with combined language arts and math scores of 1114. Stratford had a combined average score of 977. Bridgeport brought up the rear among large urban school districts with a combined average score of 860.

In addition to the easily recognized SAT scores, the state has its own scoring system.

In Stratford, Schools Superintendent Janet Robinson said she was particularly pleased with the number of students who met or exceeded the states proficiency standard, at least in language arts  61.2 percent.

More Information Header here Chatter here and here aand here District ELA* Math* Ansonia 476 448 Bridgeport Achievement First 515 489 Bridgeport 438 422 Capital Prep. Harbor School Inc. 416 419 Derby 446 431 Fairfield 572 557 Milford 533 502 District ELA* Math* Monroe 562 552 Oxford 552 517 Reg. Sch. Dist. 9 587 573 Seymour 502 496 Shelton 540 524 Stratford 502 475 The Bridge Academy 438 431 Trumbull 557 557 Westport 598 599 Source: xxxxxx xxxxxxx | *Average Score See More Collapse

Stratford has had a solid college acceptance rate, and with the continuing improvements on SAT scores, Robinson said. I am certain more and more of our students will be accepted into their choice colleges.

In Fairfield, 84 percent of students met or surpassed the states proficiency bar in language arts and 63 percent in math. In Bridgeport, meanwhile, 29 percent of students were deemed proficient in language arts and 10 percent in math.

We need to grow, Fran Rabinowitz, Bridgeports interim school superintendent said. We need to ensure that we begin early in elementary school and ensure that all students receive a high-standards curriculum across every one of our schools and subject areas.

Why the switch

The state switched from the controversial Smarter Balanced assessment test, which is still given in grades three through eight, to the new SAT last spring after parents and lawmakers complained high school juniors were suffering from test overload. Many who are headed to college were already taking Advanced Placement Tests, the SAT and ACT, another college preparedness test.

At the urging of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the federal government agreed to let the state use the SAT as the measure of success instead of SBAC.

By switching to the SAT, we responded to student and parent concerns about over testing, Commissioner of Education Dianna Wentzell said. We also took a big step toward greater equity in our schools by giving all Connecticut eleventh graders a chance to take a college and career readiness exam.

Connecticut students can also use their SAT scores when they start applying to colleges and can send them to four colleges for free, Ellen Cohen, deputy commissioner for the state Department of Education, said.

This year, the College Board, producers of the SAT, changed the test for everyone to make it more reflective of the Common Core curriculum most students are being taught. Connecticut is among a handful of states using the test in place of its achievement test. Four states, Connecticut Delaware, New Hampshire and Maine met to establish what a passing grade would be.

On the new test, there is no penalty for wrong answers, obscure vocabulary is out and answers require students to use evidence.

Ajit Gopalakrishnan, a bureau chief in the state education department, said the plan is to track students two or three years from now to see if their scores were actually a predictor of how well they do in college.

We do feel that this is a good start, Gopalakrishnan said. Now we have to see, are those standards actually working.

Cause for concern

Gopalakrishnan said there is a continued concern about the math scores and that steps are being taken to attack that issue aggressively by establishing a Commissioners Council on Mathematics and putting laser-like focus on math from the early grades on.

State officials say the results cant be compared to the old SAT or to the former state test. Still, Gopalakrishnan said are a bit more students meeting the proficiency standard on the new test, than they did on last years SBAC test.

In 2015, the average public high school SAT score for Connecticut score in critical reading was 494 and in math, 495.

Participation was also up, from about 82 percent last year  when a so-called opt out movement was going strong in the state  to about 94 percent when the test was given in March 2016. That is still below the 95 percent threshold set by the U.S. Department of Education. About 38,000 public high school juniors in the state took the new test, free of charge to them and in school.

Shelton Schools Superintendent Chris Clouet said because the SAT is widely viewed by parents and students as a gate keeper for college, it added an extra layer of seriousness to it.

And it also is a measure of a student academic well being, Clouet said. In Shelton 74.7 percent of students met the reading standard and more than half met the math standard.

The new results shows that the achievement gap between white and minority students remains wide as well as students who are eligible for free and reduced priced lunch and those who are not.

The SAT results break scores down into categories ranging from exceeding standards to meeting them, approaching them and not meeting them. For instance, in Trumbull, between 6 and 8 percent of students were at the lowest level in math or language arts. In Stratford the percentage at the lowest standard was 19 to 29 percent; in Ansonia, 37 to 58 and in Bridgeport, it was 45 to 51 percent demonstrating a minimal understanding of the knowledge and skills needed for college or career readiness.

lclambeck@ctpost.com; Twitter: @lclambeck
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Jobs can be difficult to come by, especially full-time positions. And especially in Connecticut.

Connecticut is among states where it may be the hardest for job seekers to find a full-time job, according to a report by 24/7 Wall St. The report analyzed underemployment rates, unemployment rates from June 2016, and job growth rates over the past year.

To see how Connecticut stacks up against other states where it's difficult to find full-time work, click through the slideshow above.

In Connecticut, underemployment was measured at about 11 percentwhich could be just as bad according to one expert.

Martin Kohli, a chief regional economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, told 24/7 Wall St. that underemployment is "a valuable reminder that people can suffer during a recession even if they have jobs."

The site said Connecticut was an outlier in job growth, though not in a good way.

"While the unemployment rate has declined nationwide, in Connecticut, the share of the labor force out of work and looking for a job has actually risen," the report stated. "The state's unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points to 5.8 percent between 2015 and 2016."

By comparison, the report said unemployment decreased nationwide by 0.4 percentage over the same period.

Related: Most in-demand jobs in Connecticut

The report went on to say the state is home to a 41 percent of part-time workers would prefer to instead have a full-time job, which is among the highest such percentages across all states.

Nevada, New Mexico, and Alaska were found to be the most difficult states for a full-time job, where the underemployment rate sat around 12 percent among the three states.

So where can workers have an easier time finding work? Their best bets can be found in the central portion of the country. South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska had some of the lowest unemployment rates in June 2016.
Eastern Turkey was rocked by two deadly bombings against police as Kurdish guerrillas launched a new campaign of attacks targeting areas that are not predominantly Kurdish.

The car bombings -- less than 12 hours apart -- killed at least six people in total and injured over 200, officials said Thursday, blaming the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The rebels, who have been fighting a deadly insurgency against the Turkish state for three decades, appear to have intensified their attacks since the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

At least three police officers were killed and scores more people wounded in a car bombing that hit a police headquarters in the eastern city of Elazig early Thursday.

The blast left much of the four-storey building in ruins, with television images showing a large plume of black smoke billowing into the sky while rescuers searched for survivors.

The city, a conservative nationalist bastion, had been spared much of the violence that has rocked the Kurdish-dominated southeast.

Officials blamed the PKK, with one accusing the rebels of collaborating with supporters of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating the July 15 coup bid.

"We will thwart the PKK like we thwarted FETO (Fethullah Terrorist Organisation)," Defence Minister Fikri Isik told the state-run Anadolu news agency, using the name Ankara gives to the movement led by Gulen.

CNN-Turk television reported that 146 people had been injured, quoting city governor Murat Zorluoglu.

"Until now, we never suffered an attack on our city or received intelligence on a possible attack," Omer Serdar, an MP for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) told CNN-Turk.

Turkey's Radio and Television Supreme Council issued a temporary ban on visual coverage of the attack after an order from the prime minister's office, Anadolu reported.

Two more policemen and a civilian were killed in another car bombing on Wednesday night in Van, another city in the east which has a mixed ethnic Kurdish and Turkish population.

A Turkish official said at least 53 civilians and 20 police officers were also wounded in the attack in the city, that lies near the border with Iran.

Former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu suggested on Twitter that Gulen's movement was working with the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union.

"Once again, the attacks in Van and Elazig show how PKK and FETO work together."

Another five police and three civilians were killed in a PKK car bombing on a police traffic control building near the main southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Monday, the day seen as the 32nd anniversary of the launch of the armed rebellion.

A source close to the Turkish government told AFP that the PKK was taking "advantage of the current atmosphere in Turkey".

"Any terrorist organisation likes to exploit crises," the source said, referring to the aftermath of the failed putsch which has seen a massive purge of the army, including the dismissal of almost half Turkey's generals and admirals.

More than 600 Turkish security force members have been killed by the PKK since the collapse of a ceasefire last year, according to a toll given by Anadolu on July 31.

The government has responded with military operations against the group, killing more than 7,000 militants in Turkey and northern Iraq, the agency said.

It is not possible to independently verify the toll.

Over 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK first took up arms in 1984 in a separatist rebellion led by now jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan.

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You can still follow the Yellow Brick Road to a spooky, forgotten amusement park called the Land of Oz in the mountains of North Carolina.

Photographer Seph Lawless, who specializes in landmarks in disrepair, shot the now defunct park on Beech Mountain for his new book "Bizarro: The World's Most Hauntingly Beautiful Abandoned Amusement Parks."

"Being there was almost like entering another planet," Lawless says. "It was surreal and completely beautiful."

The Land of Oz was built in 1970 as a theme park based on the classic movie "The Wizard of Oz." Actress Debbie Reynolds, who shared ownership of Dorothy's dress with the park, and her soon-to-be-famous daughter, Carrie Fisher, attended the ribbon cutting, according to Watauga Lake Magazine.

Besides laying a bright yellow brick road, the park re-enacted scenes and props from the film, including Dorothy's tornado house and Munchkin dwellings.

One can only imagine how many '70s stoners fired up a bowl before accosting the trees in the Enchanted Forest or mellowing out in the Poppy Field.

Tourists could ride on the Great Oz's "hot-air balloon"  a ski lift at the adjacent Beech Mountain ski resort. The park's Emerald City burned down in 1975, the fire destroying some artifacts and costumes, including the dress Judy Garland wore in the movie.

In its first year, the park was one of the top attractions in the Southeast (some 20,000 turned up on the opening day), but by the late 1970s, its appeal had waned. It closed in 1980.

Today, the park opens for one weekend of the year, the legacy of an annual reunion started by former employees in the late '90s. The owner of the land has restored the grounds and turned Dorothy's house into a museum.

You can't miss it. It's the one with the Wicked Witch of the East's leg sticking out.

For more Seph Lawless landscapes, see his work on Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr.
TIVERTON, ON, Aug. 18, 2016 /CNW/ - Bruce Power has received its best-ever report card from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), the country's independent regulator of nuclear facilities.

Both Bruce A and B received an overall 'Fully Satisfactory' mark for the CNSC's Integrated Plant Ratings, which the regulator has compared to an 'A+' in past media reports. Both stations were also deemed Fully Satisfactory for Operating Performance, Conventional Health and Safety, Waste Management and Security. The other 10 areas rated by the CNSC were deemed 'Satisfactory,' which is equivalent to an 'A.'

"This is the first year both of our stations have been deemed to be Fully Satisfactory, now that Bruce A has joined Bruce B with this prestigious ranking," said Len Clewett, Bruce Power's Chief Nuclear Officer. "Since the Units 1 and 2 refurbishment project was completed in 2012, staff have worked extremely hard to improve the reliability of Bruce A, while always maintaining our Number 1 value of Safety First. We are seeing the fruits of their labour today, as we celebrate this achievement across the Bruce Power team."

Never one to rest on its laurels, Bruce Power will continue to strive to achieve Fully Satisfactory marks in all 16 categories annually rated by the CNSC, Clewett added.

"A nuclear power plant is only as good as its last week, day and hour. We live and work in a culture of continuous improvement, and we will take the CNSC's ratings and evaluate areas we can do even better in future years."

Bruce Power representatives are appearing before members of the Commission today to discuss the rankings. The webcast can be streamed at www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/.

About Bruce Power

Bruce Power operates the world's largest operating nuclear generating facility and is the source of 30 per cent of Ontario's electricity. The company's site in Tiverton, Ontario, is home to eight CANDU reactors. Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is an all-Canadian partnership among Borealis Infrastructure Trust Management (a division of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System), TransCanada, the Power Workers' Union and The Society of Energy Professionals. A majority of Bruce Power's employees are also owners in the business.

For updated Bruce Power photos and b-roll video, please visit our Media Kit page.

SOURCE Bruce Power

Image with caption: "An aerial view of the Bruce Power site in Kincardine, Ontario. (CNW Group/Bruce Power)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160818_C5389_PHOTO_EN_755355.jpg

For further information: John Peevers - 519-361-6583, Bruce Power Duty Media - 519-361-6161
MIRAMICHI, NB, Aug. 18, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Numerous members of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO-SACC-CSN) are demonstrating today in front of the Public Service Pay Centre in Miramichi. They are calling for the federal Government to settle - once and for all - the issues that have been plaguing centralization of pay services since 2014 and problems that have exploded with the introduction of the Phoenix software in February 2016.

Much like tens of thousands of other Canadian Public Service employees, several correctional officers have been victims of the failures of the new Phoenix software pay system. The problems are multiple: employees have been deprived of pay, reports of records of employment being issued that have prevented obtaining various benefits, non-payment of bonuses or allowances, grading errors, erroneous tax rates, etc. For some of these employees, the amounts owed by the Government are considerable, which generates not only financial problems, but also significant stress.

Pressure applied by UCCO-SACC-CSN and other public service unions over past months has forced the Government to open a satellite office in Gatineau and to hire 100 additional people to work there. But, for now, results are not forthcoming and the many problems remain. "Our members cannot take this any longer. They no longer wish to hear justifications from Minister Foote. The Government must assume its responsibilities and pay its employees, period," said Jason Godin, UCCO-SACC-CSN President.

By appearing before the Miramichi offices, correctional officers also wish to demonstrate their solidarity with the workers of the Public Service Pay Centre who find themselves, involuntarily, in the middle of this huge mess, and who, furthermore, are also experiencing the same pay problems. Mr. Godin has told them, on behalf of all UCCO-SACC-CSN members, "we want our message to be clear: our action today is targeting the political leaders of this bungling. They are the people who must double their efforts and not the Centre's employees''.

In support of this event, correctional officers across the country are wearing a badge today in support of their claim, on which is written: 'Enough! Pay us'. "We'll display the badge in all Canadian correctional institutions, and we are all united in this fight to receive our pay. We will continue to hold government accountable at all levels", concluded Mr. Godin.

About the union

The Union of Canadian correctional officers (UCCO-SACC-CSN) represents more than 7400 members, deployed in five regions across Canada: British Colombia, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic. UCCO-SACC-CSN represents the CX1 and CX2 job classifications in 43 federal institutions.

SOURCE UNION OF CANADIAN CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS (UCCO-SACC-CSN)

For further information: Martin Petit, Communications Specialist - CSN, 514-894-1326, [email protected]
BWX Technologies, Inc. to Acquire Business Serving the CANDU Industry

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Aug. 18, 2016 /CNW/ - GE (NYSE: GE) and Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) are pleased to announce that they have entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. (GEH-C) to BWXT Canada Ltd. (BWXT Canada) a subsidiary of BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BWXT). The transaction is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close by the end of 2016.

"GEH-C's people, expertise, products and service capabilities make it the right fit for BWXT Canada and its goals of long-term growth in serving the nuclear industry," said Elyse Allan, president and CEO, GE Canada and Chairman of the Board of GEH-C. "Like GEH-C, BWXT has a long history serving Canada's nuclear industry and they share the same values of quality, innovation and safety."

"BWXT Canada has a rich Canadian history and an impressive track record of continued investment in technology, process, and research and development," said GEH-C president and CEO Mark Ward. "This transaction is good news for our business as it brings together the extensive knowledge and expertise of two firms committed to delivering high quality products and services to the nuclear industry in Canada and abroad."

GEH-C has more than 60 years of extensive experience and innovation in the supply of nuclear fuel and fuel channel components, services, equipment and parts for the CANDU nuclear power industry. This includes designing and supplying highly reliable nuclear equipment to fuel, inspect, and refurbish reactors. GEH-C employs approximately 350 skilled employees at three locations in Ontario: Peterborough, Toronto and Arnprior.

"GEH-C has been an important part of GE's history in Canada and has made significant contributions to Canada's nuclear industry over the last 60 years," added Allan. "We are confident that BWXT Canada is the right business to take GEH-C forward for our customers and employees."

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements, which reflect GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Inc.'s, GE's and Hitachi, Ltd.'s current expectation regarding future events. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, uncertainties associated with approval of applicable governmental authorities, necessary regulatory approvals and other customary conditions. Except as required by applicable securities laws, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc., GE and Hitachi, Ltd. do not assume and expressly renounces any obligation to update any forward-looking information. Additionally, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc., GE and Hitachi, Ltd. undertake no obligation to comment on expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the transaction.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) is the world's Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the "GE Store," through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, segments, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry. www.ge.com

About Hitachi

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer society's challenges. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2015 (ended March 31, 2016) totaled 10,034.3 billion yen ($88.8 billion). The Hitachi Group is a global leader in the Social Innovation Business, and it has approximately 335,000 employees worldwide. Through collaborative creation, Hitachi is providing solutions to customers in a broad range of sectors, including Power / Energy, Industry / Distribution / Water, Urban Development, and Finance / Government & Public / Healthcare. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.

About BWXT Canada Ltd.

BWXT Canada Ltd. (BWXT Canada) has supplied over 300 CANDU and Pressurized Water Reactor steam generators worldwide, as well as other critical plant components. The company's in-depth knowledge comes from over 50 years of experience in the design, manufacturing, commissioning and service of nuclear power generation equipment. BWXT Canada is a subsidiary of BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BWXT). BWXT is a leading supplier of nuclear components and fuel to the U.S. government; provides technical, management and site services to support governments in the operation of complex facilities and environmental remediation activities; and supplies precision manufactured components and services for the commercial nuclear power industry. Learn more at www.bwxt.com.

SOURCE General Electric Canada Inc.

For further information: Rahim Ladha, GE Canada, 1.647.281.7073, [email protected]; Sara Forsey, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada, 1.705.748.7545, [email protected]
Stylish clothes designed to be as durable and fun as kids, and moms, need!

OTTAWA, Aug. 17, 2016 /CNW/ - Giant Tiger Stores Limited is excited to introduce 3 new children's lines, launching today. Just in time for back to school, these three fun and fashionable clothing lines are sure to be a hit with kids and moms alike: Monkey Bars for girls and boys sizes 2-6X; Bella & Birdie for girls sizes 714; and Survival Gear for boys sizes 8-16.

"As a proud Canadian retailer, we have developed our three new brands to meet the needs of Canadian kids and families" explains Brian Hession, Vice President Softgoods & Footwear Buying, Giant Tiger Stores Limited. "These fashionable collections are designed to be versatile and stand up to the wear that naturally occurs with kids clothing. From our $4 mix and match separates program to our $8 durable denim program, we have worked to create on-trend items at price points that are in keeping with Giant Tiger's low price philosophy."

The three brands have their own unique personalities, each reflected in the styling and assortment. Monkey Bars is energetic and fun, perfect for playdates to preschool; Bella & Birdie is all about confident and cool girls who are ready to explore their inner fashionista; and the Survival Gear boy is fun, fearless and always up for adventure. The quality fabrication, stylish designs and outstanding prices make these new lines the perfect additions to the growing Giant Tiger family of private brands.

As part of the launch of the kids' lines, Giant Tiger is pleased to introduce the Happiness Guarantee. "At Giant Tiger, our priority is our customers and creating a shopping experience to make even the busiest mom's life a little easier," explains Karen Sterling, Vice President of Marketing. "We listened to our moms and created our 'Happiness Guarantee' which is designed to create a completely risk-free shopping experience for parents. If you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, simply return it along with the receipt for a full refund, no time limit. It's that easy. Our goal this back to school season is to not just help moms survive back to school but to succeed at it!"

Monkey Bars, Bella & Birdie and Survival Gear clothing are available exclusively at all Giant Tiger stores.

About Giant Tiger

Giant Tiger is the leading Canadian owned family discount store, committed to providing on-trend family fashions, groceries and everyday household needs. Known as Canada's best kept secret the privately held company has over 220 locations across Canada and employs over 8,000 team members. All Giant Tiger locations are locally owned or operated by a team member who knows the community. The friendly stores with the iconic yellow logo are not only where Canadians shop more and spend less, but also are proud to be known as retailer of choice. #foryouforless

Join the conversation and keep up to date on all Giant Tiger news:

Like us on Facebook: Giant Tiger

Follow us on Instagram: @Gianttigerstore

Follow us on Twitter: @GTBoutique

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Giant Tiger Store

SOURCE Giant Tiger Stores Limited

Video with caption: "Video: Behind the Scenes - Exclusively at Giant Tiger". Video available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/playback.cgi?file=20160817_C3823_VIDEO_EN_754408.mp4&posterurl=http%3A%2F%2Fphotos.newswire.ca%2Fimages%2F20160817_C3823_PHOTO_EN_754408.jpg&order=1&jdd=20160817&cnum=C3823

Video with caption: "Video: Money Bars - Exclusively at Giant Tiger". Video available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/playback.cgi?file=20160817_C3823_VIDEO_EN_754412.mp4&posterurl=http%3A%2F%2Fphotos.newswire.ca%2Fimages%2F20160817_C3823_PHOTO_EN_754412.jpg&order=2&jdd=20160817&cnum=C3823

Image with caption: "Giant Tiger's Happiness Guarantee truly is risk free shopping! (CNW Group/Giant Tiger Stores Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160817_C3823_PHOTO_EN_754433.jpg

Image with caption: "Bella & Birdie. (CNW Group/Giant Tiger Stores Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160817_C3823_PHOTO_EN_754431.jpg

Image with caption: "Just in time for Back to School! (CNW Group/Giant Tiger Stores Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160817_C3823_PHOTO_EN_754435.jpg

Image with caption: "Survival Gear. (CNW Group/Giant Tiger Stores Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160817_C3823_PHOTO_EN_754437.jpg

For further information: For media inquiries contact: Alison Scarlett, Manager, Public Relations and Community Activation, [email protected]
BOGOTA, Colombia, Aug. 17, 2016 /CNW/ - Today, Jean Lebel, President of Canada's International Development Research Centre, announced a new initiative to foster economic opportunities for vulnerable Colombian youth. The project will pilot new approaches to bring financial, vocational, and professional orientation to youth, with a focus on young women and men in rural areas that have suffered from the country's 50 years of internal conflict.

The 24-month project aims to develop, test, and assess an initiative that meets the specific needs of youth in conflict-affected regions, now that the Government of Colombia and the country's largest rebel group are in the final stages of negotiating a peace treaty.

With support from IDRC and the Citi Foundation, Fundacion Capital will lead this initiative from their Bogota headquarters.

"Colombia's youth have suffered tremendously from the ongoing conflict. More than half of the 8 million registered victims are younger than 28 years old," said Yves Moury, President and CEO of Fundacion Capital. "This project will work with youth to contribute to their personal development via the creation of life plans, bringing them both accessible, professional training as well as relevant and useful resources to plan their personal, financial, and professional development."

The goal is for the 1,200 youth participating in the pilot to be better prepared, informed, and connected to existing resources, and better able to plan for and succeed in their professional lives and futures. Fundacion Capital is also working collaboratively with government, target populations, and the private sector to ensure that successful methods are scaled up to reach as many vulnerable youth as possible.

"IDRC's support for research in Colombia has contributed to the peace process by understanding key issues such as land restitution, avenues for rural development, and access to justice for victims of violence. This new project will help ensure that young generations find a future in Colombian society and contribute to the peace process," Jean Lebel said.

The announcement was made during the visit to Colombia of a delegation of IDRC's Board of Governors, led by its Chairperson, Margaret Biggs.

About Canada's International Development Research Centre

Part of Canada's foreign affairs and development efforts, IDRC invests in knowledge, innovation, and solutions to improve lives and livelihoods in the developing world. Bringing together the right partners around opportunities for impact, IDRC builds leaders for today and tomorrow and helps drive large-scale positive change.

IDRC in Colombia

Since 1971 IDRC has supported 271 research activities for an approximate amount of CA$44.3 dollars. IDRC is supporting research in science and technology, agriculture, health, the use of information and communication technologies, small business promotion, and victims' rights.

About Fundacion Capital

Fundacion Capital is an international organization working to expand inclusion, partnering and innovating to help millions of families define their own paths out of poverty. Fundacion Capital collaborates with both public and private partners to develop and implement new approaches that enable low-income families to grow, value, and protect their financial, productive and human assets.

SOURCE International Development Research Centre

For further information: Lucy Gray-Donald, IDRC, [email protected] | +598. 99912957 | Sofia Redford, Fundacion Capital, [email protected] | +57 1 602 5530
Turkey on Thursday ordered the seizure of assets belonging to 187 businessmen suspected of links to US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of masterminding last month's attempted coup, state media reported.

Police launched a vast operation in the economic capital Istanbul and other provinces into the alleged Gulen-linked companies -- the biggest crackdown on business since the July 15 failed putsch, the Anadolu news agency said.

Local media said around 1,000 police took part in raids at 204 addresses in 18 provinces, including simultaneous operations at around 100 sites in Istanbul.

Prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 187 suspects including the CEOs of leading companies, with the Istanbul chief prosecutor's office ordering their assets to be seized, state-run Anadolu said.

Sixty-five of the suspects were detained including Omer Faruk Kavurmaci, CEO of the Aydinli Group clothing retailer, it added.

The raids targeted major companies like Aydinli -- present in 39 countries with 476 stores and 3,500 employees -- as well as fashion company Eroglu, with 14,150 employees globally, and bakery Gulluoglu Baklava, reports said.

Anadolu said Eroglu's CEO Nurettin Eroglu, Gulluoglu's CEO Nejat Gullu and its owner Faruk Gullu were also among the detainees.

Gulen, a reclusive cleric who has lived in self-exile in the United States since 1999, vehemently denies he was behind the coup attempt.

With a powerful network of influence in institutions such as the judiciary and police as well as the media, the former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been accused of running a "parallel state" in Turkey.

Tens of thousands of his alleged supporters have been detained or sacked in a sweeping post-coup purge that has worried Ankara's Western allies.

Aydinli CEO Kavurmaci condemned the failed coup in a statement on the website of the group, which also has interests in the construction sector.

"We support our president, our prime minister and our government elected with the will of the people," he said.

Police seized books by Gulen and a plaque awarded by the preacher to Kavurmaci during a search Thursday of the CEO's office, Anadolu said.

Rizanur Meral, president of the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (Tuskon), was also among those sought by police, the news agency reported.

Founded in 2005, Tuskon has 55,000 members and is accused by the government of financing pro-Gulen activities.

The suspects were accused of "membership in a terrorist organisation" and "financing the activities" of Gulen, according to the private Dogan news agency.

In a similar operation on Tuesday, Turkish police raided dozens of companies in Istanbul in search of 120 suspects including CEOs. Around 100 people were detained.

That operation targeted Akfa, largely involved in construction, and the A-101 supermarket chain which has 6,300 stores across Turkey, reports said.

Turkey has imposed a three-month state of emergency which it says is needed to hunt down the coup plotters, and Erdogan has vowed to eradicate businesses, charities and schools linked to Gulen, calling them "nests of terror".

Ankara wants Washington to extradite Gulen to face trial back home, indicating that any failure to deliver him will severely damage ties.

"We are telling America 'aren't we strategic partners? Don't we have a mutual agreement on the return of criminals'," Erdogan said in a televised speech on Thursday. "We want a terrorist from you... Let us try him," he added.

Gulen's legal team in Washington, meanwhile, called Ankara's claims regarding Gulen as a flight risk from the United States as "baseless and false".

"For the last 17 years, he has lived in modest accommodations at a retreat center in rural Pennsylvania, where he spends his days praying, studying, teaching and editing his book manuscripts," they said in a statement.

"He sees no need to change his living circumstances."

US Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Ankara next week, the White House said, in the highest ranking visit to Turkey by a Western official since the coup.

Turkish prosecutors this week demanded two life sentences and an additional 1,900 years in prison for the preacher.

In a 2,527-page indictment, the so-called Fethullah Terror Organisation -- the name Ankara gives the group led by Gulen -- is accused of collecting funds from businessmen and channelling the "donations" to the US through front companies, among other charges.

Gulen, 75, has strongly denied all of the government's accusations.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Wednesday that 40,029 state employees had been detained in the post-coup crackdown, with 20,335 remanded in custody.

More than 5,000 civil servants have been dismissed and almost 80,000 others suspended, Yildirim said in an interview with TRT public television.

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The US Congress has appropriated $119 billion for U.S. missile defense projects, including ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California, deployable THAAD interceptors, and radars, according to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. The Pentagon has asked Congress for $34.87 billion for these projects between fiscal 2017 and 2021.

Vice Adm. James Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency say that lasers could ultimately augment existing missile interceptors. They want lasers for two main reasons:

lasers could shoot down missiles earlier than todays interceptors and

lasers are much cheaper to fire.

U.S. military officials said directed energy is near the point where they could use it on the battlefield.

The goal is to reduce the size and weight of existing lasers, something the Pentagon has been trying to do for the past decade.

The Missile Defense Agency plans to conduct a lot of testing with lasers mounted on Reaper drones over the next few years culminating with a low-power laser demonstrator project in 2021, Syring said. Pentagon officials hope to decide what that demonstrator might look like in a few years. The goal of that project is to fly a powerful laser at a high altitude that can track possibly kill a missile soon after it is launched, during its boost phase.

In addition to lasers on drones, the Army is eying lasers on the ground to shoot down missiles.

Within 5 years, the military expects to demonstrate shooting down ballistic missiles in the boost phase.

In 2012, the US Navy initiated the SSL Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) program, in which industry teams led by BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon, among others, competed to develop a shipboard laser with a beam power of 100 kW to 150 kW by 2016.

Boosting beam power furtherto something like 200 kW or 300 kWcould permit a laser to counter at least some ASCMs. Even stronger beam powerson the order of at least several hundred kW, if not one megawatt (MW) or morecould improve a lasers effectiveness against ASCMs (Anti-Ship Cruise Missile) and enable it to counter ASBMs (Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile.

By 2020, it should be possible to demonstrate a 250-500 kW laser weapon system, one appropriate for deployment on current surface combatants and capable of being a game changer in the Navys struggle to address the growing A2/AD challenge.

The Armys Avenger project is a Humvee-mounted system that fires Stinger missiles at cruise missiles, with lasers or other forms of directed energy.

Lockheed acquired Aculight, a Bothell, Washington-based company that builds lasers, in 2008 to better position itself to win Pentagon work. The company has also been self-funding laser development work and Lockheed is working on a 60-kilowatt laser for the Army.

We expect to see the power levels continue to increase, Graham said. The beauty of this is its still remaining pretty nice and compact.

Shooting down a missile requires more than the laser itself, it involves steering mirrors, adaptive optics and software that can track a target.

Both Lockheed and Boeing  which has built a high-power laser for the Army Stryker vehicles  showed off small drones with holes burned through them by low-power lasers. To destroy a missile screaming toward outer space, a much more powerful, couple hundred kilowatts laser is needed

The Navy would want to deploy tactical and point defense lasers on ships in 2020-2025 and then move up to megawatt lasers on aircraft carriers for area defense.

The Navy laser development industry teams are led by BAE Systems Plc (BAESY), Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) and Raytheon Co. (RTN), to field a more powerful weapon, possibly by 2021.

The approximate laser power levels needed to affect certain targets:

 Lasers with a power level of about 10 kW might be able to counter some UAVs at short range, particularly soft UAVs (i.e., those with design features that make them particularly susceptible to laser damage).

 Lasers with power levels in the tens of kilowatts could have more capability for countering UAVs, and could counter at least some small boats as well.

 Lasers with a power level of about 100 kW would have a greater ability for countering UAVs and small boats, as well as some capability for countering rockets, artillery, and mortars.

 Lasers with power levels in the hundreds of kilowatts could have greater ability for countering targets mentioned above, and could also counter manned aircraft and some missiles.

 Lasers with power levels in the megawatts could have greater ability for countering targets mentioned aboveincluding supersonic ASCMs and ballistic missilesat ranges of up to about 10 nautical miles.

The Navy and DOD are developing three principal types of lasers for potential use on Navy surface ships:

 fiber solid state lasers (SSLs),

 slab SSLs, and

 free electron lasers (FELs).

All three types are electrically powered

Fiber Solid State Lasers (Fiber SSLs)

Fiber solid state lasers (SSLs) are widely used in industrytens of thousands are used by auto and truck manufacturing firms for cutting and welding metal. Consequently, they are considered to be a very robust technology.

Laser Weapon System (LaWS)

One fiber SSL prototype demonstrator developed by the Navy, called the Laser Weapon System (LaWS), had a beam power of 33 kW. The Navy at one point envisioned LaWS being used for operations such as disabling or reversibly jamming EO sensors, countering UAVs and EO guided missiles, and augmenting radar tracking. The Navy envisioned installing LaWS on a ship either on its own mount or as an add-on to an existing Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) mount. The Navy funded work to integrate LaWS with CIWS, to support the latter option

Tactical Laser System

Another Navy fiber SSL effort is the Tactical Laser System (TLS)a laser with a beam power of 10 kW that is designed to be added to the Mk 38 25 mm machine guns installed on the decks of many Navy surface ships.25 TLS would augment the Mk 38 machine gun in countering targets such as small boats; it could also assist in providing precise tracking of targets. The Navy in March 2011 awarded a $2.8 million contract to BAE to develop a prototype of the TLS over a 15-month period. Boeing is collaborating with BAE on the project. The TLS effort was initiated following a January 2008 incident involving Iranian small boats.

SOURCE  Defense One, CSBA, FAS, Lexington Institute, Congressional Report
China has developed a hybrid missile-torpedo (ASW missile Yu-8) that literally joins the two capabilities into a single weapon. The chief advantage of this arrangement, of course, is to vastly expand the range and speed of the torpedo system. Yet another advantage is that the attacking torpedo system would not likely be detected by a submerged submarine until it had plunged into the water relatively close to the intended victim, limiting the reaction time of the submarines crew for taking evasive action and deploying countermeasures.

Chinas ASW torpedo development has, for the most part, European origins and the U.S. Mark 46 lightweight ASW torpedo. The US exported the Mark 46 to China in the 1980s.

The Yu- missile is expected to be about five meters in length, and to weigh less than 700 kilograms. The range is said to be approximately thirty kilometers at a speed of Mach .9 to .95. The torpedo part of the weapon is estimated to be 324 millimeters in width and capable of detection (both passive and active) over 1.1 to 2.5 kilometers.

China plans to increase the missiles overall flight range to fifty-five to seventy kilometers.

The system may be an attempt to remedy a long-time weakness in Chinas ASW system: the inability of its ASW helicopters to heft multiple torpedoes. Helicopters transmit targeting information to the ship launched Yu-8 ASW missile.

In 2015, Popular Science looked at Chinas sub hunting plane and a 7-8q missile-torpedo.

SOURCES- National Interest, Popular Science
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday there were no grounds to suggest Russia's decision to fly Syria bombing missions out of Iran violated U.N. Security Council resolution 2231.

Lavrov said Russian aircraft had been flying out of Iran as a part of the Kremlin's anti-terrorist operation. No aircraft or supplies had been transferred to Tehran, he said.

The U.N. resolution prohibits the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran. The United States said on Tuesday it was checking whether the Russian flights had violated it.

Russian SU-34 bombers based at Iran's Hamadan air base on Wednesday carried out another wave of strikes on Islamic State targets inside Syria for a second day.

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The Nigerian Army has freed Ahmad Bolori,one of the three persons declared wanted by the military on Monday. Salkida, Wakil and Bolori A ...

The Nigerian Army has freed Ahmad Bolori,one of the three persons declared wanted by the military on Monday. Salkida, Wakil and Bolori A family source confirmed to newsmen around 10:30pm that Bolori was freed by Defence Headquarters after being interrogated and found to be innocent of the offence he was accused of. Bolori was taken from Maiduguri and interrogated in Abuja by the military but has just been released having been found innocent of the alleged offence, a close family member, Kaka, stated.Bolori was declared wanted along with a Dubai-based Nigerian journalist, Ahmad Salkida and Aisha Wakil over claims they were accessory to Boko Haram information and whereabouts of missing Chibok girls following the latest video released by the terrorists on Sunday showing some of the terrified girls in an unnamed location.Some sources close to the matter had expressed shock with the army action, saying the three Nigerians were in a position to help find a way out of the debacle instead of being labelled as villains.
The bodyguards of President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2015 presidential campaigns have vowed to cause trouble if the president does not ...

The bodyguards of President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2015 presidential campaigns have vowed to cause trouble if the president does not employ them as he promised.The ex-bodyguards, ex-protocol officers and members of the Buhari Support Organisation (BSO) converged on Buharis campaign office in Abuja on Thursday to express their anger over their alleged neglect by the president.Olabiyi Balogun, a leader of the group, said they were engaged during the presidential campaign, and that they travelled with Buhari to the 36 states of the federation and provided him with security and protocol services.He described their neglect as unfortunate, saying that they worked hard for Buhari but have been abandoned since he became president.We were his bodyguards and protocol officers throughout the campaign and inauguration. Some of us were posted to the defence house without being given a dime, he said.They gave us N20, 000 each in January and February 2015 as allowance, and since then we have not been paid a kobo. We have lost three of our members who were butchered by unknown gunmen in the course of our duty.Balogun claimed that the Buhari campaign team did not make any attempt to compensate the families of their members who lost their lives.Audu Odameo, another member of the group, threatened that if Buhari failed to employ members of the group as he promised, they would be left with no other option but to make public and expose the secret they have at their disposal.He appointed and gave jobs to all members of his families and relatives but abandoned those of us who have worked assiduously and put our lives on the line, he said.The protesters also alleged that Lawal Babachir, secretary to the government of the federation, and Abba Kyari, chief of the staff to the president, were the ones behind their plight.
Nigeria's Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, has rejected a Toyota SUV gift from Ebonyi state governor, Dave Umahi.

Nigeria's Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, has rejected a Toyota SUV gift from Ebonyi state governor, Dave Umahi.In a letter written to the governor, Mr. Ogbonnaya cited the constitution, saying he rejected the gift because the laws of the state excluded him from persons eligible to collect such gifts.According to him, he won't be able to receive his pension as ex Governor of Abia stage again if he accepts the gift.The car is reportedly worth N29m.
The clearing of Isawo and Yewa creeks in Ikorodu Area of Lagos has commenced after weeks of violence unleashed by rebellious vandals. A N...

The clearing of Isawo and Yewa creeks in Ikorodu Area of Lagos has commenced after weeks of violence unleashed by rebellious vandals. A NAN correspondent who visited the area on Thursday reports that bulldozers have moved into the creeks, pulling down trees and illegal structures used as camps by suspected pipeline vandals.The operation, jointly supervised by Lagos State Government and Joint Military Task Force, also involved the clearing of heaps of jerry cans of petroleum products abandoned by the vandals. Acting Inspector-General of Police, Idris Ibrahim, had during an assessment visit on Aug. 4 said that police patrol boats would be deployed to the area once the creek was cleared. Chief Muse Ibrahim, the traditional ruler of Oke-Oko/Oke-Tapa communities, told newsmen that the clearing of the creeks was a great relief to residents of the area.The clearing of the creeks is a welcome development and it is long overdue. The creeks have been a security challenge to us. We believe that if the forest is cleared, the vandals will have no place to hide. The pipeline vandals have been operating freely within the creeks of Arepo in Ogun State, Isawo, Yewa in Ikorodu area, the traditional ruler told pressmen. He urged government to clear the entire creeks from Isawo and Yewa to Arepo area of Ogun and deploy regular marine police patrol in the area. The royal father accused some members of the community of conniving with suspected pipeline vandals to unleash terror on the residents. Those identified participated in the killings and burning of houses. We also want government to demolish all buildings in the area belonging to vandals, the traditional ruler said.Ibrahim thanked government and security agencies for rescuing them from the vandals and called for the establishment of a military base as a permanent measure to check vandalism in the area. Also, Mr Adekunle Alasopupo, a community leader, told NAN that violent crimes such as robbery, kidnapping, vandalism, rape and cultism had reduced since the arrival of military task force in the area. The police at Owutu could not cover the area effectively; now that the creeks are being cleared, we want SARS to patrol the areas regularly. They should raid all the black spots in the area to arrest other criminals. The vandals were a terror here; they killed, raped and kidnapped. Before the arrival of the military joint task force, they were in charge of these areas, nobody dared talk to them.They carried guns and wear army uniforms and moved around freely, particularly at Oke-Oko bus stop. We had our local security operatives like vigilante and OPC, but could not match the weapons of the vandals, said Alasopupo, Chairman, Oluwakemi Community Development Association in Ikorodu West Council Area. Another community leader, Mr Akinyan Olugbenga, urged security operatives to comb all areas of Ikorodu already infiltrated by vandals and cultists. Olugbega called on the government to construct a link road between Isawo and Magodo on the Lagos  Ibadan Expressway to further develop areas.NAN
Nigerias foreign exchange reserves have sunk to a new 11-year low, as the oil prices dwindle between $40 to $50 per barrel.

Nigerias foreign exchange reserves have sunk to a new 11-year low, as the oil prices dwindle between $40 to $50 per barrel.According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the countrys forex reserves was down to $25,780,765,483  a value last seen in 2005 under the leadership of Olusegun Obasanjo as president and Charles Soludo as CBN governor.The plunge in oil prices has led to a corresponding plunge in the Nigerian forex reserves over the past 18 months.As at Thursday morning, Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, steadied around $50 per barrel, from about $42 only two weeks ago.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) or US crude futures were trading at $47.10 a barrel, up 31 cents, on Thursday morning.The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) basket price also surged from $43.92 on Wednesday to $45.03 a barrel.The rise in crude oil prices is adjudged to have been driven by talks of output freeze between OPEC and some non-OPEC members.OPEC members are expected to meet in Algiers, Algeria, in September, to discuss the stability of the oil market, averting oversupply and stabilising prices.Ibe Kachikwu, minister for state for petroleum, said in an interview with CNN that he was not optimistic about the OPEC freeze talks, as Nigeria would have to produce as much as 3.1 million barrels per day and may not maintain an output cap.The reality is that we have lost a lot quite a lot of months, about five, six months of continuous problems, so it is going to be difficult to catch up with the 2.2 million barrels on which the 2016 budget is based, Kachikwu had said.But we are certainly going to try, once things are calmer. We need an average of 900,000 barrels per day, excess production to catch up. That is going to be very tough, but we are going to work on that.With rising oil prices, Nigerias reserves are expected to rise, but militancy in the Niger Delta region may stem the growth in reserves.
Despite his denial, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has been allegedly fingered in the formation and activities of the Niger Delta Avenge...

Despite his denial, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has been allegedly fingered in the formation and activities of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).Also, findings by the security have confirmed that oil installations were mined before the May 29, 2015 handover to President Muhammadu Buhari.These are the basic points of intelligence report, already made available to the Presidency but which is still being studied.Last August 7, Jonathan denied having any links with NDA, restating his commitment to the nations unity.The intelligence gathering was said to be a confirmation of a similar claim by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta(MEND).According to a top intelligence source, who spoke in confidence last night, the NDA was formed as a Plan B option before the 2015 general election.The source said the initial plan was to ask the NDA to declare Niger Delta Republic immediately after Jonathans defeat but the ex-President was believed to have prevailed on the group to shelve the idea.The NDA was said to have been resuscitated after the Federal Government launched a massive probe into the mismanagement of the oil sector.The revelations from the probe were said to have overwhelmed the ex-President, who felt he and ex-First Lady Patience Jonathan were being targeted.The source said: We have intelligence report that it is true that the ex-President has been meeting with the NDA militants before the general election.The initial plan was to declare Niger Delta Republic after Jonathans electoral loss but the NDA members were taken aback when the ex-President conceded.Findings confirmed that the ex-President and others being probed, resuscitated the NDA plan when the Federal Government initiated a probe into the oil sector.We suspect that the ex-President is afraid that the way the investigation in the oil industry was going, he and his wife will be questioned.The fact that some of the conditions put forward by the NDA, including not going after Government Ekpemuopolo Tompolo, and stopping investigation of all corruption probes, have confirmed some of the intelligence.Responding to a question, the source added: Intelligence report also showed that the evidence of the attacks of oil installations was planned before May 29. The NDA and other militants had mined these installations before the handover.But following the probe of the oil sector, they were mandated to start detonating it.The source added: Intelligence report also indicated that a former Coordinator of Amnesty Programme Kingsley Kuku and a former National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Olisa Metuh might have played some key roles in the formation and operation of NDA.But both Metuh and Kuku have also denied any role in the activities of NDA.When contacted, a high-ranking government source, who wants to remain anonymous, said: It has been known in government circles that Jonathan may be behind the NDA. The speed with which he denied the allegation spoke volumes.Despite the denial, the allegations have refused to go away.His allegation that MEND is after him is to divert attention from his roles as the mastermind of the NDA . His morbid fear of being investigated alongside his wife is behind what is going on. Investigation has revealed massive looting under his administration. His alarm was just to pre-empt being probed.
Former president Goodluck Jonathan has denied having anything to do with the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).

Former president Goodluck Jonathan has denied having anything to do with the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).Jonathan spoke through a statement on August 7 by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze.He said: For the avoidance of doubt, we are fully convinced that such an idiotic claim is too cheap a narrative, a facile contrivance so badly concocted that any discerning mind would easily see through its disingenuous and duplicitous nature.He said the names of those listed as alleged sponsors and supporters of NDA suggested a political agenda.Since it is not in our place to speak for all those named in the obvious fabrication, we are only intervening to the extent that its hidden intent poses a violent threat to the life of former President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, a committed patriot who the Almighty God has given the grace and good health to rededicate his life to the service of humanity, after serving his dear nation as President to the best of his abilities.We are also not bothered by this baseless accusation, contented that we are not the only ones conversant with Jonathans widely-acknowledged sincere disposition to peace, non-violence and better human community.We are however seized by the feeling of deja vu occasioned by the resurrection of one dim character masquerading as Cynthia White, who had in the past served as the spokesperson for a notorious group that had all along shown its hand to be going after the life of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.Nigerians could recall that in 2007 when Jonathan emerged as the running mate to the late President Umar YarAdua in the Peoples Democratic Party during that years presidential election, this very group invaded Yenagoa with hundreds of militants in an effort to assassinate him.Jonathan was only saved then by the spirited efforts of the combined forces of determined security men, who gallantly repelled the attack.
A high court in Abuja has upheld an earlier judgement sacking Ali Modu Sheriff as national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

A high court in Abuja has upheld an earlier judgement sacking Ali Modu Sheriff as national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).Danladi Ayuba, the plaintiff, sought to know the subsistence of Valentine Ashis judgment that sacked Sheriff as PDP national chairman on June 29.Ashi had held that the process leading to the amendment of Article 47(6) of the partys constitution did not comply with the provisions in Section 66(2) and (3) of the constitution, which was the basis for Sheriffs emergence.While moving a preliminary objection to the plaintiffs application at the court on Wednesday, Oluyede Ajibade, counsel to Sheriff, said the originating summons were not served on them as required by law.He challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter, and sought an order from the judge to strike it out.The counsel claimed that their appearance in court with less than 24 hours to prepare did not afford him fair hearing.He lamented that they were refused access to the details of the processes in the court file, which would have enabled them to know what was going on and respond adequately.The matter was filed 7th August and your lordship wants to deliver judgement within seven days and we dont know why, he said.The defendant had no notice, we dont know what are in the court files. The defendant has to be put on notice and given time to respond.He doesnt have locus standi to bring the matter to this court. He is not PDP or Makarfi. Who is he? He seeking an Interpretation of a judgement and he is not a direct beneficiary. He has to establish a liability.What is the plaintiff business to know what Valentine Ashis judgment means?He said it was an internal political matter, which ought not to be brought to court, saying: We urge your lordship not to accept the invitation to drag the court into a political matter.Responding, Uchenna Oparaugo, counsel to the plaintiff, opposed the defendants preliminary objection.The court has the jurisdiction to sit on the matter. As to the issue of fair hearing as enshrined in section in 36 of the constitution, he was properly put on notice, he said.He stated that the plaintiff is a registered member of the PDP.He said though the issues had to do with members of a political party, his client could seek redress in court because it touches on fundamental issue of rights.Oparaugo said they were not seeking an extension of Ashis ruling in this case before the court, but a redress.The plaintiff is at stake because as a member of the PDP he has the right to vie for any position or cadre of the party, he added.The existing judgment that has not been appealed, the continuous conduct of the defendant (Sheriff) is hampering his interest.He urged the court to deliver judgement in the favour of the plaintiff.After listening to the submissions, the judge dismissed the preliminary objection saying it lacked merit.Sheriffs counsel asked the judge to disqualify herself from the case, and also asked for an adjournment.On the other hand, the counsel to the plaintiff opposed the defendants application, saying it was an to arrest of justice.However, Nwamaka Ogbonnaya, the judge, validated Ashis judgment sacking Sheriff as PDP chairman.The judgement, having not been set aside, is still subsisting and their is no evidence that it has been set aside, she said.Hereby is an order restraining the defendant from parading himself, convening any convention or conference on behalf of the party except the judgement is set aside.
An Al-Qaeda suicide bomber killed four Yemeni soldiers in an attack Thursday in the southern Abyan province, where government forces have launched an anti-jihadist offensive, a military official said.

The attacker rammed his car into two military vehicles parked on a road linking the towns of Loder and Moudia in Abyan province, the source said.

"Four soldiers were killed and others were wounded," the official told AFP.

The attack came after troops recaptured both towns from the jihadists who fled to surrounding mountains as the army entered, residents said.

Military sources said the bombing was a retaliation attack by Al-Qaeda after government troops recaptured parts of Abyan, including provincial capital Zinjibar.

Government forces, backed by air power from a Saudi-led coalition, launched the offensive to retake Abyan on Sunday, after they failed to recapture the vast province earlier this year.

Al-Qaeda and Islamic State group jihadists have exploited a power vacuum in Yemen to expand their presence in the country's south and southeast.

Yemeni authorities had trained hundreds of soldiers in the nearby province of Aden over the past two months to retake Abyan.

The Arab coalition, which intervened against Iran-backed rebels in March last, began supporting the government's war on jihadists this year.

The United States has also pressed a drone war against them.

Washington considers the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, to be the extremist network's deadliest franchise.

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Nigeria's under 17 Golden Eaglets paid courtesy visit to Sokoto state Governor Aminu Tambuwal.The team was led by the Secretary General Nigeria Foot ball Federation Dr Sanusi Mohammed.Governor Tambuwal congratulated them all for being part of the team that is going to play a qualifier match in Niger republic, he charged them to go dominate the play and win all the goals and qualify."Take the challenge and play as if it is going to be your last match that will make or mar your career." said Tambuwal.
Governor Nyesom Wike at PDP Covnention, Port Harcourt Chairman of the National Convention Planning Committee of the Peoples Democratic P...

Governor Nyesom Wike at PDP Covnention, Port Harcourt

Chairman of the National Convention Planning Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has stated that the successful conduct of the August 17th National Convention of the party flows from the commitment of all bona-fide members to reposition it, in the interest of the country.In a statement after the convention, Special Assistant to the Governor on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu stressed that Governor Wike in an interview noted that the calibre of members who graced the convention proved that the party had moved on after the unnecessary crisis generated by its former National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff.Governor Wike said: The calibre of persons who attended the National Convention is an indication that the PDP remains strong with quality members who are ever ready to make sacrifices.At the national convention were PDP Governors, Former Governors, Senators, House of Representatives members, Former Ministers, BOT members, All State PDP chairmen, party elders and delegates from all over the country. We are happy that the party has moved on.He noted that the PDP was a law abiding Party, which did not struggle with the security agencies after they illegally invaded the initial venue of the National Convention. He said the party leaders and delegates simply moved to another location for a successful National Convention.He said: All the vehicles used by the police to invade the Sharks Stadium were bought by my administration. All the armoured personnel carriers they used were serviced by my administration. What happened was unfortunate.He berated the security agencies for refusing to obey the judgment order of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, where as parties to the suit, they were directed to provide security for the national convention.He stressed: If the PDP had used the security agencies to torment the APC this way, by now the APC wouldnt have been in power.The governor said that something was fundamentally wrong in a situation where a particular judge handled all suits involving the PDP in Abuja.He noted that the governors of Kano and Borno States had claimed that the APC would profit from the leadership of Ali Modu Sheriff, adding that unfolding events have proved that he was working for the APC.Sheriff is not an asset to PDP because he cannot win elections in Borno State. For us, we are working to rebuild the party, the governor said.
Lagos state governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 election, Jimi Agbaje says the party will remain al...

Lagos state governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 election, Jimi Agbaje says the party will remain alive in spite of its internal problems.Agbaje, a candidate for the partys national chairman position, told newsmen in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, that members would keep the party alive, as it is opposition in the country.He said the decision of delegates to extend the tenure of the Makarfi-led national caretaker committee is a good option aimed at keeping the party stronger.It is obvious that from the situation we found ourselves, we must keep the PDP alive. It is the still the veritable platform for the opposition, Agbaje said.So, the best option is what we have taken, which is to extend the life of the caretaker committee, to expand it as we have decided and to give room for whatever litigation.He said members believe that at the end of the day, the truth will prevail because the majority will have their way.The PDP is definitely not going to die. The PDP is going to fight for its staying alive, he said.Agbaje also expressed optimism that before the end of the year, the party would bounce back stronger and more united.Im sure that within the year, we will be very much stronger.
The Police in Ogun State, yesterday, released unconditionally, the 30-year-old trader, Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, who was arrested last Sa...

I did not commit any offence. I named my beloved pet dog Buhari, who is my hero. My admiration for Buhari started far back when he was a military Head of State. It continued till date that he is a civilian President. After reading his dogged fight against corruption, which is like a canker worm eating into the very existence of this country, I solely decided to rename my beloved dog which I called Buhari, after him. I did not know that I was committing an offence for admiring Buhari.

The embattled trader, who was visibly angry after his three-day incarceration in police cell, was let off the hook around 5pm on Tuesday after the intervention of both the Serkin Hausa and President-General of non-indigenes in the state.It was learned that the prompt intervention of the elders made the complainant to withdraw the case he reported against the trader at Sango-Ota division which was later transferred to Police headquarters at Eleweran.However, police sources said both the complainant and suspect were made to sign an undertaking not to cause any breach of peace again. Speaking to journalists after this release, the trader, a father of two from the Niger Delta, who trades on second hand clothing lamented that he was made to suffer for no just cause.Narrating his ordeal, Chinakwe said It is annoying because the complainant is from Niger Republic and I am sure he is one of those illegal aliens in this country. He connived with one Police Sergeant from the Northern part of Nigeria called Musa, who works at Sango Police division to humiliate me. Worse still, the Divisional Police Officer there, did not help matters as he refused to entertain any plea from me after I was arrested that Saturday night. He simply ordered his men to throw me into the cell.Continuing, he said...I was intimidated and thrown inside the cell with hardened criminals for about three days. While I was there, the complainant from Niger Republic and Sergeant Musa from the North kept on taunting me saying people from my part of the country are trouble makers and that after detaining me, they will throw me into prison where I will die unsung.Even when my wife came with our baby on her back, they stopped her from giving me food. One of my friends that came to see me was also maltreated. While taking me to Eleweran the next day, they handcuffed and chained me together with that my friend. Fortunately, when we got to police headquarters, both the Commissioner of Police and other officers were angry with their colleagues at Sango-Ota. They were wondering loudly why I was brought to the headquarters over such a minor case. Its very unfortunate that I have to be so humiliated in my own country because of the antics of a foreigner in connivance with my brother from the North.
A student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), identified as Bayo from the department of Economics Education, is in critical condition i...

A student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), identified as Bayo from the department of Economics Education, is in critical condition in the hospital after being shot by unknown gunmen on Wednesday night. A source told our reporters that the attack is speculated to have been carried out by cultists.The source said: The boy was shot around the neck although the bullet was meant for his head.The source noted that he is a resident of the Biobaku Hall of residence and may have been a cultist himself.Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Rahamon Bello, said the university was investigating the incident.I heard about it and we suspect it was cultism-related. We are fighting it. The security unit and the police are investigating. The boy survived. He was rushed to LUTH (Lagos University Teaching Hospital). The cultists went for his head, luckily the bullet only scrapped his head, he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said his administration would restore the confidence of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) b...

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said his administration would restore the confidence of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by fast-tracking their voluntary return, rehabilitation and reintegration into the society.The president gave the assurance when he received the outgoing Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Asharaf Abdelkader Salama at State House, Abuja.He commended Egypt for identifying with challenges confronting the country, especially the plight of IDPs, which he said had remained a topmost priority for the Nigerian Government.The displaced persons want to go back to their homes. They want to resume their normal lives. They want to go back to the land, which they have not cultivated for over three years now.We will work to restore their confidence, and also work on infrastructure, so that they can quickly resettle, he said.The President noted that the bond of friendship between Nigeria and Egypt was very strong as demonstrated in their growing cooperation on regional and international issues.In his remarks, Salama, who spent four years in Nigeria, said he was the first foreign diplomat to travel by road from Maiduguri to Yobe, North Eastern Nigeria, last month.He told the President he was proud to have made the journey through an area once considered a stronghold of Boko Haram terrorists, following the successes recorded by the Nigerian military fighting insurgents in the region.He described the people of Nigeria as friendly and generous, saying he hoped to be back in the country again.News Agency of Nigeria {NAN} reports that president Buhari also received the outgoing Ambassadors of Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and Tanzania.During the audience with Ambassador Oubi Bachir of SADR, Buhari reiterated Nigerias support for Sahrawi peoples self-determination and independence.Amb. Bachirs duty tour to Nigeria spanned eight years during which he served as the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.On Tanzania, President Buhari told the High Commissioner, Daniel Ole Njoolay, that the East African country was fortunate to have a leader who cared so much for the less privileged in the society.The President said Tanzania was blessed with good land and gas, which could be used for the good people of the country.Ambassador Njoolay spent two years and eight months in the country.
ATLANTIC CITY - Hundreds of thousands of spectators flocked to the resort's beaches and boardwalk on Wednesday to experience the 2016 Atlantic City Airshow.

The popular annual "Thunder Over The Boardwalk" event, which is now in its 14th year, featured more than two dozen demonstrations and flybys, including demonstrations by the U.S. Air Force's "Thunderbirds" demonstration squad, the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team and a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey.

Officials estimated that 450,000 people were on hand to witness the spectacle.

"It is a display of America," said Joanne DiLizio, of South Philadelphia, who was attending her third airshow. "For me it's emotional, because I had two sons who served in Iraq. And I hope that the people who are watching the airshow can appreciate that the men and women they're watching have sacrificed a lot."

And the oceanfront setting for the airshow was spectacular, DiLizio said.

"We really lucked out. We parked in a garage that only cost us $15, we walked up two blocks and walked right over to the beach," she said. "It couldn't be more perfect."

The aircrafts zipped, twisted and dove along the beachfront, as swimmers splashed in the surf below.

"You really can't beat it," said Valley Forge resident Jan Peters, who was attending her fifth airshow. "You can go in the water to cool off and where else can you be so close to the planes? You're so close to everything here."

The highlight of the show for many was the return of the Thunderbirds to this year's airshow, even though they ran nearly an hour late for their scheduled performance time. The U.S. Air Force's air demonstration squadron is based out of Nellis AFB, Nevada and performs group and opposing solo aerial maneuvers above the shoreline.

"The Thunderbirds are by far the best part. Right at 3 p.m., I stand right over by the water and they fly right over my head. It's awesome, we just love it," said Brigantine resident Tom Jones, who was attending his sixth Atlantic City Airshow with friends. "It's a spectacular display of our wonderful American freedom fighters who made this possible for us. There's not a better way to spend the day at the beach."

The event also provided a nice boost in business for the businesses along the boardwalk, many of which are sprinkled in between the city's growing number of vacant casinos.

Midway through the airshow, there was a line of customers at two separate registers - one inside and one outside - at Jersey Shore Pizza and Grill on the boardwalk.

"The airshow is huge for us. Business has been nice and consistent throughout the day," said Kristina McErlain, the restaurant's manager, who added that the sunny and hot weather also brought in additional customers. "It feels like it's 105 today."

McErlain said the plight of Atlantic City's casinos has not impacted crowds or business during summer events.

"That's irrelevant to any of the events that we have going on," she said. "Atlantic City is iconic in the United States and anytime we bring events into the city, we get the big crowds, period."

Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Yemen troops on Thursday launched a bid to break a rebel siege of third city Taez, with fierce fighting leaving five soldiers and 13 insurgents dead, military sources said.

Soldiers attacked positions of the Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels from the east, west and north of the flashpoint southwestern city that has been under siege for more than a year, they said.

One military source said the troops made "a relative breakthrough" by driving the Houthi rebels from several positions around the city.

A pro-government activist, Abdel Majid al-Dhababi, confirmed that troops had made progress after months of trying to break the siege of Taez.

He told AFP the army "practically succeeded in breaking the blockade from the west.

"But the road leading to Aden is still unsafe and this is preventing civilians from fleeing south," said Dhababi.

Yemen has been hit by unrest since the Houthi rebels and allied loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014.

The violence increased after a Saudi-led Arab coalition launched a military campaign in March last year to help shore up the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The government had fled to Saudi Arabia after the Houthis seized Sanaa and pushed south to second city Aden.

But with help from the coalition authorities have recaptured Aden, where the government has set up temporary headquarters.

In March, loyalist forces backed by Saudi-led air strikes managed to break the rebel siege of Taez after fierce clashes but the insurgents later re-imposed a blockade on the city.

Tens of thousands of civilians are said to be caught in the fierce and protracted battle for Taez.

Saud-led aircraft meanwhile pounded rebels positions around Sanaa on Thursday, scoring hits on three military camps held by the insurgents, military sources said.

Violence on Thursday also rocked the southern Abyan province where an Al-Qaeda suicide bomber killed four Yemeni soldiers and wounded four others, a military official told AFP.

The attack comes after government forces launched an anti-jihadist operation in Abyan.

The bomber rammed his car into two military vehicles parked on a road linking the towns of Loder and Moudia, the military official said.

The attack came after troops recaptured both towns from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the official added.

He said the bombing was apparently in retaliation for the capture Sunday of provincial capital Zinjibar by the army backed by Saudi-led air strikes.

Jihadists fled into the mountains as the army entered, the military official said.

Abyan lies east of the province of Aden, where authorities have trained hundreds of soldiers over the past two months to retake Abyan.

Al-Qaeda and Islamic State group jihadists have exploited a power vacuum in Yemen to expand their presence in the country's south and southeast.

The United States considers AQAP to be Al-Qaeda's deadliest franchise and has conducted a drone war against the group in Yemen.

The UN says more than 6,600 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since last March and more than 80 percent of the population needs humanitarian aid.

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Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Thursday said it was evacuating its staff from six hospitals in northern Yemen after 19 people were killed in an air strike on one of its facilities earlier this week.

Monday's attack on the hospital at Abs was the fourth and deadliest yet on an MSF facility in Yemen.

The decision to withdraw "is never taken lightly", the charity said in a statement.

But "given the intensity of the current offensive and our loss of confidence in the SLC's (Saudi-led coalition's) ability to prevent such fatal attacks, MSF considers the hospitals in Saada and Hajjah governorates unsafe for both patients and staff," it added.

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Kenya, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia next week for talks with senior government officials on regional issues, the State Department said on Thursday.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said the visit to Kenya would focus on South Sudan's peace process and Somalia's political transition. In Nigeria, he would meet President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss cooperation on the fight against Boko Haram militants, the Nigerian economy and human rights issues, the spokesman said.

In Saudi Arabia, Kerry would meet senior Saudi leaders as well as counterparts from Gulf Arab states to discuss the conflict in Yemen, Kirby said.

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Remaking a film that won 11 Academy Awards invites inevitable comparison, but the latest adaptation of Ben-Hur distinguishes itself from William Wyler's 1959 epic by retooling key character and story elements. It's still a big, biblical-era tale of power, loyalty and vengeance, only refocused through rose-colored lenses with an eye toward appealing to the lucrative faith-based audience.

Produced by the power couple behind The Bible miniseries, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, this Ben Hur is like an abbreviated, more Christ-centered take on Wyler's film. It boasts similar sweeping desert landscapes, well-dressed Roman armies and heart-pounding equestrian action. Some shots pay clear homage to the Oscar-winning classic. The violence here is far more graphic, thanks to modern special effects (and sensibilities). This film is also an hour and 40 minutes shorter than Wyler's epic (thank goodness).

But where Wyler's version is ultimately about family and unrequited romance, director Timur Bekmambetov is more interested in redemption and the words of Jesus Christ. Jesus was silent and his face unseen in Wyler's film. Played handsomely by Rodrigo Santoro, Jesus has a lot to say here.

Screenwriters Keith Clarke and Oscar winner John Ridley (12 Years a Slave) start with the premise and characters from the original 1880 novel. Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) and Messala (Toby Kebbell) are like brothers until Messala becomes a Roman officer who falsely accuses Judah of betrayal. Messala condemns Judah to slavery and jails his innocent mother and sister. After years of captivity and an unlikely escape, Judah befriends a horseman who insists he exact vengeance against Messala during the celebrated Roman chariot race.

The action of that horse race is just as thrilling and exquisitely choreographed as any present-day movie car chase. It's as intense as Wyler's, though more visceral. Advances in filmmaking and animal training mean the falls are more dramatic and the injuries more gruesome and vivid.

The sprawling sets of Roman amphitheaters and hillside villages are as sumptuous here as in Wyler's film, but somehow less magnificent. In the age of the Hunger Games and ever-present CGI, massive scale just doesn't have the impact it once did.

Beyond that basic framework, the writers have taken many creative liberties with the source material. There's no yearning romance between Judah and Esther (Nazanin Boniadi) as in the original story  or even between Judah and Messala, as in the 1959 film. Judah and Esther are married early in the first act of this Ben-Hur, and there's none of the homoerotic hinting Charlton Heston's Judah and Steven Boyd's Messala shared in Wyler's film. Here, the men's brotherly bond trumps romance.

The role of Sheik Ilderim, which won Hugh Griffith a supporting actor Oscar, was expanded here for Morgan Freeman. Unfortunately, the character's humor was removed in the process. A welcome addition to any cast, Freeman is out of place in this flatly drawn part, and not just because he's the only one who doesn't use a British accent. Why do characters in biblical dramas speak with British accents, anyway?

Speaking of creative liberties, Messala follows an unexpected trajectory here that exists neither in the original novel or Wyler adaptation. To say more would be a spoiler.

The music that plays such a significant role as to be a character itself (and an Academy Award winner) in Wyler's Ben-Hur fades into the background here, save for Andra Day's original song The Only Way Out, which plays over the closing credits.

This film bests other recent biblical dramas with more inclusive casting. Besides Freeman, there are several other actors of color, though Judah and Messala are both played by white Britons. Ridley Scott's 2014 biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings, which similarly pits brother against brother, was widely criticized for its overwhelmingly white cast.

The message here, though, is a good and timely one, coming straight from Jesus: Lay down your arms and love your enemy.

Ben-Hur, a Paramount Pictures release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for "sequences of violence and disturbing images." Running time: 124 minutes. Two stars out of four.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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This is the federal prison of choice for Louisiana political criminals
Bobby James, 24, was charged with second-degree murder and attempted armed robbery in connection with the May 3 shooting death of Dwayne Batiste. (JPSO)
On Sunday, approximately 400 Israeli settlers stormed Al-Azhar mosque in the Jerusalem in what Al-Azhar described as a barbaric attack

The worlds highest seat of Sunni Islam, Egypts Al-Azhar, strongly condemned on Wednesday the recurrent storming by Israeli settlers of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem this week, state news agency MENA reported.

Al-Azhar also reportedly warned that storming the mosque could impede efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and anger Muslims worldwide.

In an official statement, the top Islamic body called on regional organisations such as the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation  in addition to international bodies -- to take serious measures to stop such " barbaric attacks and flagrant violations" at the site, Islam's third holiest.

On Sunday, about 400 Israelis stormed the compound to commemorate the destruction of two ancient temples. Jews are allowed to visit but not to pray on the esplanade.

Al-Azhar also rejected any plans that aim to "Judai ise Jerusalem and erase its Islamic identity, and any attempts to divide the holy site."

Israelis refer to the area that encompasses Al-Aqsa Mosque as the "Temple Mount," saying it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times.

On Monday, Jordan, which is the custodian of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, denounced Israel for allowing "Zionist extremists" to enter and pray there.

The anger of Palestinian residents in Jerusalem has increased over the last 10 months, as Israeli authorities allowed increasing numbers of Jewish settlers to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 war. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state  a move never recognised by the international community.

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What you need to know about the federal phase-out of private prisons
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.
Today

Mostly clear skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 69F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

Tonight

Mostly clear skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 69F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

Tomorrow

Thunderstorms. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 76F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Today

Thunderstorms. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 76F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low 62F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High around 75F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
(Beijing)  Wang Xian, deputy head of the Department of Market Supervision at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), has left the regulator to work at Tsinghua University's National Institute of Financial Research, the regulator announced recently.

Wang had worked at the CSRC for 14 years and is known among her coworkers for solid expertise and communication skills, according to several people who worked with her. It is unclear what role she will play at the research institute.

The CSRC department Wang worked at is responsible for drawing up regulations and implementing rules, monitoring and analyzing securities transaction information and supervising clearing houses. Another deputy head of the department, Wang Xuesong, will also leave soon, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Pi Liuyi, former director of Shanghai Stock Exchange's Membership Department, has been appointed as a deputy head of the Department of Market Supervision. Zhang Wangjun, who works at the CSRC's research center, and Guo Yongqiang, assistant to the general manager of the Capital Market Statistics & Monitoring Center Corp., which is affiliated to the CSRC, have been seconded to the department to handle work that is usually performed by deputy heads. Their appointments to the positions are expected to be announced by the CSRC soon.

Contact reporter Wang Yuqian at yuqianwang@caixin.com and editor Ken Howe at kennethhowe@caixin.com
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Its now easier than ever to connect and chat with others in your local area. You can connect with your community by asking general questions, give area updates and recommendations and even let your community know about local events that are taking place.
(Beijing)  Growth in housing prices in several smaller cities continued to outpace growth in the top three metropolises in July, as China's property market showed moderate gains, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

Home prices and sales rebounded in the first half of the year after slow growth last year. But that momentum is frizzling with prices in the top three metropolitan areas  Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou  rising 1.5 percent, 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent in July compared to June. Second-tier provincial capitals and industrial and travel hubs such as Xiamen, Hefei and Nanjing saw home prices rise 4.6 percent, 4.2 percent and 3.4 percent respectively in July from the previous month.

Fifty-one out of 70 major Chinese cities saw a monthly increase in housing prices in July.

Home prices in Beijing may continue to rise after the recently announced points-based system for migrants to get a house hold registration in the capital comes into effect, said Yan Yuejin, director of E-house China R&D Institute. The new system, which will be effective on January 1, 2017, gives those who own an apartment in the city extra points.

However, growth in smaller cities is expected to cool further as several local governments introduced tighter rules to prevent property bubbles. For example, in mid-July, Xiamen raised the threshold for down payments and stopped issuing mortgages to those who already owned two apartments in the city.

Growth in home prices in this popular tourist city facing the Taiwan Strait, in southeastern Fujian province, has outpaced Beijing and Shanghai starting in March. Its excellent location and relatively small land supply has pushed up prices, said Yang Hongxu, deputy director of E-house China R&D Institute, a think tank focusing on the property market.

The government in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province, said earlier this month that they would stop issuing mortgages to homeowners who already had two apartments. When this new rule will come into effect is unclear.

The government of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, announced a new rule, under which the initial deposit for a second home will be raised from 45 to 50 percent of the value of the house if the buyer had pending home loans.

Contact reporter Coco Feng (renkefeng@caixin.com); editor Poornima Weerasekara (poornima@caixin.com)
Singapore-based Global Logistic Properties Ltd.'s warehouse in Hangzhou, in the eastern province of Zhejiang

(Shanghai)  China International Marine Containers Group Co. Ltd., the country's largest container maker by annual output, has inked a deal with a Singaporean warehouse operator to lease land, in an effort to diversify income streams as revenues dwindled.

CIMC signed an agreement on August 18 to lease land, mostly in the southern financial and services hub Shenzhen, to Global Logistic Properties Ltd. to build warehouses, an employee of CIMC told Caixin.

In return, GLP will buy logistics equipment including trucks and containers from CIMC, the source said.

GLP, whose biggest shareholder is the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, owns and leases warehouses in China, Japan, Brazil and the United States. The company acquired more than 200 U.S. warehouses for US$ 4.6 billion last year, which made it one of the largest real estate deals that year in the United States.

CIMC's earnings declined over 17 percent in the first quarter of this year to 410 million yuan due to a drop in container sales and lukewarm demand for logistics services, according the company's financial report.

Contact reporter Chen Na (nachen@caixin.com); editor Poornima Weerasekara (poornima@caixin.com)
It has now been a month since I arrived in Germany. Many people have asked me how life in Germany compares to the United States and if there's anything I miss. Of course, life here is very different, although it's hard to explain why. It's not complete culture shock, but there are a lot of little things I've noticed that are unfamiliar to me.

These are my observations about the country so far:

(Note: These observations are based on my experiences in Munich and Regensburg and do not necessarily reflect all of Germany.)

1) Sparkling water is a big deal here. If you go to a restaurant and order water, they will bring you sparkling water, unless you specify otherwise. It seems to be more common for people to drink sparkling water in their homes, and the host family I stay with always has cases of sparkling water on hand for meals. Apparently, people believe that there are health benefits to drinking sparkling water, although studies have disproved this.

2) Speaking of water, the tap water here comes straight from the Alps, and it tastes amazing. I'm told that the water here is the most tested in the world. It seems odd to me, then, that people prefer sparkling water over the natural water.

3) There is assigned seating in movie theaters. The popcorn doesn't taste nearly as good.

4) I haven't seen a single front door knob that turns. They all have handles and lock automatically. I suppose this is more convenient for security purposes.

5) The streets are much narrower. I'm told that land has a high value in Germany, so they can't afford to waste space with so many two-lane streets. If two cars are coming down the same street at opposite directions, one will have to pull over onto the curb to let the other one pass. A resident told me that I shouldn't be afraid of driving in Munich, though, since everyone owns nice cars and drives carefully.

6) Come to think of it, everything in Germany is smaller -- the streets, the hotel rooms, the trash cans, the wallets.

7) Every toilet has two buttons. I'm not sure what the difference is, and I'm too embarrassed to ask.

8) The rule in every house I've been to is that shoes should be taken off at the door. My dad is the only one I know in the United States who has this rule.

9) The banks all look the same. They even have the same logo, but different names. They must be part of the same chain, or they all contracted the same graphic designer.

10) It is very common for people to travel by bicycle. I see almost as many people riding their bikes as driving.

11) I have heard the following songs most often on the radio (listed in order of frequency): "Take Me to Church" by Hozier, "I Hate You, I Love You" by Gnash, and "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson

12) Tips are not calculated based on a percentage of the bill. A customary tip is one euro, unless it is a nicer establishment. This is because Germany has a higher minimum wage.

13) Bees. So many bees.

14) Most of the escalators I've seen can go both up and down, and are triggered automatically by motion sensors. I find this both confusing and convenient.

15) The way people converse is different. I'm used to listening as others dominate a conversation, and I write off small talk as unnecessary and meaningless. But here, if someone asks how your day is, they genuinely want to know. My behaviors that I thought were polite may actually be considered rude here. People don't just want you to listen, but actively contribute. It seems like a basic rule of conversation, but the way it's perceived here is hard to explain. Overall, I think Germans are nice people.
Brisbane's Josh McGuire and Canterbury's James Graham go head-to-head in Round 24 of the NRL Telstra Premiership.

The sixth-placed Broncos and fourth-placed Bulldogs are very evenly matched when it comes to scoring and conceding tries.

The Broncos have scored 83 tries so far this season, while the Bulldogs have scored 84. Brisbane have conceded 67 tries, one more than the Bulldogs who have conceded 66 tries so far this season.

A Bulldogs victory on Thursday night will go a long way to securing a top four spot going into the finals, while the Broncos will be looking over thier shoulders if they lose at home.

Draw Widget - Round 24 - Broncos vs Bulldogs
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs can confirm that Josh Jackson has re-signed with the club, for a further four seasons, through until at least the end of 2020.

Jackson, first arrived at the club as an 18-year-old before making his NRL debut in Round 18 of season 2012 against the Melbourne Storm and has since gone on to play 107 games for the club at NRL level. The 25-year-old didn't see himself playing for anyone else in the future.

"It's awesome, it's always a privilege and an honour to pull on the blue and white jersey and to be able to do that for another four years, I'm over the moon," Jackson said.

"To agree on the four years is really big and great for me, it's a great commitment from both sides and Im stoked it's all done.

"I've been at the club for a fair while now, the club developed me and they showed a lot of faith in me when I was younger. The players, staff and fans make this club so great and I didn't even think about going anywhere else.

"Coming from the country, the values instilled in you are to be a one club man and the next four years helps in hopefully being able to achieve that. I'd love to stay at this club for life."

On top of his club achievements, the Gulgong junior has gone to the next level and represented Country Origin on three occasions, NSW six times and has also played for Australia twice.

"I put a lot of my success down to the team's success. There is a great bunch of players here and coming into the side in 2012, we were in a really good patch and since then we've performed quite well.

"That has definitely helped with my development."
Highland-based Hospitality Service Group is looking to fill 95 jobs at hotels and banquet facilities in Northwest Indiana.

The staffing company is looking to hire bartenders in Dyer, janitors in Cedar Lake, and dishwashers, housekeepers and cooks in Hobart. Hospitality Service Group also needs to hire 30 banquet servers around Northwest Indiana.

The jobs pay $10.50 to $15 an hour, plus tips. Applicants can choose how many hours per week they want to work.

Hospitality Service Group will have a job fair to fill the positions between 9:30 a.m. and noon Saturday at 3037 45th Street, Suite 5, in Highland. Anyone who's interested should bring a resume and ID.

I understand that a lot of working people want a second job and usually cannot make it to an interview during the week," HSG President Dan Kesic said.

For more information, visit www.hospitalityservicesgroup.net.
Brian Regan is a comedian who has no problem taking everyday subjects and turning them into witty, hilarious routines.

"I think any topic is fair game," said Regan, during a recent telephone interview. Although any subject can be tackled, Regan doesn't believe in being mean-spirited or degrading others. He works clean and his style of observational comedy has built up a healthy fan base through the years.

Regan will put his popular stand-up act into the spotlight when he brings his show to Silver Creek Event Center at Four Winds Casino on Friday.

"This will be my first time at that casino," Regan said, adding he's performed extensively around the Midwest through the years. Chicago-area and Midwest fans have been great audiences, he said.

"I performed in Chicago many times over the years," he said, mentioning places such as Zanies and Pheasant Run.

Regan, who is a native of Florida, is inspired to come up with material for his act in many ways.

"Comedy can come from anywhere," he said. His act naturally evolves over time although there are definite favorite jokes or bits fans love.

"I like to change my focus. ... I like to keep adding to my act. It's sort of a gradual process (that occurs) as life happens or things fall to the wayside," he said.

Fans attending the Four Winds show will enjoy a mix of material from the comic.

"They'll hear a lot of stuff they haven't heard before. ... I like to keep people off guard," he said.

The comedian, who recently became the first comedian to broadcast a live stand-up special for Comedy Central from Radio City Music Hall, is a favorite funnyman of many noted comedians. Comic artists Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Jimmy Fallon, Dennis Miller and others have all praised his skills and are fans.

Regan's first comedy album, "Brian Regan Live," debuted in 1997 and through the years the comedian has released three TV specials, three CDs and four DVDs. He recently made a cameo in Chris Rock's "Top Five" and also appeared on "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee."

In Regan's act, audiences will definitely find him poking fun at himself more than really bashing and downgrading others.

"I don't like ripping people to shreds when they don't deserve it," he said.

The comedian, who is the father of two children, also said he limits the amount of material he performs related to his kids.

"I always want to be careful. I don't want my kids to feel like I'm following them around with a notebook. I want them to know they have privacy," he said. When he does include his children in jokes, he said they're always the "hero."

Comedy long has been of interest to Regan, going back to his time in the family home.

"I grew up in a large family with eight kids. Everyone was funny and is funny. We like to laugh and making others laugh," he said. "I was always a fan of comedy."

FYI: Brian Regan will perform at 9 p.m. Friday at Silver Creek Event Center at Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Michigan. Tickets are $55 to $75. Visit fourwindscasino.com. Also visit brianregan.com.
Nelson Velasquez, a producer of Crown Point Community Theatres Sketchubalee, hopes the inaugural sketch comedy showcase leads to an interest in area talent creating their own productions for the stage.

Im interested in seeing what a lot of the unique talent we have can come up with here in Northwest Indiana, he said. I want to see more original plays and more original musicals, and this is a real good vehicle to kind of show people around here that its completely possible for this to be done, that you can do this.

Scheduled for Saturday, Sketchubalee is Crown Point Community Theatres first sketch comedy showcase and will feature the talents and hard work of approximately 30 area thesps, writers and directors.

Divided into three teams, the Sketchubalee participants will convene at the theater at 9 a.m. and write and rehearse the 30 minute sketch they will bring to the stage 10 hours later.

The three groups will be guided by a trio of directors: Chris Terry, JC Farris and Don Bernacky.

My hope is that we will get three distinct shows, Velazquez said. They may use the same process, maybe, to come up with the material, but (the directors) all have really strong backgrounds in different areas, and Im hoping that, content-wise, youll start seeing themes with the individual shows.

While each of the three groups will be anchored by their directors in Sketchubalee, the participants will have the opportunity to flex some creative muscles they may usually not put to use.

They have to wear three different hats, Velasquez said. They have to become a writer, and thats going to be something new for many of them  they also have to memorize what they came up with and you get only three or four hours to do that  and they also get to play producer as well, and choose their own props and be involved in the blocking and on a directorial as well.

Crown Point Community Theatres next production, the family friendly Dorothy Meets Alice or The Wizard of Wonderland, is scheduled to open Sept. 16 and kicks off the theater's 13th season.

FYI: Sketchubalee runs at 7 p.m. Saturday at Crown Point Community Theatre, 1125 Merrillville Rd., Crown Point. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors. Call (219) 8055-4255 or visit CPCT.BIZ
When you see Marilyn Monroe on a street corner here, youre not flashing back to the famous Seven Year Itch movie scene. When you see two hot dog men on the courthouse lawn, only one is really selling hot dogs. And when Abe Lincoln towers over you, just look up.

Theyre all part of Crown Points six-month public art exhibit with sculptures created by renowned artist Seward Johnson. His works are displayed all over the world, part of his intent to educate about art as well as create it, and since April, Crown Point has had 12 of his statues positioned around downtown.

'Increasing Friendliness'

The sculptures are part of increasing friendliness here; theres always someone taking pictures of them. Ill sit and watch kids, adults, teens, all enjoying the art, says Crown Point Councilwoman Carol Drasga. Its also tangible proof of her efforts in spearheading the project. Eleven years ago, Four of us decided to exhibit the 53 bulldog sculptures back then. It was labor intensive for the four of us, although we loved it. Then life got busy.

Years later, Drasga recalled how people enjoyed the art and spent more time downtown. Drasga, businesswoman Kim Geisner, and Councilwoman Laura Sauerman put their heads together, and last year a three-month Seward Johnson exhibit was a reality, with lots more help.

This year, We were all willing to do whatever it took to make it successful, says Jennie Burgess, Parks Department administrator. We worked with the two councilwomen and Kim to get the marketing plan together, and the park department created the brochures. (Mayor David Urans) office was supportive and the city all worked together on this. People have been excited.

There are also two interactive contests: a scavenger hunt and photo contest.

Labor Intensive

Drasga explains that public and government sponsors make the exhibits possible. Each sponsor chooses a statue; the huge Abe Lincoln statue had six sponsors. A request is made to Seward Johnson Atelier, Inc. to rent the statues, which are then held in reserve until the exhibition.

Scott Rediger, director of Public Works, knows first-hand the work involved once the art arrives. Nine of us went to the semi and unloaded the statues at the Sportsplex, all except the Abe statue, which was too large for us. Then we put two or three at a timethey were very heavy, between 400 and 900 pounds eachon a trailer and took them to their designated spots, mostly around the town square.

The most challenging were the life-size Marilyn Monroe and the hot dog man, because they are so heavy, 600 to 900 pounds. Safety was our main concern, of course. It took some strong boys to get that done.

Rediger says the giant Abraham Lincoln statue conversing with the common man, part of Johnsons Monumentals series, is 31 feet tall and had to be delivered on a flatbed trailer in up to six sections. Otherwise, Lincolns arm holding the hat aloft would have extended into traffic. Rediger says the truck driver told him cars slowed down so people could take pictures. Workers for Seward Johnson Atelier used a Crown Point crane to set up the statue.

The town gets a big kick out of them, and the kids enjoy them, Rediger says.

Fun and Fanciful

The statues can appear completely realistic. Rediger says last years statue at Indiana and North streets was of an elderly woman standing with groceries. I cant tell you how many people called the police, saying, Theres this poor woman, its hot, shes carrying groceries and needs help. Other people actually left their cars to see if they could help her.

And this year, Drasga says, Driving past the mariachis outside Tequila Si (restaurant), youd think they were there, playing.

I like them all, Rediger says, but my favorite is the hot dog man. Its kind of cool that its by the real hot dog man, a vendor near the courthouse.

Burgess favors the three-story Abe Lincoln at the Sportsplex. The kids are in awe, and their parents take pictures of them standing next to it.

Drasga says two reasons spurred the public art idea. First, when you have something like a specific festival, thats all people dothey dont venture into the community. But with the foot traffic to see the sculptures, people get an ice cream, they may shop. Second, I think its very important to have public art. Kids learn to appreciate the sculpture; theyre learning about art without realizing it.

And that fulfills artist Johnsons desire to expose more people to art. Now 85 years old, hes responsible for 450-plus bronze sculptures exhibited worldwide.

The first goal seems to be working, too. It has brought people to the town; not every community has that, Burgess says. Its fun, adds Rediger. It gets people downtown to see them and our businesses like them. Drasgas happy: Its been very successful creating foot traffic downtown, and that will be over six months time.

It gets everyone laughing and talking. People are really sad when the statues are gone.

That happens beginning the first of October, so theres still plenty of time to wander, discover and enjoy.
GARY  A 54-year-old man died Sunday following a shooting the night before in the citys Tolleston neighborhood, officials said.

Christopher E. Mason, of Gary, was shot in the head late Saturday in the 2100 block of West 15th Avenue, Gary police Lt. Dawn Westerfield said.

Police were called to the area about 11:45 p.m. for a gunshot victim and found Mason and a woman inside a Chevrolet Trailblazer at the southwest corner of 15th Avenue and McKinley Street, she said. The woman was holding Masons head.

Mason was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and later flown to an Illinois hospital, police said.

He was pronounced dead at 6:31 a.m. Sunday at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, according to the Cook County medical examiners office.

Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call Detective Shauna Poirer-Peter, of the Lake County/Gary Metro Homicide Unit, at (219) 755-3855. To remain anonymous, call (866) CRIME-GP.

In a separate case early Monday, a 36-year-old Gary man was shot in the back and drove himself to a local hospital on a motorcycle, Westerfield said.

Police were called to the Buzz Box nightclub in the 1800 block of Massachusetts Street about 1:45 a.m. for a report of shots fired.

Officers found at least two vehicles with damage from gunfire outside the club. About 1:55 a.m., police were dispatched to a local hospital for a man with a gunshot wound.

The man told police he was outside in front of the bar when he heard arguing and then heard several shots. The man got on his motorcycle and left, but then realized hed been shot in the back and went to the hospital, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Sgt. Daniel Callahan at (219) 881-1210. To remain anonymous, call (866) CRIME-GP.
MICHIGAN CITY  No charges will be filed after a 12-year-old Michigan City girl was wounded Monday in a shooting that was ruled accidental by police.

Michigan City Police Chief Mark Swistek said Thursday the girl suffered a single gunshot wound and was taken to an undisclosed hospital.

Swistek did not say where the girl was shot but said the injuries were non-life threatening and she was conscious and talking to emergency responders.

She is expected to survive, he said.

Full details on what transpired also were not disclosed, but the girl was playing with the gun with another 12-year-old girl inside a home in the 1100 block of Wabash Street on the citys west side when officers responded close to midnight, police said.

Swistek said the girls 54-year-old grandmother was upstairs in the home when the firearm went off while the girls were playing downstairs.

No further information about the case was released.
VALPARAISO  Police are seeking help identifying two men and a vehicle caught on a surveillance camera after a smash and grab Aug. 5 at the local Target store.

The two individuals entered the store at approximately 10:20 p.m., approached a glass electronics display case, smashed the case and removed Apple products before fleeing through a rear door at the store, police said.

The subjects were described as two black males between 20 and 30 years of age and carrying a duffel bag. One man was approximately 6 feet 5 inches in height, with an average build and weighing 210 pounds with short braided hair, according to police.

The second man was approximately 5 feet 9 inches and 250 pounds.

Anyone with information regarding the identity of the subjects is asked to call Detective Andrew McIntyre at the Valparaiso Police Department or text TIP411 (847-411) and enter Valpo first in the message field prior to sending your tip.
VALPARAISO  There was nothing but smiles Wednesday morning as students entered Hayes Leonard Elementary School for the first day of school.

It could perhaps be the last first day of school at Hayes Leonard as people know it as a new elementary school is being built just south of U.S. 30.

Principal Bonnie Stephens stood at the front door greeting students as they entered the building.

Im not focusing on the new school, she said. Im absolutely focused on the kids, and we want to have a great day. No tears for anyone today.

Students now attending Hayes Leonard next year will attend a new 550-student elementary school under construction at 2450 Heavilin Road as part of a systemwide redistricting plan, which will coincide with the opening of the new school.

Valparaiso Community Schools Associate Superintendent Julie Lauck said some students now attending Central and Parkview elementary schools, those living south of U.S. 30, also will attend the new school under the new school boundaries.

Students remaining at Central Elementary  those living north of U.S. 30  temporarily will be moved to the current Hayes Leonard facility while Central is renovated next year.

Renovations at each of the schools and the construction of the new elementary school are funded by a recent tax increase approved by Center Township residents during a referendum in May 2015.

But parents and teachers said Wednesday theyre focused on the current school year.

Children got off the bus and others walked in with their parents. All expressed excitement to see their friends, and to see their new classrooms and teachers.

Third-grade twins Julian and Angelo Middleborn were waiting with their father, Pat Middleborn, and their grandmother Grace Pizer before the school opened.

The kids love this school and they were excited about their first day, Pat Middleborn said. And Im excited for myself and cant wait to see them after school. This is a great school. The boys love it here.

Ella Bertram, 5, was giggling with her mom as she was posing for pictures in front of the school, wearing a dress and a big bow in her hair.

Im excited to play here, she said.

Addison Hale, another kindergartner, was leading the way to her classroom, as her mother, Angie Hale, followed.

No tears, Angie Hale said. Shes very excited to be here.

Second-grade teacher Heather Treece stood outside her classroom showing the children where to put their backpacks. Once inside, they began working on a worksheet about their summer memory.

Everyone is comfortable because they come in before school starts and they see their classroom and it makes them more comfortable for the first day of school, Treece said.

Kindergarten teacher Amanda Strietelmeier was waiting outside her class to greet the students, a little nervous herself because this is her first year at Hayes Leonard.

The children are in the classroom looking at their stuff and getting ready to begin, she said.
GARY  Now that last years authorizer controversy has passed, Thea Bowman Leadership Academy opened as scheduled Monday with new leadership.

Bowman had a rough few months after authorizer Ball State University announced in January it would not renew the charter due mostly to governance issues.

The Drexel Foundation, which held the charter, was replaced in late March, and Indianapolis-based Phalen Leadership Academies was selected to operate the school through the 2020-21 school year. Trine University agreed to be the schools new authorizer.

Days before the charter was set to expire June 30, the Indiana State Board of Education approved Trines request to be Bowmans authorizer.

Earl Martin Phalen, of Phalen Leadership Academies, began on July 1 to coordinate and oversee all academic and administrative functions for Thea Bowman.

Phalen said leadership teams at the elementary and middle/high school worked all summer to prepare for the upcoming school year. Sarita Stevens remains as high school principal, and Michael Collins will continue as elementary school principal.

We anticipate that 1,250 scholars will be enrolled on the first day of school, and we still have a few enrollment opportunities, so if parents are interested in enrolling their child, they should contact the schools, Phalen said.

We are so proud that our most recent high school graduates will be representing Thea Bowman at universities such as Purdue, Indiana University, Central State and the United States military.

In addition, Thea Bowman high school was awarded the Bronze Medal in April for Top Ranked High Schools in 2016 by U.S. News and World Report. The magazine evaluated more than 28,000 schools to determine the top public high schools nationally. Of that number, 500 schools received gold medals, 2,173 silver medals and 3,545 bronze medals.

Phalen said the school has rehired most of its teachers and hired some new outstanding teachers and administrators. He said Bowman has 11 new teachers and a paraprofessional. Seven of the new teachers will be at the high school.

Overall, we are just incredibly excited about the upcoming school year and doing the best that we can to provide the high quality education that our scholars deserve, Phalen said.

SBOE member Eddie Melton, who represents the 1st Congressional District and is the Democratic candidate for state senator to replace Sen. Earline Rogers, said Bowman has been around for more than 13 years, and has done a great job in the community.

Although we know in the last few years it has suffered academically, with this new leadership in place we expect them to move forward, he said during a June SBOE meeting.

Im excited to learn that Phalen Leadership Academies and Trine University will make improvements. Parents and community members had been calling me regularly, and they are concerned about whats next for the school.

A parent group that had been formed to take over the school if Drexel Foundation could not find an authorizer has remained silent. Calls to parents Taryl Bonds and Tawanna Staples have not been returned. Gary attorney Tony Walker, who is a member of the Drexel Foundation, said he personally invited Bonds to be a member of the Drexel Foundation but said Bonds declined. Bonds could not be reached for comment.
INDIANAPOLIS  The Indiana Court of Appeals on Thursday affirmed a $32.5 million judgment awarded to the guardian of a Dyer woman who was partially paralyzed in a 2006 crash on Interstate 65 in Jasper County.

Kristen Zak was the passenger in a vehicle driven by her then-fiance, Matthew Robinson, that slid off the highway on a snowy January night and struck a semitrailer that had jackknifed in the median an hour earlier.

A Lake County jury found the trucking company, J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., and its driver, Terry Brown, Jr., 60 percent at fault for Zaks injuries, due in part to Brown driving too fast for conditions and failing to place reflective triangles warning other motorists of the wreck, according to court records.

In their appeal, Hunt and Brown raised a variety of arguments challenging the verdict and damage award, but none of them convinced the three-judge appellate panel to overrule the jurys decision.

We find that there were multiple questions of fact that needed to be answered by a jury, and we find no basis on which to second-guess the jurys answers. We also find no questions of law warranting reversal. Therefore, we affirm, wrote Appeals Judge John Baker for the court.

Zaks attorneys at the Merrillville firm of Schafer & Schafer have said the money will be used to provide Zak lifelong assistance to meet her continuing need for help dressing, eating and other everyday activities.
MERRILLVILLE  Clerk-Treasurer Eugene Guernsey has a message for residents who express frustrations about politicians but take no action on election day.

You cant sit there and complain if you dont vote, Guernsey said.

The clerk-treasurers office on Wednesday kicked off a campaign to get people registered to vote for the November general election.

The only way to change is by voting, Guernsey said.

He has attempted to make the registration process as easy as possible at Town Hall, 7820 Broadway. A prime parking spot outside of the facility is reserved only for those registering to vote there.

Staff in the clerk-treasurers office were wearing shirts stating, Only 50 Steps to Register. Guernsey said he walked from the designated parking space, and its 50 steps away from his office.

Theres no place easier to register than us, Guernsey said.

He said the application process only takes a few minutes to complete. The registration services at Town Hall arent only offered to Merrillville residents.

Its open to anyone, Guernsey said.

The office didnt have anyone visit to register as of Wednesday morning, but Guernsey hopes that will soon change.

He said he hasnt set a specific number of people he wants to get registered.

As many as we can, Guernsey said.

In addition to the registration services, applications for absentee ballots are available at Town Hall.

Residents also can visit www.indianavoters.com to register to vote online. For the November general election, voter registration ends Oct. 11.
INDIANAPOLIS  Indiana appears unlikely to copy Illinois pending plan to dedicate all tax and fee revenue collected in connection with transportation to spending on roads, mass transit and related infrastructure projects.

Illinois voters will decide in November whether to ratify or reject a state constitutional amendment, approved earlier this year by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, that prohibits transportation taxes from being used for anything other than transportation investments.

Supporters of the Illinois Transportation Funds Amendment claim it will put a lockbox on transportation revenues of which they claim $6.8 billion has been diverted since 2003 for other state spending.

On Thursday, a Hoosier panel studying Indianas long-term road funding needs was decidedly not impressed when representatives from the Indiana Association of Counties and the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns suggested the state adopt Illinois lockbox plan  though not necessarily through a constitutional amendment.

Were talking about hundreds of millions of dollars that currently go to schools and other items, said Chris Atkins, former director of the Indiana Office of Management and Budget and a member of the Funding Indianas Roads for a Stronger Safer Tomorrow Task Force.

Already all collections from Indianas 18 cents per gallon gasoline tax go only to road funding.

Starting in July 2017, one-seventh of the 7 percent state sales tax on gasoline  approximately $68 million a year  also will be used just for roads.

But the remaining $408 million in gasoline sales tax collections is deposited in the $15 billion annual General Fund that pays for most other state spending, primarily education, and so far theres no plan for replacing that revenue if it were dedicated only to roads.

State Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, suggested Indiana would be making a grave mistake if it gave up the flexibility to reallocate all of its revenue depending on economic conditions.

He also wondered if lawmakers decided road taxes only could be spent on roads then wouldnt they be inclined to further slice up state revenue by automatically dedicating funds to other budget line items  reducing the states ability to holistically adjust its budget or respond in a financial crisis.

The Indiana task force is scheduled to issue its road funding recommendations in December.
LaPorte County government is again demanding NIPSCO improve service or have its rates lowered in a petition filed with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

It's another in a long string of fights waged since 2000 by the county, which has racked up a number of successes against the utility.

Most recently, the county played a role in NIPSCO's request for a 11.5 percent hike in its electrical rates being reduced by the IURC in July to 6 percent in a settlement with a number of consumer groups.

As part of the same case, LaPorte County managed to negotiate a $3 million commitment from NIPSCO for electrical system upgrades at Kingsbury Industrial Park.

A week later, though, a separate 1 percent increase in NIPSCO electrical rates was approved by state regulators to fund $1.25 billion in system-wide upgrades.

The current petition, approved earlier this month by the LaPorte County Commissioners, seeks a further lowering of recently granted 6-percent rate hike if NIPSCO doesn't make gains in the service its provides to customers.

NIPSCO, which continues to rank low in yearly surveys for customer satisfaction by the marketing research group JD Power, was cited for alleging service is not reflective of rates among the highest in the nation.

The same argument was made in 2010 by LaPorte County when a proposed 17 percent rate hike by NIPSCO was lowered to 6 percent.

Language tying service to rates was included by the IURC in its 2010 rate decision, but left out of its written order in the latest rate case.

"This latest order omitted the language in favor of a much weaker stakeholder collaborative process, which we view as nothing more than asking them nicely to improve, as opposed to holding a hammer over their heads," said LaPorte County attorney Shaw Friedman.

NIPSCO spokesman Nick Meyer said the utility has made service improvements the past several years, and while continuing to score low in the JD Power survey, NIPSCO has faired better in other surveys of its performance.

Among the specific strides is replacing old meters with new automated ones to eliminate the unpopular estimated bills; improving restoration times during power outages and lowering the number of customers losing power.

Meyer said a concerted effort to improve service began with a "low point" in 2009 when "we saw results that nobody in the company was proud of. We can honestly say we have made score improvements."

Friedman said the Citizens Action Coalition has joined the county in the latest petition.

Other local governments, like the city of Hammond and Marshall County, have been involved in some of LaPorte County's previous disputes with NIPSCO, including one in 2002 where NIPSCO was forced to keep open maintenance centers it wanted to close throughout its service area.

There was also a 5 percent rate credit from 2002 to 2012 gained after LaPorte County took legal action over poor service and alleged overcharging by the utility.

"Residents can be very proud of the role county government has played in serving as a watchdog," Friedman said.
EAST CHICAGO  The reconstruction of the East Chicago City Council continued on Wednesday with the selection of Ronald London to fill the seat that opened up following the recent resignation of former Council President Juda Parks.

Parks, who won a third term as an at-large councilman in November, decided to discontinue his challenge of a state law that does not allow municipal employees to also hold office in that same municipality.

Parks is an officer with the East Chicago Police Department.

London, retired from the East Chicago Police Department after 25 years of service, was elected by a caucus of the citys Democratic precinct committee members who met Wednesday evening at Club Ki-Yowga.

There was no shortage of candidates to choose from, as nine individuals submitted their names to fill the position that includes an annual salary of more than $42,000.

In addition to London, former state Rep. John Aguilera, former 5th District Councilman Rosendo Cuevas, Lydia Corsbie, former City Clerk Mary Morris Leonard, Jesus Ortiz, Rosa Maria Rodriguez, Reggie Tisdale and James Ventura also vied for the position.

All candidates were given three minutes to present their case for election.

The only candidate not present was Cuevas.

Aguilera said he was withdrawing his name from consideration, but committee members still had the option of voting for him.

London, 55, told the members and others who attended the caucus that he is the current president of the East Chicago Redevelopment Commission and that he has worked with East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland and his administration on a number of major projects.

I love East Chicago, and Ive always served this community well, I thought, and I would like to continue to serve it well, London said.

Lake County Democratic Central Committee Chairman John Buncich presided over Wednesdays caucus and commented on what he called an excellent turnout as 29 of the citys 31 Democratic precinct committee members attended and voted.

London, a lifelong East Chicago resident, gained a majority of the 29 votes cast, although exact numbers were not shared.

He was then sworn into office by Buncich.

I would like to thank the precinct committee people for their support, London said. I wont let you down.

After the caucus concluded, London was asked what plans he has for the city in his new role.

By me being the president of the Redevelopment Commission, we already have a lot of projects in the works, and were going to continue with the mayors agenda to develop East Chicago, London said.

Parks was on hand and voted along with his fellow precinct committee members.

He said he has a good relationship with London.

I worked with him for 18 years and I think hes going to do a good job, Parks said.

Wednesday marked the second time within the last two and a half months that an election was held to fill an opening on the City Council.

On June 6, precinct committee members from the citys 3rd District met to choose a replacement for Robert Battle, who won election in November while incarcerated.

He faces federal drug charges and is accused of murdering Reimundo Camarillo, Jr. on Oct. 12 in the city.

Battle has claimed self-defense.

Back in June, Buncich chose Brenda Walker to serve out Battles term after the five precinct committee members from the 3rd District could not come to a majority decision on a replacement.
A storm that swept through Northwest Indiana on Thursday morning knocked out power, downed trees and caused flash flooding, officials said.

With rain in the forecast through Saturday night, most local officials said theyre monitoring the weather but dont expect a risk of any widespread flooding.

The National Weather Service warned early Thursday that storms with wind gusts of up to 60 mph could cause damage to roofs, siding and trees.

More than 2,500 NIPSCO customer were without power during the height of the outages Thursday, including approximately 1,200 in Chesterton. That number was down to about 700 as of 1 p.m. Other communities affected by power outages included Crown Point, Hammond, Gary, Michigan City, Portage and Westville, according to NIPSCOs outage map.

The storms also prompted the weather service to issue a flood advisory, which expired at 11:45 a.m., for Lake and Porter counties. Flooding on urban and small streams was expected.

In Portage, Director of Administration Joe Calhoun said the city saw some isolated flooding, but waters quickly began receding. City crews were out checking drains and clearing any debris in preparation for more rainfall, he said.

Mike Novotney, engineer for Porter Countys stormwater department, said his staff is fielding calls, but there were no specific or intense problem areas as of Thursday morning.

Our ditches are handling the rain fairly well, but if we continue to get much more rainfall through the weekend were going to be pushing those to capacity and have some bigger issues for sure, he said.

Rain is in the forecast across Northwest Indiana through Saturday night, but flooding on local rivers wasnt a concern.

The Kankakee River at Shelby was at 10.23 feet as of 10 a.m. Thursday, and the flood threat was expected to decrease, said Jody Melton, executive director of the Kankakee River Basin Commission. Melton said he gets concerned when the river at Shelby reaches 11.5 feet.

The Little Calumet River at Munster was at about 8 feet Thursday morning, according to the weather service. Flood stage is 12 feet.

With a stretch of the Little Kankakee River in LaPorte County already over its banks, there are concerns more rain will mean flooding downstream in areas like LaCrosse.

More than 700 sandbags were placed Tuesday on properties where two homes were still dry but surrounded by flooded fields along the Little Kankakee River near Ind. 104 outside Fish Lake.

County roads 800 East and 500 South closed Tuesday from the swollen stream remained underwater.

Water is over the banks at eight locations along the Little Kankakee, which branches off from the Kankakee River and flows into the much larger waterway.

No flooding had occurred yet on the rising Kankakee, but the situation was being watched closely.

LaPorte County Highway Department Superintendent Bob Young said conditions previously being so dry helped keep the Kankakee River at bay, so far, but he said any sort of heavy rain event in the coming days will cause it to spill over.

Young said his office as a precaution is making bags available at no cost but residents have to fill them with their own sand.

Times Correspondent Stan Maddux contributed to this report.
Jenny McGill loves what she does at Indiana Wesleyan University in Merrilville. McGill is the regional dean for Northern Indiana and Illinois, College of Adult and Professional Studies.

The Merrillville resident has been at the university for two years and is married to Kevin McGill, pastor at Cornerstone Community Church.

I basically oversee three main areas in my job, McGill said.

She does conferencing services during the business day for any local business that does not have conference space. She oversees all academic processes for students in her area and is responsible for building operations.

We offer education to all nontraditional learners, McGill said. I do a lot but I have a great staff and I like variety and thats what attracted me to the job.

The Merrillville office offers classes from 6 to 10 p.m. every evening and they hold conferences during the day.

McGill is also involved with hiring and recruiting and training all the faculty. I have about 80 onsite adjunct faculty, McGill said.

During her free time McGill likes to travel, hike and go overseas and just explore nature. She was the recipient of the 2015 Influential Woman Award of NWI for the Up and Coming education category.

She just had a book published titled Religious Identity and Cultural Negotiation: Toward a Theology of Christian Identity in Migration.

For more information about the book, click tinyurl.com/zy86dw5
EAST CHICAGO  In a letter to the head of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, a Chicago-based nonprofit representing a group of West Calumet residents in the ongoing lead contamination crisis alleges the federal agency and local housing authoritys relocation efforts are dysfunctional and a recipe for disaster.

The letter  dated Wednesday and signed by Katherine Walz, housing justice director for the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law  is addressed to HUD Secretary Julian Castro and East Chicago Housing Authoritys Executive Director Tia Cauley. Walz is a member of a legal team representing some West Calumet residents.

While it appears to have taken years to properly inform residents of the toxic contamination of their community, residents now report a rushed and confusing process for receiving Housing Choice Section 8 vouchers and relocating,  Walz states in the letter.

The city is working with HUD to provide housing vouchers to relocate more than 1,000 residents and possibly demolish the decades-old public housing complex. Briefing meetings between residents, HUD and ECHA are underway.

Some ECHA staff instructs residents that they must tell them immediately if they are moving out of East Chicago. Other ECHA staff cannot articulate any description of relocation services, including if moving vans or boxes will be provided, and if security deposits will be returned or new deposits (will be) provided for the upcoming move, the letter states.

ECHAs attorney, Jewel Harris Jr., said Wednesday night he has read the letter, but wants to review the content with his client before commenting on specific allegations.

To give a flat-out denial wouldnt be fair. There obviously was a lot of time and effort put in that letter, and I want to give it the attention it deserves, Harris Jr. said. We owe it to the residents to take allegations like that seriously.

Allegations include a lack of information regarding relocation services, verbal threats issued by ECHA staff and continued leasing of vacant housing units to new tenants despite knowledge of dangerous lead and arsenic levels in the soil, the letter states.

Harris said the allegations will be investigated. However, the Shriver Center appears to be repeating what is being told by tenants in the letter, he said.

They need to look into that, and whether they can be substantiated, he said.

The letter urges HUDs Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity to review the ECHAs relocation plan, identify deficiencies and monitor the relocation of families.

This type of dysfunctional relocation is a recipe for disaster and will likely result in poor outcomes for the households, the letter states. Relocation must be handled consistent with HUD and ECHAs duty to affirmatively further fair housing and duty not to discriminate. There can be no doubt that what is in place here falls far, far short of that obligation.

As part of ECHAs application to HUD to demolish the units, the agency is required to include elements of its relocation plan under Section 6 of the application, according to the letter. That would include listing the number of displaced residents, the type of counseling and advisory services provided, a cost estimate for such services and moving expenses and the expected source of payment for such costs, according to Walzs letter.

Harris Jr. said there is a detailed, written relocation plan. However, he added he needed to confirm with the housing authority whether the plan was attached when the ECHA submitted the application to HUD.

The letter to HUD comes on the heels of a series of public meetings between residents and local, state and federal agency representatives.

At a panel discussion Tuesday in East Chicago, the head of the citys health department urged more West Calumet parents to get their children tested for lead levels, noting just 380 of the 670 age 18 or younger have been screened since July 1.

Everyone is up in arms about the situation, but we should have had all 670 screened, Gerri Browning, the citys health commissioner, said Tuesday.

Of the 380 screened, 27 have tested above the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions threshold of 5 micrograms per deciliter, he said. Anything above that warrants action and further monitoring.
LOWELL  The town manager is getting his own credit card, something new for this south Lake County community.

The Town Council last week authorized the issuance of a town credit card to be carried by Town Manager Jeff Sheridan.

Councilman Will Farrellbegg, D-3rd, opposed the idea.

My feeling is we have a credit card already, Farrellbegg said. He said it is a matter of control.

Clerk-Treasurer Judy Walters said she sees no need for another card because there are, in fact, two cards that can be used by staff. She said the resolution as presented did not provide that receipts for Sheridans expenses be provided her office before the bill is due, nor did it provide a dollar limit for the credit card.

After discussion, the council stipulated the card would have a dollar limit of $2,000. Sheridan said he will turn the receipts in to Walters in a timely manner as requested.

As passed, the resolution, requested by the State Board of Accounts, states the Town Council shall review each expense submitted by Sheridan and approve or disapprove the expense as part of its normal procedure for payment of vouchers at scheduled Town Council meetings.

That should work, Walters said.

For his part, Sheridan said the current system seems to be set up more for employee travel. In his case, the card will be used for travel, but other things as well, he said.

I didnt want to monopolize the cards, Sheridan said. He noted his expenses will be acted on by the council and must be legitimate.

When Sheridan was the town manager in Cumberland, Indiana, his 2010 expenses were questioned in a State Board of Accounts audit.

When asked by The Times about the audit, Sheridan said,, I want you to check it out because I did nothing wrong.

Cumberland Town Attorney Dan Taylor agrees with Sheridans assessment.

Taylor said that, while a local ABC television affiliate did report the state audit concerns regarding extra nights at conferences in New Orleans and California, The town didnt have issues with his travel ... the town did not think the news coverage was a fair representation of what was going on, he said.

Sheridan said hed booked advance airline tickets for a New Orleans conference at a good discount. When he learned the conference was one day shorter than hed expected, he tried changing his ticket, but was told it would cost $200 while an additional night was $99. He called the town council president who agreed he should stay the extra night.

Sheridan arrived in California a night early and stayed overnight to depart the morning after the conference, both choices he made according to what was an unwritten policy, he said.

Taylor said, Jeff was not disciplined in any way. From the towns perspective, it was all approved. Taylor said the council had okayed the trips because they felt what he learned there made him a better town manager.

From his perspective, Taylor said, The state audit was more an indictment of the town council at the time. They approved it.
CROWN POINT  Lake County Attorney John Dull wants to abolish restrictions on political yard signs.

Public disdain of unseasonable political yard signs has prompted the County Council and most municipalities in Lake County to pass ordinances that typically forbid their appearance on private or public property except for a 30-day period before a spring primary or fall general election.

Dull told the Lake County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday: Its been my legal opinion for so long that ordinance is illegal under the Constitution. Youve seen these Fire Mike Pence signs. Those are First Amendment rights. Im supposed to enforce it, and I think its illegal.

Dull said he agrees with research conducted by Joe Hero, a St. John political activist, who has pressed to abolish yard-sign restrictions in that town. Hero said the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned a similar ordinance in the Arizona as an unconstitutional prohibition on free speech.

Dull said he has given his opinion to Michelle Fajman, the county elections director. Fajman said Wednesday she asked for it after receiving complaints about campaign yard signs already being posted this summer.

Commissioner Mike Repay, D-Hammond, said commissioners should ask the County Council to repeal the ordinance restricting signs in areas outside cities and town.Dull said he believes restrictions on political signs posted on public rights of way or on county government center grounds are similarly unconstitutional. He said the county would still restrict political signs within county government buildings.

The county has no jurisdiction over sign restrictions within city and town limits.

Earlier this month, the St. John Plan Commission voted 5-0 to repeal that towns political sign ordinance.

Controversy over political sign regulations began there on the eve of the 2015 general election when Town Manager Steve Kil removed more than 40 signs posted at three polling places by the St. John Homeowners PAC calling on voters to Fire Kil, Council President Mike Forbes and Councilman Mark Barenie.

Kil said the signs, posted at the Town Hall, Kolling Elementary School and the library, violated the section on political signs, and he acted after consulting with Town Attorney David Austgen. The prosecutor charged Kil with exerting improper control over the signs. That case is still pending in court.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on behalf of the PAC seeking $75,000 in damages for the signs removal. That case also is pending, but the town will allow the signs to be posted during this years general election.

Commissioners also approved new and extended contracts for a number of county government consultants and service vendors, including Kenneth Ray, who advises county officials about how to comply with U.S. Justice Department health care standards for county jail inmates. He is being paid $143,000 this year.
WASHINGTON  A new brain trust in place, Donald Trump on Thursday moved to invest nearly $5 million in battleground state advertising as the Republican presidential contender took modest steps to address daunting challenges in the states that will make or break his White House ambitions.

The New York businessman's campaign reserved television ad space over the coming 10 days in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to Kantar Media's political ad tracker. While Democrat Hillary Clinton has spent more than $75 million on advertising in 10 states since locking up her party's nomination, Trump's new investment marks his first of the general election season.

Election Day is 81 days away, with early voting in the first states set to begin in five weeks.

The step into swing-state advertising, which came after Trump's second staffing shake-up in as many months, did little to alleviate the concerns of Republican officials frustrated with Trump's refusal to adopt the tools of modern-day political campaigns.

"We may have reached the point of no return for Donald Trump," said Republican strategist Alex Conant, a senior aide to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's presidential campaign.

Earlier in the week, the Republican nominee tapped a combative conservative media executive, Stephen Bannon, to serve as CEO of his presidential bid. Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway filled the campaign manager position left vacant since Trump fired his former campaign chief almost two months ago.

Conway insisted Thursday that the new team would help re-focus the nominee, without sacrificing the authenticity that fueled his successful primary campaign.

"We're going to sharpen the message," Conway told CNN. "We're going to make sure Donald Trump is comfortable about being in his own skin  that he doesn't lose that authenticity that you simply can't buy and a pollster can't give you. Voters know if you're comfortable in your own skin."

Rarely do presidential campaigns wait to advertise, or undergo such leadership tumult, at such a late stage of the general election.

Yet Trump has struggled badly in recent weeks to offer voters a consistent message, overshadowing formal policy speeches with a steady stream of self-created controversies, including a public feud with an American Muslim family whose son was killed while serving in the U.S. military in Iraq.

He now trails Clinton in preference polls of most key battleground states. And his party leaders, even at the Republican National Committee, have already conceded they may divert resources away from the presidential contest in favor of vulnerable Senate and House candidates if things don't improve.

Trump's advertising plans highlight his shrinking path to the presidency.

Although Trump claims his popularity with white, working-class voters could translate to victories in states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine or Connecticut, there's little evidence to back that up. His first major ad buys shows him focused on more conventional battlegrounds.

Trump is spending at least $1.4 million in Florida, $1 million in Pennsylvania, about $831,000 in North Carolina and $746,000 in Ohio, according to Kantar Media. His biggest single-market investment comes in the Philadelphia area.

"That is the most direct route to 270," said Chris Young, RNC field director. "Those states are critical on that pathway."

Trump was on the ground Thursday in North Carolina, where he stopped by a local gun range before meeting with police officers in Iredell County.

"I gotta say this man can shoot," county Sheriff Darren Campbell said of Trump, who is licensed to carry a hand gun in New York.

Clinton met with law enforcement leaders in New York City days after Trump accused her of being "against the police" following a police shooting in Wisconsin.

Making no direct mention of her opponent in her opening remarks, Clinton called on Americans to be "clear-eyed" about the country's challenges.

"We need to work together to bridge our divides, not stoke even more divisiveness," Clinton said at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Clinton's campaign has spent more than $75 million on ads in the weeks since she effectively locked up the nomination in early June, according to Kantar Media.

Trump's campaign has benefited from outside political groups. One, called Rebuilding America Now, has spent about $9 million in the past few weeks. The National Rifle Association's political arm has put more than $4 million into anti-Clinton messages.

But those amounts pale in comparison to the $31 million the pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA has spent on air since mid-June. And that's just one of several groups helping her.

As a sign of confidence, Clinton's campaign recently paused advertising in Virginia and Colorado, while Priorities stopped ads in Virginia and plans to pause them in Colorado and Pennsylvania at the beginning of September. Clinton and her allies have also put field staff in the traditionally red states of Arizona and Georgia, hoping to capitalize on shifting demographics.

Trump has struggled so far with women, minorities and young voters.

"His performance with those voters is so dismal that it puts other states potentially in play in an offensive way for Democrats," said Jeremy Bird, who ran field operations for President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign and is now advising Clinton's operation.
KIDS' HEALTH

Every mom dreads finding that note in her childs school folder informing her that a fellow student has lice. Or perhaps its a phone call from the school nurse stating your child won the unlucky lice lottery. Add in the spread of the new strain of super lice, which are resistant to most over-the-counter treatments, and the dreaded lice infestation scenario is enough to make every parents skin crawl.

Flo Klackle, who owns the recently opened Lice Clinic of America in Crown Point with her husband, Randal, talks about suffering from the imaginary scalp itch of psychological lice." By the time they contact us, most of our clients have spent a minimum of two months and gone through several treatments unsuccessfully battling a lice infestation, Klackle says. Very often, the breaking point is when Mom gets it.

Klackle says its imperative you seek professional help as soon as one person in your household has lice. In addition to the super lice being resistant to over-the-counter or traditional prescription treatments, these products require a great deal of time and commitment, she says.

Thankfully, parents and kids alike can rest easy at night knowing there are treatment options available. The Lice Clinic of America uses the FDA-cleared Air Alle device, which utilizes heated air to kill lice and eggs in a one-and-done treatment plan (after the device, you use a professional lice comb to remove dead lice and eggs, followed by a rinse application). Weve never had anyone return who still has lice, Klackle says.

Although its prudent to caution your children not to share personal items such as hats and hairbrushes, Klackle reassures anyone who is embarrassed about a lice infestation. Getting lice doesnt mean youre dirty," she says. "It has to do with how lice live. You cant get rid of all physical contact.

To treat lice, you have to get rid of the shame surrounding it, get it under control, and get the word out, she adds. As her husband says: We wanted to get into a business where we felt we could truly help families during a stressful time.
With the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy approaching, it appears the city will miss the deadline set by Mayor Bill de Blasio to complete thousands of rebuilding projects. Staten Island Reporter Amanda Farinacci has the story.

Robin Muller says contractors are now a familiar sight outside her Topping Street home.

The city's Build-it-Back program has all but moved in on the block, elevating several houses to meet new federal flood insurance guidelines.

"They're fast," Muller said. "When they're here  they work."

All that work, however, will not be enough to meet an ambitious goal set by Mayor de Blasio.

Ten months ago, he vowed that all projects to repair and elevate homes through the Build it Back program would be completed by the end of this year.

But sources tell NY1 that at a closed-door meeting in Borough Hall last week, program officials downplayed the deadline.

"I want to make sure everyone's clear  this is a goal we're working hard towards but it's not like we're shutting our doors on December 31 in any way," said Amy Peterson with Build-it-Back

Crunch the numbers, and it is clear the work will not be completed in time.

Work to lift 385 homes has begun  but only 50 of the projects are completed.

And basic repairs to another 1,400 homes have yet to begin.



With the average project requiring three to eight months it's all but impossible to meet de Blasio's timetable.

"They have a couple of hundred jobs going on right now, that have been going on for ten months," said Marc Alvarez, who is waiting for his home to be raised. "And I know, there's no way those jobs will be completed by December 31."

City councilman Steve Matteo says his office continues to get calls from residents with concerns about Build It Back.

He says the city needs to move quickly to set a new deadline -- and to make sure that one is reached.

Why we didnt hit that goal, we have to fix it, we have to understand it," said Councilman Matteo.

Build-it-Back officials say some delays have been caused by complicated rebuilds.

They also say work has been slowed by a lack of temporary housing for people whose homes are being repaired

Build-it-Back has asked community groups and realtors to help with that housing crunch. But the demand for temporary housing still outpaces the supply.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton met with some of the country's top law enforcement officials in New York City on Thursday.

At John Jay College, she spoke with eight police leaders from across the nation, including outgoing Commissioner Bill Bratton, his successor James O'Neill, as well as the police chief from Los Angeles and the former police chief of Philadelphia.

The meeting comes on the heels of a string of police involved shootings and the deaths of five police officers in Dallas, Texas earlier this summer. The attack happened at a protest over the shooting deaths of black men in other parts of the country.



Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had also suggested Clinton is against the police.

She denied the claims, but said officers must show respect for the communities they serve and vice versa.



Most of Clinton's meeting was closed to the press, but she opened it by talking about repairing trust between law enforcement and communities.

"I believe supporting our police officers and improving policing go hand-in-hand," the former New York senator said. "Everyone is safer when there is respect for the law, and when everyone is respected by the law."



Clinton's aides say she planned the meeting for several weeks.



Bratton stated in an interview that the Queens-native Trump shows a "lack of depth" when it comes to his policies, and that he is concerned about Trump creating and feeding off of fear, although he said he was open to meeting with Trump if asked.



Bratton has not endorsed Clinton, but he has made no secret of his feelings about Trump.

"Mr. Trump scares me. Scares the hell out of me, frankly," Bratton said August 3 on "CBS This Morning."



After the Dallas police officers were killed, Trump asked to attend a police roll call in New York City; Bratton said he turned down the request.

"Our interest is in staying out of the politics of the moment, not to provide photo ops," Bratton said July 8.

Bratton also said he and Clinton discussed ways to improve police-community relations.

Clinton has no public campaign events planned until Sunday.
The family of the bodega clerk shot dead less than two weeks ago, with a police officer's gun, got their first look Thursday at the man accused of pulling the trigger.

Efrain Guzman, 30, declined to testify in front of the grand jury in a Bronx courtroom Thursday.

The judge ordered he be held without bond.

The family said they want Guzman to get the maximum penalty.

"He comes in and he doesn't have respect," said Mamadou Doucoure, the victim's uncle. "This guy is bad, a very bad person. We want justice."

"What we saw today was a criminal with no remorse," community leader Mahamadou Kaida said. "You could see on his face that he had no regret of what he did."

The suspect's sister told NY1 that Guzman has a history of mental illness.

The shooting happened the morning of August 9, when police say clerk Wali Camara, 49, threw Guzman out of his store because he was being aggressive.

When Guzman headed to another bodega, Camara followed him to warn the other workers.

A fight broke out and police were flagged down.

As officers were escorting Guzman away, he allegedly grabbed an officer's gun and opened fire.

Camara was shot and rushed to the hospital where he later died.

Guzman is facing numerous charges, including murder and attempted murder of a police officer.

Attorneys for Camara say that Congressman Charlie Rangel's office is working to secure visas for Camara's wife and son, who live in France, to attend his funeral.

Guzman's next court date is September 1.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Thursday that police are not close to an arrest in the case of the Queens jogger sexually assaulted and killed earlier this month.

This came after the parents of 30-year old Karina Vetrano said Thursday that investigators were close to finding her killer.

"I certainly feel for the family of this young woman, that they would like to have a resolution to the grief they're feeling, but we can't provide that at this time," Bratton said to reporters Thursday.

"We do not have a suspect, we are not close to an arrest  not having a suspect  and once again we appeal to anybody in the public that might have any information to please call into our TIPS hotline," the police commissioner continued.

Cathie and Phil Vetrano had spoken to reporters outside their Howard Beach home Thursday afternoon and said they were confident that it is just a matter of time before their daughter's killer is caught.

They said they are sure of that in part because of the progress they said police have made in the investigation, saying police have strong leads and several suspects in mind. They said they believe an arrest could come in days.

The parents also used the opportunity to speak out and appeal to anyone that can lead police to the right suspect faster.

They said they hope that someone close to the killer will come forward with information and claim the reward.

"We know that there is a family member of the killer, that we need for them to come forward," Phil Vetrano said. "She is in great distress. And we know she wants to make that call."

The Vetrano's GoFundMe campaign raised more than $250,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of their daughter's killer. The city police and fire departments have offered another $25,000.

Karina Vetrano went jogging the night of August 2 and never returned. Her father found her body in a nearby marsh several hours later. Police said Vetrano was beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled.

Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com
Six months ago City Hall and top NYPD brass slammed the Obama administration for cutting their terror funding. Now they have moved on to Congress, which has failed to vote on the measure. The funding provides crucial counter terrorism equipment and training, and officials say without it New Yorkers will be less safe. Our Courtney Gross has the story.

Hizzoner has an ominous warning.

"If Congress doesn't act there is going to be a lot of happy terrorists in the world because they are going to have a chance to come at us with less of our defenses up," the Mayor said at a press conference Wednesday.

For the second time in six months, the Mayor, Police Commissioner and top city officials called on Congress and the White House to swiftly give New York City counterterrorism funding  $180 million is at stake.

Flanked by three members of Congress, the Mayor and the city's top cop said Washington was letting an appropriations bill languish. It was time for it to move.

"How many conferences have I had with you, the media, talking about this issue that they have to spend so much time urging that they do something," Bratton said. "It's frustrating."

This rebuke came just three days after what some say was a chaotic response at JFK airport to a report of shots fired.

On Sunday night, police searched for a shooter. No one was found. The so-called gunshots were never substantiated.

Now city officials say they need to do a better job coordinating with the Port Authority, who handles security at our airports.

"We all have to do better at the airports," the Mayor said. "There is no question about it."

"There will be a hot wash of this that we will participate in to look at what worked," said Bratton.

The whole incident is currently under review.

For these officials, it may provide more proof the city needs Congress to act.

"This issue is too important to play politics with, and effectively what we are dealing with is politics," the police commissioner said.

Perhaps this debate will affect next year's politics as well. Commissioner Bratton went after a potential mayoral candidate who happens to be President Obama's budget director.

Earlier this year, Shaun Donovan's office had suggested the city failed to spend its terrorism funding, so the Obama administration cut the budget.

"If I were you that is one of the first questions I would ask him. How do you justify cutting $180 million from New York City and 300 million dollars from the country?"
Ernst Neizvestny, a sculptor whose ventures into modernism put him at odds with the Soviet cultural authorities and led to a memorable confrontation with Nikita S. Khrushchev in 1962, died on Aug. 9 in Stony Brook, N.Y. He was 91.

His death was confirmed by his wife, Anna Graham.

As cultural policy in the post-Stalin era began to loosen, Mr. Neizvestny (pronounced nyai-eez-VYEST-nee) and a dozen abstract painters were invited to show their work at a large exhibition in Moscow to mark the 30th anniversary of the Moscow section of the Soviet Artists Union.

One visitor was Khrushchev, whose irritation at being dragged to an event in which he had no interest  agricultural machinery was more to his taste  grew into incandescent rage when he beheld the work of Mr. Neizvestny and his fellow avant-gardists.

Cursing, Khrushchev pronounced the work degenerate and incompetent. The paintings, he said, looked as though a donkey had swished its tail across the canvas. He asked to speak to the most important artist at the show. Mr. Neizvestny was pushed forward.
Funds that focus on stocks fell and then recovered when the market rebounded in the weeks after the vote. Leon G. Coopermans $1.4 billion Omega Overseas Partners lost 5.33 percent in June, bringing its first-half loss to 7.15 percent, though Mr. Cooperman said in an email this week that the fund was up for the year. And David Einhorns $3 billion Greenlight Capital slipped 0.3 percent in June, only to gain 4.9 percent in July.

Mr. Ackmans private hedge fund lost about 2 percent in June, while his public fund, which is leveraged to amplify market bets, fell 3.1 percent for the month. They snapped back in July, with his public fund rising 2.7 percent.

Man GLGs European Long-Short Equity, run by Mr. Lagrange, shed 2.04 for the month as of June 24, and was down 3.88 percent for the year at that point. It was down 4.93 percent for the year as of Aug. 5.

Alan Howards macro fund Brevan Howard has been struggling with redemptions this year but eked out a positive return despite the vote. Class A shares in his $15.7 billion diversified global hedge fund rose 0.94 percent in June, bringing its first-half loss to 1.15 percent. Mr. Howard, who is a big trader of British government bonds, benefited from a rally in gilts after the vote. The smaller Master Strategy fund was up 1.5 percent in June but gave up some of its gains in July, losing 0.09 percent net of fees. For the year, as of the end of July, the fund was up 1.26 percent.

Andrew E. Laws $6 billion Caxton Global Investment fund was up 1.96 percent for the month and 0.43 percent year-to-date as of June 28. Last year, the fund returned 3.53 percent. So June was a very good month for the fund, relative to recent months. Mr. Law publicly favored Britain remaining in the European Union.

Hedge funds based in Britain had a better sense of the political pulse of the nation than did funds based elsewhere. The large American macro fund Moore Capital Management, run by Louis Bacon, is a case in point. Compared with the London-based Caxton, its $7.5 billion Macro Managers fund produced a return of 0.71 percent for the month that ended June 30.

Image Leon G. Cooperman, whose Omega Overseas Partners lost 5.33 percent in June. Credit... Scott Eells/Bloomberg

The majority of the U.K.-domiciled funds were set to benefit from a leave vote, and, at least within the group we looked at, their U.S. counterparts appeared to be positioned the other way, said Peter Laurelli, global head of research at eVestment, which tracks the alternative investment industry. Of the 10 largest macro funds that report returns to eVestment, the three that appeared in a position to benefit from the pounds depreciation all have their headquarters in Britain, Mr. Laurelli said. He declined to name the funds that report performance data to eVestment.
Who made money off Britains vote to leave the European Union? Funds that bet on drops in stocks and currencies (particularly the pound), thats who. The rewards were high  for those willing to make a wager  and bets on the decision to leave, or Brexit, were dirt cheap.

Many funds, however, knew they would have been skewered by investors had they lost money, so they avoided making outsize bets.

After all, hedge funds have struggled with poor performance this year  Bridgewater appears to have slowed hiring, and Pershing Square recently fired a dozen employees.

Investors are worried enough that they are pushing hedge funds to commit to a set rate of return before they can earn incentive fees, as The Financial Times reports. Some have to generate returns of 4 to 10 percent before they are paid.
When Mayor Bill de Blasio introduced the next New York City police commissioner this month, he said he wanted someone who could make neighborhood policing a reality and help ease the distrust that persists between officers and residents in many predominately minority communities, like Far Rockaway in Queens.

I believe its going to change this city, Mr. de Blasio said when he announced that James P. ONeill, the chief of the Police Department, would succeed Commissioner William J. Bratton in September. I believe its going to become a model thatll be looked at around the country because it really answers what people are aching, everyones aching for it.

In the days that followed, Mr. de Blasio and Chief ONeill described their visions of residents being on a first-name basis with the officers who patrol their neighborhoods and even having their cellphone numbers. The goal is that the police and neighborhoods would work together to solve percolating issues before they grow into bigger crimes. Mr. Bratton has championed this policing method since he was an officer in Boston in the late 1970s, and it is now embraced by Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat. Chief ONeill has been credited as the architect of the current model.
The administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has offered developers and union officials a wage subsidy for construction workers in the hopes of reviving a dormant program that has generated thousands of apartments for poor and moderate-income New Yorkers, and saved property owners tens of millions of dollars in property taxes.

The program, known as 421-a, expired in January, prompting concerns that developers  deterred by rocketing land prices  would not build rental housing.

The creation of more affordable housing has been one of the most important issues for Mr. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, both Democrats, in recognition of the soaring rents in neighborhoods throughout New York City over the past decade, and the growing number of people who spend more than half their income on shelter.

The governors proposal, which would set wage rates for government-assisted projects in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, emerged from secret talks over the past two weeks among Bill J. Mulrow, the governors secretary; John H. Banks, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, widely known as Rebny; and Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council.
Last Thursday, our beloved family dog, Katie, died at the age of 12. She was a gentle giant who respectfully deferred even to any mite-size puppy with a prior claim to a bone. Katie might have won the Nobel Peace Prize if not for her weakness for squirrels.

I mourned Katies passing on social media and received a torrent of touching condolences, easing my ache at the loss of a member of the family. Yet on the same day that Katie died, I published a column calling for greater international efforts to end Syrias suffering and civil war, which has claimed perhaps 470,000 lives so far. That column led to a different torrent of comments, many laced with a harsh indifference: Why should we help them?

These mingled on my Twitter feed: heartfelt sympathy for an American dog who expired of old age, and what felt to me like callousness toward millions of Syrian children facing starvation or bombing. If only, I thought, we valued kids in Aleppo as much as we did our terriers!
The second study, Moved to Opportunity: The Long-Run Effect of Public Housing Demolition on Labor Market Outcomes on Children, by Eric Chyn, a professor of economics at the University of Virginia, found a substantial positive impact on children who were moved to better neighborhoods after being displaced (as a consequence of public housing demolition) from concentrated poverty. These children are 9 percent more likely to be employed and earn 16 percent more as adults than those who were not displaced, Chyn reported.

The flare-up over affordable housing in Baltimore County is just the kind of controversy Democratic Party leaders dread because it pits Democrats against Democrats. And it is also just the kind of controversy Republicans thrive upon, as exemplified by Donald Trumps speech Tuesday night in West Bend, Wisconsin, a white community 40 miles north of Milwaukee, where police have been battling rioters.

Trump told his supporters that Clinton is peddling the narrative of cops as a racist force in our society and shares responsibility for the unrest. Trump went even further:

She is against the police, believe me. You know it and I know it, and guess what? She knows it.

The problems for Democrats on matters of race and housing subsidies are not confined to Baltimore. In Westchester County, just north of New York City, an ongoing battle over the court-ordered construction of affordable housing has played a key role in the election and re-election of a Republican county executive  in a suburban jurisdiction that, in presidential elections, has become increasingly Democratic.

It is this kind of conflict that the Clinton campaign is determined to avoid. Clintons staff has repeatedly declined requests for her views on assertive government policies that require suburbs to provide affordable housing for those with low or moderate incomes.

Such policies include court orders under the Fair Housing Act of 1968, along with enforcement of the June 2015 Housing and Urban Development regulation known as the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule, which mandates that local governments produce plans providing for increased integration by race and class.

As she attempts to draw votes from both of these wings of the Democratic Party, Clinton has good reason for caution. The town of Chappaqua in Westchester County, where the Clintons own a home, happens to be located in the midst of an affordable housing conflict I have written about before.

Rob Astorino, the Republican county executive, takes great joy in capitalizing on the issue. In July 2015, Astorino pointedly held a news conference in front of Bill and Hillary Clintons home, using affordable housing as a political cudgel to demand:

Now, I have a question for Hillary Clinton, whos in her home today right behind me: does she think she lives in a discriminatory town? I dont. Does she think that the Obama administration is being very unfair in attacking her own community? I do. But we need to know where Hillary Clinton stands on this issue and she needs to speak up today.

Clinton did not respond, nor did she reply to requests for local comment from the Westchester media.
The nations rancorous debate over immigration policy has greatly diminished the chances of citizenship for a small group of people who have done a great service to the United States and are as deserving as anyone to make it their new home. They are the Afghan interpreters who, at considerable risk to their lives and families, worked for the American government during the war and who remain in mortal danger.

In recent years, a few thousand of these interpreters have enjoyed access under the Special Immigrant Visa program for Afghan linguists. That program is now under scrutiny by lawmakers with hard-line views on immigration who have questioned its necessity, raised alarm over its costs and threatened to end it. Doing so would be reckless and morally reprehensible. While the future of American immigration policy will continue to be a fraught political issue, the fate of this tiny segment of aspiring Americans should not.

As things stand, there are roughly 12,600 applicants with pending petitions and only about 2,500 visas the State Department is authorized to issue. That means that about 10,100 Afghans, who had every reason to believe their service to the United States would be rewarded with a safe haven, may be left behind.

The State Department and other government agencies involved in vetting applications administered the program poorly for years after it was established in 2009. Many applicants waited for several years to learn whether their cases were approved. Other applicants were rejected without being told why. Over the past couple of years, responding to an outcry from veterans and members of Congress, officials have begun to process cases more quickly. But the department expects to run out of visas to issue early next year.
You cant legally buy a drug in the United States that hasnt undergone rigorous testing, mandated by Congress, to prove that its safe and effective. By contrast, that lipstick, shampoo, or deodorant you use every day may have undergone no such testing.

And theres cause to wonder if those products are safe. More than 21,000 complaints of itching, rashes and hair loss, for instance, have been sent to the manufacturer and distributor of Wen Hair Care products. And hair-straightening products that contain formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, have caused allergic reactions, hair loss, rashes, blisters and other problems in salon workers and their customers.

A bill introduced by two senators  Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, and Susan Collins, Republican of Maine  would change that by requiring the Food and Drug Administration to evaluate a minimum of five chemicals used in cosmetics every year and to collect fees from the industry to pay for those reviews. The agency would also get the power to order companies to recall dangerous products and to force companies to provide it with safety data and reports of adverse health effects from consumers.

The bill has the backing of public interest groups like the Environmental Working Group and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, as well as much of the cosmetics industry, including big companies like Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble. But some manufacturers, like Mary Kay, oppose the bill because they argue that its provisions would be too onerous. They are pushing a much weaker measure introduced by Representative Pete Sessions, Republican of Texas, that would not require the F.D.A. to review risky ingredients and wouldnt give the agency authority to order recalls.
When it comes to capital punishment, there is not much official mercy to be found in the state of Texas.

As 537 death row inmates were executed there over the last 40 years, only two inmates were granted clemency. The last commutation to life in prison occurred nine years ago, when Gov. Rick Perry, despite his formidable tally of 319 executions, chose to make an exception and spare a man convicted of murder under the states arcane and patently unfair Law of Parties.

This law in effect holds that someone waiting outside at the wheel of a getaway car deserves the same capital punishment as his associate inside who shoots and kills a store clerk. This is the rough equation that now finds Jeffrey Wood on death row in Texas, 20 years after his involvement in just such a crime. The actual killer was executed in 2002; Mr. Wood faces execution next Wednesday as a somehow equally culpable party, unless the state commutes his sentence to life in prison.

The Law of Parties has been on trial as much as Mr. Wood has in the arduous criminal justice process in which he faces death. With an I.Q. of 80 and no criminal history, Mr. Wood, who was 22 then, was initially found by a jury to be incompetent to stand trial. But the state persisted, and he was convicted in a slipshod proceeding in which no mitigating evidence or cross-examination was attempted in his behalf during the crucial sentencing hearing.
In the North Carolina voter ID case, decided by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz likewise asked whether there was a problem for the new law to solve. North Carolina, like other states, claimed it needed the law to prevent fraud at the polls. But the state has failed to identify even a single individual who has ever been charged with committing in-person voter fraud in North Carolina, Judge Motz said.

By contrast, she continued, the General Assembly did have evidence of alleged cases of mail-in absentee voter fraud. But despite knowing that citizens who lacked the required identification were disproportionately black, while those who voted by absentee ballot were disproportionately white, the legislators rejected amendments that would have extended identification requirements to absentee voting. We do not ask whether the state has an interest in preventing voter fraud  it does  or whether a photo ID requirement constitutes one way to serve that interest  it may, Judge Motz wrote. Rather, she said, the question was whether the Legislature would have enacted the law if it had no disproportionate impact on African-American voters. She concluded: The record evidence establishes that it would not have.

Throughout her opinion, North Carolina State Conference of the N.A.A.C.P. v. McCrory, Judge Motz documented how the Legislature, armed with data it had requested showing the racial breakdown of voters who used various practices, specifically singled out for limitations or elimination those practices most used by African-American voters. These included early voting and same-day registration. Judge Motz then observed somewhat delicately that the party that newly dominated the legislature was also the party that rarely enjoyed African-American support  facts that provided the answer to what she called the puzzle of the General Assemblys motivation. The answer to the puzzle: The Republican politicians motive was to entrench their party in office in the face of surging voter registration and participation by North Carolinas black citizens.

Using race as a proxy for party may be an effective way to win an election, Judge Motz wrote. But intentionally targeting a particular races access to the franchise because its members vote for a particular party, in a predictable manner, constitutes discriminatory purpose.

Judge Motzs language was more pointed and conclusory than Justice Breyers. Justice Breyer stopped short of declaring that the Texas Legislatures stated motivation was phony and that its real motive was to restrict access to abortion to whatever degree the courts would let it get away with. But the message was clear, and the two decisions overlap in analysis is striking. Absence of a documented problem? Check. Singling out a particular practice for onerous requirements? Check. The legislators knowledge of the likely impact? Check. An official justification that the evidence, examined in close detail, cant support? Check.

Of the decisions in the Texas abortion case and voter ID cases in Texas and North Carolina, the Texas voter decision is the most conventionally cautious. But coming from one of the countrys most conservative appeals courts, the Fifth Circuit, it is the most surprising. (It was a Fifth Circuit decision that the Supreme Court overturned in the abortion case.) The 9 to 6 opinion, issued by the full appeals court, was both the product of obvious compromise among the nine judges in the majority (four appointed by Republican presidents and five by Democrats) and of a pressing deadline. In an unusual order on April 29, the Supreme Court had given the Fifth Circuit until July 20 to decide the case, after which, the justices suggested, they themselves might intervene. (Two years ago, the Fifth Circuit had issued a stay of the District Courts decision that invalidated the voter ID law, and the Supreme Court had refused to lift that stay, thus keeping the law in place.) The decision, Veasey v. Abbott, was issued on deadline, on July 20.
In Texas, Michigan, North Carolina and elsewhere, federal courts in recent months have struck down one discriminatory voting law after another in a series of major victories for voting-rights advocates. Millions of voters, especially minorities who might have otherwise been obstructed by voter-identification requirements or shortened early voting times, will now be able to cast their ballots in the presidential election.

But these victories, though significant and hard-won, concern only major state-level voting laws. They obscure a more pernicious problem: In towns, cities and counties across the country  particularly throughout the Deep South  many discriminatory voting changes have been made at more local levels. Because officials dont always have to give notice in advance about such changes, voters may learn of them only when they show up at the polls.

Local elections  for mayors, for members of school boards and city councils  affect such critical everyday issues as education policy and policing priorities. Consequently, local voter discrimination can have a more direct impact on the lives of minority voters than can voter discrimination in presidential elections and should worry us the most.

Consider some recent examples:

In March, the City Council of Daphne, Ala., shrank the number of polling places from five locations in white and black districts to just two polling places located in districts that are mostly white. As a result, black voters are now forced to travel farther than before, yet most white voters face no new burdens.
No shortage of critics unleashed their weaponry eight years ago as the federal government intervened to save General Motors and Chrysler when they teetered near bankruptcy. Among the more notable: Mitt Romney, whos well remembered for his 2008 New York Times Op-Ed article, Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.

This years Republican nominees have echoed Mr. Romney.

You could have let it go bankrupt, frankly, and rebuilt itself, and a lot of people felt it should happen, Donald Trump said last summer, adding that, without government assistance, the industry would be in the same situation. His running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, opposed government intervention and continued to hold that position afterward. It still would have been better if G.M. had gone through an orderly reorganization bankruptcy without taxpayer support, he said in 2010.

Just as Mr. Romney was wrong eight years ago, so, too, have Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence been wrong more recently. I know, because as lead auto adviser in the Obama administration, I was there.

In late 2008 and early 2009, when General Motors and Chrysler exhausted their cash reserves, traditional sources of private capital that typically provide liquidity to companies during a bankruptcy reorganization fled to the sidelines.
In Rojavas war against the Islamic State, women can be found not only in the ranks but also in command of guerrilla units. After their rescue from Mount Sinjar, some Yazidi women decided to follow this example, and started their own militia, the Womens Protection Unit-Shengal (another name for Sinjar). Similarly, in Iraqi Kurdistan, Yazidi women rescued from sexual slavery have formed their own brigade.

Though female guerrillas have fought in national liberation struggles in places from China to Vietnam, Cuba to Nicaragua, Mozambique, Angola, Iran and the Palestinian territories, mainstream global feminist organizations have tended to follow the lead of the Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, founded during World War I, which holds that the solution to womens victimization in wartime is, first, to oppose war and, second, to make sure women are at the negotiating table when wars end.

The Kurdish liberation movements approach, on the contrary, emphasizes self-defense in both military and social terms. Female guerrillas are meant to be seen as exemplars who show that female leadership is crucial in every sphere of society. In Rojavas system of autonomous democracy (the area is within Syrias borders), there are strong mandates for the participation of women in governance, and all organizations are led by both a man and a woman. Committees of women have real authority over problems like forced marriage and domestic violence.

But it is the female warrior in particular who offers a powerful counterimage to that of the raped and dishonored victim who is considered a source of shame to her family and community. Ancient, patriarchal ideas have made rape and sexual slavery a central strategy in genocidal conflicts, meant to destroy the very identity of the enemy. Thats how rape was used in Bosnia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (and earlier, in the partition of India and the liberation war of Bangladesh), and thats how it is being used today in Iraq and Syria.
FRONT PAGE

An article on Wednesday about a break on unpaid taxes that casinos founded by Donald J. Trump were given under the administration of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey quoted incorrectly from comments the governor made about his familys personal friendship with the Trumps. He said that he and his wife Mary Pat  not Pat  had been friends with the Trumps for more than a decade. In addition, the article misidentified an event where Mr. Christie also spoke about his close relationship with Mr. Trump. It was when he endorsed Mr. Trump in February, not at the Republican National Convention in July.

INTERNATIONAL

An article on July 22 about the persistent secrecy in the race for the next secretary general of the United Nations, using information from diplomats speaking on the condition of anonymity, misidentified the candidate who came in last in a straw poll taken by the Security Council. She is Vesna Pusic of Croatia, not Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica.

BUSINESS DAY

An article on May 26 about investors who are trying to get their money back from Mt. Gox, the Tokyo-based virtual currency exchange that collapsed into bankruptcy, misstated the legal and accounting costs for the investors claiming money from the Mt. Gox bankruptcy estate. It was $5.5 million, not $55 million. (It is now $5.9 million in current exchange rates.) A reader pointed out the error only recently.

THE ARTS

A Critics Notebook article on Wednesday about the New York International Fringe Festival misstated the surname of an actress in The 800th Annual Salvation Swing-Off. She is Stacey Garbarski, not Gabarski.
Nearly 100 years old, Cogolin is one of those French cultural treasures that has remained a secret address for the design cognoscenti through the decades. From its low-slung, apricot stucco headquarters, a staff of 14 weavers  all women  work on 19th-century Jacquard looms to custom-make each piece. The decorator David Hicks was a frequent client, as was Hubert de Givenchy. These days, designers such as Jeffrey Bilhuber and Robert Couturier regularly convince clients the rugs are a worthy investment. There are Cogolins underfoot at the Elysee Palace.

The companys roots are typically Provencal: It began in the late 19th century as a silkworm farm staffed by Armenian artisans in the small village of Cogolin, near Saint-Tropez. They started out producing silk thread, and later turned to hand-knotted carpets. In 1928, a French entrepreneur named Jean Lauer, who had a silk-weaving factory in Lyon and a tapestry company in Aubusson, came across the workshop while on vacation in the area. He was so charmed that he bought it.

Installing the Jacquard looms from his Lyon atelier, he adapted them to use thicker yarn and began weaving carpets inspired by various Mediterranean techniques. The result was clusters of longish loops in Jacquard patterns on a tight-weave base. Sometimes the loops were left alone, creating a soft relief. Other times the loops were sliced open with a knife to give the relief a shag look. The technique, called point de Bruxelles, became Cogolins signature.

Lauer also continued to make hand-knotted carpets, and sought out Modernist artists and designers of the era, such as Eileen Gray, Cocteau, Leger, Jules Leleu and Berard, to design them. The rugs, resembling vivid abstract tapestries, meshed perfectly with the emergence of avant-garde interiors done by the likes of Frank.

The company carried on after Lauer died in 1962, but in the late 1980s, it fell on hard times and was sold to a private investor. By the time the Hong-Kong-based House of Tai Ping carpet company bought it in 2010, the place was in sorry shape, with cats sleeping in the archive drawers and birds flying in through the broken windowpanes. Tai Ping set about rescuing it, in the words of Cogolins current managing director, Sarah Henry.
In the middle of a quiet Elizabeth Street block, above an unmistakably pink subterranean stone entryway with flower boxes of mottled caladium leaves, a neon starburst with a smiley face announces a new arrival: the full-service healthy Italian restaurant Pietro Nolita. Its owners, Pietro Quaglia and Mina Soliman, met in 2003, when Soliman was working at Indochine as a maitre d. At the time, Quaglia was interning at Dolce and Gabbana, whose team held ritual Friday night dinners there. The pair didnt talk restaurants until September of last year, when Quaglia was alerted the space was available by the restaurateur and designer Serge Becker  whose wife happens to be Solimans sister. The longtime friends becomes business partners soon thereafter.

Inspired by the cooking of Quaglias mother Patrizia Ferrario back home in Milan, the menu at Pietro will favor light, clean versions of Italian mainstays, such as a secret recipe for pasta alla carbonara, with only a little butter and no cream, and branzino with pink peppercorn and lemon zest. The decor is overwhelmingly pink: a Memphis Group-inspired rose designed by Jeanette Dalrot. Theres a zigzagging leather banquette, set in pastel-stained wood against a wall painted with pink-and-white racing stripe; and there are slices of mirror and neon bars throughout, as well as white starbursts hand-painted on the bar. The furniture was all custom-made to accommodate the space, which seats 30 and clocks in at under 1000 square feet. A tiny chefs window looks out over the black-and-white graphic formica tables.
Being able to travel has given me a great opportunity to understand these regional issues, to learn about the historical, geographical and political conditions here. I feel fortunate that my restored ability to travel has given me this experience.

Q: Your first stop was Berlin  to join your partner, Wang Fen, and your son, Lao Ai, and to set up a studio. Why Berlin? Do you intend to continue traveling back and forth between your Beijing and Berlin studios, and do you plan on setting up studios anywhere else?

A: Berlin was my first stop for several reasons. During my detention, [German representatives] had very frequently visited me and expressed a deep concern about my situation, and made remarkable efforts in every communication with Chinese society. Secondly, I had previously agreed to take on a visiting professorship at the Universitat der Kunste Berlin. Also, I set up a studio five years ago in this city. That gave me a reason to go some place I could immediately continue my work.

I dont think artists really require a studio today. As long as you are informed online, you can have your studio anywhere, in any hotel, train station or airport terminal. I dont feel the need for a studio. We have been working on the Lesbos coast and at every other location I have traveled to, making use of hotel conference rooms. I will stay outside of Beijing, but I have to go back because my mother is there. Beijing is no longer my priority since the situation has become so severe for anyone who wants to speak out. Many of those I know are still in prison today.

Q: How did you get the idea to use Instagram as a medium to document the refugees in Lesbos?

A: I went to Lesbos to experience, firsthand, the refugee situation. The idea only comes when I felt suffocated by the condition. I couldnt believe what I had seen. There was an inner need to grab that reality, which looked so surreal. When you take a photograph and expose it to social media, such as Instagram, you create another reality that can reach others, to share with them this very real situation. Its also a challenge to yourself and a challenge to those who follow you. The reality of this refugee situation should be shared.
The major insurers, which appeared more optimistic about the marketplaces earlier in the year, have been seeing losses, and the losses have worsened, said Ana Gupte, an analyst at Leerink Partners who follows the insurance industry. In the case of Aetna, she said, its ability to withstand those losses was weakened when it became clear it might not be able to rely on the cost savings it expected from its merger with Humana.

How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause. Learn more about our process.

This tumult is happening as the administration prepares for the fourth annual open enrollment period under President Obamas heath law, which is scheduled to start on Nov. 1, a week before Election Day. Most Americans still get their insurance through their employers or government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and veterans health care.

The insurance exchanges were expected to be a major supplement to that system for people who do not have access to employer plans or government programs. But enrollment in the exchanges  11 million at the end of March  is far below expectations, and insurers say it must increase to produce a better, more sustainable mix of healthy and less healthy consumers.

Administration officials said they would try to sign up more young adults, with a special emphasis on those turning 26 and moving off their parents plans. Officials said that they would, for the first time, send letters about marketplace coverage to people who had paid the tax penalty for being uninsured, a group in which young adults are overrepresented.

The administration is also hunting for consumers who can deliver testimonials advertising the benefits of coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Interested consumers could appear in television, radio, print and/or digital ads and on social media, the administration said in an appeal sent last week to health care advocates and insurance counselors.

The testimonials could counter negative publicity generated by rising premiums, the withdrawal of major insurers like Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealth from many counties, and the collapse of insurance cooperatives in at least a dozen states. The effort could also raise protests from Republicans in Congress.

Madison Hardee, a lawyer at Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, in Charlotte, N.C., said that enrollment stories can be an incredibly powerful tool to connect with consumers. Such testimonials are urgently needed, she said, because consumers in North Carolina are already starting to get notices about health insurance companies leaving the marketplace, and they fear the changes will reduce their ability to get quality, affordable coverage.
Alarmed over attacks that included the rapes and beatings of foreign aid workers by soldiers in South Sudans capital last month, the United Nations secretary general has ordered an inquiry into why the organizations peacekeepers failed to stop the violence, his spokesman said on Wednesday.

The inquiry by an outside and independent panel will focus on a July 11 attack at the Terrain hotel complex in the capital, Juba. One person was killed and several civilians were raped and beaten in the attack, said Farhan Haq, the spokesman for the secretary general, Ban Ki-moon.

Mr. Haq, reading from a statement, also said Mr. Ban was concerned over allegations that forces of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, the peacekeeping operation known as Unmiss, did not respond appropriately to prevent this and other grave cases of sexual violence committed in Juba.

The spokesman said the panels goal would be to determine the circumstances surrounding these incidents and to evaluate the Missions overall response.
For the first time since a cholera epidemic believed to be imported by United Nations peacekeepers began killing thousands of Haitians nearly six years ago, the office of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has acknowledged that the United Nations played a role in the initial outbreak and that a significant new set of U.N. actions will be needed to respond to the crisis.

The deputy spokesman for the secretary general, Farhan Haq, said in an email this week that over the past year, the U.N. has become convinced that it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera. He added that a new response will be presented publicly within the next two months, once it has been fully elaborated, agreed with the Haitian authorities and discussed with member states.

The statement comes on the heels of a confidential report sent to Mr. Ban by a longtime United Nations adviser on Aug. 8. Written by Philip Alston, a New York University law professor who serves as one of a few dozen experts, known as special rapporteurs, who advise the organization on human rights issues, the draft language stated plainly that the epidemic would not have broken out but for the actions of the United Nations.

The secretary generals acknowledgment, by contrast, stopped short of saying that the United Nations specifically caused the epidemic. Nor does it indicate a change in the organizations legal position that it is absolutely immune from legal actions, including a federal lawsuit brought in the United States on behalf of cholera victims seeking billions in damages stemming from the Haiti crisis.
BEIJING  Burning coal has the worst health impact of any source of air pollution in China and caused 366,000 premature deaths in 2013, Chinese and American researchers said on Thursday.

Coal is responsible for about 40 percent of the deadly fine particulate matter known as PM 2.5 in Chinas atmosphere, according to a study the researchers released in Beijing.

Those figures are consistent with what Chinese scientists have been saying in recent years about industrial coal burning and its relation to air pollution.

The study, which was peer-reviewed, grew out of a collaboration between Tsinghua University in Beijing, one of Chinas top research universities, and the Health Effects Institute, based in Boston, a research center that receives funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the worldwide motor vehicle industry. The researchers primary aim was to identify the main sources of air pollution leading to premature deaths in China.
BEIRUT, Lebanon  Syrian government aircraft hit the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Daraya with incendiary bombs for the third straight day on Wednesday, according to local council members, who said the weapons were packed with substances akin to napalm.

Incendiary bombs emit bright light that resembles fireworks and ignite persistent fires, heating to temperatures up to 10 times the boiling point of water.

Usually armed with thermite or phosphorus, which can cause horrific burns like those inflicted by napalm in American bombardments during the Vietnam War, the weapons are increasingly being used in attacks on rebel-held areas, especially in the contested northern city of Aleppo, according to Syrian opposition activists and human rights groups that are calling for an end to the practice.

And the Syrian governments most powerful ally, Russia, may also be using the weapons in its own airstrikes, Human Rights Watch contends, citing footage from Russian state-run television that showed the bombs clearly labeled on an attack aircraft in Syria, and similar casings found at attack sites.
The last time anyone is known to have heard from the Polish-Jewish artist Moshe Rynecki was in 1943, when his wife, Perla, received a postcard that he had sent from Majdanek, a concentration camp near Lublin, Poland. The Nazis had transported him there from the smoldering ruins of the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw. The rest of his family had stayed in Warsaw, posing as Christians. His scrawled message reassured his wife that he was well and painting in the camp, his son, George Rynecki, recalled in a memoir written decades after the war.

By the time Mr. Rynecki was sent to Majdanek, he had entrusted about 800 of his artworks to friends. A few dozen works in family hands inspired his great-granddaughter, Elizabeth Rynecki, to write a book, Chasing Portraits: A Great-Granddaughters Quest for Her Lost Art Legacy, to be published in September. Ms. Rynecki, who helps run a family real estate business near San Francisco, has also created an online database of Mr. Ryneckis paintings and is finishing a documentary based on her decades of research.

The quest was a moral imperative I had to fulfill, she writes in the book. She added in a phone interview that the need to research became ever more urgent, since potential eyewitnesses were dying off. I felt like if I didnt do it now, the story would be gone, she said.

Mr. Rynecki, whose father was a tailor specializing in uniforms, insisted on studying art. His parents warned him he was violating religious rules against creating graven images. To earn a living, he was set up in the art supplies business. Perla Rynecki ran the store while he sketched.
A century-old wooden deck chair from a sunken British ship might seem like an incongruous artifact to include in an exhibition of recently acquired objects by a New York history museum, except that this one was retrieved from the Titanic. New York, where the ship was to dock, was the final destination of about 200 of the 1,500 passengers who drowned in the disaster, and the first Senate hearings into the tragedy were held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

This summer, the Museum of the City of New Yorks longstanding Timescapes narrative history film was shifted downstairs to a new, permanent location. Whitney W. Donhauser, the museums director, and Sarah M. Henry, the deputy director and chief curator, decided to remind visitors that the museums collection of about 750,000 objects, photographs, texts, paintings and other images is continually growing, enriching the museums interpretation of the past and adding contemporary items that presumably will be considered historic enough to preserve and display.

The result is From Teaspoons to Titanic: Recent Acquisitions, a boutique sampler of keepsakes, all acquired since 2013 and most of them donated.

The second-floor gallery housing the exhibition radiates with riveting black-and-white photographs, but the most evocative object may be the bare beechwood deck chair with a ripped rattan seat.
For contemporary art in America, the 1980s was an exciting if not lovable decade. Arguably it was second only to the 1960s for ambitious innovations of style and thought. Consider Julian Schnabels brawny Neo-Expressionist paintings, Cindy Shermans canny, staged self-portraits, Jeff Koonss sumptuous sculptures of kitschy objects and Barbara Krugers suavely designed leftist agitprop: The 80s abounded in eye- and mind-grabbing work.

In contrast to the future-oriented euphoria of the 60s, however, the mood of art in the 80s was retrospective and darkly rueful. With AIDS taking the lives of many in the art community and a conservative president, Ronald Reagan, in the White House, reasons for optimism apparently were few.

That downbeat feeling is stirringly conveyed by Unfinished Business: Paintings From the 1970s and 1980s by Ross Bleckner, Eric Fischl and David Salle, an exhibition of paintings and drawings by three artists who rose to stardom in the 80s, at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, N.Y.

Mr. Bleckner, 67, Mr. Fischl, 68, and Mr. Salle, 63, have been friends since their student days at the California Institute of the Arts in the early 70s, where they chafed under conceptualist prejudice against painting. All had moved to New York by 1978, and there they achieved the success that would eventually enable them each to acquire a home in the Hamptons, not far from the Parrish.
BOSTON  In Renaissance Italy, art was a form of advertising, pushing hopes and emotions as much as things. Allegorical images  Temperance, Justice, Charity  on urban facades promoted civic pride and obedience. In churches, sculptural angels offered getaway deals to heaven. Home icons of the Virgin and Child taught that salvation lay not in riches but in fruitfulness, patience and a good-night kiss.

One of the most innovative art-as-advertising firms in late-15th- and early-16th-century Florence was the della Robbia workshop, a family concern that prospered for three long-lived generations. Its specialty was a brand of glazed terra-cotta sculpture that was physically durable, graphically strong and technologically inimitable. (The exact methods for producing it remain a mystery to this day.)

That the work could be dramatically beautiful was also a major attraction, though one nearly forgotten once the della Robbia style had gone out of fashion in the 16th century and then into overproduction with a Victorian revival. For this reason, beauty may be the biggest surprise of Della Robbia: Sculpting With Color in Renaissance Florence, at the Museum of Fine Arts here, a show of ideal size and scholarly weight that includes among 46 pieces one of the tenderest Renaissance sculptures in existence  The Visitation by Luca della Robbia  on first-time American loan from its Tuscan church.
WASHINGTON  Harley-Davidson has agreed to pay a $12 million civil fine and stop selling illegal aftermarket devices that cause its motorcycles to emit too much pollution, the Justice Department said on Thursday.

The settlement resolves government accusations that Harley sold roughly 340,000 super tuners, enabling motorcycles since 2008 to pollute the air at levels greater than what the company certified to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Harley did not admit liability, and said in a statement that it disagreed with the governments position, arguing that the devices were designed and sold to be used in competition only.

The company said the settlement represented a good-faith compromise with the E.P.A. on areas of law we interpret differently, particularly E.P.A.s assertion that it is illegal for anyone to modify a certified vehicle even if it will be used solely for off-road/closed-course competition.
FRANKFURT  The German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH played a key role in developing the software that let Volkswagen cheat on clean air rules, according to new allegations filed in a San Francisco court on behalf of car owners.

Bosch, which supplied the computer that controlled Volkswagen diesel engines, was already a co-defendant in class action suits against the carmaker in the United States. But the new accusations, filed as part of those suits, portray Bosch as playing a more central role in the scandal than was previously alleged.

The company is one of the worlds largest auto suppliers and a symbol of German engineering prowess.

The new allegations, filed in federal court on Tuesday and reported by Reuters late Wednesday, contend that Volkswagen could not have modified engine software to deceive emissions regulators without Boschs help.
At the recent premiere in London of the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, J. K. Rowling insisted that she is really, truly, done with writing about Harry Potter.

Harry is done now, Ms. Rowling told Reuters.

She did not, however, rule out writing more about the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

On Wednesday Ms. Rowlings publishing platform, Pottermore, announced a coming e-book series set in the wizarding world. These digital anthologies will collect Ms. Rowlings short stories and other writings from her website, and will include some new stories about Hogwarts characters.

The first three books in the series, out Sept. 6, will center on the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and are roughly 10,000 words. The collections will feature some new writing  including a story about Harrys teacher Horace Slughorn, and one about Professor Minerva McGonagalls part in the second wizarding war  but will otherwise consist of previously published material from Pottermore.
Mr. Dauman and Mr. Abrams filed suit in Massachusetts, challenging Mr. Redstones mental competency and depicting Ms. Redstone as a villain who unduly influenced her father as part of an unlawful corporate takeover. Mr. Dauman, in turn, was depicted as a failing, egoistic executive who oversaw the loss of $7 billion in market capitalization at Viacom in the previous year.

That suit was scheduled to go to trial in September.

Another legal battle emerged in June, when National Amusements moved to replace Mr. Dauman and four other directors on the Viacom board. Viacoms lead independent director immediately filed suit in Delaware, seeking to block the changes. That case was scheduled to go to trial in October.

Over the last three months, the two sides made a series of attempts to resolve the dispute out of court. Settlement talks picked up in the last 10 days, after Viacoms latest earnings report, in which the company said its profits plunged 29 percent during the latest fiscal quarter. The company reported weakness across both its television and film groups, with soft TV ratings at some networks, declines in domestic advertising sales and the dismal box-office performance of its film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

Reaching a settlement helps to preserve the privacy and the dignity of Mr. Redstone, who has suffered a series of strokes and has a severe speech impediment. And it prevents the public airing of the relationship between Mr. Redstone and his daughter, which was been strained in the past. The resolution also provides a path for Mr. Dauman to leave the company less contentiously and while still being well compensated.

And, most importantly, Mr. Redstone and Ms. Redstone now are decidedly in charge of the companys future.

As part of the agreement, Thomas E. Dooley, Viacoms chief operating officer, will become the interim chief executive through Sept. 30, the end of the companys fiscal year. Mr. Dooley is expected to work closely with the Viacom board during the next month and a half to develop a new strategic and financial plan for the company, the people said, and could potentially become the permanent chief executive, pending board approval.
The problem is compounded by settlements, like those at Fox News and most organizations, that impose silence on the victims. Its certainly understandable that companies would want to avoid the bad publicity and put such matters behind them.

Image Rudi Bakhtiar reporting in Tehran.

But at the same time, they foster the perception that the settlements are really cover-ups, especially when no disciplinary steps are taken against the perpetrators. Professor Bauer likened the situation to the sexual abuse scandal that engulfed the Catholic Church.

Weve done thousands of confidential settlements, said Gloria Allred, a civil rights lawyer who has probably handled more prominent sexual harassment cases than anyone. We do them every day. Complete confidentiality is usually the condition for a settlement. This can be very difficult for our clients. They want to be compensated and they want to tell the world about it. I tell them thats just not going to happen.

(Full disclosure: The New York Times Company has also entered into confidential agreements in settling employment cases.)

Victims of sexual harassment can see what happens to other victims who came forward. Its career suicide to come forward, said Professor MacKinnon. Youre roadkill. Women know this, yet some come forward. Thats what courage looks like.

Its not just women who may suffer the consequences. Last week, The Times reported that the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates had settled sexual harassment accusations by Christopher Tarui, who claimed that his boss had caressed his back in a hotel room and repeatedly propositioned him for sex. After he rebuffed his boss, Mr. Taruis complaint states, he received a poor performance review.
Amoss mother, Fania (Ms. Portman), is bookish and melancholy, haunted (at least in her sons recollection) by memories of her home in Ukraine and plagued by headaches and other ailments. The boys interpretation of his mothers condition  offered by his older self (Moni Moshonov), who serves less as narrator than interpreter of his childhood  is that her romantic European temperament was unsuited to the hard realities of the Middle Eastern desert. The world she left behind is imagined as a lush, shadowed, fairy-tale environment, a stark contrast to the dry, sun-bleached reality of a fledgling modern nation. Her death, announced at the outset, is the films central obsessive, unsolvable mystery.

Fanias childhood image of Israel was of a muscular pioneer (Tomer Kapon)  a soldier or a farmer, depending on the particular fantasy. She ended up instead with a Lithuanian-born literary critic, Arieh (Gilad Kahana), whose nerdiness verges on caricature. Youll be bullied in school, he tells his son. But not because youre Jewish. And for him, thats the essence of Zionism: not redemption or perfection, but normalcy.

What happens to Fania  again, as her son understands it  is an implicit critique of that idea. One theme of A Tale of Love and Darkness is that a dream come true is inevitably a disappointment, a notion that seems to allude to one of the foundational mottos of Zionism. If you will it, it is no dream, Theodor Herzl, an architect of modern Zionism, said, but Fania suffers precisely from an atrophy of will and an inability to dream.

That, at least, is the literary and ideological diagnosis that Ms. Portman teases out of the pages of Mr. Ozs dense and sprawling book. On a more literal biographical level, Fania suffers from a psychological malaise exacerbated by the condescension of her in-laws (Ariehs mother remarks that Fanias borscht is almost flavorful) and her own mothers cruelty. She suffers, perhaps a little too beautifully, like a heroine of melodrama. But that is partly how her son remembers her.
Daniel Radcliffe might seem a long way from Hogwarts in Imperium, a bleak movie about an F.B.I. agents undercover foray into the world of neo-Nazis, but then again, maybe not. In the child-friendly Harry Potter films, Harry was perpetually doing battle against the wizarding worlds version of racism and a toxic hatred that seemed to grip those around him like a disease. The difference is that in Imperium his character, Nate Foster, doesnt have magic to fall back on.

The film, directed by Daniel Ragussis, is inspired by the career of Mike German, a former F.B.I. agent who specialized in infiltrating extremist groups. (He is credited with the story, Mr. Ragussis with the screenplay.) Nate begins the movie as a relatively new agent who is looking into the terrorist threat from abroad, but a colleague (Toni Collette) recruits him to switch to her underappreciated area of expertise, domestic terrorism.

That means neo-Nazis, white supremacists, skinheads and the rest, and Nates job is to win their confidence and try to gain access to Dallas Wolf (Tracy Letts), a radio ranter who seems to be leading his listeners toward some kind of cataclysm. Missing radioactive material has the F.B.I. especially concerned.
Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World is Werner Herzogs documentary about the internet. For some readers, that sentence will be sufficient. One of our most intellectually ambitious filmmakers  a self-professed seeker of ecstatic truths, a tireless foot soldier of cinema  tackles what he calls one of the greatest revolutions humanity has experienced. The combination of Mr. Herzogs doggedly curious sensibility and the mysteries of the digital universe seems both improbable and irresistible.

In the course of a singularly peripatetic career, that curiosity has most often taken Mr. Herzog, who will turn 74 on Labor Day, into frontier zones where civilization gives way to wildness. He has ventured into Antarctica, Alaska, the jungles of the Amazon and the forests of his native Germany in search of oddity and revelation. The web might seem like a fairly tame environment for such an adventurous temperament, but it is also the repository of  or at least the inspiration for  mind-blowingly grandiose ideas.

The devices in our hands and on our desks, and the invisible, ubiquitous networks that link them, are often seen to be ushering us toward utopia or hastening the arrival of the apocalypse. Mr. Herzog, an unseen interviewer with an unmistakable voice, seems receptive to both views. He listens to scientists and entrepreneurs celebrate the expansion of knowledge and learning that the digital revolution has brought forth, and to others who lament the erosion of privacy and critical-thinking skills. The physicist Lucianne Walkowicz explains how a solar flare could bring the whole network  and with it our super-technologized way of life  crashing down in a matter of days. On the other hand, we might build self-driving cars, perfect artificial intelligence applications that permanently erase the boundary between people and machines or even create colonies on Mars.

At times, Mr. Herzogs imagination leaps beyond even the more startling speculations of his subjects. He is not so much credulous as excitable, given to interrupting the prose of researchers and analysts with flights of poetry. He tries to press some of them to predict the future, something scientists are generally reluctant to do. And he poses a question that charms and stumps many of them: Does the internet dream of itself?
They arrived early, an hour before the judge started hearing cases on Thursday, taking up much of a long bench in the Queens courtroom. They were family members of Oscar Morel, the man charged with first-degree murder in the execution-style attack on an imam and his assistant on a sidewalk on Saturday afternoon.

The relatives had come to support Mr. Morel as he returned to Queens Criminal Court, facing charges that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole for an attack that has stirred fear and anger among Muslims in New York.

His family members called out to him during the brief hearing, telling him, Love you, Oscar, even though they were chastised by the judge. Mr. Morel, who turned 36 on Thursday, acknowledged them with a nod.

The relatives declined to talk to reporters. But as his father, who declined to give his name, walked out of the courthouse supported by two relatives, he said in halting English, He dont do it.
In 2004, an Australian woman of Lebanese descent, Aheda Zanetti, discovered a market niche. Troubled by the sight of her young niece trying to play netball in an unwieldy combination of hijab and team uniform, she decided to design something suitable for Muslim sensibilities that combined modesty and practicality. Soon after she did the same thing for Muslim women who wanted to swim at Sydney beaches  but not in bikinis.

She founded a company, Ahiida, to produce the new attire, which included the hijood  a synthesis of hijab and hood  and the burkini  an amalgam of burqa and bikini. In 2006, Zanetti trademarked the names burkini and burqini in Australia and elsewhere. The swimwear  two-piece, full-body, head-covering garments  took off. For many Muslim women the burkini solved a beach dilemma.

Fast-forward a dozen years through a period of growing tension between Islam and the West to Cannes on the French Cote dAzur, where the mayor this month banned use of burkinis. Cannes is just 15 miles from Nice, the site of a terrorist attack last month in which a man loyal to the Islamic State drove a truck into a festive crowd, killing 85 people.

The ordinance of the Cannes mayor, David Lisnard, said: Beach attire that ostentatiously displays a religious affiliation, while France and places of worship are the target of terrorist acts, is likely to create risks to public order.
To the Editor:

Maureen Dowd hits the nail on the head with her Aug. 14 column (The Perfect G.O.P. Nominee), and so she sharpens the ambivalence a past Bernie Sanders supporter like me feels about Hillary Clintons candidacy.

All too inclined toward military action, all too cozy with business interests, all too amenable to retrograde causes when she finds them politically convenient (take welfare reduction, mass incarceration, the Defense of Marriage Act, capital punishment, George W. Bushs war in Iraq or Israels apartheid policies), Mrs. Clinton is indeed a candidate the Republican establishment can feel all too comfortable with.

And yet this fall I will be knocking on doors for her campaign. Not with enthusiasm, but with an awareness of her opponents unrivaled capacity to subvert American democracy, civil society, world peace and the global environment. Lesser evil scarcely begins to describe the chasm between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on these urgent and fundamental issues.

DAN LETWIN

University Park, Pa.

To the Editor:

Re Some Liberals Worry Clinton Faces Risks in Focus on Trump (front page, Aug. 15):

Some liberals express doubts about Hillary Clintons commitment to a liberal agenda because of her focus on Donald Trumps mental stability and her seeking of Republican crossover votes.
MIAMI BEACH  A cluster of Zika cases most likely transmitted by local mosquitoes has been identified in Miami Beach, and federal and state officials are considering whether to advise pregnant women to avoid traveling to the city and possibly even all of Miami-Dade County, a health official said Thursday.

Such a decision would signal that the potential threat of local Zika transmission had catapulted to a new level. It would no longer be confined to one zone of active local transmission in Miami  the only one identified in the continental United States up to now. A broad travel advisory could threaten tourism in South Florida and deepen fears among pregnant women living in the area.

The Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales, in an email to city commissioners, confirmed that two cases of Zika have been tied to Miami Beach. One case is a tourist who had visited Miami Beach two weeks ago. Another case involves a Miami Beach resident who works on the island, Mr. Morales said in the email, which was first reported by The Miami Herald.

I have been informed that two Zika cases have been linked to Miami Beach, Mr. Morales said in the email.
SAN FRANCISCO  Twitter suspended 235,000 accounts that promoted terrorism over the last six months, as part of a continuing effort to keep people from using the social network for extremist causes, the company said Thursday.

The world has witnessed a further wave of deadly, abhorrent terror attacks across the globe, Twitter said in a statement. We strongly condemn these acts and remain committed to eliminating the promotion of violence or terrorism on our platform.

Twitters latest action brings the total number of accounts that the company has suspended to 360,000 since it began cracking down on terrorism and violent extremism in mid-2015. While Twitter has long championed free speech on the web and said that it was a global town square, its positioning has drawn bullies, racists and extremist groups to the service to spread their messages. That has drawn criticism from government agencies and the Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, among others.

While Twitter is trying to find a way to reconcile its free speech stance with how women and minorities can be targeted on the service, the company has been clearer about combating terrorism. Daily suspensions for violating Twitters prohibition on terrorism are up over 80 percent since last year, with spikes in suspensions immediately following terrorist attacks, the company said.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  A womans right to choose  how to live her life, or how to end it  provides an oblique theme linking the two plays that close the Williamstown Theater Festival season, which ends on Sunday.

On the main stage is a revival of Wendy Wassersteins An American Daughter, about a nominee for surgeon general caught up in a political firestorm. And on the smaller Nikos Stage, the company is presenting the American premiere of And No More Shall We Part, a dark drama about illness and mortality by the Australian writer Tom Holloway.

In Mr. Holloways play, Jane Kaczmarek and Alfred Molina portray the sole characters, a long-married couple facing an agonizing choice. In the opening scene, Pam (Ms. Kaczmarek) lies in a single bed, casually reminiscing about family vacations past, while her husband, Don (Mr. Molina), sits brooding in a chair next to her. His hooded eyes, hunched posture and distracted, monosyllabic responses betray his inner turmoil.

By the end of the scene, we realize that this is to be the last night they will spend together. Pam, who has an unnamed terminal illness, has decided to take matters into her own hands, and end her life on her terms. The play, which runs a short if not exactly swift 70 minutes  such grim subject matter doesnt encourage a breezy approach  then moves back in time to explore how Pam came to her decision. We watch how she gradually persuaded a deeply reluctant Don to accept her choice and help her, although what they are doing is technically illegal.
CHICAGO  Chicagos police superintendent has called for the firing of seven officers for their response to a colleagues fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald in 2014, a case that roiled the city and laid bare longstanding tensions between the police and black Chicagoans.

Superintendent Eddie Johnsons decision, announced Thursday by a Police Department spokesman, comes nearly two years after Officer Jason Van Dyke fired 16 shots at Mr. McDonald, a 17-year-old African-American.

The dashboard camera video of the shooting that was released, under public pressure, in November incited widespread protests and exposed an entrenched code of silence among officers who had sworn to a far different account of the shooting from what the video captured.

The case has led to increased scrutiny and skepticism of the department, including a Justice Department investigation into Chicago police practices and the firing of the previous police superintendent last year as protests intensified. Mayor Rahm Emanuel remains under pressure to provide more transparency and overhaul the police disciplinary system.
PHOENIX  In June 2015, legal and civil rights groups filed a class-action lawsuit in Federal District Court in Tucson accusing the Border Patrol of holding migrants in dirty and crowded cells at stations in southeastern Arizona, after they were caught illegally entering the United States.

Late Wednesday, still images from surveillance video at the stations, offering a glimpse inside the cells, were publicly released. The videos were part of the evidence filed with the court during the discovery process and unsealed by Judge David C. Bury last week.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of migrants by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, the American Immigration Council, the National Immigration Law Center and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area..
Mr. Romney relied on his 27-point edge among white men to carry the male vote over all, but Mr. Trump is even more reliant on them because of how poorly he performs with nonwhite voters. If Mr. Trump is only doing as well or worse than Mr. Romney did with white men, he will never make up the votes he is losing among women and nonwhites.

Mr. Trumps troubles with white men do not end there. The data reveal a huge gap in those who have a college education and those who do not. As Mr. Trump saw in the Republican primaries, he is most vulnerable with white men who have a college education or higher. Mr. Romney won that group, which votes at a higher rate than those without college degrees, by 21 points. Recent national polls have put Mr. Trumps support with them far lower.

Were looking at a margin among college-educated white men for him thats less than half what Romney won, said Gary Langer, an independent pollster who conducted an ABC News/Washington Post survey this month that showed Mr. Trump losing over all to Mrs. Clinton. And that is problematic for Trump given his need to appeal to whites.

Mr. Trumps difficulties with men are symptoms of a larger vulnerability: disapproval that runs deeply through many segments and subgroups of the voting population.

Self-identified Republicans, white women, the wealthy and well-educated people of all races are turning their backs on him. Two national polls have recently put his support from African-Americans at an astonishing 1 percent. Separate Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist surveys in Ohio and Pennsylvania from July found that zero percent of black voters said they planned to vote for him. The latest poll of Latinos, conducted within the last week by Fox News, had Mr. Trump with just 20 percent support, below the 27 percent that Mr. Romney received in 2012.
Many leading Republicans have already concluded that Mr. Trump is sure to lose, and that the party should turn its attention entirely to buttressing its most endangered senators and limiting Democratic gains in the House. But there is a divide over how soon the Republican National Committee should begin shifting money away from the presidential race and to the fight to retain Congress.

Were rapidly approaching the time where the R.N.C. will have to think long and hard about investing its resources in Senate seats rather than continuing to help a presidential campaign thats going nowhere, said Josh Holmes, a Republican strategist deeply involved in Senate races.

But at a private meeting of the Republican Governors Association this week in Aspen, Colo., Haley Barbour, an influential former Mississippi governor and Republican chairman, urged the governors to rally behind Mr. Trump to improve the partys prospects and said the party should continue to back him, at least until October, according to a Republican who was there.

Democrats would need to pick up four seats to gain control of the Senate if Mrs. Clinton wins the presidency, and her vice president becomes the chambers tiebreaker vote. Officials in both parties believe that the two Republican seats most likely to change hands are in Wisconsin and Illinois. And with the well-known former Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana returning home to try to reclaim his Republican-held seat, Democrats enjoy an initial advantage there, too.

So with only one Democratic-controlled seat being aggressively contested  that of the Senate minority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, who is retiring  it is critical for Republicans to bolster their defenses in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and North Carolina, or they are sure to lose the Senate.
Last week, as Donald J. Trump endured one of the most tumultuous stretches of his presidential campaign, a few longtime allies in New York conservative circles met for dinner and a drink. As the evening progressed, the conversation turned to an inevitable topic: What would it take to give Mr. Trump his best shot at winning?

A few days later, one of the guests, Stephen K. Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News, would become Mr. Trumps campaign chief in a sudden shake-up. But it was a guest without a formal role in the campaign, a conservative philanthropist named Rebekah Mercer, who has now become one of its most potent forces.

Mr. Bannons ascension on Wednesday  urged on Mr. Trump by Ms. Mercer, among others  shows how a cadre of strategists, super PACs and political organizations quietly nurtured by her family have emerged to play a pivotal role in Mr. Trumps presidential campaign.

Image Robert Mercer in 2014. He switched his allegiance to Donald Trump after initially supporting Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. Credit... Andrew Toth/Getty Images

Over more than half a decade, Ms. Mercers father, the New York investor Robert Mercer, has carved an idiosyncratic path through conservative politics, spending tens of millions of dollars to outflank his own partys consultant class and unnerve its established powers. His fortune has financed think tanks and insurgent candidates, super PACs and media watchdogs, lobbying groups and grass-roots organizations.
Will Steven Avery, featured in the Netflix series Making a Murderer, go free?

That is the hope of his lawyer, who is stepping up efforts to have him exonerated  or at least to get him a new trial  amid the publics renewed attention to the case after the conviction of Mr. Averys co-defendant and nephew, Brendan Dassey, was overturned last week by a federal judge in Wisconsin.

The two men were found guilty in 2007 of the murder of Teresa Halbach, a 25-year-old photographer who disappeared on Halloween in 2005.

Kathleen Zellner, the lawyer who took over Mr. Averys defense in January, weeks after the Netflix series was released, said she has a different person in mind who she believes killed Ms. Halbach.

Heres where the case stands.

Lawyer plans new tests

Ms. Zellner said she would file a motion next week to access DNA evidence collected from the crime scene and used against Mr. Avery. She plans to order new testing, some of which was not possible during the original trial.
WASHINGTON  The Obama administration said on Thursday that it would begin to phase out the use of private for-profit prisons to house federal inmates. The Bureau of Prisons had resorted to such prisons to ease overcrowding as the incarceration rate soared, but the number of federal inmates has been dropping since 2013.

In announcing the policy shift, the Justice Department cited that decline, as well as a critical recent report by the departments independent inspector general about safety and security problems in private prisons.

Private prisons served an important role during a difficult period, but time has shown that they compare poorly to our own bureau facilities, Sally Q. Yates, the deputy attorney general, wrote in a memo to the bureau. Such prisons, she said, do not save substantially on costs, and they provide fewer rehabilitative services, like educational programs and job training, that are essential to reducing recidivism and improving public safety.

Ms. Yates instructed the Bureau of Prisons not to renew contracts to use private prisons as existing ones expire, or to at least substantially reduce the number of beds that future contracts will provide.
Keyon Jackson-Malone, a resident of the citys predominantly black north side, said he feared that without a residency requirement, people would start coming from farther and farther away to serve as Milwaukee police officers. The metropolitan areas suburbs and exurbs are among the whitest in the country, and some have a rural feel.

Theres some white people that actually only know black people by what theyve ever heard, Mr. Jackson-Malone said. Theres no experience. Theres no, I went to school with 30 of them. 

Rather, he added: Theres a lot of: Im in fear of my life. Theyre superhuman. Theyre animals. Theyre savage. A person thats lived up north all their life has never had to come to the inner city, but hes going to police this kid. He dont understand about, Mama may be on drugs. He dont have no empathy for the situation.

Battles over residency requirements for police officers have been fought across the country, in places as far-flung as Baton Rouge, La., and Pittsburgh. Typically, police unions are at the fore of opposition to the requirements, arguing that officers should have the freedom to choose where to live. And national tensions over policing have highlighted another argument.

Right now, the community hates us, James Stewart Jr., a Newark detective and president of its chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, told the New Jersey Legislature last year, according to NJ.com. Everything you see on social media, everything you see in the media, the community hates the police. And you want to put us right in the middle of that with our families?
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria  It had been more than a month, and Dije Ali was still locked in a military prison with her seven children.

She had thought they were being taken to safety. Her family and other villagers had been low on food and feared that Boko Haram was closing in. They ran to Nigerian soldiers for protection.

Get in the vehicle, Ms. Ali recalled the soldiers telling them.

But instead of being whisked to freedom, she said, her family wound up in a military detention center with 130 other women and their children, uncertain when they would be released  and why they were there.

I didnt know what Id done wrong, she said. I was just praying God would get us out.

Here in northeastern Nigeria, soldiers are fighting a brutal battle with Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist group that has terrorized the region for years with its campaign of murder, kidnapping, rape and thievery.
NAIROBI, Kenya  Conservationist? Adventurer? Aristocrat? Killer?

Thomas Patrick Gilbert Cholmondeley, the scion of one of Kenyas richest and most fabled white families, was all four.

Friends described him as intensely patriotic about Kenya. So when it came time to make a major life decision  where to undergo hip-replacement surgery  Mr. Cholmondeley, 48, chose to do it here in Kenya, even though he had the money and connections to go anywhere in the world.

On Wednesday, he died in the hospital. Doctors said he had a heart attack, and friends said it might have been connected to a bad reaction to anesthesia.

His death was front-page news in Kenya. He was widely hated and became a symbol of an unfair justice system after he shot and killed two men, both black Kenyans, more than 10 years ago in questionable circumstances.
HONG KONG  Organizers have defended the choice of Hong Kong as the site for a global conference on transplants, saying it did not signify international acceptance of Chinas transplant system, which long relied on organs from executed prisoners. Chinese officials say that they are overhauling the system, and that the use of prisoners organs has ended.

The meeting in Hong Kong is not a coming out for Chinese transplantation, Dr. Philip OConnell, president of the Transplantation Society, which is holding the meeting this week, and Dr. Jeremy Chapman, editor in chief of Transplantation, the societys journal, and a former president, wrote in a joint email on Thursday.

Organ donation reform in China is a major global issue and T.T.S.  the society  has been and will remain the strongest antagonist to the use of executed prisoner organs, they wrote. They added that Hong Kong was chosen in part because a military coup made the first choice of Thailand impractical.

An article published on Wednesday in the American Journal of Transplantation criticized the choice of Hong Kong, saying it was impossible to verify that China had followed through on its promises to change its organ system from one dependent on executed prisoners to one based on voluntary donations, and therefore it was too early to hold such a meeting on Chinese soil.
HONG KONG  Two provincial officials in Vietnams governing Communist Party died on Thursday after being shot in their offices by a forest ranger, who later shot himself, the countrys state-controlled news media reported.

The shootings, a rarity in Vietnam, occurred early Thursday in the northern province of Yen Bai, just before a meeting of the Peoples Council, a lawmaking body, the official Vietnam News Agency said. It identified the gunman as Do Cuong Minh, the leader of Yen Bais forest ranger unit.

The victims were Pham Duy Cuong, the provinces Communist Party secretary and top official, and Ngo Ngoc Tuan, the chairman of the Peoples Council, the news agency said. Both men were shot multiple times.

All three men were pronounced dead at Yen Bai General Hospital, according to an online report by the state-run newspaper Thanh Nien.
ROSTOCK, Germany  As Germany grapples with integrating refugees, it seemed like a good idea: Take 15 newly arrived, unaccompanied minors, mix them in with German teenagers and scatter them in groups of two or three through empty apartments in revamped Communist-era housing blocks on the edge of this Baltic port city.

The German and foreign youths  Afghans, Syrians and Somalis, just a handful of the 60,000 unaccompanied minors now in Germany  would gather in what social workers saw as a communal living room, formerly a physiotherapy space, in an adjacent small shopping mall.

But in an atmosphere heated by looming state elections on Sept. 4, it did not work out that way. On right-wing websites, the foreign newcomers became Salafists, or Islamic extremists, and their communal living room a mosque. From late May, angry young residents started gathering near the living room, taunting the foreigners.

At least two physical clashes ensued; the police had to intervene. After a confrontation on July 23  three days after the rising far-right Alternative for Germany party held a rally in central Rostock  city authorities announced they would move the foreign youths elsewhere.
WASHINGTON  There is something inherently head-spinning about the so-called burkini bans that are popping up in coastal France. The obviousness of the contradiction  imposing rules on what women can wear on the grounds that its wrong for women to have to obey rules about what women can wear  makes it clear that there must be something deeper going on.

Burkinis are, essentially, full-body swimsuits that comply with Islamic modesty standards, and on Wednesday, Prime Minister Manuel Valls of France waded into the raging debate over the bans in some of the countrys beach towns, denouncing the rarely seen garb as part of the enslavement of women.

This, of course, is not really about swimwear. Social scientists say it is also not primarily about protecting Muslim women from patriarchy, but about protecting Frances non-Muslim majority from having to confront a changing world: one that requires them to widen their sense of identity when many would prefer to keep it as it was.

These sorts of statements are a way to police what is French and what is not French, said Terrence G. Peterson, a professor at Florida International University who studies Frances relationship with Muslim immigrants and the Muslim world.
The explorers are focusing on three sites inside the fenced-off area. Tomasz Siwiec, the coordinator of the project, said in an interview on Wednesday that excavations of two of the sites had to be halted on Tuesday afternoon when the team encountered rocks that could be removed only by a jackhammer.

But during the third dig, Mr. Siwiec said, the team came across some materials that struck them as odd. We have found pieces of decades-old porcelain, which may come from a porcelain factory that used to be here before the war, as well as some lake clay, Mr. Siwiec said. There are no lakes in the vicinity. He speculated that the debris and clay had been used, along with dirt, to bury the tunnel we are looking for.

We just intend to locate whatever there is to locate, he said, but getting it out rests with the Polish authorities.

At the end of the second day of digging, Mr. Gaik and Adam Szynkiewicz, a geologist involved in the project, said that even though the excavators had gotten down to nine meters, they still had not found anything, showing that their initial estimates that the tunnel would be eight meters below ground, and the train nine meters below ground, had been too optimistic. We will just have to go two to three meters deeper, Mr. Gaik said. If we still have nothing at that depth, we will try another place.

Residents reacted with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. Anna Kreta, 60, a retired postal worker from a nearby town, Swiebodzice, said she had heard legends of buried treasure since she was little. Its not news to me, but its still the No. 1 topic for everyone, she said.

Walbrzych has been struggling with high unemployment since three coal mines here closed in the 1990s.
BEIRUT, Lebanon  In the images, he sits alone, a small boy coated with gray dust and encrusted blood. His little feet barely extend beyond his seat. He stares, bewildered, shocked and, above all, weary, as if channeling the mood of Syria.

The boy, identified by medical workers as Omran Daqneesh, 5, was pulled from a damaged building after a Syrian government or Russian airstrike in the northern city of Aleppo. He was one of 12 children under the age of 15 treated on Wednesday  not a particularly unusual figure  at one of the hospitals in the citys rebel-held eastern section, according to doctors there.

But some images strike a particular nerve, for reasons both obvious and unknowable, jarring even a public numbed to disaster. Omrans is one.

Within minutes of being posted by witnesses and journalists, a photograph and a video of Omran began rocketing around the world on social media. Unwittingly, Omran  like Alan Kurdi, the Syrian toddler who drowned last September and whose body washed up on a Turkish beach  is bringing new attention to the thousands upon thousands of children killed and injured during five years of war and the inability or unwillingness of global powers to stop the carnage.
SANA, Yemen  Doctors Without Borders announced on Thursday that it would evacuate its staff from six hospitals in northern Yemen because it could not get assurances that its hospitals would not be bombed again.

The group blamed the Saudi-led military coalition for the decision, calling its bombing indiscriminate and its assurances of protection for health workers unreliable, citing the aerial bombardment of Abs Hospital in Hajjah Province on Monday, which killed 19 people and wounded 24.

It was the fourth health facility supported by Doctors Without Borders to be hit by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in the 17-month war against Houthi militias. The aid group, widely known by its French name, Medecins Sans Frontieres, or M.S.F., said in a news release Thursday issued from its New York headquarters that it had met twice with high-ranking coalition officials in the past eight months and been assured that attacks on hospitals would end.

Aerial bombings have however continued, despite the fact that M.S.F. has systematically shared the GPS coordinates of hospitals in which the organization works with the parties involved in the conflict, the news release said.
Semi-trucks that might bear silvery silhouettes of shapely women in the United States are more likely, in West Africa, to carry religious decals along with their fuel, onions or other big loads. Images of marabouts hang from rearview mirrors, and a giant Jesus is sometimes painted on vehicles.

Truckers also pay careful attention to their windshield wipers, which they wrap in long, colorful ribbons that blow in the wind as they rumble along the roadways.

Dakar is home to the most tricked-out ride of all: the car rapide  multicolored minibuses that zip across the city with painted mud flaps, hubcaps and side mirrors. They are as notorious for their decor as they are for being overstuffed with precariously dangling passengers  and they are being phased out, for safety reasons.
Never mind  at least, for now.

Thats what the Social Security Administration told those with online mySocialSecurity accounts, two weeks after announcing that they would be required to have cellphones to receive security code texts in order to log on to the accounts.

Social Security recipients can use the online accounts to manage their benefits, such as selecting a bank account for automatic deposit. Workers who dont yet receive benefits can use the accounts to obtain estimates of future benefits and to check their earnings statements to make sure the estimates are based on correct information.

After an outcry from older Americans, as well as a letter from two United States senators, the agency backed off the cellphone-based code requirement.

Our aggressive implementation inconvenienced or restricted access to some of our account holders, said a statement emailed by an agency spokesman, Mark Hinkle. We are listening to the publics concerns and are responding by temporarily rolling back this mandate.
Musicians have written a nearly uncountable number of books in recent years. But unlike, say, Rod Stewart or Steven Tyler, Franz Nicolay refers to Montaigne, Tocqueville, V.S. Pritchett, Ford Madox Ford and Melville  and thats just in a two-page stretch of the introduction to his new travelogue, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control.

Nicolay, best known as the keyboardist for the Hold Steady when that band was conquering the indie-rock world in the aughts, has since moved on to a solo career. His book covers his time performing on a trip through Eastern Europe, but its real subject is the past and future of underground punk and rock in formerly Communist states. It includes stops in places like Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, the worlds fastest-shrinking city.

Nicolay told me that in the early years as a touring musician, youre caught up in the hedonism of it all, and the fellow feeling, and dont necessarily see that much outside the walls of bars. Exploring comes later. After a while, the show is often the least interesting part of the day  it is, after all, the one thing thats the same every night. One especially bad 48-hour stretch in France once almost cured Nicolay of his love for the lifestyle. He got stuck on a road in a blizzard, and was later robbed of cash and a laptop. The thief also took his copy of Rebecca Wests 1941 classic Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, a sprawling account of time spent in Yugoslavia that Nicolay cites as a major inspiration. I could read it a hundred times and not get sick of it, he said. The confident subjectivity, the trust in her own insight to draw broad conclusions (few travel writers, almost by definition, are experts in the region they write about, but the best own it), the empathy, the barbed feminist asides, the moral clarity, the sharp Orwellian prose and her sense of the value of documenting a liminal place at a historical tipping point. The stolen book included Nicolays precious underlining. He had a replacement copy sent to him for fresh underlining the following week.
It was a fashion show that stopped traffic.

On one of the largest cable bridges in southern Africa, hundreds of the fashion elite had gathered around midnight to watch David Tlales highly anticipated fall 2011 show. To commemorate the occasion, Mr. Tlale shut down the Nelson Mandela Bridge, turning the busy roadway into a runway. Ninety-two models, one for each year of Nelson Mandelas life at the time, crossed the bridge as lights from the city skyline illuminated the stage.

Sitting in the front row was the Swedish-born photojournalist Per-Anders Pettersson, who has spent the last five years documenting the vibrant fashion scene across sub-Saharan Africa.

His new photography book, African Catwalk, is a visual survey of Africas emerging fashion industry, giving viewers an insiders perspective on a transcontinental spectacle that often goes unseen.

The roadway turned runway show in Johannesburg was one of more than 40 events Mr. Petterson photographed, traveling to some 16 countries across the continent. Regional and subtle cultural distinctions become apparent in many of the images.
As we walked down Church Avenue, Similien-Johnson pointed to a corner, remembering the woman who used to sell mangoes there, then talked about the walk she would take with her parents to get the tiny, flowerlike dried black mushrooms for diri djon djon. I was born here, she said. My parents left Haiti because of the lack of opportunity and education, and I just dont think they wanted to talk about it much with me. So when I went back to Haiti this summer, the first time since I was a little girl, I was amazed at how people set up to sell food on the street, just like I remembered here. But going there was like meeting a cousin. She looks like you, but she isnt you.

She struggled with her inexpert Creole but found herself inspired by her grandmother to focus on her culinary inheritance. Four years ago, her grandmother visited from Haiti, flooding Similien-Johnson with memories of sitting in her backyard 20 years earlier. She lived in Jeremie, the City of Poets, she said. I remember the mango trees, the pineapple, the banyan tree. I remember she put down this plate of cornmeal with this black-bean sauce spread on top, and it was the most delicious thing Ive eaten in my entire life. I remember the fresh chicken, from the backyard. You would hear the rooster make a sound when they were about to ... use the chicken. Her grandmother died this summer, and Similien-Johnson says, Now that the tastes are gone with her, I feel like its my duty to share these recipes.

She shared her recipe for mayi moulen with sos pwa nwa, that porridge and black-bean sauce, with me, and I made it at home, inviting Raymond over. I told him about Similien-Johnson and her unfettered love of Haiti. I think part of it is generational, he said. The immigrants who came from Haiti may feel the burdens of where they came from, but their children can be freer to just love it, maybe from afar.

We ate the mayi moulen, and it was deeply satisfying  garlicky grits, a few slices of avocado and a velvety gravy made tropical with coconut milk. Raymond immediately asked me for the recipe. I had always shied away from writing about the food of Haiti, thinking it might seem callous to speak of the cuisine of a place where hunger seems to be prevalent. But this dish, so humble but so delicious, the product of taking little and making much with it, made me realize, too, that when you talk of a place that struggles to sustain life, you also talk of a place where the will to a good life works extra hard. Yeah, man, Raymond said. We can grumble, but dont you tell a Haitian theres anything wrong with Haiti. They will shut that down.
As a graduate student at the Parsons School of Design, Kendall Huberman shared a small two-bedroom rental in the East Village with a friend, paying more than $1,800 a month.

Ms. Huberman didnt want to stay there long. Her block, filled with sidewalk cafes, was insanely loud, she said. A severe mouse problem made her consider acquiring a cat. The rent seemed too high.

Her internship at a residential design firm, J. Vedel, turned into a job as a design assistant. Ms. Huberman began to contemplate buying a place. She knew that her father, who is keenly interested in real estate, would help her with a down payment.

He thought of it as an investment by way of me, she said. Throwing my money away in rent was making me nauseous.
The brouhaha over Mike Daisey, who admitted to fabricating details in his one-man play about Chinese factory workers, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, led to a humbling backlash against the acclaimed writer-performer and innumerable essays.

It has also inspired another play: Caught, by the San Francisco writer Christopher Chen.

Since 2014, Caught has been produced in Philadelphia, Chicago, London and, this spring, Seattle, where The Stranger, an alternative weekly, named it one of the best plays of the year. The Play Company is presenting the productions New York debut at La MaMa, where it opens Aug. 28.

What fascinated Mr. Chen, 34, about the scandal that enveloped Mr. Daisey in 2012 was how the debate over artistic license in documentary theater took precedence over a more humanitarian concern: the lives of the Foxconn employees who made Apple products, working seven days a week in hazardous conditions that sometimes left them injured, or dead.

Were relieved in a way, to not have to worry about the workers conditions in China, he said over tea one afternoon during a rehearsal break.
Tech-savvy entrepreneurs in France are offering apps to help visitors get the most out of Paris and many other cities.

Started by Benjamin and Nina Forlani, Insidr is a digital concierge that provides visitors with an LG 4G smartphone (29 euros for a weekend, 45 for a week or 6 a day for longer stays). It has international and local calling and texting capabilities, and acts as a Wi-Fi hot spot for a travelers devices. It features curated Google Maps for areas around the Louvre and the Champs Elysees. But perhaps the most valuable feature is the 50 or more Angel Insidrs listed as contacts in the WhatsApp application. These Parisians will offer tips whenever they are messaged  be it what bars are open in the Marais on a Sunday or where to get dim sum in Belleville.

The phone is also preloaded with apps like the Oanda currency converter, Google Translate, Citymapper and the Paris tour start-ups MeeTrip and Tod (Trip on Demand). Founded by Ralph Guyot-Jeannin, MeeTrip allows visitors to connect with one of 10,000 guides in any of 1,500 cities worldwide; the guide arrives within 30 minutes when booked via the app on Google Play and iTunes. Tod provides a similar service, but offers a wider range of activities, like bike rides. It is available only in France.

Pretty Streets, an app created by Fabrice Gibelin and Benoit Germond, directs users to the most visually appealing blocks based on geotagged, user-generated photos taken in more than 40 cities.
Call a saltena an empanada at your own risk.

At first glance, it may look like one, a pouch of stuffed dough with a ruffly edge. There the resemblance ends, or so insist Alex, Patrick and David Oropeza, three brothers who run Bolivian Llama Party in the underground TurnStyle food court at Columbus Circle.

First, the dough is sweet, touched with cane sugar and aji amarillo, an Andean chile that tastes of mango, raisins and a steady onslaught of sun. The dough is thicker than an empanadas, too, crunchy on the outside and chewier as you bite in, like an underbaked cookie.

Saltenas are plumper than empanadas and served balanced on the base with the seam at the top, a hardy braid that bulges like a prehistoric spine. In Bolivia, this is supposed to be black, like the waist-length braids of the countrys indigenous women, worn under bowler hats. Here, people just think it looks burned, said Patrick Oropeza, the chef, who stops the baking at dark gold.

Most important is that saltenas are heavy with jigote, a soupy stew cooked for days, lush with broken-down cows foot and kindled by roasted chile paste. This is left to set, then cut into wobbly cubes and sealed inside the dough. No air pockets are allowed, lest the saltenas, mid-baking, explode.
Friday

1. Join the Bicycle Brigade, 3 p.m.

The bicycle is obligatory in the Peoples Republic of Boulder. Students, C.E.O.s and the mayor all ride to school or work  even after cycling circuits up Flagstaff Mountain. The city has miles of routes. Check out the 5.5-mile Boulder Creek Path, a bike trail following the creek from Stazio Fields near 55th to the intersection of Four Mile and Boulder Canyons. Boulder B-cycle manages 40 bike-share stations  simply insert a credit card for 30-minute increments ($3) or daily, monthly and annual passes, and return to any station. Gear heads will prefer the wider range of frames at University Bicycles, based on Ninth and Pearl since 1985, for town, mountain, road or kids rentals ($20 to $90 a day). Your bike may become your best friend for the weekend, and using it will promote that Boulder glow.

2. Farm to Table on the Mall, 5 p.m.

Pearl Street Malls four blocks of brick walkway from 11th to 15th Streets and the surrounding area are the shopping, eating and drinking heart of town. Alfresco and farm-to-table dining can be found at the Kitchens, the hip nexus of three dining spots initiated in 2004 by Kimbal Musk, brother to the space-travel entrepreneur Elon Musk. The Kitchen is a community bistro with an urban crispness to the decor and locally sourced vegetable and meat dishes. Folksy touches include Mondays Community Night, when strangers can share a four-course family meal ($35 a person). The Kitchen Next Door is the walk-in, pub-style option, with an equally tasty menu at pub prices  dont miss the excellent organic kale and apple salad for $8.95. Return for lunch at either, or after hours for craft cocktails ($10) and an upscale night-life scene at the Kitchen Upstairs.

3. Peace, Love, Dessert, 6:45 p.m.

Grab a quickie for dessert at Piece, Love & Chocolate. Behind a kitschy, flower-bedecked storefront, this retail ode to the cocoa bean offers handmade truffles in over 50 flavors, sipping chocolate and extravagant wedding cakes. Chocolate lovers should return for a three-hour weekend workshop ($65 to $75) and learn to make truffles, souffles, flourless chocolate cakes and macarons.

4. Music and More, 7:30 p.m.

Once described by Theodore Roosevelt as the most American thing in America, the Chautauqua Movement, a circuit of summer adult education camps with lodging and lectures, faded with the takeover of radio and film in the 1930s, but the Colorado Chautauqua at the top of town is one of the few still alive and well. Amenities include lodging, and a dining hall serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The big draw is the May to September schedule of music, film, theater, dance and lectures at the 1,300-seat Chautauqua Auditorium, a barn like structure built in 1898. William Jennings Bryan spoke here, as have Al Gore and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Look for the folk duo Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle in concert Aug. 30.
Montgomery Circuit Court Judge Eugene Reese halted the discovery process against Gov. Robert Bentley and his former chief of staff. Rebekah Mason, in former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Director Spencer Colliers lawsuit during a hearing Thursday in Montgomery.

Mason had filed a motion to stay, citing potential criminal investigations against her.

Bentley filed a motion to stay under the Alabama Constitutions sovereign immunity clause, saying no state official can be sued for an official act.

Collier filed a lawsuit in April against Bentley, Mason and current ALEA Director Stan Stabler alleging he was fired for participating in the investigation of convicted former House Speaker Mike Hubbard. He is suing for wrongful termination, invasion of privacy and defamation.

Bentley announced Collier was on medical leave from office in February after Collier signed an affidavit in the Hubbard case confirming ALEA was not investigating Hubbards prosecutors for misconduct.

Collier was fired on March 22, when Bentley said Collier had misused state funds.

After his firing, Collier revealed details that Bentley and Mason allegedly had an inappropriate relationship, and at the same time a recording was made public of Bentley making suggestive comments to a woman believed to be Mason over the phone.

Articles of impeachment were filed in the Alabama House of Representatives against Bentley, and the House Judiciary Committee hired an attorney to investigate the governor.

(Bentley) said he was going to duly punish me for filing an affidavit in the Lee County grand jury investigation without giving consideration that Im a sworn law enforcement officer of this state who has a duty and obligation to assist other law enforcement, Collier said to reporters at the first judiciary committee meeting in June.

William Gray, Masons attorney, said during the Thursday hearing that Mason should be stayed from the case because there were numerous media reports she is the subject of a criminal investigation, and she has a right to not incriminate herself.

Not that (the reports) are true, Gray said. We deny them, but there are reports.

Reese indicated he agreed with Grays argument and would probably grant his motion, which he did a few minutes after the hearing in a hand-written order.

I know when to sit down and shut up, Gray said.

Motions to dismiss the case are still pending and the lawyers said theyd be willing to come back to court and argue those motions.

Stabler has filed a motion for a protective order against the lawsuit, which is still pending.

Bentley and Stablers attorney, John Neiman, said sovereign immunity for official acts is key to having a functioning government.

If constitutional officers were forced to accept personal liability for official actions, then the courts would be flooded with lawsuits, Neiman said.

Colliers attorney, Kenny Medelsohn, said immunity doesnt apply to this case.

I researched it before I filed the suit, Medelsohn told reporters after the hearing. I just didnt willy-nilly do this. I think the law says that when you abuse your office as (Bentley) has done in this case, hes not entitled to absolute immunity.

Medelsohn said he respects the need for sovereign immunity, but he says the law does grant restrictions to it.

Its becoming more and more clear that this was in retaliation for Spencer cooperating with the attorney generals office, Medelsohn said. I dont think you can have immunity for that.
(This column is the first in a three-part series.)

Question: Which of the following statements about state medical boards is best?

A. They are made up exclusively of doctors.

B. Disciplinary actions are on the rise.

C. They investigate narrowly defined areas of clinical practice.

D. They usually end with physician suspension.

E. They are insufficiently vigilant, according to critics.

Answer: E. The 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution authorizes states to establish laws protecting the health, safety, and general welfare of their citizens.

Dr. S.Y. Tan

All 50 states have enacted legislation under the Medical Practice Act authorizing medical boards to issue licenses and regulate physician conduct. The structure and authority of these boards vary from state to state, with some retaining all licensing and disciplinary powers, while others are more advisory in nature and report to the department of health.

Medical boards consist primarily of appointed volunteer physicians and may employ an administrative staff that includes an executive officer and support personnel.1

State statutes, rules, and regulations govern the disciplinary function of medical boards, which receive, review, and investigate complaints directly from patients and other sources.

There are six main categories of complaints: substandard patient care, alcohol and substance abuse, fraud and other criminal conduct, dishonesty, sexual misconduct, and failure to meet CME requirements. Whether a board can sanction a physician for misconduct outside the realm of medical practice is frequently at issue.

In Maryland, for example, conduct that has merely a general or associative relationship to the physician in his or her capacity as a member of the medical profession is not sanctionable by the state board of physicians.

On the other hand, if it relates to the effective delivery of patient care, then the misconduct can be said to occur in the practice of medicine, even if there is no issue of the individuals grasp of particular technical skills.

However, the term practice of medicine is liberally construed in most jurisdictions, and both boards and courts tend to take a dim view of physician dishonesty and lack of integrity.

For example, the California Court of Appeals in Windham v. Board of Medical Quality Assurance rejected a defendants position that his conviction for tax evasion was not the type of transgression that reflected on his professional standing.2 Instead, the court held that such dishonesty necessarily involves moral turpitude, and is sufficiently related to the practice of medicine as to justify revocation of licensure.

The court stated that it was difficult to compartmentalize dishonesty in such a way that a person who is willing to cheat his government out of $65,000 in taxes may yet be considered honest in his dealings with his patients.

Likewise, the Washington Supreme Court in an older case upheld the suspension of a doctors license following his conviction for tax fraud.3 In taking a broad view of the requirement that improper conduct relates to the practice of medicine, the court held that conviction for tax fraud, which goes to the issue of trustworthiness, is a valid reason for taking disciplinary action against a physician.

The number of adverse actions taken by boards nationwide appears to be stabilizing. In 2009, they affected some 4,560 errant physicians. In some states, both the number of complaints and actions may even be subsiding.

For example, the 2014 report by the Texas Medical Board showed that the number of complaints had fallen 17% after reaching a peak in 2009. In 2012, the year with the latest published nationwide data, there were 9,219 total board actions affecting 4,479 physicians. However, only a minority  some 275 doctors  faced the most severe disciplinary sanction, i.e., license revocation. The others either saw their licenses denied (170) or suspended (739), or faced lesser sanctions such as reprimands, probations, restrictions, and fines.

Critics have labeled medical boards a good old boys network where any private admonition is never made public. A stinging report of medical licensing and discipline in the state of New York, using data from 1982 through 1989, concluded, the structure and functioning of the process as they now exist are seriously deficient in these areas and that major reforms are urgently needed.4

The consumer group Public Citizen has bemoaned the fact that most states are not living up to their obligations to protect patients from doctors who are practicing medicine in a substandard manner. Advocacy groups worry about insufficient vigilance, and cite the case of Dr. Farid Fata, an oncologist whose license was finally removed by the Michigan board in 2013 for giving chemotherapy to healthy patients. The board had received an earlier complaint from a nurse in 2010, but it took no action until federal authorities charged the doctor following a tip from a whistleblower.5
ANAHEIM  Short-term rental owners, including former Councilwoman Gail Eastman, have sued Anaheim over the citys new regulations on short-term rentals of homes, which will eventually ban the popular practice.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Orange County Superior Court, called the stepped-up laws unlawful and asks that they be overturned.

Talmadge Price, a short-term rental owner, said Wednesday that the new laws are overly restrictive.

We faced no other option, said Price, who owns seven properties in Anaheim. We tried everything we could to avoid bringing a lawsuit.

Suing the city are five short-term rental owners, two real estate companies and the Anaheim Rental Alliance, a nonprofit group that has owners of 200 short-term rental properties as members.

Mike Lyster, the citys spokesman, said Anaheim officials understand the concerns of the homeowners, but we believe the actions taken by our City Council to regulate short-term rentals in Anaheim are legally valid.

Last month, the City Council decided to ban, effective in 18 months, owners from renting out their homes to vacationers for 30 days or fewer.

Popular home-sharing platforms Airbnb and HomeAway are also each suing the city for another ordinance the council passed that would require the websites to remove listings the city has not permitted or face fines starting at $500 for each violation that could reach $2,000. Those lawsuits say the city is violating the First Amendment.

Until the ban takes place, short-term rental owners must ensure the properties are quiet overnight, provide neighbors with a contact who can respond within 45 minutes, and limit occupancy  a four-bedroom home, for example, cant have more than 11 staying there.

Short-term rentals have become a divisive issue in Anaheim, Orange County and nationwide as cities with popular tourist destinations such as beaches or theme parks try to grapple with how the home-sharing economy and residents can co-exist in harmony.

In Anaheim, which attracts more than 20 million visitors annually, mostly because of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, short-term home rentals have become a popular alternative for some vacationers seeking larger lodging spaces than hotels offer and a way to save money.

However, residents have complained the homes are mini-motels and that some vacationers hold all-night rowdy parties, fill up neighborhood parking spaces and leave trash about.

Short-term rental owners say theyve invested heavily in eyesore properties and increased the value of surrounding homes. They say the income from the rental properties, in just one year, has meant $3 million in taxes to the citys coffers. Just like hotel guests, visitors pay a 15 percent bed tax.

In 2014, the city issued homeowners permits to operate short-term rentals. But the rapid proliferation of these homes, and the complaints that followed, prompted the city to crack down.

Contact the writer: 714-796-2443 or jpimentel@ocregister.com or follow on Twitter @OCDisney
First on the list of things to do: understand the heartbeat of Crystal Cove.

Alix Hobbs, a longtime leader in environmental advocacy, knows she has a big task ahead as she slips into her new role as CEO and president of Crystal Cove Alliance, a nonprofit that works to preserve the legacy of the historic area wedged between Newport Beach and Lagunas coast.

Im working to get to know the staff and the vision the board has put together, Hobbs said on her first day of work earlier this week. Once Im knowledgeable about that, then working with the staff, board and the local community to work on the restoration  phase three  of the cottages on the north beach.

The final leg of repairing and sprucing up 17 deteriorating cottages for public use comes with a hefty price tag: an estimated $26 million.

Maintaining the tucked-away area as a place where people can be transported to a bygone era has long been the goal of Crystal Cove Alliance, which was formed by longtime resident Laura Davick in 1999 to stop a planned luxury resort from taking over the area.

The alliance teamed with the state to earn Crystal Cove designation as a historic area and to restore the cottages for public use, which started in 2004.

The area has a rich history, the cottages dating back to the 20s and 30s. Postwar-era families would camp out on the beach and soon a community emerged. Movies such as Treasure Island and Beaches were filmed there.

Of the original 46 cottages, nearly 30 have been turned into overnight rentals, a museum, cultural center and a restaurant that sits on the sand.

Hobbs, selected after a nationwide search spanning 10 months, said permitting is soon to be completed by the California Coastal Commission  an exciting milestone, she said.

A lot of planning has gone into the restoration of the cottages, she said. At that point we will be ready to work.

Hobbs, who recently moved from Marina del Rey to Newport Beach, said she appreciates the areas nod to the past, as well as the ability for the area to allow families and friends to unplug from their lives and enjoy the beautiful waves and the marine sanctuary here and to build those family memories.

She said she also fell in love with the educational undertones throughout Crystal Cove.

When guests come to visit here, they take away from it ways to be environmental stewards, she said. Thats what Ive been working on, protecting and saving landscapes and water quality.

Hobbs said she hopes to expand those educational programs, specifically to allow more undeserved children to visit the coast and learn about the environment. She also wants to think strategically about climate change and how the area will be affected by future issues facing coastal regions.

There are thoughts about having one of the cottages be dedicated to climate change and sea level rise so there can be programs that educate the visitors of the cottages, she said. Theres a lot of potential here.

Crystal Cove timeline

1918: The silent film Treasure Island is shot at Crystal Cove; the film crew leaves behind a palm frond set.

1920s: Pacific Coast Highway is built, and tourists make the beach a destination for day trips and camping. Visitors start setting up tents at Crystal Cove; cottages are built.

1927: A lumber ship capsizes off the coast, providing more building materials for cottages. The area is named Crystal Cove by Beth Wood because the water was always crystal-clear.

1946: Postwar-era families come to the cove to pitch live-in tents and spend summer days swimming, enjoying cocktails, barbecues, and singing around bonfires.

1962: The Orange County Board of Supervisors outlaws tent camping on local beaches.

1979: The National Register of Historic Places considers Crystal Cove as the last remnant of 1920s-era California beach life, giving it a historic designation.

Early 2001: More than 600 people pack a public meeting, opposing state plans for a $35 million resort. The state drops a resort contract with the developer. The public California Coastal Conservancy gives the state $2 million to buy out the contract.

April 2001: The first of several community workshops lets residents say what theyd like to see at Crystal Cove.

July 2001: Cottage residents start moving out after dodging three eviction notices in 22 years.

October 2001: State unveils a preliminary proposal for Crystal Cove based on recommendations from the workshops.

October 2002: State releases its final plan and environmental impact report.

February 2003: The preservation and public-use plan is approved by the State Park and Recreation Commission.

February 2004: State awards an $8 million contract for the Crystal Cove project to Newport Beach-based Metro Builders and Engineers Group.

March 2004: Work begins on the first phase of the project.

April 2006: Thirteen of the 46 cottages open for rental to the public. Several more cottages are restored and open through the next few years.

Early 2014: The Berns Environmental Study Loop  created from a $1 million donation from the Berns family  includes six mini field-stations, an amphitheater, fire pit, staging area and a half-mile loop through the canyon.

Source: California State Parks

Contact the writer: lconnelly@scng.com
SALT LAKE CITY  When Andrew Bailey won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 2009, he couldnt have predicted the frustration in his future.

Since his rookie season  in which he recorded 26 saves and a sub-2.00 ERA for Oakland  and a solid follow-up season, the right-hander has pitched for four other organizations and has seen his career ravaged by a string of injuries.

After being released by Philadelphia following his lackluster performance this season, Bailey is hoping Anaheim will be the home of his resurgence. The 32-year-old recently signed a minor league deal with the Angels, reporting to Triple-A Salt Lake City over the weekend.

The right-hander missed much of the 2012, 2013 and 2015 seasons, as well as all of 2014, due to a pair of surgeries and associated lingering injuries. He had a 6.40 ERA in 32 1/3 innings in his return to the majors with the Phillies this year, but attributed his poor performance not to injury  he said hes felt healthy all season  but to being too passive.

With the Salt Lake Bees, he was hoping to find the aggressive approach that made him successful early in his career. So far, he has done just that while tossing a pair of perfect frames in his first two outings. On Saturday, he struck out two while allowing no baserunners against the Round Rock Express, then followed that up Monday with an identical performance.

I got away from being myself a little bit when I was up with Philly, he said after Saturdays game. I was trying to pick too much and fell behind in some counts. And, you know, in the big leagues you cant make mistakes, especially when youre behind in the count. So for me, its just getting back to attacking the zone and feeling comfortable with all three pitches.

Bailey said he was pleased the Angels offered him a chance to find himself. Part of what swayed him to sign was his relationship with General Manager Billy Eppler, who was an executive with the Yankees when New York signed Bailey in 2014.

It just feel like the opportunity is right, Bailey said.

From the perspective of the Angels, who are looking to shore up their bullpen, Bailey represents a chance to strike a bit of luck. They took a flier on him in the hopes that he can return to the pitcher he was before the injuries, or at least something close. Asked whether thats possible, the right-hander seemed cautiously optimistic, even if the results with Philadelphia didnt show a lot of reason for hope.

Thats the question I always get asked, he said. Im only 32  I still feel great, I feel strong. Its been a long road for me with all the injuries and the shoulder surgery and stuff. This is really my first year back.

Whatever happens, though, Bailey insists he wont stop trying. If it works out with the Angels, great. If not, hell move on and give it another shot.

We get to play a kids game for a living, and Im never going to stop until they take the jersey from me, he said. For me, its just about making most of every opportunity and continuing to fight.
SACRAMENTO  The father of a California congressman was sentenced Thursday to a year and a day in federal prison after prosecutors said he illegally funneled nearly $270,000 in contributions to his sons campaigns.

A federal judge also fined Babulal Bera $100,000 for violating federal election laws, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Sacramento.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, D-Folsom, was not charged and has denied knowing about his fathers activities. Prosecutors said they have found no evidence he was involved.

Bera is running for a third term against Republican Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones.

Babulal Bera of La Palma pleaded guilty in May to making excessive campaign contributions and making contributions in someone elses name.

He acknowledged he arranged for friends, relatives and acquaintances to contribute more than $225,000 to his sons failed 2010 campaign for a House seat and then illegally reimbursing the donors.

He did it again with more than $43,000 for his sons successful 2012 campaign, when Ami Bera defeated Republican Rep. Dan Lungren on the second try.

This is one of the most difficult moments my family has ever experienced, Ami Bera said in a statement. Of course Im absolutely devastated and heartbroken for how todays decision will impact our entire family. But my fathers accepted what he did was wrong, hes taken responsibility, and I love him more than words can express.

Investigators found more than 130 improper campaign contributions involving about 90 contributors, according to a plea agreement in the case. Campaign officials said they reimbursed the U.S. Treasury for the amount of the illegal donations.

Prosecutors sought the one-year prison term, while probation officers and defense attorneys said the 83-year-old Bera should be spared incarceration because of his age, poor health and because his 82-year-old wife could not live without him.
BEIRUT  Syrian opposition activists have released haunting footage showing a young boy rescued from a partially destroyed building in the aftermath of a devastating airstrike in Aleppo.

The image of the stunned and weary-looking boy, sitting in an orange chair inside an ambulance, covered in dust and with blood on his face, encapsulates the horrors inflicted on the war-ravaged northern city. Photographs of the boy were widely shared on social media.

An hour after his rescue, the building the boy was in completely collapsed.

The fighting has frustrated the U.N.s efforts to fulfill its humanitarian mandate, and the world bodys special envoy to Syria on Thursday cut short a meeting of the ad hoc committee  chaired by Russia and the United States  tasked with deescalating the violence so that relief can reach beleaguered civilians.

The U.N. envoy, Staffan de Mistura, said there was no sense in holding the meeting in light of the obstacles to delivering aid. The U.N. is hoping to secure a 48-hour pause in the fighting in Aleppo.

A doctor in Aleppo on Thursday identified the boy as 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh. Osama Abu al-Ezz confirmed the boy was brought to the hospital known as M10 on Wednesday night, following an airstrike on the rebel-held neighborhood of Qaterji with head wounds, but no brain injury, and was later discharged.

Rescue workers and journalists arrived at Qaterji shortly after the strike and began pulling victims from the rubble.

We were passing them from one balcony to the other, said photojournalist Mahmoud Raslan, who took the memorable photo. He said he had passed along three lifeless bodies before someone handed him the wounded boy.

Raslan rushed him to the ambulance, he said. A doctor at M10 later reported eight dead, among them five children.

The strike occurred during the sunset call to prayer on Wednesday evening, said Raslan, a correspondent for Al Jazeera Mubashir.

Omran was rescued along with his three siblings, ages 1, 6, and 11, and his mother and father from the rubble of their partially destroyed apartment building, according to Raslan. None sustained major injuries, but the building collapsed one hour after the family was rescued. A second building, next to theirs, was also heavily damaged. Rescue workers worked until 5 a.m. to retrieve a final victim from the rubble. The victim, who was not identified, survived.

We sent the younger children immediately to the ambulance, but the 11-year-old girl waited for her mother to be rescued. Her ankle was pinned beneath the rubble, Raslan said.

In the video posted late Wednesday by the Aleppo Media Center, a man is seen plucking the boy away from a chaotic nighttime scene and carrying him inside the ambulance, looking dazed and flat-eyed.

The boy then runs his hand over his blood-covered face, looks at his hands and wipes them on the ambulance chair.

Doctors in Aleppo use code names for hospitals, which they say have been systematically targeted by government airstrikes. Abu al-Ezz said they do that because we are afraid security forces will infiltrate their medical network and target ambulances as they transfer patients from one hospital to another.

Activists living in opposition areas rely on informers in the government-controlled Latakia province to warn residents of impending airstrikes. On Wednesday evening, an informant in Latakia informed activist networks that a jet had taken off from the Russian air base at Hmeimim.

We expected the plane to arrive in Aleppo airspace in two minutes, and sure enough it did, said Raslan. It struck twice.

No one was injured in the first strike, said Raslan. The second one turned Omrans life upside down.

The horror generated by the image of Omran in the orange chair echoes the anguished global response to the pictures of Aylan Kurdi, the drowned Syrian boy whose body was found on a beach in Turkey and came to encapsulate the horrific toll of Syrias civil war.
The Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, has hired a top executive from Breitbart News, Stephen Bannon, as his campaigns chief executive, raising expectations that Trump will adopt the more aggressive style that the site has championed.

Q. So, what Is Breitbart?

A. The Breitbart News Network, usually just called Breitbart, is a conservative-leaning news website.

It was founded in 2007 by Andrew Breitbart, a former liberal from Los Angeles who became a conservative standard-bearer until his death from heart failure at 43 in 2012.

The site that bears his name comprises about a dozen different verticals that feature original reporting and commentary, including three of its most prominent sites: Big Government, Big Journalism and Big Hollywood. A fourth Big site, BigPeace.com, now redirects to Breitbarts National Security section.

Q. Who is Stephen Bannon?

A. Bannon, a Navy veteran who has a background in finance and used to work at Goldman Sachs, was an adviser to Sarah Palin and has been a longtime adviser to Trump.

He became the executive chairman of Breitbart in 2012, after Breitbarts death, and helped adapt the anti-Clinton book, Clinton Cash into a film.

Not all of Breitbarts friends are happy with the direction in which Bannon took the site. As I said when I left Breitbart, said Ben Shapiro, a former Breitbart editor. I am absolutely appalled by what Breitbarts become. I think Bannon has perverted Breitbarts legacy.

Andrews whole animating focus was I dont like bullies in the political sphere and Ill fight the bullies, he said.

Q. What are the sites claims to fame?

A. Under the supervision of its founder, Breitbart gained prominence by breaking news about a series of scandals involving liberal politicians, bureaucrats and organizations, and by relentlessly pushing those stories.

The website is loathed by many liberals, moderates and establishment Republicans who say it stokes a partisan atmosphere and misleads readers in order to escalate what they see as nonissues. But it has been beloved by many on the right as an answer to mainstream media organizations, including The New York Times, that are viewed as liberal in outlook.

Q. When was the site in the news?

A. The site drew widespread attention in March, when Michelle Fields, a reporter for Breitbart News, accused Corey Lewandowski, then the campaign manager for Trump, of assaulting her after a news conference in Jupiter, Fla.

Lewandowski was charged by the police with a count of misdemeanor battery, but the charge was dropped in April.

The incident caused an uproar within Breitbart, as several staff members, including Shapiro, left the organization, outraged that Bannon and the site did not support Fields. Instead, it appeared to be defending the campaign and Lewandowski.

Q. When else?

A. A technology editor at Breitbart, Milo Yiannopoulos, is one of the more well-known and provocative employees of the site. Last month, he was banned from Twitter, where he tweeted as @nero. Yiannopoulos was accused of helping to instigate a campaign of sexist and racist abuse against the actress and Saturday Night Live comic Leslie Jones.

Q. What happened with ACORN?

A. In 2009, on his site Big Government, Breitbart released videos of workers for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (better known as ACORN) that appeared to show employees of the community organization advising clients on criminal activities. The videos, filmed by conservative activists, led contributions to ACORN to plummet, and the organization announced in 2010 that it was closing all its offices.

Liberal media watchdog groups, including FAIR, criticized the mainstream media, including The Times, for much of its reporting on the ACORN story. The Times public editor at the time, Clark Hoyt, wrote about how conservatives and liberals viewed the story differently, exemplifying the effect that outlets like Breitbart had on the public conversation.

To conservatives, ACORN is virtually a criminal organization that was guilty of extensive voter registration fraud in 2008, Hoyt wrote. To its supporters, ACORN is a community service organization that has helped millions of disadvantaged Americans by organizing to confront powerful institutions like banks and developers.
OC Watchdog recently covered the fiscal health at 70 of Californias county fairs where it found that fully half of the fairs examined  35  operated in the red, spending more money than they took in.

Fortunately for us, Orange County isnt one of them. In fact, our local fair actually looks to be doing the best, bringing in $9.9 million more than it spent in 2014. But while that is a cause for praise, with so many operating in the red, is it time again to ask why the state is in the fair business at all.

The Los Angeles County Fair was one of the biggest losers, spending about $1.9 million more than it brought in. Renee Hernandez, a spokeswoman for the fair, told the Watchdog that after some complex accounting it does make money but also noted that, County fairs are not private businesses and, thus, are not created to make money.

That is an argument common to government  that things held in the public trust dont need to prove their value through market demand. But while arguments can be made for the necessity of some taxpayer-funded programs, county fairs dont seem to be one of those essential public needs.

Plus, they arent inherent financial losers, O.C. proved that.
ORANGE  Firefighters spent 45 minutes extinguishing a propane fire that erupted at a the Arrowhead Water Company in the 600 block of North Main Street around 12:30 a.m. Thursday.

The fire caused heavy damage to two forklifts, a large propane tank and an exterior storage container, fire Capt. Casey Fieldhouse said. The fire also caused damage to the wall of the neighboring business, but it did not extend to the inside.

Two plant workers were taken to UCIs burn center for treatment. Both men suffered moderate burns, but are expected to recover.

Sixty firefighters from four agencies responded to the two-alarm blaze, which Fieldhouse said was accidentally started when a equipment malfunction occurred during the refueling of a propane tank on a forklift. A preliminary damage estimate is approximately $75,000.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7802 or jsudock@ocregister.com
Its been 100 years since the National Park Service was founded, and most other countries agree that it was one of Americas best ideas: The concepts been copied around the world from Costa Rica to Kenya.

Today, it costs as much as $30 to get into one of the most popular national parks. But there are freebies to help you save on your trip. Here are my suggestions.

1. Celebrate the National Park Service centennial: From Thursday to Aug. 28, you can get into any national park for free for four days. If you forgot to take a summer vacation this year, hop in your car now! Thats enough time to visit Sequoia and Yosemite, with a stop at Pinnacles along the way. Or head north on I-15, and go to Zion and Bryce in Utah. If you go, plan your sightseeing for early morning, before its hot and the crowds arrive. Youll enjoy it much more.

2. Take advantage of Junior Ranger programs: My kids just loved these free mini-adventures, and they even have them at places you wouldnt expect, like Alcatraz and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Ask at the ranger station and get a free book that the kids fill out about flora, fauna or natural features, using their observations from visiting the park. Then, afterward, they turn in the books, get sworn in as junior rangers, and even a badge to wear. Its really cute.

3. Download some free apps: This is cool. You can now download free detailed smartphone apps from Chimani for 59 iconic U.S. national parks, from Acadia to Zion. I particularly like that you dont need Wi-Fi or cellular service to use them inside the park, where theres often no service available. These apps are chock full of maps, trail info and other stuff you want to know when you visit. I suggest downloading them using Wi-Fi so it doesnt suck up all your data. Go to your app store or chimani.com.

4. Browse through free maps: While were on the subject of maps, Park Service ranger Matt Holly has uploaded more than 1,000 maps of 107 national parks and monuments that you can download or print for free, including overviews, campgrounds, shuttle bus and trail maps, all in his spare time. Learn more here: npmaps.com. And, if youre a member of the Auto Club of Southern California, you can get free printed maps of the most popular parks at your local office, which can be quite useful for trip planning, especially in huge parks like Yellowstone.

5. Collect free passport stamps: This might be a tad geeky, but I dont care. Nearly every national park, historical site and monument now has a passport cancellation station in the ranger station or gift shop, where you can rubber-stamp a paper showing the location and date of your visit. If you want, you can buy an official $10 Passport to Your National Parks with space for all your stamps, or you can stamp anything you please, even your own notebook or diary. Its a fun and free souvenir of your trip. I bought passport books for our family, but sometimes Im too lazy to bring them, so I just stamp a piece of paper and then later paste it into the book. I enjoy looking back later and reminiscing. Learn more: eparks.com/store/

6. Go to a free park: While the 130 most iconic parks charge entrance fees, most dont cost anything at all. In California, for example, visit the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the gorgeous Point Reyes National Seashore, Redwood National Park without paying any fees. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta is fascinating and free. And nearly every federally owned place you want to visit in D.C. is free, from the Smithsonian museums to the Lincoln Memorial.

7. Get free entry for life: How would you like to get into national parks for free? Any U.S. legal resident 62 or older can pay $10 and get a lifetime pass for free entrance to all national parks, forests and national monuments. Get this pass for $10 at any federal recreation site, generally at the ranger station. You can also order by mail for $20. Applicants must provide documentation of age and residency or citizenship. You might also get 50 percent off some amenities like camping and boating, depending on location. Learn more here: store.usgs.gov/pass /senior.html.

8. Get a free entry pass for the disabled: If you can show that youre permanently disabled, you can get a free lifetime entry pass if you obtain it in person at a ranger station  or order it by mail for $10. Youll need a doctors statement or other document showing your disability. Learn more here: store.usgs.gov/pass/access.html.

9. Make sure that if youre military you get in free: If you have a military ID or Common Access Card, whether active-duty, reservist or National Guard, you and your passengers can get in free to most federal recreation sites in a single private car, or free for one pass-holder, three adults and all children at sites that charge a per-person fee. You need to bring your ID card to a ranger station to obtain the annual pass. Spouses are eligible to obtain a pass if they can prove their service member is deployed. Learn more here: store.usgs.gov /pass /military.html.

10. Get in free if you volunteer: If you volunteer at least 250 hours on federal lands, youre entitled to an annual pass. Maybe you can be a docent, volunteer ranger or help build trails. You dont have to accrue all 250 hours in one year, either! Learn more here: volunteer.gov.

The five agencies that participate in the Interagency Pass Program are National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation.

To learn more about all the passes available, visit this link: nps.gov/

findapark/passes.htm.

And heres more from Cheapo Travel:





Got a good travel tip for me? Or a suggestion? Email me at mfisher@ocregister.com. I love to hear from readers.
Jurors ruled against San Juan Capistrano-based InfoSpan Inc. last week in a lawsuit against Emirates NBD in Dubai.

InfoSpan was seeking $554 million and damages for alleged trade secret misappropriation.

InfoSpan argued it had invested $100 million developing a banking product that would allow workers in the Middle East to send payments to their families using stored value cards. The workers would not need bank accounts to do this, making the technology unique and easy to use for low income workers.

In its lawsuit, InfoSpan claimed Emirates Bank stole the technology. Emirates Bank argued InfoSpan defrauded the bank and did not have working technology.

If you develop a product and want to market it or bring a lawsuit based on it, it has to be real, said Latham & Watkins attorney Dan Schecter, who represented Emirates Bank. Thats what the jurors care about. Rhetoric and speeches dont matter if you dont have a product when you say you do.

Dean Dunlavey of Orange County and Kathy Ruemmler, former White House counsel to President Obama, were the other lead attorneys in the suit.

The bank and an affiliate of InfoSpan had an agreement that allowed InfoSpan to market cards processed by the bank. The company would sign up customers, mainly employers, who would give the cards loaded with payroll funds to their workers.

InfoSpan never delivered on its deadlines, and the bank terminated the contract in 2009, according to Schecter.

In 2011, InfoSpan filed the lawsuit.

Emirates NBD is deeply gratified by the jurys decision and appreciates the courts commitment to ensuring a fair trial, said Lubna Qassim, chief group general counsel and company secretary of Emirates NBD, in a statement. 

InfoSpans attorneys did not immediately return requests for comment.

Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans
A man accused of starting an ongoing wildfire north of San Francisco has been charged with 14 counts of arson and one count of attempted arson in connection with 13 separate fires dating back to July 2015.

Defendant Damin Pashilk made his first court appearance Wednesday and did not enter a plea.

The 40-year-old former construction worker turned his head away from television cameras during his arraignment in Lake County.

The most serious fire involved in the charges began Saturday and ripped through the working-class town of Lower Lake. Authorities have said that fire has destroyed 268 structures, including 175 single-family homes and eight businesses.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the blaze was half contained Wednesday evening.

Wednesday, Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant says residents were able to return home in portions of Lower Lake, a town of 1,300 people.

Meanwhile, at Camp Pendleton, firefighters extinguished two of the three fires that started there Tuesday night. The last of the fires, at the Juliet Training Area, had scorched 50 acres as of Wednesday afternoon and was 80 percent contained.

Staff writer Alma Fausto contributed to this report.
SEOUL, South Korea  He enjoyed a bit of tennis at the local club. He indulged in curry at an Indian restaurant in the west London neighborhood where he lived. As the No. 2 North Korean diplomat in Britain, he chaperoned a brother of his countrys reclusive leader to an Eric Clapton concert last year.

The diplomat, Thae Yong Ho, 55, seemed to embrace the trappings of a comfortable life in a capitalist capital thousands of miles from dreary North Korea, never hinting at disloyalty. He had lived in London for a decade, trusted because of his familys impeccable legacy in North Korean history.

So it was a shock Wednesday when South Korea announced Thae had betrayed his hermetic homeland by becoming the most senior North Korean official to defect in nearly two decades.

How and when the diplomat had eluded his colleagues at the North Korean Embassy, who are required to monitor one another to thwart treason, was not clear. But a South Korean government spokesman, Jeong Joon-hee, said at a news conference that the diplomat had arrived recently in South Korea with his wife and family, proclaiming disillusionment with the increasingly isolated government of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un.

Jeong did not specify how many family members had accompanied Thae or whether any remained in North Korea, where they could be at risk of reprisal. Nor did he explain the route taken by Thae, second in rank to Ambassador Hyon Hak Bong in London.

We see his defection as a sign that some of the core elite in the North are losing hope in the Kim Jong Un regime, Jeong said, and that the internal unity of the ruling class in the North is weakening.

South Korean officials expressed similar conclusions in April when 13 people working at a restaurant run by the North Korean government in China fled to the South. Officials said that unusual group defection reflected growing dissatisfaction in the North.

But analysts have cautioned against drawing such conclusions.

Cheong Seong-chang, an expert on North Korea at the Sejong Institute in Seoul, said isolated defections like Thaes should not be taken as an indication of instability in the North and that there was no sign of an organized challenge to Kims rule.

Others were cautious because some North Korean defectors to South Korea have not always found happiness, a message that may have found its way back to Pyongyang, the Norths capital, and elsewhere.

Still, the defection could yield a trove of intelligence information. It came as relations between the Koreas had worsened over the Norths nuclear weapons and missile programs, tested in defiance of international sanctions.

Though the North had no immediate reaction to the defection, it was seen in the South and elsewhere as a major embarrassment for Kim, who has disciplined subordinates by demoting or even executing them.
BREA  A 56-year-old man accused of firing a shot at two Brea police officers was charged Wednesday with two felony counts of assault with a firearm on a peace officer.

Thomas Michael Dawson of Yorba Linda also faces a sentencing enhancement for his alleged personal use of a firearm, according to Roxi Fyad of the Orange County District Attorneys Office.

The officers were dispatched about 3 p.m. Monday to the Hyland Motel at 727 S. Brea Blvd. to conduct a welfare check, according to Brea police Lt. Darrin Devereux.

They attempted to make contact with Dawson, but he wouldnt come out of his room and paramedics were summoned to assist, Fyad said.

As officers spoke to the defendant from outside his room, Dawson is accused of firing a single shot through the motel wall, Fyad said.

The round nearly hit one of the officers in his head, missing by about six inches, according to Fyad.

The officers called for assistance from the SWAT team and did not return fire, she said.

Dawson was shot with less lethal bean bag rounds and then tackled by a SWAT officer and taken into custody. He suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital, according to Brea police.

Dawson is due to be arraigned Thursday in Santa Ana.
When can we do this again?

Like any pervasive earworm, that chorus from Disneylands Paint the Night parade has burrowed its way into my brain over the past 15 months it has been playing at the park. Yeah, like many Disneyland fans, I bought into the parades not-so-subliminal message and kept coming back to see it again and again  helping that theme song slip into heavy rotation in my mental soundtrack.

As you might have heard, Disneyland has announced that it will close the Paint the Night on Sept. 5. Though shortly after making that announcement, the park backed off and said that the parade will continue to run on selected evenings in the fall. Regardless, I have to wonder, When can we do this again?

The really interesting thing about Paint the Night is Disneys attempt to create an instant sense of nostalgia for a parade while it still was in front of you. Nostalgias long been a key ingredient in Disney Magic  after all, only Disney can sell you the experience of coming back and doing Disney all over again.

The parade played to Disneylands love for nostalgia by frequently quoting the Baroque Hoedown theme from the parks long-running Main Street Electrical Parade. Those familiar notes drove home the message that, even though this parade was something fancy, glitzy and new, it wanted to draw upon longtime fans love for the parks original nighttime parade.

And once Paint the Night had gotten you with that nostalgia for the Main Street Electrical Parade, it worked to transfer love to itself, mashing Baroque Hoedown with its own theme, then drilling into your head that question  When can we do this again?

But heres the problem with nostalgia  its power comes from accessing our emotions around the memory of a thing rather than the thing itself. Disneyland also has announced that it will be bringing the Main Street Electrical Parade back from Walt Disney World to run for a limited time at the Disneyland Resort after the first of the year. Can actually seeing that parade again  which first glowed away forever from Disneyland in 1996 then returned to Disney California Adventure between 2001 and 2010  live up to fans warm memories of it?

I dont know. After reading all the Harry Potter books to my children, I was eager to find another, similar, childrens book series to read to them. When I was their age, I had adored A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine LEngle, so I stopped by a local bookstore one day to buy a copy. In the aisle, I opened the book to start re-reading it  and I couldnt get past the first couple pages.

The book I had loved as child seemed just  so inferior in language and structure to the Harry Potter books Id been reading to my kids that I couldnt bear to introduce it to them. Heck, the book even begins with that widely mocked phrase, It was a dark and stormy night.

Was I wrong to love A Wrinkle in Time as a child? No! It was a fun tale, and it captured my imagination. It made me want to read, and thats the highest compliment anyone can pay an author.

Its just that, now  well, Id rather read Harry Potter.

So lets ask the question: Will Disneyland fans still feel good about the Main Street Electrical Parade next year after all these months with Paint the Night? That 1970s technology is going to look pretty retro compared with Paint the Nights modern LED displays.

Disneylands poured a lot of money over the years into updating its classics. Pirates of the Caribbean got Captain Jack and Davy Jones. The Haunted Mansion got its holiday makeover and a high-tech Hatbox Ghost. Nostalgia helps keep something forever fresh, in our minds. But nostalgia evaporates if we see the thing we love growing stale in real life, before us.

Can Disney make its Main Street Electrical Parade feel fresh again? Id argue that it has  by creating Paint the Night. Im afraid that bringing the old parade back will leave me feeling like I did in that bookstore, rereading A Wrinkle in Time and feeling my nostalgia for it disappear.

Some memories are best left as memories.

Robert Niles is the founder and editor of ThemeParkInsider.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThemePark.
More than 50 years ago, after decades of touring the United States as a professional folklorico dancer, Rosario Rosie Chavarria Pena retired from the stage. She went on to teach folklorico dance and founded Relampago del Cielo, a Santa Ana-based dance company and performing arts nonprofit, but stayed out of the limelight. Until now.

As the company celebrates its 40th anniversary, Relampago will welcome Chavarria Pena back to the stage as a way to honor her life as well as the history of folklorico dance.

Its almost unbelievable, said Chavarria Pena. I have not performed since 1964 and its something I never thought Id do again.

Ever since a group of students from Santa Ana College asked Chavarria Pena to direct a professional performing group, Relampago has worked to preserve traditional Mexican performing arts by showcasing the music, folklore and dance of the culture.

In the upcoming show, one dance in particular will serve as a testament to how this art form is preserved through the years as three generations of Penas will perform together  Chavarria Pena, 73; her daughter Marlene Pena-Marin, 52; and two granddaughters, Madeline Pena, 20, and Melina Marin, 15.

This is my first time dancing on the same stage as my mom and my grandma, said Melina Marin. Every time we practice I look across the floor and smile because its something weve bonded over and it fuels my passion even more to see how far theyve come.

Like Melina Marin and her sister are doing now, Pena-Marin grew up watching her mother teach and direct the folklorico dancers. She eventually progressed through the ranks as a student and company member and currently serves as Relampagos artistic director. Folklorico dance took on an instrumental role in her life and now, in addition to directing Relampago, Pena-Marin also directs the Ballet Folklorico program at Orange County School of the Arts.

In retrospect, she said, all the years of watching her mother bring an important piece of cultural heritage to the community inspired her to take on a similar role of helping the next generation understand the past.

I want to give back to the kids what was given to me. Its a win-win, Pena-Marin said.

She went on to say that besides learning Mexican history and folklorico dance through Relampago, people often learn about themselves and how they identify with their heritage.

Sometimes you feel like youre neither from there or here. You dont quite fit in in Mexico, but youre also a little different here (in California), said Pena-Marin. You start taking classes with other kids like you through (Relampago) and it gives you an appreciation for the history of the dance, helps you think about how we can move this culture forward.

In addition to Relampago being a regionally touring professional dance company, the group also offers classes for dancers ages 3 to adult. Taking folklorico classes often becomes a family affair with siblings and cousins joining together for class every Saturday.

Ive been doing this for 17 years now, but I never felt forced, said Pena-Marins daughter Madeline Pena. I think everyone should try and do something with their culture because at least for me, it made me proud of who I am.

When Relampago performs at the Irvine Barclay theater this weekend, audiences will see a performance that showcases folklorico dance through the years. Beginning with an indigenous dance in which the performers tie rattles to their ankles and a waltz hailing from Europe, the concert progresses to include mostly traditional Mexican dances and some more contemporary interpretations.

Learning folklorico is like a mini-history lesson, but in a more fun way, Melina Marin said. I think everything changes over time and this is an exciting way to see how (Mexican dance) evolved.

Today, Relampago has 280 students enrolled in classes and a company that performs regularly at Orange County community events. As the oldest running nonprofit of its kind in Orange County, Relampago has touched generations of families who have been part of the group.

Chavarria Penas return to the stage, which will be accompanied by Relampago alumni from the founding company, shows evidence of the groups motto: Where the roots remain strong.

I think the fact that weve managed to stay in existence for 40 years is a miracle, Pena-Marin said. But it has been a great way to reach the community and spread a positive image of Hispanic culture.

Contact the writer: 714-796-6026 or kwright@ocregister.com
BUENA PARK  Police have three men in custody in connection with the July 1 shooting death and attempted robbery of Maher Yousef, 24, of La Mirada at a Buena Park gas station.

In a statement, Buena Park Police announced that Jeffrey Tuli, 33, of San Bernardino was arrested in Riverside. Aaron Vermont Jackson, 35, San Bernardino was arrested in Las Vegas. Dejon Vincent Griffin, 32, of San Bernardino was arrested in Lakewood, Wa.

Police say they believe Tuli shot Yousef. He is also being investigated for alleged involvement in a string of unrelated robberies in multiple jurisdictions and is being held at the Riverside County Jail.

Jackson is being held in Lakewood, Wa, and Griffin is being held in Las Vegas. Both are awaiting extradition back to California.

On July 6 detectives, in an effort to identify suspects, released surveillance footage that showed three men approach Yousefs vehicle at a Mobil Mini-Mart in the 5900 block of Beach Boulevard. A brief struggle ensues after one of the men attempts to dive into the open passenger-side door.

All three suspects brandished firearms, and Yousef was shot in the head, police said.

The men fled on foot before officers arrived. Nothing was taken and a witness standing nearby was left unharmed.

Police said evidence suggests that Yousef was targeted because he worked at a check-cashing business.

http://launch.newsinc.com/js/embed.js

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Contact the writer: 714-796-7802 or jsudock@ocregister.com
Congress is currently on a seven-week paid vacation. This is a fact that does not generate much media attention, but it does reflect poorly on them. With approval ratings at an all-time low, it raises the question as to whether our representatives really care, or know, that the average American seemingly just accepts their overall poor performance and wont hold any of them accountable.

At a time when gridlock seems to be the rule of the day and compromise in order to accomplish anything is not about to happen, we must ask ourselves, Why do we accept mediocre elected officials when we need outstanding leaders? If we stop voting for incumbents regardless of party affiliation, we might just get better leadership.

Edward A. Sussman

Fountain Valley

Jokes on us

Re: Entertainer in chief [Letters, Aug. 17]: Jay Garbutt made a joke about Don Rickles being a more suitable candidate than Donald Trump. So, in the interest of equal time, the Democrats should have nominated Bonnie and Clyde. Oh wait, they did.

James Brady

Orange Park Acres

Republican misery

As one who considers himself politically liberal and reads both the Register and the Los Angeles Times daily, I was surprised to read the recent accusations by letter-writers that the Register has become like the Times. These readers seem unable to consider that the Register, which is a very fair publication, might not blindly report only positive stories about any candidate the Republicans nominated, totally ignoring anything negative.

Readers are well served by both newspapers, but when one writer calls for the Register to be honest, I am reminded of the famous movie line: You cant handle the truth.

Doug Sorey

Irvine

Fighting fires

Those two Super Scooper firefighting aircraft that arrived with unbelievable fanfare  why arent they flying? Neither the Pilot Fire or Blue Cut fire have been attacked by these resources.

Tom Simmerman

Fullerton
I know the following statement may be difficult to believe, but trust me, its true: The city of Sacramento wasnt always the capital of California.

Hopefully you didnt spit too much coffee on your newspaper.

The coastal northern California city of Monterey hosted Californias constitutional convention in 1849 and was originally tapped to be the states capital, but after the Golden State was admitted to the union, the states founders decided to shift things to San Jose.

After that, the capital was moved to Vallejo, Benicia and finally, in 1854, to Sacramento.

Sacramento was chosen because at that time in the states history, Northern California was the population center, it was the epicenter of the Gold Rush and its proximity to rivers made transportation a breeze.

A lot has changed in California since the 1850s.

After a couple of world wars, the explosion of the Hollywood film industry and the relative availability of air conditioning, the states population has dramatically shifted to the south.

Currently, the states five most populated counties are all located in Southern California  Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino.

With a population of just under 4 million people, Los Angeles is almost eight times as large as Sacramento, whose population falls just south of half a million.

If the goal of state government is to keep decision makers close to their constituents, then theres no question that voters in Southern California are being failed.

This geographic alienation might explain the states dismal voter turnout.

In Californias 2014 midterm election, only 25 percent of registered voters showed up in the June primary, with a 42 percent turnout in the November general election  both record lows.

I asked a pair of California political consultants if they thought moving the states capitol down the 5 freeway would increase engagement and voter turnout.

Dave Jacobson, a Democratic political consultant at Jacobson & Zilber Strategies, thinks theres a small chance it could work. Its plausible that if state government was shifted down to the population hub of the state, the city of Los Angeles, an initial flurry of interest might peak among voters not typically focused on state government. The question is whether or not such a move would create sustained intrigue by the electorate, or if itll deflate over time, he said.

However, Jacobson says it might just end up being window dressing. At the moment, the only meaningful evidence we have that can provide real insight regarding voters interest and engagement relating to Los Angeles City Hall, and city issues, is voter turnout. And given the citys historically low turnout rates, its likely that in the long run, such a move would be less transformational, and more symbolic, he speculated.

Charles Moran, a GOP fundraising consultant, concurs: I dont think anything would change if we moved the capital from Sacramento to L.A.  voters arent paying attention to their state legislators  even when they are corrupt as all get-out  and just vote party line, Moran said. Proximity wont increase visibility when major battles here are waged on the airwaves and the mailbox. People here are just as removed from politics in City Hall as they are Sacramento or Washington, D.C.

Theyre probably right. Its easy to forget how big the state truly is. California is the most populated state in the union, and our economy is the sixth largest in the world  bigger than France and Brazil and just behind the United Kingdom.

We are really more of a nation state than just a plain old state. To most Southern Californians, Sacramento might as well be in a different hemisphere, not a Southwest Airlines flight away.

The farther removed people feel, the more they disengage.

Somehow I think the states politicians are fine with that. Dont count on the state capital moving any time soon.

John Phillips is a CNN political commentator and can be heard weekdays at 3 p.m. on The Drive Home with Jillian Barberie and John Phillips on KABC/AM 790.
It seems there is a never-ending war on sin and a desire by some to try and tax it away. This includes higher taxes on snacks and cigarettes, among other items. As to the latter item, California voters will weigh in with a November ballot proposal to hike Californias cigarette excise tax by $2 per pack  a 229 percent increase.

This initiative, if adopted, will lead to rampant tax evasion and avoidance, among other unintended consequences. It would also levy a new tax on vaping, a demonstrably safer alternative to smoking tobacco, thereby discouraging a legitimate harm-reduction strategy.

Scholars at the Michigan-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy and others have examined in detail the interaction of cigarette taxes and illicit behavior. They report that in 2014, more than 30 percent of all cigarettes consumed in California were not properly taxed. Not all tax avoidance is illegal, but nearly one-third of Californias smokes are smuggled into the state, and this happens with taxes at the relatively low rate of 87 cents per pack.

If excise taxes on cigarettes leap to $2.87 per pack, California will saddle buyers with the ninth-highest cigarette tax in the country, just higher than New Jersey ($2.70). It will also likely incur a number of problems related to smuggling. These include, but are not limited to: theft of cigarettes, violence and public corruption.

The Mackinac Center used its statistical model to what if the proposed tax hike, and the results are stunning. The model reports that if the increase is adopted, the smuggling rate in California may leap to 64 percent of the total market. That is, for every 100 cigarettes consumed in the state, 64 of them would be smuggled in from somewhere else.

That would be by far the highest smuggling rate the Mackinac Center has ever seen in its research, even besting estimates of New York state, with its significant cigarette-tax rates. One reason California is susceptible to a large amount of cigarette smuggling is its geography. Cigarettes could be easily purchased in its three neighboring states (Oregon, Nevada and Arizona), but international smuggling from Mexico and elsewhere would likely be a factor too. Californias 11 commercial ports are open doors through which illicit smokes from around the world could likely pass.

The Mackinac Centers model is designed to capture the percentage of consumption attributed to smuggling. It breaks down that number into two types, casual and commercial. Casual smuggling involves buying cigarettes from lower-taxed states or on the internet but only for personal consumption. Commercial smuggling involves long-haul, large shipments of cigarettes and done to make a profit.

In 2013, a Monterey Park man pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle cigarettes from Port Newark, N.J., to California. The cigarettes originated in China. If smuggling is profitable at those distances, imagine how profitable it would be for organized crime should the Golden State raise its excise tax by 229 percent.

Smuggling is not the only unintended consequence of high excise taxes on cigarettes, though. Illicit trafficking of cigarettes has led to violence against people and police, brazen thefts from retail and wholesale shops, public corruption, murder-for-hire plots and the distribution of counterfeit (and often adulterated) products. A higher tax in California will only encourage more of this criminal activity.

All of this for likely little improvement to public health. Research published in 2005 by economist Mark Stehr found that up to 85 percent of changes in consumption made after cigarette tax hikes can be attributed to tax evasion and avoidance  not kicking the habit. In other words, most smokers keep on puffing; they just acquire their cigarettes from other sources.

In addition to the $2 cigarette excise tax increase, the initiative would institute an ad valorem tax on certain vaping products of about 67 percent. This is supposed to represent a tax equivalent to the one placed on cigarettes. Research shows that vaping, a noncombustible alternative to smoking, is much safer than traditional cigarette consumption. If anything, vaping products should be viewed as part of a harm-reduction strategy for smokers instead of another sinful goose waiting to be plucked.

The real problem here is that raising excise taxes on cigarettes by $2 per pack and extending that tax to vaping products might do more harm than good.

Michael LaFaive is director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Kerry Jackson is a Fellow in California Studies at the Pacific Research Institute.
Clovis, a city of about 100,000 located in Californias fertile San Joaquin Valley, is home to the 16th largest school district in California, with 41,000 students, 47 schools, and 1,800 teachers. The student body is ethnically mixed, and about half its children are on free or reduced lunch. The citys website boasts that it is the #1 City to Raise a Family.

Clovis also happens to be the #1 City for Teacher Freedom, as the citys schools have never been unionized. Other California cities could learn from this example.

In the 1970s, when the teacher unionization movement enveloped California, Clovis superintendent Floyd Buchanan and the citys teachers decided they could handle the K-12 education process themselves, thus avoiding divisive union work rules that have infected almost all other school districts in the Golden State. While state law mandates much of what happens in school districts, including union imperatives like tenure and seniority rules, everything else is left to the local district  such as teacher salaries and benefits, curriculum, the school calendar and student safety issues.

The union insists that without organized labor, teachers would be treated like lowly serfs, tormented by principals, with no representation on professional issues and at risk of being fired for advocating for their students. But that certainly is not the case in Clovis.

Teachers have a voice and a role in governance. Instead of a union, they have an elected Faculty Senate, in which each school has a representative. The mission of the Faculty Senate is to be an effective advocate for teachers at all levels of policy making, procedures, and expenditures, in partnership with our administrators, fellow employees, and community as a quality educational team.

Teacher salaries are competitive in Clovis. While starting teachers make a few thousand dollars a year more in neighboring unionized Fresno, the differences dissipate as teachers rack up more time on the job. And, while Fresno teachers are saddled with forced payments of $983 a year to the Fresno Teachers Association, Clovis teachers arent burdened with union dues. (For about $200 a year, Clovis teachers can join the Association of American Educators or the Christian Education Association International to ensure they have liability insurance and other advantages of belonging to a professional association.) Also, as Faculty Senate president Duane Goudy told me in an email, Our health benefits plan (we are self-insured) costs less and is one of the best in the state.

And students in Clovis are prospering. As reported by the Fresno Bee in 2014, a study by Oakland-based nonprofit Education Trust-West looked at academic performance in more than 140 school districts and showed that California generally fares poorly, with most districts receiving either a C or D grade: Of the nine districts surveyed in the central San Joaquin Valley, including Fresno, Central, Madera and Visalia Unifieds, seven received a C or a D. But Clovis earned a solid A, having ranked in the top 10 for four straight years. Additionally, students of color graduate at high rates and have been steadily improving on statewide tests. All this, and they do it for less. As reported by Goudy, Our district receives considerably less money per student than Fresno and 18 other districts in our county.

The real lesson of Clovis is that good education depends not on bloated budgets, bureaucratic paper-pushers and stifling union work rules, but rather on committed teachers and administrators who are dedicated to their students first and foremost.

As we celebrate National Employee Freedom Week, the Clovis model should be studied by teachers in California and beyond. It takes a group of independent-minded and determined teachers to decertify their union, saying goodbye to the one-size-fits-all regimen of the states teachers unions and their local affiliates. Thats no easy task, to be sure, but its certainly achievable  and it benefits both the educators and their students.

Larry Sand is president of the California Teachers Empowerment Network.
A cache of powerful hacking tools used by the National Security Agency have leaked online in what could be the biggest blow to the agency since 2013, when Edward Snowden came forward with documents that exposed the scope of its surveillance capabilities.

The leak raises new questions about how the NSA uses its offensive hacking ability and whether its approach ultimately leaves everyday users, not just the agencys targets, at risk.

Heres what you need to know about the leak:

Q. What happened?

A. Over the weekend, a group calling itself the Shadow Brokers posted online what it claims is a trove of malware used by the Equation Group  a code name for hackers that cybersecurity researchers have linked to the NSA.

The 300-some megabytes of information appear to date to 2013 and is allegedly just a free taste of a larger trove that the Shadow Brokers will release once a digital auction for the information is held. The group is asking for 1 million bitcoins  or about a half-billion dollars  before they will let it all loose. However, many experts are skeptical of the auction.

Its designed to distract. Its total nonsense, Nicholas Weaver, a computer security researcher at the University of California at Berkeley, told The Washington Posts Ellen Nakashima.

Weaver said bitcoin is so traceable that a Doctor Evil scheme of laundering $1 million, let alone $500 million, is frankly lunacy.

Q. What do these tools actually do?

A. The files contain what appears to be part of a sophisticated cyber arsenal. Among the digital weapons are exploits  hard-to-develop tools used for penetrating and taking over firewalls made by companies, such as Cisco and Fortinet, that are commonly used to protect computer networks.

There are also implant tools that can help hackers do things like siphon out or modify information on a system once theyve broken in.

Several of the tools relied on previously unknown  or zero-day  bugs in software that appear to remain vulnerable now.

Q. How sure are we that these tools actually belonged to the NSA?

A. They seem pretty legit. Although the NSA is staying mum, former NSA hackers told The Post that they appeared legitimate  as have other outside experts. Some file names from the cache also match up with programs or tools previously referenced in Snowdens revelations.

Faking this information would be monumentally difficult, there is just such a sheer volume of meaningful stuff, Weaver told The Post.

But its not clear that the NSA at large was hacked. Instead, an NSA operator may have mistakenly uploaded a full tool set to a proxy server that the agency used to carry out infiltrations, experts told The Post.

Q. So who are these Shadow Brokers?

A. The groups name appears to be a reference to a character in the Mass Effect video games who sells off information to the highest bidder.

But many, including Weaver and Snowden, say Russia is behind the leak. While theres no hard evidence connecting Russia to the data as of now, on Twitter, Snowden argued that Russia may have released the cache to wave the U.S. government away from officially blaming hacks against the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations on the country.

Putting the tools out there is likely a warning that someone can prove U.S. responsibility for any attacks that originated from the server that hosted them, he said. That could have major diplomatic fallout if, for instance, the tools were linked to spying on U.S. allies, Snowden argued.

WikiLeaks also tweeted that it had a full copy of the NSA tools cache that it would soon put up online, which may bolster the Russia theory. WikiLeaks posted Democratic National Committee files online last month, which many suspect came from Russian cyberattacks on the party organization.

Q. Are the tools still out there online? What does this mean for my security?

A. Yes. The Shadow Brokers put the files online in a few different ways, including using a peer-to-peer file sharing method called bittorrent  which makes it very hard, if not impossible, to delete them from the Web.

Thats bad news for user security: For one, these tools are now available to criminal hackers.

But secondly, the leak raises questions about how the government handles zero-day vulnerabilities. Theres an official process called an equities review that the government uses to weigh when it will tell software makers about security problems it discovers in their products.

But the exact process is murky  and critics of the NSA have long suspected that the agency hoards undisclosed vulnerabilities to use in its information-gathering efforts. The reliance on zero-day bugs that remain unpatched today by the leaked tools suggest that the agency sat on problems for years.

When those problems go unfixed, it leaves everyday people vulnerable because other hackers might find and exploit the same issues. This new leak seems to prove that other people can find the same vulnerabilities as the NSA  and in some cases, even gain access to the same tools the agency uses to exploit them.
How can anyone who cares about the Constitution support Donald Trump? Once more, Trump has shown a profound lack of understanding of the Constitution and a willingness to make dangerous, false accusations.

Last week, Trump accused President Barack Obama of treason. At a rally in Florida, Trump said: In many respects, you know, they honor President Obama. Hes the founder of ISIS. Hes the founder of ISIS. Hes the founder. He founded ISIS. On Thursday morning, conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, who has endorsed Trump, gave the candidate a chance to clarify his remarks. Hewitt said to Trump: I know what you meant. You meant that [Obama] created the vacuum, he lost the peace. To which Trump promptly responded: No, I meant that hes the founder of ISIS, I do. Then, during a speech later that day, Trump declared: I call President Obama and Hillary Clinton the founders of ISIS. Theyre the founders.

Later Trump said that this was sarcasm. But his words said that President Obama and Hillary Clinton committed treason. Article III of the Constitution says, Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.

It received less publicity, but in an interview last week with the Miami Herald, Trump said that he doesnt at all like the idea of trying terrorist suspects in the civilian court system. He added that he would be fine with trying U.S. citizens in military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay. Well, I know that they want to try them in our regular court systems, and I dont like that at all. I dont like that at all, he told the Herald. I would say they could be tried (in military commissions), that would be fine.

Trying U.S. citizens in military tribunals in Guantanamo almost surely would be unconstitutional. Article III of the Constitution says [t]he trial of all crimes shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall have been committed. Moreover, the Supreme Court has held that it violates separation of powers to take judicial matters away from the federal courts. After the Civil War, the Supreme Court ruled that President Abraham Lincolns use of military tribunals was unconstitutional. It said that so long as civilian courts were open they had to be used.

After 9/11, President George W. Bush issued an executive order creating military tribunals for non-citizens accused of terrorist acts. When Congress passed a statute, the Military Commission Act, creating authority for military tribunals, it was careful to do so only for alleged terrorist acts of non-citizens.

It is essential that there be public confidence in the fairness of any proceeding. But prosecuting terrorist suspects in military tribunals never will be perceived as providing them a fair trial. Military tribunals never will have the credibility and the perceived impartiality of a federal court.

Never does Trump explain why federal courts cannot be trusted to handle terrorism prosecutions. In fact, on countless occasions before and after 9/11, the federal courts handled terrorism trials. Perhaps Trumps comments reflect a lack of awareness of this history, or perhaps they are about his desire to have terrorism cases heard in tribunals that are more likely to side with the government. But that is exactly why such cases should be heard in a federal court.

It also is troubling that Trump not only wants to keep the prison at Guantanamo open, but expand its use. Guantanamo has been a failure. Although it has been used as a prison for terrorist suspects since January 2002, only a handful of prisoners have been tried. Some of have been held for over 14 years  longer than any way in American history  without a trial. The overwhelming majority of those held were cleared and released. Guantanamo has become a symbol across the world of this countrys violation of rights.

This is not the first time Trump has advocated proposals that are clearly unconstitutional and undesirable. He repeatedly has urged the barring of all Muslims from entering the country, an unquestionable denial of equal protection and free exercise of religion. Never should the government be able to presume someone to be dangerous on account of religion, race or group characteristics. He said that he wants to have the U.S. torture those it apprehends, saying that the country should engage in a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding. He says that we should not only go after terrorists, but also kill their families. All of this would be illegal and unconstitutional.

Never have I seen a candidate so willing to say anything, no matter how reckless. Never have I seen a presidential candidate so ignorant and so disdainful of the Constitution and its requirements.

Erwin Chemerinsky is dean of the UC Irvine School of Law.
SALT LAKE CITY   When it became apparent that Donald Trump would win the Republican presidential nomination, Andy Rasmussens path seemed clear: he resigned his GOP leadership position in northern Utah and left the party to become an unaffiliated voter.

Now Rasmussen and thousands of Utah Republicans wary of Trump are left scrambling to settle on a candidate of choice come Election Day.

Utah is one of the most homogenous states in the nation with a predominant religion  Mormonism  which often inspires some level of political conformity. Yet Trump has shattered the Republican consensus here, activating fault lines under even the most stable-looking electorate.

Rasmussen and other Republicans who outnumber Democrats nearly five-to-one among the states 1.3 million active voters are grappling with whether they distrust Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton more, and trying to assess two long-shot candidates.

I do believe her to be almost hopelessly corrupt, said Rasmussen, a former legislative chairman and member of the Cache County Republican Party Executive Committee. However, in comparison, I think Trump represents a clear and present danger to the republic where she does not, he added, dubbing Trump a prepubescent megalomaniac with no morals.

The billionaire businessman is still expected to win the six electoral votes in Utah, which hasnt voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. But even Trump acknowledged last week that hes having a tremendous problem in Utah. About seven in 10 Mormons lean Republican  more than any other major religion in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center. Evangelical Protestants are the next closest religious group with 56 percent of their members leaning Republican.

Some Utah Republicans are already exploring alternatives like Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, whos based his campaign in Salt Lake City, or Evan McMullin, a relatively unknown ex-CIA officer and Brigham Young University graduate who has managed to get on the ballot in Utah and a few other states. Some Republicans also are toying with the unfathomable  a vote for Clinton.

Democrats in Utah have already seen an 18-percent increase in voter registration from early March to mid-August  compared to a 5-percent decrease in that time period in 2012.

Republican voter registrations are also up, with an 11-percent increase this year compared to a 5 percent rise four years ago. But that jump in GOP voters could also be explained by a closely-watched primary race for governor this past June in which only registered Republicans could participate.

Trumps inability to connect to Mormon voters, who are more accustomed to cordiality than his famously brash temperament, has extended to Mormon strongholds in the West, including Arizona, swing state Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming. But it is most pronounced in Utah, headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Beyond his in-your-face demeanor, Trumps call for a temporary ban of foreign Muslims didnt go over well either. Mormons say it harkens to past efforts to persecute members of their own faith.

Former Republican nominee Mitt Romney, among the most high-profile Mormons in America, has been a persistent critic of Trump, and delivered a speech in Utah earlier this year where he ripped into the candidate as a phony who is unfit for office.

Clinton doesnt have a glowing track record in Utah either  losing the states March caucus to Bernie Sanders by a landslide  and political professionals dont expect her to win the state. Shed have to convert large numbers of anti-Trump voters while also hoping Johnson and McMullin siphon off a significant slice of other disaffected Republicans.

The race has even split Utahs normally-unified political hierarchy. Some prominent Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and Gov. Gary Herbert, endorsed Trump, but others, including Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, find it difficult to ignore the barrage of tweets, speeches and interviews that make them cringe.

Cox, an up-and-coming politician, says he doesnt know who he will vote for, only that it wont be Clinton.

David Irvine, a former Republican state legislator and retired brigadier general, said voting for Johnson or McMullin is as useful as voting for Donald Duck. Hes instead risking scorn by crossing party lines to vote for Clinton because he thinks Trump is temperamentally unsuited and woefully unqualified to make vital national security decisions.

He could do more damage in 90 minutes as president than most other people would be able to accomplish in a much longer period of time, Irvine said. Whatever baggage Hillary Clinton brings, his is worse.

Clinton has done little to court Utah voters outside of a guest editorial laced with Mormon themes in the Deseret News. Trump followed with his own guest editorial in the Mormon-owned newspaper this week, touting support from Herbert and Hatch and asserted that it is a top priority for him to earn the trust of Utah voters. The piece made no mention of Mormonism or his call for Cold War-style ideological tests.

Greg Hughes, the speaker of the state House of Representatives and a Trump supporter, said his fellow GOP voters just need to get used to Trumps frankness.

His bluntness and his candor is not what Utahns are used to in elected officials, but I think that theres nothing wrong with candor, Hughes said. I think that weve had too many candidates that say nothing to offend no one.
SANTA ANA  An Orange County judge offered to remove himself from a murder trial Wednesday, only to learn that attorneys on both sides want him to stay on a case that involves allegations of prosecutors falsifying evidence.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Goethals said he believes he can make an impartial ruling, but he wants to prevent even a perception of bias because the case is expected to include testimony from two county prosecutors who also are judge-elects, meaning theyre slated to become Goethals colleagues early next year.

I am not disqualifying myself because I dont think I would be fair, Goethals said. I know I would be fair; its the appearance.

Despite the judges recusal, both the prosecutor and the defense attorney involved in the trial indicated that they will submit waivers Thursday that would allow Goethals to remain on the case. Its unclear whether Goethals will step aside anyway or whether testimony in the case will be scheduled to begin. If Goethals does step aside, its possible the case will be heard in Los Angeles.

I know he has identified a conflict, but I think he can be fair, Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy said of Goethals.

The trial of Cole Wilkins, who has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the 2006 death of an off-duy Los Angeles County sheriffs deputy, includes allegations that could further damage the already-bruised reputation of the Orange County District Attorneys Office.

In the Wilkins case, allegations of misconduct center on two county prosecutors, Mike Murray and Larry Yellin, and their role in allowing reports from the California Highway Patrol to be used in Wilkins trial.

On July 7, 2006, Wilkins stole a stove and other appliances from a construction site in Menefee. While driving with those stolen goods on the 91 in Orange County, a stove fell off the back of Wilkins unsecured pickup. Though several drivers avoided the stove without incident, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Deputy David Piquette, 34, swerved into a vehicle carrying cement and was killed.

Two CHP investigators determined that Piquette was at fault for the crash because he was driving at an unsafe speed. But according to court records, other CHP administrators later changed those reports to indicate the crash was not Piquettes fault, a change of finding that made it possible for the D.A.s Office to charge Wilkins with murder.

In 2008, Wilkins, of Long Beach, was convicted of first-degree murder on the theory that a felony he committed, stealing appliances, directly led to someones death. He was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison.

In 2013, the California Supreme Court overturned the conviction, saying jurors should have been told that because Wilkins was already miles away from the burglary when he dropped the stove, he wasnt in the ongoing act of committing a felony and, therefore, potentially was not guilty of first-degree murder.

Now, in advance of Wilkins retrial, Deputy Public Defender Sara Ross is trying to remove the Orange County Districts Attorneys Office from the case.

The defense attorney alleges that prosecutors Yellen and Murray knowingly relied on altered CHP reports to convict Wilkins and that they have lied, cheated and hidden exculpatory evidence for 10 years.

Prosecutors deny those allegations, saying they are demonstrably false. They also contend that if the reports were changed, it wouldnt absolve Wilkins of guilt.

Another judge earlier this year determined that the D.A.s Office should have told defense attorneys about the altered CHP reports.

If Goethals rules in favor of the public defender in the Wilkins case, it could mark the second time in two years that the District Attorneys Office has been removed from a murder case because of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.

Last year, Goethals took the rare step of tossing the D.A.s Office off the penalty phase of the trial of Scott Dekraai, who admitted killing eight people in and near a Seal Beach hair salon in 2011. In that case, Goethals said the D.A.s Office couldnt be trusted to oversee a fair trail for Dekraai because of the misuse of a jailhouse informant and subsequent misstatements, under oath, by sheriffs deputies about that informant. The D.A.s Office has appealed that ruling.

A date for a jury trial in the Wilkins case has not yet been set.

Contact the writer: semery@scng.com
An Indonesian family got the shock of their life after their husband and father, 62-year-old Waluyo, just showed up at their doorstep one year after they had buried him. He was pronounced dead on May 15, 2015, after supposedly being involved in a car accident.

This bizarre story started last year, when Waluyo, from Suryoputran Panembahan village in Jogyakarta, left his home to work as a street cleaner in the city of Semarang, in order to support his family. It wasnt long after his departure that his wife, Alim Eskatinah, got a call from the police who told her that Waluyo had been the victim of a serious car accident and was in critical condition at the emergency room. The whole family and even some of their neighbors rushed to the hospital to be by his side, but the injured man died after a few days. In the hospital he was in a coma. Relatives and neighbors all visited him. He then died on May 7, 2015. Many came to his funeral, all the neighbors came, Waluyos daughter, Anti Ristanti told Indonesian newspaper Detik.

Then, a few weeks ago, Waluyo returned home, where he was greeted with a unique mix of happiness and horror by his distraught family. Is this real or not? I have to step back [to see him], how can a dead person come back to life? Im shocked, his wife, Alim Eskatinah, told local reporters. She was so shocked to see the man they had buried a week ago standing in front of her that she didnt even believe it was him until she checked some distinctive physical traits. He had a scar on his back because of a skin condition, Alim said. He also had a missing tooth. They all checked out, but just to be sure, the family asked him to name a few of relatives.

After passing these strange tests and hearing their story, the confused man told them that he had been in Semarang all this time, but since he didnt have a mobile phone he never got in touch with them. He had no idea his family had buried him back home.

Waluyos return from the dead obviously made his family very happy, but it also raised some very interesting questions, like who lies buried in his grave, how did none of his family and friends notice that the person in the hospital wasnt really Waluyo, and why did the police think he was the victim of that car accident in the first place. The first one remains unanswered for now, as for the other two, one plausible explanation would be that the person who died simply looked a lot like Waluyo, although he claims he doesnt have a twin brother. This must have been one hell of a resemblance, since his own family confirmed it was Waluyo, and didnt even bother to check for those distinctive physical traits.

Flabbergasted police have visited Waluyo since his return to maybe find some answers to this mystery, and gave annulled his death certificate, but not before he could have a morbid picture taken with it.

Unfortunately, having been pronounced dead, Waluyo will now have to go through several lengthy procedures to legally return among the living. He will have to be re-introduced into the countrys population database and apply for a new identity card and family card, among other things. Taking into consideration the peculiarity of his case, local authorties have accepted not to charge him the usual fees, though.

Photos: Detik

Source: Detik via Coconuts Jakarta
The Westhampton Free Library board last night heard detailed plans for spending millions on the six-year-old building. Residents were not notified.

Residents at the Westhampton Free Library meeting admonished the board for not publicizing the major presentation that was to be made at the meeting on construction plans.

A 35-minute Power Point presentation was made of plans to build out the attic of the library including blueprints and options. A total of $1.9 million has been allocated to construction and interior design. There are also plans to spend $1 million on acquisition of a parking lot.

Citizens at the meeting were perplexed at the failure of the board to publicize the presentation either by posters in the library or an announcement on the librarys website or a release to the press.

Its just another example of the library board providing zero accountability and transparency, said a resident.

Tom Moore, board president, husband of Westhampton Beach Mayor Maria Moore, replying to criticisms by residents at the meeting, said the plans were preliminary.



Four residents were present at the meeting. They noted that neither the July nor August board meetings were publicized in the library newsletter that is sent to 14,000 library card holders.

Board Feel Its Being Attacked

Trustee Susan Rosenberg asked why citizens feel they have a need to attack the board? They replied that citizens have a right to know what actions the board is taking with millions of dollars of taxpayer money and that taxpayers should be told when such plans are being revealed.

Present at the meeting were three architects from H2M, Melville, N.Y. They left after their presentation and did not hear any of the questions or remarks of residents. The meeting lasted 56 minutes. The same firm is using a topographic and boundary survey of Main street made by Fox Land Surveying that could be used should WHB decide to install a new sewage treatment system.

The cost of the survey, which will take four to six weeks, is $24,000.

The board, asked whether the library construction project is being put out to bid, did not provide a firm answer to the question.

Citizens, who have created the Free the Westhampton Free Library website, have been pleading for more than a year with the board to switch from appointed to elected status.

Sag Harbor Library Switched to Elected Board

WH residents noted that The John Jermain Memorial Library, Sag Harbor, is a Suffolk County association library like the Westhampton Free Library. Unlike the WFL, however, the JJML Board amended its by-laws in 2004 to change from an appointed board to an elected board.

The Library has had an elected board for a dozen years and there have been no negative issues involving civil service, said WH residents.

The Sag Harbor board invited community organizations to join a Community Library Committee to assist in determining the best approach for the expansion of library services. Twenty-four community leaders participated. The committee formed a community-based Library Development Committee. Nearly forty residents participated.
The top off-road drivers gathered to take their shot at the pole position for the longest off-road race in the United States. There is no doubt who everyone is gunning for at the 2016 BITD Vegas to Reno race, and thats three-time consecutive winner Jason Voss, who has literally run away with this race for the past three years in a row. No other racer has held such mastery over one endurance race since Ivan The Ironman Stewart and his string of Baja 500 wins. Make no mistake, there is luck involved in off-road racing, but more than anything it is a testament of preparation of driver and team alike to show who has the talent and preparation to pull it off in such dominating fashion.

For this years qualifying, which was held just North of Las Vegas, it was local legend and veteran off-road racer Rob MacCachren taking the pole position for Fridays start with a lap time of 3 minutes, 49.635 seconds over the 3-mile course. MacCachren bested the next closest competitor in his class, Jason Voss, by just 2 seconds. Voss was the second fastest in class but will start third off the line in the mixed field of racers.

Coming in second overall on the day and first in the unlimited buggy class was longtime racer Harley Letner in his Alpha built racecar with a time of 3:51.302. Letner has long been known for his aggressive driving style and it showed today when he posted a qualifying time 3 seconds faster than CJ Hutchens, the next fastest qualifier in the class.

So the stage is set. Will MacCachrens experience pay off or will Voss go down in history with a four-peat? Or will Letner upset them all with an overall win in a buggy? There are 50 others in the unlimited ranks and 600 miles of angry desert that hold the answer to that question. Who will be able to deliver? Who will succumb to the deserts brutality? Well have the answer this weekend.

V2R The Long Way Facts

For the past 20 years the longest off road race in the United States has been the Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno.

The race normally run about 545 miles, but this year the Long Way will be 644 miles

The racecourse is comprised of harsh, unforgiving terrain consisting of high-speed dirt roads, rock, and silt. The area is littered with long abandoned ghost towns, mine shafts, ditches and washouts

The undisputed king of the V2R race is Jason Voss, whos won three races in and was the second-fastest Trick Truck in qualifying.

BITD Vegas to Reno Qualifying Results

1. Rob Maccachren - 03:49.635

2. Harley Letner - 03:51.302

3. Jason Voss - 03:51.843

4. Andy Mcmillin - 03:53.807

5. CJ Hutchins - 03:54.468

6. Bryce Menzies - 03:54.477

7. Luke Mcmillin - 03:54.611

8. Justin Matney - 03:55.874

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Beef Buzz News

What to Expect in the Wake of Rising Carcass Weights This Fall

For the most part, feedlots have stayed fairly current in their cattle marketing and carcass weights have also been very manageable in 2016. However, carcass weights seem to be on the rise. According to Extension Livestock Economist Dr. Derrell Peel of Oklahoma State University, though, this is a completely predictable seasonal pattern. He says although the industry should keep an eye on the rising figures, it is probably nothing to worry about just yet.





"We expect to continue to increase through the fall here," Peel said. "They typically peak in October or November. I think that's the real key."





Peel says that if we have a more normal seasonal increase from here to the end of October, unlike the dramatic run-up the industry experienced in 2015, then we could be looking at running 10-15 pounds under last year. Peel says his concerns focus on what will transpire over the next several weeks.





"I think the fact that it is growing is not as much of a concern," Peel said. "But how fast its growing seasonally here in the next eight weeks or so, will be really critical."





With the industry placing more and more cattle in feedlots since February, Peel explained that a rise in numbers that supports increased beef production will be expected. However, he submits that we may offset some of that if carcass weights stay under year-over-year levels.





On the other hand, if last year's situation does repeat itself, Peel says we will then really see the full effects of the growing cattle numbers we see in the system right now. Adding to the mix of possibilities, are record projected grain crops across the board, which could potentially translate into a lower cost of gain at feedlots. This in turn could tempt feeders to be less aggressive in moving cattle.





"There's a risk in this but the danger of that really comes from other factors in and of itself," Peel said, "cheaper grain and that prospect is good for the cattle industry."





Listen to Dr. Derrell Peel and Radio Oklahoma Network's Ron Hays discuss the potential effects of rising carcass weights on today's Beef Buzz.





The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.

























Listen to Dr. Derrell Peel and Ron Hays discuss the potential effects of rising carcass weights

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Beef News
Agricultural News

Can Wheat Prices Afford Another Record Year - Dr. Kim Anderson Does the Math

Oklahoma State University Extension Grains Market Analyst Dr. Kim Anderson talks wheat prices with SUNUP's Lyndall Stout this week- and examines what the effects of another record crop may do to prices in 2017. As we near the transition from the September contract to the December contract, Dr. Anderson says there are some positive signs in the market that a slight uptrend may develop. However, he doubts any big changes in wheat prices will occur. It will be hard to pull off, he says, but if anything, expect to see possibly a $0.10-15 rally. What Dr. Anderson is fully anticipating though, is a sure decline in the basis of around $0.25 as markets roll out of the September contract into December's.





Why in general are prices even as low as they are to begin with? Because there is simply so much wheat, and most other grains for that matter, stockpiled in the world right now, Dr. Anderson says. He states that if looking at the last nine years, seven of them have had world record crop sizes. This year worldwide, there is a reported 27.3 billion bushels of wheat averaging approximately 25.1. He says the only way to correct this is if the market lost a foreign crop, possibly even several. He asserted that less acres of wheat need to be planted this season. He begs the question as to what would happen if we have another record crop in 2017; where would we even put it, he asks. Dr. Anderson suggests that if this does occur, producers could expect to see wheat as low as $2.00 next year. You can watch their visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear Kim's comments right now by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.





Beyond Lyndall's weekly chat with Dr. Anderson- the SUNUP crew has a very full lineup for your viewing this weekend:





This week on SUNUP, they kick off their fair series with a trip to the Ottawa County Fair in Miami. Then, they will talk about canola planting preparation with Josh Lofton.



- Eric DeVuyst talks about tools to help producers decide between planting wheat or canola. He also talks about decision tools for extending grazing of cattle on wheat.



- In the Mesonet weather report, Al Sutherland says July may not have been as hot as you thought, but it was more humid.



- Josh Lofton has the final summer crop in his series, soybeans.



- In Cow-Calf Corner, Glenn Selk tells viewers to plan ahead for early fall-born calves.



- Then, Kim Anderson says "we have to take off the world's production '17 (wheat crop) to get six-dollars, above break-even levels."



- Extension veterinarian, Dr. Barry Whitworth, has advice for livestock heading to county fairs.



- They will travel to Miami to see what has made the Ottawa County Fair special for 97 years.



- Finally, a reminder that they will step aside from their usual broadcasts for the next two weeks for OETA's fundraising.





SUNUP will return to the air on September 10th.





Join SUNUP:





Saturday at 7:30 a.m. & Sunday at 6 a.m. on OETA-TV



















Listen to Dr. Kim Anderson's comments on wheat prices as markets roll into the December contract

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Top Agricultural News
Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae arrived in Rio de Janeiro to compete at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.

Preliminary and final rounds for rhythmic gymnastics starts later this week.

Son stayed in Russia throughout this season in preparation for the Olympics and then moved to Sao Paulo late last month to train with other gymnasts, including her Russian rivals Yana Kudryavtseva and Margarita Mamun.

"It is my second time to compete at the Olympics after London in 2012, but it doesn't mean the second one will be any easier," Son said on Monday upon arrival in Rio. "I have worked hard and want to make sure I have no regrets."

Son finished fifth four years ago and now aims to be on the medal podium.
LINCOLN  A Nebraska death row inmate challenged the states death penalty law Wednesday based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down capital punishment in Florida.

The motion for post-conviction relief argues that Nebraska unconstitutionally requires a three-judge panel to make the final sentencing decision in capital cases. The motion cites the Supreme Court opinion released this year in Hurst v. Florida, which said the U.S. Constitution requires juries to decide the critical elements of a death sentence.

The Nebraska statutes, which allow a panel of judges, not a jury, to make findings authorizing a death sentence, violates this central constitutional tenet repeated in Hurst, Omaha lawyer Alan Stoler wrote in the motion.

A similar legal challenge that relied on the Hurst ruling prompted the Delaware Supreme Court to strike down that states death penalty this month.

Stoler filed the motion in Scotts Bluff County District Court on behalf of Jeffrey Hessler, convicted of the 2003 first-degree murder of 15-year-old Heather Guerrero of Gering. Hessler abducted the girl as she was delivering newspapers, then drove her to an abandoned farmhouse, where he raped her before shooting her in the head.

The jury that convicted Hessler identified aggravating circumstances necessary to warrant a death sentence, said Suzanne Gage, spokeswoman for Attorney General Doug Peterson. Jurors who heard all of the evidence in the case determined that Hesslers actions were especially heinous, atrocious, cruel, or manifested exceptional depravity.

The Attorney Generals Office will defend the motion, which we expect will be as unsuccessful as Hesslers other two failed post-conviction cases, she added.

The new legal challenge comes as advocates on both sides of the death penalty ramp up efforts to sway Nebraska voters, who will be asked Nov. 8 to decide a referendum on the Legislatures 2015 repeal of capital punishment.

This week, death penalty backers released poll results indicating that a strong majority of Nebraskans support capital punishment. Meanwhile, opponents unveiled an economic analysis that says the state spends $14.6 million annually to maintain the death penalty.

Hesslers new challenge wont be decided before voters go to the polls, so it most likely becomes moot if the repeal survives. But his case will proceed if voters keep the death penalty on the books, and Hessler will try to convince the Nebraska Supreme Court to strike down the law.

In Hurst v. Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court negated a death penalty sentencing scheme that required juries to make a recommendation to the judge on sentencing. The final decision, however, rested with the judge.

The Supreme Court said the Florida law violated the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to a jury trial.

Nebraskas system is similar, but not identical, to Floridas.

In Nebraska, a second trial takes place after a defendant is convicted in a death penalty case. The same jury that decided guilt also decides whether aggravating factors exist to justify the defendants execution.

If the jury finds that aggravating factors were present in the murder, a three-judge panel is convened to determine if they outweigh any mitigating factors in the defendants favor. The three judges also must determine if the death sentence is warranted and, if so, whether it is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases.

After making the necessary determinations, the judges impose the sentence.

Those findings are elements of the crime of capital murder, Stoler said in a legal brief. As a result, these elements must be found by a unanimous jury, not a judge.

Hessler, 37, is one of 10 men on Nebraskas death row. He was sentenced in 2005 and lost his appeal to the State Supreme Court two years later.

He has filed two other post-conviction appeals, which were unsuccessful. His newest motion will be heard by District Judge Randall Lippstreu.

Contact the writer: 402-473-9587, joe.duggan@owh.com
China has launched the world's first satellite into orbit using a technology to send communications back to Earth that it hopes will be secure from hackers.

The satellite was launched into space Tuesday from a military base in Gansu province in the northwest Gobi Desert.

The 600-plus-kg satellite, dubbed Micius after a 5th century B.C. Chinese philosopher and scientist, will circle the Earth every 90 minutes.

Light particles will be fired at Micius to determine if quantum physics will permit the secure encryption of long-range communication.

The official Xinhua news agency said that during the satellite's two-year mission, it will establish "hack-proof" communications by transmitting uncrackable keys from space to ground.

"I don't think the quantum communications system is as impregnable as the Chinese would have us believe," Morris Jones, an independent Australian space analyst who monitors the Chinese space program, told VOA's Victor Beattie.
Theres a business segment in Nebraska that doesnt usually receive much attention but is an up-and-coming part of the states economic future. Its bioscience, and its economic benefits are felt in communities across the state.

These companies include everything from small, homegrown businesses to multinational corporations, with jobs ranging from certificate-based occupations to high-level technologists.

Nebraska bioscience companies produce animal feedstock and ag-related chemicals. They use specialized techniques to store and deliver pharmaceuticals and other biotech materials. They manufacture medical devices.

Nebraska is home to just over 1,000 such businesses, employing almost 16,000 people, with a multiplier effect that supports a total of around 88,000 Nebraska jobs. This effect is particularly beneficial for the states small and medium-sized communities.

The average annual salary at a Nebraska bioscience company is $61,701, compared with $40,640 for the states overall private sector.

Those numbers are from a recent report from TECeconomy Partners, an Ohio-based consulting firm that examined the bioscience sector in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The biotech industry has a statewide footprint, with jobs spread widely among Nebraska communities, says Phil Kozera, executive director of Bio Nebraska, the trade association for the states bioscience businesses.

BD Medical has medical device manufacturing plants in Columbus, Broken Bow and Holdrege. Norfolk is home to a Medtronic plant. Kearney hosts a West Pharmaceutical facility. Those all serve as significant employers in their region, Kozera told The World-Herald. Other examples include Pellet Technology USA in Gretna, which converts crop residue into animal feed, and the set of world-class biotech facilities in Blair.

Recent expansions, Kozera said, show the growth opportunities in Nebraska, including Nova- Tech in Grand Island; Ward Labs in Kearney; and the GeneSeek facility and Benchmark Biolabs new vaccine manufacturing plant, both in Lincoln.

Nebraska businesses receive patents for their new products and discoveries. In 2012-15, Nebraska had 493 bioscience-related patents, with 43 percent of those for agricultural technologies and 21 percent for medical and surgical devices.

Because bioscience jobs require advanced skills, its important for Nebraska to build a strong talent pipeline. High-ed institutions in Nebraska are responding to the need, Kozera says.

He points to Southeast Community Colleges biotechnology program, which prepares students in a wide variety of laboratory specializations. The program provides student internships.

At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Brian Larkins, associate vice chancellor for life sciences, works with faculty on curriculum enhancements. Creighton Universitys bioscience entrepreneurship program is widely respected.

Also, Kozera says: Changes in Nebraska tax laws make them more helpful to biotech startups.
Indonesia on Wednesday sunk 60 foreign fishing ships it says it captured for unlawfully fishing in its territorial waters. The move coincided with the countrys independence day observances.

The Indonesian government has adopted a firm position against illegal fishing in its waters as tensions between China and other countries escalate in the South China Sea. Last month an international tribunal rejected China's claims to nearly the entire South China Sea.

Indonesian officials are especially worried about China's recent expansion of its fishing fleets and occasional encroachment on the waters of other countries. Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed his desire to parliament Tuesday to develop his nation of at least 17,000 islands into a regional maritime power.

Many of the vessels were seized off the coast of Indonesia's Natuna Islands, an area where the country's economic zone extends into the South China Sea.


Odisha to supply bauxite to Vedanta's Lanjigarh refinery

Bhubaneswar

oi-PTI

Bhubaneswar, Aug 17: Odisha government today said it has decided to provide raw material linkage to Vedanta's alumina refinery project at Lanjigarh from the Kodingamali bauxite mines in Koraput district. State-run Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) owns the mining lease of Kodingamali bauxite mines, and production is expected to start soon.

"We will make arrangements for bauxite supplies to Vedanta plant from OMC's Kodingamali mines. Bauxite supplies can take off once production starts from the mines," Odisha's Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallick said. Mallick said OMC has got the mining lease of Kodingamali mines.

The bauxite mines of OMC are spread over an area of 428.31 hectares in tribal dominated Koraput and Rayagada districts. Vedanta has been running its refinery at Lanjigarh by importing bauxite from states like Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra since its inception. Odisha government has not been able to meet the refinery's raw material requirement, due to which it has not operated at its full capacity.

The company has occasionally imported bauxite from countries like New Guinea, even as Lanjigarh refinery plant is surrounded by bauxite deposits. Vedanta has been pleading for alternative bauxite mines after the Centre's Environment Ministry rejected mining activities at Niyamgiri hills.

Meanwhile, Mallick said the state has been preparing for auction of five new mines, which included four limestone mines and one manganese mine located in Malkangiri, Nuapada and Bargargh. "We will be able to go for public auction by first week of September," Mallick said.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, August 18, 2016, 11:39 [IST]
BJP MP scolds official for cleaning Yamuna with 'poisonous chemical' ahead of Chhath

Snapdeal shuts Exclusively.Com, integrates with itself

Business

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 18: E-commerce major Snapdeal will shut down Exclusively.Com and will integrate the latter's catalogue with itself, about 18 months after acquiring the premium branded fashion and lifestyle products marketplace.

"Snapdeal has completed the integration of Exclusively with itself. The entire catalogue of Exclusively, including fashion and lifestyle products, footwear, accessories will be available on Snapdeal and will be fulfilled through Snapdeal's logistics network," Snapdeal said in a statement.

A Snapdeal spokesperson said the company has absorbed all the employees of Exclusively.Com and they will continue with their existing business responsibilities.

She, however, did not comment on the number of employees Exclusively.Com has.

The Exclusively.In website will cease to exist in a few weeks as a standalone portal and will not accept orders from users, she said.

In February last year, Snapdeal had acquired Exclusively for an undisclosed amount.

Exclusively offers products from designers and brands like DKNY, Armani, Michael Kors, Porsche Design, Marc Jacobs, Vera Moda, FCUK, Biba, AND, WLS, Being Human, UCB, Puma and Clarks.

"This integration will ensure a wider access for the fashion and lifestyle products available on Exclusively, as now all Snapdeal users will have access to the same. This move comes as Snapdeal adds more depth and brands to the fashion category," it said.

Fashion is important for e-commerce category with players like Snapdeal, Flipkart and Amazon battling for leadership as high margins are higher in the category compared to mobile phones and books.

According to a report by Google-AT Kearney, fashion is expected to overtake consumer electronics as the largest category at 35 per cent of the total online spending by 2020.

In July, Snapdeal was in race to acquire online fashion retailer Jabong before the deal was clinched by bigger rival Flipkart.

Flipkart-owned Myntra bought Jabong for USD 70 million in an all-cash deal to consolidate poistion in online fashion market in India.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, August 18, 2016, 9:49 [IST]
TaxiForSure 'integrated' with Ola's micro cab service

Business

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Aug 18: Eighteen months after acquiring rival TaxiForSure for $200 million, cab aggregator Ola said it has decided to "integrate" the radio taxi service with its micro cab service after absorbing as many employees as possible and extending enhanced severance benefits to others.

Radio taxi and cab booking service TaxiForSure continues to figure on Ola app, but the icon persistently shows "no cabs".

"TaxiForSure has contributed immensely towards Ola Micro's success within a short span of time. Ola Micro has expanded to over 90 cities across India and accounts for the largest share of first-time cab users coming onto any mobility platform," the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

"With all TaxiForSure driver-partners and customers coming on board the Ola app, the integration is now complete," said the company adding that it had also absorbed the staff who can support Ola's growth.

"For positions that cease to exist as a result of this transition, we are offering enhanced severance benefits and out-placement services to help affected employees pursue new career opportunities."

The company declined comment on the fleet size of TaxiForSure, the driver-partners in the network or the back-end staff dedicated to the service. The company also did not share if it intended to do away with the TaxiForSure brand completely.

The cities served by TaxiForSure include the Delhi National Capital Region, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune.

IANS

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Story first published: Thursday, August 18, 2016, 9:04 [IST]
Evicted DMK MLAs stage protest outside Tamil Nadu assembly

Chennai

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Chennai, Aug 18: A day after 80 DMK legislators were suspended from the Tamil Nadu assembly by the speaker P Dhanapal, these MLAs are staging a sit-in protest outside the assembly after an argument with the security personnel who did not allow them to enter.

According to a report by the TOI, DMK MLA and former school education minister Thangam Thennarasu said, "Gate No 4 to the assembly was locked by the guards. We have only been suspended, but we are MLAs. We don't know why they are not letting us inside."

DMK MLA and former Chennai Corporation Mayor M Subramanian told reporters, "It is not our intention to go into the assembly hall, but we would like to go to the chamber allotted to the DMK in the Assembly complex."

[Read: DMK members suspended from assembly for a week]

Meanwhile, the assembly session is reported to have begun normally with a question hour in which DMK members who were not evicted also participated.

OneIndia News
In a first, two inmates of Institute of Mental Health tie the knot

Shankarmurthy or Anandiben Patel- who will be the next TN Governor?

Chennai

oi-Vicky

Chennai, Aug 18: There is still some suspense remaining on who would replace K Rosaiah as the Governor of Tamil Nadu. While the name of senior BJP leader from Karnatak, D H Shankarmurthy was almost finalised, there appears to be a twist in the tale.

At the moment the name of Anandiben Patel, the former Chief Minister of Gujarat too is doing the rounds. Rosaiah will complete his term on August 31. Incidentally he is the only UPA appointed governor to complete his full term.

Many had thought that Shankarmurthy's name had been cleared following his recent visit to New Delhi where he held a meeting with BJP's National President Amit Shah. Shah had hinted during the meeting that he should be prepared for a bigger role.

However, now the name of Anandiben Patel too has cropped up. This is largely because Tamil Nadu is likely to have problems with a governor who hails from Karnataka. Both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have strained relations over the Cauvery Waters issue.

In such a scenario the appointment of a senior leader from Karnataka is unlikely to go down too well with the Tamil Nadu chief Minister.

Sources say that there was a communication from Tamil Nadu to the national leadership of the BJP regarding the appointment of a Karnataka man for the post of Governor.

Moreover the TN CM also favours a woman candidate. TN had also indicated that the CM would prefer a woman candidate and hence the BJP leadership is seriously contemplating the name of Anandiben Patel for the post of Governor.

A senior BJP leader when asked about this development refused to confirm the development. He however, added that some new considerations had come up and the matter was under discussion.

OneIndia News
Gopuja at all Karnataka Temples today: Govt explains how it should be done

Cow vigilantes kill BJP worker transporting cattle in Udupi

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Bengaluru, Aug 18: Hindu groups appear to have ignored Prime Minister Narendra Modi's warning against cow vigilantism. Eleven days after Modi's sharp jibe at 'fraudulent gau rakshaks', right-wing goons killed a BJP worker for allegedly smuggling cows at Kajike in Udupi district

At around 10 pm on Wednesday, goons -- allegedly members of Hindu Jagarana Vedike (HJV), Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishat (VHP), attacked a tempo that was ferrying two cows and killed Praveen Poojary (28).

After PM, RSS asks people to expose cow vigilantes

The goons used sticks and machetes to attack Praveen Poojary and Akshay Devadiga (20). While Poojary died on the spot, Akshay sustained injuries and is being treated in a private hospital at Brahmavar. Poojary was a BJP worker in Udupi.

Udupi SP K.T. Balakrishna said the Hebri police had registered an FIR invoking sections relating to murder and rioting and had arrested 18 Hindu activists on Thursday. "The prime accused, Shrikanth, belongs to HJV. We are trying to establish the affiliations of the other 17", Balakrishna said, adding that they were suspected to be Bajrang Dal and VHP members.

The VHP's Mangaluru district president Jagadish Shenava, however, denied that his organisation had any role in the murder. Speaking to OneIndia, Shenava said "All the accused belong to HJV. VHP had no role in the incident."

He added that he condemned such attacks. When questioned if this was the cow vigilantes' reaction to Modi's criticism of gau rakshaks, Shenava said, "I cannot react to this because the VHP is not in the picture," but he added in the same breath, "I take a strong view against Modi's statement calling gau rakshaks anti-social. Hindu activists are putting their life at risk to save the cow."

"Modi became PM only because Hindu activists worked for him. PM's recent statements will not stop HJV from carrying out what it has been doing for years. The enthusiasm of gau rakshaks will double now", Shenava said.

Bajrang Dal state president Sharan Pumpwell said his activists did not take part in the Udupi attack. "Bajrang Dal does not break the law. We carry out cow protection legally, ensuring no damage to law and order", he said.

Asked for his reaction to Modi's statement on gau rakshaks, he said, "I am deeply hurt by Modi's statement, but we will not stop the good work we have been doing".

OneIndia News
AAP govt to do away with luxury tax on hotel stay

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 18: The AAP government is all set to introduce a Bill in the Delhi Assembly to do away with luxury tax on hotels having rent up to Rs. 1,500 after Lt Governor Najeeb Jung gave his approval to the proposal.

As per the Delhi Tax on Luxuries Act (1996), any person who stays in a hotel room whose tariff is Rs. 750 per day or above, has to pay luxury tax.

"The Lt Governor has given his nod to the proposal to do away with luxury tax on hotel renting up to Rs. 1,500. The AAP government will thus table the Bill in the upcoming Assembly session," said a senior government official.

If the Assembly passes the Bill, staying at the city's budget hotels will become cheaper, a move aimed at ensuring ease of business and attracting tourists to the national capital. Places like Paharganj, Karol Bagh, Mahipalpur and Daryaganj in the city have many budget hotels.

The four-day Assembly session will begin on August 22 during which the GST Bill may be ratified, as the centre aims to get the legislation cleared by at least half of the 29 states to roll out the new tax regime.

In March, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had announced that the government would reduce the threshold limit of luxury tax on a hotel room from Rs. 750 to Rs. 1,500 per day while presenting the 2016-17 budget.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, August 18, 2016, 13:01 [IST]
Turkey is set to release 38,000 prisoners in an apparent move to make space for thousands of people arrested as part of an investigation into last month's failed coup. Meanwhile, more putsch-related dismissals and arrests are taking place, despite calls for proportionality from Ankaras Western allies.

In a tweet Wednesday, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag announced the release of the prisoners sanctioned by a government decree under the current Emergency Rule.

No reason was given for the early release, but in a statement an official said only non-violent prisoners would be freed and they would remain under supervision.

Nearly 20,000 people have been arrested since last months coup attempt.

Human rights groups in Turkey have claimed the prisons are so overcrowded that detainees are being forced to sleep in shifts.

 Overcrowding at Issue

Turkey researcher Andrew Gardner of London-based Amnesty International said even before the latest detentions, Turkey was facing chronic prison overcrowding.

"The concerns we have had regarding prisons, especially recently, following the huge numbers of detentions following the coup attempt, is overcrowding in prisons. From that perspective, it is possible the large number of releases will help this situation," Gardner said.
AAP levels graft charges against Maharashtra minister

India

oi-PTI

Mumbai, Aug 17: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today alleged a Rs 525-crore scam in Jalna Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) under the chairmanship of Maharashtra Minister Arjun Khotkar, who rejected the charge.

Addressing a press conference here, AAP national spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon accused the Shiv Sena leader of "looting" Jalna APMC and treating it like his fiefdom.

As Chairman of the APMC since the last nine years, Khotkar ran the committee like his private empire and made huge profits illegally, she said and demanded his ouster from the Council of Ministers, where he was inducted last month. Menon alleged there was a scam of Rs 525 crore in the APMC, where 'galas' (shops) were sold, leased and sub-leased illegally.

She said galas were sold with inflated price and alleged nepotism in their ownership. "Out of 1,500 galas, 250 are illegally owned by Khotkar's 40 relatives and his business partners in the two markets of APMC."

"The real value of the galas comes to around Rs 600 crore, but only Rs 75 crore went to the APMC and the rest Rs 525 crore was pocketed by Khotkar and his cronies," the AAP leader said. Menon said figures and information provided by her were based on replies received from authorities concerned in response to RTI applications filed by her.

Showing a few purported sting operations to the media persons, she claimed the entire APMC market, where farm commodities were sold by traders, was riddled with corruption. She said, "flouting all rules, the galas are used to stock and sell non-agricultural items like steel, pipes, furniture, automobiles, textiles."

The APMC market in Purana Monda area, which is called Arjun Khotkar Business Centre (AKBC), boasts of a string of textile showrooms, the AAP leader said.

Besides the financial scam, APMC also violated audit norms, she said. "Annual audit reports are replete with remarks about malpractices and misappropriations but no corrective action has been taken," Menon said.

The AAP spokesperson asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to sack Khotkar and said she will file a case against him with Anti-Corruption Bureau and also write to the Chief Justice of India.

Khotkar, a four-time Sena MLA from Jalna in North Maharashtra, termed the allegations as completely baseless and politically motivated, and said "rules and regulations were strictly followed while carrying out business of the APMC".

The Minister of State for Textile, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries claimed Menon's allegations were based on incomplete information and said he will address a press meet tomorrow and reply to her charges.

PTI
In Tripura, liquor shops and bars to remain closed during Durga Puja, Diwali

Decision on Tripura MLAs who deserted Congress on Aug 29: Speaker

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Agartala, Aug 18: A decision on the issue of six Congress legislators in Tripura joining the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will be announced on August 29, Assembly Speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath said on Thursday.

"Five of the six Congress MLAs met me on Thursday and submitted some documents of other assemblies in the country and various courts. They said they have joined the TMC and demanded recognition as the main opposition party," Debnath told reporters.

He said he had met all the six MLAs individually and verified their signatures.

"I have also met state Congress President Birajit Sinha and others and they have also submitted various documents. After consulting the rules and experts, I will take a final decision by August 29."

Besides suspended Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman, other former Congress legislators who met the speaker are Ashish Saha, Biswabandhu Sen, Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl and Pranjit Singha Roy.

Congress MLA Dilip Sarkar, who also recently joined TMC, did not meet the speaker on Thursday.

NFR to carry fuel tankers on flat wagons to Tripura

TMC's Tripura unit chairman Ratan Chakraborty, a minister in the Congress-led state government during 1988-1993, had warned that if the Speaker did not recognise his party as the main opposition party in the assembly and the six rebel Congress legislators as TMC legislators, they would seek the Governor's intervention.

A TMC delegation had also earlier met Governor Tathagata Roy and informed him of the political development in the state.

Roy Barman, along with other party legislators and a large number of leaders, resigned from the Congress in June in protest against the party's alliance with the Left parties for the West Bengal assembly elections.

Another Congress legislator, Jitendra Sarkar, resigned from the Tripura assembly and rejoined the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

A former CPI-M legislator, Sarkar served as Speaker of the Tripura assembly twice in the past -- he had joined the Congress in March 2010.

Meanwhile, Congress's sitting legislator and former opposition leader Ratan Lal Nath denied media reports that he was also joining the TMC.

With the resignations, the Congress's strength in the Tripura assembly has gone down from 10 to three -- the lowest ever -- in the 60-member House.

The ruling CPI-M-led Left Front has 50 lawmakers. The CPI-M alone has 49.

IANS


India and Turkey to hold extensive talks tomorrow

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 18: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu will hold wide-ranging talks on a range of bilateral and regional issues which may include deliberations on situation in West Asia and ways to counter threat of terrorism.

Earlier this month, Turkey had asked India to act against the institutions affiliated to the network of Fethullah Gulen, blamed for last month's failed coup to topple President Tayyip Erdogan, and the issue may figure in the discussions between the two foreign ministers.

"The entire gamut of bilateral relations as well as multilateral and regional issues are likely to be discussed during the talks,' External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. Cavusoglu will also call on Vice President Hamid Ansari tomorrow.

During his three-day visit, the Turkish Foreign Minister is also scheduled to visit Hyderabad on August 20 to open the Turkish Consulate building. Relations between India and Turkey have witnessed steady progress. The bilateral trade is also increasing and touched USD 6.3 billion last year.

"We hope the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister will further strengthen our bilateral ties," said Swarup. This Cavusoglu's first official visit to India. He was in India on a transit halt last year and had met Swaraj.

President Erdogan has vowed to take strong action against those linked to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who he had blamed for the July 15 coup attempt.

Tens of thousands of troops, civil servants, judges and officials have already been detained or dismissed in a massive crackdown following the failed coup.

PTI
Kudankulam Unit 2 to be connected to power grid by August-end

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Aug 18: Days after the first Unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant was dedicated to the nation, officials of the Russian firm involved in the project told IANS that Unit 2 will be connected to the power grid by August-end.

Andrey Lebedev, Vice-President for Projects in South Asia of ASE -- the Engineering and Construction Division of Russian state atomic power corporation Rosatom, told IANS that Unit 2 is likely to be connected to the grid on August 27 or 28.

"The customer's (India) planned deadline for connection of Kudankulam NPP second unit to the national Grid is August 27-28, 2016," Lebedev said.

According to Lebedev, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Body (AERB) has recently given a permit for the power rise of the reactor plant.

"The supervisory body believes that the unit may be operated safely," he said.

The first Unit at Kudankulam, which went critical, or started generating power, on July 13, 2013, was connected to the southern power grid on October 22 the same year.

Read More: Operations of Kudankulam n-plant enhances India's component making capacity

The unit was dedicated to the nation on August 10 this year, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying it marked the start of Indo-Russian collaboration in the nuclear energy field and that bigger atomic power units would be built.

Modi, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa dedicated the plant to people of India.

The Unit 2 of the plant went critical on July 10 this year.

With this, India now has 22 nuclear power reactors with a total capacity of 6,780 MW.

IANS
Modi govt has retained popularity: Shah

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 18: Modi Government remains as popular as it was on the day it took oath, BJP President Amit Shah today, stressing that the party needs to work to retain this support, as top leaders came together to mark the start of work on its new swanky headquarters here.

The new office spread across two acres at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg will bear the stamp of the party's cultural and nationalist agenda in its design, party leaders said, adding it will be equipped with latest communication medium and conference facilities, allowing its leadership to connect with district and block-level workers.

It is vastu-compliant, can hold a meeting of two to three thousand workers, will have several conference rooms and a big screen outside to live stream any big party event.

The proposed structure of six floors will be illuminated with ample sun light, according to a presentation made at the event, also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Over two-and-half-hours of yagna was held with Shah at the centre of rituals for 'bhoomi pujan' and top party leaders and Union ministers joining him.

The party is hoping that the new premises will be ready by December, 2018 and plans to hold its inauguration on the birthday of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Shah was joined by all the former party presidents at the dais as he hailed the sacrifices of party workers during its journey from a 10-member organisation to 11-crore membership.

Today, BJP has over 1000 MLAs, more than 300 MPs and is in power in 15 states either on its own or with its allies, he said. Noting that the Modi government formed in 2014 was the first majority dispensation at the Centre in the last 30 years, he said, "It remains as popular as it was when it took oath.

Amit Shah to visit Goa on August 20

It is our responsibility to lend permanence to the support the party has received." The party is probably at its peak right now, he said, exhorting workers not to remain satisfied and ensure that it grows beyond its current strength.

The party wants to open an office each in 580 districts of the country and has bought land in 250 places so far, he said. While its commitment to its ideology has fuelled its growth, the way it is run will have to change with time, he said as he spoke about his thrust on the use of offices equipped with modern communication facilities to coordinate in real time its programmes from Tamil Nadu to Arunachal Pradesh.

The party is also working to document its history and efforts are on to put together audio and videos of its leaders.

PTI
PM's comments on Balochistan an expression of concern for Baloch people

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 18 Amid a debate over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments on Balochistan in his Independence Day address, Government feels it was an expression of concern for people of the Pakistan's troubled region and that India's humanity does not stop at its border.

"It was an expression of concern. We feel for people inside the country as well as outside the country. If you expect us to feel strongly about people inside the country then my humanity does not stop at my borders," official sources said reflecting government's view on the issue.

They said the statement did not come out of the blue and it reflected the Prime Minister's concerns for oppressed people of Balochistan.

"It perfectly natural," they said, adding Modi's comments reflected that he was troubled by the human rights situation in Balochistan and the excesses committed by the Pakistani military.

Questions like with whom India will coordinate and what New Delhi was going to do in Balochistan are "premature and irrelevant", the sources said.

In his Independence Day speech on Monday, Modi had talked about the situation in PoK, Gilgit and Balochistan and said people from there have thanked him for raising their issues.

PTI
Woman, her two children mowed down by train; Suicide not ruled out

Suspicious bird with rings on its legs caught near India-Pakistan border

Rajasthan produces 800 tonnes date palms from first harvest

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 18 Rajasthan is estimated to have produced nearly 800 tonnes of date palm from the first harvest in 2015-16 and the yields are expected to rise significantly in the coming years.

In 2007-08, the state government had started date palm cultivation on a trial basis in 135 hectares of its own farmland in Jaisalmer and Bikaner and had imported around 21,294 tissue culture raised saplings from the UAE.

Later in 2008-09, the state government started promoting date palm farming on farmers' land in 12 districts -- Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Hanumangarh, Sri Ganganagar, Nagaur, Pali, Jalore, Jhunjhunu, Sirohi and Churu.

"Farmers have planted date palm crop in 813 hectares. Date palms take 4 to 8 years after planting before they bear fruit. The first harvesting has started," Horticulture Director in Rajasthan government Vijay Pal Singh told PTI.

The harvesting of date palms started from June and would continue till August end for early varieties and till September for late varieties, he said.

"We are expecting nearly 800 tonnes from the first harvest. Yields will definitely improve as trees grow older. A date palm tree has a lifespan of 15 years and maximum fruits are expected from 10th year onwards," the official said.

Farmers are getting good rates for their produce and there is more interest to take up this farming among the farming community in the state, he said. Singh further said the state government is targeting to bring about 150 hectare of farmers' land under the date palm cultivation in 2016-17.

The state government is promoting date palm farming in arid desert regions of north-western Rajasthan and giving tissue culture raised sapling to farmers at a subsidised rate under the centrally-sponsored scheme Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).

The state government has tied up with a private company Atul Ltd for cultivating fine quality tissue cultured date palm saplings for distribution to farmers at a subsided rate. Normally, a single sapling of date palm costs Rs 2,000- 2,500.

The state is giving subsidy up to 75 per cent provided farmers use drip irrigation. The state grows date palm varieties like Barhee, Khuneji, Khalas, Medjool, Khadravi, Jamli and Sagai.

PTI
Tawang strategically important place: Nirmala Sitharaman

News

oi-Lisa

By Lisa

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman today said the picturesque Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh bordering China was a very important place strategically.

On Rakshabandhan @nsitharaman ji tied Rakhis to our jawans at Lumla close to India-China-Bhutan border in Arunachal. pic.twitter.com/546D7QFymZ  Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) August 18, 2016

Reached Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh). In the Centre of the pic afar,on the hill, is the Monastery, oldest & largest... pic.twitter.com/R7qGT415zk  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) August 17, 2016

"Tawang is a very important place from both religious and strategic points of view. It reminds us of the 1962 Indo-China war," the minister said while assuring all possible help from her side for development of the border district, an official communique informed.

Indo-China war 1962-paid respects at the memorial. Here the names of the martyred soldiers is etched in gold.#Tawang pic.twitter.com/hjz3Pck3be  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) August 17, 2016

The minister, accompanied by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju reached Tawang today to attend a special programme at Lumla tomorrow on the occasion of Rakshabandhan.

During the programme, which is an attempt on the part of the Centre to connect with borders and its forces, the minister would be tying rakhi to the Jawans of the Indian Army.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. Light,fresh & balmy Himalayan air.#Tawang monastery for a view. & now to the border pic.twitter.com/z5prm0jqso  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) August 18, 2016

The minister in a series of tweets informed about the brave soldiers who had laid down their lives during the 1962 India China War. The ministers's tweets read as under:

"#Azadi70saal In the Khameng sector(Arunachal) 2420 were martyred in the 1962 war.The memorial/'chorten' in #Tawang is dedicated to them."

"During the operations then, the locals had helped the soldiers. To recognise that the memorial is built in the Buddhist style- blending Nepali, Bhutanese & Tibetan styles. 40 feet stupa. Feuding the construction of the memorial (1998-'99) the locals gave ornaments, idols of the Buddha & artefacts. The Dalai Lama gave idols of the Buddha & Avalokiteshwara. All are consecrated in this memorial. At 5:30 am each day a Lama tops up the eternal lamps with ghee, makes offerings & replaces the holy water.The memorial is surrounded by 28 flags the national flag, the army's, the airforce's & flags of all the regiments which took part in 1962. Around the memorial 32 granite plaques carry the names of the martyrs."

"A room is dedicated to Subedar Joginder Singh. With just 30 men he faced 300 of Chinese who attacked his post three times. The Subedar received no reinforcements. Even with his numbers depleting he fought valiantly, only to make the supreme sacrifice during the 3rd attack.This singular valiant act couldn't succeed in keeping the enemy out, but certainly delayed their further intrusion into the nation. Thank Maj.Ganesh Natarajan & his Commandent Brigadier MP Singh (190 Mountain Brigade) for guarding this post & for the upkeep of this heart-wrenching memorial with dignity."

"A civilian in this area remarked: many of these posts are only 25-30 kms away from 'the other' territory or just 14-15 kms as the crow lies. Our forces are ever vigilant & alert. The locals show exemplary& apparent affection & care for them. So heart-warming to see & feel. Just feel so humbled to be here on #Azadi70saal."

The ministers, accompanied by Tawang MLA Tsering Tashi, DC and SP visited Tawang War Memorial and Tawang Monastery and later interacted with the heads of departments and public leaders.

Visited the Tawang Monastery. Oldest of Mahayana Buddhist monasteries. pic.twitter.com/nlOeM9qgZO  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) August 17, 2016

During the meeting, the MLA and the DC apprised the visiting ministers of the fragile topography of the area that has resulted in numerous landslides in the recent months causing loss of lives and properties due to which many villagers had to be shifted to safer locations.

Further, highlighting on the present road condition in border areas, the MLA informed that the road has badly hampered the inflow of tourists and also reflected on the difficulties faced in evacuating the passengers/patients during emergency.

Rijiju, while taking note of the problems said that an inspection of the BRO road from Dirang to Tawang would soon be conducted accompanied by the DG, BRO and that he would also look into the widening of road from Tenga to Pinji Bridge under Bhalukpong circle.

On my way to Tawang with Minister @KirenRijiju . Grateful to him for being informative & a good guide to the region. pic.twitter.com/sBbT66akNW  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) August 17, 2016

He said that in spite of hurdles he would also press for early clearance of Lumla-Tashigang road via Bhutan.

Rijiju while informing about the steps being taken for restoration of the damages caused by the landslides further added that long-term planning which is the need of the hour would be taken into account, the communique added.
Who is Yasin Malik? The Kashmiri separatist sentenced to life in terror funding case

Should Kashmir be given to Pakistan: Row erupts after this question appears in MP civil service exam

From hijab to Kashmir, Zawahiri was Al-Qaeda's voice for everything anti-India

Teacher allegedly beaten to death in Kashmir

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Srinagar, Aug 18: A 30-year-old teacher has been allegedly beaten to death by security forces after a night raid on a Kashmir village, residents said Thursday.

They said Shabir Ahmad Moonga was among dozens of people who were detained after a search operation by police and the army in Khrew village of south Kashmir Pulwama districts.

Police, however, said Moonga was killed in a pre-dawn clash between security forces and protesters in Khrew, some 20 km from here, near the saffron town of Pampore.

The body was handed over to his family early Thursday.

Residents alleged that Moonga's body bore torture marks and was apparently beaten to death after he was detained following nocturnal protests in the village.

However, the allegation could not be verified independently as officials in a hospital refused to comment. They said the autopsy report was still awaited.

The residents said at least 30 people were picked up by the security forces in the raid.

Opp parties from J-K to apprise President of Kashmir situation

Authorities have imposed strict curfew in Khrew, Pampore and other adjacent areas to stop people from holding protests during Moonga's funeral.

With the latest death, the toll has gone to 66 in the ongoing Kashmir unrest triggered by the July 8 killing of rebel commander Burhan Wani.

The authorities, meanwhile, continued curfew for the 41st day on Thursday in much of the Kashmir Valley. The curfew has been extended during night hours for the first time since the ongoing cycle of violence started.

IANS
Was paid Rs 30,000 by Pakistan colonel to strike in India says captured terrorist

Blacklisting Mahmood blocked by China: The man who raised funds under garb of religion in India

Terror in the family: Hafiz Saeed's son-in-law Waleed LeT's next chief?

India

oi-Vicky

Is Hafiz Khaleed Waleed India's latest headache? The name of this terrorist has cropped up several times in the past couple of months.

Investigations that were conducted in the aftermath of the attacks at Pampore, Udhampur and now the Jammu and Kashmir unrest have revealed that Waleed was the mastermind behind all of them.

Waleed is the son-in-law of terrorist Hafiz Saeed, head of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT).

When the NIA recently questioned Bahahur Ali, a Pakistani terrorist, he had said that the entire plan to infiltrate into J&K, join the stone-pelters and hurl grenades from behind them was Waleed's brainchild.

Intelligence Bureau reports say Waleed is being groomed by Hafiz Saeed to take over the LeT.

Who is Hafiz Khalid Waleed?

Hafiz Saeed, who has two daughters and a son, will look to his son-in-law to run his terrorist outfit.

Waleed has been associated with the LeT since 2003 but until last year was more of a backroom boy, while hiding behind the fiction, like his father-in-law, that he is part of a charity outfit called Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), calling himself its 'chief co-ordinator'. The JuD, according to agencies across the world, is a front that collects funds for the LeT's terrorist activities.

Waleed, 42, a graduate of the University of the Punjab in Pakistan, has become more prominent since 2015. That his name is being associated with almost every terrorist exploit in Kashmir signals that he is being readied to take the reins of the LeT.

Waleed, whose name figures in the US Foreign Terrorist Organizations list, was appointed a member of the LeT's 'Central Advisory Committee' and in 2006 was promoted to head the LeT's 'political bureau'.

The dossier on Waleed says that he joined the LeT to avenge his brother Abu Hanzala, who was killed in Badgam district in Jammu and Kashmir while on a terrorist mission.

Waleed is being seen as a replacement for Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, officially the chief commander of the LeT.

Following the 2008 Mumbai attack, when Lakhvi was detained, Saeed had looked up to Waleed to fill in for him.

Indian agencies say that now Waleed plays the role Lakhvi played earlier, plotting and orchestrating attacks against India.

The interrogation of several Pakistani terrorists has revealed a picture of Waleed and his intentions.

Bahadur Ali, who was recently arrested in Kashmir, admitted that Waleed was overseeing the operations to fuel the current unrest in Kashmir and had reportedly assured his cadres that Kashmir would soon be in Pakistan's control.

Oneindia News
A Brazilian judge has issued an order preventing American swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen from leaving the country, stating that they gave conflicting testimonies about being robbed earlier this week.

But Lochte's father told the Associated Press his son returned to the U.S. before the order was issued Wednesday.

Lochte and three other American swimmers said they were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday by thieves posing as police officers while the swimmers were returning to the athletes' village by taxi after a night out at the French Olympic team's hospitality house.

The outing was several hours after Olympic swimming competition ended Saturday night at the Rio Games.


Bilawal Bhutto lashes out at Narendra Modi over Balochistan remarks

International

oi-PTI

Islamabad, Aug 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi should first account for the alleged "atrocities" committed by India in Kashmir before talking about Balochistan, Pakistan's main Opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto said on Wednesday (Aug 17) and vowed to maintain the country's sovereignty at every cost.

Taking exception to Modi's statement about Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan from the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15, Bilawal said that the words used by the prime minister were "highly provocative, irresponsible and inflammatory".

"Modi should first stand accountable to the international community for unending and perpetual atrocities against Kashmiris, Muslims and Dalits in Kashmir and in India," said Bilawal, chairman of Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

"Balochistan is an integral part of a democratic Pakistan and follies of a dictator cannot empower the Indian Prime Minister to speak on our internal issues," he said.

Bilawal said that Kashmir was under curfew and "many innocent Kashmiris" have been killed in the last two months.

"Modi may have some yaars (close friends) in Pakistan but the people of Pakistan won't tolerate such language from him against Balochistan or any other integral part of Pakistan. We are a sovereign nation having all the tools to maintain our sovereignty at every cost," he added.

He said that his party along with all the democratic forces of Pakistan have condemned the outrageous remarks of Modi and asked him to allow the right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir under UN aegis instead of dilly-dallying and prolonging the issue.

"Attempts to divert the attention from world's only nuclear flashpoint Kashmir won't work," he said and called upon the United Nations Security Council to "intervene immediately" to halt Modi from dragging the region to war.

Modi had made a mention of atrocities committed by Pakistan in Balochistan in his Independence Day speech.

"From the ramparts of the Red Fort, I want to express my gratitude to some people -- the people of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pak-occupied-Kashmir -- for the way they whole-heartedly thanked me, the way they expressed gratitude to me, the way they conveyed their goodwill to me recently," Modi had said, kicking up a war of words between the two nations.

PTI
Trump injects new faces to boost faltering campaign

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Aug 17: A rattled Donald Trump on Wednesday (Aug 17) rejigged his campaign for the second time in two months by introducing fresh faces, including a CEO, to propel his faltering presidential bid after recent polls showed him lagging behind rival Hillary Clinton.

The Republican presidential nominee hired as CEO Stephen Bannon, the executive chairman of the conservative website Breitbart News, and promoting one of his advisers - Kellyanne Conway - to the post of campaign manager.

The rejig comes 82 days ahead of the November 8 election. Bannon has temporarily stepped down from his role at Breitbart News to work full-time with the Trump campaign. The new position has been designed to bolster "the business-like approach" of the billionaire tycoon's campaign, according to a media release. Conway is a nationally-respected pollster and Republican campaign strategist. He is the founder and president of The Polling Company/WomanTrend, a privately held, woman-owned corporation.

"They are extremely capable, highly-qualified people who love to win and know how to win," the 70-year-old Trump said.

"I believe we're adding some of the best talents in politics, with the experience and expertise needed to defeat Hillary Clinton in November and continue to share my message and vision to 'Make America Great Again'," he added.

The announcement come at a significantly important stage for the presidential campaigns, with the first major TV ad buy slated to start later this week and with additional top-flight operatives joining the movement on a near-daily basis.

The reposition also comes at a particularly intriguing time for Trump as he has been trailing Democratic Party candidate Clinton both nationally and in key states. Recent polls have showed Clinton consolidating her position among youths and millennial who had supported Bernie Sanders, her rival in the Democratic race. Bannon, who was once recognized by Bloomberg Politics as the "most dangerous political operative in America," will oversee the campaign staff and operations in addition to strategic oversight of major campaign initiatives.

Bannon holds a Masters in National Security Studies from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Prior to joining Breitbart News, Bannon was an Officer in the US Navy and owned an investment bank that he sold to Societe Generale. Conway, a sought-after pollster, will work on messaging and travel frequently with Trump, while working closely with Bannon and campaign chairman Paul Manafort. In the shake-up, Manafort retains his role as chairman and chief strategist.

US media has, however, termed it a demotion for him. "The staffing change, hammered out on Sunday and set to be formally announced Wednesday morning, was seen by some as a demotion for Manafort,"

The New York Times said. "It's an expansion at a busy time in the final stretch of the campaign," Conway was quoted as saying by The Times. In June, Trump fired Corey Lewandowski as his campaign manager nearly a month before he was to secure the presidential nomination at the July Republican convention.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, August 18, 2016, 9:47 [IST]
Eight seriously injured in France train crash

International

oi-PTI

Montpellier (France), Aug 18: A train crashed into a tree that had fallen onto the tracks in a hailstorm in southern France on Wednesday (Aug 17), leaving eight people seriously injured, rescue workers said.

The regional service carrying some 250 passengers was travelling at 140 kilometres an hour between Nimes and Montpellier when it hit a tree that had been uprooted by a hailstorm. One of the seriously injured was rushed to hospital by helicopter in an "absolutely urgent" state, according to the head of local rescue services, Christophe Risdorfer.

Another 50 people suffered minor injuries or were in shock, he said. National rail operator SNCF said in a statement: "At Lunel at around 3:45 pm, a TER (regional train) going at 140 kmh hit a tree which had fallen on to the track after extremely violent storms in the region." Around 80 rescue workers deployed to the scene, where SNCF said "access is very difficult."

AFP
India, China decide not to let "differences" affect overall ties

International

oi-PTI

Beijing, Aug 17: India and China have had "candid" exchange of views on some "specific issues" and they agreed not to let the "differences" affect their overall ties as they vowed to resolve the issues through dialogue and consultation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday (Aug 17).

"Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited India just before the G20 Hangzhou Summit and the 8th BRICS leaders meeting, with the main purpose of having strategic communication with India," the ministry said.

"The most important consensus reached by the two sides during the visit was that the two agreed to support each other in making" both the summits a "success", the ministry said in a written response to a question from PTI on Wang's visit.

Besides visiting Goa to see arrangements for the BRICS, (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit which is due to take place there in October, Wang held talks with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj on August 13 in New Delhi and called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The two sides also had candid exchange of views on some specific issues emerging in the course of exchanges between China and India," it said.

"Both (sides) agreed that the two countries have far more common interests than differences, far more aspects of cooperation than competition, and thus should place specific differences at a proper position in bilateral relations so as not to impact the overall friendliness," it said.

"Meanwhile, the two sides should continue to work on solutions to specific problems through dialogue and consultation," it said, apparently referring to differences over India's admission to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and listing Masood Azhar, the head of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad, as a terrorist by the UN.

"The most important consensus reached by the two sides during the visit was that the two have agreed to support each other in making the G20 Hangzhou Summit and the BRICS leaders meeting in Goa a success, in a bid to enhance cooperation and solidarity among developing countries and elevate the status of emerging markets in global governance," it said.

"The two sides reiterated that they attach great importance to developing bilateral relations, and believe that the mainstream of China-India relationship is good, and that the two sides should bear in mind the larger picture of friendly cooperation between the two countries, press firmly ahead with pragmatic cooperation and build a closer China-India partnership of development," it said.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, August 18, 2016, 9:34 [IST]
Nepal PM Prachanda likley to visit India ahead of China

International

oi-PTI

Kathmandu, Aug 18: Prachanda is likely to visit India on his first official foreign trip as Nepal's prime minister, in a departure from his earlier practice when he visited Beijing ahead of New Delhi in 2008.

The Maoist chief, who was elected by lawmakers to the top post for the second time earlier this month, had rubbed India the wrong way when he chose China as his first destination after taking over as the premier in 2008 and attended the Beijing Olympics that year.

Prachanda's predecessor, KP Sharma Oli too visited India as his first official foreign destination. But the run up to his visit was surrounded by intense speculation that the Communist leader might visit China ahead of India.

Oli, viewed by many as pro-China, visited India in February, when the agitation by Madhesis - inhabitants of the southern plains who share strong cultural and family bonds with Indians - over Nepal's new Constitution was at its peak.

The protesters had blocked trade transit points with India, creating a huge shortage of essential goods and fuel in the landlocked Nepal. The usual practice of new prime ministers in Nepal is to visit to India, ahead of China. Prachanda's China trip in 2008 was the only departure from that practice.

It is learnt that he will visit India ahead of China this time, sources said. The development comes as Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Bimlendra Nidhi begins his two-day visit to India as Prachanda's special envoy today.

His visit is aimed at preparing ground for Prachanda's forthcoming visit to India, foreign ministry sources said. Nidhi is expected to discuss the possible visit by President Pranab Mukherjee to Nepal and the proposed visit by Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari to India, they said.

The visit is also aimed at normalising and improving Nepal's relations with India, which was at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation. Prachanda has send a special envoy to China as well.

Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara's visit to China comes following anxieties in Beijing over the fate of projects connecting China and Nepal to reduce dependence on India.

PTI
Even if not contesting 2020 polls, Hillary Clinton will not be entirely out of scene

Hillary Clinton says Julian Assange must 'answer for what he has done'

Rejig will not change Trump's personality: Hillary

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Aug 18: Targeting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump over rejigging of his campaign for the second time in two months, his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has said the move will not change his personality.

"I think it's fair to say that Donald Trump has shown us who he is, he can hire and fire anybody he wants from his campaign. They can make him read new words from a teleprompter," Clinton said at an election rally in Cleveland on Wednesday (Aug 17).

"But he is still the same man who insults Gold Star families, demeans women, mocks people with disabilities, and thinks he knows more about ISIS than our generals," she said amidst laughter from the audience.

"There is no new Donald Trump. This is it. And you know, I hope you will talk to any of your friends who are flirting with the idea of voting for Donald Trump. Friends don't let friends vote for Trump," Clinton said hours after the real estate tycoon from New York made a major shake up in his campaign, which political analysts said is aimed to boost his electioneering.

After the two back-to-back conventions last month, Clinton has maintained a sustained lead in all the major national polls. According to RealClearPolitics, which keeps track of all major national polls, Clinton is leading Trump by more than six percentage points.

Addressing a major election rally in this key swing State of Ohio, Clinton said under his economic proposals unveiled last week, Trump wants to give tax cuts to big corporations, millionaires, Wall Street money managers.

"He's even created a new tax loophole that we call the Trump Loophole, because it's really good for Trump. It would let millionaires and billionaires cut their tax rate in half on a lot of their income. Under his plans, Donald Trump would pay a lower tax rate than middle-class families," she said.

"Of course, we have no idea what tax rate he pays, because, unlike everybody else who's run for president in the last four or five decades, he refuses to release his tax returns, so the American people can't really judge," she said.

Taking a dig at Trump, Clinton said she is proud that she has run a campaign of issues, not insults.

"That's what I'm going to continue to do for the next 83 days. Because I think the details actually matter. That's why I sweat the details," she said.

"I really care a lot about what happens to the young people and the families and our seniors. That's why I'm going to do everything I can to raise the national minimum wage so that it is a living wage," Clinton said.

Meanwhile, a confident Clinton Campaign has said the latest restructuring of his team only shows that Trump Campaign has doubled down on small, nasty and divisive instincts.

"After several failed attempts to pivot into a more serious campaign, Donald Trump has decided to double down on his most small, nasty and divisive instincts," Robby Mook, the Clinton Campaign manager, said.

In a major shake up, Trump appointed Breitbart News executive chairman Stephen Bannon as his campaign's CEO and GOP campaign strategist Kellyanne Conway his campaign manager.

"This latest shake-up turns the?? campaign over to someone best known for running a so-called news site that peddles divisive, at times racist, anti-Muslim, and anti-semitic conspiracy theories," Mook said.

"What's become clear from this is that no matter how much the Republican party wants to clean Donald Trump up, get him on a teleprompter and get him on message, he has officially won the fight to let Trump be Trump. He keeps telling us who he is, it's time that we believe him," he said.

Mook alleged that the Southern Poverty Law Center noted that Breitbart News under Bannon's leadership had, "Undergone a noticeable shift towards embracing ideas on the extremist fringe of the conservative right, racist ideas, race-baiting ideas, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant ideas, all key tenants making up an emerging racist ideology known as the "alt-right".

The Breitbart organisation has been known to defend white supremacists, he alleged.

"Like Trump who has refused to apologize to Gold Star father Khizr Khan, Bennan himself has said, relentlessly going after Khan. Breitbart has compared the work of Planned Parenthood to the Holocaust," Mook said.

"They've also repeatedly used anti-LGBT slurs in their coverage. And finally, like Trump himself, Breitbart and Bannon have frequently trafficked in all sorts of deranged conspiracy theories from touting that President Obama was not born in America to claiming that the Obama Administration was importing more hating Muslims," he said.

"So, it's unfortunately not surprising to see this happen, coming from Trump after weeks of stories about his need to pivot to a more serious campaign. It's clear that his divisive, erratic, and dangerous rhetoric simply represents who he really is," Mook said.

However, the Republican leadership and several of Trump aid rallied behind the party's presidential nominee on his campaign restructuring.

"Steve (Bennan) fully understands the pulse of the grassroots. That's what is largely driving this Trump campaign and that's what's at the frustration that is going through this country right now," Republican National Committee chief strategist Sean Spicer told CNN in an interview.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said "the shake-up has strengthened the Trump campaign. Well, I think they're very good for Trump because it strengthens it," Gingrich told the Fox News Radio.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 18, 2016, 11:09 [IST]
In Turkey, freedom is in danger

International news brief: Series of earthquakes rattle Hawaii and more

Three killed in Turkey police headquarters attacks

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Ankara, Aug 18: Three civilians were killed and 40 others injured in a car bombing and gunfire attacks on the police headquarters in Turkey's Van province of Van, officials said.

Police said the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party militants carried out the attack on Wednesday night, Xinhua news agency reported.

The injured were mostly civilians including two police officials.

IANS
How Kashmiri businessmen overinvoiced goods to fund the unrest

New Delhi

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, Aug 18: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) which is now probing the inflow of funds into Jammu and Kashmir allegedly to fuel the unrest, is looking at the role played by some businessmen from the state doing business in Saudi Arabia.

While there have been some routine channels such as hawala that used to pump in the funds, the NIA has also learnt that some of the Kashmiri businessmen could have sent in money by over invoicing goods.

The NIA is preparing a list of the businessmen from Kashmir doing business in the Gulf. It has been learnt that some of the goods have been over invoiced. The businessmen are alleged to have transferred money to some accounts in Kashmir and in order to cover the same up, they have over invoiced the goods, NIA officials have learnt.

Inflow into banks

The NIA learnt about this new trick by the businessmen when they found a huge amount of cash deposited into at least 10 accounts in the state. NIA suspects that a sum of nearly Rs 30 crore had been pumped into the state since July 9 only to keep the unrest alive.

Investigations being conducted led to the trail of some Kashmiri businessmen doing business in the Gulf. It was found that they had transferred a large chunk of money and to cover the same up and show it as a genuine spending they have over invoiced the goods.

Further it has also been found that money was being transacted into 10 different accounts in the state. None of the transactions were above Rs 10 lakh and this was done to avoid the banks reporting a Suspicious Transaction Report.

The financiers of the unrest also chose to transact into different accounts once again to avoid an STR being generated.

Apart from the transactions into bank accounts, the NIA is also looking into the flow of funds through hawala channels. Terrorist organisations from Pakistan have been identifying the Kashmiris working in the Gulf and directing them to transact money through hawala channels, the NIA has also learnt.

Thorough confusion

Meanwhile the investigators are finding it hard to keep a track on the flow of funds. There has been a lot of transactions in the banks in the past month which large sums of money being withdrawn.

Nearly 80 per cent of the transactions are bonafide as people withdrew large sums of money due to the prolonged curfew in the Valley. Banks witnessed transactions to the tune of crores of rupees with several residents of the state withdrawing money.

Due to this some banks even set withdrawal limits. The withdrawal limit to ATMs was set at Rs 4,000 per day while cheque transactions were limited to Rs 20 lakh.

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Story first published: Thursday, August 18, 2016, 11:44 [IST]
A North Korean diplomat in the U.K. has defected to South Korea, the Unification Ministry said Wednesday.

Thae Yong-ho was the second-ranked official at the diplomatic mission. He is the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to the South since the ambassador to Egypt, Chang Sung-kil, sought asylum in 1997 and brought with him key information on Pyongyang's missile sales to the Middle East.

Thae's wife defected with him. She is a relative of O Baek-ryong, a former high-ranking official who fought alongside nation founder Kim Il-sung against colonial Japan.

Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told reporters that Thae has safely arrived in South Korea with his family. "They are now under the government's protection," Jeong said.

Thae is thought to have become disillusioned with the North Korean regime under Kim Jong-un and "aspired to freedom," according to the spokesman.

"This case shows that North Korean elites feel that there is no hope in their country," Jeong added.


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The North Korean regime has resumed the production of plutonium at its Yongbyon nuclear facility, it claimed Wednesday.

The regime restarted a 5MW reactor there in 2013 after it was switched off under an abortive international deal, but it had not so far said anything about plutonium for nuclear weapons.

"We have reprocessed spent nuclear fuel rods removed from a graphite-moderated reactor," North Korea's Atomic Energy Institute told Kyodo News in a written interview.

The institute also claimed it has been producing highly enriched uranium, another material necessary for nuclear weapons, "as scheduled."

The institute claimed it succeeded in making "lighter, smaller and diversifying" nuclear warheads, and boasted that the North has hydrogen bombs, a claim dismissed by experts.

"Under conditions that the United States constantly threatens us with nuclear weapons, we will not discontinue nuclear tests," the institute said.

Kyodo said that hints at another nuclear test, the North's fifth.

Based on satellite images, James Clapper, the director of the U.S. National Intelligence, warned in February that the North could reproduce plutonium from the reactor's spent fuel within weeks or months.

A Foreign Ministry official here said, "If the claim is true, the regime has explicitly violated a UN Security Council resolution that bans the North from any nuclear activities. We'll closely cooperate with countries concerned and international organizations to discuss a response."


Newsy 19 May 2022

Watch VideoIn the past two years several law enforcement officers have been thrust into the national spotlight for their on-duty..
Martha Stewart Living 08 Dec 2021

It's believed the gems were aboard an Air India Boeing 707, which crashed on the mountain in 1966.
Key initiatives implemented by the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) over the last 12 months have helped to improve maritime safety in Bougainville.The establishment of Bougainvilles Small Craft Registration Board and the introduction of a new Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), which covers all of PNGs waters, were jointly funded by the Governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia.Both governments recognise the critical role Bougainvilles waters play in promoting economic development and connecting communities to essential services.The NMSA has worked with seafarers and the Autonomous Bougainville Government to improve safety at sea through the provision of safety equipment and establishment of small craft registries. Bougainvilles Small Craft Registration Board will oversee the registration and inspection of all small craft in the region.The GMDSS was launched in May 2016 and provides a more effective communications system for marine safety.NMSA CEO, Paul Unas, highlighted the benefits of these projects.The new communications system is of the utmost importance to the safety of vessels in Bougainvilles waters. These projects are a significant step forward for maritime safety, Mr Unas said.NMSA has also worked hard to provide a deeper understanding of critical safety information to local communities. Recent training has included videos, demonstrations, pamphlets, comics and practical, hands-on sessions. Village elders on Nissan Island were pleased at the outreach to remote locations and participants explained how important maritime safety was for the island. More than 200 people have been involved in learning about inspections, registration, licencing and other aspects of maritime safety.Australian Government support for these projects is delivered through the Papua New Guinea-Australia Transport Sector Support Program (TSSP).
Defections by high-ranking North Korean diplomats are on the rise.

In early July, Kim Chol-song, a third secretary at the North Korean Embassy in Moscow, defected to the West with his family, while in May last year, the economic attache at the embassy in Ethiopia defected to South Korea.

A North Korean diplomat in Thailand defected two years ago, and a source on Wednesday said several other North Korean diplomats have defected to South Korea since last year.

North Korean diplomats come from the elite whose livelihood is guaranteed by the state. They are screened for their loyalty and family background before their posting overseas, and family members who stay behind are often virtual hostages.

But some are undeterred, and pundits say this points to growing disaffection among the elite as leader Kim Jong-un seeks to assert control over the various entitled factions.

Since Kim Jong-un came to power and tougher international sanctions kicked in, diplomats abroad have suffered increasing pressure from Pyongyang to send back more money, even as they fend off more questions about the North's human rights abuses.

One former diplomat who defected to South Korea said, "Some probably realize sooner than others that there is no future for them and their children under Kim Jong-un."

A government source said, "We are closely monitoring these back-to-back defections because they're starting to look like a slow exodus of the elite."


Opalesque Industry Update - iAnthus Capital Management, LLC, which delivers a comprehensive solution for financing and managing licensed cannabis cultivators, processors and dispensaries throughout the United States, has announced that Devra Karlebach has been appointed to the Company's Advisory Board. Devra Karlebach is a technology and finance veteran with more than 20 years' experience as an operating executive and trader for one of the most prestigious hedge funds in the United States, having served as the Repurchase Agreement and Stock Loan trader for Appaloosa Asset Management, LP. She is also the co-founder and CEO of Glyphic Technologies, Inc., a leading global technology consulting company. "Ms. Karlebach has shown a tremendous ability to leverage her extensive experience in business development, executive leadership, and strategic thinking to drive growth," said Hadley Ford, co-founder and Managing Director of iAnthus Capital Management. "We welcome her to the iAnthus Advisory Board and look forward to her contributions and business development expertise." "I am pleased to join forces with iAnthus because of the pedigree, caliber and business savvy of the iAnthus team,' said Ms. Karlebach. "I am excited to bring my 20+ years' experience in both finance and emerging technologies to working with iAnthus to help finance emerging regulated cannabis industry market leaders throughout the U.S." iAnthus Capital Management, LLC delivers a comprehensive solution for financing and managing licensed cannabis cultivators, processors and dispensaries throughout the United States. Founded by entrepreneurs with decades of experience in investment banking, corporate finance, law and healthcare services, iAnthus pro-vides a unique combination of capital and hands-on operating and management expertise. The Company harnesses these skills to support a diversified portfolio of cannabis industry investments for its shareholders, including direct equity investments in for-profit license holders and lending facilities coupled with management services to not-for-profit license holders.
Trump and Clinton promise to bring back jobs lost to foreign producers. Sanders did also. There are many parts to their promises but the most important are whether they can do it and with what methods, and how many jobs can be brought back. This short piece focuses on the second issue.

Normally the candidates are talking about bringing back manufacturing jobs. How many of those can be brought back? We've lost a lot of them in the last sixty years. Manufacturing employees were 30% of the non-farm American work force in 1955. Now they're just 8.5%. To get the factory work force back to the relative weight it had in 1955, we'd have to add 31,000,000 factory jobs. That's not going to happen.

Thanks to automation we don't need as many factory workers as we used to. But we could have more than we do now. Imagine that through selective tariffs and limiting the currency manipulation by China and other nations that makes American goods expensive, government policy could eliminate the $600 billion trade deficit in manufacturing. Experts say that would add two to three million jobs in the manufacturing sector. And these jobs would create other jobs, so we might be talking about 5 million jobs.

That would be a big deal. If we want to resurrect the 1950s, we are doomed to fail, but if these several million jobs offered better-than-average pay and benefits and union protections too, think what they could do if they went to the south side of Chicago and the north side of Milwaukee, to coal areas of West Virginia, to Fresno, California, and to down-and-out areas of Cleveland, Baltimore, Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Indianapolis, and the state of Mississippi. These areas are among the poorest in the nation. We hear about them when a police officer shoots a young person of color or when residents go on a shooting spree. But politicians and the media don't pay much attention otherwise. Major party conventions were just held in two of the cities. Did any politician or journalist tour high-poverty neighborhoods and sketch a credible analysis of causes and cures? Or make the contrast between local poverty and alienation on the one hand and the affluence of convention dignitaries on the other? You know the answer.

Reindustrialization won't bring back the 1950s, but properly supported and targeted, it could make a huge difference to millions of poor households. It could be the model for the war on poverty we need now.

____________________________________________________________________________

Frank Stricker is Emeritus Professor of History, California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is a member of the National Jobs for All Coalition and has just completed American Unemployment: A New History, Explanations, and Remedies.
Reprinted from Dispatches From The Edge

A combination of recent events underpinned by long-running historical strains reaching back more than 60 years has turned the western Pacific into one of the most hazardous spots on the globe. The tension between China and the U.S. "is one of the most striking and dangerous themes in international politics," says The Financial Times' longtime commentator and China hand, Gideon Rachman.

In just the past five months, warships from both countries -- including Washington's closest ally in the region, Japan -- have done everything but ram one another. And, as Beijing continues to build bases on scattered islands in the South China Sea, the U.S. is deploying long-range nuclear capable strategic bombers in Australia and Guam.

At times the rhetoric from both sides is chilling. When Washington sent two aircraft carrier battle groups into the area, Chinese defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun cautioned the Americans to "be careful." While one U.S. admiral suggested drawing "the line" at the Spratly Islands close to the Philippines, an editorial in the Chinese Communist Party's Global Times warned that U.S. actions "raised the risk of physical confrontation with China." The newspaper went on to warn that "if the United States' bottom line is that China has to halt its activities, then a U.S.-China war is inevitable in the South China Sea."

Earlier this month China's Defense Minister Chang Wanquan said Beijing should prepare for a "people's war at sea."

Add to this the appointment of an extreme right-wing nationalist as Japan's defense minister and the decision to deploy anti-ballistic missile interceptors in South Korea and the term "volatile region" is a major understatement.

Some of these tensions go back to the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco that officially ended WW II in Asia. That document, according to Canadian researcher Kimie Hara, was drawn up to be deliberately ambiguous about the ownership of a scatter of islands and reefs in the East and South China seas. That ambiguity set up tensions in the region that Washington could then exploit to keep potential rivals off balance.

The current standoff between China and Japan over the Senkakus/Diaoyu islands -- the Japanese use the former name, the Chinese the latter -- is a direct outcome of the Treaty. While Washington has no official position on which country owns the tiny uninhabited archipelago, it is committed to defend Japan in case of any military conflict with China. On Aug. 2 the Japanese Defense Ministry accused China of engaging in "dangerous acts that could cause unintended consequences."

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1/ There is much talk of a third world war in the press these days. Francois Fillon, former French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, said there is a "global war" and that "French society as a whole must mobilize against Islamic totalitarianism". Are these empty words?



1/ The threat of all-out nuclear war no longer hangs over us, but at present there are more than 30 wars/ conflicts in the world. Between 1950, when the Korean War started, and 2007, when the death toll in the Iraq war finally started to drop, there were 148,000 deaths per year from war. From 2008 to 2012 that figure dropped dramatically, to 28,000 per year. It could even be lower today.



Yet international tensions are at a high, and terrorist attacks continue. Many argue that WWIII has already started, perhaps on two fronts, with the Arab Spring in 2011 giving new life to Islamists, and with protagonists Russia and China lining up against the West.





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Brazil's Senate voted on August 10, 2016 to hold an impeachment trial for the nation's suspended president Dilma Rousseff, a process that could see her permanently removed from office. The vote in favor of trying Rousseff, who was suspended from the presidency in May, was 59 in favor, 21 against.

The Senate suspended Rousseff, the South American nation's first female president, on May 12 over accusations of illegal accounting practices and fiddling the budget to mask a slumping economy.

Rousseff, 68, has likened the impeachment drive to a putsch by her political enemies.

The impeachment trial is set to open around August 25 - four days after the Olympics closing ceremony - and is expected to last five days, concluding with a Senate judgment vote.

David Miranda of Guardian wrote in April last that Corruption is just the pretext for a wealthy elite who failed to defeat Brazil's president at the ballot box.

Citing the New York Times article of April 14, 2016, Miranda wrote: "60% of the 594 members of Brazil's Congress" -- the ones voting to impeach Rousseff -- "face serious charges like bribery, electoral fraud, illegal deforestation, kidnapping and homicide".

By contrast, said the article, Rousseff "is something of a rarity among Brazil's major political figures: she has not been accused of stealing for herself".

Simon Romero and Vinod Sreeharsha of The New York Times quoted Mario Sergio Conti, a columnist for the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo as saying: "She didn't steal, but a gang of thieves is judging her."

The New York Times provided detail of some of the corrupt Brazilian politicians who enjoy immunity because of their seat in Congress. The paper pointed out that the sweeping legal protections are enjoyed by about 700 senior officials, including cabinet ministers and every member of Congress.

Brazil's corrupt politicians as named by the New York Times

- Eduardo Cunha, the powerful speaker of the lower house who is leading the impeachment effort, is going on trial at the country's highest court, the Supreme Federal Tribunal, on charges that he pocketed as much as $40 million in bribes.

- Vice President Michel Temer, who takes over when Ms. Rousseff was forced to step aside, has been accused of involvement in an illegal ethanol purchasing scheme.

- Renan Calheiros, the Senate leader, who is also on the presidential succession chain, is under investigation over claims that he received bribes in the giant scandal surrounding the national oil company, Petrobras. He has also been accused of tax evasion and of allowing a lobbyist to pay child support for a daughter from an extramarital affair.

- Ms. Rousseff's opponents in Congress include Eder Mauro, who is facing charges of torture and extortion from his previous stint as a police officer in Belem, a crime weary city in the Amazon.

- Another congressman aiming to impeach Ms. Rousseff: Beto Mansur, who is charged with keeping 46 workers at his soybean farms in Goia's State in conditions so deplorable that investigators say the laborers were treated like modern day slaves.

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As Donald Trump stumbles towards the November 8th election, it's clear that each week will bring a new Trump screwup. Here are my top ten predictions.

10. Trump's tax returns will be hacked. Donald Trump has refused to release his tax returns. He called upon Russian hackers to obtain Hillary Clinton's emails and release them to the press. Trump's remark has some hackers promising to make public Trump's tax returns. On a recent Bill Maher show, the host asked WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange when they were going to release Trump's returns; Assange replied, "We're working on it." It's only a matter of time before someone releases Trump's recent returns. They'll likely show zero taxes paid, no charitable contributions, and scary ties to Russian oligarchs.

9. Trump will drop any pretense of political correctness. Trump is in a death spiral: he makes an offensive remark; his ratings lower; his fragile ego is shaken; Trump lashes out with another offensive remark. How low will he go? Recently, he accused Obama and Clinton of "founding" ISIS. Soon Trump will sink lower and call them "traitors." Trump's bad behavior will egg on his crowds and poison the presidential debates. (Trump's August 17th hiring of Steve Bannon is proof of this.)

8. Trump will receive only a limited security briefing because of his ties to Russia. On August 17th, Trump was given a general national security briefing. Subsequently, Trump will ask for a detailed briefing on Russia; this will be denied because of the ties between his staff (Paul Manafort and Boris Epshteyn) and Russian interests. Trump will blurt out this news. (This week, the New York Times published information about Manafort's ties to subterranean Ukrainian-Russian politics.)

7. Most GOP swing-state senatorial candidates will move away from Trump. It's already started to happen; incumbent Republican candidates with tough re-election races -- such as Illinois Senator Kirk -- disavow Donald Trump. By Labor Day, if Trump doesn't change his ways, most challenged Republican incumbents will move away from him. This list includes: Ayotte (NH), Blunt (MO), Burr (NC), Grassley (IA), Johnson (WI), McCain (AZ), Portman (OH), Rubio (FL), and Toomey (PA). (If Trump bombs in the September 26th presidential debate, the majority if GOP congressional candidates will abandon him.)

6. Trump fundraising will tank. As an inevitable counterpart to a faltering candidate, Republican presidential fundraising will decline. In order to secure big donations, Trump promised to appear more presidential and to run a conventional campaign. He hasn't done this and, as a consequence, large donations will dry up. (Big Republican donors will give to Senate and House candidates.) This won't impact Trump's visibility but it will mean few Trump TV ads and a miniscule get-out-the-vote effort.

5. Trump will escalate crowd anger. As Donald Trump spirals downward, his anger and frustration will egg on his supporters. His crowds won't get any smaller -- Trump's base is about 30 percent of likely voters -- but they will sense that the election is slipping away. Trump will feed their anger by telling them the system is rigged and accusing Obama and Clinton of being "traitors." (The Secret Service will warn Trump about his rhetoric but he will continue to ignore these admonitions.)

4. Because of his erratic behavior, two-thirds of Americans will find Trump "unfit" for office. The current Huffington Post poll of polls indicates that 64.5 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of Donald Trump (32.5 percent view Trump favorably). Trump's unfavorability will continue to decline. (Can it get to 70 percent?)

3. US/Iraqi forces will drive ISIS out of Iraq. Politico contributor Mark Perry writes that Iraqi and Kurdish forces, led by US advisors, are preparing a major push into Mosul that should result in ISIS forces being pushed out of Iraq just before the election. This should bolster Obama-Clinton favorability and further diminish Trump's chances. (Either this or the leaking of Trump's tax returns will be the dreaded "October surprise.")

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Cervical Cancer Diagnostics market - Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast 2015-2021

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Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal growth of cells with the potential to spread to other parts of the body. There are various types of cancers affecting different parts of body. Cancer which develops in cervix is called cervical cancer. Two major types of cervical cancers diagnosed in women include adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Almost all types of cervical cancer are caused by human papiloma virus (HPV). Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer among women and the second most frequent cause of cancer-related death, accounting for almost 3,00,000 deaths annually. Diagnosis of cervical cancer is done by Pap Smear Tests, Colposcopy, HPV Testing, Endocervical Curettage (ECC). Cervical cancer is a sexually transmitted disease that can be prevented by early detection and vaccination.Sample Report @Cervical cancer diagnostics market is driven majorly by increasing percentage of HPV infected people across globe. HPV is an extremely common virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), six million people in the United States acquire HPV each year. At least 20 million already have it, and more than half of all sexually-active adults are expected to be infected during their lifetime. Furthermore, rising awareness, literacy rate, government initiatives, government funding and various screening methods are expected to increase the growth of the market over the years. Moreover, many lifestyle-related factors, such as having multiple sex partners, smoking, obesity, unsafe sex and inherited HPV positive patients, are estimated to drive the cervical diagnostics market in the near future. However prevention of HPV by vaccination is major restraining factor in the growth of cervical cancer diagnostics market. In addition to this, the uncertain returning policy serves to be a major challenge impacting the growth of cervical cancer diagnostics market.The report covers forecast and analysis of the cervical cancer diagnostics market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with a forecast from 2016 to 2021 based on revenue (USD Million). To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the cervical cancer diagnostics market has also been included in the study. The report also analyzes several driving and restraining factors and their impact on the market during the forecast period. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein application segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.The report provides detailed segmentation of the cervical cancer diagnostics market based on application and region. The regional market segment held the largest market share in 2015.Geographically, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominated the global cervical cancer diagnostic market in 2015 on account of the rising incidence of HPV infection, rising number of women smokers, and growing aged population. North America was followed by Europe in 2015. The market is expected to witness the growth in the Asia-Pacific region in the coming years due to the rising HPV infection in population, government initiative and availability of advance health care infrastructure.Some of the key players contributing to the cervical cancer diagnostics market are Abbott Laboratories, Qiagen N.V., Hologic Inc., Roche Diagnostics, Quest Diagnostics, Becton, Dickinson and CompanyRead More @This report segments the cervical cancer diagnostics market are follows:-Cervical Cancer Diagnostics Market: Application AnalysisPap Smear TestsColposcopyHPV TestingCervical Cancer Diagnostics Market: Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificLatin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaAbout UsZion Market Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Zion Market Research experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants uses proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact US:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:
Semiconductor Packaging Material Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020

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Semiconductor packaging material consists of material used for protecting electronic components such as ICs and semiconductors from external impact, corrosion and other similar factors. These materials are used in conjunction with various other advanced packaging technologies for packaging of integrated circuits and semiconductors.Semiconductor packaging material can be classified in eight sub-types which include bonding wires, organic substrates, encapsulation resins, leadframes, die attach materials, ceramic packages, solder balls and thermal interface materials amongst others. The organic substrates accounts for the largest market share in semiconductor packaging material. Organic substrates are extensively used as base materials for semiconductor packaging. Bonding wires have been used widely as packaging material for semiconductors, but recently there has been a shift towards copper bonding wires for semiconductor packaging. The market for encapsulation resins is expected to witness strong growth in the next few years since encapsulation resins are relatively novel packaging materials. The semiconductor packaging materials are application specific and available across the globe. The various packaging technologies include GA, SOP, QFN, DFN, QFA and similar others which generally depends on the end-use.Get Free Sample Report Copy :The market for semiconductor packaging material is expected to witness strong growth in the next few years on account of explosive growth in communication and mobile computing devices such as tablets and smartphones across the globe. Growth in mobile devices is also anticipated to drive the demand for wafer level packages. With the continued growth in the mobile devices market the market for semiconductor packaging materials is expected to witness strong growth in the next few years. The increase in demand for semiconductor packaging material is expected to be in line with the growth in the electronics industry across the globe. The semiconductor packaging material market is currently concentrated in Asia Pacific due to vast electronic industry present in the region. With growing demand for electronics and mobile communication devices the demand for semiconductor packaging materials is also expected to witness robust growth in the next few years.Owing to the growing electronics industry in Asia-Pacific region and increased demand for mobile computing devices particularly in countries such as China, India Indonesia etc. the demand for semiconductor packaging material is anticipated to witness strong growth in these regions. Asia Pacific was the dominant market for semiconductor packaging material followed by Europe and North America. In North America, U.S was one of the largest markets for semiconductor packaging material. U.S economy has been recently recovered and has been close to pre-recession levels. Looking forward, the packaging industry in North America is expected to show stable growth in the next few years, which in turn is anticipated to drive the semiconductor packaging material market in this region. In Europe, Germany accounted for the largest market share followed by Italy, France and the U.K. The semiconductor packaging material market in North America and Europe is characterized by similar market conditions. In the Rest of the World (RoW), especially in countries such as Brazil, the market is expected to witness strong growth on account of increased demand for semiconductors from the electronics industry in this region.Some of the major companies operating in the global semiconductor packaging material market are Hitachi Chemical Co. Ltd., BASF SE, Henkel AG & Company, Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., Alent plc, and Kyocera Chemical Co. Ltd., among others.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Campaigns to Curb High Prevalence of Obesity and Heart Diseases to Bolster Demand for Phytosterols, says TMR

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Recent technological advancements have made phytosterols fit for commercial extraction. In the last few years demand for phytosterols has considerably increased across developed countries as they witness a high incidence of heart diseases. Despite being structurally quite similar to cholesterols, phytosterols have cholesterol lowering properties. The knowledge regarding the same has been fuelling their demand across countries with high prevalence of obesity, which is a primary cause of heart diseases.View exclusive Global strategic Business report :However, as per Transparency Market Research (TMR), the phytosterols market is yet to establish a strong footprint across developing countries. The inadequate awareness about the intrinsic health benefits of phytosterols limits scope for the markets growth across these regions.Nevertheless, the prospects for the market in Asia Pacific seem very lucrative, as India and China witness a rising incidence of coronary heart diseases. Spurred by these factors, the global phytosterols market is expected to report a CAGR of 10% between 2015 and 2021. The market is expected to reach US$926.7 mn in 2021 from a valuation of US$473.8 in 2014.Use of Phytosterols as Food Ingredients to Increase RapidlyPhytosterols exhibit diverse applications across industries such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food and beverages. In 2014, the use of phytosterols as food ingredients held the largest market share in terms of value. According to TMR, demand from food ingredients segment accounted for over 50.45% of the market in 2014. The rising use of phytosterols as food ingredients due to their cholesterol lower properties is expected to fuel demand from the segment during the forecast period. Manufacturers operating in the food and beverages industry are including phytosterols in many of their food products to cater to their consumers health requirements.However, during the forecast period demand from the pharmaceuticals segment is expected to rise at the highest rate. The increasing awareness among consumers about the benefits of phytosterols in reducing the risk of heart diseases is fuelling demand from the segment. Furthermore, the incidence of heart ailments is expected to increase in India and China, thereby escalating phytosterols demand from these countries.Besides this, the cosmetics industry is a niche segment in the global phytosterols market. However, the demand from this segment is also expected to rise in the forthcoming years. The rising disposable income of consumers will be the primary factor bolstering use of phytosterols in the cosmetics industry.Europe and North America Emerge as Most Lucrative Markets for PhytosterolsGeographically, Europe accounted for 40.27% of the demand witnessed in the global phytosterols market in 2014. The increasing application of phytosterols across end-use industries such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food and beverages has been fuelling demand for phytosterols from the region. Besides this, the increasing incidence of coronary heart diseases is a key factor fuelling demand for phytosterols from Europe and North America, alike.The high prevalence of obesity has emerged as a major cause of concern for policymakers in North America. Since phytosterols are cholesterol reducing agents, they are considered ideal for preventing increased cholesterol level in human body. Their demand is thus expected to increase substantially across these developed regions through the forecast period.In contrast, the lack of awareness about the benefits of phytosterols is limiting the markets expansion across Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). However, TMR, expects, the phytosterols market in Rest of the World to rise at the highest pace during the forecast period. The rising disposable income of consumers in RoW has led them to upgrade their lifestyle. This will subsequently boost prospects for the phytosterols market.Some of key players operating in the market are Archer Daniels Midland Co., BASF SE, Bunge Ltd, Triple Crown AB, E.I. DuPont De Nemours, Pharmachem Laboratories, and others.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. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Food Packaging Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023

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Food packaging market is by far the largest application segment of the packaging industry, accounting for more than one-third of the global packaging market. From a global perspective, the food packaging market is at a very interesting situation, where the market has almost reached a plateau in terms of technology in the more developed nations in North America and Europe, while the emerging countries of Asia Pacific region are playing catch up to the packaging technologies and food supply chain management. Different types of food products require varied packaging types according to their individual usage and perishability.The sea change in food habits and preference for processed food has propelled the food packaging market in the past. The market for packaged food has already reached a holistic level in North America and Western Europe, while rapid lifestyle changes and economic growth, coupled with rising population in Asia Pacific countries such as China and India, has spiked the growth rate of food packaging in the region. The growth rate in South America and the Middle East is also on the higher side compared to the developed economies. The main reason for increasing preference for processed food is the shifting population dynamics towards urban centers from rural areas. This has resulted in the advent of dual income urban families, who prefer processed food due to time constraints. Packaged food has evolved from super markets to neighborhood stores in countries such as China, India, Brazil and Thailand among others. The market dynamics in North America and Europe however, is governed by branding activities undertaken by food processing companies.Tremendous opportunity exist in the food packaging market in emerging economies as the food packaging technology is in its growth phase in this region. Antimicrobial packaging technique is of particular interest as it helps to improve the shelf life of perishable food products. The market is however, slightly restrained by the declining growth in North America and Europe.Get Free Sample Report Copy :The food packaging market can be segmented into application segments such as convenience foods, confectionary items, dairy items, fruits and vegetables, meat and sauces and dressings. The popularity of the different food applications is different across the globe. For instance packaged meat is making foray into Asia Pacific region while it is mainstream in North America and Europe. Materials used to package food can also be segmented into plastic, paper & board, metal and glass. They may also be classified as rigid, semi-regid and flexible by type of packaging material. The preferences for different packaging materials also vary with regions due to the food habits specific to the regions. Flexible packaging accounts for the largest share of food packaging.North America is the largest food packaging market followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. However the growth rate exhibited by these regions has subsided considerably as the market is close to its peak. The growth parity is however, restored by the high growth regions of Asia Pacific and South America. China and India have exhibited exceptional growth potential and is expected to overtake the market leading position from North America in the near future.Some of the major players in the food packaging market are American Packaging Corporation, Anchor Packaging, Crown Holdings, Inc. and Bemis Company, Inc., among many others.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Seoul has seen its hottest month on record. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the average temperature in the capital for the month was 29.7 degrees Celsius, the highest since records began in 1907.

Sixteen people nationwide died from heat-related illnesses, also the most since statistics started in 2011. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the deaths were caused by heatstroke, heat edema or heat cramps.

Authorities advised people to keep hydrated and stay indoors as much as possible. The heatwave is expected to last at least until the end of this week.


Worldwide Lateral Flow Assay Test Market Current Trends And Challenges By 2016 - 2026

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Lateral flow assay (LFA) tests also called as lateral flow immunochromatographic assays, are simple device used to detect the presence or absence of intended analyte in sample. This test does not use costly specialized equipment. Generally, these tests are used for clinical diagnostics either for point of care (POC) testing, home testing or laboratory use. A widely accepted and well known application of LFA test is pregnancy test. These assay tests changing the way in which health care providers deliver diagnostic care to patients. Lateral flow assay test produces quality test results in short duration. This test is widely accepted and employed in several fields from defence to health care. Lateral flow assay test market is witnessing promising technological changes and is one of the most competent area in POC testing devices.Lateral flow assay test market is expected to witness positive growth owing to higher prevalence of infectious and communicable diseases and increased use rapid testing in home care settings. Apart from this, increasing geriatric population, rising use of lateral flow assay in clinical laboratory practice, increased chronic diseases, and technology up gradation perhaps positively impact the growth of lateral flow assay test market over the forecasted period. However increased regulations, inconsistency in test results may pose restrain to the lateral flow assay market growth over forecasted period.Request TOC (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report:Global lateral flow assay test market has been segmented on the basis of product, technique, application, end user and region.Based on the product type, the global lateral flow assay test market is segmented into:Kits and ReagentsLateral Flow Assay ReadersDigital/Mobile ReadersBenchtop ReadersBased on the assay type, the global lateral flow assay test market is segmented into:Sandwich Assay FormatCompetitive Assay FormatMultiplex Detection Assay FormatBased on the application, the global lateral flow assay test market is segmented into:Clinical DiagnosticsInfectious Disease TestingCardiac Marker TestingPregnancy and Fertility TestingCholesterol and Lipid TestingDrugs-of-abuse TestingOther TestsDrug Development and Quality TestingBased on the end user, the global lateral flow assay test market is segmented into:HospitalsClinicsHome CareDiagnostic LaboratoriesPharmaceutical and Biotechnology CompaniesGlobal lateral flow assay test market is highly competitive with the strong presence of global players which are focusing on newer technologies to gain significant market share. With the advent of newer technologies in the given market which is expected to prompt the patients from using laboratory facilities to point of care (POC) tests may change the market dynamics over a given period of forecast. Merging of small lab chains into big chains proves to be concentration of revenues from small players to big players. By application segments, clinical laboratories in the global lateral flow assay test market are expected to grow in positive traction owing to higher prevalence of acute and chronic diseases.Geographically, lateral flow assay test market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. North America and Europe will remain key markets for lateral flow assay test market due to higher demand for decentralised laboratory test and presence of highly evolved health care system will boost this market significantly. Asia Pacific is anticipated to register positive growth owing to governmental initiatives, improved healthcare infrastructure, and increased demand for quality care at affordable price.Buy Full Report@Some of the key players in the Global lateral flow assay test market are F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Alere, Inc., Danaher Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, Inc., Bio-Rad Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Solvent Based Ink Market - Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast 2015-2021

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Ink is the pigment or dye that is used as the coloring agent. In solvent based ink, the base constituent is solvent, which can be any organic solvent, water or mixture. Solvent based ink delivers durable, scratch resistance, waterproof and adheres to non-absorbent material prints.Request for sample report @The solvent based ink possess essential properties such as resistance to scratching and rubbing, long lasting and water resistance which has led the use of solvent based ink in printing and packaging industry. Surging packaging industry in the emerging economies is expected to drive the growth of the market. Increasing disposable income has raised the use of online shopping which in turn has fueled the growth of packaging industry. This indirectly is raising the growth of solvent based ink market. Escalating digital printing industry owing to use of digital printing in textile industry, fine arts, architectural designs and advertising foster the growth of solvent based ink market. However, presence of substitutes for solvent based ink coupled along with strict regulations led by the government due to the presence of high volatile organic compounds may possibly hinder the growth of the market. Nevertheless, introduction of green solvents based ink and increasing demand from the developing countries is likely to witness high growth in the forecast period.Request TOC (Table of Contents) of this report:The report provides a comprehensive view on the solvent based ink market. It includes a detailed value chain analysis. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the solvent based ink market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein application segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness. The report also analyzes several driving and restraining factors and their impact on the market during the forecast period.Based on application, the solvent based ink market can be segmented as printing, packaging and corrugated. Printing and packaging are the leading segments. Growing attraction towards online shopping particularly from the emerging economies drives the packaging market. Corrugates are the material that is woven by several parallel ridges for obtaining greater strength and rigidity.Asia Pacific is the most prominent market for the solvent based ink market. Asia Pacific accounted for largest production and consumption of solvent based ink followed by North America for highest consumption. Factors driving the growth of market in Asia Pacific are presence of major players in China along with expanding packaging industry. Surging digital printing industry in North America is expected to stimulate the growth of market in this region. Europe is anticipated to experience moderate growth for the solvent based ink market and is likely to remain modest in the near future.Read More @Some of the leading participants in the solvent based ink market include The Dow Chemical Company, Cinkarna Celje, TW Graphics, Fujifilm, Lawson Screen & Digital Products Inc., Stehlin Hostag UK, O Ecotextiles, Ink Solutions, Mirage Inks, Flint Group and Bordeaux Digital PrintInk Ltd among others.The report segments of the solvent based ink market into:Solvent Based Ink Market: Application Segment AnalysisPrintingPackagingCorrugatedSolvent Based Ink Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaDo Inquiry before buying:About UsZion Market Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Zion Market Research experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants uses proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact US:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:
Increasing Clinical Evidence to Support Direct Human Consumption of Fish Oil

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Fish oils are a key marine product derived from oily fishes, and are used as fish feed in aquacultures as well for direct human consumption. The high omega-3 content of fish oils is responsible for the growing direct human consumption of fish oils. Even though omega-3 fatty acids, which are an essential nutrient required for healthy development of humans, can be found in algae and flax as well, commercial production of omega-3 is dominated by fish farming. As a result of the increasing human consumption, the need for fish oils in aquaculture has grown in recent years.View exclusive Global strategic Business report :According to Transparency Market Research, the global fish oils market was valued at US$1.1 bn in 2011. Exhibiting a 5.05% CAGR from 2012 to 2018, the market is expected to rise to a valuation of US$1.7 bn.What is the prime driver for the global fish oil market?The growing public awareness about the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids is the crucial driver for the global fish oil market. The claimed health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids are also being backed by an increasing number of studies, and new studies are also being initiated to explore their possible medicinal uses.A study released in August 2016 and carried out by medical researchers at the Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston showed that high doses of omega-3 fatty acids help in cardiac remodeling following a myocardial infarction (MI). Compared to the trial participants on placebo, participants given omega-3 showed a clear reduction in muscle fibrosis in the heart as well as in the volume of blood remaining in the left ventricle after contraction. Both markers are crucial in establishing heart health following MI, establishing an initial correlation between omega-3 intake and heart health.Fish oil is also being studied in a recently initiated trial at the Medical University of South Carolina to explore its possible benefits in enhancing the cognitive processes of soldiers. The two-year study, initiated in August 2016 and planned to end in spring 2018, will assess cognitive markers such as decision making abilities, attention span, and impulsivity with the help of computerized cognitive tests. The backing of the U.S. army has made this study crucial for the fish oil market, as a favorable trial result will likely boost the demand for direct human consumption.Which is the key geographical segment of the global fish oil market?Regionally, Europe is the leading contributor to the global fish oil market due to the longstanding traditions of fish farming in several European countries. Denmark, in particular, is a leading consumer of fish oil. However, the rapidly expanding aquaculture industry in China is likely to drive the Asia Pacific fish oil market in the coming years. Due to the heavy consumption of fish oil in Chile and Peru, Latin America is also a key market for fish oil and is likely to have a notable role in the global markets development in the coming years.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. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Collision Avoidance System Market Competitive landscape By 2016 - 2026

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Collision Avoidance System Market: OverviewIncreasing number of severe accidents had elevated the need of a system to avoid collisions. The collision avoidance system is helpful to avoid imminent collisions amongst objects such as automobiles, aircrafts, railways, marine and others. The increasing application of collision avoidance system in construction and mining industries are boosting the global collision avoidance system market. Based upon its applications there are various collision avoidance system such as airborne collision avoidance system (ACAS), traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS), ground proximity warning system (GPWS), obstacle collision avoidance system. Collision avoidance system works on the principle of avoiding the collision by warning the operator of the threat or by taking an autonomous avoidance movement. The automobile giants such as Fusion, General Motors and Ford Explorer are having a pre-collision system installed in their cars. These pre-collision system uses radar to detect the approaching obstacles and alerts the drivers accordingly, or even the system will brake the vehicle. Currently the global collision avoidance system market is in billions and is anticipated to witness a modest CAGR growth in the forecasted period.Request TOC (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report:Collision Avoidance System Market: Drivers and RestraintsAutomotive industry is having the largest share in the global collision avoidance market and due to the increasing concern of travellers and vehicle safety the global collision avoidance system market is anticipated to boost in the forecasted period. Further, stringent government regulations, and lower insurance premium of vehicles with collision avoidance system is driving the global collision avoidance system market. Increased awareness amongst governments of different regions is leading to the installation of collision avoidance system in railways, aircrafts and submarines, resulting in the growth of global collision avoidance system market.The expensive nature of collision avoidance system restricts its usage in the middle level and lower level segment vehicles. In some cases the collision avoidance system only warns the drivers and does not perform any autonomous avoidance movement, and ignorance of drivers might lead to the collision. The above factors can slowdown the global collision avoidance system market.Collision Avoidance System Market: SegmentationOn the basis of Product Type, the collision avoidance system market can be segmented as follows:Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS)Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS).FLARMGround Proximity Warning System (GPWS)Portable Collision Avoidance System (PCAS)Synthetic VisionObstacle Collision Avoidance SystemOn the basis of Functionality, the collision avoidance system market can be segmented as follows:Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)Blind Spot Detection (BSD)Forward Collision Warning (FCW)Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS)On the basis of Applications, the collision avoidance system market can be segmented as follows:AutomotiveMarineAerospaceRailwaysOthers (Construction and Mining)Buy Full Report@Collision Avoidance System Market: Region Wise OutlookThe global collision avoidance system market can be divided into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan and Middle East and Africa .Europe is the leader in terms of market share in global collision avoidance system market owing to the flourishing automotive sector in this region. Also in this region there are stringent government regulations for installing some basic systems such as tire pressure monitoring system in automotive and ACAS system in aircrafts for seating capacity above a specific number. North America is another significant contributor in global collision avoidance system market due to its increasing construction, railways and mining sectors. Asia Pacific is anticipated to be a potential market in the global collision avoidance system market in near future. India and China are the countries that would witness a decent growth in the construction and mining, automotive sectors. Latin America and Japan are at a nascent stage in the global collision avoidance system market. Middle East and Africa are anticipated to have a slowdown collision avoidance system market in the forecasted period.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Rising Demand for Fruit-based Fizzy Drinks, Tea, and Coffee Drives Nonalcoholic Drinks Market

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Nonalcoholic drinks are beverages that contain less than 0.5% alcohol by volume. While popular beverages such as coffee, tea, and fruit juices count as nonalcoholic drinks, nonalcoholic varieties of alcoholic drinks such as beer and wine are also considered among nonalcoholic drinks. The demand for nonalcoholic drinks has grown smoothly over the last few decades, as the adverse effects of alcohol consumption have become progressively clearer and uncontestable. The rising health awareness among the global population is thus a key driver for the global nonalcoholic drinks market.Interpret a Competitive outlook Analysis Report with free PDF Brochure:According to Transparency Market Research, the global nonalcoholic drinks market was valued at US$1,435.2 bn in 2013. Exhibiting a 4.30% CAGR between 2014 and 2020, the market is expected to rise to a valuation of US$1,937.7 bn. By volume, the market is expected to exhibit an even higher 4.90% CAGR in the same timeframe, with the total volume of the market expected to rise to 1,289 bn liters from 912.7 bn liters in 2013. This illustrates both the growing demand for nonalcoholic beverages and the expected price wars in the market for the same.What is the key driver for the global nonalcoholic drinks market?The growing awareness about the health benefits of nonalcoholic drinks is the prime driver for the nonalcoholic drinks market in developed regions. A study conducted in 2015 showed that the consumption of soda in the U.S., one of the largest markets for aerated drinks, had fallen to a 30-year low due to the steadily growing health awareness among the population.Furthermore, 2016 is set to be the first year in which the sales of bottled water in the U.S. are expected to outstrip sales of soda-based drinks. While concerns about water contamination have played their part, it is becoming clear that consumers are not only moving away from alcoholic drinks, but also making the healthier choice when it comes to nonalcoholic drinks.The growing demand for coffee and tea is another key driver for the global nonalcoholic drinks market. Coffee and tea have several health benefits, due to which the traditional consumption of both across the world is being supplemented by new drinkers. The ease of selling prepackaged ready-to-drink coffee and tea has made them easily available across the world, further boosting the growth prospects of the global nonalcoholic drinks market. The segment of tea and coffee is expected to exhibit a higher CAGR than any other product segment of the market in the 2014-2020 forecast period.How is the nonalcoholic drinks market performing in emerging regions?In emerging regions, the growing demand for fizzy fruit-based drinks is an influential factor likely to shape the trajectory of the nonalcoholic drinks market in the coming years. While the demand for aerated drinks is steadily dropping in developed countries, the market for the same is still in its growth phase in emerging economies. As a result, the demand for soda-based drinks is still growing in regions such as Asia Pacific and Latin America. In the hugely promising India market, for instance, both PepsiCo and Coca Cola are expected to launch new fruit-based aerated drinks in the coming years, leading to improved growth prospects for the nonalcoholic drinks market.While North America is the leading contributor to the global nonalcoholic drinks market at present, the booming demand for aerated drinks and tea/coffee is expected to make Asia Pacific the key contributor in the coming years.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. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Solar Cooker Market - Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast 2015-2021

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The energy obtained due to the nuclear fusion of hydrogen and helium in the inner core of the sun is called as solar energy. The solar energy is considered to be safe, green and renewable energy. Solar cookers are the application of solar energy used to cook, bake, and fry food. Solar Cookers can also be used for pasteurization. Solar cooker converts the radiant energy to the heat energy which is used for cooking food.Request Sample Report:Growing awareness for the use of renewable energy along with escalating prices of non renewable energy drives the solar cooker market. Government support and funding for the use of solar energy also stimulates the growth of solar cooker market. Also, development of new technologies utilizing solar energy along with introduction of cost efficient technologies compared to conventional energy sources foster the demand for the solar cooker market. However, lack of awareness among the developing countries and maturation of the solar cooker market in the developed countries may inhibit the growth of solar cooker market. Nevertheless, untapped opportunities from the emerging economies are likely to open new avenue in the near future.The report provides a comprehensive view on the solar cooker market we have included a detailed value chain analysis. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the solar cooker market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein type segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness. The report also analyzes several driving and restraining factors and their impact on the market during the forecast period.Request TOC (Table of Contents) of this report:Various types of solar cooker are designed according to the intensity of exposure to the sun and according to the type of food to be cooked in. Solar panel cooker, solar parabolic cooker and solar box cooker are the types of solar cooker. Solar box cooker is the most widely known and used cooker due to easy and safe operating with no regulation required. The solar panel cooker consists of vessel kept in the center of the reflective panel to concentrate the radiations on the vessel. The solar panel is highly efficient as compared to solar box cooker. For obtaining high temperatures for grilling and frying food solar parabolic cooker is utilized. The only drawback for using of parabolic cookers is, they need to be adjusted according to the sun rays frequently for achieving high temperature and efficiency.Asia Pacific and Latin America are the fastest growing market for the solar cooker market and is expected to accelerate the growth rate in the coming years. This is mainly attributed to the factors such as rising awareness along with accomplishment from the government for developing techniques for the use of solar energy. To meet the unmet demands for petroleum products such as use of LPG for cooking food from the escalating population, solar cooker are used on large scale. However, due to saturated market, North America and Europe are expected to exhibit steady growth during the forecast period. However, the U.S. is the largest producer for solar box cooker followed by China.Solar Cookers International, Sunrise Global Solar Energy, Sun Fire Rudra Solar Energy, and Sun Oven are some of the key participants for the solar cooker market.Do Inquiry before buying:The report segments of the solar cooker market into:Solar Cooker Market: Type Segment AnalysisSolar panel cookerSolar parabolic cookerSolar box cookerSolar Cooker Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaBrowse report at:About UsZion Market Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Zion Market Research experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants uses proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact US:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:
Blister Packaging Equipment Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2026

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=9275

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

In recent years, the packaging industry has witnessed significant growth in demand from end-use industries ranging from electronics & consumer to pharmaceuticals sectors. This billion dollar industry is expanding at a healthy CAGR, and is being fueled by increasing global population and demand for product safety. Blister packaging widely uses common packaging methods such as thermoforming process to create small cavities in plastic with a backing of aluminum foil, cardboard or plastic, commonly used to pack a large variety of household, electronics, and pharmaceuticals products. The raw materials used in blister packaging are polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polychlorotrifluoro ethylene (PCTFE), cyclic olefin copolymers, aluminum foil, and others. The advantage of using blister packaging is that it is affordable, durable, and tamper-proof in nature. These attributes ensured adoption of blister packaging across various industry segments. The equipment used in creating blister packaging works on two principles: thermoforming and coldforming. Thermoforming is used to create blisters with uniform wall distribution; whereas coldforming uses aluminum foil to form blisters, which provides an almost total barrier from water and air.Key driver for blister packaging equipment market is its diverse applications ranging from industrial application such as in pharmaceuticals and electronics products to household products. Growth in the end use industry is directly associated with the increased incremental opportunity for the blister packaging equipment market. The global healthcare industry is estimated over US$ trillion in terms of revenue, and this figure is expected to experience accelerated growth over the forecast period. Also, increasing rate of healthcare spending in emerging regions is expected to boost growth of the overall blister packaging equipment market. Furthermore, global electronics market is expected to witness healthy GAGR, which in turn is expected to boost demand for blister packaging equipment. Companies are increasingly focusing on attractiveness of packaging, especially for consumer products and consumer electronics, and this is further expected to drive market growth. However, growing environmental concerns related to the usage of plastics is expected to hamper overall market growth over the forecast period. Companies can optimize growth potential by focusing on leveraging bio-plastics as raw materials.Get Free Sample Report Copy :The blister packaging equipment market is segmented on the basis of mode of operation, product type, end user, and geography. Based on mode of operation, the blister packaging equipment market is sub-segmented into manual machine, semi-automatic machine, and automatic machine. Furthermore, on the basis of product, the market is sub-segmented into rotary type, flat type, and rotary plus flat type. On the basis of technology, the blister packaging equipment market is sub-segmented into coldforming and thermoforming. Based on end user, the market is sub-segmented into pharmaceutical industry, consumer product packaging industry, and electronics & semiconductors industry.By geography, the global blister equipment market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), the Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Latin America. North America is expected to remain the largest market in the global blister packaging industry due to the presence of large pharmaceutical companies and high healthcare expenditure in this region. Asia Pacific is expected to follow APAC, owing to the presence of many consumer products manufacturing companies in this region, especially in China. Significant increase in healthcare expenditure along with large patient pool in the region is expected to offer momentum to overall growth of blister packaging equipment market in APAC. Also, presence of electronic goods manufacturing units in China is expected to further boost market growth in this region. The market in Europe is also expected to witness robust growth due to high pharmaceutical expenditure, followed by North America and APAC. Markets in Latin America and MEA region are expected to exhibit sluggish growth; however, increase in healthcare per capita expenditure could drive the demand for blister packaging equipment market in these regions over the forecast period.Some of the key market participants in the blister equipment market include KOCH Pac-Systeme GmbH, Aylward Enterprises Llc, Zed Industries, Inc., Starview Packaging Machinery, Inc. Clearwater Packaging, Inc., and Ecobliss Blisterpackaging B.V.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Worldwide Photocurable Resins Market Dynamics 2016 - 2026

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/11212

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/11212

Photo curing states certain way of radiation curing wherein several product formulations, including coatings, adhesives, inks and other materials can be cured, rather than using conventional methods which are usually energy demanding and produce harmful discharges. The photo curing technology, utilizes various multi-functional resins that are also called UV curable resins, by showing them to UV light are cross-linked. The UV light activates a photo initiator to generate the polymerization initiating species which very quickly alter the liquid resins to cross-linked coatings. The resins employed in the formulations can be largely classified as monomers and oligomers.The photocurable resins market is undergoing an era of massive growth which is likely to continue in the near time, majorly owing to largely growing Asia Pacific region and extreme efforts for promoting environment-friendly products. A lot of investments are being made by many industry players in order to balance the supply and demand and grab the high potential opportunities in future, resulting in growth of global photocurable resins market. Asia Pacific is the dominant regional market in the global photocurable resins market, which accounted for more than half of the global demand. Owing to the high growth markets such as China, the region is expected to show further growth in future, thereby driving the demand in global photocurable resins market across the globe.Request TOC (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report:Initially coating industry was the dominant application in global photocurable resins market, with the producers/ manufacturers consuming more than half of the total demand. Bourgeoning demand for high performance products complying with the strict emission standards is driving the demand for photocurable resin at a notable pace, which in turn is growing the photocurable resin market.Photocurable Resins Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe growing demand photocurable resins in coating industry across the globe is driving market growth of global photocurable resins market. Rising use of environmental friendly products is the major driving force for the global photocurable resin industry. The use of photocurable resin solution is also increasing in ink manufacturing, consistent with improvements in the industry and growth in application of UV curable ink in packaging printing is acting as a prominent driving factor for the global photocurable resins market. Rising use of photocurable resins in rapid prototyping is also a driving factor for global photocurable resins market.The major restraint in the global photocurable resins market implies to be the cost/price per gallon. This factor is expected to impose a challenge to the global photocurable resin market.Photocurable Resins Market: SegmentationOn the basis of end-user the global photocurable resins market is segmented asGraphic ArtsElectronicsIndustrial CoatingsAdhesivesCompositesOthers (Wood Coating, Optical Finishing among others)On the basis of types the global photocurable market is segmented asMonomersMultifunctional Acrylic EstersOthersOligomersEpoxyUrethanePolyester AcrylatesOthersPhotoinitiatersPhotocurable Resins Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global photocurable resin market is projected to register a constructive growth for the forecast period, 2016-2026. Asia-Pacific is estimated to sustain its control on the global photocurable resin market. The key nations in the region are projected to be China and India as an effect of increasing wealth and rising demand for coating resins. China is estimated to be the major opportunity in terms of revenue of the industry. North America and Europe are projected to follow Asia Pacific in global photocurable resin market. Rest of the world is also expected to register a favourable growth in global photocurable resin market.Buy Full Report@Photocurable Resins Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in global photocurable resins market are Cytec, Sartomer, Eternal, BASF SE, Arkema, IGM Resins B.V among others.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types, technology and applications.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.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 Dermatology Market To 2022 - Innovative Pipeline And Increasing Uptake Of Biologics To Diversify Treatment Options And Drive Strong Growth

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Dermatological conditions are one of the most common types of disorders worldwide, and approximately one-third of the US population suffers from at least one active skin condition.For the past decades, the majority of the dermatology market has remained saturated with established products. However, the clinical and commercial success of biologics in the treatment of psoriasis, as well as advancements in the understanding of the disease pathways of many dermatological conditions, have led to a renewed interest from pharmaceutical companies in the dermatology market, and subsequently the emergence of an innovative pipeline.This report covers all dermatological disorders, but there is a particular focus on three key diseases: atopic dermatitis, acne vulgaris and psoriasis, as these conditions have the highest prevalence and the largest pipeline. The global dermatology market was valued at $20.0 billion in 2015, and is projected to grow at a considerable Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.73%, reaching $33.7 billion in 2022. Key drivers of this growth will be the uptake of recently approved premium biologics, as well as promising late-stage products that are expected to be highly valuable.Complete Analysis and Free Sample Copy of Report:ScopeThe dermatology market landscape is expected to change substantially with the advent of promising novel pipeline products.Overall, there are 801 dermatology products in the pipeline, with biologics representing 37% of the pipeline, despite the fact that this molecule type represents only a small fraction of the marketed products landscape.Which molecular targets are most prominent within the pipeline?How do the key indications differ in terms of molecule type?How does the composition of the pipeline compare with that of the existing market?What mechanisms of action are most common for pipeline drugs?Global revenues for the dermatology market are forecast to grow at a CAGR of 7.73%, from $20 billion in 2015 to $33.7 billion in 2022.Which products will contribute to market growth most significantly, and which will achieve blockbuster status?Will the current market leaders retain their dominance over the forecast period, and how is their revenue share of the dermatology market set to change?What CAGR will these companies register in the forecast period?Reasons to buyThis report will allow you to -Understand the current clinical and commercial landscape by considering disease pathogenesis, diagnosis, prognosis and the treatment options available at each stage of diagnosis.Visualize the composition of the dermatology market across each indication, in terms of dominant molecule types and targets, highlighting the key commercial assets and players.Analyze the dermatology pipeline and stratify by stage of development, molecule type and molecular target, with a granular breakdown across key indications.Understand the growth in patient epidemiology and market revenues for the dermatology market globally, and across the key players and product types.Stratify the market in terms of the split between generic and premium products, and assess the role of these product types in the treatment of the various dermatological conditions.Identify commercial opportunities in the dermatology deals landscape by analyzing trends in licensing and co-development deals.Marketresearchreports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. Marketresearchreports.biz services are especially designed to save time and money of our clients.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Keep Data Safe with TeraByte Drive Image Backup and Restore Suite

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm

Las Vegas, August, 2016 - Terabyte Unlimited releases version 3 of its popular disk imaging and backup software. Designed to provide a convenient and easy way to back up absolutely every byte of data on your hard disk or other digital storage device, TeraByte Drive Image Backup and Restore Suite introduces many improvements and new features. The update is available for free to anyone who purchased the software on or since January 1, 2016. Those who purchased the software before then are entitled to a 50% discount.One of the most important features of TeraByte Drive Image Backup and Restore Suite is that it uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service to lock each backup job to a certain point in time, allowing you to safely continue using the hard drive while the image is created. This version of the program is designed for Windows, and a recent fix also improves compatibility with the Windows 10 Anniversary Edition released this August. However, you can use the software to create and restore disk images of drives or partitions running Linux, DOS or any other OS.Version 3 is a major update that introduces a base for new features in the future. It also improves performance by adding more threads for compression and restoring and many new options for advanced users. Images created by version 2.x of the software are also backwards-compatible with this edition. Since the release of version 3.00 on August 4, 2016, there have also been four minor updates to further improve the program and iron out any bugs. Learn more atTeraByte Unlimited, established in 1992, has provided a wide range of computer services, including sale of hardware and software, consulting, repair, network installation and custom programming for the IBM PC and IBM midrange platforms. In 1994, TeraByte Unlimited began development of the BootIt line of multi-boot utilities, which continues to be an industry-leading product. Today, TeraByte Unlimited's primary purpose is to continue producing the best software solutions available.TeraByte, Inc. dba TeraByte Unlimited is currently located in Las Vegas, Nevada, and can be reached using the following e-mail addresses.TeraByte, Inc.United States of America Las Vegas POB 10220David F. av2015@terabyteunlimited.com
Defense Minister Han Min-koo on Wednesday said the government is open to suggestions for an alternative site for a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery.

Han was meeting with locals in Seongju, the proposed location for the U.S. missiles, who are vehemently opposed to having them in their backyard.

"The government will give consideration to an alternative site if local residents reach an agreement on a new location," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

In a meeting with lawmakers from the region on Aug. 4, President Park Geun-hye also said she would look into a new location recommended by locals.

But the ministry said the new site can only be considered if all residents agree.


How to Track Employees Work Time Efficiently

http://crocotime.com/en/

Todays workforce needs a new way to track employees work time and attendance more efficiently. Why is it important to track attendance efficiently? It helps to prevent costly payroll mistakes, improves employee and customer satisfaction, and promotes productivity. These are advantages that every company can benefit from.If you use an outdated or handmade way for keeping a track of employees hours, you should learn more about modern time trackers and workforce management tools.What is Time Tracker?Time tracker is a simple software to automatically capture employees attendance. There are several options for having your staff log their time. It includes using "Start/Stop" button or web-based interface. More complex solutions include mobile phone tracking, text alert clocking and land-line clocking. You can choose the option that works best for your business.Using a time tracker simplifies the process of time and attendance. It is more comfortable for your staff and those in charge of payroll. Having to manually enter payroll data into a spreadsheet takes a significant amount of time. The time needed increases as your company grows. A time tracker automates all of these processes.Time and attendance features of the time tracker are available for any of your scheduling or HR needs.Which Time Tracker is Best for Your Company?Do your employees have access to their own computers? Then either web-based or standalone time tracker software can be the most efficient solution for you. In an industrial setting, a clocking terminal may be of use. Clocking terminals include biometric, PIN entry, swipe cards, ID badges, and key fobs as methods of input. But it is not useful for offices.In an office where employees work on computers, tracking time and attendance is something that should be handled by software. The days of manual record keeping are gone forever. It is just inefficient to have to enter any employees data by hand.Greatest Benefits of an Automatic Time TrackerWhy should I consider using an attendance management software? From preventing payroll mistakes to stimulating productivity, a time tracker provides numerous benefits. Such systems are easy to install and will integrate with your existing solutions. In a matter of days, youll be able to accurately track employees time and attendance.Some of the main benefits include:Elimination of payroll errors;Streamlining time off requests;Increased productivity;More efficient workforce.One of the biggest benefits of a time tracker is the reduction in payroll errors. Payroll errors can be very expensive. If your HR department enters payroll by hand, it is safe to assume that there are at least occasional mistakes.If your company expands and you take on more employees, such errors can become more of a burden. A time tracker that automatically logs attendance, eliminates the opportunity for error.The time tracker can also streamline time off requests. Your employees will be able to view all their available time off. They may then make time off requests or suggest shift swaps in web interface. You can setup automated notifications for project managers. They may then either approve or deny any request. This makes the process of handling such requests much more fast.These benefits all combine to build a more efficient staff. Once you implement the automatic time tracker, you can begin focusing on other ways to better productivity.Take Advantage of the Time Tracker Right NowAn automatic time tracker will help you face the challenges of a growing business. When you begin recruiting more employees and expanding your company, you must first ensure you have good organization policies in office. The larger your business becomes, the harder it is to make policy changes.Start by instituting a clearly defined attendance rules. Use a time tracker to help enforce your policies and streamline HR control. It will not take long for you to see the profits of using a software solution for tracking attendance. It promotes efficiency while preventing costly errors.From time tracking to employee scheduling and HR solutions, workforce management software can be an invaluable tool. Explore the CrocoTime time tracker and think about how you can use our tools to make your business operations more efficient.Today CrocoTime is approved by more than 500 of customers ranging from small companies to enterprises of different spheres of business: production companies, project companies, trading, and service companies have been using CrocoTime to become more productive and efficient.3, Severo-Vostochnoy Ave., Saransk, Mordovia, Russia, 430000
Bagging Equipment Market: Latest Innovations, Drivers and Industry Key Events 2016 - 2026

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/11053

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/11053

Global Bagging Equipment Market: IntroductionThe technology behind the enclosure and protection of products for storage, sales, distribution and use is called packaging. Thus, to pack products in containers or wrappers, bagging equipment are used. Moreover, sustainable practices alter the way of packaging patterns of the companies. Thus sustainable packaging advantages can be brought about by using bagging equipment in the product packaging solutions. Bagging equipment is used to fill a variety of products into different types of bags, cartons and pouches. Bagging equipment involves the idea of automatic packaging where the bagging equipment possess in built weight set-up options which eliminates the need of continuous supervision during the packaging process. The bagging equipment offers high accuracy and efficiency in packing the concerned objects. The bagging equipment has a twin screw feeder for accuracy and is capable of filling products by just a touch of a button. Bagging machines offer a reliable and versatile bag sealing experience, eliminate the labor cost, is highly efficient and yields high productivity.Use For to: Download TOC (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report:Global Bagging Equipment Market: DynamicsdLow operation costs along with improved productivity and sustainability are some key factors driving the global bagging equipment market. Moreover, increasing inclination of packaging industries towards bagging equipment apart from conventional packaging practices is a key element fuelling the demand for bagging equipment across the globe. Furthermore, packaging companies offer products of varied sizes and shapes. Thus, increasing demand for customized bagging equipment by packaging industries is a major factor driving the global bagging equipment market.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types and applications.The report covers exhaustive analysis on:Market SegmentsMarket DynamicsMarket SizeSupply & DemandCurrent Trends/Issues/ChallengesCompetition & Companies involvedValue ChainRegional analysis includes:North AmericaLatin AmericaAsia PacificJapanWestern EuropeEastern EuropeMiddle East & AfricaThe report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts, and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides an in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macroeconomic indicators and governing factors, along with market attractiveness within the segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and various geographies.Report highlights:Detailed overview of parent marketChanging market dynamics in the industryIn-depth market segmentationHistorical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and valueRecent industry trends and developmentsCompetitive landscapeStrategies of key players and products offeredPotential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growthA neutral perspective on market performanceMust-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprintGlobal Bagging Equipment Market: SegmentationBagging equipment market can be segmented on the basis of type, technology, application, feeding materials and geography. Considering type, the global bagging equipment market can be segmented into valve bag fillers, open mouth bagging equipment, compression baggers, manual bagging equipment, bulk bag fillers, form fill and seal bagging equipment. On the basis of technology, the market can be segmented into manual, automatic and semi-automatic. Based on application, the global bagging equipment market can be segmented into food & beverages, pharmaceuticals, aerospace and defense, apparel and accessories, automotive, electronics, healthcare, personal care, consumer products and others. On the basis of feeding materials, the global bagging equipment market can be segmented into flat or center folded polyethylene, polyolefin shrink wrap, PVC and others. On the basis of geography, the global bagging equipment market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe. Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan and Japan.Buy Full Report@Global Bagging Equipment Market: Key PlayersThe key players involved in the manufacture of bagging equipment are Automated Packaging System, Rennco, Innovative Packtech Machines Pvt. Ltd., Techno Weigh Systems Pvt. Ltd., POWERVAC, E-Pak Machinery 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 Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Machine Vision Systems Market is expected to grow at high CAGR during the forecast period 2015-2025 The Insight Partners

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/machine-vision-systems-market

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPTE100000156

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/discount/TIPTE100000156

The Machine Vision Systems Market to 2025 - Global Analysis and Forecasts by Type, Application, Components, End-users report provides a detailed overview of the major factors impacting the global market with the market share analysis and revenues of various sub segments.Browse market data tables and in-depth TOC of the Machine Vision Systems Market to 2025 @Machine vision systems have been in the industry for a while now, the adoption rate for this technology is observed to be growing rapidly year on year in various end-user industries such as automotive, food and beverage, retail, logistics, medical, and security & surveillance. Automating the process while optimizing time and cost for production with accuracy are the driving forces for increasing adoption rate of machine vision systems in these verticals.The global machine vision systems market has been broadly classified into segments such as components, type, end-users and geography. The components segment consist cameras, frame grabbers, illumination, Optics, Processor, and others. Types of machine vision systems include smart camera machine vision systems, embedded vision systems, PC-Based vision systems, and 3D machine vision system. End-user industries are sub segmented into such as automotive, pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, food and beverage use machine vision systems in different forms such as vision robots or vision systems to control quality and cost of production.Request sample copy @Machine vision processes can be classified in four steps imaging, processing and analysis, communication and action, and the applications of machine vision systems fall in three broad categories such as process control, quality control, and non-industrial applications such as traffic control, medical etc. The key components of any vision systems will include digital cameras, control unit, illumination systems, and frame grabbers. The camera segment is likely to experience more developments with advancing 3D cameras and is anticipated to set new opportunities for the machine vision market. Software is estimated to be the rapidly growing component during the forecast period.Increasing need for automated process and quality products in industries has paved path to employee machine vision systems in industrial environments. Rising labor costs and aging population in countries of APAC region such as China, will increase the demand for machine vision systems in a large scale to meet the requirements of the market and as well have competitive edge over other players in the market. Growing demand for application-specific systems in processes will create a huge demand for machine vision across this region. Increasing manufacturing facilities in developing countries will have enough opportunities to explore and implement machine vision systems in near future.Inquire about discount on this report @The global machine vision systems market is further divided on the basis of regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America and Middle East & Africa. Top players in machine vision systems include Basler AG, Cognex Corporation, Keyence Corporation, Omron Corporation and National Instruments. OmniVision, DataLogic, and Microscan Systems are among the other important players in this market.Some of the key points covered in the report: Machine Vision Systems Market Landscape Machine Vision Systems Market  Key Industry Dynamics Machine Vision Systems Market  Five Forces Analysis Machine Vision Systems Market  Competitive Landscape Machine Vision Systems Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  Type Machine Vision Systems Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  Components Machine Vision Systems Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  End-users Machine Vision Systems Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  Geographical Analysis Machine Vision Systems Market, Key Company ProfilesAbout The Insight Partners:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.comThe Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Asia Pacific Flexible Glass Market expected to grow at a CAGR of 36.5% during 2014 to 2020

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb--60

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Future Market Insights (FMI) announces the release of its latest report titled, Asia Pacific Flexible Glass, Market Opportunity; 2014 to 2020 Forecast." According to the report, the Asia Pacific flexible glass market is expected to account for $612.7 Mn by 2020, registering a CAGR of 36.5% during the forecast period. Incorporation of flexibility threshold in displays is expected to contribute to the growth of the Asia Pacific flexible glass market over the forecast period.In terms of application, Asia Pacific flexible glass market is mainly segmented into display and solar PV (photovoltaic). Currently, display application segment dominates the Asia Pacific flexible glass market. The display segment was valued at US$ 74.2 Mn in 2013, and is expected to reach US$ 417.3 Mn by 2020, exhibiting a CAGR of 33.4% for the forecast period. Moreover, the development of Roll2Roll process is expected to create a demand for flexible glass in solar PV application. As a result, solar PV is projected to be the fastest growing application segment for the forecast period.Request Free Report Sample@The display application is further sub-segmented as smartphones and tablets, curved TV, building mounted displays and, wearables. Among all the aforementioned sub-segments, smartphones & tablets segment is expected to dominate the market with 50.1% of the total revenue share by 2020. However, curved TV is anticipated to exhibit the highest CAGR of 37.1% during the forecast period. Additionally, influx of new entrants is predicted to fuel the growth of curved TV application segment over the forecast period.Country-wise, the Asia Pacific flexible glass market is segmented into Japan, China, South Korea and others. Japan is the most lucrative market, followed by South Korea and China. Moreover, Japan is expected to contribute 40.0% market share to the Asia Pacific flexible glass market by 2020. The growth of South Korea market is supported by the strong presence of smartphone & TV manufacturers along with growing number of R&D centres in South Korea.Speak To Analyst@Assessing the various factors driving this market, FMI lead analyst, Abhishek S. said, Incorporation of flexibility threshold in displays, development of Roll2Roll process for flexible PV and growing R&D investments in flexible glass by key glass manufacturers are expected to fuel the demand for Asia Pacific flexible glass market.Key players in the Asia Pacific flexible glass market are Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., Corning Inc., Schott AG and Nippon Electric Glass Company Ltd.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
The Tomatina in Bunol  spend an unforgettable day at an unforgettable event

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A Spanish language school in Valencia offers the last available spots to participate in a tomato food fight like no other in SpainValencia. Do you want to experience something really special? Do you want to bring your summer to a close with a very special event? Do you want to get to know new people, make new friends and create memories which will not be forgotten?Than this is your chance to save the last spots for the Tomatina in Bunol on August, 31st!A truly extraordinary event like no other: A food fight with tomatoes in a typical Spanish surrounding, right in the middle of the region Valencia. A lot of fun and good mood will be awaiting you here; and of course tons of combed out tomatoes.For only 35 , which include the transport, entrance and a breakfast with a lot of drinks, this day will definitely be worth your while. You do not want to miss the opportunity of such a unique experience. We will be departing at 7:45 AM; the bus will leave in Valencia. Arriving there we will discover the premises, where the food fight with tomatoes will take place at 10 AM! For one hour people from all over Spain and other countries enjoy themselves by throwing tomatoes at each other. Following we will go to a river close by to clean ourselves up again. If you think that was all the day has to offer, you are way wrong! There is a big party in the village, where you will get to experience and live the Spanish culture  a once in a lifetime opportunity which you should not miss!We will celebrate with the Spanish people until the night, because at 6 PM we will head back to Valencia where we will arrive around 7 PM. Join and be part of this unique Fiesta and experience an unforgettable day! The Spanish language school Costa de Valencia offers the last tickets until August 29th, 2016. So do not think too much and join us!Since 1995 the language school Costa de Valencia has focused on teaching Spanish to non-native speakers. This language school, which is situated in the heart of Valencia, is a Centro Acreditado of the Instituto Cervantes and a member of many associations.The teaching material, which is used during the lessons, is worked out by a team of well-versed teachers. One of the most important aspects of teaching in this school is the individual involvement of every single student. This way every student has the possibility to speak very much during the language course. Furthermore, both managers place big value the quality of the language lessons and a broadly diversified leisure programme.Costa de Valencia, S.L.Avda. Blasco Ibanez, 66E-46021 ValenciaTel.: (+34) 96 361 03 67Fax: (+34) 96 393 60 49info@costadevalencia.comContact person:Andreas Temer (manager)Andreas@Costadevalencia.com
Food Grade Lubricants Market, 2014-2020 by Segmentation Based on Product, Application and Region

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Food grade lubricants refer to lubricants that are used to maintain the food processing machinery, i.e. it protects the tools and machines from wear and tear. However, since many of them come into direct contact with food, these lubricants used in these machineries need to be different from the usual machine lubricants. In other words, they should not render the food unfit for consumption. With recent advances in the food processing industry, there is now much variety in the machinery used to process each food/beverage category. With growing concern over the food we eat, food processors need to comply with various regulatory frameworks like the Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP). The standards vary from country to country. However, these are internationally accepted standards which are followed by food grade lubricant manufacturers. For instance, the non-profit public health and safety company, NSF International, along with USDA, has set standards for various food grade lubricants.These days, food safety is the highest priority for the food processors, and they take utmost care to maintain the same. H1 and H2 are the two most common broad spectrum food grade lubricants that are used in machinery involving incidental food contact and no food contact respectively. However, with the drive to produce innovative products in the food processing industry, the demand for customised and high performance food grade lubricants is expected to swell in near future. Food grade lubricants range from hydraulic fluids, oven chain oils, gear oils, compressor oils and vacuum pump oils to specialty lubricants such as can seamer oil. Different processes require different grades of oil. For instance, H3 (soluble oil) is used to prevent rust on trolleys, hooks and similar equipment whereas 3H release agents are used on chopping boards, cutters, grills, loaf pans, boning benches and other such hard surfaces.Request Free Report Sample@Cutting edge equipment technology has always been the driver of the processed food industry and vice-versa. The demand for food grade lubricants is increasing with the increase in the size of the processed food industry worldwide, as well as proliferating food safety laws. All the major companies adhere to food safety laws in order to avoid product recalls and penalty fees. The trend is more prominent in developed countries such as the U.S., U.K, Canada, Norway, Germany, France and Italy. These countries, along with other developed countries, are expected to remain the main target market during the forecast period. Developing countries such as China, Brazil, India and South Africa are expected to grow at a slower rate with regard to food grade lubricants.The market can be segmented by type into H1 lubricants, H2 lubricants, 3H (releasing agents), H3 (soluble oils) and others. Geographically, the market can be segmented into Asia Pacific, North America (U.S., Canada and Mexico), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and the Rest of the World (Latin America and South Africa). These lubricants are used in bakeries, the beverage industry, meat processing, pharmaceuticals, confectionery, and fruit and vegetable processing.The largest market by type worldwide is that of H1 food grade grease which can be used in variety of processes. It can be either petroleum based or synthetic in composition. Aluminium complex thickened grease is the most common and widely used lubricant as it can withstand high temperatures, is very water resistant, and is an important component in food & beverage processing equipment because of post shift equipment wash downs.Visit For TOC@Currently, North America is the largest market for food grade lubricants as USDA (The United States Department of Agriculture) has laid down stringent food safety laws for food processors. However, countries like India, China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa and Brazil are potential growth drivers as a large number of American companies have set up manufacturing units in these emerging markets. The European market is relatively less regulated in food grade lubricants and lacks proper laws pertaining to the same.Some of the players of the food grade lubricant market are ITW ROCOL, Bel-Ray Company LLC, Lubriplate Lubricants Company, Schaeffer Manufacturing Co. and Suncor Energy Inc. among others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Precision Farming Market size predicted to grow with 10% CAGR by 2023

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Global precision farming market size is projected to exceed USD 5 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of over 10% from 2016 to 2023. Rising concern regarding environmental impact on farming is likely to drive growth over the forecast period.Rapid advancements in data management are expected to significantly impact precision farming market share from 2016 to 2023. Advent of sophisticated technologies such as geo-location tracking enables in detecting operational efficiency.Also known as satellite farming or site specific crop management, precision farming helps in cost optimization by reducing labor as well as input cost. In addition, it also aids in cutting down fuel usage. This in turn is predicted to positively impact the precision farming market size over the next seven years.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @This system offers potential benefits to the farmers by providing precise information regarding planting as well as harvesting. It also suggests right quantities of fertilizers and pesticides to be applied, and thus plays a vital role in yielding high production. Growing innovation in this sector is likely to benefit numerous farmers on a global scale.High initial investment involved in system implementation is likely to hamper demand. Lack of awareness regarding benefits offered by this system may act as a challenge to precision farming market growth. Favorable government initiatives along with cost and energy savings advantages presented are expected to provide potential growth avenues over the forecast period.Effective implementation aids in crop monitoring and also helps in improvising field quality by maintaining fertility, soil property, chemistry, and moisture. In addition, it helps in reducing waste and also enables in enhancing land and crop efficiency.The precision farming market by technology can be segmented into guidance systems, variable rate technology, and remote sensing. Guidance systems include Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS). Remote sensing can be further segregated into handheld and satellite. In addition, Variable Rate Technology (VRT) is further divided into variable rate pesticide, variable rate seeding and variable rate fertilizer.In terms of component, the industry can be segregated into sensing & monitoring devices and automation & control systems. Sensing and monitoring devices market can be further segregated into yield monitors, soil sensors, water sensors and climate sensors. Automation & control systems include display, guidance and steering, GPS/GNSS system, mobile devices, flow and application control devices.Guidance systems are predicted to account for majority of the industry share through 2023. GPS technology is likely to offer numerous benefits such as minimal spraying & overlapping gaps, reduced chemical and fertilizer cost, and has nominal impact on the environment. Furthermore, it helps in marking the field ready for efficient as well as effective crop production.Software and services segment includes farm management cloud-based and local/web-based software. Other software services include design integration and consultation, managed services, maintenance and support.Yield monitoring, field mapping, variable rate application, soil monitoring and crop scouting are the major hardware applications in the industry. Software application sector encapsulates crop management, financial management, farm inventory management, personnel management and weather tracking & forecasting.The U.S is predicted to significantly contribute towards global market size from 2016 to 2023. Asia Pacific and Europe precision farming market share is projected to witness substantial growth prospects as these regions are now in early adoption stages. Asia Pacific is expected to record highest the growth rate from 2016 to 2023. Developing nations such as China and India are forecast to experience high growth owing to growing application of these systems across the region.Precision farming ecosystem involves sensors manufacturers, satellite service providers, components, research organizations, OEMs, end users and distributors & suppliers.Key industry participants accumulating significant precision farming market share include John Deere, Ag Junction, Raven Industries, AGCO, Trimble Navigation, Precision Planting, AG Leader Technology, SST Development Group, Topcon Precision Agriculture, and TeeJet Technologies.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Global Market Insights Inc.29L Atlantic Avenue,Suite L 105, Ocean View,Delaware 19970United StatesPhone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email:sales@gminsights.com
Research report covers the Luxury Products for Kids Market share and Growth, 2014-2020

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Luxury goods comprises of products such as accessories, footwear, apparel, watches and others which are quite expensive and target those consumers who belongs to premium class. The market for luxury goods consist of three types of end consumers, which includes kids lying between the age of 0-12 years, teenagers belonging to the age group of 13 to 19 years and the rest lies in adult group.Whereaskidsare concerned they are the smallest consumer group. Although being a smaller consumer group, the luxury products market for kids is experiencing tremendous growth in recent years due to changing consumer lifestyle and availability of the product. It is expected that spend on luxury shopping by consumers will grow by 25% in 2015. Luxury products for kids market is associated with higher margin as compared to adults luxury products segment. It has been found that babysluxury product accounted for more than 7.2% market share of luxury market in 2014. Luxury product market highly depends upon thefactors such as attractivemarketing, promotion techniques and proper distribution channel.Luxury products market for kids can be broadly segmented on the basis of product type, distribution channel and geographies. On the basis of product types it can be subsegmented into accessories, apparels and footwear. Among all these sub segments apparel market is expected to account for highest market share followed by footwear sub segment. The growth of apparel segment is fuelled by the frequently changing fashion and continuous need for new clothing for growing children. In 2014, U.S. and European market account for the most dominating market for apparel.The market for luxury baby product also depends upon the mode of distribution channel used for offering products to the consumers. The mode of Distribution channel is segmented into retail outlets, sell out through internet, companys brand outlet and others. Among all these distribution channel online retailing is expected to be most preferred mode for distribution in the forecasted period. This ishis is due to consumer convenience preferences and availability of the products at lower price. Furthermore, the second most preferred mode is expected to be the companys brand retail outlets as they provide better offerings at less price.Request Free Report Sample@Furthermore, the luxury products market for kids in Asia pacific is expected to account for fastest CAGR in the forecasted period as compared to other regions. This is because the growth in luxury expenditure is expected to increase by 40% by 2020.In addition, countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore and are expected to contribute a significant share to overall Asia Pacific luxury products market for kids. Whereas, spending from China is expected to witness a fastest growth in Asia Pacific.It is predicted to boost the customer base and prominent contributor in the revenue of global luxury products market for kids.Moreover, presently North America and Western Europe dominate the total luxury products market for kids due to high purchasing power of consumers. These regions are expected to witness a slow growth as compared to the growth exhibited by countries in Asia Pacific.The key factors driving the growth of luxury products market for kids includes continuous innovation in products sub segments, rising disposable income, changing consumer lifestyle, awareness of products through internet and social media, improving countries economy, influence of the consumers through their peers, friends or neighbours, and others .However, there are some restraining factors which are affecting the growth for luxury products market for kids which include the expensive price range for consumers in emerging markets and less product variants availability across the distribution channel. Moreover, internet being a prominent medium for distribution of the luxury goods is expected to witness low adoption among the consumers in emerging markets. This is due to less internet penetration in these markets.Visit For TOC@Initially the market for luxury baby products was dominated by specialty retailers such as Childrens Place The Walt Disney Company, Mothercare plc, The Gymboree Corporation and others. However, with the increase in premium consumers leading to a shift in consumer buying behavior, due to this various companies have entered the market which includes GAPInc, J Crew Group, Inc, DKNY, Gucci Group, Diesel, Dolce &Gabbana, United Colors of Benetton, Jack & Jill clothing Inc,Giorgio Armani S.p.A, BLOCH, Burberry Group plc, Converse, Christian Dior S.A, FENDI and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Cold Insulation Market, 2015-2025 by Segmentation: Based on Product, Application and Region

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Cold insulation is a technology that is used to reduce energy leakages from infrastructure to improve energy efficiency. Cold insulation market is segmented based on material type used which includes fiber glass, polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam and phenolic foam. Cold insulation is used in a wide range of applications such as HVAC systems, refrigeration, oil & gas, chemicals and others.Growing demand for cryogenic insulation equipments coupled with the rising demand for natural and industrial gases for oil & gas industry is expected to drive the cold insulation market over the next few years. Cryogenic operations require reduction in energy losses to maintain very low temperature. Increasing use of LPG, LNG and other cryogenic gases is driving cryogenic industry in both developed and developing countries. Furthermore, increased environmental awareness is expected to drive the market in developing countries. Environment regulatory agencies are compelling companies to improve existing infrastructure to reduce energy loss. Different energy related standards are in place for building energy efficient infrastructure. In addition, demand for refrigeration and air conditioning devices are expected to drive the market. Owing to rise in disposable income of consumer and warm climatic conditions in Asia-Pacific region, the demand for air conditioning and refrigeration devices is expected to witness tremendous growth. Additionally, rise in industrialization in emerging economies around the globe is expected to drive the cold insulation market.Request Free Report Sample@Owing to cheap labor and proximity to raw materials, bigger companies are investing in emerging economies of South Africa and Asia Pacific. However, huge investment cost, lack of quality control and cost of raw materials are expected to hamper the market growth. Quality control standards in developing countries are poor due to less government intervention and poor environmental awareness. Cost of developing new cold insulation materials with less environment impact is huge and only big companies having substantial turnovers can afford to research and develop innovative products. Development of innovative materials such as perlite and aerogel are expected to provide immense opportunities for the players in cold insulation market. Further, development of bio-based and renewable material based insulation materials is expected to be opportunities in the near future.North America was the largest consumer of cold insulation market owing to use of advanced materials to improve energy efficiency of operations and to offer better process control. Large scale research & development activities are being carried out in North America to develop new materials which have minimal effect on environment. Asia Pacific followed North America in terms of consumption owing to industrialization in China. Due to huge investments in construction and manufacturing industry, China and other countries are expected to grow at higher pace. Energy efficiency laws are expected to be introduced in countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria that are expected to drive the market in rest of the world over the next few years. Further, increasing infrastructure spending in this region is driving the cold insulation market. Growth rate for Europe was low owing to submissive demand from residential and industrial infrastructure sectors. However, demand for cold insulation market is expected to increase with substantial growth rate over the next few years in Europe, owing to energy efficiency standards and improvement of existing infrastructural activities.Visit For TOC@Key players in this market include BASF SE, Bayer Material Science, Huntsman Corporation, Aspen Aerogels Inc., Armacell International Holding GMBH, Bradford Insulation Industries Ltd., Evonik Industries, The Dow Chemical Company, Fletcher Insulation Group, Kingspan Group PLC, Knauf Insulation, Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, Arabian Fiber Glass Insulation Company Ltd., Itw Insulation Systems among others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Fiber Cement Market Forecast and Segments, 2015-2025

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Fiber cement, formerly known as a composite building and construction material, is used in the manufacture of facade and roofing products owing to its properties such as high durability and strength. Cement is a substance which reacts chemically with water therefore, forming a hard stone. The presence of fiber reinforcement in cement contributes in making strong and long lasting building and construction material. At present, fiber cement has great scope for construction products such as roofing and cladding due to its primary function, i.e., enhancing performance and decreasing commercial value. Fiber cement siding market is expected to be the fastest growing market because of its product features and high demand from construction professionals.Request Free Report Sample@The key drivers for the growth of fiber cement market include factors such as growing construction activities in various regions on global basis and rapid industrialization which are poised to register demand of fiber cement products. Huge demand for fiber cement in terms of construction activities is reported from Asia Pacific. In addition, there is a growing demand for fiber cement from developed economies of North America and Europe due to the presence of stringent regulations and turnaround of manufacturing industries in these regions. The U.S. and Japan are stated as the fastest growing market for fiber cement with huge demand for the product. However, fiber cement market is expected to face competition from other products in the market such as vinyl siding.Visit For TOC@The key players in the fiber cement market includes Akzo Nobel NV, Building Materials Corporation of America, Central Fiber LLC, Canfor Corporation, Dow Chemical Company, Elementia SA de CV, Ecolab Incorporated, Hardie (James) Industries plc, Mercer International Incorporated, Imerys SA, PPG Industries Incorporated and US Silica Holdings Incorporated among others. The market is highly fragmented in nature owing to the presence of several manufacturers. This research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data and statistically-supported and industry-validated market data and projections with a suitable set of assumptions and methodology. It provides analysis and information by categories such as market segments, regions, product types and distribution channels.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Renault Samsung will increase production of the Nissan Rogue SUV at its Busan plant by 8,000 this year.

Renault Samsung CEO Park Dong-hoon on Wednesday said Nissan is faced with rising production cost in Japan due to the strengthening yen, "so it decreased production of the Rogue there and asked us to produce more in Busan."

He added production could rise further.


Metal Working Fluids Market to register a healthy CAGR for the forecast period, 2015-2025

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Metal working fluids are oils that are chiefly used to lubricate and cool the metal work sections when they are subjected to processes such as milling, grinding, machining and others. Metal working fluids basically reduces the friction and heat between the work piece and the cutting tool, and help prevent any burning or smoking. The gaining popularity of the metal working fluids for improvising the surface finish and tool life is expected to be a favorable factor for the metal working fluids market growth over the forecast period. Moreover, the metal working fluids market is foreseen to be highly fragmented with more than 50% of market being served by the smaller players who are more focused on particular end-user applications and the geographic areas with a loyal customer base.Currently, the metal working fluid accounts for approximately 6% of global lubricant market.Metal Working Fluids: Drivers & RestraintsSignificant contractions in the metal production and the automotive industry as a result of global economic crisis led to depressed metal working fluids demand in the past. Though, the recent rebound of the automotive industry has brought a significant upsurge in the demand of metal working fluids products globally. The burgeoning in the niche applications as medical machining is expected to further boost the sales volume of metal working fluids across the globe. However, factors such as vulnerability to microbial attack and regulations on the use of anti-microbial chemicals are acting as restraints for the metal working fluids market globally. In addition, the technological development such as high compression machining, near net form casting and minimum quantity lubrication is expected to replace the traditional metalworking procedures thereby plummeting the demand for metal working fluids. Increasing awareness regarding hazardous effects and high risk of using synthetic and semi synthetic metalworking fluids has enforced manufactures to increase research & development expenses on the development of bio based metal working fluids. These are some opportunities that can be explored in the metal working fluids market.Metal Working Fluids: SegmentationOn the basis of product type,the global metal working fluid market is segmented into:Removal fluidsProtection fluidsForming fluidsTreating fluidsRequest Free Report Sample@The demand for removal fluids in metal working fluids market is anticipated to grow at an accelerated pace mainly due to its increasing consumption in coolants, cutting oils and grinding fluids.On the basis of application, the global metal working fluids market is segmented into:AdditivesAntioxidantsFriction modifiersAntiwearCorrosion inhibitorsDetergentsSolventsDemulsifiersSolid lubricationAntifoamBase oilsMineral oilsSynthetic oilsNatural oilsThe additives segment is anticipated to grow at a comparatively high CAGR as a result of increasing focus on the performance and greater penetration of synthetic based metal working fluids that requires stronger additive package.Metal Working Fluids: Region-wise OutlookOn the basis of region, Japan, Brazil, Asia Pacific (primarily India, China and Thailand) are expected to be the growth engines of metal working fluids market in the near future. Market participants are establishing new production facilities in the Asia Pacific region as a result of increasing demand and less stringent regulations, thereby making Asia Pacific the dominant region. The metal working fluids market is anticipated to expand at a steady rate in other regions of the world as a result of a slowing global economy in these regions.Visit For TOC@Metal Working Fluids: Key PlayersSome of the players in the global metal working fluids market areBP p.l.c., Houghton International, Fuchs Petrolub Se, Exxon Mobil Corporation, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, Chevron Corporation, Total Specialties USA, Inc., Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd., Lukoil oil company and The Lubrizol Corporation.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Silicon Photonics Market Regulations and Competitive Landscape Outlook to 2025

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In silicon photonics technology, silicon is used as a platform for the photonic circuits to create optical communication system which is highly integrated. The modern trend of miniaturization of electronic devices with increasing requirement for speed and efficiency as well as keeping the cost economical, has led to the increase in demand for the global silicon photonics market. This has led to the silicon photonics market becoming an interesting avenue globally as it has the advantage of requiring low power consumption, having higher density of interconnects, higher integration and reliability. The global silicon photonics market is anticipated to grow with two digit compound annual growth rate.Silicon Photonics Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe largest market for global silicon photonics market is data communication, as the protocol is providing services which is surpassing optical and copper technologies. The government providing financial support and the growing demand for the transference of data is driving the growth of global silicon photonics market. Demand for global silicon photonics market is also driven by covering distance or data rates which have not been provided by vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), providing faster data rates while maintaining low cost. Various constraints for the global silicon photonics market are high cost as the companies have to develop the Computer-aided engineering/Computer-aided design (CAE/CAD) on their own and competition with VCSEL which is available at a low cost.Request Free Report Sample@Silicon Photonics Market: SegmentationOn the basis of application, global silicon photonics market can be segmented into:TelecommunicationsDatacomHigh Performance Computer (HPC) and data centersMedicalSensing and instrumentsDefense/aerospace industriesResearch and developmentOthers (consumers-connecting PCs with HDTVs and desktop PC devices, commercial video, etc.)On the basis of products, global silicon photonics market can be segmented into:Silicon optical modulatorsWavelength division multiplexer filtersSilicon photo-detectorsSilicon photonic waveguidesOthers (silicon led, silicon optical interconnects, etc.)Visit For TOC@Silicon Photonics Market: Region-wise OutlookIn terms of region, North America has the highest market for silicon optical modulators and wavelength division multiplexer filters. North America is becoming an attractive destination for the companies to launch the silicon photonics market due to government support and increase in demand for the data transfer but Asia-Pacific has the highest CAGR for global silicon photonics market due to rising population, increase in urbanization and growing demand for data transfer.Silicon Photonics Market: Key PlayersSome of the identified key players in the global silicon photonics market are Infinera, NeoPhotonics, Avago technologies, Luxtera, Mellanox technologies, OneChip Photonics, Cisco, Skorpios technologies, Photline technologies, etc.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Worldwide Analysis on Skin Lightening Products Market Strategies and Forecasts, 2015 to 2025

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Skin lightening products help reduce the pigmentation of the skin and also hiding scars, acne, discoloration, age spots, and pimples. It increases the persons confidence and boost self-esteem by hiding their imperfection. They can hide their wrinkles, spots on the face by using skin lightening products. It can also make the person look more attractive and alluring.Melanin is a pigment which is responsible for our skin colour. It is produced by melanocytes, which are specialized cells. People with light skin have less melanin and people with dark skin have more melanin. Melanin quantity in ones body depends on a genetic makeup. Skin lightening products help in reducing this pigment on the skin. It equals the skin tone so that the skin looks radiant, brighter, smoother and glowing. The potential of this product is increasing due to challenging lifestyle of consumers.Skin Lightening Products Market: Drivers & RestraintsSkin lightening products arent famous or limited to women, but also among men too. Personal grooming is gaining a lot of popularity and men arent ashamed to be called as Metrosexuals. The desire to look fair and have even skin toned are the most important driving factors for skin lightening products. Theres a sea change in consumer habits and companies are emphasizing more on social media and digital advertising to lure consumers. Increasing demand from emerging nations like Africa and India is most of skin lightening products.Request Free Report Sample@Though skin lightening products are desired and are lot in demand, but it has a lot of constraints too, which sometimes compels us not to use it because of its hazardous after effects. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), skin bleaching products can cause blood cancer such as leukemia, liver and kidney cancer and could also result in severe skin conditions. They have also reported that few companies use harmful toxins illegally such as mercury, metal that blocks the properties of melanin. Perhaps they are catering to the demand of consumers, but with a lot of risk.Skin Lightening Products Market: SegmentationSkin Lightening products are broadly classified on the basis of the following segments -By Product types:OrganicNaturalConventionalBy Sales Channel Type:RetailersWholesalerOnline PurchaseOthersSkin Lightening Products Market: OverviewThe skin lightening products market has grown substantially at a healthy CAGR due to increase per capita spending on beauty and wellness products, rising standard of living, strong desire among men and women to look fair. With rapid technological advancement and variety of options available in the market, skin lightening products market is expected to grow. Japan represents the largest market for this product category. Asia Pacific will emerge as the fastest growing region for skin lightening products.Visit For TOC@Skin Lightening Products Market: Region-wise OutlookThe skin lightening market is expected to register a double-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, the skin lightening market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. As of 2015, Asia Pacific dominated the global skin lightening products market in terms of market revenue. China and India are the fastest growing market. Theres a robust demand from the Middle East for skin lightening products. The skin lightening products market is small in Europe as compared to Japan and other Asian countries.Skin Lightening Products Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in skin lightening products market are Clarins SA, E.T. Browne Drug Company, CavinKare Pvt Ltd, Shiseido Company Limited, Beiersdorf AG, The Procter & Gamble Company.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Gas Chromatography Market by Consumables, Accessories & Instrumentation  2019

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The report Gas Chromatography Market by Instrumentation (Systems, Detectors, Autosamplers, Fraction collectors), by Consumables & Accessories (Columns, Fittings & Tubings, Flow Management), by Reagents (Analytical, Preparative) - Analysis & Global forecast to 2019, analyzes and studies the major market drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges in North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World.Browse 319 market data tables and 41 figures spread through 278 pages and in-depth TOC on Gas Chromatography MarketEarly buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.This report studies the global gas chromatography market over the forecast period of 2014 to 2019. The market, valued at $2,583.6 million in 2014, is poised to grow at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2014 to 2019 to reach $3,605.1 million by 2019.The global gas chromatography market is categorized into three broad segments, namely, Instrumentation, Accessories & Consumables and Reagents. The Instrumentation market comprises of Systems, Detectors, Auto Samplers and Fraction Collectors. The gas chromatography detectors are further categorized into flame ionization detectors, mass detectors, thermal conductivity detectors, and others.Ask For PDF Brochure:The market for gas chromatography Accessories & Consumables is segmented into Columns, Column Accessories, Autosampler Accessories, Flow Management Consumables & Accessories, Fittings & Tubing, Mobile Phase Accessories, Pressure Regulators, and Others. The gas chromatography reagents market comprises of Analytical reagents and Preparative reagents.The increased importance of chromatography tests in drug approvals is likely to drive the growth of this market. Biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are the prime users of the chromatography technique. Furthermore, government bodies have extended their help in the form of investments, funds, and grants, which has stimulated the usage of advanced chromatographic techniques in these industries. Tie-ups with research laboratories and academic institutes have resulted in increased support for research.Get Sample Copy@Research activities in the fields of medicine, proteomics, metabolomics, and genomics are also increasing the use of chromatography instruments in these industries. A number of factors such as technological advancements, new product launches, and rise in the number of conferences related to chromatography technologies are propelling the growth of the chromatography instrumentation market.North America accounts for the largest share of the gas chromatography market, mainly due to augmented research activities for drug and biologic development, chromatography conferences, and direct and indirect government investments in the chromatography market. The Asian market is expected to witness high growth in the forecast period. A number of factors such as the increasing number of conferences on chromatography in Singapore and Malaysia; expansion of chromatography companies in China, India, Singapore, Vietnam, and Japan; and prominent pharmaceutical companies outsourcing their drug discovery and development services to the Asian region (especially in China and India) are propelling the demand for separation services and thus gas chromatography in Asia.The major players in the gas chromatography market include Agilent Technologies (U.S.), PerkinElmer (U.S.), Phenomenex, Inc. (U.S.), Shimadzu Corporation (Japan), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (U.S.), and W.R. Grace & Co. (U.S.).About MarketsandMarketsMarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide 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.
Laboratory Chemical Reagents Market: Global Industry Size Share, Demand and Forecast, 2015-2021

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Laboratory chemical reagent is a compound that is utilized in a chemical reaction to identify, examine, determine or produce other chemical substance. The chemical reagents play an essential role in the accuracy of a chemical experiment. Whereas preparing the chemistry reagents in a laboratory, correct proportion of chemicals and solvents as well as procedure is very crucial.Request Sample Report:The worldwide market for laboratory chemical reagent is expected to grow at significant rate due to extensive chemical reagents applications and research activity. Constant improvements and evolution in technologies such as bio-therapeutics, cell culture and recombinant DNA technology that facilitated the production of numerous essential therapeutic agents also fuel the demand for laboratory chemical reagents. Furthermore, increasing demand from biotechnology industry may boost the market growth in upcoming years. Protein synthesis and DNA sequencing reagents market has increased dramatically in recent years.The report covers forecast and analysis for the laboratory chemical reagents market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with a forecast from 2016 to 2021 based on revenue (USD Million). The study includes drivers and restraints for the market along with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes study of opportunities available in the laboratory chemical reagents market on a global level.Request TOC (Table of Contents) of this report:Global laboratory chemical reagents market has been segmented on the basis of product, end user and region. On the basis of product, laboratory chemical reagent market is classified into molecular biology, cytokine and chemokine testing, carbohydrate analysis, immunochemistry, cell/tissue culture, environmental testing and biochemistry. Molecular biology accounted for largest share of the market in 2015. Whereas, cytokine and chemokine testing is expected to emerge as the fastest growing segment in near future.End user segment includes biotechnology, academic segment, non-academic segment and corporate segment. Currently, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technologies are being used extensively in several applications such as forensic labs, gene expression and DNA sequencing. The reagents used in real time PCR testing offer quick and quality results compared to conventional PCR testing method which is consequently expected to increase the sales of PCR reagents. PCR market is rising on account of increasing acceptance and awareness for real time PCR.Geographically, laboratory chemical reagent market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. North America dominated the laboratory chemical reagent market in 2015 owing to technological advancements and innovations in molecular biology. Asia Pacific region is estimated to emerge as the fastest growing region due to development of new academic centers across the region mainly in the biological and chemical science area. Additionally, entry of new pharmaceutical companies and increasing clinical research outsourcing activities in the Asia Pacific region can increase investment in research and development consequently enabling more laboratory test analysis.Beckman Coulter Inc., Life Technologies Corporation, Promega Corporation, SAFC Biosciences, Inc., EMD Chemicals Inc., Wako Pure Chemical Industries Ltd., GE Healthcare, Takara Bio Inc., Meridian Life Science Inc., Sigma-Aldrich Corp., Shimadzu Biotech and PerkinElmer Inc. are some of the major players operating in laboratory chemical reagents market.Do Inquiry before buying:This report segments the Bionematicides market as follows:Laboratory Chemical Reagent Market: Product Segment AnalysisMolecular biologyCytokine and chemokine testingCarbohydrate analysisImmunochemistryCell/tissue cultureEnvironmental testingBiochemistryLaboratory Chemical Reagent Market: End User Segment AnalysisBiotechnologyAcademic segmentNon-academic segmentCorporate segmentBionematicides Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and AfricaBrowse report at:About UsZion Market Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Zion Market Research experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants uses proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact US:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:
Pamper yourself and learn how to cook at the Marriott Executive Apartments Mayfair Bangkok

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Discover the secrets of authentic Thai cuisine with our Thai Cooking Class PackageBangkok, Thailand - Marriott Executive Apartments Mayfair Bangkok offers a Thai Cooking Class Package that allows guests to take advantage of the gourmet kitchen in their suite while learning the secrets of authentic Thai Cuisine from our local Chefs.The package includes a luxurious suite accommodation with separate sleeping and living spaces, daily breakfast buffet, complimentary high speed internet, and a private Thai cooking class that comes with soft drinks, recipe cards, certificate of achievement and an apron.The package is available 7 days a week from now through December 11, 2016. The rates start just from THB 5,100*.For more information, please call + 66 (0) 2672 1234, fax +66 (0) 2672 1235 or email mea.bkker.rsvn2@marriott.com, or visit*Above price is subject to service charge and government tax.About the Marriott Executive Apartments Mayfair- BangkokAt Marriott Executive Apartments Mayfair Bangkok, an extended stay doesnt mean sacrificing comfort, style or service. Located in a prestigious residential area of the business district, near shopping, restaurants and markets, this hotel is a top choice for both business and leisure travellers. Elegant one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments offer a dedicated office area, safe, large LCD TV, DVD player and high-speed Internet access. Guests also enjoy the convenience of a fully equipped kitchen with grocery delivery service, daily maid service and 24-hour security. Those whod rather leave the cooking to someone else can dine with friends or colleagues at this Bangkok hotels Mayfair Bistro restaurant, offering all-day dining, or head to the 25th floor Bar M for cocktails and panoramic city views. Relax at the 24-hour health club, featuring a rooftop saltwater pool, spa and kids area, or take a stroll in nearby Lumpini Park, Bangkoks first public park. With the Skytrain nearby, exploring top attractions including Erawan Shrine is easy, and those attending meetings in the hotels boardroom can arrive without the hassle of facing traffic.60 Soi Langsuan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Wind Turbine Maintenance Market: Global Industry Size Share, Demand and Forecast, 2015-2021

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Wind turbine is the device which converts kinetic energy of wind to electrical energy. It is majorly used for power generation. Small turbines are used for battery charging, traffic signals, auxiliary power for boats. Larger turbines generally used to a domestic power supply. Wind is a renewable, clean and free source of energy. Wind turbine can be use of one of the alternatives for power generation.Request Sample Report:Increasing demand for power around the world is expected to drive the wind turbine maintenance market across the globe. Stringent governmental regulations and growing awareness regarding environment is expected to drive the market within the forecast period. Increasing operational and maintenance cost of the wind turbines is expected to be a restraining factor for the market growth. Nonetheless, huge investments in wind onshore and offshore projects is expected to raise the demand for wind turbine maintenance market over the years..The global wind turbine maintenance market can be categorized on the basis of applications and geography. The application market segment has been categorized into onshore and offshore. Onshore wind turbine is the inexpensive renewable energy source. Offshore wind turbines are stronger and steadier electricity generator. These are generally used to convert wind energy into power.Request TOC (Table of Contents) of this report:Geographically, the global wind turbine maintenance market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific accounted for the largest market for wind turbine maintenance in 2015 it is expected to boost the market across the globe. Europe is emerging as good market place due to ample opportunities in wind power generation.Some of the major players in the global wind turbine maintenance market include EcoEnergy LLC, Baywinds, Orion International Consulting Group, LLC., Upwind Solutions, DNV GL AS.,EcoEnergy LLC, Invenergy and Aeronautica WindPower. The detailed description of players includes parameters such as company overview, financial overview, business and recent developments of the company.Do Inquiry before buying:This report segments the global solar fuel market as follows:Global Wind Turbine Maintenance Market: Application Segment AnalysisOnshoreOffshoreGlobal Wind Turbine Maintenance Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificLatin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaBrowse report at:About UsZion Market Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Zion Market Research experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants uses proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact US:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:
Industrial Lighting Market size is estimated to witness significant gains by 2023

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The growth in the industry can be attributed to rising population, increasing income and swiftly urbanization. In addition, proliferating concerns for insufficiency of resources along with climate changes might positively impact the industry growth over the few upcoming years.Asia pacific industrial lighting market is estimated to be the largest as well as fastest growing region from 2016 to 2023. It was valued more than USD 1.5 billion in 2012 and it is anticipated to reach USD 2.5 billion by 2023. The growth can be subjected to rising number of industries across the region.The industry involves high use of various lights such as incandescent, halogen, linear, fluorescent lamps (LFL), high-intensity discharge lamps (HID), compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), organic light emitting diode (OLED) and light emitting diode (LED) technology. It can be further segregated into certain sub-technologies namely metal halide, high-pressure sodium and cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL).Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Proliferating programs are anticipated to offer huge energy optimization opportunities to end users as well as utilities. In addition, it aids in cost savings and also helps various industry participants in reaching their energy conservation goals. The global industrial lighting market offers various lamps with varied features such as intensity, dimensions & design and function. In addition, it also offer lighting solutions based on reliability, efficiency and superior performance.Circular fluorescent and linear lamps are greatly used in manufacturing infrastructures to enlighten indoor shipping and receiving bays, production areas, warehousing and distribution operations. It mainly involves the usage of HID and incandescent lamps owing to which industrial LED lighting market is estimated to experience low penetration rate in this sector.Various industries have diverse lighting specification that varies from specialized task lighting to varied lighting levels. In addition, lighting specification can also be done based on cost and the colour rendered by light. Certain criteria for choosing lighting system for industrial use include retrofit, upgrade or relight. Retrofitting involves reuse of old fixtures and it is limited only to ballast and lamp improvements. Upgrading the existing fixtures proves to be a better solution at times. This can be done by installing new ballasts and lamps, replacing or installing reflectors, cleaning reflecting surfaces and by replacing diffusers and lenses. Relighting involves more resources when compared to retrofitting. It entails the complete replacement of the existing system. As of 2015, industrial firms are estimated to undergo loss of USD 1.5 billion, owing to inappropriate application of lighting systems.Regular maintenance of these systems aids in cost saving and also helps in maintaining the light systems. Effective use of these systems assists in cost optimization. Industrial LED lighting market facilitates energy consumption, high cost compared to other lighting solutions might pose as challenge to the industry growth; however, the expected LED price erosion should see a surge in units sold. Flourishing R&D is anticipated to pose potential growth opportunities to the industry players over the forecast period.North America was valued around USD 1.5 billion in 2012 and it is likely to witness moderate growth over the forecast period. Europe industrial lighting market was valued around USD 1.4 billion in 2012. It is likely to witness moderate growth owing to the debt crises in the region. It is estimated to reach USD 1.7 billion by 2023. Latin America was valued around USD 120 million in 2012. It is anticipated to exceed USD 150 million by 2023.Middle East and Africa regions was valued for over USD 351 million in 2012 is estimated to exceed USD 420 million by 2023. BRIC countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China are projected to witness intensifying growth. As these are the developing economies, they are likely to furnish high growth avenues over the forecast period.Key industry participants occupying significant industrial lighting market share include Siemens, Philips, GE Lighting, OSRAM Gmbh, Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc., Crompton greaves Ltd., Havells India Ltd, USHIO America, Inc. and Litetronics International, Inc. among others.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Global Market Insights Inc.29L Atlantic Avenue,Suite L 105, Ocean View,Delaware 19970United StatesPhone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email:sales@gminsights.com
Understand Cost and Success Rate of Breast Reduction surgery in India

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Australia - Breast reduction surgery is a procedure to reduce the size of large breasts in women and men. This procedure is performed for physical relief and cosmetic reasons. It will bring the breasts into better proportion with the rest of the body by removing the fat and excess breast tissue and skin. The darker skin or areola around the nipple is reduced and repositioned. The breast reduction surgery will surgically reshape the exceptionally larger breasts to boost your comfort and satisfaction. The goal of this surgery is to give you smaller, shapelier breasts which are in proportion to the rest of the body.This surgery is required for those who experience problems related to overly large breast such as skin irritations, back pain, neck pain or more serious issues such as skeletal deformations and breathing problems. The fat and glandular tissues can be removed from the skin, which will make the breast smaller and lighter. Some breast reduction surgeries are carried out with a breast lift procedure. Breast reduction for men is known as gynaecomastia which is a highly sought after procedure for male patients seeking to correct the overly large and pendulous saggy breasts.The cost of breast reduction surgery in India is only $3140 which is quite less compared to that offered in the USA, UK and other developed countries. Additionally, the success rate of a breast reduction surgery in India is 98 percent and most patients who have got their surgery with Cosmetic and Obesity Surgery Hospital India are quite pleased with the outcome.Our association with the best surgeons and top cosmetic clinics and hospitals located at different cities in India offer the highest quality breast reduction surgery with lower complications and better outcomes. We help our international patients seeking the breast reduction surgery in India by providing them the medical visas, travel, food and accommodations during their trip to India.Cosmetic and Obesity Surgery Hospital India have a network with the world class cosmetic clinics, hospitals and facilities and best surgeons to offer the low cost breast reduction surgery in India. Many international patients send us their inquiry to know more about breast reduction in India.Cosmetic and Obesity Surgery Hospital India14, Dr. Deshmukh Marg, Pedder Road, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400026Phone No.: +91-9373055368Email ID: enquiry@cosmeticandobesitysurgeryhospitalindia.comVisit Us :
Defense Sectors Show High Preference for EOD Ground Robots making market woth US$8 bn by the end of 2023

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http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/explosive-ordnance-disposal-equipment-market.html

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As per a new study by Transparency Market Research (TMR), mergers and acquisitions are becoming the key strategies used by major providers of explosive ordnance disposal equipment. Scanna Msc Ltd., Northrop Grumman Corporation, Safariland, LLC, and iRobot Corporation  the four top EOD equipment vendors  are following up on the increasing adoption of military ground robots and doing their best to help defense agencies fight terrorism with advanced technologies.A large number of manufacturers already hold key positions in the global explosive ordnance disposal equipment sales in terms of revenue and niche provisions, making it difficult for new players to enter the market.Free PDF For Full Details with Technological breakthroughs is @However, in the light of the recent increase in terrorist activities, many regions have opted to improve their defenses and law enforcement agencies to maintain peace. Owing to the pattern of terrorist attacks, there has been a rapidly increasing demand for EOD equipment across the world. According to TMR, North America will continue dominating the demand for EOD equipment, while nations from Asia Pacific will show an exceptional increase in demand till 2023Military Ground Robots in High DemandGround robots allow for a much safer method of handling terrorist attacks, states a TMR analyst. With manual EOD being the only other option, it makes sense for any region to invest heavily into EOD ground robots. Modern ground robots can be programed and reprogramed in very short times, making them useful even in highly dynamic situations.A large number of instances of ground robot usage for EOD have proven the effectiveness of these tactics to fight terrorism while maintaining as much of a protective layer between the terrorists and the defense personnel as possible.EOD Equipment Players Affected Deeply by Defense Budget CutsExplosive ordnance disposal equipment, however, do need to manage through the major budget cuts made to the defense sector by most of the top countries in the market. The U.S. DOD, for example, cut back its defense budget by US$45 bn in 2015, creating a significant drop in government investments in EOD equipment. Similar steps have been taken by the U.K. government, showing that a shorter and more selective defense array will be employed in the near future.Defense Sector Remains Largest EOD Equipment Application SegmentThe growing instances of terrorist attack across the world are the main reason for the high demand for EOD equipment by the defense sector. The military needs to respond to terrorist threats in the most efficient manner possible while causing the least possible collateral damage. Achieving this target is key for explosive ordnance disposal equipment players.The global explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) equipment market is therefore expected to be valued above US$8 bn by 2023, after being projected at a CAGR of 4.6% within a forecast period from 2015 to 2023. TMR has pegged this market to be at US$5.74 bn in 2014.Explosive detectors, the equipment segment that was valued at US$1.51 bn in 2014, was already leading the market revenue charts at the time. It is expected to continue leading the market till 2023. The defense sector as an application segment of explosive ordnance disposal equipment is expected to show a revenue expansion at a CAGR of 4.7% between 2015 and 2023.Browse Full Market Report With Complete TOC @The above data was collated from a research report released by TMR, titled Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023.Key Segments of the Global Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment MarketGlobal Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment market, by Equipment TypePortable X-ray SystemsProjected Water DisruptorsBomb containment chambersEOD Suits and BlanketsEOD RobotsExplosive DetectorsSearch mirrorsOthersGlobal Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment market, by Application:DefenseLaw EnforcementGlobal Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment market, by Geography: The market is broadly segmented on the basis of geography into:North AmericaU.S.CanadaOthersEuropeUnited KingdomFranceGermanyRussiaOthersAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanOthersMiddle East and AfricaU.A.E.IsraelOthersLatin AmericaBrazilArgentinaOthersTransparency 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.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Off-grid Power Systems for Remote Sensing Market anticipated to expand at 7.35% CAGR from 2016 to 2024.

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Transparency Market Research has released a new market report titled Off-grid Power Systems for Remote Sensing Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024. According to this report, the global off-grid power systems for remote sensing market was valued at US$ 1,193.85 Mn in 2016 and is projected to reach US$ 2,105.95 Mn by 2024 at a CAGR of 7.35% from 2016 to 2024.The global off-grid power systems for remote sensing market is driven by the need for power surge protection through fuel cells and backup batteries coupled with the growing applications/adoption of LIDAR in the wind energy sector. Increasing investments in offshore wind energy plants will also create a demand for off-grid power systems for remote sensing. Major players of the industry focus on research and technology to develop a remote sensing product with highest accuracy. The end-user industries are dependent on the data provided by the remote sensing systems for proper operations. Hence, accuracy of remote sensing systems will play an important role in the growth of the off-grid power systems for remote sensing market.Get Free PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical industry insights:Use of off-grid technologies reduces the reliability on grid power, enabling smooth operations in remote sensing activities. Battery backup uses batteries with lead acid, lithium ion, and nickel cadmium, among others as a material to ensure longer battery life for smooth performance. Solar PV technology also uses battery backup due to its intermittent power supply problem. Fuel cells is a new and emerging technology and the market for fuel cells is anticipated to expand at a high rate in the next few years. In terms of technology, battery backup is anticipated to be the largest segment of the global off-grid power systems for remote sensing market during the forecast period. The battery backup segment is driven by the use of advanced technologies and the influx of investments in battery manufacturing. High investments in battery manufacturing are resulting in advancements such as increased energy for longer runtimes and improved power for high current load requirements which are particularly required in remote sensing applications. Significant efforts are being undertaken to develop the battery technology for remote sensing applications. For instance, the ratio capacity to size is increasing. This enables a higher number of power consuming activities such as longer flights and heavier payloads. In terms of new development, major companies are developing remote power systems for outdoor backup power solutions which provide uninterrupted power supply for monitoring activities in oil & gas and wind energy sector.Fuel cells are also used as one of the off-grid power supply options for remote sensing in oil & gas and wind energy sectors. Fuel cell technologies are being developed in order to support climate change and meet energy security goals in several industries, such as transportation, industry, buildings, and power. Fuel cell companies are seeking government help to accelerate the development and deployment of fuel cell technologies by ensuring continued research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) funding for hydrogen generation and conversion technologies, such as electrolyzers and fuel cells.Other technologies considered in off-grid power systems for remote sensing market include solar PV and hybrid technology. Solar PV can be used as a source of power for UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) in remote sensing, usually for large-sized platforms with long flying missions. Solar cells combined with Li Po (Lithium Ion Polymer) and Li S (Lithium Ion Sulfide) batteries constitute a day/night power solution for several days of flight which is a hybrid technology of solar cells and battery backup.The oil & gas end-user segment dominated the off-grid power systems for remote sensing market in 2014. Growth of the LIDAR market and demand for alternate energy have fueled the demand for off-grid power systems for remote sensing market. The wind energy sector uses SODAR (SOnic Detection and Ranging) and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technologies to support wind resource assessments. These remote sensing devices are quite easy to use and move from site to site. Remote sensing is used in various other industries such as water resource management, military, weather stations, agriculture, and bioenergy. Remote sensing devices coupled with off-grid technologies are used to acquire accurate data with the help of images taken from space using satellites or using aircrafts.Wind energy is becoming a prevalent source of renewable energy based power generation for electricity in windy areas. Wind resource assessment is an essential and necessary step for appropriate wind turbine selection. A typical wind energy development project has three important aspects of measurement: quantification of available wind resource, study of geographical and geological conditions of the project site, and wind turbine power curve. The wind energy assessment process could include usage of remote sensing data to assess any of the components such as precision of extrapolations from tower data, shear coefficients to be used with tower data, hub-height wind speeds and directions, and wind resource variability across the site. Remote sensing equipment such as SODAR and LIDAR are used to support wind resource assessments. These provide wind turbine hub-heights, wind speeds and direction, vertical wind speeds, and wind shear and veer above the heights of typical meteorological (met) tower measurements.Other end-user industries where remote sensing is used through off-grid power systems include water resource management, forestry, agriculture, military, and weather stations. Different data sources such as field survey, aerial photography, and satellite imagery are used to gather various information requirements in forest management, depending upon the level of details required and extension of the area under study.Browse Industry Research Report with free Analysis:Key players in the global off-grid power systems for remote sensing market include Acumentrics Holding Corporation, Tycon Systems Inc., UPS Systems Plc., Timber Line Electric and Control Corporation, SFC Energy AG, Victron Energy B.V., HES Energy Systems Pte. Ltd., Ensol Systems Inc., Evergreen Energy Technologies Inc., and Energy Solutions (UK) Ltd. The report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial revenues (on availability), business strategies, SWOT analysis, and recent developments.The off-grid power systems for remote sensing market has been segmented as:Off-grid Power Systems for Remote Sensing Market: By Technology TypeBattery BackupFuel CellsOthersOff-grid Power Systems for Remote Sensing Market: By End-usersOil & gasWindOthersAbout UsTransparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We are privileged with highly experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700Albany NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453E-mail: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
The Silicon Review Magazine lists CRMIT Solutions among "50 Best Companies to Work For"

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Bangalore, India August 18, 2016 The Silicon Review today announced CRMIT Solutions as one of the 50 Best Companies to Work For in 2016. The Silicon Review is an online and print platform where new and established enterprises can interact, research new trends and share solutions to todays technology challenges. It encompasses news across different technology communities: Software, IT Services, Cloud, Mobile, Big Data, Security, Telecommunications and Best Companies to Work For. Each year, The Silicon Review selects 50 companies that stand out as top companies that employees can look forward to work for in their respective areas.The Silicon Review Magazine lists CRMIT Solutions among 50 Best Companies to Work ForView OnlineThis year marked the first time that CRMIT Solutions made it onto The Silicon Review list. The Silicon Review 50 Best Companies to Work For program identifies the most dynamic companies for high job satisfaction, low job stress, ability to telecommute, valued products / services and the contribution in business and technology marketplace. The companies on this ranking have less than 500 employees and represent a broad spectrum of industries.Today, more than ever, high customer experience creates business value and CRMIT Solutions is known to be a customer-centric organization  thanks to the recent mantra and positioning as - Customer Success Partner. Customers keep coming back to us because of the determination and hard work brought in by our employees. Clearly, there is a direct correlation between companies that are rated high in work environment and those that are rated high in customer satisfaction ratings. explained Dinesh Poduval, Director - Global Marketing, CRMIT Solutions.For anyone hoping to find a job and company they love, CRMIT Solutions stands tall for providing outstanding work environments and company cultures. Dinesh added.We are honored to be recognized by The Silicon Review as one of the 50 Best Companies to Work For said Saritha P, Head  Talent Management and Human Resources  CRMIT Solutions. We constantly strive to support our customers and their success. One of the factors that drives our prevalence on the list, is the fierce fight to attract tech talent including engineers, software developers, data scientists. Our mantra - To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace Saritha added.About CRMIT SolutionsCRMIT Solutions delivers SaaS-based customer experience (CX) consulting and solutions. With 200+ certified customer relationship management (CRM) consultants and over 250 successful CRM deployments across 25+ countries, CRMIT Solutions offers a range of CRM++ applications for accelerated deployments (4000+ user base), including various rapid implementation and migration utilities for the Oracle Customer Experience Portfolio - Oracle Service Cloud, Oracle Sales Cloud, Oracle Marketing Cloud and Oracle Social Relationship Management platform. CRMIT Solutions is one of the largest Cloud based CRM deployment partners with several leading Fortune 500 companies spread across various domains, including banking, financial services, insurance, education, retail, manufacturing, life sciences, energy, telecom, public sector, and travel and transportation. CRMIT Solutions has also successfully accomplished 24,000+ hours of CRM training engagements globally.To find out more visit, CRMIT SolutionsAbout The Silicon ReviewThe Silicon Review is the worlds most trusted online and print community for business & technology professionals. Silicon Review members include thought-provoking CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, IT VPs and managers, along with jillions of diverse IT professionals. More information about The Silicon Review can be found on its websiteCRMIT Solutions delivers SaaS-based customer experience (CX) consulting and solutions. With 200+ certified customer relationship management (CRM) consultants and over 250 successful CRM deployments across 25+ countries, CRMIT Solutions offers a range of CRM++ applications for accelerated deployments (4000+ user base), including various rapid implementation and migration utilities for the Oracle Customer Experience Portfolio - Oracle Service Cloud, Oracle Sales Cloud, Oracle Marketing Cloud and Oracle Social Relationship Management platform. CRMIT Solutions is one of the largest Cloud based CRM deployment partners with several leading Fortune 500 companies spread across various domains, including banking, financial services, insurance, education, retail, manufacturing, life sciences, energy, telecom, public sector, and travel and transportation. CRMIT Solutions has also successfully accomplished 24,000+ hours of CRM training engagements globally.3379 Peachtree, Road NE, Suit 555, Atlanta, GA, USA,
Industrial Silica Sands Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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Industrial silica sand is high purity silica sand with almost similar sizing of particles. Silica sand is a low priced product but acts as the primary ingredient for a wide range of products. Industrial silica sand is found mostly in the crystalline form although amorphous forms are also available. Deposits of silica yielding substances with at least 95% silicon dioxide (SiO2) content is preferred for industrial and manufacturing applications.Get Free PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical industry insights:Industrial silica sand finds application in a wide range of industries. These include glass making, metal casting, metal production, chemical production, construction, paints & coatings, ceramics and refractories, oil & gas recovery, and recreational products. Initially, foundry casting was an important market for industrial silica sand. However, as heavy manufacturing in various regions started declining, demand for foundry sand too declined gradually. This demand is slowly stabilizing due to certain typical applications served by foundries in military, aerospace, and precision automotive parts.A relatively recent end use of industrial silica sand is in the hydraulic fracturing process employed in North American shale plays. The growth of the shale gas recovery industry is a key driver for the industrial silica sands market. According to the US Geological Survey, from a mere market share of around 5% in 2000, demand for industrial silica sand in hydraulic fracturing operations increased to around 40% of the US silica sand production by volume, making it the major market for the material in the U.S. In the UK, glass production is the major end use for industrial silica sand followed by foundry and other industrial uses.A major market opportunity for industrial silica sand exists in the utilization of new shale plays for natural gas recovery via the hydraulic fracturing process in countries other than the U.S. Some of the upcoming shale plays identified are found in countries such as Australia, China, India, Mexico, and a few Middle Eastern countries.The fall in crude oil prices acts as a restraint for the growth of the industrial silica sands market. Due to this scenario, oil producers have started to source low cost sand over high quality material due to cost competitiveness. As a result, low cost brown sand is increasingly preferred over high quality uniform and round industrial silica sand, leading to high rate of inventory of industrial silica sand with producers.North America is the largest consumption market for industrial silica sand. The U.S. and Canada contribute a very large chunk of the market in North America. Europe and Asia Pacific follow North America, with considerably lower market shares. Unimin Corp., U.S. Silica Co., Fairmount Minerals Ltd., Oglebay Norton Co., Sibelco UK Ltd, Hanson Aggregates, and Surrey and Kent Tarmac Group are some of the major producers of industrial silica sand.Browse Industry Research Report with free Analysis:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth insights, understanding market evolution by tracking historical developments, and analyzing the present scenario and future projections based on optimistic and likely scenarios. Each research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology developments, types, applications, and the competitive landscape.The study is a source of reliable data on:Key market segments and sub-segmentsEvolving market trends and dynamicsChanging supply and demand scenariosQuantifying market opportunities through market sizing and market forecastingTracking current trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive insightsOpportunity mapping in terms of technological breakthroughsAbout UsTransparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We are privileged with highly experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700Albany NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453E-mail: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Microbiology Culture Market to Reach US$7.59 bn by 2023 due to Increasing Life Science Research Funding Globally

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Although the top four players - Sigma-Aldrich, Thermo Fisher, Merck Millipore, and Becton, Dickinson and Co. - accounted for a share of 52.7% in the global market for microbiology culture in 2014, the presence of a large pool of international as well as regional players points toward a moderately fragmented structure of the markets competitive landscape, finds a report by Transparency Market Research (TMR). The degree of competition, however, is high within the market and participants are aggressively focused on making new discoveries and reaching new breakthroughs in order to gain a competitive edge.TMR recommends players to shift their focus towards emerging economies such as Brazil, India, and China, as they hold immense untapped opportunities for future growth.Get Free Sample Research Report:BRICS Nations to Present Opportunities for Growth Due to Increased Antibiotic ConsumptionThe rapid rise in the demand for antibiotics has had a lasting effect on the practice of microbiology culture, states an analyst at TMR. Antibiotics are secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms and utilized in the treatment of a number of bacterial and protozoan infections. Mostly, antibiotics are naturally occurring; however, the quantity available in the natural environment is far less than the required quantity for large-scale production. Hence, microbes are cultured under controlled conditions to increase their biomass and to separate the antibiotics from them.According to Lancet Infectious Diseases Commission, the consumption of antibiotic drugs witnessed a rise by 36% during the period from 2000 to 2010 with the BRICS nations holding a share of 76% of this increase. The high prevalence of infectious diseases, the rising healthcare expenditure, and the increasing access to antibiotic drugs have driven the consumption of antibiotics in these countries since the last decade and are likely to do so in the years to come. Owing to this, the demand for microbial culture is also expected to increase significantly over the next few years.High Cost Associated with Culture Media to Limit Demand for Microbiology CultureOn the other hand, the market may face severe challenges from the high costs associated with culture media and the continual functioning of fermentation vessel over several weeks. The difficulty in the identification of alternative nutrient sources for the growth of various microorganisms in order to meet the specific requirements and to reduce the cost of large-scale fermentation are also expected to hamper microbial culture practices to some extent in the near future.The advent of recombinant technology, however, is anticipated to offer lucrative growth opportunities to players operating in the global market for microbiology culture over the forthcoming years.Asia Pacific to Exhibit Fastest Growth RateOn account of the increased funding by several governments in the field of microbiology, North America and Europe has acquired the first two positions in the global microbiology culture market. In 2014, North America topped the list with a share of 35.4%, whereas Europe closely followed with 32.0%. Analysts expect North America to remain the key regional market; however, Asia Pacific is likely to report the growth at the fastest cumulative average rate of 6.80% between 2015 and 2023.Bacterial culture headed the global market in 2014 and is expected to continue to lead in the near future. Complex media is likely to remain the most preferred culture media over the next few years.Browse Full Research Report:On the whole, the opportunity in the global market for microbial culture is likely to rise at a CAGR of 5.90% between 2015 and 2023, increasing from US$4.5 bn in 2014 to an estimated value of US$7.6 bn by the end of the forecast period.The analysis presented here is based on a report by Transparency Market Research (TMR) titled Microbiology Culture Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2015 - 2023.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
World Class Process Safety Management Forum

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With high-hazard organisations across the world looking to streamline costs and operations in order to survive and prosper in difficult commercial and operational environments, it remains business critical that corners are not cut when it comes to the safety of their people and assets.The 6th annual World Class Process Safety Management Forum is designed to bring together the wider process manufacturing community, including: chemicals and petrochemicals, oil and gas, power generation, pharmaceuticals, steel and metals manufacturing, food and beverages, and more. Over two days, you will have the opportunity to learn, discuss, share experiences and ensure your organisation is in the best possible position to implement robust process safety management principles.Confirmed case studies and expert insight include: Hear from Uniper on integrated process safety management in times of radical change Managing process safety - perspective from EDF Energy Find out about expanding the use of human factors from Keil Centre and SABIC Learn how to develop an effective approach for managing instrumented systems from INOVYN How Nestle is implementing Process Safety Management Frameworks Improve your learning from incident practices as applied by DSM Resins Find out from BASF about the incident investigation and learning practices Join the in-depth workshop to learn about process hazard analysis best practices and methodologies from IHSFocussed on learning, discussion and networking, take this opportunity to meet the experts, benchmark with your peers and capitalise on the knowledge and experiences of others.Registration is live, with group discounts currently available. Please contact the T.A. Cook Conference Team at info@tacook.com or call +44 (0)121 200 3810Find out more atT.A. Cook was founded in 1994 and has experienced steady growth since then. We have an international team of over 60 consultants and conference organisers across our offices in Berlin, Birmingham, Calgary, Hong Kong, Houston, Paris, Raleigh and Rio de Janeiro.4th Floor, The McLaren Bldg, 46 The Priory Queensway, Birmingham B4 7LR
Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) Market : Recent Industry Trends and Projected Industry Size by 2015 - 2021

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Light Detection and Ranging, popularly known as LiDAR (derived from the common term RADAR) is a sensing technology that makes use of light pulses in the form of a laser to measure variable distances from the Earth. A three dimensional information about the surface characteristics and shape of Earth is obtained using this technology. LiDAR technology helps mapping professionals and scientists to examine and study man-made as well as natural environments with precision, accuracy and flexibility.Request TOC :Early, the use of LiDAR was confined to the government and military applications. However, with technological advancements, and reductions in the manufacturing cost of LiDARs, it is heavily penetrating into the industrial as well as the commercial sectors. A few of the major applications catered by LiDAR technology include: volumetric mapping, mining, forestry, archaeology, geology, seismology, mining, topographic surveying, and corridor mapping among others. Additionally, light detection and ranging also encompasses the field of civil engineering with its applications in transportation, urban mapping and planning, infrastructure projects, and roadway planning among others. Currently, civil engineering and planning are the top revenue grossing applications for light detection and ranging systems. The LiDAR market is classified on the basis product type: airborne LiDAR, Terrestrial LiDAR, Mobile LiDAR and Short range LiDAR. However technological innovations are boosting the cost-benefit ratio of terrestrial and mobile LiDAR systems. Further, the LiDAR market may also be classified based on its components such as the inertial navigation system, GPS/GNSS, laser diode, camera and MEMS mirror.Currently, there is no potential substitute for the LiDAR technology. Moreover, market has witnessed increased rapid growth in the automation provided by the LiDARs, along with the technological superiority in its field of application. Owing to these reasons, the LiDAR market is anticipated to grow at a substantial rate in near future. FARO, introduced Focus 3D LiDAR Scanner, a newly added low end device to the stationary 3D scanning market. The PrimeSense 3D Sensor, a non-traditional LiDAR, delivers an innovative solution which is adapted for real-time robotic navigation and is expected to fuel the 3D scanning LiDAR market. The recently found wide application of LiDAR technology in the digital mapping area has helped growth of this technology. Additionally, the introduction of low-cost, hand-held LiDARs is expected to reform the surveying sector in the coming five years.Some of the reasons responsible for a slow growth of the LiDAR market is high cost of the equipments and lack of awareness amongst the masses about the adoption of this technology. With technological advancements, LiDARs have found its usage in the field of agriculture majorly to create a topographical map of the fields that reveals the slopes and sun exposure of the farm land. This technology helps farmers to achieve the highest crop yield by indicating key areas for the usage of expensive fertilizers. In addition, the researchers are working on terrestrial LiDARs for automated indoor modeling, which would aid them in modeling interiors of the building.Buy Full Report @The LiDAR market is geographically diversified with its origin almost across the globe. Some of the key competitors in this market include RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems GmbH, Leica Geosystems, Renishaw Plc, Airborne imaging, Inc., Trimble Navigation Limited and Optech, IncKey geographies evaluated in this report are:North AmericaU.SCanadaEuropeFrance, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UKEastern EuropeCISAPACChinaIndiaJapanAustraliaOthersLatin AmericaArgentinaBrazilOthersKey features of this reportDrivers, restraints, and challenges shaping the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) market dynamicsLatest innovations and key events in the industryAnalysis of business strategies of the top playersLight Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) market estimates and forecasts(2015 -2021)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 Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United StatesUSA - Canada Toll Free: +1 800-961-0353
Global Wave and Tidal Energy Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Research Report 2016 - 2024

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Wave and Tidal Energy Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.Wave and tidal energy are methods of harnessing energy of oceans for power generation. Countries across the world are increasingly looking to utilize these forms of renewable energy as these provide a constant and steady source of clean energy. Abundance of ocean surface and significant potential of energy generation in several nations has induced governments to pursue ocean energy generation as an important part of their future renewable energy mix. Venture capital funding and government grant schemes are the vital aspects of this sector. Currently, technology development and commercial deployment of projects are in a nascent stage.This research is designed to estimate, analyze, and forecast the market volume and revenue for the wind and tidal power generation market. It provides an in-depth analysis of the market size of wave and tidal power in terms of volume (installed capacity) and revenue (investments in the sector for adding capacity). The report analyzes the wave and tidal energy sector in detail along with deep dive research spanning three regions and eight countries. It provides detailed analysis, historical data, and statistically refined forecast for wave and tidal energy plants regionally. Country wise markets for wave, tidal, or both forms of energy have been provided individually, depending upon the investment sentiment in the respective economies. The company market share in the sector for both wave and tidal energy plants has been provided separately for 2014.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The market size for wave and tidal power generation has been estimated by studying the possible future technology trends in the market. Detailed research of countries and region-specific wave and tidal energy associations has been undertaken to estimate and forecast the installed capacity and investments in the wave and tidal energy sector. Regionally, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. An important aspect of this report is the upcoming project details for both wave and tidal energy. This provides a clear idea of country wise projects planned and the tentative timeline by which the industry would achieve commercial deployment of its technologies.Wave and tidal power plant technologies are likely to experience significant changes in terms of individual market share from 2014 to 2024. The technology development is still in the initial phase for both wave and tidal energy. This leaves ample scope for new players to enter the market by introducing new and advanced technologies. Detailed cost breakdown analysis of wave and tidal energy plants has been provided in the study. Cost projections of individual cost components have been done for the forecast period, supported by qualitative analysis. Major players in the wave and tidal energy business have been profiled in the study to identify market penetration strategies and winning imperatives for them.Key players in the global wave and tidal energy market include Pelamis Wave Power Ltd., Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd., Ocean Power Technologies, Inc., Ocean Renewable Power Company LLC, Tenax Energy, AquaGen Technologies, Atlantis Resources Ltd., S.D.E. Energy Ltd. (WERPO Wave Energy), Marine Current Turbines Ltd., and Aquamarine Power Ltd. The report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial revenues (on availability), business strategies, SWOT analysis, and recent developments. The global wave and tidal energy market has been segmented as follows:Wave and Tidal Energy Market: Type analysisWave energyTidal energyMake an Enquiry of this report @Wave and Tidal Energy Market: Geography analysisNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaMexicoEuropeU.K.ScotlandFranceNorwayRussiaOthersAsia PacificSouth KoreaAustraliaChinaOthersRest of the WorldSouth AfricaGhanaOthersAbout 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 @
M2M & IoT Ecosystem 2015 - 2030 Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, Industry Verticals & Forecasts

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "The M2M & IoT Ecosystem: 2015 - 2030 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, Industry Verticals & Forecasts" to its huge collection of research reports.M2M (Machine-to-Machine) refers to the flow of data between physical objects, without the need for human interaction. M2M connectivity has opened a multi-billion dollar revenue opportunity for mobile operators, MVNOs and service aggregators, addressing the application needs of several verticals markets. By enabling network connectivity among physical objects, M2M has also initiated the IoT (Internet of Things) vision - a global network of sensors, equipment, appliances, smart devices and applications that can communicate in real time.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @SNS Research estimates that global spending on M2M and IoT technologies will reach nearly $250 Billion by 2020, driven by a host of vertical market applications including but not limited to connected car services, remote asset tracking, healthcare monitoring, smart metering, digital signage, home automation and intelligent buildings.Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction1.1. Executive Summary1.2. Topics Covered1.3. Historical Revenue and Forecast Segmentation1.4. Key Questions Answered1.5. Key Findings1.6. Methodology1.7. Target Audience1.8. Companies & Organizations MentionedChapter 2: An Overview of M2M & IoT2.1. What is M2M Technology?2.2. M2M vs. IoT: What's the Difference?2.3. Industrial Internet: Another Buzzword2.4. The IoT Vision2.4.1. A Variety of High-Performance and Low-Cost Devices2.4.2. Scaling Connectivity to Billions of Devices2.4.3. Cloud Based Applications and Management2.5. M2M & IoT Architecture2.6. The Business Case: Key Market Drivers2.6.1. Affordable Unit Costs: Viable for a Range of New Applications2.6.2. Proliferation of Mobile Networks2.6.3. Declining Voice Revenues: Economic Motivation2.6.4. Attractive Business Model: Predictable Revenue Opportunities2.6.5. Benefiting from the Smart Consumer Device Ecosystem2.6.6. Regulatory Initiatives & Mandates2.6.7. Interest from Vertical Markets2.7. Challenges & Inhibitors to the Ecosystem2.7.1. Standardization Challenges2.7.2. Low ARPU2.7.3. Support for Roaming2.7.4. Privacy & Security Concerns2.7.5. Integration ComplexitiesMake an Enquiry of this report @Chapter 3: Key Enabling Technologies3.1. Wide Area Networking3.1.1. Cellular Networks3.1.1.1. 2G & 3G3.1.1.2. LTE3.1.1.3. 5G3.1.2. Satellite Communications3.1.3. Wireline Networks3.1.4. LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) Networks3.1.5. Others3.2. Short Range Networking3.2.1. WiFi3.2.2. Bluetooth3.2.3. ZigBee3.2.4. Others3.3. Other Enabling Technologies3.3.1. Energy Harvesting3.3.2. Sensors3.3.3. Navigation Technology3.3.4. Operating Systems & Software Platforms3.3.5. Cloud Computing3.3.6. Big Data & Analytics3.3.7. Other TechnologiesChapter 4: Collaboration, Standardization & Regulatory Landscape4.1. Standardization & Regulatory Initiatives4.1.1. 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project)4.1.2. Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group)4.1.3. DASH7 Alliance4.1.4. ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute)4.1.5. GSMA4.1.6. HGI (Home Gateway Initiative)4.1.7. IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)4.1.8. IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force)4.1.9. ISO (International Organization for Standardization)4.1.10. ITU (International Telecommunications Union)4.1.11. LoRA Alliance4.1.12. Mobility Development Group4.1.13. OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards)4.1.14. OMA (Open Mobile Alliance)4.1.15. OMG (Object Management Group)4.1.16. OneM2M4.1.17. TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association, U.S.)4.1.18. ULE (Ultra Low Energy) Alliance4.1.19. W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)4.1.20. Weightless SIG4.1.21. Wi-SUN Alliance4.1.22. WiFi Alliance4.1.23. ZigBee Alliance4.1.24. Z-Wave Alliance4.1.25. Case Study: Standards for M2M & IoT Security4.2. Collaborative Initiatives & Trade Associations4.2.1. AIOTI (Alliance for Internet of Things Innovation)4.2.2. AllSeen Alliance4.2.3. HyperCat Consortium4.2.4. IIC (Industrial Internet Consortium)4.2.5. IMC (IoT M2M Council)4.2.6. IPSO (Internet Protocol for Smart Object) Alliance4.2.7. M2M Alliance4.2.8. NGM2M (New Generation M2M) Consortium, Japan4.2.9. OIC (Open Interconnect Consortium)4.2.10. Thread Group4.2.11. Wireless IoT Forum4.3. Mobile Operator Alliances4.3.1. M2M World Alliance4.3.2. GMA (Global M2M Association)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 @
Skin Replacement Therapy Market - Skin Replacement Therapy Market Is Being Shaped by Many Trends Contributing to its Healthy Growth

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Skin replacement therapy helps treat severe skin burns or chronic skin wounds. Skin cancer, eczema, and psoriasis are some of the skin diseases that can be painful and can compromise the quality of life led by a person. Thus arises a need for skin replacement therapy. The skin is the largest external organ of the human body and is one of the organs most vulnerable to injuries and damages. Since the skin protects the musculoskeletal system, the organs, and also helps maintain the temperature of the body, it becomes very essential for the skin to function properly. Moreover, the skin also regulates the level of fluids in the body. Thus, any skin disease or injury needs to be treated immediately as the lack of it can impact the persons ability to lead a normal life.Get Free Sample Research Report:The global skin replacement therapy market is segmented on the basis of material used, end user, and geography. On the basis of material used, the market is segmented into spider silk and collagen. By geography, the global skin replacement therapy market is segmented into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and the Rest of the World.The report is a professional and detailed study on the current state of the market, taking into consideration historical figures. The future projections of the global skin replacement therapy market is forecast for the period from 2016 to 2024. The report offers accurate data and compiles fruitful information with the help of primary and secondary research methods, enabling enterprises and interested individuals to have a competitive edge above the rest.An increasing prevalence of skin diseases and injuries among people and subsequently the rising consciousness among them to have healthy and beautiful skin are driving the global skin replacement therapy market. The continual expansion of product range available in the market enables consumers to access specific skin replacement therapies in line with the skin condition they are suffering from. The ability of consumers to spend on these therapies or products has motivated manufacturers to develop and introduce newer products, thus helping the global skin replacement therapy market to grow.The global skin replacement therapy market is challenged by the availability of low-cost substitutes. The lack of clinical support is another probable factor that may threaten the growth of the global skin replacement therapy market. However, bio-engineered skin replacements will open new opportunities for growth in the market. These replacements are capable of closely mimicking almost all functions of the natural skin and are thus expected to be in huge demand.By geography, North America contributes a significant portion to the skin replacement therapy market revenue. The demand for skin replacement therapies in Asia Pacific is expected to rise in the coming years as many countries in the region are offering attractive medical tourism packages.Browse Full Research Report:The report studies key players operating in the global skin replacement therapy market. The challenges faced by companies and the strategies adopted by them have been thoroughly studied. The report includes the business and financial overviews of the companies. It also includes the recent developments regarding mergers and acquisitions of the companies, new product developments, and the product picture, price, and specifications. Such in-depth analysis of each of the companies enables readers to make smart and informed decisions regarding investments in the skin replacement therapy market. The companies profiled in the report include: Cellular Dynamics International, Tengion, Cynata Therapeutics Limited, Platelet BioGenesis, and TissueGene, Inc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Romantic Fiction Author Rusty Blackwood Brings Romantic Fiction To A New Level Through Combining Classic Themes With Contemporary Events

Romantic fiction author Rusty Blackwood

http://www.rusty-blackwood.com

Canadian indie author Rusty Blackwood produces engaging works of romantic fiction with a difference - her storylines hit home with readers as they are partially based in reality and real world situations that readers find highly relatable. The end effect of this approach is that readers can often put themselves squarely in the stories she presents. While that is the goal of many fiction writers, few can do it effectively.Rusty states that the presentation of her themes come from personal experience, embellished with dramatic fictional events. She believes that most writers' inspiration comes from life experiences. She uses this to her advantage. In that respect, much of the nuance and flavors of the personalities of her heroines derive from her own personality and life.Blackwood grew up on her paternal grandfathers farm in south-western Ontario, Canada, where she developed her love of writing while still in grade school, entering numerous competitions and writing exhibitions throughout her area, and attributes her love of writing to her late father James, and the late Gladys Carroll, her elementary teacher.Rusty firmly believes in going after what she wants, doing whatever is required to make it happen, and turning a deaf ear to anyone who says it cannot be done. She has faced many challenges throughout her life, emerging more determined with each. She is a firm believer in Karma and the adage that whatever you put out in life revisits you."From the time of early childhood I have always had an active imagination," Rusty stated. "My dad had a great love of poetry and art, finding color, dimension, and texture in all areas of the three which he passed along to me. I remember him telling me to find the soul in whatever I looked at, and along with Mrs. Carroll's stellar encouragement to express my words in the way I felt them, it would often lead to stories and poetry that could be viewed in many ways.""I often used, and still use poetry as therapy to help me cope and come to terms with unsettling happenings in my life. It has always helped me, for it is through written word that I can better express myself, much more so than verbally. I enjoy writing many genres, but romance has always been my favorite. I am a hopeless romantic, and though I myself have not had the best luck in love, I continue to believe that there is that special 'someone' for each of us, regardless of how much time it takes to find them. This was very much the mindset behind the writing of 'Passions in Paris: Revelations of a Lost Diary'. I have always had a great affinity for Paris, France - anything Parisian for that matter - so I wanted to write a love story that was set there, one which told of a love that could exist throughout time; a love that could never be broken no matter what was set in its path. It took me ten years to write it, and I took parts of my life and inserted them into the story, embellishing them in ways that would make them more appealing to the reader; hopefully more entertaining as well.""My newest novel, 'Willow's Walk', was derived very much in the same way, based in part on my own life experiences, and expressed in ways that hopefully not only entertain the reader, but might help them to realize what can derive from an innocent Internet salutation, or what is believed to be friendship. Many times it can be. It can also be safe to pursue; then again it might not, and the outcome can affect one's life in ways that is not only derogatory, but totally dire. One reads of these happenings everyday, yet people still venture forth, thinking all is well and it won't happen to them. Hopefully it won't, but it is always best to approach with caution, as you would with anything where you have no way of knowing the outcome.""Writing brings me an outlet in which to express thoughts, emotions, and to entertain not only my readers, but myself. It helps to read a story that brings satisfaction, or takes you down a road you would like to travel if you could. I did this in the pieces I have written, and I hope to continue to do so in the coming pieces I write. I don't think there is day I don't remember those encouraging words I was given so very long ago. I am extremely thankful to be able to express myself in an open manner, and in the many ways that I choose to."'Willow's Walk' has received a number of 5 star reviews from professional reviewers. Maria Beltran stated, "I highly recommend this book." Gisela Dixon said, ". . . I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the life of a person presented in such a wonderful manner." Another said, "I was touched by the bittersweet conclusion that sometimes purpose and happiness are only found through great tragedy ..."'Passions In Paris' has also received rave reviews. Linkk Kula Kane said, "Passions in Paris I think stands its ground with these other powerful romantic stories like 'The Notebook' by Nicolas Sparks." Reader Fred Pifer stated that 'Passions', " . . .is a fascinating book of a love story that seemed to be written with me in mind. In the book 'Love Story' by Erich Segal, he told of a deep abiding love story that reminds me of Cullen and Joys in Ms. Blackwoods book, but the twists of intrigue and mystery that she adds keeps the reader on edge throughout."Information on the new romantic fiction release, including a new book trailer, is available at Blackwood's site on the 'Willow' page. Readers can get more information on the paperback and Kindle versions of both books at Amazon sites worldwide, including Amazon.ca.Rusty Blackwood is available for interview in the Toronto and Niagara areas and can be reached using the information below or by email at writerrusty@hotmail.ca. More information is available at her website.Rusty Blackwood is a prolific Indie author of romantic fiction, short story comedies, contemporary and traditional poetry and children's books. Her first love is romantic fiction, but she crosses genres with ease.PO Box 1613Shallotte NC 28459
SPOOKY, SCARY SPOOKY, SCARY  Neighborhoods in Orchard Park are more than ready for Halloween. In the top photo, at a house at the corner of Orchard Hill Drive and Briar Hill...

Bremer finds seven residential lots storing items on town property Thanks to a new property-line shot by the Engineering Department, Building Inspector Steve Bremer was able to identify seven residential lots near Highmark Stadium that were placing all sorts of...

Highway Department receiving number of calls on dying ash trees Highway Superintendent Andrew Slotman warned in the spring that the ash tree population in Orchard Park would soon dwindle to zero due to the presence of the emerald ash borer....
LAIKA / Focus Features

Critic Marc Mohan picks the most anticipated films for the week of August 19-25

Monkey (left, voiced by Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) situates herself protectively alongside Kubo (Art Parkinson) in animation studio LAIKA's epic action-adventure KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS, a Focus Features release. Credit: Laika Studios/Focus Features

Don't Edit

'Kubo and the Two Strings'

The latest feature from Hillsboro's Laika Films is a visually splendid fable about a young boy who travels with a talking monkey and a samurai beetle on a quest to recover the items he needs to defeat his evil grandfather. The 3-D, origami-inspired stop-motion animation is a wonder to behold, and Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey contribute solid voice work. (multiple locations)

Don't Edit

'Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World"

German cinematic icon Werner Herzog is back with his newest, typically inimitable documentary essay. Here he tackles the Internet, from its humble origins to its planetary domination, and from its limitless promise to its infinite perils. It's a meandering journey, but one enhanced by Herzog's dry, deliciously accented narration. (Hollywood Theatre)

Don't Edit

'Beyond the Forest' and 'All About Eve'

The Northwest Film Center's "Bette & Joan" series continues with a pair of pivotal films in Bette Davis' career. 1949's rarely screened "Beyond the Forest" marked an ignominious end to her long-term relationship with Warner Brothers, but "All About Eve," released the next year, propelled Davis to new heights of Hollywood icondom. (Saturday & Sunday, Northwest Film Center)

Don't Edit

'Thunderbolt and Lightfoot'

Before he achieved Hollywood's ultimate prize with "The Deer Hunter," director Michael Cimino (who died earlier this year) made this 1974 action-comedy that teamed an in-his-prime Clint Eastwood with a young Jeff Bridges as a pair of crooks looking to repeat a heist they pulled years earlier. (Tuesday, Hollywood Theatre)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

'Viktoria'

A woman in 1979 Bulgaria, desperate to escape the Communist dictatorship, gives birth to a daughter who becomes acclaimed as the country's Baby of the Decade, providing access to the best that Bulgarian society has to offer. Director Maya Vitkova's debut feature is a swirling, grand, but intimate drama spanning years in its characters', and their nation's, lives. (Friday & Saturday, Northwest Film Center)

Don't Edit

'The Doll'

The Church of Film presents this bizarre 1962 Swedish film about a lonely night watchman who becomes obsessed with a department store mannequin. He brings it home and cares for it, only to have it come to life. (Wednesday, Clinton Street Theater)
1biden.JPG

Vice President Joe Biden appears at a rally with Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Riverfront Sports athletic facility on August 15, 2016 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

(Mark Makela/Getty Images)

By Albert Hunt

She may not need another advantage, but Hillary Clinton has one in the final 12 weeks of the presidential race: surrogates. These are prominent backers who can drum up support, enthusiasm and money.

The Democratic nominee's leading surrogates include two U.S. presidents, a vice president, a popular first lady and two favorites of the young voters she has struggled to attract.

By contrast, the most prominent Republicans either don't support Donald Trump or are not making public appearances on his behalf.

Surrogates don't win or lose elections, but Trump's lack of effective ones puts him at a disadvantage. "Significant political celebrities can draw crowds, drive message and provide added credibility with both the base and swing audience," says Stephanie Cutter, the deputy manager of President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign.

Similarly, Eric Fehrnstrom, a top adviser to Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee in that campaign, says that surrogates "can be hugely helpful because they amplify the usual voices coming from the campaign" and "add credibility."

This year, Republicans "are suffering from a major surrogates deficit," he notes, both because leading party figures have been "scared away by Trump's erratic behavior" and his campaign has done a poor job recruiting them.

Former President George W. Bush and his brother, Jeb, aren't supporting Trump. Nor are Romney, Ohio Gov. John Kasich or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who might have helped with resistant right-wingers. House Speaker Paul Ryan is focusing on re-electing his members and Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Marco Rubio of Florida are devoting their time to their own races.

That leaves second-tier surrogates like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, unpopular his own state and still embroiled in a potential scandal; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the object of late-night-comedian jokes; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who hasn't been elected to anything in 20 years and is almost as rhetorically reckless as Trump; and Sen. Jeff Sessions, who is obscure outside of his home state of Alabama.

Hillary Clinton starts with her husband, Bill, the former president, who is both effective and erratic on the stump. He gave Clinton campaign aides heartburn last week when he took a swipe at FBI Director James Comey, who has criticized Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of State. However, he's far more compelling than controversial.

Vice President Joe Biden, also famous for verbal gaffes, is nevertheless a beloved figure in the party and popular with blue-collar voters. He campaigned forcefully with the nominee in his original hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Monday.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom Clinton defeated for the nomination, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the scourge of Wall Street, can help make the case for Clinton to young voters and the disaffected left.

First lady Michelle Obama, whose Democratic convention speech dazzled Republicans and Democrats alike, is expected to make campaign appearances this autumn. Women and young people "who may not be fully persuaded Hillary supporters" will come out to hear the first lady, Cutter said. "After hearing Michelle's message on Hillary, they are more likely to support her."

Then there's the super surrogate, Obama, whose job-approval ratings have climbed above 50 percent. He's an asset in most swing states and districts and will play a major role in drumming up get-out-the-vote efforts in minority communities.

Albert Hunt is a Bloomberg columnist.

For more columns from Bloomberg View, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/view.

(c) 2016, Bloomberg View
Yes on Measure 97: I read a recent letter painting Measure 97 as "socialist theft" (Letters to the Editor, Aug. 14). This concept leaves out the most important part of the picture -- the measure's ability to transform our state's schools and public services.

Editorials across the state are echoing the words of huge companies such as Comcast, Walmart and U.S. Bank, who, along with others, have already put over $5.3 million into trying to defeat Measure 97. However, the real truth is that Oregon has the fourth-lowest graduation rate in the country, 18,000 children still lack health insurance and 1 in 10 Oregon seniors are living in poverty. Our entire state will benefit if Oregonians are educated, healthy and able to retire with dignity.

For decades, the burden of state taxes has shifted off of big corporations and onto individuals, meaning that Oregon now has the lowest corporate taxes in the nation. Measure 97 requires about 1,050 corporations that have over $25 million in annual Oregon sales to share their success with the people that build Oregon's economy.

Average Oregonians will benefit from Measure 97. I hope you'll join me in voting for our schools, kids and families this November by voting yes for Measure 97.

Jim Robison

North Portland

*

Yes on Measure 97: I've been a teacher for 17 years in the Portland Public schools. I love teaching because of the students. And they deserve to go to a school where they're safe. However, recently my classroom sink and drinking fountain were among the fixtures identified as having high levels of lead. When that news came out, I thought of the faces: my third-grade students; their parents. I emailed families, telling them that I had forbidden drinking from inside our room. Although I didn't know about the lead, I knew the water was the color of strong tea and smelled of metal. I told parents to try not to worry. I am tired of worrying about the safety of students in Oregon. And I know I'm not alone.

Elevated lead levels continue to be discovered all over the state. The students in our schools deserve safe classrooms and voters should not be forced to choose between class size and drinkable water.

This November, we have the opportunity to fund the safe schools our students and our families deserve. Measure 97 asks the largest corporations in the state to pay their fair share. This would generate an estimated $3 billion per year in revenue that, by law, would go to public schools, health care and senior services.

Ultimately, our children's health should not come at the expense of corporate profits. Please join me in voting for Measure 97 this November.

Lisa Kane

Southeast Portland
1convention.JPG

Sajid Tarar, Founder of American Muslims for Trump, delivers the benediction at the conclusion of the second day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Tuesday, July 19, 2016.

(The Associated Press)

By James Poulos

By revealing his apparently final plan for fighting terrorism and fixing immigration in one fell swoop on Monday, Donald Trump managed a rare feat of political clarification. Unfortunately for Trump, what he clarified were the cultural tensions within his own campaign.

In his address on foreign policy and national security, Trump promised one simple way to keep jihadis away from American shores. With an updated version of a Cold War-era "ideological screening test," Trump's federal government would bar those "who support bigotry and hatred," admitting only those who "embrace a tolerant American society."

As Trump already showed during the Republican National Convention, his vision of bigotry is paradoxically broad. Despite courting the most virulent of nationalists, Trump - who counts Peter Thiel and Caitlyn Jenner as supporters - went out of his way to call the attack on the Pulse club in Orlando, Florida, "the worst mass shooting in our history" as well as "the worst attack on the LGTBQ community." Those lines must have gone down sideways at best for the many Trump supporters who rail against the influence of Jews, Mormons, Latinos, and other non-Muslim minorities. But the reasons why Trump's plan should not be adopted go well beyond the hurt feelings of anti-Semites and xenophobes.

Obviously the easiest cases for any anti-jihadi screening program are the easiest to agree upon: You show up wrapped in an Islamic State flag, you don't enter the country. But Trump's seemingly liberal, ecumenical standards of decency and Western values promise a never-ending series of hard cases - even for a government with a ruthlessly lean and mean bureaucracy, and even in a society that isn't riven by a draining and bitter culture war. The fact is that neither Americans nor their government can handle Trump's would-be screening test. Given where the United States is today, an ideological exam of the sort Trump is proposing would purport to foster greater cultural unity but promise even fiercer disunity.

And, adding injury to insult, it wouldn't even solve America's terrorism problem.

An early warning sign comes from fresh evidence in Europe about what a Trump-style test would entail. Our Western allies have proven that U.S. officials could at least design such a test. Just this March, the Dutch, a people on immigration and terror tenterhooks, launched a new entrance exam aimed at ensuring immigrants "are at least aware of the Netherlands's liberal values, even if they do not agree with all of them." Supplying Muslim candidates with some free test prep, the Dutch government created an instructional feature-length film dramatizing Dutch values. And so: a topless woman illustrates the Dutch way of nudity; a kissing gay couple underscores Dutch laws and mores concerning homosexuality.

It isn't hard to imagine some American agency putting together similar content, even if many of Trump's more reactionary and traditionalist supporters would recoil in horror at the process. But it is impossible to imagine the thing ever getting out the door - whether an intransigent member of Congress bottlenecked the process or fierce public disagreement made compromise impossible. It would make comprehensive immigration reform look like a layup.

Thrown open to national political infighting, what expression of a common American culture would survive? Even if some standard were forced through by executive order, how often, and how acrimoniously, would it be replaced? Americans wouldn't even agree on the way to test subjects. Beltway bureaucrats sifting through social media profiles, on the hunt for signs of bigotry? Not in a country where post-Snowden disillusionment is so extreme that few really believe officials can be trusted to keep their hands off citizens' private data. And amid an endemic culture of spin, where even U.S. intelligence about the Islamic State threat was massaged and manipulated, possibly even fewer Americans will consent to a profiling system conducted by federal shrinks.

The problem is not restricted to offending one (conservative) faction in the culture wars or another. The politicization of America's culture conflict is systemic, complete with vested, moneyed interests ready at a moment's notice to turn the slightest provocation or compromise into yet another "all-out war." The most likely outcome of a push for a "Trump Test" would be interminable debate, incoherent and contradictory half-measures, and another failed federal initiative.

A more realistic litmus test for U.S. immigrants would ask whether they were prepared to join daily battles over how much official support should be granted to the ways they and others live. But the whole idea of limiting immigration is to put the brakes on the crippling culture conflict that has made it so difficult for Americans to govern and be governed. Even adding hundreds of thousands of people just as cantankerous as natural-born citizens would increase that burden.

Of course, the strong argument in favor of accepting many more foreigners is that, no matter how burdensome or impractical, we have a moral obligation to do so, especially if they hail from areas where our policies have harmed people. That's why Trump, and others who generally appreciate those high standards, characteristically appeal to the extraordinary exception posed by the very real threat of continued jihadi terror attacks. Without the threat, in other words, we wouldn't need the test. However nativist Trump's base, the logic of Trump's test appeals to decent people's abundance of caution.

But again, unfortunately, there just isn't much evidence that a Trump Test would manage to measurably decrease that threat. As many strictly observant Christians and Jews would attest, simply because you reject today's ascendant sexually progressive ideology does not mean you want to commit mass murder. Critics will counter that Islam is special, and not in a good way: that this religion, unlike the others, primes true believers to kill infidels. Were that so, the proper policy would be something like what Trump once suggested at the outset of this debate - a hard stop to Muslim immigration, period. But now even Trump has abandoned that untenable idea.

And as Trump himself might eventually concede, the best way to stop terrorist infiltration is by destroying the Islamic State, ramping up targeted surveillance, combating sponsors of terror, and keeping up robust international policing. At first blush, perhaps, an ideological immigration test sounds like a plausible way to supplement that effort. But Trump's attempt to advance an exam that could actually work has resulted in a putative policy too overbroad and too underbroad to be anywhere near viable. Until Americans bring their politicized culture war to some kind of conclusion, they'll be hard-pressed to use culture to bring the homeland closer to peace.

(c) 2016, Foreign Policy
Thursday 18 August 2016 9:04am



Otago Faculty of Law Professor Jacinta Ruru was presented with the Prime Ministers Supreme Award for tertiary teaching excellence by Rt Hon John Key at a function at Parliament last night.

For the fifth year running, the Prime Ministers Supreme Award for tertiary teaching excellence has gone to a University of Otago academic.

Otago Faculty of Law Professor Jacinta Ruru was presented with the accolade by Rt Hon John Key at a function at Parliament last night. She receives $10,000 through the Supreme Award as well as a further $20,000 as one of 12 tertiary teachers to be recognised through this years Sustained Excellence Awards.

The Supreme Award is considered the ultimate prize of the national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards, held annually at Parliament. The Awards celebrate New Zealands finest tertiary teachers as recognised by their organisations, colleagues, learners and broader communities.

Professor Rurus award acknowledges her sustained excellence in tertiary teaching to create a place for Maori to stand and be heard within New Zealands legal system.

As the first Professor of Law of Maori descent in New Zealand and the only Maori Law Faculty staff member at the University of Otago since 1999, Jacinta is designing a new experience for students learning law. Her strategy is to give greater focus to Maori experiences of the law, Maori relationships with land and Maori challenges for change in the classroom.

She recognises that education is key to achieving positive transformational change and works tirelessly to establish a safe place for Maori students to learn and succeed. Her ultimate aim is to increase Maori involvement in law at a higher level.

Professor Ruru is founder and director of an annual year-long programme for Otagos Maori law students: Te haka; Building Maori Leaders in Law, supervises PhD students and undertakes the role of Kaiawhina Maori in the Law Faculty (primary support person for Maori law students).

She also established the Maori Law Moot Competition at Otago and co-designed a new multidisciplinary Maori programme focused on providing solutions to transform Maori learning. She is described by colleagues as incredibly generous in sharing her teaching experiences and expertise. A former student comments, In succeeding at the highest level and carving out a unique niche in her field, she gives others the confidence to do the same.

Professor Ruru is one of two Sustained Excellence winners in the Kaupapa Maori category. Three of her Otago colleagues are among the winners in the General category: Dr Judith Bateup (Microbiology and Immunology); Professor Darryl Tong (Oral Diagnostics and Surgical Sciences); and Dr Rachel Zajac (Psychology).

Acting University Vice-Chancellor Professor Vernon Squire warmly congratulated Professor Ruru and her three fellow Otago winners.

Jacinta is a richly deserving winner of the Supreme Award and Im sure that staff, students and alumni of the University will join me in applauding her, Judiths, Darryls and Rachels remarkable achievements, Professor Squire says.

Dazzling string of Supreme Award successes

As well as last nights success for Professor Ruru making it the fifth year in a row that Otago academics have won the Prime Ministers Supreme Award, it also marks the seventh time in the past 14 years that the honour has gone to a teacher from this University.

Last year, Associate Professor Suzanne Pitama (Maori/Indigenous Health Institute (MIHI) at the University of Otago, Christchurch) received the honour, as did Dr Karyn Paringatai (Te Tumu  School of Maori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies) in 2014. In 2013 it went to Associate Professor Gordon Sanderson (Ophthalmology) and to Associate Professor Rhiannon Braund (Pharmacy) in 2012. Associate Professor Selene Mize (Law) won in 2009 and Associate Professor Peter Schwartz (Pathology, Dunedin) won in 2003. No other tertiary institution has achieved this level of success.

Professor Squire says that Otagos sustained leading performance in the Awards reflect its position at the forefront of New Zealand universities in teaching.
Mid Michigan Community College will host auditions for the Fall Semester Mystery Production from 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 23 and 25 and from 3 to 6 p.m. Aug. 30. Auditions will take place in MMCC Auditorium on the Harrison campus.

The production will be Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily by Katie Forgette and it will be directed by Brent Donahue with roles available for two men and five women. Performance dates are Nov. 8, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18 and 19.
A Saginaw Valley State University professor will display his paintings, drawings and artwork made from old meters during an exhibition Monday, Aug. 22 to Wednesday, Sept. 14 in the campus University Art Gallery.

Michael Mosher, professor of art/communication and multimedia, will discuss his exhibition  titled Meter-Reader: Voltage, Amperage, Knowledge at 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8.
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After two nights of rodeo, Wednesday night brought cowboys of another kind to the Midland County Fair grandstand.

Chase Rice gave his fans plenty of opportunities to sing along with his popular hits, as well as brought ladies onto the stage for some antics and selfie-taking throughout the show. He kicked things off with How She Rolls, before taking a break to chat with the crowd.

How yall doin tonight? he asked, and in response was flooded with screams and raised hands from the standing section of center stage.

After a few more songs, smoke and lights, Rice stopped to chat again.

I have never been to this part of Michigan before, so thanks for showing up, he told fans before dividing the group into left and right halves to see who could sing along to I Like Drinking, Cause Its Fun the loudest. I like drinking in the evening and drinking in the sun, he sang, as the right side of the crowd out sang the left.

Rice and his band rocked their way through a couple medleys including some not-so-country songs  Def Leppards Pour Some Sugar On Me, Livin on a Prayer by Bon Jovi, and Tom Pettys Free Fallin. The last song provided an opportunity for Rice to ask the crowd to sing along.

Left and right, everyone give me more, he pleaded with the group, which was pretty quiet on the chorus.

Chase launched into the upbeat Everyone We Know Does, then slowed things down with Gonna Wanna Tonight, slinging his guitar to his back and freeing his hands so he could reach down to the crowd. Farther out, members of the crowd held their phones aloft, recording the song, screens lighting up the night.

Cmon, he told his fans, Sing it loud! They obliged, belting out the chorus, and were rewarded when Rice told them they sounded good.

The night included another medley of songs, including Green Day and Garth Brooks, his hit Ride, for which he brought a fan on stage for a one-on-one serenade, and the Florida Georgia Line hit which he penned, Cruise. Rice was assisted in one chorus of the song by his opening act, Brooke Eden.

Up in the grandstand, sisters Emily, 17, and Carissa Baumgartner, 27, both of Midland County, were rocking along.

We saw him once before, Carissa said, adding that show was at the Ohio CountryFest.

I liked this one better, hes got more music now, Carissa said of the nights show, adding Rice brought more people up on stage.

Both agreed their favorite song was Jack Daniels and Jesus, which he told the crowd was the first song he wrote  Sometimes you gotta write whats real instead of worrying about whats going to sell, he said during the show.

Its different than any of the other songs that are out right now, Carissa said of the tune.

Coming out of the seating area on the track  soggy from a downpour about an hour before the show  was Sarah Wesolek, 21, of Midland, and she agreed about having a new favorite song in Jack Daniels and Jesus after the show.

I love country music, hes awesome, she said of Rice. Im totally jealous of the girls who were on stage.

Also having fun at the show were Midlanders Mike Humphrey, 22, and Jason Paris, 23, who arrived dressed in identical Hawaiian shirts. They have the shirts to wear to socials after events at college, and thought it would be fun to wear them to the show, too.

All of a sudden we had people taking pictures with us, Humphrey said, laughing. He was at the grandstand Tuesday night, competing in the rodeo (hes only had four broken bones).

The duo was at the show because they both like country music and Chase Rice, he said.
State Rep. Gary Glenn, R-Midland, left, presents Sgt. First Class Ronnie Cyrus with the Legion of Merit, the highest honor awarded by the National Guard. Cyrus, until recently a Midland resident, asked Glenn to make the official presentation. It was a great privilege to be asked to present SFC Cyrus this highest honor from the State of Michigan in recognition of his service, including a recent deployment to Liberia to help establish a military justice system and train troops on stopping the spread of ebola, Glenn said.
As the inaugural class of 64 Central Michigan University College of Medicine students embark on their final year of studies, 104 fresh faces bring the relatively new college to capacity.

The fourth class was drawn from an applicant pool of 4,854  the highest number yet. The new students arrived on campus Monday, Aug. 1, and spent the first week in orientation. The week concluded with them receiving their white coats and reciting the Hippocratic Oath they wrote at a ceremony Friday afternoon.

Overall, 80 of the 104 admitted students, or 77 percent, are from Michigan. Twenty-four of those are from northern and central portions of the state. Of the 376 students in the college, 83 percent are Michigan natives.

Its an exciting milestone for the college of medicine that for the first time we have a full complement of students amongst all four classes, said Dr. George Kikano, dean of the CMU College of Medicine. Similar to last year, we were fortunate to enroll 15 percent of underrepresented minorities in this class as well as two National Health Service Corps scholars. We are looking forward to another successful year.

Chris Austin, director of admissions for the college, said graduates of 48 other colleges and universities are represented in the incoming class, with the top five being Michigan universities.

Students in CMUs College of Medicine spend their first two years of study on CMUs main campus in Mount Pleasant. Third- and fourth-year medical students and residents complete six-monthclerkships at multiple sites throughout the state and hospital clerkships and electives primarily at Covenant HealthCare and St. Marys of Michigan in Saginaw and other CMU-affiliated hospitals. The training in Saginaw is anchored at a state-of-the-art $25 million, 46,000-square-foot college of medicine educational facility.

The CMU College of Medicine, established in 2009, has a mission to improve access to high-quality health care in Michigan emphasizing rural and medically underserved regions and to address an anticipated shortage of 4,000 to 6,000 physicians in Michigan by 2020.
Senior Services has several upcoming programs for people who are caring for an older family member.

Powerful Tools for Caregivers, an evidence-based program that gives caregivers the tools needed to handle the challenges of caregiving, will start on Monday, Aug. 22 and run every Monday until Sept. 26 from 1-3:30 p.m. at Trailside Center, 4700 Dublin Ave. in Midland. (The Sept. 5 class is moved to Sept. 9.) It is offered free of charge.

The six-week class helps caregivers develop a wealth of self-care tools to reduce personal stress, change negative self-talk, communicate their needs to other family members and healthcare providers, deal with difficult feelings and make tough caregiving decisions. Registration is required by calling (989) 633-3700.

From 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, caregivers can learn how to handle challenging tasks at Senior Services program, I Have to Do What? Caring for an adult who needs more assistance, can present a wide variety of tasks that a caregiver did not anticipate or look forward to doing. This class will address some of those difficult situations, such as how to assure privacy and dignity while providing personal care and how to assist with bathing, toileting, skin care, oral care and medications. The class will take place at Trailside Center, 4700 Dublin Ave. in Midland. Call (989) 633-3700 to register. There is no cost to attend. If respite care is needed, please notify when registering.

In response to growing requests for caregiver services that occur outside of the typical weekday and workday hours, Senior Services is launching a new evening Caregiver Support Group from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. starting Wednesday, Sept. 7.

This new group will allow the sharing of ideas and information among informal family caregivers who are still in the workforce and struggle to meet the demands of care alongside their other obligations. It will occur on the first Wednesday of each month at Trailside Center, 4700 Dublin Ave. in Midland. The group is for people helping to care for a spouse, family member or friend.

Caregivers are also invited to a special Caregiver Retreat scheduled for 11 a.m. Sept. 20 at the Chippewa Nature Center, 400 S. Badour in Midland. In this free program, Psychologist Karen Clark will share the practice and benefits of mindfulness to help caregivers reduce stress, improve their well-being and leave refreshed, relaxed and ready to help the people they care for.

Lunch will be provided. Reservations are required before Sept. 16 by calling (989) 633-3700.
To the editor:

In the summer of 1954, just out of Knox College, I obtained a summer job at The Dow Chemical Co. in preparation for my graduate studies at Penn State later in the fall. While there I met Chuck Schmitt, advisor of Explorer Post 61.

The meeting was more than casual as I fell in love with whitewater and flatwater canoeing and kayaking through activities of that Post. In fact, I was able to accompany them at the end of the summer for a two-week canoe trip just north in Ontario, the Hilda Shikwamkwa route. Later in State College, Pa. (via Penn State University) I formed Explorer Post 32 and we started running similar trips to Canada. In fact, in 1958 we ran the exact same route as I did with Post 61 in 1954. The Midland members of that trip were Darryl Crabb, Charles Jessop, Robert Stoppert, Jerry Inman, Phil Barrons, Jim Hunt, Tom Croope, Larry Sias, John Simons and Clarke Poole.

You cant go home again, but I am trying. I will be passing through Midland on Aug. 20. I will be going up to that area in a reconnaissance trip to check out the area, find regulations, etc. I am hoping to have with me a couple of kids to be able to have a three-day minitrip on Dog Lake out of Missanabie. Perhaps we can arrange a get-together and even a home stay. Call (814) 222-0052 or email d1k@psu.edu for more information.

DAVID KURTZ

State College, Pa.
The ministry at Destiny Life Church provides discipline, hope and discipleship to inmates.

When 20-year-old Checotah Mchenry was booked into the Amos G. Ward Detention Facility in Claremore, Oklahoma, his scowling face burned hot, his clenched jaw jutted forward and his fists were set to throw a punch should anyone rub him the wrong way. Seething hatred, Mchenry truly was a hardened criminal. That all changed, however, after participating in the six-week Dont Look Back outreach ministry run by Chris Rose, who himself spent many years behind bars.

Rose had been vocal about his criminal history and was eager to use his testimony to motivate others in the community to change. So in January 2015, Pastor Glenn Shaffer commissioned Rose to head up the outreach ministry as a way to provide discipline, hope and discipleship to inmates. Shaffer is senior pastor of Destiny Life Church, whose average weekly attendance is 800.

We dont just say, Heres Jesus. Hope you make it, says Rose, who notes the high recidivism rates in Oklahoma. We provide these men and women with a firm faith foundation so that they can survive on the outside.

Rose and a devoted group of volunteers visit the jail twice weekly to help incarcerated men and women develop social skills, pray together and discuss Christianity 101, a workbook written by Shaffer, which outlines baptism, salvation and the foundation of Christianity. Rose also visits the Jess Dunn Correctional Center in a neighboring county where he runs a 10-week, Christianity 201 discipleship track. By the end of 2017, Rose hopes to bring the outreach ministry to every prison in Oklahoma. He would also like to see transitional centers become a reality.

The program teaches the importance of accountability; it also softens the hearts of inmates and introduces many of them to a new life path. Mchenry, for one, is grateful for the transformation. Now I think, act and react differently, he says.

This past summer, Rose brought a portable baptistery to the jail and baptized 21 men. Gods favor has been all over this ministry, says Rose. Jail administration has even commented that the jail is peaceful for hours after Rose and his team visits.

Thats because Gods presence goes before us, sits with us and remains after we go, he says.

Find more ways to serve your community 
NORMAL  Charlene Clark of Springfield couldn't help getting emotional about her mother's life insurance on Wednesday.

"These people at my mom and dad's age worked hard... for $2-, $3-, $4,000 policies they paid. They didn't expect a big insurance company was going to keep them," said Clark. "There was no reason they couldn't have found us."

Clark was among speakers at a hearing in Normal examining what happens when a person with life insurance dies but their beneficiaries don't claim it. She said she missed out on three separate payouts after her mother died in 2003.

The hearing was the first in a statewide series organized by Illinois Treasurer Mike Frerichs, a Democrat, to bring attention to the issue.

While the Illinois Department of Insurance oversees the industry, Frerichs has taken an interest in the issue in his role as the states steward of unclaimed property, including insurance benefits and bank accounts.

Since 2011, Frerich's office has identified more than $550 million in life insurance benefits that have gone unpaid.

A bill to make insurers try to find beneficiaries passed the General Assembly unanimously in July but has not been signed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

State Rep. Dan Brady, a Bloomington Republican and funeral director, offered suggestions for ways to improve the situation without legislation, including asking coroners and funeral directors to encourage families to seek unclaimed benefits.

"A lost policy finder would be something the insurance industry has been working on and we encourage them to," said Frerichs. "We'd love to put ourselves out of business here."

Other speakers included state Rep. Robert Martwick, D-Chicago; state Sen. Sam McCann, R-Springfield; and Lori Hendren and Jerry James, who represented AARP and the NAACP, respectively.

"There's really a breach of public trust within this issue," McCann said. "We can work together and come up with all sorts of ideas, and probably implement some of those ideas, without legislation, but we're definitely going to need legislation to make sure ... we are the referee on the field."

Those invited but not attending included Kemper Corp., a life insurance company suing the state to prevent it from auditing for unclaimed benefits.

Greg Rivara, a spokesman for Frerichs' office, said Kemper is a bad actor in a field of companies that are mostly trying to look out for their customers.

State Farm, for instance, wasn't involved with the legislation but has improved its outreach in response to state efforts, said company spokeswoman Missy Dundov.

"We first became aware of the beneficiary notification issue when concerns surfaced in the life insurance industry six years ago," she said in a staement. "At that time, we began to review and improve how we locate unreported deaths where the life insurance beneficiaries had not presented a claim.

"This effort helped us locate and provide policy benefits to nearly all beneficiaries. We continue to apply this process in all states," according to the statement. "With that said, we support this recently introduced legislation."

Country Financial checks its books twice annually to find unpaid life insurance benefits, a requirement of the bill, and "even if the legislation is not signed into law, we will continue to conduct these searches," according to a statement.
It's not every day that the President of the United States receives advice from an 8-year-old. However, when President Barack Obama got a letter from a little girl named Lily, where she dished words of advice, the commander-in-chief took it to heart and even gave his response.

Lily, whose dad serves the president via the Air Force, opened her letter to Obama with a direct observation. "I think this country needs more spunk," said the 8-year-old. She also said that country is in a "sad place" with what has been happening recently, namely "the attacks, the Zika virus, and the wars," and then she asked Obama to "please do something fun."

Lily's letter was shared in the White House Facebook page and she suggested that the president take a trip to Disney or water ski in the Caribbean. She also advised Obama to wear shorts and a tie-dye shirt to an important event. The 8-year-old, who has being president as her back up job next to becoming a cardio doctor, also asked Obama to appease her worries about politics.

President Obama, who is also a father to two girls, replied to Lily with his own letter, which was shared on Medium via the White House account. The POTUS thanked Lily for her fun suggestions and also thanked her father for his service to the country.

"I know things happening around the world can sometimes be worrisome, but we can make real and lasting progress if young people like you focus on growing and learning," the president wrote in part. He balked at Lily's suggestion to wear a tie-dye shirt in public, but acknowledged the little girl's "spunk" and enthusiasm. He also encouraged her to work harder to achieve a great future for America. Obama ended his letter to Lily by saying he is "expecting great things" from her.

Since the letter has been made public, it has already received nearly 15,000 shares and 100,000 likes on Facebook as of press time. Many praised Lily for her beautiful letter and remarked how children's thought process may be simple, but what they say can sometimes be the honest truths.
Imagine the frustration of many public health experts when the Congress went on summer recess without approving the allocation of funds for Zika virus response. It appeared that it's not only the politicians who are not significantly concerned as a recent survey revealed that 77 percent of Americans don't care about the emerging public health crisis across the nation.

Today, Zika virus is considered as a global public health threat while Zika prevention is "a matter of national security." That's why, several publications have run headlines urging the U.S. Congress to stop playing politics and act on the bill for emergency funding to fight the spread of Zika virus across the country, instead of stalling.

In the United States, thousands of Zika virus cases have already been documented, including the local mosquito transmission in Miami and the Zika-related microcephalic infants found in New York to California, Time reported. Due to these incidents, public health experts feared a widespread transmission may become a reality.

Due to the Congress refusal to approve President Barack Obama's proposal of $1.9 billion for the Zika virus response, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health have to redirect resources from other important public health priorities. The Congress' refusal continues despites the incessant pleading of the Head of State.

"Fighting Zika is no longer just a public health crisis," Time wrote. "Zika is a threat to national security just like other global diseases such as AIDS, SARS, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and MERS."

Moreover, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer also urged the Congress to legislate the Zika virus emergency funding bill. During the press conference on Aug. 7, Schumer told his fellow members that "the time to act is now."

"It has been more than 165 days since the President requested emergency funding to fight Zika, but Congress has yet to pass a bill and public health now hangs in the balance," Schumer said, The Journal Times quoted. "The time to act is now."

Florida Governor Rick Scott also added that in order to fight the public health threat of Zika virus, the President and the Congress need to "work together." Fortunately, President Obama took action on Aug. 11 by diverting the $81 million fund from biomedical research and antipoverty and healthcare programs to support the development of Zika vaccine.

Meanwhile, New York Daily News claimed the Congress is "sick" after it failed to approve the Zika response funding, making the United States at higher risk for an outbreak. In fact, mosquito transmission of Zika has already reached mainland Florida.

"Congressional gridlock leading into vacation time has reduced the United States to scrambling for the money needed to save lives and prevent birth defects," the publication wrote.

Do you think the Congress should be blamed for the lack of Zika response funding in the United States? Sound off below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
Photo: (Photo : Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Some kids eat more than enough and end up taking food without control. Other kids on the other hand almost eat nothing at all. Eating disorders can be very hard to deal with and when this kind of problem surmounts in the eating havits of your children, they should be given attention and should be addressed at the soonest possible time.

About 35% of children in America have feeding problems, "from mild picky eaters to children with much more severe food refusal and physical reasons that cause food avoidance" according to Richard M. Katz, chief medical officer at Mt. Washington. The Wallstreet Journal reports based on Dr. Katz comments that rigorously affected children and children with disabilities are thought to comprise 10% of the children who have eating problems. The kids' problems with eating turns into constant food avoidance which put them at risk of malnutrition and even longer-term physical and neurological development issues.

Undereating causes a slow growth rate that is common among children around 1 year of age. It develops if a parent or caregiver forces the child to eat or even expresses too much concern about the child's appetite or eating habits. The tendency of a child to refuse eating could become worse if such act is reinforced. Force-feeding also ends up making kids vomit what they are being force fed with.

Overeating on the other hand can lead to obesity, which can later cause diseases and most likely an early death. Obesity can also increase emotional problems that can affect the child and influence them to do self-harm or worst commit suicide.

Parents have a great role in saving their kids from eating disorders. EatingDisorders.org suggest ways to keep kids from the harmful effects of eating disorders:

1. Label foods as 'good' or 'bad' so that feelings of guilt and shame is felt when 'bad' foods are eaten

2. Do not use food as bribes, punishment or rewards

3. Children learn by example - so set a good eating habit example to them.

4. Allow your child to eat when hungry and stop when full

5. Never force them to eat everything in the plate

6. Do not criticise or tease children about their appearance nor compare them with other child's appearance

7. Keep them fit through sports.

These tips and more can be helpful. However, some eating disorders are toxic and you might need the help of the experts. Make sure that you have your child checked by the doctor to avoid serious effect of eating disorders.
The Infertile: A Sketch Comedy Show at Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Chelsea, which was supposed to conclude in August has just been extended for a September run. Veteran UCB performers like John Murray and Silvija Ozols had their own struggles with infertility which was the basis for the sketch comedy show.

The comedy show, which stars Murray and Ozols on the 9th and 30th, has received good reviews for its August stint last August 12th. Some of the reactions noted are as follows:

"Whether you are going through something similar or just want a good laugh based on real-world experiences, this show is worth catching." - AFAR LOCAL

"... gives you the low down on handling doctors, smug pregnant couples, and sometimes, the great, mysterious creator." - COMEDY CAKE

John Murray is known as the "Comedy's Next Almost Star" as featured in the Esquire magazine in 2013. He is one of the creators of the IFC Comedy Crib series John & Geoff Are Married. Murray also co-hosts the live show "Low Standards".

Silvija Ozols, on the other hand, improvises with the UCB Theatre group "The Stepfathers" and is a writer at the same time. Some of her writings were brought to Playbill, Time Out New York, and Hipster Animals.

One of the intriguing questions that the characters will be playing in the for comedy is, "What does it take to get pregnant?" This is very timely as pregnancy can present many problems in the society from various facets of people's lives, from teenagers to adults or even those in the retiring age. Pregnancy has a lot of faces in the society that are worth discussing about but this time, in a more interesting way.

Other actors who are in the cast are:

Anna Callegari (Billy on the Street, MTV's Girl Code)

Jackie Jennings (Above Average)

Ben Rameaka (Adam Ruins Everything)

Matt Rubano (UCB; Thank You, Del)

The presentation will be directed by Matt Fisher.
Actress Natalie Portman made her directorial debut for the new film she also stars in entitled "A Tale Of Love & Darkness" and recently said in an interview that directing is very much like motherhood.

Portman attended the premiere of her upcoming flick "A Tale Of Love & Darkness" on Monday evening at the Crosby Street Hotel in New York City and the 35-year-old actress, who donned a champagne-colored dress, recently made an appearance on "Good Morning America" to talk about directing the film. She pointed out that it is quite similar to being a mother to her five-year-old son, Aleph.

Just Jared reported that Portman said that a parental role and being a director are at par since the job is to make everyone comfortable and to make sure that everyone is doing okay. She added that getting the best out of the cast while directing is also similar to being a parent to Aleph. Portman continued to reveal, "Like how can you encourage them and support them to get the best out of them and that is very much a parental role."

Portman was also interviewed by Business Insider regarding the movie "A Tale Of Love & Darkness," which is an adaptation of the autobiographical novel by Israeli author Amos Oz. The movie is told in Hebrew and features the childhood of Oz in the early years of the state of Israel. Portman is from Israel and moved to the United States when she was three years old. Portman plays the role of Oz's mother, who has had struggles that led to Oz helping her most of the time.

Portman shared with the publication that when she read "A Tale of Love & Darkness," she was able to imagine the film and she enjoyed it so much that she could not stop thinking about it. She then contacted Oz and asked his permission to make it into a film.

"A Tale of Love & Darkness" hits the theaters this Friday.
"The Originals" Season 4 is still several months away from its premiere on TV, but many fans are already expressing their worries over the show's future on TV with the cancellation of its original series, "The Vampire Diaries." The CW executive shares his thoughts on the future of the "TVD" spinoff series. Will it be able to stand on its own after Season 4?

This article contains spoilers. Read on if you want to learn more about the details of this story.

"The Originals" is a spinoff series based on characters from "The Vampire Diaries." The show is already heading into its fourth season, but fans and viewers are worried over the future of the series after The CW announced that "TVD" was ending after Season 8.

There have been speculations that "The Originals" Season 4 may serve as the series finale following "The Vampire Diaries" Season 8. However, a recent interview with The CW boss Mark Pedowitz dismisses all claims that the show would not be able to stand on its own.

"I hope it lives very well on its own," he said, according to Deadline. "I'm hopeful that we will see a fifth year."

As most fans can recall, "TVD" Season 8 was cancelled because of the continued decline in the show's ratings since Nina Dobrev left in Season 6. However, The Stopru notes on the possibility that "The Originals" Season 4 may be more successful than its original series.

Many fans are hoping to see some of the characters from "The Vampire Diaries" in "The Originals" Season 4. The show may serve as a means for "Klaroline" shippers to finally get their dream to see Klaus and Caroline together; that is, if Caroline and Stefan will not end up together in the series finale.

Which characters from "The Vampire Diaries" Season 8 should join "The Originals" Season 4? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!


Does Hillary Clinton have a debilitating illness? Does Donald Trump suffer from a disorder? Concerns about these presidential candidate's physical and mental health have been put in question by the American people. After all, Americans will have to vote one of them as U.S. president.

As both camps attempt to discredit each other during this election season to sway votes their way, the public wants the truth about their health explored. Who is best fit for the top post to become one of the most powerful leaders in the world? What do Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's doctors have to say about their health?

Though hounded by stories that she has not been in the best of health since a having a concussion in 2012, Hillary Clinton had doctors certify that she is fit and fine. In July 2015, the Democrat's doctor, Liza Bardack, ascertained via a letter that Hillary Clinton has no medical problems aside from pollen allergies and hyperthyroidism.

While she did have a concussion, the doctor said that this has been completely resolved after two months. The candidate is also taking maintenance medications and vitamins. She is also eating healthily and has been regularly exercising.

False reports that supposedly had Dr. Bardack claiming Hillary Clinton suffered from dementia was been debunked. Dr. Bardack issued a statement to address this saying that the leaks were fake. "Secretary Clinton is in excellent health and fit to serve as President of the United States," she said, per FactCheck.Org.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump had his doctor release a confirmation that he's also fit to run for the presidency. The letter was supposedly posted on Trump's campaign site back in December 2015, but it appears to have already been taken down.

In it, Dr. Harold Bornstein attested that Trump's physical health was excellent, per The Daily Beast. However, the letter lacked a detailed confirmation in a way that Dr. Bardack wrote hers for Hillary Clinton.

Then there are concerns about Donald Trump's mental state because of the candidate's pronouncements in the media, which suggested he might not be in the right frame of mind for the presidency. But a medical expert, Dr. Justin A. Frank, said that it would be premature to base Trump's mental health on this.

"What we see on TV seems very different from what we hear from friends of his," said Dr. Frank, per NBC News. "Most of my colleagues feel that he's not crazy, and if he is crazy, he's crazy like a fox," the expert further said, alluding that Trump is actually a very smart and persuasive businessman who knows what he is doing.

Hillary Clinton will be 69 years old in October. Donald Trump turned 70 this June.
Production for "Dance Moms" Season 7 has not begun yet but the upcoming season of the Lifetime reality series is filled with tons of speculations and rumors. A recent report suggests the return of Chloe Lukasiak and Mackenzie Ziegler after their respective departures from the show.

This article contains spoilers. Read on if you want to learn more about the details of this story.

Mackenzie Ziegler and Chloe Lukasiak are rumored to be joining "Dance Moms" Season 7 cast after their departure in Seasons 6 and 4, respectively. According to Reality Tea, Ziegler's return to the Lifetime drama began after Abby Lee Miller posted a photo of her ALDC team with Ziegler in the middle.

This stirred speculations that the younger Ziegler will be back for "Dance Moms" Season 7. Many fans were wondering why Mackenzie had to leave when her sister, Maddie, announced her departure in Season 6.

As most fans can recall, Maddie Ziegler left "Dance Moms" Season 6 in order to focus on other projects. Mackenzie, on the other hand, does not have as much projects to do aside from the Lifetime reality series.

Lukasiak is also believed to return to "Dance Moms" Season 7 now that her number one competitor, Maddie Ziegler, has left the series. Lukasiak posted a photo of her standing in front of Studio 19's logo, which sparked speculations of her departure; however, many fans noted that Lukasiak was referring to the studio's new location.

Meanwhile, International Business Times notes that "Dance Moms" Season 6B air date has been announced. It may have taken awhile before the network announced the return of the show, but the good news is that new episodes will begin airing on Sept. 6.

JoJo Siwa, who was previously rumored to be leaving "Dance Moms" Season 6, also shared that the upcoming episodes will be very fun. Nia Sioux also expressed uncertainty over her return to the show because of new commitments.

Do you think Mackenzie Ziegler and Chloe Lukasiak should be in "Dance Moms" Season 7? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!


Exercising won't compensate for the amount of times you spend sitting. A newly released science advisory warned that long periods of sitting raises people's risk of developing diabetes, heart problems, and death.

The American Heart Association found that Americans are sitting for six to eight hours a day, whether it's watching television or doing work in their desk jobs. The study cited one report that said people in the United States sit for an average of 38 hours per week in 2009, as opposed to the 26 hours American spent sitting per week in 1965. In the United Kingdom, the number rose from 30 hours per week to 42 hours per week in the same time frame.

According to the AHA's study, sitting for two hours while watching TV raises a person's diabetes risk by 14 percent or more. For every additional hour a person watches TV, the risk of heart problems increases by at least six to eight percent. People who are inactive for long periods of time tend to have low life spans.

Some people would want to compensate for sitting too much by exercising in the weekend. It turns out this approach doesn't have enough benefits to counteract the negative effects of sitting. Basically, people who engage in high levels of physical activity in their free time have high risks of diabetes, heart problems, and death if they still sit for long periods.

Prolonged sitting encourages high blood pressure and increased cholesterol, factors that contribute to heart disorders. Other health hazards of sitting too much are muscle degeneration, overworked pancreas, cancers (breast, colon, and endometrial), soft leg bones, poor blood circulation in legs, bad back, strained neck, and slower brain function, The Washington Post listed.

For most of us, however, prolonged sitting is unavoidable especially to those people tied to their desk jobs such as computer programmers and writers. The study's authors advised people to slash their sedentary periods intentionally by walking or stretching every 30 minutes or so.

In a statement published on American Heart Association, study author Deborah Rohm Young advised people with desk jobs to walk around the office several times "instead of powering through your work from the minute you get into" your workspace. Alan Hedge, a professor of ergonomics at Cornell University in New York, recommended standing for eight minutes, moving around, and stretching for two minutes after sitting for 20 minutes, the Wall Street Journal reported. For those who practice prolonged sitting while watching TV, experts advised to walk around the house during commercials.
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My friend Alissa Wilkinson interviewed The Birth of a Nation director Nate Parker for Christianity Today this past week. Parker has been dealing with some controversial things in his past lately, but his chat with Alissa focuses on the religious elements within the film itself, which concerns Nat Turners slave rebellion in 1831.

Specifically, Alissa and Parker talk about how the film shows everyone  slave owners and rebel slaves alike  quoting the Bible to justify their various agendas:

When you think about Nat Turner and what he did, if youre able to view this film without the baggage of racism, then its very clearly a story of someone that was compelled by his faith to act as the hand of the God through his interpretation. Theres black people killing white people, but with [Turner] very, very explicitly saying, I have to cut the head from the serpent. I have to kill the evil. I have to destroy the evil that is subjugating us. One thing that really struck me as I was watching it at Sundance is how much Scripture is in the filmwall-to-wall Scripture. More than any film thats ever been made, from my research. That was striking. It shows how Scripture can be used to oppress people or to liberate them. Thats exactly right. . . . I scoured the Bible for specific instances of characters or people who were outnumbered, who were oppressed, who were enslaved, who were subjugated, who were manipulated. Then I looked for instances when those very people became radical, in the sense that they decided that they wanted their freedom then. We think about David, or we think about Jericho, or we think of any of these situations where reality was bent toward the people of God for them to achieve his will. You can call them miracles. Those are the times that I used specific Scripture for his motivation. At other times, I looked very specifically for instances in the Bible, for instance in Ephesians, where [the text] seemed to validate slavery. I used it in the same way that people of the time wouldve used it to keep people in chainsliterally, figuratively, and psychologically. . . . I ask your readers or ask my supporters, What kind of Christian are you? I asked that at Sundance: Are you a Nat Turner Christian, or are you a Christian like those who hung him and decapitated him and skinned his body and crushed his flesh to grease?

The striking thing about that last question is the way it almost assumes that violence is a given, and its only a question of what kind of violence a Christian will commit: either a Christian will be an oppressive tyrant, or a Christian will be a freedom fighter who kills the tyrants. I find myself wanting a third, more Christlike option.

I have not seen The Birth of a Nation for myself yet, but a colleague of mine who saw it at Sundance did not like it at all, precisely because he felt the film came down firmly on the side of religiously-motivated violence  the violence of the slaves rather than the violence of the slave-owners, to be sure, but violence just the same.

The rest of us can interpret the film for ourselves when it comes out October 7. But I find it striking that a film about the biblically-driven leader of a violent uprising would be coming out at almost the exact midpoint between Ben-Hur and Hacksaw Ridge, two films that, by all accounts, embrace a more pacifist form of Christianity.

Ben-Hur opens next Friday, and the clips we have already seen show Judah Ben-Hur getting caught up in a vicious cycle of revenge and reprisals, all of it due to a Zealot who shoots an arrow at Pontius Pilate from the roof of Judahs house; this same Zealot will apparently end up being one of the two thieves crucified next to Jesus.

In previous film adaptations of Ben-Hur, Judah raised armies to fight back against the Roman oppressors, or at least he talked about doing so, similar to how Nat Turner fights back against the slave owners. (Judah is a slave himself for part of Ben-Hur.) But one of the points of the story is that Judah turns away from violence after his final encounter with Jesus, and it sounds like thats how the new Ben-Hur will end too.

Meanwhile, Hacksaw Ridge opens November 4, and that film is about a Seventh-Day Adventist named Desmond Doss who refused to carry a rifle into battle during World War II but risked his life to save his fellow soldiers. Again, there are very few people who would say that our side in World War II was not justified on some level  certainly compared to other wars fought before and after it  but the person that that story is based on believed that, as a Christian, he could not justify killing anyone.

Ben-Hur is fiction, but its a story about oppressed people  enslaved people, even  learning to respond to tyrants with something other than violence. (Of course, the original novel was written by a former Civil War general, so, hmmm.) Hacksaw Ridge, meanwhile, is a true story about a man whose pacifism was anything but cheap; it came at great cost, as he put himself in harms way repeatedly to save others.

Both films could offer a stark contrast to the violent, vengeful Christianity depicted in The Birth of a Nation. Like I say, I have not seen Parkers film and I have no idea to what degree it will embrace Turners pro-violent interpretation of scripture. But the fact that its coming out between two high-profile films that focus on Christian pacifism and the need to forgive ones oppressors is  interesting, to say the least.
Mr. Anderson, Mr. Anderson! I called, trying to get his attention. Mr. Anderson was the church youth group leader. I was in middle school, and I was considering joining. I was from a large, conservative homeschool family, and at our hip, upbeat evangelical megachurch, that meant I didnt fit in with the other children. I had attended Sunday School only sporadically, and youth group would be a different experienceit would bring me face-to-face with my churchs public school children and their world. I was nervous, but I wanted to give it a try.

But I was encountering a problem. I had a question for Mr. Anderson, but he was ignoring me. He wasnt even acknowledging that I was there. Why? Becausebeing a young, hip, evangelical youth pastorhe required the children attending youth group to call him by his first name, Dan. I wasnt allowed to do so. My more conservative parents considered it disrespectful to address an adult by their first name, and I couldnt have brought myself to do so if Id tried. Disheartened by my experience with Mr. Andersons inflexibility (he never did respond to my attempts to get his attention) I dropped out of youth group before Id even really begun attending.

I sometimes wonder how different my life would have been if Id attended that youth group. My parents were concerned that it was too worldly and fun-oriented and yet they were willing to let me at least give it a test-run, to see. If Id attended, my college experience might have been very different, in a good wayit wouldnt have been my first real exposure to children who werent homeschooled. I would have been able to related to public school (and private school) kids more easily, to fit in or at least not stick out so painfully. Yet that was not to be.

But what about burkinis? According to the New York Times:

Five [French] towns have banned [burkinis]. Three more are in the process of doing so. Prime Minister Manuel Valls supported the prohibitions on Wednesday, calling the garment part of the enslavement of women.

When I read this news, my mind went straight to Mr. Anderson. He, too, may have felt that he was taking a stand, but it didnt matter. It was never just about my parents requirements. The norm of calling adults by their last names was so ingrained in me that I could not have brought myself to call him Dan even if Id wanted toand I didnt. I probably could have called Mr. Anderson Dan without my parents knowing, but I didnt want to, and I shouldnt have had to. As a result, I found myself effectively shut out of a group that would have given me more exposure to the wider world than I received in my insular homeschool community.

What Im trying to get at is thisbanning burkinis wont change what burkini-inclined women wear to the beach, it will just prevent them from going to the beach. It will shut them out of a public space they could otherwise have access to and deprive them of opportunities they might otherwise have had. And for what? To make the local government feel like theyve struck a blow against repression and the enslavement of women? They havent. Regardless of what one thinks about the hijab and other forms of Muslim dress, barring women from wearing burkinis to the beach wont change what these women wear any more than Mr. Anderson barring students from calling him by his last name changed what I called him.

I have another point of comparison, actually. I never did swim team as a child, but some of my younger sisters did. It was a community league, in the summer, at a local pool. My sisters practiced and competed while wearing shorts on over their swimsuits. It slowed their timethats how physics works. And yes, my sisters wore those shorts because of the modesty standards ingrained in them by my parents and their homeschool community. But barring my sisters from swimming in shorts wouldnt have stuck it to my parents and their body shaming. Instead, it would have prevented my sisters from participatingnot so much because of my parents might have objected as because my sisters, given their upbringing, wouldnt have been able to bring themselves to swim publicly without shorts.

That last sentence is actually a really important point. I consider both my parents body shaming and the dress code shaped by our conservative homeschool communitys norms highly problematic and, yes, bad for women. But by the time we were teens, for most of us, there was no need for external enforcement of these normsI could no more have swum in a public pool without shorts over my swimsuit than I could have stripped off all my clothes in Times Square. I would have felt naked, vulnerable, and wrong without those shorts.

We can promote body positivity and work to break down the troubling ideas that undergird oppressive dress codes wherever they occur, but banning women from wearing specific clothing is not going to workand more than that, it ought to go against our feminist ideals of self-determination. Feminists often speak up against high school and middle school dress codes, which bar girls from wearing certain types of clothing that are considered too revealing. How is barring women from wearing clothing that is considered too concealing a good idea in any universe? We should focus on removing dress requirements, not imposing them.

We can and should stand up against laws requiring women to wear concealing clothing, such as Irans requirement that women cover their hair in public. But passing laws barring women from wearing these same types of clothing effectively does the same thingit polices womens clothing choices and dictates what they can and cannot wear, controlling their access to the public square.
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
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About 75% of military recruits arrive at a training base with no bank account and have to be bussed to a local bank to open one, says Jill Castilla, CEO of Citizens Bank of Edmond. The bank's team is building a platform that will help service members save and build credit.
Imprisoned Epileptic Iranian Journalist Denied Request for Early Release

08/18/16

Source: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

Imprisoned reformist journalist Ahmad Asgari, who suffers from severe epilepsy, has been denied early conditional release and medical furlough (temporary leave), an informed source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, despite doctors determination that he is medically unfit to continue serving his sentence.



Reformist Writer Ahmad Asgari Has Not Had Access to His Lawyer Since 2014



Ahmad is sick. He suffers from migraines and epilepsy. He has violent seizures that have sent him to the prison clinic many times. He takes a lot of medication, said the source. In addition, he is the only child of the family and his sick 70-year-old mother needs care, but they have refused his request for conditional release. The officials from the prosecutors office said they would look into it, but six months have passed and nothing has happened.

The source also told the Campaign that Asgaris lawyer has not had access to his client since 2014. As his next of kin, Asgaris elderly mother is the only person who could follow up on her sons request for mercy on medical grounds, but she is too ill and frail to do so, added the source.

According to Iranian law, experts from the Legal Medicine Organization can determine that a prisoner is unable to endure prison conditions and send their recommendation to the Judiciary to request the prisoners conditional release on medical grounds.

Physicians outside the prison have examined Asgari and determined that he is not fit to serve his prison term, but the Legal Medicine Organization disagreed and ruled that Asgari could endure his prison sentence.

A veteran journalist who worked for several reformist newspapers including Etemad-Melli and Karoon, Asgari was arrested on January 13, 2015 and sentenced to five years in prison for non-violent civil activities. Asgari is a political prisoner but he is currently being held in Evin Prisons Ward 8, which holds all types of convicts, including dangerous criminals.

Prior to being sentenced, Asgari was detained several times for his peaceful activities in 2009 when nonviolent protests and demonstrations occurred across Iran against the widely disputed results of that years presidential election. Asgari was an active supporter of then presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leader of Irans Green Movement-referred to as the sedition by hardliners-who has been under house arrest since February 2011.

Asgari was first taken into custody by intelligence agents of the Revolutionary Guards on February 10, 2010 and released a month later on 700 million rials bail ($23,300 USD). In November 2010 Judge Mohammad Moghisseh of Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced Asgari to three years in prison for participating in the protests of 2009, but the Appeals Court suspended the ruling.

Asgari was arrested a second time on June 12, 2013 by agents of the Intelligence Ministry who broke his ribs in the process, according to an informed source. After nearly three months of interrogations and solitary confinement, he was released on bail. In March 2014, Judge Moghisseh sentenced Asgari to five years in prison for propaganda against the state and acting against national security. The sentence was upheld on appeal.

On July 18, 2014, on the occasion of the Eid Fitr Muslim holiday, Asgaris sentence was reduced to two and a half years in prison. He is currently a little over six months away from having fully served his sentence.
Why Has Tehran Allowed Russian Bombers to Use an Iranian Base?

08/18/16

By Mark N. Katz (source: LobeLog)



Russian warplanes at an Iranian base in Hamadan





In a highly dramatic development, Russian bombers have begun using an Iranian base for bombing missions over Syria. Why Moscow would want to do this is clear: flight time to Syria is much shorter from northwestern Iran than from southern Russia. This allows Russian bombers to carry less fuel and more bombs, which holds out the prospect for more effective (as well as just more) Russian bombing missions against Syrian opposition targets. Furthermore, Moscow gave short notice to Washington that Russian bombers would be flying from Iran over Iraq and Syria, thereby warning American aircraft in the vicinity to stay out of their way. This is one more way Putin might see himself as putting Obama in his place and enhancing Russias reputation as a great power.

Less clear, though, is why Tehran is now willing to allow Russian bombers to fly combat missions from an Iranian base. Article 146 of the Islamic Republics constitution explicitly states, The establishment of any kind of foreign military base in Iran, even for peaceful purposes, is forbidden. Tehran would undoubtedly respond that it has not allowed Russia to establish a base of its own but merely permitted it to make use of an Iranian one. However, given longstanding Iranian resentment about past Russian annexations of Iranian territory, numerous interventions in Iran, and active support for Saddam Hussein during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, allowing Russian forces even to make use of an Iranian base will hardly be popular with the Iranian public. So why do it?

One obvious reason is that Tehran, like Moscow, is dismayed at the strength of the Syrian opposition forces in Aleppo resisting the efforts of the Russian- and Iranian-backed Assad regime to crush them. Both Tehran and Moscow, then, see Russian bombers flying from Iran as part of a stepped-up effort to defeat Assads opponents. Whether Russian bombers flying shorter distances and carrying more bombs will make the difference in suppressing the Syrian opposition, of course, is highly uncertain, but Moscow and Tehran may jointly agree that it is worth trying.





Russian President Vladimir Putin meets his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rohani in Tehran

(photo by Mehr News Agency, November 23, 2015)



There may, however, be another reason why Tehran is willing to allow Russian bombers to fly from an Iranian base. The Iranian decision comes at a time when the leaders of several countries with which Tehran is at odds to varying degrees are actively courting Vladimir Putin.

Prickly toward the West, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has practically been fawning over Putin to improve Russian-Turkish ties, which deteriorated sharply after Turkish forces shot down a Russian warplane. The two leaders have been talking on a range of issues, including Syria.

Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus relations with President Barack Obama have grown strained, the Israeli leaders relations with Putin are reportedly quite good. An August 15 Al Monitor story stated that telephone calls between Netanyahu and Putin are now a matter of routine.

As LobeLog has discussed, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir is seeking to modify Russian policy on Syria by offering greatly increased trade and investment.

And Secretary of State John Kerry has been working with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Syrian conflict resolution efforts.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S., of course, all want to see Assad gone from Syria. Israel supports neither him nor the Iranian presence there. Moscows discussions with the leaders of countries hostile toward Iran, the Assad regime, or both, must not have done much to boost confidence in Tehran about whether Russia is a reliable ally.

Tehrans allowing Russian bombers to fly missions to Syria from a base in Iran, then, may be intended as a message to all of Irans opponents regarding Syria or other issues attempting to court Russia. What Tehran seems to be saying is: Moscow may talk to all of you about Syria, but it is working with us there. Further, to the extent that this increased Russian-Iranian military cooperation causes American, Turkish, Israeli, and Saudi leaders all to doubt the value of their talking to Putin and Lavrov about Syria, Tehran can only be pleased.

Although Moscow may see its use of an Iranian base for its bombing missions as something that expands its options, Tehran may instead see this move as a way to limit Russian cooperation with Irans adversaries.



About the author:

Mark N. Katz is a professor of government and politics at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982. He is the author of many books and articles, including Leaving without Losing: The War on Terror after Iraq and Afghanistan (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012).
Iran's police to use sniffer dogs at train stations

08/18/16

Source: Tasnim News Agency

TEHRAN - Commander of Iran's railroad police unveiled plans for the formation of a dog squad to help the forces in anti-drug operations. Speaking to Tasnim on Monday, General Alireza Akbarshahi said the railroad police is already using the canines trained by the Police Special Forces on a limited scale.



An Iranian police dog



Upon approval by senior commanders, the railroad police will have its own dog squad to improve the capabilities in the war on narcotics, the commander added.

Using police dogs appears to be very deterrent, as it will reduce narcotics-related crimes and improve police abilities in detecting drugs, he went on to say.

Detection or sniffer dogs are trained by police to detect substances such as explosives, illegal drugs or blood.
Rio 2016 Olympics - Men's Volleyball: Italy defeats Iran to advance to semifinals

08/18/16

Source: FIVB (photos by Mehdi Zare, Mehr News Agency)

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 17, 2016 - Italy gained their seventh entry to the Olympic semifinals, following their 3-0 (31-29, 25-19, 25-17) victory over Iran in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men's volleyball quarterfinals at Maracanazinho on Wednesday.

The Italians have been in the Olympic semifinals for six times and have won a total of five medals, including two silver medals and three bronze medals.

Three Italian players scored in double-figures, led by Ivan Zaytsev, who tallied 18 points. Osmany Juantorena and Filippo Lanza contributed 16 and 11 points, respectively.

The Iranian hitters were held to score in single digits. Shahram Mahmoudi led Iran with eight markers, then Adel Gholami and Mojtaba Mirzajanpour had seven points each.

Italy and Iran fought hard to the end of the opening set, enduring successive deadlocks and lead changes. The outcome remained unclear as both sides traded errors from the service line that extended the set. Juantorena saw an open space in the Iranian court and slammed a strong cross-court hit that helped his side level the score at 28-all. He succeeded on two more swings going to the same direction, until Birarelli's block sealed the set for Italy 31-29.

Both teams picked up where they left off and challenged each other with powerful swings. Filippo Lanza gave Italy a slim lead 16-15 that opened an opportunity for Juantorena to get more involved in scoring. The Italians safeguarded their lead and pulled away for the second set victory 25-19.

Italy led by as much as two points at the start of the second set, then Zaytsev, Juantorena and Lanza engaged in the attack barrage that stretched their lead to 13-8. Italy kept their strong pace and reached set point with an eight-point cushion, until Iran captain Mir Saeid Marouflakrani committed a service mistake to concede the set 25-17.



Iran volleyball team



Quick links - Men's Quarterfinals - Wednesday, August 17:

Russia beat Canada 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-18)

USA beat Poland 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20)

Italy beat Iran 3-0 (31-29, 25-19, 25-17)

Brazil v Argentina at 22:15

Quick links - Volleyball:

Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Volleyball

Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Volleyball Results/Schedule

Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Volleyball - Teams - Men
The best 2-in-1 laptop 2022: our picks of the best convertible laptops

These are the best 2-in-1 laptops you can buy right now
Ubers rushing to replace its million-plus drivers with robots, and the companys early forays towards that effort start in Pennsylvania later in August. The ride-sharing service plans to roll out self-driving cars in Pittsburgh that will accept real world passengers right from the get-go, according to Bloomberg.

The cars, while fully autonomous, wont be unleashed onto Pittsburgh streets without human supervision. The cars will have a specially-trained engineer ready to take the wheel should something go wrong. There will also be a co-pilot taking notes on how each ride goes.

The impact on you at home: For Uber riders, any trips in a driverless car will initially be free. Its not clear how long that deal will last, but presumably it will be for an extended period so that Uber can gain as much data as possible about using self-driving cars in the real world. It appears thrifty Uber riders will not be able to request self-driving cars, however. Instead, the autonomous vehicles will be assigned to Uber customers at random.

Only the beginning

Uber has ordered 100 autonomous vehicles from Volvo due for delivery by the end of the year. Uber and Volvo are teaming up to develop autonomous driver technology with an aim to be road-ready by 2021.

As with Google and other driverless car makers, it will be immediately obvious which cars have autonomous technology and which do not. Each autonomous Uber car will be a Volvo XC90 equipped with cameras, radar, lasers, and GPS. Renderings in the Bloomberg story suggest the equipment on Ubers Volvos will be a little sleeker than Googles fleet; however, the vehicles will still have a large roof-mounted setup.

Ubers rushing headlong into self-driving cars in the hopes of beating back Google and others who are moving more cautiously. Rumors of Googles plans to use its driverless cars to create a competing ride-sharing service apparently spooked Uber.

The minute it was clear to us that our friends in Mountain View were going to be getting in the ride-sharing space, we needed to make sure there is an alternative [self-driving car], Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told Bloomberg. Because if there is not, were not going to have any business.

Rumors that Uber plans to change its name to Johnny Cab once driverless cars are road-ready could not be immediately confirmed.
Nvidia just cant stop rolling out new graphics cards. On Thursday, the graphics company announced a cheaper 3GB version of the $250 GeForce GTX 1060.

The new GTX 1060 starts at $200, putting it on a collision course with AMDs similarly priced 4GB Radeon RX 480. Several companies have already revealed large GTX 1060 3GB lineups, including EVGA and MSI.

For $200, the GTX 1060 loses half of its memory, dropping from 6GB in the original card to 3GB in the cut-down version. The 3GB GTX 1060 also sees its CUDA cores reduced to 1152 from the full-fat versions 1280. That cut-down combo results in performance thats roughly 5 percent slower than the full $250 GTX 1060 with 6GB of memory. To put that in perspective, the GTX 1060 3GB is about 3 frames per second slower if youre targeting 60fps.

While the original GeForce GTX 1060 is capable of hitting fine frame rates at 1440p, the new models limited 3GB memory buffer will likely affect performance in some games at that resolution, despite the superb memory compression in Nvidias new Pascal GPUs. Without having tested one of the 3GB GTX 1060s yet, based off that specification wed recommend considering the new variant for 1080p gaming alone.

Everything else remains the same in the 3GB GTX 1060, including the base and boost clocks at 1.5GHz and 1.7GHz, respectively. Memory speed stands firm at 8Gbps, memory bandwidth is still 192-bit, and the card still requires 120W of power and is recommended for use with a 400W PSU.

Nvidias specifications for the GeForce GTX 1060 3GB.

Why this matters: Its surprising that Nvidia didnt announce this card when the original 1060 came out in early July. Its also a little atypical for Nvidia to release a cut-down version of a card with fewer CUDA cores and still call it a GTX 1060, as opposed to a GTX 1050 or GTX 1050 Ti. All of this suggests this card is more about facing off against AMDs RX 480 at an identical $200 price point than anything else.

In fact, Nvidia specifically called out the 8GB RX 480 when the company pinged us about the launch of the 3GB GTX 1060. The GTX 1060 3GB is about 10 percent faster than the AMD RX480 8GB, an Nvidia spokesperson said.

To recap: Nvidia priced its new card at the same level as the 4GB RX 480, but claims the new 1060s performance is 10 percent faster than the $240 8GB RX 480. The next-generation graphics card wars are indeed in full swing, and speaking as a gamer, youve gotta love it.
Sysadmins, rejoice: PowerShell is coming to Linux and Mac. Microsoft announced Thursday that its automation and scripting system is breaking out of the confines of Windows and going open source.

The company is also releasing alpha versions of PowerShell for Linux (specifically Ubuntu, Centos and Redhat) and Mac OS X. A new PowerShell GitHub page gives people the ability to download binaries of the software, as well as access to the apps source code.

PowerShell on Linux and Mac will let people who have already built proficiency with Microsofts scripting language take those skills and bring them to new platforms. Meanwhile, people who are used to working on those platforms will have access to a new and very powerful tool for getting work done.

Its part of Microsofts ongoing moves to open up products that the company has previously kept locked to platforms that it owned. The companys open sourcing of its .NET programming frameworks in 2014 paved the way for this launch, by making the building blocks of PowerShell available on Linux and OS X.

By making PowerShell available on Linux, Microsoft has taken the skills of Windows administrators who are already used to the software, and made them more marketable. It has also made it possible for hardcore Linux users to get access to an additional set of tools that they can use to manage a variety of systems.

Jeffrey Snover, a Microsoft technical fellow and the architect of PowerShell, said in an interview that the core engine and cmdlets will be the same across PowerShell on Windows, Linux and Mac. Some cmdlets that use Windows-only features wont be available on other platforms, and PowerShell scripts written for Windows may have to be modified to work on Linux and Mac.

Right now, Snover said that Microsoft is still working on finalizing some of PowerShells remote access capabilities on Linux. But once thats done, administrators will be able to use PowerShell on Windows to remotely manage a fleet of Linux systems, something that customers have been wanting for quite some time.

Theyll also be able to manage them on AWS, thanks to a partnership between Microsoft and Amazon, its biggest competitor in the cloud wars. New AWS cmdlets for PowerShell make it possible for users to administer services in the cloud.

VMware has also partnered with Microsoft to release new cmdlets for PowerShell that work across platforms, too.

Thursdays announcement also included the release of the PowerShell Editor Service, which lets Visual Studio Code and Sublime Text work with PowerShell, including support for debugging. Microsoft said that support for other editors will be coming in the future.

When it comes to the PowerShell open source project, Microsoft will be accepting contributions to it through GitHub. Right now, the only people who can commit changes to PowerShell work for Microsoft, but Snover said that he expects to have committers from the community working on the project in the future.

Speaking of those contributors, Snover said that Microsoft plans to make PowerShell for Linux generally available during the first half of next year, but its release date will be determined by when members of the community think its ready.
AMD on Thursday finally unveiled its new Zen microarchitecture, with a pair of CPUs that could put the company back into the fight with Intels best.

AMD said its Summit Ridge CPU, aimed at high-performance desktops, will pack 8 cores and feature simultaneous multi-threading technology to give it 16 threads of processing power. Summit Ridge is targeted for Q1 2017, though a trickle of chips could appear sooner. A second chip for servers, code-named Naples, will feature an astounding 32 cores with SMT, giving it 64 threads per CPU. SMT is similar to Intels Hyper-Threading technology, which splits a single core into two virtual cores for more performance.

To prove that Zen has the right stuff, AMD officials on Wednesday night demonstrated before a crowd of reporters and analysts that an 8-core Zen could run just as fast as Intels newest 8-core consumer Core i7 chip.

Gordon Mah Ung AMDs Summit Ridge SoC (left) running at 3GHz can run a Blender render just as fast as a Core i7-6900K (right) running at 3GHz.

Why this matters: Up to now, some had speculated that Zen would fall short. Recently-leaked benchmarks seemed to indicate it was no better than Intels Haswell microarchitecture released more than two years ago. If other tests back up AMDs demonstration, however, it appears to run neck-and-neck with the newly released Broadwell-E. If AMD can live up to its promise, its great news for the company as well as for consumers.

Clock-for-clock, its looking fast

The demonstration used the multi-threaded Blender rendering application on two similarly configured PCs. One featured an engineering sample Summit Ridge chip, while the other featured a new Intel Broadwell-E Core i7-6900K CPU. While the Core i7-6900K can run up to 4GHz on some workloads, AMD conducted the test with both CPUs locked at 3GHz.

This methodology may seem unorthodox to some, but matching the chips clock-for-clock helps reveal their efficiencies. Conducting the test this way also helps AMD protect the final shipping clock speeds of the chips. In the demo, which was performed just once, the Zen finished a nose ahead of the Broadwell-E Core i7-6900K chip.

Its just a single test on an unreleased CPU, and under the control of AMD. Still, the significance of the performance feat quells any fears that Zen would be the all-too-familiar too little, too late story from a company that has eaten Intels dust.

The demonstration exceeded the crowds expectations. This is the most exciting AMD (CPU) launch in a decade, said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst with Tirias Research, who attended the event. They really have hit the mark on this.

Gordon Mah Ung AMDs Zen will fit into the new AM4 socket and appears to support dual-channel DDR4.

Performance, throughput and efficiency

AMD officials also lifted the curtain on Zens completely new microarchitecture. Gone are the shared, clustered multi-thread cores of the previous Bulldozer and Piledriver designsZens cores are stand-alone cores with SMT. The chip is being fabbed by spin-off company Global Foundries on a 14nm process, using FinFet technology.

AMDs new Zen is a completely new CPU demonstrating a big performance boost over previous designs.

AMD CTO Mark Papermaster said the Zen core is about performance, throughput, and efficiency. Papermaster said Zen features a new high-performance cache, a greatly improved prefetcher, and a completely redesigned branch prediction unit.

This is a big deal for AMD, and Papermaster showed it. Its a thrill to tell you we fully validated our performance achievement, he said, beaming. He also promised that AMD was just warming up. We are back. I told you a year ago we are back. And Im very happy to tell you we delivered that performance and the team is not stopping, they are full forward on the next-generation design.

The Summit Ridge chips are actually SoCs and will support DDR4, USB 3.1 10Gbps, NVMe, SATA Express and PCIe 3.0. Other details of Summit Ridge such as die size, transistor count and thermals werent released Wednesday night.

Gordon Mah Ung Heres what 128 threads of computing looks like on a dual-processor AMD Naples-based server.

Naples brings 32 cores and 128 threads

Its not just about the desktop, either. AMD also wowed the crowd by demonstrating its server-oriented Naples SoC running in a dual-processor system. With each Naples packing 32 cores and SMT, that means a Naples-based server would feature 128 threads of compute power.

Officials said Zen will continue to evolvethe new chip design will scale down to laptops sometime next year. But first AMD needs to ship these first Zen chips.

The consumer-focused Summit Ridge is expected to hit shelves in the first quarter of 2017, but AMD officials said some limited chips may ship in systems as soon as the end of this year. The server-oriented Naples chip would hit in the first half of 2017. I told you the best is yet to come, said AMD CEO Lisa Su. The next 12 months will be even more exciting.
Friday, Aug. 19

The Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival comes to an end with Redlands Symphony Orchestra and a fireworks show. The performance will include performances of famed works including excerpts from Lalos Cello Concerto performed by Cellist Ruslan Biryukov.

8 p.m., Redlands Bowl, 25 Grant St. Redlands. Free, but donations are encouraged. 909-793-7316, redlandsbowl .org.

Saturday, Aug. 20

As part of its Rat Pack movie series, The Fox Performing Arts Center is screening the 1960 classic Oceans 11. The original film follows Danny Ocean and his World War II friends as they attempt to rob five Las Vegas Casinos. This is the version with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin, not George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

4 p.m., Fox performing Arts Center, 3801 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside. $11 plus fees. 951-779-9800, riversidelive.com.

Sunday, Aug. 21

Comedian Russell Peters is coming to Pechanga Resort and Casino. Peters rose to prominence thanks to his stint on Last Comic Standing and his Netflix stand-up special, Notorious.

7 p.m., Pechanga Resort and Casino, 45000 Pechanga Parkway, Temecula. $69-$109, plus fees. 888-732-4264, pechanga.com.

Monday, Aug. 22

Ragtime is running at Starlight Cinemas Dos Lagos in Corona as part of its Cinema Classics film series. The film is based on the E.L. Doctorow novel and directed by Milos Forman. The film follows the story of a talented African-American jazz pianist as he tries to combat racism in New York City in the 1900s. Visit starlightcinemas.com for tickets and showtimes.

Tuesday, Aug. 23

The Princess Bride is the latest film to screen for Regency Theatres Flashback Tuesdays film series. The classic film depicts the bedtime fairy tale of Buttercup and her true love Westley. The movie stars Cary Elwes and Robin Wright.

7:30 p.m. University Village 10, 1201-A University Ave., Riverside. Visit regencymovies.com for tickets and more information.

Wednesday, Aug. 24

Its the last day for kids to beat the heat at the Chino Youth Museum. The summer museum series is for children 3-12 years old, who can work on art projects, play games and more. Attendees should be prepared for light water play. All children must be accompanied by an adult who are willing to participate.

2:30 p.m., Chino Youth Museum, 13191 Sixth St., Chino. Free with the price of admission ($4). 909-334-3270, chinoyouthmuseum.com.

Thursday, Aug. 25

Its your last chance for cheap eats at Inland Empire Restaurant Week. The event includes restaurants from throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Among them: Sangios Deli at Cougar Vineyards & Winery in Temecula and Green Mango Thai Bistro in Rancho Cucamonga.

Visit inlandempirerestaurantweek.com for a full list of participating restaurants and their specials.

Contact the writer: features@pressenterprise.com
Aproned employees gave customers red, white or blue balloons, frosted cookies and a thank you for 80 years Wednesday at Stater Bros. stores.

The Inland supermarket chain was marking the anniversary of the opening of its first store, on Aug. 17, 1936 in Yucaipa.

Stater Bros., now headquartered in San Bernardino, has since grown to 169 stores, or at least it will next week.

In a phone interview earlier this week, executive chairman Jack H. Brown said he was excited by the 80th anniversary as a chance to share with the community.

The company chose the anniversary to formally announce the opening of its newest location.

The supermarket, at 660 East Los Angeles Ave., Simi Valley, will open for business after a ribbon-cutting at 8 a.m., Aug. 24.

It is the first Stater Bros. store in Ventura County, according to a press release.

To mark the occasion, Stater Bros. will make $14,000 in donations to Simi Valley organizations.

Stater Bros. takes pride in community involvement. Over the years, the company has donated tons of food and given other kinds of aid to charitable organizations.

The new Simi Valley store will include a full-service deli, bakery, floral department, meat department and seafood department.

It will sell handcrafted sushi made in-house daily, a product that is also available at Temecula and Murrieta stores.

Contact the writer: fbuck@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9551
MORONGO

Get ready to shake those hips and dance when The Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes and Tonnino Baliardo take the stage at Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa on Friday, Aug. 19. The group is known for its infectious and high energy shows featuring Flamenco, salsa and pop fusion. Hit songs include Bamboleo, Baila Me and Sin Ella.

9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon. $59-$69. 951-849-3080, morongocasinoresort.com.

PECHANGA

Pat Benatar, Neil Giraldo and Melissa Etheridge all take the stage for a night of full-throttle music at Pechanga Resort and Casino on Friday, Aug. 19. Benatar was a mainstay on radio and MTV in the 80s with hits such as Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Love is a Battlefield and We Belong. Etheridge is a performing powerhouse with chart toppers that include Im the Only One, Come to My Window and I Want to Come Over.

8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, Pechanga Resort & Casino, 45000 Pechanga Parkway, Temecula. $100-$135. 951-693-1819, pechanga.com.

PALA

Head to Pala Casino Spa & Resort and sample over 50 wines from regions including Paso Robles, Napa and Temecula at the Starlight Food & Wine Festival. Eats such as lobster ravioli with lobster sauce, stuffed crab claws with plum sauce and a Kobe burger with chive aioli and truffle fries will be paired with a variety of vino.

4- 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, Pala Casino Spa & Resort, 11154 Highway 76, Pala. $75 per person. 877-946-7252, palacasino.com.

Reggae music tends to induce mellow, relaxing and chill-out vibes, so if thats a space you want to be in, head to the Pala Vibes show. The line-up includes Common Kings, Josh Heinrichs, Skillinjah and Tribal Theory. There will be no chairs at the event, so guests are allowed to bring small blankets or towels.

3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, Pala Casino Spa & Resort, 11154 Highway 76, Pala. $35 in advance; $45 day of show, 21 years and older. 877-946-7252, palacasino.com.

Contact the writer: sschculte@scng.com, 951-368-9457
When it comes to gambling, Robert Pierce has proven he absolutely knows when to fold em.

The 46-year-old San Jacinto resident said the only time he ever dipped his toe into the world of casino gaming, he set aside a couple hundred bucks and made a trip to one of Southern Californias palatial gambling emporiums.

I said as soon as this is gone, Im done, said Pierce. I won a little, lost a little more. Won a little, lost a little more. Won a little, lost more.

Pretty soon, you know, after like three or four hours, the $200 was gone and I walked out the door and never came back.

Now Pierce is considering walking through that door again, but this time through the employee entrance.

Facing a midlife career change, Pierce recently enrolled in Mt. San Jacinto Colleges two-year-old casino dealer program at the community colleges Temecula Education Complex.

The non-credit, career training certificate lasts eight weeks and costs $1,000. MSJC offers separate courses for table games and poker games. Private school fees can typically range from $1,200 to $2,500, depending on curriculum.

There are over a dozen casinos within a two-hour drive of the school and according to Peter Harrison, who operates a private casino dealer school in Temecula, the time is right.

Theres a lot of demand for dealers right now, said Harrison, the owner of Jack Black Casino Dealer School which has operated in and around the Inland Empire since 2001.

MSJC Community Education and Workplace Training Director Teri Safranek helped get the program started after getting a similar program off the ground at Palomar College earlier in the 2000s. She said it was eventually discontinued when the college closed its community education program.

Tribal gaming is reportedly a $30 billion industry in the U.S., with California commanding a huge slice of that pie at over $7 billion, according to the Indian Gaming Industry report produced by California economist Alan Meister.

Enrico Butta, a former Palomar instructor who is now a consultant for the MSJC program, said a lot has changed in the 26 years he has spent working in the gaming industry in Las Vegas and Southern California as a dealer and teacher.

Its become a more generally acceptable thing to do, said Butta.

School officials say upon receiving their certificates students can make between $55,000 and $85,000 a year as a casino dealer.

Pechanga Resort and Casino Vice President of Table Game Operations Mike May said there are not many public colleges that offer such programs. He didnt know of any other in the region.

We always prefer that someone goes to a more structured school environment, said May.

The real test for the students comes when they wrangle an audition  the trade term for a casino job interview.

It all comes out, said May. Youve got to pass an audition, handle the chips, do what we want you to do.

Despite his inexperience, Pierce said hes a quick learner and is looking forward to the challenge of acquiring new skills.

Its an eight-week course, self-paced and if you dont get it after eight weeks you can continue practicing and working with the instructors until you get it, said Pierce.

Or, as Kenny Rogers said, youve got to know when to hold em.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9682 or tsheridan@scng.com
The seven former Beaumont city officials charged in May with 94 felony corruption counts, including embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds, face a big day of court hearings Friday, Aug. 19.

The case is as complicated as it is sweeping. Heres how to make sense of the court case.

Who is in trouble?

The men who were entrusted to run the city, some for as long as two decades. The former city manager, Alan Kapanicas; former police chief, Francis Dennis Frank Coe; former city attorney, Joseph Aklufi; former finance director, William K. Aylward; former public works director, Deepak Moorjani; former planning director, Ernest A. Egger; and former economic development director, David W. Dillon.

What are they charged with?

The Riverside County District Attorneys Office is alleging conflicts of interest, embezzlement and misappropriation of city bonds and transportation-fee funds that added up to more than $43 million. City records show that Kapanicas and Moorjani, acting as contract city employees, signed off on millions of dollars to consulting companies they owned.

Kapanicas, 64, of Palm Desert, and Aylward, 53, of Cherry Valley, are both charged with six counts of embezzlement, 24 counts of misappropriation of funds and two counts of conspiracy.

Dillon, 62, of Temecula; Moorjani, 69, of Yorba Linda; and Egger, 59, of Mendocino, each are charged with one count of conflict of interest and six counts of embezzlement. Aklufi is facing six counts of embezzlement.

Coe, 52, of Redlands, was charged with two counts of misappropriation of funds and one count of conspiracy. Coes charges stem from $45,000 in interest-free loans of city funds arranged by Kapanicas and Aylward without City Council approval, according to court papers filed by investigators.

What will happen Friday?

All seven are expected to enter pleas to the charges in a hearing before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mac Fisher in Riverside. The charges were announced May 17, but all defendants have waived their rights to speedy arraignments.

Each has hired a private attorney. Assistant Presiding Judge Becky Dugan said in court she wanted to get them all before an assigned judge who will handle the case through any trial. If any of them plead guilty, they could be witnesses against the others. Judge Fisher also is expected to hear motions filed by one or more defendants to lift freezes on their assets and to dismiss charges.

What assets are at stake?

Several of the defendants want the judge to lift freezes on their bank and investment accounts. Together, their bank accounts and investments total almost $15.5 million, according to court records.

A district attorneys forensic real estate investigator also determined that real estate holdings of defendants might produce up to $6 million more if properties were sold. Prosecutors sought these freezes so funds could be used to pay restitution if the defendants are later found guilty.

Because of a Supreme Court decision in an unrelated case, defendants are entitled to hire attorneys and other legal assistance of their choice, and received court OK to spend certain amounts. For example, Dugan authorized a $180,000 withdrawal from Kapanicas accounts to pay for attorney fees and investigative costs and $4,500 a month for his wife, Diana, for living expenses from their commingled bank accounts.

Some defendants appear to be wealthy, according to district attorney filings:

 Moorjani has almost $3.8 million in bank and investment accounts and owns four properties, including three in Orange County;

 Dillon has $6.2 million in accounts and owns property in Temecula and Cardiff by the Sea;

 Egger has $3.7 million in accounts, three properties in Mendocino and one in South Lake Tahoe;

 Kapanicas has $1.7 million in accounts and a home in Palm Desert.

What are defendants arguing?

The judge may consider multiple motions on Friday. Moorjanis attorney filed a motion asking that the charges be thrown out, a legal step that can be taken before defendants enter pleas to the charges. Attorneys for some of the other defendants filed legal papers in support.

Dillon, Moorjani and Egger were partners in the Urban Logic consulting firm that saved the city money and cost effectively executed a plan for organized, measured and controlled growth, Dillons attorney, Paul Grech Jr., said in papers filed this month.

Urban Logic and its partners stole nothing. They embezzled nothing. They misdirected nothing, Grech wrote.

Meanwhile, Gregory H. Kassel, an attorney for Kapanicas, contends in a filing that Kapanicas cannot be charged with embezzlement because he was neither an officer for city of Beaumont nor a person of heightened fiduciary duties during the time of the alleged crimes. Instead, he was an independent consultant for the city through his business, General Government Management Services.

City bonds records show that Kapanicas approved hundreds of bond payments, including payments to his own company, while acting under the titles of city manager and the executive director of the Beaumont Financing Authority, the city entity that issues bonds.

Kassels law firm also filed papers saying that former city council members Roger Berg and Brian De Forge may testify that they believe Kapanicas was an independent contractor.

Berg defended Kapanicas and the Urban Logic officials in an interviews last spring. Berg said they simply followed a debt-financing plan approved by the City Council that was needed to accommodate explosive growth and modernized what had been the citys crumbling roads, and water-delivery and sewage systems.

Berg also said he and other council members knew these were paid with bond funds, and that they earned the money they received.

District attorneys officials have claimed millions of dollars were diverted from Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fees, which the city was supposed to pool with other local governments through the Western Riverside Council of Governments for regional transportation projects.

What other matter will be considered?

The court also will consider a request by the state board that licenses public accountants to bar Aylward, the former city finance director, from working as a certified public accountant while the criminal case against him is pending because he faces charges for financial crimes.

Aylwards attorney, James M. Taylor, filed papers saying the California Board of Accountancy is overstepping its bounds and its request should be rejected.

Aylwards CPA license allows him make barely enough money to support his family and pay for his legal fees and expenses.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9471 or ddanelski@scng.com 951-368-9075 or gwesson@scng.com
Riverside will soon hire a consultant to hold community meetings and draw up long-term plans that will shape the future of the Northside neighborhood.

Residents have urged the city for years to update the areas zoning to help preserve its rural feel and limit development of warehouses.

After interviewing three firms and getting public input, city staff recommend Riverside-based Rick Engineering to create the neighborhood plan and head the required environmental analysis. The project is expected to cost about $2 million, nearly half of which would be funded by Riverside Public Utilities, the largest single propery owner in the area.

The City Councils land use committee will discuss the Northside plan and recommend a consultant at a 2 p.m. meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 30, at 3900 Main St., Riverside.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9461 or arobinson@scng.com
The 2009 revival of Farrells Ice Cream Parlour gave Southern California fans a sugary jolt of nostalgia with its 30-scoop party sundaes served by drum-banging workers dressed in vintage vests and straw hats.

Ice cream shops in Mission Viejo, Brea and Riverside soon became destination spots for Generation X and baby boomers reliving their past while introducing new memories to their kids and grandchildren.

But in the last year, the Farrells sugar rush appears to be crashing.

Lake Forest-based Parlour Enterprises has closed three of its seven locations this year, including the original comeback store in Mission Viejo. On Aug. 1, scoop shops in Rancho Cucamonga and Sacramento abruptly closed.

Company officials say the old-fashioned brand is halting expansion to focus on a major makeover that includes changing its ice cream recipe, enhancing the food and revamping the in-store candy shops. Those changes and more will be revealed Tuesday when Farrells will be featured on CNBCs reality business show The Profit hosted by Marcus Lemonis.

In most shows, the self-made millionaire and CEO of Camping World offers his expertise  and wallet  to struggling small businesses. Farrells is the focus of the shows season four premiere.

Due to confidentiality agreements, Farrells Marketing Director Shauna Parisi could not reveal certain details about the show, including any possible investment Lemonis made in the brand.

She did say a key change will be in the menu, which will be revamped to focus on higher quality, scratch-made ingredients. Parisi said Lemonis spent seven months shooting at the 2-year-old Buena Park location.

With all the competition, its important to elevate the food, Parisi said.

Instead of using Thrifty Ice Cream, the restaurants are going back to the original creamier recipe used by Farrells founder Bob Farrell. Thrifty Ice Cream, based in El Monte, will continue to manufacture the new proprietary ice cream.

The half-pound, flame-broiled burgers eventually will be hand formed and made with a three-beef blend to add more flavor. Fresh-cut fries will replace frozen fries.

Were really looking to up our game in terms of fresh food, she said.

Anyone familiar with Farrells knows that a bulk of the serving staff  dressed in cane hats and pin-striped vests  deliver monstrous ice cream concoctions as the sound of sirens and player-piano music blare in the background.

The lively kid-friendly party atmosphere is what makes the concept legendary.

During a visit to the Buena Park restaurant Tuesday night, vintage-dressed servers belted out in songs to guests celebrating birthdays. Noticeable decor changes included a new red and white marquee sign out front, a new color scheme inside and a revamped candy shop.

The treat shop is stocked with offerings such as Harry Potter jelly beans and retro soda bottles. Most of the candy now is being sold by the pound with several varieties of jelly beans, gummy bears and licorice.

The change is pure economics  the self-serve method offers a much better profit margin, Parisi said.

The menu changes in Buena Park wont roll out until after next weeks show. Diners can expect similar changes made to the companys other locations in Riverside, Brea and Santa Clarita.

As for growth plans, Parisi said Farrells does not plan to expand anytime soon.

Were looking to scale back to make sure every aspect of Farrells is executed in the right way. We have to be spot on.
The 2009 revival of Farrells Ice Cream Parlour gave Southern California fans a sugary jolt of nostalgia with its 30-scoop party sundaes served by drum-banging workers dressed in vintage vests and straw hats.

Ice cream shops in Mission Viejo, Brea and Riverside soon became destination spots for Generation X and baby boomers reliving their past while introducing new memories to their kids and grandchildren.

But in the last year, the Farrells sugar rush appears to be crashing.

RELATED: Fun at Farrells in Riverside

Lake Forest-based Parlour Enterprises has closed three of its seven locations this year, including the original comeback store in Mission Viejo. On Aug. 1, scoop shops in Rancho Cucamonga and Sacramento abruptly closed.

Company officials say the old-fashioned brand is halting expansion to focus on a major makeover that includes changing its ice cream recipe, enhancing the food and revamping the in-store candy shops. Those changes and more will be revealed Tuesday when Farrells will be featured on CNBCs reality business show The Profit hosted by Marcus Lemonis.

In most shows, the self-made millionaire and CEO of Camping World offers his expertise  and wallet  to struggling small businesses. Farrells is the focus of the shows season four premiere.

Due to confidentiality agreements, Farrells Marketing Director Shauna Parisi could not reveal certain details about the show, including any possible investment Lemonis made in the brand.

She did say a key change will be in the menu, which will be revamped to focus on higher quality, scratch-made ingredients. Parisi said Lemonis spent seven months shooting at the 2-year-old Buena Park location.

With all the competition, its important to elevate the food, Parisi said.

Instead of using Thrifty Ice Cream, the restaurants are going back to the original creamier recipe used by Farrells founder Bob Farrell. Thrifty Ice Cream, based in El Monte, will continue to manufacture the new proprietary ice cream.

The half-pound, flame-broiled burgers eventually will be hand formed and made with a three-beef blend to add more flavor. Fresh-cut fries will replace frozen fries.

Were really looking to up our game in terms of fresh food, she said.

Anyone familiar with Farrells knows that a bulk of the serving staff  dressed in cane hats and pin-striped vests  deliver monstrous ice cream concoctions as the sound of sirens and player-piano music blare in the background.

The lively kid-friendly party atmosphere is what makes the concept legendary.

Outside the Farrells in Riverside, Glen Thomas, 43, of Wildomar, brought his son and daughter to celebrate the boys 12th birthday. Thomas was accompanied by his girlfriend and her twins, a boy and a girl, as they waited in the warm air Wednesday evening outside the restaurant with other families for their reservation to be called. Speakers piped out old-timey music as they waited.

I love it  just everything about it, the childhood memories, said Thomas, 43, who went to a Farrells in Downey, where he grew up.

He said he associated Farrells with families and celebrations  the name says it all.

Told Farrells was headed for a television makeover, he said, I think their food is the main thing  it needs to be better.

The parking lot on Park Sierra Drive began to fill as the evening progressed, with lots of families arriving and one carload unloading their birthday gifts for a party inside.

During a visit to the Buena Park restaurant earlier this week, vintage-dressed servers belted out in songs to guests celebrating birthdays. Noticeable decor changes included a new red and white marquee sign out front, a new color scheme inside and a revamped candy shop.

The treat shop is stocked with offerings such as Harry Potter jelly beans and retro soda bottles. Most of the candy now is being sold by the pound with severalvarieties of jelly beans, gummy bears and licorice.

The change is pure economics  the self-serve method offers a much better profit margin, Parisi said.

The menu changes in Buena Park wont roll out until after next weeks show. Diners can expect similar changes made to the companys other locations in Riverside, Brea and Santa Clarita.

As for growth plans, Parisi said Farrells does not plan to expand anytime soon.

Were looking to scale back to make sure every aspect of Farrells is executed in the right way. We have to be spot on.

Richard K. De Atley contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: nluna@scng.com
Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin will meet with county officials at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 18 at the County Administrative Center in Riverside to discuss budget matters.

The closed-door meeting comes about a month after a testy exchange between Hestrin and county supervisors over his budget for the fiscal year that started July 1. Hestrin has said hell need an additional $12.25 million or hell have to start laying off staff.

After Hestrin moved to cut after-hours reviews of search warrants, supervisors John Benoit and John Tavaglione accused Hestrin of political posturing. Tavaglione has said he thinks Hestrin can control costs without layoffs.

The meeting is closed to the public. No budget decisions will be made and any changes would be put on a future Board of Supervisors agenda and require the approval of four of the five supervisors, said county spokesman Ray Smith.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9547 or jhorseman@pressenterprise.com
Dozens of exotic animals weathered Tuesday nights rampaging Blue Cut fire at a family-run High Desert sanctuary.

Joel and Chemaine Almquist, owners of the Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary, spent part of Tuesday afternoon putting birds and other smaller animals in crates to get them out of the smoke. But moving the dozens of animals, including more than two dozen big cats, wasnt necessary.

 Photos: The Blue Cut fire burns 30,000 acres and is still out of control

The firemen did an excellent job of detouring the fire around us, Chemaine Almquist said Wednesday. All of the animals are safe, all the humans safe.

Forever Wild will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday, at least, while the Almquists and the shelter staff clean up.

The facility was within the boundaries of the mandatory evacuation area in the tiny unincorporated community on Tuesday, but the danger has passed now, according to Almquist.

Were fine, she said. Its smoky out here, but we dont have any fire danger here.

But on Tuesday night, rumors spread on social media that the Forever Wild staff had abandoned the facility, leaving the animals to their fate. San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department deputies ended up having to stand guard over the facility, after some social media users wrote that they intended to break into the facility and liberate the animals.

 Map: Where the Blue Cut fire in the Cajon Pass is burning near the 15 Freeway

It was a little disappointing in our community members that they would spread rumors like that, Almquist said.

Family members were threatened on social media for their lack of updates as they worked to secure their animals. Letting social media followers know what was going on was less important than making sure the dozens of animals at the shelter were safe and healthy, according to Almquist.

We had a lot on our plates as it was, she said.

The facility has a solid plan in place in case an evacuation for the facility and the animals becomes necessary.

Anybody that knows me and Joel, they should know us better that we would never say Hey, let the animals fend for themselves, Almquist said.

In 2009, the Almquists home and facility were remodeled by the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition television show. Before the remodel, the Almquists and their children lived in a leaky double-wide trailer with no heating or air conditioning, spending their money instead on creating and running their animal sanctuary, caring for abused and neglected exotic animals.

Although the shelter would always get a bump in donations every time their episode ran in re-runs (the show, which was cancelled in 2012, at one point was shown in 69 countries), just caring for all of the animals at Forever Wild  more of whom were dropped off there, thanks to the publicity the show generated  meant they had expenses of about $8,000 a month in 2010.

At that time, Forever Wild was home to 25 big cats, including 10 tigers, three cougars, three bobcats, five servals, two black leopards, a lioness and a Siberian lynx, as well as 10 parrots, 50 venomous reptiles (including cobras and black mambas), a mule deer, four horses, four llamas, eight tortoises, a tarantula, a rabbit, a frog, an iguana and a number of abandoned dogs.

We would sacrifice anything for any animals here, Almquist said.
According to a 2014 report of the Judicial Council of California, the policymaking arm of the states court system, the Inland Empire has far fewer judges than it should have and has the greatest need for additional judges in the state.

Last week, a bill by Assemblyman Jay Obernolte, R-Hesperia, to slightly ameliorate this problem was killed in committee. Assembly Bill 2341 would have shifted up to five vacant judgeships to courts with fewer judges than they should have.

Practically speaking, this could have provided more judges to the Inland Empire, which according to the Judicial Council is short 57 judges in San Bernardino County and 51 in Riverside County.

It shouldnt be so difficult for Sacramento to prioritize what many would consider a basic, fundamental responsibility of government. Alas, courts in the Inland Empire will continue to operate with fewer resources than they should.

The judge shortage in San Bernardino County and other rural areas is unacceptable and solving it should be a top priority in the Legislature, said Mr. Obernolte in a statement. Unfortunately, this was not the year but I will continue to fight for more judges in the years to come.

Curiously, this isnt the first time an effort to increase the number of judgeships in the Inland Empire has failed.

Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill by Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, and coauthored by Mr. Obernolte, which would have appropriated $5 million in funding for additional judgeships. Acknowledging the shortage of judges throughout the state, and the Inland Empire in particular, Gov. Brown claimed in his veto message that he intended to work with the Judicial Council to develop a more system-wide approach to balance the workload and the distribution of judgeships around the state.

To his credit, Gov. Brown did propose reallocating four vacant superior court judgeships from Santa Clara and Alameda superior courts as part of the 2016-17 governors budget, but the suggestion was not adopted by the Budget Conference Committee.

Consequently, this is a matter that will continue to drag out until Sacramento can finally muster the will to focus its attention on this issue. It wont be easy, and any truly sufficient solution to the issue will require addressing the statewide shortage and underfunding of judgeships. But the protracted shortage in the Inland Empire and continued foot-dragging by the state simply arent acceptable.
One man was killed after an altercation at a Jurupa Valley home Monday, authorities say.

Deputies were called to the 8000 block of Chifney Lane about 8 p.m., according to a news release from the Riverside County Sheriffs Department.

They arrived to find a man with trauma to his head, though the release does not specify what caused it.

Sheriffs spokesman deputy Mike Vasquez said an altercation happened before the mans death, but declined to be more specific.

The victim was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, the release said.

People who witnessed the altercation identified a suspect, but no arrests were made and there are no suspects at large, the release said.

The mans name will not be released until his family members are notified of his death, the release said.
Students encouraged to embrace research

From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-08-17 10:40

Local high schools are actively encouraging students to take part in research programs because the education authorities will be incorporating it in their admissions criteria starting next year, said officials.



The education authorities have been encouraging local schools to organize research-based study, or investigative study, to cultivate students ability to solve problems independently and creatively through specific programs since 1998.



But the enthusiasm for research increased after Shanghai introduced a new college admission scheme in 2014, according to the Shanghai Education Commission.



Under the new rules, from 2017, Shanghai high school students applying at colleges will have to submit their unified college entrance exam and academic level test scores, as well as individual information on their personal attributes, including ethics, artistic literacy, creativity and practical abilities.



It means every high school student should be involved in investigative study, rather than just a limited number of individuals, said Jia Wei, deputy director of Shanghai Education Commission.

Schools have been asked to arrange at least two classes of research-based study a week and provide instructors for students doing research in academic areas that they are particularly interested in.




A 75-year-old man suffered minor injuries in Corona Wednesday when his pickup truck was struck by a train and he was ejected, officials said.

Corona Police Sgt. Paul Mercado said the man was traveling southbound on Radio Road around 1 p.m. in his Ford Ranger when he tried to go around a descending traffic arm that stops traffic from going when a train is coming.

As he did that, Mercado said, the back of the mans truck was struck by the train and he was ejected.

Metrolink learned of the crash along the Inland Empire-Orange County line about 1:10 p.m., said spokesman Scott Johnson.

Johnson said the man was taken to the hospital. Mercado said no one else was injured in the crash.

Train 815 was the one involved, according to a tweet from Metrolink, and it was stopped near the North Main stop in Corona. Johnson said it was carrying 37 passengers, all of whom were uninjured.

One other train is affected along the IEOC line, Johnson said. He does not expect extensive delays.

Staff writer Alex Groves contributed to this report.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.
Unless its an ultra-competitive toss-up race, theres typically not a lot of publicly available polling for congressional elections.

So when Inland Republican congressional candidate Paul Chabot saw an appeal for donations from his Democratic opponent that described a tied race, he fired off an email blast quoting the email from Rep. Pete Aguilars campaign.

Chabots email included an excerpt from the Aguilar mail. But latest polls have us TIED with our opponent, it read.

Aguilar knows he is in trouble, Chabot wrote. Based on this weekends fundraising plea to donors, it is clear his campaign does not like their polling results.

Two months ago, the Chabot for Congress campaign released a poll showing the race tied at 43%  with Chabot winning over Independents by 8-points. Clearly, Aguilars polls show the same.

But according to Aguilar campaign spokesman Lou Wasson, the poll Aguilar referred to was Chabots. Wasson cited a Press-Enterprise blog post about Chabots poll.

If nonpartisan political forecasters are to be believed, Aguilar, a former Redlands mayor, shouldnt worry too much about winning a second two-year term in Californias 31st Congressional District, which includes San Bernardino, Redlands, Rancho Cucamonga, Loma Linda, Colton and Grand Terrace.

The Cook and Rothenberg & Gonzales political reports rate the 31st as safely Democratic. Larry J. Sabatos Crystal Ball gives the district a Likely Democratic rating.

Aguilar beat Chabot in 2014 for an open seat vacated by Republican incumbent Gary Miller. After his loss, Chabot wrote a paper blaming his defeat on a lack of support from the GOP establishment.

Chabot is confident about his prospects this time around. But unlike two years ago, 2016 is a presidential election year, with a higher voter turnout that usually helps Democrats.

The Democratic Party continues to hold an advantage in the 31sts voter registration. And Chabot, a Donald Trump supporter, could be hurt by a potential voter backlash against Trump that stands to threaten the GOPs hold on the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
The workshop at Redlands Plymouth Village is once again being enjoyed by residents.

Frank Wiswell, a resident of the senior living neighborhood on Salem Drive, decided to clean up the workshop, which had not been used in years, after other residents began showing interest.

They have the tools here, Wiswell said. They just have to be used.

Residents celebrated with a grand opening Tuesday. Wiswell, known in the community as The Cookie Man, served his popular homemade cookies.

The workshop originally opened in 1980 in a larger room, but was moved to a smaller room to accommodate Plymouth Villages need for more meeting space.

Jim Sharp, a resident since 2005, and former resident Gerhard Medema helped run the shop.

Wiswell is chairman of the committee that oversees the workshop, which is available only to Plymouth Village residents.

When it was clear there was an interest among residents, Wiswell worked to clean up the workshop a couple hours a day for a few weeks.

He moved boxes of tools from high shelves, organized tools in boxes and in drawers.

Most of the tools have come from residents when they move to Plymouth Village. There are also tools that help residents work on electronics.

Any kind of furniture that you can think of can be built here, Wiswell said. We have the equipment that can build it.

A shop smith, purchased from a Redlands resident a few years ago, allows residents to make all kinds of things.

Its a universal tool you can use by just changing things around, Wiswell said.

Mary Balsley, president of the Plymouth Village Residents Association, said the workshop will help keep residents interested and on their feet.

It gives them something to think about and thats so important  to keep them from just sitting in their homes, she said. Thats a big effort between our administration here and our residents association is to have enough things going on that they can pick and choose what they want to do.

Although Tuesday was the official opening day, the workshop already has is proving useful.

Officially it opens today and a lady brought in a picture frame me to fix, Wiswell said.

Contact the writer: sandra.emerson@langnews.comTwitter: @TheFactsSandra
President John Mahama will today turn the valves of the FPSO John Evans Atta Mills to mark commercial production of oil from the Tweneboa, Enyera and Ntomme (TEN) oilfield.



The TEN project is a joint venture led by Tullow Oil with a stake of 47.185 percent. The other partners; Kosmos Energy and Anadarko Petroleum corporation holds 17 percent, respectively, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation holds 15 percent while PetroSA also holds a stake of 3.815 percent.



Speaking to the issue in an interview on Peace FM morning show Kokrokoo, the Minister for Petroleum, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, who will be accompanying the President, said TEN fields, which is in Ghana's second oil reserve, on which the FPSO Atta Mills sits, is expected to produce between 20,000-23,000 barrels of oil per day.



The new find according to the Minister is expected to produce 80,000 barrels of oil per day.



According to a statement from the Ministry of Petroleum, with the additional gas coming on stream, Ghana will be heading towards achieving the target of 80 percent of her thermal plants being gas-based generation.

Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/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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Ghanas second international Airport, the Tamale Airport is ready for use by both domestic and overseas players in the aviation industry, the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) has disclosed.



The airport which is now equipped with an extended runway (3,940metres) and a complete lighting system to accommodate bigger aircraft will tomorrow witness the operation of its first international flight to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.



The refurbished facility will see the maiden flight of Muslims from Northern Ghana to Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. This is expected to halt the annual ritual where pilgrims from the northern part of Ghana spend days in Accra before connecting to Mecca with the attendant teething spates of frustration.



Business Finder has learnt that the first flight out of the newly refurbished Airport will go in tandem with the inauguration by the President, Mr John Dramani Mahama of the first phase of the facility.



The expansion of the airport will aid facilitation of Hajj pilgrims direct from Tamale to Jeddah and also increase economic activity in the region; the airport will also provide services to the sub-Saharan regions including Burkina Faso and Mali, a statement from GACL explained.



The GACL maintains that the new international Airport is comparable the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) and will allow aircraft which for any reason cant land in KIA to be diverted to Tamale.



According to GACL, currently, none of the regional airports has the capacity of accommodating wide-bodied aircraft such as the Boeing 747- 800 series.



Any such aircraft would have otherwise been diverted to one the neighboring West African countries and hence revenue losses made to the GACL and the State at large, the Airport company said.



The upgrading and expansion of the Airport also feeds into the requirement of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for States to have an alternate airport that has similar capacity as the main airport in use in the country.



ICAO Annex 6.4.3.4 (a) stipulates that No person may release or takeoff an aircraft without a suitable takeoff alternate specified in the flight release if it would not be possible to return to the aerodrome of departure.  This, GACL maintained made it mandatory for countries to make provision for alternate airports before airlines commence operations.



To enhance the financial viability of the airport, the Master Plan includes the development of the airport into an aerotropolis.



This GACL explained will entail the development of an airport city which will provide one stop airport support facilities including hotels, conferencing facilities, shops, restaurants among others.



There will be a mix market high density commercial developments to serve as an economic growth node; it will also generate employment and improve income in the local economy, the statement added.

Source: The Finder









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.
Two policemen who were arrested in connection with the attempted robbery of a Ghana Commercial bullion van have escaped.



The two identified as Corporal Elvis Solomon Mensah aka Fire and Lance Corporal Daniel Kissi Abrokwah escaped while being transferred from Donkorkrom to the Eastern Regional capital, Koforidua for investigations.



Three persons including the policemen, were arrested in connection with an attack on a Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) Bullion van at Maame Krobo in the Affram Plains South District of the Eastern Region.



The incident, which occurred on Monday, led to the death of the driver of the van, whilst a policeman escorting the van, sustained gunshot wounds.



According to Micheal Akrofie, Peace FM correspondent in the Eastern Region, the police claim they don't know the whereabouts of the third suspect.



Meanwhile, speaking to Citi news, the Eastern Regional Public Affairs Officer, ASP Yaw Nketia-Yeboah said we are all here waiting for them they havent told us about the escape of the suspects. We rather heard on social and traditional media that the suspects have escaped then about an hour ago we heard another one saying theyve been arrested at Nsawam. So we are still waiting for them to brief us. Even if they have escaped, we have Police means of communication. Our communication experts are trying all means to contact them. Weve become very apprehensive; we are only praying that all these speculations are not true. A lot of perceptions were in the rumour mill before we heard they have escaped, we are more concerned than everybody else.













Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/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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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has denied reports that President John Dramani Mahama has given the founder and leader of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Madam Akua Donkor, two Pajero vehicles and a house.



Akua Donkor in an interview published on adomonline.com claimed that the President gave her two cars and a three bedroom house. The female politician said she was given two Mitsubishi Pajeros by the President after Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom took his Tundra vehicle from her.



The house, she said was located at Sakumono in Accra. Her claim has however been denied by a deputy communication director of the NDC, Kwaku Boahen. It is never true that President Mahama has given Akua Donkor any car or a building, he said.



According to Kwaku Boahen, Akua Donkor has the potential of purchasing a vehicle for herself and building a house. The NDC deputy communication director stated that the GFP founder has cocoa farms and employs the services of an accountant who is a masters degree holder, adding that he wouldnt be shocked if Akua Donkor buys a car and puts up a house.



He thus insisted that there was no way President Mahama would give her vehicles and a house for no job done.



The NDC is not known for sharing items to its supporters, as a social democratic party, we would rather invest the monies in areas that would benefit everywhere, he said.

Source: adomonline.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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A magistrate court in Ho, the Volta Regional capital, has asked the Electoral Commission (EC) to delete 99 names of people believed to be non-residents from the voter register in the Ho Central Constituency.



This follows objections raised against those voters by a resident at Hodzokofe, on the basis that they are not residents in the area.



Agbesi Leonard, who testified in court on Tuesday, 16th August, 2016, explained that as a native of Hordzo who had lived there all his life, he had never seen such people in the area, although their names were similar to some peoples in the area.



During cross-examination by his counsel, Emmanuel Ohene, Leonard said he tried all he could to locate the residents of the challenged persons, but to no avail.



He also added that since he challenged the people, followed by the pasting of their details at the various polling stations in the area, none of them nor their relations, had shown up to prove otherwise.



The magistrate further cross-examined him and the representative from the Electoral Commission. The EC representative corroborated the claims of Leonard, saying they followed the processes prescribed by the CI 91 to give the challenged persons an opportunity to prove their residency but to no avail.



They further consulted the chiefs, opinion leaders and residents, including beating of gong gong and durbar, but there was no response.



As a result, they had to resort to the court, which has the power to order the deletion of persons considered to be ineligible to be on the voter register.



After thorough interrogations, the magistrate ordered that the EC should delete the 99 names challenged by the petitioner.



DAILY GUIDE information from the community suggests that most of the people challenged had come from neighbouring Togo to register and vote in the upcoming elections.



Meanwhile, figures from the EC indicate that a total of 5,656 names were objected to, in the just-ended voter register exhibition in the region, comprising 3,193 deceased persons and 2,463 challenged for not meeting some requirements of the Constitution and electoral laws.

Source: Daily Guide









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Content warning: this article discusses sexual assault. To speak to someone about sexual assault, or for 24/7 counselling, contact 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.

Wildly popular comedian Amy Schumer is currently copping it over what some perceive to be a muted response to a series of tweets by one of her writers, fellow comedian Kurt Metzger, about sexual assault. Metzger has writing credits on Schumers show Inside Amy Schumer, and has been commentating on a recent controversy around sexual assault in the New York comedy scene.

As always seems to be the case, the New York comedy scene is melting down. Whats the deal this time? As reported by Mic, the controversy is around comedian Aaron Glaser, of famous comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade, who has been accused of sexual assault by several women in the scene.

Metzger wrote a Facebook post that has been described as mocking rape victims and suggesting that the women are lying:

Jiff Dilfyberg is dangerous! So fucking dangerous that we cant go to the police to report his many rapes! That would just be tooooo rapey, and the women are too brave for that. If we ask them to even merely also post a vague account of what happened before asking us to believe that would like re-raping their rape! These women are as BRAVE as they are sore! Now for the good news!

You can mosey on over to his Twitter page and look at his tweets over the past couple of days to get the vibe. His contention is that if Glaser actually did this, the women would have gone to the police rather than communicating in online safe spaces. As we know, there are a whole stack of reasons why women might not want to go through those kind of legal processes, which can be humiliating.

The Daily Dot has reported in the past about Metzgers controversial comments about sexual assault, which bubbled up after the huge controversy around Daniel Toshs use of rape jokes in a standup set.

This has fallen back on Schumer because  according to IMDB  Metzger writes for her show, and has credits as recent as the last season finale. Her tweets on the matter have been accused of denying that.

I am so saddened and disappointed in Kurt Metzger. He is my friend and a great writer and I couldnt be more against his recent actions.  Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) August 17, 2016

Kurt does not work for me. He is not a writer on my show. Please stop asking me about it. His words are not mine.  Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) August 17, 2016

Its worth keeping in mind that IMDB isnt necessarily the be-all-and-end-all for this stuff, but its a pretty good indication Metzger worked on the show. Some fans say theyre being blocked by Schumer for tweeting her about it.

Hey gang. Amy Schumer blocked me on Twitter for this tweet. I was such an enormous, obsessed fan. This is devastating. She has failed women.  Liz Arcury (@LizArcury) August 16, 2016

Schumer has spoken out about sexual assault in the past, and has revealed that her first sexual encounter was not consensual. Metzgers posts are obviously not particularly helpful for anyone involved in this pretty fucked situation, but there you go.

To wrap up the situation, Amy clarified what she meant  her show is over, so no one writes for it. Makes you wonder why shes been pulled into this specific issue at all:

I didnt fire Kurt. He isnt a writer for my show because we arent making the show anymore. There are no writers for it.  Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) August 18, 2016

Source: The Guardian.

Photo: Getty Images.
It turns out grifters operating in Australia have moved on from small-time marks, to straight-up siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars from the states councils. Poor ol Townsville is no exception.

Following Brisbanes v. unfortunate victimisation by scammers earlier this year  which resulted in the states capital essentially coughing up $450,000 to crims  Townsvilles Mayor Jenny Hill today said $294,000 had been transferred to con artists posing as a legitimate engineering firm.

The crooks responsible for the swindle crafted invoices said to look identical to official financial documents, and deployed them to great affect back in April.

Police, the Queensland Audit Office, and national watchdog Scam Alert were clued in as soon as the discrepancy was spotted.

Hill said the council has been advised that the scammers are suspected to be from overseas, and recovering the money is unlikely

This type of crime is becoming extremely sophisticated and all councils in Queensland are on red alert.

ABC reports the councils of Ipswich, Logan, Moreton Bay, the Sunshine Coast, and Bundaberg had also been targeted by the scam, but the fraud was spotted there before any payments were made.

Just as well  $750k is already far too bloody much to be snatched away by the sneaky bottom-feeders of organised crime.

Source: ABC / Townsville Bulletin.

Photo: @chemodiver / Instagram.
LEBANON, Pa. (AP) -- Authorities say a transit bus crash in Pennsylvania has sent at least 17 people to the hospital.

The crash occurred around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday on Chestnut Street in Lebanon. Police say a bus slammed into several cars, a bridge, a utility pole, the corner of a church and a trash bin, which was pushed into the porch of a home.

ABC27 reports that: the bus was full of young people who appeared to be returning home from their shifts at Hersheypark. At least one of the victims was visibly pregnant, witnesses said.

Officials say 17 of the 23 people on board the bus have been taken to a hospital for minor injuries, including the driver.

The crash remains under investigation.
HARRISBURG--A group known as "This Stops Today Harrisburg" is asking the United States Department of Justice to investigate the fatal police shooting of Earl Shaleek Pinckney in Harrisburg.

A Harrisburg police officer shot Pinckney Aug. 7 after a 9-year-old girl dialed 911 and asked police to "come quick," because he was trying to hurt her grandmother. Pinckney's sister later got on the phone with 911 dispatchers and said Pinckney had a knife, had cornered their mother in a bedroom and was threatening to kill her, according to a 911 call log released to PennLive Thursday.

Police said that Pinckney had a knife to his mother's throat in a second-floor bedroom, which is what prompted an officer to fire a single gunshot. The mother initially told police that her son had a knife, according to District Attorney Ed Marsico, but she later told reporters that he did not.

Police recovered a knife at the home in the 2300 block of Green Street.

Based on the discrepancy involving what the mother told reporters about the knife, the social justice group called This Stops Today Harrisburg is calling for an outside investigation.

"We, concerned residents of Harrisburg, expect that law enforcement and county officials will follow existing protocol to conduct a full investigation and issue their findings," a press release from the group said. "However, we recognize that this process is dysfunctional and cannot be objective because of the close working relationship between the DA's office and Harrisburg Police Department."

The group also wants "an additional investigation into the pattern or practice of civil rights violations in Dauphin County." No one answered the phone number listed on the press release or returned messages left by PennLive to find out more information.

District Attorney Ed Marsico said he would release information from the county's investigation into the fatal police shooting when it was finished. He estimated it could take four to six weeks. Police Chief Thomas Carter has promised "complete transparency" and said he would not hide bad behavior by his officers.

The press release by This Stops Today Harrisburg, however, said there had been a lack of transparency by the district attorney.

"We cannot be silent," the press release said. "We cannot wait for answers that may otherwise never come."

The group is helping to plan a march at 11 a.m. Saturday in Hall Manor.

Marsico has not released the name of the police officer involved in the shooting, but said he would consider doing so at the end of the investigation. The social justice group wants his name released immediately.

In addition, the group's press release said that the department should "rescind paid leave immediately (for the shooting officer and any officer who kills someone in the future), and ultimately terminate his employment. However, we recognize that prohibiting paid leave and removing a person from the force do not equal justice."

Dauphin County on Thursday released a log that detailed information that was relayed from the scene of the shooting to police dispatchers the night Pinckney was killed.

The log shows 911 was called at 9:06:21 p.m. and dispatchers were told that Pinckney "busted through the door and came in." Dispatchers said callers were telling them that Pinckney "had a knife in his hand and has the mother locked in a room. Saying he is going to kill her."

Dispatchers later update that Pinckney is "in the back room on the second floor." At 9:11:44 p.m., the people on the phone with dispatchers were "getting upset that we were asking questions and didn't want to provide any further information."

Police made entry into the home at 9:15:20. At 9:17:14, police reported the gunfire. Within three minutes, emergency workers reported that Pinckney had suffered penetrating trauma from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

The coroner was called at 9:30 p.m.
A 21-year-old Harrisburg man has been sentenced to 5 to 12 years in state prison for raping a woman at knife-point.

Emmanuel Contreras-Perez

Dauphin County Judge John F. Cherry imposed that punishment on Emmanuel Contreras-Perez, who pleaded no contest to sex crime charges.



Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Gettle said Thursday that Contreras-Perez met the victim at a bar, then asked her to meet him at an address on Jefferson Street. It was a vacant building. When the woman arrived, Contreras-Perez pulled the knife and raped her, the prosecutor said.



She said the fact that the woman reported the assault immediately aided the police investigation. While in county prison awaiting trial, Contreras-Perez was found in possession of six homemade knives, Gettle said.



Cherry sentenced him to a consecutive 1 to 2 years in prison for having those weapons. Gettle said Contreras-Perez will spend 5 years on probation after this release from prison and must register with state police for life as a sex offender.
Earns Aetna

Aetna Inc.'s headquarters in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

(Jessica Hill)

A letter from its CEO to the government is stirring up questions about health insurer Aetna's motives for withdrawing from Obamacare exchanges in 11 states including Pennsylvania.



But some see a possible "smoking gun." It results from the efforts of two Huffington Post reporters who used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a July letter from Aetna CEO Mark Bertolina to the federal justice department, which is blocking Aetna's attempt to merge with health insurer Humana.

The letter, sent before the justice department said it would block the deal, said in part:

"Specifically, if the DOJ sues to enjoin the transaction, we will immediately take action to reduce our 2017 exchange footprint. We currently plan, as part of our strategy following the acquisition, to expand from 15 states in 2016 to 20 states in 2017. However, if we are in the midst of litigation over the Humana transaction, given the risks described above, we will not be able to expand to the five additional states."

Now, there's speculation the letter was a threat and that Aetna's withdrawal from the 11 exchanges is payback for the government's opposition to the merger.



According to the Los Angeles Times, an Aetna spokesman denied any threat, saying the letter merely conveys the fact that, without the financial strength that would result from the merger, Aetna would be forced to reduce its involvement in a line of business where it has been losing money.



Many insurers have sustained big losses on Obamacare coverage and there are others that have withdrawn from exchange business.





Obamacare critics have seized the Aetna withdrawal as evidence Obamacare is failing. The Obama administration disagrees, and has stressed that, in many markets, multiple insurers are offering coverage.



There are 17 insurers offering coverage on the exchange that serves Pennsylvania. However, not all of them do business in every county, and some counties have fewer plans to choose from.
John Wayne Strawser, Jr.

John Wayne Strawser, Jr. is on trial this week in West Virginia, where he is accused of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend, Amy Lou Buckingham. He has also been charged in connection with the I-81 shooting death of Timothy "Asti" Davison.

(File photo. )

KINGWOOD, WEST VIRGINIA - Much of Thursday morning's testimony in the case of a West Virginia man accused of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend involved the prosecution entering evidence into the record to lay the foundation of their case against John Wayne Strawser Jr.

Strawser is accused of killing Amy Lou Buckingham outside of her home in Tunnelton, West Virginia. Once this trial in Preston County Court concludes, Strawser will face charges in Franklin County in connection with the I-81 shooting death of Timothy "Asti" Davison.

Dr. Joseph DelTondo of the West Virginia University School of Medicine conducted the autopsy on Buckingham and told jurors she died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

It actually consisted of two wounds, he testified - one in the center of her chest and an exit wound in her back.

The bullet would likely have come from a high-caliber gun, he said. Though no bullet was recovered, and no shell casings were found, the shot had enough velocity to break through her sternum, then pass through the aorta, puncture the sack around her heart and hit her spinal cord as it exited her body.

The prosecution is building the argument that the gun was a .44 caliber Rossi Ranch Hand, which investigators found in a swamp near Strawser's home after the shooting.

Police in Pennsylvania believe this was the same gun used to kill Davison.

Also testifying Thursday was Sgt. George Sinclair of the Preston County Sheriff's Department. He is the one who conducted the forensic examinations of the cellphones of both Strawser and Buckingham.

He pulled numerous photos of guns from Strawser's phone, as well as text messages between the two, he said.

Prosecuting Attorney Mel Snyder is arguing that photos of the Rossi Ranch Hand were among the photos recovered from the phone, and the texts show Strawser's angry state of mind the night of the shooting.

"He considered her property for sexual purposes," Snyder told the court. "She wasn't a human being to him. She was a piece of property, and when she said 'I'm done with you,' he was going to get rid of the piece of property."

Strawser's attorney, Belinda Haynie, has objected to any evidence from Strawser's phone being used at trial, arguing earlier that investigators looked for some evidence on the phone before getting a search warrant and having Sinclair conduct his proper forensic examination.

How much of that evidence will be used, and what Haynie's argument will be against it, will be revealed in the continuing trial.

Trial will resume Thursday afternoon and is expected to run into next week.
UPDATE: Trooper recalls chaos at scene of killing

KINGWOOD, W.Va. - Elsie Buckingham heard a loud bang.

"I never heard a sound like it before," she told the jury on Wednesday.

John Wayne Strawser, Jr.

Her father, Glenn, and her nephew, Brian, dashed outside of their Tunnelton, West Virginia home. She followed close behind.

And when she got outside, she saw something she'll never forget.

Her sister, Amy, was lying alongside the neighbor's driveway, a gunshot wound to the chest.

"I saw my dad pick my sister up off the ground," she said. "She was behind my mom's rose bushes."

As Glenn Buckingham recalled that moment from the witness stand, he said he hollered to the rest of the family "call 911." For a moment, he broke down on the stand, burying his tired face in his hands.

"Next question, please," he said to prosecuting attorney Mel Snyder, hoping to move past what was likely the worst moment of his life.

And it was the moment that brought the Buckingham family into Preston County Court this week.

Amy Lou Buckingham's ex-boyfriend, John Wayne Strawser Jr., is on trial, accused of shooting and killing her outside of the Tunnelton home she shared with her parents, children and her sister.

After this trial, Strawser will face charges in Pennsylvania, where he is accused of fatally shooting Timothy "Asti" Davison on Interstate 81 in January 2014.

Amy Lou Buckingham

In West Virginia, Strawser and Buckingham had been in an off-again-on-again relationship. While no one in the family actually saw him shoot her, they testified Wednesday that the two were standing alone outside, talking by Strawser's car.

Elsie, Glenn and Brian Buckingham all testified that they heard the shot, ran outside, and saw Amy Buckingham lying on the ground and Strawser speeding away.
John Wayne Strawser, Jr.

John Wayne Strawser Jr. is on trial in West Virginia, where he is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend. After this trial, he'll face charges in Pennsylvania connected to an I-81 shooting.

(File photo. )

KINGWOOD, WEST VIRGINIA - It was chaos.

When West Virginia State Trooper Jason Gallagher arrived at the scene of a shooting in the tiny town of Tunnelton, there were people everywhere.

Angry, panicked, crying.

And Amy Lou Buckingham was lying on the ground.

Amy Lou Buckingham

He jumped out of his cruiser, and an ambulance came screaming in behind him.

Not even 10 minutes prior, Gallagher got the call, he testified in Preston County Court on Thursday, of a shooting on the 100 block of North Street - a small road that climbs up, up, up to the top of the mountain in Tunnelton.

Had it been winter, it would have been difficult to make the ascent. But it was an April rain that soaked the night and chilled everyone to the bone.

Flashing lights. Rain. Screaming. Crying.

Chaos.

Gallagher knew he had to get the situation under control because, at that moment, he only had two pieces of information - a woman had been shot, and the man accused of shooting her was on the run.

This launched Gallagher's third murder investigation in his time with the West Virginia State Police into high gear.

It wasn't long before troopers arrested the suspect, John Wayne Strawser Jr., and five months after that, he would be charged in another shooting - this one more than a year prior on Interstate 81 in Franklin County.

But before Strawser faces his Pennsylvania charges where he is accused of gunning down Timothy "Asti" Davison in a case of mistaken identity, he must face trial in the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, Buckingham. A jury was selected in that case on Tuesday, and trial started Wednesday.

Gallagher took the witness stand Thursday afternoon and told the jury that as he was taking statements from the grieving Buckingham family, he was also coordinating a search for Strawser.

Family members had told the trooper that Strawser came to the house and, while he was outside talking to Buckingham alone, they heard a gunshot. Gallagher said as he was taking these statements, he heard chatter on his radio about a pursuit for Strawser.

That pursuit, he said, led police on a high-speed chase across Preston County toward Terra Alta near the Maryland border. That's where Strawser drove through a gate and up a narrow road into a farm, investigators say.

When police headed up the farm road, they found the car Strawser had been driving was on fire.

Gallagher, meanwhile, joined the contingent of deputies and troopers at Strawser's home. They got a search warrant and looked through the trailer, where they found a 9-mm handgun and .44-caliber ammunition, Gallagher said.

But a .44-caliber gun was nowhere to be found.

Gallagher had contacted Strawser's father, John Strawser Sr., who let them in the home to execute the search warrant. As the police were about to leave, the elder Strawser approached and said, "Here's the guy you're looking for."

And there was John Wayne Strawser Jr., who was soaked.

Gallagher took him to the barracks in Kingwood for questioning - the recording was played for the jury on Tuesday.

But even after the interview and arresting Strawser, the missing .44-caliber weapon was still bugging the trooper.

"I felt like there was a gun somewhere," Gallagher said. "When we found him, he was covered with pine needles and all wet."

This prompted Gallagher to coordinate a search of the swampy area around Strawser's home, and with the help of a K-9 unit and one of Strawser's neighbors, they found the .44-caliber Ranch Hand that prosecutors believe was used to kill Buckingham.

But was that actually the murder weapon? And was some of the evidence from Strawser's cellphone obtained during the interview improperly accessed by the police? That will likely be a part of the defense's questioning when Gallagher takes the witness stand again on Friday.
WILLIAMSPORT -- Two state troopers have been cleared of using excessive force when they stunned a New Jersey motorist 17 times within 86 seconds in rural Cameron County in 2011.

U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew W. Brann Wednesday found the conduct of Cpl. Eric Farabaugh and Trooper Dennis Miller not unreasonable given the conduct of Paul Kircher III.

The judge stated in his opinion granting summary judgment to the state police and the troopers that Kircher did not comply with their orders, even after they deployed their Tasers.

The troopers had no knowledge of whether Kircher, a former radio daytime talk show host in Philadelphia, had any weapons in his car, Brann wrote.

The opinion in the civil rights suit Kircher filed gives the following account of what led up to and happened early on Sept 14, 2011:

Kircher, diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, sold his home in Philadelphia and moved back with his parents in Gibbstown, N.J.

After a mental health episode he returned to Philadelphia in 2009 and started a t-shirt printing business. Two years later at age 34 he moved back with his parents.

On the spur of the moment he decided "to hit the reset button on life" and drive cross-country to California.

Without telling his parents he left New Jersey on Sept. 12, 2011, without a map or spare clothes and a little more than $1,000 in a bank account.

The night he was arrested state police found he had $8 in U.S. currency and $10 in Canadian bills.

Kircher recalled spending the first night in a Strasburg motel before resuming his trip.

Late that Sept. 12 he got tired while heading west on Interstate 80, so he pulled off to find a motel but got lost in the Emporium area.

Because he was driving slowly, the two state troopers stopped him about 12:30 the next morning thinking he might be casing homes. They let Kircher go because there were no outstanding warrants for him.

Still lost about 3 a.m., he pulled his car to the side of the road, turned off the headlights and turned on his hazard lights.

Sinnemahoning Assistant Fire Chief Nathan D. Ball stopped to see if the driver needed help. As he approached the car, Kircher drove off slowly.

Ball followed and notified a dispatcher of a vehicle with no lights traveling in the middle of the road. That information was relayed to state police.

Farabaugh and Miller responded and their pursuit and stop was recorded on their cruiser's dashboard camera.

They initially stopped the vehicle at 3:01 a.m. but Kircher put it in reverse going backward in the middle of road.

The troopers followed the slow-moving vehicle, unable to get it stopped until 3:18 a.m.

The officers were heard yelling, "Open the door, get out of your car. Hey, Paul, get out of the car now. Hey Paul, roll your window down." Kircher ignored the commands and drove off. At 3:26 a.m. the troopers pinned the car against a guardrail but Kircher accelerates in reverse. A trooper is heard say: Paul, I'm telling you, I'll shoot you."

Despite the troopers pinning the car against an embankment, Kircher for a minute tried to accelerate to break free. The camera records smoke coming from the tires.

After Kircher again ignored commands to get out of the car, one of the troopers broke a window and Farabaugh deployed his Taser but Kircher broke off the wire leads.

Kircher kept accelerating his vehicle and is heard repeatedly yelling, "get off me."

The struggle to get Kircher out of the car continued and he was stunned three or four more times. Kircher explained in a deposition:

"I just held onto the steering wheel for dear life. I've always been taught that when you're dealing with police, keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times, and that's what I did."

Eventually the troopers got Kircher out of the car, handcuffed him and he was taken to a hospital for treatment.

A jury in October 2012 found him guilty of fleeing or attempting to elude police and resisting arrest. The judge found him guilty of careless driving. Charges of aggravated assault and drunken driving were withdrawn.

"There can be no doubt the circumstances of the plaintiff's life, intermingled with the perfect storm of stressors he experienced during the night in question, led to a painful and perhaps predictable ending," Brann wrote.

He questions whether driving privileges should be permanently restrained for someone like Kircher who suffers from mental illness.

It is unfortunate the decisions previously made by Kircher and his family tend to resemble a minimization of his mental issues, Brann wrote.
Mustafa Ahmed is seen in this undated police handout photo. Ottawa police have issued a Canada-wide arrest warrant in connection to a shooting over the weekend. Police say Mustafa Ahmed, 28, is wanted for second-degree murder in the death of 33-year-old Omar Rashid-Ghader.THE CANADIAN PRESS/ HO, Ottawa Police Service *MANDATORY CREDIT*
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously to request greater community input on the spraying of

pesticides to control vegetation in the borough. The issue is the result of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issuing a notice of

proposed pollutant discharge. The current permit, issued by the Environmental

Protection Agency in 2011, expires at the end of October of this year.

The state has changed their process, said vice mayor Cindi Lagoudakis as she began

reading the permit proposal. Its for pesticide general permit for discharges from the application of pesticides.

The assembly will

request public hearings and a comment period extension that would fall outside of the fishing season so more people can actively participate. Two residents from Petersburg spoke out against the 30-day comment period on such an important issue, and Lagoudakis mentioned her thoughts on the states new direction.

This is a very streamlined process that the state has

gone to that is really giving us less ability to have a

meaningful discussion in my view, she said. And I would certainly recommend that we at least ask for a public hearing if not make a comment as an assembly.

The notice makes no

mention of when or where spraying could take place. Information about the notice and where to send comments will be available on the borough website or the borough offices.

Brian Lynch spoke at the meeting, saying he desired an extension to the 30-day comment period and a public hearing to be held by the assembly. Lynch said holding a public hearing should be a given. He takes exception with the timing of the comment period, which runs from Aug. 2 through Sept. 2, and said he just recently became aware of it.

I get really concerned

when I see issues like this, particularly during the summer, you have a 30-day comment period, that really disturbs me, he said.

He referenced pertinent

documents from the state on the issue being 55 pages long and the federal document

being over 130 pages, calling the amount of information a lot to digest. For Lynch, the

issue is important because of possible impacts on the fishing, whether it be commercial or subsistence, calling it the livelihood and lifeblood of the community.

We need to really understand what chemicals are being used out there in the environment, Lynch said.

Assembly member Eric Castro asked Lynch his feelings on a proper extension and Lynch acknowledged wanting a 30-day extension.

Simply put, Id like to echo Mr. Lynchs comments, said assembly member Jeigh Stanton Gregor. I think it would be powerful for us as a borough to ask for a 30-day extension and local public hearings in communities affected by this.

Laura Wong-Rose also asked the assembly to submit a written comment and request a public hearing. She told the assembly spraying of pesticides to reduce vegetation could have the long-term potential to devastate our wetlands and our community. Wong-Rose mentioned the chemicals in question have been registered in the U.S. since 1979, but little research on the impact they have is available. Last spring, Wong-Rose actively researched the chemicals being used in other communities, and ended up accumulating hundreds of pages of research. She gave multiple examples of impacts on wildlife, including Coho salmon.

The more I researched the more I became concerned, she said. Please take the time to do your own research on the likely effects of Garlon 4, Habitat, Roundup being sprayed in our community near our wetlands and streams and come to your own conclusions. But I am convinced that the DOT is not being a responsible steward of these lands by repeatedly refusing to listen to residents whose livelihood is directly affected by these actions for the sake of reducing some foliage.
Dave Sutherland, left, and Jason Amundson are just two of the five researchers currently working on a project involving LeConte Glacier. They were in Petersburg this week and conducted fieldwork in LeConte Bay.

Researchers involved in a four-year collaborative project to study the impact of subglacial discharge at LeConte Glacier were in town this week to conduct fieldwork in LeConte Bay. The study is focused on improving our understanding of how tidewater glaciers interact with the ocean and how the ocean interacts with the glacier.

"Basically, the short story is we are looking at how runoff from the glacier affects circulation in the fjord, and then how that circulation then affects melting of the glacier face,'' says Jason Amundson, a glaciologist with the Department of Natural Sciences at the University of Alaska-Southeast (UAS). "Part of the project is just trying to quantify how much water comes out of the glacier at different times of the year, and the part is being in the fjord measuring water properties.''

The project aims to better understand what drives melting and calving, which has been a big question mark in the field of glaciology for the last 15 years. The results of the study should have implications for predicting sea level rise and changes to global ocean circulation. The same processes causing changes to a glacier in Greenland are happening in Alaska, but glaciers here are more accessible year round.

Amundson and a fellow UAS researcher, Roman Motyka, got the ball rolling on the project by bringing in Dave Sutherland a geological researcher from the University of Oregon. The pair knew Sutherland from meetings, and he pulled in other researchers to the project who were also interested and looking for funding. All told, the team ended up with five principal researchers and found funding with the National Science Foundation.

Sutherland recently helped complete a project in Greenland, producing valuable knowledge of how glacier systems work, but he says you wouldn't want to study a fjord there during winter. The goal of the LeConte project is getting a seasonal picture of the glacier.

Part of the reason this research is new is because the team is attempting to get as close to the glacier as possible to record data. LeConte may be accessible, but it's still a challenging environment to conduct fieldwork. It's not like studying a glacier that terminates on land, there are entirely new obstacles to overcome, Amundson says.

The fieldwork portion of this project will last for two years, and it started in March of this year. The team placed two data recording moorings in LeConte Bay close to the glacier face, and one outside the bay. They use remote cameras shooting time-lapse photos. The team is also collecting visual imagery of the glacier face located underwater.

All other fieldwork is being conducted by intensive survey and observation, including motorized boats they call "jetyaks'' and a lot of acoustic instruments. Being near the glacier and observing the environment can lead to new ideas being generated and it has positive impacts on researchers, Sutherland says.

"This trip we got within 250 meters of the face. It was pretty close, and we sent the jetyaks up a little closer than that,'' he says. "Right now, it's like a river coming out from that glacier and the currents are probably two or four knots.''

In 2013, the first proposal for this project was submitted and ultimately declined. The team responded to the comments of that proposal and resubmitted it the following year. In summer 2015, the team found out their revamped proposal was accepted, and began planning immediately, Amundson says.

"Things like, what boat are we going to use? What helicopter?'' he says.

The team will take six trips to the glacier to conduct fieldwork, the next will be in October. Then they'll be back next spring and late summer. Time between trips is spent processing data and planning goals for the upcoming trip. The team is already seeing the results of their effort and have "great data.''

Larry Babcock / Submitted Photo Research work is being carried out aboard the Steller, a leased vessel from Juneau. PHS Tsunami Bowl students spent two hours aboard the vessel last week learning about oceanographic work being conducted in the bay.

"We have a plan at the moment, but as we look at data that could change,'' Amundson says. "And it probably will, at least somewhat.''

Amundson and Sutherland are looking forward to their next trip to Petersburg and eventually publishing results. They are even working with teachers in the school district to hopefully present their data to students. The researchers have great respect for the effort of the Petersburg school, especially Paul Bowen, to get students active in studying LeConte Glacier.

"A lot of college students don't get that kind of access,'' Sutherland says.

Bowen noted that glacier studies by PHS students and the University of Alaska is made possible by a special use permit that was granted to PHS in 1983 and is still in affect today. Persons that helped secure the permit are Sam Bunge, Bill Tremblay and David Rak of the USFS; Brian Paust of the Alaska Marine Advisory Program and Temsco Helicopters.
Anjuli Grantham, left to right, Kathy Peavy and Karen Hofstad stand by a display of historic items related to Alaska's fishing industry in the Petersburg Public Library. Peavy is from Craig and helped Hofstad create the presentation she gave on Monday night.

Anjuli Grantham visited Petersburg for the first time this week, and gave a presentation about the Alaska Historic Canneries Initiative (AHCI) at the library. Over 30 people attended the event, which also included a presentation by local resident Karen Hofstad about her salmon label collection.

During her visit, Grantham got to sift through Hofstad's unique collection, which she calls "remarkable and quite stunning.'' Grantham will also be spending time working with the Clausen Museum to come up with collections procedures and policies.

"It doesn't sound particularly exciting, but it helps...
Jamie Bryson, 81, died surrounded by his children and his wife Marjorie on August 8, 2016 at his home in Paonia, Colorado, after a long struggle with Parkinson's disease.

Jamie was born to Stuart James and Stella Elizabeth Bryson in San Francisco in 1935. He grew up in southern California, but Jamie traveled extensively and ultimately called Alaska home.

Shortly after graduating from La Jolla High School, Jamie married Linda Griffin. The young couple spent their early years together in southern California where their family grew to six children. Jamie worked for the San Diego Union and Evening Tribune, where he started as a copy boy and eventually became an editor.

Jamie and Linda moved from Escondido, California to Wrangell in 1970. The Brysons fell in love with the island and settled in as editors/owners of the Wrangell Sentinel. Soon, they opened a flight school, Alaska Flight Trails. Jamie was proud of the many students he taught to fly.

Their children, Elizabeth, Bridget, Mark, Belinda, Diana, and Heather, made Wrangell their home. Stuart, the youngest of the seven children, was born in Wrangell.

Tragically, Linda was killed in 1972. Jamie and Linda were returning to Wrangell from British Columbia when a mechanical failure sent their aircraft spiraling into the sea. Jamie was rescued from freezing waters by a passing ship.

With the support of the close-knit Wrangell community following the tragedy, Jamie continued to operate his flight school and the Sentinel. In 1974, Jamie married Wrangell school teacher Marjorie Rudisill. That same year, Jamie and Marjorie founded the Petersburg Pilot.

Jamie and his family had many adventures over the years. In the mid-1970s, they left Wrangell to operate a resort in San Carlos, Mexico, left to Jamie upon his father's death. The business sold in 1979, and Jamie had the opportunity to pursue his lifelong dream of sailing the world.

After spending more time in Wrangell, in 1983, Jamie, Marjorie and young Stuart embarked on what would become a five-year voyage around the world aboard their 30-foot sailboat. In 1988, Ave del Mar sailed into Wrangell harbor, flying the flags of the nations they had visited.

In addition to numerous articles and short stories, Jamie published two books. The first was "The War Canoe,'' a young adult novel about a Tlingit boy in Wrangell who discovers his proud heritage and sets out to build a traditional war canoe. The second book, "First Time Around,'' chronicles the details of the family's circumnavigation.

Jamie was also an avid bicyclist, logging tens of thousands of miles. His adventures included riding his bicycle across the United States. More often than not, he had a bicycle stowed in the back of an airplane or in the trunk of his car. Jamie also brought a bicycle on his sailing adventures, touring the roads of countries he visited.

Jamie spent time in many countries while traveling the world, but he considered Wrangell his home. Over their years, Jamie and Marjorie returned many times to Alaska to live and work. Jamie spent a number of years flying for air services in Wrangell and Juneau.

In the mid-90s he was ready for more sailing adventures. He embarked on solo travels aboard his sailboat, which included sailing around Cape Horn.

Ultimately, Parkinson's began to limit Jamie's mobility and freedom and he and Marjorie retired to their home in Paonia, Colorado. He traded his bike for a 3-wheeler, and in his final years, he found solace in poetry, music, the company of visiting family, friends and admirers, and the support of Marjorie's dedicated care.

Jamie will be missed by his friends and family for whom he left the gifts of love of travel, resilience to hardship, confidence of self, grit to survive with dignity, and an unapologetic curiosity of the world. He is survived by his seven children, his sister Diana McGraw, Marjorie, his wife of 42 years, 13 grandchildren and a great grandson.

His family will return to Wrangell in July of 2017 to celebrate his life.
East Jordan wins first playoff game since 1999, beat Frankfort in OT

FRANKFORT  If you were looking for the last time the East Jordan football team earned a playoff victory before Friday, you had to do a bit of scrolling in the record books.
Ecopetrol to open 80 new exploration wells during rest of 2016





Thirty-five of the new wells will be located in the Rubiales oilfield, while another 35 will be in the Castilla field.

BOGOTA

Petroleumworld.com 08 18 2016

Colombia's state-owned oil company Ecopetrol will intensify exploration and the drilling of new wells through the rest of this year, Chief Executive Juan Carlos Echeverry said on Wednesday, after cutbacks following the global drop in crude prices.

The company plans to drill 80 more wells before the end of 2016, bringing its total for the year to 105, Echeverry said during a call with investors.

Thirty-five of the new wells will be located in the Rubiales oilfield, while another 35 will be in the Castilla field. The remainder will come from other areas.

"During these 12 months, we've privileged protecting cash flow and capital discipline, but going forward with a stable price that we estimate will be around $50 ... and moving to prices between $50 and $55 in 2017, we feel now at the company that we can emphasize promoting reserves and production," Echeverry said.

"If there's more cash flow, we can increase drilling."

Drilling will be funded by the company's $3 billion to $3.4 billion budget, which it cut by around $1.8 billion at the beginning of the year, Corporate Strategy Vice President Maria Fernanda Suarez said on the call.

Ecopetrol has already secured around 85 percent of its financing needs for 2016, she added.

Net profit at the company fell nearly 48 percent in the second quarter to 787 billion pesos ($270.6 million), compared with 1.5 trillion pesos during the same period of 2015.








PokerStars Facing Five-Year Ban with Amended California Bill; Monday Vote Possible (UPDATED)

August 18, 2016 Mo Nuwwarah Editor

California lawmakers are targeting a Monday vote for an amended online poker bill in California, one that would see PokerStars and other so-called "bad actors" face a mandatory five-year ban from the state, Patrick McGreevy of the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

The long-running push to get online poker regulated in California has been narrowed down to a final sticking point in recent months as previous obstacles such as an agreement with the horse racing industry have been cleared. It's come down to what punishments should be levied on so-called "bad actors," companies that operated in the U.S. unlawfully.

California's powerful tribal factions have been split on the issue. One coalition, with the support of PokerStars, backed Assemblyman Adam Gray's AB 2863, which called for either a one-time fine of $20 million or a five-year ban for such companies. An opposing coalition initially called for a $60 million fine and a 10-year ban but has since brought that down to five years.

It's not clear what the size of the monetary penalty is, if there is one, in the amended bill's language. But if the bill does get put forth for a vote on Monday as the Times reported, it would appear a compromise has been reached on suitability language. Last week, the bill was pulled from the floor for "final negotiations" as no agreement had been reached.

Gray had previously opposed the mandatory ban, pointing out that PokerStars is under new ownership in Amaya that had no say in the company's actions during the time period in question.

A consensus between the two sides is necessary for the bill to get through the Assembly, according to Dustin Gouker at OnlinePokerReport. If it does make it through the Assembly vote, it must also be passed by the Senate before Aug. 31.

That may sound like a tall order considering how long it's taken the bill to get to this point  legislation has been in the works for nine years  but it's far from impossible, according to both OPR and the Times. Gouker reported that "there would be a lot of momentum" for it to move through the Senate quickly, while a member of Assemblyman Gray's staff told McGreevy the bill should be "fairly well received in the Senate."

UPDATE (8/18 at 4:19 PT)

The coalition consisting of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Californias three largest card clubs  Commerce Casino, Hawaiian Gardens Casino and Bicycle Casino  and Amaya Inc., owner of PokerStars issued a letter being circulated to the CA Assembly expressing opposition to the amended bill, and are strongly urging a "no" vote.

The letter expresses that the updated bill "raises constitutional questions that will likely result in litigation and prevent implementation of crucial consumer protections while California forgoes hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues for schools, public safety and other priorities."

The coalition also referenced an opinion from Professor Laurence Tribe of Harvard, who was mentioned as being the world's foremost Constitutional Law expert. According to the letter, Tribe believes "these kinds of amendments were first being proposed that, if adopted, they would constitute 'trial by legislature'; in other words, a bill of attainder absolutely prohibited under the Constitution."

PokerNews will continue to follow this story.

Be sure to complete your PokerNews experience by checking out an overview of our mobile and tablet apps here. Stay on top of the poker world from your phone with our mobile iOS and Android app, or fire up our iPad app on your tablet. You can also update your own chip counts from poker tournaments around the world with MyStack on both Android and iOS.
George Lowdins (Photo: Jennings PD)

A man who shot a Jennings, LA, police officer in 2014 was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years in prison, reports KPLC.

Judge Ward Fontenot sentenced George Lowdins to 50 years on the charge of attempted first-degree murder and 20 years on the charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The two sentences are to run concurrently.

Sgt. Ricky Benoit (Photo: Facebook)

Jennings police officer Sgt. Ricky J. Benoit was responding to a domestic disturbance call when he was shot. Authorities said that as he was searching the home, Lowdins, who had been hiding in the bathroom closet, shot him in the neck with a .380 caliber pistol. Lowdins attempted to flee the scene, but was subdued by another officer.

Lowdins was found guilty in March.
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (official photo)

New Mexico's governor is reframing the death penalty debate as the proper response to recent police killings, including one officer killed Friday in her own state, reports the Christian Science Monitor.

This response to police killings bucks a national trend as many states and courts are backing away from the death penalty, in part due to practical constraints on cost and the drugs used in capital punishment. In New Mexico, the push for its return faces opposition from Democrats, which have the majority in the state legislature.

But Republican Gov. Susana Martinez said the shooting of a police officer in Hatch, NM, on Friday, as well as several police killings elsewhere in the nation, prove the punishment is needed to deter society's grossest crimes, Dan Boyd reported for the Albuquerque Journal.

"People need to ask themselves, if the man who ambushed and killed five police officers in Dallas had lived, would he deserve the ultimate penalty," Governor Martinez said Wednesday in a prepared statement. "How about the heartless violent criminals who killed Officer Jose Chavez in Hatch and left his children without their brave and selfless dad? Do they deserve the ultimate penalty? Absolutely. Because a society that fails to adequately protect and defend those who protect all of us is a society that will be undone and unsafe."

New Mexico repealed the death penalty in 2009, and Wednesday's announcement marked the first time the governor had brought up the issue since it failed to pass a Democratic legislature in 2011.

Third Judicial District Attorney Mark D'Antonio, whose office filed a murder charge against Officer Chavez' killers, said such crimes could be a good reason to discuss the death penalty again.

"The death penalty should be the last resort for the worst of the worst and in certain situations like for cop-killers," he said in a statement.
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Talk show host Montel Williams may have supported Republican Gov. John Kasich during the Republican primaries, but hes jumping the GOP ship and supporting Hillary Clinton in the general election.

Thats how bad Trump is, Williams writes today.

In a USA TODAY opinion piece published Wednesday evening, the 22-year Marine Corps veteran said that Clinton is the only choice in a race against Donald Trump.

He wrote:

I became a Republican because I agreed with what President Ronald Reagan said in his 1984 convention speech. In the party of Lincoln, he said, there is no room for intolerance  or bigotry of any kind. Many people are welcome in our house, but not the bigots. I became an independent about 20 years ago because, in my view, the Republican Party had left me.

During this years primaries, I finally found a candidate who embraced this unifying message, one for whom I said Id return to the GOP: Ohio Gov. John Kasich. After his withdrawal, my instinct was to keep silent on my vote. But over the past three weeks, its become clear to me that I have an obligation to speak out  because I believe that Donald Trump represents a clear and present danger to our country.

Ive written before about Trump: his bigotry, the cancerous effect of his reality-show-inspired campaign, and his reviling dog whistles to white supremacists. These are obviously serious problems but they are not an existential threat. Our country has endured bigoted leaders and carnival barkers before (although I struggle to recall any so despicable as to attack a Gold Star family or seemingly suggest an opponents assassination).

But Trump is worse than a clown or a bigot. Hes an existential threat to our republic who cannot be trusted to be commander in chief.

Williams abandonment of the Republican Party during the general election is another sign that moderate Republicans just arent buying what the spray-tanned nominee is selling. As Sarah Jones wrote earlier, even the Benghazi mom speechwriter might cast his ballot for Clinton.

The TV host also rejected the idea that disaffected Republican voters should flock toward third-party candidates, saying that going that route isnt a realistic way to defeat Trump.

Williams wrote, As much as I wish the system wasnt stacked against the Libertarian ticket, it is, making it an unrealistic means of stopping Trump. That leaves Clinton. She was not my first choice, but she is the right choice on a host of issues. Given the threat to America posed by Trump, Clinton is the only choice, and I will vote accordingly.

So will many other Republicans.

According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll from earlier this month, 52 percent of GOP voters are unsatisfied with their nominee.

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is seen favorably by 83 percent of Democrats and continues to dominate Trump in both national and swing-state polling.
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No doubt inspired by the success of Donald Trump among fellow right wing nut-jobs and his call for extreme vetting of Muslim immigrants, Bryan Fischer wants to tighten up access to these shores. Apparently, visiting pilgrimage sites is only okay if youre a Christian, at least according to Fischer, reveals PFAWs Right Wing Watch.

He has come forth now to tell us that to answer wrongly to any of these nine questions should get you banned from the United States if youre a Muslim:

Do you believe in Israels right to exist? Do you renounce all Palestinian acts of terror against Israel and Israelis? Do you believe the 9/11 attack was carried out by Muslims or by Jews? Do you believe the Holocaust occurred? Have you made the pilgrimage to Mecca? Do you support legal punishment for those who leave the Islamic faith? Do you want the United States one day to be governed by Sharia law? Are you willing to give up any right to have Muslim holidays on school calendars and halal food in school cafeterias and prisons? Do you believe anyone who creates an image of Muhammad should be punished?

Take a listen courtesy of Right Wing Watch:

And you have to be strapped to a polygraph machine, says Fischer.

I tried to devise these questions, to make it virtually impossible for a Muslim to resort to taqiyya  I think these questions ought to be administered with a polygraph machine, frankly. I think that anyone thats from a Muslim country that wants to immigrate to the United States, they not only should ask these questions, they should do it hooked up to a polygraph machine.

Forget Joe McCarthy. Weve arrived at the Spanish Inquisition.

Supposedly, its okay to lie to get what you want when youre Muslim  Fischers reference to taqiyya  but as weve seen this is only something that is okay for right wing Christians. As for Muslims, its okay to lie about your religion to preserve your life if threatened, as both Muslims and Jews have had to do in the past when facing persecution. It is not okay to lie to achieve your goals, as Fischer claims.

So far Trump has failed to jump at the chance to implement Fischers plan, but there is still time.
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No need to believe the polls, people. Says who? Donald Trump says.

The Republican presidential nominee topped off a horrific few weeks in the spotlight by claiming that he will defy the polls just like Brexit did in the U.K.

They will soon be calling me MR. BREXIT!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2016

Trump tweeted this just hours after a campaign surrogate made a fool of himself on CNN by repeatedly denying the existence of polls showing Trump was losing to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Michael Cohen, the Trump surrogate, kept asking, Says who? and finally, Which polls? until Brianna Keilar was forced to tell him, All of them.

Trump is down by an average of 6 points and hes losing several swing states to Clinton right now. The path to victory for Trump is looking very slim.

So now that says who was trending yesterday, we wake up this morning to Mr. Brexit.

Trump supported Brexit, which won in a referendum 52% to 48%.

But this isnt a referendum and this isnt the U.K. Furthermore, while early polling can be off and indeed all polling can be off for actual reasons, like pollsters who pretend African Americans wont turn out for Obama and now for Clinton, polls when done well are an indication of where the race is heading.

Theres also the problem that all of the polls say the same thing.

Donald Trump looks at the polls that say hes losing and announces that hes winning. Hes Mr. Brexit!

Donald Trump is Mr. Brexit in more ways than one, not the least of which is that Trump hired the same psychographic data firm, Cambridge Analytica, which is a marketing film that targets voters (and potential donors) based on their unconscious psychological biases.

They are experts in exploiting fears and anxieties. The Daily Beast explained they went after first-time voters and those who felt left out of the political process, the kinds of people that Trump was successful bringing to the polls in primary elections.

Theyve done work for Sen. Ted Cruz and Dr. Ben Carson, both of whom lost.

Trump is refusing to deal with reality and banking on his dark, gloomy message convincing more Americans that they should cater to their fears by putting a madman in charge of the red button.

Donald Trump just revealed his game plan and the justification for his delusion of winning in the face of reality. Hes counting on voters insecurity and fear blinding them to his incompetence and utter lack of fitness for the office.

What he doesnt realize is the country is already aware of Trumps plan and sees him coming. Most voters already know who Donald Trump is. And if that isnt enough reason to question Trumps plan, this kind of negative campaigning doesnt go over as well in a run for the White House as it does for more localized elections.
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Georgia is now solidly in battleground territory after a new poll shows Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump deadlocked in the red state

A Fox5 poll of Georgia has found that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are tied at 43% followed by Libertarian Gary Johnson at 11, and 3% of voters are undecided.

Polls have consistently shown that Clinton and Trump are locked in a tight race in the Peach State. What is interesting about Georgia is Trump is receiving 10% less support for Republicans than Hillary Clinton is getting from Democrats, but the problem for Trump is that the missing GOP support has found a home with Libertarian Gary Johnson.

Donald Trump and the Republican Party might have to fight a two-front battle in red states like Georgia. While Trump leads Johnson nationally by 20-30 points, the Republican nominee may have a real problem with Johnson at the state level. Gary Johnson may not be able to win a state like Georgia, but he could definitely hand the state to Hillary Clinton by keeping Republican support away from Trump.

Georgia is behind other southern states where Democrats have made great gained, but the data suggests that Georgia is on the verge of moving into more consistently being swing territory. Georgia may not be as far along the change path as Virginia, Florida, and even North Carolina, but there is something happening in the state that cant be ignored.

It is nearly September, and Hillary Clinton has a shot at winning Georgia. The statement speaks volumes both about the changing demographics of the state and the complete disaster of a campaign that Donald Trump is running.
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Republicans are proclaiming that they have proof via the State Departments spokesperson that the Obama administration admitted to paying Iran $400 million in return for four US prisoners. However, none of this is actually true.

This is what the AP reported, Spokesman John Kirby says negotiations over the United States returning Iranian money from a decades-old account was conducted separately from the prisoner talks. But he says the U.S. withheld delivery of the cash as leverage until the U.S. citizens had left Iran.

Here is the 16-second video that the RNC released as proof:

John Kirbys full and unedited answer:

As you can see, Kirbys full answer states that the US was completely above board and the Obama administration concluded several diplomatic negotiations at the same time. Kirby said, We were able to conclude multiple strands of diplomacy within a 24 hour period, and oh, by the way, you can go back and look at your own work that was done back then, and youll see that we were completely above board about this. Even the President himself talked about the timing. We able to conclude multiple strands of diplomacy within a 24 hour period including implementation of the nuclear deal, the prisoner talks, and the settlement of an outstanding Hauge claim that saved American taxpayers potentially billions of dollars. As we said at the time, we deliberately leveraged that moment to finalize these outstanding issues nearly simultaneously.

Its already publicly known that we returned to Iran its $400 million in that same time period as part of the Hauge settlement agreement. With concerns that Iran would renege on the prisoner release given unnecessary delays regarding persons in Iran who could not be located as well as to be quite honest mutual mistrust between Iran and the United States. We, of course, sought to retain maximum leverage until after American citizens were released that was our top priority.



Kirby repeated numerous times that the US position was to make sure that the prisoners were released before Iran got their money back. If anything, it was the Americans holding up the Hauge agreement to give Iran back its own money until the prisoners were returned, which is the opposite of what Republicans are suggesting happened.

The US did not pay Iran $400 million of taxpayer money to get four prisoners back. What the Obama administration did was make sure that they got the prisoners back before they sent Iran their own money.

What the Obama administration did was smart, what Republicans are suggesting happened is a total lie.
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National polls are confirming a trend that began after the Democratic convention. White men are quickly abandoning Trumps campaign as the 2016 election is completely falling apart on Republicans.

The New York Times reported, Two national polls conducted this month have Mrs. Clinton catching up to Mr. Trump among men over all. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows Mrs. Clinton with 43 percent support among men to his 42 percent. A Bloomberg Politics survey put Mr. Trump with a low-single-digit lead among men, according to the pollster who conducted the survey, Ann Selzer.

The trend goes deeper than two recent national polls. On August 8, a McClatchy poll found that Trump had gone from 14 points ahead with men to losing to Hillary Clinton by eight points in a month. A recent poll of Florida revealed that Trump is performing ten points worse than Romney did with white voters in the Sunshine State in 2012.

If Trump underperforms Romneys totals with white voters, the 2016 election will be a bloodbath for the Republican Party. White male conservative voters are the backbone of the GOP. Even with the support of white men, the Republican Party has lost the last two presidential elections. Donald Trump needs more support from white men than previous GOP nominees because he is getting near record low levels of support from women, millennials, Hispanics, and African-Americans.

With each Republican held House and Senate seat that slips into peril, it is becoming obvious that it was foolish for the Republican Party to convince themselves that they could survive if Donald Trump were at the top of the ballot. The election hasnt completely slipped away from Republicans, but the GOP likely has a matter of weeks, not months before they get to the point of no return.

If white men continue to dump Trump, Republicans will spend the rest of the campaign trying to pull as many seats as they can out of the flaming rubble of Trumps 2016 disaster.
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MINNEAPOLIS  Target cut its profit and comparable-store sales outlook amid stiffer competition and its own stumbles in areas such as grocery sales.

The discounter's second-quarter net income fell nearly 10 percent, though that was better than what most had expected.

Sales at stores open at least a year fell 1.1 percent, reversing seven straight quarters of gains.

Shares fell nearly 4 percent before the opening bell today.

The quarter underscores challenges that Target and other retailers face from Amazon.com and shoppers who remain cautious about spending while in its aisles.

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Target has been trying to reinvigorate its operations under Brian Cornell, who took the helm two years ago. He wants to regain the retailer's cheap chic status and make Target more nimble after a series of headline-grabbing setbacks, including a pre-Christmas 2013 debit and credit card breach that damaged sales and profits for months.

Cornell has made some great strides and has recast the executive ranks at Target.

It's focusing on key merchandising categories such as fashion, home furnishings and wellness products. The company has spruced up its presentation and created vignettes to feature its home products. The company also is creating new brands such as Cat & Jack, a children's clothing line expected to generate annual sales of $1 billion. The collection hit stores this summer in time for the crucial back-to-school season.

And while it's shifting more assets from stores to online operations, there are signs of headwinds in that area. Online sales rose 16 percent in the second quarter, lower than the 23 percent gain in the first quarter.

It's also trying to pump up grocery sales, which represents about 20 percent of its total business. It's marketing more organic, natural or gluten-free products. Target's nonperishable items have been doing well, but it's still having trouble getting shoppers to pick up fruits and vegetables, according to analysts.

The company now expects earnings this year in the range of $4.80 to $5.20, lower than the $5.20 to $5.40 it had projected earlier.

Same-stores sales could fall as much as 2 percent in the second half of the year, Target said.

Net income for the quarter was $680 million, or $1.16 cents per share. That compares with $753 million, or $1.18 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

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Adjusted per-share earnings were $1.23, easily beating projections of $1.14 from Wall Street, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

"While we recognize there are opportunities in the business and are addressing the challenges we are facing in a difficult retail environment, we are pleased that our team delivered second quarter profitability above our expectations," said Cornell.

Revenue fell 7.2 percent to $16.2 billion.

Shares fell $2.87 to $72.61 per share in premarket trading.
Madeline Van Ert, of Rochester, was crowned Miss Minnesota on June 18 and since then life has been a whirlwind, getting ready for Miss America Pageant coming up on Sept. 11 in Atlantic City, N.J.

"I don't think people realize how much of a holistic challenge this is," Van Ert said. "What you see on TV is the walking around on stage, the smiling and waving in the pretty dresses, but there is so much besides that going on behind the scenes.

"First of all, the service; that's already taking a lot out of you, but also giving a lot back," she said. "That exchange happens totally behind the scenes, unbeknownst to people, and then you have the interviews, which challenge your mental capacity and how aware you are with issues  you have to be much more aware of global and national issues because you are vying to be the face of a nation.  It really is about who you are as a whole person."

All in all, it's a matter of "stepping up my game," Van Ert said. "These are things I've already been doing. My platform (the Arts Project, which promotes arts exposure to children.) is based on things that I started in high school and have worked on since then. Music has always been such a huge part of my life, so this is just a natural progression, which feels so cool to just walk in and say  this is totally me. If they like that, that's awesome, but if not, I know there is nothing that I could have done differently and I won't have any regrets, which is just a good place for me to be in mentally."

Music is not only Van Ert's interest, it's her talent. She performed Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" in the Miss Minnesota pageant and will be doing so again on the Miss America stage.

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There is a big send off Van Ert at 4 p.m. Sunday at Christ United Methodist Church, and you can attend. that everyone is welcome to. Van Ert will be showing off her entire Miss America wardrobe, will be performing, and will be discussing what the program is like, what Miss America is like and what people can do to support her.

Here's one way to support her: Vote ! America's Choice voting is going on right now, so go vote for Madeline! The person who wins that automatically gets into the top 15 at Miss America, so they will compete on TV. You can vote once a day at missamerica.org/vote.

You can also like her Miss Minnesota Madeline Van Ert Facebook page to follow along and see what she is doing as Miss Minnesota and at the Miss America Pageant.

Two for one

Twin sisters Melissa and Kaitlyn Webb, of Stillwater, just graduated (they were homeschooled) this year, and instead of traditional graduation gifts, the girls asked guests at their graduation party to donate to the Rochester Ronald McDonald House .

"We just wanted to make a difference in a good way," Melissa said. "We were able to donate lots of products, and also raised over $600 to donate to the Ronald McDonald House."

The sisters got the word out about their quest for donations in their graduation invitations, and their generosity......(some of this sentence seems to be missing)

Now that they've graduated, the girls plan on pursuing performing arts, focusing on acting and singing, and are both currently learning to play the guitar.
MANTORVILLE  Mantorville Theatre Company will hold auditions the next two Sundays for the upcoming holiday production of "The Nutcracker's Nuts."

Rehearsals are at 7 p.m. Sunday and Aug. 28 at the Mantorville Opera House. Roles are available for two men and four women able to play older adults.

The play takes place in a retirement community, where residents are looking to perform something other than "A Christmas Carol" for the holidays. They decide on "The Nutcracker" without realizing it's a ballet. Plus, the resident who wants to play the lead doesn't know how to dance.

This comedy will be directed by Cheryl Frarck, and will be presented Nov. 18 through Dec. 4. For detailed audition information, go to www.mantorvillain.com.
A new church was created in Zumbrota in the early 2000s, and it invested a large sum of money to remodel the west section of the building for a sanctuary.

Later on, the church was dissolved or moved to another city. God gave us great favor by allowing us to rent this abandoned property without having to do any remodeling.

A member from that previous church came to our church and became a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ during the past eight years. She eventually was overtaken with dementia and had to be placed in a nursing home care facility.

We had an outreach ministry at that nursing home facility; therefore, she continued to attend our weekly chapel services. Eventually, through time, she had to be placed into another nursing home facility in order to receive special care. We continued to visit her, as often as we could.

Our last visit happened the day before she passed away. The nurse brought us to her room and tried to wake her up, but she would not open her eyes. She spoke a few words, but that was all. What we witnessed cannot be expressed in words. With a big smile on her face it seemed as if she was in another world, experiencing the very presence of the Lord.

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I personally believe she had this joyful experience because she acknowledged and believed God sent His Son (deity in a human body) to become her substitute, paying the price for her redemption (John 3:16; 2Corinthians 5:21).

Philippians 1:20-24 provides great insight into a person's decision whether we should continue living here or make the departure to glory.

"For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that causes me shame, but that I will always be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past, and that my life will always honor Christ, whether I live or I die. For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better. I'm torn between two desires: Sometimes I want to live, and sometimes I long to go and be with Christ. That would be far better for me, but it is better for you that I live."
As soon as it's dark, around 9 p.m., look for a constellation in the low southern Rochester skies that clearly resembles a teapot. A triangle of three bright stars make up the spout on the right side and a trapezoid of four stars on the left side make up the handle. Between and above the handle and the pot is a single star that marks the top of the teapot.

That celestial teapot is the main part of the classic constellation Sagittarius the Archer. According to Greek and Roman lore, the teapot we see is supposed to outline a half man-half horse flinging an arrow to the west toward the next-door constellation, Scorpius the Scorpion.

Unlike Sagittarius, though, Scorpius actually looks like a scorpion. This summer, Sagittarius is also aiming his arrow at the bright planets Saturn and Mars, that are still close together, just above the scorpion's brightest star, Antares. Don't forget to point your telescope, even a small one, at Saturn. You'll love it!

Without a doubt, though, it's much easier to see Sagittarius as a teapot, and if you're fortunate enough to be stargazing in the dark, you'll easily see a band of light arching overhead, stretching all the way from the northern horizon to the southern horizon. This is the famous Milky Way Band, the thickest part of our home galaxy.

You can't help but notice that the Milky Way band runs right into Sagittarius. In fact, the center of our Milky Way is right in the direction of the little teapot. The downtown section of our home galaxy would appear a lot brighter in our sky, but there's a lot of obscuring interstellar gas and dust in the way. Many astronomers believe that if it weren't for all that gas and dust, the part of the sky around Sagittarius would be brighter than the full moon.

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Nonetheless, that part of the Milky Way band around the teapot is fairly bright anyway, and loaded with a lot a fun stuff. It's a very busy part of the sky, and even with a small telescope or even a pair of binoculars you'll find many, many star clusters and nebulae.

In fact, if you look above the spout of the teapot, it almost looks like a puff of steam. That puff is known astronomically as Messier Object 8, the Lagoon Nebula. It's a bright emission nebula that's one of the larger and brighter star factories we can see, and you don't need all that fancy of a telescope to get a good look at it.

This giant cloud of hydrogen gas, the raw material it takes to make a star, is over 5,000 light-years away and roughly 100 light-years in diameter. Stars form when denser pockets of hydrogen gas gravitationally collapse, causing the inner core of these condensed balls to rise millions and millions of degrees. When the core of these gas balls reaches a high enough temperature, nuclear fusion begins, and you a have a new star in the heavens.

Within in the Lagoon Nebula you can see many new young single stars and clusters of stars, and there's a lot more on the way. These new young stars are very hot and huge producers of ultraviolet radiation. All this energy atomically energizes the surrounding hydrogen gas and causes it to glow like neon light.

If your view is clear enough and your telescope strong enough, you may see strands of dark clouds across parts of the nebula. These clouds of hydrogen gas don't happen to have bright new stars around them, so they appear to us in their raw form, dark.

Enjoy the Lagoon Nebula above the spout of the teapot and all the celestial treasures around Sagittarius. It's definitely one of my favorite parts of the night sky.

Conjunction junction this week:The bright planets Saturn and Mars, along with the bright planet Antares, are still hanging close together in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion in the early evening low southern sky.
A 48-year-old Rochester resident is behind bars today after authorities say he was found with drugs, locked in a women's restroom at a local park.

The case began about 4:45 a.m. today, when an officer doing a check of Kutzky Park discovered the women's restroom door locked and items covering the screen vents.

He banged on the door, the report says, and heard movement inside. About 4 minutes later, Marvin Donald Bale opened the door, said Lt. Mike Sadauskis said, and told the officer he'd fallen asleep.

Inside the facility were hypodermic needles "in clear view," Sadauskis said, as well as a small piece of metal with burn marks. With that probable cause, the officer searched Bale's backpack, where he allegedly found about 0.2 grams of methamphetamine and additional drug paraphernalia, including needles.

According to the report, Bale claimed someone else had been with him; Bale believed that person locked the door when he left. The only way to lock the door from the outside, however, is with a key. It can be bolted shut from the inside.

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Also inside the room were wet clothes, a pornographic magazine, peanut butter and a container of baby powder, the report says.

Bale could face charges of felony fifth-degree controlled substance crime, possession of drug paraphernalia and being in a park after hours.
Rochester police are investigating after a woman reported she was attacked in her garage Tuesday morning.

The 22-year-old victim, who lives in the 1300 block of 10th Avenue Southeast, said she had gone into her garage  a stall in a shared building  about 10:30 a.m. to put something away. After she entered the building, the service door closed behind her, the report says, leaving the garage in nearly complete darkness.

The woman called out, asking if someone was there, said Lt. Mike Sadauskis, "and the next thing she knew, someone was behind her, choking her."

She woke up on the floor minutes later, called a friend and went to a local hospital. There was no indication of a sexual assault, the report says, and the woman sustained minor injuries.
Dear Answer Man, at the City Council meeting this week, there was a big stink over changes that were made to the council-approved design for the Nicholas Apartments. The council approved the changes, after the fact, but some council members complained.

How big a deal were those changes?

The flap at the council meeting this week wasn't just about the Nicholas project, which has agitated a number of neighborhood activists ever since it was proposed at 722 W. Center St., across the street from Sts. Kosmas and Damianos Greek Orthodox church. The issue was also about the mixed-use building at 1111 Second St. NW and what's now called the Flats on Fourth project, near the Government Center.

But regarding the Nicholas, here are the elements that are already finished that are different from the city-approved drawings . The city says there was miscommunication with developers on some points; Council Member Michael Wojcik, who represents the area, says he's "terribly disappointed" with the results.

You be the judge as to whether they're a big deal that required further city council attention, before or after construction -- not that the city was going to have the developer tear down the building at this point and redo it to specs.

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1/ The building was supposed to have windows on the east and west elevations on each floor. Didn't happen.

2/ Two four-story brick balcony enclosures on the east facade were shown on drawings with a 10-foot separation; they were built without separation.

3/ Utility pipes were added on the west side.

4/ Fan vents were added.

5/ Rooftop intake and exhaust pipes were added along the roofline on the front.

6/ Light fixtures were added above service doors on the east and west facades.

7/ Window and door arrangements on the rear facade are different than in the drawings.

Also, there are elements on the site that are different from the approved drawings:

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1/ Lights were installed in the front yard, and several lights were not installed on the east side.

2/ Fences were put up around electric meters on the rear facade.

Again, are these big hairy deals or is this nitpicking? Help yourself to the answer. FYI, the project had gone back to the council three times previously to deal with issues such as the design of a backyard patio.

I invite you to walk or drive by the building, which is a block west of historic Lourdes High School. It's a handsome, brick-facade building that most people would say tries hard to fit well into its center-city neighborhood. It also represents a big investment in the area.

Oh Great Wise One, Epitome of Omniscience, what are the silver trailer-like structures with windows on top of the Alternative Learning Center? -- Jim Rongstad

Jim, you're so right that I'm the Epitome of Omniscience, and because of that I encourage you to read this column every day or you risk missing vital information. As loyal fans know, I wrote about this on Sept. 15 of last year , and the answer was short and sweet: They're simply big HVAC units. Why they're designed as they are, as if they're "granny pods," I can't say.

As you'll recall, before the building was bought by the Rochester school district and converted into the Alternative Learning Center in 2013 , it was a sprawling home design center with several tenants.
FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn.  The Minnesota State Fair is boosting security screening this year.

The Star Tribune reports security staff will search all bags, coolers and other items at all 11 entrances. The fair also is increasing security staffing, boosting video surveillance and restricting some vehicle access.

Fair officials announced the planned security enhancements on Tuesday. The Minnesota State Fair begins Aug. 25 and runs through Labor Day.

State Fair general manager Jerry Hammer says the new measures aren't in response to a particular threat.

The fair is bringing in an additional 100 security screeners to perform bag checks at the gates. An express lane will be available for visitors without bags.

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 Associated Press
Tamil Nadu Special Branch Police is probing Ashwins death, while Sharon Rajs death is being probed by the Parassala police in Kerala.
MANTORVILLE  After a black motorist called one of his deputies racist during the first week in August, Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose took to the press to make his opinions known.

In a column published Aug. 10 in the Steele County Times , Rose said one of his deputies had issued a citation to the motorist for not having a valid driver's license.

"I rarely ever hear about any racial comments like this made toward our deputies," he said in an email to the Post-Bulletin this week. "That's why it got my attention."

In the column, Rose said he can't recall any incidents of racial discord since he joined the sheriff's office in 2002. While Rose recognizes that racial incidents occur in law enforcement, he believes systematic racism doesn't exist in all agencies.

"I believe it's dangerous when leaders in our state and national governments, along with organizations like Black Lives Matter, suggest without facts to back it up that systematic racism is a widespread problem with all law enforcement agencies," he said in the column. "This only fuels anti-law enforcement rhetoric and behavior that negatively affects all of us in this profession, regardless of the size or the diversity of our communities."

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According to 2015 U.S. Census Bureau statistics , 97 percent of Dodge County's population identified as white, and less than 1 percent identified as black.

'More guarded and cautious'

Rose told the Post-Bulletin he doesn't believe his opinion piece alienated minority residents in Dodge County.

"I believe it's my responsibility to share beliefs and stories  to reinforce the fact that we have a diverse group of men and women who are committed to equally serving everyone in our community, regardless of color," he said.

In the column, he expressed his frustration with recent shootings that killed multiple police officers in Baton Rouge, La., and Dallas. The attacks came in the wake of the deaths of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, both black men who were shot and killed by police.

"They (Black Lives Matter) turn a blind eye to violence against cops; it does nothing more than fuel race tensions within the law enforcement community," he wrote. "With their actions, or lack of action in many instances, they've in essence become part of the problem, not the solution."

Kamau Wilkins, of Rochester for Justice, a citizens group that seeks to bring racial justice and awareness through education advocacy and community organizing, said Wednesday in an interview with the Post-Bulletin that it's important for public officials to tell how they view certain topics, but he believes Rose misunderstands what the Black Lives Matter movement is about.

Wilkins said he fears the column fosters dangerous rhetoric of "us versus them" based on stereotyping and generalizing.

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Such rhetoric causes division between minorities and law enforcement, he added.

"Ultimately, any elected official to be properly involved with anyone in their community means interacting with everyone, including those who are angry with them," Wilkins said. "It's a moral responsibility to engage with all constituents."

Rose wrote that after the recent violence against police, he feels differently about the black community and how he deals with individuals when wearing his uniform and badge.

"Today, I'm sad to say that I find myself being more guarded and cautious when dealing with someone who is African-American while in uniform," he writes. "Not because they are black, but because I worry now that they assume I am racist because of my badge.

"While I recognize that there are many involved with organizations like Black Lives Matter that truly want to make a difference with minority relations, we've unfortunately seen all too often these groups fail to call out inappropriate or illegal behavior within their protests," he said.

When asked whether he'd be open to meeting with members of the Black Lives Matter movement to discuss relations between minorities and police, Rose said no.

"I have no interest in meeting with Black Lives Matter about race relations in our county," he said. "My office door is always open to discuss any issues and/or concerns with those living in the communities we serve. I believe we can best address local concerns with local citizens who have a vested interest in our county."

Wilkins said that public officials should work toward a dialogue, not choose sides.

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"For any public elected official to start the conversation, it's really important to open up and say how they feel about the issue at hand, that's the beginning of the dialogue," Wilkins said. "I don't know what's in his heart or what his intentions were. If his intention is to discredit. If he meant to pigeonhole even Rochester for Justice and many groups across the U.S. as a group primarily focused on wreaking havoc and endangering lives of police officers, then I know he's wrong."

'It's a great opportunity lost'

Rochester Police Chief Roger Peterson has been active in attempting to foster conversations between law enforcement and minority communities regarding racism and police use of force. He has developed a close relationship with Rochester for Justice and continues to pursue change within policing and increasing fairness and safety for everyone.

"We've seen comments where Black Lives Matter is (called) anti-police, that you have to either support police or support black lives," Peterson said. "In reality, we're not on opposite sides of the fence. We want to stop all violence."

Peterson said he's troubled Rose was not interested in having a conversation with supporters of Black Lives Matter. "It's a great opportunity lost," he said. "The fact you don't have a substantial minority population doesn't make the issue less important. It makes it more important. Those minority populations can be even more disenfranchised."

Although he doesn't condone extreme actions on either side of the issue, Peterson said it's important all parties be willing to come together and have an open discussion.

"We don't have different objectives in terms of whether it's Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter. It's about less violence, and it's about protecting people," he said.

"If you are so sure of your perspective that you don't have to talk to the people that you're serving, you should really examine that from the perspective of what your responsibilities as a peace officer are."
Brief and sparing glimpses into building plans for a possible Rochester Public Library and University of Minnesota  Rochester partnership were offered Wednesday, including that the university could potentially offer shared space in a building to multiple organizations, including the library.

Library Board of Trustees President Lou Ohly brought other board members up to speed on conversations he, library Executive Director Audrey Betcher and board member Janice Engberg had participated in with an ad hoc committee of community leaders . Ohly, who is also an Olmsted County commissioner, said the discussions included the potential for shared space as the university plans its growth in the community.

The ad hoc committee had invited representatives from the library, the university, the Rochester Family YMCA and the Children's Museum of Minnesota  Rochester to consider potential collaborations to meet each organization's growing space needs.

I guess I would sum it up by saying UMR has a lot of space they could fill," Ohly said. "And they'd like to become more of a part of the community if they had their own space.

"They don't need all that space but they have land that they could put a building on and they could share that space with other organizations like the public library, like the YMCA, the children's museum; there could be other people too," Ohly said.

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The university's master plan includes a 10-acre expansion on the south side of Rochester, near Soldier's Field Park. It demolished two buildings on South Broadway Avenue in 2011 and last year improved the site with landscaping last year.

It was too soon to discuss how funding of a shared space would break down, Betcher said, but Ohly suggested state money could be involved. Ohly also suggested the shared space building could be built privately, with each of the organizations operating under a lease agreement.

"We have plenty of options," Ohly said.

Library board members questioned how the potential shared space would fit with the library's standing request for funding for a $55 million, two-story expansion at its current location, and how the community might view the library's seeming interest in alternative plans.

Asked whether the shared space would be something like a branch or like the mini-library at the Rochester International Airport, Betcher responded: "I think the expectation is it would be substantial."

That is not to say the library board or its leadership will change course from the expansion plan.

"We're not abandoning the work that we've done as a board and as a community and as staff to get where we are now," Betcher said.

Library board member Joshua DeFrang asked how the board's bosses  the public  would interpret it if library leadership pursued continued conversations on the shared space. The library board and staff had already invested three years' worth of research and planning that led to the expansion request.

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"I'm just worried that if we start to waver in that, it decreases our bosses' trust in us that we have done our due diligence," DeFrang said.

The library board also reviewed a draft memorandum of understanding that lays out non-binding terms for multiple organizations to explore shared space.

"It provides a framework for if we wanted to pursue those conversations, what it might look like," Betcher said.

The board took no action on the memorandum and agreed it would continue to discuss the shared space possibility at its next monthly meeting.

Ohly did not view continuing the conversation as wavering from the library's expansion plan.

"I don't think it's harmful to look at options. It doesn't mean you're wavering in your point of view," Ohly said.

Also at the meeting

The board reviewed and agreed to forward an updated list of capital improvement projects to the city of Rochester that included $3.9 million of repairs and deferred maintenance planned over the next five years.

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Some of the repairs needed at the library could be redundant if the library found a way to move forward with its expansion plan, Betcher said.
David Vine was born in 1929 and grew up in Rochester, attending high school in Rochester then moving on to Rochester Junior College and Colorado College.

When the Korean War started he enlisted in the Navy. Upon returning, he took over his father's ownership of Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Home in Rochester. Along the way he formed a family and created a life for himself.

Looking at the timeline of David's years, it's not hard to see that he lived a fulfilling life. His biggest accomplishment, however, may lie in the hearts of those whose lives he touched.

David and his wife, Mary, owned a small hobby farm on the outskirts of Rochester, where the family enjoyed the company of horses, goats, dogs and cats. Annie Ringo Vine, David's daughter, said that David had a real passion for animals and the outdoors, especially horses. Even after his retirement, Ringo recalls her dad wearing his ripped, blue engineer overalls and spending sometimes 10 to 15 hours working outside and in his workshop.

Ringo has many memories of her father and his love for horses and the outdoors. She remembers camping with the entire family at Forestville State Park, which was one of David's favorite places to spend his time.

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"We would bring the horses and go trail riding for days," said Ringo.

Ringo said that her father had natural compassion for others, especially children and young adults who lacked a father figure or didn't have a steady home life. Because of this compassion and selflessness, the Vine family would open their home and their lives to these children, bringing them horseback riding and to horse shows, camping, and doing things around the farm.

"Whenever he saw someone he thought just needed an extra adult in their life he would work to show them that he really cared about them," Ringo said. "He was just really good at making young people feel like they didn't have to be worried about sharing who they were."

Ringo said that David always gave people a chance, choosing to see the good in those who entered his life.

"He would always say things like 'they mean well' or 'they're doing the best they can,'" Ringo said. "He took people at face value and accepted them for who they were."

Brenda Halverson was one of the children that whose lives were touched by David and his family. Halverson was Mary's neighbor before Mary's marriage to David and met her when she was 8 and had asked if she could walk her two dogs. She met David a few years later and spent a lot of her adolescence with the Vines, becoming friends with David's daughter Debbie. Halverson stayed in touch with the Vines throughout her life, with David even walking her down the aisle and giving her away at her wedding.

"I don't know if there is a way to describe him," Halverson said. "He was like a father to me. He was a really great man."

Halverson did not grow up with a father, and David quickly became a father figure to her, bringing her horseback riding at the family hobby farm, taking her to horse shows with the family in which she would compete, and even teaching her to water ski.

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Although Halverson said that she has too many memories of David and the Vine family to count, she remembers a horse show when she was young in which she kept getting second to another girl. Being naturally competitive and recognizing how hard Halverson had worked, David took the situation into his own hands.

"I think it was the third time that I had gotten second and David went up to the judge and stood up for me," Halverson said. "It was very sweet."

Filling their lives with the love of many, David and Mary went the extra mile to offer those in need a safe space and a loving home.

Ringo said that it was common for Mary and David to open their home to those who needed help, like young adults who had lost their parents or those who were passing through town and needed a place to stay. This selfless act of compassion by the family would sometimes last a summer or for longer periods of time.

"He wasn't their dad, he wasn't going to be super strict with them, but they always really respected him. They wouldn't try to get away with anything," Ringo said. "They just had a deep respect for my dad and I think he was able to do that because he was able to be very accepting of everyone, however they were."

Throughout his life, David left a lasting impression of laughter and love with those who had the fortune of knowing him and cared for those who needed it the most.

"He liked to tease people a lot, that was his way of showing love, he rarely called people by their actual names," Ringo said. "He always had a nickname for everyone he loved, so if you had a nickname you knew that you were really loved."
Several pools in Southeast Minnesota were closed Wednesday due to the potential presence of cryptosporidium, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

Ron Unger, director of parks and recreation in Kasson, said he received a call from the state heath department Wednesday afternoon that a person suspected of spreading cryptosporidium at a pool in Owatonna might have also spread the parasite in Kasson as well.

Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite that causes the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The state health department called us yesterday on a precautionary measure," Unger said. "There's a possibility someone who swam over in Owatonna came over to our pool and swam."

The normal procedure after such a call is to increase the chlorine in the pool to 40 parts per million and hold it there for 12 hours, Unger said.

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Ben Boldt, recreation supervisor at Rochester parks and recreation, said he received a similar call Wednesday from the Olmsted County Health Department.

"There had been a young person who had gone swimming in the Soldier Field pool when they were ill," Boldt said. "We're sanitizing it now so we eliminate any potential risk for any other swimmers."

Like the Kasson Aquatic Center, the Solders Field Pool will be closed all day today. Both pools are expected to reopen Friday. Neither pool was confirmed to have been infected with the parasite.

"We have had a couple of fecal incidents this year where we have to super chlorinate," Unger said. "Our main goal is to make sure everyone is safe.

"Trisha Robinson, supervisor of the waterborne diseases unit at the state health department, said three pools were closed in southeast Minnesota, the pool in Kasson, Soldiers Field Pool in Rochester and River Springs Water Park in Owatonna. Individuals who swam in those pools were either later diagnosed with cryptosporidium diarrhea or were sick when swimming at those pools last week, she said.

Anyone who has swam in the pools from last week to early this week and is concerned about infection should contact their health care provider, Robinson said. Symptoms for the disease mainly are diarrheal illness, and can present as quickly as two days after contact with the parasite or as long as two weeks.

"The really challenging thing with cryptosporidium is people are still contagious after their symptoms have resolved," she said. "We recommend they stay out of the water two weeks."

Poop in pools more common than you may think, CDC warns
PRESTON  Advocates are celebrating news that after four years without state funding, Fillmore County's domestic abuse program will once again be getting those critical dollars.

Rochester Women's Shelter Inc. stepped in two years ago and began funding the rural domestic violence program after discovering the state dollars had disappeared. The group's Executive Director Suzie Christenson said the nonprofit has been awarded $73,000 per year from the state's Office of Justice Programs to cover the cost of the program.

"It's such a relief. You can only support a program $70,000 a year for so long before you have to look at doing something else," Christenson said.

The program's funding problems date back to 2012. That is when Fillmore Family Resources shuttered its offices after losing its state funding. Determined not to abandon the county's victims of domestic abuse, advocate Anne Detlefson founded Fillmore Family Resources. She continued working without pay to help victims. To get by, she relied on unemployment benefits, food shelves and donations from churches and residents. When Rochester Women's Shelter, Inc. became aware of Detlefson's plight in 2014, the nonprofit stepped up and began funding the position.

Detlefson said she is relieved to learn that her position is finally funded again.

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"I was literally in shock because I didn't believe or consider that this kind of funding would be offered to Fillmore County," she said.

In fact, Detlefson said she was so concerned about the Rochester nonprofit absorbing the costs of the program that she was trying to figure out how to help. She made over 1,000 pairs of earrings for the nonprofit to sell to help fund her position. She also worked to encourage donations from Fillmore County organizations to the Rochester shelter to keep the local program going.

"I was feeling the kind of immediacy of wanting to have something in place so that I'm not a burden, this program is not a burden to the women's shelter. And this funding came in and it's lifted all of those worries and all of those fears," she said.

The loss of funding for Fillmore County's program came on the heels of a massive state budget deficit. In 2011, legislators were faced with a $5 billion budget shortfall and grant funding for crime victim services fell by $1.5 million. A total of 16 grantees across the state lost funding  including Fillmore Family Resources.

Detlefson is the lone full-time domestic abuse advocate in Fillmore County, which spans 862 square miles. She estimates that on an average day, she works with six victims per day.

Fillmore County Sheriff Tom Kaase said he is delighted that the Fillmore County program once again has state funding. He said his deputies deal with domestic abuse situations on a regular basis and have come to rely on the program.

"In the different situations we deal with, these people help make that connection and fill that void with the victims and people in need. They're an obvious asset and a resource that we can turn to," Kaase said.

Rochester Women's Shelter, Inc. is also celebrating more good funding news. The nonprofit was awarded a total of $113,000 in additional grant dollars. Of that, $73,000 will go to the Fillmore County program and the remainder will fund an additional children's advocate. She shelter is also changing how it uses the remaining $1.1 million it will be getting from the Office of Justice Programs. The nonprofit has hired five community advocates who are available to go out into the community and help victims wherever and whenever they need it.

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Christenson said the nonprofit launched the program after realizing the sheer number of women it seeks to help who never stay at the shelter. Every month, the program turns away an average of 20 women requesting shelter. It helps 3,600 people per year who never stay at the shelter.

The community advocates are available 24 hours per day, seven days a week and can meet victims during their lunch breaks, in the emergency room or at the police station.

She added, "The need is just tremendous."

Domestic violence a matter of life and death
Some Minnesota lawmakers are blasting Mayo Clinic's decision to subcontract its food vendor services, accusing the clinic of reneging on promises made while lobbying for Destination Medical Center in 2013.

As of Wednesday night, more than 30 legislators had signed a petition urging Mayo to reverse its decision, according to SEIU Healthcare Minnesota spokesman Josh Keller. The union paid for a full-page ad with the list of lawmakers in today's Post-Bulletin, the fifth such purchase since Mayo announced the proposed change on June 30.

Mayo Clinic has announced plans to switch food vendors from Sodexo to Morrison Healthcare at 20 facilities across the country. As part of the deal, about 700 Mayo employees in southern Minnesota, including 350 in Rochester, would become Morrison employees.

"This whole thing stinks to me," said Rep. Mike Nelson, DFL-Brooklyn Park, who signed the petition. He said Mayo's actions contradict promises made by clinic executives that passage of DMC would lead to more good-paying jobs.

"You are supposed to be creating good jobs with benefits and pensions, and the first thing you do is turn around and stiff the workers you've already got? That doesn't look good to me," Nelson said.

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Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, chairwoman of the DMC Corp. Board, released a statement today urging both sides to find common ground. SEIU has planned an Aug. 24 picket outside Saint Marys Hospital.

"I have spoken to both the Mayo Clinic and SEIU about the importance of these jobs, and the need to find common ground," Smith said. "I hope Mayo Clinic will work with SEIU to find a solution that ensures long-term prosperity both for workers and our state's largest employer."

Some lawmakers took issue with efforts to link the labor dispute to DMC. Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, said the 20-year economic development initiative is still in its early stages and no state taxpayer money has flowed to the city yet for the project.

"If people want to hold Mayo accountable for this (labor) decision, they absolutely should," Norton said. "But don't conflate it and confuse it with DMC, which is a separate thing that has started rolling but hasn't even really happened yet."

The financial impact of the subcontracting deal is in dispute. Mayo says all non-union food service workers will be offered similar positions at Morrison at the same level of pay. However, union leaders have called Morrison's typical salary and benefits packages as "poverty wages" that may result in millions in reduced compensation for SEIU members.

SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, which represents many of Mayo's food workers, has made a point of linking the labor dispute to DMC. The group's president, Jamie Gulley, defended the connection.

"There is no rational way to separate these two things for the 700 families with higher taxes who are being threatened with lower quality jobs. The promise of good jobs feels hollow in light of actual good jobs being sold off to a multi-national corporation," Gulley said.

Mayo issued a written statement today that denies its decision is connected to DMC. It also said it's not reconsidering subcontracting plans because of the petition and criticism.

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"Morrison and Mayo Clinic will still need the workforce to serve our patients and customers. Current, active food and nutrition employees will not lose their jobs but be offered similar positions with Morrison at their current rate of pay and FTE, and will be credited for years of service. This change was made to allow us to deliver consistent and enhanced food and nutrition options to our patients, visitors, and staff. All jobs will remain in the community. The change is not related to DMC."

Did Mayo break its promises?

When Mayo Clinic leaders unveiled the DMC proposal during a gubernatorial press conference in January 2013, they were joined by business and labor groups. Mayo Clinic President and CEO John Noseworthy said that if lawmakers were willing to get behind DMC, it would benefit the entire state.

"We are confident that the return will be felt across Minnesota through quality jobs in science, medicine, research, travel and hospitality," Noseworthy said.

Mayo Clinic pledged to invest $3.5 billion in its Rochester campus during the next 20 years and leverage $2 billion in private investment, making DMC the largest economic development project in state history. Lawmakers and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton approved $585 million of public funding to support the project.

House Taxes Committee Chairman Greg Davids is the only Republican who has signed onto the labor group's petition. The Preston lawmaker said Mayo's plans to subcontract food service run counter to what clinic executives promised as part of DMC.

"Mayo should realize that they made a mistake here and they need to reconsider what they did because there were promises made," he said.

Davids said several lawmakers  particularly Twin Cities-area DFLers  had concerns about DMC as it worked its way through the Legislature in 2013. He said it is possible that pro-union lawmakers could look to make changes to the DMC law in response to the labor dispute.

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Nelson also suggested the DMC law could be revisited as a result of Mayo's recent actions.

"We as legislators have the ability to change that legislation, and so Mayo should be careful what they're doing because stuff could happen the other direction that Mayo is not going to like," Nelson said.

A private business decision

Rochester Republican Sen. Dave Senjem said he would oppose efforts to change the DMC law in response to the labor fight. He also said lawmakers have no business interfering with Mayo's business decisions.

"I view it as a labor-management issue between Mayo Clinic and SEIU. The Legislature, in my mind, doesn't need to be in the middle of that and shouldn't," he said.

But Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, said she fears Mayo's recent actions will make it difficult to build legislative support for other Rochester projects. She met with Mayo representatives earlier this month and urged them to reconsider the subcontracting idea, telling them it would not go over well in St. Paul.

Liebling added, "Is it so important that they are willing to really risk offending a lot of people in the community  even people who aren't directly affected? People don't want to see low-income workers get the shaft in Rochester. They want all boats to rise together."

Rochester City Council member Michael Wojcik scoffs at the notion that the Legislature would go back to alter the DMC statute now, calling it a "nuanced" debate. However, he's also planning to march in next week's picket to support SEIU's push for Mayo to reconsider its subcontracting plans.

"We are already facing an affordable housing crisis in this community," Wojcik said. "If this community is going to grow together through DMC, I struggle with pushing hundreds of people out who barely make enough to survive."

"You are supposed to be creating good jobs with benefits and pensions, and the first thing you do is turn around and stiff the workers you've already got?" Rep. Mike Nelson, DFL-Brooklyn Park
Once upon a time, a scantily clad lass padding down a beach might cause a riot  at least of eyeballs eager to extend the sidelong glance.

Today, it's the fully clothed woman who overheats the passions in France, where three towns have banned the burkini. Leave it to the French to criminalize modesty.

Latest to the ban-wagon is the Corsican village of Sisco, where three Muslim families and a group of local teens recently got into a row when one of the Muslim men became upset as a tourist photographed his burkini-clad wife.

The next day, riot police were needed in a nearby town to quell 200 protesters who stormed a housing area of mostly North African people, shouting "this is our home." The precise cause of that flare-up wasn't known.

Did a burkini do it?

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No clue, according to local authorities, but Sisco is banning the ultimate cover-up, anyway, to "protect the population." Back on the mainland, the mayors of Cannes and nearby Villeneuve-Loubet also have banned burkinis. Two Muslim associations unsuccessfully challenged the Cannes ban, but have promised to appeal the lower court decision.

In the strangest justification offered for the wardrobe ban, Lionnel Luca, mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet, said it is unhygienic to swim fully clothed. For whom? The fish?

Tensions in France between Muslims and others may be understandable in light of recent events, including the July horror in Nice when a truck driver shouting paeans to Allah mowed down hundreds of Bastille Day revelers, killing 85 people, as well as the recent jihadist slaying of the beloved, 85-year-old priest Jacques Hamel in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.

But how the practice of modesty associated with many Muslims' religious beliefs became an offense against the majority society is hard to fathom. The burkini also provides an interesting study in the metamorphosis of a symbol and its use in rationalizing other beliefs and actions that bear striking similarities to the extreme religiosity the caused such consternation in the first place.

Suddenly, the burkini has become France's Confederate battle flag. Like the flag, the burkini means different things to different people, yet it has become such a powerful symbol of the cultural clash between overzealous French patriots and Muslim immigrants that it has become a prompt to man the barricades.

It is hardly shocking that women are the objects of such aggression. Or that men are the ones fighting over what women ought to be doing with their bodies. Depending on the era -- and often the prevailing religion -- women are either showing too much or too little. Frankly, I'd like to see more not fewer burkinis on the beach, especially for Speedo-lovers over 50. Guys, do you own a mirror? (Please don't send pictures.)

It isn't just men concerned with burkinis. Some feminists and the "enlightened" French see the burkini as a visual face-slap to women's (BEG ITAL) egalite.(END ITAL) Among other things, equality means never having to cover up just because your natural self gets another's gander up.

Non-Muslims in the West may disapprove of the practice and prefer our mores over those of strict Muslims, but we're in no position to be smug. Less than 100 years ago in Washington, modesty police literally measured women's bathing suit skirts to ensure adherence to the legal standard of only six inches above the knee. In 1921 Atlantic City, women were also required to wear stockings pulled above the knee with their swimsuits. When young women protested the stocking law, it was the League of Women Voters that urged strict enforcement.

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While beach patrols searched out bathing suit violators, they also scouted for their ogling male counterparts, described in a newspaper story of the time as "bald beach lizards." One brave woman, novelist Louise Rosine, went to jail rather than cover up her knees with stockings. It was "none of the city's darn business," she said, whether she "rolled 'em up or down."

We've come a long way, baby. And along the way, with few exceptions, we've found it possible to allow people to don (or not) their apparel as they wish. Some schools may ban message-emblazoned shirts. And we dutifully shed our jackets, scarves and shoes during security checks.

But (BEG ITAL) liberte(END ITAL) ought to mean that one can wear a burkini on the beach  or a thong, if you must. Neither suits my personal fancy, but it's hard to imagine that a Muslim woman dressed traditionally is a threat to any but her own comfort.

Like the lady said, it's none of the city's darn business.

Kathleen Parker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post.
With the state's mental health patients already struggling to find the beds they need, a new study finds nearly one in five days patients occupy such beds could be avoidable.

The Minnesota Hospital Association study found at least 134 patients in inpatient community hospital psychiatric units on a daily basis would have been more appropriately treated in a different setting.

The study tracked patients admitted during 45 days this spring to inpatient psychiatric units at 20 participating hospitals and health systems throughout Minnesota, which included Mayo Clinic facilities in Rochester, Austin, Albert Lea and Mankato.

Minnesota's community hospitals have a total of 1,124 inpatient mental health beds statewide: 960 for adults and 164 for children and adolescents. Meanwhile the state offers 238 beds, including 16 for children and adolescents, which puts added stress on hospitals and health systems.

The recent study documented 32,520 total mental health bed days in the hospitals studied, but 19 percent of them were identified as potentially avoidable.

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Unfortunately, it's not surprising. We've repeatedly heard about long waits for beds as patients sit in local emergency rooms waiting for inpatient treatment, either at state or private hospitals.

Until recently, such reports were limited; they only provided regionalized looks at the issue. The new study provides the first statewide data related to the growing problem that reaches across many lives, from those facing challenges of mental illness to family and friends who often feel helpless.

"Mental illnesses affect us all. Behind these numbers are patients and families who are not getting the care they need in the right place at the right time," said Dr. Rahul Koranne, Minnesota Hospital Association's chief medical officer.

Olmsted County staff has said bottlenecks in the system frequently happen when inpatient staff cannot find adequate resources for a patient, requiring a longer hospital stay. The recent study found 64 percent of potentially avoidable days occurred due to lack of space in a state-run mental health hospital, residential treatment center, nursing home, group home, chemical dependency treatment service or other setting.

"Bottlenecks exist throughout the mental health care delivery system, resulting in patients remaining in community hospitals for extended periods of time  which in turn means that hospital beds are unavailable to others in the community experiencing mental health crises," Koranne said.

We've seen promise locally in new awareness of the problem and new programs designed to help those struggling with mental illness. Yet, we know more needs to be done. The issue needs to remain on the forefront of discussion at the local and state levels.

It is a statewide community issue. It will require hospitals and government agencies to work together to find solutions.

The unneeded days found in the study may be avoidable, but they will only be avoided with new opportunities.
We have reached many milestones and witnessed plenty of success stories at the Guam Department of Labor during my current tenure, but I will b Read moreGDOL wants to be a part of your employment solutions
The Judiciary of Guam is requesting $34,940,345 for its fiscal year 2017 budget. That is a 5.7 percent increase from its fiscal 2015 approved budget of $33,043,444.

The highest areas in the proposed budget request are for personnel at $21,483,678; benefits at $7,324,119; and miscellaneous costs at $2,064,468.

Personnel changes to organic payroll growth including increments, promotions, details, retirements and replacements are projected to cost $478,302.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.

The cost of merit bonuses to those who qualify is estimated at $90,079.

Health insurance is expected to cost $87,457 while overtime is projected at $72,000.

Last is the cost for new positions, which is estimated at $47,993.

The total increase to payroll is $775,831.

Appropriations for non-personnel changes total $721,708. The costs include the Criminal Justice Academy Training contract with the Guam Community College for Peace Officer Standards and Certification Mandate for $100,000; therapeutic services for $139,250; program evaluation for $105,000; preventive maintenance contracts for $10,186; Alternate Public Defender at $221,379; and utilities for $145,893.

The appropriations for an additional judicial officer will include the new judges salary at $134,992; the courtroom/chamber clerks salary at $47,301; court bailiff salary at $26,520; and an attorneys salary at $53,500. After all the benefits and the cost of equipment, orientation and other expenses, the total is $399,362.

The total increase from the previous fiscal years budget is $1,896,901.

The Judiciarys future outlook includes strategic management  strategic focus areas and workforce development; system change  juvenile justice, pretrial justice and adult probation; expanding therapeutic justice  veterans treatment, Driving While Intoxicated and re-entry; and embracing evidence-based practices  performance based, data-driven and diversion programs.
Anjem Choudary, the British hate-spewing Islamic preacher, has been found guilty of supporting Islamic State. He faces up to ten years of prison time.

Choudary will be familiar to some of our readers. He used to appear on Fox News talk shows to defend the actions of terrorists. Often with a smile. Or was it a smirk?

Choudary was convicted at the Old Bailey. Jurors heard testimony that he swore an oath of allegiance to ISIS and that he told his supporters to obey ISIS head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and travel to Syria to support the caliphate. ISIS has proudly beheaded British citizens, among its many other atrocities.

In a lecture he gave in 2013, Choudary said:

We dont have any borders, my dear Muslims. It is about time we resumed conquering for the sake of Allah. Next time when your child is at school and the teacher says what do you want when you grow up, what is your ambition?, they should say to dominate the whole world by Islam, including Britain, that is my ambition.

Choudary promoted this ambition mainly by radicalizing a string of terrorists, some of whom have stood trial in UK. Among them are Michael Adebolajo, convicted of the violent murder of British soldier Lee Rigby, and Siddhartha Dhar, suspected of replacing Jihadi John as ISIS executioner.

Choudary was thus convicted of inviting support for a proscribed organization.

At trial, Choudary admitted that he was media spokesman for a group called Islam4UK during a time when it called for Buckingham Palace to be turned into a mosque and Nelsons Column to be destroyed. However, he denied inviting support for ISIS.

Apparently, the jury could not reconcile that claim with the testimony it heard, including that discussed above.

Choudary claimed to be a lecturer in sharia law giving the Islamic perspective. According to at least one report, his defense lawyer likened him to the poet William Wordsworth who praised the aims of the French revolution but not its means. But Wordsworth never swore allegiance to Robespierre.

Britains less radical Muslim community applauded Choudarys conviction. Miqdaad Versi, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said:

Mr Anjem Choudary has long been condemned by Muslim organisations and Muslims across the country, who consider him and his support for Daesh [ISIS] to be despicable and contrary to the values of Islam and our nation. Many Muslims have long been puzzled why this man was regularly approached by the media to give outrageous statements that inflamed Islamophobia. We hope the judgment serves as a lesson for anyone who follows this path of advocating hate and division.

To be fair, Choudary provided a window into whats going on in a segment of the British Muslim

community. More importantly, he was good for the BBCs ratings.

Choudary was also good for ISIS. Now, neither television nor ISIS (I hope) will have the benefit of his services.
Ilhan Omar responded to the straightforward questions I raised about her marital situation with a stonewall thrown up by Minneapolis criminal defense attorney Jean Brandl. Brandl provided me the Omar campaigns classic nonresponse response to my questions with the imputation of bigotry thrown in for good measure. I thought the questions deserved a straightforward answer and was intrigued by the immediate appearance of a criminal defense attorney to respond to me. Hmmmm, I thought. What could account for that?

After reporters from the Star Tribune (Patrick Coolican) and KMSP 9 (Tom Lyden) and KARE 11 (John Croman) got on the case, the stonewalling continued in some fashion through three different campaign spokesman. The Omar campaign has steadfastly refused to produce Omar or her husband for an interview. Hmmmm, I thought. What could account for that?

When Coolican called me for a statement earlier this week, he told me that the campaign denied that Omars legal husband (not the love of her life in last nights campaign statement) is her brother. Okay, I thought. Who is he, I asked Coolican They wont tell me, he said. Hmmmm, I thought. What could account for that?

Now in crisis mode, the campaign relased a carefully crafted statement clearly intended to give the local media an excuse for letting it be the last word on the story. It presents itself as the last word on the story so that Omar herself wont have to answer further questions. The statement nevertheless leaves a few questions unanswered.

A knowledgeable immigration attorney has forwarded a set of questions that occur to him as a concerned citizen:

Lets assume (for the sake of argument) that we take Ms. Omar at her word. Based on her description, she has a cultural/faith tradition husband (2002-2008, then again in 2011 to present) and a legal husband (2009 to present). There are still these questions  apart from the possible familial relationship of her legal husband: 1. Which faith leader presided over her faith tradition marriage in 2002? 2. Is there written documentation of this? 3. Which faith leader presided over her faith tradition divorce in 2008? 4. Is there written documentation of this? 5. How was custody handled for the children after her faith tradition divorce in 2008? 6. Was there documentation of this? 7. How did she meet her legal husband? 8. Did she sponsor her legal husband for a green card? 9. Did he use his green card status to receive financial assistance to attend university in the US? 10. Is her legal husband a US citizen now as he has now been married to a US citizen (Ms. Omar) for 6 years? (Query  Are there voter registration or other documents that could be checked to substantiate this? The UK does allow dual citizenship.) 11. If Ms. Omar did sponsor her legal husband for a green card, then she was required to complete an I-864 affidavit of support documenting financial sponsorship of the husband. At the time in 2009 I believe she was a student and had 3 children so she would not likely have had the financial means to meet the I-864 obligations at the time and would therefore need a joint financial sponsor. Who was that joint financial sponsor? It would need to be a US citizen or green card holder with appropriate income or assets. 12. It has been reported that her legal husband was living in government subsidized housing in Minneapolis. This is likely inconsistent with the requirements of I-864 financial sponsorship. Does Hennepin County do anything to verify financial sponsorship before providing government assistance and subsidies for housing? Does Hennepin County now have a claim for reimbursement against Ms. Omar and/or the joint financial sponsor? 13. She is now remarried to her cultural husband according to her statement. Who was the faith leader who presided over this remarriage? Is there written documentation of this? 14. What Islamic doctrine was used to allow Ms. Omar to divorce a man, then marry someone else, and then remarry the first man? 15. There is no dispute based on her statement that she is currently in a cultural/faith tradition marriage with one man while still being legally married to another man. What Islamic doctrine permits this? I am familiar with certain Muslim traditions that allow a man to have more than one wife but I have never heard of a doctrine that permits a wife to have more than one husband which is without dispute what she is saying her situation is now.

Im still waiting for an answer to my question whether Omar has a brother by the name of her legal husband. Its a simple question. The campaign, however, has chosen not to respond to my inqurity on that. Maybe Im offbase asking it. Maybe theres nothing more to the story. Somehow I doubt it, but I dont know.

I think these are all good questions under the circumstances. I would guess, however, that the Omar campaign will be spared the trouble of avoiding answers to the questions above.
Yesterday in West Bend, Wisconsin, Donald Trump delivered a speech that was described as being on law and order. True enough, but it was much more than that. Trump powerfully wove together his campaigns themes in a direct appeal for African-American votes. You can read the speech here. Of course, Trump didnt deliver it exactly as written, but it was close, with no notable deviations that I noticed. Excerpts are below. This is the video of the speech in its entirety:

This is from the law and order portion of the speech:

The violence, riots and destruction that have taken place in Milwaukee is an assault on the right of all citizens to live in security and peace. Law and order must be restored. It must be restored for the sake of all, but most especially the sake of those living in the affected communities. The main victims of these riots are law-abiding African-American citizens living in these neighborhoods. It is their jobs, their homes, their schools and communities which will suffer as a result. There is no compassion in tolerating lawless conduct. Crime and violence is an attack on the poor, and will never be accepted in a Trump Administration. The narrative that has been pushed aggressively for years now by our current Administration, and pushed by my opponent Hillary Clinton, is a false one. The problem in our poorest communities is not that there are too many police, the problem is that there are not enough police. More law enforcement, more community engagement, more effective policing is what our country needs. Just like Hillary Clinton is against the miners, she is against the police. You know it, and I know it. Those peddling the narrative of cops as a racist force in our society  a narrative supported with a nod by my opponent  share directly in the responsibility for the unrest in Milwaukee, and many other places within our country. They have fostered the dangerous anti-police atmosphere in America. Every time we rush to judgment with false facts and narratives  whether in Ferguson or in Baltimore  and foment further unrest, we do a direct disservice to poor African-American residents who are hurt by the high crime in their communities.

Those words are true, and they will be welcomed by something like 85% of voters. The Democrats association with Black Lives Matter, with rioters and with anti-police elements generally is deeply unpopular.

Trump appealed directly to African-American voters. These excerpts are drawn from different portions of his speech:

The war on our police is a war on all peaceful citizens who want to be able to work and live and send their kids to school in safety. Our job is not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, the looter, the violent disruptor. Our job is to make life more comfortable for the African-American parent who wants their kids to be able to safely walk the streets. Or the senior citizen waiting for a bus. Or the young child walking home from school.

***

The Hillary Clinton agenda hurts poor people the most. There is no compassion in allowing drug dealers, gang members, and felons to prey on innocent people. It is the first duty of government to keep the innocent safe, and when I am President I will fight for the safety of every American  and especially those Americans who have not known safety for a very, very long time. I am asking for the vote of every African-American citizen struggling in our country today who wants a different future. It is time for our society to address some honest and very difficult truths. The Democratic Party has failed and betrayed the African-American community. Democratic crime policies, education policies, and economic policies have produced only more crime, more broken homes, and more poverty. Let us look at the situation right here in Milwaukee, a city run by Democrats for decade after decade. Last year, killings in this city increased by 69 percent, plus another 634 victims of non-fatal shootings. 18-29-year-olds accounted for nearly half of the homicide victims. The poverty rate here is nearly double the national average. Almost 4 in 10 African-American men in Milwaukee between the ages of 25-54 do not have a job. Nearly four in 10 single mother households are living in poverty. 55 public schools in this city have been rated as failing to meet expectations, despite ten thousand dollars in funding per-pupil. There is only a 60% graduation rate, and its one of the worst public school systems in the country. To every voter in Milwaukee, to every voter living in every inner city, or every forgotten stretch of our society, I am running to offer you a better future. The Democratic Party has taken the votes of African-Americans for granted. Theyve just assumed theyll get your support and done nothing in return for it. Its time to give the Democrats some competition for these votes, and its time to rebuild the inner cities of America  and to reject the failed leadership of a rigged political system.

***

We reject the bigotry of Hillary Clinton which panders to and talks down to communities of color and sees them only as votes, not as individual human beings worthy of a better future. She doesnt care at all about the hurting people of this country, or the suffering she has caused them. The African-American community has been taken for granted for decades by the Democratic Party. Its time to break with the failures of the past  I want to offer Americans a new future. It is time for rule by the people, not rule by special interests. Every insider, getting rich off of our broken system, is throwing money at Hillary Clinton. The hedge fund managers, the Wall Street investors, the professional political class. Its the powerful protecting the powerful. Insiders fighting for insiders. I am fighting for you.

***

The Democratic Party has run nearly every inner city in this country for 50 years, and run them into financial ruin. Theyve ruined the schools. Theyve driven out the jobs. Theyve tolerated a level of crime no American should consider acceptable. Violent crime has risen 17% in Americas 50 largest cities last year. Killings of police officers this year is up nearly 50 percent. Homicides are up more than 60% in Baltimore. They are up more than 50% in Washington, D.C. This is the future offered by Hillary Clinton. More poverty, more crime, and more of the same. The future she offers is the most pessimistic thing I can possibly imagine. It is time for a different future.

That is powerful stuff. The Democrats can only hope that the press doesnt let their urban voters hear Trumps message.

Trump wove his trademark immigration issue into the narrative:

First, on immigration. No community in this country has been hurt worse by Hillary Clintons immigration policies than the African-American community. Now she is proposing to print instant work permits for millions of illegal immigrants, taking jobs directly from low-income Americans. I will secure our border, protect our workers, and improve jobs and wages in your community. We will only invite people to join our country who share our tolerant values, who support our Constitution, and who love all of our people.

Trump is right on the facts, and polls indicate that his policies are extremely popular with African-American voters. Trump also came out for school choice and merit pay for teachers:

Hillary Clinton would rather deny opportunities to millions of young African-American children, just so she can curry favor with the education bureaucracy.

Thats true. And it isnt just Hillary, it is the entire Democratic Party, at every level.

There was much more, especially on corruption. But the bottom line is that Donald Trump did exactly what conservatives have been saying for years that Republican politicians should do. He asked for African-American votes, explicitly and aggressively. He called out the Democrats for their failed policies. Urban American has been voting Democrat for a century, and how has that worked out? Badly. Democrats count on African-American votes, but their policies on public safety, immigration, education and trade (here I think Trump is mostly wrong), among others, consistently screw black Americans. Why not try something different?

If Trump keeps giving this speech, and variants on it, for the next 90 days he will win the election. He needs, above all, to maintain message discipline. Yesterday, he riffed a bit here and there, but not substantively. He stuck to his script and delivered his message powerfully. He needs to keep that up until Election Day.

One more thing about Trumps Wisconsin speech is notable: He was introduced by Scott Walker, and Reince Preibus and Rudy Giuliani were prominently in attendance. Trump is inherently more powerful when he speaks in the context of approval by luminaries like those who showed up to support him in West Bend. It is time, I think, with all due respect to those who have resisted Trump as the Republican standard bearer, for the party to unite behind its nominee.

Finally: the title of this post ends with an asterisk. Speeches like the one Trump gave in Wisconsin will win him the presidency, but only if voters hear them or otherwise learn about them. The Democratic Party media will do everything possible to prevent that from happening.

So, for example, the liberal media led this morning not with stories about Trumps speech, which would have damaged their preferred candidate, but rather with stories about his campaign staff shakeup. Trump needs to circumvent the liberal media in a manner that was not necessary when they largely cheered him on during the primary season. In that respect the debates, when voters will see Trump unfiltered by his enemies, likely will be critical.
Onyeka Nwelue is a Nigerian writer and budding film-maker, who can best be described as multivalent. Recently Wealth Ominabo Dickson, in the company of the poet Chiedu Ezeanah, caught up with him at the Salamander Cafe, Abuja, where he spoke on his literary trajectory, his documentary on Flora Nwapa and the State of the Nigerian nation.

Wealth: Your profile speaks of a multivalent persona; how many other dimensions are there to Onyeka Nwelue, besides that of the writer, the filmmakers, the traveller, the professor, the artistic/cultural events organiser, the editor and the controversial critic?

Onyeka: I think I will take every other description apart from that of the controversial critic. I dont see anything controversial in what I say; I try to air my opinion in every honest way. Maybe they stink?

Wealth: Not really, but you have made some controversial statements about Achebe and Soyinka.

Onyeka: I will still stand by what I said. I wont change it. Achebes own even gets worse every day when people mention his name. I think Things Fall Apart should be buried and never made to resurrect. Yes, Anthills of the Savannah is a very beautiful book; its well written. But I dont agree withThings Fall Apart being called the great African novel by everybody. There are better books.

Wealth: What are your reasons for saying this?

Onyeka: If youve read Things Fall Apart and have read what young people write these days  people like Helen Oyeyemi, Diekoye Oyeyinka and Chigoize Obioma  you would know that Achebes writing of Things Fall Apart at that age was not intelligent; he was not exposed.

Wealth: Can you inform us of some of your recent engagements?

Onyeka: I have a documentary, which would be premiering at the Image Women Film Festival at Harare at the end of August. It is called The House of Nwapa on Flora Nwapa whose story has been completely erased from the literary consciousness of Nigeria. Most people have forgotten who she was, but this was the most powerful woman in the South-East in the 70s. She married two men and also married another woman for her second husband. Her uncle was the first Minister of Commerce in Nigeria, J.C Nwapa. She was Mabel Seguns close friend but people dont know. They were very strong women. Mabel represented Nigeria at the Olympics, while Flora engaged in her own bid as the Commissioner of Survey in the old South-Eastern region.

Young people of my age have no idea who Flora Nwapa was, so they need to be told her story. The story is very interesting, as most of the Igbo who ran to the US during the Civil War did so through her help. She helped them through Cameroon and Portugal. Nwapa was the Registrar at the University of Lagos when the war broke out but ran back to the East to work with the refugees. Flora was the most powerful woman; I didnt say one of the most powerful woman but the most powerful woman. Buchi Emecheata even lived with her at a point, and got the title of her book Joys of Motherhood from Floras first work, Efuru. Flora never called herself a feminist but she was a symbol of womens liberation in Nigeria.

It was a challenge doing a balanced documentary on Flora. I couldnt find people who would say nasty things about her. I tried to get Zaynab Alkali, who declined, as well as J.P Clark. But all these were people she took care of. She took care of J.P Clark during FESTAC; Chinua Achebe lived with my mother and Flora at Oguta. I tried to interview Dr. Ike Achebe in Accra but he kicked me out.

Wealth: Why did he kick you out?

Onyeka: I was with my uncle, Chukwuemaka Ike, and I think he said no because he knew the bad side of Nwapa, which he didnt want to speak about. I also spoke with writers like Wale Okediran and Denja Abdullahi. There is no other documentary on Flora Nwapa except the one done by a Norwegian in 1987.

Wealth: What was your motivation for the documentary?

Onyeka: My mother lived with both Flora and Achebe. The documentary starts with a Nigerian woman whose father was sliced into two during the May Massacre and then a transition to where my mother is talking. The story is going to be very interesting. The documentary is part of my life; it is part of my story.

Wealth: As a cultural organiser and professor, how has your journey been so far?

Onyeka: I wasnt made a professor by a Nigerian university, because they would not accept people like me. I was at the Passport Office recently and people were asking if I was a musician. This is a country of unserious men and stereotypes. There was a time Prof. M.K Asanti came to Nigeria, and people thought he was a hip-hop artist. When I teach my students I never let them write anything, I use visuals to teach them, especially Nigerian films. When I came to Nigeria that was a teaching methodology I needed to adopt.

As a social organizer I do the Diplomatic Jazz Night. I was the Director of the Bayelsa Book Fair, which ended badly because Nigerian writers  I have always called them weaklings  depended on me for everything, even the tissue to clean themselves up; so I decided to resign. I was only 23 years then. That is the reason I cannot organize any event in this country outside the diplomatic circle. That was why I started the Diplomatic Jazz Night, where sensible people are. People who can reason when things fall out, when things dont happen the way we envisioned them to, who will say, how do we fix this, not those who will go around calling me names. Even when French Cultural Centre asked me to do a book fair, I told them I would never in my life try it; let the writer suffer.

Wealth: You speak with so much anger; you sound quite hurt?

Onyeka: I was made the Bayelsa Book Fair Director at the age of 21. The first one went smoothly because everyone got paid. For the second one, there was no money to pay anyone and the government was also not going to pay.

When Elechi Amadi died I wrote a tribute to him on my Facebook page, where I mentioned that he had been pursuing me for money. I did not write a beautiful tribute to him. I wrote about how he tormented me for weeks. I had gone to his house in Alu and said, Sir, I want you and Gabriel Okara to come to the book fair. And they agreed, in the understanding that there was no money to pay for honoraria. But some writers started tweeting that the government gave me three hundred million naira to organise the event, and Elechi bought into it and started bugging my phone. He even asked people to leave the venue; do you get it?

So when people die, you dont start saying only the good things they did. You talk about their dark sides too; and at times when I talk about Elechi, people try to shut me up; but I refuse to shut up. An old man like that ought to have called me aside and asked what the issues really were and whether I was truly given money by the government, but he didnt. He kept pursuing me about saying, pay me, pay me. You see why I am hurt? Their real anger was about, how can they bring a boy from Imo State to be the Bayelsa book fair director, how can they do that. So the Bayelsa people even came to put off the generator when the festival was on.

Wealth: I find this interesting because I am also a Bayelsan and a literary artist.

Onyeka: Some boys even came with weapons to fight me. However, Nigeria is in my past. I come to Nigeria now as a tourist. I dont have a home in Nigeria. I live in hotels in Nigeria. I feel bad about it. This is where I was born; I struggled here.

Wealth: For readers not familiar with your literary works, how would you describe your first novel, The Abyssinian Boy?

Onyeka: If I didnt publish The Abyssinian Boy, I would not even be a human being; no jokes. A few Yoruba friends were the ones who gathered together for me on it. They took it up as their own, promoted it and then the Indian came in because there is a very large Indian Community in Lagos  35,000 Indians. By the time the Indians came into the picture it became something else for me. So The Abyssinian Boy was made possible. But we need to start looking at those things. Why do we have to throw our own away and let strangers help us?

Wealth: How is it as a literary work?

Onyeka: I can only say it is a novel about Indian and Nigerian families. I dont need to praise The Abyssinian Boy; it is left for the readers to decide what they want to do with it. A story is like a surface of water, you take whatever you want from it.

Wealth: Your work, Burnt has been described as a narrative in verse, do you see yourself as a poet in the context of this work?

Onyeka: I see myself as an artist. I write music and wrote a song called Ezegwu. I worked with the likes of Jeremiah Gyang. You know, just like Soyinka; he is like my god. He is an actor. He played the role of Patrice Lumumba in a French film and so many people dont know he has an album which was released 1984. So I dont call myself a poet but an artist. Im a creator.

Wealth: Whats the focus of Burnt?

Onyeka: I won the Prince Claus Travel Grant in 2013 to travel around East Africa and 25 countries in the Schengen. I travelled by train and wrote about my experiences (in verse), so it is more like a travelogue from Paris to Brussels, and then to Copahengen. At times I missed my flight at the airport, and a few times I got stranded

Wealth: And how was the experience like?

Onyeka: I love freedom. I got to Gotterbug in Switzerland and had excess luggage. I threw all the clothes into the dustbin at the airport and the woman there just opened her mouth and then she said, you have to pay for excess luggage; and I said, well, take it, and boarded. The book is my own way of seeing; being less materialistic is important to humanity.

Wealth: Whats about your third work, Hip Hop Is Only for Children?

Onyeka: I still feel that writers are too poor. So at a point I wanted to really make money from book publishing and the only way I did that was through Hip Hop Is Only for Children. It was selling at the Salamander Bookshop for N7,000 and people bought all the ten thousand printed copies. I self-published. I realised people wanted to see pictures, so I included pictures. I tried to understand the human psyche before publishing it and it worked. I wrote about the musicians everyone loves  Wizkid, Asha, Davido, Terry G, etc.

Wealth: What is your relationship with Chigozie Obioma, the writer ofThe Fishermen, who youre about organising a book reading for?

Onyeka: Chigozie is my friend. Every successful young person that I know, I befriend because good begets good. If you want to succeed in life, you must find those friends who will inspire you. Now this is the truth. I cannot stand people who look up to me; I cant hang out with people who look up to me because I will be a loser, I will feel like a king, I will feel like I have arrived. My closest friends are older people, so that when it is hard, I go and talk to them and learn what they have been through, how they survived situations. So this is how I meet people like that.

For me, I like celebrating friends who are successful. I have one, Obinwanne Okeke. He was listed in Forbess under-thirty achievers some two weeks ago. What I do is that whenever I have friends who have achieved, I try to organise a welcome party for them. Obioma was nominated for the Booker Prize, but Nigerians got angry. They started attacking him on Twitter; everywhere. Oh!! The Igbo in the book is not good, they said. This is a country of frustrated and angry people. Big things go to people who dont make noise. So all the glory has to be given to him and he has done his work, and he has just finished his second book, which Im publishing, and it is going to be mind-blowing. He is an amazing human being. I dont want to use the word humble anymore for anybody, but he is very modest. I have invited all the ambassadors that I know and some of them are interested in meeting him. His book has been translated into 22 languages. He has beaten Ms. Adichie.

Wealth: The writer is often considered as the conscience of society: What is you view of Nigeria?

Onyeka: I already said that Mr. Muhammadu Buhari is a failure. He has failed completely. Recently I was speaking to someone at the Japanese Embassy. Im going to write an open letter to Charly Boy run for governor in Imo State. Although it sounds funny but I saw something that happened when I was working with Charly Boy last year. Charly Boy is the only Nigerian I know who is focused. You can decide to judge him. He has done things we can see, but doesnt talk. He is not a talker at all. When I was going to Aguta with him, he will stop if there was traffic. He get down from his car and control the traffic. People listen to him; people take directives from him. What if we stop judging him based on the way he looks and the rings and everything, and just think about this guy as a leader, a political leader. Forget these ones that dress well, they have finished this nation. Where is Farouk Lawan, and what did we do with him finally?

Wealth: What is your take on the state of the nation?

Onyeka: You are interested in what I have to say about Buhari? Nigeria has no bright future.

Wealth: And why would you think so?

Onyeka: There is no bright future for Nigeria. Nigeria will never get better. Im not being pessimistic; its just about the reality on the ground. You know that in Japan you can take a bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. But Nigeria decides to do its train business and goes to China. Nigeria is never going to get better, when all the leaders are going to China. All of them go there; Rochas even went. Im sorry for this country.

Wealth: Can you give me more reason why you think Nigeria cant get better?

Onyeka: Now if we think this people who dress well and without rings, without dread locks are better because they look responsible and Farouk Lawan is still walking around, Femi Otedela is still going about taking pictures, his children are still jumping up and down, and Buharis children still go to the UK to get degrees and come and celebrate it here, Nigeria cannot get better.
The former South Sudanese rebel leader, Riek Machar, has left the country after clashes with the army sent him fleeing the capital Juba last month, his spokesman, James Gatdet said on Thursday.

Machar has successfully relocated to a neighbouring country, Gatdet said, without naming the country.

According to the dpa report, Machar representative who did not want to be identified said he was in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

South Sudanese presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said he was not aware of Machar having left the country.

Power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Machar evolved into a military conflict in Dec. 2013, killing thousands and displacing more than two million people.

The two men signed peace agreement a year ago and formed a unity government in April, with Machar reinstated as vice president.

However, renewed fighting erupted in July, killing hundreds of people and forcing Machars troops out of Juba.

Kiir then sacked him from the post of vice president, dealing a new blow to hopes of peace.

(dpa/NAN)
Lagos maintained its position at the lowest rungs of the Global Liveability index by ranking the third worst city to live in the world, according to the 2016 ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit released Thursday.

Lagos placed 138th out of the 140 cities ranked in the latest liveability survey, just above war-ravaged Tripoli and Damascus.

Of the poorer-scoring cities, 13 continue to occupy the very bottom tier of liveability, where ratings fall below 50 percent and most aspects of living are severely restricted, the report stated.

Continued threats from groups like Boko Haram acts as a constraint to improving stability in Lagos.

Escalations in hostilities in Libya prompted a sharp decline in liveability in Tripoli, according to the report, while Damascus, although seeing a stabilisation in its decline remained rooted to the bottom.

The top five best countries to live in, according to the report, remain unchanged from last year and include Melbourne, Australian; Vienna, Austria; Vancouver, Canada; Toronto, Canada; and Calgary, Canada.

The liveability survey assesses which locations around the world provide the best or the worst living conditions across five broad categories  stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.

Of the five categories, Lagos scored highest in culture and environment, followed by infrastructure. It scored lowest in stability.

Three other African cities joined Lagos at the bottom rung of the liveable cities, with Douala, Cameroon; Harare, Zimbabwe; and Algiers, Algeria; ranking 132nd, 133rd, and 134th respectively.

While no African city made it to the top 10 most liveable cities, five were in the 10 least liveable cities.

Steve Ayorinde, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information, could not be reached for comments on Thursday. Phone calls, text messages, and emails were not responded to.

The ranking of Lagos among the least liveable cities of the world come amidst a massive revenue drive and huge infrastructural investment by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

The government generated N101.69 billion in the first quarter of 2016, N4.85 billion more than in the same period last year.

Lagos has consistently ranked in the 10 least liveable cities since 2011, ranking 137th out of 140 in that year. It ranked 138th in 2012, and then remained at 137th until this year.
A Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Kubwa, Abuja, on Wednesday upheld the previous judgment of another court, also in Abuja, which ended the tenure of Ali Modu Sheriff as acting national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party.

A member of the PDP, Danladi Ayuba, had approached the court to compel Mr. Sheriff to obey the first ruling.

He also complained that the conduct of the former Borno State governor was affecting the rights of party members, including himself.

Justice Valentine Ashi of the Maitama branch of the court had on June 29 sacked Mr. Sheriff after submitting that his emergence as national chairman was unlawful since it was based on amended provisions of the PDP Constitution, which was illegally introduced in December 2014.

The judge faulted the amended PDP Constitution in 2014, which zoned the national chairmanship of the party to the North East, leading to the emergence of Mr. Sheriff as party chairman following the resignation of former Bauchi State governor, Adamu Muazu.

The court then made an order restraining all persons who became national officers of the party by virtue of the amended Article 47, Rule 6 of the partys constitution, from further parading themselves in the said capacities.

Uchenna Oparaugo, counsel to Mr. Ayuba told the court that his client was not seeking an extension of the June 29 ruling but that it was important that a court of law stopped the ongoing tussle to allow members like his client the right of franchise in the party.

The plaintiff is at stake because as a member of the PDP he has the right to vie for any position or cadre of the party, he stated.

The counsel to Mr. Sheriff, OIuyede Ajibade, had argued that the plaintiff lacked the right to seek any redress adding that he was not a beneficiary of the ruling referred to in the originating summons.

He doesnt have locus standi to bring the matter to this court. He is not PDP or Makarfi. Who is he? He is seeking an Interpretation of a judgment and he is not a direct beneficiary. He has to establish a liability, Mr. Ajibade said.

Delivering the ruling Mr. Ogbonnaya held that the previous judgment which sacked Mr. Sheriff and other leaders of his faction was valid.

Hereby is an order restraining the defendant from parading himself, convening any convention or conference on behalf of the party except the judgment is set aside , he said.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday delivered a stringent rebuke of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court for his ruling annulling the election of Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, accusing the judge of raping democracy.

Gov. Ikpeazu was sacked on June 27. Justice Abang said he had falsified his tax certificates, and must lose his seat to Samson Ogah, also a member of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Mr. Ogah received the certificate of return from the Independent National Commission, but was not sworn in.

At the Court of Appeal on Thursday, a five-member panel led by Justice Morenike Ogunwumiju said Mr. Abang raped democracy when he ordered INEC to issue a certificate of return to Mr. Ogah without evidence of forgery against Mr. Ikpeazu.

According to the court, the judgement was erroneously based on the inadequacy of tax receipt which Mr. Ikpeazu cannot be blamed for.

After reading through the judgement several times, I was amazed at how the trial Judge arrived at his conclusion of forgery against the appellant when there was no evidence of forgery. To say the least, his findings are ridiculous, said Justice Ogunwumiju.

The court said Mr. Abang embarked on a wild goose chase when he attempted to help the plaintiff.

Ms. Ogunwunmiju said the case was not properly filed in the first instance.

While the law says only an identifiable legal practitioner can attest to a motion instituting a case before the lower court, three lawyers signed for the plaintiff.

But on the motion which led to this appeal three people indicated themselves as lawyers and signed the document. It is not the business of the court to embark on a voyage of helping a litigant decide who filed his case, the court said.

The judge must have sat in his chamber, unilaterally assessed and computed the tax of the appellant and came to the conclusion that he did not pay the required tax. But let me say that courts are not allowed to speculate as the trial Judge has done in the instant case.

The trial judge spoke from both sides of his mouth when in one breadth, he claimed that he based his findings on supply of false information and in another breadth, he came to the conclusion that the appellant in this matter committed perjury, even when there was no allegation of forgery and no allegation that he did not pay tax, the court further said.

Ms. Ogunwumiju also said that Justice Abang turned the head of the law upside down in his conclusion that it was Mr. Ikpeazu that should bear the burden of proof for an allegation made by Mr. Ogah.

With respect, we disagree with him in this conclusion because it is the person that makes allegation of falsehood that must prove it, she said.

The Appeal Court also argued that Mr. Abang erred when he imported the phrase as at when due into the PDP 2014 guidelines.

The judge would not have imported the phrase into his findings if he had seen the copy of the PDP guideline. In this case, he violated the PDP guideline.

From whatever angle one looks at the judgement of the trial Judge, the decision of his court was grossly erroneous. The inadequacies of the tax receipt cannot be visited on Ikpeazu who scored the highest votes in the 2015 governorship elections as doing so will amount to rape of democracy, the court held.
Soldiers killed 27 Boko Haram insurgents and arrested 10 others in Northern Cameroon, the Commander of a Regional Army Force said on Thursday.

A Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) set up by Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Benin and Cameroon to fight Boko Haram across borders, ambushed a group of the terrorists on Wednesday near the town of Fotokol.

It is located close to the border with Nigeria.

No soldiers were killed during the clashes, according to Dobekreo, the MJTF Commander, Bouba Dobekreo, said.

Boko Haram poses a steady threat to communities in the north-east of Nigeria and has also launched offensives in neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

The groups goal is to enforce a strict interpretation of Islamic law, known as Sharia.

Since 2009, at least 14,000 people have died at the hands of the Sunni fundamentalists.

(dpa/NAN)
The Lagos State gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 election, Jimi Agbaje, has condemned the alleged attempts by the ruling All Progressives Congress to suppress the opposition.

Mr. Agbaje said the situation was a far cry from what was obtainable under the PDP-led governments since the country returned to democracy in 1999.

It is obvious that today, the ruling party is not very interested in democracy and you can see the hands in ensuring that opposition is not made to stand, Mr. Agbaje said. Under the Peoples Democratic Party, you cant take it away from our party that we allowed democracy to thrive.

Mr. Agbaje spoke on the sidelines at the botched PDP national convention in Port-Harcourt on Wednesday, adding that the takeover of the convention venue by security agencies prompted him to recall the past and compare it to the present.

Its not about my personal feeling, I am comparing the past and the present, he said.

Mr. Agbaje was widely tipped to be the next chairman of the party, having reportedly secured the backing of the PDP governors, who maintain unwavering influence over the partys structure.

The convention was canceled after a court granted reliefs sought by a factional leader of the party and ordered relevant government agencies to stay away.

The APC could not be reached for comment for this story as its deputy national publicity secretarys phone line indicated it was unavailable.
Aisha Wakil, the Nigerian lawyer and negotiator for the Boko Haram sect who turned herself in after being declared wanted by the Nigerian military, has been released, security sources told PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday.

Ms. Wakil reported herself at the Defence Headquarters on Monday morning, less than 24 hours after the Nigerian Army put out a statement declaring her wanted on allegations of aiding the sect.

Ms. Wakil was transferred to the State Security Service headquarters on Tuesday, from where she was allowed to go home Wednesday night without charges, sources said.

Also declared wanted alongside Ms. Wakil were Ahmad Salkida, a journalist known for his rare access to the Boko Haram leadership, and Ahmed Bolori, a negotiator based in Maiduguri, the epicentre of the sects activities.

Sources said Ms. Wakil was well treated by the Nigerian security operatives while she was in their facility.

The Nigerian military had said on Tuesday that its intention was not to declare the three wanted or arrest them but only to invite them to discuss new strategies as the war against Boko Haram is gradually winding down.
A former chairman, House of Representative Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumini Jibrin, has asked the Federal High Court, Abuja, to restrain the leadership of the House of Representatives from suspending him.

Mr. Jibrin, representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency of Kano State, urged the court, to set aside the decision of the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara and Uzoma Abonta, pending the determination of the case.

He also asked the court to declare as illegal, the decision of the House to suspend him without allowing the external investigation committee to probe his allegations of budget padding.

When the case came up for hearing on Thursday, Justice Okon Abang sought to know if the defendants in the case were served with the court processes.

Counsel to Mr. Jibrin, Mohammed Suleiman, told the court that the plaintiff was yet to serve the defendants with the motion.

Mr. Abang therefore directed that all parties in the suit be put on notice before he could entertain the application.

He adjourned the hearing till Aug. 25.

Mr. Jibrin is accusing the leadership of the House of fraudulently padding the 2016 budget with projects worth N40 billion.

He wants the speaker and other principal officers probed.
Nigeria will establish a $25 billion Infrastructure Development Fund to finance projects in the country, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo-Udoma, has said.

Mr. Udo-Udoma said this while receiving the Report of the three-day Pre-Summit Workshop from the Infrastructure Public-Private Partnership Summit Group on Thursday in Abuja.

He said the development fund would provide a pool of fiscal resources for long term financing of priority projects.

He said the ministry had developed the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) for accelerated infrastructure development in the country for the next 30 year.

The fund seeks to raise the stock of infrastructure from the current level of 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the GDP to at least 70 per cent by 2043.

A total investment outlay of 3.05 trillion dollars will be required for the implementation of NIIMP.

The investment will be geared towards meetings infrastructure requirements of the major sectors of the economy.

The NIIMP captured Energy, Transport, Information Communication Technology, Agriculture, Water, Mining, Housing, Social Infrastructure, Security and Vital Registration sectors, Udo-Udoma said.

He pointed out that the implementation of the NIIMP required collaboration of stakeholders  Federal and State Governments and the private sector  to provide required investments.

The NIIMP, apart from being a robust framework for infrastructure development, will also serve as investors guide, enhance economic growth, and create job opportunities among other benefits, he said.

Earlier, Abubakar Mahmoud, Chairman, Infrastructure PPP Summit Group, said the group was formed to address deficit in infrastructure and that government alone could not drive the provision of infrastructure.

Mr. Mahmoud said that the concept of forming the group was for private sector to pull resources and expertise together to create framework for PPP dialogue and engagement.

We have received a lot of support from government agencies, including the ministry, he said.

Also Speaking, Daniel Gori, a member of the team who presented an outcome of the summit, said that infrastructure was key to reclaiming Nigeria as the biggest economy in Africa.

Gori recalled that Nigeria had lost its first position as the largest economy in the continent to South Africa.

We know that infrastructure is critical to this; infrastructure deficit is putting a break on Nigeria potential.

The report focuses on Power, Transport, Agriculture and Health and we have analysed all sectors and ways they can be developed, he said. (NAN)
Principal Officers in the House of Representatives on Thursday said the removal of a former chairman of House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, was done in the best interest of Nigeria.

The lawmakers, which include Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, took full responsibility for the dismissal of Mr. Jibrin from his post.

The decision to relieve the erstwhile Appropriation Chairman of his position was a collective decision of the leadership in response to unrelenting pressures from the overwhelming majority of Honorable Members who were irked by the former Chairmans gross abuse of the budget process, the lawmakers said.

The 10 lawmakers who signed the statement included, Mr. Dogara, his deputy, Lasun Yusuf, Mr. Gbajabiamila, Deputy Majority Leader, Buba Jibril, House Whip, Ado Doguwa and Deputy Chief Whip, Pally Iriase.

Others included: Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, Minority Whip, Yakubu Barde, Deputy Minority Leader, Chukwuma Onyem and Fatima Maigari.

Mr. Jibrin left his post on July 20. The House accused him of breach of trust.

Mr. Jibrin pushed back against the allegation, saying his effort to assert his authority against alleged fraudulent attempt by the speaker and others to manipulate the budget, earned him sanction.

Mr. Jibrin also refused to let the matter die in the House, taking the fight to the public by releasing internal House documents that he said illustrated how the budget was severely padded by Mr. Dogara and other lawmakers.

He also visited law enforcement agencies, including the EFCC, SSS and the police, where he said he personally submitted petitions that contained evidence of fraudulent manipulation of budget by Mr. Dogara and 12 others.

The House denied the allegations.

In their statement tonight, the principal officers, numbering 10, said Mr. Jibrins allegations are wild, baseless and unfounded.

The lawmakers said the House joined forces with the Senate to take over scrutiny of the 2016 budget from Mr. Jibrin when they discovered that he had bungled the process.

The Leadership of the House of Representatives wishes to reaffirm that it took collective action, in conjunction with the Senate and a team from the Executive, to rescue the 2016 Budget when it became obvious that the former appropriation Chairman had placed both the document and the process in jeopardy resulting in a spate of agitations from Ministries, Departments and Agencies, the lawmakers said.

The principal officers said they would take careful measures in dealing with the attacks from Mr. Jibrin upon the resumption of the House in September.

Mr. Jibrin could not be reached for comment for this story.
Muhammadu Fari, State Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Yobe, said fishermen recovered corpses of two boys from River Nguru on Wednesday.

Mr. Muhammad told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Damaturu on Thursday that the boys were likely aged between 13 and 14 years, and that investigation was in progress to ascertain their identity and cause of death.

The commandant urged parents and guardians to monitor the movement of their wards to avoid the waters as the rain intensifies.

Mr. Muhammad said several houses, farmlands and livestock were destroyed by flood in Adaya village, Potiskum local government area of the state.

We received report of flooding after down pour in which several people were rendered homeless following destruction of houses and farmlands while livestock were washed away.

There was no loss of human life but, eight goats died while several others were missing, he said.

The commandant charged communities living on water ways to relocate from the water routes to avoid further disaster.

There are reports indicating possible flood in Yobe and other states, so the communities should take precautions to safeguard their lives and property

Residents of towns and villages are also advised to evacuate drainage and water channels to pave way for smooth flow of water in their communities, he cautioned. (NAN)
The immediate past governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, has dismissed the planned probe of his administration by his successor as a mere waste of state resources.

Governor Simon Lalong had on Monday named a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate the Jang government between 2007 and 2015.

But Mr. Jang said in a statement on Wednesday that the probe will amount to a wild goose chase.

Plateau State Government under Simon Lalong continues to waste scarce resources that would have been put to better use for the good of the State on a needless voyage of fantasies and fixation bound for the rocks so much money has been expended in what is now a wild goose chase, he said.

The statement, signed by Clinton Garuba, a media aide to the former governor, said millions of taxpayers money capable of paying workers salaries for about two months has been paid to KPMG to conduct a forensic audit.

Mr. Jang said since his inauguration over a year ago, Gov Lalong had named five committees to investigate him.

As at the last count, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry is the fifth committee Lalong has constituted, mandated, empowered, and inaugurated to probe the tenure of the former Governor, the statement said.

Governor Simon Lalong had recently petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to probe Senator Jonah Jang only to impulsively resort to self-help by constituting the commission of inquiry when his phantom claims and capricious desires were not indulged.

It said Mr. Jang has nothing to hide, and would will avail himself to the commission to clear his name.

Senator Jonah Jang is ever ready to give an account of his time as Governor of Plateau State; he absolutely without equivocation has nothing to hide, it said.
The Kano State Hisbah Board said on Thursday that it had registered 1, 042 prospective couples in 18 local government areas of the state for the state governments mass wedding programme.

The Director-General of the board, Abba Sufi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano that all the prospective couples were registered at the boards headquarters.

Mr. Sufi, however, said the board was still awaiting the list of registered couples from the remaining 26 local government areas.

As at yesterday (Wednesday) we received the list of those registered in 18 of the 44 local government areas in the state, he said.

Mr. Sufi said as soon as the board compiled the list from the remaining local government areas, it would release the total number of registered couples.

The director-general said the registration which was ongoing would continue until when those interested in the programme were registered.

He added as soon as the registration was completed, the board would commence screening of the couples to ascertain their health status before the mass wedding.

NAN reports that in spite of changes introduced in the programme, prospective couples continued to troop to the board and its offices in the local government areas for registration.

NAN also recalls that the board commenced registration of prospective couples on Aug. 8, following the state government directive. (NAN)The Kano State Hisbah Board said on Thursday that it had registered 1, 042 prospective couples in 18 local government areas of the state for the state governments mass wedding programme.

The Director-General of the board, Abba Sufi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano that all the prospective couples were registered at the boards headquarters.

Mr. Sufi, however, said the board was still awaiting the list of registered couples from the remaining 26 local government areas.

As at yesterday (Wednesday) we received the list of those registered in 18 of the 44 local government areas in the state, he said.

Mr. Sufi said as soon as the board compiled the list from the remaining local government areas, it would release the total number of registered couples.

The director-general said the registration which was ongoing would continue until when those interested in the programme were registered.

He added as soon as the registration was completed, the board would commence screening of the couples to ascertain their health status before the mass wedding.

NAN reports that in spite of changes introduced in the programme, prospective couples continued to troop to the board and its offices in the local government areas for registration.

NAN also recalls that the board commenced registration of prospective couples on Aug. 8, following the state government directive.

(NAN)
The Kano State Police Command has banned a mass wedding organised by a group loyal to former Gov. Rabiu Kwankwaso.

This is contained in a statement signed by the commands Public Relations Officer, Magaji Majiya, and issued on Thursday in Kano.

According to the statement, the measure is necessary because the wedding coincided with the state governments planned empowerment programme event slated for Aug. 20.

The police has banned the two ceremonies indefinitely as security Intelligence available at our disposal revealed that some disgruntled elements are preparing to use the occasions to cause havoc in the state.

It warned that the police and other security agencies would not fold their arms to allow some people to breach the peace in the state.

Our prime responsibility is to ensure peace, tranquillity, protection of lives and property as well as maintenance of law and order, the statement said.

The statement said that the Commissioner of Police would invite the organisers of the two events for a meeting with a view to resolving the issues. (NAN).
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Sangli (Maharashtra). Managing Director of Boot Bazaar of Group of Maharashtra Agency Shri.Sonu Tiwari organized a grand function at Madhav Nagar at the office of the Maharashtra Agency to celebrate Independence Day where a Satyanarayan Katha was also organized. All 200 shopkeepers unfurled the national flag on the occasion. Avijit Gupta, the Chairman & Managing Director of Duronto Footwear was the chief guest. Along with it, the foot bazaar franchise was also given to the people, after which the children were treated to chocolates and other eatables.On this occasion, Avijit Gupta, Sonu Tiwari, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel partys media chief Dilipbhai Patel, Santosh Patil (corporator of Sangli), Shivaji (Pappu) Dongre (Member Jilla Parishad), Piyush Satyaprakash Bansal, Vishweshwar Adgale were also present. The shopkeepers added to the grandeur of the event and made the event a grand success. Sonu Tiwari welcomed all the guests present on the occasion with bouquets of flowers too.Avijit Gupta, the Chairman & Managing Director of Duronto Footwear had specially come down from Kolkata for the event. Avijit Gupta manufactures footwear for everyone from children to the old people. When asked about the event and the attitude of the government towards the footwear industry, Avijit remarked, Now Sonu Tiwari will look after all the work related to Duranto Footwear. He has been made the CNF of Maharashtra. The Kolkata government is not doing anything substantially to help us. All the schemes to help in the improvement of the small scale industries are there only on the websites. But if we go to their offices, we do not even get the forms and even if we do get the forms by mistake, nothing is done to ameliorate the conditions. If the government pays attention to this lacuna, the small scale industry will benefit and get a lot of fillip and the government too will benefit and the public will be assured of employment.Sonu Tiwari has been a part of the footwear marketing industry for the last 16 years, especially with Lakhani, In Blue, Action and Pooja Chappals and has covered the marketing from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and all the shopkeepers and the owners know him in person by name. Now he himself has opened several new showrooms in Shoe Bazaar and entered the field in full swing in a big way. Sonu Tiwari who is the Managing Director of Maharashtra Agencys Boot Bazaar says, I do not want others to go through the difficulties that I had to face in this field. I have prepared a team of 50 people who will do the marketing for all the companies. Through them, I will give employment to unemployed youth all over the country and help others to start shops and earn through them. If we reduce the number of the agents in between, the shopkeepers will be able to get footwear cheaply and also earn more. And if the work is done properly and systematically, the government in turn will also benefit more and the country also will progress. I am starting this auspicious and good work on the occasion of the Independence Day.Himanshu Jhunjhunwala
When a state titleholder crouches to get a crown placed on her head, it may not look heavy, but the job she embarks on for the next year carries a lot of weight.

Many contestants have deep platforms, ranging from bullying to suicide prevention. The Miss America Organization has increasingly used social media to expose contestants to fans and promote those platforms.

If you look at the country as it stands today, social media has become such a large part of it. Especially as you look at sports, the Olympics, politics. Thats no different with the Miss America Organization, said Josh Randle, chief operating officer for the Miss America Organization.

While netting a large audience is generally a positive thing for contestants, all of those eyes often catch the good and the bad.

Destiny Velez, Miss Puerto Rico 2015 who competed when Betty Cantrell was named Miss America last year, was stripped of her title after a series of anti-Muslim posts surfaced on Twitter. The Miss Puerto Rico Organization apologized in a social post.

Miss Velezs actions were in contradiction to the organization, and therefore as a consequence of her actions, she has been suspended indefinitely, the statement said shortly after Velezs loss of the title in December. The Miss Puerto Rico Organization will not tolerate any actions or behavior contrary to the Miss Puerto Rico Organization.

Miss Puerto Rico 2015 suspended following anti-Muslim remarks Destiny Velez, who competed in the Miss America 2016 pageant in Atlantic City in September a

The new Miss Teen USA 2016 Karlie Hay, crowned on July 30, has been under fire recently after series of tweets surfaced that contained repeated racial slurs. The tweets appear to be from her personal account and were made between 2013 and 2014. The Miss Universe Organization released the following statement: The language Karlie Hay used is unacceptable at any age and in no way reflects the values of the Miss Universe Organization. The organization, however, has chosen to stand by Hay, stating the organization supports Hays continued growth. She then appeared on Good Morning America on Aug. 2, offering an apology and telling host George Stephanopoulos that she was being a follower when she posted those tweets.

I was trying to fit in with my friends and the word was thrown around in the music I listened to. I had no guidance, Hay said.

So how does a contestant walk the line between being accessible on social media, promoting her platform and positively promoting the Miss America brand?

Being prepared for their new social media presence is one of the first steps a Miss America contestant should take, said Maria Simone, of Absecon, an associate professor at the College of Communications and Creative Arts Department at Rowan University.

While theyre contestants in this pageant, theyre also being tasked with being ambassadors of the Miss America brand, Simone said. A lot of brands, whether theyre trying to sell something, an image, an idea, they have protocols for the kinds of things that are appropriate when youre tweeting on behalf of this brand ambassadorship. Some companies are super loose with it. Very few companies have specific protocols.

Unlike some companies that require employees to agree to and follow specific social media policies, the Miss America Organization relies mostly on the training that contestants receive in the weeks before the Miss America pageant. A lot of that happens at an orientation session; this years occurred in Washington, D.C., in July.

Randle said the contestants undergo training with partners at dick clark productions, which produces the televised Miss America finale, which will be broadcast live at 9 p.m. Sept. 11 on ABC. Its more about being able to get our brand out and their individual brands out to our fan base and out to the world, he said. Our overarching goal at the Miss America Organization is to empower young women to be whatever they want to be. Its their voice.

Its important to us that, whether its Miss America or a state titleholder, that they have a very unique perspective and philosophy that they bring to their role in that year, Randle continued. Just as we encourage them to be their true selves during their reign, we encourage them to have their own voice on social media.

Miss New Jersey 2016 Lindsey Giannini, who occupied the title before this years comeptitor Brenna Weick, said many appearance bookings were made based on the exposure she got on social media.

Social media was a huge part of my year. It was how people saw what I was doing with my year of service and helped me reach more people, Giannini said. For me, it was extremely important to hold myself to a very high standard when it came to social media etiquette. I kept my posts positive, and still continue to do so. I also used my social media presence to bring light to certain issues, she said.

Considering context, Gianinni said, was carefully considered before posting.

Being a public figure was a big responsibility and you are under a microscope, so I take great care in what goes out for everyone to see, she said.

Simone said that while contestants are not official paid employees, their titles transform them into brand ambassadors that do receive monetary benefits, in the case of contestants, their scholarship money.

As a brand ambassador, the first thing you want to do is be very clear about what the expectations are, Simone said. I would try to get a sense of frequency you should post. I would get a sense of if there are any areas you should not post about. I would try to find out what those lines are, if there are any.

Some of this years contestants have tried out Facebook Live allowing the public to get to know them prior to the competition. Groups of contestants have posted fun fact videos and other similarly themed posts within minutes of each other, each in their own voice but still in a uniform way. Most contestants post at least once a day to their official Miss America Twitter accounts.

Another factor Simone urges contestants to consider is the digital self.

Meet your Miss America competition preliminary judges The Miss America Organization announced Thursday the preliminary judges for its September co

You also have to think about your own brand. We typically dont think of our own identity as a brand but you need to think about whether these relationships are in compliance with your own sense of who you are, she said. For a lot of contestants, there are political implications for a lot of their platforms. I think its really important to be true to yourself.

In recent years, many contestants have found internet issues so important that theyve made platforms out of online activity. Other issues, like anti-bullying and suicide prevention, also involve the internet.

Throughout all of our evolutionary changes as a society, theres been a Miss America there talking about issues that matter to her, that matter to women, and that matter to the country as a whole, Randle said. I think that the social media aspect of it, because were so relatable, it helps enhance Miss America and our contestants to get their message out to an even greater audience.

Contact: 609-272-7209

Twitter @ACPressSchweder
ATLANTIC CITY A 20-year-old resort man was arrested and charged this week after police say he assaulted an officer while also in possession of a stolen handgun.

After receiving a call of a man with a gun at 2:22 p.m. Wednesday, police tracked down Justin Figueroa entering Popeyes Louisiana Chicken in the 1700 block of Atlantic Avenue, police said. Figueroa tried to flee after an officer asked him to leave the restaurant, police said.

K-9 Officer John Devlin grabbed Figueroa, who assaulted Devlin during a struggle, police said. Figueroa was arrested after more officers arrived, police said.

Figueroa had a loaded handgun, reported stolen in Atlanta in 2010, in his backpack, police said. Officers also said they found marijuana in his possession.

Figueroa was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon, receiving stolen property, resisting arrest, certain persons not to possess a weapon and possession of marijuana. He was in the Atlantic County jail in Mays Landing on $100,000 bail.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police at 609-347-5766 or send a text beginning with ACPD to TIP411.

Contact: 609-272-7411
A 72-year-old North Wildwood man was among 40 people charged in a sweeping child-pornography bust that hit every county in New Jersey.

Overall, eight men from Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Ocean counties were charged, the state Office of the Attorney General said Thursday.

Of the 40 arrested, 37 men also were charged with distribution of child pornography.

Authorities said many of the computers seized had more than 1,000 pornographic images and videos of children on them.

Atlantic City police arrest city man who had gun in Popeye's ATLANTIC CITY A 20-year-old resort man was arrested and charged this week after police say 

One computer had more than 76,000 files, authorities said.

Authorities said those from the region that were charged include:

 Alfred Suez, 72, of North Wildwood, charged with possession of child pornography.

 Lawrence J. Venturino Jr., 27, of the Villas in Lower Township, charged with child-porn possession and distribution.

 Esau Rios-Osorio, 27, of Vineland, charged with possession and distribution.

 Gregg Bilarczyk, 58, of Mays Landing, charged with possession and distribution.

 Fabian Maldonado-Espinosa, 31, and Anthony White, 30, both of Lakewood, both charged with possession and distribution.

 Randy G. Hull, 43, of South Toms River, charged with possession and distribution.

 Brandon Adelhock, 30, of Ocean County, charged with possession and distribution.

Atlantic City man arrested Sunday after police standoff next to Golden Nugget A 22-year-old man was arrested after a two hour standoff with police outside of the Golden N

The six-month Operation Statewide was coordinated by the New Jersey Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Office of the Attorney General said.

The effort followed the digital fingerprint of known images of child porn as they were being sent and received over file-sharing networks to specific computers, the office said in a statement.

During the 40 arrests, one man was in the process of downloading child porn at the time, authorities said.

Statewide, the suspects included a former teacher who taught in Delran, Philadelphia and Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, an accountant, computer professionals and construction workers.

This type of operation is nothing new, yet people continue to ignore the arrests and seek this depraved material regardless of the impact to the children it victimizes, or to society at large, State Police Superintendent Colonel Rick Fuentes said. Its widely accepted that a percentage of those obtaining child porn will be involved at some point in the sexual assault of children, so these arrests may actually prevent the abuse of some future victims.

Contact: 609-272-7253

Twitter @BIanieri
CAPE MAY  The family of a U.S. Coast Guard recruit who died after a training run on his first week of bootcamp plans to attend his companys graduation today.

Seaman Aaron Redd, 21, of Stafford, Va., died at Cape Regional Medical Center a few days after collapsing July 1 after completing a timed run at the U.S. Coast Guards Training Center Cape May. The Coast Guard is investigating the death.

The remainder of Delta Company 193 will graduate Friday in a ceremony in front of family and friends at the base.

Redds parents Eileen and Franklin Redd said they will attend the graduation to lend support to his fellow graduates.

Redds organ donations through the Gift of Life Foundation saved the life of at least one person who needed a heart transplant, his family said.

His unexplained collapse after the training run was just the second death of a recruit at the Coast Guard base in the past 30 years. In 2005, a recruit drowned in Cape May Harbor.

The Redd family also said they plan to support plans to build a Coast Guard Enlisted Memorial in Cape May County dedicated to the 1,500 Coast Guard seamen who died while in service to their country.
The sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season has formed, but should not be a threat to land.

Tropical Storm Fiona developed well out in the eastern Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, now sporting winds of 45 miles-per-hour.

Fiona is expected to remain over the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, and is no threat to any land areas over the next five days. Conditions are not favorable for much strengthening, so Fiona is also expected to remain below hurricane strength as well.

Why you're seeing more dolphins swimming off the Jersey shore Warm waters are drawing more bottlenose dolphins to South Jersey, with beachgoers and sights

The Atlantic hurricane season peaks early each September, so it's common to see more named storms starting in August. This is the most favorable time of year for what are called "Cape Verde storms." These are tropical waves that come off the west coast of Africa and sometimes develop into tropical storms and hurricanes, taking the long trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Some impact North America, and others recurve before doing so and head safely out to sea.

The next wave now coming off Africa is also being monitored by the National Hurricane Center for development, but is only given a 10% chance to develop in the next five days.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account.
When is $36 billion enough? Ask a big box retailer and they will say never. Back in 2010, retail groups took advantage of the financial crisis and lobbied the federal government for a special interest bill.

The result was the Durbin Amendment, which put price controls on debit transactions, meaning the fee retailers pay to be able to run debit card payments is capped. Before the amendment, these debit fees were determined on a sliding scale based on the price of the item purchased.

Consequently, retailers are padding their bottom line with an annual windfall of about $7 billion (totaling $36 billion and counting since the amendment took effect). Sounds too good to be true for the retailers, right? It is. They were supposed to pass their savings on to customers, but instead they kept prices the same or even raised them.

Not satisfied with this massive government redistribution, merchants are back asking for more. In addition to intrusive government price controls on debit transactions (otherwise known as the "merchant markup"), merchants are greedily seeking to expand anti-free market protectionism to apply to credit transactions - all at the expense of New Jersey customers.

While merchant groups grudgingly acknowledge a windfall from lower interchange, they go to great lengths to cover up who's truly benefitting - namely, themselves.

A survey of merchants undertaken by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond revealed that "few merchants are found to reduce prices or debit restrictions as debit costs decrease." Another study by Phoenix Marketing International found most shoppers are not experiencing a price reduction at the point of sale, with 92 percent of shoppers reporting prices have increased or remained the same over the past year. In 2011 and 2012, Pulse and Bankrate studies found higher customer fees and more recently a study from the George Mason University School of Law found "there is no evidence that those cost savings have been passed through to consumers."

Study after study confirms that consumers are not seeing the savings retailers promised to pass along. Faced with all this data, it's interesting that they continue to tout a single white paper that they paid for back in 2013, one that has been proven invalid. They claim the price controls created jobs and saved money, but the only money they saved went to increasing their bottom lines.

The Federal Reserve study - one of the most comprehensive and independent analyses available on the Durbin Amendment's true effect - also examined the impact on small businesses and found that most experienced a cost increase.

Price controls simply have not had the effect of benefitting the citizens of New Jersey. In Europe, where price controls are commonplace, customers are feeling the same pinch. The European economy is practically stagnant, so the argument that New Jersey should imitate their crippling financial regulations is laughable.

Even more laughable is the fact that retailers are using the same argument - that New Jersey customers will benefit - to try to pass legislation in the state Assembly and Senate that would impose expanded failed interchange price controls.

If passed, this legislation would have real ramifications for New Jersey's most economically vulnerable citizens, as demonstrated in a 2011 article by Federal Reserve Bank of Boston researchers Benjamin Levinger and Michael A. Zabek.

Each week seems to highlight yet another breach of merchant data and processing systems. Now is not the time for legislation that invites even looser provisions for merchant routing of consumer financial transactions. The financial services industry has spared no effort in building trusted, secure networks that ensure consumer data are safe and protected. Consumers have the right to expect their data are transmitted over secure and proven networks - not networks that lack security or critical consumer fraud protections. Again, this is all simply to allow merchants to pad their bottom line.

Furthermore, just as small businesses have dealt with unintended consequences, the same is true for low- and moderate-income families who lost their free checking accounts due to the Durbin Amendment. Another hit to their wallets is the last thing New Jersey families need in these economically challenging times.

And, as if all that weren't enough, the Richmond Fed study also concluded that even the low-volume community banks and credit unions who are theoretically "exempt" from the Durbin Amendment have also been negatively impacted - with many grappling with significantly reduced income and compliance nightmares.

Retailers continue to make promises but this time we're not buying them.

Neither New Jersey's local merchants, community financial institutions nor working families can afford the costly effects of more government intrusion into the free market just to pad the bottom line of big box retailers.

John E. McWeeney Jr. is president and CEO of the New Jersey Bankers Association, representing 101 banks and more than 222 service providers. David C. Frankil is president and CEO of the NJ Credit League, representing 175 credit unions.
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.




LONDON, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

43% of life science professionals who move overseas for a permanent job stay for just two years or less, according to a report published today by specialist life science recruiter Hobson Prior - suggesting that employers could do more to retain international talent.

The Global Mobility in Life Sciences report draws attention to high levels of international relocation amongst Europe's life sciences workforce, with as many as 40% of respondents having moved overseas for their career. According to the report, this is down to skills shortages within the sector driving employers to look further for the right talent. However, with 43% of permanent professionals leaving their overseas position within two years, employers are struggling to retain their international hires.

So what's driving international hires home again? The most common reason is an emotional one, with nearly 70% returning for their friends and family. Furthermore, 62% of professionals who have never moved overseas cited 'friends and family' as the main factor putting them off, with many stating they did not want to uproot their children, leave elderly relatives or inconvenience their partner.

To counteract this, says Hobson Prior, organisations should offer generous and tailored relocation support. Jake Thomas, Managing Director at Hobson Prior, cites their recent placement of a statistical head of programming as an example: "Our candidate had a fantastic opportunity to work with a global pharmaceutical company at their headquarters in Frankfurt, but she was nervous about making the move from Milan. We explained her concerns to the employer, which offered six open-dated return flights - this enabled her and her partner to find accommodation and familiarise themselves with the area, before moving there four months later."

As well as assisting with the move, employers must provide on-going support to help international hires and their families settle in, say Hobson Prior. Assistance with school fees, language courses and their partner's job search could all help with retention.

Interestingly, an increasing number of contractors in the life sciences industry are choosing to commute internationally rather than relocate altogether. This enables them to benefit from higher salaries and better jobs abroad, without uprooting their family. Nevertheless, the time away from home and frequent travel is a concern for many contractors, and 40% leave their position overseas within a year. Hobson Prior suggests that flexible working arrangements can ease the pressure on contractors in this position. "An increasing number of employers allow international contractors to work from home at least some of the time, making overseas jobs easier and a more viable option for people with children," says Michael Masoomi, Interim Staffing Specialist at Hobson Prior.

The report Global Mobility in Life Sciences surveyed 1,527 life science professionals and explores skill shortages within the industry. For details please contact HPMediaEnquiries@hobsonprior.com.

You can download a copy of Global Mobility in Life Sciences at http://bit.ly/2ayeV2M.

Hobson Prior is a leading specialist life sciences recruiter focused on sourcing and securing outstanding candidates across Europe and Asia Pacific. It has placed over 3,000 candidates into roles across more than 25 countries.

Peggy McGregor on +44(0)207-959-1007 or email HPMediaEnquiries@hobsonprior.com .

SOURCE Hobson Prior and ESCP Europe
HOLLY SPRINGS, North Carolina, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Beroe Inc, a leading provider of market intelligence to procurement professionals around the world, has made it to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in the U.S. Beroe joins the ranks of storied organizations, such as Yelp, Pandora, Timberland, Dell, Domino's Pizza, LinkedIn, Zillow, and many others that were named in their early years.

Holly Springs, North Carolina-headquartered Beroe was ranked among 5000 organizations by Inc., which published its 35th Annual list of America's fastest growing companies last Friday.

"Being named in the Inc. 5000 list validates our unique business model and our decision to be 100% focused on procurement. We could not have achieved this without our stellar Fortune 500 & Global 2000 clients. We are committed to continuing our investments in category expertise and best-in-class service to our clients," said Anand Narayanan, Head - Human & Brand Capital of Beroe Inc.

To be featured in the list, a company should be privately-held, independent (i.e., not a subsidiary of an established firm), operating for profit and based in the U.S. And it should also have generated at least $2 million in revenue in 2015.

Beroe will receive the award at a conference to be held between October 18 and 20 in San Antonio, Texas.

Keynote speakers include Weili Dai, former president of Marvell Technology, New Belgium Brewing's Kim Jordan, and New York Times best-selling author and entrepreneur, Tony Robbins.

About Beroe Inc:

Beroe helps procurement organizations decide What to buy, When to buy, How to buy, How Much to buy and from Whom to buy. The decade-old company with an employee base mainly consisting of millennials enables procurement decision-making -- worth over $200 billion every year -- at over 80 of the Fortune 500 companies.

Beroe plans to continue growing aggressively, with its recent foray into Big Data Analytics. The company had recently received an investment of $10 million from private equity firm Access Asset Managers.

Beroe provides market intelligence and analytics to procurement teams of large businesses across the globe. Its service portfolio includes Market Intelligence, Green Procurement and Supply Chain Intelligence. The company has offices in US, West Europe & India.

For more information, visit http://www.beroeinc.com, Twitter: @beroeinc

About Inc. Media:

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today's innovative company builders. Winner of the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in both 2014 and 2012, with a total monthly audience reach of over 13,000,000. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com .

Contact Person:

Anand Narayanan

Head - Human & Brand Capital, Beroe Inc.

Email: anand.narayanan@beroe-inc.com

Phone: +91 8939 885 057



SOURCE Beroe Inc.
PUNE, India, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Global and Chinese Caprylic Acid 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 Caprylic Acid market spread across 150 pages providing 8 company profiles and 98 tables and figures is available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/497910-global-and-chinese-caprylic-acid-industry-2016-market-research-report.html .

This report estimate 2016-2021 Caprylic Acid Industry Cost and Profit with Market Competition of Caprylic Acid Industry By Country: (Including Europe, U.S., Japan, China etc.), By Company and Application.

This Global and Chinese Report 2016 is a result of industry experts' diligent work on researching the world market of Caprylic Acid. The report helps to build up a clear view of the market (scenario and survey), identify major players in the industry, and analyzes the upstream raw materials, downstream clients, and current market dynamics of Caprylic Acid Industry.

The report reviews the basic information of Caprylic Acid including its classification, application and manufacturing technology. This report explores global and China's top manufacturers of Caprylic Acid listing their product specification, capacity, Production value, and market share etc. The report further analyzes quantitatively 2011-2016 global and China's total market of Caprylic Acid by calculation of main economic parameters of each company. The breakdown data of Caprylic Acid market are presented by company, by country, and by application. Place a direct purchase order of this report (2016 Caprylic Acid Industry Report - Global and Chinese Market Scenario) at http://www.reportsnreports.com/Purchase.aspx?name=497910 .

In the end, the report makes a proposal for a new project of Caprylic Acid Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2011-2016 global and China Caprylic Acid industry covering all important parameters.

The first chapter introduces the Caprylic Acid Industry by Brief Introduction, Development & Status of Caprylic Acid Industry. The second chapter focuses on Manufacturing Technology of Caprylic Acid, the third one gives Analysis of Global Key Manufacturers (Including Company Profile, Product Specification, 2011-2016 Production Information etc.) The forth chapter deals with 2011-2016 Global and China Market of Caprylic Acid. The chapter 5 summarizes Market Status of Caprylic Acid Industry.

Another research titled "Global Caprylic Acid Industry 2016 Market Research Report" is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Caprylic Acid industry. Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Caprylic Acid market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions' development status. Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), and other regions can be added. Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. What's more, the Caprylic Acid 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. Major Manufacturers Analysis of Caprylic Acid are Wilmar International Ltd., VVF LLC , Vigon International Inc , Hallstar, Ecogreen Oleochemicals , KLK Oleo , Oleon, Solazyme and Pacific Oleochemicals Sdn Bhd. Order a copy of this report (Global Caprylic Acid Industry 2016 Market Research Report) at http://www.reportsnreports.com/Purchase.aspx?name=594003 .

Browse more reports on Chemicals at http://www.reportsnreports.com/market-research/chemicals/ .

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MIAMI, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The battle to become one of the world's best bartenders is on and last night at a glamourous event in Miami, Andrej Malic of Celebrity Cruises saw off competition from thousands of cruise line bartenders from three of the world's leading cruise lines to be crowned one of the best bartenders at sea.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160818/399250 )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160818/399251 )

Andrej, 27, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, will now go forward to represent cruise liners at one of the leading and most respected bartender competitions in the world - WORLD CLASS Bartender of the Year Competition in Miami on 25th - 29th September 2016. Here he will battle it out against 59 of the world's best bartenders for the coveted 'World Class Bartender of the Year' title. Last year's winner, Michito Kaneko from Japan, has experienced a life-changing journey and now enjoys travelling the world, judging the finals of top bartender competitions in some incredible locations.

All of the cruise line bartenders who took part in the competition were put through a series of heats in what was the biggest year yet for WORLD CLASS, before the final three finalists mixed it up in the deluxe Diageo 396 Bar in Miami last night. Judged by a panel of the industry's elite experts including Julio Cabrera, Master Mixologist, David Molina, Head Mixologist for Diageo BAR 396 and Marcy Rudershausen, Senior Master of Whisky for Diageo.

Andrej prevailed throughout the competition with his outstanding showmanship and innovative cocktail creation and technique, particularly with his signature serve 'Old Spice Fashion' featuring BULLEIT Bourbon.

Andrej Malic, a leading bartender onboard Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Millennium, said: "This is without doubt the best moment of my career to date. I'm hugely delighted and grateful to be recognised by the WORLD CLASS competition and to have won. I've been inspired and challenged by many talented bartenders over the last few weeks and I'm really looking forward to using the skills and knowledge that I've developed to represent Celebrity Cruises and all cruise line bartenders at the grand final of the WORLD CLASS Bartender of the Year Competition."

Sandra Vaucher, Director Global Cruise and Airlines at Diageo said: "WORLD CLASS is on a mission to inspire people to drink better, and it's fantastic that we can offer this experience on-board our partner's ships. This competition allows us to recognise and champion the skills and craftsmanship of our cruise line bartenders and last night was extremely exciting with a very high standard displayed by all the competitors. We want to congratulate all of our finalists and wish Andrej the very best of luck at the WORLD CLASS Global Final in September."

Cornelius Gallagher, Associate Vice President of Food and Beverage Operations, Celebrity Cruises, said: "We are extremely proud to have Andrej as a leading bartender of the Celebrity Cruises' team and thrilled with his triumph at last night's prestigious competition. We have witnessed the most exquisite display of first class mixology in the past few weeks. We would like to thank WORLD CLASS for including us on this journey and for training our bartenders in the art and science of creating unique, moment-defining drinks, using award-winning spirits from the DIAGEO RESERVE collection. Our partnership ensures that we provide our guests with amazing on-board fine drinking experiences."

Notes to editors

Follow the competition on Facebook at the 'Global WORLD CLASS Finals' page: http://www.facebook.com/WorldClass

Celebrity Cruises: Andrej ' s signature serve: 'Old Spice Fashion'

Ingredients:

1,5oz BULLEIT BOURBON

0,25oz Allspice Dram Liqueur

0,75oz Honey syrup

2 drops of Tiki bitters

1 bar spoon of creme de Yvette

A dash of Peychaud's bitter



Recipe:

Add all ingredients in a mixing glass, stir to dilution and strain into double old fashioned glass over one large ice cube. Garnish with expressed grapefruit zest.

Glass:

Double Old Fashioned glass

Garnish:

Large Grapefruit Zest and dehydrated grapefruit wheel

Please drink responsibly, visit DRINKiQ.com.

The BULLEIT BOURBON words and associated logos are trade marks.

SOURCE Diageo Global Travel
DUBLIN, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) - Global Strategic Analysis" report to their offering.

This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) in US$ Million. The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America.



Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2013 through 2020. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are primarily based on public domain information including company URLs.



The report profiles 77 companies including many key and niche players such as:



ABB Group ( Switzerland )

) Azbil Corporation ( Japan )

) BuildingIQ ( Australia )

) C3 Energy ( USA )

) Carma Industries Inc. ( Canada )

) Cylon Active Energy ( Ireland )

) Daikin Industries Ltd. ( Japan )

) Daintree Networks, Inc. ( USA )

) Echelon Corp. ( USA )

) Ecova, Inc. ( USA )

) Elster EnergyICT ( Germany )

) EnerNOC, Inc. ( USA )

) eSight Energy (UK)

FirstFuel Software, Inc. ( USA )

) GridPoint, Inc. ( USA )

) Honeywell International, Inc. ( USA )

) IBM Corporation ( USA )

) Ingersoll-Rand PLC ( Ireland )

) Johnson Controls, Inc. ( USA )

) Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated ( USA )

) Optimum Energy LLC ( USA )

) Schneider Electric SE ( France )

) Siemens AG ( Germany )

) SkyFoundry LLC ( USA )

) Toshiba Corporation ( Japan )

) Verisae ( Israel )

Key Topics Covered:



1. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Energy Management Technologies Address Pressing Need to Curb Energy Usage and Carbon Footprint

Spiraling Demand for Electricity

The Underlying Factor Spurring Need for Efficient Energy Management

Outlook

North America and Europe Dominate Global BEMS Market

Emerging Economies Led by Asia-Pacific to Dictate Growth Momentum



2. GROWTH DRIVERS, TRENDS & ISSUES

Regulatory Pressure to Curb Energy Wastage and Carbon Emissions

A Major Growth Driver

Technological Advancements to Fuel Adoption

BEMS Plays Key Role in Green Building Movement

Implementation of Smart Buildings and Smart Cities Boosts Prospects for BEMS

BEMS Proves a Cost-Effective Option for Interfacing Smart Buildings Effectively With Smart Grids

Emergence of IoT and Cloud Infrastructure

A Potential Game Changer for BEMS Market

Small and Medium Buildings Present a Lucrative Untapped Market for BEMS

Falling Hardware Costs, and Managed BEMS Services to Overcome Cost and Complexity Hurdles



3. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Building Energy Management Ecosystem Emerges as Convergence Point for Multiple Industries

Market Leaders Shape BEMS' Competitive Landscape

Intense Competition Catalyzes Innovation

BEMS Creates Opportunities for Big Data Analytics for Buildings

Vendors Step up Focus on Marketing Offerings

ESCOs Well Positioned to Capture BEMS Market

Opportunities Exist for Synergies among BEMS, BACS, BMS Vendors

BEMS Vendors, System Integrators Join Hands with ESCOs, Software Providers to Deliver EEM Systems



4. GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS & STANDARDS

AN OVERVIEW

Green Building Standards and Regulations

LEED Certification

Green Globes: An Alternative to LEED Certification

LEED Vs Green Globes

Government Mandates for Energy Efficiency

Focus on Green Certification Programs for Individual Building Elements



5. PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS)

BEMS Components

BEMS Central Station

BEMS Outstations

Sensors

Modems

Local Area Network (LAN)

Advantages of BEMS

Optimization of Plant Operations

Improves Communication

Monitoring Plant Status

Energy Savings

Commissioning New Plants

Automated Switching On/Off Plant

Key Concerns with BEMS



6. PRODUCT INTRODUCTIONS

Echelon Unveils New Lumewave 5.0

GridPoint Launches New GridPoint Energy Manager

ABB Launches SlimLine XR ITS2

EnerNOC Introduces Novel Platform Capabilities

EnerNOC Unveils New Energy Intelligence Software Platform

Trend Introduces new Room View Sensor and Display Solution

Trend Launches New IQ4E Controller

Azbil Announces Development of Savic-net

Daintree Networks Introduces Cloud-Based Building Energy Management System

ABB Launches Emax 2 Ekip Power Controller

Optimum Energy Unveils OptiCx Platform

Elster EnergyICT Launches Enacto 9.3

Elster EnergyICT Introduces Enacto

IMServ Unveils IMServ Control 10

NEC Introduces New Cloud-Based BEMS

Daikin Launches the Intelligent Touch Manager (iTM)

Daintree Networks Launches New ControlScope 3.0



7. RECENT INDUSTRY ACTIVITY

Twenty First Century Utilities Acquires GridPoint

EnerNOC Takes Over World Energy Solutions

Ecova Acquires Retroficiency

Cenex Launches EFES Project

IBM Inks Partnership with Carnegie Mellon for Cloud-Based Analytics System

Higher Education Institutions across the US Deploy BuildingIQ's Energy Management Software

BuildingIQ Partners with Xcel Energy

BuildingIQ Deploys PEO Platform to BSA Group

CGS Selects BuildingIQ to Deploy PEO Platform for Public Buildings in District of Columbia

Deco Lighting Partners with Daintree Networks

Daintree Networks Inks Partnership with CLTC

EnerNOC Inks Partnership with GridPoint to Provide Integrated Energy Management Solution

Dow Corning Deploys Energy Intelligence Software Platform of EnerNOC

Ergon Energy to Expand Enernoc's Software Deployment to Ergon Energy Commercial Customer Base

SmartestEnergy Chooses EnerNOC's EIS Platform

GridPoint Inks Partnership with Axiom Energy Solutions

Matalan Installs BEMS from Wireless Energy Management Systems International

EnerNOC Acquires Pulse Energy

SSE Takes Over ESG from BDC

TSSP and SMi-Enerpro Forms JV for Energy Efficient Platform

Bouygues Immobilier Enters into Partnership with Steria for Si@go

US GSA Selects BuildingIQ's Energy Management Software for Green Proving Ground Program

BuildingIQ Integrates Technologies with SkyFoundry's Sky Spark to Offer BEMS for Mount Pleasant Shopping Centre

EnerNOC Inks Demand Manager Contract with BKW Energy

GridPoint Collaborates with MicroStrategy for Enhanced Energy Management Platform

GridPoint Enters Into Partnership with CDP

Oracle Enters Into Partnership with Hitachi for BEAM Solution

Elster EnergyICT Inks Contract with Tesco

Carbon Numbers Acquires Eco Control Systems

BuildingIQ and S4 Group Collaborates to Identify Energy Saving for Commercial Office Space

ITOCHU to Introduce EMS to Direct Dealers of Mitsubishi Fuso

PCS Inks Partnership with Berkeley Lab to Develop Technology to Minimize Energy Usage in Buildings



8. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS



9. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE



Total Companies Profiled: 77 (including Divisions/Subsidiaries 86)



The United States (28)

(28) Canada (3)

(3) Japan (10)

(10) Europe (33)

(33) - France (3)

(3) - Germany (2)

(2) - The United Kingdom (21)

(21) - Spain (1)

(1) - Rest of Europe (6)

(6) Asia-Pacific (Excluding Japan) (10)

(Excluding Japan) (10) Middle East (2)

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3fc6rc/building_energy



Related Topics: Energy and Natural Resources, Utilities

About Research and Markets

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SOURCE Research and Markets
ALBANY, New York, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to TMR, The global heparin market stood at US$8.2 bn in 2014. Rising at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2015 to 2023, the market is expected to reach US$14.3 bn by the end of 2023. The demand for low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) was the highest in the market in 2014. By 2023, the LMWH segment is expected to reach US$12.3 bn. Regionally, North America emerged as the dominant segment in 2014. The rising incidence of DVT and pulmonary embolism (PE) will enable the North America market to exhibit a CAGR of 5.9% between 2014 and 2023.

A moderate degree of rivalry exists among the key players in the global heparin market. However, these companies exhibit a clear dominance in individual segments, finds Transparency Market Research (TMR). In a highly fragmented global heparin market, the top three vendors, Sanofi S.A., Leo Pharma A/S, and Pfizer, Inc. held a share of over 39.6% in 2014. Due to its long-standing market presence, Sanofi emerged as the market leader in the same year.

However, the market has been growing at a slower pace in developed regions. Hence, the leading enterprises are currently looking to capitalize on untapped opportunities in Asia Pacific and Rest of the World to strengthen their market position. Companies operating in the global heparin market are strategically diverse, which compromises with the brand loyalty of end users.

Interpret a Competitive outlook Analysis Report with free PDF Brochure: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=803

Manufacturers See Opportunities in Regulatory Approval of Synthetic Heparin

Globally, the demand for heparin is rising in response to the increasing incidence of coagulation disorders. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every year over 900,000 people in the U.S. are affected by deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Furthermore, over one-third of these patients witness recurrence of the disease within a decade. Such rising DVT prevalence will in turn fuel demand for heparin. It also encourages generic manufacturers to develop generic versions of heparin.

"Nearly half a million deaths are reported in Europe each year due to the rising prevalence of coagulation disorders such as venous thromboembolism (VTE). This bolsters demand for heparin from the region," said a lead TMR analyst. Besides this, the commercialization of effective heparin products will also bolster their sales in the forthcoming years. Low molecular weight heparin derived naturally could have adverse effect on a patient's health in case of overdose. Scientists have therefore developed synthetic heparin, which is both cheaper and safer than heparin obtained from animals. Regulatory approvals for synthetic versions of heparin will give the market an impetus the coming years.

View exclusive Global strategic Business report: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/heparin-market.html

Declining Imports from China to Create Bottleneck for Heparin Manufacturers

"The availability of alternative anticoagulants such as coumarins, warfarin, and oral coagulants could pose a threat to the global heparin market," said the TMR analyst. The presence of these alternative anticoagulants will limit the sales of biological heparin products. Furthermore, enhanced quality control measures have decreased heparin imports from China, thereby elevating the cost incurred on heparin production. This is a key factor threatening the market's growth to an extent. The rising cost of active pharmaceutical ingredients is also anticipated to increase heparin prices, thus negatively impacting their demand.

Nevertheless, the advent of biosimilars is expected to boost opportunities for heparin manufacturers. Leading manufacturers are currently investing in research into marine-based heparin products. This could lead to the introduction of novel products, thus fuelling opportunities for heparin manufacturers.

Browse Regional PR: http://www.europlat.org/global-heparin-market.htm

Key Takeaways:

Demand for synthetic heparin products will rise in response to increasing incidence of coagulation disorders.

Heparin market in North America to expand at 6.3% CAGR, rising DVT and PE prevalence to fuel demand.

to expand at 6.3% CAGR, rising DVT and PE prevalence to fuel demand. LMWH segment to reach US$12.3 bn by the end of 2023.

The report segments the global heparin market as:

Global Heparin Market, by Product

Unfractionated Heparin

Low Molecular Weight Heparin (LMWHs)

Ultra-low Molecular Weight Heparin (ULMWHs)

Global Heparin Market, by Geography

North America United States Canada

Europe Germany United Kingdom France Rest of the Europe

Asia Pacific India China Japan Rest of Asia Pacific

Rest of the World Latin America Africa Other Countries



Browse Other Latest Research Reports:

Viral Conjunctivitis Pipeline Drugs Market:

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/viral-conjunctivitis-pipeline-drugs-market.html

Hospital Pharmaceuticals Market:

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/hospital-pharmaceuticals-market.html

Nanotechnology Drug Delivery Market:

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/nanotechnology-drug-delivery.html

About Us:

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S. based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMR's global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.

US Office Contact

Transparency Market Research

90 State Street, Suite 700

Albany, NY 12207

Tel: +1-518-618-1030

USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453

Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com



Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Blog: http://www.tmrblog.com/

SOURCE Transparency Market Research
The global pyrogen testing market is projected to reach USD 1086.3 million by 2021 from USD 610.2 million in 2016, at a CAGR of 12.2% from 2016 to 2020.

The major drivers for the market include increase in pharmaceutical and biological industries and increasing number of new drug launches. Over the years, the number of drug approvals in North American countries has increased from 2006 to 2015. In 2015, the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) approved 45 novel drugs, approved as new molecular entities (NMEs) under New Drug Applications (NDAs) or as new therapeutic biologics under Biologics License Applications (BLAs) as compared to 22 novel drugs approved in 2006. The increasing number of drug approvals will boost the pyrogen testing market.



According to OECD estimates, in 2011, the total number of biotechnology companies in the U.S. was 7,970, followed by Spain (3,025 biotechnology companies), and France (1,481 biotechnology companies).



Owing to the rise in the number of biotechnology companies, biopharmaceutical production has increased globally. Pyrogen testing is carried out at all levels of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing process to minimize the risk of product contamination. Growth in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries will drive the growth of the pyrogen testing market.



Companies Mentioned:



Associates of Cape Cod , Inc.

, Inc. Charles River Laboratories, Inc.

Ellab A/S

Genscript

Hyglos GmbH

Lonza Group

Merck Kgaa

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.

WUXI Pharmatech (Cayman) Inc.

Wako Chemicals Usa, Inc.



Key Topics Covered:



1 Introduction



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Premium Insights

5 Market Overview



6 Industry Insights



7 Pyrogen Testing Market, By Product



8 Pyrogen Testing Market, By Application



9 Pyrogen Testing Market, By Test Type



10 Pyrogen Testing Market, By Region



11 Competitive Landscape



12 Company Profiles



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4lspct/pyrogen_testing



Related Topics: Infectious Disease Testing

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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SOURCE Research and Markets
As an imported event brand which was firstly founded in 2008 in the Silicon Valley, Cloud Connect China is well-known for its professional operation and international speaker lineup. This year is no exception. On one hand, the organizer further optimize the settings of conference tracks, expo and value-added activities. On the other hand, a strong lineup of domestic and overseas speakers will be present to share insights and interpret cases.

From Strategy to Practices, a Sparkling Speaker Lineup to Share

This year, Cloud Connect China's keynote topic will focus on Cloud Trends and Practices, industrial opinion leaders from home and abroad will continue to bring frontier insights to attendees and guide them to further explore the industrial transformation as well. Four technology workshops and six conference tracks concerning Data Technology and Artificial Intelligence, Vertical & Industrial Cloud, Cloud Infrastructure and Practice, Cloud-Native & OpenStack Technology and Applications, Vertical & Industrial Cloud & Cloud Security, Software-defined Datacenter will be concurrently held to enrich the event from the depth and breadth.

Partial Confirmed Speakers include:

Joe Weinman , Author of Cloudonomics, Global Cloud Strategist

, Author of Global Cloud Strategist Cesare Garlati , Chief Security Strategist, prpl Foundation/ Co-chair of the Mobile, Working Group, Cloud Security Alliance

, Chief Security Strategist, prpl Foundation/ Co-chair of the Mobile, Working Group, Cloud Security Alliance Dave McCrory , CTO, Basho Technologies/ Former SVP of Engineering in Warner Music Group

, CTO, Basho Technologies/ Former SVP of Engineering in Warner Music Group SHENG Guojun, CTO, Haier Electronics Group

Mat Ellis, CEO, Cloudability

Anchor, CEO, Shanghai Yovole Networks Inc.

Adam Eivy, Developer Solutions Architect, Disney

CHEN Xilun, Founder & CEO, OpenStack Chinese Community Founder, EasyStack

WEN Haifeng, Greater China Cloud Computing Services Director & Chief Cloud Computing Architect, IBM

Liang Chen , Founder & CTO, Nanjing Pengyun Network Technology Co. Ltd

, Founder & CTO, Nanjing Pengyun Network Technology Co. Ltd William Fang , Cloud Business Division, General Manager, PingAn Technology

, Cloud Business Division, General Manager, RUAN Liang, General Manager, NetEase IM & Netease QIYU

MAO Donghui, Great China Cloud Builder Professional Services Product line, IBM

Rui Yang , General Manager, en.N Cloud Data Service Co., Ltd

, General Manager, en.N Cloud Data Service Co., Ltd Vlad Gostomelsky , Network Security Professional & Managing Consultant, Spirent Communications

, Network Security Professional & Managing Consultant, Spirent Communications QI Yaxuan, Founder & CEO, Yunshan Networks

X.Z.Cheng , Co-founder & CEO, AnchNet Network Technology Co., Ltd

, Co-founder & CEO, AnchNet Network Technology Co., Ltd Shen Dabin , Senior Manager of Information Technology Center & Project Manager of DCOS, China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., Ltd

, Senior Manager of Information Technology Center & Project Manager of DCOS, China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., Ltd MA Jun, Deputy General Manager, YunKe China Information Technology

Mac Lv, Executive Vice President, Shanghai Yovole Networks Inc.

Zhang Hanwen, Product Manager, Honeywell

Wei-min Lu, CEO, Anchora

HUA Lei, Founder & CEO, BoCloud

Patrick Shi , Founder&CEO, NeuCloud

, Founder&CEO, NeuCloud TAO Siming, CTO, Agora.io

LI Kai, Co-founder & Vice President, 99Cloud

LEO Li, Ph.D, Founder & CEO, Quantum Cloud Future ( Beijing ) Technologies Co., Ltd

) Technologies Co., Ltd Mike Yang , Product Director, GDS

, Product Director, GDS Mingyu Li , Founder & CTO, OStorage Inc.

, Founder & CTO, OStorage Inc. Qi Zhang, chief architect, NeuCloud

LI Jiajun, CEO, Snail Cloud

Junyong Jiang , Founder & CTO, Shanghai You Yun Information & Technology Co, Ltd

, Founder & CTO, Shanghai You Yun Information & Technology Co, Ltd Andy Gao , CDL PMC Solution Development Manager, Business Leader, IBM

, CDL PMC Solution Development Manager, Business Leader, IBM YANG Minqiang, Cloud Professional Technique Consulting, IBM

HUANG Yingjie, Bluemix Architect, IBM

YANG Qiang, Senior Director, EasyStack

HAO Minghao, Product Marketing Director, EasyStack

SUN Yucong, CTO, Coding

HOU Kuiyu, Techinical Director for Saas Business Unit, NSFOCUS Unit

Details, topics and abstracts of the above speakers: http://www.cloudconnectevent.cn/en-us/speaker

View 2016 Sponsors and visitors: http://www.cloudconnectevent.cn/en-us/Sponsors-Exhibitors

In addition to the conferences, this year the Expo will receive nearly 60 exhibitors to showcase technical products and solutions.

There's a 20% ticket discount for Online Registration before Sept. 13, and an extra 15% off for a group of three. Learn more: http://www.cloudconnectevent.cn/en-us//Pass-Category-Price

SOURCE UBM China
PORTLAND, Oregon, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new report by Allied Market Research, titled, "Glufosinate Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014 - 2022", the glufosinate market is projected to reach $2,097 million by 2022. The oilseeds & pulses application segment held about one-fourth share of the overall market in 2015.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 )



The demand for glufosinate herbicides has witnessed tremendous growth driven by the development of genetically modified glufosinate-tolerant crops. In the last five years, significant capacity expansion has been witnessed in the industry and this trend is expected to continue in the future as well. Bayer CropScience is the largest producer of glufosinate and intends to expand its capacity to almost twofold by end of 2017, owing to strong demand from regions such as North America and Asia-Pacific. Similarly, the Chinese companies such as Lier Chemical Company Ltd., Inner Mongolia Jiaruimi Fine Chemical Co., Ltd., and others are also expanding to meet the growing demand for glufosinate. Currently, there are about five major synthesis process for glufosinate. However, the number of producers in the industry are limited due to high technological barriers in its commercial production.

Sample of the Glufosinate Market Report can be accessed on Website: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/glufosinate-market

In the year 2015, cereals & grains was the fastest growing segment with a CAGR of 19.4% followed by oilseeds & pulses and other crop segment (including tea, coffee, cotton, forestry, tobacco, turf, and spices). Penetration of glufosinate is rising significantly in cereals & grains owing to its broad weed spectrum, high efficacy, and wide commercialization of genetically modified glufosinate tolerant crops globally.

The soluble (liquid) concentrate segment occupied more than half of the share in 2015 and is expected to maintain its lead throughout the forecast period. Presence of amine (ammonium salt) or mineral salt in the molecules of formulation enables water solubility which makes it most preferred in the glufosinate industry. Other major formulation types used in the industry are aqueous suspension, liquid, and suspension concentrate.

Key findings of the study

Cereals & grains is expected to be the fastest growing segment with a CAGR of 19.4% during the analysis period.

North America is anticipated to lead throughout 2022, growing at a CAGR of 20% from 2016 to 2022.

is anticipated to lead throughout 2022, growing at a CAGR of 20% from 2016 to 2022. Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing segment.

is projected to be the fastest growing segment. In the year 2015, the soluble (liquid) concentrate was the most widely accepted formulation type and is expected to maintain its lead in the future.

U.S. was the leading country in the world glufosinate market in 2015, and is anticipated to maintain its dominance.

In the year 2015, North America and Asia-Pacific collectively accounted for nearly two-thirds of the worldwide demand for glufosinate and are expected to maintain their lead position throughout the period under consideration. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing segment, with a CAGR of 21.4%, followed by North America. Growing concern towards wide usage of agrochemicals in various crops, which has led to a shift toward bio-based solutions, is the driving factor for glufosinate herbicides' demand in all the regions.

In this industry, all the major players are expanding to meet their growing demand for glufosinate in North America and other developing regions. The major companies profiled in the report include Bayer CropScience, Lier Chemical Company Ltd., Zhejiang Yongnong Chem. Ind. Co., Ltd., Hebei Veyong Bio-chemical Co., Ltd., UPL Ltd., Jiangsu Huangma Agrochemicals Co., Ltd., Inner Mongolia Jiaruimi Fine Chemical Co., Ltd., Hebei Bestar Bio-Technology Co., Ltd., and Jiangsu Sevencontinent Green Chemical Co., Ltd.

Similar Reports Published by Allied Market Research -

Seed Treatment Market - High investment for GM seed and consumers preference towards the consumption of chemical free food in the developed economies such as North America and Europe are fuelling increased demand for seed treatment, particularly bio-control seed treatment.

To know more about the seed treatment market report, visit the website at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/seed-treatment-market

Herbicides Market - Among different crop types, herbicide usage is highest in cereals & grains (namely maize, rice, wheat and others). Asia-Pacific region (Mainly China, India and Japan) being the major production hub of cereals & grains, consumes nearly three fourth of total herbicide consumption in this category.

To know more about the herbicides market report, visit the website at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/herbicides-market

About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

Sona Padmanabhan

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR97220

United States

Direct: +1-503-894-6022

Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 (U.S. &Canada)

Fax: +1(855)550-5975

E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.com



Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/

SOURCE Allied Market Research
GLASGOW, Scotland, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Craft beer trailblazers Hippo Beers launched their latest venture in July with the opening of new beer bar 'The Hippo Taproom' at 323 Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow city centre.

Located in the former 'Cocktail & Burger' premises the funky basement bar now boasts one of the best beer selections in the city with 10 keg lines, 3 cask lines and approximately 70 bottles and cans all dedicated to craft beer. Only the house lager and cider are fixed with everything else on rotation meaning more choice for customers especially given the bar has no brewery ties.

Bar Manager Ross McLelland has been recruited from respected Merchant City bar Blackfriars to deliver customers beers in top quality condition.

The beers are complemented by a range of artisan spirits, wine and soft drinks along with a Mexican inspired menu.

Hippo Beers Director Alec Knox said, "We're really excited to have finally opened this bar - it has been a culmination of a lot of time and hard work.

"We've already got some plans for events that we're going to put on over the next few months ranging from tap takeovers with breweries to music nights.

"Some of what we have inherited we're looking to change to make the place a bit more family friendly and a place people want to hang out in if they are studying, working or just relaxing. At our core though we're a beer bar and always will be."

SOURCE Hippo Beers
BOSTON, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

IDTechEx Research, a leading provider of independent market research, business intelligence and events on emerging technology announces that Dr Khasha Ghaffarzadeh will be a keynote speaker at the Display Innovation Taiwan Conference 2016. Dr. Ghaffarzadeh is a leading expert on display technologies and printed electronics and will be presenting on the latest technology and market trends in the display industry. His talk will be part of the "Trends and Futures of Display" keynote session on Thursday 25 August, 10-10.30am. The Display Innovation Taiwan Conference is part of Touch Taiwan 2016.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140310/673848 )

In this presentation IDTechEx will be sharing insights into key technologies in the display industry, covering quantum dots, OLED displays, printing displays, AR/VR displays for smart eyewear and transparent conductive films. Dr. Ghaffarzadeh will discuss the latest progress in the industry, applications, innovation strategies, regulations, challenges, market projections and more. For more IDTechEx research on all of these technologies see http://www.IDTechEx.com/research/PE.

IDTechEx will also be exhibiting at Touch Taiwan 2016 from 24-26 August 2016, booth N227. To arrange a meeting please contact Yasuo Yamamoto, Manager, Business Development Japan, at y.yamamoto@IDTechEx.com.

IDTechEx provides companies with tools that can assist them in making essential strategic decisions in emerging technologies. IDTechEx offers research reports, subscriptions, consultancy, introductory services and events. Learn more at http://www.IDTechEx.com.

Contact:

Alison Lewis

Marketing Manager, Reports

a.lewis@IDTechEx.com

http://www.idtechex.com/

http://www.twitter.com/IDTechEx

UK: +44-1223-810290

US: +1-617-577-7890



SOURCE IDTechEx Ltd
PORTLAND, Oregon, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

A new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, World Ultrasound Market - Opportunities and Forecasts, 2015 - 2022, projects that the world ultrasound market would reach $10,476 million by 2022. Diagnostic ultrasound system would continue to be the highest revenue-generating segment throughout the forecast period. Europe accounted for almost one-third of the market share in 2015, and is expected to dominate the overall market during the study period.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 )

The major factors boosting the market growth include technological advancements (such as advent of 3D and 4D ultrasound that provides detailed information about a known abnormality from different angles), rising incidence of chronic diseases, and increasing geriatric population worldwide. The rising number of application areas of ultrasound coupled with increasing adoption of ultrasound systems in obstetrics and gynaecology field, is set to boost the growth of the ultrasound market worldwide. Cost effectiveness, safety, high accessibility, and clinical value in preliminary diagnosis are strengthening the technologys value proposition in technological advancements in the ultrasound market. In addition, increase in number of diagnostic imaging procedures, and rising awareness for early diagnosis of clinical disorders are anticipated to further drive the demand for ultrasound devices. However, dearth of skilled and experienced sonographers and technological limitations of ultrasound systems are some of the factors restricting the market growth.

Sample of the Ultrasound Devices Market Report can be accessed on Website: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/ultrasound-devices-market

The radiology/general imaging segment accounted for the major share of 30% of the overall ultrasound market in 2015. This is primarily due to the wide adoption of ultrasound devices in the diagnosis of rising number of abdominal diseases. Urology has emerged as the fastest growing segment, registering a CAGR of 11.3% during the forecast period, due to the growing incidences of urinary tract infections coupled with the rapidly aging patient population.

Diagnostic ultrasound devices such as 2D ultrasound, 3D & 4D ultrasound, and Doppler devices have given rise to new applications (such as biopsies and image-guiding interventions) across different clinical specialities. The growing demand for both ultra-portable and portable diagnostic ultrasound systems in diagnostic and image guidance area at points-of-care have further boosted the market growth. The advent of portability in ultrasound has built a strong path for the increased demand of these devices for point-of-care applications such as emergency medicine, anesthesiology, musculoskeletal, and critical care medicine. The trolley/cart-based ultrasound devices segment accounted for the major market share of the total ultrasound market in 2015, whereas, the compact/handheld ultrasound devices segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period

Geographically, the European region accounted for the majority share in the overall ultrasound market in 2015, and is expected to maintain this lead throughout the forecast period. The growth in the ultrasound market is attributed to the increased adoption of ultrasound for diagnosis, increased procedure volumes resulting from rapidly aging population, and increased prevalence of chronic diseases. However, regulatory framework concerns and dearth of experienced and skilled sonographers in various countries in Europe are expected to hamper the market growth. In addition, the growing momentum of HIFU in European countries for the treatment of prostate cancer is further set to drive the ultrasound market. Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing region throughout the analysis period. This is mainly due to the improving healthcare infrastructure and healthcare expenditures in the emerging markets (such as India and China) to overcome the unmet medical needs in these countries. Technological advancements for cost-effective devices in these nations offers a lucrative opportunity for the growth of the ultrasound devices market.

Key findings of the study:

In the year 2015, 2D imaging systems was the leading segment, accounting for almost half of the overall market revenue, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.3% during the forecast period.

HIFU segment is expected to grow at a remarkable CAGR of 22.5%, owing to the non-invasive nature and high accuracy of technology for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Asia-Pacific accounted for about one-third share of the world ultrasound market in 2015.

accounted for about one-third share of the world ultrasound market in 2015. The obstetrics/gynecology segment is projected to surpass the ultrasound market for radiology/general imaging during the forecast period.

China and Japan are the major shareholders in the Asia-Pacific region, jointly accounting for about two-thirds share of the regions ultrasound market.

The key players in the ultrasound market are highly focused on expanding their business operations in the fast-growing emerging countries and new product launches as a preferred strategy. The companies profiled in this report include Analogic Corporation, Esaote SpA, Fujifilm Corporation, General Electric Company, Hitachi, Ltd., Koninklijke Philips N.V., Mindray Medical International Limited, Samsung Medison Co. Ltd, Siemens AG, and Toshiba Corporation.

Similar Studies by Allied Market Research -

Medical/Diagnostic Imaging Market - https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/medical-diagnostic-imaging-market

3D Medical Imaging Market - https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/3d-medical-imaging-market

About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

Sona Padmanabhan

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

Direct: +1-503-894-6022

Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 (U.S. &Canada)

Fax: +1(855)550-5975

E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.com



Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/

SOURCE Allied Market Research
DUBLIN, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "T-Cell Immunotherapy for Cancer - Pipeline Analysis" report to their offering.

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. According to GLOBOCAN 2012, the incidence of cancer is expected to increase from 14 Million in 2012 to approximately 21 Million by 2030.



The report also covers the global as well as regional prevalence of major types of cancer for which T-cell immunotherapy is used. These cancers include leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma, ovarian cancer, and bladder cancer amongst others. This will help the companies to gain knowledge regarding the target population for various immunotherapies globally, and at regional level.



The report also provides detailed pipeline analysis of T-cell immunotherapy. In this context, the study provides a comprehensive overview of various aspects of the clinical trials in the T-cell immunotherapy market, such as phases, geographies, vectors used, therapeutic indications, technology types, and key players. The segment also covers the list of the key ongoing clinical trials along with their clinical phases. According to the research, CAR-T is the most widely used technology by the companies. Moreover, the report also suggests that most of the T-cell immunotherapies are in the research or pre-clinical phase. Limited number of therapies has been able to cross Phase I of the clinical trials.



Several companies and academic institutions are operating in this market with a focus on developing T-cell immunotherapy for difficult to treat' cancers. These companies are also receiving various funding, grants, and investment from non-industry participants, and other companies and venture capitalist firms, which are aiding them to develop new products. The report provides details about major venture capitalist investments, government grants, and IPO raised in this market.



Finally, with a view to understanding the competitive landscape, the profiles of key market players have been included in the report to present a complete picture of the global T-cell Immunotherapy market. The profiles of these companies include business overview, financials, product pipeline, and their strength and weakness analysis.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Analyst View



2. Research Methodology



3. Introduction



4. Market Dynamics



5. Major Therapeutic Areas for T-Cell Therapies



6. Pipeline Analysis



7. Investments in T-Cell Immunotherapy



8. Key Player Analysis



- Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc

- Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc.

- Celgene Corporation

- Cell Medica

- Cellular Biomedicine Group

- GlaxoSmithKline plc.

- Gradalis, Inc.

- Immunocore Ltd.

- Immunovative Therapies, Ltd.

- Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

- Juno Therapeutics, Inc.

- Kite Pharma, Inc.

- Lion Biotechnologies, Inc.

- Novartis International AG

- Tessa Therapeutics Pte Ltd.



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/dkpd6r/tcell



Related Topics: Oncology Drugs

Also Available

T-cell Immunotherapy: Clinical Trial Tracker



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
T20 World Cup 2022 Points Table Update: The Latest Standings in Group 1 After Friday's Washout

T20 World Cup 2022: All to Play For After Australia-England Washout in Melbourne

Watch: Suryakumar Yadav Reacts After Ravi Shastri Calls Him a 'Three Format Player', Claims he Can Surprise in Test Cricket

T20 World Cup, IND vs SA: Lance Klusener Reckons Outcome Will Depend on How Well Indian Batters Can Handle South African Pacers
BIRMINGHAM, Mich., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- TumbleBunnies is proud to announce that ONE MILLION 'hoppy' kids have now been through our programs! Given our passion for bringing joy and excitement to our TumbleBunnies, we couldn't be happier about spreading the fun to a whopping 1,000,000 wonderful children!

TumbleBunnies was founded by Lisa K! in 1988 to bring fun, energetic classes to schools, churches, and corporations in the Detroit tri-county area. She quickly discovered that kids loved the enthusiastic and fast-paced classes designed for a variety of sports, dance classes, yoga, cheer, karate, and music.

TumbleBunnies programs are fun, active, and keep children entertained in a positive, loving environment. Each program is run to promote confidence, self-esteem, courage, and coordination for every child in the most fun way possible. Between the learning, exercise, and fun, parents love them too!

With unique, age-appropriate lesson plans built for maximum FUN and learning, TumbleBunnies is growing more and more popular. As a Michigan-based business, TumbleBunnies recently started offering programs in Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Lansing.

"Classes are fun, progressive, and we have a unique way of reaching children. We teach them they can be the Olympians someday that they see on TV," says Lisa K!

With a long history of making a difference in childrens' lives, TumbleBunnies plans to continue expanding and bringing their bubbly programs to organizations everywhere. "We are not finished yet!" says Lisa K!

Beyond the Michigan market, TumbleBunnies is looking into offering programs in Chicago, New York, and LA. After all, a state line never stops anyone from having fun!

TumbleBunnies is grateful they had the opportunity to have a positive impact on this many children's lives. At the end of the day, making children 'hoppy' is what it's all about. While TumbleBunnies is very excited to have reached this milestone, they're even more thrilled to share the fun of their programs with even more children!

Lisa K! Founder

734-495-9185

[email protected]

www.tumblebunnys.com

SOURCE TumbleBunnies

Related Links

http://www.tumblebunnys.com


Created by Central Ohio publishing legend, the late Amos H. Lynch, Sr., and the Lynch family, The Central Ohio Champions of Diversity Awards are designed to highlight and recognize the contributions of individuals and corporations who demonstrate outstanding efforts in Diversity Leadership, Development, Supplier, Workforce and Community Outreach.

The Central Ohio Champions of Diversity Awards Luncheon & Career Fair is put together and run by All Ohio Small Minority Owned and Operated Businesses that include Career Town Networks, Spencer 4Higher Media, Whitehouse Media Group, T Communications, Black Central Creative, Basement Deep Media Group and Urban Trendsetters Media. The monies generated to host the Ohio Champions of Diversity Awards "Stay in Ohio" with partial proceeds benefiting this year's Host, non-profit organization the Columbus NAACP.

The 6th Annual Central Ohio Champions of Diversity Awards Celebration will be held on October 4th-5th 2016 at the Ohio State University Fawcett Center located at 2400 Olentangy River Rd., Columbus, OH 43210 | 614-292-1342 |

This year's theme "CELEBRATING DIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS".

To reserve program ads, tables, tickets, sponsorships or for more information please contact Career Town Network at (614) 985-3820, [email protected].

Contact: Katina Hall (614) 985-3820

[email protected]

www.championsofdiversity.org

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399029

SOURCE The Champions of Diversity Awards

Related Links

http://www.championsofdiversity.org


TALLINN, Estonia, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Adcash today unveiled the latest weapon in their arsenal against adblockers; the Adcash Anti-Adblock Solution, which was built by Adcash's team of in-house developers to combat the growing adblock problem faced by ad networks.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151104/283761LOGO )



The project has been in closed testing with select Adcash publishers for some months already and has yielded some very promising results. During this testing phase they have seen revenue increases in the order of 35%, on average.

An Internet Mafia

Adcash's Anti-Adblocker Solution, the brainchild of Adcash CEO Thomas Padovani, represents a very different approach to adblockers, when compared to many ad networks. Thomas Padovani has strongly held feelings about this issue: "Over the past few years, the people behind adblockers having been passing themselves off as some sort of "crusaders of a better internet". But they're not. They're running a mafia-style protection racket, demanding money from companies in order to be whitelisted."

And these strongly held feelings are not without merit. Much of the data related to the scale of the adblock issue makes for some pretty gloomy reading for those in the digital advertising industry: in 2015 adblockers cost digital publishers an estimated $22 billion, by the end of this year that's predicted to reach $41 billion.

Paid Whitelisting

With companies like Google and Microsoft paying staggering sums of money in order to be whitelisted, for a while it looked like only those with the very deepest of pockets would be able to combat adblocking software. But, through their new offering, Adcash has demonstrated that, with enough technology and motivation there are other ways to tackle the problem, head on.

In order to get access to the Adcash Anti-Adblocker Solution, you can register to become an Adcash publisher, here, and then speak with your dedicated account manager.

For further information or marketing enquiries, please contact [email protected]

Liis Ristal, Head of Marketing in Adcash. Phone +372-6346000 Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Adcash
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- AffordableSchools.net (http://affordableschools.net) -- a college rankings site centering on unique and affordable academic programs -- announced the release of its newest online masters programs rankings list, featuring the 25 Most Affordable Online Master's of Business Administration Degrees.

(http://affordableschools.net/25-affordable-online-masters-business-administration-degrees/)

The top three schools on this AffordableSchools.net's rankings list are: (1) Citadel Military College of South Carolina (Charleston, South Carolina); (2) Fitchburg State University (Fitchburg, Massachusetts); (3) Grantham University (Lenexa, Kansas). The complete list of all 25 U.S. colleges and universities, in alphabetical order, comprises:

* Amberton University (Garland, Texas)

* American Public University System (Charles Town, West Virginia)

* Ashland University (Ashland, Ohio)

* Aspen University (Denver, Colorado)

* California Miramar University (San Diego, California)

* Citadel Military College of South Carolina (Charleston, South Carolina)

* Columbia Southern University (Orange Beach, Alabama)

* Culver-Stockton College (Canton, Missouri)

* Cumberland University (Lebanon, Tennessee)

* Delta State University (Cleveland, Mississippi)

* Fitchburg State University (Fitchburg, Massachusetts)

* Grantham University (Lenexa, Kansas)

* Louisiana State University-Shreveport (Shreveport, Louisiana)

* Midway University (Midway, Kentucky)

* Midwestern State University (Wichita Falls, Texas)

* New Mexico Highlands University (Las Vegas, New Mexico)

* Ohio Christian University (Circleville, Ohio)

* Southern University and A & M College (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

* Tabor College (Hillsboro, Kansas)

* Taft University System (Denver, Colorado)

* Tennessee Wesleyan College (Athens, Tennessee)

* Trident University International (Cypress, California)

* University of Texas of the Permian Basin (Odessa, Texas)

* University of the Cumberlands (Williamsburg, Kentucky)

* Warner University (Lake Wales, Florida)

"For roughly the past four decades, 'business' has been the most popular college major for nearly every year, at the undergrad level, and much more recently also at the graduate level," said Raj Dash, the article's lead researcher. "The number of degrees conferred for masters programs in Business overtook that of Education in the 2010-11 Academic Year (AY) and has maintained that lead in subsequent AYs.

"Given the importance of business and business-related skills to a country as collectively entrepreneurial as the United States, this enrollment shift at the graduate level is not surprising. Business skills, including management, marketing and administration are always valuable. Many if not most MBA programs expect candidates to have some work experience, and the additional skills gained in such a program opens doors to career advancement, particularly at the management level. Self-driven individuals might also use the knowledge gained to start their own businesses or become consultants.

"An MBA is arguably one of the most valuable graduate degrees that you can add to any of a wide range of undergrad disciplines. If you're seeking this knowledge with the convenience of an online program so that you can continue to work, you do not necessarily need to pay a top-tier business school tuition. This rankings article should help in finding an affordable business school offering an MBA program, some with a dozen or more concentration options."

College rankings for this article were compiled with data from NCES (National Center for Education Statistics), a bureau of the Dept. of Education (http://nces.ed.gov/). We queried for graduate institutions that grant degrees in "Business Administration and Management, General" on a distance basis, filtered out colleges that are based in U.S. protectorate nations, sorted by increasing out-of-state tuition, filtered out doctoral-only and certificate-only colleges, and filtered for active online masters degree programs. This resulted in our list of the 25 most affordable online masters programs in business administration. Similar topical rankings will be published at AffordableSchools (http://affordableschools.net) -- a college search and rankings site with a focus on affordable colleges and programs -- on a regular basis.

Media Contact:

Raj Kumar Dash (Email)

Managing Editor

Skype phone #: 310-929-7240 (voicemail only)

Contact form: http://affordableschools.net/contact/

SOURCE AffordableSchools.net

Related Links

http://affordableschools.net


BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- American Family Care announced today that its Founder and Chairman, D. Bruce Irwin, M.D., has made a significant investment in Pack Health, a chronic disease management company that provides patients with personalized support. The investment will accelerate the further development of Pack Health's health management platform, paving the way for its aggressive growth plans. Irwin will also join the company's board of directors. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Pack Health's multi-channel engagement programs are designed for patients with chronic ailments such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, COPD and other health-related issues, and address core behaviors that positively or negatively impact their health conditions. At the core of Pack Health's programs are specially trained Health Advisors, who provide customized support that enable individuals to take control of specific conditions, navigate the healthcare system and live healthier lives.

"Pack Health's patient-centered mission, focus on outcomes and empathetic culture is completely aligned with my own philosophy," said Irwin. "What's more, its innovative approach to patient engagement represents an evolution of chronic care that is unmatched anywhere in the world. I am proud to be involved with the next generation of health care entrepreneurs and hope to provide the type of insight and support that enables the Pack Health team to achieve its vision," Irwin said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about half of U.S. adults face at least one chronic illness and one in four Americans have multiple chronic conditions that last a year or more and require ongoing medical attention. Furthermore, approximately 71 percent of total health care spending in the U.S. is associated with care for Americans with more than one chronic condition. People with multiple chronic conditions also face substantial out-of-pocket expenses for their care, including higher costs for prescription drugs.

"This is a significant development in the evolution of Pack Health," said Mazi Rasulnia, Ph.D., president of Pack Health. "Even more than his financial investment in our company, we know that Dr. Irwin's ongoing investment of time and expertise will help us to accelerate the attainment of key milestones, as we work with health systems, employers and insurers to reduce the cost of health care  and help patients live healthier, happier lives," said Rasulnia.

About American Family Care:

Starting with a single location in 1982, American Family Care has pioneered the concept of non-emergency room urgent care. With its 2013 acquisition of the Doctors Express franchise, AFC has become the nation's leading provider of urgent care, accessible primary care, and occupational medicine, with more than 160 clinics and 500 in-network physicians caring for 2 million patients a year. Ranked by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S., AFC's stated mission is to provide the best healthcare possible, in a kind and caring environment, while respecting the rights of all patients, in an economical manner, at times and locations convenient to the patient. For more information, visit www.americanfamilycare.com.

About Pack Health, LLC.

Headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, Pack Health provides real help for those living with an overwhelming diagnosis or chronic condition. Members of Pack Health engage one-on-one with personal Health Advisors, who provide the structured support members need to take control of their specific conditions, navigate the healthcare system and live healthier lives. For more information, visit www.PackHealth.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Anna Unkenholz

(205) 841-0724

[email protected]

SOURCE American Family Care

Related Links

http://www.americanfamilycare.com


WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- America's Blood Centers and the American Red Cross are participating in the multination Missing Type campaign to inspire individuals to donate blood and platelets. Underway in 21 countries worldwide this week, the campaign seeks to raise awareness for the need for all blood types during the challenging summer season. Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood.

Throughout the week, the letters A, B, and O, representing the main blood groups, will disappear from signage, brands, publications, and social media posts. Some of the U.S. participants include: Fandango, Morgan Stanley, the Denver Broncos, Chicago Blackhawks, Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, and the New York Stock Exchange.

"The need for blood is constant. Each day, blood centers in the U.S. and abroad depend on the selflessness of volunteer blood donors," said Christine Zambricki DNAP, CRNA, FAAN. "Missing Type reinforces the important role that individuals play ensuring a safe and adequate blood supply is available for all patients in need. Whether donating blood or encouraging others to give, we thank all our partners in this campaign for their support and urge the public to join the conversation by removing the letters A, B, and O using #MissingType."

The campaign first held in England and North Wales by NHS Blood and Transplant in 2015, launches at a time of year when blood centers tend to see a decline in the number of donors due to summer vacations and school being out of session.

"Right now, we need blood and platelet donors of all types to make an appointment to give during this summer's blood shortage," said Chris Hrouda, executive vice president of the American Red Cross and chairman of the Alliance for Blood Operators. "This week, the Missing Type campaign helps bring attention to the critical importance of a readily, available blood supply for patients in need. Those who need blood and platelets include accident and burn victims, heart surgery patients, organ transplant patients, and those receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease."

To schedule an appointment at your local blood center or for more information on the campaign please visit:

America's Blood Centers: www.AmericasBlood.org

American Red Cross: www.redcrossblood.org

Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental consent in most states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

About America's Blood Centers

Founded in 1962, America's Blood Centers is North America's largest network of community based, independent blood programs. Recognized by the U.S. Congress for its critical work in patient care and disaster preparedness and response, the federation operates more than 600 blood donor centers providing half of the U.S., and a quarter of the Canadian blood supply. These blood centers serve more than 150 million people and provide blood products and services to more than 3,500 hospitals and healthcare facilities across North America. America's Blood Centers' U.S. members are licensed and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Canadian members are regulated by Health Canada. For more information, please visit www.AmericasBlood.org.

About the American Red Cross

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.

SOURCE America's Blood Centers

Related Links

http://www.americasblood.org


DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida-based Architec Housewares announces two strategic acquisitions - Madeira Housewares and the Starboard Collection - set to help expand the scope of the 16-year-old company and establish their niche as the company renowned for its innovative product development and unique ability to balance a boutique sensibility, for retailers small and large.

Located in Jupiter, Florida, Madeira Housewares specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of the industry's finest plantation teak cutting boards utilizing quality raw materials based in Brazil. The company resources the most exotic wood on earth and crafts it into creatively artistic and fully functional tools for the kitchen. Each product design offers a unique use to help serve or prepare meals with ease. The acquisition also includes the company's popular Mario Batali brand license of premium cutting boards.

"The Madeira company frames our current business really nicely at the premium level as well as with their offerings at grocery," says Jenna Sellers-Miller, president and CEO of Architec Housewares. "We're especially excited to incorporate their products  all sourced from plantation farms that are managed sustainably to plant as they cut; information we plan to share with consumers to help educate them on the importance of sustainable forestry practices."

Located in Vermont, the Starboard Collection company features dining-on-the-go serving products with a collection of break-resistant plastic polypropylene products for patio, pool, RV, boating, planes and tailgating. Architec plans to expand the line with the development of acrylic glassware and dining and serving pieces all featuring non-skid, storage friendly, break-resistant qualities.

"We recognize that retailers are currently underserved in this category," says Ms. Sellers-Miller. "With the Starboard addition, we'll be able to develop a robust line to address the needs of retailers and the growing chorus of consumers who live their lives on the go."

About Architec

Established in 2000, women-owned Delray Beach, Florida-based Architec Housewares, more than doubled in growth in recent years through a strategy of developing cutting-edge collections featuring eco-smart materials, sophisticated design and innovative solutions to impact the gaps in the housewares retail marketplace. For more information about Architec products, consumers can visit www.architecproducts.com.

Architec Housewares is a division of Plastec Industries/Alice Ink Inc. and is committed to developing innovative products.

Contact: Ellie Bagli/ [email protected]

Freeman Public Relations

973-470-0400,x17

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399168LOGO

SOURCE Architec Housewares

Related Links

http://architecproducts.com


SAN DIEGO, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Avelas Biosciences, Inc., a clinical stage oncology-focused company dedicated to improving cancer patient care from diagnosis through treatment, today announced it has completed a Series C financing which raised $20 million in new funds. The investment was led by Pharmstandard International, S.A. and includes new investors Ervington Investments Limited and Alexandria Venture Investments. Existing investors Avalon Ventures, Bregua Corporation, and WuXi Healthcare Ventures participated in the financing as well. Avelas Biosciences plans to use the proceeds to advance AVB-620, a "cancer illuminator," into late-stage clinical trials, to develop new targeted therapeutics for cancer and for general corporate purposes.

The company also announced today that, in conjunction with the financing, Andrei Petrov, Ph.D. has joined Avelas Biosciences' board of directors. Dr. Petrov is the chief executive officer and managing partner at Inbio Ventures, a venture capital management company representing Pharmstandard International, S.A. At the same time, Kevin Kinsella and Nikolay Savchuk will be stepping down as directors of the company.

"I am delighted to have some of the world's most prominent healthcare investors participate in our Series C financing, led by Pharmstandard," said Carmine N. Stengone, president and chief executive officer of Avelas Biosciences. "Strengthened by this fundraising, I believe Avelas is well-positioned to further the development of AVB-620 and advance new therapeutic candidates  two exciting product opportunities that could make meaningful contributions to cancer diagnosis and treatment."

Avelas' core technology takes advantage of cancer's inherent pathological biochemistry to deliver either therapeutic or imaging cargo to the cancer site. The first product candidate, AVB-620, is a fluorescent, cancer-illuminating probe that "lights up" when it interacts with cancer tissue. The purpose of AVB-620 is to enable cancer surgeons to distinguish between tumor and healthy tissue during surgery. AVB-620 could offer the necessary real-time information needed by surgeons to visualize and excise cancerous tissue while they operate and avoid the need for additional surgeries.

About Avelas Biosciences

Avelas Biosciences is a San Diego-based biotechnology company focused on developing technologies that advance a new standard-of-care for cancer surgery and therapeutic intervention. The company's lead product candidate, AVB-620, is in a Phase 1b trial in breast cancer to assess safety, pharmacokinetics and fluorescence properties using tissue image analysis. Avelas was founded by Avalon Ventures on technology from Nobel laureate Roger Y. Tsien, Ph.D. For additional information, please visit www.avelasbio.com.

SOURCE Avelas Bioscienes, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.avelasbio.com


MONTEREY, Calif., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Last night marked the 25th Anniversary of McCall's annual Motorworks Revival, which has become known as the kickoff party to the world-renowned Monterey Car Week. The annual affair drew thousands to celebrate the finest in aviation and automotive interests.

The event also served as a platform for luxury Swiss watch brand, Baume & Mercier to introduce four limited edition chronographs that pay homage to Shelby Cobra racecar drivers who competed behind the wheel of the famous Shelby Cobra CSX2128 in the early 1960's.
NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK















IN RE FACEBOOK, INC. IPO SECURITIES MDL No. 12-2389 (RWS) AND DERIVATIVE LITIGATION





This document relates to the

Consolidated Securities Action:







No. 12-cv-4081 No. 12-cv-4763

No. 12-cv-4099 No. 12-cv-4777

No. 12-cv-4131 No. 12-cv-5511

No. 12-cv-4150 No. 12-cv-7542

No. 12-cv-4157 No. 12-cv-7543

No. 12-cv-4184 No. 12-cv-7544

No. 12-cv-4194 No. 12-cv-7545

No. 12-cv-4215 No. 12-cv-7546

No. 12-cv-4252 No. 12-cv-7547

No. 12-cv-4291 No. 12-cv-7548

No. 12-cv-4312 No. 12-cv-7550

No. 12-cv-4332 No. 12-cv-7551

No. 12-cv-4360 No. 12-cv-7552

No. 12-cv-4362 No. 12-cv-7586

No. 12-cv-4551 No. 12-cv-7587

No. 12-cv-4648



NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION

To: All institutional investors that purchased or otherwise acquired Facebook, Inc. ("Facebook" or the "Company") Class A common stock in or traceable to the Company's May 17, 2012 initial public offering ("IPO") between May 17 and 21, 2012, inclusive, and were damaged thereby (the "Institutional Investor Subclass"); and





All retail investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Facebook Class A common stock in or traceable to the Company's IPO between May 17 and 21, 2012, inclusive, and were damaged thereby (the "Retail Investor Subclass" and, together with the Institutional Investor Subclass, the "Class").

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and an Order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, that the above-captioned action (the "Action") has been certified by the Court to proceed as a class action on behalf of the Class.

The "Subclasses," as certified by the Court are:

(i) The Institutional Investor Subclass, consisting of the institutional investors that purchased or otherwise acquired Facebook Class A common stock in or traceable to the Company's IPO, and were damaged thereby; and



(ii) The Retail Investor Subclass, consisting of all retail investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Facebook Class A common stock in or traceable to the Company's IPO, and were damaged thereby.

You are a member of the Institutional Investor Subclass if (i) you were allocated Facebook Class A common stock in the Company's IPO and are listed on the underwriters' final allocation list of institutional investors, (ii) you purchased Facebook Class A common stock in the secondary market and are classified as an institutional investor under Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Rules 2210 and 4512, or (iii) your institutional investment advisor purchased your Facebook Class A common stock for you with full discretionary authority.

You are a member of the Retail Investor Subclass if you are not otherwise classified as an institutional investor and (i) you were allocated Facebook Class A common stock in the Company's IPO and are listed on the underwriters' final allocation list of retail investors, or (ii) you purchased Facebook Class A common stock in the secondary market and are classified as a retail investor under Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Rules 2210 and 4512.

Excluded from the Class/Subclasses are: Defendants; present or former executive officers of Facebook and their immediate family members; and the following investors: American Century Investment Management Inc.; Blue Ridge Capital, LLC; Capital Research and Management Company; Chilton Investment Company, LLC; Clovis Capital Management, LP; Columbia Management Investment Advisors, LLC; Fidelity Management and Research Company; Jennison Associates LLC; Ian DelBalso; Kingdon Capital Management, LLC; Loews Corp; Maple Lane Capital, LLC; Schroder Investment Management North America Inc.; Soros Fund Management LLC; Surveyor Capital; T. Rowe Price Distribution Group; Teachers Insurance Annuity Association of America; Turner Investments LP; Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers LLC; Wellington Management Company LLP; and any other investors whose shares were purchased on their behalf by any of the excluded investors with full discretionary authority. Also excluded from the Class is any person or entity that timely and validly requests exclusion from the Class.

The Subclasses are collectively referred to as the "Class." You are a member of the Class if you purchased or otherwise acquired Class A common stock during the period beginning with the Company's IPO, which occurred on or about May 17, 2012, through and including the close of trading on May 21, 2012, and were damaged thereby.

You were not "damaged thereby" if you sold all of the Facebook Class A common stock that you purchased or otherwise acquired between May 17 and May 21, 2012 either (1) at a profit or (2) before the stock market closed on May 18, 2012. Defendants also may argue that you were not damaged thereby if you only purchased Facebook stock after May 18, 2012, and Plaintiffs may oppose this argument.

IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE CLASS, YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS ACTION. A Postcard Notice is currently being mailed to known members of the Class, and a full printed Notice of Pendency of Class Action is available at www.FacebookSecuritiesLitigation.com , or by contacting the Administrator:

In re Facebook, Inc., IPO Securities

and Derivative Litigation

c/o A.B. Data, Ltd.

P.O. Box 173007

Milwaukee, WI 53217

(866) 963-9974

If you did not receive the Postcard Notice by mail, and you are a member of the Class, please send your name and address to the Administrator so that if any future notices are disseminated in connection with the Action, you will receive them.

Inquiries, other than requests for the Postcard Notice, may be made to Class Counsel:

Salvatore J. Graziano Thomas A. Dubbs John Rizio-Hamilton Thomas G. Hoffman, Jr. BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ BERGER & LABATON SUCHAROW LLP GROSSMANN LLP 140 Broadway 1251 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10005 New York, NY 10020 www.labaton.com www.blbglaw.com 1-888-219-6877 1-800-380-8496



If you are a Class Member, you have the right to decide whether to remain a member of the Class. If you choose to remain a member of the Class, you do not need to do anything at this time other than retain your documentation reflecting your transactions in Facebook Class A common stock in or traceable to the Company's IPO. Please be sure to also retain any other documents (whether printed or electronic) that you have in your possession relating to the Facebook IPO, including media articles and emails you sent or received. You will automatically be included in the Class and all orders or judgments in the Action will apply to you. If you do not wish to remain a member of the Class, you must take steps to exclude yourself from the Class. If you are a Class Member and do not exclude yourself from the Class, you will be bound by the proceedings in the Action, including all past, present and future orders and judgments of the Court, whether favorable or unfavorable.

If you ask to be excluded from the Class, you will not be bound by any order or judgment in the Action, but you will not be eligible to receive a share of any money which might be recovered for the benefit of the Class. To exclude yourself from the Class, you must submit a written request for exclusion postmarked no later than October 3, 2016 in accordance with the instructions set forth in the full printed Notice. Pursuant to Rule 23(e)(4) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, it is within the Court's discretion whether to allow a second opportunity to request exclusion from the Class if there is a future settlement in the Action.

Further information may be obtained by contacting the Administrator.

Please Do Not Call the Court with Questions.

BY ORDER OF THE COURT

United States District Court

Southern District of New York

SOURCE Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP and Labaton Sucharow LLP

Related Links

http://www.facebooksecuritieslitigation.com


AURORA, Colo., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- American Sentinel University's new four-part blog series 'Nursing Through the Years', available at http://www.americansentinel.edu/blog/tag/historical-nursing/, examines the history of nursing and the role that nursing's past plays to strengthen the future of the nursing profession.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399115LOGO

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399116

The blog series profiles influential nurses, unsung nursing heroes, diversity in nursing and the history of nursing education and explores the roles each played in the development of the profession.

"Nursing is one of the most rapidly evolving professions in the field of healthcare," says Judy Burckhardt, Ph.D., MAEd, MSN, RN, Dean and Professor, Nursing and Healthcare Programs at American Sentinel University. "Over the last 50 years, we've seen the emphasis on education, training, and technology advance the practice of nursing. Now, more than ever before, nurses are the critical links to maintain a cutting-edge healthcare system and will continue to provide a vital service to their communities."

The 'Nursing Through the Years' blog series will run through September 6, 2016, and covers these important topics of interest for nurses:

-Influential Nurses in History: Learn about the visionary leaders in nursing who saw a need and then worked to meet it.

-Unsung Heroes in Nursing History: We've all heard about Florence Nightingale, now learn about other nurses who've influenced the nursing profession such as important volunteers, pivotal pioneers, and nurses who broke new ground and shattered barriers to create the foundation of modern nursing.

-Diversity in Nursing: There is a strong connection between a culturally diverse nursing workforce and the ability to provide quality, culturally competent patient care. Learn about the great strides nursing has made in recruiting and graduating nurses that mirror the patient population, and why more must be done.

-History of Nursing Education: The practice of nursing began with the industrial revolution of the late 1800s. Since the first half of the 20th Century, the scope and function of nurses have become increasingly complex. Read more on why nurses are lifelong learners and the role that education plays to help nurses achieve their career goals and provide quality care to their patients.

"We must transform nursing education if we are to meet our emerging healthcare needs," says Dr. Burckhardt. "The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Innovative new education models and teaching strategies help nurses learn to initiate and facilitate lasting change to positively impact patient care outcomes. Education is the catalyst for the continued transformation of our healthcare system."

To learn more about the important role the history of nursing has played in nursing today, visit the 'Nursing Through the Years' blog series on American Sentinel University's 'The Sentinel Watch' healthcare blog.

Learn more about American Sentinel University's accredited online Nursing programs (RN to BSN, MSN, or DNP) at http://www.americansentinel.edu/nursing or call 866.922.5690.

About American Sentinel University

American Sentinel University delivers accredited online degree programs in nursing (BSN, MSN, and DNP) and healthcare management (MBA Healthcare, M.S. Information Systems Management, and M.S. Business Intelligence and Analytics). Its affordable, flexible bachelor's and master's nursing degree programs are accredited by the Commission for the Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), of One Dupont Circle, NW Suite 530, Washington, D.C., 20036. The DNP program is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) of 3343 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 850, Atlanta, Ga., 30326. The University is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission, DEAC, 1101 17th Street NW, Suite 808, Washington, D.C. 20036, (202) 234-5100, www.deac.org

For required student consumer information, please visit: www.americansentinel.edu/doe

Contact:

Renee Hewitt

Hewitt PR for American Sentinel University

845.382.9152

Email

SOURCE American Sentinel University

Related Links

http://www.americansentinel.edu


EVERETT, Wash., Aug. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE:BA] and ANA (All Nippon Airways) celebrated the delivery of the airline's 50th 787 Dreamliner during a ceremony today at Boeing's Everett Delivery Center. The milestone marks yet another record for ANA as it becomes the world's first airline to operate 50 787 Dreamliners.

"The 787 Dreamliner has played a significant role in opening up new routes into new markets, while also forming the backbone of our long-haul fleet," said Osamu Shinobe, president and CEO, ANA. "As the launch customer of the 787 Dreamliner family, we are proud to welcome the 50th 787 Dreamliner into our fleet, where it will continue to serve our passengers with the most innovative and memorable flying experience."

As part of efforts to expand its global network, ANA also announced plans to launch new routes from Tokyo, Narita to Phnom Penh, Cambodia in September this year and Mexico City, Mexico in February next year using 787 Dreamliners.

ANA became the launch customer of the 787 when it purchased 50 in 2004, and was the first to bring the airplane into service in 2011. The airline operates more than 11 percent of all 787s around the world today and has flown an estimated 125,000 flights with the Dreamliner.

"As the launch customer of the 787 and our largest 787 customer, we are honored to celebrate this important milestone with ANA," said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. "ANA is a valued Boeing customer and has been a vital partner on this program. Today's event demonstrates the strength of our enduring relationship and we look forward to introducing the 787-10 to ANA in the coming years to complete the entire family of 787 Dreamliners in their fleet."

Already the world's largest Dreamliner operator, ANA has an additional 33 787s on order, including the longest and newest member of the family, the 787-10. The airline also has 20 777-9 airplanes on order.

ANA recently showcased its 50th 787 Dreamliner at the Farnborough International Airshow, performing high-performance demonstration flights for thousands in attendance and wowing millions of fans around the world on the internet.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an all-new, super-efficient family of airplanes that brings the speed and range of big jets to the middle of the market. Boeing designed the 787 family with superior efficiency, allowing airlines to open new routes profitably and fly directly where passengers wish in exceptional comfort.

Since entering service in 2011, the 787 has flown more than 109 million passengers on more than 500 routes around the world, including more than 120 new nonstop routes made possible through its efficiency.

To track ANA's 787 Dreamliners in real-time, visit:

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/flight-tracker/#/787/ANA

Contact:

Wataru Yoshioka and Maho Ito

ANA Corporate Communications

+81 3-6735-1111

[email protected]

Nao Gunji

ANA Communications

+1 310 892 3627

[email protected]

Rob Henderson

Japan Communications

The Boeing Company

+81 -90-1420-9662

[email protected]

SOURCE Boeing

Related Links

http://www.boeing.com


PUNE, India, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Global and Chinese Caprylic Acid 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 Caprylic Acid market spread across 150 pages providing 8 company profiles and 98 tables and figures is available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/497910-global-and-chinese-caprylic-acid-industry-2016-market-research-report.html .

This report estimate 2016-2021 Caprylic Acid Industry Cost and Profit with Market Competition of Caprylic Acid Industry By Country: (Including Europe, U.S., Japan, China etc.), By Company and Application.

This Global and Chinese Report 2016 is a result of industry experts' diligent work on researching the world market of Caprylic Acid. The report helps to build up a clear view of the market (scenario and survey), identify major players in the industry, and analyzes the upstream raw materials, downstream clients, and current market dynamics of Caprylic Acid Industry.

The report reviews the basic information of Caprylic Acid including its classification, application and manufacturing technology. This report explores global and China's top manufacturers of Caprylic Acid listing their product specification, capacity, Production value, and market share etc. The report further analyzes quantitatively 2011-2016 global and China's total market of Caprylic Acid by calculation of main economic parameters of each company. The breakdown data of Caprylic Acid market are presented by company, by country, and by application. Place a direct purchase order of this report (2016 Caprylic Acid Industry Report - Global and Chinese Market Scenario) at http://www.reportsnreports.com/Purchase.aspx?name=497910 .

In the end, the report makes a proposal for a new project of Caprylic Acid Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2011-2016 global and China Caprylic Acid industry covering all important parameters.

The first chapter introduces the Caprylic Acid Industry by Brief Introduction, Development & Status of Caprylic Acid Industry. The second chapter focuses on Manufacturing Technology of Caprylic Acid, the third one gives Analysis of Global Key Manufacturers (Including Company Profile, Product Specification, 2011-2016 Production Information etc.) The forth chapter deals with 2011-2016 Global and China Market of Caprylic Acid. The chapter 5 summarizes Market Status of Caprylic Acid Industry.

Another research titled "Global Caprylic Acid Industry 2016 Market Research Report" is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Caprylic Acid industry. Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Caprylic Acid market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions' development status. Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), and other regions can be added. Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. What's more, the Caprylic Acid 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. Major Manufacturers Analysis of Caprylic Acid are Wilmar International Ltd., VVF LLC , Vigon International Inc , Hallstar, Ecogreen Oleochemicals , KLK Oleo , Oleon, Solazyme and Pacific Oleochemicals Sdn Bhd. Order a copy of this report (Global Caprylic Acid Industry 2016 Market Research Report) at http://www.reportsnreports.com/Purchase.aspx?name=594003 .

Browse more reports on Chemicals at http://www.reportsnreports.com/market-research/chemicals/ .

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NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Hope On Wheels (HHOW) and New Orleans-area Hyundai dealers will present the Children's Hospital with a $50,000 Impact Grant to be used to improve care and increase treatment options for kids with cancer. The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children's Hospital was chosen because of its proven track record of caring for children with pediatric cancer, and is one of 18 recipients across the country to receive a 2016 Hyundai Impact Grant from Hyundai Hope On Wheels (HHOW).

The $50,000 Impact Grant will be presented during a Handprint Ceremony tomorrow, August 19, during which the handprints of local New Orleans-area brave young cancer patients will be captured on a white 2016 Hyundai Tucson  the Hyundai Hope On Wheels hero vehicle  to commemorate their fight against the disease. The ceremony will also feature:

Mary Perrin , President and CEO, Children's Hospital, New Orleans

, President and CEO, Children's Hospital, Hemant Menghani , MBBS

, MBBS Jude & Karen Boudreaux , Children's Hospital patient family

About the Hyundai Hope On Wheels Impact Grant

During the months of July and August, HHOW will award 18 hospitals in the U.S. with a $50,000 Hyundai Impact Grant for pediatric cancer research to help end childhood cancer. The Impact Grant supports the programmatic needs of pediatric oncology. The grant may also be used to support direct patient assistance programs, such as enrichment programs, play room/teen center equipment, family on-site support, educational initiatives, or other efforts to improve care and cure for kids fighting cancer.

In addition to the Impact Grant winner, Hyundai Hope On Wheels will soon announce the winners of its Hyundai Scholar and Young Investigator Grants. This year alone, HHOW will award more than $13 million in new pediatric cancer grants. Since 1998, the program has funded $115 million in research to Children's Oncology Group (COG) member institutions nationwide. The program also creates awareness about the importance of the disease, which is the leading cause of death by disease in children in the United States (source).

Attendees at the various ceremonies will include HHOW's two national youth ambassadors and pediatric cancer survivors, Hannah Adams and Ryan Darby, who will deliver a message of hope to children's cancer hospitals. Hannah was five years old when she was diagnosed with a Stage 3 Wilms tumor that enveloped her kidney. Since her recovery, she has pursued her love of dancing and singing to help uplift and encourage other children and families through their fight. Twelve-year-old Ryan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia six years ago, and since his recovery, he has shared his story and words of encouragement with children and families across the country. Watch Hannah and Ryan's story at www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org

"Our mission at Hyundai Hope On Wheels is clear: End Childhood Cancer," said Scott Stark, Chairman, Hyundai Hope On Wheels Board of Directors. "By funding transformational research through our Impact Grants and celebrating the lives of the brave young cancer fighters at our handprint ceremonies, we move closer to our dream of a day without cancer. This is a fight you can count on us to be in until no child ever has to hear the words: you have cancer."

HYUNDAI HOPE ON WHEELS

Hyundai Hope On Wheels is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Launched in 1998, Hyundai Hope On Wheels provides grants to eligible institutions nationwide that are pursuing life-saving research and innovative treatments for the disease. HHOW is one of the largest nonprofit funders of pediatric cancer research in the country, and primary funding for Hyundai Hope On Wheels comes from Hyundai Motor America and its more than 830 U.S. dealers. Since its inception, Hyundai Hope On Wheels has awarded more than $115 million towards childhood cancer research in pursuit of a cure.

To learn more about Hyundai Hope On Wheels, please visit www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org or follow us on social media at www.facebook.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels, www.twitter.com/hopeonwheels, and www.youtube.com/hopeonwheels.

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA

Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 830 dealerships nationwide.

Please visit our media website at www.hyundainews.com and our blog at www.hyundailikesunday.com

Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook

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NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine today ranked CoesterVMS number 1757 on its 35th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy's most dynamic segment its independent small businesses. Companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Domino's Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000.

"It is definitely an honor to have CoesterVMS recognized by Inc. for our continued efforts to improve our service to the industry as well as our internal processes," said Brian Coester, CEO of CoesterVMS. "We want to continue to focus on being the best valuation provider in the industry. We have recently added to our sales and management team with top talent to help sustain our growth in key areas."

The 2016 Inc. 5000, unveiled online at Inc.com and with the top 500 companies featured in the September issue of Inc. is the most competitive crop in the list's history. The average company on the list achieved a mind-boggling three-year growth of 433%. The Inc. 5000's aggregate revenue is $200 billion, and the companies on the list collectively generated 640,000 jobs over the past three years, or about 8% of all jobs created in the entire economy during that period. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.

"The Inc. 5000 list stands out where it really counts," said Inc. President and Editor-In-Chief Eric Schurenberg. "It honors real achievement by a founder or a team of them. No one makes the Inc. 5000 without building something great  usually from scratch. That's one of the hardest things to do in business, as every company founder knows. But without it, free enterprise fails. CoesterVMS has accomplished an amazing feat by appearing 3 times on the list."

About CoesterVMS

CoesterVMS is a nationwide appraisal management company that specializes in providing comprehensive management of appraisal operations for mortgage lenders. CoesterVMS' in-house appraisal management solution combines the best service with the most advanced technology on the market. CoesterVMS guarantees all appraisal reports to fully comply with all regulations and guidelines. The company's Cloud Control appraisal management technology is the only software of its kind to be built on the award-winning Salesforce.com platform, and its "Coester-Mer" service is earning the company a reputation for the best customer service in the industry. Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, CoesterVMS was founded as a local appraisal company and has since grown to a formidable nationwide force in the appraisal management segment. For more information please visit CoesterVMS online at www.CoesterVMS.com.

More about Inc. and the Inc. 500|5000

Methodology

The 2016 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2012 to 2015. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2012. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2015. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2012 is $100,000; the minimum for 2015 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.'s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000.

About Inc. Media:

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today's innovative company builders. Winner of the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in both 2014 and 2012. Total monthly audience reach for the brand has grown significantly from 2,000,000 in 2010 to over 15,000,000 today. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

The Inc. 5000 is a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation. Started in 1982, this prestigious list of the nation's most successful private companies has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success. The Inc. 5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony is an annual event that celebrates their remarkable achievements. The event also offers informative workshops, celebrated keynote speakers, and evening functions.

For more information on Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/.

SOURCE CoesterVMS

Related Links

http://www.CoesterVMS.com


LONDON, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Armor has been an integral & strategic element of the force structure of land forces globally since the first realizations, development & advent of Tanks for combat in World War I which followed rapid further developments & subsequent extensive utilization in the World War II. Armor's role in providing mobility, troop protection and lethal firepower was further underscored & demonstrated effectively across the Iraq & Afghanistan war theatres over the first decade of the present century during the allied war operations which witnessed a generational change in threat landscape underscored by the extensive utilization of IEDs, RPGs & ATGMs while combating asymmetric warfare tactics with battlefield boundaries being nebulous at best and non-existent at the worst. The operations drove home the stark realization with respect to the limitations & inability of legacy armor to withstand & match up to modern threat landscape while facing a non-state, much less competent adversary. The realization, coupled with evolution of the global geo-political dynamics & equations, have already triggered an armor modernization drive in the overdrive mode across most traditional & emerging markets.



The emerging global market scenario for armored vehicles, thus, is poised to witness a spurt in demand over near to medium term driven by a number of drivers & favorable factors, which include resurgence of conventional state based threats, political instability & ongoing conflict across some regions, a wearing down of the general world order and growing threat from extremism & terrorism. Additionally, technological evolution in the form of development of next generation technologies along with the advent of third generation MBTs & other vehicle platforms featuring significantly enhanced capabilities as well as expansion of operational spectrum, capabilities, level of protection & performance threshold are likely to be the other key demand drivers for armored vehicles over near to medium term.



In the North American market, the rolling out of some key, big ticket scratch up and upgrade programs as of late has already upped the ante for the industry which is gearing up for an upswing after a brief hiatus with the U.S. Army planning a rapid as well as comprehensive upgrade & modernization of its combat vehicle platforms aimed at regaining its technology led overmatch over adversaries having gained useful, practical insights from a decade of actual combat experiences from its war operations with respect to doctrine, strategy as well as capabilities of core assets while facing significant readiness challenges for its BCTs and with a compelling case at hand with respect to Russian resurgence on the world arena altering geopolitical dynamics and threatening NATO allies with its new found military muscle.



The European scenario is no different with the traditional armor stronghold facing a hectic pace of activities with the looming, credulous Russian threat backed by third generation armor as well as related technological advances and increasing Russian activities in Eastern Europe & the Baltics having already driven a significant increase in defense spending across a number of states based in Northern as well as Central Europe, in addition, to the Baltics with a significant focus & emphasis being placed on land forces and armor given the geographic location and proximity of these states to Russia. A number of large, big ticket defense modernization & replacement programs have already been initiated, announced or are in the pipeline stage across a number of European states aimed at replacement of ageing, cold war legacy armor, led by the U.K., France, Poland & a number of other European states. Impending upgrades to traditional heavyweight armor centerpieces, including the Challenger 2 & Leclerc MBTs, too, which had been impending for a long time, are also on the anvil and about to be rolled out now along with a number of new IFV & APC procurement programs being initiated. The numbers are likely to go up further over near to medium term with the NATO's defense spending mandate compliance likely to become a key point of contention.



The Global outlook for armored vehicles over medium term, thus, is bright & promising with the presence of a number of long term demand & growth drivers in the form of ageing existing hardware, strong external threat perception amid evolving geo-political dynamics and availability of next generation technologies, most notably the introduction of third generation MBTs, driving manifold increase in capabilities, mobility, protection and firepower. These strategic factors have collectively driven & are likely to continue to drive significant investments towards land systems with the initiation of a number of new, active as well as planned procurement programs for armored vehicle across most traditional & emerging markets.



Against this backdrop, the report maps out as to how the key industry OEMs are currently positioned and are likely to fit into as well as emerge over near to medium term amid a rapidly evolving market scenario as the industry gears up for demand resurgence after a long hiatus marked by the initiation of a number of new asset recapitalization & modernization programs across most parts of the world. The scope of analysis includes a Comprehensive & Insightful Comparative SWOT framework Analysis and analysis of the Near to Medium Term Strategy Focus for the World's 10 leading Armored Vehicle manufacturers. The framework analyzes the Strengths & Weaknesses of the OEMs from a standalone as well as relative perspective based on a comprehensive analysis of their Key, Strategic Aspects, which include:



-- Product Portfolio Analysis & its Strategic Positioning across Key Markets & Segments

-- Breadth & Depth of Presence across Key Geographic Markets & Regions

-- Analysis of overall Cost Base, Structure & its Management

--Analysis of Revenue streams, Resource Base & Key Competencies

--Profitability, Key Profit Sources, Growth & Trend Analysis

--Capital & Ownership Structure, Financial Strength

--Key Competitor Analysis across Market Segments & Degree of Competitive Intensity

--Competitive Market Positioning across Key Global Markets & Market Share

--Overall Strategy Orientation & Focus, R&D Strategy, Technological Strength & Capabilities



The framework subsequently analyzes & identifies potentially significant, niche growth opportunities & avenues and imminent as well as emerging threats for each key industry OEM based on their strategic product portfolio & market positioning, core strengths & weaknesses and overall strategy focus & orientation against the backdrop of emerging market dynamics & trends. The report analyzes the overall degree of strategic responsiveness of OEMs to external environmental factors, which include, prevailing industry dynamics & emerging industry trends, issues, challenges & potential risk factors to assess their ability to be able to derive further business growth by capitalizing on potential growth opportunities effectively while negating threats simultaneously over near to medium term.



Relevance & Usefulness: The report will be useful for



-- Inputs for Strategic Planning, Competitive Assessment & Decision-Making Processes

-- Analysis of Core Strengths & Weaknesses for each of the 10 Key Global Industry Players

-- Analysis of Near-term Strategy Focus and Insights into Key Strategies & Plans for the industry OEMs

-- Identification of & Insights into Potential Growth Opportunities & Avenues

-- Analysis of Key & Emerging Market & Technology Trends

-- Analysis of Key Issues, Challenges & Potential Risk Factors

-- Identifying & highlighting areas for making potential Strategic Changes, Adjustments & Realignment

-- Contingency planning for current Strategies & Programs

-- Analysis of Forces Driving as well as restraining the Industry & their Overall Dynamics

-- Strategic Perspective on the likely Evolution of the European and Global Armored Vehicle Market over Medium Term

-- Near to Medium Term Market Outlook, Inputs on Market Evolution & Demand Growth Projections



For Whom:



The report is essential & a must have for Government, Military & Senior Industry Personnel and all those with strategic interest & stakes in the Global Armored Vehicles Market. The report will be extremely useful for Key Decision-Makers, Program Managers, Global Procurement Managers, Defense Contracting Executives & Departments, Top Management of Industry Players & Other Companies, Industry OEMs, Suppliers, Vendors, MRO Services Providers, Associated Equipment Manufacturers and other Key Players in the Industry Value Chain. The report will also be useful for existing & potential Investors, Industry & Company Analysts, M&A Advisory Firms, Strategy & Management Consulting Firms, PE Firms, Venture Capitalists, Financing & Leasing Companies, Researchers and all those associated with the industry/sector.



Features, Benefits & Reasons to Procure:-



--Provides Macro View and Big Picture Quickly

--Blend of Quantitative & Qualitative Analysis

--Significant Time Savings

--Visual Representation

--Meetings & Presentation Ready Format

--Superior & Enriched User Experience with Incorporation of Relevant Images



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4061483/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

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Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

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OKLAHOMA CITY, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Continental announced today that it has signed a definitive purchase and sale agreement with an undisclosed buyer to sell non-strategic properties in North Dakota and Montana for $222 million. The sale includes 68,000 net acres of leasehold primarily in western Williams County, North Dakota, and 12,000 net acres of leasehold in Roosevelt County, Montana. The sale also includes net production of approximately 2,800 barrels of oil equivalent (Boe) per day. The agreement provides for customary closing conditions and adjustments.

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"This is our third sale of non-strategic assets this year, with total expected proceeds of more than $600 million. We plan to apply proceeds to reduce debt and strengthen our balance sheet," said Harold Hamm, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

In May 2016, the Company announced the sale of approximately 132,000 net acres of leasehold in the Washakie Basin in Wyoming for $110 million. On August 3, 2016, Continental announced it had signed a definitive purchase and sale agreement with an undisclosed buyer to sell approximately 29,500 net acres of non-strategic leasehold in the eastern SCOOP play in Oklahoma for $281 million.

"Our guidance for the year has not changed. The combination of Continental's high quality drilling inventory, strong balance sheet and $560 million investment in drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs) provides the Company with a robust platform for high-value future growth," Mr. Hamm said. The $560 million investment includes both operated and non-operated DUCs, approximately 80% of which are in North Dakota.

Continental currently has approximately 215 gross operated DUCs in inventory, of which approximately 165 are in the Bakken. The Company expects the total to grow to approximately 240 gross operated DUCs at year-end 2016, with approximately 190 in the Bakken. The Company said its Bakken DUCs have an average estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) of 850,000 Boe per well and can be completed at an average cost of between $3.0 million to $3.5 million per well.

About Continental Resources

Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR) is a top 10 independent oil producer in the U.S. Lower 48 and a leader in America's energy renaissance. Based in Oklahoma City, Continental is the largest leaseholder and one of the largest producers in the nation's premier oil field, the Bakken play of North Dakota and Montana. The Company also has leading positions in Oklahoma, including its SCOOP Woodford and SCOOP Springer discoveries and the STACK and Northwest Cana plays. With a focus on the exploration and production of oil, Continental has unlocked the technology and resources vital to American energy independence and our nation's leadership in the new world oil market. In 2016, the Company will celebrate 49 years of operations. For more information, please visit www.CLR.com.

Cautionary Statement for the Purpose of the "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements included in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including, but not limited to, forecasts or expectations regarding the Company's business and statements or information concerning the Company's future operations, performance, financial condition, production and reserves, schedules, plans, timing of development, rates of return, budgets, costs, business strategy, objectives, and cash flows are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "could," "may," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "project," "budget," "plan," "continue," "potential," "guidance," "strategy," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words.

Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and assumptions about future events and currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. Although the Company believes these assumptions and expectations are reasonable, they are inherently subject to numerous business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control. No assurance can be given that such expectations will be correct or achieved or that the assumptions are accurate. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, commodity price volatility; the geographic concentration of our operations; financial market and economic volatility; the inability to access needed capital; the risks and potential liabilities inherent in crude oil and natural gas drilling and production and the availability of insurance to cover any losses resulting therefrom; difficulties in estimating proved reserves and other reserves-based measures; declines in the values of our crude oil and natural gas properties resulting in impairment charges; our ability to replace proved reserves and sustain production; the availability or cost of equipment and oilfield services; leasehold terms expiring on undeveloped acreage before production can be established; our ability to project future production, achieve targeted results in drilling and well operations and predict the amount and timing of development expenditures; the availability and cost of transportation, processing and refining facilities; legislative and regulatory changes adversely affecting our industry and our business, including initiatives related to hydraulic fracturing; increased market and industry competition, including from alternative fuels and other energy sources; and the other risks described under Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors and elsewhere in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, registration statements and other reports filed from time to time with the SEC, and other announcements the Company makes from time to time.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which such statement is made. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties described in this press release occur, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, the Company's actual results and plans could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly correct or update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances after the date of this report, or otherwise.

Readers are cautioned that initial production rates are subject to decline over time and should not be regarded as reflective of sustained production levels. In particular, production from horizontal drilling in shale oil and natural gas resource plays and tight natural gas plays that are stimulated with extensive pressure fracturing are typically characterized by significant early declines in production rates.

We use the term "EUR" or "estimated ultimate recovery" to describe potentially recoverable oil and natural gas hydrocarbon quantities. We include these estimates to demonstrate what we believe to be the potential for future drilling and production on our properties. These estimates are by their nature much more speculative than estimates of proved reserves and require substantial capital spending to implement recovery. Actual locations drilled and quantities that may be ultimately recovered from our properties will differ substantially. EUR data included herein remain subject to change as more well data is analyzed.

Investor Contact: Media Contact: J. Warren Henry Kristin Thomas Vice President, Investor Relations & Research Vice President, Public Relations 405-234-9127 405-234-9480 [email protected] [email protected]



Alyson L. Gilbert

Manager, Investor Relations

405-774-5814

[email protected]



SOURCE Continental Resources

Related Links

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ROCKLAND, Mass., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in the U.S. and Canada, today announced that it has earned CEO Cancer Gold Standard re-accreditation for maintaining a strong commitment to the health of its employees and satisfying the latest, comprehensive requirements of this national workplace wellness accreditation program established by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer.

The CEO Roundtable on Cancer is a forum that brings together key cancer leaders from government, business, academic and non-profit sectors to develop and implement initiatives that reduce the risk of cancer, enable early diagnosis, facilitate access to the best available treatments and hasten the discovery of novel anti-cancer therapies. Founded by former President George H.W. Bush, the nonprofit organization developed and administers the Gold Standard, an employee wellness accreditation program that addresses cancer in the workplace. EMD Serono is one of nearly 200 private, nonprofit and government employers in a wide range of occupational categories that have earned Gold Standard accreditation, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and a number of NCI-designated cancer centers.

"Nearly all of us are impacted by cancer in some way. At EMD Serono we are committed to making a difference in the lives of patients, their loved ones and healthcare professionals, by accelerating innovation in oncology in order to develop therapies with the potential to transform the way cancer is treated," said Gary Zieziula, President and Managing Director, North America. "This commitment extends to our corporate family through employee wellness programs that are designed to help reduce the risk of cancer, promote early detection and provide quality care."

In order to earn and maintain CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation, EMD Serono met specific requirements in corporate culture and health benefits, including: establishing policies and programs to reduce cancer risk by prohibiting tobacco use in the workplace and supporting tobacco cessation efforts; promoting physical activity, healthy nutrition and weight management; providing health insurance options that include detecting cancer at its earliest stages, access to quality care, and participation in clinical trials; promoting employee awareness of these initiatives; and supporting the needs of cancer survivors in the workplace.

About EMD Serono, Inc.

EMD Serono is the biopharma business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in the U.S. and Canada - a leading science and technology company - focused exclusively on specialty care. For more than 40 years, the business has integrated cutting-edge science, innovative products and industry-leading patient support and access programs. EMD Serono has deep expertise in neurology, fertility and endocrinology, as well as a robust pipeline of potential therapies in oncology, immuno-oncology and immunology as R&D focus areas. Today, the business has more than 1,100 employees around the country with commercial, clinical and research operations based in the company's home state of Massachusetts.

www.emdserono.com

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life  from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2015, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of  12.8 billion in 66 countries.

Founded in 1668, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, holds the global rights to the Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.

About The CEO Roundtable on Cancer

The CEO Roundtable on Cancer was founded in 2001, when former President George H.W. Bush challenged a group of executives to "do something bold and venturesome about cancer within your own corporate families." Since then, the Roundtable has created the CEO Cancer Gold Standard, the CEO Life Sciences Consortium, and Project Data Sphere. More information about the Roundtable can be found at www.CEORoundTableonCancer.org.

Lisa Buffington

781-681-2340

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SOURCE EMD Serono

Related Links

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Vietcombank card holder loses VND500 million in phishing attack

VietNamNet Bridge - Security experts confirmed that the attack was a phishing case, but also said the victim had accessed a fake website and lost a password.

Security experts confirmed that the attack was a phishing case, but also said the victim had accessed a fake website and lost a password.







Hoang Thi Na Huong in Cau Giay district in Hanoi reported to Vietcombank and mass media that someone had withdrawn VND500 million from her Vietcombank account, saying that she did not make the transactions, and the ATM card was still in her handbag.Vietcombank has stated that this was not the banks security fault. It said the card holder accessed a falsified website at http://creatingacreator.com/kob/1/index.htm, logged in and lost the password.Ngo Tuan Anh, vice president of the Bach Khoa Antivirus Center (BKAV), the nations leading network security firm, said though the case still needs further investigation, it was a phishing attack. The system recorded all the transactions.In phishing attacks, hackers send emails with falsified links to victims and tell victims to update information, if not, the victims accounts will be locked.The links hackers send to victims look quite similar to real links, but the addresses must not be the same. When victims enter their personal information and PIN codes, the information will be transmitted to hackers. Hackers then make remittance transactions.There is another way of carrying out attack. Hackers use a device, called a skimmer, to record information of ATM cards. When victims insert cards into ATMs to make transactions, the information will be recorded on the device.Criminals will create the ATM cards with information exactly the same as the information they collect. After that, they can use ATM cards to make cash withdrawal transactions with the PIN codes they can find in cameras installed at ATM boxes.According to Anh, in Vietnam, not many phishing attacks have been reported, and the exact number has never been made public.To avoid phishing, Anh said that card holders need to check if emails are sent from the banks which provide services. Hackers can only counterfeit the interface, but they cannot counterfeit addresses.Anh also advised customers to type the addresses of links instead of clicking the links. If clicking the links, they may be driven to links which contain malware inserted by hackers.When asked why hackers still could conduct phishing with the OTP (one time password which is sent directly to customers mobile phones), Anh said: This is the problem Vietcombank needs to explain. However, technologically, hackers still can obtain OTP from customers, though this will be complicated to do.VTC
During a press conference and in an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint filed Aug. 17, Ms. Wyant said she has been subjected to a fraternity-like work atmosphere and retaliation for reporting her grievances to the Human Resources Department. As a result, she has experienced mental anguish and is unable to advance professionally.

"I joined Raymond James to be part of a world-class financial services firm and grow my career. I didn't sign up for Animal House,'' Ms. Wyant said. "I'm shocked and disappointed the company would condone such bad behavior, then retaliate against someone who speaks out against it.''

The EEOC complaint states the actions by Ms. Wyant's supervisor and the company's HR department constitute illegal harassment and retaliation and are in violation of FINRA Rule 2010 requiring members to "observe high standards of commercial honor.''

"To think that in this day and age any firm would act like this is mind boggling,'' said Ms. Wyant's attorney Rogge Dunn, of Clouse Dunn LLC in Dallas.

Ms. Wyant started working at St. Petersburg-based Raymond James in June 2014 as an Options Analyst and has since received two promotions with raises and three favorable employment reviews. She currently works as a Succession Planning and Acquisition Consultant.

Starting in May 2016, Ms. Wyant states that her boss repeatedly made crude, sexist comments and she was pressured to drink heavily and participate in fraternity-like drinking games in the office during work hours.

At first, she tried to politely refuse or partially participate, but when the harassment became too aggressive, she notified the HR department. Upon doing so, she alleges her boss and others began to retaliate against her, culminating with her boss demanding she get on her knees in his office and chug a large bottle of Smirnoff Ice while being videotaped by male co-workers.

When she reported this retaliation, HR told Ms. Wyant her boss was not going anywhere and suggested she get away from the harassment by going back to her old job, which would be a demotion. When Ms. Wyant protested, her boss was demoted but placed back on her same team as a co-worker. Only when Ms. Wyant hired an attorney did the company fire her harasser.

Since returning to work, Ms. Wyant said the retaliation has continued. She has been excluded from meetings and training sessions and given unimportant, low-level work assignments. To try to settle the dispute, Raymond James offered Ms. Wyant a severance package, but she has refused, her attorney said.

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SOURCE Clouse Dunn LLP
LAKEWOOD, CO, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE MKT: UUUU; TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the "Company"), a leading producer of uranium in the United States, is pleased to announce that it has intercepted several large and high-grade areas of mineralization at its Canyon Mine, a conventional uranium mine located in northern Arizona, USA.

The Company is currently pursuing an underground delineation core drilling program from a station located at a depth of approximately 1,000 feet below the surface. To date, thirteen (13) core holes have been drilled, and most have encountered uranium mineralization in multiple levels throughout the deposit, including 8.5-feet of mineralization with an average grade of 6.88% eU 3 O 8 , 48.0-feet of mineralization with an average grade of 1.02% eU 3 O 8 , and 35-feet of mineralization with an average grade of 1.39% eU 3 O 8 . The Company expects to drill a total of fifteen (15) core holes from the first station during the current drilling program, which is expected to be followed up by additional delineation drilling from a second station later this year.

The table below summarizes the data for the ten (10) best individual intercepts that the Company has encountered to date:

Hole Number Thickness (feet) Avg. Grade (% eU 3 O 8 ) GT (Grade x Thickness) CMCH-011 8.5 6.88% 58.5 CMCH-005 48.0 1.02% 49.0 CMCH-007 35.0 1.39% 48.7 CMCH-006 38.5 1.11% 42.7 CMCH-008 40.5 0.99% 40.1 CMCH-004 38.0 1.02% 38.8 CMCH-007 8.5 2.48% 21.1 CMCH-013 30.0 0.66% 20.6 CMCH-006 38.0 0.50% 19.0 CMCH-002 29.0 0.62% 18.0

All holes were logged for gamma by trained Company personnel to calculate eU 3 O 8 %. Gamma logging tools were calibrated prior to the drilling program and verified by an independent 3rd party geophysicist. Samples from the zones showing high eU 3 O 8 % assay values are currently being sampled and sent to the Company's White Mesa Mill for further verification.

According to a June 27, 2012 technical report ("Technical Report") prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), the Canyon deposit contains 83,000 tons of Inferred Mineral Resources with an average grade of 0.98% eU 3 O 8 , containing 1.63 million pounds of uranium. The existing Technical Report was based on the results of surface drilling. The current underground drilling program is intended to further define and delineate the uranium resources in the Canyon deposit  and to potentially expand and upgrade the resources  above what are described in the Technical Report. If required, the Company expects to have an updated Technical Report prepared for the Canyon deposit, in accordance with NI 43-101.

In addition to the delineation drilling, the Company is also continuing to sink an 8-foot by 20-foot mine shaft, which will be used to access the deposit. The shaft is currently at a depth of approximately 1,100 feet.

Stephen P. Antony, President and CEO of Energy Fuels stated: "So far, the results of the underground drill program at the Canyon deposit are very positive. The uranium grades, thicknesses, and continuities we have encountered at this stage of our delineation drilling program are confirming our high expectations for the deposit. Furthermore, as we extend core holes beyond the known zones of mineralization, additional high-grade uranium resources are being identified that are expanding the size of the deposit beyond what was described in the Technical Report.

"We have long known that the Canyon deposit boasts world-class uranium grades, and we have the potential to increase the tonnage to be mined through underground delineation drilling. Historically, uranium produced from other similar deposits in northern Arizona was low-cost and competitive globally with other low-cost underground uranium mines, including mines in Canada. In addition, the Canyon Mine enjoys other important advantages. It is fully licensed and permitted. It is at a very advanced stage of construction, with all surface development completed and the shaft is close to being complete. And, the mine is located within economic trucking distance of Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill, which is licensed, operating, and has the capacity to process the Canyon material into finished yellowcake that can be sold to global nuclear utilities. We look forward to completing our current drill program, potentially performing future delineation drill programs, and continuing to confirm the size and quality of the resources."

About Energy Fuels: Energy Fuels is a leading integrated US-based uranium mining company, supplying U 3 O 8 to major nuclear utilities. Energy Fuels holds three of America's key uranium production centers, the White Mesa Mill in Utah, the Nichols Ranch Processing Facility in Wyoming, and the Alta Mesa Project in Texas. The White Mesa Mill is the only conventional uranium mill operating in the U.S. today and has a licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of U 3 O 8 per year. The Nichols Ranch Processing Facility is an ISR production center with a licensed capacity of 2 million pounds of U 3 O 8 per year. Alta Mesa is an ISR production center currently on care and maintenance. Energy Fuels also has the largest NI 43-101 compliant uranium resource portfolio in the U.S. among producers, and uranium mining projects located in a number of Western U.S. states, including one producing ISR project, mines on standby, and mineral properties in various stages of permitting and development. The Company's common shares are listed on the NYSE MKT under the trading symbol "UUUU", and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "EFR".

Stephen P. Antony, P.E., President & CEO of Energy Fuels, is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release, including sampling, analytical, and test data underlying such disclosure.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain information contained in this news release, including any information relating to: the Company being a leading producer of uranium in the U.S.; the drilling results to date from the Canyon mine and any conclusions which may be drawn from such results; the total number of holes the Company expects to drill in the current delineation program; the conclusions contained in the 2012 Technical Report and any future technical reports which may be prepared in accordance with NI 43-101; the final depth of the shaft; the potential that the resources and/or tonnage may be expanded beyond what is described in the 2012 Technical Report; the Company's belief that the Canyon deposit is world-class; the costs of production and competitiveness of other similar mines, and any inference to the Canyon deposit; the factors which the Company believes makes the Canyon deposit unique; and any other statements regarding Energy Fuels' future expectations, beliefs, goals or prospects; constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements in this news release that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "expects", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions) should be considered forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements are subject to important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Energy Fuels' ability to control or predict. A number of important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated or implied by such forward-looking statements, including without limitation factors relating to: the Company being a leading producer of uranium in the U.S.; the drilling results to date from the Canyon mine and any conclusions which may be drawn from such results; the total number of holes the Company expects to drill in the current delineation program; the conclusions contained in the 2012 Technical Report and any future technical reports which may be prepared in accordance with NI 43-101; the final depth of the shaft; the potential that the resources and/or tonnage may be expanded beyond what is described in the 2012 Technical Report; the Company's belief that the Canyon deposit is world-class; the costs of production and competitiveness of other similar mines, and any inference to the Canyon deposit; the factors which the Company believes makes the Canyon deposit unique;; and other risk factors as described in Energy Fuels' most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly financial reports. Energy Fuels assumes no obligation to update the information in this communication, except as otherwise required by law. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in Energy Fuels' filings with the various securities commissions which are available online at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations, beliefs and plans of the management of Energy Fuels relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. Readers are also cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, that speak only as of the date hereof.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources: This news release contains certain disclosure that has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all reserve and resource estimates included in this news release have been prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") classification system. Canadian standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of U.S. securities laws, and reserve and resource information contained in this news release may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by companies reporting only under U.S. standards. In particular, the term "resource" does not equate to the term "reserve" under SEC Industry Guide 7. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any of Measured or Indicated Mineral Resources will ever be converted into mineral reserves. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an "Inferred Mineral Resource" exists or is economically or legally minable. Energy Fuels does not hold any Reserves as that term is defined by SEC Industry Guide 7. Please refer to the section entitled "Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Disclosure of Mineral Resources" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K dated March 15, 2016 for further details.

SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.

Related Links

http://www.energyfuels.com


PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Law Institute Continuing Legal Education (ALI CLE) is pleased to announce this year's Estate Planning for the Family Business Owner conference. The two-day event will be held at the Dallas Marriott City Center, in Dallas, Texas, on November 3-4, 2016. Now in its 25th year, this course continues to be the premiere national CLE program designed specifically for those who represent family business owners.

This year offers new topics, speakers, and venue, making this the year to join us! Registrants will receive insightful analysis on all key aspects of the closely-held family business, from choice of entity to estate administration, plus updates on the hottest topics impacting those who handle privately-owned businesses. The faculty is drawn from across the country and is well-recognized in their areas of expertise. Some topics include:

strategic income and employment tax issues related to the information, operation, and transition of closely held business

business succession planning topics, including family law

the controversial proposed regulations under Internal Revenue Code section 2704

recent valuation cases and Tax Court cases affecting life insurance and reasonable compensation for key employees

how to advantageously integrate charitable gift planning with estate planning

According to planning co-chair Steven B. Gorin, a partner at Thompson Coburn LLP in St. Louis, "In counseling a business owner, one needs to be aware of how income tax issues affect business structuring; how to incentivize key employees and fund buy-outs; how the business can survive an owner's divorce or transition ownership to the next generation; how to avoid estate tax; and how to manage a business' split-up. With nationally-known speakers addressing all of these issues, this program is a must for estate planners who represent family business owners."

The full program agenda and course registration information can be viewed by clicking here.

About American Law Institute Continuing Legal Education

American Law Institute's Continuing Legal Education, a non-profit organization, is committed to the work of promoting continuing professional education for lawyers throughout the United States and to creating standards to ensure quality and relevance in CLE programs. American Law Institute CLE is constantly evolving to meet the needs of the legal profession, furthering a tradition of unparalleled service to lawyers.

CONTACT: Danelsy Medrano

Senior Digital Marketing Manager

ALI CLE

(215) 243-1622

[email protected]

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SOURCE American Law Institute Continuing Legal Education

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FRANKLIN, Tenn., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EUKANUBA Brand and PetFlow's Good Deeds Program have partnered up with Rescue Bank to donate a bowl of dog food to shelters in the U.S. for every purchase made on www.PetFlow.com during August. The total EUKANUBA donation for the month is estimated to be about 12,000 pounds of dog food, plus an additional bowl of food for every PetFlow shipment of EUKANUBA.

All purchases made through PetFlow in August will provide food donations for a shelter dog's wellbeing, while helping to raise awareness of the many adoptable shelter pets that are ready for a family.

"We strive to make a positive difference in the lives of dogs so they can be their best at every stage of life," said Mark Fannin, EUKANUBA Brand Manager. "By partnering with PetFlow and Rescue Bank, we'll help shelters spend less on food so they can put more into healthcare, rehab and enrichment to make a difference in lives of shelter pets in need."

The shelters receiving donations of EUKANUBA for the month of August are Maranatha Farm in Ridgeland, SC; Second Chance Rescue in Flushing, NY; Lucky Day Rescue Inc. in Loganville, GA; and Pets & People Humane Society in Yukon, OK. You can follow #PFGoodDeeds on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/petflow) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/petflow/) to read the stories about the shelter pets being helped with a EUKANUBA purchase on Petflow.

"Our partnership with EUKANUBA and Rescue Bank this month helps us to give back to shelters and support dogs in need through our Good Deeds program," says Michael Lackman, CEO of PetFlow. "We have already made an impact, providing thousands of meals to animals in need through the support of these shelters. We're proud of our partnership and the power it has to help raise awareness within the pet community to get pets into their forever homes."

EUKANUBA is sponsoring the Good Deeds program from August 1 through August 31, 2016. To participate, visit www.PetFlow.com .

About EUKANUBA

With over 45 years of research, EUKANUBA Brand offers a complete food lineup, delivering exceptional nutrition by life stage and breed size to promote peak physical condition and activity. EUKANUBA is a pet food brand of Mars Petcare. For more information, please visit www.eukanuba.com or at Facebook.com/Eukanuba .

About Mars Petcare

Mars Petcare US is the U.S. operations of the world's largest petcare company at the privately-held Mars, Incorporated. Mars Petcare US produces some of the world's most beloved pet care brands, including PEDIGREE Food and Treats for Dogs, CESAR Canine Cuisine, IAMS Pet Food, SHEBA Entrees for Cats, WHISKAS Food for Cats, GREENIES Dental Chews and PILL POCKETS Treats, NUTRO Pet Food, EUKANUBA Pet Food and TEMPTATIONS Treats for Cats, as well as exclusive brands products for some of the leading retailers in the U.S. Headquartered in Franklin, Tenn., more than 3,700 Mars Petcare US associates make, sell and distribute its high-quality pet food from 20 manufacturing facilities located in communities across the U.S. For more information, please visit www.mars.com .

About PetFlow

PetFlow, a leading retail brand of specialty pet food and supplies, is changing the way pet parents care for their loved ones through its mission of Good Foods and Good Deeds. It offers fast delivery on nearly 10,000 of the best products available in specialty pet, including food, treats, toys, bedding, accessories and health supplies, with convenient subscription and auto-ship options. The organization also serves as a trusted partner that pet lovers can rely on for personalized, data-driven advice and recommendations on nutrition and wellness. Through its Good Deeds charitable giving program, PetFlow has helped thousands of pets in need and is an ally to many rescue organizations throughout the U.S. For more information on PetFlow, visit PetFlow.com or Facebook.com/PetFlow .

About Rescue Bank

Rescue Bank operates on the national food bank model, serving community-based animal welfare groups that typically lack access to resources. Rescue Bank recognizes that these smaller, less-visible groups represent a substantial portion of America's animal rescue resource. Rescue Bank works with name-brand suppliers to deliver donated pet food to serve both the ongoing needs of more than 1,200 animal welfare organizations and the immediate needs of communities after disasters such as Superstorm Sandy and Midwestern tornados. Since establishing its national network in 2011, Rescue Bank has delivered more that 80 million meals of nutritious, wholesome pet food. Rescue Bank is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization supported by public and private donations. For more information visit http://www.rescuebank.org or find us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/RescueBank.

/ Trademarks  Mars, Incorporated 2016. Other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

SOURCE EUKANUBA

Related Links

http://www.eukanuba.com


PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Soligenix, Inc. (OTCQB: SNGX) (Soligenix or the Company), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases where there is an unmet medical need, announced today that the Office of Orphan Products Development of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to the active ingredient dusquetide for treatment of macrophage activation syndrome (MAS). Dusquetide has previously received orphan drug designation for the treatment of acute radiation syndrome (ARS). Dusquetide is an innate defense regulator (IDR), a new class of short, synthetic peptides that accelerates bacterial clearance and resolution of tissue damage while modulating inflammation following exposure to a variety of agents including bacterial pathogens, trauma, radiation and/or chemotherapy.

The US Orphan Drug Act is intended to assist and encourage companies to develop safe and effective therapies for the treatment of rare diseases and disorders. In addition to providing a seven year term of market exclusivity upon final FDA approval, orphan drug designation also positions Soligenix to be able to leverage a wide range of financial and regulatory benefits, including government grants for conducting clinical trials, waiver of expensive FDA user fees for the potential submission of a New Drug Application, and certain tax credits.

"The FDA's decision to grant dusquetide orphan drug designation signifies an important step for Soligenix as we continue to expand our biotherapeutics pipeline and the many potential applications of our novel IDR technology," stated Christopher J. Schaber, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Soligenix. "Dusquetide's activity in preclinical models has demonstrated the potential to enhance mechanisms of the innate immune system to clear infection and modulate the inflammatory response, the critical attributes of this syndrome. The marketing exclusivity that orphan drug designation imparts adds significantly to the existing intellectual property surrounding dusquetide."

About Macrophage Activation Syndrome

Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) is characterized by a highly stimulated but ineffective immune response; however, its pathogenesis is poorly understood. MAS has many similarities with that of the other forms of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. MAS is a life-threatening complication of rheumatic disease that, for unknown reasons, occurs much more frequently in individuals with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA). Besides SJIA, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and Kawasaki disease are two other rheumatologic conditions in which MAS appears to occur somewhat more frequently than in other diseases. In adults, based on limited epidemiologic studies, MAS is seen most frequently in association with adult onset Still's disease, SLE, and various vasculitic syndromes. MAS is characterized by pancytopenia, liver insufficiency, coagulopathy and neurologic symptoms and is thought to be caused by the activation and uncontrolled proliferation of T lymphocytes and well-differentiated macrophages, leading to widespread hemophagocytosis and cytokine overproduction. Despite treatment, fatalities still occur with a mortality rate in the range of 10-20%.

About Dusquetide

Dusquetide is an innate defense regulator (IDR), a new class of short, synthetic peptide. It has a novel mechanism of action in that it modulates the body's reaction to both injury and infection towards an anti-inflammatory and an anti-infective response. IDRs have no direct antibiotic activity but, by modulating the host's innate immune system responses, increase survival after infections with a broad range of bacterial Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens. It also accelerates resolution of tissue damage following exposure to a variety of agents including bacterial pathogens, trauma and chemo- and/or radiation therapy. Preclinical efficacy and safety has been demonstrated in numerous animal disease models including mucositis, colitis, melioidosis, MAS and other bacterial infections. In a published mouse model of MAS, dusquetide was shown to reduce the pancytopenia, reduced IL-12 responses and improve body weight maintenance.

SGX942 (the drug product containing dusquetide) has demonstrated safety in a Phase 1 clinical study in 84 healthy human volunteers. Recently, SGX942 has demonstrated preliminary efficacy and safety in an exploratory Phase 2 clinical study in 111 patients with oral mucositis due to chemoradiation (CRT) therapy for head and neck cancer. Consistent with preclinical findings, SGX942 at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg demonstrated positive improvements in decreasing the duration of severe oral mucositis by 50% overall compared to the placebo group, from 18 days to 9 days (p=0.099). In patients at highest risk of oral mucositis (e.g., those exposed to the most aggressive concomitant chemotherapy), the reduction in the duration of severe oral mucositis was even more significant at 67% when treated with SGX942 1.5 mg/kg, from 30 days to 10 days (p=0.04). The p-values meet the prospectively defined statistical threshold of p<0.1 in the study protocol.Additional observations included an improved tumor response to CRT therapy at the one month follow up visit, as well as decreases in infection rate.

Dusquetide and related analogs have a strong intellectual property position, including composition of matter. Dusquetide was developed pursuant to discoveries made by Professors B. Brett Finlay, PhD and Robert Hancock, PhD of the University of British Columbia, Canada.

Drug products containing dusquetide have also received Fast Track Designations from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of oral mucositis as a result of radiation and/or chemotherapy treatment in head and neck cancer patients, and as an adjunctive therapy with other antibacterial drugs, for the treatment of melioidosis.

About Soligenix, Inc.

Soligenix is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases where there is an unmet medical need. Our BioTherapeutics business segment is developing SGX301 as a novel photodynamic therapy utilizing safe visible light for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, our first-in-class innate defense regulator (IDR) technology, dusquetide (SGX942) for the treatment of oral mucositis in head and neck cancer, and proprietary formulations of oral beclomethasone 17,21-dipropionate (BDP) for the prevention/treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders characterized by severe inflammation including pediatric Crohn's disease (SGX203) and acute radiation enteritis (SGX201).

Our Vaccines/BioDefense business segment includes active development programs for RiVax, our ricin toxin vaccine candidate, OrbeShield, our GI acute radiation syndrome therapeutic candidate and SGX943, our melioidosis therapeutic candidate. The development of our vaccine programs incorporates the use of our proprietary heat stabilization platform technology, known as ThermoVax. Currently, this business segment is supported with up to $58 million in government grant and contract funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

For further information regarding Soligenix, Inc., please visit the Company's website at www.soligenix.com.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that reflect Soligenix, Inc.'s current expectations about its future results, performance, prospects and opportunities, including but not limited to, potential market sizes, patient populations and clinical trial enrollment. Statements that are not historical facts, such as "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "hopes," "intends," "plans," "expects," "goal," "may," "suggest," "will," "potential," or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results in future periods to differ materially from what is expressed in, or implied by, these statements. Soligenix cannot assure you that it will be able to successfully develop, achieve regulatory approval for or commercialize products based on its technologies, particularly in light of the significant uncertainty inherent in developing therapeutics and vaccines against bioterror threats, conducting preclinical and clinical trials of therapeutics and vaccines, obtaining regulatory approvals and manufacturing therapeutics and vaccines, that product development and commercialization efforts will not be reduced or discontinued due to difficulties or delays in clinical trials or due to lack of progress or positive results from research and development efforts, that it will be able to successfully obtain any further funding to support product development and commercialization efforts, including grants and awards, maintain its existing grants which are subject to performance requirements, enter into any biodefense procurement contracts with the US Government or other countries, that it will be able to compete with larger and better financed competitors in the biotechnology industry, that changes in health care practice, third party reimbursement limitations and Federal and/or state health care reform initiatives will not negatively affect its business, or that the US Congress may not pass any legislation that would provide additional funding for the Project BioShield program. These and other risk factors are described from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, Soligenix's reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K. Unless required by law, Soligenix assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.

SOURCE Soligenix, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.soligenix.com


WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National President J. David Cox Sr. and AFGE Council of Prison Locals President Eric Young today issued the following joint statement:

AFGE Council of Prison Locals hails announcement as move towards safe, responsible incarceration policy.

"We are thrilled that the Department of Justice announced an end to the use of private prisons, and applaud the DOJ for their instruction to the Bureau of Prisons to decline or drastically reduce the use of contract incarceration as a means to an end. We appreciate the Deputy Attorney General acknowledging that the size of the inmate population will determine how quickly we can end this practice.

The truth of the matter is, private prisons just aren't as accountable as our government prisons. The Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General said it best in their recent report: private prisons are less safe for both inmates and workers, and we have a great opportunity to reform our system for the better.

The men and women working in our federal Bureau of Prisons are the most professional, highly trained correctional workers in the nation, and are uniquely equipped to handle the heavy demands of inmate supervision. Because of their hard work, our communities know peace. Returning the responsibility of caring for and rehabilitating inmates will ensure that these men and women serve their time productively, and re-enter society as reformed, valuable citizens.

We hope that this announcement will inspire Congress to provide the Bureau of Prisons sufficient resources to house and rehabilitate inmates in federal institutions, and work on meaningful reforms to decrease the overcrowding in our nation's prisons.

We have always believed that private profits should never come before public safety, and we commend DOJ for coming to the same conclusion."

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 670,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia, including 39,000 workers in the Bureau of Prisons.

For the latest AFGE news and information, visit the AFGE Media Center. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

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SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees

Related Links

http://www.afge.org


NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CommutAir today announced that the first batch of 10 of its pilots received formal notice to join United Airlines under the Career Path Program. The Pilot Career Path Program (CPP) is designed to lead participating CommutAir pilots on a clear and reliable path to a United Airlines flight deck.

"Today we say goodbye to a group of excellent aviators, with between 4 and 23 years of service, as they plan their move to United," said Joel T. Raymond, Chief Operating Officer at CommutAir. "CommutAir's mission is to provide the best work environment for our CommutAir career-builders as well as our United spring-boarders, and we look forward to the CPP creating the same opportunities for many more CommutAir pilots, as we continue our quest to becoming the highest growing and preferred United Express partner."

"There were many positive reasons why I chose to join CommutAir 4 years ago. However, when the Company announced the addition of 40 jets and the CPP with United that just added icing on the cake," said Joseph Bommarito, Captain at CommutAir. "With the rapid growth underway those joining behind me with the right qualifications can look forward to not only a great place to work with solid benefits and pay, but also having the real opportunity to progress to the next level of their career."

The significant growth at CommutAir is driving unprecedented hiring and advancement opportunities within all functional areas of the Company. CommutAir expects the addition of 40 jets to the fleet to drive an accelerated need for pilot hiring and promotions at its Dulles and Newark bases and has designed an industry leading pay and benefits package that includes:

1. $15,000 sign-on bonus & rapid upgrades for qualified applicants

2. Career Path Program  offering qualified pilots the opportunity to move to United subject to program terms and conditions

3. Unparalleled Commuter Policy including company paid commuter hotels

4. Top-tier Pay and benefits including vacation, 401(K) match & health benefits

5. Accelerated advancement opportunities for all captain qualified candidates

For Career Opportunities click: www.flycommutair.com/careers

About CommutAir

CommutAir, operating as United Express, is majority owned by Champlain Enterprises Inc., an airline holding company founded in 1989. Today, CommutAir operates a large fleet of Bombardier Q200/Q300 and Embraer ERJ145 aircraft with more than 650 weekly flights to 29 airports. CommutAir's 600+ employees are well known in the industry for fostering a family culture and friendly work environment. Click www.commutair.com or contact us at [email protected] or +1 (440) 779-4588 x 303.

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SOURCE CommutAir

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GAINESVILLE and BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research (the Institute) announced today that it has finalized a funding agreement with Ovation Diagnostics, a Boca Raton-based company with technology developed at University of South Florida. The Institute supports new company creation based on publicly-funded research, and bridges early funding gaps for companies spinning out of Florida-based universities and research institutions.

Ovation Diagnostics is committed to improving outcomes of women with ovarian cancer. Using a novel biomarker present in urine samples of ovarian cancer patients, the company is developing a laboratory test which will offer women an efficient, noninvasive and affordable method of detection with potentially higher specificity and sensitivity for ovarian cancer compared to existing methods of detection.

"Early and accurate detection is essential for success in treatment of ovarian cancer. Unfortunately the majority of existing tests lack the ability to accurately detect the cancer in its early stages which results in lower survival rates," said Joseph E. Zack, Ovation Diagnostics President. "Our hope is this test may make a difference in earlier detection."

"Ovation Diagnostics is developing novel technology that has the potential to have a significant impact on the survival rates of women affected by this serious and costly disease," said Jackson Streeter, MD, Institute Chief Executive Officer.

About the Institute

Formed by the Florida Legislature in 2007, the Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research is a non-profit organization that works collaboratively with the technology licensing and commercialization offices of Florida's state universities and private research institutions to leverage a $2B+ research base and form investable companies that create clean jobs in new industries that are driving the global economy. With funding from the State of Florida through the Department of Economic Opportunity, and through the generosity of mentors, advisors and donors, the Institute provides company building services, and seed funding through the Florida Technology Seed Capital Fund, to promising Florida startups. Fifty-five companies have been funded to date, and the Institute's economic impact through June 30, 2015 was $379 million, a return on investment of 14 times to the State of Florida.

About Ovation Diagnostics

Ovation Diagnostics, is focused on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of a novel ovarian cancer diagnostic test, to be used in the screening, prognosis, therapy selection, and monitoring of ovarian cancer. The company was founded in 2014, and the licensing agreement was secured from University of South Florida in 2015.

CONTACT:

Jane Teague

Chief Operating Officer

Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research

561-368-8889

[email protected]

SOURCE Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research

Related Links

http://www.florida-institute.com


VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For a fourth consecutive year, Inc. Magazine has named Divurgent, a healthcare IT consulting company, to its 500|5000 list of fastest-growing privately held companies in America. The 2016 Inc. 500|5000 award is based on revenue growth over a three-year period: from 2012 to 2015. During that time, Divurgent increased its revenues by more than 200%.

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On its website, Inc. Magazine described the 2016 500|5000 as the "superheroes of the U.S. economy." Going further, the magazine praised these companies as "America's fastest growing private companies," which "wield powers like strategy, service, and innovation."

"We have consistently set aggressive financial objectives for our organization in terms of revenue growth and profitability, and we have surpassed those goals every year," said Colin Konschak, CEO and Managing Partner. "It is deeply rewarding to see how far we've come since our inception in 2007, but even more important to know that we've built a reputation for excellence with our clients, thanks to a team that always goes above and beyond, ensuring 100% customer satisfaction."

Since first achieving a spot on the Inc. 5000 list in 2012, Divurgent has continued to dedicate its efforts to growing dynamically as well as strategically  not just increasing revenues, but also enriching its culture, improving quality, and broadening its solutions and its client relationships.

"Our priority to develop a culture focused on our team's experience with the company, each other, and our clients has been the foundation of our success," said Steve Eckert, President and Chief Operating Officer. "We employ top industry thought leaders and experts to help us not only expand the solutions we offer, but also improve the quality and results of the ones we already offer to our clients."

In the past 12 months, Divurgent has received other distinguishing honors from organizations such as KLAS Research for outstanding service delivery in multiple performance categories. Most recently, Modern Healthcare Magazine announced that Divurgent earned a spot on The Best Places to Work in Healthcare list for a second consecutive year. Other awards and recognitions include CIO Review's 50 Most Promising Healthcare Solution Providers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Blue Ribbon Award, and Consulting Magazine's list of Fastest Growing Firms.

At its 35th annual Inc. 500|5000 Conference and Awards Ceremony in San Antonio, TX from October 18-20, Inc. Magazine will recognize Divurgent and other honorees. A full listing of this year's winners can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000.

About Divurgent

Divurgent is not the typical healthcare consulting firm. As a nationally recognized company, we are committed to healthcare evolution and the strategies and processes that make it possible. We help our clients evolve in payment and delivery reform, as well as patient engagement, providing a higher quality of care, lower cost of care, and healthier communities.

Focused on the business of hospitals, health systems, and affiliated providers, Divurgent believes successful outcomes are derived from powerful partnerships. Recognizing the unique culture that every organization offers, we leverage the depth of our experienced consulting team to create customized solutions that best meet our client's goals. Utilizing best practices and methodologies, we help improve our client's operational effectiveness, financial performance, and quality of patient care. For more information about Divurgent, visit us at www.divurgent.com

Press Contact:

Brittany Benson, Marketing Content Manager

1.757.213.6875

Email

www.divurgent.com

www.facebook.com/divurgent

SOURCE Divurgent

Related Links

http://divurgent.com


Flanagan, 48, most recently served as president of the ConAgra Foods Snacks Division, one of North America's leading suppliers of packaged foods. She will succeed Ron Foster, grandson of company founders Max and Verda Foster, as Foster Farms' president and CEO. Foster previously announced his plans to step down. He will remain a Foster Farms owner and member of the board of directors.

"The board unanimously selected Laura Flanagan as the ideal executive to guide Foster Farms during a time of significant growth," said Foster. "She has an impressive record of transforming and growing household consumer brands across an ever-shifting landscape. We are confident that her strategic approach will lead Foster Farms to new heights within the U.S. meat and poultry industry."

Before taking leadership of the Snacks Division, Flanagan served as president of ConAgra's Convenient Meals Division from 2008 to 2011, revitalizing and expanding key brands. She also led initiatives to promote diversity, develop internal talent, and build skills and capabilities throughout ConAgra.

"Foster Farms is a strong competitor in the national poultry landscape in large part because of its family-owned roots and its steadfast commitment to truly locally grown, fresh poultry," said Flanagan. "I intend to honor the Foster family's legacy for excellence while growing the business, guiding our dedicated employees and maintaining the trust of a new generation of consumers who care deeply about the food they feed their families, especially organic and antibiotic-free poultry choices."

Before joining ConAgra, Flanagan served as vice president and chief marketing officer of Tropicana Shelf Stable Juices at PepsiCo and, from 1996 to 2005, held brand-management positions at General Mills and PepsiCo. Earlier, she was a manufacturing engineer at Saturn Corporation. She earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1996.

Flanagan currently serves on the board of directors at Core-Mark International, one of North America's largest marketers of fresh and broad-line supply solutions to the convenience retail industry.

Under Ron Foster's leadership, the company grew by 70 percent and became the nation's first major poultry producer to be certified by the American Humane Association. In June, Foster Farms was selected as the 2016 Processor of the Year by The National Provisioner for industry-leading achievements in food safety, water conservation and product diversity. While Ron Foster led the company, it raised the National Thanksgiving Turkey for the White House on two occasions, became the No. 1 brand of frozen cooked chicken in the western U.S., and became the largest producer of organic and antibiotic-free fresh chicken on the West Coast.

About Foster Farms

California-based Foster Farms employs more than 12,000 with facilities throughout California, Oregon and Washington as well as Farmerville, Louisiana, and Demopolis, Alabama. Since 1939, West Coast families have depended on Foster Farms for premium-quality chicken and turkey products. Family-owned and operated, the company continues its legacy of excellence and commitment to quality established by its founders, Max and Verda Foster. Foster Farms specializes in fresh, all-natural chicken and turkey products free of preservatives, additives or injected sodium enhancers. Based in California's Central Valley, with ranches in the Pacific Northwest, the company's fresh chicken and turkey are produced in or near each region served. Foster Farms also produces delicious pre-marinated, ready-to-cook and fully cooked products that meet the quality and convenience needs of today's home cooks, retailers, warehouse clubs and foodservice customers. The company's commitment to excellence, honesty, quality, service and people is a source of great pride and a longtime family tradition. Visit www.fosterfarms.com to learn more.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Amy Scarlett

415-326-3199

[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399220





SOURCE Foster Farms
This year, Pacific Union is again recognized for a growth rate of over 100% and ranks No. 3,285 on the list, with $185.9 million in 2015 revenue. The luxury real estate brokerage was first named to the Inc. 5000 list in 2013 and has appeared every year since, an achievement that Pacific Union CEO Mark A. McLaughlin attributes to the company's commitment to attracting and retaining the best people in the business.

"To be recognized on this list of fastest-growing companies for the fourth straight year is extraordinary," McLaughlin says. "Maintaining growth rates of this capacity for four consecutive years also is extraordinary. Our entire company has embraced our culture and core values of teamwork, trust and innovation. Our current trajectory and our newly developed vision for the year 2020 will likely hold our place on this list for years to come. Our success is a tribute to our real estate professionals, our professional staff, and our leadership team's commitment to our vision."

Pacific Union was one of two Bay Area-based, full-service residential real estate brokerages named to this year's Inc. 5000 list. And like last year, the San Francisco-based firm had the largest revenues of any California firm that Inc. classifies in its real estate category.

Earlier in the year, REAL Trends announced that Pacific Union retained the position of the ninth-largest residential brokerage in the U.S. In June, REAL Trends named 11 Pacific Union real estate professionals among the most productive in the country.

Enhancing Pacific Union's strengths this year, McLaughlin brought on board the former Trulia Chief Economist Selma Hepp as Vice President of Business Intelligence and Chief Economist to deliver proprietary and timely market analysis. The brokerage also launched a new advertising brand campaign, and expanded its team in the Silicon Valley offices of Burlingame, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto.

About Pacific Union

Pacific Union is the San Francisco Bay Area's premier luxury real estate brand operating in eight regions. The brokerage offers a full range of personal and commercial real estate services, including buying, selling, and relocation, and enjoys a relationship with Christie's International Real Estate as an exclusive affiliate in in the San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties in the state of California. Locally owned, Pacific Union operates with an entrepreneurial mindset and unwavering commitment to deliver exceptional service and expertise. For more information, please visit us at www.pacificunion.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160818/399388

SOURCE Pacific Union Real Estate

Related Links

http://www.pacificunion.com


Mr. Menon also said that companies need to embrace and continue to be innovative or risk being left behind. He shared with the audience on the "Innovate to Zero" Mega Vision of a zero concept world with zero emissions, zero accidents, zero fatalities, zero defects and zero breaches of security.

He urged Taiwan's companies to shift focus and develop products and technologies that innovate to zero, including zero-emission technologies such as wind power, traveling wave reactors, solar photovoltaic and 3rd generation bio-fuels.

"Many years ago, traditional businesses would brush off start-ups and say that they don't impact them at all. However, in the last couple of years, there had been absolute paranoia about the future for many companies unaware of new technologies and how it will affect their business," he noted.

Mr. Menon also said that there are some great companies that are growing very rapidly, having global impact, and at the same time energizing a lot of people around the world to help them with new ideas and new businesses.

"However, at the same time, we also have large and existing businesses that are struggling to deal with this change. There will also be some companies who will seize this opportunity to try and understand the changes happening and ask how to reinvent themselves," he added.

Mr. Menon also said that investors and consumers are willing to pay for innovation and gave the example of the Tesla Model 3, which saw reservations of 300,000 units in just 3 days. "Customers are willing to put in US$1,000 deposit for a car that is not even in production yet. That is innovation that people are willing to pay for," he said.

Other speakers at the conference include Mr. Stephen Su, General Director of ITRI's Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK), and Dr. Gerard Kho, Chief Marketing Officer at Medini Malaysia, who shared their views on smart cities.

The conference was well attended by various C-level executives from CITIC Telecom International CPC Ltd, Fareastone, Kymco, Gogoro, MiTAC, Compal Computer, Acer, VIA Technologies, Microlife Corp, Tatung Group, Fubon Land, Cathay Life Insurance, Delta Electronics, Advantech Co, Nexcom and BenQ Medical Technology.

The conference concluded with the Frost & Sullivan Taiwan Excellence Awards luncheon, recognizing Taiwanese companies that have demonstrated excellent achievements and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation and strategic product and service development.

Frost & Sullivan congratulates all the 2016 Frost & Sullivan Taiwan Excellence Awards recipients:

NO AWARD TITLE RECIPIENT 1 CRO Company of the Year A+ INC. 2 New Product Innovation Award CAD for Early Detection of Thyroid Cancer AMCAD BIOMED CORP. 3 Surgical Equipment Company of the Year (Surgical Table and Lights) BENQ MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY CORP. 4 Private Health Insurance Company of the Year CATHAY LIFE INSURANCE 5 Hospital of the Year CHANG GUNG MEMORIAL HOSPITAL 6 Cloud Service Provider of the Year CITIC TELECOM INTERNATIONAL CPC LIMITED 7 Meat Processing Company of the Year DACHAN GREAT WALL GROUP 8 Growth Excellence Leadership Award Property Development DA-LI DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD 9 Network Security Vendor of the Year FORTINET 10 Competitive Strategy Innovation and Leadership Award Property Development FUBON LAND 11 Animal Nutritional Feed Company of the Year FWUSOW INDUSTRY CO., LTD. 12 Ready-To-Drink Beverages Company of the Year HEY SONG CORPORATION 13 Technology Innovation Award Solar Power LOF SOLAR CORP 14 API Manufacturing Company of the Year SCINOPHARM TAIWAN 15 Functional Food & Beverages Company of the Year TAIWAN STANDARD FOODS CO., LTD. 16 Growth Excellence Leadership Award Solar Power TSEC CORPORATION 17 Eye Care Center of the Year UNIVERSAL EYE CENTER 18 Pharmaceutical Company of the Year YUNG SHIN PHARMA 19 Asia Pacific Growth Excellence Leadership Award Blood Pressure Monitoring MICROLIFE CORPORATION

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants.

For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies?

Contact Us: Start the discussion

Media Contact

Alice Chia

Corporate Communications  Asia Pacific

Email: [email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160818/399258

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

Related Links

http://www.frost.com


NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Gratitude Railroad, an investment firm focused on educating, inspiring, convening and catalyzing investors and investments in for-profit, mission-driven businesses, today announced the launch of the Gratitude Farmland Fund (GFF), a real asset fund targeting $40 million in capital commitments and focused on regenerative agriculture. GFF seeks to acquire farmland in regions where land is undervalued relative to production value. The Fund seeks to make its first investments in acquiring farms in the southeastern U.S. GFF furthers Gratitude Railroad's mission of promoting investment in for profit-businesses that generate top-tier returns while also providing a positive social or environmental impact.

Gratitude Railroad was founded in 2013 by Howard Fischer and Eric Jacobsen on the conviction that investors should be able to invest in for-profit, mission-driven businesses without sacrificing returns. Both founders bring a proven track record as investors and entrepreneurs to the world of impact investing, and believe that their investment knowledge and skill at managing financial businesses and products are the key to helping mission-driven businesses generate top-tier returns while also advancing the cause of conscious capitalism. They are joined in the venture by Managing Partner Thomas Knowles and Board Members Joseph Hammer and Sarah Berner. Their first investment through Gratitude Railroad, the Builder's Fund, is a lower middle market private equity fund focused on established growth stage companies across health & wellness, food & agriculture and resource efficiency delivering positive economic and social and environmental impact.

Gratitude Farmland Fund, managed by David Nicola, is a joint venture formed by Gratitude Railroad and Blackdirt Capital, founded by Nicola. The Fund seeks to make its first investments in acquiring farms in the southeastern U.S., where there is a perceived alignment of necessary factors to produce high quality beef and dairy products at competitive prices. Nicola brings 13 years of experience in farmland investing, portfolio management, trading, and private equity investing. Over the past six years he has focused on managing investments and building strategies in the U.S. sustainable agriculture sector with a focus on grass-fed beef, grass-fed and organic dairy, and organic grain.

"Gratitude Farmland Fund represents the culmination of years of study, analysis and exploration across regions and agricultural production types by both David and the Gratitude Railroad team to identify the most compelling financial, social and environmental food production opportunities to invest in," said Fischer. "With his strong investment background and deep grounding in regenerative agriculture, David embodies the kind of investment professional that we seek to attract and partner with to advance our mission."

"I am very excited to be part of the Gratitude Railroad team and am proud to help realize their vision of scaling investment in businesses that make our world a better place while generating meaningful returns for investors," said Nicola. "I believe that sustainable agriculture businesses, particularly in the grass-fed beef and dairy sectors, are uniquely positioned to offer compelling investment opportunities while also advancing important social and ecological impact."

In addition to its investments, Gratitude Railroad actively cultivates a network of like-minded investment professionals, entrepreneurs and operators, whom we call our Gratitude Railroad Network, all of whom are committed to the mission of conscious capitalism. We believe that through our collective action and passion to inspire others to act, we can find market-based solutions to the world's pressing economic, social and environmental problems.

"Gratitude Railroad believes that by encouraging the participation of experienced investment professionals, entrepreneurs and operators from the traditional capital markets in the mission of conscious capitalism, we can accelerate the profitable deployment of large sums of capital to grow mission-driven businesses," said Jacobsen. "Our Gratitude Railroad Network shares a belief in the positive role traditional finance and business can play through investment in businesses that improve the world we live in. Our mission is to prove we can deliver top tier returns while delivering positive impact and when we demonstrate that at scale we will unlock the traditional capital markets to focus on impact."

Prior to founding Blackdirt Capital, Nicola served as a Portfolio Manager and Trader at BlueMountain Capital Management, a Director of Investments at a CT-based family office focused on food and agriculture, and an Investment Banking Analyst at Citigroup. Nicola holds an M.B.A. from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and a B.S. from Cornell University's College of Agriculture & Life Sciences.

Gratitude Railroad Network Convening

Gratitude Railroad is defined as much by its community as by its investments. Every autumn, the Gratitude Railroad Network gathers to identify and discuss potential opportunities and to help grow and expand the Network's reach and our impact. This year's convening, the fourth of its kind, will be held from September 25-28 at Deer Valley in Park City, Utah. For more information, please visit www.gratituderailroad.com.

About Gratitude Railroad

Gratitude Railroad is an investment firm focused on educating, inspiring, convening and catalyzing investors and investments in for-profit, mission-driven businesses. It was founded in 2013 by Howard Fischer and Eric Jacobsen after attending the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative. Howard, a hedge fund CEO, and Eric, a tech entrepreneur and private equity investor, developed Gratitude Railroad to transform traditional capitalism into a force for solving critical environmental and social problems.

Gratitude Railroad develops investment funds across asset classes with leading investment professionals delivering top tier returns and solving social and environmental problems.

Gratitude Railroad can operate from concept through execution by partnering with leading investment professionals, helping define the investment strategy, providing seed capital for the fund, being advisors and co-investment partners. In addition to its fund incubation efforts, Gratitude Railroad makes direct investments in for-profit mission driven operating companies across stage and sector.

Gratitude Railroad also serves as a community and catalyst for investors to learn, discuss and invest across asset classes focused on delivering top tier returns and helping to solve environmental and social challenges.

To learn more, invest with us or join the Gratitude Railroad Network, please visit www.gratituderailroad.com.

For Media Inquiries:

David Press

Tel: (917) 721-7046

[email protected]

SOURCE Gratitude Railroad

Related Links

http://www.gratituderailroad.com


LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Each year, the Asian Business Association (ABA) honors leaders in the Asian American business community. As a leading Asian business organization serving the business community, ABA also recognizes corporations who consistently support the Asian business community and provide opportunities for Asian American entrepreneurs to flourish.



This year, the Asian Business Association will be celebrating their 40th Annual Awards Banquet presented by U.S. Bank will be held at the Globe Theatre in Universal Studios Hollywood on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at 6:30 pm. Ms. Hetty Cheng, an Emmy Award-winning reporter for NBC4 Southern California. "ABA's eight founding members transformed a "wish list" into a 40-year milestone of historic accomplishments." said Lynne Choy Uyeda, ABA Founder. "This is a testament to ABA's leadership and benefactors." Hundreds will gather to pay tribute to the significant and often unheralded contributions that Asian Americans are making in business and the Southern California economy.

Honoring:

"The Asian Business Association has a strong commitment to helping diverse Asian-Americans. Not only are they making a difference in business locally but also impacting the community and our great economy," said awards banquet co-chairs Amanda Ma of Innovate Marketing Group and Jay J. Chung of Lee Anav Chung White Kim Ruger & Richter LLP.

"We selected these individuals and organizations because of their business success and their contributions to our economy." said Dennis J. Huang, ABA Executive Director and CEO. "We're grateful also to our sponsors this year for supporting the important work we're doing in the community."

Sponsors include: Toyota, Union Bank, Southern California Edison, AEG, U.S. Bank, Northrop Grumman, Southern California Gas Co., Herman Miller, and The Walt Disney Company, to name a few.

About the Asian Business Association:

The Asian Business Association (ABA) was founded in 1976 to proactively help Asian Americans gain access to economic opportunities and advancement. With more than 700 members, ABA promotes economic development through its educational conferences, seminars, and workshops. These interactive programs are designed to present entrepreneurs with the information, resources, skill-sets, and networking opportunities that they will need to help grow their businesses and successfully compete in the global marketplace.

For more information, please contact:

Asian Business Association, [email protected]

(213) 628-1222

SOURCE Asian Business Association of Los Angeles (ABA)

Related Links

http://abala.org


"This investment validates the demand for technology and services that mitigates the risk of cyber breaches and resulting identity fraud," said Bob Gregg, CEO of ID Experts. "Our new group of investors is extremely well positioned to support ID Experts continued growth."

The increase in cyber threats is resulting in a surge in data breaches, exposing millions of individuals and their sensitive information. Ransomware is quickly becoming the latest cyber-attack epidemic, with hospitals and health systems from California to Maryland hit with attacks this year. "The healthcare industry is currently the most lucrative target for cyber attacks as evidenced by the recent proliferation of healthcare entity breaches and hospital focused ransomware attacks," commented Ted Lundberg, Partner at Peloton Equity. "We are excited to partner with ID Experts to help such organizations lower their cyber risks, handle an incident if it occurs, and mitigate the damages."

"Cyber threats are a global problem, placing enormous challenges on companies that hold sensitive information," said Sean Cunningham, Managing Director at Trident Capital Cybersecurity. "The demand for solutions that ID Experts is developing will continue to increase. We're anticipating an extraordinary collaboration with the company and our fellow investors."

For over 10 years, ID Experts has developed innovative software, combined with identity protection and breach response services, for organizations to address their cyber risks and protect consumers at risk of identity theft and fraud. Over 3 million individuals in the U.S currently use the Company's MyIDCare identity protection solution, which is designed to protect individuals and families from all nine types of identity theft. The Company's identity recovery experts have a 100% success rate to ensure fast, complete identity recovery. Visit https://www.myidcare.com/ to learn more about the nine types of identity theft and how MyIDCare can protect you.

"Peloton's focus in the healthcare segment will bring additional resources and insights to accelerate the Company's adoption of its innovative technologies and data breach services in healthcare," added Justin Yang, Principal at Peloton Equity. "We are particularly excited about MIDAS, which we believe is a unique solution that addresses the growing fraud footprint in healthcare."

In order to specifically address healthcare identity crime risks, ID Experts developed a medical ID alert system  MIDAS  the first and only such solution intended to engage consumers in helping detect and address healthcare identity theft and fraud. In July of 2015, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association announced that Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies will make identity protection services available to their eligible customers. ID Experts was selected as one of the preferred providers of these services and is now working with several Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies.

Portico Capital Securities LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to ID Experts with respect to this transaction.

About ID Experts

At ID Experts, we protect millions of consumers with our identity protection software and services and have a 100 percent success record for identity recovery. We are trusted by thousands of organizations to manage cyber and other risks with our data breach response services and are the largest provider of identity protection products to the federal government. We serve customers in healthcare, government, insurance, financial services, and higher education. ID Experts actively contributes to the cyber risk community through organizations including NHCAA, HCCA, MIFA, and IAPP. Visit www2.idexpertscorp.com for more information.

About Peloton Equity

Peloton Equity, LLC (www.pelotonequity.com) is a private equity firm that focuses exclusively on growth capital investments in the healthcare industry. Peloton's investment team has over 40 years of combined investing experience and has made investments across many major healthcare subsectors. Recent investments made by Peloton include AeroCare Holdings, Arcadia Solutions and HealthPlanOne. Peloton leverages its extensive healthcare network, value building diligence and investment process, and portfolio management playbook to add value to its portfolio companies. Peloton seeks companies with between $20 and $200 million of revenue and the management team, market opportunity and business model to grow revenues meaningfully over the life of its investment.

About Trident Capital Cybersecurity

Trident Capital Cybersecurity is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies leveraging emerging technologies in cybersecurity. Trident Capital Cybersecurity is a spinout of Trident Capital, which was among the pioneers in cybersecurity venture capital investing, starting in 1998. Managing Directors Alberto Yepez, Don Dixon and Sean Cunningham jointly lead the cybersecurity investment team and are on the boards of 4iQ, Airtight Networks, AlienVault, Appthority, Bayshore Networks, Blue Cat, Hytrust, ID Experts, IronNet Cybersecurity, Mocana, and Qualys. Renowned as the venture capital firm with the most valuable network of relationships in cybersecurity, Trident Cybersecurity has a 40person Cybersecurity Advisory Council, including industry CEOs, customers and former top-level government leaders. For more information, visit www.tridentcybersecurity.com.

About BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, L.P.

BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, L.P. is a corporate venture fund licensed by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. The fund invests in promising emerging companies of strategic relevance to Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans. Sandbox Industries is the exclusive provider of investment management services to BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners. For more information, please visit www.bcbsvp.com.

About Portico Capital Securities LLC

Portico Capital provides independent strategic and financial advisory services in the areas of mergers & acquisitions (M&A), recapitalizations and capital raisings exclusively to private and public companies in the global information and business services sector. The firm, founded in 2000, has offices in Greenwich, Connecticut and London, England. For more information, please visit www.porticocapital.com.

Media Contacts:

Kelly Stremel or Lisa MacKenzie

MacKenzie Marketing Group

503-225-0725

[email protected]

[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399241

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399242LOGO

SOURCE ID Experts

Related Links

http://www.idexpertscorp.com/


CLEARWATER, Fla., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- e-TeleQuote Insurance, Inc. earns 113th spot on the 2016 Inc. Magazine 5000 Ranking. Inc. Magazine for the past 35 years has ranked the nation's fastest growing private companies, in which e-TeleQuote ranks 113, sharing the space with other previous Inc. 500 honorees like Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, GoPro, Timberland, Clif Bar, Patagonia, and Oracle. The company is one of only 20 repeat honorees among the top 150 this year who had been among the top 500 in previous years. e-TeleQuote posted 2,908% revenue growth over the past 3 years.

Complete stats on the company's growth can be found at http://www.inc.com/profile/e-telequote-insurance?cid=full500016-list-113

CEO and Founder Anthony P. Solazzo acknowledged and congratulated his team for the achievement, and promised better service to customers:

Our team is responsible for this success, and I continue to be very proud of what we have accomplished as a result of the work they have done. This recognition is proof of the team's commitment to the company's mission: acting as an advocate for consumers nationwide with commitment, dedication and expertise.

We at e-TeleQuote recognize how the myriad of choices make it difficult for consumers to efficiently assess and select their healthcare options. We remain committed to working with Medicare beneficiaries to help identify plans that meet their specific needs and share plan information transparently, in a consumer advocate and carrier agnostic fashion. The addition of our second facility in Brooksville, FL to that already operating in Clearwater, FL is further validation of our model and the value we bring to consumers in that important decision making process.

According to Forbes, 90 percent of all startups fail. We have been among the fortunate 10 percent. Not only that, we are among the few companies who have reached this far in a very short period of time. We are sure to take this encouragement as a promise to serve our clients better, and in turn serve our company better! We look forward to both in the years to come.

The ranking was unveiled by Inc. Magazine on its website on August 17, 2016. On average, the companies on the list have grown almost nine-fold over the past three years. The Inc 5000's aggregate revenue is $200 billion, generating 640,000 jobs over the past three years. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000

The Inc. 500|5000 is a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation. Started in 1982, this prestigious list of the nation's most successful private companies has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success.

About e-TeleQuote

e-TeleQuote Insurance Inc., a licensed digital insurance agency, was launched in 2011 and is headquartered in Clearwater, FL. It employs over 125 associates to sell Medicare insurance products to people aged 65 years and above in 50 states. The company specializes in providing expert insurance consultation and customized plans to its clients. e-TeleQuote represents Humana, United HealthCare, Cigna HealthSpring, Transamerica, Mutual of Omaha, Aetna and over 20 Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates. More information about the Company can be found at http://www.e-telequote.com

e-TeleQuote was ranked #87 in the 2015 Inc. 5000 Ranking: https://www.e-telequote.com/e-telequote-insurance-ranks-no-87-on-the-2015-inc/

Inc. 5000 Eligibility

The 2016 Inc. 5000 Rankings is built by comparing percentage revenue growth from the year 2012 to 2015. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2012. These companies should be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, independent, and not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies. The minimum revenue required for 2012 is $100,000; the minimum for 2015 is $2 million.

As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.'s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/500

About Inc. Media

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today's innovative company builders. It was the winner of the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in both 2014 and 2012. Total monthly audience reach for the brand has grown significantly from 2,000,000 in 2010 to over 13,000,000 today.

For more information in Inc. 5000 and Inc. Media, visit http://www.inc.com

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150818/259431LOGO

SOURCE e-TeleQuote Insurance, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.e-telequote.com


CHICAGO, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine today ranked BCV NO. 1241 on its 35th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. the list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy's most dynamic segment its independent small businesses. Companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Domino's Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399122

"We are excited and honored to be recognized as one of the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies", said Benji Greenberg, CEO and Co-Founder, BCV. "We've had the privilege to work with an incredible group of partners who believed in our early vision of harnessing social media through technology to drive revenue and reputation for the hospitality market. We are also extremely appreciative of our team's hard work in helping us get here and continued excellence in propelling BCV into the future. We look forward to many more years of being included in this prestigious list, as social media continues to be a driving force of successful hotel marketing and operations."

The 2016 Inc. 5000, unveiled online at Inc.com and with the top 500 companies featured in the September issue of Inc. (available on newsstands August 23) is the most competitive crop in the list's history. The average company on the list achieved a mind-boggling three-year growth of 433%. The Inc. 5000's aggregate revenue is $200 billion, and the companies on the list collectively generated 640,000 jobs over the past three years, or about 8% of all jobs created in the entire economy during that period. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.

"The Inc. 5000 list stands out where it really counts," says Inc. President and Editor-In-Chief Eric Schurenberg. "It honors real achievement by a founder or a team of them. No one makes the Inc. 5000 without building something great  usually from scratch. That's one of the hardest things to do in business, as every company founder knows. But without it, free enterprise fails."

The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring all the companies on the list will be held from October 18 through 20, in San Antonio, TX. Speakers include some of the greatest entrepreneurs of this and past generations, such as best-selling author and strategist Tony Robbins, SoulCycle co-founders Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice, Cornerstone OnDemand founder, president and CEO Adam Miller, Marvell Technology Group director and co-founder Weili Dai, and New Belgium Brewing co-founder and executive chair Kim Jordan.

About BCV

BCV, located in Chicago, is the premier full-service social media solutions provider in the hospitality industry. The company provides a full suite of technology enabled social media solutions 24 hours a day, seven days a week. BCV's comprehensive management solutions are supported by a robust arsenal of cutting-edge tools and analytics designed to drive traffic, increase sales, create unforgettable experiences for guests, and mitigate negative customer interactions. BCV currently provides its social media solutions to hospitality clients operating under the most elite brands in the industry: Four Seasons, One&Only, Marriott, Starwood, InterContinental, Hilton, Hyatt, Fontainebleau as well as industry leading ownership groups such as Strategic Hotels & Resorts and Blackstone. For more information visit: www.bcvevolve.com

More about Inc. and the Inc. 500|5000

Methodology

The 2016 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2012 to 2015. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2012. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2015. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2012 is $100,000; the minimum for 2015 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.'s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000.

About Inc. Media:

Founded in 1979 and acquid in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today's innovative company builders. Winner of the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in both 2014 and 2012. Total monthly audience reach for the brand has grown significantly from 2,000,000 in 2010 to over 15,000,000 today. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

The Inc. 5000 is a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation. Started in 1982, this prestigious list of the nation's most successful private companies has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success. The Inc. 5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony is an annual event that celebrates their remarkable achievements. The event also offers informative workshops, celebrated keynote speakers, and evening functions.

For more information on Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/.

For more information contact:

Inc. Media

Drew Kerr

212-849-8250

[email protected]

CONTACT: Lori Alexander

BCV

224.333.1255

[email protected]

Media Contact: Lori Alexander, BCV, 7732133644, [email protected]

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

SOURCE BCV

Related Links

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OTTAWA, Ontario, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- INCEPTRUM Technologies Inc., a FIX infrastructure solutions provider to the capital market industry, today announced that the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has deployed FIX Testbench, an automated test platform (with high session capacity) for verifying and profiling FIX trading networks.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160818/399473

Automate Functional, Performance and Stress testing of your FIX network. Profile all message types, while running your Regression tests.

CSE selected FIX Testbench to automate, Functional, Performance and Stress testing of their FIX trading network, while also reducing test execution times and associated operating costs.

"We selected Inceptrum because of our past experience working with their flexible, feature rich, cost-effective FIX infrastructure solutions said David Timpany, Vice President, Technology & Operations, CSE. "The recent release of their high capacity automated test platform, FIX Testbench, provides us with the next step in our strategy to fully automate our Regression testing that compliments other initiatives at the CSE, focused on cost and operational efficiencies and increased quality assurance."

Dmitry Kursov, President & CTO, Inceptrum said "The rapid adoption of FIX Testbench by CSE, is proof, that we are providing the right set of features, such as, the ability to execute and profile 1000+ FIX sessions within a single test run. We believe that our new FIX Testbench platform provides an innovative, cost effective and flexible approach for FIX trading network and application testing."

Please visit www.inceptrum.com for more information on this product.

[email protected]

About CSE

The Canadian Securities Exchange is home to more than 300 uniquely listed issues covering a broad range of industry sectors. The exchange provides trade execution, smart routing, risk management, compliance and market information services for Canadian listed instruments. Recognized as an exchange by the Ontario Securities Commission in 2004, the CSE is designed to facilitate the capital formation process for public companies through a streamlined approach to company regulation that emphasizes disclosure and the provision of efficient secondary market trading services for investors.

www.thecse.com

About INCEPTRUM

INCEPTRUM Technologies Inc. is a Canadian privately held company, located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, providing software and hardware FIX infrastructure solutions to a wide range of capital market sectors. The company specializes in providing creative, leading-edge, low data latency solutions for the financial industry.

www.inceptrum.com

Media Contact:

Ian Hughes, Dir. Business Development

Inceptrum Technologies Inc.

[email protected]

616.699.2016 (direct)

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com.

SOURCE Inceptrum Technologies Inc

Related Links

http://www.inceptrum.com


REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ItsOn, the leader in digital transformation for mobile operators, was selected this week as a finalist in mobile cloud category of the 2016 CTIA Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Awards. The awards ceremony will take place at CTIA Super Mobility on September 8, 2016.

The ItsOn platform was recognized for its cloud-client solution that enables carriers to rapidly create and deploy new services and business models while delivering superior end-user mobile experiences. Through ItsOn's cloud-based software, mobile operators can engage customers through on-device software with real-time, contextual notifications, usage information and self-service, creating a personalized customer experience.

"We are honored to be recognized as a finalist in the mobile cloud category and see it as a result of ItsOn's mission to deliver innovative cloud services to mobile operators." said Robert Oberhofer, Ph.D., ItsOn Vice President of Technical Sales and Marketing. "Our recent partnerships with Telefonica Mexico and Saudi Telecom Company are proof points that operators across the globe are seeking innovative solutions to meet today's customer needs with today's technology."

The CTIA E-Tech Awards is now in its tenth year of recognizing mobile products and services for excellence in transforming networks, businesses, smart cities, connected consumers and government. First, second and third place winners will be recognized at CTIA Super Mobility on September 8 in Las Vegas. The ceremony will take place at the Connected Life and Startup Stage (booth #3715) at 2:00 p.m. PT.

"CTIA awards represent the wireless industry's highest honors in innovation, functionality and technological importance," said CTIA Show Director and Conventions AVP Heather Lee. "We look forward to showcasing how these mobile products and services will benefit businesses and consumers."

About ItsOn

ItsOn is a proven leader in the telecommunications industry, having fundamentally changed how mobile services are delivered and consumed. The company launched its services platform for mobile operators in the U.S. and globally last year, and counts Saudi Telecom Company, Telefonica Mexico, MTN, Sprint and Virgin Mobile as customers. ItsOn investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Tenaya Capital, Vodafone Ventures, Verizon Investments, Cisco and Delta Capital Partners. The company is privately held and headquartered in Redwood City, CA. For more information, please visit www.itsoninc.com or follow @ItsOnInc on Twitter.

SOURCE ItsOn

Related Links

http://www.itsoninc.com


BARCELONA, Spain, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ferrer, a privately-held pharmaceutical company based in Barcelona, today announced the online publication of findings from the company-sponsored MINERVA study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). The study, "Assessing the Impact of Medication Adherence on Long-term Cardiovascular Outcomes," investigated associations between medication adherence and long-term major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients' post-myocardial infarction (MI) and those with atherosclerotic disease (ATH). Study findings showed a significant association between higher adherence rates and improved patient outcomes, and reductions in healthcare costs.

Recent statistics show that cardiovascular disease with established atherosclerotic (i.e., coronary, cerebrovascular and peripheral artery) disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S., affecting more than 83 million Americans.1 However, nearly half of these patients do not adhere to their prescribed regimen two years following an initial cardiovascular event.2

"One of the biggest challenges cardiologists face with patients who have already experienced a cardiovascular event is medication adherence," said Valentin Fuster, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, General Director of Spain's National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) and MINERVA Principal Investigator. "Often, patients diligently follow medication regimens immediately following a CV event, like a heart attack, only to falter as time progresses  either because prescriptions become too expensive or because they become discouraged by the pill burden associated with the post-CV event regimen. The data we obtained and analyzed from Aetna, the nation's fourth-largest health insurer, is yet another proof point that the simple act of reliably taking medication could significantly reduce patients' secondary events  potentially improving patient outcomes and saving money."

Key Findings

In the post-MI cohort, which included 4,015 adults who initiated both statins and ace-inhibitor (ACEI) medications, only 43 percent of patients were classified as fully adherent, 31 percent were classified as partially adherent and 26 percent of patients were classified as non-adherent. Findings showed that acute post-MI patients must maintain a very high level of adherence (greater than 80 percent) in order to accrue the benefit  prevention of a secondary CV event. Fully adherent patients were at a significantly lower risk of MACE than partially adherent (a 19 percent risk reduction) and non-adherent populations (a 27 percent risk reduction). There was no statistical difference in risk observed between the non-adherent and partially adherent groups. Full adherence was tied to reduced per patient annual direct medical costs associated with hospitalizations for MI of $369 and $440 and for revascularizations of $539 and $844 over partial and non-adherence respectively.

The ATH cohort, which included 12,976 adults who initiated both statin and ACEI medications and also had two coronary, cerebrovascular or peripheral artery disease ICD codes (claims) within one category or a revascularization code, exhibited a more worrisome situation in terms of adherence pattern; only 34 percent were fully adherent. Fully adherent patients had significantly lower risk of MACE compared to the two other groups  a 44 percent risk reduction compared to non-adherent patients and a 24 percent risk reduction compared to partially adherent patients. They also showed a statistically significant reduction in hospitalizations of the composite outcome compared to the non-adherent group (p<0.0001). Full adherence was associated with reduced per patient annual direct medical costs associated with hospitalization for MI of $116 and $215 and for revascularizations of $288 and $799 over partial and non-adherence respectively.

First author Sameer Bansilal, M.D., M.S., Assistant Professor (Cardiology) at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said, "The fact that less than half the patients are adherent with life-saving medications soon after their heart attack, and only one-third continue to take their medications reliably, defines the magnitude of this problem. We have spent the last two decades generating evidence for the efficacy and safety for these drugs -- now it's time to make sure we deliver them adequately."

"These study results raise important questions about what actionable steps cardiologists and others who care for these patients should take to ensure patient adherence to prescribed regimens," Fuster said. "Counseling and close patient monitoring improve adherence, but these interventions can be complicated and expensive, and are only part of the solution. Predictive models indicate that interventions that reduce patients' pill burden, specifically the CV polypill for secondary prevention, used in concert with other efforts show promise for improving adherence, and ultimately patient outcomes."

The CV polypill for secondary prevention is a medication that combines three common medications prescribed post-CV event into one treatment. A U.S. study that evaluated the efficiency of different interventions (mailed education, disease management and the CV polypill for secondary prevention) showed that the CV polypill for secondary prevention combined with mailed education could be cost-effective and potentially cost-saving.3 Furthermore, a recent study demonstrated that the improved treatment adherence achievable using a fixed-dose combination CV polypill for secondary prevention to prevent recurring MI can avoid up to 15 percent more fatal and non-fatal CV hospitalizations than the components administered separately, conferring potential savings to healthcare systems.4

"MINERVA data point to the crucial role long-term medication adherence plays in reducing the risk of a secondary CV event in post-MI and ATH patients," said Mr. Mario Rovirosa, Chief Operating Officer Pharma of Ferrer, the Barcelona-based international pharmaceutical company that sponsored the MINERVA study. "Dr. Fuster, his co-authors and many others in the CV care community, suggest that patients could benefit from a CV polypill for secondary prevention to help improve adherence, reduce the risk of additional MACE events and save money."

Read the full article published in the latest issue of JACC.

Study Methodology

This non-concurrent cohort study was carried out using 2010-2013 data from Aetna Commercial & Medicare Advantage population databases. Data consisted of enrollment records as well as medical and pharmacy health insurance claims from a large and geographically diverse, insured population. These records were linked, allowing for comprehensive tracking of individuals' use of healthcare resources and clinical outcomes over time and across providers.

Researchers queried Aetna's claims database for patients hospitalized with either MI or ATH to determine the relationship between extended medication adherence and reduction in MACE.

The primary outcome measure, defined as a major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE), was a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, stroke or coronary revascularization. Using proportion of days covered (PDC) for statins and ACEI, patients were stratified by PDC as fully adherent (80 percent), partially adherent (40 percent to 79 percent) or non-adherent (<40 percent). Incidence functions and rates of hospitalizations between groups were compared.

About Ferrer

Founded in 1959, Ferrer is a privately-held pharmaceutical company based in Barcelona, with full vertical integration from R&D to distribution. Present in more than 95 countries, Ferrer is active in the pharmaceutical, health, fine chemicals and food sectors, key areas for contributing to people's health and quality of life.





1 Go AS, Mozaffarian D, Roger VL, Benjamin EJ, Berry JD, Blaha MJ, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics--2014 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2014;129(3):e28. 2 Naderi SH, Bestwick JP, Wald DS. Adherence to drugs that prevent cardiovascular disease: meta-analysis on 376,162 patients. Am J Med. 2012;125(9):882-7. e1. 3 Ito K, Shrank WH, Avorn J, Patrick AR, Brennan TA, Antman EM, et al. Comparative CostEffectiveness of Interventions to Improve Medication Adherence After Myocardial Infarction. Health services research. 2012;47(6):2097-117. 4 Becerra V, Gracia A, Desai K, Abogunrin S, Brand S, Chapman R, Garcia Alonso F, Fuster V and Sanz G. Cost-effectiveness and public health benefit of secondary cardiovascular disease prevention from improved adherence using a polypill in the UK. BMJ Open. 2015;5:e007111.

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SOURCE Ferrer
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Kingdom Ridge Capital, LLC announced today that Linet Achieng of Hekima Place, a home for orphaned and vulnerable girls in Kenya, has been elected student body Chairperson at St. Paul's University for the 2016-17 school year. Linet is the first woman to hold the Chairperson position at St. Paul's University. Ms. Achieng is attending St. Paul's University in Nairobi, Kenya on a scholarship awarded by Kingdom Ridge Capital, LLC of White Plains, New York.

Hekima Place, founded by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native Kate Fletcher, is a home for orphaned and vulnerable girls in Kenya, many of whom have been orphaned because of HIV/AIDS. Hekima Place, located in the Rift Valley Province town of Kiserian, Kenya, is now home to 85 girls, including 20 who attend universities and vocational training schools throughout Kenya.

"Linet was one of the first girls Kate took in ten years ago," said Chris Zepf, Founder and Managing Principal of Kingdom Ridge Capital. "It is heartwarming to see what Linet has accomplished with the opportunity Hekima Place provided."

Mr. Zepf, who is a member of the Hekima Place Board of Directors, continued, "We are so proud of Linet and look forward to seeing the wonderful things she will accomplish over the next ten years and beyond."

Hekima Place opened its doors in 2005. The children's home provides girls who have been orphaned, abandoned, or victimized by abuse with a safe, loving, faith-based home that supports excellence in education and empowerment for their futures. Hekima Place is a 501c3 non-profit organization in the United States based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The life-changing work of Hekima Place is supported by individuals, churches and organizations in the United States, Canada, Europe and Kenya.

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Kingdom Ridge Capital, LLC
Selected to receive the Organic Rising Star Award, Mike Fata of Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods first became involved in the organic industry in his twenties shortly after he helped legalize industrial hemp in Canada and started Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods. Partnering directly with Canadian farmers, he has advocated for more organic acres for over a decade. As CEO of Manitoba Harvest, he has insisted on organic options and helped bring organic to mainstream markets in North America and around the world.

"Advocating for organic is advocating for a larger change in our world. It is a change that involves a movement of enlightened people. Being recognized as a rising star within the movement is a tremendous honor," explained Mike Fata, CEO and Co-Founder of Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods. "I'm proud to share this honor with my entire team at Manitoba Harvest who aspire to continue growing the organics industry."

Fata is committed to continue learning, educating and working with farmers to encourage transitioning land to become certified organic, and stressing the importance of organic certification at retail and consumer trainings. A long-time member of the Organic Trade Association, he currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Canada Organic Trade Association. Fata also sits on the Canadian Health Food Association Board, where he helps advocate for organic options across the entire industry.

"Mike takes a hands-on approach, actively involved in the day-to-day promotion of the organic industry. Whether dealing with suppliers, customers or consumers, he ensures organic is part of the conversation," says Marci Zaroff, founder of Under the Canopy and a member of the Board of Directors of the Organic Trade Association.

Just in Canada, research shows that 98 percent of consumers expect to increase their purchases of organic food next year. Demand for certified organic food exceeds current supply. This year, Mike and Manitoba Harvest's Farm Services team increased their contracted organic hemp acreage by 60 percent. The plan is to continue increasing organic hemp acres and educating on organic farming practices overall.

OTA has also announced that the farmers of the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative will receive the prestigious Organic Farmer of the Year award. All honorees will be recognized at the Organic Trade Association's Annual Awards Celebration Wednesday, September 21, in ceremonies at the Columbus Center Baltimore, MD, as the kick-off event for Natural Products Expo East. Celebrate with your colleagues and honor these organic collaborators who lead.

The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is the membership-based business association for organic agriculture and products in North America. OTA is the leading voice for the organic trade in the United States, representing over 8,500 organic businesses across 50 states. Its members include growers, shippers, processors, certifiers, farmers' associations, distributors, importers, exporters, consultants, retailers and others. OTA's Board of Directors is democratically elected by its members. OTA's mission is to promote and protect ORGANIC with a unifying voice that serves and engages its diverse members from farm to marketplace.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160818/399337

SOURCE Organic Trade Association

Related Links

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ATLANTA, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), the largest public transit system in the southern U.S., announced today it has added Purchasing Power, an employee purchase program, as a new voluntary benefit to its employee benefits package. Starting Aug. 18, 2016, MARTA employees can purchase a wide variety of brand name consumer products and quality services through a simple payroll deduction plan regardless of their credit history.

Through Purchasing Power, MARTA employees now have access to 45,000 products and services, including computers and tablets; electronics; home appliances; furniture and mattresses; fitness equipment and sporting goods; nursery and baby gear; musical instruments; vacation packages; automotive service contracts and tires; and educational services including professional certifications, online college courses and SAT/ACT test preparation. The voluntary benefit program offers employees the convenience of automatic payments over time without the fees, penalties and ballooning interest associated with other payment options.

Additionally, Purchasing Power offers a comprehensive financial wellness platform that provides a holistic approach to financial education and best practices. Employees can access a number of financial tools and resources including a core financial education program, free credit report, alternative credit reporting, and rewards for saving money and paying down debt.

"More and more companies like MARTA are realizing the value of a benefit that helps employees manage their finances in a responsible, disciplined way," says Christy DeFrain, vice president of sales and account management for Purchasing Power. "Our program provides workers the opportunity to purchase valuable products such as laptop computers for students or major household appliances without having to qualify with a required FICO score. Employers are finding that their employees are less financially stressed over revolving credit issues and more productive in return."

Purchasing Power pioneered the concept of an employee purchase program as a voluntary benefit to provide a disciplined budget plan for employees to access products and services. This industry-leading benefit today is available to 7.8 million American workers through companies with 1,000+ employees, associations and government agencies.

About Purchasing Power, LLC

Purchasing Power is one of the fastest-growing voluntary benefit companies in the industry, offering a leading employee purchase program for consumer products and services as well as providing financial tools and resources to improve employees' financial wellness. Purchasing Power is available to 7.8 million people through large companiesincluding Fortune 100sassociations and government agencies. Headquartered in Atlanta, Purchasing Power is 'Powering People to a Better Life' through its employee purchase program, financial literacy efforts and charitable contributions. Purchasing Power is a Rockbridge Growth Equity, LLC Company. For more information, visit www.PurchasingPower.com.

"A Better Way to Buy" and "Powering People to a Better Life" are trademarks, and "Purchasing Power" is a registered trademark, of Purchasing Power, LLC.

About MARTA

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is the ninth largest transit system in the U.S. and North America that provides bus, rail and paratransit service to a population of 1.65 million in the City of Atlanta, Clayton, Fulton and DeKalb Counties. An integral part of the community, the economy and the transportation system in the region, MARTA provides a meaningful mobility choice and attractive alternative to the automobile to nearly half a million passenger boardings each weekday. Approximately 31.6 miles of the nearly 48-mile rail system are located in Fulton County, with 14.7 miles in DeKalb County and 7 miles (to the airport) in Clayton County.

Media Contact:

Juliann Kaiser, 770.643.0615

[email protected]

Joe Swaney, 404.609.5630

[email protected]

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SOURCE Purchasing Power, LLC

Related Links

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Masonite was selected as an Eco-Leader for its innovative new uses of waste to improve material production and benefit local industries. Masonite also is recognized for improving design of fiberglass doors to look like exotic wood species, saving rare wood from being harvested.

"Masonite has incorporated sustainability into the company since it was formed over 90 years ago. While it has always been a part of the Masonite business model, we are continually looking at ways to create more sustainable products, reduce waste, and improve sustainable processes. We are honored to be recognized as an Eco-Leader and will continue to strive to find new and innovative ways to ensure we reduce our impact on the environment," said Frederick Lynch, president and CEO of Masonite International Corporation.

Every year, Masonite encourages its approximately 65 manufacturing plants around the world to enter its Environmental Excellence Awards competition. The competition recognizes plant initiatives that improve the environmental impact of Masonite's products and manufacturing techniques. In 2015, one of Masonite's North American plants won for developing a process to reuse left over scrap boards by grinding them up and adding them back into the production process.

Masonite also creates innovative products that are better for the environment, such as AvantGuard entry doors that are fiberglass but made to look like exotic wood species. The fiberglass doors go through a large printer that applies an image of a high-end wood species, including teak, Spanish cedar, cherry and black walnut. The image captures the wood's unique graining and pattern to look exactly like real wood. This process saves exotic or rare wood from being harvested and results in a less expensive product with a longer life span.

Green Builder Media, the building industry's leading magazine focused on green building and sustainable development, selects companies for the annual Eco-Leader List based on several criteria. This includes companies who invent new ways to manufacture products using renewable energy, design homes that are net-zero for water and waste, reduce waste by finding new applications that benefit other industries, and creating products that use energy more efficiently. These companies also get their employees involved and they give back to the community.

"Congratulations to these eco leading companies for daring to be different, for accepting the responsibility of making the planet a better place, and for taking the risk to create positive change in the world," said Sara Gutterman, Green Builder Media CEO. "We commend their efforts."

Masonite is one of the world's leading manufacturers of interior doors and entry door systems. Throughout the company's more than 90-year history, Masonite has maintained its focus on leading-edge innovation, manufacturing excellence and superior customer service. Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., Masonite employs over 7,000 people worldwide.

For more information about Masonite, visit www.masonite.com.

About Masonite

Masonite International Corporation is a leading global designer and manufacturer of interior and exterior doors for the residential new construction; the residential repair, renovation and remodeling; and the non-residential building construction markets. Since 1925, Masonite has provided its customers with innovative products and superior service at compelling values. Masonite currently serves more than 8,000 customers in 73 countries. Additional information about Masonite can be found at www.masonite.com.

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SOURCE Masonite International Corporation

Related Links

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MOSCOW, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("MTS" NYSE: MBT; MOEX: MTSS), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, today announces its unaudited IFRS financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2016.

Key Financial Highlights of Q2 2016

Consolidated group revenue increased by 5.3% y-o-y to RUB 108.1 bln

Total revenue in Russia rose by 3.3% y-o-y to RUB 97.4 bln

rose by 3.3% y-o-y to Mobile service revenue in Russia increased by 0.1% y-o-y to RUB 72.8 bln

increased by 0.1% y-o-y to Sales of goods in Russia increased by 38.7% y-o-y to RUB 10.6 bln

increased by 38.7% y-o-y to Active subscriber base increased by 3.5% for the Group to 109.0 mln

MTS's proprietary retail network in Russia increased to 5,838 stores

increased to 5,838 stores Revenue in Ukraine increased by 13.5% y-o-y to UAH 2.7 bln

increased by 13.5% y-o-y to UAH 2.7 bln YTD Free Cash Flow reached nearly RUB 24.0 bln

Total Group debt fell to RUB 274.5 [1] bln as Net Debt/LTM Adjusted OIBDA remained stable at 1.1x

Key Corporate and Industry Highlights

Paid out in dividends RUB 28.0 bln or RUB 14.01 per ordinary MTS share ( RUB 28.02 per ADR) based on FY2015 results

or per ordinary MTS share ( per ADR) based on FY2015 results The Board of Directors recommended that the Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders approve semi-annual dividends of RUB 11.99 per ordinary MTS share ( RUB 23.98 per ADR), or a total of RUB 24.0 bln , based on H1 2016 financial results

per ordinary MTS share ( per ADR), or a total of , based on H1 2016 financial results MTS through its subsidiary, Dega Retail Holding Limited, repurchased USD 267 mln of Loan Participation Notes due in 2020 (issued in 2010 in the amount of USD 750,000,000 at 8.625%) through a tender offer

of Loan Participation Notes due in 2020 (issued in 2010 in the amount of at 8.625%) through a tender offer Sold 50.01% stake in the telecommunications operator Universal Mobile Systems (UMS) to the State Unitary Enterprise Centre of Radio Communication, Radio Broadcasting and Television of The Ministry of Development of Information Technologies and Communications of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Commentary

Mr. Andrei Dubovskov, President and CEO of MTS, commented, "For the period, we are pleased to report strong topline growth of 5.3% as total Group revenue increased to RUB 108.1 bln. Factors that have allowed us to build on our successful 3D strategy and set the pace for the market include: strong retail sales; stable service revenue despite on-going weaker usage in certain mobile market segments; growth in B2C home Internet and pay-tv markets; and growth in Ukraine through the steady adoption of 3G data services.

--------------------------------------------------

[1] Net of financial leasing and unamortized debt issuance cost adjustment, as of June 30, 2016

Macroeconomic factors and competitive issues continue to impact our performance in many ways, in particular voice and messaging usage in roaming, but in sum, our group revenue performance currently out-paces the market."

Mr. Dubovskov continued, "OIBDA performance was slightly weaker in Q2 than anticipated as we witnessed a 4.3% decline in OIBDA for an OIBDA margin of nearly 38%. Our guidance for the year was predicated on changes in the retail environment, but we continue to see strong competitor activity in this space. Retail competition impacts both the gross margin and OIBDA directly, but it also has a sustained impact on effective pricing. These factors, combined with the continued macroeconomic volatility throughout our markets, dampened our performance for the period."

Mr. Vasyl Latsanych, Vice President, Strategy and Marketing, commented, "Total revenue in Russia increased by 3.3% to RUB 97.4 bln. Our mobile business revenue grew slightly during the period as we see a continuation of trends that had previously defined our growth: stronger data usage due to both the growth of customer usage and migration to data plans, as smartphone penetration reached over 51%; 3.2% growth in subscribers as we focus more on sales through our proprietary retail channels; and higher handset sales as we continue to implement our retail strategy of upgrading existing feature phone users, as well as attracting new active voice and data users."

Mr. Latsanych continued, "In our fixed-line business, revenue decreased by 2.8% to RUB 15.3 bln. We see continuous growth from our B2C broadband and pay-TV markets, as market shares in Moscow in both home internet and pay-tv rose. However, overall B2B and B2G spending has fallen due to macroeconomic factors, which reduces overall voice calling. In Ukraine, revenue for the period increased by 13.5% to UAH 2.7 bln. Key drivers include an increase of subscribers and data consumption, which is rising as we have rolled out 3G to all major population centers throughout Ukraine. Among our foreign subsidiaries, revenue in Armenia declined 18.6% year-over-year, while in Turkmenistan, we saw a 7.5% decline. Both markets remain exposed to macroeconomic trends, which continue to weaken voice and data usage."

Alexey Kornya, Vice President, Finance, Investments and M&A, added, "We witnessed a decline in year-over-year group OIBDA of 4.3% to RUB 40.9 bln. While the decline we have seen in the contribution from our foreign subsidiaries has stabilized, Russia witnessed OIBDA decline due to factors we have long identified as having a negative impact on our OIBDA, including higher retail expenses and also roaming costs in light of higher currency volatility. Overall, for the first half of 2016, we are only down 2.2% on OIBDA, which is close to our previous guidance of minus 2%."

Mr. Kornya continued, "Group net profit for the period decreased year-over-year to RUB 9.1 bln. Primary this decline was attributable to a number of factors, including OIBDA trends; the accelerated realization of RUB 3.1 bln in interest expense due to our repurchase of USD 267 mln of our 2020 Eurobond notes; and a smaller non-cash FOREX gain compared to Q2 2015 of RUB 1.0 bln for the period, due to relative ruble weakness vis-a-vis our non-ruble denominated debt."

"Free cash flow to date amounted to 24.0 billion rubles, an increase of 22% year-over-year for the period. CAPEX equaled nearly RUB 40.0 bln, lower than in H1 2015, but in line with our guidance of RUB 85 bln for the year. Spending is lower in each of our markets as we focus on incremental investments in our more developed data markets and have completed our launch of our core 3G network in Ukraine.

"Recently, we paid out dividends of RUB 28.0 bln or RUB 14.01 per share. The Board of Directors also recommended that an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders approve a semi-annual dividend payment of close to RUB 24.0 bln or RUB 11.99 per share, which would satisfy our commitment to deliver RUB 25 - 26 per share in dividends over the course of calendar year 2016.

"By the end of the period, total debt stood at RUB 274.5 bln[2], which is trending lower due to our on-going debt repayments as well as financial policies. Our net debt/LTM Adjusted OIBDA remained stable at a manageable 1.1x, a comfortable level for the Company and very low in relation to our peers. Virtually our entire non-ruble debt position is currently covered by a combination of hedges, short-term deposits and stable long-term investments, all of which are denominated in US dollar or Euro. Adding to this, we repurchased USD 267 mln of our 2020 Eurobonds in Q2 to take advantage of a strong market and our favorable liquidity position to provide hedges against currency volatility and balance sheet flexibility. We remain focused on sustaining a strong balance sheet and identifying further ways to optimize our debt portfolio."

2016 Outlook

In accordance with IFRS 5 disclosure requirements, from Q3 2016 the Group shall present financial results in a manner that enables users of the financial statements to evaluate the effects of discontinued operations. Results of discontinued operations shall be excluded from the results of continuing operations and presented separately as a single amount in the statement of comprehensive income.

Group Revenue: For 2016, MTS amends its Group revenue outlook to 2-3% growth, due to disposal of UMS LLC and expected full deconsolidation of UMS's financial results in Q3 2016 and other factors:

Subscriber growth in Russia ;

; Rising data usage and sustained data adoption in Russia and Ukraine ;

and ; Increased sales of handsets in Russia ; and

; and Rising share in Moscow B2C broadband/pay-TV markets.

Group OIBDA: MTS is compelled to revise its outlook on adjusted Group OIBDA growth to -4% due primarily to the sale of UMS LLC as well as other factors:

Sustained competitive pressures in the Russian distribution market and the Company's strategic efforts to sustain market share;

The build-out of 3G in Ukraine and non-market factors impacting our profitability;

and non-market factors impacting our profitability; Developments in foreign subsidiaries; and

Macroeconomic developments and currency volatility throughout our markets of operation.

Group CAPEX: MTS affirms its Group CAPEX guidance of RUB 85 bln

Additional Information

MTS continues to see sustained macroeconomic volatility in its markets of operations that may impact the financial and operational performance throughout the Group.

Conference Call

The conference call will start today at:

--------------------------------------------------

[2] Net of financial leasing and unamortized debt issuance cost adjustment, as of June 30, 2016

18:00 hrs (Moscow time)

16:00 hrs (London time)

11:00 hrs (US Eastern time)

To take part in the conference call, please dial one of the following telephone numbers and quote the confirmation code, 9935476

From Russia + 7 495 545 0588

From the UK: + 44(0)20 3427 1906

From the US: + 1 646 254 3361

The conference call will also be available at: http://www.mtsgsm.com/news/reports/ via audio webcast.

A replay of the conference call will be available for seven days on the following telephone numbers:

From the US: +1 347 366 9565 PIN 9935476

From the UK: +44(0)20 3427 0598 PIN 9935476

This press release provides a summary of some of the key financial and operating indicators for the period ended June 30, 2016. For full disclosure materials, please visit http://www.mtsgsm.com/resources/reports/.

Financial Summary

RUB mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 108,136 102,691 5.3% 108,090 stable OIBDA 40,885 42,722 -4.3% 41,279 -1.0% - margin 37.8% 41.6% -3.8% 38.2% -0.4% Operating profit 20,053 22,501 -10.9% 21,031 -4.6% - margin 18.5% 21.9% -3.4% 19.5% -1.0% Net profit 9,056 17,074 -47.0% 14,507 -37.6% - margin 8.4% 16.6% -8.2% 13.4% -5.0%

Russia Highlights

RUB mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues[3] 97,435 94,336 3.3% 96,302 1.2% - mobile 72,786 72,749 0.1% 71,132 2.3% - fixed 15,263 15,706 -2.8% 15,369 -0.7% - integrated services 1,258 - n/a 2,492 -49.5% - sales of goods 10,552 7,607 38.7% 10,700 -1.4% OIBDA 39,706 41,245 -3.7% 38,583 2.9% - margin 40.8% 43.7% -2.9% 40.1% 0.7% Net profit 10,788 18,746 -42.5% 15,000 -28.1% - margin 11.1% 19.9% -8.8% 15.6% -4.5%

Ukraine Highlights

UAH mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 2,745 2,419 13.5% 2,761 -0.6% OIBDA 827 942 -12.2% 803 3.0% - margin 30.1% 38.9% -8.8% 29.1% 1.0% Net profit 222 214 3.7% 275 -19.3% - margin 8.1% 8,8% -0.7% 10.0% -1.9%

--------------------------------------------------

[3] Revenue, net of intercompany between mobile, fixed and integrated services

Armenia Highlights

AMD mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 15,040 18,479 -18.6% 14,151 6.3% OIBDA 5,944 8,491 -30.0% 5,618 5.8% - margin 39.5% 45.9% -6.4% 39.7% -0.2% Net profit/(loss) (1,991) 4,078 n/a 239 n/a - margin n/a 22.1% n/a 1.7% n/a

Turkmenistan Highlights

TMT mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 66 71 -7.5% 67 -1.7% OIBDA 22 27 -17.2% 24 -7.5% - margin 33.4% 37.4% -4.0% 35.5% -2.1% Net profit 10 13 -29.1% 11 -15.8% - margin 14.4% 18.8% -4.4% 16.8% -2.4%

Uzbekistan Highlights

UZS mln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 92,372 37,398 147.0% 85,241 8.4% OIBDA 9,770 (22,235) n/a 5,731 70,5% - margin 10.6% n/a n/a 6.7% 3.9% Net loss (10,771) (28,123) n/a (12,507) n/a - margin n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Belarus Highlights

BYR bln Q2'16 Q2'15 y-o-y Q1'16 q-o-q Revenues 1,619 1,302 24.3% 1,489 8.7% OIBDA 757 673 12.4% 681 11.1% - margin 46.8% 51.7% -4.9% 45.7% 1.1% Net profit 466 368 26.6% 397 17.2% - margin 28.8% 28.2% 0.6% 26.7% 2.1%

CAPEX Highlights

RUB mln FY 2015 6M 2016 Russia[4] 79,619 35,306 - as % of rev 20.4% 18.2% Ukraine[5] 12,427 3,155 - as % of rev 44.1% 20.8% Armenia 1,371 281 - as % of rev 15.2% 6.6% Turkmenistan 500 63 - as % of rev 9.8% 2.3% Uzbekistan 2,195 867 - as % of rev 47.6% 20.1% Group 96,111 39,671 - as % of rev 22.3% 18.3%

* * *

For further information, please contact in Moscow:



Joshua B. Tulgan

Director, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations

Mobile TeleSystems PJSC

Tel: +7 495 223 2025

E-mail: [email protected]



Learn more about MTS. Visit the official blog of the Investor Relations Department at http://www.mtsgsm.com/blog/ and follow us on Twitter: JoshatMTS



* * *

Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("MTS" -NYSE:MBT; MOEX:MTSS) is the leading telecommunications group in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe. We provide wireless Internet access and fixed voice, broadband and pay-TV to over 100 million customers who value high quality of service at a competitive price. Our wireless and fixed-line networks deliver best-in-class speeds and coverage throughout Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Turkmenistan and Belarus. To keep pace with evolving customer demand, we continue to grow through innovative products, investments in our market-leading retail platform, mobile payment services, e-commerce and IT solutions. For more information, please visit: http://www.mtsgsm.com.



* * *

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "will," "could," "may" or "might," and the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not undertake or intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the Company's most recent Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors" that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the severity and duration of current economic and financial conditions, including volatility in interest and exchange rates, commodity and equity prices and the value of financial assets; the impact of Russian, U.S. and other foreign government programs to restore liquidity and stimulate national and global economies, our ability to maintain our current credit rating and the impact on our funding costs and competitive position if we do not do so, strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions and our success in integrating acquired businesses, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service development and tariff structures, rapid technological and market change, acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, governmental regulation of the telecommunications industries and other risks associated with operating in Russia and the CIS, volatility of stock price, financial risk management and future growth subject to risks.







Attachments to the Second Quarter 2016

Earnings Press Release

Attachment A

Non-IFRS financial measures. This presentation includes financial information prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, as well as other financial measures referred to as non-IFRS. The non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with IFRS. Due to the rounding and translation practices, Russian ruble and functional currency margins, as well as other non-IFRS financial measures, may differ.

Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) and OIBDA margin. OIBDA represents operating income before depreciation and amortization. OIBDA margin is defined as OIBDA as a percentage of our net revenues. OIBDA may not be similar to OIBDA measures of other companies, is not a measurement under IFRS and should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information contained in our consolidated statement of profit or loss. We believe that OIBDA provides useful information to investors because it is an indicator of the strength and performance of our ongoing business operations, including our ability to fund discretionary spending such as capital expenditures, acquisitions of mobile operators and other investments and our ability to incur and service debt. While depreciation and amortization are considered operating costs under IFRS, these expenses primarily represent the non-cash current period allocation of costs associated with long-lived assets acquired or constructed in prior periods. Our OIBDA calculation is commonly used as one of the bases for investors, analysts and credit rating agencies to evaluate and compare the periodic and future operating performance and value of companies within the wireless telecommunications industry. We use a term Adjusted for OIBDA and operating income when there were significant excluded one off effects. OIBDA can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of operations as follows:

Group (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit 22,501 27,319 18,876 21,031 20,053 Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - - 3,516 - - Adjusted operating profit 22,501 27,319 22,392 21,031 20,053 Add: D& 20,221 20,700 21,103 20,248 20,832 Adjusted OIBDA 42,722 48,019 43,495 41,279 40,885

--------------------------------------------------

[4] Excluding costs of RUB 3.4 bln related to the acquisition of a 4G license in Russia in 2015 and RUB 2.6 bln in 2016

[5] Excluding purchase of 3G license in Ukraine in the amount of RUB 7.0 bln in 2015

Russia (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit 23,728 27,275 23,481 21,599 21,954 Add: D&A 17,517 17,252 17,634 16,984 17,752 OIBDA 41,245 44,527 41,115 38,583 39,706

Ukraine (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit 1,190 1,675 1,158 795 627 Add: D&A 1,107 1,358 1,390 1,557 1,530 OIBDA 2,297 3,032 2,548 2,351 2,157

Armenia (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit/ (loss) 412 680 (3,122) 120 136 Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - - 3,516 - - Adjusted operating profit 412 680 394 120 136 Add: D&A 525 626 656 737 681 Adjusted OIBDA 937 1,306 1,050 857 817

Turkmenistan (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating profit 237 326 330 278 209 Add: D&A 165 203 209 232 207 OIBDA 402 529 538 510 416

Uzbekistan (RUB mln) Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating loss (1,373) (1,404) (1,163) (607) (447) Add: D&A 917 1,275 1,228 760 667 OIBDA (455) (128) 65 154 220



OIBDA margin can be reconciled to our operating margin as follows:

Group Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 21.9% 23.7% 16.7% 19.5% 18.5% Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - - 3.1% - - Adjusted operating margin 21.9% 23.7% 19.8% 19.5% 18.5% Add: D&A 19.7% 18.0% 18.6% 18.7% 19.3% Adjusted OIBDA margin 41.6% 41.7% 38.4% 38.2% 37.8%

Russia Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 25.2% 26.2% 22.9% 22.4% 22.5% Add: D&A 18.6% 16.6% 17.2% 17.6% 18.2% OIBDA margin 43.7% 42.8% 40.1% 40.1% 40.8%

Ukraine Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 20.2% 22.5% 16.7% 9.9% 8.8% Add: D&A 18.8% 18.2% 20.0% 19.5% 21.4% OIBDA margin 38.9% 40.7% 36.7% 29.4% 30.1%

Armenia Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 20.1% 26.9% n/a 5.6% 6.6% Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - - 155.0% - - Adjusted operating margin 20.1% 26.9% 17.4% 5.6% 6.6% Add: D&A 25.7% 24.8% 28.9% 34.2% 32.9% Adjusted OIBDA margin 45.8% 51.7% 46.3% 39.7% 39.5%

Turkmenistan Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin 22.0% 24.3% 23.4% 19.4% 16.8% Add: D&A 15.4% 15.1% 14.8% 16.2% 16.6% OIBDA margin 37.4% 39.4% 38.1% 35.6% 33.4%

Uzbekistan Q2'15 Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Operating margin - - n/a n/a n/a Add: D&A - - 61.1% 34.1% 31.9% OIBDA margin - - 3.2% 6.9% 10.5%

***



Attachment B

Net debt represents total debt less cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments and long-term deposits. Our net debt calculation is commonly used as one of the bases for investors, analysts and credit rating agencies to evaluate and compare our periodic and future liquidity within the wireless telecommunications industry. The non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with IFRS.

Net debt can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of financial position as follows:

As of Mar 31, As of June 30, RUB mln 2016 2016 Current portion of LT debt and of finance lease obligations 46,273 49,586 LT debt 259,968 225,569 Finance lease obligations 10,650 10,297 Total debt 316,891 285,452 Less: Cash and cash equivalents 44,389 24,956 ST investments 30,961 27,978 LT deposits 28,886 30,409 Effects of hedging of non-ruble denominated debt 14,636 12,369 Net debt 198,019 189,740

Free cash-flow can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of cash flow as follows:

For the six For the six months ended months ended RUB mln June 30, 2015 June 30, 2016 Net cash provided by operating activities 72,016 63,674 Less: Purchases of property, plant and equipment (40,921) (25,545) Purchases of intangible assets[6] (12,720) (14,126) Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 1,326 1,300 Investments in associates - (1,326) Free cash flow 19,701 23,977







LTM Adjusted OIBDA can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of operations as follows:

Six months Six months Twelve months ended ended June 30, ended RUB mln Dec 31, 2015 2016 June 30, 2016 A B C = A + B Net operating profit 46,195 41,084 87,279 Add: Impairment of goodwill in Armenia 3,516 - 3,516 Add: D&A 41,803 41,080 82,883 LTM ADJUSTED OIBDA 91,514 82,164 173,678

--------------------------------------------------

[6] Excluding costs of RUB 3.4 bln related to the acquisition of a 4G license in Russia in 2015 and RUB 2.6 bln in 2016 and purchase of 3G license in Ukraine in the amount of RUB 7.0 bln in 2015



***



Attachment C

Definitions

Subscriber. We define a "subscriber" as an organization or individual, whose SIM-card:

shows traffic-generating activity or

accrues a balance for services rendered or

is replenished or topped off

Over the course of any three-month period, inclusive within the reporting period, and was not blocked at the end of the period.

***









MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION (UNAUDITED) As of June 30,2016 AND As of December 31,2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB) As of June 30, As of December 31, 2016 2015 NON-CURRENT ASSETS: Property, plant and equipment 288 402 302 662 Investment property 359 364 Intangible assets 110 609 109 064 Investments in associates 8 545 9 299 Deferred tax assets 8 816 9 287 Other non-financial assets 682 480 Other investments 34 386 34 667 Accounts receivable (related parties) 3 513 3 335 Other financial assets 17 773 25 203 Total non-current assets 473 085 494 361 CURRENT ASSETS: Inventories 12 813 14 510 Trade and other receivables 37 252 34 542 Accounts receivable (related parties) 2 447 6 326 Short-term investments 27 978 49 840 VAT receivable 7 041 9 815 Income tax assets 3 655 5 190 Assets held for sale 461 549 Advances paid and prepaid expenses, other current assets 5 665 4 781 Cash and cash equivalents 24 956 33 464 Total current assets 122 268 159 017 Total assets 595 353 653 378 EQUITY: Equity attributable to equity holders 145 216 160 115 Non-controlling interests 6 218 8 256 Total equity 151 434 168 371 NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES: Borrowings 234 634 292 168 Deferred tax liabilities 29 094 27 346 Provisions 2 221 2 565 Other financial liabilities 554 676 Other non-financial liabilities 4 182 4 342 Total non-current liabilities 270 685 327 097 CURRENT LIABILITIES: Borrowings 49 009 53 701 Provisions 5 691 7 863 Trade and other payables 82 981 57 756 Accounts payable (related parties) 1 702 1 809 Income tax liabilities 1 045 831 Other financial liabilities 7 991 9 778 Other non-financial liabilities 24 815 26 172 Total current liabilities 173 234 157 910 Total equity and liabilities 595 353 653 378

MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (UNAUDITED) FOR THE THREE AND SIX MONTHS ENDED June 30, 2016 AND 2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB except per share amount) Three Three months months Six months ended Six months ended ended ended June 30, June 30, June 30, 2016 June 30, 2015 2016 2015 Net operating revenue Service revenue 195 007 188 831 97 680 95 021 Sales of goods 21 219 14 042 10 456 7 669 216 226 202 873 108 136 102 690 Operating expenses Cost of services (68 374) (63 400) (33 776) (31 028) Cost of goods (20 053) (11 729) (10 307) (7 043) Selling, general and administrative expenses (47 579) (44 745) (23 912) (22 449) Depreciation and amortization expense (41 080) (40 669) (20 832) (20 221) Other operating income/(expenses) 482 (611) (17) (94) Operating share of the profit of associates 1 462 1 643 761 646 Provision for cash balances deposited in distressed Ukrainian banks - (1 698) - - Operating profit 41 084 41 664 20 053 22 501 Currency exchange gain 3 270 107 997 3 616 Other (expenses)/income: Finance income 3 005 4 763 1 309 2 437 Finance costs (16 057) (12 609) (9 323) (6 561) Other expenses (1 294) (599) (608) (594) Total other expenses, net (14 346) (8 445) (8 622) (4 718) Profit before tax 30 008 33 326 12 428 21 399 Income tax expense (6 720) (6 649) (3 457) (4 711) Profit for the period 23 288 26 677 8 971 16 688 Loss for the period attributable to non-controlling interests 275 1 284 85 386 Profit for the period attributable to owners of the Company 23 563 27 961 9 056 17 074 Other comprehensive income/(loss) Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss Exchange differences on translating foreign operations (9 603) (12 042) (1 429) (3 085) Net fair value loss on financial instruments (1 736) (3 402) (131) (811) Other comprehensive loss (11 339) (15 444) (1 560) (3 896) Total comprehensive income for the period 11 949 11 233 7 411 12 792 Less comprehensive loss for the period attributable to the non-controlling interests 921 1 604 233 860 Comprehensive income for the period attributable to owners of the Company 12 870 12 837 7 644 13 652 Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, in 1 989 1 988 thousands - basic 1 989 067 1 988 730 424 730 Earnings per share attributable to the Group - basi: 11,85 14,06 4,55 8,59 Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, in 1 990 1 989 thousands - diluted 1 989 510 1 989 951 174 951 Earnings per share attributable to the Group - diluted: 11,84 14,05 4,55 8,58

MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED June 30, 2016 AND 2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB) Six months ended Six months ended June 30, 2016 June 30, 2015 Profit for the period 23 288 26 677 Adjustments for: Depreciation and amortization 41 080 40 669 Finance income (3 005) (4 763) Finance costs 16 057 12 609 Income tax expense 6 720 6 649 Currency exchange gain (3 270) (107) Change in fair value of financial instruments 179 (91) Amortization of deferred connection fees (491) (569) Share of the profit of associates (442) (839) Inventory obsolescence expense 621 86 Allowance for doubtful accounts 1 131 1 483 Change in provisions 6 317 4 752 Other non cash items (793) (294) Movements in operating assets and liabilities: Increase in trade and other receivables (7 458) (4 824) Decrease/(increase) in inventory 950 (2 516) Decrease/(increase) in VAT receivable 461 (1 599) Decrease in advances paid and prepaid expenses 843 3 113 (Decrease)/Increase in trade and other payables and other current liabilities (3 337) 2 103 - Dividends received 1 181 1 471 Income taxes paid (2 960) (4 207) Interest received 2 081 2 062 Interest paid (net of interest capitalised) (15 479) (9 849) Net cash provided by operating activities 63 674 72 016 CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: Purchases of property, plant and equipment (25 545) (40 921) Purchases of intangible assets (net of purchases of 3G licences in Ukraine and 4G licenses in Russia) (14 126) (12 720) Purchases of 4G licenses in Russia/3G licences in Ukraine (2 598) (7 044) Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment and assets held for sale 1 300 1 326 Purchases of short-term investments (4 891) (28 790) Proceeds from sale of short-term investments 22 040 4 422 Purchase of other investments (2 591) (39 867) Proceeds from sale of other investments 2 97 Investments in associates (1 326) - Net cash used in investing activities (27 735) (123 497) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: Cash flows under capital transactions with related parties 3 063 4 252 Loan principal paid (26 035) (9 009) Proceeds from loans 1 036 43 818 Repayment of notes (17 904) (479) Notes and debt issuance cost paid - (1 213) Finance lease principal paid (168) (224) Dividends paid - (82) Cash outflow under credit guarantee agreement related to foreign-currency hedge (1 034) - Other financing activities - 5 Net cash (used in)/provided by financing activities (41 042) 37 068 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (3 405) (2 924) NET DECREASE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS: (8 508) (17 337) CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at beginning of the period, including cash and cash equivalents within assets held for sale of 156 as of January 1, 2015 33 464 61 566 CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at end of the period 24 956 44 229 Less cash and cash equivalents within assets held for sale - (109) CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at end of the period 24 956 44 120

SOURCE Mobile TeleSystems (MTS)
SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Fire Rescue International - TradeMaster, the leader in mobile and cloud-based inspection and pre-plan software, today announced an integration partnership with reporting and records management software (RMS) company, Emergency Reporting. The relationship provides the companies' mutual customers a seamless inspection and reporting solution that eliminates redundant data entry by enabling common data to pass between TradeMaster's pre-fire plan and inspection software, MobileEyes, and Emergency Reporting's incident reporting and records management product.

"Fire departments and emergency service agencies frequently ask us to recommend incident reporting software capable of interfacing with MobileEyes so they can use the tools they prefer without redundant data entry," said Joe Krehel, President of TradeMaster. "Our aim with this and other integration relationships is to bring together the strengths of best-in-class products to meet the specific, diverse needs of departments large and small."

"We're looking forward to this partnership with TradeMaster as the integration with MobileEyes represents a quality product extension for our customers allowing us to offer a full-function inspection and pre-planning solution along with our existing capabilities," said Dave Adams, President of Emergency Reporting.

The integration ensures that data used by both systems remains consistent and current. The combined strength of both solutions will provide a comprehensive offering for departments requiring robust inspection capabilities in addition to incident reporting and/or records management.

"I look forward to the seamless exchange of data this interface offers," said Anthony Rosario, Fire Official of Dover Fire Prevention. "The ability for firefighters and officers to have accurate information gathered through inspections is critical."

The MobileEyes-Emergency Reporting interface is available now. For more information, go to http://www.mobile-eyes.us.com/lp/mobileeyes-reporting/.

About TradeMaster

TradeMaster, Inc. is a leader in mobile and cloud-based inspection and pre-plan technologies with its MobileEyes pre-fire plan and inspection software, which is credited with increasing completed inspections by 40 percent or more. The company built its reputation on delivering easy-to-use software products and providing outstanding customer service support for federal, state, and local government entities, non-government entities, universities and private companies of all sizes. For more information, go to http://www.mobile-eyes.com/

About Emergency Reporting

Emergency Reporting is a privately held Washington State corporation specializing in web-based reporting and records services for Fire/Rescue, EMS agencies, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, NASA, nuclear power facilities, ambulance services, hospitals, oil refineries, and multi-agency districts with reporting and records management tools. Emergency Reporting pioneered the integration of web-based NFIRS and NEMSIS reporting with risk assessment tools and other modules into one centralized system. For more information, see www.emergencyreporting.com.

Media Inquiries for MobileEyes:

Paul Brady

Carve Communications

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 646-491-2777

SOURCE TradeMaster
WESTON, Mass., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Monster (NYSE: MWW), a global leader in connecting people to jobs, and Recruiting.com, an innovator in talent acquisition software and services, today announced a collaboration to deliver a combined job candidate experience solution that will improve how people interact with small businesses as potential employers. This is the first fully integrated end-to-end solution to provide small businesses with professional capabilities including a career site, access to a cloud-based candidate search platform, and the reach and database strength that Monster offers.

According to a recent Monster survey most (82 percent) small business owners consider talent to be the greatest asset to the success of their business, however the majority believe it can be time consuming (89 percent) and expensive (70 percent) to find the right person for the job.

"A poor candidate experience can make all the difference between attracting the right candidate or turning them away," said Matt Mund, Executive Vice President of Product and Marketing at Monster. "This new offering helps small businesses tell their unique and authentic story by combining the power of Monster advertising products with their own web, mobile, social and search presence. A strong career site allows small companies, in particular, to let their authentic selves shine through and attract top talent who match their culture and core values."

With the new joint solution set, small business owners will now have access to a complete set of tools, combining Monster's broad, sophisticated recruitment and talent management solutions with Recruiting.com's industry leading corporate career sites, at a reasonable price point. This end-to-end approach provides smaller employers with the same competitive advantages in reaching job seekers, utilizing advanced technology and employment brand expertise to deliver compelling candidate experiences across desktop and mobile devices.

"Over 15 years optimizing the job seeker experience has taught us about candidate behavior and the information that matters most to them," said Aaron Matos, Founder and CEO of Recruiting.com. "Recruiting.com's collaboration with Monster will give small businesses access to an even wider audience in addition to the engaging, beautifully branded career sites built on robust technology that Recruiting.com is known for."

A customized Monster and Recruiting.com solution will have limited U.S. availability in the coming weeks and full availability later this year.

About Monster Worldwide

Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW) is a global leader in connecting people to jobs, wherever they are. For more than 20 years, Monster has helped people improve their lives with better jobs, and employers find the best talent. Today, the company offers services in more than 40 countries, providing some of the broadest, most sophisticated job seeking, career management, recruitment and talent management capabilities. Monster continues its pioneering work of transforming the recruiting industry with advanced technology using intelligent digital, social and mobile solutions, including our flagship website monster.com and a vast array of products and services. For more information visit monster.com/about.

About Recruiting.com

Recruiting.com builds innovative recruiting software to help companies compete for talent through more relevant, authentic and personalized experiences. We enable employers to attract and engage job seekers through our world-class career site solutions, optimized for search engines, social media, and mobile devices. For more information visit recruiting.com.

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SOURCE Monster Worldwide, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.monster.com


MILWAUKEE, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Known as "Continuous Candidates," more than one-third (37%) of employees across the globe are always looking for their next job opportunity, according to a global study of job seekers conducted by ManpowerGroup Solutions, part of ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN). With employee churn becoming increasingly costly for companies, it is more important than ever for employers to step up their efforts to reduce turnover by improving retention efforts and recruitment processes. ManpowerGroup Solutions provides practical recommendations for doing just that in a new paper, "Always Looking: The Rise of Continuous Candidates."

Known as "Continuous Candidates," more than one-third (37%) of employees across the globe are always looking for their next job opportunity, according to a global study of job seekers conducted by ManpowerGroup Solutions.

Click the link to download Always Looking: The Rise of Continuous Candidates: http://www.manpowergroupsolutions.com/candidatepreferences

The prevalence of Continuous Candidates in Mexico and the United States far exceeds the global average, with 50 percent and 41 percent respectively agreeing with the statement, "I am always looking for the next job opportunity." This can be linked to several factors:

New ways of getting work done are emerging in the United States more than anywhere else. The popularity and visibility of the "gig economy" with companies like Uber and TaskRabbit are redefining how people work. Tech firms have also led the way on contract employment worldwide. Because they are the organizations with fastest changing skills requirements, using contractors allows them to not rely on skills within the organization that may become obsolete. Layoffs and job losses experienced in the wake of the recession sent the message to young and old alike that job security is not necessarily guaranteed.

"Looking at Millennials and Gen Y, our research shows that it is the older Millennials  with more work experience  who are most likely to be habitually looking for jobs," said Kate Donovan, Senior Vice President of ManpowerGroup Solutions and Global RPO President. "In organizations where employers are not meeting their candidates' expectations or aspirations for advancement, that is where individuals will be more likely to always be looking out for their next opportunity."

The paper provides nine tips for companies to retain existing talent and better screen for prospective employees in today's world of Continuous Candidates, some of which include:

Speak Fluent Advancement: Hiring managers must be able to proactively articulate the opportunities for advancement to candidates, as career pathways are an increasingly important component of the employer value proposition (EVP). To engage the best and brightest talent, employers must offer this information upfront, instead of waiting for the candidates to ask. Foster "Learnability": Continuous Candidates want continuous education, so learnability  the desire and ability to quickly grow and adapt one's skills to remain employable  is important. Employers can nurture learnability through providing or reimbursing for professional development opportunities, internal and external training or advanced degree programs. Mentor, Mentor, Mentor: Skill acquisition, regular feedback, teamwork and exposure to successful role models strengthen the bond between an employee and the company they work for. Many savvy Millennials identify the position they want within an organization and network with the individual currently in that role. Rather than be threatened by this, managers and executives should embrace it.

"Companies need to create a culture that people don't want to leave  branding and trust are critical components of this," said Sarah Peiker, Head of RPO Practice, ManpowerGroup Solutions Europe. "Employers are going to have to become an employer of choice."

To learn more abut ManpowerGroup Solutions' global candidate preferences research and download the latest report, click here: http://www.manpowergroupsolutions.com/candidatepreferences

About ManpowerGroup Solutions

ManpowerGroup Solutions provides clients with outsourcing services related to human resources functions, primarily in the areas of large-scale recruiting and workforce-intensive initiatives that are outcome-based, thereby sharing in the risk and reward with our clients. Our solutions offerings include TAPFIN-Managed Service Provider, Strategic Workforce Consulting, Borderless Talent Solutions, Talent Based Outsourcing and Recruitment Process Outsourcing, where we are one of the largest providers of permanent and contingent recruitment in the world. ManpowerGroup Solutions is part of the ManpowerGroup family of companies, which also includes Manpower, Experis, and Right Management. More information at www.manpowergroupsolutions.com.

About ManpowerGroup

ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) is the world's workforce expert, creating innovative workforce solutions for nearly 70 years. As workforce experts, we connect more than 600,000 people to meaningful work across a wide range of skills and industries every day. Through our ManpowerGroup family of brands  Manpower, Experis, Right Management and ManpowerGroup Solutions  we help more than 400,000 clients in 80 countries and territories address their critical talent needs, providing comprehensive solutions to resource, manage and develop talent. In 2016, ManpowerGroup was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the sixth consecutive year and one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies, confirming our position as the most trusted and admired brand in the industry. See how ManpowerGroup makes powering the world of work humanly possible: www.manpowergroup.com.

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SOURCE ManpowerGroup Solutions

Related Links

http://www.manpowergroupsolutions.com


"Motiv's expansion is a great example of the growing innovation economy in San Mateo County. I applaud Motiv's commitment to sustainability and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. While their clean technology provides environmental benefits wherever these vehicles are driven, the local benefit includes new jobs in San Mateo County. It's great to see local companies seeking and receiving grants from the CEC that allow them to expand their operations, benefiting local communities and all of California," said Assemblymember Kevin Mullin.

In addition to its new headquarters, Motiv operates a manufacturing facility in Hayward, California. The facility produces the entire suite of controllers for Motiv's All-Electric Powertrain. At full capacity, it produces controllers for 480 all-electric powertrains annually, supporting the growing demand for electric trucks and buses across the U.S. Motiv's Hayward manufacturing facility was made possible thanks to $2.3 million in grant funding from the California Energy Commission (CEC). These all-electric powertrain components are used in electric vehicles by partners including Morgan Olson, California Truck and Equipment Company, Creative Bus Sales, Rockport, Trans Tech Bus, and Cumberland Servicenter.

"We are thrilled to open our new headquarters and support new local green jobs," said Jim Castelaz, CEO of Motiv Power Systems. "As a young company in 2010, Motiv was awarded the first of several grants by the California Energy Commission that allowed us to develop and demonstrate our all-electric powertrain and set the foundation for our future successes here in California. This has led to securing private investment and being one of the fastest growing private companies in America. We are confident that our continued investment in California's future, sustainable technology, and the health of our communities is the right choice."

Motiv will be holding a grand opening ceremony at its new headquarters today, between 2:00pm - 4:00pm. The company welcomes Mayor of Foster City Herb Perez, Mayor of San Mateo Joe Goethals, Google's Transportation Operations Manager Michael Wooley-Ousdahl, AmeriPride's Fleet Services Manager Banny Allison, and representatives of the California Energy Commission and California Air Resources Board.

Guests will have the ability to ride in one of the Mountain View Community Shuttles, which were partially funded by Google, and in Motiv's All-Electric E450 Cargoport, which are both powered by all-electric powertrains supported through the California Energy Commission and California Air Resources Board's programs.

"As the debate over the future of Cap-and-Trade is being considered by the Governor and the Legislature, we hope they recognize the enormous successes California's investments have already brought to the state," explained Urvi Nagrani, Motiv's Director of Marketing & Business Development. "New technologies, new jobs, local manufacturing, and better air quality have all been supported by policy over the last decade. This emerging industry's remarkable successes have recently been overshadowed by funding delays which create needless hurdles and stagnation in deploying cutting edge solutions. We hope California invests in the programs needed to meet the ambitious targets in Governor Brown's Zero-Emission Vehicle Action Plan and Sustainable Freight Plan, ensuring we remain a global leader in sustainable solutions."

Named one of Popular Science's 2014 Best of What's New technologies, the Motiv All-Electric Powertrain has successfully been scaled from school buses for Kings Canyon Unified School District, to shuttle buses funded by Google and the CEC, and North America's only all-electric refuse truck deployed by the City of Chicago. These zero-emission trucks and buses have shown a reduction of total operating costs by up to 87 percent compared to diesel trucks.

About Motiv Power Systems

Founded in 2009 and based in Foster City, CA, the award-winning Motiv Power Systems designs and builds flexible and scalable All-Electric Powertrains for commercial medium and heavy-duty trucks and buses. Motiv partners with existing truck builders who manufacture electric versions of their traditional fossil-fueled vehicles on their current assembly lines using the Motiv All-Electric Powertrain. Common vehicle types from these builders include work, delivery and refuse trucks, as well as school and shuttle buses. The Motiv All-Electric Powertrain is installed at the time of vehicle manufacture, similar to a natural gas or propane upfit. In 2014, Motiv All-Electric Powertrain was named one of Popular Science's Best of What's New technologies. For more information and career opportunities, please visit www.motivps.com and follow us on Twitter @motivps, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399187

SOURCE Motiv Power Systems

Related Links

http://www.motivps.com


The blue MSC ecolabel assures consumers that the fish they are enjoying comes from a sustainable and well-managed fishery that has been independently certified, ensuring that fish populations, and the ecosystems upon which they depend, remain healthy and productive. Each supplied by Colorado-based Seattle Fish Co. , the independent restaurants are artfully preparing a variety of MSC certified seafood options for their customers to enjoy, knowing there will be plenty more for tomorrow.

This spring, the Portland, Oregon-based Bamboo Sushi  the first certified-sustainable sushi restaurant in the U.S.  celebrated the opening of its location in Avanti Food & Beverage and plans to open a larger Denver location later this year. Bamboo Sushi founder and CEO Kristofor Lofgren said, "We believe it is imperative to create a restaurant where people can get the freshest and best fish possible, while simultaneously helping to save the oceans and marine life."

Commenting on To the Wind Bistro's participation, owners/chefs Royce Oliviera and Leanne Adamson, said: "At our small, neighborhood restaurant, the menu changes daily, but one thing we never want to see go away is fresh seafood. It's important to us that the fish we prepare for our guests is going to be around for them to enjoy again tomorrow."

Executive chef John Treusein of Pub 17 on Welton Street in Grand Hyatt Denver noted: "The Marine Stewardship Council is the perfect complement to Hyatt's culinary concept: Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served, promoting healthy people, healthy communities and a healthy planet."

Derek Beril, executive chef of Wild Standard explained: "Serving MSC certified seafood is part of our pledge to land and sea. Not only will people get to experience an exciting cuisine, they will also know that they are helping to ensure that the sea and all its treasures are there for coming generations."

Terra Bistro executive chef Shawn Miller said: "We diligently research the origins, treatment, cultivation, and harvest methods of everything we purchase." Terra Bistro chef de cuisine Rob Lewis continued, "The heart and soul of Terra Bistro lies in our dedication to forming alliances with farmers, ranchers, fisheries, and suppliers who care for their ingredients and products in accordance with our core values. As a result, our recipes and menu items are developed from a foundation of perfect beginnings."

The MSC is widely recognized as the world's most credible certification program for wild-caught sustainable seafood and supply chain traceability. Any organization selling or handling MSC certified seafood must ensure that it is correctly labelled and kept separate from other non-certified seafood at all times. This ensures that MSC labelled seafood can be traced back to a sustainable source.

Derek Figueroa, Chief Operating Officer, Seattle Fish Co.: "Seattle Fish was the first in the Rocky Mountain region to be certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as a supplier of sustainable seafood  from catch to cook. Our commitment to sustainability is deeper than ever. The partnership between these committed restaurants, Seattle Fish, and the MSC is an example of our continued focus on responsible sourcing and speaks to our guiding principle, "We Sustainably Feed People". It's exciting to work with the MSC and these innovative restaurants to promote sustainable seafood in Colorado."

Maggie Beaton, MSC commercial manager - Americas, said: "This is an important milestone for the MSC and sustainable seafood in Colorado. The restaurants participating with the MSC are demonstrating to their customers the importance of sustainable seafood. I'm proud of our Colorado partners for taking this bold and important step."

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SOURCE Marine Stewardship Council

Related Links

http://www.msc.org


DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Employers across Illinois posted nearly 10,000 job openings for core information technology (IT) workers in July, according to an analysis of labor market data by CompTIA, the IT industry trade association.

IT job postings statewide for the month totaled 9,961, with the large majority occurring in the Chicago metropolitan area (9,036).

Software and application developers, computer systems analysts and informatics specialists, project managers, systems engineer and architects, computer user support specialists and information security analysts topped the list of IT positions Illinois companies were looking to fill last month.

"These job categories are in step with the bigger trends we see in the marketplace, both locally and across the country" said Amy Carrado, senior director, research and market intelligence. "Companies are becoming more mobile, more security-focused and more cloud oriented; and they need skilled personnel to build, manage and maintain these new systems and solutions."

While every job posting does not result in a new hire, and companies may have multiple job postings for a single position, the data is an indicator of where companies are focusing their technology efforts and investments.

A range of Prairie State employers were seeking tech workers, including companies in technology, healthcare, management consulting, insurance, financial services and education.

"Technology and the tech workforce make up the engine that powers business and industry in Illinois and across the country," said Alexi Madon, director, state government affairs, Midwest, CompTIA. "That's why it's critical for the private and public sectors to work together to address the persistent shortage of IT workers which, if left unaddressed, has the potential to stall economic growth and stymie innovation."

Madon noted that that 90 percent of the core IT job postings were in the greater Chicago area, indicating that downstate Illinois has a ways to go in terms of tech placement. But she also emphasized that the demand for tech workers spans the state.

"Our research shows that even sectors that are often stereotypically viewed as 'old line, such as agriculture, mining, transportation, utilities, and construction report familiarity with emerging technologies, such as the Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, biometrics, robotics and drones," she said.

According to CompTIA's Cyberstates 2016 report, Illinois is home to more than 25,400 tech businesses. The state's tech industry generated a total payroll of $22.3 billion in 2015 with an average industry wage of $95,062, significantly higher than the average private sector wage of $54,600.

CompTIA IT publishes a number of research reports each year on technology employment, skills and workforce trends. To learn more, visit https://www.comptia.org/insight-tools/business?tags=it%20workforce.

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SOURCE CompTIA

Related Links

http://www.comptia.org


MIAMI, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Next Group Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: NXGH) (the "Company") today reminded shareholders that, if they have not already done so, they should promptly request interim statements from their brokers documenting their positions in Next Group common stock as of the dividend record date of July 22, 2016.

A form letter that can be used by shareholders to request their interim statement is posted in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, along with a "Shareholder Transmittal Letter," which each shareholder should use when transmitting their interim statement to the Company. The Shareholder Transmittal Letter should be fully completed, signed by the shareholder and then returned to the Company by email or fax, as indicated in the Shareholder Transmittal Letter, along with the attached interim account statement. Shareholders should note that the interim statement from their broker can be a simple letter on the broker's letterhead confirming their ownership position in Next Group Holdings common as of the close of trading on the July 22nd record date and need not be a formal account statement, as many brokers only generate formal statements on a monthly basis.

The Company is currently in the process of confirming each shareholders' common stock position, based on their submitted interim statements, in order to put the company in a position to issue the dividend. Submissions from approximately 156 "street name" ONLY shareholders that own approximately 24,194,983 shares of Next Group common stock have already been processed. This represents approximately 10.5% of the total 1,479 record "street name" shareholders, which own approximately 68% of the total 35,327,018 shares in "street name" as of the dividend record date. Accordingly, the approximately 1,323 remaining shareholders that have not made their submissions should document their positions in the Company's common stock, as of the dividend record date, as soon as possible, to insure that their shares are processed. "This is very important to the Company, as we are constantly looking to add value for our shareholders," said Arik Maimon, Chief Executive Officer of Next Group Holdings. "As we move the dividend process to conclusion we are also focused on various other matters that we believe will help the Company achieve its goal of becoming a leader in the Mobile Banking space," continued Mr. Maimon.

The company will also be doing a mailing to shareholders in order to further remind them to make their submissions in connection with the dividend.

Shareholders with any questions regarding the dividend, can reach the Company by email at [email protected], by fax at +1-305-647-6497 or by telephone at +1-800-550-9055.

About Next Group Holdings, Inc.

Next Group Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Miami, Florida, which, through its operating subsidiaries, engages in the business of using proprietary technology and certain licensed technology to provide innovative mobile banking, mobility, and telecommunications solutions to underserved, unbanked, and emerging markets. The Company's principal executive offices are located at 1111 Brickell Avenue, Suite 2200, Miami, Florida 33131, and its telephone number at that location is (800) 611-3622. Its web address is http://www.nextgroupholdings.com.

THIS NEWS RELEASE CONTAINS "FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS", AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN SECTION 27A OF THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, AND SECTION 21E OF THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED. STATEMENTS IN THIS NEWS RELEASE, WHICH ARE NOT PURELY HISTORICAL, ARE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND INCLUDE ANY STATEMENTS REGARDING BELIEFS, PLANS, EXPECTATIONS OR INTENTIONS REGARDING THE FUTURE. EXCEPT FOR THE HISTORICAL INFORMATION PRESENTED HEREIN, MATTERS DISCUSSED IN THIS NEWS RELEASE CONTAIN FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS THAT ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES THAT COULD CAUSE ACTUAL RESULTS TO DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM ANY FUTURE RESULTS, PERFORMANCE OR ACHIEVEMENTS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED BY SUCH STATEMENTS. STATEMENTS THAT ARE NOT HISTORICAL FACTS, INCLUDING STATEMENTS THAT ARE PRECEDED BY, FOLLOWED BY, OR THAT INCLUDE SUCH WORDS AS"ESTIMATE", "ANTICIPATE", "BELIEVE", "PLAN" OR "EXPECT" OR SIMILAR STATEMENTS ARE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS CONTAINED IN THIS NEWS RELEASE INCLUDE STATEMENTS RELATING TO OTHER PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION REGARDING THE COMPANY.

Contact:

NEXT Group Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: NXGH)

Telephone: +1-800-611-3622

Email: [email protected]



SOURCE Next Group Holdings, Inc.
TIBURON, Calif., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Osceola Consulting received the prestigious Southern California Minority Supplier Development Council (SCMSDC) 2016 Supplier of the Year (SOTY) Award at SCMBDC's 26th Annual SOTY Awards luncheon held July 22nd. Presenting the Award were Rick Hobbs, SCMSDC Chairman and Director of Supply Management and Supplier Diversity, Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas); Charles Harmon, Board Vice Chair and Senior Manager of Corporate Procurement and Corporate Services, American Honda Motor Co., Inc.; SCMSDC President Virginia Gomez and Joe Chow of SoCalGas who nominated Osceola for this award.

"Winning this Award recognizes Osceola's growth, job creation, procurement from other minority businesses, strong business performance and community involvement," stated Virginia Gomez. Gomez also noted, "Subsequent to winning SCMSDC's Award, Osceola was selected as one of four regional National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) award recipients making them eligible for the national Class 3 SOTY Award."

"Southern California Gas Company started working with Osceola Consulting in 2008 as a subcontractor on a major business improvement project and we are pleased to see the firm's growth and strategic contributions as a result of our minority supplier development efforts," stated Joe Chow. He continued that, "Their outstanding performance on that project led to Osceola working to become a strategic diversity partner now with 17 active engagements across both SoCal Gas and SDG&E."

Rick Hobbs commented that, "As one of our top performing suppliers Osceola also demonstrated how to make effective use of the supplier development assistance we provide at UCLA's Management Development for Entrepreneurs (MDE) Program by doing a Business Improvement Plan (BIP) where they planned an onshore business services operation on tribal land in support of job creation and business opportunities with our local communities."

Vaughn Williams, of SoCalGas' Supplier Excellence team emphasized that, "Osceola's outstanding contributions to our core business efforts and partnership afford SoCalGas the opportunity to remain at the forefront of community and economic development, as well as technological innovation."

"We are humbled and grateful to SCMSDC and SoCalGas, especially considering the many outstanding businesses also nominated," said Kevin Narcomey, "and we are particularly appreciative for the trust SoCalGas has in continuing to work with us and assisting in our development." Narcomey added, "Our recent efforts  expanding our services into the mid-West and East Coast, along with opening the Technology Delivery Center (TDC) on the Morongo Indian Reservation  will also enable us to continue broadening our diversity objectives nationwide."

About Osceola Consulting

Osceola Consulting provides management consulting and information technology services focused on the energy and utilities industry. Osceola is a Minority-Owned Business Enterprise founded in 2006 committed to the sponsorship and promotion of diversity. Osceola's founder is a former utility industry partner with one of the major global consulting firms and is a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. See www.OsceolaC.com for more information.

About the Supplier of the Year Award

The Supplier of the Year Award (SOTY) is one of the most recognized programs of the NMSDC and its network of 23 regional councils across the US. The award is given annually to certified minority suppliers nominated by NMSDC member corporations with whom they are doing business in recognition of outstanding supplier performance. See www.scmbdc.org and www.nmsdc.org for more information.

Contact: Peter Wiersma, [email protected]

SOURCE Osceola Consulting

Related Links

http://www.OsceolaC.com


COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Pearl Interactive Network (Pearl) was one of four organizations to receive an award in the Outstanding Diverse Organization category for Columbus Business First's inaugural Diversity in Business Awards.

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The award is given to local organizations and business leaders in a variety of industries who have taken the lead to demonstrate excellence in promoting diversity in the workplace, especially in hiring practices. Pearl has a social mission of providing jobs for a diverse niche workforce of skilled and talented veterans, disabled veterans, military spouses, people with disabilities, and people living in geographically-challenged areas.

"We are honored to be recognized as an outstanding diverse organization," said Merry Korn, president/CEO of Pearl. "This award fits in with our mission of providing jobs and career pathways for people with employment challenges."

"Columbus Business First's inaugural Diversity in Business Awards was inspired by similarly fashioned coverage by several of our sister publications across the country," stated Nick Fortine, president and publisher of Columbus Business First. "We felt the time was right to launch a Business First event recognizing the pace-setters  those that are making a real difference in the Central Ohio business community in the area of diversity and inclusion."

The other recipients in the Outstanding Diverse Organizations category include Diversified Systems Inc., Diversity Search Group, and Marketing and Engineering Solutions Inc.

The awards were presented at a ceremony on August 17 at the Hyatt Regency, 350 N. High St., Columbus, Ohio.

About Pearl Interactive, Inc.

Pearl Interactive Network, Inc. is a for-profit social enterprise that delivers contact center staffing, sourcing, 508 services, and apprenticeship services  accessing as priority a niche workforce of disabled veterans, veterans, military spouses, people with disabilities, and people living in geographically-challenged areas. With 500 employees during peak hiring periods located in 26 states, Pearl continues to grow in the corporate and federal markets. For more information, visit Pinsourcing.com.

Media Contact:

Faye Oney

Pearl Interactive Network

(614) 930-6498

Email

SOURCE Pearl Interactive Network
PUNE, India, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The report "Probiotics in Animal Feed Market by Bacteria (Lactobacilli, Streptococcus Thermophiles, and Bifidobacteria), Livestock (Cattle, Poultry, Swine, and Aquaculture), Form (Dry and Liquid), Function (Yield, Immunity, and Productivity), and by Region - Global Forecast to 2021", The global market is projected to reach USD 4.71 Billion by 2021 in terms of value, at a CAGR of 7.7% from 2016 to 2021.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 97 market data Tables and 53 Figures spread through 161 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Probiotics in Animal Feed Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/probiotics-animal-feed-market-85832335.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The demand for probiotics used in feed for animal health and nutrition has been contributing to the growth in the market. Rapidly increasing demand for quality animal products is anticipated to drive the market of probiotics in animal feed during the projection period.

"Lactobacilli bacteria segment captured the largest market share in 2015"

The Lactobacilli bacteria segment accounted for the largest share and was followed by the Bifidobacteria segment in 2015. The growth of Lactobacilli segment was mainly due to its wide availability and wide range of applications in animal health and nutrition. All applications considered for the probiotics in animal feed products are those that are commercially available and traded. In the same year, Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest share in the bacteria segment. Europe contributed the second-largest share.

"Cattle segment captured the largest market share in 2015"

The growth of Probiotics in Animal Feed Market is directly linked to the increasing demand for quality animal products. Probiotics-based feed additives play a critical role in providing balanced nutrition to livestocks, as well as improving feed digestibility, so as to reduce the overall feed requirements, thus saving costs. Asia-Pacific was the largest market for probiotics in animal feed and accounted for the maximum share in 2015.

Make an Inquiry: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=85832335

"Significant growth for probiotics in animal feed observed in the Asia-Pacific region"

Probiotics have tremendous market opportunities in the animal feed industry around the world. The Asia-Pacific animal feed sector is significantly influenced by the preference for natural and nutritional food for animals. The demand for probiotics-based products in animal feed is continuously increasing in the Asia-Pacific region. Increasing awareness about the health benefits derived from probiotics is also the prime factor driving the demand for probiotics-based animal feed in this region.

This report includes a study of marketing and development strategies, along with the product portfolio of leading companies. It includes the profiles of leading companies such as Lallemand, Inc. (Canada), Koninklijke DSM N.V. (Netherlands), Cargill, Inc. (U.S.), Chr. Hansen Holding A/S (Denmark), and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (U.S.). Other players in this segment include Lesaffre Group (France), Novozymes (Denmark), Advanced BioNutrition Corporation (U.S.), Calpis Co., Ltd. (Japan), and Nebraska Cultures Inc. (U.S.)

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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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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
MORRISTOWN, New Jersey, August 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Boasting an impressive lineup of senior-level IT executives for its October event in Miami, Enterprise Mobility Exchange continues to expand its staff, adding four media professionals to the sales and editorial sides of its Morristown, New Jersey office.

Led by Dorene Rettas, EME's Head of U.S., the company has brought in new members to grow sales and market presence. Among them is Jake Kovalcik, Vice President of Event Sales. Kovalcik is tasked with obtaining sponsorships for EME's events, which bring together IT professionals from across the globe. A 20-year veteran of business development and marketing, he's contributed to the growth of multiple fast-paced startup companies, including Under Armour and Buzztime.

On the portal side of the business, editor Jason Koestenblatt has joined the team and will oversee all web and custom content. Koestenblatt spent more than a decade in marketing and journalism. He'll lead the charge on news and analysis across the industry for EME's website, and dive into the trends of enterprise mobility and digital transformation.

"Enterprise mobility is no longer an option; every enterprise today must incorporate mobility into their overall strategy in order to stay relevant," Rettas said. "As we continue on our mission to be the resource IT and business professionals turn to when furthering their mobile footprint, adding team members to both sides of the business has become a natural progression. Our presence is growing as a leader in live events, webinars, and online information that will keep enterprises prepared for their IT needs and continue to bring solution providers and buyers together."

EME's U.S. branch is spearheading the Mobile Cloud Computing & Security exchange in Miami this October. This two-day event will feature roundtable discussions, case studies, and workshops in which IT leaders will explore the benefits of mobile cloud computing, the risk versus reward factors, and how to overcome security fears and issues.

About Enterprise Mobility Exchange

Enterprise Mobility Exchange is an online community for global professionals and business leaders who seek to leverage mobile technology and services to improve operational efficiency, increase customer acquisition and loyalty, and drive profits across the entire enterprise.

EME's multi-pronged approach provides news, expert commentary and resources from industry insiders, along with invitation-only peer-to-peer events for high-level, global mobility professionals, including senior IT decision-makers from some of the industry's most respected global brands.



Dorene Rettas

+1-973-867-7744

[email protected]



SOURCE Enterprise Mobility Exchange
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Golomb & Honik, P.C. is pleased to announce that Attorney Richard M. Golomb has been selected for inclusion in the 23rd edition of The Best Lawyers in America, one of the oldest and most trusted peer review legal guides in the world. Mr. Golomb has been recognized in the practice area of Mass Tort Litigation/Class Action  Plaintiffs.

Attorneys are vetted using a rigorous methodology process that relies on the votes of other lawyers. Millions of voters from a variety of geographic areas and practice areas are asked to rate candidates on a scale of 1 to 5 based on how likely they would be to refer the attorney if they were unable to take a case themselves. This survey process, which was designed to elicit substantive and meaningful evaluations of the quality of legal services, is described by Best Lawyers as "sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent."

This year's list considered the evaluations of more than 7.3 million lawyers. The voting results were reviewed and analyzed by a panel of lawyers who are already included in the list. After confirming that the candidates were in good standing with the ethics committee of their state bar, the panel made their final selections for the 2017 list. The final list, which will soon be released to the public, will serve as an unbiased guide to selecting the best lawyer to fill a legal need.

Because an attorney may not nominate him or herself or pay for inclusion in the list, the public can be confident that only the most reputable and respected legal professionals make it to the final list. A listing in Best Lawyers is widely considered a significant honor, as it reaches an audience of more than 17 million readers in publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and more.

If you are seeking a highly qualified attorney for assistance with a legal matter, you can feel confident turning to Mr. Golomb or another member of the team at Golomb & Honik, P.C. Contact us today to schedule a consultation with a member of our team.

Golomb & Honik, P.C. is a Philadelphia-based class action and tort law firm with a nationwide reach. Our seasoned professionals handle all types of cases involving dangerous drugs and medical devices, defective products, toxic torts, medical malpractice, antitrust litigation, personal injury, and consumer class action. A leader in consumer class actions, the firm has recovered over $1 billion in verdicts and settlements. To learn more about the firm and to request a free case evaluation, please visit www.golombhonik.com.

SOURCE Golomb & Honik, P.C.

Related Links

http://www.golombhonik.com


N. Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, President & CEO commented, "We continue to expand our high grade footprint at Las Chispas with the latest results from the ongoing underground rehabilitation and channel sampling program as we continue to gain further access to historic workings. Our onsite team has safely descended to the historic 650 level** of the William Tell vein with subsequent ongoing mapping and sampling. Our channel sample results on the 650 level are showing sub interval bonanza grades in excess of 2,500 grams per tonne silver equivalent (AgEq)*over 0.20 metre to 1.12 metre widths.

The William Tell vein is located approximately 120 metres west of the Las Chispas vein and is easily accessible by shared access to both veins. The William Tell vein has had less historical production than the Las Chispas vein, for reasons which we believe are due to a fault displacement which resulted in the previous operator mining out only a fraction of the in situ mineralization. Our Phase I drilling program appears to have intercepted the unmined faulted extension of the William Tell vein. Additional drilling will be required to confirm this and determine the extent, if any, of the intercepted mineralization."

Underground Rehabilitation Update

The Company continues to systemically collect channel samples at intervals of two to three metres along strike length as new areas and levels are being explored. In its news releases dated April 28th and June 09, 2016, the Company disclosed that it had gained access to the historic 600 level at William Tell and reported results from 79 channel samples. Since then, the Company has collected a total of 39 additional channel samples on the 650 and 450 levels (see attached Figure and Photo). Sampling locations and widths are restricted to historic workings which may only represent part of the mineralized vein, stockwork, or breccia. The location, true thickness and extent of mineralization is indeterminate until adequate drilling is completed at the William Tell vein.

The most significant composited sample results for the William Tell South 650 level average 1.12 metres wide at 3.23 grams per tonne ("gpt") gold and 518 gpt silver, or 760 gpt silver equivalent (AgEq*, uncut, undiluted) over a continuous 21 metre strike length in a developed but unmined area on the 650 level. The most significant un-composited sampling for the William Tell North 450 level averages 2.13m wide at 5.7 gpt gold and 257.7 gpt silver, or 685 gpt silver equivalent (AgEq*, uncut, undiluted) over a continuous 30 metre strike length. Further drilling will help test the true thickness and grade of mineralization in both these areas.

The following table summarizes the 20 most significant composited and un-composited assay results (uncut, undiluted) from the 450 and 650 levels of the William Tell vein that are above a 500 gpt AgEq cutoff;

William Tell 450 & 650 Level Channel Sampling >500gpt AgEq

Mineralized Area Sample Type Width*** (m) Au (gpt) Ag (gpt) AgEq* (gpt)



William Tell South 650 level Channel 0.94 1.78 477 610



Channel 0.68 7.41 1,109 1,664



Includes 0.37 13.40 1,560 2,565



Includes 0.31 0.26 571 590



Channel 0.98 1.20 969 1,059



Channel 0.93 10.85 1,895 2,708



Channel 1.12 9.47 1,910 2,620



Channel 0.55 4.27 686 1,006



Channel 0.55 32.50 1,665 4,102



Channel 0.33 23.60 2,730 4,500



Channel 2.25 1.93 672 816



Includes 0.20 16.65 1,570 2,818



Includes 1.10 0.75 1,000 1,056



Channel 0.40 8.64 576 1,224



Channel 1.30 5.13 307 692



Includes 0.30 17.45 1,100 2,409

William Tell North 450 Level Channel 1.50 0.16 2,170 2,182



Channel 4.20 14.15 225 1,286



Channel 3.00 6.62 88 584



Channel 2.00 14.25 293 1,362









Note: all numbers are rounded.





*AgEq based on 75(Ag):1(Au) and 100% metallurgical recovery.





** Level number is based on historical mine level in feet (not metres) from surface collar of historic shaft.





*** The underground sample width of mineralization may not be indicative of the true width of mineralization. Sampling widths are constrained by access to open faces. Ongoing and planned drilling may suggest wider mineralized zones.

All assays were completed by ALS Chemex in Hermosillo, Mexico, and North Vancouver, BC.

The Company is reviewing the possibility of a controlling, cross-cutting, high grade structural corridor that extends from the Las Chispas vein through the William Tell vein which is potentially 500 metres in length and a minimum of 300 metres in depth (see attached Figure).

To date, approximately 4 kilometres of underground workings have been accessed with an additional 7.5 kilometres to be opened and explored over the next several months. The Company intends to continue with the underground rehabilitation program and reporting results for the remainder of 2016.

Drilling Update

The Company has completed its Phase I surface drill program having drilled 22 core holes for a total of approximately 6,400 metres. A combined 19 holes have been drilled in Las Chispas and William Tell veins, and three holes have been drilled in the La Victoria area located near the Babicanora vein. Upon receipt of further core assays, the Company will compile and integrate the drill results with the underground information, which the Company expects to announce over the next several weeks. Based on positive Phase I surface drilling results, the Company will propose a Phase II surface drill program.

Dependent on permitting completion, the planned 2,000 metre underground drill program should commence in late Q3 or early Q4 2016. The underground drill program will focus on delineation of a potential bulk sample and infill drilling in preparation for the initial Las Chispas resource estimation.

The Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for this news release is N. Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, and President and CEO for SilverCrest, who has reviewed and approved its contents.

ABOUT SILVERCREST METALS INC.

SilverCrest is a Canadian precious metals exploration company headquartered in Vancouver, BC, that is focused on new discoveries, value-added acquisitions and targeting production in Mexico's historic precious metal districts. The Company is led by a proven management team in all aspects of the precious metal mining sector, including the pioneering of a responsible "phased approach" business model taking projects through discovery, finance, on time and on budget construction, and production with subsequent increased value to shareholders.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. These include, without limitation, statements with respect to: the strategic plans, timing and expectations for the Company's exploration, rehabilitation and drilling programs of the Las Chispas Project; information with respect to high grade areas and size of veins projected from underground sampling results; and the accessibility of future mining at the Las Chispas Project. Such forwardlooking statements or information are based on a number of assumptions, which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: the conditions in general economic and financial markets; availability of skilled labour; timing and amount of expenditures related to rehabilitation and drilling programs; and effects of regulation by governmental agencies. The actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of risk factors including: the timing and content of work programs; results of exploration activities; the interpretation of drilling results and other geological data; receipt, maintenance and security of permits and mineral property titles; environmental and other regulatory risks; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; and general market and industry conditions. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statements were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements included in this news release if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law.

Dunham L. Craig, P.Geo.

Interim CEO

SilverCrest Metals Inc.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SilverCrest Metals Inc., Contact: Fred Cooper, Investor Relations, Telephone: +1 (604) 694-1730, Fax: +1 (604) 694-1761, Toll Free: 1-866-691-1730 (Canada & USA), Email: [email protected], Website: www.silvercrestmetals.com, 570 Granville Street, Suite 501, Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3P1

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160818/399259

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160818/399260

SOURCE SilverCrest Metals Inc.

Related Links

http://www.silvercrestmetals.com


SEATTLE, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine today ranked Skytap, Inc., an innovative cloud service for application modernization, NO. 2048 on its 35th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. Skytap joins locals such as Lighter Capital, TUNE, and Surge in gaining what has become the universal stamp of entrepreneurial approval on this list of the most successful businesses within the American economy's most dynamic segment.

"Our significant jump up almost 500 spots from last year's ranking validates the rapid growth we're experiencing. It reaffirms we're on the right track in our mission to deliver a public cloud to businesses that solves deficiencies in on-premise data centers and overcomes the evolving challenges of cloud adoption," said Thor Culverhouse, CEO, Skytap. "We expect the pace of this growth trajectory to increase as enterprises continue to seek out viable solutions in their push towards modernizing traditional legacy infrastructure."

Evident through its three-year 182% growth, Skytap has capitalized on the high demand for efficient public cloud computing solutions by emphasizing that the key to more intelligently managing the enterprise cloud mix is to take a purpose-driven approach. Right now, multi-cloud shops are discovering different providers often deliver optimal services for specific workloads. Clouds built for a specific purpose, such as Skytap which is geared towards modernizing outdated legacy applications, often have less over-provisioning and usually out-perform more generic multi-purpose solutions. Skytap enables organizations to remove environment availability and management bottlenecks, cut costs, increase quality results, and improve overall performance.

"The Inc. 5000 list stands out where it really counts," says Inc. President and Editor-In-Chief Eric Schurenberg. "It honors real achievement by a founder or a team of them. No one makes the Inc. 5000 without building something great  usually from scratch. That's one of the hardest things to do in business, as every company founder knows. But without it, free enterprise fails."

The 2016 Inc. 5000, unveiled online at Inc.com and with the top 500 companies featured in the September issue of Inc. (available on newsstands August 23) is the most competitive crop in the list's history. The average company on the list achieved a mind-boggling three-year growth of 433%. The Inc. 5000's aggregate revenue is $200 billion, and the companies on the list collectively generated 640,000 jobs over the past three years, or about 8% of all jobs created in the entire economy during that period. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.

The 35th Annual Inc. 5000 Conference and Gala will be held October 18-20, 2016, at the JW Marriott Hill Country in San Antonio. To learn more about the ways Skytap extends enterprise cloud and DevOps strategies to traditional on-premises workloads, visit: https://www.skytap.com

About Skytap, Inc.

Skytap is a public cloud provider that extends enterprise Cloud and DevOps strategies to traditional on-premises applications. Skytap uniquely supports application modernization with production-ready development, software testing and training environments that work the same way as an on-premises data center. Skytap packages servers, VMs, networks, data and configurations into environments that can be provisioned, cloned, suspended and shared around the world with a single click. To try Skytap and learn more, visit www.skytap.com.

More about Inc. and the Inc. 500|5000

Methodology

The 2016 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2012 to 2015. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2012. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2015. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2012 is $100,000; the minimum for 2015 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.'s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000.

About Inc. Media

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today's innovative company builders. Winner of the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in both 2014 and 2012. Total monthly audience reach for the brand has grown significantly from 2,000,000 in 2010 to over 15,000,000 today. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

The Inc. 500|5000 is a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation. Started in 1982, this prestigious list of the nation's most successful private companies has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success. The Inc. 5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony is an annual event that celebrates their remarkable achievements. The event also offers informative workshops, celebrated keynote speakers, and evening functions.

For more information on Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com.

Skytap on Social Media

Twitter: @Skytap, @Skytap_Partners

Facebook: facebook.com/skytap

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/skytap

All trademarks, trade names, service marks and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

Skytap Press Contact:

Melissa Boggs

Barokas Public Relations

[email protected]

206-264-8220

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141218/165173LOGO

SOURCE Skytap, Inc.
"Southwest's approval from the DOT to operate these new routes made history as the first authorities granted in a new agreement between the U.S. and Mexico to allow more service between the countries," said Paul Cullen, Vice President and Executive Sponsor of Los Angeles for Southwest Airlines. "We are able to do what we have done for decades in California and in cities across the country: enter a nonstop market, bring low fares with unmatched value, and connect people in a more affordable way with places that are important in their lives."

Cullen discussed the new flights with the carrier's LA Basin Customers and Employees at a Viva Mexico! party taking place today at a Southwest Beachfront Porch set-up in Santa Monica Place near the Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica Pier. Traditional Mexican dancers commemorated news of the first Mexico service from LAX by Southwest, the largest carrier of air passengers to, from, and within the Golden State, based on the most recent data provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Southwest serves ten major commercial airports in the state, five of which are in the LA Basin.

"Los Angeles and Mexico share an unbreakable bond, and today our cultural and commercial connections become even stronger," said Mayor Eric Garcetti. "These new Southwest flights from LAX to Mexico will expand L.A.'s global reach, bring Angelenos closer to the people they love, and help our city's economy continue to grow."

Late last month, the carrier received U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) approval to fly between Oakland International Airport and both Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta. Also subject to Mexican governmental approval, this new service in Northern California would begin on Feb. 12, 2017.

Southwest already flies daily between LAX and Liberia/Guanacaste, Costa Rica, and the five new daily flights to and from Mexico will be flown in addition to the carrier's international service offered at John Wayne Airport in Orange County. The carrier continues to plan for available seat mile (ASM) growth in the 5-6 percent range in 2016.

*FARE TERMS & CONDITIONS

Purchase Aug.18-21, 2016, 11:59 p.m. in the respective time zone of the originating city. International travel is valid Dec. 4, 2016, through March 2, 2017. Sale fares to international destinations are blacked out Dec. 24-26, 2016; sale fares from international destinations are blacked out Dec. 31, 2016  Jan. 2, 2017. Travel to Cancun, Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta is valid only on Sundays through Wednesdays. Travel from Cancun, Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta is valid only on Tuesdays through Fridays. Fares are valid only on nonstop service. Displayed prices include all U.S. and international government taxes and fees. Points bookings do not include taxes, fees, and other government/airport charges of at least $5.60 per one way flight. Seats and days are limited. Fares may vary by destination, flight, and day of week and won't be available on some flights that operate during very busy travel times and holiday periods. Travel is available for one-way Wanna Get Away fares. Fares may be combined with other Southwest Airlines combinable fares. If combining with other fares, the most restrictive fare's rules apply. Sale fares may be available on other days of week, but not guaranteed. Fares are nonrefundable but may be applied toward future travel on Southwest Airlines, so long as the reservation is canceled at least ten minutes prior to the scheduled departure of the flight. Failure to cancel prior to departure will result in forfeiture of remaining funds on the reservation. Any change in itinerary may result in an increase in fare. Standby travel requires an upgrade to the Anytime fare. Fares are subject to change until ticketed. Offer applies only to published, scheduled service.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Specific forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements related to the Company's anticipated service offerings and fares and network and capacity plans, opportunities, and expectations. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in or indicated by them. Factors include, among others, (i) the impact of economic conditions, consumer behavior, fuel prices, actions of competitors (including without limitation pricing, scheduling, and capacity decisions and consolidation and alliance activities), and other factors beyond the Company's control, on the Company's business decisions, plans, and strategies; (ii) the impact of governmental regulations and other governmental actions related to the Company's operations; and (iii) other factors, as described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the detailed factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2015.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

In its 46th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 52,000 Employees to more than 100 million Customers annually. Southwest operates more than 3,900 departures a day during peak travel season across a network of 98 destinations in the United States and seven additional countries with service to three airports in Cuba expected to begin later this year, subject to governmental approvals.

Based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent data, Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded. The Company operates the largest fleet of Boeing aircraft in the world, the majority of which are equipped with satellite-based WiFi providing gate-to-gate connectivity. That connectivity enables Customers to use their personal devices to view video on-demand movies and television shows, as well as more than 20 channels of free, live TV compliments of our valued Partners. Southwest created Transfarency, a philosophy which treats Customers honestly and fairly, and in which low fares actually stay low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply, some airlines may allow free checked bags on select routes or for qualified circumstances), and there are no change fees, though fare differences might apply. The airline proudly unveiled a bold new look: Heart. A new logo, aircraft livery, interior design featuring a new seat and Flight Attendant galley, Employee-designed uniforms, and an updated airport experience all showcase the dedication of Southwest Employees who connect Customers with what's important in their lives.

From its first flights on June 18, 1971, Southwest Airlines launched an era of unprecedented affordability in air travel described by the U.S. Department of Transportation as "The Southwest Effect," a lowering of fares and increase in passenger traffic whenever the carrier enters new markets. With 43 consecutive years of profitability, Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for a triple bottom line approach that contributes to the carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of its People and the communities they serve, and an overall commitment to efficiency and the planet. The 2015 Southwest Airlines One Report can be found at SouthwestOneReport.com.

Book Southwest Airlines' low fares online at Southwest.com or by phone at 800-I-FLY-SWA.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.

Related Links

http://www.southwest.com


DENVER, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Swiftpage, the maker of Act! and a leading provider of software and services that help small and mid-sized businesses grow, today announced the company's inclusion on the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy's most dynamic segment its independent small businesses. Swiftpage placed 1,037 on the list, with three-year sales growth of 381 Percent. Swiftpage also placed 21st on Inc.'s list of top Denver-based companies.

The 2016 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2012 to 2015. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2012. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2015. The minimum revenue required for 2012 is $100,000; the minimum for 2015 is $2 million. A full list of Inc. 5000 honorees can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000.

"The Inc. 5000 list stands out where it really counts," says Inc. President and Editor-In-Chief Eric Schurenberg. "It honors real achievement by a founder or a team of them. No one makes the Inc. 5000 without building something great  usually from scratch. That's one of the hardest things to do in business, as every company founder knows. But without it, free enterprise fails."

The 2016 Inc. 5000 is the most competitive crop in the list's history. The Inc. 5000's aggregate revenue is $200 billion, and the companies on the list collectively generated 640,000 jobs over the past three years, or about eight percent of all jobs created in the entire economy during that period.

"We're ecstatic to be a part of the Inc. 5000 again this year," said John Oechsle, CEO of Swiftpage. "This is the fourth time Swiftpage has been represented on the Inc. 5000, and we take a lot of pride in the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make our flagship product, Act!, so valuable to small and mid-sized businesses that it allows us to achieve this level of consistent growth. We're going to continue pushing the envelope in the SMB customer relationship management space to innovate for all the users out there who rely on Act! to grow their small businesses."

Swiftpage recently announced the latest version of the Act! platform, Act! v18.2. This latest iteration includes Act! Connect Link, which allows desktop users to create integrations between their Act! application and hundreds of online applications. Act! v18.2 provides users with enhancements to Web API integrations and Act! emarketing along with improvements to various functionality for web users. For more information on the latest version of Act!, please visit http://www.act.com/.

Social Media and Website Links

About the Act! Portfolio

Act!, the award winning customer & contact manager trusted by more than six million businesses globally, enables business owners to manage their relationships, interact and follow-up with their customers effectively and efficiently. Small and medium sized businesses rely on the Act! portfolio daily to run, manage and grow their business. Learn more at www.act.com.

About Inc. Media:

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today's innovative company builders. Winner of the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in both 2014 and 2012. Total monthly audience reach for the brand has grown significantly from 2,000,000 in 2010 to over 15,000,000 today. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

The Inc. 5000 is a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation. Started in 1982, this prestigious list of the nation's most successful private companies has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success. The Inc. 5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony is an annual event that celebrates their remarkable achievements. The event also offers informative workshops, celebrated keynote speakers, and evening functions.

2016 Swiftpage ACT! LLC. All rights reserved. Swiftpage, Act!, and the Swiftpage product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Swiftpage ACT! LLC, or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Press Contacts  North America

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Swiftpage

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CHICAGO, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE: TDS) today announced that Vicki Bernards was appointed to vice president of financial analysis and strategic planning. In her role, she will continue to lead the enterprise-wide strategic planning, budgeting and forecasting processing for TDS and its business units.

Bernards joined TDS in 2001, and was most recently director of financial analysis and strategic planning. She previously held positions in internal audit and as an associate manager of business development for TDS' subsidiary TDS Telecom. She also served as a financial analyst for Famous Footwear.

"Vicki brings invaluable technical financial knowledge, and extensive analytical skills to her role," said Doug Shuma, senior vice president  finance and chief accounting officer. "Vicki will continue to be a leading force in the critical analysis and development of TDS' short and long-term financial strategy."

A certified public accountant and a certified corporate financial planning and analysis professional, Bernards received a BBA from the University of Wisconsin  Eau Claire and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin  Madison.

About TDS

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (TDS), a Fortune 500 company, provides wireless; cable and wireline broadband, TV and voice; and hosted and managed services to approximately 6 million customers nationwide through its businesses, U.S. Cellular, TDS Telecom, OneNeck IT Solutions, and BendBroadband. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, TDS employed 10,400 people as of June 30, 2016.

Visit www.tdsinc.com for comprehensive financial information, including earnings releases, quarterly and annual filings, shareholder information and more.

For more information about TDS and its subsidiaries, visit:

TDS: www.tdsinc.com

U.S. Cellular: www.uscellular.com

TDS Telecom: www.tdstelecom.com

OneNeck IT Solutions: www.oneneck.com



SOURCE Telephone & Data Systems

Related Links

http://www.tdsinc.com


LONDON, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Synopsis

Timetric's 'The Insurance Industry in Panama, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2019' report provides detailed analysis of the market trends, drivers and challenges in the Panamanian insurance industry.



It provides key performance indicators such as written premium, incurred loss, loss ratio, commissions and expenses, total assets, total investment income and retentions during the review period (20102014) and forecast period (20142019).



The report also analyzes distribution channels operating in the segment, gives a comprehensive overview of the Panamanian economy and demographics, and provides detailed information on the competitive landscape in the country.



The report brings together Timetric's research, modeling and analysis expertise, giving insurers access to information on segment dynamics and competitive advantages, and profiles of insurers operating in the country. The report also includes details of insurance regulations, and recent changes in the regulatory structure.



Summary

Timetric's 'The Insurance Industry in Panama, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2019' report provides in-depth market analysis, information and insights into the Panamanian insurance industry, including:



 The Panamanian insurance industry's growth prospects by segment and category



 A comprehensive overview of the Panamanian economy and demographics



 The detailed competitive landscape in the Panamanian insurance industry



 The various distribution channels in the Panamanian insurance industry



 Details of regulatory policy applicable to the Panamanian insurance industry



 Analysis of natural hazards in Panama



Scope

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the insurance industry in Panama:



 It provides historical values for the Panamanian insurance industry for the report's 20102014 review period, and projected figures for the 20142019 forecast period.



 It offers a detailed analysis of the key segments in the Panamanian insurance industry, with market forecasts to 2019.



 It covers an exhaustive list of parameters, including written premium, incurred loss, loss ratio, combined ratio, total assets, total investment income and retentions.



 It analyzes the various distribution channels in Panama.



 It profiles the top insurance companies in Panama and outlines the key regulations affecting them.



Reasons To Buy

 Make strategic business decisions using in-depth historic and forecast market data related to the Panamanian insurance industry and each segment and category within it.



 Understand the demand-side dynamics, key market trends and growth opportunities in the Panamanian insurance industry.



 Assess the competitive dynamics in the Panamanian insurance industry.



 Identify growth opportunities and market dynamics in key segments.



 Gain insights into key regulations governing the Panamanian insurance industry and their impact on companies and the industry's future.



Key Highlights

 In 2015, SSRP announced that the National Bank of Panama (BNP) and Savings Bank will engage in the marketing, retail and distribution of microinsurance products in Panama.



 In 2015, Pan American Life Insurance de Panama SA led the life insurance segment with 18.5% of its gross written premium. Compania Internacional de Seguros SA was the leading non-life insurer in 2015, with 17.4% of the segment's gross written premium.



 The country's insurance industry also benefited from the growth of captive insurance and reinsurance as a result of a favorable tax structure.



 The Panamanian insurance industry is moderately consolidated, with 29 insurance companies operating in the industry as of April 2015.



 Captive insurance thrives in Panama as a result of the country's tax benefits for foreign investors: no tax is charged on corporate dividends earned from foreign-sourced income.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/1055887/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

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The opportunity portion of Barthelmy's equation was furnished by her employer. As a project manager at Autotrader, a division of the Cox Media Group, she was able to take advantage of Cox's participation in the Leader Development Grant program. Through the program, Ashford partners with businesses to offer tuition assistance to eligible employees who want to advance their education. The program is a win-win for both the employees who receive tuition assistance benefits and the companies that retain more knowledgeable employees.

The other half of Barthelmy's equation was desire and she was solely responsible for the drive that prompted her to return to school. Previously, she had earned bachelor's degrees in both International Relations and Spanish. Her goal with those degrees was to find a position at an international organization. While working at Autotrader, however, Barthelmy discovered a new direction.

"My career at Autotrader afforded me the opportunity to manage and oversee projects, which stirred up a passion that I did not know existed," she said. "I enjoy working with groups of people to attain a unified goal. Getting a degree in organizational management with a specialization in project management seemed most appropriate. I was able to address both the soft and hard skills associated with the discipline."

In February of 2015, Barthelmy began her Ashford journey. "Ashford had the curriculum that I was interested in and it was the most convenient option as well. It catered to my time limitations; with a full-time job and extra-curricular activities, I had to find a school that would allow me to learn comfortably."

Barthelmy admits that she had "never been a fan of distance learning," but she quickly had a change of heart during her time at Ashford. "The convenience of having a classroom wherever I went proved to be quite suitable," she said. "I could learn on a plane, in a lobby, or in the comfort of my house. The online environment proved to be a great learning avenue."

A little more than a year after she started at Ashford, Barthelmy completed her master's program. She attended the graduation ceremony held in San Diego in May of 2016.

"Ashford helped me further my education," Barthelmy said. "My credentials now afford me opportunities that may not have been previously available to me. I got to read amazing books, meet amazing staff and classmates, and learn so much relevant content. I now have new experiences to take with me on my personal and professional journeys."

About Ashford University

Where heritage meets innovation  that's Ashford University. At Ashford, students discover relevant degree programs, innovative technology, and cherished tradition. Ashford offers associates, bachelor's, and master's degree programs online, allowing students to balance life by providing the flexibility to do school work anywhere, anytime. For more information, please visit www.ashford.edu, www.facebook.com/ashforduniversity, www.twitter.com/AshfordU, or call Marianne Perez, Media Relations Manager, at 858.513.9240 x11636.

Contact: Marianne Perez, Media Relations Manager

858.513.9240 x11636  [email protected]



Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160818/399427

SOURCE Ashford University

Related Links

http://www.ashford.edu


LocumTenens.com announced today that Dr. Wael Hakmeh, a locum tenens Emergency Medicine physician from West Bloomfield, Mich., and Dr. Roy Blank, a retired Internal Medicine physician from Charlotte, N.C., are the 2016 MedicalMissions.org Physicians of the Year for International and Domestic service, respectively.

Dr. Hakmeh has risked his life by traveling to Syria and Turkey seven times over the past two years to work with the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), training healthcare workers on trauma care. Dr. Hakmeh was working in the Emergency Room at the M10 hospital in Aleppo, Syria, in 2014 when it was bombed, one of eight times it was struck by the Syrian government over a two-year period. He is now working with SAMS to organize and establish care for Syrian refugees in Europe. You can read more about Dr. Hakmeh here.

"Seeing the resolve of the Syrian people in person has really humbled me," Dr. Hakmeh said. "There is likely no calamity I could face that they have not already experienced, and their strength is genuine and heartening."

Dr. Roy Blank didn't do a lot of medical missions work during his 40-year career in private practice, but now is extremely active, serving as medical director for three non-profit organizations in the Charlotte area as well as teaching at Wingate University's physician assistant program. He involves students in local activities as well as taking them on mission trips organized by Bless Back Worldwide (BBW), an organization he helped to found after traveling to Haiti directly after the 2010 earthquake. For the organization's two clinics in Haiti and Nicaragua, he has established care protocols based on World Health Organization standards and implemented electronic health records to improve care. He volunteers regularly in the Charlotte area to treat refugees and the uninsured through Project 658 and works with diabetic patients at the Union County Free Diabetes Clinic. You can read more about Dr. Blank here.

"Practicing medicine has been the ultimate gift to me," Dr. Blank said. "I love the work I do now that I'm retired. I don't have to worry about filing insurance or charging patients. I'm only focused on helping patients and teaching."

"Dr. Hakmeh and Dr. Blank possess all the traits we considered when we created the MedicalMissions.org Physician of the Year Award," said Chris Franklin, president, LocumTenens.com. "Dr. Hakmeh places himself in danger to improve lives in war-ravaged Syria, and Dr. Blank is making sure patients receive high-quality care in Charlotte, Haiti and Nicaragua through his hands-on work and leadership. Their service, and that of physicians like them, epitomizes the spirit of giving back so that patients here and abroad have access to quality healthcare services."

More than 125 physicians were nominated for the annual awards program that honors physicians who donate their time to help underserved people in the United States and abroad gain access to critically-needed healthcare services. As part of the award, LocumTenens.com will donate to the Syrian American Medical Society on behalf of Dr. Hakmeh and to Bless Back Worldwide on behalf of Dr. Blank.

LocumTenens.com is committed to supporting medical missions work and increasing healthcare access in underserved areas, sponsoring and recruiting physicians for several medical brigades annually, and by operating the website medicalmissions.org, which helps connect trained medical volunteers with organizations sponsoring medical missions all over the world. Organizations who sponsor missions and volunteers seeking volunteer opportunities can register for free at http://medicalmissions.org/.

About LocumTenens.com

LocumTenens.com is a full-service healthcare staffing agency, specializing in the temporary placement of physicians, CRNAs, physician assistants and nurse practitioners at healthcare facilities across the U.S. As the industry's most-visited job board, LocumTenens.com helps healthcare organizations connect with the professionals they need to ensure patients have access to quality care. Founded in 1995, LocumTenens.com is part of the Jackson Healthcare family of companies. Learn more at www.locumtenens.com/about.

Media Contact:

Kelly Randall, PR Manager

[email protected]

678.992.1263

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160818/399345

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160818/399347

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141107/157360LOGO

SOURCE LocumTenens.com

Related Links

http://www.locumtenens.com


CORK, Ireland, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Tyco (NYSE: TYC) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its security business in South Africa, which operates locally under the ADT brand, to Fidelity Security Group for approximately ZAR 1.9 billion (USD 140 million). This business provides security monitoring services, including dispatch of armed response guards, as well as fire detection and protection, access control and other security-related services, to residential and commercial customers. The financial impact of this planned sale was previously disclosed as part of Tyco's fiscal third quarter earnings report on July 29, 2016.

After the transaction is completed, Tyco will continue to provide its fire, security and life safety products in South Africa. ADT will serve as a local distributor for Tyco's residential and commercial security products and solutions, as well as Tyco's specialized performance solutions for retail businesses.

The transaction is expected to close in late fiscal first quarter of 2017 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

The financial results of this business are reported within the Rest of World Integrated Solutions & Services segment. In fiscal year 2016, the business is expected to generate revenue of approximately USD 160 million.

Deutsche Bank is acting as exclusive financial adviser and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Bowman Gilfillan are acting as legal advisors to Tyco.

ABOUT TYCO

Tyco (NYSE: TYC) is the world's largest pure-play fire protection and security company. Tyco provides more than three million customers around the globe with the latest fire protection and security products and services. Tyco has over 57,000 employees in more than 900 locations across 50 countries serving various end markets, including commercial, institutional, governmental, retail, industrial, energy, residential and small business. For more information, visit www.tyco.com.

ABOUT FIDELITY SECURITY GROUP

Fidelity Security Group (Fidelity) is Southern Africa's largest integrated security solutions provider and the industry leader in protection innovation. Fidelity offers a vast range of security services (Guarding, Cash Solutions and Integrated Armed Response) and related products and has around 47,000 employees across 142 integrated points of presence throughout Southern Africa. Fidelity remains well positioned to add value to all its customers, which includes many of the top listed companies, state owned companies and multinational conglomerates. For more information, visit www.fidelitysecurity.co.za.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains a number of forward-looking statements. In many cases forward-looking statements are identified by words, and variations of words, such as "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "commit", "confident", "continue", "could", "intend", "may", "plan", "potential", "predict", "positioned", "should", "will", "expect", "objective", "projection", "forecast", "goal", "guidance", "outlook", "effort", "target", and other similar words. However, the absence of these words does not mean the statements are not forward-looking. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, revenue, operating income, earnings per share and other financial projections, statements regarding the health and growth prospects of the industries and end markets in which Tyco operates, the leadership, resources, potential, priorities, and opportunities for Tyco in the future, Tyco's credit profile, capital allocation priorities and other capital market related activities, and statements regarding Tyco's acquisition, divestiture, restructuring and other productivity initiatives. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of our control, and could cause results to materially differ from expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: economic, business, competitive, technological or regulatory factors that adversely impact Tyco or the markets and industries in which it competes; unanticipated expenses such as litigation or legal settlement expenses; tax law changes; and industry specific events or conditions that may adversely impact revenue or other financial projections. Actual results could differ materially from anticipated results. Tyco is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any obligation) to update its forward-looking statements. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results is included from time to time in the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of the Company's public reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 25, 2015.

SOURCE Tyco

Related Links

http://www.tyco.com


CHICAGO, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- KNOW Hunger, launched in 2012 by Tyson Foods and the National Urban League as a way to address and spread awareness of food insecurity, announces today the launch of its next phase of the partnership with KNOW Hunger Chicago, a partnership with Tyson Foods, Chicago Urban League and the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The program, made possible by a $150,000 grant from Tyson Foods to National Urban League, launched today at the Greater Chicago Food Depository with a donation of 33,000 pounds of protein.

Tyson Foods is proud to partner with two of Chicago's preeminent non-profits  the Chicago Urban League and Greater Chicago Food Depository  for this one-year campaign that aims to raise awareness about hunger and nutrition through large scale protein donations, thought leadership exercises, community engagement events and hunger education opportunities.

The KNOW Hunger initiative is entering its fourth year of partnership with National Urban League, having started in Mississippi, spent two years in Nashville, Tennessee before making its way to Chicago. Throughout KNOW Hunger's tenure, the program has impacted thousands of members of the community, key influencers and elected officials that together have worked to educate the community on the perils of hunger.

"We chose Chicago because of the high concentration of food insecurity in the area  1 in 6 of our neighbors -- around 812,000 - turn to the Greater Chicago Food Depository's network for assistance," said Deb Sinta, Vice President of Talent and Culture, Tyson Foods. "Chicago was also very fitting as the next KNOW Hunger city because of the large company presence we have in the Chicagoland area. We want to give back to the community any way we can."

This back-to-school timeframe also makes us aware of the struggles that hungry children face  the number of children living in food insecure households in Illinois has grown to 20.8 percent of all children. As part of an effort to reach and support children and families, the Chicago Urban League is holding a Back-to-School Festival this Saturday, August 20th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to make sure kids start off the school year right.

"This work goes hand in hand with our mission to provide economic empowerment, educational opportunities and social justice for our community," said Shari Runner, President and CEO, Chicago Urban League. "We hear all too often from our partners in the community that hunger is a barrier to success and we're proud to be a part of an initiative that is focused on tackling this issue."

The Food Depository is responding to a consistent high need throughout the community What's more, protein is one of the most requested item from its partner agencies.

"As we respond to a persistent need for food assistance across Cook County, we strive to provide nutritious options for the people we serve," said Jill Zimmerman, Vice President of Development at the Greater Chicago Food Depository. "Protein is always needed at our partner agencies and we are grateful to Tyson Foods for this donation and their longtime support of the Food Depository. We believe that no one should go hungry and we are thrilled to join Tyson Foods and the Urban League for the KNOW Hunger Chicago campaign."

The Chicago Urban League will spearhead local on the ground efforts. Some of the nearly 1,000 people Tyson Foods employs in the Chicago area will also be involved in volunteer efforts along with assistance from local Urban League affiliate Guild auxiliaries, Young Professional auxiliary members and Project Ready Students.

Tyson Foods has been active in hunger relief for many years, donating more than 100 million pounds of protein to food banks and other relief agencies since 2000.

About Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN), with headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, is one of the world's largest food companies with leading brands such as Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Sara Lee, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells and State Fair. It's a recognized market leader in chicken, beef and pork as well as prepared foods, including bacon, breakfast sausage, turkey, lunchmeat, hot dogs, pizza crusts and toppings, tortillas and desserts. The company supplies retail and foodservice customers throughout the United States and approximately 130 countries. Tyson Foods was founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson, whose family has continued to lead the business with his son, Don Tyson, guiding the company for many years and grandson, John H. Tyson, serving as the current chairman of the board of directors. The company currently has approximately 113,000 Team Members employed at more than 400 facilities and offices in the United States and around the world. Through its Core Values, Code of Conduct and Team Member Bill of Rights, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity and trust and is committed to creating value for its shareholders, customers and Team Members. The company also strives to be faith-friendly, provide a safe work environment and serve as stewards of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it.

About the National Urban League

The National Urban League (www.nul.org) is a historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization dedicated to economic empowerment in historically underserved urban communities. Founded in 1910 and headquartered in New York City, the National Urban League has improved the lives of more than two million people nationwide through direct service programs that are implemented locally by its 95 Urban League affiliates in 300 communities across 36 states and the District of Columbia. The organization also conducts public policy research and advocacy activities from its Washington, DC bureau. The National Urban League, a BBB-accredited organization, has an A-rating from Charity Watch and a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, placing it in the top 10 percent of all U.S. charities for adhering to good governance, fiscal responsibility and other best practices.

About the Chicago Urban League

Established in 1916, the Chicago Urban League works for economic, educational and social progress for African Americans and promotes strong sustainable communities through advocacy, collaboration and innovation. For more information, visit www.thechicagourbanleague.org. Find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

About the Greater Chicago Food Depository

The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago's food bank, is a nonprofit food distribution and training center providing food for hungry people while striving to end hunger in our community. The Food Depository, founded in 1979, makes a daily impact across Cook County with a network of 650 pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, mobile programs, children's programs, older adult programs and innovative responses that address the root causes of hunger. Last year, the Food Depository distributed 70 million pounds of shelf-stable food, fresh produce, dairy products and meat, the equivalent of 160,000 meals every day. For more information, visit chicagosfoodbank.org or call 773-247-FOOD

SOURCE Tyson Foods; National Urban League

Related Links

http://www.nul.org


Gerry Laderman, who has been serving as acting chief financial officer, will continue in his previous role as senior vice president, finance, procurement and treasurer. Jim Compton, who currently serves as chief revenue officer and vice chairman of United, will retire at the end of the year, after supporting the transition.

Levy comes to United following more than thirteen years of leadership at Allegiant Travel Company, a highly successful ultra-low cost carrier. Levy brings a comprehensive airline background to United, having held the roles of president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

"Andrew is the ideal candidate to join United. His deep experience in not only finance, but airline operations is critical as we are redefining all aspects of our business to build a truly great airline," said Oscar Munoz, president and CEO. "Gerry's leadership over the last year has been invaluable. He is a trusted advisor and I look forward to continuing to work with him as a member of the executive leadership team."

Haywood joins United from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where she served as partner and managing director. Most recently, Haywood was a partner on BCG's revenue and network transformation team at United.

"I have spent the last few months working with Julia as she has been partnering with our revenue and network teams, and her expertise in global consumer travel will be a tremendous addition to drive United's strategic direction," said Munoz. "I can't thank Jim enough for his leadership during his years at United. The entire United team wishes him well on his upcoming retirement and recognizes the significant contributions he has made to our business in his years at the company."

Munoz continued, "Julia and Andrew bring a powerful combination of industry perspective and experience to our leadership team."

During his time at Allegiant, Levy initially led the efforts to successfully restructure and assume ownership control of the company. Levy then had a leading role in the development and execution of the innovative plan that resulted in Allegiant's success, including responsibility for strategy, planning, finance and operations. Prior to Allegiant, he held several leadership positions at MPower Communications, serving as vice president of network development and network planning. Levy is currently on the board of Copa Airlines. Levy has a bachelor's degree from Washington University and a juris doctor from Emory University.

Haywood has been at BCG for twelve years, where she has ascended to lead the firm's airline transformation practice globally, with specific expertise in commercial strategy and execution, network planning and revenue growth. Throughout her career she has worked with more than a dozen airlines ranging from ultra-low cost carriers to large global network carriers, including a series of complex multi-year transformations for airlines on three continents. Prior to BCG, Haywood served in various roles for the International Olympic Committee, focusing on strategy and operations. She has a bachelor's degree from Laurentian University and an MBA from Melbourne Business School.

About United

United Airlines and United Express operate more than 4,500 flights a day to 339 airports across five continents. In 2015, United and United Express operated more than 1.5 million flights carrying more than 140 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates more than 720 mainline aircraft, and this year, the airline anticipates taking delivery of 21 new Boeing aircraft, including 737 NGs, 787s and 777s. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 192 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol UAL.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399226

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399227

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130404/MM89155LOGO

SOURCE United Airlines

Related Links

http://www.united.com


SINDOS, Greece, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- United Nations International Day of Happiness Founder Jayme Illien is visiting a Swiss Cross refugee camp in Sindos, Greece where he'll meet 1200 refugees who fled devastating and catastrophic, still ongoing wars in Iraq and Syria.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399076

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399077

Jayme Illien, United Nations advisor and Founder of the United Nations International Day of Happiness Founder meets with Iraqi and Syrian refugees at Swiss Cross UNHCR refugee camp in Sindos, Greece Jayme Illien, United Nations advisor and Founder of the United Nations International Day of Happiness Founder with Bakr Mohammed, Iraqi refugee who taught himself english listening to hip hop

According to the United Nations, over 10 million people have been displaced across the Middle East in the largest mass migration of refugees since World War 2. The rise of ISIS and conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, and around the world has led many to flee the destruction in their home country for Western Europe through Italy, Greece and Turkey.

American, European, Middle Eastern and African capitals, and cities around the world have been victim to numerous terrorist attacks claiming the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians as global security has deteriorated since the US led invasion of Iraq in 2003. In May and July of 2016 the world witnessed two of the deadliest explosions kill an estimated 500 Iraqi civilians in and around Baghdad.

In a statement issued from the Swiss Cross Frakapor refugee camp in Sindos, Greece, CEO and Chairman of Illien Global Public Benefit Corporation said: "It's an honor, a privilege, and an inspiration to see the smiles, laughter, and spirit of joy, resilience, and courage on the faces of my new friends and family from Syria and Iraq who have fled catastrophic and devastating wars, violence, and destruction in their home country.

"Happiness is a human right and fundamental human goal. I want to express my admiration and appreciation to Michael Raber's Swiss Cross and UNHCR whose initiative and leadership enabled those who fled war and arrived on the shores of Greece, to have a chance to recover, to rebuild, to live, to thrive, and to be happy again."

In 2011, Jayme Illien launched a campaign successfully lobbying all 193-member states of the United Nations and UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon to adopt UN resolution 66/281. The new UN resolution was adopted by consensus of all 193 member states in 2012, establishing the International Day of Happiness, now celebrated worldwide every March 20, and recognizing happiness as a fundamental human right and goal for all human beings, and a solution to the complex and interconnected challenges confronting all of humanity.

Just three weeks ago, the United Nations adviser and happiness day founder was in Ankara, Turkey, when one third of the Turkish Military, the 2nd largest in NATO, launched a coup d'etat attempt to overthrow democratically elected President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. CNN and the US Department of Defense reported 35 F-16s, 37 attack helicopters, 250 tanks and APCs, 3 navy ships, and 4000 weapons in a military battle one third of the generals in Turkey, and the other two thirds.

Speaking to press in Athens where he arrived after narrowly escaping via Istanbul, Jayme said, "I am just grateful to be alive and well, and that more innocent people weren't killed. Hiding under a table with big guns and explosions outside and above, from planes, helicopters, and tanks shooting everywhere, and not knowing whether you're going to make it or not, is something no human being should experience."

"Let us take this opportunity to remember that there are innocent people in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Yemen, and around the world living in constant fear, as I was for just a night, as war is a part of their everyday reality. Let us renew our commitment and resolve to promote and advance a world of sustainable global peace and security, freedom, and happiness for all."

swisscross.help

www.un.org/en/events/happinessday/

www.happinessday.org



Contact: Erica Stone

Email

Phone: +1404-436-3551

SOURCE United Nations International Day of Happiness

Related Links

http://www.happinessday.org


WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

WOMEN'S RIGHT TO VOTE

Profile America  Thursday, August 18th. An emotional and legal battle that lasted many decades ended on this date in 1920, changing the course of U.S. social and political history. The event was the certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment prohibits discrimination based on sex with regard to voting  in short, it extended to women the right to vote. Two days earlier, Tennessee had become the required 36th state to ratify the amendment, in spite of last minute efforts by some state lawmakers to overturn the legislature's action. American women exercised their new right for the first time in the 1920 presidential election. In the 2014 Congressional election, 43 percent of women voted, compared with just under 41 percent for men. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.

Sources:

Amendment history/accessed 6/3/2016: http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=63

Voting statistics/All Races: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/socdemo/voting/publications/p20/2014/tables.html

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu).

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

Related Links

http://www.census.gov


SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Global nutritional company USANA Health Sciences was honored at a luncheon today for its inclusion in Utah Business Magazine's Fast 50 list. This is the ninth time the company has been recognized as one of the fastest growing in the state of Utah.

USANA made the list based on its most recent five years of compound revenue growth. The strength behind filling this coveted spot came from USANA's performance in the 2015 fiscal year. The company saw record net sales in 2015 totaling $918.5 million  a 16.2 percent increase from 2014. 2015 became the 13th consecutive year of record sales and the company continues to see record growth in 2016.

"Our inclusion on the Fast 50 list for the ninth time is a testament to our amazing employees, an excellent independent sales force, and outstanding, healthy products," said Paul Jones, USANA's chief financial officer and chief leadership development officer. "There are so many amazing companies in Utah that being named as one of the 50 fastest growing is a tremendous honor."

The Fast 50 highlights the companies in Utah that generate record revenues or expand at rapid speeds. The list is determined by Utah Business Magazine  Utah's premier business news and information provider.

About USANA

Founded in 1992, USANA Health Sciences (NYSE: USNA) is a U.S.-based nutritional company that manufactures high-quality supplements, personal care and healthy products in its FDA-registered facility in Salt Lake City. Learn more about USANA by visiting our website http://www.usana.com or the official USANA blog http://whatsupusana.com.

Media Contact: Ashley Collins

Executive Director of PR, Social Media and Communications

(801) 954-7629

media(at)us.usana(dot)com

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SOURCE USANA Health Sciences

Related Links

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LONDON, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- This Future Market Insights report examines the 'Global Veterinary Vaccines Market' for the period 20162026. The primary objective of the report is to offer updates, trends, drivers, restraints, volume and value forecasts and opportunities for manufacturers operating in the global veterinary vaccines market.



Global demand for veterinary vaccines is increasing as a result of improving food security, Improving public health through controlling contagious diseases such as avian influenza, Increasing foodborne and zoonotic diseases and Rising humanization of pets and adoption. Markets in developed economies are witnessing increasing demand for veterinary vaccines due to rising adoption of tried and tested products and the trend is expected to boost the overall demand for veterinary vaccines such as e attenuated live vaccines during the forecast period. To understand and assess the opportunities in this market, the report is categorically split into four sections, namely market analysis by product type, disease application type, animal type, distribution type and region. The report analyses the global veterinary vaccines market in terms of market value (US$ Mn).



The report starts with an overview of the veterinary vaccines market and its usage in various applications globally. In the same section, FMI covers the veterinary vaccines market performance in terms of revenue. This section includes FMI's analysis of key trends, drivers and restraints from the supply and demand side perspective.



The next section of the report analyses the market based on product type and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next 10 years. Product types covered in the report include:



Attenuated Live Vaccines Market

Conjugate Vaccines Market

Inactivated Vaccines Market

Subunit Vaccines Market

Toxoid Vaccines Market

DNA Vaccines Market

Recombinant Vaccines Market



The next section of the report analyses the market based on disease application type segments and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years. The disease application type segments covered in the report include:



Anaplasmosis

Canine Parvovirus

Foot and Mouth Disease

New Castle Disease

Distemper Disease

Influenza

Porcine Reproductive & Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS)

Others



The next section of the report analyses the market based on animal type segments and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years. The animal type segments covered in the report include:



Companion Animals

Canine

Avine

Feline

Livestock Animals

Aquatic

Bovine

Porcine

Ovine

Poultry

Equine



The next section of the report analyses the market based on distribution channel segments and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years. The distribution channel segments covered in the report include:



Veterinary Clinics

Veterinary Hospitals

Veterinary Research Institutes

Retail Pharmacies



Furthermore, the report analyses the market based on regions and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years. Regions covered in the report include:



North America

Latin America

Western Europe

Eastern Europe

Asia Pacific Excluding Japan

Middle East & Africa (MEA)

Japan



The forecast presented for the market assesses the total revenue generated in the veterinary vaccines market. When developing the forecast, the starting point involves sizing the current market, which forms the basis for the forecast of how the market is anticipated to take shape in the near future. Given the characteristics of market, we triangulated the outcome based on different analysis of the supply side, demand side and GDP growth rate. However, quantifying the market across aforementioned segments and regions is more a matter of quantifying expectations and identifying opportunities rather than rationalising them after the forecast has been completed.



In addition, we have taken into consideration the year-on-year growth to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right growth opportunities in the global veterinary vaccines market.



As previously highlighted, the global veterinary vaccines market is split into various categories based on region, product type, animal type and application type and distribution channel type. All these segments or categories have been analyzed in terms of Basis Point Share (BPS) to understand the individual segments' relative contribution to market growth. This detailed level of information is important for identification of various key trends in the global veterinary vaccines market.



Another key feature of this report is the analysis of the veterinary vaccines market by region and product type, animal type and application type and distribution channel type; and the market revenue forecast in terms of absolute dollar opportunity. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales perspective in the global veterinary vaccines market.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4070836/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com

For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

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NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced today the nonprofit organizations selected in the third quarter to receive grants through Voya Foundation, the company's charitable giving arm. Voya Foundation supports local and national nonprofits whose missions align with its focus on children's education and financial literacy. Voya invests in programming to help foster healthy, sustainable communities.

Below is an overview of the third-quarter 2016 grant recipients:

Be a Leader Foundation (Arizona) - Be a Leader Foundation utilizes a unique model of peer mentorship to improve graduation rates and college access for at-risk Phoenix-area youth. Voya Foundation's grant to Be a Leader Foundation supports the Be a Leader Parent Club, which engages parents in high school academics and provides resources and guidance to support their exploration of post-high school academic options. Most important, the program reinforces the importance of a high school degree to students and their parents as a crucial first step toward success as a young adult. Be a Leader Foundation was one of two winners of Voya Foundation's first request for proposal (RFP) focused on parental engagement in education.

BestPrep (Minnesota)  For the seventh consecutive year, Voya will partner with BestPrep to educate young people in the Minneapolis community on the basics of personal finance and to encourage underserved youth to pursue careers in business and finance. Voya and BestPrep are excited to expand this partnership for 2016 to include in-person and distance mentoring programs to improve the reach of one-on-one education programs at BestPrep and to further amplify the impact of Voya Financial volunteers.

Citizens' Committee for Children (New York)  Building on a partnership that began in 2013, Voya will fund Keeping Track Online, a web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tool that houses Citizens' Committee for Children data and makes it freely available and usable for the public. Keeping Track Online enables users to view and sort city blocks, census tracts, and entire boroughs based on such indicators as hunger, health, education and various other important metrics that represent New York children.

Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School (Georgia)  Voya will support the Corporate Work Study program, which places students in corporate internships for five days per month during the academic year. Funded by corporations, the program provides students the ability to contribute to their tuition while teaching them business skills, lifelong learning behaviors and techniques to navigate the work environment. This program also marks the second year that interns have worked at the Voya Financial office in Atlanta.

Nashville Financial Empowerment Center (Tennessee)  Grant funding will be used to support Nashville Financial Empowerment Center's Opportunity Now initiative that will target an estimated 2,500 young people with internship opportunities and real-world business experience and financial education. The internship and coinciding educational curriculum teach youth about credit, affordable housing, savings and other financial essentials.

Institute of Technology (New York)  Voya will continue funding for the New York Institute of Technology Voya Financial Simulated Trading Floor, which serves as a resource to improve access to modern technology and give students studying business or finance more real-world training in the industry.

New York University (New York)  As the second of two winners of Voya Foundation's first request for proposal (RFP) process, New York University will use grant funding to support its Metro Center Saturday and Summer College Prep Academy. This partnership includes components to increase the high school graduation and college access rates of disadvantaged New York City students by providing them with afterschool and weekend learning opportunities and guidance through important milestones like graduation and the college application process. Voya's grant will support parental engagement in the program, including academic guidance and support for the college application and financial aid process. Additionally, Voya's support will enable the creation of distance components for parents who work nontraditional schedules so that they can remain engaged with the program and their child's academics.

Through its charitable giving, Voya Foundation supports innovative programs in the areas of financial literacy and education to help individuals gain the skills needed to succeed in the workforce and beyond. Voya Foundation board of directors and the Voya Community Investment Review Committee review applicants and distribute grants on a quarterly basis.

As an industry leader and advocate for greater retirement readiness, Voya Financial is committed to achieving its vision to be America's Retirement Company and fulfilling its mission to make a secure financial future possible  one person, one family, one institution at a time.

Media Contact:

Mary Beth Conklin

Voya Financial

Cell: (423) 596-1449

[email protected]

About Voya Foundation

Voya Foundation's mission is to improve the quality of life in communities where Voya Financial operates and its employees and customers live. Voya Foundation provides grants and establishes signature partnerships in the areas of financial literacy and children's education and fosters employee engagement to deepen our positive impact on the community. For more information, visit www.voyafoundation.com.

About Voya Financial

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings  to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $11 billion in revenue in 2015. The company had $466 billion in total assets under management and administration as of June 30, 2016. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible  one person, one family, one institution at a time  Voya's vision is to be America's Retirement Company. The company is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is ethically, economically, socially and environmentally and responsible  Voya has been recognized as one of the 2016 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute, and as one of the Top Green Companies in the U.S., by Newsweek magazine. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook and Twitter @Voya.

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SOURCE Voya Financial, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.voya.com


WINDSOR, Conn., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced two key hires today.

Miles Edwards will serve as senior vice president and lead Operations for its Retirement business, effective immediately. In this position, Edwards will be responsible for all operations functions that support Voya's Corporate and Tax-Exempt Markets retirement plan segments, as well as its retail phone-based Investor Channel and the Voya Financial Advisors broker-dealer operations.

Prior to Voya, Edwards served as senior vice president of the FASCore operations of Great-West Financial (doing business as Empower Retirement), leading all administration and operations services for that business. During his 20 years with Empower, Edwards oversaw participant call center activities, plan sponsor account managers, transaction processing, plan implementation, plan compliance, financial control and institutional relationship management. Edwards was also responsible for multiple field office and defined benefit business operations sites across the U.S. and Canada. Prior to joining Great-West Financial, Edwards was a senior manager at Deloitte for 12 years, where he was responsible for financial audits of companies in various industries. He holds a bachelor's degree from Bates College and a Master of Business Administration from Vanderbilt University.

Voya also announced Michele White will join the company as senior vice president and leader of its Enterprise Contact Centers, effective Sept. 6. In this role, White will be responsible for strategy, processes and performance management across all customer service access points.

White comes to Voya from MassMutual Financial Group, where she most recently served as vice president of Client Services and senior leader of its West Coast operations. In this role, she managed an organization of more than 500 customer associates, achieving favorable client outcomes, while meeting all service standards and business objectives. White's experience spans call centers, websites, interactive voice response (IVR), correspondence, billing, statements and tax reporting. She previously held various leadership roles across MassMutual's customer service, operations, program management and information technology organizations. White has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Charter Oak State College and a Master of Business Administration from Western New England University.

Both Edwards and White will be based in Voya's Windsor, Connecticut, office and report to Nan Ferrara, senior managing director of Operations for Voya Financial. They will also serve as leadership team members in the Retirement business managed by Charlie Nelson, CEO of Voya Retirement.

"Providing outstanding customer service and promoting a culture of operations excellence are two priorities in our vision to become America's Retirement Company," noted Ferrara. "Miles has a proven track record of building strong collaborative teams, streamlining systems and removing complexity. Michele's impressive background reflects a results-oriented focus on the customer, and a passion for cultivating talent and embracing the principles of Continuous Improvement. We're thrilled to have these two highly talented leaders join Voya, and we look forward to their guidance and contributions as we refine the way we operate and foster a world-class end-to-end customer experience."

"Having Miles on our team is an incredible asset to Voya. He is a true operations leader with extensive talent in recordkeeping administration and mass plan conversions. He brings years of experience supporting large and mega plan platforms  both corporate and government  and also knows how to drive efficiency in the smaller end of the plan market," said Nelson. "Similarly, Michele's impressive industry background and strong sense of customer service will help to enhance the experience we provide to millions of Voya workplace and retail retirement customers. Both Miles and Michele will be key partners to help Voya in the next phase of growth."

Voya, a leading provider of retirement products and services in the U.S., serves more than 47,000 plan sponsor clients and nearly 4.5 million individual retirement plan investors.1 Voya also operates a leading broker-dealer that serves a growing retail market.

1. Last reported on June 30, 2016.

Media Contact:

Joe Loparco

Voya Financial

Office: (860) 580-2677

Cell: (860) 462-6525

[email protected]

Investor Contact:

Darin Arita

212-309-8999

[email protected]

About Voya Financial

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings  to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $11 billion in revenue in 2015. The company had $466 billion in total assets under management and administration as of June 30, 2016. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible  one person, one family, one institution at a time  Voya's vision is to be America's Retirement Company. The company is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible  Voya has been recognized as one of the 2016 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute, and as one of the Top Green Companies in the U.S., by Newsweek magazine. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook and Twitter @Voya.

SOURCE Voya Financial, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.voya.com


AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- VUV Analytics, Inc., the leader in vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) absorption spectroscopy, announced closing of a $6.5 million Series B equity financing. The round was led by new investor New Science Ventures, with participation from S3 Ventures and other previous investors. Vivek Mohindra, Partner at New Science Ventures, has joined the company's board of directors. In 2014 and 2015, the company had previously raised a total of $7 million in Series A equity and $2 million of debt.

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"VUV Analytics has developed a platform technology that is currently being adopted in diverse markets, from refining and petrochemical to food and life science," said Vivek Mohindra, "We were especially impressed with the company's traction among Global 100 companies. We expect VUV technology to ultimately penetrate a broad cross section of the laboratory analytical and process control markets."

"We are very excited to have New Science Ventures as our Series B lead investor," said Clark Jernigan, CEO of VUV Analytics. "The team at NSV, with expertise in both advanced materials and life sciences, was exactly what we were looking for with Series B, and will be of great help as we expand our markets and technology reach from a strong starting point in fuels refining and chemicals production. Given our ramping revenue and capital efficient business model, we expect this capital to take the company to self-sustaining growth."

"It has been fun to see VUV Analytics develop from a promising technology to a successful company with industry leading customers," said Brian R. Smith, Managing Director at S3 Venture Partners. "We welcome New Science Ventures to the team and look forward to seeing the company reach the next level."

About VUV Analytics

VUV Analytics is the leader in vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) absorption spectroscopy. VUV Analytics' products have claimed the "Best New Analytical Instrument" award at the Gulf Coast Conference, a Top 5 Award from The Analytical Scientist, 2015 R&D 100 Market Disruptor Product by R&D Magazine, and Innovative Product of the Year at the ISA Analysis Symposium. For more information, visit www.vuvanalytics.com or contact VUV Analytics directly at (512) 333-0860.

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE VUV Analytics Inc.

Related Links

http://www.vuvanalytics.com


In its second year, the Perfect Pour by Warsteiner challenged bartenders across the United States to show off their technical skills and personal flair as they competed to pour and present the most perfectly tapped glass of WARSTEINER Premium German Pilsener. Nearly 300 bartenders entered their Perfect Pours to www.perfectpouroff.com from May 30, 2016 through July 17, 2016 and worked to win consumer votes.

In addition to Matthews, who led all consumer voting with a record 6,070 votes, finalists who competed in the live event included James Neuweg representing Fritz and Franz Bierhaus in Coral Gables, FL, and Tierney O'Rourke representing Statler Grill in New York City.

"Annie's final Perfect Pour, with foam crowning high above the rim of our iconic Warsteiner tulip glass, was pure perfection," said Laura Sprengard, brand manager for Warsteiner USA. "Her mastery of the Perfect Pour process, coupled with her creative presentation, earned her the title of 2016 Warsteiner Perfect Pour-Off Champion."

To view all entries, go to www.perfectpouroff.com. Call for entries for the 2017 Perfect Pour by Warsteiner contest will be announced May 2017.

The Warsteiner Brewery

Warsteiner Brewery, founded in 1753, is one of the largest private breweries in Germany. Its flagship is the WARSTEINER Premium German Pilsener brand, one of the most popular beer brands in Germany and the world's No. 1 imported premium pilsener among German private breweries. The Warsteiner Group owns interest in Konig Ludwig GmbH & CO. KG Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg (Konig Ludwig Weissbier, Konig Ludwig Dunkel). The Warsteiner Group sells its products in more than 60 countries worldwide. More: http://www.warsteiner-usa.com.

More information:

Molly Ryan or Jackie Koopman, Vehr Communications

[email protected], [email protected]

513-381-8347

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SOURCE Warsteiner USA

Related Links

http://www.warsteiner-usa.com


WOODBURY, N.Y., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Janam Technologies LLC, a leading provider of rugged mobile computers that scan barcodes and communicate wirelessly, announced today that customers of its XG3 rugged, gun-shaped, mobile computer now have access to a custom Wavelink Terminal Emulation (TE) client.

The Wavelink TE client is deployed on more than 10 million mobile devices worldwide and is a comprehensive solution for accessing, managing and maintaining connections to applications resident on host systems. It enhances IT staff and mobile workforce productivity, allowing organizations to spend less time on support and more time on improving operational efficiencies.

KEY FACTS

Wavelink TE offers mobile access to hosts via IBM 5250 and 3270, as well as VT100, VT110, VT220, VT320, HP and other protocols.

With support for multi-modal data capture, Wavelink TE enables secure, high-speed data transfer via the XG3's keyboard, barcode scanner or touch screen. TE also enables voice inputs when used with Wavelink Speakeasy.

Wavelink TE is compatible with all leading supply chain applications, eliminating the IT costs associated with developing a custom mobility client, and freeing up resources for other projects that can improve the bottom line.

SUPPORTING QUOTES

Doug Lloyd, Vice President of Global Sales Operations, Janam Technologies

"It is exciting that we can offer Wavelink's comprehensive and battle-tested terminal emulation solution to the many customers who require it for their organizations, now on a device that is as capable and affordable as Janam's XG3 rugged, gun-shaped, mobile computer."

Steve Bemis, Vice President, Mobile Productivity, Wavelink

"Wavelink has a track record for partnering with leading technology companies to meet the needs of businesses around the world. Our long-term partnership with Janam ensures mission-critical mobile deployments are fully operational and worker productivity is optimized."

SUPPORTING RESOURCES

Learn more about Janam: www.janam.com

Learn more about the XG3: www.janam.com/products/details/xg3

Follow Janam on Facebook: www.facebook.com/janamtechnologies

Follow Janam on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/janam-technologies

Follow Janam on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JanamTech

About Janam

Janam Technologies LLC is a provider of rugged, handheld computing devices for mobile workers. Janam combines deep industry knowledge with advanced technologies to deliver products and accessories that increase productivity, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction. Specializing in purpose-built mobile computers that scan barcodes and communicate wirelessly, Janam offers products that are designed to run mission-critical applications in retail, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing and logistics. For more information, visit www.janam.com.

About Wavelink

Wavelink accelerates mobile productivity with solutions that enable supply chain operations. Organizations around the globe and across industries such as manufacturing, retail, warehousing and field force automation rely on Wavelink enterprise mobility management, host-connectivity applications, and voice-enablement solutions to connect mobile devices to supply chain management systems, ensuring worker productivity in mission-critical mobile deployments, reducing costs and contributing directly to operating margin. Wavelink is part of the LANDESK family and is headquartered in South Jordan, Utah. For more information, please visit www.wavelink.com and get the latest product and customer news from Twitter and LinkedIn

Products or services mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Copyright  2016, Wavelink. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE Janam Technologies LLC

Related Links

http://www.janam.com


KENT, Wash., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Western Governors University (WGU) is being lauded for reducing student debt and helping address a nationwide problem in higher education. The nonprofit university's Responsible Borrowing Initiatives, which to date have reduced student borrowing at WGU by $400 million nationally, received the Exemplary Model Award at the American Association of University Administrators' (AAUA) annual conference held in San Antonio, Texas.

"WGU's innovation, along with its low tuition, has a positive impact on student finances during and after enrollment and addresses directly a central access problem in American higher education," said AAUA Awards Chairman Dr. Jerome Neuner. "Careful financial aid advising and new procedures at WGU have led to a 41 percent decrease in average student borrowing and a default rate of just five percent, less than half the national average."

WGU Washington is the locally-based affiliate of WGU. The first legislatively-endorsed, online university in the state, it was established in 2011 to provide a low-cost, high-quality educational option for Washingtonians. Today, Washington is home to more WGU students than any other state in the country.

Nationwide, student debt has surpassed $1.3 trillion. WGU is addressing the problem of ballooning debt by educating students about responsible borrowing. In 2013, WGU developed its Responsible Borrowing Initiatives to encourage students to borrow only what they need to complete their degrees, helping students make informed decisions and borrow wisely. Since launching the initiatives, average borrowing per WGU student (of those who take out loans) has decreased by $3,230 per year, a 41 percent reduction. Debt at graduation for undergraduates has also decreased each year since the program's inception. In 2016, the average debt among WGU students who took out loans was $16,862, which is less than half the national average.

"WGU students have responded to our recommendations, and the outcomes are not only benefiting our students but also contributing to the solution of a national problem," said Bob Collins, WGU's Vice President of Financial Aid. "WGU continues to focus on providing an affordable education that leads to career success and helping our students borrow responsibly to pay for that education."

WGU's tuition, which has not increased since 2008, is about $6,000 per year for most programs, regardless of the number of courses completed. WGU's innovative, competency-based learning model allows students to advance as soon as they demonstrate mastery of course materials, making it possible for many students to accelerate their progress toward a degree, saving both time and money. The average time to complete a bachelor's degree at WGU is about two and a half years, making the average cost for a bachelor's degree about $15,000.

About WGU Washington

WGU Washington was established by the State Legislature in 2011 in partnership with nationally recognized and accredited Western Governors University to expand access to higher education for Washington residents.

The state-endorsed, online university offers more than 50 bachelor's and master's degree programs in Business, Information Technology, Teacher Education and Health Professions, including Nursing. WGU Washington's competency-based learning model is designed to meet the needs of working adults by providing an affordable, flexible option for earning an accredited, respected college degree. It's non-profit and receives no money from the state.

Degrees are granted under the accreditation of Western Governors University, which is regionally accredited through the Northwest Commission on Colleges; Universities Teachers College programs are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education; and nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education*.

The university has earned the support of more than 20 leading corporations and foundations including AT&T, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lilly Endowment, HCA, Hewlett-Packard, Lumina Foundation, Microsoft, Oracle, SunGard Higher Education and Zions Bank.

* One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 5380, Washington DC 20036, 202-877-6791

Follow WGU:

http://www.facebook.com/WGUWashington

http://www.linkedin.com/companies/western-governors-university

http://twitter.com/wguwashington

http://www.youtube.com/wguwashington

Contact for media inquiries:

Jake Riddell  Public Relations Manager

(206) 512-0025

Contact for enrollment information:

877.214.7004

washington.wgu.edu

SOURCE WGU Washington

Related Links

http://www.wgu.edu


RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Touchy Taytum LLC, is a Virginia-based company that will be hosting a private unveiling for their Touchy Taytum Water For Her, (Bottled Water Brand) in Dimona, Israel. We are proud to announce that we will be able to share this special moment with members from the Ben Ammi Ben-Israel Community.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/398927

The event will be on August 25th, 2016, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, at Otentivee restaurant, which is located off of HaPo'alim St. We are honored to have Born Vegan Chef Yair, preparing our vegan dishes.

The night's theme will be Daddy/Daughter date night, with of course daughters having the first dance.

The event is private with limited seating. However, if you wish to be a guest, please send your request to [email protected]

Touchy Taytum Water For Her is not just to sooth your thirst, but to also remind you of your worth.

Coming To A Market Near You!

Ronail Hopkins

4 Evergreen Ave. Richmond,

Virginia 23223, United States

+972 054 9306389

www.touchytaytum.com

SOURCE Touchy Taytum LLC

Related Links

http://www.touchytaytum.com


HANNOVER, Germany, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- You might want to consider what day of the week to search for cruises, says CruiseWatch.com, a search engine for cruise price drop. According to an elaborate study that took into consideration more than 600,000 data points, cruise prices drop lowest in the middle of the week with Thursday seeing most discounts.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399121

"Cruise prices fluctuate with demand and supply," says Britta Bernhard, a cruise enthusiast and cofounder of CruiseWatch.com. "Most people do not realize that they can save massive amounts of money by booking at the right time."

The search engine analyzed more than 600,000 cruise price reductions during the last years. According to the data, there were more than twice as much price drops on Thursdays than on the slowest day, Sunday.

"When a sailing is not sold out, most cruise lines will discount the cabins rather than sailing empty. These price drops can make for some incredible deals. But you need to find them and book quickly," explains Britta.

Price Hikes on Wednesdays, Calm on Sundays

Wednesday seems to be the day of price hikes. It is by far the single day with the most price increases for cruises. Thirty-four percent more price hikes happen on a Wednesday than any other day of the week. Weekends, on the other hand, are generally quiet. There are significantly less price drops or price hikes happening on Saturdays and Sundays, with Sunday being the quietest day.

The search engine CruiseWatch.com is offering a free price drop monitoring website that utilizes big data and machine learning to help customers find the perfect time to book their cruise. Users can get notified automatically when prices are reduced or when good deals are coming up. "Cruise lines invest massive amounts of resources into revenue optimization. We are levelling the playing field and offering consumers up-to-date technology to make the right decisions," says the CruiseWatch.com cofounder.

Media Contact:

Britta Bernhard

(650) 235-4941

Email

SOURCE CruiseWatch.com

Related Links

http://www.CruiseWatch.com


SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Women in Localization (WL), the leading professional organization for women in the localization industry, is delighted to announce the launch of Co-Founder and Executive Board Member Anna N. Schlegel's second book: Truly Global: The Theory and Practice of Bringing Your Company to International Markets.

In today's world economy, global expansion continues to be a Top 3 priority for most CEOs. More than ever, it is critical that executives and their respective teams understand how best to organize their companies to effectively compete in global markets.

Truly Global: The Theory and Practice of Bringing Your Company to International Markets, produced by FriesenPress, provides readers comprehensive insight into globalization best practices. In addition to organizational design recommendations, it includes succinct recommendations for creating, managing, and distributing global programs across corporate functions, including Product, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service.

On her rationale for authoring this book, Anna Schlegel explains, "I wrote this book to showcase all the elements that comprise a global enterprise set-up, all wrapped up in a single volume. When I discovered that this resource did not exist in the market, I decided to write one!"

"We are so proud of Anna and her book on enterprise globalization, which will serve as a fantastic resource for today's global executives, and students of our profession," said Eva Klaudinyova, co-founder and chairwoman of WL. "Companies' historical product and functional silos are no longer effective in the Digital Age, or as isolated functions in R&D. Anna's book describes this in detail, and how important it is to truly embrace a 'global mindset', rather than as an after-thought."

Allison McDougall, Women in Localization Public Relations Chair continues, "Companies will never be less global than they are today. While C-Level executives clearly understand the importance of 'going global' and the revenue possibilities, rarely do they know how to trickle this strategy down to day-to-day execution. Anna's book answers these questions in a pro-active, actionable way. Similar content is also regularly discussed at Women in Localization events, which we encourage everyone to attend."

Truly Global: The Theory and Practice of Bringing Your Company to International Markets is available for order from the FriesenPress Bookstore, Amazon, and most other major online book retailers. The eBook edition is available for order for GooglePlay, Amazon Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes. http://www.trulyglobalbusiness.com/where-to-buy.html

To learn more about the book visit: http://www.trulyglobalbusiness.com/about-the-book.html

To learn more about Women in Localization visit www.womeninlocalization.com or https://www.linkedin.com/groups/911827/profile. You can also follow WL on Facebook and Twitter @womeninL10N.

About Women in Localization

Women in Localization was founded in 2008 and is the leading professional organization for women in the localization industry. Its charter is to promote professional development, networking, and continuous education among its rapidly-growing global membership. Started in the San Francisco Bay Area, Women in Localization has expanded its membership to include women across the globe, encouraging members to meet in local geographies.

About Anna N. Schlegel

Anna is a respected leader in the globalization community. She frequently delivers lectures, webinars, keynotes and round tables at universities, corporations, and other international organizations. A native of Catalunya, she is the co-founder of Kenya's "Imagine Educating Everyone" and "Women in Localization". Anna has worked in globalization teams for over twenty years with firms including Cisco, VMware, Xerox, and NetApp. She has also served as CEO and General Manager for two localization suppliers. Her work has been published on Forbes.com, Gala.com, Multilingual.com, and other research industry forums. She lives with her family in Santa Clara, California. You can follow her @annapapallona on Twitter and learn more about the book at www.trulyglobalbusiness.com.

Contact:

Allison McDougall

Women in Localization Public Relations Chair

720-438-8099

SOURCE Women in Localization

Related Links

http://www.womeninlocalization.com


Shimla, Aug 13 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Saturday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments on atrocities on people in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Balochistan in Pakistan.

"Not only Kashmir, PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) is also part of India," the Chief Minister told reporters here.

He said the people living in the so-called PoK were being forced to live in fear and the situation there was no better.

The octogenarian Chief Minister said the Baloch community in Balochistan was also subjected to atrocities, which should be avoided.

"The neighbouring country should adopt corrective measures and in no way should eye Indian territory," Virbhadra Singh said.

Modi on Friday said at the meeting of all major political parties that "Pakistan occupied Kashmir is ours", stating that dialogue must be initiated with expatriates all over the world from that region.

On protests in Gujarat over thrashing of Dalits, the Chief Minister said skinning of dead cows was an old profession being undertaken by the community since ages.

"We should rather respect the profession and give full honour to those who were involved in such profession," he said.

"As the skinning of cows and buffalos is associated with their profession which also helps them economically, such acts (of thrashing) are to be condemned," he added.
Kolkata, Aug 14 : The bodies of five fishermen from West Bengal were fished out on Sunday after their boats drifted into Bangladeshi waters and capsized, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard were carrying out search and rescue missions since August 9 when over 20 fishing boats and trawlers carrying nearly 300 fishermen went missing in the Bay of Bengal following a storm and rough weather.

"Fishing boat 'Mahagauri' which drifted across the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and capsized, was south of Heron Point in Bangladeshi waters," said a Coast Guard spokesperson.

"Search and rescue operation are continuing with the Bangladesh Coast Guard also joining in. So far, 254 fishermen and 20 of the 22 fishing boats have been rescued and brought back by them," added the officer.

Indian Coast Guard ships and Dornier aircrafts have been joined by BNS Amin and BNS Sangu -- two Bangladeshi Coast guard ships -- in the search operations.

The dead fishermen were residents of Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district.
Srinagar, Aug 16 : The security forces shot dead four civilian protesters in the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday, taking the toll to 64 in the violent unrest triggered by the July 8 killing of a popular rebel commander.

A police officer told IANS here that protesters clashed with security forces in Budgam district of central Kashmir.

The protesters, shouting anti-India and pro-freedom slogans, threw stones at the security forces in Aripanthan village, some 30 km from here.

The security forces opened fire to bring the situation under control. One person was killed on the spot and three more succumbed to their injuries at a hospital.

More than a dozen persons sustained injuries in the violence, the latest in a series of clashes that have rocked the Kashmir Valley in more than five weeks.

The Valley has been on the boil amid curfew and separatist shutdown that continued for the 39th day in a row on Tuesday.

A 20-year-old youth identified as Yaseer Ahmed of Srinagar was killed in firing by security forces on Monday when a mob indulged in intense stone pelting. Two other youths sustained bullet injuries in the incident.

Another youth, Ashfaq Ahmed, who was injured in a stone pelting clash in the Tangmarg area of Baramulla district two weeks back, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital here also on Monday evening.

Police said curfew and restrictions would continue on Tuesday in all the 10 districts of the valley. Separatists have already extended their protest shutdown to August 18.

All educational institutions, shops, public transport and other businesses have remained shut since July 9, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed.
Beijing, Aug 16 : China will not stop building the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) despite India's protests but will also not side with either country over the Kashmir dispute, a state-run daily said on Tuesday.

In an editorial, the Global Times referred to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's reported concern over the corridor -- worth $46 billion -- in her meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

"It is regrettable to see CPEC become another unharmonious factor in Sino-Indian ties but China is unlikely to give up on the idea of the CPEC because of India's protest," the daily said.

It said the economic corridor, which will link China's Xinjiang province to Gwadar Port in southwestern Pakistan, "does not target any third party, India included".

"Given that China has developed close economic ties with both India and Pakistan in recent years, Beijing is unlikely to be interested in taking a side between the two countries," it said.

The editorial said the Kashmir dispute had made both countries "habitually vigilant," affecting foreign investment flow into the region.

"It is the Kashmir conflict itself, rather than any alleged political intent behind the foreign investment, that creates tension in the region. Rather than prevent foreign investors from entering the region as a solution to concerns over CPEC, India should focus on its negations with Pakistan to settle the Kashmir dispute," the tabloid said.

"It is precisely because of the region's worsening investment environment that POK's economy is still heavily reliant on agriculture. Also, the northern part of India bordering Pakistan and India-controlled Kashmir both lack basic infrastructure."

The daily, a subsidiary of People's Daily, said the CPEC "was not a zero-sum game where Pakistan gains and India loses".

"New Delhi may need to adopt an open attitude toward CPEC so (that) the project can speed up development in the region and benefit the local population.

"Hopefully, India can also improve infrastructure in the regions bordering Pakistan to promote regional economic integration. Any way in which India can put aside politics and join in the task of economic development would be welcome.

"Economic cooperation between India, Pakistan, and China would create an open atmosphere for launching talks to solve the Kashmir dispute.

"In this regard, New Delhi may need to take the long view for its national interest," the commentary said.
Tehran, Aug 16 : Four Islamic State (IS) militants were killed in clashes with the Iranian army in Kermanshah province, an official said on Tuesday.

Following the cooperated operations by the security forces in the province, a 10-member team of IS terrorists was busted, Xinhua news agency quoted Asadollah Razani, the governor general of Kermanshah province, as saying.

In the operations, six others were arrested, Razani said, adding that they were equipped with suicide vests and belts.
New Delhi, Aug 16 : Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of violence in the Kashmir Valley, Pakistan's National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said on Tuesday that South Asia should not remain a "prisoner of the past".

"South Asia must not remain a 'prisoner of the past' but it should radiate fresh ideas and aspirations of our combined future," Radio Pakistan quoted Sadiq as saying.

He was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the First South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Young Parliamentarians' Conference in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo of Biju Janata Dal of Odisha, Devji Patel of Bharatiya Janata Party and Alok Tiwari of Samajwadi Party are attending the first such meeting.

Deo and Patel are members of the Lok Sabha while Tiwari is from the Rajya Sabha.

The two-day conference is aimed at offering young parliamentarians' a narrative in the run-up to the Saarc Summit Pakistan is to host in November.

Sadiq's comments come in the wake of violence in Jammu and Kashmir that has left at least 65 people dead in the aftermath of the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8.

In his Independence Day speech on Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi came out openly in support of "freedom" of Balochistan and the Kashmir under Pakistani control.

Sadiq said that South Asia must not remain a "prisoner of the past" but it should radiate fresh ideas and aspirations of our combined future.

He said that statesmanship demanded that we confront our issues judiciously and address them honestly with an aim to solve them sincerely.

"He outlined that shared cultures and histories of the region, and developing economies could provide ample opportunities to work together to address common challenges," Radio Pakistan reported.

He highlighted that the goal of holding this conference was to build bridges between the future leaders of South Asia on a platform that supports continued engagement and cooperation.

Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston
Dhaka, Aug 17 : An Indian wild elephant that crossed over from northeast India to Bangladesh during a flood has died of heat-induced heart failure, doctors said after an autopsy.

The elephant, christened Bangabahadur (Hero of Bengal), died on Tuesday at Sharishabarhi Upazila's Koyra village in Jamalpur, media reports said.

The Sharishabarhi Upazila Chief Executive formed a three-strong committee to conduct the elephant's autopsy, bdnews24 reported.

A veterinary surgeon told reporters, "Bangabahadur died of heart failure triggered by insufferable heat."

The bull elephant, weighing some five tonnes, was laid to rest at Koyra after the autopsy.

The elephant was washed across the border from Assam in the strong currents of the Brahmaputra and had entered Bangladesh through Kurhigram border on June 26.

It travelled a few hundred kilometres into Bangladesh to Sirajganj via Gaibandha and Jamalpur and then travelled back to Jamalpur.

On August 11, authorities managed to rescue it after tranquilising it, and tied it with ropes and shackles to stop it from running away again.

However, the elephant broke away from the shackles and strayed to a muddy farmland where it stayed till Tuesday. All attempts to move it from there went in vain, and it died.

Locals allege the elephant died due to negligence of the forest department officials.

Tapan Kumar Dey, a former Forest Conservator who led the rescue attempts, said, "We tried our best to rescue Bangabahadur and keep the elephant alive. Its death has pained us."
Kabul, Aug 17 : At least 19 Taliban militants were killed in a gun battle with the security forces in an Afghan province on Wednesday, authorities said in a statement.

"Security forces in crackdown against militants in Khan Abad and Chardara districts of Kunduz province have killed 19 rebels including notorious Taliban commander Qari Zabihullah," Xinhua news agency quoted the statement, adding that the operation was still on.

Zabihullah was a key Taliban commander who had organised subversive activities, roadside bombings and attacks on government forces across the embattled province in northern Afghanistan.
Kolkata, Aug 17 : With three more bodies recovered, at least eight of the West Bengal fishermen who were reported missing in the Bay of Bengal last week, have been found dead, a state minister said on Wednesday.

"The bodies of three fishermen, who were aboard fishing trawler 'Prasenjit' that capsized, were fished out on Tuesday. So far eight of our fishermen have been found dead," Sundarbans Development Minister Manturam Pakhira said.

All the dead fishermen were from Kakdwip area of South 24 Parganas district.

The Coast Guard, which along with its Bangladeshi counterpart, has been carrying on search and rescue mission, on Sunday recovered bodies of five fishermen who were aboard fishing trawler 'Mahagauri' that too had capsized.

At least 22 trawlers with over 300 fishermen had been reported missing on August 8 after getting caught in storm and rough weather.

While 20 of the boats along with over 260 fishermen were rescued and brought back, two of the trawlers -- 'Mahagauri' and 'Prasenjit' -- capsized.

Pakhira said that at least 12 fishermen were still missing with the capsized boat 'Prasenjit' still to be located.

"Both the Indian and Bangladeshi Coast Guard are continuing the search operations. Thanks to their efforts, most of the fishermen and their boats have been rescued," added Pakhira.

The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of each of the eight dead fishermen.
Srinagar, Aug 18 : With one more civilian's death in Kashmir, the toll in the ongoing unrest rose to 66, officials said on Thursday.

Police said the victim identified as Shabir Ahmad Moonga, 30, was killed in Khrew area of Pulwama district on Wednesday night when security forces clashed with a protesting mob.

Locals, however, alleged security personnel had beaten Moonga without any provocation.

Authorities continued with curfew and restrictions for the 41st day on Thursday as the protest shutdown called by the separatists also continued.

For the first time since the ongoing cycle of violence started in the Valley on July 9 following the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Wani, authorities imposed night curfew in Srinagar district.

The 48-day Amarnath Yatra that started on July 2 is concluding on Thursday.

This year, 2,20,339 pilgrims performed the Yatra despite the violence in Kashmir.
Panaji, Aug 18 : Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar wants to ensure that while the heads of the BRICS' states discuss serious world affairs, their wives should get something to cheer about besides global politics.

Speaking to IANS, Parsekar, who was in Delhi on Wednesday to apprise Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj about the preparations for the upcoming BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa - meet, also pitched the latter to incorporate a guided tour of Goa for the First Ladies in the event's two-day itinerary.

"The state would like to take the spouses of the leaders on a sightseeing tour of Goa. The Goan culture will also be displayed during the programme which is to be hosted for them," Parsekar said.

The BRICS summit is scheduled to be held in October in South Goa and the Chief Minister has lobbied for an opportunity to host a state dinner for the dignitaries.

"We are planning things in such a way that it is a memorable event for all the delegates. When speaking to Sushma Swaraj, I have sought that the state be allowed to host a dinner," Parsekar said.

During his meeting with Rajnath Singh, he sought more bullet-proof jackets for security personnel, additional reinforcements in form of central paramilitary forces and mobile jammers.

"I have apprised him of the situation in Goa and the work we have done to host the summit until now and how we have planned it. From the security point of view, we are going to need bullet proof jackets, (mobile) jammers, as well as reinforcements from the centre and the Intelligence Bureau," Parsekar added.
Washington, Aug 18 : NASA, the US space agency is set to launch its first mission to return a sample of an asteroid to Earth on September 8 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth, NASA said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will travel to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu and bring a sample back to Earth for intensive study.

"The launch of OSIRIS-REx is the beginning a seven-year journey to return pristine samples from asteroid Bennu," said OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson.

"The team has built an amazing spacecraft, and we are well-equipped to investigate Bennu and return with our scientific treasure," Lauretta said.

The 2,110-kg fully-fuelled spacecraft will launch aboard an Atlas V 411 rocket during a 34-day launch period that begins on September 8, and reach its asteroid target in 2018.

After a careful survey of Bennu to characterise the asteroid and locate the most promising sample sites, OSIRIS-REx will collect between 60 to 2,000 grams of surface material with its robotic arm and return the sample to Earth via a detachable capsule in 2023, the US space agency said.
Bengaluru, Aug 18 : The police investigation against Amnesty International India -- for slogans raised during an event the global advocacy organised -- is the second such sedition complaint registered in Karnataka this year after a complaint from the student's wing of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The police charged two students with sedition in Tumakuru on March 30, 2016, after the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) accused them of raising pro-Pakistan slogans while distributing pamphlets supporting Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and Rohith Vemula, a Hyderabad University Dalit scholar who committed suicide. About 80 ABVP activists beat the two students with helmets and sticks, according to an India Today report.

In the Amnesty case, a first-person account of the Broken Families event speaks of a "heated but not threatening" meeting with diverging viewpoints from Kashmiri Hindus and Muslims in the audience. As the audience dispersed, ABVP activists outside stepped in.

"In slapping sedition charges, the police appear to have ceded to pressure from the large group of ABVP activists at the (police) station," said Chandan Gowda, a sociology professor at Bengaluru's Azim Premji University.

Sedition crimes recorded for first time in 2014, when BJP came to power

For the first time, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) included data on crimes related to the 156-year-old sedition law in 2014, the year the BJP came to power. Sedition is a new category (section 124A of the Indian Penal Code) under a heading called "Offences Against the State".

Karnataka registered no sedition case in 2014, although 47 such cases were filed across nine states that year, according to NCRB data. Jharkhand (18) and Bihar (16) registered the most sedition cases that year.

Three journalists were arrested and booked for sedition in Karnataka's Belagavi on December 3, 2015.

"Offences Against the State" have been classified largely under two categories: offences against the state (under sections 121, 121A, 122, 123 & 124-A IPC) and offences promoting enmity between different groups (under sections 153A & 153 B IPC).

Sedition falls under section 124A IPC, while sections 121, 121A, 122 & 123 constitute waging war or attempt/conspiring to wage war or collecting arms for this purpose, among other related crimes.

India shares sedition law with authoritarian regimes

India shares the sedition law -- once used by the colonial administration to imprison Mahatma Gandhi in 1922 and Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1907 and 1909 -- with a variety of mostly authoritarian countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Senegal and Turkey. The USA also has a sedition law, but many parts have been struck down over two centuries. Others, such as the UK, Scotland, South Korea and Indonesia have done away with the law.

As many as 58 people, including 55 men and three women, were arrested for sedition nationwide in 2014.

Karnataka often uses a law often used in conjunction with the sedition charge -- "promoting enmity between groups" -- to deal with religious riots, which it experienced, per million population, more than any Indian state between 2010 and 2014, IndiaSpend reported in 2015.

Unlawful assembly case against event cleared, protected by police

Apart from sedition, the promoting-enmity law was coupled, in the Amnesty case, with "rioting" and "unlawful assembly", although the event was cleared by the police, which provided security. "The police were invited and (were) present at the event," Aakar Patel, Amnesty India's executive director said in a statement.

The ABVP claimed the event supported terrorism. The Amnesty event showcased the stories of three families who lost kin to action by security forces, including extra-judicial killings, for which six soldiers were court-martialled and imprisoned for life in 2015. The fracas began when the audience disagreed over the role of the army, with Kashmiri Muslims shouting freedom slogans in response to Kashmiri Hindus defending the army.

"We don't know who shouted the slogans or who provoked them," Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara was quoted as saying. "If we find out that those who shouted slogans are connected to any terror outfit, we will rope in the National Investigation Agency. We will not tolerate any anti-national behaviour."

Gowda said the home minister ought to have clarified that slogans alone do not constitute sedition. The Supreme Court has frequently clarified that words and speech, criticism or slogans, however distasteful, cannot be considered seditious unless they incite violence.

"It is absolutely necessary to read the entirety of the law that penalises sedition, before whipping it out as a means of quelling free speech," said Deeptha Rao, a lawyer with Bangalore's Alternative Law Forum, a legal advocacy.

"Explanation 2 to Section 124-A of the IPC clearly provides that comments expressing disapprobation of the measures of the Government, with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful means, do not constitute the offence of sedition."

Likewise, Explanation 3 to Section 124-A clarifies that comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the Government do not constitute sedition. The event in question was meant to be a platform for remembrance of undeniable pain and suffering in the valley and clearly does not fall within the gamut of exciting hatred, contempt or disaffection towards the Government at law in IndiaAwe are clearly witnessing a disturbing trend of the invocation of an archaic law to suppress any speech or expression that brings to light the insecurities of the state and the stifling of democratic dissent."

Amnesty's Patel said: "Merely organising an event to defend constitutional values is now being branded as anti-India and criminalised."

(18.08.2016 - In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org)
Islamabad, Aug 18 : Pakistan police have arrested a man for allegedly slitting the throat of his wife in an "honour killing", the Dawn reported Thursday.

The accused, Rahim Daad, is believed to have murdered his first wife over the same reason some 14 years ago, police said.

On Wednesday night, the newspaper said, the couple had a minor scuffle after which the woman, 35, tried to flee from their Karachi house.

She told him that she didn't want to stay with him any longer. He took out a knife and attacked her, a police officer said.

"He stabbed her in the abdomen and then slit her throat," a police official told the Dawn, adding the murder was committed on the pretext of the "honour of his family".

Their landlord alerted the police after he heard her cries from their groundfloor apartment. Police have recovered the knife from the murder spot and Daad has confessed to have committed the crime.
Shimla, Aug 18 : Apple cultivation, long associated with the Himalayan foothills, is headed south to the tropics in an experiment that, if successful, could see the country's output jump several-fold.

The project to grow "low-chilling variety of apples" in southern India is revolutionary, says horticulture scientist Chiranjit Parmar, with production per hectare expected to be in the range of 65 tonnes -- dramatically higher than in states like Himachal Pradesh.

"If the project succeeds in the tropics, which it almost has, it will be a revolution in the apple production in India," Parmar, who is based in Mandi town of Himachal Pradesh, told IANS.

He said the south Indian apple orchards -- primarily in Karnataka -- could produce 10 times more per hectare than Himachal Pradesh. This means the country's apple production will shoot up exponentially.

The plantation in the south is in the nascent stage and commercial cultivation is yet to start. It started bearing fruit in less than two years, against the six-seven years it normally takes in the hills.

It is estimated that over 8,000 apple trees have been planted since 2011 in and around Karnataka.

Parmar, a former horticulture expert of the Solan-based Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, experimented with the growing of apple trees in tropical areas after seeing apple plantations in tropical Indonesia.

According to him, the reason for the speedy growth of apple saplings in the tropical region is the absence of the plant's dormant phase -- a natural phenomenon which helps it resist extreme cold.

"The apple plantation sees a huge success in those regions which do not experience winter at all and where the minimum temperature never falls below 12 degrees Celsius and the summer is also not harsh," he said.

"Now apple plants are sent every year not only to Karnataka but also to the adjoining states," Parmar said. A majority of saplings have been supplied from the horticulture university's nursery at Bajaura in Kullu.

Krishna Shetty of Mangalore is one of the growers who procured 300 saplings from Himachal Pradesh in January 2011 and planted them at 20 locations on a trial basis. Subsequently, he procured more plants in 2012.

Grower Gangadhar Murthy of Tumkur, who planted apple sapplings in 2013, said his plantation was quite successful, along with coconuts. He's now eyeing a commercial cultivation of apples.

"The growing conditions for apple trees are entirely different from those in their native regions. So the plants are behaving differently. For example, because of the incessant growth, flowering in the trees begins in the second year whereas it takes five to six years in the hills," Parmar said.

"Moreover, the flowering is continuous throughout the year. The shoots have a tendency of growing upright. The trees are becoming tall compared to the hills. The pests and diseases in the tropics are also different and new. This can be controlled by the state research centres," he said.

Parmar pointed out that some unscrupulous people have started promoting its cultivation by claiming that they have developed apple varieties exclusively suitable for southern India.

"The reality is different. The variety has got no role to play in its success. It's the timings of lifting the saplings from the nursery and then their planting at the new place which governs the success," Parmar said.

He said the saplings could be procured only from apple-growing belts in the hills after their dormancy is over by March. And these should be replanted in less than two days.

Horticulture expert S.P. Bhardwaj, a former Joint Director at the Y.S. Parmar University, told IANS the low-chilling apple varieties should be promoted on a large scale.

"The government of India should promote its cultivation as a majority of the country's apple market is being captured by the imported ones, mainly from China, the US, New Zealand and Australia," he added.

The only downside, if it could be called that, is that apples grown in tropical conditions have a shorter shelf-life compared to those grown in temperate areas.

Thus, apples grown in Karnataka have a time-period of 12-15 days, whereas those from the hills can last up to a month.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
Mumbai, Aug 18 : Keith Vaz, the British parliament's longest-serving Asian MP, has offered all possible help to enable Indian sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan obtain a visa.

There was an uproar recently when Khan was denied a visa.

"I am grateful and indebted to Mr. Keith Vaz who is taking so much interest and helping me with this very odd and distressing problem.

"He is in London and yet taking such keen interest whereas Britain's representatives in India are yet to allow me to meet them. I never had the honour of meeting the present British High Commissioner. Maybe some day, if not now, when I urgently need to meet him, then later. God bless him," Khan said.

Khan would've liked the British High Commissioner to India to personally explain the visa problem.

"I wish the British High Commissioner or his team could have called me and helped to explain the problem instead of which Mr. Vaz is doing the needful sitting in London."

Khan is also grateful to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for her help.

"Inspite of her busy schedule, I am sure Shrimati Sushma Swaraj and her office are also following up on my visa case."

On Wednesday, Khan went to the British visa office in New Delhi with his new application.

"I am hoping to receive my British visa by August 19 as I am travelling to the US on August 20," he said.
Mumbai, Aug 18 : A Metropolitan Magistrate on Thursday granted bail to five doctors of the L.H. Hiranandani Hospital who were arrested on August 9 in connection with a kidney racket.

They are: the hospital CEO Sujit Chatterjee, Medical Director Anurag Naik, medicos Mukesh Shetye, Prakash Shetty and Mukesh Shah who have been released on a bail of Rs 30,000 each with several stringent bail conditions.

They will be required to report to the police station even Monday evening till September 26 and barred from leaving the country without the court's permission.

Two days ago, on August 16, the accused doctors lawyers Aabad Ponda, Subir Kumar, Pranav Badheka and Brian D'lima had filed their bail application during a regular sitting as directed by magistrate last Saturday.

They pointed out that the police had informed the court that they did not require their further custodial interrogation, there were no financial dealings by them and since they are medicos of repute they would not abscond or tamper with evidences or witnesses.

They argued that the doctors had no role in the approval of the kidney donation and bail had already been granted to the other prime accused including the kidney donor, the intended recipient and the coordinator.

However, the public prosecutor opposed the bail on grounds that they might tamper with evidences, the racket was still being probed, and the anticipatory bail pleas of two other medicos from the hospital was rejected.

Last Friday, the Dindoshi Sessions Court had rejected the anticipatory bail application of two other medicos from the hospital -- Suwin Shetty and Veena Salekar.

On August 13, the five medicos were produced before the court at the end of their police custody and remanded to judicial custody till August 26, before their bail pleas were granted on August 18.
Mumbai, Aug 18 : Actor Boman Irani is busy urging people to take a 'Smelfie Challenge' to rid their homes of odour, and now Bollywood choreographer-director Farah Khan has challenged her "Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi" co-star.

Boman, who is the brand ambassador for Ambi Pur India, is inviting consumers to click 'smelfies' with what they consider the most difficult household odour to get rid of, and send it to the #Smelfie contest platform during the contest.

Farah took up the challenge, and said: "I have taken up the Smelfie challenge with what I think is the most difficult smell to get rid of - Fish! So, bring it on Boman, let's see if you win."

"I was intrigued by this challenge by Boman! No one likes odours, especially me. But we all face it. So I am very eager to see if Ambi Pur is truly as effective in getting rid of home odours. I want to see if it can be my go-to for my lovely home. So, I have taken up the Smelfie challenge with what I think is the most difficult smell to get rid of - Fish! So, bring it on Boman, let's see if you win," Farah said in a statement.

Under this contest, some winners will stand a chance to get invites to a house party hosted by Boman where he will demonstrate how Ambi Pur eliminates the household odours brought in by winners. The "Om Shanti Om" maker will now be seen joining Boman at his house party.
Hanoi, Aug 18 : Representatives of the Vietnamese central bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) discussed cooperation in a meeting here, it was announced on Thursday.

Vietnam is aiming to create favourable conditions for attracting more investment in infrastructure sector, Xinhua news agency quoted Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Dao Minh Tu as telling Christopher Legg, AIIB Director for Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam at the meeting here earlier this week.

Vietnam and the AIIB will soon select appropriate projects which have economic effectiveness while still securing the target of maintaining sustainable public debt, Tu said.

Legg, for his part, said that based on investment demand and policies of Vietnam, he will urge the AIIB to consider providing financial support for Vietnam.

The AIIB, formally established in Beijing in December 2015, is a multilateral financial institution with the aim of promoting investment in infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific region.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : Away from the public glare, a company set up by the government to create the logistical and IT backbone for the pan-India Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime will be ready to roll before the target date, as work didn't stop even when political spats were delaying matters.

In fact, the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) was set up as a non-profit, non-government company in March 2013 -- at least a year before the latest bill was drafted for the Constitution amendment for migration to GST.

The results are there for all to see and reap, the stakeholders said.

"We'll start testing by October," GSTN Chairman Navin Kumar told IANS, referring to stage one of this exercise where existing payers of indirect taxes will migrate to the new system and tests will begin on the crucial software for the move to the new regime.

"The hardware installation and software coding will happen by December. We hope to go for a beta run from February -- which means our system should be ready by mid-February. The target date for the rollout is April 1 next year. Everything has to be ready before that," Kumar added.

The company, which is based out of AeroCity on the outskirts of the capital, is uniquely structured: the Centre holds 24.5 per cent stake, the states and the Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers, as an entity, have another 24.5 percent, while the rest is with financial institutions.

Despite the political bickering over the bill, the company has been quietly working so as to be able to deliver by the April 1, 2017, target date. It went ahead last year to float the tender to hire an IT company to execute the hardware and software side of the project, and awarded the contract by November.

Some big names in the business, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, Tech Mahindra and Microsoft participated in the tender and ultimately Infosys -- India's second-largest IT company -- bagged the Rs 1,380-crore project for a five-year period.

The IT company was mandated to build the technology infrastructure called the GST System Project (GSTSP) -- a common portal for the use of tax-payers, administrators and other stakeholders with common services for registration, returns and payments.

"It takes a number of years for a mammoth task like this to become operational. So had we waited for parliament to pass it (the GST bill), we wouldn't have been able to do it by the target date," Anita Rastogi, Partner for Indirect Tax with PwC, the official consultants, told IANS.

"Earlier this year, when the fate of the bill was in limbo, only the hardware procurement was put on hold. We told Infosys not to procure the hardware, but the software development was going on. We wanted to synchronise the developments with the live date for roll-out," added Kumar.

Due to differences between the government and some political parties, notably the Congress that had wanted several of its suggestions to be incorporated in the GST bill, its passage got delayed and secured the requisite ayes of the two houses only in the second week of August.

On the next steps forward, The GSTN chairman said some 100,000 officials will be given training beginning October. The migration of existing tax-payers will also commence simultaneously and conclude before February, and beta-runs will start by mid-February, before the April 1 target.

"Our assessment is of around eight million taxpayers under the GST. But our system will be able to take a much larger load. We're working out a substantially higher taxpayer base of 10 million to start with," said Kumar, a retired member of the IAS and former chairman of Delhi Metro.

The top official also explained that GSTN was initially mandated only for the preparation of the front-end of the network, that is, for the interface with taxpayers. But it has also simultaneously been working on the back-end for 21 states.

The new regime will involve two sets of identical taxes -- the central GST and the state GST. The rate of tax will be fixed by the GST Council, which will primarily be co-opted from the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers with Union Finance Minister as chairman.

"When we started out, we were to build the common GST portal and applications for registration of taxpayers, filing of returns and making the tax payments. Later, 21 states and union territories requested us to take care of their back-end as well, which we are also doing," Kumar said.

(Meghna Mittal can be reached at meghna.m@ians.in)
Lucknow, Aug 18 : The Regional Office of UIDAI on Thursday organised a meeting with enrolment agencies in the Uttar Pradesh capital to review the progress of Aadhaar enrolment in the state, an official said.

In the meeting, it was decided that Aadhaar enrolment must be speeded up so that the remaining population could be covered as soon as possible.

The meeting was informed that though almost 16 crore Aadhaar cards have been issued in the state, over five crore people, most of whom are below 18 years of age, are yet to be covered.

"Strategies were made to cover the children below 5 years of age at Aanganwadis and those between 5-18 years at schools and colleges so that eligible students can get their scholarships easily. In this regard necessary instructions have already been given to the concerned field functionaries by the State Government for expeditious enrolment of remaining population in these age groups," the official told IANS.

Most of the enrolment agencies agreed that Aadhaar enrolment must be pursued vigorously so that the state could soon achieve 100 per cent coverage under Aadhaar.

It was also discussed that where Permanent Enrolment Centres (PECs) are easily accessible, students can go there for Aadhaar enrolment which is free of cost.

In those schools which are not located in close proximity to such centres, special camps would be set up after coordination with the respective principals, he added.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal on Thursday alleged that the ACB raid at her office was due to the "extensive work" done by the women's body since she took over last year.

She also alleged that former DCW chief Barkha Shukla Singh in her nine-year long tenure took up just a single case whereas under her more than 400 cases had been taken up in a single year.

"The ACB (anti-corruption branch) had come to the office of the DCW and we were being questioned for several hours," Maliwal told reporters.

"Barkha Shukla Singh in her nine-year-long career just took up only one case; so we want to know that till today why no questions have been raised with her?" Maliwal asked.

She also alleged that Barkha Shukla Singh had been drawing salary from both places, one as legislator and another as chief of DCW.

"Why didn't she work in her long nine-year tenure? Why did she complete only one case? Isn't it corruption?" she asked.

Maliwal's remarks came after the office of the DCW was raided by ACB sleuths on Thursday morning following a complaint by Delhi Congress leader Barkha Shukla Singh alleging that it was indulging in illegal practices of appointing its party associates to plum posts.

Shukla had filed a complaint with the ACB on August 12.

In her complaint, Shukla alleged that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders were appointing their associates to the DCW and giving them financial benefits from the Delhi government.

The Congress leader has named Prabhsahay Kaur, daughter of senior AAP leader H.S. Phoolka, Advisor to DCW Raj Mangal Prasad, and 83 others as beneficiaries.

All the names have been obtained through an RTI inquiry, Shukla claimed and demanded a detailed inquiry into such activities.

Highlighting the work of the DCW in the last one year, Maliwal said, "In the last one year I have taken up more than 400 cases, made over 50 visits and also made over 50 recommendations in several cases."

"We are being questioned as we are working," she claimed.

Speaking on the appointments, the DCW chief said, "Earlier there were 42 people working with the DCW and now there are about 80 people working with the DCW out of which three such appointments are of those who are acid attack victims."

"Two girls belong to the Nari Niketan and were appointed in DCW following all the rules and regulations which were there since the time Shukla was here," she said.

The DCW chief also said the appointments were done as the commission was overburdened with complaints which weren't taken up during Shukla's tenure.

"One can imagine the pendency of cases here as in the last nine years only one case was taken up," she said, adding, "For the last five months all the staff of DCW are working, even on Saturdays."

"Now the DCW initiates at least one action in a week in every case. And as the 181 helpline has come to us so we have hired 22 vehicles which are plying in the city to rescue women in distress," Maliwal claimed.

"We have also brought 22 lawyers with us who represent the cases of women in different city courts," she added.

Taking a dig at Delhi Police, Maliwal said, "Delhi Police filed a false case against me for revealing the name of the 14-year-old rape victim."

"I have never revealed the name of any rape victim. What is more shameful is that the rape victim died after she was forcefully made to drink acid by the rapist," she said. "And when I highlighted the issue then a false case was filed against me," she added.

She said the ACB was raiding her office in a false case as the DCW is working for the first time in its history.

"The ACB team has come here again in a false case and questioning our officers. This is being done because for the first time in the history of the DCW it is working," she added.

After the raids, the ACB has summoned Maliwal's secretary to join the probe on Friday.
Patna, Aug 18 : As the death toll in the hooch tragedy in Bihar's Gopalganj district rose to 16, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday promised to punish the culprits under the stringent new excise law, which provides for death sentence and life imprisonment.

Nitish's major ally Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad also supported him and said action will be taken against negligent officials.

Facing opposition flak over the hooch tragedy, Nitish Kumar did not rule out -- for the first time since the deaths came to light -- the possibility of spurious liquor leading to the deaths.

"There is a possibility of spurious liquor consumption leading to the tragedy in Gopalganj. The post-mortem report may not have found alcohol in the bodies of victims but the viscera report will expose the truth. We have to wait. The state government will not hide anything," the Chief Minister told the media here.

"So far, it is not clear what exactly caused the deaths in Gopalganj. If it is due to the consumption of spurious countrymade liquor, as reported, the culprits will not be spared. The culprits will be punished as per the new excise law," Nitish said.

Nitish Kumar said his government is waiting for all the reports in connection with the incident.

He said top officials, including the Director General of Police, have been directed to identify and arrest those manufacturing illicit liquor and supplying it to the poor.

"My government is transparent in enforcing the liquor ban. We have nothing to hide and there is no difficulty in accepting the fact that people have died after consuming liquor, if it is true."

A district official said that two more persons who allegedly drank spurious liquor died on Thursday at the Patna Medical College and Hospital whereas one person died late Wednesday night. Three others are still critical.

All the hooch victims were residents of the Nonia Tola locality in Gopalganj. They had complained of uneasiness and breathlessness, stomach pain and vomiting, after consuming 'desi' alcohol on Tuesday evening. After their condition deteriorated during the night, they were rushed to various hospitals.

Gopalganj District Magistrate Rahul Kumar set up a three-member team on Wednesday and launched a probe.

However, Gopalganj Superintendent of Police Ravi Ranjan had denied rumours about spurious liquor.

Total prohibition was enforced in Bihar from April 5, but the tragedy reveals that alcohol continues to be available in the black market.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has been targeting the Nitish government over the tragedy.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : The visit of Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister Bimalendra Nidhi as special envoy to India will help New Delhi understand the priorities of the new government in Kathmandu, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said on Thursday.

"The visit of Special Envoy of Prime Minister of Nepal, Bimalendra Nidhi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs, will be the first high-level visit from Nepal to India after the formation of the new government in Nepal under Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'," Swarup said in his weekly media briefing here.

"The visit of Special Envoy Bimalendra Nidhi provides an opportunity to understand the priorities of the new government, and to discuss ways in which we could strengthen our multi-faceted ties with Nepal," he said.

"India attaches the highest priority to its relations with Nepal, and looks forward to working closely with the new government."

After coming to power earlier this month, the new Maoist-led government in the Himalayan nation has said that it wanted to further strengthen bilateral relations with both India.

While Nidhi has been deputed to visit India as Special Envoy, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Krishna Bahadur Mahara of Prachanda's Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre), visited Beijing in a similar role earlier this week.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reference to Gilgit-Baltistan may have had the strategic objective of countering Pakistan's claim on Jammu and Kashmir. In doing so, he has also focussed attention on the almost forgotten history of a strategically-located region whose political fate is cloaked in ambiguity.

There are two independence days for the over one million people in the disputed Gilgit-Baltistan: August 14 when Pakistan celebrates its independence, and November 1, when the region remembers its freedom that, ironically, lasted for only 21 days in 1947.

Since then, sovereignty and any constitutional status in Pakistan have remained vague and elusive for this Shia-dominated region, through which runs the river Indus and is home to many spectacular mountain peaks, nearly equal in height to Mount Everest.

Previously known as the Northern Areas, it borders China and Afghanistan to the north, Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province to the west and India to the east, leading to the frozen battlefield of the Siachen glacier.

The location makes it strategically as important for China and India, as it is for Pakistan.

As far as India is concerned, Gilgit-Baltistan was part of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state that existed in 1947 and, therefore, included in the territorial dispute with Pakistan.

Pakistan does not buy this. It says the region, which was incorporated in Jammu and Kashmir by the Dogra rulers in 1846, had actually never been part of the princely state. To support its claim, Islamabad cites a 1935 lease deed that gave control of the region to the British for 60 years.

Pakistan says that the Dogra kingdom had rescinded the control of the territory and the last Jammu and Kashmir king, Maharaja Hari Singh, had no authority on the region, spread over nearly 73,000 sq km.

But then how did Pakistan get control of the region?

When the subcontinent was divided in 1947, the region, like the rest of Jammu and Kashmir, found itself neither part of India nor Pakistan.

Even though the lease deed with the British was cancelled on August 1, 1947, and the Dogras were effectively again in charge of the region, Hari Singh faced a rebellion by a local commander of the Gilgit Scouts, Colonel Mirza Hassan Khan.

Khan declared Gilgit-Baltistan as an independent entity on November 2, 1947 -- two days after Hari Singh acceded to India on October 31. Twenty-one days later, Pakistan moved into the region and annexed it militarily.

Till April 1949, Gilgit-Baltistan was treated as a part of the Kashmir that was occupied by Pakistan. But on April 28, 1949, a pact -- called the Karachi Agreement -- was signed with the government of Pakistan-administered Kashmir that gave control of the affairs of Gilgit directly to the central government, then based in Karachi.

Significantly, no leader from the region was part of the agreement.

Pakistan later "gifted" a part of Gilgit-Baltistan towards the extreme north to China for the construction of the Karakoram Highway.

China has been pursuing an aggressive engagement strategy in the region by making huge investments to tap its mineral and hydel power resources.

The Chinese inroads in the disputed region and Pakistan's repressive rule amid alleged human rights abuses have triggered a separatist unrest in the region.

But little is heard of this unrest as there are stringent federal laws that make the region inaccessible to foreigners and few media report from there.

Still, there are enough reports filtering through that say the people of the region are strongly resisting the 3,000-km-long China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in which Beijing has invested over $46 billion. The corridor will link western China to southern Pakistan through a network of roads, railway lines and pipelines.

Pakistan says that the project will bring about socio-economic changes in the impoverished region.

But local residents fear that it is being done to engineer demographic changes in the region and want to be included in any possible India-Pakistan negotiations to solve the Kashmir dispute that has soured ties between the two nations for the last nearly 70 years.

Pakistan has militarily crushed any dissent in Gilgit. In a latest example of its repressive rule, Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal has threatened to invoke stringent anti-terrorism laws against those protesting against the CPEC, according to Gilgit activist Senge Hasnan Sering.

Sering, based in Washington, is the president of Institute for Gilgit Baltistan Studies and backs the resistance movement in the region.

The government warning comes days after the separatist Awami Action Committee of Gilgit-Baltistan called for an indefinite strike for rolling back of the CPEC.

(Aadil Mir can be contacted at aadil.hussain@ians.in and Ruwa Shah at ruwa.s@ians.in)
New Delhi, Aug 18 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the Balochistan issue during his Independence Day speech as he was moved by the messages he received from the people of that Pakistani province, a senior government official said on Thursday "The Prime Minister was sufficiently moved by these messages of gratitude to share it with the people of India in his Independence Day address," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in his weekly media briefing here.

He said this while responding to a question on India's policy following reports that several Baloch groups were seeking recognition from the Indian government and they were even trying to set up a government-in-exile with India's support.

Putting the scenario in context, Swarup said several people from Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, including Gilgit-Baltistan, had messaged Modi and had been writing to him following his comments at an all-party meeting on August 12 in which he had flagged the atrocities being committed on the people of Balochistan.

"Prime Minister had been thanked by these people for flagging their cause in the all-party meeting which represents all political segments in India," the spokesperson said.

As for India's policy on the issue, he said that the Indian government has made statements about the situation in Baluchistan in the past as well.

"The only difference this time was that the various messages the Prime Minister had received had sufficiently moved him to share it with the people of India," he said.

To a question on comments by Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, that Modi's reference to the Balochistan issue has crossed red lines, Swarup described it as an "extraordinary remark".

"I find this an extraordinary remark from a senior functionary of Pakistan that recognises no red lines in its own diplomacy," he said.

"Pakistan's record of cross-border terrorism and infiltration is at the heart of the problems in the region today."

In a first for any Prime Minister in an August 15 address, Modi referred to human rights abuses in Balochistan and the part of Kashmir that Pakistan controls.

"The world is watching. People of Balochistan, Gilgit, Baltistan and occupied Kashmir have thanked me a lot in the past few days. I am grateful to them," Modi said, referring to his comments last week on excesses in Pakistan's largest province and in the part of Kashmir it holds.

He said the way people from these Pakistani regions "wished me well, gives me great joy".

In thanking an Indian Prime Minister, "they have thanked the whole population of my country", he said. "I want to offer my gratitude to these people."
Bhubaneswar, Aug 18 : Politics over the Mahanadi water dispute refused to die down in Odisha with three major political parties locking horns in a bid to gain mileage on the issue.

Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram on Thursday attacked the BJD-led government, saying that the MPs of the party who are now arguing about water deficit in Mahanadi basin had sought diversion of surplus Mahanadi water to Rushikulya basin.

Oram produced a letter sent by BJD MPs to the Union Water Resources Minister to prove his point.

The minister alleged that the state government is raising the issue to divert attention from Kandhamal encounter and malnutrition deaths in Nagada of Jajpur district.

Reacting to the allegations, Sidhant Mohapatra, BJD MP and member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources, clarified that the party had sought diversion of the Mahanadi water only during monsoon to provide water for irrigation and drinking water projects in South Odisha.

Meanwhile, the ruling party has decided to take out Kalasa Jatra in six districts from August 20-26 to protest against constructions over Mahanadi by Chhattisgarh government.

Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Srikant Jena attacked both the BJD and BJP for hiding their misdeeds over the Mahanadi water issue.

"The BJP and BJD should stop blaming the UPA government for giving approval to Chhattisgarh for construction of barrages and dams. It was the Narendra Modi government, which granted approval to the projects after coming to power in 2014," said Jena.

He said the allegations of both the political parties are not based on truth.
Pamba (Kerala) : Pamba (Kerala) Aug 18 (IANS) A war of words erupted between Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) chairman Prayar Gopalakrishnan at the meeting held here on Thursday to discuss the preparations to be made at Sabarimala temple ahead of the annual pilgrimage season.

The tiff arose after Vijayan suggested that the practice of having a "VIP queue" should be stopped.

"Instead of the VIP queue, there can be one queue which can be called 'fast track' queue, where anybody can stand after paying Rs 250, and another one which can be called 'super fast track' where any devotee who pays Rs 1,000 can stand. The collected money can go into the development fund of the temple," said Vijayan at the review meeting.

But Gopalakrishnan, a senior Congress leader and a former legislator, said that this is not possible as it would lead to the temple getting commercialised.

In his reply, Vijayan pointed out that what he said was only a suggestion.

"The TDB chairman is speaking politically and none will have a doubt, that I too can reply quite well. One should realise that the term of the chairman is three years," said Vijayan, clearly expressing his displeasure.

The TDB is the custodian of the Sabarimala temple and several others in the southern districts of the state.

Meanwhile, state Bharatiya Janata Party President Kummanem Rajasekheran said that it is unfortunate that while the state government and the TDB should work together with the only concern being the interests of the pilgrims, here they are engaged in attacking each other.

"All issues can be settled by sitting across the table, which is not happening at all," said Rajasekheran.

Situated on the mountain ranges of the Western Ghats at 914 metres above sea level, the Sabarimala temple is four kilometres uphill from Pamba river in Pathanamthitta district, around 100 km from Thiruvananthapuram.

The temple bars the entry of women who have attained puberty, and it's accessible only on foot from Pamba, which is often referred to as the base camp.

The annual festival season begins in November.
Dhaka, Aug 18 : Bangladesh on Thursday inked a short-term route permit agreement to allow India transport petroleum products from the northeastern state of Assam to Tripura through Bangladesh in the wake of floods that have drastically damaged Indian roads.

The MoU was signed following India's request to Bangladesh in this regard.

Trucks carrying petroleum products will ply on the Dawki (Meghalaya)-Tamabil (Bangladesh)-Chatlapur (Bangladesh)-Kailasahar (Tripura) route, the Daily Star reported.

The short-term deal is valid till September 30.

"Based on the request by the Government of India, the Bangladesh authorities have granted permission for the movement of petroleum goods on humanitarian grounds through the territory of Bangladesh till September 2016," the High Commission of India here said in a statement.

The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), a Public sector unit under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of the Government of India, and the Roads and Highways Department of the Government of Bangladesh (RHD) signed the deal.

The MoU will facilitate India to carry petroleum goods (Motor Spirit, High Speed Diesel, Superior Kerosene Oil & Liquefied Petroleum Gas) from Assam to Tripura through Bangladesh territory.

India and Bangladesh have allowed each other to use their respective territories to transfer goods from one place to another and to a third country in the past in addition to the existing transit and transhipment deals arrangements.
Satara (Maharashtra), Aug 18 : This was one "salute" the Maharashtra Police may never have expected. Self-confessed killer medico Santosh Gulabrao Pol, now famous as 'Dr. Death', has praised the police for successfully cracking the cases of missing persons, which led to his arrest last week.

In a handwritten note to Superintendent of Police Sandip Patil on Thursday, he said: "SP Sir, firstly a great salute to you".

"Sir, if you pose me one question -- What was the need for all this? The reply would be simple. Sir, between 2003-2016, this was the same question asked to the corrupt officials of various government departments and the decaying society. The task of finding a reply to this question was taken up in July 2016 by LCB (Local Crime Branch) Satara's courageous officers and its police inspector Vinayak Vetal," the letter signed as S.G. Pol stated.

Police officials involved with the investigations refused to comment on the letter.

Meanwhile, Patil said that special teams have been set up to probe afresh the complaints of missing persons received on Wednesday.

The missing persons are: Vilas Vishnu Dhage, 45, untraced since 2001; Dipali Krishna Sanas, 21, disappeared since 2002; Mahadeo Sonu Chikane, 47, off-radar since 2012.

All these missing persons were residents of different villages in Wai sub-district and their relatives are now worried in the wake of the latest revelations.

Efforts are also underway to trace the body of one of Pol's victims, Vanita Narhari Gaikwad, who was killed by a lethal injection in an ambulance and then dumped into a reservoir of Krishna River on August 12, 2006.

"We are hopeful of a breakthrough in this search in Umbrej and Karad areas of the river soon," Patil said optimistically of the woman missing for 10 years.

A team of medical experts from KEM Hospital, Mumbai, arrived in Wai to conduct forensic analysis and DNA tests on the remnants of bodies and skeletons of the five other victims of Pol, whose bodies were recovered on Tuesday from his farmhouse.

On August 15, Pol, 41, confessed to the cold-blooded killings of Surekha Kisan Chikane in 2003, Vanita Narhari Gaikwad in 2006, Jagabai Laxman Pol in 2010, Nathmal Dhanaji Bhandari in 2015, an orphan Salma Shaikh in January and an 'aanganwadi' worker Mangal Jedhe in June, this year.

The investigations are headed by Senior Police Inspector of Wai Crime Branch Padmakar Ghanvat under direct supervision of SP Patil and Konkan Range IGP Vishwas Nangre-Patil.

Pol and his associate, a nurse Jyoti Pandurang Mandre, have been arrested and charged with the kidnap and murder of Mangal Jedhe, 49, on June 16, which blew the lid off the shocking crimes.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : The Delhi Police on Thursday claimed to have busted an illegal arms trade racket with weapons smuggled in from Pakistan following the arrest of two brothers.

Police also recovered 10 foreign-made sophisticated pistols and 157 live cartridges from their possession.

The accused were identified as Mohammad Rehan Ansari, 42 and Mohammad Qurban Ansari, 45, both residents of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

They were arrested on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday from the Indraprastha Park area of south Delhi after a shootout, police said.

"We had an information about both the brothers of being involved in illegal gun trade racket," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) P.S. Kushwaha told reporters.

"A secret information was received that both the brothers would come near the Indraprastha Park to deliver the arms to their contacts. Thus a trap was laid for their arrest. But they opened fire when asked to surrender, and were arrested after a shootout," the officer added.

Explaining the modus operandi of the accused, the officer said: "They used to get the guns from Pakistan through their contacts and then smuggle it into India via Nepal."

"The same weapons were then supplied to their contacts in Delhi-National Capital region (NCR)," he added.

"We have recovered 10 foreign made sophisticated pistols and 157 live cartridges," the DCP said. The recovered weapons consisted of five .30 pistols and five .22 bore pistols. Of the five .22 bore pistols four are Walther (made in Germany) and one Sig Sauer (made in US) pistols, police said.

Police also seized 17 mobile phones, one Tata Safari car and a Renault Duster car from their possession.

According to police, the brothers owned a factory in Khurja industrial area of Bulandshahr where electric switches and sockets were manufactured. But they started the business of illegal trade of weapons after being persuaded by a relative to earn huge profits.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday held a meeting with her visiting Venezuelan counterpart Delcy Rodriguez during which the latter handed over an invitation to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit that Venezuela will be hosting next month.

According to a statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry, Rodriguez was accompanied by a 14-member delegation, including Venezuelan Minister of Petroleum and President of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), Eulogio del Pino, and Venezuelan Vice Minister for Asia, Middle East and Oceania, Felix Plasencia.

Rodriguez handed over the invitation to attend the 17th NAM Summit to be held in the Venezuelan city of Porlamar on September 17-18.

"During the meeting, the ministers discussed the whole gamut of bilateral issues and views were exchanged on various multilateral issues," the statement said.

Earlier on Thursday, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan hosted a lunch in honour of the visiting dignitaries.

This is the second invitation for the NAM Summit that Venezuela has extended to India.

There is speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to attend the NAM Summit weeks after he received an invitation.

The last time an Indian Prime Minister did not attend a NAM Summit was in 1979 when Charan Singh was the caretaker Prime Minister.
Islamabad, Aug 18 : Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told the cabinet on Thursday that the projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were the top priority of the government and concerted efforts should be made to ensure timely progress.

The cabinet was given a detailed briefing on the progress of the CPEC projects and the prime minister directed the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform to ensure completion of the first batch of projects in energy and infrastructure sectors by 2017-18.

Sharif told the ministers that speedy progress on these projects was necessary for addressing the existing shortfalls and future demands, a statement from the PM House said.

"The completion of early harvest projects will go a long way in elimination of load shedding by summer of 2018," the statement quoted Sharif as saying.

He noted that significant progress was being made on the western route of the CPEC project. Employment opportunities would be generated for the local populace which would generate economic activity and enhance national wealth.

He further stated that the CPEC would ensure equitable benefits among different areas of Pakistan, including the most underdeveloped areas.

"It will not only connect 200 million people of Pakistan, but would also open up avenues of cooperation amongst people, communities and states across the region."

The cabinet was informed that a considerable part of the portfolio under the CPEC had been energized while the remaining was in the pipeline.

Meanwhile Foreign Office spokesman Nafeez Zakaria said the CPEC, which is broad-based economic cooperation between the two countries, would also benefit other countries.

"CPEC is a comprehensive and broad-based economic cooperation project between Pakistan and China. The project will contribute to economic development of the entire region and not only for Pakistan and China," Zakaria told a weekly briefing.

"It can be a catalyst for economic connectivity and integration in Central Asia, South Asia and the West Asia," he said.
Kolkata, Aug 18 : West Bengal's opposition parties CPI-M and the Congress on Thursday demanded the setting up of a commission and a public debate on rechristening the state, while the Bharatiya Janata Party said there was no need to change the name.

"Yes, there is nothing wrong in changing the name of the state. In the past, the assembly had twice passed proposals and sent them to the centre, but without success.

"We think the matter needs to be publicly discussed and debated. Such vital decisions cannot be taken in cabinet meetings held in air-conditioned chambers," said Communist Party of India-Marxist legislature party leader Sujon Chakraborty.

Leader of the opposition Abdul Mannan said a commission should be set up to finalise a name.

"Let the Commission take the final decision on a new name, because in the past the assembly had sent two different names," said the Congress legislator after an all-party meeting at the chamber of the Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay to finalise the agenda of a special session of the House convened in the last week of the month.

The name change issue would be the main point of discussion at the three-day meeting of the assembly convened on August 26, 29 and 30.

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh, however, said his party would continue to oppose any change of name.

"We have been opposed to any change of name from the outset, and we stick to our stand. The opinion and sensitivity of the nine crore plus people of Bengal have not been sought," said Ghosh, who leads the three-member BJP legislative party.

"They (the government) may bulldoze the bill on the strength of its brute majority. But when the legislation is sent to the centre, it will have the same fate as the two earlier bills."

The speaker told media that besides seeking rechristening of the state's name, the state government would move a proposal alleging the centre was depriving the state. The opposition parties have said they want discussions on dengue deaths in the state. "If the opposition moves such a proposal, the matter will be taken up".

Chakraborty, however, mocked the state for talking about how the centre was depriving the state.

"Those who are depriving the people, are now talking of the state being deprived. This is a dichotomy".

Echoing Chakraborty, Mannan said: "We will also talk about how the state was being deprived. But can you (the state government) gloss over the way we (the opposition) are being deprived?"

Both Chakraborty and Mannan said the opposition would highlight the state government's failure to tackle dengue fever during the assembly session, which has "taken the shape of an epidemic".

Seventeen persons have died and over 3400 have been affected by dengue in the state since January.

Earlier this month, the cabinet mooted a proposal to rename the state as "Bengal" in English and 'Banga' or Bangla in Bengali.

In Bengali, the state is currently referred to as "Paschim Banga" or "Paschim Bangla".

After the partition of India in 1947, Bengal was bifurcated as East Bengal and West Bengal. East Bengal became a part of Pakistan. It was rechristened East Pakistan in 1956 and later emerged as the independent nation of Bangladesh after the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
New Delhi/Chandigarh, Aug 18 : Bowing to "political pressure", the Centre on Thursday appointed Punjab Governor V.P. Singh Badnore as the Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

The BJP-led government had earlier decided to appoint Kerala BJP leader K.J. Alphons as the new Administrator of the union territory but decided against it following apprehensions expressed by Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

If Alphons had been appointed Administrator, it would have ended a 32-year-old system of the Punjab Governor also controlling the union territory of Chandigarh as Administrator.

On Thursday evening, President Pranab Mukherjee announced that the Punjab Governor would be the Administrator of Chandigarh.

"President Pranab Mukherjee has been pleased to appoint V.P. Singh Badnore to be the Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, in addition to his duties as Governor of Punjab," said a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique.

Badnore, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Rajasthan, was appointed the Punjab Governor on Wednesday.

Badnore, unlike his predecessors, had not been given the charge of UT Administrator.

The poll-bound state got a regular Governor after a gap of around 18 months.

Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki had been given additional charge of Punjab in January 2015.

Earlier, the NDA government had almost decided to appoint former bureaucrat Alphons as the new Administrator and informed him about the development.

But, later he was informed by BJP president Amit Shah that his appointment is "not going to happen".

Speaking to IANS, Alphons said: "Very soon it's going to be election time in Punjab, and since political parties have expressed reservations against me, the appointment is not going to happen. Since I did not get the orders, the question of the order being cancelled does not arise. I will say that my appointment is not coming through."

"On August 13 BJP president Amit Shah called me to inform that I have been cleared for appointment but following concerns raised by political parties in Punjab, he called me last (Wednesday) night again to say that it is not going to happen," added Alphons.

On Wednesday, news of Alphons' impending appointment had kicked off a political controversy in Punjab, which goes for assembly elections in around six months.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had sought an immediate review of the decision.

"Let no one try to create any confusion on the claim of Punjab on Chandigarh in the minds of the people of Punjab or elsewhere. Regardless of anything else or any other decision, Punjab will never allow its legitimate right over the capital and other Punjabi speaking areas to be compromised or diluted," Badal said on Wednesday in Chandigarh.

Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh had also rejected the appointment of the "independent administrator for Chandigarh, terming it a blatantly unjust move aimed at snatching away Chandigarh from Punjab and an attempt to deliberately weaken Punjab's claim over Chandigarh.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : Army Chief General Dalbir Singh on Thursday briefed Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar about an affidavit in which he accused former Army chief General V.K. Singh, who is now a minister in the Narendra Modi government.

Parrikar had sought details about the affidavit, which was originally filed in the Armed Forces Tribunal in 2012, wherein Dalbir Singh said he was "victimised" by the then army chief V.K. Singh "with the sole purpose of denying promotion to the appointment of Army Commander".

Sources said the affidavit was filed by Dalbir Singh in his "personal capacity" when he was not the army chief, nor was V.K. Singh a minister.

The old affidavit was resubmitted by the present army chief after the matter came before the Supreme Court.

V.K. Singh slapped a discipline and vigilance ban on Dalbir Singh between April and May 2012 for alleged "failure of command and control" in an operation in Assam's Jorhat in 2011.

The ban was lifted in June 2012 after General Bikram Singh succeeded V.K. Singh as the army chief.

Dalbir Singh was then appointed commander of the army's Eastern Command.
Dhaka, Aug 18 : A Bangladeshi lawyer has filed a writ petition in the High Court in Dhaka seeking its direction to the government to collect Taka one crore as compensation from those who are responsible for the death of Indian wild elephant Bangabahadur.

In the petition, Eunus Ali Akond asked the court to direct the government to form a judicial inquiry committee to probe the elephant's death on August 16, the Daily Star reported.

He said, in the petition, that the government is responsible for protecting and preserving the environment and wildlife under the constitution.

Akond said the court may hold a hearing on the petition on August 20.

On Wednesday, Akond sent a legal notice to the government requesting it to form a judicial inquiry committee within 24 hours for investigating the cause of death of Bangabahadur.

The lawyer in the notice said Bangabahadur might have died due to tranquiliser overdose on August 16 at Koyra village under Sharishabari upazila of Jamalpur.

The Indian elephant was swept across the Bangladesh border in strong river currents over a month ago.

The elephant was buried by the villagers.
Udupi (Karnataka), Aug 18 : A BJP worker was killed and another injured in Karnataka while transporting cattle in this coastal district, for which 16 cow vigilantes of right-wing Hindu Jagaran Vedike have been arrested, police said on Thursday.

"We today (Thursday) arrested 16 activists suspected to have assaulted victim Praveen Poojary, 29, and his friend Akshay Devadiga, 22, when they were transporting three cows in a van at Kajike near Hebri in the district late Wednesday night," Udupi district Superintendent of Police K.T. Balakrishna told IANS here.

Udupi on the west coast is about 400 km from state capital Bengaluru.

"Though Poojary was rushed to a state-run hospital nearby at Brahmavar, he succumbed to the injuries he sustained in the attack by the activists who suspected him of carrying the cows to a slaughterhouse," Balakrishna said.

The district police registered a case of assault leading to murder and rioting under the Indian Penal Code against the vigilantes at the Brahmavar police station.

"Poojary was a petty shopkeeper at Kajike and Bharatiya Janata Party's local unit member. He and Akshay hired the van from one Ramesh Poojary to transport the cows to Hebri," the police officer said.

According to local sources, the vigilantes had waylaid the two on suspicion they were from a minority community and selling cattle to abattoirs.

"On receiving a tip-off that the duo was taking cows in a van during night, the accused stopped it and assaulted them," Balakrishna said.

Police stepped up security and intensified patrolling in the district to maintain peace.

"Prima facie, the incident appears to be a cattle trade-related dispute between the victim and the attackers. The suspects have been arrested and investigation will reveal the motive," Home Minister G. Parameshwara told reporters in Bengaluru.
Zefflin Systems As ITSM processes have matured in recent years, IT is now looking at the next phase of continuous improvement  automation.

Experts in orchestration and data center automation, Zefflins practice highlights predefined sample content and targeted consulting services to facilitate expeditious and competitive service delivery with greater reliability and significant cost savings for IT organizations.

Orchestration promotes automation of event and user-driven processes in an agile environment. Process automation ultimately enables IT operations to provide repeatable business processes faster with a higher level of fidelity while reducing costs. Bogged down by slow, manually intensive operational support processes, IT organizations are increasingly embracing the paradigm shift to cloud-based platforms for application development and deployment. A giant in the cloud platform market, ServiceNow provides a popular platform choice. ServiceNow orchestration products are a natural expansion of the ServiceNow platform. The seamless extension of the platform with orchestration easily supports an automation rollout while minimizing investment and impact to an organization.

Zefflins ServiceNow Orchestration Consulting Practice offers experience and expertise with orchestration content for general purpose IT process automation projects. Zefflin is well-positioned in the IT operations market to deliver consulting and implementation of optimal investment targets for automation with orchestration including:



Employee onboarding

Automated incident remediation

Application workflow integration

Managed service support processes

Intelligent integration between ITSM and external systems

As ITSM processes have matured in recent years, IT is now looking at the next phase of continuous improvement  automation, said Sam Melehy, Zefflin CEO. ServiceNow orchestration provides a lightweight, flexible, scalable orchestration tool built on top of the widely-adopted ServiceNow application platform. Combined with our predefined content and deep automation expertise, we can deliver the most cost effective and low risk solutions to our customers.

The ServiceNow orchestration tool uses the existing workflow engine and extends it with a MID server to remotely execute orchestration workflow code. The dual purpose MID server maximizes ROI as part of ServiceNows ServiceWatch product which provides auto discovery capabilities for service mapping in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). Installing a MID server facilitates execution of remote orchestration workflows and simultaneously performs automated service mapping in the CMDB.

Using SerivceNows native architecture, customers can leverage existing or new MID server deployments to not only maintain their CMDBs, but also elevate their automation capabilities, even when communicating behind distributed or isolated network segments. As a result, our customers are able to realize a compelling return on investment across heterogeneous hybrid cloud deployments, said Jordan Ohringer, Zefflin CTO.

About Zefflin:

Zefflin is focused exclusively on Data Center Automation and Cloud Management solutions implementation and integration. As a world-class, agile, center of excellence, our aim is to work with best of breed software, combined with the industry's best technical consulting and integration talent. We cut through the hype, identifying which tools can be implemented and integrated to effectively automate application development and IT operations. We offer high quality, cost effective solutions addressing the automation of the entire lifecycle of complex computing environments, from request/catalog management, automated provisioning (OS, application, database, storage, network), to policy governance and compliance. Our vision is to bring to market consulting/software solutions that enable the lights-out data center. This will allow our customers to implement fully automated private, public and hybrid cloud systems, delivering low cost, high quality services to their customers while minimizing personnel cost. http://www.zefflin.com
Schools of all types are facing difficult funding challenges with annual, capital and planned giving efforts.

Established in 1905, Ward, Dreshman & Reinhardt's (WD&R) specialty is providing full-time, on-site fundraising counsel. WD&R concentrates its services to schools and other non-profit organizations. In its long history, this firm has directed nearly 8,000 capital campaigns raising over $3 billion. This international firm is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia.

James D. Klote, President & CEO of Ward, Dreshman & Reinhardt, announced today the release of the recently published book, "Development: Back to Basics." The book provides an inside look at the complexities of academic Capital Campaigns provided by the expert in full-time, resident-directed school fundraising consulting. Learn why the Ward Dreshman & Reinhardt method of conducting a Capital Campaign will result in both higher contributions and increased school spirit. Learn why most school campaigns are hampered in their ability to raise significant funds and ways to avoid this. This book provides a roadmap on how to achieve success with a trained consultant's guidance.

Mr. Klote explains that virtually all schools require additional assistance with fundraising today more than ever. Schools of all types, including independent, charter, elementary, and high schools are facing difficult funding challenges with annual, capital and planned giving efforts. It is because of these challenges that WD&R is providing the necessary information to assist these institutions to be more competitive. For this reason, WD&R is offering complimentary copies of this new book," explains Klote. The book is a complimentary download at http://www.wdrincorp.com/complimentary-book-form.

The full-time approach employed by WD&R combines personal attention and a proven method of successful fundraising. The Director relocates to the community of the client for the duration of the campaign and provides full-time access to WD&R's expertise and guidance.

WD&R provides all of its clients a "Certificate of Guarantee" regarding the services of the firm and achievement of campaign results. For more information on services, visit http://www.wdrincorp.com/how-we-work.
Rob Spurr with his wife, Lisa Spurr Rob's longevity, that's hard to come by today.

Rob Spurr has worked for all three generations of the Davis family, 40 dependable years for the 70-year-old Freightliner and Western Star dealership in Gary, Indiana. On August 9th, Rob reported for work on time and ready to go just like any other day. "Rob and I knew this was coming, and we talked about what an achievement 40 years at the same place meant," said Lisa Spurr, Rob's wife. "You don't hear of anyone staying 40 years at the same place anymore." Lisa joined in on the surprise celebration for her husband Rob, along with representatives from the Local 142 Teamsters Union.

The service department team huddle quickly turned to an outpouring of appreciation and recognition for Rob. Owner Gerri Davis-Parker presented Rob with a Truck City 40-year achievement plaque and a gift certificate for dinner in Valparaiso, where Rob and Lisa live. "Rob has worked for all three generations of the Davis family," said Davis-Parker, "Beginning with my grandfather, Paul Davis and then my father, Art Davis." Rob, completely humbled by the surprise, accepted the plaque and gifts from Davis-Parker and was clearly overwhelmed by the appreciation. Additionally, Rob received a 40-year achievement award and commemorative pins from the Local 142 Teamsters Union.

"We have many seasoned and talented technicians here at Truck City," said Mark Strehler, Truck City's Service Manager. "Rob's longevity, that's hard to come by today. I have worked here for 13 years, and I have always considered Rob one of my mentors. I look up to him. He is a great asset and is loyal to Truck City."

When asked about his longevity with Truck City, Spurr replied, "Why have I stayed so long? Because of Art." Referring to second generation owner Art Davis. "Art has always been good to me, and that has meant a lot. He interviewed and hired me in 1976," Spurr said smiling. "I still recall my card was number 263 which meant I was the 263rd mechanic hired in at, what was then, Gary White Sales & Service. I also recall Paul Davis, founder of Truck City, coming into work and every morning he would say 'Good Morning boys', and when Paul left, he would say 'Good Night boys,' wearing a trench coat and hat no matter what the temperature was outside. I have many fond memories," said Spurr.

Davis-Parker is grateful for all the hard-working employees. "Without them, the trucks and parts don't move. They are the key to keeping everything flowing," said Davis-Parker. "We are proud of Rob and grateful he has spent 40 years of his career with us. It was an honor to hand him the 40-year plaque."
The Denver Foundation's efforts to deepen, leverage, and grow philanthropy among communities of color has received a significant boost, thanks to a $200,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF).

The award from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) will be utilized over three years and will support Elevating Philanthropy in Communities of Color (EPIC), a focus of The Denver Foundation, which aims to broaden the definition of what it means to be a philanthropist and to acknowledge the long history of philanthropic contributions of people of color, whose gifts include time, talent, treasure, and testimony. WKKF previously supported EPIC with a gift of $300,000 in 2014, bringing their total investment to half a million dollars.

The award was announced during Black Philanthropy Month celebration at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library on Tuesday, August 9. August is Black Philanthropy Month.

"With this continued support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, EPIC will continue to engage donors of color by building relationship and philanthropic capacity through historical and culturally relevant giving models. This work is a critical part of the Foundations DNA as we work hand-and-hand with community to impact positive community change," says LaDawn Sullivan, The Denver Foundation's Director of Community Leadership.

The Denver Foundation is a recognized leader in the movement to catalyze philanthropy to advance racial, ethnic, and economic equity. The Foundation believes that community change is especially powerful when the people most impacted by issues lead in identifying and implementing solutions. The pervasive disparities in education, health care, affordable housing, and employment are among the many issues that the Foundation addresses through funding initiatives, community partnerships, and connections with generous donors. These disparities disproportionately affect people of color.

The Denver Foundation's core commitment to equity is evident in a number of initiatives, including:

Strengthening Neighborhoods, which supports resident engagement and resident leadership to develop community asset-based solutions; the Inclusiveness Project, which provides resources to help nonprofit organizations become more racially inclusive; Giving Circles for people of color; Executive Directors of Color, a program to build the individual and organizational capacity of nonprofit leaders of color; and Nonprofit Internship Program, a paid summer intern program designed to expose undergraduate students to professional and philanthropic opportunities in the nonprofit sector.

About Black Philanthropy Month

Black Philanthropy Month is a chance to reflect on the legacy and impact of African American giving across the country and in Colorado. In Metro Denver, families, faith-based congregations, organizations, and generous individuals have kept giving traditions alive for decades. Denver Delta Eta Boule, which has roots that date to 1921, has distributed more than $300,000 in scholarships for rising African American men since 1998. The Denver (CO) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, an African American womens organization formed in 1952, has contributed more than $1 million and over 325,000 hours of community service to organizations that work to enrich the lives of others. Many more African American sororities, fraternities, organizations, and groups contribute countless hours, expertise and financial contributions for the betterment of the Greater Metro Denver community.

Photographs of African American philanthropists from across Metro Denver will once again be on display at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library through August 31. The photographs were part "Soul of Philanthropy," an exhibition presented by The Denver Foundation in 2015.

About The Denver Foundation

The Denver Foundation is a community foundation that inspires people and mobilizes resources to improve life in Metro Denver. In 2015, the Foundation and its donors awarded more than $978 million in grants. The Denver Foundation has three roles: stewarding an endowment to meet current and future needs for Metro Denver, working with community leaders to address the core challenges that face the community, and managing more than 1,000 charitable funds on behalf of individuals, families, and businesses. For more information, visit http://www.denverfoundation.org.
Were excited to affordably support the companies whose reliance on IT to run smoothly can literally make or break their business, or significantly impact their bottom line.

ComputerSupport.com, a national provider of managed IT and cloud services for businesses, today announced the general availability of ITAnyWhere NOC, a Network Operations Service for the middle market. With ITAnyWhere NOC, ComputerSupport.coms customers can now augment their existing IT organization with around-the-clock network, server and cloud monitoring, escalation and remediation services.

Between 2012 and 2015, the demand for NOC management services has been rising, mainly driven by multiple macroeconomic conditions, among which are business activity levels. With this demand, the prices for NOC management services have increased at a pace of 0.8% annually.

Whether its a retailer who has to service a surge in customers during a sale or peak seasonal shopping period, or a medical insurance company rushing to process claims and open new policies ahead of major deadlines, the last thing that any company needs  especially those in the mid-market  is to be derailed from optimal efficiency levels by IT performance issues, shared ComputerSupport.com co-founder Kirill Bensonoff. Were excited to affordably support the companies whose reliance on IT to run smoothly can literally make or break their business, or significantly impact their bottom line.

ComputerSupport.com has tested the NOC services with some of its customer and results showed a decrease in downtime duration, a 60% increase in time to resolution, and a decrease in IT operational expenditures.

We outsourced the business of running our network to ComputerSupport.com. The wide variety of expertise they bring to our company not only in running the existing network but in the telecom area, planning for growth and budgeting has been a tremendous asset. Our company is no longer reacting to adverse network issues; instead we are in a proactive mode of operations. Im very pleased with our decision to outsource to ComputerSupport.com, said Stephanie Hulbig, Director of MIS, Affiliated Professional Services.

ITAnyWhere NOC provided by ComputerSupport.com is priced at $10 per monitored device per month, which provides IT departments a budget friendly solution for 24/7/365 coverage, as well as tools to monitor and remediate common issues.

ABOUT COMPUTERSUPPORT.COM

Founded in 2006, ComputerSupport.coms mission is to harness the power of technology and help business executives get the most out of their technology investment. The company's flagship ITAnyWhere Managed, ITAnyWhere Cloud and ITAnyWhere Pro products and services have helped hundreds of businesses stay competitive with innovative use of technology. Learn more by visiting http://www.computersupport.com.
We completely dedicate ourselves to achieving success for each one of our clients, to help them grow beyond their expectations; because of that, they trust us implicitly.

Inc. magazine ranked CMDS, a leading NJ full service marketing and web design agency, number 1989 on its 35th annual Inc. 5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy: America's independent entrepreneurs. Companies such as Yelp, Pandora, Dell, LinkedIn, Zillow and many others gained early exposure as members of the Inc. 5000.

CMDS CEO Chris Mulvaney attributes this award to his company's trailblazing creativity and successful digital marketing campaigns. "We are incredibly proud to be included on the Inc. 5000 which will only build upon our continuous momentum as a one-stop full service marketing agency.

The 2016 Inc. 5000, unveiled online at Inc.com and featured in the September issue of Inc. is the most competitive crop in the list's history. The average company on the list last year achieved a jaw-dropping three-year growth of 433%. Companies making the list must be privately held, for-profit independent US enterprises, evaluated according to percentage revenue growth from 2012 through 2015.

To achieve his goal of making the Inc. 5000 list, Mulvaney and his team always put the client first. We completely dedicate ourselves to achieving success for each one of our clients, to help them grow beyond their expectations; because of that, they trust us implicitly.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000.

About CMDS:

Headquartered in Colts Neck, New Jersey, CMDS is an award-winning full service marketing and web design agency dedicated to branding businesses. CMDS has been offering reputable services for over 14 years, including website design, online advertising, marketing services, and search engine placement. For more information, contact Temi Mehta at (732) 706-5555205 or visit the companys website at http://www.cmdsonline.com.

The CMDS 5000 profile can be found at http://www.inc.com/profile/cmds, and the complete 2016 Inc. 5000 list can be seen at http://www.inc.com/inc5000/list/2016/.

About Inc. 5000

The 2016 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2012 to 2015. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2012. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent--not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies--as of December 31, 2015. The minimum revenue required for 2012 is $100,000; the minimum for 2015 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.'s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000/list/2016/.
The formation of our SAB serves as an endorsement of the scientific and clinical enthusiasm for the Vortex technology.

Vortex Biosciences, provider of circulating tumor cell (CTC) enrichment systems, today announced the appointment of leading experts to its newly formed Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB's mission will be to provide valuable scientific and clinical insights, along with strategic guidance in decision-making to support the development and commercialization of Vortexs CTC enrichment system for both the research and diagnostic markets.

The members of Vortex Biosciences SAB include:



Massimo Cristofanilli, M.D., Associate Director for Translational Research and Precision Medicine and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology & Oncology at the Robert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University-Feinberg School of Medicine.

Jonathan Goldman, Director of Clinical Trials in Thoracic Oncology and the Associate Director of Drug Development at UCLA Health;

Stanley Frankel, M.D., Corporate Vice President, Head, Immuno-oncology Clinical Research & Development, Celgene; and

Dino Di Carlo, Ph. D., Director, Cancer Nanotechnology Program Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and Professor in the Department of Bioengineering, UCLA.

"We are thrilled to have attracted some of the world's leading experts in circulating tumor cells, oncology, clinical trials and microfluidics to help us define our clinical strategy as we commercialize our next generation CTC enrichment system, the VTX-1," said Gene Walther, Chief Executive Officer of Vortex Biosciences "The formation of our SAB serves as an endorsement of the scientific and clinical enthusiasm for the Vortex technology."

Vortex Biosciences Scientific Advisory Board members:

Massimo Cristofanilli, MD, an expert in the translational research and treatment of patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), is the Associate Director for Translational Research and Precision Medicine and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology & Oncology at the Robert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University-Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Cristofanilli has led the development of novel diagnostic and prognostic markers in primary and metastatic breast cancer. His paper in the New England Journal of Medicine opened up the liquid biopsy field showing the prognostic importance of CTCs in breast cancer with the CellSearch system. In his research and academic role he is focused on advancing a patient-centered, biology driven model of cancer care; combining sophisticated tissue and blood-based molecular diagnostic technologies and innovative treatments. Prior to joining the Lurie Cancer Center, Dr. Cristofanilli was Director of the Breast Care Center and Deputy Director for Translational Research at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University. He previously served as Chair of the Department of Medical Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center, and Executive Director of the Morgan Welch Inflammatory Breast Cancer Program and Clinic at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Stanley Frankel, M.D., is an internationally recognized expert in the treatment of hematologic malignancies including ALL and lymphoma. He is currently the Corporate Vice President, Head of Immuno-oncology, Clinical Research and Development at Celgene. Through 2014 he served as Executive Director, Medical Sciences; Early Development, Oncology Therapeutic Area Head at Amgen. Among his primary responsibilities at Amgen were the clinical development of bispecific T cell engaging antibody constructs (BiTEs) including blinatumomab. Prior experience includes roles as Vice President, Clinical Develoment at Micromet, Clinical Director and Clinical Science Leader at Hoffman-LaRoche; Executive Director for US External Scientific Affairs and Senior Director, Clinical Research at Merck. Dr. Frankel chaired the Zolinza Product Development Team and led the clinical efforts for the successful approval of Zolinza in 2006. From 2001-2004, he was Director, Medical Operations, at Genta, Inc working on Genasense. Prior to joining Genta, Dr. Frankel was Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore Greenebaum Cancer Center. He was previously on the faculty at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY and the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University. In addition to his contributions to the approval of Blincyto and Zolinza, Dr. Frankel worked as an academic investigator on the development of 11 other approved oncology drugs including Vesanoid and Trisenox for acute promyelocytic leukemia, Rituxan, Zevalin, Bexxar for CD20 expressing malignancies, Neulasta, Kepivance, Mylotarg, and Gleevec.

Jonathan Goldman, M.D., is the Director of Clinical Trials in Thoracic Oncology and the Associate Director of Drug Development at UCLA Health. He completed his residency at UCSF and his fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at UCLA. His research focuses on cancer drug development with an emphasis on treatment for thoracic malignancies. In his role as the Director of Clinical Trials, he is working to develop novel anti-cancer drugs that have been identified in the lab and investigate their toxicity and efficacy with patients in the clinic. Most recently he has been conducting trials that look at the effect of combination therapies with EGFR inhibitor rociletinib and PDL-1 inhibitor atezolizumab in EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients. Clinically, he cares for patients with many types of cancer, with a particular focus on treating lung cancer. He is always looking for new approaches to improve the efficiency of clinical trials. In collaboration with other departments, he has developed novel laboratory and radiographic techniques to aid in both patient stratification and patient monitoring. He received his degree from Harvard University and his M.D. from Stanford Medical School.

Dino Di Carlo has been on the faculty in the Department of Bioengineering at UCLA since 2008 where he pioneered using inertial fluid dynamic effects for the control, separation, and analysis of cells in microfluidic devices. He is currently Director of the Cancer Nanotechnology Program at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and a Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He directs the Microfluidic Biotechnology Laboratory with work that extends into numerous fields of biomedicine and biotechnology including cell separation and analysis, directed evolution, nano-magnetic cell analysis and control, new amplified molecular assays, next generation biomaterials, and phenotypic drug screening. Among other honors he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) was elected a Fellow the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). He also has been honored by academic societies across a range of fields with the Pioneers of Miniaturization Prize, the Materials Research Society (MRS) Outstanding Young Investigator Award and the Analytical Chemistry Young Innovator Award. He was awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development award, the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award, and the Packard Fellowship. His translational research was also supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Directors New Innovator Award and Coulter Translational Research Award.

About Vortex Biosciences

Vortex Biosciences is a cancer research and diagnostics company that integrates cancer biology, microfluidic engineering and informatics to develop tools for isolating and characterizing circulating tumor cells. The Vortex VTX-1 instrument harvests intact circulating tumor cells from whole blood samples for use in downstream research and clinical applications such as patient stratification in clinical trials, monitoring disease progression and drug treatment effectiveness. With a mission to enable noninvasive diagnosis of cancer and real-time monitoring throughout a patients treatment, Vortex is at the forefront of accelerating cancer research and improving patient outcomes. Vortex is a core subsidiary of NetScientific plc, a transatlantic healthcare technology group with an investment strategy focused on sourcing, funding and commercializing technologies that significantly improve the health and well-being of people with chronic diseases. For more information, visit http://www.vortexbiosciences.com.
Its obvious that there are security companies who are either taking short cuts or not advising their clients on how to comply with regulations.

Customers and businesses in Denvers marijuana industry are being put at risk by non-compliance with security and safety regulations. Security experts are becoming increasingly concerned by an apparent increase in failings by certain elements within the security sector. A recent survey of cannabis dispensaries and other facilities licensed to sell marijuana identified a series of significant failings. Less than half of facilities inspected had cameras placed in the correct location while two thirds of those inspected had camera views that were obstructed in some way. Other security failings included systems unable to capture and print screenshots (66% of businesses), not all external doors being properly alarmed (25%) and one fifth (20%) that had no intrusion alarm installed whatsoever. A significant proportion had no way of being notified in the event of a power failure while nearly half (45%) didnt have a locked security room.

The City of Denver operates an in-depth inspections process for licensed marijuana retailers and dispensaries. Inspections are carried out by the citys Marijuana Enforcement Division, Community Planning and Development, Environmental Health, Excise and Licenses and Fire Prevention departments.

Derek Porter, CEO of Denver Based Security Grade Protective Services says: Were really concerned by these figures and the shortcuts that are being taken by some in our industry. We take great care in ensuring our customers are fully compliant with regulations but its clear this isnt the case with some of our competitors. Its obvious that there are security companies who are either taking shortcuts or not advising their clients on how to comply with regulations. This is very irresponsible and is worrying for the long term success of the cannabis industry."

Our competence within the security sector was recently recognized through GSA accreditation. Because we offer a complete service to the industry we are best placed to ensure our customers are complying with cannabis law. We are also committed to raising awareness and advocating on behalf of the industry to ensure the long term growth and sustainability of the cannabis industry in Colorado.

For more information on Security Grade Protective Services, contact Derek Porter at info(at)securitygrade(dot)com

Additional Notes:

Research commissioned by Security Grade Protective Services found the following (figures accurate May 2016):

Of all the security and safety issues found, the percentages per category were as follows:



14.3% Security Room Issues

26.6% Camera Issues

20.2% DVR Issues

21.8% Battery Back Up Issues

15.1% Alarm System Issues

2.0% Misc and other Issues

The following data shows the percentages of facilities affected by each issue. Some represent failings against inspection criteria. Others demonstrate that only a minority of inspected businesses were compliant with licensing regulations.


Soldiers Angels will conduct a mobile food pantry on Friday, August 26 from 11am-1pm in the parking lot of the Denver VA Hospital located at 1055 Clermont Street, Denver, CO 80220. Over 200 low income veterans and their families will be supported. Each family will receive 50 pounds of food, including fresh fruits and vegetables. The pantry will be conducted with partner agency, the Food Bank of the Rockies.

The Veteran Mobile Food Pantry was started one year ago in San Antonio, Texas near the headquarters of Soldiers Angels. Since its start, the event has grown in size and spread to cities across the country, including: Denver, Charleston, and San Diego, with more cities to come. This month, for the first time in any city, the event is to be held in the parking lot of a VA Hospital. The hope is that the event will be even more accessible to veterans that may already be visiting the VA Hospital for other resources.

The participation of the Denver VA Hospital in this event is a great help in getting these resources to the veterans who need it most, said Amy Palmer, President and CEO of Soldiers Angels. Many homeless and low income veterans already visit the VA regularly and know how to get to the facility. Hosting the food pantry in an area that these individuals are already familiar with ensures that we are able to support even more families with our Hunger Relief Program.

The Veteran Mobile Food Pantry is scheduled to be held monthly in the parking lot of the Denver VA Hospital for the remainder of the year on the following dates: August 26, September 23, October 28, November 18, and December 23.

Those interested in sponsoring or volunteering at future Denver food pantry events should contact Soldiers Angels at (210)629-0020, or visit their website at http://www.SoldiersAngels.org.

####

About Soldiers Angels: Soldiers' Angels is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides aid and comfort to the men and women of the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, their families, and the growing veteran population. Founded in 2003 by the mother of two American soldiers, hundreds of thousands of Soldiers' Angels "Angel" volunteers assist veterans, wounded and deployed personnel and their families in a variety of unique and effective ways. (Tax ID# 20-058-3415). Learn more at http://www.soldiersangels.org.
Hannah Kain, President & CEO, ALOM We need to change the fact that women and minorities choosing STEM-related careers are significantly underrepresented in the workforce, missing out on an exciting career. -- Hannah Kain, ALOM President and CEO

Hannah Kain, President and CEO of ALOM, a global leader in supply chain management, has been named a 2016 Top 25 Champion of Diversity in STEM by DiversityGlobal Magazine. The award honors executives from corporations, nonprofits and higher education who are change agents and problem solvers focused on increasing STEM diversity among students and in the workforce.

The award comes at a time when supply chains are growing in complexity and dependent on advanced technology. This and the expected severe shortage of supply chain professionals over the next decade, heighten the need for more women and minorities in STEM-related careers. We need to change the fact that women and minorities choosing STEM-related careers are significantly underrepresented in the workforce, missing out on an exciting career, Kain stated.

We need ideas and products that encompass and benefit the entire population, she continued. Only by having women and minorities in STEM can their perspectives and thoughts be included. That is one of several reasons why I am dedicated to informing and advocating to students and young professionals the benefits and rewarding career opportunities across the technology, manufacturing and supply chain industries.

We were very impressed with Hannah Kains efforts and her ability to influence and effect change in diversity, HR and STEM related areas, said Paul Lachhu, Managing Editor at DiversityGlobal. The women and men included on this elite list are developing, implementing, and managing innovative initiatives and programs to drive increased STEM diversity and building the workforce of the future.

DiversityGlobal assembled an independent team of editors to evaluate a deep pool of nominations, through personal interviews and research. Winners are featured in DiversityGlobal Magazine. http://diversityglobal.com/Articles.aspx?type=tops&id=The-World-is-Changing-through-the-Champions-of-Diversity-in-STEM-2893

I am excited and humbled to be included with diversity leaders, such as Jesse Jackson and Edie Fraser, Kain added.

A role model and mentor for women in STEM fields, Kain leveraged technology to build a successful company in supply chain management, designing and implementing innovative, technology-driven client products. Kain speaks regularly at college and community career events, opens ALOM for educational tours in support of National Manufacturing Day, and is an enthusiastic advocate for workforce and supply base diversity. She is the former Chair of the Silicon Valley Board for the Womens Initiative. She currently serves as a Board member of the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Womens Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

Kain was honored with the Women in Manufacturing STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Award by The Manufacturing Institute in 2015. She was named a WBENC Womens Business Enterprise Star and a 2015 YWCA-Silicon Valley Tribute to Women Award honoree. She has also been inducted into the Silicon Valley Capitol Club wall of fame.

DiversityGlobal Magazine is one of the leading diversity magazines in the United States of America, and the world with a growing digital readership in several countries. Having covered the diversity space for over 17 years, its U.S. anchor DiversityPlus has evolved to be great resource for many of the leading companies in the U.S. looking to build and grow their supplier base. Its state-of-the-art digital magazine is being read by high level executives at many of the leading multi-national companies in Europe, Australia, Canada, UK, India, China, Brazil and South Africa.

About ALOM:

ALOM is a global supply chain management services and solutions provider serving as a partner to its Fortune 100 clients in the automotive, technology, medical, telecommunications, and utility/energy sectors. Its expert team of strategists, engineers, and specialists operate in ALOMs global headquarters in Fremont, CA, its offices across the U.S. and in Hong Kong, and its 15 affiliated facilities around the world. ALOM service offerings include procurement, e-commerce, inventory, assembly, digital media duplication, print management, fulfillment, IT integration and operations. ALOM is proud to deliver its clients products and services impeccably, enrich the client experience, and uphold their brand reputations. http://www.alom.com
Advice Media ranked #287 on Inc. 500 We are honored to be included in the Inc. 5000 rankings for 2016. This award is a direct result of our mission to make our clients lives better by supporting their professional and personal success.

Advice Media, the industry leader in digital marketing for medical practices, has been recognized as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in North America and has been included in the Inc. 5000 for the first time. Shawn Miele, Chief Executive Officer of Advice Media, said, We are honored to be included in the Inc. 5000 rankings for 2016. This award is a direct result of our mission to make our clients lives better by supporting their professional and personal success. Id like to thank our team members for their relentless effort and our clients for their loyalty.

Advice Media helps medical practices to grow by doing many of the things necessary for growth that physicians dont have time for or dont have the training to do themselves. Advice Medias services include search engine optimization, social media, email marketing, website design-development and more. The company services more 1500 clients in more than 20 different medical specialties throughout North America.

In 1982, Inc. introduced the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States. Since then, this prestigious list of the nation's most successful private companies has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success and the place where future household names first make their mark. Pandora, 7 Eleven, Toys 'R' Us, Zipcar, Zappos.com and numerous other well-known brands have been honored by the Inc. 5000. In 2007, the Inc. 500 list expanded to the Inc. 5000, giving readers a deeper, richer understanding of the entrepreneurial landscape and capturing a broader spectrum of success.

About Advice Media LLC

Since 1998, Advice Media has provided healthcare professionals comprehensive digital marketing services to help them expand their practices and attract new patients. An integrated strategy encompasses website design and management, mobile readiness, email marketing, SEO, SEM, social media, directory services, blogs, reputation management, website video and the ability to track and monitor performance of these services. The company has offices in Park City, UT, Melville, NY, Houston, TX, Los Angeles, CA, Philadelphia, PA and Porto Alegre, Brazil. For more information, visit http://www.advicemedia.com.
Visual ACA We are honored to be recognized among our peers for VisualACA and the innovative work of our product development team

Attendance on Demand, Inc., earned two prestigious Gold awards in the 2016 Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Awards for its new product VisualACA. In the category Government Compliance, the VisualACA product won Gold honors. The second Gold award recognized Attendance on Demand as the Product Management/Development Team of the Year for their work on VisualACA.

VisualACA, released in December of 2015, helps employers manage their Affordable Care Act (ACA) liability and reporting. VisualACAs successful launch was a substantial milestone for Attendance on Demands product development team. Beginning in 2016, employers averaging 50 or more employees must submit complex IRS returns for themselves and their full-time employees. While many products are available to help employers file their 1094-C and 1095-C forms with the IRS, VisualACA calculates the appropriate values for the forms based on employer data, and assists with IRS filing. In addition, it helps employers manage their variable-hour workforce according to ACA rules. Learn more at http://www.visualaca.com.

Completing the IRS forms demands substantial information from many sources at a very detailed level, said Beth Baerman, Director of Communications for Attendance on Demand. With VisualACA, employers import data from their payroll system and enter information about their health insurance benefits. VisualACA does the rest.

More than 40 judges from a broad spectrum of industry voices from around the world participated and their average scores determined the 2016 Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Award winners. The awards dinner and presentation honoring the winners will be held in San Francisco on September 12, 2016.

We are honored to be recognized among our peers for VisualACA and the innovative work of our product development team, said Baerman.

About the Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Awards

Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Awards are an annual industry and peers recognition program honoring best companies in every major industry from large to small and new start-ups in North America, Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin-America, Best New Products and Services, Best Innovations, Management and Teams, Women in Business and the Professions, Case Studies, Customer Satisfaction, and PR and Marketing Campaigns from all over the world. Learn more about The Golden Bridge Awards at http://www.goldenbridgeawards.com.

About Attendance on Demand

Attendance on Demand supports the labor management needs of thousands of companies and nearly a million employees across North America. Launched in 2006, Attendance on Demand is a rapidly deployed, cloud-based solution that minimizes a company's risk and technology investment while providing advanced features for securely managing labor datacalculating pay rules, scheduling employees, budgeting labor, automating recordkeeping for labor law compliance, managing employee status, and reporting for the Affordable Care Act. With an above average uptime of 99.995%, Attendance on Demand removes the worry of maintaining expensive infrastructure. An extensive North American distribution network helps organizations use Attendance on Demand to reduce labor expenses and improve decision making.

http://www.attendanceondemand.com
Inc. Magazine has ranked PrizeLogic on its 35th annual Inc. 5000, an exclusive ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. In 2016, PrizeLogic joins a finite group of ranked companies that have been listed five consecutive years.

PrizeLogic grew revenue more than 25 percent in 2015, and has increased revenue by over 267 percent since 2012 when the company made its first appearance on the Inc. 5000. The nations leading digital partner for promotions jumped 1,104 spots over last year, and is on a path for another year of double digit growth in 2016.

Ranking on the Inc. 5000 has become a valued annual tradition for our team, and its an honor no matter how many times were named, that we dont take lightly, said Keith Simmons, CEO of PrizeLogic. Striving for and achieving business growth is something that has started to come naturally for us after years of continued focus on premium client support, and releasing innovative new products and technology to ensure we can provide a true, all-inclusive service offering as our industry evolves rapidly as ever.

PrizeLogic is fueled by innovation and recently released the companys proprietary Receipt Recognition Platform. For shopper marketing clients and retailers who desire the ability to reward the consumer upon validation of a purchase, PrizeLogics platform shows consumers the love by making it possible through an easy 3-step process and does not require a 3rd party or a separate app, said John Vail, CMO of PrizeLogic.

Simmons added We support our clients objectives to drive a positive return on their marketing investments, measured by a host of performance indicators that ultimately lead to sales lift. In addition, were set up to support enriched on-going CRM (customer relation management) by leveraging the comprehensive data we acquire.

PrizeLogic has repeatedly partnered with some of the most recognized Fortune 100 brands in the world including Pepsi, MillerCoors, Subway and Disney to ideate and execute promotions engaging consumers beyond the prize. In 2015 alone, PrizeLogic executed more than 1,000 promotions entered by more than 100 million consumers and awarded $50 million in prizes that lead to continued consumer engagement long after they were awarded.

Chief!Marketer has also recognized PrizeLogic, adding the promotions expert to its prestigious list of Promo Top Shops. Specifically, this honor is a result of achievements with consumer packaged goods (CPG) and trade promotions as well as the companys expertise in loyalty and retention marketing. Crains Detroit recognized PrizeLogic in 2016 on its Fast 50 ranking, highlighting Michigans largest corporate growth stories.

PrizeLogic is trending toward double digit growth again in 2016. To view the PrizeLogic Inc. 5000 profile, visit http://www.inc.com/profile/prizelogic.

About PrizeLogic

Founded in 2008, PrizeLogic is the most trusted digital partner for results-driven promotions. Millions of consumers have participated in more than 5,000 promotions launched by PrizeLogic since inception. PrizeLogics in-house experts provide services ranging from technology and security to legal and fulfillment, ensuring efficient and timely execution while maintaining creative excellence. The Company consistently innovates in order to keep brands relevant in an evolving digital world. PrizeLogic is proudly overseen by its original C-level management team in partnership with North Carolina-based partner Pamlico Capital, which is focused on aiding in the companys continued business growth and development. PrizeLogic offices are located in Southfield, MI (HQ), Scottsdale, AZ, New York, NY, Chicago, IL, Los Angeles, CA and Atlanta, GA. For additional information, please visit http://www.prizelogic.com.

Media Contact:

Jackie Minchillo

jackieminchillo(at)gmail(dot)com

312.239.0499
Envoy announced the hiring of Kevin Butler as the new Regional Vice President. Kevin will be focusing on recruiting in the East Coast, particularly in Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware markets.

Butler has over 30 years of experience in the mortgage industry and most recently worked at New American Funding as Regional VP of the eastern division. Prior to New American, Kevin worked at Peoples Home Loans covering the eastern division.

Kevin is the perfect fit for Envoy Mortgage. His past leadership experience shows that he will be an asset for our growing company, stated Mike Reddington, Executive Vice President for Retail production at Envoy Mortgage. Kevin knows what it takes to recruit the best and take our brand to the next level. We are happy to have him on our team.

Im excited to start working with Envoy Mortgage. One of my goals is to make Envoy the company of choice for top talent throughout the East coast, Butler mentioned when asked about his new RVP position. My career has been built around developing and managing a seasoned team of mortgage professionals who are dedicated to Win as One while delivering superior customer service to our customers and all other key relationships. Im looking forward to expanding Envoy Mortgages brand throughout the entire Eastern Region with strategic and targeted recruiting.

About Envoy Mortgage:

Envoy Mortgage is a full-service mortgage banking firm founded in 1997 and headquartered in Houston, Texas. Envoy operates a network of more than 100 retail branch locations across the U.S. and currently originates in 48 states. The branches offer a full menu of loan products with the knowledge, expertise and technology necessary to enable all aspects of the mortgage process. Envoys technology allows the company to maintain a completely paperless, in-house origination process, reducing costs and improving efficiencies. For more information, visit http://www.EnvoyMortgage.com

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Kristin Chapman, MD Glaucoma requires problem solving on the most human level, and each stage of treatment and its timing are decisions that require the physician and patient to work together as a team ...

The Eye Care Institute (ECI), a renowned group of five Northern California ophthalmologists and optometrists, is proud to announce that Kristin Chapman, MD, has joined our Sonoma County practice. Dr. Chapman graduated from New York University School of Medicine in 2011, and completed an internship at Crozer Chester Medical Center in Pennsylvania. She completed her ophthalmology residency at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City where she developed a passion for treating glaucoma. She was awarded a glaucoma fellowship at the Morgan Eye Center in Utah, where she learned advanced skills as a surgeon and glaucoma specialist.

Dr. Chapmans travels to India, Mongolia, Micronesia and other developing countries inspired her to pursue the practice of ophthalmology, where she learned the importance of restoring more than just a patients vision, but the prospect of returning them back to a productive and happy life.

I was in India volunteering when I observed my first cataract surgery, and witnessed how an outpatient procedure could restore more than just sight. With the return of vision, fathers and mothers were able to return to work, grandparents could contribute to the family and children could just be kids again. From that moment on, I could not wait to start working towards the goal of becoming an ophthalmologist, recalls Dr. Chapman. Throughout my residency, I kept returning to glaucoma as the ideal fit for the practice I wished to develop. Glaucoma requires problem solving on the most human level, and each stage of treatment and its timing are decisions that require the physician and patient to work together as a team.

Dr. Chapman specializes in glaucoma, complex cataracts and general ophthalmology.

About ECI

The Eye Care Institute was established in 1952 and offers a broad range of services to meet local patients vision needs. With offices in Santa Rosa and Petaluma, the doctors goal is to maintain, improve, or restore visual health. This includes eye exams for children and adults, cataracts treatment, glaucoma prevention & detection, laser vision correction, cosmetic services to enhance facial appearance, lifestyle lens implantation, contact lenses, corneal transplant surgery, and on-site optical shops that feature the largest selection of eyeglasses in Northern California.

For more information about the full range of services offered by The Eye Care Institute, visit the ECI website. To make an appointment with Dr. Chapman call: (707) 546-9800.
Thoracoscopy for Mesothelioma DIagnosis Medical thoracoscopy has a great diagnostic yield...to achieve a specific histological diagnosis in about 80 percent of patients.

Doctors in Italy say medical thoracoscopy, a procedure that uses a small camera to perform biopsies and treatments in the chest, has gotten better over the last three decades, making it possible to more accurately diagnose diseases like malignant mesothelioma. Surviving Mesothelioma has just posted an article on the new research. Click here to read it now.

Pulmonary medicine specialists at the Spedali Civili Hospital in Brescia evaluated the diagnostic yield of medical thoracoscopy in more than 2,700 patients with pleural mesothelioma or other pleural diseases over a 30 year period.

They found that the overall likelihood that medical thoracoscopy, also called pleuroscopy, would enable a diagnosis was better than it has ever been.

Medical thoracoscopy has a great diagnostic yield that can be improved by practice, permitting to achieve a specific histological diagnosis in about 80 percent of patients, concludes study author Alberto Valsecchi, MD.

The study, published in the newest issue of the Annals of Thoracic Medicine, found that mesothelioma patients with pleural effusion or excessive lung fluid, had a greater diagnostic yield from thoracoscopy than people without this fluid.

Although it is the most common type of mesothelioma, pleural mesothelioma is notoriously difficult to diagnose, notes Surviving Mesothelioma Managing Editor, Alex Strauss. This study suggests that thoracoscopy, in the hands of experienced surgeons, may improve the process.

To read the details of the new study and find out how medical thoracoscopy may aid in mesothelioma diagnosis, see Study Confirms Value of Medical Thoracoscopy for Mesothelioma Diagnosis, now available on the Surviving Mesothelioma website.

Source:

Valsecchi, A, et al, Medical thoracoscopy: Analysis on diagnostic yield through 30 years of experience, August 2016, Annals of Thoracic Medicine, pp. 177-182, http://www.thoracicmedicine.org/article.asp?issn=1817-1737;year=2016;volume=11;issue=3;spage=177;epage=182;aulast=Valsecchi
Inc. magazine recognized ThunderCat Technology, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) that delivers technology services and solutions to the federal government, as one of the nations fastest growing private companies on their Inc. 500|5000 list. This is ThunderCats fifth appearance on this list, ranking at 4182 overall.

Companies making this list must be privately held, for profit independent US companies, evaluated according to percentage revenue growth from 2012 through 2015. The 35th annual Inc. 500|5000 list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economyAmericas independent entrepreneurs. Companies such as Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, GoPro, Clif Bar, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained early exposure as members of the Inc. 500|5000.

The Inc. 5000 list recognizes Americas independent entrepreneurs such as ThunderCat Technology, for their growth and contributions to the marketplace. First and foremost, we are very excited to be on this list for an incredible fifth time. This type of consistent growth is only possible through efforts of highly committed and talented people working together as a team. We are blessed with a group of super stars who focus on excellence for our customers day in and day out, said Tom Deierlein, CEO of ThunderCat Technology.

A significant part of ThunderCats growth can be attributed to a focus on selling cyber security solutions. We continue to grow with supporting infrastructures such as storage, networking, and virtualization, said Dave Schlosser, SVP of Sales & Marketing for ThunderCat Technology.

ThunderCat Technology's Inc. 5000 profile can be found here: http://www.inc.com/profile/thundercat-technology

The complete Inc. 5000 list is viewable here: http://www.inc.com/inc5000/

About ThunderCat Technology

Currently ranked #66 on the Solution Provider 500, the award winning ThunderCat Technology is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) that delivers technology services and solutions to the federal government and fortune 500 companies. Specifically, ThunderCat is a systems integrator that brings an innovative approach to solving customer problems in and around the data center by providing strategies for Data Storage, Networking, Security, and Applications. ThunderCat represents, distributes, integrates, and provides technologies from best of breed manufacturers. Clients include DHS, USACE, HHS, DLA, DFAS, FBI, NIH, Navy, Army, and VA. http://www.thundercattech.com
K. Hovnanian Homes Build On Your Lot Division hosted a successful groundbreaking ceremony on August 5th, 2016 at its Bowling Green Design Studio in Cygnet, Ohio. We know that the future success of our Bowling Green Design Studio will be due to the warm Cygnet community that has so graciously welcomed us into their village, said Chuck Vannoy, Division President of K. Hovnanian Homes Build On Your Lot Division.

K. Hovnanian Homes Build On Your Lot (BOYL) division drew a crowd of people to its Bowling Green Design Studio Groundbreaking Ceremony on August 5th in Cygnet, Ohio. Employees of K. Hovnanian Homes, as well as prospects, business partners and local village officials, including the Wood County Commissioner and Bowling Green County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn were present at the future site of the new Bowling Green Design Studio.

We know that the future success of our new Bowling Green Design Studio will be due to the warm Cygnet community that has so graciously welcomed us into their village, said Chuck Vannoy, Division President of K. Hovnanian Homes Build On Your Lot Division. We are truly excited to take the next step toward building this new design studio and we cant think of a better location than right here in Wood County. We know that Bowling Green is going to be a unique, must-see experience.

Upon entering the Bowling Green Design Studio, guests will be greeted with an impactful retail-like experience with dramatic ceilings, sleek lines, custom built-in cabinetry with home selections and playful wall imagery. We will incorporate a mix of wall murals and messaging so guests can casually make their way in and around the space at their own pace, said Vannoy. Our goal is to reinforce the fact that you dont have to sacrifice your dreams when it comes to building a new home.

The Bowling Green Design Studio will allow prospects to select their new home design and personalize it with design selections all in one location. Featured home designs will offer between 1,300 sq. ft. to over 3,600 sq. ft. of living space, and are adjustable to fit the needs of the families who live in them. Homes will be priced from the $130s and offer state-of-the-art technologies with modern conveniences and premium functionality. Home designs will include family-friendly open floor plans with timeless details, fantastic curb appeal and impressive architecture, Vannoy said. These homes will inspire for generations.

When it comes time to purchase a new home, sales consultants offer upfront, clear expectations of the homebuying process and a timeline to ensure that homebuyers are at complete ease every step of the way. K. Hovnanian Homes is committed to quality and takes great pride in delivering a 100 percent complete, inspected and move-in ready home, said Vannoy. We also provide thorough New Home Orientations by knowledgeable New Home Professionals once the process is complete.

The Bowling Green Design Studio is located at 13025 Jerry City Road in Cygnet, Ohio. Earlier this year, K. Hovnanian Homes unveiled its new Ashland Design Studio, located at 1898 State Route 89 in Jeromesville, Ohio, and Youngstown Design Studio, located at 425 North Bailey Road in North Jackson, Ohio. To learn more about the K. Hovnanian Homes Build On Your Lot division or to view current promotions at the Ashland or Youngstown Design Studios, visit http://www.khov.com/letsbuildittogether.

ABOUT HOVNANIAN ENTERPRISES, INC.

Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., founded in 1959 by Kevork S. Hovnanian, is headquartered in Red Bank, New Jersey. The Company is one of the nations largest homebuilders with operations in Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia. The Companys homes are marketed and sold under the trade name K. Hovnanian Homes, Brighton Homes and Parkwood Builders. As the developer of K. Hovnanians Four Seasons communities, the Company is also one of the nations largest builders of active lifestyle communities.

Additional information on Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., including a summary investment profile and the Companys 2015 annual report, can be accessed through the Investor Relations section of the Hovnanian Enterprises website at http://www.khov.com. To be added to Hovnanians investor e-mail list, please send an e-mail to IR(at)khov.com or sign up at http://www.khov.com.
Attorneys at Powers & Santola, LLP The attorneys of Powers & Santola represent a select number of people who have been catastrophically injured by medical and hospital malpractice, the failure to timely diagnose cancer and the failure to provide adequate protection to construction workers.

Powers & Santola, LLP, is pleased to announce that all of the firms partners, and the firms Special Counsel, have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2017 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

John K. Powers, Daniel R. Santola, Laura M. Jordan and Margie A. Soehl, were selected by their peers in the fields of Plaintiffs Medical Malpractice Law and Plaintiffs Personal Injury Litigation.

In addition, both John Powers and Dan Santola were recognized in the field of Plaintiffs Product Liability Litigation.

Michael J. Hutter, Jr., a Professor at Albany Law School who serves as Special Counsel to Powers & Santola, LLP, was named in the field of Appellate Practice.

Powers & Santola has repeatedly been named as one of the nations Best Law Firms by U.S. News & World Report. The firm has consistently been awarded a First Tier ranking in both the areas of Plaintiffs Medical Malpractice Law and Plaintiffs Personal Injury Litigation for the Albany, New York metropolitan area.

The attorneys of Powers & Santola represent a select number of people who have been catastrophically injured by medical and hospital malpractice, the failure to timely diagnose cancer and the failure to provide adequate protection to construction workers. The United States District Court for the Northern District of New York recently appointed the firm to serve as Interim Liaison Counsel in the Hoosick Falls water contamination lawsuits.

This marks the 28th consecutive year that John Powers has been listed by Best Lawyers. Powers previously served as President of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, President of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, Chairman of the Trial Lawyers Section of the New York State Bar Association and President of the Capital District Trial Lawyers Association. John is a co-founder of the National College of Advocacy and a Charter Senior Life Fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is the Immediate Past-President of the prestigious Melvin M. Belli Society.

Dan Santola, who has been listed by Best Lawyers for 26 consecutive years, is widely recognized as a preeminent authority on New Yorks unique laws that protect workers in the hazardous construction industry. Dan is the author of Litigating Construction Accident Cases in New York and a co-author of Construction Site Personal Injury Litigation. He is a former President of the Albany County Bar Association and the and Capital District Trial Lawyers Association and is a Dean of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Laura Jordan has been repeatedly named in The Best Lawyers in America and as a Super Lawyer in the areas of medical malpractice and personal injury litigation on behalf of plaintiffs. She serves as a member of the Board of Directors of both New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Capital District Trial Lawyers Association. She authors monthly published updates for the Albany County Bar Association and the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers on Torts and Civil Procedure.

A native of Ecuador, Margie Soehl began her legal career as a member of the legal advisory team of the President of Ecuador. Since moving to the United States, she has limited her practice to representing serious and catastrophically injured individuals. She is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Capital Region Black and Hispanic Bar Association. In October 2015, The Hispanic Coalition of New York recognized Margie as one of the Top 40 Under 40 Rising Stars in New York State.

Professor Michael J. Hutter, who serves as Special Counsel to Powers & Santola, is a Professor of Law at Albany Law School, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1976. Professor Hutters teaching areas include evidence, trial practice, intellectual property, and trade regulation. He presently serves as a Commissioner on the New York State Law Revision Commission and as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Capital Defender Office. Professor Hutter, a widely recognized expert on New York evidence law, was recently appointed by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore to serve as Reporter to New York's new Judicial Advisory Committee on Evidence. He is also a member of the Commission on Judicial Nomination  the entity that selects a list of nominees for appointments to the Court of Appeals. Professor Hutter has authored a book and numerous articles on antitrust and unfair competition and served as editor of Model Jury Charges in Business Torts Cases. He is the author of a column on Evidence in The New York Law Journal. He was one of seven nominees for the Court of Appeals, New Yorks highest court, in 1998. Professor Hutter is a former President of the Albany County Bar Association and is a Dean of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Over 83,000 leading attorneys globally are eligible to vote, and we have received more than 13 million votes to date on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world. For the 2017 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America, 7.3 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in almost 55,000 leading lawyers being included in the new edition. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.

About Powers & Santola, LLP

Founded in 1987, the law firm of Powers & Santola, LLP, assists individuals in Albany and Onondaga counties and throughout New York State who have suffered serious, catastrophic injuries due to the carelessness of others. The firm primarily focuses on medical malpractice, construction site accident and motor vehicle accident cases. The firms main office is located at 39 North Pearl Street, Suite 6, Albany, NY 12207 (local phone 518-465-5995). Please contact the firm to learn more.
Our first Knoxville restaurant has been so popular that we knew there was an opportunity to expand across the community, said Matt Andrew, Uncle Maddios CEO.

Uncle Maddio's PIzza, the create-your-own fast-casual pizza franchise, has signed a second franchisee for the Knoxville, Tennessee area. Ken Heatley, along with his son Ryan Heatley, will open three Knoxville units, bringing the total area count to four. The first restaurant is slated to open in 2017 once the best site is identified

The existing Uncle Maddios restaurant, owned and operated by Glen Lax, a 5-year Uncle Maddios veteran, is currently located in the Northshore area at 2052 Town Center Blvd.

My family and I searched for the right franchise for a long time, said franchisee, Ken Heatley. After originally planning to open a sandwich franchise, we discovered Uncle Maddios Pizza and instantly fell in love with the brand as well as the leadership team. We knew that Uncle Maddios and the personalized pizza concept was the right fit for us.

Ryan, along with his wife Mary, will move to Knoxville from Indiana to operate the restaurants. Ryan currently helps Ken run their Allstate Insurance business for The Heatley Agency but will transition full-time to the restaurant business.

Our first Knoxville restaurant has been so popular that we knew there was an opportunity to expand across the community, said Matt Andrew, Uncle Maddios CEO. We look forward to serving more of our Knoxville friends and family with love, and of course, delicious pizza.

Uncle Maddios is a next generation pizza restaurant that lets guests build their own pizza exactly how they want it and cooked in fast-bake ovens and served to their tables in about six minutes. Guests choose from one of three crusts, including a delicious gluten-free option, 48 toppings, 6 sauces, 27 vegetables and 15 meats. Everything is fresh and made in-store daily. Create-your-own salads and Foldwich sandwiches round out the Italian-inspired menu. Additionally, the restaurant offers a selection of craft beers and wine.

For information on Uncle Maddios Pizza, visit http://www.unclemaddios.com. Interested franchisees can visit unclemaddiosfranchise.com or contact Jocelyn Blain at franchising@unclemaddios.com.

About Uncle Maddio's Pizza: With more than 1,350 Pizza Makers making more than 5,000,000 pizzas a year, Uncle Maddio's Pizza is category leader of the create-your-own, fast casual pizza restaurants. Operating 45 locations in 14 states, Uncle Maddio's has more than 250 units in development. Uncle Maddio's pizzas are customizable, made-to-order, and served up fast for about $8. With four pizza sizes, three types of crusts (including gluten free), six sauces and 48 fresh toppings, Uncle Maddio's has the freshest and largest menu in the category. The restaurant's unique fast bake ovens offer the most throughput in the industry and can produce 200 pizzas per hour. Uncle Maddio's also serves Foldwiches and salads. Uncle Maddio's 'Served with Love' philosophy and restaurant is for everyone - children and families, college students, the young and the young at heart - and includes extensive community involvement. Based in Atlanta, the Uncle Maddio's management team has 50 years combined experienced in the fast casual category. http://www.unclemaddios.com

Click here for photos: Uncle Maddios Photos
We are called to a greater purpose than profits or revenue, but running a great business is integral to fulfilling that purpose!

The Inc. 5000 list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segment its independent small businesses. Companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Dominos Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000.

The C12 Group President and CEO, Mike Sharrow, knows that results matter, and the recognition from Inc. 5000 validates the organizations core value.

We believe all believers are called to truly do all things as unto Christ, which should translate into excellence in economic performance, human flourishing as well as eternal impact in and through the business. Financial growth is not our true bottom line, but it is a permission to play as part of our testimony. We are called to a greater purpose than profits or revenue, but running a great business is integral to fulfilling that purpose!

The C12 Group is the nations largest network of Christian CEOs, business owners, and executives with nearly 2000 Members in over 90 major metro markets. Through monthly peer advisory group meetings, C12 Members gain insight and wisdom from those who have been there. Members encourage and hold each other accountable to the core values and Biblical principles that guide them while learning to work on their business, not in it.

"The Inc. 5000 list stands out where it really counts, says Inc. President and Editor-In-Chief, Eric Schurenberg. It honors real achievement by a founder or a team of them. No one makes the Inc. 5000 without building something great  usually from scratch. Thats one of the hardest things to do in business, as every company founder knows. But without it, free enterprise fails.
(L) Susan Hopf, chief nursing officer at Banner Boswell Medical Center presents employee and nursing student Emily Florence with a scholarship. The majority of people we take care of in our communities are 65 and older so the demand for nurses already is great and will only increase.

Emily Florence is a multi-tasking marvel as she prepares and serves liquid refreshments to a stream of customers at the coffee stand in the lobby of Banner Boswell Medical Center in Sun City. Amidst the flurry of activity, she manages to make small talk with each customer, calling many by name.

Most if not all of these skills will come in handy in the not-so-distant future when Florence becomes a registered nurse, a lifelong dream.

Thanks to a $2,500 scholarship provided by Sun Health Foundation donors, that dream is edging closer to reality. Lawrence is in her last year of a three-year bachelors of nursing program at Chamberlin College of Nursing.

This has really helped so much, she said of the award. Now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Florence is getting into the field at a good time. Nursing is currently one of the fastest-growing occupations in the country. However, demand is outstripping the supply. A recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report estimated that 1.2 million vacancies will emerge for registered nurses between 2014 and 2022.

"One of the key factors driving the shortage is the aging of the Baby Boomer generation," said Bonnie Olsen, a development director for the Foundation. "The majority of people we take care of in our communities are 65 and older so the demand for nurses already is great and will only increase."

This year, Sun Health Foundation gave $200,000 in scholarship funds to nurses and aspiring nurses, including Emily Florence, at Banner Boswell and Banner Del E. Webb medical centers. Each medical center received $100,000 in funds. Banner Boswell awarded 38 scholarships while Banner Del E. Webb awarded 40 scholarships.

These scholarships are an amazing opportunity for staff who want to go to school or go back to school to further themselves, said Susan Hopf, chief nursing officer at Banner Boswell. With the high cost of education, every bit helps.

Indeed, the average in-state (Arizona) tuition for a four-year, bachelors of science in nursing (BSN) costs around $45,000.

Staff members at both medical centers began applying for the scholarships last spring. A Scholarship Selection Committee, made up of nurses and non-nurses from both facilities, reviewed the applications and determined the awardees in May. Sun Health Foundation hosted receptions on both campuses in August to recognize the scholarship winners.

Longtime Sun Health Foundation supporter Carol Blitstein attended the reception at Banner Del E. Webb. Nursing education is one of her favorite causes.

Its so expensive to go to college and there are so many demands on employees these days, especially those with families. They need to get help somewhere, and this is how I can help, she said. "We really need more nurses, especially with the older population here."

DeAnne Martinez, a registered nurse who works in the operating room at Banner Del E. Webb, had long considered going back for her BSN (she has an associates degree) but kept putting it off. Her two children are now going to college (one a freshman, the other a sophomore), which motivated her to do the same. I want to lead by example for my kids, said Martinez who is now in the BSN program at Grand Canyon University.

Sun Health Foundation donors have funded scholarships for nursing students since 1980 when Mesa Community College established a nursing education program on the Boswell Memorial Hospital campus. When Mesa discontinued its program at Boswell in 2013, Grand Canyon Universitys (GCU) nursing school opened a satellite program in its place. Its housed in a 21,000 sq. ft. facility located on the banks of Viewpoint Lake in Sun City, just across the street from Banner Boswell. Sun Health Foundation also provides scholarships to GCU nurses who qualify.

About Sun Health Foundation

For nearly 50 years, Sun Health Foundation donors have supported superior health care in the West Valley. The foundation is a philanthropic partner to the Banner Sun Health Research Institute, Banner Boswell and Banner Del E. Webb medical center, as well as community wellness programs and senior living services provided by Sun Health. Learn more at http://www.sunhealthfoundation.org.
The BOLD Awards 2016 We are excited to recognize the best of the best at the forefront of enhancing communities through cutting-edge technology

Real estate professionals are continuously striving to create the, workplace of tomorrow by raising efficiency, sustainability and comfort standards. Their efforts will be celebrated with the 2nd Annual BOLD Awards, recognizing Building Optimizers, Leaders and Disruptors who are transforming the way we use technology in the built environment. Applications are now being accepted through September 2, 2016.

Industry technology leaders Aquicore, Comfy, Enlighted, and View have come together to host the awards, honoring changemakers who are making buildings smarter and more sustainable. This years judges panel includes Jigar Shah, Co-Founder of Generate Capital; Founder of SunEdison & co-host of Energy Gang Podcast, dr. Nils Kok, CEO, GRESB B.V., Cliff Majersik, Executive Director at IMT, and Gautami Palanki, Director of LEED Dynamic Plaque.

We are excited to recognize the best of the best at the forefront of enhancing communities through cutting-edge technology, said Logan Soya, Founder & CEO of Aquicore. We believe it is crucial to call attention to their many accomplishments as they work to make the real estate industry smarter and more efficient.

The BOLD Awards will recognize leaders in the following five main categories, including the new Peoples Choice Award:

The Mentor  Recognizes a senior leader whose support of innovative ideas, technologies, and programs that positively impacted the efficiency and sustainability of their built environment.



The Innovator  Honors an individual who pioneered unique and creative programs or initiatives with the goal of increasing tenant engagement, satisfaction, and retention.

The Champion  Celebrates a leader who developed creative and innovative systems or processes of a specific cutting-edge technology, solution, or strategy to solve difficult commercial real estate challenges.

The Unsung Hero  Highlights an individual who is instrumental in accelerating the adoption of technology in buildings, but largely does so behind the scenes.

The Peoples Choice Award  The public is invited to vote for their favorite nominee from all of the above categories. Recipient will be selected based on the number of votes between September 12 - October 4.

Finalists will be announced September 28, 2016 and award winners will be celebrated on October 5, 2016 on the first night of the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Los Angeles.

Applications are available for individuals who work in the management and operations of the built environment. Visit TheBoldAwards.com/nominate to submit a nomination now through September 7, 2016 on behalf of yourself, a colleague, or a friend in the industry.

ABOUT THE BOLD AWARDS

The Building Optimizers Leaders and Disruptors Awards recognize individuals and teams who thrive to change the green building industry to make our surroundings smarter, more comfortable, and more efficient. The inaugural BOLD Awards were formed through a partnership of four innovative technology companies aiming to celebrate exceptional contribution to the built industry. Recipients will be announced on the first day of the Greenbuild Conference and Expo at an exclusive party held in Washington, DC. For more visit http://www.theboldawards.com.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS

Aquicore

Aquicore offers comprehensive energy analytics and automation solutions for commercial real estate. An emerging leader in energy management systems, Aquicore provides technology that automatically reads and compiles data from utility meters and submeters in real-time. For more visit http://www.aquicore.com.

Comfy

Comfy connects people to places by giving users control of their own comfort. Combining human intelligence with computer intelligence, Building Robotics software, Comfy, allows buildings to instantly adapt to an individuals perception of thermal comfort. For more information, visit comfyapp.com

Enlighted

Enlighted provides the worlds most advanced digital sensor and analytics platform for smarter buildings to Fortune 500 companies around the globe. For more information about Enlighted products, visit enlightedinc.com.

View

A leader in building innovation, View Inc. is the first company to successfully advance the large-scale commercialization of dynamic glass. Views intelligent windows tint in response to external conditions and user preferences, providing enhanced occupant experience, intelligent control and improved energy efficiency. For more visit http://viewglass.com/.
"Dancing At The Crossroad," a NEW Book about love, loss and healing, is now available for pre-order on Publishizer at https://publishizer.com/dancing-at-the-crossroad/. The author, Mellany Paynter, uses the power of storytelling and journaling to cope with the harsh reality of overcoming loss.

Readers embark on this intimate, riveting journey with Paynter, with pages for their own writing, to guide them toward healing by recounting meaningful events and answering powerful questions. Paynter leads the reader through her unique process of healing to overcome fear, find hope, and redefine purpose.

What is it about death and loss that changes your entire being? Paynter, asks us. In the face of adversity, dancing at a crossroad is easier when you are amongst others, who understand your experience, than going it alone. I am sharing my most personal thoughts and feelings to help others with a resource to grow and heal.

Dancing At The Crossroad started as a therapeutic exercise for Paynter to cope with the emotional rollercoaster of grieving the loss of her mother, which, in time provided renewal and permitted Paynter to move on. After three-and-a-half years of writing, Paynter is sharing her story, with the sole purpose of helping others realize they are not alone and there is no normal timetable for grieving.

A keepsake for the bookends of life, Paynter poses powerful questions, allowing us to face reality and realize what matters most. Dancing At The Crossroad is her first guided diary in this anticipated series, a lifeline to anyone who needs one.

Dealing with grief is a head game, says Paynter. Loss is never easy, but it is how we emerge from its grasp that shows strength and resilience.

"How can we comprehend a world without someone who has always been there? Mellany takes us into her heart and soul, from which a deeper understanding emerges. Mellany has a remarkable ability to express herself honestly, without self-consciousness - too many cultures fear death and the emotions that arise when we are grieving. When Mellany first expresses her inability to process what it means to lose her mother, she gives a voice to what is truly incomprehensible at the time of the loss. Mellany's uncensored self-expression gives us all permission to fully embrace our authentic feelings."



Helen Kramer, http://www.helenkramer.com, Author of Liberating the Adult Within, co-founder of Personal Change System, Licensed Psychoanalyst

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A first-time author, Paynter is Co-Founder and Creative Director of Her Billions, http://herbillions.com, a consulting company that facilitates visual strategies that inspire women entrepreneurs to boost productivity and efficiency, making their visions a reality. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering from Howard University and her interests include fusing visual mapping and analytical skills to help others grow professionally and personally. She is passionate about improving quality of life and encouraging women to find balance while achieving their dreams. When she is not facilitating workshops or attending meetings, she is speaking about her book, serving as an Advisory Board Member for small businesses, and enjoying life with family and friends. Paynter is a native of Trinidad, currently living and working in New York City.

ABOUT PUBLISHIZER

Publishizer, headquartered in Mountain View, CA, is the worlds first crowd-publishing platform dedicated to bringing innovation, freedom and choice to readers, authors and publishers around the world. Visit http://www.publishizer.com for the latest campaigns, news and statistics.

TWEET/POST

NEW Book Dancing At The Crossroad Supports Love & Healing After Loss - Preorder http://bit.ly/datcp #books #loss #death #grief

Discussion Questions for Dancing At The Crossroad:

1 - What brought you to write Dancing At The Crossroad? What were you doing before, and what happened?

2 - You lead the reader through a unique process of healing by journaling. How does journaling help the reader at this difficult time, versus talking to friends or family?

3 - Many people suffer loss and go through a grieving and healing process. What has been different about your experience that we can all learn from?

4 - Part of the journaling process involved what you call, asking powerful questions. Tell us more about these questions and how they support the reader.

5 - You have been so brave to share your journal in Dancing At The Crossroad. How does it feel to be open?

6 - What does the title, Dancing At The Crossroad, mean and how did you come up with it?

7 - We all go through death and loss. Why do you think talking about grief is still so difficult for us?

8 - How are you publishing this book and why? (*e.g. self, traditional or both)

9 - How can readers discover more about you and your work? What's next for you?
Our end goal is to help our partners provide a great customer experience, and were excited to see so much success doing that.

Inc. Magazine has ranked OSM Worldwide, a leading provider of domestic and international parcel delivery solutions, No. 4228 on the 35th annual Inc. 500|5000 list. For the sixth year in a row, the exclusive ranking recognizes OSM Worldwides consistent growth and commitment to innovation. Published every year since 1982, the distinguished business list honors the fastest-growing private companies in the United States.

With locations in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Nevada, OSM Worldwide delivers cost-effective and reliable residential parcel delivery solutions to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Through its partnership with USPS, OSM Worldwide assists retailers in adapting to the constantly evolving e-commerce landscape, offering a unique shipping experience that utilizes established infrastructure for affordable, quick shipping.

Our company started as a family-owned small business, and weve witnessed rapid growth since the beginning, said Gaston Curk, president of OSM Worldwide. We can attribute our ability to adapt to the booming e-commerce industry to our employees who consistently work to advance and develop new skills. We are excited to be recognized by Inc. Magazine yet again and look forward to continuing our companys success.

Over the past three years, OSM Worldwide has seen 64 percent growth as well as a YTD 52 percent increase in revenue from 2015 to 2016. Package count has also surged 31.5 percent year-over-year. In 2015, OSM Worldwide was also recognized on Crains Fast 50 list for its sustained and impressive growth.

As our clients grow and change, weve seen customer demands increase a great deal and weve worked with our retail partners to ensure those demands are fulfilled, said Curk. Our end goal is to help our partners provide a great customer experience, and were excited to see so much success doing that.

To learn more about OSM Worldwide and its services, click here.

About OSM Worldwide

OSM Worldwide is a leading provider of domestic and international parcel delivery solutions that reach millions of addresses nationwide and around the globe. Only OSM Worldwide features the award-winning OSM Premium Network, which is capable of shipping packages nationwide within 1-5 days, reliably and economically. A recognized preferred shipping partner of the USPS and recipient of the USPS Mail Solutions Award, OSM Worldwide also has global partnerships with major postal authorities all over the world. Businesses that partner with OSM Worldwide enjoy a variety of delivery options, economical shipping solutions, and expert, responsive customer service.
CREDIT: K.H.Reichert (CC) https://www.flickr.com/photos/reupa/23177005219 What are the advantages and drawbacks of moving from the countryside to the city?

Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs announces its fourth annual International Student Photography Contest.

The topic for this year's photo contest is Urbanization. According to a 2014 UN report, the world's urban population is five times as large as it was in 1950, growing from 746 million to 3.9 billion in 2014. From the mass migration out of China's countryside, to the vast urban sprawl of Mexico City, to the massive growth of cities in the Sun Belt of the United States, urbanization is on the increase throughout the world.

While it might mean a path out of poverty and easier access to education for many, it can also increase income inequality and contribute to climate change. Please submit photos that depict urbanization and city life, showing either the advantages or the drawbacks.

The contest will be conducted on Carnegie Council's Global Ethics Network, the Council's social media platform for exploring the role of ethics in international relations. Check out last year's winners on the theme of Climate Change, and see below for details on how to participate.

ELIGIBILITY: All students of every nationality are eligible. Non-students will be disqualified. The minimum age is 13.

TOPIC: Urbanization: Please submit photos that depict urbanization and city life, showing either the advantages or the drawbacks.

CONTEST DEADLINE: December 31, 2016

PRIZES:

1st prize: $200 Amazon Gift Certificate

2nd prize (two): $100 Amazon Gift Certificate

Winning photos may be posted on other Carnegie Council websites.

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Join the free Global Ethics Network (GEN) website: http://www.globalethicsnetwork.org.

2. Upload photo in the photo section of the website.

3. Please explain each image in 250 words or less.

4. Include full name, school affiliation, and nationality in the following format:

[Full Name]

[School Affiliation]

Nationality: [Country Name]

5. Tag the blog post with #photo2016 and publish it. Please allow 24 hours for approval.

6. Entries are limited to 3 photos per person.

NOTE: In order to ensure high quality reproduction, we will require larger versions of the winning photos. All participants must be able to submit a high-resolution version of their photographs upon request (at least 300 dpi at 3,000 pixels on the longest side).

EDITING: All photos must be the contestant's original work. Collage, cropping, and use of software such as Photoshop is permitted.

COPYRIGHT: By entering the contest, the contestant acknowledges that the submitted photo is an original work created solely by the contestant, that the photo does not violate, plagiarize or infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, database, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and that no other party has any right, title, claim, or interest in the photo. The contestant will retain all copyrights over the image, and the image will be attributed to the contestant when used.

USAGE RIGHTS: By entering the contest, all entrants grant Carnegie Council and its affiliated publications an unrestricted, perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to publish, reproduce, display, distribute and create derivative works of the entries (along with a name credit). Such use may include, but is not limited to: a photo exhibit or slideshow featuring selected images from the contest; use for illustration purposes on the Carnegie Council website, in online or print versions of Ethics & International Affairs, as well as any future Carnegie Council publications; and promotion of future contests. Display or publication of any entry on Carnegie Council's affiliated websites does not indicate the entrant will be selected as a winner. Carnegie Council will not be required to seek any additional approval in connection with such use.

ABOUT CARNEGIE COUNCIL

Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1914, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is an educational, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that produces lectures, publications, and multimedia materials on the ethical challenges of living in a globalized world. Go to http://www.carnegiecouncil.org.
By expanding our programs with engaging math content directed at seniors, we can help keep their minds agile, sharp, and fresh, building upon our mission to make math exciting, fun, and accessible to young and old alike."

Free Admission for Grandparents who Bring a Grandchild Along

In Celebration of National Grandparents Day

During The Weekend of Saturday, September 10th & Sunday, September 11th

The National Museum of Mathematics, (MoMath), the only museum in North America dedicated to math, has announced a new initiative to bring math  and all its wonders  to older adults. First, MoMath celebrates the special relationship of grandparent to grandchild in recognition of Grandparents Weekend  Saturday, September 10 and Sunday, September 11th. During this special weekend, any grandparent who brings a grandchild to the Museum is welcome to attend the Museum free of charge; each grandparent can bring up to two grandchildren free of charge.

Visitors to the museum during Grandparent Weekend are also welcome to attend a sneak preview of Significant Figures  a new series designed to engage the mind with creative and entertaining mathematical activities. Led by MoMaths education staff, this unique weekend session is aimed at seniors and can be enjoyed together with grandchildren. Sessions will be held at 11:30 am and 2 pm on both Saturday and Sunday; advance registration is required; $8/person session fee. Space is limited. Registrants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please visit grandparents.momath.org.

Grandparents Weekend is followed by the debut of Significant Figures, a series of weekly educator-led workshops offered to seniors on Wednesday afternoons from September 2016 through December 2016. Significant Figures will include different puzzle activities, word play, and state-of-the art interactive exhibits to stimulate brains, minds, and in some cases, even the bodies of older adults. Workshops are held from 3:45 to 4:45 pm each Wednesday. On the first Wednesday of each month, full-session registrants are invited to enjoy reserved priority seating for the series, Math Encounters with a special opportunity to meet the presenter just before the program begins.

Kicking off Significant Figures on Wednesday, September 14 at 3:45 pm will be special guest, Will Shortz, New York Times crossword puzzle editor. For more information, see significantfigures.momath.org.

Since the launch of the Museum almost four years ago, we have been thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive response weve received from students, teachers, kids, and families. stated Cindy Lawrence, Executive Director and CEO of MoMath. By expanding our programs with engaging math content directed at seniors, we can help keep their minds agile, sharp, and fresh, building upon our mission to make math exciting, fun, and accessible to young and old alike. Each week we will present new and innovative ways for the older adult population to not only experience the wonders of math, but to also take part in mental health exercises for their brains.

About the National Museum of Mathematics

The National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) strives to enhance public understanding and perception of mathematics in daily life. Since it opened in December 2012, more than 500,000 New Yorkers and visitors from around the world have come to the Museum. Another 500,000 have experienced MoMath exhibitions and content in seven countries, including the United States, Singapore, Brazil, Germany, Russia, Spain, and Sweden.

The only math museum in North America, MoMath fulfills an incredible demand for hands-on math programming, creating a space where those who are math-challenged  as well as math enthusiasts of all backgrounds and levels of understanding  can revel in their own personal realm of the infinite world of mathematics through more than 37 state-of-the-art interactive exhibits. MoMath was awarded the bronze 2013 MUSE Award for Education and Outreach by the American Alliance of Museums.

Location:

MoMath is located at 11 E. 26th on the north side of popular Madison Square Park in Manhattan.

Hours:

Open seven days a week, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, visit momath.org.
Invitation Homes is defining a new standard for home leasing.

Invitation Homes today launched a new brand identity that reflects the companys leadership position in the industry and its focus on empowering residents to live life on their own terms. The brand is captured by the Invitation Homes mission and tagline, Together With You, We Make a House a Home.

The creation of Invitation Homes less than five years ago established a new era in home leasing, and with our new branding, were taking the industry to yet another level, said Invitation Homes Chief Executive Officer, John Bartling. Owning houses is the easy part. Making them homes where families and individuals thrive is why were in business, and our mission and new brand reflect our commitment to make that happen. What separates us is delivering more quality and care to our residents than they ever imagined.

The new Invitation Homes logo conveys both an invitation and the companys history of growth: it builds from a single house to a neighborhood to a community and, ultimately, to Invitation Homes, which brings all the pieces together.

Invitation Homes is defining a new standard for home leasing, said G. Irwin Gordon, Invitation Homes Chief Revenue Officer. Every aspect of who we are and how we do business is centered on continuously delivering a living experience that combines quality, professionalism and heart.

Our brand is more than a logo. Its a reflection of our resident-centric culture that demands we deliver value at every point on the residents journey  from the moment they begin searching for a home until the day they move out, Gordon added.

The company backs up its brand promise with a portfolio of nearly 50,000 unique homes, nearly all of which have been updated since 2013 with an average investment of more than $20,000 in renovations. Each home is supported and maintained by Invitation Homes professionals who have a mandate to provide quality and genuine care from curb to kitchen.

Invitation Homes also hailed its selection by National Real Estate Investor (NREI) and Information Management Network (INM) as the winner of the Innovation in Property Management category for the 2016 Commercial Real Estate Awards.

NREI/IMN Awards recognize and honor forward-thinking organizations that support real estate investor success and exemplify the highest degree of business excellence in the industry. The awards were determined by a panel of judges made up of top names in the real estate industry.

In selecting Invitation Homes for the award, NREI/IMN said, Invitation Homes helped transform the residential rental industry by developing the institutional single-family rental business, bringing a professional level of property management to an industry that was previously dominated by mom-and-pop shops.

Americans of every age and demographic are increasingly looking to live life on their own terms, and through leasing, they have access to high quality homes with features they value, such as close proximity to jobs and access to good schools, said Bartling. Were honored to be recognized for our innovation in meeting this need with professionally managed leased homes.

About Invitation Homes

Invitation Homes is the nations leading provider of single family rental homes, with a portfolio of nearly 50,000 homes serving approximately 120,000 residents in 14 markets across the country. Invitation Homes invites people to search for and lease their residence at invitationhomes.com  and start living life on their own terms today.
The Phoenix Rose At the core of what inspires The Phoenix Rose is a connection to not only the human spirit, but the living, breathing planet as well.

Watch the new video for "Is This Luv" on PASTE Magazine

For the first single, Destination, The Phoenix Rose unleashed a propulsive rocker chock full of dark, worldly musical undertones. There were hints of reggae inside the verses, but overall the song landed firmly in the rock genre. Is This Luv, the follow up single, flips the script and delivers a bouncy, melodic tune steeped in reggae influences. The message is clear, and one that is of deep importance to Jarvis Smith, principle songwriter for The Phoenix Rose; love changes everything.

Produced by Native Wayne Jobson (No Doubt, Toots & the Maytals), and featuring the incomparable guitar work of Junior Marvin throughout, Is This Luv launches out of the gate with authority and urgency. The background synth rings like a siren, pushing forward the groovy jam as Smith and a stunning female vocalist repeat the mantra of the title. When the verses kick, Smith lays out his own belief that to fully know, understand, and embrace love is the only way to truly live life as intended. Not the artificial silver screen love, but the kind that resonates on a molecular level. The kind that Carl Jung spoke about when said The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.

The effervescence never relents when it comes to the video, with a clip that shines a light directly on Jarvis and his infectious personality. As a cast of characters passes across the screen, each one is given a short moment in front of the camera and one by one they are infected by the joy and excitement of Is This Luv. Like a guiding light, is the radiant personality of Jarvis, opening himself up to the camera, constantly heightening the passion on screen. Many voices combine into one, and a whole new, brilliant sum is born out of these parts.

At the core of what inspires The Phoenix Rose is a connection to not only the human spirit, but the living, breathing planet as well. When he does step away from the music, Jarvis is also devoted to MyGreenPond.com Magazine, an ethical lifestyle title  distributed quarterly with the Guardian and partners  that reaches over 3 million UK readers. Its this mentality that has allowed The Phoenix rose to embrace the common connection between all of us, and to masterfully articulate that the world has many more ties that bind than chasms that divide.

Watch the new video for "Is This Luv" on PASTE Magazine

Visit http://www.GYPSYPOPRECORDS.com and http://www.ThePhoenixRose.co.uk for more information on The Phoenix Rose.
We have enjoyed a strong partnership with Carnival for many years and the collaboration between our two companies continues to strengthen and grow.

World Travel Holdings, the worlds largest cruise agency and award-winning leisure travel company, has been recognized with Carnival Cruise Lines 2016 Ted Arison Founders Award, the lines newest and most prestigious award as part of the companys annual Excellence Awards.

The Ted Arison Founders Award is named after Carnival's founder, the late Ted Arison and honors a travel partner who has consistently demonstrated tremendous partnership, loyalty and support for the Carnival brand and upholds Ted Arison's vision that everyone deserves a great cruise vacation.

Receiving Carnivals first-ever Ted Arison Founders Award is such an outstanding honor, said Jeff Tolkin, co-chairman/CEO of World Travel Holdings. We have enjoyed a strong partnership with Carnival for many years and the collaboration between our two companies continues to strengthen and grow.

We have formed more than a business partnership with Carnival, we have formed friendships with the people on their team, said Brad Tolkin, co-chairman/CEO of World Travel Holdings. In fact, we are looking forward to hosting our Dream Vacations/CruiseOne franchisees and Cruises Inc. independent agents onboard the Carnival Vista in December for the divisions annual National Conference.

Fifteen top travel agencies in the U.S and Canada are the recipients of this year's Excellence Awards. These travel agencies were selected by Carnival's sales leadership team because they demonstrated sales effectiveness, innovative marketing techniques, brand advocacy and effective leadership.

"Through the years, World Travel Holdings has consistently shown us how committed they are to selling the Carnival experience our founder Ted Arison set out to create," said Carnival's Vice President of Sales and Trade Marketing Adolfo Perez. "We are thrilled to honor them with this prestigious award and look forward to many more years of continued partnership with their talented team."

This years honorees and their guests will attend an Excellence Awards celebration in Miami Beach, Fla. from Sept. 20-22, 2016, with complimentary airfare and hotel accommodations. Various events will be hosted by Carnivals leadership team including a welcome party and a gala awards reception with dinner and dancing.

About World Travel Holdings

World Travel Holdings is the world's largest cruise agency and award-winning leisure travel company with a portfolio of more than 40 diverse brands. In addition to owning some of the largest brands distributing cruises, villas, hotels, resort vacations, cars and luxury travel services, World Travel Holdings has a vast portfolio of licensed private label partnerships comprised of top leisure travel providers, including almost every U.S. airline, leading hotel brands and prominent corporations. The company also operates a top-rated travel agency franchise and the country's original host agency, and is consistently recognized as an industry leader in work-at-home employment. Its global presence includes operating multiple owned and private label cruise and vacation brands in the United Kingdom. World Travel Holdings has offices in Long Island, NY; Wilmington, Mass.; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Virginia Beach, Va.; and Chorley, United Kingdom. For more information, visit WorldTravelHoldings.com.

About Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival, a unit of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), is "The World's Most Popular Cruise Line" with 25 ships operating three- to 16-day voyages to The Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, New England, Bermuda, Europe, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The company currently has the 133,500-ton Carnival Horizon under construction and set to debut in 2018.

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Bill Yanek - New CEO Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association The PRSM Board reviewed several highly qualified applicants and Bills passion for the industry is palpable and his experience will be a valuable asset to our association, - Leigh Pearson, Chair- PRSM Board of Directors

The Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association, (PRSM), the authority on retail, multi-site facilities management, today announced that its Board of Directors has selected Bill Yanek as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the association.

Yanek has served as the Executive Vice President of the Glass Association of North America (GANA) for the past nine years, and will assume the CEO role at PRSM, September 19.

I am proud to announce Bill Yanek as PRSMs new CEO, stated Leigh Pearson, RFMP, Chair of the PRSM Board of Directors and Director, Facility, Environmental & Procurement Services, Staples, Inc., Canada. The Board reviewed several highly qualified applicants provided by Sterling Martin, our executive search firm. Bill was the unanimous choice of both the Board and the Task Force. His passion for the industry is palpable and his experience will be a valuable asset to our association, Pearson concluded.

Since 2007, Yanek has served as EVP of GANA, where he directed all business operations, including membership growth, marketing, staffing, budgeting and financial management. He supervised a staff of employees as well as volunteers while also serving as the associations spokesperson and managing legal matters for the association.

When informed of his being selected as PRSMs new CEO, Yanek responded, "It is an honor to be selected as the new PRSM CEO and become part of the authoritative community on retail and multi-site facilities management. I can't wait to meet and get to work with the PRSM Team in Dallas. Right out of the gate, we have our Mid-Year Conference and Canada East and Canada West events where I look forward to meeting PRSM members in person. It was apparent during the selection process that great things are ahead for PRSM and I look forward to being part of those efforts."

Bill is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the University of Kansas School of Law. Licensed to practice law in the State of Kansas, he is a member of the Kansas Bar Association and the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). He has also served as a member of the ASAE Association Management Company Section Council.

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About the Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association (PRSM)

PRSM Association, the authority on retail and multi-site facilities management, is the leading membership organization for retail facilities and supplier professionals. PRSM empowers the Retail Industry facilities management with best practices, benchmarking, education, discussion forums and trusted partnerships. Chartered in 1995, and with almost 1,000 member companies, the PRSM community values are founded on a spirit of innovation, resourcefulness, the quest for knowledge and ethical business relationships. Members depend on PRSM to help them achieve greater success and a competitive advantage through quality programs and resources.

Visit prsm.com for more information.
Our employees felt that we had to do something.

First American Payment Systems, a supporter of the law enforcement community, has donated $6,515 to The Line of Duty Fund of The Dallas Foundation in response to the July 7th police shootings.

First American has been active in donating to charities in the Dallas and Fort Worth area for many years, said Neil Randel, Chief Executive Officer. When we witnessed the attack on our law enforcement officers in July, our employees felt that we had to do something. Knowing that this donation goes directly to the families of the affected officers of the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority made this cause very important to us.

Employees at the Fort Worth corporate office donated money over a few weeks in July and August. Those funds, combined with a corporate donation from First American, reinforce the support and appreciation First American has for law enforcement officers and their families.

# # #

About First American Payment Systems

First American Payment Systems, L.P., based in Fort Worth, Texas, is a BBB Accredited payment processor that provides comprehensive electronic transaction processing services for more than 140,000 merchants throughout the United States and Canada. First American recently celebrated 25 years of business. In addition to credit, debit, and EBT card processing, First American offers a complete line of proprietary business solutions, including 1stPayPOS tablet-based point-of-sale system, 1stPayMobile, Secur-Chex check services, FirstPay.Net e-commerce solutions, and Govolution government e-payments. For more information, visit http://www.first-american.net.
From the modern layout to the ergo-friendly furnishings, Innovation Point was designed with our Team Members in mind.

Ware Malcomb, an award-winning international design firm, today announced construction is complete on "Innovation Point"the new San Diego-based corporate headquarters of ICW Group Insurance Companies, a group of property and casualty carriers. Ware Malcomb provided interior architecture and design services for the project, located at 15025 Innovation Drive.

The firms design completely transformed the existing 68,105 square foot space to create Innovation Point. Ware Malcomb also provided an evaluation of new guidelines for space allocation and furniture standards.

ICW Groups design objectives for the project included improving communication and connection; expressing employee value; and reflecting pride in the companys brand and culture. The company made a strong statement in transitioning from a more conservative, hierarchical office environment, to a bright and open workplace setting with a variety of meeting and amenity spaces.

At ICW Group, we pride ourselves on being a great place to work, said David Hoppen, chief operating officer at ICW Group. From the modern layout to the ergo-friendly furnishings, Innovation Point was designed with our Team Members in mind.

Sustainability played an important part in design and material selections. Design details and amenities include:



Open ceilings, shared natural light and the use of rich color

Areas of open two-story volume provide a sense of spaciousness and a strong relationship to nature

A living green wall coupled with areas of open wood plank ceiling and wall applications also provide a connection to the outdoors

Lighting and noise-cancelling technology to ensure productivity

Workstations and offices come equipped with sit/stand desks and the latest ergonomic furniture

New state-of-the-art gym and wellness room

It was exciting that ICW Group was open to some out-of-the-box ideas when it came to design, and willing to shift from their existing, more traditional office environment, said Tiffany English, principal at Ware Malcomb. By incorporating forward-thinking planning and design concepts into their new corporate headquarters, ICW employees now enjoy an open and collaborative space that is sure to provide inspiration for years to come.

The General Contractor for the project was Burger Construction.

About Ware Malcomb

Established in 1972, Ware Malcomb is an international design firm providing planning, architecture, interior design, branding and civil engineering services to commercial real estate and corporate clients. With 17 office locations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Panama, the firm specializes in the design of commercial office, corporate, industrial, science & technology, healthcare, retail, auto, public/educational facilities and renovation projects. Ware Malcomb was among the top 10 midsize firms in Real Estate Forums 2015 Fastest Growing Companies list, the top 20 architectural firms in Building Design+Construction magazines 2015 Giants 300 ranking, and the top 50 interior design firms in Interior Design magazines 2016 Top 100 Giants. http://www.waremalcomb.com

About ICW Group

Based in San Diego, ICW Group Insurance Companies is the largest privately held group of insurance companies domiciled in California. Quoting more than $3 billion annually, ICW Group represents a group of Property, Auto and Workers Compensation insurance carriers, including Insurance Company of the West and Explorer Insurance Company. ICW Group is recognized nationally as an industry leader in helping policyholders achieve fewer and less costly claims, and is committed to meeting the needs of its policyholders and elevating the trusted agents and brokers who advise them. More information is available at http://www.icwgroup.com.

# # #
We are honored to be included in this prestigious list surrounded by some of the top lawyers in their field. Each of the six attorneys selected to the list have been recognized multiple times, some for many years and in different practice areas.

H. Aubrey Ford III has been included in the lists for Bet-the-Company Litigation, Civil Rights Law, Commercial Litigation, Employment Law  Individuals, and Legal Malpractice Law  Plaintiffs.

Irvin V. Cantor and Stephanie E. Grana were both included in the lists for Medical Malpractice Law  Plaintiffs and Personal Injury Litigation  Plaintiffs. Lewis T. Stoneburner was included in the Medical Malpractice Law  Plaintiffs list while both Elliott M. Buckner and M. Scott Bucci were on the Personal Injury Litigation  Plaintiffs list.

In order to be included in the list for The Best Lawyers in America, an attorney must be nominated by anyone but themselves. Currently listed lawyers review the nominees based on their ability and work, and results and feedback are reviewed carefully. The nominee must be in good standing with their local bar associations to move forward. The lawyers are then notified of their selection.

Cantor Stoneburner Ford Grana Buckner has been helping clients since 1979, representing victims in a wide range of practice areas. We handled cases involving medical malpractice, wrongful death, auto collisions, brain injuries, and more personal injury law matters. We are honored by this recognition and look forward to helping more individuals reach the outcomes they deserve.
For a decade and a half, we've focused on a clear and consistent mission: build the fastest and most reliable hosting environment.

Nexcess, a leading provider of performance-optimized Magento, WordPress, OroCRM, and ExpressionEngine hosting, has been included in the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America for the seventh consecutive year. Nexcess is ranked #2468 in the 2016 list of the fastest growing businesses.

To be part of the Inc. 5000 list, a business must show sustained and consistent growth over the preceding four years. Nexcess first appeared in the Inc. 5000 in 2010. Its inclusion in the list of fastest growing companies for every subsequent year is a testament to the companys commitment to its core values: unbeatable hosting performance, excellence in customer service, and ceaseless innovation.

Nexcess has grown consistently since it was founded in 2000, expanding from a small garage operation to a leading global provider of optimized eCommerce and CMS hosting, with data center facilities at multiple US locations, in addition to international facilities in the UK, the Netherlands, and Australia.

At Nexcess, were over the moon to have once again achieved industry-leading growth in a challenging and competitive market, commented Chris Wells, President and CEO of Nexcess, For a decade and a half, we've focused on a clear and consistent mission: build the fastest and most reliable hosting environment. That commitment fuels our growth  clients understand that we have the technology and the expertise to keep their business on another level.

Over the last year, Nexcess continued to innovate. To fuel its continued growth and provide low-latency hosting to its European clients, Nexcess opened a new data center facility in Amsterdam.

In April, the company announced the introduction of a new hosting product to the Nexcess line-up: OroCRM is an eCommerce-focused customer relationship management platform from the creators of Magento. OroCRM integrates tightly with Magento and makes a wonderful complement to any Magento eCommerce store.

Nexcess has also continued to be an active participant in the open source community. This year saw the release of Alarmbell, a Magento security extension, as well as continuing investment in the companys other open source projects: Sentry, a Magento two-factor authentication extension; and Turpentine, the popular Varnish Cache integration extension for Magento.

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About Nexcess

Nexcess is a Southfield, Michigan-based managed hosting company founded in 2000, with data centers distributed throughout the United States, Europe, and Australia. Nexcess offers a variety of Magento, WordPress, ExpressionEngine, and OroCRM hosting services, ranging from entry-level packages to custom clustered/complex hosting configurations, with an emphasis on achieving maximum performance for high-profile sites. For more information, visit http://www.nexcess.net.
Sean Roylance, CEO & Founder of Like Sew Robert's experience with Total Retail Solution is invaluable and will enable our ongoing support of TRS users.

Like Sew, #1 provider of retail software in the Quilt industry, today announced extended support of TRS (Total Retail Solution). One year ago today, Like Sew acquired JMM Software and thereby acquired its Point of Sale System, TRS. At the time of the acquisition, Like Sew agreed to support TRS through 2015 in order to give its users a window to switch to a new software solution. In December of 2015, they extended that support through 2016, and have now extended it indefinitely. This decision comes in response to a number of TRS users who are not yet ready to make the transition to Like Sew due to various business needs. "The needs of our customers are our top priority," states Like Sew President, Sean Roylance.

Because of client demand, Robert Pirone has agreed to remain with Like Sew to lead the ongoing support for TRS users indefinitely. Robert had been with JMM for 10 years at the time of the acquisition, and has since proved a valuable asset in continuing to support TRS users as a part of the Like Sew team In regards to Robert's role at Like Sew, Sean Roylance says the following, "Robert's experience with Total Retail Solution is invaluable and will enable our ongoing support of TRS users. We're glad he will stay on our team."

While Robert and the rest of the Like Sew team are happy to support stores running TRS, they urge TRS customers to understand that it was built on dated software that will soon become obsolete. TRS provides clients with many great features, but it cannot keep up with advancing technology. Robert states, "TRS isn't going to work forever. It's built on older technology. Eventually Microsoft is going to change something in Windows that will most likely make TRS no longer usable." It is for this reason that Like Sew encourages those using TRS to make the switch to Like Sew software as soon as they feel comfortable doing so.

Nearly 500 former TRS users have already switched to Like Sew's cloud-based Point of Sale system, and have found it to be a better fit for their business because of its cloud capabilities. While TRS was built on 20-year old software, Like Sew's system runs on a cloud-based model. This allows Like Sew to keep its software up to date as technology advances. Additionally, Robert says, " The great thing about Like Sews cloud-based software is that once a feature is ready, it's pushed out and everyone has immediate access to it." Like Sew releases new features monthly, with improvements occurring daily through the cloud, whereas TRS releases occurred every 2 to 3 years. Businesses who have switched to the Like Sew system are at an advantage as they benefit from more frequent software updates which they can immediately utilize to increase business growth.

Read the full interview with Robert Pirone here.

About Like Sew: Founded in 2008, Like Sew provides a cloud-based, all-in-one POS and website solution with integrated inventory for stores in the Quilting, Sewing, Needle Arts, and Vacuum industries. Over 1600 stores use Like Sew's software in 7 countries around the world. Like Sew is based in Utah and runs under the parent company, Rain Retail Software at http://www.RainPOS.com
I salute H-GAC for utilizing their resources to actively improve mobility throughout the region. The Road Warriors campaign has my unyielding support. (Photo Credit: H-GAC)

With the partnership of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner,H-GAC unveiled Road Warriors For Smarter Commutes August 4th at City Hall. The new campaign is designed to educate and inform commuters about available commute alternatives in the region. To launch the campaign, H-GAC held a community festival at Hermann Square.

Peak period congestion is costing you more than $1,300 a year, said H-GAC Director of Transportation Planning Alan Clark during the unveiling. We believe people are smart. If we give them a better, faster and cheaper way to get to work, theyll be interested, and it benefits everyone.

The unveiling was keynoted by Turner and included guest speakers METRO Board Chair, Carrin Patman, Greater Houston Partnership Board Member, George A. DeMontrond III and Central Houston President, Bob Eury. Elected officials, business leaders and city planning leaders from Houston, Pearland, Brookshire and Fort Bend County attended showing their dedication to reducing the regions traffic congestion.

More than 500 people attended the Road Warriors Festival held at Hermann Square in downtown Houston to learn about a variety of alternative commuting options, tour METRO buses and participate in activities while enjoying food, live music and giveaways.

The Road Warriors campaign, developed by H-GACs Commute Solutions Program, is designed to reduce congestion and pollution by encouraging residents to carpool, vanpool, bike or ride transit to work. It includes findasmarterwaytowork.org, a comprehensive digital resource designed for commuters and employers to identify and enroll in commuting alternatives. The Road Warriors campaign is a multi-media effort designed to encourage commuters to make an impact by trying a different commuting option once a week.

Mayor Turner Photo: The daytime population for the city of Houston increases by 27 percent every day Monday through Friday, Turner said at City Hall during the unveiling. I salute H-GAC for utilizing their resources to actively improve mobility throughout the region. The Road Warriors campaign has my unyielding support. (Photo Credit: H-GAC)

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ABOUT HOUSTON-GALVESTION AREA COUNCIL

Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) is a voluntary association of local governments and elected officials from the 13-county Gulf Coast Planning Region  an area of 12,500 square miles with more than six million people. H-GAC is designated by the State of Texas as the regions Metropolitan Planning Organization for transportation planning for Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller counties.
The Northwest Hotel Investment Forum (NHIF) announced today that its centerpiece program for its October 27, 2016, meeting will be Brand CEO Interview: David Kong.

Since 2004, Kong has served as President and CEO of Best Western Hotels & Resorts, whose portfolio includes over 4,000 hotels in over 100 countries, with annual hotel revenue of over $7 billion. Kong is known, both within his company and throughout the lodging industry, for his insightful, strategic, and compassionate leadership. Kongs interview will cover a wide range of topics on the minds of hotel owners, brands, management companies, and investors.

Kong will be interviewed by Irvin Sandman of Sandman Savrann, a national law firm devoted to the hospitality industry.

The meetings program will also include presentations on hotel performance, forecasts, and investments by Alison Hoyt (Director, STR) and Mark Lukens (Managing Director, LW Hospitality Advisors).

NHIF is an invitation-only, semi-annual forum for principals and executives of hotel owners, brands, management companies, developers, investors, and lenders. Its purposes are to provide a select-group setting for high-level industry discussions and to help spur hotel acquisitions, development, investment partnerships, and growth. It has the support of the industrys major hotel brands, who serve as NHIFs Brand Sponsors.

NHIFs fall meeting will take place at the Cedarbrook Lodge in Seattle, Washington. Qualified hotel executives and principals interested in an invitation to the meeting may email info(at)sandsav(dot)com.

Contact:

Irvin W. Sandman, 206-686-0802, isandman(at)sandsav(dot)com

For information about NHIF visit http://www.sandmansavrann.com/index.php?id=132

Sandman Savrann PLLC is devoted to providing comprehensive, first-choice legal counsel to the hospitality industry. The firms highly regarded industry counselors lead an interdisciplinary team of professionals to deliver cost-effective, industry-informed counsel for regional, national, and international hotel companies. The firm understands the special relationships that exist in the hospitality industry, has extensive contacts within it, and applies these resources with flexibility, loyalty, trust, and integrity to achieve client success. Visit http://www.sandmansavrann.com.
ABUV Media Logo The recognition by Inc. as one of America's fastest-growing companies is an indicator that we're making an impact and building valuable websites for consumers.

ABUV Media, a publisher of high-quality, consumer-focused media online, announced today that it has earned a top-tier placement on Inc. Magazines list of Americas fastest-growing companies for 2016. ABUV Media ranked #178 nationally for three-year revenue growth, #11 in the advertising and marketing category and #2 in the state of Nevada.

Our vision has always been to help people make more informed decisions about their future, said Doug Jones, co-founder of ABUV Media. The recognition by Inc. as one of Americas fastest-growing companies is an indicator that were making an impact and building valuable websites for consumers. Our team has worked hard to get to where we are today, and Im excited about our continued growth in 2016.

ABUV Medias mission is to create expert-driven consumer-focused websites and tools that connect the right people to the right products and services. The companys media properties have grown to include education, personal finance and solar. Founded in 2012, ABUV Media is based in Reno, Nev., but also has a presence in San Francisco, Calif. and continues to accelerate revenue growth in 2016. Its staff includes award-winning writers and journalists and online media and marketing professionals. The company was recently honored as a finalist in the list of 2016 Best Places to Work in Northern Nevada.

The 2016 Inc. 5000, unveiled online at Inc.com and with the top 500 companies featured in the September issue of Inc. (available on newsstands August 23), is the most competitive crop in the lists history. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000.

About ABUV Media

ABUV Media builds and grows outstanding, content-rich websites that inform and engage readers. They partner with dozens of subject-matter experts, writers, editors, data scientists and other top-notch content creators to provide web content that addresses a unique consumer need identified through careful analysis of search patterns, survey results, and other data. They leverage publicly available data from highly reputable sources, and create compelling analyses for their website visitors and transform massive data sets into content that yields valuable insight. ABUV Media spends countless hours investigating what people are looking for and why, as well as how the company can help. Learn more about ABUV on Facebook, Twitter or Glassdoor.
It has always been important for us to maintain a low-pressure approach toward window and door sales. Our larger showroom allows customers to view the various window and door options we offer at their leisure and have any of their questions answered. Past News Releases RSS Orange County Audiovisual Company...

BM Windows Announces Expanded...

Fallbrook Locksmith Provides...

BM Windows, a replacement window company in San Diego, recently unveiled their new showroom. The company moved to a new, larger location within the same business complex several months ago, and has now completed all renovations, which included new office and warehouse spaces, in addition to the showroom.

The new showroom occupies approximately 1,500 square feet of the BM Windows facility. It features samples of the replacement windows and doors sold by BM Windows to their San Diego-area customers, including full-size patio doors and French doors, as well as casement windows, single and double hung windows, and sliders. Customers can also see samples of the privacy glass options offered by BM Windows, and view product literature from BM Windows preferred manufacturers, Anlin Window Systems, Bay View Windows, and Monte Verde Windows and Doors.

BM Windows owner Michal Bohm said, We are excited to have completed our new showroom in our new location, as it allows us to show off our exceptional replacement window and door products and better inform our customers about their options. We regularly go to the homes of potential customers for consultations, but some people like to see full-size windows and door options in person so they can get a better idea of their quality, features, and how they operate.

Bohm continued, At BM Windows, it has always been important for us to maintain a low-pressure approach toward window and door sales. We try to just give people the information they need to make an educated decision and let them decide in their own time if our company is the right fit for them. Having a showroom allows our customers to view the various window and door options we offer at their leisure and have any of their questions answered.

The new showroom is located at 9373 Activity Road, Suite G, San Diego, California 92126. It is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, and from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturdays.

About BM Windows

BM Windows is a San Diego replacement window and patio door company specializing in vinyl retrofit products that perform well in coastal climates. The company was established with an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction and follows a simple philosophydeliver high-quality products and service at affordable prices, without the hassle of high-pressure sales presentations.

BM Windows has completed hundreds of replacement window and door installations throughout San Diego County and was recently named one of the Fastest Growing Dealers by Door & Window Market Magazine. BM Windows was also named Dealer of the Year by Window & Door Magazine for excellence in customer service. Learn more about BM Windows at http://www.bmwindowsca.com/.
Incorporated in 1988 with headquarters in Rochester, NY, Eagle Productivity Solutions consults with clients around the worldincluding 18 of the 20 largest global pharmaceutical companies. I could tell that HRMS was going to be extremely committed to the success of our implementation. They were clearly subject-matter experts for HR and HR technology.

Eagle Productivity Solutions (Eagle) is a veteran-owned business delivering software and hardware user training as well as work-process consulting to the pharmaceutical industry. The firms human factors experts conduct assessments, create custom curriculum, and present training to pharmaceutical sales representatives in more than 40 countries and more than 20 languages. Incorporated in 1988 with headquarters in Rochester, NY, Eagle Productivity Solutions consults with clients around the worldincluding 18 of the 20 largest global pharmaceutical companies.

Staci Everetts, Eagles Vice President of Human Resources, explained that in addition to 95 full-time employees, the firm carries a large pool of freelance employees referred to as casuals that provide the ability to flex staff levels to meet increased project demands.

Employing casuals creates some unique challenges for the HR team from a technology perspective. Eagle Productivity Solutions had used ADPs Workforce Now payroll in conjunction with ADP HR/Benefits (HRB), ADPs human resource and benefits solution, for several years to manage employee information and issue payroll. The ADP system was billed based on headcount, so leaving casual employees in the system resulted in oversized HRIS charges.

Eagle already used FinancialForce Professional Services Automation (PSA) for project management, FinancialForce Accounting and Salesforce Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Luke Fitzwater, Manager of Business Systems, is responsible for administering all of the solutions within Eagles cloud ecosystem. For the new HRIS, Eagle selected FinancialForce Human Capital Management (HCM), a comprehensive human resource management application built on the Salesforce Platform. The combination of these applications residing on the same platform was very compelling for us as it allowed for easy user adoption, enabled real-time reporting and analytics throughout the entire organization, and provided one version of the truth across all business units, said Fitzwater. It also offered a seamless transition to incorporate HR into our back office ecosystem.

Eagle relied on HRMS Solutions (HRMS), a premier FinancialForce partner, to manage and assist with the FinancialForce HCM implementation. Fitzwater and Everetts were impressed with the HRMS teams ability to clearly define the project roadmap and successfully deliver the FinancialForce HCM application. HRMS combined HR knowledge and project management skills made the firm stand out from other implementation providers. I could tell that HRMS was going to be extremely committed to the success of our implementation. They were clearly subject-matter experts for HR and HR technology, said Everetts.

Before the implementation of the FinancialForce ERP apps, Everetts described the ADP systems as disjointed. FinancialForce brought everything together. Its much easier for our employees. They were extremely familiar with our other FinancialForce applications and HCM is now just one more area for them with no additional password to remember, she said.

Fitzwater summed up the biggest advantage of FinancialForce HCM as efficiency. When we onboard a new employee now, FinancialForce HCM generates a resource record and the same record is used to account for time and expenses on projects in PSA, he explained. Thats a huge advantage. We no longer have to go into multiple systems to enter and access employee information. We have streamlined processes and information flows on a single cloud ERP platform.

Working with HRMS, Eagle executed an agile, two-phased approach to implementation. As the two firms got into a good working rhythm, priorities were crossed off the list faster than expected. Everetts explained, HRMS Solutions let us pull some things from phase two into phase one. We had good momentum going, and things just seemed to click and make sense. We were supposed to implement benefits in phase two, but weve already knocked that out of the park. HRMS has been extremely flexible and has really helped us get ahead of ourselves.

The reporting and benefits capabilities of FinancialForce HCM have made the biggest impact thus far for Everetts. As an example, going through open enrollment, she noticed a significant improvement in benefits reporting and forecasting. I used to have to look at a benefits invoice, compare it to the next month, and then compare it to my hires and terms to create a very time consuming reconciliation based on paper. Now, there is so much detail in this system that it's a dream for an HR professional.

Each month, FinancialForce HCM easily saves me a day or more of time that used to be spent just doing manual analysis of our benefits. I can now look instantly at every single benefit we offer, see which individuals are enrolled in each plan, as well as review the employees costs, our costs, and much more. I've used the forecasting capabilities many times which provide fantastic details and enable me to accurately project future company benefit expenses.

Both Everetts and Fitzwater voiced appreciation for the FinancialForce organization and the amount of communication they provide around FinancialForce HCM software updates. Everetts said, FinancialForce stays up to date on the latest laws and federal compliance requirements, and provides timely updates including all the tracking needed for recent ACA reporting. FinancialForce communicates effectively about future software capabilities and the release documentation is phenomenalboth important benefits to Fitzwater as an administrator.

Both Fitzwater and Everetts are glad they chose HRMS as their implementation partner. The HRMS team provided much-needed guidance and HR best practices throughout the implementation and continues to serve as a reliable and trusted partner.

This has been a very positive implementation experience. The HRMS team has made me feel comfortable and Ive gained incredible systems knowledge throughout the project, noted Everetts. They really want us to succeed. Theyre always there to help, and theyve been genuinely excited about the project. You simply don't get this level of service or passion from other software vendors. These guys are right there with you, staying positive and having fun. We appreciate that.

About HRMS Solutions, Inc.

HRMS Solutions is a selective group of professionals offering a better buying and implementation experience for HR, payroll and talent management solutions. Founded in 2003, HRMS has enabled hundreds of mid-market companies throughout the U.S. and Canada to better manage, empower and optimize their workforce with leading cloud or on-premise HCM solutions. HRMS mission is to serve as a trusted advisor to prospects and clients seeking new solutions to their human capital challenges. Our promise of integrity, objectivity and credibility ensures the absolute best experience when purchasing and implementing HR technology solutions. More information on HRMS solutions and services can be found at http://www.hrmssolutions.com.

About FinancialForce

Founded in 2009, FinancialForce is the leading Cloud ERP vendor with apps built entirely on the Salesforce Platform. The company's Financial Management, Professional Services Automation (PSA), and Human Capital Management (HCM) offerings provide services-centric businesses with a platform that organizes sales, services, finance and HR entirely around their customers. Headquartered in San Francisco, FinancialForce is backed by Salesforce Ventures, Technology Crossover Ventures, Advent International and UNIT4. For more information, visit http://www.financialforce.com

2016 HRMS Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. All logos, company names, and product or service names herein are trademarks of their respective owners. Salesforce is a trademark of salesforce.com, inc.
Timber Framers Guild is a non-profit educational membership association dedicated to the craft of timber framing. Join our 31st Annual Conference this September. To be relevant, timber framers must stay on top of the built environment. To be happy, we need a good party. The conference will offer both.

Professionals and enthusiasts of the timber framing craft are encouraged to join the 31st Annual Timber Framers Guild Conference (TFG) to be held September 16-18, 2016, at the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs (NY). The international conference offers educational seminars covering the full breadth of this industry.

Learning opportunities include seminars on everything from historic and cultural timber framing building and preservation to modern design and engineering. Day-long pre-conference seminars offer further development and learning. A trade show, happy hour events, benefit auction, and axe throwing trials give conference-goers the opportunity to re-connect and network in an informal setting.

To be relevant, timber framers must stay on top of the built environment. To be happy, we need a good party. The conference will offer both, stated Jonathan Orpin, TFG board member.

Seminars will cover high-performance, energy-efficient home design and construction as well as dive into historic building traditions of New Yorks Hudson-Hoosic Region. An additional pre-conference activity that will appeal to history buffs is a tour of historic sites in the area around Saratoga Springs. Featured conference speakers will include Rudy Christian, who led a project conserving the timber temples in Mandalay; William Logan, the founder of Urban Arborists and recipient of the New York State Arborists Senior Scholar Award; and Kevin Ireton, author and former editor-in-chief of Fine Homebuilding, who will discuss ethical craftsmanship in the age of climate change.

A trade show catering to timber framing professionals will be on-site throughout the conference, and will be open to the public on Saturday, September 17th, from 8am to 4pm. Members of the public may also be treated to axe-throwing trials if they visit on Saturday between 10 and 10:30am or between 2:30 and 3pm.

Four day-long pre-conference seminars will center around skills and professional development. The pre-conference seminars include:



Designing and Building net-zero-ready homes by Andy Shapiro, President of Energy Balance, Inc, and Director of Science and Engineering Education for the Vermont Energy Education Program.

Safe Rigging Practices sponsored by the TFGs Apprentice Training Program and The Crosby Group, the worlds leading manufacturer of rigging equipment;

Wood Identification Workshop by the Timber Frame Engineering Council

Charting a Course for Great Future Performance: Revealing the Secrets of Successful Strategic Planning by Dr. Duke Kuehn

The conference follows a 10-day Community Building Project to construct the new Champlain Canal Region Gateway Visitors Center in Schuylerville, NY. For more information on this community project, visit the website.

For more information, or to attend part or all of the conference, please contact the Timber Framers Guild at 360.746.6571 or email info(at)tfguild(dot)org.
Michael Kuluva New York Fashion Week S/S 2017 Presented by CreakyJoints (Photo Credit: J Everette Perry)

Tumbler and Tipsy by Michael Kuluva announced today that designer Michael Kuluva, after 6 years of privately battling Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), has teamed up with a leading patient advocacy organization, CreakyJoints, for the inspiration behind Tumbler and Tipsys Spring/Summer 2017 runway collection at Kia STYLE360 New York Fashion Week on September 13, 2016.

Designed with Meaning

Presented by CreakyJoints, the world-wide online patient community for people with all forms of arthritis, the new collection, Creaky and Tipsy is directly influenced by the designers personal experience with the disease. The new collection will feature looks highlighting key arthritic focal points on the body, while staying true to the Tumbler and Tipsy brand with bold colors, funky embellishments and playful designs.

For our new Spring/Summer 2017 Tumbler and Tipsy collection, I wanted to partner with an organization that was close to myself and my familys heart. Since becoming a part of the CreakyJoints family, I have been inspired to learn more about my RA, and continue to lead an active and productive life despite the diagnosis. To highlight and celebrate this, we partnered with CreakyJoints for New York Fashion Week, says Michael Kuluva, designer of Tumbler and Tipsy. As someone who has been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), I wanted this collection to highlight my own personal experience, while also bringing awareness to such a debilitating disease and the goal of living successfully, despite it."

Michael Kuluva exemplifies our organizations mission to empower people living with arthritis, and to not set limits on their aspirations or goals, simply because they are also managing a chronic disease, said Seth Ginsberg, President and Co-founder of CreakyJoints. Were thrilled to support the Creaky and Tipsy collection and Michael as his journey progresses. Plus, looking good is feeling good, and Creaky and Tipsy looks great!

After taking the world by storm, one sequin at a time, Tumbler and Tipsy has set itself apart from other fashion brands by being the first to ever collaborate with the No. 1 dance video game, Just Dance 4, in creating exclusive looks for their runway show in 2012. With a celebrity fan base strutting previous Tumbler and Tipsy runway shows such as Kendall Jenner, Olympic Gold Medalist Alex Morgan, Perez Hilton, Johnny Weir, Jill Zarin, Rick Genest Zombie Boy and many other well known public figures, the launch of the new Creaky and Tipsy collection will sure to be one of the highlights of New York Fashion Week.

This Tumbler and Tipsy Spring/Summer 2017 New York Fashion Week runway show is proudly presented by CreakyJoints, La Pierre Nail Polish, Ellie Shoes, American Hat Company and Bloke NYC.

The Tumbler and Tipsy by Michael Kuluva runway show will take place at 7:30PM on September 13, 2016 at Kia STYLE360 Met West 639 W 46th Street New York, NY.

For more information visit http://www.style360nyfw.com.

About Tumbler and Tipsy

Anchored by the creative mind and brilliant talents of professional figure skater turned fashion designer, Michael Kuluva, Tumbler and Tipsy is not only reworking, redefining and revamping the world of fashion but is taking it over with his sexy yet stylish brand. Tumbler and Tipsy is produced in Los Angeles, CA with colorful collections that are distinctive but never repetitive, chic and classy while being comfortable and versatile. Tumbler and Tipsy is not just a line of clothing, its a collection of art, its an embodiment of chic fashion in the modern world, and its a representation of a lifestyle: fun, bold, luxurious and daring. http://www.tumblerandtipsy.com

About CreakyJoints

CreakyJoints, now in its 17th year, has evolved into the go-to source for more than 100,000 arthritis patients and their families world-wide who are seeking education, support, advocacy and patient-centered research. Co-founded in 1999 by arthritis patient Seth Ginsberg and social entrepreneur Louis Tharp, CreakyJoints is part of the Global Healthy Living Foundation, whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people with chronic illness. For more information and to become a member (for free), visit http://www.CreakyJoints.org.

About Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes pain, stiffness, swelling and loss of function in the joints throughout the body, but typically the small joints of the hands and feet. RA can strike at any age and if left untreated, can cause joint damage and even permanent joint destruction or harm to the bodys organs. RA is an autoimmune disease that is treated typically by a specialist called a rheumatologist.

About LaPierre Nail Polish

LaPierre Nail Polish, a luxe beauty brand established in New Orleans, LA. Providing a full range of traditional, sophisticated and chic nail polish colors. Inspired by the founder's mother who unfortunately lost her battle with cancer in 2014, LaPierre is the official sponsor to the LIVESTRONG foundation. LaPierre's echo-friendly, vegan lacquers are cruelty free and non-toxic. Our five-free chemical polishes eliminate the use of harmful properties without sacrificing luxe quality or long lasting performance. http://www.lapierrecosmetics.com

About Ellie Shoes

Ellie Shoes manufactures a wide variety of sexy shoes, and is most noted for its unique designs and its wide selection of heel heights. Since its inception in 2000, Ellie Shoes has had two goals: to be the best shoe manufacturer in quality and design for alternative footwear, and to bring sexy shoes to the mass market. Currently, Ellie offers three collections including Ellie Shoes, Bettie Page Shoes and 1031 Halloween Footwear. http://www.ellieshoes.com

About American Hat Makers

Youve found Headn Home, makers of exceptional artisan hats. We deliver everything you expect in premium leather products - unsurpassed quality in construction and materials with a personal touch only available in handmade works. Designed and built in our shop in Freedom, CA, each piece is distinctive, like a work of art. Our leather is 100% American raised and tanned. From traditional cowboy hats and lightweight leather and mesh beauties to our retro-future steampunk hats, our range of styles is certain to surprise, intrigue and delight you. http://www.americanhatmakers.org

About Bloke NYC

Bloke by Christopher Valiante is the renowned new talent in the fragrance industry. With new innovations, Bloke has been selling internationally in high end retailers in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore plus across the United States. Valiante's men's fragrance and skin care line has won numerous awards around the world and is expanding with new innovative fragrances this upcoming season! Just one last question, which Bloke are you? http://www.blokenyc.com

##

Contact

All press inquiries:

Christina Rice

LuxeLife Media

Christina(at)LuxeLifeMedia(dot)com

646-373-8634
#Justice Party Former Justice Party leader Lee Jeong-mi elected for 2nd term Lee Jeong-mi, a former chief of the minor progressive Justice Party (JP), was elected Friday for a second term to lead a major reform of the party reeling from recent election rout...

#BTS BTS' Jin makes solo debut with 'The Astronaut' Jin, a member of K-pop juggernaut BTS, debuted as a solo artist through a collaborative single with British rock band Coldplay on Friday. The vocalist simultaneously released "T...
An iconic gay bookstore in Canada changes hands; a North Carolina store readies a new toddler section; a Vermont store is feted for its support of reading; and more.

New Owner for Vancouvers Little Sisters Book & Art Emporium: Don Wilson, who has been managing Little Sisters for the past two years, has purchased the 33-year-old gay bookstore effective September 1. Within years of opening, the store, which was named for founders Jim Deva and Bruce Smyths cat, began fighting in court against Canada custom agents, who seized their shipments. Declining health and Devas unexpected death in 2014, led Smyth to sell the store. In addition, he sold Little Sisters five-year-old spinoff, Sweet Adult Boutique, to the owners of the Male & Female Harmony Store.

Grand Opening Set for Spellbounds Baby Room: The Asheville, N.C., childrens bookstore will be celebrating its new baby and toddler room on September 17. The new space has an expanded inventory of board books, cloth books, and book-themed onesies. Theres also a play table with baby-friendly toys.

Norwich, Vt., Bookstore Wins Independent Spirit Award: The Book Publishers Representatives of New England named the Norwich Bookstore this years Independent Spirit Award winner. The award, which will be given at the New England Independent Booksellers Association fall trade show next month, is given to a store that passionately spreads the love for books.

Longwood University B&N Closes to Assess Water Damage: A fire set off by lightning earlier this week forced Barnes & Noble to close its bookstore at the Farmville, Va., school temporarily because of water damage from extinguishing the blaze. The bookstore expects to reopen today.

Small World Books Closes New Branch Store: The Rochester, N.Y., used bookstore, which also specializes in rare books and vinyl, is closing its year-old store College Town Books branch near the University of Rochester at the end of the month. It is the third business in the Collegetown development to close this year.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Purdue Extension has honored two Indiana women for their dedication and service to agriculture with the Women in Agriculture's top awards for leadership and achievement.

The awards were presented Wednesday (Aug. 17) as part of the lieutenant governor's Celebration of Agriculture program during the Indiana State Fair.

The Leadership Award, for a woman in an agribusiness or policymaking position, was given to Lisa Chaudion of Monroe County, executive director of the Indiana FFA Foundation.

The Achievement Award, which recognizes women who are directly involved in a home farming operation, was presented to Sheryl Seib of Seib Farms in Posey County.

"We need to spotlight women who are committed to the success of Indiana agriculture," said Danica Kirkpatrick, engagement program manager for Purdue University's College of Agriculture and co-chair of the Women in Agriculture awards committee. "We look for hard-working women who are dedicated to their communities and the industry. These recipients are very deserving of this recognition."

Chaudion began her work as a direct sales manager for Mycogen, a seed company of Dow AgroSciences. She then became the Indiana Department of Education's agriculture education specialist and Indiana Young Farmers' Association executive director for many years before starting in her current in 2011. She also was the first female to serve as president of the Indiana FFA.

Under Chaudion's leadership, the Indiana FFA has gained numerous charitable contributions, including $50,000 from Farm Credit Mid-America and $25,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc. for the Indiana FFA Leadership Center in Trafalgar. Her focus on fundraising for the center will provide leadership training to FFA members and opportunities for learning in the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Chaudion is vice president of the Indiana Rural Safety and Health Council and a member of the Indiana Young Farmers Association, Indiana Association of Agricultural Educators, National Association of Agricultural Educators, National Association of Supervisors of Agricultural Education and Indiana Farm Bureau.

Seib has been involved in many roles in Seib Farms for over 30 years. She often has been solely responsible for coordinating and carrying out events such as hosting local, state and national leaders and visitors in overseas trade missions.

As a preschool teacher and owner of Kinder Schule Academic Preschool for 27 years, Seib incorporated agriculture lessons and instilled in students an appreciation for agriculture in their community. She has served as an agriculture in the classroom volunteer for Indiana Farm Bureau Inc. since 1989, and the organization elected her as an agriculture cultural exchange ambassador to Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary in 1992.

In 1993, Seib became Posey County Farm Bureau's women's leader, holding the position for five years and returning to it from 2004 to 2009. She also became the first female president of the county farm bureau in 2009 and served until 2014.

Beginning in 2001, Seib served as a liaison to farm women in Ukraine at the request of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She helped to organize a farmers' co-op and establish a government office for it, providing farmers greater access to government leaders and the law-making process there.

Women in Agriculture provides local, regional and statewide skill development programs; networking events that engage sponsors and stakeholders; and resources through multiple types of media. More information on the group is available at http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/wia

Writer: Keith Robinson, 765-494-2722, robins89@purdue.edu

Source: Danica Kirkpatrick, 765-494-9113, danica@purdue.edu

Agricultural Communications: (765) 494-2722;

Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu

Agriculture News Page
On Tuesday, the Rock Island County Board put the question of a half cent public safety tax where it belongs: In the hands of voters.

We commend board members for continuing their aggressive efforts to right our countys precariously listing financial ship. Whether collecting more sales taxes, on top of the quarter cent RICo already assesses on purchases made in our county, is the best path to do so will now be up to taxpayers.

It will not be easy to convince them to do so. Though the board vote was lopsided, for example, it was not unanimous. Four members voted against the resolution to put the sales tax hike on the Nov. 8 ballot. They are not only welcome, but encouraged, to take that opposition directly to the people in the months ahead.

Indeed, we look forward to an energetic and information-packed public debate before November.

Though we appreciate the hard work and careful study which went into this plan, count us among those who are not yet persuaded that it is the right one. We are, however, ready to listen. Voters are too, we hope, so they can cast a fully informed vote on Nov. 8, not only on the proposed county sales tax increase, but on the 1 cent school facilities sales tax a majority of RICo schools are asking voters to approve on the same ballot.

Though some say that the two taxes arent really competing against one another, taxpayers may view it very differently. Indeed, both taxes remain a tough sell. After three failed efforts, county schools which are pushing the 1 cent sales tax referendum will need an aggressive campaign to convince voters that they really need the money, especially by making clear exactly what it is they will get for it beyond general lists and vague promises.

Taxpayers are a hard sell for a reason. It may only be a penny on $1, but it isnt the only tax hike with which they must contend at every level of government every day. Local government representatives often view the taxes which fund them in isolation. Voters dont. They also know the increases will mean the combined sales taxes for purchases in our county will be higher than in the Iowa Quad-Cities. And most are painfully aware that Iowas retail sales and restaurant receipts already far outstrip those of the Illinois Q-Cs. Such arguments must be effectively answered, not dismissed.

County officials, led by county administrator Dave Ross, have committed to a transparent and aggressive public information campaign and we applaud them all for the public meetings they already have hosted. More, were told, are planned.

Voters who wish to find out more should attend as they are scheduled. You also are urged to go to the countys website at rockislandcounty.org. If questions occur to you, dont be afraid to direct them to Mr. Ross or your county board member. If you are part of a service organization that wishes to find out more, invite county officials to meet with you.

When you weigh what youve learned, we also urge you to do one more thing: Do not let the sins of past county boards, financial or ethical, impact how you vote on this measure. The majority of the current board has moved aggressively to reform a county which desperately needed it. Their efforts have earned our careful attention and consideration.
Aaron Randolph III, of Davenport, inherited a great play when he set out to adapt an epic 1921 drama by a Pulitzer Prize-winner from Davenport.

"Inheritors" -- by Susan Glaspell (1876-1948), opening Friday at the QC Theatre Workshop for three weekends -- also is insightful, poetic and tremendously timely, Mr. Randolph said this week.

"She has a beautiful writing style; I changed virtually nothing in the words of the play," he said of the acclaimed Davenport native, who was just the second woman to win the Pulitzer for drama, in 1931, for "Alison's House." "Literally in the whole play, I'd say I changed less than 25 words -- it was mainly just reorganizing it, so modern audiences will be a little bit more engaged."

While the original play would take over three hours, Mr. Randolph also cut it by a third. The idea to stage "Inheritors" as the Workshop's fifth season-opener began with a public reading of the script in February, the first in the RiverStages Play Reading Series," a collaboration with the Davenport nonprofit River Action.

Tyson Danner, the Workshop's artistic director, said he was "immediately taken with Susan Glaspell's voice and talent," and eager to introduce others to both this play and the little-known fact that Davenport boasts a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who helped shape the course of modern theater, he said.

When I first read the script, I kept second-guessing the publication date, Mr. Danner said. The play felt very contemporary and we immediately began discussing a full production. Aaron has created a show that honors Glaspells original, while making it urgent and accessible for modern audiences.

"Inheritors" tells of three generations of Americans and the erosion of fundamental rights, especially free speech, in a time when nationalism was prevalent in society, according to QCTW.

At the story's center is college student Madeline Morton (here played by Jessica Denney), who must choose whether to defy her family and heritage in order to stand up for her beliefs. As her saga is explored, "Inheritors" addresses other themes  individuality, conformity, immigration, racism  that remain at the forefront of our conversations on national identity, Mr. Randolph said.

In the play, the college plans to expel students who were conscientious objectors to World War I, and Hindus who protest British oppression in India, and seek Indian independence. Madeline stands with all of them, Mr. Randolph said.

"They're seen as un-American, un-patriotic," the playwright and director said. "During that time, the things she's standing up for, revolutionaries, she could end up in jail for. The consequences are very real."

"It's kind of sad we're still having the same arguments -- the idea of keeping out foreigners, different cultures as a threat to America," Mr. Randolph said. "I think it's very topical."

"Inheritors" examines how "we as a country, we often treat immigrants poorly, allowing nationalism to blind us to injustice and silence those who don't follow the status quo," he said. Also, "it gives us a window into the past to realize that maybe our current political and cultural issues aren't as new as we sometimes believe."

It's relevant because it challenges the audience to remember that we are all the beneficiaries of those who came before us, and we should be conscientious of what world we're leaving to those who come after us," Mr. Randolph said.

In Glaspell's original script, the first act takes place in the 1870s, as Madeline's grandfather makes way for the college's founding. Originally, Madeline doesn't show up on stage until almost halfway through the play, "and so by reorganizing the material so that she shows up in the first five minutes, I think it really helps focus things and make Madeline a more featured protagonist," Mr. Randolph said.

His version takes the past and present, and unspools them on parallel tracks, as they dramatically work toward the same arc, he said.

"The idea that the protagonist of the historical part of the play, about him choosing to give away the land that eventually becomes the college -- that's about him making this noble sacrifice for the betterment of future generations," Mr. Randolph said. "The same arc is Madeline making a noble sacrifice for the betterment of others. They're characters making this bold decision, and it actually happens simultaneously. The final scene takes place with both of them in the same scene."

Mr. Randolph -- whose script for 2013's world premiere "A Green River" was a popular and critical QCTW success -- also directed the February staged reading of "Inheritors" at the Figge Art Museum, for which he didn't change as much.

He said by email that Glaspell's plays are "full of interesting and dynamic female characters fell out of favor in the 1940s, and now there are very few productions of this brilliant and groundbreaking woman's writing. The best way to describe this production "is that it's a loving cover of a long forgotten classic song," Mr. Randolph said.

In addition to Ms. Denney, a Workshop veteran ("Tribes," "How I Learned to Drive," and "A Green River"), the cast -- most of them playing more than one role -- includes Michael Carron, Jeremy Mahr, Brant Peitersen, Susan Perrin-Sallak, Mike Schulz, Jordan McGinnis and Abby Van Gerpen.

.

"The actors and designers have done a fantastic job of bringing the production to life in a way that makes it just as rich and engaging as if it were written yesterday," Mr. Randolph said.

QCTW present "Inheritors" under the company's Pay What It's Worth pricing policy, in which patrons see the play first and then pay afterward, allowing them to choose what the experience was worth to them personally.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that federal prosecutors in memo filed with the court Monday evening asked U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall to consider a 10-year sentence "as a floor" for John Bills. The former second-in-command at Chicago's Department of Transportation was convicted in January of bribery, conspiracy and extortion.

Bills was accused of accepting envelopes stuffed with cash, along with gifts  including condos in two states and a Mercedes  to help Redflex Traffic Systems obtain contracts in a decade-long scheme.

Bills' attorney, Nishay Sanan, asked for a lenient sentence and said Bills "made some bad decisions."
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  Gov. Bruce Rauner and Illinois Republicans all but ignored the party's bid to reclaim the White House at the Illinois State Fair Wednesday, focusing on term limits, political map-drawing and loads of campaign cash to defeat "machine" Democrats who have a vise grip on the General Assembly.

The party's presidential nominee, Donald Trump, was mentioned only sparingly during Governor's Day festivities. Instead, the first-term governor got the crowd to chant "Term limits now!" even though the earliest the question could go to the ballot would be in 2018.

He also extolled the virtues of taking politics out of drawing legislative district maps. That question's place on the November ballot is being challenged in court by Democrats.

Rauner promised the GOP would outspend Democrats this fall to pick up seats in the House, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 71-47, and the Senate, where the spread is 39-20.

"This year, we're going to go toe-to-toe with them," Rauner told party county chairmen at a meeting Wednesday morning. Rauner said Democrats have far outspent the GOP in recent elections, but "we're going to do better than they do. You'll see the biggest ground game ever for legislative races in Illinois."

Trump's absence, except on some T-shirts and signs, was likely driven by U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk's openly disavowing him and Rauner's steadfast refusal to say whether he'll support the outspoken New York real estate developer.

"That bothered me," said Trump supporter Mike Schwerer of Peoria. "We're Republicans, we need to get out and vote for the presidential nominee."

Rauner demonized the powerful Chicago Democrats who control the Legislature by labeling them a "machine" of entrenched politicians directing a "system that's rigged for power of the existing class ... not working for the people."

When asked how Republicans could win in a "rigged" system, Rauner said, "We're taking our message to the people. We're going around the system and straight to the people."

He did not name the Chicago Democratic leaders  House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton  although the party passed out term-limit buttons with an image of Madigan from his first term in the House in 1971. Madigan has been House speaker for all but two of the past 33 years.

"They are just really trying to escape Trump," said Steve Brown, spokesman for the Illinois Democratic Party, of which Madigan is chairman. "They're trying to think of anything they can say."

Kirk faces Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth in November's election. Asked about his refusal to endorse Trump in his race against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Kirk said "such bad choices" puts more emphasis on choosing a senator who "is the best pro-Illinois candidate that we can get."

Kirk said in the spring that he would support Trump, but backed off after the candidate made several contentious comments. He then said he would write in David Petraus, the retired U.S. Army general and former CIA director who pleaded guilty to mishandling classified information. Last week, he said he would write in retired Gen. Colin Powell to back someone who opposes President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. But Powell supports that plan.

Asked Wednesday if he would rebound to Petraus, Kirk said only, "I like him," but noted write-in votes for people who haven't declared their candidacies don't count in Illinois.
Submitted press release

Archer Daniels Midland Company recently donated $125,000 to Living Lands & Waters. The donation will go toward community-based river cleanup projects, the MillionTrees Project, and educational initiatives taking place along the Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio Rivers in 2016. By the end of the grant period, Living Lands & Waters will work with 3,000 community members to remove 200 tons of debris from Americas Rivers, engage 3,500 volunteers in giving away and planting 132,000 native oak trees throughout the Midwest, and host 52 education workshops/camps for 1,800 students.

ADM has not only consistently helped Living Lands & Waters for many years with its financial needs, but continues to provide the great opportunity of working side by side with thousands of their employees at our river cleanup and restoration events. Together with ADM, Living Lands & Waters has made a real difference on Americas Rivers, said Chad Pregracke, President & Founder from Living Lands & Waters.

The donation was given through ADM Cares. ADM Cares is a social investment program that directs funds to initiatives and organizations that drive meaningful social, economic and environmental progress worldwide. The program comprises three distinct focus areas: supporting the responsible development of agriculture, improving the quality of life in ADM communities and fostering employee giving and volunteer activities.

About Living Lands & Waters  Chad Pregracke started Living Lands & Waters in 1998 as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the beautification and restoration of Americas major rivers and the education of environmental issues. From his single boat beginning, LL&W has grown to an industrial strength, internationally known organization with a fleet of barges and workboats. LL&W engages thousands of volunteers each year in river cleanups, hands-on environmental education workshops, the Great Mississippi River Cleanup, Adopt-a- RiverMile program, Invasive Species Removal, and the Million Trees Project.
Submitted press release

The Rock Island Public Library and Moline Public Library will host Dr. Arthur Pitz for a series of four lectures entitled "The Middle East  Hope and Heartbreak." This series will be held at the Rock Island Main Library on Tuesdays, Sept. 6 and 13, and at the Moline Public Library on Sept. 20 and 27. All programs begin at 6 p.m. and are open to the public.

Dr. Arthur Pitz has his Ph.D. in History from Northern Illinois University. He is an expert on the modern Middle East and has lived and traveled in the region. Dr. Pitz has been a Fulbright Senior Specialist and an Illinois Humanities Council Road Scholar. His affiliations include the America-Israel Economic Forum Quad Cities Region Board and the American Israel Chamber of Commerce in Chicago.

In 2003, the U.S. and supporting nations embarked on an effort to turn Iraq into a beacon for the spread of democracy throughout the Middle East. As this has not come to pass, the U.S. has evolved towards conflict management and so has its ally Israel, according to Dr. Pitz. Each lecture in the series features an in-depth look at this shift, including:

-- Sept. 6: "The Iran Nuclear Agreement: Where Are We Today?" Rock Island Main Library. This multilateral agreement's goal was only to stop Iran's march towards creating deliverable nuclear weapons for an achievable time period, not to change the nature of its regime. How well has that goal been achieved? And, what else is taking place that's worthy of note?

-- Sept. 13: "Russia and Syria: Allies or Opportunists?" Rock Island Main Library. A in-depth look at Russia's involvement in Syria and its overall implications. The U.S. had been attempting regime change, but Russia's involvement has changed the dynamics of that policy. In the meantime, a refugee crisis has ensued--what to do about it?

-- Sept. 20: "ISIS: Its Roots and Its Future." Moline Public Library. The roots are deep and the prospects are not good. ISIS may be defeated militarily, but then what?

-- Sept. 27: "American Policy in the Middle East: Good, Bad, & the Ugly." Moline Public Library. We will lay aside the partisan politics/blame game and analyze how our policy(ies) have evolved, and where they're likely headed.

This series of presentations is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities, Friends of the Moline Public Library, and the Rock Island Public Library.

For more information about the series, contact the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities (309-793-1300 or aross@jfqc.org), Moline Public Library (309-524-2440), or the Rock Island Public Library (309-732-7323).
Submitted press release

MOLINE, IL, August 17, 2016The American Red Cross continues to help thousands of people impacted by the flooding in Louisiana where the situation remains dire. More than 7,000 people remained in Red Cross and community shelters Tuesday night and thousands more are without power in hot, humid conditions.

Twelve volunteers from the American Red Cross Central and Southern Illinois Region are on the ground in Louisiana as part of the Red Cross response.

Volunteers from the Central and Southern Illinois Region currently deployed to Louisiana include: Mike McKnight, April Fisher, Diana Patten, Jerry Olden, Dave Stoner and Dan Luthi (virtual deployment) from the Central Illinois Chapter; Allyson Sutton, Pat Johnson, Jack Tumbleson, Judy Tumbleson and Liz Hungerford from the Quad Cities and West Central Illinois Chapter; John Lewis and Lenore Dellamano from the South Central Illinois Chapter.

Red Cross volunteers are helping with immediate needs such as providing safe shelter and hot meals for those affected by the devastating flooding. In the days to come, volunteers will be distributing emergency relief supplies such as comfort kits and cleaning supplies and providing health and mental health services.

Additionally, the Central and Southern Illinois Region is providing virtual assistance with both casework and volunteer registration. Virtual assistance allows volunteers to help provide critical services to those affected without having to travel to the disaster site.

Volunteers from the Central and Southern Illinois Region are part of a team working virtually to help register event-based volunteersthose individuals, in the affected area who are not Red Cross volunteers, but have generously offered to help the Red Cross.

We have incredible volunteers who are willing to take time away from their own families and lives to help those in need, said Lyn Hruska, Regional CEO for the American Red Cross Central and Southern Illinois Region. We are so proud to have volunteers from our region provide support on the ground and virtually to help the people of Louisiana.

Officials in Louisiana are reporting that more than 25,000 homes have been damaged affecting as many as 75,000 people. Many areas are still inaccessible and more rain is predicted which could lead to additional flooding. The Red Cross will be on the ground helping people for weeks and months to come as they get back on their feet.

The Red Cross urgently needs the public to join us in supporting Louisiana by making a financial donation today. Help people affected by the Louisiana Floods by visiting redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or texting the work LAFLOODS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org orcruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.
Submitted press release

The Technology Association of Iowa (TAI) will host the 14th Tech Town Hall in a tour of 15 Iowa cities to expand the discussion on Iowas technology industry. Past Tech Town Halls were hosted in Spencer, Des Moines, Ames, Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Mason City, Cedar Falls, Pella and Iowa City.

The conversation continues in the Quad-Cities on Thursday, Sept. 1. The panel discussion will delve into technology topics such as attracting and retaining tech talent, STEM education, cyber security and the future of Iowas technology industry.

The Quad Cities Chamber will host the discussion with featured panelists:

-- Dr. Donald S. Doucette, Chancellor of Eastern Iowa Community Colleges

-- Jaimy Szymanski, Digital Experience Analyst

-- Glenn P. Baker, Global Director, Enterprise Strategic Manufacturing at John Deere & Company

-- RK Vilayannur, Vice President IT Services, YASH Technologies Inc.

-- Greg Price, Vice President of Defense Programs, Trowbridge & Trowbridge, LLC

"John Deere has a vested interest in helping ensure Iowa and Illinois develop a talent pipeline that can support business in the future, said Glenn P. Baker, Global Director, Enterprise Strategic Manufacturing, Deere & Company. By hosting the Tech Town Hall in the Quad Cities where Deere is headquartered, we emphasize the important role of innovation and technology in our communitys industries."

The Quad Cities Tech Town Hall will take place on Sept, 1 at 3 p.m. at Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center at 101 18th St., Moline. The Quad Cities Tech Town Hall is sponsored by AT&T. The statewide Tech Town Hall series is presented by The Iowa Economic Development Authority.

Directly following the panel discussion, TAI and the Quad Cities Chamber will host a TechBrew. TechBrew is an informal networking event for entrepreneurs, technologists, business people and funders.

Register for the Quad Cities Tech Town Hall and TechBrew: http://bit.ly/2b08VRP

TAI documents Tech Town Hall discussions at www.techtownhall.tumblr.com

About the Technology Association of Iowa (TAI): The Technology Association of Iowa (TAI) is a member-based, not-for-profit organization uniting Iowa's technology community by driving public policy, fostering diversity, developing talent, connecting leaders. TAI's members work together to support the industry and advance Iowa's reputation as a technology state. To learn more, visit: www.technologyiowa.org.
LAKEPORT, Calif.  As residents of the tiny Northern California town of Lower Lake began returning to their destroyed or damaged homes, the man accused of setting the Clayton fire appeared Wednesday in a Lakeport courtroom to face charges that he started not only that destructive blaze, but many others in the same vicinity.

The Lake County courtroom was packed with area residents and reporters as arson charges were formally read in Lake Superior Court against Damin Anthony Pashilk, 40, a construction worker with a history of criminal charges in Lake and Napa counties stretching back at least two decades, most either for drug possession or driving on a suspended license.

Pashilk entered the hushed courtroom shackled and hiding his face from the television cameras. He faces 19 charges, including aggravated arson, arson of forest land and arson with damages in excess of $7 million. He also faces a count of methamphetamine possession and a charge of driving on a suspended license.

Pashilk did not enter a plea Wednesday. He is being held at the Lake County Jail with bail set at $5 million. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 7.

Lake County prosecutors allege Pashilk set a dozen fires, including the Clayton fire and July 2015s Long fire, set on forest land at Highway 20 east of New Long Valley Road, and attempted to set a 13th, all between July 2, 2015, and last weekend. Investigators have tallied the damage wrought in the Clayton fire at more than $7 million.

We are very confident that this is our guy, said Scott MacLean, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the agency investigating the blaze at a news conference following the afternoon arraignment. He called Pashilk a serial arsonist.

When something like this happens, it devastates us all, he said.

Pashilk learned his firefighting skills while serving time at the California Correctional Center in Susanville.

At the afternoon news conference, MacLean acknowledged Pashilk received two months of fire training while in prison in 2007 on drug and firearms charges, but said the man never went out on the line, never fought any fires. The Cal Fire spokesman also brushed aside speculation that Pashilks training motivated the alleged arson.

It may have given him knowledge of fire behavior, MacLean said, but its not a motive behind the fire.

Fire crews continue to gain ground on the blaze, which roared to life Saturday and Sunday and tore through the tiny, economically depressed town of Lower Lake, destroying 175 structures and forcing thousands of residents from their homes.

Some Lower Lake residents returned to their homes Wednesday to begin assessing the damage.

They asked each other about looters and tried to protect boats and cars that somehow escaped a blaze that consumed houses. So far, a heavy presence of firefighters and PG&E repair crews had reassured residents their properties were safe.

Jamie Gekas, 63, lost five houses and several barns on a 30-acre property that had been in his wifes family since 1962. He built the familys main house in 1985. It was a two-story Victorian-style home that had vanished from the landscape in the fire.

We were more or less the library for the family, keeping photographs and toys that had been in the family for generations, he said.

Theyre all gone.

Everything we wanted to keep is gone, said his daughter, Tarin Benson, 36. My kids wont have anything for us to pass on to them.

The family also lost one of its nine horses. Another miniature pony is at the University of California, Davis veterinary hospital receiving treatment for burns and damage to his lungs.

Benson reached the horse Sunday while flames licked the familys property. She brought water to the animals and held the injured pony for most of the night.

Shes the principal at Lower Lake Elementary School. One of its classrooms was destroyed and five more were damaged. Her staff members had a meeting Wednesday to prepare for the first day of school this week.

Theyve received donations of full backpacks stuffed with supplies from neighboring towns. Its not clear yet how many of her students have been displaced by the fire.

The family met with an insurance representative Wednesday. Theyre bracing for a long period of rebuilding but acknowledged theyre better off than some neighbors.

At least we have a daughter to take care of us, said Gekas, who is staying at Bensons home.
WASHINGTON -- Let us now praise the most reviled group of people in America: so-called "elites." And how about a round of applause for the hated "mainstream media" as well.

If you listen to Donald Trump, or even if you paid attention to Bernie Sanders, you might think all the nation's problems can be blamed on two pointy-headed cabals. The "elites" who rigged the system to benefit themselves at the expense of everyone else; and the puppy-dog "mainstream media" or "MSM," also known as the "corporate media," who were complicit.

Even as the Trump campaign devolves into raving lunacy and most Sanders supporters line up behind Hillary Clinton, the idea lives on: "Regular" or "everyday" Americans have been failed by out-of-touch elites and the MSM who basically have screwed up the country.

Such thinking is no more sound than Trump's conviction that all the nation's ills should be blamed on Mexicans and Muslims.

First, the elites: Who are they, anyway? I've always tried to avoid using the term because it is so imprecise as to be virtually meaningless.

If it means those with exceptional wealth, power or influence, then surely a billionaire such as Trump and a U.S. senator such as Sanders would qualify as members. If you fly around in a private jet with your name on the side, or sit among just 535 men and women who get to write the nation's laws, you're obviously not what anyone would call ordinary. I suppose their supporters might see them as traitors to their class.

Often the word "elites" is used to mean "experts," as in "foreign policy elites have made a tragic mess of the Middle East" or "economic policy elites have given away the store in lopsided free-trade agreements." Let's assume that both these propositions are true. It is a matter of historical fact that the architects of the Iraq War -- the single biggest U.S. foreign policy blunder in my lifetime -- and the authors of NAFTA and other free-trade pacts were, indeed, recognized experts in their fields.

But what makes anyone think the Middle East would be less bloody, or the Islamic State less of a terrorist threat, if U.S. policy had been run by people who had no expertise -- who knew nothing about the region's history, religious schisms or ethnic divides? Or that a better Trans-Pacific Partnership pact could be negotiated by someone wholly unfamiliar with the arcane minutiae of international trade agreements?

Ignorance is not a virtue. Knowledge is not a vice. Pointy-heads who spend years gaining expertise in a given field may make mistakes, but the remedy is to replace them with pointy-heads who have different views -- not with know-nothings who would try to navigate treacherous terrain on instinct alone. (See: Trump's policy positions on, well, anything.)

As for the much-disparaged media, I get emails every day from people who demand to know why we in the "MSM" or "corporate media" are covering up some scandal. The emails then go on to describe said scandal at great length and in microscopic detail, often quoting stories from The Washington Post, The New York Times, NBC News or other leading media outlets. I often write back that if we're trying to cover up the outrage in question, we're obviously doing a lousy job.

One of the glories of this country is that anybody with a website can be a journalist. One of the realities, however, is that only news organizations of a certain size have the resources and, yes, the expertise to unearth some stories. There are exceptions, of course -- bloggers who come to own a certain niche of subject matter, say, or scribes who know every nook and cranny of a given community. But day in and day out, it's the MSM that delivers the goods.

Many who attack the media for being feckless or out of touch really have a different complaint:

"You should spend more column inches and air time reinforcing my view of the world."

Sorry, but that's not what we're here for.

When he bought The Washington Post in 1933, Eugene Meyer published a set of seven "principles," which began with this one: "The first mission of a newspaper is to tell the truth as nearly as the truth may be ascertained."

There IS such a thing as the truth, just as there IS such a thing as valuable expertise. Even if it's "elite" and "mainstream" to say so.
Almost 50 Illinois counties have filed lawsuits against Democratic Governor, JB Pritzker, and the ill crafted SAFE-T Act. Introduced in the General Assembly by the Illinois Black Caucus, the Act passed the Democratic-led General Assembly in the wee hours of Jan. 13, 2021. Amongst many of its weaknesses and deficiencies, the Act eliminates cash bail, emboldens criminals, and makes it even more difficult for law enforcement to keep offenders off our streets. Public Safety personnel and States Attorneys across our great State have decried the legislation, noting that it was drafted and written with very little constructive input from Public Safety leadership, from either party; potentially impacting every Illinois community with dangerous consequences. Allowing perpetrators to bail out of jail, based on their good word that they will be glad to return to court is laughable, at best, and both ludicrous and dangerous, at worst. Soon after the SAFE-T Act was passed at the State level, the Republican-led Henry County Board drafted a resolution, requesting that the General Assembly repeal and replace the SAFE-T Act with a new criminal justice bill, this time with input from professional law enforcement, States Attorneys from across the State, and other Public Safety officials. We unanimously passed our resolution on May 19, 2022, and encourage all County Boards in Illinois to follow our lead. Our Republican-led Board in Henry County believes we all, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, deserve effective and fair law enforcement in our communities.
Hit105 Brisbanes Stav Davidson and Abby Coleman attempted to set a new record for Most Fitbit Steps by two people in an hour, a title proudly held since March by Spirit WAs Pablo Newton Farley and Angie Ayers.

The Karratha record stood at a combined 14,223 steps in an hour and the Hit 105 team beat it with 15,772 steps, crushing the Spirit team.

Pablo and Angie attempted to reclaim the record on their show and ended up just 400 steps under the new world record. Take a listen

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Olivia Newton-John is set to return to smoothfms weekend line up hosting Saturday afternoons from 4pm to 5pm.

I love being back on the air as a guest host with smoothfm  Its not only a great way to share some of my favourite music and artists, but Im grateful that smoothfm has been such a wonderful supporter of my Cancer, Wellness & Research Centre said Olivia.

smoothfms Program Director Peter Clay said, Olivia Newton-John is a favourite with our listeners and remains as one of our most requested artists, so we love hearing her back on air on smoothfm.

Olivia can be heard on smoothfm 95.3 Sydney, smoothfm 91.5 Melbourne and on smoothfm DAB+ on Saturday afternoons from 4pm to 5pm.
Nova106.9s Tim Wong-See can thank the cops for finding his car.

Seems Tim lost it and put the call out for some help from the police. Tim parked the car a street away from the station, forgetting where it was. Fairly confident Tim knows his way around the studio ok.
Public feedback will now be sought on the recommendations of the nMotion plan before approval by the boards of the two authorities next month.

Since the start of the nMotion planning process in April 2015, more than 25 technical documents and studies have been released and the two authorities have considered more than 18,000 survey responses. This has fed into the recommended plan, which includes short-term enhancements and a framework for longer-term improvements.

A key recommendation is the development of a light rail network with four lines radiating from Nashville city centre to Gallatin Pike, Murfreesboro Pike/Airport, Nolensville Pike, and Charlotte Avenue.

The plan proposes increasing services on Nashvilles only existing commuter rail line, the Music City Express from Riverfront in the city centre to Lebanon, to operate all day seven days a week. A new station would be built at Hamilton Springs and services would be extended to Lebanons planned Expo Center. New rolling stock would be acquired and track-doubling would be needed on most or all of the 51km line to accommodate increased frequencies.

Some improvements to Music City Star, including a Saturday service are proposed for short-term implementation.

A transit study on the northwest corridor from Nashville to Ashland City and Clarksville is nearing completion and this is expected to recommend commuter rail. However, nMotion notes that it will not be possible to bring the line into the centre of Nashville, requiring a transfer at Farmers Market which is likely to suppress potential ridership. It also suggests that more growth will be needed along the corridor to make the operation of the service cost-effective, making the development of commuter rail along this route a longer-term project.

nMotion envisages planning for the future development of the rail network will take place over the next five years with the network being built in phases between 2021 and 2041.

If all of the measures put forward by nMotion are adopted, transit ridership is expected to increase from 34,000 passengers per day to 180,000 per day and 391,000 Davidson County residents will live within 800m of a bus stop or railway/light rail station, compared with 230,000 at present.
Financial Edge, Railway Age, August 2016: Ah those midsummer doldrums. Hopefully, loyal readers are able to take a needed respite and page through your favorite magazine by a pool or a beach, slathered in sunblock or buried in shade.

Activity in the rail market continues, with sizable portfolios being made available for sale in the secondary market. Profit taking and earnings management are driving those initiatives. New car orders for second-quarter 2016 are logging in at 7,500 cars (thats 30,000 cars annualized). While surprising, that quarterly total is a number many in the industry are hoping will improve in the short term.

Last month, the Financial Edge discussed the disconnect between expectation and reality regarding implementation of new-design tank railcars. The importance of the ongoing discussion on car design and safety returned to the foreground after the June 3 derailment on Union Pacific in Oregon. What grabbed attention was the post-derailment discussion about the value and impact of adding electronically controlled pneumatic braking (ECP brakes) to trains hauling crude and other Class III flammable commodities in tank railcars.

FRA Administrator Sarah Feinberg told Oregon Public Radio, We believe that [electronically controlled] brakes would have led to fewer cars derailing and potentially no fire.

The AAR and Union Pacific had pointed responses. From the AAR: (ECP) will not provide significant safety benefits and is technology that does not prevent derailments. From UP: The train involved in the Mosier accident was equipped with distributed power, which has a braking capacity very similar to ECP It is speculative to suggest that ECP brakes would have prevented cars from derailing.

Whew. As a friend says, Cant we all just get along?

Whats at issue here? This is a dispute between the nature of perception and the field-level application of technology. The UPs position makes sense: ECP braking may be significantly faster than conventional air braking. However, distributive power, placing locomotives mid-train and at the rear end, would shorten the application time of the air brakes by decreasing the length of the air brake line.

From the FRA point of view, the derailment presents an excellent opportunity to revisit the requirement for ECP brakes contained in the DOT 117 tank railcar spec issued almost a year ago and still under scrutiny for several issues, including, you guessed it, the requirement that all DOT 117 tank railcars have ECP brakes.

Railroad accidents (including crude oil train derailments) have stayed fairly level, averaging 2.6 train accidents per million train-miles from 2009-2015. ECP braking is technology that has been around since the 1990s. Its implementation is expensive, so it makes sense that if ECP braking is going to be mandated, the need and benefit have to be correct and quantifiable. So how can there be such diverse opinions about its applicability and its potential results?

I asked a few industry veterans this question. Some of the responses I got were, ECP brakes dont equate to accident (derailment) prevention and the cost benefit analysis is not supportive of its implementation. From another source, While ECP makes sense, I dont imagine the railroads embracing the technology while they embark on the expenditures for PTC (Positive Train Control). Railroad industry analyst Tony Hatch answered politics, and quipped that the regulatory bodies governing railroads continue to focus on train crew minimum sizes while simultaneously advocating for driverless technology for trucks on the nations highways. (Thats a high-profile topic for another column.)

Money and politicswho would have guessed? The shield of safety is something easy to hide behind. After speaking with experts in the industry, the factual support for ECP braking vs. other current and soon-available future technology seems flimsy. Perhaps the FRAs support of ECP brakes is the low hanging fruit of deflecting criticism regarding railroad derailments and safety. Point a finger, make a statement and hide behind the veil of public safetyfacts be damned. Without ECP brakes to point to, only the facts support consistency in railroad operational safety. As Railway Age Contributing Editor David Thomas has pointed out, the ongoing refusal to stabilize volatile Bakken crude being moved in tank railcars (by removing natural gas liquids) remains at hand to discuss. Lacking province over the decision of how crude is loaded into tank railcars, the FRA seems to be deflecting to safety down the ECP road.

At a cost of roughly $4,000 per car, many industry watchers hope that the FRA efforts fall flat. Political watchers might not have the same confidence.
Orgo-Thermit, Inc. has announced that Christopher Booth has joined the GT-Group as Vice President/Chief Operating Officer in Manchester, NJ.

Booth is a native of New York who has lived and worked in Europe and the U.S. and speaks multiple languages. He studied Economics and Social Sciences and has worked for more than 25 years for different international and multinational companies in the U.S. as General Manager and CEO.

His experience in sales, leadership and managing the operative business for mid-sized companies ranging from construction to semi-conductors has led him to Orgo-Thermit, the company said.

Booth will work with current CEO Dave Randolph. Jointly, Dave and Christopher will lead Orgo Thermit, Inc. into the future as a supplier of traditional as well as innovative technologies and services for the railroad construction and maintenance industries, Orgo-Thermit said.
A quarterly status update released Aug. 17, 2016 by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) underscores the need for railroads to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) as quickly and safely as possible. The update also highlights the Administrations repeated calls for Congress to provide more significant funding to assist commuter railroads in implementing PTC.

This latest status report, downloadable at the link below, includes railroad-by-railroad quarterly data as of June 30, 2016, on track segments completed, employees trained, radio towers installed, route-miles in PTC operation and other key implementation data. Some of this information is also displayed in infographics in the report. In March, FRA announced that it intended to require railroads to submit quarterly reports to FRA on their progress toward completing PTC implementation.

The appendices in the report show each railroads status the most recent information theyve provided. The three pictographs show (1) each railroads targeted full PTC implementation year as reported to FRA; (2) the overall implementation status of the railroad industry broken down by freight and passenger railroads; and (3) the implementation status of each railroad required to implement PTC.

Of the approximately 38 PTC safety plans FRA expects to receive, FRA said it has received seven, which FRA must evaluate and approve before it can grant PTC System Certification under 49 CFR part 236, subpart I. An additional 13 railroads plan to submit a PTC safety plan to FRA in 2016, but the majority of submissions are not expected until 2018, according to railroads annual progress reports, FRA said. Submission and approval of a PTCSP does not mean a railroad has completed PTC implementation on all necessary track segments; a railroad may submit a PTC safety plan when it believes there is enough data to support its safety case for system certification.

The PTC technology being installed is revolutionary and is a full-time focus of the nations freight railroads, which continue to work all-out on PTC testing and installation and to move this complex safety system from concept to nationwide reality across the country as quickly as possible, without sacrificing safety, the AAR told Railway Age.  Freight railroads have spent more than $6.5 billion of private money on PTC to this point, and the industry expects final costs to top $10.5 billion by the time the PTC is completed

Earlier this week, FRA awarded nearly $25 million in grants to help railroads complete full PTC implementation. Many of the awards will help railroads achieve interoperability among the different PTC systems that railroads are deploying, FRA said. This follows DOTs announcement in July that commuter railroads and states can apply for approximately $199 million in PTC grants.

FRA said that the Obama Administration has consistently made funding and assistance for commuter railroads to implement PTC a priority. In his Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 budget request, the President requested $1.25 billion. This follows requests of $825 million in both FY 2015 and FY 2016. Since 2008, FRA has provided significant assistance to support railroads PTC implementation.

Those efforts include:  Approving more than $650 million in grants to passenger railroads, including nearly $400 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funding.

 Issuing a nearly $1 billion loan to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority to implement PTC on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad.

 Building a PTC test bed at TTCI in Pueblo, Colo.

 Working directly with the Federal Communications Commission and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to resolve issues related to spectrum use and improve the approval process for PTC communication towers.

 Dedicating staff to work on PTC implementation, including establishing a PTC task force.

In 2008, under the RSIA (Rail Safety Improvement Act), Congress mandated PTC on main lines where railroads transport poisonous-by-inhalation or toxic-by-inhalation hazardous materials, or any line where a railroad provides regularly scheduled passenger service. Last October, at the urging of the industry, Congress extended the original deadline from Dec. 31, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2018, with extensions possible on a case-by-case basis.
Army Capt. Jennifer Peace felt like she could finally exhale. On the television in Peace's office, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter was announcing that she could serve openly as herself. It's over, she realized. Finally over.

No more male uniforms or close-cropped male hair regulations; no more subordinates awkwardly saluting her as Sir instead of Ma'am. For Peace, an intelligence officer and veteran of two combat tours, Carter's announcement opening the military to transgender people like her meant an official end to years of living in limbo.

Photo courtesy Capt. Peace

I really thought that I would just feel a sense of relief, that it wouldn't be as emotional as it was, said Peace, a career soldier with a dog tag tattooed onto her left shoulder, along with the blue, pink, and white stripes of the transgender pride flag.

I've had to put being transgender at the top of my list of who I am, she said. Now I can be a soldier and an officer and a wife and everything else first, and let being transgender kind of fade into the background.

Breaking Down Barriers

The Pentagon's decision in late June to open the ranks to transgender service members was informed by months of RAND research into the costs and numbers involved.

Between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender men and women already serve in active duty, the researchers estimateda fraction of one percent of the total force. The costs of letting them serve openly and access military health care would be overwhelmingly small as a percentage of military spending.

No more than 140 active-duty service members a year would likely seek gender-transition hormone treatments, for example; even fewer would seek transition-related surgeries. That would add between $2.4 million and $8.4 million to an annual military health care budget of more than $6 billion, the researchers estimated.

If an out group can do the job, that's really what counts. If people think you can do the job, you earn their respect, and they feel like you have their back. Agnes Gereben Schaefer, senior political scientist

Those medical treatments would also limit when and where between 25 and 130 active-duty service members could deploy in any given year. For comparison, the Army alone has 50,000 active-duty soldiers who cannot deploy for other reasons.

So we're talking really small numbersreally small, said Agnes Gereben Schaefer, the lead author of the study and a senior political scientist at RAND.

The study was the latest commissioned from RAND by the military as it seeks to break down long-standing barriers to service. RAND research on opening the ranks to gay and lesbian service members led to the repeal of the military's don't ask, don't tell policy in 2011. More recently, a series of RAND reports have helped inform the Pentagon's decision to integrate women into combat positions.

All of our work across these areas has demonstrated that if an out group can do the job, that's really what counts, said Schaefer, who has been involved in all three lines of research. If people think you can do the job, you earn their respect, and they feel like you have their back.

Performance, Not Pronouns

That is what drove Shane Ortega.

He served two combat tours in Iraq, as a Marine, as a womanand then one more in Afghanistan, as a soldier, as a man. His transition earned him a desk job; he believes his willingness to work harder and march farther kept him in the military as one of the first openly transgender people in active duty. Seventy pushups? He'd knock out 90, chest to the floor.

It becomes exhausting to fight every single day to just be identified by the correct pronoun, he saidand then pointed for an example to what happened when he was invited to speak at the Pentagon. His commanding officers at first ordered him to squeeze into a woman's blouse, citing Army regulations and the gender still listed on his military ID. It was so tight he couldn't lift his arm to salute.

Photo by Kent Nishimura/The Washington Post via Getty Images

This is something they can't mess up, said Ortega, who ended up wearing a camouflage field uniform to his meetings at the Pentagon, and has since left the military. Lifting the ban, he added, has to be fluid. This isn't just, 'You have to get a new uniform.' This is people's lives.

Eighteen other countries already allow transgender people to serve in the military, including such close U.S. allies as Australia, Canada, Israel, and the United Kingdom. They have seen no significant effect on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness, or overall readiness since they opened their ranks, RAND researchers found.

But their experiencesand especially the challenges they facedoffer some hard-learned lessons for the American military leaders now charged with implementing transgender service rules.

Some of the foreign militaries RAND studied reported instances of bullying or harassment of transgender troops, for example, underscoring the need for zero-tolerance leadership and training. Researchers also found that it was easy to stumble on the details: Could medals and commendations earned pre-transition, for example, be reissued under a new name post-transition?

Transgender Service: By the Numbers RAND research provided the Pentagon the most rigorous and impartial estimates available of the costs and implications of allowing transgender men and women to serve openly. 1,320 to 6,630 estimated transgender men and women now serving in active duty out of 1.3 million 25 to 130 active component service members with deployment restrictions due to transition-related medical treatments 18 other countries already allow transgender people to serve in the military Australia

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Focus on Mission

The Pentagon released an 18-page policy memorandum as it lifted the transgender ban that started to answer some of those questions. It says, for example, that service members will use the uniforms, housing, and bathrooms that correspond with the gender on their military ID cards, which can be changed with a doctor's order. Defense Secretary Carter also said the military will spend the next year refining its policies and training its troops.

Our mission is to defend this country, he said in announcing the end of the ban, and we don't want barriers unrelated to a person's qualifications to serve preventing us from recruiting or retaining the soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine who can best accomplish the mission.

Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux/The New York Times

Someone, in other words, like Phyllis Frye. In 1970, she looked like the ideal Army officer: educated under an elite ROTC scholarship, trained as an engineer, committed to a military careerand male.

When the military learned she was transgender, it sent her to a hypnotist who made her vomit when she wore women's clothes. It tried drugs that were so powerful they blurred her vision. In the end, she negotiated an honorable discharge, went back to school, studied law, and is now widely recognized as the grandmother of the transgender rights movement.

You're going to get someone who loves the military, who wants to be a patriot, who wants to serve their country, she says now. What else do you want out of a person?

The military wasted me, she adds. It paid for her education and training, gave her housing and health careand all you got out of it was about 19 months of active duty. She figures she would have retired as a lieutenant colonel after 30-plus years of military service if she had been allowed to stay. Instead, her military career ended in 1972.

Forty-four years later, another Army officer, Capt. Peace, watched live on the television in her office as Secretary Carter lifted the ban that had threatened to bring her career, too, to a standstill. She and another transgender service member embraced when Carter spoke the words they had waited so long to hear: Effective immediately

She talks about her commitment to the Army, about the relief of knowing she can make it a career now; she says she hopes to earn a promotion to major soon. And then she asks: Did you see the press conference after Carter's announcement? One of the first questions he got was not about health care costs or bathroom usenot about transgender people at allbut about the civil war in Syria.

That's exactly how it should be, she says. The ban may be lifted, but we've got more important things to worry about.

 Doug Irving
Asia Satellite Telecommunications (AsiaSat) has reported flat half-year revenues and profits as it battled increasing competition, fierce pricing pressure and the overall downturn in the global economy.





In its 2016 interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2016, the leading Asian satellite operator reported first half revenue of HK$640 million, about the same as the prior period in 2015 and profit attributable to owners of HK$249 million, relatively flat in comparison. Contracts on hand as at 30 June 2016 remained stable at around HK$3.543 billion.Operational highlights in the period included the launch of what is said to be more compelling video content on its Ultra HD channel 4K-SAT, plus a growing number of customers acquired including new customers of new satellites AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8 in Mainland China, Bangladesh and Thailand. The company also said that construction of AsiaSat 9, AsiaSat 4s replacement, remains on schedule for completion in early 2017, which will bring additional Ku-band capacity at 122E to address new markets. The number of transponders leased or sold as of 30 June 2016 increased to 103 from 96 as of 31 December 2015.Yet the company warned that while core business should remain stable for the remainder of the year, it should be noted that a number of the adjustments that impacted first half results will not be realised in the second half of the year. It added that the new contracts signed in H1 would only partially compensate for the expiry of short-term revenue from a to-be retired satellite and the termination of a number of contracts which will occur in the second half due to changes in regulations. In addition, AsiaSat will not have the benefit of the tax credit of HK$41 million realised in the first half.Commenting on the results, AsiaSats chairman, JU Wei Min, said: For the remainder of 2016, we do not anticipate any significant changes in market conditions and believe that they will continue to pose a challenge not only for AsiaSat but the industry as a whole. The increased competition from terrestrial systems that is affecting satellite operators in other parts of the world is not expected to significantly impact Asia in the near to medium term.
Enabling fans to transform their viewing experience for the hot series, AMC Global has teamed up with Snapchat to create an exclusive Fear the Walking Dead zombie-themed lens.





The move comes ahead of the simultaneous global premiere of new season two episodes of the series on 21 August and will allow fans of the series to transform themselves into the undead within the Snapchat mobile picture messaging app. The offer marks the first time that a Snapchat Lens has been created for a TV series across multiple countries, and will be made available to users throughout the US, UK, Spain, Argentina, Mexico and the Netherlands. The initiative will also be the first time a television series is promoted through a Snapchat lens in Argentina, Mexico, Spain and the Netherlands.The Fear the Walking Dead lens will be available free via Snapchat for 24 hours, from midnight to 11.59pm on 20 August in the UK, Spain, Argentina, Mexico and the Netherlands, and on 21 August in the US. The remaining half of season two of the programme will include eight episodes and premieres exclusively on AMC Global in over 125 countries simultaneous to the AMC US premiere with repeats later that evening in primetime in local markets where applicable.We are very excited to embark on the first ever multi-territory Snapchat lens launch for a TV series. Our Snapchat lens provides a completely new way for fans to immerse themselves in the world of Fear the Walking Dead, and offers users an amazing transformation ahead of AMC Globals worldwide premiere of new episodes this month, commented Geraud Alazard, VP of mmarketing, AMC Global and SundanceTV Global.
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Ex-CEO of company related to Russian Defense Ministry appeals sentence for embezzlement

MOSCOW, August 18 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) - Alexander Yelkin, ex-CEO of Slavyanka utility company, has lodged an appeal challenging an 11-year sentence handed down to him for embezzling funds allocated for renovation of the Defense Ministrys facilities, representative for the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow, Svetlana Maksimova, told RAPSI on Thursday.

According to Maksimova, sentence given to temporarily acting chief of the Defense Ministrys economic department, Nikolai Ryabykh, has been also appealed.

On August 5, Moscows Tverskoy District Court passed a judgment on five defendants in the case related to embezzlement at the Defense Ministry. Yelkin was sentenced to 11years in high-security prison and a 500 million ruble ($7.8 million) fine, stripped of the military rank of Colonel reserved and debarred from holding public offices and doing business.

Ryabykh was given a 5-year prison sentence with a fine of 300,000 rubles ($4,700) and deprived of a title of State Counsellor 3rd Class of the Russian Federation.

Konstantin Lapshin, ex-head of Slavyankas permanent repair department, received a 9-year term in high-security prison and a fine of 450 million rubles ($7 million). The court stripped him of the military rank of Colonel reserved and debarred from holding public offices and doing business for 3 years.

Two other defendants in the case, Konstantin Lapshin and Yulia Rotanova, were sentenced to 7 years prison sentence plus fine of 700,000 rubles ($11,000) and 6 years in prison plus a 500 million ruble fine respectively. Both of them were debarred from holding public offices and doing business for three years as well.

Moreover, the court granted a civil lawsuit by Russias Defense Ministry demanding 83.7 million rubles ($1.3 million) from the convicted defendants.

The fraud in the company came to light in relation to the 2012 investigation into Oboronservis, which revealed fraudulent activities carried out in the course of deals involving real estate, land and shares in Oboronservis. Totally, five criminal cases over damages exceeding 3 billion rubles ($47 million) were initiated as concerned this Defense Ministry company. No key figures of these cases have pleaded guilty.

Several suspects were arrested in late 2012. Charges were brought against them shortly after the arrest. Yelkin was charges with misappropriating 118 million rubles ($1.8 million), allegedly obtained as kickbacks from companies subordinate to Slavyanka.

Presently bankrupt Slavyanka company has been the largest utility company in Russia, which was established to manage and maintain specialized housing facilities and utilities owned by the Defense Ministry.
Medical student fined $6,300 for posting ISIS image on social media

MOSCOW, August 18 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) - The Moscow District Military Court on Thursday imposed a fine of 400,000 rubles ($6,300) on a medical student Patimat Gadzhieva for posting an image related to the Islamic State, a terrorist organization banned in Russia, on her VKontakte social media account, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

Gadzhiyeva was released from jail after the sentence had been read.

A prosecutor earlier demanded a 4-year prison sentence for the student charged with justifying terrorism.

According to case files, in the summer of 2015, the student posted an image on a social network depicting representative of ISIS and a scene of execution. A copy of text in Russian was copied by Gadzhieva in the form of a prayer. She deleted the image after 13 days, but Russian authorities found the posting in Vkontaktes archive and launched a criminal case against the student in November 2015.

Gadzhieva has pleaded partially guilty. The student admitted that she had posted the symbols connected with ISIS on her VKontakte page; but, according to the defendant, she had not intended to justify terrorism.
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.
Listening to presidential nominees discuss their economic proposals is like watching children list what they want from Santa Claus. What children and politicians want, and what they'll actually get, is not the same.

Voters should be relieved. They should be simply because what Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump desire for the economy would generally be inimical to a prosperous economic outcome. The good news is that they won't get what they want judging by stock-market indices that discount the future, and that seem to be saying the next president won't be able to do much at all. Gridlock is good.

Hillary Clinton's wish list laid out in a recent advertisement includes the rich "finally paying their fair share." For someone who says she doesn't believe she's ever lied, Clinton is surely skillful at misspeaking, or not telling the truth. It's a waste of words at this point, but by any reasonable measure of federal and state tax revenues, the rich pay for the majority of government spending. Big time.

Thinking about all of this in terms of economic growth, an investment from the Getty Oil Trust made a near-bankrupt ESPN possible. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was a major part of an early investor group behind Uber. PayPal founder Peter Thiel took a $500,000 flyer on Facebook at a time when seemingly no one else would. Silicon Valley itself, and all the jobs created there by technology businesses and the non-tech businesses clustered around them, was originally the investment creation of inherited wealth from rich families with names like Rockefeller.

Businesses form and jobs are created because someone delays consumption in favor of investment. How many of you readers have ever singularly ponied up the cash so that another individual could start a business? Probably not many. An individual or a family must have a lot of money in order to have enough to invest in the creation of a new commercial entity, which means it's generally the rich who back new ventures. If what's true is accepted, when Clinton promises to stimulate the economy by taxing away the very wealth that makes capital and business formation more likely, she's being very casual with the truth.

She's also "misspeaking" when she says fleecing the rich in order to create "good" jobs is what a Clinton administration will do. If we ignore the technical reality that says presidents can't spend our money as is (presidents propose expenditure, Congress actually consumes our wealth), to believe Clinton is to believe that Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi have magical investing and job creating abilities presently being obscured by tax rates on the rich that are not high enough. If Clinton is being truthful, once handed more of the wealth of the rich, Ryan and Pelosi will reveal an investment Midas touch set to put private investors like Warren Buffett to shame.

But that's not going to happen. If those in Congress were investment experts, they'd be earning millions and billions pursuing just that skill. Yet even that doesn't fully explain why empowering Washington to create jobs will not work.

The major reason it will fail is because as the businesses previously mentioned in this piece reveal, economic advance springs from surprise. On its founding ESPN was a joke. So were Uber and Facebook. Going back to the late 19th and early 20th century, the notion of a gasoline-powered car, or better yet an airplane, did not spring from the minds of rational thinkers. The personal computer was similarly seen as unnecessary to most allegedly wise minds in the 1970s. Stated simply, dreamers backed by investors with the capacity to lose a lot of money power economic growth. Applied to Congress, it can only direct wealth to what is already known. That's not the stuff of economic growth.

In that case, if readers want to develop a near-perfect sense of what Clinton's unfettered economic wish list would mean for economic growth, they need only drive the roads and cities of impoverished West Virginia. It's a monument to the very government spending Clinton says is necessary if prosperity is to be achieved. Billions have been spent for many decades by politicians with an eye on generating economic growth there, but they've achieved nothing of the sort. Money goes where it's treated well - always - at which point money spent by politicians in West Virginia invariably flows out of the state to the extent that anyone within prospers from government largess.

Just as the Federal Reserve can't increase credit in locales where economic activity doesn't rate it, neither can Congress. Clinton's proposal for greater growth will fail simply because money doesn't stay long where there's no return to be had on it. That's why money is plentiful in high-growth areas like Beverly Hills, Silicon Valley and New York's Manhattan, and it's similarly why it's scarce in Mississippi, West Virginia, and Baltimore, Maryland. Government spending can't alter this reality. When Clinton says she can, she's fibbing.

What at least has the potential to change what's true is more investment in search of risk, or once again, surprise. At present, parts of the U.S. that struggle economically are risky places to commit capital, but because they're risky they offer high potential reward to the intrepid investor willing to try what hasn't previously been thought of. Such investing promises lots of failure, and that's why the rich are so crucial to economic advancement in places where there's very little. They alone have the funds that they can put at risk precisely because they're wealthy. When politicians promise to tax away this wealth, they're promising to reduce the amount of money chasing the ideas of the future that, if successful, will generate enormous amounts of economic growth. Congress can't do this given the oft-repeated truth in this piece that Congress can only direct money toward what is known, and that for being known doesn't promise the high returns necessary for booming growth.

So if readers are curious to see what Hillary Clinton will achieve economically assuming she gets her way, they should again take a look at West Virginia. It's not a pretty sight. The good news, however, is that whether Trump or Clinton, neither will be able to do a fraction of what they promise. This redounds to us all simply because their proposed economic plans, like the Christmas wish lists of most children, thankfully have little to do with reality.
Summer is off was German Chancellor Angela Merkel's message at the end of July when she decided to interrupt her holidays for her annual summer press briefing. In the aftermath of the attacks in Wuerzburg, Munich, and Ansbach, as well as the attempted military coup in Turkey, Merkel felt compelled to address the German public on some fundamental questions of government policy.
Until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, one of the centerpieces of American conservatism was anti-communism. Anti-communism readily translated into anti-Soviet sentiment and that into anti-Russian. One of conservatives major criticisms of liberals was that they underestimated the threat the Soviet Union posed. The right saw the left as excessively prepared to negotiate away fundamental American interests and principles to placate the Soviets.

American conservatism has fragmented into so many parts since 1991 that it bears little resemblance to the movement Ronald Reagan presided over. However, of all the fragments, the most interesting and exotic is the one that appears to be pro-Russian, regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin favorably. I am not only talking about Donald Trump, although his speech on national security explicitly called for a working relationship with Russia to fight Islamist terrorism. I am talking about a faction of conservatism that does not see Russia, even led by a former dedicated KGB man (and therefore a former member of the Communist Party), as a strategic or moral threat to the United States, but rather a potential ally.

Part of the reason for this is the rise of the jihadist strain of Islam that has unleashed terror on the United States and Europe. The threat of Russian power seems distant. The threat of Islamic terrorism seems imminent. It poses a threat to Russia as well as the United States. The Russians were fighting Muslim separatists in Chechnya years before 9/11. Indeed, when Putin came to power in 2000, he renewed that war with ruthlessness and managed to mostly pacify the region.

There is a theory that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. In the same way that conservatives focused far more on ideology than they did on strategy, their moral objection to communism has transferred to the Islamic world. They are strengthened in this regard by what they see as liberals unwillingness to respond in kind. Just as the conservatives objected to liberal policy toward the Soviets as anything from ineffective to collaborative, so the same objections are being expressed about the liberal response to Islam.

The conservatives see Russia as a nation that confronted the Islamic threat inside its own borders and that makes no apologies for the measures it took to defeat them. When they look at Putin, they see a man who has confronted the enemy and dealt with it. The fact that he is authoritarian and suppresses freedom is a mark of his strength. For this faction, the world is an enormously dangerous place and strength is the essence of doing the right thing. If, in the course of doing the right thing, freedoms are reduced, then it is the price that has to be paid for safety.

This was similar to the response to communism. When Reagan spoke of the evil empire, he was simply announcing a truth others were afraid to announce. When Barack Obama or even George W. Bush were unwilling to name the enemy, Islamist terrorism, they were betraying the country. This conservative faction sees Putin as a man worth emulating because he knows who the enemy is and is prepared to do what he can to crush them. Therefore, in their minds, allying with Putins Russia makes as much sense as allying with Stalins Soviet Union against Nazi Germany. The enemy of your enemy is your friend.

I had mentioned that for this faction, ideology is more important than strategy. In defining the national interest, ideology drives their thinking. But having defined the enemy, their strategy is to ally with whoever they need to defeat this evil. They are prepared to work with anyone who is prepared to work against the main adversary.

There is a deeper level than this. Conservatives of this fashion are nationalists. They believe in American exceptionalism, both ideologically and as a people. They are the ones, like Trump, who simultaneously can see Russia as a friend, yet oppose NATO or NAFTA. The only measure that is meaningful to them is that which protects the United States and its obvious interests, like safety and jobs, and opposes the internationalist faction in both parties that would sacrifice their interests.

There was once a Communist International. A Nationalist International is emerging, made up of nations that, in their minds, are not ashamed of putting the interests of their own countries above those of others. These countries see international cooperation as a tool, not a principle. At root, this is what attracts them to Putin. Putin is neither a communist nor a liberal. He is a nationalist who resurrected Russia from the disaster of Boris Yeltsin and restored its pride. They respect him for that, and they long for someone as unambiguous as they think he is.

The problem with this view is obvious. A Nationalist International is a contradiction in terms. And while Putin is certainly a nationalist, that does not mean that he defines the national interest of Russia without seeing the U.S. as a threat.

As long as there is a clear enemy, this conservative movement is coherent. The enemy defines it. When the enemy is gone, there is nothing to guide you but the national interest. How would this faction define the national interest without an enemy?

That there are contradictions and ambiguities in this factions views is reasonable. I dont know of any political movement built around ideology that isnt riven with contradictions. The nationalist conservatives are no more confused than any of us. More important, they represent a significant faction in the United States. Some would confront Islam and Russia at the same time. This faction regards that as a fantastic overreach. Face Islam with Russia and then deal with Russia if you must. In a more coherent time, this faction could gather a large following, ranging from unionists frightened that their jobs might go to China to people afraid of terror and the perceived weakness of liberalism and so on.

This is actually the old Reagan coalition. Reagan reconciled the tension between realpolitik and ideology. He hated communism and worked with China. He was an ideologue and a nationalist. This is a time of fragmentation and incoherence where the presidential candidates are disliked by most. Coalitions dont form in these times. But some elements of future coalitions can be glimpsed. The affection of some conservatives for Vladimir Putin is of great note, not because much will come of it, but because it points to the direction that the U.S. might move in the coming decade.
This piece was created in collaboration with the European Council on Foreign Relations. Almut Moeller is the co-head of ECFR's Berlin office. The views expressed are the author's own.

Summer is off was German Chancellor Angela Merkels message at the end of July when she decided to interrupt her holidays for her annual summer press briefing. In the aftermath of the attacks in Wuerzburg, Munich, and Ansbach, as well as the attempted military coup in Turkey, Merkel felt compelled to address the German public on some fundamental questions of government policy.

The chancellor is traditionally expected to cover a lot of ground in this press briefing. And indeed, Merkel admitted in her typically sober and understated style that she did not feel unterausgelasted (underworked) by the number and scope of challenges to German and European societies. She even admitted to sometimes feeling like she needed a good dose of sleep -- and suggested that all the events that have left the European Union and its members increasingly frail and disunited required deep reflection.

For policy analysts as well, this summer has hardly seemed like time off, but has nonetheless been a time for the brain to take a break from the news-driven routine and to engage in some bigger and longer-term thinking. Summer seminars -- usually convened in pleasant settings -- often provide just the right change of scenery to help structure ones thinking process. And this year, British-German seminars have been particularly thought-provoking.

At the British-German Forum in Sussex in mid-July and at a gathering of the Koenigswinter Conference in Berlin two weeks later I was left with a sense of things being turned upside down. In the past it has usually been the German cohort in such settings that navigated toward talking about Europe, while the Brits were more at ease fretting about foreign policy and the state of the world at large. What a stark difference to this years discussions, which took place only a few weeks after the British referendum on EU membership. Understandably, the Brexit vote and the European Union were at the heart of British conversations. By contrast, Germans were interested more in the wider foreign and security challenges facing Europe. In trying to meet the task of talking about the state of the Union from a German perspective, I felt the urge to start off with thoughts on what the world looked like from Germany.

For Berlin, challenges to European prosperity and security have become more and more tangible over the past few years, requiring German leaders to ask which instruments are available, both individually and collectively, to navigate this rendez-vous with globalization." The European Union has an undisputed place in any such search for the best mix of instruments at national, subnational, and indeed supranational and international levels, mostly on questions of prosperity, but no less on domestic security in a European space of largely open borders. European security is seen as something to be worked through at NATO first and foremost -- a hierarchy that has just been reconfirmed in the new White Paper on security policy and the future of the armed forces of the federal government. But the European Union does play an important role as well -- not the least as a place for discussing foreign and security issues and to build common ground solely among Europeans.

In other words, the EU debate in Berlin has moved on from one where fretting about the state of the Union was often the starting point of a conversation, to one that is more instrumental, aiming to work out what the Union can contribute to protect and empower Europes citizens to continue their lives in freedom, security, and prosperity. German policymakers are under no illusion about the state of the Union, dire in many ways, but they are convinced about the need to strengthen European responses, working within this imperfect system, while also looking for available instruments elsewhere, ideally in concert with other European countries.

At this stage the longstanding German obsession with perfecting the EU system has fallen by the wayside. Now German policymakers are determined to solve the problems that are already visibly affecting European societies. European leaders need to work together as Europeans, and in good faith about each others underlying motives and ambitions. This might sound banal, but it cannot be taken for granted anymore. A major reason many politicians in Germany were appalled to see the leading Brexiteers from the referendum debate disappear from Britains political scene after the June 23 vote to leave is that they sensed a complete lack of responsibility to own the outcome these figures had campaigned for -- aggressively, in often dishonest ways - and the absence of any plan. Some Germans articulated their indignation quite openly -- leaders such as Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, in an interview with the daily newspaper Die Welt.

It is in this spirit that Merkel met Prime Minister Theresa May on the premiers inaugural visit to Berlin last month. There is no sense of wanting to retaliate (which interestingly is a question often put to me these days by Brits), but the underlying question is: In this dangerous time for Europes free countries and societies, is Britain still a partner that Germany can rely on? Will London work hand-in-hand with other Europeans in a spirit of trust to gestalten (shape) rather than obstruct? No doubt the expectation in Berlin is a resounding yes from London. This isnt some end point in British-German relations, and in the quest for instruments to tackle problems Merkel and her government will be working closely with London -- provided that Downing Street is willing to invest in rebuilding the sense of good faith that has been seriously damaged over these past months.
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Historic Broken Handle (Grays Peak) Mining Claim Overview 17 Acre Lode Claim - Argentine District  Clear Creek County, CO Despite its high elevation, this area is highly trafficked due to the trail head for Gray's Peak directly in the area. Even though the trail head gets a lot of traffic, the mine itself does not. Most pass by the mine as is evidenced by the lack of any trails or paths from Gray's Peak trail to the mine. There is good 4WD access to the mine from the main road and it is possi...

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By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 08/17/2016



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.
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Waking up for that 8 a.m. class, heading off to work in the afternoons and studying late into the night for school sounds like a hectic schedule, but this trend of working while in school is nothing new or uncommon. In 2013, 80 percent of students worked at least part-time.
The beloved University of Georgia Redcoat Marching Band will be available for all to enjoy in the form of memorabilia and historical documentation this season in the rotunda of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries.
First years are often on the receiving end of academic advice, and the usual Make sure you actually study! or Go to class! becomes trite and frankly patronizing. Here are a few pointers that I picked up along the way and wish I had been told as a freshman.
French soldiers patrol in the site of the sanctuary in Lourdes, southwestern France, Sunday Aug.14, 2016. Security measures for Lourdes' biggest annual event, the Feast of the Assumption, have been increased as France, on edge with fears of a new terror attack, continues to cancel festive and sports events for security reasons. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

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By IAIN SULLIVAN and ANGELA CHARLTON, Associated Press

LOURDES, France (AP)  Catholic pilgrims from around the world, many sick or disabled, converged Monday at a shrine in the French town of Lourdes under exceptional security after recent extremist attacks.

Armed soldiers and police patrolled the train station, town center and inside the sanctuary at Lourdes, where a 19th-century village girl said she had visions of the Virgin Mary. The site in southern France near the Spanish border draws pilgrims of all kinds, some hoping for a cure from the famous spring water in the Lourdes grotto.

As a helicopter circled overhead, visitors bearing candles and banners streamed toward the grotto and the sprawling plaza of the basilica, apparently undeterred by new security restrictions or the recent attacks.

Crowds began gathering at the sanctuary before dawn Monday for a series of outdoor Masses in multiple languages celebrating the Feast of the Assumption, when according to Catholic belief, Jesus' mother Mary ascended into heaven. Thousands attended a candlelight procession Sunday night, though the route was reduced from past years to better protect believers.

French authorities had already been planning extra security for the annual holiday, but concerns mounted after a series of attacks in July around Europe  notably one July 26 in northwest France, in which two extremists claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group stormed a morning Mass, slit an elderly priest's throat and took nuns and parishioners hostage.

Lourdes officials refused to cancel this year's pilgrimage, although some other summer festivals around France have been dropped.

To reach the Lourdes sanctuary, pilgrims proffered up their bags for repeated checks, and authorities funneled visitors through three access points, reduced from past years.

Roads were closed to allow pedestrians to reach the site unhindered. Vehicle attacks are a new concern after a driver rammed his truck into Bastille Day revelers in Nice last month, killing 85.

Petronella Davis of London, 62, called the security measures "a good thing," but added, "I don't feel any less safe than I used to."

Gloria Munoz Fernandez, a 68-year-old pilgrim from Madrid, said, "If you believe in God you don't need this sort of protection; however, for me it (the army) is a good protection, it helps you to be more at ease."

Nearly 300 extra forces were brought to Lourdes  including mobile intervention teams, soldiers, bomb squads, canine units  to help local forces, raising the overall security presence to over 500.

The Catholic Church has recognized dozens of miracles at Lourdes since villager Bernadette Soubirous, gathering stones in the grotto in 1858, said she had visions of Mary.

Among those leading ceremonies at the Lourdes festivities is Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, a top French church official who faced accusations this year of covering up for pedophile priests. He denies wrongdoing.

___

Charlton reported from Paris.
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Between monthly meetings at an old church, they stay in touch on Facebook, bonded together by common struggles.

At work, they keep their heads down, grappling with retaliatory managers who cut their hours for slight infractions like needing to pick up a sick child from school. They deal with customers who proposition them sexually, with coworkers who demean and belittle them.

They call themselves the Fannie Lou Hamer Women's Committee, after the civil rights leader. They number about 100.

They are low-wage workers in Kansas City, employed by America's favorite fast food franchises and sit-down restaurants, as well as by daycare centers and home healthcare providers.

If you think the fight for raising the minimum wage is simply about paychecks, let these women educate you. They're vulnerable and they know it. Beyond higher pay, they seek dignity.

The career gripes of the average middle-class woman don't hold a candle to what these ladies face daily. Their workplace stories are a catalogue of routine disregard of basic employment law. Sexual harassment is the most egregious, but there are other indignities, such as the mother who got hassled about wanting to leave work when her child had to go to the hospital.

The committee's meetings are a bit covert. The members, after all, need to keep their jobs and are highly vulnerable to the whims of the managers they are organizing to resist. They're working to build support among employees at stores so that if any employee presses a grievance she will have allies. The women envision eventually having a union.

They all aspire to "really good jobs"  such as work in warehouses, where full-time slots and benefits like paid time off, maternity leave and even a regular schedule can be found. But they say they don't usually qualify for those positions.

Why not? Because mostly they have high school educations and no trade training. Many are from families of multi-generational poverty and unstable family networks. They were born into these situations, and it's very hard to escape. Desire to work hard does not do the trick.

They say they are routinely hired at lower wages than men with similar experience and education levels. And the men tend to be the ones given the chances to advance.

Data bear out the frustration these women feel. Women make up two-thirds of the nearly 20 million low-wage workers in America, according to the National Women's Law Center, which defines low-wage work as that earning $10.10 or less. A 2014 study of the center found that women in such positions, working full time, have a 13 percent wage gap with men  higher for minority women.

This has dire consequences for the future of the economy and family stability  especially given that low-wage jobs are the ones have returned in higher numbers in the post-recession economy.

Sexual harassment is pervasive and well-documented. A study by Restaurant Opportunities Centers United found that significant number of women feared "financial loss, public humiliation or job termination if they tried to report sexual harassment from management and customers."

One recent meeting of the Fannie Lou Hamer Women's Committee focused on that reality. Groping of their bodies and outright solicitations for sex acts, things that would send white-collar women running to human resources, are brushed aside by low-wage employers.

"They definitely take advantage," one woman said of supervisors. They hold incredible power over the women simply by controlling when they are scheduled to work and how many hours they can get.

Another woman eloquently made the argument that raising their wages and ensuring schedules with regular hours would ultimately aid society.

"I promise you, we'd be better parents," she said, detailing how it would mean to be able to stick to a set a schedule and avoid shuffling kids between friends and relatives with ever-changing work shifts, not to mention having a larger financial cushion.

A handful of the committee's members recently returned from a five-day training session in Chicago, the Midwest School for Women Workers.

There they learned about historic labor movements, employment law and labor standards. But what impressed them the most, was learning from female labor rights leaders from Mexico and Turkey.

"I encourage you to use whatever struggles you are a part of and let it make you stronger every day," one of the labor activists encouraged the larger group.

The women of the Fannie Lou Hamer Women's Committee take solace in the fact that they are not being targeted by government officials or being beaten or disappeared, threats the foreign organizers faced.

But their lives are grim enough, and middle-class America, stressed as it is, owes it to them to guarantee conditions where all can work with dignity and financial security.

Email Mary Sanchez at at msanchez@kcstar.com.
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On Monday, the state Assembly approved a bill aimed at curbing abuses of civil asset forfeiture, a practice by which law enforcement may seize a person's property, cash and other assets without first achieving a criminal conviction.

If approved by the Senate and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, Senate Bill 443, proposed last year by Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, and Assemblyman David Hadley, R-Torrance, will require a criminal conviction before assets worth less than $40,000 can be seized.

Under current California law, state and local law enforcement agencies must secure a criminal conviction before seizing assets worth less than $25,000. Following this standard, California law enforcement agencies have seized roughly $20 million in assets in recent years. However, law enforcement agencies have long circumvented state law by participating in joint law enforcement activities with federal law enforcement agencies.

At the federal level, a criminal conviction isn't required for asset seizure, and local law enforcement agencies that partner with federal agencies have been eligible to keep up to 80 percent of all seized assets through a program known as "equitable sharing."

Over the past decade, law enforcement agencies in California have dramatically escalated their participation in equitable sharing. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, between 2006 and 2013, California law enforcement agencies received $600 million in revenues from partnering with the federal government. In contrast, seizures under state law yielded $140 million in revenues over the same period.

Notably, SB443 will apply to both state and federal cases, thereby strengthening existing state laws and finally cutting off the ability of California law enforcement agencies to circumvent state law in most cases.

The idea that someone's property and assets can be seized without being proven guilty of a crime is directly in conflict with the fundamental notion of the right to due process. And yet, getting this idea to pass in California hasn't been easy.

Last year, the state Senate quickly approved SB443, with only Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, casting a dissenting vote. What followed was an aggressive campaign by the state's law enforcement lobby to stop the bill. In September 2015, the Assembly rejected the bill, 44-24, with 12 abstentions.

Fortunately, the bill was amended earlier this month in a manner that protects Californians while also satisfying law enforcement groups enough that the major organizations dropped their opposition to the bill. That was enough to dramatically shift the vote, and the bill was approved 69-7.

In the interest of protecting the due process and property rights of Californians, we urge final approval of SB443.

This editorial originally was published in the Orange County Register.
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When the Heritage Foundation's think tank starts attacking the minimum wage and telling the unsuspecting public how a $15 an hour minimum wage will hurt them, the public should question who is funding the think tank.

The Heritage Foundation's think tank tries to come across as a concerned, parental figure wanting you to believe that it is looking out for you when it tells that an increase in the minimum wage is actually bad for the workers, will cause business to shutter and hurt the economy.

These pearls of wisdom are not only wrong but are financed by Charles and David Koch. The brothers who would like to eliminate the minimum wage and control local, state and federal governments with their American City Council Exchange and the American Legislative Exchange Council, which writes bills that politicians, who have aligned themselves with the brothers, pass that makes legislation benefiting the Koch dynasty.

Think tanks started around the 1900s by people like steel baron Andrew Carnegie at the Carnegie Endowment, and Robert Brookings at the Brookings Institute, and the Hoover Institute on the campus of Stanford University. Its members now include George Schultz, Richard Allen, Newt Gingrich, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice. These people are all anti-union and would abolish a minimum wage if given the chance, which the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation supports this ideology and the preservation of the free market principles.

Think tanks serve the economic and political interests of the corporate elite. Think tanks are mostly nongovernmental organizations that seek to influence public policy to the detriment of minimum wage workers, in this case. The way think tanks get credibility is that they do oral presentations and written briefs in front of prominent committees, which is then part of an official record and then often cited by journalists and academics as fact, with no research or validation of the information provided.

This is how the hit piece about the $15 an hour minimum wage was put in the Record Searchlight without any fact checking. None of the arguments against increasing the minimum wage holds water. When the think tanks take up the fight to stop the minimum wage increase, you know the conservatives are scared of losing control.

The Heritage Foundation, Hoover Institution, Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment, American Enterprise Institute, Round Table, Rand Corp. and many others are funded by millions of dollars each year and they are not spending this money to help the proletarians, it is spent to help the oligarchies.

People need to look closely at who is writing the hit pieces and what they stand to gain from the failure of whatever they're railing against, and who is funding the attacks.

Larry Russell lives in Round Mountain.
Puppy Hour at The James. (Photo courtesy of Sophie Gamand)

Puppy hour at The James, a Ska Brewing rooftop party at Fountainhead and more things to do in Chicago on Thursday, Aug. 18.

EAT

Puppy Hour

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The James Chicago

616 N. Rush St. 312-337-1000

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Bring your pooch for a party on the patio featuring complimentary appetizers, dog treats, a cash bar, a raffle awarding pet items from Shinola and a stay at The James West Hollywood, plus the chance to meet adoptable dogs from ALIVE Rescue. 6:30-8:30 p.m. No cover. RSVP required: rsvpchicago@jameshotels.com



DRINK

Catalina Wine Mixer

Benchmark

1510 N. Wells St. 312-649-9640

Sample more than 30 varieties of wine paired with appetizers, and if you find one you like, you can buy a bottle or case at a discount. You'll also be entered in a raffle awarding a helicopter ride for two. 6-8 p.m. $15-$20. Tickets: benchmarkchicago.com

Rooftop at Fountainhead. (Lenny Gilmore / RedEye)

Ska Brewing Rooftop Party

Fountainhead

1970 W. Montrose Ave. 773-697-8204

The Ravenswood bar plays ska music curated by Jump Up Records and taps four beers from the Colorado brewery including Estival orange blossom-honey cream stout and True Blonde ale ($5-$7). Every beer you buy enters you into a raffle for swag. 6-11 p.m. No cover.



Noche de Agave

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Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >

Morgan's on Fulton

950 W. Fulton St. 312-222-0988

Hoy hosts a tasting of premium tequila, pisco and mezcal from El Jimador, Tequila Herradura, Cruz de Fuego and other brands paired with appetizers. 6-9 p.m. $45. Tickets: vivelohoy.com/agave



DO

USO Clark After Dark

The Boss Bar

420 N. Clark St. 312-527-1203

Clark After Dark.

The annual River North block party celebrates military members and features live music from 16 Candles, displays of vintage military vehicles, and food and drink vendors. 4-10 p.m. $10. Tickets: usoofillinois.org/clark-after-dark



HAPPY HOUR OF THE DAY

Sidebar Grille (221 N. LaSalle St. 312-739-3900) offers all-you-can-eat oysters and rose for $25 from 5-7 p.m.

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Wants details of Vijay Mallya's transactions over 4 years

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has written to a UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), for information on alleged fund diversion by Vijay Mallya and his associate companies from United Spirits Limited (USL).

In July, Diageo-controlled USL had said an inquiry against Mallya, former chairman, and his companies had revealed Rs 1,225 crore (Rs 12.25 billion) of fund diversion. Market regulator Sebi is probing the allegations to safeguard public shareholders in USL.



As some of the entities where the alleged fund diversion had taken place are in the UK, Sebi wrote to its regulatory counterpart there, said a source. The information sought includes bank details, annual returns filed by Mallyas associate companies, and third-party transactions.

The reported foreign beneficiaries or recipients of the fund diversion include Palmer, Force India, Formula One Watson, Continental Administrative Services, Modall Securities, Ultra Dynamix, and Lombard Wall Corporate Services. Most of these are associated with Mallya, according to an exchange filing made by USL on July 9.

FCA regulates both retail and wholesale financial services companies and has the power to investigate organisations and individuals in the UK. Sebi has asked it to examine the transactions of these companies made between October 2010 and July 2014, when most of the said diversions were reported to have taken place.

Sebi is also believed to have shared the findings of an EY audit report with FCA, which shows transactions among USL, beneficiaries, and Mallya. EY was appointed to do a forensic audit of Kingfisher Airlines in 2014-15, on behalf of the lenders. The report has been shared with all enforcement agencies probing the Mallya loan default.

According to sources, the EY report contains e-mail trails between USL, beneficiaries, and Mallya. All amounts identified have been shown in financial statements of USL or its subsidiaries as a loss on sale of USL's foreign subsidiaries. It is reported that USL admitted to diversions in the said period, said a source.

Sebi is also examining the USL-Diageo $75-million settlement deal with Mallya early this year. The regulator has directed Diageo to make additional payment to minority (small) shareholders as the Diageo open offer price does not have the bank guarantee provided by the British liquor giant to Mallya. However, Diageo says this guarantee was not part of the original agreement with Mallya.

After taking a majority stake in USL in July 2014, Diageo had sought Mallya's removal from the chairmanship on the basis of an internal inquiry that revealed several financial irregularities in the company. Mallya refused to step down. So, in February, Diageo agreed to pay Rs 515 crore (Rs 5.15 billion) as severance pay over the next four years.

Sebi had also investigated Mallyas companies after being tipped off by the UK regulator on entities belonging to Mallya allegedly round-tripping through foreign bank accounts.

Mallya, in the UK, owes Rs 6,963 crore (Rs 69.63 billion) to a group of lenders led by the State Bank of India, for loans taken to run Kingfisher. Investigative agencies are probing Mallya and associated entities.

Photograph: Reuters
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has stringent processes and systems, which are proving to be a stumbling block

When two of the biggest investors join hands, one would expect a big deal making. But, two and a half years after the Ajay Piramal-led Piramal Enterprises formed a joint venture with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), one of the largest pension fund managers in the world, the venture is yet to take off.

The story so far

Piramal Enterprises and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board formed a $500 million joint venture (JV); both were to bring in $250 million each Planned to give debt to developers in Mumbai, NCR, Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai Looked to deploy money in three years and eyed return of 18% per annum Identified some investment opportunities at the time of announcing the JV Now, both looking to salvage the JV

The two firms had formed a $500-million venture in February 2014 to give funding for developers of residential projects in top cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai. Both Piramal and CPPIB were to bring in $250 million each. The JV was looking to deploy the entire corpus in three years and eyed an annual return of 18 per cent, according to reports.

It had also identified some investment opportunities at the time of announcing the JV.

The JV is yet to make any investments. CPPIB has stringent processes and systems, which are proving to be a stumbling block, said an executive. While a mail sent to CPPIB did not elicit any response, Piramal group declined to comment.

According to the executive, the two parties might not call off the JV yet as both are looking at ways to salvage the JV. Meanwhile, the Piramal group is in the final leg of talks with Ivanhoe Cambridge, an arm of the second largest pension fund manager in Canada, CDPQ, to form a JV to provide equity capital to residential real estate developers.

Piramal has moved on and is lending aggressively to real estate developers, said the executive. Piramal is one of the largest lenders to real estate developers.

It disburses Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) to developers every month. In one of its kind exercise, Piramal recently gave lines of credit worth Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) to developers such as Wadhwa group, Subhod Runwal group in Mumbai, among others.

Piramal Fund Management manages funds worth Rs 8,486 crore (Rs 84.86 billion) across offshore and rupee funds and disbursed funds worth Rs 11,588 crore (Rs 115.88 billion) under proprietary debt book, thus totalling Rs 20,074 crore (Rs 200.74 billion), according to Piramals website.

The executive cited above said CPPIBs other joint venture with Shapoorji Pallonji has progressed. In June last year, the jV bought an infotech park SP Infocity in Chennai for $220 million or Rs 1,400 crore (Rs 14 billion). Both the parties announced a JV in November 2013.

In March this year, CPPIB announced a $525-million venture with Kotak Mahindra group for stressed assets whereas the former could invest up to $450 million. CPPIB is an investment manager, which invests on behalf of 19 million contributor-strong Canada Pension Plan and manages funds worth $287 billion as of June 2016.

Photograph: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters
Shape up or ship out message has been loud and clear across the new-age companies in the stressed market conditions

In a clear sign of stress in the start-up street, two prominent brands that were chased and acquired for millions of dollars, not too long ago, have lost their identity. The parent companies chose to play down the pain in the sector and termed the shutdowns integration in their press statements on Wednesday.

With that, TaxiForSure (TFS), the cab aggregation platform that was bought by Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola some 18 months ago for $200 million (around Rs 1,300 crore according to latest value), ceases to exist. The Ola app is now showing no taxi against TFS.

This has meant an estimated 700 employees have been sent home, though a company official said the figure was exaggerated as the process of integration was in progress. Without confirming the number of people laid off, the Ola statement said enough measures have been taken to ensure a smooth transition.

Is the start-up bubble about to burst? Jabong went through a distress sale, got acquired by Flipkart recently



Food tech company TinyOwl got bought over by Roadrunnr and rebranded Runnr



Grocery major PepperTap shut down in April



Hotel aggregator Zo Rooms got acquired by Oyo, though deal not announced



Purple Squirrel, Fashionara, Intelligent Interfaces other examples of failures in the past eight months



Valuation markdowns of start-ups such as Flipkart have been a talking point



Job loss numbers have run into many thousands in the past one year



Start-ups in a rush to get profitable and raise funds from wary investors



Shape up or ship out: The overall mantra in new-age companies now

The other instance is about Kunal Bahl-led Snapdeal deciding to close Exclusively, the fashion portal it had bought in an estimated $25 million (Rs 162.5 crore) cash and stock deal last February.

Snapdeal, too, has called it an integration, but Exclusively had failed to meet the targets set by the parent company. Along the way, competition in the fashion space has grown significantly over the past few months, triggering fast decisions in the sector.

Industry sources and analysts pointed out that the shape up or ship out message has been loud and clear across the new-age companies in the stressed market conditions. Investors are not loosening the purse strings easily while start-ups are in a hurry to show profits and then raise funds all over again, they added.

Consider the scenario of the past eight months or so. There have been several instances of shutdowns, brand phase-outs, buyouts, delayed salaries and, of course, thousands of job losses, reminding stakeholders of the dotcom bubble burst at the beginning of this century.

Among the names that have gone under in the recent past include Tiny Owl, PepperTap, Zo Rooms, Purple Squirrel, Fashionara and Intelligent Interfaces (Housing.com co-founder Rahul Yadavs latest venture). Exclusively and TFS have added to the list now.

However, in the case of Ola and Snapdeal, there are some common links. Japans SoftBank is a lead investor in both and chief executive Masayoshi Son wants quick results. Nikesh Arora, who stepped down as president and chief operating officer of SoftBank recently, had placed big bets on Indian start-ups such as Ola, SoftBank and Oyo. With Arora out of the scene, these start-ups are under further stress to prove their worth. Both Ola and Snapdeal are believed to be in the market wanting to raise funds.

Brand consultant Samit Sinha told Business Standard that reduced to its most basic, the purpose of a brand is to help make money for its owner.

Thats the main reason why companies invest so much time, effort and money to build brands, he said. However, there are exceptional circumstances in which a brand has to play a strategic role to prevent competition from hurting the company, according to Sinha. This is the principal motivation for a company to acquire a brand with the intention of eliminating it.

Examples include Coca-Colas $60-million acquisition of Thums Up from Parle in 1993, when Coke re-entered India after being absent for 16 years. Even though Thums Up was the dominant player at the time, as a local player Parle would have realised its limitations in fighting a protracted battle against a multinational behemoth with much deeper pockets, he pointed out.

Since Nikesh Aroras exit, Kavin Mittal-led Hike Messenger was among the first Indian companies where SoftBank invested. Ritesh Agarwals Oyo, too, raised funding, where SoftBank participated. Both Oyo and Hike made their announcements on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Snapdeal has a tough fight, as Arora himself had pointed out in his exit interviews. Snapdeal lost a deal in the fashion segment to Flipkart recently as Sachin Bansals firm, which already had Myntra in its bag, bought yet another fashion portal Jabong at $70 million.

Snapdeal had been a frontrunner in talks with Jabong. In that scenario, running Exclusively as a luxury online portal seemed like an expensive option for Snapdeal as it might not have had the ammunition to take on the Myntra-Jabong combine, sources said.

As for Ola shutting down TFS, the taxi aggregator wants to consolidate the service under one brand to reduce its cash burn and then compete with Americas Uber, which does not mind throwing cash to capture the India market as much as possible and as fast as possible. Just like Snapdeal wants to run a lean organisation in the face of another American firm, Amazon, going all out to invest in India.

Photograph: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters and Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters
Katrina Kaif and Sidharth Malhotra have started promoting their film Baar Baar Dekho, and one of the first stops was New York!

They posed for some quirky pictures, and were later joined by Ken Naz, the President of Film Distributions at Eros International in the US.

A look at the pictures.
'By hoisting the national flag we have kindled a small flame of hope among the Adivasis.'

'We will strive to keep this flame burning forever among their hearts.'

IMAGE: Adivasi leader Soni Sori, in white, with Madkam Hidme's mother to her left, in red, who has approached the court to seek justice for her daughter. The girl with a duppatta on her head is Madkam Hidme's sister, and to Sori's right is Kawasi Hidme, who was imprisoned in various Chhattisgarh prisons for seven years on trumped up charges, and acquitted by the court last year. Photograph: Journalist Prabhat Singh

On August 9, tribal activist Soni Sori led a 200 kilometre-long padyatra from Dantewada, which culminated with her hoisting the Tricolour in Gompad on August 15.

After the padyatra, which highlighted the brutalities the people faced in the battle between the government and the Maoists, she spoke to Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore about her journey and the emotional moment when she hoisted the national flag in the Maoist heartland.

What was the mood like in Gompad when you unfurled the national flag?



We were surprised to see many villagers not only from Gompad but from adjoining villages during the flag hoisting in the morning.

All these villagers had defied the Naxals to reach Gompad for the function.



I had not gone there to fight the Naxals, but was heartened to see so many people come together in Gompad for the flag hoisting.

I wanted to hoist the flag amid the Adivasis of Chhattisgarh.



Did the people who you addressed know that India became free on August 15, 1947 and we all celebrate it as our Independence Day?



No. In fact, they were curious to know why we were hoisting the Tricolour. It was then that I explained the freedom struggle and how our freedom fighters sacrificed their lives for the love of the nation and released us from the yoke of British rule.

The Adivasis told us that India may have become Independent, but they were still not free to pursue the life they want.

They said they are not free because the fruits of freedom are yet to reach them.

They still lead their lives without electricity and have lived in the dark all their lives.

They said when they till their lands the police detain them, harass and rape their women and beat them up for farming their own land.

They said their women can't move around freely as they fear being raped by the police or getting killed.

They said they could not venture into forests, on which they depend for their livelihoods or visit bazaars which are almost 60 kilometre away from their homes.



They said they can't even sleep peacefully inside their homes as they always fear harassment by the police.



I empathised with them when they said that they were still not free in a free India.



But I made them see reason that they will get their rights by organising and agitating peacefully under the national flag and by proving themselves to be law abiding citizens of India.

I told them they must respect the national flag and fight peacefully with all their might against those who beat them up, don't allow them to earn their livelihoods from forest rights and rape their women.



We should organise ourselves and demand our rights from the government. When they asked me if I would support them, I said 'yes.'

Some of their demands were to have a bazaar in their villages. They should have ration shops, schools, health centres and anganwadis in their villages. They also wanted proper roads and power supply.



We sang the national anthem and unfurled the Indian flag at 9.30 am on August 15 in Gompad.

IMAGE: Soni Sori and her supporters along with the Adivasis of Gompad and surrounding villages in Chhattisgarh hoist the Tiranga on August 15. Photograph: Bastar Solidarity Network

Did the Maoists not threaten you?



No, they did not give us any trouble because the Adivasis of the region were with us.

We had strong local support when we hoisted the national flag and even after that when we started our return journey. Around 2,000 people had come to meet us and hoist the flag.



They happily celebrated Independence Day, but complained that 18 villagers had been killed by the police in fake encounters.

The families of these people gave us the list of the 18 villagers and narrated how the police killed them in cold blood. They wondered if they will ever get justice.



I assured them that I will fight for justice for these villagers and will lead an agitation in a peaceful and Constitutional manner.



Did you feel the Maoists kept a watch during the flag hoisting?



I don't know. All I can say is that I was among the oppressed Adivasis of Chhattisgarh and their (the Maoists) presence or absence hardly made any impact on us or the villagers.



By hoisting the national flag we have kindled a small flame of hope among the Adivasis. We will strive to keep this flame burning forever among their hearts.



Soon we will hold a press conference highlighting the fake encounters of these 18 people and give a petition of their demands to the district collector and the government of Chhattisgarh.



Just like we did in the Madkam Hidme case (the Chhattisgarh high court on June 21 directed the police to exhume Madkam Hidme's (external link) body and perform a post-mortem and videograph it) we will be taking the families of these 18 Adivasis to the court and file an affidavit seeking justice for them.

The police, as happens all the time, refused to file an FIR when these families reported the fake encounters.



The Hidme case, of which the court took direct cognisance, has given a lot of hope to these people who have no faith in the Chhattisgarh police.
Five doctors, including the chief executive officer of L H Hiranandani Hospital, were on Thursday granted bail by a local court in connection with the alleged kidney transplant racket.

The Andheri metropolitan magistrate court, which had on Tuesday reserved its order till today on their applications granted bail to CEO Sujit Chatterjee, medical director Anurag Naik, Mukesh Shetye, Mukesh Shaha and Prakash Shetye, on the condition that they attend Powai police station till September 26. They were also directed against leaving the country.

All the accused had moved for bail on August 13 after the court remanded them to 14-day judicial custody till August 26.

On Tuesday, their lawyers Aabad Ponda and Pranav Badeka had told the court that the case against the doctors and the hospital authorities was only of procedural lapses and negligence. Also, several other accused in the case including the donor and recipient are on bail.

They also told the court that the case against the doctors was not under the Indian Penal Code but under the Organ Transplant Act and the money which allegedly exchanged hands for the transplant has been recovered.

The doctors were arrested under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act on the basis of a report by the Director of State Health.

The racket was exposed after the police were tipped off that a kidney transplant operation had been scheduled on July 14 at the privately-run HiranandaniHospital in Powai, where donor and recipient were not related.

Following the bust-up, 14 people, including five doctors, the donor, receiver and agents were arrested.

The operation on Brijkishor Jaiswal, the recipient, was stopped at the last moment as police found that the woman who was donating the kidney to him was not his real wife, contrary to the papers submitted by the duo.

The woman had pretended to be Jaiswals wife only to be able to donate him the kidney for monetary gains, according to the police.

Last week, a local sessions court had rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of two doctors -- Veena Swelikar (a general surgeon) and Suvin Shetty (a consulting pathologist) in the case after Powai police said that their interrogation was needed to unearth the entire racket.
In a brutal incident of cow vigilantism, a Bharatiya Janata Party worker was killed and another person injured allegedly by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists who waylaid and attacked them near Hebri in this district last night.

Praveen Poojary (28) and Akshay Devadiga (20) were surrounded and attacked with sharp weapons by the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists as they were transporting three cows in a vehicle, Udupi district Superintendent of Police K T Balakrishna told PTI.

Poojary died instantly while Devadiga has been admitted to a hospital at Bramhavar, he said.

Seventeen people were arrested and a hunt was on to nab the others involved, he said.

The coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada have been reporting cases of cow vigilantism in the last several years.

The incident comes days after the Union home ministry had cracked the whip on cow vigilantism, asking all states not to tolerate anyone taking law into their hands in the name of protecting cow and to take prompt action against such offenders.

The home ministry advisory had come two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked cow vigilantes and asked people to beware of these 'fake' protectors trying to divide the society and the country.

He made these comments after his government and BJP came under attack over incidents of violence against Dalits and Muslims by cow vigilantes in various states including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said prima facie cattle trade-related business dispute may be the reason behind the killing of the BJP worker.

"... Seventeen people have been arrested in connection with the incident, they (police) are suspecting some sort of a cattle trade-related business dispute," he told reporters in Bengaluru, adding police have taken up the case.

Noting that he does not see a communal angle to the incident "at this point of time", Parameshwara said "some reason must be there, we will find out".

He said "... We don't know at this stage, but they are suspecting some sort of a dispute because of the trade, it is not definite, but they are suspecting. Investigation will give us the final picture."

Parameshwara also expressed concern over repeated incidents relating to beef and cattle trade in Karnataka.

"We are vigilant, we will definitely try and maintain peace and order. I appeal to the people who are trying to create this kind of disturbance not to do this because we are a tolerant society and we should not create these kind of issues," he said.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Mumbai discharged senior Gujarat Police officer Narendra K Amin in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter killing cases on Thursday.

Special CBI Judge M B Gosavi while discharging Amin observed that there was no sufficient evidence against him.

According to CBI, the doctor-turned-policeman, who is at present serving as SP, Mahisagar district in Gujarat, was involved in the conspiracy.

The court has so far discharged BJP President Amit Shah, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria, Rajasthan-based businessman Vimal Patni, former Gujarat police chief P C Pande, Additional Director General of Police Geeta Johri, Gujarat police officer Abhay Chudasama, besides Yashpal Chudasama and Ajay Patel, both senior office-bearers in the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank in the case.

Sohrabuddin, a gangster whom Gujarat Police claimed had links with Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, and his wife Kausar Bi were allegedly abducted by Gujarat ATS from Hyderabad on their way to Sangli in Maharashtra.

He was killed in a fake encounter near Gandhinagar in November 2005 after which his wife disappeared and was believed to have been done to death.

Tulsiram, an aide of the gangster and an eyewitness to the encounter, was killed allegedly by police at Chapri village in Banaskantha district in Gujarat in December 2006.

The Sohrabuddin killing case was transferred to Mumbai in September 2012 at CBI's request for a fair trial. In 2013, the Supreme Court had clubbed Tulsiram Prajapati's encounter killing case with that of Sohrabuddin.
References to Balochistan, Gilgit and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir by Prime Minister Narendra Modi signals a change in India's Pakistan policy, top American experts on South Asia have said as they sought more clarity on New Delhi's new approach towards disturbed areas in Pakistan.

"He's (Modi) either appeasing hardliners at home or deliberately signaling to Pakistan in an effort to strengthen India's hand in future discussions," said Vikram J Singh, a former Obama Administration official who served in key positions in State Department, playing an important role in shaping its Af-Pak policy and later in the defense department.

"If the latter, it could backfire but be viewed as worth the risk," cautioned Singh, vice president, national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress, a top US think-tank based in Washington DC.

So far, Modi has demonstrated both a willingness to work with Pakistan and a willingness to take a hardline stance, he said.

However, Singh felt Modi's deeper challenge is ensuring India has the allegiance of the majority of Kashmiris rather than growing resentment and resistance, much as Pakistan needs the Baloch to have a stake in the Pakistani state.

"In the long term, the local people matter more to long term stability than do the far right political and chattering class. Appeasing hardliners for political ends leads to bad policy outcomes," Singh said in response to a question.

"The reference to Balochistan in this year's Independence Day speech certainly signals a change in tone in the Modi government's Pakistan policy," said Lisa Curtis of The Heritage Foundation, a top Americana think-tank, which is considered close to the Republican establishment.

The attack on Pathankot air base earlier this year by Pakistan-based terrorists just six days after Modi's goodwill visit to Lahore seems to have convinced Modi and his advisors of the futility of pursuing dialogue with Pakistan, Curtis noted.

While the previous Manmohan Singh government persevered with dialogue in the face of terrorist attacks, it can be argued that such forbearance paid few dividends for India, she said.

"Still, it's unlikely that the Balochistan reference heralds any significant new actions on the ground by India. Modi seems instead to be laying down a marker that his government will be less patient than its predecessor when it comes to Pakistani terrorist provocations," Curtis said.

The Obama Administration, however, has refrained from making any comments on Modi's Independence Day speech with regard to PoK, Baluchistan and Gilgit.

Refusing to be drawn in the Kashmir debate, State Department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters at a news conference on Monday, "Our position, as you well know, on Kashmir has not changed. The pace, the scope, the character of any discussions in Kashmir is for the two sides to determine," she said.

Photograph: Press Information Bureau
The monthly pension of freedom fighters, who were incarcerated in Cellular Jail in Andaman Islands, has been hiked by Rs 5,000 to Rs 30,000 following an announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech.

Pension for freedom fighters in the category of ex-Andaman political prisoners and their spouses has been enhanced from Rs 24,775 to Rs 30,000 per month, a home ministry official said.

Pension of freedom fighters, who suffered outside British India, has been raised from Rs 23,085 to Rs 28,000 per month.

Pension of other freedom fighters, including those who were members of Indian National Army, has been raised from Rs 21,395 to Rs 26,000 per month.

Addressing the nation on the 70th Independence Day from the Red Fort, the prime minister had announced a 20 per cent hike in the pension for freedom fighters.

Central freedom fighter pensioners and eligible dependents under Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension will get enhanced pension with effect from August 15, 2016, an official said.

Emoluments given to dependents and eligible daughters have been raised to 50 per cent of the sum that would have been admissible to freedom fighters.

Existing Dearness relief system has been replaced with Dearness Allowance system applicable to government employees twice a year for freedom fighter pensioners.

There are around 37,000 freedom fighters in the country.

A home ministry statement said the existing dearness relief system based on All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial workers, which was hitherto applied to freedom fighter pensioners on annual basis, is being discontinued and replaced by the dearness allowance system applicable to central government employees twice a year.

All freedom fighters and spouses and dependent parents, eligible daughter pensioners of deceased freedom fighters drawing pension under the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme, 1980 would be benefited by the decision.

So far, 1,71,605 freedom fighters and their eligible dependents have been sanctioned pension under the scheme.

At present 37,981 freedom fighters and their eligible dependent pensioners are covered under the scheme. Of these, 11,690 are freedom fighters themselves, 24,792 are spouses (widows/widowers) and 1,499 are daughter pensioners.

In 1969, the central government had introduced the Ex-Andaman Political Prisoners Pension Scheme to honour the freedom fighters who had been incarcerated in the Cellular Jail at Port Blair.

In 1972, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of countrys Independence, a regular scheme for grant of freedom fighters pension was introduced.

Thereafter, with effect from August 1, 1980, a liberalised scheme, namely the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme was implemented. Besides the freedom fighters, spouses (widows/widowers), unmarried and unemployed daughters (upto maximum three at any point of time) and parents of deceased freedom fighters are eligible for pension under the scheme.
Separatist leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Wednesday attempted to defy house arrest and lead processions to the office of the United Nations Military Observers Group over the Kashmir situation which was scuttled by the police.

Mirwaiz, chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference, tried to take out the march from his Nigeen residence along with a dozen of his supporters this afternoon but police stopped them and took them into custody, officials said. He was lodged at Nigeen police station.

Separately, Geelani, chairman of hard-line Hurriyat Conference, also tried to defy the house arrest and lead a march towards the UNMOG from his Hyderpora residence.

However, they were stopped by police and taken into preventive custody. He was lodged at Humhama police station, the officials said.

Prior to his arrest, Geelani staged a sit-in outside his house, they said.

The separatists had given a call for a march to the UN office here to impress upon the world body to intervene and resolve the Kashmir issue.

Authorities had deployed police and paramilitary forces in strength in Srinagar, sealing all roads leading to the UNMOG office in Sonawar area of Srinagar.

Prior to his detention, Mirwaiz said the proposed march to the UNMOG was aimed at attracting the attention of the UN towards the grave situation in the Valley.

The UN must stand up and take necessary steps to stop human rights violations and resolve Kashmir issue, he said.

Terming the situation in the valley as grave and explosive, the Hurriyat chairman said the UN needs to play a positive role to resolve Kashmir issue.

A group of lawyers led by High Court Bar Association president Mian Abdul Qayoom also tried to take out a march from the high court complex here but were stopped by police at Budshah Chowk bridge, the officials said.

Carrying placards and banners demanding intervention of the UN to resolve Kashmir issue, the lawyers also demanded punishment to the killers of 63 persons during the ongoing unrest in the Valley.

The lawyers returned to the high court complex after staging a peaceful sit-in at Jehangir Chowk.

The officials said residents of several localities in the city including Batmaloo, Chattabal, Safakadal, Noorbagh, Rainawari, Dalgate, Brain, Rawalpora, Shah Kadal, Habbakadal, Fatehkadal and Guru Bazar also staged peaceful sit-ins after their attempts to march to the UN office were scuttled by security forces.

Image for representational purpose only.
Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday tied rakhi to several soldiers deployed at the Siachen Base Camp, the highest battlefield in the world, on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan and lauded their efforts.

The minister flew into the Siachen base-camp, located on the snout of the glacier, at 9.22 am and was received by senior army officers, a defence spokesman said.

Smriti Irani distributes sweets to the soldiers posted at Siachen. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

Irani laid a wreath at the Siachen War Memorial. She later addressed the jawans and praised them for their dedication to duty.

We are very proud of the soldiers serving here who have never thought of their own good and of their families. They serve diligently, with passion...so a thanks from a grateful nation, Irani said.

During her one-and-a-half hour visit, the union minister tied rakhis and then praised the jawans for their dedication to duty. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

My mother specially prepared sweets for you all. So, this is not only the affection of a sister but the love of a mother, she said.

The minister flew back after spending around one-and-a-half-hours at the base camp.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman also tied rakhi to the jawans at Lumla in Arunchal Pradeshs Tawang district.

Photograph: Kiren Rijiju/Twitter

I am very grateful to the prime minister who designed this programme. He made us women ministers reach various border posts and ensured that we are here to tie rakhi, thereby making sure the message goes across that the government cares for them, she said.

Photograph: Kiren Rijiju/Twitter

Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday tied rakhis to Border Security Force personnel deployed at the international border in Attari near Amritsar. Girls from colleges and schools also tied rakhis to BSF troops at the Attari Border.

Photograph: Harsimrat Kaur/Twitter

Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel also tied Rakhi to the Border Security Force's officers and jawans at Jaisalmer, in Rajasthan.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has received his first classified intelligence briefing which he said he is unlikely to "use" if he is elected in November's general election.

As per the US laws, presidential nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties receive classified presidential briefings which prepares them for presidency if elected.

Given some of his rhetoric in the past, his opponents have urged the US Government not to provide him with intelligence briefing. However, the FBI went ahead with its well established tradition of providing classified briefings to the GOP candidate, which happened at the FBI office in New York.

Trump was accompanied by two of his confidants New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn. The briefing that reportedly lasted for more than two hours was led by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

While there was no word, these classified intelligence briefings normally includes on threats to the US and other security issues. It is not secret intelligence briefings which includes operational intelligence.

Before the briefing, Trump said he would not much depend on such intelligence briefings. "Very easy to use them, but I won't use them, because they've made such bad decisions. If we would have never touched it, it would have been a lot better," Trump told Fox News in an interview.

Before headed for intelligence briefing, Trump held round table with his national security team on defeating radical Islam, his campaign said.

"Today, Trump convened a meeting of some of the top foreign policy and national security experts in the country to discuss how to win the war against Radical Islamic Terrorism," said his national policy director Stephen Miller.

"The participants talked about improving immigration screening and standards to keep out radicals, working with moderate Muslims to foster reforms, and partnering with friendly regimes in the Middle East to stamp out ISIS," he said.

"This is a stark contrast to Hillary Clinton who wants to bring in 620,000 refugees with no way to screen them, who refuses to say radical Islam, and who bears direct responsibility for the rise of ISIS with her disastrous interventions overseas," Miller said.

It was not immediately known when Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton would receive such a briefing or when it has been scheduled for. Several Republican leaders have called for Clinton not to be given classified information in view of the email scandal.

Image: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump reads a document during a round table discussion on security at Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York, US, August 17, 2016. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Website editor attacked and beaten over documentary

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 23 July 2012 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Bosnia-Herzegovina: Website editor attacked and beaten over documentary, 23 July 2012, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b27e27.html [accessed 29 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.

July 23, 2012

Reporters Without Borders condemns last week's violent attack by a group of men and woman on Stefica Galic, a filmmaker and editor of the Tacno.net web portal, in Ljubuski, a town 170 km south of Sarajevo.

"The group nature of this attack and the accompanying hate messages against Galic and her family are indicative of the dangers to which they are exposed," Reporters Without Borders said.

"We call on the authorities to do everything possible to ensure that they are protected and to bring those responsible to justice."

The attack took place as Galic was taking a walk with a friend near the Franciscan monastery in Humac (just outside Ljubuski) on the evening of 18 July, two days after the first screening of her documentary "Nedjo of Ljubuski." The film pays tribute to her late husband, Nedeljko Nedjo Galic, who helped Bosnian Muslims to flee the town and avoid deportation during the 1991-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

One of her assailants has been identified. It is Vera Dedic, a young woman who tried to prevent the documentary from being screened at its launch. During the attack, Dedic shouted insults and threats against Galic.

Galic sought medical assistance after the attack but was not hospitalized. She and her children were already the targets of threats and insults by nationalists before the screening and they continue to receive threats. Galic was awarded this year's Dusko Kondor prize for civilian courage.
Belarus: Journalist facing jail sentence for exposing Minsk metro security flaws

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 27 July 2012 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Belarus: Journalist facing jail sentence for exposing Minsk metro security flaws, 27 July 2012, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b27f15.html [accessed 29 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.

July 27, 2012

Reporters Without Borders condemns journalist Vital Ruhayn's arrest in Minsk on 25 July after posting a video online showing a lack of security on the Minsk subway although it was the target of a deadly bombing in April 2011.

Ruhayn is a correspondent for Warsaw-based European Radio for Belarus (ERB).

"Vital Ruhayn's arrest is indicative of the regime's sensitivities about matters related  closely or otherwise  to the Minsk bombing and national security," Reporters Without Borders said. "A journalist should not be arrested for highlighting police violations of security regulations. We call for the withdrawal of the trumped-up charges brought against him."

Ruhayn, 25, was arrested on the evening of 25 July on charges of "hooliganism" and "using obscene language" in a public place. He pleaded not guilty when his trial began yesterday before a court in the Minsk district of Tsentralny without his lawyer being allowed to attend.

The court released Ruhayn and adjourned the hearing for five days to allow the police to correct inconsistencies in the written reports they submitted to the court. Although Ruhayn is now free, the prosecution has not been dropped and he is still facing the possibility of imprisonment or some other penalty.

In the video that was clearly the real reason for his arrest, Ruhayn carried a large bag into the Minsk metro in order to test the vigilance of the police. Although he took the same route as the metro bomber, the police did not at any time inspect the bag's contents.

On 24 July, the day before his arrest, Ruhayn was briefly detained by Belarusian border guards on his way back to Minsk from the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. They confiscated his passport and laptop during an identity check that lasted an hour.

Ruhayn had left the country to avoid arrest following fellow ERB reporter Pavel Svyardlow's arrest in June on a similar obscene language charge, for which Svyardlow was given a 15-day jail sentence.

This is the second time in the past month that attention has been drawn to the shortcomings of the security services. Employees of a Swedish advertising agency flew a light aircraft into Belarusian airspace on 4 July and dropped hundreds of teddy-bears bearing messages in support of free speech in Belarus.

A Belarusian journalist, Anton Surapin, was arrested on 13 July for posting photos of this stunt online and has been held by the Committee for State Security (KGB) ever since. Today is his 14th day in detention, which is more than the legally permitted period for pre-trial detention. He is facing a sentence of three to seven years in prison on a charge of helping foreigners to cross the border illegally.
Belgium: Court rules that newspaper editor expressed "wrong" opinion

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 17 January 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Belgium: Court rules that newspaper editor expressed "wrong" opinion, 17 January 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b28015.html [accessed 29 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.

January 17, 2013

Reporters Without Borders is appalled to learn that a court in the central city of Mechelen has ruled against Yves Desmet, the editor of the daily De Morgen, in a libel suit, finding that he expressed "wrong" views about a dispute between two judicial officials in a January 2012 editorial.The editorial was about a dispute between two members of the prosecutor's office in nearby Antwerp over an investigation into tax fraud on an allegedly gigantic scale in the local diamond sector. The judge in charge of the investigation, Peter Van Calster, wanted to prosecute diamond dealers suspected of evading nearly 300 million euros in taxes, while his superior, prosecutor-general Yves Liegeois, was reportedly pressing Van Calster to let the tax department and diamond dealers reach an agreement.

In an article published on the newspaper's opinion page, Desmet accused the prosecutor-general of being more interested in combatting moonlighting than in pursuing white-collar criminals. He concluded: "You could say there seems to have been partiality. Or, if the term were not outmoded, class justice pure and simple." Claiming that the family's honour had been besmirched, Liegeois' wife, who is also an Antwerp judge, brought a lawsuit against Desmet demanding 19,000 euros in damages.

Despite awarding only symbolic damages of one euro in its 15 January ruling, the court found that "the suggestion of apparent partiality and the use of the term 'class justice' were based on a personal perception" and that Desmet's comments were "wrong from the point of view of objective information."

"This ruling is as absurd as it is outrageous," Reporters Without Borders said. "An editorial is not an exercise in investigative journalism or a factual report that has to be objective. It is by definition the free expression of an opinion, a series of ideas deriving solely from freedom of expression.

"How can an opinion, which is by definition subjective, be expected to satisfy criteria of objectivity? How are we to interpret the extremely dangerous notion of a 'wrong opinion' being voiced by a judge who is supposed to guarantee freedom of expression? Does this mean that some opinions are now unacceptable in Belgium?

"Regardless of the resulting ridicule and despite its essentially symbolic nature, the Mechelen court's ruling must be combatted firmly for the sake of the right to freely and publicly express views on the ways our institutions function.

"The international impact of such rulings should not be underestimated either. We hope that De Morgen's appeal to a higher court in Antwerp is handled quickly and that this surreal ruling is overturned."
Central African Republic: Call for compensation after rebels ransack and loot Bangui media

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 27 March 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Central African Republic: Call for compensation after rebels ransack and loot Bangui media, 27 March 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b28115.html [accessed 29 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.

March 27, 2013

Reporters Without Borders is appalled by the irresponsible and unacceptable behaviour of members of the Seleka rebel coalition who have robbed or ransacked several news media since entering the capital, Bangui, three days ago.

Rebel leaders have said they are trying to stop the looting.

Reporters Without Borders calls on the most senior officials now in control in Bangui to order the return of stolen equipment and to organize compensation for media that have suffered damage.

The press freedom organization has been trying to reach Seleka spokesman Christophe Gazam Betty by telephone, but so far without success. He is now communication minister in a new government of national unity.

Momet Mathurin Constant Nestor, the editor of the privately-owned newspaper Le Confident, described to Reporters Without Borders and its Kinshasa-based partner organization, Journalist in Danger, how his newspaper was ransacked on 24 and 25 March.

"The rebels have wiped out all my investments of the past 10 years," he said. "It will be some time before I will be able to resume operating." Referring to newly-ousted President Bozize, he added: "I don't know why they targeted me because neither I nor Le Confident were part of the Bozize system."

Another local journalist said: "We are in the presence of vandals who are looting everything in their path."

Members of the Seleka rebel force also looted the UN radio station, Radio Ndeke Luka, taking one of its cars and five motorcycles, smashing office furniture and stealing at least two laptop computers. ID papers, money and other personal effects were taken from the station's manager, Sylvie Panika.

As a result, Radio Ndeke Luka was off the air on 24 and 25 March, but was able to resume broadcasting yesterday because its studios and transmitters survived unscathed.

Privately-owned Radio Nehemie and the Bangui offices of the Institut Panos Paris were also looted.

Reporters Without Borders is very concerned for the physical safety of journalists in the Central African Republic and their ability to work, and therefore urges Bangui's new strongman, Michel Djotodia, to guarantee the media's right to operate freely and safely.
Cuba: Independent reporter released after seven months in detention

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 10 April 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Cuba: Independent reporter released after seven months in detention, 10 April 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b28215.html [accessed 29 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.

April 10, 2013

Reporters Without Borders hails yesterday's release of Calixto Ramon Martinez Arias, an independent reporter for the Hablemos Press information centre, after several weeks of mounting calls for his release from Cuban civil society and international organizations.

On being freed, Martinez immediately went to Hablemos Press headquarters, where fellow independent journalists Roberto de Jesus Guerra Perez, Denis Noa Machines and Gerardo Younel Avila Perdomo had begun a hunger strike the day before to press for his release.

Another journalist, David Aguila Montero, had joined the protest at Hablemos Press yesterday, while many journalists in the provinces  including Daniel Millet Jimenez, Fernando Vazquez Guerra and Misael Canet Velazquez in Camaguey, and David Aguila Montero and Luis Manuel Fumero  followed suit.

Martinez had himself staged three hunger strikes since his arrest on 16 September 2012. The first was from 10 November to 13 December. He began the second on 6 March and ended it on 29 March, after the authorities promised to free him. Still in detention 10 days later, he began the third one on 8 April, with his Hablemos Press colleagues immediately taking it up.

Martinez was arrested for revealing the existence of dengue and cholera epidemics, which the government confirmed a few days later. He had been facing a possible three-year sentence on a charge of insulting the president although the charge was never officially confirmed and he was never tried.

While his release is to be welcomed, it must not divert attention from the continuing harassment of independent journalists and bloggers, and the fate of other detainees such as Luis Antonio Torres, a reporter for the official daily Granma, held since May 2011, and the writer Angel Santiesteban-Prats, author of a blog called "Los hijos que nadie quiso", held since 28 February.
Chad: Authorities arrest another journalist, seek blogger's extradition

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 9 May 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Chad: Authorities arrest another journalist, seek blogger's extradition, 9 May 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b28315.html [accessed 29 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.

May 9, 2013

Reporters Without Borders condemns the unprecedented wave of arrests and persecution of bloggers and journalists that the Chadian authorities have been orchestrating for the past few weeks.

The arrests of the blogger Jean Etienne Laokole on 22 March and the journalist Eric Topona, the general secretary of the Union of Chadian Journalists (UJT), on 6 May  both of whom are still held  have been followed by that of Moussaye Avenir de la Tchire, the managing editor of the newspaper Abba Garde and UJT treasurer.

Arrested on the evening of 7 May, De la Tchire is reportedly accused of "inciting hatred and a popular uprising."

At the same time, the Chadian authorities are seeking the extradition of Makaila Nguebla, a Chadian blogger who fled to the Senegalese capital of Dakar, from where he was expelled to Guinea-Conakry on the night of 7 May.

"We can no longer talk of isolated arrests," Reporters Without Borders said. "This is a major crackdown on the independent and opposition media. We are also appalled by Senegal's failure to protect Nguebla by allowing him to stay. Expelling him was disgraceful. We urge the Guinean authorities not to extradite him back to Chad, or else they will be accomplices to a violation of freedom of information.

"Why is the Chadian government targeting the media? Does it accuse them of being accomplices to the recently thwarted coup d'etat? Was the recent ministerial reshuffle carried out in order to prepare for this offensive against troublesome individuals, above all news providers?

"The government cannot blame the recent political unrest in Chad on the media. Under Chad's constitution, which guarantees media freedom, we call on the government to free the detained journalists and bloggers immediately and unconditionally and to stop hounding its critics."

Last year already saw an increase in acts of intimidation against independent and opposition journalists in Chad.
Congo-Brazzaville: Regulator suspends four independent newspapers

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 3 June 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Congo-Brazzaville: Regulator suspends four independent newspapers, 3 June 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b28415.html [accessed 29 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.

June 3, 2013

Reporters Without Borders condemns a decision on 1 June by the High Council for Freedom of Communication (CLSC), the Republic of Congo's media regulator, to suspend three independent Brazzaville-based newspapers  L'Observateur, Talassa and Le Trottoir  for four months for publishing "seditious articles."

A fourth, Le Glaive, has been suspended for two months.

"The simultaneous suspension of four newspapers that are well-known for keeping their distance from the government is particularly disturbing for pluralism in the Republic of Congo," Reporters Without Borders said.

"After keeping a low profile for a long time, the CSLC now seems to be focusing on censorship and intimidation instead of doing its job, which is to guarantee freedom of communication. Philippe Mwouo's takeover as head of the CSLC has coincided with a decline in freedom of expression. We call for these arbitrary suspensions to be lifted immediately."

The four newspapers were suspended on Mwouo's direct orders for reprinting an article from the pan-African magazine Afrique Education that referred to a letter by former defence minister Justin Lekoundzou about President Marien Ngouabi's 1977 assassination.

In a televised hearing, CSLC official Gertrude Hobain Mongo read out the charges against the three newspapers that were suspended for four months. She said they were accused of "manipulating opinion," "disseminating false news," "inciting violence and divisions" and "defaming (...) certain state officials."

Le Glaive was accused of "repeatedly refusing to comply with and respond to the Council's instructions."
Guinea: Regulator acts outside law by closing radio station for one month

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 3 June 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Guinea: Regulator acts outside law by closing radio station for one month, 3 June 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b28511.html [accessed 29 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.

June 3, 2013

Reporters Without Borders urges the National Communication Council (CNC), Guinea's media regulator, to immediately rescind the outrageous order it issued on 30 May suspending Radio Planete FM and one of its programme hosts, Mandian Sidibe, for a month.

"No current legislation allows the CNC to issue this order," Reporters Without Borders said. "It is based on a 1991 press law that was rendered null and void by Organic Laws 002 and 003, which Gen. Sekouba Konate promulgated on 22 June 2010, during the transition. In other words, the CNC has acted outside the law.

"Furthermore, the CNC has given vague and general reasons, without specifying which comments by Sidibe and which broadcasts caused offence, and instead of just punishing him, it has suspended the entire radio station, putting all of its employees out of work for the duration of the sanction and depriving the Guinean public of a source of news and information."

Signed by CNC president Martine Conde, Decision No. 005/SP/05/2013 of 30 May condemned "grave breaches of ethics and conduct in the interactive programmes 'Journalists on Patrol' and 'Palaver' on Radio Planete FM by programme host Mandian Sidibe, who distinguished himself by violating ethics and conduct, inciting hatred and violence."

As well as ordering the station's closure for a month, the CNC decision "formally forbids Mandian Sidibe to speak on the air on any state or privately-owned radio station in the Republic of Guinea during this period."

Reporters Without Borders offers its support to Guinea's news media and its support for the initiatives taken by local organizations that defend media freedom.

The Guinean Union of Free Radio and TV broadcasters (URTELGUI) announced that all privately-owned member radio and TV stations would simultaneously broadcast a special programme today and would suspend broadcasting throughout the country for a day on 6 June. A special spot on the threat to privately-owned radio and TV stations will also be broadcast.

Reporters Without Borders previously criticized the CNC's draconian measures in a July 2011 report entitled "Turning the page, hopes for media freedom in Niger and Guinea."
Greece: Golden Dawn close to being added to "predators" list

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 4 June 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Greece: Golden Dawn close to being added to "predators" list, 4 June 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2869.html [accessed 29 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.

June 4, 2013

Reporters Without Borders, which last visited Greece in September 2011 to investigate the collapse in the media environment and the future of journalism, is alarmed by the steady decline in respect for media freedom and firmly condemns the neo-Nazi abuses against journalists and news media now taking place on an almost daily basis.

"The rise of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn has unfortunately been accompanied by a very significant increase in abuses against media personnel," Reporters Without Borders said. "We are no longer able to count the number of journalists and bloggers who have been threatened or physically attacked by extreme right-wing bullies.

"Attacks on private or professional property, home-made bomb attacks on offices or homes, intimidation by phone or email, and threats to family members are now part of everyday life for many news providers, who usually ask not to be named to avoid drawing attention and thereby remain at least minimally 'employable.'

"Any article or mention that is the least bit critical of Golden Dawn's activities elicits reprisals from its supporters that are often public and even openly acknowledged. By branding news media and their employees as 'enemies of the nation,' Gold Dawn is becoming a very strong contender for inclusion in our list of 'Predators of Freedom of Information.'

"We again urge the authorities to quickly address this problem. Their silence and lack of action in the face of the mounting violence against journalists are tantamount to capitulating to the enemies of democracy. Will we really have to wait for a journalist to be killed before investigations are launched and, more importantly, completed?

"The continuing impunity for these acts of violence will only encourage these extremists to maintain this climate of hate. It is vital that the negotiations currently under way about a law designed to combat such violence should include guarantees for the media.

"The European Parliament is itself finding it hard to help the Greek media. An exhibition of photos by the Professional Association of Greek Press Photographers, showing the dangers to which they are exposed, had been scheduled for 4 June and we deeply regret that the European Parliament's administration cancelled it at the last minute."

Reporters Without Borders added: "As a recipient of the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom Thought in 2005, we hope that the European Parliament will keep its promise to host this exhibition in June in an appropriate place and with the necessary visibility."

The report that Reporters Without Borders issued in 2011 asked, "Could the crisis help media freedom in Greece?" Some journalists used the crisis as an opportunity to create newspapers based on an alternative and more participative method of funding.

Reporters Without Borders met the staff of The Newspaper of the Reporters on the day that it produced its 100th issue. This daily is one of the few independent news outlets in Greece and has specialized in investigative journalism and in covering the activities of Golden Dawn.

The neo-Nazi party's barbaric behaviour is not just affecting the "traditional" media. The financial crisis and the collapse of the media's traditional economic model have forced many journalists to seek refuge online.

"Even if it means not being paid, you can at least be useful and try to do what is no longer possible to do in the print media," a former senior journalist with a leading daily told Reporters Without Borders. News websites were still peripheral in 2011, but they are growing in number and are gradually become the main source of news and information for much of the public.

Crossfire

Although the neo-Nazis now pose the main threat for the media, older dangers are still present. Radical anarchist groups attacks reporters during demonstrations, as do the security forces, often with exceptional brutality.

The statements and undertakings made to Reporters Without Borders during its 2011 visit have not been translated into any concrete action. The riot police have not changed their behaviour during protests and still regard photographers, cameramen and soundmen as unwelcome witnesses of their use of excessive force.

Greece's journalists are also exposed to judicial persecution, especially when they take too much interest in certain business interests. We hope that the judicial authorities show some common sense during the trial of Kostas Vaxevanis, the editor of the weekly Hot Doc, which is due to start on 10 June.

It is vital that Vaxevanis, who was arrested for publishing the so-called "Lagarde" list, is acquitted of all the charges against him.
Canada: Police use force to arrest news photographer at Toronto station

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 6 June 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Canada: Police use force to arrest news photographer at Toronto station, 6 June 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b287c.html [accessed 29 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.

June 6, 2013

Reporters Without Borders condemns Toronto Star photographer Alex Consiglio's arrest and mistreatment while taking photos during an incident inside Toronto's Union Station on 2 June.

The incident began when two employees of GO Transit, the regional public transit company, were thrown on to the track during a scuffle with a man who tried to open the doors of a train leaving the station. When Consiglio took photos of an injured employee, police told him this was not allowed and asked him to leave.

Consiglio complied but, as he was leaving the station, he took another photo of the injured employee being taken away on a stretcher. At this point, he was arrested and handcuffed by the police, and briefly held in a headlock. He was later released after being fined 65 Canadian dollars.

Anne Marie Aikins, media relations manager with Metrolinx, the company that manages GO Transit, said Consiglio was arrested because journalists are not allowed to take photos inside the station without first obtaining permission.

Toronto Police communications director Mark Pugash claimed that the police used "reasonable force" because Consiglio refused to comply with request to get out of the way on the grounds that he worked for the media.

"Whatever the reason given, there was no justification for the violence used with Consiglio," Reporters Without Borders said. "The authorities must investigate this incident, which is unusual in Canada and therefore all the more deserving of their attention.

"Banning journalists from taking photos inside Union Station is absurd, especially as the ban does not apply to the public, who can use their smartphones to photograph anything that seems worthy of note and circulate their photos as it happens. Under these circumstances, what are the grounds for preventing professional reporters from doing their job?"
Burma: Time Magazine censored twice over for coverage of radical Buddhists

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 26 June 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Burma: Time Magazine censored twice over for coverage of radical Buddhists, 26 June 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2889.html [accessed 29 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.

June 26, 2013

Reporters Without Borders condemns the decision by Burmese magazine distributor Inwa Publications not to sell Time Magazine's July issue, which has cover story about the Burmese Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu headlined "The Face of Buddhist Terror."

The media freedom organization is also appalled by the government's endorsement of this censorship and calls for the ban to be lifted at once.

"By taking this decision, Inwa Publications went far beyond its role as a distributor and abusively assumed politically-motivated censorship powers, going so far as to argue that this was justified by the recent closure of the government office for prior censorship, the PSRD," Reporters Without Borders said.

"As Time Magazine's sole distributor in Burma, this privately-owned company is violating media freedom and the Burmese public's right to information. We are also extremely disturbed by the government's subsequent decision to ban Time Magazine's sale in any form. At a time when Burma's media law is still being drafted, it reflects an attitude that is completely contrary to the fundamental principles that should govern media law reform.

"It shows that there has been no change in the government's desire to control news and information and to assume the right to apply prior censorship whenever it deems this to be necessary. This is an unacceptable step backwards for media freedom in Burma. The authorities must rescind this decision and face the problems head-on."

Deputy information minister Ye Htut, who is also spokesperson for the president's office, announced today that Time Magazine was banned from social networks. A press release to this effect was then read out on state-owned television.

In a message posted on Facebook, Ye Htut said: "The article entitled 'The Face of Buddhist Terror' in Time Magazine 1 July issue is prohibited from being produced, sold or and distributed in original copy or photocopy in order to prevent further racial and religious conflicts."

The president's office objected to the juxtaposition of the words "Buddhist" and "terror," saying it "creates a misunderstanding of Buddhism" and undermined efforts to defuse tension after violence in which many civilians have died or have been driven from their homes.

Inflammatory comments by Ashin Wirathu, the Buddhist monk on Time Magazine's cover, have been the subject of growing media attention after months of mounting sectarian violence. Referring to Burma's Muslim minority, he recently said: "You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog."

Reporters Without Borders released a report on the threats to freedom of information after inter-communal violence first erupted in the western state of Arakan in May 2012.

Many foreign media and some Burmese media that recently returned to Burma from exile, such as Democratic Voice of Burma, have been the target of frequent attacks by the Burmese media and the Buddhist majority, which accuse them of biased coverage of the sectarian violence.

After the first wave of violence, the government resorted to threats and increased control of the media in an attempt to curb reporting and hate comments online, showing no hesitation about returning media freedom to the same abysmal level that prevailed before the first reforms in 2011.

After discussing the problems linked to the lack of information about the violence, the European Parliament passed a resolution on 13 June urging the Burmese authorities to allow journalist unrestricted access to sensitive regions including the western state of Arakan, where Rohingya Muslims are in the majority.

Read the special report entitled "Crisis in Arakan state and new threats to freedom of information" that Reporters Without Borders published on 28 June 2012.
Palestinian photographer held incommunicado by Israelis

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 3 July 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Palestinian photographer held incommunicado by Israelis, 3 July 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b289c.html [accessed 29 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.

July 3, 2013

Reporters Without Borders calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Mohamed Al-Azza, a Palestinian photographer held incommunicado and without charge in an unknown place of detention by the Israeli authorities for the past three days.

Azza, who works for Palestinian News Network and Ma'an News, was arrested by members of the Israel Defence Forces at his home in Aida refugee camp, 2 km north of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on 30 June.

Family members and his lawyer said he was hit several times and sustained injuries at the time of his arrest.

Azza was hospitalized after being hit in the face by a rubber-coated bullet fired by an Israeli soldier while covering an IDF incursion into his refugee camp on 8 April. According to the information obtained by Reporters Without Borders, the IDF had been looking for him ever since his release from hospital.
Bulgaria: Police attack journalists covering protest outside parliament

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 26 July 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Bulgaria: Police attack journalists covering protest outside parliament, 26 July 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b28ac.html [accessed 29 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.

July 26, 2013

Reporters Without Borders condemns police violence against at least seven journalists and a blogger who were covering the demonstration outside parliament in Sofia on the night of 23 July that prevented around 30 parliamentarians, three ministers and several journalists from leaving the building.

As tension between the government and demonstrators mounts after more than 40 days of peaceful protests, Reporters Without Borders urges both the authorities and protesters to guarantee the safety of journalists and other news providers.

Reporters Without Borders also calls on the Bulgarian police and judicial system to conduct a full and impartial investigation into the cases of violence so that those responsible can be brought to justice.

The victims of police violence outside the parliament building included Rossen Bossev, a journalist with the weekly Capital, who has hit in the waist by policemen. When he went to complain to the officer in charge of the operation, the officer asked him: "Haven't they hit you enough?"

Darik Radio reporter Valentin Grancharov was beaten over the head with batons. As Kiril Haralanov of the OFFnews website was filming this, he was forced to the ground and beaten by another policeman.

Blogger Ivo Bozhkov was filming the police violence when he was thrown to the ground and repeatedly kicked. He sustained serious injuries and still has internal bleeding.

Kanal 3 journalist Cvetan Fikov was harassed by the police while filming the lifting of the blockade and the evacuation of the parliamentarians. When he showed his press card, a policeman punched him the mouth, leaving him with a split lip.

Another journalist, Ivan Bedrov, said police officers kept on trying to smash his camera with their batons. The camera finally broke when it fell to the ground. Two bTV cameramen, Blagoi Momchilov and Dani Draganov, were also hit by policemen who simultaneously tried to get at their equipment.

Bulgaria fell seven places to be ranked 87th out of 179 countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. This is the lowest ranking of any European Union member.
Argentina: New broadcast media law is constitutional, Supreme Court rules

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 30 October 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Argentina: New broadcast media law is constitutional, Supreme Court rules, 30 October 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b28b9.html [accessed 29 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.

October 30, 2013

Argentina's supreme court ruled yesterday that a new broadcast media law known as the Audiovisual Communication Services Law (LSCA) is constitutional, thereby rejecting an appeal by the Clarin multimedia group, which objected to some of its articles.

Approved by congress in 2009, the law would have taken effect in December 2012 but for Clarin's appeal. The new regulatory body created by the law, the Federal Agency for Audiovisual Communication Services (AFSCA), announced that it will take effect at once.

"We have often expressed our support for the overall principles of this law and we welcome the supreme court's decision," Reporters Without Borders said. "We think its implementation will be big step forward for pluralism in Argentine and the region.

"The supreme court's arguments in defence of the law were basically ours, namely that the LSCA will reinforce freedom of information and the pubic debate, because it allows a broader spectrum of public opinion to express itself legally."

Unlike Ecuador's new media law and Uruguay's future media law, which assign a third of broadcast frequencies to community broadcast media, a third to the state and a third to commercial stations, the LSCA assigns a third to community and non-profit broadcast media without defining how the state and private sectors share the other two thirds.

Nonetheless, the AFSCA must adopt clear rules to ensure that pluralism is respected. For example, the principle enshrined in article 106 of Uruguay's future SCA law, prohibiting any "indirect censorship" by means of the use of ideological or editorial criteria to allocate frequencies, could be a source of inspiration.

A detailed plan needs to be drawn up for the allocation of the third of frequencies reserved for community and non-profit media. This should include a list of all the frequencies that can be allocated. The AFSCA's information should be complete and transparent.

"Proper regulation of state advertising is also urgently needed," Reporters Without Borders added. "Recent years have seen an outrageous increase in state advertising for media that support the government.

"We share the supreme court judges' warning about possible abuses by the government, especially as regards use of the law to support an ideology and to restrict public debate. It is vital that the AFSCA should be an independent agency, one that does not let itself be influenced by the government or pressure groups."

The appeal by the Clarin group, owner of the country's largest share of broadcasting frequencies, was mainly motivated by commercial interests. The supreme court said: "Clarin's freedom of expression is not affected by the law's implementation, because media decentralization and frequency reallocation do not endanger the group's economic viability."

The ruling added that it was normal that "the law should, as a matter of principle, establish overall limits because preventing concentration of ownership guarantees freedom of expression."

Unlike Argentina's other major multimedia companies, Clarin has not proposed any divestment plan and has announced that an appeal to international courts remains a possibility.
Bangladesh: Political unrest sparks violent attacks on journalists and media

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 31 October 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Bangladesh: Political unrest sparks violent attacks on journalists and media, 31 October 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b28ce.html [accessed 29 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.

October 31, 2013

Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns a major wave of attacks on media and journalists, including bombings and shootings, which began six days ago and which is linked to opposition demands for a neutral interim government prior to elections scheduled for January.

"The violence against journalists is intolerable," Reporters Without Borders said. "Justice must be rendered. The authorities must identify those responsible and bring them to trial. We support the statements made by the Editors' Council and Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), which have firmly condemned these attacks.

"It is imperative that the authorities should be able to ensure effective security for journalists, so that they can work without fear, and that the political parties do not encourage their supporters to target journalists."

The attacks on the media began when an opposition demonstration degenerated on 25 October, and continued during a 60-hour "shut-down" called by opposition sectors to press demands for a neutral government for 90 days to establish a free and impartial environment for parliamentary elections in January.

Schools and shopping centres closed and public transport halted although the prime minister urged Bangladeshis to ignore the strike call.

Members of the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami began attacking the offices of certain Dhaka-based media, especially privately-owned TV stations, with home-made bombs on 25 October. The targets included Channel 71, Desh TV, Mohona TV, My TV and the newspapers Bohrer Kagoj and BDnews24.com.

Those injured included Channel 71 Newroom's editor Zakaria Biblop, who was taken to a military hospital in a critical condition although his condition is no longer life-threatening.

Masudur Rahman, a cameraman with privately-owned Channel-i, was injured by bullet fragments when police opened fire in Dhaka to disperse a protest by Jubo Dal, a group that supports the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Kafi Kamal, a journalist with the daily Manabzamin, was injured when a bomb went off outside BNP headquarters, while Jamaat-e-Islami activists attacked Rashed Nizam, a journalist with Channel 24. Abdus Salam of Shomoy TV and Sheikh Tofazzal Hossain of RTV were the victims of similar attacks in the western city of Rajshahi. Hossain was rushed to hospital in a critical condition after he was beaten with clubs, his camera was smashed and his personal effects were stolen.

On 29 October, Jamaat-e-Islami activists attacked Abu Habib of the daily Dainik Janmabhumi as he was covering vandalism in the village of Kaliganj. He was clubbed, his camera and mobile phone were seized and his thumb was almost cut off. He was rushed to Sathkira Sadar Hospital and from there to a specialist hospital.

In Narayanganj, a town near Dhaka, four local reporters  Rasel Ahmed of Kaler Kantho, Riaz Hossain of Ajkaler Khabor, G.M Shahid of Shakaler Khabor and Imdadul Haque Dulal of Arthoniti Protidin  were injured when suspected BNP members threw homemade bombs at their vehicles, which were marked "Press." They were briefly hospitalized for treatment.

In the northwestern district of Thakurgaon, NTV reporter Luftar Rahman Mithu was injured while covering clashes between BNP activists and members of the ruling Awami League. Maasranga TV journalist Badrul Islam's motorcycle was set on fire during these clashes but Islam was unhurt.

In the southeastern city of Chittagong, Nasir Uddin Tota of Bangla Vision TV and Abul Hasnat of ATN News were injured when they went to help Mohammad Farid Uddin, an ATN cameraman who was being attacked by young Jamaat-e-Islami activists.

In the southwestern city of Jessore, activists attacked Labual Haq Ripon of the daily Dainik Samajer Katha while a bomb was thrown at Sakirul Kabir Riton, the secretary-general of the Jessore Union of Journalists and a reporter for Boishaki Television.

Many vehicles carrying media personnel were also attacked in the cities of Bogra and Noakhali.

The Bangladesh Editors' Council voiced concern about the attacks in a press release yesterday and urged the country's political parties to get their activists to stop targeting journalists. The statement also stressed the importance of active and independent media in a democratic society. The Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) issued a similar statement.

These attacks are the worst that the media have had to endure in the past eight years. Bangladesh is ranked 144th out of 179 countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
Gambia: Bans lifted on two media, but much still to be done

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 3 January 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Gambia: Bans lifted on two media, but much still to be done, 3 January 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b28de.html [accessed 29 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.

January 3, 2014

Reporters Without Borders takes note of a New Year's Day announcement by the president's office lifting bans on The Standard newspaper and Teranga FM community radio station. The bans had been in effect for more than 16 months.

"This announcement, described as a goodwill gesture by President Yahya Jammeh for the New Year, must not divert attention from all the violations of freedom of information that have taken place in recent months or the threats that continue to hang over journalists," Reporters Without Borders said.

Teranga FM was banned on 14 August 2012 for ignoring government warnings to stop broadcasting a very popular programme in which reports from the print media were read out on the air in Gambia's various languages. Launched in 2009, the radio has previously been silenced in January 2011.

The Standard was banned on 15 September 2012 for criticizing the presidential decision to end a 30-year-old moratorium on implementing the death penalty by having nine people executed. A ban that was imposed at the same time on the Daily News, another privately-owned paper, has yet to be lifted.

The announcement lifting the bans on The Standard and Teranga FM urged them to "operate within the framework of the laws governing the media in this country." But this offers few guarantees as the main media law, already one of the most repressive in Africa, was made even tougher last July.

Gambia's few independent media are often threatened on the grounds that they pose a danger to state security. Media personnel live in constant fear and censor themselves. Journalists who cause offence may have their passports confiscated to prevent them leaving the country. Others are subjected to judicial persecution.

Arrested in September and held incommunicado for several weeks, popular TV presenter Fatou Camara ended up fleeing the country to avoid trial on a sedition charge. A Foroyaa Newspaper messenger was arrested in November on charges of sedition and denigrating the president after ironically suggesting in a conversation that the president's portrait should be pasted in the sky. The Observer newspaper's deputy editor Alhagie Jobe is meanwhile imprisoned and being tried since February on four different charges in connection with the same article.

"The government must stop resorting to measures that make it impossible for the media to operate freely in Gambia, including outright bans and frequent prosecutions of journalists and other media personnel," Reporters Without Borders added. "In particular, we urge President Jammeh to lift the continuing ban on the Daily News."

Jammeh, who is on the Reporters Without Borders list of "predators of press freedom," has yet to name a successor to the information and communication minister, former journalist Nana Grey-Johnson, who he fired on 27 November 2013.
Angola: Six-month suspended sentence for report on police cell mistreatment

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 10 February 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Angola: Six-month suspended sentence for report on police cell mistreatment, 10 February 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b28ee.html [accessed 29 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.

February 10, 2014

Reporters Without Borders is appalled to learn that opposition radio journalist Queiros Anastacio Chiluvia was given a six-month suspended jail sentence on 7 February for broadcasting the shouts of detainees calling for help for a badly ill fellow detainee.

The news director of Radio Despertar, a station funded by the main opposition party Unita, Chiluvia was convicted on charges of defamation, offending the police and working illegally as a journalist. The six-month sentence was suspended for two years.

Reporters Without Borders was told by contacts in Angola that his lawyers plan to file a complaint with a higher-level court accusing the police of arbitrary arrest and mistreatment.

"The charges on which Radio Despertar's news director was convicted are totally unjustified," said Clea Kahn-Sriber, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk. "Is it defamatory to report cries for help on behalf of a detainee who died of his illness shortly after being taken to hospital thanks to this report?

"Did Chiluvia offend the police by going into a police station to seek an explanation? His conviction on these exaggerated charges by a low-level court suggest that the Angola authorities pay little heed to freedom information. It is disappointing to see justice institutions misused like this. We call for this conviction to be overturned."

Chiluvia was arrested in Cacuaco, a suburb of the capital, Luanda, on 2 February after asking the police about the cries he had heard while passing in front of the police station. The shouts came from detainees calling for help for a fellow inmate gravely ill with tuberculosis. When the police ignored his questions, Chiluvia broadcast the cries for help live on Radio Despertar.

As a result, he was arrested and held for five days without being charged or tried. On 7 February, he was finally brought before a judge, who convicted him and then released him after he had paid 2,000 dollars in bail.

The detainee with tuberculosis was transferred to hospital after Chiluvia's radio broadcast but died a few hours later.
Central African Republic: Unjustified criminal proceedings against three journalists

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 18 April 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Central African Republic: Unjustified criminal proceedings against three journalists, 18 April 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b28fc.html [accessed 29 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.

April 18, 2014

Reporters Without Borders is worried by the criminal proceedings that the CAR authorities have initiated against three journalists and urges the media and the transitional authorities to defuse the tension in their relations.

Last week, two newspaper editors were arrested and taken before a judge on charges of libelling President Catherine Samba Panza in articles. They are now being held in Bangui prison. A warrant was issued for the arrest of a third journalist, who is on the run.

The arrests were carried out although the newspapers had already been suspended by a special court of peers, which includes representatives of the Observatory for Central African Media (OMCA) and the Union of Central African Journalists (UJCA).

"While deploring the quality of these articles, which the UJCA president himself described as worthy of 'gutter press,' we are disturbed to see journalists detained for offences that have been decriminalized for nearly ten years under the 2005 press law," said Clea Kahn-Sriber, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa Desk.

"We would also like to know the legal grounds used by state prosecutor Ghislain Gresenguet for issuing the warrants for the arrest of these three journalists, inasmuch as the main person concerned, the president, did not bring a complaint against theses publications."

Arrested on 14 and 15 April respectively, Le Palmares editor Regis Zouiri and Le Peuple editor Patrick Stephane Akibata appeared in court on charges of "insulting the president," "defamation," "public insult" and "attacking internal state security" and were then taken to Bangui prison.

Only the last of the four charges should be the subject of criminal proceedings. The third journalist, currently on the run, is Ferdinand Samba of Le Democrate.

During the hearing on 8 April before the court of peers, attended by the deputy prosecutor, Le Peuple and Le Democrate were sentenced to suspensions of one and two weeks respectively.

It is essential in the CAR's current political and security crisis that the media and the authorities should each respect the roles and responsibilities of the other. The media's right to freedom of expression is balanced by the duty to be accurate, to gauge the right tone to use, to verify sources and to corroborate facts.

At the same time, it would benefit the transitional authorities, which have duty to restore the rule of law as quickly as possible, if they were to ensure that the existing national laws are applied rather than misused for short-term objectives.

The Central African Republic fell from 65th to 109th position in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. This was the biggest fall of any of the 180 countries ranked in the index.
Burma: Win Tin's fight for press freedom and democracy goes on

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 23 April 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Burma: Win Tin's fight for press freedom and democracy goes on, 23 April 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b290c.html [accessed 29 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.

April 23, 2014

Reporters Without Borders is deeply saddened to learn of the death of the dissident journalist Win Tin in Rangoon on 21 April. Burma has lost one of its staunchest defenders of democracy and freedom of information.

"His fight and his progressive ideas on basic freedoms will continue to inspire journalists, writers and intellectuals of all kinds in Burma and elsewhere in the world," said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire.

"Like Gandhi in India or Mandela in South Africa, Win Tin stands among the giants that remain models for the generations that follow."

Win Tin, editor of the daily Hanthawathi until it was banned in 1978, was arrested and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in 1989, on charges including providing the UN special rapporteur for Burma with information about the jail conditions and ill-treatment of detainees in the notorious Insein prison.

It is 25 years since he was imprisoned and the issues are still the same. In a report last month, the current UN rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, again highlighted the dangers facing journalists who publish news that is in the public interest. Four journalists from the Unity Weekly and its chief executive are currently detained and face charges of disclosing state secrets after they exposed the existence of a secret chemical weapons plant.

Two other journalists have been convicted for looking too closely into corruption cases. Last December, a journalist from the newspaper Daily Eleven was sentenced to three months' imprisonment, while a reporter from the Democratic Voice of Burma, Zaw Phay, was jailed for a year for investigating the local government's management of a scholarship program in Magwe province.

At the start of Win Tin's18th and penultimate year in prison, Reporters Without Borders noted the journalist's stance in support of freedom of expression and democracy "cannot allow us to forget the criminal attitude of the military junta".

The organization, while acknowledging the huge progress in freedom of information, made a new appeal to President Thein Sein for an investigation into the systematic and unpunished crimes and abuses endured by journalists and bloggers under the military junta.

"So far no one has been convicted of the murders of Burmese and foreign journalists by the military, especially during the saffron revolution," said Benjamin Ismail, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

Since the "Burmese spring", reforms have opened the country up to the world and set the government on the path to democracy, but there is still a long way to go before Win Tin's ideals become a reality. Burma is ranked 145th of 180 countries in the AWorld Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders in February this year.

"Recent legal proceedings against journalists who were merely doing their job lawfully, the approval of media laws that do not meet international standards and self-censorship which, where some sensitive subjects are concerned, now replaces the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, better known as the "censorship office", these are all challenges that the heirs to the fight for freedom of information, for which Win Tin gave his life, must tackle. The country's democratic transition is far from over. We should not forget that freedom of the press is its cornerstone."
Bolivia: Call for new efforts to find journalist missing since January

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 6 May 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Bolivia: Call for new efforts to find journalist missing since January, 6 May 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29137.html [accessed 29 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.

May 6, 2014

Reporters Without Borders has urged the Bolivian authorities to carry out a full investigation into the disappearance of the journalist Christian Osvaldo Mariscal Calvimontes, who works for Canal Plus TV Tarija and has been missing since 19 January.

Investigators first looked into the possibility that he had been involved in a lovers' quarrel. The family's lawyer said: "It is not possible that the investigation has made no progress in four months. Some development in local or national politics is holding it back."

Camille Soulier, head of the Reporters Without Borders Americas Desk, said: "This worrying disappearance must be investigated fully and we urge the authorities to make every effort to find Christian Mariscal.

"The possibility that it is connected to his work must not be ruled out. The impunity enjoyed by those who attack journalists in Bolivia is of particular concern.

"The double murder of the brother and sister Veronica and Victor Hugo Penasco Layme, in which eight of the 10 suspects have been freed and the two alleged murderers have still not been tried, is a painful reminder of this."

The journalist's girlfriend and her new partner were arrested by the authorities in February and were released on bail. On 28 April the two suspects were ordered to be placed under house arrest by the judge in charge of the case.
India: Journalists attacked in Kashmir while covering elections

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 28 April 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, India: Journalists attacked in Kashmir while covering elections, 28 April 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b291c.html [accessed 29 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.

April 28, 2014

Reporters Without Borders condemns attacks on journalists in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir during coverage of parliamentary elections that are taking in stages from 7 April to 12 May.

Sheikh Inayet, a local correspondent for Times Now TV, and Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, a reporter for the Sharherbeen Times, were covering a local party's election meeting in Bandipora on 19 April when they were attacked and badly injured by members of the elite Special Operations Group (SOG), as well as police officers and reservists.

Javed Dar, a photo-journalist working for Xinhua News, was attacked and injured by police in the town of Kulgam on 24 April, while the windows of the car of the journalist accompanying him, Farooq Javed Khan, were smashed.

Shabnam Fayz of Munsif TV and Aadil Umar Shah of Voice TV had to be hospitalized after being beaten by police while covering protests in Pulwama, a town to the west of Srinagar, on 24 April.

"We call on the central government to shed light on these attacks and to do what is necessary to arrest and punish those responsible," said Benjamin Ismail, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk. "The Kashmiri authorities must stop obstructing the work of journalists and stop controlling the flow of information in the region.

"In view of the electoral tension in Kashmir, it is vital that the authorities encourage a transparent election and allow a democratic debate. Kashmir must cease to be a lawless region in which journalists keep on having to expose themselves to danger."

Inayet told Reporters Without Borders: "We were surrounded by a score of police officers who began to beat us with their gun butts and canes as soon as they heard that we were Times Now journalists. They also took our cameras and damaged them."

Bhat said: "The police beat us unconscious. My back and arm were badly injured and I am unable to do my regular work."

Srinagar journalists staged a sit-in on 3 April in protest against the low number of press accreditations issued by the authorities, which restricted coverage of the candidate registration process.
TV journalist accused of attacking police in Guatemala

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 7 May 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, TV journalist accused of attacking police in Guatemala, 7 May 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29215.html [accessed 29 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.

May 7, 2014

Dadiana Cabrera, a journalist with Guatevision TV, is being prosecuted on an absurd charge of using violence against the police.

The case dates back to 27 February, when police handcuffed Cabrera for no apparent reason during an identity check in Guatemala City. A friend accompanying her was beaten by eight policemen after he tried to summon a police inspection vehicle, while Cabrera was taken to a police station and charged with "attacking authority."

A hearing was due to have been held yesterday at which the prosecutor's office wanted to use a procedure that was supposed to speed up the case and avoid the usual drawn-out trial.

But Cabrera rejected this option, resulting in a postponement until 24 June, when she will be required to demonstrate her innocence and the prosecution will not be required to prove her guilt.

"This procedure poses a very disturbing risk of a large fine or even detention for Cabrera, who is accused of carrying out the very attack of which she was the victim," said Camille Soulier, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Americas desk.

"The case is all the more worrying because the burden of proof has been reversed and she does not benefit from the presumption of innocence. The policemen involved in this case should be thoroughly investigated without delay, in order to shed light on this apparent abuse of authority."

The attack on Cabrera is symptomatic of the violence that journalists face in Guatemala. The creation of a proper mechanism for protecting journalists is one of the main recommendations of the April 2014 report on Guatemala by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The authorities have repeatedly pledged to adopt effective security measures for journalists but how can their promises be taken seriously when their hostility towards journalists keeps on growing?

El Periodico editor Jose Ruben Zamora is still facing charges on 13 counts as a result of complaints brought by President Otto Perez Molina and Vice-President Roxana Baldetti, which  contrary to their declared intention  they have not withdrawn.
Congo-Brazzaville: Congolese government shows double standard over media concentration

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 22 May 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Congo-Brazzaville: Congolese government shows double standard over media concentration, 22 May 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29315.html [accessed 29 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.

May 22, 2014

Reporters Without Borders is alarmed at the Congolese authorities' biased treatment of media groups that are critical of the government.

On 5 May, the chairman of the Talassa group, which includes a business newspaper, a bi-weekly, a monthly, a website and a printing plant, as well as an communication agency, was informed that its "certificate of declaration", granted by the High Council for Freedom of Communication (CSLC) in November 2001, had been withdrawn.

The decision, based on a 2011 law on freedom of information and communication which bans concentration of ownership in the communication and information business, could lead to the group's closure.

"Reporters Without Borders is astonished that such an offence appears to target only groups whose publications are critical of the government," said Clea Kahn-Sriber, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk.

"Similar groups headed by people close to the Congolese government have not been punished. Is this meant to silence critical voices on the eve of the planned referendum on the amendment of the 2002 constitution which could allow President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, in office since 1997, to serve another term?"

For example, the group Bassin du Congo-SA, which is led by a close ally of the president, owns the Adiac news agency, which is mostly financed by the government, as well as a daily newspaper, a website and a printing plant. The group DRTV, owned by a senior government official, General Norbert Dabira, has a radio station and two television stations.

The dismantling of the Talassa media group follows its publication in March of several articles that shed light on strange goings-on, such as a huge increase in the numbers of voters is regions that were sympathetic to the president, and the lack of a judicial investigation into the deaths of some 20 people in Brazzaville when the army arrested Colonel Marcel Ntsourou in December last year.

Last year, the biweekly newspaper Talassa was twice banned from publishing, first in June along with three other known for keeping their distance from the government, on grounds of "publishing seditious articles, disseminating false news, manipulating opinion and inciting violence, and defamation", and then for four months in February this year for repeatedly failing to respect the council.

In December, three newspapers, La Griffe, Le Nouveau Regard and La Verite, were also banned from publishing indefinitely for "undermining national security and a repeat offence of misrepresenting and distorting facts in order to abuse people's good faith".
Reporter threatened after helping to dismantle Hong Kong ring

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 23 June 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Reporter threatened after helping to dismantle Hong Kong ring, 23 June 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29415.html [accessed 29 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.

June 23, 2014

A self-styled "truth seeker" based in Slovakia who edits the online newspaper "La Voce," Papaleo specializes in investigating organized crime and has already worked on several stories involving corruption and international trafficking.

Using his own name, he set about acquiring the reputation of a corrupt, alcoholic and drug-taking journalist in 2010 and 2011 in order to increase his appeal to the criminal circles he wanted to infiltrate.

His latest investigation, begun in 2012, led to the arrests and trial of several suspects. It also resulted in death threats against Papaleo and a lack of interest on the part of the police in the European countries concerned.

"After risking his life to do investigative reporting, Papaleo is being rewarded by death threats from the criminal underworld and the indifference of many European officials who have been alerted to the situation," said Benjamin Ismail, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

"The Slovakian and Italian authorities must get involved and must help a citizen who has rendered a service of public interest. Concrete measures must be taken to protect Papaleo so that he can recover a normal life after exposing himself to great danger for more than two years."

In 2012, Papaleo started establishing contact with Czech and Slovak criminals involved in money-laundering in Hong Kong and Dubai, who decided to use him as the frontman of an operation to launder millions of euros involving the creation of two shell companies and many bank accounts.

After travelling to Hong Kong to open two bank accounts for this purpose, he tried to report what he had learned to the Czech and Slovak authorities, and to Interpol, on his return but they showed little interest.

So Papaleo went back to Hong Kong and reported his findings to the Special Bureau for Narcotic and Financial Crimes, which took him seriously and began an investigation. After the Hong Kong police arrested the head of the ring in May 2013, Papaleo received several death threats. Since then, the Hong Kong police have been asking the European authorities in vain to provide him with protection.

As a result of the complete lack of support from the European authorities, Papaleo went into hiding after testifying at the trial in Hong Kong last month.

Papaleo's financial situation is also poor because he has earned little from the story although it enabled the Hong Kong authorities to bring down a ring that was laundering a great deal of money. The care he took to always act legally makes the lack of both protection and recognition all the more shocking.
Whistleblowers could face up to 10 years' imprisonment in Australia

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 22 July 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Whistleblowers could face up to 10 years' imprisonment in Australia, 22 July 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29515.html [accessed 29 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.

July 22, 2014

Legislation submitted by Australia's Attorney-General George Brandis on 16 July makes the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the country's intelligence agency, untouchable. Among the many measures designed to protect it is total ban on disclosing information about "special intelligence operations" on penalty of imprisonment.

The national interest is invoked more and more at the expense of the public interest. The bill submitted by Brandis would be a serious blow to freedom of information and stands in contradiction to international treaties that Australia has signed.

The draft, entitled "National Security Legislation Amendment Bill", provides for a new offence, liable to five years' imprisonment, for anyone who discloses information without authorization about "special intelligence operations". The sentence can be increased to 10 years if the information "endangers the health or safety of any person or prejudices the effective conduct of a special intelligence operation".

Human rights violations can thus easily be covered up by the ASIO, especially since the classification of an operation as "special intelligence" would require only the consent of the security director-general or his deputy.

The bill will also strengthen the surveillance powers of the agency.

"This bill is dangerously imprecise and does not take account of the public interest in any shape or form, and as such it is a threat to freedom of information and a violation of international standards," said Benjamin Ismail, head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-pacific desk.

"Whistleblowers should not be subject to threats of this kind when they are carrying out the important task of disseminating news and information on behalf of their fellow citizens.

"We call on the attorney-general to scrap this bill, which is far too restrictive to be amended appropriately."

Paragraph 35P, entitled "Unauthorised disclosure of Information" states: "(1) a person commits an offence if (a) the person discloses information; and (b) the information relates to a special intelligence operation. Penalty: Imprisonment for five years."

Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Australia is a signatory, allows national security as legitimate grounds for restricting freedom of information but on the other hand General Comment 34 by the UN Human Rights Committee on article 19 says these restrictions must be closely regulated, exceptional, specific and justified.

The law should not make the link between national security and special intelligence operations a matter of routine. It is up to the government to demonstrate to the courts on each occasion that such operations are essential from a security standpoint and the dissemination of information about them could affect national security.

No more Edward Snowdens

The goal of the bill appears to be to avoid the emergence of an Australian Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower who published transcripts of wiretaps by the National Security Agency. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) published some of the documents leaked by Snowden showing that the Australian intelligence service had tapped the phones on Indonesian leaders including that of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Their publication caused a diplomatic row between the two countries and strong criticism by the government of the whistleblower and the news organizations that published the information.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott was highly critical of ABC. The station is a frequent target of abuse by the prime minister. In January this year, he took issue with an ABC report that a group of asylum seekers had been abused by the Australian navy, saying: "News that endangers the security of our country frankly shouldn't be fit to print".
Congo-Brazzaville: Congolese authorities expel troublesome journalist

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 26 September 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Congo-Brazzaville: Congolese authorities expel troublesome journalist, 26 September 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29615.html [accessed 29 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.

September 26, 2014

Sadio Kante Morel, a freelance journalist who has been in the government's sights for months, was expelled from the Republic of Congo on the night of 22 September on the spurious grounds that she is not Congolese and was residing in the country illegally.

In the Malian capital of Bamako, where she has found refuge, Kante Morel said she is the victim of an act of injustice. As someone born in the Congolese capital of Brazzaville, she automatically has Congolese citizenship.

"Was this a bureaucratic error or an excuse for getting rid of journalist who had become a nuisance?" said Clea Kahn-Sriber, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk.

"The authorities' recent behaviour towards the media inclines us towards the second hypothesis. Either way, we urge the government to immediately rescind her expulsion, which is unacceptable."

A former Reuters reporter, Kante Morel has often been virulent in her criticism of the government, in contrast to many of her colleagues, who resort to self-censorship as a way to survive.

When armed men invaded TV journalist Elie Smith's home on 10 September, Kante Morel was the first one to report it. In September 2013, police roughed her up when she tried to cover the trial of Marcel Ntsourou, an army colonel.

Respect for media freedom has been declining in recent months amid plans to hold a referendum on a constitutional amendment that would allow President Denis Sassou-Nguesso to run for another term in 2016.
Indonesia: French journalists to be freed after getting two and a half months sentences

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 24 October 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Indonesia: French journalists to be freed after getting two and a half months sentences, 24 October 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29911.html [accessed 29 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.

October 24, 2014

Reporters Without Borders welcomes the imminent release of Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat, two French journalists who have been held for the past 11 weeks in Indonesia's eastern province of Papua on a charge of misusing their tourist visas to do investigative reporting.

After being sentenced today to two and a half months in prison by a court in Jayapura, Papua's capital, they are to be released next week. The prosecutor requested a four-month sentence but the judge decided to sentence them to a period similar to what they had already spent in pre-trial detention.

Reporters Without Borders nonetheless regrets that were found guilty despite their right under international treaties to gather information as journalists.

"It is a big relief to know that Dandois and Bourrat will soon be released," Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire. "Any other outcome would have set a terrible precedent for media freedom in Indonesia. We stress that, according to the principles of international law, they did not commit any crime by courageously undertaking their investigative reporting in Indonesia."

The journalists' lawyer, Aristo Pangaribuan, told Reporters Without Borders: "On a practical perspective it's a good news, on monday they will be free. But legally speaking it isn't. This judgement sets a precedent which might be used by the authorities in the future to justify surveillance or arrests of foreign journalists in the region."

Dandois and Bourrat had received a great deal of international support in recent weeks, including extensive media coverage, many statements by human rights NGOs, appeals by their support committee and a petition for their release with more than 14,000 signatures.

Indonesia's low ranking in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, 132nd out of 180 countries, is due in part to the lack of transparency and restrictions on reporting in Papua.
A freelancer died in Burmese army custody, with the military claiming he was shot while trying to grab a soldier's weapon

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 30 October 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, A freelancer died in Burmese army custody, with the military claiming he was shot while trying to grab a soldier's weapon, 30 October 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29a13.html [accessed 29 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.

October 30, 2014

Journalist Aung Kyaw Naing, also known by the pseudonym Par Gyi, had been arrested while reporting on growing tensions between the regular Burmese army and the Democratic Buddhist Karen Army in southern Mon state.

The army suspected Aung Kyaw Naing of being a member of the rebel secessionist movement in Karen state, which borders Mon. False information had been circulating online for several days, including photos of members of the DBKA who falsely identified the journalist as an active member of the armed group.

For journalists, the killing recalls the rule of the authoritarian military junta that was officially dissolved in 2011. Reporters Without Borders expresses its condolences to Aung Kyaw Naing's family and friends.

"This murder is a tragic demonstration of the government's step backwards over the past year," said Benjamin Ismail, head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk. "With the International Day to End Impunity for crimes against journalists approaching, the government must take all measures to shed light on this case."

Lucie Morillon, the free press organization's programme director, also raised the issue of accountability. "We remind the Burmese government of the importance of fighting impunity," Morillon said. "Last year, we brought to the attention of President Thein Sein and Deputy Information Minister Ye Htut the need to identify those responsible for army crimes against Burmese and foreign journalists under the junta. That task is vital for changing the mentality of the security forces and promoting a sense of responsibility among them."

Aung Kyaw Naing disappeared on 30 September. His wife alerted the media during the days that followed. But not until 25 October did the army tell the Press Council that the journalist had been killed three weeks earlier and had already been buried.

The false allegations that Aung Kyaw Naing was a member of the Karen army circulated after the disclosure to the Press Council. He regularly covered ethnic tensions in the country's south, near the border with Thailand. He worked for several publications, including the Yangon Times, Eleven Media Group, and The Voice.

Burma ranks 145th of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders 2014 world press freedom index.
Bangladesh: Court finds British journalist guilty of contempt

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 3 December 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Bangladesh: Court finds British journalist guilty of contempt, 3 December 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29bc.html [accessed 29 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.

December 3, 2014

Dhaka's "International Crimes Tribunal" yesterday found Bangladesh-based British investigative journalist David Bergman guilty of contempt of court for questioning the tribunal's use of the 1971 independence war's official death toll in one of its rulings.

The case has reinforced Reporters Without Borders' concern about the readiness of Bangladesh's courts to convict journalists of contempt of court.

The tribunal ordered David Bergman to pay a fine of 5,000 taka (50 euros) or go to prison for a week for three articles he posted on his "Bangladesh war crimes" blog on 11 and 12 November 2011 that were entitled "Sayedee indictment  1971 deaths", "Sayedee indictment analysis  charges" and "Sayedee indictment analysis  legal".

In these posts, Bergman referred to the lack of evidence supporting the official toll of 3 million dead and cited independent estimates that were much lower.

"This contempt of court conviction constitutes a direct attack on freedom of the media and information in Bangladesh," said Benjamin Ismail, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

"For the past ten years we have been asking the authorities to repeal the contempt law, under which journalists can be jailed just for expressing views different from those of the courts. The entire judicial system is now off-limits for the media. No critical coverage of the justice system and court cases will be possible as long as this threat continues to hang over journalists."

His lawyer is considering an appeal but added that the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act of 1973 did not provide a right of appeal and section 47a of the constitution could also limit any attempt to challenge this denial of a right.

Many journalists have been charged with contempt  and often convicted  by high court judges or judges with the International Crimes Tribunal.

In March, a high court judge found Prothom Alo joint editor Mizanur Rahman Khan guilty of contempt in connection with an article he wrote about a series of bail decisions. He was fined 5,000 taka, with the court considering his having stood in court for the previous five days sufficient additional punishment. In December 2012, two journalists with The Economist magazine who live outside Bangladesh were charged with contempt for an article questioning the tribunal's independence. They were later acquitted.

Mahmudur Rahman, the editor of the opposition daily Amar Desh, was sentenced to seven months in prison on 19 August 2010 on various charges including contempt of court. Two weeks after completing his sentence in March 2011, another warrant was issued for his arrest on a similar contempt charge in connection with a 2010 article criticizing Awami League leaders.

Both the publisher and the editor of the Dainik Manabzamin newspaper were sentenced to a month in prison and a fine on a contempt charge in 2002.
Bulgaria: Investigative news site ordered to name sources, employees

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 10 December 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Bulgaria: Investigative news site ordered to name sources, employees, 10 December 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29cc.html [accessed 29 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.

December 10, 2014

The Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission has ordered Bivol.bg, a Bulgarian news website that specializes in investigating corruption, to reveal its sources for recent stories about questionable bank loans or face a fine.

WikiLeaks' partner in Bulgaria, Bivol.bg received the order in the form of a letter sent by email on 8 December. And today Bivol.bg received an email from the central bank retracting an undertaking to investigate the claims that the website made in these stories.

Responsible for ensuring banking stability and transparency, the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission asked Bivol.bg to provide not only its sources but also the names and addresses of its reporters and supervising editor within three days.

The letter acknowledged that the website was not legally obliged to reveal its sources but nonetheless warned that the commission could impose a fine ranging from 1,000 to 4,000 euros if it did not comply.

The commission's letter was prompted by three articles (available in English here, here and here) raising questions about the legality of loans by a Bulgarian bank called First Investment Bank (Fibank).

The commission said it was investigating the possibility that the website was guilty of "trafficking in confidential information" and "market manipulation" under the law on financial abuses.

The weekly Capital received similar letters from the commission earlier this year after publishing stories about the Bulgarian banking sector.

"The Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission is assuming an authority that far exceeds its powers," Reporters Without Borders programme director Lucie Morillon said.

"It is forgetting the public's right to be told about possible bad practices by a bank that is quoted on the main Sofia stock exchange and recently received a 600 million euro state loan. These demands on Bivol.bg are unacceptable and unworthy of a public body tasked with ensuring banking sector transparency. They must simply be withdrawn."

The letter emailed today to Bivol.bg by the Bulgarian National Bank, the country's central bank, not only retracted its earlier promise to verify the claims made the website but also contained a warning.

It said: "We draw your attention to the fact that the dissemination of false information makes you liable under the law, especially when companies quoted on the stock exchanges are concerned." This grotesque U-turn shows how determined the banking regulators now are to silence Bivol.bg.
Germany: Neo-Nazis suspected in torching of journalist's car

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 30 December 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Germany: Neo-Nazis suspected in torching of journalist's car, 30 December 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29d4.html [accessed 29 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.

December 30, 2014

Reporters Without Borders condemns last weekend's arson attack on a German photojournalist's car in Berlin, in which right-wing extremists are suspected. It was the second such attack this year on the journalist, who has been the target of neo-Nazi threats.

The car, which was parked outside his home, was found burning in the early hours of 27 December. The fire gutted the vehicle's engine compartment. The car of a local politician involved in anti-neo-Nazi activities was also set on fire the same night.

When the photographer, who has asked not to be identified, was the victim of a similar arson attack in April, a local politician with known links to anti-neo-Nazi groups was also the target of a similar attack at almost the same time.

"It is intolerable that such acts, clearly designed to intimidate a journalist critical of neo-Nazi activities, should be able to take place repeatedly," Reporters Without Borders Germany spokesperson Astrid Frohloff said. "Prosecutors and police should spare no effort to bring those behind these attacks to justice and prevent any recurrence."

Police said the Berlin Office of Criminal Investigation was investigating the possibility that last weekend's attack was politically motivated.

The photographer often covers right-wing demonstrations and is one of 18 photo-journalists whose names and photos appeared in a "wanted poster" that right-wing activists have been circulating since November, often accompanied by threatening comments and slogans such as "Lying press, shut up."

He said a well-known neo-Nazi took a photo of him in his car about two months before the first arson attack.

Frequent neo-Nazi threats against journalists

Similar verbal insults and threats have repeatedly been reported during far-right demonstrations in Germany in recent months, including at "Hooligans against Salafists" demonstrations in Cologne in October and in Hannover in mid-November. In December, police banned a demonstration that a far-right party wanted to stage outside a local journalist's home in Dortmund.

The head of Berlin's police and the head of its interior department were recently criticized by journalists' representatives and opposition politicians after reports that police repeatedly failed to intervene to protect journalists from being threatened and jostled during a series of anti-refugee demonstrations in Berlin.

The offices of regional newspapers have also been daubed with far-right and xenophobe graffiti. This happened twice in September to the Lausitzer Rundschau, a newspaper in Brandenburg state that has won awards for standing up to neo-Nazi activity and was already targeted in a similar fashion in 2013. The offices of the Nordkurier newspaper in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were targeted with neo-Nazi and anti-refugee graffiti and posters twice in December.

It has meanwhile emerged that, for several years, Lower Saxony state's domestic intelligence department has been illegally spying on well-known journalists who investigate neo-Nazi activities such as Andrea Roepke and Kai Budler. Since this spying came to light, these journalists have been fighting to get full access to the information gathered about them.
France: "Blasphemy" concerns must not limit freedom of information

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 8 January 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, France: "Blasphemy" concerns must not limit freedom of information, 8 January 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29e9.html [accessed 29 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.

January 8, 2015

Yesterday's attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris, in which 12 people died, has served as a tragic reminder of the dangers to which journalists covering sensitive religious issues are permanently exposed.

In a December 2013 report entitled "Blasphemy: Information sacrificed on altar of religion," Reporters Without Borders examined the "crime" of blasphemy and its consequences for journalists worldwide. Sadly, this report is still very relevant.

The ability of journalists to freely cover religious issues in a various ways, including the use of humour, is again being challenged both in France and the rest of the world.

Journalists are increasingly facing religious taboos and censorship that influential groups are trying to impose. Columnists, editorial writers and cartoonists are among the journalists who are most exposed to threats, prosecution and even physical attacks.

The fire-bombing of Charlie Hebdo's offices in 2011 in reprisal for a "Charia Hebdo" special issue and an attempt to murder Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard in 2010 in response to the Jyllands-Posten newspaper's publication of his Mohamed cartoons marked the public debate on the "right to blaspheme" that continues in Europe and elsewhere.

Citing many cases such as the death sentence that fundamentalists passed on the blogger Asif Mohiuddin in Bangladesh and the 2011 trial of Boris Obraztsov, the editor of the Kaliningrad-based newspaper Tridevyaty Region, for criticizing the Orthodox clergy, the Reporters Without Borders report analyses the dangers that result from blasphemy allegations being used to restrict free speech.

The report also looks at political use of the charge of "offence against religion"  an offence that is punished harshly in many parts of the world  and the campaign by certain countries and organizations such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to impose an international ban "blasphemy" or "defamation of religion."

And the report examines the legal and international challenges stemming from the fact that "blasphemy" is defined as crime in the legislation of many countries.

Reporters Without Borders is of the firmly-held view that blasphemy allegations should never be used to restrict free speech or media freedom,which are enshrined in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Read the report here
Germany: Hamburg newspaper firebombed after reprinting Mohammed cartoons

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 11 January 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Germany: Hamburg newspaper firebombed after reprinting Mohammed cartoons, 11 January 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b29f11.html [accessed 29 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.

January 11, 2015

Reporters Without Borders is appalled by last night's arson attack on the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper after it published several Mohammed cartoons as a tribute to the Charlie Hebdo journalists who were murdered last week.

Rocks and a firebomb were thrown through the Hamburg-based newspaper's basement widow, starting a small fire that damaged files but caused no injuries.

Although the motive for the attack has not been identified, it came two days after the newspaper reprinted several of the Mohammed cartoons that were published by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

"We firmly condemn this arson attack," Reporters Without Borders deputy programme director Virginie Dangles said. "Media freedom is a non-negotiable fundamental right. Attacks of this kind against media or journalists are completely unacceptable."

The car of a photojournalist who often covers neo-Nazi demonstrations was the target of an arson attack in Berlin last month. He was one of 18 photojournalists whose names and photos appeared on a "wanted list" posted online in November by far-right activists.
Bulgaria: Authorities ramp up pressure on media over banking disclosures

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 21 January 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Bulgaria: Authorities ramp up pressure on media over banking disclosures, 21 January 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2a0c.html [accessed 29 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.

January 21, 2015

The Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission has imposed fines of up to 80,000 euros each on several newspapers for disclosing information about the banking sector. Reporters Without Borders deplores this political attempt to silence news organizations.

Earlier this month the Commission ordered the Economedia publishing group to pay a record fine of 150,000 leva (approx. 80,000 euros). The group, which publishes the weekly Capital and the daily Dnevnik, also received an additional fine of 10,000 (5,000 euros) for refusing to disclose its sources.

The commission based its case on the law against market manipulation. A fine of 100,000 leva stemmed from complaints by the construction firms Vodstroy 98 and Industrial Construction Holding. Capital reported that the two firms, controlled by the entrepreneur and politician Delyan Peevski of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, had withdrawn their assets from the First Investment Bank (Fibank). Economedia must also pay a fine of 50,000 leva (approx. 25,000 euros) for publishing a story about the pharmaceutical company Sophorama.

It was the first time that the Financial Supervision Commission had imposed such high fines. The total of fines imposed for market manipulation for 2013 was less than the fine received by Economedia alone.

"The commission is clearly trying to silence these newspaper which, for several years, have been disclosing serious irregularities in the financial sector," said Reporters Without Borders programme director Lucie Morillon.

Record fines aimed at censuring media

Other news organizations have also been hit by sanctions imposed by the Financial Supervision Commission and the Bulgarian National Bank.

In early January, the online newspaper zovnews.com was fined 100,000 leva by the commission for reporting that Fibank was under threat of bankruptcy. One journalist who was not identified was fined 50,000 leva.

Late last year, the Financial Supervision Commission also launched similar legal proceedings against two other news organizations  the websites mediapool.bg and bivol.bg.

In October 2012, Reporters Without Borders condemned a lawsuit launched by the Bulgarian National Bank against the bivol.bg news website.

"The Financial Supervision Commission attacks news organizations that mention the banking crisis ... and the inability of institutions and politicians to respond to it resolutely and decisively," said Alexander Kashumov, a lawyer and campaigner for freedom of expression who represents Economedia. "Instead of punishing those responsible for the instability, they target the messenger."

Tried and tested modus operandi

The Financial Supervision Commission launched major proceedings against Capital and Economedia in summer 2014 and since then the editorial department of Capital has received dozens of letters containing allegations of infringements of the law. It was also ordered to disclose its sources.

"Instead of working to restore stability and confidence in the financial system, the commission has undertaken extreme action against the media," said Galya Prokopieva, managing director of Economedia. "In doing so, it has revealed the extent of the institutional crisis among financial regulators."

Yesterday, 200 people demonstrated in protest against the fines outside the Bulgarian Parliament in response to an appeal by the recently launched NGO Free Word

Fair trial

The right to a fair trial is protected under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states: "In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge ... everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law." The commission's actions are now threatening this right.

"The Financial Supervision Commission is incapable of guaranteeing impartiality, independence and the right to be heard," said Lucie Morillon. "It is part of the banking world and should not in any circumstances prevail over the Bulgarian constitution, which is the guarantor of freedom of the press. Furthermore, the commission has no jurisdiction over the rights of the media and it is the responsibility of the Bulgarian government not to ensure the media are not censored by the imposition of such high fines."
Bahrain: Rights activist arrested over tweet about prison torture

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 7 April 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Bahrain: Rights activist arrested over tweet about prison torture, 7 April 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2a127.html [accessed 29 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.

April 7, 2015

Reporters Without Borders condemns renewed efforts by the Bahraini authorities to censor online information, including leading human rights defender Nabeel Rajab's latest arrest on 2 April and attempts to suppress information about the mistreatment of imprisoned journalists and online activists.

The head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), Nabeel Rajab was arrested for a tweet about torture in Jaw prison that he posted a week after writing an article about torture for the Huffington Post. He was sentenced so six months in prison on 20 January for allegedly insulting the police in an earlier tweet but was still at large pending a ruling on his appeal, which has been postponed until 4 May.

Last week's arrest was carried out by police who were waiting for him in about 20 police cars outside his home in Bani Jamra with a arrest warrant for using Twitter to allegedly spread false news that threatened civil peace.

In a video recording of his arrest, Rajab described it as another attempt to suppress freedom of expression in Bahrain and pledged not to abandon his defence of human rights.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the Bahraini government's persecution of this human rights activist.

"They are trying to silence Nabeel Rajab, a dissident who has been systematically documenting human rights violations in the Kingdom of Bahrain for years," Reporters Without Borders programme director Lucie Morillon said. "We call for his immediate and unconditional release."

Colleagues reported on his Twitter account that Rajab was brought before a judge on 5 April on charges of inciting hatred against the government, defamation and disseminating false news.

Terrible conditions in Jaw prison

Mistreatment of prisoners has often been reported in the past but Jaw prison has been in the spotlight since violent clashes between inmates and guards there on 10 March. Relatives of detainees are worried because visits have been cancelled and they have received no news of their loved ones since the clashes.

According to our sources, the family of Ahmed Humeidan  an internationally renowned photographer arrested in December 2012 and sentenced to ten years in prison in August 2014  has not heard from him and is very worried by reports that he has been tortured and has been forced to spend nights outside in the cold without being allowed to use the prison's latrines.

The relatives of another detained photographer, Hussain Hubail, said that they were able to talk to Hubail for a few minutes by phone and that he told them that he and other detainees were spending their nights in a tent outside the prison compound and were subject to the same ban on using the latrines.

Arrested on 31 July 2013 and sentenced to five years in prison on 28 April 2014, Hubail is ill and needs special treatment.

The authorities cancelled the visits scheduled in March for the relatives of Qassim Zain El Deen (a cameraman arrested in August 2013 and sentenced to three years in prison), online activist Jassim Al-Nouaimi (arrested on 31 August 2013 and given a five-year sentence on 28 April 2014) and online activist Ali Al Mearaj (arrested on 6 January 2014 and given a 30-month sentence on 8 April 2014).

Trials postponed

The trials of three photographers, Ahmed Zain El Deen, Mustapha Rabea and Houssam Sroor, have been postponed until 16 April. Rabea also has a hearing scheduled for 26 April.

Ahmed El Mousawi's trial has been postponed until 23 April.
Paraguayan reporter gunned down on Brazilian side of border

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 9 March 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Paraguayan reporter gunned down on Brazilian side of border, 9 March 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2a1a.html [accessed 29 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.

March 9, 2015

Last week's murder of Gerardo Servian Coronel, a radio journalist based in the Paraguayan border town of Zanja Pyta, in the eastern department of Amambay, has again highlighted the dangers for journalists working in Paraguay's northeastern border region.

Servian, who worked for Radio Ciudad Nueva, a local station, was gunned down by two men on a motorcycle on 4 March while in the nearby Brazilian border city of Ponta Pora.

The Paraguayan Union of Journalists (SPP) said Servian was critical of the local government. Radio Ciudad Nueva owner Miguel Orlando said he did not know if Servian had received threats.

Servian's brother, fellow journalist Gerardo Servian, received death threats after working with Santiago Leguizamon, a radio journalist whose April 1991 murder is still unpunished. Leguizamon ran Radio Mburucuya, a station based in Pedro Juan Caballero (15 km northwest of Zanja Pyta).

"We urge the Brazilian authorities to conduct an exhaustive, independent and impartial investigation into Servian's murder and to not rule out the possibility that it was linked to his journalistic work," said Claire San Filippo, the head of the Reporters Without Borders America's desk.

"His death must not join this border region's long list of unpunished murders of journalists. We urge the Paraguayan and Brazilian authorities to establish effective protective measure for journalists in this region so that they can work without fearing for their lives."

According to organizations that defend Paraguayan journalists, Servian is the 17th journalist to be murdered in Paraguay in the past two decades. Most of these murders have been reprisals for investigative reporting on the links between organized crime and politics.

Servian was murdered one day after Wilmar "Neneco" Acosta, the former mayor of Ypehu, a Paraguayan border town in the neighbouring department of Canindeyu, was arrested in the Brazilian city of Dourados for allegedly instigating the murders of ABC Color reporter Pablo Medina and his assistant, Antonia Ledesma, in Canindeyu in October 2014.

Medina had been threatened repeatedly in connection with his coverage of drug trafficking in the region.

Paraguay's northeastern border region, including Amambay department, is a hub of trafficking of drugs to South America's Southern Cone. It is extremely dangerous for journalists, who are the frequent victims of violence by traffickers and corrupt local authorities.

Two journalists were murdered in Paraguay in direct connection with their work in 2014. Impunity continues to be the rule and the country suffers from the lack of a national mechanism for protecting media personnel.
EU plans to provide Eritrea's oppressive regime with new funding

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 28 April 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, EU plans to provide Eritrea's oppressive regime with new funding, 28 April 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2a215.html [accessed 29 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.

April 28, 2015

Reporters Without Borders calls on the European Union to condition additional aid to Eritrea via the European Development Fund (EDF) on a significant improvement in fundamental freedoms, including freedom of information.

The EDF is the main instrument for EU development assistance. Under the 11th EDF, the EU's Eritrean "partner" is to get renewed funding although it continues to flout freedom of expression and information, and human rights in general.

An Italian delegation that visited Eritrea from 24 to 26 March met with President Issayas Afeworki, his political adviser Yemane Ghebreaben, and several ministers. Ghebreaben assured the delegation that Eritrea would carry out democratic reforms "in its own way" during the next three to five years.

Such promises have been made in the past without any significant improvements ever being seen. The Eritrean authorities continue to be inflexible as regards the detention of political prisoners, including many journalists, claiming that high treason and national sovereignty issues are involved.

"It is astounding that the European Union provides Issayas Afeworki's regime with so much aid without seeking anything in return in the areas of human rights and freedom of expression, although Eritrea's constitution guarantees the right to free speech," said Clea Kahn-Sriber, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk.

"This country, which has never had democratic elections, is subject to a single man's will. How can the European Union, which defends the rule of law and democratic values, support such a regime? While it is important to maintain a dialogue, there is a limit to how far you can go in accommodating a dictatorship that does not keep its promises".

"Wouldn't it be in the EU's own interest, as the recent deaths of hundreds migrants in the Mediterranean have reminded us, to encourage the development of a government that respects human rights and allows young Eritreans to see an alternative to a future of forced conscription of indeterminate duration?"

Kahn-Sriber added: "We call on the European Union to condition its funding on Eritrean government guarantees for more respect for human rights, including the release of imprisoned journalists who are political prisoners and authorization for media pluralism."

Reporters Without Borders condemned the five-year EDF funding that the European Union awarded Eritrea in 2009 although the situation of political prisoners had worsened considerably and more journalists had been arrested.

Contrary to its repeated promises to improve respect for human rights, the Eritrean regime has become steadily more oppressive and, although a small country, detains more journalists than any other African nation.

Since closing down all privately-owned media outlets in 2001, the government has exercised complete control over news and information, repeatedly cracking down on independent journalism and trying to jam independent news radio broadcasts from outside the country.

The least critical opinion can lead to permanent incarceration without trial in unbearable conditions in one of the country prison camps. Of the 11 journalists arrested in 2001, at least seven have died or taken their own lives in detention.
Afghanistan: Ministry disbands commission that harassed news media

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 7 May 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Afghanistan: Ministry disbands commission that harassed news media, 7 May 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2a42b.html [accessed 29 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.

May 7, 2015

Reporters Without Borders welcomes the Afghan information and culture ministry's announcement on 5 May that "under article 42 of the press law, it is terminating the activities of the commission for the verification of press offences."

The announcement added that the ministry would "quickly organize a consultation with journalists' associations with a view to creating the media commission envisaged under the new law in order to improve media conditions in Afghanistan."

Created under an old law, the commission for the verification of press offences was maintained because of a request by the previous minister that was approved by parliament. Its activities had been a source of conflict between the authorities and journalists' associations for the past two years.

Reporters Without Borders had also repeatedly condemned the commission's decisions, most recently on 3 May (World Press Freedom Day), when the commission summoned four national dailies, apparently in connection with articles criticizing a decision by the ministry.

Contacted by Reporters Without Borders on 5 May, the new information and culture minister, former journalist AbdulBari Jahani, emphasized his commitment to freedom of information and added: "The summons was a misunderstanding. Matters will soon be clarified." The communique announcing the commission's dissolution was issued a few hours later.

"We welcome this decision and we hope that it will soon be followed by others in the same vein, in particular, the creation of the media commission," said Reza Moini, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Iran/Afghanistan desk.

"As a regulatory body, the media commission could play an important role in protecting and reinforcing freedom of information. It is vital that it should see the light of day as soon as possible."
Ethiopia: Zone9 bloggers 365 days too many in prison

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 29 April 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Ethiopia: Zone9 bloggers 365 days too many in prison, 29 April 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2a46.html [accessed 29 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.

April 29, 2015

Six bloggers with the Zone 9 Collective and three journalists who were arrested at the same time have just begun their second year in prison without any possibility of being freed on bail. This past weekend was the anniversary their arrests. Reporters Without Borders condemns their arbitrary persecution by Ethiopia's government with the aim of silencing independent voices.

The six Zone9 bloggers (Atnaf Berhane, Mahlet Fantahun, Befekadu Hailu, Abel Wabella, Natnail Feleke and Zelalem Kibret) and the three journalists (Addis Standard's Tesfalem Waldyes, former Addis Zemen employee Edom Kasaye and Addis Guday's Asmamaw Hailegiorgis) were arrested in a coordinated operation in Addis Ababa on 25 and 26 April 2014.

In the past year, their trial has been adjourned 27 times and their requests for release on bail systematically denied. Nonetheless, the prosecution has still not been able to produce evidence against them or say exactly what they are supposed to have done that justifies holding them.

"We call for the immediate release of these bloggers and journalists, who have been unjustly detained for more than a year," said Clea Kahn-Sriber, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk. "Their prolonged detention without any possibility of release on bail violates their right to due process."

"As David Kaye, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, has noted, Ethiopia recognized the need to respect media freedom during its last Universal Periodic Review by the UN Human Rights Council. So why is it waiting to implement it?"

Kaye said on 25 April: "The continued detention of these journalists is absolutely unacceptable and particularly worrying as the country prepares to hold parliamentary elections on 24 May. The open public debate that should mark any democratic process is obviously undermined if journalists are silenced through harassment or detention."

The nine defendants are charged under the 2009 anti-terrorism law with "organizing themselves into covert groups to overthrow the government by contacting and receiving finance and training from two terrorist groups"  a charge that carries a possible 15-year jail sentence. Soliyana Shimelis, the group's cofounder, who had fled abroad before the arrests, is being tried in absentia.

The next hearing has been scheduled for 26 May.
Afghan authorities must end impunity for crimes against journalists

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 8 June 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Afghan authorities must end impunity for crimes against journalists, 8 June 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2a515.html [accessed 29 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.

June 8, 2015  Updated on June 9, 2016

During a week that has seen the anniversaries of the still unpunished murders of two well-known journalists, Zakia Zaki and Abdul Samad Rohani, Reporters Without Borders reiterates its condemnation of the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for crimes of violence against media personnel in Afghanistan.

During a week that has seen the anniversaries of the still unpunished murders of two well-known journalists, Zakia Zaki and Abdul Samad Rohani, Reporters Without Borders reiterates its condemnation of the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for crimes of violence against media personnel in Afghanistan. Rohani's body was found seven years ago today. The eighth anniversary of Zaki's murder was two days ago.

Although Afghnistan's national unity government has taken measures designed to improve freedom of information, including dissolving the commission for the verification of press offences and adopting a law on access to information, journalists are increasingly the targets of acts of violence and intimidation.

In one of the latest examples, Haji Asheghalah Vafa, a parliamentary representative for the northern province of Baghlan, threatened the head of local Tanvir TV, Shir Mohammad Jahesh, on 26 May, saying: "Your life will end on this Saturday, 30 May, when I arrive."

Jahesh told Reporters Without Borders he was terrified by the parliamentarian's threat and had sought refuge in Kabul. "All this just because of a report about a police commander who was removed and transferred to another region," he said.

President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai has nonetheless written a letter of commitment to support free media and journalists that has been endorsed by Abdullah Abdullah, his chief executive in the national unity government. It aims to render justice and end in impunity, and to reopen the cases of journalists who have been murdered in the past ten years.

Reopening cases of murdered journalists

At a meeting with prosecutors on 30 November 2014, First Vice-President Abdul Rachid Dostom formally asked the attorney-general to reopen all the cases of murdered journalists. He also requested the creation of a commission to monitor these cases and asked to be kept informed about progress in the investigations.

"I have promised to inform journalists on the International Day Against Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists," he said. The attorney-general responded that "the cases will be carefully studied so that those responsible are identified and punished."

But so far, the prosecutor's office and the vice-president have not provided any information about the state of these investigations.

"The reopening of the cases of murdered journalists is an important step by the government and the judicial system," said Reza Moini, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Afghanistan desk.

"Impunity reigns in the immense majority of murders and physical attacks against journalists, and the authorities have a duty to be as transparent as possible about the progress of the investigations. We must not forget that the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators encourages them to continue violating human rights and freedom of information. The murders of Afghan journalists are not just crimes against freedom of expression but also war crimes that must be severely punished."

Journalists have paid a high price in Afghanistan since 2001. At least 33 have been killed in connection with the work. They include 15 foreign journalists  four German, two French, two Italian, two Swedish, one Australian, one Canadian, one Norwegian, one American, and one British. Most of these murders are still unpunished.

Anniversaries of two unpunished murders

Most of the crimes of violence against journalists occur outside the capital. They include the two murders whose anniversaries were marked this week, one today and one two days ago.

Zakia Zaki, the director of Sada-e-Solh (Voice of Peace Radio) in the province of Parwan, was gunned down in her home, in front of her two-year-old son, on 6 June 2007. Her killers have never been publicly identified or brought to justice. Her death has never been properly investigated.

Reporters Without Borders said the following about Zaki's death in the report entitled "Presidential election in Afghanistan: local media on the front line" that it published in March 2014:

"According to the information obtained by Reporters Without Borders, the murderers were followers of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the founder and leader of the Islamist group Hezb-e-Islami (HIA). Several sources said that, several months before Zaki's murder, Hekmatyar issued a fatwa against her, saying: 'If you want to protect Islam, you must silence this woman's voice.' A radical fundamentalist group, HIA is an ally of the Taliban in their fight against the Afghan government and the foreign military forces. At the same time, it has representatives within the government."

The report quoted a senior police officer as saying: "The first suspect, the head of the commando implicated in the journalist's death, was killed by foreign forces a year after the murder. He was one of the assailants who attacked a military base in the region. The government knew full well that he was one of the local Hezb-e-Islami leaders but did not know he was involved in Zakia Zaki's death. We determined that when we found his gun on him. It was the gun that was used to kill the journalist. As for the other two assailants, one is in prison for other crimes and the third is also apparently in prison."

The former information and culture minister told Reporters Without Borders on 29 September 2013 that the murderers have been punished. He said that they had been arrested in other cases, that two of them were dead and that a third was still in prison. He provided no further explanation.

The body of Abdul Samad Rohani was found on 8 June 2008, a day after gunmen detained him on the outskirts of the southern city of Lashkar Gah. He had been shot three times and, according to a forensic doctor, he was tortured before being killed.

Aged 25, he was a Helmand province reporter for the BBC's Pashto and Persian language services and had worked for the Afghan independent news agency Pajhwok since 2004.

During a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of his death, Pajhwok editor in chief Danish Karokhel told Reporters Without Borders: "We have been asking the same thing over and again for the entire year, namely, can we at least know the identity of those who killed our colleague? We know the Afghan government is too weak to arrest and try those responsible. At least we could hope that the media would be able investigate the murder. But they cannot. Why is everyone so afraid of looking into this case?"

War crimes

Destabilized by an increasingly violent civil war, Afghanistan finds its extremely difficult to protect journalists. Since the start of this spring, Taliban attacks have been directly targeting foreign civilians, regarded by the Taliban as "citizens of occupying countries" and as "state collaborators."

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has reported a record high number of 2,937 civilian casualties during the first four months of 2015 (974 civilian deaths and 1,963 injured)  a 16 percent increase over the same period in 2014.

On 31 May, UNAMA human rights director Georgette Gagnon described these attacks as war crimes.

Unfortunately, a sector of the government is simultaneously holding peace talks with these criminals. Most of the slain journalists were directly killed by the Taliban, who are waging a war opposed to the Afghan people's desire for peace and democracy. Afghanistan's recent history has clearly shown that peace is impossible without justice.
Australia suppresses coverage of refugees on national security grounds

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 4 August 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Australia suppresses coverage of refugees on national security grounds, 4 August 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2a615.html [accessed 29 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.

August 4, 2015

Australia's Border Force Act, which took effect on 30 June, reflects a disturbing desire to deny access to information about the often deplorable treatment of refugees in detention centres by classifying this information as "protected" on national security grounds.

Approved by the two main political parties, the act provides for two-year jail terms for "entrusted persons" working in Australia's refugee detention centres  including the centres on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Ocean island of Nauru  who disclose information about conditions in the centres and how refugees are treated.

Without prior permission from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, doctors and health professionals working in these centres are now forbidden to talk about the conditions in which asylum-seekers are being held and to report any abuses or human rights violations. They are nonetheless the only people who could act as whistleblowers about what is going on in these centres, to which the public has no access.

"We firmly condemn this act, which effectively censors all sources of information about the problematic issue of refugees in Australia," said Benjamin Ismail, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

"Doctors and other care personnel are potential whistleblowers. They have long been the only people able to talk about conditions in these centres and the health of the detainees. As such, they are a link between these closed and secret centres and the media and public opinion. By threatening this link, which is essential for media coverage, the authorities are clearly flouting the right of Australia's citizens to question their government's stance on human rights and democracy."

The government already imposed drastic curbs on journalists' access to refugee detention centres in 2011 after several refugees died in detention. These restrictions constituted a grave violation of the right to information, which is supposed to be guaranteed by the law.

"They are trying to prevent any information about conditions in detention centres reaching the public," said well-known Melbourne-based barrister Julian Burnside.

"A journalist who requests information or records from an entrusted person can be charged with aiding and abetting the commission of that offence," human rights lawyer George Newhouse added.

Sensitive issue of refugees in Australia

Many people have spoken out against this latest attempt to prevent doctors, social workers and other employees of detention centres for asylum-seekers from the telling the media about any human rights violations and abuses they might witness.

A health workers collective has held demonstrations in various Australian cities to protest against the Border Force Act. One of its members, University of Sydney professor Maria Fiatarone Singh, said doctors have a duty, both as professionals and citizens, to report human rights violations.

Although some of the law's opponents have said they will circumvent it, "many are afraid of losing their jobs, which is stated in the act, or imprisonment up to two years," Singh said.

In a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on 9 March, Juan E. Mendez, the UN's special rapporteur on torture, criticized Australia's treatment of refugees and voiced particular concern about the detention of immigrants, including children, in the centres located in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

The report says Australia is violating its obligations under the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment by failing to guarantee sufficient protection for refugees, and that the conditions in which it detains asylum-seekers and recent changes to its maritime laws violate international conventions on immigration. The Australian government has disputed these conclusions.
Why is Ecuador censoring coverage of volcano's activity?

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 18 August 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Why is Ecuador censoring coverage of volcano's activity?, 18 August 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2a715.html [accessed 29 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.

August 18, 2015

The Ecuadorean authorities have imposed "preventive censorship" on all media coverage of Cotopaxi, a volcano 50 km south of the capital that became active again on 14 August after 73 years of inactivity. The government's communiques are now the only permitted source of information on the subject.

Under the nationwide state of emergency, Decree 755, that President Rafael Correa signed on 15 August, the Ecuadorean media and, in particular, social network users may only discuss the volcano's activity on the basis of the information provided by the security ministry in its official bulletins. The declared aim is to "avoid rumours and disinformation."

Communication minister Fernando Alvarado said this does not mean that journalists cannot go "a bit beyond" the government-provided information. In other words, they are allowed to do reports with colour charts and photos as long as they are based on the bulletins.

"The most important thing is not to create unnecessary panic in the population, and not to create excessive tranquility either," Alvarado said.

"On the grounds of avoiding widespread panic, the Ecuadorean authorities are treating journalists as people who do nothing more than relay government communiques," said Emmanuel Colombie, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Latin America desk. "The danger posed by Cotopaxi's activity deserves to be treated with care. However, there is no justification for forcing reporters to only use information from official scientific sources and to ignore all other sources."

Media freedom is already very restricted in Ecuador. Last week around 20 demonstrators were arrested and roughed up during protests against President Correa's policies. They included a photographer working for the daily El Comercio and Manuela Picq, a journalist wih French and Brazilian dual citizenship. They have since been released.
Canada: The Harper Years: Tough times for reporters In Canada

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 16 October 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Canada: The Harper Years: Tough times for reporters In Canada, 16 October 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2a815.html [accessed 29 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.

October 16, 2015

As federal elections will be held in Canada on October 19, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reviews the evolution of freedom of the press and information during Prime Minister Stephen Harper's tenure. It is not a pretty picture.

Despite the fact that Canada currently remains among the top ranking countries in RSF's World Press Freedom Index, freedom of the press and access to information have suffered over the past 9 years. Systematic curtailment of photographers' freedom of movement and limited access to the Prime Minister for interviews or even during press events seem to be the tenets of the Conservatives' philosophy on the media.

Closed-door policy

"Since he became Canada's Prime Minister (PM), in 2006, Stephen Harper has presided over the country with a very clear negative attitude towards freedom of the press and freedom of information. The most obvious example is his administration's closed-door policy with regard to media requests for interviews," says Delphine Halgand, US Director of Reporters Without Borders.

"Every time you photograph Harper, it feels like you're the enemy," says Amber Bracken, photojournalist and president of the News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC). Amber says Harper "uses security as an excuse to protect his image," explaining to RSF how the Prime Minister's security team habitually cordons off photographers into specific areas to take photographs, excluding the possibility of any genuine or unscripted images.

The situation is just as frustrating for journalists. Justin Ling of Vice, who has been covering Canadian politics for several years, says: "Media access in Canada has gone from pretty good to awful in the past several years." According to him, information is now regularly withheld by the Harper's government. Receiving adequate responses to Harper's interview questions has become much more difficult. Now Harper answers approximately 5 questions from reporters every 2 to 3 months. Those journalists from national publications who pay to travel with the PM are usually entitled to 4 questions, while one is usually reserved for a journalist from a local publication.

Treating reporters as "enemies" doesn't only manifest itself in Harper's direct relationship with the media. It's something his party has also successfully campaigned on. The Conservative Party sends fundraising emails to its donors suggesting the "media elite" is trying to undo everything the conservatives stand for and have already accomplished.

National security  another excuse

In addition to his closed-door policy, anti-terrorism legislation passed during Harper's time as PM has triggered significant issues regarding freedom of the press and of expression. Specifically Bill C-51 adopted in June 2015. The law includes prison terms of up to 5 years for "advocating" or "promoting" terrorism in general, including "reckless" statements. It also gives authorities the power to take down online content deemed "terrorist propaganda." Many authoritarian regimes have adopted anti-terrorist legislation with similar language in order to silence journalists and human rights defenders.

And as far as privacy issues are concerned, the law allows various government institutions to share citizens' personal information with security agencies if it is simply deemed "relevant" to national security.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) filed a complaint in July with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, arguing that Bill C-51 was "adopted in violation of the Constitution." Opposition parties running against the current majority have promised to either scrap the law or remove the most controversial sections.

Arbitrary arrests at the demonstrations against the 2010 G20 summit

Furthermore, Canada experienced the largest mass arrest of protesters in its history during the G20 summit  held in Toronto on June 26 and 27, 2010. Reporters covering the event were also arrested.

Brett Gundlock, a photographer for the National Post at the time of the protests, was arrested despite having full accreditation and wearing a visible media access badge. "Press and protesters were treated in the same fashion," says Gundlock, who was punched in the face by an officer after he put his hands up. He was then thrown to the ground. An officer kept his knee on Brett's back to immobilize him while another officer kicked him. When he was finally taken to a makeshift detention facility, he was charged with unlawful assembly and obstruction of a police officer. After contesting these charges, he had to undergo a very thorough and intrusive strip-search. A full 24 hours elapsed before he was able to speak with a defense lawyer. Luckily, the charges were dropped 2 months later, but his arrest and violation of his civil rights should never have happened in the first place.

Brett's colleague Colin O'Connor (photographer for the National Post), was also arrested, along with freelance journalist Jesse Rosenfeld, working for The Guardian. Jesse was also beaten by the police.

"As election day draws near, the question that begs asking is: will this trend of restricting access to information and freedom of the press continue with a new government?" says Margaux Ewen, Advocacy and Communications Officer for RSF's US office. Though many Canadians hope for change in this respect, it's unclear that it will actually come. Nick Taylor-Vaisey, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) says: "It's important to emphasize this is not only a Harper problem." Freedom of the press and access to information have also been attacked by city and provincial governments  conservative and liberal alike. For example, the city of Ottawa's police service claims it will cost over 6,000 Canadian dollars to produce data on accidents between cyclists and motor vehicles, whereas access to such information should be provided for free to media and citizens.

Campaign promises from the New Democratic Party and the Liberal Party include better treatment of the media and policies that favor broader access to information and a reduction in the costs associated with those requests. However, many in the journalistic community are skeptical that even a prime minister coming from a current opposition party will be willing to relinquish the high level of control that Harper has put into place during his years in office.
RSF condemns Croatian police violence against foreign journalists

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 21 October 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, RSF condemns Croatian police violence against foreign journalists, 21 October 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2a915.html [accessed 29 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.

October 21, 2015

An Agence France-Presse photographer and a Reuters cameraman were beaten up by Croatian police and their equipment was seized yesterday while they were covering the refugee crisis at the Serbian border.

"This is the second time in two months that police officers have physically attacked foreign journalists covering the refugee crisis and prevented them from doing their job," said Alexandra Geneste, the head of the Reporters Without Borders EU/Balkans desk in Brussels. "Violent behavior towards journalists is unacceptable".

"We deplore such violations of press freedom and urge the relevant authorities to take the necessary action to ensure the security forces act as guarantors of the safety of the media, not the opposite."

On 18 September, RSF condemned the use of force by the Hungarian police against foreign journalists at the Hungarian-Serbian border.

Yesterday, several news organizations complained about ill-treatment of their journalists at the Serbian-Croatian border. AFP photographer Andrej Isakovic was in position at the Serbian border town of Berkasovo with his cameras over his shoulder when two Croatian police officers ordered him to hand over his memory cards.

"I told them that I worked for AFP and was going to show them my press card but they said they weren't interested," the photojournalist said. "They pushed me to the ground, grabbed my cameras and threw them into a field some distance away on the Croatian side."

It was several hours before he was able to recover his equipment.

Earlier, a British freelance photographer received similar treatment. A Reuters cameraman was also beaten and threatened with having his equipment destroyed.

The Croatian authorities stated that "the two foreign journalists entered the country illegally". This was denied by Isakovic who said the incident involving the Croatian police occurred while he was on the Serbian side of the border.
France: National Assembly eliminates media controls from state of emergency law

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 20 November 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, France: National Assembly eliminates media controls from state of emergency law, 20 November 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5b2aa15.html [accessed 29 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.

November 20, 2015  Updated on June 2, 2016

Reporters Without Borders welcomes the amendment passed yesterday by the National Assembly eliminating all media censorship provisions from the 1955 law that regulates states of emergency in France.

The amendment was adopted shortly after the National Assembly approved a three-month extension to the state of emergency that President Francois Hollande declared the day after the 13 November attacks in Paris.

"Even if they were never applied, these provisions posed a threat to freedom of information in France and we welcome the government's decision to eliminate them for good," Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

As well as imposing controls on the media, the law allowed the police to search the offices of journalists, judges and elected officials without having to request permission from a court. This provision has also been eliminated.

A group of around 20 parliamentarians led by National Assembly vice-president Sandrine Mazetier (a member of the Socialist Party), tried to block the amendment, but their proposal was rejected. The grounds they gave for opposing the change were "the shortcomings observed in media coverage" of January's Paris attacks.

Article 11 of the 1955 law allowed the authorities to "take all measures to ensure control of the press and publications of all kinds, as well as radio broadcasts, cinema screenings and theatre performances."

In a directive issued on 14 November, interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve had told prefects that this provision and a provision increasing the role of military courts should be excluded from the state of emergency declared after the previous day's attacks, of which the provisional toll is 129 dead and 350 wounded.

The extension to the current state of emergency will take effect on 26 November and will last until midnight on 25 February, according to the text adopted yesterday. Reporters Without Borders undertakes to monitor media freedom issues closely throughout the state of emergency.
Title Response of the Swedish Government to the report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on its visit to Sweden from 18 to 28 May 2015

Publication Date 9 June 2016

Country Sweden

Citation / Document Symbol CPT/Inf (2016) 20

Cite as Council of Europe: Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Response of the Swedish Government to the report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on its visit to Sweden from 18 to 28 May 2015 , 9 June 2016, CPT/Inf (2016) 20, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b5d7574.html [accessed 29 October 2022]
On this week's Insider Podcast, we spoke to Mark O'Halloran and Paddy Breathnach, the writer / director duo behind Viva, Ireland's entry in the Best Foreign Language Category in the 2015 Oscars.

Set in Cuba, Viva follows a young drag artist who reconnects with his alcoholic father, who is against both his lifestyle and his career as a drag artist. We spoke to Mark and Paddy about directing a film set in Cuba with its unique colouring, writing a script not in your own language, working within the Cuban drag scene and more besides.

As always, The Insider is available on YouTube, Soundcloud, iTunes and Stitcher.




On Feb 26 & 27, 1991 GWH Bush ordered the slaughter of the Iraqi Republican Guard Google: 'The Highway of Death' for graphic details

If you're 35 now, you would have been 10 years old when this happened, so it's quite possible that you have no memory of these war crimes. I was 48 so it's still fresh to me.

"Highway of Death" Iraqi Army Armed Retreat from Kuwait 1991 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhmXleZXAr0 3min 50sec VIDEO

The residue from the depleted uranium bombs and bullets used are still there today and will last for a very, very long time.

BACKGROUND: GWH Bush, The Wimp had been the director of CIA for 6 months, before he became president of the United States. As president Bush Sr. needed to clean up his crimes as CIA director. As president he captured Noriega in Panama and burned alive over 4,000 mostly unarmed Panamanian citizens. But the Wimp as President, was still in danger of being exposed for his globally-illegal trafficking in drugs overseen by Noriega & the illegal arms deals overseen by Saddam. That's why the First Attack on Iraq was undertaken in 1991  to finish removing all evidence against Bush in his role as 41.

How Our 1989 Invasion of Panama Explains the Current US Foreign Policy Mess http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/12/our-forgotten-invasion-panama-key-understanding-us-foreign-policy-today

The Longest War in American History http://www.rense.com/general96/longestwar.htm

Meanwhile that 27 year long war, was begun by a female-traitor, April Glaspie, in the U.S. State Department that set Saddam up by giving him the green light to attack Kuwait: Only to use Saddam's military movement as the excuse needed to attack Iraq as an outlaw nation. Prior to this, Saddam was our man in the Middle East who had attacked Iran for us in an eight year long war of attrition that ended in a draw, with millions of Iranians slaughtered. Iraq was still armed to the teeth with WMD's - which Rumsfeld had routinely sold to Saddam  which is why George Jr. was so-certain that Saddam still had those weapons in 2003 when he began to fulfill his daddy's failed war against Saddam in '91'.

After the Slaughter of the Iraqi Republican Guard, the US and Britain created an illegal No-Fly Zone over Iraq, from which we kept bombing Iraq all the way up to the beginning of Junior's war in 2003. For those who are 35 now  you would have been 22 then. So you might have seen some of this on CNN:

Shock and Awe the initial bombing of Baghdad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NktsxucDvNI

By the time the bombs began to fall on Baghdad, there was no Iraqi Air Force, just a few worn out jet fighters buried in the sand. Thanks to the Highway of Death the armies of Iraq were almost totally depleted  but that didn't stop Bush. the deserter from the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, who declared himself VICTORIOUS from the deck of a U.S. Aircraft carrier a few miles offshore from San Diego. Remember Vice-President Cheney, at the time, stated: 'This war was only going to last about three months and would cost almost nothing' because we would soon own all of Iraq's oil, and Iraq would have to surrender almost immediately. It's been twenty-seven years and about 7 trillion dollars lost, yet Iraq has still not surrendered. Along the way we created perhaps the world's largest con with no-bid contracts and cost plus bottomless pits that led the U.S. straight into financial hell and the illegal quagmires that have yet to be even remotely touched on. Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers  FULL DOCUMENTARY FILM  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q8y-4nZP6o

Meanwhile the world has been watching Killery-Clinton while she and Israel created ISIS and dozens of fake terrorist-organizations. Before Hillary there were officially no TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS large enough to claim parts of other nations as their own.

Now Hillary wants to steal the 2016 election to finish what she and Bill beganway back when they inherited Czechoslovakia from GWH Bush, who started the wars in Kosovo, with assistance from the sex-traders, drug dealers and global suppliers IN HUMAN BODY PARTS, that were then seen for the global criminals they've always been: Instead of as the global-humanitarians they call themselves, when they put on the blue-helmets of the globally-criminal United Nations...

When GWH Bush & the Dynamic-duo of Bill & Hillary were seriously trying to start World War Three the first time - those who are now 35 were just 25.

Kosovo Chaos Undercuts Clinton Success https://consortiumnews.com/2016/02/21/kosovo-chaos-undercuts-clinton-success/ All in all the entire world has been privileged to have been able to have front-row seats in The Destruction of Western Civilization courtesy of the Wimp, GWH Bush and the tag-team couple that we know as the Clinton's, who are poised to finish the slaughter of humanity worldwide  with encouragement and trillions from George Soros; unless of course we unilaterally grow a pair and end the entire-nightmare now... kirwanstudios@outlook.com
Mayor Costin provides council district update & talks about other city projects

A town hall was held at Martinsville City Hall Thursday evening where residents were encouraged to attend and discuss their concerns or questions with Martinsville Mayor Kenny Costin.
THURSDAY

Wheat conference

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will conduct its Big Country Wheat Conference from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. in the Big Country Hall at the Taylor County Expo Center, 1982 Lytle Way. Topics will include alternative crop options, world wheat outlook, ag lending and weather forecasts. Registration is $20. For information, or to register, call 325-672-6048.

Drypoint printmaking workshop

A workshop on drypoint printmaking will be presented from 6-8 p.m. at The Grace Museum, 102 Cypress St. Registration is $30 for members and $35 for nonmembers. To register, or for more information, go to www.thegracemuseum.org.

Open mic night

BROWNWOOD  The Brownwood Art Association and A.M.P. will conduct an open mic night from 6-10 p.m. at the Art Building, 215 Fisk Ave. Live music and art will be presented. Admission is free.

Square dance workshop

TYE  A-Team will conduct a square dancing workshop 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel.

'King o' the Moon'

A production of 'King o' the Moon' will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Abilene Community Theatre, 809 Barrow St. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students, seniors and military.

Other ...

Chronic Pain and Depression Group, 11 a.m. to noon, Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St., 325-673-2300.

Blood drive, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Stamford Memorial Hospital.

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.

Retired Military Wives Club social meeting, 1 p.m., Rose Park Senior Activity Center, 2625 South Seventh St. 325-677-9656 or 325-793-1490.

Mental Illness Open Support Group, 1-2 p.m., Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

Abilene 42 Club, 6 p.m., Rose Park Senior Center.

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.

Round Dancing, 7 p.m., Wagon Wheel. 325-829-1517.

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.

FRIDAY

Neighborhood tour

Connecting Caring Communities will conduct a neighborhood tour from noon to 1 p.m. starting at 910 Cypress St. Admission is free. To RSVP, email megan@wecareabilene.org.

Dance

TYE  A country-western dance featuring Muddy Creek will be 7-10 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel in Tye. Admission is $5.

'After Zoey'

A production of the musical 'After Zoey' will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in Fulks Theatre at Abilene Christian University. Tickets are $15.

'King o' the Moon'

A production of 'King o' the Moon' will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Abilene Community Theatre, 809 Barrow St. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students, seniors and military.

Dance

OPLIN  A dance featuring Midnight Blue will be 7:30-10:30 p.m. at the Oplin Community Center. Admission is $5. Information: www.grandoleoplin.com.

Other ...

Blood drive, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Kwik Kar Lube, 4824 S. 14th St.

Abilene Chinese Corner, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Abilene Christian University library. lld09a@acu.edu.

Mid-City Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First Christian Church. 325-670-4304.

SATURDAY

Coffee competition

A 10th birthday celebration 'Coffee Kumite' competition will begin at 10 a.m. at Monk's Coffee Shop, 233 Cypress St. Participants will compete in events to test their brewing skills. For more information, go to monkscoffeeshop.com.

Movie at the library

A showing of a recent PG-rated fantasy adventure movie will begin at 3 p.m. at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St. Popcorn will be provided. Admission is free.

Festival and glow run

A family day featuring vendors, live music, painting and more will begin at 7 p.m. at Nelson Park. A 5K glow run will begin at 9:30 p.m. Proceeds will go to the Abilene Dream Center. For more information, or to register, go to www.abilenedreamcenter.com.

'Love, Loss and What I Wore'

A production of 'Love, Loss and What I Wore' will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Amy Graves Ryan Fine Arts Center at McMurry University. Proceeds will go to the Presbyterian Medical Care Mission. Seating is limited. For more information, go to medicalcaremission.org.

'After Zoey'

A production of the musical 'After Zoey' will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in Fulks Theatre at Abilene Christian University. Tickets are $15.

'King O' the Moon'

A production of 'King O' the Moon' will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Abilene Community Theatre, 809 Barrow St. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students, seniors and military.

Square dance

TYE  The Wagon Wheel Squares will sponsor a square dance at 7:30 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel.

Other ...

Overeaters Anonymous, 10 a.m., Shades of Hope, 402A Mulberry St., Buffalo Gap. 800-588-4673.

Big Country Chapter American Association of Medical Transcriptionists meeting, 10 a.m., Arbec Room, first floor, Texas State Technical College, East Highway 80, Abilene. For medical transcriptionists or anyone interested in becoming one. 325-698-8898.

Abilene Society of Model Railroaders, 10 a.m. to noon, 2043 N. Second St.

SUNDAY

Trade Days of West Texas

An opening celebration of Trade Days of West Texas will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2501 E. Highway 80. Crafts, antiques, food trucks and more will be available.
Welcome to Club News, a weekly roundup of the latest news in the Big Country. To be included: in 75 words or less, send meeting highlights, guest speakers, officers elected, donations made or received, etc. We don't need the full minutes  just the decisions made or the fun things that happened. Information needed: when and where (with a full street address) the club meets and daytime contact information for questions. Only typed submissions can be accepted. To email the information, please put 'club news' in the subject line and send to PublishMe@reporternews.com by 2 p.m. each Monday.

Rotary Club of Abilene

Get ready, Rotarians, for an exciting and informative program by Abilene police detective Chris Collins. As his presentation on handling an active-shooter situation will run a little long, we are asking members to arrive a little early. Last week, Kaylie Kohanowski, a Cooper High student, told of her experience as a Rotary Exchange Student in Taiwan. Kudos to Peter Fox, Rotarian of the week.

Regular meeting: noon Fridays, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St.

Contact: Mary Beth Kilgore, 518-5288.
Cougars defeat Westerners in Abilene

Abilene Cooper took on Lubbock High at at Shotwell Stadium. Final score was 54-7, Abilene Cooper.
Three French Robertson Unit employees are being recommended for dismissal as a result of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's investigation into the death of correctional officer Mari Johnson.

In addition, an assistant warden faces a seven-day suspension and four months of probation.

Johnson, a seven-year correctional officer at Robertson, was found unresponsive about 3 a.m. July 16 near the prison's kitchen area. She was taken to Hendrick Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

On July 19, the TDCJ announced that Dillon Gage Compton, a 21-year-old inmate serving time for aggravated assault of a child, had been identified as a suspect in the homicide. Compton was transferred to another unit, and results of the TDCJ investigation will be turned over to the Jones County district attorney to present to a grand jury.

A Serious Incident Review is ongoing into the circumstances surrounding Johnson's death, according to prison spokesman Robert Hurst.

'Our preliminary review has identified some operational processes related to making security checks, count procedures and equipment utilization that were not being properly followed by certain correctional staff at the prison,' Hurst said in an email.

Corrective action has been taken, he said, including disciplinary action against four people:

Jimmy Webb, assistant warden  four months of probation, seven-day suspension

Edward McQuade, major of correctional officers  recommended for dismissal

Gregory Cruse, food service manager  recommended for dismissal

Patrick Roach, food service manager  recommended for dismissal.

The review is standard after any serious incident, Hurst said.
The Spokesperson for the High Representative for EU Foreign Policy Federica Mogherini and Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides condemned  on behalf of the EU and its Member States  the recent air attack on a fully operational hospital in northern Yemen on Monday (15 August). The attack claimed the lives of at least 14 people, including one aid worker, and 24 people were injured, the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontier  MSF) said. At the time of the air strikes, there were 23 patients in the surgery ward, 23 in the maternity ward, 13 newborns and 12 patients in the pediatric ward, MSF added.

The air attacks are the latest in a series of attacks on medical facilities and personnel as well as school since the beginning of the conflict in Yemen. They are having an immediate impact on the health sector, according to UNICEF. Health care is grinding to a halt and is on the verge of collapse, said Bismarck Swangin, UNICEF communication specialist in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. The attacks often target humanitarian operations and civilians, including many children, and are clearly prohibited under International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The EU urged all parties to the conflict to act responsibly, abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law and avoid targeting civilians.

The conflict in Yemen is a proxy battleground between two regional powers  Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Arab coalition started launching airstrikes in support of the Sunni government against the Shiite Houthi minority rebels in March 2015. According to the EU, the solution to the conflict remains to be a political one. Brussels urged all parties to resume UN-facilitated negotiations that reached a dead end last week. The EU moreover urged the parties to refrain from any unilateral decisions that contradict the spirit of the negotiations and reassured that it is fully committed to support this UN-led process.
Ted Cruz probably wishes he was still on the presidential stump, in Nevada, North Carolina and other swing states.

Instead, he's using the senate's August break to tour Texas: speak at a chamber of commerce breakfast in San Antonio; a roundtable discussion in Tyler; tours of the Johnson Spaceflight Center near Houston and Space-X project in McGregor, southwest of Waco; and other stops including Amarillo, El Paso, Laredo, Lubbock, and Dallas.

He was in Abilene to tour Dyess Air Force Base last week.

You get the picture. Having had to bank the fire of his presidential ambitions until 2020, amid hopes that his nemesis Donald Trump loses to Democrat Hillary Clinton this year, Cruz at least wants to hang onto his bully pulpit: his seat in the U.S. Senate, which is up in 2018. No matter that most of his fellow senators don't like him.

Already, Democrats are at least idly looking at the race. And a Republican congressman  Michael McCaul, who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security  is reportedly being encouraged by top Republicans who don't like Cruz to take him on.

Democrats mentioned are Joaquin Castro and Wendy Davis.

Of the politically ambitious Castro twins of San Antonio, Joaquin is the one who is a congressman. Twin, Julian, former mayor of San Antonio, is President Obama's secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

At the Democratic National Convention in late July, Congressman Castro indicated an interest in the Senate seat.

'I'm going to take a look at it in 2018,' he said in a CBS interview.'I'll take a look at that and other opportunities. I've never been somebody that said in two years I've absolutely got to run for Senate or governor, but I will take a look at it.'

Should he run for the senate, however, he would be relinquishing his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives  as would McCaul if he runs. Although Texas allows an officeholder to run for president or vice president while also seeking re-election, that doesn't apply to a race for the senate  or governor.

Davis, the former state senator and city council member from Fort Worth, was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014.

Her national notoriety for her 2013 filibuster against an anti-abortion bill still buzzed during her appearance at the Democratic National Convention, though she had lost the governor's race to Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott by 20 points.

Davis's latest political venture is starting an Austin-based organization called 'Deeds Not Words,' to help young Democratic women become active in the gender equality movement.

When Davis, who's been a surrogate for Hillary Clinton's campaign for the past few months, was asked at the convention if she might run for Cruz's senate seat, she didn't rule it out.

'I don't know. I honestly don't know,' she told the Washington Examiner. She smiled, and added, 'We'll see what the future holds.'

Davis later told the Texas Tribune, 'Is it something I'm mulling? Nope.'

Democrats' Dream ... There's growing hope among Democrats that the impossible could happen: that Donald Trump is such a heavy-as-lead cross for the Republicans to bear that Texas could turn blue again.

Democratic presidential nominee Tim Kaine expressed that hope during a recent Austin appearance.

Speaking to a sweat-drenched crowd in a sun-baked warehouse that's a Democratic phone bank headquarters, Kaine said the presidential ticket hopes to carry a state it hasn't since 1976.

'This team, the Clinton-Kaine team, we are serious about Texas,' Kaine said. 'We are very serious because we know the kind of work that you do.'

He acknowledged that it wouldn't be easy, without going so far as to say it would be a miracle if the Democrats won the state, as most observers say.

'Texas Democrats know tough,' Kaine said. 'This is not a territory where it's always smooth sailing.'

There used to be an adage that no Democrat could be elected president without carrying Texas. And indeed, Republicans carried Texas in 1980, 1984, and 1988, and won the presidency.

But in 1992, Democrat Bill Clinton  with the help of Ross H. Perot's maverick Independent candidacy  denied George Bush the elder's bid for a second term, despite losing Texas. Clinton again won without Texas in 1996.

And Democrat Barack Obama won without Texas in 2008, and again in 2012.

It has now become the case that the Republicans can't win without Texas, which now has the second-most electoral votes of any state  38.

Less than three months now until the election, and it will be interesting to see whether the Democrats even come close to carrying Texas.

Not to mention what it might  or might not  mean for Cruz's ability to hang onto his Senate seat in 2018.

Email Dave McNeely at davemcneely111@gmail.com.
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This just in...
As Cambodian officials rolled out a new voter registration system on Thursday, questions were raised about the nations ability to conduct free and fair elections.

While Cambodian authorities announced a three-month registration process that will run from Sept. 1 to Nov. 29, the U.N. ambassador to Cambodia expressed concern that the countrys current political situation could poison the process.

The European Union has expressed concerns over certain actions of the authorities in implementing legal procedures against the opposition partys officials, civil societys representatives, and the National Election Commission (NEC) deputy general secretary, said Ambassador George Edgar.

Cambodias authorities must ensure an atmosphere that all political parties and nongovernmental agencies are able to do their jobs without obstacles, he added during a ceremony announcing the launch of the registration system.

NEC Deputy Secretary-General Ny Chakriya is one of five people arrested by the government in its wide-ranging probe into an alleged affair opposition Cambodia national rescue party leader Kem Sokha had with a young hairdresser named Khom Chandaraty.

Staffers with the rights group ADHOC Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, Yi Soksan and Lim Mony were also arrested in the probe. Ny Chakrya and the activists are charged with bribery or accessory to bribery for allegedly attempting to pay Khom Chandaraty hush money.

The charges are viewed by many as an attempt by Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to smear the opposition before local elections in 2017 and national elections in 2018.

While Hun Sen and the CPP have ruled the country for more than three decades, Cambodias ruling party suffered a dramatic drop in support during the countrys last election in 2013, and could see even more erosion in the upcoming elections.

Provincial questions

Edgar was not the only one raising concerns, as the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL) also took issue with the transparency of the process.

COMFREL official Sin Tit Seiha said government recruiting of polling officials in Cambodias northwestern Battambang province was suspect as he questioned the number of former NEC officials who were selected.

COMFREL has two projects. First, to observe the registration list once it has been generated, he said. We will look into it, then we can make the assessment.

A Battambang election official disputed that notion, saying the selection of the officials was an open one.

During the exam, officials from the national level as well as the provincial level came down, said Battambang Election Commission Secretary Vorn Porn.

Vorn Porn told RFA that there are many former NEC officials among the 430 contractors who were recruited, but did not give the total.

The controllers of the exams were from the districts, with three from each district, and commune councils from every political party came to observe, he explained.

The NEC was revamped last year, as part of a deal in July 2014 which saw opposition lawmakers return to the National Assembly following a 10-month boycott protesting a disputed national election in 2013.



The CPP was declared victorious in the 2013 election, sparking widespread protests and allegations of government control of the NEC, which oversees polls in the country.

Reported by Khe Sonorng and Hum Hour. Translated by Yanny Hin. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.
Bou Rachana stands in front of an image of slain husband Kem Ley.

Bou Rachana, the widow of slain government critic Kem Ley, has decided to take matters into her own hands and has asked a leading Cambodian nongovernmental organization to prepare legal action related to the murder of her husband.

Dr. Kem Leys wife decided to seek a lawyer from CENTRAL to file a complaint to find justice for her husband, said Moeun Tola, executive director of the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights. CENTRAL is a labor-oriented NGO that aims to give Cambodian working people transparent and accountable governance for labor and human rights through legal aid and other actions.



Kem Ley was gunned down in broad daylight on July 10 when he stopped in a Star Mart store in Phnom Penh where he liked to drink coffee with friends.

While authorities charged former soldier Oueth Ang with the killing, many in Cambodia dont believe the governments story that he was killed by the former soldier over a debt.

Just days before he was gunned down, Kem Ley had discussed on an RFA Khmer Service call-in show a report by London-based Global Witness detailing the extent of the wealth of the family of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for 31 years.

Kem Ley was buried in southwestern Cambodias Takeo province two weeks later after a weekend funeral procession that drew around two million mourners.

Deputy prosecutor and Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman Ly Sophanna who is handling the case, told RFAs Khmer Service on Thursday that the prosecuting judge is continuing the governments investigation.

While the government investigation moves ahead, various nongovernmental agencies are gearing up for more action related to Kem Leys slaying and preserving his legacy, Moeun Tola told RFA.

In addition to the legal action, NGOs are dividing up into groups that seek to explain the political and human rights situation in Cambodia to the national and international community, place a Kem Ley statue in Freedom Park in the capital, Phnom Penh, and safeguard Kem Leys familys security.

Reported for RFA's Khmer Service by Tin Zakariya. Translated by Yanny Hin. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.